Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. Sen. Bernie Sanders is running in the Democratic primary for president. Sanders is an Independent senator from Vermont, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to that, Sanders served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont from 1991 until 2007. From 1981 until 1989, Sanders was the mayor of Burlington, the states largest city. In 2016, Sanders finished in second place in the democratic primary race, losing to Hillary Clinton. Here are some facts about Bernie Sanders: Birth date: Sept. 8, 1941 Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Education: Attended Brooklyn College before transferring to the University of Chicago (B.A.) Career: Sanders held a variety of jobs including working as a carpenter and documentary filmmaker before seeking political office. Family: Bernie Sanders is married to Jane OMeara Sanders. He has one son, Levi, from a previous relationship. 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 What hes saying about: Health care: Sanders wants to create what he calls a Medicare for All system across the nation. He envisions a single-payer, national health insurance program to provide to everyone in America with comprehensive health care coverage. Climate Change: Sanders is a proponent of the Green New Deal, a plan that is meant to address climate change and economic inequality. Sanders says the proposed legislation will help create 20 million U.S. jobs and help the nation move away from fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy. Opioid Crisis: Sanders wants to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis. Sanders has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate known as the Opioid Crisis Accountability Act of 2019. National Security: Sanders seeks to make climate change as part of his national security agenda. When asked, he told WMUR, The Amazon rainforest is burning, Greenlands ice shelf is melting, and the Arctic is on fire. People across the country and the world are already experiencing the deadly consequences of our climate crisis, as extreme weather events like heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes upend entire communities, ecosystems, economies, and ways of life, as well as endanger millions of lives. Gun Laws: Sanders says he will enact universal background checks and end the so-called gun show loophole. He promises to ban assault weapons, bump stocks, high-capacity magazines, and the 3D printing of firearms. For existing assault weapons, Sanders will institute strict licensing requirements for ownership along with a voluntary buyback program to get guns off the streets. He supports grants to states to improve handgun licensing programs. He seeks to pass legislation to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers and stalkers and red flag laws to allow for temporary removal of firearms from those deemed a danger to themselves or others. College Tuition: Sanders wants to extend the concept of public education beyond the 12th grade and make public colleges and universities tuition and fee-free. He campaigns on making public colleges and universities tuition and debt free. Sanders wants to expand Pell Grants, food assistance programs, and other supports so that all students can afford their living expenses. He also seeks to cancel all student debt. Immigration: Sanders wants to authorize alternatives to detention that are community-based, ensure legal counsel and support for immigrants before and at their hearings, and he will end cash bail, including for immigration detention. Presidential candidate comparisons: -- On the issues -- Fun facts -- Watch Sanders answer New Hampshire voter questions face to face in an installment of "Conversation with the Candidate." Melbourne scientists are trying to genetically engineer native northern quolls to make them resistant to cane toad toxin. Quoll numbers across Australia are being decimated by the poisonous toads and Australias bushfire crisis, which has destroyed the homes of many endangered species, has sharpened the need to act. A northern quoll, being held by quoll breeder Trish Mason. Credit:Glen Campbell Sporting white spots, long tails and a row of sharp teeth, northern quolls are native marsupial carnivores. They eat possums, insects, birds eggs and since they were introduced from South America in 1935 cane toads. But cane toads carry a powerful toxin. Eat them and you die. Some forms of breast cancer cause no symptoms in the initial stages, so it is crucial to attend regular screenings. As with other forms of cancer, a persons outlook is more favorable when a doctor detects the disease early. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS) , the most common sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass in the breast. People should become familiar with the typical look and feel of their breasts so that they can detect any changes early on. Breast cancer can develop in males and females, but due to differences in breast tissue, the disease is much less common in males. Below, we outline some early indications of breast cancer in females and males. We also describe the various types and treatment options. Finally, we look into some benign conditions that people may mistake for breast cancer. Early signs Share on Pinterest A new mass or lump in breast tissue is the most common sign of breast cancer. The ACS report that these lumps are usually hard, irregular in shape, and painless. However, some breast cancer tumors can be soft, round, and tender to the touch. The following breast changes can be symptoms of breast cancer: full or partial swelling thickening of part of a breast a change in the size or shape of a breast irritation of the skin dimpled skin red, flaky skin on the breast or nipple breast or nipple pain pulling in of the nipple nipple discharge swollen lymph nodes Many of these changes can also result from other health issues. However, if a person notices any changes in their breast tissue, they should see a doctor as soon as possible. It is important to rule out cancer as a possible cause. Symptoms for specific types of cancer Each form of breast cancer develops in a different part of the breast and can affect different types of tissue. Since many breast cancers cause no symptoms, people should attend regular screenings. This can help identify the disease in its early stages. Below, we outline the types of breast cancer and their symptoms. Common types of breast cancer Lobular carcinoma in situ Lobular carcinoma in situ refers to an area of abnormal cells confined to the milk-producing glands of the breast in females. Because these cells do not spread to surrounding tissues, experts do not consider lobular carcinoma in situ to be a true cancer. However, it can increase the chances of developing other types of breast cancer. This condition rarely causes symptoms. In some cases, tiny white specs of calcium called microcalcifications show up on a routine mammogram. Invasive lobular carcinoma This develops in the breasts lobules glands that can produce milk and invades nearby breast tissue. In the early stages, invasive lobular carcinoma may not cause symptoms. Or, a person may experience: thickening or hardening of breast tissue, rather than a distinct lump an area of fullness or swelling in the breast a change in the texture of the breasts skin the nipple turning inward Ductal carcinoma in situ Ductal carcinoma in situ refers to an area of abnormal cells that are confined to one of the breasts milk ducts. When a person receives this diagnosis, it means that the cells have not invaded surrounding breast tissue. However, having ductal carcinoma in situ can increase the risk of developing an invasive breast cancer later on. This condition generally does not cause symptoms. Rarely , a person may notice a lump in the breast or some discharge from the nipple. Invasive ductal carcinoma This is the most common type of breast cancer, accounting for around 80% of cases. Invasive ductal carcinoma begins in the breasts milk ducts and invades surrounding breast tissue. Over time, the cancer can spread to nearby lymph nodes and other tissues. In its early stages, invasive ductal carcinoma may not cause symptoms. For some people, the first indication is a new lump or mass within the breast. People with this type of cancer may also experience: swelling of all or part of the breast pain in the breast or nipple irritation or dimpling of the breasts skin redness, scaling, or thickening of the nipple or skin nipple discharge the nipple turning inward a lump in the underarm area Less common breast cancers Some less common types of breast cancer include: Triple-negative breast cancer : The name refers to cancer cells that do not contain estrogen or progesterone receptors and produce little HER2 protein. As a result, the cancer does not respond to hormone therapy. Both lobular and ductal carcinomas can be triple-negative. : The name refers to cancer cells that do not contain estrogen or progesterone receptors and produce little HER2 protein. As a result, the cancer does not respond to hormone therapy. Both lobular and ductal carcinomas can be triple-negative. Inflammatory breast cancer : This develops when cancer cells block lymph vessels within the skin of the breast, causing the breast to swell. : This develops when cancer cells block lymph vessels within the skin of the breast, causing the breast to swell. Phyllodes tumors : These develop within the connective tissues of the breast. While most are benign , some are cancerous. : These develop within the connective tissues of the breast. While , some are cancerous. Pagets disease : This type of cancer starts in the breast ducts and spreads to the nipple. : This type of cancer starts in the breast ducts and spreads to the nipple. Angiosarcoma of the breast: This type of cancer starts in blood or lymph vessels and can affect the breast tissue. Breast cancer symptoms in males Males have small amounts of breast tissue, which does not develop during puberty. Rarely, cancer forms in this tissue. The ACS estimate that in 2020, doctors in the United States will diagnose about 2,620 cases of breast cancer in men. Approximately 520 men will die from the disease in the same year. Males with breast cancer may experience: a lump or swelling that is often painless nipple retraction discharge from a nipple dimpling or puckering of the skin of the breast redness or scaling of the nipple or skin of the breast When to see a doctor See a doctor about any changes in the breast or nipple. It is important to seek medical attention for: changes in the shape, feel, or size of the breasts a lump in the breast or underarm area persistent pain in the breast Diagnosis Typically, the diagnostic procedure begins with an examination of the breast. The doctor will feel for lumps within the tissue and may also check the lymph nodes. The doctor will also ask about the persons medical history and whether there is a family history of breast cancer. The doctor may then order additional tests, including: a mammogram a breast ultrasound a breast MRI a breast biopsy, in which they remove a small piece of tissue and send it to a lab for a closer examination If breast cancer is present, the doctor will describe the treatment options and next steps. Treatment Breast cancer treatment depends on several factors, including: the type of cancer the stage of the cancer at the time of detection the persons age the persons overall health Some of the most common breast cancer treatments include: hormone therapy , which uses hormones to target cancer cells that have hormone receptors , which uses hormones to target cancer cells that have hormone receptors radiation therapy , which uses targeted high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells , which uses targeted high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells chemotherapy , which uses specific drugs to kill cancer cells , which uses specific drugs to kill cancer cells lumpectomy , which involves removing the tumor while leaving the breast intact , which involves removing the tumor while leaving the breast intact mastectomy, which involves removing the tumor and part or all of the breasts tissue The doctor will describe the various options at each stage of treatment and work to determine the best course of action. Benign breast conditions Several benign breast conditions can cause symptoms that resemble those of cancer. Some of these issues require treatment, while others go away on their own. Though these conditions are benign, they can cause: discomfort or pain swelling lumps to form Some common benign breast conditions include: cysts : fluid-filled sacs that can form in many parts of the body : fluid-filled sacs that can form in many parts of the body mastitis : potentially painful swelling of the breast : potentially painful swelling of the breast hyperplasia : an overgrowth of cells, particularly in the milk ducts or lobules : an overgrowth of cells, particularly in the milk ducts or lobules sclerosing adenosis : small lumps that form in lobules : small lumps that form in lobules intraductal papillomas : small lumps that form in milk ducts : small lumps that form in milk ducts a fibroadenoma : a moveable lump that develops when an overgrowth of fibrous or glandular tissue forms around a lobule : a moveable lump that develops when an overgrowth of fibrous or glandular tissue forms around a lobule a radial scar : a core of connective tissue that can resemble breast cancer on a mammogram : a core of connective tissue that can resemble breast cancer on a mammogram a fat necrosis : a lump that is typically caused by surgery, radiation, or injury to the breast : a lump that is typically caused by surgery, radiation, or injury to the breast phyllodes tumors: fast-growing but typically painless tumors that start in the connective tissue of the breast some can be cancerous If a person is not sure what is causing any breast-related symptom, they should talk to a doctor as soon as possible. Trump deal should replace Iran nuclear deal: Donald Trump DUBAI/NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump said he agreed with a comment by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a Trump deal should replace the Iran nuclear deal. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stated, We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal, Trump said in a posting on Twitter late on Tuesday. I agree! Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called on Tuesday for the president to replace the Iranian nuclear deal with his own new pact to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get an atomic weapon. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Tuesday a proposal for a new Trump deal aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a strange offer and criticising Trump for always breaking promises. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States and said he wasnt sure how long any pact by US President Donald Trump would last. We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last, another 10 months? he said at a security conference in New Delhi. In a televised speech, the president told Washington to return to the 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers, adding that Iran could reverse its moves to scale back its commitments under the pact. He criticised European parties to the deal that have triggered a nuclear agreement dispute mechanism, saying they had failed to fulfill their commitments. Tehran has repeatedly refused to negotiate a new deal while US sanctions are in place. China has demanded discussion on Kashmir during a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York on Wednesday, but the request is likely to be rejected as other member countries of the global organisation are set to oppose it. The current move by China is third such attempt since August when the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped by the government, and the state was bifurcated into two union territories. French diplomatic sources said France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise the Kashmir issue once again in the powerful body and it is going to oppose it like it did on a previous occasion. The closed door meeting of the UNSC has been called to discuss an issue relating to an African country. China has made a request to deliberate on the Kashmir issue under the agenda of 'Any Other Business Points'. Asserting that France's position has not changed and it is very clear that the Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally (between India and Pakistan), French sources said this has been stated on several occasions, and it will continued to be reiterated to partners in the UN Security Council. This is the third time, China, Pakistan's 'all-weather ally', has demanded discussion on the Kashmir issue. In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after the government scrapped J-K's special status. However, the meeting did not yielded desired results for China as the member-states maintained that India's move was an internal issue. Last month, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia had foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC. China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J-K, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh. India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapura, signalling a recalibration of bilateral ties. Ashwini M Sripad By Express News Service KAPALA BETTA, KANAKAPURA TALUK: As you turn left from Maralkuppe in Kanakapura, towards Harobele dam, a flex announces, Way to Kapala Betta. Another flex next to it cautions, This area is under CCTV surveillance. A day after a massive protest by members of right-wing organisations and senior leaders from the ruling BJP, uneasy calm prevails at Kapala Betta. Here, work on the 114-ft statue of Jesus Christ, that the community members were planning to put up, has been stopped. A hillock near Harobele dam in Kanakapura, some 60km from Bengaluru, has grabbed the attention of both the state and the nation, ever since former minister DK Shivakumar, who is also Kanakapura MLA, laid the foundation for the statue on top of the hill on Christmas Day. Ever since, ruling BJP members, leaders and ministers have been criticising Shivakumar. On Monday, BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad members took out a massive rally here, expressing their opposition. Earlier, a mud road led to the hilltop where a huge cross has been erected, and locals trek up on the first Friday and every Sunday of the month to offer prayers. The road is damaged, and not fit for vehicles. The only way to reach the hilltop is by foot and its a pretty hard trek, with no steps and uneven rocks in between. It takes 40 minutes from the base of the hill to the top. A few metres away from the cross is a platform on which a lifesize statue of Christ stands, placed there symbolically before the actual one comes up. A couple of policemen from Sathanur police station are deputed at the base, and their job is to question all passersby. The hilltop is manned by one policeman, and a few CCTV cameras. There is no place to sit, other than a rock under some shade. He has a stick for self-defence, and a water bottle for solace, and no toilet. Someone gets him lunch in the afternoon, but otherwise, he spends the day alone -- with the wind, trees and rocks. A tiny shed on the hilltop, belonging to the construction workers, is locked. There is one cop during the day, and two at night on this 24x7 beat. Anyone who ventures here is stopped and questioned. Chinnaraj, a member of Harobele Kapola Betta Development Trust, told TNIE that it was not Shivakumar who was constructing the statue. As MLA, he helped us get the land legally. Work stopped some 15 days ago. Also, workers from Tamil Nadu have gone home for Pongal. We are not in a hurry to start, it will be done, he added. Sylvia Massy and Tyler Stone Massy and Stone are members of the board of the Recording Academys Pacific Northwest chapter. As independent music creators in Oregon and members of the Recording Academys Pacific Northwest chapter, were proud to foster and champion all of our states music makers. Musics independent sector is exploding, both in Oregon and on a national level, and the local music makers who create great music without the help of major corporate backing have to follow their muse and manage their business at the same time. Its not easy, but a new law in Congress is poised to help. Unfortunately, the only thing standing in the way of improving the livelihood of music makers in Oregon is our own senator, Ron Wyden. Sen. Wyden is single-handedly preventing Senate consideration of a bill that would help artists protect their intellectual property The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act the CASE ACT (H.R. 2426; S. 1273) would establish a small-claims system for those seeking damages for unauthorized use of copyrighted material. It would dramatically level the playing field for independent artists who are ignored in a system that favor deep-pocketed companies. And despite Sen. Wydens concerns, it would achieve this without forcing any parties to participate in the system and includes provisions that prevent bad actors from exploiting the courts. Indie creators are uniquely vulnerable to the realities of the modern music industry. With the massive expense of litigation to protect intellectual property, they are crushed under the weight of a copyright system which leaves music creators unable to claim ownership of whats rightfully theirs. Its unfair, and its un-American. The Recording Academy and our chapter mates have long advocated for a remedy to our broken copyright system. When the CASE Act passed the House last month, it came just weeks after nearly 2,000 Recording Academy members met with their members of Congress in their home districtsincluding Sen. Wydens Portland officeacross the country as part of our annual District Advocate Day. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. Were going to continue to push for these reforms and hope that our own senator does not stand in our way. Here are three reasons why the CASE Act is a vital piece of legislation that will empower music creators. 1. The CASE Act dramatically streamlines the copyright system The average federal copyright case costs nearly $400,000 to litigate - a colossal sum that makes legal action nothing more than a pipe dream to the average independent musician. The CASE Act solves this problem. The tribunal established by CASE removes the need for a lawyer, and caps damages at a maximum of $15,000 per work and no more than $30,000 in total. While Sen. Wyden is worried about excessive penalties, these figures represent a fraction of what an infringer would face under the current, federal system where penalties routinely run into the millions. In-person appearances are also not required, dramatically scaling-down the claims process and avoiding the federal system which is too large and complex to handle these smaller infringements. 2. The CASE Act protects all participants - not just the claimants The bill contains provisions that prevent claims by trolls and repeat offenders by imposing fees on bad actors and prevents them from continuing to use the system. Despite claims from Sen. Wyden and others that the CASE Act would be a bonanza for malicious actors, the bill explicitly prevents these trolls from using the tribunal - a feature that doesnt even exist under the current federal system. 3. The CASE Act is completely optional If a party does not want to defend a case before the tribunal, it can simply opt out. Despite Sen. Wydens concerns, there is no smoke and mirrors strategy in the legislation to punish defendants - instead, the tribunal offers incentives for both parties to participate by dramatically lowering the cost of litigation, without forcing anyones hand. The CASE Act is a no-brainer, laying out a clear roadmap for a future American music industry that values all intellectual property, no matter how small the claim may be. The overwhelming bipartisan support for the CASE Act is a testament to its strength as a bill. But now, only one senator is keeping it from a vote. Will Sen. Wyden support the music creators in our state, or will he go down in history as the senator who killed this important bill? Amy Dragon and Amber Sweeney also co-wrote this op-ed. By Trend Azerbaijani First Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Najmeddin Sadikov attended the meeting of the Military Committee of the NATO within the format of "Resolute Support" on January 14, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The meeting was held at the level of Chiefs of Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels (Kingdom of Belgium). During the meeting, the current state of the Resolute Support Mission led by NATO with an aim to train, support and consulting was discussed and relevant decisions on the further development of the mission were made. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Michael Avenatti trying to hide assets from creditors: Prosecutors originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' former lawyer and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, finds himself embroiled in a new round of legal trouble after being arrested Tuesday night in California. Already awaiting trial in California and New York, Avenatti was arrested again while leaving a court hearing over revoking his law license. He's due in Manhattan federal court next week over accusations of extorting Nike for millions of dollars. He's pleaded not guilty in both cases. A judge ruled on Wednesday Avenatti would remain in custody and be transported by U.S. Marshals to New York for his court hearing next week. IRS agents took Avenatti into custody for allegedly violating terms of his bail. He's facing a long list of accusations in California, including stealing money from clients and not paying his taxes. In court documents obtained by ABC News, federal prosecutors allege that while Avenatti, who they said is millions of dollars in debt because of a high-roller lifestyle, was on pretrial release for the California case he was orchestrating complex schemes to hide assets from creditors. PHOTO: FILE - In this May 28, 2019, file photo, California attorney Michael Avenatti leaves a courthouse in New York following a hearing. (Seth Wenig/AP, File) "The fact that defendant continued to engage in criminal conduct after he had been indicted in this case and while on bond demonstrates that defendant remains a substantial economic danger to the community," prosecutors wrote in a request to revoke Avenatti's bail. That request was approved by a judge before his arrest. MORE: Michael Avenatti arrested at Los Angeles courthouse during state bar hearing Among the money-hiding crimes prosecutors allege, they said that in May 2019 Avenatti arranged for his ex-wife to use funds from a hidden chunk of his money to buy a $50,000 Mercedes Benz in her name that he and his driver used. Prosecutors have argued Avenatti had first completed the paperwork to buy the car but returned with his ex-wife to purchase it in her name. Story continues Prosecutors also said Avenatti's girlfriend took a vacation to an exclusive resort in Tuscany, Italy, as his guest, and that he has citizenship there, which they said raises questions over whether he's hidden assets there. At the U.S. District court hearing Wednesday in Santa Ana, attorneys for Avenatti, H. Dean Steward and Tom Warren, responded by laying out their case to work out a release based on claims the government unfairly went to pretrial services "multiple times" to get their client's bail revoked. Steward went over each of the prosecution's allegations, admitting that while Avenatti's actions were efforts to avoid creditors, he still did comply with all pretrial conditions. "Terms of bail require him to report to pretrial services, not receive approval from them," Steward said in court. Prosecutors called Steward's claims "laughable," detailing a list of fraudulent behaviors Avenatti allegedly committed while out on bail, adding, "Everything he does is to keep the money in his pocket." Avenatti skyrocketed to fame alongside former client Stormy Daniels, who filed multiple lawsuits, unsuccessfully, against Trump. The brash and outspoken lawyer quickly became a fixture on cable news shows and received flattering coverage in Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine. He was asked about his skincare routine and Tom Ford suits during a photoshoot with Daniels by Annie Leibovitz. Then last spring, federal prosecutors in New York and California indicted him on charges of extortion, fraud and embezzlement, including allegations Avenatti stole millions of dollars from a paraplegic client. In May, New York federal prosecutors filed additional charges, this time alleging Avenatti stole $300,000 from Daniels, his most famous client. Avenatti has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been vocal on social media maintaining his innocence. A chicken who survived the bushfires was lucky to be rescued by a woman willing to spend thousands of dollars on her rehabilitation. Amelia the hen was found wondering through the bush in Charmhaven, 76km north of Sydney, by volunteers who had been feeding displaced wildlife. The chicken was found in an area where houses had burned down, seemingly the lone survivor of her flock. Chicken survives bushfire in Charmhaven. Source: Supplied The lucky bird was putting on a brave face and hiding her injuries so as not to be targeted by predators. It wasnt until she was taken to Catherine Kelaher from NSW Hen Rescue that the extent of her injuries was first determined. A big problem that we see with hen rescue is that chickens hide their pain so well, Ms Kelaher told Yahoo News Australia. I think what happened is an ember got into her eye and basically made it explode into this huge marble looking thing. Shed burnt her comb, her wattle and her face, and then her feet were really bad, like one of her toes had fallen off. Her feet were wet from the infection, so I took her to emergency. Amelia had her feet soaked in iodine to help with her burnt feet. Source: Supplied Special needs chickens in the living room Ms Kelahers vet gives her group a 30 per cent discount on charity treatment, but after hours surgery is still costly, and ongoing vet bills are racing towards $2,200. Amelia was given pain relief, put on a drip for dehydration, a crop feed for nutrition, and antibiotics and bandages for infection. The bandages on her feet are so thick they resembled moon boots. Even with all this treatment, Ms Kelaher could see Amelia was still in pain because of her damaged eyes. The next step was to remove the eye. It took about a week for her to get strong enough to undergo the operation, but without the eye shes so much more comfortable Ms Kelaher said. Shes home and in the living room because I dont want her to get dirty with all her burns. I look after a lot of chickens who are special needs. Ms Kelaher describes her new feathered friend as particularly sweet. She walks around the house chatting away and has even found a favourite spot in the house. The sofa. Story continues Amelia is feeling better after treatment and her favourite place to sit is the sofa. Source: Supplied Without the treatment Amelia would most likely have died of shock and infection, but some people have pushed back online criticising Ms Kelaher for spending money to save her life. NSW Hen Rescue was running low on funds before Amelia came in, after taking in countless battery hens and unwanted backyard pets. Luckily, Amelias story captivated many hearts after an online post and many animal lovers have donated funds to help with her treatment. Sometimes emergencies come along and then you just have to do the right thing, Ms Kelaher said. A lot more people understood why her treatment was important than people who criticised. Shes really special, shes a beautiful girl. Chickens and other bird species are very good at hiding their pain. Source: Supplied Theyve all got their own personalities. Amelia isnt the only chicken who dedicated carers will go to extraordinary steps to help. Many vets across the country say they are seeing an increase in hens requiring medical help. Dr Georgia Gibbs from Somersby Animal Hospital on the NSW Central Coast is only a year out of medical school and already she has seen her fare share of the clucky birds. We do see pet chickens quite regularly, she told Yahoo News Australia. Ive done a few procedures including stitching up a chicken after a goanna attack and Ive dealt with botulism in chickens... and things get stuck in their intestinal tracts so I did surgery to help them. As chickens have become popular backyard pets, many people have gained a deeper understanding of their feathered friends. Being around all animals, regardless of what the species is, theyve all got their own personalities, Dr Gibbs said. When youve got a small group of chickens, you get to know them all individually. Ive had a lot of clients who are particularly attached to their chickens and theyre happy to pay for treatment. Animals feel pain like humans Dr Gibbs notes that veterinary studies receive less funding than human medicine and so the literature is often less detailed. Often knowledge about the human body has to be applied to the treatment of birds and animals because the research isnt there. Vets are able to apply this knowledge, because many animals feel pain in the same way humans do. The most recent chicken I did surgery on, we used a nerve block to desensitise the area where I was cutting, Dr Georgia said. Even under general anaesthetic if we are cutting nerves or things that stimulate pain well see an increase in heart rate and an increase in respiratory rate. In chickens we see the same reactions you would see in people if they were undergoing a similar procedure. People wishing to help Amelia and NSW Hen Rescue can do so here. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Ghanaian mentalist Ahokagya who is well vexed in reading minds and easily reveals peoples thoughts at a given time mentioned that the Holy Bible is fake and therefore expressed disbelief in its content and teachings. Speaking in a one on one interview with Ghanaian Journalist/Blogger Attractive Mustapha, he described himself as a hardcore whose belief system is not limited to spirituality. He explained that he is not a Christian in a conventional sense and that religiously he believes in the philosophy of many great men who have passed more than being Christianity. Talking about the Bible, he said the Bible has lots of flaws. He added that he sees the Bible as a book of wisdom and further mentioned that the true Bible is hidden from the masses. "The Bible we are using is not the real bible, Jesus had 12 disciples, but how many of them have books in the Bible or have written about Christ in the Bible people use?", Ahokagya quizzed. The first gospel in the Bible is from Mark who never knew Christ, he never saw him, he wrote everything out of hearsay, and apart from that the bible is not consistent, he added in a chat with Attractive Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah. Watch the interview below; Attractivemustapha.com It happens every year. Like an abrupt smack in the face of cold water, the December holidays come to an end and school begins all over again. As parents and school children get ready for the new school year, the question that lingers in their minds is what are the 2020 term dates for schools in Kenya? Image: instagram.com, @cecrotchet (modified by author) Source: UGC The Kenya school term dates and mid-term breaks are determined by the Ministry of Education. At the end of the year, the Cabinet Secretary for Education issues an official statement on the school opening days for pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools for the next year. All the primary and secondary schools in the country are required to follow the Ministry of education term dates to the later. The new term dates for 2020 are as follows. READ ALSO: CS Magoha says 2019 candidates from marginalised areas will get favourable grading in national exams Kenya school calendar Image: instagram.com, @fabianjunior2017 Source: UGC In Kenya, the school year usually begins in January and ends at the end of October or at the beginning of November just before the national examinations are held. The school year is divided into 3 terms; 1st term, 2nd term, and 3rd term. Term dates for schools in Kenya The Kenya schools term dates usually indicate when the schools will open, when the students will break for half-term or mid-term, and the closing dates. The new term dates in 2020 also show the dates when the students will sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. They also indicate the public holidays. READ ALSO: Over 2,000 teachers transferred ahead of term one opening Term dates for primary schools in Kenya Term one will begin on 6th January 2020 and end on 10th April 2020. The half-term break for term one will begin on 17th February 2020 and end on 21st February 2020. The April holidays will only last for three weeks. In the 2nd term, schools will open on 4th May 2020 and close on 7th August 2020. Schools will go for the half-term break on 15th June 2020 and resume on 19th June 2020. The students will only break for three weeks during the August holidays. Image: instagram.com, @taplunchbox Source: UGC The last school term during the 2020 school calendar will start on 31st August 2020 and end on 30th October 2020 to pave way for the start of the national examinations. There will be no mid-term break in 3rd term. When will candidates sit for their KCPE exams? The KCPE examinations will begin on 2nd November 2020 and end on 5th November 2020. Term dates for secondary schools in Kenya Image: instagram.com, @somasomainitiative Source: UGC When are secondary schools closing? Well, the term dates for the secondary schools are the same as those of the primary schools. However, the start dates for the KCSE examinations are not the same as those of KCPE examinations. The KCSE examinations will kick off on 6th November 2020 immediately after the end of the KCPE exams. Secondary school candidates will complete their KCSE exams on 30th November 2020. READ ALSO: Good Samaritan clears Form One fees for girl whose mother wanted to sell kidney As you do the end of the year review for the year 2019 and brainstorm your goals and desires for the year 2020, proper planning is essential. The article has shed light on the 2020 term dates for schools in Kenya. Parents, students, and teachers can start planning to make the most out of the term breaks and school holidays. READ ALSO: CS Magoha warns headteachers have no power to direct parents where to buy uniforms Source: TUKO.co.ke English French QUEBEC CITY, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stelmine Canada ( Stelmine ) (STH-TSXV) announces the discovery on its Courcy property of new gold values provided by rock samples (grab and channel) and of gold anomalies revealed by till samples. The Courcy flagship property, located within an Archean greenstone belt at the western end of the metasedimentary Opinaca basin presents two types of gold mineralization: a stratiform type associated with a package of garnet-bearing amphibolites and sulphide-rich iron formations along a major refolded thrust fault (Couteau fault) extending more than 21 km (zones 1 and 2; figure 1 ); second generation quartz veins invading the sheared contact of volcanic and sedimentary assemblages along the axis of a major fold (zone 4). New exploration work has supported the extension of zones 1 and 2 and the increased potential of zone 4. In addition to better helping us locate the location of drillholes for a future campaign, our work delineated the different sites associated with two mineralization types. A mineralized system extending for more than 800 m Gold concentrations of 4.0 g/t from a 1.3 m channel and a grab sample value of 0.5 g/t Au were obtained from zone 4. Coupled with the results of the till survey showing a significant gold anomaly south of strongly folded and mylonitized rocks concealing a type 2 mineralization, these discoveries enhance the possibility of defining a mineralization extending more than 800 m ( figure 1 ). A drill-ready mineralized thrust A gold value of 0.78 g/t on 1.1 m confirms the extension of zone 1 by more than 50 m toward the southwest. This type 1 mineralized projection is still open since it is buried under the till cover. Furthermore, the results of basal till samples revealed three northeast/southwest-oriented gold anomalous regions than can be traced upward the glacial transport to mineralized zones 1 and 2 (figure 1). Also note two anomalous sectors near the southern and southwestern contact of the Couteau fault which shows a similar folded structure to that associated with zones 1 and 2. The former areas expose little outcrop and warrant a re-evaluation with different exploration methods. A compilation of exploration work completed by Stelmine along the Couteau fault near the core of the antiform (including grab and channel samples, overburden stripping, geological, geophysical and structural surveys and till sampling) demonstrates a significant gold mineralization ready to be drilled. Due to late financing, the management decided to postpone the drilling campaign. This allowed the Company to complete further exploration work including a 400-sample basal till survey (C horizon). The survey detected anomalous gold values that, combined with the results obtained on rock samples, uncovers new potential areas on which limited work has been done because of the thick overburden. Till surveys often identify anomalies leading to mine discovery. This type of work favors low cost exploration of large terranes specifies Isabelle Proulx, CEO and President of Stelmine. Figure 1. Geological map of the Courcy property showing the gold values of rock and till samples. To see the map . Stelmine Representation Stelmine will participate, from January 16 to 21, to the Vancouver Metal Investor Forum and also attend the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC). For the last 25 years, The VRIC constitutes the forerunner of the junior mining investment market. QA/QC Protocol Stelmine implemented a strict QA/QC protocol in processing all rock samples collected from the Courcy property. The protocol included the insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials, in this case high concentration (OREAS-210) and low concentration (OREAS-252) certified gold standards, blanks and duplicates, to validate the accuracy and precision of the assay results. All collected rock samples were put in sturdy plastic bags, tagged and sealed in the field under the supervision of geologists in training. 1 to 2 kg till samples were gathered with the help of a clean steel shovel. They were put in sturdy plastic bags, tagged and sealed in the field under the supervision of geologists in training. All sample bags were then put in rice pouches and kept securely in a field tent before being sent by floatplane to the city of Wabush. Transport to Actlabs laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario was made by truck from reliable transport companies. Gold was analyzed by fire assay method (1A2_ICP_50 g). Gold and other trace element concentrations determined on till samples were obtained via the INAA+ICP_OES (1H) method. The technical content of this release was approved by Michel Boily, PhD, geo; a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Follow us on www.Stelmine.com and on our Facebook page (Stelmine Canada) where we uploaded pictures of the Courcy camp and of our crew at work. About Stelmine Stelmine is a junior mining exploration company which concentrates its activities in the Province of Quebec. Stelmine holds 843 claims spanning 438 km2 on the eastern part of the Opinaca metasedimentary basin, which contains zones with a high potential for gold deposit discovery in geological contexts similar to the one leading to discovery of the Eleonore Mine. Its capital stock consists of 37,324,046 issued and outstanding shares. Forward-looking statements Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, will be, expected or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the listing and trading of the Corporations common shares on the CSE and the availability of a listing statement on the CSEs website and on SEDAR are based on the Companys estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For more information : . , " ". , - . , ... A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday convicted a 41-year-old man for molesting a former Bollywood actor on board a domestic flight in December 2017. Special Judge A D Deo, hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, held Vikas Sachdev guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty). Sachdev was also convicted under relevant provisions of the POCSO Act, since the victim was 17 years' old when the incident took place. The court will pronounce quantum of the sentence later in the day. In December 2017, the victim alleged that she was molested by a co-passenger on board an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai. She narrated her ordeal onInstagram via a live video. The victim, in her post, said a co-passenger sitting behind her put up his feet on her armrest. "So, I was in a flight travelling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miserable. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it...," she said. "The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck," she said in the video post, following the incident. The victim last year announced her "disassociation" from the field of acting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Published on 2020/01/14 | Source Actor Go Kyung-pyo is returning to fans after a his national service. Advertisement According to CL&COMPANY, the actor is done with his army duty on the 15th. Go Kyung-pyo will hold a small meeting for fans at the Samcheok Beach in Gangwondo on the 15th. It's not an official fan meeting, but he plans on greeting the fans that have been waiting for him. Go Kyung-pyo joined the army in May of 2018 and served in the 23rd Division in Samcheok, Gangwondo. Meanwhile, Go Kyung-pyo debuted in 2012 with the drama "Jungle Fish 2". He then appeared in numerous dramas such as "Flower Boy Next Door", "Answer Me 1988", "Incarnation of Jealousy", "Chicago Typewriter", "Strongest Deliveryman", "Cross" and films such as "Coin Locker Girl" and "Seven Years of Night". China-Pakistan Economic Corridor impinge on our sovereignty: Navy chief India pti-PTI New Delhi, Jan 15: The Chinese Navy's presence is rapidly increasing in the Indian Ocean region and the Indian Navy is keeping a watch on the developments through "mission-based" deployments, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said on Wednesday. The Navy chief asserted that China's Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor impinge on India's sovereignty. Speaking at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue here, he also said that there have been instances when People's Liberation Army (PLA) ships have entered India's exclusive economic zones and the Navy has told them that it impinges on Indian interests. Asked if China has abided by India's assertions when such incidents have taken place, Admiral Singh said in one such incident, recently, "we acted then, they respected and moved out". His remarks were in reference to the incident in which a Chinese naval ship was driven away from India's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Andaman sea. The Chinese Navy is the strategic arm of the PLA and it has grown at a very rapid pace, Admiral Singh said. "We are all aware of the numbers, the tonnage, the number of ships, everything that is growing. We have seen in the Indian Ocean region itself starting 2008 when they came in for the anti-piracy patrol. "Before that they weren't really very obvious in the Indian Ocean region but now you find that at any given time, 7 to 8 PLA warships in that area," he said. Djibouti is a reality, Gwadar is on and more places are to come, he said, speaking on China's growing presence. "We have placed our ships in mission-based deployments so that we get an idea what are the activities, not only of China but of all other countries, so that if there is anything that impinges on our national interest or sovereignty, we will have to act," Singh said. "To my mind if there is any maritime activity that deviates from the norm or rule-based order, that can cause regional instability. That is what we are looking for," he said. Besides Admiral Singh, Japan's Joint Staff of Self-Defense Forces Gen. Koji Yamazaki, Australia's Vice Chief of the Defence Force Adm. David Johnston, France's Deputy Director General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry of Armed Forces Gen. Luc de Rancourt, and the UK's Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Tony Radakin, took part in the panel discussion. Talking about the Quad grouping, comprising the United States, Australia, Japan and India, Adm. Johnston said it is a shared enterprise between like-minded democracies. Adm Singh said the Quad will evolve organically because there was a common understanding among its members of what they want as the end goal. On the Indo-Pacific, he said such constructs are not against anybody but for something. Gen Kozi Yamazaki of Japan said that from a military point of view, it is necessary to closely co-operate with countries that share common values. Adm Tony Radakin said that the UK has responded in a much stronger way in the last two to three years than over the previous decade to protect the rules based international order, particularly freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and the Straits of Taiwan. Gen Luc de Rancourt of France said his country has a long-standing presence in Djibouti, and has observed the Chinese arrival in the region, but is confident that the France-Djibouti relationship is strong. Gen Yamazaki said the Japan-US alliance is crucial for stability in the region. The most substantively outrageous presidential campaign in American history has some serious chance of success. Bernie Sanders is leading or near the top of most polls in the first two Democratic nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He could plausibly win both, which would instantly transform the race into a desperate effort to Stop Bernie. Sanders doesnt exactly get good press. A lot of the punditry (understandably) wrote him off when Elizabeth Warren eclipsed him in the polls a couple of months ago and he had his health scare. Longer profiles have tended to be fond, while expressing skepticism that Sanders can build out his coalition. But the same people who have spent years worrying about norms by which they usually mean things President Donald Trump says and tweets express little alarm about Bernies campaign of jaw-dropping radicalism. If he had his way, hed fundamentally change the character of the country. Hed make the United States an outlier in the Western world, not in terms of its relatively limited government, but its sweeping activism. A Hellfire missile aimed right at the federal fisc, Sanders would make Barack Obamas economic agenda look like the work of a moderate Republican. In foreign affairs, hed bring to the Oval Office a sympathy for Americas enemies not often heard outside academia or Noam Chomsky reading groups. Hes the American Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist true believer whose fantastical agenda reflects the dictates of dogma. The difference is that Corbyn effectively promised a return to socialist-imposed stagnation in Britain, whereas Bernie is inviting America to experience it for the first time. His domestic program, according to Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute, would cost nearly $100 trillion over the next decade. It would more than double federal spending and blow past Western European social democracies in government profligacy. What would ordinarily be considered ambitious spending plans his proposed increased expenditure expansion on Social Security, infrastructure, housing, education and paid family leave are dwarfed by his gargantuan commitments to his Medicare for All proposal, his federal job guarantee and his climate plan. Hed fundamentally transform the relationship of the individual to the state, which, among other things, would ban people from owning their own health insurance. Sanders pitches his health care proposal as what every other major country on Earth is doing, but no other place is as sweeping or as generous. There is not a single country in the world, health care analyst Chris Pope writes, that offers comprehensive coverage with an unlimited choice of providers, fully paid for by taxpayers, without insurer gatekeeping, service rationing or out-of-pocket payments. Sanders would drastically increase taxes and still fall short of funding his program. As Riedl notes, hed boost the top federal income-tax rate to 52 percent from 37 percent and the payroll tax rate to 27.2 percent from 15.3 percent, as well as impose a 62 percent investment tax rate on upper-income taxpayers. His foreign policy bears the stamp of soft spots for the communist regimes in Nicaragua and the Soviet Union. He called the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani an assassination. He condemned the ouster of Bolivias leftist autocrat Evo Morales, who has called Sanders brother. He wont call Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro a dictator, but slams Benjamin Netanyahu as a racist. He has said his vote to authorize the war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks was a mistake. Sanders does indeed have his charms. Hes sincere, consistent and inarguably himself. He now has a step on frenemy Elizabeth Warren in the leftist lane in the primaries because hes not as painfully calculating as she is. But make no mistake: Sanders is a socialist continuing his takeover attempt of the Democratic Party to forge what he aptly calls a political revolution. He may be more polite than Trump, but hes wildly outside the mainstream and a clear and present danger to the public welfare. @RichLowry Activists protested at a pig farm in Co Antrim An investigation has been launched after a protest by environmental activists at a pig farm in Co Antrim. The farm, in Cloughmills, was also visited by police after the protest in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Around 40 people from animal rights group Meat the Victims made their way to the farm and shared pictures and videos of their protest on social media. Activists from Northern Ireland were joined by others from abroad at the protest. The group complained about the conditions at the farm and claim to have taken one pig with them to an animal sanctuary. A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that investigators had attended the farm following the protest. "DAERA is aware of an incident during the early morning of Tuesday January 14 on a pig farm in County Antrim," a spokesman said. "DAERA inspectors followed up on the incident today and are currently investigating. "The department is responsible under the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011 in respect of farmed animals." Police said that a protest "involving a number of people at a farm in the Cloughmills area" was reported to them at 4.30am on Tuesday morning. "Police attended and spoke with the protesters who left the property shortly before 7am," a spokesman said. "There were no reports of any criminal offence during the incident." The spokesman said they would continue to work with partner agencies to establish if any criminal offences have occurred. A Ugandan imam has been suspended after discovering his new wife was actually a man. Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, found out the truth when his bride was caught stealing a TV from a neighbour and was searched by police. The thief later admitted pretending to be a woman so he could marry the imam and steal his money, local media in Kayunga reported. Shocked Mutumba has been suspended from his duties as a cleric at the Kyampisi Masjid Noor mosque while an investigation is carried out. Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, says he had no idea his bride was a man when they married He claimed he hadn't been intimate with his 'wife' since the wedding two weeks before because she told him she was menstruating. Mutumba said he thought he was marrying a woman called Swabullah Nabukeera when they wed in a traditional Islamic ceremony in December. Her true identity was exposed when she was arrested for the theft of a television set and clothes from his next door neighbors. A female police officer carried out a body search on the suspect, thinking she was a woman, and found out she was actually a man. The truth came out when the bride was caught stealing a TV from a neighbour and searched by police Mutumba is said to be 'too devastated' to talk about the incident and needs counselling. Friends and colleagues said they were also fooled by the imposter, who usually wore a hijab. Amisi Kibunga, who also works at the mosque, said: 'He had a sweet soft voice and walked like a woman.' Kibunga also revealed that Mutumba had complained four days after the wedding that his new bride refused 'to undress while they slept.' The suspect later told police his real name was Richard Tumushabe and he admitted he married Mutumba in a bid to steal the cleric's money. Local Muslim official Sheikh Abdul Noor Kakande said the 'unfortunate' incident was being investigated. Mosque officials said they suspended the imam despite confirming he had entered the marriage thinking Nabukeera was a woman. The mosque's head imam, Sheikh Isa Busuulwa, said the suspension was necessary to 'preserve the integrity of their faith.' He said Mutumba had worked at the mosque for four years and was one of its three imams. The head cleric added that though he had attended Mutumba's marriage reception, the mosque had not been involved in the wedding celebrations. Local news reporters from The Daily Monitor tried to contact Mutumba at his home but neighbors said he had not been seen for days and was staying with relatives while receiving counseling. Photo: The Canadian Press Jet fuel dumped by an aircraft returning to Los Angeles International Airport fell onto an elementary school playground where children were playing Tuesday, fire officials said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department said firefighters assessed 17 children and nine adults who complained of minor injuries. None needed to be taken to a hospital. There were no evacuation orders for the immediate area. The Los Angeles Unified School District said in a statement that the incident happened at Park Avenue Elementary just before noon. Students and staff were on the playground at the time and may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes, the district said. Paramedics were immediately called to treat anyone complaining of skin irritation or breathing problems, it said. The district's environmental health and safety office also responded. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that Delta Air Lines Flight 89 headed to Shanghai, China, declared an emergency after leaving Los Angeles International Airport, returned and landed without incident. News footage at the scene showed numerous police and emergency vehicles at the school about 20 kilometres east of Los Angeles. Delta Air Lines said in a statement that Flight 89 experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return to LAX. The aircraft landed safely after an emergency fuel release to reduce landing weight. Opposition parties pledged their support on Wednesday with social activists Sadaf Jafar, Pawan Rao Ambedkar, Deepak Kabir and former Uttar Pradesh IGP SR Darapuri, who were arrested by the UP police during the anti-CAA stir, and said the movement against the contentious law was an effort to save the Constitution. As the four persons, who alleged torture at the hands of the Uttar Pradesh police, recalled their trauma, leaders such as CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and politburo member Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary D Raja, LJD chief Sharad Yadav and RJD's Manoj Jha assured them that the movement they were a part of would not be allowed to die down. "The 20 parties, which met on January 13, have pledged their support with the movement. Protecting the Constitution is the highest form of patriotism. Terming all those who protest against the CAA, NRC or NPR as Pakistanis or saying that they are speaking the language of Pakistan is utter nonsense. These people were kept in jail without a shred of evidence. What happened to them is happening across the country," Yechury said. The four persons, who were remanded in police custody, alleged that they were beaten up, slapped and kicked by police officials. They recalled being denied food and water for long spells and even being disallowed to inform their families about their whereabouts. "What hurt me more than the physical torture were the communal slurs that were hurled at me. At that time, through the pain, I kept hoping that someone will come for me," Jafar, who along with the others have been released on bail, said. LJD leader Yadav compared the situation prevailing in the country to the Emergency period of the 1970s and said the current state of affairs was worse than that. "This is an unofficial Emergency. While during Emergency everything was out in the open, now it is silent, cannot be seen," he said. Jha hailed the students and common people behind the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and said the current situation was such that having a name like "Kabir" or a surname like "Ambedkar" was a crime in itself. "The testimonies that you are hearing here, such things are happening across the country. If a former IG can be treated this way, imagine what happens to others. This movement is a movement of the people, let there be no doubt. This is a movement where people have taken the government on. This is not a movement started by political parties, but we are here to support it," he said. Raja said the torture of people in custody was a "crime committed" by the Uttar Pradesh government. The Left leader said while the BJP-led Centre was now resorting to "abusing and accusing" the Opposition of spreading lies, it was unable to answer any of the questions raised by them or the anti-CAA protesters. Around 20 opposition parties have decided to hit the streets against the Centre's economic policies as well as against the CAA and the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC). A joint meeting of opposition parties, convened by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on January 13, urged people to observe January 23 (Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday), January 26 (Republic Day) and January 30 (martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi) as occasions to uphold constitutional values. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Our View: We hear what protesters say about ICE; but do they care about our point of view on the jail contract? The parties will work out action algorithms for crisis situations that may arise in the Black Sea region. On October 59, 2020, Odesa will host joint exercise "Coherent Resilience" involving Ukrainian forces and those of NATO member states, aimed to protect critical infrastructure in the Black Sea region, as reported by the Cabinet press service. Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Bettina Cadenbach have signed the relevant document at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. Read alsoNATO, Ukraine in 2020 to conduct large-scale joint exercises in response to Russia's actions in Black Sea region The parties will work out action algorithms for crisis situations that may arise in the Black Sea region. "The goal is to provide a smooth, timely, and competent response to cyber attacks, attacks on ports, seizure of transport routes and other threats," the government said. It is noted that more than 200 experts will take part in the exercises. Ukraine will be represented by officials from over 20 government departments, while the Alliance will deploy representatives of NATO centers of excellence and the NATO Mission in Ukraine. The European Hybrid Threat Center will also join in. "Ukraine and NATO will work out a legend of a certain critical situation that will require coordinated action. During training, authorities will be able to harmonize their plans, check the effectiveness of response and recovery, the ability to communicate with each other on time, and inform people," the report says. Advertisement The breathtaking moment the world's largest observation wheel was erected on Bluewaters Island in Dubai is revealed tonight in the latest episode of Impossible Engineering. The Ain Dubai wheel, which is twice the size of the 135 metre tall London Eye, features 48 specially designed pods, making it able to carry 1,900 passengers. It's a record-breaking structure, held up by four legs each weighing the same as a Boeing 7X7 jumbo jet, and will officially open to the public later this year. The spectacular landmark, located on the man-made Bluewaters Island, looms over the horizon at a height of over 250 metres and the rim of its wheel alone weighs about the same as 16 Airbus A380 jets. In the latest episode of the show, which airs tonight on the Yesterday Channel at 9pm, project manager Piers Sidey explains how he and his team were able to pull off such a feat of engineering. The Ain Dubai observation wheel (pictured) on Bluewaters Island will be the world's largest Ferris wheel when it officially opens in 2020 'There are obviously other observation wheels around the world, but we're about 50 per cent bigger than the current biggest,' he said. When the project is complete, the wheel will be more than 200 per cent taller than the first ever observation wheel. Currently, the world's tallest Ferris wheel is the High Roller in Las Vegas, US, which stands at 167 metres. The separate parts of the Dubai wheel were brought over to the island on boats. Sidney admitted: 'Transportation was really only ever going to be by water, so because we're on an island we bring them on by barge.' First to be erected were the wheel's four legs, which weigh 900 tonnes each - around the same as a Boeing 7X7 jumbo jet - and are 125 meters long The heaviest part of the wheel is the hub and spindle, which connects all the legs together and carries the entire weight of the wheel The wheel itself was supported by massive steel, wagon-wheel like spokes, spanning the radius of the highly impressive structure The wheel, located on the man-made Bluewaters Island in Dubai, looms over the horizon at a height of over 250 metres - while the London Eye is a mere 135 metres tall First to be erected were the wheel's four legs, which each weigh 900 tonnes and are 125 meters long. The largest type of crane in the world, which can lift 1,200 metric tons, was used in the process. The heaviest part of the wheel is the hub and spindle, which connects all the legs together and carries the entire weight of the wheel. The project manager explained: 'We lift them off with two of the largest cranes in the world - 3,000 tonne capacity units working at about 98 per cent of their safe working capacity. It's the biggest tandem lift and certainly the highest tandem lift that has been done before.' Next was the wheel itself, which was supported by massive steel, wagon-wheel like spokes, spanning its radius. Engineers welded one section of rim to another, before pushing and pulling it around and then welding on the next section, until the circumference was complete The largest type of crane in the world, which can lift 1,200 metric tons, was used in the process of constructing the wheel on the island Project manager Piers Sidey (pictured) explains how he and his team were able to construct such a spectacular structure in the show tonight Engineers welded one section of rim to another, before pushing and pulling it around and then welding on the next section, until the circumference was complete. 'The rim is built in eight sections lifted off the barge, welded together and launched with a special push pull system,' said Sidey. The pods, made from aviation grade glass, are designed so guests can gaze over the man-made oasis's luxury malls and gleaming cityscape. 'I think it is a particularly beautiful wheel; there have been lots of things to overcome and we have managed it,' said Sidey. Bluewaters Island is an artificial island which opened in 2013. In April 2019 it was announced that the wheel would be complete and open to the public in 2020. Bluewaters Island is an artificial island which opened in 2013. In April 2019 it was announced that the wheel would be complete and open to the public in 2020 The pods, made from aviation grade glass, are designed so guests can gaze over the man-made oasis's luxury malls and gleaming cityscape The wheel, located on the man-made Bluewaters Island in Dubai, looms over the horizon at a height of over 250 metres - while the London Eye is a mere 135 metres tall The episode is available on UKTV Play now. The annual MLK Jr. Day event at The Woodlands United Methodist Church is set from noon to 1 p.m. Monday as the community is invited to to remember and celebrate the civil rights leader and what he stood for. While the event will be held at The Woodlands United Methodist Church at 2200 Lake Woodlands Drive, it is hosted by Impact Church of The Woodlands and sponsored by The Howard Hughes Development Corp. Its open to the community and we welcome everybody to come, said Cheryl Tyson, the chairwoman for the MLK Jr. Day event. The event is organized by the Martin Luther King Jr Foundation Committee, a community group not directly associated with either Impact Church of The Woodlands or The Woodlands United Methodist Church. Last years event brought around 700 to 1,000 people into the church to celebrate and Tyson expects a similar-sized crowd this year. Tyson said she wants attendees to get a sense of unity out of the event. Remember what Martin Luther King Junior stood for and hopefully to bring people together, she said. Its a very diverse community, so its a very diverse event, and its just one day that all people can come together to honor a man that this is what he dreamed of and what he wanted. Five scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded at the event to deserving high school seniors from the community. The money for the scholarships is raised through the event sponsors as well as fundraising throughout the year, including at the actual event. Each year information is sent to local school counselors to encourage students to apply for the scholarship. This year, Tyson said the committee had over 20 applicants. Each year, members of the community who have given back in some way are given the Drum Major Award. But this years award winner or winners is being kept secret to surprise the recipient at the event. The award gets its name, Tyson said, because Dr. Martin Luther King was a drum major for justice. The winners are found through community nominations. They are chosen from the community based on their service that they have given back to the community in The Woodlands and beyond, Tyson said. Last years winners, Reed Kotalik, 9, and Rafe Kotalik, 13, brothers, were honored for embodying what King stood for. Reed, for his perseverance as a national champion at track and field who has also been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and for his ambassadorship with the Make LemonAide Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, and Rafe for his dedication to the community through his work as a Boy Scout and eventually an Eagle Scout. Music is an integral part of the event and several local choirs, both children and adults, will be performing on Monday. The childrens choir will be wearing t-shirts printed with artwork submitted to last years event. Each year, elementary school students submit their art for the poster awards. The first-place winners art is always displayed on the shirts worn by the childrens choir the next year. The first, second, and third place pieces will be on display at the church. Each piece is inspired by Dr. King and his dream. This years guest speaker is Reverend James Payne from Beaumont. A new aspect of this years event will be the reading of a portion of Kings famous I Have a Dream speech by David Darko, a student at Creekside Park Junior High School in Tomball ISD. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. MILWAUKEE Returning to the critical battleground state of Wisconsin on the same night as the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, President Trump offered support on Tuesday to Senator Bernie Sanders in his continuing dispute with Senator Elizabeth Warren, and he mocked the idea that an imminent threat from Iran was necessary to justify the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani. Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren have been involved in a he-said, she-said clash about whether he said during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. Ms. Warren said he did, while Mr. Sanders has denied ever making such a statement. Mr. Trump, who in recent weeks has been seeking to elevate Mr. Sanderss Democratic presidential primary campaign, believing that he could beat him in November, weighed in on the side of the man over the woman. A woman can win for president, Mr. Trump said. That could happen, who knows. I dont believe Bernie said that, I really dont, he said. Its not the kind of a thing hed say. A Kentucky high school freshman was expelled from her Christian school after a photo of her celebrating her 15th birthday in a rainbow sweater with a colorful cake was uploaded on social media. It was a happy day for Kayla Kenney, who went out to eat at a local restaurant with her family for her birthday. Her mother Kimberly Alford snapped a photo of her daughter and posted it on social media, where it caught the attention of school officials. 'She was happy, she looked beautiful. You know, of course as a mom, I took her picture of her blowing out her candles and I posted that on my Facebook page,' Alford said to WAVE3. However, the family never thought that Kayla would be penalized for simply posing in rainbow. Kentucky high school freshman Kayla Kenney, 15, was kicked out of her Christian private school for posing in a rainbow shirt with a rainbow cake on her birthday The school said the photo 'demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy's beliefs'. However Kayla's family said there was no special meaning behind her rainbow shirt and cake A few days after the photo was posted Dr. Bruce Jacobson, the Head of School at the private Christian school Whitefield Academy, contacted Kayla's family on January 6. 'It was an email expelling Kayla from Whitefield immediately due to a post on social media,' Alford said. The school expelled her effective 'immediately' for the picture that 'demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy's beliefs.' However, Kayla's post didn't allude to any relation with the LGBTQ Pride movement, which bears the rainbow flag symbol. Alford says there was no hidden agenda or meaning behind the picture - her daughter was simply celebrating her birthday. '[Kayla] loves to laugh and dance and that's just her. There was nothing intended by that and even when I went back and got the receipt from the bakery, it didn't say anything about representation, it just said assorted colors.' Whitfield Academy is a Christian private school where tuition is $7,800 a year. The school's code of conduct addresses sexual orientation and says if a student's off-campus behavior isn't in line with the school's beliefs, that student can be disciplined A few days after Kayla's birthday photo was posted online Dr. Bruce Jacobson, the Head of School at the private Christian school Whitefield Academy, contacted Kayla's family on January 6 with her notice of expulsion Kayla's family filed an appeal against the expulsion. She now attends a public school. Kayla pictured with mom Kimberly Alford The school's code of conduct addresses sexual orientation and says if a student's off-campus behavior isn't in line with the school's beliefs, that student can be disciplined. The school claimed the picture was the latest stint in two years' worth of 'lifestyle violations'. Alford says she doesn't know how the school came to its conclusion and has filed an appeal against the expulsion. 'I feel judged, she feels judged, just very devastating for us,' Alford said. 'You know we teach our kids what would Jesus do, What would he do here?' she added. However, school administrators have refused to meet with Kayla and her family. Kayla was a freshman at the school, where tuition costs $7,800 a year. The school did agree to list her withdrawal from the school as voluntary so it won't show on her school record. Kayla now attends a public school. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Premier Mark McGowan has dismissed business claims the local economy has entered "survival mode", instead arguing WA was "the strongest trading state with the biggest figures in history". The comments were prompted by the latest WA business confidence report, which revealed sinking consumer spending continued to be a dead weight on sentiment. Premier Mark McGowan says it's time to talk up the WA economy. Credit:Trevor Collens Mr McGowan said it was instead time to "talk up the Western Australian economy". He said WA had the "biggest trade surplus of any state in history, the largest numbers in the history of trade from Western Australia with the rest of the world". 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. Seoul: An Australian student who was briefly detained in North Korea last year over spy charges said he had been kidnapped by secret police and forced to make a false confession, according to an article written by him and seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Alek Sigley was held for nine days from June 25 while studying for a postgraduate degree in modern Korean literature at the prestigious Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Australian student Alek Sigley arriving at the airport in Beijing after be was released from North Korea in July last year. Credit:AP He was expelled from the country after Swedish officials helped broker his release. North Korean state media KCNA said he had admitted his "spying acts" including passing data and photos he collected by utilising his status as a foreign student to "anti-state" media outlets. Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has agreed to meet with the family of IRA murder victim Robert McCartney. The move comes after Mr McCartney's family told the Belfast Telegraph they wanted to meet with the Sinn Fein politician as she was one of 70 people in the Magennis' bar in Belfast in 2005 when the father of two was stabbed to death outside the pub by IRA members. Ms Hargey has always said she saw nothing of the fight in the premises that ultimately spilled outside into the street and ended in Mr McCartney's murder. The BBC has reported Ms Hargey has now agreed to meet with Mr McCartney's family. Communities Minister Dierdre Hargey says she will meet the family of Robert McCartney who was murdered in Belfast in 2005.@SuzyJourno reported yesterday that the family would like to meet her. Stephen Walker (@StepWalkTV) January 15, 2020 The Communities Minister has previously said she was never asked to make a statement to detectives. Mr McCartney's sister Catherine told the Belfast Telegraph: "She shouldn't need to be asked. She should just automatically go herself. As a political representative, and especially now as Communities Minister, she should be bending over backwards to help victims' families. Expand Close Catherine McCartney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catherine McCartney "We expect Sinn Fein to treat us the same way as they would treat victims killed by loyalists or the state. "Robert was a member of Deirdre's local community who went for a drink in a bar and was murdered. We want to sit down with Deirdre and ask her what exactly she saw and didn't see that night in Magennis' - where she sat, if she saw Robert, if she saw Jock Davison." Expand Close Robert McCartney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Robert McCartney Ms McCartney first asked for a meeting with Ms Hargey when the latter became Belfast Lord Mayor in 2018. Ms Hargey has previously said she did everything possible to help the McCartney's secure justice, saying what happened to Mr McCartney was "wrong, it should not have happened." Ms Hargey said she has fully complied with the police investigation. the PSNI had not asked to interview her but she would be willing to talk to detectives if requested. Sinn Fein has been approached for comment. Meanwhile, parents of IRA murder victim Paul Quinn also called on another Sinn Fein minister to withdraw his "disraceful slur" against their soon. After the 2007 killing, Conor Murphy- now the finance minister- said he had spoken to the IRA and was satisfied it was not involved. He linked the killing to a feud among criminals. Paul Quinn was beaten to death by a 12-strong IRA gang with iron bars and nail-studded cudgels in a border barn. His mother Breege said: "I'm calling on Conor Murphy to withdraw his disgraceful slur against Paul. My son was not a criminal." Both the McCartney and Quinn families asked the DUP to support their cause. Sinn Fein has been approached for comment on this matter. Update: Michigan legislative leaders open investigation into senator after comments to female reporter Michigan Sen. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, is facing criticism after telling a female Michigan Advance reporter a group of high school boys could have a lot of fun with her when he was approached for an interview. In a first-person account, Michigan Advance reporter Allison Donahue wrote that she was seeking comment from Lucido on a Detroit Metro Times report regarding his involvement in a now-deleted Facebook group. Lucido was with a group of students from De La Salle Collegiate, a Catholic high school in Warren, Donahue wrote, so he said he would respond after he was finished with them - but not before telling her it was an all boys school and adding, You should hang around! You could have a lot of fun with these boys, or they could have a lot of fun with you. Lucido, a first-term state senator and attorney who previously served in the Michigan State House, notes on his website that he graduated from De La Salle Collegiate in 1978. In a brief statement issued Wednesday morning, Lucido did not dispute the comments: I apologize for the misunderstanding yesterday and for offending Allison Donahue. Lucido did not speak with reporters following Senate session, and Lucidos office confirmed the statement were the extent of his comments on the matter. Hed previously told the Detroit Free Press that he was not talking about anything sexual, adding that the comments were blown out of proportion. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, told reporters he was taking the matter seriously and planned to have a very intense and lengthy private conversation with Lucido following Senate session. He did not elaborate on any possible sanctions, but noted the comments as reported were very unacceptable. Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, went further, calling the comments disgusting" and implying its part of a pattern from Lucido. He was especially critical of Lucidos statement following the report. His apology was basically saying, Im sorry you realize Im a jerk, and Im a creep, Ananich said. This is not how leaders in the state, whether theyre men or women - they dont act like this. This is a cowards act, he continued. In a statement, House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, commended Donahue for writing about the incident and said the situation is a testament to the changing times. Sen. Lucido purposefully generates this kind of controversy because it makes him feel important, and helps stave off his waning relevancy in a society where women and people of color are breaking down barriers and claiming their rightful seat at the table," she said. Humiliating women who represent a threat to you is a cliche tactic to avoid responsibility for immaturity. Lucidos statements also sparked an immediate backlash on social media, with other reporters, political observers and others criticizing the comments. State Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said today he would propose an amendment to the Alabama Constitution to take away the right to bail for defendants accused of some of the most serious crimes. Ward said he was motivated, in part, by the death of college student Aniah Blanchard in October. Ibraheem Yazeed, who is charged with the kidnapping and murder of Blanchard, had been released on a $280,000 bond on two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery and one count of attempted murder when he was arrested in the Blanchard case. This was somebody who shouldnt have been on the streets, Ward said. Had this person not been on the street, that girl would be alive today. Section 16 of the Alabama Constitution affirms the right to bail except for those charged with capital offenses. Wards bill, which he said he would introduce for the legislative session that starts in three weeks, would say that people charged with murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, sexual torture, human trafficking and kidnapping could not be released on bond before their trial. If approved by three-fifths of the members of the Senate and House it would go on the ballot for voters to have the final say on whether to change the state Constitution. Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, is also sponsoring a bill to amend the state constitution to allow more people charged with serious crimes to be held without bail. Browns amendment would expand the exception to a right to bail to cover Class A felonies involving danger to the victim, like first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and murder charges that are not capital offenses. Brown sponsored the bill last year, too, but it did not pass. Ward said he would expect his bill to be challenged in court if it becomes law. But Im not worried about the constitutionality in the courts, Ward said. "Ive seen it upheld in other states. Its constitutional. Its been said so by the courts. But more importantly than folks filing lawsuits, its about the public safety. Victims of crime." The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Ward chairs the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and has been a leader in criminal justice reform efforts in Alabama. I do believe in reforming our system, Ward said. Its broken. But at the same time, its a balancing act. It cant be all one way or the other. And this is one of those that I truly believe should put the victims first and public safety first. And I think we should always keep that in mind when were dealing with criminal justice in Alabama. Ward is serving his third term in the Senate after two terms in the House. He is running for the Republican nomination for a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court against Justice Greg Shaw. Ward said he studied laws in other states and said his proposal is similar to Arizonas. The legislative session starts Feb. 4. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: From January through November 2019, Georgia imported petroleum coke, petroleum bitumen and other petroleum products in the amount of $47.4 million from Iran, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistical Office (Geostat). During the reporting period, Georgia imported from Iran ceramic tiles worth $18.4 million, ethylene polymer worth $10.9 million, pipes and profiles from ferrous metals worth $9.7 million. Georgia also imported from Iran heat-polished glass and polished glass, dioxide steel rods, sodium hydroxides and peroxides, and copper wires. Over the reported period, exports from Georgia to Iran amounted to $67 million, and the largest share accounted on ferroalloys worth $13 million and meat worth $12 million. According to the official statistics, the trade turnover between Georgia and Iran in 2018 increased by 38.7 percent year-on-year and amounted to $251.9 million. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 Moving is a lot more than getting your stuff from point A to point B. It's a major life event. Without proper planning, a move can squeeze your savings -- and challenge your sanity. To help keep costs and headaches to a minimum, get organized early. Follow this checklist of moving tips to help make your relocation go as smoothly as possible: 1. Save Before You Go. Even when the military or another employer covers some costs, moving expenses can set you back thousands of dollars. Shipping charges, personal travel costs, temporary housing expenses and start-up fees at your new residence can add up. So, as soon as you know you're going to move, figure out your out-of-pocket costs. Then, set aside some cash each month for the move. 2. Do It Yourself? If you're in the military, you usually can choose whether to let a military moving contractor pack and transport your belongings, or manage the move on your own. Formerly called a DITY move, this option is now referred to as a "Personally Procured Move." The government will pay an incentive to service members who move themselves. 3. Look for Work. While you may have a career waiting for you, don't assume that your spouse will easily find a new job. Start reviewing the job boards and calling on personal contacts before you go. 4. Buying or Selling a Home? Be sure to research home values in your current community, as well as where you're moving, to get the best possible deal at both ends. Working with a trusted reliable real estate agent can help. Ask for recommendations from friends and family. 5. Set a Spending Ceiling. If you live off your post or base, you should spend only about 85% of your Basic Allowance for Housing on rent or a mortgage payment, says J.J. Montanaro, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM practitioner at USAA. Save the rest for utilities and insurance. 6. Browse Your New Community. Check out websites for your new city government, chamber of commerce, and convention and visitors bureau. Military personnel should ask about the Relocation Assistance Program, which offers detailed information about military communities worldwide. Military OneSource's Plan My Move page is a good place to start. 7. Educate Yourself on Schools. Check school schedules and enrollment requirements. Pick up school records or have them sent to the new schools. 8. Protect Your Belongings. Obtain appraisals for high-value items. Then, at least 24 hours before you release your belongings to the mover, contact your homeowners insurance or renters insurance company to ensure your possessions will be covered while in transit or storage. Make an inventory and take photos of your valuables to have a record if you need to file a claim. 9. Is Your Car Road-Ready? Take care of auto maintenance and repairs before you make a long trip. And don't forget to notify your auto insurance company of the move. 10. Move Your Money? Determine whether your current banking institution will be able to serve your needs after you relocate. Also, get familiar with any smartphone/tablet applications your bank might offer, which can keep you in the know during your move. 11. Turn It On, Turn It Off. Notify your utilities and local services of disconnect dates. Order utility services for your new address, including Internet and TV services, home phone (if you want one), electricity and natural gas. 12. Update Your Address. Fill out an online change-of-address form through the U.S. Postal Service to ensure important mail will be forwarded to your new home. Also, be sure to send your new address to friends and family, your physician, schools, magazine publishers and providers of financial services. 13. Clean Up. Properly dispose of flammables such as aerosol cans, cleaning fluids, paint, ammunition, weed killer and acids. Drain oil and gas from your lawn mower or other power equipment. Clean the refrigerator and the freezer; allow them to dry one or two days with the doors blocked open to protect your small children or pets. 14. Hold a Garage Sale. Put the extra cash toward moving expenses. Consider donating anything that isn't sold to charity -- and keep the receipts for tax deductions. 15. Save Brilliant Deductions. Some moving expenses may be tax deductible, such as those incurred through travel, a spouse's job-hunting costs and mortgage points. Look for details in IRS Publication 521 (Moving Expenses) and Publication 3 (Armed Forces Tax Guide). Create a move file to save deductible receipts and other important paperwork. 16. Pack Securely. Pack a suitcase with items you'll want to keep close or secure for the move, such as money, jewelry, medicine, books or electronics. If you are traveling by air, do not check this bag. Keep Up-to-Date for Your Next PCS Get the inside information from those who know. Get PCS help and all the news and benefits information you need delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe to Military.com now.. - The winners of the third edition held in Oman and the fourth edition of the United Arab Emirates, will participate in the grand world final that will be held in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Abdullah Al Mandhari of the German University of Technology in Oman, winner of the third edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Oman, and Ahmad Alkattan of the University Heriot-Watt of Dubai, winner of the fourth edition of the contest in United Arab Emirates, will travel to Barcelona from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. All activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury: Joao Bessa, founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. The man who will hang Nirbhayas killers will earn Rs 80,000 for the execution Nirbhaya: Delhi govt recommends Centre to reject mercy plea of rape convict India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 15: In a major setback that may delay the execution of the convicts of 2012's December 16 case, the Delhi government on Wednesday recommended rejecting the mercy plea filed by Mukesh Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, sources said. They said the recommendation on the mercy plea of 32-year-old Singh will now be sent to the Union Home Ministry. The recommendation comes a day after Singh filed the petition. Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were told by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by convict Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. Advocate Rahul Mehra, Standing Counsel for Tihar Jail authorities said, 'Execution of convicts(2012 Nirbhaya case) will surely not take place on January 22'. He further stated that the fate of a death convict comes to finality only after his mercy plea is rejected by the President. Will Nirbhaya's killers hang on January 22? The legal obstacles that remain 'It can only take place 14 days after the mercy plea is rejected as we are bound by the rule which says that a notice of 14 days must be provided to the convicts after the rejection of mercy plea,' he added. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected Mukesh Singh's curative plea. Then he moved the Delhi High Court to set aside and also filed a mercy plea before President Ram Nath Kovind. The four convicts - Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) - are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail as a Delhi court issued their death warrants on January 7. BEIRUT - Syrian government warplanes struck a market and an industrial area Wednesday in the last territory in the hands of rebel groups in the countrys northwest, killing at least 15 people, opposition activists said. A new cessation of hostilities agreement between Russia and Turkey, who support the opposite sides in the conflict, went into effect last week. But violence has continued. Yahya Abu al-Yaman, a volunteer with first responders the Syrian Civil Defence, said 15 people were killed and 65 were wounded in the strike. Most were in critical condition after warplanes struck a vegetable market and industrial area in Idlib city Wednesday afternoon. The two areas are a few hundreds meters (yards) apart. The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said one of its volunteers was killed in the strike. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the two areas were crowded with people when the warplanes struck. It also put the death toll at 15. The Observatory said airstrikes were also reported in other parts of Idlib province, recording at least 42 Russian raids and 33 by government warplanes. The Observatory has a network of activists on the ground and has been monitoring the war in Syria since it began in 2011. The government also launched several barrel bombs from helicopters in rural Idlib, according to the Observatory. The bombs are rudimentary and inaccurate projectiles that cause massive destruction. Russia is a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey is a strong supporter of some of the insurgents fighting against him. Moscow blamed the insurgents for violating the truce Saturday. Idlib is controlled by armed rebel groups, including Turkey-backed opposition groups and al-Qaida-linked militants who are the strongest there. It is also home to 3 million civilians. The United Nations said at least 300,000 have been displaced by the violence in the month between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday said in a statement the world body is increasingly concerned about the safety of those civilians. The UN urges all parties, and those with influence over those parties, to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law, he said. The international body, which is responsible for delivering most of the aid to Idlib, has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe as people flee the fighting toward the Turkish border. Cease-fires have failed to quell the violence. A government offensive that began last month appears aimed at reopening the highway linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syrias largest. The highway has been closed in Idlib since 2012, when insurgents captured several towns along the route. 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump responded to Speaker of the House Pelosi naming prosecutors as impeachment trial managers by throwing a tantrum on Twitter. Pelosi named seven lawyers to make the case against Trump, Reps. Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demmings, Jason Crow, and Sylvia Garcia. Speaker Pelosi explained her reasoning for naming prosecutors as impeachment trial managers at a press conference, As you can see from these descriptions the emphasis on litigators. The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our constitution, to seek the truth for the American people. Im very proud and honored that these seven members, distinguished members, have accepted this serious responsibility. Again, to protect and defend for the people defending our democracy. When we leave here a little bit later at noon well do to the floor and pass the resolution naming the managers officially. But I wanted to say more about them here and to say that the decision to come down in favor of litigators is necessitated by the clear evidence that we should have witnesses and we should have documentation and we have to make the strongest prosecution not only of our strong case but of all the information that has come forward since. Video: Pelosi names Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demmings, Jason Crow, and Sylvia Garcia of Texas as impeachment managers. Pelosi emphasized litigators to make the strongest case against Trump. pic.twitter.com/I9JSfXYGx7 Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 15, 2020 Trump responded with a tweet tantrum: Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2020 All of Trumps worst nightmares are coming true at the same time. He has been impeached. There is going to be a trial and a team of lawyers that is loaded with prosecutors is going to be making the case against him. Senate Republicans have warned Trump not to allow the likes of Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes anywhere near the trial. Trump is losing it because his Senate impeachment trial is turning into everything that he and Mitch McConnell didnt want. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 12:56:47|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close HOUSTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday forecast that U.S. net natural gas exports will rise to average 7.3 billion cubic feet (about 206.71 million cubic meters) per day in 2020 and 8.9 billion cubic feet per day in 2021. In particular, EIA expected that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will increase to 6.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2020 and 7.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2021, compared with 5.0 billion cubic feet per day in 2019. EIA's data showed that the United States exported more natural gas than it imported in 2019, with net exports averaging 5.3 billion cubic feet per day, up 2.0 billion cubic feet per day from 2018. EIA estimated that U.S. dry natural gas production set a new record in 2019, averaging 92.0 billion cubic feet per day. It forecast U.S. dry natural gas production will rise to 94.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2020, which is largely in response to improved drilling efficiency and cost reductions, higher associated gas production from oil-directed rigs, expansions in LNG capacity and increased takeaway pipeline capacity. It also forecast that U.S. dry natural gas production will decline to 94.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2021, in response to a forecast of low natural gas spot prices in 2020 that reduces drilling activity. Tri-State COVID cases surge, but number falls in Washington County While the number of new COVID-19 cases in the Tri-State area skyrocketed in the past week, the number cooled slightly for Washington County. LOS ANGELES - Even as murders in Los Angeles have decreased in recent years, the number of homeless homicide victims has gone up, authorities said. Overall, homicides in the city dipped from 260 in 2018 to 253 in 2019, city officials announced Wednesday. Meanwhile, the number of homeless people who were murdered rose from 40 to 42 from 2018 to 2019. NPR first reported the trend in Los Angeles homeless homicide victims last month. The citys homeless population rose 16% to 36,300 between 2018 and 2019, according to the most recent count. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Wednesday at a news conference that in half of 2019s homeless homicide cases, the perpetrator was someone also believed to be experiencing homelessness. The chief said the department works with other city agencies to get homeless people access to shelters and other resources to get them off the streets. Combating homelessness has been one of Moores priorities in his tenure. He has said law enforcement and arrests are not the solution. Its not clear if this is the citys highest number of homeless murder victims. Los Angeles Police Capt. Gisselle Espinoza said in an email the department only recently started categorizing specific homeless crimes. Moore and other city officials, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, touted other 2019 crime reductions Wednesday. Citywide violent crime is down 5.5%, and property crime dipped 7.4%. In the coming year, authorities said they want to focus additional efforts on recruiting a diverse pool of candidates to reflect the citys population, modernizing technology to free up officers for non-administrative duties and expanding accountability within the department. Moore also said he expects an update this week regarding an investigation into members of an elite crime suppression team who allegedly falsified records and listed innocent people as gang members. Of the 20 officers who are under review, 10 have been suspended. With an eye on the growing number of digital transactions via credit and debit cards, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has floated new features for banks to ensure security and convenience of card users. Under the new rules, banks will be able to issue credit and debit cards that can be used only at ATMs and with PoS devices. The choice of using the cards for contactless and international transactions will lie with the user, the central bank directed on Wednesday. The RBI mandated that all cards will be enabled to use only at contact-based points of usage, like ATMs and point of sale (PoS) devices, within India. "Issuers shall provide cardholders a facility for enabling card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transactions," the apex bank added. ALSO READ: HDFC Bank credit card holder? Net banking, other services won't be available on this day "For existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transaction rights," the RBI said. "Existing cards which have never been used for online (card not present) / international / contactless transactions shall be mandatorily disabled for this purpose." The cards should come with a facility to switch them on and off and modify transaction limits within the overall card limit, if any, set by the issuer. The issuers have been directed to extend these facilities round the clock through multiple channels, including mobile application, internet banking, ATMs, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and branches. Any change in the status of the card should be conveyed through SMS and emails, the RBI stated. ALSO READ: Video-based KYC: From latest tech tools to storage, challenges abound for banks The RBI has clarified that the provisions of this circular will not be mandatory for prepaid gift cards and smart cards used in mass transit systems like Delhi Metro, Mumbai Metro, Namma Metro, etc. "These directions are issued under Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007) and shall come into effect from March 16, 2020," the central bank said in its statement. Recently, after the RBI's order, all banks replaced magstripe cards with EMV chip-based cards to ensure secure transactions via ATMs and PoS devices. ALSO READ: Businesses with Rs 50 crore annual revenue to be penalised for not providing RuPay, UPI British Ambassador 'Leaving Iran' Amid Diplomatic Spat 01/15/20 Source: RFE/RL The British ambassador to Tehran has left Iran after being detained by Iranian authorities last week, state-run media reported on January 15. Rob Macaire was detained for three hours on January 11 after attending a candlelight vigil for the victims of the downing by Iran's air defenses of a Ukrainian passenger plane. Iran's official IRNA news agency said the diplomat had left after being given what it described as "prior notice." The report did not elaborate. Britain's Ambassador to Iran Rob Macaire The British Foreign Office insisted that Macaire's trip to London was "routine, business as usual" and was planned before his arrest. "It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here," a spokesman said. Macaire has said he attended the vigil in Tehran because it was "normal to want to pay respects" to the 176 victims of the January 8 downing of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 -- some of whom were Britons. But the event quickly turned into an anti-government protest, and Macaire said he left after 5 minutes. Thanks for the many goodwill messages. Can confirm I wasn't taking part in any demonstrations! Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects- some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting. Rob Macaire (@HMATehran) January 12, 2020 Iran's Foreign Ministry said Macaire's presence was "against diplomatic norms" and warned Britain to avoid making "any new mistake." The British government expressed "strong objections" to the arrest, which it called a "flagrant violation of international law." Based on reporting by AP and dpa TOKYO In a move heavy with symbolism for Japans workaholic fathers, Shinjiro Koizumi, a politician seen as a possible future prime minister, said on Wednesday that he would step back from his duties to care for his newborn child after the birth later this month. By the standards of other wealthy countries, Mr. Koizumi, Japans environment minister, will not be away from work for long. He will take a total of two weeks of paternity leave spread over three months, during which he will work flexibly from home or put in fewer hours. But in Japan, where fathers who take time off after a birth are rare, word of Mr. Koizumis intentions swept social media and drew praise from supporters as setting a powerful example. I hope my taking paternity leave will lead the way of working styles to one where everyone can easily take child-care leave without hesitation in the environment ministry, Mr. Koizumi, 38, said in a meeting with his staff on Wednesday. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged Wednesday morning after police found him to be in possession of an imitation pistol and marijuana, according to an NYPD spokesman. The 14-year-old faces charges including criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana, the spokesman said. Emergency radio transmissions indicated that the boy was traveling in a group when the imitation pistol fell out of his pocket, prompting a bystander to call police. He was arrested at the corner of Richmond Avenue and Forest Avenue in Graniteville at around 9:30 a.m., according to police. While the pistol was not real, the New York penal law indicates that an imitation pistol falls under the criterion for a criminal possession of a weapon charge. Research from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown shows that the estimated number of drug-associated deaths in the US in 2016 was approximately double the number of deaths attributed to drugs As the drug epidemic began to unfold in the United States, deaths classified as drug-related for 15- to 64-year-olds hit 9% in 2016, up from about 4% less than two decades earlier. But new research published in PLOS ONE from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University suggests that drug-associated mortality in this country is actually more than double that. "It's obvious that the drug epidemic is a major American disaster," says Penn demographer Samuel Preston, who conducted this work with Georgetown demographer Dana Glei. "The basic records being kept are annual reports on the number of deaths from drug overdose. But that's only part of the picture." Among this group of Americans in 2016, 63,000 deaths were attributed to drug-related causes--mostly poisonings--but Glei and Preston estimate that the overall number of drug-associated deaths is far higher: around 142,000. They also found that, on average, drug use decreased life expectancy after age 15 by 1.4 years for men and by 0.7 years for women--figures that more than doubled for the hardest-hit state, West Virginia. "The drug epidemic is probably killing a lot more Americans than we think," says Glei, a senior research investigator in Georgetown's Center for Population and Health. "That's the main point we're trying to make." Beyond overdoses To draw these conclusions, the researchers turned to a dataset from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They built models to assess the mortality rates for males and females in all 50 states from 15 age groups and for 18 calendar years. The dataset represented more than 44 million deaths, 667,196 of which were coded as related to drugs. Their models eventually showed that drug-coded deaths, which include drug overdoses and mental and behavioral disorders related to drugs, represent only about half of all drug-associated deaths. "Drugs can kill in other ways," says Preston, a professor of sociology and member of Penn's Population Studies Center. "Infectious disease like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, impaired judgement, suicide, circulatory disease--these are all affected by drug use. People who are perpetual drug users have much higher mortality in general." The statistical associations between drug-coded deaths and other deaths suggest that drug use likely cost something in the neighborhood of 142,000 deaths in 2016, or 2.2 times the number of death certificates that coded "drugs" as the underlying cause of death. Decreased life expectancy Glei and Preston then looked at life expectancy. They found that drug use shaved off nearly a year-and-a-half of life for men and three-quarters of a year for women. "That may not sound like a lot," says Glei, "but it's a big effect. It's big enough to account for the recent reversal of life-expectancy trends in the United States." West Virginia--known to be the opioid crisis epicenter, with high drug-overdose rates--fared the worst, with drug-associated deaths for 15- to 64-year-olds hitting 39% for males and 27% for females. Other states with high rates included Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. "Pennsylvania is one of the hardest hit," Preston says. "We estimate that for 15- to 64-year-olds, 34% of male deaths and 23% of female deaths in 2016 were attributable to drugs." Nebraska, on the other end of the spectrum, fared best for both sexes, with Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota rounding out the five states with the lowest numbers among men. Variation in regional patterns helped the researchers see pockets of drug-related mortality that could easily have been missed, Preston adds. "The rates are high in the Southwest, in Appalachia, and in New England. They're low in the Great Plains. The fact that this imprint is so distinctive helped us identify statistically significant associations." No root causes Though this work does recalculate the magnitude of the drug problem in the U.S., the researchers say it doesn't get at root causes. Currently two theories prevail: The first has to do with drug supply, fueled initially by a wave of addiction to prescription drugs like oxycontin, then again with street drugs like heroin, and finally by opioids like fentanyl. The second has to do with what are called "deaths of despair" that stem from abuse of alcohol and other drugs and also suicide, all of which are spurred by a deeper underlying cause. In this theory, "it's not just about the supply of drugs but that there's something else behind all of it that causes people to either use drugs or alcohol or commit suicide because they've lost interest in their life," Glei explains. "We're not differentiating between these two approaches or identifying any other explanations of what's going on," Preston adds. That could potentially come in future work. For now, this research aims to paint a broad picture and get at the true extent of the drug epidemic in the United States. ### Funding for this research came from the National Institute on Aging (Grant 1R01AG060115). Samuel Preston is a professor in the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts and Sciences and a research associate at the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dana Glei is a senior research investigator in the Center for Population and Health at Georgetown University. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI An on-duty sheriffs deputy and a Grand Rapids woman were seriously injured Wednesday, Jan. 15, in a head-on crash. Both were hospitalized in serious but stable condition, police said. Their names were not immediately released. The crash happened around 5:40 a.m. on Port Sheldon Road at 34th Avenue in Ottawa Countys Georgetown Township. The sheriffs deputy, in a marked patrol vehicle, was driving east on Port Sheldon when the other vehicle, a 2010 Chevrolet Traverse, driven by a 47-year-old Grand Rapids woman, crossed the center line and crashed head-on into his vehicle. The deputy was pinned in his vehicle until he was freed by Georgetown Township firefighters. Both drivers were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, police said. Both used seat belts. The crash remains under investigation. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Executive Director of Human Rights Watchs Middle East and North Africa Division Sarah Leah Whitson supports construction of illegal settlements in the territory of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia, reads an article posted in the Wall Street Journal, Trend reports Jan. 15. The settlements Ms. Whitson supports are in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area that was within the borders of post-Soviet Azerbaijan until 1994, when Armenia occupied the region after a protracted war, the article said. Since then, the Armenian leadership in Yerevan has actively encouraged the movement of settlers into the area. The UN, international courts and the US all consider Nagorno Karabakh occupied Azerbaijani territory, according to the article. Ms. Whitson, who is from an Armenian family, served as master of ceremonies at a 2018 fundraiser for the Armenian National Committee of America, a pro-settler charity that views Karabakh as an integral part of the Armenian homeland, the article said. She took to Twitter to promote Armenian wines, including from the occupied territories, reads the article. She responded by email: My personal support for Armenian diaspora organizations pertains to their charitable and educational work in Armenia and their efforts to advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Ms. Whitsons fundraising appeals for pro-settlement groups are in no way limited to educational issues, the article said. She has celebrated the work of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which supports new settlement construction to encourage young families to set down their roots. She specifically praised the group for helping Syrian Armenians who have resettled in Armenia; many or most such refugees have been resettled in the occupied territory. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. In this photo from video, Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai, China dumps fuel over Los Angeles before returning (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) Delta Plane Dumps Fuel Over 5 LA Schools, Dozens of Children Treated for Injuries Several dozen students and adults were treated after a Delta flight dumped jet fuel on four schools in Los Angeles, according to officials. The fuel caused minor lung and skin irritation to more than 40 children and adults, said the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which said it dispatched staff to Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy, Tweedy Elementary School in South Gate, Graham Elementary School in Inglewood, and San Gabriel Elementary School in South Gate. A report from The Associated Press, citing fire department officials, said that 56 people were treated for minor injuries. Five schools were impacted in all, the officials said. In the incident, Delta Air Lines Flight 89, which was heading from Los Angeles to Shanghai, reported an engine issue just minutes after taking off. Delta 89, heavy, we have engine compressor stalls on the right engine, the pilot told air traffic control operators, according to a recording of the conversation obtained by AP. Flight tracking website FlightAware showed the flight left LAX and circled over Southern California before it returned to the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suggested that an investigation might be conducted into the fuel release, saying in a statement that the Delta flight should have dumped the fuel over unpopulated land. There are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of any major U.S. airport, the FAA said. These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground. Delta also issued a statement in confirming the fuel release. Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX. The aircraft landed safely after release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight, the airliner said in a statement to local news outlets. The Los Angeles Unified School District issued a statement to CBS News: Students and staff were on the playground at the time and may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes. I was so scared, Marian Torres, an 11-year-old student, told the broadcaster. We went inside and then my eyes started itching. Some teachers at Park Avenue suffered headaches due to the fuel, said a representative for the United Teachers Los Angeles union. They were anxious to get home and shower because the stench was very strong, Antonio Buenabad told the AP. The University of Texas at El Paso's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department was awarded $1 million from the National Science Foundation to help low-income, academically talented undergraduate students in engineering successfully advance to graduate studies. The Pathways to Success in Graduate Engineering (PASSE) program focuses on understanding and supporting the critical transition from undergraduate to graduate engineering studies. The five-year project's objectives are to create an innovative, multi-faceted support ecosystem for students transitioning from undergraduate to graduate education; implement a mentoring structure to train students as researchers; and analyze the students' pursuit of graduate education. Researchers will focus on supporting and understanding the transition between undergraduate and graduate education, an area that has not been thoroughly studied. Leading the effort at UTEP is Patricia Nava, Ph.D., the grant's principal investigator. She is joined by co-principal investigators Danielle Morales, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, and Miguel Velez-Reyes, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering. "If successful, this support system has the potential to not only increase success rates of engineering graduate students at the University, but also to improve success at other institutions that apply it," Nava said. "As a result, this project can help meet the critical national need for a well-trained STEM workforce, particularly the need for more engineers." The project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by providing three-year scholarships to 20 students who are pursuing fast-track bachelor-to-master's degrees throughout UTEP's College of Engineering. The research is expected to produce a model for student success that will be disseminated nationally. As a result, it can help to increase the number of students who enter STEM careers, particularly low-income students who are first-generation and from populations underrepresented in STEM. The project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. "No conceptual model is currently available to orient understanding of the dynamic role of educational interventions in student development through time," Velez-Reyes said. "Therefore, the project has developed a novel three-stage student developmental trajectory model that will frame its research." ### The classic film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner shocked audiences with its candor and humor in 1967, and the AD Players production is sure to provoke thought and self-reflection 53 years later. AD Players Artistic Director Kevin Dean said he hopes the show will cause people to consider family, love and their own beliefs about race in the United States today. The show runs Friday, Jan. 31, through Sunday, Feb. 16, at the George Theater, located at 5420 Westheimer in The Galleria area. There will also be two preview performances on Jan. 29 and 30. Like the film with Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, the theater adaptation by Todd Kreidle tells the story of a young white woman, Joanna, introducing her fiance, John, to her parents for the first time at a home dinner party in 1967 San Francisco. She invites his parents to join them. But the surprise is that John and his parents are all African-American. So everyone in this place sort of looks at themselves in the mirror and has to deal with their fear. Its a fascinating story that is still relevant today in many ways, said Dean. I mean while culturally its much more acceptable for there to be an interracial couple, but, you know, the issue of race is still something thats very much alive in America. Related: CVS expands to take on health care, chronic illnesses in new way Kedrick Brown plays the role of John. This is his first season with the AD Players, and he recently played Fred Gailey in Miracle on 34th Street. Brown said he is looking forward to the show because he said it is certain to shake up things for the audience. I love taking risk and pushing the envelope. This story is the poster child of just that, said Brown. Telling this story excited me not only because it ruffles feathers, but it will force a conversation that has to be had in order for us to progress in this day and age. He compared not talking about race issues to hearing rattling noises under ones car hood and keep driving despite them. Discussions need to happen, he said. Haley Hussey is taking the role of Joanna and first worked with the AD Players in 2015. Her most recent role was Sophie in Mamma Mia! at Inspiration Stage. Hussey said she wanted to play Joanna because she saw the characters incredible natural optimism. She was raised to be kind, open-hearted, and progressive. Shes a free thinker and believes people to be good-hearted and as open minded as she is, herself, said Hussey. She possesses many of the qualities I would like to embody myself on a daily basis. Hussey called the cast amazing and said she feels very lucky to have the opportunity to share the story with such a great team. Related: UTHealth puts on free health fair in Houstons Jensen community Dean said he particularly appreciates that each of the characters travels a very specific journey of growth through the dinner party and is changed somehow by the end. How they get there is really interesting because the play sort of breaks everyone down and then puts them back together again. The script, Dean said, was strong structurally, but mostly, the play was chosen at the AD Players because of how relevant it still is today just over half a century later. He added he could see the script on a deeper, personal level because he and his wife tried to have children for years. Later, he was taken back a little when the adoption agency said likely their adoptive child would not look like them. It caused some soul pondering and surprised Dean that he even had to consider it. To Dean, one of the interesting parts of putting on Guess Whos Coming to Dinner is that many of the people that will see the play were a part of that younger generation in the dinner party that seemed to have a lot of things already sorted out. It will probably be a reflective moment for many of them in how they and their country have changed or grown over the years, he said. The cast just started rehearsing this week, and Dean said he feels very good about where they are. Because they are split racially, half and half, it has already caused some interesting conversations. The play is, I think, ultimately about how we are alike, as opposed to how are we different, Dean said. And you find out in the play that while these two families are separated by the color of their skin, there is some very emotional and tangible life experience that they do share. That is how theyre alike. Discount tickets are available for the preview nights on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Thursday, Jan. 30. Student discounts and group tickets are also available. For tickets or more information, visit www.adplayers.org. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com Stronger together. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images If you are interested enough in politics to know the proper pronunciation of Pete Buttigiegs name and progressive enough in your ideological convictions to consider him a soulless centrist (if not a covert CIA agent) then theres a good chance that your Twitter feed has taught you the following things over the past 48 hours: Bernie Sanders is a secret sexist with no social skills; a curmudgeon with so little tact, his response to a close friend telling him that she intended to run for president was (as BuzzFeed News confirmed) to declare that a woman couldnt possibly defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Never mind that female candidates delivered the House to Democrats in 2018, while Senator Tammy Baldwin won reelection in Wisconsin by double digits, and Gretchen Whitmer won the governors mansion in Michigan the brosocialist senators fetishization of the white male proletarian rendered him oblivious to the demographic character of the emerging Democratic majority. And in the last two days, Bernard has displayed exactly zero interest in trying to do better: After an unidentified third party (probably some eavesdropper on the Buttigieg or Biden campaigns) leaked word of Sanderss misogynistic punditry to the press and Elizabeth Warren had the temerity to not politely cover for a male allys sexism Bernie baselessly attributed the leak to Warrens staffers, called them liars, and then literally gaslit his supposed friend on national television at Tuesday nights debate in Iowa. When Warren let him off easy, pivoting away from a question about Sanderss comment to a broader case for her own electability, Bernie added pedantic insult to microagression: After Liz said that she was the only person on the debate stage whod defeated an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years, Sanders mansplained that actually he had beaten one in November 1990, which was only 29 years and two months ago. Now, for the crime of refusing to shake their patriarchs hand, Bernies troglodytic Trotskyite supporters have declared Warren to be Margret Thatcher incarnate. More interested in preening displays of their supposed ideological superiority than actually making change for Americas marginalized (their trust funds having left these dialectical materialists with only post-material needs), the Bernard Brethren are setting fire to the fragile foundations of the progressive movement in their maniacal quest to burn the neoliberal witch. @ewarren is the type of person who is not going to talk about you behind your back, she will confront you with your BS. This is why she is a great leader. We stan. https://t.co/U8bIOFN7vc WarrenStanClub (@WarrenStanClub) January 15, 2020 Elizabeth Warren is a snake and a wrecker. After Bernie Sanders dutifully honored the terms of their nonaggression pact for nearly a year, her campaign used the disclosure of an alleged call script that merely suggested the Vermont senator has built a broader base of support than she has (which is a fact) as an excuse to assassinate the character of the progressive movements most viable challenger to Joe Biden on the eve of the Iowa caucuses. Of course, Bernie Sanders did not tell Warren that a woman couldnt defeat Trump. After all, as the senator himself notes, Hillary Clinton came within an inch of defeating Trump in 2016. Obviously, in that years-old private conversation, Sanders merely observed that Trump would attempt to weaponize misogyny against a female nominee (as the Washington Post has confirmed). Maybe maybe he suggested that a woman would have a harder time defeating Trump than a man would, because a woman would have to overcome our patriarchal cultures pervasive misogyny. But then, wouldnt it be a scandal if he said the opposite? Isnt it sexist to deny the reality of Americas sexism? What, Bernie Sanders listening to women when they explained the causes of Hillary Clintons 2016 defeat is a scandal? No. The scandal is a cynical, professional-class, faux-gressive leaking a distorted, decontextualized account of a private conversation, willfully erasing Bernies 1990 triumph over Republican incumbent Peter Smith, and then performatively refusing to shake Sanderss hand, all in a desperate bid to derail his candidacy no matter the consequences for the movements and causes she claims to be fighting for. After all, deep down in her capitalist bones, shed prefer a Joe Biden presidency to a socialist one anyway, and so would her PMC careerist supporters. More interested in social climbing than socialism (their Ivy League diplomas leaving these capitalist progressives with no stake in progressing beyond capitalism), these Liz Lads are now setting fire to the fragile foundations of the progressive movement in their maniacal quest to cast Bernie as Archie Bunker, and then burn him in effigy. There are, of course, other versions of this story. And, as far as I can tell, the median extremely online Warren supporter would reject the first as a caricature (of both Sanders and their position), while the typical Twitter-addled Bernie backer would say much the same about the latter. Nevertheless, on the morning after the final Democratic primary debate before the Iowa caucuses, intra-left enmity persists. And for understandable reasons. Given limited publicly available information, Warren and Sanderss dueling accounts of the latters private punditry, and the anonymous sourcing of every news article on the matter, the question of what Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren over dinner in 2018, and how that conversation came to be a national news story today, is at least partly a Rorschach test. And it is hard to maintain faith that your campaign and its ideologically proximate rival share the same values when you no longer share the same reality. My own (inescapably subjective) read on the controversy is this: I dont think its possible to know with certainty whether or not Sanders ever told Warren that a woman couldnt win in 2020. And, based on current reporting, I also dont think it is possible to know with certainty whether Warren herself, a rogue Warren staffer, or someone else seeded the CNN story that kicked off this mishegas. But whatever the facts on those points, Warren did have the option of either declining to confirm the story, or else confirming it in a manner that allowed both sides to save face (Bernie raised the concern that Trump would weaponize misogyny against a female nominee, or some such thing). She chose otherwise. If her account is true, I dont think she had an obligation to characterize Sanderss remarks in more charitable terms. But it does seem to me like killing this story fast was unambiguously in the best interest of the progressive movement, and likely in her campaigns best interest as well (her campaign reportedly came to the latter conclusion by Monday night). Flatly contradicting Sanderss account was guaranteed to give the story legs, while fudging the matter had no obvious downside, unless Warren saw an upside in seeding a Bernie is a sexist narrative (even if some staffer came forward and said, Actually, Warren told me that Bernie said verbatim, a woman cant win, and the press somehow invested this hearsay with more authority than Warrens own telling, Elizabeth Warren selflessly lies to cover for Bernie does not seem like a bad story for her campaign, in my opinion). The fact that Warren chose to directly contradict Sanders anyway may reflect nothing more than her desire to tell the truth. But its not clear to me why asserting the absolute authority of her memory of a year-old conversation should have taken precedence over avoiding sowing intraleft acrimony at a critical juncture in the 2020 race. Strategically fudging the truth to advance causes you care about is more or less every politicians job. So, it strikes me as reasonable that some Sanders supporters interpreted her statement as confirmation that this was a fight that the Warren campaign had both picked and wanted. Meanwhile, if Warren did wish to de-escalate the conflict with Sanders Tuesday night, then declining his handshake while standing on a stage in a room full of reporters and cameras was political malpractice. But at the end of the day, it doesnt really matter that much what I think about this, nor what any other progressive does. You can believe that Bernie is a secret sexist (his decades of advocacy for the rights of women and LGBT individuals notwithstanding). Or you can believe that Warren is a secret corporate shill (who only took the side of working people in their conflicts with credit card companies, big banks, and the Obama administration as a savvy exercise in political brand-building). You can believe that the typical Bernie supporters favorite pastime is online harassment, or that the typical Warren supporters is updating their LinkedIn page. Or you can believe, in spite of everything, that Bernie, Warren, and their people are truly good at heart. Regardless, your position on these matters will not change three brute facts: (1) There are not very many people in this country who are eager to spend copious amounts of time, money, and attention on progressive politics. (2) There are not very many politicians in America who are as responsive to the demands and desires of such people as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. (3) As a consequence of the first two points, Bernie and Warren supporters cannot win much of anything without each other. Sanderss nomination is not going to trigger a proletarian uprising that frees democratic socialists from the indignity of seeking common cause with left-liberals. Warrens nomination, meanwhile, is not going to make the Democratic Partys Wall Street wing stop worrying and learn to love accountable capitalism. And anyhow, neither candidate is going to win the nomination without the aid of the others supporters. This inescapable codependence does not mean that the left must conduct the primary like a game of patty-cake. Two people cant win the Democratic nomination. And although Warren and Sanders have disparate demographic strengths, both would nevertheless (almost certainly) be better off if the other dropped out and vigorously endorsed them. Drawing contrasts is healthy and fine. But neither candidate is dropping out before Iowa. And the lower Joe Biden places in that state, the better both Warren and Sanderss chances of catching him will be. It is therefore in each candidates immediate interest to see the other gain ground on the Democratic front-runner in the coming weeks. And it is in the long-term interests of both candidates and the progressive movement more broadly to maintain a modicum of goodwill and fellow feeling among the small minority of humans who care deeply about pulling American politics to the left. There are some normie suburban Democrats who are receptive to a social democratic message when it comes from Warren and her allies, but not when it comes from Bernie or his. And the reverse is true of some disaffected, non-college-educated voters whove given up on both parties. A movement that cultivates a comradely attitude between Bernie and Warren activists will be one that is better able to cohere the candidates disparate bases into a faction large enough to compete for hegemony within the Democratic Party. A movement that cultivates internecine conflict for its own sake which is to say, for cathartic, expressive, or media brand-building purposes will allow meek centrists to inherit the (increasingly uninhabitable) Earth. all the twitter replies to Elizabeth Warren's posts now are just increasing numbers of snake emojis pic.twitter.com/uk544FqBoa Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) January 15, 2020 Cultivating intra-left solidarity does not mean keeping silent about substantive conflicts, or sincerely liking or respecting everyone to the left of Amy Klobuchar. But it does mean making some effort to interpret other progressives actions and intentions with charity, and keeping in mind that the world is shot through with ambiguity, that all us our prisoners to your own subjectivity, and thus, that people can earnestly share most of our values without sharing our perception of any given event. And it means once youve extended such charity and epistemic modesty, and arrived at the unavoidable conclusion that a supposed ally is just an incontrovertible jerk or hack or wrecker at least considering whether saying as much serves a constructive political purpose, or just a cathartic, personal one. In simpler terms, it means not filling Elizabeth Warrens mentions with snake emoji. Twitter may reward brawling factionalists. But the American political system rewards movements with numbers. And no faction of the U.S. left has much hope of building that kind of movement without all of the others. In a case of shocking negligence, an accident victim with a fractured leg lay in a Jharkhand hospital without treatment for two days as police searched for his relatives in Bihar so an operation could be performed, evoking sharp reprimand from Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Shatrughan Sao, who was admitted to Koderma hospital a fortnight ago, was shifted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here on Tuesday following Soren's intervention, and is likely to undergo an operation on Saturday, an official said. "Sir, patient is stable, suffering from closed fracture of left femur, undergoing investigations. If all is confirmed normal, operation (internal immobilisation like nailing or plating) expected on Saturday. Civil Surgeon is monitoring the case closely," Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray, wrote to Soren on Wednesday. The top district official's response came after Soren, in a touching gesture, enquired about the condition of the 60 -year-old patient and directed the hospital to take adequate care of him. He also asked Ray to arrange for Sao's travel to his home in Ekangar Sarai of Bihar's Nalanda district after treatment. Instead of treating Sao, the Koderma Sadar hospital authorities allegedly asked police, apparently because it was a medico-legal case, to search for his family members. It took the Koderma police two days to find a relative, a nephew of Sao, who came and began staying with him. Sao's family claimed he was not given any treatment during this period. His nephew narrated the incident to JMM workers in Koderma, who conveyed it to the CM, leading to his intervention in the matter. Taking a strong exception to the conduct of the hospital management, the CM lamented the officials approach towards duty and issued instruction to change it. "This attitude has been there for last few years. Instead of taking the responsibility to solve the problem - every officer wants to shift it. This is really sad, but the situation will change now. This attitude will no longer be tolerated," Soren said in a tweet. The CM directed the management of all (government) hospitals to treat patients with sensitivity. "The police has the responsibility to locate relatives of unknown while the doctors should focus on the treatment of the patients," Soren said in his tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A search is under way for a hotel chef who went missing two weeks ago. Gary Ablett was last seen at the B Shed cafe in Fremantle, Perth, at 9am on New Year's Day. The 46-year-old was working as chef for Hotel Rottnest on Rottnest Island when he vanished. Gary Ablett (pictured) was last seen at the B Shed cafe in Fremantle, Perth at 9am on New Year's Day Mr Ablett is described as fair skinned, 188cm tall with a solid build, short brown hair and blue eyes. It is not known what he was last seen wearing. The chef has not contacted family during this time which is out of character and concerns are held for his welfare. A special court here on Wednesday convicted a 41-year-old man for molesting a former Bollywood actor on board a domestic flight in December 2017. The court hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act held Vikas Sachdev guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty). Sachdev was also convicted under relevant provisions of the POCSO Act, since the actor was a minor when the incident took place. Special Judge A D Deo will pronounce quantum of the sentence later in the day. In December 2017, the actor alleged that she was molested by a co-passenger on board an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Vietnamese Embassy in China held a ceremony on January 13 marking the 70th anniversary of the Vietnam China diplomatic ties. At the event (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said the stable and healthy development of the bilateral ties over the past three decades has made positive contributions to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world. He said the Party, State and people of Vietnam always treasure friendship and comprehensive cooperation with the Party, Government and people of China one of the top priorities in Vietnams external policy. Since 2004, China has been the largest trade partner of Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam has been Chinas largest trade partner in ASEAN and the eight largest globally since 2016. Mai suggested that both sides continue fully and effectively realising high-level common perceptions, strengthening political trust, further stepping up people-to-people exchange, control and properly address differences at sea. Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Song Jingwu said the 70-year history has proved that the China Vietnam traditional friendship has been an invaluable asset of the two Parties, States and peoples, which needs to be treasured, protected and handed down to later generations. At the event, Vietnamese and Chinese artists and students staged music performances honouring bilateral friendship./. VNA LEXINGTON It can be easy to take certain actions for granted, turning on a faucet, having the trash taken away or turning on a switch. Yet there is a whole host of infrastructure and workers behind this to ensure daily life goes on smoothly. On Saturday, Jan. 11, the City of Lexington held a banquet to honor their employees for the vital work they perform every day. Lexington City Manager Joe Pepplitsch said to the group gathered at the Holiday Inn Express that the employees of the city are spread over a wide area and cover multiple different types of work. We dont get to say thank you enough, Pepplitsch said, We are getting the job done, I am lucky to have a group like you guys. Pepplitsch went on to say the city has much to accomplish in 2020 but he is excited for it and thanked the employees again for all their work. Assistant City Manager Dennis Burnside gave the State of the City speech and reviewed what had happened throughout Lexington in 2019. I was a 14-year-old in, of all places, the subdivisions of St. Louis when I learned about Rush. My friend Bret alerted me to this weird Canadian trio. Bret knew about them because his cool older sister, between her apparent penchant for Zeppelin, Steely Dan and the Moody Blues, got A Farewell to Kings. Before I knew it, our small, socially awkward, intelligent band of friends were playing the grooves off of Hemispheres, mesmerized by the lyrics and percussion virtuosity of Rush drummer Neil Peart. We had our own little clique. We were cool to be outcast. And it was mainly Peart who brought our hearts closer to Canada. To put an even stronger nerd-factor into my musical tastes, I became a bagpiper, as engrossed in piping culture as I was in Pearts mystic lyrics, Lifesons doublenecked riffs and Lees improbable bass-falsetto combination. Bagpipes and Rush: unlikely watchwords of my adolescence. Those halcyon pre-Internet days made us wonder just what they were all about. Geddy? Romantic poetical references to Coleridges Kubla Khan? Cygnus? Where was this Lakeside Park and its fantastical willows in the breeze? And just how was Peart pronounced anyway? Pert? Pea-art? Or could a twist of satined-mustachioed-lyricist-cool make it rhyme with heart itself? One thing was sure: the heart of Peart was art. Soon I was discovering and enjoying more made-in-Canada music. April Wine. Max Webster. Neil. Joni. Id wonder what the obscure reference to Beckers chocolate milk meant on the credits on an album sleeve. We saw two Rush concerts: December 1978 at the Checkerdome and February 1980 at Keil Auditorium. They played three sold-out nights at the latter, having somehow secured a fan base toehold in St. Louis, with the help of Bret, Keith, Rick, Matt and me. By that time, though, Rushs Permanent Waves foreshadowed and countered New Wave. As the ironic album title suggested, Rush would stay true to their craft, even though cool was now coming from the UK in the form of deliciously synthy bands. I went off to college in Minnesota. It was even less cool to love Rush. After detecting some slight musical and video compromise with The Big Money (more irony), I left them for local fare like Prince and The Time, while soaking in as much of The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen and REM as possible. But my interest in Canada, spawned by Rush, continued. Through bagpiping, I discovered that Canada possessed the best pipers in North America, and a thriving scene that I wanted to be part of. My father and I would journey to Ontario from St. Louis for me to compete in piping competitions in unlikely towns like Cambridge, Dutton and Maxville. Hours of dad-driven 55 mph travel in our radio-less ochre-coloured Dodge Aspen. My heart would leap up driving across the 401 at the top of Toronto. In the distance, could it really be the same highrise housing featured on the cover of A Farewell to Kings? Eyes cast up on the path of least resistance. Canada would hold its cool. Within a year of completing university, I fulfilled my subconscious dream and somehow landed in Toronto for good. It was May 1988, and Id even live in Alex and Geddys Willowdale hood for several years. I became a Canadian citizen by 1995 and here I remain. I would continue to learn and love music made in Canada, and eventually transfer that love and my career in communications and marketing to fulfil another subconscious dream: working on behalf of Canadas songwriters, composers and music publishers, fighting for their rights, promoting their success. When I turn my pages of history I cant help but to give much of the credit to those days long ago in St. Louis. I thank this unusually compelling power trio for bringing me closer to their art, compelling me to Canada, through music and words. Neil Pearts words. New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Delhi Bar Association President Sanjeev Nasiar joined the party on Wednesday. The Delhi Cabinet had announced Chief Minister's Advocates Welfare Scheme in February, 2019. The government in November also announced it has formed a 13-member committee of lawyers to give recommendations on the utilisation of the fund for advocates' welfare. AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal welcomed Nasira, along with member of Bar Council of Delhi Himal Akhtar, Senior Advocate Satish Kumar and advocates Seema Singh and Mukesh Dral. "We will work together for the progress and development of people and lawyers," said Nasiar. Nasiar has been former in-charge of the BJP Human Rights Cell in Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, he said, "I believe that we will work along with the legal fraternity to lead AAP towards victory in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. I sincerely hope that the lawyer community would be at the forefront of working for the welfare of the people of Delhi. We will also work for the progress of the lawyer community." Centre is offering imported onions at an average cost of Rs 55 per kg and also bearing the entire transportation cost. (Photo Credit: PTI File Photo) New Delhi: Forced to import onions to check spike in prices, the Union Government now fears that the key kitchen staple may rot in godowns as states have shown little interest in buying them despite its offer to bear transportation cost. Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the Centre is offering onions to states at Rs 55 per kg landed cost and is ready to bear the cost of transporting the commodity. While the Centre alone can import onions, it depends on states for retailing them to consumers. Retail onion prices started to rise by September-end and touched a high of Rs 170 per kg in December, forcing the Union government to import onions from countries like Turkey and Egypt. In subsequent weeks, rates started to soften with the arrival of new Kharif crop in the market. "So far, we have contracted (import of) 36,000 tonnes of onion. Of which, 18,500 tonnes of shipment has reached India, but states have taken only 2,000 tonne that too after much persuasion. We are worried about its disposal because it is a perishable commodity," Paswan told reporters. "Tomorrow, someone should not go to court and say imported onions were rotting," he said. He said the Centre is offering imported onions at an average cost of Rs 55 per kg and also bearing the entire transportation cost. Despite all, the state governments are not coming forward to buy them. As per government data, retail onion prices average Rs 50 per kg in most markets. The data showed onion being priced at Rs 50 per kg in the national capital but local vendors were selling it for Rs 70-80 a kg. Asked why prices are still high despite imports, Paswan said, "The imports are being done to improve the domestic supply and check prices. If state governments are not ready to take the imported onions, what can we do?" So far, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal governments have taken the imported onions. Many states have withdrawn their demand, he added. Sources said the taste of imported onions is different from the homegrown ones and consumers are not buying them when domestic onion is available at the same rate. Stating that a shipment of 5,500 tonne was cancelled before it set on sail in the absence of demand, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash Srivastava said 4,000 tonne of imported onions is expected to arrive in the next two days and 14,500 tonnes by the month-end. The government is importing onions through state-run trading agency MMTC. Imports are being undertaken from Turkey, Afghanistan and Egypt. Onion prices shot up due to 25 per cent fall in the kharif production. Paswan also said the ministry is keeping a close watch on prices of other commodities, especially edible oils and pulses. The government will take action at appropriate time. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. People belonging to the Tharu community celebrated Maghi festival with much fanfare in the Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday. Maghi is the biggest festival of the Tharu people, who form the fourth-largest community in the Himalayan nation, marking the community's new year. The festival is celebrated over a week. "For us it is special celebrations here. We wear our cultural dress and then we eat different cuisines along with a display of grandeur and fervour," Suyel Tharu who came to the Tundikhel playground in Kathmandu to celebrate the festival told ANI. During the festival, Tharus clean and decorate their houses to welcome their New Year, while also performing Shakiya Naach, a special dance organised during the festival. It is believed that the sun, on this day, begins its journey towards the north pole thereby increasing mercury in days to come. The Tharus bathe in rivers early in the morning and pray for the prosperity and well being. "It is the new year of Tharu Community, which has been celebrating the festival as a tradition for a long period of time. On this day in our village the leader of our locality and seniors are appointed by the community. There is a change in leadership and deciding over who will rule next, how to function the society are made and is important in that manner," Prem Sagar Tharu also told ANI. Similarly, they celebrated this festival by getting together as a family and friends, get together in a mela, dressing up in the traditional Tharu wear, eating, drinking and making merry. As part of the ritual, Tharus also select leaders for weddings, farmers and cowherds among others, during the festival. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The owner of the Whiddy Island oil terminal in Bantry Bay plans to sell the strategic facility. Zenith Energy, headquartered in Houston, Texas purchased the terminal in February 2015 to serve as a critical commercial link in northwest Europe for crude and refined products. The company operates and builds oil terminals across the world including more than 20 facilities in the US, Europe and Latin America. It is understood Zenith now plans to put the Whiddy facility up for sale on March 1. With 17 oil storage tanks, Whiddy has a capacity of almost nine million barrels and stores a significant portion of the State's oil reserves. The terminal is also situated in a strategic location on the western edge of Europe. The company declined to comment on the possible sale when contacted by the Irish Examiner saying that as a matter of company policy they do not comment on commercial matters. However, it is understood staff on Whiddy Island were informed of the company's plans in recent days. Up to 50 staff are employed at the facility. The Whiddy terminal has a long history. First developed by Gulf Oil in the late 1960s, it was transferred to State ownership following the explosion of the French tanker Betelgeuse in 1979 which killed 50 people. The terminal along with the Whitegate oil refinery in Cork Harbour were operated by the State's Irish National Petroleum Corporation up until 2001 when they were sold to US oil giant Tosco which was later acquired by Phillips 66. The Whiddy terminal was sold to Zenith in 2015 while Canadian firm Irving Oil purchased the Whitegate refinery in 2016. The National Oil Reserve Agency (NORA), the State body with responsibility for the maintenance of strategic supplies of oil, is one of Whiddy's largest customers. Currently, NORA holds approximately 73% of its total oil stocks in Ireland, and the balance abroad. When Zenith acquired the Whiddy terminal in 2015, they said it would serve as a critical commercial link in northwest Europe for crude and refined products. "The terminals attractive deepwater location on Bantry Bay enables our customers to take advantage of many trade opportunities, and the terminal will remain an important part of Irelands strategic petroleum reserve," the company's CEO Jeffrey R. Armstrong said at the time. kushner trump kelly Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images President Donald Trump did not appear to understand the significance of a Pearl Harbor memorial during a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, according to a new book. The memorial was constructed in 1962, right above the original USS Arizona, in memory of the more than 2,400 service members and civilians who were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack some of whom were entombed in the battleship. According to the Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, Trump asked his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, "Hey, John, what's this all about? What's this a tour of?" "He was at times dangerously uninformed," a former senior White House official said, according to the Washington Post. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump did not appear to understand the significance of the iconic Pearl Harbor memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, during a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, according to a new book by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from the Washington Post. The book, "A Very Stable Genius," is an account from hundreds of hours of interviews with over 200 sources, according to the Post. Some of its details, which paint an unflattering picture of the president's knowledge of foreign affairs, were corroborated by "calendars, diary entries, internal memos and even private video recordings," The Post reported. According to the Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, Trump asked his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, "Hey, John, what's this all about? What's this a tour of?" "He was at times dangerously uninformed," a former senior White House official said, according to The Post. Trump appeared not to grasp that this was a hallowed tribute to the more than 2,400 US service members and civilians who died in the 1941 assault, a devastating surprise attack that launched America into World War II. In November 2017, Trump visited the site for the first time and claimed he "read about, spoken about, heard about, studied [sic]." Story continues "And that is going to be very exciting for me," Trump added at the time. The battleship USS Arizona was attacked by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941, killing 1,177 US Navy sailors and Marines. Over half of the casualties could not be recovered from the underwater site, where the ship still remains. The memorial was constructed in 1962, right above the original USS Arizona, in memory of the combined 2,341 service members and 49 civilians who were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. trump pearl harbor Andrew Harnik/AP Kelly is a retired four Marine Corps general and a Gold Star father. After he retired from the Marine Corps, he helmed the Department of Homeland Security before being tapped as Trump's chief of staff. Kelly eventually resigned in December 2018 and was replaced with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who is currently serving in an acting role. Authors Rucker and Leonnig write that although Trump "heard the phrase 'Pearl Harbor' and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle ... he did not seem to know much else," The Post reported. Trump appears to be aware of some of the history, tweeting in 2016: "Does President Obama ever discuss the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor while he's in Japan? Thousands of American lives lost." But subsequent tweets made by Trump and First Lady Melania in December 2017 appeared to undercut some of their knowledge. Trump, quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, misquoted his predecessor's famous line, "a date which will live in infamy," and tweeted out "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - 'A day that will live in infamy!'" In a now-removed tweet from 2017, the first lady said that the Pearl Harbor attack occurred in November, one month before the actual date. "A Very Stable Genius" will be available on January 21, 2020. Read the original article on Business Insider Photo taken on Jan 11, 2019 shows an automatic container dock in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua] BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- By posting a 3.4-percent growth rate and a total foreign trade volume of 31.54 trillion yuan (about 4.6 trillion U.S. dollars), China has shown its tenacity and is expected to remain the world's biggest trading country in 2019. With global economic growth continuously slowing and challenges mounting, Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, admitted Tuesday that the external environment for China's foreign trade was "complex and tough indeed" in 2019. Against such a backdrop, China still scored steady growth and maintained momentum for achieving better quality, he said. Citing data from the World Trade Organization for the first 10 months of 2019, he said China's export remains the best among the world's top 10 trading countries. Official data from China showed the country's exports grew 5 percent year on year to 17.23 trillion yuan last year while imports climbed 1.6 percent to 14.31 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 2.92 trillion yuan, which expanded by 25.4 percent. Zou attributed the performance to the country's sound economic fundamentals and resilience, as well as a raft of pro-trade policy measures. NEW HIGHLIGHTS Speaking about the country's foreign trade, Zou pointed out a few fresh trends. Private firms are playing a larger part in foreign trade, overtaking foreign-funded enterprises to become the biggest contributor to China's foreign trade for the first time. Their capability of exploring emerging markets, including countries in Latin America and Africa, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, is particularly eye-catching, which is, in part, a representation of China's diversifying foreign trade markets. In 2019, ASEAN overtook the United States to become China's second-largest trading partner, while trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative picked up 10.8 percent to 9.27 trillion yuan in total. As China's economy gradually shifts from being export-driven to consumption-driven, imports of consumer goods surged last year, led by fruits, cosmetics and aquatic products, demonstrating the power of China's immense consumer market, said Zou. ENHANCED IMMUNITY With the government taking active efforts to open up the economy and facilitate foreign trade, China has become more immune to external uncertainties and seen improving trade structure. The country has rolled out a series of measures since 2018 to spur trade, including lowering or abolishing tariffs on products like consumer goods and some medicines. As a result, imports of consumer goods and medical products climbed 19 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively, said Zou. China has also introduced measures to optimize forex management and promote cross-border trade and has seen its ranking ascending to 56th worldwide on the Trading Across Borders indicator of the World Bank's ease of doing business list. As a token of a healthier system, China's trade mix continued to improve in 2019, with the general trade, which represents longer production chain, higher added-value and companies' strength for growth, taking up a larger share of the total trade, said Zou. RECOVERY EXPECTED Despite the slower growth of 3.4 percent, China's foreign trade expanded quarter by quarter throughout the year. In December alone, China's foreign trade jumped 12.7 percent from the same period of 2018 to a monthly record of 3.01 trillion yuan, with exports up 9 percent and imports up 17.7 percent to new monthly highs. Huang Guohua, a GAC official in charge of data analysis, attributed the December uptick to factors including rising demand for imports from recovering global manufacturing activities, higher prices of major commodities worldwide, and growing confidence buoyed by the progress relating to trade consultations between China and the United States. Wen Bin, the chief researcher with China Minsheng Bank, said the global trade environment might get better with the improving economic situations and the upcoming signing of the phase-one deal between China and the United States. But the major engine for the country's foreign trade growth in 2020 will largely depend on domestic reforms, the measures of steadying economic growth, better business environment, stronger dynamics of business entities, among others, Zou noted. Less red tape in administrative approval are also expected to unleash more potential for trade. "In 2020, China's foreign trade is expected to expand steadily with higher quality," said Zou. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Paul Gosar, a member of the US House of Representatives, has made a statement in remembrance of the 30th anniversary of the events in Azerbaijan culminating in what is now known as Black January, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijans Embassy in the US. In January 1990, the former U.S.S.R. attempted to continue to suppress freedom and impose its political will on the people of Azerbaijan, reads the statement. At that time, however, the people of Azerbaijan decided that they had enough of Soviet control and resisted. While the Azerbaijanis used peaceful protests and calls for freedom, the Soviets responded with guns and tanks, according to the statement. These actions resulted in 147 civilian deaths, with hundreds more wounded and imprisoned, Gosar said. The Azerbaijanis had seen what happened to prior independence movements in the Soviet Union, yet they persevered on. This tragedy only emboldened them in their cause, carrying on the mission of their countrymen which culminated in their August 1991 independence. Since this monumental declaration, Azerbaijan has been a beacon of freedom in the region as well as a friend and ally of the United States, reads the statement. At this time, we memorialize those fallen and celebrate the continued strength of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Gosar strongly urged his colleagues to recognize Black January and join in the honoring of allies in Azerbaijan and their quest for liberation. Full text of the statement can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/01/09/CREC-2020-01-09-pt1-PgE22-5.pdf Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight A few clouds. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 73F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 21:01:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government forces on Wednesday shelled reinforcements of the Houthi group in the country's southern province of Dhalea, killing a rebel commander and four other fighters, a military official told Xinhua. The military official said on condition of anonymity that "a convoy of the Houthi reinforcements was struck by the government forces shelling in the northwestern parts of Dhalea." He said that the Houthis were attempting to bring military reinforcements from the central province of Ibb that's controlled by their rebel group. Armed confrontations also occurred between the two warring rivals in different locations of Qataba district, causing an unknown number of casualties, according to local residents. In April 2019, the Iran-allied Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of the Yemeni government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in western Dhalea. The areas in the north and west of Dhalea, 138 km north of Aden, have been witnessing non-stop fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters for about four years. Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 when Houthi militias forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. [January 15, 2020] Spoke Phone Raises $4.5 Million to Migrate Legacy Phone Systems to the Cloud Mobile voice company Spoke Phone (News - Alert) today announced it has raised $US4.5 million in Series A funding, in a capital raising round led by Australian venture capital firm, Marbruck Investments, with support from New Zealand-based Icehouse Ventures and Sir Stephen Tindall's K1W1 fund. Spoke Phone is a mobile-first business phone system that offers the same powerful features and integrations available to desktop users via their mobile phones. Globally, there are more than 5,640 business phone providers offering VoIP (Voice over Internet calling) solutions, with Spoke Phone being the only solution designed specifically for mobile. Co-founders Jason Kerr and Kieron Lawson built Spoke Phone because they saw a "mobile-first" future where employees prefer using a mobile phone, and where companies have more mobile and remote workers. "With 50% of the workforce expected to be mobile or remote by 2025, enterprises need to enable workers with fully-integrated mobile-first business tools," says Mr Kerr. To prepare for this change, Mr Kerr says businesses of all sizes are undertaking expansive digital transformation and cloud migration projects, with Spoke Phone set to play a large part in this journey. As a sign of how far the mobile-first movement has come, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (News - Alert) recently revealed it's been years since he's used a computer, rather he runs the $143 billion company from his phone. Mr. Kerr contiued: "Current phone systems are designed for desk users, not mobile users. They have significant limitations and with advances such as 5G and better battery life, a mobile-first future is within sight." The investment will be used to further enhance the capability of Spoke Phone's existing business phone solution, accelerate expansion in Australia and the United States, and commercialize Spoke Phone for enterprise, a new solution that helps large customers stuck on legacy phone systems effortlessly migrate to the cloud. "One of the riskiest and most disruptive cloud transformations companies face is how to get off their legacy phone system," says Lachlan Clough, a partner with Marbruck Investments. "We invested in Spoke Phone because their technology gives companies a risk-free and non-disruptive way to gently migrate legacy phone systems to the cloud." Thousands of companies are stuck on unsupported legacy phone systems with limited or no mobility, facing significant business disruption, cost, and risk to move to a more modern cloud solution. Spanning from smb to enterprise companies, Spoke's new product works to safely migrate business communications to the cloud in a series of risk-free steps that can be done while existing supplier contracts run their course. It means companies no longer need to risk changing everything in one go. Mr Kerr cites a recent new customer, a large commercial insurance provider in Australia. "As a large insurance provider, they could not risk making a wholesale change to their phone system. Retraining employees, rolling out new hardware, and changing the customer experience all at the same time, is just too much risk. They were able to implement Spoke Phone over top of their legacy phone system while also integrating with Twilio (News - Alert) and Amazon as part of their larger cloud migration journey." ABOUT SPOKE PHONE Spoke Phone, founded in late 2016, is the only business phone system designed for the mobile generation, empowering excellent customer conversations and outcomes both in and out of the office; on a mobile phone, softphone, or physical desk phone. With over 600 customers and thousands of users all around the globe, notable customers include Netball New Zealand, Dymocks in Australia, and Raymond James Financial Services in the US, Spoke Phone is sold online and through partners such as national office-products brand Warehouse Stationery, with 67 retail stores across New Zealand. For more information, please visit www.spokephone.com. ABOUT MARBRUCK INVESTMENTS Marbruck Investments was formed in 2013 to take advantage of a multitude of investment opportunities primarily in the technology sector. As a private company, Marbruck has the ability to work quickly and typically invests in early-stage private companies with the aim of providing both investment capital and guidance. Notable investments include Australia's Ingogo, Hometime, Gelion, ActivePipe, and an LP investment with Morpheus Ventures in California. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005286/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] NAIROBI, Kenya, January 14, 2020 (Morning Star News) Somali Al Shabaab rebels killed three Christian teachers in northeast Kenya at about 2:30 a.m. on Monday (Jan. 13), sources said. One of the attackers said, We cannot allow infidels to teach our children, and there and then fired at three teachers as I managed to escape through the window, a surviving teacher told Morning Star News. He said the attackers arrived at the primary boarding school in Kamuthe, Garissa County, as the teachers were sleeping, ordered them out of their rooms and separated out the non-local ones who had come from other parts of Kenya assumed to be Christian as they were not ethnic Somali Muslims predominant in the region near Somalias border. The Al Shabaab knew our residential rooms, he said. The attack is well planned. It is a conspiracy between the Al Shabbab and the local Muslim community. The headteacher at the school has instructed him and other teachers not to reveal the names of the victims out of fear of retaliation from Al Shabaab. The headteacher also declined to share their names with Morning Star News. While the identities of the three slain teachers has not been revealed, an area pastor said the victims were among four non-local teachers who attended his church after coming to the area at the start of the school year last September. In early September 2019, four teachers attended our Sunday worship service before proceeding to their teaching station at the Kamuthe boarding primary school, said the pastor, who requested anonymity for security reasons. I am very sure that the community has been monitoring the Christian faith of these teachers. The Islamic extremist rebels abducted a fourth teacher, the teacher who spoke with Morning Star News said. One of the teachers who followed me close was caught by the attackers and was carried away, and his whereabouts are not known, he told Morning Star News. May the Lord save him. Police reported that another teacher was wounded, according to The Associated Press, adding that officers reported that the abducted teacher was Muslim. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on its official website on Monday (Jan. 13), Shahada. The wounded teacher is being treated at a hospital in Garissa for gunshot wounds in the hip and leg, a source said. The teacher who spoke with Morning Star News said he is shaken. I am yet to come to terms with what happened," he said. "My heart is paining inside. The Islamic extremist group usually spares the lives of women and girls, and a female survivor of the attack told Morning Star News the assailants pursued only the men. When I saw the Al Shabaab drawing close to where I was, I only prayed to God, saying, Jesus help me God help us, and I was saved as the Al Shabbab pursued one of the teachers who had escaped the attack, said the woman on condition of anonymity. We are killed like wild animals. It is sad that when you are enjoying Gods given sleep, merciless attackers decide to take the life of innocent teachers who are serving the communitys children. On Dec. 6 in Wajir County, in northern Kenya, suspected members of Somali Islamic extremist group Al Shabaab intercepted a bus, separated out those who were not local ethnic Somali Muslims and executed them. Al Shabaab, which is allied with Al Qaeda, or Al Shabaab sympathizers have killed several non-local people in northern Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan forces led an African coalition into Somalia against the rebels in response to terrorist attacks on tourists and others on Kenyas coast. Al Shabaab militants were suspected in the killing of two Christian teachers on Oct. 10, 2018. On April 2, 2015, 148 people at Garissa University College lost their lives in an attack by Al Shabaab, and several attacks on churches and Christians have taken place in Garissa. Somalias constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims. Somalia is ranked 3rd on Christian support group Open Doors 2019 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian; Kenya is ranked 40th. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved. If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/? Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission. Photo courtesy: Chickenonline/Pixabay He shocked fans earlier this week with the announcement that he's leaving Grey's Anatomy after a 15-year run on the show. And Justin Chambers looked to be in good spirits as he arrived at the trendy Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood. The 49-year-old actor dressed casually in a black leather jacket while dropping off his crisp white Range Rover at the valet stand as he admitted he's 'very excited' for life post show. Out and about: Justin Chambers looked to be in good spirits as he arrived at the trendy Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood Justin pulled up to the celebrity hotspot wearing a classic black leather bomber jacket zipped up to his neck. He paired his rockstar look with a casual khakis held up with a brown leather belt and a massive gold buckle. Chambers kept a pair of ombre shades over his eyes and had his hands full with various packages. New beginnings: The 49-year-old actor dressed casually in a black leather jacket while dropping off his crisp white Range Rover at the valet stand as he admitted he's 'very excited' for life post show Style: Justin pulled up to the celebrity hotspot wearing a classic black leather bomber jacket zipped up to his neck Justin told Page Six that he's 'very excited' about his future post Grey's Anatomy. He admitted that he's looking forward to 'life, family, love and friendship' just days after announcing his shocking departure from the hit medical drama. Chambers has been a mainstay on the ABC program for 16 seasons which have aired over the course of 15 years. Taking care of business: Chambers kept a pair of ombre shades over his eyes and had his hands full with various packages Roadster: He was spotted wearing a brown knit newsboy cap as he drove into the parking lot Say it isn't so! While he's excited for new opportunities, he said that leaving his character behind, Alex Karev, is an emotional experience While he's excited for new opportunities, he said that leaving his character behind, Alex Karev, is an emotional experience. 'Of course, anywhere that you spend 15 years, its a big chunk of your life,' he said. When he was asked if reports were true that he was receiving treatment for mental health issues at an exclusive facility in Connecticut, Justin simply responded 'maybe' before adding: Greys has been very supportive of me and Im very grateful and its been a great ride.' 'Theres no good time to say goodbye to a show and character thats defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,' Chambers said in a statement confirming his departure. Pre-Stabilisation notice 15thJanuary 2020 Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. Commerzbank AG Benchmark fixed rate Senior Non Preferred due 2027 Launched pursuant to the Issuer's MTN Programme Commerzbank AG (contact: Ian Turner; telephone: +49 6913623492) hereby announces, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilising Managers named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU Regulation 596/2014). The security to be stabilised: Issuer: Commerzbank AG Guarantor (if any): none Aggregate nominal amount: Benchmark Description: Fixed rate senior non preferred Notes due 22 January 2027 Offer price: tbc Other offer terms: payment date 22 January 2020; listing Frankfurt, denoms 100k/100k, launched under 40bn MTN programme of the issuer Stabilisation: Stabilisation Coordinator: Stabilising Managers: Commerzbank AG Barclays Bank plc Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch ING Bank Natixis Stabilisation period expected to start on: 15 January 2020 Stabilisation period expected to end on: no later than 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over-allotment facility. The Stabilising Managers may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Frankfurt, regulated Market In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilising Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction. This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington on Dec. 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Trump Says He Will Try to Attend July 4 Fireworks at Mount Rushmore President Donald Trump said hed try to attend the July 4th celebration at Mount Rushmore this year. Speaking at the White House before signing the China trade deal, Trump said he was behind fireworks being allowed again during the celebration at the national monument. I called up our people and in 15 minutes got it approved, and we will have the first fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, and I will try and get out there if I can, Trump said on Wednesday. Fireworks were part of the yearly July 4th celebration at Mount Rushmore but were discontinued in 2010 because of concerns of a pine beetle infestation in the surrounding Black Hills National Forest. According to a 2016 report from the U.S. Geological Survey, the fireworks display, which started in 1998, found concentrations of metals that are commonly associated in groundwater and surface water within and adjacent to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Trump told South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at the White House in December 2019 that nobody knows why the fireworks were ended but you just couldnt have it. And now youre going to have fireworks. And the Governor called, and she said, You got to do me a favor. Right? he said. And you did, Noem responded. And we worked it out. And we got it done. And youre going to have fireworks, Trump said. Fireworks over Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, in celebration of Independence Day in the United States on July 3, 2004. (Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images) Noem announced in May 2019 that the fireworks would be brought back on Independence Day in 2020. We are excited and honored to see fireworks return to our nations Shrine of Democracy. When the fireworks were previously held at Mount Rushmore, the show was beamed around the globe via satellite. The entire world was able to view a celebration of our nations freedoms from the majestic memorial and the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, she said in a statement. There is no more fitting place in all the nation to celebrate our democracy than from Mount Rushmore. We are grateful to President Trump and Interior Secretary Bernhardt for helping us make this happen. The governors office said that the concerns related to the pine beetle infestation were stemmed because since 2009, the forest has gained strength and advancements in pyrotechnics allow for a safe fireworks display. Trump reacted at the time on Twitter, writing, I am pleased to inform you that THE BIG FIREWORKS, after many years of not having any, are coming back to beautiful Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. He thanked Noem and U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. I look forward to working with the State of South Dakota to restore a fireworks display at one of our nations great Memorials, which tells the story of the birth, growth, development, and preservation of this great country, Bernhardt said in a statement. The UK's ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, is returning to London for talks following his arrest by the Tehran authorities. However, the Foreign Office has said Macaire's visit "has been planned for quite a while" and insisted he intends to return to Tehran. "It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here," the Independence cited a Foreign Office spokesperson as saying. Macaire was arrested in Tehran on Saturday over his attendance at a vigil for the Ukrainian jet crash victims. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe By Trend Azerbaijani First Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Najmeddin Sadikov attended the meeting of the Military Committee of the NATO within the format of "Resolute Support" on January 14, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The meeting was held at the level of Chiefs of Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels (Kingdom of Belgium). During the meeting, the current state of the Resolute Support Mission led by NATO with an aim to train, support and consulting was discussed and relevant decisions on the further development of the mission were made. Vermont, the first state in the nation to form a taskforce examining the role of artificial intelligence (AI), has released its final report on the topic today. The 35-page report includes several recommendations, the foremost of which is the establishment of a permanent commission on AI to support its development and to propose policy initiatives to make that development responsible. The 14-member taskforce has met regularly since forming in fall 2018 in order to investigate the field of AI and make recommendations for action and policies with respect to the new technology. "AI crosses everything, and it is going to change the way of life for Vermonters," said Dartmouth engineering professor Eugene Santos Jr., who was appointed to the taskforce by Mitzi Johnson, the Vermont Speaker of the House. "A permanent commission could potentially mitigate bad actors by proposing or providing legislation and acting in an advisory role to keep abreast of how AI is unfolding in Vermont." Additional recommendations in the taskforce's final report include: Adoption of an AI code of ethics; Creation of incentives for the establishment of an AI industry in the state; Support for the responsible use of AI by agencies of state and local government; Enhancements to education and workforce development programs targeted to AI, including involvement of Vermont's higher education community; and More public education on the power and opportunity of AI and the risks associated with it. "We're at a turning point where the decisions we make now will affect the trajectory of AI and how it unfolds," said Brian Cina, Vermont State Representative and a member of the taskforce. "If Vermont sets some good policies right now about how to promote AI the right way, we can set an example for the national conversation and be part of that national and international dialogue." In addition to Cina and Santos, the taskforce's members include: Michael Schirling, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety; Milo Cress, founder and spokesperson for the Be Straw Free campaign; Joe Segale, policy, planning, and research director of the Vermont Agency of Transportation; Trey Dobson, MD, chief medical officer at Southwestern Vermont Health Care & Medical Center; Mark Combs, chief technology officer at the Vermont Agency of Digital Services; Jill Charbonneau, president of the Vermont AFL-CIO chapter; Christopher Herrick, deputy commissioner at the Vermont Department of Public Safety; Donna Rizzo, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Vermont; Brian Breslend, project manager and senior project engineer at DuBois & King, Inc.; John Cohn, IBM Fellow; Honorable John A. Dooley, a retired justice of the Vermont Supreme Court; and James Lyall, executive director of the ACLU of Vermont. About a dozen other states followed Vermont in setting up similar taskforces, and last year President Trump announced the American AI Initiative. "Every state is going to have to deal with the impacts of AI," said Santos. "As Vermont is such a progressive state, it's time to get ahead of the curve." See Vermont's final report here. ### Members of an organization dedicated to combating anti-Semitism around the globe will join religious and community leaders in Ocean County on Wednesday to press for action against a Facebook page that they say promotes hatred of the countys Orthodox Jewish community. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has offices in Los Angeles and New York, has condemned the organization Rise Up Ocean County for allowing comments like one last year stating, We need to get rid of them like Hitler did, on its public Facebook page, in reference to the growing Orthodox community in Lakewood and surrounding towns. Criticism of the Rise Up group has been renewed after a series of recent hate-driven incidents including last months deadly attack on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City. Despite such shocking comments, the Rise Up Ocean County pages administrators have insisted the organization is not anti-Semitic and that its welcomes all people to join. Rather, the organization says, it is concerned with the environmental consequences, rising school costs and other problems associated with the areas rapid population growth and development. Rise Up Ocean Countys Facebook page has been taken down in the past, then restored with some of its most extreme content removed. The restoration prompted Gov. Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Gerbil Grewal to write to Facebook this month demanding that the company, make lasting reforms to stop the spread of hate on the Internet. Facebook says it does not tolerate hate speech, and that it had taken steps to reign in Rise Up Ocean County but that its number of hate speech policy violations was insufficient to prompt a permanent shutdown. The Wiesenthal Center said its associate dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, and its eastern director, Michael Cohen, will commend Murphy and Grewal for their efforts during the Wednesday event, which will be held at the Ocean County Administration Building. Cooper and Cohen will be joined by the Rev. John Bambrick of St. Aloysius Church in Jackson, Lakewood Board of Education member Ada Gonzalez, and Yosef Herz, an official of Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish umbrella group. In an announcement of Wednesdays event, the Wiesenthal Center said it would also criticize an opinion piece that had been published in The Star-Ledger newspaper and on NJ.com. The center accused the piece of defending irresponsible behavior against the Jewish community. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. A trove of documents provided to House impeachment investigators by Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, appears to show former top Ukraine prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko offering Giuliani damaging information on Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for the firing of thenU.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Lutsenko was critical of Yovanovitch due to her support for an anti-corruption institution based in Ukraine, as well as because the ambassador had been critical of Lutsenko and his office. Its just that if you dont make a decision about Madam you are calling into question all my declarations. Including about B, Lutsenko wrote to Parnas in Russian in a Whatsapp message from March 22. Madam likely refers to Yovanovitch, while it is unclear if B designates Biden or Burisma, the Ukrainian company on whose board Hunter Biden sat from 2014 to early 2019. Lutsenko, who was in the midst of an investigation into Burisma, updated Parnas four days later, writing that he had found evidence of money transfers pertaining to B. And here you cant even remove one fool :( Lutsenko told Parnas via text message. Shes not a simple fool[,] trust me, Parnas wrote back. But shes not getting away. The documents also reveal that Parnass associate, Connecticut businessman and congressional candidate Robert Hyde, was in contact with some unidentified person who was surveilling Yovanovitch. During her testimony before Congress last year, Yovanovitch speculated that Giuliani and his associates were working to have her fired in order to install an ambassador who would be more amenable to their corrupt business dealings in Ukraine. The documents are likely to breath new life into the Democrat-led impeachment process against President Trump, just as the House plans to vote to transfer the impeachment articles to the Senate for trial. The contours of the trial are as yet unclear. Republicans in the Senate and the Trump administration have vacillated between calls to allow witnesses to testify at the trial and a desire to dismiss the charges without summoning witnesses at all. More from National Review Former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has broken his foot. The veteran republican announced on Twitter that he had broken "some wee bones" posting a picture showing him in a cast on his right foot. "RGs fault," he tweeted, in reference to his long-serving press officer Richard McAuley. "I told him not to stand on my toes, but he didn't listen," Mr Adams joked. Mr Adams said that he received "great treatment" for his injury at the Royal Victoria Hospital. "Nurses and other health workers were brilliant," he said. Former IRA man Mr McAuley has been at the former Sinn Fein president's side throughout his career. Mr Adams' near 40-year political career quietly ended on Tuesday as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar dissolved the Dail ahead of next month's General Election. The former Sinn Fein leader had already announced he would not seek re-election as Louth TD. He told RTE that he was glad to see the return of power-sharing at Stormont last week, describing it as a "very, very good day". There needs to be a place to moderate differences and define common ground and hopefully, thats what we now have," Mr Adams said. It doesnt have to be always on the streets, it does not have to be these mad radio talk programmes, it does not have to be who shouts and yells the loudest. Politicians have a mandate, we have differences and there is now a space to moderate those differences and to make progress for everyone. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has dramatically expanded its ability to shape media narratives about China across the world including in India, a US democracy group has said. It has urged governments to tighten regulations and impose penalties on the transgressions by Chinese officials who try to shape opinions overseas. Impose penalties for transgressions by Chinese officials. When Chinese diplomats and security agents overstep their bounds and attempt to interfere with media reporting in other countries, the host government should vigorously protest, warning that such behavior may violate diplomatic protocols, democracy watchdog Freedom House said in a report titled Beijings Global Megaphone. India is mentioned a few times throughout the report, most notably in regards to the global adoption of Chinese social media platforms. The author of the report, Sarah Cook, said the India-related examples might not be comprehensive - as the report doesnt focus on specific countries - but there would be tactics that Beijing is applying in India and are covered in the report but where India isnt necessarily mentioned explicitly. For one, the report specifically referred to the fact that in India in 2019, Chinese services made up 44 of the 100 most downloaded apps in Googles Playstore, although not all were social media services. It also mentions exchange agreements that Chinas official news agency Xinhua has signed with foreign organisations including in India. Chinese state media content reaches hundreds of millions of television viewers, radio listeners, and social media users abroad, in many cases without transparency, as to its origins, Cook, a senior research analyst at Freedom House, wrote in the report. Beijings media influence not only distorts the information environment in the affected settings, it also undermines international norms and fundamental features of democratic governance, including transparency, the rule of law, and fair competition, the report said. Chinese state media and private internet companies, according to a Reuters report, have invested heavily overseas including in India prompting concern from lawmakers and rights groups that Beijing could remotely curtail criticism and expand its sphere of influence. While some aspects of this effort are in line with traditional public diplomacy, many others are covert, coercive, and potentially corrupt, the report said. Freedom House was among several US NGOs sanctioned by China in December over what Beijing says are efforts to interfere in its internal affairs. On Sunday the head of Human Rights Watch, another US NGO hit by sanctions, was barred from entering Hong Kong ahead of the release of its global report, which strongly criticised China. The Chinese foreign ministry dismissed both reports. As you know, these two organisations have been looking at China through coloured glasses for a long time, spokesperson Geng Shuang said about the two reports. First, the Chinese people have the greatest right to speak about the human rights situation in China. The current human rights situation in China is in the best period in its history, Geng said. Second, the Chinese media has played a positive role in promoting mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world by upholding principles of objective, fair, truthful and accurate reporting. China has also been guaranteeing citizens, the freedom of speech in accordance with the constitution, he further said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 15:47:02|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close CHONGQING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Speaking for farmers, Hu Huishu, 43, felt a strong sense of responsibility at the local annual legislative session in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. "As a farmer and lawmaker, I must defend the interests of all farmers in the municipality," said Hu, who was elected a deputy to the fifth Chongqing Municipal People's Congress in 2017. "I also care about those disadvantaged groups such as the elderly and the disabled, because I am one of them," she said. Hu was crippled due to illness at the age of six. Her husband suffered from tuberculosis, which ate through all of their savings and ran up a lot of debt. "After learning that honey could relieve my husband's cough, I decided to keep bees because honey was too expensive for us at that time." Her husband is not the only one that Hu has been taking care of since 2017. She helps the farmers in her home village fight against poverty with her beekeeping skills and protects the interests of all farmers in the city. In 2018, Hu's proposal to expand the coverage of nursing subsidies for the disabled promoted the improvement of living subsidies for the disabled and nursing subsidies for the severely disabled in Chongqing. "I felt both excitement and a strong sense of responsibility to defend the interests of farmers and disadvantaged groups as a deputy to the congress," she said. "People are willing to tell me their joys and sorrows because they trust me," said Zhou Zewu, another deputy to the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress. "It's my honor to represent them." As a part of the young generation, 29-year-old Qiu Gongcheng, another farmer and deputy to the congress, likes communicating with young farmers online. "More and more young people are willing to talk with me as they know more about my job," Qiu said. Qiu proposed to make a long-term plan for industrial development in rural areas and build a system of integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries at the legislative session. "I have a lot of new ideas about the future development of rural areas," he said. Among more than 800 deputies to the fifth Chongqing Municipal People's Congress, 293 are farmers, workers and technicians, accounting for about 34 percent of the total. In China, the organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People's Congress and the local people's congresses at all levels. The system of people's congresses is China's fundamental political system which upholds the organic unity of Party leadership, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance. J&K top cop Davinder Singh had ferried terrorists to Jammu last year too: Sources India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: Police officer Davinder Singh had taken the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to Jammu last year too and facilitated their return to Shopian, interrogators have claimed. Singh is alleged to have brought Naveed Babu, Mir Irfan and Rafi Rather from Shopian to Srinagar on Friday evening. On Saturday, they set out to Jammu, from where they were planning on going to New Delhi. However before he could leave, the police arrested him sources familiar with the developments confirmed to OneIndia. Singh during his interrogation claimed that he was ferrying the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to facilitate their surrender. Officials investigating him say that he had made this made claim during interrogation, but we are investigating the same further. Interrogators say that he has denied the charges against him. He says that he was facilitating a big catch, but there are several inconsistencies in his statements, the officer also said. No MHA medal for top cop Davinder Singh arrested in J&K However, sources also said that Singh was helping the terrorists cross the Banihal tunnel in lieu of money. The source also said that an amount of over Rs 10 lakh was agreed upon. Singh, however, denied the charge during interrogation. The source, however, added that Singh was not being truthful and he had no authorisation to organise a surrender. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The official cited above said that they were tracking their movements from Shopian. A police party in civvies was near his residence keeping a watch over their movements. Meanwhile, he would be questioned for his alleged links with Afzal Guru. Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar while confirming the arrest of Davinder Singh said that the officer would be treated like any other terrorist. He would be questioned for his links with Afzal Guru, Kumar said. He also said that another person, a lawyer by profession had also bee caught. Singh, on the other hand, is a decorated police officer who had served in the Special Operations Group and had earned a President's medal. In the year 2004, Afzal Guru, who was lodged in the Tihar jail had written a letter to his lawyer. In the letter he had said that Singh then posted with the J&K Police's Special Operations Group had asked him to take Mohammad, a Pakistani national identified as one of those who carried out the Parliament attack to Delhi, rent a flat and purchase a car for him. Afzal had also named another officer Shanty Singh, who along with Singh allegedly tortured him at the STF camp. He further mentioned that the name of Altaf Hussain the brother in law of SSP Ashaq Hussain, who first brokered his release with Davinder Singh and took him to the DySP. Kumar said that the officer had worked in many anti-terrorist operations. He had however committed a heinous crime and hence was arrested, Vijay Kumar also said. Sources tell OneIndia that the terrorists along with the DSP were arrested in a joint operation of the police and Army on the national highway near Mirbazar. Arrested J&K cop says was working on plan to eliminate terrorists: No evidence say officials Two AK-47 rifles were recovered in a raid at the officer's residence, the source also added. This is the first instance in which such a senior officer has been arrested along with terrorists. The arrested terrorist, Syed Naveed Baba was wanted in several cases. He was an IED expert and was wanted in the killing and attacks on truckers and locals, security officials said. Second, on the knottiest areas of negotiation around Chinese theft of American companies technology the deal aims to improve protections for intellectual property while not undermining Chinas ability to compete in the advanced industries of the future. In earlier language, the Trump administration almost seemed to want to remake the entire Chinese economic strategy, not merely to prevent Chinese companies from stealing from American companies. The Americans appeared to want to prohibit a state capitalism approach: state-subsidized so-called national champion companies in areas like aerospace, automobiles and semiconductors. Throughout last summer, the two countries were deadlocked in part because the United States was essentially asking for things the Chinese could never agree to. In the last few months, there was more of a focus on where the Chinese had room for concessions. The trade conflict appears to have made the Chinese more focused on developing its own technological advantages and less dependent on imports from the West. That has made them more open to changes. Its ironic that the trade war, by heightening Chinese fears of being isolated from tech supply chains, has accelerated their drive to be self-sufficient, said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The means by which they accomplish tech transfer and acquisition may change as a result of todays agreement, but their desire for it will not. Ultimately, with President Trump seeking re-election in 10 months and the Chinese economy showing signs of creaking, both sides had too much to lose from the open-ended escalation and were willing to do whatever they needed to stop it. That left room for the constructive ambiguity, as negotiators often call it, to allow both sides to proclaim victory. Trump never wanted to test the premise that the Dec. 15 tariffs wouldnt actually hurt the U.S. economy, so he had strong incentive to use the definition of deal as his ambiguity, said Douglas Rediker, chairman of International Capital Strategies. And China was desperate to avoid more tariffs and reduce existing ones. So getting to yes was a common objective. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Huawei Technologies is pictured in front of the German headquarters of the Chinese telecommunications giant in Duesseldorf By Alexandra Alper, Karen Freifeld and Stephen Nellis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is nearing publication of a rule that would vastly expand its powers to block shipments of foreign-made goods to China's Huawei, as it seeks to squeeze the blacklisted telecoms company, two sources said. The U.S. Commerce Department in May placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns. That allowed the U.S. government to restrict sales of U.S.-made goods to the company and a small number of items made abroad that contain U.S. technology. Under current regulations, key foreign supply chains remain beyond the reach of U.S. authorities, fueling frustration among China hawks within the administration and a push to expand U.S. authority to block more shipments to Huawei. But U.S. businesses say an effort to enable the government to regulate more sales to Huawei to include low-tech items made overseas with very little U.S. technology could end up needlessly hurting U.S. companies while encouraging Huawei to source more goods abroad. Reuters reported in November that Commerce was considering broadening the De minimis Rule, which dictates how much U.S. content in a foreign-made product gives the U.S. government authority to regulate an export. Under current regulations, the United States can require a license or block the export of many high-tech products shipped to China from other countries if U.S.-made components make up more than 25% of the value. According to two people familiar with the matter, Commerce has drafted a rule that would lower the threshold only on exports to Huawei to 10% and expand the purview to include non-technical goods like consumer electronics including non-sensitive chips. According to one of the people, the Commerce Department sent the rule to the Office of Management and Budget, following an interagency meeting last week. If other government agencies sign off on the measure, the rule could be issued in a matter of weeks as a so-called final rule, with no opportunity for public comment before it goes into effect, the people said. Commerce has also drafted a regulation that would expand the so-called Foreign Direct Product Rule, which subjects foreign-made goods that are based on U.S. technology or software to U.S. oversight. This would be broadened to include low-tech items made abroad that are based on U.S. technology and shipped to Huawei, the people said. In December, Huawei, the world's largest smartphone maker, reported an 18 percent jump in revenue for 2019 and a 20 percent increase in shipments of smartphones. (Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chris Sanders and Cynthia Osterman) SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Joby Aviation, a pioneer in the development of an electric air taxi, has raised $590 million in Series C funding led by Toyota Motor Corporation. Prior investors, including SPARX Group, Intel Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, and AME Cloud Ventures, also contributed to the round, and were joined by new investors Baillie Gifford and Global Oryx (ALJ family's investment arm). Shigeki Tomoyama, the Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation, will join Joby Aviation's board of directors. This new investment brings the Company's total funding, including previous rounds, to $720 million. Joby Aviation's Aircraft in Santa Cruz, CA Joby Aviation's mission is to bring fast, affordable, and zero-emissions air mobility to communities worldwide. Over the past 10 years, the Company's team of engineers and physicists has developed a quiet, all-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft, which will be instrumental in the commercial launch of the emerging on-demand urban air taxi market. Toyota will share its expertise in manufacturing, quality, and cost controls to support the development and production of Joby Aviation's aircraft. This support, along with the capital investment, will accelerate the certification and deployment of this new mode of local transportation. "We are building a new system for transportation to transform your daily life, at greater safety and, in time, at a similar cost to driving," said Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt. "This collaboration with Toyota represents an unprecedented commitment of money and resources for us and this new industry from one of the world's leading automakers. Toyota is known globally for the quality and reliability of their products driven by meticulous attention to detail and manufacturing processes. I am excited to harness Toyota's engineering and manufacturing prowess helping to drive us to achieve our dream of saving a billion people an hour a day." "Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky," said Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda. "As we take up the challenge of air transportation together with Joby, an innovator in the emerging eVTOL space, we tap the potential to revolutionize future transportation and life. Through this new and exciting endeavor, we hope to deliver freedom of movement and enjoyment to customers everywhere, on land, and now, in the sky." About the aircraft: Joby Aviation's aircraft is a piloted, five-seat vehicle capable of both vertical takeoff and landing and highly efficient, wingborne forward flight. It is capable of speeds of 200 miles per hour and can fly over 150 miles on a single charge. The aircraft is 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and near-silent when flying overhead. The passenger experience is optimized for comfortable ride-sharing operations and efficient entry and exit. About Joby Aviation Joby Aviation is a California based aerospace company that is developing and commercializing all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (designated by the FAA as the S4) to enable the deployment of fast, quiet and affordable air taxi services. The Company's mission is to get people to their destination five times faster than driving, reduce urban congestion, and accelerate the shift to sustainable modes of transit. Founded in 2009, Joby pioneered the development of eVTOL aircraft and has offices in Santa Cruz, San Carlos and Marina, CA. You can find more information at www.jobyaviation.com. About the aircraft: Joby Aviation's aircraft is designed for 4 passengers plus a pilot. It can travel more than 150 miles on a single charge, is 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and is near-silent in flyover. Aircraft type: Piloted, all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi Piloted, all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi Source of power: All-electric, zero emissions All-electric, zero emissions Capacity: Designed for four passengers plus a pilot Designed for four passengers plus a pilot Sound: The aircraft is 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and near-silent when flying overhead. The aircraft is 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and near-silent when flying overhead. Range: The aircraft is capable of speeds of 200 miles per hour and can fly over 150 miles on a single charge. The aircraft is capable of speeds of 200 miles per hour and can fly over 150 miles on a single charge. Cost: The aircraft will be operated as a service with per-trip passenger pricing. Over time, that price should approach the cost of ground transportation. The aircraft will be operated as a service with per-trip passenger pricing. Over time, that price should approach the cost of ground transportation. Redundancy: High levels of redundancy designed into the aircraft enhance safety and reliability. SOURCE Joby Aviation Related Links https://www.jobyaviation.com In Fernando Meirelles film The Two Popes, former Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, confesses his sins to Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis. It is a crucial scene, in which Benedict aims to convince Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, of the reasons for his resignation as head of the church. As Bergoglio listens, Benedict mentions Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, an influential, ultraconservative organization present in more than 20 countries, where it operates more than a dozen colleges and almost 150 schools while maintaining close ties to the upper echelons of political power. Maciel, an infamous pedophile who victimized dozens of children in over six decades in the priesthood, enjoyed the active protection of the church for years, especially during John Paul IIs papacy, in which Cardinal Joseph Ratzingerlater Benedict XVIwas prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the churchs authority on policy and discipline. Although Meirelles precludes the audience from listening to Benedicts full confession on Maciel, the inference is clear: Benedicts inaction on Maciel and others like him burden him to the point of spiritual exhaustion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is impossible to know if the real 92-year-old pope emeritus, who was back in the news this week after demanding his name be removed as co-author from a controversial book defending celibacy, is really so profoundly troubled by the churchs unforgivable passivity during Maciels long reign of terror. But while Benedicts conscience remains inscrutable, the full extent of Maciels crimes and the Vaticans role in his impunity does not. Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, head of the churchs Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which oversees organizations and orders like Maciels Legionaries, recently admitted that the Vatican had evidence of Maciels crimes dating back to 1943. Weve been covering this for over 70 years, and it has been a tremendous mistake, Braz de Aviz said. Advertisement Advertisement The last four decades of Maciels lifeduring which he consolidated enormous influence, especially in his native Mexicowere particularly shocking. Despite mounting evidence, John Paul II turned a blind eye on his history of abuse, emboldening his followers. (Some even advocated for Maciels canonization.) For years, Joseph Ratzinger also refused to act against Maciel. As the prefect responsible for enforcing church doctrine, he chose to handle the churchs sexual abuse scandals through secrecy rather than transparency. For almost a quarter century, Ratzinger failed to push for the detachment of Marcial Maciel from the position of privilege he enjoyed for so long. He finally did so in 2006, when, as pope, he found the courage to remove Maciel from the priesthood and send him to Mexico to supposedly focus on a discreet life of penance and prayer. If Maciel followed Benedicts spiritual marching orders, it certainly did not lead to atonement. He never admitted any wrongdoing, much less showed remorse. He died in 2008 without ever asking for forgiveness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the Vaticans tutelage, Maciels organization has tried to purge itself of its founder. In 2009, the order began a revision of its practices that five years later led to a new constitutional text, approved by the Vatican, to preserve the charism of the congregation and help it thrive. Maciels closest associates continually declared themselves aghast over the accusations and never admitted being privy to any wrongdoing. The organization is no longer allowed to refer to Maciel as our father or promote his works. The process of getting rid of Maciels legacy of abuse has been a whole different matter. This week, the organization announced Fernando Martinez would leave the priesthood after facing accusations of abuse from at least eight girls in schools run by the organization in Mexico during the early 1990s. The Legionaries stopped short of expelling Martinez, though. Advertisement Advertisement One possible explanation? Martinez himself was one of Maciels many victims of abuse when they crossed paths in a seminary in Ontaneda, Spain, as well as in Rome. The year was 1954. Martinez was 15. This should come as no surprise. Recent reports have shown that the cycle of abuse within the Legionaries of Christ spanned generations of priests closely tied to both Maciel and the Legions origins. According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, child molestation within the order was not the result of the perversion of a few priests, but part of a foundational dynamic within the whole organization. Like Martinez, a considerable number of Maciels victims grew up to be abusers themselves, their impunity guaranteed in exchange for their silence about their original ordeal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A considerable number of Maciels victims grew up to be abusers themselves, their impunity guaranteed in exchange for silence. Many were rewarded with positions of power and influence. (It is no coincidence that Martinez was given an important role in two of the organizations academic institutions in Mexico). Its part of the Legions methods, Erick Escobar, an ex-member recently said. Prepare you for the abuse, abuse you, and then turn you into an accomplice. A recent study published by the order itself admits as much. According to the Legionaries own findings, more than 60 percent of those abused111 children, by the organizations own probably countwere either violated by Maciel himself, one of his victims or by a third generation of victims. These were chains of abuse, the report acknowledges. Advertisement After Maciel, the Legion has tried to get back to business, focusing not on the sins of the founder but on the groups supposed atonement. So far, the strategy seems to be working, at least up to a point: In the decade since Maciels death, active membership has grown 3 percent. According to some estimates, over 170,000 students attend the organizations schools. Advertisement As for the Vatican, Pope Francis seems resolute to leave Maciel in the past. Five years ago, in an interview, the legions new leader, Mexican priest Eduardo Robles Gil, told El Pais that Francis had given his blessing for the organization to renew its efforts. Pope Francis told me go forward, you have my support, Robles Gil said. But, as cases like Martinezs prove, it is hard to turn the page on Marcial Maciel when he was the whole book. Maciels organization, tainted by heinous crimes that spanned generations, should have been laid to rest along with its founder. The tense trade relation between the United States and China may be facing a new start thanks to 100 tons of chicken feet. Customs officials in Shanghai yesterday allowed in a container of the animal parts worth $170,000 from America five years after Beijing banned U.S. poultry meat because of avian influenza concerns. The lifting of the sanction, likely to be Beijing's 'chicken feet' diplomacy, came as the world's two dominant economic powers are poised to sign a 'phase one' trade deal today in a bid to end years of tariff dispute. A screen grab from CCTV news shows customs officials inspecting the U.S. chicken feet in the Qingpu District of Shanghai on January 14. China has allowed in 100 tons of the goods worth $170K after banning American poultry meat in 2015 out of avian influenza concerns A screen grab from CCTV news shows customs officials checking the documents of the goods. The lifting of the sanction came as the world's two dominant economic powers are poised to sign a 'phase one' trade deal today in a bid to end years of tariff dispute The batch of chicken feet cleared customs at an inspection centre in the Qingpu District of Shanghai, reported Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. They are expected to be sold in cities and towns in the Yangtze River Delta Region in eastern China from today, the report said, as families prepare for their Lunar New Year meals. Chicken feet (), locally known as phoenix claws, are a popular snack in China. They are often cooked with herbs and spices and eaten hot or cold along with alcohol. Diners enjoy them by eating the skin and cartilage. Chicken feet, locally known as phoenix claws, are a popular snack in China. They are often cooked with herbs and spices and eaten hot or cold along with alcohol US President Donald Trump is set to sign a 'phase one' trade deal with China on Wednesday Though the details of the new deal have not been revealed, the White House has stipulated that Beijing will buy an additional $200billion in American products over a two-year period compared to 2017, including $50billion in agricultural goods a year The Chinese firm that imported the chicken feet is planning to buy more poultry products from the United States because the Chinese market is 'huge'. Feng Shiting, director of Shanghai Chenrui International Trading Company, told a reporter from CCTV that he and an unspecified American company had signed a contract to import up to 500 tons of products every month in the first quarter of the year. China prohibited the import of all U.S. poultry products on January 9, 2015, following an flu outbreak in America. Beijing officially lifted the ban on November 14 last year after carrying out a series of risk assessments, according to Chinese state newspaper Guangming Daily. Before the ban, China imported $222.6 million worth of this goods from the United States in 2014, said Stefan Legge, a trade expert at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, citing figures from the UN Comtrade Database. In 2018 China imported a total of $1.14 billion worth of 'meat and edible offal of poultry' from the rest of the world while total U.S. exports in this category amounted to $3.63 billion The senior researcher considers China's lifting of the import ban 'a symbolic move'. He told MailOnline: 'In the big picture: the U.S. administration appears to seek a thaw in its China relationship: just enough to help the economy for the election in November. 'For China, many of the concessions are in their own interest as they don't require its government to change its business model.' Quoting official statistics, Mr Legge said in 2018 China imported a total of $1.14 billion worth of 'meat and edible offal of poultry' from the rest of the world while total U.S. exports in this category amounted to $3.63 billion. The expert said these numbers highlighted the 'significance' of the move for the American poultry industry even though poultry meat, including chicken feet, had relatively small economic importance. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign a trade deal with China on Wednesday. Though the details of the new deal have not been revealed, the White House has stipulated that Beijing will buy an additional $200billion in American products over a two-year period compared to 2017, including $50billion in agricultural goods a year. Mahindra said that he would reach out to Patel to see if the Mahindra chief can invest in upgradations for his workshop. Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra offered to help a Gujarat-based physically challenged person for his electric bike manufacturing venture using scrap materials for the specially-abled. He has also set aside Rs 1 crore fund to invest in the ventures of micro-entrepreneurs like him. Fabulous story. Ill reach out to him to see if I can invest in upgradations for his workshop. In fact hes inspired me to personally set aside 1 cr as an initial fund to invest in micro entrepreneurs like him in the country. So much talent & innovation waiting for recognition https://t.co/hM46jv264o anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) January 11, 2020 Reacting to an inspiring story of Vishnu Patel, who manufactured two-wheelers and three-wheelers using waste electronic materials and parts of old electronic devices for specially-abled, Mahindra said that he would reach out to Patel to see if the business tycoon can invest in upgradations for his workshop. "In fact, hes inspired me to personally set aside Rs 1 crore as an initial fund to invest in micro-entrepreneurs like him in the country," Mahindra tweeted. Hailing from Surat, Patel, who is hearing-impaired also, has so far manufactured seven two-wheelers and three-wheelers, all battery-operated vehicles. Patel was quoted as saying to news agency ANI that he had manufactured battery-operated bikes all out of waste material that would not harm the environment. He said people usually threw away wastes, but he ensured that they got used up in making bikes. Patel said he intended to make three-wheelers for divyangs (physically challenged), which will ferry their families also. The 60-year-old specially-abled Patel added that if he got Rs 20 lakh he would make vehicles that will bring laurels to India. Soon Patel's story came to the fore, a Twitter user, Nilesh Patel, tagged Mahindra, saying Vishnu Patel has been a specially-abled person since his 1st year. But Patels skills are powerful. Mahindra's tweet has gone viral and has garnered over 15, 000 likes and has got over 3, 000 retweets. To the tweet, Mahindra replied saying, Fabulous story. Earlier also, Mahindra helped people in need. In 2018, Mahindra offered to make a small investment for a cobbler, who called himself shoe doctor, after his advertisement drew his attention. Mahindra came up with a new kiosk for the cobbler. The kiosk was delivered and set up - Mahindra made sure the shoe doctor enjoyed his workspace. Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday morning. The meeting was seen as the Senas attempt to pacify ally Congress after it skipped the meeting of Opposition parties against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) earlier this week. Thackeray met Gandhi at his residence in the capital. This was the first meeting between the two scions after their parties joined hands to form a government in Maharashtra. It is learnt that Thackeray apprised Gandhi about the state governments welfare programme including loan waiver. The two leaders also discussed the current political scenario in the country. ALSO WATCH | 6 parties skip Opposition meet on CAA, economy; BJP slams vote bank politics Interestingly, Thackeray had flown to Delhi a day before swearing-in of Uddhav Thackeray in November to personally invite Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh. He did not meet Rahul Gandhi at the time. On the swearing-in on November 28, no one from the Gandhi family was present. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - the new allies of the Sena - were unhappy with the absence of Sena leaders in the anti-CAA meeting called by Sonia Gandhi. Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that there was miscommunication over the meeting. The Sena is now expected to attend an event to oppose CAA and National Population Register (NPR) in New Delhi later this month. WASHINGTON A measure that would force President Trump to win congressional authorization before taking further military action against Iran now has enough Republican support to pass the Senate, a key Democratic senator said Tuesday. The senator, Tim Kaine of Virginia, said at least four Republicans would break ranks to pass a bill to curtail Mr. Trumps war-making powers, underscoring growing dissatisfaction with the presidents Iran strategy among members of his own party. It would be a rebuke to the president as his impeachment trial gets underway and will most likely set up the seventh veto of his presidency. The Republican defectors were discouraged that the attitude that was being communicated to us was that Congress was an annoyance, Mr. Kaine said. After that, they came to me and we have been able to make some amendments. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the Republicans who will support the measure, said in a statement that Congress cannot be sidelined on these important decisions. She said that although the resolution would continue to allow Mr. Trump to repel an imminent attack, only the legislative branch may declare war or commit our armed forces to a sustained military conflict with Iran. "Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as... In other words, any evidentiary ruling by the chief justice is subject to review by the Senate and subject to override by a majority of senators. Not only that, but the chief justice can punt from the start: he may at his option, in the first instance, submit any such question to a vote of the Members of the Senate. As University of Missouri law professor Frank Bowman has noted, Unlike in an ordinary trial, there is no higher court to which such a senatorial judgment can be appealed. Instead, this is a trial with 100 judges, who get to decide for themselves all kinds of issues ranging from the burden of proof to what constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor. Steve Bannon said Wednesday he believes President Donald Trump will "drop the hammer" on technology companies if they don't cooperate with investigators seeking information in the devices of criminal suspects. "If I were the guys at Apple, I would pay attention to President Trump's tweets," Bannon said in a "Squawk Box" interview on CNBC "I would treat his tweets like a papal bull." The president slammed Apple on Tuesday, suggesting in a tweet that the tech giant should unlock password-protected iPhones used by the shooter who killed three people at the Pensacola Naval Air Station before being fatally shot in December. TRUMP TWEET On Monday, Attorney General William Barr said Apple had not provided "substantive assistance" in unlocking the shooter's two iPhones. Apple rejected Barr's assertion, saying in a statement that it provided gigabytes of information to law enforcement related to the Pensacola case but it would not build a "backdoor" or specialized software to give authorities elevated access. The shooter, Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, is suspected of being motivated by terrorism. From January 1 through February 15, 2020, for every 2020 camp enrollment received Maplewood will donate $50 to School on Wheels and local food pantries SOUTH EASTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Maplewood Country Day Camp & Enrichment Center is happy to provide $50 for every camp enrollment received between January 1 and February 15, 2020, to local food pantries and School on Wheels, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide academic stability for children impacted by homelessness. Maplewood Country Day Camp & Enrichment Center in South Easton, Massachusetts has been family-owned and operated since its founding in 1965. Maplewood is a community that encourages friendship, leadership, responsibility, and teamwork. Maplewood Day Camp has also opened enrollment for its preschool, which offers a four-hour, two-day and three-day program from September to mid-June. The program runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with the option of extending to 2:15 p.m. by signing up for enrichment classes in gymnastics, sports, and art. The Tuesday/Thursday program is for children aged 2.9 to four years and the Monday/Tuesday/Friday program is for children aged four and five years. Throughout its 55-year history, Maplewood has forged strong relationships with many charitable organizations and has a strong commitment to give back to the communities that surround it. Throughout its charitable giving campaign last year, Maplewood raised over $3,500, which was donated to School on Wheels and local food pantries. For more information, please visit https://www.maplewoodyearround.com/ About Maplewood Day Camp & Enrichment Center Maplewood's after school programs help children build confidence, boost academic performance, and promote physical well being, all while providing a safe and structured environment. The program includes transportation from Easton Public Schools, 30 acres of indoor and outdoor activities, academic assistance, and tutoring and convenient hours for families - until 6:30 p.m. Maplewood also offers weekly programming for children ages 6 and younger, including bouncing in Maplewood's moonwalk, playing in the gym, participating in gymnastics, and visiting the play structures at the Village. Families from all over the area have consistently recommended Maplewood Country Day Camp & Enrichment Center for instilling confidence in their children, providing them with positive enrichment activities and an unmatched quality of care. Contact: Lee Pinstein Email: info@maplewoodyearround.com SOURCE: Maplewood Country Day Camp View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573161/Maplewood-Country-Day-Camp-Donates-Part-of-Enrollment-Funds-to-Local-Charities PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 14:30:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 520 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TOCCOA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. (OTCQB:GAXY) ("Galaxy" or the "Company), a provider of interactive learning technology solutions, today announced that it recently was awarded and successfully installed additional interactive panels with Lamar County, Georgia School District.Initially awarded a district-wide contract for $220,000 in April, 2019, Galaxy has now added installing several 55" panels in the Lamar County high school media center. These panels were installed at the end of collaboration tables so that students are able to work in groups and have their individual interactive panel within their groups to work together on projects and classwork.Gary LeCroy, Galaxy's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We were pleased to win this highly-contested contract several months back as we knew there would be additional business to come from it over the years. This recurring aspect of gaining additional business from past and current awarded contracts demonstrates the strength of our business, products and service. We share in Lamar County Schools' vision to provide all students with an equitable and excellent education that prepares them for college, career, and life." The Lamar County School System, located in Barnesville, Georgia, comprises four traditional schools (primary, elementary, middle, and high), in addition to the Trojan Learning Center and Lamar County College & Career Academy. More than 350 employees proudly serve a diverse student population of approximately 2,800 students.For additional information on Lamar County, Georgia School District, please visit:About Galaxy Next Generation, Inc.Galaxy Next Generation (OTCQB: GAXY) is a provider of interactive learning technology solutions that allows the presenter and participant to engage in a fully collaborative instructional environment. Galaxy's products include Galaxy's own private-label interactive touch screen panel as well as numerous other national and international branded peripheral and communication devices. Galaxy's distribution channel consists of 22+ resellers across the U.S. who primarily sell the Company's products within the commercial and educational market. Galaxy does not control where resellers focus their resell efforts, although generally, the K-12 education market is the largest customer base for Galaxy products - comprising nearly 90% of Galaxy's sales.For additional information, please visit our website at: www.galaxynext.us Safe Harbor StatementThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Investors Contact:IR@ GalaxyNext.us p888-859-1274SOURCE: Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:01:27|Editor: zyl Video Player Close HOUSTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A high school student was shot in the U.S. state of Texas Tuesday afternoon and was rushed to the hospital, where some reports said he died. The incident happened at a high school in Bellaire city, about 14 km southwest of downtown Houston. Police said there was no one in custody after the shooting, but they are searching the area for the suspect. Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Chinese officials and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to contain an outbreak of pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Health experts suspect that the pneumonia cases could be linked to a new form of coronavirus. The virus is blamed for at least one death. The WHO has said there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the virus within families. Chinese officials say a seafood market in Wuhan is thought to be at the center of the outbreak. Officials said one woman may have gotten the virus from her husband, who worked at the market. The two are among 41 people shown to have pneumonia thought to be caused by the virus. Officials said some of the sick have denied visiting the market. The outbreak comes two weeks before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, when many of Chinas 1.4 billion people will be traveling to their hometowns or overseas. WHO and Chinese officials are taking steps to ensure the disease does not spread. The officials in Wuhan confirmed that Thailand has quarantined a Chinese woman. It is the first case of the mystery strain of coronavirus to be found outside of China. The woman is said to have come from Wuhan. The coronavirus is from a family of viruses that can cause both the common cold and more serious diseases. On Wednesday, a Hong Kong health official told reporters that the threat of human-to-human transmission remains low. Chuang Shuk-kwan said that doctors and hundreds of other people have been in close contact with infected individuals and have not been infected themselves. She spoke to reporters after returning from a visit to Wuhan. With the Lunar New Year set to begin on January 25, the WHO called on Thai officials and the public to be on guard against the virus. Thai health officials announced Wednesday they were increasing security at airports. The outbreak in Wuhan has made some in China think of SARS, short for severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS is a coronavirus that first struck southern China in late 2002. It then spread to more than 24 countries, killing nearly 800 people. The United States released a warning about the latest outbreak for American citizens in China. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press and The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story outbreak n. a sudden rise in the number of cases of a disease; a sudden or violent increase in activity transmission n. the act or process by which something is spread or passed from one person or thing to another quarantine n. a period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading respiratory adj. of or relating to breathing or the organs of the body that are used in breathing syndrome n. a group of conditions which often are found at the same time A former Minister of Power and Steel, Bashir Dalhatu, on Wednesday, told an FCT High Court in Zuba, FCT that he N68.9 million to a fraudster. Testifying as a prosecution witness in a case filed by the EFCC against a businessman, Imeh Akpan, charged with two counts bordering on Criminal Breach of Trust, The former minister said he was introduced to the accused person sometime in 2004 through his friends late Aliyu Alkali and one Haruna Ningi. He alleged that the accused person told him to invest in the Aviation industry by buying shares in the airline he was floating. He informed me that the business was profitable at that time. He said the business was a win-win. At the end of the presentation, I accepted to buy shares to the tune of N1. 8 million representing 34 per cent of the company share capital. He (the accused person) told me that he was in the process of negotiating with First Atlantic Bank to obtain a loan facility for his company, Commodore Aviation Services, he said. The former minister said the accused told him that the loan facility was to enable the accused person buy aircraft to be used in the country by the Commodore Aviation Services. Mr Dalhatu told the court that the accused met him again and request to assist him with N50 million to facilitate the loan. I agreed to provide the N50 million security deposit on two conditions; one of the conditions was to open an interest saving account in the name of Commodore Aviation Services and keep the money there. The second condition I gave him was that the interest that accrued from the account would be his own and it should be reverted back to him at the end of six months, he said. Mr Dalhatu explained that the six months period was the time within which he and the bank agreed to disburse the funds to the company. The former minister said it was also agreed that neither he nor the accused person would remove any amount from the security deposit account, adding that on this understanding, an account was agreed to be open with two signatories. Mr Dalhatu said on May 28, 2004, a cheque of N58 million representing the shares and security deposit was delivered to Commodore Aviation Services and acknowledged by Haruna Ningi on behalf of the company. He said the accused person also approached him to provide further funding of N10. 7 million to kick-off the operation of a National Airline in Niger Republic which he also obliged him. After a while it occurred to me that the business was not as good as he said. The accused person frustrated my request for an audit exercise in spite of my persistence. I therefore asked the accused person for the return of my money and whatever interest that might have accrued on the money that also become impossible. I later discovered that the cheques for the security deposit were credited to an existing account of Commodore Aviation Services and identical to the suggested name given to me where he was a sole signatory, he said. He said in January 2013, he went to EFCC with a petition enumerating the frictions between him and the accused person and urged the commission to investigate and prosecute him if they found adequate grounds to do so. After his testimony, the Defence Counsel, Steve Imoke, prayed for an adjournment to cross-examine the minister. The EFCC Counsel, Fatima Ado-Gwaram, did not object to the application. Justice A.O. Ebong, granted the prayers of the defence counsel and adjourned the matter until March 2 for cross-examination. Advertisements (NAN) A man has been killed after his apartment building was hit by a metal plate when a chemical plant exploded 3km away. The victim, named only as Sergio, died in his home in Torreforta, in Catalonia, Spain, when the one-tonne shrapnel collapsed his building on Tuesday, authorities said. Residents added they saw "a ball of fire" across the sky after the accident at the Quimicas del Oxido de Etileno (IQOXE) chemical plant in Tarragona. The blast also killed a factory worker and left another eight injured. Officials said it was caused by an explosion of a 20-tonne tank full of ethylene oxide, adding there had been no leaks of toxic substances to the surrounding area. Firefighters spray water after a large fire broke out after an explosion at a factory in Tarragona, Spain (Reuters) While the blaze has been brought under control, local authorities said they had yet to identify the second victim at the factory. They tweeted: There is structural risk in the area and work is being done to stabilize the area and safely reach the victim. Prime minister Pedro Sanchezs office said he was in touch with Catalan authorities and Madrid was ready to provide the necessary support due to this serious event, which has caused several injuries and substantial material damage. A man was killed two miles away when shrapnel from the blast struck his building (Reuters) A spokesman for IQOXE, owned by Spains CL Grupo Industrial, said the company had opened an internal investigation into the explosion. READ MORE YAHOO UK NEWS HERE: Cars submerged by Storm Brendan flooding after high winds blew roof onto Slough street Pensioner faces jail for repeatedly raping disabled man 'up to 150 times' over four years Schoolboy, 7, dies after being run over by council minibus in Wales Spokesman Jose Luis Morlanes said: We deeply regret the loss of one of our co-workers and the suffering of those who are injured. The factory began operations in June 2017 and had been operating normally, he added, prior to Tuesdays explosion of a 20-tonne tank full of ethylene oxide. The civil defence agency, which initially advised people nearby to stay indoors as a precaution, said air quality tests carried out on Wednesday had not shown any risk. IQOXE is a producer of ethylene oxide, a highly flammable gas used to make, among other things, ethylene glycol used in computers and vehicles. Advertisement A unique series of images taken by an American photographer during his tour of Britain in 1960 has emerged before featuring in a new exhibition. Bruce Davidson, now 86, captured a country still recovering from years of war and rationing before the cultural revolution brought by the Swinging Sixties transformed it for ever. Davidson spent an autumn visiting London, the south coast and Scotland to depict ordinary people going about their lives at a time of great social change. Five years later, he visited Wales, chronicling life in the the Ebbw Valley. 'I was free to encounter life,' he told AnotherMag. 'I was open and didn't have any agenda. There was a certain sense of sky and fog, of another place. That's why those pictures are delicate and I was delicate too. ' Davidson got a job advertising milk in London and used the money to buy a Hillman Minx convertible, which he used to get around the city. The photographer initially published the collection as Seeing Ourselves as an American Sees Us: A Picture Essay on Britain on April 12, 1961, and said it captured the 'resilient' spirit of the British people. But his shots from the Ebbw Valley are also included in the show. The exhibition starts on January 16 at the Huxley-Parlour Gallery in West London. It will run until the 14 March. Bruce Davidson, now 86, captured a country recovering from years of war and rationing before the cultural revolution brought by the Swinging Sixties transformed it for ever. Pictured is a young child pushing a pram containing a doll and a teddy bear against the backdrop of factories belching smoke in the Ebbw Valley Davidson spent an autumn visiting London, the south coast and Scotland to depict ordinary people going about their lives at a time of great social change. Seen here are two lovers embracing each other in a pub while another couple play on a games machine Davidson's images show a country still recovering from years of war and rationing, which had only ended in 1954. This image of a child holding a rolled-up mat and a kitchen embodies the gloomy spirit of the collection, which is only enhanced by the use of black and white rather than colour 'I was free to encounter life,' he said of his tour of Britain during which he took the photographs, including this one of a girl next to a gravestone. 'I was open and didn't have any agenda. There was a certain sense of sky and fog, of another place. That's why those pictures are delicate and I was delicate too' Davidson got a job advertising milk in London and used the money to buy a Hillman Minx convertible, which he used to get around the city. Pictured is a young boy in school uniform in a smoky railway station The photographer initially published the collection as Seeing Ourselves as an American Sees Us: A Picture Essay on Britain on April 12, 1961, and said it captured the 'resilient' spirit of the British people. Many of the scenes feature people on transport, such as this image of people on the London Underground A couple share a passionate kiss after being reunited, in one of the many striking images Davidson produced as part of the collection. He is also known for his work documenting the American Civil Rights Movement Davidson first visited Britain in the 1950s while serving with the US Army, creating a lifelong interest with the country that would culminate in this collection. This image shows a boy swinging from a tree while his friends watch on Davidson also went beyond the city to capture scenes in the countryside, such as this photo of a horse lying in a field against a bare moorland landscape Two things happened simultaneously on Wednesday: (a) The House of Representatives transmitted to the Senate two articles of impeachment approved on straight partisan lines a month ago, and (b) the Houses impeachment inquiry yes, its still very much alive highlighted new, relevant evidence it has turned up about the activities in Ukraine of President Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Giulianis associates. The Democrats strategy is coming clear. The House provided the Senate with two half-baked impeachment articles. House Democrats rushed through the investigation, forgoing salient witnesses and evidence, because of the political calendar. The charges are weak and the inquiry was needlessly short-circuited, so Democrats have continued investigating the premature allegations. Now they are publicly disclosing newly acquired evidence, with the promise of more to come. Transparently, their goal is to pressure the Senate not merely to conduct a trial but to complete the investigation that the House failed to complete calling witnesses and gathering evidence, as if a trial were nothing more than an extension of an open-ended grand-jury probe. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans should not let them get away with it. No trial court would allow itself to be whipsawed this way. A federal judge would tell prosecutors to go back to the grand jury, finish the investigation, and come back to the trial court when they have a case ready to be tried, not investigated. That is not to say new evidence may not be serious. It may be very serious. It could make the case worse for President Trump. But in any event, there should be just one trial, and it should occur when the investigation is complete. This is not supposed to be a non-stop grand jury, with an ever-hovering prospect of new articles of impeachment, in addition to an endless stream of newly emerging materials that the Senate is expected to sort out rather than judge. Story continues Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans should hold the two pending articles in abeyance, or vote to dismiss them without prejudice to the Houses revoting them when its impeachment inquiry is finally concluded. The new information that has emerged underscores a strategic error by the president and House Republicans, which I have outlined several times since the Ukraine controversy emerged. They have insisted on fighting the Ukraine allegations on the impossible theory that the presidents communication with his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, was perfect, and that there was no quid pro quo i.e., no indication that the president was withholding official acts sought by Kyiv ($400 million in defense aid and a White House visit) until its government met his demands (the public announcement that Ukraine would conduct an investigation of the Bidens and into Ukraines role in the Trump-Russia investigation). I have contended, to the contrary, that the presidents best defense is that nothing of consequence happened. I have been prepared to assume that the president pressured Ukraine, as alleged. But it was much ado about nothing: Ukraine got the defense aid (and barely knew it had been briefly delayed); Zelensky did not have to make any commitment about investigations; and he got his high-profile audience with President Trump (albeit at the United Nations in New York City, not at the White House). The presidents defense should be that, while there may have been improprieties, nothing here approaches the egregious misconduct required to trigger impeachment. This would be the best strategy in any event. It is an imperative strategy, however, in a situation such as this one, where the investigation is continuing and new information is coming out continuously. Under my approach, if new evidence emerged about the presidents knowledge of or complicity in the pressure campaign on Zelensky, it could be dismissed as mere confirmation of what was already obvious. But because the president and Republicans have taken the tack that nothing inappropriate happened and no pressure was asserted, any evidence of impropriety and pressure can be framed as a bombshell even though it doesnt actually change the bottom line. Giuliani associate Lev Parnas is under indictment in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), in a case that has factual overlap with events that were the focus of the House impeachment inquiry. Parnas wants to use his potential value as a witness in the impeachment inquiry as leverage against his SDNY prosecution. So he has begun sharing information from the SDNY case with House investigators. They, in turn, are releasing the information to the media, which are reporting it as ground-shaking revelations. That information (texts, notes, and the like) indicates that Giuliani, representing that he was acting with the presidents knowledge and approval, and in his official capacity as Trumps private lawyer, sought a meeting with Zelensky in mid May 2019. The implication is that this was part of a then-ongoing plan to push Ukraine for an investigation of the Bidens. Moreover, there are communications between Parnas and Yuriy Lutsenko, a Ukrainian prosecutor who was helping Giuliani investigate possible Biden corruption, about their desire for the ouster of Marie Yovanovitch the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who was eventually removed by the president at the urging of Giuliani (among others). There is enough detail in Parnass correspondence about Yovanovitchs activities that it raises the disturbing specter that he was monitoring an American ambassador. The allegedly unjustified removal of Yovanovitch was extensively covered in the House hearings, which included the ambassadors testimony. It was mainly atmospheric, rather than substantive. The president does not need a reason to dismiss an ambassador. And while it was vaguely suggested that Yovanovitch was removed because she was seen as an obstacle to pressuring Ukraine for an investigation of the Bidens, that was not established. There are no impeachment articles tied to her removal. If I am right, and Parnas is trying to use his potential value as an impeachment witness as a chip in plea negotiations with the SDNY, that could take time to work out. (The SDNY, whose job is prosecution, not impeachment, would want a guilty plea and full cooperation; Parnas would want immunity.) Meanwhile, the other major storyline is that John Bolton, formerly the presidents national-security adviser, has indicated that he is willing to testify if called. He is patently a relevant witness to the internal administration discussions over delayed defense aid to Ukraine. So is acting chief of staff and budget director Mick Mulvaney. So may be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, if the Houses continuing investigation is focusing on Ambassador Yovanovitchs dismissal. Plainly, there are loose ends here that the House should have tied up and that, importantly, the House is continuing to investigate. Note that Democrats have been caterwauling that the impeachment trial will not be fair because Senate Republicans are too in-the-tank for Trump to do their duty as impartial decision-makers (as if Democrats were not rabid anti-Trump partisans). But what could more undermine the fairness of a trial than a continuing, very public investigation of the same defendant while that trial is proceeding? No trial judge would put up with that. Prosecutors would not be permitted to present the case before a trial jury while, outside the courtroom, they were prejudicing the trial by continuing to investigate and publicize their findings. There is a very simple solution, one that judges in federal court deal with all the time in cases that are still under investigation when an indictment is initially filed: Dont schedule the trial until the prosecutors acknowledge to the court that the investigation is over and no further charges are anticipated. It is worth bearing in mind: Impeachment is not just any trial. It stops the legislative business of the United States cold. There will be no movement of bills, no consideration of appointments, no hearings on vital issues such as Iran and the use of force. The impeachment trial will impede the work of the Supreme Court, since the chief justice must preside. In this instance, the impeachment trial will even wreak havoc on the Democratic nomination campaign, as senators including top-tier contenders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders must sit as jurors for six days a week. These are costs that must be borne. There has been an impeachment, so the Constitution calls on the Senate to act. But for the sake of our governance, that should mean a single trial, and it should represent the Democrats best, most complete case for the presidents removal. That trial should not happen until the investigation is done and the charges are fully ripe. By contrast, if Republicans allow Democrats to engage in the ongoing gamesmanship in which the Senate trial would open, but House Democrats plan to throw new evidence into the mix every few days or weeks, demanding that the Senate trial be expanded to investigate what it all means we would be looking at weeks, maybe months, of governmental paralysis. There is, moreover, basic fairness: The accused is supposed to know what the allegations are before the trial starts the charges are not supposed to evolve as the trial proceeds. The importance of preserving impeachment as a viable constitutional remedy for presidential misconduct transcends the current administration and Congress. If impeachment must be done, it should be done right. It should not be done as a partisan game of investigative ping-pong between congressional chambers. More from National Review Champaign, IL (61820) Today Sunny skies with gusty winds developing later in the day. High around 35F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 29F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Residents wait at a rest area after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mobile station in Hong Kong on Sunday. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Few of the citys older residents have been fully inoculated, leaving them highly vulnerable as the city battles an outbreak of the new variant. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 13:55:51|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close HANOI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Song Tao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed to promote the development of China-Vietnam relations in the new era. Song made the remarks during his visit to Vietnam from Monday to Wednesday, ahead of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. China-Vietnam ties are essentially the relations between two socialist countries under the leadership of communist parties, Song said. He said China stands ready to consolidate and promote the traditional China-Vietnam friendship, taking the 70th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic ties as an opportunity, and push forward the development of China-Vietnam relations in the new era. During his visit, Song met with Tran Quoc Vuong, a politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee's Secretariat, and Hoang Binh Quan, head of the Commission for External Relations of the CPV Central Committee. The Vietnamese senior officials spoke highly of the visit of Song and his delegation, praising it as a successful kick-off of the events marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They said Vietnam is willing to work with China to consolidate the traditional friendship, deepen the exchanges and cooperation, and benefit both peoples. In early January, the World Health Organization was notified by China that 41 people in Wuhan, the countrys seventh most populous city, had been hospitalized with what appeared to be a mystery strain of pneumonia. Many were reported to be workers in or visitors to a live animal market. Chinese authorities have now made a preliminary determination of a new, previously undetected coronavirus as the cause of the respiratory illness, and over the weekend shared the viruss genetic sequencing to enable other countries to quickly diagnose potential new cases. Any outbreak of an undetermined disease prompts concern across Asia and beyond, and memories remain strong of the 2003 outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and bird flu, which infected thousands, killed hundreds and sparked massive disruption to global travel and trade. In the past two decades, China has rapidly strengthened its capacity to prepare for and respond to public health threats and, in the face of the latest challenge, moved swiftly to investigate the cause, isolate patients and trace their close contacts. Authorities also closed the implicated market and are conducting environmental assessments. WHO immediately activated all three of its levels -- China country office, regional office and headquarters -- and stands ready to launch a broader response, if needed. This New Year's wake-up call reminds us to be vigilant against SARS, bird flu and the causes of more recent outbreaks in the region, including dengue, measles, polio, influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome, Zika and a range of other emerging diseases. In fact, two of the last four influenza pandemics began in the Western Pacific Region -- home to 1.9 billion people and a hot spot for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases and natural disasters. These were threats that put people's health and safety and economic development at risk. At a time like this, it is fair to ask: are we safer from health security threats than we were a decade ago, following the H1N1 influenza pandemic? Or than we were when SARS emerged 17 years ago? Young patients receive treatment at a children hospital in Chongqing in November 2006, China: are we safer from health security threats? China Photos/Getty Images Young patients receive treatment at a children hospital in Chongqing in November 2006, China: are we safer from health security threats? China Photos/Getty Images In many respects, we are safer, having learned important lessons from dozens of other outbreaks and emergencies. The 37 countries and areas that make up the Western Pacific Region, from Mongolia to New Zealand, have made considerable progress in strengthening systems for preparedness and response, guided by WHO. Most now have emergency operations centers and rapid response teams, and have introduced field epidemiology training programs and event-based surveillance systems for early identification and monitoring. Chinas rapid identification of a new coronavirus last week, and its quick action to share the virus sequence with other countries, is testament to the strength of this approach. As a result, many countries can respond quickly to disease outbreaks, and some have the capacity to support their neighbors. All of this has made the region -- and the world -- safer. But we are not completely safe. Our surveillance teams identify, on average, two disease outbreak events every week, and the context in which these events occur is far more complex than before, due to rapid urbanization and dramatic increases in the movement of people and goods. In addition, climate change has increased the frequency and impact of natural disasters and expanded the geographic reach of epidemic-prone diseases. As a result, the region is being impacted by diseases, such as MERS and yellow fever, that seemed unlikely just a few years ago. And social media are spreading rumors faster than viruses spread disease -- often passing along incorrect information that can make situations worse. But there is good news: we have the power to strengthen systems for handling health security threats for decades to come. Specifically, we urge our member states and partners to focus on five key points to reinforce health security. First, we need to extend and modernize disease surveillance systems at the local level, so that health services detect and report emerging infectious diseases quickly and at the source. Second, we need to strengthen decision-making systems to ensure rapid responses. The earlier we detect an event, the more complex and challenging the decision-making becomes, because it often takes place in the context of more uncertainty. Responding in this environment requires conducting systematic assessments that draw upon multiple sources of information and intelligence. Third, we have to communicate more effectively so that we engage all relevant sectors and communities, to be better prepared for responding to health emergencies and outbreaks. Fourth, in a region that is a recognized hot spot for diseases from animals, we must continue to strengthen collaboration between the animal and human health sectors, including to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, or drug-resistant infections. Finally, we need to continue to strengthen collaboration and coordination between countries for so-called global public health goods -- those things that universally benefit all of us, such as clean air and water and protection from infectious diseases. No one can undertake this journey alone -- not a single country, nor a single organization. We must work together, reaching across sectors, to prepare for the next pandemic. We must test and update response plans time and again. We must continue to strengthen the systems required to implement responses. And we must keep up momentum to continue improving health security. These simple steps -- by WHO, member states and our partners -- can further strengthen the initiatives and programs we already have in place to ensure health systems are ready for and capable of responding to disease outbreaks, keeping people safe. Nikkei FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The state medical examiner has identified human remains found in a vacant Fairbanks apartment and police have opened a homicide investigation. The person who died was identified was Kristen Huntington, 30. She was reported missing Jan. 10, police said in a release. Police have not indicated how Huntington died or why they searched the vacant apartment. Officers on Sunday night drove to an apartment complex in an east Fairbanks neighbourhood and were given consent to search an empty apartment as part of the effort to find Huntington. Police have asked people with information about Huntington to contact them. Exclusive. No 10 says CCHQ will move out of Matthew Parker Street and into the Midlands or North. It wants your ideas about a venue. There will be a small office in London but maybe up by Kings Cross. With these words a senior source in Number Ten confirmed that it wants CCHQ out of Matthew Parker Street altogether and to move it to the North or the Midlands. But where? This is where ConservativeHomes readers come in. Downing Street told us that the new venue should be somewhere reasonably close to a university with good maths/physics departments (we should get a data team up there), good train links, well placed in political terms. And it asked for your ideas. Please offer them below. Sleep problems, including difficulty in falling or staying asleep, sleep apnoea, insomnia, snoring and inconsistent sleep/wake pattern, are on the rise. The World Health Organisation has already pointed to a global sleep-loss epidemic with about two-thirds of adults not getting the recommended eight hours of slumber. As sleep is finally being recognised as a crucial part of an individuals optimal health and wellbeing, entrepreneurs and businesses across the globe are taking action, giving birth to a multibillion-dollar sleep market, which, according to an industry report, is projected to attain revenue of $ 101.9 billion by 2023. Interest in sleep health is particularly high in the Middle East and Arica (MEA). The regions sleep aids market alone is estimated to reach $2.53 billion by 2023. Meanwhile, analysts also see mattress trade to continue exhibiting a bullish uptrend, primarily owing to increasing demand from MEAs growing healthcare and hospitality industries. As the market is predicted to show immense potential in the years to come, Sleep Expo Middle East is gearing up to put the spotlight on the latest innovations designed to optimise sleep quality via its Sleep Care exhibit. Sleep Expo ME is the first and only event of its kind in the Middle East and Africa region dedicated to the burgeoning sleep market. Scheduled for its second staging from February 9 to 11, 2020 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the show will feature two verticals Sleep Care and Sleep Tech. While Sleep Tech will be focused on ground breaking machineries, tools and raw materials in the bed and linen industry, Sleep Care will present an expansive showcase of the latest products and solutions developed to deliver a wholesome sleep experience. Businesses offering mattresses, pillows, beddings, calming fragrances and other sleep wellness products and solutions are the main exhibitors to be featured in Sleep Care. The link between sleep deprivation and a diminished quality of life, even shorter lifespan, has been documented across a number of international studies. Im delighted to see that more and more people are now taking the initiative to prioritise sleep as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, said Chris Gourdie, Managing Director, Silent Night UAE, one of the key exhibitors bannering the trade shows Sleep Care zone. Even better is the commitment to support a sustained awareness on the importance of sleep health, which is what Sleep Expo is all about. This is a milestone event that not only benefits manufacturers and organisations in the sleep industry, but also the purchasing consumers in the Design, Retail and Hospitality market to help them achieve a perfect differentiation in their products and services. Echoing a similar view is Suha Bakir, Partner/Purchasing Manager, Richmond Group, a homegrown Jordanian brand renowned for its range of premium mattresses. For Sleep Expo Middle East, the hope is for more and more people to have access to innovative products and solutions to help them solve a variety of sleep issues. A core commitment for us at Richmond is developing the best mattresses and products that help the world sleep better. We are pleased to be a part of Sleep Expo as it gives us the perfect venue to showcase our innovations and talk business in a more targeted fashion. Speaking about the opportunities in the MEA market for innovators in the sleep business, Engy Medhat Refaat Shahbander, Business Development Manager, BedTech, commented: The region is consistently attuned to global market trends and is continuously expanding to find more solutions to address the rising concern on sleep deprivation. This makes it exciting for companies like BedTech who are moving beyond a focus on traditional products to pioneer fresh and value-creating solutions. We have a wide range of top-of-the-line mattresses boasting breakthrough technologies and dynamic features and we are confident that Sleep Expo can provide the best platform for a fruitful exchange between suppliers and buyers. In addition to the trade exhibit, Sleep Expo will also feature a two-day conference, which will discuss emerging market trends and developments. Another special highlight of Sleep Expo Middle East 2020 is the inaugural Sleep Expo Awards, which will recognise and highlight the excellence amongst MEA mattress manufacturers and suppliers, hotels and bed retailers.-- Tradearabia News Service ST. LOUIS A Jefferson City man who blew up his ex-wifes car in St. Louis in 2018 was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison. Dean Allen McBaine, 31, and his half-brother, Michael Christopher Bushman, constructed a bomb out of fireworks and Tiki torch fuel, prosecutors have said. McBaine then placed it under his ex-wifes Mini Cooper at her home in the 5400 block of Bischoff Avenue in the Hill neighborhood on Sept. 2, 2018, they said. The explosion shook our entire neighborhood, McBaines former wife, Kathryn Motes, told U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig in court Wednesday. She noted there were gas meters on her house and on her neighbors residence. If my car had been parked just a few feet closer to that gas line, this would have been a murder case, she said. Motes and the pairs 13-year-old son were asleep in the house at the time. BLUFFTON, Ga., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- What if renewable energy was not just sustainable but was also regenerative? This is the goal of a partnership between White Oak Pastures and Silicon Ranch Corporation , one of the nation's largest independent solar power producers and the U.S. solar platform for Shell. In 2020 alone, this partnership will bring holistic planned livestock grazing and regenerative land management practices to nearly 2,400 solar farm acres in Southwest Georgia to create carbon sinks, restore biodiversity and soil health, and add to the environmental, social, and economic benefits of these clean energy projects. Globally, we produce most of our energy and food using reductive and extractive methods designed to maximize profitability. Renewable energy would seem to be a viable solution to our energy needs, but climate scientists fear the destruction already done to the atmosphere, soils, water supply, and biodiversity cannot be reversed by simply sustaining collapsed ecosystems. In addition to their dire warnings about global warming, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations now estimates we have only 60 growing seasons left unless industrial agriculture evolves rapidly to protect and renew our topsoil. When White Oak Pastures learned that their 'radically traditional farming' practices were sequestering more carbon than grassfed cows emit in their lifetimes , they knew the results were repeatable. Through the use of planned livestock grazing, which moves animals daily and restricts grazing to model how herds of ruminants behave in the wild, White Oak Pastures has increased organic matter in their soil from 0.5% to over 5%. That is the equivalent to approximately 919 tons of CO2 taken out of the atmosphere per year. Solar power plants are projected to occupy over six million acres of land globally by 2030 and the solar industry will be responsible for the stewardship of this land. In recognition of this responsibility, in 2018, Silicon Ranch established Regenerative Energy , a holistic approach to the design, construction, and operation of solar farms that pairs regenerative agriculture with solar power generation and sets a new standard of excellence for the industry. Under this outcome-driven model, Silicon Ranch is partnering with White Oak Pastures and employing their flock of sheep and holistic grazing methods to manage vegetation, remove carbon and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store them long-term in the soil, restore overall ecosystem function, and strengthen the rural economy. "There are no losers in this deal," said White Oak Pastures' owner Will Harris. "The Silicon Ranch land will remain pastoral. Our rural community gets much-needed jobs, and a new non-polluting industry to be proud of. We will sequester even more soil carbon and create a record of the ecological impact for others to repeat. Consumers can participate by purchasing the pasture-raised meats that were grazed at Silicon Ranch on our website." One issue that remains to be solved nationwide is to minimize agricultural tillage, which releases stored soil carbon back into the atmosphere. This is not a problem at Silicon Ranch properties, where the above-ground infrastructure and solar panels, which have at least a 40-year useful life, prevent tillage and the related release of carbon stored in the soils. "As the long-term landowner and operator of our entire portfolio, Silicon Ranch is deeply committed to our Southwest Georgia community along with the many other communities we serve," said Reagan Farr, Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO. "We're excited about the meaningful environmental, social, and economic benefits this innovative partnership will bring to the region. Silicon Ranch is delivering Regenerative Energy because it's the right thing for the world and we're honored to be partnering with Will Harris, who understands that what is going on beneath our feet in the soil is just as important as clean electricity generation to the health of our planet." "The symbiosis of regenerative agriculture and renewable energy creates a very real, and a very resilient, terrestrial carbon sink," said Michael Baute, Silicon Ranch's Director of Regenerative Energy. "For me, the Energy-Food-Carbon nexus is the most exciting thing happening in the climate solutions space right now." About White Oak Pastures White Oak Pastures is a multigenerational 3,200-acre farm located in Bluffton, Georgia. Committed to returning the farm to its ancestral roots in regenerative farming, fourth-generation farmer Will Harris transitioned his conventional farm operations in 1995 to a grassfed, pastured program. Today, White Oak Pastures is proud to be the largest Certified Organic farm in Georgia, raising 10 species of livestock: cattle, goats, sheep, hogs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl. Using prescribed grazing with livestock, White Oak Pastures takes great pride in providing customers with humane meat and poultry while regenerating dead soil into healthy, thriving grasslands. About Regenerative Energy Regenerative Energy was established by Silicon Ranch Corporation in 2018 as a transformative new model for the solar industry to improve the way the solar industry manages its land and positively impact millions of acres over time. By building and operating solar power plants and caring for land in alignment with natural systems, Regenerative Energy delivers clean energy, ecosystem restoration, carbon sequestration, and rural economic resilience. Regenerative EnergyTM is a holistic approach to land management on solar farms that provides a nature-based solution to climate change. For more information about Regenerative Energy, visit regenerativeenergy.org . Everything is connected. About Silicon Ranch Corporation Silicon Ranch is the U.S. solar platform for Shell and one of the largest independent solar power producers in the country. Silicon Ranch develops to own all of its projects for the long-term, a distinction that means the company is deeply committed to its partners and communities and stands behind the performance of its facilities day in and day out. The company's operating portfolio includes more than 120 facilities across 14 states from New York to California, including the first large-scale solar projects in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. To learn more, visit siliconranch.com and by following the company on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn . SOURCE White Oak Pastures Related Links whiteoakpastures.com Poor demand and liquidity concerns resulted in both housing sales declining by 30 percent and new project launches falling by 44% in Indias nine key residential markets between October and December 2019, a new report has said. Housing sales fell by 30%. As against 91,464 units sold during the quarter last year, only 64,034 homes were sold across the nine markets in Q3 this year, according to a report the report by PropTiger.com. Sales declined across all these markets, with Bengaluru, popularly known as India's Silicon Valley, registering a 50 per cent fall in sales numbers. Sales in the residential property market fell 13 per cent to 2,63,294 units during the first nine months of this fiscal as against 228,220 units in the corresponding period of the previous year, the report said. Inventory declines by 12% As buyers showed greater faith towards ready homes, inventory levels, declined 12 per cent during the quarter. From 8.83 lakh unsold housing units at the end of the same period last year, unsold stock fell to 7.75 lakh in Q3 FY20. Mumbai and Pune together contribute 57 per cent of this unsold stock. Also, half of the units in this stock are affordable homes (units priced below Rs 45 lakh). At the current sales velocity, builders would take 29 months to sell off the existing stock, the report said. Launches fall in Kolkata, Gurugram The NBFC crisis has made borrowing difficult for builders. This has led to developers cautious stance towards new project launches. Only 41,133 units were launched in Q3 FY20 as against 73,226 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, the report shows. New launches fell across markets, with Kolkata and Gurugram seeing the biggest fall, at 79 and 74 per cent, respectively. Nearly 40 per cent of new launches were concentrated in Indias financial capital Mumbai, data showed. Affordable housing continued to dominate launches, with 52 per cent units launched in this segment. When compared to the first nine months (April-December) of the previous financial year, launches declined by 32 per cent during the same period in the current fiscal. While 215,596 units were launched between April and December in the previous year, 145,852 units were launched during the same period this year, the report said. Prices increase marginally across cities; Hyderabad sees 13% appreciation Average values of property increased by 13% year-over-year in Hyderabad, the highest increase among all the cities included in the report, while Gurugram and Ahmedabad registered 6% and 5% increase, respectively. In other cities, prices showed only a nominal increase, between one and three per cent, the report said. The various measures launched by the government in the recent past to revive growth in the real estate market seem to have made little impact. Considering real estate is a major contributor to overall GDP, which hit a glacial 4.5 per cent rate of growth in the July-September period, we expect further assistance from the government, which would nudge buyers to invest in real estate. "In the Union Budget, we expect the minister to announce measures that would result in higher savings for individual taxpayers, some of which would hopefully make its way towards property purchases, said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Elara Technologies. A total of 5.33 lakh units were delivered across the nine markets in calendar year 2019, and another 5.45 lakh units are expected to be delivered through the course of calendar year 2020. Racism is a haunting spectre yet to be expelled from our culture. It is an issue every generation must address, and a conversation that continues to play out on the nightly news. Letters to a Birmingham Jail is a collection of writing that speaks to the perennial issue of racism in America. Pastor Bryan Loritts compiled this collection of letters from respected theologians, referencing the timeless letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Junior: Letters from a Birmingham Jail. Dr Kings original work was written from his jail cell in 1963, in response to a letter he received from a group of clergymen. The clergymen urged him to be patient and not take drastic action to further the cause of civil rights. The book is his response and reveals the heart and soul of one of the key figures of the civil rights movement in America. Closed eyes Bryan Loritts recounts a conversation with a friend on the subway. His friend would close his eyes mid-conversation every time the train was loading: His mother had raised him, that if he was ever in a situation where there were no seats and women were standing, the chivalrous thing to do would be to give up his seat. He didnt want to do that on this day; so he reasoned that if he would just close his eyes and not see women standing, he could continue his comfortable life. Dr. King felt the clergymen exuded a strong sense of indifference to the social ills of racism, and thus did not feel compelled by it. He wrote that they needed to be moved to action with a greater urgency to ensure that their fellow brothers and sisters had an unfettered quality of life. Consider this challenge: Have we, as Christians, been closing our eyes to social inequity and the disparities before us? How many of us have closed our eyes to ease our consciences, in order to have a certain measure of convenience and comfort? How many of us have hoped for time to do the healing or fixing? In his letter Dr. King makes a salient point: Human progress never rolls in on the heels of inevitability, it comes through tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We are called to more We are not called to passive indifference, but to an active faith; to engage in the world preaching the gospel; but also helping people who are the least of these. As Loritts notes: If our vertical reconciliation to God requires intentionality, then our horizontal reconciliation necessitates the same intentionality. We need to be intentional about mending the issues in this world caused by the fall and see it not as a social gospel, but a part of preaching and living the full counsel of Gods word. In Lukes Gospel a Lawyer asks Jesus, who is my neighbor? Jesus responds with a parable that cuts right to the heart of the issue. A traveler is rudely handled by robbers and left for dead. Three people pass him by: the Levite and the priest walk by and offer no assistance, but the person least expected to help does a Samaritan. He not only offers help, but does so at a cost, at an inconvenience (he stopped his journey to help). The lawyer was challenged to do so, just like this Samaritan - to show active help and display a faith that gets involved in the life of someone needing help, for this is the call of the Gospel. James writes about the kind of faith God expects: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Let us not have our eyes closed with passive indifference, but open with active love and compassion as the Gospel moves us to model, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James chapter 1, verse 27). Paul Lewis is a Staff Worker for Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship in Kingston Jamaica, where he also resides. He has aspirations of becoming a Christian apologist and he loves reading, especially topics like: History, Philosophy and Theology. You can follow him on twitter @PaulAULewis Paul Lewis' previous articles may be viewed athttp://www.pressserviceinternational.org/paul-lewis.html The new Justice Minister has admitted she cannot guarantee the PSNI more funding, even though she is well aware of the challenges it is facing. Alliance leader Naomi Long said that a number of issues, including key policing policies, were "on the radar". In her first major interview since being appointed to the new Stormont Executive, she discussed issues ranging from police recruitment and pay parity for officers to upskirting, legacy issues and paramilitarism. She was speaking the morning after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's whistle-stop visit to Northern Ireland. The Conservative leader was subsequently criticised for failing to confirm how much of a cash injection the UK government was prepared to hand over as part of the new Stormont deal. Read More Sitting in her office in the Justice Department, Mrs Long told this newspaper there was no guarantee that local police officers would receive the 2.5% pay rise awarded to their English and Welsh counterparts last September. Only yesterday the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) said the pay situation could "be remedied at a stroke of a pen". Read More PFNI chairman Mark Lindsay added: "I would ask the new minister to show that the restoration of devolved institutions actually counts for something with prompt and decisive action." However, Mrs Long told this newspaper that would not be happening. "We're not going to be able to make any commitments at this stage because negotiations are still going on with the government around the financial package," she said. "The police is about 70% of the Department of Justice's budget and we have to manage that very carefully. "There's also a commitment in terms of talking to the Chief Constable around trying to increase the number of police officers. "We have to balance that out around all the other demands around the Executive table, so it's not a commitment I can make on my third day (in the job), but it's obviously something I'm aware of. It's on my radar." The deal that restored Stormont included undertakings to increase the number of PSNI officers by 600 to the 7,500 envisaged in the Patten reforms. Asked how any additional officers would be paid for, Mrs Long replied: "As it stands, there isn't funding. Those are the targets we are working towards and we will work with the police. "We're drilling down into this new tranche of cash to see how much of it is new money and how much of it is already allocated to other things. "It will be a matter of negotiation with Executive colleagues. Nothing is set in stone yet." Catholic primate Archbishop Eamon Martin has called for a return to 50-50 recruitment for the PSNI, while Chief Constable Simon Byrne has highlighted under-representation among groups other than Catholics. Mrs Long said she felt compelled to "take advice" on the thorny issue. "I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I don't think that 50-50 recruitment is a good thing," she said. "It causes issues with people feeling that there's an element that is discriminatory and it's a very blunt tool for solving the problem. "I would like to look at why the issues around recruitment are emerging." Mrs Long has taken over the justice portfolio from Claire Sugden, who served in the Executive from 2016 until its collapse in early 2017. She has now added Executive minister to her impressive and ever-growing CV, which spans the political spectrum of councillor, MLA, MP, MEP and Alliance leader. Her brief is wide-ranging, also taking in courts, sentencing powers and legacy. Upskirting was recently made a criminal offence in England and Wales. A proposal to introduce a similar change in the law in Northern Ireland has already been made by the Department of Justice. It follows the high-profile case of a teenager who took upskirt pictures of two teachers at a school in Co Fermanagh and was found guilty of committing acts of outraging public decency. Mrs Long said: "It (an upskirting law) is on the radar. There's a wider piece of work around sexual offences that's going on in the department with the Gillen review. "It's one of my priorities to see that wider (sexual offences) package through. Upskirting fits into that overall strategy. It's something that we would want to proceed with, but we need to go through the formal consultation to make sure that we do it right." While the public awaits further government action on the controversial issue of the legacy of the Troubles, Mrs Long said she believes "you can't simply draw a line under the past". "We're talking about people who are bereaved and who still feel that loss acutely," she added. "Where justice is possible, people ought to be able to access justice. Where justice may not be possible, through lack of evidence or the passage of time, people should be able to access the truth. "That's always been my view, but it's now dependent on the Secretary of State and how he legislates for that at Westminster. The Historical Investigations Unit was envisaged as the way to take those issues forward and I think that's the best way forward." Mrs Long is just one of a growing number of local female politicians taking on high-profile roles. In the new Executive there is a 50-50 spilt between men and women when the Junior Ministers are included, but Mrs Long said: "It doesn't feel at all strange. It's becoming more normal. It's a good start." Before starting our interview yesterday, the Alliance leader accepted her new job had a learning curve but added: "I enjoy a challenge." Her new position will certainly be that and her success will likely depend on the scale of any budget cuts, which made her Alliance predecessor David Ford's job so challenging. Canara Bank announced that it called-off the proposed divestment of its entire 30% stake in its housing finance subsidiary, Can Fin Homes, which was under progress. Shares of Canara Bank fell 1.49% to Rs 212.25 while those of Can Fin Homes fell 3.44% to Rs 373.10. In September 2019, the lender invited bids to sell 30% stake in Can Fin Homes, but has backed out without giving reasons for the move. Bids were invited through merchant bankers for sale of 3,99,30,365 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each, constituting 29.99% stake in Can Fin Homes. Back in 2018, the bank had withdrawn the stake sale after receiving lower-than-expected price quotation. Can Fin Homes and Canara Bank will announce their third quarter earnings on 20 and 23 January 2020, respectively. Can Fin Homes is a housing finance firm. The company, as on date, has 159 branches, 21 affordable housing loan centres (AHLCs) & 14 satellite offices spread across various locations of the country in 21 States & Union Territories, total 194. As on December 2019, the government held 78.51% in Canara Bank. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a first, researchers have found that reducing both the duration of wash cycle in a washing machine's control settings, and water temperature can extend the life of garments, and lessen the amount of dye and fibres shed into the The scientists, including those from the University of Leeds in the UK, said every load of washing releases hundreds of thousands of microfibres -- tiny strands that are flushed down the drain. These fibres, they said, reach beaches and oceans where they remain for many years and are swallowed by sea creatures, killing many. According to the study, published in the journal Dyes and Pigments, using shorter, and cooler washes is a simple method by which everyone could make their clothes last longer, and keep them out of landfill. "We are increasingly familiar with the environmental threat posed by throwaway fast fashion, but we also know that consumers claim their clothes can lose their fit, softness and colour after fewer than five washes -- this means it's more likely they will ditch them long before they are worn out," said study co-author Lucy Cotton from the University of Leeds. As part of the study, the scientists washed 12 dark and eight brightly-coloured t-shirts, together with white fabric squares to test colour-fastness -- mimicking average household loads. They used conventional domestic washing machines, and Ariel pods of biological detergent, and compared 30 minute cycles at 25 degree Celsius, and 85 minute cycles at 40 degree Celsius at 1,600 rpm spins for 16 cycles each. The scientists repeated and validated the experiment with authentic loads of dirty laundry. Chemical analysis of the waste water from the machine distinguished individual dyes washed out of the clothing. They also collected, weighed and analysed microfibres in the waste water. Based on the analysis, the scientists found that there was less colour loss in the t-shirts which were washed using the cooler, quicker cycles. According to the study, quicker, cooler washes decreased dye transfer from coloured washing. The scientists also noted that significantly less microfibres were released into waste water during the quicker, cooler wash. The shorter and cooler cycles reduced the amount of microfibre release into the by about half, and cut dye release by nearly 75 per cent, the study said. "Our findings can help tackle the issue of 'invisible' plastics in the environment," said Richard Blackburn, study lead author from the University of Leeds. "Synthetic microfibres are released every time textiles are washed and account for more than a third of all plastic reaching the ocean. But microfibres from cotton and other natural sources are found in even greater numbers in the sea, and we're worried about their impact too," Blackburn said. According to the researchers, the findings may help consumers actively reduce the number of microfibres released from their own clothing simply by washing in quicker, cooler cycles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police say three Romanians staged an elaborate scam to steal three diamonds owned by an Indian gem trader. AFP/JACK GUEZ The suspects, thought to members of a network of gem thieves operating across Europe, will go before a judge on March 3 in the southwestern city of Castres, a source close to the inquiry told AFP. They are accused of snatching three diamonds from a jeweller based in the small town of Mazamet, near Castres, who was acting as a middleman for an Indian gem trader. The August 2017 scam was launched four months earlier at a diamond trade fair in Monaco, when two of the suspects introduced themselves to the jeweller as a wealthy Armenian couple looking to invest in precious gems. They set up a second meeting in Milan, before a third meeting in Mazamet in August, when the supposed buyers asked to have an independent expert examine the stones owned by trader Nishit Shah. After concluding the deal, the jeweller placed the gems in a sealed box while awaiting a promised bank transfer of US$1.1 million (one million euros). But the next day, when no money arrived, the jeweller opened the box to discover it empty. "It's a classic technique, what we call a thief with golden hands - international experts with a talent for swiping valuables," the source said. The two Romanians posing as the couple were arrested a few weeks later in Nice, where police seized luxury cars and watches as well as both real and fake gems and counterfeit cash. The supposed expert, who is also Romanian, was arrested in November 2017 in Modane, a village in the French Alps on the border with Italy, where he was found in possession of a fake diamond. Investigators say he was to receive 50,000 euros for spiriting away the three stones in a theft orchestrated by a Serbian national based in the Paris suburb of Bondy. Prosecutors have seized the Serbian's home and issued a warrant for his arrest. "These are major criminal organisations with contacts across most of Europe," the source said. The diamond trader, Shah, will not be at the trial, having died of a heart attack in Mumbai in 2018. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pistol Bay Mining Inc. (TSX-V - PST; Frankfurt - OQS2, OTC/Pink Sheet symbol SLTFF) (Pistol Bay or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement with an arms length vendor to acquired a land package in the James Bay Region of Quebec. The land package comprises of 1690 hectares and is located 12.5 kilometers South West of the recent Azimut Exploration discovery. This property is on strike on the same greenstone belt as the recent Azimut Exploration Inc. discovery. The Elmer property of Azimut Exploration and is separated from Pistol Bay property by the Dios Exploration property in that region. Azimut's management considers these results to be among the most significant gold exploration results in the James Bay region since the 2004 discovery of the Eleonore deposit by Virginia Gold Mines. The Eleonore mine is currently owned and operated by Newmont. (See AZM.V News release Jan 14, 2020) Pistol Bay can earn a 100% interest in the Property by issuing 1,000,000 common shares and paying a total of $7,000 on the date of approval. A 2% NSR has been granted to the vendor. Pistol Bay has an option to buy back1% NSR from the vendor by paying $500,000 to the vendor. This transaction is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. All shares issued will be subject to a hold period expiring four months plus one day from the date of approval. About Pistol Bay Mining Inc. Pistol Bay Mining Inc. (TSXV:PST) is a diversified Junior Canadian Mineral Exploration Company with a focus on gold and base metal properties in North America, notably the Red Lake district of Ontario. For additional information please visit the Company website at www.pistolbaymininginc.com or contact Charles Desjardins at pistolbaymining@gmail.com . On Behalf of the Board of Directors PISTOL BAY MINING INC. Charles Desjardins, President and Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements: Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning of the Companys plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, expects and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Companys future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. File image Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said recent geo-political developments are very sad reflections of a very serious problem in US thinking about the region (West Asia). Zarif made the comment at the Raisina Dialogue event in New Delhi. I think developments over past few weeks are very sad reflections of a very serious problem in United States' thinking about the region. They look at things from their own perspective and not the perspective of the people of the region, Zarif said. We need to create hope in region, we have to get rid of despair, he said, adding that his country had incurred hundreds of billions of dollars in damages because of the ongoing tensions. According to news agency PTI, Zarif said that the killing of Qasem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance and claimed that 430 Indian cities witnessed protests against the act. The Iranian foreign minister also reiterated that shooting down of the civilian Ukrainian airlines near Tehran was a mistake. The incident had killed 176 people and has caused massive anti-government protests in Iran. He arrived in New Delhi on January 14 on a three-day India visit at a time when tensions between Iran and the US are spiralling. The tensions have risen after the killing of top Iranian military commander Maj Gen Soleimani by America in a drone attack. Soleimani was the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force. Iran retaliated launching over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces' are stationed in Iraq. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Zarif are also expected to hold talks and deliberate on the fast escalating tensions between Iran and the US. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar as it has important interests in the region. Zarif is also expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports suggest. India has strategic interests in the Gulf region which is a key source of the country's energy security. Zarif also held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The two discussed the evolving situation in the Gulf. (With inputs from PTI) A federal court has indicted five men suspected of operating an international network of front companies to purchase goods in the United States for Pakistans nuclear and other weapons programs in violation of two legislative acts designed to protect U.S. national security, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release. The indictment, unsealed on January 15, says the "defendants smuggled U.S.-origin goods to entities that have been designated for years as threats to U.S. national security for their ties to Pakistans weapons programs," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. Accused of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act are: Muhammad Kamran Wali (Kamran), 41, of Pakistan; Muhammad Ahsan Wali (Ahsan), 48, and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh (Haji), 82, both of Canada; Ashraf Khan Muhammad (Khan) of Hong Kong; and Ahmed Waheed (Waheed), 52, of Britain. All are associated with the front company Business World in Pakistan and the group allegedly procured "38 separate exports" from 29 U.S.-based companies through an international web of firms that concealed the true destination of the goods in Pakistan, according to the indictment. However, a multiagency law enforcement investigation established that the goods went to two Pakistani organizations whose activities "are found to be contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests: the Advanced Engineering Research Organization (AERO) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)." AERO was added to the Commerce Department's entity list in 2014 after the U.S. government found that it had "used intermediaries and front companies to procure items for use in Pakistan's cruise missile and strategic UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] programs." Arrest warrants for the five suspects are pending and none of them have been apprehended. [January 15, 2020] KaiKuTek is Developing Mmwave/Deep Learning Technologies can Meet the Needs of Specific Applications of AI and Create a Sustainable Profitability Business Model TAIPEI, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KaiKuTek and other notable homegrown startups led by Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) had showcased their innovative solutions and sought for global cooperation at CES 2020. Mike Wang, the technical director of KaiKuTek, has lived in the United States for more than 30 years. He has more than 25 years of experience in analog/RFID design. He saw the potential of the application of the 60GHz mmWave WiGig (Wireless Gigabit, 802.11ad) in gesture recognition and went forward to establish KaiKuTek in January 2017. After raising US$10 million in seed round and Series-A funding, KaiKuTek has successfully developed the world's first 60GHz gesture recognition SoC that combines mmWave, a deep learning algorithm and AI accelerator. It is expected that mass production will begin by the end of the year. Taiwan ranks highly in mathematical proficiency, and with the heavy promotion of AI by the government and the industry over the years, the country has cultivated many AI talents. It is because of this that Mike Wang decided to return to Taiwan and set up a company. However, he believes that most of the AI applications in Taiwan are currently limited to a few areas like finance and shopping. Realistically, maximum synergy can only be achieved when AI is combined with hardware. At present, there is an enormous startup manufacturing industry chain in Taiwan. KaiKuTek's AI accelerator can meet the needs of specific applications of AI and core technology development in this industry and other markets. "We have fused three major technologies, each having a high threshold, into one to create the 60GHz gesture reognition total solution." Mike Wang said: "The first is mmWave technology that includes radar signal processing, IC and antenna design. The second is deep learning and an AI algorithm. The third is AI." This powerful integration skill spawned the world's first fully integrated embedded system that combines the 60GHz mmWave radar and dedicated AI accelerator. KaiKuTek has demonstrated its patent planning and mapping ability, including the special mmWave IC circuit design know-how that improves efficiency and reduces power consumption, as well as the special AI/deep learning algorithm that improves accuracy and reduces IC implementation, power consumption and complexity. In addition to providing a complete 60GHz hand/finger gesture recognition/tracking SoC and relevant algorithms, KaiKuTek will also develop other mmWave/deep learning technologies for different markets and applications. Moreover, KaiKuTek will also dive into sensor fusion in the future. KaiKuTek has selected 60 GHz because it is a free and unlicensed band. Its maximum bandwidth can reach 10Gb/s (current maximum available bandwidth) in the future. Many other standards, including 802.11ad/WiGig and 802.11ay, are all on this band. More importantly, its radial distance resolution is 1.5 cm. This distance is especially important for gesture recognition applications because finger movement is very subtle. In addition, mmWave signal attenuation in the air occurs rapidly, so 60GHz is ideal for line-of-sight and short-range applications (fewer than 10 m). With a directional antenna, it can provide better privacy protection and reduce interference. Mike Wang emphasized that the product adopts sensor-side computing, which has low-latency, provides immediate benefits including very economical. Specifically, applying a deep learning algorithm to sensor-side SoC eliminates bandwidth issues commonly found in cloud computing. Also, compared to being run on software processors, a deep learning algorithm can provide lower latency and power consumption when combined with the dedicated AI processor on the SoC. At present, gesture recognition/tracking has a wide range of applications. These include mobile phones (provides more diverse control experience), IoT wearable devices (smart watch, headset, smart bracelet), games (motion detection, game control), smart home/appliances (TV, lighting controls), in-vehicle controls (audiovisual controls, call answering), and security (keyless entry, alarm system). KaiKuTek has three main targets: smartphones/wearable devices, games and AIoT. However, startups are limited by the economy, costs and resources, KaiKuTek will prioritize the first two targets. "We founded the company and developed the mmWave radar 3D gesture recognition/control project because we did not want to be a 'me too' trend-follower. We increased our value and advantage through innovative integration methods. Also, by combining hardware and services, we can provide customers with customized value-added services," said Mike Wang. At present, KaiKuTek provides different business models such as built-in module supply and personalized gesture and gesture app development platform tailored to mobile devices/wearable devices, consumers and developers. Personalized gestures allows the user to add gestures and upload them to the cloud via the paid app. After training is completed on the cloud server, the gestures will be updated to the device. Lastly, KaiKuTek will establish a profit-sharing system with service providers to build a sustainable, profitable business model. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kaikutek-is-developing-mmwavedeep-learning-technologies-can-meet-the-needs-of-specific-applications-of-ai-and-create-a-sustainable-profitability-business-model-300987235.html SOURCE Taiwan Tech Arena [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The UK created eight unicorns in 2019 companies worth more than one billion US dollars as investment into the tech sector hit new record highs, research has found. Investment in UK tech hit 13.2 billion dollars (10.1 billion) last year, with the speed of growth faster than both the US and China, and outstripping fundraisers in France and Germany. This was up 3.1 billion on the same data for 2018, with UK companies winning a third of the 30.4 billion raised during the year in Europe, according to research from the Governments Digital Economy Council. VC investment by country (TechNation / Dealroom / PA) The research by Tech Nation and Dealroom.co also found that venture capital (VC) investors which invest at some of the earliest stages in a companys life increased 44% as investors hope to uncover the next Deliveroo or Monzo. Eight new unicorns were created in 2019, including Rapyd, CMR Surgical, Babylon Health, Sumup, Trainline, Acuris, Checkout.com and OVO Energy meaning the UK has now created 77 billion dollar businesses, double the total number in Germany at 34 and almost four times as many as Israel at 20. Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan said: Our tech companies are not only commanding the confidence of global investors but they are also creating new jobs and wealth across the country. Its absolutely vital we maintain this impressive success and in Government we are working tirelessly to make sure the conditions are right. VCs were particularly engaged with the sector, with investment increasing more than 40% for the third year in a row. By comparison, investments in France grew by a little over a third compared to 2018, while Israels investments rose by a fifth. Unicorns by country (TechNation / Dealroom / PA) On a global scale, the UKs performance in 2019 means it now sits behind only the US and China in terms of total venture capital funding received in the year. On a city-level, London joins the Bay Area, Beijing and New York at the top of the worlds most-funded locations, with companies headquartered in London raising 7.4 billion during 2019. Story continues The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: Our city is the undisputed tech capital of Europe and the record 9.7 billion dollar investment in this sector clearly shows London open to talent and investment from all over the world. Londons successful digital economy is not only an important source of jobs for Londoners but is also bringing prosperity and growth to the rest of the UK. But there was also money pouring into regions, with Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, Manchester and Edinburgh all ranked as top investment locations with almost half of all UK investments in the tech sector coming from US and Asian investors. David Richards, founder and chief executive at WANdisco, based in San Francisco and Sheffield, said: With 2019s new unicorn businesses being based in tech hubs like Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds Its positive to see that tech sector growth is creating highly skilled and well paid jobs right across the UK. Next year, investors and analysts are hoping for an equally successful year in UK tech, with investment expected to focus particularly on green technology. Suranga Chandratillake, general partner, at venture capital investor Balderton Capital said: In 2020, we think particular sectors will continue to outperform in terms of attracting capital including fintech and AI. To make sure the UK tech sector continues to meet high expectations, we need to make sure it is properly representative of all parts of society and work continuously to ensure no one is excluded from the opportunities the sector can provide. NORWALK Norwalks Conservation Commission delayed a decision on a request for a secondary access road on Norden Place after two attorneys gave opposing legal views on the proposal. Building the road has been a key part of developer Summit Saugatucks plan to bring a 187-unit housing complex to Hiawatha Lane, near the Westport/Norwalk border, a plan which has also faced repeated denials by Westports Planning and Zoning Commission. SIGN UP here to get daily Westport News and alerts on breaking news The strange thing about this application is that, at its core, its not necessary, said Tim Hollister, Summits attorney, at the Tuesday meeting. Were doing this to solve a problem created by the Westport Planning and Zoning Commission and fire marshal. The road, a main reason for the housing applications denial in Westport, was requested by Westports fire department, although Norwalks fire marshal said it wasnt required. To establish an additional emergency route in that area, however, the current road would need to be widened from 10 to 20 feet, a move prohibited by a conservation easement in Norwalk. Summit is seeking to change that easement, which Hollister argued was a property right of the applicant. The conservation easement that was granted to this commission was granted with Summits emergency access easement recognized as a pre-existing vested property right, Hollister said. Others, however, stated the commission still had a choice. You have a right to say no, said Keith Ainsworth, an attorney representing Save Old Saugatuck. Theres just no right they have to the amendment. He added the applicant had a right to apply for permits, not change the easement. Ainsworth also cautioned the commissioners on the message of changing a conservation easement. You shouldnt amend a conservation easement unless theres some corresponding environmental benefit, he said. In this case, they havent proven that. Matthew Mandel, a Westport Representative Town Meeting and Save Old Saugatuck member, echoed Ainsworths comments. Youre looking at a public trust issue, Mandel said. To do anything else but say no would be a breach of that public trust. Commissioners decided against voting, in order to seek legal counsel on whether the applicant had a property right to make a change. Chairman John Verel said he was torn on the application due to property rights being unclear. We have to obey the law, he said. Still, some commissioners said their early feelings were to maintain the conservation easement. I think our priorities should be for the conservation easement, Commissioner Ed Holowinko said, adding he was leaning toward denial. This is not something we have to do, he said. The commission will review the item again at its meeting on Jan. 28. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed Australia's resources sector as the world's largest investment manager signalled it will immediately dump thermal coal from its huge $10 trillion global portfolio. In a dramatic shift, global fund manager BlackRock said it would move towards positive climate investing, but the change will have limited impact on its hefty holdings in Australian mining and energy companies. Then treasurer Scott Morrison brought coal to Parliament in February 2017. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Asked about the BlackRock decision, Mr Morrison said coal was worth $70 billion a year to the Australian economy. "It is important to communities across the country," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. A joint Russian-Turkish initiative on Libya appears to have ground to a standstill, leaving the way to the Berlin Conference unclear Moscow hosted Libyan adversaries this week in order to urge them to sign an agreement to secure the ceasefire that had been reached between the forces fighting for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj, and the Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Talks lasted about seven hours. Al-Sarraj and Haftar didnt meet directly. Al-Sarraj signed the draft agreement before departing, while Haftar requested more time to consider it and then left Moscow without signing the document. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sought to downplay the failure of the talks, saying that efforts to broker a peace deal will continue. We all work in the same direction and urge all sides [of the conflict] in Libya to negotiate instead of trying to sort things out violently, Lavrov said Tuesday in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the United Nations urged the opposing sides to continue to adhere to the announced ceasefire. In a statement Tuesday, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) asked the warring parties to give ongoing diplomatic efforts an opportunity to yield a more permanent cessation of hostilities. For its part, Turkey has already sent military personnel to Libya to support Al-Sarrajs government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to teach Haftar the lesson he deserves if attacks on the Tripoli government continue. Addressing his ruling partys legislators, Erdogan added that it was now up to Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince Haftar to agree to the ceasefire proposal. As the Libyan delegations converged on the Russian capital, Germany set a date for the long anticipated International Conference on Libya: 19 January. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who jointly brokered the talks in Moscow, have indicated that they plan to attend the conference in Berlin that Ghassan Salame, UN special representative and head of UNSMIL, called for in his briefing to the UN on 29 July 2019. In Moscow, in addition to Al-Sarraj, chairman of the GNA Presidency Council, the Tripoli faction was represented by Khaled Al-Mishri, chairman of the High Council of State and Al-Sadek Al-Kahili, head of a breakaway House of Representatives group that has been meeting in Tripoli. The eastern based side was represented by Field Marshal Haftar and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh. The Russian and Turkish delegations, which acted as go-betweens in the talks, were headed by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Russian Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Nareshkin, and for Turkey, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu and Turkish Intelligence Director Hakan Vidan. The ceasefire talks in Moscow culminated several weeks of intensive Russian-Turkish discussions on Libya that the two sides said were aimed at coordinating joint efforts to reach a truce between the warring Libyan factions and to advance the UN-led peace process, according to spokespersons for both sides. The draft ceasefire accord, a copy of which was made available to Al-Ahram Weekly, reaffirms commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Libya, rejects a military solution to the Libyan crisis and stresses the need to fight terrorism and human trafficking, and obliges the warring parties to commit to the ceasefire that went into effect after midnight Sunday, 12 January. The agreement stated that necessary measures would be taken to bolster the ceasefire and stabilise the situation on the ground so that life could return to normal in the outskirts of Tripoli and elsewhere in Libya and in order to facilitate the delivery of aid and relief to civilians harmed by the conflict. The agreement also called for the creation of a 10-member military committee, made up of five officers from each side, in keeping with the recommendation of UNSMIL regarding the military/security track of the peace process. The purpose of the committee would be to identify potential flash points between the warring forces, monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and ensure its sustainability. The agreement also invited Libyan leaders to select representatives to take part in working groups on a solution to the Libyan crisis. The groups would be tasked with elaborating the economic, political and security-related conditions conducive to ending the Libyan conflict, resolving humanitarian problems and setting the country on the path to economic reconstruction. According to Libyan sources present in Moscow during the talks, which were held at the Russian Foreign Ministry, considerable progress was made, but various local, regional and international pressures caused an inconclusive first round that required Russian and Turkish follow-through. In a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart on Monday evening, Russian Lavrov underscored the progress achieved until now in the intensive Russian-Turkish brokered negotiations between the main warring parties in Libya. The participants, he said, were able to consider a document that makes it possible to identify the pending problems in the ceasefire that came into effect 12 January in response to President Putin and President Erdogans calls for a ceasefire in a joint statement following their meeting in Istanbul 8 January. [The parties] discussed the document, which will enable them to specify issues related to the ceasefire, Lavrov said. The draft final document of todays meeting was considered in detail. It was a matter of serious negotiations, he added. The Russian foreign minister affirmed that representatives from Russia and Turkey would continue to support the two sides in fulfilling the articles of the agreement that were under negotiation. It appears that the Russo-Turkish initiative at least budged an intractable standoff that has defied other international mediating efforts, bringing within reach the Berlin conference which aims unify international positions on Libya preparatory to the Libyan National Dialogue that Salame has been working to achieve. At one level, this success and despite Haftars departure without signing the agreement underscores the fact that the Libyan crisis in general, and the war for Tripoli in particular, is not a simple zero-sum game. The mathematics of the Libyan conflict are far more complex than many imagine, including the players themselves. At the same time, the negotiations in Moscow exposed a major flaw in the LNA camp led by Haftar whose reluctance to sign the ceasefire accord betrays his fears of the collapse of his local alliances. These include political forces in eastern Libya that champion a federal system and that have provided him with the social base he needed in order to secure control over the east, as well as supporters of the former regime who served as the spearhead of the military campaign he launched in April in order to seize control of Tripoli. All these parties fear being sidelined or weakened in the forthcoming arrangements for Libya. In addition, the powerful Russo-Turkish intervention in Libya has aroused fears among regional and international circles that support Haftar, because had it succeeded, it would have meant that Ankara and Moscow would have supplanted the customary influence of certain powers whose support Haftar does not want lose, at least not in the short term, despite his ambition to draw closer to and align with a superpower like Russia in order to better strengthen his position. The Russo-Turkish initiative had the support of Algeria whose Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum, visited Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to rally for the Libyan ceasefire agreement and efforts to restart the UN sponsored political process to resolve the Libyan crisis. The US, UK, Germany, Italy, France and the EU have all welcomed the ceasefire, but they are concerned over its fragility because of ambiguities that still surround political and security arrangements. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has claimed rival party Fianna Fail cannot be trusted on Brexit as one of its MEPs said he will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Varadkar launched Fine Gaels General Election campaign in Combilift factory in the border constituency of Co Monaghan on Wednesday alongside Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. Fine Gael are putting their role in securing a Brexit deal front and centre of their campaign strategy. Fine Gael putting #Brexit front and centre at their General Election campaign launch showing a video of their achievements on it and Northern Ireland #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/sfNAvC1fDS Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) January 15, 2020 Mr Varadkar said he is concerned Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher is going to vote against the EUs Withdrawal Agreement with the UK. Mr Kelleher has said he has fears the deal could erode the rights of Irish and EU citizens in Northern Ireland. I was really concerned to learn yesterday that Billy Kelleher, Fianna Fails only MEP in the European Parliament, has indicated that hes going to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Varadkar said. It demonstrates to me that Fianna Fail cant be trusted on the issue of Brexit and also, once again, Fianna Fail is internally divided on a critical issue. Mr Varadkar said he would call on Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin to explain why Mr Keller is the only MEP to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement. Thankfully Fianna Fail has not got much influence in Europe and, as a result, that Withdrawal Agreement will pass through the European Parliament, he added. As part of our new relationship with the UK, we want to make sure that we rebuild and reimagine our relationship with our nearest neighbourLeo Varadkar Mr Varadkar said he would like to have a Fine Gael Government reinstated before a crucial EU summit at the end of March. He highlighted Fine Gaels experience of helping to steer the Brexit negotiations. Because of the UK self-imposed deadline, we have the risk of trade going off a cliff at the end of the year, he said. We have the experience and the ability to secure that deal. As part of our new relationship with the UK, we want to make sure that we rebuild and reimagine our relationship with our nearest neighbour. Minister for Business Heather Humphreys reiterated that Brexit is only at half-time and said rival party Fianna Fail are not equipped to carry out the negotiations if elected. Mr Varadkar will meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on her first official visit to Dublin later on Wednesday. [January 15, 2020] Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom Announce Partnership With YouTube TV Cincinnati Bell Inc. has announced a new partnership with YouTube (News - Alert) TV that will provide customers in Greater Cincinnati and Hawaii with an innovative streaming content solution and best-in-class user experience. Cincinnati Bell's (News - Alert) partnership with YouTube TV will allow Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom customers to stream content via Cincinnati Bell's expanding fiber network in Greater Cincinnati and Hawaii. Through the third quarter of 2019, Cincinnati Bell Fioptics Internet was available to approximately 75 percent of Greater Cincinnati - including 482,000 addresses where Cincinnati Bell delivers fiber to the premises (FTTP). In Hawaii, fiber is available to approximately 50 percent of the consumer and small business market - including 170,600 FTTP addresses. YouTube TV offers cable-free live TV that can be watched on any screen (phone, tablet, TV, computer) through a simple and hassle-free experience. It includes over 70 networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC plus popular cable networks like HGTV, Food Network, TNT, TBS, CNN, ESPN (News - Alert), FX and on-demand programming. A YouTube TV membership includes six accounts per household, each with its own unique recommendations and personal DVR with no storage space limits. "Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom are pleased to offer our customers YouTube TV and give themanother option to access content whether they are at home using our high-speed Internet, or on the go using a cellular connection or Wi-Fi network," said Tom Simpson, Chief Operating Officer of Cincinnati Bell. "This partnership will further simplify the decision-making process for many of our customers who want flexible, innovative, and cost-efficient content platforms." Cincinnati Bell customers can find more information about YouTube TV by clicking this link. Hawaiian Telcom customers can find more information about YouTube TV by clicking this link. About Cincinnati Bell Inc. With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a local office in the Dayton area, Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) delivers integrated communications solutions to residential and business customers over its fiber-optic and copper networks including high-speed internet, video, voice and data. Cincinnati Bell provides service in areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Hawaii. In addition, enterprise customers across the United States and Canada rely on CBTS and OnX Canada, wholly-owned subsidiaries, for efficient, scalable office communications systems and end-to-end IT solutions. For more information, please visit www.cincinnatibell.com. The information on the Company's website is not incorporated by reference in this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005571/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22 Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China 20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded Shoigu: CSTO peacekeepers deployed in Kazakhstan thanks to Syrian and Karabakh experience Azerbaijan official pledges to remove Armenian toponyms from Google Maps UN offers two plans to help Afghans totaling $ 5 billion in 2022 Armenia attorney general travels to Moscow on working visit Azerbaijan MOD blames Armenian side for soldiers death Dollar drops in Armenia Shirak Province captives families hold protest outside Armenia government building Rolls-Royce sales rise to record high in 2021 Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis directed gun at Armenia residents car in which his wife, 3-year-old child were ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes Serbia's Orthodox Patriarch tests positive for COVID-19 Brothers, sisters of 2020 Artsakh war military casualties to get compensation in lieu of their deceased parents Turkish authorities sanction arrest of 33 suspected FETO ties Copper rises in price Erdogan's spokesman, Biden's adviser discuss Armenian-Turkish relations Armenia deputy defense minister: No one can rule out border tension at any moment New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia official: Those 100 soldiers absence will not assume any change in terms of border tension Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78 Reuters: Over 1.13 million cases of COVID-19 detected in US per day Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies 2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Deputy PM Matevosyan: About 1,190 subvention programs implemented in Armenia from 2018 to 2021 243 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia MP: It would be right to put pressure on Azerbaijanis to remove their firing positions Oil is getting more expensive Nearly 10,000 people detained in Kazakhstan in connection with riots Tokayev: CSTO peacekeepers will pull out from Kazakhstan within 10 days Newspaper: Armenia businessmen pay customs duties to Azerbaijanis to go to Iran European Parliament speaker David Sassoli dies Alikhan Smailov appointed Kazakhstan Prime Minister Newspaper: Health minister makes decision full of contradictions in terms of Covid-related restrictions in Armenia Newspaper: Armenia authorities once again showed their being unprincipled, worthless, opposition MP says Germany teacher who had cannibalism fantasies is sentenced to life in prison Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years Spain PM calls for a debate to consider COVID-19 endemic disease Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights Pope condemns "baseless" ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart Macron travels to French Riviera to discuss internal security issues Artsakh Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan's aggressive behavior aims to disrupt Russian peacekeepers' activities US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction Washington and Ankara discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19 US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22 Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms Internet cut off in Kazakhstan Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations Dollar continues going up in Armenia New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS) Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief Australia to buy US $ 2.5 billion of armored vehicles Artsakh emergency service: Search for soldiers remains continued during holidays Kazakh Colonel Nazanov dies after heart attack Australia begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 with COVID-19 vaccine Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up Copper prices decline Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes Gold is getting cheaper EU is ready to support in addressing Karabakh crisis 126 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Fire in residential building in New York leaves 19 people killed National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan Rutland locals have reacted with fury after their first ever McDonald's has been confirmed for England's smallest county. Councillors approved plans for the burger chain to open a branch on the outskirts of the town of Oakham, on Tuesday. The planning application for the restaurant attracted a 50 objections, and a McFlurry of concerns the new eatery would increase anti-social behaviour. Objections to the restaurant - that will create around 65 jobs - have continued on social media will locals saying its 'disappointing' and they will 'vote out' councillors at the next election. The planning application for the restaurant attracted a 50 objections, and a McFlurry of concerns the new eatery would increase anti-social behaviour (stock image) Aerial view of the proposed new McDonald's site on the outskirts of Oakham in Rutland Locals on social media have reacted with annoyance after the council approved the planning application The planning application for the restaurant attracted a 50 objections, and a McFlurry of concerns the new eatery would increase anti-social behaviour Twitter user Matt Denny said: 'Sad day for Rutland, but oh ho hum it was always going to be passed by the council, they can't say no.' Red Moon said: 'Shame of members of Rutland County Council.' And Anna Douthwaite said: 'Why? There are so many places selling nutritious delicious decent food & you just voted for a junk food outlet! 'Clearly don't care about the obesity of environmental issues. Certainly not going to listen to the people of Rutland. Disappointing but not unexpected.' The planning application was recommended for approval in a report which was presented to Rutland County Council's planning committee on Tuesday evening - with councillors eventually giving it the go-ahead after an hour's worth of debate. The report, which said 23 submissions had been received in support of the application, states: 'The design and layout of the proposal is appropriate in the area. Objections to the restaurant - that will create around 65 jobs - have continued on social media will locals saying its 'disappointing' and they will 'vote out' councillors at the next election The planning application (pictured) was recommended for approval in a report which was presented to Rutland County Council's planning committee on Tuesday evening Councillors approved plans for the burger chain to open a branch on the outskirts of England's smallest county, in the town of Oakham (pictured) 'Natural and neutral colours and materials will be used on the building and the size and design of the building would not have an adverse impact on the surrounding area or the amenities of nearby residential properties. 'The site represents an appropriate location for a drive-thru restaurant.' The most high profile local objector was Emma Manners, the Duchess of Rutland complained the chain 'does not serve local food'. She told Good Morning Britain earlier today: 'My issue with McDonald's is they don't do locally sourced food. 'They should serve up pheasant burgers and nuggets. A pheasant is the cheapest food at all. If you bought a pheasant off me it would cost you nothing, I would give it to you. 'If McDonald's served pheasants I would be happy with the junk food outlet as long as they use county side people.' The Duchess told Good Morning Britain: 'If McDonald's served pheasants I would be happy with the junk food outlet as long as they use county side people' McDonald's staged a consultation event in Oakham in May last year, which was attended by almost 400 people. The chain's plans to develop the 'wasteland' site off Lands End Way include a 6.75 metre-high sign, odour control measures, and patrols to collect litter in the local area. Local franchise owner Martin Cuthbert said he was 'confident now is the right time to open a restaurant' in Oakham, describing the fast food chain as 'safe and family-friendly'. Mr Cuthbert said he was expecting the restaurant to attract customers from 'both Oakham and passing traffic - and particularly people visiting Rutland Water'. A mother who attended a planning committee meeting on Tuesday said she opposed the plans 'purely for who they are and what they stand for'. But Edward Baines, the chair of Rutland County Council's planning committee, told members of the public the issue was 'one of land usage and not the grounds of the applicant'. by Ray Schultz , Columnist, January 14, 2020 There has been a rash of news about GDPR in recent days, and some of it is contradictory. For instance, data authorities in the European Economic Area (EEA) imposed 190 fines with a combined penalty of 410,000,000, the Italian organization Federprivacy reports. In sheer number of actions, Italy was first with 30. But the UK doled out the biggest financial sanctions 312,000,000 or 76% of the total. Yet two massive fines meted out by the UK Information Commissioner's Office for data breaches -- 183 million against British Airway sand 99 million against Marriott have been kicked into the long grass, The Register writes. What accounts for this failure to collect? The regulatory process has been extended to March. When the ICO announces a "notice of intent" to fine companies, this is not the same thing as actually handing out the penalty, The Register wryly notes. advertisement advertisement Meanwhile, Ireland and Luxembourg home to the head offices of most foreign corporations processing data on the mass scale have imposed no penalties, according to Federprivacy. In perhaps the most disturbing piece of news, a study from scholars at MIT reveals that cookie consent management platforms (CMPs) are letting down the public. Only 11.8% meet even the minimal requirements of European law, according to the authors. Instead, dark patterns and implied consent are ubiquitous, they say. The researchers scraped the designs of the five most popular CMPs on the top 10,000 websites in the UK. They state that a site is minimally compliant if it has no optional boxes pre-ticked, if rejection is as easy as acceptance, and if consent is explicit. But only 12.6% of sites studied had a 'reject all' button requiring the same or fewer number of clicks as an 'accept all' button. The accept all buttons were never buried in a second layer, but 74.3% of reject all buttons were one layer deep, meaning that the person had to click twice. And almost 10% were two layers away. This renders them effectively ignored, the paper argues. Worse, over half of the sites had no reject all button at all. Another issue is the use of cookie walls, where the consumer must consent to cookies to even access a website. Many authorities say the practice is illegal, but the issue remains unclear and the final conclusion will regardless be subject to the glacial flow of the draft ePrivacy Regulation through the EUs legislative process The authors conclude that consent can only be valid if a compact but representative and rich description can be placed on the first layer. But that option is probably not be popular with many companies. An alternative would be to overhaul the design pattern of the consent banner or barrier, and have richer, more durable ways to set preferences, potentially within the browser. These browser settings would be legally binding, rather than weak and self-regulatory in nature, they add. Maybe so. But its a sad commentary that the foundation of the GDPR consent is still not being observed by all parties almost two years in. Situation in Bhainsa town of Nirmal district in Telangana remained peaceful and under control on Wednesday even as 61 people have so far been arrested in connection with the communal clashes that left 19 people injured in the town, police said. Hyderabad: Situation in Bhainsa town of Nirmal district in Telangana remained peaceful and under control on Wednesday even as 61 people have so far been arrested in connection with the communal clashes that left 19 people injured in the town, police said. A trivial issue took a violent turn when members belonging to two different communities clashed late night on 12 January, leaving the 19 people, including eight police officials, injured. "The situation is peaceful and under control. Things are getting normal, shops are open," a senior police official told PTI over phone. Police registered 13 cases and so far arrested 61 people from both the communities, the official said. More arrests would be made based during the course of investigation, he said. Apart from police personnel, RAF was conducting patrolling in the town, he said adding prohibitory orders, imposed under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code banning assembly of more than five people, were on. Clashes broke out in the town over a petty matter of some people riding motorcycles by removing silencers late Sunday night with members of two communities indulging in arguments, followed by assault, stone-pelting and arson which continued beyond midnight. Some members of both sides again clashed by indulging in stone-pelting on Monday after which police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse them. The clash broke out as some people were questioned by members of another community while they were making noise by removing silencers from their bikes, police earlier said. A total of 14 houses was damaged by arsonistsand as many as 24 two-wheelers were fully burnt and one three-wheeler and one car were partially burnt. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Through data-driven production there are more ways than ever to gain new insights and better control the electronics production. Mycronic's vision is to enable a zero-defect assembly line with the highest utilization for any product mix. Mycronic is leveraging its end-to-end expertise, software and solutions to unleash new levels in quality, exibility and productivity throughout the factory. At IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego 4-6 February, Mycronic will show a wide array of state-of-the-art assembly technologies that will help improve quality, flexibility and productivity in electronics manufacturing, including new advances in machine-to-machine communication, machine learning, full SMT line capabilities and automated material handling systems. "We're moving quickly to a production that's more predictive, more adaptive to dynamic changes and far more data-driven. It's our commitment to provide our customers innovative production solutions, together with deeper, more useful insights into their processes," says Thomas Stetter, Sr VP, Assembly Solutions. Standardization and integration to further enable the smart factory The need for customized horizontal and vertical integration is certain to grow in the future, as manufacturers experience ever-increasing demands for transparency. Industry communication standards such as Hermes, CFX and IPC-2581 (Digital Product Model Exchange) will play an important role in this development. Mycronic is supporting and actively participating in the development of these standards. Full SMT line solution with expanded capabilities Learn how our latest fully integrated production solution MYPro Line helps you eliminate defects and increase utilization for the most demanding build schedules. At APEX we will demonstrate a number of new hardware, software and automation capabilities. Award-winning AI solution for a zero-defect production Discover how our fully integrated 3D SPI and jet printing solution automatically identifies and corrects missing or damaged solder paste print to help you maintain the highest throughput speeds with simpler stencil designs and zero defects. Discover how our fully integrated 3D SPI and jet printing solution automatically identifies and corrects missing or damaged solder paste print to help you maintain the highest throughput speeds with simpler stencil designs and zero defects. Unleash new levels in productivity with MY700 Jet Printer and Dispenser Mycronic's software-driven MY700 solution offers solder paste jet printing and high-speed jet dispensing of adhesives with unrivalled flexibility while reducing production costs and manual rework. The MY700 allows you to produce complex boards with a speed of more than one million dots per hour. Award-winning SIGMA Link The SIGMA Link software, a real-time web-based interface that correlates data between solder paste inspection and automated optical inspection, now features more intuitive process controls to further improve inspection efficiency and first pass yield. The SIGMA Link software, a real-time web-based interface that correlates data between solder paste inspection and automated optical inspection, now features more intuitive process controls to further improve inspection efficiency and first pass yield. Versatile pick-and-place solution The industry's most versatile pick-and-place solution is now faster, smaller and smarter than ever. Learn how the new MY300HX and MY300EX machines make it possible to build lines that maintain the highest utilization levels at speeds up to 100,000 components per hour. Stops defects at their source with the new K-Series 3D AOI Find out how our advanced 3D AOI system helps maximize first pass yield with a scalable solution for both pre-reflow and post-reflow inspection. Also, the new AOI software platform embeds machine learning based technology resulting in faster programming. Find out how our advanced 3D AOI system helps maximize first pass yield with a scalable solution for both pre-reflow and post-reflow inspection. Also, the new AOI software platform embeds machine learning based technology resulting in faster programming. Smarter material flow Stock accuracy, traceability, and delivery performance are key aspects of a material handling system. Increased automation is required, and in many cases is already ongoing. The Mycronic SMD Tower provides more intelligent and automatic access to component reels and trays. Experience advanced conformal coating and dispensing robots Mycronic's MYSmart series is rapidly evolving, and a number of new hardware and software solutions will be on display at APEX. The MYC50 conformal coating system, with its new intuitive user interface, precision spray valve and flow monitoring system, promises to deliver even higher levels of precision, repeatability and yield. Also, explore a range of robots for all dispensing needs - from tabletop to inline solutions. The new MYD55 will demonstrated true 5-axis dispensing and the expansive valve offering enables you to dispense any fluid to meet your production requirements. Learn how safe plasma cleaning robots increase yields The new MYS atmospheric plasma system with safe plasma technology, protects your bottom line and is safe to the touch. These robots safely ensure cleaner operations and up to 50 times faster cleaning speeds, higher yields and improved traceability compared to traditional vacuum plasma systems. From semiconductor packaging to sensitive plastics the MYS can plasma clean any sensitive surface. "Visit us at APEX and learn more how our latest developments tackle the rising complexity in the electronics assembly, with the aim to enhance our customers' control over the data, processes and material flows that matter most to their success." says Brian Duffey, President of Mycronic Inc. The full range of new production line solutions will be on display at the Mycronic exhibition booth #1336 at IPC APEX EXPO 2020, February 4-6 at the San Diego Convention Center. Contact at Mycronic: Brian Duffey President Mycronic Inc. Tel: +1-978-948-6919 [email protected] Simon Sandgren Marketing Director Assembly Solutions Tel: +46-8-638-52-00 [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/mycronic-ab/r/experience-mycronic-s-comprehensive-range-of-advanced-electronics-assembly-technologies-at-apex,c3009268 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Mycronic AB According to the book, He made fun of her stature and believed that at about five feet four inches she was not physically intimidating. Shes so short, Trump would tell others about Nielsen. She and Kelly would try to make light of it. Kelly would rib her and say, But youve got those little fists of fury! Gang arrested after stealing 14 tons of dogs for meat Nguyen Van No, Tran Thi Nguyet and Nguyen Dinh Thao at a police station in Dak Nong Province, January 12, 2020. Photo courtesy of the the Ministry of Public Security Newspaper. Three people have been arrested in Dak Nong Province for allegedly stealing dogs weighing a total of around 14 tons over a year. Tran Thi Nguyet, 46, struck a deal with Nguyen Dinh Thao, 28, and Nguyen Van No, 38, to buy dogs they steal for VND40,000 ($1.7) per kilogram, police in the Central Highlands province said on Tuesday. Nguyet supplied the dogs to local restaurants. No and Thao were arrested after they stole seven dogs and brought them to Nguyet last Sunday. The police also seized from them 55 kg of dog meat, tapes, a taser, and a motorbike. Nguyet has reportedly bought around 14 tons worth of dogs from the duo since last year. If an average dog weighed 15 kg, almost 1,000 dogs passed through their hands. No and Thao stole five to seven animals every night, the police said. Vietnam consumes an estimated five million dogs a year, second only to China's 20 million. Many of the dogs that make it to the frying pan are stolen pets sold to small, unregulated abattoirs and killed in brutal ways. Dog theft is treated as a crime only when a canine is valued at more than VND2 million ($86). There's no law against trading dog meat. Proper structures must be instituted to ... The opposition party had been expecting its dissolution and had already ceased to function with its leader Kem Sokha arrested, many of its senior members in hiding or in exile such as its Vice President Mu Sochua. Cambodias Supreme Court has dissolved the countrys main political opposition party. The Cambodia National Rescue Party denies accusations that it is plotting to overthrow the government. The opposition party had been expecting its dissolution and had already ceased to function with its leader Kem Sokha arrested, many of its senior members in hiding or in exile such as its Vice President Mu Sochua. The move gives Prime Minister Hun Sen a clear run in next years general election. Al Jazeeras Rob McBride reports from Phnom Penh. The agreement on mutually lifting visas between China and Armenia will take effect on January 19, 2020, as reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Starting January 19, Armenian and Chinese citizens will be able to travel or transit in the host countrys territory for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days without a visa. Any stay over 90 days, and stay for the purpose of work and study will require application for a visa in advance. "Overwhelmingly, Australians accept the science of climate change and they now have lived experience of the climatic conditions this summer," he said. "Australians want us to get on with the job of meeting our Paris emissions but looking at what more we can do to reduce our emissions further. "Debate on whether science is real or not is entirely unproductive to meeting the challenges that Australia and the world face." Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman says it's time for the coalition to take action on climate change. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Zimmerman said climate change clearly underlined the bushfires being experienced this summer. Loading "We have to make sure that we're able to respond to the impact that we're already experiencing as well as playing our part in reducing emissions to avoid temperature increases reaching catastrophic levels," he said. The member for Goldstein in bayside Melbourne, Tim Wilson, also backed the minister's comments on the science. "The job of the government is to develop public policy informed by a myriad of factors, including science, and properly consider trade-offs and costs of different forms of action, and the minister is right that is where our focus should be," he said. The Liberal MP for Wentworth in Sydney's east, Dave Sharma, said he welcomed Ms Andrews' "common sense proposition", while the MP for Mackellar on the Sydney northern beaches, Jason Falinski, said there was no debate about whether climate change was real. "We know it is real. We now need to work on sensible and practical measures to reducing our carbon emissions," he tweeted. NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said climate change was not a matter of personal belief when it should be based on the science. "The science minister is right. We shouldn't waste time on belief because science is not a matter of belief," he said. "We have no time for conspiracy theories when there is so much to be done. Science has underpinned our policies over the long run." Government MPs have been reluctant to speak in public on the climate change debate out of concern their opponents would claim they were "using" the fires to argue for policy change, but some spoke of a palpable shift in the party room when major cities were shrouded in bushfire smoke. Loading Mr Morrison's remarks last Sunday on climate action and Ms Andrews' comments on the science are encouraging MPs to speak up in the knowledge the government is working on a technology roadmap with further climate policies. "Whether you're a farmer who's facing another season without a crop or a family who just lost your home in these awful bushfires, it's time we all look at moving forward and getting prepared for the future," said NSW Liberal senator Hollie Hughes. "Karen is correct when she says every second spent discussing whether the climate is changing is wasted time it's time that would be much better spent on mitigation and adaption strategy development." Fiona Martin, the Liberal member for Reid in western Sydney and a former psychologist, also backed Ms Andrews. Loading "Having come from a research background, I have alwa ys stressed the importance of scientific evidence driving policy," she said. "It is good to see minister Andrews working towards practical strategies to respond to climate change and engaging with the experts." Mr Kelly said the only "denial" he had seen was coming from those who denied that Australia only made up 1.3 per cent of global emissions and could not have any measurable effect on global temperatures. All India Council of Technical Education has appointed Dr. Anurag Batra as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), a statutory body of the Government of India, has appointed Dr. Anurag Batra as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. Batra is the Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of the BW Businessworld and the exchange4media Group. It is the first time an alumnus of the MDI has been appointed on its board. Commenting on Batras appointment, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe Chairman, AlCTE says, Dr. Batras appointment is a part of the AICTEs objective to enrich the business education institutions with the knowledge and experience of leaders from across industries. Dr. Batras success as an entrepreneur and a founder of media businesses is well known welcoming Batra to the Board, Dr. Pawan Kumar Singh, Director, MDI, says, Dr Batra is an illustrious alumnus of the institute, who our faculty and students are extremely proud of. His appointment on the institutes board is a matter of immense joy and happiness. We are looking forward to interacting with him and to being benefitted by his counsel.About his appointment, Batra says, I see this an opportunity to contribute to my alma mater and to support the Board and the Director in any and every possible manner in the fantastic they are already doing. Also Read: Why Dell XPS 13 7390 laptop is the best Windows notebook for the masses About AICTE All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament (Act 52 of 1987) under Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India for the purpose of planning, promotion and regulation of technical education system in the country. Also Read: Davinder Singhs arrest snowballs into political controversy between BJP and Congress About MDI Management Development Institute (MDI) was formed as an autonomous body in 1973, in collaboration with several reputed institutions such as UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank and ILO. Since its inception, MDI has moved on the success path and is among the countrys top B-Schools today. MDI is recognized in the business and education community for the outstanding growth it has been able to achieve in a short time span. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Shanghai cut ties with sister-city Prague Tuesday after the Czech capital announced a twinning agreement with Taiwan's capital Taipei. The decision comes amid an ongoing dispute between Prague's city government and China that has soured Czech-Chinese relations despite a campaign by president Milan Zeman for closer ties with Beijing. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory under what its one-China policy, and has vowed to retake the island one day -- by force if necessary. Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib, of the anti-establishment Pirate Party and in charge of the city since November 2018, cancelled another twinning agreement with Beijing in October. In a newspaper commentary published Sunday, Hrib said China was a "risky and unreliable partner", before signing the deal with his Taipei counterpart on Monday. Shanghai's move comes after the landslide weekend re-election of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, which Beijing sees as an affront to its claims over the self-ruled island. Prague has "repeatedly made erroneous actions on Taiwan and other major issues involving China's core interestsgrossly interfered in China's internal affairs, and openly challenged the one-China principle", Shanghai's city government said in a statement Tuesday. "We urge Prague's municipal authorities to recognize their mistakes promptly," it added. Over the last four years the Chinese government has ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, hoping it would scare voters into supporting Tsai's opposition. But the strong-arm tactics backfired and voters flocked to Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party, fuelled in part by China's hardline response to months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Taiwan has seen its circle of friends shrink in recent years as former diplomatic allies switched recognition to an increasingly powerful Beijing. Hrib said in his commentary in Welt am Sonntag newspaper that he had backed out of the Beijing agreement because he could not sign an agreement that forced Prague to "speak out against the independence of Tibet and Taiwan". Hrib also accused the Czech government of "neglecting" ideals of the peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended four decades of communist rule in the Czech Republic. "As mayor I am working to fulfil my campaign promise to return to a course of respect for democracy and human rights," he wrote. Photo: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash From a professional networking event to a punk rasta party, there's plenty to enjoy in Fresno this week. Read on for a rundown of ideas for how to fill your calendar. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Coffee & Chat with Central Cal Chapter of CAAEYC From the event description: Join us at our next Night Out where you will have the chance to meet other professionals in our field and discuss topics that affect ECE. This will be a great opportunity for you to meet our board, as well as other professionals within our field. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 6-8 p.m. Where: Starbucks, 423 N. Fort Washington Road, #108 Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Tomorrows Bad Seeds: Punk Rasta Party From the event description: Tomorrows Bad Seeds, leaders of the new school is a five piece American band from The South Bay of Los Angeles California, formed in 2004. Their Southern California influences helped yield their unparalleled sound a perfect mix of reggae, rock and pop. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 8:30 p.m.- Friday, Jan. 17, midnight Where: Fulton 55, 875 Divisadero Admission: $12 (Advanced Priced Ticket; $15 (Day of Show) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Guitarist Randy Freeman Album Release Concert with Violinist Eva Scow From the event description: Guitarist, Randy Freeman releases his new album "Acoustic Memoir" at The Harmony House Van Ness, Fresno's unique house concert venue. The evening will include a live musical experience, joined by Violinist, Eva Scow and will boast light refreshments and a chance to mingle with the artists. When: Friday, Jan. 17, 6:30-9 p.m. Where: The Harmony House Van Ness, 2516 N. Van Ness Blvd. Admission: $25 (General Admission); $37.50 (VIP includes table seating & autographed CD) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Story continues Fulton 55's 9th Anniversary Party with 40 Watt Hype From the event description: Fulton 55's 9th Anniversary Party with 40 Watt Hype and special guests King Sugar and Boom Boom Brady. When: Friday, Jan. 17, 9 p.m. Where: Fulton 55, 875 Divisadero Admission: $8 (Advance); $10 (Day of Show) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Gordon Ramsay's got a brand new show for the BBC. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Vegas Uncork'd by Bon Appetit) Outspoken chef Gordon Ramsay has announced the launch of a new cooking show for the BBC, and it doesn't sound too dissimilar from The Apprentice. Gordon Ramsay's Future Food Stars will be an eight-part competition which sees the TV host on the hunt for entrepreneurial talent. The 53-year-old even put out a call for contestants on his Twitter page where he urged those with the next "big, bold and exciting food or drink business idea" to sign up. Read more: Gordon Ramsay in cultural appropriation row over new restaurant Elaborating on his involvement in the show, Ramsay said in a video: "I'm investing my time, my money to take the next product, app, food truck or something completely new to the next level and you don't even need to be a chef. Hey UK ! Im now casting for my new @BBCOne show ! To express an interest, please email foodstars@studioramsay.com Applicants must be aged 18+ by 01 May 2020 and have the right to live and work in the UK. To find out what happens to your data:https://t.co/8SZD1EvRMr pic.twitter.com/5UdI3wzzQZ Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) January 15, 2020 "Your business may be in development. That's how exciting this new series is." He went on to add he was seeking contestants with "passion, drive and very strong work ethic". The programme is due to feature 12 participants in total. Ramsay has plenty of television experience on UK television with the series Hell's Kitchen, The F Word, and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares under his belt. Chef Gordon Ramsay participates in AOL's BUILD Speaker Series to discuss discusses his new MasterChef mobile game at AOL Studios on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) He also made a splash in the US when he took Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares across the pond as well as appearing on US versions of MasterChef and MasterChef Junior. Outside of his career, there was good news for Ramsay in his personal life last year as he welcomed another child with wife Tana Ramsay. Story continues Although, he admitted he "fainted like an idiot" when the tot, Oscar, was born in April 2019. His birth came after the couple, who are already parents to Megan, Holly, Jack, Matilda, suffered a miscarriage in 2016. Victoria Villarroel is all over Kylie Jenner's Instagram page. At one look, who would have thought that the girl posing with Kylie is not a friend but her assistant? Villarroel met Kylie when she first worked as an intern at Jenner Communications. However, the former assistant is now stepping out of Kylie's shadows to become her own woman. Why Did She Quit? Villarroel boasts more than 900,000 Instagramfollowers of her own. She has been a long-time fixture in what was considered as Kylie's inner circle. Working for the "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" star for several years, Villaroel clarified that she has quit her job simply because she wanted to grow up and move on. Amid rumors of why she exited working for the famous family, the 27-year old tried to set the record straight. In her Instagram story, she posted what led her to quit working for Kylie. Villarroel revealed that she has worked for Kylie for five years and that the reality tv star became one of her closest friends, but she realized that it is time for her to move on and grow on her own. "I worked with Kylie for 5 years and she became one of my closest friends. We both decided it was time to grow without each other professionally about a year ago! she's still one of my best friends and our relationship has only gotten stronger," Victoria wrote. "Now let's focus our time and energy on other things! a lot of happening in the world right now." Although she had quit working for the model, Villarroel highlighted that their relationship has only gotten stronger than it ever was. When she was invited to Lexie Jiaras' "Girl Cult" podcast, she took the opportunity to explain why she quit her job with Jenner. Villarroel said that she parted ways with the famous family to focus on her own personal journey. On the same podcast, Villarroel spoke of her humble beginnings with the Kardashian-Jenner family. She was a student of visual communications in the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles when she got her internship at Jenner Communications. Villarroel happily described her experience working for the famous family. She also shared that she had to go through different jobs before she was promoted to being Kylie's executive assistant. Learning to Move On "I've learned a lot from her and her family," Villarroel said, adding that she believes that the family has their thing together that makes them truly inspiring. Over the years of working with Kylie, Villarroel said that there were times when she got too exhausted. She cited an incident when she overslept that Kylie had to drive herself to the airport because the assistant did not wake up on time. Villarroel thought Kylie Jenner was going to lose it, but she revealed that the reality star was cool with it. So when it came to leaving the job, Villarroel admitted that it was a hard decision to make. She was happy with what she was doing -- she loved her job and her boss. However, Victoria knew she had to make more of herself Villarroel wants to find out what she is truly passionate about and know what can make her 100 percent fulfilled and happy. She has nothing but good words for Kylie Jenner and her family. After all, Victoria learned a lot from them and will be forever be grateful for that. Since quitting, Villarroel has been spending time trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. At the moment, she is thinking about what to do next, but she remains hopeful that whatever it may be, it would work. The abrupt resignation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on January 15, which came just hours after President Vladimir Putin's detailed broad proposed changes to the constitution, jolted Russia's political landscape and appears to have taken even senior officials by surprise. "It was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky," the Russian business site The Bell quoted an unidentified acting federal minister as saying. The shake-up, in which Medvedev was offered a newly created post of Security Council deputy chairman, together with Putin's announced plans to strengthen parliament's powers, signals the start of the Kremlin's planned transition ahead of the end of Putin's term in 2024 that would likely envision a new but still powerful role for him, several Russian political analysts and commentators said. Here is a roundup of how Russian political scientists and public figures -- including politicians, officials, and journalists -- have reacted to the day's events, which are likely to have a dramatic impact on how Russia is ruled. Tatyana Stanovaya, founder of the political consulting firm R.Politik "Russia has entered its period of power transition ahead of schedule: in his State of the Union speech today, Putin revealed detailed plans for constitutional reform, and within hours had accepted the resignation of the government (in effect, Medvedev was fired -- he will now become the deputy head of the Security Council). There is no understanding which part of this is a clearly calibrated strategy, and which part is impromptu and a rough outline. The president's aim is to prepare the country for the return of 'tandem-democracy.' It looks very much like Putin is preparing to leave the presidency (whether that will take place in 2024 or even earlier), and is currently trying to create a safety mechanism for his successor in case of conflict. At the same time, he is getting rid of Medvedev, who has become toxic for the elite and the population at large -- this should make the transition period smoother. Putin looks like he is counting on becoming the head of the State Council, which will get increased powers and become a key decision-making platform with input from the Presidential Administration, the government and the governors." Mikhail Kasyanov, opposition politician and former prime minister during Putin's first term "The main takeaway from this [state-of-the-nation] address is that Putin is not going anywhere, and he is, overall, camouflaging this with the alleged strengthening of the role of the [State] Duma and the Federation Council. They are starting to hammer into the heads of Russians that everything is changing for the better, that there will be more discussion about the composition of the government.I think this is to divert Russians' attention from the main idea that Putin expressed today, that 'I, Putin, am not going anywhere, but in order for that to happen, we still need to strengthen the power vertical.'" Mikhail Vinogradov, political analyst and head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation "The [state-of-the-nation] address legalized the topic of the transition, legalized criticism of the super-presidential republic -- criticism that until recently was considered incendiary, and now, in essence, has become mainstream and a trend. And Medvedev's resignation showed that this is not only a blueprint, but that there are some further steps, in the mind of authorities, toward a change in the overall [power] structure. But for now there is no understanding which part of this is a clearly calibrated strategy, and which part is impromptu and a rough outline." Aleksandr Kynev, political scientist "The sum of the proposals in the [state-of-the-nation] address allows one to speak about a transfer of power along the lines of a modified Kazakh scenario -- of course there is no 'elbasy' [leader of the nation] here, but there will be a reallocation of functions among senior officials and, it seems, the State Council and the Constitutional Court. These are additional 'observation decks' from which tabs can be kept that Putin's successor doesn't grow into someone independent. To which 'observation deck' will Putin himself move? The text of the address allows one to make various guesses. It could be a renewed State Council or a strengthened parliament. In any case, I think that in 2024 there will be a new president, but under the control of these same 'observation decks.'" Unidentified acting Russian minister "No one expected this [Medvedev's] resignation. They called us together literally just now and told us. There were no indications in the morning, and there wasn't any hint of it in the [state-of-the-nation] address at [Moscow's] Manezh [Exhibition Center]. It was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky." Grigory Golosov, political scientist "Putin's constitutional ideas indicate fairly clearly that the baseline model being considered for the 'transition of power' is, after all, the Kazakh option: give the State Council (not the Security Council, in contrast to Kazakhstan) a constitutional role, which in the document itself will be defined in the broadest of terms, and place Putin at the head. And in the corresponding constitutional law give the State Council and its chairman any powers, all the way to unlimited. Everything else is secondary." Kirill Martynov, politics editor at Novaya Gazeta "For now it is unclear what role Vladimir Putin will have in the new power configuration: there is a broad expanse for maneuvering here. Most likely, if the current ban on three consecutive presidential terms remains, and in the case of weakened presidential powers, he could simultaneously lay claim to the post of prime minister and head of the State Council." Fyodor Krasheninnikov, journalist and political analyst "The transition has begun, and it will move very quickly, as we saw today, when over the course of one day there was a [state-of-the-nation] address with social promises, and constitutional reforms, and the resignation of the government, and the end of Medvedev. I think that Putin will carry out the next steps at the same crazy tempo. And the goal is simple: take the wind out of society's sails, and don't give it a chance to get together and figure out what to do. I think they will now swiftly rewrite the constitution, without any referendum, and swiftly reform the structure of government. And it will end with Putin forming such a constitution and such a government structure in which he plans to and will rule for life." Yevgeny Roizman, former Yekaterinburg mayor and opposition politician "It seems that some configuration [of government] will probably change. All the actions that are taking place now are actions aimed at keeping Putin in power indefinitely." With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Current Time TV, The Bell, Vedomosti, and Novaya Gazeta New Delhi: Billionaire Jeff Bezos is in India! Taking out his time on his two-day visit to India, the Amazon founder was seen partaking in Makar Sankranti festival, flying colourful kites with children, decked up in a colourful kurta-pyjama. Bezos, who is in India for a two-day summit for small and medium businesses also shared a video of his visit at the Mahatma Gandhi Rajghat paying homage to the father of the nation. Sharing his updates on his India visit, Bezos, spending time with kids wrote on his Instagram post, Any day is a good day when you get to fly a kite. #ThankYouIndia, he says in his latest post. It shows a video of him, dressed in a kurta, flying a kite with children and interacting with them. He even tells children about flying kites as a kid. The video, since being shared has collected over 4 lakh views and more than 88,000 likes. The comments on the post are flooded with people welcoming the Amazon founder to India. Prior to his India visit, Bezos, announced that he is making a donation of 1 million AU dollars for Australian Wildfire relief. Our hearts go out to all Australians as they cope with these devastating bushfires. Amazon is donating 1 million AU dollars in needed provisions and services. Find more about it and learn how customers can help as well. Link in bio the billionaire wrote on his Insta for Australia bushfires that have taken 25 lives, destroyed 2,000 homes to date and killed billion animals. A shocking new twist has emerged in the murder prosecution of Fotis Dulos, as his civil attorney's wife claims that the two men also plotted to kill her in a complicated scheme reminiscent of the Hitchcock thriller Strangers On A Train. In voicemail recordings released on Tuesday, Dulos is heard making plans to meet with attorney Kent Douglas Mawhinney's wife just days before his own wife Jennifer disappeared on May 24 in Connecticut. Before they were both arrested in Jennifer's murder last week, Mawhinney represented Dulos, a luxury home developer, in the $2.5 million lawsuits that his mother-in-law had filed against him. At the time, Dulos, 52, and Mawhinney, 53, were both involved in bitterly contested divorces, and Mawhinney faced criminal charges after his wife accused him of spousal rape last January. That case is still pending, and Mawhinney pleaded not guilty, insisting that the sex was consensual. Mawhinney's wife told police she believed Dulos was working with her estranged husband 'to get rid of her,' according to court documents raising the possibility that the two men arranged some kind of sick trade, following police allegations that Mawhinney was supposed to falsely alibi Dulos the morning Jennifer disappeared, and may have even secured a makeshift grave in the plot. Fotis Dulos walks free on $6 million bond last week . In new voicemails he is heard making plans to meet with his attorney's wife just days before his own wife Jennifer disappeared Civil attorney Kent Douglas Mawhinney is seen at arraignment. His estranged wife believes Dulos was plotting with Mawhinney to 'get rid of her' Jennifer Dulos (above) disappeared on May 24 and her body has never been found Left to right in new booking photos: Dulos is charged with murder. Michelle Troconis, 45, and Dulos' former civil attorney, Kent Mawhinney, are charged with conspiracy to murder Dulos briefly met with Mawhinney's wife at Max's Oyster Bar West Hartford on May 19, according to the warrant, and then contacted her on May 20 and May 21 three days before Jennifer vanished. In the new voicemail messages released by WTIC-TV, Dulos is heard trying to make plans to meet with Mawhinney's wife. 'Hi... this is Fotis Dulos from Fore Group. I just wanted to reach out to you. When you get a chance my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.' In another recording he says, 'Hi... It's, uh, Fotis Dulos. Hope you're doing well. Uh, it's Sunday morning, mid-morning, and I'm just trying to touch base with you to see what the plan is so I can plan my uh afternoon, evening accordingly. OK. Call me back. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.' Mawhinney's wife's attorney, Zenas Zelotes, said the voicemails were the start of a suspicious plot to get her to Dulos' home in Farmington. However, she was immediately skeptical, and didn't understand why Dulos, whom she barely knew, was suddenly trying to mediate in her contentious divorce battle. 'This is not a close family friend, this is not a relative, this is not the type of person who you would expect to reach out and try to mend a marriage,' Zelotes told the Fox affiliate. Fotis Dulos, seen with his crack legal team, is arraigned on murder and kidnapping charges Fotis Dulos arrives home on Thursday evening escorted by two officers. He was released on bail two days after being charged in the murder of his wife Jennifer. Dulos arrived at home in a different car that he left court in. He drove directly into his garage and then entered his house In August, Mawhinney was charged with violating the terms of a protective order by using Fotis Dulos to contact his own estranged wife. Arrest warrants released last week revealed that cops believe that Mawhinney, as well as Dulos' 45-year-old girlfriend Michelle Troconis, conspired with Dulos to kill his wife Jennifer by allegedly concocting alibis for him. Jennifer, a mother of five, disappeared from her home in New Canaan on the morning of May 24. Police believe she was murdered between 8.05am and 10.25am but her body has never been found. According to the warrants, cops believe that Dulos woke up at 4.20am, when his phone alarm went off, and drove the 70 miles from his home to Jennifer's in a borrowed car with doctored license plates. Both Troconis and Mawhinney were supposed to provide part of Dulos' alibi that morning, investigators believe. In police interviews, Troconis initially claimed that she and Dulos woke up at 6.40am and had intimate relations before she made breakfast. In subsequent interviews, her story changed when she was confronted with evidence, the warrants said. Troconis also initially told police that she last saw Dulos that morning around 8.15, as he was meeting with Mawhinney in the home office at Dulos' $4.2 million mansion in Farmington. Michelle Troconis, center, is arraigned on conspiracy to commit murder charges last week Jennifer (left) filed for divorce in 2017, and Fotis Dulos became romantically involved with Michelle Troconis (with him right at a work event) Mawhinney's own statements to investigators were 'frequently vague or evasive, at times self-contradictory, and otherwise suspicious' according to his arrest warrant. Mawhinney initially said there was no meeting with Dulos that morning, then said a meeting had been scheduled but that he didn't go. In a second police interview, Mawhinney claimed that he'd suffered a concussion on May 25, the day after Jennifer's disappearance, and had no memory of seeing either Troconis or Dulos on the day in question. He also said his phone had broken in the fall and had to be replaced. Mawhinney continued to deny having contact with Dulos or Troconis on May 24 despite phone records show that Dulos called his phone that evening, while police believe Dulos and Troconis were driving around Hartford disposing of evidence. 'I don't remember having contact with him [Dulos]. If there's a phone call I guess I did. But I don't remember having contact with Fotis,' Mawhinney told cops, according to the warrant. Police also connected Mawhinney with an apparent makeshift grave that was discovered soon before Jennifer disappeared, but never used to dispose of remains. On May 18, about a week before Jennifer disappeared, members of the Windsor Rod & Gun Club in East Granby came across a hole two feet wide, six feet long and three feet deep in a restricted area of the grounds. Witness Jay Lawlor said he uncovered an 'area of disturbed ground' while walking through woods with his friend Lee McKay during a hunting trip for his birthday. He described the hole - which was covered by 'two barbecue grill grates', small branches and leaves - as '100 per cent a human grave', arrest warrants state. Attorney Kent Mawhinney was arraigned on conspiracy to commit murder charges in the case of missing mother of five, Jennifer Dulos, in Stamford Superior Court last week Inside the ditch, Lawlor found a blue tarp and two unopened bags of lime. Quicklime is frequently used to prevent odor from decomposition that attracts flies and animals. Lawlor and his friend, worried that someone would fall into the concealed hole, moved the leaves and grill covers hiding it so that it was clearly visible. According to the warrant , Lawlor 'shrugged off' the strange find until he heard that Mawhinney, who helped found the hunting club and purchase the land it owned, was 'involved in that Dulos case'. Mawhinney, who at that point was no longer a member of the hunting club, allegedly asked a member about accessing the property, which is secured by fencing and a logging chain, in March and April. The warrant claims he was then told of a hidden key. Cellphone records placed the lawyer near the site of the hole on March 29 and May 31, according to police. Lawlor went back to the site in June and discovered the hole was filled in and covered 'as neat as a pin'. Investigators searched the area, and found evidence that the hole was filled in, but a thorough search revealed no human remains. Mawhinney is currently being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center pending bail of $2 million. Dulos walked free on $6 million bond last week, and Troconis also posted her bail of $1.5 million. Both are currently on house arrest and subject to GPS ankle monitor tracking. Dulos, Troconis and Mawhinney have pleaded not guilty in the case. Dulos' criminal attorney, Norm Pattis, has said he believes that the state's case is exceptionally weak. 'We categorically deny that Mr Dulos had any involvement in the disappearance of his wife, and we defy the state to prove that she is actually dead,' Pattis said last week. Pattis said that a jury would hear an explanation for the state's forensic evidence including bloody zip ties, gloves and other items 'from Fotis himself', implying that the accused murderer plans to testify in his own defense at trial. Dulos is due back in court on February 28. Troconis is due in court on February 7, and Mawhinney is set to appear on February 20. A 44-year-old Lawrence woman on Tuesday was charged with filing more than 500 false tax returns for herself and others, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for Massachusetts. Jennifer Beth True, a 22-year employee of the IRS, was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She is expected in court on Wednesday. True, who works at the IRS Service Center in Andover, filed 590 tax returns for herself and other taxpayers between 2012 and 2017, reaping between $40 and $100 per return that she prepared, according to the statement. Prosecutors allege that between Feb. 2012 and April 2018, True prepared at least 70 individual income tax returns for taxpayers that included materially false items such as false individual retirement account deductions, false medical expenses, false and inflated unreimbursed business expenses and/or false tax preparation fees. Some returns also included the names of fake children and dependent care credits. When filing her own tax return for the year 2014, True claimed seven dependents, including a taxpayer who isnt Trues dependent but paid her to prepare and file her tax returns. If found guilty of wire fraud, she could face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 SHANGHAI, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Quectel Wireless Solutions, a leading global supplier of Internet of Things (IoT) modules, has been collaborating with Telefonica, one of the largest carriers in the world who has been recognized for its vision and execution capabilities in IoT. As a result of the collaboration, Quectel has recently received certification of its LTE Cat NB2 (NB-IoT) module BC95-G from Telefonica, which includes subscription swap capabilities based on GSMA V3.2 standards. These subscription swap capabilities are useful in Smart Metering (water, gas, electricity) and Smart Cities (waste managedent, parking, streetlight, pollution monitoring and more). For example, smart meters need to be deployed for 10-15 years and are often located in hard to reach locations, typically making the service cost of replacing subscriptions high. Additionally, subscription swap technology can help simplify the deployment, management and security implementation of future-proof smart meter devices. Norbert Muhrer, Quectel's President and CSO, commented that, "after close collaboration with Telefonica teams, our BC95-G module is reliable, well tested and proven in its capabilities for operating on Telefonica's NB-IoT network. Now customers can accelerate their IoT deployments worldwide." The Telefonica-certified BC95-G is a high-performance NB-IoT module that supports multiple frequency bands of B1/B3/B5/B8/B20/B28 with extremely low power consumption. Designed for size sensitive applications and compatible with Quectel GSM/GPRS M95 and LPWA BC95 modules, it provides a flexible and scalable platform for new NB-IoT use cases. Telefonica is currently working with customers on Smart Metering and Smart City projects to be deployed as a result of this achievement in Quectel BC95-G module. About Quectel Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 603236.SS) is the leading global supplier of cellular and GNSS modules, with a broad product portfolio covering the most recent wireless technologies of 5G, LTE/LTE-A, NB-IoT/LTE-M, UMTS/HSPA(+), GSM/GPRS and GNSS. As a professional IoT technology developer and cellular module supplier, Quectel is able to provide one-stop services for IoT cellular modules. Quectel products have been widely applied in IoT/M2M fields including smart payment, telematics and transport, smart energy, smart cities, security, wireless gateways, industry, healthcare, agriculture, and environment monitoring. For more information, visit Quectel's website, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information contact: Ashley +86-551-6586-9386*8016 media@quectel.com Coast Guard searching for 2 fishermen after vessel collision in Galveston, Texas The US Coast Guard is searching for two fishermen from the 81-foot fishing vessel Pappy's Pride that capsized after a collision near the Galveston jetties in Galveston, Texas, Tuesday. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has said he was in favour of inscribing the image of Goddess Lakshmi on banknotes which could "improve the condition of the Indian currency". Swamy was speaking to reporters on January 14 night after addressing a lecture series titled 'Swami Vivekananda Vyakhyanmala' in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district. Responding to a question about the picture of Lord Ganesha printed on the Indonesian currency, Swamy said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi can answer this question. I am in favour (of this). Lord Ganesha removes obstacles. I rather say that a picture of Goddess Lakshmi (on currency notes) may improve the condition of Indian currency. Nobody should feel bad about this." Swamy said there was nothing objectionable in the Citizenship [Amendment] Act. "The Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had requested this (CAA). Manmohan Singh had also requested in Parliament in 2003. We did it. Now they are not accepting it saying that we did injustice to Pakistan's Muslims. What injustice was done? Pakistan's Muslims don't want to come, we can't force them," Swamy said. Earlier, while delivering the lectures, Swamy said DNA of Muslims and Hindus is same like that of Brahmins and Dalits. Swamy claimed the BJP would soon introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which he said had been repeatedly directed by the supreme court in the past 70 years and by Article 44 of the Constitution. Expressing concerns over the rising population, Swamy said India would leave China behind by 2025 as the most populous nation. [January 15, 2020] Rasmussen College to Become Rasmussen University Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited private college, today announced plans to become Rasmussen University, effective October 2020. The transition from College to University defines a new generation of higher education-one that focuses on competency-based education, technology and transferrable workplace skills. The change was voted on and approved by the Rasmussen College Board of Directors in August 2019. "Becoming Rasmussen University is our institution's next step toward an even more vibrant future," said Rasmussen College president Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen. "It illustrates our unwavering commitment both to our communities and employers and to the innovative educational practices we create for students to thrive in today's world." Addressing An Unmet Need in the University Environment Higher education as a whole has experienced a sea change over the past decade. Diverse learners are seeking nimble, innovative, career-relevant programs that are led by educators who are top practitioners in their field. Employers are looking for graduates who possess both the hard and soft skills necessary to succeed in the workforce. Rasmussen University will answer these unmet needs by focusing on dynamic curriculum, competency-based education, simulated work experience and alliances with employer partners. This innovative career preparatory model enables students to build on their existing experiences and differentiate themselves as graduates ready to fill roles in high-demand career fields. "Adult learner success has been, and always will be, at the core of our mission," said Boyum-Breen. "We believe the power of education lies in preparing learners for the next phase of their careers, especially as employers face a shortage of qualified candidates in many industries." New Name, Same Mission "As a pioneer in higher education, Rasmussen College's guiding principles of being student-centered and future-facing have been in place for nearly 120 years," said Boyum-Breen. The transition to university status honors this legacy and elevates a new generation of higher education for the many, not the few. Rasmussen College has been and will always be focused on delivering personalized and flexible educational opportunities for all learners. The school firmly believes in promoting access and removing barriers by offering flexible, affordable, career-focused education to any student seeking a certificate, graduate program or any of the many degrees in between. The College's Flex Choice learning options combine traditional coursework and credit for prior learning, online self-directed assessments and competency-based education (CBE) so students can take control of their education and receive credit by demonstrating what they know and what they can do. New and prospective students, along with current students looking to advance their skills and careers, will benefit from Rasmussen University's expanded offerings in healthcare, business, technology and social services-related programs including graduate education with plans to enter the doctoral education space in the near future. "This transition is more than a name change," said Boyum-Breen. "It is an opportunity to provide students with more options to positively influence their educational journey, including the cost and time to completion." Seamless Transition for Students Students will experience limited changes due to the transition. They will not need to re-apply or re-enroll in the University. Students enrolled and graduating after October 2020 will receive their diplomas and transcripts from Rasmussen University. For more information about Rasmussen University and the name transition, please visit www.rasmussen.edu/Rasmussen-university-transition. ABOUT RASMUSSEN COLLEGE Rasmussen College, LLC is a private college regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is dedicated to meeting the evolving needs of our diverse communities through in-demand, flexible, accessible and affordable educational programs. A pioneer in career-focused education since 1900, the College leads advancements in innovations such as employer-led and expert-designed curriculum and comprehensive student support services to help working adults advance their educations. Additionally, Rasmussen College is a nationwide leader in competency-based education. Rasmussen College offers undergraduate and graduate programs online and across its 24 Midwest and Florida campuses. The College encourages its students, faculty and staff to strive for academic excellence, community enrichment and service to the public good. For more information about Rasmussen College, please visit rasmussen.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005600/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In the television programme, the 31-year-old accused, Maninder Singh, who is a cab driver, confessed killing his live-in partner -- a 27-year-old nurse Sarabjit Kaur at a hotel here on New Year's Eve. Chandigarh, Jan 15 (IANS) A man, who has killed two women over infidelity over the last 10 years was arrested from a news channel studio here when he confessed to these crimes during a live programme, police said. Singh, a former murder convict and currently out on bail, also confessed about his crime committed in Karnal in 2010. "I killed her (Sarabjit Kaur) because she was having an affair with her sister-in-law's brother," Maninder told the news channel. Confessing his previous crime, Maninder said he had killed Renu in Karnal. "She was also having an affair with a man from Uttar Pradesh," he said. Singh was arrested while the programme was still on air as police rushed into the studio. Haryana Police had arrested him for killing the woman in 2010. He was convicted by a trial court, but he later got bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. vg/in By IANS TEHRAN: Iran's Judiciary spokesman said that Iran will sue the US President Donald Trump and the US military for the assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. "We intend to file lawsuits in Iran, Iraq and the Hague court (International Court of Justice) against the military and government of the US and against Trump," Gholamhossein Esmaili was quoted as saying on Wednesday. There is no doubt that the US military has done a "terrorist act" by assassinating Soleimani and Trump has confessed to doing "the crime," said Esmaili, Xinhua news agency reported. "We will initially file a lawsuit in Iran, which is legal under the Islamic Penal Code," he said, adding that "then, we will do the same in Iraq and the Hague court against Trump and the US military." Soleimani, former Quds Force commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3. He died almost 10 years before I was born, but my cousin Bart F. Shea was a presence in my life. Movie-star good-looking in his Army uniform, his photo was a constant reminder that he fell fighting in World War II, an event that dominated the imaginations of so many boys my age. I did not know until I was an adult that he died in the final days of the Battle of the Bulge, that 40-day slog through ice and mud that proved to be a decisive-but-bloody turning point in the war against Nazi Germany. With the 75th anniversary of his death upon us, Bart has returned to my thoughts and reminded me of the sacrifice of so many young men and women like him who were taken from their families to fight in a cause a nation thought was worthy of their lives. Looking at his picture now, it is hard to imagine many men who could be more handsome: his black hair combed back, his high cheekbones and almost mischievous but inviting smile. He was the son of my Great-Aunt Ray, sister of my maternal grandmother, Jane Laggy. His father, Bart J. Shea, is said to have inherited a small fortune, but drank much of it away. My grandmother was one of seven Sherrer sisters from Gloucester City, of whom Ray was the oldest. During the Depression and the war, they often shared homes, bringing three or four of them and their families together under one roof. Cousins and siblings were one and the same. To my mother, Patricia, who was 14 when Bart died, he was her champion, the one who wanted her to go to college and paid her to shine his saddle shoes because no one else could do it better. After the war, when the sisters settled in their own houses, one could not go into any of their homes and not see that picture of Bart in his uniform. Reverence attached to his name to me and the offspring of the band of sisters who rode out hard times, the war, some drunken husbands, and loss together. The photo of Bart was the only one of a deceased person to be displayed in my house until John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, the same year Aunt Ray died. Before the war, Bart had attended Collingswood High School; worked in the offices at United Engineers & Constructors, a major Philadelphia builder; and had married out of the church." He and his wife, the former Eileen Dymond, lived in Oaklyn when Bart entered the Army at Fort Dix less than two months after Pearl Harbor. They had been married less than a year. Bart served at bases around the country and rose to the rank of staff sergeant after attending noncommissioned officers training school. In February 1944, two years after entering the Army, he shipped out to Britain as a member of Company G, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. The division landed on Omaha Beach five days after the D-Day invasion. Another cousin, Leo Sherrer, had landed on D-Day and was already engaged in combat inland. On July 17, Bart was wounded by a landmine during the Battle of St. Lo and sent back to England. After recovering, he rejoined his unit in November and was wounded again, but not seriously enough to be hospitalized. The 30th Division was getting some needed R&R when the Battle of the Bulge began and returned to the front to confront the First SS Panzer Division. The 30th had fought the First before, holding back the division during a Nazi counterattack in France in the heat of August. In Belgium, they had to endure biting cold and snow and granite skies that grounded air power that could have helped break the stalemate earlier. On Jan. 14, 1945, close to Malmedy, Belgium, the 30th Division found the bodies of 82 American POWs that German forces had massacred the day after the battle started. I do not know if Bart was involved in the Malmedy discovery. What I do know is that on Jan. 15, he was shot and killed in action there. He was 27, two years younger than my own son is now and one of 19,000 Americans to lose their lives in the drawn-out battle. He sent his last letter home from Belgium. There was some fear that Bart, recipient of the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, would not be allowed to receive a Catholic funeral because he had married outside the church. But as my mother tells it, a priest ruled that he would because he had made the ultimate sacrifice. Two Masses were said for him: one in February 1945 and the second in December 1947 after Aunt Ray fought to have his remains returned to the United States. My mother says that after the war a soldier from Barts unit visited Aunt Ray and told her Bart had been wounded in a skirmish and had told his men to help others who were wounded instead of him or to seek cover. Too many have died saving my life already, he supposedly said. Clearly, there is no way to ascertain the veracity of this account, but it gave Aunt Ray a measure of consolation. Bart is buried with his parents in a plot at St. Marys Cemetery in Bellmawr. If he had survived the war, I am sure he would have been a living presence in my life. I have a cousin and a brother who bear his name. Well keep his memory alive for a while more. ALBANY Dozens of people rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday morning in support of the Protect Our Courts Act, proposed legislation that would outlaw U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests without a judicial warrant in or around all courthouses in the state. State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, and Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, D-Elmont, are the lead sponsors on the bill, which was put out at the end of legislative session in 2017. Solages said they spent the last legislative session garnering support for the bill, and is confident it will pass this year. At the end of the day, this is the year, Solages said in an interview with the Times Union. I cant look at what happened last year, we have to look forward, and I believe we can get this done. The bill has majority support with 33 cosponsors in the Senate and 73 in the Assembly. Currently, ICE officers cannot arrest individuals while they are inside courthouses in New York. The New York State Office of Court Administration signed a directive prohibiting such arrests in April 2019, but the rule did not account for arrests outside of the courthouse. ICE officers have been waiting outside of courthouses throughout the state to make their arrests. In an email a supervisor told ICE agents (w)e can enter the courthouses to observe ... we are good to make the arrest outside the courthouse with or without a judicial warrant, according to emails the Immigrant Defense Project, a New York City nonprofit, obtained through FOIL. Courthouse arrests have made it so immigrants fear being apprehended by ICE while testifying as a witness, paying a traffic ticket, or seeking justice as a victim of a crime, said Emma Kreyche, advocacy director for Worker Justice Center, who took part in the rally. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Both research and experience show that ICE activity near courthouses interferes with the pursuit of justice. When immigrants are afraid to go to court, they are unable to fight for their own rights or assist others with their cases, Kreyche said. The Immigrant Defense Project released a 2019 report stating that ICE was responsible for 127 arrests last year outside New York state court buildings, compared to 2016's 11 arrests, representing a rate increase of more than 1700 percent. Its so startling to have increased by 1700 percent since 2016. Thats absolutely unacceptable, Hoylman told the crowd. Our courthouses should be sanctuaries for justice not hunting grounds for federal agents to round up immigrants in our community. Pick your own wicked story line. The Duchess of Sussex was cast as an outsider. She was cast as overly ambitious. She was cast as the newcomer with too many new ideas. She was cast as someone all too willing to blame racism for the harsh media scrutiny that befalls any royal in-law. British news shows carried chyrons on the bottom of the screen that asked, Did racism play a role? That, of course, sidestepped the real question what role did racism, or even just race, play in a culture where the term half-caste is still used in some places with a completely straight face? Even the name Megxit blamed the woman. It was all a reminder that fairy tales are overrated. [January 15, 2020] Syrian Paediatrician Who Managed an Underground Hospital in War Zone Receives Raoul Wallenberg Prize Dr. Amani Ballour, a paediatrician from Syria who ran an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta in 2012-2018 and is now a refugee in Turkey, has been awarded the Council of Europe's Raoul Wallenberg Prize for her personal courage, bravery and commitment in saving hundreds of lives during the Syrian war. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005745/en/ Dr. Amani Ballour (Credit: Stine Heilmann) "Human rights and personal dignity are not a peacetime luxury. Dr. Amani Ballour is a shining example of the empathy, virtue and honour that can flourish even in the worst circumstances: in the midst of war and suffering," said Marija Pejcinovic Buric, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. "A young paediatrician just out of university, Dr Ballour started as a volunteer helping the wounded and ended up, several years later, managing a team of some 100 staff members at the subterranean hospital, the 'Cave', in her hometown near the Syrian capital. "The Cave became a beacon of hope and safety for many besieged civilians. There, Dr Ballour risked her own safety and security to help those in the greatest need. She and others acted day after day to save the lives of so many people, including children suffering the effects of chemical weapons," the Secretary General added. Now, after leaving Syria in 2018, Dr. Ballour continues to help people through her involvement in a fund supporting female leaders and medical workers in conflict zones. The award ceremony will take place at the Council of Europe on Friday, 17 January at 16h00, followed by the screening of the National Geographic documentary "The Cave" nominated for an Oscar 2020 award. The 17th of January marks the 75th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg's arrest in Budapest. A Swedish diplomat, Wallenberg used his status to save tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. The Prize was instituted in 2012 by the Council of Europe at the initiative of the Swedish Government and the Hungarian Parliament and contributes to keeping his memory and outstanding achievements alive. The laureate of the Raoul Wallenberg Prize is selected by a jury of six independent persons with recognized moral standing in the field of human rights and humanitarian work, and who are in turn appointed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the municipality of Budapest, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Lund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the family of Raoul Wallenberg. The 10,000 EUR Prize is awarded every two years to individuals, groups or organisations. This year's laureate joins the three previous recipients: Elmas Arus (2014), a young Roma film director from Turkey; the Greek association Agalia (2016) from the island of Lesvos, which has been providing frontline assistance to thousands of refugees irrespective of their origin and religion; and the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (2018), which has used strategic litigation to protect Roma rights throughout Europe. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005745/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A former manager at an Oklahoma Arby's restaurant has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting a customer she said spat on her during an argument. Deionna Young, 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Monday. She will serve two decades behind bars, with the remaining five years of her 25-year sentence suspended, for killing Desean Tallent, 25, last March. She will received credit for time already served in jail, Tulsa World reported. Deionna Young, 26 (left), has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Desean Tallent, 25 (right) and was sentenced to two decades in prison In March 2019, Young worked as a manager at the Arby's at 41st Street and Garnett Road in Tulsa, Oklahoma Young reported to police that Tallent hurled profanities, made threats and spat on her, so she asked him to leave during their encounter at the Arby's at 41st Street and Garnett Road on the evening of March 23, 2019. According to a police press release, Tallent promised to come back and hurt Young. About an hour later Tallent returned to the restaurant, police said. Tallent's widow, Meoshia Turner, told Tulsa World last April her husband only went back to the eatery to have his order fixed, and that it was Young who escalated the situation. The mother-of-three said she was told that the Arby's manager spat on her husband first and threw loose change at him. Police said Young got in her car and followed Tallent out of the parking lot north on Garnett Road from the store. Police said that both vehicles had repeatedly braked in a game of 'cat and mouse'. After having a dispute with Tallent, Young followed his SUV in her car and fired a single round , hitting him in the torso Tallent crashed into a vending machine outside a Walmart and died later at a hospital Young fired one shot with a .45-caliber handgun, for which she did not have a license, at Tallent's SUV and returned to work. He then drove the SUV north to Walmart, where he crashed into a vending machine after having suffered a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He died later at a hospital. Turner was at the movies that night with family and only found out what had happened to her husband of nearly eight years from a news report. Police served a warrant on Young's apartment two days later and found a pistol, but Young claimed she destroyed the murder weapon. She reportedly confessed to the crime and showed police where she dumped the gun parts. Young's trial had been scheduled to begin with jury selection Monday. Acute Hospital Care Market Overview: The global acute hospital care market is showing good potential with which it can move ahead and achieve a CAGR of 7.8% between 2017 and 2023. The time span can also be deemed as the forecast period. Market Research Future (MRFR) can predict significant changes in the market as it has several impactful analyses of factors. Latest Free Sample PDF Available @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4931 Acute care can be defined as a branch of the healthcare industry that can be taken into consideration for short term treatment to address medical conditions that include broken bone, asthma attack, common cold, bronchitis, burn, pneumonia, flu, heart attack, and others require treatment in acute hospital care. There are other diseases that have been included in the process as well like cardiology, coronary care, neonatal intensive care, intensive care, and others. Innovation and better market inclusion of investment are other major reasons that can be taken seriously into consideration to understand the way the market would move in the future. However, the market growth for acute hospital care can get deterred by a lack of skilled personnel, dearth in infrastructure, and others. Acute Hospital Care Market Segmentation: MRFRs take on the global Acute Hospital Care Market is finding its segmentation based on medical conditions and services. These two segments are enriched with factorial details that can be taken into consideration for better market analysis in the coming days. By medical conditions, the market for acute hospital care includes urgent care, emergency care, pre-hospital care, short-term stabilization, trauma care, critical care, and acute care surgery. By services, the market report for acute hospital care includes intensive care, coronary care, cardiology, neonatal intensive care, and emergency department. Acute Hospital Care Market Regional Analysis: The Americas are showing every sign of emerging as a global market leader owing to its superlative technical capacity, better market expenditure, easy integration of various technologies, better investment capacity to treat people, and others are significantly going to improve the markets. The increasing population is also a major reason owing to its ability to widen the market scope. In addition, the market never shies away from any kind of innovation. North America, with the US and Canada, is expected to make notable growth opportunities. Europe is holding the second position with several countries showing a constant influx of funding that would trigger better market initiatives and innovation. Developed economies like Germany and France are expected to make better progress in the market by improving their hospital infrastructures. MRFRs take on the Asia Pacific market is witnessing a rapid surge in the market owing to a high intake of healthcare technologies, huge patient pool, better investment from emerging countries like India, Japan, South Korea, China, and others. India and South Korea are also trying to emerge as medical tourism hub, which can impact the market considerably. Advanced equipment is also finding their way in the market and are fetching in high revenues. On contrary, the Middle East & Africa is facing significant crises due to lack of funds, constrained medical facilities, and poor economies. Acute Hospital Care Market Analyzed by Top Leaders: Market players from diverse zones are showing extraordinary growth possibilities in the global market for acute hospital care market. These companies are Community Health Systems LLC (U.S.) Tenet Healthcare Corp. (U.S.) HCA Holdings, Inc. (U.S.) Ardent Health Services (U.S.) Universal Health Services Kindred Healthcare Vanguard Health System Inc. (U.S.) National HealthCare Corp. PruittHealth (U.S.) The market is witnessing, from the past few decades, a strong surge in investment for various innovations that would facilitate better service to the patient. On the other hand, these players are known for their extensive skill in tactical changes that are to ensure their own market footing and take the global market forward. In October 2019, The Prime Minister of New Zealand announced that the Taranaki Base Hospital Campus is all set to receive a USD 300 million grant from the Wellbeing budget funding to establish new acute hospital care. OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/acute-hospital-care-market-4931 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 Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Adam Gonzales, a security specialist with experience in the Middle East and CEO of Silent Professionals, a company that helps veterans find employment in global private security, suggests that Americans invest in a passport cover that does not have an American emblem on the outside. Study up on customs, laws and clothing for your destination before you depart so you can keep a low profile on the ground. This isnt simply about style; its about respect and safety. Disregarding cultural norms and laws might do more than offend locals it could land you in jail or put a target on your back. Even when traveling to countries that arent in conflict and may be Western-friendly, you should know the culture and laws and try to blend in as much as possible to keep yourself from being a target, Gonzales says. India: Hindu extremists protest 114 foot tall Jesus statue amid escalating persecution Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hundreds of hardline Hindus gathered to protest a planned Jesus statue that will rival Rio de Janeiro's "Christ The Redeemer" for its size, claiming the structure will go against the spirit of communal harmony. On Monday, members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the hardline parent organization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, staged protests in the southern state of Karnataka's Ramanagara district, the Times of India reports. Carrying saffron flags as around 1,000 police stood by, protesters demanded that the state government reverse its decision to allot land for the proposed 114 foot Jesus statue or face further demonstrations. The Jesus statue is expected to stand atop a hillock named Kapalabetta in Harobele, a village of 3,500 where Christians form a majority. The land is owned by the Archdiocese of Bangalore. Many Hindus believe the hill where the statue is set to stand is the abode of a Hindu deity, Munieshwara (a form of Lord Shiva). However, no temple currently exists there. "We want to stop (the statue), since it goes against the spirit of communal harmony and encourages religious conversions which is rampantly carried out by Christian missionaries," Prabhakar Bhat, a top RSS functionary, told Indian media. We will not allow a statue of Jesus to be erected at Kapalabetta. They are trying to make it a Christian land just like Pakistan is a Muslim state, he added. However, Father Cyril Victor Joseph, chairman of the archdioceses' media commission, told UCA News that the controversy is unnecessary, as the land in Ramanagara district has long been owned by the church. We used the same land for decades and conducted the Way of the Cross during Good Fridays, he said. A cross was there, and we wanted to replace it with a statue of Jesus after the land was donated to us. According to Joseph, the land was donated to a Catholic trust under the diocese in December 2019 by former state minister and Congress party leader D.K. Shivakumar, a Hindu. Shivakuma helped inaugurate the project on Christmas Day. Amid backlash from hardline Hindu groups, construction of the white granite statue stopped soon after it started last month. Joseph said the state government has agreed to intervene, asking officials to study the issue and clarify ownership. Until then, we are asked to wait, Joseph told UCA News. Since the 2014 election of President Modi and the rise of his Bharatiya Janata Party, there has been a rise in Hindu nationalist violence and discrimination against religious minorities. India ranks as the 10th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2019 World Watch List. Every year more violent incidents are registered, mainly because the government is looking the other way, an Open Doors USA dossier on the situation in India reads. According to Open Doors, Hindu radicals view Christians as alien to the nation. Driven by a desire to cleanse their country from Islam and Christianity, nationalists do not shy away from using extensive violence to achieve their goals, an Open Doors fact sheet reads. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms 2019 report warned that religious freedom conditions in India continued a downward trend in 2018. The commission warned against the growth of exclusionary extremist narratives that facilitate campaigns of violence, intimidation and harassment against non-Hindu minorities and lower-caste minorities from both public and private actors. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) -FALCON GOLD CORP. (TSXV: FG) (FSE: 3FA); ("Falcon" or the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Ian Graham to its Advisory Board. Mr. Graham is an accomplished mining executive with over 20 years of international experience exploring for and developing mineral deposits. He has spent over half of his career working for major mining companies, including roles at Rio Tinto and Anglo American. Mr. Graham possesses industrial minerals experience and is well known for his successes within the diamond sector. From 1990-1994 Mr. Graham acted as Principal Geologist in exploration for Anglo American and partner in De Beers Group's South Africa division. In 1994, he joined Rio Tinto in Canada as the evaluation manager for the Diavik diamond mine, then went on to become Chief Geologist for diamonds with Rio Tinto's Project Generation Group. During his 15 years at Rio Tinto, Ian was involved with the evaluation and pre-development of several projects, including the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories and the Resolution copper deposit in Arizona. While at Rio Tinto he also oversaw permitting for the Eagle Nickel mine in Michigan and played a key role in developing the initial economic assessment for the Bunder Diamond Project in India. Following his departure from Rio Tinto, Ian led the formation of a company with the intent of acquiring the Jadar lithium project in Serbia from Rio Tinto, though Rio Tinto did not proceed with the divestment. Mr. Graham also served as CEO from November 2015- February 2017, for United Energy Corp. (a Nevada lithium project). Mr. Graham is a geologist with a B.Sc. in Geology and Applied Geology and a B.Sc. (Honors) in Geology from the University of Natal in South Africa. "Having someone with Ian's pedigree and knowledge providing technical input will provide a significant contribution to the Company at this stage of exploration and development. The Company is continuing to strengthen its Board and Advisory team. I am very pleased with the progress the company has made in the last few months attracting top level talent to our team." States Karim Rayani, Falcon's Chief Executive Officer. Stock Option Grants Falcon reports that in compliance with the Company's Stock Option plan, the Board of Directors has granted 500,000 options exercisable for up to 5 years at $0.05 to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company. About Falcon Gold Corp. Falcon is a Canadian, mineral exploration company focused on generating, acquiring, and exploring opportunities in the Americas. Its Ontario, Canada projects include: The Central Canada gold and copper projects in Atikokan; The Bruce and Camping lake projects in Red lake; The Wabunk Bay base metal project in Red Lake and an interest in the Burton gold property located near Sudbury. CONTACT INFORMATION: Falcon Gold Corp. Karim Rayani CEO, Director Telephone: 604-683-1991 Email: info@falcongold.ca Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, etc. Forward looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51474 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang Wed, January 15, 2020 16:56 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c3224352a 1 Business Indonesia,Semarang-Depok-Tollroad,PT-Pembangunan-Perumahan,WIKA,Ganjar-Pranowo,land-acquisition Free A consortium of state and private companies PT PP Semarang Demak will soon begin the construction of a 27-kilometer toll road connecting Semarang and neighboring town of Demak in Central Java, which will provide motorists from Semarang with another toll road alternative to reach Surabaya and other cities in East Java. PP Semarang Demak, a consortium of PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP), PT Wijaya Karya (Wika) and Misi Mulia Metrical (M3) will split the toll road into two sections -- the first 10.69-km section connecting Semarang to Sayung in Demak and a 16.31-km section connecting Sayung to Demak regency. In February, we will start the construction of the second section, while the first section is still under preparation," the president of PT Pembangunan Perumahan Semarang-Demak, Handoko Yudia, said during a meeting with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo in Semarang on Tuesday. He added that the land acquisition for the second section development was 60 percent complete. The second section of the toll road will take around 17 months to build, with a total investment of Rp 5.4 trillion (US$385 million) We hope the second section will be completed by the end of 2021. The tariff will be Rp 1,124 per kilometer and we estimate daily use by around 16,276 vehicles, he said. The first section of the toll road will also be designed as a sea dike to prevent floods in Semarang. With a 5-meter high elevated section that will span 8 km along the Java Sea, the total investment for the section is Rp 9 trillion. Ganjar hoped that there would be supporting infrastructure built around the toll road section. Ecotourism, a creative industry area, housing and retention pools will be built with a green concept. It wont use groundwater and it will use renewable energy. If it can be done, it will be extraordinary, Ganjar said. The development, however, still faces land-acquisition problems. There has to be a win-win solution for the land-acquisition problem. Local residents claim they own the land that is to be used for the toll road. They can prove it with legal certificates, but the land has disappeared as it has been submerged due to increasing sea levels, Ganjar said. Ganjar has coordinated with the Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Ministry and will communicate with the Public Works and Housing Minister Basoeki Hadimoeljono regarding the land-acquisition problem. He also requested the development of the first section to be fast-tracked to catch-up with the second section development while reminding the developers to pay attention to the construction quality as it would also be used as disaster control infrastructure. Stated owned companies PP and Wika own 65 percent and 25 percent stakes, respectively, in the consortium, with M3 holding the remaining 10 percent. The toll road will be a part of the Java toll road network that will span across the island from Semarang extending to Kudus, Pati, Rembang, Lasem and Tuban to eventually reach Surabaya. The toll road will complement the separate 1,167-km trans-Java toll road network that will eventually extend it from Merak in Banten to Pasuruan in East Java. (mfp) Syria: Russian air raids on Idlib, truce violated - NGO Area of Maarrat an Numan targeted (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 15 - The Russian air force on Wednesday morning carried out more air raids against the northwestern region of Idlib out of government control, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights. The UK-based monitoring group said Russian jets flew over the area of Maarrat an Numan, repeatedly bombing it over the last few hours. The area has been at the center of an air and ground offensive carried out by Damascus and Moscow since December 1. The Russian raids violated a truce announced Sunday by Turkey, which has influence over the region of Idlib and negotiates directly with Moscow. Since Monday, Russia and the Syrian government have announced the opening of a corridor to let civilians leave the areas around Maarrat an Numan. (ANSAmed). PHOENIX An inmate accused of fatally attacking an Arizona jail guard last October has been indicted on a charge of second-degree murder. Maricopa County authorities say 59-year-old Daniel Davitt is now being held on a $1 million bond. Davitt had been in county custody for two years pending charges for sex crimes involving children. Authorities say detention officer Gene Lee was blindsided by Davitt on Oct. 29 at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix. Davitt allegedly grabbed Lee from behind by the throat without warning and kicked the officers feet out from under him. Lee hit his head on the jails cement floor and was knocked unconscious before other officers rushed in to help the six-year veteran. He was rushed into surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, but later died. in the grand ballroom of Trump International Hotel, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump (center) speaks, with his daughter Ivanka Trump by his side, talks about the grand opening of their family's latest property, Trump International Hotel - Old Post Office, in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016. The event was closed to the public, and included VIP guests and employees of Trump. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Cheris May | NurPhoto | Getty Images President Donald Trump is returning to the Swiss Alps next week for the World Economic Forum (WEF), after skipping the event last year due to the partial government shutdown. The five-day gathering in Davos is used by business leaders and politicians to meet and discuss some of the most pressing issues worldwide. This year, the meeting takes place at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, trade disputes and further calls for action against climate change. Trump will not be representing the United States alone. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will also be attending the former will be on two panels, one on the global economy and the other moderated by CNBC on the future of financial markets. Lighthizer could make some headline news in Davos this year. He is due to meet French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire regarding the taxation of digital firms. The meeting is an attempt to avoid an escalation in their relationship as the U.S. has threatened to hike tariffs against French products due to the implementation of a 3% digital tax by Paris. Their dispute could set a precedent for other countries such as Austria and the U.K., where there are also plans to tax digital giants. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are also attending WEF in their roles as advisors to the president. Eugene Scalia, the secretary of labor, and Elaine Chao, the secretary of transportation, will also be traveling to Switzerland. Iran tensions Flynn also broke with prosecutors in the July federal trial of his former business partner Bijan Rafiekian on charges of illegally lobbying for Turkey. Flynn was set to be the star witness against Rafiekian. He told a grand jury that he and Rafiekian campaigned on behalf of elements within the Turkish government, a project that included an op-ed under Flynns name on Election Day in 2016. But just before the trial, Flynn claimed that prosecutors wanted him to lie. A jury convicted Rafiekian without Flynns testimony, but a judge threw out those convictions in part because he found insufficient evidence of a conspiracy between the two men or of the Turkish governments role. Exciting times! Those two words best describe the state of the city. A vacant big box store (J. C. Penneys) has been transformed into a state of the art arena, finishing the first phase of our River City Renaissance. By spring, ground will be broken for the Performing Arts Pavilion and the Hyatt Place Music Man Square Hotel. With the opening of seven new businesses or organizations, the Southbridge Center is almost seventy percent occupied. One of the newest is the Mason City Parks & Recreation Department, giving this key service a highly accessible permanent home. Further south, another groundbreaking is bringing new life to an empty parking lot. Talons housing project will showcase our plans to keep and recruit workers. This time next year there will be a ribbon cutting for 133 apartments and townhouses along Willow Creek. On Main Street, vacant upper levels are being transformed into more needed housing. The street looks beautiful with new sidewalk and plaza entrance cobblestone. The dilapidated hotel on Fifth Street Southwest is being transformed into a 46-bed Econolodge. New life is being breathed into a 72-year-old Mason City landmark. The newly renovated Suzie Qs Cafe is set to reopen next month. We owe our gratitude to Tahmyrah Lytle, the young entrepreneur who is making this happen. All of this will complement our riverwalk. Removal of overgrowth and underbrush, along with trail improvements, should begin this year. The grand opening of Quick Star has given Mason Citys South Federal Avenue a new convenience store. Also on the south side of town, Bushel Boy Farms broke ground for one of the largest greenhouses in Iowa. They will open their $35 million tomato growing facility in September. Nearby, Golden Grain Energy is undergoing a major expansion, adding 10 good paying jobs. This ethanol manufacturer is the largest property tax payer in Mason City. On the north end of town, a $63 million investment is placing Kraft-Hines on the cutting edge of food manufacturing. Plant Manager Janell Kruger said the upgrade demonstrates the companys long term commitment to Mason City. Elsewhere, our economic development team is working with 21 active projects, with a possible investment in North Iowa of $231 million. The Winnebago River is cleaner and will be more navigable thanks to the Active Living & Transportation Commission and partners, who cleaned up more than two tons of trash this past summer. The river will be a mecca for wildlife and recreation this spring after the removal of dam barriers below Illinois Avenue. Solar power is already saving utility costs at the public library. This year it will be expanded to the Water Reclamation Facility and Multi Purpose Arena. People are coming home to Mason City. Mason City Schools actually saw an increase of 31 students in the current school year. This is the largest increase in the last 10 years. One resident, Faruk Jessa, described his decision to move here in a Globe-Gazette guest opinion. He said Mason City has what every right minded American aspires to have as a good quality of life. Are you listening California? Illinois? Minnesota? Which brings me to the 2020 census. Please join me in participating. It impacts everything from roads to schools to public safety. If we dont participate, Mason City loses money. Lets make sure Mason City counts! Of all the good things that are happening, the one I love the most is our community working together with mutual respect and friendship to get things done. Thats why I am so grateful to our City Council and to all of our partners who are working so well together, including the powerful team formed between Mason City, Clear Lake and Cerro Gordo County. We have just completed a decade of change: Changes to the face of community and our attitudes about what Mason City is; what it can be. Now we're entering a decade of doing: Putting the finishing touches on the arena, building a world class hotel, finishing the downtown housing project, creating a river walk for dining, shopping and recreation. We are not resting on our laurels. There are big challenges that await us. We must do more to improve neighborhoods with aggressive infrastructure improvements. Flood mitigation is essential. Identifying properties in need of repair or demolition is a priority. In addition, we must be responsible stewards of the taxpayers money. We know there will be setbacks along the road, but we will meet these challenges together one by one. This city we love can be a shining example of the very best in all of us. Thank you for helping to make that dream come alive in the New Year. Bill Schickel is the mayor of Mason City. This guest opinion was adapted from his State of the City Address at the January 7, 2020, City Council meeting. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Colchester man has been charged with killing his wife, their three children and the familys dog in a case that law enforcement in Florida where it all happened called evil and horrendous. Police confirmed during a Wednesday afternoon news conference that 42-year-old Megan Todt, 13-year-old Alek Todt, 11-year-old Tyler Todt and 4-year-old Zoe Todt were killed sometime in late December. The familys dog, Breezy, was also killed. Reading through the names and ages of the victim, Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson got choked up sharing the age and date of birth for the couples youngest child. Anthony Todt, 44, was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of homicide and one count of felony animal cruelty, Gibson said. Anthony has cooperated with the investigation and he has confessed to killing his wife Megan Todt ... and their three children, Gibson said. Anthony also killed their family dog, Breezy. But investigators dont think the killings happened Monday, or even a few days prior. Gibson said the investigation and Anthony Todts statements to investigators so far have revealed that the homicides happened in late December. The bodies were inside the home the entire time until we located them on Monday, Gibson said. More for you 4 CT family members feared dead in Florida The Todt family were first brought to the attention of Florida law enforcement on Dec. 29. A family member of Anthony Todt reached out to Florida police to check on the well-being of the Todt family. She told police she was told the family had the flu. She said she hadnt heard from any of them in two days. Gibson said deputies responded to the familys home at 202 Reserve Place in Celebration, Fla., but were unable to make contact with anyone. The deputies checked around the residence and noticed the blinds were closed, but ultimately they did not report anything suspicious and left. Gibson said its possible that when deputies responded to the home in late December, the family members and the family dog might have already been killed. Then, Gibson said, on Jan. 9 federal agents got in touch with Osceola County Sheriffs Office about an investigation involving Anthony Todt. Gibson said the investigation involved local police or a local branch of federal government in Connecticut. It was something that was occurring up there in Connecticut, Gibsons aid. Again, deputies responded to the home this time alongside federal agents. And again, the law enforcement officers were unable to get in touch with anyone at the home. That pattern continued throughout the weekend. But again, Gibson said, there was nothing suspicious to push them to further investigate. This family was known to travel, Gibson said, adding that it wouldnt be unusual for them to have picked up and gone somewhere for the day or the week. So on Monday deputies again responded to the Reserve Place home with federal agents to serve an arrest warrant for Anthony Todt from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Deputies made contact with Anthony (Todt) in the home with federal agents and he was immediately detained. A safety check of the home was conducted where deputies discovered four deceased individuals inside, Gibson said. But before law enforcement could formally charge Anthony Todt, he was taken to a local hospital. He may have ingested some dosage of Benadryl ... and he also made comments of potentially harming himself and so we took him to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Gibson said. He was released from the hospital Wednesday, which is when he was charged with the homicide and animal cruelty offenses. Gibson said Anthony Todt was transported to the Osceola County jail Wednesday afternoon. Gibson said he hasnt been made aware of whether Anthony Todt has told investigators why he allegedly killed his family, but did say that Anthony Todt has been cooperating with the investigation. Autopsies were performed Tuesday and the manner of death for the four family members were each ruled homicide. This is despicable and cannot be tolerated anywhere in the United States of America, let alone Osceola County, Gibson said. He wouldnt say how the wife and children died, but said he wanted to wait until the coroner released definitive findings This is still very much an active investigation. Gibson said he was unsure whether Anthony Todt told investigators why he allegedly killed his family, but did say that Anthony Todt has been cooperating with the investigation. We grieve along with the victims family and friends, along with the community, for this tragic loss of innocent lives, Gibson said. Myself, I cannot understand what would cause a person to commit such evil and horrendous acts. Up until Wednesdays news conference, police in Florida had been tight-lipped about the investigation since the bodies were discovered Monday. Speculation was in abundance over whether those involved were linked to the Todt family, who have extensive ties to Connecticut. Although the family had been living in Florida for the past couple of years, give or take, according to Gibson, Anthony Todt did not live in Florida full-time. He said Anthony Todt worked Monday through Friday in Connecticut, then returned to Florida on the weekends. In December, an eviction suit was filed with the Osceola County clerks office over alleged non-payment for the familys Florida home. According to the lease, which was filed as an exhibit with the court, the family had been in the home since May. Megan Todts Facebook page indicated that she studied at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. The university did not immediately respond to Hearst Connecticut Medias request for confirmation on this Wednesday. Anthony Todt and Megan Todt are listed as the owners of Family Physical Therapy, which has locations at 7 Park Ave. and 744 Middletown Road in Colchester, according to the business Facebook page. Connecticut Department of Public Health medical licensing records indicated that Anthony Todt allowed his license as a physical therapist to expire in September. His license was listed as being out of Celebration, Fla. Megan Todts license as a physical therapist would set to expire Jan. 30, DPH records show. Her license is out of Kissimmee, Fla., records show. Town officials in Colchester issued a statement Monday as the investigation in Florida was still unfolding and said services would be offered in the schools for students who needed it. Colchester First Selectman Mary Bylone in a statement Monday called the news shocking and heartbreaking. I know that the thoughts and prayers of our entire community are with the relatives and friends of the family involved, Bylone added. We cant always make sense of moments like this, but we can support each other. Colchester Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Burt said in a statement Wednesday that the entire town is grieving. As a close-knit community, we have come together and aligned our schools crisis teams with local mental health counseling resources to assist students who may be struggling with this shocking and deeply upsetting news, Burt said. Reporting by the Associated Press was included in this story. Protesters block roads amid ongoing clashes in Lebanon At least 20 people were injured late Tuesday in clashes between protesters and security forces in front of the central bank in Lebanon's capital. Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside the central bank on Tuesday night, facing off with dozens of people who pelted them with stones and fireworks. BANKS WERE DAMAGED Protesters set garbage dumpsters on fire and threw tear gas canisters back at riot police as ambulance sirens rang out. Young men, their faces covered, smashed bank storefronts and ATMs. A wave of protests erupted last October against a ruling elite accused of steering Lebanon towards its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanon suffers from high unemployment, slow growth and one of the highest debt ratios in the world, with the debt burden reaching $86.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Finance Ministry. Amman: Russian jets struck several rebel-held towns in north-west Syria's Idlib for the first time since a ceasefire agreed with Turkey came into force two days ago, witnesses and rebels sources said. They said the towns of Khan al Subl, Maasaran and several others in southern Idlib province were targeted after a two-day lull in aerial strikes against the last rebel bastion that had been pounded for over a month in a renewed assault. "The Russian air strikes have shattered two days of relative calm that gave people a small relief from daily raids," Mohamad Rashid, an activist, said. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Idlib province in recent weeks as Russian jets and Syrian artillery pounded towns and villages in a renewed government assault aimed at clearing the opposition. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, January 16 2020 New start: The United Kingdom's minister for Asia and the Pacific, Heather Wheeler (center), opens the UK Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta on Wednesday. She was accompanied by UK Ambassador to Indonesia Owen Jenkins (seated left) and UK Ambassador to ASEAN Jon Lambe (seated right). (JP/Dian Septiari) The United Kingdom has expressed hope of attending future ASEAN meetings as the country doubles down on its ambition to be a dialogue partner with the Southeast Asian grouping after Brexit which is expected to take place by the end of this month. UK's minister for Asia and the Pacific, Heather Wheeler, who was in Jakarta on Wednesday to open Britain's new mission to ASEAN, said the UK wanted to continue the friendship it already had with the countries in Southeast Asia. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login The Point Breeze rowhouse has two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. Read more When Jeremy Stock and Danielle Burrows married and she moved into his home in Point Breeze in 2016, he said, we thought we would live here forever. He had bought the two-bedroom, 1-bath rowhouse in 2009, moving there from Francisville. It was in fairly good shape, he said, a good thing because Stock, a program director for pharmaceutical advertising, wasnt ready to deal with a fixer-upper, either financially or skill-wise. But over time, he began to make improvements, and when Burrows forsook her Queen Village trinity, the process accelerated. I said, Lets try to get this up a notch and give it some character, recalls Burrows, a freelance writer and TV producer. We wanted to remove that cookie-cutter feel. And thankfully, she said, we found that our tastes meshed." The house has an oversized oasis bathroom with surrounding windows to take in the morning sun; a kitchen filled with cabinets and creative storage; built-in closets opening up space in the master bedroom; and energy-saving lighting. And along the way, with help from friends, his father, YouTube, and a contractor, Stock said, their rehabbing chops developed to the point where they wanted to use them on a larger home. So they bought a fixer-upper close by in South Philadelphia. It was an excellent learning experience, Stock said. It gave us the confidence to run with the new home. Over time, the neighborhood changed along with the house. Gentrification cost them some of the neighbors they had befriended, but the growth of accessible shops meant much less time in their cars, Burrows said. Gentrification is a double-edged sword, Stock said. The 1,080-square-foot house has easy access to bike thoroughfares, public transit, and I-95 and I-76. Local eating and drinking places have sprung up within walking distance. The purchase price includes a home warranty. As for Burrows and Stock, they plan to make the new rehab their last. Hopefully well get along during this next home project as well as we did during the first one, Burrows said. The house is listed for $350,000 by Adam Baldwin of Compass Pennsylvania LLC. Ashley Barno was in a boarding area at San Diego International Airport, awaiting a Chicago-bound flight, when a message from an unfamiliar number flashed across her phone, saying hello and asking how she was doing. The person then added, "Btw I must tell you that you are gorgeous!" Barno thanked the sender for the flattery and asked again for his name. How had he gotten her number, she asked, and why was he texting her? "You guess!!" he told her, adding that he worked for American Airlines, which was operating the flight Barno was waiting to board. "I just saw you at the airport again!" he wrote, telling her in a later message: "you are looking very gorgeous in grey top today!!" Barno, clad in a gray shirt, looked around the gate area, glancing over her shoulder. She was scared. The disturbing encounter, which occurred in April and unfolded over more than 100 text messages that were later shared with The Washington Post, spurred a lawsuit against the airline and its employee over allegations of negligent hiring, sexual harassment and stalking. The interaction has left Barno reeling more than eight months later, nervous when she travels and sometimes fearful she's being watched, her attorney, Joseph Samo, said in an interview. American Airlines did not answer specific questions about the allegations or the case, but company spokesman Joshua Freed said in a statement that, "The employee involved in the complaint is no longer employed at American Airlines." "American Airlines takes the privacy and safety of our customers seriously. We investigated the allegations and took appropriate action," Freed said. The person was not on duty at the time, he said. The messages continued even after Barno got on the plane. "This is weird," she wrote to him. Then she learned he was on board, too. The man, who eventually identified himself as "Ahmad," told Barno he saw her get onto the plane, and said he watched silently as she passed his aisle 15 seat. He told her he'd be able to get her a better seat. "You want to sit next to me?" he wrote. He asked, twice, "Whats ur seat number?" He told Barno he'd like to "chat the whole flight" and then sent another plea: "Will you join me?? I have two seats open next to me!" During their text back-and-forth, the sender initially claimed that Barno had given him her phone number. But, when she pressed him, he wrote, "Honestly I got it from ur bagtag." Barno, whose luggage was affixed with a tag listing her name, number and address, responded, "Not ok! Not cool." "Leave me alone," she added. The man then sent her a barrage of 10 messages, writing that "Friendship with me will be very beneficial for you!!" "I can always give you good seats, access to the lounges and free flights too!! You can think about it!" he wrote, adding in later messages, "Just looking for one chance to prove my self!! I will be very respectful to you always." "I think its a NO then," he wrote when she didn't reply, attaching an animated picture of a man holding a flower, with script reading "Forgive Me?" below. Three and a half hours later, he sent three more messages: "Hey" "How was your flight?" "Chicago is your final destination?" While the plane was in the air, Samo said his client flagged down a flight attendant and told her about the messages she was receiving, apparently from a man seated several rows in front of her. Barno was in tears and the flight attendant was kind, Samo said, making sure the two were seated in different parts of the plane and checking in frequently. When they landed at O'Hare International Airport, what looked to be security guards escorted the man off the plane, Samo said. At one point, the flight attendant told Barno that this wasn't "the first time he's done something like this," Samo said. Freed declined to comment on past allegations against the former American Airlines employee, citing the impending litigation. But the lawsuit alleges that the company "knew of its employee's propensity to inappropriately contact its customers yet continued to retain him as an employee." "American Airlines did not do a sufficient job in hiring and supervising employees to keep its customers safe from sexual harassment and stalking," states the complaint, which was filed last week in a San Diego division of California Superior Court. It says the man "did not stop contacting her for a long period of time, and also sent her sexually-suggestive images." Barno said she tried contacting American Airlines for months, hiring Samo to reach out on her behalf. She wanted assurances that the airline had disciplined the man and taken steps to assure the same thing doesn't happen to someone else. But the company wasn't responsive, Samo said, and no one told her the man was no longer employed there. "That added a lot of insult to injury," he said. Since the incident, Barno has had trouble sleeping, eating and socializing, according to the lawsuit. In an interview with NBC 7 in San Diego, Barno said she was terrified when she realized they were on the same flight: "Just knowing that he knew what I looked like, and that we were in an enclosed plane and that there's no way out, like really, really scared me." A nice night to be Joe Biden. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images In retrospect, it was probably predictable that a CNN moderator would lob the hand grenade of a sharp factual disagreement between old friends and allies Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, bringing powerful emotional undertones onto the debate stage in Des Moines on Tuesday night. After all, it was CNN that broke the story just yesterday, which alleged that Sanders had told Warren in 2018, when they were discussing their respective presidential ambitions, that a woman just couldnt beat Trump. Sanders heatedly denied the report outright, Warren more or less validated it completely. Well never know if either candidate would have brought it up had Abby Phillip not forced the issue. But she did, leading to a number of tense moments between Sanders and Warren, even though they were ostensibly agreeing that a woman could and should win the presidency. The tension spilled over into an oddly heated moment when Sanders disputed Warrens contention that she was the only candidate to beat a Republican incumbent in the last 30 years. He objected that he had done so in 1990 exactly 30 years ago, as Warren pointed out with an exasperated shake of her head. And while the two progressive candidates suspended hostilities for the remainder of the debate, immediately afterward they had what looked like an unhappy exchange, and conspicuously did not shake hands. The thing to remember is that it could have been far worse: Phillips could have directly asked both candidates if they thought the other was lying about the conversation they both agreed they had in 2018. Instead she listened without comment to Sanderss denial, and then turned to Warren and stipulated he had made it as reported and asked how she felt about it (I disagreed, said Warren tersely). But the question now is whether its going to get far worse in the days just ahead, as the Washington Posts Matt Viser points out: The two candidates with the most passionate supporters, the biggest grass-roots donor networks, the most vociferous twitter followings and who are most ideologically aligned are approaching all-out conflict with one another. And the Iowa caucuses are in 20 days. Matt Viser (@mviser) January 15, 2020 This dispute, if it continues, could overshadow the run-up to the caucuses just as it overshadowed the Des Moines debate. The impact, of course, depends on how the two candidates and their surrogates comport themselves, and whether there is any independent reporting casting further light on who said what when, and who (if anyone in particular) dragged this into the campaign. The potential for warfare between the two candidates camps goes beyond the factual disputes involved: Team Bernie may see this as a deliberate breach of the peace by Team Warren that justifies swift and brutal retaliation, and Team Warren most definitely thinks the underlying issue of the electability of women has been a millstone for their candidate, whether or not Sanders or his supporters are behind the persistent fear-mongering among Democrats on this subject. If open warfare does break out on the highways and byways of Iowa or on the mean streets of Twitter, its hard to imagine either candidate winning this exchange. Iowans famously dont like negative campaigning, and if the Sanders and Warren campaigns go after each other, they could suffer the fate of 2004 Democrats Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean, who battled for the polling lead in the caucuses and finished third and fourth after a murder-suicide series of alternating negative ads. In that scenario, the only winners would be one or more of the progressives ideological foes: Biden, Buttigieg, or Klobuchar (indeed, a meltdown involving either or both Sanders and Warren may be Klobuchars last chance of a breakthrough finish in Iowa). For all the raw passions involved, the Sanders and Warren camps understand this, and could achieve a quick (if forced) detente, at least through Iowa. But it wouldnt take much in the way of rogue emails or tweets from one side or the other to reignite the fight. And its not like tensions didnt already exist: Just before the CNN report on the 2018 meeting broke, reports that the Sanders campaign was sending around talking points for volunteers describing Warren as the candidate of elites led her to say she was disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me. Whatever is going to happen between the two campaigns, for better or ill, could and should happen fast. The rest of the field, along with Democrats hoping for a calm and rational nominating contest characterized by what has been reasonably civil conduct, may feel like events are slipping out of their control. That already seems to be happening with respect to the careful plans of four other candidates as executed in the Des Moines debate, which may only be remembered for this sudden blowup. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Bhainsa town of Nirmal district remained peaceful on Tuesday, after the violent clash between two communities on Sunday night. However, Section 144 has been extended in the town till January 15. Internet services have been suspended in Adilabad, Nirmal, Asifabad and Mancherial to prevent any further escalation of violence. While vegetable and milk vendors opened their shops on Tuesday, the main markets remained shut affecting people looking forward to buying various things for the Sankranti. Banks did not conduct any transaction due to the Internet shutdown. Police arrested two leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who wanted to visit one of the families affected in the clash and shifted them to Nirmal police station. Last night, two battalions of RAF reached the town and conducted a flag march and were deployed in sensitive areas. North zone IG Y Nagi Reddy, DIG P Pramod Kumar remained stationed in Bhainsa along with other officials and monitored the situation. Police did not give permission to political leaders to visit the district. District collector M.Prashanti ordered the revenue officials to assesses damaged houses and property loss. Officials mentioned that 13 houses were damaged due to fire and 24 two-wheelers were burned down along with one car. CC footage is being used to identify the miscreants and arrests are going on. Bhainsa town witnessed severe convulsions following an attack on people of one faith by those of another late on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday. BJP MLA Raja Singh under house arrest As a preventive measure after BJPs Chalo Bhainsa call, the Hyderabad police placed Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh under house arrest in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The city police-initiated action against him, after he announced his intentions to go to the communally-disturbed Bhainsa town in Nirmal district. Before I could start for Bhainsa, the policemen placed me under house arrest, the MLA said. BJP condemns cops high-handedness BJP State president K Laxman condemned the police for preventing Adilabad MP Soyam Bapu Rao and MLC Ramchander Rao from visiting Bhainsa. Taking part in patangula panduga a pro-CAA kite festival organised by the BJP State unit on Necklace Road in Hyderabad on Tuesday, he alleged that the TRS party had become a puppet in the hands of AMIM. Several party workers took part in the event Meeting for the first time since Frontier Airlines announced it would end service to Mobile, the Mobile Airport Authority Board was upbeat about the future of passenger service from the Brookley aeroplex. One member of the board said Frontiers run had proved the thesis that passenger service from Brookley would be appealing to Baldwin County residents. For decades, all commercial passenger traffic has gone through Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile, while the Downtown Mobile Airport at Brookley has served a mix of private, business and industrial customers. A possible swap that would bring passenger service to Brookley, with its interstate access and proximity to downtown, had long been a popular subject of speculation. Under the administration of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and new Airport Authority leadership, talk of a swap picked up steam. In mid-2018 a feasibility study commissioned by the Airport Authority found that it would be cost-effective to make the switch. It committed $7 million to the construction of a small passenger terminal at Brookley, and in May 2019 Frontier Airlines began offering direct flights to Chicago and Denver. In the first week of 2020, Frontier announced it would suspend its Mobile routes in April. Mobile officials challenged Frontiers statement that there had been insufficient demand, saying that business had been strong and that Frontier simply was shifting its resources to new openings in bigger markets. MAA board members doubled down on that view at Wednesdays meeting. MAA President Chris Curry said that Frontiers load factor from Brookley a measure of how many seats are full had been high, hitting 92.1 percent in December and with a similar expectation for January. Curry said the MAA had thanked Frontier for investing in Mobile and for proving the concept illustrated in our feasibility study, Curry said. Since the opening of the Mobile Downtown Airport on May first, Frontier has served more than 40,000 passengers. The Frontier experience has provided us with a lot of data, Curry said. We have realized the desire of our citizens to fly nonstop to destinations west, like Denver. The MAA will work to recruit other low-cost carriers to use the Brookley terminal, he said. Board Vice-Chairman James Fowler said theres a great sense of optimism in the results that weve seen and that Frontiers run had proven the thesis of the downtown airport. Part of our strategy was to recruit Baldwin County, he said. If Baldwin residents can be persuaded to fly out of Mobile rather than Pensacola, he said, that feeds a positive cycle in Mobile. More traffic should make it easier to draw in new carriers, which in turn should increase competition and lead to lower rates, he said. One of the most important parts for me as we review our data is understanding that Baldwin County participated in the downtown airport at an equal level as Mobile County, Fowler said. We havent seen Baldwin Countys participation in our airport system at those levels in years. We had a feasibility study which showed, with science, that we thought it could happen, he said. We put the experiment in place, and it happened. Fowler said that put fuel on the fire for us to move all commercial passenger service to Brookley. As for filling the gap soon to be left by Frontiers departure, he said MAA leaders had some options to evaluate and all of them are exciting. MAA Board Chairman Elliot Maisel said it took some courage on the part of this board to build the Brookley terminal based solely on an agreement with Via Air, which ultimately never operated from it. As for Frontier, Maisel said we really appreciate them coming. I personally believe that theyre going to keep an eye on Mobile, he said. When they called to tell us, they said We wont be ready to talk again until 2021. They didnt say, Dont call us, dont bother us. And as Chris has pointed out, those flights were successful. If they hadnt been, they wouldnt have continued until April. After the remarks the board went into executive session to discuss what Maisel said were matters of real estate and discussions with airlines that are competitive in nature. Charities will get more government funding to hand out food vouchers, financial counselling and help with basics in bushfire-affected communities. The federal government announced $40 million would go to charities the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul, with $10 million for the National Debt Hotline. 'For many people right now it's the basics that count,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday. The federal government announced $40 million would go to charities the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul, with $10 million for the National Debt Hotline The charities would be responsible for divvying out the vouchers as well as helping those impacted by the fires to pay for bills, petrol, clothing and transport costs. The increased funding for the debt hotline would go to getting locals into bushfire-affected areas to provide face-to-face financial counselling. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said this was about making sure people knew what government-funded financial assistance they were eligible for. 'Many of the affected Australians have never relied on government services,' Senator Ruston said. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the extra assistance was welcome. But he said the government needed to reduced red tape and clarify which communities are eligible for various forms of help. 'It should never have been the case that people who have been impacted by the fires were told, 'No, you're not in the right area because the maps are wrong',' he told reporters in Melbourne. '(And) it should be the case that people have a single point of entry in order to get the support that they need.' Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten there was precedent from past natural disasters for simplifying the system of helping bushfire-hit communities recover. 'Now is not the time for the feral abacus and bean counters to run relief,' he said. 'Understand people have been traumatised. Let's get on with the business of helping people with the long journey of recovery. A bit of generosity in this point of the bushfire cycle would go a long way.' The government has announced a $2 billion recovery package, which includes such measures as grants for farmers, funding for local councils, immediate disaster assistance and support for counselling services. The N32.9 billion fraud trial of alleged internet celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha (alias Mompha), on Wednesday, continued before a Federal High Court in Lagos State. Mr Mustapha is charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 14 counts bordering on fraud, money laundering and operation of a foreign exchange business without the authorisation of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He was arraigned alongside a firm, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was granted bail in the sum of N100 million with one surety in like sum. EFCC accused the defendant of procuring Ismalob Global Investment Ltd. and retaining in its account, an aggregate sum of N32.9 billion between 2015 and 2018. The prosecution has since opened its case and had led several witnesses in evidence. When the case came up on Wednesday, the Prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, continued examination of the fourth prosecution witness, Matthew Enu-Obun. Mr Enu-Obun, a staff of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), told the court that looking at the transaction of Dec. 14, 2015 to Jan 25, 2018, there was no reports made. He said from available records, the said transactions were never reported to SCUML by the company, Ismalo Global Investment Ltd., the second defendant. When Mr Oyedepo asked the witness who signed Exhibit C (a reply to the investigation activities on the defendant), he answered, I signed it. Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), the witness told the court that he had been with SCUML years since 2006. He said he worked in the compliance department and had steadily got promoted up to the position of a principal compliance officer. Mr Oyewole then asked the witness, So, you have never been in the operations department? The witness replied, No. When asked the full meaning of DNFI, the witness said that it stood for Designated Non-Financial Institutions He said they are categories of businesses which are designated such as casinos, supermarkets, chartered accountants and lawyers. The trial will continue on February 26. In the charge, the prosecution alleged that Mr Mustapha laundered N32.9 billion through Ismalob Global Investment Ltd. from 2015 to 2018. Both defendants were alleged to have negotiated foreign exchange transactions in various sums such as N9.4 million, N20 million, N10.4 million, N2.4million, N100 million, N61 million, N40.7 million and N42 million, among others. Mr Mustapha was alleged to have aided the Ismalob to retain in its account, an aggregate sum of N14 billion procured from Pitacalize Ltd. The alleged offences contravene the provisions of sections 15(2) and 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended. (NAN) Federal prosecutors went to bat Tuesday for a group of black jurors who served at the first trial of a former New Jersey police chief on hate crime assault and civil rights charges. Frank Nucera, the former Bordentown Township police chief, was found guilty in October of lying to the FBI after jurors deliberated for seven days and deadlocked on charges that the chief struck a handcuffed teen suspect during a 2016 arrest. Deliberations were heated and emotional. One juror reported being so angry he wanted to rip a sink off the bathroom wall. But emotion was to be expected, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Lorber and Joe Gribko wrote in a court filing Tuesday, hitting back after Nuceras lawyer recently argued in a filing that the deliberations were tainted by racial and anti-police bias. Three black people - all women - and nine white people served on the jury during the trial. Nuceras attorney Rocco Cipparone, a former federal prosecutor himself, described one of the black jurors as a stealth juror who hid her belief that police regularly mistreat black men, partially influenced by officers once stopping her son three times in a night for driving while black. She should have been stricken from the jury pool, Cipparone argued. Cipparone obtained sworn affidavits from the four white jurors who claimed they were "bullied into reaching a verdict, which he wants overturned. The black jurors in the case were actually reacting to the racism on display in the evidence, including a cops several recordings of the former chief making racist remarks, the prosecutors argued. (Nucera is heard on the recordings making racist comments about black people, particularly from nearby Trenton, and was heard on a recording saying Donald Trump was the last hope for white people.) The jurors affidavits did not mention racial animus toward Nucera or any stereotypes about white people, the prosecutors wrote. Cipparone had also specifically referenced one woman sharing her experience growing up in the South and being scared to stop at rest stops because of her race. Jurors were expressing outrage at Nuceras racism, a proper topic of discussion related to the charge, and then their own personal experiences came up, Lorber and Gribko said. The black jurors statements that they viewed the evidence differently "simply reflect the reality that African Americans frequently have very different life experiences than their white counterparts due to the long history of racial discrimination in the United States, Lorber and Gribko wrote. "The long history of anti-black racism in this country is of course one of the factors that prompted Congress to pass the very Hate Crimes Act under which Nucera is charged. The federal prosecutors also pointed out that one juror, who was accused of bringing an "anti-police bias into the trial, chose to believe the two cops who testified against Nucera. They asked U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler to dismiss Nuceras claim without a hearing. One is still on the books for Jan. 20 in federal court in Camden. And on Feb. 6, Kugler will sentence Nucera on the false statements charge. The second trial is slated to begin with jury selection March 16. Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Protesters demanded Kyrgyzstan deploy more guards along a volatile stretch of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border after more violent clashes between villagers on both sides. In a bid to ease border tensions, Kyrgyz and Tajik officials signed a land-swap deal. By PTI NEW DELHI: At least 170 students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) have lodged complaints with the legal desk set up at the university following the violence of December 15 on-campus claiming Delhi Police is refusing to listen to their grievances. Students of the law course started the legal desk after the December 15 violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Sharjeel Ahmed, who heads the desk, told PTI, "We have so far received 170 complaints from the students who faced violence, harassment and abuse on the day of the incident. As Delhi Police refused our complaints directly, we set up this desk to compile all the complaints and take them to the NHRC and later to the court with the help of senior advocates. " She also said that if the NHRC after its inquiry does not provide justice, they will demand a separate investigation based on these testimonies. Sharjeel claimed that the students who "faced police atrocity and whose complaints weren't accepted at police stations have lost faith in Delhi Police" and want a "neutral platform that would listen to them and help them get justice". Among those who gave their testimonies to the legal desk is Mohd Anas, a PG student of electrical engineering, who claims he was chased and beaten up by police. "A peaceful protest was going on December 15, when police teams reached and started tear gas shelling. I ran away and hid inside a generator room near Gate no 3. The policemen broke the gate and barged inside," he alleged, adding the students were beaten with batons. "The policemen also told us to go to Pakistan," Anas also claimed. Huda, an MA journalism student, who also lodged a complaint alleged, "I was in the campus and making placards on CAA. We were near the main gate when the violence began. I ran away and hid in the washroom and for an hour, I heard firing of shots. When we came out, the police started harassing, made us sit on the floor and began questioning. The police harassed many female students." According to Sharjeel, students are given a form to fill in their basic details and register complaints for assault/grievous hurt/violence, harassment/outrage of modesty and criminal intimidation under sections 324, 509, 354 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code. The students have been attaching their written testimonies with the complaint forms, she added. Another girl student who claimed she faced harassment on the campus alleged, "The policemen were even trying to manhandle girls and students were dealt with as if they are criminals or terrorists. The students were abused with cuss words. I have registered my complaint under Section 354 of the IPC." Senior advocates Indira Jaising, Collin Gonsalves, Salman Khurshid and Sanjay Hegde have been representing the Jamia students in court. Advocate Nabila Hasan from Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) said, "We met the students admitted at the hospital and recorded their testimonies. We compiled the documents and I filed a petition with two other women who were victims of the violence. We have been seeing the testimonies that they have been filing with the legal desk. We will be further helping them to fight in the courts and get justice." The testimonies collected at the legal desk have also come to the notice of the NHRC which have begun recording statements of Jamia students on the December 15 violence. Pupils' access to digital technologies for learning in the classroom varies greatly. A new report paints a patchy picture of computer use in schools, depending on issues such as broadband connectivity, the number of laptops and other digital devices available, and technical back-up. Primary schools and special schools lag behind the post-primary sector. The findings emerge in the first evaluation of the Digital Learning Framework, introduced in 2018 with the aim of embedding technology into teaching, learning and assessment activities. The study was conducted by the Educational Research Centre (ERC). It found that 13pc of post-primary schools rated themselves as advanced in terms of embedding technologies, compared with only 7pc of primary schools and 6pc of special schools. On the flipside, more than half (56pc) of primary schools described themselves as developing their current levels of practice, compared with 42pc of post-primary schools and 52pc of special schools. There was a lot of variation across schools in perceived levels of adequacy of infrastructure - such as devices and apps, connectivity and technical support - with post-primary faring better. While all post-primary schools have access to high-speed broadband, the primary-school sector does not have the same coverage. The end of 2020 is the target date for 1,800 of 2,800 primary schools to have broadband speeds at or above the minimum level for internet access. Among the ERC recommendations is the provision of offline tools and resources to primary schools that do not have an adequate or reliable internet connection. Education Minister Joe McHugh said since the data for the report was collected, many schools would have drawn down grants for equipment such as PCs, laptops, tablets and software applications to support learning, while a further 50m committed this week would bring the spend on the Digital Strategy for Schools ICT Infrastructure Fund to 160m. Iran Threatens Western Troops after European Nations Question Compliance With Nuclear Deal Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that European Union troops in the Middle East may be in danger and rejected a proposal for a new Trump deal to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement after European powers announced they would trigger a mediation action over Tehrans violations. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Rouhani said in televised remarks, according to a translation from Qatar-backed Al Jazeera and other news outlets. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who also praised President Donald Trump as a great dealmaker, suggested in an interview that Trump replace the 2015 nuclear deal with his own agreement to curb Tehrans nuclear aspirations. At the same time, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom announced Tuesday they have triggered a formal dispute in response to Irans violations. We have therefore been left with no choice, given Irans actions, but to register today our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, the ministers of the three European nations said in a statement. In response, Irans Foreign Ministry accused European countries of violating the deal for failing to take tangible and serious action to meet their commitments. Trump, on social media, wrote that he agreed with Johnsons Trump deal proposal. Trump has often criticized the pact which reduced sanctions on the regime, because it gave Iran more breathing room to pursue military action in the Middle East. As a result, Washington pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed the sanctions before announcing new ones last week in response to Iran firing missiles at U.S. troops in Iraq. Following the Trump-approved airstrike to kill Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in early January, Tehran announced it would reduce its obligations under the JCPOA even further. Rouhani pushed back against Johnsons BBC interview remarks, where he said from the American perspective, its a flawed deal plus it was negotiated by President Obama before saying that world powers should replace it with the Trump deal. This Mr. Prime Minister in London, I dont know how he thinks. He says lets put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action, Rouhani said Wednesday, according to a translation from Reuters. If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal. Rouhani then issued another veiled threat to U.S. forces in the Middle East. American soldiers today are not secure in the region We dont want there to be insecurity in the world. We want you to go from here, but not with war. We want you to leave the region intelligently and its to your benefit, he said. The Yobe State government has provided sponsorship to graduating law students from the state who gained admission into the Nigerian Law School. The governor of the state, Mai Mala Buni, announced the package on Wednesday, in Damaturu, when the students paid him a courtesy call at the government house. The governor announced that the state government will take care of their registration and tuition fees, wardrobe allowances, books, and computers that they may need during their one-year training at the law school. The 69 beneficiaries were given a cumulative package of N38.4 million. In order to support you to achieve, the Yobe State Government is taking responsibility for your registration and tuition fees and your wardrobe allowance. Our administration would also provide you with the books and computers that you need to study and to succeed. The 69 beneficiaries will receive a cumulative package of about Thirty-Eight Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira, the governor said. The governor reminded the students of the huge responsibility vested on them to be good ambassadors of the state wherever they are. He also charged them to study hard and come out with flying colours. Abdulmalik Isa, one of the beneficiaries, expressed joy over the gesture of the governor and prayed Allah to reward the governor bountifully. I honestly lack words to express my joy over this gesture towards us and I want to believe that many of us feel the same way I do. We can only pray for the governor to succeed and Allah to reward him abundantly,Mr Isa said. Another beneficiary, Mustapha Balumi, said, Its only a leader with a vision and foresight that invests so much in human capital resource development in the manner that Mai Mala is doing. What he has done to us is phenomenal and we pray to justify the confidence that the governor has vested in us. The first set of graduating law students from the states university Yobe State University who will also be going to the law school were presented at the occassion. Each of the students was given a cheque of N366,000. The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), a leading international district cooling developer based in the UAE, has establishes Tabreed Energy Services, a new entity consolidating its service businesses. The unit will provide customers with an integrated set of consultancy, operations and maintenance services, that will help them optimise the energy efficiency of their buildings and developments, the company said. Building on more than 20 years of experience in offering management services as a complement to its core district cooling offering, the new company will allow building owners, both government and private sector, to access Tabreeds deep expertise in optimising energy efficiency and in particular cooling systems, which are the largest driver of energy use. Bader Al Lamki, Tabreeds chief executive officer, said: Energy efficiency is a key pillar under the climate change discussion, and the UAE has set ambitious national targets as a part of its wider energy transformation strategy. The launch of Tabreed Energy Services positions us at the forefront of this rapidly growing market and enables customers to benefit from our extensive experience in enhancing efficiency within the cooling industry, as well as providing them with an end-to-end service offering. Tabreed Energy Services strengthens our existing district cooling business by capturing further operational synergies and enabling our delivery of fully-integrated cooling solutions, he added. With operations commencing in 2020, Tabreed Energy Services will offer the full spectrum of integrated building energy services, including energy audits and consultancy, retrofitting and asset replacement, financing, operations and maintenance; offered through both performance-based contracts (ESCO) and traditional service models. With 79 district cooling plants located throughout the region, Tabreed currently delivers over 1.16 million refrigeration tons to key developments including iconic infrastructure projects such as Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Dubai Metro, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Water Park, Abu Dhabis Al Maryah Island, Bahrain Financial Market in Bahrain and the Jabal Omar Development in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service Four people, two of them Ukrainians, were killed in a car accident in Poland near the village of Kolbiel of Opole Voivodeship, TVN Warszawa has reported. "The truck collided with a passenger car. The medical rescuers who arrived at the scene did not find any signs of life in the people in the car," the note quotes representative of the Otwock fire department, Maciej Lodygowski. The accident occurred at 1230 on national road No.17 on January 14. The driver of the truck wasn't injured. Police established that he was sober. Meanwhile, Rivne Vechirnie ezine cites the words of the head of the united territorial community of the village of Yaroslavychi Leonid Prudnykov, who said that the killed Ukrainians were residents of the village of Velyka Horodnytsia of Mlynivsky district, Rivne region. "The guys are brothers. They worked abroad and were engaged in cars. Both were young, not even 30 years old," he said. Via: Courthouse News Service: An informal adviser to Donald Trumps 2016 campaign who testified in the Mueller probe pleaded guilty Monday to charges of child sex trafficking and possessing child pornography. This is notAn informal adviser to Donald Trumps 2016 campaign who testified in the Mueller probe pleaded guilty Monday to charges of child sex trafficking and possessing child pornography.s first run-in with the law. He served six months after a 1991 guilty plea in Virginia to transporting child pornography. Then in 2003, Nader was convicted in the Prague Municipal Court in the Czech Republic for sexually abusing boys. Facing 10 charges there, he served a year in jail in Prague before being expelled from the country. The light sentences are believed to be, in part, the result of Naders 30-plus-year connection to prominent movers and shakers in Washington. Court documents note that the now-deceased real estate developer Guilford Glazer, a friend of former President Ronald Regan extolled Naders character in a letter to a federal judge, naming Nader a critical conduit in the brokerage of conflict relief efforts between Israel and Hezbollah. Nader was the longtime editor of Middle East Insight magazine throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In April 1996, some five years after he pleaded guilty to a transporting child pornography, Nader received a tribute from Representative Nick Rahall II, a West Virginia Democrat, when the magazine celebrated its 15th year in publication. Because of his reputation for fairness and his remarkable access to key political business leaders throughout the region, Nader has produced a magazine of distinction and high quality, Rahall II said. Both he and Middle East Insight deserve special recognition on their 15th anniversary. Nader faces another prosecution in Washington unrelated to the child-sex charges. Prosecutors indicted Nader and seven others in December for conspiracy to conceal campaign contributions, saying they funneled $3.5 million to various political committees and presidential candidates. Campaign-finance records made clear Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign was one recipient, though her name does not appear in the indictment. Haftar's Decision to Skip Libya Truce Deal Shows Who Wants War - Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu Sputnik News 12:53 14.01.2020 On Monday, Government of National Accord's (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar met in Moscow for talks, mediated by Russia and Turkey, in the hopes of concluding a ceasefire. But Haftar then left Moscow without signing anything, requesting extra time to review the draft deal. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Khalifa Haftar's decision not to sign a ceasefire agreement with GNA shows who wants war and who wants peace. Cavusoglu added that Turkey had done what it could to ensure the ceasefire, adding that if Haftar continues to act this way a Libya summit planned to be held in Berlin would make no sense. On Sunday, the LNA and the GNA announced a ceasefire, effectively halting the months-long LNA offensive to take the GNA-held capital of Tripoli. The ceasefire appears fragile as the sides have accused each other of violating the truce. Libya has been engaged in an armed conflict between the two rival governments since 2011 when its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. Libya's east is now controlled by the LNA, while the GNA has been operating in the west. The situation has escalated over the past few months with the LNA launching a new offensive on GNA-held Tripoli, most recently capturing the coastal city of Sirte on 6 January. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 06:56:13|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close QUITO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mining consortium on Tuesday delivered 15 million U.S. dollars in advance royalties to the Ecuadorian government. Ecuacorriente (ECSA), the consortium operating the Mirador mine in eastern Ecuador's Amazon region, "is fulfilling its commitment" in keeping with the terms of its contract with Ecuador, company president Hu Jiandong said at a ceremony attended by high-level officials. Ecuadorian Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner and Minister of Energy and Non-renewable Natural Resources Agusto Briones were among those present, along with Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador Chen Guoyou, and top ECSA executives. With this latest payment, the consortium comprised of the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited and Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co. Ltd, has now paid Ecuador the 100 million U.S. dollars in advance royalties it had pledged in the contract. Royalties are payments concession-holders make to governments for the rights to explore mines, oil deposits or similar reserves. The copper mine in Tundayme, a community in the Amazonian province of Zamora Chinchipe, is Ecuador's largest. Sonnenholzner said the government is a big supporter of mining projects that are sensitive to the surrounding environment and local communities. "The country must see the benefit of large-scale mining," said Sonnenholzner. According to ECSA's vice president, Mauricio Nunez, Ecuadorian law stipulates that 60 percent of the royalties delivered by the company must be invested in social development programs in the Mirador region. "We hope that the areas around our mine will be able to benefit from the development of mining through projects in education, healthcare, road building and other benefits for the community," said Nunez. The Mirador mine, which has generated 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, and spurred the creation of new companies, is expected to yield copper concentrate for some 30 years. The metal is then shipped to China, where it is processed. P assengers were reduced to tears, fainting and vomiting as their plane was left stranded in the air by Storm Brendan. An Aer Lingus flight from Amsterdam to Cork was due to land at 10.30am on Monday amid an orange weather warning. But as gusts reached 70mph, the pilot was forced to circle the south-west Ireland airport for an hour in turbulent conditions. Fearful flyers told of 20 people falling ill, fainting and weeping after a first attempt to land was aborted. One passenger also needed medical assistance upon landing, the airline said. Elizabeth Meehan, 20, told CorkBeo: 'I was sitting with my friends in the last row. Three of my friends are nervous flyers and were crying after we failed to land. Mark Foley on Twitter posted a picture of the planes circling flight path, adding that it was really scary and 20 people were sick. Following the first attempt, the plane had to wait in a holding pattern behind a London flight and a slower wind speed before it could try again. Some praised the pilot for managing to weather the storm and land on a second try. Christiaan Beek tweeted: Big shoutout to the pilots from @AerLingus who landed in the middle of this storm at Cork, after breaking off the first approach last minute! Aer Lingus said in a statement: "Aer Lingus can confirm that flight EI 841 from Amsterdam to Cork on Monday 13th January performed a standard go-around procedure on approach due to high winds. OTTAWAThe federal government is considering interim compensation for families of the 57 Canadians killed when the Iranian military shot down a commercial airliner last week, according to the Liberal MP tasked with supporting relatives of the victims. Omar Alghabra, the MP for Mississauga Centre and parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the government may compensate victims families as Canada continues to push for a more active role in the Iranian-led investigation into how and why Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was by Irans own admission shot from the sky on Jan. 8. We are actively exploring these options and we hope a decision will be made in short order, Alghabra said Wednesday at a press conference on Parliament Hill, when asked about interim compensation while families wait for the investigation to play out. The Prime Ministers Office did not elaborate on Alghabras statement when asked by the Star for further information. Alghabra joined federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau and high-ranking officials from the departments of defence and foreign affairs Wednesday, as they repeated Trudeaus pledge to stop at nothing to achieve justice, accountability and closure for relatives of those killed in the deadly incident. Garneau confirmed that two Canadian investigators from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) have visited the crash site in a suburb of Tehran, the Iranian capital. He said they will also examine the wreckage of the plane, while a second team of two investigators stands ready to assist in the downloading and analysis of data from the flight recorders that could include information from the final moments before the plane crash. He called on Iran to formalize the investigators participation in the crash probe, which Garneau said would give them a deeper role in determining what happened beyond the observer status they have been granted so far. Garneau said many questions remain to be answered about the crash, including whether Irans claim that the plane was shot down by accident is true, and whether as video reported by the New York Times indicates the plane was struck by two missiles. And while a spokesperson for Irans judiciary reportedly said Wednesday that some individuals had been arrested in the wake of the incident, Garneau said Canadas priority remains the completion of a thorough investigation before the question of justice and compensation from those responsible can be properly addressed. What we want to do is find out exactly what happened, and when we know exactly what happened and who was involved and what decisions were made, then we will be in a position to speak about what we feel needs to be done to achieve justice, Garneau said. One of the requirements from Canadas point of view, along with justice, is compensation, compensation to be provided by those that stand guilty of playing a role in this tragic accident, Garneau added. But lets do the homework first. On Thursday, Canadas foreign affairs minister is scheduled to meet in London with his counterparts from Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom countries with citizens killed in the crash to discuss the need for a full investigation and to press for co-operation from Iran. Garneau and Alghabra said the government is still calling for Iran to allow victims families to bring the remains of their loved ones to Canada. So far, no bodies have been returned, Alghabra confirmed. There is a great sense of urgency to help families repatriate their loved ones. In Iranian culture, they bury their loved ones quickly, if not the same day. And I understand that this has been a very difficult process for families, said Alghabra, describing how the process to identify the bodies is ongoing. We will support families, whatever challenges or needs they have, to repatriate their loved ones, he said. Asked whether there are concerns Iran wont acknowledge the Canadian citizenship of victims who were dual nationals, Garneau said the government will do its utmost to ensure their rights as citizens are recognized and protected. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, as youve heard us say perhaps a thousand times, and we believe very strongly in that, Garneau said. The 57 Canadians that lost their lives tragically are Canadian citizens, and they are entitled to all the rights that Canadian citizens have. Read more about: A Native American woman claims she was told to giddyup! and had her braids snapped like reins by a US airport security agent. Tara Houska, an attorney and activist for indigenous rights, was travelling through Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport to return home to Bemidji, Minnesota, on 13 January when a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent said she needed to pat down Ms Houskas hair. Ms Houska said the agent pulled her braids behind her shoulders, laughed and said giddyup! as she snapped my braids like reins. The experience left her angry, humiliated". My hair is part of my spirit, she tweeted. Your fun hurt. Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London A young boy holds a placard reading 'migration is beautiful' during the march against racism demonstration in London. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Warsaw Protesters rally in Warsaw under the slogan 'Tired of racism and fascism'. AFP/Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London An anti-racism demostrators chants with chains around his neck during a march against racism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Vienna People getting ready to march against racism in Vienna. Twitter/Wriseup Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow Anti-racism demonstrators take part in a rally through the city centre of Glasgow. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London An anti-racism demostrator holds a placard readin 'Laundry is the only thing that should be seperated by colour'. Getty Images Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Paris Thousand of protesters demonstrate against police brutality and in defense of migrants and those without papers in Paris. EPA Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators hold placards and chant during a march organised by the group Stand Up to Racism as an expression of unity against racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Athens A girl poses for a photo during a rally against the EU-Turkey deal blocking mass migration into Europe in Athens. AP Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow Aamer Anwar a prominent Scottish lawyer joins an Anti-racism rally through Glasgow city centre. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators hold placards and chant in London's march against racism. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Glasgow A man in Glasgow holds a banner reading 'refugees welcome'. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures London Anti-racism demostrators let off flares during the march against racism in London. Getty Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Paris A protester in a grim reaper disguise holds a shield reading 'State racism, no impunity for police brutality against those without papers' in Paris. EPA Anti-racism demonstrations across Europe: in pictures Athens Migrants who live in Greece chant slogans during a rally against the EU-Turkey deal blocking mass migration into Europe, in Athens. AP Ms Houska said the agent casually used her authority to dehumanize and disrespect me. When confronted, the agent allegedly said: It was just in fun, Im sorry. Your hair is lovely. The federal security director of TSA in Minnesota, Cliff Van Leuven, has since apologised to Ms Houska for the incident, sending an email to employees saying that the agency will learn from this. TSA holds its employees to the highest standards of professional conduct and any type of improper behaviour is taken seriously, the agency said in a statement. The Independent has contacted TSA for further comment. Its not the first time the agency has been accused of offensive behaviour. In July 2019, two TSA employees were placed on leave for creating a racist display in a major US airport that agency officials described as reprehensible. The display was found at a TSA workstation in Miami International Airport, and showed toy gorillas hanging from nooses. We choose not to describe the display under investigation. This reprehensible act runs absolutely counter to the values of the agency, and therefore we do not want to provide it any credence, a TSA official told The Independent. The display was immediately removed and an investigation was launched into who was responsible for the unacceptable behaviour. TSA does not tolerate racist or offensive behaviour and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions. Two TSA officers have been placed on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing. [January 15, 2020] MRI Software Receives Investment to Accelerate Innovation And Global Growth MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software solutions, announces that funds managed by Harvest Partners, LP, a leading private equity firm, are making a substantial strategic investment in the company. Harvest Partners joins existing investors TA Associates and GI Partners as institutional shareholders in MRI. At the same time, TA Associates is also making a significant new investment in the business. These investments will enable MRI to bolster innovation across its end-to-end offering, accelerate growth, extend its global footprint and deliver on its mission to create an open technology environment for the real estate industry. Patrick Ghilani, MRI's Chief Executive Officer, comments: "Harvest is an experienced investor with a long-term perspective that will help MRI continue to meet the growing and evolving needs of our clients, innovate our software portfolio and provide world-class global service. We believe the added capital will further the development of our comprehensive software portfolio and allow for strategic add-on acquisitions to meet the needs of a rapidly changing market. Our management team is invigorated to continue our mission in this new decade with the support of these three experienced investors." Today, MRI has more than 8,500 enterprise clients, representing over two million users, who rely on the company's applications to run their daily real estate operations. MRI has experienced unprecedented growth over the last three years, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, resulting in a more than tripling of the size of the business. Over the same timeframe, the number of MRI employees has more than doubled to 1,450. MRI has significantly expanded its global footprint with major strategic acquisitions in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. The company has also made key acquisitions that strengthen its product offering and capacity for future innovation, including Leverton, a pioneer in artificial intelligence for the real estate sector, and ProLease, which enhanced capabilities aimed at helping corporate occupiers manage lease administration and analysis while meeting new global accounting standards. MRI now serves clients in more than 170 countries from 30 locations around the world, including Cleveland, Atlanta, Boston, Toronto, ondon, Cape Town, Singapore, and Sydney. Hythem T. El-Nazer, Managing Director of TA Associates, says: "Since making our investment in MRI in June 2017, the business has accelerated its growth via continued innovation in new applications and through strategic acquisitions that have extended its global footprint. We are excited about making a further investment in MRI alongside Harvest and are thrilled to continue to back Patrick Ghilani and his leadership team." Travis Pearson, Managing Director of GI Partners, adds: "Since GI Partners first invested in MRI in June 2015, the company has demonstrated the ability to capitalize on new investment and deliver innovation, accelerated organic growth and a compelling global competitive position. We appreciate the outstanding leadership that Patrick and the rest of the MRI executive team have delivered and look forward to the company's next stage of growth." Andrew Schoenthal, Partner at Harvest Partners, notes: "We could not be more excited to support MRI on the next phase of their journey. We have watched MRI's success over the years and are pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of it. We look forward to partnering with management, TA Associates and GI Partners to continue to build the leading provider of real estate software solutions globally." TA Associates, GI Partners and Harvest Partners will have equal representation on the MRI Board of Directors. UBS is acting as the exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis and Goodwin Procter are acting as legal advisors to MRI Software, GI Partners and TA Associates during the transaction. White & Case is acting as legal advisor to Harvest Partners. About MRI Software MRI Software is a leading provider of innovative real estate software applications and hosted solutions. MRI's comprehensive and flexible technology platform coupled with an open and connected ecosystem meets the unique needs of real estate businesses - from property-level management and accounting to investment modelling and analytics for the global commercial and residential markets. A pioneer of the real estate software industry, MRI develops lasting client relationships based on nearly five decades of expertise and insight. Through leading solutions and a rich partner ecosystem, MRI gives organizations the freedom to transform the way communities live, work and play while elevating their business and gaining a competitive edge. For more information, please visit mrisoftware.com. About Harvest Partners Founded in 1981, Harvest Partners is a leading New York-based private equity investment firm that focuses on investments in middle-market companies in the business services & consumer, healthcare, industrial services and manufacturing & distribution sectors. This strategy leverages Harvest Partners' 35+ years of experience in financing organic and acquisition-oriented growth companies. For more information, please visit harvestpartners.com. About GI Partners Founded in 2001, GI Partners is a private investment firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm has raised $20 billion in capital from leading institutional investors around the world to invest in private equity, real estate, and data infrastructure strategies. The private equity team invests primarily in companies in the Healthcare, IT Infrastructure, Services, and Software sectors. The real estate team invests across a broad range of platforms and strategies. The data infrastructure team invests primarily in hard asset infrastructure businesses underpinning the digital economy. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit http://www.gipartners.com/. About TA Associates TA Associates is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries - technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services - TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $2 billion per year. The firm's more than 85 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005355/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:31:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close CHICAGO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Freezing drizzle spread over much of the Chicago area on Wednesday morning, and the U.S. Midwest will experience snow, ice and rain in the weekend, the National Weather Service said. A winter weather advisory was in effect for much of the Chicago area starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday, lasting until noon, according to the National Weather Service. "Freezing drizzle is spreading into the area this morning from the west. Temperatures will take a while to warm above freezing, resulting in a few hour period of freezing drizzle and likely a light icing, especially on untreated roads and elevated surfaces," the National Weather Service said. Motorists were warned to allow plenty of travel time and to leave extra following distance behind the car since roads are likely to be slick. Despite the fog, ice and precipitation, Chicago's airports were not reporting significant delays as of 10:45 a.m., according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. More than 1,000 flights were canceled Saturday morning as a winter storm hit the Chicago area with heavy winds and rain. Premier Doug Fords government will spend up to $48 million per day to repay parents for child-care costs during any work stoppage from teacher strikes. The daily subsidies of up to $60 per child will be funded by savings from not paying the salaries of educators while they are on the picket lines. Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement Wednesday, hours after the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario said its members in Toronto, York and Ottawa plan to walk off the job on Monday. Catholic teachers are staging a daylong strike on Tuesday across the province, the same day public high school teachers will walk off the job in 13 boards, including Toronto. There is still a pathway to get a deal and avoid the upcoming strikes, Lecce told reporters at Queens Park when pressed about the growing tensions with teachers unions. I hope in my heart in that we can get a deal that is a win-win-win proposition for teachers, boards and the government, he said. Sam Hammond, president of the elementary teachers union, accused the government of trying to bribe parents to get their support. New Democrat MPP Marit Stiles (Davenport) said the province should put as much energy into avoiding strikes as it is into developing plans for coping with work stoppages. Lecce said the child-care reimbursements will help support families because we recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real, and unions expect hard-working families to bear the costs of their cyclical labour action. No receipts are required for the payouts which are also retroactive for any work stoppages already this school year and are set at $60 per day per child up to six years old in any school-based daycare thats affected by a strike. Compensation is set at $40 for kindergarten students, and $25 for students in grades 1 to 7. Families of children with special needs, from kindergarten to grade 12, can receive $40 per day. The payments will come from the potential $60 million in daily savings if all teachers are on strike. Parents have to register online to receive the compensation. On Wednesday alone, about 12,000 had done so. We think this little bit of relief is going to help them, Lecce said. The last time Ontario parents received such payouts was in 1997, when the Conservative government provided $40 per day, up to a maximum of $400, for a two-week protest that shut down schools. In British Columbia, the Liberal government repaid parents $40 a day in 2014. Kimberly Clark of Markham said she has no plans to seek reimbursement, despite being eligible for $50 a day for her children who are in grades 4 and 5. I would much better see that money go to schools, she said, calling it a ploy to win over parents. Torontos Stephanie Kirby works part-time and has flexible hours, and said she will stay home with her two children. I just dont see how someone like me would qualify, said Kirby, whose children are in grades 2 and 4. But for people who run the risk of financial hardship because of having to pay for additional days of daycare, I can see why they would apply for it. However, Kirby said shes tired of the rhetoric coming from both sides the finger-pointing is constant and urged both sides to reach a deal as quickly as possible. The Ontario elementary teachers union sent a memo to its 83,000 members early Wednesday, saying unless the government makes an immediate effort to engage in serious talks, ETFO will have no option but to further escalate our strike action. Because the teacher unions also bargain for support and professional staff in schools, Catholic, French and public boards can all be affected by just one unions job action. On Monday, Toronto public and Catholic schools will be affected because the elementary teachers union represents early childhood educators there, as it does for the Ottawa-Carleton and York Region boards. The Toronto Catholic board will be hit two days in a row. It says full-day kindergarten classes will run as usual on Monday, but all of its schools will close Tuesday because of the province-wide Catholic teacher strike. The public elementary teachers union is expected to announce more boards to be targeted in a daylong strike on Tuesday, which will mean three teacher unions off the job that day. Meanwhile, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation says it will take a hiatus from daylong strikes after next Tuesday until the end of exam period. The only teacher union currently bargaining with the province and school board associations is the AEFO, representing teachers in Ontarios 12 French-language boards. With files from Rob Ferguson and Isabel Teotonio Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie The Delhi High Court Wednesday expressed displeasure over the "strategy" adopted by the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case to delay the process of execution, saying the system was being exploited. A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal questioned the counsel for convict Mukesh Kumar Singh (32) why he kept waiting for two-and-a half years and did not file curative or mercy petitions after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against conviction and confirmed the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court. The court declined to interfere with the trial court's January 7 order as sought by Mukesh, who contended that the order issuing death warrant be set aside as being un-executable as he has moved a mercy plea before the President. The high court further said there was no error in the trial court's decision as on that date, none of the convicts had moved a curative petition or a mercy plea. The bench said it was a stratagem devised by the convicts on how to prolong the matter as they kept on sitting after dismissal of their appeals by the Supreme Court. "On May 5, 2017, the Supreme Court dismissed your Special Leave Petition (SLP) and confirmed the death sentence. What restrained you from filing the curative petition. You were sitting and waiting for two-and-a half year," the bench said. "A clever prisoner does this. He keeps on waiting for issuance of death warrant and once it is issued, he then challenges it. Yakub Abdul Razzaq Memon judgement clearly says the convict should file the curative petition in a reasonable time," it said. The bench said the limitation period for filing curative petition started from May 5, 2017, when the apex court had dismissed their appeals and not from December 18, 2019, when the Tihar Jail administration issued notice to the four convicts to file mercy petition in seven days. It also noted that the apex court in July last year dismissed Mukesh's review petition but further remedies were being availed now. The bench also pulled up the prison authorities for the delay on their part and not communicating timely to the convicts that they can file mercy pleas after their appeals were dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2017. It said the notice which was issued to the convicts on October 29 and December 18, 2019, should have been done much earlier after the apex court's 2017 verdict. "Put your house in order. Your house is in disarray. The problem is people will lose confidence in the system. Things are not moving in the right direction. The system is capable of being exploited and is also being exploited. We see a stratagem to exploit the system, which is oblivious about it. There is a clear strategy on the part of convict," the bench said. The prison authorities had only on October 29 and December 18 last year issued notices to the convicts asking them move their mercy pleas in seven days. To this Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra, representing the jail authorities, told the bench the delay was due to the reason that one of the convicts -- Akshay -- had not filed his review plea till 2019 and it was dismissed only on December 18. He said as per rules, unless all the four convicts exhaust their remedy of mercy petition, the jail authorities cannot proceed. "If this pattern continues, it will further delay the process. This will frustrate the process and they (convicts) have done it in the past. God knows how much time will it take our system," he said. At the end of the hearing, the bench said, "In a hierarchical system like ours, you cannot play one court against another". To this, senior advocate Rebecca John, representing Mukesh, said: "I am not playing any games. I am not choosing any forum. I cannot say anything about the other three convicts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People celebrating harvest festival 'Bhogali Bihu', also called 'Magh Bihu', in Assam on Wednesday burnt copies of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in bonfires of 'Mejis' lit on the occasion. Protests against the Act have been raging in the state since it was passed in the Parliament in December last year. The 'Mejis' (structures made of bamboo, hay and wood) were lit before sunrise and homemade 'larus' (a type of sweet) and 'pithas' (rice cakes) offered to the almighty. Organisations protesting the CAA such as the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), Assam Nagarik Mancha and civil society members had given a call to burn the copies of the Act during the festival. AASU activists burnt copies of the Act outside their offices across the state and students of the Cotton University, prominent advocate Arup Borobora and civil society members Ajit Bhuyan and Haidar Hussain also did the same. The Act was also the theme of several 'Bhelaghars', temporary hay structures where community feasts 'Uruka' were held on the eve of the 'Rongali Bihu', on Tuesday. Two such 'Bhelaghars' in Nagaon district stood out. A 'Bhelaghar' in Kekuragaon in Amsoi area of the district depicted a woman holding a container over her head. Organisers said the woman was depicted as 'Mother Assam' and the container the "burden" of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Another 'Bhelaghar' at Bangthai in Bebejia area was constructed in the shape of Assam's map with a figure of Ahom general Lachit Barphukhan, who had defeated the Mughals at the Battle of Saraighat, on it. Slogans in Assamese such as 'CAA aami namanu' (We do not accept CAA), 'CAA batil koriboi lagibo' (CAA must be repealed) and 'Jai Aai Asom' (Glory to Mother Assam) were written on 'Bhelaghars' across the state. Attendees were seen discussing the Act in community feasts 'Uruka' held on Tuesday. People seemed less enthusiastic about celebrating the festival as five people were killed allegedly due to police firing during anti-CAA protests in the state in December last year. Preparations for 'Bhogali Bihu' were low-key this year as sales for essentials required for the festival dipped and traders selling the items put up anti-CAA posters outside their shops. Many buyers were also seen wearing 'gamosas' (traditional handwoven towels) and badges with 'Say No to CAA' inscribed on them. CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh fleeing persecution there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump accused Apple of refusing to unlock iPhones used by criminals one day after his attorney general demanded that the company help FBI investigators gain access to devices used by the gunman in a mass shooting at a Florida Navy base. 'We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements,' Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday. 'They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!' The tweet came on the heels of US Attorney General William Barr's call for Apple to cooperate with the FBI - which has been struggling to get past the encryption on two iPhones belonging to Saudi military trainee Mohammed Alshamrani. Three American sailors were killed and eight other people were wounded when Alshamrani opened fire in a classroom at the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola on December 6. The 21-year-old gunman, who was training to be a naval flight officer, was then killed in a shoot-out with police. President Donald Trump accused Apple of refusing to unlock iPhones used by criminals one day after his attorney general demanded that the company help FBI investigators gain access to devices used by the gunman in a mass shooting at a Florida Navy base US Attorney General William Barr on Monday demanded that Apple cooperate with the FBI - which has been struggling to get past the encryption on two iPhones belonging to Saudi military trainee Mohammed Alshamrani Barr's latest appeal for Apple's cooperation marked an escalation of the Justice Department's ongoing fight with the tech giant over the balance between personal privacy and public safety. 'This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that the public be able to get access to digital evidence,' Barr said at a press conference Monday, where he accused Apple of providing no 'substantive assistance'. Three American sailors were killed and eight other people were wounded when Alshamrani (pictured) opened fire in a classroom at the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola on December 6 The attorney general indicated that he intends to use the Alshamrani case to push for a solution to the DOJ's struggle to get around Apple security features. 'We don't want to get into a world where we have to spend months and even years exhausting efforts when lives are in the balance,' he said. 'We should be able to get in when we have a warrant that establishes that criminal activity is underway.' FBI officials obtained court authorization to search the phones but have failed to gain access by guessing the passwords, according to a letter from the FBI's general counsel, Dana Boente. At least one of the phones was shot by a sheriff's deputy during the attack, but investigators believe they may still be able to extract data from the device, according to a person familiar with the matter. Following Barr's remarks, Apple said it rejected 'the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance' in the investigation into the shooting. Apple did not say that it would unlock the phones, instead the company doubled-down on its stance on privacy. In its statement, Apple said it responded to all queries from law enforcement officials and turned over all information that it had access to. The company said it received the first inquiry on January 6 but was not notified of a second iPhone until January 8. It also said its engineering teams 'recently had a call to provide additional technical assistance' to the FBI. Barr indicated that he intends to use the Alshamrani case to push for a solution to the DOJ's struggle to get around Apple security features Earlier this week, the FBI asked Apple to help extract data from two iPhones that belonged to the gunman. Investigators have been unable to access the two devices - an iPhone 7 and an iPhone 5 (pictured) - because they are locked and encrypted Sources close to Apple told the New York Times that the company will not back down from its unequivocal support of impossible-to-crack encryption. Apple has long touted security as a major feature of its phones and in 2014 began building encryption into devices that can only be unlocked with a password or fingerprint reader. Apple said that even the company is unable to bypass the security. Apple has said that obtaining data from phones would require it to build a backdoor, which would set a dangerous precedent for user privacy and security. Apple executives have warned that gaining access to one phone would compromise the security of all devices because law enforcement would demand to use the back door excessively. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials have accused Apple of providing a safe haven for criminals. Officials have managed to get around Apple's resistance in the past - most notably while investigating a terrorist attack that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, California, in late 2015. Apple defied a court order to assist the FBI in its efforts to search an iPhone belonging to the suspect - sparking the public safety vs user privacy debate. The immediate dispute was resolved when the FBI found a private company to bypass the encryption. The over-arching debate, however, was escalated as Apple worked to ensure that neither the government nor private contractors would be able to gain access to devices in the future. Apple has long touted security as a major feature of its phones and in 2014 began building encryption into devices that can only be unlocked with a password or fingerprint reader In the Alshamrani case, DOJ officials say that they need access to the gunman's phones to see data and messages from encrypted apps like Signal or WhatsApp and determine whether he had discussed his plans with others at the base and if he was acting alone. At Monday's press conference Barr said that Alshamrani was motivated by 'jihadist ideology' and had posted anti-American, anti-Israeli and jihadist messages on social media. Some of those messages were shared within hours of the shooting. On September 11 of last year, Alshamrani allegedly posted a message which read: 'The countdown has begun.' Barr added that Alshamrani also visited the New York City memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks days before the shooting. The attack brought fresh complications to US-Saudi relations at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival. But according to Barr, Saudi Arabia provided 'complete and total support' to the American investigation of the incident. Police tape is pictured at the Pensacola Naval Air Station after Alshamrani opened fire in a classroom on December 6, killing three American sailors and wounding eight others Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham (left); Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson (center); and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters (right) were killed in the attack Fran Bitter, a volunteer with the Patriot Guard Riders of Georgia, salutes a group of sailors as they enter a funeral service for Walters at the Compassion Christian Church in Savannah, Georgia, on December 19, 2019 The attorney general also announced that the United States is removing 21 Saudi military students from a training program and sending them back to Saudi Arabia following the investigation. Fifteen of the 21 cadets had contact with child pornography and possessed jihadist or anti-American material, Barr said. Of the 21 cadets, 17 had social media profiles containing jihadi or anti-American content. None of the cadets are accused of having advanced knowledge of the shooting. It was not immediately clear on what grounds the students were being removed from the program, though the official said they were not suspected of having played any role in the attack. Officials have said Alshamrani hosted a party before the shooting, where he and others watched videos of mass shootings. The gunman, who used a Glock 9 mm weapon that had been purchased legally in Florida, had also apparently taken to Twitter before the shooting to criticize US support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, another US official said last month. There are currently about 850 Saudi students in the United States for military training. Saudi Arabia Defense Attache Major General Fawaz Al Fawaz, his Embassy staff and other officials arrive to meet with the Saudi students who remain restricted to the Naval Air Station Pensacola base by their Saudi commanding officer on December 9 Alshamrani was on the base as part of a US Navy training program designed to foster links with foreign allies. He had started training in the US in 2017 and had been in the Pensacola area for the past 18 months, authorities said. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said that Alshamrani 'had a deep-seated hatred for the United States'. 'For us to be bringing in these foreign nationals, you have to take precautions. Bringing in people from Saudi Arabia - we need to be on guard against that,' the governor added. Alshamrani was one of about 200 foreigners at the Pensacola base and thousands around the US who participate in military training, a program that US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said was 'very important to our national security'. The December shooting raised questions about how well international military students are screened before they attend training at American bases. Some lawmakers, including a top Republican ally of President Donald Trump, have called for Saudi Arabia to be suspended from the American military training program. Trump called for the program to be reviewed. But Sen Lindsey Graham, R-SC, said the program needed to be reevaluated after the attack. A Saudi commanding officer had ordered all students from the country to remain at one location at the base after the attack. National security adviser Robert O'Brien said in an interview on Fox News that the shooting 'showed that there had been errors in the way that we vetted' the students. The actions being taken by the Justice Department and Defense Department to remove the Saudi students are to 'protect our service men and women,' he said. Nicky Nodjoumi Through Jan. 19. Helena Anrather, 28 Elizabeth Street, Manhattan; 212-587-9674, helenaanrather.com. In 1974, the Iranian-American artist Nicky Nodjoumi took his City College M.F.A. back to Tehran, where his politically charged painting quickly antagonized first the Shahs secret police and then Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeinis Revolutionary Guards. In 1981, he was given a major show at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, but it was closed after a single day, and he hurried back to New York, which has been his home ever since. For a few years in the late 90s, Mr. Nodjoumi made a daily practice of painting or drawing on a shellacked front page of The New York Times. He made portraits of his family; Picasso-like figures with latticework faces; explicit sexual scenes that are both funny and tender; and clearly political but nonspecific images, like a dense black silhouette of a man playing with a bloody-red cats cradle. One appeal of a serial project like this, over and above the often wonderful drawing, is how it seems to encompass the endless days and scenes of the world at large even as it reduces them to a comprehensible number. I can count 60 spreads in Mr. Nodjoumis current show, New York Times Sketchbooks (1996-1999), at Helena Anrather; note that these include one Metro section cover and one interior spread painted early on, before he committed to front pages, as well as one flower for the day Princess Diana died; and feel as if Ive really gotten to grips with something. Still more appealing, though, is the sense of fleet-footed possibility that the work transmits when hung en masse: If todays nefarious silhouette can turn into tomorrows couple in flagrante or the next days bear on stilts, anything might be around the corner for all of us. WILL HEINRICH by Blaine Blontz | Tue, Jan 14th 1:38pm EST The Rangers remain 'active' in pursuit of free agent Nicholas Castellanos. (Jon Morosi on Twitter) Fantasy Impact: Texas is among the favorites to land Castellanos, who has also been tied to the White Sox, Cubs, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Marlins. Castellanos would likely move to first base if he signs with Texas given their current roster situation. Castellanos continued his mediocre production with the Tigers in 2019 before lighting it up following a trade to the Cubs. He'll be an interesting name in fantasy drafts this year depending on where he ultimately lands. Texas would be a great offensive environment. A flight attendant has been seriously injured after falling out the door of a parked plane. The Finnair jet had just arrived from Oulu in northern Finland into Helsinki airport when the incident occurred. The Airbus A320 aircraft had parked on the tarmac after landing and passengers had already disembarked. When the plane was empty save for cabin crew, the flight attendant fell from the open back door of the aircraft. He fell from a height of between three and four metres, reports local media. The world's healthiest and happiest airports Show all 8 1 /8 The world's healthiest and happiest airports The world's healthiest and happiest airports Therapy dogs at Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport employs therapy dogs to assist with anxious and stressed passengers Vancouver International Airport The world's healthiest and happiest airports The rooftop swimming pool at Changi Airport, Singapore This airport also includes its own cinema Changi Airport, Singapore The world's healthiest and happiest airports Green space at Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport scored top marks for outdoor and green space Vancouver International Airport The world's healthiest and happiest airports The outdoor terrace at San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the seventh busiest airport in the US San Francisco International Airport The world's healthiest and happiest airports Fancy a dip? A pool at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest airport and number three in the ranking Dubai International Airport The world's healthiest and happiest airports Frankfurt Airport With an open-air roof terrace, dedicated silent chairs, a quiet room and peaceful leisure facilities, Frankfurt International Airport came top in the ranking Frankfurt Airport The world's healthiest and happiest airports Work out The transit lounge gym facilities at Changi Airport's Terminal 2 Changi Airport, Singapore The world's healthiest and happiest airports The spa at Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport came seventh in the ranking Vancouver International Airport Its not clear why the steps werent attached to the aircraft. Its understood that the flight attendant has broken some bones, but his injuries arent life-threatening. The Finnish safety authority, OTKES, tweeted that it had opened a preliminary investigation into a serious incident involving a cabin crew member [who] fell from an Airbus A320 and was injured while in the park after a flight. A Finnair spokesperson told The Independent: On Finnair flight AY450 from Oulu to Helsinki 13 January a crew member was involved in a serious occupational accident. The crew member fell from the aircraft back door to the station platform. The employee was seriously injured and transported to a hospital. This is a rare and very unfortunate event. For privacy reasons we cannot comment further. The Safety Investigation Authority is conducting an independent investigation as per usual. Finnair takes all occupational safety issues seriously and will investigate the events leading to this occurrence to ensure this will not happen again. SAN FRANCISCOApple is privately preparing for a legal fight with the U.S. Justice Department to defend encryption on its iPhones while publicly trying to defuse the dispute, as the technology giant navigates an increasingly tricky line between its customers and the Trump administration. Timothy D. Cook, Apples chief executive, has marshaled a handful of top advisers, while Attorney General William Barr has taken aim at the company and asked it to help penetrate two phones used by a gunman in a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla. Executives at Apple have been surprised by the cases quick escalation, said people familiar with the company who were not authorized to speak publicly. And there is frustration and skepticism among some on the Apple team working on the issue that the Justice Department hasnt spent enough time trying to get into the iPhones with third-party tools, said one person with knowledge of the matter. The situation has become a sudden crisis at Apple that pits Cooks long-standing commitment to protecting peoples privacy against accusations from the U.S. government that it is putting the public at risk. The case resembles Apples clash with the FBI in 2016 over another dead gunmans phone, which dragged on for months. This time, Apple is facing off against the Trump administration, which has been unpredictable. The stakes are high for Cook, who has built an unusual alliance with President Donald Trump that has helped Apple largely avoid damaging tariffs in the trade war with China. That relationship will now be tested as Cook confronts Barr, one of the presidents closest allies. We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements, Trump said Tuesday in a post on Twitter. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country. Apple declined to comment on the issue Tuesday. Late Monday, after Barr had complained that the company had provided no substantive assistance in gaining access to the phones used in the Pensacola shooting, Apple said it rejected that characterization. It added that encryption is vital to protecting our country and our users data. But Apple also offered conciliatory language, in a sign that it did not want the showdown to intensify. The company said it was working with the FBI on the Pensacola case, with its engineers recently holding a call to provide technical assistance. We will work tirelessly to help them investigate this tragic attack on our nation, Apple said. At the heart of the tussle is a debate between Apple and the government over whether security or privacy trumps the other. Apple has said it chooses not to build a backdoor way for governments to get into iPhones and to bypass encryption because that would create a slippery slope that could damage peoples privacy. The government has argued it is not up to Apple to choose whether to provide help, as the Fourth Amendment allows the government to violate individual privacy in the interest of public safety. Privacy has never been an absolute right under the Constitution, Barr said in a speech in October. Cook publicly took a stand on privacy in 2016 when Apple fought a court order from the FBI to open the iPhone of a gunman involved in a San Bernardino, Calif., mass shooting. The company said it could open the phone in a month, using a team of six to 10 engineers. But in a blistering, 1,100-word letter to Apple customers at the time, Cook warned that creating a way for the authorities to gain access to someones iPhone would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect. Bruce Sewell, Apples former general counsel who helped lead the companys response in the San Bernardino case, said in an interview last year that Cook had staked his reputation on the stance. Had Apples board not agreed with the position, Cook was prepared to resign, Sewell said. The San Bernardino case was bitterly contested by the government and Apple until a private company came forward with a way to break into the phone. Since then, Cook has made privacy one of Apples core values. That has set Apple apart from tech giants like Facebook and Google, which have faced scrutiny for vacuuming up peoples data to sell ads. Its brilliant marketing, Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor who has written a book on the tech giants, said of Apple. Theyre so concerned with your privacy that theyre willing to wave the finger at the FBI. Cooks small team at Apple is now aiming to steer the current situation toward an outside resolution that doesnt involve the company breaking its own security, even as it prepares for a potential legal battle over the issue, said the people with knowledge of the thinking. Some of the frustration within Apple over the Justice Department is rooted in how police have previously exploited software flaws to break into iPhones. The Pensacola gunmans phones were an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 7 Plus, according to a person familiar with the investigation who declined to be named because the detail was confidential. Those phones, released in 2012 and 2016, lack Apples most sophisticated encryption. The iPhone 5 is even older than the device in the San Bernardino case, which was an iPhone 5C. Security researchers and a former senior Apple executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity said tools from at least two companies, Cellebrite and Grayshift, have long been able to bypass the encryption on those iPhone models. Cellebrite said in an email that it helps thousands of organizations globally to lawfully access and analyze digital information; it declined to comment on an active investigation. Grayshift declined to comment. Cellebrites and Grayshifts tools exploit flaws in iPhone software that let them remove limits on how many passwords can be tried before the device erases its data, the researchers said. Typically, iPhones allow 10 password attempts. The tools then use a so-called brute-force attack, or repeated automated attempts of thousands of passcodes, until one works. The iPhone 5 is so old, you are guaranteed that Grayshift and Cellebrite can break into those every bit as easily as Apple could, said Nicholas Weaver, a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, who has taught iPhone security. Chuck Cohen, who recently retired as head of the Indiana State Polices efforts to break into encrypted devices, said his team used a $15,000 device from Grayshift that enabled it to regularly get into iPhones, particularly older ones, though the tool didnt always work. In the San Bernardino case, the Justice Departments Office of Inspector General later found the FBI had not tried all possible solutions before trying to force Apple to unlock the phone. In the current case, Barr and other Justice Department officials have said they have exhausted all options, though they declined to detail exactly why third-party tools have failed on these phones as the authorities seek to learn if the gunman acted alone or co-ordinated with others. The FBIs technical experts as well as those consulted outside of the organization have played an integral role in this investigation, an FBI spokeswoman said. The consensus was reached, after all efforts to access the shooters phones had been unsuccessful, that the next step was to reach out to start a conversation with Apple. Security researchers speculated that in the Pensacola case, the FBI might still be trying a brute-force attack to get into the phones. They said major physical damage may have impeded any third-party tools from opening the devices. The Pensacola gunman had shot the iPhone 7 Plus once and tried destroying the iPhone 5, according to FBI photos. The FBI said it fixed the iPhones in a lab so that they would turn on, but the authorities still couldnt bypass their encryption. Security researchers and the former Apple executive said any damage that prevented third-party tools from working would also preclude a solution from Apple. A Justice Department spokeswoman said in an email: Apple designed these phones and implemented their encryption. Its a simple, front-door request: Will Apple help us get into the shooters phones or not? While Apple has closed loopholes that police have used to break into its devices and resisted some law enforcement requests for access, it has also routinely helped police gain entry to phones in cases that dont require it to break its encryption. Apple has held seminars for police departments on how to quickly get into a suspects phone, and it has a hotline and dedicated team to aid police in time-sensitive cases. In the past seven years, Apple has also complied with roughly 127,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies for data stored on its computer servers. Such data is unencrypted and access is possible without a customers passcode. In 2016, when the standoff between Apple and the government was at its most acrimonious, Cook said Congress should pass a law to decide the boundaries between public safety and technological security. In court filings, Apple even identified an applicable law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. On Monday, Barr said the Trump administration had revived talks with Congress to come up with such a law. The latest offering from Americas largest wireless carrier is a Google Search rival. Called OneSearch, the Verizon search engine is presently only available in the form of a website. Android and iOS apps will follow by the end of the month, according to the firms Monday press release. Verizon Media says it opted to launch a search engine in 2020 as part of an effort to improve consumer choice. Since it also describes OneSearch as a privacy-focused solution, the service is clearly meant to rival Googles monopoly. Whats less clear is whos going to take it seriously. The telecom giant plans to monetize OneSearch with ads and claims that business model isnt at odds with the apps privacy-oriented design. In other words, the platform will serve keyword-based advertising akin to DuckDuckGo. Advertisement Verizon is also open to integrating its Google Search rival into third-party products. Neither of those concepts are new or generally lacking in potential but Verizons history makes their viability in this scenario questionable. A privacy-focused search engine from the company accused of creating spyware As laughable as the idea of a privacy-focused search engine from Verizon is, the Monday launch isnt unprecedented. On the contrary, OneSearch is just the latest example of the wireless giants corporate activism in the segment. Naturally, none of that can erase prominent spyware accusations Verizon fielded in recent years. Despite the move, the firm doesnt appear to be completely devoid of self-awareness. If anything, OneSearch overcompensates for the fact Verizons public image doesnt exactly match that of a champion of data privacy. Advertisement The online service hence features an even privater Advanced Privacy Mode. In essence, this functionality only serves ephemeral results pages, rendering search history useless. A unique selling point thats a decade late to the market seeing how every browser under the sun now supports some sort of incognito mode which doesnt lock you into a specific search engine. Due to a highly saturated core market, Verizons been diversifying in 2010s. Those efforts led it to start investing in digital media which, in turn, resulted in various experiments with user data monetization. Advertisement While the companys pursuing growth out of a legal obligation, its commitments to shareholders hardly align with privacy-focused technologies. Verizons digital media unit built from the remnants of AOL and Yahoo dropped its Oath moniker just over a year ago. What it has yet to drop is its erratic tendency to change product strategies on a quarterly basis. OneSearch is just another episode in that search for sustainability that seems to be dead on arrival. More divestments similar to last years sale of Tumblr to Automattic hence appear to be on the table in 2020. A stem cell transplant -- also called a bone marrow transplant -- is a common treatment for blood cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Such treatment can cure blood cancers but also can lead to life-threatening complications, including heart problems and graft-versus-host disease, in which new immune cells from the donor attack a patient's healthy tissues. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that extremely rare, harmful genetic mutations present in healthy donors' stem cells -- though not causing health problems in the donors -- may be passed on to cancer patients receiving stem cell transplants. The intense chemo- and radiation therapy prior to transplant and the immunosuppression given after allow cells with these rare mutations the opportunity to quickly replicate, potentially creating health problems for the patients who receive them, suggests the research, published Jan. 15 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Among the concerns are heart damage, graft-versus-host disease and possible new leukemias. The study, involving samples from patients with AML and their stem cell donors, suggests such rare, harmful mutations are present in surprisingly young donors and can cause problems for recipients even if the mutations are so rare as to be undetectable in the donor by typical genome sequencing techniques. The research opens the door to a larger study that will investigate these rare mutations in many more healthy donors, potentially leading to ways to prevent or mitigate the health effects of such genetic errors in patients receiving stem cell transplants. "There have been suspicions that genetic errors in donor stem cells may be causing problems in cancer patients, but until now we didn't have a way to identify them because they are so rare," said senior author Todd E. Druley, MD, PhD, an associate professor of pediatrics. "This study raises concerns that even young, healthy donors' blood stem cells may have harmful mutations and provides strong evidence that we need to explore the potential effects of these mutations further." Added co-author Sima T. Bhatt, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics who treats pediatric patients with blood cancers at Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine: "Transplant physicians tend to seek younger donors because we assume this will lead to fewer complications. But we now see evidence that even young and healthy donors can have mutations that will have consequences for our patients. We need to understand what those consequences are if we are to find ways to modify them." The study analyzed bone marrow from 25 adult patients with AML whose samples had been stored in a repository at Washington University. Samples from their healthy matched donors, who were unrelated to the patients, also were sequenced. The donors' samples were provided by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research in Milwaukee. The 25 AML patients were chosen because they each had had samples banked at four separate times: before the transplant, at 30 days post-transplant, at 100 days post-transplant, and one year post-transplant. Druley co-invented a technique called error-corrected sequencing, to identify extremely rare DNA mutations that would be missed by conventional genome sequencing. Typical next-generation sequencing techniques can correctly identify a mutation that is present in one in 100 cells. The new method, which can distinguish between true mutations and mistakes introduced by the sequencing machine, allows the researchers to find true mutations that are extremely rare -- those present in as few as one in 10,000 cells. The healthy donors ranged in age from 20 to 58, with an average age of 26. The researchers sequenced 80 genes known to be associated with AML, and they identified at least one harmful genetic mutation in 11 of the 25 donors, or 44%. They further showed that 84% of all the various mutations identified in the donors' samples were potentially harmful, and that 100% of the harmful mutations present in the donors later were found in the recipients. These harmful mutations also persisted over time, and many increased in frequency. Such data suggest the harmful mutations from the donor confer a survival advantage to the cells that harbor them. "We didn't expect this many young, healthy donors to have these types of mutations," Druley said. "We also didn't expect 100% of the harmful mutations to be engrafted into the recipients. That was striking." According to the researchers, the study raises questions about the origins of some of the well-known side effects of stem cell transplantation. "We see a trend between mutations from the donor that persist over time and the development of chronic graft-versus-host disease," said first author Wing Hing Wong, a doctoral student in Druley's lab. "We plan to examine this more closely in a larger study." Though the study was not large enough to establish a causal link, the researchers found that 75% of the patients who received at least one harmful mutation in the 80 genes that persisted over time developed chronic graft-versus-host disease. Among patients who did not receive mutations in the 80 genes, about 50% developed the condition. Because the study was small, this difference was not statistically significant, but it is evidence that the association should be studied more closely. In general, about half of all patients who receive a stem cell transplant go on to develop some form of graft-versus-host disease. The most common mutation seen in the donors and the cancer patients studied is in a gene associated with heart disease. Healthy people with mutations in this gene are at higher risk of heart attack due to plaque buildup in the arteries. "We know that cardiac dysfunction is a major complication after a bone marrow transplant, but it's always been attributed to toxicity from radiation or chemotherapy," Druley said. "It's never been linked to mutations in the blood-forming cells. We can't make this claim definitively, but we have data to suggest we should study that in much more detail." Added Bhatt: "Now that we've also linked these mutations to graft-versus-host disease and cardiovascular problems, we have a larger study planned that we hope will answer some of the questions posed by this one." ### This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant number R01CA211711; the Hyundai Quantum Award; the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar Award; the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Foundation; and the Kellsie's Hope Foundation. The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research is supported by a Public Health Service Grant/Cooperative Agreement from the NCI, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), grant number 5U24CA076518; a Grant/Cooperative Agreement from NHLBI and NCI, grant number 1U24HL138660; a contract with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA/DHHS), number HHSH250201700006C; and the Office of Naval Research, grant numbers N00014-17-1-2388, N00014-17-1-2850 and N00014-18-1-2045. Support also was provided by a UKRI future leaders fellowship and by a CRUK Cambridge Centre Early Detection Programme group leader grant. The Washington University Office of Technology Management has filed a patent application for "Ultra-rare Variant Detection from Next-generation Sequencing," which has been licensed by Canopy Biosciences as RareSeq. Druley is a coinventor on this patent. Canopy Biosciences was not involved in the generation of the data presented. Wong WH, Bhatt S, Trinkaus K, Pusic I, Elliott K, Mahajan N, Wan F, Switzer GE, Confer DL, DiPersio J, Pulsipher MA, Shah NN, Sees J, Bystry A, Blundell JR, Shaw BE, Druley TE. Engraftment of rare, pathogenic donor hematopoietic mutations in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Science Translational Medicine. Jan. 15, 2020. Washington University School of Medicine's 1,500 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, ranking among the top 10 medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare. Russian citizen accused of murder of child in kindergarten found insane flickr.com/ Thomas Kohler 12:01 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) - A resident of Naryan-Mar, a city in Russias Nenets Autonomous Area, who stands charged with killing a 6-year boy in a local kindergarten, has been found insane, the Investigative Committees press service reports. According to the results of a psychiatric examination, the man suffers from a mental illness and was of unsound mind when committing the crime, the statement reads. Investigators claim that on October 31, the resident of Naryan-Mar in a drunken state entered the local kindergarten and stabbed a child of 6 years with a knife. The boy died on the scene. Initially, the man refused to give testimony, but later he pleaded guilty to the murder and told an investigator that he heard voices in his head. The defendant was put in detention. Moreover, law enforcement officers arrested a guard of the kindergarten, who allowed the alleged murderer to enter the pre-school institution without obstruction. The guard was charged with providing substandard services that negligently led to the death of a minor, according to investigators. Finance Minister Conor Murphy has said a proposed extra 1 billion in funding from Westminster for the Stormont Executive is "woefully inadequate". The Government said on Wednesday evening they will add an extra 1 billion in funding to the new Stormont Executive bringing tjeir total support to 2 billion. Mr Murphy said public services will now face a shortfall of at least 1 billion next year, making them "extremely difficult" to fund. Read More He accused the Government of acting in bad faith, saying they undertook to provide the additional funding needed to deliver "ambitious" commitments in the New Decade, New Approach deal. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Julian Smith said politicians' salaries had cost 15m while Stormont was out of action - and said "let's get on with it". "Lets remember MLAs have been off work 3 years at a cost of 15m+ in salaries.," he said on Twitter. "There will be a new deal for NI as it leaves the EU. There is also a UK budget in spring. 2bn is biggest ever NI talks settlement & it addresses a number of key issues." Finance minister Murphy said his officials were in the process of fully costing what was required but that the announcement had been made against the wishes of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. Mr Murphy said: "The financial package claims to provide 2bn. 1bn of this was already coming to the Executive." In a statement on Wednesday, the Government said they were providing the funding to end the nurses pay dispute, transform public services, turbocharge infrastructure investment and address NIs unique circumstances. They said it included a "rapid injection" of 550 million to Executive finances, including 200 million to resolve the nurses' pay dispute and deliver pay parity over the next two years, as well as 60 million for a medical school in Londonderry and 50 million for public transport. Mr Murphy said: "For the legacy institutions, the proposed package adds 100m to the 150m previously committed. This falls at least 50m short of the projected cost of 300-400m. "The parties are working together to deliver quality public services for our people. This act of bad faith makes our job much more difficult. "As Finance Minister I cannot and will not accept this and will be taking this up with the British Government." Julian Smith, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said: "New Decade, New Approach is about putting Northern Irelands Assembly on a sustainable footing. "This funding provides certainty to the Executive and ensures much-needed reforms across health, education and justice can be delivered." Earlier on Wednesday, Conor Murphy visited the Casement Park sports ground in West Belfast which is awaiting a long-delayed overhaul. Parts of Northern Ireland's infrastructure and wider public services have suffered during the three-year devolution hiatus. Final resolution of an unprecedented nurses strike which has paralysed parts of the health service was also earlier awaiting confirmation of new funding from the UK Government. The deal which sealed the return of the Northern Ireland Executive includes an intention to complete planned stadia programmes. The construction of a new stadium at Casement Park was badly delayed by safety concerns and objections from residents. A renewed business case came into Stormont's Communities Department in November. It is intended to be a centrepiece for Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) games in Northern Ireland. The project has an overspend of 33 million, a recent Audit Office report said. Building has still not started three years after the expected completion date. SDLP leader and MP Colum Eastwood said he will be raising the matter of the "totally deficient" financial package in Westminster. "The gulf between the ambition of the deal and the money on the table is substantial and will cause serious public finance difficulties for the Executive. This is not, and cannot be, the end of the matter. "I am, however, pleased to see earmarked and ring fenced allocations for the expansion of Magee and a new addiction centre for the North West. These were priorities that I raised with the Secretary of State on behalf of the people of Derry. I intend to see both critical projects delivered for our city. "I will be raising this matter at Westminster as a matter of urgency." (Newser) Five inmates have died in Mississippi's prisons since Dec. 29, and now two rappers are suing the state over the deaths. Specifically, Jay-Z and Yo Gotti filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of 29 of the state's inmates, who say correctional officials aren't doing enough to stop the prison violence that left the men dead. "Individuals held in Mississippi's prisons are dying because Mississippi has failed to fund its prisons, resulting in prisons where violence reigns because prisons are understaffed," the suit says, per ABC News. It was filed by a New York civil rights attorney, WMC Action News 5 reports. The suit alleges years of overcrowding have led to the current problems. "People are forced to live in squalor, with rats that crawl over them as they sleep on the floor, having been denied even a mattress for a cot," it says, per NBC News. story continues below Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Marshall Turner are named among the defendants. The suit says the deaths were "a direct result of Mississippis utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated and their constitutional rights," and that the plaintiffs' lives are in danger due to that same disregard. In addition to the weeks of prison riots that have left prisoners dead, the suit alleges problems including mildew, black mold, raw sewage, and other unsanitary conditions. Days ago, the rappers wrote an open letter to Mississippi's governor threatening to sue over "inhumane and unconstitutional" conditions in the state's prisons. The state department of corrections has not yet commented on the suit. (Read more Jay-Z stories.) The widow of the acclaimed Belfast-born actor, director, writer and artist Sam McCready has talked movingly of how her husband of almost 57 years was "an object lesson in how to die". Sam died at the age of 82 in his adopted home of Baltimore in America in February last year and Joan McCready recalled: "There never was a happier man. He accepted it and he said his goodbyes." Joan has returned to Belfast to help co-ordinate a series of tributes to Sam, who had been the Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1984, but divided his time between America and Northern Ireland, where he still managed to keep up a high profile in the arts world. "His head may have been in the States but Sam's heart was still in Northern Ireland," said Joan, who's an actress and director too and who was just three weeks away from celebrating the anniversary of her 1962 wedding when her husband died. The talented couple met as students at Stranmillis College in Belfast in 1960 and after their marriage they were rarely apart and had two sons - Richard, who's a music teacher in the US, and Julian, a prison chaplain cleric, who sadly died from a debilitating disease at the age of 47. The only significant time they weren't together was when Sam first went to the States to explore the possibility of starting a new life and career there. As for Sam's illness, he was first diagnosed with the lung disease pulmonary fibrosis nine years ago, but Joan said it never really impacted on his life until he and she noticed he was suffering from a shortness of breath. Joan explained: "We could see when he was doing his play about Irish songwriter and entertainer Percy French a wee while ago that the old energy wasn't quite there. "And when he performed his No Surrender play about the Belfast writer Robert Harbinson that I directed in 2018, I altered a lot of the movement to make sure he could sit down more throughout the production. "At the end of that summer things started to deteriorate and Sam was on oxygen." But just three weeks before he died Sam was still performing. "Along with our son Richard we delivered a piece about WB Yeats in a retirement community village in Charlestown, Baltimore, and it was very special," said Joan. Expand Close Joan McCready with Sam in 2006 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joan McCready with Sam in 2006 Sam was hospitalised for eight days but when he was discharged his doctor was candid about the prospects facing him. He told Sam that there was one more procedure he could try for him but he warned that it could make him even worse than he was. Stoically, Sam said no. And he prepared himself for the inevitable end of his richly colourful life. Joan said: "His friends and former students called with him and Sam talked about how privileged he had been in his life. His spirit was incredible right up to nearly the very last day. "Obviously he was too ill to come back to Northern Ireland to spend his final moments, but he was content to be at home in Baltimore. "A lot of our friends in Northern Ireland were on the phone to bid him farewell. There were a lot of tears." It won't come as a surprise to anyone who knew the irrepressible Sam that he helped to organise his own memorial service, which was held at a Lutheran church. "There was a lot of WB Yeats readings in the service, of course," said Joan. "And our son Richard, who's the church organist, had bought a Celtic lyre which he played during the memorial." Sam's last request was that Joan should read the Yeats poem Sailing To Byzantium and she did what he asked to the accompaniment of Richard, again on the Celtic lyre. Joan admitted that it was difficult for her to hold it all together as she started to read the poem and deliver her eulogy. "I had said all along that I wouldn't be speaking at the service but I felt I was doing it for Sam and I told myself to remember that I was an actress and that's how I got it done. "It was a beautiful, gorgeous service." After so long together Sam's death has obviously left a massive void in Joan's life, but she said she strives to keep going, adding: "I have my moments. Of course I miss him all the time. But I try to move forward and maintain the work that Sam would have wanted me to do. "He wouldn't have liked it if I was sitting around moping all the time. I'm trying to carry on his traditions and keep his legacy alive. And to that end I'm exploring ways of getting a series of short stories of his published. "He also gave some tremendous public lectures over the years and I think many of them are very important and should be published too." Joan said she had no plans to return to Northern Ireland to live on a full-time basis. "There were times when we were over here in Northern Ireland we wondered what the hell we were doing in America. But when we got back to our home over there we would think that we were fortunate to be living in such a glorious place. And obviously the weather stateside is another factor in me wanting to remain there." Right up to the end Sam managed to keep a foot in the artistic camps in America and here. Expand Close Sam McCready / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sam McCready And one of his biggest regrets was that he never got the chance to see a play which he had helped a budding new writer to develop. Sam's illness put paid to his plans to come back to direct Michael Cameron's play about Belfast singer Ruby Murray. However, he was still determined to attend the opening night. "Tell Belfast I'll be back," he told me in a Belfast Telegraph interview. But he died in the States just before the play - Ruby! - was due to open in Belfast at the Lyric Theatre. "Sam could never sever his artistic links with Northern Ireland or the Lyric in particular," said Joan. "The theatre was an integral part of his life from his late teens. And mine too. His devotion to Irish literature and poetry was limitless." The idea of a memorial service for Sam back home in Belfast was mooted by friends and family, but Joan decided a celebration of his life would be more appropriate. And she reckoned there would be nowhere better to hold it than the couple's beloved Lyric. "We spent many, many happy years at the Lyric right back to the time when Mary O'Malley set it up in her home in Derryvolgie Avenue," said Joan. The evening of tributes on February 10, the anniversary of Sam's death, is called 'The Seven Ages of Sam', which was what son Richard called his eulogy to his father at his funeral service in the States. Joan said: "It started off along the lines of the Seven Ages of Man speech from Shakespeare's As You Like It, and then Richard adapted it to reflect all the phases of Sam throughout his life." It was a life that could scarcely have been more varied with his time as a teacher, as an actor, as a writer, director and an artist. At Orangefield Boys School Sam was renowned for his work on theatrical productions, providing a launching pad for many young actors to go on to make their mark in the professional theatre and literary world. Poet Gerard Dawe, who was one of Sam's pupils in what Joan called the "Orangefield gang", will be among the 30 contributors to the night, which will include scenes from Sam's plays. Beirut hostage Brian Keenan, who was also persuaded by Sam to act in the Orangefield plays, will be at the Lyric too. "He wrote an absolutely incredible poem about Sam after his death," said Joan. "Brian will speak about Sam and I will read his poem." Joan will also read Sailing To Byzantium again with son Richard playing the Celtic lyre. There'll also be songs and dance during the tribute evening said Joan, who added: "It will be a totality, a fusion of all the art forms which were so important to Sam. I hope it will be an exciting celebration." Another string to Sam's artistic bow was his painting, and the ArtisAnn Gallery in east Belfast will be holding a retrospective exhibition of his work throughout February. It's also planned to stage two of Sam's favourite plays at the Lyric. Sam had written Percy French: Melodies Of Unforgotten Years and starred in it along with one of his former students Kyle Riley, with Joan in the director's chair. She's doing the honours again this time around, but actor Karl O'Neill is stepping into the role made famous by Sam. "It's strange to be directing the play without Sam on stage," said Joan. "But Karl is wonderful." The other play in the McCready celebration is Coole Lady about Lady Gregory and her relationship with the likes of Yeats and the one woman show features Joan herself. "Sam not only wrote it but he directed it too. This time I'm directing myself in the revival. I've done it enough times to know how Sam would want me to do it," she said. Since she returned to Northern Ireland last month to shape the series of events in honour of Sam, Joan has been touched by the messages she still receives from people who have been impacted by her husband's death. "It's very gratifying to know that he meant so much to so many people," said Joan, who has Sam's ashes at her US home. I will bring them over to Northern Ireland one day. He wants them to be buried here." A man was killed in an early morning crash on Detroits west side and another man was later arrested for fleeing the scene. The two-vehicle crash occurred about 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at West Warren Avenue and Evergreen Road, Click On Detroit reports. A 34-year-old man driving a blue or gray Nissan Altima was killed in the crash. The driver of a green Jeep Cherokee involved in the crash fled on foot into Dearborn Heights and was later taken into custody, Click On Detroit reports. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat along with Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday paid tribute at the War Memorial on the occasion of Army Day, 2020. Along with CDS and Army chief, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh also paid tribute here. On this occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also extended his greetings to the Indian Army personnel. "On Army Day today, I salute all valiant Indian Army personnel and recall with pride their indomitable spirit, valour and sacrifices in making India a safer place. #ArmyDay2020," Singh tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 3.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Hours after it came to light that President Trumps mob were stalking U.S. Ambassador Yovanovitch, she called for an investigation into whether she was surveilled. Her lawyer Lawrence Robbins tells NBCNews the notion her movements were being monitored is disturbing, Josh Lederman of NBC reported. BREAKING: Ambassador Yovanovitch calls for an investigation into whether she was surveilled. Her lawyer Lawrence Robbins tells @NBCNews the notion her movements were being monitored is "disturbing" pic.twitter.com/aZLISjtieB Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) January 15, 2020 According to a House letter sent to the Senate with accompanying evidence which is provided below, the Republican gang of Ukraine plotters had Ukrainian Ambassador Yovanovitch under surveillance: In March 2019, Mr. Parnas communicated by text message with Robert F. Hyde about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In response to some articles, tweets, and videos accusing the Ambassador of being disloyal to President Trump, Mr. Hyde wrote Wow. Cant believe Trumo [sic] hasnt fired this bitch. Ill get right in that. Mr. Hyde then sent a series of text messages suggesting that he had Ambassador Yovanovitch under physical surveillance in Kyiv and that They are willing to help if we/you would like a price. 20200114_-_hpsci_transmittal_letter_to_hjc_-_new_evidence_attachment as provided by the House and sent to PoliticusUSA, along with the 20200114_-_parnas_excerpts_translated_slide_deck translated. These notes are alarming enough to have set even DCs hair afire: I have read and re-read these and I know its customary in DC to be all nonplussed and chill and savvy and unimpressed but these notes are legitimately insane and damning and hard to fathom. https://t.co/BshneiqWga Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 15, 2020 But as former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah points out, this is terrifying but its doubtful the appropriate authorities will investigate this threat because Trumps Attorney General Bill Barr is corrupt: Heres the real & terrifying problem: I dont trust the appropriate authorities to do this. Because thats Bill Barr. https://t.co/H5W919FdEC Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) January 15, 2020 This is not actually a surprise. Trump behaving like a mobster is not a surprise or a change. It would be a shock if Trump didnt use the power of high paid attorneys to strong arm and threaten his opponents including an Ambassador working for the United States. And that says everything about this presidents patriotism, or lack thereof. The Trump mob boss game just got outed again. But Republicans will excuse this. Christian conservatives will excuse it. There is nothing that will cause Republicans to back away from this president, even as he turns America into his own little mob fiefdom, with a great assist from AG Bill Barr and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Mike Bloomberg's campaign team unleashed a bizarre tweet-storm on Tuesday night as they tried to draw attention away from the Democratic debate after he was left off the stage. Over the course of four hours, the billionaire's staff conducted polls on eagles, 'revealed' plans to sing his inaugural address with Lady Gaga, and photoshopped his face on to a meatball. The tweets were met with a mixture of bemusement and derision by social media users, who branded the 77-year-old 'out of touch' and 'embarrassing'. Mike Bloomberg's campaign attempted to draw attention away from the Democrat debate on Tuesday night after he was left off the stage by posting a series of bizarre tweets Over the course of four hours, the Mike2020 feed posted 43 tweets ranging from a poll on eagles to spurious 'facts' about the billionaire While the initial meatball tweet got several thousand likes, the others got only a few hundred each and dozens of retweets The night began uneventfully, with the Mike2020 feed tweeting: 'We promised to tweet stuff. We promised fun stuff. We promised the best stuff. Here we go.' 'Mikes not in tonights CCN Dem Debate,' his staff added, 'but, to get to know him better, here are some interesting facts about Mike.' That was followed by a few actual facts - his place of birth and alma mater - before a message that said: 'Test your political knowledge: SPOT THE MEATBALL THAT LOOKS LIKE MIKE.' Underneath was a stock image of a plate of meatballs with Bloomberg's face photoshopped over the top of one of them. The team then sent out a barrage of 43 tweets that included tidbits such as: 'Mikes house is designed to look exactly like the interior of the Millennium Falcon.' Another said: 'Mike has eaten clams casino for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the past 30 years.' Bloomberg, a billionaire with a successful media empire, was left off the stage in Iowa on Tuesday night because he is not competing there after a late entry into the race A third read: 'Podium order was determined by a corn dog eating contest at the Iowa State Fair.' Aside from the initial meatball tweet, which received almost 4,000 likes, the other tweets got just a few hundred likes each and a few dozen retweets. Bloomberg himself interjected a couple of times, tweeting 'should I be worried about this?' and 'I see everyone at campaign HQ is hard at work.' After dozens of tweets, Bloomberg - who owns a media empire - attempted to restore normalcy by himself tweeting a video of Trump's rally in Wisconsin, writing 'this is not a joke'. But the criticism kept coming, including from his supporters. In response to his tweet, California for Bloomberg wrote: 'Why did your team do this to you? You were rising in the polls and earning respect for your strategy. Then they put your face on a meatball. FIRE THEM.' The night started ordinarily enough, with the Twitter feed promising interesting facts about Bloomberg - before descending into the surreal On the stage in Iowa, which goes to the polls in a first-in-the-nation primary next month, candidates largely avoided headline-grabbing stunts in favor of a discussion about policy. The biggest moment of the night came after the microphones were turned off, when Elizabeth Warren went to speak with Bernie Sanders amid a rift between the two. Bernie went for a handshake but Warren rebuffed it, before what appeared to be an animated conversation between the two progressives. Tom Steyer, who was stood by watching, pleaded ignorance when asked what had been said - telling CNN 'I really wasn't listening.' After four hours of non-stop tweeting, Bloomberg responded from his personal feed and attempted to restore normalcy by writing that Trump 'is not a joke' The tweets were met with a mixture of bemusement and derision by users, including some Bloomberg supporters who urged him to fire his social media team 'They were talking about getting together or something. I really didn't listen,' he added. 'It was one of those awkward moments where I felt like, you know, I need to move on as fast as possible. You could see it was an awkward moment.' Senior Bernie adviser Jeff Weaver also pleaded ignorance when asked about what had happened. Fireworks had been expected between the two senators after an increasingly bitter feud erupted ahead of Tuesday night's debate. Instead, the pair calmly addressed the report - with Sanders denying it and Warren using it to attack the electoral record of the men on stage. Tuesday's debate was the last one before voters head to the polls. There are three more debates on the calendar ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Nevada primary and the South Carolina contest. Autumn Driscoll /Quinnipiac University Doug Schwartz of Easton, and director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, has been promoted to associate vice president. I am grateful for this recognition of my work and thrilled to continue directing the poll at such an important time in American political history, Schwartz said. As always, I am deeply proud to be a part of the Quinnipiac community, and I look forward to a future full of growth and innovation for both the poll and the university. Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul. Korea Times file Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul has pledged to take possible measures to improve relations with North Korea, rather than waiting for progress in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, according to civic group officials. The remark, made during a luncheon meeting with representatives of pro-unification civic and religious groups on Tuesday, is in line with President Moon Jae-in's vow to expand inter-Korean cooperation so as to help facilitate stalled nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang. "We will review various measures, such as cooperation with international organizations and individual tours, to put in active efforts in improving inter-Korean relations," Kim was quoted as saying by civic group officials. Kim also said the government will take a more "flexible" stance this year to make conditions for dialogue. Read more: Insurance Information Institute: Wildfires are creating difficult challenges for insurers Some of the reasons for the less intense wildfire season included a reprieve from wind. We did get a little bit of help with the wind. The wind, of course, fuels the fires, but we didnt have any windstorms that were sustained for long periods of time, said Stuart Ryland, regional senior vice president for Sedgwick Claims Management Services. Once the firefighters got a chance to battle the fires without the wind, they got a handle on them pretty quickly. He added that the size of the fires was still significant, but the fact that they occurred in less populated areas also helped keep losses lower, versus other years where wildfires impacted populous regions. A big part of the problem with the fires in Santa Rosa in 2017 was that they started in heavily populated areas and for the first two days or so, first responders were putting all their efforts into getting people out of the path of the fire to save lives, so the property destruction was substantial, said Ryland. However, he noted that 2019s lower losses happened, in part, thanks to sheer luck. The potential for several of these fires to get really big was there. The Kincade fire certainly the one that they evacuated all the people in Sonoma County for could have been a lot worse than it was. First responders and the grace of God helped us out on that, Ryland explained, pointing to some significant landmarks that made it out of the fires alive...barely. In Southern California, the firefighters did a great job of protecting the Reagan Library that would have been a huge, huge loss, both financially and from an emotional standpoint, since thats a landmark in Southern California. The Getty fire was burning right next to the Getty Museum. Its probably the most prominent museum on the west coast of the United States it houses a lot of really nice artwork and its an icon. Between the Reagan Library, the Getty, and the magnitude of the Kincade fire, we really had the potential for bad results from these fires and none of them came together. For other insurance professionals, the wildfires in California hit a little too close to home. My home luckily is not considered in a high hazard wildfire zone, but Ive driven by lots of fires in the last three years on my way to work, said Reiner Braun (pictured above), senior managing director of the national property practice for Beecher Carlson (a Brown & Brown company). An entire vineyard burned to the ground a very, very complex claim and that happened just a couple of miles away from where I work. When it comes to the insurance industry and modeling companies, Braun says that the risk of wildfires and how fast they can spread has been completely underestimated. Its the climate, its the dry environment, and these winds that just spread the fire rapidly, and that has not been anticipated, he explained. Previously, wildfires were not even talked about. Wildfires were considered a secondary peril in insurance. While flood, windstorm, and earthquake coverage were top of mind on the west coast, severe wildfire losses were not thought to be an issue. As a result, said Braun, We have seen insurers that would give you hundreds of millions in coverage and limits, and we have seen those collapse down to a mere few million dollars, so where it would take one insurer giving you, for example, $600-$700 million in limit, they would now write maybe $25 million. Read more: Are we entering a hard market due to increasing cost of natural disasters? The reason why capacity has been so constricted is because of the lack of reinsurance that these insurers are getting for this peril, according to Braun. The reinsurance market really has been hit the hardest, and I would even say go one step further its the retrocession market, so the reinsurers of the reinsurers that have held the brunt of these losses, these mega-losses, because they were so large that they blew through some of the treaties that these insurers had purchased, he said. People had underestimated what damage a single fire can do, so there is definitely a crisis. In fact, in December, Californias insurance commissioner issued a bulletin asking insurers not to non-renew homeowners that are in fire zones because of the wildfire insurance crisis. Notably, this was the first-ever state-wide non-renewal moratorium, and signalled a growing crisis for many homeowners. [Insurers] are very limited in increasing rates. Rates are very regulated and very political, so if they cannot raise the rates to levels that they deem appropriate, then they basically want to write less insurance to reduce their losses, said Braun. When these customers that now dont have insurance want to find insurance, they go to the excess and surplus lines market, like Lloyds of London, and when that happens, then the rates are set freely and the rates are skyrocketing into the thousands of dollars for homeowners. If that option doesnt work, then insureds can turn to the FAIR Plan, known as the insurer of last resort, which gives them very limited coverage, but that option is likewise disappearing. At the end of 2019, The Sacramento Bee reported that the FAIR Plan sued its regulator, seeking to block an order requiring the insurer to broaden its coverage after thousands of rural Californians lost their homeowners insurance thanks to wildfire risks. The bottom line? There is insurance available, but its just not economical for many people, said Braun. And its not sufficient. Delhi's Tis Hazari court on January 15 granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad but said that Azad should not be in the national capital for the next four weeks. According to Live Law, Judge Kamini Lau said that she is concerned about security, "particularly in view of impeding Delhi elections." "I want no interference in elections," Lau said, according to Live Law. She added, however, that whenever Azad needs to be in Delhi for treatment, he has to convey the same to the police. On January 14, the court had slammed the Delhi Police saying, "You are behaving as if Jama Masjid is Pakistan." Lau had further told the public prosecutor, Even if it was Pakistan, you can go there and protest. Pakistan was a part of undivided India. The Judge had adjourned the matter till 2.00 pm on January 15 and had directed the police to produce all relevant materials to justify extended Azads custody. Azad had moved the court seeking bail in connection with violence during a protest the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in New Delhis Daryaganj area, claiming that police invoked "boilerplate" charges against him and arrested him "mechanically" without following the due process of law. The Bhim Army chief, currently in judicial custody, claimed he has been falsely implicated as the allegations levelled against him in the FIR were not only "ill founded", also "improbable". Azad's outfit had called for a protest march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the amended Citizenship Act on December 20. The other 15 people arrested in the case were granted bail by the court on January 9. The court had earlier pulled up Tihar jail authorities for acting in a "callous manner" by flouting laws that safeguard a prisoner's right and asked them to ensure that Azad was treated for polycythemia, a disorder of blood thickness, and taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. It had said that despite knowing Azad's condition, he was given ordinary medical care and not the treatment needed to address his ailment. Housebuilder Persimmon has reported a fall in revenues for 2019 after being beset by scandals over poor housing quality. The York-based company completed about 600 fewer homes last year, with housing revenues falling by 3.5 per cent to 3.42billion, as controversy wracked the firm. A review by Stephanie Barwise QC last month found that a poor culture at Persimmon led them to prioritise the quantity of homes they built rather than the quality. A key manifestation of this was the improper installation or even missing cavity barriers, which posed a fire risk to newly-built homes. Vistry is a lot smaller than Persimmon, being only the eighth-largest seller of houses last year, compared to Persimmon which completed 16,449 Persimmon wrote that the revenue decline 'reflects the action being taken to ensure the Group delivers improved levels of quality and service to its customers.' Its new-build homes only sold for an average 137 more than they did last year, at a price of 215,700, with the firm's Westbury Partnerships division comprising a greater share of its sales. Group chief executive Dave Jenkinson commented: 'While our plans for delivering a sustained improvement in quality go far beyond a focus on the criteria of the HBF customer satisfaction survey, our current rating, which is trending strongly ahead of the Four Star threshold, is tangible evidence of the improvement we are making.' In a contrasting trading update, Persimmon's rival Vistry Group, which recently changed its name from Bovis Homes, says it expects to report record profits this year. The Kent-headquartered firm believe pre-tax profits will rise above market expectations of 181.6million for the year, compared to 168.1million last year. The company recently changed its name after completing the acquisition of Galliford Try PLC businesses, including Linden Homes for 1.14billion. Vistry completed 3,867 homes - up 108 on the year before - in the 12 months to December 31, with the average selling price rising from 273,200 to 279,000. The average selling price of private houses rose to 341,000 from 337,400. Persimmon wrote that the revenue decline 'reflects the action being taken to ensure the Group delivers improved levels of quality and service to its customers' It added that uncertainty arising from the general election and Brexit impacted on sales, with the cost of new homes decreasing between 1 and 2 per cent in the last six months of the year. Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said: 'The group has made further operational progress over the past 12 months and for 2019 expects to deliver another year of record profit. 'Building high-quality new homes for our customers has been, and remains our priority, and I am confident we will finish the year as a (Home Builders Federation) five-star house-builder. 'We completed the transformational acquisition of Linden Homes and the renamed Vistry Partnerships at the start of this year; integration is well under way, and we are fully focused on delivering the clear and significant benefits from this exciting combination as quickly as possible.' Vistry is a lot smaller than Persimmon, being only the eighth-largest seller of houses last year, compared to Persimmon which completed 16,449. Sophie Lund-Yates, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown says the new commitment to improve housing quality should enhance Persimmon's long-term prospects, but warned that much of the company's success is reliant on 'factors it doesn't control.' Former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn revealed yesterday that he had set up a charitable trust in 2018, but would not reveal how much of his 82million bonus he donated to the charity She wrote: 'Things like mortgage affordability, record employment and Help to Buy all support housing demand - 52 per cent of private sales were to first time buyers in the first half of the year. 'But Help to Buy is due to end in 2023. And with such a large chunk of sales relying on government help, investors will want to know how Persimmon plans to bridge any gap in sales rates. 'And, while the recent election has provided more certainty over the UK's future direction, any future economic shock could quickly dismantle profits in the sector.' Persimmon has faced further public outcry in the last few years over the high executive pay packet of former boss Jeff Fairburn. Mr Fairburn revealed yesterday that he had set up a charitable trust in 2018, but would not reveal how much of his 82million bonus he donated to the charity. He has now joined West Yorkshire housebuilder BerkeleyDeVeer as its chief executive after he purchased a 50 per cent share of the company. Shares in Persimmon rose 27p or 0.97 per cent to 2,823 while Vistry Group dropped 16p to 1,326. In poor countries, there are often failures in support systems intended to ensure the availability of oxygen, blood transfusions and postoperative antibiotics, and sometimes even just clean operating rooms. When checklists are strictly adhered to, missing even one of those elements can prevent the operation from beginning. Instead, some hospitals just avoid the checklist. There is enormous room for improvement, the study found. For example, up to 95 percent of Africas population does not have access to safe and affordable surgery, and African patients are twice as likely to die after an operation, compared with the global average, said Dr. Bruce M. Biccard, an anesthesiologist at the University of Cape Town and a leader of the African Surgical Outcomes Study, which produced some of the data used in the new report. In countries where doctors and nurses do not speak one of the six official languages of the United Nations Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish a checklist is less likely to be used. Also, cultural barriers have hindered its adoption. The checklist includes requirements that doctors and nurses introduce themselves and confirm that all have the same understanding of how the operation will ideally proceed. But teamwork can be difficult to introduce, both in traditional cultures based on hierarchy and obedience and in intensely competitive environments like those in American medical schools. Even hospitals that faithfully used a checklist often adapted it to local circumstances, the report found. Some translated it into Tagalog and Amharic, for example. A West African surgical team added a requirement that the hospitals generator be working. A Guatemalan team added pain-control medication to the list of requirements. Michigan State Sen. Peter Lucido says his comments were taken out of context. LANSING, Mich. A state senator is under fire Wednesday after telling a female reporter she should stick around at the Capitol because a group of high school students from an all-boys school touring the building could have a lot of fun with her. Michigan State Sen. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, made the comments outside the Senate chamber Tuesday to a reporter from the Michigan Advance while surrounded by a group of male high school students from De La Salle Collegiate, an all-boys Catholic school. "Youve heard of De La Salle, right? the Michigan Advance quoted Lucido as asking reporter Allison Donahue. When Donahue said she had not, Lucido said: Its an all-boys school, adding: You should hang around! You could have a lot of fun with these boys, or they could have a lot of fun with you. The students then burst into laughter, the online publication reported. Reached Wednesday morning, Lucido did not dispute the quotes but said they were being taken out of context and out of proportion. He said he did not believe he owed the reporter an apology. Lucido said he was "not talking about anything sexual" but was "geeked up about the boys coming there," and "I was there to have some fun." "It was blown out of proportion." he said. Video: Reporter Gretchen Carlson on #MeToo Movement Lawmakers ask why: 'DEPORTM' vanity license plate was approved in Utah 'The personification of toxic masculinity' But Lucido, who has expressed interest in running for governor, is facing sharp criticism. On social media, Lansing political observers said there is no context in which his comments were appropriate. "I am unfortunately not surprised by this," Kara Cook, an environmental and energy adviser to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said on Twitter. "I was 23 when I started working in politics in Lansing and the number of inappropriate comments or actions that Ive personally experienced is hard to comprehend. This needs to stop." Story continues I am unfortunately not surprised by this. I was 23 when I started working in politics in Lansing and the number of inappropriate comments or actions that Ive personally experienced is hard to comprehend. This needs to stop. https://t.co/V2lN8ofX0b Kara Cook (@kdaniellecook) January 15, 2020 Lonnie Scott, executive director of the liberal group Progress Michigan, said Lucido was "the personification of toxic masculinity and a disgrace to our state." "Wed call on Lucido to apologize, but we know that for men like him those apologies are often hollow and do nothing to change the culture of objectifying women," Scott said. The reporter wanted to question Lucido about him posting messages on an anti-Whitmer Facebook group where some members had posted messages advocating violence against Democrats and Muslims. Lucido said he shared posts about Whitmer budget vetoes but was not aware of the racist posts, or ones advocating violence. "I don't read all of these sites," he said Wednesday. Thank you all for the support. I promise I will collect my thoughts soon, but I will say this: I didnt want to stand up for myself after that. Its awkward and in rare cases is it ever taken well and the comments apologized for. But Ive stayed silent before. Allison R. Donahue (@donahual) January 15, 2020 Follow reporter Paul Egan on Twitter @paulegan4. Trump impeachment focus to shift to Senate: House prepares to send articles January Democratic debate: Who were the winners and losers? This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Peter Lucido: Michigan senator blasted for remark to female reporter MIAMI, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Commercial Jet is pleased to welcome onboard R. Rick Townsend as Vice President Sales & Marketing. Townsend brings to Commercial Jet over 35 years of MRO industry experience encompassing senior level sales, business development, marketing, and customer support roles. Townsend has also played important roles in helping to build a couple of MRO facilities (FFV / Ascent) from the ground up in addition to senior roles at mature MRO enterprises including Avianor, Lufthansa Technik and AAR Aircraft Services. At Commercial Jet, Townsend will be responsible for leading all sales and business development efforts for the companys broad portfolio of maintenance, modification and refurbishment services for Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier CRJ aircraft. We are excited to have Rick join the Commercial Jet team, David Sandri, President of Commercial Jet stated. Rick brings a wealth of experience in the industry and his expansive knowledge will help Commercial Jet meet the unique needs of our customers as we enter this new decade of growth. Townsend holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration as well as a FAA Commercial Pilots license with instrument / multi-engine ratings and has held a FAA Repairmans Certificate. About Commercial Jet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quietly filled a long-vacant role of secretary to the Queen in mid-November - prompting speculation he was perhaps aware of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's move to the country months before their explosive announcement last week. According to the National Post, Justin Trudeau appointed a long-standing federal civil servant, Donald Booth, to the role at the end of last year. The secretary acts as the primary link between the federal cabinet and the Crown, but the role had been left vacant for three years. The recent appointment came two months before Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, announced they'd be stepping back as senior royals and splitting their time between Canada and the UK. Meghan and Mr Trudeau are believed to have been friendly since meeting in 2016 through their commitment to the One Young World summit. In October 2019 the Duchess of Sussex shared a throwback photo of Mr Trudeau hours after he was re-elected as Prime Minister of Canada. Meghan is also thought to have befriended Mr Trudeau's wife Sophie - a mutual friend of stylist Jessica Mulroney - while living in Toronto filming Suits. Yesterday, the Canadian PM said there is still 'much to discuss' over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's move to North America. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quietly filled a long-vacant role for private secretary to the Queen, 93, in November, months before Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, announced their plans to split their time before North America and the UK Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the appointment. Kevin MacLeod was appointed full time secretary to the Queen in 2009, putting him in charge of coordinating royal tours of Canada and chairing the Diamond Jubilee Committee, amongst other things. He was responsible for the visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Cornwall in November 2009, and was responsible for coordinating the Queen's visit to Canada in 2010. Kevin went on to retire in 2017, leaving the role of Canadian secretary to the Queen empty. The role had existed since 1959, with Kevin reporting directly to the prime minister about matters to do with the monarchy. The Duchess of Sussex has known Mr Trudeau for four years, and is also believed to be friendly with his wife Sophie (pictured, with the Canadian Prime Minister in 2016) It is the principal channel of communication between the monarch and the Canadian government, as well as managing Her Majesty's other correspondence in Canada and drafting speeches the Queen delivers in the country or on Canadian topics. The secretary is also responsible for advising the prime minister on matters related to the Crown in Canada, including providing advice on royal tours. Donald told the NationalPost in December that his role involves 'supporting the prime minister in his unique relationship with the Queen and the palaces, and to serve as a single point of contact with the palaces to ensure that things run efficiently'. The role of private secretary to the Queen had been vacant since Justin Trudeau was first elected in 2015 Harry and Meghan enjoyed much of their recent six-week break from royal duties in Canada, spending Christmas in a lavish resort on Vancouver Island. In October, Meghan shared a snap showed her chatting to Mr Trudeau at the One Young World summit in Ottowa in 2016 - with her post coinciding with his re-election as PM. At the time, some speculated that it could be seen as a subtle congratulatory nod to Mr Trudeau, whom Meghan and Harry have met on several occasions. The move to fill the role in Canadian government was reportedly taken quietly in mid-November (pictured, the Queen with Mr Trudeau in November 2015) Today, Mr Trudeau said there are discussions going on about the Sussexes' move. 'We're not entirely sure what the final decisions will be, what the dispositions are and those are decisions for them,' he said. He added that the federal Canadian government had not been involved 'up until this point' about what the couple's move to the country will involve. 'There are still a lot of decisions to be taken by the Royal Family, by the Sussexes themselves, as to what level of engagement they choose to have,' Mr Trudeau concluded. Mr Trudeau, who has known Meghan since 2016, said he is 'supportive of the couple's reflections' in a statement today (pictured together in 2016) 'We are obviously supportive of their reflections but have responsibilities in that as well. 'I think most Canadians are very supportive of having royals be here, but how that looks and what kind of costs are involved, there are still lots of discussions to have.' The Sussexes enjoyed a 'general feeling of appreciation' in Canada, he added. Earlier today the Duchess of Sussex denied she was barred from 'dialing in' to the landmark Sandringham summit from Canada as senior royals discussed her stepping down from the Royal Family with Prince Harry. Palace sources said: 'In the end, the Sussexes decided that it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join.' It comes as the Sussex team continues to negotiate an abdication deal on money, titles and establishing their international commercial brand. Meanwhile it was also revealed that the Queen allowed Harry and Meghan to quit as senior Royals following a private heart-to-heart with her grandson at yesterday's crisis summit. After a family meeting at Sandringham, Her Majesty released a historic and emotionally-charged statement regretting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's decision to split their time between Canada and the UK as they wind down their royal duties. During Tuesday nights debate in Iowa, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren repeated her call to get our combat troops out of the Middle East: You know, we have to stop this mindset that we can do everything with combat troops. Our military is the finest military on Earth and they will take any sacrifice we ask them to take. But we should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. Our keeping combat troops there is not helping. We need to work with our allies. We need to use our economic tools. We need to use our diplomatic tools. Advertisement Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, consistently used the phrase combat troops, in her responsea common distinction, but in this case a significant one. During the Oct. 16 debate, Warren raised some eyebrows by saying I dont think we should have troops in the Middle East, but her campaign quickly clarified that she was referencing combat troops, not those stationed in the Middle East in non-combat roles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are roughly 200,000 U.S. troops deployed abroad, and the overwhelming majority of them dont fire their weapons on a daily basis. But thats not to say theyre not in harms way or that their presence isnt seen as a display of U.S. military might. Advertisement After 18 years of continuous war, its reasonable to wonder what exactly Warren means by combat troops. The combat qualifier is used to doing a lot of rhetorical work. George W. Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq have ended in his infamous Mission Accomplished speech in 2003. Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014. During the U.S. operation against ISIS, which began in 2014, the Pentagon continued to maintain that the U.S. was not in an active combat mission even as U.S. Special Forces launched raids against the group and took casualties. The difference between combat and non-combat troops is more political than military. As Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq once put it, as we moved away from combat operations, the enemy has not. Even troops who are primarily engaged in training and assisting local forces can be targets for enemy firelike those at two bases in Iraq did earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Obama administration also did appear not consider special operations raids in Afghanistan to be combat operations. Does Warren? Does the Navys 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, count as combat troops? What about drone operators? What about the troops recently deployed to the region by the Trump administration as a show of force against Iran? Theyre not actively engaged in combat, but theyre certainly prepared for it. Warren did not respond to Slates requests for clarification. But she was pressed for details during her recent interview with the New York Times editorial board: Advertisement Advertisement Did you mean nowhere in the Middle East? Do you think for example, who should control the Persian Gulf, freedom of navigation, should we close down the air base in Qatar? I think we need to get our combat troops out. I dont think that combat is advancing the interests of the United States in the Middle East, and its time to end combat operations. Of course, well have a continuing presence in the Middle East. We have interests in the Middle East with our allies. We have interests in the Middle East and keeping shipping lanes open, and we will continue to have a presence there, but I dont think combat troops are how we best advance that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its still not clear, however, which troops are considered combat in Warrens formulation, or how many troops could still be kept in non-combat roles, even in active combat areas like Iraq and Afghanistan. In fairness to Warren, she wasnt the only one on the stage using this distinction. The candidate supposedly arguing against her was doing the same thing. When asked Is Sen. Warren right? by Wolf Blitzer, former Vice President Joe Biden replied, Theres a difference between combat troops and leaving special forces in a position, arguing that military operations would have to continue to defeat ISIS. Pete Buttigieg has also pledged to remove ground troops from Afghanistan, which could leave him flexibility to maintain some level of U.S. military presence there. Warrens commitment to reducing U.S. troop levels overseas is seen as far more dramatic than these candidatesand that seems reasonable given how she discusses the issue. She, But the combat distinction allows her to get across her overall message that the U.S. relies too heavily on military force rather than diplomacy, while leaving some wiggle room on the specifics. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 01:48:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The security situation in Mali and the wider Sahel region is deteriorating at an alarming rate, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, on Wednesday. Last week, 18 UN peacekeepers in Mali were injured in an attack on their camp. On Thursday, 89 Nigerien soldiers were killed during an attack against their base close to the Malian border. On Jan. 4, 14 children lost their lives in northern Burkina Faso on the border with Mali in an attack against a bus, Lacroix noted in a briefing to the Security Council. Terrorist groups are proliferating in the Menaka and Gao regions in Mali. There has been an increase in attacks using improvised explosive devices against UN convoys, which have caused a number of injuries to peacekeepers, he said. These incidents are happening on an almost daily basis, or at least very regularly, and protection measures taken by the peacekeeping force in Mali have allowed the number of deaths to be limited, he said. "Of course, that remains a long way to go in this area (of protection)." Terrorism continues to feed into intercommunal violence in the center of Mali. There are now more displaced persons suffering from hunger in the Mopti region than there were in the past, said Lacroix. Canadians hunting for an apartment are feeling the squeeze as rental availability dropped for the third straight year to reach a 17-year low, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said Wednesday. The tightening market is pushing rental rates higher as the economy remains strong, high home prices keep more people renting, and rising immigration helped Canada hit record population growth last year. The national vacancy rate for purpose built apartments was 2.2 per cent, down from 2.4 per cent in 2018, compared with an average of three per cent for the ten years prior. The vacancy rate for condo rentals was even tighter at one per cent, down from 1.4 per cent a year earlier. The squeeze helped push up average rents by 3.9 per cent for a two-bedroom rental apartment, the fastest pace of same-sample rent growth since 2001. Low vacancy rates in major centres underscore the need for increased rental supply to ensure access to affordable housing, CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said in a statement. The Greater Toronto Area has seen an increase in purpose-built rentals coming onto the market, even as developers still favour condo buildings. New rental housing coming onto the market helped ease the regions vacancy rate to 1.5 per cent from 1.2 per cent a year earlier. It is encouraging to see more rental starts in the market. However, demand for rental still significantly outweighs the available supply, said Dana Senagama, principal market analyst in the GTA report. The still-low vacancy rate helped push up the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment by 6.1 per cent to $1,562, while a two-bedroom condo rental averaged $2,476. Metro Vancouvers vacancy rate held steady at 1.1 per cent, helping push up rental rates for a two-bedroom apartment by 4.9 per cent to $1,748, the highest of major markets. Condo rentals for a two-bedroom averaged $2,045 in the area. CMHC said that despite record construction of new units in the area, strong demand for rental accommodation resulted in continued low vacancy rates and higher rents across Metro Vancouver. Montreals vacancy rate declined to 1.5 per cent from 1.9 per cent a year earlier to reach the lowest rate in 15 years. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $855. Prairie cities saw much higher vacancies for dedicated rentals, including Regina at 7.8 per cent, Calgary at 3.9 per cent, and Winnipeg at 3.1 per cent. While Calgarys vacancy rate was unchanged, it saw an overall average price increase of 1.7 per cent, with two-bedroom apartments going for an average of $1,305. CMHC conducted the annual rental apartment survey for urban areas over 10,000 in October, while secondary rental condo market numbers for 17 markets were gathered in September. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L), in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 31, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) US, China Set to Sign Massive Purchases Deal, Easing Trade War WASHINGTONThe U.S.-China trade war is set to enter a new phase on Jan. 15 as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign an initial trade deal that aims to vastly increase Chinese purchases of U.S. manufactured products, agricultural goods, energy and services. The Phase 1 agreement caps 18 months of tariff conflict between the worlds two largest economies that has hit hundreds of billions of dollars in goods. Trump and Liu are scheduled to sign the 86-page document, at a White House event before over 200 invited guests from business, government and diplomatic circles. A translation of the text to Chinese was still being completed late on Tuesday afternoon, as Liu met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Trump has already begun touting the trade deal as a centerpiece of his 2020 re-election campaign, calling it a big beautiful monster at a rally in Toledo, Ohio last week. Our farmers will take it in. I keep saying, Go buy larger tractors, go buy larger tractors,' Trump said. The centerpiece of the deal is a pledge by China to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over two years to cut a bilateral U.S. trade deficit that peaked at $420 billion in 2018. A source briefed on the agreement told Reuters that China will purchase an additional $80 billion worth of U.S. manufactured goods over the two year period, including aircraft, autos and car parts, agricultural machinery and medical devices. Beijing will boost energy purchases by some $50 billion and services by $35 billion, while agricultural purchases will get a $32 billion lift over the two years, all compared to a 2017 baseline of U.S. exports to China, the source said. When combined with the $24 billion in 2017 farm exports, the $16 billion annual increase approaches Trumps goal of $40 billion to $50 billion in annual agricultural sales to China. The deal could be a big boost to American farmers, planemaker Boeing, U.S. automakers and heavy equipment manufacturers. U.S. President Donald Trump, surrounded by business leaders and administration officials, prepares to sign a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech goods from China, at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 22, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Tariffs to Stay The Phase 1 deal, reached in December, canceled planned U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made cell phones, toys and laptop computers and halved the tariff rate to 7.5 percent on about $120 billion worth of other Chinese goods, including flat panel televisions, Bluetooth headphones and footwear. But it will leave in place 25 percent tariffs on a vast, $250 billion array of Chinese industrial goods and components used by U.S. manufacturers. Lighthizer and Mnuchin moved to stamp out suggestions that the United States and China may review possible removal of more tariffs after the November U.S. election, issuing a joint statement that there were no written or oral agreements for future tariff reductions. Mnuchin later told reporters that Trump could consider easing tariffs if the worlds two largest economies move quickly to seal a Phase 2 follow-up agreement. Core Issues Untouched The deal includes pledges by China to forbid the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese firms as well as to increase protections for U.S. intellectual property. But it stops well short of addressing the core U.S. complaints about Chinas trade and intellectual property practices that prompted the Trump administration to pressure Beijing for changes in early 2017. The deal contains no provisions to rein in rampant subsidies for state-owned enterprises, which the administration blames for excess capacity in steel and aluminum and says threaten industries from aircraft to semiconductors. It also fails to address digital trade restrictions and Chinas onerous cybersecurity regulations that have hobbled U.S. technology firms in China. Mnuchin and Lighthizer said these issues are key U.S. priorities for Phase 2 negotiations with China. Financial Services, Currency, Enforcement China has agreed in the Phase 1 deal to open its financial services sector more widely to U.S. firms, and to refrain from deliberately pushing down its currency to gain a trade advantage, the latter prompting Treasury to drop its currency manipulator label on Beijing. While China has made such pledges in the past, a key difference that the Trump administration is touting is an enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance and resolve disputes. But the enforcement relies on reimposition of tariffs if disputes cannot be resolved, returning the two countries to the current status quo. By David Lawder Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:00:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian officials agreed to continue negotiations on Wednesday in Washington on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Atti "attended a meeting held by U.S. President Donald Trump with ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan," the statement said. Shoukry underlined Egypt's appreciation for the efforts exerted by Trump and U.S. treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in this vital file. On Tuesday, Egyptian, Ethiopian and Sudanese ministers for foreign affairs and water resumed talks on regulations that should be adopted to fill and operate the dam. Four rounds of talks on the GERD were held with mediation of the U.S. and the World Bank to break the deadlock in the negotiations. Egypt announced on Jan. 9 that the three countries failed to reach a consensus in their recent talks regarding the filling and operation of Ethiopia's new dam on their shared Nile River. Egypt seeks a minimum annual flow of 40 billion cubic meters of water from the Blue Nile branch to its lands, while Ethiopia wants to allow an annual passage of 35 billion cubic meters only during the period of filling the dam and the time of drought. Ethiopia started constructing the GERD in 2011 on the Blue Nile in the northern Ethiopia highlands, from where most of the Nile's waters flow. The GERD is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity and become Africa's largest hydropower dam upon completion. [January 15, 2020] ASSA ABLOY Asia Pacific launches ambitious franchise program for Yale Smart Shop SINGAPORE, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ASSA ABLOY, a world leader in access solutions, has launched its franchise program for Yale Smart Shop with a new store in Tiong Bahru, Singapore on 6 January. The announcement follows the first anniversary of the highly successful pilot store in Toa Payoh, Singapore -- the first Yale Smart Shop in the region. Operated by the first appointed franchisee, the new store signals the start of ASSA ABLOY's ambitious plan to grow ecommerce sales on Yalesmart.com via a significant regional franchise network. Adding to the eight Yale Smart Shops across five countries already operational in Asia Pacific, ASSA ABLOY is planning a further 100 stores in 2020 added to an additional 400 stores by the end of 2021. The franchise program was designed to optimize scalability, a core consideration since the launch of the pilot store. The in-store retail concept includes modular display cases which are geared for rapid deployment in new stores. The ecommerce platform fully supports a scalable yet sustainable business model to translate offline experiences into online purchases. "We look forward to giving each one of our franchisees the best possible start by sharing our substantial direct-to-customer retail experience and insights gathered from the pilot stor, including maximizing in-store product interactions and consultative selling," said Patrick Ng, general manager at ASSA ABLOY Singapore. To ensure a consistent brand experience and smooth launch and operations at new locations, all franchisees will receive a Yale Smart Shop playbook, a store operator starter kit, and comprehensive training at the pilot store in Singapore. "During the first few months, franchisees will receive all the support they need to build awareness in their neighbourhood and local area," added Ng. "We are very encouraged by the record-breaking results recorded at the pilot store in Singapore and look forward to significantly growing the Yale brand and ecommerce sales across the Asia Pacific region over the next two years," concluded Ng. About Yale Yale protects millions of homes and businesses worldwide and is the brand behind locks of every design and function in over 125 countries. Yale products have been helping people to secure their favorite belongings since 1840. As one of the oldest international brands, Yale is among the best-known and most respected names in the lock industry and was recently named a 2019 Brand Leader in Smart Door Locks/Deadbolt Locks by CE Pro. Yale is part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, the global leader in access solutions. For more information, visit www.yalehome.com. About ASSA ABLOY The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. The Group operates worldwide with 48,500 employees and sales of 8.2 billion euros. The Group has leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY's innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world. For more information, visit www.assaabloy.com. SOURCE ASSA ABLOY Asia Pacific [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Abdul Kerimkhanov Armenian economist Tatul Manaseryan has said that post-revolutionary Armenian authorities are involved in corrupt practices. "Of deep concern is the fact that in the activities of the current [Armenian] authorities there are corruption practices, which are especially pronounced when inexperienced people are arbitrarily appointed to senior positions without holding competitions... As a result, the leaders of many areas do not even have a clue about their sphere [of activity]," Manaseryan said in an interview with Armenian media. Manaseryan said that the roadmap for implementing the main directions of the Armenian governments economic program was not yet available. Outlining his vision of the situation, he expressed regret that there are practically no bright personalities in the Armenian government who would have the ability to hear and adequately respond to certain points of views. "We do not have time to wait for these people to gain knowledge and experience. But the main thing is that these appointments are presented to us under the guise of combating corruption. Although in fact, such a mechanism can be assessed as a new form of corruption. This is not my personal opinion. This assessment is also given by international anti-corruption structures, in particular, Transparency International," he stated. He believes that while the solvency of most of the Armenian population shows a steady decline, it is impossible to talk about the "economic revolution". "The reason for the decrease in the populations solvency is that people's incomes are not growing, with the exception of government officials and parliamentarians who receive generous bonuses and high salaries. But for ordinary people, incomes remained unchanged. Therefore, people had to apply for loans to banks and credit organizations to solve their everyday problems, which entailed a significant increase in retail lending, the economist explained. Noting the statistical data, Manaseryan said that the rate of return on loans has decreased. "That is, people began to borrow more, and they are able to repay much less. This is already a big problem," he claimed. The economist believes that introducing a flat income taxation scale is one of the miscalculated steps the Armenian government has taken. "While a poverty level in the country is at a fairly high level, the new mechanism will lead to even greater social polarization of society," Manaseryan emphasized. Thus, contrary to the promises of the new Armenia government, instead of increasing the welfare of the country's citizens, the standard of living of the Armenian population continues to slide down. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 12:47:46|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close KUNMING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ruili Port in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the largest land port on the China-Myanmar border, saw a solid rise in imports and exports in 2019, local customs authorities said Wednesday. The port registered 11.64 billion U.S. dollars of foreign trade last year, up 14.5 percent year on year, and its annual cargo throughput reached 17.46 million tonnes, an increase of 24.3 percent from 2018, according to the Kunming customs. Imports from Myanmar via the port mainly included agricultural products, crude oil and natural gas, while flowers, mechanical and electronic products were among the major exports. Official data showed the port cleared 16.72 million people and 4.85 million vehicles for entry and exit last year. Ruili Port is located in Yunnan's Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, which became part of the Yunnan pilot free trade zone (FTZ) inaugurated in August last year. The establishment of the FTZ is to promote Yunnan's foreign trade and cross-border economic cooperation. A female JetBlue crew member is suing the airline after she says she was sexually assaulted by a male co-worker and her employer allegedly failed to act - even telling the victim she must 'be respectful' of her attacker. The woman from Queen's New York, known only as Jane Doe, says she was sexually assaulted by a flight attendant after a night out in San Francisco with a group of co-workers in February 2019. She filed the lawsuit against the airline last week claiming it had failed to take action despite its internal investigation substantiating her allegations. The female crew member, known as Jane Doe, filed the lawsuit against the airline last week claiming it had failed to take action after she was sexually assaulted by a colleague, despite its internal investigation substantiating her allegations The victim says she was sexually assaulted by Steven Tenorio, a JetBlue flight attendant, after a night out in San Francisco with a group of co-workers The lawsuit brings claims against the New York-based company and the alleged perpetrator Steven Tenorio for sex discrimination, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation. Tenorio and Jane Doe were both working on a flight bound for San Francisco on February 22. They made plans to go out that evening for dinner and dancing together with co-worker Ronald Banks. Before Banks joined them in the lobby of the hotel they were staying in, Tenorio sat down and nestled his head onto the woman's chest, the lawsuit claims. When the woman asked why he was doing that, Tenorio moved away, it continues. The group continued with their plans, returning to the hotel and deciding to end the night at around 4am. According to the lawsuit, Tenorio then attacked Jane Doe inside a hotel elevator, grabbing her from behind, pressing himself against her body in a sexual manner and saying in front of their co-workers and other hotel guests: 'She don't know she going to my room tonight. We going to have some fun.' When the elevator stopped at Tenorio's floor, he allegedly pulled her from the elevator, picked her up and walked with her towards his room. Jane Doe managed to escape and run to her room by digging her nails into Tenorio's neck, the lawsuit claims. The victim reported the assault later that day to police, Jet Blue Crew Services and a co-workers. When Jane Doe reported Tenorio to JetBlue's HR, she found herself removed from the next flight while Tenorio was allowed to continue to work. When Jane Doe reported Tenorio to JetBlue's HR, she found herself removed from the next flight while Tenorio continued to work. She was later told the airline could do 'nothing' to ensure she wouldn't have to interact with Tenorio and that she must 'respect' her abuser It is also alleged that when Julie Paulino, a crew relations investigator, contacted Jane Doe about the incident she asked her about sex, her divorce, and a dream she had told a co-worker about, and neglected to ask her about the sexual assault, the lawsuit states. Despite the victim's claims later being substantiated by the airline, Jane Doe alleges she was told Tenorio would not be fired. Instead, she was told to 'be respectful and professional with him, and that she could try to avoid him based on seniority but there was nothing they could do to ensure [Jane Doe] would not be forced to interact with Tenorio', says the lawsuit. The lawsuit also states that when Banks confronted Tenorio about the assault he responded: 'Oh no, I was just playing with her. Did she think I was trying to rape her?' Jane Doe said she suffered mental distress from trying to avoid coming into contact with Tenorio and that she was forced to call in sick or bid out of flights he was on, resulting in loss of seniority status and loss of pay. She also suffers nightmares of seeing Tenorio in the airport terminal and him dragging her into a bathroom and beating her bloody to the ground, the lawsuit says. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, she said she suffered physical injuries, including the range of motion in her neck being limited, and was prescribed medication and physical therapy. JetBlue said in a statement to News 4 that it could not comment on pending litigation but that it takes 'allegations of violent or inappropriate behavior very seriously and investigates such claims thoroughly.' Tenorio continues to work for JetBlue as an in-flight crew member. NEW YORK, NY and TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / GlobeX Data Ltd. ("GlobeX" or the "Company") (https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/SWISF/overview) (OTCQB:SWISF) and (https://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/globex-data-ltd) (CSE:SWIS, SWIS.WT). GlobeX Data Ltd. (https://globexdatagroup.com) The leader in Swiss hosted cyber security and Internet privacy solutions for secure data management and secure communications, has received several requests for quotations from its Resellers for its Custodia encrypted email services and its other services, DigitalSafe and PrivaTalk. The primary services, Custodia and DigitalSafe have been requested by banks in order to transit to an encrypted email and document management environment in the midst of global cyber warfare and cyber-attacks on businesses, financial institutions and governments. Potential orders from financial institutions and other non-government institutions in South Asia alone, so far reach up to USD 2,000,000 per year with exponential growth over the next two years as GlobeX sets up its South Asia network and offices. Most of the requests have come from financial institutions, however, the Company expects an equal or greater amount of orders coming from other sectors, such as energy, transportation, manufacturing and government. All the requests are coming from South Asia. Alain Ghiai, CEO of GlobeX Data said: "We are very happy to start the year with such large requests for our services. We have been in talks with our Resellers in South Asia and other regions and are ready to protect their data from cyber-attacks and other unfortunate events. We are planning to close the first round of orders by the end of Q1 or beginning of Q2 2020 and move on to larger orders in South Asia. We have received a sudden surge of requests for our services and we are working overtime to send the quotations and information requests. Financial institutions are among the hardest hit when a cyber-attack happens as they house financial data of millions of individuals and businesses. Data is the lifeblood of all businesses, and GlobeX Data is committed to protect users' data and privacy from cyber-attacks. We look forward to expand these initial orders and deploy the services in 2020." About GlobeX Data Ltd. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, document management, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. For more information please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit us at https://globexdatagroup.com Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. On behalf of the Board of Directors Alain Ghiai, CEO +1.212.372.8828 or +1.416.644.8690 corporate@globexdatagroup.com SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573139/GlobeX-Data--Amid-Rising-Global-Financial-Cyber-Attacks-and-Crimes-GlobeX-Receives-Increased-Requests-For-Its-Cyber-Security-Solutions-DigitalSafe-Custodia-and-PrivaTalk-in-South-Asia-For-Secure-Data-Protection-and-Communication Meghan Markle pictured during her visit to Canada House on 7 January. [Photo: Getty] Yahoo is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Prices were correct at the time of publication. Meghan Markle has made her first public appearance since the Sussexes stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family. The Duchess of Sussex, 38, visited the Downtown Eastside Womens Centre, a womens centre in a deprived area of Vancouver, yesterday. The centre shared a photo of Meghan with women from the community in what looks like a kitchen. READ MORE: Sussexes decided it 'wasn't necessary' for Meghan to join Sandringham summit The image, shared on their Facebook account, was captioned: Look who we had tea with today!. The duchess wears a cream, knitted round-neck jumper by high-end label The Row together with brown 375 Le Chameau Jameson Quilted Boots and jeans. Facebook users commented on the image, praising the down to earth duchess, saying she looks so natural, happy and in her element. One comment read, Wonderful to see her stepping into purposeful and meaningful projects so quickly!. The centre, according to its website, is located in neighbourhood [...] well-known within Vancouver and even across Canada for its disproportionate levels of poverty and extreme marginalisation. Duchess Meghan travelled to Victoria Harbour Airport in mainland Vancouver from Vancouver island via a sea plane, according to a report on Mail Online. The publication reported that she has been staying in Mille Fleurs, a multi-million pound waterfront mansion near Victoria, British Columbia the same location the Sussex family spent their six-week break over Christmas. Earlier on Tuesday, Meghan was spotted boarding a seaplane on Vancouver Island, carrying a Cuyana tote bag and wearing a Barbour coat. READ MORE: Duke and Duchess of Sussex losing titles 'very much a possibility' It is unclear whether Meghan had a pre-existing relationship with the centre. However, she has long been an advocate for womens rights, previously working as a UN Women ambassador long before meeting Prince Harry. The Duchess flew back to Vancouver last Thursday, to rejoin her eight-month-old son Archie who had stayed in the country following the familys six-week break there. But the release of these documents is, to use a legal term, not good. A letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sent shortly before Zelenskiys inauguration, makes clear that Giuliani was representing Trump as a private citizen, not as President of the United States. It was sent before a planned trip to the Ukraine in which Giuliani said he would be pushing Ukrainian officials for an investigation that would be very, very helpful to my client. United States President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a phase one trade deal on Wednesday in Washington. The agreement de-escalates an 18-month bilateral dispute that stoked fears of a global recession. Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump in a letter that he welcomes the phase one deal reached with the US and that he is willing to stay in close touch with the US leader. As part of the deal, China committed to purchases of at least an additional $200bn in US goods and services over two years, while the US has suspended or is reducing some tariffs on Chinese goods. Xi told Trump in the letter, read by Liu during the signing ceremony, that the deal shows how the two countries can resolve their differences and find solutions based on dialogue. Liu, Chinas top negotiator in the trade talks with the US, also said separately during the ceremony that China will abide by the commitments it made in the phase one deal and that the agreement is good for both countries and the world. In this deal, according to Chinas domestic market demand, Chinese companies will buy $40bn in US agriculture products annually over the next two years based on market conditions, Liu said. He also added that both Chinese and US governments should create a favourable market environment for such purchases. Of course, when the market demand is booming, Chinese companies may buy more, he said. Despite having already given us 2019's definitive "fuck you" anthem in the form of the TikTok-primed "U Suck," Sega Bodega is taking no time to rest. Instead, he's returned to make good on his promise to deliver a debut in the New Year with the announcement of his first-ever artist album, Salvador, arriving just in time for Valentine's Day. The news comes on the heels of a massive two-year period of growth for the Glasglow artist/producer that's seen him churn out experimental underground bangers for the likes of Brooke Candy, Quay Dash and Shygirl, co-found the label/creative collective NUXXE, and grow more comfortable with playing live instruments and using his own vocals on tracks. Taking its title from Sega Bodega's given name, Salvador not only serves as the culmination of an artistic genesis but an important milestone for one of electronic music's most exciting new voices. Sega Bodega's most personal work to date, Salvador, sees the artist wrestling with his own personal demons and meditating on things like mental health, mortality and the ever fraught arena of love. "I did a track with Coucou Chloe a couple years ago and I really liked that inaudible type of vocal that's got no real meaning behind it. Then I got past that and I couldn't find any weight in that for my own song writing," Bodega said about his approach to writing the album in an interview with PAPER last year. "I started trying to write about things I had been through myself and a lot of the album has to do with my past with alcohol. I don't drink anymore, I've been sober for three and a half years, and that was the easiest place to write about, actually." To mark today's announcement, Sega Bodega has shared the album's second single, "Salv Goes to Hollywood," out today. "It's the first time I tried to vocal one of my own beats so it's the most indirect lyrically," according to Bodega. Flipping between dreamy guitar plucks and squelching bass hits, "Salv Goes to Hollywood" sees Bodega at his most unconventional and unpredictable. Sounding like the chipmunk from Akon's "Lonely" took a Xanax and then deflated (in the best way possible), Bodega's alien-like vocals are ultimately what tie the whole thing together as he drifts from section to section. As a taste of what's to come, "Salv Goes to Hollywood" and "U Suck" set a high bar for album expectations, but if anyone is up to the challenge its Sega Bodega. Listen to "Salv Goes to Hollywood" and pre-order Salvador here, out everywhere February 14th via NUXXE. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a gathering to extend Lunar New Year greetings to people from non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and those without party affiliation on Jan 14. [Photo/Xinhua] Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on the country's non-Communist parties to make new contributions to securing the victory of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and fighting poverty on Tuesday. Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while attending a gathering to extend Lunar New Year greetings to people from non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and those without party affiliation. After listening to a speech by a representative of the non-Communist parties, Xi expressed appreciation for the contributions made by non-Communist parties last year. The non-Communist parties have maintained the authority of the CPC and followed its centralized and unified leadership in the past year, Xi said, adding that they had launched a thematic education campaign on remaining true to their original aspiration and put forward important suggestions on the CPC's governance. Xi spoke highly of the poverty alleviation efforts made by the non-Communist parties last year, saying that these activities are important in the fulfillment of the country's poverty reduction goal. Noting that this year is a decisive one in securing the victory of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and fighting poverty, Xi said that the non-Communist parties should make further efforts to achieve these goals. The system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation is a new type of political party system originated in China, Xi said, adding that the system has played a special role in achieving consensus, improving decision-making, coordinating relations and maintaining stability. Xi said that he hoped the non-Communist parties would implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and called on their members to follow the CPC's leadership and uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics. Xi pointed out that the wisdom and strength of all Chinese people including people from non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and those without party affiliation are needed to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Xi told them to focus on the CPC's plans, make investigations on these goals, raise suggestions based on facts, and be good advisers to the CPC. Noting that the CPC is making consistent efforts to build itself up, Xi said that the non-Communist parties should also build themselves up consistently and make new contributions to promote the modernization of the country's system and capacity for governance. The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce should speed up its reforms and promote the healthy development of non-public businesses, Xi said. Donald Trumps fixation on a countrys allegiance to the United States dependent upon what they are willing to pay for our military aid is well, rather mobbish. The man who can only see green, according to his son, has turned our mighty, advanced and very expensive military into a mercenary force or maybe even a New York City underworld protection racket. A protection racket sells security through credible acts of violence, and may even imply that the customer may receive said treatment if money is not paid. Trump has not necessarily gone the second step to threaten the country directly, if no payment is forthcoming, but one only has to wait for such in an early morning tweet. Seems that the young men and women in our all-volunteer armed services are commodities to bargain with and sell to whoever writes the largest check. Such as the Saudis, who are notorious human rights abusers and sponsors of terrorists. This administration is so out of step with the founding fathers' ideals that the country is now unrecognizable to the cognizant. We are on a perilous path with this man. Erwin Curry, Missoula You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 4 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 The adult daughter of a Democrat official in Ohio was arrested after allegedly getting into a fight and spouting profanities outside President Donald Trump's rally in Toledo last week. Laura Gerken, 36, the daughter of Lucas County Commissioner Peter Gerken, was among three people who were taken into custody last Thursday near the Huntington Center. Gerken was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was later released from jail on her own recognizance. Laura Gerken, 36 (left), the daughter of Lucas County Commissioner Peter Gerken (pictured with Hillary Clinton in 2016, right), has been accused of fighting and yelling profanities outside a Donald Trump rally in Ohio last week Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Huntington Center, in Toledo, Ohio, on January 9 According to court documents, Laura was engaged in a physical fight with another person in a parking lot at the corner of Huron and Jefferson streets at around 8.15pm on Thursday. After the fighters separated and Toledo police officers were investigating, Gerken allegedly continued to hurl obscenities at her foe, as well as the cops and bystanders. Cellphone video shared on Facebook purports to show Gerken standing outside the convention center during Trump's event and repeatedly yelling 'F*** you, Nazis' while holding up a homemade sign bearing a similar message. After her release, Gerken took to Facebook to share a selfie showing bloody scratches on both of her eyelids. Commissioner Gerken released a statement addressing the incident without mentioning his daughter by name, reported WTOL11. 'All Americans have the right to free speech and to exercise their right to express their opinions,' he stated. 'The Toledo police department and all law enforcement professionals did a great job yesterday protecting everyones safety in the downtown area. Like so many other Americans, we feel strongly about the views of President Trump. We will deal with this issue as a family.' After being released form jail on her own recognizance, Gerken took to Facebook and shared this selfie showing bloody scratches on her eyelids Peter Gerken released a statement following his daughter's arrest saying, in part, that all Americans 'have the right to free speech and to exercise their right to express their opinions' Besides Gerken, police also arrested Lindsey Rowland, 29, of Oregon, on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct for allegedly punching a cop. A third person, John Miller, was jailed on a count of disorderly conduct after police say he was drinking a 12-pack of beer and refused to leave a shopping center where he was playing a recording of the words 'F*** Donald Trump' on a loop in front of children and families. Toledo Blade reported that in July 2019, Laura Gerken's father, who has served as county commissioner since 2005 and supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, was accused of yelling expletives at Trump supporters during Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's campaign stop. The ways in which bacteria cause a deadly gut infection in cows in the UK and worldwide will be the focus of a new 1m study. Johne's disease, a common, chronic disease of the gut of cows and sheep, has a significant impact on livestock health and welfare. The condition also leads to economic losses associated with reduced productivity and high mortality in the chronic stage. JD is an insidious and increasing problem in the UK and worldwide, with no effective control measures in cattle other than test and slaughter. The disease costs an estimated 9.8m each year to the dairy industry and 3.1m each year to the beef industry in the UK alone. Now researchers from the Roslin Institute and Moredun Research Institute will inform the design of strategies to control and treat these infections. At early stages following infection, animals show little evidence of the disease, making it difficult to detect and easy for infection to spread unnoticed. This is partly because the bacterium - known as Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) - is able to hide from and manipulate the immune system. A series of research experiments will provide insight into how MAP interacts with cells in the gut, how it survives and replicates. The study brings together a team of researchers with expertise and established models of infection. Scientists' aim is to determine key factors in the animals and the pathogen that control entry in the gut. These factors could be targets of future intervention strategies to control Johnes disease. The 1 million study is funded by the UK governments Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. An accumulated 85.91 million kilometers has been driven by Xpeng G3 users in 2019, equivalent to 112 times round-trip to the moon. The longest distance driven by a G3 was 610,750 kilometers, equivalent to 1.5 times around the equator, according to data accumulated throughout 2019 by Xpeng Lab. Voice assistant and ACC most popular among Chinese drivers The AI-empowered intuitive voice assistant and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) function are most popular among the Xpeng G3 SUV customers. The G3's voice assistant was activated 9.379 million times in 2019, or 26,000 times per day, initiating auto navigation over 3.09 million times for G3 users last year. The ACC function, activated over 3.64 million times in 2019 or 9,960 times per day, by Xpeng car users, has been driven independently for 6.59 million kilometers last year. The Lane Change Control (LCC) function, activated 1.24 million times in 2019 or 4,869 times per day, was driven 4.11 million kilometers independently in 2019. "We are very encouraged by the growing customer enthusiasm towards features that are more than what a conventional electric vehicle does. The data shows us customers in China are keen to experience a more leisurely style of driving, and see their vehicles more than just a transportation machine to bring them from A to B," said He Xiaopeng, CEO and Chairman of Xpeng Motors. "We also find customers are less concerned about driving range than they were a year ago, mainly because of the improved battery technologies available in today's models and charging infrastructure coverage getting more comprehensive each day in China," he added. Whole-car OTA upgrades in 20 minutes The Xpeng G3 has received 8 over-the-air (OTA) upgrades in 2019, adding 56 new features and optimizing 1,907 functions. Executed over 60,000 times in total, the OTA upgrading time has been shortened to about 20 minutes, compared to an average estimate of 4 hours for upgrading in the 4S shop. Whole car OTA upgrade via the Xpeng mobile App was performed for the first time when the Xmart OS 1.6.1 version was launched in December 2019. Xpeng Motors is the only car maker in China that has the ability to conduct OTA upgrades on a whole car basis. Instead of only upgrading certain functions each time, whole-car OTA upgrade provides smooth and better customer experience. "Our in-house closed-loop R&D approach is critical in enabling us to conduct OTA upgrades more frequently and efficiently," He said. Fast charging infrastructure expansion supports quicker charging for a better lifestyle In 2019, Xpeng supercharging facilities provided a total of 2.56 million kw/h of electricity. The amount of carbon emission reduced by Xpeng users in total is equivalent to planting 10,000 trees. Currently, 97 Xpeng supercharging stations are in operation across 31 Chinese cities, with 146 more scheduled to open. The Xpeng household charging facilities are now installed in 258 Chinese cities. EV market in China to reach an infliction point "Customers in China now start to appreciate what a smart car can do and how it can improve the way they drive. We believe EV makers who are focused on differentiated product R&D and who are able to commercialize the technologies in production vehicles will benefit from the increased consumer enthusiasm. The EV market in China will likely reach an upward infliction point in one to two years, in our view, and the real differentiation for players will be on smart and autonomous capabilities, not just electric cars," He added. About Xpeng Motors Xpeng Motors is a leading Chinese electric vehicle company that designs and manufactures automobiles that are seamlessly integrated with the Internet and utilize the latest advances in artificial intelligence. The company's initial backers include its Chairman He Xiaopeng, the founder of UCWeb Inc. and a former Alibaba executive. Xpeng was co-founded in 2014 by Henry Xia and He Tao, former senior executives at Guangzhou Auto with expertise in innovative automotive technology and R&D. It has received funding from prominent Chinese and international investors including Alibaba Group, Xiaomi Corporation and IDG Capital. The company launched its first production model, the G3 SUV, in Dec 2018. Xpeng's 2nd production model, the P7 four-door electric sedan, premiered at the Auto Shanghai in April 2019, and will be delivered to Chinese customers in Q2 2020. Xpeng Motors is headquartered in Guangzhou, China. For more information, please visit the official website at: https://en.xiaopeng.com/ Follow us on social media for latest Xpeng news: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XpengMotorsGlobal/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/XpengMotors LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xiaopeng-motors/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDw84qg11Stw6RgH7JkG6xQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xpengmotors/ For further information, please contact Marie Cheung: Email: [email protected] Mobile: (+852) 9750 5170 / (+86) 1550 7577 546 SOURCE Xpeng Motors Related Links https://en.xiaopeng.com LAS VEGAS and IRVING, Texas, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Promotional Products Association International (PPAI; ppai.org) opened The PPAI Expo 2020 this Tuesday, January 14. The annual event is the worlds largest and longest running promotional products industry trade show and is projecting a pre-registered attendance of more than 13,000 distributors from more than 4,300 companies and 30 countries. Promotional products industry professionals from around the globe are in Las Vegas to experience this years most sought-after promotional products from more than 1,200 exhibitors, including more than 165 that are exhibiting for the first time. The show floor is sold out this year with more than 3,100 booths occupying one million square feet of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The 20,000-plus show participants also have access to more than 115 educational sessions and networking events. The entirety of the show is running from January 12-16. State of the Industry Keynote During the keynote luncheon January 15, PPAI will host a State of the Industry panel with PPAI President and CEO, Paul Bellantone, CAE; PPAI Chair of the Board Brittany David, MAS, and PPAI Incoming-Chair of the Board Ira Neaman, MAS. Speaker Lineup General session and keynote speakers include Molley Fletcher, Brian Nemtin and Dr. Rick Rigsby, three successful entrepreneurs, inspirational-thought leaders, best-selling authors, brand strategists and motivation experts. This year, The PPAI Expo will reveal the latest trends and innovations in promotional marketing and advertising, branded merchandise, incentives, recognition and awards, as well as new, eco-friendly and Made In the USA products, all under one roof at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Whats New and Exciting? The PPAI Expo is known for its elevated experiences that drive excitement and engagement on the show floor. This year the Expo will once again delight attendees with crowd-pleasing pop-up experiences. Viewers will need to be on the lookout for stimulating pop-ups that include a roaming photobooth, strolling magicians, goat yoga (currently sold-out), and the ever-popular puppies. Additional snack favorites will include donut stands, a bacon bar and nitro cold brew stations, as well as colorful snack breaks that match the new show decor. The EXPO Live interactive stage will stream live product demonstrations and interviews with notable Expo speakers, exhibitors and industry leaders. The PPAI Fashion Show, new this year, will also be conducted on January 15. Additionally, there will be a virtual reality booth where attendees can play virtual games. This year, PPAI will introduce Professional Development Domes on the trade-show floor at the back of the 900 Aisle. The Product Pavilions will add a new Giving Back Products section in 2020. Also, Expo Operations has changed the look and feel of the show with all-new structure and signage upgrades. Guests will be met with a unique look to The PPAI Expo with the new murmuration design. What are the Key Pavilions to See at The PPAI Expo? There's only one place to be for new, hot, green and USA products at The PPAI Expo: the Product Pavilion Sneak Peek. Each year, thousands of attendees stream through the Product Pavilions, taking notes and making plans. This highly anticipated part of the show gives attendees an incredible opportunity to create a game plan, so they can map out the products they want to see, the suppliers they want to meet. The Product Pavilion is where attendees go to see the best in New Products, Green Products, Made In The USA Products, Express Ship Products, Giving Back Products and 1st-Time Exhibitor Products all in one place. It's a sampling of the latest products waiting on the massive show floor. The PPAI Expo opens daily at 9:30 am Next year, The PPAI Expo will return to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from January 10-14, 2021. About The PPAI Expo The PPAI Expo brings together, on average, more than 13,000 promotional consultants from nearly 4,000 distributor companies for a five-day event in Las Vegas. The PPAI Expo features education sessions and networking events and more than 1,200 exhibiting supplier companies, including many first-time exhibitors, presenting hundreds of thousands of promotional products occupying more than one million square feet of exhibit space in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. With thousands of participants from the U.S. and 30 countries worldwide, the total economic impact of visitor spending during The PPAI Expo is estimated at more than $30 million by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. About PPAI Founded in 1903, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI; ppai.org) is the worlds largest and oldest not-for-profit association serving more than 15,800 corporate members of the $24.7 billion-dollar promotional products industry, which is comprised of more than 40,500 businesses and a workforce of more than 533,000 professionals. PPAI represents the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocates on its behalf. PPAI operates The PPAI Expo, the industrys largest trade show; provides the leading promotional products safety and compliance program, a prestigious professional development and certification program; and publishes industry trade journals and publications. The multibillion-dollar industry includes wearables, writing instruments, calendars, drinkware and many other items, usually imprinted with a companys name, logo or message. For more information, visit PPAI.org and find us on Twitter @PPAI_HQ, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. ### Attachment A pan-India traders union has decided to stage protests against Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, who arrived here on Tuesday. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which comprises roughly 7 crore small traders, has alleged that e-commerce firms in the country like Amazon, Flipkart have continued to flout FDI norms and indulging in unfair practices. According to IANS, Praveen Khandelwal, the Secretary General of CAIT said that around seven crore traders and their families have been "extremely adversely affected due to the predatory and mala fide business practices of Amazon and Flipkart". The news agency also said that traders across 300 cities would protests on January 15. Demonstrations will also be held at Delhi's Janatar Mantar. On Monday, fair market watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), initiated a probe in the business practices of e-commerce platforms against a petition filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh. Finding merits in the allegations, the competition regulator further asked Director General (DG) to submit the report on the probe in 60 days. Since 2015, CAIT has waged the battle against online retailers Amazon and Walmart-controlled Flipkart, accusing them of deep discounts and flouting India's foreign investment rules. The traders body has said that the business modelof e-tailers was hampering 'Make In India' program as domestic producers were unable to compete with their predatory pricing. Meanwhile, Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has reportedly not given any appointment to Bezos. Also read: Jeff Bezos says Amazon will invest $1 billion to digitise small, medium businesses in India Also read: Amazon will export $10 billion worth of Make In India goods by 2025, says Jeff Bezos A group of marines who fought as comrades in Afghanistan are to row across the Atlantic to raise awareness about the threat to ocean life. As part of Ocean Revival 2020 the four serving and former serving Royal Marine Commandos will row over 3,700 miles from Brooklyn Bridge in New York to Tower Bridge in London. They aim to raise money for charity Plastic Oceans, which draws attention to the plastics in our seas and its effect on ecosystems. The journey will take up to 60 days, during which they plan to complete the fastest row of the North Atlantic as well as the furthest distance rowed in 24 hours. One of the team, Matt Mason, 30, who was on the recent series of Channel 4s Hunted, said: I would be crazy not to be nervous before rowing an ocean, but weve had a good grounding. As part of the marines, weve all experienced a lot of the challenges well probably face. Its all about being mentally strong, things like adjusting to sleep deprivation, the constant rowing and potential hunger. He said they were very concerned about the environment and the amount of plastic in the ocean. Gov. Phil Murphy made two more nominations to NJ Transits board of directors this week, NJ Advance Media has learned. One would seat a transit expert and Raritan Valley Line rider and the other repeats an earlier nomination of a Democratic official who worked on his campaign. Murphy nominated Tri-State Transportation Campaign Deputy Director Janna Chernetz, an expert and attorney, who has testified during numerous legislative hearings about NJ Transits troubles and solutions to fix it. Her nomination was championed by State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, who negotiated with Murphy for new nominees after the process was criticized last year. That criticism included charges that some of the nominees were not regular NJ Transit rail, bus or light rail riders, a requirement of the NJ Transit reform legislation Weinberg helped write and Murphy signed in December 2018. The other nomination renews Murphys selection of Michael D. Beson of Ocean Township. He was Murphys first nominee to the board in 2019. Benson is the municipal chairman of the Ocean Township Democratic organization and worked on Murphys campaign. When questions were raised in 2019, a Murphy spokesman said Beson uses the North Jersey Coast and Northeast Corridor lines frequently. Mike and Janna share the Governors priorities to rebuild NJ Transit into one of the nations premier mass-transit agencies, and restore the safety, service, and reliability that New Jerseys commuters so strongly deserve, said Matt Saidel, a governors spokesman. These two distinguished professionals, public servants, and transit experts who are deeply passionate about New Jersey and its commuters will be important voices on the board that oversees the agency. Commuters have vented their dissatisfaction with past nominations to NJ Transit's board on social media. Still to be filled is a specific seat requiring a regular rider of NJ Transit rail or bus. Other North and South Jersey commuter advocates were critical of the process last year, noting they applied and were not interviewed. I attempted to apply and was treated very dismissively, said David Peter Alan, Lackawanna Commuter Coalition Chairman for 20 years. (Other advocates) told a similar story ...they were told they dont want anyone who represents the riders. They dont want a person on transit. South Jersey rail advocate Nick Pittman said he had a similar experience. I applied when it was first announced the committee would be put together. I had the support of Sen. Chris Brown and Congressman Jeff VanDrew, both of whom wrote letters on my behalf," Pittman said. "Through the grapevine, I was told that people like me were thrown in the garbage pail. Alan said the board needs representation from people who dont drive and are totally dependent on NJ Transit. NJ Transit has a board of chosen motorists. Not a single person is transit dependent, Alan said. We who depend on transit have our mobility decided by people who can go to their cars if NJ Transit goes down the tube. The reform law expanded NJ Transits board to 13 members and requires public members be an NJ Transit train, bus or light rail rider and that four other public members have transportation policy experience. All the nominations go to the state Senate Judiciary Committee. If confirmed by the committee and full Senate, Chernetz and Beson would join four members whose nominations were approved Monday. Former State Senator Robert Gordon, who oversaw hearing about NJ Transit that led to the reform law; Cedric Fulton, President of MTA Bridges and Tunnels and retired Port Authority Director of Bridges, Tunnels and Terminals; Richard Maroko, Recording Secretary and General Counsel of the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO; and professional engineer James D. Adams, vice president of KS Engineers. Of the four, Maroko rides NJ Transit the most, taking the Montclair-Boonton line to and from New York. Fulton rode the Northeast Corridor Line train and Adams rode NJ Transit buses when he worked in Trenton. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global sugar substitutes market is estimated to expand at a substantial CAGR in the forecast period as the scope, product types, and its applications are increasing across the globe. The sugar substitute market is witnessing an increasing demand. It is motivated by the increasing sales of diverse sugar substitutes, comprising natural sweeteners and synthetic sweeteners. The manufacturers of foodstuff pick out between the existing sugar substitutes centered on taste concerns, constancy, and price. In more or less cases, mixtures of this substitute are utilized. Supervisory bodies in Europe and the U.S.A, have accepted the usage of stevia sweetener. Thus, demand for the stevia leaf is increasing rapidly. Owing to the absence of fitness drive, the imports of this substitute to India and Indonesia are yet measured low in size. Increasing demand for these products from the manufacturing companies of foodstuff & beverage is expected to support the sugar substitute market in gaining the fantastic grip during the upcoming years. The Asia Pacific is expected to be an extremely encouraging destination for the manufacturing companies owing to refining way of life of middle-class people together with increasing power of payments of the customers. Moreover, increasing worries amongst fitness sensible populaces are expected to be the important aspects motivating the development. China is one of the most important markets. Existence of a huge number of producers and elderly residents is boosting the demand for sugar substitutes within the nation. North America is amongst the maximum users of sugar substitutes. Increasing alertness regarding the low calorie nourishments and profits of including sugar substitutes in the day-to-day nutrition is expected to increase the demand for these products. The most important cause behindhand reasonable development within the province is increasing stress by controlling organizations on the manufacturers of sugar substitute. Download PDF to know more details about "Sugar Substitutes Market" report 2024. Growing alertness about consequences of high sugar intake and increasing occurrence of diabetes through the world are composed to upkeep the development of the sugar substitute market. Unstable prices of sugar are likely to generate openings for the manufacturers of sugar substitute all over the world, during the period of forecast. The global sugar substitute market can be classified by Application, Product, Type, and Region. By Application it can be classified as Beverages, Foodstuff, and others. By Product, it can be classified as High fructose syrup, High intensity sweeteners, and Low intensity sweeteners. By Type, it can be classified as Saccharin, Aspartame, Sucralose, Stevia and others. By Region the global sugar substitute market can be classified as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In 2015, North America was the foremost regional market, by means of revenue and it directed 46.3% share of the overall demand. It is expected to lead during the period of forecast owing to growing fatness amongst the residents, increasing occurrence of diabetes, and prosperous business of food processing. Asia Pacific is projected to develop at a CAGR of 7.0% for the duration of the forecast. Increasing problems of fitness due to the ingestion of sugar, existence of developing markets providing profit margins to the important contestants of the market, and increasing per head earnings are motivating the provincial market. The sugar substitute market in Latin America is expected to touch US$ 1.71 billion in 2024. It is expected to, develop by a CAGR of 5.1% for the duration of the forecast. The development of the area can be credited to the existence of plentiful natural means and the producers of sorbitol. Access 110 page research report with TOC on "Sugar Substitutes Market" available with Radiant Insights, Inc. @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-sugar-substitutes-market Some of the important companies for Sugar Substitutes Market are E. I. DuPont De Nemours, Pure Circle, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Ingredion Incorporated, Cargill Incorporated, The NutraSweet Company, JK Sucralose Inc., Roquette, Archer Daniels Midland Company, and Tate & Lyle. Market Segmentation: Geographically, global Sugar Substitutes market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including Cargill Incorporated Dupont Archer Daniels Midland Co Hermesetas Ingredion Incorporated JK Sucralose Incorporated Roquette Freres SA Tate & Lyle PLC Danisco ADM NutraSweet BASF CJ Ajinomoto Purecircle Macandrews & Forbes Holdings Inc Celanese Kaifeng Xinghua Tianjin Changjie On the basis of product, we research the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate, primarily split into Natural Sugar Substitute Artificial Sugar Substitute For the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Sugar Substitutes for each application, including Food & Beverage Pharmaceuticals Daily Chemical Other Production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate are the key targets for Sugar Substitutes from 2013 to 2024 (forecast) in these regions China USA Europe Japan Korea India Southeast Asia South America Browse reports of similar category available with Radiant Insights, Inc.: About Radiant Insights, Inc.: At Radiant Insights, we work with the aim to reach the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our representatives strive to understand diverse client requirements and cater to the same with the most innovative and functional solutions. Contact: Michelle Thoras. Corporate Sales Specialist Radiant Insights, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0054 Toll Free: 1-888-928-9744 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.radiantinsights.com/ Blog: https://radiantinsightsinc.blogspot.com/ SOURCE Radiant Insights, Inc. Photo: iStock You can leave your umbrella at home for today, but light rainfall is in the forecast for Berkeley starting on Thursday, according to the seven-day forecast from drone-powered weather service Saildrone. Thursday's forecast projects 0.92 inches of rain, while the chance of rain will stick below 40% the rest of the week. The immediate forecast also has moderate winds in store for today. Winds are expected to rise up to 20 mph on Thursday, while today will be calmer with a top speed of just 13 mph. Temperatures will be cool through Thursday, reaching just 49 degrees on Thursday, with highs remaining below 60 degrees throughout the week. Skies will be cloudy today. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Syrias last rebel bastion struck days after ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey takes effect, activists say. Syrian government forces backed by Russian fighter jets have struck several towns in Syrias northwest province of Idlib, according to local sources, violating a fragile ceasefire in the countrys last rebel bastion. Activists said the towns of Khan al-Subl, al-Hartamyeh, and Maasaran in the Maaret al-Numaan district were struck overnight on Wednesday with air raids and artillery fire following a brief lull in government-led bombardment in the opposition stronghold. Russian warplanes have been targeting these areas since last night. Theyre still roaming in the sky until now, Sleiman Abdulkader, an opposition activist in Maaret al-Numaan, told Al Jazeera. The last air raid was reported in Maaret al-Numaan at around 8:45am this morning, he said. According to residents and rescue workers, many towns and villages in the area are now empty as a result of the Russian-backed Syrian governments offensive which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people since it first began in April. There were no reports of deaths in Wednesdays attacks, though several people were killed in air raids just hours before the latest ceasefire announced by Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and rebel backer Turkey came into force on Sunday. Activists in the region said the latest attacks struck agricultural lands, as well as civilian infrastructures including schools, a mosque, homes, and a local business all scattered along the string of villages that lie near the strategic M5 highway, one of the most important arteries in Syria before it descended into war in 2011. Suood Siah said the internet cafe he owned in Khan al-Subl was destroyed on Wednesday. I shut it down about 20 days ago, and luckily managed to evacuate the machines as well before it was hit, Siah said, who returned to Khan al-Subl on Wednesday to inspect the damage after hearing about the attacks. The place used to offer a service to the people, a service that is as basic as a bakery or a medical facility, he said. Targeting it is just as bad of a crime. According to Siah, Russian jets tend to hit anything that resembles normal life in Idlib. Russia has been accused of carrying out attacks against hospitals and civilian infrastructures throughout its involvement in Syrias war allegations denied by Moscow and Damascus. Syrians load their belongings into a truck before driving away from Maaret al-Numan in the northwest Idlib province [Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP] A ceasefire never lasts Separately, Turkish Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar on Wednesday said Ankara and Moscow were discussing the establishment of a secure zone where those forced from their homes in Syrias northwest can shelter during the cold winter months. Though many families have found relative safety near the border with neighbouring Turkey, the humanitarian situation at the overcrowded border area has become dire. According to UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, families are fleeing in torrential rain and temperatures at night are close to freezing. There are already about one million Syrian refugees living near the border, with official camps already at full capacity. Obeidah Dandoush, a member of the Syria Relief and Development rescue group, said during the brief pause in attacks, some families had returned to their land to gather crops. These farmers, mainly, along with their families, had gone back to collect some potatoes and other crops to sustain themselves at the border, where food items are scarce and expensive to many, Dandoush told Al Jazeera. A lot of other families have returned, or are seeking return but they do not trust the regimes word, he said. They know a ceasefire never lasts. Only a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands who were displaced in the latest wave of attacks have returned to their homes, Dandoush said, adding that attacks on main roads and highways have severely hampered evacuation efforts in the past. On Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the latest ceasefire would last and said he was determined to step in and prevent attacks by Syrian government forces in Idlib. We are determined to stop the [Syrian] regimes attempts to violate ceasefire [in Idlib] ourselves if needed. It is no joke, Erdogan said, adding that hundreds of thousands of Syrians must be returned to their homes as part of the ceasefire agreement. The region is home to nearly three million people, about half of whom were transferred there in large groups from other parts of the country that were retaken by pro-government forces. The war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests. File photo of DSP Davinder Singh, who was arrested along with two terrorists, whom he was allegedly ferrying in a car in Kashmir Valley. (Image: PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed on January 15 that no other senior police officer of their unit had been found guilty of conspiring against India or aiding terrorists, News18 reported. The announcement came in light of the recent arrest of Davinder Singh. The senior Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) has been accused of working with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists as their ground worker. The case has given rise to doubts about the integrity of the other cops of the J&K Police. Singh, a native of Tral in Kashmir, was intercepted while travelling with Hizbul terrorists on January 11. Although, at first, he tried to prove his innocence, claiming that he was acting as a cross-agent to extract information, his alibis were unfounded. Instead, he is accused of helping ferry out two terrorists out of Kashmir in exchange for a large sum of money. The decorated police officer, who was due for a promotion, had allegedly asked the Parliament Attack convict Afzal Guru to shelter one Mohammad, a co-accused in the terror attack. However, Gurus claim was never taken seriously, and Singh was let off without any proper investigation. As per the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the 1990-batch sub-inspector was also removed from the elite Special Operation Group once over frequent complaints of extortion and corruption against him. He was reinstated later by Inspector General KPS Gill in 1995 but his moves were closely monitored for a while. It is also alleged that Singh made a couple of calls to neighbouring Pakistan. But, agencies gave him a clean chit after finding they were found to be related to several operations he was a part of, given he was working with a nexus of overground workers of various terror groups. Since he was a local, Singh was privy to many sensitive insider information about the movement of terrorists, which he would share with the members of his anti-hijacking squad. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday said India, Brazil and an African country absolutely deserve to be included in a reformed UN Security Council. India, he said, is one of the new centres of economic might and political influence that will be key to the formation of a multi-polar world. Lavrov criticised the US-backed concept of the Indo-Pacific and a rules-based world order, saying they are either divisive or aimed at containing China. Lavrov made the remarks at the Raisina Dialogue, a think tank event backed by the external affairs ministry. He also criticised unilateral sanctions. Much of Lavrovs criticism was directed at the US-backed concept of the Indo-Pacific, which he said wasnt a benign format and kept out East African and Persian Gulf countries. When we asked the initiators about the difference between the Indo-Pacific strategy and Asia Pacific region cooperation, they said Indo-Pacific is more open, democratic. If you look at it, it is not at all the case, he said. It is an attempt to reconfigure the existing structures in Asia Pacific and to move from Asean-centred consensus seeking forms of interaction to something which would be divisive. Russia, he said, appreciates Indias position, which says Indo-Pacific shouldnt be discussed in a way that implies that some country should be contained. Lavrov said: Why do you need to call it Indo-Pacific? And you know the answer the answer is to contain China. It is not even hidden. The Indian friends are smart enough to understand this trap and not to get into it. Russia prefers to promote formats such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Russia-India-China (RIC) and the Brazil-Russia-India-China grouping which are not divisive, but which unite, he said. Indias position on the Indo-Pacific was clearly enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 at the Shangri-la Dialogue, where he said the country envisages it as an inclusive and open concept that is not directed against any country. Lavrov also criticised the insistence of Western powers on a rules-based world order and said the focus should be on international law. Western powers were dismissing the rules embodied in international law and the UN Charter, he added. What is wrong with international law? Why do our Western friends insist...that rules-based world order must be key, not international law? he asked. He cited the example of a former UN secretary general mentioning in a report the need to counter violent extremism. We asked, why not extremism in any form? Then we were told because that is how the Western countries had framed it, he said. Without naming the US, Lavrov said unilaterally imposed sanctions wouldnt work. This is not diplomacy, he said. Russia is encouraged by the interest being shown in the Eurasia economic arrangement and feels this process will move forward, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There has been widespread condemnation following the early morning attempt by raiders to take an ATM from Main Street, Dunleer. It is the second such attempt using a digger to try and remove the ATM from the premises - causing significant damage in the process - following the first attempt in November 2019. Members of An Garda Siochana attached to the Garda Armed Support unit intercepted the attempted ATM theft at approximately 4.30am this morning. Gardai were patrolling the area at the time and managed to intercept the attempted theft and a pursuit ensued onto the N1 in which the culprits made their way over the border. The PSNI say they are assisting an Garda Siochana in their searches. Louth TD and Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Cross border co-operation Declan Breathnach has said increased Garda resources are needed in Louth following the attempted raid. This is not an isolated incident, but one of the many ATM raids in the border region over the past few months. I fear now that ATM services in Dunleer and across the region will be withdrawn as the risk of a raid increases. This is a huge threat to community and businesses in the area. The vast majority of people living on both sides of the border are decent law-abiding citizens who may lose out on vital services because of the actions of these thugs. He added: Crime in Louth is simply out of control. The feud in Drogheda has led to shootings and murders becoming commonplace. We urgently need more Gardai on the ground. In the short term we may need to look at the possibility of reducing the operating hours of an ATM between midnight and the early morning. There is technology available which can turn off the ATM and automatically transfer it into a secure bunker. Breathnach says he has previously called for the establishment of a cross-border crime agency to stop criminals evading capture by crossing the border. Currently, chases of cars involving Garda or the PSNI have to end at either side of the border. Breathnach says this is an operational gap on the island of Ireland which was being exploited by criminal gangs. Local Sinn Fein Councillor Pearse McGeough hit out at those responsible. This is the second time Dunleer has been targeted with the first one taking place in November and the thieves getting away with an undisclosed sum. This time however, Gardai were on patrol in the area and came across the would-be robbers and they fled the scene heading for the border. Cllr McGeough commended the Gardai for their rapid response. I understand that they crossed the border and the PSNI are co-operating in this search. He added: "This is an attack on the community and on the business community. The road has been closed off and that will cause disruption to businesses in the area and shoppers and residents are now without access to the ATM. The inconvenience caused to shoppers and businesses lies solely at the feet of the thieves who are attacking small communities like ours up and down the country. Once again, Gardai resources have been discussed and we have seen the importance of having patrols in rural areas like this. Myself and Deputy Imelda Munster have been very vocal on this issue and are hoarse screaming for more resources to be allocated to Louth Gardai, especially the rural areas. There was some success last August when a criminal gang who carried out a spate of ATM robberies were apprehended in County Cavan following a joint operation between Gardai and PSNI but we need more of that. These robberies are still happening and they are even brazen enough now to attempt to rob the same machine more than once. We need to keep the pressure on. Cllr McGeough also asked the local community to remain vigilant in the future. Gardai cant be everywhere but there are things that we as a community can do. Keep your eyes open for any suspicious activity around ATMs, any strange vehicles in the area and also be aware of heavy plant and machinery moving at night. I would also urge owners of plant and machinery to ensure they are secure and immobilised at night when they are not in use. Steve Price has offered a rare apology for saying he 'is sick and tired of that woman Jacinda Ardern' during an extraordinary rant which his colleagues said was 'bizarre by even his standards'. The outspoken broadcaster returned to The Project on Wednesday humbled and almost visibly upset to apologise to Ms Ardern, who he slammed the previous night for holidaying in Australia. 'What I said was disrespectful to her as a woman and importantly it was also disrespectful of the office of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, our closest ally,' he told the panel. 'She has got every right to be here in Australia and what I said is last night was dumb. I got home last night, watched myself and thought back and I thought I was wrong to do it. 'If I make a mistake I own it. I made a mistake last night, a dumb one, and I'm here to say sorry.' Steve Price has made a stunning backflip and apologised for saying he was 'sick and tired' of New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured with Prime Minsiter Scott Morrison) Host Lisa Wilkinson said the panel was shocked by his outburst the previous night. 'Steve, all of us at the desk last night were fairly shocked at the rant you made against the New Zealand PM,' Wilkinson said Peter Helliar said the rant was a new level for the host who is prone to speaking his mind on the news and current affairs show. 'I know we thought that was bizarre even from your standards last night, but there has also been anger on some of the things you said about climate change last night,' Helliar said. 'We have had discussions on air and off air but can you be quite clear - are you a climate sceptic?' The outspoken broadcaster returned to The Project on Wednesday humbled and almost visibly upset to apologise to Ms Ardern Price responded: 'I'm not a climate change denier. I'm someone who is open for debate about this. I think both sides of the argument sometimes push it too far. 'Both the people who are very much believers in climate change and those that don't believe it at all. I'm stuck there in the middle.' The rant on Tuesday sparked outrage on social media with calls for him to be fired, and warned of 'the end of The Project' if no action was taken. But Price denied the backlash played a part in his stunning backdown. 'I think you have known me long enough that I'm genuine about things. I would not be here because some keyboard warrior got online today and thought I was out of order,' he said. As he was hosting the current affairs show on Tuesday night, Price said Ms Ardern should stay in New Zealand and compared her trip to Mr Morrison taking his family to Hawaii while the nation was burning. During the segment, the panel discussed the Kiwi leader's holiday and its potential to give a much-needed tourism boost to Australia in a time of crisis. 'Stay in your own country and spend money in your own place. Typical virtue-signalling from Jacinda Ardern. I get sick and tired of that woman,' he said. But Price insisted she had made a mistake in announcing her holiday plans. 'If you can criticise Scott Morrison for going to Hawaii... why is she not in Hamilton or Canterbury or somewhere like that? What's she doing hanging around Australia?' Co-host Peter Helliar interrupted: 'Because her country's not on fire mate.' 'So? She should be in New Zealand... I'm getting sick and tired of ''Jacinda Ardern can do no wrong'',' Price fired back. The outspoken broadcaster let fly during his return to The Project on Tuesday night Ms Ardern (centre) has taken several photos with business owners in Queensland who have been impacted by the bushfires Host Lisa Wilkinson attempted to add humour to the discussion, suggesting: 'It could be a PM exchange program. We could always cross our fingers.' 'Hang on,' Price continued. 'If you are going to criticise Scott Morrison going to Hawaii instead of going to the southern coast of New South Wales, why not criticise her?' Since the outburst, dozens of people have called for him to be fired, and warned of 'the end of The Project' if no action is taken. One Twitter user took aim at Price and said: 'It is 2020 and middle aged males are still scared of educated women.' Another begged The Project to 'get rid of Steve Price and his biased, outdated views. 'It is destroying your program and its credibility,' she said. Price said he was 'sick and tired' of Ms Ardern and the what he said was a perception she could 'do no wrong' 'Steve Price's issue with Jacinda Ardern is NOT that she's holidaying in Australia, it's that he is sick of ''that woman''. Seriously, why give him a platform?' another user wrote. But some social media users agreed with Price and spoke out in support. 'Good on Steve Price on The Project giving the Ardern sycophants a few home truths about this traitorous PM,' one Twitter user wrote. Another Twitter user - described as a Labor delegate - posted a clip of the show and tweeted 'Watch this, get angry and demand that Steve Price be sacked.' Others said despite the backlash, there is no way Price will be fired. 'They won't sack Steve Price, in my opinion he's there for that faux balance crap with his so called conservative voice, can't let The Project TV be too progressive,' one user said. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment (Editor's Note: The author of this op-ed, Dr. Ralph E. Enlow, is the president of the post-secondary accreditation body the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Fuller Theological Seminary is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission.) In October 2018, Joanna Maxon filed suit against Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. The lawsuit alleges that her dismissal as a student at the institution was unjust, in violation of her rights under the U.S. Education Acts Title IX prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sex on the part of institutions participating in federal student financial aid programs. The seminarys ability to comment on the lawsuit is constrained by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). What appears clear based on Maxons own statements, however, is that she enrolled as a Fuller student knowing her same-sex intimacy and marriage contradicted the institutions published community standards and, in the course of doing so, she made false representations and statements concerning herself and her conduct. This past week, Nathan Brittsan, a pastor and Fuller graduate student, joined Maxsons lawsuit. That begs the question: Who is the victim here? Have Maxon and Brittsan been denied the ability to access Title IX federal student aid funding in support of their ministerial ambitions? Or has Fuller Seminary been subjected to a calculated assault on its constitutionally-protected First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion by disingenuous means? In my respectful opinion, Maxon and Brittsan are not suing Fuller because they are being denied anything but because they and their ideological allies cannot abide any institution that dares to uphold long-standing community standards that deviate from their views. Which pattern better fits the definition of tyranny and injustice? Consider a second question: What sex discrimination does Title IX explicitly protect? The Higher Education Act was enacted by Congress in 1972, long before same-sex marriage was legalized. Any attempt to construe it as applicable to sexual orientation and same-sex marriage protections is debatable, to say the least. Congress could speak to the issue, but it has not. Presidential administrations (Obama, Trump) have issued opposite, as-yet judicially untested, staff and institutional guidance. In any case, both the guidelines and its accompanying federal regulations anticipate possible religious objections to some of its provisions and offer the opportunity for exemptions. Perhaps more importantly, I suggest we consider a third question: Are there social dividends associated with protecting the right of religious colleges to establish and uphold community standards consistent with their documented and sincerely held religious beliefs? To that question, I urge that we offer a resounding YES. Confessional colleges and not merely those that prepare professional religious workers should be affirmed and protected by public policy. In many ways, I am astonished I would be called upon to advocate for such a policy. The overwhelming majority of Americas post-secondary institutions have, for the overwhelming majority of Americas history from colonial days to the present, been confessional colleges. How is it that such colleges are now regarded as, at best, un-meriting of the post-secondary designation and attendant religious liberty protections, if not unworthy of even the right to exist? To be sure, condescension toward religious colleges has been around a long time. They are variously alleged to be hopelessly sectarian, intellectually naive, incompatible with academic freedom, academically inferior, morally and developmentally stifling. Such condescension, however, has been repeatedly and eloquently demonstrated itself naive. Recently, distinguished New York Times and syndicated columnist, David Brooks, has weighed in on the matter (see The Road to Character). Yesterdays condescension, however, has given way to the undisguised, vitriolic contempt of todays post-truth society. The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following definition of the term: Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. I have witnessed otherwise reasonable persons with seething rage assert that students who choose to attend colleges that require community covenants relative to biblical human sexuality should be denied eligibility for Title IV funding. Public policy efforts have moved well beyond the mere disestablishment of religion to active executive and judicial assault upon any vestige of public accommodation of religious conscience. In view of this post-truth reality, perhaps it is futile to offer my reasons for a public policy that protects religious institutions. I venture to do so anyway. Rationale No. 1: Evidence abounds that religious colleges serve the public good. Students engage in socially redemptive service learning. Graduates repay student loans, pay taxes, serve employers with integrity, and engage in charitable, public health, social justice, and relief causes at higher rates than their counterparts from other higher education sectors. Protecting and investing in religious colleges pays rich dividends and mitigates losses in terms of both social and economic capital. Rationale No. 2: The principle that student aid should follow the student has guided federal policy from the very inception of those programs. It remains the wisest course. Students should be able to take their financial aid awards along with them to the institution most compatible with their personal values and aspirations. Although higher education undoubtedly serves the collective, it also serves the individual. Policy that prefers the collective benefits of higher education over the individual benefits is a phenomenon of collectivism, not of Declaration of Independence democratic principles. Religious institutions are not only good for the students who enroll in them, they are good for our country. Public policy and public investment should reflect that. Period. So, what about Maxon and Brittsan? As U.S. citizens, they are entitled to need-based federal student aid. There are plenty of institutions that do not proscribe same-sex marriage to which they have access to and to which they are free to apply their federal student aid. They are being denied nothing other than the capitulation of conscience required for approbation by a religious community that humbly and resolutely seeks to live out its historic religious commitments. Who are the victims indeed? The Cubs have agreed to a deal with free-agent reliever Jason Adam, tweets Robert Murray. Its a minor league pact with an invite to Major League Spring Training, MLB.coms Jordan Bastian tweets. Adam, who is represented by Platinum Sports, has already passed his physical. The 28-year-old Adam posted a 2.91 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays in 2019 but was cut loose in early December. Looking beyond that ERA, however, Adams 3.95 FIP and 6.20 xFIP are more alarming. His 18-to-10 K/BB ratio, 25 percent ground-ball rate and .237 average on balls in play all serve as red flags as well. On the flipside of things, the spin rate on Adams heater landed in the 98th percentile among MLB hurlers, and he averaged a hearty 94.7 mph on the pitch. Hes also pitched to a combined 2.14 ERA in 42 innings at the Triple-A level across the past two seasons. If Adam does ultimately make the roster, he has two minor league option years remaining, so he can be shuttled between Chicago and Triple-A Iowa if the team sees fit. He also has less than a full season of Major League service at present, so he wouldnt even be arbitration-eligible until the 2021-22 offseason at the earliest and more likely not until the 2022-23 offseason. Gov. Gavin Newsom presented his initial $222.2 billion budget proposal for next year, and he wasnt lacking for optimism. Despite Californias many challenges, Newsom said at the beginning of his presentation, the future is bright: nearly 10 consecutive years of economic growth, record low unemployment, a $19 billion rainy day fund. As 2020 begins, Californias economy is the strongest in the nation and the fifth largest in the world, Newsom said in his announcement statement. This sunny outlook goes some way toward explaining the choices in this expansive budget. Newsom seems to believe the good times will keep rolling for at least a few more years, so hes loosening the purse strings that his predecessor, Jerry Brown, kept closed so tightly. This isnt necessarily a negative thing Newsoms priorities have been in need of new investment, and increased spending is a sure vote-getter. But it all rests on the assumption that Californias economy will continue this long-running expansion. Thats an assumption that could evaporate at any time. Some of Newsoms new proposals include: Health care: Newsom wants to expand Medi-Cal coverage to some 27,000 undocumented low-income seniors, at a cost of $64.2 million annually. Its a far cry from calls to expand the program to all undocumented, low-income adults Newsom has currently ruled out that plan, which would come with a potential cost of $1 billion but it still inches California closer toward offering health care for all of its residents. Newsoms other big idea is a blue-sky proposal for California to establish its own generic drug label, as well as negotiations with prescription drug makers to establish consistent pricing for all residents, including those with private health insurance. Its an attention-grabbing idea that could be very popular; health care is a top concern among polled voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. But its also a highly complex issue, and putting it into practice will require Newsom to iron out countless details first. Homelessness and housing: One of Newsoms biggest new potential outlays is a $1.4 billion ask for homeless shelters and services. Newsom has combined an ambitious funding plan with an executive order for state agencies to find space for homeless shelter construction on their unused lands. The states homeless crisis is out of control, so it makes sense for the governor to focus his attention on funding immediate solutions. But the governors budget includes no policy changes to streamline housing production (for either affordable or market-rate homes). His campaign promise to build 3.5 million new homes is further out of reach every day. Education: Newsom earmarked $1.8 billion for subsidized early childhood education programs in his first-year budget proposal. This year, hes asking for $8.5 million to fund a new state office, the Department of Early Childhood Development, to simplify the states child care funding systems. Newsom is also concerned enough about Californias special education system which experts have described as plagued by staff shortages and antiquated concepts to ask the Legislature for an additional $895 million to fund it. He also wants to make it more attractive for teachers to staff the states low-income schools. One of his ideas is a $100 million grant program, with $20,000 stipends available to teachers who devote four years to teaching in low-income schools, and another is $900 million for low-income schools to develop their own retention and recruitment programs for teachers. The state will rapidly reach the limits of its skilled workforce unless it improves public education, particularly for low-income children. But without wage increases for child-care workers and less-expensive housing for teachers, its hard to see how the states other efforts will find long-term success. New taxes? Newsom wants a new vaping levy: $2 per 40 milligrams of nicotine. It would raise about $32 million for youth e-cigarette prevention and health care. Considering the sharp rise in youth vaping and the potential long-term costs for public health it will bring this is a sensible proposal. Otherwise, Newsoms budget proposal avoids the hardest financial decisions, like tax hikes that would fund his new priorities in bad times as well as the good ones were enjoying right now. He wont be able to do that forever, but this year is a good reflection of the direction he wants to steer California in as the state heads into another year of expansion. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram Questions have circulated on social media about a student being shot at Abell Junior High, and Midland ISD confirms this is only a rumor. Elana Ladd, MISD chief communications officer, said the rumor was 100 percent false. She said there was an ambulance sent to the school for an adult medical issue, and the rumor could have stemmed from that. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Bitterly cold. Mostly sunny. High --19C. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Bitterly cold. Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low --23C. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Dina Lohan has been seen for the first time since being arrested outside a New York steak house after an alleged hit-and-run over the weekend. Lohan, 57, was charged with DWI - her second arrest for the same offense. In new images, she is seen on Tuesday meeting with an unidentified man where she hands over an old dirt bike outside her home in Long Island. The mother of actress Lindsay Lohan was dressed in a low-profile ball cap, oversize grey hoodie, jeans and long black boots. Linsey Lohan's mom, Dina, emerges for the first time since her DWI arrest this past weekend outside her home on New York's Long Island . A dog is also seen and her holiday decorations are still up. Dina is in a low-profile ball cap, oversize grey hoodie, jeans and long black boots A pickup truck is seen arriving at the home, located in Merrick, New York Dina meets with an unidentified man who inspects the bike. Both are joined by the friendly dog, possibly a Golden Retriever In the images, Dina, 57, emerges from her home in Merrick, New York, to pass an old dirt bike to an unidentified man The man is seen inspecting the bike while Dina, for the most part, is on her cell phone She spends almost the entire time on the cell phone while she meets with the man. He is seen in inspecting the bike, and both are briefly joined by a dog, possibly a Golden Retriever. Dina does not appear to engage with the man, however at one point she does seem to be yelling at someone in the distance. Dina on Saturday was alleged to have been involved in a hit-and-run accident with another vehicle. New York police said the incident occurred around 6.30pm Saturday evening near Merrick Mall on Long Island outside an Outback Steakhouse. Dina takes a break from her cell phone to speak with someone in the distance The man appears to approve of the bike and takes it away The man leads away the bike to load it on to the back of a pickup truck The bike is seen in the back of a Chevrolet Silverado, along plastic containers and what appears to be a bicycle Dina allegedly clipped a vehicle before fleeing the scene, prompting the driver of the car to chase her to her house. Authorities said Dina, who was driving a 2016 Mercedes, was taken into custody after refusing to take a breathalyzer test. The Nassau County Police Department confirmed to DailyMail.com that Dina had been arrested for DWI and was transferred to court on Sunday morning. Police also said she cursed at the department's officers during the arrest. She made an initial appearance in court in Hempstead on Sunday on charges of DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and driving an uninspected vehicle. Dina entered a plea of not guilty, and is expected back in court Wednesday. Saturday evening's arrest isn't the first for Lindsay's mother. In September 2013, Dina was arrested for drunk driving after being pulled over for driving 77mph in a 55mph zone. In September 2013, Dina was arrested for drunk driving after being pulled over for driving 77mph in a 55mph zone. She is pictured in this handout photo provided by the New York State Police at the time Dina Lohan (C) appears in court with her attorney Mark Heller at Nassau County First District Court on June 3, 2014 in Hempstead on New York's Long Island New York state police believed she was intoxicated and tested her blood alcohol level. At the time, TMZ claimed that her blood alcohol level was found to be .2, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08. 'Lohan made an allegation that she was injured during the course of the arrest,' police officials said in a statement. However the reality star 'recanted her claim' when medics arrived at the scene and ascertained that she was fine. Dina was taken to a police station nearby and charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated and one count of speeding. Lindsay has also been arrested several times, including twice for DUI. Dina and Lindsay Lohan pictured during New Year's Eve festivities at the Marriott Marquis in New York on December 31, 2018 Lindsay has also been arrested several times, including twice for DUI. She is pictured attending a probation revocation hearing at the Beverly Hills Courthouse on July 6, 2010 A string of run-ins with the law and struggles with addiction cut short her movie career that began with her starring role in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. In order to escape the media attention, she decamped to London where she made her West End stage debut in September 2014 in a production of David Mamet's Speed The Plow. By 2016, she was spending time in Greece where she had a share in a nightclub in Athens and was briefly engaged to Russian playboy Egor Tarabasov. Earlier this month, Lindsay, who is a New York native, vowed to return to the US to start making movies again. She revealed on CNN's New Year's Eve telecast from Times Square that she's determined to reclaim 'the life I've worked so hard for'. Two days after senior Mumbai University (MU) faculty member Yogesh Soman was sent on a forced leave after he posted a video criticising Rahul Gandhi, a Maharashtra Congress leader on Wednesday said the action should not be construed as "intolerance". The party spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the action was aimed at "cleansing the system". MU general secretary had issued a letter at 11.30 pm on Monday stating that Soman was being sent on forced leave, a Chhatra Bharti functionary had said on Tuesday. Soman, Director of the department of Academy of Theatre Arts, had posted a video criticising Rahul Gandhi over his remarks "I am Rahul Gandhi and not Rahul Savarkar" which the latter had made at a public meeting in Delhi. Students of Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) and other bodies had demanded action against Soman and also held a sit-in protest at the Kalina campus of the MU. Reacting to the development, a senior BJP leader had reportedly questionned whether the action against Soman was not intolerance. Sawant said the BJP had held the entire system to "ransom" during its tenure in Maharashtra. "Several inefficient persons with RSS ideology and background were holding different posts in the system. Action against Soman was not intolerance but cleansing the education system of such elements," he said. He said Soman "not only lacks teaching experience but also doesn't possess any degree in theatre". "Soman used his position to propagate the ideology of the RSS and the BJP among students. His political comments are testimony to this," he said. Citing service rules, Sawant said the action against Soman was justified. "Rules state that those appointed on government post should not voice their personal political views and should not be affiliated to any political party. "Soman made the video attacking Rahul Gandhi because he had the backing of the BJP government," he said. MU Vice Chancellor Ajay Deshmukh had told students that a fact-finding committee will be set up in the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China is continuing a nationwide crackdown on rights activists, detaining lawyer Chang Weiping at an unknown location, while pressing "terrorism" charges against Zhang Baocheng, activists told RFA. Chang was detained by police in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi and placed under "residential surveillance" at an unknown location on state security-related charges, his family said. Chang was taken away by state security police while visiting a friend's home in the provincial capital Xi'an, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in a statement on its webiste. He is being held incommunicado in an unknown location on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power ... and can be held for up to six months without being charged nor granted access to a lawyer," the group said. "He is at great risk of being tortured." The provincial justice bureau stripped Chang of his license to practice law last month, and his wife was informed of his status by phone on Tuesday. An official who answered the phone at the justice bureau in Chang's home city of Baoji said he had "violated the relevant rules and regulations." "There were violations of rules and discipline in Chang Weiping's practice," the official said, but declined to comment on Chang's detention. "This has very little to do with [politically] sensitive cases [taken on by Chang], and we don't know if he was taken away," the official said. Unable to appeal Chen Yue, director-general of the "China Human Rights Lawyer Concern Group" in Hong Kong, said Chang was only informed of the loss of his license when he was already under surveillance and unable to do anything to appeal the decision. "What they're not saying is that that he didn't have any redress," Chen said. "His license was canceled on Dec. 31, but they only announced the decision in January." "He couldn't be notified of it, so he lost the option of seeking redress, so really it's a disguised way of ensuring he will never be able to practise law again," she said. Chang Weiping had worked on several cases deemed politically "sensitive" by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in recent years, representing rights activists, death penalty cases, and discrimination lawsuits. Four lawyers remain in custody, with three in "residential surveillance at a designated location," a practice described by United Nations human rights experts as enforced disappearance by another name. Beijing-based lawyer Ding Jiaxi was detained on Dec. 26 in Beijing by police from the eastern province of Shandong, where authorities are coordinating the nationwide operation. Rights activists Zhang Zhongshun, Dai Zhenya, and Li Yingjun were detained a day later by Shandong police in their hometowns in Shandong and Fujian. Nationwide crackdown Chinese police launched a nationwide operation detaining at least eight people and questioning others, following a Dec. 13 meeting of liberal-minded activists and lawyers in the southeastern province of Fujian. Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong set up a police task force after the meeting in the Fujian port city of Xiamen, and had detained eight people in Fujian, Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Sichuan, and Zhejiang by Jan. 1, CHRD said. Hubei rights activist Liu Jiacai told RFA he is on the run after attending the gathering in Xiamen, and hopes to flee China and seek asylum overseas. "I have been on the run since," he said. "We did not violate any current laws. We acted legally, but the actions taken by the authorities have scared me." "I want to escape from this country," Liu said from hiding. Terrorism charges Meanwhile, authorities in the Chinese capital have indicted Beijing-based New Citizens' Movement activist Zhang Baocheng on "terrorism" charges after he posted items to social media regarding the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Zhang faces charges of "promoting terrorism and extremism" and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," with online posts being submitted in evidence by the prosecution, according to a copy of the indictment seen by RFA. The indictment accuses him of posting online commentary containing "false content" between 2018 and 2019 that was judged to be "anti-party, anti-government, and bringing national leaders into disrepute." Zhang is also accused of "distributing videos relating to violent terrorism and extremism." Zhang's wife, Liu Yifan, who is currently in the U.S., said some of the content was related to mass incarceration camps in Xinjiang. Zhang may have angered someone powerful when he showed public support for jailed rights activist and website editor Huang Qi by helping his mother, fellow activists said. Beijing-based activist Li Wei said the indictment was a form of retaliation against someone who had always fought for human rights. "This is all about freedom, human rights, and the rule of law," Li said, adding that he too is under close surveillance and has been keeping a low profile. "Sooner or later it may be my turn," he said. "That is definitely a very big possibility." Zhang was previously sentenced to two years' imprisonment on April 18, 2014 by Beijing's Haidian District People's Court, which found him guilty of "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order." New Citizens' Movement activists Li Wei and Ding Jiaxi, who called publicly on Chinese officials to reveal details of their wealth, and veteran democracy activist Zhao Changqing were jailed at the same time on the same charge. Dozens detained Dozens of people linked in some way to the New Citizens Movement were detained around 2014, with at least seven activists linked to the movement handed formal jail terms, rights groups said at the time. Movement founder Xu Zhiyong was China's highest-profile dissident to be sentenced to jail since 2009, when Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo was ordered imprisoned for 11 years for subversion after helping organize the "Charter 08" petition calling for sweeping political change and a constitutional government. In May 2012, Xu penned an article titled "China Needs a New Citizens Movement," which is believed to have spurred the loose nationwide network of activists to action. The article called on responsible citizens to oppose corruption and work to support disadvantaged groups, as well as holding political meetings and collaborating to achieve these goals. Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Representative Image Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal has been all smiles since the Delhi assembly poll date was announced on January 6. Kejriwals reaction was in contrast to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is supervising the partys campaign. Kejriwal is confident that Delhi voters will make a distinction between the state and national elections and vote him back on the basis of what his government has done in the last five years. Shah and other BJP leaders are counting on Prime Minister Narendra Modis vote-pulling power, among other arsenal, to enact a repeat of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll performance when the party won all the seven seats from Delhi. For the BJP, Modi remains its mascot who holds out a big promise on Delhis development with largesse from the central government. BJP managers do not mince words in saying that their hopes are on Modi who will take some sheen out of the AAP when he hits the campaign trail. This is notwithstanding the danger in this approach. Modis image may suffer a further big dent in the event of the BJP failing to prevent the AAP from returning to power after losing government in Jharkhand. There is also a big gamble in the BJP hoping for voter sentiments to perk up in its favour on issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the revoking of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the triple talaq law and their associated fallout on the streets and campuses of the Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. The BJP is unmindful of the student unrest, which has been read by the Opposition and many of Modis critics as harbinger of an Indian version of the Arab Spring. An environment that adds to disenchantment among the youth over education, jobs and financial insecurity because of the economic slowdown wont help the BJPs campaigners. However, Kejriwal too has chosen to look askance on the student issues lest the BJP gains advantage. On other hand, the BJP is being seen as unable to draw on lessons from Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. On his part, Kejriwal has shown to have undergone a political transition. His political attacks are no longer targeted at Modi, and, rather, limits himself to extol his governments achievements. He no longer focuses on a negative campaign against his opponents. With a huge advertisement budget and with all its concomitant good press, Kejriwal has shown that he is willing to overemphasise ones achievements. One is reminded of how the BJP under the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost power in 2004 in spite of its India Shining campaign. Kejriwals confidence stems from good rating among voters who are beneficiaries of the schemes his government has rolled out: free and subsidised electricity and water supply, improved functioning of government schools, flagship mohalla clinics and free treatment in hospitals. What goes in Kejriwals favour is also the fact that the BJP bears the burden of defending its poor performance in running the three municipal corporations under its control. By giving ownership rights to residents in 1,731 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, the Modi-led central government has tried to overshadow the AAP. The AAP has countered by saying that ownership rights alone wont regularise these colonies. An important factor that may decide the outcome, which the BJP may hate to admit openly, is the Congress, which emerged second in the Lok Sabha polls. Will the Congress play spoil sport for the AAP or sink without trace? The BJPs hope is that the Congress eat into the AAP vote share in at least a dozen of the 70 constituencies. This would help the BJP inch closer to the half-way mark. This is because the AAP and the Congress are in the race for the same set of votes the minorities and scheduled castes. In the 2015 assembly elections, where the AAP won 67 seats, the Congress had collapsed as these votes decisively shifted in favour of Kejriwal. If one goes by the Congress performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the grand old party won 22.5 per cent votes as against the 14 per cent it won in 2014. The Congress success in neighbouring Haryana has given hopes to its ranks to cash in on the anti-AAP sentiments. It doesnt help the Congress that it leaders lack unity. Both Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former President Rahul Gandhi want senior and familiar faces such as JP Aggarwal, Ajay Maken and Arvind Singh Lovely to fill the vacuum left behind by the demise of Sheila Dikshit. The Congress campaign rest on Dikshits achievements when she was Chief Minister for 15 continuous years. Desertions of influential leaders from the Congress to the AAP, such as Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, Chandini Chowks Parlad Singh Sawhney and Badarpurs Ram Singh Netaji is a setback for the national party. Even former Congress MP Mahabal Mishras son Vinay has switched over to Kejriwals side. BJP leaders are of the view that this shows that the AAP is not confident of its flock and needs deserters from the Congress to win. Never mind that the BJP itself has welcomed turncoats from the AAP such as Kapil Mishra who may be fielded against Kejriwal. On January 14, the AAP announced its 70 candidates for the February 8 polls. Interestingly 15 sitting MLAs have been dropped from the list. It has to be seen how these dropped MLAs will react to the list. After the list was out, Badarpur MLA ND Sharma resigned from the party accusing it of selling tickets. The electoral campaign is going to pick up from here, but expect the voters to send out the message: that more than grand promises of a better future, concrete deliveries is what matters. A study led by the University of Southampton has mapped several sites in Europe containing gas hydrate - a relatively clean fuel which could help bridge the gap between fossil fuels and renewables. Vast amounts of natural gas are stored in an ice-like form beneath the seabed, under the deep seafloor, close to edge of the landmasses that form our continents. This gas hydrate, sometimes known as 'ice that burns', has the potential to play a role as a substitute for coal in the coming decades, until there is sufficient renewable energy to meet society's demands. This new inventory of gas hydrate deposits was undertaken as part of MIGRATE (Marine Gas Hydrates: An Indigenous Resource of Natural Gas for Europe), a project funded by the European Commission and led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel. The research showed there are direct or indirect indications of the presence of hydrate at several European sites, including off the west and east coasts of Greenland, on and around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (Barents Sea), off central Norway and west of Ireland. It is also present in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Professor Tim Minshull of the University of Southampton, who led a 31 strong-team from 14 countries, said: "We found that gas hydrate is particularly widespread around Svalbard, off Norway and in the Black Sea, but the hydrate systems have only been well investigated in a few areas, so there could be much still to discover. "Exploiting gas hydrate deposits safely and efficiently presents challenges, for example, converting the hydrate to gas without using up too much energy. But several large feasibility projects are exploring these and other factors." The study authors point out that having this hydrate inventory may also be important for more acute environmental reasons. If oceans warm due to climate change, hydrate may naturally melt, releasing methane which could change the chemical balance of the oceans. Mapping where this might happen will help scientists to monitor progress. ### The results of this study, which incorporates work from the Southampton PhD theses of Sudipta Sarkar, Bedanta Goswami and Eric Attias and involved collaboration with Dr Hector Marin-Moreno of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, are published in the international journal Marine and Petroleum Geology. Notes to Editors 1) Hydrate occurrence in Europe: A review of available evidence is published in the journal Marine Petroleum and Geology, DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.08.014 2) The University of Southampton drives original thinking, turns knowledge into action and impact, and creates solutions to the world's challenges. We are among the top 100 institutions globally (QS World University Rankings 2019). Our academics are leaders in their fields, forging links with high-profile international businesses and organisations, and inspiring a 22,000-strong community of exceptional students, from over 135 countries worldwide. Through our high-quality education, the University helps students on a journey of discovery to realise their potential and join our global network of over 200,000 alumni. http://www.southampton.ac.uk 3) For more on GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research visit https://www.geomar.de/en/ and for the National Oceanography Centre visit https://www.noc.ac.uk/ For further information contact: Peter Franklin, Media Relations, University of Southampton. Tel: 023 8059 3212 Email: p.franklin@southampton.ac.uk http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/contact-press-team.page Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/unisouthampton Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unisouthampton Jalali was an economics major who fell in love with photography when he received his first camera as a gift. His discovery of the medium reprises the story of photographys arrival in Iran. In 1842, two daguerreotype cameras, brought overland on a horse-drawn wagon, were presented to the Shah as a gift from the Russian and British royal houses. The Shahs son, Naser al-Din, who came to power at 17, took to these miraculous tools. He had his own darkroom built in the palace in 1862. A suspected serial bank robber who passes a note to tellers asking for 'large bills only' was captured on security footage Tuesday carrying out his sixth New York heist in two weeks - after he was arrested last week but released because he didn't use a weapon. A suspect matching the description of Gerod Woodberry, 42, entered the Citibank on Third Avenue near East 49th Street in Midtown around 1:20pm and carried out his signature move - passing a note, which read, 'This is a robbery. Large bills only please.' Tuesday's crime marks at least the sixth suspected bank heist by Woodberry since 30 December, after he allegedly struck sites in New York's Midtown Manhattan, Harlem, the West Village and the Upper West Side. The suspect is pictured above entering the Chase Bank at 20 Flatbush Avenue, Downtown Brooklyn on 10 January before he carried out what is believed to be robbery number five However, under the controversial new New York 'no-bail law' that doesn't require a bond to hold a suspect accused of non-violent felonies, including robbery, Woodberry was allowed to walk free. On January 9 Woodberry was hauled before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge for robberies at four Chase branches across the city, where he had taken about $2,000 in stolen cash. Because he didn't use a weapon in any of the incidents, the new law required him to be released, leaving him free to rob another bank in Downtown Brooklyn the following day. The robber pictured on January 3 at a Chase Bank in Broadway, Manhattan. His signature style is to pass a note asking for 'large bills only please' The same suspect is pictured in another surveillance image taken while he allegedly committed a bank robbery on January 6 'I can't believe they let me out,' he was overheard saying on the way out of the New York Police Department headquarters, reports the New York Post. 'What were they thinking?' he added. Woodberry is suspected of conducting another heist on Tuesday, but fled the bank empty-handed and remains at large. 'It fits the description and m.o. of [Woodberry],' a police source told the New York Post. The 'no-bail' law has received mixed review since it was enshrined into state legislation on January 1, with politicians and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio calling for it to be revamped or scrapped altogether. One high-ranking NYPD insider told the Post it was a 'circus'. They said: 'They made it this way, your local New York state politicians. Wait until a cop gets hurt responding, or a person fleeing the bank. Well see how they feel after that.' Woodberry is alleged to have begun his spree when he first struck a bank in Midtown and got away with $1,000. He then allegedly hit up banks in Harlem on January 3. He is believed to have taken $1,000 from a bank in the West Village on January 6, but walked away empty-handed after passing a note to a teller on the Upper West Side two days later. He is accused of targeting a bank in downtown Brooklyn after he was released from NYPD headquarters at 1 Police Plaza on Friday, followed by his latest Midtown heist on Tuesday. Anyone with information is urged to contact the NYPD's 'Crime Stoppers Hotline' at 800-577-8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at www.crimestoppers.com, on Twitter @NYPDTips As the nation celebrates the 72nd Army Day on Wednesday (January 15), Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Indian Army personnel who braved heavy snowfall to help a pregnant woman in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier on Wednesday, the official account of Chinar Corps Indian Army tweeted a video of jawans carrying a pregnant woman on a stretcher through heavy snow in the Kashmir Valley. The video went viral within no time and PM Modi retweeted the video and hailed the army personnel for helping the woman. The prime minister said that he is proud of the Army and hailed the Army for its valour and professionalism. Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child, tweeted the prime minister. Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child. https://t.co/Lvetnbe7fQ Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2020 In the video, Army jawans and some civilians can be seen carrying the stretcher through the snow to admit the woman named Shamima in hospital. According to the Army, Shamima later delivered her baby at the hospital and both the mother and the child were fine. Live TV In their tweet, the Chinar Corps of the Indian Army said, During heavy snowfall, an expecting mother Mrs Shamima, required emergency hospitalisation. For 4 hours over 100 Army persons & 30 civilians walked with her on the stretcher through heavy snow. The 72nd Army Day it celebrated on January 15 every year because it was on this day that Lt Gen K M Carriappa took over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. President Donald Trump will head to Wisconsin for a rally that coincides with a Democratic presidential debate in neighboring Iowa and kicks off a year where Wisconsin will be at heart of the fight for the White House. Read more MILWAUKEE As Democrats prepare for their last debate before primary voting commences, President Donald Trump is eager to provide political counter-programming in a nearby battleground state. Trump is headed to Wisconsin on Tuesday night for a rally that coincides with the final Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, which holds its kickoff caucuses in less than three weeks on Feb. 3. While Democratic voters try to decide who is their best candidate to take on Trump, the president has been contending with the House vote to impeach him. After weeks of delay, the House will vote Wednesday to send its articles of impeachment to the Senate, kicking off what will be only the third impeachment trial in the nation's history. Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and there is nowhere near the 67 votes needed for Trumps removal. Winning back Wisconsin is a key part of Democrats' 2020 strategy and one of the reasons the party chose Milwaukee to host its national convention in July. Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016, cracking Democrats' long-held blue wall," along with Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump is expected to make frequent return visits in the coming months as he works to maintain his edge. In Milwaukee, Trump supporters began lining up Monday evening outside the arena to make sure they would be able to get inside. I think the Wisconsin vote is very important, very important," said Brenda Stoetzer, 60, from Hickory Hills, Illinois. And we need to just spread the message here that, you know, Trump is helping the people, the ordinary people. He's not making the rich richer. He's making everyone richer. I think he's done right by the whole country," agreed Nancy Freye, 65, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He's fighting for all of us every day. I don't know how you can even get anything done, but he does. So good for him and for us." Counter-protests and other related events organized by both Democrats and the Trump administration were planned ahead of the rally at an arena in the heart of downtown. Democrats were focused on health care issues, with Mayor Tom Barrett, the state Democratic Party chairman and others planning to speak at a Milwaukee hospital against Trump's health care policies. They were pressing the need to uphold the current law, enacted under former President Barack Obama, that guarantees coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. Protests were also planned around the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee arena. The Coalition to March on the DNC said more than a dozen groups would be joining its event. And an immigrant and refugee advocacy group, Voces de la Frontera, planned a separate rally to criticize the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants and refugees. Meanwhile, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was holding an event to highlight the administration's criminal justice reform efforts with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Trump signed the First Step Act, a law designed to overhaul the criminal justice system, reduce the number of people in prison and help former inmates rejoin society. It was a rare bipartisan victory, with backing from black leaders and lawmakers who forged an allegiance with Trump. Democrats and Republicans are trying to win over black voters in big cities such as Milwaukee that will play a huge role in deciding who will become the next president. Lower African American turnout in 2016 was part of what helped fuel Trump's victory. One of those organizers in Milwaukee, Angela Lang, said Kushner's event seemed like an attempt to woo minorities. But she said Trump shouldn't assume that all black voters care about is mass incarceration and criminal justice reform. Everyone knows when you come to Milwaukee that's code for black and brown voters, she said. But black voters are more than just single-issue voters. Wisconsin's primary is April 7. Colvin reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Carrie Antlfinger contributed to this report. Masterchef star Marcus Wareing's 7million London mansion was raided by a team of 'burglary tourists' who jetted in from Chile and took his watch collection including his prized gold Rolex and his wife's Louboutin shoes. The Michelin-starred restaurateur's Wimbledon home was broken into in October last year by a South American gang who sprayed a small orange spot on the chefs fence to remind them of their targets. Mr Wareing was at his second home in Kent with his wife Jane when Danko Carvajal-Donaire, 20, Claudio Donoso, 20, Nicolas Portilla Astorga, 27, and Jorge Rojas, 22, smashed their way in through the six-bedroom property's patio doors and grabbed 33,000 of valuables from their bedroom. The Chileans took his gold Rolex, a pair of Omega watches worth 12,000, and another watch engraved with 'Hell's Kitchen' - a curious nod to Mr Wareing's mentor Gordon Ramsay who he famously fell out with, the Evening Standard has reported. Jane Wareing's valuable bracelets, earrings and gold chains, a 1,500 Cartier watch, 520 Louboutin shoes and a locket with irreplaceable pictures of her beloved father were also stolen. The thieves, who were arrested days later on their way to burgle another London property even posed wearing some of the valuables - but only a small pendant has been recovered. Mobsters have been sending teams to target houses in London and the Home Counties for at least eight years with the thieves recruited in South America and sent to the UK for two to three days to burgle as many homes as possible before fleeing home. Chef Marcus Wareing and his wife jane were burgled by a South American gang who jetted in to London to ransack mansions Burglars Danko Carvajal-Donaire and Nicolas Portilla Astorga flew in from South America and even posed wearing the couples stolen jewellery, which they then got rid of Outside Mr Wareing's house the gang sprayed an orange dot on his fence with the judge who jailed them warning others to be aware of the sign This pendant was one of the many valuable items taken by the gang of 'tourist burglars' In 2015 a Colombian female kingpin living in West Norwood was rooted out and jailed after masterminding 800 burglaries but the gangs are still hitting high-value houses, often in London's richest suburbs or in Asian communities where residents often have large amounts of gold at home. Some teams never even left the airport, grabbing suitcases from carousels and taking any valuables from inside before dumping them in arrivals. Mr Wareing told Kingston Crown Court his family's loss of sentimental items in the raid had been 'enormous', adding: 'The loss of the jewellery and watches is deeply upsetting'. But he added: 'We are pleased that the men have been caught and would like to thank Wimbledon police for assisting us during this time. They made us feel safe and secure again in our home and were utterly brilliant.' Judge Jonathan Davies jailed the four men for three years and four months each and told them: 'No one here or abroad should be under an illusion that somehow the UK is a soft touch. Each of you came to this country with one purpose crime. No other reason for your visit to the UK has been offered to me.' Mr Wareing, pictured in his home, revealed that the burglars took some of his most prized possesions Pictured left: Danko Carvajal-Donaire, 20 and right: Jorge Rojas, 22 Pictured left: Claudio Donoso, 20 and right Nicolas Portilla Astorga, 27 The group will be deported after they serve their time in prison. The judge also raised the orange dots on the chef's as a matter of public importance. He said: 'I mention that so others are made aware to be on their guard if they see such markings.' Prosecutor Christiaan Moll said: 'The master bedroom had been broken into and their possessions had been strung out all over the floor. There had been an untidy search of that room, which is on the first floor. 'A double patio door which leads to a large balcony was smashed'. The break-in is the latest in a pattern of burglaries by South American thieves whom the Metropolitan Police suspect are flown into the country by an organised network thought to be behind hundreds of such crimes. The Metropolitan Police's investigation, known as Operation Genie, began after a spate of burglaries in the south-west London and Surrey areas in 2017. Typically the thieves targeted unoccupied addresses situated in rural areas, often near parks or golf courses. The US government is nearing publication of a rule that would vastly expand its powers to block shipments of foreign-made goods to China's Huawei, as it seeks to squeeze the blacklisted telecoms company, two sources said. The U.S. Commerce Department in May placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns. That allowed the U.S. government to restrict sales of U.S.-made goods to the company and a small number of items made abroad that contain U.S. technology. Under current regulations, key foreign supply chains remain beyond the reach of U.S. authorities, fuelling frustration among China hawks within the administration and a push to expand U.S. authority to block more shipments to Huawei. But U.S. businesses say an effort to enable the government to regulate more sales to Huawei to include low-tech items made overseas with very little U.S. technology could end up needlessly hurting U.S. companies while encouraging Huawei to source more goods abroad. Reuters reported in November that Commerce was considering broadening the De minimis Rule, which dictates how much U.S. content in a foreign-made product gives the U.S. government authority to regulate an export. Under current regulations, the United States can require a license or block the export of many high-tech products shipped to China from other countries if U.S.-made components make up more than 25% of the value. According to two people familiar with the matter, Commerce has drafted a rule that would lower the threshold only on exports to Huawei to 10% and expand the purview to include non-technical goods like consumer electronics including non-sensitive chips. According to one of the people, the Commerce Department sent the rule to the Office of Management and Budget, following an interagency meeting last week. If other government agencies sign off on the measure, the rule could be issued in a matter of weeks as a so-called final rule, with no opportunity for public comment before it goes into effect, the people said. Commerce has also drafted a regulation that would expand the so-called Foreign Direct Product Rule, which subjects foreign-made goods that are based on U.S. technology or software to U.S. oversight. This would be broadened to include low-tech items made abroad that are based on U.S. technology and shipped to Huawei, the people said. In December, Huawei, the world's largest smartphone maker, reported an 18 percent jump in revenue for 2019 and a 20 percent increase in shipments of smartphones. Afraid of not having a car payment I was at a gathering at New Years and I overheard a girl saying that she was afraid to own her car outright. She said as soon as a car gets close to being paid off she trades it in on another. Her logic was that if it is paid off,... A baby boy who is fighting for life he was found inside a car on a hot day may have been locked inside for five hours - as police probe whether his mother was playing the pokies during his ordeal. The one-year-old was found unresponsive at about 3pm on Wednesday in the locked car, which was parked outside the pokie room of The Brook Hotel at Melbourne's Point Cook. The one-year-old is believed to have been alone in the car for up to five hours as temperatures reached 33C. A baby boy was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition and is now fighting for his life after being locked in a car on a hot day in Melbourne's south-west Kidsafe Victoria General Manager Jason Chambers told the Herald Sun that inside a car can be up to 30C hotter than outside on a warm day. 'The major temperature increase happens in the first five minutes,' Mr Chambers said. 'It becomes dangerous really quickly.' Paramedics rushed the boy to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition and he is now fighting for his life, Victoria Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia. Police are investigating whether the woman was gambling while the child was locked in the car. Local resident Alison Connell said she was horrified by the incident. The baby was found unresponsive about 3pm on Wednesday in the locked car, which was parked outside The Brook Point Cook (pictured) 'My mum called me and said theres been a child left in a car and its in a pretty bad way,' Ms Connell said. 'I was horrified. People should have more brains.' A crime scene was set up on Wednesday night as police investigated the incident. The mother was believed to have been questioned on Wednesday night. A forthcoming documentary tells the story of world-renowned Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein, founder of Violins of Hope, and his visit to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Presented and distributed by American Public Television, Dreams of Hope" will premiere on PBS stations nationwide in February. Weinstein has spent more than two decades locating and restoring violins that were played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. In 2018, Birmingham hosted Violins of Hope in a series of concerts at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Alys Stephens Center. Co-directed by filmmaker David L. Macon and co-directed by Dr. Henry Panion, III, professor of music and Director of Music Technology at University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dreams of Hope blends concert footage with behind-the-scenes interviews chronicling the events leading up to the performances. The program includes reflections by Richard Arrington, Jr., the first African-American Mayor of Birmingham; Jeffrey and Gail Bayer, co-chairs of Violins of Hope Birmingham; Chris Hamlin, former Pastor of 16th Street Baptist; Amnon and Assi Weinstein, founders of Violins of Hope; Dr. Henry Panion, III; violinist Caitlin Edwards; and Sallie Downs, who spearheaded the initiative to bring Violins of Hope to Birmingham. Concert footage features the premiere of Dreams of Hope for Solo Violin & Orchestra, composed by Panion, commissioned especially for the concert at the church. Alongside the Dreams of Hope Orchestra, the concert features vocalists Valerie Smith and Lenora Goodman-Panion, dancer Kelsey Ebersold, and the Miles College Choir. Violinist Caitlin Edwards returns to her hometown of Birmingham to play the Auschwitz Violin, originally built around 1850. The story of these violins and the Jewish people is of survival, hope, and triumph, one that so parallels the story of the 16th Street Baptist Church and its people. Having suffered the worst fate imaginable, the church and these violins have been beautifully restored and are now magnificent relics for all to behold, said Dr. Panion. The public screening of the documentary is Thursday, February 6, 2020, 7 p.m. at the Alabama Theatre. Tickets are free and reservations are required through www.dreamsofhopebham.org. A panel discussion will follow the screening. Luxury five-star hotel C Central Resort The Palm has marked the beginning of 2020 with its grand opening in Dubai. With VIP guests and media gracing the grand ceremony, a press conference, media tour and sumptuous buffet at its Waves restaurant were the highlights of the momentous event. A 203-key luxury beachfront hotel with magnificent views of the Arabian Gulf, C Central Resort The Palm is strategically located in Dubais iconic man-made island, home to some of Dubai's top luxury resorts the Palm Jumeirah. One of the worlds most daring developments, the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai is a haven for adventure seekers, honeymooners and family vacationers. "We are pleased to launch C Central Resort The Palm, a rare gem that sparkles in the sea, where guests can truly experience privacy and beachfront living, unwind and enjoy spectacular views of the ocean," said Abdulla Al Abdulla, chief operating officer of Central Hotels. "The epitome of luxury beachfront living, imagine waking up to soft lapping waves of the sea, early morning strolls with sand on your toes and an endless vista of the ocean as far as your eyes can see. This is what we want our guests to feel, a place by the sea they can call home, where they can just be themselves, one with nature, then come back recharged and refreshed. Our top clients are travellers and tourists from the CIS market, as well as guests from GCC & Middle East, Southeast Asia, Far East Asia, Europe and Latin America," added Basel Eshak Butrs, general manager of C Central Resort The Palm. The five-star property offers guests luxury beachfront living with striking views from nearly every room. Each room is equipped with floor to ceiling glass with balconies that enables you to look out over a sweeping ocean view of the Gulf and the exciting Dubai skyline. An inspiring display of sea, sky, and light. Featuring 192 spacious and well-equipped rooms, 11 stunning suites, four distinctly themed F&B outlets, a world-class spa & wellness centre, and a state-of-the-art gym, C Central Resort The Palm exemplifies a grand canvas of contemporary sophistication and luxurious tranquility. Both leisure and business travellers are in for something new and exciting. Within close proximity to prominent business districts, top attractions and the airports, the new hotel is the perfect address for modern travellers. Gourmet dining, fresh seafood and locally-sourced ingredients are at the core of the dining options such as at Waves restaurant, an all-day dining concept that lets you feast on the choicest cuisine. Coffee and tea lovers can have their hearts content at Baristas Corner. C Grill Restaurant and Bar, a modern steakhouse excites your palate with perfect succulent steaks accompanied by fine beverages. Mojito Pool Bar at the beach side is where guests can chill, relax and watch the sunset while sipping on enticing beverages. Guests can also choose to have their food delivered straight to their rooms with discreet in-room dining or surprise your partner with a candle lit romantic dinner. To complete the luxury experience, you can unwind at the Away Wellness Centre, try the Signature 4 Hands spa treatment where you can lose yourself in bliss. Stay fit and strong with the fully-equipped gym where you can exercise in peace facing the ocean. Get your pulse racing, with speedboat rides, cruising around the Palm Jumeirah and pausing for an Insta-worthy shot. For business meetings and events, C Central Resort The Palm can take care of all the details, book meeting rooms suitable for a wide variety of events from executive board meetings to corporate team building workshops, conferences, seminars, product launches as well as intimate weddings. Abdulla said: Central Hotels is proud to welcome the newest addition to our growing portfolio of four-star and five-star properties in the Gulf region. With four existing hotels in prime locations - Business Bay, Barsha Heights and here at The Palm Jumeirah, and two in development in City Walk and in Deira Island, we foresee a bright future and robust growth. Launched in 2015, Central Hotels, headquartered in Dubai, is one of the fastest growing hospitality management companies in the UAE. It was established to cater to both leisure and business travelers looking to experience the best of Arabian hospitality in the heart of the city. - TradeArabia News Service Indian Space Research Organisation is currently facing some really nerve-wracking missions ahead of them. One of them is Gaganyaan -- Indias first manned space mission -- that is scheduled to happen sometime in 2022. However, ISRO chief has revealed another mission that will truly take things to a whole new level. ISRO ISRO Chief K Sivan has stated that after the success of Gaganyaan, ISRO could soon build its own space station in Earths orbit -- similar to the International Space Station and Chinas Tiangong -2 space station (which re-entered Earth in July 2019). K Sivan said in an exclusive interview with Economic Times, Before Independence Day (in) 2022, we are targeting the first manned mission, Isro chairman said. We will sustain that with more (human spaceflight) missions. Then we will have our own space station. ISROs Gaganyaan mission has already enlisted four IAF pilots that will be heading to Russia this month for training to be an astronaut. India is also taking Russias help in developing a life-support system for the crew capsule. K Sivan has confirmed that the astronaut suits will be fabricated in Russia. The rocket that will be taking Indian astronauts to space is the GSLV Mark III that weighs a massive 3.7 tonnes and has the capacity to carry three astronauts. However, in Indias maiden human flight, itll only be carrying one. ISRO also has two unmanned missions planned for this year, one being the launch of a humanoid into space with the GSLV Mark III. The rocket is autonomous and is tuned with adherence to a human onboard. Reuters K Sivan added, The humanoid will have systems that simulate human functions. This way scientists will be able to gauge the impact of the spaceflight on a human astronaut, preventing them from harm. The space agency will conduct six microgravity experiments in the crew capsule during the two unmanned missions. ISRO also plans to launch two communication satellites under the IDRSS or Indian Data Relay Satellite System to help astronauts communicate with the ground team. India has budgeted over Rs 10,000 crores for the human space flight mission and has been working on it for two decades now. A Catholic priest in Nigeria releases an appeal for attention and action to the international community as Christians continue to be persecuted and murdered in his country. By Linda Bordoni Every day, says Father Joseph Bature Fidelis, of the Diocese of Maiduguri, Our brothers and sisters are slaughtered in the streets. In a dramatic appeal to the papal charity, Aid to the Church in Need, Father Fidelis says the situation in northern Nigeria continues to deteriorate for religious and for the faithful who are under attack by fundamentalist Islamic militants. His latest appeal follows the abduction of four young seminarians in the city of Kaduna, in north western Nigeria. It is the latest in a long line of attacks and murders of Christian believers there. An estimated 1000 Nigerian Christians were murdered in 2019 alone for their faith. Some 6000 of them have been killed since 2015. In his video message Father Fidelis makes a heartfelt appeal: I ask the government of Italy, the country where I studied, and all European governments to put pressure on our government to do something to defend us. Although the government of Muhammadu Buhari says it has put a number of security measures into place to protect Christians in the area, it appears incapable of guaranteeing security and preventing continuous violence and even anti-Christian massacres. According to Father Fidelis, the support and intervention of European governments is therefore necessary: Otherwise we risk extermination. Our people are suffering so much. Please help us not be silent in the face of this immense extermination that is taking place in silence. Aid to the Church in Need has undertaken to spread the news through the Italian media and is asking for prayers and for concrete support for the Seminaries in the country. Aid will be destined, in particular, to the Good Shepherd Seminary in the city of Maiduguri, which currently has 53 seminarians and, as Father Fidelis says, is in an area where one risks ones life every day just because one is Christian. Tiffany takes on the persona of Jezebel. Her on-the-job mentor (Zoe Tyson) schools her in the on-camera jobs advantages. The guys cant touch you, and you dont have to see how gross they are in person. One, however, doesnt seem gross; when Tiffany live-chats with Bobby_823, the talk becomes personal in a different way. From there Jezebel follows its title character through various, acutely observed developments as she starts bending the rules and becoming a new version of herself. ADA, MI -- The Ada-headquartered Amway Corporation is facing a lawsuit in California over how it classifies its employees. The lawsuit claims the company emphasizes recruitment above actual sales of products, and the man claims he should be paid for his time spent recruiting. Amway counters that the independent business owners are independent contractors who enjoy the benefit of flexible hours. Amway, founded by Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos in 1959, is a direct sales company that makes and distributes various products like nutrition, beauty, and home care products. According to its website, Amway holds more than 800 patents. Direct sales means that Amways so-called Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) sell products directly to customers. The company website also says, Many increase their income potential by sponsoring and mentoring others to join their team and do the same. The people an IBO recruits is called his or her downline" and the IBO can earn a commission on the products bought by members of his or her downline. This use of downlines to make money is a large part of the lawsuit. Thats because it claims the company emphasizes recruitment above actual sales of products. The compensation formulas used by Amway offer IBOs far more potential earnings from downline activity than through their own direct sale of product, the lawsuit states. William Orage is the plaintiff in the case. He worked as an IBO in 2015. According to the lawsuit, he was recruited by sponsors and paid an Amway signup fee of approximately $175. Orage said during his time as an IBO for Amway he bought around $50,000 in Amway products and made two sales total, both to his mother. He said he sold Amway products for four years. Orage said he was also unable to recruit anyone to sign up to be an IBO and be part of his downline. In the end, the lawsuit says Orage was never paid for the many hours he spent trying to recruit new IBOs, including many hours of meetings and trainings. Now Orage says that under California law, Amway owes him some money. The lawsuit claims that because the focus of Amways business model IBOs is on recruitment that the IBOs are not in fact salespeople. As a result, the lawsuit claims that under California law, Amway must pay its IBOs minimum wage and reimburse them for all costs associated with recruiting new IBOs and promoting Amway -- like pamphlets, access to the Amway website portal and product starter kits. Amway said IBOs and employees are not the same thing. When Mr. Orage signed a contract with Amway and became an independent business owner, he agreed he was an independent contractor with the discretion to spend as much or as little time as he chose building his business, the company said in a statement. His lawsuit is without merit, and Amway will vigorously defend itself against his false claims. Instead of employees, Amway said the IBOs are independent contractors that enjoy the benefit of flexible hours and getting to decide how much time they want to devote to Amway. The State of California, where Mr. Orage filed suit, specifically exempted direct sellers from Assembly Bill 5 in 2019, recognizing that direct selling representatives such as IBOs have a long history of working as independent contractors, the statement said. The company has come under fire in the past, mainly for allegations of operating a pyramid scheme. But Orages attorney, Aaron Kaufmann of Leonard Carder, LLP, said that this is a novel lawsuit under a new California law that requires an ABC test to determine if someone is an independent contractor. The test lists three prongs that the hiring company has to satisfy in order for the individual to be an independent contractor. The prongs focus mainly on how much control the worker has. This is a new challenge, a new legal avenue of attack on their system, Kaufmann said. I do think that the ABC Test is a powerful test to find employment status. STAMFORD More than 400 pages of documents detailing the evidence collection in the Jennifer Dulos homicide were unsealed on Wednesday. The documents representing dozens of search warrants had been sealed since the start of the investigation into the May 24 disappearance of the New Canaan mother of five. While the location of her body remains unknown, her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, 52, his former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, 45, and his close friend and former lawyer, Kent Mawhinney, 54, have been charged in connection with the homicide. Defense attorney Norm Pattis, who is representing Fotis Dulos, said his office is reviewing the search warrants. "We are relieved to see the state police were listening to what we had to say, Pattis said in a statement released Wednesday morning. The state has dropped its theory that Mr. Dulos was motivated by animus regarding the divorce because it learned we were right there was no such motive. I am stunned that police never asked to speak to Mr. Dulos. We may well have been able to persuade them to drop the case all together. We would have sat for an interview. We're looking forward to the trial and will press for one as quickly as possible." The search warrants detail new information that police kept under wraps as the investigation continued. Some documents detail domestic violence incidents that had been reported in Farmington in 2017 and in New Canaan. Lauren Almeida, the familys longtime nanny, told New Canaan police that she witnessed Fotis Dulos chase his wife throughout their Farmington home in the summer of 2017 as the two were divorcing, according to the search warrants. Jennifer Dulos ran into a bedroom, slammed the door and kept it shut with her body as her estranged husband banged on the door, Almeida told police, according to the warrants. Fotis Dulos stopped when he realized Almeida and one of his children had witnessed the scene, the warrants state. Jennifer Dulos didn't report the incident because she was afraid of her husband, Almeida told police, according to the warrants. Almeida was likely the last person to have contact with Jennifer Dulos, according to the search warrants. Phone records show Almeida and Jennifer Dulos were in contact at 7:57 a.m. May 24, the warrants said. According to previously released arrest warrants, Jennifer Dulos was last seen on a neighbors security camera at 8:05 a.m., returning to her Welles Lane home after dropping off her children at a nearby school. Police believe Fotis Dulos was lying in wait and attacked her in the garage, the arrest warrants state. Jennifer Dulos' cellphone was "last active" at 11:09 a.m., the warrants said. New Canaan police used her phone carrier to find the tower where her signal last pinged, the documents said. The tower was located at 4 Tower Drive in Darien about a mile from where her black Chevy Suburban was found, police said. New Canaan police officers who responded to a missing persons report filed by Jennifer Dulos' friend found the garage at Welles Lane filled with blood splatter, obvious attempts of cleanup, partial bloody footprints and blood smears, prompting them to call the state police to process the scene, the search warrants state. The initial search warrants were obtained in the hours and days following the missing persons report and the discovery of the bloody scene in the Welles Lane garage. Pattis, who has claimed Jennifer Dulos could have staged her own disappearance, said the search warrants do not reveal new evidence to her whereabouts. A preliminary review of the warrant leaves us relieved and saddened, Pattis said. Were relieved that there is nothing we didnt expect or have heard about; saddened because its obvious the state police really have no idea what became of Jennifer. This remains an open case in our view. According to arrest warrants, the defendants are accused of conspiring to hide evidence with Fotis Dulos carrying out a physical assault at his estranged wifes home on May 24 that left her gravely wounded. In the arrest warrants, state Chief Medical Examiner James Gill said he concluded based on blood found at the scene and other evidence gathered that Jennifer Dulos death was a homicide of violence that likely included traumatic blunt-force injuries such as bludgeoning and stabbing. The warrant describes Jennifer Dulos being bound with zip ties during the alleged attack. Four ties were used, the warrant states, and two were found with her blood on them. It appears the zip ties were used to secure and incapacitate Jennifer Dulos, the warrant reads. It is reasonable that Jennifer Dulos was alive at the time the zip ties were attached to restrain her movements and to prevent her escape. Fotis Dulos and Troconis had been free on bail after previously being charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the May 24 disappearance. Fotis Dulos was held on $6 million bond following his latest arrest last week before posting more than $400,000. He and Troconis, who posted $1.5 million bond, are each on house arrest and remain on electronic monitoring. Mawhinney remains held in lieu of $2 million bond. This story will be updated. Instagram is all set to introduce a new feature that will let users send Direct Messages from their browser. Instagram will not allow sending videos, but users will be able to view non-disappearing ones. Instagram will soon let users chat from their browser. While the launch contradicts Facebooks plan for end-to-end encryption in all its messaging apps, Instagram has begun testing Direct Messages on the web for a selected number of users around the globe. The news comes almost a year after the testing began. To recall, Instagram introduced DMs in the app in 2013. "DMs, but make them desktop. We are currently testing Direct messaging on the web, so you can read and reply to your messages from wherever you are," the company said in a statement on Tuesday. There are a number of businesses that communicate with customers via Instagram DM, and this feature can make their life easier. Instagram will soon enable its website users to see when they receive new DMs, send photos (but not capture them), view their DMs as well as double click to Like and share posts from their feed via Direct. The company will not allow sending videos, but users will be able to view non-disappearing ones. The feature could roll out to everyone soon as Instagram CEO, Adam Mosseri tweeted that he hopes to bring this to everyone soon once the kinks are worked out. However, Facebooks former Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos said, This is fascinating, as it cuts directly against the announced goal of E2E encrypted compatibility between FB/IG/WA. Nobody has ever built a trustworthy web-based E2EE messenger, and I was expecting them to drop web support in FB Messenger. Right hand versus left?" Book by former PGC officer highlights unusual wildlife encounters Dick Bodenhorn has published a book highlighting some of the unusual encounters he had while working with the Pennsylvania Game Commision. Its hard for some people in the United States to grasp just how differently Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is treated compared to the Duchess of Cambridge. Thats because the media here is vastly different than it is in the United Kingdom. British tabloids are a far cry from the kind youll find in your local U.S.-based grocery store checkout line. And one thing they all have in common? They were ruthless in their criticism of Meghan. While Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge received glowing reviews for every move she made, Meghan was criticized and questioned for the exact same actions. Buzzfeed News put together a comparison of newspaper headlines about the same topics to prove how badly Meghan was treated by the press. The results are hard to argue with. British newspapers | DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images These headlines prove that Meghan Markle was treated differently than Kate Middleton There are dozens of examples of headlines that could be seen as unfair to Meghan. But one of the worst was two unique spins on the two women when they were pregnant. Both articles included photos of Meghan and Kate cradling their baby bumps. But the one about Kate was much more favorable compared to the one about Meghan. From Daily Mail: March 2018: Not long to go! Pregnant Kate tenderly cradles her baby bump while wrapping up her royal duties ahead of maternity leave and William confirms shes due any day now Jan. 2019: Why cant Meghan Markle keep her hands off her bump? Experts tackle the question that has got the nation talking: Is it pride, vanity, acting or a new age bonding technique? Even Meghans love of produce didnt escape criticism. But when Kate ate avocados, no one cared one bit. From Express: 2017: Kates morning sickness cure? Prince William gifted with an avocado for pregnant Duchess 2019: Meghan Markle beloved avocado linked to human rights abuse and drought, millennial shame Over and over again, the two women were judged differently for allegedly doing the same thing. From The Sun: April 2017: Prince William blasts monarchys stiff upper lip tradition and backs Harrys admission of his mental anguish after death of mother Diana Oct. 2019: Prince Harry and Meghan ditched British stiff upper lip is this a good thing? Sun parents and kids are torn These are only a few examples of 20 that Buzzfeed News compiled to prove that it wasnt in their imagination Prince Harry and Meghan really were being treated unfairly. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle insist they were treated unfairly by the press Most American news outlets have been overly kind to Meghan after all, shes an American citizen and beloved actress. But things in the U.K. were different from day one and finally Prince Harry decided to do something about it. First, the couple announced theyd be suing two publications for specific incidents that they claimed broke the law. But even beyond that, the coverage of Meghan was almost always derogatory and insulting even if it technically wasnt breaking any laws. A comparison of headlines about Kate and Meghan proves that point definitively. Harry and Meghan ditched the royal rota One key facet of Prince Harry and Meghans exit as senior members of the royal family is no longer participating in the royal rota, which gives certain publications prime access to the royals. Those publications include the Daily Express, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, the Evening Standard, the Telegraph, the Times, and the Sun. Seeing these headlines and the image they project makes it obvious why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would choose to walk away, even if it was a shocking move to make. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to conflict-stricken Iraq, an order that came a week after the government ordered all Filipinos there to come home. The POEA Governing Board, chaired by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, on January 10 ordered "a total deployment ban on the processing and deployment of all [overseas Filipino workers], including crew changes and shore leaves of Filipino seafarers in Iraq." The resolution was released and made formal on Tuesday. The government has been trying to repatriate all Filipinos in Iraq after raising the highest alert level there on January 8. READ: TIMELINE: US-Iran conflict and how it gravely affects Filipinos Iraq served as battleground of United States and Iranian forces after President Donald Trump ordered the killing on Jan. 3 of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad's airport. That was followed by Iran's retaliatory missile barrage on an Iraqi military base west of the capital that houses US troops, raising fears of a wider conflict. Iran appears to be standing down, Trump said, but Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu stressed that evacuation should still be done as soon as possible to ensure the safety of all Filipinos in Iraq. A first batch of 13 Filipinos is arriving in the country on Wednesday. Cimatu earlier said that about 1,600 Filipinos have expressed intent to avail of repatriation. However, only a few of them actually went to the Philippine embassy in Baghdad to arrange their exit. Data from the Department of Labor and Employment showed there are 2,191 overseas Filipino workers in Iraq, while records from the DFA counted 4,204 Filipinos in the Middle Eastern country as of June 2019. Today will see the US and China sign a historic trade deal. This should help the economy going forward, but as things stand currently, the huge stock market gains seem out of sync with reality. Improved sentiment and rate cuts may be creating a bubble. - The Pound to Euro exchange rate is -0.11% lower @ 1.16893 today (15/01/2020) - The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is -0.1% lower @ $1.30079 today (15/01/2020) Foreign exchange markets are almost completely flat to start Wednesdays session with global stock markets and currencies unchanged and only gold making a tentative recovery with a 0.4% gain after recent heavy falls. The apparent calm comes despite what will go down in history as a very important event scheduled for later in the day as the US and China are due to sign the phase-one trade deal. This represents the beginning of the end of the trade war and over two years of negotiations and tit-for-tat tariffs which hurt not only the US and China but global trade. While the deal will not immediately heal all the damage already done and is only really papering over the cracks, it does mark the de-escalation and could lead onto a phase-two deal in the next year or so. It has also lifted market sentiment and the huge stock rally we have seen over recent months can mostly be attributed to this deal. Heres Danske Bank with more details, The signing ceremony is scheduled to take place in the White House at 17:30 CET. The 86-page agreement will also be released today. The US and China have said that now the phase 1 trade deal has been finalised, they will get started with phase 2. We think those negotiations are going to be more complicated and think there is a 50% chance of a permanent deal ahead of the US presidential election. The good news is that we have gone from a period with trade war escalation to now de-escalation and we do not think US President Trump dares to U-turn again, as the trade war was hurting the US economy, in particular the to him very important manufacturing sector, hence damaging his re-election chances. This also means the Federal Reserve will have little reason to cut rates unless the economy deteriorates or the US dollar strengthens too much. If data actually starts to improve we may even see a shift back to a hiking bias later this year as the Fed itself labeled the cuts in 2019 as a mid-cycle adjustment, implying the rate hike cycle was not concluded. Feeding into this decision could be the continued rally in US stock indices which have gained around 40% since the lows made in December 2018. Stocks such as Apple (AAPL) have rallied over 120%, yet corporate earnings have not kept pace and the S&P500 is actually in an earnings recession or negative growth. This could start to concern the Fed as it looks to contain what could turn into yet another bubble, one of their creation with so many rate cuts in 2019. No Support for Pound Sterling With the Fed likely on hold and perhaps even shifting to a hiking bias later in the year, it is no surprise to see the GBP USD exchange rate falling as the chances of a BoE rate cut as soon as this month have risen to 50%. GBP/USD has dropped into 1.3, over 500 pips lower than its pre-election high and the trend looks to have shifted to a downtrend, or at least a corrective decline. Positioning has not helped either as ING report, With GBP/USD speculative positioning turning sharply over recent months - from net shorts (close to 40% of open interest) in mid-September 2019 to net longs (8% of open interest) currently - the downside risk to GBP is building. Bar a possible rate cut, the uncertainty about the EU-UK trade deal (to be reached this year) should also limit GBP upside throughout the first half of the year. Upcoming data, especially employment data next week could help shift the situation and keep the BoE on hold, but with positioning now net long, rallies are likely to struggle until the correction has run its course and a new uptrend sets up later in 2020. Expected move would clear way for Senate to decide on whether Trump should be removed from office. Washington, DC The United States House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for trial. Earlier on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven Democrats to serve as House managers, or prosecutors, in the trial. They include: Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia. We are going to keep the focus on the stunning, corrupt abuse of power engaged in by Donald Trump, said Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic Caucus. The action sets into motion parliamentary formalities over the next several days, with a Senate trial expected to begin on January 21 and run for at least three weeks, Senate leaders said on Tuesday. The Democratic-led House on December 18 impeached Trump for abuse of power over his efforts to get Ukraine to launch an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden, and obstruction of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the House impeachment investigation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, labelling the impeachment as a hoax and witch-hunt. Pelosi wields the Speakers gavel as she presides over the final of two House of Representatives votes approving two counts of impeachment against Trump [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed sending the articles of impeachment to try and pressure Senate Republicans to ensure that there was a fair trial in the Senate. But after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this month Republicans had the votes to move forward with a trial, Pelosi announced the articles would be sent. Senate trial Trump is almost certain to be acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders have disparaged the House impeachment as a flawed attempt to damage the president ahead of the US election in November. This is the most rushed, most biased, and most partisan impeachment process in history, said Senator John Thune, the Republican Whip. We were told at the outset, as the House was rushing through this, that there was a real sense of urgency, that they had to get this done, Thune told reporters. Clearly after the Speaker now having sat on it for over a month, its clear that all along this has been a partisan exercise on the part of the Democrats and an attempt to overturn a presidential election. The trial is expected to move forward with opening statements before a decision on whether witnesses will be allowed is made. There is a small group of Senate Republicans including Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney who have indicated they may join with Democrats to call new witnesses and testimony in the Senate trial. The Democrats just need four Republicans to join them in calling witnesses. Witnesses? Democrats want the Senate to call acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify. Bolton, who refused to appear before House investigators, has said he is willing to testify to the Senate if subpoenaed. Bolton had direct Oval Office conversations with Trump about Ukraine. He called the pressure campaign on Ukraine a drug deal that he refused to be part of as national security adviser, according to testimony in the House. Former national security adviser John Bolton has said he is prepared to testify if subpoenaed [File: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press] McConnell reaffirmed on Tuesday he has sufficient Republican votes to pass an organising resolution in the Senate that would define how the trial will be conducted. According to McConnell, the plan would allow House managers and the presidents defence lawyers to put forth their respective cases, before a formal question-and-answer session. That would set up the arguments by the parties, the prosecutors and the defence, and then the written question period, and then after that, the more contentious issue of witnesses would be addressed by the Senate, McConnell said. Some Republicans have suggested they would want to call former Vice President Biden and his son as witnesses. Democrats will argue there is no evidence the Bidens did anything wrong. We will just have to wait and see what the feeling of the Senate is after listening to the arguments and the period of written questions, McConnell said. McConnell said there was not sufficient support among Republicans to simply dismiss the Houses articles of impeachment, an outcome Trumps lawyers were seeking. We want to make sure all the presidents rights are protected in the process the Senate is considering adopting, said Eric Ueland, the director of White House legislative affairs. As far as we understand it, the presidents rights are protected, including the potentiality of a motion to dismiss, Ueland told reporters. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to add at least two dozen proposals to this years legislative agenda including approval of stiffer criminal penalties and new tax incentives for renewable energy. It will make for a busy legislative session, with lawmakers also preparing to craft a state budget fueled by the oil boom in southeastern New Mexico. The 30-day session is generally dedicated to budget and financial matters, but the state Constitution empowers the governor to add other topics or bills. Lujan Grisham, a Democrat entering her second year in office, said Wednesday that she is asking lawmakers in 2020 to consider a host of familiar priorities including the legalization of recreational marijuana, establishing a new college scholarship program and creating an early childhood trust fund. But her initial list for the call, as its known, also includes toughening criminal penalties for human trafficking, use of a firearm in some felonies and racketeering. Lujan Grisham said the bills are part of a broader strategy to target cartels, gangs and violent criminals. At least one of the bills centering on the use of a gun in a non-capital felony is sponsored by Republican Rep. William Bill Rehm of Albuquerque. Republican lawmakers are also co-sponsoring legislation for an electric vehicle tax credit, financial incentives for transmission lines and an overhaul of the pension system for government employees, all of which are on the governors agenda. Most of the bills, however, are Democratic priorities, such as enacting a red flag law allowing the temporary seizure of firearms and putting parts of the Affordable Care Act into state law. My call for this legislative session, Lujan Grisham said in a written statement, underscores the work we are undertaking on two fronts: addressing urgent needs and strategically investing in sustainable improvements over the long term. The governor isnt limited to the topics announced Wednesday. She can add other bills to the legislative agenda at any time. Among the priorities announced Wednesday are: Raising the cap on how much the state can invest in New Mexico-based businesses through the Severance Tax Permanent Fund. Broadening the states sex-offender registration rules, including for offenders who visit New Mexico from out of state. Imposing in-state residency requirements on people enrolled in the medical cannabis program. Establishing a $25 million trust fund to address the needs of seniors, veterans and adults with disabilities. Approving tax credits for electric vehicles and solar energy projects. Creating an office to work on importing medicine from Canada to help reduce drug costs. In odd-numbered years, New Mexico holds 60-day legislative sessions that are open to any topic introduced by lawmakers. Shorter sessions are held in election years and dedicated largely to spending and revenue measures, although bills authorized by the governor are among those also permitted. Democrats hold a 46-24 edge in the House and a 26-16 majority in the Senate, although the two chambers sometimes disagree on priorities. A Republican legislative leader, meanwhile, announced one of his own priorities Wednesday a proposed constitutional amendment to create a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. A similar constitutional amendment was approved by Colorado voters in 1992. House Minority Leader Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said he would introduce the proposal, which would require voter approval to become law, even if it passes both chambers of the Legislature. Approval from the governor isnt required to add it to the legislative agenda or to send it to voters. The proposal would limit annual spending by the state, send a portion of budget surpluses back to the public as a tax rebate and make it harder to approve tax increases. New Mexicos taxpayers deserve fiscal responsibility and protection from excessive government spending, Montoya said. Some of the bills Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday have already been pre-filed for the session, which begins Tuesday. Others are still under development. These proposals are investments in the present well-being and future success of students, workers, kids and parents all across New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said. These are quality-of-life initiatives I am proud to introduce and support. EDUCATION: Establish a trust fund for prekindergarten, child care assistance and other early childhood programs. Launch a scholarship program that makes college tuition-free for state residents. ECONOMY: Legalize recreational marijuana. Shore up finances of the Public Employees Retirement Association. Increase state investments in local businesses through the Severance Tax Permanent Fund. SAFETY: Toughen penalties for certain crimes. Enact an Extreme Risk Protection Order Act allowing the temporary seizure of guns from people deemed an immediate threat. Broaden sex-offender registration requirements. Create penalties for threats that disrupt schools. HEALTH: Work to reduce medicine costs by importing drugs from Canada. Establish a new Senior Dignity Fund. Impose new regulatory system for tobacco products. ENVIRONMENT: Authorize tax credits for solar energy projects and electric vehicles. Make structural changes to the Public Regulation Commission. Offer energy-efficiency grants to low-income households. Learning Management Systems Instructure Agrees to VC Buyout In 2011, Instructure staked its claim in the LMS market by taking its learning management system open source. Now, the company has agreed in principle to be acquired by a venture capital firm. Instructure recently announced the transaction; Thoma Bravo has offered stockholders $47.60 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $1.79 billion. As of today, company shares are trading at slightly more than $48 on the New York Stock Exchange with a 52-week high of $54.31 and low of $33.47. If approvals go through and shareholders agree to the buyout, the deal is expected to be completed in early 2020, according to company officials. Instructure, which has been trading publicly since 2015, would once again become a private company. Last year's revenues were $209.5 million, representing 30 percent growth over 2017. According to ed tech analyst Phil Hill, Instructure is the No. 1 LMS by enrollment, with 35 percent, beating out three other top contenders for that title Blackboard with Learn (31 percent), D2L with Brightspace (14 percent) and Moodle (12 percent). In combination, the LMSes from those organizations have snared nine in 10 LMS implementations for the higher ed marketshare in North America. Thoma Bravo's portfolio is dominated by technology companies, including, in the education sector, Frontline Education (K-12 school administration) and Porter and Chester Institute (career schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts). Instructure has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, with 1,400 employees there and in offices in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Brazil. The company reported 4,000 customers in 80 countries. That included 500 corporate clients as of the end of 2017. And while it's known for its healthy presence in education (both college and K-12), Instructure's future relies on attracting corporate business, which it estimated at three times the size of education in a 2019 presentation to investors. The Instructure management team, led by CEO Dan Goldsmith, was expected to continue running the company in its current roles. Thoma Bravo said it would support the company's increased investment in "innovation" and international expansion. "Instructure believes the opportunity to become a private company will provide additional flexibility and position us to invest more strategically to drive innovation for our customers," said Goldsmith in a statement. "We look forward to working closely with all parties to complete this transaction and enter into our next chapter of growth and industry leadership." Brian Jaffee, a principal at Thoma Bravo added, "We've followed the impressive Instructure growth story for many years and believe Canvas is a highly unique vertical market [software-as-a-service] leader with exciting scale and future growth potential. We look forward to building on the strong momentum in the business and accelerating growth and product investment both organically and through M&A." The agreement includes a 35-day "go-shop" period, which ends on Jan. 8, 2020, allowing Instructure's board of directors to seek alternative acquisition proposals from third parties. According to a recent investor filing, the company has been considering merger and acquisition proposals over the last year from 19 different entities, settling on the agreement with Thomas Bravo as the "proposal that was ultimately distinguishable from the other proposals by price, certainty, the fact that Thoma Bravo was willing to provide an equity commitment for the entire purchase price and other key terms." Now the company will be going back to some of those other parties to see if it can get a better offer. But Ms. Collins has suggested all along that she will do just that. I tend to like information, she said on Monday, adding that she would not be pushing for the option to call witnesses if I did not anticipate at the end of hearing the case presented, and the Q. and A., that there might be a need for more information. The names of other Republican senators including Cory Gardner, who is in a tough 2020 race in Colorado, and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who is respectful of Senate institutions and is retiring and thus freer to vote his conscience have also been raised as possibilities. Mr. Gardner can ill afford to break with Mr. Trump. But Mr. Alexander is of genuine concern to the White House, according to a senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity to characterize the perspective of Mr. Trumps team. On Monday, he appeared to join the Collins-Murkowski wait-and-see camp. Were taking an oath to be impartial, Mr. Alexander told reporters in the Capitol, and that to me means we have a constitutional duty to hear the case, ask our questions and then decide whether we want additional evidence in terms of documents or witnesses. After the House voted last month to impeach the president on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors in connection with his campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, Mr. Schumer issued a list of four witnesses Democrats want to call. Those include Mr. Bolton and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff. Mr. Bolton has since said he would be willing to testify if the Senate issued a subpoena. Democrats also want to subpoena documents, including administration emails showing that the White House ordered the suspension of military aid to Ukraine just 90 minutes after a phone call in which Mr. Trump asked that countrys president to investigate Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden. Mr. Trump, who has vacillated between saying he wants witnesses and saying he wants a speedy trial, has at times floated the idea of calling Hunter Biden to testify. If Democrats succeed in calling Mr. Bolton or other witnesses, it is likely that Republicans would push to call the Bidens. On Tuesday, Mr. McConnell met with a small group of Republican senators to explore that idea of witness reciprocity, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the judgment of the Supreme Court on the Imo State governorship election as another sad commentary on Nigerias democratic order. The Supreme Court had, on Tuesday, nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the governor of Imo State. The apex court declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state. Mr Uzodinma originally came fourth in the election while Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) and Ifeanyi Ararume of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) came second and third respectively. The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad, gave the unanimous decision on Tuesday in Abuja. Reacting to the judgment, the opposition party, through its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it finds it difficult to understand how Mr Uzodinma, who came fourth in the March 9, 2019, governorship election, with just 96,458 votes, will unseat Mr Ihedioha who scored 276,404 votes. In fact, the PDP and indeed, most Nigerians are still at a loss as to understand the basis upon which the Supreme Court arrived at its decision, it said. The party said it is lamentable that the destiny of the people of Imo State is being taken from the governor they chose and voted for and handed over to individuals and a political party that does not have their blessing and mandate, and which they rejected at the election. The people of Imo state are now confronted with the challenge of having a government that they cannot identify with and which cannot connect with them, having not emanated from them. Moreover, all the gains, including the development and stability already achieved by the people-based government, under Governor Emeka Ihedioha/PDP administration in the state are now heavily jeopardized. Indeed, the mournful and despondent ambience that now pervades in Imo State is a loud testimony that the judgment did not reflect the expectation of the people of Imo state as expressed at the polls. While recognising that the judgment of the Supreme Court is final, the PDP, however, urges all party stakeholders in the state to remain united and calm, and await further instructions from the national leadership on this very sad development, Mr Ologbondiyan said. Russian hackers will try to disrupt American voting systems during the 2020 election cycle, as they did in 2016. This time, theyll be joined by hackers from all over the world, including some within the United States. What unites them all is an eagerness to undermine free and fair elections, the most basic mechanism of American democracy. There are some hard questions about what to do about all this, but one piece is surprisingly straightforward: We need to keep voting systems as far away from the internet as possible. Theres a growing and clear consensus on this point. Federal guidelines for new voting machines might soon prohibit voting systems from connecting to the internet or even using Bluetooth. Advertisement At the same time, though, voter turnout in this country remains abysmal. Allowing people to vote on their phones seems intuitively like it could help, especially for young people who vote at especially low rates. It could also be helpful for some military and overseas voters, as well as some voters with disabilities, who may face challenges getting a physical ballot cast, returned, and for being counted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So why not try it? Well, put mildly, security vulnerabilities introduced by internet voting could destroy elections. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has concluded that no known technology can guarantee the secrecy, security, and verifiability of a marked ballot transmitted over the Internet. That means allowing voting on a phone could also allow vote deletion, fake votes at scale, and the publication of an individual voters choices. Accordingly, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said clearly that [s]tates should resist pushes for online voting, basing its conclusion in part on testimony given by one of us. Advertisement Advertisement In spite of the compelling evidence that we are not prepared for internet voting, its happening in some localities in West Virginia, Utah, Oregon, and Colorado. Election administrators in these places have invited some voters to download an app, called Voatz, to their phones and use it to vote over the internet. The privately funded pilots cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. These pilots make internet voting available only to groups of voters who are more likely to face barriers to casting ballotsoverseas and military voters, as well as disabled voters in some places. But Voatz does not hide the fact that it sees the pilots as the precursor to elections where all voters can use the app. Advertisement Advertisement One of us is a computer scientist who studies election cybersecurity; the other is a lawyer at a pro-democracy nonprofit that has sued counties with insecure voting systems. We want voting to be both easy and secure, and internet-based voting is not the right path. Mounting evidence from other countries shows that online voting doesnt actually boost participation, particularly when compared to voting by mail. And we know that postal voting, in combination with other policies that expand access to the vote, like same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration, can significantly increase turnout without creating the risk of a large-scale election hack. Advertisement Advertisement Given all the danger inherent in using the internet to transmit ballots, the burden should be on app developers to prove that their voting technology is secure. Just like we dont want pharmaceuticals in our bodies until manufacturers have proved them safe and effective, makers of internet voting software need to demonstrate the security of their products before we can trust they belong in our elections. No internet-voting tech provider has met that burden. Advertisement Advertisement Voatz, for example, argues that its use of blockchain technology to store ballots is a major breakthrough in security, but there is a real lack of technical specificity in what the company has made public about softwarea red flag for security experts. Just as Bitcoin doesnt stop financial crime, blockchain technology cant solve the hard parts of voting securely onlinelike verifying that the voter is who she claims to be, keeping malware out of voters phones, and guarding servers against hostile foreign governments. Voatz also doesnt create a paper record of a voters choices, so in the event that the system is hacked, it would be impossible to determine whether those choices had been altered by software. These security concerns should be paramount to election administrators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Election administrators shouldnt even consider internet-based voting software that they dont understand. Yet Voatz has not disclosed its source code or allowed third party experts to publicly examine it. Recognizing the problem, Sen. Ron Wyden recently asked the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency to conduct a true cybersecurity audit of the software. The CEO of Voatz has responded by noting that Voatz, as a private company, needs to protect its intellectual property. While the company is certainly entitled to take that approach, election administrators have a responsibility to protect each and every vote. And they shouldnt place the security and reliability of their elections in the hands of internet voting software that has not been subjected to a public and independent security workup. Theres no question that election administrators are right to try to make voting easier for voters who face hurdles getting to the ballot. But we owe it to those voters to find solutions that dont jeopardize the integrity of their votesor of the election as a whole. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe's employee monitoring solution market is expected to grow from US$ 195.02 Mn in 2018 to US$ 339.86 Mn by the year 2027. This represents a CAGR of 6.5% from the year 2018 to 2027. Employee monitoring solutions are also used as a surveillance tool by organizations to track- employee email, phone activity, browsing history, and time spent on social media, overall internet activity, and remote device access. Companies related to BFSI, IT, and telecom, the Government sector are more exposed to the risk of insider attacks as they handle sensitive data such as trade secrets, IP, customer and employee data, and more. The financial services industry has the highest exposure to a cyber-breach and insider misuse, followed by the consumer, retail and wholesale, consumer, retail and wholesale, and power and utilities. Thus organizations adopt employee monitoring solutions to gain early signs of insider threats and avoid the data leaks. Thus, the growing focus towards eliminating the threat of insider attack is positively impacting the employee monitoring solution market. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828376/?utm_source=PRN Social media is used in businesses for communication and marketing purposes.However, uncontrolled access can harm the productivity of the organization. Also, the employees can accidentally share sensitive information on these platforms.Social media platforms are also used by hackers and scammer for phishing and other exploitation attacks. Thus, to avoid insider attacks and prevent enterprise resource allocation, organizations are adopting employee monitoring solutions that are driving the growth of the employee monitoring solution market. Employee monitoring solutions empower enterprises to track employees and gather other information to drive productivity and ensure security.The employee monitoring solutions provide various features such as activity analysis, smart rules and alerts, live views, monitoring keystroke logging, and file transfer tracking, among others. In the current market scenario, customers are becoming price-sensitive and are the focus on the timely delivery of products and services.Also, the employee monitoring solutions enables the managers to give the employees with effective feedback, as the manager can provide real tangible examples and area of improvement. Thus versatile benefits offered by these solutions are driving the growth of the employee monitoring solution market. The Europe employee monitoring solution market by organization size is segmented into the SMEs and large enterprises.Large enterprises across the globe are focused on cost optimization, along with increasing overall productivity. To achieve these goals, they are adopting employee monitoring solutions, which are, in turn, driving the growth of the employee monitoring solution market.The large enterprises are facing challenges such as enhanced regulatory environment, intense competition due to customers' sensitivity toward prices, and quick delivery of products. To address these requirements, large enterprises are focusing on improving efficiencies by adopting advanced technology solutions.Large enterprises have a large number of employees spread over different locations, and they might find it difficult to keep track of each employee. Thus, large enterprises prefer deploying employee monitoring solutions to gain better visibility of their organizations, thereby driving the growth of the employee monitoring solution market. The overall employee monitoring solution market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources.The research process begins with exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the Europe employee monitoring solution market. It also provides an overview and forecast for the Europe employee monitoring solution market based on all the segmentation provided with respect to the Europe region.Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators in order to validate data and analysis. The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, and external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the Europe employee monitoring solution industry. Some of the players present in Europe employee monitoring solution market are Awareness Technologies Inc, Clever Security Software Ltd, Ekran Systems, Inc., iMonitor Software, Intego, Pilixo, SentryPC, StaffCop, Teramind, Inc., Veriato. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05828376/?utm_source=PRN 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. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com [January 15, 2020] Tortoise Announces Managing Director and Portfolio Manager Promotions Tortoise today announced the promotions of Jean-Hugues de Lamaze and Nick Holmes to the role of Managing Director. Adam Peltzer was also promoted to the role of Portfolio Manager. Mr. Jean-Hugues de Lamaze joined Ecofin, now Tortoise UK, in 2008. From 2016 through November 2018 he was a partner and member of the board at Ecofin. He is senior portfolio manager for investment trust Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure plc that launched in September 2016. Previously, he was senior portfolio manager for Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities plc. Prior to joining Ecofin, Mr. de Lamaze co-founded UV Capital LLP and served as chief investment officer. Previously, he oversaw the Goldman Sachs European Utilities research team and previously was a senior European analyst and head of French Research & Strategy at Credit Suisse First Boston. His professional career began at Enskilda Securities. Mr. de Lamaze is a CFAF certified analyst and a member of the French Financial Analysts Society SFAF. He completed the INSEAD International Executive Programme, graduated from the Paris-based business school Institut Superieur de Gestion and earned a LLB in Business Law from Paris II-Assas University. He was voted Top 10 Buy-Side Individual - All Sectors and Top 3 in the Utilities category in the 2018 Extel survey. Mr. Nick Holmes joined the Tortoise energy investment team in 2010 and is a portolio manager for the firm's energy and sustainable water strategies. He also serves as president of the Tortoise Essential Assets Income Term Fund and the vice president of the Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. and Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. closed-end funds. Mr. Holmes earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kansas. He is a CFA charterholder. Mr. Adam Peltzer joined Tortoise in 2015 as a director and investment analyst. He also serves as the vice president of the Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. closed-end fund. Previously, he was an Investment Committee member and principal at Fountain Capital Management, a privately-owned investment manager that specialized in high-yield bond and bank loan portfolios for institutional clients and structured products. In that role, he was responsible for coverage of the energy sector. Mr. Peltzer earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and a Master of Accountancy from Wichita State University. He is a CFA charterholder. "We are pleased to recognize Jean-Hugues, Nick and Adam for their tremendous commitment in helping us create value for our clients," said Tortoise Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Birzer. "These outstanding contributors and innovators are key in our efforts to make an impact through essential assets investing." About Tortoise Tortoise specializes in making an impact through essential assets and income investing. Tortoise invests in real assets and services that serve essential needs in society and client portfolios, such as diversification and income. Tortoise's expertise spans energy investing across the entire energy value chain, sustainable infrastructure including wind, solar and water infrastructure, credit investing, direct lending to social infrastructure projects and index construction. Through a variety of investment vehicles, Tortoise provides access to a wide range of client solutions, focused on their evolving needs. For more information, please visit www.tortoiseadvisors.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005883/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] McLaren Northern Michigan expects increase in COVID patients during the upcoming weeks As of Jan. 3, McLaren Northern Michigan had 20 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized, as well as three in the intensive care unit. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New rules enacting President Donald Trump's reductions in fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles through 2026 moved closer to reality on Tuesday when U.S. agencies sent proposals to the White House for final review By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New rules enacting President Donald Trump's reductions in fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles through 2026 moved closer to reality on Tuesday when U.S. agencies sent proposals to the White House for final review. After more than 17 months of discussion, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted proposed rules for 2021 through 2026 model year fuel efficiency to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the agencies said. Final rules are expected as early as late February or March, officials said. The administration of former President Barack Obama had required car manufacturers to achieve roughly 5% annual increases in vehicle fuel efficiency through the 2026 model year. The Trump administration proposed in August 2018 freezing fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels through 2026, erasing the increases the Obama administration enacted, but officials will not finalise that proposal. "We're not going to be flat, as was proposed," Acting NHTSA Administrator James Owens told Reuters in a recent interview. "We're going to set standards that are reasonable and achievable." Several automakers told Reuters they anticipate annual fuel efficiency increases of about 1.5%, much less stringent than the Obama rules, but administration aides said the proposal, which is around 2,000 pages, underwent significant revisions. EPA said the final rules "will benefit all Americans by improving the U.S. fleets fuel economy, reducing air pollution, and making new vehicles more affordable for all Americans." The administration has argued that the rollbacks are necessary for economic and safety reasons, but California and environmentalists reject that analysis, saying consumers would spend hundreds of billions more in fuel costs. The administration's 2018 proposal would have resulted in average fuel efficiency of 37 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2026, compared with 46.7 mpg under rules adopted in 2012. The Trump administration's "preferred option" would have hiked U.S. oil consumption by about 500,000 barrels per day by the 2030s but reduced automakers' regulatory costs by more than $300 billion. Trump has sought to reverse Obama's climate change policy, which was aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In November, California and 22 other states challenged the administrations decision in September to revoke Californias authority to set stiff vehicle tailpipe emissions rules and require a rising number of zero emission vehicles. They also vowed to sue when the administration finalised the new requirements. Major automakers - including General Motors Co , Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV - backed the administrations effort to bar California from setting tailpipe standards. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A Medicare for all plan like the one Mr. Sanders has proposed would have the power to lower such prices by making the government the only purchaser of health care services. But just because the government could pay less for health care than insurers and patients pay now does not mean that the government could easily reduce American prices to match those of other nations. The health care system in the United States is organized around our current prices, meaning that huge reductions in payments could be disruptive, with the potential to cause hospitals to close or doctors to default on their debts. Thats why most serious analysts believe that even a Medicare for all system could only cut medical prices by so much. The countries with lower payment rates set up systems to limit health care prices decades ago, before the gap with the United States became so large. A Medicare for all system would almost certainly narrow that gap. But the United States would probably continue to pay the highest prices in the world for many health care services. WHAT THEYRE TALKING ABOUT Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. tried to explain his vote to authorize the Iraq war. What Mr. Biden Said I said 13 years ago it was a mistake to give the president the authority to go to war. Mr. Biden was one of 77 senators who voted to authorize the war in Iraq in October 2002 and he called that vote a mistake in 2005. The New York Times reviewed how he made that decision nearly two decades ago and found that the episode reveals how he operates as a Senate dealmaker at heart. Later in the debate, Mr. Biden suggested that he began to oppose the war in 2003 after weapons inspectors had left the country saying they had found no evidence of illegal weapons. But Mr. Biden continued to justify his support for the war until 2005. On other military engagements, potential and actual, Mr. Biden has exercised more caution. During his bid for the presidency in 2008, for example, Mr. Biden warned that war with Iran is not just a bad option. It would be a disaster. When he became vice president, Mr. Biden was a lonely voice in the White House who argued against increasing troop levels in Afghanistan in 2009 a fight he ultimately lost. He then repeatedly pushed to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and, though President Barack Obama shared that aim, the United States still had troops in Afghanistan when the two men left office. The potential billion dollar lease of NSW forestry assets has been delayed by the bushfire crisis, putting the government's major privatisation plan of 2020 at risk. The state government commissioned an investigation into the sale of Forestry Corps extensive softwood plantations last year, but the devastating bushfires have destroyed almost 50,000 hectares, or 20 per cent of the asset. A forest fire tears through a pine plantation between Tooma and Tumbarumba in southern NSW. Credit:Eddie Jim While the report was expected to return in the first quarter of 2020, the Herald understands the bushfires have pushed that back until at least the middle of the year. A spokesman for Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the state would only go ahead with the deal, which was estimated to be worth about $1 billion, if it is "deemed to be in the best interests of the people of NSW, he said. Most websites that provide information on probiotics are unreliable and claims of benefits against disease are often based on mice experiments The public should be wary of searching for probiotic information online as most webpages originate from unreliable sources and the health-benefit claims are often not supported by robust scientific evidence. A new study, published in Frontiers in Medicine, cautions that while Google is adept at sorting the most reliable websites to the top of the list, the majority of websites providing information on probiotics are from commercial sources. "Most webpages with information on probiotics are from commercial sources or news outlets but these provide the least complete information, in terms of not discussing potential side effects or regulatory issues," reports author Professor Pietro Ghezzi, from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK. "We also find many websites allude to benefits of probiotics in diseases for which there is not much high-level scientific evidence, other than in mice." Probiotics are live organisms that, if research holds its promise, could be beneficial to health. There is a large US market for probiotics but less so in the EU, likely due to stricter regulation for health claims. Nevertheless, the market for probiotics continuously expands with the globalization of online sales. Should we believe the hype? Concerned that the public has unrealistic expectations about the beneficial effects of probiotics (bolstered by online claims and hype in the news), Ghezzi and his colleagues decided to assess the information that the public were exposed to when searching online. "We assessed the first 150 webpages brought up by a Google search for "probiotics", recorded where they originated from and the diseases they mentioned. The scientific evidence for health benefits of probiotics against these diseases were then examined for scientific rigor," explains co-author Michel Goldman, a Professor at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare, Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. The researchers used the Cochrane library - a database of clinical trials and meta-analyses of evidence-based medicine - to assess the strength of scientific evidence found online. Goldman adds, "We also looked at how Google ranked these websites, as often the public will not go past the first ten results - these will therefore have a higher visibility and impact." Beware of unreliable sources News-outlets and commercial sources made up the majority of the 150 webpages and the analysis showed these were the least reliable, often not mentioning the side effects on immunocompromised individuals nor any regulatory issues. In addition, the findings of experiments on mice were used to make claims about probiotic benefits against disease in humans. But it's not all bad news. Ghezzi explains that Google has developed very stringent criteria for ranking health-related websites, however, we should always question where the information originates from. "Google prioritizes webpages containing more complete and scientifically robust information about probiotics, particularly health portals, and these are given a higher ranking than commercial websites. However, the fact that there is such a large amount of commercially-oriented information is problematic for consumers who are searching for honest answers." ### Notes to Editors Please link to the original research article in your reporting: Article: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00296/full Corresponding author: Dr. Michel Goldman Email: mgoldman@i3health.eu Corresponding Author's Institution: Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare, Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading Open Access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make research results openly available to the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. We empower scientists with innovative Open Science solutions that radically improve how science is published, evaluated and disseminated to researchers, innovators and the public. Access to research results and data is open, free and customized through Internet Technology, thereby enabling rapid solutions to the critical challenges we face as humanity. For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter. Authorities in British Colombia braced for blizzard conditions on January 14, with accumulations of up to a half-meter of snow predicted for the following day in parts of Vancouver Island, the Weather Network reported. Forecasters warned of low temperatures, while authorities in Vancouver asked anyone concerned about people outside to direct them to warming centers in the city. The Vancouver Park Board shared this video of snowy scenes from the waterfront on January 14 as the area prepared for more snow to come. Credit: Vancouver Park Board via Storyful Willie Walsh, head of the Aer Lingus parent company, has attacked a British government-backed rescue of regional UK airline Flybe, calling it a misuse of public funds. Flybe was kept afloat on Tuesday after its shareholders agreed to invest more money while the government provided support, reported to involve the deferral of a tax bill. Walsh, chief executive of Aer Lingus and British Airways-owner IAG , criticised the government help for a privately-held company, saying the taxpayer was picking up the tab for mismanagement of the airline. "This is a blatant misuse of public funds," he said in an emailed statement. British Airways competes against Flybe on some routes and Flybe is owned by a group which includes Virgin Atlantic, a long-term BA rival. Under pressure to deliver on an election promise to help improve transport links outside London, the government agreed to help Flybe, in contrast to a similar test last September when it took no action to help save the much larger travel company Thomas Cook. Flybe operates dozens of internal routes in the UK, as well as a services to elsewhere in Europe including Dublin, Cork and Ireland West. The airline carries about eight million passengers per year. Walsh has also written a letter to Transport Minister Grant Shapps, said the BBC, outlining his concerns about the Flybe deal. (Newser) House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine's president to investigate "the Biden case." The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani and another attorney before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the US ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cell phone use, raising questions about possible surveillance, the AP reports. story continues below Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump's trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. More: Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelensky took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelensky "as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. Another document is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says "get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated." Trump asked Zelensky in a July call to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Democrats said that Parnas' attorney confirmed that Parnas wrote the notes. In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani and another attorney, Victoria Toensing, about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassador's ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the center of the Democrats impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a smear campaign. Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a "bitch. Hyde is now running for a US House seat in Connecticut. After texting about the ambassador, Hyde gave Parnas detailed updates that suggested he was watching her. In one text, Hyde wrote: "Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off." He said she was under heavy security and "we have a person inside." Hyde at one point texted Parnas that ''they are willing to help if we/you would like a price," and guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money ... is what I was told. Parnas texted back: "lol." Lawrence Robbins, an attorney for Yovanovitch, called for an investigation in to the messages. "Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing," he said. (Read more Trump impeachment stories.) MERRILLVILLE The man gunned down early Wednesday in the 5400 block of Maryland Street has been identified as 18-year-old Jeremiah Simon, of Merrillville, according to the Lake County coroner's office. He became the ninth suspected homicide so far this year across the Region. The tenth suspected homicide came Wednesday evening when a man suffering from a gunshot wound was found by officers investigating a crash near the intersection of West Fifth Avenue and Clark Road in Gary. The victim was declared dead at a hospital shortly after being transported, Gary police said. Simon was found dead about 3 a.m. in the backyard of a home by officers who were responding to reports of gunfire in the area, police said. He had suffered gunshot wounds, and the manner of death is pending, the coroner's office said. The case is under investigation by police as a homicide. Those include cybersecurity and Chinas tight controls over how companies handle data and cloud computing. China rejected demands that the text include promises to refrain from hacking American companies, insisting it was not a trade issue. And the deal does little to resolve more pernicious structural issues surrounding Chinas approach, particularly its pattern of subsidizing and supporting crucial industries that compete with American companies, like solar energy and steel. American businesses blame those economic practices for allowing cheap Chinese goods to flood the United States. A ceremony at the White House cant hide the stark truth about the Phase 1 China trade deal: The deal does absolutely nothing to curtail Chinas subsidies to its manufacturers, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which includes manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union, said in a tweet. All those forgotten men and women in U.S. factories have, once again, been forgotten. The administration has said it will address some of these changes in Phase 2 of the negotiations and is keeping tariffs in place in part to maintain leverage for the next round of talks. Mr. Trump said he would remove all tariffs if the two sides reach agreement on the next phase. I will agree to take those tariffs off if were able to do Phase 2, he said. But Mr. Trump has already kicked the deadline for another agreement past the November election, and there is deep skepticism that the two countries will reach another deal anytime soon. As part of the deal, Mr. Trump agreed to reduce the rate on tariffs imposed in September and forgo additional import taxes in the future. But the United States will continue to maintain tariffs covering 65 percent of American imports from China, according to tracking by Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. That leaves the United States with an overall tariff rate higher than that of any other advanced nation, as well as China, India and Turkey. China will still tax 57 percent of imports from the United States in retaliation, according to Mr. Bown, though its possible some of those levies may be waived in the weeks to come. Charlotte Tilbury has added to her best-selling Pillow Talk collection. [Photo: Charlotte Tilbury] Yahoo is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Prices were correct at the time of publication. Celebrity make-up artist, Charlotte Tilbury, has expanded her best-selling Pillow Talk range. The original Pillow Talk range launched in February 2017 and quickly become a cult favourite, particularly the collections lipstick. One Pillow Talk Matte Lipstick is sold every 1.4 minutes while a Pillow Talk Lip Pencil is sold every 1.7 minutes. The matte, nude product has pink undertones, designed to enhance the natural hue of your lips and compliment every skin tone. Reviews on the brands website call it the perfect nude. The Pillow Talk line boasts lipsticks, lip liners, eyeshadows and blush palettes; everything you need to create the perfect no make-up make-up look. And now, there are even more shades to chose from. The brand has launched seven new products, including a new Instant Eye Palette, as well as two new Pillow Talk lipsticks in deeper shades to flatter all skin tones and all eye colours. The products have already been A-list approved. Michelle Williams, Salma Hayek and Busy Philipps were just a few of the celebs to debut the new range at the Golden Globe Awards last week. Following previous sell-out success of the Pillow Talk collection, the Yahoo UK team tried and tested all seven of the new products to see whats worth spending on. Shop the new Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk collection Pillow Talk Lipstick Medium | 25 from Charlotte Tilbury If youre a fan of the original Pillow Talk shade, youll love this update. A couple of shades darker but with the same pinky nude undertone, its ideal for wearing in the evening or simply when you want your lipstick to pack a little more of a punch. Its creamy, moisturising, stays put for hours and - like all Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks - tastes delicious! Pillow Talk Lipstick Intense | 25 from Charlotte Tilbury Story continues This is Charlotte Tilburys deepest Pillow Talk hue to date, and yet, still manages to stay true to the berry nude tones of the collection. As the Intense name suggests, its definitely a more powerful shade that lends itself to suit all skin tones. Stepping slightly away from Pillow Talks matte finish, it has a subtle shine, which helps to not look overpowering on paler skin tones. Lip Cheat Intense | 17 from Charlotte Tilbury If you want to make the most of the new Intense lipstick shade, the lip liner is here to make a definite evening glam statement.The creamy formula makes it easy to outline with precision and although the lip liner is definitely a darker shade to the lipstick, when put together it blends to create a very 90s brown lip aesthetic, which I might add, is very on-trend at the moment. Pillow Talk Instant Eye Palette | 60 from Charlotte Tilbury This is now the best eyeshadow palette I own. This set is like a medley of four individual palettes built into one, as there are four distinct sets with three shades in each - the primer, enhancer and ombre, although you can mix and match even more shades. The variety of shades are perfect to take you from day to night, from the office to the bar. The palette is ideal for those who want nude and bronze shades, as well as those who want to be more daring with pink hues, which means it suits all skin tones. What I love most - this set is perfect for MUAs and beginners as there is a clear direction to follow to perfect your own eye make-up. Pillow Talk Cheek To Chic Blusher Intense | 30 from Charlotte Tilbury This two-in-one blush and highlighter is just as exquisite as Charlotte Tilburys other blushes. Designed for darker skin tones, its a great addition to the brands collection and sits perfectly alongside the existing blush created for lighter skin tones. It blends into skin beautifully and results in a natural finish with a touch of shimmer. Apply sparingly as a little goes a long way. Pillow Talk Lip Lustre | 19 from Charlotte Tilbury Having been made with peppermint oil, the gloss has a refreshing minty smell and taste, which leaves a slight tingly sensation to make your lips extra plump. As it so crucial with a good gloss, its not sticky at all - instead it simply leaves your lips feeling silky smooth. The only downside is the heart shaped applicator, which although very aesthetically pleasing, I found kind of annoying. Pillow Talk Eye Liner | 19 from Charlotte Tilbury (launches 16 January) I am a sucker for a coloured eyeliner to shake up the classic black and brown varieties. The kohl liner is easy to apply and super buildable. I can certainly say it is budge-proof and did take a little bit of elbow grease to remove after, which is great for those looking for an alternative eyeliner shade that is long lasting. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK: English Estonian Due to continuously increasing demand on the Virtsu-Kuivastu ferry line, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications authorized the Estonian Road Administration to negotiate with OU TS Laevad, a subsidiary of AS Tallinna Sadam, to acquire an additional new-built ferry for servicing the Virtsu-Kuivastu line. According to the ferry services agreement with the Estonian Road Administration signed on 11.12.2014, TS Laevad provides ferry services on the Rohukula-Heltermaa and Virtsu-Kuivastu ferry lines until 30.09.2026. TS Laevad also has the necessary competence in the specialities of operating ferry lines and up-to-date experience in acquiring new ferries. Subject to the results of further analyses and negotiations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has set the goal for the Road Administration to conclude an agreement with TS Laevad by 31.03.2020 on the terms and conditions for acquiring and operating the new vessel. More detailed impact on the economic activities of Tallinna Sadam Group can be assessed after the agreement with the Estonian Road Administration has been signed and the cost of the vessel has become clear. Additional information: File image Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States and said he wasn't sure how long any pact by U.S. President Donald Trump would last. "We had a U.S. deal and the U.S. broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last, another 10 months...?" he said at a security conference in New Delhi. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Tuesday for Trump to replace the Iranian nuclear deal with his own new pact to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get an atomic weapon. Trump said in a tweet he agreed with Johnson on a 'Trump deal'. The last time local workers pushed for better conditions at San Antonios two downtown Hyatt hotels, the process was pretty brutal. Over a period of seven years, frustrated hotel workers picketed, led a boycott and filed federal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Eventually, deep-seated distrust and resentment gave way to conciliation and the two sides agreed to a labor contract in November 2015. Last Friday, 10 days after that contract expired, the Grand Hyatt San Antonio and the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk ratified a new 5-year deal with its 500 hourly workers. This time around, the most dramatic feature of the bargaining process was how utterly devoid of drama it was. Under the new contract, hotel housekeepers and other workers will reach a guaranteed base wage of $17 an hour by the end of the contract period. That will represent roughly a 30 percent hourly pay raise for the average hotel employee at the downtown Hyatts, according to Willy Gonzalez, the Texas president of UNITE HEREs Local 23, which represented the hotel workers. It will make them the highest-paid housekeepers ever in Texas, Gonzalez said. Were on a path to make these good, middle-class jobs in housekeeping. Gonzalez said the new agreement also will provide some workload reduction over the course of the contract, with the daily housekeeping room quota dropping from 17 to 16 and the maximum number of checkout rooms which tend to be more work-intensive than stay-over rooms being reduced from 12 to 11. The rancor-free bargaining process this time around was the product of positive relationships that developed between management and union reps as the last contract took shape. To some degree, it also reflected the economic realities for this citys $15.2 billion tourism industry at a time when were approaching full employment. Last July, Express-News business writer Madison Iszler reported that San Antonio hoteliers are struggling to fill jobs for housekeepers, dishwashers and waiters. Avinash Bhakta, president of ABH Hospitality Management, told Iszler that the employee crunch is the worst weve ever seen it. He added, There are plenty of positions that are open there arent enough workers. On ExpressNews.com: The worst weve ever seen With demand for local hotel workers higher than supply, hotels have responded by bumping up pay. Bhakta said housekeeping wages have gone up $3 to $4 an hour in recent years. Gonzalez said reaching the $17-an-hour threshold was one of the unions primary goals. He added that the 3-month negotiation process produced results in large part because both sides entered discussions with a commitment to make a deal. I want to recognize that Hyatt came to the table to bargain in good faith, Gonzalez said. It was bargained at the table and it was a fair process for both sides. It was absolutely much, much smoother than the other contract. Our message to Hyatt was, As long as youre coming to bargain in good faith, well bargain with you. And they did. And we wound up getting a fair contract. I think this is a good next step to getting hotel workers the kind of wages and benefits they deserve. Impeachment politics in District 23 Will Hurd, the Helotes-based Republican congressman who is stepping down at the end of this term, was one of the few members of his party who found fault with President Donald Trumps push to get the Ukrainian government to launch a criminal investigation into 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Nonetheless, Hurd backed away last month from voting to impeach Trump. Tony Gonzales, the most likely Republican nominee for Hurds District 23 seat, is refraining from judgment on Trumps conduct with Ukraine, choosing to frame the impeachment issue as a distraction from Congresss primary duties. I think the president has taken an approach thats different than in the past, Gonzales, a retired Navy veteran, said this week on the Express-News Puro Politics podcast. His way of handling things is just different and I think the country is starting to get accustomed to that. Gonzales added: What really bothers me is it (impeachment) is taking us away from what is important to this country. Its taken all the oxygen in the room. Nothing else can get taken care of. Like immigration reform, like border security, like education, like all these other things that our country is dealing with. Its a partisan kind of effort. Gonzales criticisms of the 2010 Affordable Care Act are similarly rooted in process the idea that it was a strictly partisan effort more than substance. Like Hurd, he will attempt to define himself as a bipartisan figure who accurately represents the diversity of political opinion in this 50/50 swing district. Unlike Hurd, he wont have the power of incumbency behind him. Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 CUDAHY, Calif. - An airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel that fell as a smelly mist on dozens of schoolchildren while the plane made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this photo from video, Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai, China dumps fuel over Los Angeles before returning to Los Angeles International Airport for an emergency landing Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Fire officials say fuel apparently dumped by the aircraft returning to LAX fell onto an elementary school playground. A fire department tweet says firefighters are assessing "multiple patients" at the school in the suburban city of Cudahy, Calif. The flight tracking website FlightAware shows that Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai, China, departed LAX, circled back over Southern California and returned to the airport. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) CUDAHY, Calif. - An airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel that fell as a smelly mist on dozens of schoolchildren while the plane made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. The fuel, described by fire officials as a vapour, caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults but nobody was taken to the hospital and the only decontamination required was soap and water, officials said. Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai reported an engine problem only minutes after takeoff. Delta 89, heavy, we have engine compressor stalls on the right engine, the pilot reported to air traffic control, according to a recording of the radio conversation. Firefighter/paramedics walk between a group of ambulances parked by Park Avenue Elementary School after jet fuel was dumped on the school in Cudahy, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Jet fuel dumped by an aircraft returning to Los Angeles International Airport fell onto the school playground where children were playing Tuesday, fire officials said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department said firefighters assessed over a dozen children and several adults who complained of minor injuries and none needed to be taken to a hospital. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP) A stall, which can be caused by damage to a turbine, either from a malfunction or sometimes by a bird striking the engine, reduces the engine thrust. The pilot was asked whether he wanted to keep the aircraft over the ocean to dump fuel but declined, although it appears he may have changed his mind later about whether the plane could safely land weighing as much as it did. The fuel sprayed out of the plane in two lines and descended at midday in the city of Cudahy and nearby parts of Los Angeles County, about 13 miles (21 kilometres) east of the airport. The mist fell on five elementary schools, but all injuries were minor and there weren't any evacuations, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sky Cornell said. That's a great sign," Cornell said. All the fuel evaporated very quickly and nothing flammable remained in the air or on the ground, he said. Children covering their noses and mouths leave school where multiple people were treated for jet fuel exposure at Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. A jet returning to LAX dumped its fuel over the neighborhood and the school. Affected people at the school were treated for skin and eye irritation. No patients were transported to hospitals. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP) Diego Martinez, a sixth-grader at Park Avenue Elementary in Cuday, said he and his classmates were outside for physical education class when they saw the airplane flying low overhead. It was very close, he said. Shortly afterward, the air filled with the pungent odor of fuel. It was very strong, the odor, the 12-year-old said. Diego wasnt doused but some of his friends complained that their skin was itching. In this photo from video, Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai, China, dumps fuel over Los Angeles before returning to Los Angeles International Airport for an emergency landing Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Fuel dumped by the airliner making an emergency return Tuesday to the airport due to an engine problem fell onto three schools, causing minor irritation to 40 children and adults, officials said. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) Some teachers at Park Avenue had headaches from the smell, said Antonio Buenabad, area representative for the United Teachers Los Angeles union. They were anxious to get home and shower because the stench was very strong, he said of the teachers. Delta Air Lines said the aircraft landed safely after releasing fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight." The FlightAware website's flight track showed the jet took off over the ocean and made an immediate right turn toward land and circled back over Southern California to approach the airport from the east. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating. There are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of any major U.S. airport," the FAA said in a statement. These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground." However, pilots can deviate from the rules in an emergency for safety reasons, said Doug Moss, a retired airline captain and owner of AeroPacific Consulting, LLC, an aviation consulting firm based in Reno, Nevada. The pilot could have stayed over the ocean to dump his fuel but that could have taken a half-hour up to an hour, Moss said. Moss said when there is a compressor stall, the crew can't determine how much damage was done internally to the engine. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The fan blades may have separated and cut into the fuel lines, leaving an uncontrollable fire as a future possibility," Moss said. Hes flying an airplane with a damaged engine that may be on fire," Moss said. So he has to make the decision: Do I spend the time to dump fuel or do I put this thing on the ground as soon as I can? You're not going to kill anyone by dumping fuel. Theres no dereliction of duty. Everybodys trying to do the best they can but its a fast-paced, dynamic ballgame and theres not a lot of time to think ... lives are at stake," Moss said. He got it on the ground safely. Unfortunately, there was collateral damage. People got gas poured over them. Cornell said 31 children and adults were affected by the fuel dump at Park Avenue school and another 12 at 93rd Street Elementary school. The rest of those affected were at other schools. ___ Associated Press reporters John Antczak and Christopher Weber contributed to this report from Los Angeles. Around 50 lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country, and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal, took a holy dip on the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. Around 50 lakh people had congregated here for the pilgrimage, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. "Like the Kumbh Mela, we have the Gangasagar Mela in #Bangla. Just got the good that the number of pilgrims attending has touched the 50-lakh mark. Am so proud and happy to share this with you," Banerjee tweeted on Wednesday evening. Every year on Makar Sankranti, lakhs of Hindus flock to the Sagar Island in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district to take the holy dip and offer prayers at the Kapil Muni temple. "Last year, we had a record number of 20 lakh pilgrims visiting the island. This year, that record has been broken. It was peaceful and the pilgrims have also appreciated our arrangements," an official said. Security has been beefed up in the island, around 100 km from Kolkata, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is monitoring the situation, officials said. Besides deploying senior officers, around 10,000 police personnel and volunteers have been posted for the gathering -- the Gangasagar Mela. Security officials are also keeping a watch on the waters and patrolling is being done, they said. Drones and around 1,000 CCTV cameras have been put up, and several watch towers set up. The West Bengal government, for the first time this year, is using an air ambulance at the Sagar Island, officials said. Pilgrims also visited at several ghats in other parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata and Howrah. Amid tight security, thousands of people participated in the rituals at Babughat, Doi ghat, Baje Kadamtala ghat, Saradamani ghat, Ratanbabur ghat, Bagbazar ghat and Kumartuli ghat, all on the banks of the Hooghly river in Kolkata, they said. In the districts as well, thousands of people took a dip at sunrise. Makar Sankranti marks the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. It is known by various names in different parts of the country and in West Bengal it is celebrated as Poush Sankranti. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 14, 2020] CYFIRMA Appoints Leadership Team to Prepare for Market Expansion CYFIRMA, a predictive cyber-threat visibility and intelligence analytics platform company backed by Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital, today announced key management appointments as part of its market expansion plan. CYFIRMA has appointed Gosuke Nakae as President of Alliance Strategy and Administration, Shuhei Igarashi as President of Business Development, Koichi Saito as Vice President of Business Development, Saurabh Lal as President of Delivery and Operations, Anna Koh as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Enablement, and Vinod KM as Assistant Vice President of Product Engineering. "We are delighted to have Nakae-san, Igarashi-san, Saito-san, Saurabh, Anna, and Vinod join the CYFIRMA family. Each leader is armed with a unique set of experience and expertise, and collectively, we now have a top-notch team to take CYFIRMA to the next level of growth," said Kumar Ritesh, CYFIRMA'S Chairman and CEO. "As a digital business enabler, we have a mission to help organizations rethink cybersecurity strategy and reinvent cyber-risk management. We want to equip governments and businesses with advance threat intelligence to strengthen their organizational resilience so they can deliver successful innovation and growth. With the new leaders on-board, we are now ready to scale the business and be the cybersecurity partner of choice for every forward-thinking organization." These six new senior appointments, under the leadership of Kumar Ritesh, will chart new growth in the areas of sales, marketing, service delivery, and operations. Their combined experience will see the company accelerating the development of its flagship product, Cyber Intelligence Analytics Platform (CAP v2.0), bringing innovative solutions to clients across multiple geographies, amplifying its brand and opening new markets. Gosuke Nakae will lead the company's alliance and channel strategy to build a strong partner ecosystem as well as overseeing corporate development efforts. Nakae comes with over 30 years' experience managing global businesses across the ICT industry. In his prior role as President and CEO of MitsubishiFrance S.A., he built successful alliances with cross-cultural businesses and put the company on a growth trajectory. Today, Nakae brings his executive expertise in the satellite and space, national security, and cybersecurity domains to CYFIRMA international clients. Shuhei Igarashi is a sales and business development veteran with over two decades of solution selling experience in the IT industry. Igarashi was previously leading sales with technology giants IBM (News - Alert), McAfee, and Splunk. He has helped companies shape their cybersecurity strategies with his consulting expertise and will oversee client acquisition and account management in Japan. Koichi Saito is a proven sales leader in the cybersecurity and threat intelligence domain. He brings with him over 20 years' experience in the IT industry, holding various responsibilities across the business. Before joining CYFIRMA, Saito was the sales leader for FireEye (News - Alert) K.K. with the remit to manage and grow large enterprise accounts in the high-tech and manufacturing industries. A proven sales maverick, Saito has held sales and business development positions with MessageLabs Japan, Symantec K.K., AMD (News - Alert), MCI Japan, and Nippon Information and Communication. As President of Delivery and Operations, Saurabh Lal will oversee all service delivery and technical operations of CAP v2.0. He has over two decades of global industry experience in helping businesses improve IT operations and service delivery with extensive accolades for running Cybersecurity Operations & Delivery. He had held leadership roles with Prudential, BHP, and Nokia (News - Alert). Anna Koh has been appointed Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Enablement overseeing CYFIRMA's branding and marketing strategy. She has helped IBM and Acclivis Technologies and Solutions define their brand and chart their digitization journeys. In a prior role, she oversaw the company's branding and marketing efforts, contributing towards the increased valuation of the company and the ensuing merger with a global telco. Heading Product Engineering is Vinod KM. Vinod is a senior technology and software development leader across technical management, product development, and software architecture. He brings with him 21 years' experience helping organizations realize their business strategies by developing innovative products across banking, finance, procurement, field force automation and retail cybersecurity. All appointments take immediate effect. About CYFIRMA Headquartered in Singapore and Tokyo, CYFIRMA is a leading Predictive Cyber Threat Visibility & Intelligence Platform company. Its cloud-based AI and ML powered Cyber Intelligence Analytics Platform (CAP) v2.0 helps organizations proactively identify potential threats at the planning stage of cyberattacks, offers deep insights into their cyber landscape, and amplifies preparedness by keeping the organization's cybersecurity posture up-to-date, resilient, and ready against upcoming attacks. CYFIRMA works with many Fortune 500 companies. The company has offices and teams located in Singapore, Tokyo, and India. Official websites: https://www.cyfirma.com/ https://www.cyfirma.jp/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005900/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WESTPORT A driver that crashed in a commuter parking lot after leaving the roadway while driving on Interstate 95 Wednesday morning suffered serious injuries, according to officials. Shortly after 11:30 a.m. fire units were dispatched to a report of a crash in the Exit 17 commuter lot off of Interstate 95, officials said. The first arriving units found a vehicle that had crashed after leaving the roadway while driving north on I-95. The vehicle collided with multiple concrete blocks, and came to rest on the vehicles roof, officials said. Westport Police Officer Anthony Prezioso, the departments spokesman, said the vehicle came to a final stop at the back of one of the train stations parking lots. Fire officials said the driver who was the lone occupant in the vehicle was trapped in the car with an extremity entangled under the roof. Firefighters stablized the vehicle and removed the doors to get better access to the driver. The crews used hydraulic rescue tools to free the driver. The driver was transferred to the care of Westport emergency medical service personnel, who transported the patient to Norwalk Hospital with serious injuries, officials said. Westport and state police responded to the incident and are investigating. China, acting on behalf of Pakistan, is pushing for a discussion on Kashmir at the United Nations Security Councils closed door meet later this evening, the third such attempt over the last six months. A similar effort by China had been thwarted just a month ago when France and other permanent members of the Security Council had then persuaded Beijing to withdraw its note to seek a meeting on Kashmir on the grounds that the body was not the best forum to discuss the issue. French diplomatic sources confirmed that a UNSC member had proposed to raise the issue of Kashmir again. Frances position has not changed and is very clear: the Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally as we have stated on several occasions and will continue to reiterate to our partners on the United Nations Security Council, a French diplomatic source said. China, which claims the Ladakh region, has opposed the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories after the Centre last year abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to the former state. India maintains that the change in Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter that dont affect external boundaries. Last week, French president Emmanuel Macron discussed the Kashmir issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying Paris continues to track developments in the region closely. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In her role as the Marvelous Mrs Maisel, she always looks picture perfect. But Rachel Brosnahan, the Emmy award-winning star of the Amazon show, has revealed her vintage inspired wardrobe has left her with a 'corset-related injury'. 'We talk so fast on the show that to get all the words out you can't really take very many breaths,' the actress, 29, recounted to James Corden at The Late Late Show on Monday night. Let's talk corsets: Rachel Brosnahan, the Emmy award-winning actress behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, visited The Late Late Show along with Rupaul on Monday night and shared some rather shocking details about what's involved in nailing the costumes for the show She sure is marvelous: The Amazon Originals show is a meticulous period piece hearkening back to the 1950s 'I think I wasn't breathing a lot and I was a bit constrained, and apparently some of my ribs are sort of fused together a little bit.' 'Oh my goodness,' fellow guest Rupaul, 59, exclaimed. '...And I can't take super deep breaths anymore,' Brosnahan added. When Rupaul gasped at this in disbelief, Rachel was quick to dispel any panic or true dismay. 'It's really fine guys. Champagne problems,' she joked. 'I think I wasn't breathing a lot and I was a bit constrained, and apparently some of my ribs are sort of fused together a little bit,' Rachel said of her costume-related injury Brosnahan stars as Midge Maisel, the lead character in the period drama, an upscale Upper West Side, New York City socialite who journeys from being a housewife to a standup comedian in the '50s. From the beginning, Rachel and her costars were required to wear the fabulous fashions of the time, which of course requires strikingly petite waists and hourglass figures. And Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Mrs. Maisel, is known for loading her show's characters with tons and tons of dialogue she also is responsible for the talky show Gilmore Girls. It seems that particular combination spelled trouble for Rachel's ribs. Hourglass figure: Brosnahan stars as Midge Maisel, the lead character in the Amazon period drama, an upscale Upper West Side, New York City socialite Constrained: From the beginning, Rachel has been required to wear fabulous fashions of the time, which of course requires strikingly petite waists and hourglass figures The pains of wearing corsets have come up many times before, from Emma Stone bemoaning to Graham Norton about the fact that 'for the first month, I couldn't breathe' on the set of her 2018 costume drama The Favourite, to Kate Winslet's iconic scene early in 1997's Titanic, when she's being tied fiercely into her corset by her onscreen mother, played by Frances Fisher. Rupaul also discussed the pains and demands of various costumes, like the drag garb he is famous for wearing and how difficult it was to remain in it for '15, 16-hour days' while shooting his new Netflix series AJ And The Queen. At the very least, Brosnahan and her co-actresses on the show should know their suffering wasn't for naught; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was the 2019 Emmy winner for Outstanding Period Costumes. Chatty: Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Mrs. Maisel as well as Gilmore Girls, is known for loading her show's characters with tons and tons of dialog New Delhi: The Indian Army personnel on Tuesday rescued a civilian named Tariq Iqbal who was caught in a snow slide in Jammu and Kashmirs Lacchipura. Iqbal was rushed to the hospital and later released. On Tuesday, in another incident, six soldiers and as many civilians were killed in four avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir since Monday night, police and defence sources said. An avalanche hit an Army post in Machil sector along the Line of Control on Tuesday, trapping five soldiers. A rescue operation was launched but none of the soldiers could be saved, they said. #WATCH Jammu & Kashmir: Indian Army personnel rescue a civilian Tariq Iqbal who was caught in a snow slide in Lacchipura. He was discharged from the hospital later. (14.01.20) (Source - Indian Army) pic.twitter.com/yEQtRcitom ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2020 Another avalanche struck a village in Gagangir area of Ganderbal district on Monday night in which five civilians were killed while four others were rescued, police said. Another civilian died in Gurez of Bandipora district. In the fourth incident, a 29-year-old BSF jawan was killed and six others were rescued after an avalanche hit their post along the LoC in Kashmirs Naugam sector at 8:30 pm on Monday. Officials identified the deceased as constable Ganga Bara of the 77th battalion of the force. There were a total of seven troops deployed in the affected area. While six were safely rescued, constable Bara could not be revived even after much effort, a senior officer of the border guarding force said. The jawan hails from the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal and had joined the BSF in 2011. The Border Security Force (BSF) is deployed along the LoC under the operational command of the Army as part of guarding the front against Pakistan. China is deporting North Korean slave laborers under a UN Security Council deadline, and many Korean restaurants in the border area are closing as a result. Many Chinese business owners in Dandong are indignant because their North Korean workers are being repatriated, a North Korea expert who recently visited China said Tuesday. Instead, China is stepping up import and export of goods that are not covered by the sanctions to help its ally, including fertilizer and food. And Qingdao Airlines will launch three direct weekly flights from Qingdao, Quanzhou and Zhengzhou to Pyongyang in October, bringing the total number of flight routes between the two countries to 10. Meanwhile, the North Korean regime imported 22,862 francs worth of Swiss watches from January to November last year, Radio Free Asia reported citing data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. That is about double the 11,747 francs worth the regime imported a year earlier and suggests that plenty of valuta are flowing in from somewhere. Swiss watches are typically doled out as loyalty rewards to North Korean party officials. MIAMI, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- (FETC, Epson Booth #2507) -- Epson, the number-one selling projector brand worldwide,1 today expanded its impressive classroom projector lineup with seven new PowerLite projectors built specifically for the K-12 education environment to increase student engagement and collaboration. The PowerLite E20, X49 and W49 are powerful, budget-friendly classroom projectors; the PowerLite 118, 119W, 982W, and 992F are networkable classroom projectors with premium connectivity and audio. The PowerLite 992F also comes equipped with Miracast and built-in wireless with enterprise-level security for enhanced connectivity and flexibility. Epson's new PowerLite projectors will be on display at FETC 2020 in Miami, Fla. from Jan. 15-17, 2020 at Epson's booth, #2507. "We standardized on Epson projectors because of the quality of their images, affordability, and incredible customer service," stated Danny Warren, director Technology, Print Shop, Central Stores, Des Moines Public Schools. "We are continually impressed by Epson's ability to design projectors that meet the evolving needs of classrooms." The new PowerLite projectors are designed to meet the specific needs of today's educators and students, and offer convenient and affordable classroom solutions with advanced connectivity, high brightness and long lamp life for less maintenance. Merging diverse wired and wireless options with Epson's 3LCD technology and up to 4,200 lumens of equal color and white brightness,2 the PowerLite projectors deliver big, bright images for easy-to-read presentations and offer multi-device tools that enable students to engage in collaborative learning environments. They also allow educators to simultaneously display content from up to four devices with the Epson iProjection3 wireless display solution with a built-in moderator function. Plus, with Miracast technology the PowerLite 992F allows educators to easily connect with a laptop, tablet or smartphone and mirror Full HD content including movies, videos, photos and music all without a single cable. "In today's tech-forward world, it is imperative that classrooms are equipped with the right tools to captivate students and encourage engagement," said Veronika Knight, product manager, Projectors, Epson America, Inc. "We go into classrooms to garner feedback and insight from educators and keep this in mind when designing new classroom presentation tools. Understanding the need for enhanced innovation, we aim to provide teachers with flexible, low-maintenance and high-quality display solutions that meet their presentation needs and encourage student involvement." The new PowerLite projectors come equipped with flexible display capabilities and allow teachers to utilize wall space while the projector is not in use, unlike permanent flat panel options. Additional features include: Ultra-bright, vivid images Varying from XGA to Full HD resolution and up to 4,200 lumens of equal color and white brightness, 2 the projectors deliver big, bright images even in well-lit rooms Varying from XGA to Full HD resolution and up to 4,200 lumens of equal color and white brightness, the projectors deliver big, bright images even in well-lit rooms Low-priced, long lasting lamp life Get up to 17,000 hours of lamp life in ECO Mode 4 at an affordable price Get up to 17,000 hours of lamp life in ECO Mode at an affordable price Advanced network connectivity Includes HDMI, RJ-45 (excludes PowerLite E20), and optional wireless for easy classroom collaboration. Integrated wireless networking with enterprise-level security and Miracast is available on the PowerLite 992F. Includes HDMI, RJ-45 (excludes PowerLite E20), and optional wireless for easy classroom collaboration. Integrated wireless networking with enterprise-level security and Miracast is available on the PowerLite 992F. Epson iProjection 3 with built-in moderator function Connect up to 50 devices, including Chromebook, iOS, Android, Mac and PC screens 3 and simultaneously display content from up to four devices 3 Connect up to 50 devices, including Chromebook, iOS, Android, Mac and PC screens and simultaneously display content from up to four devices Easy setup with flexible positioning Be up and running in no time with easy image adjustments and convenient controls, and get wall space back when the projector is not in use About Epson Education Products Designed with educator input, Epson's advanced presentation display and projector technologies make bright, collaborative learning environments a reality. Compatible with a wide range of devices and widely-used software, Epson presentation displays make it easy for teachers to share content to engage students, no matter where they sit in the classroom. Epson's unmatched technology, service and support ensure educators are confident that vivid, bright images and multimedia are available in the classroom every day. As a leader in innovation and partnership, Epson also offers the Brighter Futures program, a unique sales and support initiative available specifically for schools. Designed to help educators select and implement the best products for their classrooms while making the most of their budgets, Brighter Futures offers special pricing, extended Epson limited warranty coverage for a total of three years, dedicated education account managers, and toll-free technical support for all Epson projectors and associated accessories. Availability The PowerLite E20 will be available in April 2020; the PowerLite X49, W49, 118, 119W and 982W will be available in June 2020; the PowerLite 992F will be available in July 2020. All projectors will be available through national resellers, pro audio/visual dealers, mail order, distribution, Epson.com, and the Brighter Futures program. Epson PowerLite projectors come with a two-year limited warranty (three years for Brighter Futures customers) that includes two elite technical support services Epson PrivateLine phone support with direct access to an expedited support telephone line, and a Road Service replacement program that includes product exchange in one business day with paid shipping. For additional information, please visit www.epson.com/projectors-education. Additional Product Details and Availability Product Color & White Brightness Miracast Resolution Availability PowerLite E20 3,400 lumens No XGA April 2020 PowerLite X49 3,600 lumens No XGA June 2020 PowerLite W49 3,800 lumens No WXGA June 2020 PowerLite 118 3,800 lumens No XGA June 2020 PowerLite 119W 4,000 lumens No WXGA June 2020 PowerLite 982W 4,200 lumens No WXGA June 2020 PowerLite 992F 4,000 lumens Yes WUXGA July 2020 About Epson Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to becoming indispensable to society by connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. The company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics, and is underpinned by original microdevices. Epson is proud of its contributions to realizing a sustainable society and its ongoing efforts to realizing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than U.S. $10 billion. Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/EpsonAmerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). 1 Epson is the #1 projector brand worldwide and in the U.S. according to most recent quarterly data from PMA, a leading high-tech market research and publishing firm specializing in the display market 2 Color brightness (color light output) and white brightness (white light output) will vary depending on usage conditions. Color light output measured in accordance with IDMS 15.4; white light output measured in accordance with ISO 21118. 3 For wireless functionality, including via the Epson iProjection App, the projector must be configured on a network, either through the Ethernet port on the projector (check model specifications for availability) or via a wireless connection. Check your owner's manual to determine if a wireless LAN module must be purchased separately to enable a wireless connection. Not all Epson projectors are able to be networked. The Epson iProjection App does not support all files and formats. See www.epson.com for details. 4 10,000 hours is the estimated life of the air filter when the projector is used in normal mode in an ordinary environment. Actual hours may vary depending on mode and usage environment. EPSON and PowerLite are registered trademarks and EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark and Epson iProjection is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Brighter Futures and PrivateLine are registered trademarks of Epson America, Inc. Mac is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android and Chromebook are trademarks of Google LLC. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2020 Epson America, Inc. SOURCE Epson America, Inc. Related Links http://www.epson.com Amazon Studios has given a go-ahead to a series based on Jack Reacher, the famous character from Lee Child's bestselling book series. "Scorpion" creator Nick Santora will serve as writer, showrunner and executive producer on the show that the studio is developing in partnership with Skydance Television and Paramount Television Studios. "Lee Child has created an incredible character and world; it will be the goal of every writer, producer, actor, executive and crew member to capture the essence of Mr. Child's books - and luckily Lee has been there, and will continue to be there, to help guide us along the way in this series. He is the pulse of Reacher," Santora said. Child's "Jack Reacher" is published in 49 languages and 101 territories. With more than 100 million books sold, the series has made over a billion dollars in global sales. The first season of the show will be based on Child's first novel in his book series, "The Killing Floor". "It's been great so far, but really, the fun starts here. By now I know these guys, and Reacher is in the perfect hands, believe me," the 65-year-old author said. The book series was previously adapted into two feature films with Hollywood star Tom Cruise playing the former US Army Military Police Corps officer. The two movies minted close to USD 400 million in total. Child is also executive producing the series alongside Don Granger, Scott Sullivan and Christopher McQuarrie. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross executive produce for Skydance. Carolyn Harris oversees the project for Skydance. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This will be the first time Bartiromo will anchor Mornings with Maria from Chicago. Bartiromo said setting up at the Fox News Channel bureau on Wacker Drive is a big production since her team will accompany her. Shell also have to get up an hour earlier she typically starts her weekdays at 3:30 a.m. to go live in New York at 6 a.m. Her three-hour show airs in Chicago at 5 a.m. NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Jersey Children's Foundation is celebrating the release of a new study by a researcher at Boston University's Wheelock School of Education and the Manhattan Institute. According to Associate Professor Marcus Winters, the study found that "enrollment in Newark charter schools that participate in the common enrollment system tends to lead to a large improvement in math and reading scores," and that the effect is even larger at the city's two largest charter school networks - KIPP Newark and North Star Academy. The study also found that "attending a Newark charter school has a larger positive effect than 80% of other educational interventions that have been recently studied using an experimental design." "This research presents unequivocal, scientific proof that Newark's charter schools work and are helping children learn more, faster," said Kyle Rosenkrans, Executive Director of the New Jersey Children's Foundation. "For years, charter school educators have toiled to build schools that reflect the genius of their students, while the question of whether this was good for Newark children has been hotly debated among politicians, pundits, and journalists. The scientific evidence is in, and this study should end the debate over whether this has been good for children - the answer is a resounding yes," Rosenkrans added. The study is the first randomized control trial-like analysis attempting to measure the effect of attending Newark's charter schools. Winters employed a gold-standard "direct assignment" design for his study that used the district's common enrollment lottery system data to eliminate factors like parental involvement and student demographics as a potential alternative explanation for the stand-out performance of Newark's charter schools. The author also noted that this study adds to the evidence on the effectiveness of urban charter schools to improve student learning and suggests that this effectiveness continues even as the urban charter sectors get larger. In Newark, the charter sector has grown from educating just 7 percent of the students in 2006 to an estimated 38% in 2019 and could reach 50% in future years. Relations between the city's district and charter schools have radically improved in recent years, but the study comes at a time when tensions have resurfaced during a recent debate over whether to close four Newark charter schools. Key findings of the study include: "Enrollment in a Newark charter school that participated in the common enrollment system leads to large improvements in math and English language arts (ELA) test scores, on average." charter school that participated in the common enrollment system leads to large improvements in math and English language arts (ELA) test scores, on average." "The benefits of charter school enrollment do not appear to vary meaningfully depending on a student's race, gender, or qualification for free lunch - though these estimates are based on smaller sample sizes and are thus less precise." Learning gains were even more pronounced when the study isolated students in the city's two largest charter school networks - KIPP Newark and Uncommon Schools - North Star Academy. and Uncommon Schools - North Star Academy. "The magnitude of the impact from attending a Newark charter school is comparable to those found in prior research on charters in Boston and Denver "attending a Newark charter school has a larger effect than 80 percent of other educational interventions that have been studied using an experimental design," according to a paper by Brown University Professor Matthew Kraft . About the New Jersey Children's Foundation: The New Jersey Children's Foundation is a nonprofit organization aimed at promoting a fact-based discussion about public education in Newark. Our mission is to invest in people, programs, and partnerships that will improve public education systems by putting the interests of children first. Our vision is that every child will break down the walls of inequity through the creation of high-quality public education systems. Our theory of change is that when communities are armed with accurate information about public education and given the tools to act, cities will demand great schools for every student. Contact: Matthew Frankel, MDF Strategies, 917.617.7914, [email protected] Related Links New Jersey Children's Foundation Marcus Winter's Study - Charter Schools in Newark - The Effect if Student Test Scores SOURCE New Jersey Children's Foundation Related Links https://njchildren.org Kyiv-bound flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. Ukraine's government plans to allocate funds on Wednesday, January 15, to provide a lump sum in cash in support of the families of those killed in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 in Iran. Read alsoPM Honcharuk: Ukraine to allocate over US$8,300 to families of victims of Iran plane crash "On the allocation of funds for a lump sum in cash to support the families of those killed in a plane crash in the Islamic Republic of Iran on January 8," says one of the points on the agenda of the government's Wednesday meeting. As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors. On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error." Tiffany Haddish dazzled on the red carpet at the Bad Boys For Life premiere Tuesday in Hollywood, California. Haddish, 40, donned a chartreuse neon jumpsuit with wide sleeves with open toe black heels at the premiere held at TCL Chinese Theatre. The Los Angeles native wore her hair up and accessorized with hoop earrings at the premiere. Shining star: Tiffany Haddish, 40, dazzled on the red carpet at the Bad Boys For Life premiere Tuesday in Hollywood, California Haddish also has a film in theaters right now titled Like a Boss, in which she shares the screen with Salma Hayek and Rose Byrne in the business-oriented comedy. The star told The Washington Post Friday at the film's Washington, D.C. premiere that she grew professionally working with the cast of the film. 'My favorite part of working on this movie was developing a relationship with Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek and, oh my God, Jennifer Coolidge is amazing. And Billy Porter,' she told the paper. 'Those relationships that Ive created from working on this movie was worth it. 'New friends, learning experiences and it was a big growing process for me. Im a better person now because of it.' Stylish: Haddish donned a chartreuse neon jumpsuit with wide sleeves with open toe black heels at the premiere held at TCL Chinese Theatre Fashionista: The LA native wore her hair up and accessorized with hoop earrings Leading lady: Haddish also has a film in theaters right now titled Like a Boss, in which she shares the screen with Salma Hayek and Rose Byrne in the business-oriented comedy The film casts Haddish and Byrne as business partners in a cosmetics company; Haddish told the outlet she finds Oprah Winfrey to be the world's best boss as someone who's 'employed many, many people,' a goal she hopes to meet at some point. 'I want to be able to do something like that,' said the Girls Trip actress. 'I want to be able to employ many people and put food on peoples tables and put their kids through college and create some generational wealth. I think thats important.' Haddish, whose Netflix comedy special Black Mitzvah began streaming last month, said she believes 'women are the best bosses' because of temperament. 'Lets be honest, we run businesses better than men because we can handle emotions,' Haddish said. Beaming: The actress looked to be in a great mood at the Hollywood event In the limelight: The star posed as dozens of cameramen snapped her image Busy beauty: Haddish's Netflix comedy special Black Mitzvah began streaming last month Speaking with Hola USA Saturday, Haddish described the moment she came to the realization she was, indeed, a boss. 'When I started signing paychecks I realized I'm a boss,' she said. 'When I realized I can fire you if you don't show up on time - that's a boss. When I started having to pay taxes for each employee - that's a boss.' Like a Boss is in theaters now, while Bad Boys For Life hits theaters Friday. The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Wednesday postponed all University exams, citing unavoidable circumstances The Aligarh Muslim University on Wednesday postponed all university exams, citing "unavoidable circumstances". "All University exams scheduled in the light of the re-opening of the University after winter vacations in January 2020 stand postponed due to unavoidable circumstances," said a notice dated 15 January on the AMU website. "Fresh schedule for the leftover examinations will be prepared separately by the deans and principals and be notified separately," said the notice from the office of the controller of examinations, adding that the decision was taken during a consultative meeting headed by the varsity vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor on 15 January. The Jamia Milia Islamia had on 13 January issued a notice stating that "all ongoing exams stand cancelled till further notice". The decision had been taken by the vice-chancellor on the demands of the protesting students after consulting university officials, the notice had said. Hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students had gheraoed vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar's office on 13 January, demanding registration of an FIR against Delhi Police in connection with last month's violence on the campus, rescheduling of examinations and security for protesting students. On 15 December, four buses and two police vehicles were torched while students of Jamia Millia Islamia and locals protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 at Jamia Nagar in Delhi. Police baton-charged the protesters and used tear gas shells to disperse the mob before entering the varsity campus, detaining several persons allegedly involved in the violence. Click here to read more stories on the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 Violence had also broken out on the AMU campus on 15 December, following which the university had declared vacations till 6 January, which were extended till 13 January in light of the persisting tensions over the CAA. Since the university re-opened on Monday, students have been boycotting classes and demanding that exams be postponed. With inputs from PTI 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: 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: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 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 129 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 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048296cbd0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04829051b0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048296cbd0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04829051b0)') 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 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04829587a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04829051b0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04829051b0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67820)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048296ab60)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048296ab60)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Environmentalists sued the Trump administration Tuesday for approving new oil-drilling leases on federal land in eight Central California counties and the Sierra foothills, including sites near Yosemite National Park. Six groups led by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles accusing the Bureau of Land Management of illegally failing to consider public health concerns, groundwater contamination, increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for earthquakes from the drilling method known as fracking. The lawsuit seeks to halt the drilling plan until provisions are added requiring a thorough environmental review before extraction leases are issued. Trumps illegal, deeply unjust fracking plan would be a disaster for Central Valley communities, as well as our climate, wildlife and water, said Clare Lakewood, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. We need to phase out fracking and oil drilling, not throw open our public lands to polluters. The future of our beautiful state and our children depends on it. The Trump administration gave the go-ahead in December for new oil and gas leases across more than 1 million acres between Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, the first made available by the Bureau of Land Management in the region in five years. It means hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will be allowed in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. Smaller plots will also be open outside of existing industry sites, including at the edge of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in the Sierra, the Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County and within 10 miles of Yosemite National Park. The administration also plans to allow fracking on an additional 725,500 acres across 11 counties in Californias Central Coast and the Bay Area. That scheme is the subject of another lawsuit. Fracking is when high-pressure water, sand and chemicals are used to extract oil and gas. It makes it easier to tap hard-to-reach mineral deposits but has been known to pollute groundwater and even trigger earthquakes. Serena Baker, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management, said the agencys overarching directive is to make federal land available for a variety of uses, but that doesnt mean any particular activity will occur. She said petroleum companies would have to develop plans showing that their ventures are economically viable and do not damage the environment before they are allowed to go forward. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The new leases and a decision by President Trump last October to open up parts of the Bay Area and Central Coast to potential drilling are part of a push by the administration to increase fossil fuel development. It is an agenda that has put California on an environmental war footing. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently halted the approval of hundreds of fracking permits until their ecological impact could be further studied. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said when the leases were announced that he did not believe the federal governments environmental review was adequate. California is trying to find a way to rationally address its limited water supply, and now BLM is green-lighting activities that can contaminate it with toxic chemicals, said Ann Alexander, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the plantiffs in the case. This federal war on California really needs to stop. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite A High Street restaurant chain has been fined 40,000 for misleading customers by selling a lobster dish that was made largely of white fish. ASK Italian, which boasts 112 restaurants across the UK, described its 14.95 Aragosta e Gamberoni dish as 'lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce with a hint of chilli'. But a Trading Standards inspection revealed the dish contained just 70p worth of lobster, which only accounted for 35 per cent of the dish. Inspectors found 34 per cent of the meal was a mix of white fish called surimi, which is often used to make crab sticks, and was styled to look and taste like lobster. Azzuri Restaurants Limited, which trades as ASK Italian, was fined 40,000 after admitting misleadingly describing food at Swansea Magistrates Court. The dish was removed from menus nationwide in March last year after the Trading Standards probe. ASK Italian, which boasts 112 restaurants across the UK, described its 14.95 Aragosta e Gamberoni dish as 'lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce with a hint of chilli' Trading Standards uncovered the 'lobster' used in the dish was a frozen mix of 'real lobster and lobster-flavoured seafood' made with surimi', which is used to make crab sticks The court heard the company had made 3million from selling the dish after it was put on the menu in 2014. What 'lobster' did ASK Italian use in its dish? ASK Italian used a product called 'Lobster Sensations' in lieu of real lobster in its king prawn and lobster dish. Lobster Sensations is described on the packaging as a 'delicious blend of real lobster and lobster-flavoured seafood made with surimi, a fully-cooked fish protein. It says the product can be used to make 'great lobster-flavoured dishes'. The mix is made of 35 per cent lobster, 34 per cent white fish, including pollock, pacific whiting and hake, water, starch and wheat. The white fish mix is otherwise known as surimi, which is used to make crab sticks. Advertisement The charge covered the period between 1 December 2016 and 20 March 2019 when Swansea Trading Standards alerted ASK and they got rid of it completely. The lack of lobster in the dish, which only cost 2.84 but was the most expensive on the menu, was spotted by a Swansea Council trading standards officer during a routine visit. The officer revealed ASK chefs used a product called 'Lobster Sensations', which is made up of 35 per cent lobster and 34 per cent white fish, including pollock, pacific whiting and hake. The label says the product can be used to make 'great lobster-flavoured dishes'. Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said the council officer chose Aragosta e Gamberoni - which was described on the menu as 'lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce with a hint of chilli'. Mr Reynolds said: 'The officer was shown the raw ingredients but to her it did not look like or resemble lobster meat so she asked to see the original packaging. 'When the inspector was shown the pack it turned out to be something called Lobster Sensations, which described itself as 'A delicious blend of real lobster and lobster flavoured seafood made with surimi, a fully cooked fish protein'. The court heard the actual lobster content of the frozen sensation is 35 per cent, with a similar amount of white fish, and then ingredients such as potato starch and soy protein. He said: 'This was being sold as lobster throughout the national chain of restaurants. 'We say consumers did not get what the consumer was entitled to expect when ordering the dish. They were not receiving, we say, proper lobster.' The lack of lobster in the dish, which only cost 2.84 but was the most expensive on the menu, was spotted by a Swansea Council trading standards officer during a routine visit to the local branch (pictured) Swansea Magistrates Court heard consumers had been 'misled' about the true nature of the dish and its cheap ingredients - but the company insists it was a 'labelling mistake', and there was no intention to deceive. ASK apologised and accepted that without reference to white fish, the menu description was incomplete and likely to mislead. Azzurri Restaurants Ltd, registered in Chapel Street, London, pleaded guilty to selling a food with a misleading label, contrary to the Food Safety Act 1990. Oliver Campbell, for ASK, said the firm apologised for and regretted the 'error' it had made. He said it had been a 'mistake in the description given to the dish' and there had been no intention to mislead. Mr Campbell said the firm 'strongly denied' there had been a financial motivation behind the offending. He told the court the company had a turnover of 260 million per year, with Ask accounting for 94 million of that. It denied having a financial motivation and said the item had the lowest profit margin of all the restaurant's pasta dishes, adding there was no health and safety risk associated with this case. District judge Neale Thomas said in his view the way the dish had been described on the menu by the firm was a 'deliberate action', and that it 'falsely represented' the nature of the food. But he said he was not convinced there was 'evidence of profiteering' by the company in its actions. KISSIMMEE, Fla. - A physical therapist killed his wife, their three young children and a dog in an affluent Florida suburb near Walt Disney World and then left their bodies there for days, authorities said Wednesday. Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said at news conference that Anthony Todt faces homicide charges for the deaths of his wife, Megan, and their three children ranging in ages from 4 to 13. The suspect had confessed to the slayings and was co-operating with detectives, according to the sheriff. We grieve along with the victims family and friends, Gibson said. I cannot understand what would cause a person to commit such evil and horrendous acts. The bodies were discovered Monday in a rental home that sold last April for $650,000 in Celebration, an affluent community near Disney World. Deputies had been called to the house to assist federal agents who had an arrest warrant for Todt, the sheriff said. Gibson wouldnt say how the wife and children died, stating he would wait until the coroner released results. He said they appeared to have been killed in late December. Todt had a physical therapy practice in Connecticut where he would travel during the work week, returning to Florida to be with his family on weekends, the sheriff said. Out-of-state family members of the Todts had asked for a well-being check in late December. Then, earlier this month, federal agents asked deputies to get in contact with Todt. Both times deputies went to the house but saw nothing out of place, Gibson said. We didnt notice anything suspicious, the sheriff said. The sheriff didnt state a motive for the killing and also didnt elaborate on what Todt was being investigated for by federal agents. Todt was booked into jail on Wednesday. Since being taken into custody on Monday, he had been in a hospital where he was taken after ingesting Benadryl and making comments about wanting to harm himself during his arrest. Court records in Osceola County show the landlord of their five-bedroom home was seeking their eviction, saying they owed him more than $5,000. They were paying a monthly rent of more than $4,900. Online records in state court in New York showed Todt and his businesses were facing debts to creditors. Todt and his businesses were on the hook for more than $63,000 in one case and more than $36,000 in another case from two judgments issued last year in Ontario County, New York, the records show. T he Duchess of Sussex broke cover amid the ongoing royal family discussions as she made a surprise visit to a womens centre in Vancouver. Meghan posed alongside a group of eight women at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre for a photograph, which was posted on social media by the shelter. "Look who we had tea with today, the group wrote on Facebook alongside the image. "Meghan Markle visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community. It came as The Sun on Tuesday published images of Meghan boarding a seaplane in Vancouver Island. The duchess travelled to Canada and missed the royal summit that followed her and husband Prince Harry's shock move to step back from their roles as senior royals. Meghan has relied on Harry to put forward their case for a new independent life while she remains in Canada with their son Archie amid the fallout. After she missed the summit at Sandringham, a source said: "In the end, the Sussexes decided that it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join." Meghan flew to Canada, leaving Harry to discuss the move with the rest of the royal family / POOL/AFP via Getty Images After the summit the Queen issued a statement which sanctioned the couple's new "independent life" away from full-time royal duties and she said they would begin a transition period living in the UK and Canada. The duchess is reportedly the driving force behind the move. TODO: define component type apester The visit also comes after it was reported her father Thomas Markle is prepared to testify against her claim that the Mail on Sunday unlawfully published one of her private letters to him. The paper and its parent company Associated Newspapers will argue it was justified because there is a huge and legitimate public interest in the personal relationships of members of the royal family. Legal documents seen by the PA news agency reveal the Mail On Sunday will rely on evidence from Mr Markle, including that he had a weighty right to tell his version of what had happened between himself and his daughter including the contents of the letter. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle 1 /106 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Freedom Gala AP Christmas 2021 Alexi Lubomirski Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend The Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House Samir Hussein/WireImage Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex PA Media Misan Harriman Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chapel PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex holding their son Archie during a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mrs Tutu at their legacy foundation in cape Town, on day three of their tour of Africa PA Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle embrace following the polo at Coworth Park on 7 May 2017 Rex Features Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet Pony Major Mark Wilkinson and regimental mascot Cruachan IV during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Reuters Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto PA Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Getty Images Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Karwai Tang/WireImage Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario Reuters Meghan Markle attends the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Invictus Games at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada PA Meghan Markle on the cover of Vanity Fair Peter Lindbergh exclusively for Vanity Fair Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Larking around: Harry and Meghan pull faces in footage not shown in the BBC engagement interview BBC Meghan Markle visits Nottingham for her first official public engagement with fiancee Prince Harry Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Nottingham Contemporary in Nottingham, to attend a Terrence Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair on their first official engagement together PA Meghan Markle arrives at the Terrance Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair at Nottingham Contemporary Getty Images The royal brothers and their partners on Christmas Day. AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle listen to a broadcast through headphones during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Brixton EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Loved up: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Cardiff Castle EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub in during their visit to Star Hub on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit the people of Edinburgh Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception for young people at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images rince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle meet a Shetland Pony as they arrive at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Frank Augstein/AP Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle speak with patrons at the Social Bite in Edinburgh AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Meghan Markle arrives for a visit in Birmingham on International Women's Day PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham Splash News Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA The Reverend Canon David Stanton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave after attending a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbet AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an Ascot Landau along the Long Walk after their wedding PA Meghan Markle walks down the aisle in St George's Chapel PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex head back down the Mall to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour on June 9, 2018 Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex talk to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex are seen during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia, 27 October 2018 EPA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the 'Together: Our Community' Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Britain's Prince Harry unveil a plaque to officially open Number 7, a 'Feeding Birkenhead' citizens supermarket and community cafe, at Pyramids Shopping Centre, as part of a visit to Birkenhead, northwest England, Monday Jan. 14, 2019 AP Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the National theatre in central London on January 30, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Bristol Old Vic theatre, which is undergoing a multimillion-pound restoration PA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, reacts as they visit Bristol Old Vic theatre in Bristol, south-west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R) and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (C) help volunteers in the kitchen as they pack food parcels to go in the charity outreach van during a visit to One25 charity in Bristol, south west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers Hall in London on February 7, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex try some food during a cooking school demonstration at Villa des Ambassadors in Rabat on the third day of their tour of Morocco PA Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duke & Duchess of Sussex, pet a horse at the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports in Rabat on February 25, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle wearing a short Reiss dress on International Women's Day AFP/Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House, where they meet young people who demonstrate a Canadian spring tradition of making maple taffy (maple syrup cooled on snow to make sweets) on March 11, 2019 in London Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave following a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, London PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London WireImage Members of Britain's Royal family leave after attending the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey AP The Duchess of Cambridge (left) talks with the Duchess of Sussex (right) as they attend the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex hold their baby son in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Berkshire on 8 May 2019 REUTERS Archbishop Desmond Tutu kisses the forehead of baby Archie as his mother smiles on warmly Reuters The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Auwal Mosque, the oldest mosque in South Africa, on day two of their tour of Africa. PA Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex at The Fields of Remembrance in Westminster Abbey Jeremy Selwyn pixel8000 It means should the case go to trial, both Meghan and her father could be called to testify against one another, and the papers sister publication the Daily Mail reported Mr Markle would be prepared to face her in court. The document also argues members of the royal family generate and rely on publicity about themselves and their lives in order to maintain the privileged positions they hold and to promote themselves. It comes just 24 hours after the Queen agreed Harry and Meghan could begin a new life as an independent family. Harry and Meghan spent six weeks over the festive period based in the Canadian province of British Columbia staying at an exclusive property on Vancouver Island. A Texas school district says it took 'corrective action' after a biology teacher asked a homework question involving rape and DNA: Google Texas schools officials say theyve taken corrective action after a ninth grade teacher included a question about a rape victim in a homework assignment received Approximately 90 students received an assignment that asked the following: Suzy was assaulted in an alley and is a victim of rape. The police collected a sample of sperm that was left at the crime scene and now have three suspects in custody. Which of the suspects raped Suzy? According to school officials, a biology teacher asked freshman students to select the correct DNA sample pattern from a list of possible answers, including Felon, S1, S2 and S3. A photo of the homework was posted on Facebook by a neighbour of the parent whose child is a student at Klein Collins High School in a suburb of Houston. Parents who shared the photo called the question appalling and upsetting and questioned whether the teacher or school had permission to ask students a question involving rape. Cookie VonHaven, a parent of a 10th-grade student at the school, told KPRC-TV that students know that rape is forced non-consensual sex and that upsets them... Thats why I cant fathom a teacher putting that on a test. In a statement, Klein Independent School District acknowledged that an inappropriate homework question was distributed by a teacher to some ninth grade biology students at the school. According to the school district, the assignment is not part of its approved curriculum and is by no means representative of the districts instructional philosophy. The district said it investigated the source of the materials and has taken appropriate corrective action but did not disclose how the question appeared on classroom materials By Trend The 6th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor will be held on February 28, 2020 in Baku, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry told Trend. The first meeting of the SGC Advisory Council was held on February 12, 2015, the second meeting - on February 29, 2016, the third meeting - on February 23, 2017, the fourth meeting - on February 15, 2018 and the fifth meeting on February 20, 2019. The Southern Gas Corridor project aims to increase and diversify European energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field ("SD1" project) and its full-field development ("SD2'" project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline ("SCP" project) and its expansion ("SCPX" project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ("TANAP" project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline ("TAP" project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the "Projects"). The Projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion. Upon completion, the SD2 project will add a further 16 bcm of natural gas per annum to 10.9 bcma (maximum production capacity) already produced under SD1 project. Total length of the newly constructed SCPX, TANAP and TAP pipelines will be more than 3,200 kilometres. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By IANS NEW DELHI: Underworld don and erstwhile member of the D-Company, Ejaz Lakdawala, has revealed to Mumbai Police that India's most-wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim has a large base in Kathmandu, that he uses for pushing Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) into the Indian territory through the porous border and operates with the aid of a few key officials at the Pakistan Embassy in the Nepal capital. The fugitive gangster, Lakdawala, arrested by the Mumbai Police from Patna on January 8, also disclosed two specific addresses of Dawood Ibrahim in Karachi during his police remand. ALSO READ | Fugitive gangster Ejaz Lakdawala arrested by Mumbai Police Ejaz Lakdawala The two addresses told to the top officials at the Crime Branch are: 6A, Khayaban Tanzim Phase-5, Defence Housing Area, Karachi and D-13, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi. One address is of Khayaban Tanzim phase, in Defence Housing Area while the other is of his Clifton-based bungalow in Karachi. He has also confirmed addresses of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel, who also live in Defence Housing Area of Karachi. "Officials of other agencies are also questioning Lakdawala. We can only add at this stage that he is a prize catch, who has crucial information about the D-Company's FICN and drug racket," a senior official of the Mumbai Police told IANS over phone. Once hiding in Canada, Lakdawala was also involved in peddling drugs into Europe through Rotterdam port in Netherlands. The gangster revealed that the D-Company's drug racket was first operated by late Iqbal Mirchi and of late by Chhota Shakeel, who is looking after the lucrative contraband business. Lakdawala said that much of the drugs are smuggled out of Afghanistan and later pushed through the Karachi port to South East Asia, as well as to destinations in Europe. The D-Company has significant hold in Thailand and Bangladesh from where drugs are further smuggled to other destinations including India. Sources said that Ejaz Lakdawala, who along with Chhota Rajan parted ways with Dawood Ibrahim post the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, had attempted to eliminate the D-Company boss, during the funeral of Dawood's daughter Maria, in Karachi a decade ago. The operation was led by Chhota Rajan's sharp shooter Vicky Malhotra. However Dawood did not turn up at the funeral procession, and the mission had to be aborted. Later, Lakdawala had a dispute over payments with Rajan and established his own gang, somewhere in Cambodia. Uttar Pradesh-based gangster Babloo Srivastava, presently lodged in Bareilly Central Jail, also had close links with Lakdawala. Both were involved in several cases of extortion across India. Underworld don Ejaz Lakdawala's daughter Soniya Lakdawala was also looking after the gangs monetary operations, sources said. A fake passport, used by Soniya to flee from India, was instrumental in the nabbing of Ejaz Lakdawala. To hide Lakdawala's identity, Soniya deliberately used a different name. Sources said that Soniya changed her name to Shifa Shaikh, after her wedding to one Shahid Shaikh from Mumbai. Her name before her wedding, as per her passport, was Soniya Advani. The father's name mentioned in the same passport was Manish Advani while her mother's name was mentioned as Rekha Advani. Mumbai Police said that at a later stage, to verify certain information, daughter and father would be confronted during interrogation. The Intelligence reports suggest that D-Company is planning to kill Ejaz Lakdawala once he is lodged in the jail. Honda, India's second-largest two-wheeler maker, may finally jump onto the electric vehicle bandwagon as it prepares to take consumer feedback on a test vehicle later in the year. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Activa 6G Minoru Kato, president, CEO and MD, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, said: "We will start testing an electric vehicle in India that will be imported from China. It wont be the PCX though." While Bajaj became the first large volume two-wheeler maker to enter the electric vehicle space with the launch of the Chetak others like TVS Motor Company, Hero Motocorp, Suzuki and Yamaha will follow suit in the coming period. "The testing and studying of the EV will go on for about a year. Based on that feedback we will decide about electric vehicles," added Kato. A top Honda executive had earlier told Moneycontrol that Honda would have to wait for the charging infrastructure to come up before taking a plunge into the EV space. "As an electric vehicle model we have it within Honda, but we need infrastructure to make it possible. We have to talk to the government to prepare for electric mobility. Even in Japan we are still talking to the government. We are preparing for electrification but we need infrastructure," Noriaki Abe, Chief Officer, Honda Motor Company, had said on the sidelines of EICMA held in Italy. Honda is believed to have showcased the PCX electric scooter in some of its India's showrooms to gauge consumer response. The same two-wheeler was also present at the 2018 Auto Expo. Suzuki Motorcycle India has developed a prototype electric scooter which it will start testing it in the country by 2020. Not only will Suzuki Motorcycles use Suzuki-Toyotas EV technology it will also make use of the large base of touchpoints which will supposedly become charging points for its EVs. The Japanese giant is the only scooter and motorcycle making company that was yet to firm up plans about electric scooters or electric bikes even as its rivals have been discussing launch plans of such vehicles. Indiana University's Kelley School of Business continued a streak of dominance by again ranking No. 1 among online MBA programs nationally, according to U.S. News and World Report. The Kelley Direct Online MBA program tied for 1st with Kenan-Flagler at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the U.S. News and World Report Best Online Education Program rankings. It's the third time Kelley and Kenan-Flagler have tied at No. 1 for online MBA programs, and the fourth time IU has taken home the top honor in the eight years U.S. News and World Report has ranked online MBAs. "In an ever increasingly competitive market, we're always looking at how we can best enable our students to achieve their professional and personal goals," said Idalene "Idie" Kesner, dean of the Kelley School of Business and the Frank P. Popoff chairwoman of Strategic Management. "This past year, we introduced a revised curriculum, which was designed to allow students to personalize their experience and attain an even broader understanding of today's complex and globally interconnected business world. It is gratifying to see our programs continuing to be recognized as the best choices for online MBA and M.S. degrees." WASECA -- The wanted man who shot a Waseca police officer had talked about committing suicide by cop, according to a court document. A search warrant application filed by the Minnesota Bureau of Apprehension in the shooting of officer Arik Matson on Jan. 6 recently was made public. Tyler Robert Janovsky, 37, of Waseca, is accused of shooting Matson in the head as officers responded to a suspicious person call and exchanged gunfire. Janovsky told a family member he intended to commit "suicide by cop," the warrant document states. Janovsky reportedly made the statement within the two weeks prior to the shooting. Janovsky was wanted by authorities at that time after drugs and materials for making methamphetamine allegedly were found in his Waseca residence. The warrant application also provides a few new details about the confrontation that left Matson critically injured and Janovsky with gunshot wounds that the BCA described as not life-threatening. ADVERTISEMENT Officers were responding to the suspicious person complaint and found a man standing on the balcony of a residence at 904 Third Ave. SE. Officers made "verbal contact" with the man, who ran away. Officers chased the man, later identified as Janovsky, who climbed onto the roof of a detached garage. Janovsky exchanged gunfire with Matson and both were struck. Janovsky fell off the roof. Other officers saw a handgun next to Janovsky after he fell and moved it from reach before administering first aid. The warrant application, filed by a BCA investigator, sought and was granted permission to search Janovsky's cellphone for data that could "assist in identifying the timeline of Janovsky's actions leading up to the shooting." Janovsky and Matson were both taken to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Matson remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon. Matson is showing signs of improvement, Matson's pastor, Kaleb Hurley at Hope Church of Albert Lea, said in a Facebook post Tuesday evening. Matson has responded to questions by squeezing hands and giving a thumbs up, Hurley said, but he still needs help breathing at times. "We are excited about the changes that have happened in Arik's recovery," Hurley said. "But we still know that there are many unknowns about his condition." A hospital spokesperson said she could not release any information about Janovsky. It appears Janovsky is still under medical care because court records show a warrant has been issued for his arrest but has not yet been executed. ADVERTISEMENT --- (c)2020 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Support continues for injured Waseca officer, who is 'steadily improving' Police officer in 'critical but stable' condition, suspect shot during incident in Waseca Its going to be a busy year for Michigan politics. The Great Lakes state will be a key battleground in the presidential race this year after President Donald Trump dismantled Democrats blue wall through a close victory here. Michigan is also home to several competitive primaries and general election races for Congress. Michigan has 14 congressional districts, which each elects one person to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for a two-year term. The elections arent staggered, so all of Michigans representatives are up for re-election in 2020. Michigans two senators represent the entire state and serve six-year terms with staggered elections. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, is not up for re-election until 2024. Voters wont cast a ballot for congress until the Republican and Democratic primaries on Aug. 4. Until then, heres a look at all the candidates lining up to run for Congress this year. NOTE: This story will be updated periodically to reflect the final list of candidates running for Congress ahead of the August primary U.S. Senate Incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, will likely have his work cut out for him this year. The Republican Party and conservative political activists are targeting his seat as one of only two up for grabs in states Trump won in 2016. Two Republicans are running to oppose him: Farmington Hills businessman John James and Mackinac Island preservationist Bob Carr. James is a combat veteran and a businessman in Detroit who already has the endorsement of the Michigan Republican Party and Vice President Mike Pence. Carr is a historic preservationist who worked in Washington at the Office of Economic Opportunity and as an assistant to a Republican congressman. Both men have run for Senate before. James ran an unsuccessful campaign against Stabenow in 2018, but his performance impressed enough Republicans that James entered the 2020 campaign with a wellspring of support. Carr has never been elected to public office but has pursued several elected positions in the past. He mounted a failed Senate bid in 2018. Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI, introduces U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow after she won her re-election campaign for U.S. Senate Tuesday night at the Michigan Democratic election night party held at the Sound Board Theater inside MotorCity Casino in Detroit, Nov. 5, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com) Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.comTanya Moutzalias | MLive.com Incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, Democrat Peters is no stranger to tough elections. The Democrat was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, a year when Republicans won big across the state. Peters previously served in Congress representing Michigans 9th House District, which includes areas of Oakland and Macomb counties, and the 14th District, which covers portions of Wayne and Oakland counties. He also served as a member of the state Senate from 1995 to 2002 and was commissioner of the Michigan Lottery from 2003 to 2007. Peters served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1993 to 2000. He rejoined the Navy Reserve after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and continued to serve until 2005. Peters serves on the Armed Services Committee; Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and the Joint Economic Committee. In 2014, Peters earned 54.6% of the vote with about 1.7 million votes. He beat Republican Terri Lynn Land by 13 percentage points, about 415,000 votes. Peters has presented himself as an effective legislator who was able to secure key provisions to bills signed this year, including measures to increase Great Lakes funding and phase out the militarys use of PFAS. Early fundraising emails communicate a sense of urgency as Trump and top Republicans back James challenge. See Peters campaign website here, and his U.S. Senate website here. U.S. Senate candidate John James addresses the crowd before President Donald J. Trump's Merry Christmas campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com John James, Republican A 2004 graduate of West Point, James announced his candidacy during an appearance on Fox & Friends on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day operation in WWII. James served in the U.S. Army for eight years and led platoons of Apache helicopters during the Iraq War before returning to Michigan. James is president of the family business, James Group International. The supply-chain management company was founded by his father, also named John. James spent most of 2019 consolidating his support in the GOP, fundraising a large war chest and staying out of the media spotlight. He already has strong support in the Republican Party, earning an early endorsement from the Michigan Republican State Committee and taking the stage at Michigan rallies held by Pence and Trump last year. Its yet to be seen whether James ties to Trump will help or hurt in a state where Trump is generally unpopular, though Michigan narrowly backed Trump in 2016. Experts warn James second Senate campaign could sink his political career if it is unsuccessful. James has billed himself so far as an independently-minded conservative who isnt afraid to buck the party if needed. Republicans believe he is their best chance of taking a Senate seat in years. Visit James campaign website here. Bob Carr, left, and his wife Karen are pictured in this file photo. Carr is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2020. (Image provided to MLive by Bob Carr) Bob Carr, Republican Carr is also pursuing his second bid for U.S. Senate in Michigan. He ran against James in 2018 but dropped out before the Republican primary. Carr also ran for Michigans 1st Congressional District in 1996 and earned the GOP nomination before losing to Democratic incumbent Bart Stupak in the general election. Carr had an unconventional childhood. He and his sister became wards of the state at a young age and Carr ended up living in 22 foster homes before he reached high school. As an adult, he worked on Capitol Hill at the Office of Economic Opportunity and an assistant to a Republican Congressman. Preserving Michigans historic structures became a calling for Carr later in life. Some of his projects include restoring the Round Island Lighthouse helping to prevent the demolition of Traverse City State Hospital, now used as a local market. Carrs website directs prospective constituents to a phone line set up to talk the candidate directly. Anyone can call Carr at 1 (800) 987-8810. 1st Congressional District U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, is seeking his third term in office. No other Republicans have filed to challenge Bergman in 2018. Three Democrats have lined up to challenge him. Republicans have controlled the district since 2011. The first Congressional District comprises the entire Upper Peninsula and much of the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, MI-01 Incumbent Jack Bergman, Republican Bergman is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general and businessman. Hes worked at military posts throughout the country, served as a naval aviator, and is the highest-ranking combat veteran ever elected to Congress. Bergman defended his district in the 2018 midterm elections by defeating fellow Marine veteran Matthew Morgan. During the 2016 election, Bergman defeated two seasoned state lawmakers in the Republican primary while running as an "outsider" candidate, promising his military experience and business acumen would assist him in Congress. In the current session of Congress, Bergman sponsored several bills on improving veterans care, expand rural broadband internet, charging foreign countries for cyberattacks, and has been a champion for funding updates to the Soo Locks. Bergman sits on the armed services and veterans affairs committees in the House. See Bergmans campaign website here, and his U.S. House website here. Linda O'Dell is running for the Democratic Party nomination for Michigan's 1st House District in 2020. (Image provided to MLive by Linda O'Dell) Linda ODell, Democrat ODell is a former Wall Street research analyst and trader who left the finance industry, repelled by unfair, corrupt insider trading, according to her campaign website. Her top issues are addressing climate change and protecting the Affordable Care Act, The Iron Mountain Daily News reported. The Petoskey Democrat is the administrative manager of First Presbyterian Church in Harbor Springs. She also has experience working with nonprofits. Her husband Tom is an Episcopal priest. See ODells campaign website here. Dana Ferguson is running for the Democratic Party's nomination for Michigan's 1st House District in 2020. (Image provided to MLive by Dana Ferguson) Dana Ferguson, Democrat Ferguson is a third-generation Upper Penninsula native who grew up in Negaunee and worked as a union carpenter, later joining his brother-in-laws woodworking supply business in Ishpeming. His father ran a construction company until the 2008 recession caused the business to close. In a statement to MLive, Ferguson said his top priorities are building a stronger economy, increasing rural infrastructure investments, improving the cost of health care and tackling climate change. He said the 1st District could be a leader in green energy jobs under his leadership. Ferguson and his wife, Kristi, have five children and reside in Negaunee. See Fergusons campaign website here. 2nd Congressional District Michigans 2nd Congressional District, which covers Ottawa, Muskegon, Oceana, Lake and Newaygo counties as well as parts of Mason, Allegan and Kent counties, has been represented by U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, since he was first elected in 2011. Republicans have controlled the district for decades. Huizenga has never faced a primary challenger. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga speaks at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com Incumbent Bill Huizenga, Republican Huizenga was first elected to Congress in 2010. Prior to his time in Washington, Huizenga served as a state representative and was also an aide to former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra. Huizenga won his last election in the heavily Republican district by a 12 percentage point margin. Huizenga currently sits on the Financial Services Committee. Huizenga supported efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which passed the House but ultimately fell through in the Senate, and voted for the 2017 tax plan supported by a majority of Republicans. He co-chairs the Great Lakes Task Force and is a supporter of continuing funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Last year, Huizenga was accused of various improper campaign expenditures, including accepting contributions from staff and using campaign funds to pay for dinners, family trips to Disney World, and other non-political purposes. The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics found substantial reason" to believe Huizenga violated campaign finance regulations and exhibited a pattern of disregard for, or lack of understanding of, the rules prohibiting the use of campaign funds for personal use. Huizenga strongly supported President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign cycle and has since spoken at some of Trumps appearances in West Michigan. Visit Huizengas campaign website here, and his U.S. House website here. Provided to MLive.com by Dr. Rob Davidson. Rev. Bryan Berghoef, a 44-year-old pastor in Holland, has announced he will run for Congress in Michigan's 2nd Congressional District. Bryan Berghoef, Democrat Berghoef is a Christian pastor running uncontested for the Democratic Partys nomination in 2020. He has never sought political office before. Berghoef was ordained in 2005 and has pastored churches in Holland Traverse City and Washington D.C. In 2016, Berghoef founded Holland United Church of Christ. He was once a conservative and Republican voter, according to his campaign website, but became disillusioned with the party after the Iraq war in 2003. Berghoef criticized Huizenga and Vice President Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, for sowing politics of division in recent years. Berghoefs top policy goals include campaign finance reform, protecting the environment from climate change and improving access to affordable health care. Berghoef is endorsed by Dr. Rob Davidson, who ran for the 2nd congressional seat in 2018 and lost to Huizenga by 12 percentage points. Visit Berghoefs campaign website here. Jean-Michel Creviere is running for the Green Party nomination for the 2nd District of Michigan. (Image provided to MLive by Jean-Michel Creviere) Jean-Michel Crevier, Green Party Crevier is the sole candidate running for the Green Partys nomination to oppose Huizenga. Creiver is a self-described progressive running in opposition to Huizengas environmental record. His campaign website also criticizes Huizenga for enabling a continued campaign of hate by not condemning various racial remarks made by President Donald Trump. Though Creiver was born in Quebec, he is a citizen of the United States. He builds string instruments related to the violin family. Visit Creviers campaign website here. 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Cascade Township, inspired a wide field of candidates to take him in in 2020 after he supported Trumps impeachment. Amash was a rare critic of Trump among Republicans in Congress and ultimately left the party due to his disdain for what he called a partisan death spiral in Washington. Michigan Republicans quickly lined up to replace him, saying Amash is out of touch with his district. The five-term Congressman plans to run for reelection in 2020 as an independent. With Amash out of the GOP race, seven candidates are vying for the Republican Partys nomination. Two Democrats are also running for their partys nomination. Michigans 3rd Congressional District stretches between stretches from Albion and Sand Lake and includes all or portions of Barry, Calhoun, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties. The district has been a Republican stronghold for decades, represented by Amash since 2010. U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Cascade Township, greets the crowd before holding a meeting at Rising Grinds Cafe, 1167 Madison Ave. SE, in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com Incumbent Rep. Justin Amash, Independent Amash always had an independent streak -- he entered Congress in 2010 during the height of the Tea Party movement -- and a reputation for not being afraid to disagree with members of his own party. His constituents have largely stayed behind through four previous elections. Whether that will hold true after Amash supported impeaching Trump, who won the 3rd District by 10 percentage points, is one of the biggest questions of the 2020 election cycle. Amash has faced primary challenges based on his voting record and policy stances before. A Trump aide called for a challenger in the 3rd District on Twitter in early 2017, but he ran uncontested in the last election and had no problem winning re-election by 11 percentage points. Styling himself as the leading advocate for government restraint in the U.S. House of Representatives, Amash holds libertarian stances like limiting government regulation in the marketplace, reducing federal spending, legalizing marijuana, criticism of surveillance programs and pulling back military involvement in the Middle East, among other issues. Amash serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and was a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Visit Amashs campaign website here, and his U.S. House website here. State Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township, speaks during a Republican debate at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to challenge newly independent Congressman Justin Amash for Michigan's 3rd District seat. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com State Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, Republican Afendoulis is a first-term state representative forgoing a second term to run for Congress. She previously worked 25 years for Universal Forest Products in various roles, most recently director of corporate communications. Afendoulis began her first term to representing Michigans 73rd House District in 2018 after defeating Democrat Bill Saxton by 20 percentage points. The district includes the city of East Grand Rapids and the townships of Cannon, Courtland, Nelson, Oakfield, Plainfield, Spencer and Grand Rapids Charter Township. Afendoulis serves as chair for the committee on tax policy. She also serves on the committees for health policy, military, veterans and Homeland security, and transportation and infrastructure. During her time in Lansing, Afendoulis sponsored legislation tweaking tax laws, prohibiting all but official state and federal flags from being flown over state government buildings, and prohibiting certain abortion procedures. Her congressional campaign is centered on protecting the American Dream legally residents, keeping government out of their way, and helping people achieve the dignity of independence, according to her campaign website. Afenodulis warns the far-left is pushing a socialist agenda that threatens our way of life on her website. View Afendoulis campaign website here. Joe Farrington, a business owner and trustee for the village Lyons, speaks during a Republican debate for the 3rd Congressional District Aug. 4 primary election at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com Joe Farrington, Republican Farrington is a trustee on the Village of Lyons board in Ionia County. He owns Lyons Bar and is a former teacher and financial adviser. Farrington was a 2018 write-in candidate for Michigans 3rd District. He did not gather enough signatures to participate in the Republican primary. Farringtons campaign materials emphasize his working-class roots, promising to ignore special interest groups and reject corporate donations. He presented himself as a more moderate Republican during a December 2019 debate among the GOP candidates, criticizing Trumps tax cuts and failure to pass legislation providing additional funding for infrastructure improvements. Visit Farringtons campaign website here. Andrew Jackson Willis, pastor for Maplelawn Baptist Church in Wyoming, Mich., speaks during a Republican debate at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to challenge newly independent Congressman Justin Amash for Michigan's 3rd District seat. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com Andrew Jackson Willis, Republican Willis is a pastor at Maplelawn Baptist Church in Wyoming, leading the church since 2007. Willis campaign website lists four priorities he would focus on if elected to Congress: preserving the Constitution and economic freedom, defending the value of his constituents and empowering constituents to take a more active role in their government. He also commits to protecting natural resources in West Michigan and is pro-traditional marriage. At the December debate for GOP hopefuls, Willis said he could not think of any Trump policies that I dont agree with." He praised the president for championing conservative principles. Willis pledged to accept no more than $20 from any donor in the primary or general election. Visit his campaign website here. Joel Langlois, owner of the Delta Plex arena and music venue The Intersection, speaks during a Republican debate at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to challenge newly independent Congressman Justin Amash for Michigan's 3rd District seat. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.comCory Morse | MLive.com Joel Langlois, Republican Langlois is the owner of The DeltaPlex Arena and Conference Center in Walker and The Intersection live music venue in Grand Rapids. He is running to Make Congres Great Again, according to campaign materials. Then-candidate Trump held campaign rallies at the Langlois DeltaPlex Arena in 2015 and 2016. Langlois also scored an early endorsement from Scott Hagerstrom, the Trump campaigns Michigan director in 2016. Langlois campaign website says the 3rd District should replace a never-Trumper -- referencing Amashs lack of endorsement for the president. Langlois took aim at Amash during his campaign announcement last year. He said Washington is stuck in gridlock, and that our own congressman Justin Amash is largely to blame. He cited Amashs support for launching impeachment proceedings against Trump, and he also claimed that Amash votes against the Right to Life, NRA and small business organizations. View his campaign website here. Peter Meijer, a U.S. Army veteran and grandson of the late retailer Fred Meijer, speaks during a Republican debate at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to challenge newly independent Congressman Justin Amash for Michigan's 3rd District seat. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com Peter Meijer, Republican Meijer, an Iraq war veteran, is the grandson of late retail magnate Fred Meijer and oldest son of Hank Meijer, executive chairman of the family-owned Michigan-based supercenter chain. He joined a veteran-based disaster response organization after returning from Iraq in 2011 and later worked as a conflict analyst for a humanitarian organization and most recently as an analyst at Olympia Development of Michigan. Meijer believes the 3rd District needs a new voice in light of Amash defection from the GOP. He told MLive in a 2019 interview his priorities include securing U.S. borders, bringing American troops home from senseless wars and improving access to affordable health care. Meijers family is among the richest people in the world. The company which bears their name operates more than 230 supermarkets throughout the Midwest and has estimated sales of $17.8 billion. The Republican candidate has already been a prolific fundraiser in 2020. Visit his campaign website here. Tom Norton, Afghanistan War veteran and former Sand Lake Village president, speaks during a Republican debate for the 3rd Congressional District Aug. 4 primary election at Noto's Old World Italian Dining in Cascade Township on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com Tom Norton, Republican Norton is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, the former village president of Sand Lake and a one-time candidate for Michigans 73rd state House District. Norton was a member of the Army National Guard from 2008 to 2014. He also served as a trustee and president of the Sand Lake Village Council from 2014 to 2018 and now lives in Ada. Nortons campaign website expresses a commitment to support veterans, reduce the cost of health care, and reduce taxes for the middle class. He also expressed support for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Norton is a strong proponent of Trumps wall on the southern border with Mexico. We wont surrender our allies, our borders, or our rights as citizens to non-legal residents, Nortons campaign website states. We need a wall to stop drugs from coming across our borders. In 2014, Norton embarked on an unsuccessful bid for the Republican Partys nomination in the 73rd District. Norton picked up 7% of the vote and he was defeated by Chris Afendoulis, the cousin of Nortons 2020 primary opponent. View Nortons campaign website here. Emily Rafi, Republican Rafi originally declared her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic primary but announced in November 2019 that she would leave the party and subsequently declared her candidacy for the Republican primary. Her campaign committee is based in Battle Creek. She does not have a campaign website, as of this storys publish date. Nick Colvin (Courtesy/Steve Gadomski) Nick Colvin, Democrat Colvin is a Harvard Law-trained attorney who worked in the Obama administration. He served under Obama while the former president was a U.S. senator, later joining his 2008 campaign and then serving in the White House Counsels Office until 2011. Colvin worked as an attorney, then became general counsel for the city of Chicago in the treasurers office. Colvin moved back to Michigan in 2019 and now resides in Saranac, working as an attorney for law firm Miller Canfield. He has never held an elected office. Colvin told MLive last year his legislative priorities include reining in the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs and investing in Michigans roads and bridges. Visit Colvins campaign website here. Hillary Scholten (Courtesy photo) Hillary Scholten, Democrat Scholten is an immigration attorney with past experience at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and the U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama administration. The Grand Rapids native wants to fix the countrys broken immigration system, provide affordable health care to all residents, reduce gun violence and ensure that everyone has access to clean drinking water. She served as a judicial law clerk and attorney adviser for the U.S. Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals from 2013 to 2017, leaving after Trump took office. Scholten has never held elected office. Scholten has picked up endorsements from a number of influential Democrats, according to her campaign website, including state Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, former congressman Mark Schauer, and former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon. View Scholtens campaign website here. Amanda Le'Anne Brunzell is running for the Democratic Party's nomination for Michigan's 3rd U.S. House District in 2020. Brunzell identifies as non-binary and uses They/Them pronouns. (Image provided to MLive by Amanda Brunzell) Amanda LeAnne Brunzell, Democrat Brunzell has a decade of experience in political campaigns as a staffer, consultant and volunteer for local campaigns and President Barack Obamas campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Brunzell also served in the U.S. Navy from 2002 to 2005. Brunzell identifies as gender-fluid and is a member of the LGBTQ community. Bunzell says the issues that motived their campaign include are improved care for veterans, ending Americas involvement in the war in Afghanistan, taking steps to reduce climate change and improving access to healthcare. They are currently the CEO and president of Lilac Court Consulting, a political consulting firm in the Grand Rapids area. Brunzell does not have a campaign website. View their Facebook page here. 4th Congressional District This district has had Republican representation for nearly 100 years, though the boundaries have changed over time. It is located in the center part of the Lower Penninsula and is currently represented by U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland. So far, Moolenaar doesnt have a primary challenger. Two Democrats are running to oppose him. The district includes the counties of Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Shiawassee, and Wexford. It also includes portions of Montcalm and Saginaw counties. U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar speaks during Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bill Schuette's primary election day party at Dow Diamond in Midland on Aug. 7, 2018. (Nate Manley | MLive.com)Nate Manley Incumbent John Moolenaar, Republican Moolenaar is seeking a fourth term representing Michigans 4th Congressional District. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 2014 and Moolenaar serves on the House Appropriations Committee, where he works on budget and spending issues. He was an outspoken supporter of the tax reforms passed in 2017 and has also worked to secure funding for the Great Lakes. Before joining Congress, Moolenaar worked for Dow Chemical and was the director of the Small Business Center for the Middle Michigan Development Corporation. Moolenaar was easily re-elected in 2018, defeating Democrat Jerry Hillard by 25 percentage points. Visit Moolenaars campaign website here and his U.S. House website here. Anthony Feig, Democrat Feig is a professor of geography and environmental studies at Central Michigan University, who once served as president of the universitys faculty association union. Feigs campaign website includes his position on a variety of issues. He stresses the need for a plan to help agricultural areas adapt to a changing climate, built alternative energy infrastructure, improve access to affordable health care and womens reproductive health care resources. Feig also supports a national background check system that prevents people from owning firearms if they were convicted of a violent misdemeanor or felony, charged with domestic abuse or have documented mental health issues. Visit Feigs campaign website here. Jerry Hilliard, Democrat Hilliard, a former public school teacher and economics and business instructor in community colleges, was the Democratic nominee who ran against Moolenaar in 2018. During the 2018 campaign, Hilliard ran on rebuilding the middle class and supported legalizing marijuana and a Medicare for all health care system. The Standish Democrat picked up 106,540 votes but lost to Moolenaar 63% to 37%. Hillards campaign website has not been set up for this election cycle, as of this storys publish date. Visit Hilliards campaign page on Facebook here. 5th Congressional District Michigans 5th Congressional District is a traditionally Democratic-leaning area that includes counties that became redder after the 2016 election. Trump won five of six counties in the district, flipping two working-class counties that previously voted Democratic. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, was first elected in 2012, and his uncle Dale Kildee represented the district immediately before him. Democrats have held the office since 1993. The district covers the eastern Lake Huron shoreline of mid-Michigan, including Arenac, Bay, Genesee, and Iosco counties as well as parts of Saginaw and Tuscola counties. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, speaks at a press conference before a tour of the new Magna electronics manufacturing facility on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019 in Grand Blanc Township. Three Magna facilities in Grand Blanc Township will be consolidated into this single new facility in coming months. Magna is a mobility technology company that focuses on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | MLive.com Incumbent Dan Kildee, Democrat Kildee took office before the city of Flint experienced a prolonged crisis related to lead-contaminated drinking water. Kildee co-sponsored legislation in 2016 that authorized $170 million in aid for the city and has been an advocate for implementing strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule. Kildee, the chief deputy whip in the Democratic-controlled House, has never faced a primary challenger. He coasted to re-election in 2018 by a 24 percentage-point margin. Kildee serves on the House budget committees and the influential ways and means committee. As a member of the subcommittee on trade, Kildee was involved in negotiations between House Democrats and the White House regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year. Kildee was the primary sponsor of a bill requiring a national search for PFAS compounds, which was rolled into a larger defense bill signed into law last year. Kildee sponsored other legislation to strengthen clean drinking water standards and raise the federal minimum wage. View Kildees official U.S. House website here and his campaign website here. Former state Rep. Tim Kelly, a Saginaw County Republican, is shown in this MLive file photo.Mlive.com Tim Kelly, Republican Kelly is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives, serving the 94th District from 2013 to 2018. Hes seeking the Republican nomination to take on Kildee this year. In 2016, Kelly was easily re-elected to a third and final term in the state House, winning by 30 percentage points. Kelly chaired the state House Education Committee during his time in Lansing and was a strong supporter for school choice. Kelly was up for a Trump administration job under U.S. Education Secretary Bety DeVos, but was withdrawn from consideration after critics resurfaced controversial social media posts. At the time, Kelly said his comments were taken out of context. Visit Kellys campaign website here. Christina Fitchett-Hickson walks along the trailer known as the "Trump Unity Bridge" before U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin speaks during a constituent town hall about her stance on articles of impeachment and address other issues on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019 in the Oakland Center at Oakland University in Rochester. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | MLive.com Christina Fitchett-Hickson, Republican Fitchett-Hickson is a salesperson and former Flint teacher seeking the Republican partys nomination to take on Kildee this year. According to her campaign website, Fitchett-Hickson is focused on reforming common core standards, and improving access to clean water, affordable health care and lower car insurance rates. She traveled the country with the Trump Unity Bridge, a decorated float driven by a Michigan resident in support of the president. Fitchett-Hickson protested U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, with the unity bridge at a December 2019 town hall in Rochester. View Fichett-Hicksons campaign website here. Earl Lackie, Republican Lackie is a retired General Motors employee and former firefighter and first responder. Through detailed statistics posted on his campaign website, Lackie argues the 5th Congressional District has declined under Democratic leadership. In 2018, was the running mate of U.S. Taxpayers gubernatorial candidate Todd Schleiger. Visit Lackies campaign website here. Matthew Clauss, Democrat Clauss is a Bay City native running to oppose Kildee in the Democratic primary. Clauss did not have a campaign website as of this storys publish date. View his Twitter page here. 6th Congressional District This district, which covers a neat corner of Southwest Michigan, has been dominated by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, for decades. Democrats mounted a competitive race in 2018 and Upton scraped out the closest victory of his long career, leaving blue voters hopeful that 2020 might be their year. Upton has shied from officially announcing whether he will seek re-election and hasnt filed with the Federal Elections Commission, but he was collecting donations last year. The Republican has served 17 consecutive terms in Congress. The 6th District includes the counties of Kalamazoo, Van Buren, Cass, St. Joseph, Berrien, and most of Allegan. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton speaks during an oath ceremony at Van Buren County Courthouse in Paw Paw, Mich., on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. Fourteen recently-elected state and county officials were sworn in. (Chelsea Purgahn | MLive.com)Chelsea Purgahn Incumbent Rep. Fred Upton, Republican Upton was first elected to Michigans 4th Congressional District, later becoming the 6th Districts congressman after its boundary was redrawn in 1992. The 2018 race was Uptons most competitive ever, bolstered by high turnout and millions of dollars from partisan PACs and independent groups. Upton had previously beaten Democratic opponents by an average of 29 percentage points but won by a narrow 4 point margin in 2018. Upton serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is the ranking member of the subcommittee on energy. He was the chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce from 2010 to 2016. Uptons signature legislation is the 21st Century Cures Act, which focuses on advancing research for disease treatment and cures. Upton was a key figure in the Houses debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, initially coming out against the House plan as proposed, but supporting the end result after introducing an amendment. Hes also supported new funding for Great Lakes restoration and tax reforms. Upton worked in the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan administration. View Uptons official U.S. House website here. State Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, speaks at press conference about Trump's "Broken Promises to Michigan Voters" near Kellogg Arena before the start of U.S. President Donald J. TrumpOs OMerry ChristmasO campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com State Rep. Jon Hoadley, Democrat Hoadley is a term-limited state lawmaker from Kalamazoo County, the districts Democratic base and most-populous county. In Lansing, Hoadley represents voters who have largely moved away from Upton in recent years. Uptons 2018 challenger Matt Longjohn was the first Democratic candidate to take Kalamazoo County from Upton since in the last 20 years, surging ahead by 17 percentage points. However, Uptons support in more rural parts of the district remained strong in the previous election. Hoadleys campaign has already been endorsed by Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Attorney General Dana Nessel and several other local politicians and interest groups. If elected, Hoadley would be the first openly gay congressman from Michigan. Hoadley is the president and owner of Badlands Strategies, a progressive public affairs firm. Visit Hoadleys campaign website here. Jen Richardson is a Kalamazoo-area teacher running for the Democratic Party's nomination for the 6th District in 2020. Richardson will face outgoing state Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, in the Democratic primary. (Image provided to MLive.com by Jen Richardson) Jennifer Richardson, Democrat Richardson is a research director at the Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center. Richardson told MLive her top priorities are providing better representation for the district, particularly for women and people of color. She said the government should be responsible for ending racism, sexism and xenophobia that has become ingrained in its systems." She said Hoadley is unable to appeal to both sides of the aisle during an interview with MLIive/Kalamazoo Gazette. Richardson also expressed a commitment to support working families by providing easy access to social services, education, affordable health care and a clean environment. View Richardsons campaign website here. Angelica Pastor-Diaz, Democrat Pastor-Diaz is a second-generation immigrant running for the Democratic nomination. She has not filed with the FEC, but pledged on her campaign website to only serve two terms in the U.S. House if elected. Visit Pastor-Diazs campaign website here. Elena Oelke, Republican Oelke is an immigrant from the former Soviet Union seeking to challenge Upton if he decides to seek re-election. She is the owner of Prestige Properties and Professionals Southwest Michigan Real Estate Inc. in St. Joseph. Visit her campaign website here. 7th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Walberg, R-Tipon, has represented the district since 2011. He previously served as the congressman from 2007-09 but was beaten in the 2008 election by a Democrat. The 5th District has been represented by Republicans since 1993, except a two-year period where Democratic Rep. Mark Schauer served one term. The district includes Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, and Monroe counties and a portion of Washtenaw County. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, speaks at an event put on by America First Policies at Downtown Detroit's Book Cadillac Hotel to discuss the recent tax overhaul championed by Republicans in Congress and the White House, March 2, 2018. America First Policies is a nonprofit working to support issues such as the recent federal tax plan and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, according to its website. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit)(Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroi Incumbent Rep. Tim Walberg, Republican Walberg was first elected in 2006, but lost his re-election bid. He regained his seat in the 2010 election and has since posted decisive victories over Democratic challengers. So far, no Republican has lined up to face him in the primary. The 2018 election saw Walberg win by 8 percentage points, his smallest margin of victory against Democrat Gretchen Driskell. It was the second time Driskell unsuccessfully challenged him, and shes trying again in 2020. Walberg serves on the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. He was the primary sponsor of several bills signed into law during this most recent term in congress related to the opioids epidemic. Earlier in his career, Walberg was also a supporter of Obamacare repeal and replace efforts that passed through the U.S. House, as well as Republican-sponsored tax reforms. Walberg began his political career in the state House, serving from 1983 to 1998. Visit Walbergs campaign website here, and his U.S. House website here. Samuel Branscum, Democrat Gretchen Driskell, a candidate for Michigan's 7th Congressional District seat, addresses supporters during an election night party on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at the Comfort Inn Conference Center in Chelsea. Katy Kildee | MLive.com The Ann Arbor News, MLive.comThe Ann Arbor News, MLive.com Former state Rep. Gretchen Driskell, Democrat Driskell, a former state representative and long-time Saline mayor, is seeking the Democratic Partys nomination to challenge Walberg for the third time. She first ran against Walberg for the 7th Congressional seat in 2016 but lost by 15 percentage points. She ran again in 2018 but lost by 8 points. Driskell is trying again because she feels Walberg is spending more time playing political games than working for constituents, according to her campaign website. Driskell is a real estate agent by training and has experience in local and state politics, serving 14 years as the first woman mayor of Saline and two years as a state representative. Driskells entrance in the race caused several other Democrats who were seeking the partys nomination to drop out and endorse her. Visit Driskells campaign website here. Ryan Hall, a Tecumseh resident, filed to run for the Democratic Partys nomination for Michigan's 7th congressional District. (Image provided to MLive by Ryan Hall) Ryan Hall, Democrat Hall, a Tecumseh resident, filed to run for the Democratic Partys nomination in December 2019. He described himself as a lifelong progressive in a statement to MLive. Hall supports providing a living wage and paid parental leave, investing in infrastructure and restoring and expanding social security. He supports a Medicare for All" health care system. Hall is the stepson of former Toledo, Ohio Mayor Jack Ford. He did not have a campaign website as of this storys publish date. 8th Congressional District (Lansing) This race is already attracting national attention as Slotkin, a Democrat who beat an incumbent Republican in a district Trump won, seeks to defend her seat from a score of GOP candidates out to take it back. The freshmen congresswoman has found herself at the center of two major political moments in the last year. Her decision to support an impeachment inquiry into Trump sparked a larger movement to open the inquiry. Slotkin later announced she would vote to impeach Trump, angering constituents who protested at a raucous town hall at the end of 2019. Less than a month after the impeachment vote, Slotkin was tapped by House Speaker Nacy Pelosi to write a resolution defining Trumps war powers in an attempt to prevent military action against Iran without Congressional approval. The 8th Congressional District covers Ingham and Livingston Counties as well as a portion of Oakland County. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., does a television interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP Incumbent Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Democrat Before joining Congress, Slotkin served three tours in Iraq with the CIA and held several positions with the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense. Slotkin was a top adviser to two Secretaries of Defense on the Middle East, Europe and NATO, Russia, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. She worked under the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She was elected to a first term in 2018 during a year which saw Democrats winning big across Michigan. She defeated Republican incumbent Mike Bishop by 4 percentage points. Slotkin was assigned to the Committee on Armed Services and Committee on Homeland Security. Shes also introduced legislation to prevent changes to Title IX campus sex assault policies, prevent foreign interference in elections and ensure patients know the cost of prescription drugs as soon as they are prescribed. Slotkin was one of 15 Democrats who did not vote Pelosi to become speaker for the 116th Congress. Visit her campaign website here. Mike Detmer is seeking the Republican nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, in 2020. (Image provided by Mike Detmer) Mike Detmer, Republican Detmer, a Howell resident, had been campaigning for a seat in the state Legislature but later decided to seek the GOP nomination to challenge Slotkin instead. His top issues include gun rights, infrastructure, supporting veterans, reducing taxes and making abortion illegal as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. Detmer said being a politician was never something he aspired to, but hes grown frustrated with Michigans representatives in Washington. Detmer said keeping himself accessible to voters is paramount in the campaign. Detmer is the general sales manager of a car dealership and also a licensed real estate agent. He was endorsed by former state Sen. Patrick Colbeck and former Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke. Vist Detmers campaign website here. Brighton resident Paul Junge, 53, is running for the GOP nomination to represent Michigan's 8th U.S. House District in 2020. (Image provided to MLive.com by Paul Junge) Paul Junge, Republican Junge is a former Lansing news anchor who briefly worked for the Trump administration. Junge worked on Republican Terri Lynn Lands unsuccessful 2014 U.S. Senate bid. Though Land lost, Republicans gained control of the Senate in 2014. Junge went to Capitol Hill to work as investigative counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee under U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Junge befriended former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna, who gave him a job in the Trump administration. Junge was an external affairs official for 8 months but left the administration to spend time with his ailing father, who died in 2019. Junge lives in Brighton and does not have a day job, he will be campaigning full-time. He originally had no intention of running for office this election cycle but said constituents in the district felt there was no strong candidate to take on Slotkin. Visit Junges campaign website here. Kristina Lyke, Republican Lyke, an East Lansing attorney, said her campaign for Michigans 8th U.S. House District is inspired by Slotkin ssupport for the ongoing impeachment inquiry. Lyke was born and raised in Livingston County, a deeply-Republican part of that state that Trump won by 29 percentage points in 2016. Slotkin lost in Livingston County by 19 percentage points. Though her resistance to impeachment was at the top of Lykes campaign announcement, she said her top priority is to promote economic growth in Michigan. Lyke accused Slotkin of pushing a socialist agenda multiple times in her campaign announcement. Lyke runs her own legal practice in East Lansing, specializing in family law cases. She also served as two terms as the youngest councilwoman in the Village of Pinckney from 1999 to 2001. Visit Lykes campaign website here. Nikki Snyder, a member of the state Board of Education, announced Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 that she plans to run as a Republican in Michigan's 8th Congressional District. (Image provided by Nikki Snyder) Nikki Snyder, Republican Snyder, a nurse and lactation consultant who is serving her first term as a member of the state Board of Education, said her campaign is focused on reducing the national deficit. Snyder said the federal government needs to reduce spending but is taking time to put forward a more concrete plan on where cuts should happen. She supported Trumps 2017 tax cut, saying it brought much-needed relief to families, but is disappointed the cuts are projected to increase the national debt. Snyder was elected to serve an eight-year term on the state Board of Education in 2016, earning 1.9 million seats on the statewide ballot. She had not pursued political office previously and is not related to former Gov. Rick Snyder. She lives in outside the 8th District boundary in Dexter, but said she previously lived in the district less than two years ago and would move back if elected. Visit Snyders campaign website here. Alan Thomas Hoover, Republican Hoover is a Marine Corps veteran, former union member and business owner. His top campaign promises include tax reform, ending subsidies for the energy industry and protecting the Great Lakes. He would also propose term limits for members of Congress. Hoover was a ward of the state for a period during his childhood and later left school for a year to work and support his family, according to his campaign website. While a senior in high school Hoover launched an unsuccessful bid for mayor of River Rouge as the youngest candidate in the citys history. Visit Hoovers campaign website here. 9th Congressional District The 9th congressional district is a traditionally Democratic area represented by first-term U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township. Levin is the nephew of former Senator Carl Levin and succeeded his father Sander Levin after his retirement. As of this storys publish date, Levin has inspired no challengers to face him in either the Democratic primary or general election. The district is located in the southeastern region of the lower peninsula of Michigan and includes areas of Oakland and Macomb counties. U.S. Rep. Andy Levin talks to media, after endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren early today, in the CNN Spin Room across from The Fox Theatre after the first night of the CNN Democratic primary debate on Tuesday in Detroit, July 30, 2019.Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com Incumbent Andy Levin, Democrat Levin, is the former head of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, is seeking a second term representing the district. Levin was elected to serve his first term in 2018, defeating his Republican opponent by 23 percentage points. He serves as vice chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor and is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Levin introduced legislation requiring the safe disposal of PFAS contaminants, establishing grants for members of Native American tribes and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and a bill clarifying that Congress has not provided authorization for the use of military force against Iran. Levin founded a clean energy business and directed worker training as part of his role with the state of Michigan under former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. He created the No Worker Left Behind program, which reportedly provided training to 152,000 Michigan residents. Levin has also been active in the human rights movement around the world, working in countries such as South Africa, Tibet, Haiti and China. Visit Levins official House website here and his campaign website here. Gabi Grossbard is a Republican seeking to run for Michigan's 9th Congressional District. (Image provided by Gabi Grossbard) Gabi Grossbard, Republican Gabi Grossbard is running for the Republican Party nomination to take on LEvin. He filed to run for Michigans 14th District last year, but since declared his candidacy for the 9th District. Grossbard described himself as a blue-collar worker and pro-Israel American who served in the Israeli military from 1991 to 1993. Grossbard is the father of two children with severe special needs, and his campaign website cites a pledge to advocate on behalf of special-needs individuals and their families for better health care, education, transportation, living assistance and adult care. Visit Grossbards campaign website here. 10th Congressional District Incumbent Republican Paul Mitchell is not seeking re-election to a third term in 2020, causing a flurry of candidates to jump into the race to replace him. He represents a traditionally safe Republican seat that Trump carried by 32 points in 2016. Mitchell cited frustrations with growing partisan squabbles in Congress. You look at the rhetoric and vitriol, it overwhelms policy, politics becomes the norm. Everythings about politics. Everythings about an election. And at some point of time, thats not why I came here, Mitchell told Politico. Michigans 10th Congressional District covers the states thumb" region, including all of Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac, and St. Clair counties as well as portions of Macomb and Tuscola counties. Republicans have controlled the district since 2003. State Rep. Shane Hernandez, Republican Hernandez, a former architectural designer, is serving a second term representing the 83rd state House District. His term ends in 2020, so hes seeking the GOP nomination to replace Mitchell. Hernandez was re-elected by a commanding 28-point margin of victory in 2018. He serves on the state House Appropriations Committee. In a video launching his campaign, Hernandez touted his work in Lansing to oppose tax hikes, defend the unborn and being recognized for having the most conservative voting record by Michigan Information & Research Service Inc. Hernandez said socialists are endangering the economy and U.S. national security. I will fight alongside President Trump and I will never relent, Hernandez said in the video. Visit Hernandezs official House website here and his campaign website here. Brandon Mikula is a U.S. Navy veteran and federal security contractor who is seeking the Republican Party nomination to run for Michigan's 10th District in 2020. Several candidates are vying for the seat vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Dryden. (Image provided to MLive.com by Brandon Mikula) Brandon Mikula, Republican Mikula, a U.S. Navy veteran, firefighter and federal security contractor, is also looking for the GOP nomination to replace Mitchell. Mikula told MLive in a statement that a new generation of conservatives are needed in Washington D.C. to combat the dangers of socialism." His top issues include protecting the Second Amendment, reducing the natinoal debt and reducing the size of government. Visit Mikulas campaign website here and Facebook page here. Richard Piwko, Republican Piwko, a Worth Township resident, is a businessman pitching himself as an outsider candidate for Congress. Piwkos campaign website states he is a precinct delegate for the Michigan Republican Party and proud member of the NRA. Visit Piwkos campaign website here. Doug Slocum, Republican Doug Slocum is a retired brigadier general and fighter pilot who served in the U.S. Air Force for 35 years. Slocum spent the last five years commanding the 127th Wing and Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County. His campaign materials also refer to Slocum with his call sign Odie." Slocums website touts his creation of the safety curriculum used by more than 40,000 airmen. He also created a program to address human error that was implemented nationally, resulting in 76% decrease in preventable mishaps and an estimated $78 million. Slocum was inducted into the Air Force Safety Hall of Fame in 2013. He continues to serve on the boards of the Fisher House of Michigan, the National Defense Industrial Association and Women in Defense. Slocum is a member of the Selfridge Base Community Council and the Macomb County Chamber of Commerce, and was recently named a trustee for Walsh College. He lives in Macomb Township with his wife and teenage daughter. Visit Slocums campaign website here. Lisa McClain is seeking the Republican Party's nomination for Michigan's 10th Congressional District in 2020. (Image provided to MLive by Lisa McClain) Lisa McClain, Republican McClain is the senior vice president of Hantz Group, a Michigan-based financial services company she helped found in 1998. McClain is also involved in several philanthropic organizations supporting drug treatment courts, people experiencing homelessness, people with multiple sclerosis and community projects in Detroits east side neighborhood. McClain led the formation of the Macomb District Drug Court, according to a statement. McClain bills herself as a conservative outsider. Visit her campaign website here. Kimberly Ann Bizon, Democrat Bizon, an environmental activist, is running for the Democratic nomination for a second time. She earned the partys backing to challenge Mitchell in 2018, but ultimately lost by 25 percentage points. Bizons campaign website states her top issues include federal investment in renewable energy, improving infrastructure, fair farm policies and affordable health care. Visit Bizons campaign website here. Kelly Noland, Democrat Noland is a U.S. Army veteran and retired nurse also seeking the Democratic Party nomination. Nolands campaign website states the district hasnt been served well under Republican leadership, citing a high unemployment rate and Ford Motor Co.'s recent decision to close the Romeo Engine Plant. Her top issues include securing affordable health care, improve mass transit in the district, create satellite campuses from state universities, address the opioid crisis in rural areas and fight climate change. Noland pledged to fund her campaign entirely from grassroots donations. Visit Nolands campaign website here. 11th Congressional District Michigans 11th District is another race that will likely receive national attention. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Bloomfield Township, will seek to defend her seat after flipping the formerly Republican district in 2018. Stevens won an open race vacated by Republican Dave Trott, becoming the first Democrat elected to serve a full-term representing the district in its current configuration. The 11th District covers the southeastern region of the Lower Penninsula, including portions of Oakland and Wayne counties. Haley Stevens, Democratic candidate for Michigan's 11th Congressional District, speaks beside U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich. and speaks at a Democratic rally Friday night at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Oct. 26, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com) Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.comTanya Moutzalias | MLive.com Incumbent Rep. Haley Stevens, Democrat Stevens became the Democratic Partys candidate in 2018 after emerging from a competitive five-way primary. She has no one filing to challenge her nomination this time, though several Republicans are vying to oppose Stevens in the general election. Stevens defeated Republican Lena Epstein by 7 percentage points in 2018. Before taking office, Stevens worked in the Obama administration as chief of staff for the Auto Task Force inside of the U.S. Department of Treasury. In Washington, she has been an advocate for bringing skilled trades jobs to her district. Stevens was assigned to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. She successfully passed a bill, signed by Trump into law, directing the National Science Foundation to support STEM education research focused on early childhood. The freshmen congresswoman also sponsored bills to improve Medicare prescription drug plans, remove default records from the credit history of federal student loan borrowers and add PFAS compounds to the federal list of hazardous pollutants, among others. Visit Stevens official House website here and her campaign website here. Kerry Bentivolio, a Republican candidate in the 11th Congressional District, speaks at a debate hosted by the Michigan Conservative Coalition on May 14, 2018. Emily LawlerEmily Lawler Former Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, Republican Bentivolio, a U.S. Army veteran, is launching another effort to reclaim his old position representing Michigans 11th District. He served the district for one term, but lost the Republican Party nomination to Trott in 2014. Bentivolio ran as an independent in the 2016 election, collecting only 4.4% of the vote while Trott was reelected. Bentivolio ran again for the Republican nomination in 2018 but finished last in the five-way race with 11.3% of the vote. His campaign website states Bentivolio plans to fight deep corruption on Capitol Hill. During his lone term in Congress, Bentivolio served on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and Committee on Small Business. Bentivolio voted against the 2014 farm bill. Visit Bentivolioscampaign website here. Birmingham Attorney Eric Esshaki is seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills, in Michigan's 11th Congressional District in 2020. (Image provided by Eric Esshaki) Eric Esshaki, Republican Esshaki is a Royal Oak attorney and first-generation Chaldean American who lives in Birmingham. Esshakis campaign announcement said he is running to fix a broken Congress that promotes partisan games over solving the problems of constituents.He Stevens serves as a rubber stamp for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and shouldnt represent the once-Republican controlled district. Esshaki told MLive.com Thursday he is seeking to bring more rational discourse to politics, which he said is too often focused on talking points and political pandering. Esshaki said he spent a decade as a nurse before becoming a lawyer. His father is a Chaldean Christian who legally immigrated from Iraq in the 1970s, according to his campaign website. Visit Esshakis campaign website here. Canton resident Whittney Williams, 37, is running to challenge U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills for the 11th District House seat in 2020. Whittney Williams, Republican Williams is a first-generation Taiwanese American who lived in the United States illegally for 16 years. Williams said her experience living while undocumented and gaining citizenship shaped her belief in the American dream. She became a citizen in 2013 after marrying her husband and is running to fight back against the radical lefts socialist agenda." Williams supports Trumps border wall and immigration policies, also pledging to modernize the immigration process on her campaign website. Before running for office, Williams spent the last several years traveling the country working as an U.S. auto show product specialist. She is also a professional actor and model who appeared in advertisements for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign. Visit Williams campaign website here. 12th Congressional District Michigans 12th District has been safely in the hands of Democrats for decades, most recently represented by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell. Dingell is the wife of the former representative of the 12th District, the late John Dingell. She ran for the seat when John Dingell announced he would not seek re-election in 2014. The 12th Congressional District includes Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Dearborn and other Downriver communities, including Taylor, Woodhaven and Grosse Ile. The district has been represented by Democrats since it was redrawn in 2003, and hasnt had any Republican representative since 1964. Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell addresses a room full of young students during the bi-annual "Digital Divas" program which aims to inform and inspire young women on future possibilities in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) Friday Nov. 1, 2019. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com Incumbent Debbie Dingell, Democrat Dingell is serving her third term in the U.S. House and filed to run for a fourth term in 2020. She was first elected in 2014, shrugging off a primary challenger before beating Republican Terry Bowman by 34 percentage points. She beat Republican challenger Jeff Jones by a similar margin in 2016 and beat Jones a second time by 39 points in 2018. Dingell serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Natural Resources. Dingell was the primary sponsor on a bill signed into law last year that includes several improvements to Medicaid and has been vocal in the renegotiation of NAFTA. Dingell served as the chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors and was a senior executive managing public affairs for General Motors before joining Congress. Visit her official House website here and her campaign website here. Solomon Rajput has announced plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell in Michigan's 12th congressional district in 2020.Courtesy of Solomon Rajput Solomon Rajput, Democrat Rajput, an Ann Arbor activist, is a University of Michigan medical student and the son of Pakistani immigrants. Rajputs campaign materials argue Dingell is part of the political elite who have failed to take action on climate change and the increasing cost of health care. Rajput also cited U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as an influence. Visit his Rajputs campaign website here. Anthony Carbonaro, Democrat Carbonaro is a Romanian American immigrant who had plans to attend the U.S. Naval Academy before spending a year in jail for what he called unexplained accusations. A 2013 MLive report shows Carbonaro was charged with two counts of first-degree home invasion, larceny from a motor vehicle and receiving and concealing stolen property, records show. Carbonaros campaign materials state he wants to be a champion for working-class families in the district. Visit Carbonaros campaign website here. 13th Congressional District Michigans 13th District has been under the tight control of Democrats for several generations. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, is seeking a second term after she sailed to victory in 2018 without facing a Republican challenger. Tlaib gained national notoriety due to her outspoken criticism of Trump, calling to impeach the motherf***r shortly after taking office. Tlaib made good on the promise, Trump was impeached by the U.S. House in December 2019. One Democrat has lined up to challenge Tlaib, while two Republicans are vying for their partys nomination. The district covers portions of Wayne County, including some areas of the city of Detroit. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., asks a question during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, on housing finance plans. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP Incumbent Rashida Tlaib, Democrat Tlaib is the first Muslim woman to serve in Congress, alongside U.S. Rep. Illhan Omar, D-Minn., who was also elected in 2018. She also represented Michigans 12th state House District from 2009 to 2015. Tlaib is part of the squad, a group of progressive congresswomen of color. The group has come under attack from the president on multiple occasions. Tlaib was assigned to House Committees on Financial Services Members and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. She has introduced legislation to repeal a portion of Trumps 2017 tax reform bill, prohibit federal funding from being used to purchase facial recognition technology and prevent credit score discrimination in determining auto insurance rates. The freshman congresswoman introduced a resolution inquiring whether the House should impeach Trump in March 2019, but it did not pass. Tlaib was accused of reporting improper campaign expenditures last year. The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics found substantial reasons to believe Tlaib paid herself $45,500 using funds from her campaign committee after the 2018 election, a violation of federal campaign finance regulations. Documents released by the OCE show Tlaib was financially struggling during the race. Visit Tlaibs official House website here and her campaign website here. David Dudenhoefer, Republican Dudenhoefer, or the dude as hes known in campaign materials, is a political activist and district chair for the 13th Congressional District Republican Committee. Dudenhoefer argues Tlaib is a divisive figure who hasnt secured much for the economically challenged district. His campaign website also slams the vulgarity of Tlaibs language and public behavior, calling her a national embarrassment. He mounted a failed bid as a write-in candidate during the 2018 election. Vist Dudenhoefers campaign website here. Alfred Lemmo, Republican Lemmos campaign website states he had been enjoying a quiet retirement but feels compelled to give voters a chance to unseat Tlaib. Visit Lemmos campaign website here. Stephen Patterson, Independent Patterson is a former Republican presidential candidate who filed to run as an independent in 2020. Pattersons presidential campaign didnt attract much attention, and he wasnt listed on the 2016 ballot. He also filed to run for the White House in 2020. 14th Congressional District Michigans 14th District is another heavily Democratic area in the metro Detroit area. U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence was first elected in 2014 after Gary Peters left the seat to run for U.S. Senate. The 14th Congressional District contains portions of Wayne and Oakland counties, including a portion of Detroit. U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, speaks at the 110th NAACP National Convention held at Cobo Center in Detroit on Monday, July 22, 2019. Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com Incumbent Brenda Lawrence, Democrat Lawrence served as the first mayor of Southfield for 13 years before joining the House. Lawrence was easily re-elected to a third term in 2018, securing a 64 point margin of victory. During her current term, Lawrence was assigned to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. She introduced legislation to address lead contamination in school drinking water, train environmental health professionals and to ensure mental health screenings are provided to children after entering foster care. Visit her official House website here and her campaign website here. Terrance Morrison, Democrat Morrison is taking another shot at Lawrence after losing to her in the 2016 Democratic primary. Morrison gathered 8.3% of the vote in that election. Daryle Houston, Republican Houston is a private practice attorney and was previously an assistant prosecutor for Wayne County, working in the domestic violence unit. Houstons campaign website states he is a proponent of preventing gun violence, securing American borders and improve health care. Visit Houstons campaign website here. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 02:03:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 399 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 14, 2020 / Campaign headquarters would like to announce its new Campaign Manager, Paul A. Rossi, Esquire. Rossi earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Millersville University in 1993 and a law degree from Temple University. He has been practicing law since 2000, and has worked for large firms before starting his own practice. Rossi, who lives in Philadelphia, handles constitutional law and antitrust cases.Rossi has handled his share of big cases, though. He was among a number of attorneys who sued the NCAA over how it issued scholarships to athletes, which was settled out of court. Rossi represented Common Cause of Pennsylvania when it alleged collusion between the Supreme Court and legislative leaders in the passage of the notorious 2005 pay raise. Locally, he represented a Republican committee member in her high-profile civil rights lawsuit against the county GOP."Former Manager, Alicia Dearn, stepped down recently and trying to find someone to fit her role was quite difficult. I almost thought it would be impossible. Thankfully Rossi has been on my team from the beginning of my political career. We can expect great things from him as well," said De La Fuente.Rocky De La Fuente has been fighting for the underdog his whole life. His humble beginnings in San Diego and his childhood on both sides of the US border led him to develop an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong work ethic early in life. He persevered in the face of adversity and overcame obstacles to achieve the American dream.Rocky often states that America is more than a geography. It is more than political rivalry and theater. America was made great by providing and ensuring a freedom, to build a dream. The American Dream is both the ideal and the workhorse that has made this nation and its people great.He has developed the street smarts and common sense that will serve him in bringing transformation and practical solutions to the problems that Americans face. Just as Rocky battled in court for 9 years and won the right to fly the American flag on a prominent landmark to honor our country, he will fight for The American Dream."Rocky" Roque De La Fuente is living proof that the American Dream can be achieved by those who are inspired to pursue it.Direct Media Inquiries to:727-490-9911 or rocky101.com SOURCE: Rocky 2020 WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he opposes a Senate resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Monday that the Senate will soon debate a measure sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. The measure, co-sponsored by two Republicans, would send the wrong message to U.S. allies after the Trump administration killed Iran's top general earlier this month, McConnell said. Tehran responded to the U.S. attack by launching missiles at two military bases in Iraq that house American troops. No casualties were reported. The blunt instrument of a war powers resolution is no substitute for "the studied oversight the Senate can exercise through hearings ... and more tailored legislation,'' McConnell said. We appear to have restored a measure of deterrence in the Middle East, McConnell said in a speech opening the Senate for the week. So let's not screw it up. His remarks came amid questions and fresh explanations from the Trump administration about why it ordered a Jan. 3 strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The Democrat-controlled House passed a separate war powers resolution last week. The House measure is not binding on the president and does not require his signature. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nonetheless insisted it "has real teeth" because "it is a statement of the Congress of the United States." McConnell did not offer a timeline for Senate debate, saying only that it would take up the war powers resolution soon. He mocked Democrats for questioning what imminent attacks the administration was preventing by killing Soleimani. Trump did not consult with congressional leaders ahead of the attack that killed the Iranian general. Afterward. he sent Congress a notification explaining the rationale, but kept it classified. He said Friday that Iranian militants had planned major attacks on four U.S. embassies. Just hours earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the U.S. didnt know when or where attacks might occur. Story continues McConnell stepped past the administration's muddled explanations and noted that Democrats are now quibbling with what he called career professionals" who advised Trump on the issue. I look forward to hearing our colleagues who want to quibble over the word imminent explain just how close we should let the terrorists come to killing more Americans before we defend ourselves," McConnell said. Kaine said late Monday that the bipartisan resolution clearly states that America can always defend itself,'' but added: We don't think that this president or any president should send our troops into war without a vote of Congress.'' Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the administrations lack of transparency on Iran is "completely unacceptable.'' While Trump "has promised to keep us out of endless wars in the Middle East, his actions have moved us closer to exactly such a war making the American people and American forces less safe,'' Schumer said Monday. Two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and and Rand Paul of Kentucky, have signed on as co-sponsors of Kaine's resolution, which also is co-sponsored by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. Lee said a briefing last week by Pompeo and other officials on the Iran strike was probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue," in the nine years he's served in the Senate. Paul also criticized the briefing as inadequate and said Congress should not abdicate its "duty under the Constitution to debate when we go to war.'' tech2 News Staff Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos arrived in India on Tuesday, according to a post on his Twitter account, as thousands of small traders across 300 cities planned protests, claiming the firm is distorting local retail market. Bezos, dressed in an Indian attire, paid his regards at a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, a video posted on Bezos Twitter account showed. The billionaire e-commerce magnate, who is on a three-day visit, will attend a company event in New Delhi and is also likely to meet senior government officials, sources have said. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/xDXAT9cBgf Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 14, 2020 Indias antitrust chief Ashok Kumar Gupta told Reuters on Tuesday that big e-commerce companies in India should not offer deep discounts which can potentially hurt and small-scale brick and mortar retailers in India. Hundreds and thousands of small brick-and-mortar retailers, led by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), have planned a countrywide protest against the company. Even on his post about his arrival in the country, many people showed protest. AMAZON GO BACK pic.twitter.com/dmg9JGH4Ti AJIT JAGTAP (@ajitjagtap_15) January 14, 2020 Amazon is guilty of violating indian laws pic.twitter.com/UR9SnbRGYG vinod nathani (@vinodjalaram) January 14, 2020 CAIT has also accused Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart of violating Indias foreign investment rules. The companies have denied the allegations. On Monday, the Indian government also ordered an investigation of Amazon.com Inc and Walmarts Flipkart over alleged violations of competition law in the latest setback for US e-commerce giants operating in the country. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it was ordering a wider probe following a review of allegations that Amazon and Flipkart were promoting some preferred sellers and in turn hurting business for other, smaller sellers. With inputs from Reuters Economists say the US-Iran tentions have had a mild impact on Vietnam, but the country needs to prepare for worse to come if tensions escalate. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said that the Middle East tensions have not had direct impact on trade relations between Vietnam and the remaining Middle East countries. Vietnam still keeps stable relations with Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and Oman, and the cooperation between Vietnam and the countries still runs effectively. Vietnams import-export value between Vietnam and the Middle East increased from US5.1 billion in 2011 to $13.9 billion in 2018, while the figure of $13.4 billion was estimated for 2019. Vietnam mostly imports crude oil, material plastics and LPG from the market. Kuwait was one of the most important markets for Vietnam with import turnover from the market increasing by 31 percent in 2019 to $3.4 billion. The imports were mostly crude oil for Nghi Son Oil Refinery Complex in Vietnam which has become commercially operational. The trade relation between Vietnam and Iran grew slowly in 2010-2017. The US decision to impose an economic embargo on Iran has not had considerable impact on trade relations between the two countries, because the products Vietnam imports from the countries are not listed among the goods subject to the embargo. According to MOIT, the trade relation between Vietnam and Iran grew slowly in 2010-2017. The US decision to impose an economic embargo on Iran has not had considerable impact on trade relations between the two countries, because the products Vietnam imports from the countries are not listed among the goods subject to the embargo. However, because of the US sanctions, the payment for import/export transactions has met difficulties. A representative of MOIT said there is a high possibility of war, and if so, Vietnam-Iran trade relations would have more problems. Nguyen Van Trinh, deputy head of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies, said that Vietnams export may face issues, and advised enterprises to focus on exploiting the domestic market with 97 million consumers. Meanwhile, Do Duc Dinh, former head of the Africa and the Middle East Research Institute, is not too pessimistic about the impact of the US-Iran conflict on the world economy. He thinks that the biggest impact will occur with Middle East coutnries and countries which have direct relations with Iran. In the past, Iran was one of the biggest oil exporters in the world and any move taken by the country would affect the global oil market. However, the role and influence of the country have decreased significantly. This means that tensions will not have considerable impact on the crude oil supply. Regarding the gold market, Dinh thinks it will suffer the biggest impact because of the conflict. The gold price has soared in the world market. In Vietnam, the SJC gold hit a peak of VND45 million per tael, a 9-year high. Kim Chi VN stocks to head up in December, trade war concerns expected After having declined for four straight weeks, the Vietnamese market may rebound in December as analysts and securities companies expect that cheaper shares will attract hungry investors amid the worlds volatility. In order to meet the soaring demand for books in the Witcher series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, Orbit Books will go back to press with all titles in the series, printing 500,000 additional copies. An Orbit spokesperson said sales in print, e-book, and audiobook have all been "phenomenal" following the release of the Netflix adaptation, starring Henry Cavill as the titular witcher, Geralt of Rivia, on December 20. "Were aware that the novels might not be available everywhere at this time, but our inventory team and printers are working incredibly hard and all books will be back in stock and flying out of our warehouse very shortly," the publisher said in a statement. "We're thrilled that the Netflix adaptation is introducing the Witcher, and Andrzej Sapkowski's wonderful books, to a whole new audience," Tim Holman, Orbit's publisher, told PW. "The series has already been a huge success, with more than two million copies sold across all formats, and sales this month have been phenomenal. With a season two already confirmed by Netflix, our feeling is that the Witcher is all set to be one of the biggest fantasy series of the yearand perhaps the decade. Netflix, in a rare release touting viewership numbers, said The Witcher was its second most-watched series release of last year, behind its hit 1980s-style adventure-horror show Stranger Things. The show's success has impacted the video game industry as well: according to the popular video game platform Steam, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the award-winning 2015 installment in the video game series also adapting Sapkowski's Witcher series, was being played by more than 103,000 users concurrently on the platform on January 5, shattering previous records. The Executive Council (EC) of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi on Wednesday (January 15) decided that the varsity will move court seeking direction to police to register FIR in December 15, 2019 police action on students in Jamia library after an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in the area turned violent. The EC said in a press release that an application will be filed very soon in the lower court under section 156(3) of CRPC seeking direction to police to register FIR. The Jamia administration also said that new examination date sheet will be declared by Controller of Examination in consultation with all the Deans. It added that several steps have been taken to ensure safety and security of students inside campus and more steps will be taken in future to guarantee the safety and security of students. On Tuesday (January 14), a four-member team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headed by a DSP visited Jamia and recorded the statement of students who were either injured or witnessed the police brutality inside the university library on December 15, 2020. It may be recalled that Delhi Police lathi-charged and fired teargas on students after the anti-CAA protest near the university campus turned violent on December 15. A total of 25 students out of 40 present on Tuesday gave their version in writing to the NHRC team. Before written statements, the NHRC team interacted with all the students and heard the stories of police action on the students of varsity on December 15. The NHRC team will visit Jamia on Wednesday (January 15) again for recording the statement of remaining students, employees and security personnel of the university. It is learnt that the NHRC team will visit the university on January 16, 17 too. The varsity was closed on December 16 after the police action on students and it had also cancelled the examinations and declared vacation till January 5, 2020. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's lack of congressional notification before the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani generated outrage among Democrats on Capitol Hill, but it should not have been a surprise. Just two weeks before the Jan. 3 American drone attack on a car carrying Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport, Trump foretold his rationale for ignoring Congress in a message unrelated to the strike. It's a rationale that in other, less dramatic circumstances, could diminish governmental transparency, accountability and the public's right to know about federal government actions. After approving appropriations legislation on Dec. 20, Trump issued a largely overlooked signing statement explaining his objections to certain provisions: "I reiterate the longstanding understanding of the executive branch that requirements of advance notice [to Congress] regarding military or diplomatic actions encompass only military actions for which providing advance notice is feasible and consistent with the President's constitutional authority and duty as Commander in Chief to ensure national security." There is mounting evidence that advance notice to Congress of the Soleimani hit was feasible, but that's a debate waging elsewhere. Beyond almost taking America to war, what the Soleimani controversy points to, along with the signing statement and another issued the same day, is Trump's particularly aggressive view of presidential power. It is rooted in his damaged interpretation of the Constitution, outlined in his July speech to a teen summit. "I have an Article II," he told the student activists, "where I have the right to do whatever I want as President." It is an interpretation reflected by Trump's impeachment on charges of obstructing Congress and abusing his power. Fortunately, most assertions of presidential power, including questionable claims by previous presidents, don't lead to such drastic consequences. Yet, some of Trump's objections to congressional authority could diminish transparency and the public's right to know about government actions. "I'm concerned that the recent signing statements will have a chilling effect for efforts to strengthen government transparency and information sharing with Congress," said Sean Moulton, a senior policy analyst at the Project on Government Oversight, by email. "Congress is a co-equal branch of government and has the authority to place restrictions and requirements on the executive branch including the office of President. To sign a law but refuse to implement certain provisions through a signing statement would amount to a line item veto, which is an authority that has been expressly kept from the president at this point. Disagreements about constitutionality of provisions should be resolved by the courts." Regarding transparency, Trump balked at a provision in the appropriations legislation prohibiting actions that deny inspectors general access to records and another mandating reports to Congress and the public, including through declassification of information. Inspectors general at more than 70 agencies, perhaps more than other federal officials, are guardians of government accountability and transparency. "There is universal consensus that overclassification is an ongoing and acute problem for public transparency and accountability," said Gabe Rottman, director of the Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "Congressional intervention is one of the best hopes in addressing that crisis." Trump said in the signing statement that he will treat provisions related to executive branch information sought by inspectors general "consistent with the President's constitutional authority. . . to supervise communications by Federal officers and employees related to their official duties." Federal employees must be free to talk to inspectors general. That's fundamental to governmental accountability and essential for whistleblowers. As far as Trump's assertion that he could supervise employees' communication, the diplomats who appeared before the House impeachment inquiry chose to defy Trump and testify. While Trump's signing statements were mostly ignored, Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, was paying attention. In an interview, he said many requirements in the legislation "refer to reports to Congress that in the normal course of affairs would become public. And if those reports are not prepared or submitted, there is a net loss to public awareness and accountability." The president also complained about provisions concerning his authority to conduct international negotiations and language putting conditions on certain spending or reallocation of funds on congressional approval. His other signing statement complained about numerous sections of the National Defense Authorization Act, including those that would "mandate or regulate the dissemination of information that may be protected by executive privilege" and "dictate the position of the United States in external military and foreign affairs." In an article posted on his organization's website, Aftergood said "the obvious defect" in Trump's posture on presidential authority "is that Congress has constitutional duties of its own. Many of these duties require congressional access to information that is in the possession of the executive branch. Congress must fund (or decline to fund) the national security operations of the government. It alone possesses the authority to declare war. It has a duty to perform oversight. Importantly, it also has tools at its disposal to compel disclosure of the information it needs." There is a case for signing statements. "The general practice of using signing statements is a pro-transparency measure that empowers Congress and others," said Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. ". . . Signing statements basically just publicly disclose some of these interpretations as soon as a law is signed, enabling those who don't like that interpretation to object, seek corrective legislation, or prepare for litigation." - President Uhuru Kenyatta replaced Kiunjuri with Peter Munya in the new Cabinet - The outgoing Cabinet secretary said he was not consulted though he welcomed the decision - The former MP remained cagey on his next move but said "for any action there will be a reaction" The immediate former Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta for believing in him for the months he served under him. Kiunjuri whose speech was laced with heavy biblical quotes, likened his plight to that which faced Israelites in the wilderness on their way from Egypt but still overcome the tribulations. READ ALSO: Twitter user Bosibori apologises for trolling Stivo Simple Boy, says she hated her dark complexion Mwangi Kiunjuri has thanked Uhuru for believing in him despite having been sacked. Photo: Mwangi Kiunjuri. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Wakili Ahmednasir anaamini chuki ulioko kwa sasa kati ya Uhuru na Ruto itaangamiza nchi "I feel relieved. I am proud of my achievements. I leave with my head held high. Anyone in a journey should be ready for any eventuality, even in the wilderness God provides. To my supporters remain calm. We shall overcome," he said. Addressing the media at Serena Hotel on Tuesday, January 14, the former Laikipia East MP remained cagey on his next move but said "for any action there will be a reaction". Uhuru made the changes during his public address in Mombasa on Tuesday, January 14. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta. Source: Facebook "I will remain independent, principled and firm as I have been throughout my political life. I will remain faithful to that covenant. To the supporters, my statement is short by I am not lacking in words. I have many things to say. For any action there will be a reaction," he added. The vocal CS who is believed to have been shown the door owing to his association with Deputy President William Ruto despite Uhuru's warning against early politicking, was not surprised at all. Political observes believe associating with Ruto could have contributed to Kiunjuri's dismissal. Photo: William Samoei Ruto. Source: UGC "I will remain independent, principled and firm as I have been throughout my political life. I will remain faithful to that covenant. Make no mistake. I am not going anywhere. The president did not consult anyone in sacking me, he does not need any other consultation. The Presidents decision has taken me by no surprise, I thank God, I feel relieved. I have endured lots of humiliation, only God and my family know this," he said. In his own words and aware of the embarrassments and trolls both from the appointing authority and members of the public, Kiunjuri admittedly endured humiliation. "I have endured lots of humiliation, only God and my family know this. I know there is an open door, down the road. I shall remain as I have always been independent and firm," he noted. The ex-CS was referring to two separate incidents in which Uhuru scolded him in public for failing to take notes and failing to address the plight of maize farmers. I am looking now at my brother Kiunjuri, he has just opened his note pad to write down what I am saying. He was not interested in noting down what these Kenyans are saying maybe because it had nothing to do with Agriculture. But he forgets he is a minister of the Republic of Kenya and whatever is said he should be interested to know. The same applies to Munya. I have a long-serving PA (Jomo Gecaga), he is just looking at his watch," the Head of State raised concern when he Kenyans living in Namibia. Peter Munya replaced Kiunjuri immediately. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. The Blind Tailor, I don't want people to pity me. I want them to be encouraged by my story | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke Senator Bernie Sanders took a shot Joe Biden during Tuesday nights Democratic debate over the former vice presidents support for trade agreements which Sanders claims have deprived the U.S. of four million jobs since their implementation. Sanders criticized Bidens votes for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as well as permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR, granted to China in 2000, saying both agreements have harmed American workers. Joe and I have a fundamental disagreement, in case you havent noticed, the Vermont senator said during the debate hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines. NAFTA, PNTR with China, other trade agreements were written for one reason alone, and that is to increase the profits of large, multi-national corporations, Sanders continued. And the end result of those two cost us some four million jobs as part of the race to the bottom. I am sick and tired and will not tolerate. Sanders went on to say that as president he would deny federal contracts to corporations in America who plan to shut down in Iowa, or Vermont or anyplace else. We need some corporate responsibility here, and we need to protect good-paying jobs in America, not see them go to China, Mexico, Vietnam, and other low-wage countries, Sanders said. Biden, for his part, argued that the U.S. must take the initiative in forging trade deals in order to ensure American interests are protected against abuses from revisionist states such as China. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minesota, South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and billionaire Tom Steyer joined Biden and Sanders onstage for Tuesday nights debate. More from National Review LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pizza Plant, headquartered in Pasadena, CA, recognized as one of the best pizzas in the United States was propelled to notoriety for its monstrous, 13-Topping, CBD-infused, plant-based Nacho Pizza and its decked out, bright green tour bus-sized pizza kitchen serving unique pies prepared on a scratch-made artisan crust loaded with a symphony of creative-yet-complimentary sauces, toppings, and garnishes will debut the worlds first USDA Certified Organic Take and Bake Plant Based Pizzas at Whole Foods Market on Jan. 15, 2020 in three states, California, Arizona and Nevada. The Pizza Plant Four USDA Certified Organic, whole-food, nutrient-dense, made-with-love, crave-able, plant-based pizzas inspired by The Pizza Plant's Founder's upbringing will be available fresh in the prepared foods department and pizza stations of Whole Foods Market. The Sink Not Included House-made ancho chilled spiced tofu peperone slices & Italian spiced wheat crumble, bell peppers, onions, Kalamata olives, made from scratch mozzarella style cashew nut cheese & marinara atop an artisan crust. Yes, We Will Take You To Funghi Town Roasted baby bella mushrooms, broccoli, house-made pumpkin seed pesto, shaved red onion & made from scratch mozzarella style cashew nut cheese atop an artisan crust. Sinful Yet Guilt-Free House-made Italian spiced wheat crumble, cured shiitake bits, shaved fennel, made from scratch mozzarella style cashew nut cheese & marinara atop an artisan crust. Not Your Grandma's Made from scratch mozzarella style cashew nut cheese & marinara atop an artisan crust. Each 10" pie is packaged in an eco-friendly, certified compostable oven-safe to 425 F/Microwavable TreeSaver Pizza Pan made in the USA. THE PIZZA PLANT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plant Craft Foods, Inc, with its 100% USDA Certified Organic, whole-food, nutrient-dense, made-with-love, crave-able, plant-based pizza, is committed to bringing family and friends back to the table and to making the world better one pizza at a time. Whole Foods Market Inc. is an American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, TX, which exclusively sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A USDA Certified Organic grocer in the United States, the chain is popularly known for its organic selections. Whole Foods has 500 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Media Contact Michael Rhodes [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg Related Links The Pizza Plant Follow Us On Instagram SOURCE The Pizza Plant Amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Ernest Mawrie was elected as the president of the BJP's Meghalaya unit on Wednesday. Agitators of the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisation (CoMSO), an outfit that has been leading the anti-CAA stir in the state, staged a protest march stopping short of the BJP's state office here. Mawrie succeeded Shibun Lyngdoh, who is now the national executive member of the BJP from the state. He was unanimously elected in an election overseen by Union minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and BJP national secretary Sunil Deodhar, party sources said. AL Hek and David Kharsati, who were also in the fray for the post, withdrew their nominations and supported Mawrie's candidature, Deodhar said. "His election to the top post of the party in the state is crucial as it is during his term that Meghalaya will go to elections in 2023," the BJP national secretary said. The election of Mawrie, who is a tribal and a Christian, will help the party boost its image, which has been portrayed by opposition parties as 'anti-tribal' and 'anti- Christian', a senior BJP leader said. Mawrie, speaking on CAA and the Inner Line Permit (ILP) during his maiden press meet as the state BJP president, said, "I will have to speak to my party and see where we stand though it has always been in our manifesto." BJP leaders Balyan, Deodhar and Mawrie later met CoMSO leaders and assured them of fixing a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The state Assembly had in December last year passed a resolution seeking implementation of the ILP in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even if a woman is able to escape an abusive relationship, the abuser can still follow, stalk, and intimidate them. This woman barely escaped with her life, and now shes dedicated her career to helping other survivors. Alexis Moore of Sacramento, California was 33 years old when she woke up on the floor of her house. It was 2004, and she had been in an abusive relationship for years. As she awoke she heard the words I think I killed her, come from her partners mouth. Amazingly, Moore was able to get to her feet and reach her car. As she backed the car out of her garage, her partners hands were still wrapped around her neck through the drivers side of the car. Moore narrowly escaped her own murder. However, this incident would be far from the end of her troubles. Moore had sustained severe injuries to the left side of her face and body, which left her with permanent nerve damage. And even though she had escaped, her partner would continue to stalk her both physically and electronically. On the Run At first, Moore headed to the domestic violence shelter in her area. That was the only place I could think to go. I didnt feel safe going anywhere else because in the past I had already tried to leave many, many times, and it just felt to me like that was the best place for me to go, so thats where I went, Moore told The Epoch Times. Moores former partner hired a private investigator to follow her. She knew she was being followed, but couldnt determine how. Moore also noticed that she was being followed by unfamiliar cars. Her former partner had been renting cars in order to throw her off. It was only after her attorney confronted the investigator that he stopped. However, her stalker continued. Then the electronic harassment began when he liquidated her bank accounts. He had her social security number, date of birth, and knew where she banked. That was my first episode of realizing I was in deep trouble, Moore said. Moore was also looking for a place to live at the time, which provided another opportunity for him to follow her. Utilities and phone were in her name, and he knew her date of birth and social security number, so he was able to monitor all of the incoming and outgoing messages on her phone. Whether she was going to a job interview or a doctors appointment, he was able to determine her location. Furthermore, he was able to access her email. Evasion Moore got a restraining order, but she realized she would have to get creative to evade her stalker. She realized that since he was able to access her phone and email, she could use them to make false arrangements to send him in the wrong direction. It gave me that golden, precious time to live my life, Moore said. In the beginning, Moore was understandably traumatized. However, she was able to take more and more control over time. Moore tried to receive assistance from law enforcement, but they were less than helpful. In fact, they told her she was crazy and to not file any other reports. Moores stalker also harassed her at her workplace. In one instance he had called her and described what she was wearing and what folders she was carrying, so she called the police. Unfortunately, calling the police ultimately led to her being fired two weeks later. Moore spent a long period of time couch surfing and living in her car as she was unemployed and couldnt afford an apartment. Fortunately, Moore encountered someone at a chamber of commerce networking event who sympathized with her situation. He took a chance on her, and gave her a job at his real estate company. Moore subsequently got her real estate and brokers license as well. Ultimately, she would also pursue higher education. Fighting Back Moore obtained her undergraduate degree online because she didnt want to be at a physical location where her stalker could find her. Thats when my whole life really changed, Moore said. Furthermore, Moore took self defense classes and began carrying a gun to protect herself. She had finally begun to adjust to what she called her new normal. In January 2006 the internet had become more commonplace, and she began to write a blog about her experience. Moore was also able to get in touch with a U.S. attorney who was the first person to prosecute a cyberstalking case in Washington state. It was this attorney who inspired Moore to pursue law school. It gave me hope that maybe becoming an attorney I could do some good, Moore said. Moore graduated from law school in March 2016, and passed the bar exam on her first attempt in July 2016. She had also gone to law school online, and only nine percent of online law students pass the bar exam. Moore has written three books about stalking and cyberstalking, represents survivors, and advocates and works on policy change. She is also often called as an expert witness in stalking and cyberstalking cases. Notably, Moore worked on a policy change through her non-profit Survivors in Action, which contributed to the creation of Marys Law, named after Mary Babb who had been murdered by her stalker in Michigan. Marys Law allows the court to use GPS monitoring in conjunction with a restraining order to determine where and when a stalker violates the order, and allows the survivor to know that the stalker is in their vicinity. Moore continues to do diligent work, and has a message for survivors of stalking and cyberstalking. For anyone reading this, refuse to be scared silent, Moore said. Judiciary to pursue crash of Ukrainian plane vigorously IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 14, IRNA -- The Attorney General of Iran, while regretting the loss of compatriots in the crash of a Ukrainian plane, assured the public that the judiciary would pursue the case vigorously. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri on Tuesday noted that we deeply regret this and incident. He said the judiciary has pursued the incident immediately, but due to the complexity of the case and its dimensions, it would take time. Because all aspects of this case need to be considered legally and technically. Montazeri went on to say that people should know that both technically and legally the dimensions of this disaster will be addressed and that information will be provided. 9455**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Now Open 15 January 2020 Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announced the opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Bogota Salitre AR, a 199-room hotel in Bogota's renowned Salitre district. Owned by Grupo AR, the newly renovated hotel is the latest addition to the growing DoubleTree by Hilton portfolio, one of Hilton's 17 world-class brands. Boasting an ideal location in the country's capital, DoubleTree by Hilton Bogota Salitre AR offers convenient access to Corferias Convention Center and Agora Convention Center, as well as nearby attractions, such as Simon Bolivar Metropolitan Park, Movistar Arena, the Gold Museum and Centro Comercial Gran Estacion. The hotel is also just a short drive from the United States Embassy and El Dorado International Airport. Throughout each stay, guests can experience the brand's warm welcome and feel at home upon check-in, enjoying access to spacious suites and guest rooms, in addition to state-of-the-art facilities and various dining options. Featuring a contemporary design with comfortable elements, the 199 contemporary guest rooms offer scenic views of the city and nearby mountain ranges. The rooms are equipped with stylish, modern amenities and feature the Sweet Dreams by DoubleTree sleep experience bedding, 55" LCD televisions, spacious bathrooms and signature bath products. The property is also one of the few hotels in the area that features indoor Jacuzzis in select suites. Travelers seeking relaxation have a variety of options, including a 24-hour fitness center, executive lounge and beauty salon. Guests can also indulge in facial and body rituals at the spa, which also features a Hydro Circuit including: Spa pool equipped with bubble volcanoes, cascading jets, oxygenation beds and a Jacuzzi Showers with various pressure levels and temperatures Footpath treatment with stone path and a river edge Flotarium water capsule with Epsom salts, which simulates the density of the Dead Sea Hamman detoxifying steam bath Guests can dine on-property at Ka Restaurant, which offers a unique ambiance and delectable fusion of gourmet international and Colombian cuisine. Travelers can mingle over specialty drinks and appetizers at the bar, before heading to a table to enjoy signature dishes created by Executive Chef Jorge Velez from salmon tartare with Greek yogurt, caper bumblebees and oriental sauce, to chicken supreme with crispy banana, cape gooseberry sauce and wild rice. For meetings and events, DoubleTree by Hilton Bogota Salitre AR boasts more than 11,000 square feet of flexible space. Boasting panoramic city views, the 12 meeting rooms range in size from a small conference room to expansive ballrooms with a total capacity of 600 guests. Hilton currently has a portfolio of more than 150 hotels and resorts open and welcoming travelers in 23 countries across the Caribbean and Latin America, with 20 hotels in Colombia. The company is actively pursuing additional growth opportunities and currently has a robust development pipeline of approximately 95 hotels throughout the region. DoubleTree by Hilton Bogota Salitre AR's opening demonstrates the company's commitment to its continued regional expansion, with Hilton planning to add five new properties within the next five years in Colombia. COLCHESTER This small Connecticut town is grieving in the wake of news that it has a possible connection to the deaths of four people found in a Florida house Monday. Former residents Tony Todt and his wife, Megan, have not been in contact with family for more than a week, according to several news reports. Four bodies were found inside a central Florida home and sheriffs officials said they have one person in custody. WESH 2 News in Orlando reported that through Osceola County court records it determined the home where the bodies were found was leased by Tony and Megan Todt, originally from Colchester. The names of the victims and the person in custody have not been released. Investigators havent said how they were killed or what charges the person in custody would face. The couple has three children, reports said. Todt was a physical therapist in Colchester. Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Burt said Tuesday the district has no record of children of the missing Todt family attending Colchester public schools. There is a general sense of sadness and shock, Burt said. People have been affected by this. Burt said, especially because the town of Colchester is small, we take precautions in a case like this, he said. The district sent crisis teams to each of its schools Tuesday morning; the teams consist of guidance counselors and other professionals equipped to support students, he said. The central office also alerted staff to the situation and advised them to refer students who might need support to counselors. The superintendent met with First Selectman Mary Bylone Tuesday morning to make sure community leaders were on the same page with regard to address the situation. We do want to get together to help everyone in this situation, he said. Bylone said, The community is distraught. Bylone spoke of some of the reactions around town, while emphasizing that we dont really know what has happened as authorities have not officially identified the bodies or a man who appears in a photo with police outside the home. When they hear accusations, people are stunned, Bylone said of speculation about what occurred. She has been surprised by the amount of correspondence shes received from residents, some of whom were angry that anyone would make accusations, some of whom were angry at the possibility that may have happened, she said. They [the Todts] were connected to a lot of people in the community, Bylone said. As a physical therapist, Anthony Todt treated a lot of local residents, including student athletes at Bacon Academy, according to Bylone. Bylone recalled that one woman said she wouldnt be walking if it werent for Todt. Colchester is Kind, a local group that aims to foster a stronger sense of community in our town using kindness to build connection, according to its Facebook page, even named Anthony Todt a hero of the day last month, according to Bylone. The group confirmed this Tuesday. Bylone reflected on the inquiries and the social media frenzy that has followed the Todts disappearance and the news out of Florida. People want to know. They want to figure it out and put the pieces together so that they can have closure. But while Bylone recognizes that urge, she believes its better to spend time on healing than speculation, especially when it comes to town government. The town will not be sharing information on the case going forward, but instead will focus on how to support the community, Bylone said, noting on a meeting she had that morning with the superintendent of schools and Val Geato, director of Colchester Youth & Social Services, where the group discussed how best to provide that support. Staff have already made calls to local resources residents could use for support, and they will be putting out more information online, according to Bylone. If community members feel a vigil would be helpful, the town would support it, the first selectman said. I just feel like our energies should be on healing and hope, she said, adding that she doesnt think anyone will truly understand the tragedy, even after all the facts come in. A missing persons report was not filed in Connecticut in connection with the case, State Police spokesman Trooper Josue Dorelus said Tuesday. A sign on the door of Family Physical Therapys Park Avenue, location, where Anthony Todt practiced, indicates the business was closed for the holidays and would reopen after Jan. 1. But the first of Januarys come and gone, and he [Anthony Todt] hasnt been here, said Dr. Priya Tandon, who runs a medical practice in the same building. Last week, Tandon said, she heard something odd from Todts employees: that they hadnt been paid and had no idea where he was. It wasnt the first unusual occurrence to happen recently. Sometime in November or December, FBI agents came to Family Physical Therapy, according to Tandon. When she asked the landlord about it, he told her Todt was allegedly being investigated , she said. Hearst Connecticut Media does not have confirmation of the investigation. Tandons understanding is that Todts family has been living in Florida full-time and, as hes managed his practice in Colchester, hes traveled on weekends and holidays to visit them, she said. She does not know of any relatives of the Todts who live in Colchester, she said. [Todt] struck me as a good person, Tandon said. He was a good man. I would refer patients to him all the time and he did a good job. Tony Todts Linkedin profile says he earned his masters degree at Sacred Heart University and that he also operated a physical therapy business in East Hampton. Town records show that Anthony and Megan Todt owned a home on Waterhole Road from 2006 until June 2017, when they sold the property, said Town Clerk Gayle Furman. Anthony Todt filed a trade name for his physical therapy business in 2008 for a location on Wall Street, and then refiled it in 2012, when the practice moved to its Park Avenue location, Furman said. No trade name was filed for the location on Middletown Road, according to Furman. After checking town records, the town clerk described the atmosphere of sadness in Colchester that day. She even noticed the mood among people leaving the polls of the towns special election for state representative, she said. PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio -- City Council on Tuesday (Jan. 14) elected Councilperson-at-large Marie Gallo to her fourth term as City Council president; however, the pro tem seat was deadlocked at three votes apiece (the Ward 4 seat is currently vacant) for JoAnn Koch and Renee Everett. The law director said in the event of a tie like this, the current pro tem continues to serve, Gallo said. So Councilwoman Koch will serve as pro tem until another vote is taken at the Jan. 27 meeting. The vote for council pro tem requires a majority vote. Gallo said such a scenario happened years ago regarding the council president vote. There is no alarm, Gallo said. In the end, Im confident that council will be able to come to a resolution soon. Mayor Michael P. Byrne stressed that residents shouldnt be concerned that the pro tem situation speaks to the tenor of the new City Council. This is just part of the process; nothing more should be read into the current situation, Byrne said. Im sure council will reach a decision soon. Another looming council decision has to do with appointing a resident to the vacant Ward 4 council seat, which was previously held by Gallo. The seat was vacated earlier this month when the City Council president took over as a council-at-large representative. The criteria for Ward 4 applicants includes being a registered voter and having two years of residency in the ward. City Council members earn $10,822 annually, with the council president receiving $12,489 a year. There are eight candidates with interviews scheduled for this week, Gallo said. Council is hoping to vote this month. Also decided at the meeting: Florence Bohdan will continue as clerk of council with Nora Neel as assistant clerk of council. Read more news from the Parma Sun Post. MLK MASS: The Knights of Peter Claver, St. Joseph the Worker Unit No. 267, will hold its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mass celebration at 10 a.m. Sunday at St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church, 455 Ames Blvd., Marrero. The pastor is the Rev. Sidney Speaks, and the keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Maurice Nutt. SOUL FOOD: Be Well-Come Together sponsors a community gathering to dine and discuss life, faith and the coming year at 9 p.m. Sunday at Faith Presbyterian Church, 2525 Apollo Ave., Harvey. The group meets every third Sunday. WRITERS GATHERING: Southern Christian Writers meets at 10:30 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month through October, at Gospel Bookstore, Westside Shopping Center, 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna. Five critiques sessions and five speakers are offered. Optional memberships with added benefits are available. Visit scwguild.com or call Teena Myers at (504) 939-7330. GRANDPARENTS' MASS: Archbishop Rummel High School's Parent Booster Club will host a grandparents' Mass and luncheon for ninth grade at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the school, 1901 Severn Ave., Metairie. Members of the club will serve lunch to the students and their grandparents after. COLUMBINE PERFORMANCE: "Beyond the Grave," a multimedia production that examines several students involved in the 1999 Columbine, Colorado, school shooting, will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, at Victory Church, 5708 Airline Drive, Metairie. RETREAT FOR HER: Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans will hold a Holy Spirit Women's Retreat Jan. 24-26, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lafayette. "2020: Without a Vision the People Perish" will feature author Johnnette Benkovic Williams, former Catholic Charismatic Center in Houston director the Rev. Mark Goring and the local team. Register at ccrno.org or (504) 828-1368. BLOOD DRIVE: The Ochsner Blood Mobile will be at Munholland United Methodist Church for a drive that will add $10 for every donation to the church's youth group at 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, 1201 Metairie Road, Metairie. GUILT WORKSHOP: The Therapon Institute presents, Breaking Free from Guilt and Shame at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31, at Christian Fellowship, 5049 Ehret Road, Marrero. It will focus on dealing with the negative impact of guilt and shame. David Rodriguez, belief therapist and president of Therapon, presents. Contact (504) 328-2249 or therapon.org. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Continuing DIVORCE GROUPS: Celebration Church will begin two 14-week recovery groups for the DivorceCare curriculum, a Christian-based program to help individuals stabilize and heal from the trauma of separation and/or divorce. Registration is $17.50, which covers the workbook. Child care is available. In Metairie, the course will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 2001 Airline Drive, Metairie; contact Chris Russo at (504) 831-9673. In Kenner, the course will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 3550 Williams Blvd.; contact Robert Boyd at (504) 914-8299 or the church at (504) 305-6239. Visit dicorcecare.org. GRIEF SHARE SERIES: A 13-week Grief Share session for those who have lost a loved one through death will begin with a meeting from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Christian Fellowship Church, 5049 Ehret Road, Marrero. Sessions include a video presentation and group discussion. There is a $15 fee for the workbook. To register, call (504) 347-4875. STAR PROGRAM: Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 28, Strategies to Trim and Reduce (STAR) will meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. for a program to improve health, weight, blood pressure and reduce the risks of chronic disease at Faith Presbyterian Church, 2525 Apollo Drive, Harvey. The 10-week program is sponsored by Be Well-Come Together. Register before Jan. 24 at (504) 368-2525 or bewellcometogether@gmail.com. RETURNING HOME: The St. Edward the Confessor Church Evangelization Committee will host Catholics Returning Home," a six-week program intended to give inactive Catholics an understanding of todays church, at 7 p.m. Thursdays, Parish Center, 4921 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie. The course continues through Feb. 13. Call (504) 888-0703. RECOVERY PROGRAM: Christian Fellowship hosts Celebrate Recovery at 7 p.m. Fridays at 5049 Ehret Road, Marrero. The faith-based, 12-step program deals with all life issues and may be joined at any time. For information, call (504) 347-4875. TIKVAT YISRAEL: The Messianic women's group meets the first Sunday of each month, at 4:15 p.m. for Israeli folk dance workshops and an exploration of Scripture, with light refreshments and discussion. RSVP at (210) 410-1034 or michelleb@chfm.org. MAGALIA, Calif. - One of the first churches to provide support for Camp Fire victims is in trouble. The Magalia Community Church was a donation location for survivors to pick up food and clothing. Now, the church has no heating. Four to five HVAC units blew out due to a power surge, three weeks ago. Now the church is losing volunteers because they're getting sick. Church officials said the HVAC units were old and will have to be replaced to the tune of $50,000. The church has a Go Fund Me called "Heat the Halls" on their Facebook page. To donate, CLICK HERE. The Daily Beast Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI After he was struck down by malaria and typhoid, Togolese tailor Ayawo Hievi thought he was set to recover when he started taking drugs prescribed by his doctor. But far from curing him, the medication he was given at the neighbourhood clinic made him far worse -- eventually costing him one of his kidneys. The drugs were fake. "After four days of care, there was no improvement, but I started to feel pain in my belly," Hievi, 52, told AFP. After two weeks of suffering he became unable to walk and was rushed into the university hospital in the West African nation's capital Lome. "The doctors told me that my kidneys had been damaged... the quinine and the antibiotics used to treat me in the medical office were fake drugs." Now, over four years later, he remains crippled by chronic kidney failure and has to go to hospital for dialysis regularly. Hievi's horror story is far from unique in a continent awash with counterfeit medicines. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year some 100,000 people across Africa die from taking "falsified or substandard" medication. Africa is awash with fake drugs, say experts. Children with malaria are especially at risk. By ODD ANDERSEN (AFP) The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated in 2015 that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor quality anti-malaria drugs in sub-Saharan Africa. Weak legislation, poor healthcare systems and widespread poverty have encouraged the growth of this parallel -- and deadly -- market. Since 2013, Africa has made up 42 percent of the fake medicine seized worldwide. The two drugs most likely to be out-of-date or poor, ineffective copies are antibiotics and anti-malarials, say experts. And bogus drugs not only pose a risk to the patient -- they also play a worrying part in building resistance to vital frontline medications. 'Difficult to trace' In a bid to tackle the scourge, presidents from seven countries -- the Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Uganda -- meet Friday in Lome to sign an agreement for criminalising trafficking in fake drugs. The goal is to bolster cooperation between governments and encourage other African nations to join the initiative. But even if leaders put pen to paper, the task of stamping out the flows of counterfeit medication is huge. Medicines spread out on plastic sheets or offered at ramshackle stalls are for sale at markets across West Africa. Those hawked on the streets are often a fraction of the price of what's available in more reputable pharmacies where controls are stricter and supplies often have to come through official channels. "It is very difficult to trace where the fake medicines come from," said Dr Innocent Kounde Kpeto, the president of Togo's pharmacist association. "The countries which are mentioned on the boxes are often not the countries of origin or manufacture of these drugs. The manufacturers cover their tracks so as not to be identified". It is estimated that between 30 and 60 percent of medicine sold in Africa is fake and Kpeto said most of it comes from China or India. Efforts to staunch the deadly torrents of counterfeits have made some headway. Some trafficking hubs have been dismantled, such as Adjegounle market in Cotonou that served as a key gateway for fakes heading to giant neighbour Nigeria. In mid-November, the police in Ivory Coast made a record seizure of 200 tonnes in Abidjan and arrested four suspects including a Chinese national. Togo is one of the pioneer countries trying to stop the flow. It changed the law in 2015 and now traffickers can face 20 years in jail and a fine of some $85,000 (75,000 euros). In a show of force in July the authorities burnt over 67 tonnes of counterfeit pharmaceuticals discovered between But even given these recent successes, those in the industry like Dr Kpeto insist that the threat is still grave and involves "highly organised criminal networks". "The phenomenon remains major," he said. Traffickers can turn an investment of just $1,000 (900 euros) into a profit of $500,000, he claimed. The fake medicines are smuggled in the same way as guns or narcotics and often bring higher returns. 'Die for nothing' Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with a market of 200 million people, is the number one destination on the continent for fake drugs and a showcase of difficulties being faced. A drugs stall on a street in Lagos. Informal sales outlets are a major channel for counterfeit medicine. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP) In September 2016 the World Customs Organization seized tens of millions of fake pills and medicines at 16 ports around Africa: 35 percent were intended for Nigeria. Across the vast nation there are tens of thousands of vendors selling the counterfeits. Competition between traffickers is fierce and the official agency meant to combat the problem is overwhelmed. In a bid to improve the situation, Vivian Nwakah founded in 2017 start-up Medsaf and raised $1.4 million to help Nigerians track their medication from producer to user. "The country doesn't have a reliable and centralised distribution network," she said. Up in smoke: Fake drugs are destroyed in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria after being seized by watchdogs. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP) "A hospital sometimes has to deal with 30 or 40 distributors for all the medications it needs. How can you have quality control with so many suppliers?" As a result, fake or faulty medicine has not just flooded markets but also pharmacies and hospitals -- both state and private. Sometimes, without hospital administrators even being aware, that means the drugs that reach the patients can be expired, poorly stored or the wrong doses. Medsaf works to ensure the quality control of thousands of products at over 130 hospitals and pharmacies in Nigeria. It looks forward to expanding deeper into Nigeria as well as Ivory Coast and Senegal. The company uses technology, database management and analytics to monitor the movement of medications and verifies their official registration number, the expiry dates and storage conditions. "Technology we use can help to solve most of the issues related to fake drugs," Nwakah said. "People die for nothing. We can change that." A Delaware judge has ordered one of the worlds largest distributors of opioid painkillers to turn over corporate records to shareholders investigating whether the company engaged in wrongdoing. The judge ruled Monday that shareholders of AmerisourceBergen have demonstrated that they have proper purposes to conduct an inspection of company records and have established their right to inspect formal board materials. The plaintiffs also will be allowed to conduct a deposition to determine whether there are other materials that they should be entitled to see. The plaintiffs have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a credible basis to infer that AmerisourceBergen possibly violated the Controlled Substances Act, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster wrote. The evidence of possible wrongdoing is circumstantial, and it does not establish that wrongdoing occurred. What the evidence establishes is a credible basis to infer possible wrongdoing warranting further investigation. The ruling comes after the company last year rejected a books and records demand from the plaintiffs seeking to investigate whether directors and officers had committed mismanagement or breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the distribution of opioids. AmerisourceBergen, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, contended that the demand did not state a credible basis to suspect wrongdoing and that the scope of the inspection was overly broad. In his ruling, the judge noted that AmerisourceBergens role in Americas opioid epidemic has made it the target of several subpoenas, government investigations, and lawsuits. Since September 2017, the company has spent more than $1 billion on litigation and opioid-related costs, including settlements and legal fees relating to lawsuits and investigations, the judge said, citing the companys recent annual report. In October, AmerisourceBergen and two other drug distributors, Cardinal Health and McKesson, agreed to pay $215 million as part of a $260 million settlement with two Ohio counties to avert the first federal trial over the opioid crisis. Meanwhile, negotiations between the pharmaceutical industry and state attorneys general continue in an effort to settle more than 2,000 opioid-related lawsuits across the country. A proposed framework under consideration with drugmakers and distributors could be worth up to $48 billion in cash and treatment drugs nationally over time, according to published reports. The opioid crisis is a matter of national significance, Laster noted. There is a credible basis to suspect that AmerisourceBergens situation did not result from an ordinary business decision that, in hindsight, simply turned out poorly. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Qantas is cancelling almost one in 10 of its scheduled flights between Sydney and Melbourne every day but has rejected suggestions it is scratching services at short notice just because it hasn't sold enough seats. The airline's average monthly cancellation rate for Sydney-Melbourne flights was 9.5 per cent in the six months to November, according to data collected by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. Qantas' cancellation rate on Sydney-Melbourne has doubled over the past two years. Credit:Bloomberg That is almost double the rate compared to two years ago, and a three-fold increase since 2015. Cancellation rates are broadly the same from Melbourne to Sydney. Qantas' main competitor on the route, Virgin Australia, has not seen the same increase in cancellations; they have risen from 5 to 6 per cent since 2017. Sprouting convenience stores are offering urbanites in HCMC the chance to shop or socialize 24/7, albeit the odd security run-in. Thursday night, behind the glass door of a convenience store on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1, the smell of instant noodles permeates the air. Customers stalk food shelves and fluorescent fridges stocked with a myriad of colorful drinks. A small group of students are gathered around a table, drinking slurpees while talking or gazing out the window. In the past few years, the number of convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City has flourished, offering locals a chance to socialize or spend at any given time. A survey by Japanese market research agency Asia Plus in May 2018 stated there were 995 convenience stores in HCMC, of which nearly 700 operated 24 hours. For white-collar workers stuck to their desks by day, and their families by night, 24-hour stores provide them perfect conditions for a little me time. "I am busy with my job and my family. I go shopping in the wee hours 3-4 times a week when it is not crowded and goods are readily available, unlike at the market," said Truong Thi Hong, a recruitment officer in District 1, while shopping on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street around midnight. While her husband sucked on a cigarette outside, Hong busied herself purchasing instant noodles, milk, sliced fruit and yogurt, amid a throng of Vietnamese youngsters snacking out and expats doing the daily rounds. To many young urbanites, Family Mart, Ministop, Circle K, and 7-Eleven are perfect for late-night rendezvous, studying or napping, free of the hot and humid conditions outside. "We used to study at coffee shops before we discovered the convenience store. It has air-conditioners, wifi and cheaper drinks," explained student Tran Hoang, surrounded by friends at a store on Nguyen Trai Street. The sophomore at HCMC Medicine and Pharmacy University added they would usually buy noodles or cakes for breakfast at the store. Not all youngsters are as industrious. In a store on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street at 3 a.m., six night owls stare at their phones, three others napping amid empty plastic bottles and packages. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, who works here 2-3 nights per week, serves up to 30 customers every weeknight, with "around 50 percent remaining at the store after shopping." "On the weekend, more people come to buy food or sleep off the effects of clubbing," she added. Huong and her co-workers admit a busy night makes them feel less concerned over their personal safety. Witching hour Working and shopping at convenience stores at night can be risky with the majority saving on costs by employing only 2-3 night staff and no security. Clients are constantly reminded to lock their motorbikes and keep their eyes. "Ive had two young men enter the store, pick some bottles of beer and snacks then run off. As they might carry knives, I couldnt do a thing," says Huong. A group of friends share a late night joke at a store on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, November 27, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Huy. Most night staff at convenience stores are students who earn around VND30,000 ($1.29) per hour, routinely threatened by local thieves and drug addicts. With the number of 24-hour stores mushrooming in the past 2 years, robberies have also reportedly increased. Thieves generally enter a store in a group of five to 10 people, pick what they want and exit as a group to confuse staff. In July 2019, some arrests were made after convenience store managers on Le Loi Street in District 1 complained to local police about a gang of youth armed with stones and sharp objects taking both money and goods at will. Before arrest, the group had used a glass bottle to threaten an employee, stealing VND2.1 million ($90). Three days later, they returned for another VND1.8 million ($77.62). A host of convenience stores in town rely entirely on CCTV for security. Last year, local police warned stores to enhance safety measures at night to deter thieves. However, according to Luong Hoang Tung, a staff member at a 24-hour store on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, hiring security at night is expensive. "When you work during these hours, you learn to be both smart and brave," he added while labeling packages ahead of dawn, five young men talking and playing games on their cellphones beside the counter. Demonstrators protesting the amended citizenship law at East Delhi's Khureji on Wednesday claimed that police personnel tried to forcefully disperse them by barging into their protest site at around 2 am, cutting the power connection and knocking down their tents. The Delhi police, however, has refuted the claims saying no such "coercive action" was taken. Over a thousand protestors, including women and children, have gathered in the East Delhi neighbourhood where protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a possible pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) had started on Monday. "By 2 am, around three dozen protestors, including some 15 women, were at the venue when policemen barged in and cut power supply for the lights, leaving the area in darkness," a local resident, who claimed to have been present at the site, told PTI. "They then brought down the poles supporting the tarpaulins that were put up for shelter in front of the stage," said the man, in his 50s, who wanted to protect his identity for security reasons. He said nobody was injured in the alleged police action. "They (cops) just came and did what they had in mind. But the word spread among locals immediately and soon hundreds of people gathered at the site, which led the policemen to leave," he claimed. The tent was erected again by protesters and by 11 am, scores of people gathered at the venue where women were leading the charge, chanting slogans like "Aazaadi" and "Aawaaz do hum ek hain". Zafar Ahsan Karimi, who runs a school for the poor in Khureji, described the police action as "unjust". "There were over a dozen women at the protest site and they (cops) barged in with a motive of vandalism at 2 in the morning. There were no female police personnel either. Is this constitutional?" he said. On the issue of CAA and NRC, he said, "The government should not be asking for our papers to check whether we are Indians. They should get our DNA test done and will find out even about our 10 generations who belonged to this country." Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi East, Alok Kumar told PTI, "No such coercive action was taken at the protest site. Had police wanted to clear the protestors, it would have been done. But the protestors are still there." The officer said once in a while the policemen do talk to the protestors to take stock of the situation. "There has been no law and order situation so far because the protest is happening on a side. The traffic movement is also normal," Kumar said. The protest in the East Delhi neighbourhood unfolded on Monday, as anti-CAA and anti-NRC demonstrations continued in Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Millia Islamia and Zakir Nagar in the South East region of the national capital. Besides Delhi, protests have unfolded in many parts of the country over the contentious law since it was passed on December 11. There have also been violent clashes during protests at a number of places including Uttar Pradesh, where nearly 20 people have died. According to the amended law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 after facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but will be given Indian citizenship. Those opposing the law contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution especially due to non-inclusion of Muslim refugees. They also allege that the CAA along with the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in India. However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to persecuted people from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away citizenship from anyone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine's president to investigate the Biden case. The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cell phone use, raising questions about possible surveillance. Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump's trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. Parnas was in frequent communication with Giuliani and with Ukrainian officials, the messages show. He appeared to be pushing unsubstantiated allegations that Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were somehow engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelenskiy took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. In the letter, Giuliani said he would be accompanied at the meeting by Victoria Toensing, a Washington attorney and Trump ally. One of the documents is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated." Trump asked Zelenskiy in a July call to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine. Democrats said that Parnas' attorney confirmed that Parnas wrote the notes. The documents including phone records, texts and flash drives turned over by Parnas were sent to the House Judiciary Committee by three other House panels to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment, according to a statement. Some of the materials were made public while others were marked as sensitive. Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet bloc, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records. Prosecutors allege they made outsize campaign donations to Republican causes after receiving millions of dollars originating from Russia. The men have pleaded not guilty. In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassador's ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the center of the Democrats' impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a smear campaign. Trump on a July 25 call had promised Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was going to go through some things. Roughly two months earlier, she was recalled from her diplomatic post. On April 23, just before Yovanovitch was directed to return to the United States, Giuliani texted Parnas, "He fired her again." Parnas texted back, "I pray it happens this time I'll call you tomorrow my brother." Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a "bitch. Hyde is now running for a U.S. House seat in Connecticut. After texting about the ambassador, Hyde gave Parnas detailed updates that suggested he was watching her. In one text, Hyde wrote: She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off. He said she was under heavy security and we have a person inside. Hyde at one point texted Parnas that ''they are willing to help if we/you would like a price, and guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money ... is what I was told. Parnas texted back: lol. Lawrence Robbins, an attorney for Yovanovitch, called for an investigation in to the messages. Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened." On Twitter, Hyde dismissed the claims as laughable and appeared to try to distance himself from Parnas. He said he would welcome an investigation. The text messages show that Parnas consulted Giuliani in Jan. 2019 after the U.S. denied a visa for former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Giuliani replied: "I can revive it." The following day, Giuliani told Parnas: It's going to work I have no 1 in it. Giuliani then predicted "he will get one" before giving Parnas the phone number for Jay Sekulow, the leader of the president's personal legal team. Sekulow is expected to be part of Trump's legal team during the impeachment trial. A federal judge earlier this month ruled that Parnas could provide the materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. Democrats voted in December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 'Till the time we do not remove fear in the minds of Muslims of India, how will we achieve peace?' IMAGE: A Bharatiya Janata Party rally to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Photograph: ANI Photo In a surprise statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Gorakhpur, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, says he will resign as member of the Uttar Pradesh assembly 'if any Indian Muslim of his constituency is evicted from the country during the Citizenship (Amendment) Act exercise'. A legislator since 2002, Agarwal is reaching out to Muslims in his constituency as part of the BJP's mass contact programme to dispel myths over the new citizenship Act. "I believe if there is a disease, then you have to apply medicine. And I am doing that," Agarwal tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com. What message are you trying to spread among Muslims in Gorakhpur? As an MLA, I am always available to solve the problems of the Muslim community. This time I decided I would go straight to them and understand what problems they have regarding the CAA and try to solve it. Till the time we do not remove that fear in the minds of Muslims of India, how will we achieve peace? And in my experience I explained to them about the CAA and the status of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) so there was apprehension from their side and they understood my viewpoint. What is it that you explained to them? I explained to them that one can acquire Indian citizenship in four ways -- either by birth, by descent, by registration or by naturalisation. In the first case of birth, any Muslim born in India after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India. S/he does not need any kind of certificate. Citizenship by descent does not apply to them because it is for those born outside India. By registration means that if any Muslim parent was a citizen of pre-Independence, undivided India. And if they (the parents) stayed for seven years in India then they have the right to apply for Indian citizenship. This route has not stopped. So, the Indian government has not stopped giving citizenship to any Muslim. The Indian government has made it clear that if an individual Muslim wants to become an Indian citizen, then by registration they are willing to give her/him citizenship, even if they are from Bangladesh or Pakistan. What has stopped is citizenship by naturalisation. It is for those people (Muslims) who come from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are responsible for Partition in 1947 by saying India has become Darul-Harb (the land of infidels). The other group of Muslims are those who said that India is not a Darul-Harb, so they stayed back in India. Those who went were deshdrohi and those who stayed back are desh bhakts. Now if those deshdrohi Muslims want to come back to India, they cannot come back. This is what I am explaining to the Muslims of Gorakhpur. Do ordinary Muslims understand these issues so easily? I give them examples. For instance, if a Muslim family has four brothers and has a 10-room house in Gorakhpur city. Now two brothers want their share. So the other two brothers unite and give the money to the other two brothers and tell them to go and settle somewhere else. Now these two brothers who stayed back in the house got 5 rooms each. And they prospered in that house by gaining more property. Now after many years, the two brothers who took cash and went away from the property cannot come back and ask for a share in the property. Will these brothers who stayed back give the right of property to the other two brothers? The answer is no. In the same way, I tell my Muslim brothers of Gorakhpur when you cannot part with your own homes, how can you tell the Government of India to give them a share of land in India? They understand this logic. How many meetings have you carried out? I have taken part in eight meetings with the Muslim community so far. Whoever wants to meet me can come and meet me. I explain that any citizen who is a deshdrohi will lose his citizenship. Like Devender Singh (the Jammu-Kashmir police officer) who has been arrested for (alleged) terror links. So be it Hindu or Muslim, he will be a deshdrohi if he works against the interests of India. IMAGE: Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, the BJP MLA from Gorakhpur, right, with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ajay Singh Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath, left. Photograph: Radha Mohan Das Agarwal/Facebook Have you been gained the trust of Muslims by explaining this logic? They say it is me who is saying such things, but Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah say something else. They say they don't trust them, but trust me. I tell them if they trust me, then they have to trust PM Modi as well as Home Minister Shah because I trust them. I gave them a challenge, that if any Indian citizen in Gorakhpur is asked to leave, then I will resign as an MLA from Gorakhpur. I believe if there is a disease, then you have to apply medicine. And I am doing that. The trouble is not with the CAA, but with the NRC, which when combined with the CAA can be lethal. Moreover, the NPR is also coming. The officer who visits your home will have the right to declare you as an Indian citizen or a doubtful citizen. Isn't it? Nobody asked me questions on the NPR, they only asked me about the NRC. I told them no Indian Muslim will be ousted from India and they understood it. The NRC is only for illegal migrants. It is not the BJP that introduced this rule. It was in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was in power that this concept of illegal migrant was introduced in India. The BJP did not introduce any such thing. Any countryman will not allow a Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslim back in India because they left India long back calling India Darul-Harb. Now why should we get such elements back to India who called India Darul-Harb? The trust between the BJP and Muslims has been broken, isn't it? That is what I am doing, I am trying to build trust. Don't you feel the CAA is discriminatory and biased against one religion, which goes against the founding principles of the Constitution? This is not being done based on religion. The CAA and NRC have been brought in for deshdrohi Muslims. Those Muslims who left India in 1947 are deshdrohi and should not even be called Muslims. It is the media's fault they call them Muslims; we must call them deshdrohi. But those Muslims have died long ago and perhaps their children or grandchildren may be staying in India. So they can become an Indian citizens by registration. Read Section 5 (c) pertaining to Indian citizenship. The legislation says those children whose parents were part of undivided India can apply for Indian citizenship. The media is not highlighting this fact. An entry gate is seen at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, on Nov. 26, 2018. (Nick Oxford/Reuters) Air Force Agents Raid Military Landlords Oklahoma Office Over Suspected Violation of Environmental Law Agents with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations raided the Oklahoma office of a major military landlord in connection with suspected violations of the Clean Air Act, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe said. In a statement on Twitter, Inhofe said authorities executed a federal search warrant at the Balfour Beatty Communities office on Tinker Air Force Base. Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) arrives for hearing about the Pentagon budget in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 17, 2016. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The warrant was related to suspected Clean Air Act violations by Balfour Beatty Communities, the senator said. I thank federal law enforcement for doing their part to investigate any alleged wrongdoing, and I encourage Balfour Beatty Communities to cooperate fully with the investigation. While this matter is still very much under investigation, should these or any of the other ongoing federal investigations be substantiated, Balfour Beatty and those who perpetrated any wrongdoing against our military families must be held accountable to the fullest extent. Reuters reported that the raid took place on the morning of Jan. 12, and that Balfour Beatty Communities has falsified maintenance records at several bases, which allowed the company to collect millions in incentive bonus payments while military families waited for repairs to be carried out. In a statement to the publication, Balfour Beatty said the federal action was related to a subpoena issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The investigation is connected to the matter of asbestos flooring removal that was reported in September 2019. When that event occurred, BBC promptly and voluntarily reported the incident to the local Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, it said. The company will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation. According to its website, Balfour Beatty Communities is one of the largest U.S. residential real estate companies and delivers acquisition, management, and renovation services in the multifamily, student, and military housing sectors. Balfour Beatty Communities stated that it has been a leader in the industry for more than 20 years, and boasts a residential portfolio currently consisting of more than 50,000 units and $6 billion in real estate assets under management. John Henderson, the Air Force assistant secretary for installations, told Reuters last year that the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations have been investigating allegations of fraud at Tinker and two other Air Force bases, Travis in California and Fairchild in Washington State, where the company is the landlord. Air Force agents are investigating additional fraud allegations at Mountain Home in Idaho and Lackland in Texas, Reuters added. The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson at Balfour Beatty Communities for comment. Reuters contributed to this report. The four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case will not be hanged on January 22 as scheduled with the Delhi government on Wednesday telling the High Court that the execution has to be postponed in view of the pendency of a mercy petition by one of them. As authorities and the victim's mother contended that the four men were "frustrating" and "intentionally" delaying the legal process by filing curative and mercy pleas in stages to postpone their execution, the Delhi government recommended rejecting Mukesh Kumar Singh's mercy plea to the President and forwarded it to the Lieutenant Governor. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters that the action was taken at "lightning speed". The high court pulled up the authorities, saying there has been no application of mind and that the system is suffering from cancer in response to the submission that as per prison rules they have to wait for the other co-convicts to exhaust their mercy pleas as well. The court made the remarks while declining to hear the plea by Mukesh challenging the death warrant. The high court said there is no error in the trial court's order, adding challenging the order before it amounted to playing one court against another. The Delhi government and Tihar jail authorities told a bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that under the prison rules, if death sentence has been awarded to more than one person in a case and if one of them moves a mercy plea, the execution of the others too has to be postponed till the plea is decided. "Then your rule is bad if you cannot take action till all the co-convicts have moved a mercy plea. It seems there has been non-application of mind (while framing the rules). The system is suffering from cancer," the bench told Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra in response to his submission. Besides Mukesh, 32, Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A city court had issued their death warrants on January 7. The bench while declining to entertain Mukesh's plea gave him liberty to challenge the death warrant in a sessions court. Mukesh later approached the court, seeking postponement of the date of his execution on the grounds that his mercy petition is pending with the President. The plea was mentioned before Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who issued notice to the state and parents of the victim for Thursday. The high court said it was of the opinion that once the Supreme Court dismissed Mukesh's criminal appeal, review plea and curative petition and confirmed his death sentence, he cannot challenge the January 7 death warrant before the high court as the order did nothing but carry the apex court's decision to its logical conclusion. It said the petitioner ought to have brought the subsequent events to the notice of the trial court or ought to have moved the apex court, which had finally confirmed the death sentence and also dismissed his curative petition. "We feel this is a stratagem devised on how to prolong the matter, since you had time since May 5, 2017, when the apex court dismissed their appeals, to move a mercy plea or file a review or curative petition. Why did you wait till now? What restrained you from doing so? What prevented you? "The intent of the law is to give you reasonable amount of time to approach the court. Your time started ticking from May 5, 2017. Even after October 29, 2019 (when first notice was sent to the convicts informing them they can move mercy plea), you did nothing. You cannot wait for the co-convicts pleas to be decided, to move the courts," the bench said. The prison authorities said that under the rules, they will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. In response to this submission, the court said "put your house in order". "Your house is in disarray. The problem is people will lose confidence in the system. Things are not moving in the right direction. The system is capable of being exploited and we see a stratagem to exploit the system, which is oblivious about it." Mehra submitted that the January 22 date for execution was "academic" since if no decision is taken till noon of January 21 on the mercy plea, then prison authorities have to move the sessions court for a fresh death warrant. If mercy plea is rejected after January 22, then also a fresh death warrant has to be sought from trial court in respect of all the convicts, he said. Besides pulling up the prison authorities, the court expressed displeasure at the delay in filing curative and mercy pleas by Mukesh after the Supreme Court in May 2017 dismissed the appeals of the four convicts against their conviction and death sentence. The bench ticked off the prison authorities for the delay on their part in communicating to the convicts to move their mercy pleas after their appeals were dismissed by the apex court. The prison authorities had only on October 29 and December 18 last year issued notices to the convicts to move their mercy pleas. Mehra told the bench the delay was due to the reason that one of the convicts -- Akshay -- had not filed his review plea till 2019 and it was dismissed only on December 18. The review pleas of the other three had been dismissed in July 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) David Oyelowo Selma (2014) Months after arriving in America, Oyelowo (pronounced oh-yellow-oh"), a Brit descended from Nigerian nobility, got this script about King's 1965 Selma March, which led to the Voting Rights Act. "I had a visceral, spiritual knowing that I would play this role, he said. God told me I was going to play Martin Luther King in the film Selma." After seven years struggle, he did. God was wise. No actor has ever captured more sides of King: the joking papa at home; the towering orator; the canny politician; the straying husband scolded by his wife, a scene that never happened in real life but should have; the leader who fought down fear; an every man for all Americans. "We go to the movies to see ourselves, Oyelowo has said. And if we can see ourselves in Dr. King, I think that is really potent and powerful." Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, FandangoNow, Google Play, iTunes, Redbox On Demand, Vudu, Xfinity Stream. Also on Blu-ray and DVD from Amazon, DVD from eBay Wearable Medical Device Market Size, Growth and Share Estimation By Type (Smart Watches, Activity Monitors, Smart Clothing, Patches), Application (Sports Academies and Fitness, Remote Patient Monitoring, Home Healthcare), Device Type (Diagnostic & Monitoring Devices, Therapeutic Devices), Distribution Channel (Pharmacies, Online Channel, Hypermarkets) Global Forecast till 2023 The Global Wearable Medical Device Market is expected to rise to a valuation of more than USD 27,200 million by 2023, according to the latest research report from Market Research Future (MRFR). The global wearable medical devices market is mainly driven by the growing awareness about wearable medical devices among patients and the increasing prevalence of chronic conditions that require monitoring. However, the growing threat of cybercrime and concerns about healthcare data security are likely to keep the wearable medical device market down. The growing prevalence of diabetes, heart conditions, and other lifestyle diseases has been the major driver for the global wearable medical devices market. Diabetes is not a condition that needs acute, emergency intervention, but rather chronic, regular monitoring. In the past, this monitoring was performed through hospital visits. However, the entry of wearable medical devices onto the scene has changed the scenario, as patients can now track the progress of their disease from the comfort of their home. This has been a gamechanger for lifestyle diseases, as doctors can now delegate disease monitoring to wearable medical devices, making the lives of both patients as well as doctors more comfortable. Wearable medical devices can track parameters such as blood sugar level, heart rate, blood pressure, and more. This has made them vital in monitoring lifestyle conditions related to the heart. This is also likely to be a major driver for the global wearable medical devices market, as the prevalence of CVDs is also likely to increase dramatically in the coming years. Request Free Sample Copy at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/899 The wearable medical devices market is also likely to witness significant technological expansion in the coming years, as wearable medical devices have emerged as a key product category for medical device manufacturers. New players are also venturing into the market for wearable medical devices, as the market is highly profitable and likely to present promising revenue generation opportunities over the coming years. Thus, technological updating is likely to be a major trend in the global wearable medical devices market over the forecast period. Wearable Medical Device Market Competitive Analysis: Leading players in the global wearable medical device market include Sony Corporation, Motorola Solutions Inc., Nike Inc., LG Electronics Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Apple Inc., Philips, Fitbit Inc., Omron Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, and Medtronic plc. As can be seen from this list, conventional medical device manufacturers as well as new entrants are proliferating in the global wearable medical devices market. Electronics industry players are likely to prosper in the global wearable medical device market over the forecast period, as wearable medical devices utilize high amounts of electronics and communication technology. The communication technologies used in wearable medical devices are also likely to be updated in the coming years due to the entry of communications industry giants such as Motorola, Sony, and Apple. Thus, technological updation is likely to be a major theme in the wearable medical devices market over the forecast period. In December 2019, VivaLNK announced the acquisition of the Class IIa medical device CE mark for its multi-vital medical wearable sensor and software development kit. The sensor is the smallest of its kind. This is also likely to remain a prominent theme in the global wearable medical devices market over the forecast period, as miniaturization allows more widespread usage of wearable medical devices as well as more convenience to the patient. Wearable Medical Device Market Segmentation: The global wearable medical device market is segmented based on type, device type, application, distribution channel, and region. By type, the global wearable medical devices market is segmented into activity monitors, smartwatches, smart clothing, and patches. By device type, the global wearable medical device market is segmented into diagnostic and monitoring devices, and therapeutic devices. By application, the global wearable medical device market is segmented into sports academies and fitness, remote patient monitoring, and home healthcare. By distribution channel, the global wearable medical devices market is segmented into pharmacies, online channels, and hypermarkets. Regional Analysis: North America and Europe dominate the global wearable medical devices market due to the strong presence of leading players in these regions and widespread awareness about wearable medical devices among the patient population. Asia Pacific is also likely to be an important regional market for wearable medical device manufacturers over the forecast period due to the growing prevalence of diabetes in the region and the growing awareness about wearable medical devices. Brows More Related Research Reports: Saudi Arabia Medical Devices Market Saudi Arabia medical devices market to reach around USD 3870 million from USD 2250 million in 2017, by the end of the forecast period at a CAGR of 9.5%. Africa Medical Devices Market Africa medical devices market to reach around USD 7069.61 million from USD 4900 million in 2017, by the end of the forecast period at a CAGR of 6.3%. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Contact: Akash Anand Market Research Future +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Lights installation are seen in the financial district of Canary Wharf as part of the WInter Lights festival, London on January 15, 2019. Investment in the U.K.'s technology sector grew at a faster pace than in the U.S. and China last year, according to new research released Wednesday. Venture capital funding for British start-ups grew 44% to a record $13.2 billion in 2019, a report prepared for the government by industry group Tech Nation and research firm Dealroom said. By contrast, Dealroom's figures show that investment in U.S. and Chinese tech firms actually slowed from January to December, with the U.S. seeing a 20% decline and China a steeper fall of 65%. The U.S. and China still came out on top in terms of total deal value, however, attracting $116 billion and $33.5 billion respectively. The stats showed that nearly half of the total amount invested in U.K. tech came from U.S. and Asian investors. Last year, foreign investors flocked to the U.K. and Europe in search of cheaper valuations amid growing interest in burgeoning areas like fintech. Start-ups like challenger bank Monzo and online payments firm Klarna attracted huge nine-figure deals led by U.S. investors. But fintech wasn't the only sector seeing significant growth. Emerging industries like artificial intelligence, so-called "deep tech" and clean energy also saw huge inflows. Health firm Benevolent AI raised $90 million and virtual reality company Melody raised $60 million, while in energy Ovo raised $260 million from investors. "The U.K. and Europe quite frankly have over the last 20 years mainly seen on the sidelines of the global tech economy," Saul Klein, co-founder of early stage venture fund LocalGlobe, told CNBC in an interview. "It's taken about 20 years to get here and the data now supports that the U.K. is a major global tech player." It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR). Do Insider Transactions Matter? It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for Nabors Industries Nabors Industries Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chief Financial Officer William Restrepo for US$359k worth of shares, at about US$2.05 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$3.02), we still think insider buying is a positive. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices. Nabors Industries insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! NYSE:NBR Recent Insider Trading, January 15th 2020 There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Story continues Insider Ownership I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 7.7% of Nabors Industries shares, worth about US$85m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. So What Does This Data Suggest About Nabors Industries Insiders? It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Nabors Industries shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in Nabors Industries and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Nabors Industries. But note: Nabors Industries may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Want this in your inbox each morning? Sign up here. What the U.S.-China trade deal leaves out President Trump and Vice Premier Liu He of China will meet at the White House today to sign a phase-one trade agreement meant to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing. But there are still plenty of unresolved issues. A big one is how seriously China will hold itself accountable, Ana Swanson of the NYT writes. Critics say Beijings promises appear both broad and vague and overlap with other changes it has been pursuing anyway. Beijing did not pledge to refrain from hacking U.S. companies, particularly to steal intellectual property. Chinese officials say it isnt a trade issue. Bigger changes to Chinas economy, like subsidies to its commercial giants, remain under negotiation. On Tuesday, the foreign ministries in Berlin, London and Paris said they would submit a complaint against Iran for allegedly violating the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. This would allow them to repudiate the agreement, which Washington abandoned in 2018, and support the reimposition of UN sanctions, aligning them with the US campaign against Iran that threatens to provoke all-out war in the Middle East. The foreign ministries statement is a cynical provocation, defending aggression while claiming to advocate diplomacy. It is silent on the fact that Washington nearly bombed Iran last June after Iran shot down a US drone over its territory, and says nothing about the US drone murder on January 3 of Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad. Instead, it denounces Irans reactions to these US actions, including Irans moves to reduce compliance with the accord, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In this biased fashion, it brands Iran as a nuclear threat. We do not accept the argument that Iran is entitled to reduce compliance with the JCPOA, it says, citing EU talks with Iran in November and December. Instead of reversing course, Iran has chosen to further reduce compliance with the JCPOA and announced on 5 January that the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the fifth step in reducing its commitments, discards the last key component of its limitations in the JCPOA, which is the limit on the number of centrifuges. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell talks to reporters at the European parliament announcing the foreign ministries of Berlin, London and Paris would submit a complaint against Iran for allegedly violating the 2015 Iranian nuclear treaty. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) The statement charges, without proof, that Irans policy has increasingly severe and non-reversible proliferation implications, that is, that Iran is attempting to build a nuclear bomb. It asserts, We have therefore been left with no choice, given Irans actions, but to register today our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPOA and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the JCPOA. The European claim that Iran is on the verge of building nuclear weapons has no factual foundation. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors remain in Iran to oversee its nuclear plants. Iran has not repudiated the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it signed. Echoing US actions in the run-up to the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003, however, the European powers are effectively dismissing the IAEA inspections and aligning themselves with unsubstantiated US and Israeli government allegations that Iran is close to building a nuclear weapon. Much of the European powers statement is devoted to downplaying the danger of war posed by their policy. They cynically declare that they regret the US repudiation of the Iranian nuclear deal. Posturing as advocates of peace, they insist that they sincerely want to save the Iranian nuclear treaty as they move to scrap it. They assert, We do this in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework. In doing so, our three countries are not joining a campaign to implement maximum pressure against Iran. Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA. This is a pack of lies, directly contradicted by their public calls to be rid of the Iranian nuclear accord and back Trumps moves against Tehran. Yesterday morning, as the joint foreign ministers statement was being prepared for publication, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared on BBC Breakfast TV and asserted that Europe should scrap the JCPOA and support moves to negotiate a Trump deal with Iran. Speaking of the Iranian nuclear agreement, Johnson said, If were going to get rid of it, then we need a replacement. Lets replace it with the Trump deal. Johnson continued, From the American perspective, it's a flawed deal... plus it was negotiated by President Obama. Let's replace it with the Trump deal. That's what we need to see. President Trump is a great dealmaker by his own account, and by many others. Let's work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead. Trumps dealmaking strategy has involved threatening or carrying out acts of war, such as avowedly murdering top Iranian officials and threatening large-scale air strikes. As such, it is clear that the signatories to yesterdays joint statement are indeed considering a maximum pressure policythat is, waragainst Iran. The Iranian regime reacted by lamely insisting that it is abiding by the JCPOA and blaming Europe for failing to trade with it after Washington scrapped the accord and imposed sanctions on Iran. The Iranian foreign ministry stated that after a year, the European side was not successful in fulfilling its obligations and this made Iran reduce its JCPOA commitments in five interval steps taken under sections 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal. It warned that Europe would face unspecified consequences for scrapping the accord. Moscow flatly condemned the European powers statement, effectively rebutting its claim that Europe is in close consultation with Russia and China. We do not rule out that the thoughtless actions of the Europeans could lead to a new escalation around the Iranian nuclear accord, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. The threats from Washington and the European powers against Iran pose a grave danger of military escalation into a world war. A US-European war with Iran would involve Russia and China even more rapidly and directly than the NATO proxy war launched in Syria in 2011. Only two weeks ago, Russian and Chinese warships were holding joint drills with Iranian warships in the Indian Ocean, in what Tehran claimed was a signal that it could not be militarily isolated from Russia and China, its two nuclear-armed allies. Nevertheless, Washington and the European powers, apparently emboldened by the Iranian bourgeois regimes fairly weak response to the US murder of Suleimani, are rapidly escalating. Tehran launched strikes on US bases in Iraq that remarkably caused no casualties, but Iranian officials initially lied, claiming they had killed 80 US troops. The Iranian government also initially denied, falsely, that it had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, which it believed to be a hostile warplane. It made no appeal to the enormous opposition to war in the international working class. The state-run Global Times in China, now the main purchaser of Iranian oil, cited former Chinese ambassador to Iran Hua Liming, who said: Iran actually had a good hand at the beginning, when the world showed sympathy to it and its people were united by anti-US fury, but it messed up. Writing that Tehrans response seriously damaged the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps image and credibility among the people, the Global Times concluded, Tehran didn't play it well, and now the situation has turned against itself. Georges Malbrunot, a columnist for Frances right-wing daily Le Figaro, for his part concluded that Iran has been trapped by the strike on Suleimani. Citing Tehrans fear of protests erupting over its shoot-down of the Ukrainian jetliner, he claimed that Tehran fears being forced into an all-out confrontation with America earlier than expected: The American strike came too early for the strategy of Tehran, which was expecting an escalation next summer. US officials plan to intensify war operations. At the Hoover Institute in California, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the murder of Suleimani was part of a bigger strategy of establishing deterrence, including against Russia and China. This came after Trump dispensed with the lie that he had Suleimani murdered for preparing attacks on US embassies, declaring on Monday that it really doesnt matter whether or not Suleimani posed an "immanent" threat. Pompeo said, President Trump and those of us in his national security team are reestablishing deterrence, real deterrence, against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Your adversary must understand not only that you have the capacity to impose cost but that youre in fact willing to do so. Citing the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces arms control treaty with Russia, as well as trade war threats and US naval deployments against China, he said, The importance of deterrence isnt confined to Iran. The European powers aggressive policy and the bankruptcy of the Iranian regimes response underscore that only the independent mobilization of opposition to war in the international working class can halt a new outbreak of even deadlier wars. Saving in an IRA is a good thing. But stashing away too much in a single year can get you in trouble. Put more money into an IRA than the annual contribution limit, and Uncle Sam will sock you with a 6% penalty each year until the extra money is taken out. Those most likely to run into the penalty are workers who earn too little to contribute the legal maximumand, for Roth IRAs, those who have too much income. Also, IRS limits on IRA rollovers raise the odds of getting hit with a penalty. Under the rules, excess contributions "become more of an issue," says Jeffrey Levine, IRA technical consultant for Ed Slott and Co., which provides IRA advice. Taxpayers younger than 50 can stash up to $6,000 in traditional and Roth IRAs for 2020. Those 50 and older can put in up to $7,000. But you can't put more in an IRA than you earn from a job. "The amount is actually capped to your earnings," says Nancy Montanye, a certified public accountant in Williamsport, Pa. Say a 68-year-old retired early in the year and earned $6,000. If he contributed the $7,000 maximum, $1,000 would be excess. Those with higher incomes who contribute to Roth IRAs also can run into trouble. Roth eligibility in 2020 phases out for joint filers as modified adjusted gross income rises between $196,000 to $206,000, and for single filers between $124,000 to $139,000. If you expect your income to fall below the phase-out range and make the maximum Roth contribution, part or all of the contribution could be excess if your income ends up over the threshold. By nature, I am very optimistic and I spend time encouraging educators on a daily basis. I celebrate when student teachers get their first job, teachers get promoted to administrators, or administrators get moved to the central office. I hear wonderful stories where teachers love their profession and school. I also hear the reports of the difficulties and the challenges. One of the issues that is often overlooked in the education profession is the school culture and climate. Teachers understand the salary issue is ongoing, and correctly believe that it is critical for them to be paid as the professionals that they are. However, salary is not usually the determining factor to make someone enter the education profession. For most educators, it is a calling of a noble profession. They teach to make a difference in the lives of their students and their communities. Student discipline is spiraling out of control in many schools across the nation. We have all seen and heard stories on local news. Internally, in some schools, it may even be worse. In Hamilton County, for example, reports of teachers quitting strictly because of discipline issues are unfortunately becoming commonplace. However, school culture and climate are beginning to become a major issue that needs to be addressed. If not addressed soon on the local level, it will certainly become a statewide policy issue to be addressed by policymakers. Lets examine a few issues: Loss of Teacher Autonomy. Doris Santoro, author of the book Demoralized, describes systemic pressures, such as top-down initiatives or punitive evaluation systems, which have diminished teacher autonomy. State Department of Education and School Districts must do a better job of addressing the culture and climate in our schools to impact the morale of their teachers. Constant turnover in districts and schools really impacts teachers as much as students. In addition, there are ongoing and chronic conflicts between school boards, school leaders, and even educators. While change is always inevitable, staff and stakeholder participation is essential. Too often there is little attempt to align culture, strategy, and structure in public education. If educators feel listened to, and their knowledge and experience are respected, there is a greater chance of success. Lack of Support. In the absence of monetary support, educators desperately need emotional and professional support from their administrators and colleagues. Support starts at the top with ongoing, collaborative teacher support. The working conditions in the schools become the learning conditions for the students. Administrators must be consistent when dealing with student discipline or parent situations. Teachers need to know their administration has their backs. Students who are sent to school administration for extreme misbehaviors cannot be sent right back to class, and education policies must be clear to all who are involved. If criticism is warranted, do it in private, not in front of parents or children. Every situation is unique, and how an administrator handles a situation depends on each situation. In addition, some administrators seemingly scold the entire staff for the faults of a few. A former educator and now author Jennifer Gonzalez wrote: Behind every teacher story is an administrator who is interpreting policy, setting expectations, and establishing a tone that will determine the quality of their teachers work, and by extension, the education their students receive. Legal and Liability Challenges. We live in a litigious society. As an educator or school employee, teachers are acutely aware that professional liability insurance is critical because district coverage may not protect them individually. Due to their unique role, educators face exposure to liability much greater than does the average citizen and therefore must exercise a higher duty of care than most professionals. Nearly every day teachers must deal with diverse laws related to issues such as child abuse, student discipline, negligence, defamation, student records, and copyright infringement. One district in the state, Williamson County, appointed an attorneywho lacked classroom teaching or school level administrative experienceas its Director of Schools. The new director has additional attorneys on his staff. This has to be concerning to parents, taxpayers, and educators when a district is top-heavy with lawyersespecially when they lack classroom and administrative experience. Ultimately such a heavy legal presence will not serve the interests of classroom teachers when they experience conflict with the district. When a conflict of interest occurs, and they will occur, the interest of the district will likely prevail over the teacher or administrator. This will mean settlements will be reached, even when educators may not be at fault. The district, in order to save money or diminish the negative publicity, will place its interests above those of the teacher or administrator. Educators know it is dangerous and potentially career-threatening if you enter a public-school classroom or school without liability or legal protection. That is why professional education associations are needed more than ever. Together, salary, student discipline, school culture, and climate are driving teachers out of their profession. These issues will impact the teacher labor market in ways in which it may not recover creating a shortage of highly qualified teachers in school districts across Tennessee. States and districts must track student discipline issues better. Research into why teachers leave teaching, including pressured or forced resignations, would be helpful for future retention issues. Novice and experienced teachers and administrators alike will deal with school leaders that are great, terrible, or somewhere in-between during their career. Those are the stories I most like to hear. JC Bowman Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Wednesday flagged Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor saying they impinge on Indias sovereignty. Admiral Singh was speaking at a panel discussion in the fifth edition of the Raisna Dialogue in Delhi. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor impinge on our sovereignty, PTI quoted him as saying at the flagship conference backed by the external affairs ministry. The navy chief also voiced concern about the increasing Chinese involvement in Indian Ocean that included PLA navy ships entering Indias exclusive economic zones. There have been instances when PLA ships entered our exclusive economic zones; we told them that it impinges on our interests. There has been increasing Chinese involvement in Indian Ocean, Admiral Singh said at the three-day conclave. He cautioned China saying, The Indian Navy is watching carefully. More than 100 countries are taking part in the conclave which began Tuesday with a focus on geopolitics and geo-politics. Jersey City's Mayor Steven Fulop shared this image from the swearing in ceremony of Sam Springsteen as new Jersey City firefighter. From left are Patti Scialfa, Sam and Bruce Springsteen and the mayor Steven Fulop. Read more Bruce Springsteens youngest son is officially a Jersey City firefighter. Sam Springsteen, 26, was one of 15 new firefighters sworn into the Jersey City Fire Department in a ceremony Tuesday, according to NJ.com. His parents father Bruce and mother Patti Scialfa, herself a member of the E Street Band both attended the ceremony. Were very proud. It was a long road, Bruce told reporters at the event, which was held at City Hall. He was very dedicated for quite a few years, and were just excited for him today. Springsteen completed a five-month training program at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy before his swearing-in, and had graduated from the Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014. Before joining the Jersey City Fire Department, he also was a member of the all-volunteer fire company in Colts Neck, N.J., where the Springsteen family owns a farm. Also on hand for the ceremony was Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who got some face time with the Boss and Scialfa. On social media, Fulop described the couple as such nice ppl. We got to spend some time in my office talking about music but more than that theyre proud parents of a new JC firefighter, Fulop wrote. Scialfa announced that her son had been hired by the Jersey City Fire Department in a post on social media over the summer that beamed with pride for the youngest Springsteen. You followed your dreams, Scialfa wrote. Love your brave heart. Springsteens siblings, meanwhile, have pursued slightly less perilous employment. His brother, Evan James, 29, is a musician, and his sister Jessica Rae, 28, a professional equestrian. A woman, who had filed a case against an IPS officer accusing him of raping her, on Wednesday tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for making the wrong statement that she was hit by a car and he was responsible for it. She had alleged that she was struck by a car on October 17, 2019 and clearly expressed her suspicion that the officer, of West Bengal cadre, was guilty for it. The top court had, however, noted that she was not hit by a car but by a 'thela' or cart and said it "prima facie means that the allegations in her sworn statement before this Court were not truthful". During Wednesday's proceedings, the woman appeared before a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant. The court noted her presence and said, "The petitioner...has appeared before us and tendered an unconditional apology. It seems that she has been mentally disturbed and resorted to psychiatric care. "In the circumstances of the case, we accept her unconditional apology and discharge the notice issued to her vide order dated December 10, 2019. The suo motu Contempt Petition stands closed accordingly," the bench said. The apex court had on December 10 refused to transfer to a central agency the investigation of a case filed by the woman. Delhi Police had registered two FIRs in the case. The first FIR was filed by the woman alleging rape by the IPS officer whom she met on Facebook. The second FIR was filed by the officer's mother alleging that the woman and her family members had been pressurising his family to pay Rs 15 lakh, failing which they were threatening to file cases against them with allegations of rape and other crimes. The apex court had said there was "nothing substantial" which could either show that the investigation was not well-directed or had failed to look into a particular direction. The top court had directed the Registry to record the matter as suo motu and send a copy of the order to the woman and ordered her to appear in-person before it on January 14. Delhi Police had earlier filed the final charge sheet against the IPS officer over a year after the woman accused him of raping her. The Delhi-based woman had in 2018 accused the officer of raping her on the pretext of marriage. According to the charge sheet, the woman and the IPS officer became friends on Facebook and within a few months of chatting and video calls, the IPS officer met her in Delhi on January 28. The woman alleged that he kept promising that he would marry her. On their first meeting, the two went to a mall in Vasant Kunj for dinner. The next day they met again. She alleged that during the second meeting he offered her some chocolates laced with liquor and the woman felt dizzy after consuming them after which he brought her to a hotel and started making advances. Though she tried to resist the sexual advances, he continued, the woman had said in her statement which is also mentioned in the charge sheet. After allegedly raping her, the officer apologised and reassured the woman that he would marry her, the charge sheet said. After returning to West Bengal, he continued to be in contact with the woman for some time but started ignoring her when she kept reminding him of the marriage promise. He also blocked her on all social media platforms and refused to marry her, according to the charge sheet. The woman approached police with her complaint in May last year and a case was registered at the Barakhamba Police Station. However, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch. The woman had alleged police inaction in the case and filed a writ petition in the apex court saying the investigation was not being carried out properly and the accused was misusing his position as an IPS officer and got false cases registered against her, her mother and also against her brother in Sonipat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Getting a call asking you not to hang up for some urgent information by a robotic voice masquerading as telemarketers, the Internal Revenue Service or immigration officials can be annoying. In a recent study, the number of these calls you will receive may actually be going up. Last year, Massachusetts residents received on average 75 robocalls per person, a jump of 29% from 2018. In December, 48.7 million robocalls were made to Massachusetts residents alone, averaging out at 1.6 million calls per day and 5.9 calls per person. However, the Bay State is still behind in the number of unsolicited calls compared with many states. Most notably Washington D.C., which recorded 599 robocalls per person over the past year. Massachusetts has a population of 6.89 million people, Washington D.C. has 711,571 residents and received by far the highest number of calls amounting to 26.2 million calls in December alone. An average of 46.3 calls per person in the last month of 2019. Louisiana came in with the second highest number of robocalls with 371 robocalls per person over 2019. The largest yearly rise in calls was West Virginia that recorded a 55% increase with 91 calls for each resident in 2019. According to a robocall blocking app, YouMail, robocalls in 2019 increased across the U.S. by 22%, with 58.5 billion calls recorded. A 92% increase from 2017. "We've now had well over 100 billion robocalls in the past two years," said YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "It's no wonder that an anti-robocall bill passed Congress overwhelmingly and was signed by the President on Dec. 31, 2019." The new law will give authorities more enforcement powers and could speed up measures the industry is already taking to identify robocalls. And when phone companies block robocalls, they must do so without charging consumers. This should help Americans dodge many of these annoying calls. The robocall problem has exploded because cheap software makes it easy to make mass calls. Americans collectively get over 2.8 billion scams and telemarketing robocalls on average each month. Out of a total of 26 billion scam calls made last year, 44% were made by robocalls with one of the most infamous being the targeting of the Chinese immigrant population. Non-Mandarin speakers may find the robocalls baffling and just hang up. But some Chinese immigrants who have followed the robocall's prompts have found themselves sucked into an international phone scam. According to National Public Radio, a 65-year-old Chinese woman complained to the New York Police Department that she had been scammed out of $1.3 million. "She called to report that someone from the Chinese Consulate called and said she needs to call the Beijing Police Department because she's being investigated for financial crimes over in China," NYPD Officer Donald McCaffrey said in an interview with NPR. These calls have disrupted operations at hospitals by diverting staff time to deal with calls faked to look as though they are coming from inside the hospital taking time and attention away from those who need it. There are several ways robocall companies have been able to gather your number and information; mobile carriers, charities, contests, calling 800 or 900 numbers, credit companies or accepting terms of service. The Federal Trade Commision offers advice on how best to avoid scams. Appointment 15 January 2020 Talya Regan comes to her new position with over a decade of experience specializing in public relations and marketing communications within the hospitality industry. Previously, Ms. Regan was public relations manager at Resorts World Catskills where she was part of the opening team and led a media campaign highlighting the launch of the highly-anticipated property. Prior to this, she was associate director of public relations and marketing for Frost Valley YMCA of Claryville, New York.Ms. Regan is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Public Relations with a dual minor in hospitality management and sociology. A native of Sullivan County, New York, she is active in giving back to her community, including serving as co-chair of the Thunder 102 Country Cares for St. Jude Kids radiothon. She resides in Rock Hill, New York, with her husband. Western countries are experiencing a profound institutional crisis, according to Nils Andersson, an intellectual in France, who maintains a clear perception of how Western democracies work. Nils Andersson (photo courtesy of the interviewee) His predictions of the future development of the West are based on statistics of important indicators, including population and economy, which impact the global landscape. Data cited from Gapminder Foundation, an independent Swedish foundation, shows that the population in Europe will drop by 27 million from 2018 to 2050, while the Asian and African populations will increase by 700 million and 1.2 billion, respectively. By 2050, 80 percent of the global population will live in Asia and Africa, while those in Europe will unquestionably decline, Andersson emphasized. Citing PwC France's predictions of the world's top 20 economies, Andersson pointed out that things will not look good in most developed Western countries from the perspective of economic development. Forecasts show that from 2016 to 2050, if measured by GDP in terms of purchasing power parity, the US will be down to third place from 2016 to 2050, Germany down to ninth place, the UK will be down to 10th place and France out of the top 10. Meanwhile, emerging markets are projected to grow in 2050 led by China (1st) and India (2nd). The trend indicates that the focus of the world will shift from Europe and the Atlantic region to Asia and the Pacific region, Andersson said, adding that the US will remain a superpower although the strength of Europe and Western countries will fall. He also pointed out that the imbalance between wealth and social systems has deepened the political and social crisis in Western democracies. The development of neoliberalism in the 1980s resulted in a substantial rise in private wealth that was much faster than that of public wealth in Western countries, undermining the governments' role and authority as decision-makers, Andersson said, adding that it was an important reason for the fall of the West. He stressed that privatization of national income in Western countries including Germany, the UK, France, Japan and the US led to a plunge in public capital and rise in national debts, often resulting in an impasse in social governance. Growth in private wealth, especially the emergence of transnational enterprises in the 1950s, has greatly upset the balance between wealth and social systems in the West, Andersson noted. Today, about 1,000 Western multinational corporations control 80 percent of global industrial production, he pointed out. Due to the high concentration of capital, fierce competition between multinational corporations, the complex capital relationships behind them, as well as close ties between them and political parties and media, these multinational corporations and capital owners have become a new force in state power, seriously affecting approval of public policies. As a result, citizens participation in political affairs has been gradually reduced. As for the "yellow vest" movement against social inequality in France, Andersson said it's a result of institutional, social and cultural crises in the country. Such an institutional crisis in Western democracies is also seen in the crisis of the democratic representation system and Western political party system, he added. On the contrary, China's development and rise in the past 40 years is a fact that the West did not expect, Andersson said, adding that it reflects the country's advantages as it can compare the history of Western countries with its own development, focus on the interests and well-being of the people, and make plans for future long-term development. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Along with the first signs of the collapse of the USSR and the weakening of the central government, violence against the life and property of Armenians resumed in Azerbaijan, the policy of organized massacres launched with a new scale. The situation of the large Armenian community of Baku was particularly terrible because it already faced mass atrocities two times in 1905 and 1918. After the Sumgait massacres the wave of violence also spread in Baku starting from 1988, forcing thousands of Armenians to leave their homes and escape. The Baku pogroms reached their culmination in January 1990: for more than a week, from January 13 to 19, by the permission and direct interference of the authorities of Soviet Azerbaijan. At least several hundreds of Armenians were killed in these massacres that lasted a week, thousands migrated to different parts of the world. Today there are hundreds of witnesses which clearly display the horror faced by Armenians. Zhanna Kotsishevskaya also witnessed the massacres committed against Armenians in Baku. She was born in Baku and was working at the department of Higher Mathematics in the Institute of Petrolium and Chemistry. The building of this department was located in Lenin avenue, near the square of the same name, which became the center of mass protests and rallies of the Azerbaijani Popular Front party. The starting point of all these events became the Sumgait pogromA few days after the tragedy became known, I entered a food market. At that moment a young man approached to the Azerbaijani saleswoman and started happily telling what a good lesson Armenians learnt in Sumgait, Zhanna Kotsishevskaya says. According to her, there have also been cases in Baku when the member students of the Azerbaijani Popular Front invaded to the classroom, beat and even tried to throw an Armenian lecturer out of the window, but this was prevented only thanks to the cries and defense of the remaining students. The witnesses of Zhanna Kotsishevskaya and others show that in that period Baku became a dangerous place for the Armenian population where parents didnt know whether they would again see their child or not. And in general, no representative of the Armenian community could be sure whether he/she will return back to home safe or not. Attacks were being carried out on such schools and structures where Armenians either were studying or working. Shortly before the Soviet troops arrived in Baku and a curfew was declared, a group of Azerbaijani students entered the classroom where I was studying and started to threaten me saying do not come to work tomorrow. Just try to come. We know where your children study. If you dont do what we say, we will, and they showed with gestures that would kill my kids. But my students kicked them out of the classroom and started to make me calm down, Zhanna Kotsishevskaya says. She also tells that at the workplace of her mother warnings like Armenians, hide, were being made from time to time after which the Armenian doctors and nurses had to be hidden because the Popular Front was coming to check whether there are Armenians in this structure. The existing facts and witnesses show that the massacres were planned: presence of Armenians who were registered has been clarified in advance with the lists of food stamps, the list of homes belonging to them and their addresses was prepared. Zhanna Kotsishevskaya also remembers the strange campaign launched in the city in late August 1989: housekeeping staffers were visiting homes to register the names of Armenians left in the city. When one of them visited us, I asked why they are writing only the names of Armenians. He said it is directed for protecting them. I also asked from whom to protect, he didnt answer. I didnt bother and called the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party. They told me they will clarify and will inform me. Of course, no one called then and didnt say anything, she says. The reasons of registering the names of Armenians became clear to her and many others later: after the concert of her son in a music school they visited her mother, but later were informed that attack took place on their apartment. At that time my mother-in-law was at home. Maybe after preparing the lists of apartments of Armenians they started the attacks on their homes. Zhanna Kotsishevskaya also remembers the terrible events while seeing off her mother-in-law to Moscow at a station: people voluntarily calling themselves representatives of the Popular Front were everywhere and searching for Armenians. By finding Armenians they were only robbing them, taking the most valuable. We saw how a group of young people aged 16-20 were dragging an elderly woman in front of them, with a slipper on one of her leg, and the next without. That elderly woman was holding a kettle on her hand, and her face was covered with a sincere surpise: why? The attackers were beating here and chanting: Go back to your Armenia. On January 13 or 14, 1990 Zhanna Kotsishevskaya was in their second home in Bayil. She brought the two Armenian kids of their neighbor to their home so that they will watch cartoons via a color TV which was rare at that time. During that time the massacres of homes of Armenians started in their yard. The attackers entered the house where these kids were living and started their actions: they dragged their grandmother to the yard, but then she died from wounds. Kids were standing by the window and screaming, I was unable to drag them back. Zhanna Kotsishevskayas family managed to ask for help via different ties, leave Baku and reach the Caspian Sea. Here she has seen many Armenians, most in terrible situation, beaten, burned, raped For me what had happened in Baku is a typical example of a real genocide committed against people of Armenian descent, Zhanna Kotsishevskaya says. The interview is available at the 2016 Baku Tragedy in Eyewitness Accounts: Volume One book which was carried out within the frames of the Ordinary Genocide project. OTTAWA - Evan Siddall, the outspoken head of Canada's housing agency, will step down from the role at the end of the year when his term ends. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) President and CEO Evan Siddall steps away from the podium after addressing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday, November 30, 2016. CMHC says president and CEO Siddall will step down from his position at the end of this year as scheduled and not seek another extension of his term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA - Evan Siddall, the outspoken head of Canada's housing agency, will step down from the role at the end of the year when his term ends. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Tuesday that the Government of Canada will manage the selection process for a new president and CEO that will start in the coming months. Siddall was appointed to the five-year post in 2014 by then prime minister Stephen Harper. He agreed in 2018 to an extension of his post, which is set to end December 31. During his tenure, he focused CMHC on the goal of providing everyone a home they can afford as a essential underpinning of society, while challenging the need for home ownership. He was vocally critical of policies promoted by Canada's real estate industry. In a letter last May defending tightened mortgage rules, he urged the federal government to "look past the plain self-interest" of organizations like the Canadian Home Builders Association, the Mortgage Professionals Association of Canada and the Ontario Real Estate Association that had called for loosened rules. Concerned with rising household debt levels and high home prices, he advocated for policies that would lower real estate prices. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. My job is to advise you against this reckless myopia and protect our economy from potentially tragic consequences, he said in the same May letter. In December, he gave a speech critical of policies that worsen affordability, including government-supported mortgage insurance and capital gains exemptions on principal residences. In the speech, he also raised concerns about zoning by-laws, development fees, lengthy approvals and other policies that restrict supply to also inflate home prices. He advocated for increased densification as the key solution to both housing affordability challenges and environmental sustainability. Before joining CMHC, Siddall served as special adviser to Mark Carney at the Bank of Canada, as well as working stints at Irving Oil, Lazard, Goldman Sachs, and BMO Nesbitt Burns. He is also a co-founding investor of the Side Launch Brewing Co. in Collingwood, Ont. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2020. A Michigan college president with a background in increasing enrollment and building partnerships with corporations will become the new leader of Rosemont College, school officials announced Tuesday. Jayson Boyers, 48, has been president of Cleary University, a business school in Howell, Mich., for the last four years. He becomes the first male to lead Rosemont, a small Catholic liberal arts college and an all-women school until 2009 in its nearly 100-year history. He begins in July, replacing Sharon Latchaw Hirsh, who will retire this summer. READ MORE: Longtime Rosemont College president Sharon Latchaw Hirsh to retire next year This is a dream of mine, to lead an institution like Rosemont, said Boyers, who is Catholic and attended Catholic colleges for his graduate work. Work is a way we express our faith, our core values. He comes to Rosemont at a time when colleges nationally have been struggling to meet enrollment targets, amid a decline in high school graduates. With an undergraduate and graduate enrollment of 945 and a $20 million endowment, Rosemont in recent years reset its tuition to attract more middle-class students this year, its $19,500 and sought to appeal to a wider pool by scrapping a requirement that students submit standardized test scores. At Cleary, Boyers focused on creating partnerships with corporations, including one with TEAM Schostak, a regional restaurant company, that gave its workers free tuition to Cleary programs. Creating such partnerships is key to a colleges success, he said, noting the boom in nontraditional students beyond the typical 18-to-22-year-old range. Under Boyers leadership, enrollment grew from 693 in 2016-17 to 858 in 2018-19, a 24% increase. A college has to focus on the unique value it brings and find ways to extend that value proposition to other populations, he said. Rosemont has been adding partnerships and growing programs for professional and graduate students, which have about the same enrollment as Rosemonts traditional undergraduates. Boyers said he hopes to further that work. READ MORE: Enrollment rises at Rosemont after tuition price cut I will definitely be looking to work with corporations and work in communities to help train and meet skills gaps, he said. Boyers grew up in Defiance, Ohio, and didnt start out to be an academic. He became a youth minister out of high school. Then he decided to go to college, the first in his family to do so. He has degrees from the University of Indianapolis, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, and Creighton University, and also has a background in online education. Before coming to Cleary, he served as vice president and managing director of continuing professional studies, national online division, for Champlain College in Vermont. He also previously worked at Harrison College in Indiana for eight years and helped a foundation form a school for kids with word processing difficulties. READ MORE: More local colleges are slashing SAT requirement Maria Feeley, chair of Rosemonts board of trustees, said Boyers passion for Rosemonts mission, experience as a first-generation college student, proven track record as a college president, and inspiring personality attracted the board. He understands its not business as usual in todays challenging higher education environment, she said, which gave the board confidence. We dont want him to feel tied down by any of the traditional thought processes that 15 or 20 years ago might shape what a president does, said Feeley, vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the University of Hartford. Boyers wife, Mandy, is a dragon boat racer, a hobby that has taken the couple around the world for competitions. She also works remotely as a contract employee on a survey conducted by Bryn Mawr College. Shes never set foot on Bryn Mawrs campus, but she probably will now, given its proximity to Rosemont. As the Church in the Central African Republic clocks 125 years of evangelization, Bishops have a message of hope, peace and the re-awakening of consciousness. Paul Samasumo Vatican City In the context of the 125 years celebrations, in the Central African Republic, and aware of their pastoral responsibilities, the Bishops say their message is one of hope, peace and the re-awakening of consciousness. Tribute to missionaries and an active, resilient Catholic faithful The Pastoral Letter addressed to the Church Family of God pays tribute to missionaries and the Catholic faithful, who notwithstanding challenges that have tested their faith continue to soldier-on. Our dynamic and joyful liturgical celebrations bring together many of the faithful who are active in Small Christian Communities, Apostolic movements, sodalities and groups that animate the life of our parishes, thus manifesting our way of being Church today. We bless the Lord for his Spirit which guides the Church in Central Africa in its commitment to justice, human rights, (the desire) to improve the living conditions of our people as well as the nonviolent resolution of conflicts especially in the worst moments of our history, reads the Pastoral Letter. Much remains to be done Nevertheless, the Bishops acknowledge that all is not well in spite of the flourishing faith and joyful liturgies among the people. However, it is well known that much remains to be done for the effective recovery of our country. The armed conflict with all its tragic consequences (is a sign) that some Christians still see their work-life as separate from the faith. Others mix magic-fetish practices with sacramental celebrations. Others still are attracted by sects and secret societies (Freemasonry, Rose Cross). Finally, some abandon the great values of unity, dignity, work, respect, solidarity, honesty in favour of easy gain and personal interests, said the Bishops. A time for soul searching The Bishops also have some soul searching questions for their compatriots regarding widespread impunity in the country, dysfunctional judicial mechanisms and the ineffective state authority deployed within the country. The prelates call for concerted efforts to revive essential sectors such as education, health, agro-pastoral development structures and the road infrastructure which have all but collapsed. Above all, the Bishops have serious misgivings about the mechanisms and operations of the Special Criminal Court (CPS) and the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission. Not all is lost in CAR Much has improved in the CAR but as the Bishops say, Even though efforts have been made to reduce violence, we still live in a context of insecurity, fear and anxiety. Despite attempts at disarmament, many heavy and light weapons are still circulating in the country, in full view of everyone. The Pastoral Letter was released, this week, in Banguis Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception by the Bishop of Bossangoa Diocese and President of the Episcopal Conference, Nestor-Desire Nongo Aziagbia. Several Bishops were present, and all the Bishops of CAR signed the Pastoral Letter. Armenias President Armen Sarkissian, who is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a working visit, was the keynote speaker at the Youth for Sustainability conference within the framework of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week international forum at the UAE capital city. First, the president suggested turning the wheel of time for a moment and, for example, going back a hundred years. According to the President, sustainability implies development in a constantly changing world. As such an example, Sarkissian spoke about his dream of flying into space. He also stated that even though the world is changing, it is more or less the same in terms of human values. Armen Sarkissian concluded his address by saying that his message is that the most important values are human values, morality, and humanity, and he urged the youth to fear nothing. March for Life Chicago sees record turnout; organizers witnessing 'hearts and minds change' on abortion Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Illinois-based pro-life group March for Life Chicago said this year's march drew a record number of attendees. Dawn Fitzpatrick, president of March for Life Chicago's board of directors, said the organization estimated that at least 9,000 people participated in Saturday's march, the largest attendance yet for their annual event in the Windy City. "Every year that we've done this march the numbers have grown, Fitzpatrick told The Christian Post in an interview on Tuesday. Its an awesome opportunity for people to come together in solidarity to stand up for life and do something positive and really make a showing. Fitzpatrick attributed the reported annual increase in attendance to strong enthusiasm from those interested in the event, adding that these folks have been excited to come all year long. We believe in life; we believe in the sacredness of life. We believe that life begins at conception and that its really important to be able to make that feeling known and that belief known, she continued. The Chicago Tribune reported that only about 1,000 people were at the pro-life march plus dozens of pro-choice counter-demonstrators, based on a figure they got from the Chicago Police Department. However, Thomas Ciesielka, a spokesman for Chicago March for Life, told CP that the 9,000 estimate came from the group estimating that there were around 1,000 people marching per city block. This method of measuring attendance for the Chicago march was first used a few years ago, per the advice of a local journalist. Given that this year's March covered about nine city blocks, explained Ciesielka, the group estimated about 9,000 attendees for the event. "There are videos of the 2020 March for Life Chicago that make it 100 percent clear that there were many more than what the police reported," he added. The event featured a rally that included remarks from Pat McCaskey, vice president of the Chicago Bears; Congressman Dan Lipinski, a pro-life Democratic representative; and Claire Culwell, a pro-life activist who as a baby survived an abortion procedure. "At this point, I see a lot of positive growth. A lot of people that are willing to stand up for life," Fitzpatrick told CP, adding that there were "a lot of young people involved in the movement." "Its just a matter of time for us to continue to change the minds and hearts of people to realize that we're talking about humanity. This is a human being and science has proved that. A human being at the moment of conception." March for Life Chicago is one of multiple demonstrations held by pro-life groups in the U.S. each January in response to the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Decided on Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Roe that there was a constitutional right to abortion. The decision has remained controversial over the decades as more than 60 million babies have been aborted in the U.S. since that ruling. Later this month, the national March for Life rally will take place in Washington, D.C., with participants gathering at National Mall and then marching to the Supreme Court building. Last October, the March for Life organization announced that the theme for the 2020 gathering will be "Life Empowers: Pro-life is pro-woman. The theme was inspired by the fact that this year marks 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. As we celebrate this great moment in history, we remember and honor the suffragists, the original feminist leaders who recognized the inherent dignity of the unborn and that abortion not only ended a life but harmed women, stated the March for Life. The pro-life movement continues their legacy, recognizing that equal rights begin in the womb. That, in essence, is why we march. We march to end abortion, with the vision of a world where the beauty, dignity, uniqueness, and rights of every human life are valued and protected. In the wake of heated debate over pay for San Antonio City Council aides and the threat of a lawsuit over allegations of federal labor law violations, a council committee recommended Wednesday that council members evenly divide additional funding for pay raises among their respective offices. But the committee didnt get into the controversial issue of benefits, which annoyed several council members who had expected that to be addressed at Wednesdays meeting. Is there any reason why my staff shouldnt get the same benefits that city of San Antonio staff get? Councilman Manny Pelaez asked rhetorically. Members of the committee charged with studying council aide compensation said there wasnt enough time to get into benefits, noting they faced a tight deadline to made recommendations on how to divide the more than three-quarters of a million dollars that the council set aside last year for pay raises this year. On ExpressNews.com: City budget includes funds for council aide pay raises, other goals In the plan presented to the council Wednesday, the committee recommended each council office and the mayors office receive $79,000 in additional funding. The committee also recommended that the city set a council aide salary cap of $116,737 and that council members adopt job requirements for aides. If theres something that isnt right, we are going to fix it, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. I think I speak for all of us when I say we as elected officials rely heavily on our staff to get us through each and every day. If what we are hearing from experts and the city is that a little more can be done then we should do a little more. Pay raises are expected to start Feb. 1. The compensation talks began last summer when Councilman Roberto Trevino filed a council consideration request calling for $1.3 million in additional funding for aide salaries, a 23 percent increase. In September, the council set aside $870,284, two-thirds of what Trevino requested, for the raises. Before the raises could begin, Nirenberg appointed a committee to review how council workers and city employees are paid. The committee researched pay structure in other cities, issued questionnaires to council aides and learned about the tasks of council aides. Council aides are contract workers hired by council members. Aides pay can vary widely, depending on their experience and responsibilities, which include fielding phone calls from constituents, preparing presentations, talking to the media, attending neighborhood association meetings and navigating zoning cases. The average salary for council aides was $56,103 last year; council members decide the salaries of their aides. Pay ranges from $30,000 to more than $90,000 for chief of staff, which also is considered a council aide. On ExpressNews.com: Garcia column: San Antonio grapples with fair compensation for council aides Last year, each council office received about $489,000 to pay and provide benefits for up to seven employees. While all are classified as council aides, the positions include communications director and events specialist as well as chief of staff, among others. Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said that money, however, is used not only to pay for staff, but also for travel expenses, office equipment, mailing costs and renting additional workspace. If there is a concern in our council budget about compensation, perhaps that council member could consider traveling less, or not having a second field office, or not having a full time communication officer, Gonzales said. That is entirely up to us to decide. It is the council members discretion to use the money as effectively and transparently as possible, Gonzales added. Council aides do not receive the same levels of health insurance, retirement benefits and other employment perks as do San Antonio employees. They also dont get overtime, although they sometimes work late and on weekends. Lori Steward, the citys human resources director, said benefits for council aides are something the committee will look at in coming meetings. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio City Council aides threaten to sue city over pay disparities In the midst of the committees work, several unnamed aides, through labor attorney Javier Espinoza, sent a letter in October to City Attorney Andy Segovia listing their grievances. They are seeking overtime pay as well as compensation for past lost wages and benefits, among other demands. If those demands arent met, council aides could take the city to court, Espinoza said. Espinoza has said the coalition wants to resolve the pay disparity dispute in mediation with Segovia, Nirenberg and council members without opening the floodgates of potential litigation to hundreds of current and former employees. sara.cline@express-news.net Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:25:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People shout slogans during a protest outside the British embassy in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz) British ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire, arrested by Iranian officials amid an anti-government protest earlier, has left the country after brief detention. TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The British ambassador to Tehran has left the country by earlier notice, official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday. "Based on the diplomatic protocols, ambassadors and diplomats can go to their respective countries on leave or for any other purpose by submitting a note" to the country of their mission, said the report. Accordingly, "British ambassador Robert Macaire has left Iran by earlier notice and in accordance with regulations," IRNA said. A protestor holds a picture of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani during a protest outside the British embassy in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz) On Tuesday, Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said that Britain ambassador to Tehran should be expelled from Iran over the alleged "participation" of the envoy in anti-government protests. Iranian officials arrested Robert Macaire on Saturday amid an anti-government protest outside of a university in Tehran and detained him for more than an hour. He was eventually released. New Delhi: After sharing screen space in three films, actors John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez are set to raise the temperatures with their chemistry in the 2020 Independence Day release `Attack`. Jacqueline Fernandez announced her reunion with the `Batla House` actor by sharing a picture with him on her Instagram and dubbing him the "awesomest." The two actors were seen laughing their hearts out in the picture with sun rays from a window in the background adding to the aesthetics of the capture. "#attack back with the awesomest @thejohnabraham," Fernandez captioned the picture. The duo was last seen in action thriller `Dhishoom` and have earlier worked together in `Housefull 2` and `Race 2`. `Attack` marks Abraham`s third consecutive film to release around Independence Day after `Satyameva Jayate` and `Batla House` which were released around the occasion in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The action thriller, also starring Rakul Preet Singh, will hit big screens on August 14. A key City Council committee advanced a proposal Wednesday to form a new commission focused solely on renters concerns chiefly rising rents and evictions over the objections of critics who say it would be better to include those voices in San Antonio entities that include developers and landlords. There doesnt need to be a separate commission, said Marc Ross, a local Realtor who previously headed the San Antonio Apartment Association. It should just be melded into the fabric of the city. For their part, officials told the councils Governance Committee they already seek input from renters on housing issues. On ExpressNews.com: Dramatic San Antonio housing crisis squeezing income of renters But advocates for tenants and affordable housing said that approach isnt working. Were very involved, said Graciela Sanchez, who heads the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice, a community-based advocacy organization. Its not enough. In the end, the committee voted unanimously to send the proposal for a renters commission to the newly formed Culture & Neighborhood Services Committee, chaired by District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino. Trevino first floated the idea of a renters commission in June. The panel to be made up of renters from different backgrounds would advise City Council members on affordable housing availability, tenants rights and transportation, among other issues. Renters make up about half of the citys households, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Rents in San Antonio have climbed at least 23 percent since 2010, even as local wages have fallen behind. On top of that, eviction lawsuits have risen faster in San Antonio than in any other major Texas city. Those factors are justification for forming a new body focused on renters issues, Trevino told members of the councils Governance Committee at their Wednesday meeting. Weve been waiting for quite some time now, Trevino said. We need to move this forward. The proposal had stalled for months among concerns that forming the commission would add yet another entity to the citys knotty ecosystem of agencies tasked with addressing housing policy. That convolution was a key observation laid out in the Mayors Housing Policy Task Force report in August 2018 and what led the task force to recommend that the city develop a coordinated housing system and a chief housing officer to head up the overall system. City Manager Erik Walsh told committee members he expects to hire that housing officer by April. A major challenge with our housing ecosystem is that there is just a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of different departments, a lot of entities that are involved in housing, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. And coordinating them all becomes a first order concern. On ExpressNews.com: Kicked out: San Antonio tenants face harsh increase in evictions Nirenberg and council members pointed to an instance in which they say the city explicitly failed renters: a 2014 council decision to allow a controversial South Side development that displaced more than 100 low-income families from the Mission Trials mobile home park. By a 6-4 vote, council members approved a zoning change to allow the development to move forward, awarding the project nearly $2 million through a housing incentive program. If we had something like this (a renters commission), we might have done a better job with Mission Trails, District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval. Officials raised questions about whether a renters commission would duplicate efforts by the Housing Commission. Two of the commissions eight members are renters. That body has tackled issues pertaining to renters since it reformed last year, said Veronica Soto, who heads the citys Neighborhood and Housing Services Department. That includes the citys risk mitigation fund, a $1 million pot of funds intended to give financial assistance to residents struggling to stay in their homes or who have already been forced out by residential development, dramatic rent increases or health and safety problems. Soto urged council members to hold off on pushing the proposal forward until June, when the Housing Commission is expected to wrap its work on a plan to implement recommendations laid out in the Housing Policy Task Force report. Instead, the Governance Committee voted to move the proposal to the services committee, which could decide to send the proposal to the full council for a final vote later this year. Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio city government and politics. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports New Delhi: Expelled Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger on Wednesday moved to Delhi High Court challenging his conviction and life term order in the Unnao Rape case. The Uttar Pradesh Police had earlier submitted a charge sheet in a court in connection with the death of a 23-year-old Unnao rape victim, who was allegedly set ablaze by five men. Additional Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey, who is heading a Special Investigation Team in the case, said the charge sheet was submitted on Wednesday. There is ample proof against the five accused persons, and the charge sheet was prepared based on those evidences, he said on Thursday. The 23-year-old Unnao rape victim, who was airlifted to Delhi and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with 90 per cent burns after being set on fire, died following a cardiac arrest on December 6, 2019. The woman was set afire by five men, including two of her alleged rapists, on December 5 morning when she was going to Rae Bareli to attend a court hearing in the rape case filed by her. In her statement to Sub Divisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak, the woman had said she was attacked when she reached Gaura turn near her home on her way to the court. She had specifically named Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi as the persons who set her on fire. The woman had also alleged that Shivam and Shubham Trivedi had abducted and raped her in December 2018. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Burma Myanmar Lawyers Seek Presidential Approval to Sue Police for Revealing Raped Toddler Identity The infamous police press conference on Dec. 19, 2019, in Naypyitaw. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAW The Independent Lawyers Association of Myanmar (ILAM) on Tuesday sought approval from the Presidents Office to file a lawsuit against police officers for revealing the identities of the Naypyitaw toddler who was raped and her relatives in a widely watched press conference in Naypyitaw. According to Article 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is necessary to seek presidential approval to file a lawsuit against civil servants. The court would reject any lawsuit filed without approval, said lawyer U Khin Maung Zaw. The ILAM asked President U Win Myint to approve the filing of a lawsuit against head of the Criminal Investigation Department Police Brigadier-General Soe Naing Oo, department director Police Colonel Min Han and section head Police Colonel Thar Dun and the officer responsible for the police Facebook page, under the Child Rights Law. The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain a police comment. The Lower House Women and Child Rights Committee received a complaint against the police, said committee chairwoman Dr. Khin Soe Soe Kyi. The committee would deal with the complaint when the parliamentary session resumed, she added. Naypyitaws Dekkhinathiri District Court on Dec. 18 discharged Ko Aung Gyi, who was controversially accused of raping the toddler, over lack of evidence. This means he is released as there is no evidence for the time being. This case will continue to be heard until new evidence and new suspects are found, said Dr. Khin Soe Soe Kyi. In a live-streamed press conference the day after the release of Ko Aung Gyi, the Criminal Investigation Department officers revealed the identities of the victim and her family. The police later posted on the Ye Zarni Facebook page a handwritten complaint filed by the parents. The complaint reveals the names of the victim and her parents, as well as their address and occupations. The ILAM said it would take other action if the Presidents Office failed to respond. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Yangon and Mandalay and called for the police officers to be prosecuted after they revealed her identity. The 3-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted at the Wisdom Hill Nursery School in Zabuthiri Township on May 16 last year. She was 2 at the time. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Protesters Call for Action Against Police for Revealing Toddler Rape Victims Identity Raped Toddlers Parents Prepare to Sue Myanmar Police for Naming Victim Myanmar Police Slam Court for Freeing Suspect in Toddler Rape Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 09:47:26|Editor: zyl Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen locations were tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa, since an outbreak was confirmed in November, said the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on Tuesday. "Four further cases of FMD were reported since mid-December 2019, with three cases reported in December and one case reported in the first week of January 2020," said the department's media liaison officer Reggie Ngcobo. Ngcobo said the FMD-confirmed places have been quarantined and animals are not allowed to move into or out of the areas, and the department has arranged for the infected animals to be slaughtered and suspended some cattle auctions. "The department, together with the provincial veterinary services, started conducting awareness on FMD clinical signs and biosecurity measures in Limpopo province during the week of Dec. 4," he said. "Awareness was already conducted in six villages in the Molemole area (of the province) and 315 farmers attended these sessions." South Africa confirmed FMD outbreak in January 2019, which prompted countries like China, Zimbabwe and Botswana to suspend beef trade with it. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: The parliamentary elections to be held on February 9, will make a great contribution to strengthening democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, US journalist, political analyst Peter Tase told the Elections 2020 Independent Media Center. The electoral system has been organized at the highest level in Azerbaijan, the analyst added, Trend reports on Jan. 15. A tolerant environment, the equal conditions for representatives of all peoples and religions created in Azerbaijan have always been cited as an example for other countries, Tase said. The conditions for holding democratic elections, institutional reporting and a perfect legislative framework will allow holding transparent and fair elections. The experience shows that every election serves to strengthen democratic standards, the analyst said. I hope that during the elections to be held on February 9, people will effectively take advantage of the created transparent, democratic environment, and these elections will increase Azerbaijans credibility both in the region and in the international arena." South Africa: President Ramaphosa to attend Nyusi inauguration President Cyril Ramaphosa will today undertake a working visit to Maputo, Mozambique, to attend the inauguration of President-elect Filipe Nyusi. Mozambique held presidential, legislative and provincial elections on 15 October 2019. President-elect Nyusi was declared the winner of the general election and will as a result serve a second term in office. South Africa and Mozambique enjoy cordial bilateral relations, underpinned by strong historical and political bonds that date back to the era of the liberation struggle. The relationship is informed by historical, geographical as well as cultural affinities between the people of the two countries. President Ramaphosa said he was looking forward to working with President Nyusi as the two neighbouring countries sought to enhance conditions for increased levels of domestic and foreign investment aimed at economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of poverty, the Presidency said in a statement. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-01-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Witnesses quickly fingered Anthony Porter, a local hoodlum, as the gunman. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death at a trial that got almost no media attention. Porter was just two days from receiving a lethal injection in 1998 when the Illinois Supreme Court granted him a stay based on claims he was mentally unfit for execution. This inspired a thorough reinvestigation of his case by a Northwestern University team that ended a little more than four months later when another man, Alstory Simon, confessed to the murders in a video recorded by Paul Ciolino, a volunteer private detective assisting NU. Porter then walked out of prison into the arms of his supporters. 'Red Brigade' activists demonstrate against the Australian government's inaction over climate change despite the bushfires crisis, outside the Australian Embassy in London, UK. Photo: Henry Nicholls/Reuters The global climate crisis is the biggest threat to global stability, according to a new survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF on Wednesday released its Global Risk Report, a survey of over 700 members asking what the biggest threats to global stability are. The results show that all of the top five biggest risks in terms of likelihood are climate related. Three of the top five biggest risks in terms of impact are also climate related. 2020 marks the first time the WEF surveys five most likely threats were all climate related. Its really, really serious, Borge Brende, president of WEF, said at a press conference in London to launch the report. READ MORE: Climate crisis is biggest threat to the planet, warn global elite The Global Risk Reports release is timed to coincide with Davos, WEFs annual meeting of members, next week where climate action will be high on the agenda. Here are what WEF members see as the biggest risks to the world over the next 10 years, ranked by likelihood: Extreme weather, which could cause major damage to property, infrastructure, and loss of human life. Wildfires in Australia and California were mentioned as examples of recent weather-related disasters. Failure to tackle climate-change. Brende warned that the world is increasingly divided and united action to tackle a warming planet looks difficult. Human-made environmental damage. The report warns that habitats are being destroyed by untreated waste; by pollutants from industrial, mining and agricultural activities; and by oil spills and toxic dumping. All of this is contributing to the destruction of habitats and ecosystems. Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse with irreversible consequences. Human activity has already wiped out 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, according to a study cited by WEF. Major natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms. The volcanic eruption in New Zealand last month, which has resulted in 20 deaths, is the most recent example. Story continues Here are the top five biggest threats to global stability in the next decade, ranked by potential impact: Failure to tackle climate-change Weapons of mass destruction Loss of biodiversity Extreme weather A water crisis We only have a very small window, Brende said. If we do not take action in the next 10 year, we will be moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic. READ MORE: BlackRock vows to address climate change: 'Climate risk is investment risk' Later this month Talladega College will open a new on-campus home for the world-renowned Amistad murals. A grand opening for the colleges newly-constructed Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art is scheduled for Jan. 31. It is the latest stage in one of the largest expansions in the history of Alabamas oldest historically black college. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. for the new museum, and a ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. for the schools new 47,000-square-foot student center. In addition, a reception will be held at 7 p.m. at Talladega Bottling Works. All events are free and open to the public, but guests are asked to RSVP at rsvp@talladega.edu. The event will be a homecoming for the murals after more than a decade. Talladega College commissioned artist Hale Woodruff in 1938 to paint six murals illustrating the rise of African-Americans from slavery to freedom in the United States. Woodruff, a native of Illinois who was raised in Nashville, studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis and the Art Institute of Chicago, before spending four years studying the masters in Paris. Woodruff also studied in Mexico under famed muralist Diego Rivera. Three of Woodruffs panels, known as the Amistad Murals, were the first pieces of twentieth century art to commemorate the 1839 slave uprising on the Spanish ship La Amistad. A group of African captives from Sierra Leone bound for the slave trade mutinied and took over the ship. The incident provoked several court cases which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The captives were ultimately repatriated to their home country in 1842. The other panels depict the founding of the College, the construction of Savery Library and the Underground Railroad. The murals were rendered in vibrant colors at large scale, with almost life-size figures meant to be seen from a distance, However, the passage of time took a toll. In 2008, the murals were taken down from the walls of Savery Library where they had hung for almost 70 years. At the time, they appraised at a value of $40 million. After a restoration process with the assistance of Atlantas High Museum of Art, the murals went on a multi-year tour until they were placed in storage for safekeeping until a museum with proper climate control and security could be built. Talladega College alumnus William R. Harvey, president of Hampton University, contributed more than $1 million toward the construction of the museum, along with funds from other donors. The museum will also celebrate Woodruffs legacy. WASHINGTON Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose was already assured of a role in the nations all-consuming political drama as she walked through a Capitol hallway Wednesday evening with six other House Democrats to deliver the impeachment case against President Trump to the Senate. Earlier in the day, Lofgren and her colleagues were named by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be the Houses impeachment managers, the prosecutors who will try to persuade two-thirds of the Republican-controlled Senate that Trump should be removed from office. The managers delivered the case after the House voted along party lines to forward the two impeachment articles for trial. Pelosi, D-San Francisco, signed the articles and handed out ceremonial pens to Lofgren and other Democrats. Lofgren, a longtime ally of Pelosi, is one of six attorneys on the House team and offers a unique perspective: She is the only member of Congress to play a direct role in all three modern impeachment inquiries, from Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton to Donald Trump. It is their responsibility to present the very strong case for the presidents impeachment and removal, Pelosi said as she introduced Lofgren and the others at a morning news conference. The impeachment managers represent the patriotism, pluralism and vibrancy of America. The House vote to forward the articles ended a 28-day impasse between Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky over rules for the trial, which is expected to start Tuesday. Pelosi and other Democrats wanted promises that the Senate would call witnesses who did not testify before the Houses impeachment inquiry. Whether Republicans, who hold 53 of the Senates 100 seats, will do so is still up in the air. The chances that enough Republicans will desert Trump to convict him are minuscule, but Lofgren and the other House managers have a second job: making Democrats case to a nation that remains sharply polarized over impeachment. Theres never been an impeachment where there were no witnesses, Lofgren said in an interview Wednesday. We want a fair trial. We want the truth to come out. And we want justice to be done. Trump is accused of abusing the power of his office by withholding military aid to Ukraine while pressuring its leader to announce investigations that could damage former Vice President Joe Biden and call into question whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. He is also accused of obstructing Congress investigation by blocking witnesses from testifying and withholding subpoenaed documents. Pelosis impeachment team is a mix of lawmakers from liberal bastions and 2020 battleground states. It is led by Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, who chaired Intelligence Committee hearings in the House inquiry, and includes Lofgren and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Val Demings of Florida, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Jerrold Nadler of New York. How trial could unfold Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has the votes among his fellow Republicans to adopt rules for President Trump's impeachment trial, which could start as soon as Tuesday. He says the trial would closely follow the 1999 Senate proceedings against then-President Bill Clinton, who was accused of lying about an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and obstructing Congress' investigation. Here's how that trial was conducted: House members were given 24 hours to argue the case for why Clinton should be convicted. Clinton's legal team was then given 24 hours to argue his defense. Senators then had a total of 16 hours to ask questions of both sides. Afterward, the Senate decided whether to call witnesses. Senators agreed to have the House impeachment managers depose Lewinsky, White House aide Sidney Blumenthal and a Clinton ally, attorney Vernon Jordan. Eventually, the Senate viewed video excerpts of the depositions. Both sides then gave closing arguments, and senators were given 15 minutes each to speak. The Senate ultimately acquitted Clinton of the two articles of impeachment. See More Collapse Trump will get his own defense team, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone. The White House and Trumps Republican defenders in Congress say the president withheld aid because he was legitimately concerned about corruption in Ukraine and the possibility that Bidens son, Hunter, had been installed on the board of a Ukrainian energy company to curry favor with former President Barack Obamas administration. Lofgren serves on the House Judiciary Committee that drafted the impeachment articles. She has been more measured than some members of her party who have bitterly sparred with Republicans over impeachment. This is not something I sought or relish, she said in a statement Wednesday. Impeachment is a grave and solemn matter. Its a stress test for our democracy. Democratic colleagues have often said Lofgrens lawyerly approach bolsters their argument that the trial isnt driven by partisanship. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, an early backer of impeachment, said he tried to persuade Lofgren to support an inquiry last summer, when the issue was not Ukraine but the investigation into whether Trumps 2016 campaign had worked with Russians who interfered in the presidential election. Huffman said he failed, though Lofgren backed an inquiry after details of the Ukraine affair came to light in September. That reluctance gives her a unique credibility, Huffman said. She felt that if we eventually had to impeach, the country needed to know it was a very reluctant impeachment. Lofgrens first foray into impeachment politics came in 1974. She was a law student and came to Washington to work as an aide to South Bay Democratic Rep. Don Edwards during the inquiry into Nixon. Lofgren worked with the Judiciary Committee and helped draft an article of impeachment over Nixons authorization of the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969-70. The committee didnt adopt that article, but Nixon later resigned over the Watergate scandal. Lofgren was elected to the House in 1994 and served on the Judiciary Committee during the impeachment case against Clinton in 1998, when he was accused of lying about his affair with an intern. Lofgren argued that Clintons conduct didnt threaten the constitutional balance of powers and voted against impeachment. In the Trump case, Lofgren was one of the last House Democrats to support an impeachment inquiry. Her hesitancy faded as more facts about Trumps conduct related to Ukraine emerged. Ive made it clear throughout this investigation that I didnt want to be part of a third impeachment inquiry, Lofgren said during a hearing in December. But the direct evidence is very damning. Its unclear how Lofgrens role could differ from that of the other six impeachment managers. While Schiff has relished the role of prosecutor and cable news regular, Lofgren has o ften focused on Trumps stonewalling of Democrats investigation. She says his refusal to allow witness testimony or release documents to the House threatens the balance of power and the constitutional order, creating a dangerous precedent for any party in the White House. I hope every senator is prepared to seriously consider and vote honestly with an open mind for the future of our democracy, she said Wednesday. Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner There is no smoke without fire! So, there is a reason for the constant hammering of private sector lender YES Bank in the stock market. This capital-starved bank, once a darling of investors, has become a victim of speculations because of low liquidity, leverage and capital ratios. The bank today issued a statement assuring its customers once again. "The bank's overall capital adequacy ratio is comfortably above the regulatory requirements and all efforts are being made to financially strengthen the bank even further," it said. In the last one year, the bank has come under lot of pressure because of the sudden exit of promoter Rana Kapoor, asset quality deterioration, NPA divergences and lower capital levels. The once fastest growing bank has seen its stock fall from Rs 585 per share to Rs 40 in just a year's time. The market capitalisation is also very low at Rs 10,150 crore. Let's look at three key parameters, which investors are looking at closely: Liquidity Coverage Ratio The liquidity coverage ratio tests the bank's short term resilience to any market event impacting the liquidity. A higher ratio shows that the bank has enough liquidity or high quality liquid assets to survive any cash outflow situation ( via deposits, etc.) over the next one month in any extreme stress condition. A liquidity coverage ratio of 100 per cent is the minimum one should have at any point of time. YES Bank has a liquidity coverage ratio of 113.83 per cent as on September 30, 2019. This is slightly above the 100 per cent, but not the best. Private sector banks like HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank have a liquidity coverage ratio of over 120 per cent. Take for instance HDFC Bank, which had a much higher liquidity coverage ratio of 132.53 per cent, while Kotak Bank had a ratio of 120.70 per cent in September 2019. Also read: Rana Kapoor era ends at YES Bank as promoters sell remaining stake; stock falls 2% Leverage Ratio The leverage ratio is a measure of bank's core equity capital to its assets in the books. Higher the leverage ratio, better it is for the institution because they can easily liquidate the assets in cases of a crisis. The private sector YES Bank has a leverage ratio of 8.36 per cent. HDFC Bank has a leverage ratio of 10.82 per cent. Kotak has a leverage ratio of much higher 14 per cent. The RBI has recently reduced the minimum leverage ratio requirement to 4.0 per cent for systemically important banks and 3.5 per cent for other banks. Common Equity Capital The common equity Tier-1 capital of YES Bank is very low at 8.7 per cent in September 2019. The regulatory requirement is also around 8 per cent. The bank is at a risk of falling below the regulatory requirement in case of any provisioning pressure in its asset quality. HDFC Bank has a common equity Tier-1 capital ratio of 15.33 per cent, which is very high. Similarly, Kotak Bank has a common equity of 18.53 per cent. YES Bank, however, has a plan to raise funds up to Rs 10,000 crore, which was cleared in last week's board meeting. The new capital if it comes would certainly improve these three key ratios of the bank. Woodstock, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Joshua Gold Resources Inc. (OTC Pink: JSHG) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a one hundred per cent (100%) interest in the King Solomon's Mine (KSM) property in Northern Ontario in return for eight million (8,000,000) JSHG common shares and a two per cent (2%) Net Smelter Royalty ('NSR') of which the Company has the option to repurchase 50% of the NSR for two million Canadian dollars ($2,000,000) at any time. The King Solomon's Mine property is in Davis Township, Northern Ontario approximately 45 miles Northeast of Sudbury. The property consists of four claims, approximately one hundred and eighty acres. The Davis Township Property is primarily underlain by Precambrian rocks consisting of Huronian sediments and intruded by Nipissing gabbro sills and dikes. The Grenville Front lies immediately south of the property striking at 45 degrees. Numerous auriferous altered quartz-carbonate veins occur striking approximately north-west (120-140 degrees), and dipping at 55 degrees south to vertical are structurally related, occurring in the gabbro sills and dikes. Multi altered auriferous veins and breccia veins occur in at least three zones, E, F, and G over widths of 1-8 feet wide associated with minor pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Historic work from 1976 to 1986 consists of geological, geophysical surveys, surface trenching, sampling and 20 short DDHs. Figure 1. King Solomon's Mine sample Q203004 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6845/51465_3970a24794c4bb73_002full.jpg Follow-up induced polarization and magnetometer surveys are recommended in an initial program. Last August a prospecting program was carried out on the KSM property that was successful in locating and sampling numerous old trenches. The seven grab samples taken illustrated gold values that range from .132 grams per tonne to a highly anomalous 209 grams per tonne or 6.50 ounces per ton: (209/32.15075) Q203001 .359 g/t Au Q203002 .132 g/t Au Q203003 1.30 g/t Au Q203004 1.78 g/t Au Q203005 209 g/t Au Q203006 3.48 g/t Au Q203007 5.73 g/t Au JSHG CEO Ben Fuschino comments: "The KSM property acquisition helps diversify our Northern Ontario gold land portfolio. The initial results are promising; our geological team will focus on how JSHG can best explore the mineral potential of KSM. The Company will continue to search for mineral opportunities in North America." Mr. Fred Sharpley is a professional geologist and a "Qualified Person" and is responsible for the technical information contained in this news release. Joshua Gold Resources Inc. (OTC Pink: JSHG) a publicly traded American gold and mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada, home to the three-billion-year old Canadian Shield which contains a wealth of minerals from nickel, gold, copper ,cobalt, niobium to chromium. Please visit http://www.joshuagoldresources.com/ for more information about JSHG. Safe Harbor Statement: This press release contains forward looking statements of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and results, and will not be accurate indications of the times, or by, which such performance will be achieved. IR Contact: Wall Street Media Group, (1)-833-906-0327 or info@Wallstreetmediagroup.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51465 (Newser) The search for the Ohio boy who went missing on Dec. 20 after heading off to school that morning has come to a tragic end: The body of Harley Dilly, 14, was found Monday night in the chimney of an unoccupied summer home that was in the process of being renovated, People reports. "It appears that Harley climbed an antenna tower to the roof and entered the chimney," Port Clinton Police Department Chief Robert Hickman said at a press conference Tuesday. "Once in the chimney, Harleys jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney through a flue and into the second floor of the house," but the teen himself got stuck in the 9-inch-by-13-inch space. story continues below Foul play is not suspected, and the Ottawa County Coroner says the boy's death appears to have been accidental. Final autopsy results are still pending, but the coroner says the cause of death was compressive asphyxia, which happens when weight or pressure on the body keeps a person from being able to breathe. Police had previously said Dilly's parents had taken away his phone at the time of his disappearance, which may have upset him. "In the past, when [he and his family] have a conflict in the residence, Harley will go away for the night," Hickman had said previously, adding that they weren't initially concerned at having not heard from him since they had his phone. Per 10TV, the vacant home Dilly was found in was across the street from his own home. (Read more Ohio stories.) Starbucks to open in former bookshop in Rome. Starbucks, the American chain of coffee shops, is to open an outlet in Rome near Vatican City, in 2020. The arrival of Starbucks follows several years of rumours, however the company is now advertising senior management positions at its new outlet on Viale dei Bastioni di Michelangelo. The coffee shop will be located in the former Maraldi bookstore - according to food website Gugsto.it - in a large premises overlooking Piazza del Risorgimento. The Starbucks outlet, which was initially due to open in Rome last autumn, will be strategically placed near St Peter's and the Vatican Museums, catering for the hordes of tourists who visit the area each day. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:50:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army has observed the recently established truce in Idlib province for the third consecutive day and is preparing for an operation to retake key road leading to Aleppo, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported Wednesday. Calm has prevailed the battlefields in the southeastern countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria save for intermittent shelling on the outskirts of Maarat al-Numan city in that part of the country. The army shelled the outskirts of Maarat al-Numan in retaliation for a bombardment carried out by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, said the newspaper. The current truce has been recently established by Turkey and Russia. Meanwhile, al-Watan reported that calm prevails the countryside of Aleppo province, noting that it's the "clam that precedes the storm" as the Syrian army is bracing to launch an assault to retake the road connecting Hama province with Aleppo, which passes through Idlib. It said the imminent military operation aims to secure the Hama-Aleppo road as part of an agreement reached in Russia's Sochi in 2018 that aims to secure the official road to Aleppo, which extends all the way south to the capital Damascus. Since the Hama-Aleppo road is under rebel control, people have traveled to Aleppo through another extension of the road. The army is now prioritizing the recapture of the entire road between Hama and Aleppo, which will enable the travel movement to return to its pre-war time from Damascus in the south to Aleppo in the north without rerouting to other roads. Enditem The International Students Programs of the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) hosted a visit by a group of students from Keimyung University, based in Daegu, South Korea. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005368/en/ AURAK hosted a visit by students from Keimyung University, South Korea (Photo: AETOSWire) During their visit to AURAK, the group of 20 students, one professor and two staff had the opportunity to learn more about the university and the UAEs culture. They also met a group of AURAK graduate and undergraduate students who shared an interest in the arts, culture, language and traditions of South Korea. In addition to learning about the Arab world, and more specifically the culture of the United Arab Emirates, the visiting South Korean students had the opportunity to taste Arab food and learn about the language. The visit included a welcome message by Dr. Denise Gifford, the Associate Provost of the Office of Student Success. AURAK currently offers a range of study abroad opportunities at more than 20 institutions across North America, Europe and Asia. In 2017, AURAK signed an agreement with Incheon National University, which is based in Incheon, South Korea. It aims at promoting educational and scientific cooperation through the exchange of students and faculty, as well as collaboration in research. The deal also provides a basis for cultural exchange between the UAE and South Korea, as well as the possibility for closer ties between the two institutions, through dual degree programs. AURAK has other significant links with South Korea. In February 2016, Konkuk University, whose main campus is in Seoul, became the universitys first South Korean partner. In 2019, AURAK concluded a partnership agreement with Sungkyun Kwan University, which is also based in the South Korean capital. In January 2017, AURAK received 16 students from Keimyung University, who visited Ras Al Khaimah for a cultural exchange trip. AURAK is a nonprofit, government-owned institution of higher education which provides the local, regional and international communities with a North American-style education integrated with Arab customs and traditions. AURAK is licensed by the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates and has been accredited in the United States of America by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) since December 2018. AURAK offers a total of 22 accredited undergraduate and graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005368/en/ All of us in police work, we know we have these images in our brain that never go away, and thats something we in law enforcement have to deal with being exposed to traumatic events, Marshall said of his memory of the case. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - On Sunday, January 12, 2020, at about 6:53 p.m., Yuma Police officers responded to a report of a motorcycle accident in the 7000 Block of E. 32nd Street. The initial investigation revealed a black motorcycle crashed while traveling westbound on 32nd Street. The motorcycle rider, a 40-year-old male, was pronounced deceased on scene. UPDATE #1: The motorcycle rider has been identified as 40-year-old Michael Guinn. UPDATE #2: Upon further investigation, the YPD Traffic Unit has determined the motorcycle was struck by another vehicle causing the motorcycle to crash. The offending vehicle fled the scene, but with the vehicle parts obtained during the investigation, it has been determined that the vehicle is a 2004-2012 Chevy Malibu. UPDATE #3: On Monday, January 13, 2020 at about 4:34 p.m., a 28 year old male came into the Yuma Police Department and admitted to being the driver who struck the motorcycle that Michael Guinn was riding. The vehicle he was driving was a Chevy Malibu. Charges are being forwarded to the County Attorneys Office for review in reference to this case. The investigation is still on going as further evidence is being collected. As a result of the collision, 32nd Street between Avenue 7E and Avenue 8E will be closed in both directions for several hours. Please avoid the area and adjust your travel plans accordingly. The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous. The virus, which is a form of coronavirus, has not been encountered before so there isn't any treatment for it yet. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it was preparing, just in case the mystery virus from China results in a wider outbreak. This came after the detection of the first case of the disease outside of China: a woman travelling from Wuhan city to Bangkok was quarantined at the Hong Kong airport as she was suspected of carrying the infection. To be sure, WHO's move should not be seen as alarming at this time, but as a preventive step to stop the spread of this viral infection around the world. Human-to-human transmission Health officials had previously said that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. However, the WHO modified the claim and said that human-to-human transmission of this virus was possible. The virus, which is a form of coronavirus, has not been encountered before so there isn't any treatment for it yet. Coronavirus is the species responsible for the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003 that killed 774 people in China. Coronavirus: what it does and how it spreads Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to humans. In this case, a fish market in Wuhan has been identified as the source - the market was shut down on 1 January 2020. Once coronavirus infects a person, it can mutate and spread from person to person as well. Coronavirus can cause respiratory symptoms, fever, and coughs. In more severe cases, the infection can progress to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death. So far, at least 41 cases have been detected, with seven patients considered to be in critical condition. There has been one death: a 61-year-old man, who was a regular at the fish market, contracted the infection and died last week. Health officials reported that this man had previously been diagnosed with abdominal tumours and suffered from chronic liver disease. Precautionary steps Given the history of the SARS epidemic, in which information on deaths and new cases wasn't available early on and hundreds lost their lives, global health authorities are taking cautionary steps. Singapores Changi airport said it would measure the temperature of inbound travellers and authorities in Hong Kong have amped up efforts to disinfected trains and aircraft. Additionally, various health outfits have praised Chinese efforts to monitor and report cases thus far. Since the last outbreak, surveillance systems have been made more robust and the infection so far has been competently contained. Travel to China The WHO has said that so far there is no reason to avoid travel plans to China. The risk of transmission to travellers is low: if you are travelling to Wuhan, the recommendation is to ensure that you maintain high standards of personal hygiene. Wash your hands before eating and maintain a distance from those who have symptoms of a cold. Coronavirus spreads like the common cold, so these basic rules have an impact. For more on this topic, please read our article on Viral Infections: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health. Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan national security adviser has met with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu during the Raisina Dialogue 2020 forum in India, discussing issues of bilateral security and technology cooperation, the country's National Security Council said on Wednesday KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan national security adviser has met with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu during the Raisina Dialogue 2020 forum in India, discussing issues of bilateral security and technology cooperation, the country's National Security Council said on Wednesday. "National Security Advisor of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Dr. Hamdullah Mohib met with Urmas Reinsalu the foreign minister of the Republic of Estonia on the sidelines of Raisina 2020 in New Delhi, India. They discussed bilateral security and development partnerships and the need for the establishment of new cooperations in the sector of technology," the council said in a statement. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also among participants, meeting with various politicians and statesmen, such as Niels Annen, the German minister of state. "It was an honour to meet Mr @NielsAnnen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, in Delhi today. I extended my deep gratitude to our old friend, Germany, for its gracious assistance to Afghanistan and discussed the next steps in the peace process," he wrote on Twitter. Karzai also met Zamir Kabulov, the head of Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department and a former ambassador to Afghanistan, thanking him for Russia's support of the Afghan peace process. "Always a pleasure to meet my longtime friend, Amb Zamir Kablov. I thanked him for Russia's efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and for the landmark intra Afghan dialogues in Moscow," he tweeted. The Afghan government has long been engaged in a struggle with the Taliban movement, and various insurgent and militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist organizations (both groups banned in Russia). The United States and the Taliban are currently attempting to negotiate a peace deal that would ensure the withdrawal of foreign troops in exchange for the movement's guarantee that the country will not become a safe haven for terrorists. (Bloomberg) A container with 23.94 tons of American chicken feet cleared Chinese customs Tuesday, potentially heralding the start of a new trading era between the two countries just days before they sign a long-awaited trade deal. The chicken feet, or phoenix claws as theyre known in Chinese recipes, were inspected and approved for unloading by customs in Shanghai, the official Securities Times reported. The event marks the return of U.S. poultry meat to China five years after it was banned, it said. Source: U.S. Chicken Feet Entering China May Presage New Trading Era Pretty sad affair when Bloomberg writes about chicken feet as the savior of America In Russia years ago they had Bush Legs Bush legs (Russian: nozhki Busha) is a prevailing term in the post-Soviet states that denotes chicken leg quarters from the United States. The expression first appeared in 1990 when Mikhail Gorbachev and George H. W. Bush signed a trade agreement about delivery of frozen chicken leg quarters to the USSR. In those times the USSR was experiencing food shortages and Bush legs enjoyed wide popularity. Source: Bush legs Wikipedia Except Wikipedia is kinda lying. The Russians laughed at the Bush Legs and we now do not have them anymore. Russia is self-sufficient in chicken and selling it to the world even I really doubt if Chicken feet will save America.but use what you can to push the hope up! Maybe I need to do a Phoenix Feet (Chicken Feet and or Trump Feet) Recipe For the sake of easy to remember; just call then Trump Feet Have a nice day WtR GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Women following different faiths wore Hijab and took part in a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday against what they claimed was singling out of Muslim women by police during recent protests against the citizenship law in the national capital New Delhi: Women following different faiths wore Hijab and took part in a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday against what they claimed was "singling out of Muslim women" by police during recent protests against the citizenship law in the national capital. The demonstration - 'Azad women for Azadi' - saw the women coming together to express solidarity with the protesters. Iqra Raza, a Delhi University student, who organised the protest, said, "My cousin was singled out by police during a citizens' march last week. A policeman punched her in the chest. We are protesting against the targeting of Muslim women by the forces. It constitutes a hate crime." Her cousin, Zikra Mojibi, said she was singled out during a protest by JNU students, and she got panic attack after the police personnel manhandled her and punched her in the chest. The protesters were holding banners with messages like 'We want rights, not riots', 'Crying culture claims new democracy' while slogans against 'Islamophobia' and 'Inquilab Zindabad' rent the air. Ifat Khan, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, said, "Women are not only participating in the protests but also leading them. We are no longer scared." Khan said the same government which brought Triple Talaq and said it was for the empowerment of Muslim women is using police to target them. Muslim and Kashmiri Muslim students were even targeted in JNU when goons entered Sabarmati Hostel on 5 January. I would urge you to not make it a fight between Muslims and government but a fight between the citizens and government," she said. Khan said the mess workers of Sabarmati Hostel saved her since she hid there along with other students when masked persons went on a rampage on the campus. Ishita Mandal, a student from Delhi University, wore hijab to express her solidarity and condemn what "they go through on a daily basis". Sikh passengers were dragged out of trains and killed at railway stations in Delhi during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots but the police did not arrest anyone from the spot saying that they were outnumbered, a Supreme Court appointed SIT has said in its report. The report of the SIT, headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra, which supervised further probe into into 186 cases said that there were five cases of killings by rioters who had attacked Sikh passengers travelling on trains and on railway stations. It said these incidents had happened on November 1 and 2, 1984 at five railway stations of Delhi -- Nangloi, Kishanganj, Dayabasti, Shahdara and Tuglakabad. "In all these five cases, police was informed about the rioters having stopped the train and attacking Sikh passengers. The Sikh passengers were dragged out of trains and were beaten to death and burnt. The dead bodies were found scattered on the platforms and the railway lines," the report said. "The police had not arrested any of the rioters from the spot. The reasons for non-arrest was shown that the police was in very small number and that the rioters, after seeking police, had ran away," it said. It said that perusal of files revealed that FIRs were not registered by police incident-wise or crime-wise and instead, several complaints were clubbed in one FIR. The report said that the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) had sent 337 complaints received by him soon after the riots to Sultan Puri Police station but an "omnibus" FIR was lodged in respect of all these incidents and thereafter all other complaints of killing and rioting were added in the same FIR. It said one such FIR had complaints regarding 498 incidents and only one investigating officer was assigned to the case. "In a few cases, FIRs were registered on the basis of a note given by a police official to SHO (station house officer) stating about a victim identifying a person as rioter and also giving the name and address of victim," it said. "All these cases were closed on the ground that victim did not confirm to the information. It is obvious that these cases were registered by the police to give clean chit to certain persons," the report said. It said that hundreds of affidavits were received by Justice Ranganath Misra Commission in respect of killing, arosn, looting done by the rioters with named accused persons. "Instead of directing registration of FIRs on the basis of these affidavits directly to the respective police stations and ordering investigation, committees after committees were formed and this further delayed registration of cases for years," it said. Regarding an FIR lodged at Kalyan Puri police station here, the report said police had clubbed various cases and sent a 'challan' (police report) in respect of murder of 56 persons but the trial court had framed charges only in respect of killing of five. "It is not known why charges were framed only for five murders and not 56 murders and why trial court did not order separation of trial for each incident of crime," it said. "It is also seen from the perusal of judgements found in these files that when the witness stated in the court that she had seen the incident and can identify the culprits, the public prosecutor did not even ask her to identify the rioters out of several accused persons present in the court," it said. "The judge conducting the trial, having ample power under section 165 of Evidence Act to ask the questions to the witnesses, also did not bother to ask the witness as to who out the accused persons present in the court were among the rioters and had committed riots," the report said. The apex court had set up the SIT, also comprising retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular, in January 2018. However, Singh had declined to be part of the team on personal grounds. Large-scale riots targeting members of the Sikh community had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on the morning of October 31, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ashley Johnson Johnson is a research analyst for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based thinktank on technology policy. The city of Portland is considering whether to adopt an ordinancethat would ban its government agencies from using or acquiring facial recognition technology. The ordinance, which will be the subject of a work session on Jan. 28 would take the wrong approach. Prohibiting this technologywhich can detect and analyze faces to determine peoples identity or other characteristics would be an overreaction to the perceived risks. Rather than cut the city off from the technologys significant benefits, the city should addressconcerns in a more targeted way. One of the top benefits of facial recognition technology is improved public safety. Portlands possible ban would prevent law enforcement from using facial recognition technology to find missing persons, catch identity thieves, improve security in crowded venues, and identify victims, witnesses , and perpetrators of crime. With the technology, the police department can also save time and money investigating crimes, while obtaining more accurate results than doing this same work through a much slower and less accurate manual process. Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification. The benefits of facial recognition in government extend far beyond law enforcement applications. Schools can use the technology to prevent potentially dangerous people from entering, keeping students safe. Libraries can offer residents the option to use it to replace library cards, making the process of checking out books quicker and easier. As the technology develops, governments can explore many new ways of delivering public services more efficiently. When cities ban facial recognition, they restrict their opportunities for innovation. A city workgroup developing the policy specifically cites concerns that law enforcement will use flawed or biased facial recognition technology, hearkening back to inaccurate claims about the technology. The most notable of these came in 2018 when the American Civil Liberties Union compared photos of members of Congress against a database of mugshots using Amazons facial recognition technology, Rekognition. The ACLU claimed that Amazons software made 28 false matches, a disproportionate number of which were for people of color. But these results have been shown to be spurious: the ACLU disclosed that the matches with made at a confidence rate of only 80%, far lower than the 99% confidence rate that Amazon recommends for ensuring accuracy in identifications; when Amazon ran a test at the higher threshold, the software returned 0 errors. It is likely that the majority of Portlanders would not want the technology banned. In fact, a poll conducted by our partner organization found that fewer than one in five Americans agree with limitations on facial recognition technology that come at the expense of public safety, which clearly a ban would do. Rather, they are much more likely to support the city taking reasonable precautions against inappropriate use of the technology, such as requirements for performance standards to address concerns about inaccuracy and bias. In its current draft, the proposed ordinance states that this ban would remain in effect until the city can develop a comprehensive Data Governance and Privacy and Information Protection framework that would ensure the responsible use of facial recognition and other technologies. Rather than take a ban first, ask questions later approach, Portland should undertake a series of small-scale pilots of the technology to evaluate its effectiveness and impact on privacy in various settings. The workgroup is also considering proposing a similar ban on the private use of facial recognition technology. Facial recognition has awide variety of applications in the private sector: businesses control access to restricted areas to keep their workplaces safe, hotels identify their guests to expedite check-in and provide personalized service, airlines reduce wait times to check bags and board planes, and banks validate their customers identities at ATMs to prevent fraud. These applications make consumers lives more convenient and secure. Whether in the public or the private sector, bans on facial recognition technology will curtail the development and adoption of important innovations. In order to get the most out of facial recognition while avoiding the risks, Portland should not ban the technology; rather it should pass specific ordinances aimed at preventing abuse. If theres a fire in Jersey City or a cat stuck in a tree, theres a good chance that Bruce Springsteens son may be dispatched to the scene. Sam Springsteen was one of 15 new firefighters who were sworn in Tuesday by Mayor Steven M. Fulop of Jersey City and the director of public safety, James Shea. Bruce Springsteen, the rock star whose songs have for decades celebrated New Jerseys working class, and Patti Scialfa, his wife and longtime bandmate, looked on and clapped as their youngest son joined the newest members of the citys Fire Department, according to TV news coverage of the ceremony. It was a long road, the senior Mr. Springsteen told WCBS at the ceremony held at City Hall. He was very dedicated for quite a few years and we are just excited for him today. Britain's Duchess of Sussex has been seen for just the second time since the royal crisis began at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre in Vancouver discussing "issues affecting women in the community". The shelter posted a photograph on its Facebook page of Meghan at the centre of a group of eight women, with the caption "Look who we had tea with today! "The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community." Meghan did not join the royal summit at Sandringham with the Queen and senior royals by phone earlier, instead relying on her husband to put forward their case for a new independent life. A source told the PA news agency: "In the end, the Sussexes decided that it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join." After the summit the Queen issued a statement which sanctioned the couple's new "independent life" away from full-time royal duties and she said they would begin a transition period living in the UK and Canada. The duchess is reportedly the driving force behind the move. Harry and Meghan spent six weeks over the festive period based in the Canadian province of British Columbia staying at an exclusive property on Vancouver Island. The duchess, a former actress, worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and knows the country well having lived there for seven years. About 650,000 Vietnamese are working in more than 40 countries and territories worldwide, according to statistics of the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA). Vietnamese workers check job offers In 2019, the country sent a total of 152,530 labourers abroad, surpassing the years plan by 27.1 percent. Japan was the biggest recipient with 82,703 labourers, followed by Taiwan (China) 54,480, the Republic of Korea (RoK) 7,215, Romania 3,478, and Saudi Arabia 1,375, among others. 2019 was the fourth consecutive year that Vietnam sent more than 120,000 workers aboard a year, said Director of Overseas Labour Department Tong Hai Nam. To date, as many as 421 businesses have gained licences in providing overseas employment services. Nam added that some traditional markets still have high demand for workers, including Japan, Taiwan and the RoK, along with those in Europe like Russia, Romania, Germany, Poland, Latvia and Austria. As of the end of 2019, more than 1,000 Vietnamese nurses went to study and work in Germany. The Skilled Workers Immigration Act of Germany, which will take effect this March, allows local firms to receive non-EU workers in the fields of construction, electricity, mechanics, agriculture, health care and nursing. This year, the MoLISA expects to sign a cooperation deal with Germanys employment agency on the reception of Vietnamese skilled workers in spheres that the country has high demand for. Vietnam sets a target to send 130,000 guests workers in the year to markets promising high and stable income, said MoLISA Minister Dao Ngoc Dung. He has ordered the Overseas Labour Department to keep a close watch on situations in the Middle East and asked firms to take protective measures for labourers when needed. VNA About 62,000 foreign labourers join compulsory social insurance in Vietnam After 10 months since compulsory social insurance collection applied, as many as 62,000 foreign labourers have joined social insurance in Vietnam. Australia has two new multi-millionaires from New South Wales and Victoria after they each scored a division one prize of more than $5million in last night's Oz Lotto draw - they just don't know it yet. The two mystery winners each hold a division one winning entry in Oz Lotto draw 1352, drawn on Tuesday. Each entry took home a division one prize of $5,209,329. While the NSW entry is registered, the Lott officials have been unable to make contact with the winner and deliver the life-changing news because their contact details may be out of date. Two winners, one from Victoria and one from New South Wales, have won more than $5million each but haven't claimed their prize yet (stock picture) The winning entry was purchased at Narellan Newsagency in Sydney's south-west. Narellan Newsagency owner David Thomsen said he was very excited to discover his outlet had sold a multi-million-dollar prize. 'Our customers will be as excited as we are and we are expecting a flurry of people checking their tickets,' he said. 'We've sold multiple division one winning entries over the past 36 years, but the feeling never gets old! 'We hope the winner can be united with their prize soon!' Oz Lotto draw 1352 on Tuesday 14 January 2020 winning numbers 34, 7, 44, 10, 21, 40 and 9 Supplementary numbers: 2 and 37 Advertisement The Victorian entry is unregistered, which means the Lott officials have no way of contacting the winner to break the mind-blowing news and must wait for them to come forward to claim their prize. The winning entry was sold at Melton Lotto & TSG, north west of Melbourne. The Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said the mystery winners could be oblivious to the fact their winning entry was in their pocket, in their purse or stuck on the fridge. 'There are over five million reasons why you should check your Oz Lotto tickets today. Once you discover you are now a division one winner, imagine how you could realise your biggest dreams,' she said. 'You may not think it's possible you could be the division one winners we're searching for, but if you purchased an entry in last night's Oz Lotto draw that you haven't checked yet, you're in with a chance! 'We're urging all Oz Lotto players to check their entries as soon as possible and if you discover you are holding the division one winning ticket to contact the Lott on 131 868 to begin the process of claiming your prize.' Ms Cooney also reminded players of the importance of registering their entries and keeping their contact details up to date. 'It is really important that you register your entry and keep your contact details up to date so that we can contact you directly with the good news in the case of a win,' she said. In 2019, 13 division one winning Oz Lotto entries across Australia collectively won $320 million. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:47:03|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Wednesday Bernice military base, the largest base in the Red Sea region. "Bernice military base is a new accomplishment of the Egyptian armed forces," said Bassam Radi, spokesman of the presidency, in a statement. Covering an area of 63 hectares along the Red Sea shores on the southern borders of Egypt, the new base was built in line with the armed forces' comprehensive modernization and development strategy, Radi added. Being prepared for all tasks in southern Egypt, the base "mirrors the philosophy of the political and military leadership in building bases that help the army fulfil any operation successfully," he noted. A number of terminals measuring 3,000 meters long and 30-45 meters wide are included in the air section of the new base, according to the spokesman. The military base also includes a number of hangars for maintenance purposes, many firing and training weaponry ranges, and a number of logistic and housing facilities. The inauguration was also attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces. "Bernice military base is provided with special capabilities that would enable the armed forces to stand against any long-distance threats outside Egypt," said Hesham Halby, a military expert with Nasser Military Academy. Being capable of housing a large number of troops, the base is equipped with high technological tools matching the new imported arms, Halby, also a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua. Bernice base is "a valuable addition to the armed forces given its strategic importance," he said. Bernice is an ancient seaport on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was built in 275 BC by Ptolemy II Philadelphus who named it after his mother Berenice I of Egypt. In 2017, Egypt inaugurated its first military base Mohamed Naguib in the Mediterranean Sea's Matrouh Province, which is known to be the largest base in the Middle East. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met his Russian counterpart on Wednesday and discussed the evolving situation in the Gulf. The two leaders are here to attend India's flagship global conference on geopolitics, the Raisina Dialogue. The deliberations between them come amid the global focus on Iran and the US over the confrontation following killing of Maj Gen Qasem Soleimani. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. Maj Gen Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force, was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces' are stationed in Iraq. Soleimani's killing was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], Jan 16 (ANI): Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Congress stating that the party which did nothing to steer the country's economy for 60 years is questioning and advising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government over unemployment and economic slowdown. "Those who did nothing to steer the country's economy in 60 years is now questioning the Modi government. Despite ruling the country for decades, Congress could only manage to take the economy of the country to a USD 2 trillion mark. However, the NDA government took it to USD 3 trillion in just five years time," said Shah. The Home Minister was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) here. "The NDA government has a goal to make India a USD 5 trillion economy which was achievable in the past too. Youth with their entrepreneurship skills may play a big role in achieving this aim," he added. Cornering the Opposition for targetting the Centre over unemployment and economic slowdown, he said: "Some people always see things through a negative prism." "Whenever they ask about employment, only one thing comes to mind that you ruled the country for 60 years but what measures did you take to provide employment to the country's youth," the Union Minister questioned referring to political parties who were at the Centre in the past. Talking about efforts taken by his government, Shah said that it is putting all necessary efforts to bring employment opportunities for the youth. "The Indian Institute of Skills will not only provide skills to youth by providing them employment opportunities, but the youth of the country will also play an important role in the development of the country by becoming job creators from job seekers," said Shah. "The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Skill India will not only create employment in the country but will also fulfil the dream of 'Make in India' and it will also help in making the country a dollar 5 trillion economy," he said. Calling upon the youth, Shah said: "You (youth) may start with placement but you can be job creators, be an entrepreneur because a big goal can be achieved from the very beginning." (ANI) Kody Brown of TLCs Sister Wives has always dreamed big. Since the fundamentalist Mormon polygamist patriarch with four wives first moved his family from their home state of Utah to Las Vegas, and later to Flagstaff, Arizona, he has hoped to bring his entire family together in one home. He believes it would be a spiritually and culturally vital move for the family to make together. But its no secret that the Brown wives have sometimes struggled to get along. Kodys first wife Meri Brown and second wife Janelle Brown fought bitterly when they first lived together, and third wife Christine Brown dealt with extreme jealousy when fourth wife Robyn Brown came into the family. On the Jan. 12 episode of Sister Wives, Lonely in Flagstaff, Kody unveiled his plans for a single, massive polygamist home to his best friend, Nathan. He also shared what living under one roof would mean to him and why the prospect of having four wives live together has actually shaken his religious faith in the past. Christine, Janelle, Kody, Robyn, and Meri Brown | Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic Kodys lavish plans include a central kitchen as well as one for each wife Kody shared photo-realistic stills of a potential blueprint for his dream home with Nathan, who also comes from a polygamist background. The Sister Wives star admitted that living under one roof together with his wives and many children was one of his biggest dreams. It overwhelms me with hope, he told Nathan. And it drives me nuts, because I think this is the biggest challenge that a polygamist family can have, is living in one place. Because of problems his wives had had with sharing kitchens in the past, Kody knew hed need to design something completely unique. In his plan, each wife would have their own smaller kitchen and living area, as well as access to a central, sprawling common area and kitchen to be shared by the whole family. This way, Kody said, No wife feels like shes being intruded onbut every wife feels like she can come into that kitchen and that area and be part of the family. The Sister Wives star said living with his four wives under one roof made him question his faith in the past The Sister Wives star went on to explain to TLC producers that living in one home with four wives was far more difficult for everyone involved than he had expected. The one-home theory is the theory that most people coming into polygamy have. But until youve lived it, you have no idea what youre dealing with, he said. Kody said he knew how sensitive wives could be about their private space, especially when it comes to sharing a husband and the effects that other wives relationships with their husband can have on their own. My energy can consume the whole place because my wives feel that welcome for me, but they dont want their sister wife necessarily peeking in on them, he said of the potential shared home. Even though theyre not, it feels like it because they track where Im at. The Brown patriarch even told Nathan that tensions had run so high in the past, he had wondered if the setup was truly healthy. Its one of those things that make you go, with plural marriage, Is this really a good idea? Did God really intend this? he told his friend. It makes you question your faith a lot, man. Kody explained that sharing space was one of the most intimate things two people could do, and it would be important to separate the energy of each marriage within a shared house. Each wife wants to feel like her home is her home, the Sister Wives star said. I want them to all feel like, this is my place, and nothing can get through that wall. Not the attitude, the feelings, or the energy of that sister wife of mine, who sometimes is my best friend and sometimes is my worst enemy. The four Brown Sister Wives are not thrilled about the idea Despite Kodys enthusiasm for the idea of a single polygamist home, he knew his four wives werent nearly as excited about it. My wives are completely resistant to the one-home idea, Kody admitted. But on the sneak peek for the Jan. 19 Sister Wives episode, not everyone seemed completely opposed to the notion. Janelle said the idea appealed to her, while both Meri and Robyn seemed open but skeptical. Christine, meanwhile, was not having it. I dont want to live together again, she said adamantly. Surface Forces Boss Discusses Three Lines of Effort to Own Future Fight Navy News Service Story Number: NNS200114-08 Release Date: 1/14/2020 2:13:00 PM From Commander, Naval Surface Forces Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Virginia (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy has "the premier surface force in the worldsecond to nonethat controls the seas and provides the nation with combat naval power when and where needed." That was the message Vice Adm. Richard Brown, Commander, Naval Surface Forces (CNSF), delivered to naval leaders, government officials, and members of private industry during the first day of the 32nd Annual Surface Navy Association (SNA) Symposium in Arlington, Virginia, Jan. 14. The professional development event provides an opportunity to highlight the Surface Navy's vision for the future. Brown drew on U.S. Naval heritage, current initiatives, and future lines of effort in support of the theme of this year's symposium: "Owning Tomorrow's Fight Today." "It's all about readiness to fight," Brown said. "We are once again in Great Power Competition, and that competition requires us to operate forward, control the seas, and always be ready. To do that we must own tomorrow's fight today." Three Lines of Effort Toward the Future During his address, Brown outlined three major lines of effort for the Surface Force in 2020. They are: Current readiness of the force will always be our collective number one priority. "Combat Ready Ships and Battle-Minded Crews are the products that the Surface Force provides to the numbered Fleet Commander," said Brown. Enhancement of mariner and warfighting skills emphasizing professionalism will continue. "With the help of the Congress and Navy leadership, the Surface Force made substantial and lasting mariner skill investments over the last few years," Brown said. "While we are not declaring 'mission complete,' the pace of the enhancementscoupled with their initial resultsare cause for optimism." A few examples include committing $3.8 billion to individual, watchteam, and strike group training; enhancing bridge and Combat Information Center (CIC) simulators; building state-of-the-art training facilities, such as the Maritime Skills Training Centers; building the Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense and ASW Trainers (CIAT) in San Diego and Norfolk where watchteams of specific AEGIS baselines train with the exact system and tactical program with real-life environmentals; and delivering On Demand Trainers (ODT) pierside in San Diego and Norfolk where watchteams can continue tactical training during availabilities or Combat Systems upgrades. Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) leads the Maritime Warfare Officer Tactical Training working (MWOTT) group. "This group is charged with determining the skills required for each tactical milestone in a Surface Warfare Officer's career and how these skills will be trained to, developed, and assessed in order to fully-prepare officers and warfare commanders for tomorrow's fight, today, creating a maritime warfare training continuum second to none," Brown said. Building on Navy Legacy Brown told the story of the crew of USS Johnston (DD 557) and their fighting captain, Ernie Evans during the landings of the Leyte Gulf campaign of World War II. "Ernie Evans was a fighting captain who had prepared his ship and his crew for the fight, and they owned it that day! That is our legacy," Brown said. Current initiatives and policies are in place to build on that legacy, Brown shared, in order to generate Combat Ready Ships and Battle-Minded Crews. "Our presence in contested areas of the ocean must be coupled with credible, combat effectiveness," Brown said. "As peer competitors advance in capability, we must take action to remain a step ahead. We cannot go backwards. We must identify our future warfighting needs and take action with urgency to deliver them when needed." New Warfighting Concepts and Capabilities One initiative to help identify future warfighting is Surface Development Squadron (SURFDEVRON) One. Established by CNSF in May 2019, SURFDEVRON One supports fleet experimentation to accelerate delivery of new warfighting concepts and capabilities to the fleet. "To ensure we remain the premier surface force, we are investing today for tomorrow's fight. Flight III DDGs, FFG(X), a full inventory of SM-6, SPY 6, Maritime Strike Tomahawk, integrated combat systems, large and medium unmanned surface vessels, and lasers on ships. SURFDEVRON One's charge is to figure out how best to employ these new systems and capabilities," Brown said. In addition to SURFDEVRON One's future experimentation, Brown outlined current efforts already underway to increase lethality as fast as possible. "For example," Brown stated, "USS America (LHA 6) completed her (Composite Training Unit Exercise) last year with 13 embarked F-35 aircraft, and she can carry more than that. I don't think those 13 aircraft are just there for defense of the Amphibious Task Force. A big deck with that many F-35s is beginning to look a lot like an aircraft carrier to me. Any other country would call it an aircraft carrier, and it is part of the Surface Force." Brown added, "The Surface Force is already moving out on Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, and Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger's direction for the Navy and the Marine Corps to stop cooperating, stop interoperating, stop coordinating, and start integrating!" Brown concluded his address by reminding the audience of our legacy of overcoming obstacles in historic battles, such as Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guadalcanal, in order to own the fight. "Think of the battles yet to come against some very real opponents. When they come, we will own those fights," Brown said. "And we will own those fights because today the people in this roomactive duty and retired, uniform and civilian, military and industryknow that we can do no less; that the eyes of the heroes that built our proud legacy are upon us, and the hopes of future generations are with us." The SNA symposium continues through Jan. 16. View the symposium live stream on the Navy Live blog at https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2020/01/13/surface-navy-association-2020-national-symposium/ and join the conversation on social media using #LiveAtSNA2020. Read Brown's full address at https://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/Pages/Vice-Adm-Richard-Browns-Address-During-the-2020-SNA-National-Symposium.aspx . NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address How is a brown recluse spider like a Samurai swordsmith? Spider sense: The Schniepp Lab in William & Marys Integrated Science Center is home to a number of brown recluse spider. These master websmiths are venomous, but no one has ever been bitten. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption There are two characteristics that work together to make spider silk so strong and tough. Hannes Schniepp says that the molecular structure of the protein from which the silk is spun the first part of the spiders secret is pretty well understood. Modern biology has given us the tools to run a sequence, Schniepp said. But thats only one step. Schniepp is an associate professor in William & Marys Department of Applied Science. He and his lab have been working on reverse-engineering the second step: how the spiders spinner apparatus mechanically processes and organizes the protein. Some spiders have evolved organs to extrude strands that, for their size, are much stronger than steel. They have received new funding from the National Science Foundation to continue their research. The lab focuses on brown recluse spiders, which Schniepp compares to the guild of legendary Asian swordsmiths. The smiths that worked for the Samurai in Japan figured out a very complicated way of making blades that were better than any other sword, he said. It was all in the way they treated the material. In the end, the blade is still made of iron and carbon but if you treat them the right way, you get an outstanding product, he continued. The Japanese swordsmiths didnt discuss the secrets of their craft and neither does the brown recluse. So the Schiepp lab uses an array of instruments and techniques to infer the spiders method from detailed, minute examination of the web material. Schniepp and other material scientists are interested in learning the brown recluses secrets as an essential first step to synthesizing the substance. He points out that his lab is also interested in other natural silks. The brown recluse spider as a really exciting model system that provides us unique insights into how silk works. And so far, we have focused strongly on the brown recluse, Schniepp said. But we think what we can learn from the recluse applies to other silks as well other spider silks and even silkworm silk. So we're kind of broadening our scope to get to get a more general understanding of silks how they work, their inner mechanics. He pointed out that there is a huge spectrum of possible uses for synthetic proteins inspired by the fibers produced by insects and arachnids. Materials based on natural substances are likely to be more environmentally sustainable than the current crop of plastics manufactured from fossil fuels. For example, Schniepp envisions a water bottle made of a protein. So you drink the water, he says. And then when youre done, you can eat the bottle and get your daily dose of protein. Or you can just throw it outside and some animal will come along and eat it. The dawning of the age of such useful synthetic substances is upon us, Schniepp said. He mentioned one startup company in California thats creating designer clothing expensive, with a very high price tag from a synthetic silk. The goal of the Schniepp lab is to advance the understanding of the natural silks and how theyre produced so that synthetic versions can be scaled up for mass production beyond boutique markets. You start by making small amounts, he said, and theyre naturally going to be expensive. But as you learn more, you learn to optimize and it gets cheaper and cheaper. The Schniepp lab has been studying brown recluse spider silk for five years and it has made significant contributions to the unraveling of the spiders secrets. Their work has cleared the way for a better understanding of the silk of the brown recluse. Before, people had all kinds of complex models of what the silk fiber looks like and what makes a silk fiber so strong. But it was always very hard to confirm this directly, he said. Experimental evidence was really sparse. But the recluse makes a silk that has a different shape from other spiders, a fact that Schniepps lab was able to use to figure out a new way of looking inside the silk strand structure. And what we learned is that this ribbon is made up entirely of nanofibrils, he explained strands that are 3,000 times thinner in diameter than a human hair. They also reported that the silk is made up of individual nanofibrils laid in parallel not twisted like strands of a rope. Another finding is that the brown recluse adds to the strength of the silk by spinning little loops into each strand. The new NSF funding will allow the lab to continue their examination of the nature of nanofibrils, using advanced microscopy and spectroscopy. The goal is to complete the understanding of the silk, from the molecular level extending to the length of the entire silk fiber. Members of the Schniepp lab include undergraduates as well as Ph.D. students at William & Mary. Schniepp says he will continue outreach programs to K-12 STEM students. Weve had middle-school students in our lab. We offer summer internships to high school students; I had multiple students who did a one-year senior research internship from the Governors School of Science and Technology in Hampton, Schniepp said. We can really reach out to people at all levels and get them excited about this research and maybe influence some of them to choose a career in STEM and help advance these new technologies. Downing the Ukraine Airlines passenger plane and killing all 176 on board was the sequel to shooting mid-November protesters in the head, a veteran former ally of the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader said in a statement on Tuesday, January 14. The blood money and compensation for the victims of the doomed flight should be the dismissal of the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former revolutionary Abolfazl Qadyani (Ghadiani) asserted. The three-year-old Boeing 737-800, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport at 6.12 am local time on Wednesday, January 8, heading for Kyiv. A few minutes later, two missiles were fired at the plane fatally damaging the aircraft which crashed near the Iranian capital city, Tehran. Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons. For three days, the Islamic Republic authorities vehemently insisted that technical failure caused the crash. Ultimately, under internal and international pressure, the country's Joint Chief of Staff Headquarters admitted that an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps missile had downed the plane. The 73-year-old politician and a senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Organization (MIRIO), Qadyani has lambasted the authorities for hiding the truth and keeping people in the dark. Qadyani lives in Iran but has been willing to take the risk to attack Khamenei directly. He was taken to court in 2019 and convicted to three years in prison for his criticism, but the regime decided not to put him in jail. He was ordered to read three pro-revolution and Islamic Republic books, one praising Khamenei, and copying them by hand. Hand copying texts is considered a punishment in Iranian elementary schools for pupils who disrupt the classroom. His conviction was for an open letter Qadyani wrote in February 2019, describing Khamenei as a religious "dictator." Comparing the Islamic Republic's publicity to the Nazis' propaganda orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels, the veteran revolutionary has asserted that "organized and systematic deception and lying" is an "integral part of the regime based on religious dictatorship." Indiscriminately killing protesters and downing passenger planes reveal the fact that the Islamic Republic establishment cannot be reformed, Qadyani notes in his latest statement, adding "Every catastrophe in the country highlights the inefficiency and repressive nature of the leaders who mismanage Iran today. Once again, Qadyani has called for holding a referendum to decide Iran's political future. Responding to the critics who believe holding a referendum in Iran is impossible, Qadyani insists, "If people want, and referendum turns into public demand, we can hold one." GRANDVIEW, Mo., Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2020 Peterson Manufacturing celebrates its 75th year of supplying the vehicle safety lighting market with an ever-growing line of quality, USA-made products. Today, as one of the worlds leading safety lighting manufacturers, Peterson can boast a proud history of keeping Solutions on the Move in a competitive industry. Founded in 1945 and owned by the Armacost family since 1956, Peterson has grown to a quarter-billion-dollar, multi-faceted corporation serving customers across America, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, and the Middle Eastand earning the nickname of Quiet Giant in the Kansas City-area suburb of Grandview, Missouri. President and CEO, Don Armacost, Jr., whose father acquired the business, credits the companys success to its long history of square dealings with customers, suppliers and employees. That tradition has brought us a long ways, he said. Were not about to change it. From its 44-acre Grandview corporate campus, Peterson now operates a 670,000 sq.-ft. facility staffed and equipped for cutting-edge manufacturing. The vertically integrated operation includes engineering and design, photometric and environmental testing, tool and die production, harness and wire manufacturing, plastic injection molding, final assembly, warehousing, sales and customer service. Petersons history is replete with safety lighting innovations, said Steve Meagher, Vice President Sales. With our focus, engineering skills and manufacturing expertise, Petersons ability to bring real solutions to the marketplace is unsurpassed. That focus includes aggressive support of the automotive aftermarket as well as the OE and Heavy-Duty sectors. Were geared to meet specific customer challenges with speed, automated precision and USA-made qualityall at very competitive prices, Meagher said. In building its familiar PM brand, Peterson has made USA quality and value the company-wide standard. From engineering products to exceed federal minimums by 25%, to delivering those products with an industry-best 98% fill-rate, Peterson has proved itself a count-on business partner. Story continues When it comes to industry-leading innovation, Kristen Goodson, Vice President of Product Management, listed just a few PM highlights. First in the industry with our vibration-proof Vibar socket. First North American manufacturer to earn ISO 9001/QS-9000 certification. First with our multi-function Strobe & Turn LEDs for the refuse industry. First manufacturer to introduce insert-molding technology. Firstand to-date onlyto offer guaranteed moisture/corrosion-proof harness/lighting technology for trailers: our amazing Defender system. And most recently, PetersonPULSE whole-trailer telematics, bringing real-time monitoring and alerts to driver and fleet managers. Petersons history of industry commitment includes leadership on councils and committees of such groups as AutoCare, MEMA, TSEI, TTMA, TMC, ATA, NTEA and NATM. As CEO Don Armacost, Jr. says, While we celebrate our 75th year, my dads vision for Peterson and our extraordinary associates will continue to guide our future: Our goal has never been to be the biggest, dad said. Just the best. Peterson Manufacturing Company is a world-leading innovator in the engineering and production of a complete line of vehicle safety lighting, custom wiring harnesses, and many other safety-related products. As an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, Peterson Manufacturing is a key subsidiary of Peterson Corporation, nine highly specialized companies and nearly 1,000 associates working in global transportation-related industries. With headquarters in the greater Kansas City area, Peterson Manufacturing is a privately held company and has been in operation since 1945. For more information, contact: Mark Assenmacher, Dir. of Marketing Darrin Widick, MBA Peterson Mfg. Co. Widick Marketing, Inc. 4200 East 135th Street 104 West 9th Street Suite 100 Grandview, MO 64030 Kansas City, MO 64105 Phone: 816-765-2000 Phone: 816-753-2420 FAX: 816-761-6693 E-mail: massenmacher@pmlights.com www.pmlights.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e4990229-fba2-4a02-8a4a-cb71cee9f6bc Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - On January 6, Pete Terry, 42, of Sacaton, Arizona, an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 51 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. The defendant pleaded guilty on October 3, 2019, to Assault on a Federal Officer and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. On March 19, 2019, the defendant pointed a handgun at a Gila River police officer and then attempted to evade other Gila River police officers as they attempted to arrest him. The defendant drove through the desert, ran stop signs, and eventually hit another Gila River police officers vehicle causing serious injuries to that officer. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Raynette Logan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix. IPS officer Anand Prakash Maheshwari on Wednesday took over as the new director general of the CRPF, the world's largest paramilitary force with about 3.25 lakh personnel. The 1984-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre took charge from ITBP Director General S S Deswal, who was holding the charge in an additional capacity. Deswal handed over the ceremonial DG baton to Maheshwari at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters at the Central Government Offices (CGO) complex at Lodhi Road here, a spokesperson of the force said. The new chief was also accorded a guard of honour by the force personnel, he added. Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Maheshwari was appointed the new CRPF chief on January 13 after its earlier DG R R Bhatnagar retired on December 31. He will head the force for about a year as his retirement is scheduled in February next year. In his first comments, the spokesperson said the new DG stated it was "homecoming" for him as he has served in the force for nine years, including as the Inspector General (operations), and also as its IG in Kashmir. "Helming such a gallant force as CRPF is a matter of great pride and satisfaction for me. It is quite an opportunity to serve the country, its people and of course the members of the force itself," the spokesperson said quoting the DG. Maheshwari, who was serving as special secretary (internal security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs till now, has also headed the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and had a stint as special DG in the Border Security Force (BSF). The officer holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology and has done an MBA apart from being a gallantry medal recipient. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is categorised as the lead internal security force of the country along with the primary task to conduct anti-Naxal operations and to undertake counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Qishuwu.com scored 41 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 27 May 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the qishuwu homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the qishuwu homepage on Twitter + the total number of qishuwu followers (if qishuwu has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the qishuwu homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the qishuwu homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if qishuwu has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the qishuwu homepage on Delicious. Basic Information PAGE TITLE __www.qishuwu.com DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS qishuwu, The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE GBK DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER nginx (ASP.NET,PHP/5.2.13) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Character set and language of the site. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Coolie No. 1 Actor Varun Dhawan Reveals What It Is Like To Work With His Father And Director David Dhawan The humble feed of fish and chips has a crucial part to play in the battle to save declining shark populations. Conservationists say the 'flake' fish sold at the local chippy could actually contain a mix of unknown shark species. Macquarie University conservation biologist Dr Adam Stow urged sustainably-minded consumers to pay more attention to what they were eating. The humble feed of fish and chips has a crucial part to play in the battle to save declining shark populations (file picture) 'Flake, which is the primary ingredient in your fish and chips, is gummy shark either from Australia or New Zealand,' he told AAP. 'But evidence is mounting that mis-labelling occurs quite frequently. 'By and large people want to consume in a sustainable way. You can only do that if you know what you're eating.' New research released by Sydney's Sea Life aquarium on Wednesday showed the illegal shark trade and commercial fishing were Australians' biggest concerns when thinking about shark conservation. 'The market for shark products has increased dramatically and will have a devastating impact, while shark finning is another big issue globally,' Dr Stow said. The Sea Life research also showed that, of the 1000 Australians surveyed, more than 70 per cent were scared of sharks. The ecological importance of shark populations was just one reason to put more effort into conservation, Dr Stow said. 'When you remove those animals out of the ecosystem there can be a whole bunch of cascading effects. 'For example off the east coast of the United States the removal of sharks increased the population of stingrays. 'That increase in stingrays caused a decline in scallops which then had an impact on fisheries.' (Reuters) - The number of Democratic presidential candidates https://tmsnrt.rs/2UhJ7WE seeking their party's nomination to oppose Republican U.S. President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election dropped to 12 on Mondaywhen U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey ended his run. TOP DEMOCRATIC CONTENDERS Four candidates have separated themselves thus far from the rest of the field among Democratic voters. JOE BIDEN Biden, the early Democratic front-runner in opinion polls, entered the race in April, opening his campaign with a swipe at Trump. Biden, 77, served eight years as President Barack Obama's vice president and 36 years in the U.S. Senate. He stands at the center of the Democratic debate over whether the party's standard-bearer should be a veteran politician or a newcomer, and whether a liberal or a moderate has a better chance of defeating Trump. Biden, who frequently notes his "Middle-Class Joe" nickname, touts his working-class roots and ability to work in a bipartisan way. Some fellow Democrats have criticized him for his role in passing tough-on-crime legislation in the 1990s. Trump's request that Ukraine's president investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden is at the center of the Democratic-led impeachment of the president. ELIZABETH WARREN The 70-year-old U.S. senator from Massachusetts is a leader of the party's liberals and a fierce critic of Wall Street. She was instrumental in creating the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the 2008 financial crisis. Her campaign has surged in recent months, equaling Biden in some polls. She has focused her campaign on a populist anti-corruption message, promising to fight what she calls a rigged system that favors the wealthy. She has released an array of policy proposals on everything from a Medicare For All healthcare plan to breaking up big tech companies to implementing a wealth tax on the richest Americans. Warren has sworn off political fundraising events to back her campaign. Story continues BERNIE SANDERS The U.S. senator from Vermont lost the Democratic nomination in 2016 to Hillary Clinton but is trying again. For the 2020 race, Sanders, 78, is fighting to stand out in a field of liberals running on issues he brought into the Democratic Party mainstream four years ago. Sanders suffered a heart attack while campaigning in Nevada in October, but there has been little impact so far on his support. His proposals include free tuition at public colleges, a $15-an-hour minimum wage and universal healthcare. He benefits from strong name recognition and an unmatched network of small-dollar donors. PETE BUTTIGIEG The 37-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, emerged from virtual anonymity to become one of the party's brightest stars, building momentum with young voters. A Harvard University graduate and Rhodes scholar, he speaks seven languages conversationally and served in Afghanistan with the U.S. Navy Reserve. He touts himself as representing a new generation of leadership needed to combat Trump. Buttigieg would be the first openly gay presidential nominee of a major American political party. Recent polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, which hold the first nominating contests in February, have at or near the top even though his national standing is lower. TRYING TO BREAK THROUGH The rest of the Democratic field is a mix of seasoned politicians, wealthy business people and others looking to break into or regain their toehold in the top tier of contenders. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG Former New York City mayor and billionaire media company founder Michael Bloomberg, 77, formally announced his candidacy in late November. The move was an about-face for Bloomberg, who had said in March that he would not make a run for the White House. Ranked by Forbes as the eighth-richest American, with an estimated worth of $53.4 billion, Bloomberg will have the advantage of being able to self-finance his campaign and has already poured millions of dollars into advertising and hiring staff. He has won allies in the Democratic Party with his advocacy and philanthropy on climate change and in fighting gun violence. Bloomberg served as mayor of New York from 2002 to 2013. ANDREW YANG The New York entrepreneur and former tech executive is focusing his campaign on an ambitious universal income plan. Yang, 45, wants to guarantee all Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 a $1,000 check every month. The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Yang supports the Medicare for All proposal, which is based on the existing government-run Medicare program for Americans aged 65 and older, and has called automation the biggest threat facing U.S. workers. His campaign has released more than 100 policy ideas, including eclectic proposals like creating an infrastructure force called the Legion of Builders and Destroyers. AMY KLOBUCHAR The U.S. senator from Minnesota was the first moderate in the Democratic field. Klobuchar, 59, gained national attention when she sparred with Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court nomination hearings last year. On the campaign trail, the former prosecutor and corporate attorney has said she would improve on the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, by adding a public option, and is taking a tough stance against rising prescription drug prices. TULSI GABBARD The Samoan-American congresswoman from Hawaii and Iraq war veteran is the first Hindu to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and has centered her campaign on her anti-war stance. Having previously worked for her father's anti-gay advocacy group and drafting relevant legislation, she later apologized for her past views on same-sex marriage. Gabbard's populist, anti-war approach has won her fans among the far left and the far right, and she engaged in a Twitter war with Hillary Clinton, who she called the "personification of the rot" after Clinton suggested Gabbard was being groomed for a third-party run at the presidency. Gabbard, 38, slammed Trump for standing by Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. TOM STEYER A billionaire environmentalist and force in Democratic fundraising over the past decade, Steyer said last January he was focusing on his efforts to get Trump impeached and Democrats elected to Congress. Steyer, 62, reversed course in July, saying other Democrats had good ideas but "we won't be able to get any of those done until we end the hostile corporate takeover of our democracy." JOHN DELANEY The former U.S. representative from Maryland became the first Democrat to enter the 2020 race, declaring his candidacy in July 2017. Delaney, 56, says that if elected, he would focus on advancing only bipartisan bills during the first 100 days of his presidency. He is also pushing for a universal healthcare system, raising the federal minimum wage, and passing gun safety legislation. A former business executive, Delaney is self-funding much of his campaign. MICHAEL BENNET Bennet, 55, a U.S. senator from Colorado, has based his political career on improving the American education system. He previously ran Denver's public schools. Bennet is not well known nationally but has built a network of political operatives and donors helping elect other Democrats to the Senate. During a partial U.S. government shutdown in January 2019, he garnered national attention criticizing Republicans for stopping the flow of emergency funds to Colorado. DEVAL PATRICK Patrick was a late entry to the race, announcing his candidacy in November just days before early-state filing deadlines. The 63-year-old former Massachusetts governor said he was seeking to draw in Americans who felt left behind and to bridge a party he saw split between "nostalgia" or "big ideas" that left other voices out. The state's first African-American governor, Patrick was credited with implementing Massachusetts' healthcare reform plan and tackling pension reform, transportation and the minimum wage. In 2014, Obama said Patrick would make "a great president or vice president." Patrick has said the former president was remaining neutral in the current race. THE REPUBLICANS Trump is the clear favorite to win the Republican nomination, and there has been criticism among his opponents that party leadership has worked to make it impossible for a challenger. Still, the incumbent will face at least two rivals. DONALD TRUMP The 73-year-old real estate businessman shocked the political establishment in 2016 when he secured the Republican nomination and then won the White House. He was impeached in the House of Representatives for his request that Ukraine carry out investigations that could benefit him politically and for withholding witnesses and documents from the House probe of the issue. The U.S. Senate is due to hold a trial to consider whether he should be removed from office, but it is unlikely that the Republican-controlled chamber will convict him. After running as an outsider in 2016, Trump is focusing his policy message on the strong economy, while continuing the anti-immigration rhetoric that characterized his first campaign. He continues to draw enthusiastic crowds at raucous political rallies as he assails Democrats and the news media. JOE WALSH A former congressman, Walsh, 58, has become a vocal critic of Trump, who he argues is not a conservative and is unfit for public office. Walsh won a House seat from Illinois as a candidate of the Republican Party's fiscally conservative Tea Party movement in 2010 but was defeated by Democrat Tammy Duckworth in his 2012 re-election bid. After leaving Congress, he became a Chicago-area radio talk-show host. BILL WELD The 74-year-old former Massachusetts governor ran unsuccessfully for vice president in 2016 as a Libertarian. He has been a persistent critic of Trump, saying when he began his 2020 campaign that "the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering." (Compiled by Ginger Gibson, Joseph Ax, Tim Reid, Sharon Bernstein, Amanda Becker, Trevor Hunnicutt, Diane Bartz, Susan Heavey and Michael Martina; editing by Grant McCool and Alistair Bell) It would be a rare first-time government that heads into an election year without having lost some paint along the way. But one-term governments are relatively rare, even as the electorate becomes more willing to switch allegiances from one party to the other, so conventional wisdom would still favour Mark McGowan and Labor in the run-up to the next state election in March 2021. Mark McGowan is fast approaching an election year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Almost three years into this term of government, the Premier has a handful of points in the 'positive' column which could see him nose across the line. And while the negatives have been busy accumulating, Liza Harvey and her Liberal colleagues have been working to pull their act together. Security guards stand in front of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Calif., on June 12, 2017. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) How Trump Has Reshaped the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals News Analysis A new generation of judges is changing the face of the nations most liberal court. And its also breaking up government gridlock in the feud between the Republican Trump Administration and Californias Democratic government, experts say. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, known as a bastion of liberalismand infamously dubbed the Ninth Circus by some conservative commentatorsserves the entire West Coast, including Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariano Islands. It encompasses Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. Since he was sworn into office three years ago, President Donald Trump has achieved 187 federal judicial confirmations, appointing more judges than any of the last four presidents. Trump has appointed 10 of the 29 active judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, narrowing the margin of Democratic appointees from an 11-seat majority to a three-seat majority. There are now 13 Republican-appointed and 16 Democrat-appointed judges. And, at his rallies, Trump is not exactly shy about letting his political opponents know he intends to keep appointing more conservative judges to the federal bench. It was a key plank in his 2016 campaign platform. Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, has applauded the shift as a healthy move for democracy to restore more checks and balances in government. He sees the change as a welcome relief, especially in California, after decades of government overreach and special interest groups turning to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for results that are consistent with the progressive line. What it has meant is that people court shop. They like to file suits in California because they know in the past that the court has overruled [two ballot measures banning] gay marriage; it has overruled Prop. 187 that denied social services to illegal aliens; and it has modified Prop. 209 affirmative action or racial components for hiring and admissions, Hanson said in an interview. And, so it has a reputation of being really bold in overturning plebiscites and propositions. It tends, in California, to be a force multiplier of the Democratic stranglehold on political institutions. Before the 1960s, it was rare for a federal appellate judge to overturn a ballot measure that millions of people had approved through referendum, according to Hanson. But, in recent years, activist judges in the federal courts have been more apt to second guess or block legislation, often delaying new policies and sending them to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final decision. In California, Democrats control the governorship, and hold super majorities in both the state assembly and senate. Both U.S. senators are Democrats and 46 of 53 seats in the House of Representatives are held by Democrats. So, everybody understands that if you want redress of government overreach, youre not going to find it in the assembly or the state senate; youre not going to find it in a statewide office; youre not going to find it in a congressional district; youre not going to find it with your two senators; and youre not going to find it in the federal courts either, Hanson said. The 9th Circuit has gained a reputation for rubber-stamping Democratic policies and blocking federal Republican policies and presidential executive orders. When you have a conservative president and you want to block his executive orders, legal groups go to Los Angeles or San Francisco usually, and they file lawsuits with the 9th Circuit and they, as appellate court judges, have the ability to stay a presidential executive order, Hanson said. Its the largest federal appeals circuitin terms of population about 60 million peopleand the most liberal, or at least it was the most liberal. The conservatives are getting to aboutwith a few leftovers from the Bush-eraI think they are getting to about 40 percent for traditionalist or constructionist judges, Hanson said. Obama, for eight years, appointed liberal judges, and then the two Bushes appointed centrist judges. For example, the justice that overturned two ballot propositions declaring marriage is between a man and woman was a Bush judge. The two ballot measures were Prop. 22 in 2000 and Prop. 8 in 2008, both passed by a majority of California voters, but overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Democrats still have a majority of judges on the 9th Circuit and they still have a majority of judges on all the circuitsthe circuit courts and the appellate courts, said Hanson. It doesnt necessarily mean that every ruling is going to go against a conservative because the presiding judges in these circuits appoint particular judges to particular cases or they get them randomly selected depending on the method they use. So, if you have 11 or 12 or 13 conservative justices in the 9th Circuit, you could file a suit, or your case could come up for appeal with conservative judges. Its possible, where in the past, before Trump, it was very unlikely, he said. Larry Salzman, director of litigation for the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), said that he has noticed a change in philosophy among judges Trump has named to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and other federal courts. Whats fascinating and encouraging isat least in their public statementsmany of the judges he is appointing view their role as checking the political power of the other branches according to constitutional principles, Salzman said. And that is different than previous generations of both Republican and Democratic appointees who more often believed in a philosophy of judicial restraintmore judicial minimalismin which and they thought courts should largely stay out of disputes and let them work their way through the democratic process. But thats an abdication of the judicial role, and allows a state that is controlled by one particular partylike Californiato dominate for generations as they have. Salzman describes PLF as a public interest law firm that prides itself as defenders of the American principles of individualism and liberty. PLF has operated nationwide since 1973 and currently has active cases in 27 states. What I hope and PLF hopes is that this slate of judges will give meaningful judicial protection for individual rights in all cases. I think that contrasts with maybe an older judicial philosophy that under the guise of judicial restraint, or perhaps in a zeal to uphold some democratic values over constitutional principles, was more of a rubber stamp on government action, Salzman said. So, I guess Im encouraged that some of the new judges that have been appointed are likely to take seriously their duty to enforce constitutional limits on government power. PLF hopes the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider some of its precedents, particularly in the area of property rights and the separation of powers, Salzman said. I think people overplay the partisan nature of this at times, Salzman said. Some people over the years have called it a liberal court. Im not sure if thats necessarily the right way to put it. Its a court that has tended to defer to government power. And, I think whats interestingif there is a theme in the appointments Ive seen from President Trump, it seems as though the new generation of judges or the ones that hes appointing have made break from a judicial philosophy that reflects deference to government power to a philosophy in which judges view their role as subordinating political power to constitutional principles. I think its too early to say whether that will be the effect of these appointments, but based on public statements, this new generation of judges seems to be committed to enforcing constitutional limits on government power. I dont know if the traditionalist or constructionist labels are particularly helpful, said Salzman. I dont see it as a partisan issue, frankly. I dont see Republicans as any better than Democrats on these issues. My view is a good judge subordinates political power to the text of the Constitution. In his experience as a litigator, some of the judges that have been most helpful in striking down heavy-handed government legislation were Clinton-era appointees, he added. Political stripes aside, the characteristic of any good judge lies in what they believe about Americas founding principles, Salzman said. Whats important is whether or not the judge takes the Constitution or the Bill of Rights seriously, he said. Salzman is optimistic that the new judges will trigger good dissent to bring important cases to the attention of the Supreme Court of the United States more quickly. Having judges working in the spirit of putting constitutional limits on government can put constitutional issues at play that have been long-settledand some wrongly in favor of too much government power, Salzman said. It can be very helpful in shaping the law in a direction that advances that liberty and individual rights going forward. WASHINGTON The House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation on Tuesday into a Trump administration policy that sends many asylum seekers to Mexico to wait for their court hearings, and Democrats demanded documents, data and communications by the end of the month. The Remain in Mexico initiative, committee Democrats said, is a dangerously flawed policy that threatens the health and safety of legitimate asylum seekers and warrants a comprehensive review of the policy, its implementation and its impact on vulnerable populations. As of today, there are 31 active travel advisories for Mexico, including five warnings in which the State Department explicitly advises Americans against travel, lawmakers wrote in a letter to Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security. It is difficult to understand why this administration is sending children and families to areas where they will face certain harm. The initiative, which forces migrants to wait in Mexico while their immigration cases wind through the court system, is one of the most consequential immigration policies implemented by President Trump. The administration started rolling out the initiative early last year by returning dozens of migrants to Tijuana, Mexico. Presidential candidate and former-South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images During Tuesdays primary debate in Iowa, CNN moderator Abby Phillip asked Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, if hed considered that his failure to gain traction among black voters was more than a matter of them simply not knowing him well enough. You say youve had trouble earning your support of black voters because youre unknown, she said. But youve been campaigning for a year now, and polling shows you with next to no black support support that youll need in order to beat Donald Trump. Is it possible that black voters have gotten to know you, and have simply decided to choose another candidate? The mayors black-voter problem is well known. Hes tracking at about 2 percent with those who lean Democrat nationally, according to a recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll, and black voters comprise an estimated 4.3 percent of his support base in the primary, according to Politico a lower share than all of his fellow candidates and the Democratic electorate as a whole. This shortfall has been a drag on the 37-year-olds otherwise remarkably successful campaign, which has seen him surge into the upper tiers of competitors and land in a statistical four-way tie with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren in the Iowa caucuses and, depending on the pollster, the New Hampshire primary as well. Buttigieg responded to Phillips with as much optimism and self-regard as could be expected from a candidate polling so poorly with one of the primarys crucial demographics. But the moderators question touched on a nagging dilemma for several of the contenders namely, that blaming unfamiliarity for ones bad polling only applies for so long before other explanations become more convincing. Its to Buttigiegs discredit, and that of his black surrogates, that this remains one of their go-to rationales a year into the campaign. But its also misleading to suggest that the paucity of Buttigiegs black support is an anomaly requiring explanation. In fact, given the particularities of this primary and its voters outsize focus on electability the more confounding feature of his rise isnt how poorly hes doing with black voters, but how well hes doing with white ones. The Post/Ipsos polls breakdown of black voter attitudes from last week indicated that Buttigiegs standing wasnt exactly aberrant. Hes tracking roughly as well with black voters who lean Democrat as Mike Bloomberg (4 percent), Andrew Yang (3 percent), Tom Steyer (2 percent), and before he dropped out of the race on Monday even Cory Booker (4 percent). The ex-mayor is technically polling higher with black Democrats than Amy Klobuchar and Deval Patrick (both still in the race, both clocking in at lower than 0.5 percent). And despite boasting a slightly higher share of Democrat-leaning black voters who would not consider backing him, his favorables and unfavorables remain in the same range as Bloombergs and Yangs, and better overall than Klobuchars. This suggests less an unequivocal rebuke from the black electorate than a level of skepticism commensurate with the mayors perceived strengths and weaknesses in an election where these voters want to be confident that their chosen candidate can defeat President Trump. Accordingly, about half of them have already thrown their weight behind Biden, who spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate and served as second-in-command to the enduringly popular first black president, Barack Obama. The 77-year-old has had decades to build trust and relationships with black voters and lawmakers, and to showcase a range of merits to weigh against his innumerable deficiencies. By contrast, Buttigieg was the 30-something mayor of a small city in Indiana whos never held national or even state-level office, and boasts enough missteps with his black constituents and potential voters that the case for him over the former vice-president is flimsy. Buttigiegs campaign fancies itself a contender for the same moderate ideological lane that Biden has staked out. But its regularly undermined its potentially appealing contrasts younger, more lucid by mirroring the former vice-presidents knack for challenging black voters goodwill. In June, the police shooting of a black man in South Bend laid bare Buttigiegs failure to diversify the citys police force. In October, he was compelled under public pressure to withdraw from a fundraiser hosted by Steve Patton, the former head of Chicagos law department who helped then-Mayor Rahm Emmanuel cover up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald. His resurfaced remarks from 2011 that seemed to imply that black childrens struggles in school were attributable to a lack of black role models rankled some potential black supporters and theyve said as much. The mayor was exposed in November for touting support for his Douglass Plan for Black America from three black South Carolina lawmakers who didnt actually support it. And his campaign advertised the same plan using a stock image of random black people in Kenya. Pair these demerits with the fact that Buttigieg has few substantive relationships with black voters or lawmakers who can vouch for him outside the 100,000-resident municipality of South Bend, and its hardly shocking that hes polling so poorly in a vast field of better-known quantities. The impression that hes toxic in this regard isnt aided by constant media coverage around his lack of black support, or the persistence of small but vocal contingents of black protesters and aggrieved constituents interrupting his rallies and local press conferences. But more comprehensive interviews and testimony suggest a more nuanced picture. Buttigiegs failures as mayor of a city thats 40 percent black are well documented. He also won reelection there handily against multiple black challengers albeit in a race with very low turnout and local residents and fellow officials have praised his initiatives to provide legal help for tenants facing eviction, fund repairs for homes in historically marginalized neighborhoods, and open a small business resource center on the citys heavily black west side. The picture that emerges isnt one of a white Democratic mayor dogged by an especially strained relationship with his black constituents, but a white Democratic mayor not unlike many white Democratic mayors: moderately interested in improving black peoples lot, as long as it doesnt challenge the interests of capital or disquiet white peoples sense of safety and social stability. That Buttigiegs unpopularity among black voters in the primary doesnt square with his indisputable popularity among white caucus-goers in Iowa in particular and mostly white big-dollar donors nationwide is a question more reasonably put to his white supporters than his black skeptics. If indeed electability is at a premium for Democrats, as polling indicates, then those unconvinced by the cherubic small-town mayor with no national experience and a platform thats only marginally distinguishable from Joe Bidens are probably not the ones behaving unusually. Why such a surprising share of white primary voters have been drawn to Buttigieg is perhaps understandable, if not self-evident hes a lucid thinker and talented communicator, albeit unproven, a more transparent opportunist than many, and unnervingly prone to unforced errors. And there are other potential reasons why his support among black voters lags. Buttigieg is gay and black Democrats overall are less likely than white Democrats to accept gay relationships, for example a testament to the persistence of a conservative black element in a party whose white conservatives have mostly jumped ship for the GOP. But even that rift belies that the majority of black Democrats are fine with a gay candidate. Far more telling is that Buttigiegs status as a front-runner is almost totally contingent on the support of white voters whose enthusiasm remains hard to satisfactorily defend, and more than a little counterintuitive. These white Democrats have singlehandedly catapulted a political unknown into the margins of national contention. Black Democrats are treating him like a small-town mayor with a dubious electability argument. Maybe its the former cohort whose reasoning begs further interrogation. Maybe Why does Mayor Pete struggle with black voters? isnt the right question to ask here. Restrictions on flights to Sharm el-Sheikh have been lifted (Chris Radburn/PA) Restrictions on flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh were lifted this week after nearly four years. The UK's Department for Transport announced that it has ended the ban due to improvements in security procedures at the Egyptian resorts airport and close co-operation between the UK and Egypt on aviation security. For now, the Irish Aviation Authority's ban on Irish AOC (Air Operator Certificate) aircraft flying below 26,000 feet in in Egyptian airspace, over the Sinai Peninsula, remains in place. Sharm el-Sheikh was a popular destination with tourists until all UK flights were halted in November 2015 following the bombing of a Russian airliner. UK lifts flight restriction on Sharm El-Sheikh Airporthttps://t.co/Ci2ygF30nS pic.twitter.com/bx5GZfJjLL UK in Egypt (@UKinEgypt) October 22, 2019 UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: We look forward to services to Sharm el-Sheikh resuming, and lifting the restriction is the first step in that process. The safety and security of British nationals remains our top priority and this decision follows close co-operation between our aviation security experts and their Egyptian counterparts, and improvements in security procedures at the airport. We will now work closely with airlines who wish to resume flights to and from the airport. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office updated its travel advice for Egypt to reflect the change in policy, but continued to warn of a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation in Egypt. It added that additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK and advised visitors to the country to co-operate fully with security officials at airports. Travel trade organisation Abta said the decision to lift flight restrictions was welcome news for the industry as well as the local economy around Sharm el-Sheikh. Tour operator TUI confirmed it will resume selling holidays to the resort, while airline easyJet said it will look at any opportunities in relation to the news. The Governments decision could be too late for flights to operate this winter, meaning holidaymakers may have to wait until next summer to make the trip. Hundreds of thousands of UK and Irish tourists went to the Red Sea destination each year before the ban on flights was introduced. The measure has seen the number of visitors dwindle as it forced them to either take multiple flights or a ferry from Hurghada. It was one of the factors which led to the collapse of airline Monarch in October 2017. Speaking 12 months earlier, then-chief executive Andrew Swaffield said the companys financial struggles began when flights to Sharm el-Sheikh were banned. That was really the moment it became clear that things were beginning to turn, he told delegates at a travel convention. All 224 people on board an Airbus 321 operated by Russian airline Metrojet were killed in a suspected terrorist bombing soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport in October 2015. Islamic State jihadis claimed responsibility for the attack. More than 16,000 Britons stranded in the area were brought home on a series of rescue flights amid heightened security. It has been reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will discuss resuming flights between the countries at a summit later this week. With over 700,000 annual passengers and 21 per cent market share Air India is the largest carrier on India-United Kingdom routes. Air India hopes to secure additional slots at London Heathrow airport round the year, which will help it grow sales and make the airline more attractive to potential suitors. Slots at Heathrow are highly coveted and scarce. In the past, airlines spent millions of dollars to lease or purchase them from other carriers. Air India has obtained three additional slot pairs free of cost on a temporary basis in winter season, apart from the 28 pairs of slots it already has. It will operate 11 flights between Mumbai-London Heathrow in February and March. On passenger demand, Air India is going to introduce 11 special flights from Mumbai to London Heathrow. "This service will start from February 14. We are in discussion with Heathrow airport authorities for this service on full-year basis and are hopeful our request will be accepted, said an Air India spokesperson. With over 700,000 annual passengers and 21 per cent market share Air India is the largest carrier on India-United Kingdom routes. Emirates and British Airways are ranked second and third. Currently, the national carrier operates 28 weekly services to Heathrow from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai. It also flies to Birmingham and London Stansted airports. London is the busiest long-haul destination from India and critical for Indian carriers with global plans. Vistara has secured slots at London Gatwick airport and is in talks with other airlines to lease slots at Heathrow. South America-based Synergy Group, which has expressed interest in reviving Jet Airways, too, is looking for slots at the airport. Among the UK carriers, Virgin Atlantic has resumed flights to Mumbai and is adding a second daily service to Delhi. British Airways, too, added thrice weekly service between London-Mumbai last year. Slots at Heathrow airport are managed by a company called Airport Coordination (ACL). Air India has been allocated ad hoc slots, which will not gain any historic precedence for future season. "The slots utilise those that other carriers have cancelled. "The carriers remain entitled to these slots in the subsequent season. "Air India can apply for ad hoc slots for each season but there is no guarantee that there will be sufficient available to satisfy the request, Richard Cann, ACL's head of coordination, said in an email response. Photograph: PTI Photo Washington D.C. [US], Jan 15 (ANI): The United States and China on Wednesday signed the 'Phase One' of trade deal. The deal was signed here between President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to end the trade war between the two economic giants, Sputnik reported. Liu, who is the head of the country's negotiation team in US-China trade talks, is leading a Chinese delegation to Washington DC. The trade war between the two countries began in 2018 after Washington DC slapped tariffs on USD 25 billion worth of Chinese goods, quickly escalating to include hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of products from both the countries. While signing the deal, Trump said he planned to visit China in the 'not too distant future'. (ANI) WASHINGTON - For the third time in U.S. history, the president of the United States will stand trial in a uniquely American hybrid of judicial propriety and partisan politics, setting the sombre Senate ritual of impeachment on a collision course with Donald Trump's appetite for chaos. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., signs the resolution to transmit the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. The two articles of impeachment against Trump are for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) WASHINGTON - For the third time in U.S. history, the president of the United States will stand trial in a uniquely American hybrid of judicial propriety and partisan politics, setting the sombre Senate ritual of impeachment on a collision course with Donald Trump's appetite for chaos. After formally impeaching Trump in an explosive hearing last month, the House of Representatives finally named its team of managers Wednesday before voting 228-193 to dispatch the articles to the Republican-led Senate, triggering a solemn display of pomp and ceremony on Capitol Hill. "This is about the constitution of the United States," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she introduced the seven Democrats tapped to prosecute the U.S. president on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, a team led by California's Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee. "He has been impeached; he's been impeached forever," Pelosi said. "They can never erase that." As it plays out over the coming days and weeks, Canadians more familiar with the Westminster parliamentary system are in for a teachable moment of sorts, said Gerald Baier, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a trade agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) "This provides the opportunity for a lesson in civics, and a better understanding of the differences between the two systems," Baier said. "That's a good thing." Unlike in the U.S., where the functions of lawmakers are more independent of the executive branch, the electoral fortunes of members of Parliament or provincial legislatures are more directly tied to those of their party leader. "The system naturally provides more discreet opportunities for that kind of review," Baier said. "The immediate pressure release valve of a bad executive is that their caucus might keep them, to some degree, in check." And while it remains true that the Prime Minister's Office and cabinet wield a great deal of control and discipline over caucus, particularly when sitting as a majority government, the party's larger interests kick in at a certain point, he added. "If you go a step too far if there's criminal conduct, or abuse of power, or whatever the party, in its own interests, has to lance that wound." Baier cited as an example the clash within the Liberal party that erupted in the early 2000s, when Jean Chretien grudgingly ended his third term as prime minister under pressure from party members to make room for his challenger and political heir apparent, former finance minister Paul Martin. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters to announce the House impeachment managers as she prepares to send articles of impeachment to the Senate against President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. With Pelosi from left are Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Pelosi, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) "There was never any impeachable-style conduct on the part of the prime minister, but he announced his resignation ... on the basis that pressure had been brought to bear on him in caucus," Baier said. "He was pushing the envelope in terms of what he could get away with at that point." Minority governments can also be perilous for Canadian political leaders, as Stephen Harper learned in 2008 when an opposition coalition threatened to topple his Conservatives just six weeks into a minority mandate. Harper survived, thanks to a three-month prorogation of Parliament that provided time for the coalition to disintegrate. But that's not the same thing as an impeachment "crisis," said Jacob Levy, a political theory professor at Montreal's McGill University. Rather, it's the Westminster system at work. "There's no crisis at all when a minority government loses a confidence vote; there's just an election," Levy noted. "And the incumbent prime minister might well remain in that office," as Harper did in 2011. Next week's impeachment trial in the Senate it's expected to get underway Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday in the U.S. will also feature some unfamiliar faces. That includes Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, who is the only member of the team to have played a role in the other two impeachment proceedings. She was a sitting member of Congress when Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 and worked for a member of the House judiciary committee as a law student during the proceedings against Richard Nixon. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month for his role in the alleged push to convince Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, and for allegedly obstructing the ensuing probe by Congress. The president appeared unfazed Wednesday as he celebrated the signing of the first phase of a new trade agreement with China, just at the precise moment when the House was voting to transmit the articles of impeachment. "They have a hoax going on over there, let's take care of it," he said, smiling, as he dispatched members of Congress to go take part in the vote. "It's not going to matter, because it's going very well." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. With files from The Associated Press Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle Each family will get about US$8,300. Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said his government will provide all-round support, in particular legal and financial, to the families of 11 Ukrainian citizens killed in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 in Iran. "The government will within one week allocate UAH 200,000 (US$8,319) in compensation to each family of the 11 Ukrainians killed in the plane crash. One-time relief from the state will be paid from the reserve fund before the families get all insurance compensation," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday, according to the government's portal. Read alsoNew video shows two Iranian missiles hit Ukrainian plane NYT According to Honcharuk, the government will control the proper implementation of the insurance payments under the Montreal Convention. Insurance compensation worth 250,000 SDR (Special Drawing Rights), which is approximately US$345,000, is envisaged for each family. Apart from that, Ukraine uses all diplomatic channels and international jurisdictions to demand that the government of Iran also pay compensation. "No compensation will dull a pain of the tragedy, but we stand for justice," Honcharuk added. As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday, January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors. On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error." New Delhi: The auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti is here and this year it is being celebrated on January 15. The festival marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path. It happens to be the first change in the zodiac after the winter solstice. On this day, Surya Dev or Sun God is worshipped. As India is home to diverse cultures, the same festivals are known and celebrated differently pan country. Similarly, Makar Sankranti is known by different names in the country. If Northern belt calls it Makar Sankranti or Maghi, then in Maharashtra it is called Pedda Pandaga, in Magh Bihu in Assam, Poush Sankranti in West Bengal and Pongal (Thai Pongal) in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat respectively. Makar Sankranti Significance: On this day, several fairs are organised where social and cultural activities take place. Children take part in kite-flying competitions, bonfires and delicious food stalls dominate the festival. Usually, Makar Sankranti is celebrated on January 14 but sometimes due to the transition in Sun (Surya) position, it falls a day later, i.e January 15 respectively. In Delhi and Haryana, Ghee Churma, kheer or halwa is prepared on this day. Brothers visit their sister's place and present them with gifts, followed by the singing of folk songs. In Karnataka, Makar Sankranti is known as Suggi, which is the harvest festival for them. Girls, dressed in new clothes visit their family and friends with gifts and offerings. The exchange the presents and this practice is called Ellu Birodhu. In Karnataka itself, there are various ways this day is celebrated. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the festival extends for four days (Pongal). The first day which precedes Sankranti is called Bhogi, then day 2 is Makara Sankranti, day 3 is Kanuma and Day 4 is Mukkanuma respectively. In Maharashtra, people prepare sweets like halwa and tilgul laddoo. The multicoloured halwa is then exchanged with family and friends. The legend has it that Surya Dev forgave his son, Shani Dev (Saturn) and the latter visited him on Sankranti, therefore, sweets are prepared and exchanged to make sure there is positivity and happiness around. Interestingly, in Maharashtra, while giving the tilgul laddoo, a Marathi phrase 'til gul ghya aani god god bola' is said. It means as you eat this sweet and jaggery laddoo, speak sweet words. In Goa too Sankrant calls for distribution and exchange of sweets. Another phrase which is said is Goa while the sweet exchange is 'Till gull gheiat, godd uloiat'. This means, eat this sesame and jaggery, and sweeten your talk. In Gujarat, Makar Sankranti festival is known by the name of Uttarayan which is one of the major festivities in the state. Kite flying is the prime attraction of this day. Undhiyu and Chikkis are prepared on this festival and people relish it heartily. For Gujaratis, Uttarayan is for two days: Jan 14 (Uttarayan) and Jan 15 (Vasi-Uttarayan) respectively. In Himachal Pradesh, the festival is known as Magha Saaji. This marks the start of the month of Magha. Khichdi, ghee and chaas are relished by people in the afternoon and they also distribute it in temples to the needy. Folk dance and naati are also performed in the evening. In Kerala, Sankranti is celebrated at the famous Sabarimala Temple where the Makara Jyothi can be seen. The festival is followed by Makaravilakku celebrations respectively. In Odisha, people prepare Makara Chaula which comprises uncooked new harvest rice, coconut, banana, sesame, jaggery, rasagola, khai or liaa and chhena pudings. This is the naivedya or prasad for the gods and goddesses. Special rituals and Puja is performed at Puri Jagannath Temple in Odisha, Bhubaneswar on this festival respectively. In Punjab, celebrated as Maghi, the day holds utmost significance. People enjoy, khichdi, jaggery, kheer and sugarcane juice. Early bath in the river on Maghi is important and lighting of lamps with sesame oil is said to usher in prosperity. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, special food such as pheeni, til-paati, gajak, kheer, ghevar, puwa etc are prepared. There are many rituals associated with the festival, one of them being where women present gift (food, cosmetics or any household item) to 13 married women. Like Gujarat, kite-flying holds utmost importance on this day. In Tamil Nadu, the four-day festival is celebrated as Pongal. Day 1 stands for Bhogi Pandigai, Day 2 is Thai Pongal, Day 3 Maattu Pongal, Day 4 is Kaanum Pongal respectively. In Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it is called Khicheri. People take bath in the holy river, eat sweets, wear new clothes, and eat Khicheri in the afternoon. In the evening people prepare delicacies like puri, halwa etc and enjoy the day. Much like other states, kite-flying keeps everyone busy. In Uttarakhand, after taking a holy bath in the river, people visit Bagnath Temple and pray to Lord Shiva. Melas are held at various places and at Bageshwar Uttarayan fair is organised annually in January. In West Bengal, the day is called Poush Sankranti. Again, sweets are prepared at homes which mainly consist of fresh harvest paddy and date palm in Khejurer Gur and Patali. Goddess Lakshmi is prayed to on Sankranti in the state. Khichuri is prepared as Bhog and offered to the god and goddesses. Besides the celebrations in the country, Makar Sankranti known by different names is also celebrated in Bangladesh (known as Shakrain), Nepal (as Maghe Sankranti), Pakistan (in Sindh region, Tirmoori) and Sri Lanka ( Thai Pongal) respectively. Here's wishing our readers a very happy Makar Sankranti! PSA: Valentine's Day is coming up. [Photo: Getty] We all know when Valentines Day is. And, if we hadnt clocked the 14 February was approaching, the sheer volume of heart-shaped balloons and chocolates already taking over shops is a bit of a giveaway. We might all know what is expected of those in relationships on the soppiest day of the year, but where did Valentines Day come from? How did Valentines Day start? Its thought to originate from Roman times and it used to be called Lupercalia, which doesnt quite have the same ring to it. It marked the start of springtime and boys would draw girls names from a box. Whoever they chose was who they would be in a relationship with and sometimes theyd get married. What is cool is that they would wear their hearts pinned to their sleeves for a week to show their true feelings. Thats where the phrase wearing your heart on your sleeve comes from. READ MORE: Most right-swiped Tinder man is back on dating scene The first festivals of Lupercalia involved sacrificing a goat (for fertility) and a dog (for purification). Theyd then dip the goat in sacrificial blood and drag it through the streets slapping (gently, apparently) women with it. Instead of being utterly repulsed by this, women would queue up to be slapped by the dead goat in hope that itd make them more fertile in the coming year. READ MORE: Man proposes to girlfriend with will you marry me? tattoo Ok, but why St Valentine? The Christian church picked up on Lupercalia and decided to rename it after St Valentine - a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Emperor Claudius II banned marriage because he believed that married men made unproductive soldiers. Valentine, thinking this rule was unfair, decided to marry people in secret against Emperor Claudius IIs wishes. Emperor Claudius II over-reacted to this news in the way that third century Emperors tended to do and threw Valentine in jail, sentencing him to death. Valentine fell in love with the jailors daughter and when sentenced to death of 14 February, he wrote her a letter written from your Valentine. Story continues READ MORE: Heres how couples are meeting each other So, thats how the day became about love? You would think so, but no. Valentines Day always had a springtime element to it and for many years 14 February marked the beginning of birds mating season. This, teamed with the story of St Valentine, added to the case that Valentines Day should be a day of love. In 1375, Chaucer wrote: For this was sent on Seynt Valentynes day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate. It was the first official mention of Valentines day in literary history. Where else is it celebrated? Aside from the UK, Valentines Day is celebrated in the US, Canada, Mexico, France and Australia. Across these countries, its mostly celebrated in the same way. In Mexico, though, its a day to celebrate friendships as well as romantic relationships. For the rest of us, we have Galantines Day and Palantines Day (often on the 13 February) to celebrate our mates. READ MORE: Insulting your partner everyday could improve relationship Where did buying roses for Valentines Day come from? Valentines Day is centred around a lot of very old traditions and the rose tradition is no exception. Apparently, the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess, was the red rose and it has been ingrained in our romantic history ever since. How much does the UK spend on Valentines Day? In 2019, loved-up British people spent 391 million dining out. In addition, we spent approximately 267 million on flowers alone. With more and more people opting to sidestep the traditional romantic plans and go out with their friends instead, the value of Valentines Day is only likely to increase. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK: House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named two House chairmen who led President Donald Trumps impeachment inquiry as prosecutors for his Senate trial. Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the probe, and Judiciary Chair Representative Jerry Nadler, whose committee approved the impeachment articles, as among the managers of the prosecution. Today is an important day, said Ms Pelosi, flanked by the team. This is about the Constitution of the United States. Mr Schiff and Mr Nadler will lead the seven-member team that includes a diverse selection of politicians, particularly those with courtroom experience. They include Hakeem Jeffries, Sylvia Garcia, Val Demings and Jason Crow. Mr Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month on charges of abuse of power over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden as Mr Trump withheld aid from the country. Expand Close Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Jose Luis Magana/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Jose Luis Magana/AP) He was also charged with obstructing Congress ensuing probe. The House is set to vote later in the day to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial on whether the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are grounds for his removal. The managers will then walk the articles across the Capitol to the Senate. Mr Trumps trial will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in US history, and it comes against the backdrop of a politically divided nation and an election year. Today, we take the next step to #DefendOurDemocracy, sending articles of impeachment to the Senate. McConnell will have a choice: stand with the Constitution, or with Trumps cover-up. Uphold the rule of law, or help Trump undermine it. Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 15, 2020 New details of Mr Trumps efforts on Ukraine emerged late on Tuesday, increasing pressure on senators to call witnesses in the trial, a step that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been reluctant to take. House investigators announced they were turning over a trove of new records of phone calls, text messages and other information from Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Mr Schiff said the information shows Mr Trumps effort to coerce Ukraine into helping the presidents reelection campaign. He said this and other new evidence must be included in the Senate trial. The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday, although significant proceedings would not begin until next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors, to swear an oath to deliver impartial justice. Mr McConnell, who is negotiating rules for the trial proceedings, said all Republican senators are on board with his plan to start the session and consider the issue of witnesses later. Our members feel we have an obligation to listen to the argumentsMitch McConnell, Republican Senate Republicans also signalled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Mr Trump, as Mr Trump himself has suggested. Mr McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that. There is little or no sentiment in the Republican conference for a motion to dismiss, Mr McConnell said on Tuesday. Our members feel we have an obligation to listen to the arguments. A mounting number of senators say they want to ensure the ground rules include the possibility of calling new witnesses. Senator Susan Collins of Maine is leading an effort among some Republicans, including Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski for witness votes. Why are you so obsessed with me, Mr. President? pic.twitter.com/BbAawEvQo6 Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 14, 2020 Mr Romney said he wants to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, who others have said raised alarms about the alternative foreign policy toward Ukraine being run by Mr Giuliani. Democrats have been pushing Republicans, who have a slim Senate majority, to consider new evidence, arguing that fresh information has emerged during Ms Pelosis month-long delay in transmitting the charges. Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Mr Trump. It takes just 51 votes during the impeachment trial to approve rules or call witnesses. Just four Republican senators could form a majority with Democrats to insist on new evidence. Expand Close House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with impeachment managers, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, right, and House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler (Matt Rourke/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with impeachment managers, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, right, and House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler (Matt Rourke/AP) It also would take only 51 senators to vote to dismiss the charges against Mr Trump. At Tuesdays private Republican lunch, Senator Rand Paul warned that if witnesses are allowed, defence witnesses could also be called. He and other Republicans want to subpoena Mr Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a petrol company in Ukraine, Burisma, while his father was vice president. Mr McConnell is drafting an organising resolution that will outline the steps ahead. Approving it will be among their first votes of the trial, likely next Tuesday. He prefers to model Mr Trumps trial partly on the process used for then-President Bill Clintons trial in 1999. It, too, contained motions for dismissal or calling new witnesses. Mr McConnell is hesitant to call new witnesses who would prolong the trial and put vulnerable senators who are up for reelection in 2020 in a bind with tough choices. At the same time, he wants to give those same senators ample room to show voters they are listening to demands for a fair trial. Most Republicans now appear willing to go along with Mr McConnells plan to start the trial first then consider witnesses later, rather than upfront, as Democrats want. Even if senators are able to vote to call new witnesses, it is not at all clear there would be majorities to subpoena Mr Bolton or the others. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkey's car exports to Uzbekistan increased by 3.22 percent in 2019, compared to 2018, and exceeded $49.1 million, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish Trade Ministry. Turkey's car exports to Uzbekistan amounted to over $2.6 million in December 2019, having decreased by 49.42 percent compared to December 2018. Turkey's car exports decreased by 3.1 percent in 2019, compared to 2018, having exceeded $30.5 billion. Car exports accounted for 17 percent of Turkey's total exports in 2019. Turkey's car exports increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019, compared to December 2018, and amounted to over $2.5 billion. Car exports accounted for 16.5 percent of Turkey's total exports in December 2019. Turkey's foreign trade turnover amounted to over $33.2 billion in November 2019. Turkish exports grew by 0.1 percent in November 2019, compared to November 2018, amounting to just over $15.5 billion. Turkey's imports increased by 9.7 percent in November 2019, compared to the same month of 2018, and exceeded $17.7 billion. Turkey's foreign trade turnover exceeded $340.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe in car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures local brands of buses such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu After four people were arrested at Lakshadweep last week for illegal trade in sea cucumbers, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) wrote to the environment ministry on Tuesday seeking more protection for the marine species. Sea cucumbers, which range in size up to six feet (1.8 metres) long, are used across Southeast Asia, mainly China, as food and in preparing traditional medicines. The species is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, and has the same degree of protection as tigers, leopards or elephants. On Saturday afternoon, based on a tip-off, officials from the forest department, fisheries and local researchers intercepted a boat near Agatti island. Around 12.30 pm, we entered the boat and found the entire vessel filled with dried and live sea cucumbers worth Rs 1.17 crore, said Damodhar AT, secretary environment and forest and chief wildlife warden, Lakshadweep. The team seized 219 sea cucumbers, weighing 234 kg. Out of the total, 46 were live large sea cucumbers( weighing 1.5 to 2 kg each), 74 were dry, small and medium-sized ones ( weighing 300 to 600 grams), and 99 other large ones were stored in preservatives. All cucumbers had been packed and were ready to be transported. The accused were fishermen from Kavaratti and were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The forest department said that interrogating the accused revealed the trade route for the species. This network spreads across different countries. From Lakshadweep, the sea cucumbers are supplied to Kochi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and then sent across to Sri Lanka, and further to Southeast Asian countries, mainly China. The second route passes through Maldives and straight across to China and neighbouring countries, added Damodhar. One kg of sea cucumber can be sold for around Rs. 50,000. Some fishermen make Rs 2 lakh in a day doing the illegal trade. In India, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have most varieties of sea cucumbers, followed by Lakshadweep, Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch. The species is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which India is a signatory. A total ban on harvesting of sea cucumbers was imposed in 2001 under the WPA by the Union environment ministry. Experts said that these species are ecological indicators for any marine habitat. They enhance the productivity of coral reefs apart from playing a crucial role in the food chain. They maintain over all stability of the ocean sea floor in terms of oxygenation, said E Vivekandan, former chief scientist, Central Marine Fisheries Research Insitute. There is a need to tell the fishing community that the health of the reefs depends upon these sea cucumbers. It is in the interest of the community to protect these species to ensure the reefs survive as sea surface temperatures are rising every year, said Deepak Apte, director, BNHS. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Vladimir Putin on January 15 proposed the head of Russia's tax service Mikhail Mishustin for the post of prime minister, news agencies reported. The proposal to appoint 53-year-old Mishustin, a relatively obscure figure who has headed the service since 2010, came after the surprise resignation of Dmitry Medvedev following Putin's proposal of a package of constitutional reforms. Mishustin will face a vote of approval in the Russian parliament within one week. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:19:41|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Holding his one-year-old son in his arms, Zhou Yongjie passed the ticket check at Beijing South Railway Station within three seconds just by swiping his ID card and looking at a camera with a smile. It was the first time for Zhou to bring his son to his hometown in east China's Shandong Province for the Chinese New Year. "The newly launched e-ticket system saves me the trouble of waiting in line for tickets," Zhou said. Zhou is among millions of passengers in the Spring Festival travel rush, the biggest annual human migration in the world. Over 3 billion trips are expected this year, official data showed. The Spring Festival travel season started on Jan. 10 this year, much earlier than previous years, and poses a considerable challenge to the country's transport system since the return flow of college students overlaps with the travel rush. To cope with the travel demands, transport authorities promised stronger capacity, with 15 new high-speed railway lines being put into operation at the end of 2019. With new technologies, services and stronger transportation capability, passengers like Zhou can now enjoy a more convenient trip home by train. EASIER TRAVEL The scene of long lines waiting to get print tickets and cases of missing the train due to that are disappearing as China is introducing an e-ticket system for high-speed railways. Instead of collecting tickets at the stations, travelers now can pass ticket checks with just their ID cards and facial recognition. "The e-ticket system has cut the ticket checking time by over 30 percent and efficiently relieved traffic congestion during the travel rush," said Shan Xinghua, chief researcher at the China Academy of Rail Sciences, adding that a total of 1,020 stations in the country have adopted the system this year. Ticket booking is also more customer-friendly thanks to a series of improvements by 12306, the country's official online railway ticket-booking platform, including increasing its ticketing capacity, extending the daily work hours and introducing a waitlist function to improve booking efficiency. ONE-STOP SERVICES A crowded and drowsy journey used to be every traveler's nightmare, but now traveling by train can be full of joy and comfort thanks to enriching services. China has pioneered a smart waiting hall in some railway stations where travelers can talk with AI facilities, enjoy mini karaoke bars and play interactive video games. Passengers of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway, for example, can enjoy download speeds of up to 1 Gbps as the line's mainland section is gradually being covered by 5G. New transport services, including taxi-hailing, food ordering and online seat selection, are all improving the Spring Festival travel experience. "I can transfer to buses directly without having to wait in line for tickets since they can be booked via a mobile app in advance," said Zhou. "It's so enjoyable and convenient now." The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday issued an avalanche warning for five districts in the state. Avalanches may occur in Kullu, Shimla, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts between 5pm on January 15 and 5pm on January 16, an official of said. Meanwhile, slippery roads affected the traffic movement on NH-5, also known as Hindustan-Tibet Road, near Kufri, 14km from Shimla, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded. Shimla SP Omapati Jamwal said, Frequent traffic jams occur due to slippery roads. State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said, Due to a fresh western disturbance, light to moderate snowfall and rainfall are likely to occur at few places on January 16. Minimum temperatures were recoded normal on Wednesday, while maximum temperatures were two to three degrees below normal. Temperature was recorded at 2.1C in Shimla, -2.4C in Manali, -1.8C in Kufri. Minimum temperature in Dharamshala and Dalhousie was 4.4C and 0.6C. Kalpa in Kinnaur shivered at -5.8C while Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti remained coldest in the state at -8.2C. Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap said, All main roads in the district have been opened for vehicular traffic and HRTC buses were plying to Rohru, Khadapathar, Chopal. Shimla-Rampur Road via Narkanda has been restored for normal traffic. He said adequate machinery and manpower have been deployed on link roads to restore traffic movement and district administration was on high alert to meet any eventuality. Snow clearing operations are in full swing in Dodra Kwar subdivision to clear the blocked roads, he added. WOMAN INJURED IN CHAMBA MISHAP DIES The woman who was injured in a landslide in Chamba on Tuesday succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Kajal, wife of Tilak Raj. The victim had lost both her legs in the incident and was being shifted to Tanda medical college. Two other persons, including Tilak Raj, had died on the spot after being hit by a landslide in Chamba. One survivor, Kaku Ram, is undergoing treatment. China's Coast Guard Chief Arrives in the Philippines for Bilateral Talks 2020-01-14 -- China's coast guard chief has arrived in Manila to lead a delegation for tabletop exercises and bilateral talks with their Philippine counterparts aimed at coordinating each other's operations in the disputed South China Sea, officials said Tuesday. A marching band greeted Maj. Gen. Wang Zhongcai as he disembarked from the Chinese Coast Guard ship with pennant number 5204, which anchored at the Port of Manila on Monday, in what local authorities had described as an unprecedented visit. The Philippine Coast Guard later posted Wang's pictures on Twitter showing him walking on red carpet as he reviewed ceremonial honor guards accompanied by Adm. Joel Garcia, his Filipino counterpart. "It doesn't mean that we have to close our doors to China just because we've had a rift or resentment in the previous years or months," Garcia told reporters, referring to recent reports that Filipino fishermen had been harassed by the Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea claimed by Manila. Wang's visit, which would last until Friday this week, occurred amid Beijing's diplomatic tensions with Indonesia over maritime rights during the past three weeks. "We will push for mechanisms that will ensure the safety of our fishermen," Garcia said. "It's not right that they are being harassed by the China Coast Guard or other coast guards using the South China Sea." Wang did not issue any statement during his arrival, but the Chinese embassy in Manila said his visit "will be a very good opportunity for both sides to demonstrate goodwill, deepen mutual understanding and trust as well as enhance friendship and cooperation." In June last year, Manila filed a diplomatic protest after a Chinese trawler rammed into a Filipino fishing boat near Recto Bank in the disputed sea region, leaving 22 fishermen adrift in the open sea for hours before they were rescued by a Vietnamese ship. Garcia told reporters that Wang's visit marked the first time where Chinese and Philippine coast guard officials would "formally sit down and talk to enhance their relationship and establish a smooth coordination" at sea. "This is the right forum to set the mechanisms for the safety of those using the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea," he said. Meanwhile, Sen. Leila De Lima slammed the Chinese coast guard chief's visit, saying Philippine officials should be wary of Beijing's sudden change in its diplomatic approach. "Imagine our Coast Guard discussing protocols at sea with the very people who regularly intimidate our own fishermen, in our own territory," De Lima said in a statement issued from Camp Crame, where she has been detained during the past two years over what she said were false drug charges. '[President Rodrigo] Duterte gives the best seat at the banquet table to China, while we wait for whatever crumbs they might throw around," she said. De Lima has been Duterte's top critic, and has often questioned the perceived preference the Philippine leader gives to China. Beijing claims most of the mineral-rich South China Sea, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the maritime region. Since becoming president three years ago, Duterte has gravitated the Philippines' foreign policy toward China and Russia, shifting away from its traditional rival the United States, which has been Manila's military ally during the past seven decades. Duterte has been less aggressive against Chinese encroachment in the sea, despite a 2016 decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that ruled in favor of Manila in a case against China. Last week, the Philippine military chief said he would not expect a shooting war with China over the sea dispute, saying it could be resolved diplomatically. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mount Kumgang in North Korea. Korea Times file South Korea is looking into "various formats" to allow its citizens to visit Mount Kumgang, a day after President Moon Jae-in cited individual trips as a way to expand inter-Korean exchanges, the unification ministry said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Moon said during a press conference for the new year that allowing such trips does not violate global sanctions, saying it could be one of the ways to expand inter-Korean cooperation, draw international support for partial sanctions relief for Pyongyang and help bring it back to denuclearization talks. In response to Moon's remarks, the U.S. State Department said that Washington and Seoul are "committed to close coordination on our unified response to North Korea," suggesting that individual trips to the mountain should be subject to discussions between the allies. "(We) see the individual trips do not violate U.N. Security Council sanctions and could actively review it if the personal safety of our people are guaranteed," Kim Eun-han, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told a regular press briefing. "We are looking into the possibility in various formats. KYIV. Jan 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) The owner of PJSC Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Plant Okean Vasyl Kapatsyna has said that the seizure of the property of the shipyard under a request of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) is unlawful and suspects that the initiators of the seizure are former owners of the shipyard. "Today, I am responsible for this shipyard. But if in the coming days the Office of the Prosecutor General does not understand the situation and does not lift this negative factor, the responsibility for the destruction of this shipyard will rest with the prosecutor general. And I ask Ruslan Riaboshapka to immediately interrogate me," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday. He also announced his decision to stay in Kyiv to wait for an interrogation call, because "if the situation does not change in the coming days, the shipyard will have no future." Kapatsyna also said that has not yet seen the text of the court decision on the seizure of the shipyard's property at the request of the PGO. However, he can assume that the seizure was imposed on a dry and floating dock, hulls and lines, workshops, equipment the entire production basis of the shipyard. "There is a special operation to destroy the strategic enterprise of Ukraine by the hands of the law enforcement system. And I thoroughly know that this issue is controlled by Mr. Riaboshpaka, who was misled," he said. According to the owner of the shipyard, attempts are still ongoing to invalidate the sale of Okean and return the company to its former owner, Ihor Ihnatov. "A citizen of Ukraine Ihor Ihnatov represents the interests of Yusufov [former member of the board of directors of Russian Gazprom, Igor Yusufov] and I am ready to testify at the central office of the SBU. Moreover, I spoke about this after the purchase of the shipyard Ignatov works for the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB)," Kapatsyna said. In his opinion, the arrest of the Okean's property is part of Yusufov's special operation together with the Russian FSB aimed at preventing Ukraine from restoring shipbuilding capacities. "I want to appeal to the President of Ukraine dear Volodymyr, you are the Commander-in-Chief. To create a navy, build ships for our Armed Forces today is possible only at the Okean shipyard, of course, in cooperation with other shipbuilding assets, but there are qualifications, appropriate equipment and capabilities only at this shipyard. And today, in Russia they did everything to destroy this shipyard with the hands of the Ukrainian authorities and law enforcement agencies. According to Kapatsyna, the shipyard has already signed a contract for the supply of a plasma metal cutting machine, and in 2020 it was planned to expand the shipyard staff from 700 to 1,000 people, obtain European ISO certification (International Organization for Standardization) and build a complete ship. The investor also plans to enter the European shipbuilding and bridge building market. Kapatsyna also said that in 2019, the Okean shipyard successfully completed several contracts for the creation of metal elements for bridge structures, including the Shuliavsky Bridge in Kyiv. RS21, an industry leader in developing data analytics and visualization products, has been awarded an Information Technology (IT) Professional Services contract with the State of New Mexico. The contract provides a direct procuring method for state agencies, local governments, and public educational entities to acquire cost-effective services through competitive, transparent purchases. We are thrilled to be an IT and data analytic partner for the State of New Mexico as we are committed to helping our state thrive, said Charles Rath, President + CEO of RS21. With our headquarters located in Downtown Albuquerque, we bring a deep understanding of New Mexicos economies, demographics, and needs. Combined with our advanced analytic capabilities and experience working with government, we are uniquely positioned to help state agencies harness the power of data and solve our toughest challenges. RS21 regularly collaborates with state and city government offices and academic institutions to make big data insights accessible and actionable. By bringing together different sources of data, applying the proper models and analyses, and creating intuitive user interfaces and dashboards, RS21 connects people with the data and knowledge they need to address complex problems and make better, faster, smarter decisions. RS21 platforms and products are supported by a team of data scientists, web developers, software engineers, policy wonks, user experience architects, and user interface designers. Through the IT Professional Services contract, RS21 offers government entities throughout New Mexico IT services in the areas of application support and development, database management services and business intelligence, and geospatial technological services. Contracts are made possible by the State Purchasing Division of the New Mexico General Services Department. State agencies and other eligible users can learn more about procuring IT Professional Services through this contract by contacting info@rs21.io. By Trend An incident occurred on Georgian- Azerbaijani border on Jan.14, which was suppressed as a result of operative measures taken by border guards of the two countries. The employees of the Border Police of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Georgian citizen G.I. on the undefined section of Georgian-Azerbaijani land border for illegal purchase-keeping and carrying of firearm as well as for the attempt to take a hostage, Trend reports with reference to a message released by the ministry. On January 14 of the current year, Georgian citizen G.I. was in the border zone. Under the pressure of the firearm and hand grenade, he forced Georgian border guard to start movement to the direction of the undefined section of the state border. During the incident detainee made several gunshots. As a result of the operative and effective measures taken by the Border Police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the situation was quickly dissolved. At this moment the incident is thoroughly suppressed, reads the message. No other details of the incident have been reported. The ministry said that investigation is in progress under the article 236, III and IV parts and article 144, II part, sub-paragraph H envisaged by the Criminal Code of Georgia. Ministry of Internal Affairs has already expressed gratitude towards Azerbaijani colleagues for the effective cooperation during the aforementioned incident. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A fresh sex-for-marks scandal is currently rocking the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as a 400-level student of the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Administration, has accused a lecturer, Olabisi Olaleye, of sexually harassing her. Motunrayo Afolayan, who has since lodged a complaint at the universitys Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, alleged that Mr Olaleye failed her in Diplomacy, course code IRS 305. The lecturer teaches the course alongside a female colleague, Omolara Akinyemi. The allegation comes nearly two years after a widely publicised scandal involving another lecturer in the faculty, Richard Akindele, and a student. Mr Akindele, a professor of Accounting, was dismissed from the university after he was indicted for demanding sex from a female student to help improve her grades. A federal court later sentenced the disgraced professor to 24 months in prison. Sex for marks Reliable sources within the university told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms Afolayan first took IRS 305 during the 2017/2018 academic calendar while in 300 Level but was allegedly failed because he refused to sleep with the lecturer. During the next academic year, the 2018/2019 academic session, the student registered again for the course but received repeated threats from the lecturer that she would fail again and again if she refuses to sleep with him. A senior official in the faculty, who does not want to be named, said the student sought the intervention of another lecturer in the department, Sunday Omotuyi, on the matter. Ms Afolayan, it was gathered, had feared she could fail again since she was still being pestered by the lecturer. But Omotuyi declined to intervene. He said he had approached the same lecturer in 2014 on behalf of another student but Olaleye flared up and insulted him. He even walked him out of his office. He said Omotuyi was too junior to talk to him on such matter. He even asked the student to go as far as the office of the vice-chancellor to report him, the official said. The official further stated that when other lecturers got wind of the development, they asked for proof of the allegation against the lecturer, and Ms Afolayan played a recorded voice of Mr Olaleye saying in Yoruba that, I promise you would fail this course three times except you sleep with me. The recording, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, was done based on the advice of Ms Afolayans friends, who also claimed the lecturer had tormented them in a similar manner in the past. Ms. Motunrayo Afolayan A university source said, So, she was in Olaleyes office and just as predicted, Olaleye held her by the hand and began to fondle her. While he was carried away, the lady turned on the voice recording application on her phone and taped all his vulgar words including the threat. Ms Afolayan has refused to share the audio record with anyone, saying she was afraid of being subjected to public ridicule. With officials within her faculty unable to help, she sought outside help, from the Faulty of Law where a female lecturer advised her to report the matter to the university authorities. As soon as Mr Olaleye learnt that the matter was being escalated, he reportedly released Ms. Afolayans result which had been withheld alongside a few others. The released result showed that the student passed. A university panel In response to the students complaint, the university authorities set up a probe panel headed by Yetunde Ajibade, the provost of the universitys postgraduate college. Ms Ajibade, a professor, is the first female provost of the college. The panel has since met with all the concerned parties including Ms Afolayan; Mr Olaleye; Mr Omotuyi, whom the matter was first reported to; Kehinde Olayode, Head of Department, International Relations, among others. While Mr Olaleye appeared before the panel in November last year, Mr Omotuyi met the panel on January 9. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Ms Afolayan had appeared before the panel accompanied by other female students in the department who also served as witnesses. Both the lecturer and the student have confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES. But while Mr Olaleye chose to speak about the incident, Ms Afolayan said she had been advised to keep sealed lips until the university makes its verdict public. Mr. Olabisi Olaleye Mr Olaleye said he had earlier submitted a written response to a query from the management, where he denied harassing Ms Afolayan. Advertisements He said the student had approached him to alter the examination timetable when the rerun course had clashed with another course she takes at 400 level. I didnt know her until the timetable issue came up, the lecturer said. She approached me with two other ladies but I told them I could not help. I only advised them to go and write their 400 level course first, and return to join us in the hall for my course. Mr Olaleye said the delay in the release of Ms Afolayans result was due to his co-lecturer, who teaches the course with him, being busy with accreditation issues. Asked when he joined the university, Mr Olaleye said he could not recollect. He also couldnt answer why doesnt have a doctorate degree after almost 13 years he had reportedly enrolled for it. Access to justice Across some closed WhatsApp groups belonging to some sets of graduates of the department, female alumni members narrated similar experiences with the embattled lecturer when he taught them. According to one of them who currently lives in the United Kingdom, Mr Olaleye should not escape the wrath of the law this time. That man is savage, I must say. He is drunk and very reckless, one of the WhatsApp messages read. Others accused some lecturers, especially those they said are close to the lecturer in the faculty, of trying to mount pressure on the panel and secure a soft landing for their colleague. The universitys public relations officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, said that justice would be done in the matter. He said the precedent created with a similar case in the past should assure the public of the university administrations commitment to ensuring fairness and justice. There is no basis for anybody to nurse any fear about the possible outcome of the probe, he said. We have since gone past that stage at OAU. Nobody told us before a panel was set up, and the gender centre that was created was aimed at creating unfettered access to justice. Environmentalists have sued the federal government to overturn a permit issued for a proposed Formosa Plastics plant in an area of Louisiana known as "Cancer Alley." The Arizona-based environmental group Center For Biological Diversity and three other organizations sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the agency's chief executive, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, to challenge a Sept. 5 permit issued for the project. In a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday morning before the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., the groups argue that the Corps fast-tracked the project and failed to disclose the proposed plant's environmental damage and public health risks in one of the most heavily industrialized areas of state. The Trump administration rubber-stamped this project instead of disclosing how Formosa Plastics would damage wetlands, poison communities and pollute water, Center for Biological Diversity Attorney Emily Jeffers said in a statement. Formosa has a terrible record of spilling plastic pellets and releasing toxic pollutants. The federal government is long overdue in regulating the plastics boom and holding this company accountable. Environment: Formosa settles Lavaca Bay pollution case for $50 Million Neither the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nor Formosa officials could immediately be reached for comment. Formosa is not listed as a defendant in the Louisiana lawsuit but the permit challenge comes less than three months after the company entered into a $50 million settlement in a separate lawsuit filed in Texas over polluting Lavaca Bay with plastic pellets. Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Taiwan, Formosa was ranked as one of the world's largest chemical companies. Formosa's U.S. headquarters is in New Jersey. In previous statements, the company has said that it employs screening and monitoring systems to control pollution. Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com President Trumps decision to order a drone strike that killed Qassem Suleimani, the head of Irans Quds Force, has rekindled debates in Washington about the role of the U.S. in the Middle East. Many Republicans have called for more aggressive action against Iran, while the Democratic Presidential candidates have generally pleaded for restraint and a foreign policy that avoids future wars in the region. But Democrats have tended to get the U.S. embroiled in military conflicts, too, which has led to critiques by Bernie Sanders and others that the Party needs to reorient its foreign-policy views. The Telangana unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a probe by Investigation Agency (NIA) into the Bhainsa clash, in which three police official sustained injuries and 13 houses and 26 vehicles were set on fire. "A few criminal mobs from Bhainsa have intentionally planned and physically attacked one group of people physically harming them and burning their vehicles and homes. Huge arson is being reported by locals, who are now fearful of more violence in the near future," said a statement issued by party spokesperson K Krishna Saagar Rao on Tuesday. The statement said that it has been more than 48 hours and neither the Director-General of Police and nor the Home Minister has made any statements assuring action against the perpetrators. The BJP alleged that it was the height of irresponsibility of the state government headed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. "BJP is receiving complaints from locals on how despite attacks on senior police officers, these unruly mobs were neither contained by police using force nor have they reported arresting any miscreants so far," the statement said. "BJP takes strong objection to this unacceptable partisan conduct of the state police in handling a plotted and targeted attack by unruly mobs," it added. The party alleged that Rao had "tied the hands of Telangana police" and is "interfering in discharging their duty to bring the culprits to justice". Police had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Bhainsa town till January 15 after clashes between two groups in the region. According to Telangana police the two groups who started pelting stones at each other in the late hours on January 12 after which the situation turned violent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Libya: US will attend the Berlin Conference With Pompeo and O'Brien. The aim is to be protagonist in crisis (ANSAmed) - WASHINGTON, JANUARY 15 - The United States has decided to attend the Berlin Conference on Libya scheduled for Sunday in Berlin, sending US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, ANSA has learned from sources close to the White House. This significant presence aims to show the US's intention to be a protagonist in the Libyan crisis, staving off growing diplomatic efforts being made by Russia. The decision comes after a January 12 phone call between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key figure in orchestrating the Berlin Conference, in which they spoke about the crisis in Libya and security in the Middle East.(ANSAmed). Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:38:32|Editor: yan Video Player Close MADRID, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Spanish airports operator AENA confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that flights were able to leave the Alicante-Elche airport in southeast Spain, but incoming flights were still being diverted, after fire led to an evacuation of the airport. Three flights were sent to nearby Murcia airport and one to Valencia, AENA has confirmed in the afternoon. The Alicante-Elche airport, which is an important hub for tourists, was evacuated as a precaution at around 3:00 p.m. local time, with both passengers and airport workers told to leave the building. The cause of the fire is still unknown. The airport fire brigade worked to extinguish the flames and received support from two other fire stations in the town of San Vicente del Raspeig and in Elche. The fire was put out by 3:30 p.m.. A total of 125 flights are scheduled to depart from Alicante-Elche airport on Wednesday. About half of them had taken off before the evacuation. A mom has recently filed a case under Colorados new red flag law against the police officer who shot and killed her son in 2017. Susan Holmes filed an extreme risk protection order petition on Jan. 9 against Colorado State University Police officer Philip Morris, according to 9News. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16. to decide if Morris firearms will be taken away from him. Colorados red flag law went into effect on Jan. 1 and allows a family member, law enforcement, or a household resident to file to have someones weapons removed if they are deemed by a judge to be a threat to themselves or others, according to the Coloradoan. Holmes wrote in her petition that Phil Morris used his firearm to recklessly & violently threaten and kill 19 year old Jeremy Holmes, according to 9News. She falsely claimed that she is family or household member by saying she has a child in common with Morris, the Coloradoan reported. Holmes told KDVR that she intends to argue that she has a different interpretation of what to have a child in common means, Fox 40 reported. Police say that they told Jeremy to drop the knife he was holding more than 40 times before two police officers shot and killed him in July 2017, according to The Coloradoan. Holmes claims her son had been going through a severe drug reaction to the THC in cannabis, which then led to him being suicidal, the Coloradoan reported in November 2017. District Attorney Clifford Riedel determined the shooting was clearly justified, according to Fox 40. The Jammu and Kashmir police on January 11 arrested Davendar Singh at Mir Bazar in Kulgam with two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba and Altaf and a lawyer who also works for terror organisations. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Davinder Singh was posted with the anti-hijacking team at Srinagar airport until he was caught red-handed with two militants in Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir police on January 11 arrested Singh at Mir Bazar in Kulgam with two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba, Altaf and a lawyer who also works for terror outfits. Singh was suspended on January 13 following polices confirmation that he was caught with militants. Interestingly, he was one of the officials to receive the 16-member delegation of foreign ambassadors who recently visited the valley. Following Singhs arrest, the Congress alleged that he had links with militants underlining that now it will be clear who was behind the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. Hitting out at Congress, the BJP asked if the party knew who was behind the attack. He started his career as a sub-inspector with the Jammu and Kashmir police where he joined the Special Operations Group (SOG) and was one of the core members of the task force. Though his tryst with controversy is no new thing as the police officer was charged with extortion and corruption during the initial days of his career following which he was demoted and suspended for a few days. Later Singh was posted with the Srinagar Police Control Room (PCR). In 2006, he was promoted as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP). Since the day he was arrested, speculation is rife whether the Jammu and Kashmir officer received Gallantry Award in 2018. Dismissing rumours, the Jammu and Kashmir Police clarified that Singh was conferred the state gallantry medal in 2018. The Ministry of Home Affairs stated that Singh was not awarded any Gallantry or meritorious medal. The ministry added that the only gallantry award given to him was last year on Independence Day by erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir. How is Davinder Singh related to Afzal Guru? Afzal Guru, one of the accused behind the 2001 Parliament attack in a letter revealed that Singh, who was then posted with the Special Operation Group had asked him to take Mohammad, another accused to Delhi, rent an accommodation and buy a car for him. He claimed that it was Singh who had introduced him to Mohammad. The police did not pay heed to Afzal Gurus allegations and no probe was set up against Singh as he continued to remain in service. Guru also alleged that he was tortured by Singh and forced to pay money to police officers. In a report published by Scroll.in, Davinder Singh in an interview to journalist Parvaiz Bukhari had admitted that he tortured Guru in custody for several days and that he did not lodge an FIR of his arrest. Singhs 2017 encounter in Pulwama won him a state gallantry medal, though Congress, time and again, has raised questions over police officers credentials. From May 2017 to August 8, 2018, Singh was posted in Pulwama. The Congress has also alleged Singhs involvement in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. The party also asserted that he was only a pawn in a bigger conspiracy. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty In public, President Donald Trump has fixated on mocking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as crazy and has focused on assuring supporters of how badly hed crush the left-wing senator in a general election and protect them from Sanders creeping socialism. In private, Trump has often expressed different worries about the 2020 candidate. In the past two months, the president has repeatedly asked advisers, in and out of the White House, about how Sanders polls, or would likely perform, in critical battleground states, specifically Pennsylvania, according to two people whove independently heard him ask about it. At times, Trump has asked about Sanders prospects even in the absence of a current public or internal poll on the matter. Its hardly the first time Trump has talked to his friends and top lieutenants about Sanders potential formidability heading into an election year. As The Daily Beast reported last year, Trump had on multiple occasions told longtime associates and Republican donors that running against socialism in 2020 may not be so easy due to its populist appeal. At a private event with donors late last year, the president said, according to a source in the room, that you can have someone who loves Trump, but many people love free stuff, too, adding that if Sanders or other socialist candidates promise U.S. votersparticularly young votersthat they will cancel their debt, thats a tough one [to run against]. But at Tuesday nights rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the president stuck to the crowd-pleasers when it came to Sanders. Bernie is surging, Bernie is surging, Trump said, eliciting lusty boos from the audience. In several recent surveys, including a Des Moines Register poll, one of the few released out of the first caucus state in the lead-up to the Feb. 3 event, Sanders came out on top. In New Hampshire, hes been a leading neighboring state contender for weeks. Trump also couldnt resist referencing Sen. Elizabeth Warrens (D-MA) claim this week that Sanders told her a woman couldnt defeat Trump in 2020. Story continues I dont believe that Bernie said that, said Trump. The Sanders campaign has long had their candidate polling ahead of Trump. According to data from an internal April 2019 poll obtained by The Daily Beast, the last time the campaign said they tested in Pennsylvania, the senator was winning in the state by 8 points at 51 percent to Trumps 43 percent. That lead has dwindled over time, and now according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, is just under 4 percent, half of the lead former Vice President Joe Biden enjoys over the president, according to the same average. Still, those numbers havent diminished Trumps concerns about the senator. Trumps team has repeatedly declined to share their internal polling data with reporters and the public. Indeed, the president instructed his aides last year to tell reporters that his campaigns internal numbers didnt show him polling behind Biden in critical stateseven though that same internal polling had him trailing Biden, then the clear national Democratic frontrunner. Still, taken together, Sanders top aides and outside surrogates still believe the durability of his figures, and his recent traction in the Democratic primary, can help poke holes in Trumps electability argument, portraying him as dishonest, especially to workers best interests. Trumps senior staff is, of course, reliably projecting calm at the thought of running against Team Bernie. We have no preference among the Democrat candidates because President Trump would beat any of them handily, said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Trumps re-election campaign. Over the last year, the campaign has engaged various Democrats when the opportunities have presented themselves. In Sanders case, his surge in the polls coincided with his emergence as the chief apologist for the Iranian regime. We needed to point out that he would be dangerous as president since he made clear he would appease terrorists and terror-sponsoring nations. Still, no one in Sanders-world interviewed by The Daily Beast said they were surprised that Trump has been privately expressing concerns about the appeal of Sanders and the senators brand of Democratic socialism, particularly in several states he won. Ive always thought he would be obsessed with the senator, Nina Turner, a senior Sanders adviser and his campaigns national co-chair, told The Daily Beast about Trump. He knows that he is the true progressive and the right person to go up against his faux populism. Sanders communications director Mike Casca put it another way: They should be very worried. Others in Sanders circle point to his strength with working class voters, in part, who first voted for him in 2016 and swung to Trump in the general election. Multiple sources said they have worked to expand that base of support in the 2020 cycle. Bernies appeal, Jim Zogby, a national surrogate for Sanders, said, is to multi-ethnic and white working-class voters across the board. That is the crowd that the [Democratic] Party handed to Trump on a platter and Bernie is in effect saying, Thank you, Ill take that. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 14:58 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32240c24 1 SE Asia Philippines,#Philippines,Manila,#Manila,Taal-volcano,#Taal-volcano,volcanic-eruption,#volcanic-eruption,Indonesians,#Indonesians Free The Indonesian Embassy in Manila has opened its doors to provide refuge to 76 citizens, three days after Mount Taal erupted on Sunday in the Philippine province of Batangas. All are healthy, Judha Nugraha, the Foreign Ministrys director for the protection of citizens, said in a statement on Wednesday. The embassy said local authorities were still restoring water and power to several areas near the volcano. We advise caution for all Indonesian citizens. In [the event of] an emergency, please call the embassy as soon as possible, Judha added. Located 82 kilometers southwest of the Philippine capital, the 311-meter-tall volcano spewed columns of ash and steam on Jan. 12, which prompted thousands to be evacuated and aviation officials to temporarily halt flights at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The eruption has also triggered at least 75 earthquakes and disrupted the nations financial market. Nearly 44,000 people have fled the 14-kilometer danger zone around Mt. Taal, with volcanologists warning that a devastating eruption could rain rocks and magma on the area and generate a tsunami in the crater lake surrounding the volcano, Reuters reported. Officials have said that the Philippine government would declare the volcanic island no man's land following the eruption, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. At a situation briefing on Tuesday evening, Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte had approved the recommendation to bar human settlements on the island. Mt. Taal last erupted in 1977, and has recorded at least 34 eruptions over 450 years. NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following roundup is a collection of stories dealing with the CES 2020 conference and is appropriate for special sections and for general use. For each story included in this package, you will find the first paragraph of the release below, as well as its headline linked to the full text. This is the latest in a series of event-related roundups PRN will carry as part of its regular Cision Roundup News Service. Coming up in 2020 are roundups on: Package Name Slug Distribution Date MWC Barcelona 2020 I MWC Barcelona 2020 I Feb. 24 MWC Barcelona 2020 II MWC Barcelona Mar. 4 HIMSS 2020 I HIMSS 2020 I Mar. 9 HIMSS 2020 II HIMSS Mar. 18 InfoComm 2020 I InfoComm 2020 I June 12 CES 2020 II Cision Roundup 1. UL Announces GE Appliances as First Household Appliance Brand to Test Connected Consumer Devices with New IoT Security Rating LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UL, a leading global safety science company, today announced at CES that GE Appliances is the world's first household appliance brand to test its connected products against UL's IoT Security Rating assessment. 2. HiMirror, Global Beauty Tech Leader, to Showcase Latest Innovations at CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HiMirror, pioneering beauty tech brand, is thrilled to announce their unveiling of the HiMirror Slide at Consumer Electronics Show 2020 in Las Vegas. 3. DroneInch Introduces Industry's First Carrier-Class Drone Operations Management Platform FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DroneInch, Inc. today announced DroneInch 2.0, the industry's first carrier-class drone operations management platform. Unique features include remote and compliant flight planning, carrier-class operations, multi-stakeholder workflows, and flexible pricing models. The software works across a range of DJI consumer, professional and enterprise thermal drones (Spark, Mavic, Phantom, Inspire and Matrice series). The system can be seen at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas at Eureka Park in the Sands Pavilion, Hall G, Booth # 51107. DroneInch 2.0 is available immediately from the Apple App Store. 4. Panasonic Receives UL's First E-Bike Electrical System Safety Certification NORTHBROOK, Ill., Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UL, a leading safety science company, announced today that an e-bike was certified to a new North American safety Standard, UL 2849, the Standard for Electrical Systems for eBikes. 5. Sony Highlights its Evolution as a "Creative Entertainment Company with a Solid Foundation of Technology" at CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Corporation ("Sony") will exhibit at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, held from Tuesday, January 7 (local time). 6. truMedic to Reinvent Massage Therapy Tech Industry at CES 2020 KINGS PARK, N.Y., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New York-based massage and pain relief technology company, truMedic , which earned critical acclaim for its InstaShiatsu+ line of personal massagers, today announces its launch of a range of disruptive new designs at CES. From percussive therapy to redesigned personal massagers, the patent pending line defines a disruptive new standard for possibility in pain relief and recovery creating a new "world beyond relief." Following the recent announcement of the truMedic MagicHands truShiatsu Neck and Back Massager selection as one of Oprah's Favorite Things in 2019 the brand's second year in a row being among the esteemed brands selected to the list, truMedic has reimagined the personal massage products category. As seen on "Tamron Hall," "The View," "Good Morning America," "The Doctors," People Magazine and more, the brand is at the forefront of the attention in the pain relief category. 7. Green Hills Software Delivers Safety and Security for Mahindra Racing's All-Electric Formula E Race Car LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 -- Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security, is showcasing at CES 2020 the all-electric Formula E race car from Mahindra Racing that relies on the safe and secure INTEGRITY RTOS and optimized development tools from Green Hills Software. The multi-year partnership is fueling Mahindra's strategic Race to Road initiative a plan to win races with innovative electric vehicle technology and easily transfer it to production road vehicles. The rigors of racing and its inherent competitive pressure demand a software platform with the highest efficiency, safety and security, while the software teams require development tools that help them be more productive and decrease the time to develop new software. Finally, the software platform must be scalable and flexible so as to be reused off the racetrack on electric passenger and commercial vehicles. 8. Green Hills Software and NXP Team Up on Safe and Secure Platform for Vehicle Networking LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 -- Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security, today announced it has expanded its Green Hills Platform for Secure Gateway to include the new S32G Vehicle Network Processor from NXP Semiconductors. The platform combines the newly-announced and segment-defining S32G Vehicle Network Processor with Green Hills Software products and services which include: ASIL-certified INTEGRITY real-time operating system (RTOS), INTEGRITY Multivisor secure virtualization and integrated MULTI development suite. The platform enables global carmakers and their suppliers to add new levels of safe and secure performance while mixing applications with differing ASIL certification levels, including open source environments such as Linux, to power the next generation of central gateways and domain controllers in production vehicle programs. 9. Green Hills Software and RTI Collaborate on High Performance, Safe and Secure Automotive-Grade Connectivity LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 -- Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security, and Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity company, today announced their collaboration in the automotive industry with a demonstration of safe and secure connectivity solutions for critical embedded systems. The partnership brings together the safe and secure real-time operating system INTEGRITY from Green Hills, with the robust Connext DDS connectivity framework from RTI. Applications running on INTEGRITY can now communicate to other software environments such as ROS and Adaptive AUTOSAR using the standards-based Data Distribution Service (DDS) framework. The combined solution gives system architects a trusted real-time software foundation to build intelligent distributed systems that achieve the highest levels of safety and security in applications such as autonomous vehicles, avionics and transportation. 10. INTEGRITY Security Services Misbehavior Authority Service (MAS) Completes Operational Testing LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 -- INTEGRITY Security Services (ISS) today announced the successful operational testing of the ISS Misbehavior Authority Service (MAS) with its partners Noblis, Qualcomm, Savari and Siemens Mobility at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. Noblis provided overall project coordination. Qualcomm provided a new Aerolink misbehavior detection and reporting library, and Savari and Siemens provided On-board Units (OBUs) and Roadside Units (RSUs) respectively. These tests conclusively demonstrated the ability for both OBUs and RSUs, in a real world environment, to detect misbehavior events in the V2X ecosystem, report them to the ISS MAS, and receive a certificate revocation list (CRL) which removes the misbehaving device from the ecosystem. 11. Polysync introduces Prism, the most powerful vehicle interface platform for autonomous mobility solutions LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 -- Polysync Technologies, a leading developer of driverless vehicle technologies, today announced the introduction of Prism, its flagship vehicle interface platform. Prism is specifically designed to enable OEMs and AV industry partners to easily and safely interface with a wide range of vehicles and vehicle types, dramatically reduce development costs, and accelerate their time to market. 12. At CES, Coolpad Showcases Upcoming 5G Device, Dyno 2 and New Features on FamilyLabs App LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global consumer electronics company Coolpad, today announced that it will be sharing a preview of its future 5G smartphone, Dyno 2 Smartwatch and new feature updates from FamilyLabs at CES 2020. 13. ANDE Corporation Is Honored with CES 2020 Innovation Award WALTHAM, Mass. and LONGMONT, Colo., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ANDE Corporation (https://www.ande.com/), the global leader in Rapid DNA Human Identification, today announced it is starting the new year off as the recipient of a distinguished CES 2020 Innovation Award in the "Tech for a Better World" category. CES is showcasing the honorees at its annual conference this week in Las Vegas, NV. 14. PopSockets Announces New Product Launch: PopPower Home Charger, Powered by NuCurrent at the Consumer Electronics Show LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer Electronics Show -- PopSockets is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest lifestyle technology product, the PopPower Home Charger, at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. The best-performing Qi-certified wireless charger on the market, PopPower uses technology developed by NuCurrent, the leader in wireless power innovation. PopPower is designed to optimize charging with a PopGrip on your phone, and is the only charger on the market that is capable of charging through both a PopGrip and a thick phone case. The recessed center perfectly aligns with your grip for fast, simple, charging and comes in three chic styles - Matte White, Mountainscape and Cosmic Cloud. 15. At CES 2020, AARP Showcases Age-Tech and the Market Potential of Consumers Age 50-Plus WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP will showcase innovation in age-tech and highlight opportunities created by the growing age 50-plus market at booth #41131 in the Sands at CES 2020. 16. Vesper Microphones Power Smart Home Fire Safety Device, LifeDoor BOSTON, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesper, a leading provider of intelligent sensors, today announced that its ZeroPower Listening microphones were chosen to bring extended battery life and durability to the lifesaving fire safety devices from LifeDoor. Founded and funded by firefighters, LifeDoor has pioneered an entirely new class of home safety product that protects people and property in the event of a fire. The brands will demonstrate the technology at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), taking place in Las Vegas this week. 17. Clario Introduced at CES 2020: A New Way for Anyone to Fight Cybercrime LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Forget what you know about cybersecurity. Clario Tech Ltd (https://clario.co/), a newly formed digital privacy and security company, today announces a bold new approach to the mounting $6 trillion cybercrime crisis. 18. Wooptix showing the first ever single lens light field camera at CES 2020 in Las Vegas LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wooptix, a small Intel Capital portfolio company specializing in advanced imaging technology, will be at CES in Eureka park in the Tech West Sands expo hall booth 53352 presenting the first ever single lens light field camera capable of capturing light field video in real time. With no loss of resolution, Wooptix can generate a depth map directly from the light field video enabling live 3D video. Light field capturing allows the user to generate an all-in-focus video frame or select focus within each video frame after the video has been acquired. Cinematographers can take advantage of the depth information associated with each pixel, making green screens a part of the past. Additionally, the special effect cinematography team can even replace individual pixels in the foreground. 19. Tanvas Releases Desktop Development Kit for Production-Ready Surface Haptic Creation CHICAGO, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanvas, Inc. (https://tanvas.co), pioneers of the next generation of multi-touch haptic technology, announce the general availability of the TanvasTouch Desktop Development Kit. TanvasTouch surface haptics enable textures and haptic effects to be defined by software and felt with the swipe of a finger on touch-enabled surfaces. 20. Innolux Corporation and Tanvas Partner to Deliver TanvasTouch Surface Haptics in an Automotive-Qualified Display CHICAGO, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanvas, Inc. ( https://tanvas.co ), pioneers of the next generation of multi-touch haptic technology, have partnered with Innolux Corporation (http://www.innolux-automotive.com). The companies will produce a 15" automotive-qualified touch display using TanvasTouch, programmable textures and haptic effects on smooth, physical surfaces. 21. ASICS Opens Doors To Innovation Labs At CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ASICS takes its science out of the lab and showcases the technology behind their ground-breaking innovations at CES 2020 with the ASICS Energy Research Lab. This booth lifts the curtain on the work done by the world-renown researchers of the ASICS Institute of Sport Science (ISS), bringing their lab into the real world and demonstrating how technology can help us run further, faster and easier. 22. Aptiv Unveils Smart Vehicle Architecture at CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aptiv PLC (NYSE: APTV), a leading technology company committed to making mobility safer, greener, and more connected, unveiled today a modern, sustainable vehicle architecture that enables automakers to improve safety, increase vehicle efficiency, and deliver the intelligently connected, software-defined experiences consumers want. 23. CES 2020: SK hynix Displays its Semiconductor Technologies Leading the 4th Industrial Revolution SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SK hynix Inc. (or "the Company," www.skhynix.com) presents its innovative semiconductor technologies leading the 4th Industrial Revolution at CES 2020, the world's largest trade show for IT and consumer electronics in Las Vegas, USA, from January 7-10, 2020. 24. Haier Defines the Future of Smart Homes at CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Haier Group (600690: Shanghai), China's largest consumer electronics and home appliance producer, ushered in next-generation living with its revolutionary smart home experiences ecosystem at the CES 2020 Haier booth in Las Vegas, Nevada. Haier's visionary look at the future draws upon more than 40 products across Haier's portfolio of brands, allowing for infinite customization based on user scenarios. 25. Kohler's Numi 2.0 Intelligent Toilet Named as CES 2020 Innovation Awards Honoree KOHLER, Wis., Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kohler Co., a global leader in the design and innovation of kitchen and bath products, announced that the Numi 2.0 Intelligent Toilet has been recognized among CES 2020 Innovation Awards Honorees in the smart home category. Products recognized as the honorees scored above the threshold set for their respective product categories. Numi 2.0 Intelligent Toilet joins Kohler's other recipient products, Verdera Voice lighted mirror with Amazon Alexa (2018 Innovation Honoree) and Sensate Touchless Kitchen Faucet with KOHLER Konnect (2019 Best Of Innovation), marking 2020's recognition the global brand's third consecutive win at CES. 26. CJ 4DPLEX Successfully Launches the Future of Cinema at CES 2020 LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CJ 4DPLEX, the world's leading cinema technology company, successfully debuted at CES 2020 - The Global Stage for Innovation - proving the changing trend of cinema-going from simply 'watching' to 'experiencing.' 27. SIMCom Shines at International Consumer Electronics Show 2020, Las Vegas LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 7, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 kick off in Las Vegas, and attracted numerous exhibitors and visitors by a wide range of diverse exhibits. As the global leading Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless modules and solutions supplier, SIMCom has come with full sincerity and many products. 28. BOE exhibits a galaxy of innovative display technologies at CES 2020 LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2020 opened on January 7 as expected in Las Vegas, the United States. Well-known consumer electronics companies from across the world showcased their latest technologies and products on this international stage. Among them, BOE presented its 8K, Mini LED, BD Cell, BOE iGallery and other eye-opening display technologies and products and was awarded the 2019-2020 Top 10 CE Brands. 29. CJ 4DPLEX Successfully Wraps CES 2020 LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CJ 4DPLEX, the world's leading cinema technology company, stunned convention attendees at CES 2020 - The Global Stage for Innovation - presenting its latest '4DX Screen' auditorium, an innovative theatre system converging two ground-breaking cinema formats, 4DX and ScreenX, along with introducing a mobile AR game created with the latest in cutting-edge computer vision technology. 30. TECNO Mobile Consolidating Its Collaboration with Google at CES 2020 SHANGHAI, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global premier mobile phone brand TECNO Mobile brought its latest Camon 12 Pro Smartphone, powered by Google's Android 9 Pie operating system and equipped with the Google Assistant Button, to CES 2020. If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, or if you would care to comment, please email [email protected]. We welcome suggestions. Copies of previous packages will be available for the media. Cision roundups and photos are also available on the PR Newswire Web site. Photos that accompany releases are available for download from PRNewswire.com. SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-14 10:12:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Sibusiuso Moyo, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Jan. 12, 2020. (Photo by Chen Yaqin/Xinhua) "In the period of development and construction, we joined together again and made progress hand in hand, and became good partners for mutual benefit and win-win progress," said Wang Yi. HARARE, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday there are three reasons for Africa being the destination of all Chinese foreign ministers' first overseas visit each year over the past three decades. Speaking at a press conference with Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Sibusiso Moyo in Harare, Wang said the tradition is a unique practice in international diplomacy and China has been staying true to its original aspiration. First of all, this is based on the special feelings of friendship from generation to generation and sharing weal and woe between China and Africa, Wang said. China-Africa friendship has a long history, the foreign minister noted. Especially in modern times, the two sides fought together for national independence and liberation, shared weal and woe, supported each other, formed a brotherly friendship, and became each other's trusted good friend, he said. "In the period of development and construction, we joined together again and made progress hand in hand, and became good partners for mutual benefit and win-win progress," he said. Workers from China and Zimbabwe work on the construction site of Zimbabwe's new Parliament building in Mount Hampden, Zimbabwe, on April 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Yaqin) Wang said that for decades, no matter how the international circumstances have changed, the friendship between China and Africa has become even stronger, and the torch has been handed down on and on. China-Africa relations have stood the test of time, eliminated disturbances, and become a model for international relations and South-South cooperation, he added. Second, Wang said, the tradition is based on the realistic needs of deepening cooperation and common development between China and Africa. China is the largest developing country, and Africa is the continent where most developing countries are concentrated. "We are natural partners with complementary advantages and have unlimited cooperation space and potential," Wang said. In recent years, the achievements of China-Africa cooperation include the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, reaching consensus on building a community with a shared future, the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and China-Africa pilot projects for production capacity cooperation, all of which have brought ground-breaking influence on China-Africa relations, and helped bring China-Africa cooperation into a new era, he said. Aerial photo taken on May 10, 2018 shows the Chinese-built Maputo Bridge in Maputo, Mozambique. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) China is full of confidence in the prospects of Africa's development and the future of China-Africa cooperation, and will push China-Africa cooperation to the frontline of international cooperation with Africa. The third reason, said Wang, is the important mission of strengthening international cooperation and safeguarding common interests between China and Africa. The world is becoming less peaceful especially in recent years, as unilateralism and power politics have prevailed and the Cold War mentality has resurged, Wang noted, adding that developing countries, including African nations, have suffered greatly from this. There is an urgent need to strengthen communication and coordination between China and Africa, demonstrate the power of solidarity and make a joint voice in order to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Chinese and African people to oppose external interference, pursue fairness and justice, and lead a better life. GREENWICH Registrars of voters are hoping voters buck history in Tuesdays special election, and turn out in high numbers to pick the next representative in the state 151st state House District. According to registrars rolls, there are 14,879 registered voters in the 151st District, where Republican Harry Arora and Democrat Cheryl Moss are running to succeed Fred Camillo, a Republican who resigned from the legislature in December after he was sworn in as first selectman. It is the largest district in town in terms of registered voters, with 40 percent. The 150th District has 35 percent of the towns registered voters and the 149th, which also includes a part of Stamford, has 25 percent. Voter turnout for special elections in Connecticut typically maxes out at about 20 percent, but registrars are hoping that the relatively high turnout for municipal elections in November indicates Greenwich voters will do better Tuesday. I think voter engagement has been pretty high in Greenwich which makes this (election) unpredictable, Democratic Registrar Mary Hegarty said. Normally in a special election I would expect the turnout to be extremely low but Greenwich may defy those odds. Republican Registrar Fred DeCaro III added, I think there was a lot of voter engagement in November and that can add a few points. But I wish it added more. I am optimistic our turnout is going to be higher than most special elections, I just dont know if were ever going to see the numbers that Mary and I would like to see, which of course is everyone voting. Only registered voters in the district will be able to vote Tuesday. Politically, they break down as 5,052 registered Republicans, 4,060 registered Democrats and 5,495 people registered as unaffiliated. Tuesday was the last day for people to register to vote in town before the special election, but there are exemptions. Those who just moved to town or are turning 18 can register by 4 p.m. on Friday. The Moss and Arora campaigns made heavy pushes to get college kids home on break to cast absentee ballots. Voters must get absentee ballots in before Jan. 21, which this year means Saturday because Monday is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The clerks office will be open 8 a.m. to noon o n Saturday. According to Assistant Town Clerk Kimberly Spezzano, there have been 458 absentee ballots issued and 212 have been returned as of the Thursday morning. Eligible voters in the 151st District should go to their normal voting places. But take note, schools will be be open; unlike in general elections, when they are closed. That will have an impact for people voting at Julian Curtiss, Riverside, Old Greenwich, Glenville, North Street and North Mianus schools as well as Central Middle School and Greenwich High School, particularly when it comes to parking. DeCaro recommended people come to vote before 8 a.m. or after 3 p.m. because school will not be in session during those hours. But if they do come at other times, he urged patience. People should not be discouraged if they dont immediately see a parking space, DeCaro said. This is a very quick ballot and people should be in and out. If you are unsure if you are eligible to vote in the special election, or do not know where your polling place is, visit www.greenwichct.gov/vote, By entering a name and date of birth, residents can find out whether they are in the 151st District and where their polling place is located. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Human Rights Watch report highlights abuses against Uighur minorities, activists in Hong Kong and warns of global risks. The United States-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the international community to push back against the most brutal and pervasive oppression China has seen in decades as it released its annual report on the situation of human rights across the world. The report featured a prominent section on China, condemning its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region and detailing alleged rights abuses in Hong Kong. It also warns that Chinas growing political influence and efforts to censor people abroad pose an existential threat to the international human rights system. If not challenged, Beijings actions portend a dystopian future in which no one is beyond the reach of Chinese censors, and an international human rights system so weakened that it no longer serves as a check on government repression, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the human rights watchdog group. On Sunday, Roth was denied entry to Hong Kong where he had planned to launch the report. China last month announced sanctions on HRW and other US nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) as a countermeasure to the US Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which supports anti-government protests in Hong Kong and threatens China with sanctions for human rights abuses. Beijing says the NGOs are encouraging violent crime linked to anti-government protests in Hong Kong that have plagued the city for more than six months. Roth has rejected the accusation. Chinese state media has also broadly blamed fake news and Western interference for the landslide victories of pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Surveillance state The HRW report, released at the United Nations on Tuesday, also accused Hong Kong police of using excessive force and have increasingly restricted freedom of assembly there. It criticised Hong Kongs pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam for refusing to launch an independent investigation into police abuses. Roth also described a range of atrocities being perpetrated by Beijing against the Uighurs, the Turkic-Muslim group in Chinas far-western Xinjiang region. According to Roth, Beijings crackdowns on Uighurs and protesters in Hong Kong are enabled by its construction of a vast surveillance state. He urged foreign leaders and international organisations to put more pressure on Chinas government. The United Nations estimates that at least one million Uighurs have been previously detained in Xinjiang [Al Jazeera] Beijing has long suppressed domestic critics, said Roth. Now the Chinese government is trying to extend that censorship to the rest of the world. Beijing has previously criticised Human Rights Watch over its investigations on surveillance technology and re-education camps in Xinjiang. The United Nations estimates that at least one million Uighurs have been previously detained in Xinjiang. Other estimates put the number at two million. Beijing denies any mistreatment of Uighurs or others in Xinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out religious violence and attempt at secession and to teach new skills. China has always been sensitive to rights allegations, but in the past year it has become increasingly forceful in rebuking criticisms, which have periodically threatened to derail trade negotiations with the United States. When it came to countering China on human rights, Roth said several important governments have been missing in action. (US President Donald) Trump has lost credibility because he so often embraces friendly autocrats, rather than defend the human rights standards that they flout, Roth said. Meanwhile, the European Union has been diverted by Brexit and is divided over migration, he added. Chinese diplomat Xing Jisheng addressed reporters at the end of the news conference, saying China totally rejected the HRW report as prejudiced and fabricated. Hong Kong is a part of China, so given what you said here, I think it is clear to all why you have been barred such entry, Xing told Roth. The 652-page World Report 2020 also details rights abuses in Syria, Yemen and North Korea. Since 2012, when we pulled troops out of Iraq, the war on terror has been placed on a far back burner for most of us. In fact, we probably give little or no thought to the dangers of this unfinished war, until we get the kind of news that came out of the Defense Department this weekend. Robinson was former state command sergeant major for both the Army and Air branches of the Illinois National Guard, retiring in 2013. During his more than three decades with the guard he was involved in the training of thousands of soldiers, he said. The United States and China have not reached an agreement on reducing tariffs in the future although the two countries signed their landmark Phase One trade deal on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement, Trend reports citing Sputnik. "There are no other oral or written agreements between the United States and China on these matters, and there is no agreement for future reduction in tariffs," the statement said, quoted by Business Insider. On Wednesday, Trump and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He are scheduled to sign at the White House the 86-page Phase One trade agreement. At last count, the Trump administration had imposed tariffs on $550 billion worth of Chinese products, while China had imposed tariffs on $185 billion worth of US goods. Mnuchin and Lighthizer said in the statement that the details of the Phase One trade agreement would be made public at Wednesdays signing ceremony. The only component of the agreement that will not be made public is a confidential annex with specific purchase amounts, they said, because it could influence market behavior. US media reported earlier that the United States could lower some tariffs if China was found to be in compliance with the terms of the Phase One trade agreement. The White House, Treasury Department and US Trade Representatives Office declined to confirm whether a review has been set for the fall, the statement said. As part of the Phase-One trade agreement, China will tighten intellectual property rules, increase agricultural purchases and open up its financial sector. In return, the Trump administration agreed to cut a 15 percent tariff rate in half for $110 billion worth of products targeted in September, as well as delay planned escalations. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, on Sept. 25, 2019. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri) Australian Prime Minister Intervened on US Tourism Alert Amid Bushfires Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has praised the White House for revising a warning for travelers to Australia. The United States is one of the top source countries for tourists to Australia, along with China and New Zealand. But last week the State Department published a warning saying tourists should exercise increased caution when flying down under. The advice has now been changed to exercise normal precautions. Morrison thanked U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their urgent intervention in the travel warning. Thats one that particularly needed my intervention and I was very happy to do that, Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. Morrison said whether Australia had the capacity to welcome tourists due to the bushfires had frequently come up in conversation with world leaders. A burning gum tree is felled to stop it from falling on a car in Corbago, as bushfires continue in New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 5, 2020. (Reuters/Tracey Nearmy) Theres a bit of a misconception overseas that the entire continent has been affected, Morrison said. You can still go swimming on the reef, and still be visiting Kakadu. He said Australian embassies and Tourism Australia were actively involved in briefing foreign governments on travel advice for Australia. The federal government will meet with Australian tourism operators on Friday to discuss what can be done to help them. The Australian Tourism Industry Council welcomed the prime ministers intervention, saying it was necessary. Executive director Simon Westaway said the perception abroad was most of the country was inaccessible or impacted by fires. Brand Australia has taken a hit, Westaway told AAP. Its just been very difficult to have a consistent narrative on us being open for business. Westaway said Fridays meeting should not only review the direct impact of the fires on tourism, but also secondary impacts, like regions that rely on travelers passing through for cash flow. We need to look at all the different levers to get stimulus going, he said. The NSW government announced the main road from Canberra to the NSW south coast will reopen on Tuesday, encouraging tourists to visit the area. By Finbar OMallon House Dems Release New Documents to Transmit to Senate Alongside Trump Impeachment Articles House Democrats released new documents they plan to submit to the Senate as evidence alongside the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, four Democratic House committee leadersJudiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.)provided additional documents to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. They said in a statement that the documents are additional evidence to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment. The documents include phone records as well as other materials including texts and flash drives (pdf1, pdf2) that were handed over to the House Intelligence Committee by Lev Parnasa businessman linked to former New York Mayor Rudy Giulianiin compliance with a subpoena that he and another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, were served on Oct. 10, 2019. The House chairs said they will not be making the phone records public as they contain sensitive personal information. The four House chairs added that they have continued to collect additional evidence so that the House impeachment managers can present to the Senate the most complete factual record possible. Part of the documents are communications that Parnas had with GiulianiTrumps personal attorneyand another attorney, Victoria Toensing, about the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was at the time the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Giuliani earlier alleged that Yovanovitch blocked efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, according to The Wall Street Journal. Also among the documents is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says get Zalensky [sic] to Annonce [sic] that the Biden case will be Investigated, and start commun[icating] with Zalensky [sic] without (Pinchuk or Kolomoisky). Democrats said in an accompanying letter (pdf) to the documents that Parnass attorney said that Parnas wrote the notes. The release of documents comes after a federal judge earlier this month said that Parnas could provide materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. The majority-Democrat House of Representatives formally charged Trump on Dec. 18, approving two articles of impeachment (pdf) for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senates trial on the impeachment charges has not begun because the House has yet to pass the two impeachment articles to the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the trial will likely start next week, and House Democrats said theyd vote on sending the articles over on Wednesday. Parnas and Fruman were arrested by federal authorities at Dulles airport in Virginia before a planned flight to Vienna on Oct. 9 and were later charged with conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. Two other people were charged in the indictment, according to court documents (pdf). The two Giuliani associates were also each charged with one count of false statements and one of falsification of business records. A separate charge alleges the four defendants colluded with a Ukrainian national as part of a business venture to create a recreational marijuana company. Parnas and Fruman reportedly helped Giuliani in his efforts to investigate the origin of the Russia investigation. The two men are the subjects of an extensive report cited four times in the whistleblower complaint that triggered the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against Trump. The report, produced by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a group funded by billionaire financier George Soros, details meetings and communications between Parnas, Fruman, and Ukrainian nationals. The OCCRP published the report on July 22, four days after Trump ordered a hold be placed on military aid to Ukraine. None of the charges Parnas and Fruman faced are related to the Ukrainian work they allegedly did on behalf of Giuliani. One of the allegations appears to refer to their efforts to lobby for the removal of Yovanovitch as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The whistleblowers complaint refers to Yovanovitchs removal but makes no mention of Fruman, Parnas, or Giuliani in connection to the firing. In a letter (pdf) accompanying the subpoenas on Oct. 10, 2019, House chairs said that the Committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding a White House meeting with the President of Ukraine and military assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression, as well as any efforts to cover up these matters. Democrats push to impeach Trump revolves around his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump asked his counterpart to look into allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Trump also asked Zelensky to probe CrowdStrike, a firm that investigated a potential breach into the Democratic National Committees computer systems. Democrats alleged that Trump misused his office by allegedly withholding nearly $400 million from Ukraine and floated its release as a quid pro quo for investigations into the Bidens, saying that the request was improper because Joe Biden is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Zelensky said in October 2019 that the military aid that the Trump administration froze as it reviewed the funds over concerns of corruption in Ukraine was never linked to Trumps requests in the July phone call. Trump said it was his duty to investigate corruption in a country that was receiving military aid from the United States. Trump told reporters in early October 2019 that he had blocked the aid to Ukraine because of high levels of corruption in the country, and to push European partners to shoulder a greater share of security assistance. In November, Trumps reelection campaign tweeted a letter between Trump and Zelensky, saying that a visit was offered to the White House without any strings attached. Janita Kan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Wife of Lesothos Prime Minister, Maesaiah Thabane has been declared wanted by the police for her connection in the Killing of her husbands second wife in 2017. This is coming after a Lesotho court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Maesaiah Thabane, to shed light into ongoing investigations about the murder of her husbands former wife, Lipolelo Thabane. Armed police, who went to search for her at the official residence of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane on Friday, did not find her there. Government spokesperson Nthakeng Selinyane has told the BBCs Focus on Africa programme that the police are ready to ask for international help to find her. The prime minister has also failed to answer police questions, he added. Lipolelo Thabane was shot dead while travelling home with a friend, two days before the inauguration of her husband, Thomas Thabane as the prime minister of the country. Before her death, the two women were involved in a legal battle over who should be the first lady, despite the fact that Thomas had not yet married Maesaiah. Lesothos Police chief, Holomo Molibeli has alleged in court papers that a mobile number belonging to the prime minister was called from the site of her murder, linking him to the killing. In the court documents which was made public this week, Molibeli asked the prime minister to answer questions regarding his estranged wifes killing. Thomas Thabane subsequently tried to suspend him but went back on his decision this week, after Molibeli challenged it in court. At the time his first wife was killed, Thomas Thabane was embroiled in bitter divorce battle with her. Thomas Thabane described his estranged wifes killing as senseless in his inaugural speech as prime minister in June 2017. He was accompanied to the ceremony by Maesaiah Thabane. A priest married the couple (Thomas and Maesaiah Thabane) about two months later at a public ceremony at a stadium in the capital, Maseru. The couple have not yet commented on a the murder case that has caused much intrigue. Lesothos ruling party has urged Thabane to resign over the allegations, calling him a threat to the nation. As-yet-unnamed Spider-Man movie Tom Hollands role in the MCU seemed all but ended after Marvel and Sony failed to come to a new agreement over future films over the summer. However, it has been confirmed that his incarnation of Spidey will be back for a third film in 2021. "I am thrilled that Spidey's journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it," Feige said in a statement. "Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold." Its still early days and further details have yet to be announced, but the fact that hes still involved in the MCU is fantastic news for fans. New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party (AAP), which on Tuesday released the list of its candidates for all the 70 constituencies of Delhi, has given the ticket to its MCD councillor Abdul Rehman, who has been named in Seelampur violence case, to contest the upcoming assembly election. Rehman will contest the upcoming assembly election from the Seelampur seat in Delhi. The AAP MCD councillor and former Congress MLA Mateen Ahmed have been named in the FIR filed in connection with the violence during the protest against the Citizenship Act in Seelampur. According to the FIR filed by Delhi Police, the two leaders - Rehman and Ahmed - "provoked crowd" to join the protest. "Protestors gathered at Seelampur T-point and started pelting stones and petrol bottles at the police. At around 2:30 pm, an uncontrolled crowd ascended towards Jafrabad Police Station and people from the nearby streets joined the crowd on provocation by Abdul Rehman," the Delhi Police said in the FIR registered in this connection. It further states that people participating in a bike rally against the newly amended citizenship act, led by former Seelampur MLA Mateen Ahmed, also joined the rioters. Live TV Delhi Police had warned Ahmed not to carry out the rally as it might turn violent due to chaos and widespread confusion among the public about the newly amended law. However, he paid no heed to the warning given by Delhi Police to him. So far, at least 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Seelampur area on December 17. On Tuesday, the AAP released the list of candidates for all the 70 constituencies of Delhi in the upcoming assembly election. The party has repeated 46 sitting MLAs and 15 sitting MLAs have been replaced, 9 seats that were vacant have been given to new candidates. In the 2015 assembly election, 6 women were given tickets by AAP, this time the number has increased to 8. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is contesting from New Delhi seat and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia from Patparganj, Cabinet minister Satyendar Kumar Jain from Shakur Bastia and Atishi Marlena to contest from Kalkaji seat. Clete Willems, who helped negotiate the deal as a White House official, said that there is ample room for China to ramp up its U.S. imports. The deals dollar targets are less important than the changes it requires in Chinese agricultural regulations, which should lead to billions of dollars in new sales for American pork, beef and chicken, he said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys export of cars to Iran dropped by 36.3 percent from January through December 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $138 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend. In turn, in December 2019, export of cars from Turkey to Iran increased 2.2 times compared to December 2018, amounting to $15.2 million. Turkeys export of cars dropped by 3.1 percent in 2019 compared to 2018, amounting to $30.5 billion or 17 percent of Turkeys total export. Export of cars from Turkey increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019 compared to the same month of 2018, amounting to $2.5 billion or 16.5 percent of Turkeys total export. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $33.2 billion in November 2019. In November 2019, Turkeys export increased by 0.1 percent compared to November 2018, amounting to $15.5 billion. In this month, Turkeys import increased by 9.7 percent compared to the same month of 2018, and reached $17.7 billion. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $340.5 billion from January through November 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe on car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures buses of local brands such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Copa Holdings (CPA). This company, which is in the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry, shows potential for another earnings beat. When looking at the last two reports, this holding company for Panama's national airline has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates. The company has topped estimates by 10.17%, on average, in the last two quarters. For the last reported quarter, Copa Holdings came out with earnings of $2.45 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.31 per share, representing a surprise of 6.06%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $1.05 per share and it actually produced earnings of $1.20 per share, delivering a surprise of 14.29%. Price and EPS Surprise Thanks in part to this history, there has been a favorable change in earnings estimates for Copa Holdings lately. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the stock is positive, which is a great indicator of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with its solid Zacks Rank. Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Story continues Copa Holdings currently has an Earnings ESP of +3.33%, which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner. With the Earnings ESP metric, it's important to note that a negative value reduces its predictive power; however, a negative Earnings ESP does not indicate an earnings miss. Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate. Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Imagine being a Democratic primary voter watching Tuesday nights presidential debate. What weve learned in this marathon process is that primary voters care more about choosing a candidate who can beat Donald Trump than the specific policy nuances that differentiate the candidates from one another. Given that, you would think every candidate on stage would turn every single question into an indictment against the president. Seems obvious, but much different in application. Lets be very clear about what is in store for the future Democratic nominee. He or she will be up against a president who is willing to commit impeachable offenses in order to dig up dirt on his opponents. A Republican Party that is willing to use the levers of power to cover up his treachery. Trump and the GOP will use every tool at their disposal to turn this election into a race to the bottom. They will lie. They will try to silence minority voters. They will do anything it takes to win. For voters looking for the candidate who is best equipped to handle the coming GOP onslaught, there were some encouraging moments. Trump isn't going to tell the truth In recent weeks, we have unnecessarily been brought to the brink of war with Iran. Former Vice President Joe Biden made a point to say that he didnt believe Trumps unfounded declaration that four U.S. embassies were under imminent threat of attack in order to justify his assassination of a top Iranian general. Biden also attacked Trump for giving North Korea legitimacy by meeting with and receiving love letters from their supreme leader. The Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. Thirty-five minutes into the debate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota gave a very compelling answer on trade, invoking specific examples of how Iowans have been hurt by Trumps trade war. Addressing the issue of electability and sexism, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts resisted getting into a fight with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to deliver one of the best lines of the entire night: The men on this stage, collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on stage who have won every election they have been in are the women. Story continues Warren also pointed out that shes the only Democrat to defeat an incumbent Republican senator in the past 30 years. Sanders for his part forecast, "The campaign that we are going to run will expose the fraudulency of who Donald Trump is. Donald Trump is corrupt. He is a pathological liar and he is a fraud." Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, had one of the most effective Trump takedowns of the night: Im ready to take on Donald Trump because when he gets to the tough talk and the chest-thumping, hell have to stand next to an America war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to serve. Democrats need to change their debates By and large, the debate was cordial. I doubt it changed anything. Knowing that, maybe its time the Democrats running for president start debating as if Donald Trump were on stage with them. It shouldnt take a moderator prompting the candidates about Trump for them to invoke him, his record, his words, his conduct. The nuanced dialogue were hearing from Democrats about health care, climate change, social justice, foreign policy, etc. will be a thing of the past, as CNN moderator Abby Phillip astutely pointed out in one of the final questions of the night. Yet, as the debate unfolded, I was underwhelmed. The candidates seldom invoked Trump or attacked the hypocrisy of the GOP when the primary voters are desperately looking for the candidate who can best take them on. Kurt Bardella is a member of USA TODAYs Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @kurtbardella You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats need to put Trump at the center of their debates Animal rights activists have claimed to have 'negotiated' the release of a pig from a farm in Northern Ireland. On a Facebook post dated Tuesday 14 January, vegan group Meat the Victims said activists 'risked arrest' when they entered the County Antrim farm. The public Facebook post goes on to claim protestors 'negotiated' the release of a pig from the farm. The group, who have since named the pig 'Connor', said on Facebook: Thanks to the activists who stood in solidarity, risked arrest to capture the truth to share with the world... and refused to leave without some negotiations being met and one being Connors life saved. A spokeswoman for Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed the incident: Police received a report of a protest involving a number of people at a farm in the Cloughmills area around 4:30am this morning. It follows the broadcast of last night's Channel 4 programme 'How to Steal Pigs and Influence People'. The broadcaster received widespread criticism from farmers and industry groups who said the programme would show 'blatant criminal activity' on farms. Mitsubishi Motors, one of Channel 4's sponsors, did not associate itself with the controversial show following pressure from the National Pig Association (NPA). Smoke rises in the distance behind an ISIS flag and banner. (Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty Images) ISIS Claims Responsibility for Killing 89 Nigerian Soldiers in Attack on Army Base An Islamic State-linked group has claimed responsibility for a Jan. 9 attack on Nigers military that left at least 89 Nigerian soldiers dead, according to a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is affiliated to ISIS, said its fighters were responsible for the attack on an army base in the town of Chinagodrar, near the Malian border and about 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of the capital Niamey. After days of silence, it said in a statement its fighters killed 100 soldiers and wounded an unspecified number of others in the raid. Government officials initially reported 25 soldiers dead and a further six others wounded, however the official death toll has since been raised to 89 soldiers dead, making it the most deadly attack of its kind in years in the region. The attack coincides with a campaign by Islamist groups connected to al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists forcing the Nigerian army back from its western frontier with Mali, where government control of the rural center and north has all but evaporated because of the rise of jihadists. The United States aided Nigers army and its other foreign allies in the killing of at least 77 extremists, the government said in a statement issued Sunday, Jan. 12. The militarys response, which included air support, pushed the extremists from Niger, the government said. Three days of national mourning began on Monday. The attack came after last months raid that killed 71 soldiers at another military outpost about 93 miles (150 kilometers) to the west of Chinagodrar, which was at the time believed to be the biggest attack on the Nigerian military. The base was ambushed by around 100 extremists amid a surge of terrorist attacks in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali. In response to the recent wave of attacks on Nigerian soldierswhich has left 174 security force members dead since DecemberNigers president President Mahamadou Issoufou fired the armys chief of staff. Nigers President Mahamadou Issoufou attends the official ceremony at the Diori Hamani International Airport, in Niamey on Dec. 22, 2019. (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) He said in a statement on Monday that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ahmed Mohamed will be replaced by Brig-Gen. Salifou Modi, who was the military attache for Niger in Germany. The Secretary General of the Ministry of National Defense and the Chief of Land Staff were also dismissed. Security has deteriorated this year across the Sahel, a semi-arid strip of land beneath the Sahara, amid jihadist attacks and deadly ethnic reprisals between rival farming and herding communities. The region has been in crisis since 2012, when ethnic Tuareg rebels and loosely aligned jihadists seized the northern two-thirds of Mali, forcing France to intervene the following year to beat them back. The jihadists have since regrouped and expanded their range of influence. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The highly awaited first look motion poster of Kicha Sudeep Starrer Kotigobba 3 has finally arrived. The makers have released the look on the occasion of Makara Sankranti holiday. The first look motion poster boasts of a powerful tagline that says 'The lion is back and roars again. The Sandalwood superstar is clearly ready to set the silver screens on fire. Sudeeps look has managed to create a lot of excitement amongst fans. The uber-stylish motion poster has been receiving a lot of love and appreciation by netizens on social media. The highly anticipated sequel is heading towards its final stages of the shooting process. The makers are now left with one more song sequence to be shot. However, the post-production work has already commenced for the film. The franchise took off from the Vishvuvardhan starrer yesteryear classic Kotigobba that released in 1995, which was followed Kotigobba 2 that released in 2016. The third installment of the Kotigobba franchise has been penned by Sudeep himself. The highly anticipated Sandalwood biggie marks the directorial debut of Shiva Karthik and has been produced by Surappa Babu. Presented by Rockline Venkatesh, the movie has been shot in a number of exotic locations in Serbia, Thailand, and Malaysia. The film also marks the Kannada film debut of actors Madonna Sebastian and Aftab Shivadasani. The action entertainer also stars Shraddha Das, Ravi Shankar and Tabla Nani in pivotal roles. The music for the film has been composed by Arjun Janya. The movie, in all likelihood, will release in the summer of 2020. However, an official announcement regarding the same has not yet been made by the team. ALSO READ: Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7: Sudeep Reveals To Housemates About 'No Elimination Week' ALSO READ: Kichcha Sudeep Plans On Casting John Abraham For His Next Directorial The Vietnamese Embassy in Laos and the General Association of Vietnamese People in Laos organised a joint meeting in Vientiane on January 14 to celebrate Vietnamese Tet and the traditional relationship between the two countries. The event saw the presence of Lao Politburo member and Minister of Defence General Chansamone Chanyalath, Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Investment Sonexay Siphandone, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung, among others. Ambassador Hung expressed his delight at the special and the great traditional friendship between Vietnam and Laos. He noted that overseas Vietnamese across the world are eager to welcome a happy New Year 2020 amid the stable political and social situation and high economic growth of Vietnam. Lao General Chansamone Chanyalath extended his best wishes to the Vietnamese people on the occasion of the traditional Vietnamese Tet while affirming that the special traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries will continue to develop further in the future. *The Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine also held a gathering in Kiev on January 13 to celebrate the traditional Tet. The community of overseas Vietnamese from the cities of Kiev, Kharkov, Odesa, Cherkasy, Lvov, Mariupol and Donetsk participated in the event, in addition to Ukrainian war veterans and several Ukrainian agencies and organisations. *The Vietnamese Embassies in Saudi Arabia and Lithuania also held meetings with overseas Vietnamese to welcome the traditional Vietnamese Tet. 15 January 2020 Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank /ISIN XS2021173922 Pre-stabilisation Period Announcement Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (contact: Torsten Zittlau; telephone: +49 711 127 74640) hereby gives notice, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilisation Manager(s) named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation EU/1052/2016 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU/596/2014). The securities: Issuer: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank (Aaa/AAA/AAA (Moody's/S&P/Fitch; all stable) Guarantor (if any): Federal Republic of Germany Aggregate nominal amount: EUR 400 Mio. Description: Tap of 0.05% 18-December-2029 EUR 600 Mio BMK, RegS, Listing: Luxembourg Stock Exchange, regulated market Offer Price: [XX.XXX] Other offer terms: NA Stabilisation: Stabilisation Manager(s): BNP Paribas, LBBW, Morgan Stanley Stabilisation period expected to start on: 15. January 2020 Stabilisation period expected to end no later than: 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over?allotment facility: The Stabilisation Manager(s) may over?allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Over the counter (OTC) In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilisation Manager(s) may over?allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time. Any stabilisation action or over?allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction. This announcement and the offer of the securities to which it relates are only addressed to and directed at persons outside the United Kingdom and persons in the United Kingdom who have professional experience in matters related to investments or who are high net worth persons within Article 12(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in the United Kingdom. In addition, if and to the extent that this announcement is communicated in, or the offer of the securities to which it relates is made in, any EEA Member State that has implemented Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive") before the publication of a prospectus in relation to the securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive (or which has been approved by a competent authority in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive), this announcement and the offer are only addressed to and directed at persons in that Member State who are qualified investors within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (or who are other persons to whom the offer may lawfully be addressed) and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in that Member State. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States. The UK's ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, is returning to London for talks following his arrest by the Tehran authorities. His visit comes amid heightened tensions between Iranian authorities and the UK after Irans judiciary labelled the ambassador persona non grata and called for his expulsion from the country. However, the Foreign Office has said Mr Macaire's visit "has been planned for quite a while" and insisted he intends to return to Tehran in the coming days. "It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here," a Foreign Office spokesperson said. Mr Macaire was arrested in Tehran on Saturday over his attendance at a vigil for the 176 people, including four Britons, who were killed when Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jet. Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Show all 23 1 /23 Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police dispersed students chanting "radical" slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University - People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic's initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster ISNA/AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University A protester confronts an Iranian police officer AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians light candles for victims EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran Chanting "Death to Britain", up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran AFP via Getty Images Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. AP Iranian protesters on Tuesday burned an effigy of the ambassador alongside UK and US flags at a demonstration by members of the Basij, a militia which is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Mr Macaire angered Iranian authorities over the weekend by attending a vigil for the crash victims, in which demonstrators condemned the downing of the Ukrainian airliner. Recommended Effigy of UK ambassador burned in Iran The UK ambassador has said he left the event after protests broke out, but Irans foreign ministry summoned him on Sunday to explain his illegal and inappropriate presence at the event. Iran admitted last week that it shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board, but said the incident occurred by accident as the result of human error. Authorities had initially denied involvement in the crash, which happened shortly after Iran responded to the US killing of general Qassem Soleimani by launching ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq which house US troops. An official from the IRGC said a bad decision to open fire on the plane had been made after forces mistook it for a cruise missile. Dominic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, has condemned Mr Macaires arrest as a flagrant violation of international law and said he has received no formal indication that the ambassador will be expelled. It would be deeply regrettable if that were the case, he told the House of Commons. We need to keep the diplomatic channels open, and futile gestures like that are not going to resolve the problems that the regime in Tehran face. Additional reporting by PA (ANSA) - Rome, January 15 - Italy is ready to rejig its military presence in Libya in the light of recent developments, Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said Wednesday. The recent developments including a likely ceasefire "impose on us a reflection on a possible remodulation of our military effort", he told the parliamentary defence committees. "We could hypothesise an international intervention to give solidity to the security framework, respecting an eventual request for support made by the international community". There have been no direct threats to Italian soldiers, Guerini said, despite General Khalia Haftar's moves against Misrata. Eastern Libyan strongman Haftar has been attacking Tripoli since April. Haftar has said he will attend peace talks in Berlin on Sunday, where the US has also said it will attend. Guerini said ", despite the acquisition of the control of Sirte by (Haftar's) Libyan National Army, and the greater exposure of Misrata to General Haftar's aims, there don't appear to be direct threats towards our contingent in loco". Gureini added that ships of the EU's Sophia operation could be used to stop arms flowing into Libya. "Every effort must be made so that the ships of Operation Sophia can return to carrying out the essential task of putting a brake on the continuous flow of arms to the factions fighting in Libya". On the mission, which is currently 'frozen', he said "a decision will have to be taken at the end of March". On Iraq, Guerini said that in future the international intervention could pass over to NATO. "I think that NATO may represent the future dimension of the international intervention in Iraq, progressively replacing the Coalition, replicating the model implemented in Afghanistan," he said. There are no military shortcuts in the Mediterranean region, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Wednesday. "The broader Mediterranean is seeing a particularly turbulent phase above all in Libya, Iran and Iraq," Di Maio told the Senate. "Widespread instability closely touches national interests. "The more Italy can be united and compact the more it will succeed in fielding an effective political action. "In the Mediterranean there are no military shortcuts, they do not produce sustainable solutions. Di Maio added that Italy had "stigmatized" outside interference in Libya, which had turned into a proxy war. He called for a European mission against this interference. Di Maio said Sunday's Libya conference in Berlin had been set up "also thanks to us". The foreign minister also said Italy's priority was military security in Iraq. He said Italy was asking for a compromise between Iran and the United States. SAN JOSE, CA, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE Sonasoft Corp. (OTCQB: SSFT) is a leader in AI and data engineering. The following is a brief review of 2019. 2019 marked the completion of Sonasofts transformation into a world leader in AI and data engineering. The driving force for this transformation was a series of acquisitions. Together, these acquisitions ensure that Sonasoft can offer complete AI solutions for customers in any industry. Looking ahead to 2020, data engineering and AI will be key drivers of revenue expansion for Sonasoft. Central to this will be NuGene, one of the most powerful unified AI platforms in the world. Unified AI platforms Recently, unified AI platforms have been in the news. eBay is the latest big tech company to announce that they have developed their own platform in-house. A unified AI platform allows you to apply AI on-demand to any business problem you might have. Previously, each problem required a specific model to be developed by a data scientist. This process can easily take months. These platforms cut this down to days and are able to tackle much more diverse problems. Most unified AI platforms take pre-processed data and try to extract narrow features from it. They are inherently biased because a human has filtered the data they see. Furthermore, this data is simply a snapshot in time. The models produced by such a system are fine, but they arent always as robust as they should be, and in complex scenarios, they can break down. Google DeepMind offers an alternative approach, relying on complex deep learning algorithms to allow it to outperform humans in many tasks. However, DeepMind requires massive computing power that is well beyond the reach of most companies. In contrast, NuGene allows companies of any size to get the benefits of a unified AI platform. NuGene stands apart for three reasons. Firstly, it can take in data in any format and understands the importance of time series. This allows it to incorporate historical time trends along with current data. Secondly, it mimics how a human works to learn and solve problems. It looks for patterns in the data, forms hypotheses and then, uniquely, tests these for causation. Finally, it runs thousands of ML models to find the set that gives the most accurate outcome. This means NuGene can solve problems as diverse as planning marketing budgets to maximize ROI to augmenting customer support tools with autonomous intelligent agents or even slashing preventive maintenance costs for heavy industry. Data engineering Machine learning is a true disruptor in almost every area of business. As a result, we see companies large and small investing heavily in data science, hoping to see the transformative power of AI in their business. The traditional approach was to employ a data science team to solve a specific problem by analyzing the data, identifying possible patterns, and then finding a machine learning model that can spot those patterns in new data. One of the key challenges companies face is a shortage of data science expertise. This is where Sonasofts data engineering consultancy comes into its own. Sonasoft employs a team of over 50 data scientists and engineers with significant industry experience covering data factories, cloud data processing, and data migration. Many companies have huge amounts of legacy data that would be a powerful resource for machine learning, but they are not in a suitable form. Sonasofts expertise makes it trivial to migrate this data into the cloud, analyze it, and visualize the results in a meaningful way. Market update for 2019 Over the past year, Sonasoft has acquired 3 key companies: Hotify Inc. created NuGene, the unified artificial intelligence (AI) platform, which now underpins much of Sonasofts AI work. NuGene was developed by Ankur Garg, recently appointed Chief of AI at Sonasoft. E-Connect Software Inc. is a data engineering and AI consultancy with expertise in data migration, cloud data management, and data integrations. This allows Sonasoft to offer full AI transformation services to their customers. OptimAIze is an innovative company focussed on AIOPs (AI operations for IT server management). AIOps is one of the biggest growth areas in enterprise IT, applying AI to improve efficiency and cut operating costs. In 2019, the Company procured several significant contracts and POCs. Awarded a contract with a major regional transit system ($350k) Won a contract with a major California School District ($100k) Won a contract with a Fortune 600 Tech Company ($270k) Received several contracts for AI professional consulting services ($650k) Won a key contract to provide AI solutions to Padmini NVA Won a proof of concept (POC) AI project with Delaware Electric Cooperative Sonasoft has also entered into key strategic partnerships to enhance its existing data archiving and eDiscovery products. Predikly is a Silicon Valley-based data innovation and robotic process automation (RPA) company. The partnership agreement will enable the acceleration of intelligent process automation (IPA) technologies and solutions. Trusted Data Solutions is a leader in legacy data management and transformation. The partnership and integration of TDSs Evolve email archive migration solutions provide a trusted and efficient email and data migration path. Globanet is a leader in data source and application capture for archiving, compliance, and eDiscovery. The partnership enables Sonasoft to integrate Globanets Merge1TM into SonaVault Archiving and eDiscovery Software Solution. 2020 and beyond Looking to the future, AI is clearly going to continue to transform business in significant ways. Currently, almost all applications of AI are based on so-called narrow intelligence. That means they rely on machine learning techniques that solve a very specific problem. The next big step is deep learning, where a computer seeks to mimic human-like intelligence using massive deep neural networks. Much research is being done on specialized computer chips that are optimized for this sort of learning. Google DeepMind is leading the pack here, but you can expect to see deep learning becoming far more prevalent over the coming years. AI is also expanding into areas that touch our very lives. Many companies are developing products that use AI to diagnose diseases, sometimes outperforming the best human specialists. Other companies are focusing on using AI to help with things like credit scoring, recruitment, and even criminal profiling. This is opening up some ethical conundrums that will probably require legislation to solve. GDPR (the general data protection regulation) already gives EU citizens the right to refuse to allow their data to be used for automated decision making, and companies must tell users if they are intending to do this. Googles parent company, Alphabet, is mired in controversy over the way its Streams App accessed the detailed health records of millions of British citizens. As a result, the chances are that companies will soon have to address the ethics of AI head-on. Another related change is towards so-called white-box AI. By their very nature, most AI models are black-box no one, not even the developer, can tell you exactly what is happening inside. As a result, its hard to understand whether the system is fair or biased. This courted controversy for the Apple credit card last year when it appeared that men were receiving many times the credit limit available to their wives even when they had shared financial status. One of the biggest sources of bias is the original raw data. So, increasingly, we will see approaches that seek to identify and remove this bias. This is one place where NuGene is ahead of the curve since it can take completely raw data without the need for pre-processing (one of the biggest sources of bias). Whatever the future, Sonasoft will continue to lead the way in AI and data engineering and will ensure they keep up with the very latest trends and legislation. The Company plans to continue its aggressive acquisition strategy to grow it's AI and data engineering services and significantly expand its enterprise pipeline throughout 2020, in anticipation of becoming SEC-compliant, and subsequently uplisting to a senior exchange. About Sonasoft Based in Silicon Valley since 2003, Sonasoft is a public company (SSFT) providing solutions that create significant competitive advantages from data, the most valuable corporate asset in the digital economy. Sonasofts artificial intelligence solution and software capabilities harness data to enable businesses to accelerate and improve decision making, increase operational efficiency and automate critical processes. For more information about Sonasoft, please visit: https://www.sonasoft.com For more information about Sonasofts Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solutions, please visit: https://www.sonasoft.com/products/artificial-intelligence-ai/ For investor-specific information, please visit: https://www.sonasoft.com/investors/ Forward-looking Statements This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the Companys financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the Companys financial condition or results of operations; (iii) the Companys growth strategy and operating strategy; and (iv) the declaration and payment of dividends. The words may, would, will, expect, estimate, anticipate, believe, intend, and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Companys ability to control and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. 15 reported killed as Syrian planes strike rebel area: Government warplanes struck a market and an industrial area in the last territory in the hands of rebel groups in northwestern Syria, killing at least 15 people, opposition activists said. A cessation-of-hostilities agreement between Russia and Turkey, which support opposite sides in the conflict, went into effect last week. But violence has continued. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the two areas, in the city of Idlib, were crowded with people when the planes struck. It also put the death toll at 15. L isa Nandy attacked Jeremy Corbyn over his response to the Salisbury poisonings today saying it was totally wrong. Mr Corbyn failed to condemn the Kremlin directly for the Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March 2018. Two other people later fell ill, including Dawn Sturgess who died. Mr Corbyn said he wanted further proof of Russias involvement and called on the then prime minister Theresa May to maintain robust dialogue with Russia. Making a speech on foreign policy in London today, Labour leadership contender Ms Nandy accused the party of standing with the Russian government, not with the people it oppresses. Who will replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader? 1 /4 Who will replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader? Rebecca Long-Bailey Getty Images Lisa Nandy REUTERS Keir Starmer PA Ms Nandy told the Royal Society of Arts: Russia is a regime that discriminates against LGBT people, that demonises Muslims and other minorities and suppresses basic rights, that used chemical weapons on the streets of the UK and murdered a homeless person. It was totally wrong that our response to this was to cast doubt on what happened and call only for dialogue. We stood with the Russian government, and not with the people it oppresses, who suffer poverty and discrimination. We failed the test of solidarity. Lisa Nandy launches campaign for Labour leadership Ms Nandy, the MP for Wigan, has won the support of the National Union of Mineworkers in her battle to succeed Mr Corbyn. Stephen Kinnock MP, who is backing her, said they were hoping for another big trade union endorsement next week. More than 100 types of mesh surgical implants are being used by the NHS and many have no scientific evidence to prove they're safe, an investigation has found. Mesh is a small, solid, net-like device which is implanted to hold parts of the body in place if someone has a hernia or prolapse. But it's controversial because many women have been left in constant pain and even disabled by nerve damage caused by the implants, branded barbaric by some campaigners. Hospitals in England and Scotland have now revealed that they use more than 100 types of different mesh devices. One expert said there haven't even been that many proper trials to test the devices, so many are likely being used without any safety guarantees. Six years ago Karen Preater was an active and confident mother with a successful career, working as an account manager for Yellow Pages. Now aged 42, Ms Preater takes a cocktail of 19 pills a day and relies on a walking stick to get around because of complications after a mesh implant procedure Professor Carl Heneghan, from the University of Oxford, told BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme the manufacturer tests which are done on mesh implants are 'completely inadequate'. Sometimes, he said, they're only tested on animals such as rabbits for a few days before being sold to be used in people, who keep them in for years, or decades. Companies look only to see whether the mesh provokes an immune system reaction, but are unable to test for pain in these situations. Professor Heneghan said there was 'no chance' that all the implants being used by the NHS had been proven to be safe and said it should stop using them immediately. The medical device expert's comments come after a BBC investigation found that, between 2012 and 2018, hospitals had bought dozens of different mesh types. This was discovered through Freedom of Information requests, to which 56 out of 159 NHS hospital trusts replied. Tens of thousands of mesh implants are performed each year to repair either hernias or incontinence and vaginal prolapse both are common after childbirth. But increasing numbers of women are coming forward about the operations destroying their health. The hard edges of the mesh can dig into sensitive nerves in the pelvis and cause constant pain or other symptoms like incontinence and difficulty walking. Karen Preater, from Rhyl in North Wales, was left in crippling pain by a mesh operation to treat mild incontinence five years ago. She had to quit her job, can't have sex with her husband, struggles to look after her children and spends every day in pain and reliant on a walking stick to get around. She told MailOnline last year: 'It was like a sharp pain which was constant and got worse whenever I moved.' The pain spread from her left thigh, where it started immediately after the surgery, to her groin and hip and she has numbness and a 'crawling ants' sensation on her back. 'I would rather live with incontinence,' she said. 'It was manageable, I just wanted to find out how to stop it getting worse. 'They sold mesh to me and made it sound fantastic. I wouldn't want this to happen to anybody else.' MOTHER LEFT UNABLE TO WORK AFTER AGONY OF MESH COMPLICATION Seven years ago Karen Preater was an active and confident mother with a successful career, working as an account manager for Yellow Pages. But, just one day after being given a vaginal mesh implant to treat her mild urinary incontinence six years ago, her life was turned upside down. The mother-of-three quit her job within a month because she didn't know if the pain would ever stop, and couldn't drive herself or her children anywhere. Now, Ms Preater, who is in her early 40s, takes a cocktail of pills a day to cope with the excruciating pain caused by the device and relies on a walking stick to get around. And she has heartbreakingly revealed she is in constant pain, can't urinate normally or have sex, suffers from depression and is racked with guilt over the person she has become. 'This [mesh] has definitely changed me as a person,' she told MailOnline last year. 'I live in a nice area of North Wales and the long walks with the dog or swimming with the children just don't happen any more. 'The intimate side of my life is totally destroyed. We did what we could but I would be in massive amounts of pain for days afterwards so it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. 'The weight of guilt is the worst thing, over how my children's lives have been affected they have to help me so much but I get annoyed and cry easily.' As soon as she came out of the operating room in 2014 Ms Preater, from Rhyl, knew something was wrong because she had excruciating pain in her left thigh. Mrs Preater, pictured with her son, said: 'I would rather live with incontinence. I just wanted to find out how to stop it getting worse. They sold mesh to me and made it sound fantastic' 'It was like a sharp pain which was constant and got worse whenever I moved,' Ms Preater said, adding she couldn't walk because it was unbearable to put any weight on my leg. Despite expecting a quick recovery, Ms Preater spent eight nights in hospital laying in agony and being given morphine while doctors tried to find a painkiller suitable to send her home with. The pain has now spread to her hip, thigh and groin. And she revealed she also suffers numbness in the top of her leg and a 'crawling ant sensation' all over her back. One doctor has admitted her agony is down to nerve damage caused by the mesh, which was attached too tightly to her bladder and in the wrong position on one side. Removing it would be 'extremely high risk', may not work and could even make it worse, something Ms Preater said is 'not an option'. So she must live with it. 'I would rather live with incontinence,' she told MailOnline. 'It was manageable, I just wanted to find out how to stop it getting worse. They sold mesh to me and made it sound fantastic. 'I wouldn't want this to happen to anybody else. The new guidelines are not fit for purpose and they just haven't listened to any of us.' Advertisement The use of vaginal mesh is no longer permitted for most women while an official review is carried out into its safety. The results of the review are expected in the spring this year and could transform the rules for surgeons operating on people with hernias and prolapses. NHS commissioner the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said mesh should now only be used as a last resort and women must actively choose to have it put in many have complained they didn't know what was happening. Government health minister Jackie Doyle-Price said last year the conversations women were having with their surgeons about mesh were 'utterly inadequate' A Department of Health spokesperson told the BBC: 'On the rare occasion where a patient has suffered as a result of a mesh procedure, we are taking steps to improve patient safety - including improving how we listen to patients and how the system learns when concerns are raised.' According to the people here, the MLA had been missing mostly from the Constituency. "We understand that he is a minister, so we expected more from him. But we hardly saw him in the last five years," said 35-year-old Pankaj from the constituency. Jain is also the Delhi Cabinet minister for Industries, Power, Public Works, Home and Urban Development. While Jain, the Delhi Health Minister, has been praised worldwide for reforms in the health sector, back home, his constituency still needs a lot of attention from him. While people praised the government for the work, they did not seem very pleased with Jain. "He has been mostly missing. Now you can see him as elections are approaching," said 25-year-old Ankit Yadav, who runs a grocery shop. According to 58-year-old Mohan, lack of proper road, piped water and sewer had been the main concerns of the area. "While few pockets have seen improvement, most of the area is still in bad shape. The work of pipeline and sewer too are incomplete. If they (AAP) are saying elections will be on the basis of the work they have done, they should have at least seen the ground reality," said Mohan. The constituency is part of Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, bagged by the BJP in the 2019 general elections. The Assembly constituency includes old and new Multan Nagar, Paschim Puri, Paschim Vihar, Peera Garhi, Pitampura, Saraswati Vihar, Rani Bagh, Rishi Nagar and Saraswati Vihar. In 1993, during the first assembly elections, Gauri Shankar Bhardwaj was elected on BJP ticket. In the next election, when the Congress came to power for the first time in Delhi in 1998, the seat was bagged by S.C. Vats. He was re-elected in 2003. However, BJP's Shyam Lal Garg defeated him in 2008. In 2012, the political landscape of Delhi changed when AAP was formed and that affected the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections in Shakur Basti also. Jain won the seat both in 2013 and 2015. While in 2013, he got 42.30 per cent votes, his vote share increased to 48.67 per cent in 2015. For the 2020 assembly elections to be held on February 8, the AAP has re-launched Jain as the candidate from Shakur Basti. The Congress and the BJP are yet to announce their candidates from here. A densely populated area, the constituency has over 1.45 lakh votes with over 70,000 females. The constituency has a sex ratio of 943 - above the state's gender ratio of 824. (Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) P&N Bank discloses data breach, customer account information, balances exposed The Australian P&N Bank is notifying its customers a data breach that has exposed personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive account data. P&N Bank, a division of Police & Nurses Limited and operating in Western Australia, suffered a data breach and is reporting the incident to its customers, attackers have accessed personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive account data. @troyhunt "non-sensitive" is not what I would have used to described my breached data from P&N Bank! Received this notice 15mins ago. pic.twitter.com/BywQtf6qSE Nick (@vrNicknack) January 15, 2020 According to The West Australian website, hackers have stolen personal information from 100,000 West Australians in the cyber attack. P&N Bank confirmed that intruders accessed names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, customer numbers, ages, account numbers, and account balances. The bank pointed out that passwords, Social Security numbers, Tax file numbers, drivers license or passport details, credit card numbers, and dates of birth have not been exposed. P&N Bank sent a data breach notification to its customers and reported the incident to law enforcement. The incident notice impacted the customer relationship management (CRM) platform, according to the bank certain personal information [] appears to have been accessed as a result of online criminal activity. The cyber attack took place around December 12, when the financial institution was performing a server upgrade. Hackers likely targeted a third party company that the Bank hired to provide hosting services. The bank announced to have locked out the attackers and solved the flaw exploited by attackers. Upon becoming aware of the attack, we immediately shut down the source of the vulnerability, and have since been working closely with WAPOL, other federal authorities, our third-party IT provider involved, regulators continues the data breach notification. The bank hired external experts to help it in investigating the incident. P&N Bank highlighted that there is no evidence of customer accounts or funds being compromised. Pierluigi Paganini ITHACA, N.Y. -- By her count, Ithaca Police Officer Christine Barksdale had a backlog of 117 cases. That includes sex crimes. The officers number of open cases was revealed in a decision filed by the state Division of Human Rights. By comparison, two of her fellow investigators had four and 37 open cases, the state found. The large backlog -- along with Barksdales failure to investigate the cases -- led the Ithaca Police Department to take her off of investigations and reassign her to patrol, the state agency said. Barksdale filed a complaint in June with the state human rights agency saying she was discriminated against by the police department because she is a black woman. The state denied her complaint in December, finding no evidence that Ithaca, the Ithaca Police Department or then-Lt. John Joly discriminated against her. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick announced last week that the citys police department failed to properly investigation a broad array of crimes -- including sex crimes -- for nearly a decade. Myrick said the city is trying to fire the officer who mishandled the crimes. He did not name Barksdale as the officer. Barksdales attorney, Ed Kopkohas, has publicly confirmed that Barksdale is the investigator. He was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. The states response to the complaint filed by Barksdale detailed what led the police department to reassign Barksdale, a 22-year department veteran, to patrol. Barksdale has been investigating sex offenses and other crimes since 2006, when she was assigned to Ithacas Juvenile Investigation Unit, the state officials said. After Joly -- who is now deputy chief of the department -- became the lieutenant of investigations last March, Barksdale said she didnt want to investigate sex offenses anymore and asked to be transferred to another unit, state officials said. Joly told her he would not assign her new sex crime cases unless it was absolutely necessary, state officials said. An audit of Ithacas investigations division was launched last year, reported The Ithaca Voice. The audit revealed some investigators had a notable number of open cases. Joly directed his investigators to close old files and update him about their cases every two weeks, state officials said. Barksdale disagreed with the directive, she told the state, and did not follow his orders. To motivate Barksdale to follow his directive, Joly stopped by the store Barksdale owns late last May and asked her to return to the police station, state officials said. He issued her a counseling memo, which is not considered a form of discipline, for not following his orders, they said. Soon after, Joly started to reassign Barksdales cases, state officials said. The police department has asked anyone who reported crimes and feels their complaints "went unanswered to come forward, Myrick said last week. The department has turned over records of the mishandled cases to the Tompkins County District Attorneys Office and the state Attorney Generals office, the mayor said. The mayor also said the police department was instituting a series of changes to the investigations division. Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Congolese minister of land affairs and public domains, Pierre Mabiala, Tuesday announced measures banning housing estate in peripheral zones, an official source said here The ESB has warned political parties and candidates that it will remove posters from electricity poles and recover the costs from the parties and groups responsible. In a statement, ESB Networks reminded all groups and parties involved in the upcoming General Election that the erection of posters on ESB electricity poles poses a serious safety risk to ESB Networks staff, contractors and members of the public and is strictly prohibited. The power company said dangerous situations have been created in the past by individuals or parties erecting posters on electricity poles. "There is a very real danger to life when placing posters on live electricity poles. Posters have caused the pole to catch fire as well as creating blind spots for traffic. "ESB Networks has been required to interrupt the electricity supply to households and businesses in order to safely remove these dangerous posters. Posters that are erected on electricity poles will be removed by ESB Networks and the costs incurred may be recovered from the respective parties and groups involved," said the company. ESB Networks said it regularly advises the general public to always stay clear of electricity poles and wires through its TV, radio and social media campaigns. "It is important that these messages are taken on board in the interest of safety," it said. In the event of a dangerous situation or emergency, the company reminded the public to immediately phone ESB Networks emergency service on 1850 372 999 (24 hour/7 day service). MISSOULA Tobin Shearer, a University of Montana history professor and director of the African-American Studies department, recently was named a 2019 Montana University System Teaching Scholar. Shearer is one of 12 faculty members across Montana selected for the programs inaugural class by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and Board of Regents. Those selected for this new honor develop high-impact teaching practices for student success and serve as exemplary models for others in higher education. Our talented and dedicated faculty are in many ways the lifeblood of the Montana University System, said Dr. Brock Tessman, an OCHE deputy commissioner. This is particularly true when it comes to providing a high-quality academic experience for our students. This program is one way our office can celebrate and support outstanding faculty who are committed to making student learning more innovative, exciting and meaningful. Shearer will receive a $1,500 award, as well as a $500 stipend to design and facilitate a faculty learning community at UM. Its just a true honor to receive this award and be recognized for effective teaching practices, Shearer said. It is my students who really deserve the award. They make my teaching possible and a true joy. With this award Shearer plans to gather a small group of faculty who will support each others efforts to improve their general education classes. Faculty groups established by the MUS Teaching Scholar Program will work together to learn about and develop practices focused on this years scholars theme, High-Impact Practices for Student Success. The theme builds on a larger MUS project regarding high-impact practices funded through the Lumina Foundation. High-impact practices proven to positively affect student success include freshman seminars on financial literacy, campus resources, study habit improvement, service learning, undergraduate research, internships and senior-year capstone research projects. ### How can the complex relationships between wildlife, natural ecosystems and humans in a large number of habitats be captured with reasonable effort? Researchers need sound data over long periods of time and complex mathematical models. Can environmental stakeholders produce a similar result? An international team led by Professor Robert Arlinghaus from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin have developed a method for combining the empirical knowledge of fishery stakeholders in such a way that the result corresponds to the best scientific understanding. This is of particular interest when human and financial resources are insufficient to achieve a profound scientific understanding or when, for example, fish stock data cannot be retroactively recorded. The study published in Nature Sustainability shows that the collective of users of fish stocks is able to identify the ecological cause-effect relationships of the population biology of the top predatory fish species pike in a way that corresponds exactly to the best scientific knowledge. The study by the international team of fisheries biologists, computer scientists and social scientists is the first evidence that the collective intelligence of nature users is able to accurately capture complex human-environment relationships. In the study, around 220 anglers, fisheries managers and angling club managers identified factors that alone or in interaction with each other determine the development of pike populations, for example nutrients, aquatic plants, cormorants, fishing and angling or water temperature. The individual ideas on pike biology - the so-called mental models - were mathematically combined into a collective understanding of the ecological relationships. The knowledge of 17 fisheries biologists served as a reference. The result is astonishing: if the anglers' ecological ideas are brought together, the result corresponds almost exactly to the best scientific knowledge on pike biology. "And the result is better the more actors are involved in the collective solution," explains study leader Professor Robert Arlinghaus from IGB. Many are not necessarily better, they must also be diverse Sounds like a primal democratic solution. "It's not quite that simple. It is important that the ideas of different types of stakeholders - anglers; fisheries managers and angling club managers - are given due consideration," notes lead author Payam Aminpour, PhD student at Michigan State University. Using only the knowledge of one type of stakeholder can lead to the accumulation of misconceptions and myths that arise from exchanges within this subgroup. "If only one stakeholder group is considered, the collective outcome deteriorates the more people are involved in the solution," Robert Arlinghaus notes. The wisdom of the crowd (WOC) comes into play when a multi-level analytical approach is chosen. First, the collective knowledge within a user subgroup is determined and then the results are summarized across groups. "Our study shows that it makes sense to take into account the knowledge of as many different types of nature users or interest groups as possible, such as anglers, hunters, foresters, administrators and conservationists. And if as many opinions as possible are then incorporated within each group, the overall result will be particularly good," summarizes Robert Arlinghaus. The researchers argue that the WOC-principle of resource users should be applied more systematically than today in the investigation and subsequent management of nature and the environment. This is especially true when human and financial resources are not sufficient to achieve a deep scientific understanding. For example, it is difficult to scientifically assess the state of fish stocks in thousands of lakes or to retrospectively estimate the development in a fishing area for which there are no accompanying scientific studies. A concrete example of application, on which Robert Arlinghaus and his team are currently researching, are the pike populations in the inner coastal waters, the so-called Bodden waters, around Rugen. Here, too, the team relies on the wisdom of anglers and fishers, for the hopeful benefit of all. ### Chinese delegates at an international summit in Canberra have successfully removed references to the disputed South China Sea in a resolution promoting freedom of navigation in the region. The wording was this week watered down in negotiations at Parliament House, where more than 300 representatives from about 30 countries gathered for the 28th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum. Vietnamese sailors watch the approach of a Chinese coast guard vessel. Credit:alamy A draft resolution, proposed by Japan, reaffirmed the importance of freedom of navigation of the South China Sea including shipping and the airspace. The document also recognised the benefits of "a sea of peace, stability and prosperity" and expressed concerns about "land reclamations, activities and serious incidents in the South China Sea, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security stability in the region". Rose Parade rejuvenates Stary's love of music, teaching Ronald Stary of Watertown Middle School has returned from the Rose Parade. This year, the parade honored 300 music directors. China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) posted robust growth in 2019, revealing the resilience of the world's biggest trader against economic headwinds, customs data showed Tuesday. Trade with BRI partner countries totaled 9.27 trillion yuan (about 1.34 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2019, up 10.8 percent year on year, outpacing the country's aggregate trade growth by 7.4 percentage points, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). In the 2014-2019 period, the total trade volume between China and BRI countries surpassed 44 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 6.1 percent. China has become the biggest trade partner of 25 BRI countries, GAC data showed. BRI countries' share of China's total trade approached 30 percent last year, up by 2 percentage points from 2018. Zou Zhiwu, vice minister of the GAC, noted that alongside fast growth with its major trading partners like the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China has also seen its imports and exports expand rapidly with the BRI countries and emerging economies in Africa and Latin America. "The Chinese economy has significant resilience, potential and room to maneuver. It is the same in terms of its foreign trade," said Zou, describing China's trading partners as "globally scattered" and "flowering in various regions." Zou attributed the solid trade growth momentum with the BRI countries to enhanced customs cooperation and trade facilitation measures. China has signed the most Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) agreements in the world to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises. Among all the 42 countries and regions holding AEO agreements with China, 18 are BRI countries and regions, he said. The country has set up seven fast customs clearance channels for agricultural products at borders with BRI countries including Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Mongolia and promoted the opening of China-Europe freight trains for mail service. Zou also noted that Chinese customs signed 198 documents on inspection and quarantine cooperation in 2019, including 89 with B&R countries and regions. A sea captain found drunk in charge of his ship as it came in to dock in Belfast has been fined 500. Oleg Okolobvich was arrested after a colleague said he had to intervene to stop the cargo vessel crashing at the city's harbour on Tuesday. Okolobvich, a 58-year-old Russian national, admitted having excess alcohol while on duty as professional master of a ship. He told Belfast Magistrates' Court today: "I'm very sorry about what happened." Harbour Police were called to the port area amid concerns about his state while overseeing the Danica Hav's approach. A pilot on board said he had to navigate the ship from one berth to another. "He reported strange behaviour from the captain and had to intervene twice to prevent a collision with the quay," a constable said. The court heard police officers who checked on Okolobvich's welfare made "alcohol related observations". He was then arrested and failed a breath test. With the vessel scheduled to leave Belfast Harbour later today, a relief captain has been flown in to take charge of the departure. Speaking through an interpreter, Okolobvich said he wanted the case dealt with so he can leave too. He told District Judge Peter Magill that he has money on board to pay any financial penalty. On that basis Mr Magill imposed a 500 - roughly the equivalent of one week's wages for the defendant. "That is the sentence, and he's free to go," the judge confirmed. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi on Wednesday requested President Ram Nath Kovind to summarily reject the mercy petition of death row convict in the Nirbhaya case, Mukesh Singh. Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the gang-rape and murder of paramedic student in 2012, has informed the Delhi High Court that his mercy petition is pending before the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the President of India and he should be given a minimum 14 days notice between the rejection of his mercy petition and scheduled date of execution. Today, the Delhi High Court will hear his plea seeking a stay on the death warrant issued against him by a trial court. He approached the High Court on Tuesday seeking to set aside the trial court's order issuing death warrant. "They will be hanged on the decided date, no matter which court they approach," said Asha Devi. The Supreme Court had already dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the 2012 gang-rape case. Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh had moved the curative petitions in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22. Besides them, two other convicts named Pawan and Akshay are also slated to be executed on the same day at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises. They were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012. The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment. (ANI) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 11:02:36|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's GDP is estimated to grow by over 6 percent in 2019, according to Ying Yong, Shanghai's mayor while delivering a government work report at the opening of the local annual legislative session. Shanghai's economic structure continues to improve, with the added value of the tertiary sector accounting for more than 70 percent of the GDP last year. The per capita disposable income in Shanghai grew by 8.2 percent for urban residents and 9.3 percent for rural ones last year, with the latter recording faster growth than the former for eight consecutive years. The city's CPI is estimated to increase by 2.5 percent in 2019. The city maintains as a top investment hotspot, with the number of new foreign investment projects in 2019 rising 21.5 percent from the previous year. The amount of contractual and paid-in foreign capital grew by 7.1 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively. And the number of new regional headquarters and R&D centers of multinational corporations increased by 50 and 20, respectively. For 2020, the city forecasts its GDP growth at around 6 percent, while the CPI is projected to rise by around 3 percent. To express solidarity with the protestors raising slogans against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, former parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar dropped by at Shaheen Bagh on January 14. While addressing the crowd, the Congress leader alluded to a few lines of a famous patriotic verse Dekhna hai zor kitna bazuye qaatil mein hai. Though he didnt quote the poem verbatim, he said: We will find out who is stronger us (the protestors) or the qaatil (killer). However, aside from the line being considered a means of encouraging the crowd, people soon began pointing out how he made a veiled reference to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here, equating them to murderers. Stating that he was ready to make whatever sacrifices were required to question the CAA, Aiyar said: I am ready for whatever sacrifices that need to be made. We will see whose hands are stronger, ours or that of the killers. Aiyar went on to say that, though the saffron party had come to power on the promise of sabka saath, sabka vikas (taking everyone on the path of progress and development), all they did was to ensure sabka saath, sabka vinaash (everyones destruction). The senior Congress leader added: The Centre introduced CAA and raked the National Register of Citizen (NRC) debate to distract peoples attention from the real issue -- its failure to contain the plummeting economy. However, the courageous women of Shaheen Bagh have proved to them (the BJP government) that they cannot fool the people anymore. Aiyar hailed the protesters for demonstrating against the new citizenship law without taking help from or being endorsed by any particular political party. You have made it clear that you dont need the support of any politician. You have forgone your homely duties to be a part of this sit-in protest that has been going strong for the past thirty days, he said. He concluded his speech saying the government had no right to ask any Indian citizen to produce papers to prove their citizenship. Notably, Aiyar has named and shamed members of the ruling party in the past too. During the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a neech aadmi (a degenerate). (With agency inputs) Supplier News 15 January 2020 Chicago - TraknProtect, a pioneer of real-time location-based technology purpose-built for the hotel industry, has announced a new partnership with Montreal-based Intello Technologies, a leading guest internet and hospitality solutions provider in Canada. In addition to solidifying its position in hospitality technology, this new partnership allows TraknProtect to extend its footprint of innovation across the border and offer its award-winning solutions to Canadian hotels. Employee safety in the workplace is now deemed essential for hoteliers across North America. Having the only employee safety button platform designed specifically for the hospitality industry, TraknProtect helps hoteliers provide a safer work environment for their most valuable assettheir personnel. Easy to implement and monitor, the TraknProtect safety solution can help hotel employees summon assistance quickly and accurately to their current location with just a touch of a button. "Like TraknProtect, Intello has high operational standards, always aiming to deliver customer excellence, and shares our commitment to employee safety in the hospitality industry," commented Tom Hempel, TraknProtect's Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. "We're delighted to bring to the Canadian marketplace the combined strengths of innovation, product excellence and service reputation that both companies share, in order to benefit Canadian customers through this new partnership." Intello Technologies has been designing, building and supporting wireless and wired networks for the hospitality industry since 2003 with a business model that complements TraknProtect's IoT real-time location tracking platform, which also includes inventory tracking, room tray tracking and vendor tracking. Offering integration with existing TraknProtect wireless partners such as Aruba, Cisco Meraki and Ruckus, Intello Technologies can further extend the seamless installation and service that have become the company's hallmark. "At Intello, our Canadian customer base trusts us to provide them with a multi-service, technology offering that they can rely on every day," advised Samuel Schmidt, CEO at Intello Technologies. "We also strongly believe workers should not have to worry about their safety while performing their duties. The addition of TraknProtect to our product portfolio helps us provide our valued customers with a solution boasting the reliability they are accustomed to, all while helping them provide a safer environment for their staff." For more information, please visit www.traknprotect.com or www.intello.com. About Intello Technologies | Based in Montreal Canada, Intello Technologies is the country's most important provider of WIFI solutions for the lodging industry, deploying solutions to hotels, MDUs and retirement homes from coast to coast. Intello offers industry-leading skills in designing and deploying WIFI networks. The company supports customers via an in-house 24/7 helpdesk and proactive network monitoring. Intello delivers affordable, robust and innovative solutions including guest/tenant WIFI, casting, hosted VoIP solutions, IPTV and employee safety buttons. Having successfully deployed thousands of projects and installed over 100,000 WIFI access points since 2003, Intello is a leader in technology solutions for the lodging industry. Working with select partners, Intello provides solutions and services throughout North America and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit www.intello.com and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. The National Health Authority, the apex body implementing the Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, has signed an MoU with ITC e-Choupal to help farmers avail benefits under the programme. As part of the MoU signed on Tuesday, ITC will conduct awareness camps through 400 Village Health Champions (VHCs) covering over 800 villages across 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on a pilot basis. These VHCs will make women and adolescents aware of the programme through group meetings and door-to-door campaigns. ITC e-Choupal is a network of 4 million farmers in over 35,000 villages across 10 states -- Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Through this collaboration, the NHA and ITC e-Choupal will spread awareness about the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya scheme and conduct outreach and training activities. The MoU was signed by Dr Praveen Gedam, the deputy CEO of NHA, and Anil K Rajput, the senior vice president of corporate affairs at the ITC. The two organisations have come together to ensure eligible farmers have a better understanding of the scheme and seek hospital treatment for serious illnesses through it, according to a statement issued by the NHA. Through this partnership, millions of farmers would be able to access the information via 6,000 e-choupals. "This partnership will empower millions of citizens in the rural India with digital interventions. The collaboration focuses on providing secondary and tertiary treatment for a range of serious illnesses such as cancer, heart ailments, etc to farmers and their families in rural areas," Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO of NHA, said. The Ayushman BharatPradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana provides a cover of up to Rs 5 lakhs per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to over 10.74 crore vulnerable entitled families. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Australian family of a 19-year-old girl who is believed to have suffered a fatal asthma attack has blamed bushfire smoke for causing her sudden death. Courtney Partridge-McLennan was found dead on the morning of 29 November after going to sleep in her family home in the town of Glen Innes, New South Wales. The town has been one of the worst hit areas during Australias ongoing wildfires crisis, which saw New South Wales government declare a state of emergency in December. She had no symptoms before she went to bed, her sister Cherylleigh told the BBC. She was healthy and that's what made it the biggest shock for us. It was so out of nowhere. Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A firefighter hosing down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the state of New South Wales on 31 December 2019 AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Smoke billows from a huge bushfire that has torched over 200,000 acres of land in East Gipplsand, Victoria on 2 January EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Residents look on as flames tear through bushland in Lake Tabouriee, Australia on 4 January on 4 January Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Boats are pulled ashore as smoke and wildfires rage behind Lake Conjola on 2 January Robert Oerlemans via AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A firefighting helicopter tackles a bushfire in East Gippsland, Victoria on 31 December EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A firefighter gives water to a parched koala in Cudlee Creek, South Australia AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Firefighters tackle a blaze as it tears through a farm in New South Wales on 21 December AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures The sky is turned red over East Gippsland as fires continue to rage through Australian bushland on 4 January Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A kangaroo near bushfires in Nowra AFP/Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures An aerial view of a bushfire near Bairnsdale State Government of Victoria/EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Firefighters work to tackle a blaze on the outskirts of Sydney on 31 December 2019 Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A firefighting helicopter dumps water on a bushfire on the outskirts of the town of Bargo near Sydney Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Children play at the showgrounds in the southern New South Wales town of Bega where they are camping after being evacuated from nearby sites affected by bushfires AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A satellite image of the Batemans Bay showing smoke and fire from wild bushfires European Union, Copernicus Sentinel Data via REUTERS Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures The afternoon sky glows red from bushfires in Nowra AFP/Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Burning embers cover the ground as firefighters battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures The sky glows red as bushfires continue to rage in Mallacoota, Victoria Jonty Smith via Reuters Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures The remains of burnt out buildings along a main street in the New South Wales town of Cobargo AFP/Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Firefighters try to protect homes around Charmhaven, New South Wales NSW Rural Fire Service/AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Wildfires rage under plumes of smoke in Bairnsdale Glen Morey via AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Business owners stand in front of their shop which was destroyed by a bushfire in Cobargo EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A helicopter dumping water on a fire in Victoria's East Gippsland region Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning/AFP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Nowra AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Think smoke from bushfires fills the air in eastern Gippsland Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures "Carmelised" snow caused by dust from Australian bushfires is seen near Franz Josef glacier in the Westland Tai Poutini National Park, New Zealand Reuters Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Firefighters hose down trees as they battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Smoke billowing from a fire burning at East Gippsland, Victoria. More than 800,000 hectares have been burnt in East Gippsland EPA/DELWP Gippsland Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Smoke billowing from a fire burning at East Gippsland EPA/DELWP Gippsland Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures LIFES.A.BREEZE via Reuters Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Smoke and wildfire rage behind Lake Conjola Robert Oerlemans via AP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A house and van are seen destroyed after bushfires ravaged the town of Bilpin, west of Sydney AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A helicopter fighting a bushfire near Bairnsdale in Victoria's East Gippsland region State Government of Victoria/AFP Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Fire and Rescue personal run to move their truck as a bushfire burns next to a major road and homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Amy, left, and Ben Spencer sit at the showgrounds in the southern New South Wales town of Bega where they are camping after being evacuated from nearby sites affected by bushfires AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures A firefighter sprays foam retardant on a back burn ahead of a fire front in the New South Wales town of Jerrawangala AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Two bushfires approach a home located on the outskirts of the town of Bargo Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Property damaged by the East Gippsland fires in Sarsfield, Victoria EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Nowra AFP via Getty Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures Property under threat from the East Gippsland fires in Sarsfield EPA Devastating wildfires rage across Australia: In pictures The main street of the New South Wales town of Bombala is pictured shrouded in smoke from nearby bushfires AFP via Getty Although Courtney was diagnosed with asthma as a child, her sister added that it was not usually severe but could flare up around dust and air pollutants. Her death was listed as unconfirmed in a preliminary autopsy report but she was found to have a hyper-extension of the lungs, Cherylleigh said, which is an indicator of an asthma attack. Earlier this month, Asthma Australia called on all states to provide real-time air quality reporting for small particle pollution to help those who have respiratory diseases. In a statement to the Australian website 7NEWS, the family said they were overwhelmed by the support they had received following their daughters sudden death Our family have been overwhelmed today with the outpouring of love and condolences and personal experiences of others tragically affected by asthma and smoke-induced illnesses, the statement said. On Tuesday, the chief health officer for Victoria state said Melbourne had recorded the worst air quality of any major city in the world due to the wildfires. When you get to the hazardous range, anyone can develop symptoms, Brett Sutton said in a statement on the city's air quality. There is eye and throat and nose irritation, people can have a cough develop or worsening of cough or wheezing. He said authorities were particularly concerned for children aged 14 or younger, adults aged 65 or older, pregnant women and those with pre-existing medical conditions. I. Introduction For the second time in 40 years, a Republican President was forced to clean up the mess left by his Democrat predecessors failures in Iran. The first time was when a group of Muslim college students overran the U.S. embassy in 1979 and paralyzed the Carter administration for more than a year. The second time was when the Obama administration, in a move reminiscent of British PM Chamberlains futile attempt to appease Hitler, sent a plane-load of cash in the middle of the night to Tehran to induce the rogue nation to stand down on its nuclear program. The irony with Carter and Obama, both Nobel Peace Prize recipients, is that their policies precipitated war not peace. Aesop's fable of the scorpion and frog captures the essence of the problem: "A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a babbling stream. It's too treacherous to cross, so the scorpion nicely asks the frog to carry him across on its back. This makes the frog a little suspicious. It asks, How do I know you wont sting me? The scorpion says, Because if I do, I will die too. That sound reasoning relaxes the frog's nerves. So he allows the scorpion to climb aboard and they shove off across the flowing water. They get halfway across the stream and the scorpion stings the frog directly in the middle of his back. The frog feels the onset of the scorpion's poison and starts to sink. He manages one dying breath: "Why?!" And the scorpion replies: Its my nature II. James Earl Carter Jr. Jimmy Carter would unquestionably rank ahead of Donald Trump and most other presidents in a contest for sainthood. Carter is a humanist, a philanthropist, teaches Sunday school and builds houses for the poor. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. Still, he was a below-average president and America lost stature in the world when he was at the helm. His presidency was an aberration that reflected the countrys need to restore order to an office rocked by the Watergate scandal and President Nixons resignation. The American people generally liked Jimmy Carter, but they could not trust him to keep them safe. After the Iranian Revolution, the U.S. embassy in Tehran was overrun and 52 American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage and held for 444 days. Eight U.S. servicemen would die in a failed rescue attempt when their helicopter crashed in the desert. The hostages were released before Ronald Reagan was even sworn into office, having defeated the hapless Jimmy Carter. There was a new sheriff in town and the Iranians feared Reagan in a way they never feared Carter. When the Iranians mined the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, the USS Samuel Roberts was crippled and nearly sank while escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers. The Reagan administration responded with Operation Praying Mantis on 18 April 1988. By the time the smoke had cleared, half of Irans Navy had been destroyed. Iran was forced into a ceasefire and hostilities in the Gulf ended shortly thereafter. It turns out that the B actor who played a tough cowboy in Western movies brought that same grit to the Oval Office. The Russians would take notice when President Reagan abruptly fired the air-traffic controllers for an unlawful strike less than a year into his presidency. He was not a man to be trifled with. III. Barack Hussein Obama Barack Obama was swept into office as a youthful, dynamic (almost messiah-like) figure after George W. Bush completed his second term. The American people had begun to question the Iraq War amidst the specter of human rights abuses. The WMD that were the lynchpin of the U.S. entry into Iraq were never found and the Bush administration lost credibility. The economy had fallen into a deep recession in 2008 and the government appeared flat-footed and ill-prepared for the severity of the crisis. The people were ready for the hope and change they were promised. Barack Obama was woke. As one journalist noted, he looked cool jogging down the stairs of Airforce One in his sharply creased slacks. He is a gifted, inspirational orator with the ability to rally the crowds. He was also the countrys First Black President. Opinions differ as to whether Obama had the goods for the job, or whether he simply emerged at the right time in our nations history. He went from Illinois state senator to U.S. President in a mere four years. Television had changed the presidency and Obama looked good on camera. The problem with TV is that viewers focus too much on how you look and sound, and too little on the substance of what you actually say. Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international cooperation between people and the new climate precipitated by his reaching out to the Muslim world. This prize was not without controversy, largely because he had been president for less than a year and his significant accomplishments were elusive if not illusory. As part of a broader plan to induce Iran to stand down on its development of nuclear weapons, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama administration released upwards of $150 billion in Iranian assets. Even Secretary of State Kerry conceded that some of these funds would likely be used to finance acts of terrorism. President Trump ended U.S. involvement in the JCPOA. He did not believe Irans leaders could be trusted to live up to the agreementmost scorpions cant. The presidents adversaries (and his own defense secretary) argued this would reignite tensions with Iran. Following the Iran-initiated assault on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on New Years Eve, which followed attacks on U.S. military personnel and the death of a civilian contractor, President Trump sanctioned striking Irans top military commander, General Qasem Soliemani. The general was responsible for the deaths of several hundred American military personnel and had orchestrated terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. The drone that killed the general was fired over Iraq, but it was heard around the world in China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. President Trump understood, just as President Reagan had before him, that you must sometimes do more than just carry a big stick. The final scene in the Iran saga is not yet written. President Trumps actions against Irans terror network were certainly bold; time will tell whether they were also wise. IV. Conclusion Four U.S. Presidents have been awarded Nobel Peace Prizes (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson,Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama). Yet President Reagan won the Cold War, a standoff that truly posed an existential threat, without firing a single shot. He prevailed with an unwavering belief in the power of free markets and peace through strength. Presidents Carter and Obama were good, peace-loving and well-intentioned men, but our enemies would question their resolve, and this put the country at risk. Their detractors would say that Ronald Reagan was not intellectually equipped for the presidency and that Donald Trump lacked the experience and temperament for the office. Neither is as humanist as Jimmy Carter or as woke as Barack Obama, but none of that matters when the missiles are flying overhead, and tomorrow is no longer assured. By the way, that 3 AM phone call that Mrs. Clinton shamelessly hawked in her 2008 presidential campaign finally did come, and President Trump answered it. Dr. Weisman is Professor of Economics Emeritus at Kansas State University. Delhi Bar Association president Sanjeev Nasiar on Wednesday joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. "I believe that we will work along with the legal fraternity to lead AAP towards victory in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. I sincerely hope that the lawyer community will be at the forefront of working for the welfare of the people of Delhi. We will also work for the progress of the lawyer community in Delhi," said Nasiar, former in-charge of the BJP's Human Rights Cell of Delhi. Himal Akhtar, a Bar Council of Delhi member and an advocate for the Delhi Wakf Board, also joined the ruling party in the national capital. "The AAP government is the first government to have worked for the welfare of the lawyer fraternity. We stand by AAP and hope that we will be able to work together for the development of Delhi," he said. Senior Advocate Satish Kumar, and advocates Seema Singh and Mukesh Dral also joined the AAP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ukraine Knew Iran Had Downed Airliner But Didn't Go Public, Official Says By Current Time January 14, 2020 Ukraine knew on a preliminary basis that Iran shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on January 8, the same day as the incident, but decided not to go public with the information because it wanted to get access to the crash site. Kyiv knew conclusively that Iran's military was to blame the following day, yet told its embassy in Tehran to rule out a terrorist act in its statement, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danylov told Current Time, a television and digital network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America. The reason being, he said on January 13, was that the situation room in Kyiv wanted Iran to accept Ukraine's team of investigators. "After we received confirmation from Tehran that they were waiting for us, this information was removed," Danylov said. Opposition politicians had criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for not announcing findings sooner that Iran had likely shot down the airliner on January 8, killing all 176 people on board, including 11 Ukrainians. Danylov posited that the prime ministers of Britain and Canada came out with statements laying the blame on an Iranian rocket for "political reasons." However, Kyiv took a "pragmatic" approach because "our task was to discover the truth," he said. When asked if such actions were provocative, Danylov justified them as "goal-oriented." He said Ukraine's investigators believed the rocket that shot down the airliner was a Russian-made Tor missile. When Iran acknowledged shooting down the plane after nearly three days of denials, Danylov said it "relieved some tension." It was confirmation that Ukraine "went down the right path," he said. Danylov said he had faith in his team's conclusions because it consisted of the same people who investigated the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in July 2014. An international team of investigators led by the Netherlands has concluded that Russia was responsible for shooting down the airliner in which all 298 people aboard were killed. Russia has rejected the conclusions of the investigation. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-knew -initially-rocket-shot-down-ukrainian- plane-over-iran/30375750.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau has asked for Ukraines assistance in dialogue with Iran about identifying the bodies of Canadian citizens who died in a plane crash last week, the Ukrainian presidents office said on Tuesday, Trend reports citing Reuters. Justin Trudeau asked for Volodymyr Zelenskiys assistance in dialogue with the Iranian authorities as regards the identification of the bodies of the victims, including Canadian citizens, a statement said. Iran admitted on Saturday it had shot down a Ukraine International Airlines plane in error, after initially denying it had a role in the incident. All 176 people aboard, including 57 Canadians, were killed. The Chinese government is a threat to human rights around the world, according to a new report from the New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW). The ruling Chinese Communist Party has already created a vast surveillance state in a bid to achieve total control of people's lives, the group said as it launched the HRW World Report 2020. "Now the Chinese government is trying to extend that censorship to the rest of the world," HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said. "To protect everyones future, governments need to act together to resist Beijings assault on the international human rights system." Beijing's most obvious target when seeking to undermine international human rights mechanisms has been the United Nations, the report said. "The Chinese government ... does not think twice about twisting arms to protect its image in international forums," it said. "The U.N. has been a key target." The report cited the unwillingness of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to publicly demand an end to the mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in "re-education" camps in Xinjiang, while at the same time supporting Beijing's "Belt and Road" global infrastructure initiative. At the U.N. Human Rights Council, China routinely opposes virtually every human rights initiative that criticizes a particular country unless it is watered down enough to secure that governments consent, the report said, citing Beijing's opposition of resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Myanmar, Syria, Iran, the Philippines, Burundi, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Yemen, Eritrea, and Belarus. "China also seeks to distort the international rights framework by suggesting that economic progress should precede the need to respect rights," it said, adding that Beijing tries to redefine human rights as something far weaker than a legal obligation binding governments. "When Chinas human rights record came up for a routine review in 2018 and 2019 at the Human Rights Council, Chinese officials threatened critical delegations while encouraging allies to heap praise," the report said. It said Beijing had also filled the speakers list reserved for civil society organizations with government-backed groups that would sing its praises. China's diplomats issue threats Chinese diplomats had also submitted false information and "threatened delegations with consequences if they attended a panel discussion of abuses in Xinjiang, and sought to prevent an independent group focused on Xinjiang from speaking at the council," the report found. It said Chinese Communist Party diplomatic efforts often bolster authoritarianism in beneficiary countries who sign "Belt and Road" (BRI) deals with Beijing. "BRI projects ... largely ignore human rights and environmental standards," the HRW report said. "They allow little if any input from people who might be harmed. Some are negotiated in backroom deals that are prone to corruption." "[They also] effectively impose a separate set of political conditions requiring support for Chinas anti-rights agenda," it said. "That ensures at best silence, at worst applause, in the face of Chinas domestic repression, as well as assistance to Beijing as it undermines international human rights institutions." Roth -- who was recently denied entry to Hong Kong, where the report was to have been launched -- called on international governments to resist Beijing's attempts to undermine human rights protections around the world. "Unless we want to return to an era in which people are pawns to be manipulated or discarded according to the whims of their overlords, we must resist Beijings assault on our rights," Roth said. "Decades of progress on rights, and our future, are at stake." At home, Beijing has made technology central to its repression, using mass intrusions on peoples privacy through such tools as forced collection of DNA samples, and then deploying big data analysis and artificial intelligence to refine its means of control, Roth said in a statement on the HRW website. "The goal is to engineer a society that is free of dissent," he said. The report also cited a number of times in which Beijing had made its political requirements known to companies with strong ties to China. Hong Kong in crisis Hong Kong's flag carrier airline Cathay Pacific threatened to fire employees who supported or participated in the anti-extradition and pro-democracy movement in the city. Herbert Diess, chief executive of Volkswagen, said he was "not aware" of Xinjiang's mass detention camps, while Marriott fired a social media manager for liking a tweet supporting referring to Tibet as a country, the report said. HRW said there is currently an "inhospitable" climate for human rights around the world, with a number governments who were previously outspoken on China's' rights abuses now reluctant to put pressure on Beijing. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he hadn't read the HRW report, but that similar reports typically turn a blind eye to facts and confuse right and wrong with no objectivity at all." Geng said the Chinese people had the final say on the state of human rights in the country, which he described as in the best period of history." The Hong Kong government hit out on at the report's reference to ever-encroaching Chinese influence in the city's political life. "The [Hong Kong] government attaches great importance to human rights and freedoms and is determined to safeguard them," it said, warning foreign organizations not to interfere in Hong Kong's affairs. Of the growing criticism of heavy-handed police violence during the pro-democracy protests, the spokesman said: "If members of the public could express their views in a peaceful and rational manner, there would be no need for the police to use any force." Rights groups have warned that Hong Kong is now in a state of humanitarian crisis after police fired more than 16,000 rounds of tear gas in recent months, with around 1,000 of those fired into the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) campus during a single day in November. Frontline protesters, eyewitnesses, journalists and human rights groups have repeatedly said that the majority of violence during the protests has originated with the Hong Kong police, who have been widely criticized for the excessive use of tear gas, water cannon, pepper spray, as well as both non-lethal and live ammunition weapons on unarmed protesters. Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Taal Volcano has cloaked tourist-dependent communities in ash and residents fear they have nothing to return to. Batangas, Philippines Marilyn La Luz had always known that Taal Volcano Island was a danger zone, but she never thought of leaving. Her parents lived there all their lives and she grew up on its lower slopes amid patches of lush greenery, frolicking horses and a view of Taal Volcanos crater just a few kilometres away through an easy climb. We lived in paradise. Everyone who comes to Taal Volcano even says so, she said. It was a paradise that drew in thousands of tourists and ensured a comfortable income for 32-year-old La Luz who worked as a tour guide. She would make 350 Philippine pesos (about $8) for every tour she booked. On average, she could book about two trips in a day. But it was the tips of the foreign tourists that were most lucrative. Tourists tip in dollars sometimes $10 or $20. The Americans are the best tippers because I think tipping is really part of their culture. Once a guest heard it was my birthday on the day of our tour and gave me $100. Thousands of people are now living in evacuation centres with little idea of how long they will have to be there [Ana Santos/Al Jazeera] Now in an evacuation centre, La Luz cannot help but think about all that she and her family lost when Taal Volcano began erupting on Sunday after more than 40 years of being dormant. No mans land Plumes of smoke that burst out of Taal dumped volcanic ash fine particles of rock and glass fragments that are denser than snow on La Luzs beloved paradise and turned it into a wasteland. Mark Timbal, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in the Philippines, said an aerial inspection confirmed that vegetation and animal life on the volcano island was dead, burned by the heat. It is now a no mans land. Its like heaven and earth fell on it. Frequent and intensifying volcanic earthquakes and road cracks called fissures prompted the authorities to begin forced evacuations to move an estimate 300,000 residents living within the 14-kilometre (8.6-mile) danger zone around Taal Volcano to safer ground. What we are observing now, the [volcanic] earthquakes and the fissures [road cracks] are signs that magma is still rising in Taal, Mariton Bornas head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology [PhlVolcs] told the media on Tuesday. It has opened up. If there is magma coming from beneath, it will quickly ascend. There are no more blockages. In some towns in the province of Batangas, some 25km (15 miles) away from Taal Volcano, road cracks have destroyed some homes. The volcano has been on alert level one since last year, but PhiVolcs raised the level to four last Sunday warning that a hazardous eruption was possible within hours or days. The highest alert level is five. Residents living near the erupting Taal Volcano evacuated after it began to send plumes of ash and steam into the sky on Sunday [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters] Authorities are preparing for two extreme worst-case scenarios: One where the eruption could take place over a few days and another where the eruption lasts for weeks. It could be short, it could be long, PhiVolcs volcano expert Bornas said, comparing Taals most recent volcanic activity with previous eruptions. In 1911, Taal erupted over a period of three days in January. In 1754, it was drawn out over a period of seven months. State of limbo Uro Masambeque, 82, is among hundreds of people from the very young to the very old in an emergency shelter set up in the classrooms of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Batangas. Masambeque has Alzheimers and finds it hard to move on his own. Before lying down on the floor for a nap with his 80-year-old wife, Lucy, his daughter, Rhodora, had to help him unfold his limbs and rest his head. Its really hard for us here, especially him. He needs adult diapers and vitamins, Rhodora said. Uro Masambeque, 82, who has Alzheimers tries to get some rest in the classrooms of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, which have been turned into an emergency shelter. [Ana Santos/Al Jazeera] With so much uncertainty over the volcano, it is unclear when they might be able to return home. Many people will have nothing to go back to after this. Were not sure what kind of assistance we can give them in the case of prolonged displacement, said Junn Mertola, a village chief in Alitagtag, one of the areas where the government enforced a forced evacuation on Tuesday. Maybe the local government can help out for a month. More than that, we would really need to ask the private sector for support, Mertola added. More than 700 people have made the Batangas evacuation centre their home since last Sunday. Edna Sanchez, mayor of Santo Tomas, the town where the centre is located, said the multi-storey building previously sheltered evacuees during Typhoon Tisoy (Kammuri) in early December last year. But despite its name and purpose to support evacuees during times of emergency the building is minimally equipped. Evacuees claim a corner or a small patch on the floor to lay out flattened cardboard covered with mats or flimsy bedsheets. There are just four toilets for all the evacuees, and showers need to be taken outside near the buildings water tank. The building resembles the classrooms and gymnasiums that are by default quickly converted into temporary shelters during times of disaster. We had to prioritise purchasing trucks and rescue equipment. Our next priority will be to purchase other things like beddings, said Sanchez who added that they were caught off-guard by the number of people who needed assistance. Families while away the time at evacuation centres with the volcanos continued activity making it too dangerous to return [Ana Santos/Al Jazeera] Still reeling from multiple natural disasters that pummelled the Philippines last December, Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano earlier issued a statement appealing to the public to donate clean drinking water, food, emergency medicines and other essentials to the evacuees through the local government or department of social welfare. Government under fire Online, Filipinos have criticised Ano for passing on the governments responsibility to private citizens. Some pointed out that the Calamity Fund was cut by 11 billion Philippine pesos ($216 million) in last years budget. The fund is designed to be used for immediate disaster relief and repair. On Tuesday, Grace Poe, an independent senator, reiterated her call for the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management which would streamline the different components of emergency response under one governing body. This would give equal focus on all aspects of emergency response including rehabilitation which is usually forgotten, said Poe. With no sense of when, or if ever she might be able to return, La Luz is worried about the future. Her entire family had built their livelihood around Taal Volcano. As a tour guide, she brought in guests to the restaurant where her 62-year-old mother, Cristeta, supplied fish and vegetables. Her brother owned horses they rented out to tourists who opted to make the trek on four legs rather than walk. We wont have anything to go back to, she said. "Iran is interested in diplomacy. We are not interested in negotiating with the US. US did not keep its commitments under nuclear deal. We had a US deal and US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" Zarif said while participating in a panel discussion at Raisina Dialogue here.Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on January 3.His death has marked a dramatic escalation in tension between the US and Iran, that has often been at a fever pitch since Trump, in 2018, chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the 2015 nuclear pact the world powers had struck with Tehran.Countries including the UK and India have urged Iran to pursue urgent de-escalation.Zarif regretted the shooting down of a Ukrainian jet near Tehran airport which killed all 176 people onboard and said it was a "mistake" which happened due to spiralling "tensions" in the region."Nine million people were out in the streets of Iran commemorating Soleimani. You cannot bring out so many people to protest. The shooting down of a plane was a mistake. 180 families are mourning the loss of their dear ones. It happened because of tension," Zarif said.Continuing his tirade against the US, he further said, "US is now negotiating with Taliban. To do what? To get out of Afghanistan. What has US brought to Iraq? Stability? In Afghanistan and Iraq, it is their choice. But why to use Iraq to mount an attack on an official guest of Iraq? It (Soleimani's strike) was an unprovoked attack.""We now need a new coalition against Daesh (Arabic name of the ISIS). We knew where Daesh was standing. We now know where US is standing," Zarif added.The Iranian diplomat described the Iran nuclear deal as one of the "best multilateral agreements" and blamed both the US and European Union (EU) for failing to keep their commitments to respect the agreement, which was aimed at limiting Tehran's nuclear activities and allow international inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions."The future of the nuclear deal depends on Europe. The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was one of the best deals... one of the best multilateral agreements. None of the 11 commitments given to Iran were fulfilled. Not only US but also EU failed to keep those commitments," Zarif said."EU is in violation of JCPOA commitments independent of American violations. You (EU countries) are independent countries. Why do you let US bully you? So we triggered the dispute resolution mechanism. Nothing happened. They did not even respond," he added.Zarif made it clear that if Europe backed away from the deal, Iran would "reverse" from its committments."We have said that once Europe reverses, we will reverse too. We have lost hundreds of billions of dollars. If they pay us those hundreds of billions, we will reverse our decisions," he said.Earlier this month, Tehran announced that it was abandoning its last obligation under the 2015 nuclear deal which is to limit the number to centrifuges. (ANI) Former Russian penitentiary officials sentence for graft comes into force Mikhail Telekhov, RAPSI 18:00 15/01/2020 ST. PETERSBURG, January 15 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) The St. Petersburg City Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by ex-deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Nikolay Barinov against a 3.5-year prison sentence given to him for taking about 110 million rubles (about $2 million) in bribes during a detention center construction, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The court also upheld a 950,000-ruble ($15,000) fine imposed on the defendant. The sentence therefore came into force. Barinov was convicted and sentenced in June. The trial of ex-FSIN deputy director was held under a special procedure without examining evidence because the defendant has signed a plea deal and has cooperated with investigators in a prison hospital because of his poor health. According to investigators, between May 2007 and December 2012, Barinov acting as the FSIN deputy director and supervisor of building a detention facility in St. Petersburg, regularly received bribes from top managers of firms engaged in the construction. In particular, he promised two businessmen, Ruslan Khamkhokov and Viktor Kudrin, to assist in the execution of necessary documents on rendered services for the money reward in the amount of not less than 12% of each funds transfer of funds allocated for the work performance to the companies accounts. The construction companies heads transferred the money through ex-deputy chief of the FSIN St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region directorate Sergey Moiseyenko. Allegedly, Barinov received around 110 million rubles in total. Khamkhokov and Kudrin, who stand charged with corruption and economic crimes, as well as Moiseyenko charged with bribery and murder organization, have been earlier put in detention. Newsfrom Japan Washington, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper discussed the situations in Iran and North Korea when they met at the Pentagon on Tuesday. The two defense chiefs also reaffirmed, ahead of the 60th anniversary Sunday of the 1960 revision to the Japan-U.S. security treaty, that the two countries will continue to work closely to strengthen the bilateral alliance. At a joint press conference after the meeting, Esper thanked Kono for "Japan's decision to deploy its Self-Defense Force assets to the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea," referring to the planned dispatch of a Japanese SDF unit to the Middle East aimed at ensuring sea lane safety in the region. Kono pledged that Tokyo will "make persistent diplomatic efforts to ease the tension and stabilize the situation" in the Middle East. Esper also said the Japan-U.S. alliance "experienced a remarkable evolution over the past 60 years" and the bilateral relationship will "continue to be critical to our collective security and regional stability." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Nearly 60 police departments and sheriffs offices in New York state dont have access to important records from the state Department of Motor Vehicles because they havent agreed the records wont be turned over to federal immigration, state officials said. The interruption in the flow of the records including photos used for identification and photo arrays comes in response to a newly passed state Green Light Law, which allows people who came to the United States illegally to get drivers licenses. As of Tuesday afternoon, 59 agencies hadnt certified that they would honor the agreement, according to officials at the state Department of Criminal Justice Services and the DMV. Those agencies missed the Jan. 11 deadline to sign the agreement, though they can still have their access restored if they agree to not share the records, officials said. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office signed the agreement, according to spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber. The office uses DMV photos primarily for criminal cases and photo arrays, he said. Syracuse police did not respond to questions about whether the department signed the agreement. The law, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June, allows state residents who entered the U.S. illegally to obtain a drivers license without a Social Security number beginning Dec. 14. The law states that the information those residents hand over to the state for the drivers license shall not be used by the federal government as a means to identify or deport them. Local police agencies have access to the DMV database, though local agencies cannot tell based on the DMV records alone whether a license-holder came to the United States illegally, officials said. The agreement with local police agencies is meant to ensure that they do not disclose that information to ICE, Customs & Border Protection and Citizenship and Immigration Services as stipulated in law, said Janine Kava, a spokeswoman for DCJS. The existence of the agreement was first reported by CNHI News Service, which reported Tuesday morning that 78 agencies had not signed the agreement. By Tuesday afternoon, the number fell to 59, state officials said. Kava would not release a list of the 59 agencies that had not signed the agreement. Its not clear whether the police agencies are refusing the sign the agreement in protest or whether they were unaware of the requirement. The state sheriffs association executive director told CNHI that the agreement deadline was likely just not coming to the attention of the right person," and not ideological. Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. The US government is backing Brazil's bid to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, providing a foreign policy boost for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. "The United States wants Brazil to become the next country to begin the accession process" to the OECD, said a US State Department spokesperson for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. "The Brazilian government is working to align its economic policies with OECD standards while prioritizing OECD accession to reinforce economic reforms," the spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The State Department spokesperson declined to be named in line with department rules. The Paris-based OECD advises developed countries on economic policy. The US announcement is welcome for Bolsonaro, whose alignment with US President Donald Trump has been the cornerstone of his foreign policy. The US government had said in October that it was prioritizing Argentina's inclusion, then governed by right-leaning President Mauricio Macri, a Trump ally. Macri lost his reelection bid. "The American announcement of a priority for Brazil to join the OECD once more shows we are building a solid partnership with the US," Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Arajo said on Twitter. Trump recently walked back an earlier decision to impose tariffs on Brazilian steel and aluminum. Separately, Bolsonaro's administration has decided to leave a regional group called the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, also known by its Spanish acronym CELAC, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported Wednesday. Brazil's decision is due to the presence of Cuba and Venezuela in the group, the newspaper reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi/New York, Jan 15 : The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members will hold a closed door discussion on Kashmir at China's request on Wednesday night. Aarti Tikoo Singh New Delhi/New York, Jan 15 (IANS) The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members will hold a closed door discussion on Kashmir at China's request on Wednesday night. Top diplomatic sources said that China has once again sought discussion on Kashmir, at the behest of Pakistan, at the UNSC. "But China will raise it in consultations under other matters. Since its a closed door informal meet listed under any other business and without any official record, no outcome is expected," an official source said. Though France has noted China's request, it has also reiterated its position on the issue that it should be addressed bilaterally by India and Pakistan. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said that they are monitoring the developments at the UNSC closely and are prepared to counter China if it runs Pakistani propaganda on Kashmir. A masked man used a knife in a robbery at a Newtownards off-license on Tuesday evening. Police have appealed for information after the armed robbery in the Movilla Street area shortly before 7.55pm. It was reported that a masked man entered the off-licence armed with a knife. He demanded money from a female staff member, before making off with a sum of money towards the town centre area. The staff member was not injured, but was left badly shaken. The man is described as being between 58 and 510 in height and of slim build. He was wearing a dark coloured hooded top, a balaclava and black gloves. Detective Sergeant Westbury said that police enquiries into the incident are continuing. "We would appeal to anyone with any information in relation to this incident to contact detectives on 101, quoting reference number 1632 14/01/20," he said. "Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. D onald Trump has again used a rally to defend his decision to order the killing of a top Iranian general while criticising Democrats as weak on national security. The US leader took on the leading Democratic candidates - including Vermont senator Bernie Sanders - who were engaged in their final debate before primary voting commenced. Mr Trump appeared in Wisconsin just as Democrats took the stage in next-door in Iowa, which holds its kick-off caucuses in less than three weeks on February 3. "Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family, nor can they protect our country," the president told supporters on Tuesday night at the rally, where he defended his decision to order the drone strike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks as fellow contenders Tom Steyer, Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders listen during Tuesday's debate / AP The rally came as Democrats kicked off their final debate before voters in Iowa cast the first ballots in the partys 2020 nomination contest, amid increasing infighting as the party searches for a candidate to take on Mr Trump. Speaking at Tuesdays Democratic debate, Mr Sanders said he fears that Mr Trump's actions involving Iran could be leading the United States into a foreign policy quagmire of the highest level. The Vermont senator said that what he sees as the country's top foreign policy disasters - the wars in Vietnam and Iraq - were "based on lies." Mr Sanders accused the president of being dishonest about the intelligence that led to the US airstrike that killed Soleimani and pressed the need for an international coalition, adding, "We cannot keep acting unilaterally." Supports cheer before a campaign rally for President Donald Trump / AP Six Democratic presidential candidates took to the debate stage in Iowa for a final showdown before primary voting gets under way. The first debate of 2020 started with fresh tension between Mr Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Ms Warren said on Monday night that Mr Sanders privately told her in 2018 that he didn't think a woman could defeat Mr Trump. Mr Sanders has vigorously denied making the comment. Speaking during Tuesday night's debate, Mr Sanders again denied it, saying it is "incomprehensible" that he would believe such a thing and said he didn't want to "waste a whole lot of time" on the issue "because this is what Donald Trump ... wants." But at his rally Mr Trump defended Mr Sanders, saying: "I dont believe that Bernie said that. I really dont. Its not the kind of a thing he would say, but added that he did not know Mr Sanders and did not like him. Winning back Wisconsin is a key part of Democrats' 2020 strategy and one of the reasons the party chose Milwaukee to host its national convention in July. Mr Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and he is expected to make frequent visits in the coming months as he works to maintain his edge. Vice President Mike Pence warmed up Mr Trumps rally crowd by panning the Democratic candidates as too far left for the state. "You know, I heard they've got another debate tonight. If it's anything like the other ones, those people are going to be standing so far on the left I think that stage is going to tip over," Mr Pence quipped. Mr Trump spent much of the rally defending his record, including his decision to order the strike that killed Soleimani, whom he labelled the "world's number one terrorist." LRRI appears to have suffocated one monkey and starved another. These are only the latest of the negligent serial deaths. The staff of this facility are overworked and unqualified. It is a wonder that even more deaths havent occurred. Michael A. Budkie, Stop Animal Exploitation Now Whether you support or decry animal testing, the latest allegations of deadly animal mistreatment at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute are beyond disturbing. Thats because these appear to amount to simply ignoring not only federal protocols but also basic empathy for another living being. And because this is not the first time the institute has been accused of cruel, preventable deaths prior allegations have been upheld and resulted in fines. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Stop Animal Exploitation Now have filed complaints with federal agencies against the institute (which is not affiliated with Lovelace Health System). PETA wants the National Institutes of Health to withdraw its approval that allows the institute to get federal contracts and grants. Ohio-based Stop wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate and prosecute the lab. At issue is a Nov. 19 USDA inspection into the deaths of two 2-year-old male cynomolgus macaque monkeys. One died unexpectedly during a face-mask inhalation procedure. PETA maintains the monkey was not properly monitored, the chair arm restraints were too large so animals could become entangled in the equipment and a full necropsy was not conducted as per the studys protocol. The other was found dead in the cage where he was held with five noncompatible, male monkeys, and the necropsy cites marked dehydration, little to no visceral fat, and an overall thin body condition. PETA says the USDA report suggests he may not have been allowed access to food or water. In the controversial world of animal testing there is zero room for such carelessness. Lovelace Respiratory Institute has been fined before for needless monkey deaths, and if these allegations hold up, the pattern and practice should mean one less place where animal testing is conducted. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. [January 15, 2020] Bulgaria Will Participate in the Master Design Challenge, the World Final of Roca's Express Design Competition - The winners of the second edition held in Bulgaria will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Desislava Petrova and Liliya Ivanova, students of architecture in UACEG, winners of the second edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Bulgaria, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their qualities o discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. Throughout these three days, all activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the Barcelona Center of Design; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190. Roca, a leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The Chinese Coast Guard made its presence felt in Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal even as its commandant leads what is billed as a goodwill visit in Manila. This was the observation of Ryan Martinson, assistant professor of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College, who has been monitoring developments in the disputed South China Sea. In response to CNN Philippines' tweet on the arrival honors accorded to Chinese Coast Guard's Director General Maj. Gen. Wang Zhongcai in Manila, Martinson posted a map tracking the "back and forth" movement of Beijing's Zhongguohaijing 5402 in Ayungin, internationally known as Second Thomas Shoal. "The Philippines rolls out the red carpet for the Commander of the China Coast Guard. Meanwhile, a China Coast Guard ship steams back and forth, menacing Philippine Marines posted at Second Thomas Shoal," Martinson said. Ayungin, a submerged reef west of Palawan, is part of the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, to which only Manila has sovereign rights. This is the ruling of an international tribunal backed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague which China rejects. The East Asian giant continues to claim almost the entire South China Sea as its own, including Ayungin, which it calls Renai Jiao. The dilapidated BRP Sierra Madre has served as the Philippines' outpost in Ayungin since 1999, after China occupied nearby Mischief Reef. Known in the Philippines as Panganiban Reef, Mischief is China's biggest outpost in the disputed Spratlys, but the arbitral ruling said it is also part of the Philippines' EEZ and continental shelf. The Philippines' Defense Department has said China has been regularly deploying at least one Coast Guard ship to Ayungin Shoal, apparently to monitor Philippine activities in the area. In October last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs protested the presence of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel four to five nautical miles from Ayungin. A month before that, defense officials reported that a Chinese Coast Guard ship had blocked three Philippine civilian vessels in Ayungin. Meanwhile, the Chinese Coast Guard's Vessel 5204 is on a week-long port call in Manila until January 17 for exploratory talks and joint exercises with the Philippines. Admiral Joel Garcia, commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, said talking to China is the only solution to the long-standing maritime dispute. When you run a fast-growing startup, it's often taken for granted that you'll be reachable at all times. CEOs' habits tend to support this assumption: In a recent Inc. survey, 56 percent of senior executives said they check work-related communications "almost constantly" when they're not in the office. Even while on vacation, 85 percent of respondents check messages at least once or twice a day. Only 3 percent said they go completely off the grid. As the boss, you might never be able to fully unplug from your phone, email, or Slack. And though a third of respondents to Inc.'s survey said they also ask their employees to be available during non-work hours, you can't always expect around-the-clock responsiveness. So how do you build healthy boundaries into your company's culture while making sure all the work gets done? Set expectations The physical and psychological consequences of burnout are well documented. But problems aren't caused only by logging 80-hour weeks at the office or taking projects home. One 2018 study found that when employees are expected to keep an eye on their inboxes outside work hours, they're more anxious, and their health suffers--as does that of their family members. In other words, even if they don't actually do any work at home or on vacation, the pressure to be "always on" can cause harm. One solution is for employers to reduce their expectations for after-hours communication, or at least come to a clear understanding with employees regarding when they will and won't be responsive. Bill Keith, CEO of Best Workplaces honoree Perfect Snacks, a San Diego-based company that makes refrigerated protein bars, says that clear, written policies have helped even his company's most zealous workaholics learn to take a break. At Perfect Snacks, meetings may not be scheduled before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. On Fridays there are no meetings at all, and everyone is encouraged to go home at 2 p.m. The company's 100-plus employees also are required to set an automated out-of-office response on their email accounts when they're out sick or on vacation, with contact information for a colleague who can respond to any urgent requests on their behalf. "We want to make sure that when folks come in here, we're breaking any bad habits they have, and creating those boundaries for their professional and personal lives," Keith says. Don't set the wrong precedent Bosses should also be wary of praising employees who are online at all hours, since that can come across as celebrating overwork, says Rob Waldron, CEO of North Billerica, Massachusetts-based education technology company Curriculum Associates. In the past, he says, "if I saw someone working really hard, I wanted to thank them. If they stayed up all night and they did all these things, I would thank them publicly." Waldron now acknowledges that that was a mistake; not only were those employees sacrificing their own health and time with their families, but the quality of their work was likely to suffer as well. "So I shifted to celebrating the people who were the most efficient," he notes. "I celebrated the great work and the balance." Know that formal rules won't always work While most bosses would agree that work-life balance is important, some believe that formal policies to protect that balance can be counterproductive. Scott Jordan, founder and CEO of Ketchum, Idaho-based clothing company ScotteVest, implemented a "no emails after work" rule at his company in 2016. It seemed like a good way to make sure employees had time away from work to recharge. However, Jordan found that certain employees took the rule "a little too literally," and things fell through the cracks. Now, he says, the company sets expectations for after-hours communication on an as-needed basis. "The Cabinet viewed a presentation of the grand memorial project and approved the proposal to augment the height of the bronze statue by 100 feet. The project is expected to be completed within two years and there would be no dearth of funds for it," Pawar told mediapersons. Mumbai, Jan 15 (IANS) The Maharashtra Government has decided to increase the height of the proposed statue of Bharat Ratna Dr. B. R. Ambedkar from the originally planned 250 feet to 350 feet, standing on a 100 feet high pedestal, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said here on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the 'State of Equality' in Oct. 2015, in the Indu Mills Compound, spread over 12.50 acres land. The proposed grand memorial to Ambedkar - the Architect of Indian Constitution - will have a 600-seat auditorium, a 400-capacity library and research centre, symbols and artefacts of Buddhism, a six-metre wide circular pathway around the memorial. The project will be supervised by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and will be an eco-friendly monument with 68 percent free spaces without disturbing the local environment on the Arabian Sea shores. He alleged that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led government did nothing in the matter during its tenure, but now the matter has been speeded up to complete it within two years. However, Republican Sena President Anandraj Y. Ambedkar, the youngest grandson of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, accused Ajit Pawar of "misleading" the people as the original height of the statue was 350 feet. "We have demanded that the statue alone should be 450 feet tall, besides the pedestal height. After we raised this demand, the height of Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was increased to almost 600 feet," Anandraj Ambedkar told IANS. He said that if the Maharashtra government is not able to make the Statue of Equality 450 feet tall plus the pedestal, then "move out, we shall complete the project and give a grand memorial to the world". qn/rt A suicide car bomb attack on a bridge overpass south of Baghdad has killed three US soldiers and wounded six more, US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Randy Martin says. The soldiers, who had been manning a checkpoint, were killed when part of the span collapsed. "I believe there were folks that were on or near the bridge span that collapsed. Folks were dug out of portions of the bridge that collapsed," Martin said. An Iraqi interpreter was also wounded in the attack which hit near Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad, in an area notorious for attacks by al-Qaeda-linked insurgents. Engineers with heavy machinery were being sent to clear the highway, which was partially blocked by debris, the US military said in a statement. Recent months have seen further negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the terms under which the latters Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be filled and operated, with little sign so far of a break in the long-running deadlock. Egyptian officials have long warned that the mega-dam, being constructed on the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian highlands, could impact the other two countries, which are downstream, and have stressed that Egypt is largely dependent on the Nile for its freshwater resources. It is clear, however, that Egypts water challenges extend beyond the potential impact of the new dam, and to fully understand this vital issue, many other factors, problems and potential solutions need to be taken into account. With the increase in Egypts population to over 100 million, Egypt's water consumption has reached between 105 to 110 billion metres per year. The annual flow from the Nile has been stable at 55.5 billion cubic metres for many years; Egypt is therefore classified as a country in water poverty. Experts and researchers say that Egypt has a longstanding problem whereby its share of water remains fixed but its population growth continues, as does economic development, increasing demand. Egypt suffers from a water deficit of 30 billion cubic meters; it annually needs at least 110 billion cubic meters of water to cover its needs. However, it currently has only 80 billion cubic meters, of which 55.5 billion cubic meters come from the Nile. To find out more, Ahram Online took a closer look at some of the key issues related to the countrys water challenges. A growing water crisis The average availability of freshwater per capita in Egypt has steadily decreased from about 1,893 cubic metres per capita per year in 1959 to about 900 cubic metres in 2000, and then to 700 cubic metres in 2012. This figure puts the country below the threshold of water poverty, which according to the World Bank is 1,000 cubic metres of water per person per year. Egypt has a high population growth rate, and given this, it is expected that the share of water per capita will continue to decrease to 534 cubic metres by 2030, which is nearly half the international threshold for water poverty. In addition, the evaporation of surface water from Lake Nasser, Egypts vast reservoir, is believed to exceed the previous estimated amount. The current average evaporation rate is 7 millimetres per day,expected to reach 7.3 millimetres by 2050. Water poverty poses a threat to economic growth and also threatens the quantity and quality of water resources in the country, which exacerbates the current problem of contamination of shallow groundwater from industrial chemicals and overuse of fertilisers and pesticides. In addition, farmers still largely rely on ineffective irrigation methods, resulting in water loss due to evaporation and over-irrigation, and to soil damage. According to the water resources and irrigation ministry, Egypt already uses 127 percent of its water resources, and will need an additional 20 percent by 2020. The United Nations expects Egypt to suffer from water scarcity by 2025. Assuming the continued growth of the population and taking into account land reclamation projects in the desert and the fact that more than 50 percent of grains consumed are already imported, Egypt cannot meet its demand for food only by relying on Nile water for irrigation. Egypt is therefore already using most of its Nile flow, and plans to use more during the upcoming years. In addition, Egypt is also seeing the effects of climate change, which have affected the Nile Basin countries and, as a result, the flow of the Nile. Several studies have shown that the Nile is very sensitive to climate change, mainly due to the decline in rainfall rate by 4 percent. Given these factors, experts agree that Egypt should intensify its search for alternative ways to increase its share of water, whether through desalination of seawater, rationalisation of consumption, and attention to providing new water sources such as re-using wastewater in agriculture and maximising the use of groundwater, in order to face its growing water crisis, which could potentially be exacerbated by the completion of the GERD. Wasted rainwater Rainwater, if properly used, could be one of the most important weapons in combating Egypts water crisis. According to reports by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the amount of rain that falls on Egypt is estimated at 51 billion cubic metres annually,which is nearly equivalent to the countrys share of Nile water. However, Egypt has failed to take advantage of this water resource; only 1.3 billion cubic metres per year are currently used, as this is the amount that falls on the Nile Delta region. The other areas of Egypt, most of which are desert, do not have enough flood waterways or infrastructure to channel rainwater in useful ways. The agriculture ministry has said in reports that the amount of rainwater that could be used is 13 billion cubic metres, which is sufficient to cultivate 600,000 acres of agricultural land annually. In recent years, Egypt has developed a strategy to deal with its seasonal bouts of torrential rain, based on two important elements. The first is to reduce the risks of flooding and other damage via methods such as dams, walls, and water crossings, to direct flood water into waterways. The second is to maximise the benefits of this natural phenomenon, turning it into a useful source for water. In addition, the irrigation ministry has decided to construct a man-made lake to collect flood and rainwater in Hurghada in Red Sea governorate, with a capacity of 5 million cubic metres. The project aims to direct the water to underground reservoirs and therefore provide water to local communities and surrounding villages. The government also plans to construct a number of dams and industrial lakes in Red Sea governorates and in Upper Egypt at a cost of EGP 400 million, but these projects have not been completed yet. There is a need to increase the infrastructure for channelling rainwater into reservoirs in desert areas, so this water can be used in agriculture or drinking if needed, as happens in some Gulf countries. Water experts agree that by maximising rainfall storage projects, Egypt could generate an amount of water that is nearly half its current annual share of Nile water. "The Renaissance Dam is only part of Egypts water problem, not the whole of it," Ahmed Fawzy Diab, a senior international water expert, told Ahram Online. Far from [focusing on] other sources of water such as desalination of seawater and groundwater, it is necessary to set up the necessary equipment and infrastructure to collect flood water, and to set up climate change prediction techniques, to benefit from rainwater based on geological studies, he said. According to Diab, in recent years the state has established several barrier dams, blocking dams and lakes in Sinai, but it has slowed down the process because of the high financial costs. The lakes have been used in irrigation operations, for filling the underground water reservoirs, and for capturing 5 million cubic metres of rainwater annually. Diab stresses that rainwater is one of the purest types of water to drink if initially treated properly. It is therefore necessary to take advantage of rainwater and flooding by directing it to reservoirs and industrial lakes, he said, while noting that most important of all is to rationalise consumption, as Egyptians should know that water is a matter of life or death to them. Desalinating seawater During the 31st educational symposium of the Egyptian armed forces last October, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi revealed a plan to cut off the supply of Nile water to the northern coast and the Red Sea areas. These regions would instead get their water from seawater desalination plants, with investments in constructing these plants currently at EGP 200 billion and likely to rise in to EGP 300 billion in 2020. Egypt has been expanding its desalination projects in recent years, in light of its concerns about water scarcity. Desalination of seawater is one of the best, most effective and quickest ways for Egypt to overcome its current water shortage, water expert Diaa El-Din El-Qousy told Ahram Online. During a conference on desalination in Arab countries held in 2017, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed that desalination of seawater is a top priority for Egypt now it has entered the stage of water poverty. With the steady increase in population and the fixed amount of water resources, it is expected that there will be a steady decrease in the per capita share, he said. Desalination of seawater is becoming the strategic choice and a matter of national security for Egypt, he said. Madbouly noted that the urban development plan implemented by the state includes a total dependence on desalination of seawater in the new coastal cities, with desalination plants having been established in the new settlements of New Alamein, East Port Said and Galala, with a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres per day each. Other stations are also being expanded, he said. For example, Al-Yusr station in Red Sea governorate, has a capacity of 80,000 cubic metres per day, making it the largest operational desalination plant in Egypt. Work is being done to localise the technology of seawater desalination industry in Egypt in cooperation with the Military Production and the Arab Organization for Industrialization, and the private sector and in cooperation with advanced Arab countries in this field such as Saudi Arabia, said Madbouly. Given the countrys extensive marine areas and thousands of kilometres of shoreline, desalination of seawater is an essential resource in bridging the water deficit and achieving self-sufficiency in drinking water, El-Qousy said. Whether before or after the completion of the GERD, Egypts share of water is now insufficientEgypts aim from the current negotiations is to limit the negative impacts to the least possible, El-Qousy noted. Desalination plants also offer to change the prospects of life in border governorates and remote areas that suffer from water supply problems. El-Qousy believes that the best solution for Egypt to overcome its water crisis over the course of the coming few years is to establish scattered operations of water desalination plants in its coastal cities. The amount of drinking water produced in Egypt is estimated daily at 25 million cubic metres per day, 85 percent of which comes from Nile water, while desalinated sea and groundwater, as well other resources, account for the rest. A total of 63 desalination stations exist at present, with a total production capacity of 800,000 cubic metres per day. They are located in the governorates of North Sinai, South Sinai, Red Sea, Marsa Matrouh, Ismailia and Suez. An additional 19 stations are under construction at a total cost of EGP 7.9 billion pounds in the governorates of Matrouh, the Red Sea, North Sinai, South Sinai, Port Said and Alexandria. They will have a total capacity of 375,000 cubic metres per day. Desalination is a very expensive operation, however, and is mainly used by wealthy countries. Globally, only 25 billion cubic metres of desalinated water are produced per year, which represents 6 percent of drinking water in the world. Most of this is produced in Saudi Arabia, the US, Japan, Spain and Kuwait. In Egypt, desalination costs between EGP 10 to 15 per cubic metre of water, which is very high, with 44 percent of the cost spent on electricity. Wastewater treatment and re-use Wastewater is polluted water resulting from different human activities, and the treatment of wastewater is important to protect the environment from effects of pollution. The irrigation ministry has stressed the necessity of looking for unconventional solutions to the countrys water shortage, with the treatment of wastewater among those solutions, to meet the needs of agriculture and to provide drinking water. Wastewater can be treated and used for a variety of activities, including for drinking, and this happens in many countries at present, including some European countries. However, these countries have advanced technology and sufficient financial resources to purify wastewater up to the seventh level, which is very costly. In Egypt, treatment plants only purify wastewater to the second and third levels, therefore the water can only be -re-used to irrigate agricultural land. While wastewater has been used in agriculture since 1915, the Egyptian state has expanded its use of wastewater for agriculture since the 1990s. The amount of wastewater generated in Greater Cairo is currently estimated at about 6 million cubic metres per day, but only a very small part of this is used in agriculture. Some studies indicate that the cost of purifying a cubic metre of wastewater for agricultural purposes ranges from EGP 0.15 piasters to EGP 2. In addition to its high cost if used for drinking, the use of wastewater in irrigation of agricultural land poses a great risk to human health if not treated properly, due to the presence of different types of bacteria and viruses. Egypt is not only facing a problem of water quantity, but it is also facing a big problem in terms of water quality, water expert Diab said. Sanitary and industrial wastewater treatment causes increased pollution rates in irrigation water, due to the lack of sufficient treatment plants," Diab argues; however, he stresses that treatment of wastewater will not lead to an increase in the total amount of water, but rather will improve water quality and reduce rates of health and agricultural pollution. Drinking water consumption in Egypt is estimated at 11 billion cubic metres annually, of which 7 to 8 billion cubic metres are directed to wastewater, while the rest of it is wasted due to the lack of an efficient wastewater management network and weak infrastructure. A fundamental solution that the government must take is restructuring the whole wastewater sector in Egypt to achieve the best possible wastewater management, Diab stresses. During recent years, Egypt has seen significant progress in wastewater management. In 2018, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened the expansion of the Al-Gabal Al-Asfar wastewater treatment plant in Qalioubiya in Greater Cairo. The plant currently has a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres per day and serves nearly half of Cairos population. Egypt has also been working on extensive plan to replace dilapidated wastewater networks and construct new ones. Groundwater Egypt has great potential to desalinate ground water, a crucial option to overcome its water crisis, El-Qousy said. Groundwater is one of the most important sources of fresh water around the world, and it is present in Egypt in large quantities. Its uses are limited, however, due to both natural and technological factors. Experts say therefore that while it is not the whole solution, it can form a partial solution to Egypts water problem. Groundwater in Egypt is distinguished by its fixed stock, although the underground reservoir contains large quantities of water, but it is a reservoir that is replenished in some places and not renewed in many regions, especially the eastern and western desert regions and the Sinai Peninsula. However, the use of groundwater can compensate to solving water shortage if done with certain precautions, because when drawing from these reservoirs is thoughtlessly, the percentage of soil salinity in them increases, which affects the entire environment. The Egyptian government should set limitations and regulate the use of groundwater wells, because they are non-renewable, El-Qousy said, stressing that groundwater is a strategic water stock for Egypt for future generations. Groundwater is different to reservoirs, he explained; the subterranean reservoir in the Nile Valley and Deltais a renewed reservoir because it depends on the infiltration of water from the Nile. To maximise the utilization of groundwater, its use must not exceed 10 percent, so it can only be a partial solution to the water problem, especially in desert areas characterised by non-renewable geological groundwater reservoirs, he said. Egypts stock of groundwater has existed since the rainy ages, which ended thousands of years ago, therefore its source has finished, and the current sources of renewal are confined to leaching from the Nile, or coming across the ground from Africa. Studies must be done to regulate the process of using groundwater, linking it to the amount that it is replenished annually, he added. Groundwater is the second biggest source of fresh water in Egypt after the Nile. In addition, it is the only resource for desert land, which make up about 96 percent of the countrys area. For these reasons, the state has been focused on this source and has been studying its potential utilisation for more than six decades. In 2015, the state launched a vast agricultural project to cultivate 1.5 million feddans of desert land around the country. This huge project depends on groundwater for 88.5 percent of its water and on the Nile for 11.5 percent, with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency. The project was divided into three phases includes the digging of more than 5,000 ground water wells at a cost of 70 billion EGP in eight governorates, mainly Ismailia, Qena, Marsa Matrouh, Al-Wadi Al-Gedid, and Aswan. The irrigation minister stressed that the water management for the project is based on integrated studies carried out by the National Water Research Center, with the aim of optimising agricultural and urban investment within the limits of high safety precautions that ensure the sustainability of the underground reservoir. Improving irrigation techniques President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in 2018 that using modern irrigation and agricultural methods would save the country a huge amount of water that could be utilised in other sectors, and called on Egyptians to be careful when using each drop of water. During the inauguration of the first phase of a project to establish greenhouses on an area of 100,000 acres in Marsa Matrouh governorate, El-Sisi said that the projects were not luxuries, but important projects that should be taken seriously by the government and citizens. The greenhouse projects consume around 70 percent less water than traditional agricultural methods and can produce high-quality agricultural crops out of season. El-Sisi said that the cost of constructing greenhouses is high, but saving water is vital. Water experts say that other modern agriculture and irrigation methods can rationalise water consumption and drastically save large amount of water as well. "Globally speaking, the main water problem is that the amount of rain is fixed and the land area, the seas and oceans are fixed, and therefore the amount of steam and clouds formed is constant, at a time when humans are increasing significantly, and thus the problem is a global one, not just one for Egypt, El-Qousy said. This month, the government announced a national plan to rationalise water and maximise the use of available resources in Egypt through 2037 at a cost of $50 billion, which aims to overcome problems related to water shortages. The plan is based on four main axes: improving water quality and quality, rationalisation of use, water resource development, and creating an appropriate environment. It aims to provide alternative sources of drinking water, through desalination of water in coastal governorates, the establishment of groundwater extraction stations, and the re-use of treated water in some plantations. The plan also includes the introduction of modern and technological irrigation systems, and working through specialised research centres to develop crops that consume less water, while reducing the time for crop growth. It is expected that this plan will have a major impact on how water is used in Egypt, especially since the irrigation ministry said last year there was a state of emergency due to an expected decrease in water supplies in 2019 by about 5 billion cubic metres compared to the previous year. The ministry attributed the expected decrease in the country's share of the Nile River water to the decrease in the rate of rainfall in the Nile Basin countries. Traditional Egyptian irrigation methods used in the Nile Delta and Valley use large amounts of water, and in addition, it is difficult to convert the irrigation in these lands to modern methods. According to the agriculture ministry statistics from 2019, a major problem is the overuse of old flooding irrigation techniques by farmers, especially in the Nile Delta and Valley, in addition to the lack of periodic maintenance of small lakes, the lack of which prevent large amounts of water from reaching waterways. Another difficulty is the fact that a large part of the Delta lands in particular must be irrigated by flooding, which uses large amounts of water but prevents salinizing of the soil. According to the information released by the agriculture ministry, the government is encouraging farmers to change irrigation methods. In 2018, 250,000 acres were cultivated with the more efficient irrigation system favoured by the government. The ministry has said that the agricultural development strategy of 2030 depends on the optimal use of agricultural water resources and irrigation water, agricultural labour and capital and technological management, in order to increase agricultural production by 1.4 percent annually, thereby achieving both better rates of food security and water consumption levels. Search Keywords: Short link: 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. Catherine Stetson, an attorney for the death-row inmates, said there was a difference between what she depicted as less central parts of execution procedures such as the specific times an inmate must be moved from their cell to the death chamber and what she called key parts of an execution plan. Those, she said, were things that impacted what the inmate experience during an execution, including the drug dosage and qualifications of people involved. Known for his foot-in-mouth remarks, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar yet again invited trouble by discussing India's internal matters in Pakistan. Aiyar, during a panel discussion in Lahore, claimed that there is a rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over articulation of NPR and NRC. He said that duo is the face of "Hindutva" in the country. He was at a panel discussion programme in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday in which journalist Najam Sethi was also present "NPR has never been regarded by Narendra Modi government as the predecessor to setting up NRC. In Parliament, the Home Minister has said so and there are written assurances been given in Parliament by Home Ministry that it is in-fact a predecessor to that," said Aiyar. "There is a rift in the at-least articulation of it between two people who are the face of Hindutava in our country i.e. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," he said. "I don't think that the Indian perception of the hit that India's image has taken internationally matches the Pakistani perception of the hit that India's image has taken," said the Congress leader. "I think we see that several things that have happened, somebody like me would see it as inadequate internationally and I think Modi could easily ride it out," he said. "But he would find greater difficulty in riding out the sudden expression of opposition to some of his favourite ideas, that is seen on the streets," said Aiyar. Aiyar on Tuesday joined the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and attacked the BJP-led central government saying that they fought elections on the promise of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', but they did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash. "They got the majority in the election because they said we will do 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (Together for everyone's progress). But what they did? They did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash (destruction)'," Aiyar had said while addressing protesters. "Whatever I can do personally for you, I am ready to do that. Jo bhi qurbaniyan deni hon, usme main bhi shaamil hone ko tayaar hun. Ab dekhein ki kiska hath mazboot hai, hamara ya uss (wo) kaatil ka? (Whatever sacrifices need to be given, I am ready for the same. Now let's see whose hand is strong, ours or that murderer's?)" he added. The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Tuesday announced the creation of a diversion program for primary caregiver parents of minor children his first policy since being sworn in last week, and an issue thats personal. Boudin is the son of incarcerated parents, who were imprisoned when he was an infant for acting as getaway drivers in an armored car robbery in upstate New York in 1981 that left two police officers and a security guard dead. I grew up visiting my parents behind bars, Boudin said in a statement announcing the policy. I know the kind of trauma the sudden loss of a parent can have on a child and the kind of resources that are needed to make that child whole again. This is about taking responsibility, protecting the sanctity of the family, and ensuring innocent children are not condemned to repeat the mistakes of their parents. Gov. Gavin Newsom cleared the way for courts to create the new diversion program which is optional for every county when he signed SB 394 in October. The law, authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, allows diversion for primary caregivers of minor children under certain circumstances, much like the mental health and drug diversion programs already in place in San Francisco. The bills goal was to reduce the physical, emotional, and psychological problems that come from a childs separation from a parent, along with the potential for a generational cycle of incarceration. Under the citys new program, all misdemeanors are eligible for diversion along with felonies that are not serious or violent. A defendant does not qualify if they are accused of committing a crime against the child they care for. The court must also determine the defendant does not pose a risk of danger to public safety. Boudin directed his prosecutors to encourage all eligible defendants to participate in the program. If a defense attorney requests a referral to the program and its eligible under the statue, prosecutors will not object, said Paula Lehman-Ewing, a spokeswoman for the office. The policy will suspend criminal proceeding for 6 to 24 months while a defendant goes through the program that may include parenting classes, anger management, job training, drug and alcohol treatment, and counseling. If the defendant completes the program successfully, the court will dismiss the criminal charges. Under the statute, only defendants who are the parent or legal guardian of a minor child and who live in the same home and provide care and financial support for the child qualify for the program. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Opponents of the law, though, raised questions about the kinds of crimes that may now qualify for diversion including misdemeanor domestic violence and sex crimes. The California District Attorneys Association opposed the law, and sent a letter to Skinner last year highlighting its potential consequences. A misdemeanor charge of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, for example, requires an offender to register as a sex offender and future violations carry state prison terms. Under SB 394, however, there may be no conviction and thus no registration requirement, Larry Morse, the associations Director of Legislation, wrote in the letter. The new policy was also met with concern from some in the district attorneys office. A source high up in office, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, is terrified for current and future victims, particularly women and children in abusive homes. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky The heads of Turkish and Syrian intelligence have held a meeting to discuss the situation in Idleb and Turkish actions in northern Syria. On Monday, the head of Syrian intelligence met with Turkeys intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, in Moscow, marking their first official contact in year and despite Ankaras long-standing hostility to President Bashar al-Assad, a senior Turkish official and Syrian news agency SANA said. Ali Mamlouk, who has always tried to remain low key and rarely appears on the media, is playing a bigger and more highlighted public role these days. Both sides have said there have been intelligence contacts, but this is the first explicit acknowledgement of such a senior meeting. SANA said Syrias intelligence chief called on Turkey to fully adhere to the sovereignty of Syria, its independence and territorial integrity as well as the immediate and full withdrawal from the whole Syrian territory. According to SANA, Mamlouk called on the Turkish side, represented by their chief of intelligence, to adhere to Turkeys commitment to the Sochi agreement over Idleb dated Sept. 17, 2018, particularly in regards to evacuating the region of terrorists and heavy weaponry, in addition to opening the Aleppo-Lattakia and Aleppo-Hama highways. Mamlouk also, stressed that the Syrian state is determined to go ahead in its war against terrorism, liberate the whole of Idleb and return the states authority to it in a way that guarantees security and stability for the Syrian citizens that are being used as human shields by terrorist organizations. A former Syrian diplomat told The Syrian Observer that this was not the first time that the two parties have met with Russian sponsorship, but this is the first time there has been an official announcement from the Syrian regime on its official news outlet about the meeting and its demands. The former diplomat noted that, the meeting came after Putins meeting with Assad in Damascus early last week and after the assassination of Soleimani. It seems that it is a Russian step forwards to fill the current Iranian vacuum. The Iranians were aware of the meeting ahead of time as Mamlouk visited Tehran last week. According to the former Syrian diplomat, the Iranian have always been calling for Turkey and the regime to meet and coordinate. They are ready to be pragmatic and agree to sacrifice part of their gains In Syria, if it leads to some consensus between Turkey and Syria at the expense of American interests in the region in general and the American presence in Syria in particular, he added. The former diplomat said that if the Syrian regime offers reassurances to Turkey, with Russian and Iranian support or guarantee, to solve the problem of the PKK then Turkey is ready to accept the regime there, and this will weaken or affect the American presence without implying that they will withdraw. The Russian media and research centers put forward various forms to solve problems between Turkey and Syria, such as amending the agreement signed by the two countries in 1998, which allows Turkey to enter the Syrian territories to combat terrorism. When Ali Mamlouk met representatives of Arab tribes in the Hassakeh last month, he asked them to withdraw the Arab soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces and told them that the Kurds have no right to speak on behalf of the Arabs in any talks with the regime. Russia, the former diplomat concluded, wants to take advantage of the circumstance that Iran is going through to enhance its presence and find a solution appropriate to its policy for the Syrian crisis. This indicates that Assad has no ability to reject Russian orders when Russia is serious about what it requests. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Syrian Observer. After Kolkata and Prayagraj, New Delhis Shaheen Bagh protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA and a proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) inspired a similar sit-in in Kota. More than a hundred Muslim women from different localities of the city began the sit-in outside the Eidgah grounds, calling it the Shaheen Bagh of Kota, on Tuesday night. When the women of the country are organising protests against the CAA and the proposed NRC, how could women of Kota be behind? The new law is a black law against the spirit of Constitution, said 28-year-old Shifa Khalid, convenor of the sit-in. Women in Kota got inspired by the protesters of Shaheen Bagh. Our sit-in is also indefinite, she added. Khalid said women in the sit-in are getting food and blankets from the neighbourhood because most of the women are from Kishorepura locality, close to the venue of the sit-in. Women of all age groups from localities such as Vigyan Nagar, Waqf Nagar and Kishorepura are sitting in the protest since Tuesday night. I have joined the dharna because the government wants our documents to prove we are Indian citizens even though several generations of my family have lived here, said Maqbool, 75, of Indira market locality. Shabana Farhat, 39, travelled nine kilometre from her home near the railway station to join the protest. Despite the cold wave conditions in the city, she spent the night at the spot with more than half a dozen women. Many women go home to finish the household chores and return to the sit-in later. The sit-in will continue until the CAA is withdrawn, she said. In New Delhi, hundreds of people have occupied a stretch of road in Shaheen Bagh to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) for almost a month. The protest has spread to other cities such as Kolkata and Prayagraj. In Kolkatas sprawling Park Circus Maidan, hundreds of Muslim women have held a round-the-clock sit-in for eight days. The sit-in in Kolkata began on January 7 following social worker Asmat Jameels call for it. Many of the participants are first-time protesters, mostly students and homemakers. The CAA to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims, who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015, has triggered protests across the country. In Prayagraj, an indefinite sit-in against the CAA, NRC and NPR and police excesses against the student protesters entered its third day on Tuesday. The sit-in at Mansoor Ali Park began as a small gathering on Sunday. It has now turned into a full-fledged agitation against the governments actions, which are not in the countrys interest, said Saira Ahmed, a protester. Richmond City Council has voted to ban coal shipments out of a private port despite threats from the port owners that they would sue to block the ban, costing the city millions. The ordinance gives businesses three years to phase out coal and petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining. The legislation targets a port operated by Levin-Richmond Terminal Corp., which last year loaded almost 1 million metric tons of the fuel bound for Japan and South Korea. The councils decision Tuesday came nearly a month after Mayor Tom Butt delayed the vote in hopes of coming to an agreement with port owners. I wanted to have an opportunity to come to an agreement with Levin, Butt told The Chronicle on Tuesday. We were unable to do that. After a lot of meetings, Butt said the city and port couldnt agree on the timeline to phase out use of coal at the port and whether petroleum coke would be included in the ordinance. Butt declined to give details. The Levin-Richmond Terminal is one of just four ports on the West Coast that still ships coal, after Oakland banned the product at its port, a move that faces legal challenges. In 2018, a federal judge ruled that Oakland could not ban the storage of coal. The city is appealing the judges decision. Environmentalists have argued that dust from coal harms locals health, in addition to coals impact on climate change. On Tuesday, dozens of people at the meeting cheered after the council took a vote. Last month, Gary Levin, president and CEO of the Levin-Richmond Terminal, sent a letter to the Richmond City Council and said transporting petroleum coke and coal is a majority of the ports business. He warned that the ordinance would put the terminal out of business. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Levin-Richmond wasnt the only entity that threatened litigation over the ban. Coal mined in Utah by Wolverine Fuels is shipped to the Levin-Richmond Terminal, where it is stored before being exported to Japan. Wolverine Fuels owns and operates three coal mines in Utah and produces nearly 11 million tons of high-heat-content, low-sulfur thermal coal. Wolverines general counsel, Brian Settles, also sent a letter to the City Council last month that said the company will have no alternative but to pursue judicial remedies in litigation if the ordinance passes. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani MEXICO CITY - Travellers on the Mexico City subway system often blame authorities for broken-down escalators at subway stops, but Metro officials have another explanation: vast amounts of pee. Somehow, urine is penetrating and corroding the drive wheels and mechanisms of the escalators that carry riders up from underground stations. In a list published Tuesday, the Metro system listed corrosion due to urine as one of the top five causes of escalator breakdowns. Fermin Ramirez, the systems assistant manager for rails and facilities, said riders appear to be urinating on escalators at off-peak hours and lightly used stations, even though it seems hard to believe. When we open up escalators for maintenance, there is always urine, Ramirez said. Most stations have no public bathroom facilities, a fact Twitter users were quick to point out, noting there are not even any pay toilets. Of the systems 467 escalators, 22 are out of service on any given day. The biggest problem, subway authorities admit, is that the many escalators are old, or have been damaged by rough use. The city plans to replace about 55 escalators over the next two years. With over 1.6 billion rides per year, the Mexico City subway is considered the eighth largest in the world by some measures, and one of the cheapest: A 25-cent ticket will get you a single ride to any destination on the 140-mile (226-kilometre) system. Just remember to use the bathroom before setting out. (Bloomberg) -- Rachel Holt, one of the first employees at Uber Technologies Inc. who rose to become one of the most powerful women at the company, is leaving to start a venture capital firm. Holt is teaming up with Dayna Grayson, a venture capitalist from New Enterprise Associates, to create the new firm, Construct Capital. Both women announced the moves on Twitter but didnt offer details such as the target fund size. Neither responded to requests for comment. The new firm increases the representation of women in venture capital, an industry dominated by men who bankroll startups mostly led by men. Just 12% of startup investment firms in the U.S. have women in decision-making roles with the power to write checks, according to a report by industry research firm PitchBook and advocacy group All Raise. Female venture partners are twice as likely to invest in startups with at least one female founder and more than three times as likely to back startups with female chief executive officers, the report noted. Holt joined Uber in 2011 and later managed the North American ride-hailing business. Most recently, she led development of new mobility projects, such as electric bicycle and scooter rentals. Her departure to start a VC firm was reported earlier Tuesday by news site Axios. In a statement, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called Holts departure bittersweet. Dennis Cinelli, an Uber executive who also did a stint at scooter startup Bird Rides Inc., will take over Holts role on an interim basis while Khosrowshahi searches for a replacement, a spokesman said. To contact the reporter on this story: Lizette Chapman in San Francisco at lchapman19@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Anne VanderMey For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Nine contenders competed for portions of $10,000 in Rochester Downtown Alliance grant money, giving a panel of judges a tough job. In the end, an event showcasing Southeast Minnesota farmers won one of the startup grants offered at the RDA's Start-Up Event Grant Pitch Night event, Tuesday at One Discovery Square. Part of that $10,000 offered by RDA, a $3,000 grant, goes to the Friends of the Rochester Farmers Market, which will use the money to make a planned harvest dinner a reality in 2020. Kristin Pearson, of Pearson Organics farm, pitched the idea during Tuesday's public event. Pearson said the downtown farmers market sees foot traffic of 3,000 people per week, bringing "the country downtown." ADVERTISEMENT The farmers markets partner agency, Friends of the Farmers Market, envisions a feast rounding up produce from local vendors and growers and beer and wine from local producers. "We want to showcase why (Southeast Minnesota) is so special," Pearson told a panel of four judges and the crowd. She said the grant opportunity gave her and the organization the "impetus to put pencil to paper" in planning the event. Pearson represented one of nine organizations pitching their events in the contest. One of the judges, Will Forsman, owner of Cafe Steam, told the presenters before announcing the winners that their plans had made the judges jobs difficult. The farmers market was not the only winner. Another first-time event and $3,000 prize went to a planned "Upbeat Burrito" festival. Meghan Southwick pitched the idea and started her presentation with a gift of burritos to the judges. ADVERTISEMENT She told the panel the street festival event will showcase area burritos, funk and disco music and dancing. Southwick said the event will give participating downtown restaurants a chance to show their best burrito-making skills even if burritos arent normally on the menu. "It creates a chance for bars and restaurants to create something theyve never done before," she said. Naura Anderson, one of the panel judges, denied the burrito gift swayed her vote but that the promise of the event itself did. "I support the event because it sounds like something I would want to attend," she said. Southwick said she was inspired to develop her idea by similar events in other cities and by a bit of imagination. "I have a lot of random ideas," she said. The Rochester Thaw music festival received $2,150 in funding. The second-year festival is growing from seven bands on one stage last year to a lineup of 11 this year on two stages. "We are here, and we are expanding out," said festival founder Nick Novotny. ADVERTISEMENT The downtown Neighborhood Association received $500 for a "Live Downtown" event showcasing new and historic downtown living spaces. That event will show people what living spaces look like in the downtown neighborhood, presenters said. Ben Getano pitched a March 13 concert and album release party. He received $850 in funding and a pledge from Chris Fierst to supply a bartender and to furnish a craft cocktail bar. Rockchester and the Friends of the Rochester Farmers Market tied in a peoples choice vote. Each will receive $500 and $250 donations from Majestic Tents & Events. Karli McElroy, senior director of placemaking, said all the pitches were solid ideas. "The hard thing is, we just have the $10,000," she said. "I wish we could multiply that over however many projects apply." A local grand jury on Wednesday indicted two disgraced former Houston police officers at the center of a fatal 2019 drug raid, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, vowing further scrutiny of other drug cops as well as the flawed operation. Grand jurors returned indictments against case agent Gerald Goines for felony murder in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Goines and his former partner, Steven Bryant, both face indictments of tampering with a government document. Our charge is to find justice for these victims and all the people of Harris County whose trust has been betrayed by these officers, she said. In this case, because officers lied, people died. And now, our community demands the truth. Narcotics investigation: HPD records show misconduct in narcotics division beyond cops at center of botched raid The indictments affirm similar charges prosecutors filed in August, Ogg said, adding that she had tasked nearly two dozen staffers and attorneys to review the debacle. Wednesdays indictments concludes the first phase of prosecutors investigation, which probed Goines and Bryants actions. Prosecutors will present evidence to two additional grand juries investigating the raid itself, other narcotics officers including all 11 members of Squad 15 and additional potential charges against Goines and Bryant, Ogg said. Each officer in that squad, including those seriously injured, understand that they are under a prosecutorial microscope, she said. People died in this case and they died as a result of Officer Goines' lies to a municipal judge and the lies Steven Bryant told. As the case has progressed, the DAs office has continued to receive other complaints about narcotics misconduct, Ogg said, including officers separate from Squad 15. Not every complaint has related to squad 15. there have been complaints of others have come to us, those are being looked at as well. She urged other victims of police misconduct to contact the district attorneys office. We've had cases come in through our writs divisions. We've seen trial prosecutors raise questions. And you've seen cases dismissed, she said. So we are listening. We will investigate. The announcement of the indictments come months after Harris County prosecutors filed murder charges against Goines and tampering charges against Bryant. Both former drug cops also face charges in federal court Goines, for violating the rights of Tuttle and Nicholas; and Bryant, for tampering with a government record. Goines defense attorney Nicole DeBorde said she wasnt surprised by Wednesdays indictments, and said she had expected the grand jury to rubber stamp the charges, especially since defense attorneys dont have the opportunity to present evidence or witnesses in those proceedings. The grand jury is only allowed to talk to the prosecutor who brought the charges in the first place, she said. Were looking forward to our day in court. Hours after the news of the indictments went public, Police Chief Art Acevedo issued a statement via twitter thanking the grand jurors for their thoughtful deliberations. Todays indictments are another step in our pursuit of justice, Acevedo said, in the tweet. We will continue to work to bring this case to conclusion. Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi declined to comment. Related: Key Houston police narcotics officers at center of fatal Harding Street drug raid tallied few arrests, low-level busts The officers launched a raid at Tuttles home at 7815 Harding St. in south Houston, looking for heroin. The raid went awry almost immediately, with gunfire erupting moments after an undercover narcotics team broke down the door. Tuttle and Nicholas were killed and five officers were injured. Four of the five were shot, including Goines. One officer remains paralyzed. Police said they were looking for heroin dealers, but the raid only turned up small, user-level amounts of cocaine and marijuana. In the days that followed, an internal investigation sparked questions about the officers justification for the search warrant. Though a sworn affidavit signed by Goines recounted a controlled buy made by a confidential informant, police quickly realized they could not verify that claim or find the alleged informant. When Ogg first revealed the murder charges against Goines in August, she said investigators had determined that Goines lied about using a confidential informant to buy heroin; then claimed to have bought the drugs himself; then lied about who identified the drugs; and finally admitted that he couldnt determine whether Tuttle was the same person from whom he allegedly purchased the drugs. Ogg also said that after the shooting, Bryant lied in an offense report about helping Goines with the investigation and falsely claimed that theyd recovered a plastic bag that contained a white napkin and two small packets of heroin. Goines is still under investigation over claims he stole guns, drugs and money, Ogg said, when she first announced charges against Goines. The Jan. 28, 2019 drug raid brought the Houston Police Departments Narcotics Division under withering scrutiny, and prompted local prosecutors to dismiss dozens of the two officers active cases. Ogg announced a review of more than 2,000 of Goines and Bryants old cases. That number has since swelled to more than 14,000 cases. The FBI also launched a civil rights investigation into the incident, and the Houston Police Department said its special investigations unit was also probing the incident, while Acevedo tapped an assistant chief to conduct a wide-ranging review of the Narcotics Division. In federal court, prosecutors revealed that investigators found loose drugs, a stolen gun, and learned that Goines had been having a sexual relationship with one of his informants. Nearly a year after the raid, Acevedo has yet to reveal the results of his departments internal audit. Just two years after the wars end, the Government Accountability Office reported that M.L.R.S. rockets failed at far higher rates in combat than the Army had advertised, and that dud grenades left over from rocket attacks had killed and wounded at least 16 American troops. An Army report in the early 2000s noted that even though the M.L.R.S. was deployed in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, not one rocket was fired because of the lack of precision and potential for collateral damage as well as the high submunition dud rate. By the 2000s, the Army seemed to be moving away from the old unguided M.L.R.S. rockets all together, and the steel rain myth seemed to go with it. But its now making a comeback. Advocates in recent years have repeatedly and enthusiastically cited the steel-rain myth as they call on the Pentagon to bring back long-range artillery rockets and missiles in the face of rising tensions with Russia and China and military planners are listening. As the Army looks to invest in an artillery force that was deliberately gutted for much of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, its important to look back at the lionization of M.L.R.S. cluster weapons used during the Persian Gulf war and the misconceptions that surround them. What is this steel rain myth, and where did it come from? On May 9, 1991, the Armys chief of staff gave a speech at a gathering of senior artillery leaders at Fort Sill, Okla. the home of Army and Marine Corps artillery. Gen. Carl Vuono, a career artillery officer, was pumping up the troops with tales of how well the Pentagons howitzers and ground-fired rockets had performed in the desert sands of Kuwait and Iraq. It was training that created the skill in artillery batteries to bring such timely and accurate fires on the Iraqis, which they described as steel rain, Vuono said. Whats inaccurate about this story? Reporters in the region in February 1991 during the Desert Storm air and artillery campaign that preceded the ground war wrote that it was American soldiers themselves who were calling their M.L.R.S. rocket attacks steel rain. A now-retired Army colonel named Hampton Hite who as a captain commanded one of the M.L.R.S. batteries firing at Iraqi targets and was briefly interviewed in a Washington Post report about the rocket system confirmed to The Times in 2017 that his unit (A Battery, 21st Field Artillery) had used the radio call sign Steel Rain since the unit was established in 1986. His soldiers would have been using that name on radio networks heard by many troops in other units, and it is possible that those other soldiers conflated that name with the rockets Hites battery fired. I dont doubt that these Iraqi P.O.W.s didnt like being on the receiving end of M.L.R.S., Hampton said in 2017. But I know for a fact that steel rain didnt come from them. How did the story spread? Vuonos speech injected the story directly into the artillery corpss bloodstream. He was echoed by Maj. Gen. Raphael J. Hallada, the head of Army field artillery at the time. As recipients of your firepower and also professional admirers, Hallada wrote in June 1991 for Field Artillery, an Army journal, the Iraqi enemy prisoners of war spoke of the terrible, pervasive Steel Rain of your cannons and rockets. The name evolved a bit, with one officer calling it iron rain in the same journal a few months later, though he still attributed the coining of the term to Iraqi prisoners. Prince Harry and Justin Trudeau have met on many occasions - AP POOL Canada will pay for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles round-the-clock security while they spend a period of transition in the country, it has been reported. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has assured the Queen that the safety of the Royal couple and their son Archie will be taken care of, in a move that could cost Canadian taxpayers millions of pounds. Last night, the Queen released a rare statement, saying she would have preferred Harry and Meghan to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family but that she is entirely supportive of their desire to create a new life as a young family. Her Majesty confirmed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK. The Evening Standard reported that Mr Trudeau privately assured the Queen that their security would be dealt with, even if the couple continue to have British royal protection officers from the Metropolitan police. Prince Harry shared this photo of Archie which was taken in Canada over Christmas Credit: Sussex Royal instagram But that decision has caused a backlash in some parts, with Aaron Wudrick, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation saying: I dont think its reasonable to expect us to pay for everything the way we do for a royal visit. If theyre going to make Canada a second home, a good step in the right direction would be to pay for at least part of it, and not rely on taxpayers to fund their entire lifestyle. In a statement released last week, Harry and Meghan said: We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. Last night, that commitment to financial independence was reiterated by Her Majesty, who said: Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. The cost of their security arrangement could easily run into the millions of dollars, according to Mike Zimet, whose New York-based executive security firm has protected clients including U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alec Baldwin. Story continues Mr Zimet said: If they want private protection, then a whole machine needs to be built around them. It is understood that the couple have already flown their dogs to Canada, and there has been speculation about Prince Harry becoming the countrys Governor General. A recent Postmedia poll found that over 60 per cent of respondents would like to see Harry become Governor General of Canada. This role essentially entails acting as a proxy for the Queen. The holder is responsible for such duties as holding weekly meetings with the Prime Minister, delivering an equivalent of the Queen's Speech setting out the Government's agenda, and granting royal assent to parliamentary bills. The Queen appoints a new Governor General on the advice of the sitting Prime Minister, so it would be up to Justin Trudeau to make that recommendation. Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Congress stating that the party which did nothing to steer the country's economy for 60 years is questioning and advising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government over unemployment and economic slowdown. "Those who did nothing to steer the country's economy in 60 years is now questioning the Modi government. Despite ruling the country for decades, Congress could only manage to take the economy of the country to a USD 2 trillion mark. However, the NDA government took it to USD 3 trillion in just five years time," said Shah. The Home Minister was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) here. "The NDA government has a goal to make India a USD 5 trillion economy which was achievable in the past too. Youth with their entrepreneurship skills may play a big role in achieving this aim," he added. Cornering the Opposition for targetting the Centre over unemployment and economic slowdown, he said: "Some people always see things through a negative prism." "Whenever they ask about employment, only one thing comes to mind that you ruled the country for 60 years but what measures did you take to provide employment to the country's youth," the Union Minister questioned referring to political parties who were at the Centre in the past. Talking about efforts taken by his government, Shah said that it is putting all necessary efforts to bring employment opportunities for the youth. "The Indian Institute of Skills will not only provide skills to youth by providing them employment opportunities, but the youth of the country will also play an important role in the development of the country by becoming job creators from job seekers," said Shah. "The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Skill India will not only create employment in the country but will also fulfil the dream of 'Make in India' and it will also help in making the country a dollar 5 trillion economy," he said. Calling upon the youth, Shah said: "You (youth) may start with placement but you can be job creators, be an entrepreneur because a big goal can be achieved from the very beginning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) These seven impulses define Trumps foreign policy, such as it is. If I had to give a name to his worldview, it would be violent isolationism and, yes, thats as oxymoronic as it sounds. He does whatever appears convenient to him at the moment. If there is one principle that Trump always eschews, its consistency. Thus he may be near war with Iran now, but no one should be surprised if he falls in love with the ayatollahs before long i.e., if he does precisely what he now accuses Democrats of doing. Projection, after all, is another one of his dubious character traits. Karen Dolley cornered the intruder with a katana sword, used by Japanese Samurai: Getty A Kansas man has requested that a judge allow him and his ex-wife to engage in a sword fight to resolve their ongoing legal dispute but only after he is able to secure some Japanese samurai swords. David Ostrom made the request in a court filing earlier this month arguing that his former wife, Bridgette Ostrom of Iowa, and her attorney had destroyed (him) legally. Mr Ostrom argued that the judge could let the parties resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally, He added that trial by combat has never been explicitly banned or restricted as a right in these United States. The odd request follows as the Ostroms have engaged in a lengthy dispute over custody and visitation issues, as well as over property tax issues. Mr Ostrom told the Des Moines Register that his frustrations stem from his ex-wifes attorney, Matthew Hudson. I think Ive met Mr Hudsons absurdity with my own absurdity, he said, adding that he would be alright with his ex-wife choosing her lawyer as a stand-in during the battle. Mr Hudson, in his response, argued that because a duel could result in death such ramifications likely outweigh those of property tax and custody issues. He asked that the judge dismiss the motion. The judge said in his response that he wont make any decision soon, citing irregularities in the filings by both clients. Additional reporting by agencies Read more Why Fukushima is Japans most underrated hidden gem Man jailed for threatening ice cream van woman with Samurai sword Ghost of Tsushima: When is the open world samurai epic out? Four men who attacked Indonesian police with samurai swords shot dead Concerned over rise in imports in the 'others' category, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on January 15 asked those importers to seek HSN or tariff code within 30 days from the foreign trade office, failing which the government would impose strong restrictions on their inbound shipments. In trade parlance, every product is categorised under an HSN code (Harmonised System of Nomenclature). It helps in systematic classification of goods across the globe. Goyal said India is facing a "big" problem in the country's imports of a category called "others" and in that category, all sorts of stuff is being imported into the country. Citing an analysis, he said one out of the four products being imported in India is under this category. Out of over $500 billion worth of imports in 2018-19, the 'others' category accounted for over $100 billion. "I will follow the German model," he said adding he would wait for response from importers for next 30 days and thereafter, "I will restrict the import of any product which goes in the others category". He said that importers will have to approach the ministry to take a special licence for that import without which "you cannot import any product in the others category". He said this at the CII's National Standards Conclave. "Today, I would like to give a final announcement that I appeal to everybody who is importing any product or services into the country, please categorise your product into a respective HSN code under which it falls," he said. Goyal asked the importers to approach their nearest DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) immediately. "We will start the process to create a separate HSN code if it is not fitting into any existing code or amend the existing code... Very soon, I shall be coming out with serious consequences. The consequences could be a higher duty on products which come under others category," he added. The minister urged the industry to convey this message to other stakeholders. He also asked the DGFT to bring a trade notice immediately and "make it an absolute ultimatum either the import duty will be increased exorbitantly or a special duty imposed". This measure, he said, will help the government assess what is being imported into the country. FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Equinor's Johan Sverdrup oilfield platforms in the North Sea By Nerijus Adomaitis SANDEFJORD, Norway (Reuters) - The Norwegian government has awarded 28 oil and gas companies a total of 69 offshore blocks to explore for petroleum in mature areas of its continental shelf, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Tuesday. Shell , ConocoPhillips , Total and Equinor won blocks, as did DNO , Aker BP , Lundin Petroleum and Eni's Vaar Energi. Private-equity backed firms, such as Chrysoar, which acquired ConocoPhillips assets in the British North Sea last year, and Neptune Energy received stakes in eight and 13 blocks respectively. Russia's Lukoil , which holds stakes in two licences, and wholly-owned Rosneft subsidiary RN Nordic, a previous licenceholder, were not awarded any blocks. A ministry spokesman declined to comment on why. The annual predefined areas (APA) licensing round covers blocks adjacent to acreage previously explored or developed, as opposed to licensing rounds in the country's frontier areas. Thirty-three oil companies had submitted bids by a September deadline for a total of 90 offshore exploration blocks, including 48 in the Arctic Barents Sea. The number of final awards depends on a range of factors, including Norway's requirement that each licence must have several owners. Of this year's 69 licences, 33 were in the North Sea off southern Norway, 23 were in the Norwegian Sea off central and northern Norway and 13 were in the far-north Barents Sea. Norway's oil and gas output is expected to rise sharply in the next several years as recent large discoveries come on stream, and authorities are keen to extend the lifespan of the oil and gas industry for decades to come. "Hopefully, the exploration in the awarded acreage will result in new discoveries," Oil and Energy Minister Sylvi Listhaug told an industry conference in south-east Norway. Story continues "This is important to ensure employment, value-creation and future government revenue for Norway's largest industry." Separate from the APA awards, Norway also conducts so-called numbered licensing rounds, which include frontier parts of the Norwegian continental shelf, where exploration is more risky, but where large finds could be made. The government aims to announce the next numbered licensing round before Norway's 2021 general election, but must first agree an updated plan on areas to exempt due to environmental concerns, particularly in the Arctic. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) estimates that two-thirds of Norway's undiscovered oil and gas resources are in the Barents Sea, but exploration there has been disappointing in the last few years. (Writing by Nerijus Adomaitis and Terje Solsvik; Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jan Harvey) A mother who had liposuction to remove fat from her swollen legs claims she was left with a gaping hole by a bungling doctor. Marie Allen, 42, has spent more than 25,000 on skin grafts to treat the wound that was so large it exposed her flesh and muscle but she is still unable to walk properly. The former nurse, from North Carolina, originally sought treatment for lipoedema, a condition that causes deposits of fat to form beneath the skin in her legs. Not wanting to go under the knife, she opted for Vaser liposuction, a non-invasive form that sees fat cells blasted away using ultrasound waves. But Mrs Allen claims she suffered third degree burns on her left leg that became infected, turned gangrenous and caused her skin to 'peel off like an onion'. Marie Allen, 42, had liposuction to remove fat from her swollen legs. She suffers from lipoedema, a condition that causes deposits of fat to form beneath the skin in her legs The mother was left with a gaping hole by a 'bungling doctor' (left) that became infected and turned gangrenous (right) She claims the hole was caused by burnt skin suffered during Vaser liposuction, a non-invasive form that sees fat cells blasted away using ultrasound saves Recalling her ordeal, Mrs Allen said: 'I noticed four days after the procedure, there was small blistering and so I made a return appointment. 'I'd wanted the surgery as there didn't seem to be many options to treat lipoedema, and it seemed like a viable solution. 'The surgeon told me that he had 20 years of experience, and he said I'd be walking again in a week or two. 'Yet when I went back for that return appointment, I was told I had to wait a week before I could see the surgeon who did mine. 'But within that week, my skin began to peel off like an onion. In seven days, the skin was dying and turning black.' Mrs Allen blamed her surgeon for not prescribing her antibiotics or giving her proper aftercare. Mrs Allen blamed her surgeon for not prescribing her antibiotics to prevent infection, or giving her proper aftercare Within a week of the procedure, the former nurse's skin rotted and turned black (shown right) What is lipoedema? The condition causes an abnormal build-up of fat cells in the legs, thighs and buttocks, and sometimes in the arm. It usually affects women, although has occasionally been known to affect men. Symptoms include enlarged affected body parts that feel soft, bruise easily, ache, and have small broken veins under the skin. Those with the condition may also then get fluid retention in their legs, which can cause swelling. Combined, these symptoms may then lead to reduced mobility and low mood. Source: NHS Advertisement She has since had to have all the dead skin scraped away, leaving a big crater in her leg. Mrs Allen added: 'The skin just kept coming away, until you could see my muscle. But the only thing the first clinic did was wrap it. 'I wasn't offered any antibiotics and just told to keep an eye on it. Four days after that I was in ER, receiving antibiotics as the pain had become too much. 'I saw other surgeons, who looked to wound vac the hole, in the hope it would heal quicker. 'But before I knew it, I was having home help as I couldn't change the dressing on my own and it was excruciating pain. 'When it became apparent the wound was getting no better, I was admitted and placed on a drip. 'I ended up having to have a complete skin graft but even now, I can't walk properly on my ankle.' Mrs Allen claims she had a 'bad feeling' about getting the original procedure, and wishes she had 'listened to her gut'. She added: 'I almost cancelled, as I had a bad feeling, especially when the surgeon was unable to show any photos similar to what I needed. 'On paper, he was good but performing liposuction on lower leg is so risky. Now, I have to wear compression hose all the time and my mobility and self-image has been affected dramatically. 'Now I've got to look for another solution to my condition, with all this added cost on top. It's been heartbreaking.' Lipoedema is a common condition, affecting up to 11 per cent of women. It occurs almost exclusively in females. The cause is unknown, but it is thought to be hereditary and linked to changed in hormones as women age. The brain is a sort of fortress, equipped with barriers designed to keep out dangerous pathogens. But protection comes at a cost: These barriers interfere with the immune system when faced with dire threats such glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor for which there are few effective treatments. Yale researchers have found a novel way to circumvent the brain's natural defenses when they're counterproductive by slipping immune system rescuers through the fortresses' drainage system, they report Jan. 15 in the journal Nature. "People had thought there was very little the immune system could do to combat brain tumors," said senior corresponding author Akiko Iwasaki. "There has been no way for glioblastoma patients to benefit from immunotherapy." Iwasaki is the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. While the brain itself has no direct way for disposing of cellular waste, tiny vessels lining the interior of the skull collect tissue waste and dispose of it through the body's lymphatic system, which filters toxins and waste from the body. It is this disposal system that researchers exploited in the new study. These vessels form shortly after birth, spurred in part by the gene known as vascular endothelial growth factor C, or VEGF-C. Yale's Jean-Leon Thomas, associate professor of neurology at Yale and senior co-corresponding author of the paper, wondered whether VEGF-C might increase immune response if lymphatic drainage was increased. And lead author Eric Song, a student working in Iwasaki's lab, wanted to see if VEGF-C could specifically be used to increase the immune system's surveillance of glioblastoma tumors. Together, the team investigated whether introducing VEGF-C through this drainage system would specifically target brain tumors. The team introduced VEGF C into the cerebrospinal fluid of mice with glioblastoma and observed an increased level of T cell response to tumors in the brain. When combined with immune system checkpoint inhibitors commonly used in immunotherapy, the VEGF-C treatment significantly extended survival of the mice. In other words, the introduction of VEGF-C, in conjunction with cancer immunotherapy drugs, was apparently sufficient to target brain tumors. "These results are remarkable," Iwasaki said. "We would like to bring this treatment to glioblastoma patients. The prognosis with current therapies of surgery and chemotherapy is still so bleak." ### The study was primarily funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Other Yale authors are Tianyang Mao, Huiping Dong, Ligia Simoes,Braga Boisserand, and Marcus Bosenberg. Salli Antila and Kari Alitalo of the University of Helsinki are also authors. A Republican who donated thousands of dollars to Donald Trump has found himself at the heart of explosive new revelations surrounding the presidents impeachment after suggesting he placed the former US ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance. Robert Hyde, a GOP candidate running for Congress in Connecticut, appeared to inform associates of the presidents personal attorney Rudy Giuliani that he was monitoring US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as she travelled throughout Ukraine. The findings were revealed this week in a series of WhatsApp messages between Mr Hyde and Mr Giulianis associate Lev Parnas, who shared a trove of documents with the House Intelligence Committee this week. Mr Hyde apparently had his own associates in Ukraine tracking Ms Yovanovitchs movements before the president ordered her dismissal in May 2019. Some Republicans and allies of the White House had criticised Ms Yovanovitch at the time for reportedly blocking an investigation into one of Mr Trumps 2020 political rivals, Joe Biden, despite Mr Trump encouraging his Ukrainian counterpart to launch the probe. They know shes a political puppet, Mr Hyde wrote to Mr Parnas. They will let me know when shes on the move They are willing to help if you/we would like a price. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS In a separate message, Mr Hyde wrote: Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money what I was told. Another, to Mr Parnas, read: "They are moving her tomorrow. The guys over they (sic) asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them. Wake up Yankees man. She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off. She's next to the embassy. Not in the embassy. Private security. Been there since Thursday." House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff released the messages on Tuesday and also said in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler that there were additional call records with sensitive personal information that should be protected from public disclosure. Shortly after the release of the messages, an attorney for Ms Yovanovitch described Mr Hydes reported actions as disturbing and called for an investigation into his claims of tracking her. Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing, her attorney Lawrence Robbins said in a statement. He added: We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened. When asked by CNN whether he planned to harm the then ambassador, Mr Hyde said: "No effing way." However, he declined to say whether he had had her under surveillance. The new developments led JR Romano, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, to call on Mr Hyde to end his bid for Congress. His campaign is a distraction for the Democrats to raise money and falsely label all Republicans with his antics, the chairman wrote in a tweet, adding: In my view he is not helping other Republican candidates or @realDonaldTrump win. Before Tuesdays revelations, Mr Hyde was known in Washington as a relatively minor lobbyist who had donated to the president and other Republicans on Capitol Hill. In an email to the Daily Beast, he insulted Mr Schiff and referred to Mr Parnas as a "dweeb". He wrote: "How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go? I was never in Kiev. For them to take some texts my buddy's and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable. Schiff is a desperate turd playing with this Lev guy. Have fun with your witch-hunt liddle Schiff." Trump impeachment: Key moments from testimony of Marie Yovanovitch Mr Hyde, a former US Marine who is thought to have served in the Iraq War, was also known for a crude tweet he posted against California Democrat Kamala Harris after she announced the end of her presidential campaign. He was also detained at a resort owned by the president in Florida last year, Mother Jones reported on Tuesday. Officials described him in a police report as a male in distress fearing for his life. According to the report, Mr Hyde explained that his computer was being hacked by Secret Service. He was reportedly held by police under a Florida law allowing officials to detain individuals who may pose threats to themselves or the public. He also reportedly owed over $2,000 in child support payments for his 13-year-old son as he donated to the presidents campaign and the Republican National Committee. A new book collects the writings and lore on the famous Kerry islands and surrounding area by a man who lived most of his life in Ballinskelligs, says Marjorie Brennan. LONG before Luke Skywalker took his light sabre to the Skelligs, the rocky islands off the coast of Kerrys Iveragh peninsula had a starring role in literature and lore, inspiring everyone from monks to naturalists to storytellers down the centuries. One of those who fell under the Skelligs spell was the late Michael Kirby, whose prose and poetry have been gathered in a new collection, Skelligs Haul. Apart from a brief period in the US during the Depression, Kirby, who died in 2005, lived most of his 98 years in Ballinskelligs, where he fished and farmed across from Skellig Michael (and its sibling Little Skellig). Kirbys masterful command of Irish and English and his appreciation for the bounty of nature and wildlife which surrounded him leap from the pages of Skelligs Haul. Like the islands that inspired him, Kirbys deceptively simple writing exerts a mesmerising pull, and it is hard to believe his work wasnt published until he was 78-years-old. The circumstances under which he came to writing were challenging in themselves, according to former DCU English lecturer, Mary Shine Thompson, who edited the collection. He was ill, following a heart attack and he had been given orders to sort out his affairs, she says. His son-in-law Pat [Coffey] brought Mikey two copybooks and some biros, so he could fill his time. He never looked back he just had a natural gift for writing a beautiful sentence, with all sorts of complexity to it, she says. Kirby went on to accumulate two decades of published work, as well as paintings of the local landscape, which are reproduced in the book. It draws from Kirbys poetry written in Irish under the name of Micheal Ua Ciarmhaic and an earlier trilogy of memoir and storytelling, Skelligside (1990), Skelligs Calling (2003) and Skelligs Sunset (2006), previously published by Lilliput Press but now out of print. I edited the posthumous Skelligs Sunset in 2006. But now, 13 years later, a new generation has grown up without seeing the old books, and it seemed like there was a lacuna there, that somebody needed to go through the work and compile a nice collection which would tempt people to look further at Mikeys work, says Shine Thompson. Shine Thompson says that because Kirbys life spanned the 20th century as well as bridging two millennia, it gave him a unique perspective on how society, and his own surroundings, changed in that time. He was almost 99 when he died in 2005, so he had lived the whole of the 20th century, and observed all the changes of that century, which is amazing. He saw the ebb and flow of modernisation there was a railway which went right out onto the peninsula, and he also witnessed the coming and closing of the cable station. A whole millennium of thought has gone into the writing of this book even more because of his closeness to nature. SCHOOL OF LIFE Like many people at the time Kirby did not go on to secondary school because of the prohibitive cost. He left school at about 13 and had no further education after that. But what is interesting is you can see traces of Wordsworth and Shakespeare, the British canon, from when he attended school. It wasnt a nice experience for him though; it was quite violent in the way of the time, though clearly he was intelligent and interested in learning. He seemed to get a love of literature despite the difficulties of schooling and he has a sense of the importance of the local literature and people like the folklorist and storyteller Sean O Conaill the latter couldnt read or write but had an extraordinary cache of local lore. One of Kirby's paintings of the Skelligs. The knowledge that was handed down to Kirby in terms of nature, landscape and place was also enviably broad in scope. The place names featured in his work are an invaluable repository of knowledge in their own right, according to Shine Thompson. There are nearly 300 place names that he mentions that I have included in the index of the local places and that is just around the peninsula. Some of those are caves and inlets that nobody knows about anymore, and nobody would know apart from the occasional fisherman, or Mikeys own son Declan, she says. DUAL TEXTS The book features dual texts of poems by Kirby, from Irish to English and vice-versa. One of his favourite lines was that when he was growing up people had good Irish and bad English, but now, he said, we have bad Irish and bad English, says Shine Thompson. I thought he was hard on people saying that but he did have such elegant English, the kind that is difficult to achieve its beyond complexity, to get something as crystal clear as he gets it is very difficult. Shine Thompson also praises his descriptive powers, often bestowed with a sly humour. He also has that direct link to the land, hes telling you what hes seen and he has an acute vision he doesnt try to fiddle around with or change what he sees. For example, he writes of the skua seabird: Tomaisin chac na bhFaoilean, or in English, Little Tommy Gull-shit, is the pirate robber and tormentor of other birds, devouring all unwanted matter It can manoeuvre in the air like a falcon chasing, hunting and harrying the other gulls until they drop a piece of fish, regurgitate or discharge excreta at the same time uttering a wild, terrifying cry, Scheer Scheer, frightening the honest bird to abandon its piece of fish. I have often watched the pirate in pursuit of its repulsive occupation. Shine Thompson observes: That has scientific accuracy about it and its also a kind of earthy, immediate response to the bird. Everything about it seems to be in keeping with the skua itself. Kirbys manuscripts are now archived in UCC and Shine Thompson believes his work are of significant academic value. Im hoping the book will also renew interest in his work among scholars. Theres a lot of scholarly work to be undertaken here, to do with place names, local knowledge, and genealogy as there are over 200 peoples names in the book, going back to the early 1800s. Shine Thompson also hopes that Skelligs Haul brings his significant talents to a new generation of readers. One of my hopes is that this is a book for everyone to read and enjoy including the generation of people who have come to know the Skelligs through the Stars Wars films. They put the Skelligs on the map in a different way but Im hoping the book gets people to come back and look at it differently again. What does she think Kirby would have made of the Hollywood circus coming to his beloved Skelligs? I think he would probably be concerned about the sustainability aspect. You have the sense that he is at one with the environment, that every blade of grass, every bird, every animal matters as much to him as every human being does. "All have their dignity and their place and I think hed be concerned about preserving that. On the other hand, he was a great man to tell a story so I think he would have enjoyed the storytelling side of it. Skelligs Haul, by Michael Kirby, ed. Mary Shine Thompson, Lilliput Press REMINGTON, Ind. (WLFI) A man was killed Tuesday night in a crash on Interstate 65 in Jasper County. Police said heavy fog played a role. About 9:30 p.m., police were called to southbound I-65 at the 201 mile marker. That's at the U.S. 24/U.S. 231 exit in Remington. Police said Verlon Curran, 69 of Monticello, was trying to exit the interstate when a semi, driven by 27-year-old Dimitri Cojocar of Federal Way, Washington, hit him from behind. Troopers reported Curran was traveling slowly while trying to find the exit. Curran and a passenger in the SUV were taken to Franciscan Health Rensselaer. Curran was pronounced dead at the hospital. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was asked an eminently sensible question last night in front of TV cameras: The president has suggested that you should just move to dismiss. You clearly want to get this over sooner rather than later. Why not push to try and get this dismissed? An uncomfortable-looking McConnell said, "Yeah, yeah," after talking over the reporter several times, leaving him with this: There is little or no sentiment in Republican conference for a motion to dismiss. Our members feel that we have an obligation to listen to the arguments and we've laid out in this resolution an opportunity for everybody to sit there; remember senators can't say anything, so we'll have to sit there and listen, to listen carefully to the arguments by both the prosecution and the defense, to follow that up with written questions, uh, submitted through the chief justice and that means listening to the case, not dismissing the case. So now we know that House speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed forwarding the articles of impeachment to the Senate to avoid having them dismissed out of hand for the sham that they are w hich anyone over the age of ten can see is the case. Mission accomplished! Democrats must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. At least implicitly, McConnell has granted that Star Chamber shenanigans in the House Intelligence (Schiff) and Judiciary (Nadler) Committee have legal legitimacy. I argued earlier this week that the articles are "poisoned fruit" of legally objectionable proceedings because President Trump's procedural due process rights were violated. The arguments are logically correct and rest on unassailable premises. Now, as it happens, the general public can forward questions to Supreme Court justices, but it must be done in writing and must be addressed to a specific member of the Court. So, later today, I will print out the aforementioned article and send it to Chief Justice John Roberts with a cover letter asking for a ruling on the issue of whether the House violated President Trump's procedural due process rights. Judge Roberts will be presiding over trial proceedings in the Senate. I don't expect an answer. I'm doing it out of duty to bring the matter to Roberts's attention. Since such letters are apparently welcomed, American Thinker readers wishing to contact him can do so at this address: The Honorable John G. Roberts Chief Justice Supreme Court of the United States 1 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20543 An eight-year-old schoolgirl, who dislocated a knee when she fell in a Dun Laoghaire cinema, has been awarded 40,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court for personal injuries. Barrister Siobhan Gaffney told the court that Tori McDermott Ellis had tripped on an uneven floor surface in the IMC Cinema at the Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Dun Laoghaire, on October 2 2016. Ms Gaffney, who appeared with Murphys Solicitors, said Tori, who is now aged 12, had struck her left knee against a cup holder on a cinema seat and was unable to get up afterwards. She said Tori had been taken by ambulance to Crumlin Childrens Hospital where an X-ray revealed her left kneecap had been dislocated. The kneecap had been re-located during surgery under sedation. Ms Gaffney told Judge Francis Comerford that Toris left leg had been placed in a cast for several weeks and she had missed school for some of that time. She had undergone a series of physiotherapy treatments. Counsel said Tori, whose home is in Parc Na Silla Lane, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, had recovered well and she pointed out to the court that the Injuries Board Book of Quantum valued such an injury between 28,000 and 56,000. Ms Gaffney said that while liability had not been formally admitted the 40,000 settlement had been agreed in talks prior to todays court application. Tori, through her mother Mellissa Ellis, had sued Irish Multiplex Cinemas Limited, Dunlaoghaire, and Judge Comerford approved the settlement together with costs. Brexiteer demands that church bells up and down the country sound out the occasion have fallen on deaf ears with congregations. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said it did not support Leave.EU's call for local churches to mark the occasion at 9am on Saturday, February 1. A spokesman said 'as a principal [it] does not endorse bellringing for political reasons'. The row erupted this week after it emerged MPs had discussed restoring Big Ben in order for it to ring out once the UK leaves the EU. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth Tower which holds the bell known as Big Ben Leave.EU founder Arron Banks claimed it had been 'overwhelmed by bellringers' who wanted the occasion to be marked 'with or without permission'. But canon F8 of Church of England policy states only a minister can direct that bells of a church or chapel ring. The Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Rev Alan Wilson, told The Times: 'Two thirds of the population never voted for Brexit in the first place. It's deeply divisive to ring church bells for something like this.' The row erupted this week after it emerged MPs had discussed restoring Big Ben in order for it to ring out once the UK leaves the EU. Leave.EU founder Arron Banks claimed it had been 'overwhelmed by bellringers' who wanted the occasion to be marked 'with or without permission' After a meeting of the House of Commons Commission, it was ruled out when it was revealed it could cost 500,000. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who is chairman of the Commission, said they believed 'it is important to weigh up the costs'. 'We also have to bear in mind that the only people who will hear it will be those who live near or are visiting Westminster,' he added. China's first and oldest female tractor driver Liang Jun, whose image features on Renminbi currency notes, has died. Liang was 90. She died of illness on Tuesday in Harbin, the capital of northeastern province Heilongjiang, state-run Xinhua agency reported. Liang was the first female tractor driver of New China. Her image was featured on the 1 yuan note of the third set of the Chinese currency Renminbi. Liang was born in an impoverished family in Heilongjiang's Mingshui County in 1930. At the age of 17, she was admitted to a teachers college. In 1948, Liang became the only female student of a training class for tractor drivers. After graduation, she joined a national campaign to develop the "great northern wilderness". Liang joined the Communist Party of China in October 1949, when Chairman Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People's Republic of China. In June 1950, authorities set up the country's first female tractor team named in her honour. Liang dedicated her entire life to agriculture and machinery. Textbooks included her stories, and filmmakers shot movies on her. In 1962, her image was printed on the one-yuan note of the renminbi, which featured a smiling Liang holding a steering wheel with her hair flowing in the wind. Liang was among the first group of China's national model workers and has been hailed as one of the most influential model workers in China since 1949. She was elected national lawmaker four times. Liang retired in 1990 from the position of chief engineer of the Harbin Municipal Bureau of Agricultural Machines. "The tractor driver on the one-yuan note was created based on my image. It's a symbol of the women of new China," she had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As sexting on smartphones become all-pervasive, parents and teachers need to move beyond fear-based education and rather prepare teenagers about safe sexting, says a study led by an Indian-American researcher. Preaching sexual abstinence to youth was popular for a number of decades, but research repeatedly found that such educational messages fell short in their intended goals. Since the advent of photo and video-sharing via smartphones, children have received similar fear-based messages to discourage sexting. Unfortunately, messages of sexting abstinence dont seem to be reducing the prevalence of adolescents sharing nudes, said the team from Florida Atlantic University. The truth is that adolescents have always experimented with their sexuality, and some are now doing so via sexting, said Sameer Hinduja, study co-author and a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice within FAUs College for Design and Social Inquiry. We need to move beyond abstinence-only, fear-based sexting education or, worse yet, no education at all. Instead, we should give students the knowledge they need to make informed decisions when being intimate with others, something even they acknowledge is needed, explained Hinduja, also co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center. The researchers from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire stressed in a paper published in the Journal of Adolescent Health that it is time to teach youth safe sexting. Hinduja and co-author Justin Patchin, professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire acknowledged that although participating in sexting is never 100 per cent safe (just like engaging in sex), empowering youth with strategies to reduce possible resultant harm seems prudent. They have proposed 10 specific, actionable messages that adults can share with adolescents after weighing their developmental and sexual maturity. If someone sends you a sext, do not send it to -- or show -- anyone else. This could be considered nonconsensual sharing of pornography. If you send someone a sext, make sure you know and fully trust the and do not send images to someone who you are not certain would like to see it. Consider boudoir pictures. Boudoir is a genre of photography that involves suggestion rather than explicitness. Instead of nudes, send photos that strategically cover the most private of private parts. They can still be intimate and flirty but lack the obvious nudity that could get you in trouble, said the researchers. Never include your face so that images are not immediately identifiable as yours but also because certain social media sites have sophisticated facial recognition algorithms that automatically tag you in any pictures you would want to stay private. Make sure the images do not include tattoos, birthmarks, scars, or other features that could connect them to you. In addition, remove all jewellery before sharing, suggested the team. Turn your devices location services off for all of your social media apps, make sure your photos are not automatically tagged with your location or username, and delete any meta-data digitally attached to the image. If you are being pressured or threatened to send nude photos, collect evidence when possible. Having digital evidence (such as screenshots of text messages) of any maliciousness or threats of sextortion will help law enforcement in their investigation and prosecution, Hinduja elaborated. Use apps that provide the capability for sent images to be automatically and securely deleted after a certain amount of time. Be sure to promptly delete any explicit photos or videos from your device. This applies to images you take of yourself and images received from someone else, added Hinduja. Hinduja and Patchin collected (unpublished) data in April 2019 from a national sample of nearly 5,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 17, and found that 14 per cent had sent and 23 percent had received sexually explicit images. This is not about encouraging sexting behaviours, any more than sex education is about encouraging teens to have sex, said Hinduja. It simply recognizes the reality that young people are sexually curious, and some will experiment with various behaviors with or without informed guidance, and sexting is no exception. 5 1 of 5 City Lights Gallery / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 5 City Lights Gallery / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 City Lights Gallery / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 5 of 5 City Lights Gallery in downtown Bridgeport is hosting Nakupenda (I Love You), an art exhibit depicting expressions of love throughout the African diaspora. Nakupenda (I Love You), opening with a reception Saturday, Jan. 25, and running through Saturday, March 7, takes its title from the Swahili language. The exhibit features images, stories and poems of friendship, family, self love, community, activism and empowerment. Guest curators Shanna Melton and Iyaba Ibo Mandingo describe it is as a celebration of love in and for the journey and humanity of a people, the gallery said in a news release. NEW HARTFORD Police have released the name of the man who was killed in a motorcycle crash Thursday evening. New Hartford police say around 7:38 p.m. Thursday, 47-year-old Gregory Penree of New Hartford was driving his motorcycle eastbound on Route 840 and he was taking the ramp to Route 5 westbound when he lost control of his motorcycle. Police say Penree was unable to regain control of the motorcycle and he was ejected from the bike, which came to rest in the grass near the road. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. Penree was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center, where he died from his injuries at 9:15 p.m. Police say their investigation into the crash continues. _________________________ (Previous coverage) One person has died from their injuries after a motorcycle crash Thursday night. Police and fire officials were dispatched to a section of Route 840 by the ramp to Route 5 west on the New Hartford-Utica line shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday. According to a press release from the New Hartford Police Department, the operator of the motorcycle suffered injuries and was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in serious condition where they were pronounced dead. The name of the driver is not being released until family is notified. Sections of the highway were closed off to traffic while crews investigated and reconstructed the crash, but all roads are now back open. At this time the cause of the crash is still unknown. Police say they will release more details once they've completed their investigation. We will continue to update you on this story as more information becomes available. Click here to read the full article. Maimouna Doucoures Cuties, which plays in Sundance Film Festivals World Cinema Dramatic Competition and will then screen in the Berlinales Generation Kplus section, has been picked up by Netflix worldwide, excluding France. The films producer Zangro gave an exclusive interview to Variety about the film, and his next project. Cuties is about the hyper-sexualization of pre-adolescent girls. It follows an 11-year-old girl of Senegalese origin, living in one of Paris poorest neighborhoods, who is raised in a pious tradition, but joins a group of young dancers who hope to twerk their way to stardom. Doucoure won Sundances Global Filmmaking Award in 2017 for the script. More from Variety Doucoures previous short film, Maman(s), about a girl being raised by two mothers in a polygamous family, was selected by nearly 200 festivals and won more than 60 awards in festivals including best short at Sundance, Toronto and the Cesars. Zangro produced both Cuties and Maman(s) with Doucoure through his production company, Bien ou Bien Productions. Zangro grew up between Spain and Morocco, before moving to France at the age of 16. In 2018 he received the Young Producer Prize 2018 from France Televisions, and in 2019 was named by Variety as one of Ten Producers to Watch. He also directs, and has built up a cluster of filmmaking talent around a project titled Ramdam, set in a Muslim community in the South of France, which began as a weekly series of three-minute Internet sketches, with more than 35 million views, evolved into a pilot for a TV series, which won best series award at the Festival de la Fiction, La Rochelle in 2017, and the project is now a 90-minute TV movie co-produced by Arte. Story continues Why were you keen to sign a deal with Netflix? For obvious reasons because it gives us access to a world stage. Netflix and other streaming platforms have really changed the media landscape in France. When I was first trying to get my TV series Ramdam off the ground, French TV wasnt ready for a series like this. But the new platforms are coming with a new mindset. I think Arte is also bringing new ideas to the market. Was it important for you to premiere Cuties at Sundance? Absolutely. Maimouna really wanted to premiere the film in Sundance because theyve supported her from the outset. After she won the script award for this film they really helped her and are very close to the main character. We really identify with the vision at Sundance, which some people may even say is a bit naive, that films can change the world. What was the inspiration for this project? It came from Maimounas personal experience. She grew up in a large family living in one room in the 19th district of Paris, in a social housing project. She regularly goes back to the neighborhood to see her family and in one of the local festivities she saw a group of young 11-year-old girls dancing very provocatively to an audience with many mothers wearing traditional head scarves. She found it fascinating and disturbing and it raised the question of what role models young women can follow. Its a very visceral movie. It really got under her skin and we feel it. How did you cast the 11-year-old female lead, Fathia Youssouf Abdillahi? The casting process was a saga. We spent over six months and saw 650 candidates and it was only in the very last hour of the last day that we found Fathia. It was a really emotional moment. How did Maimouna work with the young cast? She already worked with a young cast in Maman(s). Its amazing to watch. She works at the same level as the kids. She has a deep and intimate relationship with them. She acts with them. She cries, and they cry. Theres a magical link and a deep sense of trust. There seems to be a link between the approach taken in films such as Cuties and the projects you have directed such as Ramdam. Were interested in telling stories that involve minority communities in France, such as Muslim communities and African communities, but in a universal way that doesnt treat them as separate groups. Were looking for common emotions shared by everyone. People tend to have fixed ideas on these issues and want to take a stand, but were looking for a non-judgmental approach, often exploring comedy. We think these are important projects that can change peoples preconceived views. France is not same as the United States. We have to fight every day to preserve the representation of our diversity. We really feel that were doing something for our country and were very passionate about it. Are you planning any new project as a director? Yes Im working on a script for a comedy about a white guy living in a community in the South of France where all his friends are black. The provisional title is Babtou, which is a play on Toubab, an African slang word for white people. Im working with a well-known French comic actor, but I cant say who he is at the moment. I think comedy is a good way to explore the things that keep people apart, and can help us understand the world a bit better. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Late last year, OneFour, a popular Sydney-based drill-rap group, had its Australian tour cancelled in a blatant act of censorship by the police. A venue in Melbourne was threatened with the revocation of its liquor licence if the OneFour show went ahead. New South Wales (NSW) police admitted demanding that venues foot the bill for a massive police presence at the concerts. Shows in Perth and Adelaide were also cancelled. NSW police have slapped members of the group, and their manager, with non-association orders, making it illegal for them to rehearse, record, or perform together. The use of draconian laws, passed on the phony basis of combatting terrorism, to silence working-class musicians, follows similar efforts in the UK campaign to suppress drill rappers. It is part of a broader turn towards authoritarianism, and an attempt to silence any oppositional sentiment, however, limited, coming from working-class youth. OneFour outside their record label in Sydney with producer Solo Tohi, rapper The Kid Laroi, and radio presenter Hau Latukefu, Credit: OneFour Official (Instagram) The World Socialist Web Site spoke to workers and young people in the western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt, where the group is from. Our reporters found broad support for the rappers in the working-class suburb, including from young fans of the group, who laughed off the suggestion that listening to OneFours music encouraged them to become violent. Workers and young people also spoke about widespread mental health issues, poverty and police harassment in the Mount Druitt area. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the 2770 postcode, which includes Mount Druitt, is in the most socio-economically disadvantaged 4 percent of the country. The bureaus Index of Education and Occupation reveals even worse conditions, with 2770 ranked 8th-worst in NSW, and 47th-worst across Australia. The area has been decimated by decades of cuts to manufacturing and industry, enforced by Labor and the unions, and the gutting of basic services by successive big business governments at the state and federal levels. Ashlee, a mental health support worker, described the difficult social conditions facing residents of Mount Druitt. She said: Theres a lot of mental health issues out here. A lot of issues with poverty, a lot of domestic violence, and issues like this. We do have a little bit of a bad name out here sometimes, but the thing is theres so many great people here too, doing amazing things, such as OneFour, and they dont get a chance to get up there and do what they do. I think the cancellation of OneFours tour is absolutely ridiculous. Its almost like theyve got a vendetta against the people here, which is absolutely ridiculous. These boys should have been able to play, they should have been able to share their music, their talent. Just because the police dont like it, these boys dont get to do what they love, and people dont get to see who they love, and thats not fair. The Mount Druitt Street University where Onefour formed Ashlee noted parallels with the persecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who faces extradition to the US and life imprisonment for exposing war crimes and global diplomatic conspiracies. We are definitely in a world where telling the truth will get you killed or get you in trouble, she said. The justice system is very corrupt. This world is run by psychopaths and narcissists and they dont have in mind the working class or people who are poor, people who are struggling. They just want to keep the rich people rich and keep doing what theyre doing, just keep their circus going. They have the power to pull the strings, and we just have to put up with what they dish us. Tristan, a 23-year-old roof tiler, said: I think OneFour are alright, they get the areas name out there, just let them go. Who else from the area is doing what theyre doing? Tristan told our reporters that police harassment, particularly of young people, was common in the western suburbs. The issue is a particular theme of OneFours music. People are judged from how you look, the clothes you like to wear or how you like to talk. I got strip-searched at Lidcombe station, he said. Tristan The coppers are the governments gang. The police do get funded a lot more than any other service in this area. Its pretty pathetic, we dont need that many coppers. Put a bit more effort into the schools and all the rest of the facilities, you may not need to put that much into the coppers, because people will get taken care of properly. Tristan explained that while he had been able to find work, low wages and the rising cost of living meant it was still a struggle to get by. Ive roof tiled for a few years, but Im still not on very good money. Its 450 or 500 [dollars a week] to rent a decent house. A lot of people need to go to the city for work and its at least an hour of travel. Its very difficult, he explained. There never used to be such a big gap between rich and poor. My nan and pop used to live alright, they owned a house. They had to sell it to keep going ten years ago though. Things are becoming beyond a joke to live out here. You couldnt imagine yourself buying a house. You have to move out of state to buy a house, its not going to happen around here. Coen, a civil excavation worker, said: Ive associated with a few of the members of OneFour. Theyre all good people. Theyre just speaking the truth about whats going on in this society. I dont think the authorities like what they say about them. I dont understand why theyre stopping them performing, theyre good artists, good talent. Theyve just been torn down. They were going so good for a while, and now the police have stopped them performing in Australia. If you have that talent and you can share it and other people like it, you should get an opportunity. If they can get somewhere and make a name for Australia in a good way, let them do it. Theyre just speaking about whats in their suburb, and they get in trouble for it. Asked about the circumstances facing young people in Mount Druitt, Coen explained: Its tough. Its never going to get any easier for us, its only getting harder. Finding work is so hard. You get a bad record and no-one wants to take you on for a job. People in the younger generation, they want to work [but] its all judge a book by its cover. The police and the government talk about how you should do your dreams, stop doing crime. Well people like OneFour cant follow their dreams because theyre stopped by the authorities. Were not allowed. Police have been heavy-handed around here for years. If they catch someone, its not just handcuffing them, its giving them a few hits, then handcuffing them. Its doing the whole you deserve this mate. Theres no need. Its also got to do with colour around here as well. Governments and the wealthy dont want to help anyone, they never have. Thats why theyre so rich. Rich people help the rich people so they can get richer. Thats business. Eric, a freight handler, opposed the police shutting down OneFours Australia tour. The police have no right to do that, he said. The public should have access to their shows, pretty much as a human right. OneFours music pretty much aligns with their experience and their environment. If you want them to change their lyrics, change the environment. Get some help in here. Were pretty much a melting pot as far as different races and everything. Compared to twenty years ago, its a changed demographic, but the poverty is still here. Theres no improvement as far as access to help. On a personal level with these OneFour guys, they go through their stuff, but what they say is the truth. Compare it to Chopper Read [a notorious gangland criminal]. He wrote a host of books, sold them, and went on national tours. OneFour cant even get to do one or two shows. These boys are involved in the community, working with the youth and trying to help them get out of these conditions. Caleb Caleb, a 15-year-old high school student, said: I dont think the cancellation of OneFours tour was right. Theyre just speaking about what they see, what young ones like us are facing. Im not sure why police forced the cancellation. Maybe its because they think that OneFours lyrics are violent, but thats just what we see, what we face. Police see gangs, but to us its sort of family, because what we dont see in our families, what were missing, we look for somewhere else. Guys like OneFour are like family, they look after you when you need it. Caleb said that welfare payments were often not enough to make ends meet: Im like that, my mums like that. When we need money, I go to my mates and ask them for help and they help me. Guys like OneFour kind of people, they might seem bad, but theyre actually good. My mates are like that and they help me out when I need money. Caleb described the limited job opportunities and abysmal pay offered to young people in the area: I work at KFC as a casual. Its $10.50 an hour. I only work one or two shifts a week, and its normally five hours. I make $50 a week, and with the money, I just give it to my mum. Keith denounced the cancellation of OneFours tour and said it was stupid. People should have the right to free speech. The coppers have all the power, and I dont think it should be abused. These people are just trying to do their thing, produce music. Theyre just trying to take every opportunity they can. People have to scrape by just to get through the day. I try to work two jobs just to get by. A bride-to-be claims she only discovered her partner is 25 years older than her three months into their relationship - but brags their sex life is 'amazing' despite strangers regularly mistaking her fiance for her father. Briony Kelly, 26, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, met 51-year-old delivery driver Andy Johnston when he made deliveries to the store she worked at in November 2017. After months of chatting and enjoying lunch breaks together, the couple went on their first date and quickly fell for one another, getting engaged just eight months later. And while Andy might almost be the same age as her own mum, Briony claims he can more more than 'keep up' in the bedroom and gives her a newfound confidence. Despite battling accusations of Briony , a telecoms customer assistant, being a gold digger and Andy 'using her' for sex, the loved-up couple have shown that age is just a number and are set to tie the knot next month. Briony Kelly, 26, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, met 51-year-old delivery driver Andy Johnston when he made deliveries to the store she worked at in November 2017 Briony, from said: 'Our first night together was amazing. 'I would say he was a gentleman, but really he wasn't - everything in that department is amazing. 'That's the thing, people think that men his age can't keep up in that sense and oh boy he can. 'There's such a big stigma around relationships with an age gap. 'I've been called a gold digger before but the funny thing is, if someone were to look at our bank balances, technically I've got more money than him. 'I know that, which is why it doesn't hurt me. After months of chatting and enjoying lunch breaks together, the couple went on their first date and quickly fell for one another, getting engaged just eight months later 'Age is just a number, I wouldn't change him for the world - he makes me feel so loved and cherished and I've got a newfound confidence I didn't think I would ever have.' Briony was 24 when she first met Andy, and was won over by his clean-cut looks and witty personality during his daily visits to the store. Briony said: 'When we first started talking I thought he was a lot younger just because of his demeanor and his outlook on life - nothing was stopping him. 'He always spoke about how he was travelling - going out and enjoyed enjoying the world - trying and doing new things. 'I would say it's fate that brought us together as I wasn't looking for anyone and Andy said it was the same for him but we found each other. 'I'd tried dating people my age but it didn't really work out and I got to a point thinking I was quite happy on my own. While Andy might almost be the same age as her own mum, Briony claims he can more more than 'keep up' in the bedroom and gives her a newfound confidence Briony said her parents were initially skeptical about the pairing, but since meeting him and seeing them together said they'd 'fallen in love' with him too 'Andy's got icy blue eyes and really dark hair, which makes them stand out. He's always clean shaven and well presented and you could tell he looks after himself. 'Andy and I started chatting and getting to know each other and when we out for that lunch we just clicked. 'We were chatting about three months into our relationship and I mentioned I didn't know how old he was - and he said the same about me. 'I think he thought I came across as a bit older than what I am and I thought he came across a bit younger, but there was no surprise. 'By this point it was too late to worry about it as we'd fallen for each other.' The pair became an item three months after they first met and Briony then regularly made the 100-mile round trip from where she lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire, to Andy's home in Portsmouth Despite battling accusations of Briony , a telecoms customer assistant, being a gold digger and Andy 'using her' for sex, the loved-up couple have shown that age is just a number and are set to tie the knot next month Briony said her parents were initially skeptical about the pairing, but since meeting him and seeing them together said they'd 'fallen in love' with him too. Briony said: 'The first thing my dad said was 'can you not find someone younger?' 'My mum did question it at first, as there's only four years between her and Andy, but there's 16 years between my mum and step-dad so they would have been hypocrites for having that mindset. 'Once they got to know him and could see how happy I was they fell in love with him too and the whole age thing, it was like it didn't exist. 'When I told my mum that we were engaged in August 2018 she hung up the phone on me as she was shocked, but she rang me back an hour later and told me she was happy for me.' The pair became an item three months after they first met and Briony then regularly made the 100-mile round trip from where she lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire, to Andy's home in Portsmouth. In November 2018 Briony moved to Portsmouth and the couple happily settled into life together - regularly going for day trips to London and jetting away on holiday The couple are regularly mistakenly for father and daughter, with others accusing Briony of being a gold digger and Andy of simply wanting sex In November 2018 Briony moved to Portsmouth and the couple happily settled into life together - regularly going for day trips to London and jetting away on holiday. But their happiness has been repeatedly tested by rude strangers who quiz them on their relationship. The couple are regularly mistakenly for father and daughter, with others accusing Briony of being a gold digger and Andy of simply wanting sex. Briony said: 'Some people can be quite rude or act shocked when they realise we're engaged. 'If we didn't have the same outlook on life or want the same things then it would be different, but he does want marriage and he does want children. 'A man approached us and asked 'is this your dad?' when I explained he was my fiance he replied 'you must be in it for the money then' and said I had money signs in my eyes. Despite enduring some negative comments over the course of their relationship, the pair are happier than ever and excited to begin their married life together next month Briony claims she only discovered her partner is 25 years older than her three months into their relationship - but brags their sex life is 'amazing' 'At a souvenir shop in Barcelona the bloke was trying to flirt with me and said 'don't worry your dad won't mind'. 'When I told him he was fiance he asked if he should go and speak to him about paying for my items. 'I told him I was more than capable of paying for myself and he replied 'so he's not the one who wears the money trousers then?' 'On another holiday we became friendly with a couple and the woman told me that Andy wouldn't want to get married or have children and that he was just using me for the sex. 'I told her straight over the dinner table that we were engaged, we were getting married and that we do want children. 'The woman tried to apologise but her partner told her not to and said 'we're just saying what everyone's thinking'. 'People can be so rude and think they can say what they like when actually they've got no right to.' Despite enduring some negative comments over the course of their relationship, the pair are happier than ever and excited to begin their married life together next month. Briony said: 'I feel amazing about the wedding - I'm so excited for it. 'Andy makes me feel so loved, I wouldn't change him for the world.' After months of chatting and enjoying lunch breaks together, the couple went on their first date and quickly fell for one another, getting engaged just eight months later [January 15, 2020] Lancaster Pollard Helps Plum Healthcare Complete $420 Million Refinancing Lancaster Pollard recently announced the closing of a $420 million portfolio refinance for Plum Healthcare Group. The transaction refinances debt for 26 independently licensed and operated skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) throughout California using the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration (HUD/FHA) Sec. 232/223(f) program. This was the first HUD transaction for Plum, a best-in-class owner and operator of SNFs based in Carlsbad, California. In addition, it was the largest portfolio refinance closed by HUD/FHA in its fiscal year 2019 and one of the largest ever undertaken by the agency. In 2018, as a part of its capital structure optimization initiative, Plum engaged Lancaster Pollard to replace its existing corporate credit facility with a property-based bridge loan credit facility that would supply the structure necessary to effectively refinance into individual HUD mortgages. Lancaster Pollard partnered with Credit Suisse to provide the initial $400 million bridge funding as the first step in the overall process and concurrently began the HUD underwriting process. The entire process from inception to a detailed corporate credit review, required for a transaction this size, to bridge financing and ultimately to HUD closing was completed in 15 months. The timeline is considered fairly efficient for this kind of sizeable, government-insured, multi-step process, which was also impacted by the government shutdown in January 2019 that caused months of delays. In order to accommodate the workload required by HUD for this size of transaction, the 26 loans were fnded in three separate tranches over the last five months of 2019. A testament to Plum's operational excellence is that approximately 80% of the SNF portfolio was comprised of four- or five-star facilities, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) Five-Star Rating System. "Plum is widely recognized in our sector as a high-quality organization with superior patient results, and we were thrilled to be able to achieve this outcome for them," said Grant Goodman, managing director with Lancaster Pollard Mortgage Company, a division of ORIX Real Estate Capital. "Transitioning from a short term, corporate-level recourse-based capital structure into fixed-rate, non-recourse debt with an all-in rate of 3.8% was a big win for the company." "Redesigning our capital structure is a key component of our strategy, which is focused on further enhancing our industry-leading clinical outcomes and positioning our business to capitalize on the emerging long-term growth opportunities in the health care market," said Naveed Hakim, Plum's chief financial officer. "Thanks to Lancaster Pollard's efforts, we have completed a major step of our capital enhancement initiative by moving Plum into a unique fixed rate debt structure that locks in historically low rates for decades, eliminates corporate recourse and financial covenant exposure, and creates the capital flexibility that will facilitate the execution of our strategy," Hakim added. Grant Goodman, Jason Dopoulos, and Elliot Kaple led the transaction for Lancaster Pollard. About Lancaster Pollard Lancaster Pollard Mortgage Company, a division of ORIX Real Estate Capital (OREC), helps seniors housing and health care providers expand and improve their services by delivering financial advice and financing solutions. Lancaster Pollard, together with its affiliates, offers a full range of investment banking, mortgage banking, private equity, balance sheet financing and M&A advisory services. OREC is a Fannie Mae DUS, Map- and Lean-Approved FHA, and Freddie Mac OptigoSM Small Balance lender. OREC is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ORIX Corporation USA. The OREC companies have financed approximately $100 billion in total transaction amount and originate $6 billion annually, with a servicing portfolio over $25 billion. Securities, investment banking and advisory services provided through OREC Securities, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. About Plum Healthcare Group Plum Healthcare Group supports 56 independently licensed and operated facilities, which provide comprehensive skilled nursing services, assisted living services, speech, physical and occupational therapies, and other health care solutions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005807/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] GREENVILLE, S.C. - An 86-year-old South Carolina man robbed a bank at gunpoint, fired his weapon inside the building and shot into an occupied car as he fled in his truck, police said. He was caught about a mile away. Gilbert Ware, dressed in a ski mask and white gloves, entered a Bank of America branch about 9:30 a.m. Monday in the city of Greenville, n ews outlets quoted police as saying. Ware instructed a bank teller to put money inside of a bag, and at some point fired a shot from his gun, police said. He then left the bank and fled in a truck, firing a single shot into the drivers window of an occupied car as he drove past. No one was injured. He was stopped about a mile away from the bank and arrested. Police did not say how much money was taken. Ware, of Greenville, was charged with bank robbery, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, attempted murder and discharging a firearm. He was being held on $40,000 bond. It was unknown if he had an attorney. A teacher, a school bus driver and a bus monitor received different jail terms Wednesday for negligence that killed a six-year-old boy last August. Both were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Le Hoang Long, a student of the Gateway International School. Nguyen Thi Thuy, 29, Longs head teacher, got one year in jail for negligence that results in serious consequences. The court also banned her from teaching for a year. (From L) Doan Quy Phien, Nguyen Bich Quy, and Nguyen Thi Thuy stand trial in Hanoi, January 14, 2020. Photo by Vietnam News Agency. The court found that each defendant's individual acts had led to the boy's death. The incident started with Quy failing to check the attendance of the students in the bus. Phien then did not scan the passenger seats before leaving. Thuy, on the other hand, knew Long hadn't come to class and there was no prior notice from his parents, but she did not notify them of his absence. The court said the school "did not strictly monitor" its system despite the fact it has issued administrative operation procedures. Quy logged in her shift record at Gateway's administration room saying she had picked up and brought the 13 students to the school, but Long was absent from his class. Thuy filed in the school's only management system that the student's absence was approved but Gateway staff did not verify this information. The indictment said that Duong Thi Hoai Anh, Gateway's principal, was on sick leave during the incident so she was exempt from liability in the case. Students get aboard a bus of Gateway International School, Hanoi, August 7, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. The boy, Long, was picked up by the school bus at 7 a.m. on August 6, 2019. It was his second day at the school. At 8 a.m., after arriving at school, Quy let the students out without checking their number. Driver Phien then drove the bus to a parking lot, and locked the bus without checking whether any student was left inside. At 3:45 p.m., after the bus was driven back to the school to take students home, Quy discovered Long lying motionless on the bus floor behind the driver's seat. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. His death was caused by "heat stroke" and "respiratory failure" and no influence of external forces or diseases was seen, a forensic report said. Haftar Leaves Moscow for Libya Without Signing Ceasefire Deal With GNA Sputnik News 09:46 14.01.2020(updated 10:07 14.01.2020) Talks began on Monday morning between Russia and Turkey's foreign and defence ministers in the so-called "2+2" format. Afterwards, representatives from Russia and Turkey met with the GNA and LNA delegations separately. Negotiations went on for more than six hours and were closed to the media. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has left Moscow without signing a ceasefire agreement with the head of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj. The main issues of the talks were the parameters and the possibility of an armistice agreement being signed between the Government of National Accord's Fayez Sarraj and the head of the Libyan National Army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar. In turn, the Libyan delegation of the Government of National Accord, headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, has left Moscow for Istanbul after signing the ceasefire agreement which their primary opponents, the Libyan National Army have yet to sign, GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala said. "The delegation of the Presidential Council of the GNA and the High Council of State has left Moscow after signing [the ceasefire agreement], we are now in Istanbul," Siala said. Siala also confirmed that Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the LNA commander, asked for additional time to study the document before signing it perhaps on Tuesday. "Haftar asked for a delay till tomorrow and may sign [the ceasefire agreement] at the insistence of Russians," Siala explained. Representatives from the LNA and GNA did not meet each other at the talks, according to Hamid al-Safi, the adviser to the speaker of Libya's eastern-based parliament that supports Haftar's LNA. The adviser stated that parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh and Haftar met only with the Russian representatives, while al-Sarraj and Khaled al-Mishri, the head of the GNA High Council of State, met with both Turkish and Russian diplomats. On Monday, Sarraj and Haftar met in the Russian capital for talks mediated by Russia and Turkey. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Haftar had asked for a little extra time to look at a draft ceasefire agreement between Libya's conflicting sides. On Sunday, LNA and GNA announced a ceasefire in the country, effectively halting the months-long LNA offensive to take the GNA-held capital of Tripoli. The ceasefire appears fragile as the sides have accused each other of violating the truce. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address As fires continue to burn across Australia, damage estimates are now in the billions. More than 8.4 million hectares have been burnt, almost 2000 homes have been destroyed, and 26 people have lost their lives. Such immense devastation means policymakers are under pressure to identify strategies that will future-proof communities before they start rebuilding beyond the 2020 bushfires. UniSA sustainability expert, Dr Sukhbir Sandhu says Australia should consider the establishment of a 'fire-line' - a bushfire demarcation line - to identify high-risk areas not recommended human habitation. In the same vein as Goyder's Line of rainfall (created in South Australia 1865 to map areas liable to drought and therefore unsuitable for planting crops), Dr Sandhu says a fire-line would help people clearly recognise areas that are suitable, or not suitable, for living. "The frequency and intensity of bushfires in Australia have changed dramatically over the past decade - our fire season is longer, the fires are more brutal, and the fallout is extensive," Dr Sandhu says. "Accordingly, Australia's responses to the fires must change too. "As people look to rebuild their homes, schools and communities, we need to be asking the question - is it really safe to do so in these areas? "The current bushfires have destroyed the livelihoods of far too many people to be remedied by standard recovery and rebuilding strategies. And, as fires continue to burn into residential areas, governments must consider something more ground-breaking in recovery. "It's time for policymakers to take a strong stand where it is safe for communities to rebuild, and a fire demarcation line could help achieve this." Dr Sandhu says that policymakers have the basic tools to start such an initiative which, in conjunction with CFS aerial footage, satellite imagery, and well-developed insurance company models (that not only identify areas susceptible to bushfires, but coastal flooding as a result of rising sea levels) would provide clear information for a new fire-line. She says that areas adjacent to fire-lines should also be built to compulsory bushfire-resilient construction guidelines. "We have the technology to create homes with bushfire resistant materials, and to enable houses with certain structural properties to serve as fire bunkers. But to date, there are no clear policies that support or promote these technologies for use in vulnerable areas," Dr Sandhu says. "This is not about quick fixes; we need long-term, sustainable strategies to address the undeniable effects of climate change." ### Contact for interview: Dr Sukhbir Sandhu office (08) 8302 0735 email Sukhbir.Sandhu@unisa.edu.au Media contact: Annabel Mansfield office (08) 8302 0351 mobile: 0417 717 504 email: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au Cong accuses BJP of using Tek Fog app to propagate agenda on SM, seeks intervention by SC BJP set to pull out all stops in UP, SP main contender 6 national parties declared income of Rs 3,698.66 crore: BJP leads the pack India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: Political parties have multiple sources of funding and thus accountability and transparency should be an important aspect of their functioning. It is essential to have comprehensive and transparent accounting methods and systems which should reveal the true financial position of the parties. The National Parties include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). Status of submission of audited reports by the National Parties, FY 2018-19: The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was 31st Oct,'19. AITC, CPM and BSP submitted their audit reports on time while BJP submitted after 24 days, INC and CPI submitted after 42 days, while the audit report of NCP is still not available in public domain - 76 days since the due date for submission. JP Nadda likely to take over as BJP chief next week Total Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for FY 2018-19 BJP declared a total income of Rs 2,410.08 cr during FY 2018-19 but spent only 41.71 per cent (Rs 1,005.33 cr) of the total income while INC's total income was Rs 918.03 cr of which the party spent 51.19 per cent (Rs 469.92 cr). AITC's total income was Rs 192.65 cr of which the party spent only 5.97 per cent (Rs 11.50 cr). CPM declared a total income of Rs 100.96 cr during FY 2018-19, and spent Rs 76.15 cr (75.43 per cent) of it. Total Income of National Parties for FY 2018-19: 6 National Parties (BJP, INC, CPM, BSP, AITC and CPI) have declared a total income of Rs 3,698.66 cr, collected from all over India. BJP has shown the highest income amongst the National Parties, an income of Rs 2410.08 cr during FY 2018-19. This forms 65.16 per cent of the total income of 6 National Parties during FY 2018-19. INC declared the second highest income of Rs 918.03 cr which forms 24.82 per cent of the total income of the 6 National Parties. Delhi election: How social media battle hots up as BJP, Congress try to breach 'Kejri Wall' Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News Comparison of total income of National Parties between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19 Between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, the income of BJP Increased by 134.59 per cent (Rs 1382.74 cr) from Rs 1027.34 cr during FY 2017-18 to Rs 2410.08 cr during FY 2018-19. Income of INC increased by 360.97 per cent (Rs 718.88 cr) from Rs 199.15 cr during FY 2017-18 to Rs 918.03 cr during FY 2018-19. Between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, the highest increase in income was declared by AITC of 3628.47 per cent (Rs 187.48 cr) from Rs 5.167 cr during FY 2017-18 to Rs 192.65 cr during FY 2018-19 while the income of CPI increased by 361.29 per cent (Rs 5.60 cr) from Rs 1.55 cr during FY 2017-18 to Rs 7.15 cr during FY 2018-19. Top 3 sources of income of National Parties for FY 2018-19: National Parties have declared donations/contributions as one of their 3 main sources of income. National Parties that received highest income from donations/contributions include BJP - Rs 2354.02 cr, INC - Rs 551.55 cr, AITC - Rs 141.54 cr, CPM - Rs 37.228 cr and CPI - Rs 4.08 cr. Voluntary Contributions of Rs 2354.02 cr declared by BJP forms 97.67 per cent of its total income during FY 2018-19. Declaration of Rs 551.55 cr under Grant/ donations/ contributions by INC forms the top most income of the party, contributing 60.08 per cent of its total income during FY 2018-19. Top 3 items of expenditure of National Parties for FY 2018-19: The maximum expenditure for BJP has been towards Election/General Propaganda which amounted to Rs 792.39 cr followed by expenses towards Administrative Costs, Rs 178.35 cr. INC spent the maximum of Rs 308.96 cr on Election Expenditure followed by expenditure of Rs 125.80 cr on Administrative and General Expenses. CPM declared to have spent 46.01 per cent of its total expenditure during FY 2018 -19 on Administrative & General Expenses (Rs 35.04 cr) while BSP spent Rs 33.11 cr or 67.74 per cent of its total expenditure on Election Expenses. Delhi election 2020: BJP shortlists over 1400 probable candidates; Shah to take final call All sources of income declared by National Parties: FY 2018-19 6 National parties collected 83.50 per cent (Rs 3088.43 cr) of their total income from Voluntary contributions for FY 2018-19. During FY 2018-19, out of the 6 National Parties, only BJP, INC and AITC have declared receiving an income from Contribution through Electoral Bonds, a total of Rs 1931.43 cr. BJP received donations through Electoral Bonds worth Rs 1450.89 cr, INC received Rs 383.26 cr and AITC received Rs 97.28 cr. Rs 1157 cr was income generated through other contributions by National parties during FY 2018-19. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:38:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, met here Tuesday with the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and U.S. business leaders. When meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue and U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen, the Chinese vice premier said the three organizations have done a lot of helpful work in the China-U.S. economic and trade consultations. China and the United States have reached a phase-one economic and trade agreement on the basis of equality and mutual respect, which will be formally signed on Wednesday, Liu said. That is beneficial to China, the United States and the whole world, he said, adding that its significance is not only in the field of economy and trade, but also in safeguarding world peace, stability and prosperity. As two major responsible countries, China and the United States, despite their different ideologies and different political and economic models, are fully capable of cooperating with each other for mutually beneficial development, Liu said. After signing the agreement, the two sides should make joint efforts to implement it and obtain tangible results, he added. Georgieva said she sincerely congratulates China and the United States on the upcoming signing of the phase-one economic and trade agreement, which injects stability into the two countries and the world economy. It is beneficial not only to the economies of the two countries, but also to the world economy, she added. Noting that the IMF has raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2020 to 6.0 percent from 5.8 percent, Georgieva said that the IMF, whose main mission is to maintain world economic and financial stability, will as always provide fact-based policy recommendations conducive to world economic growth and do everything possible to unite all countries and resolve existing differences. Donohue and Allen said the phase-one deal between the United States and China sends a very positive signal, which greatly benefits businesses and markets, and helps promote economic growth and prosperity in both countries as well as the world. They said that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-China Business Council as well as their affiliated institutions will do their best to support the governments and businesses of the two countries in implementing the phase-one agreement and enhancing mutual trust, and continue to play a positive role in U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation and the development of bilateral relations. by Nirmala Carvalho The event is planned by the local diocese and dozens of Christian groups. This year the Week of Prayer is set for 17-25 January. For local priest, Peace is the need of the hour and we need a miracle to happen. Mumbai (AsiaNews) The Catholic Church and other Christian denominations are planning a march next week in Kolkata in favour of peace, unity and equality, praying for forgiveness for hurtful actions. The rally will be held on 20 January and involve over 100 churches as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian unity, which this year is set for 17-25 January. We shall pray for unity keeping in mind today's atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, but there will be nothing political in the initiative, said Fr Dominic Gomes, the chief organiser, speaking to AsiaNews. The march in Kolkata is being organised by two ecumenical organisations, Bangiya Christiya Pariseba and the Bengal Christian Council, which call on all Christians to participate. Representatives of 175 Churches and institutions recently met in St Paul's Cathedral to plan the gathering. The procession will start from the cathedral and end at the statue of Gandhi on Mayo Road, covering some 3.5 kilometres. The goal of the prayer meeting is to "proclaim the message of unity, amity and communal harmony and express solidarity with those who have been protesting over the past few weeks against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, deemed anti-Muslim. For organisers, Christians "see with anxiety and fear what is happening to other minorities. For this reason, We hope that all quarrels will end and equality will be unpheld, Fr Dominic said. May all those who have hurt others through their words and actions be forgiven too. We should try to forget all our differences and unite as a community of Christians for peace and love. This year we shall pray as a Christian community for the country as a whole. Peace is the need of the hour and we need a miracle to happen. via REUTERS The Russian prime minister has resigned just hours after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping changes to the constitution, according to reports from the country. The TASS news agency, which is owned by the Russian government, reported Wednesday morning that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submitted his resignation to Putin. The news agency said Putin thanked Medvedev for his work and added that the president will name Medvedev as deputy of the presidential Security Council. More to follow... Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. The last call is out for entrants for Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year 2020, Irelands festival celebrating young filmmakers from Ireland. The closing date is January 24, 2020. Fresh Film is an advocate for young filmmakers year-round and encourages young people to make films by hosting the annual Fresh International Film Festival which incorporates Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards. Fresh International Film Festival 2020 takes place in Limerick from March 23 28, 2020 and is open to young people from 7-18 years of age. 2020 will be its 24th year encouraging young people from Ireland and overseas, aged 7 to 18 years, to create, exhibit and share films. The Fresh International Film Festival provides an opportunity for young filmmakers to see their work on the big screen and to compete for the title of Irelands Young Filmmaker of the Year and to win 1,000 towards their next film. All submissions are also considered for a range of Specialist Awards including the Radharc Trust Award for documentaries, the Animation Award, the RTE 60 Second Award, the Film in the Irish Language award and the RTE Factual Award, in addition to the International and Audience awards. The Festival has Junior (7-12 years), Senior (12- 18 years) and International categories for individual and group projects. Young filmmakers can enter as independents, as part of their school or in a group. Films must be original and can be up to 15 minutes duration for Seniors or 10 minutes duration for Juniors. Senior films will be screened at one of the Regional Heats, which take place in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick during early March. The Senior and Junior finalists films will be screened during Fresh International Film Festival 2020 from March 23-28 in Limerick. The awards will be announced at the final screenings on March 25 and 26, 2020. Fresh Film runs a number of initiatives under strand headings. The Fresh Production strand features the 'Fresh Blood' horror film workshop, the 'Hothouse' programme and the 'Fresh Film Squad' designed to bring young people together to share their film experiences and create new work. Under its Fresh Education strand, it devises film programmes for the classroom such as the You Judge It school juries, and the 'young programmer' project. As part of its Fresh International strand, it distributes Irish films made by young people to festivals all over the world and seeks opportunities for young people to participate in international exchanges. Speaking about the final call for entries, Festival Director and Founder Jayne Foley said: From filmmaker exchanges to film shares, awards to workshops, Fresh continues to seek new and innovative ways of engaging with international young filmmakers and audiences. "We are an international film festival and we distribute Irish films to festivals all over the world. Freshs relationship with filmmakers and festivals from all over the world began in 1993 with a screening of Kids in America a collection made by young people from the USA. We are looking forward to great things from our 2020 crop of films. Understanding the basic building blocks of storytelling, camera and editing will stand you in good stead in the media-driven future. "We are seeking filmmakers, the makers of dreams, the ones who challenge us with their alternative vision and the ones who show a mastery of the art. We give you this gentle nudge again. Write your story. Grab your camera. Get your friends or your classmates or do it on your own. We await the new crop. We look forward to the harvest. The closing date for entries is Friday, January 24, 2020. The full festival programme will be available shortly. Further details and application forms can be found at www.freshfilmfestival.com. (CNN) Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, could end up testifying against her in a potential court battle over her treatment in the UK media. Meghan filed a lawsuit last year against the Mail on Sunday newspaper for allegedly unlawfully publishing a letter she wrote to her father. But court documents filed by the paper on Tuesday reveal that he is part of the paper's defense, reports the Daily Mail, its sister publication. It's not yet clear whether Markle will testify, should the case reach court, but these documents appear to show Meghan's father has been co-operating with the defense, making him a likely witness. The Mail on Sunday and parent company Associated Newspapers will argue that there was "huge and legitimate" public interest in members of the royal family and their "personal relationships," according to the papers, the UK's PA news agency reported. The documents reveal that the Mail on Sunday will use evidence from Markle, including the argument that he "had a weighty right to tell his version of what had happened between himself and his daughter including the contents of the letter," reports PA. The Mail on Sunday told CNN that it would not make any official comment. As a result, father and daughter could end up facing each other after years of speculation over their fraught relationship. Media reports have focused on a breakdown in communication between the pair, and Markle didn't attend Meghan's marriage to Prince Harry, citing health issues. The Sussexes' family lawyers, Schillings Partners, declined to make any comment, and Markle's representatives did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. The case is the latest development in a dramatic period for the royal family. On January 8, Harry and Meghan made a shock announcement that they intend to "step back" from royal duties and "carve out a progressive new role" in the family. In response the Queen called a crisis meeting of senior royals, after which the family announced a "period of transition" had been agreed while details of the Sussexes' new role are hammered out. Meghan is currently in Canada, where she and Harry are expected to live part-time during this period. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took a veiled jibe at the United States, calling for the world to end "unilaterally" imposed sanctions and non-diplomatic means of international relations. Speaking at a conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Lavrov also said it was a "pity" that the Libya talks between various stakeholders failed as rebel leader Khalifa Hifter refused to sign a ceasefire document. Russia and Turkey proposed a ceasefire last week in hopes of bringing an end to the north African country's long-running civil war. Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and his rival Hifter came to Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian and Turkish diplomats and military officials. The talks lasted about seven hours, and Sarraj and Hifter did not meet directly. Christian groups speak out as Texas Gov. Abbott refuses to resettle refugees in 2020 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian leaders and organizations are speaking out after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott informed the U.S. State Department last week that he will not consent to the resettlement of refugees in the state in 2020. Pursuant to President Donald Trumps executive order last year giving state and local officials the authority to block refugee resettlement in their jurisdictions, Abbott became the first governor in the nation last Friday to refuse his consent for the resettlement of refugees this year. Meanwhile, 42 other governors have offered their consent for refugee resettlement in their states. Abbott argued that Texas has carried more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process and appreciates that other states are available to help with these efforts. He stated that since 2010, Texas has resettled more refugees than any other state. Since that time, Texas has resettled about 10 percent of the refugees who have come to the U.S., he added. Additionally, he said the state has been left to deal with the country's "disproportionate migration issues" as over 100,000 migrants were apprehended for crossing over the southern border into Texas in 2019. World Relief, an evangelical humanitarian nonprofit that is one of nine organizations authorized to resettle refugees in the U.S., expressed disappointment that Abbott has chosen to close the states doors to refugees in 2020. We have seen time and again the amazing contributions that refugees make in our neighborhoods, congregations and the local economy, World Relief Fort Worth Director Troy Greisen said in a statement. We grieve the families with members already resettled in Texas that will have to wait even longer to be reunited, and we grieve even more for the loss our communities will experience without their new members. Trumps Sept. 26 executive order is the first time ever that the federal government will require state and local governments to provide consent in order for the federal government to resettle refugees in their jurisdictions. World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Evangelical Immigration Table spearheaded a joint effort last month to send letters to 15 governors that were signed by thousands of evangelicals. The letters encouraged the governors to provide their consent for refugee resettlement. A letter sent to Abbott on Dec. 9 was signed by over 340 Texas evangelicals. World Relief President Scott Arbeiter said that Abbotts decision was out of step with our heritage as Americans. And most importantly, its out of step with our Christian prerogative to care for those in need and the stranger, Arbeiter argued. We have been grateful for the leadership Texas has historically shown as a welcoming community and are deeply saddened that they are now choosing to abdicate that role, instead of closing their door to refugees altogether. Arbeiter urged the other eight governors who have not yet issued their consent for refugee resettlement to do so. In addition to the 42 governors, a total of 86 local officials have offered their consent to refugee resettlement, according to World Relief. John McCullough, president of the refugee resettlement agency Church World Service, called Abbotts decision cruel and harmful. CSW, a cooperative ministry of 37 denominations, is calling on its supporters to contact Abbotts office to urge the governor to reverse the decision. The Mayors of San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth along with local officials across the state have voiced strong support for refugees resettlement citing the vast economic and civic benefits they bring to communities, McCullough said. In one fell swoop, Governor Abbott has denied them the ability to do what is best for their communities. McCullough fears that Abbotts decision will lead to family separation and will leave refugees and U.S. citizens without supportive services. It will devastate congregations that will not be able to live out their calling to welcome the stranger. It will devastate businesses that rely on the workforce and contributions of refugees, McCullough added. CWS is among the three faith-based resettlement agencies that filed a lawsuit challenging Trumps Sept. 26 executive order. The lawsuit argues that the Trump order overstepped the presidents authority by giving state and local governments veto power when it comes to refugee resettlement. The deadline for state and local officials to offer their consent is Jan. 21, when resettlement agencies must submit funding requests to the State Department Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration for the fiscal year 2020. Katie Adams, the domestic policy advocate for the United Church of Christ, said in a statement that Abbotts decision flattens the good news of the gospel into mere words, not the living, breathing gospel of Jesus. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops also condemned Abbotts decision. While the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops respects the governor, this decision is simply misguided, the statement on the conferences website reads. It denies people who are fleeing persecution, including religious persecution, from being able to bring their gifts and talents to our state and contribute to the general common good of all Texans. The Episcopal Church also objected to Abbotts decision. The Episcopal Church urges Gov. Abbott to reconsider his decision and express support for continuing Texass long tradition of welcoming refugees, the statement reads. Close Jeremy Corbyn challenges Boris Johnson on the NHS Boris Johnson has clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over NHS funding and waiting times at PMQs. The prime minister claimed the Tories were the party of the NHS after the Labour leader said urgent action was needed to fix the crisis. While Mr Corbyn expressed concerns about the racial undertones in coverage of the Duchess of Sussex, the Tory MP Mark Francois has predicted that the 500,000 needed to get Big Ben to bong for Brexit will be raised within 48 hours. It comes as Matt Hancock said the public can carry on flying as often as before despite the climate emergency, rejecting the idea of sacrifices. The health secretary also drew fury for suggesting the four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped. Doug Jones and his staff want to help you pay for college. On Jan. 28-29, U.S. Senator Doug Jones will host a series of workshops across the state to assist students and their families with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The events will be free and open to the public. These workshops will be held in Mobile, Selma, Montgomery, Hueytown and Trinity. Jones interest in the FAFSA led to bipartisan legislation to simplify the lengthy form. The legislation will take the length of the form down to a total of just 18-30 questions. For more information on the legislation, click here. Scroll to find out when and where the workshops will take place. Cant make the workshop? Heres a step-by-step guide to fill out the form. Tuesday, Jan. 28 South Alabama: WHERE: University of South Alabama, Mitchell College of Business, Room 140, 5811 USA Drive South, Mobile, AL 36688 WHEN: 3:00 7:00 p.m. CST. Attendees may come on a rolling basis at any time. Black Belt WHERE: Wallace Community College Library, Reading Room, 3000 Earl Goodwin Parkway, Selma, AL 36703 WHEN: 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. CST River Region WHERE: Juliette Hampton Morgan Memorial Library, 2nd floor Computer Lab, 245 High Street, Montgomery, AL 36104 WHEN: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. CST Central Alabama WHERE: Hueytown High School Media Center, 4881 15th Street Road, Hueytown, AL 35023 WHEN: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. CST Wednesday, Jan. 29 North Alabama WHERE: West Morgan High School Computer Lab, 261 South Greenway Drive, Trinity, AL 35673 WHEN: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CST North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. (TSXV: ACU) (the "Company") provides a comprehensive review and update on the development of its InsightTM data science product for solar cell production yield optimization. The Insight product is being designed as an innovative platform to maximize solar cell manufacturing yield and extend Aurora's business to include software solutions capable of generating a recurring revenue stream. The Company has completed key milestones in the development of the Insight product including: 1) Development of proprietary algorithms to "mine" the end-of-line data 2) Addition of a new end-of-line test that increases the resolution and accuracy of Insight's analysis 3) Development and testing of wafer path tracking tools 4) Extensive field testing and refinement of the technology Since 2018, successive versions of the technology have been tested and applied within the production facility of one of Aurora's long-standing customers. Recently a second customer trial site has been added for further testing and qualification. Insight - Aurora's data science product for top-quality solar cell production Aurora's InsightTM is a novel product using proprietary algorithms to evaluate the large volumes of data collected during solar cell fabrication. The product evaluates these data to inform the manufacturer - in real time - how well its production equipment is performing, where problems may be occurring, or where yield might be improved, with potential benefits in the millions of dollars per plant. Aurora has been developing Insight with the cooperation of two lead customers and our research partners since 2018, and the initial version of this product is now planned for introduction in the second half of 2020. Quality variations in the complex solar cell fabrication processes reduce plant yield and throughput A solar cell manufacturing plant contains an extensive set of specialized equipment to process raw silicon wafers into finished cells. This equipment includes raw material testing stations, wet chemical systems to clean, texture and etch wafer surfaces, specialized high-temperature furnaces for atomic diffusion or annealing, chemical layer deposition devices, printing machinery, various wafer handling systems, and cell performance testers/sorters. Due to the complexity of the process, differences in raw materials, equipment failures, process control fluctuations and/or operator errors, each of the billions of solar cells manufactured each year will vary in colour and in their ability to capture light and convert it into electrical energy. Without continuous monitoring, adjustments and maintenance to ensure product specifications are met, the quality of the finished products will vary excessively and ultimately degrade profit margins. And current quality control methods do not resolve all of these problems, holding back considerable potential profit For most cell manufacturers the underlying material and process variations are often hidden or difficult to detect using traditional techniques such as inline instrumentation or offline laboratory tests. This is because some critical-to-quality properties cannot be measured inline, and a laboratory cannot always replicate the conditions that develop and evolve in the production equipment. These experiments also require a temporary reduction in plant throughput, which reduces the volume of sellable products, while still consuming raw materials. Additionally, these experiments are costly in terms of time and the use of skilled resources for experiment design and results analysis. Consequently, many operators limit experiments and live with product variations to maximize production throughput. How Insight works In all solar cell manufacturing plants, at the end of a production line, each finished cell is tested to determine its colour and electrical characteristics. The results of these tests are used to categorize and sort the cells for their use as the electricity-generating elements within solar panels. The power-producing capability of a cell determines its saleable value. Besides categorization of each finished cell, embedded in the results of these end-of-line tests is a continuous stream of implicit data about the raw material quality and the performance of the various pieces of equipment in the manufacturing plant. With many tens of millions of cells being produced every year in a typical plant, this represents an enormous amount of information - available in real-time for immediate and continuous use in optimizing plant yield. Up to now, the equipment performance data embedded in the end-of-line cell tests has been hidden due to a lack of computational techniques to uncover and interpret it. With Insight, Aurora has developed those techniques and woven them into a novel portfolio of analytical tools that exploit the patterns and variations seen in the large volumes of end-of-line cell testing data. Insight's tools improve and automate the following critical actions: Identification of the yield of each piece of equipment in their plant, and how this yield changes and evolves over time Discovery of the raw material routing paths through equipment that collectively produce the highest and lowest yields Isolation of difficult-to-identify causes of poor performance or high variation in process equipment Testing and examination of potential yield-increasing changes in material or processes while minimizing the need for laborious and throughput-reducing experiments Increasing the speed of ramp-up of new production lines or equipment All of the above features are designed to allow production engineers to achieve both maximum throughput and the highest possible yield in the plant. Key milestones The Company has now completed the following steps toward product release: Development of proprietary algorithms to "mine" the end-of-line data. This involved the extension of existing manufacturing data research in the solar cell field, and development of statistical techniques to determine the causal interactions among material and electronic properties that determine the voltage, current and electrical resistance of each finished solar cell. Addition of a new end-of-line test that increases the resolution and accuracy of Insight's analysis. Development and testing of wafer path tracking tools to enable allocation of analytical results to specific equipment. Extensive testing and refinement of the technology. Recently a second customer trial site has been added for further testing and qualification. Ongoing testing and development continue with the support of these two solar cell manufacturers. As the product completes testing and final development, the Company is focused on user interface design and testing with customers as well as the development and execution of standard use cases and operation procedures. The Company's long-term vision for Insight is to create a new industry standard for quality control and measurement in the solar cell manufacturing market. Insight is targeted for general release to the market in the second half of 2020 with initial introduction to key strategic customers and will be packaged as a server-based product, co-located in the customers' production facilities. It will be marketed to customers by Aurora on an annual subscription basis. About Aurora Solar Technologies: Aurora Solar Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of inline process measurement, analysis and control systems for solar cell manufacturers. We believe that solar power will dominate the renewable energy field, and our mission is to bring quality and profitability to every customer through superior control of critical processes during solar cell manufacturing. Aurora's products are used by some of the world's most advanced and respected solar cell manufacturers. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, Aurora has operations in Shanghai, China and partners in all major solar manufacturing markets. Aurora is a public company, traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (ACU) and is a two-time TSX-V Top 50 winner. Aurora's website is located at www.aurorasolartech.com. For further information contact: Gordon Deans, P.Eng. President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. Phone: +1 (778) 241-5000 info@aurorasolartech.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51479 The Jammu and Kashmir Police will release the admit card for PET, PST for the recruitment of Constable on its official website. According to the official notice, the admit card will be released online on January 15, 2020. Candidates can download their admit cards online at jkpolice.gov.in The physical endurance test (PET) and physical standard test (PST) will commence from January 20 and will end on January 31, 2020. The PET/ PST will be conducted in various districts of Jammu Kashmir. JK Police has also released the district- wise schedule for PET/ PST round. Candidates are advised to view the details on the official website of JK Police at jkpolice.gov.in Here is the district-wise schedule of PET and PST: Poonch and Rajouri - January 20 Doda - January 21 Kishtwar and Ramban - January 22 Samba - January 23 Udhampur and Reasi - January 24 and 25 Kathua and Jammu - January 27 to 31 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nandini Nandini is a content producer for careers and education section at HT Delhi. She has an experience of four years in journalism covering health, lifestyle and crime beats. ...view detail A technician at the Badische Stahlwerke steel plant in Kehl, Germany. Photo: Vincent Kessler/Reuters Data from Germanys federal statistics office on Wednesday revealed that Europes biggest economy expanded by 0.6% in 2019. This was in line with analysts expectations, but highlights how the global slowdown, including Chinas cooling economy, and the US-China trade war have taken their toll on the export-reliant German economy. Last years GDP growth was the lowest in the past six years since the 0.4% growth it posted in 2013 and significantly lower than 1.5% in 2018, and 2.2% in 2017. "The golden decade Germany has seen for growth is gradually coming to an end," Holger Schmieding of Berenberg bank told AFP. Strong domestic consumption and an unabated boom in construction both buoyed the German economy in 2019, and helped it narrowly avoid a recession for the year. However, its key manufacturing sector is technically in recession and struggling with shrinking orders from abroad. The German economy still has two faces: a strong domestic one on the back of record high employment, consumer and government spending, and a weak industrial one on the back of the global manufacturing slowdown and its sector-specific problems in the automotive industry, said ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski in a note. The outlook for the coming year is reasonably positive, however, with the Bundesbank expecting 2020 growth to be about the same as 2019. "The big question is: how long will the domestic economy last?" OECD economist Nicola Brandt told Reuters. "If the uncertainties are not eliminated, it can spill over onto the domestic economy." Pressure is mounting on the government, which announced this week that it had a budget surplus of 13.5bn (11.6bn, $15bn) at the end of 2019, to start pumping investment into everything from the countrys crumbling infrastructure, to education, digitisation, and even a reduction in income tax. Today, at a car summit in Berlin, the automotive industry will tell the government it needs billions in financial support to implement the huge transition to electric cars. Hours after Iran admitted that it had shot down the Ukranian jet on January 8, amid tensions with the United States, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he had called upon President Hassan Rouhani and said that acknowledging the plane shot down is a step in the right direction. President Zelensky took to Twitter on Saturday to state that he spoke to his Iranian counterpart and said that he looks forward to further legal and technical cooperation. President Zelensky's tweet Talked to @HassanRouhani. Acknowledging plane shot down is a step in the right direction. I insist on immediately completing identification of the bodies & their return to Ukraine. The perpetrators must be held accountable. We look forward to further legal & technical cooperation (@ZelenskyyUa) January 11, 2020 Earlier in the day, President Zelensky said, "The morning brought the truth. Ukraine insists on full admission of guilt. We expect Iran to prosecute, return the bodies of the dead, pay compensation, and make official apologies. The investigation should be complete, open and ongoing without delay or obstruction." READ | Ukraine International Airlines Plane Crashes In Tehran; All 176 Aboard Dead "But we insist on a full admission of guilt. We expect Iran to conduct a full and open investigation, bring those responsible to justice, return the bodies of the deceased, pay compensation and issue official apologies through diplomatic channels. We hope that the investigation will continue without artificial delays and obstacles. Our 45 professionals need full access and engagement to establish justice," Zelensky had said in a strongly-worded statement. READ | Full Statement: Iran Says It 'unintentionally' Shot Down Ukraine Jet Amid Tensions With US Iran's admission A military statement on Saturday carried by state media said that the plane was mistaken for a hostile target after it turned toward a sensitive military center of the Revolutionary Guard. The military was at its highest level of readiness amid the heightened tensions with the US. In such a condition, because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit. It apologised for the disaster and said it would upgrade its systems to prevent such mistakes in the future. The responsible parties would be referred to a judicial department within the military and held accountably, the military said. READ | Full Statement: Iran Says It 'unintentionally' Shot Down Ukraine Jet Amid Tensions With US READ | 'Deeply Regret': Iran's Prez Rouhani Apologises For Military's Downing Of Ukrainian Jet HubHead Corp., has joined as a member of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance. The alliance is taking an open and interoperable approach to better enable digital transformation in industry. The companies plan to work with future members to create what is known as an Open Industry 4.0 Framework based on existing standards such as IO-Link, OPC UA and RAMI. Founding members include Beckhoff, Endress+Hauser Group, Hilscher, ifm, KUKA, MULTIVAC and SAP SE. Other members include Voith, Fujitsu, and HubHead. HubHead is a leader in Industry 4.0 by helping companies prepare their asset and maintenance master data for Industry 4.0. HubHead works with manufacturers to transform their internal engineering and design product data into Cloud Central compliant data to support maintenance and operations by their customers. Cloud Central data is easily consumed by Industry 4.0 compliant solutions. Cloud Central standardized data for Industry 4.0 allows for accelerated business operations, easy equipment onboarding, and future-proofs and secures solutions and services. "Our customers are excited by the promise of Cloud Central as a central repository for asset data to support their maintenance and operations. But the success of Cloud Central depends on getting a critical mass of manufacturers to participate. We see an important role for HubHead solutions and services in facilitating the adoption of Cloud Central by manufacturers," explains Greg Dee, President of HubHead. HubHead can also help owner operators who are still using legacy maintenance and reliability applications that don't yet support Industry 4.0 and Cloud Central standards. HubHead's solutions and services facilitate the consumption of Cloud Central data by legacy applications allowing owner operators to get more from their existing investments. About HubHead www.nrx.com/industry-4/ NRX AssetHub, powered by HubHead Corp., provides maintenance, reliability, and operations professionals at asset-intensive businesses with world-class software solutions for implementing Industry 4.0. NRX AssetHub helps our customers become top performers in their industries through implementing Industry 4.0 across all of their key systems including manufacturing, production, DCS, EAM, CMMS, reliability and other systems. About Open Industry 4.0 Alliance www.openindustry4.com At Open Industry 4.0 Alliance, we create customer value by promoting holistically developed, interoperable Industry 4.0 solutions and services. To achieve this, we follow a common framework both developed and powered by a group of industry leaders. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005110/en/ Contacts: Sophie Strobel Marketing Manager Phone: 647.484.8326 Email: sstrobel@hubhead.com COLUMBUS, Ohio The states technology system that determines whether adults and children are eligible for Ohio Medicaid has nearly 1,100 defects, the departments director announced Tuesday. Ohio Benefits, an information technology system that has cost the state $1.2 billion since it was implemented six years ago, has been found to overwrite and eliminate historical documentation needed to prove Ohio Medicaid enrollees eligibility. It has ascribed incorrect dates for benefit renewals, or has failed to trigger renewals at all. The system has incorrectly linked newborns to people who are not their parents -- at one time linking a baby to an 11-year-old child. The defects have become apparent to Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran, who took over the department for Gov. Mike DeWine, throughout 2019 in various state and federal audits and internal reviews. She described the problems in a 13-page memo to DeWine at the end of the year, made public Tuesday. (Read the memo below. Some readers may need to visit this link to read the memo.) It has become clear that the state of (the) Medicaid program, as we inherited it, was a mess, Corcoran wrote in the memo, which outlines other issues that go beyond Ohio Benefits. But a spokesman for former Gov. John Kasich defended his record. Jim Lynch said that when the former governor came into office there was an $8 billion shortfall, in part due to unsustainable Medicaid growth. So, we got to work to reform the program, cut the cost growth from 9% to below 4%, and covered 700,000 more people," Lynch said. "The states leadership now has the opportunity to build on eight years of progress, further fine-tune a complex program, and reassure Ohioans that critical health care services will be there when they need them. Medicaid is a joint state and federal program that offers health care to disabled and low-income Ohioans. The legislature ordered Ohio Medicaid to require many able-bodied adults to work part time or attend school to obtain health care. The federal government has OKd Ohios work requirement plan, and it is expected to begin Jan. 1, 2021. Corcoran said the state hopes to hit that timeline. However, the devil is in the details about whether work requirements will be successful. If Corcoran doesnt feel confident that the improvements to Ohio Benefits will be made by next year, there may be delays. If we get up to the point of implementation and we dont have confidence that this is going to be done right, then we will pause," she said. Work requirements The Ohio General Assembly had required the Kasich administration to begin preparing a work requirement plan -- which needed federal approval -- in June 2017. Corcoran said communication with the federal government appeared to stall under Kasich. The DeWine administration had to pick up negotiations with the federal government shortly after DeWine took office, she said. Federal approval of Ohios work requirements didnt occur until March 2019. While working with the federal government takes time, Corcoran said that 21 months was an extended period and shows Kasichs employees did not prioritize it. It clearly was not a priority for the prior administration, and that is not the way we want to operate, she said. Its not the first time Corcoran said shes worked to clean up problems from the Kasich administration. When she started as Medicaid director, she heard criticisms that the department under Kasich wasnt transparent. Other problems Other problems with Ohio Benefits described in the memo: The system allows duplicate member identifications, potentially resulting in paying a managed care plan more than once for the same person. The system isnt tracking whether it is properly submitting all required IRS forms. Errors caused hundreds of privacy lapses in which Medicaid enrollees received mail for other enrollees, and enrollees have been able to access the portals of other members. Corcoran said that everyone who was affected was notified and received free credit monitoring from the state. The system auto-populates new browser windows when a case worker does not close a prior case file, which can result in the wrong data uploaded into a case file. County workers report that the Ohio Benefits system is causing some individuals applications for benefits to disappear. The system allows multiple ways of inputting data such as male, m, ma, or 2," which can cause problems when assessing and aggregating data. It just doesnt sound like the system is working, said John Corlett, a former Ohio Medicaid director and president of the Center for Community Solutions, a health care think tank. They say theyre faced with 1,100 system defects, he said. "And because of those defects, they say they have to do 1,765 workarounds. That means the case worker has to do a manual process when they encounter a defect. That creates lots of extra work for county case workers. This is probably part of the challenge with why weve seen so many people drop off the system. Corcoran -- quoting from a federal audit -- said theres no evidence that people been found ineligible for the program. Ohio Medicaid, which covered 2.7 million Ohioans in December, has experienced decreases in enrollment for children and adults, which the state has attributed to a number of factors, including the improving economy and problems with Ohio Benefits. Do I believe that Ohio Benefits is a bigger contributor than I previously thought? My answer is no," Corcoran said Tuesday. We have always included IT systems concerns as being a variable here. Other effects? In addition to Ohio Medicaid, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services uses Ohio Benefits to manage eligibility for the cash welfare program, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. There were a handful of incidents in 2019 caused by computer error that affected fewer than 1,000 Ohioans receiving JFS benefits, but our experience has not been to the degree of that of Medicaid, said Bret Crow, a JFS spokesman. In February, food banks said there were problems with the system. Who developed Ohio Benefits? The state doesnt own Ohio Benefits, but licenses it from Accenture, which owns the system. Accenture and other contractors customized the system to meet Ohios specific needs. Ohio Benefits was implemented in 2013 to comply with the Affordable Care Act. It replaced a 30-year-old system. Ohio Benefits was intended to be a simplified, one-stop application process for various benefits, according to Corcorans memo. Highlighted as a priority for the last administration, numerous components and functionality were added, Corcorans memo states. Unfortunately, it appears that the messaging may have been more important than the basic functioning of the system, which calls into question our ability to trust the data output from the system to make multi-billion-dollar decisions. The federal government didnt keep its regular schedule of audits as it was implementing Obamacare, which means some of the technology issues went undetected for years. Were not contemplating a change in the vendor, Corcoran said. If we come to a different conclusion as we get to the heart of these things, then we as an administration will make that decision. "All security staff that had longer stay at the airport have been shifted and their replacements have been made," sources said. Security at both Srinagar and Jammu airports has been reviewed and all remedial measures have been taken to ensure the safety and the security of the sensitive installations. The office of Davinder Singh at Srinagar airport has already been sealed so that nobody is able to tamper with evidence. Interrogators from the state police, state intelligence, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have been questioning Davinder Singh after his arrest on Saturday. NIA will take custody of the arrested police officer after other agencies have finished questioning him, sources said. Singh was arrested while he was ferrying terrorists in his private car on Saturday. Police sources said the activities of the arrested officer had been on their radar for some time. Sources said the arrested officer is not cooperating with his interrogators. "We are connecting bits and pieces of the nexus he had with the terrorists. The terrorists arrested with him are being separately questioned to match their replies with those of Davinder Singh," sources said. What has been proved beyond any shade of doubt is that Davinder Singh had been running a nexus with the terrorists since many years probably ever since he was posted in the anti-militancy Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police. Farooq Ahmad Khan, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, has said Davinder Singh was a "black sheep" within J&K Police who has been caught. The advisor said J&K Police has made huge sacrifices in fighting militancy and the arrest of Davinder Singh has also been made by the same police force. "Nobody should try to tarnish the fair image of J&K Police just because a black sheep has been discovered within the force," Farooq Khan asserted. Ivanka Trump donned one of her favorite Oscar de la Renta outfits to watch her father, President Donald Trump, sign the historic first stage of a trade deal with China on Wednesday. The first daughter was dressed to impress in a $2,490 navy peplum top with a white grid pattern and a matching $1,190 skirt when she attended the ceremony held in the East Room of the White House. The highly-publicized signing marked the third time she has seen modeling the ladylike ensemble, which she first wore to the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Style: Ivanka Trump was seen leaving her Washington, D.C. home wearing one of her favorite Oscar de la Renta outfits on Wednesday Outfit: The first daughter was dressed to impress in a $2,490 navy peplum top with a white grid pattern and a matching $1,190 skirt Big day: Ivanka wore the chic ensemble to watch her father, President Donald Trump, sign the first stage of a trade deal with China on Wednesday The White House senior adviser also donned the short-sleeve top and pencil skirt three months ago, when she was seen heading to work in October. On Wednesday morning, she embraced the unseasonably warm weather and carried her navy wool coat over her left arm possibly to show off her outfit when she stepped out of the front gate of her Washington, D.C. home. Ivanka also lugged her black Chanel tote bag, which has become another favorite of hers over the past year. She has previously paired the outfit with both white and maroon heels, but this time around, she opted for navy patent leather pumps. Late start: The White House senior adviser was seen leaving her home at 10:30 a.m. Strategic move? She embraced the unseasonably warm weather and carried her navy wool coat over her left arm possibly to show off her outfit Throwback: The look appears to be a favorite of hers, as she wore the outfit to the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018 (left) and this past October (right) The first daughter's sleek blonde hair was dried poker-straight, and she stuck with her signature makeup look: a smokey brown eye and dusty rose lipstick. She accessorized her look with pearl earrings, a ring, and a red string bracelet on her left wrist, which she has been wearing off and on for a few years now. Though she hasn't spoken about the purpose of the bracelet, it does bear a resemblance to the type of red string that Kabbalah practitioners wear to ward off the 'evil eye.' Ivanka got a late start and left her home at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, three hours after her husband, Jared Kushner, was out the door. All done up: The first daughter's sleek blonde hair was dried poker-straight, and she stuck with her signature makeup look: a smokey brown eye and dusty rose lipstick Update: Ivanka has previously paired the outfit with both white and maroon heels, but this time around, she opted for navy patent leather pumps On the go: Ivanka's husband, fellow White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, was seen leaving their home a little after 7:30 a.m. Starting the day: Jared, 39, paired his signature navy suit with a crimson tie, and he carried his black work bag Jared, 39, was seen leaving the front gate of their home a little after 7:30 a.m. with a smile on his face and his work bag in his hand. The White House senior adviser seemed to be taking a style cue from his father-in-law as he paired his signature navy suit with a crimson tie, though the color was darker than the bright red ties worn by the president. The couple later reunited at the trade deal signing at the White House, where they mingled with other members of the Trump administration. Jared was seen sharing a laugh with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow as they made their way into the East Room, with Ivanka following close behind. The two both appeared to be in good spirits as they took second-row seats next to each other to watch the signing. Arrival: Ivanka was later seen arriving at the East Room of the White House to watch the signing with Jared Entrance: Jared was seen sharing a laugh with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow as they made their way into the East Room, with Ivanka following close behind In good spirits: Ivanka had a bright smile on her face as she waved to someone before the ceremony got started The trade agreement is expected to boost exports from U.S. farmers and manufacturers, protect American trade secrets, and lower tensions in a long-running dispute between the world's two biggest economies. During the ceremony, President Trump said the deal is 'righting the wrongs of the past.' He promoted the agreement as a way of delivering economic justice for American workers, saying that 'we mark a sea change in international trade' with the signing. The agreement is being described as 'phase one' of a larger negotiation focusing on tensions in the U.S.-China trade relationship. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in a letter to Trump that the first phase was 'good for China, the U.S. and for the whole world.' The letter was read by Beijing's chief negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He. But this agreement left unresolved many of the complaints notably, the way the Chinese government subsidizes its companies voiced by the Trump administration when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018. White the deal stops short of many changes the president has sought from China, it leaves in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports, leverage the administration hopes will generate future concessions. Added touches: The first daughter accessorized her look with pearl earrings, a ring, and a red string bracelet on her left wrist, which she has been wearing off and on for a few years now Catching up: Ivanka mingled with other members of the Trump administration at the high-profile signing Good mood: Ivanka and Jared both smiled when the president acknowledged new Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Historic moment: President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are pictured signing the first stage of the trade deal between the U.S. and China The White House ceremony gave Trump a chance to cite progress on a top economic priority on the same day that the House prepared to vote to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. He told Republican lawmakers attending the ceremony that he understood if they had to leave early for votes. 'They have a hoax going on over there. Let's take care of it,' Trump said. The agreement is intended to ease some U.S. economic sanctions on China while Beijing would step up purchases of American farm products and other goods. Trump cited beef, pork, poultry, seafood, rice, and dairy products as examples. The deal would lower tensions in a trade dispute that has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy. Trump said easing trade tensions was critical. 'Keeping these two giant and powerful nations together in harmony is so important for the world,' Trump said. 'The world is watching today.' His Chinese counterpart noted that 'the world is now at a critical historical crossroads' facing choices of how to promote country-to-country cooperation. 'Cooperation is the only right choice,' said Liu. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has faulted the Federal Government for declaring the newly inaugurated Southwest Security outfit codenamed Operation Amotekun as illlegal. Speaking on Wednesday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Southwest Coordinator of NANS, Kowe Odunayo made it clear that the security outfit set up to curb insecurity in the region has come to stay. Odunayo said, Even if we want to play politics with everything, must we do same with our collective and individual security. As much as we paid attention to the wordings of the statement, we have noticed no other thing other than politics and an attempt to block the west from defending itself against attacks by the north. Read Also: FG Declares South Wests Amotekun Security Outfit Illegal With the refusal of the federal government and the northerners, it is clear that the northerners are clearly behind insecurity in this country and we would not accept that in our zone. We however use this medium to appeal to our Governors to stand on their feet and ensure that this laudable initiative is not allowed to be killed by some enemies of our peace. As students leaders who are also interested in the security of our students and the zone at large, we are using this medium to express our readiness to support in entirety all that Amotekun stands for because Amotekun has come to stay, he said. Barry and Honey Sherman were murdered within a few hours of arriving at their Toronto home on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. Insp. Hank Idsinga of the Toronto police homicide unit confirmed to the Star this week that after considering a number of factors that were uncovered during the investigation, his detectives have determined the Shermans were murdered on the Wednesday. They were last seen alive in the early evening that day. Their bodies were not found until two days later. Idsinga would not reveal what the factors are that have allowed police and forensic officers to pinpoint the time of death, saying that to reveal detailed information about the case would jeopardize the homicide probe, now into its third year. Barry Sherman founded and owned the multibillion-dollar generic drug firm Apotex. He and his wife, Honey, were well-known philanthropists, donating money to large charities and also providing financial assistance to family and friends. Their date and time of death have been a mystery, as with many aspects of the case. According to friends, business associates and family, the Shermans concluded a meeting at Apotex to discuss construction of their new home at 6:30 p.m. that Wednesday. Honey headed home, stopping to pick up Hanukkah gifts for her grandchildren. Barry stayed at Apotex and sent a last work email of the day to colleagues, including one of his lawyers, at 8:13 p.m. from his work computer, then headed home. Both Shermans were likely home by 9 p.m. During most of the investigation, police documents filed in court have stated that the Shermans were murdered on or about Friday, Dec. 15, 2017. Their bodies were discovered late in the morning that Friday by a real estate agent touring clients through the house, which was for sale. Something homicide detectives will not say what has caused them to pinpoint the time of death as between the time the Shermans arrived home and midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Their bodies were in a seated position in their basement swimming pool room, held upright by belts around their necks attached to a low railing. Forensic sources have told the Star that it would be difficult to pinpoint a time of death two days later, given that the bodies were found in a humid environment. Previously, the Star has reported that Honeys cellphone was discovered in a powder room at the front of the house that her girlfriends say she never used. Barrys winter gloves and a home inspection report he had promised to bring home were found in a basement hallway, just outside the door exiting the parking garage where his car was later found. The Star has also learned new details about the Shermans plans for that week. According to friends and family it was a typical week filled with the hustle and bustle of a busy couple. It was Hanukkah, and emails exchanged between Honey, Barry and their daughter Alexandra Krawczyk show plans for a get-together were being discussed. At one point, the get-together was suggested for the Wednesday night. Beginning on the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 9, Alexandra emailed her parents: Hi mom and dad, Would you like to come over on Tuesday or Wednesday evening? We can light the Hannukah candles and maybe you can bring us some egg-free latkas? Alexandra and her husband, Brad, have two children, one of them a newborn at the time. The egg-free suggestion relates to their first child, who has a food allergy. On the email chain is Honey, Barry, Brad and Alexandra. The next day, Honey emailed the same group, saying: Both work for me. Barry? Xoxo. Then on Monday, Dec. 11, Alexandra emailed the group, suggesting: Can we say tomorrow? (Tuesday)? The next day, Barry emailed the group, acknowledging his daughters suggestion with a simple ok. With plans set for a Tuesday dinner at Alexandra and Brads house, Honey emailed the group Tuesday afternoon suggesting a new plan: cld we have channukah on fri? just found some eggless recipes for latkas on the net cldnt figure out where to find recipes before cld make them fri in order to celebrate cld also drop by tues or tomorrow wed but without latkas pls let all know what you prefer also what shld we do re (a childs name) re gifts I have one gift I know he will like any suggestions? xoxo. A few minutes later on the Tuesday, Alexandra replied to the group, saying: Can we hold off on tonights (Tuesday) visit and just see you on Friday? We are looking forward to it and thank you so much for making egg free latkas, I know it is a hassle and it means a lot to us thank you! Honey responds a few minutes later, no problem any gift suggestions?????? have a clear ball that lights up when you bounce it. Alexandra responds, saying: Wow! He will love it! Thank you! Honey confirms the plans later in the day on Tuesday, writing to the group: we will b there at 6 will b bringing latkas, presents, dessert that (childs name) can eat. The Tuesday emails are the last on the chain. The Star has previously reported that on the Friday when the bodies were discovered, Honey had arranged for her housekeeper to be at the Shermans Old Colony Road to help her make latkes for the dinner that night. The Shermans also had plans for that weekend, including dinner in Toronto with old friends on the Sunday, and a Hanukkah brunch with the parents of the man their daughter Kaelen was engaged to. It was this series of plans, and others, well documented in emails among family and friends, that caused so many people to react angrily to the initial notion that their deaths were murder-suicide. That changed six weeks into the investigation following revelations of the work by the familys own pathologist. Read more about: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: China has demanded discussion on Kashmir during a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, but the request is likely to be rejected as other member countries of the global organisation are set to oppose it. The current move by China is third such attempt since August when the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped by the government, and the state was bifurcated into two union territories. French diplomatic sources said France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise the Kashmir issue once again in the powerful body and it is going to oppose it like it did on a previous occasion. The closed-door meeting of the UNSC has been called to discuss an issue relating to Mali, an African country and China has made a request to discuss the Kashmir issue under the agenda of "Any Other Business Points". Asserting that France's position has not changed and it is very clear that the Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally (between India and Pakistan), French sources said this has been stated on several occasions, and it will continued to be reiterated to partners in the UN Security Council. This is the third time, China, Pakistan's 'all-weather ally', has demanded discussion on the Kashmir issue. In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after the government scrapped J-K's special status. However, the meeting did not yielded desired results for China as the member-states maintained that India's move was an internal issue. Last month, France, the US, the UK and Russia had foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC. China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J-K, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh. India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapura, signalling a recalibration of bilateral ties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Our Fathers Rebecca Wait riverrun 14.99 Twenty years after he was the only survivor of an appalling massacre, in which his father gunned down his mother and siblings before shooting himself, Tom Baird returns unannounced to the remote Hebridean island he once called home. As he retraces his childhood footsteps in search of some kind of explanation for the tragic brutality that scarred his life, a picture slowly emerges of the events that led to that terrible night. This is a beautifully realised novel, touching on the fallibility of memory and the unknowability of families, and gripping in its intensity. Outstanding. Simon Humphreys Low Jeet Thayil Faber 14.99 Dominic Ullis is a cosmopolitan wastrel with a long history of heroin addiction. Following his wifes suicide, he returns from Delhi to his native Mumbai to scatter her ashes. There he hooks up with his former dealer and embarks on a drug-fuelled odyssey through the city, assisted by chance encounters will fellow junkies and alcoholics. As with most novels about addiction, the litany of scoring and snorting soon becomes tedious, but its offset by Thayils lively evocation of Indias most overblown metropolis, and his scorching diatribes against the countrys corrupt rulers. Anthony Gardner Agency William Gibson Viking 18.99 This is the second volume of a trilogy that began with The Peripheral, a murder mystery using time travel between a near-future in rural America and one 70 years further on in London. In Agency, a techie in 2017 San Francisco works with the returning cast from that future London as various parties vie to control a powerful AI entity. Gibsons gizmos and extrapolations are always fun, but things bog down here in prolonged cat-and-mouse action. And its unclear why this sci-fi seer is dabbling in the present. Maybe time will tell with volume three. Jeffrey Burke On Monday, the Department of Labor announced its rolling back a rule that franchises have long argued is harmful to their business models and the economy. The rule, which expanded the definitions of joint employment, meant that franchise employees with wage and labor complaints could argue in court that both the franchisee -- their direct employer -- and the franchise company were responsible for ensuring fair pay and labor practices. Here are five things you need to know about this ruling and what it means for your business. In 2015 the Obama administration expanded the definition of joint employment, something the franchise industry argued was fundamentally detrimental to their business models. The International Franchise Association applauded this decision in a statement on its website. Research funded by the IFA found that this expanded definition led to a 93 percent increase in lawsuits filed against franchise companies. McDonalds, for example, has been the subject of multiple lawsuits from employees who claim the company is responsible for ensuring its franchisees adhere to wage laws (a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled in favor of McDonalds in October). In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday, White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and labor secretary Eugene Scalia argued that the change will mean companies will now have greater certainty about the point at which theyre affecting the terms and conditions of employment to such a degree that theyre an employer, responsible for ensuring employees receive the minimum wage and overtime pay. However, groups like the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor think tank, have argued since the potential rule change was announced last April that it will make it nearly impossible for workers to ensure their employers uphold the Fair Labor Standards Act and will completely take away the ability of workers to recover unpaid wages from firms who use undercapitalized contractors in their work, the group said in an open letter sent to the DOL in June. Related: The Hottest Franchise Categories of 2020 Itll go into effect sooner than you might think The new rule will go into effect on March 16, 2020, just 60 days after the Department of Labor announced it. Next, all eyes will be on the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to see if they will similarly be rolling back regulations around unfair labor practices and workplace discrimination. Joint employment will be determined by four factors A franchise company will be able to determine if its a joint employer by considering four factors: If it can hire or fire employees If it controls employees work schedules or working conditions If it sets an employees pay If it maintains employment records Importantly, it does not need to meet all of these conditions in order to qualify as a joint employer. So, for example, a franchise company that doesnt control any of those factors will not be considered a joint employer. But as Mulvaney and Scalia gave as an example in the Wall Street Journal, if an office brings on an outside company to handle janitorial services but then closely supervises the employees and their schedules, it will be considered a joint employer. Related: How to Find the Best CRM for Your Franchise Itll change the way companies that franchise will have to think about labor With this change in law, if a franchise company is not considered a joint employer, the responsibility to pay employees minimum wage and overtime will fall solely on the franchisee. Although this could mean that franchise companies will be able to give companies more freedom around hiring, firing and compensating employees, it also means the legal responsibilities to adhere to wage laws will fall solely on the franchisee. Related: The Top 10 Franchises You Can Buy for Less Than $100,000 Franchisees that provide outsourced employees could see an increase in business Critics of this rule change have argued that it will lead to companies outsourcing more roles as a way to avoid responsibility for adhering to wage laws. But if you own a franchise offering business services such as temporary staffing or payroll, or if you own a cleaning company that works with corporate clients, this could mean an increase in business for you. Related: 5 Things Franchise Owners Should Know About the New Department of Labor Rule on 'Joint Employment' The Top 20 Franchises of 2020 From the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Mark Wahlberg's Secret to Becoming More Disciplined Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Photo credit: Ingo Menhard / EyeEm - Getty Images From Popular Mechanics In 2000, Iran purchased a fleet of killer dolphins from the Soviet Navy. Twenty years later, we dont know whatever happened to the mammals. But if theyre still alive, could Iran potentially use them for warfare against the U.S.? The U.S. invented the concept of military dolphins in 1960. Today, the Navy trains about 30 dolphins and 30 sea lions at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego to track sea mines. As the U.S. military prepares to deal with the fallout from the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani earlier this month, we can expect Iran and Iranian-backed militias to retaliate in any number of ways, from traditional missile strikes to cyber attacks on our oil and gas facilities, banks, electrical grids, and more. But we might not want to count out the possibility of the country employing its fleet of killer Communist dolphins, which may or may not still exist . Lets rewind 20 years ago to the spring of 2000, when a Russian man named Boris Zhurid made a painful, fateful sale. For years, Zhurid had been training a pack of dolphins to kill for the Soviet Navy, according to the BBC . He and other experts taught the mammals to target enemy combat swimmers and divers with harpoons strapped to their backs, capture them, and carry mines to enemy ships in suicide attacks. (The dolphins could tell the difference between Soviet and foreign subs by how their propellers sounded.) But when funding for that project ran outand the Soviet dolphin program transferred to the Ukrainian NavyZhurid brought his animals to a private dolphinarium on the Crimean Peninsula, where they performed for tourists. Eventually, however, Zhurid couldnt afford to feed the dolphins anymore. I cannot bare to see my animals starve, the trainer told the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. Were out of medicine, which costs thousands of dollars, and have no more fish or food supplements. So Zhurid bit the bullet and sold his beloved dolphinsalong with walruses, sea lions, seals, and a white beluga whaleto a custom-built oceanarium in Iran, where, the BBC reported, the trainer would be continuing his scientific research. Zhurid didnt say what he and his aquatic mercenaries would do in their new home, but he did tell Komsomolskaya Pravda that he was prepared to go to Allah, or even to the devil, as long as my animals will be OK there. Story continues We dont know what ever happened to the dolphins in the Persian Gulf since that March 2000 sale. Dolphins do have a lifespan of 50 years or more, as Blake Stilwell of Military points out , so the original assassins could still very much be alive. Zhurid could also have trained more killer dolphins for use against Western shipping, Stilwell speculates. If Iran is indeed relying on the mammals for reconnaissance, the country isnt alone. Russia seized control of its dormant military dolphin program in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. In 2016, the Russian Defense Ministry was actively scouting dolphins with perfect teeth , while last year, Norwegian fishermen spotted a whale wearing a harness from St. Petersburg, suggesting the Russian Navy was recruiting belugas for undersea warfare . Of course, the U.S. invented the concept of military dolphins. In 1960, the U.S. Navy launched the Marine Mammal Program to research dolphins and beluga whales underwater sonar capabilities and see what tips the branch could take from the speedy swimmers and divers when designing its vessels. The Navy also trained dolphins, sea lions, and belugas to transport gear to divers, track and retrieve lost objects, and do some underwater spying with special mouth camerasincluding during the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars . After the Cold War, the Navy downsized and ultimately declassified the Marine Mammal Program. Today, the Navy trains about 30 dolphins and 30 sea lions at Naval Base Point Loma, San Diego to track sea mines and mark them for disposal. (Dolphins can search an area for mines much faster than humans.) The animals are part of the Navys Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific. But could our super dolphin soldiers soon have a new mission? You Might Also Like Michael Gersons Jan. 10 op-ed, Fighting the virus of anti-Semitism, was more than an attack on a societal scourge. It called for a cure administered by all factions, left and right. Its not the sole bailiwick of the Anti-Defamation League or the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. An Indian man feared he would be removed from the EU after the Home Office incorrectly branded him a criminal in a huge blunder by the department. Chit Kumar, 37, who legally lived, worked and paid taxes in the UK for four years before moving to Germany in 2018, was threatened with deportation by the Home Office last month despite not having set foot in the country for over a year. The IT consultant was shocked when he was informed by a friend living at his former address in Bristol that a letter had arrived for him stating that he was an overstayer in the UK and that he was currently residing in the country illegally, making him liable to administrative removal. Mr Kumar tried to contact the department by phone and email, but was unable to get through. I tried the number on the website, but it was just giving so many options, with nothing relevant to me. I spent two hours on the phone. I emailed them and got no reply, he said. A week later, another letter was sent to his old address stating he had been granted immigration bail, and that he was liable to be detained and must report to the Home Office on a particular day each month. It was like criminal charges, with my picture on it and everything. It was like I was a wanted person, said Mr Kumar. It was very scary. I didnt want to be in their criminal database. I had done nothing. I lived in the UK legally; I left the country legally. I was scared that it would impact my current job, because I am living in the EU right now with my visa and my future opportunities. That was the scariest part, and I have never felt such a thing in my whole life. It was very traumatic. I was under psychological stress. Mr Kumar had arranged to travel around Greece, Malta and Cyprus during his Christmas break, but said the accusations meant he was constantly on edge and fearful that border officials in mainland Europe would arrest him on behalf of the Home Office. The biggest fear for me was what if I travel outside Germany and immigration controls at the borders stop me, because the UK Home Office may have informed other EU countries that this guy is hiding illegally. This was in my mind the whole time, he said. Eventually, more than a month later, Mr Kumar managed to reach a member of staff at the Home Office and explained the situation to them. Shortly after sending the department a copy of his passport and other documentation to prove its mistake, he received a letter of apology. The letter, signed by an immigration caseworker on behalf of the home secretary, read: We have now updated our records to confirm that you departed from the UK of your own accord [] We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and you will have no further issues should you return to the UK in future. Kumar says the way he was treated was inhumane (Chit Kumar) Mr Kumar said he was relieved on receiving the letter, but that the saga had made him reluctant to live in the UK again, and pointed out that had his friend not been living at his former address, he could have remained on the Home Offices database for immigration offenders. They would be looking for me. So many bad things couldve happened, he said, adding: Ive always lived with respect and dignity. In the UK I was giving meditation classes to homeless people for free at weekends. Its not like I was misusing the system Im a highly qualified guy. I was paying high taxes, I was contributing to society and to the economy. Then you see these false criminal charges and, of course, you cant believe how they could do this. It is completely insane; it is inhumane. If they continue to treat us like this, people will never go to the country. It is giving the UK a very bad image. They are losing big skill sets. And just to imagine for someone more on the edge of society who is very vulnerable and mentally unstable, how would they have coped with this and resolved the situation? Why is the Home Office getting so many immigration decisions wrong? Diane Abbott, Labours shadow home secretary, expressed dismay at the case, saying such huge blunders had become far too frequent in Home Office immigration enforcement. The culture this comes from is the governments hostile environment policy and unless that ends we will continue to see huge errors, discrimination and lives sometimes ruined, she added. A Home Office spokesperson said the department had apologised to Mr Kumar for any inconvenience. As soon as the Home Office verified his departure from the UK, our records were updated to reflect this, they added. Veterinary Medicine Market Overview: Veterinary medicine can be defined as medicines for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of animals to cure them of wounds or any disorder. The increasing uptake of veterinary medicines are providing ample support to the veterinary medicine market, which can now gain a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2023. Market Research Future (MRFR), in their latest report on the same, discussed the impact that the market can witness in coming years. Get Latest Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/844 Factors like growing adoption rate of pets, better medicines to treat, hike in investment to buy pets, increasing availability of medicines, government initiatives for domesticated animals, high integration of drug therapies, and others are expected to play crucial role for the global veterinary medicine market. Veterinary Medicine Market Segmentation: The global veterinary medicine market, as per MRFRs analysis, can be segmented on the basis of products, animals, route of administration, and end-users. Such a segmentation has in-depth analysis of various market factors that can be considered for future expansion plans. Based on animals, the veterinary medicine market includes companion and domesticated animals. The number of companion animals is growing due to hike in disposable income. Based on products, the veterinary medicine market comprises injury medicine, disorder medicine, and diagnosis medicine. These segments are providing ample support to the regional market. Based on the route of administration, the veterinary medicine market can be into Parental, oral, and topical. Oral medicines are gaining popularity as that can be inserted into other food items for intake. Based on end users, the veterinary medicine segmented into research institutions, veterinary hospitals, veterinary clinics, and others. The research institutions are developing means to gain from the market as their research facility is already expected to support the need. Veterinary Medicine Market Regional Analysis: Based on a regional analysis, the veterinary medicine market report can be segmented into America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). The report is focusing on various factors that can influence the regional sector to ensure better growth rate. The America is having the upper-hand in the market and has the ability to surpass the predicted growth rate in the coming years. Various animal welfare policies and robust infrastructure are expected to take the regional market forward. In the region, the US and Canada are expected to make good profit with solid reimbursement rate. Various healthcare players are also expected to make good ingress into the market. Europe is the second largest market with Germany and France, expected to contribute the most. In the APAC region, China and India are expected to make substantial contribution. Growing help in favor of the domesticated animals is helping the growth of veterinary centers in various region, which is also expected to help the regional market growth. At the same time, various NGOs are taking initiatives to create awareness regarding this process. The MEA region, especially the Middle East, is expected to show substantial growth as their fondness for companions is quite high. Veterinary Medicine Market Competitive Landscape: Several companies are taking significant interest in the global veterinary medicine market. These companies are launching their own strategies to make sure that they cement their own market stand and provide thrust to the global market for a holistic growth. MRFR, for their report, profiled several companies for a better understanding of the market flow. These companies are Cargill Inc. (Provimi), ADM Alliance Nutrition, Zoetis, Inc. (Pfizer), Evonik Industries AG, Merck & Co., Inc. (Intervet), Eli Lilly and Company (Elanco/Novartis), Bayer Healthcare AG, Nutreco N.V., Koninklijke DSM N.V, Ceva Sante Animale, Virbac S.A, Vetoquinol SA, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, and Sanofi S.A. (MERIAL Limited). In September 2019, the Konkuk Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine announced that from now onwards their college would only use models instead of real animals. This will help in understanding the procedure of medicine without getting real animals affected by that. OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/veterinary-medicine-market-844 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 Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com As if performances from Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Aerosmith weren't already enough to get you hyped up for the upcoming 62nd annual Grammy Awards, then buckle up because the Recording Academy has announced a whole new hosts of artists slated to take the stage January 26. Hoping to right the wrongs that led to her skipping out on the entire ceremony last year, the Recording Academy confirmed on Sunday that Ariana Grande will take the Grammys stage kicking off this latest wave of announcements. Coming in off of a hot year that netted a nomination for Best Rap Album with IGOR, Tyler, the Creator is also confirmed to make his Grammys debut with a performance that is sure to bring plenty wigs, heartbreak and well-needed chaos. Another artist making her Grammy debut, Spanish flamenco phenom, Rosalia, is slated to perform as well as Camila Cabello, H.E.R., Jonas Brothers and Run D.M.C. Bonnie Rait will pay tribute to legendary American songwriter, John Prine, as he is honored with the Grammys' Lifetime Achievement Award that night. What's more, in her first performance since she was hospitalized for an overdose in 2018, Demi Lovato makes good on her Instagram promise that "the next time you hear from me, I'll be singing." Now with a fuller picture of how the night is starting to shape up, it might be safe to say now that this year's awards could have some serious potential. Fingers crossed. The 62nd annual Grammy Awards takes place January 26th, 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 15:58:03|Editor: yhy Video Player Close NANCHANG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 411,000 people in east China's Jiangxi Province bid farewell to poverty last year, and seven counties were no longer labeled as poor, the provincial government said Wednesday. Statistics showed that 100 percent of rural dilapidated houses have been renovated, while the number of poor urban residents shrank by 237,000. Over 540,000 urban jobs were created, and over 625,000 farmers found jobs outside rural areas. In the meantime, 90 percent of the hospital expenses for poverty-stricken patients were covered by government funding. Jiangxi has planned 200 billion yuan (29 billion U.S. dollars) in funding for anti-poverty efforts in 2020, eliminating extreme poverty across the province within the year. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced his resignation and that of a host of other senior officials during a televised address on Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin, Medvedevs longtime mentor and ally, praised the Prime Minister while noting that Medvedevs cabinet failed to accomplish certain goals. The resignation came just after Putin delivered his state of the nation address. In the speech, as reported by the Turkish paper The Daily Sabah, Putin argued for changes to Russias constitution to increase the authority of lawmakers to appoint prime ministers and cabinet members. However, at the same time Putin asserted that Russia would not remain stable under a parliamentary system of government, and that the President should retain power to dismiss parliamentary appointments and remain in control of the countrys military and law enforcement bodies. Putins current term ends in 2024, and under current law he must step down from the office. According to CNN, the proposed reforms would weaken Putins successor and shift power to parliament prime ministers office, to which Putin may ultimately transfer. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny charged the changes were a ploy by the President to help him retain power even after he leaves office. The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends, Navalny wrote on Twitter. Putin has led Russia for over 20 years, longer than any Russian leader since Josef Stalin. From 2008 to 2012 Medvedev took up the post of president while Putin switched to prime minister, but Putin was widely understood to retain ultimate control over the government during that time. More from National Review New Delhi: Over ninety percent children in the age group of 4-8 are enrolled in some type of educational institution while the number of girls getting enrolled in government schools is higher than boys, according to the 14th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) launched on Tuesday. The ASER for 2019 is based on a survey conducted in 26 districts across 24 states in India, covering over 36,000 children in the age group of 4-8 years. "More than 90 per cent of children in the 4-8 age group are enrolled in some type of educational institution. This proportion increases with age, from 91.3 pc of all 4-year-olds to 99.5 pc of all 8-year-olds in sampled districts," the report said. However, children of the same age vary enormously in terms of where they are enrolled. "For example, at age 5, 70 per cent children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, but 21.6 per cent are already enrolled in class 1. At age 6, 32.8 pc children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, while 46.4 pc are in class 1, and 18.7 pc are in class 2 or higher," it said. "Gender gaps are visible even among young children with more girls than boys enrolled in government institutions and more boys than girls enrolled in private institutions," the report added. According to the report, among 4-5 year old children, 56.8 per cent girls and 50.4 per cent boys are enrolled in government schools or pre-schools while 43.2 per cent girls and 49.6 per cent boys are enrolled in private pre-schools or schools. "The gap in enrolment between boys and girls is larger among 6-8 year olds, with 61.1 per cent of all girls versus 52.1 per cent of all boys in this age group," it said. The survey found that older students do better in terms of performance on cognitive, early language, early numeracy and social and emotional learning. 50 per cent of the children whose mothers have done eight years or less schooling ended up in anganwadis or government school, whereas those mothers who has studied beyond elementary stages are more likely to enrol their wards in private schools. "At age 5, what we offer to and expect from children varies enormously across the country depending on state norms for entry to school. As a result, what a 5-year-old is doing depends largely on where she lives. For example, in Thrissur, Kerala, 89.9 per cent of 5-year-olds are in a pre-primary grade and almost all the rest are in class 1. "But in East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, just 65.8 pc are in pre-school, 9.8 pc are in class 1, and 16 per cent are in class 2. On the other hand, in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, 47.7 pc are in pre-school, 40.5 pc are in class 1, and 4.1 pc are in class 2," the report said. Noting that anganwadis cater to large proportions of children well before they can enter pre-primary grades, the report recommended that the "already significant scale of this network can be leveraged to reach those children who remain unreached. At the same time, the ability of these centres to implement appropriate school readiness activities for 3 and 4-year-olds needs to be strengthened". DUBLIN, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Micro-irrigation Systems Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global micro-irrigation systems market was valued at USD 4,443.9 million in 2017, and it is projected to reach USD 10,134.6 million by 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 13.1% over the forecast period. Global water scarcity for agriculture, coupled with rapid technological innovations and increasing area under greenhouse vegetable cultivation are driving the global micro-irrigation systems market, while the lack of consumer awareness and the need for high initial investments and continuous maintenance are factors that are restraining the market. Key Market Trends Agricultural Water Scarcity Pushing Farmers Towards Adoption of Micro Irrigation The micro-irrigation systems market is primarily driven by factors, such as the need for increasing crop productivity while addressing the issues of water scarcity. Thus, governments are focusing on formulating initiatives, to increase the usage of micro-irrigation systems, while limiting water shortage. With water increasingly becoming a scarce commodity, farmers have been seeking novel ideas to grow more crops with the same quantity of water. Micro-irrigation systems, including sprinklers, and drippers, are witnessing high demand. This is expected to augment the growth of the market studied. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) established design of micro-irrigation system (DOMIS), a web-based application system that helps in designing customized micro-irrigation systems for efficient water utilization, under several agro-climatic conditions. Furthermore, the institute is planning to develop devices that utilize low amounts of water, in order to help farms. The global population has been increasing significantly over the past few years, along with the demand for food. Sprinkler and drip irrigation systems provide limited quantities of water to farms, with minimal wastage, as compared to conventional gravity flow irrigation. Asia-Pacific Dominating the Global Market China is one of the leading manufacturers of micro-irrigation system components. China exports micro-irrigation system components to many nations and its exports are further expected to grow in the future. The exports of equipment grew to 21.7% from the year 2004-2015. The Asian Development Bank is encouraging small farmers in China to use micro-irrigation. India is largely dependent on rainfed agriculture and the use of micro irrigation system will help the Indian agriculture sector in reducing the dependence on rain and also can help in increasing productivity. The most popular technologies being used in India are drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation. Drip irrigation has the highest market share in India. Adoption rates of micro-irrigation. Apart from China and India, countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, continue to have a large market share. Competitive Landscape Nelson Irrigation Corporation, Chinadrip Irrigation Equipment Co. Ltd, Deere & Company, Lindsay Corporation, Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, and Netafim Ltd are the most active players in the global micro irrigation systems market. The market share analysis indicates that the market studied is consolidated, with major companies accounting for about 60.4% of the market share. With the governments' thrust on augmenting the penetration of water conservation and efficiency driven by micro-irrigation system, the market is expected to witness a double-digit growth in the near future. This is expected to benefit companies, such as Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, EPC Industries Ltd, and Netafim Ltd, among others. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Deliverables 1.2 Study Assumptions 1.3 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Market Drivers 4.3 Market Restraints 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 By Mechanism 5.1.1 Drip Irrigation System 5.1.2 Sprinkler Irrigation System 5.1.3 Other Irrigation System 5.2 By Drip Components 5.2.1 Drippers 5.2.2 Tubing 5.2.3 Valves and Filters 5.2.4 Pressure Regulators 5.2.5 Other Drip Components 5.3 By Sprinkler Components 5.3.1 Tubing 5.3.2 Nozzles 5.3.3 Pressure Regulators 5.3.4 Other Sprinkler Components 5.4 By Application 5.4.1 Field Crops 5.4.2 Plantation Crops 5.4.3 Orchards and Vineyards 5.4.4 Turf And Ornamentals 5.5 By End-Users 5.5.1 Open Field 5.5.2 Greenhouse 5.6 By Geography 5.6.1 North America 5.6.2 Europe 5.6.3 Asia-Pacific 5.6.4 South America 5.6.5 Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Most Adopted Strategies 6.2 Market Share Analysis 6.3 Company Profiles 6.3.1 Deere & Company 6.3.2 Jain Irrigation Systems Limited 6.3.3 Lindsay Corporation 6.3.4 EPC Industrie 6.3.5 Nelson Irrigation Corporation 6.3.6 Netafim Ltd. 6.3.7 Rain Bird Corporation 6.3.8 The Toro Company 6.3.9 Rivulis Irrigation Limited 6.3.10 Harvel Agua 6.3.11 Chinadrip Irrigation Equipment Co. Ltd. 6.3.12 Elgo Irrigation Ltd. 6.3.13 Antelco Pty. Ltd. 6.3.14 Kothari Agritech Private Limited 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3xmvga Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Longeviti InvisiShunt & ClearFit Engineered Medical Systems, Longeviti Neuro Solutions and The LaunchPort announced today that they have entered into an agreement to place new, low temperature, low toxicity hydrogen peroxide sterilization capacity at The LaunchPort/EMS facility in Port Covington. The systems are being procured by Longeviti to support the Maryland production of their Low-profile Intracranial Devices (L.I.D.) platform. The Longeviti L.I.D. Platform has led to several innovative FDA cleared products thus far, the ClearFit and InvisiShunt, and more are in development. The systems will be operated by Engineered Medical Systems within EMSs regulated medical manufacturing facility at LaunchPort. These new systems are expected to have completed initial validations by the end of Q1 2020. At the same time, Longeviti will become an addition to the LaunchPort Resident family and will open a development office within LaunchPorts expanded medical device engineering area. That move-in is also slated to be completed in the 1Q of 2020. Beyond Longevitis requirements, the excess sterilization capacity will be used to support the needs of LaunchPorts current and future medical device residents, as well as other regional corporate and institutional developers along the I-95 corridor. Parties interested in exploring the use of this new capacity should contact Robert Storey, LaunchPort Managing Partner, at bstorey@mvrco.com. About Longeviti Neuro Solutions (Hunt Valley, MD) Longeviti is a neurotechnology company with a focus on surgical solutions for complex brain surgeries. The company manufactures and distributes neurosurgical implants globally with headquarters located in Hunt Valley, MD. Longeviti was founded in 2016 by a team of leading medical device industry executives, neurosurgeons, and biomedical engineers. Longevitis areas of expertise and continued focus include functional neurosurgery, neuro reconstruction, neuromodulation, and neuroplastic surgery. About Engineered Medical Systems (Indianapolis, IN; Baltimore, MD; Penang, Malaysia) Established in 1986, Engineered Medical Systems, does contract manufacturing and private label medical devices for a variety of private and multi-national medical devices manufacturers and distributors. Engineered Medical Systems - Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia was established in 2014 to support international products and markets. All EMS facilities are ISO-13485 certified facilities. A sister company of EMS, Pulmodyne, Inc., develops, markets and sells a proprietary line of products in the Critical Care, Airway Management and Emergency markets, with a worldwide sales network of over 70 global distributors and 15 domestic distributors. About The LaunchPort (Port Covington, Baltimore, MD) The LaunchPort is a manufacturing accelerator that allows Medtech start-ups and emerging technology developers the ability to co-locate at an experienced, regulated manufacturing center. Located at the City Garage in Baltimores Port Covington, it is in close proximity to two of the Countrys premier medical schools (Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland) and at the center of the Nations largest urban investment project. By Rasana Gasimova Azerbaijan accounts for 50 percent of Russia's trade in the South Caucasus region. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia increased by 18.5 percent to reach $3 billion 22 million 46,000 year-on-year in 2019, the State Customs Committee has told local media. According to the information provided by the State Customs Committee, the share of trade operations with Russia accounted for 9.07 percent of Azerbaijans total foreign trade turnover in 2019. During the reporting period, the volume of export of Azerbaijani products to Russia amounted to $731 million 826,200 (a 9.9 increase). In 2019, 3.73 percent of Azerbaijani exports accounted for those to Russia. In 2019, Russia imported products worth $2 billion 290 million 219,800 to Azerbaijan. This indicates a 21.5 increase compared to 2018. The share of supplies from Russia accounted for 16.76 percent in the total volume of imports to Azerbaijan. The negative balance of Azerbaijan in trade relation with the Russia amounted to $ 1 billion 558 million 393,600 in 2019. Russia is the leader in the import of Azerbaijans non-oil products. In recent years, economic ties between the two countries have been increasing. About 950 companies with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan. So far, the value of investments by Russian companies in Azerbaijan have mounted to $4.9 billion, and the Azerbaijani investments in Russia stood at $1.2 billion. The two countries also cooperate in energy, transport, humanitarian sphere, tourism, agriculture, military-technical and other spheres. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:52:13|Editor: yan Video Player Close ANKARA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned the Egyptian charge d'affairs in Ankara after four staff members, including a Turkish citizen, of Turkey's semi-official Anadolu Agency were detained in Cairo, Turkish diplomatic sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. In a written statement, the ministry strongly condemned the Egyptian police's raid on the agency's Cairo office while urging the immediate release of the employees. "The raid on the Anadolu Agency's Cairo office last night by the Egyptian security forces and the detention of some of the office workers without justification is an act of harassment and intimidation against the Turkish press," the ministry statement said. The ministry also accused the Western countries of "having a role in this reckless attitude by overlooking the condemnation of the violations" in Egypt. The Anadolu Agency reported that the Egyptian police officers stormed their office on Tuesday evening, cutting off security cameras and the internet connection, before searching the office early Wednesday. The head of the office's finance and administrative affairs and three Egyptian workers were detained in the raid. (Natural News) Warning: What youre about to read is disturbing beyond all belief, but we feel the need to warn you that its happening as part of the LGBTQP push to normalize child sex abuse in Western society. It has come to our attention that out-of-the-closet pedophiles have been given an open platform on Twitter to discuss their fantasies about engaging in sexual activity with underage children and all with the blessing of Jack Dorsey. A series of screenshots captured by Shane Trejo over at Big League Politics reveals MAPs, or Minor Attracted Persons, discussing their lust for mere babes, something that the new Twitter Terms of Service says is perfectly acceptable as part of Twitters community guidelines. Even as Twitter bans conservatives, as well as the Health Ranger, for tweeting hate speech, the Silicon Valley giant has given a quiet nod to sex perverts to spread their perversion across the platform without consequence. Twitter quietly added a section to its Terms of Service recently that allows for discussions related to attraction towards minors, just so long as these discussions dont promote or glorify child sexual exploitation. But a quick perusal of Trejos screenshots reveals just that taking place on the Twitter platform, as child-attracted sexual perverts talk about the difficulties of adult-sized genitalia meshing with child-sized bodies. Its difficult to even type that last sentence, but its important for the world to know that Twitter sees nothing wrong with this type of vile and utterly evil sexualization of children, even as it prohibits its users from spreading vaccine misinformation because of the harm its supposedly causing to society. Sponsored solution from the Health Ranger Store: The Big Berkey water filter removes almost 100% of all contaminants using only the power of gravity (no electricity needed, works completely off-grid). Widely consider the ultimate "survival" water filter, the Big Berkey is made of stainless steel and has been laboratory verified for high-efficiency removal of heavy metals by CWC Labs, with tests personally conducted by Mike Adams. Explore more here. We wont get into any more of the ugly details about what they contain here in this article, but Infowars has published the screenshots Trejo captured if for some reason you want to see them. Suffice it to say that pedophilia is now accepted at Twitter, while conservative speech is not. Big Tech loves pedophiles but hates conservatives and Christians While the original offending tweet thread has since been deleted were not sure if Twitter or the original poster removed it the fact of the matter is that Twitter has officially sanctioned pedophilia talk as an accepted form of speech on its platform. Infowars has traced this new policy back to Dr. James Cantor, who back in 2018 petitioned Twitter to allow non-offending pedophiles, whatever that means, to use its platform openly, otherwise theyll be more prone to act out their sex crimes in real life. Almost like some kind of ransom, Dr. Cantor told Twitter that it needs to either accept pro-pedophilia speech or else bear the responsibility of pedophiles sexually assaulting and raping children due to not having a voice online. In our professional opinions, terminating the accounts of non-offending, anti-contact MAPs is likely to result in the opposite effect of that which Twitter may expect or intend, Dr. Cantor threatened. Rather than reducing the incidence of child sexual abuse, if anything, it increases the risk that some pedophiles will be unable to obtain the peer or professional support that they may need in order to avoid offending behavior. Dr. Cantor went on to contend that the stigma and isolation associated with pedophilia increase[s] the likelihood of some MAPs acting on their sexual feelings, a sentiment that was apparently powerful enough to convince Dorsey to open wide the floodgates to pro-pedophilia tweets on Twitter. The sites refusal to enact an outright ban on pedophiles suggests the company is on-board with the new movement attempting to normalize pedophilia, contends Infowars. Meanwhile, the site has opted to take action against comedians like Sam Hyde and media outlets such as Infowars. For more related news about Twitter, be sure to check out Censorship.news and Evil.news. Sources for this article include: Infowars.com NaturalNews.com OLD SAYBROOK - Main Street Old Saybrook is the place for the 24th Annual Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce Chili Fest on Feb. 29. Sponsored by Guilford Savings Bank, this community event features participation by area restaurants as well as non-profit and civic organizations. Chili Fest is held rain, snow or shine. Last year, the event attracted more than 3,000 people. Chef applications are now being accepted: to register as a chef, visit the Chamber's web site. Entry deadline is Feb. 3. The Chamber donates the proceeds in two ways. First, the top three winners earn a donation to their designated charity. And second, event proceeds help fund the chamber scholarship program, which awards scholarships to area high school seniors. Tickets are $20 and serve as a voting ballot. They can be purchased at Ballot Stations along Main Street during the event, and in advance at the Chamber office, 1 Main Street, Old Saybrook. For more information: 860-388-3266, www.oldsaybrookchamber.com Habitat for Humanity holding kickoff meeting WESTBROOK Middlesex Habitat for Humanity is inviting the Westbrook community to attend a Kick Off Meeting to learn more about the build, family selection process and volunteer opportunities! The meeting will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Jan. 23 at Westbrook Town Hall, in the Multi-Purpose Room, 866 Boston Post Road. Guets can meet the latest family partner, sign up to volunteer, hear about the family selection and build process and enjoy free refershments. Those unable to attend this meeting, but would like to sign up to volunteer can go to www.habitatmiddlesex.org and fill out an online volunteer application. To learn more about the home ownership application process, Middlesex Habitat will hold an Information Meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 3, at Westbrook Town Hall, in the South Conference Room. Middlesex Habitat will be distributing applications for our program. Anyone interested is highly encouraged to attend an application meeting to get an application for the next Habitat house in Westbrook. For more information, call the Middlesex Habitat office at 860.343.9179. Kindergarten registration now open Parents/guardians whose children will be five years of age on or before January 1, 2021, should now contact Valley View School at 860-342-3131 to request Kindergarten registration materials be sent to them. Registration paperwork will be mailed to parents/guardians by the end of February. Kindergarten registration will be held from March 16-20, 2020. Parents will be assigned a day to register alphabetically according to their last name. At the time of registration, parents need to bring two proofs of residency, a copy of their childs birth certificate and the completed paperwork that was mailed to them in February. Further information regarding the kindergarten orientation process will be provided at registration time. For information, call Valley View School. Psychic Medium Fundraiser set in Deep River DEEP RIVER The Friends of the Deep River Librarys 5th Annual Psychic Medium Fundraiser at the Richard Smith Town Hall Auditorium in Deep River, 2-4 p.m., Jan. 26, featuring Jeff McBride. The snow date is Feb. 2. McBride is an internationally known and tested reader with over fifty years of connecting. He is a born Psychic Medium, the author of Living in 2 Worlds, a Certified Reiki Master, and a former police officer. Jeff connects quickly with those who have passed. Communication with all energies are available: relationships, lost items, pets and much more. Tickets are available at the Deep River Public Library for $45 or for $55 at the door. To find out more about the event, please visit the Friends of the Deep River Library Facebook Events page. You may also visit the Deep River Library Facebook page. For more information, go to website at http://deepriverlibrary.accountsupport.com and click on our monthly calendar, or call the library at 860-526-6039. Dinner dance benefits draft horse rescue PORTLAND Residents are invited to Denim, Diamond and Drafts, an evening of dancing, dinner, and drinks to support the horses of the CT Draft Horse Rescue, on Feb. 29 at Saint Clements Castle, 1931 Portland-Cobalt Rd., Portland. Tickets $80 per person and include a buffet dinner, raffles, live auctions, and a cash bar. Tickets are limited and are $80 per person. Call Lori to purchase tickets at 860-267-1542. Tickets can also be purchased via Paypal - send the payment to ctdraftrescue@aol.com (reference Denim, Diamonds, Drafts tickets on the payment). Tickets must be purchased by Feb. 19 and are not refundable. The event is snow or shine. CDHR in a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of neglected or abused draft horses as well as draft horses heading to slaughter. For more information visit www.ctdraftrescue.com, www.facebook.com/ctdraftrescue, or send an email to ctdraftrescue@aol.com. Tassy Walden Award for New Voices invited submissions Shoreline Arts Alliance is presenting the 20th Annual Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Childrens Literature competition. This contest affords unpublished Connecticut authors and illustrators of childrens books the opportunity to have manuscripts and portfolios reviewed by literary agents and possibly by editors and art directors at some of the major publishing houses for childrens literature. The Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Childrens Literature is a Connecticut statewide, juried competition opened to Childrens Literature writers and illustrators who are not published or under contract for publication. Categories are: Picture Book (text only), Illustrated Picture Book (author and illustrator must be same person), Childrens Book Illustrator Portfolio, Middle Grade Novel and Young Adult/Teen Novel. All submitted works that meet the contest guidelines will be sent to literary agents for the first tier of judging. Works deemed outstanding will then be sent on to publishers and editors at major publishing houses for childrens literature. All submissions for this years contest must be postmarked by February 4, 2020. Call for Entry may be downloaded at www.shorelinearts.org. Visit www.ShorelineArts.org or contact the office at 203-453-3890 for 2020 Entry Form and guidelines or for additional information or questions on preparing manuscripts and portfolios for submission. Shoreline Arts Alliance, a Regional Service Organization of CT Department of Economic and Community Development-Office of the Arts, is a 501 (C) 3 organization founded in 1981 to serve individual artists, arts, cultural and heritage organizations, educational institutions, strategic partners and the community-at-large. Shoreline Arts Alliances mission is to Transform Lives through The Arts through our statewide arts offerings, scholarships, and work as your Arts Council. At the heart of our mission is the desire educate, encourage, enrich and engage and we follow these principles in all that we do. Learn more at www.shorelinearts.org Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A volcanic eruption is not as uncommon as we all thought. On average, around 50 to 70 volcanoes erupt every year. Yet no one can deny that volcanic eruption is probably the scariest natural disaster. Imagine fleeing for your life as struggling to breathe due to toxic fumes and enduring the scalding hot temperature. Don't forget that stones are flying everywhere, and earthquakes are pretty common. The magnitude of the volcano can be measured using the 8-scale system called Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). However, when we are talking about the impact of the activity, this is not a good indicator. Instead, most people prefer talking about its effect on the economy and especially the total deaths. The volcanic eruptions below did not just kill many people. Their impact was felt all over the world, resulting in global infamy. 1. Mt Tambora, Indonesia, 1815 It all started with a small tremor in April 1815. Who would have thought that five days later, it would send 40-kilometer-high volcanic ash which did not just killed 10,000 islanders and displaced 35,000 others but also caused a tsunami? If the horror is not enough, it is reported that the global temperature plummeted and killed crops, resulting in thousands of deaths due to starvation. Typhus also spread across Europe. With a height of 4,300 meters, Mt. Tambora used to be enormous. However, after its massive eruption, it shrank down to less than 3,000 meters. 2. Krakatoa, Indonesia, 1883 Here's another destructive eruption in Indonesia: Krakatoa, on Rakata Island. With an explosion four times more powerful than the strongest man-made bomb created, the volcano destroyed the entire island and killed every form of life on it. But the deadliest part is not the eruption itself but the aftermath. The blast created a series of colossal waves -- with some went as high as 37 meters. It killed at least 36,000 people on the nearby islands, Java and Sumatra. The waves have also reached South America, about 18,000 kilometers north of Indonesia. 3. Ilopango, El Salvador, 450 AD This eruption did not just kill people -- it ended the Mayan civilization, after it killed most of its people, and destroyed their cities and source of food. Like other eruptions, it also sent volcanic ash that blocked the sunlight and lowered the global temperature. As a result, there is another global food scarcity for a year. 4. Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991 Dubbed as the second-largest eruption of the 20th century, it is surprising that its casualty is considerably lower, with only around 700. Yet its aftermath is no joke as the hazard remained even after five years since the volcano spewed searing hot ash, magma, and steam. Coincidentally, there is also a storm when the volcano erupted. This strong cyclonic wind sent the ash flying as far as the Indian Ocean. 5. Mt Vesuvius, Italy, 79 AD The soil around the volcano is rich, which attracts farmers and merchants who want to exploit it. Two cities were built: Pompeii and Herculaneum, named after the mythic hero Hercules, and it became a popular summer destination for rich Romans. However, the prosperity of the city ended when the volcano suddenly propelled a mushroom-shaped cloud. It sent dust and stones to the city, forcing the people to flee for their lives. Some of them were carrying pillows to protect their heads, according to the account of Pliny the Younger, a renowned Roman writer. The cities got buried by volcanic mud, and it was not until the 18th century when it was first excavated. ALSO READ: How to Survive a Volcanic Eruption? Press release NNIT and Lundbeck extend collaboration NNIT extends sixteen-year collaboration with another four years. Copenhagen, January 15, 2020 - NNIT, a leading provider of IT services and consultancy, announces that it has signed an extension of its agreement with H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck), a global pharmaceutical company specialized in brain diseases. According to the new agreement, NNIT will for the next four years continue to maintain and support Lundbeck's global applications portfolio including operations of their SAP environment, Robotic Process Automation and Test Management for life sciences. Commenting on the agreement, Senior Vice President at NNIT Ricco Larsen says: "We are proud to continue this decade-long collaboration, where we deliver advanced life sciences IT to create value and support to Lundbeck's digital transformation for the benefit of people with brain diseases." The estimated total value of the new agreement is a large double-digit million amount (DKK). ******** More information Helga Heyn, NNIT Communications, +45 30 77 81 41, hhey@nnit.com About NNIT NNIT is an international consultancy in the development, implementation, validation and operation of IT for the life sciences industry and the Danish private and public sector. We create value for our clients by treating their IT as if it was our own, and of course, we meet the industry's strictest regulatory requirements. We apply the latest advances in technology to make our clients' software, business processes and communication more effective. NNIT A/S has more than 3,200 employees. For more information please visit www.nnit.com . About Lundbeck https://www.lundbeck.com Attachment Responders who worked at the World Trade Center site after the attacks on September 11, 2001, have an increased overall cancer incidence compared to the general population, particularly in thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, and, for the first time ever reported, leukemia, according to a Mount Sinai study published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum in January. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, 50,000 workers were involved in rescue and recovery, with many of them caught directly in the dust cloud from the collapsing towers. From then until cleanup of the site ended in June 2002, workers were potentially exposed to an array of toxins later shown to cause adverse health effects, including cancer. This study examined cancer incidence in responders including law enforcement, construction, and telecommunications workers, and found an increased overall cancer incidence, with the greatest elevation in thyroid cancer. It is the first to show an increase in leukemia, which is known to occur after exposure to occupational carcinogens, including benzene fuel and other sources that existed at the World Trade Center site, in some cases at low levels of exposure and with a latency of several years from exposure. Researchers also found that neither the length of time that first responders and recovery workers worked on the World Trade Center site, nor the intensity of their exposure, had any bearing on the development of the elevated cancers. However, some risk factors -- such as responders' age on September 11, their gender, and whether they were smokers at the time -- were associated with increased cancer risk, underlining the need for continued surveillance of World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers. "This study showed increased incidence of several cancer types compared to previously conducted studies with shorter follow-up periods," said Susan Teitelbaum, PhD, Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and one of the lead authors. "Because of the long latency period of many types of cancer, it is possible that increased rates of other cancers, as well as World Trade Center exposure health issues, may emerge after longer periods of study." Researchers studied post-September 11 cancer incidence among 28,729 rescue and recovery workers via cancer registry data from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina from 2002 through 2013. Although the incidence of certain cancers, such as lung, was not elevated in this study's findings, researchers believe that may be due to the long time periods over which these cancers develop. This work was supported by contract 200-2017-93325 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. Additional reporting by Cianan Brennan Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has triggered a row over a homeless man's injuries after calling on the Lord Mayor to explain how the individual was removed by machinery while sleeping in a tent. Mr Varadkar defended the government's record on trying to help people off the street, but also said several times that the injured homeless man had been known to support services. The man was injured Read More: The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive says it is liaising with the hospital and support is being provided. Speaking while visiting a forklift factory in Monaghan, Mr Varadkar said: I'm very concerned about it. I'm always reluctant to comment on any individual case until we know all the facts. And we know from experience that the initial reporting, you know, can often be different from the later reporting. "But what I've been told so far is that a man was injured while Dublin City Council and Waterways Ireland were trying to remove some tents. He is in a serious condition, but is stable. He is well known to homeless services and has been offered emergency accommodation in the past and will be offered it again in the future. "Obviously our thoughts are with him. We hope he makes a speedy recovery and we'll do everything we can to make sure that he is accommodated. Mr Varadkar said he understood that Dublin City Council and Waterways Ireland did check tents before moving them but obviously something went wrong. However, he called on the current Fianna Fail Lord Mayor to explain what had happened: So I think it's important that, you know, the City Council and Lord Mayor, who's politically responsible in city council, should make a statement and Waterways Ireland too. But the most important thing is that we wish him a speedy recovery. "He is known to homeless services, has been offered accommodation in the past and will be offered accommodation in the future. We'll do everything we can to reduce rough sleeping. Mr Varadkar denied that he was blaming anyone, but explained: I think it's reasonable that the Lord Mayor of Dublin who is politically accountable for Dublin City Council, should also make a statement I'm sure he'd be willing to do that. Fianna Fail leader Read More: The incident could not have come at a worse time for the Taoiseach as it raised the issue of homelessness - and Fine Gaels perceived inaction on the problem - to centre stage on the first day proper of campaigning. Fianna Fails Darragh OBrien was the first out of the traps for the opposition, describing what had happened to the injured man as a national disgrace, adding he had been shocked to learn of the news. He said what had happened displayed a lack of empathy and understanding for our homeless communities, adding that the homeless crisis is a direct result of a Fine Gael led Government. Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy meanwhile described the incident as being unconscionable. Even if the tent had been empty, she said, it seems particularly inhumane to sweep up somebodys sole source of refuge from the elements as if it were rubbish causing a nuisance. We have a homeless emergency and the narrative that tent use should be discouraged comes from a place of unimaginable privilege, Ms Murphy said. Data courtesy of Irish Times Nigeria and six other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are to meet by Thursday to take a common position on the ECO single currency controversy. The Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview in Abuja on Monday. The minister said Nigeria decided not to make any statement over the controversy that followed the recent decision by eight French-speaking ECOWAS members to dump the CFA franc and adopt the ECO as their common currency, to avoid being misunderstood. Nigeria has not (yet) made a formal statement on the ECO controversy. We have decided not to make any statement until January 16 when we are supposed to have a meeting of the English speaking member countries of ECOWAS to take a common position. Thats just it for now. Until that position is taken, that is why Nigeria decided not to make any statement that would be misinterpreted or misunderstood, she said. The English-speaking countries that will join Nigeria for the meeting include The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Although Cape Verde is officially a Portuguese speaking country, it will also be part of the meeting. Following the announcement by the Francophone countries, critics expected Nigeria to have come out forcefully to take a position on the development. But, the minister said the federal government was bidding its time to study the situation and prepare an appropriate response in due course. The meeting will be holding almost a month after the eight French-speaking West African countries announced their decision on the ECO single currency. The countries are Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Cote dIvoire and Togo Republic. ECO is the name adopted for the common currency of the ECOWAS by the Authority of the Communitys Heads of State and Government at their 55th Ordinary Session in Abuja last June. The adoption of the common currency expected to be issued in June 2020 is part of efforts by ECOWAS to realize its over 30 years aspiration to establish a single currency among its members and ensure regional economic integration in the region. But, the announcement by the Ivorien President, Alassane Ouattara, on behalf of the eight French-speaking Francophone ECOWAS members signaled a widening crack in the ranks of the group along pre-colonial and political lines. The controversy became heightened following allegations of undisguised involvement of the French government, which analysts accuse of attempts to hijack the ECO single currency project. Apart from the decision to keep the exchange rate of the proposed ECO still pegged to the Euro, the French government also said its former colonies would no longer be required to maintain 50 per cent of their reserves in Frances treasury. Economic analysts say the French governments involvement is an attempt to box the other seven countries, including Nigeria, into a tight corner and force them to accept the ECO on its terms. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, is accused of exploiting the conditions created following the recent closure of the Nigerian borders against its Francophone neighbours to attempt to woo Ghana to join the ECO and fence off Nigeria. Reports said Mr Macron, who was present as his Ivorien counterpart made the announcement on behalf of the eight countries, had given the willingness of his government to guarantee the ECO currencys extension to the ECOWAS as long as Nigeria was not involved. The Ghanaian government has since spoken in support of the eight Francophone countries, despite not being a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU, also known by its French acronym UEMOA). In its statement, the Ghanaian government applauded the decision by the eight countries as a welcome development, and a good testimony to the importance attached not only to the establishment of the monetary union, but also to the larger agenda of the West African integration. We in Ghana are determined to do whatever we can to enable us to join the member states of UEMOA soon in the use of the ECO, as we believe it will help remove trade and monetary barriers, reduce transaction costs, boost economic activity and raise the living standards of our people, the Ghanaian government said. EasyJet is resuming flights to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the first time in nearly five years, following the lifting of travel restrictions to the area. The airline said two flights a week would be launched from Manchester Airport from June 7, and flights from London Gatwick will commence on September 30. There will also be flights to nearby Hurghada. UK airlines were banned from flying to the region following the bombing of a Russian plane soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board, in November 2015. EasyJet is resuming flights to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, pictured, for the first time in nearly five years But in October last year, the Department for Transport (DfT) lifted restrictions due to 'improvements in security procedures' and 'close co-operation between our aviation security experts and their Egyptian counterparts'. EasyJet's decision comes two months after rival travel company Tui announced its own resumption of holidays to the region. Smaller firms and travel agents have also relaunched services to Sharm el-Sheikh, which was previously one of the most popular destinations for British tourists keen for some sun. Ali Gayward, UK country manager at easyJet, said: 'We are looking forward to operating these flights this summer and adding them to an ever-growing range of great destinations for our customers.' UK airlines were banned from flying to the region following the bombing of a Russian plane, pictured, soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board, in November 2015 Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: 'The return of easyJet's route to Sharm el-Sheikh is very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sunseekers all year round.' EasyJet also announced that it will launch three new flights to Rome in Italy and twice-weekly flights to Menorca, starting in June. The company added: 'With Egypt proving popular in the North West, the airline is also extending its winter flights to Hurghada to operate year-round three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, with the first flight departing on 1 June.' EasyJet is also launching three new flights to Rome in Italy and twice-weekly flights to Menorca, starting in June Bosses said they expect to carry more than 37,000 passengers on the new routes in the first 12 months, serving almost five million passengers to and from the airport. The closure of Sharm el-Sheikh to foreign flights in November 2015 had a major impact on several travel companies, who had pinned their hopes on the growing tourism trade to the region. Monarch Airlines blamed the ban, in part, for its collapse in 2017, and tourists still intent on visiting the resort would previously have to travel to Hurghada and take a ferry. In August 2019 a team of scientists and conservationists broke new ground in saving the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. They harvested eggs from the two remaining females, artificially inseminated those using frozen sperm from deceased males and created two viable northern white rhino embryos. With great support from the Kenyan Government and in the presence of Hon Najib Balala, -- Kenya's Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife -- the team repeated the procedure on December 17, 2019, and was able to create a new embryo over Christmas. This significantly increases the chances of successfully producing offspring. The procedure has proven to be safe and reproducible, and can be performed on a regular basis before the animals become too old. Preparations for the next steps of the northern white rhino rescue mission are underway. Four months after the ground breaking first "ovum pickup" in August 2019, the team repeated the procedure with northern white rhinos Najin and Fatu on December 17, 2019, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The animals were placed under general anaesthetic and nine immature egg cells (oocytes) -- three from Najin and six from Fatu -- were harvested from the animals' ovaries using a probe guided by ultrasound. The anaesthesia and the ovum pickup went smoothly and without any complications. The oocytes were transported immediately to the Avantea Laboratory in Italy. After incubating and maturing nine eggs, four from Fatu and one from Najin were fertilised with sperm using a procedure called ICSI (Intra Cytoplasm Sperm Injection). One out of five eggs from Fatu fertilized with semen from Suni developed into a viable embryo with the help of Geri, an innovative benchtop incubator with integrated continuous embryo monitoring capabilities designed to provide an individualized and undisturbed incubation environment, donated by Merck. The embryo is now stored in liquid nitrogen along with the two embryos from the first procedures. Hon. Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Kenya's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife: "As a government, we are glad that the northern white rhino in-vitro fertilisation project by a consortium of scientists and conservationists from Kenya, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy collaborative partnership has been able to successfully produce three pure northern white rhino embryos ready for implantation into southern white rhino as surrogate mothers in coming months. This is a big win for Kenya and its partners, as the northern white rhinos are faced with the threat of imminent extinction, where only two of them, females Najin and Fatu, are left in the whole world and are currently hosted by Kenya. It's a delicate process, and for that, we thank the concerned parties, the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Avantea Laboratory and Dvur Kralove Zoo, for putting in all of their efforts in ensuring that the critically endangered species do not disappear from the planet under our watch. I urge the scientists to continue digging deeper into technology and innovations to ensure that not only this concerned species does not go extinct, but other species that are faced with similar threats. The fact that Kenya is at the centre of this scientific breakthrough also makes me very proud. It's amazing to see that we will be able to reverse the tragic loss of this subspecies through science." Preparations for the next steps of the mission for saving the northern white rhino from extinction are underway simultaneously to the creation of embryos. The plan is to select a group of southern white rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy from which a female could serve as surrogate mother for the northern white rhino embryo. To achieve the best possible results for work with pure northern white rhino embryos, the team relies on experience from similar embryo transfer procedures in southern white rhinos that have been performed in order to address reproduction challenges in European zoos. Despite the fact that more research is still needed, the team expects that a first attempt for this crucial, never before achieved step, may be undertaken in 2020. In December 2019, the team also transported the semen of Sudan, the last northern white rhino male that died in March 2018, from Kenya to Germany. The aim is to use it in future for production of more embryos. However, as the semen was collected in 2014 when Sudan was already over 40 years old, it is necessary to test it first and then see whether it could be used for such purposes. The egg collection, embryo creation and preparation for the embryo transfer is a joint effort by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), Avantea, Dvur Kralove Zoo, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). The entire process is part of the "BioRescue" research. Its goal is to significantly advance assisted reproduction techniques (ART) and stem cell associated techniques (SCAT) complemented with a comprehensive ethical assessment carried out by the University of Padova for the benefit of the northern white rhinoceros. The consortium is partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and comprises institutions from Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Kenya, Japan and USA. Its not the questions that are the problem, it is the content of the questions and the offensive nature of the tone and the questions and the concerns in quotes that were expressed, Lightfoot said. As a leader, as a black gay woman proud on all fronts, I have to say Im disturbed by the nature of the committee discussion and the nature of the discussion here today. VANCOUVER - A women's shelter in Vancouver received a royal visit on Tuesday from Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as she and husband Prince Harry plot their part-time move to Canada. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. VANCOUVER - A women's shelter in Vancouver received a royal visit on Tuesday from Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as she and husband Prince Harry plot their part-time move to Canada. The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre shared a photo of Meghan's visit on Facebook, saying shelter staff spoke with her about issues affecting women in the community. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, third from right, visits with members of the charity organization Justice for Girls in Vancouver on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Justice for Girls The group Justice for Girls in the city also posted photos on Twitter of Meghan visiting the organization on Tuesday, saying she discussed climate change and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Meghan and Harry announced plans last week to step down from their duties as senior members of the Royal Family and become financially independent. The move reportedly annoyed senior royals who had not been consulted, sparking a summit that brought together the Queen, her eldest son and heir Prince Charles, and Prince William, who would follow his father Charles to the throne, along with Harry. In the end, the Queen said she was supportive of the couple's decision to split their time between Canada and the U.K. British Columbia Premier John Horgan, meanwhile, has said he's already had conversations with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the couple possibly moving to the province. The visits in Vancouver are a return to form for Harry and Meghan, who have been heavily involved in charitable works both independently and together. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Meghan was in 2016 named a global ambassador for World Vision a title she carried through 2017. Since marrying into the Royal Family, she's focused on charities advancing women's empowerment and gender equality. And Harry has continued his late mother's work with the Halo Trust, travelling with them to Angola last year, just as Lady Diana Spencer did in 1997. His areas of focus include "environmental well-being" and social issues that include mental health and support for veterans. The couple's official website says they plan to develop a charitable entity together this year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. (PHOTO: ICA) SINGAPORE A 38-year-old female Filipino national was sentenced to seven weeks jail on Tuesday (14 January) for providing false statements to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on her and her daughters Permanent Residency (PR) applications. The ICA said in a press statement that its officers arrested De Luna Noriza Dancel on 25 October 2017 for making false statements in her PR applications for herself and her daughter, Tayde Deevy Rick De Luna, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The case came to light following the agencys internal investigations, it added. Verifications with the Centro Escolar University located in the Philippine capital of Manila revealed that De Luna has no records of enrolment at the said school. The diploma and transcript which De Luna had submitted for the applications did not originate from the universitys office, the ICA added. ICA takes a very serious view of persons who provide false information or conceal material facts during their applications for any Singapore immigration facility, said the authority. Any person who has made a false statement in their applications for immigration facilities will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law. This may include having their immigration facilities deprived or revoked, as provided for under the Constitution and the Immigration Act. In response to media queries, an ICA spokesperson said that Singapore PRs who have been convicted of an offence will have their PR status reviewed by the authority. The statuses of their family members will also be reviewed by the ICA. ICA will consider each case based on factors such as the seriousness of the offence, the extent of the persons involvement in the crime, and the length of the jail sentence before a decision is made on whether to revoke a persons PR status, the spokesperson added. Have a tip-off? Email us at sgnews.tips@verizonmedia.com. In your email, do provide as many details as possible, including videos and photos. Other Singapore stories: Alleged rapist defecates in High Court, claims trial to 6 charges Singaporean who financed terrorism jailed 2 years and 9 months A mother has been charged with negligence after allegedly leaving her 14-month-old son in a hot car for five hours. Police are investigating whether the Gladstone Park woman was playing the pokies at The Brook Hotel at Melbourne's Point Cook at the time. Emergency services were called to a car parked near the pub at 3pm on Wednesday, where they found the little boy in a critical condition. He was allegedly left alone in the car for up to five hours as temperatures reached 33C. Victoria Police charged the mother with negligently causing serious injury and reckless conduct endanger life. She was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on January 23. A baby boy was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition and is now fighting for his life after being locked in a car on a hot day in Melbourne's south-west Kidsafe Victoria General Manager Jason Chambers told the Herald Sun that the inside of a car can potentially reach temperatures 30C hotter than outside. 'The major temperature increase happens in the first five minutes,' Mr Chambers said. 'It becomes dangerous really quickly.' Paramedics rushed the boy to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition, where he is now fighting for his life, Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia. Local resident Alison Connell said she was horrified by the incident. 'My mum called me and said theres been a child left in a car and its in a pretty bad way,' Ms Connell said. 'I was horrified. People should have more brains.' A crime scene was set up on Wednesday night as police investigated the incident. The baby was found unresponsive about 3pm on Wednesday in the locked car, which was parked outside The Brook Point Cook (pictured) Furious Scottish Power customers say they are at their wits' end over the firm's shambolic service. Money Mail has received so many complaints about the Big Six energy supplier that we have handed a dossier to energy watchdog Ofgem. The regulator admits it is aware of 'ongoing customer service issues' at the firm and says it will investigate. Frustrated: Tom and Carla Corbet with their son, Charlie, two, have been struggling for nearly a year to get their smart meter fixed In the worst cases, customers have had to wait up to a year for refunds of hundreds of pounds. Some have been chased by debt collectors for cash they do not owe. Others have had direct debits hiked for no reason. And, when they complain, they are often ignored. Scottish Power, which has more than three million customers, received the most complaints of any Big Six supplier last year, with 8,441 cases referred to the Energy Ombudsman in the 12 months to September 2019. Inaccurate bills and customer service issues were the biggest gripes. Money Mail saw a spike in complaints at the start of 2019, after the firm took over 108,000 accounts from failed supplier Extra Energy. Scottish Power was supposed to refund these customers any credit owing after the energy minnow's November 2018 collapse, but many were left waiting for months. Among them were retired couple Richard, 72, and Linda Tresise, 73, of Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, who had tried to switch to Powershop just days before Extra Energy collapsed, but it didn't go through in time. Richard, who worked for a joinery firm, heard nothing for months, so he called Scottish Power in May to ask when the 331 credit they had built up would be returned. The top four gripes Forced to wait for months to get hold of credit refunds. Bills hiked for no obvious reason, or sent to the wrong address. Routinely fobbed off by customer service staff. Problems getting smart meters installed. But, instead, he was left to chase a new account number and then told to call Extra Energy's administrators. It was not until a year and several phone calls later that the couple finally got a cheque in November 2019. Richard, a grandfather of two, says: 'I felt I was constantly being fobbed off. I hadn't switched to Scottish Power and it was treating me as though I was at the bottom of its priority list.' Keith, 84, and Jean Thompson, 81, of Warrington, have never been Scottish Power customers, yet a 317 bill from the firm addressed to 'occupier' arrived in June. Then, in August, another arrived, addressed to a man they did not know. Keith returned the mail, saying the addressee did not live there, and the supplier threatened to call debt collectors. Keith called Scottish Power to explain that their meters' serial numbers did not match those on the bills, but a debt collection agency still wrote to him, demanding 457. When Keith sent the agency photographs of the meters, it confirmed it would pass the matter back to Scottish Power. But they have not heard back. Keith, a father of two, says: 'I can't believe Scottish Power hasn't even contacted us to say sorry or even confirmed it will not send us any more bills.' Linda Price, 59, and husband Michael, 62, want to know why the supplier had hiked Linda's 83-year-old mother's direct debit from 83 a month to 116 in February, then to 220 in July. Pamela Abraham lives alone in a three-bedroom property in Kintbury, West Berkshire. Scottish Power, which has more than three million customers, received the most complaints of any Big Six supplier last year, with 8,441 cases referred to the Energy Ombudsman Linda, a marketing assistant, called Scottish Power after spotting the payments on the widow's bank statements last summer. The grandmother is too deaf to use the phone, but the firm refused to talk to Linda until she sent a letter from her mother giving permission. Frustrated by more delays, the couple, of Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire, complained in November, but the supplier did not respond. Sales manager Michael says: 'We still don't know why my mother-in-law is being charged so much.' Meanwhile, Carla and Tom Corbet have been struggling for nearly a year to get their smart meter fixed. The couple, who have a two-year-old son, Charlie, had booked to have smart meters installed in their Essex home in December 2018. They had hoped the gadgets would save them money on their bills. But the engineer told Carla, 31, and Tom, 32, he could replace only their electricity meter, not the gas one. Then, in March Carla found the electricity meter wasn't working as they were unexpectedly 800 in credit Despite countless calls and a formal complaint, the issue is still unresolved. Carla, a communications manager, says: 'This whole situation has been incredibly frustrating.' After Money Mail contacted Scottish Power, it arranged for staff to visit the Corbets and the Thompsons. It will inspect Pamela's meter and send an apology to the Tresises. A Scottish Power spokesman says: 'We're sorry for the issues and service experienced by our customers. Scottish Power has improved significantly in many areas of service, including billing and customer guarantees.' An energy watchdog spokesman says: 'We will take the dossier of complaints raised by the Daily Mail readers into consideration as part of our regular compliance conversations with Scottish Power.' f.parker@dailymail.co.uk A new paper quantifying small levels of iodine in Earth's stratosphere could help explain why some of the planet's protective ozone layer isn't healing as fast as expected. The paper posits a set of connections that link air pollution near Earth's surface to ozone destruction much higher in the atmosphere. That higher-level ozone protects the planet's surface from radiation that can cause skin cancer and damage crops. "The impact is maybe 1.5 to 2 percent less ozone," said lead author Theodore Koenig, a postdoctoral researcher at CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder, referring to ozone in the lower part of the ozone layer, around Earth's tropics and temperate zones. "That may sound small, but it's important," he said. A slightly thinner ozone layer means more UVB radiation can get through to Earth's surface. Koenig's paper, the first "quantitative detection" of iodine in the stratosphere, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with co-authors from CIRES, CU Boulder and other institutions. Chemicals once used widely in refrigeration, spray cans and solvents can eat away at Earth's ozone layer. After scientists discovered the stratospheric "ozone hole" in the 1980s, nations around the world signed the international Montreal Protocol agreement to protect the ozone layer, limiting the emission of ozone-depleting chemicals. advertisement "The ozone layer is starting to show early signs of recovery in the upper stratosphere, but ozone in the lower stratosphere continues to decline for unclear reasons," said Rainer Volkamer, a CIRES Fellow, CU Boulder professor of chemistry and corresponding author of the new assessment. "Before now, the decline was thought to be due to changes in how air mixes between the troposphere and stratosphere. Our measurements show there is also a chemical explanation, due to iodine from oceans. What I find exciting is that iodine changes ozone by just enough to provide a plausible explanation for why ozone in the lower stratosphere continues to decline." For the new work, Volkamer and his colleagues pored through data from several recent atmospheric research campaigns involving U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA research aircraft, and which included instruments that could pick up tiny amounts of iodine and other so-called halogens in the lower stratosphere during the daytime. Halogens, which also include chlorine and bromine, are key to ozone destruction. It's been tricky to get data from this part of the atmosphere, Koenig said. "We knew there was some iodine there, but we couldn't pin numbers on it until now... This is a result of technological advancement: Our instruments just kept getting a little bit better and eventually, it was enough to make measurements." The amount of iodine they picked up in the lower stratosphere is tiny, similar to adding a few bottles of water to the Great Salt Lake. But iodine is extremely effective at destroying ozone, and, generally speaking, the amount the scientists measured is enough to explain the level of ozone destruction in the lower stratosphere. advertisement So where did the iodine come from? Strangely it seems to be a result of air pollution down here at the surface of the planet, the new assessment reports. Ozone at Earth's surface is a pollutant, one that is regulated in the United States and elsewhere because it can harm people's lungs. And when ozone pollution interacts chemically with the surface of oceans, it can "pull" naturally occurring iodine up into the atmosphere. Other studies have shown that in the lower atmosphere, iodine levels have roughly tripled in concentration since 1950. Some of that iodine is apparently making it up into the stratosphere, where it can trigger ozone depletion, Koenig said. "This should not diminish the success story of the Montreal Protocol, but still, it is important. The lower stratosphere should have improved already, not gotten worse." "There's something going on resulting in deterioration. Our hypothesis is that ozone at the surface is destroying ozone in the stratosphere," Koenig added. It will be important to study the hypothesis in greater detail, Koenig and his coauthors said. If ozone pollution at Earth's surface increases, for example, could it trigger even more lower-stratosphere ozone layer destruction? Coauthor Pedro Campuzano-Jost, a CIRES research associate, said the success of the research project is partly due to the unique scope of NASA's ATom (Atmospheric Tomography) mission, which flew a research aircraft across the globe; and NSF's CONTRAST (Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics) mission, which detected iodine oxide radicals in the stratosphere. "Half of the places we went had never been sampled before for aerosols," Campuzano-Jost said, and that is the kind of opportunity that leads to new discoveries. Volkamer and his colleagues hope to successfully pitch a new mission to study iodine chemistry in greater detail, to better understand the future of Earth's protective ozone layer. Former Vice President Joe Biden is running in the Democratic primary for president. Birth date: Nov. 20, 1942 Hometown: Scranton, PA Education: University of Delaware, B.A. Syracuse University, J.D. Career: Public defender, county council member, U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States Family: Dr. Jill Biden (wife); Naomi, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley (children); Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, and, Hunter (grandchildren) 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 Political positions Economy: Biden believes in strengthening the middle class and strengthening unions. To help this, he proposes raising the minimum wage to start. According to his website, he will support a pro-growth, progressive tax code that treats workers as job creators. Essentially Biden is proposing making sure that laborers are not treated lesser than shareholders. He hopes to reduce non-compete clauses to help workers have more opportunities, according to PBS. According to Bidens website, he plans to Check the abuse of corporate power over labor and hold corporate executives personally accountable for violations of labor laws; encourage and incentivize unionization and collective bargaining; and ensure that workers are treated with dignity and receive the pay, benefits, and workplace protections they deserve. Healthcare: When it comes to healthcare, Biden has been vocal about protecting the Affordable Care Act but also working to improve and expand upon it. In the plan, Biden proposes creating a new version of Medicare that would public, increasing tax credit value to lower premiums and expanding coverage for lower income Americans. Biden has said he is in favor of a womans right to choose an abortion but has had a history of proposing certain restrictions on late term abortions and his past support of the Hyde Amendment, which halted federal funds for abortions unless the mothers life was at risk. He has since publicly declared he no longer supports the Hyde Amendment. Education: Biden is planning to invest in community colleges and training. His plan is aiming to provide two debt free years of community college or another form of training. He proposes increasing the maximum value of the Pell grants that assist students with college debt. His plan is also proposing to support and protect post 9/11 GI benefits for veterans and their families. Gun Reform: Biden is in favor of banning assault weapons that would include high-capacity magazines and universal background checks. According to his website, Biden plans to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that protects gun manufacturers. In addition to putting a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, he would regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act. He plans to hold buy backs for communities so that residents. His plan outlines an effort to restrict the number of firearms an individual can purchase per month to one. Biden is planning to reinstate the Obama-era policy that mandates the Social Security Administration send the background check system records that reveal. Climate Change: Biden has called climate change a existential crisis and balked at the Trump Administration to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Personally, Biden has been an advocate for clean energy, specifically wind energy. According to his website, Biden proposed the Clean Energy Revolution that proposes the following: Ensure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. Build a stronger, more resilient nation. Rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change. Stand up to the abuse of power by polluters who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities. Fulfill our obligation to workers and communities who powered our industrial revolution and subsequent decades of economic growth. Immigration: Biden is against building a southern border wall. He has been vocal about championing the Obama Administrations Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. He has not publicly discussed his proposal for the continuation or ending the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entity. Bidens website says his plan is to enforce immigration laws but that putting people in cages and tearing children away from their parents isnt the answer. Biden has also proposed protecting undocumented members of armed services, veterans and their spouses from deportation. Foreign Policy: Biden plans to order a review of the Temporary Protected Status of certain vulnerable populations and plans to terminate the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. He is proposing to bring home a vast majority of troops in Afghanistan. Biden would reenter the Iran nuclear deal if Tehran returned to compliance with the deal. He has proposed reentering the Paris Climate Accord agreement as well. Presidential candidate comparisons: -- On the issues -- Fun facts The Vermont Governors annual State of the State address was interrupted this year by a loud group of protesters, who refused to stop screaming bizarre slogans until the Vermont State House session was closed so they could be physically escorted from the building. Amidst their shouts of Im afraid Im going to die! and Climate justice is migrant justice!, were repeated condemnations of Vermonts dairy industry. This vague industry boogeyman is actually nonexistent in Vermont. The states dairy farms have steadily declined, and even its largest operations are puny in contrast to the mega-dairies elsewhere. VermontState House (Photo credit: Decumanus) The irony of attacking dairy farms by those who claim to be motivated to save our planet is instructional. Approximately 40% of Vermonts water pollution supposedly arises from agriculture, but as with all things environmental it is not as simple as a percentage -- much of the phosphorous that washes into Vermonts waterways was spread decades ago, with federal subsidies, and at the urging of federal and state agriculture departments. Now the few remaining farmers are being castigated by activists who produce no food. But the activists do produce waste, of which they are apparently unaware because they are consumed with scapegoating farmers (and white people, and men) for all the worlds problems. Yet, 60% of the pollution in Vermonts waterways arises from urban and suburban development, especially along Lake Champlain. The farmers havent had time to protest this growing problem, in part because they must implement expensive improvements to clean up their food-producing businesses while these radicals do nothing to restrict their own consumption behaviors. Many who reside in Vermont are so utterly disconnected from farming and food that they do not perceive their own peril from consuming fossil-fuel and fertilizer-dependent foods from California. They appear to believe that Cal-organic food products are lifted magically from the subsidized San Joaquin Valley and plunked neatly in their shopping carts without polluting the ecosystem. But this is just one of many delusions the new stupid has indoctrinated into their shallow minds. They are oblivious to their own peril. We farmers stay physically fit producing food -- I have moved hay bales to feed my animals almost daily for more than twenty years, keeping my heart and joints healthy while producing local food that is not trucked 3,500 miles. (I raise lamb. Most commercial lamb is flown, refrigerated, from Australia for city people, who thereby consume more fossil fuels rather than pay the higher prices for local products). The hay I feed was created fully from solar energy, then harvested with fossil fuels (as I am not Amish). But those fuels create food. The protesters who disrupted Vermonts Legislature for the first time in its history are not food producers -- they are food consumers. Industrial agriculture (the real kind, where soils are depleted rather than regenerated, in vast faraway spaces that Vermont lacks, including Mexico, China, and Chile) is unsustainable, and we local farmers know this. We watch what these toxic invaders consume, putting us locals out of business because they value cheap over sensible. As a farmer, I do not possess a gym membership with Planet Fitness. I am fit without pills, and certainly without driving a fumey car or truck to a building constructed, heated and lit for me to mount an electric machine constructed from oil-dependent plastics, to exercise on a petroleum-derived tread while watching a bank of flat-screen televisions all tuned to liberal news channels (so Im told). I have never owned a flatscreen TV, nor have I ever owned a regular television that was not used (recycled). These city folks are destroying my grandchildrens future food supply. They commute to work, and mow huge lawns with inefficient mowers, spreading toxic fertilizers and weed killers that flow into Lake Champlain with the rest of their moronic suburban runoff. Perhaps the farmers should stage a sit-in at area gyms and try to call attention to this idiotic hypocrisy. But then, thats just not our style, and we dont have the time or money to invest in such virtue-signaling antics. (I suspect most farmers increasingly feel that when the economy implodes, we should just let them eat cake.) These childish fools have attacked Vermont farmers instead of looking in the mirror to find ways they could actually improve the planet. The carbon tax and Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) work the same way -- they impose restrictions while doing nothing to actually reduce pollution. For instance, instead of lowering the speed limit to 55 MPH (which would actually reduce consumption, though I am not here advocating for such), they wish to have everyone pay the government a gasoline tax to burn fuels driving 70 MPH. This is a difference in means, not ends. What do these foolish miscreants propose as an alternative method to produce food for their future, assuming that is an end they even contemplate? Carpetbagging elitists have flocked to Vermont for its clean air and water, its rural culture, and its panoramic views, but now threaten all of those beautiful assets by disrupting our legislature and demeaning our culture in a witless venture to destroy rather than contribute. (These spoiled brats should perhaps be fitted with nose-rings, so they can be tied in their Orwellian stalls while the grown-ups solve the problems they compound.) A square bale of hay typically weighs about 40 pounds and can be purchased locally for $3-4. If all Vermonts gyms were closed by state statute, erstwhile members could stay home and exercise using just two bales, which can be used to develop biceps, triceps and leg muscles without contributing any fossil fuel consumption -- indeed, stomach crunches are improved when sitting on a square bale! Video games, televisions, cellular phones and computers could be seized if not directly employed for food production. That would do a great deal to save our planet, and then maybe theses kiddies would read a book. Humanitys future depends on sustainable agriculture. Vermonts urban elites are not immune from this dependency -- they are just profoundly ignorant of it. Consumed with their rush to eviscerate the Constitution to impose their social justice fantasy on fellow citizens, they have also abandoned civility and respect for others. With more self-awareness of their own consumption they might gain the humility to treat others as equals, respectfully. When the economy declines, and food prices spike, where will they get their organic bean sprouts? They perceive they will just reap more government bureaucratic harvests and impose their tyranny on the farmers. But the farmers will be gone, along with their accumulated wisdom, their fertile lands, cleared fields, and their stubborn work ethic. Will these protesters get their food delivered via uber while they sip lattes on their treadmills? They seem to think they will always have an app, or migrant worker, to serve them. The protesters at Montpelier are unaware of the true disaster they court -- they are so hell-bent on using their climate to enslave the rest of us that they have lost sight of how unfit they are to save the planet. Their disconnect from their own farm sustenance has disconnected them too from simple farming wisdom and common sense, especially the old farming adage which applies so aptly to their immature antics: even a pig knows not to s--t where it sleeps. The demonstration, expected to be the Womens Marchs smallest since its historic debut in 2017, will take on a different tone than in past years as its leaders seek to turn over a new leaf with disaffected activists and groups that in recent years have cut ties with the organization. A James Bond producer has ruled out the idea that the character could ever be played by a woman. Barbara Broccoli discussed the franchise in an in-depth interview with Variety, in which she touched on the topic of who will portray Bond once Daniel Craig is done with the role. No Time to Die, the upcoming 25th Bond film, is expected to be his final outing as Bond. Discussing potential incarnations of the spy, Broccoli said: He can be of any colour, but he is male. "I believe we should be creating new characters for women strong female characters. Im not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that. The best films of 2019 Show all 20 1 /20 The best films of 2019 The best films of 2019 20. Minding the Gap One of the years biggest cinematic curveballs occurs at the midway point of this stirring documentary. Billed as a film about small-town US skate culture, Bing Lius Minding the Gap grows into a haunting depiction of class and masculinity, and how once inseparable groups of friends tend to untangle and diverge as they come of age. Few of 2019s films cast quite as long a shadow. Adam White Hulu The best films of 2019 19. The Farewell The Farewell rips your heart out of your chest. Then it hands it back to you, wrapped gently in cotton wool. Director Lulu Wang loosely adapts a chapter in her own life, as we follow a young woman (Awkwafina) travelling back to China to say goodbye to her terminally ill grandmother. Delving into all the intricacies of immigrant identity and family politics, its a comedy of warmth and bracing honesty. Clarisse Loughrey A24 The best films of 2019 18. Us An opportunity for Jordan Peele to cement his status as one of horrors modern maestros, Us reels us in with old-fashioned thrills. Then it leaves us with the terrible dread of realising weve been looking into a mirror this whole time. Lupita Nyong'o delivers two of this years best performances in one film, both as our hero and as her sinister doppelganger one of an army of Tethereds that emerge from underground seeking vengeance. Clarisse Loughrey Universal Pictures The best films of 2019 17. Pain & Glory All of Pedro Almodovars films feel autobiographical in one way or another, but Pain & Glory couldnt be more lived-in if he stepped out in front of the camera to introduce every scene. A lushly romantic ode to cinema, shared history and cruelly interrupted love, it features a career-best performance from Antonio Banderas Zorro at his most tender and vulnerable. Adam White Sony Pictures The best films of 2019 16. Vox Lux Vox Lux is 2019s most damning filmic portrait of American culture. We begin with a teenage girl (Raffey Cassidy), who survives a school shooting and ends up a pop star. As an adult, shes played by a breezy, vicious Natalie Portman. Her strut is one part Sia, two parts Lady Gaga. Its an ugly, despairing film that comes gift-wrapped in sequins, presenting art as the cavernous pit we throw our traumas into. Clarisse Loughrey Neon The best films of 2019 15. Under the Silver Lake A paranoid puzzle box of a mystery, Under the Silver Lake is far more interested in the directions down the rabbit hole than allowing star Andrew Garfield to crawl his way out of it. Thats also the most pleasurable aspect of David Robert Mitchells film, a sunny LA noir which is sinister, hilarious and (potentially ruinously) male. Its probably 2019s most polarising film, adored and reviled in equal measure, but undeniably a work of striking creative autonomy. Adam White Mubi The best films of 2019 14. High Life High Life has its silly sub-Barbarella moments (Juliette Binoche testing out the spaceships very own orgasmatron machine) and clearly wasnt made on a Hollywood budget. Nonetheless, veteran French auteur Claire Deniss first English language film is a typically provocative and subversive affair. Binoche plays Dr Dibs, a scientist on board a ship full of criminals and trying to harvest healthy foetuses. Geoffrey Macnab A24 The best films of 2019 13. Ad Astra Ad Astra is a space movie with an Oedipal undertow. Brad Pitt gives a fine, understated performance as the introspective astronaut trying to save the world and find his father at the same time. Writer-director James Gray throws in references to Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. This is a slow-moving but beguiling film with an unexpected emotional kick. Geoffrey Macnab Fox The best films of 2019 12. Happy as Lazzaro A bee keepers daughter, Italian director Alice Rohrwacher is one of European cinemas visionary young talents. Happy As Lazzaro, her best film yet, is a magical realist fable that combines hard-hitting social comment about the exploitation of rural workers with flights of astonishing lyricism. The film also has one of the best performances of the year from newcomer Adriano Tardiolo, an 18-year-old economics student who plays the holy innocent, Lazzaro, with an ingenuousness which rekindles memories of Peter Sellers in Being There. Geoffrey Macnab Simona Pampallona/Netflix The best films of 2019 11. Burning Based on a Haruki Murakamis short story, Burning from South Korean maestro Lee Chang-dong is a meditation on dealing with isolation and the tricks being alone might play on your memory. Jong-su (Ah-in Yoo) is forced to play detective when Steven Yeuns affluent bachelor rolls into town an event that coincides with the disappearance of a schoolfriend. Burning is a searing drama whose central unanswered mystery unnerves long after the credits role. Jacob Stolworthy Thunderbird Releasing The best films of 2019 10. For Sama News coverage has hardly been short of harrowing, violent footage of the Syrian Civil War. But too often missing are the human moments inbetween the bombings and the bloodshed. In Waad Al-Kateabs first person account of the uprisings aftermath, her cameras gaze never flinches from the horrors it sees as she and her husband try to maintain a rebel hospital amid a reign of bombing from President al-Assad but nor does it stop rolling while she falls in love, has a baby, and jokes around with her friends and neighbours. This is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is an important, powerful, astonishing documentary. Alex Pollard Republic Film Distribution The best films of 2019 9. Can You Ever Forgive Me? It feels almost blasphemous to be glad of Julianne Moore stepping down from a role, but Lee Israel the cantankerous, lonely literary forger who found herself the target of an FBI investigation in the Nineties feels like a part Melissa McCarthy was born to play. Nimbly directed by Marielle Heller (who was shunned by the Oscars in the Best Director category), Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a sharp, funny and deeply compassionate examination of loneliness and self-destruction. Richard E Grant and Dolly Wells give wonderful supporting performances, too. Alex Pollard AP The best films of 2019 8. Booksmart As deeply indebted to the teen movie genre as it is formally and narratively rebellious, Booksmart grounds its traditional night-before-graduation plot (teenagers eager to crash a party) in touching character-driven drama. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, both instant stars, convey the ever-shifting dynamics and heightened dramas of adolescent best-friendship perfectly. Behind the camera, meanwhile, actor-turned-director Olivia Wilde demonstrates a staggering amount of emotional empathy and technical mastery for someone so green. Adam White Annapurna Pictures The best films of 2019 7. The Irishman Comparisons to Martin Scorseses previous films (Goodfellas, Casino) are unfounded considering The Irishman is unlike any other gangster film youll see. With his three-hour-30-minute-long opus, Scorsese places the harsh spotlight on mortality. Instead of tracking the rise of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) from regular family man to seasoned hitman with glitzy panache, we see him shamefully confess his crimes as an elderly man ruminating on his past in a nursing home. The result is an unsettlingly moving character study unafraid to ask the big questions.Jacob Stolworthy Netflix The best films of 2019 6. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood With his ninth feature, Quentin Tarantino took a breath and crafted an unhurried, oddly heartwarming fable, one that came with a career-best performance from Brad Pitt. Its release rolled around with the usual smattering of discourse-steering controversy but, for all the complaints about the directors depiction of his film star subjects, including the scant usage of Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, the fact remains that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is one of the filmmakers most accomplished films a freeneasy sun-soaked delve into Sixties Hollywood, whose much-discussed final 20 minutes provided topics of conversation all summer long. Jacob Stolworthy Andrew Cooper/Sony-Columbia Pictures via AP The best films of 2019 5. Eighth Grade For too many years the internet was exclusively evil in movies, something for tech boffins to hack, or used to steal Sandra Bullocks identity. Bo Burnhams Eighth Grade felt so comparatively real because it felt like the real internet, which has been as toxic and terrifying as it has been helpful to a generation of young people. Elsie Fisher, as a 13-year-old girl chronicling her confidence and anxieties in a vlog, is an adorable delight here, in a film that is devastatingly, heartbreakingly and endearingly human. Adam White Rex The best films of 2019 4. The Favourite Yorgos Lanthimoss delightful, subversive vision has shaken the cobwebs out of costume drama. Set in the 18th century, it follows a trio of women two cousins, Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone), and the ruling Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) as they vie for power over each other and England. Desire, savagery, and manipulative vulnerability all become weapons in the hands of those who have no choice but to fight dirty. But, then, Colmans childless, gout-ridden Queen Anne tenderly reveals her shattered soul its an Academy Award-winning performance that brings a slice of tragedy to an otherwise sublime farce. Clarisse Loughrey AP The best films of 2019 3. If Beale Street Could Talk The marriage of disparate talents united to ensure If Beale Street Could Talk is worthy of mention alongside Barry Jenkins previous film, Moonlight The Independents film of the decade. With his film, Jenkins takes the words of James Baldwin and translates them into visual poetry. From Nicholas Britells mesmerising score to Regina Kings towering supporting performance (that Oscar was well deserved), the result is a creative tour de force. Jacob Stolworthy Photos Annapurna Pictures The best films of 2019 2. Marriage Story Here is a love story about divorce. Noah Baumbach writes and directs this aching, empathetic depiction of a couple whose marriage has fallen apart. As ruthless divorce lawyers driving a wedge between two people already hanging by a thread, Ray Liotta and Laura Dern are magnificent, while Scarlett Johansson gives her best performance in years as a woman trying to do the right thing without knowing what that is. But the real star is Adam Driver, who hulking as he is makes himself seem small and fragile. For his rendition of Sondheims Being Alive alone, Marriage Story deserves all the awards coming its way. Alex Pollard Netflix The best films of 2019 1. Little Women Greta Gerwigs adaptation of Louisa May Alcotts 1868 novel the story of four Massachusetts sisters coming of age during the American Civil War may be a period piece, but there is nothing staid or stuffy about it. The girls, played by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson and Eliza Scanlen, talk and clamber over one another, their hair messy, their dresses scorched, their ambitions unfettered. It is a lively, profound adaptation. Alexandre Desplat provides the exuberant score, and Yorick La Sauxs cinematography is lush and textured. I didnt want it to be beautiful at the expense of being real, said Gerwig. But I did want it to feel like you wish you can jump inside and live in there or eat it. I remember trying to explain that to the gaffer, who was like, You want what? I was like, I want them to want to eat it. And how delicious it is. Alex Pollard Sony Pictures Entertainment Last year, rumours circulated that actor Lashana Lynch might become the next Bond though it was then suggested she will actually play a character who is assigned Bonds number, 007, as opposed to playing the Bond character itself. No Time to Die will be released in cinemas on 2 April in the UK and 10 April in the US. Billie Eilish will perform the title tune, becoming the youngest recording artist to do so. Makar Sankranti The festival, Makar Sankranti, which is generally celebrated on January 14 is dedicated to the sun god, is one of the most ancient Hindu festivals celebrated across India with much fanfare. Uttarayan event The festival also marks the beginning of the auspicious period of Uttarayan. With the break of the dawn, people here, specially the children, started flying kites. "We purchased kites last night and spend the entire day flying them. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News Kite sales soar high The sale of kites and manja (thread) had soared high on Monday. "Along with kites, sky lanterns are also popular now and most of the people purchased them," Prakash Verma, a trader, said. The religious rituals associated with the festival will be performed on Wednesday. #WATCH Gujarat: Union Home Minister Amit Shah flies a kite during an #Uttarayan programme in Ahmedabad. pic.twitter.com/cNKhQwiFnt ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2020 Amit Shah flies kite during in Uttarayan festival Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in Uttarayan festival on January 14 in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. Shah flew kite and tasted sweets with the residents of a colony in Ahmedabad. Makar Sankranti or 'Uttarayan' in Gujarat, is the first festival that falls in the New Year. It is also known as the"Festival of Kites", the state of Gujarat celebrated this version of Makar Sankranti with great enthusiasm. 'Uttarayan' is celebrated for two days. Big Ben's bongs will be silenced on Brexit Day but campaigners want to raise 500,000 to get it going at 11pm on January 31 Clergy and bell ringers are up in arms over Brexiteer plans to peal church bells to mark Britain's 'independence' as it leaves the EU on January 31 while Boris Johnson's 'bung a bob for a Big Ben bong' plea also floundered today. Crowdfunders have set up multiple fighting funds but none have raised more than 200 after Downing Street failed to launch an official campaign. And Leave campaigners' calls for churches to chime across the nation when the UK leaves the EU at 11pm on January 31 were also being met with opposition by Church of England bishops and vicars. Bell-ringing representatives also released a statement to say they do not endorse the act to be carried out in churches 'for political reasons' such as Brexit - Brexiteers have threatened to ignore them and 'do it anyway'. The 128-year-old Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said in a statement: 'There are historical moments for which bells have been rung, [the] end of world wars for example. However, the central council, as a principle, does not endorse bellringing for political reasons'. While the Bishop of Burnley, the Rev Philip North, told The Times: 'The purpose of the church bell is to call people to worship and I regret any attempt to politicise this lovely tradition. I think we should be ringing bells on February 1, not to celebrate Brexit but to call people together to pray for our nation at this critical time: for unity, compassion and justice'. Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson, said: 'Two thirds of the population never voted for Brexit in the first place. It's deeply divisive to ring church bells for something like this. Churches are there for the whole community, not for a political faction to crow over people they have beaten.' Kent Rev Andy Bawtree says he would like to ring his church bells in River, Kent, but has to ask his parishioners first. Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson, said allowing church bells to ring on Brexit day would amount to a 'political faction crowing over people they have beaten' Rev Philip North, Bishop of Burnley, is also opposed to Brexit Day bell ringing but Kent Rev Andy Bawtree says he would like to but has to ask his parishioners first Lib Dem peers says 'triumphalistic behaviour' on Brexit day could be reminiscent of 1930s Nazi Germany During a debate last night, Lord Greaves claimed people were crying themselves to sleep at night over the UK's withdrawal from the EU, as he warned against 'triumphalistic behaviour' on Brexit Day Liberal Democrat peer Lord Greaves claimed that any official celebrations to mark Brexit could lead to scenes reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The veteran peer said many Remainers and EU citizens were still crying themselves to sleep over Brexit. 'They are feeling a sense of loss which is akin to bereavement and a grieving process has only just begun,' he said. Lord Greaves added: 'In these circumstances, triumphalistic behaviour, festivals of Brexit and all the rest will simply make things worse. He went on: 'I am fearful that on January 31 some things may happen in some places which could be reminiscent of things happening in Germany in the early 1930s. 'I am worried about this, because there is that sentiment amongst a hostile minority of the population.' Advertisement Rev Janet Allen, vicar at the church of St Peter & St Paul in Swaffham, told the Eastern Daily Press: 'Brexit has been such a divisive issue that it would be deeply inappropriate' - despite her local councillor demanding it. Campaign group Leave.EU is leading calls for the ringing of church bells and said: 'Just as we did to mark the Allies' victory in Europe in 1945, we're calling on patriots to ring the bell of their local church at 9am on Saturday February 1 to celebrate Britain's newfound independence' But as vicars and bell-ringing groups refused the spokesman added: 'If the powers that be don't like it? We'll do it anyway.' Big Ben has been silenced since 2017 with renovations under way, but ardent Brexiteers have called for the work to be paused so the bell can ring in the new relationship at an estimated cost of 500,000. The Prime Minister said on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday that the Government was 'working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said today: 'If people want to pay for it, let the bongs bong', adding: 'Bong or no bong, we are delivering Brexit on January 31'. Mark Francois, who has promised 1,000, said today 'I think we will get it within 48 hours' - but accused the House of Commons authorities of exaggerating the cost of bringing the currently silent bell back into operation. Mr Francois told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'It seems to me and many of my colleagues in the House of Commons patently daft that we have got the most iconic clock in the world - literally, it's a world heritage site - that that should stay silent on this occasion.' The Prime Minister said the Government was 'working up' a scheme that would allow people to donate cash to underwrite the iconic peal at 11pm on January 31 but it hasn't materialised He claimed the costs were 'massively exaggerated' because 'officials in the House of Commons just don't want to do it'. Commons bosses threaten to kibosh 'Big Ben bongs' plan even if 500,000 is raised The Commons authorities last night suggested they may be unwilling to bring Big Ben back into service even if the money is raised. In a statement, the House of Commons Commission said: 'There has been a suggestion that the cost of striking the Bell could be covered by donations made by the public. This would be an unprecedented approach. The House of Commons has well established means of voting through the expenditure required to allow it to function, and to preserve its constitutional position in relation to Government. 'Any novel form of funding would need to be consistent with principles of propriety and proper oversight of public expenditure.' Advertisement The bell should ring to allow those who want to celebrate to mark the occasion, he said, but acknowledged that not everyone would be cheering. 'There are some that don't, they can watch Netflix or do whatever they want to do,' he said. Labour's Angela Rayner said last night Mr Francois would be better off Boris Johnson yesterday appealed for public donations to pay for Big Ben to chime Britain out of the European Union. Downing Street said the Government could not justify the estimated 500,000 cost of bringing the bell tower out of mothballs for it to bong at 11pm on January 31. But Tory MPs yesterday redoubled their efforts to ensure the commemoration takes place. Tim Loughton offered to climb the Elizabeth Tower and ring Big Ben himself with a sledgehammer. Peter Bone suggested that anti-Brexit officials had intervened to inflate the cost. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Johnson said: 'We're working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong because there are some people who want to. 'They seem to have taken the clapper away, so we need to restore the clapper in order to bong Big Ben on Brexit night. And that is expensive, so we're looking at whether the public can fund it.' The House of Commons Commission, which has responsibility for Big Ben, ruled out bringing it back into use for one night after a study warned it could cost 500,000 more than four times the original estimate. Conservative MP Mark Francois has pledged to donate a 1,000 and has accused the Commons authorities of inflating the cost to 500,000 to stop it happening Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, who is chairman of the commission, said: 'The commission believes it is important to weigh up the costs this would involve if Big Ben is to chime on January 31. You are talking about 50,000 a bong. 'We also have to bear in mind that the only people who will hear it will be those who live near or are visiting Westminster.' Big Ben is undergoing long-term repairs and has not been chiming regularly since 2017. However, the famous bell is brought back into service for key national events such as Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve. Mr Bone said: 'I do not understand how it is that the bell can bong on December 31 but can't bong on January 31 without incurring an absurd bill.' Mr Loughton added: 'I am happy to volunteer to go up to the bell tower with a sledgehammer and bash Big Ben 11 times for free. Perhaps we should have a competition for the privilege.' The Commons authorities yesterday defended the cost, saying the clock mechanism which powers the hammer that strikes the Great Bell was dismantled and removed as part of the refurbishment project. 1.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The House Intelligence Committee sent new evidence to Senate from arrested Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that Trump knew about and directed the Ukraine scheme. Chairs Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Eliot Engel (D-NY) said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA: Since the House voted to impeach President Trump, we have continued our investigation so the House Managers can present to the Senate the most complete factual record possible before the trial on the Articles of Impeachment. Despite the Presidents unprecedented and sweeping obstruction of our impeachment inquiry, we have continued to collect additional evidence relevant to the Presidents scheme to abuse his power by pressing Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election for the Presidents benefit. Today, additional new evidence will be provided to the House Judiciary Committee for its transmittal to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment. During the impeachment inquiry, we issued a subpoena to associates of Rudy Giuliani who were involved in the Presidents scheme. One of those individuals is Lev Parnas, who responded to his subpoena by turning over a trove of documents that provide more information about the effort to coerce Ukraine into helping the Presidents reelection campaign. These documentsand those recently released pursuant to Freedom of Information Actdemonstrate that there is more evidence relevant to the Presidents scheme, but they have been concealed by the President himself. All of this new evidence confirms what we already know: the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically. There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress. We will continue our investigative work and will make available to the Senate and the American people any additional evidence of the Presidents misconduct as it is revealed. The most damning evidence was a letter signed by Rudy Giuliani: There is enough evidence in the House packet to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. Trump doesnt want a trial because each new piece of evidence adds to his guilt. The proof that Trump is guilty is coming from his own lawyer. There have been no documents or witnesses offered on Trumps behalf. The president has no one to tell his side of the story because he is guilty. Senators had a bombshell dropped into their laps, and ignoring it will serve to confirm their complicity in the Trump cover-up. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook (Alliance News) - The Senate impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump is likely to begin next week with key players sworn in later this week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.A McConnell said he expected the House of Representatives to deliver the articles of impeachment against Trump to the upper chamber on Wednesday. "We believe that if that happens a in all likelihood a we'll go through preliminary steps here this week which could well include the chief justice coming over and swearing in members of the Senate and some other kinds of housekeeping measures," McConnell told reporters. "We hope to achieve that by consent which would set us up to begin the actual trial next Tuesday."A Trump faces charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the 100 senators will be his judge. On Thursday or Friday this week, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to be sworn in to preside over the trial, which should last at least two weeks, and could run through mid-February. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, called for a fair trial and demanded the Senate subpoena witnesses and documents from the White House that will be crucial in the trial. "The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial... The president and the senators will be held accountable," she added.A Trump will become only the third president in US history to go on trial, risking his removal from office.A But his conviction is highly unlikely, given Republicans' 53-47 control of the Senate, and the high two-thirds vote threshold required to find him guilty. But both parties were girding for tense weeks of hearings that could lay bare the US leader's alleged wrongdoing to the American public on live television. Pelosi attacked suggestions by Trump and some of his supporters that the Senate, as soon as the trial opens, vote to dismiss the charges. That would only require a majority vote.A "A dismissal is a cover-up," she charged. McConnell, however, pushed back against suggestions that he would try to prevent the trial from going ahead. "There's little or no sentiment for a motion to dismiss. Our members feel that we have an obligation to listen the arguments," he said. Trump was impeached on December 18 when the House voted to formally charge him with abusing his power by illicitly seeking help from Ukraine for his reelection campaign.A He is accused of holding up aid to Ukraine to pressure Kiev to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic party's 2020 presidential nomination. Trump is also charged with obstruction for holding back witnesses and documents from the House impeachment investigation in defiance of Congressional subpoenas. The president used a rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday night to berate the Democrats for pursuing impeachment while he was busy with issues that he said affected everyday lives. A "While we're creating jobs and killing terrorists, Democrats in Congress are wasting America's time with demented hoaxes and crazy witch hunts," he told supporters. But the White House is steeling itself for a trial that could present damaging evidence against the US leader on national television. Pelosi had delayed delivering the articles of impeachment to pressure the Senate to agree to subpoena witnesses with direct knowledge of Trump's Ukraine actions, including his chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security advisor John Bolton. McConnell said that, as with the impeachment trial of president Bill Clinton in 1999, the witness issue will only be considered after the 100 senators a the jurors in the trial a hear the prosecution and defense arguments, which could take two weeks. Late Tuesday Adam Schiff, the House Democrat who led the Trump investigation and is expected to lead the team of House impeachment managers in the Senate, announced that they had received new evidence supporting the charges that they would forward to the Senate. The evidence comes from phone records provided by Ukrainian-born American Lev Parnas, who allegedly worked with Trump's private lawyer Rudy Giuliani in the alleged scheme to pressure the Ukraine government for dirt on Trump's Democratic rivals. Parnas's records "demonstrate that there is more evidenceA relevant toA the president's scheme, but they have been concealed by the president himself," Schiff said. "There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress," he said. By Chris Lefkow source: AFP Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Patients need information, options and assistance to pay early but most healthcare providers don't deliver The ability to conduct a meaningful financial conversation with a patient well before treatment (what we call authentic patient financial engagement) has a long way to go before it can truly address the financial stressors afflicting patients and their providers In November of last year, the results of an informal industry poll conducted by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) at its Annual Meeting, were published. The survey, sponsored by Loyale Healthcare partner Parallon titled, Analyzing pre-payment and point-of-service collections efforts, offers some telling insights into healthcares readiness to meet the demands of consumers, employers, payers (insurers) and regulators in the 2020s. In any conversation about patient pre- or point-of-service payment and its growing importance to healthcare providers, its important to understand the context. Patients today account for more than a third of provider revenue, behind only Medicare and Medicaid. With the proliferation of high deductible health plans, patients now bear large deductibles, ever-increasing health insurance premiums and higher co-payments - all while trying to fund their Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). For many, concerns about personal out-of-pocket costs are so serious they delay or avoid care entirely. Delaying or avoiding care presents adverse outcomes for both providers and patients. For providers, population health initiatives are frustrated. Their mission is compromised, and their operating revenues are threatened. For patients, the decision to seek care becomes fraught with anxiety and overall health is much more likely to deteriorate - sometimes leading to more costly emergency care, for which payment often goes uncollected. This troubling industry dynamic shines a light on several longstanding deficiencies embedded in the U.S. healthcare industrys financial and operating models. Among these are the lack of price transparency and surprise medical bills, which have both been the subjects of intense regulatory and consumer scrutiny in recent months. When high deductible health plans were introduced, it was thought that higher personal costs would motivate consumers to seek better value in healthcare. The problem is, the systems to support patient consumerism are largely nonexistent - at least in any workable way for consumers. Prices are not transparent to enable comparisons. Out-of-network charges can lead to surprise medical bills. The list goes on. A TransUnion study found that, in 2016, 63% of patients owing $500 or more failed to pay in full. For balances of $3,000 and greater, that number soars to 99% - exacerbating healthcares already thinning operating margins and contributing to the increase in hospital bankruptcies. Patients are struggling to pay. Providers are struggling to collect. And both parties are suffering with the consequences. In this environment, pre-payment and point of service collections are an important indicator of a providers readiness to meet the growing demands of an increasingly empowered consumer. Heres why: any provider with a high-functioning pre and point-of-service patient payment method must possess the following capabilities: Pre-treatment price estimation - The ability to generate in a timely fashion: 1) the cost of the anticipated treatment, 2) the patients eligibility for insurance and any applicable deductibles and co-pays and 3) the portion of the bill that will be owed (and may now be paid) by the patient. The earlier an organization starts patient financial conversations, the better, says Shannon Dauchot, CEO, Parallon, Revenue Cycle Point Solutions division in the HFMA survey analysis cited above. Delaying until after the patient encounter concludes can be more difficult and can result in some unpleasant surprises for patients and the organization. By serving as a partner to the patient and family and helping them understand their responsibilities and how they can meet them, an organization will not only increase patient collections but provider a more compassionate financial experience in the process. Financial consulting and payment planning - The personnel, procedures and infrastructure to respond to each patients personal financial circumstances: Recognizing the difficulty many patients may have making payment when due, providers must approach the financial dimension of care with the same compassion and intimacy associated with their clinical care. That may mean expanding payment options to include incentives for early payment, short-term payment plans and longer-term financing, such as that offered by Loyale partner CareCredit, all in an attempt to remove cost as an obstacle to care (and payment). Staff training - The successful delivery of patient financial engagement calls for specialized training to provider staff members who are charged with collecting from patients. In the HFMA survey analysis mentioned above, HFMAs Chief Partnership Officer, Todd Nelson is quoted as saying, Although many front-office staff have come from other positions across diverse industries where they have had to ask customers for money, they have often not had to resolve disagreements about how much is owed. Mr. Nelson continues, In healthcare, these kinds of conversations are more common. Perhaps the patient doesnt understand his or her insurance coverage and doesnt think he or she owes money. Or, maybe the patient has never been asked to pay at this pointand wonders why the organization is asking now. As you can see, the successful administration of a consumer-friendly pre- and point-of-service collections initiative calls for a sophisticated variety of capabilities. So how does the industry stack up according the HFMA survey? 51% of the HFMA members surveyed said their organization had no formal policies or procedures for point-of-service collections, though 60% said they contacted patients by phone 1-14 days prior to a scheduled appointment and 7% ask for payment when the appointment is made 72% of those surveyed said they have no ongoing specialized training regarding collections 20% offer in-house payment plans, which are generally interest-free and range from four months to 24 months These survey results affirm the conclusions of a number of other industry analyses - that the ability to conduct a meaningful financial conversation with a patient well before treatment (what we call authentic patient financial engagement) has a long way to go before it can truly address the financial stressors afflicting patients and their providers. But there is some good news. Parallon, the HFMA survey sponsor, is one of a number of healthcare innovators who are leading the way toward a more consumer-friendly, financially accessible healthcare industry. Parallon chose Loyale Healthcare, as the patient financial engagement engine for HCA Healthcare precisely because Loyales technology platform brings all of the elements necessary for pre- and point-of-service collections together in one, easy to use place no matter how large or complex an enterprise may be. The platforms extraordinarily intuitive user interface puts valuable patient financial information at the fingertips of HCA personnel on site and at call centers around the country to enable the enterprise-wide delivery of consistent patient financial experiences. And because of its usability, patients are much more likely to serve themselves. Patients are demonstrating that, with an experience thats as easy to use as the online retailers they already love doing business with, theyre much more likely to engage with their provider digitally. As mentioned, patient pre and point-of-service collections are representative of the much larger phenomenon we call patient financial engagement. Like clinical care, patient financial engagement is active throughout the patients care journey - from the moment treatment is scheduled and an estimate is presented, to the day the financial commitment is fulfilled, even if full payment actually occurs well after treatment as the patient completes their payment plan. From beginning to end, smart technology can personalize each patients experience, so the clinical and financial dimensions of care can be understood and managed. At Loyale, were helping hospitals transform patients financial experiences by integrating financial, Electronic Health Record (EHR) and other systems into a single, seamless experience. Our industry-leading patient portal acts as a patients digital front door, offering personalized communications, data-driven collection workflows and payment options that work - for patients and their providers. For healthcare, the leap to consumer-friendly patient financial engagement is not an easy one, but its far less daunting than many industry executives imagine. As we wrote in a recent article, many of the building blocks are already in place. What was needed was a single, patient-centered platform that unified these many disparate systems, delivering patients and their providers the information they need to help cure healthcares financial woes. We at Loyale are excited to be a part of that revolution. Kevin Fleming is the CEO of Loyale Healthcare About Loyale Loyale Patient Financial Manager is a comprehensive patient financial engagement technology platform leveraging a suite of configurable solution components including predictive analytics, intelligent workflows, multiple patient financing vehicles, communications, payments, digital front doors and other key capabilities. Loyale Healthcare is committed to a mission of turning patient responsibility into lasting loyalty for its healthcare provider customers. Based in Lafayette, California, Loyale and its leadership team bring 27 years of expertise delivering leading financial engagement solutions for complex business environments. Loyale currently serves approximately 12,000 healthcare providers across 48 states. Loyale recently announced an Enterprise level strategic partnership with Parallon including deployment of its industry leading technology to all HCA hospitals and Physician Groups. WASHINGTON Mere minutes after telling supporters that he no longer would seek the Democratic nomination for president, Cory Booker filed for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Booker filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday to start raising money for the November election. He had drained his Senate account, transferring $2.7 million to his presidential committee, and had just $74,606 remaining as of Sept. 30. Though allowed under state law to run for both president and Senate simultaneously, Booker told the FEC last February after announcing his White House campaign that he would not seek re-election to the office he had held since winning a special election in 2013. I literally have to pull a quick turn into the Senate race, which we are starting from scratch, Booker told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC Monday evening. We have a lot of money to raise at the start to make sure my seat in the Senate is secure. He began raising that money Tuesday with an email to supporters asking them to donate to his Senate campaign. Our presidential campaign is over, but the work to make justice and opportunity real for everyone must continue, he wrote. Thats why Im running for re-election to the U.S. Senate this November. Top New Jersey Democrats immediately welcomed Booker into the Senate race. I will do everything in my power to help return Cory to the U.S. Senate this November. New Jersey and our nation need his voice now more than ever, Gov. Phil Murphy said on Twitter. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who received strong support from Booker during his successful 2018 re-election campaign, said he was eager to return the favor. His leadership and energy is invaluable to the Senate and to the people of New Jersey," said Menendez, D-N.J. "Im looking forward to hitting the campaign trail for Senator Bookers re-election this fall and to continuing our work together for years to come. State Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt, though, said he wasnt rolling out the welcome mat for Booker. If he expects to waltz back into New Jersey into open arms, he is absolutely wrong," Steinhardt said. Lawyer Stuart Meissner, one of the Republicans seeking the partys nomination to take on Booker this fall, offered similar sentiments. "Ive traveled all around this state and heard from voters who say that theyre not your consolation prize, Meissner said. Voters may feel differently about Booker. Hes typically viewed as one of the most liked and one of the most approved of, if not the most liked and most approved of, compared to other New Jersey politicians, said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor at Rutgers Universitys Eagleton Institute of Politics and the director of the institutes Center for Public Interest Polling. While Bookers job approval rating among New Jersey voters dipped after he entered the race for president, he remained in positive territory in the September Monmouth University Poll. He had 45% positive and 40% negative ratings in that survey, compared with 54% approval and 31% disapproval ratings in April 2018. We didnt see a lot of resentment among New Jersey voters, certainly not the kind of resentment we saw with Chris Christie, said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. The two Washington-based publications that track congressional races, the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, rated the Democrats as shoo-ins to retain the Senate seat. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Female northern white rhino Najin, 30, one of the last two northern white rhinos on the planet (Ben Curtis/AP) Researchers say they have successfully created another embryo of the nearly extinct northern white rhino in a global effort to keep the species alive. Just two animals remain, and both are female. The viable embryo is just the third to be created in a lab with eggs taken from the females and inseminated with frozen sperm from dead males, according to Wednesdays statement. The embryos are stored in liquid nitrogen to be transferred into a surrogate mother, a southern white rhino, in the coming months. Its amazing to see that we will be able to reverse the tragic loss of this subspecies through science, said Kenyas wildlife minister, Najib Balala, in the statement by the Kenya Wildlife Service and conservationists from Kenya, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy. The ultimate goal is to create a herd of at least five animals that could be returned to their natural habitat in Africa. Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) said in its statement that their mission is to examine evolutionary adaptations of wildlife to global change and develop new concepts and measures for the conservation of biodiversity. #northernwhiterhino pic.twitter.com/yioqoRN7fv Ministry of Tourism & Wildlife-Kenya (@Min_TourismKE) January 15, 2020 That could take decades. The two remaining female northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, are hosted by Kenya. The three viable embryos have been created with eggs from Fatu. Now the team will make every effort to achieve the same result for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her, said Thomas Hildebrandt with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research in Germany. The procedure has proven to be safe and can be performed regularly before the animals become too old, the new statement said. The next step is to select female southern white rhinos among those at Kenyas Ol Pejeta Conservancy to serve as a surrogate mother, Kenyas wildlife minister said. Decades of poaching have taken a heavy toll on rhino species. Expand Close Female northern white rhinos Fatu, 19, right, and Najin, 30, left, the last two northern white rhinos on the planet (Ben Curtis/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Female northern white rhinos Fatu, 19, right, and Najin, 30, left, the last two northern white rhinos on the planet (Ben Curtis/PA) The animals are killed for their horns, which have long been used as carving material and prized in traditional Chinese medicine for their supposed healing properties. The last male northern white rhino was a 45-year-old named Sudan, who gained fame in 2017 when he was listed as The Most Eligible Bachelor In The World on the Tinder dating app as part of a fundraising effort. Sudan, named for the country where he was born in the wild, was euthanised in 2018 because of age-related ills. Making a huge statement on Wednesday while speaking at the fifth edition of the Raisina Dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that India should be a permanent member of United Nations Security Council. He said that there should be a reform in the UNSC, stating that the main problem with the council is the under-representation of the developing countries. He added that Russia is convinced that India is a new centre of economic might, financial power and political influence. Slamming the US, he said that the formation of G20 showed that it is not only the G7 who can take important geopolitical and diplomatic decisions in the current world order. "We are convinced that the overriding trend of global development is the objective process of the formation of new centres of economic might, financial power and political influence, India is obviously one them," he said. We believe India should be permanent member of UN Security Council: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at Raisina Dialogue Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 15, 2020 Lavrov also spoke on length about China, emphasizing that Russia is not trying to contain anyone in the region including China. He said that the concept of Indo-Pacific has begun to contain China. "Why do you need to call Asian Pacific as Indo-Pacific? The answer is evident -- to exclude China. Terminology should be unifying, not divisive. Neither SCO nor BRICS is exclusionary," Lavrov said. Hitting out at the US, he said: "Concept of Indo-Pacific initiated to contain China; its aim shouldn't be divisive. Initiators of Indo-Pacific told us it is more democratic than Asia Pacific; we don't think so. There should not be any effort to contain anyone; we support India's position. When we asked the initiators how Indo-Pacific is different from Asia Pacific, we were told it is more democratic. We don't think so. It is rather tricky. We have to be careful about the terminology which looks benign but is not." Raisina Dialogue to begin on Tuesday, PM Modi to attend inaugural session At present, there are five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US. China, a veto-wielding member of the P5, however, is yet to support India's push for a permanent seat in the UNSC the other four P5 members - France, Russia, the UK and the US - have expressed their support. India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century. India, Germany, Brazil and Japan formed a group called the G4 to press for their permanent membership of the UNSC as part of reforms of the United Nations. Big Diplomatic Win: 55 Asia-Pacific countries unanimously endorse India for non-permanent seat of UN Security Council for two-year term Foreign Ministers from 13 countries to attend Raisina Dialogue Foreign ministers from 13 countries, including Russia, Iran and Australia, are attending the fifth edition of the Raisina Dialogue. The three-day event, co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), is also witnessing the participation of many deputy foreign ministers, former prime ministers, former presidents, national security advisors, military chiefs and other high-level policy-makers, scholars and officials. Over 180 delegates from 105 countries are taking part in this edition, themed '21@20: Navigating the Alpha Century'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the inauguration of the conference on Tuesday. The conference has 116 speakers. Besides, Externally Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the other foreign ministers participating in this year's conference are from Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Denmark, Hungary, Rwanda and Tanzania. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and prime ministers of Sweden, Republic of Korea, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and Bhutan are also participating in the conference. EAM Jaishankar highlights key focus of Indian Foreign Policy at Raisina Dialogue 2020 What is Raisina Dialogue? The Raisina Dialogue, as defined by ORF, is a multilateral conference committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community. Every year, global leaders in policy, business, media and civil society are hosted in New Delhi to discuss cooperation on a wide range of pertinent international policy matters. The Dialogue is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion, involving heads of state, cabinet ministers and local government officials, as well as major private sector executives, members of the media and academics. Raisina Dialogue: World leaders praise PM Modi's leadership with respect to global issues Researchers at Auburn University have detailed how overuse of fertilizers can contribute to global warming, in a new paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Overuse of fertilizers can cause large amounts of nitrogen to run off from agricultural fields or lawns into small rivers and streams. This can cause local environmental problems, including algae blooms, but also releases nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, into the air. The research team, composed of scientists from Auburn and Australia, developed a new computer model to measure how much nitrous oxide is being released into the atmosphere from global rivers and streams, allowing scientists to get a better estimate of the climate impact of agriculture. The team found there has been a fourfold increase in releases of nitrous oxide from global rivers and streams since 1900. That increase was largely tied to the widespread use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, according to the studys lead author Hanqin Tian, director of the International Center for Climate and Global Change Research at Auburns School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Nitrogen loads on headwater streams and groundwater from human activities, primarily agricultural nitrogen applications, play a significant role in the increase of global riverine nitrous oxide emissions, Tian said in a news release. Previously scientists estimates of nitrous oxide emissions were based on the amount of nitrogen detected in bodies of water multiplied by an emissions factor, estimating how quickly the substances broke down in a lab. But many factors can change the rate at which nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere, including atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, weather, land use and farming practices. For this study, the researchers built computer models to create more accurate representations of the actual conditions in 50 river basins across the globe to provide a more accurate estimate of emissions under varying conditions. The model outputs were then compared to direct measurements from the river basins, where the researchers say the outputs agreed well with observations both spatially and temporally. The increase in nitrous oxide emissions escalated quickly in the 1990s with the widespread increase in the use of nitrogen fertilizers, but decreased slightly after 2010, as total use of the fertilizers dipped and the impacts of over-fertilizing became more well-known. "One of the most compelling new findings is the importance of surface and subsurface processes in nitrous oxide emissions from the worlds river networks, said Shufen Pan, director of Auburns GIS and Remote Sensing Laboratory in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and co-author of the study. Previous estimates ignored or underestimated large nitrous oxide emissions from headwater or small rivers. The researchers found that those small headwaters and streams accounted for up to 85 percent of total nitrous oxide emissions. Australia-based climate scientist Josep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project, is a co-author on the paper and said that nitrous oxide is often described as the unspoken greenhouse gas because of its association with food production, which no one wants to compromise. But knowing how much nitrous oxide is being released, and what conditions are most favorable to releasing it, can help scientists and policymakers decide how best to proceed in reducing those emissions without disrupting the food supply. We now have a more precise quantification of [nitrous oxides] impacts to help us target mitigation strategies which, in most cases, also makes farming more sustainable and increases farm-level economic gains, Canadell said. Tian said dealing with nitrous oxide emissions will be an important factor in climate mitigation strategies going forward, as well as general best practices in agriculture. All greenhouse gas emission pathways consistent with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement require large and sustained reductions on nitrous oxide emissions, which in turn require improved quantification, process attribution and methodological transparency, Tian said. The full paper, titled Increased global nitrous oxide emissions from streams and rivers in the Anthropocene, was published on Dec. 23. Researchers on the study also included Auburn postdoctoral fellows Hao Shi and Rongting Xu, recent graduate Yuanzhi Yao and doctoral student Naiqing Pan. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 12:19:44|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Flights in and out of Australia's Melbourne airport were interrupted on Wednesday due to dense bushfire smoke reducing visibility and creating dangerous conditions. Smoke drifting across from bushfires in Victoria State's East Gippsland region forced traffic controllers to close one of the airports runways, leading to the cancellation of 50 domestic flights. A spokesperson for the airport told Xinhua that delays were likely to continue well into the afternoon and passengers should check for updates. "We would expect some of the delays to continue into the evening and possibly again tomorrow," they said. It is the second day of significantly reduced air quality for Melbourne after some flights were affected on Tuesday. Qualifying sessions for the Australian Open were also affected by the hazardous smog, with matches postponed and at least one athlete suffering health concerns while playing. The weather was expected to turn late on Wednesday with thunderstorms predicted to bring rain to the state's central districts clearing the air. "Extensive smoke haze lingers across Victoria this morning, though much clearer conditions expected in Melbourne on Thursday after the arrival of a (southerly) change," a spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology posted online. The fatality toll of Victoria's ongoing fire disaster rose to five on Wednesday after authorities said that the death of a Forrest Fires Management contractor who was killed in November when his vehicle rolled, would officially be attributed to the fires. Military alliance between Japan and the United States is crucial to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region, said Japanese Gen Koji Yamasaki here on Wednesday. "The Japanese military is interested not only in land, air and sea but also securing the cyber domain, outer space and electromagnetic spectrum," he said during a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue, which focused on the Quad grouping in the Indo-Pacific region. Gen Koji said that the Japanese military "is interested not only in land, air and sea but also in securing the cyber domain, outer space and electromagnetic spectrum." The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, also known as the Quad) is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries. The Quad was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, with the support of Vice President Dick Cheney of the US, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. The diplomatic and military arrangement was widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power, and the Chinese government responded to the Quadrilateral dialogue by issuing formal diplomatic protests to its members. "From a military point of view, it is necessary to closely co-operate with countries that share common values," Yamasaki stressed in response to a question about whether the Quad is about China. Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir, who was also part of the discussion said the Quad will evolve organically because there was a common understanding among its members of what they want as the end goal. Talking about the future of Quad Admiral Singh said it will grow organically. "The fact is that, bilaterally and multilaterally, we are operating together. If and when there is a desire to move further, we are almost ready for that," he said. On the Indo-Pacific, he said such constructs are not against anybody but for something. Singh said that there has been increasing Chinese involvement in the Indian Ocean and the Indian Navy was watching carefully. He referred to an incident in which a Chinese naval ship was driven away from India's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Andaman sea. Admiral Singh said that the Indian Navy had told China whenever its ships entered India's exclusive economic zones that it impinges on Indian interests. Meanwhile, General Luc de Rancourt of France, who was also part of the discussion said that his country has a long-standing presence in Djibouti in East Africa, and has observed the Chinese arrival in the region. But the General remained confident that the "France-Djibouti relationship is strong." Djibouti hosts the largest French military presence since its independence in 1962. The small coastal nation on the Horn of Africa is a mandatory passageway for important maritime trade routes. China has, in recent times, stepped up its military presence in Africa, with ongoing plans to secure an even greater military presence in Djibouti specifically. Djibouti's strategic location makes the country prime for an increased military presence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Donald Trump has signed the first phase of a new trade agreement with China after two years of tension between the two superpowers that have rattled economies around the world. Related: Trump vaunts his China trade pact but some say its too little, too late Trump said: Today, we are taking a momentous step towards a future of fair and reciprocal trade. Together we are righting the wrong of the past. At long last Americans have a government that puts them first at the negotiating table, he said. This is the biggest deal anybody has ever seen. Trump and Chinas chief trade negotiator, Liu He, signed the deal at a packed press conference, attended by Ivanka Trump, much of Trumps cabinet, Henry Kissinger, and media and business leaders including Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman of Blackstone, and Ajay Banga, the president of Mastercard. The signing came hours after Democrats named the team that will prosecute Trump in an impeachment trial that starts early next week. The first phase of the deal will further open the Chinese market to US companies, and includes roughly $200bn in Chinese purchases of American goods and services. But it will also leave in place much of the $360bn worth of tariffs that the US has already imposed on Chinese goods, and the threat of additional punishment if Beijing does not live up to the terms of the deal. Trump campaigned on tackling what he saw as Chinas unfair trade practices, accusing the country of raping the US and perpetuating the greatest theft in the history of the world. The often rancorous trade dispute has hurt agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors of the US economy, and the uncertainty it has engendered has worried business leaders. But its impact on the broader economy does not appear to have been as dire as some predicted. The trade deal, if it holds, could be a major political boost for Trump in an election year when he can argue his tough stance with China has paid off. US stock markets hit record highs after the signing. Story continues The treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, called the deal a very significant agreement but said the Trump administration would impose further tariffs if China does not abide by the agreement and move to address other issues in the next phase of discussions. This gives China a big incentive to get back to the table and agree to the additional issues that are still unresolved, Mnuchin told CNBC. Although the deal is expected to give US companies greater protection for their trade secrets in China, big issues remain. The US wants China to address the huge subsidies it gives to industries including steel and solar panels that have allowed Chinese companies to dominate those markets with cheap exports. Beijing also rejected a call to include a pledge not to hack US companies, arguing such a promise was not part of a trade deal. Trump said tariffs would remain in place until a second phase of the deal is signed. This first phase hardly addresses in any substantive way the fundamental sources of trade and economic tensions between the two sides, which will continue to fester, said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell economist and and former head of the International Monetary Funds China division. Mary Lovely, professor of economics at Syracuse University, described the deal as a trade truce with large state-directed purchases attached. Even so, she wrote, the truce is good news for the US and the world economy. The phase one deal cancels planned US tariffs on Chinese-made cellphones, toys and laptop computers and halves the tariff rate to 7.5% on about $120bn worth of other Chinese goods, including flat panel televisions, Bluetooth headphones and footwear. But it will leave in place 25% tariffs on a vast, $250bn array of Chinese industrial goods and components used by US manufacturers. Agencies contributed to this report Iran's Judiciary: Arrests made over downing of Ukraine jetliner Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 11:09 AM Iran's Judiciary says a number of arrests have been made in connection with the recent downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane nearTehran, which killed all 176 on board. Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, the Judiciary's spokesman, said on Tuesday that special commissions had been set up by the General Staff of the Armed Forces to investigate the tragedy. "Thorough investigations have been launched and a number of individuals have been arrested," said the official, without specifying exactly how many people were in detention. The Judiciary Organization of the Armed Forces has been tasked with probing the data on the aircraft's black boxes with the help of experts from the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran as well as electronic warfare professionals, the spokesman said. Esmaili further noted that efforts would be made to shed light on all dimensions of the incident and to ensure that justice is served. An Iranian air defense unit mistakenly shot down Flight 752 of the Ukrainian International Airlines on Wednesday morning shortly after take-off from Tehran en route to Kiev. The operator had mistaken the Boeing 737-800 with a cruise missile at a time when the air defense systems were at the highest level of alert following Iran's missile strike on a US air base in Iraq in retaliation for Washington's assassination of prominent commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. The official said that many individuals had already been interrogated as part of the probe, and that documents and evidence were being collected. 'Judiciary regards UK envoy as persona non grata' Elsewhere in his remarks, Esmaili referred to the brief arrest of British Ambassador to Tehran Robert Macaire during an unauthorized protest near Tehran's Amir Kabir University on Saturday. "The fact that the UK ambassador to the Islamic Republic attends an illegal gathering, takes photos and videos of the event and plays a provocative role is totally unacceptable," he said. "In his first encounter with [Iranian] security forces, [Macaire] spoke in English and refused to introduce himself, but when he later realized that he risked being arrested, he began to speak in Persian and introduced himself as Britain's envoy," the official added. He said the British ambassador's action clearly amounted to "mischief and lying," stressing that "under international law, such elements are regarded as persona non grata, whether they are diplomats or not. The public is demanding his expulsion." The official said the responsibility to make a decision in this regard resides with the Foreign Ministry, but that from the Judiciary's perspective, "Macaire is a persona non grata." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's President Rouhani calls for special court to hear plane tragedy cases Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 10:22 AM Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says all those responsible for the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran should be brought to justice, urging that a special tribunal be appointed to hear cases and try all those involved. The Ukrainian jetliner tragedy is not an ordinary case, which requires that the Judiciary set up a special court presided by a supreme judge to look into the issue with the help of the most professional experts in the field, President Rouhani suggested. The Ukraine International Airlines' Flight 752, en route to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranian and Iranian-Canadian passengers, crashed minutes after take-off near the capital Tehran early on Wednesday, killing all 176 on board. In their initial assessments, Iranian officials attributed the crash to technical failure and dismissed the possibility of the plane having been shot down by missiles. However, after conducting a thorough investigation, Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces released a statement on Saturday, acknowledging that the Ukrainian plane had been brought down by a missile fired "unintentionally" due to "human error." The incident came as Iranian air defenses were at the highest level of alert following the country's missile attacks against US bases in Iraq, which came in retaliation for Washington's assassination of senior Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. In his Tuesday's remarks, Rouhani noted, "Immediately after I established that a very painful and unforgivable error had been committed, I instructed the officials to inform the public. "This is a hugely bitter incident, which is extremely hard for people to accept. Even if the aircraft had crashed because of technical problems, it would still have been a grievous incident. But after it was confirmed that a human error had led to this tragedy, it hurt public sentiment even more," he added. The president noted that the crash could not have been caused by a single individual, giving assurances that all those involved would face prosecution. "Not just the one person who pressed the button is to blame; there are others involved. I want this issue to be honestly explained to the people," he said, adding that it is highly important for the Iranian people that everyone bearing some degree of responsibility be identified and punished accordingly. "It is a first good step that the Iranian Armed Forces have admitted their mistake We should now [work to] assure the people that this will not happen again," Rouhani said, adding that his government would be "accountable to the Iranians and the nationals of other countries who lost their lives in this incident." This is not just about an unfortunate accident that led to the loss of lives that "were very dear to us," but "this is also a question of airspace security, which is of prime importance to Iran and the world," said the president. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Charleston's newest supermarket will soon welcome its first customers. Harris Teeter, in the new West Ashley Circle Shopping Center on Bees Ferry Road, will open at 8 a.m. Feb. 12, according to company spokeswoman Danna Robinson. The new store at 3865 West Ashley Circle will be the 18th in the Charleston region for the Matthews, N.C.-based food chain, a subsidiary of The Kroger Co. of Cincinnati. The retailer recently applied for its license to sell alcoholic beverages, one of the final steps taken before opening. The store also will include a Starbucks coffee bar. Last chapter Barnes & Noble Booksellers is in its final days in North Charleston. The chain's 25,046-square-foot store in Northwoods Marketplace Shopping Center will close Saturday to make way for a new Aldi discount grocery store at 7620 Rivers Ave. Some items in the bookstore are marked down 50 percent. Aldi, expected to open in late summer, will serve as an anchor along with other big-box retailers in the shopping center such as Michaels, Best Buy and Big Lots. A Chick-fil-A restaurant sits on an outparcel. Once the store closes, the Charleston region will be left with two Barnes & Noble locations in Mount Pleasant and West Ashley. Aldis lease is for 10 years with several five-year options to extend its stay, and it likely will be the chains largest store in the region. The penny-pinching grocer is known for requiring customers to insert a quarter to retrieve a shopping cart and then allowing them to get the quarter back when the cart is returned to its portal. Also, it does not provide shopping bags. It offers a variety of products, mostly under its own label, as well as fresh produce. The discount grocer has been beefing up its presence in the Charleston region since first opening on Dorchester Road on the edge of Summerville and North Charleston in 2015. A second store was added in 2017 in Mount Pleasant on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. A third store is planned for North Main and East 9th North streets in Summerville not far from the relatively new Earth Fare supermarket. Carry-out request A downtown Charleston men's clothing store wants to add adult beverages to its carry-out offerings. Ike Behar at 169 King St. has applied for a state license to sell beer and wine for off-premise consumption. The Miami-based clothing brand opened in 2012 with its first retail shop in Charleston. Also, Charleston's Zoning Board of Appeals will consider a request Tuesday to set up a late-night bar and restaurant within 500 feet of a residential district at 385 Meeting St. That's where Sol Southwest Kitchen + Tequila Bar operated before closing last fall. Sight plan Eyeglass World is eyeing a space in West Ashley for a second Charleston-area location. Site plans show the eyewear shop looking at a 3,387-square-foot space at 2031 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. in a former Verizon Wireless space. The vendor has another Lowcountry location on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, its only one in South Carolina. New threads A new boutique clothing store is launching in Mount Pleasant. Megan Masters, whose designs won her a spot as a finalist in a Belk fashion contest in 2012, and business partner Meredith Murphy, will open Mulberry & King at 1223 Ben Sawyer Blvd. on Jan. 23, offering 20 percent off as part of the opening-day celebration. The two launched an online-only business in 2016 and have now opened a flagship brick-and-mortar shop. Lights outs Two Mount Pleasant shops recently turned out the lights. Southern Accent Designers Showcase Market at 630 Coleman Blvd. in Moultrie Plaza Shopping Center closed at the end of December after a 20-year run, according to a Facebook post. Also closed is women's clothing store Mary Mojo Boutique at 1405 Ben Sawyer Blvd. Now serving Another new store recently opened in the Market at Mill Creek Shopping Center in Mount Pleasant. Frozen yogurt shop sweetFrog opened earlier this month at 2114 S.C. Highway 41, Suite 102, according to store owner Jennifer Lawrence. The 1,200-square-foot shop is open noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Beauty spot A new cosmetics retailer will host the grand opening of its fourth South Carolina location with free offerings in late January in Mount Pleasant. Bluemercury, which also has a shop on King Street in downtown Charleston and another on Kiawah Island, will offer free gift bags to the first 50 attendees during its opening celebration at 10 a.m. Jan. 25 at Towne Centre. It offers another location in Greenville. The 1,892-square-foot shop at 1230 Belk Drive opened Jan. 10 and is the company's 201st location. In addition to providing top brands, the shop offers in-house spa treatments. Marla Beck is the CEO and co-founder. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin at the partys opening press conference of the General Election (Brian Lawless/PA) Fianna Fail is in a stronger position regarding gender balance than at the last election, despite only just meeting the quota, leader Micheal Martin has said. The party is fielding 82 candidates across the 40 constituencies in Ireland, 26 are women and 56 are men. When asked on Wednesday about gender parity on his tickets, Mr Martin hesitated before answering: Were about 31, were just short of 31%, 26. We've a strong team of women on this occasion, much stronger than 2016, which is progress, 30.7% nowMicheal Martin These are national quotas, and obviously it depends on local circumstances in terms of the candidates election. Weve a strong team of women on this occasion, much stronger than 2016, which is progress, 30.7% now, he said. It varies, from constituency to constituency, so its a stronger team than the last time. In the 2016 election the party ran 77 candidates and 22 were female just over 28%. Of the 44 candidates elected, six were women. When asked what the party was doing to encourage more women to run for elected office, Mr Martin said the party offered seminars and support with leafleting. In all levels of the party we work with people, we do everything we can to encourage and support women to run in local or general elections, he said. Its good for us, we can attract diverse, and people who would not normally be in the political, erm, you know, in the political thing, coming into the party. We hold seminars and we work and encourage and try and incentivise people to take part, because it can be a daunting prospect for people, to compete in local and general elections, and they do need support in terms of literature and leafleting, and are given assurances that that support is forthcoming. Fianna Fail are fielding two female candidates in Kerry, Kildare South and Tipperary constituencies. Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour have managed to nominate just enough female candidates in this election to guarantee state funding. Under current Irish legislation, funding to parties will be halved unless 30% of their candidates in the General Election are women. Refresh this page throughout the Democratic debate for live updates Six Democratic presidential candidates will meet in Iowa for the last debate before voters cast the first ballots of the primary race, and it could be anyones state to win. State of the race A series of polls released in January suggests a four-way standoff among the same candidates who have led for much of the primary so far. Former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S, Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former South Bend, Ind,, Mayor Pete Buttigieg remain at the top of the pack. The race is intensifying accordingly. Warren and Sanders had largely avoided attacking each other on the campaign trail, but the former allies could be at odds after Warren accused Sanders of telling her in 2018 that he didnt think a woman could win in 2020. Sanders denied the exchange. The senators champion similar campaign pledges to fight corporate influence on government, establish a single-payer government-run health care system and create renewable energy manufacturing jobs. Warren and Sanders stood together to defend their policies against attacks from more moderate rivals like Biden and Buttigieg during last years debate in Detroit, but the progressive candidates could change their tone Tuesday night. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and billionaire activist Tom Steyer will also be looking for a bump before the Iowa caucuses begin. Steyer has remained afloat by leveraging his fortune but hasnt gathered much traction throughout the campaign. Klobuchar pitched herself as the candidate who can win back white working-class voters in former blue wall states like Michigan, calling herself the daughter of the heartland." However, polling has shown her campaign remains mired in the single digits. Klobuchar touts the heartland Klobuchar has consistently been the candidate most focused on talking directly to voters in the Midwest during these debates. During a conversation about each candidates message to voters, she said states like Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan arent flyover country to me, I live here. Democrats agree on climate change Climate change didnt get a spotlight until late in the night, though candidates tried to connect the topic to other issues. Steyer, an environmental activist, agreed with Sanders that climate change should be declared a national emergency, saying swift action is needed to reverse pollution and other harmful environmental effects. Candidates largely agreed on the need to transition off fossil fuels Will Trump emerge from impeachment stronger? Half of the candidates on stage will have to come off the campaign trail during Trumps impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. Biden wont, but he still takes a central role in the conflict. Trumps alleged attempt to push Ukraine to investigate his son is at the heart of the impeachment charges, which accuse the president of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. He said the U.S. House had no choice but to impeach Trump. Klobuchar said the Senate would essentially make Trump a king if they clear him of wrongdoing without any scrutiny. This is a decency check on our government, this is a patriotism check, Klobuchar said. Bloomberg campaign gets real weird Mike Bloombergs campaign made the most of being unable to participate in the Democratic debate with a series of bizarre posts on Twitter. Test your political knowledge: SPOT THE MEATBALL THAT LOOKS LIKE MIKE. pic.twitter.com/CkzdgwpzdI Team Bloomberg (@Mike2020) January 15, 2020 Bloomberg is self-funding his campaign, so he did not meet the Democratic National Committees donor thresholds to participate in the January debate in Iowa. Televised presidential debates are the best way candidates can pick up momentum, so it looks like Bloombergs team tried to cash in on some viral posts while he sat out the event. Check out a longer list of tweets by clicking the link below. Sanders denies saying he didnt think a woman can become president Warren doubled down on the assertion that Sanders told her in a one-on-one 2018 meeting that a woman couldnt be elected president. Sanders was asked to defend the remarks during the debate. As a matter of fact, I didnt say it," Sanders responded. Sanders attempted to shrug off the assertion, but Warren reiterated the claim. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie," Warren said. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head on." Warren pointed out that she is the only person on the debate stage who beat an incumbent Republican in the last 30 years. Michigans governor gets a shoutout Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was given a nod during the January Democratic debate in Iowa during a conversation on whether women have a harder time winning elections in America. Klobuchar cited Whitmer, who decisively beat Republican Bill Schuette two years after Michigan flipped for President Donald Trump, while listing examples of women who can win. Whitmers commanding 10-point win over Schuette, who was endorsed by Trump, re-energized Democrats left shell-shocked after Trumps 2016 triumph. Klobuchar said qualifiers like gender are less important than a candidates qualifications, though Democrats agreed female voters will have a huge impact on the 2020 election. You dont have to be the skinniest person in the room, Klobuchar said. You dont have to be the loudest person. You have to be competent. Democrats differ on USMCA trade deal Sanders stood alone during the January Democratic debate by declaring he would not support a renegotiated North American trade deal supported by union workers and Democrats in states like Michigan. Sanders said he cant support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement without any environmental protections, though he said it is an improvement to NAFTA, which has been credited with sucking manufacturing jobs from blue-collar towns across the Midwest. Trump campaigned on rewriting the trade deal -- his solution gathered bipartisan support in the U.S. House and is likely to pass the U.S. Senate this year. Should we stay or should we go? Candidates disagreed on whether its time to remove combat troops from the Middle East. Biden said a small force is needed to prevent the resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups, while Warren said its time to bring all combat troops home. Sanders said the defense spending would better be used to end homelessness. Buttigieg said any authorization of military force given by Congress should have a 3-year sunset to prevent endless wars. Foreign wars The first question of the debate centered on why the candidates should be trusted the lead the countrys military, which kicked off a few jabs between Sanders and Biden about where they stood on the 2003 Iraq War. Sanders said the Iraq War was the greatest blunder in modern history, an expensive endeavor that took resources that should have been directed to improve the United States instead. Sanders said he did everything he could to stop the Iraq War, in contrast with Biden, who voted in support of it. Biden said he was misled by the Bush administration and said the vote was a mistake. Members of Congress expressed concern that the recent killing of a top Iranian general could be leading the U.S. closer to war with Iran. Sanders said the Trump administration is lying about the reasons it was necessary to kill the Iranian leader. The two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetime were the war in Vietnam and the ar in Iraq. Both those wars were based on lies," Sanders said. Debates so white Meanwhile, the historically large field of candidates continues to shrink. The field was the most diverse slate of Democrats ever assembled at the outset of the campaign cycle, but the debate stage has become older and whiter as the primary unfolded. Nine candidates, including all six debating Tuesday, urged the Democratic National Committee to lower thresholds to qualify for the January and February debates. Their letter to the DNC noted many of the candidates who had helped make the Democratic field diverse had been excluded" from recent debates. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro talk during a break in the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., dropped out Monday, leaving only one African American candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, vying for the Democratic nomination. Patrick is a relative unknown at this point in the race, and he wont be on Michigans primary ballot on March 10. Former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro, who was outspoken about the primary fields diminishing diversity exited the race on Jan. 2. Businessman Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, remains in the race but will not be on the debate stage Tuesday. No clear front-runner in Iowa Polling can be a good indicator of the state of the race, but shouldnt be taken at face value. A variety of Iowa polls released in the last month show the tight race remains a dynamic situation. The most recent poll released by Monmouth University found Biden leading the pack with 24% of the vote. Sanders, Buttigieg and Warren followed closely, locked in a statistical tie. A poll released days earlier by the DesMoines Register and CNN found Sanders in first place with 20% of the vote. Trump campaign wants some of the spotlight Trump is making his first 2020 appearance in Wisconsin, a state that will be a critical battleground in the race, on the same night as the debate. The visit is part of a recent push to campaign in key Midwest states. The president campaigned in Battle Creek, Michigan in December and visited Toledo, Ohio earlier this month. Mayor no more You might have missed this during the holidays, but Buttigieg is no longer Mayor Pete. Buttigiegs eight years in office in South Bend, Ind., ended when his successor was sworn in. on New Years Day. FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2019, file photo, Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks with an Associated Press reporter at his office in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)AP That may not end the use of his Mayor Pete moniker in campaign materials. Staff for Biden routinely refer to him as the vice president, though he gave up that title after leaving office in 2017. Warren vows to eliminate student debt without Congress Warren released a new plan Tuesday morning that would cancel student loans without Congress, avoiding one of the likely obstacles to implementing her progressive agenda if elected in November. Debt relief would be offered to 42 million Americans, the campaign said. Warren had vowed to wipe out student loans for 95% of borrowers and offer free tuition at public universities through a tax on the wealthiest Americans, but that plan would need approval from Congress. The new plan states Warren would direct her secretary of education to begin canceling up to $50,000 in debt on her first day in office. Were facing a student loan crisis -- one thats holding back our economy and crushing millions of American families, Warren said in a statement. How do I watch the debate? The seventh Democratic debate, hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register, is scheduled to run from 9 to 11 p.m. at Drake University. Watch the live broadcast on CNN, watch a free online stream at desmoinesregister.com or tun in on mobile devices through CNNs and The Des Moines Registers apps. MLives Michigan Politics Facebook page will also be hosting a watch party online. Like the page to receive a notification when the debate goes live. CNN political anchor Wolf Blitzer, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip and The Registers chief political correspondent Brianne Pfannenstiel will moderate the debate. Who is participating? Former Vice President Joe Biden Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Businessman Tom Steyer U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. To qualify for the January debate, candidates must have received 5% or more support in at least four different polls or 7% or more support in two single-state polls. Candidates must also have received donations from at least 225,000 total donors and 1,000 donors from 20 states. Washington DC [USA], Jan 15 (ANI): Taranjit Singh Sandhu will take charge as the new Indian Ambassador to the United States, a senior Indian official told ANI. He will succeed Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the new Foreign Secretary-designate, who recently left for New Delhi to take charge later this month. Official sources said that the file relating to the Ambassador's appointment has been cleared by the competent authority but the government is yet to make an official announcement about it. Sandhu is the current High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka since January 24, 2017. He has previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of India in Washington DC from 2013 to 2017. The Ambassador had also previously served in the Indian mission in DC between 1997 to 2000 and is generally believed to be a familiar face in the Washington DC circle. Official sources also told ANI that Sandhu's appointment will be announced 'soon' in light of the possibility that US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India on a standalone visit towards the end of February. The official also said that the procedures of the new appointee are also underway in Washington DC. (ANI) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 21:06:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday it has sent two transport planes and 70 personnel of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Australia to help fight the devastating bushfires. Eight SDF members were already in Australia. They were joined by the two Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport planes and the personnel who were newly dispatched and left Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture, tasked mainly to carry personnel and supplies. Ryota Takeda, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, asked the SDF to make "utmost efforts" for the relief operations in a meeting. Takeda ordered the mission on behalf of Defense Minister Taro Kono, who is currently visiting the United States. "We will send (the SDF), taking into consideration the humanitarian point of view, and our friendly and cooperative relationship with Australia, which is a special strategic partner," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. At least 27 people have died in the bushfires that continue to burn across Australia since September. The bushfires have affected more than 10.7 million hectares of land across the country and 1,870 homes have been destroyed in the state of New South. By Trend Executive Director of Human Rights Watchs Middle East and North Africa Division Sarah Leah Whitson supports construction of illegal settlements in the territory of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia, reads an article posted in the Wall Street Journal, Trend reports Jan. 15. The settlements Ms. Whitson supports are in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area that was within the borders of post-Soviet Azerbaijan until 1994, when Armenia occupied the region after a protracted war, the article said. Since then, the Armenian leadership in Yerevan has actively encouraged the movement of settlers into the area. The UN, international courts and the US all consider Nagorno Karabakh occupied Azerbaijani territory, according to the article. Ms. Whitson, who is from an Armenian family, served as master of ceremonies at a 2018 fundraiser for the Armenian National Committee of America, a pro-settler charity that views Karabakh as an integral part of the Armenian homeland, the article said. She took to Twitter to promote Armenian wines, including from the occupied territories, reads the article. She responded by email: My personal support for Armenian diaspora organizations pertains to their charitable and educational work in Armenia and their efforts to advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Ms. Whitsons fundraising appeals for pro-settlement groups are in no way limited to educational issues, the article said. She has celebrated the work of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which supports new settlement construction to encourage young families to set down their roots. She specifically praised the group for helping Syrian Armenians who have resettled in Armenia; many or most such refugees have been resettled in the occupied territory. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. CALGARY, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Encana Corporation (NYSE, TSX: ECA) today provided participant details for its upcoming Anadarko Basin conference call and webcast: TIME/DATE: 2:30 p.m. MT, Wednesday, January 29, 2020 DIAL IN DETAILS: (866) 211-4955 (toll-free in North America) or (647) 427-7450 (international) SLIDE DECK: Slides available at www.encana.com under Investors/Presentations and Events immediately after market close on Jan. 29 What to expect: A detailed review of key operational accomplishments over the last year in the Anadarko Basin and how positive results are creating long-term value for the Company. A discussion on how Encana rapidly applied its proven practices to significantly decrease well costs, improve returns and make the Anadarko Basin competitive across all top North American basins. Broad participation from Encana's executive leadership team and Anadarko leadership team in the webcast and subsequent Q&A session. Encana Corporation Encana Corporation is a leading North American energy producer that is focused on developing its strong portfolio of resource plays, held directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries, producing oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas. By partnering with employees, community organizations and other businesses, Encana contributes to the strength and sustainability of the communities where it operates. Encana common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ECA. ADVISORY REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, "FLS") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. FLS include: expectations and projections regarding operational accomplishments in the Anadarko Basin and the benefits therefrom. FLS involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause such statements not to occur or results to differ materially. Such assumptions, risks and uncertainties are described in Encana's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in Encana's other periodic filings as filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. Although Encana believes such FLS are reasonable, there can be no assurance they will prove to be correct. The above-referenced assumptions, risks and uncertainties are not exhaustive. FLS are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, Encana undertakes no obligation to update or revise any FLS. Further information on Encana Corporation is available on the company's website, www.encana.com, or by contacting: SOURCE Encana Corporation Related Links www.encana.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 14:20:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi has called for in-depth efforts to curb telecom and Internet fraud. At a national teleconference held Wednesday, Zhao demanded a continuous campaign against such fraud and the related illegal industry, and a strengthened prevention system targeting such crime to block fraudulent calls, short messages as well as websites. He also required improving the work to stop further payments by telecom and Internet fraud victims and freeze the defrauded money. Chinese police cracked 200,000 telecom and Internet fraud cases and captured 163,000 suspects in 2019. ALTON Zonta Club of Alton-Wood River will host its annual trivia night to raise funds for club under Zonta International, of which its clubs work together to improve the lives of women and girls. The Zonta Club of Alton-Wood River Trivia Night is at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 29, at Alton-Wood River Sportsmens Club, 3109 Godfrey Road, in Godfrey, and will feature The Arch Rivals Companys Sam Prainito as the evenings host. Doors open at 6 p.m. Evolution of the State CDO Keys to Success Whats Next for CDOs? The purpose of this story was to find out exactly how many state chief data officers there are, but as a moving target with nuanced terms, its not a simple figure to assess.In July 2018, the last time made a list , 21 states had a CDO. (California, Massachusetts and Michigan were mistakenly omitted.) That number has climbed to 28, not counting Washington, D.C., and given several caveats: Four are not technically called CDOs, but similar or equivalent positions like data management architect or director of applications; three are currently filled by an interim or acting staff member; and eight are currently vacant or hiring.This data, available in detail in the map above, is based on calls and emails to state governments, as well as prior news coverage, the State CDO Network and LinkedIn.During the past 18 months, eight states Arizona, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wyoming appear to have established a state CDO or similar position. Of the 22 states that dont have a CDO, seven of them are either planning to create the position or exploring the need for one: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin.Uniquely, the state of Alabama had a CDO but eliminated the position in September 2019, a little more than a year after creating it. Alabama CIO Marty Redden, who officially became secretary of the states IT office in November 2019, did not respond to requests for comment. Tyler Kleykamp , founder and director of the State Chief Data Officers Network , said Colorado was the first state to create a CDO position in 2011. New York, Illinois and Connecticut were soon to follow, and every year since then has seen a few more states join the list. He said most CDOs work within the state IT apparatus, under a CIO who created the role administratively. Some larger states with more resources have done it via legislation or executive order, which Kleykamp said amounts to a helpful statement of broad support for the idea. But the impetus across the board has been a growing recognition of data as a strategic asset something that can improve policy or the delivery of public services.A lot of the responsibilities that are being placed on CDOs have historically been filled by the chief information officer or a chief technology officer in the state, Kleykamp said. States are beginning to realize that data is more than just a thing they collect to do their business and administer programs. It has value beyond the purpose for which it was initially collected.Data being a strategic asset, Kleykamp explained three main components of traditional asset management: It needs to be maintained, accounted for, and put to its highest and best use. With data, he said, maintained means data governance, or life-cycle management of data; accounted for means some form of data inventory; and highest and best use means innovative ways to leverage data that already exists.Kleykamp said a CDO should be not only a technical person, but also someone knowledgeable enough about public policy and service delivery to make data useful. By overseeing the integration of data across different statewide systems, for example, a CDO might help the state answer questions about whether giving children medical insurance through Medicaid leads to better educational outcomes.That doesnt necessarily mean the CDO has to be responsible for doing the full sweep of analytics around that, Kleykamp said. It could be that theyre advising the real policy experts in terms of, how do you get data out of these two systems and match records of individuals that dont have common, unique identifiers? How do you de-identify data in a way that makes it legally permissible to use it? What are the best tools, or the best approach from an analytics perspective, to answer that question?Whether a state creates the CDO position administratively or legislatively, Kleykamp mentioned two critical factors in their success: that they have the support of the state government from the start, and that they have a place in the established chain of communication. Given both those things, they might also need time to set up long-term projects.Leadership in states need to have a very clear idea of the critical questions that they want to be able to answer through the use of data, and they need to make sure those are communicated to the chief data officer, as well as the agencies theyre going to work with, he said. [CDOs] are often an office of one, charged with figuring it out. When [states] create these, they dont have a lot of resources to dedicate to them. The value proposition to a legislature can be a little bit murky, so they may need more than four years to really get something off the ground thats sustainable and well-resourced.In Wisconsin, CIO David Cagigal said early drafts of legislation are in the works to create a chief analytics officer position, effectively the same thing as a CDO, who will report to state administration and have a staff of less than six. He doesnt expect the position to be approved before 2021, but said a key part of it will be a data-sharing agreement for crossing departmental lines while protecting citizen privacy. The result, he said, could make data useful not only to state officials, but to legislators and citizens. He already has use cases in mind, such as investigating causes of the opioid epidemic.Anything and everything that has a question associated with it, we should be able to answer with the data we sit on. We transact business every day In our mainframe area, we have 15 billion transactions that are processed, ranging from corrections to health services to the Department of Revenues taxes, Cagigal said. So when were looking at the opioid crisis, we look at multiple agencies, we bring that data together and look at trends and predictions.However the structure and function of the state CDO evolves, Kleykamp foresees it continuing to grow, in general, as states begin to see the value of data in new ways. He said leaders already expect answers to critical questions in short amounts of time, and thats not likely to change, especially as a new generation of political leadership comes to power that grew up with computers. He also speculated that the political appointment of CDOs might become more common once lower-level staffers are in place.In the long term, I think as the role matures and we figure out the best way to establish and resource it, it could ultimately become more valuable to make that more of a political appointment, so you have a more direct connection to the governor in the state, he said. Then, since you have staffed CDO officers, you dont lose that institutional knowledge.Kleykamp mentioned several groups either advocating or exploring the role of CDOs in state government, including the Beeck Center at Georgetown University where he works, and the nonprofit Results for America, which is studying how states leverage data and evidence to inform public policy.To his knowledge, Kleykamps own State CDO Network is the only group specifically focused on helping current or possible state CDOs do their job.Were here to be a resource for any state thats thinking about doing it, that wants advice about whats working in states and how it would benefit them, he said. Well be generating things like templates to conduct a data inventory, or a playbook for them to use, say, around better integrating data across systems. Well also be doing some work on specific public policy areas where we think states are primed and uniquely positioned to have a positive impact.Besides keeping an email list and a trove of documents and data resources, Kleykamp said the State CDO Network hosts quarterly in-person meetings, a monthly video conference call and occasional webinars, based on interest and availability. Recently, for example, Kentuckys CDO Krishna Mupparaju did a webinar on how to launch a state longitudinal data system.Were here to help states better leverage their data, he said. President Trump on Wednesday signed a phase one trade agreement with China, marking the beginning of improved trade relations after months of negotiations and two years of tariff battles that have slowed global economic growth and hit U.S. farmers hard. Today we take a momentous step, one that has never been taken before with China, toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade as we sign Phase One of the historic trade deal between the United States and China, Trump said during a signing ceremony at the White House. Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families. The president added that he plans to visit Beijing to negotiate the next phase of trade relations between the worlds two largest economies. The deal includes Chinas agreement to buy about $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over two years, including nearly doubling its purchases of agricultural products to $40 billion. The U.S. will ease off on some tariffs, but duties on $250 billion in Chinese goods will remain. The deal also addresses the way China handles intellectual property rights and forced technology transfer. On Monday, the administration dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator in anticipation of the agreement, which commits C4hina to preserving the integrity of its currency. Democrats slammed the agreement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it an extreme disappointment. The terms of the agreement will result in very little progress in reforming Chinas rapacious trade behaviors and seems like it could send a signal to Chinese negotiators that the U.S. can be steamrolled, Schumer wrote in a letter to the White House on Monday. China agreed in August to restart trade talks with the Trump administration, prompting the U.S. to agree to delay additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese products. The U.S. currently has heavy tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, while China has tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. products. More from National Review WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- How is it possible, Libya, sitting on the eighth largest oil reserves in the world, has become a failed state? Lobbying the Obama administration in 2011 to take part in NATO operations to dislodge the Qaddafi dictatorship gave us hope for democracy in Libya. Obama views the situation in Libya as "a colossal failure." Libya has become a fertile ground for Islamic extremists, and failed experiments by political Islamists. UN sponsored Gov. of National Accord (GNA) failed in disarming militias and removing more than 20 million pieces of arms. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) contemplates a ceasefire and the outcome of the upcoming Berlin Conference on 1-19-2020 continues a military campaign to capture Tripoli. Haftar is more cautious about civilian casualties. Much of historical Benghazi was leveled to the ground from airstrikes in pursuit of Islamic extremists in 2014. The Trump Game Plan for Libya is not coherent. It appears to be a clandestine foreign policy. Reliable sources confirm a planned shipment of American weapons valued at close to one billion dollars is destined for Benghazi in the next sixty days. A high level White House delegation met Gen. Haftar in Amman Jordan Nov. 24th. Discussions purported to propose suspension of hostilities, and a political resolution. It is a clear contradiction and violates UN arms embargo. Fueling a war which will create instability in Libya and the region. 48 hours later, Mr. Turbi met with U.S officials in Tunis. An obvious inconsistency to pending arms shipment, U.S officials expressed concerns over increased civilian casualties, and Russian solders in LNA ranks. In a recent visit to eastern Libya, Mr. Turbi benefited from meetings with top gov. officials: President of HoR Aguila Saleh, PM, Al-Thani, Foreign Minister Abdulhadi Lehaweej, Sr. members of the army on matters ranging from war in Tripoli, plans for governing, restoring stability to institutional building. Mr. Turbi says, "In order for a Trump Game Plan to succeed, the U.S must take the lead at the UN and IMMEDIATELY recognize a proposed new Libyan government. Its proposed Prime Minister Dr. Aref Al-Nayed met White House officials in Washington, Nov. 23rd. He is a very widely accepted political figure. Trump must reconsider any pending arms shipment to Benghazi and replace it with sophisticated border surveillance gear, a strategy that helps decrease the flow of terrorists, illegal arms and reduce a large wave of African migrants heading for Europe." "We have a lot of catching up to do, Libya needs stability and substantial help building its democratic institutions," Mr. Turbi added. A Omar Turbi, Expert, U.S Libya Relations. Testifies before Congress on U.S Libya Foreign Policy. Considered by many as the foremost authority on Libya and its relations with USA. For more information, please visit http://www.OmarTurbi.org SOURCE A. Omar Turbi Related Links http://www.omarturbi.org/ The New Zealand dollar lost ground ahead of the expected signing of phase one of a United States/China trade deal later today. The kiwi was trading at 66.06 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 66.24 at the same time yesterday, at 95.80 Australian cents from 96.00 and the trade-weighted index was a... Read the full story at BusinessDesk subscribe now: https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/nz-dollar-eases-ahead-of-us-china-trade-deal-signing Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. 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Related News: 11th January 2022 Morning Report Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Announces Cannvalate Transaction 10th January 2022 Morning Report 7th January 2022 Morning Report 6th January 2022 Morning Report 5th January 2022 Morning Report Harmoney Corp Limited (NZX: HMY) HMY Signs A$20m Corporate Debt Facility 24th December 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) GMT to develop North Shore facility for NZ Post 23rd December 2021 Morning Report - The winners of the second edition held in Poland will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector. - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aryna Muha and Wioleta Petynia, of the Architecture faculty at the Cracow University of Technology, winners of the second edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Poland, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their design qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. All activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. California legislators on Tuesday introduced two bills aimed at improving access to mental health and addiction treatment by requiring health insurance companies to authorize some forms of treatment more quickly and to cover more comprehensive mental health services. State Sens. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, and Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, co-authored Senate Bill 854 and Senate Bill 855 which both would apply to private health insurance plans only, and not to public insurance programs such as Medi-Cal, the joint federal and state health insurance program for low-income residents. The bills do not address how uninsured residents seek care. SB854 would prohibit insurance companies from directing patients with substance use disorders to first try other forms of treatment such as group therapy or step therapy before covering medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, if MAT is what their doctor recommends. MAT is becoming a more common form of treatment for opioid addiction, in which patients are prescribed opioid medication at lower doses that dont induce a high to wean them off of stronger opioids. It is done under the supervision of a physician and in conjunction with counseling and other behavioral health services. SB855 would require insurance companies to cover all forms of mental health and substance use treatment that a patients doctor deems medically necessary not just emergency or urgent services that existing federal and state parity laws require insurers to cover. The bills authors and health advocates say existing laws dont do enough to ensure Californians get timely and comprehensive enough care for mental health conditions. The California Mental Health Parity Act of 1999 requires insurers to cover services for severe cases of some mental health conditions, but not all types of treatments for all conditions, or substance use disorders. We have a huge, huge challenge in California, not just with our homeless population but with everyone, and we need better access (to mental health care), Wiener said. These bills will move us in that direction. The California Association of Health Plans, which represents public and private health insurers, said that the proposed legislation would create new mandates and that insurers already work with state regulators to comply with current parity laws. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Mental health care is a high priority for health plans and we are fully committed to ensuring patients are getting the mental health services they need that are on par with medical and surgical care, the groups spokeswoman Mary Ellen Grant said in a statement. Mental health parity is already the law of the land in California and California currently has regulators who are capable of overseeing our compliance with the law. The bills introduced today are less about mental health parity and more about creating new mandates. It is hard to understand how SB855 could be called a mental health parity bill when it sets forth a new system for medical necessity that is at a higher level than other medical services. Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho Scientists have created a new embryo they hope will contribute to a return of the near-extinct northern white rhino. The artificially made embryo is just the third viable example. All three were created in vitro by combining frozen sperm taken from male rhinos before they died with eggs harvested from one of the two remaining northern whites in the world, which are both female. Sudan, the last known male of his subspecies, died in 2018 aged 45. Researchers now plan to implant the three embryos they have created into surrogate southern white rhino females, a species which is more numerous. Its amazing to see that we will be able to reverse the tragic loss of this subspecies through science, said Kenyas wildlife minister, Najib Balala, in a statement released by the Kenya Wildlife Service and conservationists from Kenya, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy. 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 three embryos were made from eggs taken from Fatu, Sudans granddaughter. Fatu lives at Kenyas Ol Pejeta conservancy with her mother, Najin under 24-hour armed guard. Now the team will make every effort to achieve the same result for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her, said Thomas Hildebrandt with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research in Germany. Scientists created the first two embryos last autumn. They hope to build a herd of five northern white rhinos that could eventually be returned to the wild, a process likely to take decades. Kenya, which was home to as many as 20,000 rhinos in the 1970s, now has about 650 mostly black rhinos. Recommended EU to dedicate a quarter of its budget fighting climate change The northern white subspecies was once found in a number of countries in eastern and central Africa. Conservationists estimate that there are about 18,000 of its southern white cousins left in the world, and 5,000 black rhinos. Southern whites have already made their own remarkable comeback, thanks to the efforts of rangers dedicated to protecting them. In 1897 there were only about 50 left on the planet. The number rose past 400 in the 1950s and in the mid-1960s the subspecies was upgraded from critically endangered status. Rhinos are hunted for their horns, which are used as a carving medium and in traditional Chinese remedies, without any evidence for their effectiveness. Additional reporting by agencies New documents released by House Democrats Tuesday offered fresh detail on the shadow diplomacy campaign at the centre of President Donald Trumps impeachment, including text messages suggesting that the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was under surveillance while in Kyiv. In a series of cryptic text messages, Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, the presidents personal lawyer, communicated with another man who appeared to be monitoring the movements of the ambassador, Marie L. Yovanovitch. The texts, exchanged in March on the WhatsApp messaging service, indicated that the other man, Robert F. Hyde, was in touch with people in Ukraine who were watching Yovanovitch. They are willing to help if we/you would like a price, one message from Hyde to Parnas read. It was not clear who was watching the ambassador or why. Lawyers for Parnas and Yovanovitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Giuliani had been critical of Yovanovitch, whom he and other Republicans have said was opposed to the president. She also butted heads with a Ukrainian prosecutor over the nature of his investigations. Ultimately, Trump recalled Yovanovitch from her post in late April. The documents were part of a number of items that Parnas recently had turned over to the House Intelligence Committee as part of its impeachment inquiry. Parnas, a Soviet-born businessman based in Florida who is facing federal criminal charges in Manhattan, did not testify during the impeachment hearings last year. His lawyer, Joseph A. Bondy, recently turned over the records to the House, in response to a subpoena, after receiving permission to do so from the judge overseeing the criminal case. The House is set to vote on Wednesday to send its impeachment charges against Trump to the Senate, and a trial could begin in the coming days. In October, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed campaign finance-related charges against Parnas and his associate, Igor Fruman, another Soviet-born businessman who worked alongside Parnas to assist Giulianis efforts in Ukraine. Two other men were also charged in the case. The effort in Ukraine hinged on convincing officials there to open investigations that would benefit Trump politically. One potential investigation would centre on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden; the other would involve claims that Ukraine and not Russia stole Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. After their arrests, Fruman remained close to Giuliani, but Parnas split from their alliance, vowing to speak out about the Ukrainian pressure campaign. His lawyer, Bondy, has since created a #LetLevSpeak hashtag on Twitter. Read more about: Hugh Grant has said he supports the Duke of Sussexs decision to step back from royal life. Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced plans to split their time between the UK and North America. In an interview with Andy Cohen on his Radio Andy Sirius XM show, the actor said: Im rather on Harrys side". The tabloid press effectively murdered his mother, now theyre tearing his wife to pieces. Grant, who has campaigned against media intrusion for years, was referring to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris on 31 August 1997, while the vehicle was being pursued by paparazzi. World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Show all 24 1 /24 World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Italy World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Argentina World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Belgiam World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down US World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Brazil World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Chile World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Belgiam World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down Canada World reacts to Prince Harry and Meghan stepping down UK The Paddington 2 star continued: I think as a man, its his job to protect his family, so Im with him. Grant went on to discuss his own relationship with the tabloid press, describing it as very poor. The actor has spent nearly a decade campaigning against phone hacking as part of the Hacked Off campaign, which he helped set up in the wake of the 2011 Leveson inquiry into media ethics, during which he claimed to be a victim of phone hacking himself. We are committed to holding power to account and building a press which works for everyone, reads the Hacked Off website. Grant's interview was part of a promotional tour for his new film, The Gentlemen, in which he plays a tabloid journalist. Several other celebrities have spoken out in support of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle since they announced their decision to move away from royal life, including Jameela Jamil and Oprah Winfrey. Earlier this week, Stormzy offered his thoughts on New York radio station Hot 97 and described Meghan as a sweet woman. She does her thing. I havent heard her say anything crazy and they just hate her, the performer said, referencing the intense media scrutiny Meghan has faced. The British grime artist went on to refer to presenter Eamonn Holmes recent controversial rant about Meghan, in which he said: Ive never met her but I look at her and I think I dont think Id like you in real life. Stormzy responded: Bro, shes black, thats who youre talking about. I just look at her and I think shes got that arrogance. Im like, nah, shes black man. Just get the f*** out of here. 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Presented by Klipsch Audio to Broadcast Live for First Time on HBO May 2nd THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES 2020 INDUCTEES 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Presented by Klipsch Audio to Broadcast Live for First Time on HBO May 2nd Tickets On Sale February 27th The names of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fames 2020 Inductees have been released. They are: Performer Category: Depeche Mode The Doobie Brothers Whitney Houston Nine Inch Nails The Notorious B.I.G. T.Rex Ahmet Ertegun Award: Jon Landau Irving Azoff The 35th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by Klipsch Audio, will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Ceremony will be broadcast live for the first time on HBO on May 2nd at 8 p.m. ET. Performances and special guests will be announced later. The Ahmet Ertegun Award honors songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists and other industry professionals who have had a major influence on Rock & Roll. Ballots were sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, including current living Inductees, historians and members of the music industry. Factors such as an artists musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration. The original 16 nominees that were considered for induction were selected by a nominating committee in September 2019. Four of the Inductees were on the ballot for the first time, including: The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., and T.Rex. The Inductees were announced today on SiriusXMs Volume channel and the Rock Halls Facebook, Twitter and YouTube page. SiriusXMs Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio will also broadcast the Ceremony on May 2nd with exclusive interviews. Tickets go on sale to the public on February 27th (Members February 25th) at 10 a.m. ET at ticketmaster.com. Become a Rock Hall donor or member by January 31, 2020 to be eligible for exclusive Induction ticket opportunities. Rock Hall donors can access tickets now and members get access to a limited ticket pre-sale, starting February 25th. Visit rockhall.com/support to learn more. The Ceremony is preceded by Induction Week, which includes a special dedication of the 2020 Inductee exhibit, a red-carpet experience, Celebration Day with fireworks at the Museum, and other events and activities at the Museum and around town! Klipsch Audio, a leading global speaker and headphone manufacturer, is a strategic partner and presenting sponsor of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, its Induction Ceremony events and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fames Main Stage. Klipschs renowned products deliver the power, detail and emotion of the live music experience throughout the iconic museum. Follow the Rock Hall on Facebook (@rockandrollhalloffame), Twitter and Instagram (@rockhall) and join the conversation at #RockHall2020. ***INDUCTEE BIOS*** Depeche Mode Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/depeche-mode The Doobie Brothers Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/doobie-brothers Whitney Houston Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/whitney-houston Nine Inch Nails Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/nine-inch-nails The Notorious B.I.G. Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/notorious-big T.Rex Full bio, selected discography, and more: https://www.rockhall.com/t-rex Irving Azoff (Ahmet Ertegun Award) Full bio: https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/irving-azoff Jon Landau (Ahmet Ertegun Award) Full bio: https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jon-landau About the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Rock Connects Us. Our mission is clear: To engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock and roll. We share stories of the people, events and songs that shape our world through exhibits, innovative programs and concerts. Join the millions who love it as much as you do. Experience us live or online Visit rockhall.com or Facebook (@rockandrollhalloffame), Twitter and Instagram (@rockhall). Long Live Rock! About Klipsch Audio In 1946 Paul W. Klipsch, inventor, acoustics pioneer and maverick, founded Klipsch Audio with the sole purpose of bringing the power, detail and emotion of the live music experience into his living room. Through the use of highly efficient speaker designs, handcrafted cabinetry and a thirst for real engineering breakthroughs Klipsch, the great American loudspeaker company, was born in Hope, AR. Today, our diverse range of quality audio products includes speakers and headphones for almost any consumer and professional application including cinema, whole-house, wireless, home theater and portable offerings. Honoring our founders legacy, Klipsch continues to be the legendary high-performance brand of choice for audiophiles and aficionados around the world. We are the Keepers of the Sound. # # # Jakarta's governor has been hit with a lawsuit filed by residents of the sprawling city after torrential rain sparked floods and landslides that killed dozens and left thousands homeless, a lawyer said Tuesday. More than 200 flood victims are seeking a total of 43 billion rupiah ($3 million) in compensation in the class action, which was filed Monday in Jakarta district court. The suit claims Governor Anies Baswedan was responsible for failing to provide the megacity with a proper early-warning system and effective emergency measures to minimise deaths and financial losses. The city's legal bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "This should serve as a lesson for local government elsewhere to be more aware of disaster mitigation," lawyer Alvon Kurnia Palma told AFP. "If this happens in Jakarta, where the central government is located, it could happen anywhere," he added. The disaster caused at least $72 million in damage and monetary losses, according to business lobby the Indonesian Indigenous Entrepreneurs Association. Whole neighbourhoods in the capital -- a megalopolis home to around 30 million people -- were submerged by floodwaters that forced tens of thousands into temporary shelters after torrential rains that began on New Year's Eve. It was the city's deadliest flooding in years, with Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency saying downpours that sparked floods and landslides were the heaviest in the capital since record-keeping began in the 19th century. At least 67 people in Jakarta and nearby cities were killed, with floodwaters reaching up to the second floor of some buildings after rivers burst their banks. The private pathologist hired by Jeffrey Epstein's family says they have never been told why the pedophile's cause of death was suddenly changed from inconclusive to suicide. Former New York City medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden said the millionaire's relatives have not been given any additional autopsy information that may have led to such a development. Dr Baden was paid by the billionaire's brother Mark to oversee the autopsy after he was found dead in his New York City prison cell in August. He now says that evidence in the case may have been staged to look like suicide and Epstein may have been murdered. Speaking to Dr Oz he said: 'The initial death certificate was issued at the time of the autopsy, it's pending further study, getting more information. 'Five days later it was changed to hanging suicide and one of the things the family wishes to know, the estate wishes to know is, what was that additional information that caused them to change it.' Dr Baden says the family still doesn't know 'what happened to him in the first encounter and what happened to him when he was found dead' five months later. That's something Dr Baden deems 'very unusual, especially in a prison situation'. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Dr. Michael Baden, pictured, told Dr Oz that Jeffrey Epstein's family have never been told why the pedophile's cause of death suddenly changed from inconclusive to suicide The New York City Medical Examiner said Epstein's autopsy was inconclusive a day after his death in August last year. Just five days later, on August 16, his death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan The New York City Medical Examiner said Epstein's autopsy was inconclusive a day after his death in August last year. Dr Barbara Sampson said it produced inconclusive results that required further investigation. But just five days later, on August 16, his death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. The medical examiner's office then said that the autopsy and other evidence confirmed the 66-year-old hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. That prompted widespread conspiracy theories and speculation that he had instead been murdered. Graphic photographs from Epstein's autopsy were revealed for the first time during a 60 Minutes segment earlier this month - along with other images from inside his cell. Multiple nooses fashioned from the orange bedding were found fastened to the window and top bunk bed and on the floor. The photos also showed multiple prescription pill bottles, several electrical cords and enough bed sheets for several inmates dumped on the floor. A handwritten note, which was found alongside a ball point pen, contained complaints he seemingly had about prison conditions. Among the complaints were that one guard had 'kept me in a locked shower stall for 1 hour' and another 'sent me burnt food'. Epstein also wrote: 'Giant bugs crawling over my hands. No fun!!' Images taken inside Epstein's New York prison cell show several nooses fashioned from bed sheets, pills and electrical cords. The images, which were obtained by 60 Minutes and shown publicly for the first time earlier this month, were taken by the New York City medical examiner's office after Epstein killed himself in his cell last August Multiple nooses fashioned from the orange bedding were found on the floor of Epstein's cell The photos from inside his cell reveal that fragments of material were found hanging from a window, while a large strip of bedding was also looped through a hole on the top bunk bed Dr Baden added: 'There is a real concern here that the way the sheets were torn and the way the noose was made was the staging of a suicide. 'This noose, first of all, it doesn't match the furrow. Number two, there's no evidence that there's any blood or tissue on any of the part of the loop. Most of all, this little area shows a pattern that wouldn't be made by this smooth surface of the sheet that was torn to make the noose. 'The problem I think why we're here today, five months later, is that there's been a total lack of transparency in what happened to Epstein.' The billionaire pedophile, who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls, was found dead on August 10 in his prison cell. Brushing aside claims of bias as he is being paid by the Epstein family Dr Baden added: 'As a forensic pathologist, if I'm being paid by the city, when I was the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City, or if I'm being paid by the family because they want to know what's going on, my findings are the same. The science is the same.' Dr Baden, left, was paid by the billionaire's brother Mark to oversee the autopsy after Epstein was found dead in his New York City prison cell in August Epstein, pictured, was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls The circumstances surrounding Epstein's death continue to raise questions about protocol at the federal prison. The two prison guards who were responsible for checking in on Epstein the night he hanged himself have since been charged with falsifying records and conspiracy. Tova Noel, 31, and Michael Thomas, 41, - who have pleaded not guilty - were allegedly shopping online for furniture and napping instead of checking on the millionaire pedophile in his jail cell just 15 feet away from them. Dr. Michael Baden will appear on the Dr. Oz Show Thursday, January 16. Documents made public Tuesday provide new insight into the breadth of President Donald Trumps effort to extract dirt from Ukraine on the Bidens and show Rudy Giuliani was actively soliciting information on Burisma and Joe Bidens son Hunter even before the interactions with newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to Trumps impeachment. The new material released by House Democrats shows Trumps team offering up what appears to be another quid pro quo to the previous regime in Ukraine, as well as admitting to surveilling the U.S. ambassador in Ukraine. Advertisement The Trump administration, and Republicans generally, has for months been disingenuously condemning the impeachment inquiry as incomplete because of a lack of witnesses and documentation, while simultaneously refusing to allow administration witnesses to testify and stonewalling document requests. The latest release shows how little we actually know as a result and how bad it all is already, as the messages appear to show Trumps team, led by Giuliani and his associate Lev Parnas, attempting to procure damaging information on Burisma from Ukraines top prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, as early as March. In return, Lutsenko was demanding the removal of the American ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who had been critical of the regimes anemic anti-corruption efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its just that if you dont make a decision about Madamyou are bringing into question all my allegations. Including about B, Lutsenko wrote to Parnas in a WhatsApp message in March 2019, in apparent references to Yovanovitch and Biden. Lutsenkos boss and close political ally, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, was running for reelection against Zelensky at the time. In one back-and-forth, Lutsenko informs Parnas, who is under federal indictment for campaign finance violations, he has copies of payments Burisma made to an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden. Lutsenko said he had the dirt! He was just waiting on Trump to do his part. Advertisement Advertisement But theres more. Among the revelations in the documents released Tuesday a message from Giuliani to Parnas saying he had involved a person he called no 1possibly Trump himselfin an effort to lift a U.S. visa ban on a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was planning to come to the United States to make claims about Biden, the Washington Post reports. The Trump team was actively orchestrating a political hit on his political rival when Zelensky handily beat the incumbent, prompting Trumps team to switch focus to the new, incoming regime. Advertisement The materials [-] include a letter Giuliani wrote to Ukraines then-president-elect, Volodymyr Zelensky, requesting a May 14 meeting with the new leader in Giulianis capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, the Post reports. In handwritten notes on a piece of stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna, Parnas wrote, get Zalenksy [sic] to Annouce [sic] that the Biden case will be Investigated. Yovanovitch was removed from her post in late April at Giulianis urging. Lutsenko later announced, however, his office had found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens, as Giuliani and Parnas began making overtures to President-elect Zelensky. Also in the documents were texts from a previously unknown character in the Ukraine drama, Robert Hyde, a 40-year-old Trump supporter and Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut. Hyde messaged Parnas that the Ambassador Yovanovitch was under physical and electronic surveillance in Ukraine. Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off, he wrote in one message to Parnas. They will let me know when shes on the move, he said in another. Eritrea is one of the countries in the world with the highest censorship, respectively, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, listing the other 10 countries with the most limited press. The list is based on research ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to harassing journalists and restricting access to the internet. In Eritrea, President Isaias Afewerki has managed to break independent journalism, which has created a media climate so oppressive that even reporters working for state media live in constant fear of being arrested. The threat of imprisonment has led many journalists to choose exile rather than risk being arrested. Eritrea is the leading African country that jail journalists, with at least 23 behind bars, none of whom have been tried in court or even charged with a crime. Fearing insurrections in the wake of the Arab Spring, Eritrea abandoned its plan to make mobile internet available to its citizens in 2011, thereby limiting the possibility of access to independent information. Although the internet is available, access is through slow dial-up connections, and less than one percent of the population is connected, according to figures from the United Nations International Telecommunication Union. Eritrea also has the lowest number of mobile phone users, with only 5.6 percent of the population having one. Imprisonment is the most effective form of intimidation and harassment used against journalists There are some of the 28 prisoners of conscience, 11 politicians and 17 journalists - who have been in prison since 2001, Amnesty International has asked for their release. Political opponents were arrested for writing an open letter to President Isaias Afewerki asking him to respect the constitution by calling for elections and maintaining the rule of law; the 17 journalists were found guilty of publishing the article. Since then, none of the prisoners has ever made headlines or been formally charged with any crime. In prison is also the wife of Petros Solomon, Aster Yohannes, arrested in December 2003, at Asmara airport. Amnesty International has decided to launch the campaign on the first anniversary of the arrest of former Finance Minister Berhane Abrehe. He was arrested for writing a book inviting citizens to peacefully mobilize for democracy. Since 17 September 2018, no information has been provided of the place of his detention and health conditions. The particular mockery, which casts a heavy shadow over the credibility of international mechanisms for the defense of human rights is that this heinous injustice has been going on for almost two decades just as Eritrea sits in the UN Human Rights Council. It has been over 17 years since the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was held without trial in a prison in his country of origin. He is accused by President Afeworki's regime of espionage and conspiracy for the benefit of Ethiopia during the American Civil War (1960-1991). The Reporters Without Borders presented the book, "Hope", in Accra, Ghana, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 25 ' World Day for Freedom of the Press. Dawit, the staunch supporter of democratic openness, is now isolated in a high-security prison in Eritrea. Today, his family, journalists and Swedish figures are calling for firmer action from the Swedish government. Successive governments have always privileged discretion in this matter. Isaias Afewerki was elected president of Eritrea independent of the national assembly in 1993. He had been the de facto leader before independence. Eritrea is now a one-party state, with the People's Party for Democracy and Justice the only body authorized to operate. Afewerki has been criticized for failing to implement democratic reforms, that is why his government has blocked his critics and closed the private press. Dawit Isaak had obtained Swedish nationality in 1992, a few years after fleeing Eritrea for Scandinavia, when the civil war with Ethiopia was raging. He only returned to the country in 2001, once the conflicts had subsided and Eritrea had become independent. He became editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Setit. The Eritrean president hates journalists to the extent that he has spread the tentacles of the Eritrean regime, targetting journalists living outside Eritrea. One of the journalists living in London is Amanuel Eyasu, founder and editor of a diaspora broadcaster, Assena TV, based in the British capital. According to Amanuel, he was contacted by a woman who asks for a meeting to pass on some information about Eritrea. The appointment was then set for 14.30 at Putney Bridge Station. As soon as they reached the agreed place, about five men surrounded him, trying to throw liquid on him, while a woman, on the sidelines, acted as a spectator. Fortunately, the victim was able to return to the station and it appears that the attack was filmed by CCTV cameras, including the fight that broke out later. Amanuel took a few hits but managed to defend himself. When the police arrived, the assailants and the woman managed to escape but one Jacob Ghebremeohin was arrested. Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, a journalist and poet In another development, a female journalist Yirgalem and her colleagues were ordered to an impromptu meeting. Government officials accused the station which broadcast educational programs of disloyalty. Uniformed soldiers then surrounded the building and arrested about 30 journalists, along with her colleagues since February 14, 2009. Political greed and power force many African leaders to be extremely cruel and inhuman but what they fail to realize that they will not be there for the rest of their lives. Once there was one called Idi Amin of Uganda, where is he now? Once we had one called Mobutu, where is he now? And once we had one called Bokassa, where is he now? No man is an island, therefore, Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea, time will soon come but before then, he should release those journalists who haven't committed any crime, as soon as possible. ALBANY, N.Y. Political leaders in New York have reached an agreement to pass new limousine safety bills inspired by deadly crashes in 2015 and 2018, officials said Tuesday. The proposals target unsafe limos and lax regulations, said Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, all Democrats. The legislation also includes immobilization of defective limousines, GPS and customer service resource requirements, regular validation of vehicle and driver safety information, creation of a passenger task force, and drug and alcohol testing. Another bill would require limo drivers carrying nine or more passengers to have a passenger-endorsed commercial drivers license. One of the bills would require that motor vehicles converted into stretch limousines by January 2021 have at least two safety belts for the front seat and one safety belt in the rear for each passenger. The bill would require all stretch limousines to be retrofitted to include those seat belts by January 2023. Limos are so often the vehicle of choice for joyous occasions _ weddings, proms and special events. But we have seen too many turn into tragedy, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. Relatives of some of the 20 people killed in a 2018 limousine crash in upstate New York have urged action on safety legislation so, they said, other families wont have to endure the grief they have carried for over a year. The crash near a popular country store in Schoharie, New York on Oct. 6, 2018, killed the driver, 17 passengers on a birthday outing and two pedestrians. The Ford Excursion SUV, which had been modified into a stretch limo, blew through a T-intersection and slammed into an earthen embankment. A 2015 wreck on Long Island killed four young women on a winery tour when the limo was T-boned while trying to make a U-turn. Lawmakers last year passed a budget that increased penalties for operating a limo without proper licensing or violating safety rules. They also authorized state police and transportation officials to seize the license plates of noncompliant vehicles. But the deal announced Wednesday follows a disagreement among lawmakers and the governor last year on several other bills that in part addressed the oversight of stretch limousines and their operators. The governor had proposed banning stretch limos but later dropped the idea. The legislative deal comes three months after the National Transportation Safety Board recommended tighter safety belt and passenger seat standards for new vehicles that are stretched into limousines. The federal agency recommended lap-shoulder belts in all seating positions and urged that limousine seating systems meet minimum crash safety performance standards. The operator of the company involved in the 2018 crash, Nauman Hussain, has pleaded not guilty to 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter. He awaits trial in March. Just weeks before the crash, the limo had failed a state inspection that examined such things as the chassis, suspension and brakes. None of the 17 passengers in the Schoharie crash appeared to be wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, the NTSB said, but determined the poorly designed belts would not have provided adequate protection. Separate federal legislation before Congress would require new limousines to have lap and shoulder belts for each seat and would require each new limousine seat to meet new safety requirements. In this Oct. 7, 2018 file photo, debris scatters an area at the site of a fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y. The New York state Senate on Thursday, June 6, 2019, is expected to approve tougher safety regulations for limousines following the crash last fall in upstate New York. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Washington, DC, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Friendship Place, the leading nonprofit organization working to end homelessness in the Washington, DC area, has been selected by the District of Columbia to operate the new Short-term Family Housing facility being built in Ward 3. The designation allows the organization to play an instrumental role in Mayor Muriel Bowsers Homeward DC initiative, which aims to put families experiencing homelessness on a clear path towards achieving and sustaining stable housing. Friendship Place is committed to delivering the vital and transformative support services that put the families who will live there on the path to rebuilding their lives. Our partnerships with the District allow us to expand our services and pull a greater number of people out of homelessness each year, says Friendship Place President & CEO Jean-Michel Giraud. Were grateful for their confidence in our ability to give these vulnerable families the dignified care they deserve. The nonprofit Friendship Place is at the forefront of the effort to end homelessness in DC and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The organizations housing and job placement models have been studied and replicated nationwide, including by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). Last year, Friendship Place ended or prevented homelessness for 776 families through strategically targeted programs. Giraud praises the resiliency and reliability of Friendship Places staff and supporters for the organizations success. Friendship Place has been a staunch supporter of Mayor Bowsers vision and strategies to end homelessness in the District since her 2015 announcement of the Homeward DC plan. Giraud says he and his staff placed a bid to operate the Ward 3 Short-term Family Housing program because it met two important criteria: We knew that wed be placing families into a safe, purposefully-designed facility where we can deliver meaningful and adequate care. And, we knew that wed be able to build a strong program at the facility that will help families leave the facility quickly for stable housing. Friendship Place has a strong reputation for delivering results-driven services, and we are confident that they will continue delivering for families in Ward 3, said Mayor Bowser. This is a team that knows our community, has a long history of success in helping families and individuals find homes and stay safely housed, and their partnership has played a critical role in our work around Homeward DC. Mayor Bowser achieved an important milestone in late 2018 when she successfully shuttered the doors of the mega-shelter at the old DC General Hospital site. And today she is on the cusp of another victory in the battle against homelessness: successfully establishing temporary shelters in each of DCs eight wards. Families who will be moving into the new facility can expect to live in a care-conducive environment where they can heal and start the process of rebuilding themselves, and where children can play freely and safely. Their new short-term lodging will be a six-story building with 50 family units, a computer lab, play areas, and a lounge for homework. The family center will also have space for residents to receive intensive, one-on-one case management that will allow them to transition out of the shelter within three months and into permanent housing. Giraud credits Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C for laying a foundation for the family facility and program in the Ward 3 community. While national statistics indicate that homelessness among families has increased in the last year, largely due to the worsening-crisis in California and Washington states, the District saw a notable decline in its numbers. According to the 2019 Point In Time Count, homelessness among families in DC has decreased by 12 percent since 2018 and by 45 percent since 2016. Giraud considers these results as evidence that the mayors plans are working and gaining momentum. Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh shares her support for Friendship Places new role, saying the importance of their work in our community cant be understated. Construction on the long-awaited Ward 3 Short-Term Family Housing facility, recently named The Brooks, is slated for completion in March. Families are expected to begin moving in shortly thereafter. ### Friendship Place is a leader in the Washington, DC area in developing solutions to homelessness that have demonstrable results and a lasting impact. Using innovative, customized, person-focused programs, Friendship Place empowers participants to rebuild their lives, find homes, get jobs and reconnect with friends, family, and the community, permanently. CARACAS, Venezuela - With two men claiming the presidency for nearly a year, Venezuelas political landscape has been messy for a while now. But it is set to become flat out chaotic, with confusion over who is in charge of the National Assembly and plans for the opposition-controlled assembly to meet Wednesday in a building just across from where a rival pro-government legislature - the National Constituent Assembly - will be meeting. U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido appears to have retained control of the National Assembly after being blocked in a physical tussle from entering the legislative building in an apparent attempt to wrest control of it away from him. Its the only branch of Venezuelas government still out of reach by Nicolas Maduros socialist government. The Associated Press explains the struggle for control of the National Assembly: WHY IS THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IMPORTANT? The opposition in 2015 overwhelmingly won control of the National Assembly in a sign that many voters were rejecting Maduros socialist policies first launched by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Ever since, critics of Maduro say the government has tried to undermine the legislature. In 2017, Maduro stripped the assembly of its power and created the National Constituent Assembly to carry out its functions. While the National Assembly was left with little concrete power, it has symbolic significance as the remaining opposition stronghold. Maduro already controls Venezuelas other major branches of government, including the supreme court, national elections commission and attorney generals office. He also holds sway over the military, which assures his hold on power despite deep unpopularity among citizens amid a historic crisis in the once-wealthy oil nation. Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, a geopolitical risk analyst who teaches at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management, said Maduro has used the courts and National Constituent Assembly to legislate at will. The attempt to grab the National Assembly shows Russias rising influence in Venezuela, Lansberg-Rodriguez said. For rubber-stamping international gas contracts, and having them be enforceable afterwards, the actual National Assembly is much better, he said. WHATS THE LATEST CONFUSION OVER? On Jan. 5, Guaido and fellow opposition lawmakers were forcefully blocked by riot police loyal to Maduro from entering the legislatures halls in downtown Caracas. Guaido even tried to scale a fence, only to be pushed back by police. This first session of the year was key for Guaido, who was expected to be named for a second term as the the assemblys head. Its the position he used to claim presidential powers under the constitution, saying Maduros rule was illegitimate and to blame for the crisis. While Guaido was locked out, lawmaker Luis Parra, who had broken with Guaido, was sworn in as head of the National Assembly. Opposition leaders saw it as proof he had been paid off by Maduro. Guaido and the opposition lawmakers later held the vote at a newspapers office naming Guaido as its leader, and they later returned to their own building to hold session as Parra left. While Guaidos popularity is waning, he is considered by analysts the best shot at forcing out Maduro. Guaido has backing from more than 50 nations and has forged consensus among an often frayed opposition movement. THERES ALSO A NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY? So there are two rivals claiming control of the National Assembly, and a second legislature that critics say is Maduros way of passing laws the opposition-run National Assembly would have blocked. They call the National Constituent Assembly a rubber-stamp legislature for the government. On Tuesday, Maduro delivered the annual presidential review before the National Constituent Assembly, claiming victory in the face of a U.S.-led economic war on Venezuela. In the speech, he called Guaido a ventriloquist doll of Washington. WHY IS THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DRAWING ATTENTION NOW? Its an election year for the National Assembly, and the government openly wants to regain control of it. Guaido says hes going boycott the election because theres no chance of it being fair under the an election council run by a Maduro loyalist. Maduro predicted a victory in the legislative election, saying in his annual address that he would welcome international observes from European Union, the United Nations and other countries. Many of you look like deputies, Maduro said, looking out over the National Constituent Assembly members. Within a year the new National Assembly with the new majority we will have should good news. HOW DID THE LATEST SCUFFLE PLAY OUT POLITICALLY? Guaidos popularity gained a boost with the recent legislative scuffle, according to Lansberg-Rodriguez. Images of him trying to leap the fence in the face of resistance from heavily armed security forces were widely published and broadcast. Guaido now has a stronger grasp of who is with him and more goodwill from folks who didnt think he was being dynamic and decisive enough, Lansberg-Rodriguez said. He added it was a bonus that the U.S. on Monday hit Parra and six other lawmakers with sanctions for trying to derail Guaido. Its allowed Guaido to remind the world hes still there and that he can still eke out the occasional victory, Lansberg-Rodriguez said of the failed attempt to block Guaido from the National Assembly. The unfortunate thing is that the assembly building is still ultimately part of a city, which is part of a country, still physically controlled by Maduro and his thugs. _____ Follow Scott Smith on Twitter: @ScottSmithAP ___ This story has corrected a typographical error to illegitimate, not legitimate, in the WHATS THE LATEST CONFUSION? section. Russia to Continue Providing Arms and Ammunition to Sri Lankan Army - Foreign Minister Lavrov Sputnik News 12:02 14.01.2020(updated 14:26 14.01.2020) New Delhi (Sputnik): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along with a 42-member delegation is on an official two-day visit to the island nation of Sri Lanka. He held a joint press conference with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on their bilateral military and economic cooperation on Tuesday. Russia will continue to provide arms and ammunition to the Sri Lankan Army, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena on bilateral military and economic cooperation. Along with Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells are in Sri Lanka. On economic cooperation and the investment front, Lavrov said: "Russia knows Sri Lanka wants investment in hydrocarbon exploration and tourism. Direct contact between business communities will be promoted to meet this goal. Russia wants to increase bilateral trade with Sri Lanka from USD 400 million to USD 700 million." Lavrov expressed Russia's desire to pursue the national interests of both countries through an independent policy in line with international law. "Our relations traditionally developed based on trust, respect and equality." The Russian foreign minister is scheduled to arrive in India on Tuesday night to attend the 2020 Raisina Dialogue, the fifth edition of the annual geopolitical and economic summit, on Wednesday. Following the tragic events in Sri Lanka, where a series of terrorist attacks on April 21 left 321 people dead and more than 500 injured, the island nation is keen on combatting international terrorism in the region and preparing for other security challenges. In June 2019, speaking to Sri Lankan military officials, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation said that Moscow was interested in developing military cooperation with Sri Lanka. The Russian Armed Forces Chief had noted that Sri Lanka is a friendly state and Russia's reliable partner in South Asia. The Sri Lankan Army is equipped with substantial numbers of Soviet-designed arms, artillery and armoured vehicles." The Sri Lankan Air Force also has Russian-designed Mi-24 attack helicopters and MiG-27 ground attack aircraft. Since 2008, the Russian government has provided short military training programmes for Sri Lankan defence forces. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address He assured me it was nothing personal and this is just how he talks to young women. I waited outside the Michigan Senate chamber to ask Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.) on Tuesday for a comment about the Detroit Metro Times story reporting that he was a member of a violent, anti-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Facebook group, which has since been deleted. What was meant to be an opportunity for Lucido to respond to the report, turned into him making comments that objectified and humiliated me in front of a group of young boys. [] You should hang around! You could have a lot of fun with these boys, or they could have a lot of fun with you. The teenagers burst into an Old Boys Network-type of laughter, and I walked away knowing that I had been the punchline of their locker room talk. [] [H]e assured me it was nothing personal and this is just how he talks to young women. Its been quite awhile since a Michigan Republican has made the news for being a disgusting, sexist pig. But State Senator Peter Lucido reset that clock this week with remarks he made to Michigan Advance cub reporter Allison Donahue Donahue, who is 22, could have walked away, yet another woman having to deal with a ludicrous misogynist saying inappropriate things to professional women in the presence of others to degrade and objectify them. Instead, she told her story. And now she has made Peter Lucido nationally famous: Donahue shared more about why she decided to write about Lucidos outrageous and unacceptable behavior in this thread on Twitter: Thank you all for the support. I promise I will collect my thoughts soon, but I will say this: I didnt want to stand up for myself after that. Its awkward and in rare cases is it ever taken well and the comments apologized for. But Ive stayed silent before. Allison R. Donahue (@donahual) January 15, 2020 Lucido, who is sniffing a run for governor and was named the 2019 state Senator of the Year by the Michigan Information and Research Service (MIRS) earlier this month, refuses to apologize and doubled down, telling Donahue he had said it to an all girls school last week. [UPDATE: Facing withering criticism from all corners including from Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, Lucido finally DID apologize, issuing a statement saying, I apologize for the misunderstanding yesterday and for offending Allison Donahue. Im not sure what the misunderstanding was unless its Senator Lucidos inability to understand how adults should treat each other, particularly in a professional setting.] Kudos to Donahue for not keeping quiet and kudos to Michigan Advance for giving her the platform to tell her story. For his part, Lucido, an avowed Trump supporter, has never answered for his participation in a heinous, misogynistic, xenophobic, bigoted Facebook group and behavior like this does little to suggest this piggishness isnt firmly embedded in his personality. UPDATE 2: Democratic State Senator Mallory McMorrow (a Run for Something candidate!) is asking MIRS to rescind their Senator of the Year award for Lucido: I called @MIRSnews to ask them to rescind Senator Lucido as 2019 Legislator of the Year. It's time we start considering the totality of the job for people in power not just how many bills you can pass. This behavior is a pattern. How powerful people treat others matters. #mileg https://t.co/5LtaxXJr9r Sen. Mallory McMorrow (@MalloryMcMorrow) January 15, 2020 [Pig photo and War on Women graphic by Anne C. Savage, used with permission] Yaounde, Jan 15 : The implementation of decentralisation reforms in Cameroon adopted by the Parliament in December will not take place overnight as suggested "by some foreign powers," authorities said. "In all the countries where this system has been set up, historical benchmarks clearly indicate that it is a gradual and evolutionary deployment," Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Cameroon's minister of communication, said at a press conference in the capital, Yaounde on Tuesday. Cameroon's decentralisation reforms seek to grant greater power to local councils and regions, while bringing significant changes to the administration of the Anglophone minority regions of Northwest and Southwest that have been facing a separatist conflict since 2017, Xinhua news agency reported. Sadi said that a "new era" was in the making in Cameroon, stressing that the new constitutional provisions will "appropriately provide adequate" responses to the concerns of the national community. / -- Lovely Professional University organised its Annual two-day Conference 'Share the Vision- 2019' recently where they celebrated the placement day of 2020 along with 380 teachers and faculty members. At the event, they unveiled a collaboration with Jungleworks's exclusive chat-support solution FUGU that has allowed them to streamline the communication process within the university and also channel it to a single platform LPU Live. With features like advanced searches, real-time push notifications, group & private chats, audio/video calling, file & screen sharing and others, this application will now be used by LPU's students, teachers and faculty members to keep the communication process quick, simple and easy. The university would leverage this application to provide complete, up-to-date curriculum online, regularly update attendance, make announcements, polls, calendar invites and much more. At the launch, LPU Chancellor, Mr Ashok Mittal said, "This is a step forward in a direction to take the entire process online and make it easier. Considering everybody now-a-days is tech savvy, it only made sense for us to impart the updates and information through a single platform in order to avoid any form of delays and confusion. Also, in order to make our graduating students well-equipped, we have updated our curriculum to be in line with Industry expectations and this is also a part of the same thought process. which involves inclusion of the latest and emerging technologies." About the collaboration Samar Singla, CEO & Founder of Jungleworks, "This is an attempt to transform the academic scene and take it up a notch with the help of technological means available today. I think if there's a time and age to leverage it, that would be today. Hence, the collaboration only made sense and is also a major step towards transforming the academic scene." About JungleworksJungleworks is a SaaS technology service provider catering to entrepreneurs and SMBs to maximize mobile ROI. It is one of the prominent players in on-demand economy space, providing iOS and Android-based mobile applications on SaaS platforms. With 1000 plus clients that handle more than 1 million transactions a month, Jungleworks is providing solutions for customized software development in more than 150 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Producers of an American docu-series on the American war in Vietnam have agreed to pay VND700 million (US$30,000) to a Vietnamese musician in royalties for a song used in the documentary, more than two years after its release. The Vietnam Center for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC) said it had helped a Vietnamese musician, who wants to keep their name undisclosed, collect the VND700 million royalty from the production team of The Vietnam War,' a ten-episode American television documentary series about the war in Vietnam. The series, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, cost around $30 million and took more than ten years to make before its first episode premiered in September 2017. The documentary is also available for digital download, and can also be watched on American on-demand video streaming platforms Netflix and Kanopy. VCPMC said it recently found out that The Vietnam War features the song Tinh quan dan (Military-Civilian Ties) in its soundtrack in different episodes of the series without paying any royalty, according to the So huu tri tue va Sang tao (Intellectual Property and Creativity) Vietnamese magazine. Because he [the songwriter] is one of our members, we contacted the producers of the American documentary series to further explore the issue, VCPMC general director Dinh Trung Can told So huu tri tue va Sang tao. As VCPMC has signed bilateral authorization agreements and cooperation contracts with 76 collective management organizations (CMOs) and publishers in 116 countries and territories around the world, including the U.S., the issue was quickly resolved. Accordingly, the series producers explained that they had used the song in question gratis, mistakenly convinced that the songwriter had passed away for more than 50 years. The Berne Convention, of which both Vietnam and the U.S. are signatories, states that all works except photographic and cinematographic ones shall be copyrighted for 50 years after the author's death. After contacted by VCPMC and learning that the songs author is alive and well, the American producers agreed to pay the royalty to the Vietnamese songwriter. The producers, after knowing that I am the [songs] author, paid the due music royalty to me in full, the songwriter told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, adding that U.S. side will continue to pay royalties to him for as long as the series remain available for streaming. He said his song is also used in another American film, the producers of which have agreed to pay royalties. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! MISSOULA Sara Schroeder, an instructor with the University of Montana English Language Institute, recently was named a 2019 Montana University System Teaching Scholar. Schroeder is one of 12 faculty members across Montana selected for the programs inaugural class by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the MUS Board of Regents. Those selected for this new honor develop high-impact teaching practices for student success and serve as exemplary models for others in higher education. UM's Sara Schroeder was named a Montana University System Teaching Scholar. Im surprised and very pleased and honored to receive this recognition, Schroeder said. Im fortunate to work as part of a team thats dedicated to attracting international students to our campus from all over the world. Once international students arrive here, we work to provide them with engaging classes and meaningful cultural experiences. Schroeder will receive a $1,500 award, as well as a $500 stipend to design and facilitate a faculty learning community at UM. My learning community will focus on promoting intercultural exchange between domestic and international students in classrooms all across campus, she said. The fact that the Montana University System has chosen to support this learning community shows that they see the great value in creating more global learning on our campuses, and thats very exciting. Based in UMs Global Engagement Office, the English Language Institute serves non-native speakers of English who wish to improve their English language and academic skills in order to pursue their academic goals in higher learning, as well as personal and professional goals. Faculty groups established by the MUS Teaching Scholar Program will work together to learn about and develop practices focused on this years scholars theme, High-Impact Practices for Student Success. The theme builds on a larger MUS project regarding high-impact practices funded through the Lumina Foundation. High-impact practices proven to positively affect student success include freshman seminars on financial literacy, campus resources, study habit improvement, service learning, undergraduate research, internships and senior-year capstone research projects. Our talented and dedicated faculty are in many ways the lifeblood of the Montana University System, said Dr. Brock Tessman, an OCHE deputy commissioner. This is particularly true when it comes to providing a high-quality academic experience for our students. This new MUS program is one way our office can celebrate and support outstanding faculty who are committed to making student learning more innovative, exciting and meaningful. ### It was in the late 1980s when Ismail Qaani -- then a local commander in Irans powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- first became active in Afghanistan. It was to be the start of Qaani's decades-long involvement in Irans eastern neighbor, where Tehran has carved up influence by arming and offering political and economic backing mostly to the Shi'ite and Persian-speaking communities. Qaani on January 3 became the chief of Irans elite Quds Force, the overseas operations arm of the IRGC, established following the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the country's theocratic system. The 63-year-old general succeeded Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, early on January 3. He had long served as Soleimani's deputy. Mysterious Visit Soon after Qaani's appointment, photos of the media-shy general appeared in the Afghan media from a mysterious trip he took to Afghanistan in 2018. Qaani was in several photos alongside Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, the governor of Bamiyan Province, a predominately Hazara area in central Afghanistan. Zuhair told RFE/RLs Radio Free Afghanistan on January 9 that Qaani introduced himself as Irans deputy ambassador to the country and said his name was Ismaili. He says he didn't know that Qaani was the deputy chief of the Quds Force. "We were informed by Kabul that an Iranian delegation was coming to Bamiyan to visit a hospital that was being built with Iranian funds, said Zubair. They went straight from the airport to the hospital. They were at the hospital for around 45 minutes. Then they came to my office. I held talks with them for around 10 minutes. They assured us that the construction of the hospital would be completed. Afghanistans acting foreign minister, Idrees Zaman, said on January 7 that Kabul was investigating the "exact nature" of Qaani's visit. "At this point, I can assure you that he was never the deputy ambassador in Afghanistan, said Zaman. Qaani also visited Kabul in the same year. He was among an Iranian delegation that held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, local media reported. History Of Violence Qaani's recent trips to Afghanistan are just the latest examples of his activities in the war-torn country. Born in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad -- less than 200 kilometers from Afghanistan -- Qaani joined the IRGC in 1980. After the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, Soleimani spearheaded Tehrans operations in the west, spreading Tehrans influence in the Middle East. Qaani, meanwhile, led Iranian activities in the east: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. He was also stationed in Iran's Khorasan Province, which shares a border with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. In the 1990s, Afghanistan was consumed by a vicious civil war among the warring mujahedin factions that had toppled the communist regime in Kabul just three years after the end of the Soviet Unions decade-long occupation. The civil war ended when the Taliban seized power of the capital in 1996. In the 1990s, as a local IRGC commander, Qaani got involved in Irans war against Afghan drug cartels and later in the war in Afghanistan, said Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Tehran provided support to the Northern Alliance, a loose coalition of mujahedin militias that maintained control of a small section of northern Afghanistan as it battled the Taliban. The military front was led by Ahmad Shah Masud, the famed anti-Soviet commander. Afghanistans Tolo News published a photo of what it said was Qaani and Masud in Tajikistan in 1999. Alfoneh, an IRGC expert, said Qaani was involved in providing logistical, financial, and military support to the Northern Alliance. Tehran was one of the main backers of the alliance alongside India, Russia, and the United States. He added that Qaani frequently visited Tajikistan -- Afghanistans northern neighbor -- where the Northern Alliance sent its fighters for treatment and received weapon shipments from allies abroad. Qaani appears to have traveled into Afghanistan to establish a presence, said Alfoneh. That is particularly true after the Taliban seizure of Kabul. It was around this time that Soleimani made Qaani his deputy. Shiite-majority Iran backed the alliance because it was concerned about the growing strength of the Taliban, a fundamentalist Sunni group that was backed by Tehrans regional rivals -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. Iran and the Taliban were on the verge of war in 1998 after eight Iranian diplomats and an employee of Iran's state-run IRNA news agency were killed at the Iranian Consulate when Mazar-e Sharif was overrun by Taliban fighters. The Taliban denied any involvement in their deaths. Outraged by the deaths, Tehran deployed tens of thousands of troops along the border with Afghanistan -- but stopped short of invading the country. The Northern Alliance toppled the Taliban regime after the U.S. invasion in 2001. Afghan Proxy When the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, the IRGC sent military advisers and deployed thousands of trained Shiite fighters to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Among them was the Fatemiyoun Brigade, comprising mainly Afghans from the Shi'ite Hazara minority. The Fatemiyoun Brigade included veterans of the Abuzar Brigade, an Afghan militia made up of Shia that fought on Irans side in the war against Iraq. Qaani may have been personally involved in its reorganization, said Alfoneh, although he added that it was midlevel Quds Force commanders who deployed the Fatemiyoun in Syria and not Qaani himself. Qaani is also reported to have visited Afghanistan on several occasions at the height of the Syrian conflict. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Musthofid (The Jakarta Post) Thu, January 16 2020 Looking ahead: Jalansutra culinary community members meet at a restaurant in Jakarta to talk about their plans for 2020. (JP/Arief Suhardiman) Indonesia is rich with diverse delicacies from hundreds of cuisines. It is a vast culinary wealth that we could liken to the Silk Road, and which must be preserved as a world cultural heritage. We should be grateful to the culinary communities that have been cropping up on social media for their efforts in promoting local foods. Many of these communities are on Facebook, and started out as hobby groups. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login ALBANY Half a year ago, the families of the Schoharie limousine crash victims lambasted the state Legislature for failing to agree on a series of limo safety regulations that, they said, would help prevent similar tragedies from happening again. But on Tuesday, the family members stood shoulder-to-shoulder with state legislators, who vowed not to make the same mistake twice. This past year has been a difficult journey for our collective families, said Kevin Cushing, whose son, Patrick, died in the October 2018 crash in Schoharie. As the saying goes: Its not where you start, its where you finish. The state Senate and Assembly agreed late last week on a 10-bill legislative package to improve limo safety, including installing seat belts for limo passengers and allowing the state to take defective vehicles of the road. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced his support for the measures Tuesday morning, hours before both chambers swiftly passed the legislation. "This horrific crash that sparked this action shook this state to its very core, and we stand with those who lost loved ones in these accidents and worked tirelessly to help prevent future tragedies once and for all, the governor said in a release. Cuomo, who was out of town Tuesday as he assessed earthquake damage in Puerto Rico, will sign the bill package soon, his spokesman said. State Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, who chairs the Senate transportation committee, said lawmakers began working on limo safety regulations immediately after the state Legislature concluded its session last June. By then, the Senate had approved a slate of bills on the topic, and so had the Assembly but the two could not reach a consensus on their contents before legislators returned to their districts. The most important thing is everyone came together and got these bills done once and for all, and while there may have been obstacles put in our way in the past, we did not allow those to negate the final outcome, which is the most robust, comprehensive package of limousine safety legislation in the entire nation, Kennedy said in an interview. Tuesdays package includes bills to create a task force to evaluate additional limo safety measures, require stretch limousines to use GPS technology and establish a website and hotline for people to report concerns about limos. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. In a press conference touting the agreement Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said it was a bittersweet day, and that the safety issues that caused numerous deaths across the state would be corrected. She was joined by members of her conference, as well as the families of those who died in the Schoharie crash and the 2015 Long Island limousine collision that killed four. Limousines and celebrations they go hand in hand, and what we want to do is, we want to make sure that it's kept that way, Stewart-Cousins said. The press conference was solemn but hopeful, as legislators and family members recounted the loss of life that spurred the legislation. Perhaps the most powerful comments were the shortest, from Janet Steenburg, the mother of Schoharie victims Axel and Rich: I just wanted to say thank you, she said, before breaking into tears. We want speculators out of our community, she said in an interview on Monday. Theyre coming in, theyre profiting off harm thats done in our community and we want them out. [Read about how rising rents are destabilizing California families. ] Two months after entering the house, Moms 4 Housing had morphed into a Bay Area-wide phenomenon, rotating through newspapers, TV and social media that elevated the saga into a compelling moral drama that pit moms seeking housing against a company seeking profit. The movement hit its apex this week, after a judge ruled that Ms. Walker and the other families living there had to leave the home. Aware that sheriffs deputies could arrive any moment, a crowd of about 50 supporters had packed the street Monday afternoon, holding Moms 4 Housing banners and creating a human blockade on the homes front steps. By evening the crowd had swelled to several hundred and shut down the block after the Moms 4 Housing text message chain alerted supporters that the police were said to be on the way. This turned out to be premature, if barely. Early the next morning, sheriffs deputies from the Alameda County Sheriffs office arrived in riot gear with armored vehicles to remove them from the property, arresting two of the occupants and two supporters, according to news reports. Pensioners are being forced to look for work and cancel holidays amid a payments backlog at one of Britain's biggest insurers. One reader told Money Mail he had been waiting for the Prudential to release his pension pot for almost a month, while another had to wait three months for compensation. Savers have also complained online that the Pru has not let them access their pension pots and they say they were told problems were down to a new IT system. Frustration: Peter Burgess, left, and Pat Savage, right, have been waiting for Prudential to release their pension pots Peter Burgess says he is desperate to collect his pension so he can retire, but has now been waiting since November for Prudential to release his pot. The former car plant worker should have been able to access his Prudential pension, worth around 50,000 (half of his pension savings), when he turned 65 last month. Yet despite first asking about it in September last year, the insurance giant has not been able to produce the money. Peter, who lives in Worcester with wife Lynne, 63, says he is now being forced to look for work after digging into his savings. The father-of-two says: 'I don't want to work this summer. I have done enough work; I've never been unemployed. I have come to a point in my life where I just want to relax. 'But they [the Pru] aren't paying out. Maybe they don't have the structure to keep up with the demand.' Peter, who is also a social care worker, says Prudential had told him the delay was down to a new IT system. He says, in contrast, Aviva released his other pension pot, also of around 50,000, within ten days. But he is now worried he will not have the money in time for a booked holiday to Greece in May. He adds: 'It has caused so much stress and worry. If it carries on, I will have to borrow money.' Last year the Prudential was fined 24million for mis-selling annuities. It emerged savers who could have qualified for 'enhanced annuities' due to ill health had not been told they could get a better deal elsewhere. A recorded message on the insurance giant's annuity compensation phone line last week said: 'If you are calling because you have not yet received your payment, we apologise for the delay and we are progressing all outstanding payments as soon as possible.' Pat Savage, 73, has been waiting since October for a compensation payment of around 3,500. The retired construction health and safety manager bought a standard annuity with the Prudential when he retired aged 65. But he should have been sold an enhanced annuity because he had suffered prostate cancer and had a shorter life expectancy. A spokesman for the Prudential says close to 32,000 customers who should have been told about enhanced annuities have now received compensation totalling 76 million The Pru first wrote to him a year ago to say it owed him around 3,000 and soon paid up. However the firm contacted him again in October to say he was due another 3,500 as well as a 10 boost to his monthly payments. He was told he would get the money within 28 days, When it failed to turn up, he was told the money would be with him within five days. After five days, he rang up again and was told he would have it in ten days. Pat, who lives in Sidcup, South-East London, says he had to cancel a holiday with his wife Eileen, 75, in the Lake District because he did not get the money in time. The grandfather-of-four says: 'I keep getting fobbed off. I am fuming and frustrated.' Pat even made an official complaint last month and was told it would be dealt with within four weeks. But he then received another letter this month to say it would take another four weeks. The Pru only paid Pat the money last week following Money Mail's intervention. Other Pru customers have vented their anger on review site Trustpilot. One reviewer wrote last month that she had been trying to cash in her pension since August. Another customer wrote in November: 'Over two months since activating my annuity and still waiting for payment.' One wrote last week: 'I've been trying to get a claim pack for my pension from The Prudential since October 24. 'They are unable to give me this as they're having IT problems with a new system. For ten weeks! Any other business would be out of business in this time. Absolutely shocking service.' A Prudential spokesman says: 'We are aware of a payments issue that is impacting on a very small number of our customers. 'We have been in contact directly with those affected to apologise for the inconvenience. We are working to rectify this as an urgent priority.' The spokesman also says close to 32,000 customers who should have been told about enhanced annuities have now received compensation totalling 76 million. b.wilkinson@dailymail.co.uk Oil erased some of the losses that followed the U.S. inventory report after the U.S. and China inked the first phase of a broader trade pact on Wednesday. Futures in New York settled 0.7% lower after falling as much as 1.5% earlier. China agreed to buy $52.4 billion of additional U.S. energy products as part of a landmark trade deal signed by the worlds two top economic superpowers. But a bearish US government report that showed swelling fuel inventories held back further gains from the newly minted deal. Oil rebounded from a low because of the signing of the initial U.S.-China trade deal, said Bart Melek, head of global commodity strategy at TD Bank in Toronto. This agreement could pave the way for global demand to improve after nearly two years into the dispute. PROGRESS: Texas oil & gas breaks tax records while grappling with climate change Still, U.S. crude futures remained under pressure as traders focused on the nearly 15-million-barrel rise in U.S. petroleum inventories to the highest in four months, a sign of weak demand. At the same time, domestic oil production hit a fresh record. Additionally, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased its forecasts for growth in output from non-members this year. This comes as tension between the U.S. and Iran is fading since the killing of an Iranian general earlier this month, easing concerns about supply from the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery settled 42 cents lower to $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling to as low as $57.36. FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday The prompt WTI futures spread remained in contango, a relationship normally suggesting oversupply. The February contract traded as low as a 7-cent discount to March. Brent futures for March settlement fell 49 cents to $64 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a $6.16 premium to WTI for the same month. The EIA report shows U.S. gasoline stockpiles rose 6.68 million barrels last week, while distillate supplies increased 8.17 million barrels. In particular, the dip in distillate demand is counter seasonal, and likely due to recent warmer weather in the Northeast. U.S. crude production hit 13 million barrels a day. The rise in fuel stocks and production overshadowed the 2.55-million-barrel decrease in oil stockpiles. --With assistance from James Thornhill, Elizabeth Low and Grant Smith. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 21 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Jan. 15, Trend reports. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Manchester United booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round wwith victory over Premier League rivals and bogey side Wolves on Wednesday night. The two teams played out a goalless draw at Molineux in the initial cup tie, but Juan Mata's second-half strike was enough to win the match this time out. Cardiff City also triumphed in an epic 4-3 victory at valiant League Two side Carlisle. Sportsmail's JAMES AYLES will provide all the latest updates, including line-ups and scores. AKRON, Ohio - A judge ruled that an Ohio man accused of killing nine neighbours in two arson fires is competent to stand trial. The judge in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio, made the ruling Tuesday at a hearing for Stanley Ford. The 60-year-old Akron man, who has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges, could be sentenced to the death penalty if convicted. Neither Fords attorneys nor prosecutors are allowed to comment on the case due to a gag order by the judge. Ford is accused of killing two adults in one home in 2016 and two adults and five children in another home in 2017. Investigators have said Ford targeted the homes because he was angry with the occupants. Fords attorneys have argued that Ford has vascular dementia and brain damage, and should not be subject to the death penalty. But a court-ordered mental evaluation found that he understands the charges against him and can assist in his own defence. Ford refused to participate in a second evaluation of his mental state that was sought by his attorneys. A hearing is scheduled Friday on whether the possibility of the death penalty should be dropped from his case. Curaleaf Holdings (OTC:CURLF) has secured an important new permit in the state of Utah. The company announced in a press release Tuesday that it has won preliminary approval for a processing license there. While pending final approval, the new license will allow the company to complete a Utah processing facility right away. In the press release, it provided no details about the size, scope, or even location of the facility. The news comes shortly after Curaleaf won one of the handful of permits to open a medical cannabis dispensary in Utah. The state recently permitted marijuana for medicinal use, but it still bars recreational consumption and sale. The medical cannabis dispensary license the company secured was one of 14 awarded by the state. Those permits were granted on a regional basis; Curaleaf's will give it the scope to establish a dispensary in the city of Lindon, a short drive from Utah's capital and most populous municipality, Salt Lake City. Competition was intense for medical dispensary licenses. 130 applications were filed with the state, from 60 different would-be operators. Curaleaf said in the press release heralding its latest news that "[a]ligned with our strategy, this processing license puts us closer to achieving vertical integration in the state, which gives us greater control of production while lowering costs for patients." This follows the company's broader strategy, in which it aims to be both an active producer and a retailer of medical and recreational product. The price of the well-known and occasionally popular marijuana stock closed more than 6% higher on Tuesday. Russias prime minister Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly submitted both his and his governments resignation on Wednesday, with reports suggesting disagreements with President Vladimir Putin precipitated the move. Mr Putin announced Mikhail Mishustin as his replacement a few hours later. An obscure technocrat, Mr Mishustin, 53, earned plaudits for his role revamping the countrys tax service, but is unlikely to be seen as a rival or potential successor. Approval of the appointment by the Duma, Russias lower parliament, on Thursday is virtually certain. Mr Medvedev will now serve as deputy of the National Security Council, a newly created position. The news came on the back of Mr Putins equally dramatic state-of-the-nation address. Over recent years, the showpiece event had become a predictable affair. But on Wednesday the president departed from the usual script of promises to the domestic audience and threats to the west by instead proposing a radical constitutional shakeup and referendum. His proposals would see a redistribution of power away from the presidency and any potential successor towards parliament. In Mr Putins new vision, the Duma would be granted powers to choose a prime minister and cabinet. The Federation Council, Russias upper chamber, would gain powers over the appointment of security officials. The constitutional position of the State Council, which Mr Putin currently heads, would also be strengthened. Mr Putin has been in power longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin, who led from 1924 until his death in 1953. Under the current law, Mr Putin must step down in 2024 after his term ends. The move appeared to be designed to enable him to retain informal power by switching to one of the said institutions after leaving the presidential post. 20 years of Putin Show all 21 1 /21 20 years of Putin 20 years of Putin 1999 Russian President Boris Yeltsin (R) poses with the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Alexei II (L) and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (C) at the Kremlin in Moscow 31 December 1999. Yeltsin announced 31 December 1999 that he was resigning immediately and that Putin, according to the Russian constitution, would run the country as acting president until presidential elections in March 2000. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2000 Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with his wife Lyudmila in front of the Taj Mahal 04 October 2000. Putin is on a three-day visit to India. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2001 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and US President George W. Bush (R) smile following press conference at Crawford High School in Crawford, Texas 15 November 2001. Presidents Putin and Bush spoke about their meeting at the Bush ranch at a press conference at Crawford High School. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2002 British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) discuss as they walk in the residence of Zavidovo , in the Tver region, some 120 km north-west of Moscow, as Cherie Blair (C) and Lyudmila Putina (not pictured) follow them 11 October 2002. Tony Blair arrived in Russia for two days of face-to-face talks with President Vladimir Putin on fresh UN action to force Iraq to give up weapons of mass destruction. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2003 Russian President Vladimir Putin is accompanied by Her Majesty The Queen during a procession at The Mallat during the start iof his state visit on June 24, 2003 in London, England. Putin is on a 4 days visit in Great Britain and will attend a number of functions during his time in the country. The visit is the first by a Russian President since 1843. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2004 President Vladimir Putin pets his dog Conny before one of his meetings with officials in his office in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, 03 March 2004. Putin met Wednesday with his nominee for prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, and expressed hope that the government and parliament would work closely in the future. At left is a bodyguard. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the recording of his annual televised New Year's message at the Kremlin, with the Spassky Tower in the background, in Moscow, recorded early, 29 December 2005. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a pistol during his visit to a newly-built headquarters of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Department (GRU) in Moscow, 08 November 2006. ?Some countries are seeking to untie their hands in order to take weapons to outer space, including nuclear weapons,? Putin said at the Chief Military Intelligence Department on Wednesday. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2007 Russian President Vladimir Putin fishing on the Khemchik River near the foothills of the Western Sayan Mountains in the Republic of Tuva. Time magazine named President Vladimir Putin its "person of the year" 19 December 2007 in recognition of the Russian leader's role in making Moscow "a critical linchpin of the 21st century. The award, which is not considered an honor so much as a recognition of the most powerful forces shaping the world, was awarded for Putin's role in reshaping a country that Time's Managing Editor Richard Stengel said had "fallen off our mental map." AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2008 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) stands next to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi during the signing of agreements between the two countries April 17, 2008 in Tripoli, Libya. Putin is in Libya for a two-day official visit to rebuild Russian-Libyan relations. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is pictured with a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plays piano during a charity concert in Saint Petersburg AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2011 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) rides a motorbike as he takes part in the 16th annual motorbike festival held by "The Night Wolves" youth organization in the southern Russian town of Novorossiysk AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2012 Russian President Vladimir Putin pilots a motorized hang glider while flying with cranes as he takes part in a scientific experiment as part of the "Flight of Hope", which aims to preserve a rare species of - cranes on September 5, 2012. At the helm of a motorized hang glider that the birds have taken as their leader, Putin made three flights - the first to get familiar with the process, and two others with the birds. AFP/Getty 20 years of Putin 2013 Russin President Vladimir Putin as he plays with his dogs 'Buffy' (up) and 'Yume' at his residence Novo-Ogariovo, outside Moscow. Bulgarian shepherd dog 'Buffy' was presented to Putin by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offered Putin the puppy 'Yume' as a gift during the G20 in Mexico in June. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin visits USA House in the Olympic Village 20 years of Putin 2015 Russias President Vladimir Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on June 25, 2016 in Beijing, China. Russian President Vladimir Putin is in China to discuss more economic and military cooperation between the two countries. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the phone in his office in Saint Petersburg on December 15, 2018 with Artyom Palyanov -- a boy with brittle bone disease who wished to see a bird's eye view of the city. - Earlier the President promised to make his dream come true by sending him on a helicopter tour of the city. AFP/Getty 20 years of Putin Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, meets Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, during a bilateral meeting on the first day of the G20 summit on June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Osaka on Thursday for the annual Group of 20 gathering together with other world leaders who will use the two-day summit to discuss pressing economic, climate change, as well as geopolitical issues. The US-China trade war is expected to dominate the meetings in Osaka as President Trump and China's President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on Saturday in an attempt to resolve the ongoing the trade clashes between the world's two largest economies. Getty Images Appearing glum-faced at a choreographed TV announcement, Mr Medvedev claimed he made the decision to resign in order to give Mr Putin the chance to implement his proposals. The changes will significantly alter not just the ... constitution, but also the balance of power, he said. In this context, its obvious [the government] should offer the president the opportunity to make the decisions he needs to make. Mr Putin responded by thanking his longtime associate for his work as head of the government. But then he also appeared to issue a sharp rebuke. Not everything [Mr Medvedevs government had done] worked out for the best, he said. It was a surprisingly public admonishment for a man who had served as a loyal lieutenant for more than two decades. Immediate reports suggested the resignation took members of the cabinet by surprise. Nobody knew about it, one minister is reported to have said. They brought us together and announced it just now. Alexander Zhukov, a deputy speaker in the lower parliament claimed he had found out about the resignations only during the state-of-the-union address. Some reports said Mr Putin had become frustrated by slow progress being made by the government on key strategic welfare projects. The Novaya Gazeta newspaper meanwhile suggested Mr Medvedev may have lashed out ... spontaneously after hearing about the proposed changes. The prime minister, who served as president over 2008-12, was considered favourite to succeed Russias longtime leader. In 2011, he stepped aside to allow Mr Putin to return for a third term, and many expected the president to repay the favour come 2024. His demotion from frontline politics would appear to reduce that prospect considerably. After handing back the presidential chair, Medvedev likely believed he was owed one by Putin, said Konstantin Gaaze, a political commentator and former government advisor. Instead, today, Putin told the whole country that he owed him nothing. Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... >>> PM shares joy with poor people in Vinh Long as Tet approaches >>> Thousands of Tet gifts presented to policy beneficiaries nationwide On the afternoon of January 14, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man paid a visit to the Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue, at Hanois Vien Minh Pagoda in Quang Lang Commune, Phu Xuyen District. On behalf of the Party, State and VFF leaders, Man wished Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue good health and longevity, while expressing his desire that with his role and prestige, Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue would continue to unite the VBS and guide Buddhist dignitaries and followers to actively participate in the patriotic emulation movements and campaigns launched by the Front, contributing to building and consolidating the great national unity bloc. * On the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Rat, 2020, on Tuesday morning, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai hosted a meeting with the citys former leaders. Hai expressed his sincere thanks for the sentiments and valuable contributions of Hanois former leaders, calling on them to always support and contribute to Party building and consolidating the political system at all levels in the capital city. * In Lai Chau Province, National Assembly Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien attended Tet Reunion Festival 2020, organised by the Lai Chau Provincial Trade Union in coordination with other relevant local units and enterprises. On the occasion, Hien presented 50 Tet gifts for local disadvantaged Trade Union members, workers and employees, worth VND1.2 million each. * On January 14, at the Duc Tho District Cultural House in Ha Tinh Province, the Ha Tinh Journalists Association, in collaboration other local agencies, opened the Ha Tinh Spring Press Festival 2020, offering readers over 200 newspapers and nearly 800 Tet publications and press products by press agencies across the nation. Representatives from Nhan Dan Newspaper present 40 gifts to disadvantaged students in Duc Tho District, Ha Tinh Province, on January 14, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Ngo Tuan) At the event, Nhan Dan Newspaper presented 40 Tet gifts, worth VND500,000 each, to disadvantaged students in Duc Tho District. In addition, other news agencies and newspapers also gave 200 gifts worth a total of VND100 million to local students. * On January 14, a Tet gathering was also held at Na Hinh Border Station in Van Lang District, Lang Son Province, for local teachers and soldiers. On the occasion, the Vietnam Education Trade Union presented hundreds of Tet gifts for teachers, students and schools in the district, worth over VND600 million in total. * The Thanh Hoa Provincial Women's Union cooperated with the province's Border Guard Command to hold a Tet gathering for locals in Muong Min Commune, in the mountainous Quan Son District. The organisers awarded nearly 100 Tet gifts and financial assistance to women and students in difficult circumstances in the district. * A delegation from the General Political Department of the People's Army under the Ministry of Defence, headed by Senior Lieutenant General Tran Quang Phuong, paid Tet visits to several units in Dak Lak Province. * The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thua Thien - Hue Province cooperated with the Thien Tam Fund of Vingroup and Nha Dau Tu (Investors) Magazine to present 1,400 Tet gifts worth a total of VND840 million to disadvantaged families in the province. * The National Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs organised missions to pay Tet visits to several units, officials and locals in Dak O Commune, Binh Phuoc Provinces Bu Gia Map District, and in Lai Chau Provinces Phong Tho District. SAN DIEGO A U.S. judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration is operating within its authority when separating families stopped at the Mexico border, rejecting arguments that it was quietly returning to widespread practices that drew international condemnation. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the administration was splitting families over dubious allegations and minor transgressions including traffic offenses. It asked the judge in July to rule on whether the government was justified in separating 911 children during the first year after the judge halted the general practice in June 2018. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw indicated he was uncomfortable second-guessing government decisions to separate children on grounds that parents were considered unfit or dangerous, or in other limited circumstances like criminal history, communicable diseases and doubts about parentage. He found no evidence that the government was abusing its discretion. It is an invitation that is potentially massive in scope, invades an area that is particularly within the province of the executive branch to secure the nations border, and goes beyond this courts class certification and preliminary injunction orders, which were focused on the administrations practice of separating families at the border for the purpose of deterring immigration, and failing to reunify those families, Sabraw wrote in a 26-page decision. In a partial victory for the ACLU, the judge said the government must settle any doubts about parentage before separating families by using DNA tests that deliver results in about 90 minutes. The ruling was a rare instance of the San Diego judge siding with the administration. In June 2018, he halted the practice of separating families under a zero tolerance policy to deter illegal immigration and ordered that about 2,800 children be quickly reunited with family. Lack of adequate tracking systems at the time made reunification a monumental task. The judge later ordered the administration to identify more than 1,500 additional children who were separated earlier in Trumps presidency, starting in July 2017. The government is providing information to the ACLU, which, in some cases, has volunteers going door to door in Guatemala. Elliot Spagat is an Associated Press writer. The most important development from Tuesday nightas rather boring Democratic debate may have been Amy Klobucharas failure to launch. Heading into the debate, it wasnat crazy to think the Minnesota senator had a realistic chance of taking off: Sheas polling at 7 percent, right where previous Iowa caucus winners Rick Santorum (2012) and Dick Gephardt (1988) were at about this point in their respective races. But to break into the top tier, she needed a defining moment last night, perhaps combined with a Joe BidenaPete Buttigieg demolition derby. And neither of those things happened. Klobuchar spent too much of the debate reciting canned lines from her stump speech. She came incredibly close to having an aoops The Trump administration has urged the US companies to ensure that their technologies do not power a truly "Orwellian surveillance state" and American principles are not sacrificed for prosperity, in a reference to China, the world's second largest economy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the comments ahead of the signing of the phase one trade deal between the US and China on Wednesday. The two countries, that have been locked in a longstanding trade war that has threatened to roil the global economy, last month agreed on the text of a phase one economic and trade agreement based on the principle of equality and mutual respect. The US accuses China of massive theft of its technology and violation of intellectual property, an allegation Beijing denies. Pompeo, in a major policy speech in Silicon Valley that was directed at China, said: "I'm not here to demand that you get out of China. In fact, it's just the opposite. We want American companies to get rich doing business there. We want you to grow jobs here in America and build your companies successfully". "We want to create conditions so that you can do so on a level-playing field, in the spirit of respect between our two nations. Indeed, that's the whole point of President Trump's trade talks," Pompeo said in his address to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group: 'Technology and the China Security Challenge' on Monday. "At the same time, we need to make sure that our companies don't do deals that strengthen a competitor's military or tighten the regime's grip of repression in parts of that country. We need to make sure American technology doesn't power a truly Orwellian surveillance state. We need to make sure American principles aren't sacrificed for prosperity," the Secretary of State said. He told the industry that China's rampant theft of intellectual property is real and that it is not just a problem for the particular company affected. "Because that capacity to invest and create and protect those property rights underpins the entire innovation economy that we have here in the United States," the top American diplomat said. "As we stand here today, there are about a thousand open intellectual property cases with the FBI, nearly all of them somehow connected to China. But it's the application of that property that is just as troubling. There's a reason so many hackers and thieves - like the APT 10 group ? are connected to the Chinese Ministry of State Security. "Under (Chinese President) Xi Jinping, the CCP (Communist Party of China) has prioritised something called 'military-civil fusion'. Many of you will know this. It's a technical term but a very simple idea. Under Chinese law, Chinese companies and researchers must - I repeat, must - under penalty of law, share technology with the Chinese military," Pompeo said. The goal is to ensure that the People's Liberation Army has military dominance. And the PLA's core mission is to sustain the Chinese Communist Party's grip on power - that same Chinese Communist Party that has led China in an increasingly authoritarian direction and one that is increasingly repressive as well. It runs completely at odds with the tolerant views that are held here in this area and all across America, he said. "So, even if the Chinese Communist Party gives assurances about your technology being confined to peaceful uses, you should know there is enormous risk, risk to America's national security as well. This is a real problem, given that many of our most innovative companies have formed partnerships with the Chinese government and companies that are linked to it," Pompeo added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I recently read an article written by State Sen. Al Olszewski on Sen. Daines CSKT water legislation an article that was filled with inaccuracies. As someone who has been involved in this debate for years, I felt compelled to respond to the politically-motivated, blatant falsehoods being thrown at Sen. Daines and the Montana Water Rights Protection Act (MWRPA). Let me begin with Als favorite claim that the MWRPA would take water rights away from 350,000 Western Montanans. This is completely false. The MWRPA protects the water rights of all Montanans. It requires the CSKT to permanently relinquish 97% of all water rights claims. Let me say that again, the CSKT is giving up 97% of all their water rights claims forever. Furthermore, as the Trump Administration has explained in their numerous briefs on the matter, a significant number of CSKTs claims are likely to be upheld in court, threatening the water rights of Montanans. And, thanks to Daines legislation, the Montana Water Courts stay was recently extended for three years. Which leads me to Als next ridiculous point, that Daines legislation has only made this controversy worse. Al, what part of saving Montanans from years and years of court battles and costly lawyers has made this controversy worse? Additionally, as someone who previously opposed the state passed compact and federal legislation, I am supportive of the MWRPA. I can attest to the fact that Daines has been in the middle of negotiations, and this proposal includes significant concessions from the CSKT, concessions that were significant enough for me to now back the proposal. This legislation has bridged the gap for many people just like myself, folks who once opposed but now support this legislation because of Daines efforts and negotiations. Al also claims that this legislation gives the CSKT $1.9 billion without any accountability or requirement to improve the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP). Yet again, this is false. Aside from all the progress this legislation requires for the FIIP, such as rehabilitation, modernization and restoration of the project, this legislation also requires the $1.9 billion to be held in trust by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Before being able to withdraw a single dollar from the trust, the CSKT must submit a spending plan to DOI. No ifs, ands or buts about it that is accountability. Next is the point that Daines legislation will devastate the sovereignty of the state of Montana, as well as our western counties. Once again, this is an entirely baseless claim. The MWRPA protects Montanas sovereignty, by stating that all state water rights will remain managed by the state of Montana reaffirming Article IX, Section 3 of the Montana Constitution. Furthermore, the MWRPA ensures that state or local jurisdiction will not be impacted. Once again, without Daines legislation, Montanans will be fighting a long and costly court case that is likely to fail, similar to the recent case of the Klamath Tribes in Oregon. Again, the Trump Administration has stated, a significant number of CSKTs claims would be upheld in court and this legislation prevents that. Al claims that under this proposal, the CSKT will receive 36,808 acres of land owned by the state, without any say from Montanas Board of Land Commissioners. Al, read the legislation. The state of Montana is not required to give up an acre of land. Any land swap would have to be negotiated and approved by the Land Board. The list of inaccuracies in Als article goes on and on. And while I understand the desire to cling onto a single issue for political purposes, I do not understand the desire to smear a proposal that has brought together people all over this state, to put an end to a century-long debate. I am proud to support the Montana Water Rights Protection Act, as I understand the need to settle this issue. I applaud Sen. Daines for his leadership and working with all parties involved. While Al thinks this issue is his ticket to statewide elected office, I strongly urge he does more research before throwing around baseless and unsubstantiated political attacks. There is no denying this proposal is the right thing for Montana. Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, represents House District 64 in the Montana Legislature and is chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The Kremlin has maintained a relatively muted public response to the illegal January 3 US drone assassination of Irans General Qassem Suleimani. The Foreign Ministry issued one initial statement condemning the killing, but subsequent statements by Putin and the Kremlin refrained from taking a clear position in the conflict and have urged de-escalation. At a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last Wednesday for the opening of the Russian-Turkish TurkStream pipeline, Putin refrained from condemning the air strike and did not comment on the Iranian missiles fired hours before on US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Suleimani. On Saturday, Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for three-and-a-half hours in Moscow to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has been sanctioned by the US in an attempt to prevent its construction. Putin and Merkel both reaffirmed their support for the pipeline, while Putin indicated it could be completed either this year or in the first quarter of 2021. Neither condemned the assassination of Suleimani, but both Merkel and Putin expressed support for the Iran nuclear deal which the US has unilaterally abrogated. Merkel emphasized that Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons. Since the escalation of the war crisis, Iran has announced that it will not consider the terms of the agreement binding. The assassination of Suleimani has been widely perceived in Russia as a demonstrative act of state terrorism aimed not only against Iran but also against Russia itself. An opinion piece in the Kremlin-owned Russia Today noted, Trump is not only menacing the Islamic Republic, he is poking the Russian bear in the chest, back and face too. General Suleimani had close ties to the Kremlin and is generally believed to have played a leading role in organizing joint military operations by Iran and Russia in Syria. The Russian newspaper Gazeta.Ru described him as The Iranian who led Russia into Syria. Suleimani made four known visits to Moscow to negotiate joint military operations between July 2015 and April 2016. A Reuters report described Suleimanis visit to the Kremlin in July 2015 as the first step in planning for a Russian military intervention that has reshaped the Syrian war. Discussions about Russian and Iranian military efforts in Syria, according to Reuters, directly involved Putin and Suleimani. Since 2015, the joint military effort by Iran and Russia to prop up the Assad regime in Syria against US-backed Islamist militias and proxy forces has resulted in what US think tanks and media generally describe as a success for Teheran and Moscow and a significant weakening of US influence in the region. A recent piece in Foreign Affairs noted that, as a result of the intervention in Syria, the Kremlin has positioned itself as the power broker [in the Middle East] to whom all actors [Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel] must talk. In the Middle East, Russia and Iran have maintained relatively close ties for the past two decades. These ties have deepened significantly, especially on a military and intelligence level, through the joint military efforts in Syria. However, Russia also has a good relationship with Israel, where almost a fifth of the population speaks Russian, and has managed to maintain it even as the two countries fought on opposite sides in Syria. A further escalation of the Israeli supported US war drive against Iran would likely make it inevitable for Moscow to choose between what are two of the Kremlins most important allies on the international stage. The Kremlin has also put significant efforts into establishing good relations with Saudi Arabia, the closest ally of US imperialism in the Arab world, and a regional enemy of both Iran and Turkey. Moreover, any open military conflict with Iran threatens to spill over directly to the border of Russia, enflaming the South Caucasus, a region that is simmering with geopolitical tensions and potential flashpoints for further wars, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and ongoing Russian-Georgian tensions. The South Caucasus directly borders Iran, with Turkey to its south and Russia to its north. It is bordered in the west by the Black Sea and to its east by the energy-rich Caspian Sea. Ever since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the Black Sea in particular has been central to the drive of US imperialism to establish direct control over the entire region and its resources and encircle Russia. With the exception of Russia, all countries bordering the Black SeaUkraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgiaare full members of NATO or open supporters of the US war drive against Russia. In February 2014, the US and Germany orchestrated a far-right coup to bring to power a Ukrainian regime that is closely aligned with the imperialist war drive against Russia. In response, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. In an interview with the Armenian journal Noev Kovcheg, Armenian political scientist Ilgar Velizade warned last summer that a US-Iran war would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe in the South Caucasus as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Iranians might flee to the impoverished region. He said, One can assume that all neighbors of Iran would in one way or another be drawn into the orbit of a military campaign. [Missile] strikes could be conducted not only from the Persian Gulf but also from the Black Sea. Azerbaijan and Armenia have both expressed their condolences to the Iranian government over the killing of Suleimani. By contrast, Georgia, a close ally of the US, supported the assassination. Last summer, there were mass anti-Russia protests in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, fueled by the US escalation of war provocations against Iran. In Azerbaijan, the political elites are divided over the relationship to Iran, with Baku having taken significant steps toward supporting US and Israeli military preparations against Iran over the past decade. However, there is substantial support for Iran and opposition to US militarism within the Azeri population. Iran is home to 10 to 15 million Iranian Azeris who live in the north of the country. Commentaries in the Russian media indicate that the escalation of the US war campaign against Iran has further fueled heated conflicts within the Russian oligarchy over its foreign policy orientation. A comment in Vzglyad by Timofei Bordachov, the program director of the Valdai discussion club, a think tank that regularly meets with Kremlin representatives and Putin, stressed that the assassination changed the rules of war, signaling a complete abandonment of any established rules of warfare. The commentary concluded: It is entirely possible that the 21st century will see war returned to its original meaning: as an instrument of diplomacy and a means for resolving territorial conflicts. Another commentary in Vzglyad said that Trump was turning into a new Hitler and that Russia was now confronted with the choice of either rapidly forging an alliance with the European Union and China in order to try to peacefully prevent the US from going down the path of transforming itself from the worlds policeman into the worlds neo-fascist ISIS, or uniting with them too late under much more difficult conditions, as was the case in 1941 after the assault of Germany on the USSR. After over a week in which it published not a single opinion piece on the situation, the Novaya Gazeta, the leading mouthpiece of the pro-US liberal opposition to Putin, came out with a scathingly anti-Iranian diatribe by Yulia Latynina on January 11. Latynina, one of the best-known supporters of the liberal opposition of Alexei Navalny, effectively endorsed the Suleimani assassination, claiming that he had crossed a red line and denouncing Iran as a hybrid hooligan to which the US had to respond. She denounced Moscow politicians as disciples of the Iranian ayatollah and asserted that no world war in the traditional sense would follow the assassination. Instead, she wrote, Iran would continue its hybrid war in the Middle East, implying that any continued US aggression against Iran should be supported. While the nation awaits the execution Nirbhaya gangrape convicts, the Delhi government told the high court court that execution of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea has been filed by one of them. The preparations for the death sentence to be carried out are in full swing. The Tihar Jail also carried out a dummy hanging two days ago. The "dummy execution" was done by the jail authorities to test the gallows using sacks filled with debris and stones according to the weight of the four men. The test was done at Jail 3 of Tihar, Asia's largest prison complex, where the convicts will be executed. Jail cell 3 was where Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013. The four convicts -- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7. BCCL Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were told by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by convict Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. The Delhi government and the prison authorities informed the court that under the rules, it will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. They also said that none of the four convicts can be executed on January 22 unless the present mercy plea is decided. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay. Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, right, receives a bouquet of flowers from Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Hae-chan at the National Assembly, Seoul, as a welcome gift to resume the party's affairs as a permanent adviser, Wednesday, a day after he left the prime minister position. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun By Kim Rahn Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was named a permanent adviser to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Wednesday, a day after he left the post. One of the strongest contenders for the next president, Lee is expected to run for the Jongno District in the upcoming April 15 general election, and possibly head the party's committee on election strategy. "I returned to the party after six years of being away while working as the governor of South Jeolla Province and prime minister," Lee said ahead of a party meeting at the National Assembly. "I'll do what I can and must do faithfully while talking with the party on every issue." DPK Chairman Lee Hae-chan said Lee has sufficient experience in and knowledge of politics. "As an adviser, the former prime minister is expected to play a key role when the party's election strategy committee is launched," the chairman said. The former prime minister said he and the party would soon decide exactly what role he needs to play in the election. It is widely expected he will run for the Jongno constituency becoming a lawmaker representing the central Seoul district has been considered a stepping stone for potential presidential candidates to get a foothold and solidify their presence for any future bid. Former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak followed this path. When asked whether he has decided to run in Jongno, Lee Nak-yon said, "It is the party that will make the final decision on the matter. It is true that I'm moving to a house in Jongno, but running is up to the party." Milestone moves Egypt closer toward its goal of becoming an energy re-export hub to Europe. Egypt started importing natural gas from Israels largest offshore gas field Leviathan on Wednesday in a landmark step toward Cairos ambitious plan to become a regional energy hub. Israeli gas exported to Egypt is intended for domestic consumption and for liquification for export to other markets a development that will be welcomed by Europe, which is trying to lessen its dependence on natural gas imported from Russia. In a statement announcing the first transfer, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said the step represents an important development that serves the economic interests for both countries. Isreals Delek Group Ltd and Texas-based Nobel Energy Inc partners in the Leviathan field- are contracted to export 85 billion cubic metres of gas to Egypt over 15 years. Israeli officials have described it as the most important agreement since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1979. In 2018, Delek, Nobel and Egyptian East Gas Co signed a deal to buy control of the East Mediterranean Gas Co pipeline connecting southern Israel to Egypts Sinai Peninsula. Initially built to export Egyptian gas to Israel, the pipeline sat largely idle for six years due to domestic gas shortages in Egypt and repeated attacks by armed fighters in the Sinai. Environmental concerns The Leviathan field was discovered a decade ago about 120km (75 miles) off Israels coast. But its towering production platform was constructed just 10km from the shore, which prompted environmental activists and municipalities in Israel to lobby for building the structure further out at sea. The activists were concerned about what they called the catastrophic consequences of spreading toxic water and air pollution towards their homes, but they lost their case when the Jerusalem District Court ruled last month that the appellants had not provided sufficient evidence that Leviathans emissions could prove dangerous. Delek, Noble and the Israeli government have insisted that the most stringent safety measures have been put in place, and accused their critics of waging an irresponsible scare campaign. Meanwhile, the 2015 discovery of Egypts Zohr gas field turned Egypt from net importer to exporter in late 2018. Zohr, which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, has been touted as the largest-ever field in the Mediterranean, and the government is planning on using it to supply gas-hungry Europe. The European Union, which is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, has encouraged the formation of new delivery routes, including through the eastern Mediterranean Sea. A llegations of vandalism and defecation at the ruins of Machu Picchu has prompted five tourists to be deported from Peru, while another will be charged over the damage. Police said the group crept into the site, one of south America's best known tourist attractions, and caused a rock to fall from a wall of the Temple of the Sun, damaging the wall. Another one of those involved is accused of defecating among the ruins of the Incan city. The group was made up of tourists from Chile, Brazil, France and Argentina. An Argentine man will stay in the country where he faces charges of "destroying Peru's cultural heritage". Police said he had acknowledge a role in the allegations. President Trump recently said that should the Senate subpoena senior administration officials to testify in his impeachment trial, he would invoke executive privilege to block them from appearing. He explained that he would take this step for the sake of the office and also for the benefit of any future presidents. His former national security adviser, John Bolton, has said he would testify in the Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed, and Senate Democrats argue that other high-ranking administrative officials with firsthand knowledge of President Trumps efforts to extort political dirt on the Bidens from the Ukrainian government should also be called to testify, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff; and former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. Can President Trump actually stop the Senate from hearing from these key witnesses? In a word, no. The Senate will decide for itself whether to call witnesses and the extent to which it will recognize claims of executive privilege if raised. Moreover, the federal courts are almost certain to defer to the Senates rulings on executive privilege because the Constitution vests the Senate with the sole power to try all impeachments. The Supreme Court has squarely held that the federal courts will not review the Senates exercise of this constitutional authority. The presidents radically expansive understanding of executive privilege lacks legal merit. Whats more, if the Senate takes seriously Mr. Trumps absolutist position, the chamber will be establishing a startlingly dangerous precedent: that Congress lacks the constitutional authority to investigate effectively criminal wrongdoing within the highest levels of the executive branch, in this instance, allegations of bribery and misuse of government office for personal gain. This would be a disabling abdication of its rights and obligations as a separate branch of government. Future Congresses would quickly come to regret such an abrogation. Rada plans to once again consider "tax terror bill" on Jan 16 18:30, 15.01.20 1603 If legislation passes Parliament, Ukraine may lose 1% of the country's GDP, experts suggest. Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on January 20, (Monday) hold "Pariksha Pe Charcha 2020" - an interaction with students - during which he will tell them how to beat exam stress. According to reports, the PM will interact with a cross-section of students and teachers from India and abroad on how to handle exam stress around 11 am January 20, 2020. The programme was earlier scheduled to be held on January 16, 2020. Live TV Students, teachers and parents participate in the unique event with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm as they receive valuable tips from the Prime Minister, who is keen to ensure that students take exams in a relaxed atmosphere and don't come under stress. The HRD Ministry in partnership with MyGov has launched a short essay competition for students of classes 9 to 12 for the third edition of Prime Ministers Interaction Programme with school students "ParikshaPeCharcha 2020. Nikita Sharma By Express News Service "It's a small peck that we are giving back to the nature with our initiative of creating compostable clothes for animal lovers," says Hitesha Deshpande, 37, founder of fashion label PECKD. The new collection titled Delta & Dawn for corporate women, is biodegradable and also 100 percent compostable. From the fabric to the thread and even the buttons, everything decomposes when buried in moist soil. The fabric has been made from vegetable cellulose, some of which is being sourced from Cambodia. We also have manufactering partners in the Sundarbans. Our collection is in white because cellulose doesnt hold colours. And the process of dyeing uses a lot of chemicals and huge quantity of water. Since, we dont want to use chemicals, we are finding other ways, says Deshpande. All nine designs have been named after whales that were either tracked, released, or are being nurtured at a sanctuary. The dresses are named Trident, Scylla and Cygnus; tops titled Flo and Bisou and a jumpsuit named Echo. "The collection has also been named after two humpback whales Delta and Dawn. This mother-daughter pair swam inshore into the freshwaters of Sacramento after being wounded by motorboats. This is the farthest any humpback whale has swum inland. The rescue teams could not get close to the pair, so had to use dart guns to administer antibiotics to heal their wounds. It was two years later, after continual efforts by both the whales and the humans, that the duo was healthy enough to swim back to the sea," says Deshpande. Apostrophe, a skirt and blazer combo, is the signature piece, handcrafted using compostable silk and takes almost 10 days to finish. The pleated details are inspired by the dorsal grooves of the humpback whale. Talking about PECKD, Deshpande says, "My partner Himanshu Kulhari and I are animal lovers, and weve ended up creating fashionable clothing for the animal lovers that they can wear to work or even a date. For buttons, we use walnuts and vegetable pulp. By walnuts, I mean the actual nut. Because we want to ensure that once they are put into the moist soil, they decompose within 180 days. They are not polished; we just buff the buttons to lend a little shine," she adds. MBABANE - This is a simple rape and there is nothing special about it that might induce me to evade trial, in particular in light of the defence that I have. This was one of the submissions made by the Zionist priest who is alleged to have subjected his daughters to sexual abuse. The priest made these averments in his application for bail which the Crown is vigorously opposing on the basis that he might evade trial and intimidate witnesses in the event he was released on bail. In its opposing papers, the Crown informed the court that there was overwhelming evidence against the accused, which would lead to his conviction. May I further state that I am not aware of any cogent and reliable evidence against me. I state that all offences under the fifth schedule of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act carry custodial sentences yet people are granted bail, contended the priest. He further disputed the assertion by the police that the survivors suffered trauma. The police, in their opposing papers, informed the court that the survivors have already suffered trauma and the release of the accused on bail would expose them to secondary trauma as they did not known what he would do them. The accused, however, dismissed this allegation and argued that the police did not attach any expert report to that effect. In any, event I will not be staying with the alleged survivors so the issue of secondary trauma is neither here nor there, he argued. He further refuted the submission by the police that the survivors had no reason to fabricate a story against him. According to the priest, the survivors were allegedly accusing him of siding with their enemy (his wife). I further state that, I am not aware of the evidence of my brother. Enemy The only thing I know is that he is my enemy. He (brother) once held a meeting in which he was planning how he can frame me for having raped my children. Fortunately enough someone recorded the conversation and I have that conversation in my phone, to prove that I am being framed, contended the man of the cloth. According to the accused, the police seemed to attach gravity of the charges on the alleged unnecessary splitting of charges which was apparent from the charge sheet. He told the court that he had been advised and verily believed that the splitting of charges was unnecessary, which was now clouding the judgment of the Crown. The priest (52) is alleged to have had unlawful sexual intercourse with his three daughters over a period of seven years. He has been charged with nine counts under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15/2018. Unprotected According to the charge sheet, *Logo allegedly had unlawful and unprotected sexual intercourse with his three daughters who are now aged 24, 21 and 18. All the nine counts are accompanied by aggravating factors in that he exposed his children to sexually transmitted illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. He is said to have also inflicted physical and lifetime mental trauma to his daughters. The bail application is pending before Judge John Magagula. Appearing for the Crown is in the matter is Beauty Fakudze from the chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) while Nhlanhla Ginindza of N.E. Ginindza Attorneys in Manzini appears for the accused. * Not real name to protect survivors The Congress-led Chhattisgarh government moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking the UPA-1 era National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act be declared unconstitutional and arbitrary on the ground that it affects the state's sovereignty and confers unbridled power on the Centre. The then Manmohan Singh government had come out with the law in the aftermath of the November 26, 2008, Mumbai attack, when senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was the union home minister. The legislation provides NIA concurrent jurisdiction to probe terror attacks in any part of the country without any specific permission from states and in the last one decade it has been involved in the investigation of all such cases. The Chhattisgarh government has filed the original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution which empowers a state to move the Supreme Court directly in matters of dispute with the Centre or any other state. It is the first state to challenge the Act. The move comes a day after the Kerala government challenged the Citizenship Amendment Act under the same Article 131. The filing of petition assumes importance as the Bhupesh Baghel led Congress government in the state has challenged the law on the ground that it was for the police to investigate scheduled offences in the state. It also assumes significance as the state government is challenging the law passed by Parliament when Congress led the central government. "The plaintiff (state) respectfully submits that the NIA Act is ultra vires to the Constitution and is beyond legislative competence of Parliament since the Act empowers the defendant (Centre) to create an agency for investigation, which, not withstanding the NIA, is carried out by state police, which is a subject matter of the state under entry-2, List-II, Schedule 7, of the Constitution," the plea said. The suit, filed through standing counsel of the state Sumeer Sodhi and settled by senior advocate Vivek Tankhs, said the NIA Act in its present form not only takes away the power of conducting investigation by the plaintiff (state) through police but also confers "unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers" on the defendant (Centre). "Moreover, there are no rules governing the exercise of powers which gives ample discretion to the defendant to exercise its power at any juncture without providing any reason or justification for the same," the plea said. The state government said the provision of the Act leaves no room for coordination and pre-condition of consent in any form by the central government from the state government which clearly is against the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution. "The plaintiff submits that the scheme of NIA Act is such that once brought in motion, it completely takes away the power of plaintiff to investigate the offences which have been categorised as scheduled offence under the NIA Act and which has been committed within the jurisdiction of the State," the plea said. It said the Act, in its essence and spirit, is not only ultra vires to the Constitution but is also against the "federal spirit as envisaged under our Constitutional scheme wherein both Centre and State are considered to be independent in their respective jurisdiction". It said that Police is a subject matter of List-II of the State list of the Constitution and not List-I, which deals with the subject matters of Centre. "A holistic appreciation of the fact that "Police" was placed under List- II as the subject matter of State, with power to investigate, and equally significant fact that no such entry of "Police" or even any incidental or ancillary entry was provided in List-1 i.e., Centre List suggests that the framing of a legislation such as NIA Act by the Parliament, which creates an investigation agency having overriding powers over the Police of a State, was never the intention of the makers of the Constitution," it said. Parliament has acted beyond its legislative competence in framing and enacting the NIA Act and hence, the NIA Act is ultra vires to the Constitution of India, it said. "Moreover, the NIA Act, in its present form and content, not only confers unbridled, uncontrolled and uncanalised power on the Central Government to act arbitrarily and whimsically against the spirit of federal structure and sovereignty of State, but also tramples the purpose and significance of Entry- II, List - II of Schedule 7 of the Constitution," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tysers, the London-based broker, announced it has taken a minority investment in Bermudas newly formed and first independent managing general agent Helix Underwriting Partners Ltd. As we enter the 200th year of Tysers existence, we are delighted to be partnering with Helix Underwriting Partners, commented Richard Tomkins, managing director of Tysers Bermuda Ltd. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. In the latter half of 2019 we observed and had dialogue with Helix during its formation and realized they would be a great fit for our stated independent strategy, he added. The founders of Helix have many years of experience within the industry, across multiple disciplines and have all the necessary skills to make the business a success. During our formation process, we reviewed capital propositions from several interested parties. Tysers emerged as an optimal strategic partner for Helix; its goal to be a leading independent brokerage and service firm aligns well with the profile of our business, said Claude Lefebvre, president of Helix Underwriting Partners Ltd., which was incorporated in December 2018 as the first multi-line, independent managing general agent in Bermuda. Helix has collaborated closely with the Tysers management team throughout this process. We appreciate this strategic investment from Tysers and the additional access to capital as we fully launch Helix with our business partners, Lefebvre continued. Tysers was acquired by the Integro Group in June 2018 and was subsequently transferred into Integro Insurance Brokers Ltd.s wholesale division, the companys largest business segment, which trades under the Tysers brand. Source: Tysers Related: Topics Mergers Agencies Underwriting Insurance Wholesale Uk Korea Enacts 2019 Tax Revision Bill by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong 15 January 2020 The Korean Government has announced that the 2019 Tax Revision Bill was enacted on January 6, 2020, with a number of new measures added to the existing proposals. The 2019 Tax Revision Bill According to an English-language release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, released in July 2019, for companies, the bill includes provisions to: Expand the tax reduction for companies investing in improving productivity, from one percent to two percent for large conglomerates, from three to five percent for medium-sized companies, and from seven to 10 percent for SMEs; Extend tax relief measures for those investing in the development of a manufacturing facility, or investing in safety technology, for two years. The manufacturing facility tax relief will be expanded to the pharmaceutical and logistics industry if they invest in high-tech equipment and facilities, and the safety investment tax relief will be extended to companies creating energy pipelines and LPG facilities; Extend the 50 percent accelerated depreciation incentive by six months to June 30, 2020; Provide accelerated depreciation relief of 75 percent to SMEs and medium-sized enterprises for their investments made during the second quarter of this year; Extend the corporate tax reduction for startups doing business in specified areas for a further two years; Expand the corporate investment tax reduction to five percent for SMEs and three percent for medium-sized leading enterprises if they are doing business in regulation-free zones; Impose alcohol content-based tax rates on beer and unstrained rice-wine (makkoli); Ease requirements for corporate inheritance tax incentives. Specifically, the Government will ease the current requirement that to be eligible for tax relief there can be no change in business, and the business must be retained for seven years, rather than 10. It will also ease requirements for paying inheritance taxes in installments; Expand the installment tax payment and grace period given to capital gains made due to moving manufacturing facilities from a two-year installment with two-year grace period, to a five-year installment with five-year grace period; Expand the tax deduction for losses incurred in the previous year from 60 percent of the earnings for the year to 100 percent; and Double the amount of maintenance costs that are tax deductible to up to KRW6m (USD5,000). On supporting consumer consumption and Korean exporters, the bill will: Raise the purchase ceiling for locals at downtown and port arrival duty-free shops from USD3,000 to USD5,000; Provide foreign visitors with an on-the-spot tax refund for up to KRW2m worth of purchases; Extend the VAT refund given to foreign tourists for their medical service costs and accommodation costs by one year; Shift the obligation to pay the cost of cargo security check to the government, for goods imported by SMEs and medium-sized enterprises; Give tariff cuts to SME and medium-sized leading exporters when they import materials to build manufacturing facilities. On research and development, the bill will: Expand the research and development tax reduction to new industries; Extend the "tax reduction carry-over" to the next 10 years; Provide a research and development tax reduction to foreign research institutes for projects commissioned by Korean companies; Raise the ceiling of the capital gains tax exemption for stock options exercised by employees; Expand the capital gains tax exemption given to venture capital investors from the sale of old stocks to the sale of new stocks; and Provide a 50 percent income tax cut for five years to talented Korean nationals returning from overseas. Other measures included in the bill are intended to improve the fairness of Korea's tax system. The bill includes proposals to: Extend the 10 percent tax reduction for large corporate investment in SME employee welfare funds to 2022; Expand the corporate investment tax reduction given to SMEs and medium-sized enterprises participating in local government job programs to up to 10 percent; Expand the tax support for women returning to work after having children. Specifically, the tax burden for these works will be lowered by between 15 and 30 percent. The tax relief will cover those that have been out of the workforce for at least three years, and not greater than 15 years, up from 10 years previously. For consumers, the Bill includes proposals to: Extend the income tax deduction for credit card use by three years to 2022, and offer 40 percent deduction for spending via "Zero Pay," a fee-free mobile payment system; Extend the VAT reduction for purchasing tax-free farm products by two years to 2021; Raise the income ceiling for work incentives for low-paid households. Expand the tax support for private pension plans; and Adopt a long-term tax payment plan for small business owners whose delinquent taxes are KRW50m or less. Under such, payments can be made in installments over up to five years. The bill further proposes to lower penalties imposed on unreported overseas financial accounts; raise gift tax rates on the wealthiest taxpayers; enhance tax breaks for company cars; work to impose taxes on patent rights registered overseas that are owned by Korean companies; and increase enforcement activities on frequently errant large corporate taxpayers. New changes In a January 6, 2020, statement, announcing the enactment of the bill, the Korean Government said that its proposals have been revised in three areas. First, the deduction for research and development will be increased to 40 percent, and the scope of the incentive will be broadened from 173 technologies to 223. The bill also expands the 50 percent income tax break for financial technology startups and ventures for the first five years of operation. Second, the duty-free shopping rules will be eased in respect of duty-free shops in Jeju Island, and, finally, corporate tax breaks will be enhanced for companies who support mothers to return to work. The Korean Government said it expects to release the finalized version of the Bill in the second week of February 2020. But the National Assembly remains important. It confers legitimacy on Guaido and gives the opposition access to millions of dollars in Venezuelan assets abroad. It can refuse to endorse oil and gas contracts in the OPEC nation, creating legal headaches for Russia and other allies of Maduro who want such deals to be enforceable after Maduro is gone. Washington Blvd., 2700 block, 2:30 a.m. Jan. 3. Two men entered a business and forced two employees behind the counter. One of the men displayed a knife, forced an employee to open a cash register, and took money and other merchandise. The men fled from the scene. Brad Pitt continues to have a career year in 2020 - and it's just getting started. Amid his stellar award season run for his performance in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the 56-year-old actor has emerged as the focal point of Brioni's Spring 2020 campaign in a pair of black-and-white shots recently released. 'I've always admired Brioni's elegant and timeless designs,' said Pitt, who is an ambassador for the Rome-based brand, according to WWD. 'The brand embodies creativity, quality and excellence.' Focused: Brad Pitt, 55, is focal point of Brioni's Spring 2020 campaign in a series of black-and-white shots recently released The images were snapped by photographer Mikael Jansson in Los Angeles, according to Brioni, as 'the series of portraits stand out with an intimate atmosphere that contrasts with Pitts strong personality and brings his iconic sense of style to a selection of Brionis finest ready to wear and evening wear from the Spring/Summer 2020 Collection.' The A-list actor succeeds luminaries such as Pierce Brosnan, Anthony Hopkins and Samuel L. Jackson as part of the fashion house's Tailoring Legends line. He's wore their tailored items to major cinematic events including the Golden Globes earlier this month, and to last year's Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival. Brioni is also slated to put out a limited-edition line of Brad Pitt signature items, including a suit and tuxedo, to be debuted later this year, according to WWD. Hollywood royalty: The A-list actor succeeds luminaries such as Pierce Brosnan, Anthony Hopkins and Samuel L. Jackson as part of the fashion house's Tailoring Legends line Suave: Last year, he wore their tailored items to major cinematic events including the Cannes Film Festival in May (L) and the Venice Film Festival in August Groovy: Pitt is in the midst of a scorching award season run for his role as Cliff Booth in Tarantino's most recent film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood The actor is in the midst of a scorching award season run for his role as Cliff Booth in Tarantino's most recent film. The character Booth - a sidekick/stunt double for fading actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the film - was based on Burt Reynolds' longtime stunt double. Pitt took home the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for the film earlier this month, and won the Critics Choice Award this past Sunday for Best Supporting Actor. He's heavily favored by oddsmakers to win his first acting Oscar for the role, against a who's who of Tinseltown icons: The Irishman's Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, The Two Popes star Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hanks, for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. He's past been nominated for acting honors on three occasions over the past 25 years: for Best Supporting Actor for 1995's Twelve Monkeys; for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for 2011's Moneyball. Chinese officers greet Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana aboard a Chinese coast guard ship docked in Manila, before the start of a joint drill with the Philippine coast guard, Jan. 15, 2020. Philippine and Chinese ships on Wednesday staged the first joint drill between their coast guards in waters off Manila in the South China Sea, where both countries have rival territorial claims, officials said. A Chinese Coast Guard ship with pennant number 5204 and the BRP Tubbataha, a 44-meter (144-foot) multi-role response Philippine vessel, took part in the exercises aimed at achieving interoperability at sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. Filipino and Chinese personnel were given a scenario where a vessel caught fire in its cargo hold while sailing in waters near Manila. Both coast guard ships deployed inflatable boats along with rescue swimmers to save the mock victims, the PCG said. The rescued people were then transferred to a third vessel with a medical team onboard for medical assessment and treatment. Eventually, the troubled boat was declared out of danger, with no casualties recorded. The activity allowed Chinese and Filipino personnel to exercise interoperability and strengthen their capabilities in responding to such crises, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement. The joint maritime drills were part of a weeklong program of activities tied to a port call in Manila by the Chinese coast guard that are aimed at building mutual trust and cooperation and promote maritime security and maritime law enforcement in the West Philippine Sea, it added, using the Philippine name for the South China Sea. The joint drills have come under criticism from Philippine nationalist groups, which have questioned why Manila was rolling out the red carpet for Beijing, whose ships have been known to harass Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea. The drill came months after Manila filed a diplomatic protest when a Chinese trawler rammed into a Filipino fishing boat near Recto Bank in the disputed maritime region, leaving 22 fishermen adrift in the open sea for hours before they were rescued by a Vietnamese ship. The incident caused a diplomatic tussle, with Manila issuing strongly worded statements. However, President Rodrigo Duterte, whose foreign policy has been drifting towards China and away from the Philippines longtime military ally, the United States, later said there was nothing Manila could do against the Asian military superpower. He had also set aside a 2016 decision by an international arbitration verdict that ruled in favor of the Philippines by invalidating Beijings vast claims in the potentially mineral-rich South China Sea. Duterte has defended his actions and said Manila could not risk war with Beijing, which has claimed to have installed missiles as well as militarized islands it claims in the sea. Sen. Leila de Lima, a top opposition leader and vocal critic of Duterte, said Manila had practically rolled out the red carpet to the Chinese coast guard by welcoming its commander for bilateral talks in Manila this week with the Philippine coast guard. Imagine our coast guard discussing protocols at sea with the very people who regularly intimidate our own fishermen, in our own territory? de Lima said. Filipino officials welcomed the Chinese crew, led by Chinese Coast Guard chief Maj. Gen. Wang Zhongcai when they arrived earlier this week. Beijing claims most of the mineral-rich South China Sea, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the maritime region. A major syphilis outbreak is causing concern for medics in Victoria as the numbers of infected female patients soar for the first time. More than 1,600 cases of the sexually transmitted disease were reported in the state in 2019 alone, up from just 654 cases in 2014. Before 2014 the disease was largely confined to men but last year more than 150 women were diagnosed with the STI. By 30 June 2018, there had been seven confirmed cases of congenital syphilis in babies and an additional six probable cases. Six babies had died from congenital syphilis - three confirmed and three probable - associated with an outbreak which first began in a community in north-west Queensland before spreading, according to the Department of Health. 'If you treat a woman, who has got syphilis early enough in pregnancy with the right penicillin it's 100 per cent preventable,' Monash University's Associate Professor Marcus Chen, from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre told The Age. 'These are tragic and avoidable cases.' The primary suburbs for concern in recent times include the inner Melbourne CBD, Port Phillip, Yarra and Stonnington. The disease, which is spread through skin-to-skin contact during unprotected sex, can have potentially fatal side effects. Signs of syphilis usually begin with sores and can spread to a rash on the body (stock image pictured) The infection begins with sores or wounds on the body, before spreading to a rash and potentially infecting the brain and causing dementia if left untreated. Authorities believed the disease was eradicated in Melbourne by the 1990s, but a nationwide resurgence has impacted the city too. 'It's too simple to say there's more promiscuity, or more sex because people are meeting online and that's why it's gone rampant, because there's actually very little proof for that,' Professor Chen said. Data collected by the Australian Department of Health concluded rates among women in the most recent figures were highest in 15-19 year olds at 15.9 per 100,000, followed by the 20-24 age group and then 25-29. Risks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were 40 times greater than non-indigenous women. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Golden Lake Exploration Inc. (CSE:GLM) ("GLM" or the "Company") wishes to present an update on activities on the Company's newly acquired Jewel Ridge gold property near Eureka, Nevada, in the heart of a major gold-producing district. Jewel Ridge is located on the south end of Nevada's prolific Battle Mountain - Eureka trend, along strike and contiguous to Barrick Gold's two million-ounce Archimedes/Ruby Hill gold mine to the north and Timberline Resources' advanced-stage Lookout Mountain project to the south. Activities to date include: Data compilation is proceeding well, with 361 drill holes over the entire property area in the database. This represents millions of dollars of previous exploration expenditures and allows the Company to fast-track the vectoring of high priority drill targets. A priority target is the South Eureka Zone, where 82 holes comprising 3,895 meters have been drilled (average depth only 47.5 meters). The South Eureka Zone has not been drilled since the late 1980's due to tenure complications that were resolved with the purchase of 12 patented claims in 2012. Highlight intersections from previous drilling include:10.7 m @ 3.69 grams gold per tonne (g/t Au) in hole N8531, 21.3 m @ 4.21 g/t Au in hole N8536, 27.4 m @ 5.51 g/t Au in hole V25 and 24.4 m @ 3.48 g/t Au in hole VA5. Previous drilling on the South Eureka Zone was completed from 1971 to 1980 by General Minerals Development Corporation - Peter Galli Exploration, and from 1983-1988, by Norse-Windfall Inc. The Company treats the historic data as relevant and significant, but the Company is not able to verify the drill hole results, nor the assay techniques and laboratories. The company is also pleased to report, and present, a historic article by the Elko Daily Free Press, dated March 2, 2015 on the Catlin Shaft (Eureka-Croesus Mine), one of the current historic workings on the Jewel Ridge property: (https://elkodaily.com/mining/blasts-from-the-past-major-henry-g-catlin-and-the/article_d5eac5ee-e751-57f6-896b-256ca368338c.html ). The article chronicles the last historic attempt to mine the carbonate replacement deposits of silver-lead-zinc (Ag-Pb-Zn) and gold (Au), from 1917 to 1920. The Catlin or main shaft was sunk on the Connelly claim at a depth of 122 meters, with drifts at the 31 meter, 61 meters and 122 meter levels. While initially successful, the mining operation suffered when the price of silver fell to US $0.70/ounce in December 1920, a decrease of over 50% from the price in 1919. About the Jewel Ridge Property The property comprises 96 unpatented lode mining claims and 30 patented claims covering approximately 728 hectares (1,800 acres). The Jewel Ridge property contains several historic small gold mines which align along a north-south-trending stratigraphic contact of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, as well as several other gold mineralized zones with a variety of structural and lithological controls. The Company's focus is on Carlin-style disseminated gold deposits, the primary focus in the area since the late 1970s. Nevada Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGD) have a combined endowment of more than 250 million ounces, which are concentrated (85 per cent) in only four trends or camps of deposits: Carlin, Cortez (Battle Mountain-Eureka), Getchell and Jerritt Canyon. The Company cautions that results on adjacent and/or nearby projects are not necessarily indicative of results on the Company's property. GLM can earn a 100-per-cent interest in the Jewel Ridge property by paying Greencastle $155,000 in cash, issuing five million Golden Lake Exploration shares and spending $750,000 over three years. Qualified person Golden Lake Exploration's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by James Pirie, P.Eng., who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. About Golden Lake Exploration Inc. Golden Lake Exploration is a junior public mining exploration company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to acquire, explore and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to aggressively advance its exploration program on the Jewel Ridge property. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD " M ike England" Mike England, CEO & DIRECTOR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Telephone: 1-604-683-3995 Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770 Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM). SOURCE: Golden Lake Exploration Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573132/Update-on-Activities-on-the-Jewel-Ridge-Property-Nevada A high- level figure inside Syria reportedly provided the Americans with information about Soleimani and his movement reports Independent Arabia. A major Western intelligence source has told Independent Arabic that a high-level Syrian figure sold out Qassem Soleimani and delivered him to the Americans. The source, who is familiar with the events, said that this figure leaked precise and important information to the Americans regarding Soleimanis movements in Syria, and informed them of the date and details of the civilian plane and companions. The source said that the high-level figure, who has been in contact with the Americans for a while, had made it a condition that the Americans did not strike inside Syrian territory. Independent Arabia learned that the Americans were able to track the plane that carried Soleimani, after confirming he was on board. According to the source, the Americans also were able to tap Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis phone, and had been listening to what he and Soleimani and others were saying, as well as to conversations between themand from that the Americans understood that they were preparing major operations in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere against American, Israeli and Western targets. They also confirmed that Muhandis would be waiting for Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Following the strike, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Soleimani and Muhandis had been planning to strike American and Western targets in the Middle East. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. On January 1, 2020, the double taxation avoidance agreement between Indonesia and Tajikistan came into force. It was ratified by the two countries late November last year. Despite having had diplomatic relations for more than 25 years, bilateral trade remains low. Going forward, Indonesia and Tajikistan will strengthen trade relations through 11 areas of cooperation. On November 29, 2019, Indonesia ratified an agreement with Tajikistan on the avoidance of double taxation (DTA) and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. While an agreement on a DTA framework was agreed on back in 2003, it was signed only in 2019. The treaty has been in effect since January 1, 2020. The agreement is a major step in improving trade between the two nations; despite having diplomatic ties for more than 25 years, total trade between the two amounts to less than US$5 million annually. Indonesias main imports from Tajikistan are cotton and zinc while it exports textiles, soap, electronics, shoes, furniture, and plastics to the country. During an official visit to Tajikistan with members of parliament in September 2019, Indonesias then Deputy Speaker of the Peoples Representative Council, Fahri Hamza, expressed the Indonesian governments willingness to strengthen its trade relations with Tajikistan through 11 areas of cooperation. These include education, commodities, tourism, visa-free access, energy, and security. Additionally, Hamza asserted that it was also time for Indonesia to establish an embassy in Tajikistan as the current consular services are located in neighboring Kazakhstan. Through this agreement, Indonesia appears to be signaling that it understands the growing importance of establishing trade relations with Central Asia. The region will play a vital role in the coming years in integrating global supply chains through Chinas Belt and Road initiative. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys export of cars to Kazakhstan increased by 29.5 percent from January through December 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $49.6 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend . In December 2019, export of cars from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by 65 percent compared to December 2018, amounting to $3.4 million, the ministry said. Turkeys export of cars dropped by 3.1 percent in 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $30.5 billion or 17 percent of Turkeys total export. Export of cars from Turkey increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019 compared to the same month of 2018, amounting to $2.5 billion or 16.5 percent of Turkeys total export. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $33.2 billion in November 2019. In November 2019, Turkeys export increased by 0.1 percent compared to November 2018, amounting to $15.5 billion. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $340.5 billion from January through November 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe on car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures local brands of buses such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu The vote sets the stage for a Senate trial, which is expected to fully kick off next week. Washington, DC The United States House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for trial. The Houses action sets up an historic clash between Congress and the president that now will be fought out in the quasi-judicial and highly political venue of the Senate, where Trumps Republican allies hold a 53-47 majority. What is at stake here is the Constitution of the United States. This is what impeachment is about, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday as she named seven House members who will prosecute the case in the Senate. The president violated his oath of office. Undermined our national security. Jeopardised our elections. Tried to use the appropriations process as his private ATM machine to withhold funds in order to advance his personal and political advantage, Pelosi said at a news conference at the US Capitol. The Democratic-led House on December 18 impeached Trump for abuse of power over his efforts to get Ukraine to launch an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden, and obstruction of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the House impeachment investigation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, labelling the impeachment as a hoax and witch-hunt. This is a political impeachment, said House Republican Doug Collins. Weve shown they dont have the facts. But it doesnt matter because the train is on the tracks and that is the 2020 election for president, Collins said in floor remarks. Pelosi delayed sending the articles of impeachment to try and pressure Senate Republicans to ensure there would be a fair trial in the Senate. In the nearly four weeks since the House approved the impeachment articles, several Republican senators have indicated a willingness to entertain Democrats demands for new witnesses and documents. We have always felt a certain urgency about this impeachment given that the president was trying to get foreign help in cheating in the next election, said Adam Schiff, the lead Democrat in the Houses impeachment inquiry. That time has been very effective in not only bringing new evidence to light and the evidence was already overwhelming but also forcing senators to go on the record. Do they want a fair trial, one thats fair to the president and the American people or are they going to participate in a cover-up, Schiff, who will serve as a House manager, said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking during a news conference to announce impeachment managers on Capitol Hill in Washington [Susan Walsh/AP Photo] House impeachment investigators released new material on Tuesday from Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who was working last year with Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal lawyer, to pressure Ukraine. Parnas and another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, are under indictment by federal prosecutors in New York for campaign finance violations surrounding cash contributions to Trumps political organisation and others. Parnas is cooperating with investigators. The documents included text messages from Parnass electronic devices. After the House vote on Wednesday, Pelosi will conduct a formal signing ceremony of the articles of impeachment. The seven House managers will physically carry the documents across the ornate US Capitol building from the House to the Senate. The Senate trial is scheduled to begin on January 21 and will likely continue for three to four weeks. The trial is expected to move forward with opening arguments before a decision on whether witnesses will be allowed is made. A small group of Senate Republicans including Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney have indicated they may join with Democrats to call new witnesses and testimony in the Senate trial. The Democrats just need four Republicans to join them in calling witnesses. Democrats want the Senate to call acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and the former national security adviser, John Bolton, to testify. Bolton, who refused to appear before House investigators, has said he is willing to testify to the Senate if subpoenaed. Bolton had direct Oval Office conversations with Trump about Ukraine. He called the pressure campaign on Ukraine a drug deal that he refused to be part of as national security adviser, according to testimony in the House. Medicare for all would be an enormous change to the health care system, and many key details are unsettled. That makes it very difficult to provide precise estimates of what such a system would cost. A number of serious economists have considered the question in a rigorous way. Some believe that a Medicare for All system could cost less over the long run than the future under current policy. But several believe it will cost more. Investigators probing Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Davinder Singhs alleged militant links have widened their investigations are were examining records at the Srinagar airport, where he was posted, to see whether he had helped any militants and overground workers access the high-security airport, an official said on condition of anonymity. Singh was arrested last week while on his way to Jammu along with a wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Naveed Babu, and his two accomplices CCTV footage at the airport is being examined after investigations indicate that he had transported terrorists out of the Valley earlier as well, the official said. According to the initial probe in the case, Singh, who was a part of Srinagar airports anti-hijack unit, allegedly passed on critical information to terror groups. He was earlier a part of the Jammu and Kashmir Polices Special Operations Group (SOG) . He had access to sensitive information and had passed it on to terrorists for money, our investigations indicate, a second official said on condition of anonymity. The officials cited the preliminary investigation and added Babus mother and one of his brothers live in Chandigarh and that Singh was asked to ensure the militants accompanying him crossed the Jawahar Tunnel, which connects Kashmir Valley with to the rest of India, safely. We are primarily looking whether Naveed was trying to move out of the Valley to carry out a terror attack elsewhere in the country or whether he was trying to move out to ensure his safety, the second official said. HT on Tuesday reported the Jammu and Kashmir Police will also investigate Singhs links with 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, if required. Guru was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case and was executed on February 3, 2013. In a letter to his lawyer, Guru had alleged that he had transported one of the terrorists killed in the assault to Delhi on the instructions of Singh, who was then posted with the SOG. Security agencies like the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, Indias external intelligence agency, have so far questioned Singh. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over the case. The NIA will take over the investigations after the preliminary investigations are over, a third official said on condition of anonymity. New York, Jan 16 : United States and China have signed a 'Phase-1' trade deal that holds the promise of defusing tensions between the two economic powerhouses after 18 months of barbs and sanctions that have hurt manufacturers on both sides and raised tensions across global markets. US President Donald Trump and China's chief negotiator Liu He inked an agreement that will relax sanctions on China. China, in turn, will increase purchases of mainly US farm products. Chinese President Xi Jinping has hailed the deal as "good for China, the US and for the whole world", while Trump called it an "unbelievable deal". As things stand today, the Trump administration has abandoned plans to slap tariffs on an additional $160 billion in Chinese imports and has halved existing tariffs on $110 billion of Chinese imports. The Trump government says China is all set to buy $40 billion a year in US farm products. Even after the deal is signed, US tariffs on $360 billion in Chinese imports will stay in place. The truce comes after more than a dozen rounds of negotiations during which time both sides raised import duties on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods after the US began the fight. Trump said the initial trade agreement with China fixes the "wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families." In an election year where he is running for a second term, Trump is likely to highlight the trade deal as another stamp of economic progress on the same day that the House of Representatives votes to send articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate for a trial. Getting tough on China was among Trump's campaign promises in 2016. Soon after he took office, Trump pushed hard to renegotiate trade terms which he claimed have stolen American jobs and punished the country's industry. From a year earlier, the US trade deficit with China has already fallen by about 16 per cent. The actions of a mother who allegedly left her baby boy inside a hot car outside a pub in Melbourne's south-west are being investigated by police, including the possibility she was inside the venue playing poker machines. The 14-month-old was found on Wednesday about 3pm in Point Cook, outside a family bistro and sports bar, when the temperature was 33 degrees. Police at the scene in Point Cook. A 32-year-old woman from Gladstone Park, in Melbourne's north-west, was charged on Thursday with negligently causing serious injury and reckless conduct endangering life. The inside of a car can be 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the temperature outside, according to Kidsafe Victoria. Armed men in military uniform attacked an emirs convoy on Tuesday, killing six people. Five other people sustained injuries in the attack that occurred along Kaduna-Zaria highway, the police said on Wednesday. A yet to be determined number of people were also kidnapped. In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the Kaduna police spokesperson, Yakubu Sabo, said the attack was on the convoy of the Emir of Potiskum, Yobe State. He did not say if the emir was in the vehicle or whether he was among the victims. He, however, said four of those killed by the armed men were aides of the emir. He said the bodies of the dead, as well as the injured persons were taken to Barau Dikko hospital in Kaduna. Armed men dressed in military uniform have carried similar attacks in different parts of Kaduna recently. PREMIUM TIMES reported one of such incidents, which occurred last week, when the armed men attacked a seminary school in the state, kidnapping four people. Read the full statement by the police spokesperson below. KADUNA COMMAND POLICE PRESS RELEASE CONFIRMATION OF KIDNAPPING INCIDENT On 14/1/2020 the Kaduna State Police Command received information through DPO Maraban Jos that, at about 2245hrs, he got a distress call from a good Samaritan that, some unknown Armed Men in large Number dressed in military camouflage intercepted some commuters at the outskirt of Kaduna Metro along Kaduna-Zaria Expressway and on sighting the escort vehicle of the Emir of Poteskum Alh Umar Bubaram. The hoodlums started shooting indiscriminately at the commuters and took some yet to be identified persons to unknown destination. . Upon receipt of the information, the Command immediately mobilized teams of operatives with Armored Personnel Carriers to the scene where some victims of the attack were rescued to safety but sadly six (6) persons including four Aids of the Emir were reported dead while Five (5) others sustained varying degree of injuries. Both the dead and injured victims were recovered to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for deposition and treatment. Consequently, the Commissioner of Police CP Umar M. Muri has directed that more Police operatives be deployed along the axis to reinforce the existing operational units of SARS Anti-Kidnapping and PMF personnel currently on the operation. He equally alerted intelligence gathering units in the area to redouble their effort to ensure that, the victims are rescued unhurt and the culprits are brought to book to face justice. The CP also visited both the scene of the incident and the injured persons including the Emir at Barau Dikko Hospital with a view to fortifying security deployment along the axis and to assure the victims of the Police current efforts on the incident. The Command assures Members of the Public that, it will ensure the safe rescue of the victims of this ugly incident and calls on the good citizens of the State to continue to support the Command with relevant information that could help the Police to fish out criminals from our midst. Update on the current Police investigation of the incident will follow accordingly please. Connecticuts Green Bank, the quasi-public agency tasked with attracting private investment in energy efficiency and renewable power projects, is offering commercial property owners a new incentive to sign on to one of its programs. Commercial property owners who apply for financing with the agencys Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program between now and May 15 will be able to receive a free electric vehicle charging station. The program, also known as C-PACE, allows building owners to finance qualifying energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements via a voluntary assessment on their property tax bill. Mackey Dykes, vice president of financing programs at Connecticut Green Bank, said the incentive being offered by the agency simultaneously addresses two of the states largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions: transportation and commercial/industrial properties. The Green Bank is re-investing in the buildings of property owners who use C-PACE financing, Dykes said in a statement. The cost of the EV charging stations offered through this initiative will be offset by future interest income generated by the C-PACE financing and by repurposing this future income into an electric vehicle charging station, these properties will create an even bigger impact on reducing emissions. Not only is the Green Bank enabling building owners to take control of their energy costs and save money, were also helping them to position their business and our community for future success. Hundreds of property owners across Connecticut already have taken advantage of C-PACE to finance energy-saving upgrades. To qualify for a free EV charging station, energy-saving projects must utilize $150,000 in Green Bank C-PACE financing. Larger projects may be eligible to receive up to three electric vehicle charging stations. Connecticut Green Banks C-PACE team will work with building owners to determine whether their project is eligible for the C-PACE program and the incentive. A broad range of properties could benefit from this initiative, including retail spaces, nonprofit organizations, houses of worship, recreational facilities, restaurants, manufacturers, hotels and other non-residential properties, according to Green Bank officials. The state currently has more than 13,000 electric vehicles registered to date, and officials project 125,000 to 150,000 vehicles by 2025. Bryan Garcia, president and chief executive officer of the Green Bank, said in a statement that agency officials see this initiative as having many benefits to building owners, tenants, employees and customers as well as to our communities. Property owners who choose to host electric vehicle charging stations are not only doing something positive to promote and grow their businesses, theyre also doing something positive for Connecticut and playing an important role in building a cleaner, greener and more prosperous future where our state has a robust electric vehicle charging infrastructure and where we are all less reliant on fossil fuels, Garcia said. Building owners can learn more about the incentive program during an open house on March 23 at J Roos, 243 State St. in North Haven. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com MUMBAI: A Mumbai University professor has allegedly been sent on compulsory leave for criticising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent remark on freedom fighter and Hindu icon Veer Savarkar. According to reports, the action against Yogesh Soman, who serves as the Director of Academy of Theatre Arts in Mumbai University, was taken over his Facebook post in which he had criticised the Congress leader for making ''objectionable'' remarks on Savarkar. The professor had reportedly put up a video blog on December 14 on Facebook. However, the Congress-affiliated NSUI raised objections to some of the words used by the professor in the video post and complained to the university authorities. The NSUI workers also reportedly gheraoed Mumbai University VC Dr Subhash Pednekar on December 23 and demanded action against the professor. Live TV The Mumbai Universitys fact-finding committee found him guilty and had asked him to go on leave. In the 51-second video, Soman is seen telling Rahul Gandhi, You truly are not Savarkar, you dont have any qualities of him. The truth is you are not a true Gandhi either In its complaint, the NSUI alleged that the professor behaved like a political advocate in the university and his statement can provoke clashes among students. The video in question was apparently made in response to the former Congress presidents remarks against Veer Savarkar and shared on social media in December. Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Delhi had said, My name is not Rahul Savarkar, wont apologise for the truth, alluding to Savarkars alleged apology to the British seeking an early release from Andaman jail. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh on Wednesday said the force has recommended dismissal of DySP Davinder Singh, who was arrested in company of two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, and handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He said the police has also recommended for taking back the gallantry medal awarded to Singh by the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state on Independence Day in 2018, stressing that the police will act "very ruthless" as "we don't believe in sheltering or protecting people who have no loyalty towards the force, nation and their people". Police had arrested Singh on Saturday at Mir Bazar in Kulgam district of south Kashmir along with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba and Altaf, besides an unidentified lawyer who was working as an overground worker for terror outfits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 1 / 9 Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, one of the Middle East's longest-serving rulers who maintained the country's neutrality in a turbulent region, died on Friday and his cousin Haitham bin Tariq al-Said was named as his successor in a smooth transition. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP, File) 2 / 9 Oman named Haitham bin Tariq Al Said as the country's new sultan on Saturday. Qaboos' choice of successor was a closely guarded secret believed to have been known only to the sultan, who did not have any children. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File) 3 / 9 This image made from video shows the motorcade carrying the coffin of Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, in Muscat. The sultan haD ruled Oman since overthrowing his father in a bloodless 1970 coup. (Oman TV via AP) 4 / 9 Oman's new sultan, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, centre right, is seen next to Britain's Prince Charles while welcoming him and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at Bait Al Noor church in Muscat. Oman's new ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, vowed Saturday to uphold his predecessor Sultan Qaboos bin Said's foreign policy approach, which steered the Arab country through choppy Persian Gulf waters by balancing close relations with both the United States and Iran. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) 5 / 9 This image made from video shows Oman's new sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, centre between two men with daggers, attends the prayer ceremony over Sultan Qaboos coffin at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat. (Oman TV via AP) 6 / 9 People carry the coffin of Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat. Sultan Qaboos shaped Oman's policy of diplomatic balancing. Under his leadership, Oman was a facilitator of talks between adversaries Iran and the United States. Oman is a close ally of Washington and viewed as a valuable regional player. (Oman News Agency via AP) 7 / 9 Oman's new sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, right, carries the Sultan Qaboos' coffin at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat. (Oman News Agency via AP) 8 / 9 Omani officials pray over the grave of Sultan Qaboos after his burial in Muscat. (Oman News Agency via AP) Following improved macroeconomic conditions and favourable global economic outlook, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has expressed optimism that the current recovery at the stock market will be sustained. While speaking at the NSE stakeholders briefing on the review of the market in 2019 and outlook in 2020, Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, said the outlook for the market in the year was positive. He outlined that favourable domestic environment and global outlook suggest a positive outlook for the capital market in 2020 as the capital market usually mirrors the economic environment. Domestically, market sentiments may be buoyed by a steady and stable recovery in the domestic economy, alongside continued sustainability in monetary policy. The signing into law of Nigerias Finance Bill 2019 and implementation of the 2020 budget may have a positive impact on companies earnings as well as consumer spending, Onyema said. He noted that the 2020 business year has started on a good note, with the benchmark index at the Exchange recording a 10.4 per cent improvement so far this year. According to him, the NSE will continue to advocate for business-friendly economic environment, working in conjunction with both the public and private sectors. He outlined that three key factors of crude oil price and production, global economic performance and political stability and business environment will shape the Nigerian economy and also the capital market in 2020. He pointed out that since Nigeria still remains reliant on oil production for foreign exchange reserves, the dynamics of crude oil price and production will continue to influence the capital markets and larger economy. According to him, factors such as United States and Iran tension, oil supply shocks from Eastern Europe, Venezuela, and Libya, and progress in trade negotiations between the United States and China may exert pressure on crude oil prices in 2020. He noted that the IMF World Economic Outlook (IMF WEO) had predicted a global growth of 3.4 per cent in 2020 based on reduced trade and geo-political tensions, and macroeconomic strain in euro area that have dampened business confidence and investment decisions. He assured that the Exchange will continue to leverage its vast network of stakeholders while developing new strategic partnerships with the goal of delivering better products and services to its customers. He attributed the negative performance of the market in 2019 to weak macroeconomic landscape; fiscal and monetary policy direction; underwhelming trends in foreign portfolio investments; concerns around the stability of the naira and moderate corporate earnings. All these led to a negative performance in the equity market during the year and triggered a flight to safety to the fixed income market. Onyema noted that beyond the negative share price performance, the Exchange recorded many landmarks during the year including the listing of big corporates such as MTN Nigeria Communications, Airtel Africa, Skyview Aviation Holding Company (SAHCO) and the launch of the Greenwich Alpha ETF, which focused on tracking the NSE 30 Index. Anadolu news agency says four employees were taken to an undisclosed location after police swoop. Turkey has summoned a senior Egyptian diplomat to protest what it said was a raid by Egyptian security forces on the Cairo office of Turkeys state-run news agency, in which four people were arrested. The Anadolu news agency on Wednesday said the four employees, including one Turkish national, were taken to an undisclosed location after the police swoop. Egyptian security forces shut down the agencys security cameras and internet and searched the premises overnight, the agency reported. The workers passports, mobile phones, and computers were confiscated, it said, adding no explanation was given to the agencys lawyer. Turkeys foreign ministry strongly condemned the move, which it described as an act of violence against Anadolu. It also summoned the Egyptian charge daffaires over the matter. This act of violence against Anadolu not only shows the Egyptian leaderships hostile stance towards the freedom of the press, but also once again shows its grave conditions on democracy and transparency, the ministry said. It also blamed Western nations for the raid, accusing them of turning a blind eye to rights violations in Egypt. The ministry called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release the detained Anadolu personnel. "The raid to @anadoluagency 's Cairo office last night by Egyptian security forces and detention of some workers without justification is an act of harassment and intimidation against Turkish press, we strongly condemn it" Turkish Foreign Ministry said https://t.co/8ibnM3doDx pic.twitter.com/PhTyKNqsrv ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) January 15, 2020 Ankaras ties with Cairo have been poor since the Egyptian army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in 2013. Morsi was a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The two countries have also been at odds over maritime jurisdiction and offshore resources in the eastern Mediterranean. A spokesman for Egypts Ministry of Interior was not immediately available for comment. But an Egyptian official confirmed the arrests and accused the news agency of operating without a license. Media are required to have permission to work in Egypt, but that requirement is often used as a pretext to silence reporting the state sees as critical. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, said security forces raided an apartment in the heart of Cairo that Anadolu used as a makeshift office, confiscating documents and cameras. He accused two journalists of spreading news that distorted Egypts image, and said prosecutors were investigating all four employees. Putschist leadership Fahrettin Altun, Turkeys communications director, described the raid as a hostile attempt against Anadolu employees by Egypts putschist leadership, adding Ankara called on the international community to condemn the detentions. Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul said Turkey expected the immediate release of the employees who he said were illegally detained. In recent years, Egyptian authorities have jailed dozens of Egyptian reporters and occasionally expelled foreign journalists from the country. Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian national, has been held in prison without charge for 1,118 days. Egypt remains among the worlds worst jailers of journalists, along with Turkey and China, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based watchdog. Journalists operating in Egypt should not have to work in fear that they will be used to settle political scores between countries, said Sherif Mansour, the Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator for CPJ. The group urged Egyptian authorities to release those being held and stop using false news charges to harass and silence the media. ANN ARBOR, MI An Ann Arbor police officer being investigated for his previous conduct as a detective in Florida resigned Friday. Officer Michael Alvarez resigned from the Ann Arbor Police Department on Jan. 10, according to an email from the department. Alvarez was placed on leave in Ann Arbor in November and an internal investigation was started after the department received information from the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office in Florida regarding Alvarez, Deputy Ann Arbor Police Chief Aimee Metzer said previously. Though Ann Arbor police would not immediately confirm the nature of the allegations, a Florida judge found Alvarez, formerly a detective of the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office, had lied to obtain a search warrant in the case of a suspected child molester, according to a report from the Tampa Bay Times. The judge found that the defendants Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Alvarez and issued an order tossing out all evidence collected through the search warrant, records show. The charges against the defendant were dismissed Nov. 27 after prosecutors stated they were unable to proceed with the case, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The Ann Arbor Police Department had no additional information to provide regarding the internal investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 16:08:41|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Yu Haiyang (L) talks with a delivery man in Yandunjiao Village of Rongcheng, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 12, 2020. Yandunjiao, a coastal village in Shandong, is full of vitality as many swans winter here. At the end of 2014, the high-speed train service between Qingdao and Rongcheng was launched and numerous tourists have come here to view swans, taste local delicacies and experience homestay in seaweed-roofed houses. Yu Haiyang, a native villager who once worked in Singapore after graduation, returned to hometown and started a homestay business with his mother as local agro-tourism booms,. Currently, over 70 households in Yandunjiao run homestays, and more than 95% villagers are engaged in agro-tourism. The per capita income has tripled that of the traditional fishing industry. With environment improving, tourism booming with more swans coming, Yu and other villagers have benefited from such green economy. (Xinhua/Wang Kai) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gold Lion Resources Inc. (Gold Lion or the Company) (CSE: GL) (FWB: 2BC) is pleased to announce that effective immediately, Mr. Oliver Friesen has been appointed CEO and Corporate Secretary of Gold Lion. Mr. Friesen has been active in the mineral exploration industry since 2009 and has worked on a number of precious and base metal projects throughout Nevada, British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon Territory. He holds a B.Sc (Hons.) degree in geology from the University of British Columbia, as well as a M.Sc degree in geology from Simon Fraser University. Mr. Friesen currently serves as a director of another publicly traded mining company and brings with him over 10 years of project management and capital markets experience. Oliver Friesen, newly appointed CEO and Corporate Secretary of Gold Lion stated: I am excited to join the Gold Lion team as CEO and Corporate Secretary and I look forward to helping the Company advance its 100% owned Fairview and Cuteye properties located within British Columbia. In addition, we are currently evaluating precious metal properties throughout the Americas, focusing on assets that we feel would compliment our existing property portfolio of high-quality assets located in stable mining jurisdictions. About Gold Lion Resources Inc. Gold Lion Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company actively involved in the exploration of its 100% owned Fairview Copper-Silver-Zinc, and Cuteye Au-Ag-Cu properties. The Fairview Property is a 2574-hectare mineral property located in the Kamloops Mining District of British Columbia, and the Cuteye Property is a combined 3,152-hectare land package located in BCs Golden Triangle District. For more information please visit: https://goldlionresources.com/ . ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Oliver Friesen Director T: (778) 772-1751 The CSE and Information Service Provider have not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement South America-based Synergy Group and Delhi-based Prudent ARC Limited are the two companies that have submitted EoIs (Expressions of Interests) for the beleaguered airline Jet Airways Limited. The Hinduja Group, earlier considered as a major contender for the now-defunct airline, has backed out from bidding, Mint reported. Subject to their eligibility, the Jet Airways lenders are expected to get binding bids on February 17, the report, quoting an unknown source, said. With just two investors coming up with EoIs, the task to revive Jet Airways looks difficult, suggest experts. Synergy Group Corp had earlier sought more time to complete the due diligence before submitting the final bid. The South American conglomerate, which owns majority shares in Colombian carrier Avianca Holdings, is understood to have held discussions with the Bird Group for investment into the ailing airline. Bird provides aviation management and other services in India and abroad. Additionally, the government, during its meeting with Synergy Group, had reportedly asked it to comply with India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules, as per which a foreign airline can only invest up to 49 per cent in a domestic carrier. It is unlikely that lenders will accept a bid from Prudent ARC, an asset reconstruction company, as its total assets don't match the Rs 2,000-crore eligibility criteria. As per the requirement set by Jet Airways' creditors, an eligible bidder must have a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore. However, for financial investors, the eligibility limit is Rs 2,000 crore. The airline stopped operations on April 17 after it ran out of funds and was admitted for insolvency on June 20. It has been grounded for nearly eight months now and the slots allotted to it have been re-allocated to other airlines. The creditors have filed Rs 30,907 crore worth claims in the airline. Also read: Creditors likely to recover only $300-$400 million in liquidation scenario Also read: RP Ashish Chhawchharia hoping for the best even as experts remain sceptical Also read: Synergy Group consents to pick 51% stake in grounded airline if lenders take a deep haircut Edited by Manoj Sharma [January 15, 2020] Payment Card Industry Veteran Joins CompoSecure as COO CompoSecure, L.L.C., a pioneer and global leader in the design and manufacturing of premium financial cards, today announced the appointment of Greg Maes to chief operating officer to further support the company's long-term growth strategy. Maes brings 25 years of experience with some of the largest global card manufacturers. "Our business has substantially increased in volume and complexity, and Greg brings the best management structure for the challenges ahead," said Jon Wilk, CEO of CompoSecure. "Greg has spent half of his career outside the U.S. and built a strong network of customers and partners, which strengthens our international expansion. He is also committed to our company culture of inclusive teamwork, ensuring all team members thrive and operational outcomes are met and surpassed." Maes will report directly to the CEO and will provide day-to-day leadership and management of all company manufacturing, operations, engineerin, quality and maintenance. Maes will partner with the CompoSecure Senior Leadership Team in setting and driving the organizational vision, operational strategy and hiring needs for the company. Maes has held management and leadership positions in the card industry for more than 25 years. Most recently, he was the Global Chief Operating Officer for ABCorp, where he led the EMV and Dual interface readiness efforts and led group initiatives such as ERP or operational efficiencies across the organization. He also held operational positions for IDEMIA in Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) and Gemplus (Gemalto (News - Alert), now part of Thales) in Singapore and China. Maes was involved in smart card deployment (SIM cards, EMV, Dual Interface or Government ID cards) in factories, technology transfers between sites, and setup of new factories and personalization centers. Maes has a Chemistry and Physics degree from the Graduate School of Chemistry and Physics of Bordeaux, France. About CompoSecure Founded in 2000, CompoSecure is a pioneer and global leader in the design and manufacturing of premium financial cards. The company focuses on serving the affluent customers of credit card issuers worldwide using proprietary production methods that meet the highest standards of quality and security. The company offers clients secure, innovative and durable proprietary products that implement leading-edge engineering capabilities and technology in both the public and private sector. The mission is to increase clients' brand equity in the marketplace by offering card products that differentiate the brands they represent, thus elevating the traditional card transaction process to a special cardholder experience. For more information, please visit www.composecure.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005164/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Flash Israel launched airstrikes on the T-4 air base in the central Syrian province of Homs on Tuesday, but causing no major damages. The Israeli warplanes fired several missiles on the base, most of which were intercepted by the Syrian air defense forces. Four missiles hit the base, the Syrian army said in a statement. The attack was carried out from the direction of the al-Tanf area in southeastern Syria, where a U.S. base is located, the statement added. Meanwhile, a military source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the four missiles destroyed a number of vehicles in the base, but none of the warplanes there were hit. He said that no human casualties were recorded after the strike. The attack is the latest in a series of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites in Syria, which Israel usually claims as the positions of Iranian-backed fighters. This attack is the first of its kind following the U.S. assassination of the Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq earlier this month. What if there was a way to create new affordable housing without the specter of big developers, gentrification, or drastic changes to neighborhood character? Look no further than the humble garage. Across the country, state and local governments are loosening rules that stop homeowners from turning garages, and other small portions of their property, into modest apartments. Even California, where the car is king, has passed a state law allowing homeowners to convert a garage into a rental. The resulting apartments called granny flats, backyard cottages, or the more technical accessory dwelling units just might be a way to break through the usual debates about affordable housing development in New York. Homeowners, often weary of new neighborhood development, get the extra income that comes from a rental. For seniors struggling to stay in the neighborhood on a fixed income, and young people stretching to afford a first home, that extra cash can make all the difference. Other homeowners get a comfortable place for relatives to stay while in town, or a starter apartment for their adult children whod otherwise live at home. Renters, on the other hand, get badly-needed affordable housing. Thanks to their smaller size and the lower costs needed to create them, granny flats tend to be less expensive than most apartments. One study of Babylon, Long Island, for example, found that rent for accessory dwellings was 35% lower than for a traditional apartment. Granny flats can also address renters growing desire for studios and one bedrooms, as people stay single for longer, and have smaller families, than they did a generation ago. Backyard apartments arent the kind of high-end luxury units that drive concerns about gentrification. Just the opposite: they can help create and preserve mixed-income, integrated communities. As New York City Councilmember Rafael Espinal observed in the context of a pilot program to legalize basement apartments, rental income can help long-time residents in gentrifying neighborhoods stave off foreclosure and displacement. And granny flats open up rental options in places that are inaccessible to all but the wealthy, because the price of admission and access to good schools and jobs is the cost of buying a house. Therein lies the rub. The ugly truth is that the real resistance will come from those who dont want to welcome lower-income neighbors especially Black and brown ones into their neighborhoods and into their schools. In places like Nassau County and Westchester, which blossomed in the era of white flight from the inner-city, local governments have for decades blocked the development of any affordable housing. Nassau, home to 1.4 million people, permitted only 1,026 new units of any kind in 2018. That intransigence is one reason why the New York metropolitan area is among the most racially segregated in the country worse than Birmingham, Atlanta and St. Louis. Its also a driver of the New York areas spiraling housing crisis. Like California, New York rents continue to rise faster than incomes. Today, almost half of all families in New York state are rent burdened, meaning they pay over 30% of their income in rent. But unlike California, New Yorks leaders are doing little to create new affordable housing. Californias bill, passed last year, allows homeowners to set up granny flats most anywhere in the state. Now Virginia is considering a comparable plan. The key to these reforms is using state law to clear the roadblocks that local governments have erected to stifle affordable apartments. Otherwise, if exclusive suburbs are left to their own devices, nothing will ever change. Following their lead, Albany should create a new statewide category of residence the accessory dwelling unit that overrides state and local rules to the contrary. Owners who want to convert a garage will be exempt from current parking minimums, which require homes to have off-street spots, and zoning laws that prohibit more than a single family from living on a property. Other rules, like building codes that mandate large apartment sizes, should also be relaxed, as should safety regulations designed with traditional construction in mind. In their place, the state would set out basic standards, tailored to granny flats, for localities to follow, ensuring new units have adequate light and air, heat and water, clear exits in the event of a fire, and other basic amenities. So long as a granny flat can be made safe and comfortable, it should be legal and open for rent. That plan will no doubt face resistance. But if California is any guide, granny flats can succeed even when more ambitious plans to build housing falter. Although a more sweeping proposal to promote housing around public transit was tabled, Californias law allowing granny flats experienced relatively smooth sailing. One reason is that while zoning changes to allow taller buildings are often criticized for altering the physical character of a neighborhood, granny flats have a light touch. Changing the use of a backyard garage, for example, can be practically invisible from the street. Some residents will inevitably worry about lost parking, but lots of homeowners already store their cars in driveways, or on the street, even with a garage. A study of Los Angeles, for example, found that 91% of homeowners use their garage for something other than a car (mostly junk). Where turning a garage into a home requires getting rid of the driveway, a new on-street parking space is born. If L.A., far more dependent on the car than New York City, can make it work, surely New York can too. The opportunity in New York is huge. Suburbs like Manhasset on Long Island, with spacious yards, big garages, and ready access to the city by rail, are the most obvious candidates for reform. But there is a lot of potential within the five boroughs as well not just in suburban-style neighborhoods like Todt Hill on Staten Island and Bayside in Queens, but in relatively transit-rich neighborhoods, like Kensington in Brooklyn. Walk through those neighborhoods and youll see countless garages some facing the street, others in backyards, both attached to the house and detached that could become small apartments if only the laws would allow it. A well-crafted reform would also broadly legalize basement apartments, which hold tremendous potential to add additional, affordable housing in New York City. One study by the Citizens Housing and Planning Council estimated that there are many as 210,000 basements and cellars that could be converted into housing within city limits. That would be more housing than was produced in all of the five boroughs during the entirety of the last decade. And if youre wondering whether people would really like to live in small basement apartments, with limited light many low-income New Yorkers already do. But under the status quo, their apartments are illegal, meaning renters lack the tenant protections, safety measures, and the right to demand basic amenities like windows, that could come with legalization. A careful law will also prevent local governments from using development fees, tax assessments, and red tape as a backdoor to smother development. It should streamline the permitting process to make it easy for homeowners to bring units up to code and onto the market. And it should create a fund to help homeowners finance the cost of renovating garages into granny flats, in return for an enforceable commitment that the rent will remain affordable and that the unit will be a home for a New Yorker not an Airbnb for tourists. Some localities will inevitably sue, contending that the state doesnt have the authority to nix local housing rules. Theyll almost certainly lose. In New York, the state has relatively unfettered power to override local law. Reform in Albany wont be easy. If the state wont act, localities could pursue many of these changes on their own. But only Albany has the power to compel recalcitrant suburbs to act. Its time Albany let homeowners turn houses for cars into houses for people. Tullow Oil expects to book US$1.5 billion write-offs for 2019, due to slashing its oil price assumption by US$10 a barrel and to reducing reserves expectations for African assets, the London-listed company said on Wednesday, after more than a month of production and exploration setbacks that ousted its chief executive in December. In its update on the 2019 performance and outlook for 2020, Tullow noted today that it expects to report pre-tax impairments and exploration write-offs of around US$1.5 billion for 2019, chiefly due to slashing its long-term accounting oil price assumption by US$10 to US$65 per barrel, as well as to reduction in 2P reserves at the TEN fields offshore Ghana. Tullow Oil also flagged issues with its development plans in Kenya and Uganda, with Kenyas early oil pilot scheme (EOPS) suspended due to severe damage to roads caused by bad weather in Q4 2019, and ongoing talks with the government for the Uganda development. Tullow remains committed to reducing its equity stake in the project ahead of FID, the company said, referring to the Uganda project. The firm saw a deal for an oil pipeline in Uganda fall through in September 2019, as Tullow Oil, Frances Total, and Chinas CNOOC terminated an agreement to sell part of Tullows stake in the Lake Albert project because the Ugandan Revenue Authority and the Joint Venture Partners could not agree on the availability of tax relief for the consideration to be paid by Total and CNOOC as buyers. Related: U.S. Gas Giant Downgraded To Junk Status Tullow warned then that this setback would likely delay the final investment decision on the Uganda pipeline project, initially expected for 2019. Earlier this month, Tullow said that it found oil in the Carapa-1 exploration well offshore Guyana, but the volume was less than initially expected. In early December, the firm flagged poor performance in its African assets, which led to a massive sell-off that halved Tullow Oils value and to CEO Paul McDade and Exploration Director Angus McCoss resigning. The recruitment of a new Chief Executive Officer is well under way with the assistance of an executive search firm, Tullow Oil said today. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Sikhs in the US will be counted as a separate ethnic group in the 2020 census, an organisation of the minority community said on Tuesday, describing it as a milestone Washington: Sikhs in the US will be counted as a separate ethnic group in the 2020 census, an organisation of the minority community said on Tuesday, describing it as a milestone. President of the Sikh Society of San Diego Baljeet Singh said that the Sikh community's efforts have come to fruition. "This has paved the way forward nationally not only for the Sikh community but also for other ethnicities in the United States," he said. Describing this as a milestone, the United Sikhs said that this will be the first time the minority group will be counted and coded in the decennial US Census. A delegation of the United Sikhs has had several meetings with the US Census in the recent past with the last one being in San Diego on 6 January. "It's clear that a separate code is needed to ensure an accurate count of Sikhs in the United States, recognising a unique identity," said US Census Deputy Director Ron Jarmin. "Working with United Sikhs, we understand how this change affects the national Sikh community, leading us to add this code for the 2020 Census," said Shagufta Ahmed with the Census Bureau and Office of Management Budget. According to the United Sikhs, the current estimates of Sikhs living in the US are at 1 million. Sikhs meet the criteria for representation in the US Census as a distinct ethnic group and have a distinct unified appearance, culture, language, food and history. The United Sikhs has advocated for the separate coding for more than two decades and filed commentary with the US Federal Register advocating for Sikhs to be added as an ethnic group, in large part, so that action can be taken to address major Sikh issues such as bullying, intimidation and hate crimes against the community. "With the 2020 census approaching, many historically undercoded communities will be at-risk for being under-counted and under-served," said Ruben Singh, United Sikhs Census Manager. "We look forward to collaborating with our census partners and other Sikh organisations and institutions to address the unanticipated challenges of the 2020 Census," he said. Meanwhile, the Sikh Coalition has partnered with the Census Bureau for the 2020 census. This is because Sikhs have traditionally been a 'hard to count' population in the United States, said Satjeet Kaur, Sikh Coalition executive director. "Our community matters, and we want to make sure that Sikh families are appropriately counted and accurately resourced wherever they are across our country," she said. An expose aired on national television in early January shows many teenage girls were coerced into a prostitution ring in Hanoi. Illustration photo by Shutterstock. Hanoi is investigating a shocking expose of high school girls tricking younger middle-school peers into joining a prostitution ring supplying virgins to customers. Municipal Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has asked the Hanoi Police Department to investigate an alleged teenage prostitution racket involving school girls in Ba Vi District. The directive, sent Tuesday, followed the airing of an expose by national broadcaster Vietnam Television earlier this week. The operation was busted by an NGO that wished to remain anonymous to protect future campaigns. Several of the ring's victims, aged 14-15, said they were tricked into prostitution after being promised simple jobs like waiting tables. Some said they were forced to have sex with no protection. One of them recalled the first time she was forced to have sex with two men in a hotel in Ha Dong District. "He pushed me on the bed. When I resisted, he told me to go outside the room, where Nga would like to tell me something. "Nga pushed me into another room that she'd just came out of. There was already a man there. I was too afraid at that point, so I did [what she asked]." Nga told the victim that she would not be allowed to go away from him if she did not submit a replacement. Nga is an eleventh grader in a local high school. The man in question reportedly paid VND10 million ($431) after the deed. The victim was given VND500,000. "Nga gave me VND2 million. But Quynh took VND1 million, and Hien took VND500,000." Another victim said she was not paid a dime, even though her client paid VND5 million. Victims said they were taken long distances, possibly dozens of kilometers, on different vehicles, to service the men. "I tried to push him away, but I couldn't. He locked the door, I tried to run but couldnt," one victim said. Another one, who managed to escape by asking the taxi driver to stop the car then bolting out, said she was repeatedly coerced into prostitution again afterwards. She said she tried to resist each time, but was forced into having sex and threatened severe reprisals if she told anyone about it. Many others also said they were threatened with violence if they refused to have sex. In some instances, they were asked to coerce their friends into the trade. The high school girls who coerced the victims did so under instructions from other people. One girl said a woman who resides in Son Tay Town had told her that virgins can make a lot of money and that the more people she coerced successfully, the more money she would make. The woman from Son Tay arranged for men to have sex with the victims at different locations. The victims were out of the communication loop and had little to no information about the men they were forced to have sex with. One victim said Nga told her that the customer, a man in his 50s, was a bank director. According to documents provided by one victim's family, a man stayed in contact with their daughter through communication app Zalo. The expose was triggered by a teacher who got suspicious after seeing two students being picked up by a taxi near their school. Later, at the police station, some girls admitted they were forced into prostitution by their peers. In Vietnam, sex with girls 16 years old and under is deemed statutory rape. Over 8,000 Vietnamese children have been either sexually or physically assaulted since 2015, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security. Over 17 children suffer from sexual abuse or harassment on average every day, according to the National Assemblys Judicial Committee. The annual Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Military Intelligence assessment shared with decision-makers at the start of each year and presented to the public on Jan. 14 has never been vaguer. Even senior intelligence officials conceded the difficulties and virtual impossibility of issuing a sober threat and development assessment these days with any reasonable degree of accuracy. The pace of events occurring in the region is dizzying, surprise follows surprise and decision-making is not rational the way it was in the past, a former senior intelligence source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Indeed, the past year has been marked by dramatic surprises, culminating in the reverberating Jan. 3 assassination of Irans Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who engineered the expansion of the Shiite axis in the region. The US willingness to assassinate a key figure such as Soleimani surprised the Iranians, an Israeli intelligence official told Al-Monitor this week on condition of anonymity. On the other hand, Irans September 2019 strike on the Saudi oil infrastructure, its magnitude and precision, surprised the Americans, the Saudis and everyone in the West. God only knows what surprises await us as 2020 proceeds. The headline of the official assessment by the Military Intelligence Directorate for 2020 still focuses on Irans nuclear arms race. By the end of the year, the intelligence experts believe, Iran will have sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture one nuclear bomb. According to Israels assessment, Iran continues to gradually withdraw from the nuclear agreement with world powers, which could result in its collapse. There is a possibility that the Europeans, too, will exit the agreement later this year, depriving it of any content, and Iran will be able to quickly resume its nuclear program at full speed, the reports authors noted. Having said that, the issue that mostly troubles Israeli security officials is not expressed publicly. Rather, it is shared with decision-makers at closed security Cabinet meetings. This unanswered question is whether Iran has a clandestine channel enabling it to install the nuclear warhead it manufactures on a missile and turn overnight into an immune nuclear power. Israels Mossad is intensely focused on locating and exposing such clandestine channels, of the type revealed in the past in what was known as Irans weapons group that devoted itself to developing the countrys nuclear infrastructure. Along with troubling concerns, Israel sees some positives. True, the Iranian regime is still considered stable and protected by a powerful range of self-preservation tools, but this stability is eroding over time and the cracks in it are advancing at a faster pace. The anti-regime protests, renewed last week after Iran admitted to downing the Ukrainian passenger jet, are no longer only a socio-economic demonstration against various price hikes; they are specific calls for a change of regime, including cries such as Death to Khamenei and Death to the Dictator. The military intelligence experts cannot say or fathom what the prospects are that masses of Iranians will take to the streets and overcome the Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij militia and the other powerful forces at the disposal of the regime to guarantee its survival. On the other hand, the writing is already on the wall and the regimes immunity is no longer automatically guaranteed as it was until now. Given the current state of affairs, Israeli intelligence is describing a fateful race by two ticking clocks: one ticking toward the nuclear bomb completion and the other toward the regimes collapse. Iran is clearly advancing toward these two events at the same time, the regime will not survive forever and the bomb is growing closer all the time. The question is what will come first. If the bomb is completed first, it could extend the regimes survival, while deeply and historically altering the strategic situation in the Middle East and Israels situation, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. However, the nuclear program is not the only Iran-related issue troubling Israel, whose biggest headache in recent years has been caused by Irans expansion westward and completion of the Shiite axis from Tehran to the Mediterranean via Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and the Syrian port of Tartous. Israel perceives Soleimanis violent departure from the scene as a game-changer, a historic event with long-term broad and in-depth implications a formative blow is how the American assassination is being described in Israel, which defines Soleimani as one of those rare people for whom there is no replacement. In a previous Al-Monitor article, Israeli experts described Soleimani as not only carrying out the orders of Irans supreme leader and implementing the vision of the Shiite revolution, but also as an instigator creating and pushing policy while dragging the leadership along, and not vice versa. In that respect, Israeli intelligence experts explain, finding a true replacement for Soleimani is far from a sure thing. In that context, Israel regards Soleimanis killing as an operational opportunity, or as the intelligence assessment describes it, There may now be feasibility for increased attacks against Irans entrenchment in Syria. Whether a coincidence or not, on the night between Jan. 14 and 15, four missiles directly hit targets at Syrias T-4 air base. According to the Syrian army, Israel fired the missiles. Israel itself generally does not comment on such reports. The likeliness of a war instigated by the enemy against Israel, according to the annual assessment, is still considered very low. Nonetheless, there is a growing likeliness of all-out war breaking out as a result of events veering out of control on both sides. Such a war would result in an unprecedented extent of destruction and join the strategic surprises that have shaken the Middle East over the past year. - 96 Black slaves who were captured from Africa in Little George Ship revolted successfully against their white masters - The slaves had been put in heavy iron shackles but managed to break out and fight, kill and enslave the Whites - With no expertise, supervision or proper navigation, the slaves figured a way to move the ship back to their roots in Africa Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in In 1730, a contingent of Black slaves who had been captured from different countries in Africa and put together in Little George Ship to be sent to Rhode Island in the USA fought the slave masters and moved the ship back to Africa. A news report by Face2FaceAfrica.com indicates that the ruthless ploy occurred on June 6, 1730, exactly five days after the slave ship set off from the Coast of Guinea heading to the then British Province in America. The entire group of 96 slaves was being sent to the British Province where they would have been displayed and sold to plantation owners. READ ALSO: Meet Charlotte the 1st Queen of England who was a 'Black' woman In the ship, the Black slaves were in shackles and packed together in a chamber where there were little ventilation and illumination. As the ship was moving, the brave group of slaves managed to break some of the heavy chains and planned how they would attack the ruthless masters. At about 4 am on June 6, a good number of the slaves broke through the bulkhead of the ship and got to the deck killing the watchmen who attempted to alert the other sailors and the captain. READ ALSO: Meet the uneducated Black man who made traffic light, mask, hair relaxer, others Captain George Scott and other crew members were captured and locked up in a cabin with several slaves watching the Cabin door. Simultaneously, other slaves made a bomb out of gunpowder in a bottle that went off almost destroying the ship and causing other resisting Whites on the ship to surrender to the captured Africans. Without any trained skills, supervision or proper navigation, the captured Africans managed to turn the ship around and sailed back to Africa. After a few days, the ship successfully reached the Sierra Leone River which was an estuary to the Atlantic Ocean. READ ALSO: 14-year-old Ghanaian boy creates app that can save Free SHS policy GHc4m yearly Reports indicate that Captain George Scott who survived the revolt always spoke about the incident and later wrote about it before his passing. Many slave revolts of this kind reportedly happened and left a mark in the history of slavery. Also, at the time, they sent a message to the slave-trading patronisers that the Africans were fed up with the way they were being treated. In another powerful historical story, the gas mask, hair relaxers, traffic sign system and more were invented by a Black man called Garett Augustus Morgan Morgan lived in a difficult time for a Black man and could not go beyond elementary education. Eventually, the great inventor was awarded by the city of Cleveland for his groundbreaking works Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Gangland kingpin Tony Mokbel's stepdaughter sobered up and fled when a gun was pulled on her the night a Melbourne father was gunned down outside a fight night. Craigieburn father Ben Togiai was shot and killed outside the match and two other men were seriously injured on March 1 last year. Brittany McGuire told the Melbourne Magistrates Court a 'skinny' man had drawn a gun on her at the Melbourne Pavilion in Kensington. Gangland kingpin Tony Mokbel's stepdaughter Brittany McGuire (pictured) sobered up and fled when a gun was pulled on her the night a Melbourne father was gunned down outside a fight night Mr Togiai (pictured), 30, died outside the event, while Omar Bchinnati and Joseph Abouchaya, were wounded 'I knew exactly what was happening to myself and I freaked out and that's when I became practically sober,' Ms McGuire, the daughter of Tony Mokbel's former partner Danielle, said about the incident. 'A guy pulled a gun out on me,' she said. She told the court she was 'very drunk' the night of the shooting and had also taken prescription medication. Ms McGuire's partner Abdullah El Nasher (pictured) is one of the men charged with Mr Togiai's murder But the fear of dying forced her to become 'practically sober' and when the gun became stuck, she fled. The 23-year-old was on medication including Xanax after Mokbel, who she calls her dad, was brutally stabbed at Barwon prison. Ms McGuire was at the fight night with her partner Abdullah El Nasher. He is charged with Mr Togiai's murder along with Osamma Allouche. The other co-accused Mikhael Myko and Ali El Nasher are also charged over the shooting. Ms McGuire was forced to answer questions in a compulsory hearing about the fatal shooting. She told the court she was with Mikhael Myko when the 'skinny looking guy' pointed the gun at them. Before the shooting broke out, Ms McGuire did not think there had been any animosity between the co-accused and men sitting at another table. She was 'in her own world' and repeatedly emphasised she was drinking that night. Boxer Waleed Haddara fought on the main card the night of the match and won. Mr Haddara was celebrating the win in his change room with shots of Chivas Regal when someone told him his son had become upset and he went to find him. Tony Mokbel's (pictured) stepdaughter was forced to answer questions in a compulsory hearing about the fatal shooting He said he was only concerned about his son and did not notice a body in the foyer of the building when he went outside. 'Are you seriously telling this court that you don't remember stepping over a body that had been shot,' Prosecutor Neill Hutton asked Mr Haddara. 'Even if I did remember anything, it's not my business,' he replied. 'It's not my problem ... I'm not a snitch.' The magistrate warned Mr Haddara if he refused to answer questions he could be in contempt of court and face charges. Later Mr Haddara, who spent time in jail after accidentally shooting his cousin in the head, told the court he saw the body on the ground. The hearing is expected to continue on Thursday. The administration on Wednesday "forfeited" the Sher-e-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry awarded to Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who has been arrested for helping terrorists travel out of J&K, an official order said. It said the suspended officer's act amounted to disloyalty and brought the force into disrepute. According to the order, Singh was awarded Jammu and Kashmir's highest police award in 2018. Police had arrested Singh, a deputy superintendent of police, at Mir Bazar in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday, along with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba and Altaf, besides a lawyer who was operating as an overground worker for terror outfits. "Consequent upon the arrest of Mr. Davinder Singh on January 11 while trying to assist terrorist to travel outside J&K and recovery of arms and ammunition which amounts to disloyalty and conduct that has brought the force into disrepute, the Sher-e-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry, is hereby forfeited," said the government order, signed by Shaleen Kabra Principal Secretary (Home). Police had said on Tuesday that searches were carried out at Singh's residence here, right next to the Army's XV corps headquarters at Badami Bagh cantonment, where he had sheltered Naveed, Altaf and a new joinee in the banned terror outfit. Two pistols, an AK rifle and a large quantity of ammunition were seized from his residence, they had said. The State Bank of Vietnam has been invited to become a member of the Bank for International Settlements, the first expansion of the prestigious international financial institution's central bank membership base since 2011. Headquarters of Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland. Photo BIS In addition to the central banks of Kuwait and Morocco, the three new additions will bring the number of BIS members to 63. The BIS popularly known as the central bank of central banks said it would also increase collaboration in its work as a forum for international co-operation and as a hub for central banks and other financial authorities. "Reviewing membership at regular intervals ensures that the membership base remains in keeping with the bank's global profile and its mandate to promote global monetary and financial stability," Jens Weidmann, chair of the BIS board of directors, said. The membership of two of the central bank committees based at the BIS the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) and the Markets Committee is also being expanded. The CGFS, a central bank forum for monitoring and analysing broad financial system issues, will invite Argentina, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand to join. This will take the number of central bank members to 28. The Markets Committee, which monitors financial market developments, will invite Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa and Turkey to join. This will take the number of central bank members to 27. GEM Chair Mark Carney said that, following the expansion, emerging market economies (EMEs) would make up about two fifths of the membership of each committee. "In the last decade, EMEs have become much larger and ever more connected to the global financial system. Having a representative range of views on financial market and monetary matters will benefit the citizens of EMEs and advanced economies alike," he said. The BIS is an international financial institution owned by central banks which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks. The BIS, which is based in Basel, Switzerland, carries out its work through its meetings, programmes and through the Basel Process hosting international groups pursuing global financial stability and facilitating their interaction. It also provides banking services, but only to central banks and other international organisations. VNS Minister Nalova Lyonga at Lycee Classique Nkolbissong Twitter On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, Njomi Tchakounte Boris Kevin, a Mathematics teacher at Government High School Nkolbisson was stabbed to death by a Form 3 student, a release from the cabinet of the Minister of Secondary Education has said. The 15-year-old male student is now under police custody after he stabbed and killed his mathematics teacher. Preliminary investigations and eyewitness accounts suggest that after days of premeditating the murder, the drama unfolded this Tuesday as students watched on. The student is said to have had a disagreement with the teacher, promising to knife the teacher this Tuesday, according to testimonies from some students in the presence of the Minister. In an attempt to call the student to order at the start of his lesson, the teacher unfortunately went physical with the unyielding student who pulled out a knife hidden under his uniform and stabbed the 26-year-old teacher who later died at the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital (CHU). The student is said not to be a first time offender, reportedly dismissed from previous schools. Below is a declaration of the Minister of Secondary Education, Prof. Nalova Lyonga at the scene of the incident shortly after a crisis meeting. Excerpts:- The problem is still being investigated because some people had alleged that he was killed with a compass. Others had said the student had a knife because he had been planning to do this act since last week, it would appear. So, it is not up to us to say. We cannot tell. But we know that an investigation is going on. The teacher cannot die for nothing. We must know why he died, from what and what happened. We have a problem everywhere. We have a problem in the schools, we have a problem in the society. This student came with a knife. Where was the knife coming from? The knife was not in school. He certainly came with the knife from home. So, we have a problem. When the schools discipline children, the parents come and scold the teachers. So, we have a problem. Instead of finding out why the child has a problem, they scold the teachers to the extent that the teachers begin to think that they are victims. The teachers are not victims. The teachers are trying to discipline the children. What I have told the teachers is that they themselves have to make a distinction between a disciplinary case and a case which is criminal. They should be able to report to the special police that have been put at the disposal of the schools so that they can do their work. The law has to take its course. The problem is why they would not discover that it was the child who had the problem because the problem had been going on for two weeks and nobody noticed that there was a problem between the killer and the teacher. The teacher had been here only for two months and the teacher felt such a victim to the extent where he had to take on a fight with the student. Why should the teacher fight with a student? If a teacher has a problem, that problem should be discussed among the teachers so that all of them can tackle the problem. The teacher should not be left alone to the extent where he is shouting at the student and the student is shouting back. Nobody knows. That is what I tell them. The anomaly is that no teacher knows that they have seven disciplinary teachers. Everybody is trying to say that this was a good teacher. Whereas the students come and say that just looking at the eyes of the student and looking at his height, the other students are afraid of this student. How can the students be afraid of a student and the teachers themselves do not know that there was a problem. There is an anomaly somewhere and we have to do something. Teachers have to be able to distinguish the problems. Those that they can handle at their own level and those that the police can handle. Because the students of today are the types of students who have problems. Who come in and try to tell the teachers that they know everything more than the teachers. It cannot be like that. We could not be educated for nothing. Just to come and die like dogs. And the children too cannot just die like that. All of us have a problem; the general society has a problem. I had to leave Pouma. I was going to Douala and I had to come back as soon as I got this news because it is a serious problem. It is a very serious problem. I told the teachers that I have come in order for us to talk about the problems. Dont think that I have come to accuse you. But I am asking you. If you tell me that you have a problem of a fence, I am going to ask you that since you have been receiving your money, tell me how much money you have put in for fixing the fence. Tell me how you have tackled the problems that you have. Dont always ask for the government to do that and dont always cry the cry of the victim. You are not always the victim. You must look at how to tackle the problems. RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Parking was at a premium Tuesday evening (Jan. 14) around Richmond Heights City Hall, as was standing space inside the building, as a large crowd turned out to see the swearings-in of City Councils two newest members. Following a swift council meeting, those in attendance got to see what they had waited for -- Cassandra Nelson and Kim Thomas taking their ceremonial oaths of office. The two women, both of whom won election victories on their first tries last November, proved to be quite popular. Both are members of numerous organizations, and members of those organizations, family members and well-wishers were all in attendance. Thomas was the first to take the oath, administered by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart. Nelson took the oath from Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Deborah Turner. These were just two of the judges and dignitaries in the building for the ceremonies. Others included the events emcee, county Domestic Relations Court Judge Tonya Jones; Highland Hills Mayor Michael Booker; Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chair Shontel Brown; former U.S. ambassador to Malta Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley; District 8 State Rep. Kent Smith; Robert and Marian Saffold, the mother and father of U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge; County Councilwoman Sunny Simon; and more. This has been an amazing experience, said Nelson who, like Thomas, spent nearly an hour after the meeting greeting well-wishers and posing for photos. Its wonderful to see all these people came out to support us, and to see that they support change. Nelson, the new Ward 3 councilwoman, said that she will stand for demographic diversity, economic development that brings in sustainable businesses and bridging the relationship between the citys government and schools. I know Richmond Heights has great schools and is a great city," Nelson said. "Richmond Heights has everything right here. We just need to put it together. Cassandra Nelson is sworn in as Richmond Heights' Ward 3 councilwoman Jan. 14 by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Deborah Turner. (Jeff Piorkowski, special to cleveland.com) Nelson has lived in the city for 17 years. She and her husband, Isaac, were high school sweethearts and have been married 45 years. They are the parents of daughter Andrea Nelson Moore, a lawyer, and Army Capt. Isaac Nelson, now stationed at Fort Knox in Kentucky. Nelson is the grandmother of five. Retired since 2012, her career consisted of working 15 years for Honeywell, then later for 22 years with Medical Mutual. Her affiliations include the National Action Network, the National Committee of Black Women and the National Committee of Negro Women. Nelson served in 2018 on the Richmond Heights Charter Review Commission. In order for us to move forward, we all have to work together, Nelson said while addressing the audience after taking the oath. "Its not just about me, its about all of us to continue to make it as great a city as it is. We can continue to make it even better, based on the demographics. So, if we all get out and work together, surely we can always look forward to tomorrow. I am so honored -- you guys dont know how honored I am -- to be able serve you. We cant do it ourselves," Nelson added. We need the community to come out to the meetings. If you dont have the voice, tell me and Ill speak for you. We can make change happen if we have the right attitude. Nelson, who plans to hold regular ward meetings, thanked former Ward 3 councilman Jeremy Kumin for his service and said she would gladly work with him in the future. Thomas is the vice chairperson of the Democratic Party of Cuyahoga County and serves on the Executive Committee of the Ohio State Democratic Party. In July, she will serve as a delegate for Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Now the Ward 1 councilwoman, Thomas is a beauty consultant and is the longtime owner of the Christopher Amira Studio on Larchmere Boulevard in Cleveland. The studio is named for her grown son, Christopher, and grown daughter, Amira. She has been married 29 years to Danny Thomas, a former Cleveland Brown who is retired from a law enforcement career. She is a member of the National Congress of Black Women, the Black Women Political Action Committee and the Cuyahoga Democratic Womens Caucus Steering Committee. Thomas is a former high school classmate of Richmond Heights Schools Superintendent Dr. Renee Willis. I had a vision of running on safety, economic development and bridging the gap between the schools and the city, Thomas said. "People buy property based on a citys school district. As a business owner, I want to reach out to business owners and help them face the challenges of owning a business. I also want to serve as a voice for people who live in apartments and to hold landlords accountable. Just because someone lives in an apartment doesnt mean they shouldnt be treated just as fairly as those who live in homes. Thomas said she also will strive to ensure that minority contractors are given a fair opportunity to perform city work. See more news from the Sun Messenger. With the acknowledgement that privacy is now a major consumer concern, Verizon Media today announced the start of OneSearch, a new consumer search experience that may be most valued for what it doesnt do. Already available via OneSearch.com, it doesnt track, store or share personal or search data with advertisers. If OneSearch works like it sounds it will, it would seem distinctly less smart than Google, for example. Verizon Media says ads OneSearch presents -- yes, its ad-supported -- will be based on simple information like the search keywords entered, not on cookies or browsing history. So if youre shopping for a pair of shoes, it sounds like you wont be confronted with ads for the kind of shoes you bought a little while ago. OneSearch is available for the North American market on desktop and mobile web, and will be available as a mobile app on Android and iOS systems later in January, with launches in other countries coming soon, Verizon Media's announcement said. advertisement advertisement Businesses can also partner with Verizon to offer OneSearch into their own privacy and security products. And in an advanced mode, the links created by OneSearch will expire in an hour, making it less likely multiple users of the same device will know where others have visited. Verizons OneSearch promises unbiased, unfiltered search results, and no personal profiling. We deeply believe in consumer trust and choice, both for our user community and our partners, said Michael Albers, head of consumer product at Verizon Media, who said OneSearch is an example of Verizons commitment to trust and transparency. Albers pitched OneSearch to privacy-minded searchers. There are other search engines that offer much the same thing, including DuckDuckGo and Startpage.com, but Verizon has the marketing presence to pick up more users quickly. Privacy concerns have always been around, but until recent years, more as an irksome byproduct of search. Now, though, because of data leaks and more malicious and intrusive use of cookies and data, keeping your business to yourself has become a major marketing tool. Earlier on Tuesday, Google announced several fixes, most notably a decision to phase out third-party cookies. Because of Googles overwhelming influence, others are likely to follow. At the CES show in Las Vegas earlier this month, a giant Apple billboard read, What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone, a play on the citys own privacy pitch to tourists -- and a reminder that Apple believes its privacy protections far surpass other tech companies. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:30:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines began on Wednesday the repatriation of Filipino workers from the Middle East with the arrival of 13 distressed Filipinos amid the rising tensions between the United States and Iran. Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson and Foreign Assistant Secretary Eduardo Menez said the DFA, through the Philippine Embassy to Iraq, brought home two groups coming from Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq. He said the first group was from Baghdad, which comprises seven adults and two children, landed at Manila's international airport. He said the nine was supposed to arrive on Tuesday, but was held by Iraqi immigration officials at the Baghdad International Airport for allegations of visa issues. Menez said the other four adults coming from Erbil, a city located north of Baghdad, form the second group. Both groups traveled to Manila via Doha, Qatar, he added. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, has earlier announced that the DFA will do all that needs to be done to get Filipinos out of harm's way. He also announced that the DFA is deploying Rapid Response Teams to the Middle East, especially to Iraq and Iran, to help facilitate the repatriation of Filipinos in the region. "The repatriates (that arrived on Wednesday) comprise the first batch of Filipinos coming home after the government ordered mandatory repatriation," the country's Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said. "More Filipinos from affected areas are expected to come home in the coming weeks," Arriola added. Alert level 4 or mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Iraq was raised on January 8, 2020 due to growing security threats in the Middle East. The DFA earlier said that Iraq is home to 450 undocumented and 1,190 documented Filipinos. "More than half are found in the relatively safer Kurdistan region and around 847 in the Baghdad area." A retired Blount County teacher was convicted Tuesday in the shooting death of her husband in their bedroom more than three years ago. After a week-long trial, the jury deliberated for just 25 minutes before finding 63-year-old Bobbie Green Holaway guilty of murder in the slaying of Jerry Holaway. The shooting happened June 10, 2016. Blount County sheriffs deputies responded about 8:45 p.m. that Friday to the couples home on Alabama 79 in Blountsville. Authorities said Bobbie Holaway, a former Blountsville elementary school teacher, called 911 to report she had shot her husband. When lawmen arrived on the scene, Jerry Holaway was dead from gunshot wounds to the face and the chest. The couple had been married for about 35 years. Bobbie Holaway told investigators her husband came into her room yelling and screaming at her two times before entering her room a third time when she says he began to hit her on her legs. According to Bobbie Holaway, she took a pistol out of her dresser and put it under her pillow after her husband left her room the second time. Jerry Holaway was 68 at the time of his death. Bobbie Holaway had no injuries when deputies arrived on the scene. The Holaways owned and operated chicken houses in the Blountsville area. Blount County District Attorney Pamela L. Casey and Assistant District Attorney Scott Gilliland presented evidence during the trial that the couples estate was worth in excess of $1 million at the time of Jerry Holaways death. Following the shooting, Det. Scott Kanaday obtained a search warrant for Bobbie Holaways cell phone and phone records which contained evidence that she was having an extra-marital affair, was planning to divorce Jerry Holaway, and did not want her husband to get half of their estate. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Bobbie Holaway and her boyfriend exchanged explicit text messages and continued to text each other throughout the day continuing almost up to the time of Jerry Holaways death. During the days leading up to Jerry Holaways death, Bobbie Holaway sent text messages telling her boyfriend she had a gun and asking him if he would feel differently about her if she ever had to use it. Bobbie Holaway also sent her paramour a text telling him she was willing to do whatever it takes to get her husband away from her. Bobbie Holaway was represented by Birmingham defense attorneys James W. Parkman II, Clayton Tart, and Suzanne Norman. The defense team called Dr. Lynne Zager from West Tennessee Forensic Services in Memphis to testify on Bobbie Holaways behalf. Zager testified that Bobbie Holaways actions were the result of many years of verbal, psychological, and physical abuse culminating in battered wife syndrome. However, in her initial interview with law enforcement, she indicated that he had never been physical with her but had called her names at time during her marriage. In her closing argument, Casey told jurors, Domestic violence is real. But Jerry was not the perpetrator of domestic violence in this case. After the jury returned the guilty verdict, Casey said I am happy for Jerry Holaways siblings. They remained committed to seeking justice for their brother and were here every day throughout the trial. Following the conviction, Bobbie Holaway was booked back into the Blount County Jail where she is held without bond. A sentencing date hasnt been set yet but she faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed. So should Nanoveu (ASX:NVU) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'. Check out our latest analysis for Nanoveu When Might Nanoveu Run Out Of Money? You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at June 2019, Nanoveu had cash of AU$3.5m and no debt. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$3.1m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from June 2019 it had roughly 13 months of cash runway. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time. ASX:NVU Historical Debt, January 15th 2020 How Is Nanoveu's Cash Burn Changing Over Time? In our view, Nanoveu doesn't yet produce significant amounts of operating revenue, since it reported just AU$23k in the last twelve months. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. Remarkably, it actually increased its cash burn by 1314% in the last year. Given that sharp increase in spending, the company's cash runway will shrink rapidly as it depletes its cash reserves. Nanoveu makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth. Story continues How Hard Would It Be For Nanoveu To Raise More Cash For Growth? While Nanoveu does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash to drive growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn. Nanoveu has a market capitalisation of AU$6.0m and burnt through AU$3.1m last year, which is 53% of the company's market value. From this perspective, it seems that the company spent a huge amount relative to its market value, and we'd be very wary of a painful capital raising. So, Should We Worry About Nanoveu's Cash Burn? On this analysis of Nanoveu's cash burn, we think its cash runway was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. After looking at that range of measures, we think shareholders should be extremely attentive to how the company is using its cash, as the cash burn makes us uncomfortable. When you don't have traditional metrics like earnings per share and free cash flow to value a company, many are extra motivated to consider qualitative factors such as whether insiders are buying or selling shares. Please Note: Nanoveu insiders have been trading shares, according to our data. Click here to check whether insiders have been buying or selling. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts) If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. KAMPALA The Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) last year registered Shs24.8b in profit from Shs10.8b loss in 2018, following commercial operations of Isimba dam. The generator last made a profit in 2015 but was later immersed in a pool of losses until 2019. While releasing its results, UEGCL also revealed that it grew its revenue. Revenues increased from Shs8.2b in 2018 to Shs61.6b in 2019. This was a result of commissioning and commercial operation of Isimba Hydropower plant on March 31, 2019, Ms Proscovia Margaret Njuki, the board chairperson UEGCL said recently noting that the asset base grew by 19 per cent from Shs5.7 trillion in 2018 to Shs6.7 trillion as at June 30, 2019. The asset base growth was attributed to completion of Isimba dam and works in progress at Karuma hydropower project. 183megawatt Isimba dam, which is UEGCLs bailout from the losses last year billed Shs49.4b for the 320gigawatt hours of electricity sold to Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited for six months ended June 2019. The company however registered increased borrowings with outstanding loans at Shs5.4 trillion from Shs4.8 trillion in 2018. UEGCL also noted that lack of clear discernment between the policy and project development roles between itself and the ministry of energy makes futuristic generation planning challenging. In addition, delays surrounding project implementation of Karuma and Muzizi hydropower projects remain challenging to the generator. Karuma dam, whose commissioning was scheduled for last year is yet to be launched due to delays propelled by land acquisition challenges for the transmission evacuation lines. Related The provision of student accommodation in Cork is a key focus of talks between city planners and the city's third-level institutions as work starts of the drafting of a new city development plan. The city council said the series of engagements are background research ahead of the formal preparation later this year of a draft development plan - the first to include the expanded city region. The talks come against the backdrop of a significant deficit in student bed provision in the city, and in the context of ambitious growth targets for the expanded city where the population is expected to grow by some 120,000 people by 2040, and where student numbers are rising. In a recent tweet, UCC President, Patrick OShea, said the city must address the growth. Third-level institutions have been a major feature of Cork for close to two centuries. With several tens of thousands of third-level students, isnt it time Cork took being a university city seriously? he wrote. Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer said serious consideration must now be given to the development of a large-scale student town in the city. There are examples at the National University of Galway (NUIG) or on the University of Limerick campus, he said. While construction work on hundreds of new student apartments is underway on sites across Cork city and suburbs, including the BAM project on South Main Street, a UCC project on the former Crows Nest site, and on a former packing company site next to CIT in Bishopstown, Mr Buttimer said the city is playing catch-up. This new city development plan will, in my view, be as important as the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Study. It will set the tone for development for the next generation, he said. We have seen how some communities near third-level institutions have been decimated by the development of piece-meal student accommodation. The new development plan must take cognisance of the real need for a student town, or student centres, in appropriate locations. I would suggest sites in the docklands be considered. But it cant just be about buildings or creating a ghetto of students. Such a development will need a suite of supports like access to shops and services, public transport connections, bike lanes. Ferghal Reidy, the city councils director of Strategic and Economic Development, said the meetings with representatives of the third-level sector are on a range of topics and are at an early stage. The meetings will lead to a better understanding of development objectives so that they can be considered as part of the economic and spatial planning of the city," he said. Consultation with other stakeholders will continue this year before a draft plan is published before the end of the year. The new plan, due to come into effect in 2022, will guide development in the city up to 2028. More than 100 sailors had to abandon Britains newest aircraft carrier after it suffered a blackout. The 3billion HMS Prince of Wales suffered a power outage on Monday in Portsmouth harbour. Sources blamed a problem with its generators and electrical back-up. More than 100 sailors had to abandon HMS Prince of Wales (foreground) after it suffered a blackout in Portsmouth harbour. Background: HMS Queen Elizabeth It was considered so significant that non-essential members of the 700-strong crew had to spend the night on their sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Retired Commander and maritime expert, Mike Critchley, said: Questions will be asked by the Navy how this happened. It sounds like quite a major incident. A ship without electricity isnt a ship. These things should not happen. He added the weather was bad and could be to blame for the loss of power. HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to go on its first deployment next year, with its sister ship following soon after. Last night a Royal Navy spokesman said no one was injured during the power cut. LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world-leading industrial gases company serving China for over 30 years, has won the "2019 Overall Community Care Award" for its corporate citizenship and outstanding community efforts at the 9th China Charity Festival held 14-15 January in Beijing. In addition, the company's Liquid Nitrogen (LIN) Ambassador Program was named "The Best Community Program of 2019." This is the fifth consecutive year that Air Products has been recognized for its contributions and the second time to receive these two awards in the same year. Co-organized by over 35 Chinese mainstream media outlets including China.com, ChinaDaily.com.cn and Jiemian, the annual China Charity Festival has been an influential platform for advocating philanthropic spirit and behaviors. Over 370 organizations involving more than 200 projects participated in this year's event. Air Products was evaluated according to the indicators of sustainability, creativity, adaptability, credibility and level of influence, and then selected by the judging panel comprising leaders and experts from public welfare organizations, consulting firms, institutions and media. "Receiving these two awards again is a strong recognition to all our people who are passionate about fulfilling Air Products' higher purpose and contributing to a sustainable world. We all feel we 'belong and matter' and are proud of our role in the communities where our employees live and work," said Saw Choon Seong, China president at Air Products. "We will continue to care for our communities, and innovate for a better future with a focus on the environment, energy and emerging markets to support China's sustainable growth towards the 14th Five-Year Plan period and beyond." "The Best Community Program Award is particularly meaningful to us as we celebrate the 5th anniversary of our LIN Ambassador Program in China. We have been officially conducting the program since 2014 to foster the next generation's interest in science and innovation, reaching more than 5,000 students and teachers in nearly 60 local schools," Saw added. Air Products has been actively driving its LIN Ambassador Program in China by leveraging its global resources and local gas expertise. The program demonstrates gas applications in daily life through safe and customized LIN experiments for different groups of students and communities. By 2019, more than 100 sessions had been held in 16 cities covering nine provinces across the country since its launch. Sustainability is at the core of Air Products' strategy. In China, the company has been supporting the government and industries on transformation and upgrade through its gases, leading-edge technologies and innovative solutions to achieve energy efficiency, productivity and environmental performance. Air Products has been actively driving or participating in various corporate social responsibility initiatives under its community outreach theme "Working here. Living here. Giving here." In addition to the skill-based LIN Ambassador Program, other initiatives include research and development, best practice and knowledge transfer, campaign sponsorships, scholarships, internships and donations by collaborating with customers, leading local universities and other parties. About Air Products Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for nearly 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world's largest industrial gas projects, including gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals. The Company had fiscal 2019 sales of $8.9 billion from operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $50 billion. More than 17,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com. NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2019. SOURCE Air Products Related Links http://www.airproducts.com An associate of terrorists was arrested on Wednesday from Awantipora area of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. "Police in Awantipora arrested a terrorist associate of proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, " a police spokesman said. The arrested person has been identified as Jahangir Ahmad Parray of Gulsahanpora in Tral area of the district. "As per police records, he has been assisting the active terrorists of proscribed outfit Hizbul Mujahideen operating in the areas of Gulsahanpora, Seer, Pasoona, Wagad, Larow, Lurgam, Mongahama and other areas of Tral," the spokesman said. Parray was involved in providing logistic support and assistance to militants operating in the areas of Tral, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) What makes Iron Man the best superhero in the MCU? Well, he is a genius, a billionaire, a playboy and a philanthropist too. His character is a little flawed of all the MCU superheroes, but at the same time, he is the most human and has changed lives too. Iron man hasn't only changed Robert Downey Jr's life by giving him so much love from fans all over the world, but the superhero has also changed lives of many other people -- like that of this 10-year old autistic boy, who started speaking again after wearing Iron man helmet. nickiswift.com The 54-year-old was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest host when he surprised 10-year-old Vincent. Vincent's mother Nicole and father Andy were also on the show, when Robert Downey Jr. asked to them about his story. "I have a few questions for y'all. You're ten now. Lost the ability to speak when he was one and then what happened?" Vincent's mother Nicole got emotional when she said, "Well, we had a lot of red flags that cropped up." YouTube "His imagination play; he would line stuff up, he would just spin things for countless hours." looper.com The couple then explained that it was after quite some time that it was diagnosed Vincent was on the autism spectrum. When the Avengers actor asked Vincent how he felt on not being able to communicate, he said it was "painful". YouTube His father Andy, added, "It was really painful for him. Now that he has a voice I go back and I ask him, 'hey, tell me about what you were thinking that day' or 'tell me about this time', and some of the things he talks about is not being able to make friends back then or not having the ability to tell us about what was going on in his life." pinimg Vincent was six-year-old when he got an Iron Man mask and things changed for the good for him. He then learned to communicate. "To me, too, it's so wild in playing this character, there's something I think for all of us when you're able to wear a mask if you're doing theatre in school or Halloween or whatever, I had a particular affinity, you and I both did with this same mask for some reason." "It helped me talk, it helped me hide my identity from the world," Vincent said about putting the mask on. Vincent loves Iron Man so many that he has named his dog Mr Stark, complete with an Arc Reactor name tag. Robert Downey Jr then said that it is because of moments like these that it is hard for him to say goodbye to MCU. "People always say, 'What will you miss most about having played this part?' It, obviously, is being able to talk to moms and dads and young folks and being able to say, 'Somehow or other, this had a positive impact on you'." The Avengers star then presented Vincent and his family with a $20,000 (Rs. 14,15,650) cheque from Shutterfly. Dozens of women who have suffered the heartbreak of a miscarriage have today slammed the lack of care they received from doctors. Sharing details of their devastating ordeals, many claimed their traumatic loss was so harrowing that it will 'never leave' them. One woman claimed she was forced to carry her unborn twins for three weeks, and another was told her miscarriage was just 'a part of life'. Women shared their shocking stories in the aftermath of an Imperial College London study which found one in six who endure a miscarriage will develop PTSD. Estimates say there are 250,000 miscarriages each year in the UK, including 11,000 ectopic pregnancies. There are almost a million in the US. The research team behind the study considered the largest of its kind added that many women suffer in silence because miscarriages are 'shrouded in secrecy'. And the women who took to Twitter following the release of the findings, published in a journal, echoed this view. Dozens of women who have suffered the heartbreak of a miscarriage have today slammed the lack of care they received from doctors WHAT DID THE STUDY FIND? One in six women who lose a baby during pregnancy go on to endure post- traumatic stress disorder, research suggests. The largest ever study into the psychological impact of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies found that 18 per cent were suffering from PTSD nine months after losing their baby. Another 17 per cent were battling anxiety and 6 per cent had depression. The research team, led by experts at Imperial College London, said many women suffer in silence, never discussing their loss because of a culture of secrecy that surrounds miscarriage. Post-traumatic stress can have a toxic effect on all elements of a persons life affecting work, home and relationships, said researcher Dr Jessica Farren, an obstetrician at Imperial. Advertisement One user, @Bluestockingmum, shockingly told how she had to carry her miscarried twins for nearly three weeks. She wrote: '18 years ago I miscarried twins at just over 4 months. Made to carry them both (dead) for almost three weeks after. 'The way I was treated during and after was traumatic and affected me more than the miscarriage itself. It was so harrowing, it will never leave me.' Another woman, @BabyBear20689, said doctors were 'not interested' in supporting her after she had a miscarriage aged 17. She wrote: 'I had a #miscarriage when I was 17years old. December 2nd 2007, I was alone with it, had no one to talk to about it & doctors/Shropdoc weren't interested. 'I still haven't gotten over the loss... But no one cares, its "Apart of life" I was told. "it happens".' A third woman, @charleyeg, said she was merely told to have a blood test but was otherwise 'left alone' following her miscarriage. She wrote: There is very little support for those who suffer miscarriage. 'I was told to have further bloods in a few days to check hormone levels and that was it! Absolutely left alone. #miscarriage.' Women took to Twitter in the aftermath of a damning study which found that one in six women who lose a baby during pregnancy go on to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) How at least one in six pregnancies ends in a miscarriage One in six pregnancies in women who know they are pregnant become miscarriages. But even more happen among women who don't know they have conceived. Miscarriage occurs when a pregnancy is lost within the first 23 weeks after conception. The main symptoms are bleeding from the vagina, which may be accompanied by lower abdominal pain. There are various reasons women may have a miscarriage it is common and is not usually caused by something they have done. If a miscarriage happens in the second trimester between weeks 14 and 26 it may be a sign of an underlying problem. Often, miscarriages are isolated events and women will go on to have successful pregnancies. The majority of miscarriages can't be prevented, although being generally healthy will help reduce the risk. Losing three or more pregnancies in a row - known as recurrent miscarriages - is uncommon but still affects around one in 100 women. Advertisement And Twitter user @Lauranelly95 said she had struggled 'every day' since her miscarriage and she was not offered support 'because of how taboo' the subject is. 'It should be no surprise that this is a high possibility considering how devastating a #miscarriage is,' she wrote. 'I have struggled every day since mine, I was never offered support and because of how taboo it is no one even asked if me or my partner were okay.' Other women described the horror of having to undergo a dilation and curettage operation (known as a D&C) after their miscarriages, before receiving no after care. Chantelle Valentin wrote: 'At 21 years old I miscarried at 12 weeks. I had DNC surgery and was sent home with no after care & no counseling. 'My partner was abusive & left me straight after the surgery. I was so poorly & ended up with a bad womb infection that left me off work for 3 months.' And Caroline White described being told by her surgeon after her operation that the 'contents' of her womb had been sent off 'for testing'. 'My first #miscarriage I was petrified by what was coming out and what I might see in the toilet or the bath. Second was a missed mc,' she wrote. 'I had a d&c and as I came round the FIRST thing the charming surgeon said to me was all done, weve sent the "contents" off for testing".' A D&C is performed following a miscarriage in the first trimester (12 to 14 weeks) of pregnancy. In the procedure, which is performed under general anaesthetic, the woman's cervix is opened and the pregnancy is removed from the womb. The women's shocking tales of how they were treated followed the release of the research on Wednesday. The researchers spoke to 650 women in total; 537 of them had suffered a miscarriage before 12 weeks of pregnancy. And 116 were had developed an ectopic pregnancy. The research showed how one month after miscarrying, nearly a third of women (29 per cent) suffered post-traumatic stress. One in four (24 per cent) experienced moderate to severe anxiety, and one in ten (11 per cent) had moderate to severe depression. Twitter users echoed the view of researchers who said many women suffer in silence because miscarriages are 'shrouded in secrecy' Lead study author Professor Tom Bourne said: 'For many women it [miscarrying] will be the most traumatic event in their life. 'This research suggests the loss of a longed-for child can leave a lasting legacy, and result in a woman still suffering post-traumatic stress nearly a year after her pregnancy loss. 'The treatment women receive following early pregnancy loss must change to reflect its psychological impact, and recent efforts to encourage people to talk more openly about this very common issue are a step in the right direction. 'Whilst general support and counselling will help many women, those with significant post-traumatic stress symptoms require specific treatment if they are going to recover fully. 'This is not widely available, and we need to consider screening women following an early pregnancy loss so we can identify those who most need help.' Dr Jessica Farren, another author of the study, added: 'We have made significant progress in recent years in breaking the silence around mental health issues in pregnancy and postnatally, but early pregnancy losses are still shrouded in secrecy, with very little acknowledgement of how distressing and profound an event they are.' The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had convened a meeting with the healthcare industry on January 1, but there was "no discussion at all on the alleged bribes being given by pharma companies to doctors." "There was no discussion at all on the alleged bribes being given by pharma companies to doctors as being reported in the media. The meeting was a constructive one where the discussion was limited to initiatives to boost the industry. News reports to the contrary arebaseless," said the IPA in a statement. The meeting was attended by Satish Reddy (Dr Reddy's), Ajay Piramal (Piramal Group), Pankaj Patel (Cadila Healthcare), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharma), Habil Khorakiwala (Wockhardt), Dr Rajiv Modi (Cadila Pharma), Sudhir Mehta (Torrent), Pavan Choudhary (MedTech) and Shobana Kamineni (Apollo Hospitals), added the IPA. It added that the meeting was called to "discuss future roadmap for growth of the healthcare industry." Research and Development, building innovation ecosystem, improve access to high quality medicine and strengthen global competitiveness of the industry were among the focus of discussion. "India is rightly described as the pharmacy of the world with 20 per cent volume share of the global market. The purpose was to take the industry to next level and leverage opportunities going forward in pharma sector besides discussing growth opportunities in Medtech and hospital sector," the IPA further said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French President Emmanuel Macron has called on police to reign in excessive use of force after crowd control tactics and arrest procedures came under scrutiny over the mistreatment of a protester and the death of a delivery person. Speaking in the city of Pau, Macron denounced unacceptable behaviour that harms the credibility and dignity of security forces. He called upon the Interior Ministry to come up with proposals to improve the code of ethics according to which they assure public order. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called for police to set an exemplary standard, as the ministry assured it was working on an updated code for how officers should behave in difficult circumstances. The comments followed two incidents that have renewed scrutiny over the methods of the security services, who have already been accused of heavy-handed treatment of protesters at public demonstrations, especially during the Yellow Vest movement. Prosecutors in Toulouse told AFP they had opened an investigation after an officer was filmed tripping a protester during a rally against government plans to reform the pension system in the southern city on Saturday. A video of the incident has been viewed more than 60,000 times on social media. Delivery man strangled near Eiffel Tower Recent weeks also saw the death of Cedric Chouviat, a 42-year-old delivery person sent to hospital following a muscled incident during which police pulled him over near the Eiffel Tower on 3 January. Several videos of the incident show Chouviat arguing and filming police with his mobile phone before being pinned to the ground and choked. According to the lawyer representing the four officers involved, Chouviat was stopped for refusing to put away his telephone while driving his scooter and proceeded to verbally assault the officers. The incident provoked a heart attack, and Chouviat died two days later of asphyxiation due to a fractured larynx. Prosecutors opened an investigation for involuntary homicide, but Chouviat's family members and lawyers said Tuesday they were disappointed none of the agents involved in the incident had been suspended. Macron's words anger police unions Macron acknowledged frontline officers were often faced with violence and political nihilism of some participants in public demonstrations, but the comments drew the ire of unions representing police officers, wary of ongoing exposure to difficult circumstances. We are exhausted, we cannot show resilience forever, said Thomas Toussaint of the Unsa-Police union. We do not approve of everything, but this issue must be seen in context. Others cited the case of an officer dying near the city of Lyon on Monday after being intentionally rammed by a van during a check and the latest in a series of suicides among members of the security forces. We defended the Republic and the politicians are abandoning us, said Patrice Ribeiro, general secretary of Synergies-Officiers. On Monday, two officers committed suicide and a colleague died, without a word from Emmanuel MacronThe government today is proving itself to be more concerned about social networks. JAMMU: On a day when broadband and 2G internet services were partially restored in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the intelligence agencies on Wednesday warned that easing of restrictions will lead to a surge in anti-India activities in the Valley. Inputs gathered by the intelligence Agency, accessed by Zee Media, suggest that restoration of internet services and easing of other curbs will lead to separatist activities in Kashmir Valley. Agencies also warned that Pakistan's ISI is planning a strategy to exploit the situation once internet services are fully operational in the Valley. There had been a significant decline in the cross-border infiltration attempt in recent months. According to government data, till November 2019, there were at least 202 infiltration attempts compared with 2018 during which 328 incidents of infiltration by terror groups were reported in Kashmir. Pakistan is also planning to engage Afghanistan's Taliban fighters in its anti-India activities once the United States withdraws its forces from the war-ravaged country. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought a detailed report from the BSF, RAW, CRPF and Indian Army on their assessment after internet services are restored in the Valley. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said that it will restore 2G mobile connectivity in five districts of the Jammu region from Wednesday. Live TV The J&K Administration announced that while internet services will be restored in some parts of Jammu, broadband facilities will be provided to "all the institutions dealing with essential services" as well as hospitals, banks and hotels among others. However, users will not be able to access any social media sites and messaging services, the order issued by Principal Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra, said. According to the order, the Kashmir division will establish an additional 400 internet kiosks. "Internet service providers (ISP - BSNL/private service providers) to provide broadband facility (with (Mac-binding) to all the institutions dealing with essential services, hospitals, banks, etc, as also government offices and in order to facilitate tourism, to hotels, and tour and travel establishments," the order read. "Prior to giving such facility, the ISPs shall install necessary firewalls and carry out white-listing of sites that would enable access to government websites and websites dealing with essential services including e-banking, excluding, however, all the social media sites," the order read ''The aforesaid directions shall be effective from January 15, 2020, and remain in force for a period of seven days, unless modified earlier. These shall supersede all the orders earlier issued on the subject," it added. The order said that the institutions and government offices being provided internet access will be responsible to prevent any misuse. "While the mobile internet activity of all kinds has been suspended in Jammu and Kashmir. However, internet through fixed-line broadband facility exists in Jammu division while in Kashmir division, to facilitate the general public and students," it said. The order came days after the Supreme Court, on January 10, directed to review all orders suspending internet services in Jammu and Kashmir and stated that the "right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the constitution". The Central government had suspended the internet in the region following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. [January 15, 2020] Comprehensive Case Studies to be Featured at Data Center World 2020 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data Center World , the leading global conference for data center, facilities and IT infrastructure professionals, features a robust lineup of in-depth case study sessions taking place at Data Center World 2020, March 16-19. Each case study will spotlight important data center concerns, providing an insightful perspective of how major companies navigated obstacles to achieve optimal results. The data center industry is consistently evolving, forcing organizations to quickly adapt and adjust their data centers in a streamlined process, said Brian Gillooly, Content Director, Data Center World. We strive to provide a strong list of case studies for our attendees so that they can hear real-life examples of these situations from their peers and gain knowledge and new strategies to implement at their own organizations. Data Center World 2020 case studies highlights include: How to Select the Right Co-Location Provider The When, Why, and How-To Data Center Manager John Parker will share his 20 years of using collocation data centers and provide guidelines that can be used as a road map to select a collocation provider. Through this presentation, attendees will learn tools that may reduce their search by at least 80% while guaranteeing a successful selection process. Designing an Energy-Efficient Supercomputing Center This presentation will illustrate the decisions needed to be made in the design of both new and refurbishe supercomputer facility alternatives, providing a design framework that will highly engage the audience through a mock facility design process. Attendees can improve their technical knowledge of facility design strategies for new computer deployments. One Companys Journey to a Modern Disaster Recovery Solution DRaaS This presentation will describe the lessons learned when an IT team was forced to relocate their data center environment. From learning of the decision, to performing a due diligence assessment of their ability to use a DRaaS solution, into an RFI and RFP process, and coming to agreement on a contract, attendees will gain insight into the challenges faced during this rigorous evaluation project. Power and Performance Increasing Data Center Efficiency The head of Data Centers at Saudi Aramco will outline how data center managers can identify the tools required to determine losses and work around them to approve efficiency. The presentation will also interrogate the recent IoT applications and machine learning capabilities that can allow data centers to go green and reduce power consumption without affecting the performance. To learn more about #DataCenterWorld 2020 and to view the full schedule, visit: datacenterworld.com About Data Center World: Data Center World is the global conference for data center, facilities, and IT professionals. It offers premier education, abundant networking, and the broadest access to best-in-class vendors. Designed to help data center and IT infrastructure professionals with challenging issues, Data Center World presents top quality knowledge without bias towards a specific vendor product or service. Data Center World will be held March 16-19, 2020 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX. Data Center World is brought to you by Informa Tech. About Informa Tech Informa Tech is a market leading provider of integrated research, media, training and events to the global Technology community. We're an international business of more than 600 colleagues, operating in more than 20 markets. Our aim is to inspire the Technology community to design, build and run a better digital world through research, media, training and event brands that inform, educate and connect. Over 7,000 professionals subscribe to our research, with 225,000 delegates attending our events and over 18,000 students participating in our training programmes each year, and nearly 4 million people visiting our digital communities each month. Learn more about Informa Tech . Heather Donner Data Center World PR [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Signal Mountain Genealogical Society will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Walden Town Hall, 1836 Taft Hwy. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. with light refreshments, followed by a brief business meeting and program. The speaker for the day, Cynthia Guffy, will present a program entitled, "Friends in the Family: Quaker Genealogy Research." Visitors are welcome. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 15 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: A meeting was held in the Turkmen Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UIET) with Chief of the Europe and Central Asia Division of UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) Jacek Cukrowski, Trend reports referring to the UIET. The parties discussed the possibility of establishing bilateral contacts on a wide range of areas. Cukrowski noted the systematic approach of Turkmenistan to the implementation of tasks in the field of industrial development, as well as the fruitful cooperation of UNIDO with government agencies in the textile and carpet industries, the report said. The UIET informed about the organizations activities and major projects being implemented by local entrepreneurs in various fields. UNIDO assisted Turkmenistan in a project to implement the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Since 2012, a state program has been implemented on the decommissioning of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, the purpose of which is to carry out measures that allow only recycled and recovered substances to be used after 2020 and their complete withdrawal from circulation by Jan. 1, 2040. Egypt's Ministers Sameh Shoukry of Foreign Affairs and Mohamed Abdel Atti of Water Resources and Irrigation agreed to continue negotiations for the third straight day on Wednesday in Washington on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Wednesday. In a statement early Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said the two ministers attended a meeting held by US President Donald Trump with the ministers of the three states. Foreign Ministry Sameh Shoukry underlined Egypt's appreciation for the efforts exerted by Trump and US treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in this vital file. On Tuesday, the Egyptian, Ethiopian and Sudanese ministers for foreign affairs and water resumed talks on regulations that should be adopted to fill and operate the dam. Technical talks were held to discuss details about the measures that should be adopted by Ethiopia. Four rounds of talks in the GERD negotiations were held as part of the roadmap agreed upon during a US-brokered meeting in Washington last November to break the deadlock in the negotiations. Ethiopia started constructing the GERD in 2011 on the Blue Nile in the northern Ethiopia highlands, from where most of the Nile's waters flow. Egypt fears that the speed of filling the Ethiopian dam will diminish its share of the rivers water. Ethiopia aims to become the continent's biggest power exporter by generating more than 6,000 megawatts through the dam. Search Keywords: Short link: The sterile medical packaging market size in US is poised to grow by USD 1.44 billion during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005043/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global medical packaging market in US 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) The US is the largest medical device market and has grown by an estimated 81.25% between 2010 and 2017. Moreover, the US government funds a significant part of the total healthcare expenditure on medical devices, facilitating easier access to implant surgeries and medical devices for the general population. In addition, many startups and existing medical devices companies are introducing affordable and advanced medical treatment solutions. As a result, there is a significant rise in the sale of medical devices in the US, which will have a positive impact on the growth of the sterile medical packaging market in the country during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30748 As per Technavio, the increase in medical exports will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2019-2023. Sterile Medical Packaging Market in US: Increase in Medical Exports The US has become a significant exporter of medical goods, particularly sterile medical instruments and advanced medical devices. The country has a robust medical device manufacturing industry owing to favorable intellectual property (IP) and patents environment. This has resulted in many domestic and international med-tech companies setting up their manufacturing and R&D operations in the region. Moreover, developing countries such as Brazil, China, and India lack access to advanced healthcare technologies, which compels them to import medical devices from the US. Thus, the increase in exports will have a significant impact on the American sterile medical packaging market growth during the forecast period. "Other factors such as the growing focus on sustainability in medical packaging and the rising adoption of pre-validated sterile packaging will have a positive impact on the growth of the sterile medical packaging market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Sterile Medical Packaging Market in US: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the sterile medical packaging market in US by material (plastic, glass, aluminum, and others) and product (bottles, blister packs, thermoformed trays, and others). The plastic segment held the largest sterile medical packaging market share in 2018. The factors driving the demand for plastics packaging are the wide degree of machinability and barrier protection offered by plastics. Plastics packaging also meets the aesthetic demands of the medical industry, and it is compatible with almost all sterilization techniques that do not require porosity. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Geographical Segmentation Regional comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005043/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com Around 61,000 tons of fresh sand will be dumped onto Miami Beach in a bid to try and halt rising water and erosion along the coastline. A total of $16 million worth of sand will be piled up onto the famous beach as part of a continued effort to block damage to the coastline. Bulldozers from the US Army Corps of Engineers are working to widen parts of the beach to act as a buffer between the water and properties in the area. The project is part of a $16 million project funded by the federal government in an effort to fight erosion and protect homes and businesses from storm surges. Drone footage taken yesterday shows construction work by the US Army Corps of Engineers as they distribute sand along the beach in Miami, Florida The project is part of a $16 million dollar project funded by the federal government to use a total of 61,000 tons of sand Around 100 trucks will work to widen the beaches in an effort to fight erosion and protect properties from storm surges The first phase of construction will finish on March 18, when the crews will move south with three further phases along a total of four beachfront strips, finishing on June 5. Hotspots of tidal erosion were previously 'renourished' by the federal government between August 2016 and March 2017. Miami-Dade County launched an emergency plan to bolster a key section of beach after wind and rain from Hurricane Irma battered the shoreline in 2018. During the new project, crews will dump 100 truckloads of sand every day as part of the bid to push back against erosion caused by sea level rise and storms, according to the Miami Herald. Previously Miami-Dade County launched an emergency plan to bolster a key section of beach after wind and rain from Hurricane Irma battered the shoreline in 2018 Trucks from the US Army are working to strengthen the shoreline against rising sea levels Dr Stephen Leatherman, a professor of earth and environment at Florida International University, said the new sand will not change the shape of the shoreline. He told the publication: 'The nourished area will not actually jut out into the ocean, the new sand will be just be filling in a ''hole'' in the beach, which will help to make the shoreline straighter along its length.' Miami-Dade County said it will relocate sea turtle nests if necessary during the project and monitor the shoreline daily for migratory birds. Following the lawsuit by the news organizations, Polster released the DEA data through 2012, but he withheld the data from 2013 and 2014. The drug companies had argued that the release of that data could damage their competitive advantage, and the Justice Department warned that the newer data could compromise ongoing investigations. On Tuesday, a special master appointed to help manage the litigation issued an order making the 2013 and 2014 data public. Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Jan. 12. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2020 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.) Microsofts revamped Edge browser, released Jan. 15, is the companys third attempt at building a better browser. The first try, Internet Explorer, was initially released in 1995 and eventually became the worlds most popular browser, peaking at 95% market share in 2003. But Microsofts actions in making it difficult for users to use other browsers in Windows put it in the federal governments crosshairs and led to a successful antitrust suit against the company. After that, Microsoft did little to improve the browser, and Internet Explorer became old, buggy and insecure, allowing nimbler browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome to gain in popularity. The companys second browser, Edge, released in July 2015, was an attempt by Microsoft to replace Internet Explorer and regain browser leadership. It failed. That version of Edge, available only for Windows 10, was sluggish, overstuffed with features that few people wanted and severely lacking in something people did want: browser extensions. Edges failure to ignite only accelerated rival Chromes ascent. According to Statcounter, as of December 2019, Chrome had 69% of the worldwide desktop browser market, compared to 4.6% for Edge and 3.6% for Internet Explorer. Microsofts new Edge browser is as dramatic a break as can be imagined from the companys past. Instead of developing the browser with proprietary code, Microsoft decided to build the new Edge using open-source Chromium source code, which was originally developed by Google and also underpins Google Chrome and other browsers such as Opera and Brave. Doing that is anathema to the go-it-alone-and-dominate-the-market vision championed by past CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. IDG Microsofts new Edge browser, based on open-source Chromium, is Microsofts third attempt to build a better browser. (Click image to enlarge it.) Current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been willing to break with that Microsoft orthodoxy in the past. But using open-source code first developed by Google for Microsofts new browser is probably his biggest gamble yet. Looked at another way, though, it was no gamble at all. With Microsofts browser market share so minimal and its browsers so widely reviled, he likely felt he had nothing to lose by taking a dramatically new approach. So how well did Microsoft do with this break-from-the-past browser? Will the third time be the charm, or did Microsoft once again build a browser bound to fail? Read on for details and answers. Note: Unlike the original Edge browser, the Chromium-based Edge works with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and macOS in addition to Windows 10 but in this review, I focus on the Windows 10 version. Faster and clean-looking One of the first things youll notice about the new Edge is just how zippy it is, and how quickly web sites load in it. Even when using 10 or more tabs, I didnt find it sluggish, as often happens with Chrome. In my experience, the new Edge also doesnt suffer from another Chrome problem the tendency to slow down the longer you use the browser, especially when you have multiple tabs open. Not uncommonly on my machines, when I leave Chrome running for days with multiple tabs in use, it becomes so sluggish I need to close the browser down. In several weeks of testing, that never happened to me with Edge, even when using the beta version. Tests I ran using Task Manager to measure RAM use found that Edge uses less RAM than Chrome. Running the browsers with the same five tabs open and with all extensions removed, Chrome used on average about 14% more RAM than Edge. As for design, the new Edge borrows from Chromes less-is-more ethos. Microsoft jettisoned many of the little-loved and little-used features of the old Edge. So theres no unneeded frou-frous like the ability to mark up web pages and share them with others. No reading lists or e-reader so you can buy and read books in your browser. The old Edges confusing tab-handling features that were accessed via the top left of the screen are gone as well. Features like that always felt like lipstick on a pig to me they couldnt hide the essential shortcomings of the Edge browser. With the new Edge, no lipstick is needed. Chromium Edge is no pig. Its a very good browser. Finally, extensions for Edge Microsoft has long had a problem attracting developers to write extensions for its browsers, first Internet Explorer and then Edge. Chrome and Firefox each have thousands of extensions for everything imaginable, while the original version of Edge has only 298 as I write this, four-and-a-half years after it was first introduced. Given how much time most people spend using their browsers and the useful capabilities that extensions can add to them, this was one of Edges biggest drawbacks. With this Chromium version of Edge, those days are over. The new browser was built to work with Chromes existing extensions, and in my testing, those extensions worked without fail. I went to the Chrome Web Store and downloaded and installed Google Translate, the New York Times Cooking extension, the Smart PDF conversion tool, Adblock Plus, Evernote Web Clipper, and Checker Plus for Gmail, and all worked without a hitch. Microsoft also has its own extensions store for Edge, Microsoft Edge Addons, which as I write this has more than 700 extensions. I use the Ghostery ad blocker extension from the Microsoft store, and it looks and works like the version Ive used on Chrome from the Chrome Web Store. IDG Edge can run extensions from the Microsoft Store or from the Chrome Web Store. (Click image to enlarge it.) To use extensions from the Chrome Web Store or any other location apart from the Microsoft Edge Addons site, click the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner of Edge, select Extensions from the drop-down menu, and on the bottom left of the screen that appears, move the slider next to Allow extensions from other stores to the On position. Then youll be able to download and install apps from the Chrome Web Store. Microsoft warns that some Chrome extensions might not work on Edge, including those that rely on Google Account functionality to sign in or sync data and those that rely on companion software on your PC. However, I didnt come across any Chrome extensions that didnt work, including Checker Plus for Gmail, which requires signing into a Google account. All this is a big win for Edge and fixes a problem that has bedeviled Microsofts web browsers for many years. One of several reasons why I have always preferred Chrome to Edge was Edges lack of extensions. Thats no longer the case, though. Stopping tracking in its tracks A lack of privacy has become one of the most common complaints people have about browsing the internet, and Edge has taken a solid step forward in addressing that. It offers a feature called tracking prevention, which blocks ad providers from tracking you from website to website. That makes it more difficult for companies like Google, Facebook and others to build comprehensive profiles of your activities and interests. By default, tracking prevention is turned on. But you can customize how it works, making it less or more restrictive depending on how much privacy you would like when browsing the web and how much you want to see ads and content that mirror your interests. IDG You can customize Edges tracking prevention to block more or fewer tracking ads. (Click image to enlarge it.) To do it, click the three-dot icon at the top right of Edges screen and select Settings > Privacy and Services. You have three choices: Basic, which allows most trackers and blocks only those that Microsoft considers harmful. Youll have less privacy but will be more likely to see personalized ads and content. which allows most trackers and blocks only those that Microsoft considers harmful. Youll have less privacy but will be more likely to see personalized ads and content. Balanced, which blocks many trackers and is more restrictive than Basic. This is Edges default setting. Youll have more privacy than with Basic, but ads and content will be less likely to be personalized. And like Basic, it blocks harmful ads. With both Balanced and Basic settings, the websites you visit will work as you expect them to. which blocks many trackers and is more restrictive than Basic. This is Edges default setting. Youll have more privacy than with Basic, but ads and content will be less likely to be personalized. And like Basic, it blocks harmful ads. With both Balanced and Basic settings, the websites you visit will work as you expect them to. Strict, which blocks the majority of trackers from all websites, as well as harmful ads. Youll have the most privacy, and ads and content will probably have minimal personalization. Parts of websites may not work properly when you choose this setting. You can customize tracking prevention further by clicking Exceptions. That will let you specify sites on which youd like to allow all trackers. Edge also allows you to see which ad trackers it has blocked. Click Blocked trackers to see them. IDG A list of all trackers blocked by Edge. (Click image to enlarge it.) Edge also offers you a nifty way to see which trackers have been blocked on any website youre currently visiting. To do it, click the lock icon to the left of the URL, then click Trackers at the bottom of the menu that appears. IDG Viewing a list of trackers blocked by Edge when visiting CNN using the Balanced setting. (Click image to enlarge it.) You might wonder why I installed the AdBlock Plus and Ghostery extensions in Edge, since it offers built-in tracking prevention. Tracking prevention only stops ad tracking that follows you from site to site. But Ghostery and Adblock Plus (and similar software) also stop ads that dont follow you around. In my testing, for instance, Ghostery blocked quite a few ads that werent blocked by tracking prevention; the tools work in concert nicely. Note that Firefox also offers tracking prevention, but Chrome doesnt. The way in which Microsoft determines which trackers to block is quite complex. For details, see the companys Improving Tracking Prevention in Microsoft Edge blog post. Running websites as apps Although the new Edge has abandoned many of the old less-than-useful Edge features, it has added an interesting new one: It lets you run websites like Twitter or Computerworld as standalone apps, without having to run Edge itself. To do it, when youre on a website you want to run as an app, click the three-dot icon at the top right of the screen, then select Apps > Install This Site as an App and click the Install button. When you do that, the website will show up in your Windows 10 app list (and you can pin it to the taskbar) like any other app. Just click the apps icon, and the website will be rendered by Edge with all of its functionality, but it will work as its own app without any other Edge features. IDG Edge lets you run websites as standalone apps, without having to launch Edge. (Click image to enlarge it.) You can also run the app by selecting Apps from Edges three-dot icon, then clicking the app from the menu that appears. To delete any app youve installed, click Manage Apps from the menu, and on the new screen that appears, click the X next to any app you want to delete. This isnt an earthshaking new feature, but I found it moderately useful to be able to create apps from websites I frequently visit. I can run them by themselves, which allows me to run fewer tabs in Edge, so I dont have to hunt as much in a cluttered Edge for sites I want to visit. Other extras Edge has a variety of other minor but useful features as well. The most welcome one is the ability to silence the audio in any individual tab. If you hear audio playing, look at each tab and look for the audio icon that tells you audio is playing. Click the icon and youll mute the audio, indicated by an X next to the audio icon. Click it again to turn the audio back on. You can also customize, on a site-by-site basis, what kinds of permissions you want to give to websites to access your PC. When youre on a page, click the lock icon to the left of the URL in the address bar and select Site Permissions. On the screen that appears you can select whether to allow the site to access your location, your computers camera and microphone, whether to run or block Adobe Flash, allow pop-ups and automatic downloads, and so on. IDG Edge lets you set permissions on a site-by-site basis. (Click image to enlarge it.) Those who like to go over to the dark side will be pleased to see that the new Edge has a dark mode, just like the old one did. Also like the old Edge, the new one offers a read-aloud feature that will read web pages to you. Because the browser is based on Chromium, you can also Chromecast video streams to tablets, PCs and TVs that allow for streaming, something the old Edge couldnt do. Microsoft has also made it exceedingly easy to switch from another browser to the new Edge. It will import Favorites and passwords. When I imported them from Chrome, the import happened instantaneously so fast I thought Edge had made a mistake and only claimed to have imported them. It did, however, import them that quickly, and accurately as well. IDG Importing bookmarks, passwords, settings and more from Chrome to Edge was fast and easy. (Click image to enlarge it.) Collections missing in action for the moment One of Edges more useful new features, called Collections, isnt yet ready for prime time and is not available in the just-released version of Edge. However, its been available since August in Edges bleeding-edge test channel called Canary and recently was released into the somewhat more stable Dev channel, which is where features appear before they head to beta. So even though you wont see it in the just-released version of Edge, you may well soon; along with the Chromium source code, Microsoft is adopting a more frequent update cadence approximately every six weeks, the company says. Collections does exactly what it sounds like lets you create collections of websites so that you can easily see them grouped together, and then perform actions on them, such as send their URLs to Excel or Word. In the Dev and Canary channels, Collections isnt enabled by default, so if you have one of those versions of Edge, youll need to turn it on. To do it, type edge://flags#edge-collections into the address bar. That opens the experimental settings page. Scroll down to Experimental Collections feature on the page, select Enabled, then click the Restart button at the bottom of the screen. After you restart, a new Collections icon shows up to the right of star-shaped Favorites icon at the right edge of the address bar. The Collections icon has a square with a cross on it. Click it to launch the Collections pane. From here, click Start new collection, give the collection a name, and youre ready to go. You can now add pages to the collection. Whenever youre on a web page that you want to add to one of your collections, click the Collections icon to display the Collections pane, click the collection to which you want to add the page, then click Add current page. IDG The new Collections feature hasnt yet made it into the latest version of Edge. (Click image to enlarge it.) When you go to a collection, you can click any web page there to jump to it in a new tab. You can also create notes in any collection, by clicking the note icon to the right of the Add current page button. Click the three-dot icon to the right of the note icon and you get these options: Send to Excel. This creates a new Excel worksheet in OneDrive in a new Microsoft Edge Collections folder, with the title and file name of the collection, and a list of all the titles in the collection, including links to them. This creates a new Excel worksheet in OneDrive in a new Microsoft Edge Collections folder, with the title and file name of the collection, and a list of all the titles in the collection, including links to them. Send to Word. This creates a new Word document in OneDrive in a new Microsoft Edge Collections folder, with the title and file name of the collection, and a list of all the titles in the collection, including links to them. It also shows your notes. This creates a new Word document in OneDrive in a new Microsoft Edge Collections folder, with the title and file name of the collection, and a list of all the titles in the collection, including links to them. It also shows your notes. Open all. This launches a new instance of Edge, with all of the pages from the collection in their own tabs. This launches a new instance of Edge, with all of the pages from the collection in their own tabs. Copy all. This copies the list to the Windows clipboard. I found Collections especially well-suited for research, as a way to get instant access to all the pages useful for projects Im working on. But some of its features are works in progress. When it created a new worksheet with Send to Excel feature, for example, it created rows and columns for each website, but some of those columns were empty because they had nothing to do with the websites: Price, Rating, Number of reviews, and Brand. Also, there were errors when I chose to copy information about the collection to the clipboard. Despite that, I found Collections to be exceedingly useful and one of my favorite new Edge features. Well have to see whether its imperfections have been cleaned up by the time it makes it into formal release. What IT needs to know about the new Edge One way that Microsoft hopes to make the new Edge stand out from its rivals is by including a variety of enterprise-friendly capabilities. For instance, it lets IT administrators use group policy objects (GPOs) to create enterprise-centric web pages that employees logged in to an Azure Active Directory (AAD) account see when they open a new tab in Edge. This customized new tab page essentially acts as a front end for Office 365, giving employees access to Office documents, company sites and other resources. In addition, when users sign into their corporate account, they can search the company intranet from Edges search bar. Microsoft has also worked to make sure that any enterprise apps and websites that were designed to work with Internet Explorer 11 (through a feature called IE Mode), the pre-Chromium version of Edge, or Google Chrome will also work with the new Edge. If your companys website works with one of those browsers and not the new Edge, Microsoft says it will help you fix it at no additional cost under the companys App Assure program. Microsoft has also put together a security baseline, a group of pre-configured security settings and default values, for the new version of Edge. IT staff can use that baseline as a starting point for setting security controls. Finally, youll be able to deploy and manage Edge using familiar Microsoft tools including group policies, Configuration Manager and Intune. For more details about enterprise features, see Microsofts post Introducing the new Microsoft Edge and Bing and the companys Edge enterprise blog. The bottom line What does all this add up to? The third time really has proven to be the charm for Microsoft: Its new Chromium-based Edge is a winner. Its speedy, works with many thousands of Chrome extensions, does a nice job of protecting your privacy, and has some useful new features like the ability to turn web pages into apps, and eventually, the ability to create collections of web pages. Edge is now at least a good a browser as Chrome and possibly better, particularly for enterprise use. Whether for personal or business browsing, youd do well to at least give it a try, even if in the past youve vowed to stay away from Microsoft browsers forever. For more information about the new Edge, including how to download it now, see "FAQ: Microsoft's new Edge explained." Iran's foreign minister has canceled an expected appearance at next week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, organizers said Tuesday, citing the "backdrop of uncertainty" in the Middle East. The move averts a possible crossing-of-paths with top U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, in the Alpine town at a time when relations between Iran and the United States have hit a new low. WEF President Borge Brende cited only the "cancellation" by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was notably blacklisted by the Trump administration even before the new tensions. Brende declined to elaborate on the reasons for it. "We have to understand the cancellation against the backdrop of uncertainty in the region and what his happening in Iran," he told reporters at WEF headquarters in Geneva at a look-ahead event to the 50th anniversary of the forum. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. As grand gestures go, this one doesnt feel all that grand. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will bring his cabinet to Winnipeg next week for a three-day retreat, a clear signal the federal Liberals are trying to extend a figurative olive branch to Western Canada, a region that did not look favourably on Mr. Trudeau in last falls election. Trudeau, cabinet to Winnipeg for three-day retreat Click to Expand Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a press conference in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020. Trudeau says Iran must take full responsibility for mistakenly shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing all 176 civilians on board, including 57 Canadians. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Posted: 12:00 PM Jan. 13, 2020 OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making his cabinet brave a Winnipeg winter, bringing his ministers next week to a city still likely to provide a warmer reception than anywhere else in the Prairies. Choosing Winnipeg is interesting it's not Calgary, it's not Edmonton, or Saskatchewan, for that matter, said Jared Wesley, a political scientist at the University of Alberta. Read Full Story Of course, bringing the cabinet retreat to Manitoba which represents the eastern margin of the West and also happens to be the Prairie province that elected four Liberals to Parliament, in contrast to the grand total of zero produced by Saskatchewan and Alberta isnt what anyone would describe as a bold stroke. Manitoba is, according to University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley, "friendlier territory for a Liberal government ... but it does demonstrate that theyre willing to get out of Ottawa and listen to Canadians in those regions." The symbolism of the meetings location is muted, at best, so it will be up to the PM and his cabinet counterparts to do and say things while theyre here that will make the western outreach seem meaningful. According the the prime ministers office, the point of the Sunday-through-Tuesday get-together is to set priorities for the House of Commons next session, and the agenda will include climate change, measures aimed at helping Canadas middle class, reconciliation, safety and global affairs. Thats a rather hefty order paper, but it would be overly optimistic to expect the brief retreat to produce profound statements on any of those complex big-picture issues. Unmentioned in the agenda released by the PMO is "Western relations," though one imagines the topic will provide a fair amount of the meetings subtextual momentum. Mending fences on the Prairies and beyond must become a front-of-mind issue for Mr. Trudeau if he hopes to reclaim majority status the next time Canadians go to the polls and thats not as easy as it sounds for a party that has traditionally tended to view everything northeast of Toronto as electorally inconsequential hinterland. According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office, the point of the Sunday-through-Tuesday get-together is to set priorities for the House of Commons next session. (Justin Tang / Canadian Press files) So it is not completely without significance that the Liberals have opted to bring their cabinet conclave to Manitoba. It is a gesture though nowhere near as intrepid or impactful as if the meeting were to be scheduled in Edmonton, Calgary or Regina, where regional unrest remains at a low boil and Mr. Trudeau would face a much more uncertain welcome. It might be, in fact, that the greater opportunity in the half-daring designation of Winnipeg as the cabinet retreats locale belongs to Manitoba rather than to Mr. Trudeaus government. Having the PM and his top party operatives in this region will necessarily create openings for Premier Brian Pallister to grab a bit of useful federal-government facetime at a time when dialogue on such issues as climate change and the carbon tax could only be to Manitobas benefit. "Its a great opportunity for politicians to meet with one another and break bread, and develop trust in a way that we dont see very often in Canadian politics," says Mr. Wesley. While they seem to be at a more collegial stage than at other times during their nearly parallel tenures as government leaders, there remains room for improvement in relations between Mr. Pallister and Mr. Trudeau. Manitobas premier neither sought nor arranged this time-limited visit by the PM, but he should take full advantage of whatever opportunities it presents. By Trend A regional meeting was held in Azerbaijans Agdash district on the The current state of rice growing and upcoming tasks topic, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijans Agriculture Ministry. The meeting was attended by the heads of the state agrarian development centers and specialists from Azerbaijans Agdash, Ujar, Zardab, Agsu, Yevlakh, Goychay and Samukh districts. It was noted at the meeting led by Head of the ministrys Department for Organization and Monitoring of Crop Production Rafael Guliyev that the State Program for the Development of Rice Growing in Azerbaijan for 2018-2025 was approved in accordance with the Azerbaijani presidential order dated Feb. 9, 2018. This was done in order to further strengthen state support for one of the traditional areas in Azerbaijan - rice growing, the effective use of the potential of this sphere, as well as to achieve increase in interest in rice production. It was announced that as a result of the implementation of the state program in 2019, rice was sown on an area of ??4,038 hectares, 12,152 tons of crops were harvested, and the average yield was 30.1 centners per hectare. Rice is mainly sown on areas in the Lankaran and Aran economic regions, Guliyev said. Expansion of sown areas, cultivation of new and more productive rice varieties, organization of seed growing, application of innovative cultivation methods are priority areas for the implementation of the state program. During the meeting, with the participation of the heads of the state agrarian development centers of the respective districts, specialists of Azerbaijan's Agency for Agrarian Services, Aqrolizinq OJSC, as well as rice growers, the issues of determining the need for seeds, the current state in the provision of machinery, mineral fertilizers and pesticides were discussed. At the end of the event, an inspection of the rice production workshop in the Agdash district was conducted. TOKYO Yamaha has warned people not to try and squeeze inside musical instrument cases after reports former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn fled Japan concealed inside in one. "We won't mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases. A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it," the Japanese company said in a post on its twitter account on Jan. 11. Ghosn, who is accused of hiding earnings, transferring investment losses to Nissan and misappropriating company funds, escaped from Japan at the end of December for Lebanon. Japanese authorities have vowed to pursue him and have issued an international wanted notice for him and his wife Carole. The former auto executive and fugitive has declined to reveal how he slipped past Japanese airport security, or confirm media reports accomplices smuggled him through a private jet lounge in Kansai Airport in western Japan hidden in large speaker box that was too large to fit through the facility's X-ray scanner. Earlier reports, which Ghosn has dismissed, said he was carried out of his home in Tokyo in a double bass case. Yamaha, which makes instruments and equipment ranging from pianos and double basses to drums, electronics and heavy duty speakers, thanked people in a second tweet for liking its first post, which was retweeted more than 50,000 times. It also reminded followers again that instrument cases are designed for instruments and not people. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> By Trend Turkmenistans Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov met with Regional Coordinator for Central Asia of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Dmitry Godunov in Ashgabat to discuss the issue of the stages of the country's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trend reports referring to Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The parties also discussed promotion of investments, modernizing the customs service, transport and logistics sectors, the ministry said. In recent years, Turkmenistan has been implementing a number of measures in cooperation with international structures to improve legislation and simplify trade procedures with a focus on WTO mechanisms. A government commission was also created for this purpose. After admission to WTO, the state will have preferential treatment by all international organizations, and economic benefits will be provided. The accession to WTO will also facilitate the development of those areas in which Turkmenistan is the most competitive in world markets. In particular, these are hydrocarbon resources, which are now estimated at 71.2 billion tons of oil equivalent. At the same time, Turkmenistan's energy strategy is not limited to oil and gas exports. The construction of new gas and oil processing production facilities is the priority component of the national energy strategy. Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State on Wednesday urged judges in the state to uphold the integrity of the judiciary in passing judgments at all times. Mr Bello said this when he inaugurated three new High Court judges at the Government House, Minna. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bello also presented official Peugeot 406 cars to 20 Sharia Court Judges and 11 Magistrates in the state to ease their jobs. `You must do the right thing in order to protect the integrity of the judiciary. You must administer justice in an unbiased manner to save the judiciary, he said. Mr Bello said the provision of cars is a continuous process to help the judiciary shun corruption. He said the state government would continue to rehabilitate infrastructure at the court premises toward providing conducive environment for judges and other judicial staff. Earlier, the Chief Judge of the state, Aliyu Mayaki, enjoined judicial officers to reciprocate governments gesture by living above board. Mr Mayaki also appealed to government to provide accommodation for magistrates and Sharia Court Judges to enhance their performance. He thanked the state government for the gesture and promised that the judiciary would do its best in administering justice. NAN reports that the new judges inaugurated by the governor include, Justices Binta Bawa, Danladi Ahmed and Salisu Alhasan-Majidadi. (NAN) Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Now its flagship store operates in Midtown Manhattan and sells things like $4,000 rings that spell the word love in small diamonds and $165,000 gemstone necklaces. (One $2.475 million engagement ring weighs as much as a bullet.) And for decades, it was inside a 10-story fortress on Fifth Avenue. Last weekend, Tiffany had to empty that store for a long-planned renovation. But first, it had to relocate its valuable merchandise to a temporary location a few steps away. Cue the security. [How Tiffany moved 114,000 gems without getting robbed.] The company assigned 30 security officers to oversee the transfer. New York City police officers stood outside. A tent was erected outside the temporary stores entrance. The company kept a lookout for any unusual mentions online, and employees were told not to post messages about or photographs of the move on social media, my colleague James Barron reported. At left, a 3D model by Rice University materials scientists shows a phase boundary as a delithiating lithium iron phosphate cathode undergoes rapid discharge. At right, a cross-section shows the "fingerlike" boundary between iron phosphate (blue) and lithium (red). Rice engineers found that too many intentional defects intended to make batteries better can in fact degrade their performance and endurance. Credit: Mesoscale Materials Science Group/Rice University Intentional defects in batteries have given Rice University scientists a window into the hazards of pushing lithium-ion cells too far. New simulations by Rice materials scientist Ming Tang and graduate student Kaiqi Yang, detailed in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, shows too much stress in widely used lithium iron phosphate cathodes can open cracks and quickly degrade batteries. The work extends recent Rice research that demonstrated how putting defects in particles that make up the cathode could improve battery performance by up to two orders of magnitude by helping lithium move more efficiently. But the lab's subsequent modeling study revealed a caveat. Under the pressure of rapid charging and discharging, defect-laden cathodes risk fracture. The conventional picture is that lithium moves uniformly into the cathode, with a lithium-rich region that expands smoothly into the cathode's center, said Tang, an assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice's Brown School of Engineering. But X-ray images taken at another lab showed something else. They saw a fingerlike boundary between the lithium-rich and lithium-poor regions, almost like when you inject water into oil, he said. Our question was, what causes this? The root of the problem appears to be that stress destabilizes the initially flat boundary and causes it to become wavy, Tang said. The change in the boundary shape further increases the stress level and triggers crack formation. The study by Tang's group shows that such instability can be increased by a common type of defect in battery compounds called antisites, where iron atoms occupy spots in the crystal where lithium atoms should be. Antisites can be a good thing, as we showed in the last paper, because they accelerate the lithium intercalation kinetics, Tang said, But here we show a countereffect: Too many antisites in the particles encourage the moving interface to become unstable and therefore generate more stress. Tang believes there's a sweet spot for the number of antisites in a cathode: enough to enhance performance but too few to promote instability. You want to have a suitable level of defects, and it will require some trial and error to figure out how to reach the right amount through annealing the particles, he said. We think our new predictions might be useful to experimentalists. ### The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supported the research. Simulations were performed on supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas and DOE's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. Read the abstract at https:/ / pubs. rsc. org/ en/ content/ articlelanding/ 2020/ ta/ c9ta11697d#!divAbstract. This news release can be found online at https:/ / news. rice. edu/ 2020/ 01/ 14/ not-so-fast-some-batteries-can-be-pushed-too-far/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews. Video: https:/ / youtu. be/ SnguPqdx4FA A 3D model by Rice University materials scientists shows the phase evolution of a delithiating lithium iron phosphate cathode undergoing rapid discharge. The fingerlike shape adds stress to the system that researchers suspect can lead to cracks in the cathode that degrade the battery. (Credit: Mesoscale Materials Science Group/Rice University) Images for download: https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 01/ 0121_BATTERY-1-WEB. jpg At left, a 3D model by Rice University materials scientists shows a phase boundary as a delithiating lithium iron phosphate cathode undergoes rapid discharge. At right, a cross-section shows the fingerlike boundary between iron phosphate (blue) and lithium (red). Rice engineers found that too many intentional defects intended to make batteries better can in fact degrade their performance and endurance. (Credit: Mesoscale Materials Science Group/Rice University) https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2020/ 01/ 0121_BATTERY-2-WEB. jpg Rice graduate student Kaiqi Yang, left, and materials scientist Ming Tang determined that the fast charge and discharge of some lithium-ion batteries with intentional defects degrades their performance and endurance. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University) Related materials: Detours may make batteries better: http://news. rice. edu/ 2019/ 12/ 09/ detours-may-make-batteries-better-2/ Mesoscale Materials Science Group: http://tanggroup. rice. edu/ research/ Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https:/ / msne. rice. edu George R. Brown School of Engineering: https:/ / engineering. rice. edu Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Jeff Falk 713-348-6775 jfalk@rice.edu Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu http://news. rice. edu Arizona News Tucson, Arizona - Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to life in prison for his role in the murder of 40-year-old U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010. On February 12, 2019, a federal jury found that Osorio-Arellanes, 41, was part of an armed crew of bandits that murdered Agent Terry while they were attempting to rob drug smugglers transporting drugs from Mexico into the United States. Osorio-Arellanes was convicted of nine counts, including first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, assault on four Border Patrol Agents and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. Osorio-Arellanes is the sixth of seven defendants in this case to be convicted and sentenced to date. Brian Terry exemplified the very best of law enforcement: A selfless, determined agent who was committed to protecting the people of the United States, said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer of the Southern District of California. The United States has vigorously pursued justice for Agent Terrys family and for the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. A life sentence for Agent Terrys murder cannot eliminate his familys suffering. But it is our hope that this sentence brings some degree of comfort to Agent Terrys family in knowing that the individuals responsible for his murder will be held accountable. Todays sentencing reflects the FBIs unwavering commitment to ensure that all those responsible for the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry are brought to justice, said Sean Kaul, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. Today brings us one step closer to justice for Agent Brian Terrys murder, said Tucson Sector Chief Roy Villareal. The sentencing brings a painful time closer to an end and serves as a reminder of the grave dangers our agents face in their selfless commitment to the safety of their communities and country. According to the evidence presented at trial, on December 14, 2010, Agent Terrys elite Border Patrol BORTAC unit was in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona, to interdict an armed rip crew that was robbing drug traffickers. The BORTAC team observed a group of five bandits armed with assault rifles walking through a wash. The BORTAC agents announced their presence, and the bandits fired on the agents. The agents returned fire. A bullet fired by one of the bandits struck Agent Terry in the lower back. His fellow agents provided first aid, but Agent Terry was fatally injured. Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, also known as Jesus Lionel Sanchez Meza and Lionel Portillo-Meza, is one of seven defendants charged in the District of Arizona with murder and other crimes arising from the murder of Agent Terry. Osorio-Arellanes was taken into custody in 2017 by Mexican authorities in Chihuahua, Mexico based on a provisional arrest warrant issued at the request of the United States. He was transported to Mexico City for extradition proceedings and arrived in the United States on August 1, 2018. Defendants Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Lionel Sanchez-Meza were arrested in Mexico and subsequently extradited to the United States in 2014. They were convicted by a jury of first degree murder and other offenses in December 2015 following a jury trial and were sentenced to life in prison. Defendants Manuel Osorio-Arellanes and Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez pleaded guilty to first degree murder. Osorio-Arellanes was sentenced to 360 months in prison, and Burboa-Alvarez was sentenced to 324 months in prison. Defendant Rito Osorio-Arellanes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and was sentenced to 96 months in prison. Defendant Jesus Favela-Astorga was arrested by Mexican authorities in November 2017 pursuant to a provisional arrest request filed by the United States Government. He is pending extradition to the United States and will be tried for Agent Terrys murder following his extradition. The case is being prosecuted by attorneys from the Southern District of California, Special Attorneys Todd W. Robinson and David D. Leshner. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona is recused. The case was investigated by the FBI. The apprehension was a coordinated effort by the Mexican Navy (SEMAR), Mexicos Office of the Attorney General (PGR), FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Border Patrol with significant assistance provided by the Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs. The conviction and life sentence for Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes is the result of the dedicated efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including Special Agent Michelle Terwilliger, who has handled this case since December 2010, U.S. Attorney Brewer said. He also praised prosecutors Leshner and Robinson for their dedication to achieving justice in this case. 4 Killed at Family Home in Florida Osceola County police officers responded to the scene on Monday of a quadruple homicide at a family home in Celebration, Florida, and have taken one person into custody. Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriffs Office responded to the home at 202 Reserve Place in the North Village area at 9 a.m. on Monday. Police have released very little information about the identity of the victims and what exactly transpired at the scene. Detectives and crime scene investigators are on scene and are at the very beginning stages of this investigation. This is an isolated incident, and all parties involved with this death investigation are accounted for, Sheriff Russ Gibson said at a short press conference on Monday, WESH-TV reported. OCSO deputies are conducting a death investigation in the North Village area at Celebration. Media staging area is located at Celebration Blvd and Reeves Street. pic.twitter.com/aDvvwL7ecG Osceola Sheriff (@OsceolaSheriff) January 13, 2020 However, neighbor Connie McGarian told Fox35 that a family with three young children lived there. She described them as the perfect family. The children always when I would go to the elevator to take my trash out they would ask me if they could take it out, and they would hold the door for me, McGarian told the outlet. Osceola County Court records show that the family faced eviction due to failure to pay rent. WESH 2 obtained a copy of a lawsuit from two days before Christmas that was intended to oust the family. When I was parking my car, I saw a lot of police around, another neighbor, Marcelo Rodrigues, said, according to Fox. He said he later saw police entering the house shouting, Open the door. Later, a man who came out in handcuffs. I saw a lot of police with guns in their hand saying, Open the door, open the door, and a few minutes later I saw the guy on the porch with handcuffs, and I said something bad happened over there, Rodrigues told WESH 2. Rodrigues took a picture of the man in handcuffs and told the news outlet he is positive it was the father of the children that got arrested. Reportedly police did a wellness check after several neighbors called saying they hadnt seen the children playing outside for days. One neighbor says they had called police after not seeing the familys children for several days, WESH reporter Amanda Duke said on Twitter. From NTD News Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Dmytro Dubilet has said government intends to release electronic census data next week. "We actually determined the number of people in Ukraine. We used several methods. All of them gave approximately the same result. Next week, I hope we can share these data," Dubilet said in Kyiv on Wednesday. He said, according to estimates, the error of the methods used is lower than that of the traditional census. According to the minister, the government is still discussing whether a traditional population census should be carried out in 2020. "My personal opinion is that there is no need to conduct a traditional census," he said. More than 80 years separates 1935 flooding in Houston highlighted in a MSNBC video from the 2017 arrival of Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast, but they still have something in common, according to Wendy Duncan, director of the Willow Fork Drainage District. The reason Houston flooded then and after Hurricane Harvey, she told a Jan. 14 Katy Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon is the same: A lack of adequate regional flood control solutions. We have studied this for decades and yet for some reason, the flood control solutions we know will work still have not been implemented, she said. She detailed studies through the years from the 1912 proposal to widen area bayous, the 1940s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of which only two of seven proposed infrastructure projects were implemented and the 1996 Katy Freeway Corridor study which included a conduit under the freeway from the reservoirs to the Ship Channel. Thats why study is a four-letter word to so many people, she continued, because there have been studies but the actual problem has yet to be fixed. Duncan, co-founder of the advocacy group Barker Flood Prevention, encouraged her audience to stay connected with government, agencies that implement flood-control measures and other residents as she presented her program: Hurricane Harvey and The Path Forward. We have to share with our government officials that this important to us, she stressed, taking audience questions. There was no answer to a question of whether federal funding to improve flood mitigation would be derailed and used instead to pay homeowners upstream of the Barker/Addicks reservoirs damages in a federal lawsuit where a judge ruled on Dec. 17 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is libel for post-Harvey flooding of those homes. Duncan said homeowners in Canyon Gate and other subdivisions werent told their houses were within the flood plain and they are hoping to get some federal money from the lawsuit. Duncan said at stake is up to $1 billion in damages based on the premise that the government has to pay for property it used. Its not a buyout, said Duncan. Its compensation for one-time use of their property. Government is supposed to be there to protect and serve residents, said Duncan, and not to protect and serve bad development. In the case of the upstream homes that flooded, that didnt happen, she said. Bad development gives other builders and developers a bad name, she said. Its important to educate officials about this issue so that going forward plats are not approved that put people in harms way, she said. She said more rigorous building standards are making a difference and helping to prevent homes from being flooded. She cited Meyers Research figures that show only 3 percent of homes built after 2009 flooded after Harvey compared with 65 percent of homes built in 1981 and earlier. Older homes need to be retrofitted and protected, she said. We should use buyouts sparingly. To buy out homes that flooded within the Willow Fork Drainage District, for example, would alone cost $2 billion, she continued. Then she discussed the displacement of residents, where would they live and how would taxing entities recoup revenues reduced because theyve lost their taxing base. Rain that came as part of Hurricane Harvey filled the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, she said, comparing them to a too full bathtub that overflowed and led to upstream flooding. The release of water from the reservoirs flooded homes downstream because the Buffalo Bayou couldnt handle all the discharge, she said, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was concerned about protecting the integrity of its two dams that if failed would have resulted in an urban tsunami causing damage to west Houston, downtown Houston, the Texas Medical Center and the industrial complex. The problem supersedes Houston and Texas to become a national concern, said Duncan, adding that the loss of 25 percent of the nations refinery capacity would be a disaster. That she said is the reason District 10 U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Austin, is so involved in flood-mitigation efforts. He serves as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Its a national security interest for Houston to get flood control, she added. Duncan also addressed flood mitigation efforts that include detention/retention and conveyance. The Willow Fork Drainage District is seeking approval for a pilot program from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for select excavation of a 200-acre site east of Canyon Gate subdivision that could provide retention. Adding a recreational amenity nearby improves the projects prospects for federal approval, she said. The U.S. Army Corps also is looking at excavation of a reservoir to increase its depth. The Willow Fork district has desilted the diversion channel built in 1986 and Duncan said that quick action saved area homes from potential future flooding. Nearby, the Fort Bend County Drainage District also desilted the Buffalo Bayou, which is restored to capacity, she said. Harris County Flood Control District is entering the second phase of its three-part study to determine if a 40-foot diameter tunnel from the reservoirs under the Katy Freeway to the Ship Channel is a viable project. If built, the project could when paired with the Buffalo Bayou to handle the combined release rate of 14,000 to 15,000 cubic feet of water per second that came from the two reservoirs after Harvey, she said. That would provide the conveyance out of our area that we so desperately need, she said. Controlling Cypress Creek overflow to other watersheds also needs to be addressed, she said. She said the water needs to be stored until its safe to release. The Katy Prairie does not act in and of itself as a flood mitigation tool, said Duncan. Infrastructure is needed to provide flood protection for the region, she added. She encouraged people to visit the website of Barker Flood Prevention at www.barkerfloodprevention.org for updated information about projects and studies. karen.zurawski@chron.com On Monday, the states attorneys office issued an opinion that the health system is not subject to the law because it shares county governments so-called home rule powers that exempt it from many state limitations. Those powers are conferred on many larger cities and suburbs, as well as Cook County government. Choose your hero, go alone or join up to 3 other friends locally or online and venture into dark dungeons full of threats and fierce bosses Freshman Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado is the only veteran among the seven Democratic House impeachment managers named Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make the case against President Donald Trump in the Senate next week. Crow, a 40-year-old lawyer and member of the House Armed Services Committee, joined the Army in 2002 and served with the 82nd Airborne Division and 75th Ranger Regiment before leaving the military in 2006 with the rank of captain. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the recipient of the Bronze Star. Crow, representing Colorado's 6th District, which includes the Denver suburbs, frequently cites his military experience in addressing issues. He was elected in the 2018 Democratic surge that regained control of the House, becoming the first Democrat voted in from the 6th District since 1982. In a statement last month supporting Trump's impeachment, Crow said, "As a member of Congress in this historic time, I reflect on my experience as a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan where I saw how unique American democracy really is. Related: President Donald Trump Impeached by US House, Third in History "Over the past few years, I have also learned how fragile it can be," he continued. "Our system of checks and balances only works when we fight to protect it. The President's actions are a threat to our national security and the very foundation of our democracy." Crow will join the team of impeachment managers along with Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, California; Jerry Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries, New York; Val Demings, Florida; Zoe Lofgren, California; and Sylvia Garcia, Texas. As impeachment managers, they will essentially take on the role of prosecutors in pressing the articles of impeachment against Trump before the Senate. Crow paraphrased from the "Ranger Creed" in his campaign for Congress: "I will shoulder more than my share of the task. ... Whatever it may be. ... One hundred percent -- and then some. Under no circumstances will I ever -- ever -- embarrass my country." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Read more: Pensacola Heroes: How 2 Marines and an Injured Sailor Saved Lives During Mass Shooting The investigation revealed the man had not performed any action to the damage of the country's national security. The Counterintelligence Department of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine has busted an attempt by members of the so-called "State Security Ministry of the Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") to involve an official of one of the Justice Ministry's local departments in Luhansk region in criminal activities detrimental to national security. Read alsoMan detained at Donbas checkpoint, caught trying to smuggle C4 explosive from occupied area (Photo) The SBU established that members of the so-called "special service" had detained a lawyer during his trip to the Russia-occupied city of Luhansk. They were interested not only in the fact that the man works for a state agency, but also in the fact that his father holds an important position in a highest court in Ukraine, according to the SBU's press center. "Using methods of psychological pressure, blackmail and threatening with imprisonment, the 'LPR officials' forced the man into signing a consent agreement on confidential cooperation. As tasked by the terrorists, he would have to collect and give information about his colleagues, employees of law-enforcement and state institutions of Luhansk region, as well as about his father's official activities. The 'agent' would have to receive instructions from the supervisors by phone," the SBU said. Just after the returning to the Ukrainian-controlled territory, the official came into sight of the SBU officers. "At present, the man has provided detailed information about the circumstances of his recruitment and assigned tasks. The investigation revealed he had not performed any action to the damage of the national security of Ukraine," reads the report. Ghosns Flight Rebukes Unjust Criminal Prosecutions Commentary The successful flight of former automobile executive Carlos Ghosn to his native Lebanon from the kangaroo court of Japan should be seen as a victory for individual liberties. Japan, like Russia and China, has a conviction rate of more than 99 percent of those indicted, and Japanese procedural rules provide no protections at all for defendants. Accused or potentially accused people may be interrogated for at least three weeks with no counsel present to assist them or even witness the proceedings. There are, in practice, also no restraints on what prosecutors may do to procure inculpatory evidence, including the outright extortion and subornation of evidence. No such country can be regarded in criminal matters as a jurisdiction governed by the rule of law. I have no standing to try the facts, and this wouldnt be the place for it anyway. The prosecutors have formed an argument that raises doubts about the propriety of some of Ghosns actions as head of Renault-Nissan (embezzlement and tax evasion are alleged), but there is at least as much room to question whether the defendant wasnt sandbagged by his competitors in the tight cartel of the great Japanese conglomerates (zaibatsu). He spent more than three months in solitary confinement and even when out on bail, he could only telephone his wife with the permission of a judge, which was obtained just twice in nine months. At the least, escaping from apparently airtight surveillance while under house arrest and making his way on two flights to Beirut from Tokyo, while hidden in an adequately ventilated musical equipment storage box wins Ghosn a gold star in ingenuity. He is very well-known and recognizable, and was apparently transported without any knowledge by the flight crews of the two private planes that flew him to Istanbul and then on to Beirut. In this era of overwhelming surveillance, almost complete official disregard for privacy, relentless and ludicrously excessive formalities for the least financial transaction, supposedly to discourage money-laundering (but other motives could be imputed as well), its refreshing that such a bold stroke of individualistic derring-do could be carried off successfully. Examination of Due Process Needed China can locate hundreds of millions of people among its population within 30 minutes because of the ubiquity of security cameras. We learned from Edward Snowden of the hitherto unacknowledged extent of electronic surveillance of vast numbers of individuals in the United States and elsewhere, (which is not to justify his theft and publication of classified information). There are also regular public revelations of the cavalier manner with which technology companies sell confidential information about the habits, at the least, of millions of consumers, as well as the reckless handling of much of that information. Such a prominent fugitive from justice from such an important jurisdiction, and a country justly regarded as advanced, democratic, and highly civilized, should be taken as a starting gun in calling the worlds regulatory, constabulary, and prosecutorial authorities to be meticulously examined from the standpoint of judicial due process. Most countries would be found wanting. While no one would expect much from China and Russia in terms of defendants rights, Japan is a shock. Its conviction rate is only mitigated by its low incarceration, just 41 per 100,000 of population, the lowest of all advanced prosperous democracies and among prominent countries, the lowest of all except India, where the number is 33. Obviously, about a third of Indias population would have to be considered effectively dysfunctional sociologically, but India remains admirable as its conviction rate among prosecutions is only 46 percent, less than half of Chinas. However primitive much of India may be, in the highest spirit of the British Raj that ruled India for 200 years, it appears to have a lively defense bar. The statistics from the United States are very alarming in both absolute and comparative terms. This country has, by a wide margin, the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world, 737 per 100,000 of population, or 2.2 million people, almost 110 percent of the countrys official prison capacity. The only other countries admitting to more than 500 per 100,000 are Russia (615), El Salvador (604), Turkmenistan (552), Thailand (526), and Cuba (510, and that was after the flight from Cuba of more than 10 percent of its population). None of these others, even in their most delusional and propagandistic moments, would claim to be the land of the free (where) we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Nor is this a new order of the ages. Even allowing for the likely minimization of published incarceration levels in China and other undemocratic countries, these are shocking figures when compared with other sophisticated and prosperous democracies. The comparable figures for incarcerations per 100,000 of population of the nearest comparative societies to the United States are Australia (172), Canada (114), France (104), Germany (75), the United Kingdom (140), as well as Japan. The average of these six flourishing democracies, (despite the uncivilized criminal procedure of Japan, the most populous of them), is 107 incarcerated people per 100,000 of population, in a combined total population of about 120 percent of the U.S. total. That rate of incarceration is almost 6/7ths, or 85 percent, lower than that of the United States. Mass Incarceration There is room for unlimited statistical analysis and sociological research, but the basic facts are that the entire American political society bought into the idea of mass incarceration, from right to left; the views of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan on this subject were practically interchangeable with those of Robert Kennedy and Nelson Rockefeller. The United States conviction rate rose to 93 percent in 2012 from 85 percent in 1992 and 75 percent in 1972. Of those, 97 percent are without a trial: plea bargains in which prosecutors harvest evidence from witnesses whom they can threaten to include in indictments, especially for obstruction of justice if they are inadequately forthcoming, and to whom they promise immunity from prosecution for perjury after they have produced affidavits that must be recited if the matter goes to trial. Every legally knowledgeable person in the United States is aware of the political posturing that has fueled and been rewarded by these rising levels of indictment and conviction. The corresponding conviction rates in Canada and the United Kingdom, allowing for charges that are dropped, is about 67 percent; their prosecutors arent ineffectualbut defendants have rights and prosecutors are disbarred if they suborn perjury. The United States has a more complicated sociology than some of its peers named above, but it also has a higher crime rate, and its obvious that it over-indicts, over-convicts, and over-sentences. I spent three (admittedly somewhat interesting) years in U.S. federal prisons (for crimes Ive now been officially determined not to have committed) and despite having won 95 percent of my case at trial and the rest on appeal, and I can attest to all of this. Its an evil and hypocritical criminal justice system, and the only president in living memory who has done anything to ameliorate it is the incumbent. Apart from its severity and inherent injustice, it wreaks a terrible wastage of human resources that should be constructively engaged in U.S. society. This is some distance from the flight from justice of Ghosn, but the best and most constructive interpretation of his disembarkation from the Japanese near-equivalence of accusation and conviction is that if such a man can be persecuted, anyone can; and if he can escape his preordained fate, so can less conspicuous people. (He went a little bit overboard, however, at his press conference in Beirut, when he compared his fate in Japan to the attack on Pearl Harbor.) No country should tolerate a conviction rate of more than 80 percent of its accusedno prosecution service is that just. No country should extradite anyone to such a country, and the trend to ever more overbearing surveillance by almost all governments must be resisted at some point. If not now, when? Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An animal rescuer was horrified when she received a call of an opossum stabbed in the face in Sunnyside Sunday night. The animal died from its injuries a night later. Carolyn Randazzo, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for the New York City Department of Environmental Conservation, said she received a call from a woman with whom she has been doing rescue work. The woman told her somebody had stabbed an opossum in front of her house on Cheshire Place. She told me [the animal] had a knife sticking out of his face, said Randazzo. When Randazzo arrived on Cheshire Place, police were there, the knife had been taken out of the animals eye and the opossum was put in a crate, she said. The bloody knife was next to the animal, she said. Carolyn Randazzo said she found a bloody knife next to where an opossum was stabbed on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (Courtesy of Carolyn Randazzo) It was the first time I received a call for an animal being stabbed, said Randazzo, who has been rescuing animals on Staten Island for over a decade. I receive about 10 calls a week for animals who are injured on Staten Island and there is not a lot of help here. Randazzo then took the opossum out of the crate and put it into another one in order to give it to Kathy Grabowski, the director of transport and emergency for The Opossums Pouch Sanctuary, Rescue and Rehabilitation, a non-profit organization that saves and takes care of misplaced and injured opossums. Grabowski took the opossum to the animal health center in Stewartsville, N.J. The knife had hit the nasal cavity and gone through the bone, said Grabowski. She ended up ingesting a lot of blood. Grabowski said the opossum was a young female who was very sweet with the people who were trying to rescue her. People need to know that opossums are not dangerous, she said. She probably got scared when the person went after her. Usually, Grabowski said, opossums freeze and start drooling as a defense mechanism, but that they are not actually aggressive. The young opossum died on Monday night, Randazzo said. This case has blown my mind, said Grabowski, of Stapleton. It was a heinous crime. A woman who lives in the area said the scene was very disturbing. It is inhumane that a person would do something like that to an animal, the woman said. NO CHARGES Police have not filed any charges in connection with the animal cruelty incident, an NYPD spokesman said. They did, however, respond to the location for an assault, the spokesman said. They arrested a 26-year-old man and charged him with a misdemeanor count of third-degree assault, the NYPD spokesman told the Advance. He allegedly kicked another man, 24, in the right side of the chest. The man was issued a desk appearance ticket and released from custody. Another Cheshire Place resident said the altercation occurred where the animal was found. A source with knowledge of the investigation told the Advance the victim was an off-duty police officer who was coming to the animals aid. On Wednesday, 8th January 2020, Electric Ireland, Ireland's leading energy provider, officially announced its Brighter Energy Programme to drive awareness and empower customers to maximise energy efficiency. The programme will be supported by the release of new products and services, including a 100% Green Electricity Price Plan. The announcement came at the launch of We're Brighter Together', Electric Ireland's new brand campaign which features Astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield. The campaign is designed to empower customers to make small changes which reduce their energy usage, and, in turn, deliver a brighter energy future. Electric Ireland commissioned extensive research, designed to address customer wishes and needs, and identified an opportunity to play a leading advisory role in helping business and residential energy users become more efficient in their energy consumption. Some of the survey results* include: 73% of those surveyed say they would be willing to change their energy usage behaviours a little to reduce their own carbon footprint'. 81% said that they believe energy providers should help people lower their carbon footprint by offering new products and services to help customers use their energy in a more sustainable way'. In considering the role that energy companies might play in helping people transition to a greener, lower carbon future, 58% of those surveyed think energy companies should advise on how to reduce the carbon footprint and increase energy efficiency of the home'. In response to this research, the Electric Ireland Brighter Energy Programme will offer customers practical advice, tips and 'how-to' videos which will be released throughout the year and available online at the new We're Brighter Together Hub' on ElectricIreland.ie/brightertogether. The Electric Ireland Brighter Energy Research Tracker will also monitor, track, and publish bi-annually, on Ireland's energy literacy. Through education, Electric Ireland aims to enable its customers to make the changes needed to have the biggest collective impact on society. And with the largest customer base in Ireland, over 1.1million, Electric Ireland is in a unique position to help customers have the biggest collective impact. As part of the Electric Ireland Brighter Energy Programme, Electric Ireland is launching its all-new 100% Green Electricity Price Plan - available to new and existing residential Electric Ireland customers later this month. This affordable plan underpins existing products and services, enabling Electric Ireland customers to make a positive change while retaining great value. Small and medium business customers will also be given the option to move to a Green Price Plan later this month as well. Speaking at the launch of We're Brighter Together', Marguerite Sayers, Executive Director, Electric Ireland said: "We're acutely aware of what is happening in the world in which we live, and we've also listened to our customers. We're committed to providing them, not only the best value offerings on an ongoing basis, but also an opportunity to contribute to combating climate change. We understand and acknowledge that many customers want to make a difference with their energy decisions." She continued: "Our Brighter Energy Programme, along with our 100% Green Electricity Price Plan, is another facet of our company-wide ambition to help Ireland transition to a low carbon future. We believe that change is easy when you know how. We want to facilitate and accelerate that change by sharing information and practical help, empowering our customers to make more informed decisions on their energy usage. The We're Brighter Together' campaign is an expression of our collective ambition, and actions, for a brighter energy future." Colonel Chris Hadfield, the iconic astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space, is central to the new We're Brighter Together' television commercial, which was launched on December 25th. Hadfield features in the campaign having had the opportunity of seeing Ireland from the International Space Station, experiencing first-hand what the power of collective action can truly achieve. Speaking at the launch of the campaign, he said; "I've flown three space missions, commanded the International Space Station, completed two spacewalks, and served as a fighter/engineering test pilot. Throughout my career, there has been one constant - collaboration always results in advancement. Electric Ireland's Energy Awareness Programme puts power and knowledge directly into people's hands, so that together with family, friends, colleagues and communities, they can collaborate to make a positive impact. Truly we are brighter together." Electric Ireland offers a host of products that can help home and business owners lower their energy usage - 100% Green Electricity Price Plans, installation of EV chargers for electric vehicles (the only large supplier offering this service), smart heating control systems, solar PV panels and battery storage solutions - as well as continuing with its long-standing discount rate that doesn't disappear after a year. Electric Ireland also rewards customers with special price plans for those with electric heat pumps, the home heating solution for most new homes. Finally, for those homes that may experience fuel poverty, Electric Ireland's innovative Energy Saving Scheme' will make 1.2m available in 2020 to ensure those customers can also be part of the energy revolution. To be part of the change and to find out more visit www.electricireland.ie/brightertogether #brightertogether #bepartofthechange #brighterenergyfuture *Nat representative (1500+ adults aged 18+) research conducted by Genesis omnibus survey in November 2019. About Electric Ireland Electric Ireland was launched in 2011 as the retail arm of ESB Group supplying electricity, gas and energy services to the business and residential markets in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Electric Ireland is recognised as Ireland's leading energy provider, with a mission to create a brighter future for the customers and communities it serves. www.electricireland.ie Electric Ireland's products and plans to help conserve, control and save energy and money. Electric Ireland is bringing sustainable and competitive energy solutions to customers, helping homes and businesses become smarter and more sustainable. Here are a range of products and services designed to help customers make the changes in their own homes and businesses: Electric Ireland 100% Green Electricity Price Plan Electric Ireland has announced a 100% green electricity price plan, which will be available later this month to new and existing residential customers. This product provides customers with a guarantee that their energy is sourced from renewable sources. Customers who opt to take this 100% Green Electricity Price Plan will also continue to enjoy a discount rate that will not disappear after year one. Electric Ireland guarantees that 100% of the electricity supplied under this price plan is sourced from renewable generation, in accordance with the Commission for Energy Regulation's Green Source Product Verification process. Electric Ireland SME Green Tariff Electric Ireland has announced a SME Green Tariff, which will be available to new and existing SME business customers later this month. This product provides customers with a guarantee that their energy is sourced from renewable sources. Heat Pump Price Plan Ireland's only Heat Pump Price Plan, offering customers whose home is heated with heat pump technology the most cost-efficient product in the market. Energy Efficiency Incentive Scheme Electric Ireland offers customers an incentive to complete energy efficiency measures within their homes including expert advice and guidance on making homes more environmentally friendly and comfortable; roof insulation, external wall insulation, heating control upgrades, and cavity wall insulation. To date, customers have received over 3.9 million worth of energy credit through the scheme. Over 9,300 customers have enjoyed an average credit on their bill of 412 euro and in total, the scheme has resulted in a total reduction in energy of 46.7 GWh. Solar Panels Electric Ireland offers Solar Panels (Solar PV) for customers who want to invest in generating their own electricity. Existing Electric Ireland customers can purchase solar panels and avail of an interest free payment plan spread over 36 months (subject to eligibility criteria). Battery Electric Ireland offers fully integrated energy storage solutions which enable users to change the way they manage and control their energy - for instance, storing solar energy during the day for use at night or on dull days. Remote Heating Controls Electric Ireland offers a range of heating controls designed to suit different types of homes. Electric Ireland is Google's exclusive energy partner in Ireland and Electric Ireland customers can have a Google Nest installed in their home to reduce their energy consumption by ensuring the heating is only in use when required. Electric Ireland customers can also avail of a Climote Remote heating smart thermostat installed in their home, which provides full local and remote control of their heating, saving them energy and money. EV Home Charger Electric Ireland is Ireland's premier supplier of Electric Vehicle (EV) Home Chargers, offering expert guidance on charging your EV at home, including professional installation of compact and discreet charging points - making home charging easy. A smiling President Donald Trump thanked some of the biggest US companies for about ten minutes on Wednesday at the White House, where he was celebrating his trade deal with China. When it came to Wall Street heavyweight JPMorgan, he asked for reciprocation. "They just announced earnings and they were incredible," he said as he greeted Mary Erdoes, who heads asset and wealth management for the biggest US bank. "They were very substantial. Will you say, 'Thank you, Mr. President,' at least, huh?" JPMorgan on Tuesday posted the most profitable year for any US bank in history. "I made a lot of bankers look very good. But you're doing a great job." He told her to "say hello" to the firm's billionaire chief executive officer, Jamie Dimon. "I think we're seeing him tomorrow." Build you can, soon, your own stuffed animal of the cutest character in the Star Wars universe. Build-A-Bear announced Tuesday that it will soon offer Baby Yoda in stores sometime in the next few months. The small green creature known as The Child, who resembles a baby version of original Star Wars character Yoda, has become a fan favorite since first appearing on Disney+ series The Mandalorian in November. Im excited to share that well be one of the first companies to be able provide the new digital and internet phenomenon who is trending higher than all of the presidential candidates combined, Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John said at an investment conference. We now will have The Child, also known as Baby Yoda. can we all appreciate that the build-a-bear baby yoda is going to be basically life size pic.twitter.com/PBApQWBcRg daniel (@poekencbi) January 15, 2020 Build-A-Bear, which already offers other Star Wars characters like Rey, Chewbacca, Ewoks and Darth Vader, said it began working on Baby Yoda as soon as the first episode of The Mandalorian premiered. It shows our nimbleness and ability to recognize trends, John said. Demand for Baby Yoda merchandise erupted during the holiday shopping season, but official toys and figurines from Disney and Hasbro werent released before Christmas. Apparel is currently available from Amazon, Kohls and StarWars.com, but the toys arent expected to ship until April or May. How to get Baby Yoda toys and merch of the Internets favorite Mandalorian character Build-A-Bear locations in Upstate New York include Destiny USA in Syracuse, the Eastview Mall near Rochester, Crossgates Mall in Albany, the Walden Galleria near Buffalo, and the Fashion Outlets in Niagara Falls. The chain sells teddy bears and other stuffed animals that children (and kids at heart) can stuff themselves and pair with clothing and accessories. DENVER, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GigSmart, the modern staffing platform connecting businesses with temporary Workers, released 2019 app data to reveal Gig Worker trends based on user activity across its Get Workers and Get Gigs apps from last year. Launched in December 2018, GigSmart's hiring apps connect businesses and temporary Workers via Skills matching. Businesses post Gigs based off of the Skills they are seeking, and Workers with the same Skills are notified when matching Gigs near them become available. In 2019, the top Skills driving business and worker connections on GigSmart were: Construction Laborer, Food Server, Customer Service Representative, Food Processing Worker, Warehouse, and Furniture Moving and Heavy Lifting. In addition, GigSmart's hiring platform provided businesses several benefits related to sourcing and placing Workers on-site. On average, GigSmart sourced 11 applicants for each Gig post created last year, and 65% of all GigSmart Gigs received one or more applicants in 10 minutes or less. Businesses needing temporary Workers on short notice were also privy to GigSmart's ability to place Workers as soon as possible on average, an ASAP Worker was at the job site within 48 minutes. GigSmart sources temporary labor in most major U.S. markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New York City, San Antonio, and San Francisco. In addition to Skills matching, its apps use real-time location data to connect Workers to available Gigs. Across the U.S., GigSmart Workers earned an average of $17.04 per hour, which is higher than every U.S. state's minimum wage and 135% more than the federal minimum hourly wage. In addition, Workers worked an average of six hours at every GigSmart Gig. Mitch Catino, Chief Operating Officer of GigSmart, says, "Unlike other temporary staffing solutions in the marketplace today, we give our business users the ability to choose who they hire. They set the Worker's hourly pay rate, determine what skills are required, and how many Workers they need for the job and other prerequisites, like if they want to hire Workers who have passed background checks. We're building the most inclusive, most affordable, and fastest temporary labor solution in the market. We're extremely proud of the growth we've experienced in 2019." To read more about GigSmart's 2019 Staffing Review, please visit the GigSmart blog. Available nationwide, the number of users leveraging GigSmart's two-sided gig economy platform is growing significantly month-over-month. Businesses can use the GigSmart Get Workers hiring app to access local, vetted, and insured Workers who can be hired on the fly at low costs with no lead time. The GigSmart Get Gigs mobile app provides individuals access to local, on-demand Gigs available across nearly every industry. To access GigSmart's gig economy platform or to learn more about GigSmart, please visit www.gigsmart.com. About GigSmart GigSmart is a software development company focused on providing modern solutions to meet the needs of the growing gig economy. GigSmart's hiring platform provides on-demand staffing solutions to connect businesses looking for labor with skilled Workers. Launched in December of 2018, GigSmart's Get Gigs and Get Workers apps have already surpassed 180,000 installs. GigSmart's alternative staffing solutions serve 24 U.S. markets in industries like construction, manufacturing, transportation, retail, customer service, and professional services. GigSmart is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 36 full-time employees. CONTACT: Rich Oakes [email protected] 720.892.6371 Related Images image1.jpg SOURCE GigSmart Related Links http://www.gigsmart.com LNA's Haftar Taking Two Days to Discuss Ceasefire Agreement With Allies Russian Defence Ministry Sputnik News 14:58 14.01.2020(updated 15:46 14.01.2020) Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the rebel commander of the Libyan National Armyis has held talks in Moscow with representatives of Libya's internationally-recognised government. The prospective ceasefure is set to stop the advance of Haftar's forces on Tripoli, which is home to the UN-backed government. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has demonstrated willingness to reach a ceasefire with the Tripoli government during Moscow peace talks, Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Russia is mediating the talks between Haftar, associated with the Tobruk government that controls the east of Libya, and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA has signed a draft version of the final statement, but Khaftar left Moscow on Tuesday without signing a ceasefire agreement, saying he would need two more days to discuss it with allies in Libya. Haftar and the UN-recognised GNA, respresented at the talks by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, have nevertheless reached an agreement on ceasefire "in principle", paving the way for another round of peace talks to be held in Berlin later this year, the statement said. During the negotiations, according to the Defence Ministry, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to Libya's "sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity". Moscow said that it would continue mediation efforts. Tripoli has been under siege by Haftar-aligned forces since last April. Skirmishes renewed near the capital last month after Haftar announced the "decisive" battle to take over the city. Libya has been torn by violence and political infighting since the overthrow of its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi with the help of NATO missiles in 2011. The current division has its roots in 2014, when the national parliament fled to Tobruk after militias attacked Tripoli. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Staying true to its nomenclature, the Black Rhino Crawler evokes a sense of confidence and power during tactical rock climbing, yet cleans up well for urban mall crawls. The Black Rhino Crawler Beadlocks are new True Beadlock off road wheels that bring new life to the iconic five spoke wheel design. These timeless ultra-rugged off road rims pack an aggressive attitude with a dramatic concave spoke profile that begs for oversized knobby tires that emphasises its distinctive staunch presence. Remaining true to its off-road heritage, the Black Rhino Crawler focuses on bold simplicity: a deep inset and broad five-spoked face that complements the rugged True Beadlock ring. Staying true to its nomenclature, the Black Rhino Crawler evokes a sense of confidence and power during tactical rock climbing, yet cleans up well for urban mall crawls. The smooth sweeping curves and matte spoke finish make these off road wheels a natural finishing touch to any off-road truck and crawling rig build. All-function. All-strength. All-purpose. Starting with high-strength refined hardened alloy, Black Rhino prides itself on creating boundless off road rims capable of dominating on all terrain types with high performance driving in mind. The deep dish off road rims offers a peace of mind by protecting the durable matte truck wheels finish during technical crawling lines where sharp rocks and branches often intrude. The Black Rhino Crawler is part of Black Rhinos True Beadlock series - a functionally engineered tire beadlock system secured with grade 8 hardware that maintains correct tire positioning during situations of excessive lateral tire forces along with low air pressure which is common during rock crawling. Available in 3 distinct finishes: Matte Black, Matte Bronze and Silver with a Mirror Polished Face and Black Lip Ring. The Black Rhino Crawler is exclusively available in 17x8.5 in a variety of 5-lug and 6-lug configurations for your truck and 4x4 off-road vehicles. Discover all of Black Rhinos off road wheels and truck wheels by visiting the simple to use online Fitment Guide on our website to see all possible off road wheels based on year, make and truck model. The Fitment Guide will also introduce visitors to all other important technical details that are significant, such as offset (positive, neutral or negative), load carrying ratings and live factory warehouse inventory levels. The Black Rhino Truck Wheels Configurator tool goes a step further and allows truck enthusiasts to visualize all compatible Black Rhino off road rims on a realistic render based on year, make, model and even color for most trucks and SUVs. The companys website http://www.blackrhinowheels.com includes helpful dealer locator tools, by zip code in the United States and internationally. The website also features dealer support tools, including online access to the live inventory in Black Rhinos new 155,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Brea California. For dealers, all Black Rhino truck rims can be ordered on the website and orders received by 4pm ET are shipped the same day. Black Rhino, an off road rims manufacturer with a South African heritage, donates a portion of all Black Rhino truck wheels sales to combat the complex Rhino poaching crisis in South Africa. That means the impact of your purchase and passion goes beyond truck rims themselves - it enables the conservation efforts that help protect the native Black Rhino from extinction. With the Central government mandating hallmarking of gold jewellery from today to ensure purity and quality from a consumer's point of view, a new avenue of business, which is now running in losses with revenues of less than Rs 150 crore, is going to prosper- assaying and hallmarking centres. The government has given one year's time to jewellers to register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and clear their old stock. While a section of the jewellery retailers in the unorganised sector opposes the move citing practical issues and lack of adequate hallmarking centres, the actual truth is exactly the opposite. India already has about 900 hallmarking centres, covering 70-75 per cent of all the districts in the country. In 2017-18, 4.25 crore pieces of jewellery were hallmarked by these centres, which was only 40-45 per cent of the total jewellery sold in the country. In 2018-19, hallmarking would fetch similar figures, about 4.5 crore pieces. This means roughly each of these units hallmarked less than 4000 pieces in a month. "While on average, we can hallmark 500 pieces a day, we are running on losses and working at less than 30 per cent capacity at roughly 100-150 pieces a day. Each of these units have invested Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore on machinery and infrastructure employing 7-8 people, but our income is only Rs 35 per piece plus 18 per cent GST, with a minimum of Rs 200 per piece business," Abhishek Nikam, joint secretary of the Indian Association of Hallmarking Centres (IAHC) and owner of Nityanand Assaying and Hallmarking Centre at Mumbai's gold hub Zaveri Bazar told Business Today. He notes that a city like Mumbai has about 50 hallmarking centres and in most areas, the hallmarking and assaying centres are located close to gold trading centres that are frequented by manufacturers and retailers every day. It is estimated that so far only less than 30,000 jewellers have registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and a majority of the units in the unorganised sector are yet to register with the quality control organisation. Hallmarking and assaying centres are third party quality assurance centres licensed and monitored by the BIS and jewellery traders are not allowed to start and run own centres. Hallmarking has been mandated for jewellery in three categories - 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat, the most preferred in India. Hallmark on gold jewellery now will have four marks - the triangle emblem or the BIS mark, purity in carat displayed like 22K916, 14K85 and 18K750, assay centre's name and jewellers' identification mark or logo. Nikam notes that most consumers are not aware of these marks and often think the black laser printed fake logo on the jewellery as a quality certification. While diamonds are the most preferred jewellery in North India, South India prefers 22 carrot ornaments and states in the West such as Maharashtra are interested in a mix of these carats. Also Read: After Nexon, Tata's upcoming premium hatchback Altroz scores five-star in crash tests Also read: Budget Chatter: What Twitterati expects from Nirmala Sitharaman's second Budget Also Read: Jeff Bezos' India experience: Flying kites and $1 billion investment Clare Fearnley, New Zealand Ambassador to China, first came to the country in the 1980s to work as a teacher in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province. During her 40 years here, she has not only become more attached to China, but has also experienced the changes in the country. Clare Fearnley (Photo/haiwainet.cn) The infrastructure in China has improved a lot, said Fearnley, pointing out that it only takes about four hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai on high-speed trains when it used to take about 10 hours. The living standards of the Chinese people have also improved and consumers now have more choices when buying products, she added. Mandarin is one of the most popular languages in New Zealand, the ambassador said. Since 2014, the non-governmental organizations in the country have held an event every year dedicated to Chinese songs, food, kung fu and so on, attracting many New Zealanders. Fearnley believes that learning Mandarin helps the people in New Zealand to understand China, an important country in the Pacific region, and the values of the Chinese people. According to Fearnley, around 50 direct flights are operated between New Zealand and China every week. While the total consumption of Chinese tourists in New Zealand continues to increase, about 140,000 New Zealanders travel to China every year, which Fearnley thinks is an amazing figure considering the population of the country. The two countries have a long history of cooperation. The renowned kiwi fruit of New Zealand was originally introduced from China in 1904, said Fearnley. She added that many kiwi varieties have been developed by scientists from both countries and a joint laboratory has opened in southwest China's Sichuan province. New Zealand was the first developed country to sign and implement a free trade agreement with China and the two countries will sign an upgraded agreement in 2020. The upgraded version will incorporate e-commerce and will further benefit the two peoples. While many Chinese consumers could have access to the milk and fresh fruits from New Zealand, the New Zealanders can enjoy more quality Chinese products such as electronic products and silk. Row breaks out over introduction of parking charges for disabled drivers at Wrexham bus station This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 15th, 2020 A row has broken out over the introduction of charges for disabled drivers who park next to Wrexham bus station. It comes amid claims it would put disabled people off visiting the town centre. Wrexham Councils executive board met yesterday to consider whether to bring in fees at a number of dedicated spaces next to the transport hub on King Street. In a report, the local authority said the bays were currently not subject to a traffic regulation order and therefore open to abuse. However, Cllr Alun Jenkins said they were popular with users of the towns shop mobility service located within the bus station, which hires out scooters and wheelchairs to help people access the main shopping areas. He raised concerns that making disabled motorists pay to park would cause difficulties and lead them to go to elsewhere. The Liberal Democrat politician said: The proposal is to remove free disabled parking from the bus station and to make a charge for that. I think that is wrong and the consequence is to put the future of shop mobility in doubt. If a disabled person has to come into town and pay for parking before paying for the shop mobility service then a lot of disabled people simply wont come to Wrexham. I think weve lost a lot of disabled spaces on the streets of Wrexham. What Im going to ask you do to is to hold back on this recommendation to give further consideration to this aspect of it. Parking charges have already been introduced for blue badge holders at all council car parks in Wrexham where fees apply. The authority said the amount charged near the bus station would be in line with other parts of the town centre. The comments made by Cllr Jenkins sparked anger from council leader Mark Pritchard, who said he had already spoken to the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW) which runs the shop mobility scheme. He said claims there had been a reduction in disabled parking spaces were inaccurate and demanded an apology. Cllr Pritchard said: I cant sit here any longer and allow you to make statements that were reducing disabled parking in this town. Anybody who knows me understands that I have a passion to support people with disabilities. Id like you to apologise Alun because I think thats a personal attack on me and Im not going to sit here and tolerate it. Youre shooting from the hip; youre saying things that are untrue and its wrong. The leader of the ruling coalition of independents and Conservatives said he had been contacted by several disabled people who were unhappy with the current parking arrangements at the bus station. He said they had asked for an order to be introduced to prevent others from parking there without permission. Continuing his verbal attack on Cllr Jenkins, he added: Im really surprised that you mentioned this about the disabilities because Ill throw this at you. When you were lead member of finance, what did you do for car parking in this authority? When you ran this council, what did you do for disabilities? Please dont sit there as Im not going to take a lecture from yourself about disabilities. Its offended me, and Im upset and Im rather shocked at your comments. At the end of the debate, executive board members supported the introduction of the parking charges. The fees will be brought in from April subject to a statutory consultation period. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme) MBABANE - Three women have appeared in court charged with housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. The trio admitted in court that they used an unidentified object to break into the house of Futhi Dlamini situated at Elangeni where they allegedly stole items valued at E14 195. The trio is Siphesihle Madzinane, Zandile Dlamini and Nomfundo Sihlongonyane. However, Sihlongonyane was declared a State witness after she was arrested and charged with the same offence. It appeared during trial that the trio was known to Futhi, who is a member of Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF). Futhi informed the court that she had no idea as to who broke into her house until she met her sister and niece in court. Stolen The stolen items included a refrigerator, television set, microwave, blankets, nine cases of beer, 15 frozen chickens, sandwich maker, kettle, cooler box and wall mirror, among other items, all totalling to E14 195. Futhi told the court that she received a call from Menzi Masango, informing her about the break-in. She told the court that Masango suggested that she comes to her house to assess the damage as the door had been tampered with. I discovered that the main door had been tampered with. Something was used to open the door instead of the keys. I also discovered that the listed items were missing, Futhi said. She added that among the stolen items was money in cash amounting to E2 000, which she claimed was hidden under a gift that had been presented to her. Futhi positively identified the exhibits as her stolen items. During cross-examination, Madzinane put it to Futhi that she neither saw nor took E2 000 on the day in question. She claimed that Futhi, whom she sometimes referred to as aunt (make lomncane) did not leave her money in her house. I put it to you that you dont even buy food at home, she alleged. However, in response, Futhi informed the court that she withdrew money and purchased tryres before leaving E2 000 in her house. She reiterated that the money was kept under her present, which was on the wall unit. She did not specify what the gift was. Disputing Zandile stated that she had nothing to say except for disputing the E2 000. She put it to Futhi that she did not leave money in her house. You know nothing about my life because you do not live at home. You only came to steal my items on the day in question, responded Futhi. The accomplice witness narrated in court how Futhis house was broken into. Sihlongonyane of KaBhekinkhosi, was the second accused person before she was declared a State witness. Testifying in court, she alleged that Madzinane came with the keys and invited them to take items from Futhis house. She submitted that upon their arrival at Futhis house, they used a certain object to open the locked door. We tried and failed until Madzinane managed to open the door. Zandile went to look for anyone who might disturb us as we removed the items. We started off by loading the refrigerator into a car, she said before listing the stolen items. Sihlongonyane informed the court that there were certain agreements before the commission of the offence. She claimed that they agreed that Madzinane would get the refrigerator, TV set and a blanket. We agreed that I would get the kettle, continental pillows, mirror and one blanket while Zandile would get the 15 chickens. I did not get my share until I was called by the police, she submitted. According to Sihlongonyane, the items were loaded into a motor vehicle. Passenger She told the court that the driver was unknown to her but she knew the passenger, one Nkosinathi Dlamini, whom she claimed was in a relationship with Madzinane. She further stated that the items were transported to Nkosinathis house at Ngwenya Village. During cross-examination, Madzinane put it to Sihlongonyane that they all tampered with the door before it actually opened. Madzinane told the court that Sihlongonyane called her concerning her share of the stolen items. You called me but I think someone advised you not to take the items, she stated. In response, Sihlongonyane refuted that she called Madzinane concerning the items. You called me stating that I should fetch the items before the arrival of the police. I even told you that I had no transport. I went to the extent of mentioning that I can only request my brother, who resides at Nkoyoyo, for transport, Sihlongonyane submitted. LONDON When Britain leaves the European Union at the end of the month, it must secure trade ties to the Continent, revamp its migration rules and reset relations with global partners like the United States, to name just a few looming challenges. But the question gripping Brexit supporters is whether the moment of departure will be marked by the familiar chimes of Big Ben. Inconveniently, the countrys most famous clock tower is under repair, like much of the crumbling parliamentary estate, yet that has not stopped a vigorous campaign to bring it back to life for a brief moment of history. Big Ben Must Bong For Brexit, screamed a front-page headline in the British tabloid The Daily Express, which was superimposed on a picture of the clock minus the scaffolding and cladding that conceal it. Nine days after the death of Greater Noida (West) resident Gaurav Chandel, police on Wednesday recovered his SUV, which had gone missing on January 6 from Ghaziabad, officials said. The Kia Seltos was recovered from Masoori area of Ghaziabad by police after they were alerted about a suspicious vehicle being parked in a residential locality since Tuesday night, the officials said. "The car has been recovered and identified as the one belonging to Chandel and has been brought to Noida. The number plate of the car is missing and further investigation is underway," a police official said. Chandel's body was recovered along a service road between Parthala Chowk and Hindon Vihar around 4 am on January 7. The police suspect it was a loot and murder case asChandel's car, his mobile phone and other belongings, including a laptop, were missing. His death had led to an outrage among citizens over the law and order situation in Gautam Buddh Nagar and especially in Greater Noida (West), which is also known as Noida Extension. On January 10, the SHO, along with three sub-inspectors of the Bisrakh police station, was suspended for the dereliction of duty. Chandel's wife and some neighbours had approached the Bisrakh police station around midnight to seek help in tracing his number. The police there wasted two hours dilly-dallying the matter, citing jurisdiction issues, andChandel's body was recovered with injuries around 4 pm, the family has alleged. The matter had also drawn criticism for the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government with BSP's Mayawati and Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticising the state of law and order in the region. This past Sunday,thousands of Greater Noida (West) residents had taken to the streets demanding enhanced security in the region as they came out in a rally to demand early arrest ofChandel's killers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States warned Sudan Tuesday that payment of reparations for victims of terrorism is a priority for Washington as it considers removing Khartoum from a US blacklist. The number three official at the State Department, David Hale, met in Washington with Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdalla. They discussed "relevant policy and statutory criteria for rescission of Sudan's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation," department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. Since 1993 Sudan has been on the list of countries the United States deems backers of terrorism for having granted safe haven to Osama bin Laden. But in recent years Washington has allowed progressively warmer relations with Sudan, citing what it called progress in the fight against terrorism, until in 2017 it lifted a 20-year-old economic embargo. Since the overthrow last April of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir and the emergence of a transitional government strongly backed by Washington, the process of removing Sudan from the blacklist could go even faster. For Sudan officials, who see winning Washington's blessing as important for economic growth, removal from the list is key. Hale, whose title is under secretary for political affairs, believes that "compensation for the victims of terrorism remains a priority for the US government," Ortagus said. Compensation would essentially consist of financial reparations to families of people killed or injured in attacks against the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that were carried out by al-Qaeda in 1998. US judges have said Sudan is effectively to blame for the blasts. During a historic visit to Washington in December, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said progress was being made on this sensitive issue. Court battles and negotiations are underway on damages, which have been set by US courts in the billions of dollars. An appeal by Sudan is to go before the Supreme Court in February. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTONNew materials released by House Democrats appear to show Ukraines top prosecutor offering an associate of President Donald Trumps personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, damaging information related to former vice president Joe Biden if the Trump administration recalled the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The text messages and documents provided to Congress by former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas also show that before the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, was removed from her post, a Parnas associate now running for Congress sent menacing text messages suggesting that he had Yovanovitch under surveillance in Ukraine. A lawyer for Yovanovitch said Tuesday that the episode should be investigated. The cache of materials released by House investigators late Tuesday exposed a number of previously unknown details about efforts by Giuliani and his associates to obtain material in Ukraine that would undermine Trumps Democratic opponents. Their emergence on the eve of the Senate impeachment trial spurred Democrats to renew calls for the White House to turn over documents related to Ukraine pressure campaign that it has refused to share with Congress. Among the revelations in the documents released Tuesday: a message from Giuliani to Parnas saying he had involved a person he called no 1 possibly Trump himself in an effort to lift a U.S. visa ban on a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was planning to come to the United States to make claims about Biden. The materials also include a letter Giuliani wrote to Ukraines then-president-elect, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, requesting a May 14 meeting with the new leader in Giulianis capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. Giuliani scrapped his planned trip, and the meeting never took place. Another document released by the House investigators appears to show Parnas directly involved with efforts to get Zelenskiy to announce investigations related to Biden. In handwritten notes on a piece of stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna, Parnas wrote, get Zalenksy [sic] to Annouce [sic] that the Biden case will be Investigated. All of this new evidence confirms what we already know: the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically, the chairs of the House Intelligence, Oversight, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees said in a joint statement. There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress. Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment. The materials show that Parnas, a Russian-speaker who helped co-ordinate Giulianis outreach to Ukrainian sources, was directly communicating with an array of top Ukrainian officials. Among them was Yuri Lutsenko, at the time Ukraines top prosecutor and a close political ally of then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was running for reelection. Lutsenko wanted to get rid of Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador, in part because she had been critical of his office and supported a quasi-independent anti-corruption bureau he despised. The messages, written in Russian, show Lutsenko urging Parnas to force out Yovanovitch in exchange for co-operation regarding Biden. At one point, Lutsenko suggests he wont make any helpful public statements unless madam is removed. Its just that if you dont make a decision about Madam you are calling into question all my declarations. Including about B, Lutsenko wrote to Parnas in a March 22 message on WhatsApp. Its unclear if B refers to Biden or Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served from 2014 to 2019. Four days later, Lutsenko told Parnas that work on the case against the owner of the gas company is proceeding successfully and evidence of the money transfers of B had been obtained. And here you cant even remove one fool :( Lutsenko laments, again appearing to push for Yovanovitchs ouster. Shes not a simple fool[,] trust me, Parnas responded. But shes not getting away. Parnas, days later, told Lutsenko that soon everything will turn around and well be on the right course. Lutsenko responded that he had copies of payments Burisma made to the investment firm co-founded by Bidens son Hunter. The next month, Yovanovitch was removed from her post at Giulianis urging. Lutsenko later said publicly that he found no evidence of wrongdoing under Ukrainian law by Hunter or Joe Biden. A spokeswoman for Lutsenko did not respond to a message requesting comment. The new documents also introduced a new character in the drama over the ambassadors ouster: a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut who asserted to Parnas in messages that he had Yovanovitch under physical and electronic surveillance. Wow. Cant believe Trumo [sic] hasnt fired this b--, Robert Hyde wrote in an encrypted message to Parnas on March 23. Ill get right [on] that. Hyde described having contact with a private security team located near the embassy that was apparently monitoring the ambassadors movements. Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off, he wrote in one message. They will let me know when shes on the move, he said in another. Later, he alerted Parnas that he had been told Yovanovitch would not be moved to a special security unit. They are willing to help if we/you would like a price, he said in one note. Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money . . . what I was told. Hyde did not explain how his team might help Parnas, who responded only with lol. When asked for comment by The Washington Post in a text message, Hyde replied: Sorry I cant talk right now. In a statement, Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, said, There is no evidence that Mr. Parnas participated, agreed, paid money or took any other steps in furtherance of Mr. Hydes proposals. Late Tuesday, Hyde tweeted that he was never in Kyiv, calling the messages as a joke that he and his friends wrote to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks. Hyde is one of three Republicans running to unseat an incumbent Democrat in the 5th Congressional District in Connecticut. He frequently tweets about his support for Trump and posted photos of himself with the president. Lawrence Robbins, a Yovanovitch attorney, said in a statement: Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened. During his July 25 phone call with Zelenskiy, Trump denigrated Yovanovitch. Well, shes going to go through some things, Trump told the Ukrainian leader. Yovanovitch testified that she was devastated by the presidents comments and felt threatened by them. The newly released documents also detail Giulianis involvement in trying to secure a U.S. visa for Lutsenkos predecessor, Viktor Shokin, who has alleged that Biden asked Poroshenko to fire him because he was investigating the owner of Burisma at the time. Biden has denied the allegation, saying he pushed for Shokins firing as part of U.S. anti-corruption policy toward Ukraine, consistent with a broad consensus among U.S. and European officials at the time that he was failing to reform the countrys corrupt judicial system. Shokin was fired, after Bidens urging, in March 2016. Parnas was hoping to bring Shokin to the United States to meet with Giuliani and record his claims against Biden, but the U.S. Embassy, then run by Yovanovitch, had blocked Shokins visa. In January of last year, Parnas texted Giuliani to say the embassy had denied the visa. I can revive it, Giuliani replied. A day later, after the visa still hadnt come through, Giuliani assured Parnas: Its going to work I have no 1 in (sic) it. Shokin didnt receive a visa. Instead, he gave a statement to Giuliani over the phone. The trove of documents also appears to include Giulianis first formal outreach to Zelenskiy. On May 10, he wrote to the president-elect personally, identifying himself as Trumps private lawyer and asking for a meeting at which he would be accompanied by Victoria Toensing, a Washington lawyer who assisted Giuliani in the early phases of the Biden-related inquiry. The missive came after Parnas made overtures to an array of top Ukrainian officials, including Ivan Bakanov, a close aide to Zelenskiy who is now head of Ukraines intelligence agency, in an effort to secure co-operation from the new Ukrainian leadership. At one point, Parnas expressed frustration that the connection had not been established. Please let me know whats happening and why we have not been able to do the call yet, he wrote. On May 9, Parnas sent Bakanov a New York Times article that described Giulianis agenda for a planned trip to Ukraine, including the former New York mayors interest in investigating the Biden family. Giuliani later scrapped the trip, telling Fox News he was convinced Zelenskiy was surrounded by enemies of Trump and enemies of the United States. Read more about: In the interests of journalistic freedom, truth and the rule of law, it is imperative that teachers in the US and internationally take a principled stance in defense of Julian Assange. Assange, the investigative journalist and founder of Wikileaks, is being held in Britains maximum-security Belmarsh prison in virtual solitary confinement. His health has deteriorated drastically since his imprisonment in May. In November, 60 doctors signed an open letter warning that he could die in prison. He is scheduled to appear in court in February for a hearing to determine whether the United Kingdom will extradite him to the United States where the government has prepared to charge him under the Espionage Act. Assange is guilty of nothing more than exposing to the world the US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the infamous Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails of 2016 that revealed the DNC acted illegally to thwart the candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders for president. This political vendetta against a journalist, in opposition to international law, is being spearheaded by the US government, military and intelligence agencies. The governments own documents brought to light by Wikileaks have demonstrated that all of the imperialist wars in the Middle East were based on lies. Only last week, Wikileaks released documents revealing serious objections from within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the watchdog groups public report of 2019 that blamed Syrias Assad government for an alleged chlorine gas attack on the Syrian city of Douma in April 2018. The files released by Wikileaks not only suggest that evidence of a chemical attack was planted, but that photos of alleged victims, showing people foaming at the mouth, indicate these people exhibited signs of exposure to sarin gas, not chlorine. The Trump administration used the doctored OPCW report, released well after the fact, to justify the launching of a direct assault on Syria, where Russian forces were stationed in defense of the Assad regime. The attack could have triggered World War III. Exposures like this demonstrate just why the US ruling elite are so desperate to destroy Assange and whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning. It was Manning, then an Army private, who leaked over 750,000 classified and unclassified documents to Wikileaks implicating US forces in war crimes in Iraq, including the infamous Collateral Murder video. For her principled act, Manning was incarcerated and tortured in US military prisons. Although released in 2017, Manning is back in prison for refusing to testify against Assange. All defenders of democratic principles and rights should be concerned with the fates of Assange and Manning. A journalist and a whistleblower, they are being persecuted for revealing to the world the ugly truth about imperialist power. But why should teachers in particular come to their defense? As teachers know well, public education is under attack, in the US and internationally. This attack is not simply a matter of governmental cost cutting or the privatization of education through for-profit charter schools. The attack on education is an attack on the working class and especially the youth. A government that serves the interests of a wealthy elite fears nothing so much as truth, and the prospect of a truly educated population, capable of dismantling lies and discerning truth, is anathema to such a government. The persecution of Assange and Manning is part of this attack on truth and the working class. From overcrowded classrooms to outdated textbooks, from inadequate pay and benefits to dumbed-down curricula, teachers see firsthand the means by which the ruling elite carry out their war on public education. They have also seen how this war has been prosecuted by Democrats and Republicans alike, by Barack Obama and Arne Duncan as surely as by Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos. Teachers have fought back valiantly in defense of education, not only in their everyday work in the classroom but over the past two years in the form of city-wide and even statewide strikes. These strikes have put demands for quality of education on a par with demands for better pay and benefits, and for this reason have seen overwhelming support from students and parents. But they have not been supported by the politically bankrupt teachers unions, which are part of the apparatus of the elite and whose chief purpose is to provide an ever-cheaper work force and to prevent strikes. Predictably, the unions have failed to issue any support to Assange and Manning, but instead are lining up behind various pro-war Democratic candidates for president. It is up to teachers to continue the struggle for education and truth, and this means a struggle independent of the traitorous unions. Teachers must form their own rank-and-file committees and join ranks with a whole new generation of students looking for a path of struggle against war and censorship. The defense of the courageous Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning is a responsibility of the working class. His persecution is our persecution, his struggle for truth is our struggle for truth. Teachers should take their place in this fight to defend the democratic rights of the whole working class and a future for the next generation. Fraternally, James McDonald A high-level committee, set up by the Home Ministry to suggest ways for providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of Assam, has been given one-month extension to submit its report. This comes two days after a four-member delegation of the committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma, met Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the progress of its work. According to a notification issued by the Home Ministry, the committee has been given an additional month to submit its report, from six months earlier to seven months now. The committee was set up in mid-July last year. Officials said when the delegation of the committee met the home minister, they sought 15 more days to submit the panel's report. After their meeting with Shah, Justice (Retd) Sharma had said, "We have apprised the home minister about the progress of our work. The home minister has given a few suggestions. We hope to submit our final report within next 15 days". The committee, with more than a dozen members, was set up as per the Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord. According to its terms and conditions, "The committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people." "The committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the government of Assam for the Assamese people," according to a Home Ministry notification. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had met the home minister last week and discussed with him various aspects of the Assam Accord's Clause 6, under which the central government had promised to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people. The committee is said to have completed its deliberations and discussions with various stakeholders in Assam. Assam has been witnessing widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly-enacted legislation will hurt their interests both politically, culturally as well as socially, sources said. The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who have entered the country after 1971 and living in the state, irrespective of their religion. According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. The protesters in Assam said that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Says Several Arrested for Their Role in Ukraine Plane Crash - Reports Sputnik News 10:43 14.01.2020(updated 12:27 14.01.2020) The Boeing 737-800 plane belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed soon after takeoff from a Tehran airport last week, on 8 January - the same day that Iran struck US bases in Iraq with missiles. The Iranian military admitted to unintentionally shooting down the aircraft, having confused it with a hostile cruise missile. Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Ismaili said that some people have been arrested for their role in the Ukrainian plane crash, Reuters reports. "We have arrested some people because of their role in the Ukrainian plane's crash, the investigation is underway to find out the accident's reason," the spokesman said. Ismaili added that some 30 people have been arrested in protests over the plane crash. The Ukraine International Airlines' Boeing 737-800 was unintentionally shot down by the Iranian military on 8 January, soon after departing from Tehran. Citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom were among the 176 passengers and crew who died in the accident. Earlier, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has accepted Iran's invitation to provide expert advice in the investigation of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane crash. On Monday, Abu al-Fadyl Mousavi Beyuki, deputy chairman of Iran's parliamentary committee on urban development, said that the erroneous launch of an Iranian missile that struck the passenger aircraft was the result of poor coordination with newly-installed air defence systems located near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Iranian officials have expressed regret for the accident, and government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced on Monday that President Hassan Rouhani is following up on a number of issues related to the crash, which resulted in the death of all 176 people on board, including citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The stock of IndusInd Bank was trading lower by over 3 percent intraday on January 15 after the lender reported sharp increase in gross slippages due to one travel account. The private sector lender registered a healthy 32 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 1,300.2 crore in Q3 despite higher provisions. Net interest income, other income, operating income and lower tax cost boosted profitability. Net interest income grew 34.35 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,074 crore, with loan growth of 20 percent. Slippages increased significantly to Rs 1,945 crore in Q3, from Rs 1,102 crore in Q2FY20. In fact, slippages were much higher than first half of FY20. Asset quality improved in the quarter ended December 2019 with gross non-performing assets (NPA) falling to 2.18 percent in Q3 (from 2.19 percent QoQ). Net NPA also declined to 1.05 percent during the quarter against 1.12 percent in the previous quarter. Morgan Stanley has an overweight call on the stock with target at Rs 1,800 per share. It is of the view that the core PPoP was good which was 2 percent above estimates adding that elevated slippages caused weak asset quality. Uncertain asset quality could keep the stock volatile in the near term. Morgan Stanley sees strong returns over 1 year given strong capital, PPoP and RoE. Credit cost forecasts are already 170 bps for FY20 and 155 bps for FY21, it added. Kotak Institutional Equities has maintained an Add rating on the stock and has cut target to Rs 1,600 from Rs 1,650 per share. It is of the view that the recent correction in the stock price offers a positive risk-reward adding that the result for the quarter underscores the importance of Bharat Financial acquisition. Nomura has also maintained a buy rating with target at Rs 1,750 per share. It is of the view that PPoP outlook is improving, but not out of the woods on corporate credit. It will still generate 16-17 percent RoEs with elevated credit costs, the research firm said. Any re-rating will have to be driven by structural liability side improvements and maintain PPoP estimates, but trim profit after tax by 3-5 percent, Nomura added. Citi has a buy call as well and has raised the target to Rs 1,900 from Rs 1,800 per share. It is of the view that the core operating performance remains healthy with core operation to remain strong which can support higher provisions. Citi has changed FY20/21 PAT estimates by -2/+3 percent as it adjusts NIM and credit costs. Macquarie has an outperform call on IndusInd Bank with target at Rs 1,850 per share. The stock trades at A 2.5x FY21E P/BV, which it believes is cheap. It is of the view that higher slippages in corporate as well as retail are the sore points while the good news is that the Banks exposure to three stressed groups declines further, it said. At 09:45 hrs IndusInd Bank was quoting at Rs 1,421.60, down Rs 59.50, or 4.02 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 1,469.00 and an intraday low of Rs 1,416.75. iran protests Mona Hoobehfekr/ISNA via AP Iranians staged three days of increasingly fiery protests in the latest spike of tensions after armed forces shot down a plane and its 176 passengers. Protesters flooded the streets of Tehran to take aim at the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with harsh demands like "death to the dictator" displayed on homemade signs. Witnesses told outlets and wrote on social media that riot police fired tear gas and live ammunition at demonstrators. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Iranians staged three days of increasingly fiery protests in response to the armed forces strike that killed 176 passengers on a commercial flight in an angry demand for the resignation of the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Videos posted on social media over the weekend showed authorities appearing to ramp up physical responses to the crowds, with witnesses saying that riot police fired tear gas and live ammunition at demonstrators. The anti-government demonstrations consuming streets of Tehran and some of the country's biggest universities is a sharp pivot from protests pushing back on the US and its allies in the wake of a targeted strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military official, in accordance with orders from President Donald Trump. See how violent protests have been plaguing Iranians since November, and how a shift in attitude is ramping up pressure on the government. Fiery protests sprung up in late 2019, when the country saw its worst civil unrest since the Islamic revolution 40 years ago. iran protests 2019 Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA/Reuters What started as a grassroots response to a 300% increase in fuel prices passed by the Iranian government in mid-November spread across the country, sparking protests over issues like slow economic growth and corruption in the government. Over the course of the protests, it was later revealed that Iranian security forces killed at least 200 protesters. Story continues The friction between Iranians and their government spread alongside mounting antagonization of the US in the region. iran protests 2019 Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA/Reuters While violent protests plagued the country throughout November, officials blamed the fiery unrest on foreign interference. Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, pointed at the US, Britain, and Israel as responsible nations, even issuing a harsh warning to powerful Western democracies in front of a gathering of pro-government protesters. "If you cross our red line, we will destroy you," Salami reportedly said in late November. "We will not leave any move unanswered." The US shocked the region with a targeted strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military official, in accordance with orders from President Donald Trump. This photo released by the Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office shows a burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, early Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. The Pentagon said Thursday that the U.S. military has killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the direction of President Donald Trump. (Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office via AP) Associated Press Sources told CNN that Trump and his senior security advisers had been discussing a strike to remove Soleimani in the months before the mission, which was finalized in a surprising decision by Trump while he was deliberating with his team after several bloody conflicts in the region had popped up in the days since Christmas. Crowds gathered to honor Soleimani almost immediately after the attack in a four-day funeral. FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators hold placards depicting Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, during a protest against killing of Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who died in an air strike at Baghdad airport, outside U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, January 5, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer Reuters Source: The Financial Times As tensions between the countries spiraled, Iranians flooded Tehran to present a show of mourning for Soleimani while taking bold shots at the US and its allies. iran protests TTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for Americans after the killing. Anti-US demonstrations in Iran were matched with protests in American cities and other countries that pushed back on the possibility of the US entering a war and sending thousands of more troops to the Middle East. iran protests PAUL ZINKEN/dpa/AFP via Getty Images Amid rising pressure to justify the successful strike, the Pentagon said in a statement that it had targeted Soleimani because he "was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," but activists took aim at the move as reckless, and a step towards a possibly devastating war. The US and Iran traded hits on each others' forces in the week after the strike before Iran unleashed a shocking attack on a commercial airliner. FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 file photo, debris at the scene where a Ukrainian plane crashed in Shahedshahr southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran. The crash of a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran this week that killed all 176 on board comes as a test for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who took office less than eight months ago with no prior political experience. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) Associated Press Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after it took off from Tehran, killing all 176 passengers on board. There were 82 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians, 63 Canadians, students, and newlyweds who were killed in the January 8 crash, which was identified in the following days as having been shot down on by Revolutionary Guard air defense forces. Thousands flooded the streets of Tehran to honor the victims of the tragic flight, but the government's bungled response cast an angry mood over devastated Iranians. iran vigil Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File The country initially denied responsibility for the plane crash, suggesting it was a mechanical problem. However, in a statement released by military officials early January 11, Iran admitted to hitting the plane with a missile. Despite the statement, foreign minister Javad Zarif immediately pointed some blame at the US, saying the crash was caused by "human error at a time of crisis caused by US adventurism." Shortly after the statement was released, weekend vigils for the passengers who were killed in the attack devolved into fiery demonstrations that saw Iranians marching with signs to demand the resignation of the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The city was once again embroiled in violent protests, as some held signs demanding "death to the liar." iran protests Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images Videos and pictures from the protests reported by outlets like The New York Times show angry protesters chanting "death to the dictator," and "shameless." Video posted to social media showed some chanting "They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here" as other footage captures riot police clashing with the protesters and responding with tear gas. Witnesses told the Guardian that some officers had fired live ammunition at the crowds. The protesters earned goodwill wishes from President Donald Trump, who tweeted in English and Farsi to warn the government against targeting those demonstrating. donald trump trump tower Drew Angerer/Getty Images Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed Trump's support for Iranians. "The voice of the Iranian people is clear," Pompeo tweeted alongside video of a chanting crowd. "They are fed up with the regime's lies, corruption, ineptitude, and brutality of the IRGC under @khamenei_ir's kleptocracy." What started as a Saturday night vigil turned into a full weekend demonstration led by activists and students. iran protests STR/AFP via Getty Images At least two of the capital city's universities were the main gathering points for protesters, including the prestigious Sharif University of Technology, 14 recent graduates of which died when the plane was shot down. Internet connections around key spots in the demonstrations were reportedly shut off as authorities sought to contain the protests. iran protests Reuters Internet-access watchdog Netblocks said in a Monday tweet that internet connectivity was dropped on the third day of protests as the national connection remained largely stable. Netblocks had previously tracked internet shutdowns in the midst of protests that disrupted the city in November and December. Police denied shooting protesters in violent clashes, but demonstrations roiled on for a third day. iran protests Mona Hoobehfekr/ISNA via AP As top advisers in the White House rallied around Trump's defense of killing Soleimani to control tensions in the region, the Iranian government was facing pressure from groups centered in the capital city and large universities for further explanation or next moves in a drastic attitude shift. "The regime is struggling to manage this crisis," said Nader Hashemi, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies told The Washington Post. "One week ago they were in control of the narrative. They were able to exploit themes of anti-imperialism and nationalism to cover up the internal crisis in Iran." After days of protest, the country's leadership announced arrests had been made for shooting down the airplane in the first critical steps of handling the incident's larger fallout. iran protests Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA via REUTERS In the last stop on a U-turn by the Iranian government that had initially rejected reports of the downed plane, a judicial spokesperson, Gholamhossein Esmaili, said at a Tuesday news conference that an undisclosed number of people had been arrested in connection with the incident. After triggering a vocal response in the capital city, the Iranian's next steps in dealing with the aftermath of the incident could be a "watershed moment for Iran," Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a research fellow at the London-based thinktank Royal United Services Institute, told NBC News. Read the original article on Business Insider Dinosaur remains uncovered from central Queensland in Australia could be the first fragments of a vicious new dinosaur species never seen before. The 93 million year-old remains, comprising bones from the creature's hands, feet and spine, suggest the creature was a relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurs Rex. It was likely a megaraptorid, a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur similar to the Australovenator and the Tyrannosaurus genera of dinosaurs. However, 3D analysis of the newly-found fragments, which were recovered from the rocky Winton Formation, show slight differences in size, suggesting it is indeed a new species. The new megaraptor belonged to the same category of dinosaurs as the T-rex, known as theropods. Scroll down for video Pictured: an artist's impression of the plant-eating dinosaur Diamantinasaurus being attacked by the newly-discovered Australoventor Megaraptors weighed around half a ton and preyed on other dinosaurs, ripping them to shreds using its huge hands and serrated blade like teeth. 'Megaraptors had broad feet which distributed their body weight over a greater area than a much larger theropod such as Allosaurus whose feet were of a similar size but supported an animal of 1-2 tonnes,' said lead researcher Dr Matt White, a palaeontologist at the University of New England, New South Wales. This weight distribution, which is seen in wading birds today, provided superior agility over its prey in the coastal rivers and soft marsh environments. Megaraptors were around 23 feet long and 7 feet tall at the hip, with robust forearms, two hind legs and two lethal arms. The new remains comprise two partial vertebrae the only megaraptoid vertebrae known from Queensland as well as three bones from hands and feet and other unidentifiable bone fragments. Researchers believe this new species would have had two three digits at the end of each arm, two of which had huge curved claws. Pictured: 3D scans of tail vertebrae fragments from the possible new species, described as a megaraptorid by palaeontologists The creature's teeth are often found at excavation sites of the herbivorous sauropods in the Winton region , indicating the predator often hunted the long-necked beasts. '[Sauropods] are the most common plant eater found there with three different species discovered so far including Diamantinasaurus matildae, Savannasaurus elliottorum and Wintonotitan wattsi,' Dr White said. The unfortunate sauropod prey was caught with outstretched arms and grappled and punctured with the claws, kicked, and bitten with razor-sharp teeth. 'Its feet have claws similar to flightless bird the Cassowary which are known to defend themselves by kicking,' Dr White said. Some of the remains resembled the skeletal elements of Australovenator wintonensis, Australia's most complete theropod dinosaur. A. wintonensis was a medium-sized predator, approximately 16 to 19 feet long. But this new discovery is slightly larger than A. wintonensis and shows slight variation suggesting another species entirely. The new dinosaur is way smaller than its fellow theropod, the T. rex, which was around 40 feet long and 12 feet tall at the hips. Researchers identified the partial remains near the town of Winton, central Queensland, dubbed the 'dinosaur capital of Australia'. The dig site in Winton Formation, Queensland, described as Australia's dinosaur graveyard The Winton Formation is a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks in the Great Artesian Basin and a graveyard of dinosaur remains. Each year, the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, a non-profit organisation and museum local to Winton, holds dinosaur digs near the town. In 2017, the team discovered the site of the new find by chance while waiting for another site to dry out after rare rain. 'The site was just littered with broken up pieces of bone which didn't really resemble any complete bones so we marked the site and returned in 2018 to collect the surface material and excavate the site,' said dig coordinator Bob Elliott. 'Although there was no additional remains below the surface I was amazed that what we found was only the second fragmentary theropod discovered in the area,' said Dr White. Winton is also home to the world's only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede. At Lark Quarry Conservation Park there are 3,300 stampeding footprints immortalised in stone that are more than 95 million years old. The research was carried out by palaeontologists from the Palaeoscience Research Centre at the University of New England, Swinburne University, and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton QLD. The study of the remains has been published in Royal Society Open Science. A dam three times larger than Sydney Harbour has run nearly bone dry just three years after the reservoir was over capacity. The Burrendong Dam in central New South Wales has fallen this week to just 1.6 per cent of capacity and modelling has forecast the town of Dubbo 100km to the north-west may run out of water by the middle of the year. Further west in Cobar, the dwindling resources amid a severe statewide drought mean water supply to the small town is expected to run out by September. The Burrendong Dam (pictured) in central New South Wales has fallen this week to just 1.6 per cent of capacity With the dam's resources almost exhausted, officials have been forced to rush to build more pumps closer to the base of the reservoir to access the remaining water. 'It should be scary for a lot of people,' Cobar council general manager Peter Vlatko told The Sydney Morning Herald. Rain is forecast for this weekend, but University of New South Wales water scientist Stuart Khan said any rainfall would have little effect as the ground was so parched. 'The soil is so dry at the moment it acts like a sponge,' he said. 'When that happens it takes a significant amount of rainfall to generate run-off.' He added at least 40mm of rainfall was required to create substantial run-off into the dam. Slide me Three years ago, the dam was overflowing at 120 per cent of its capacity (left) but has now run almost bone dry (right) The low water levels have also forced energy provider AGL to close a hydroelectric station tied to the dam. Three years ago, the dam was overflowing at 120 per cent of its capacity. Satellite images in 2018 showed Burrendong Dam and its surrounding areas with significantly less water than in 1984. Burrendong Dam in 1984 Burrendong Dam in 2018 The green colour of the satellite map had also turned a much harsher shade of grey. The worrying predictions come after Stanthorpe in Queensland's Southern Downs - close to the NSW border - ran out of water amid the crippling drought. The local dam for the town of 5,000 people has dipped to just 11 per cent of capacity, with those living in Stanthorpe limited to 80 litres of water per person a day. Stanthorpe is now fully dependent on 42 truckloads of water a day brought in from a dam 60km to the north. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 21:04:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A reception was held Wednesday for ethnic groups in Beijing ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Cao Jianming, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, delivered a speech at the event. Cao stressed further efforts to help areas with large ethnic minority populations win the decisive battle against poverty, build a firm sense of community for the Chinese nation, and adhere to governing ethnic affairs in accordance with the law, in order to make new contributions to realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. The event was jointly held by the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, the ethnic affairs committee of the NPC, the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, and other departments. The Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 25 this year. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting in the Kremlin (Alexei Nikolsky/AP) President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of his prime minister after proposing constitutional amendments that could herald his intention to carve out a position that would let him stay at Russias helm after his presidency ends. Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who served as a placeholder president in 2008-2012 to allow Mr Putin to observe term limits, said in televised comments that he needed to resign in light of his mentors proposed changes in government. Mr Putin thanked Mr Medvedev for his work and appointed him as the deputy head of the presidential Security Council. Vladimir Putin suggested a nationwide vote on proposed constitutional amendments: Everything must be ultimately decided by the people President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) January 15, 2020 In his state of the nation address earlier in the day, Mr Putin suggested amending the constitution to allow politicians to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The authority to make those appointments currently belongs to Russias president. It will increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all Cabinet members, Mr Putin told an audience of top officials and politicians. At the same time, Mr Putin argued that Russia would not remain stable if it were governed under a parliamentary system. The president should retain the right to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet ministers, to name top defence and security officials, and to be in charge of the Russian military and law enforcement agencies, he said. Expand Close Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev (Alexei Nikolsky/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev (Alexei Nikolsky/AP) Mr Putin emphasised that constitutional changes must be put to a nationwide vote. Mr Putins current term expires in 2024, and Russias political elites have been abuzz with speculation about his future plans. The 67-year-old Mr Putin has remained at the helm for more than 20 years longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin. He will have to step down after his term ends under the current law, which limits the president to two consecutive terms. Political analyst Kirill Rogov said that Mr Putins proposals indicate his intention to remain in charge while re-distributing powers between various branches of government. Such a model resembling the Chinese one would allow Putin to stay at the helm indefinitely while encouraging rivalry between potential successors, Mr Rogov said on Facebook. Expand Close Russian President Vladimir Putin (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian President Vladimir Putin (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) Alexei Navalny, the most prominent Russian opposition leader, tweeted that the presidents speech signalled Mr Putins desire to continue calling the shots after his term ends. The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends, Mr Navalny alleged. Mr Putin served two presidential terms in 2000-2008 before shifting into the prime ministers seat for four years to observe the term limit. Mr Medvedev kept his seat warm and then stepped down after just one term to allow his mentor to reclaim the top job in 2012. While in office, Mr Medvedev raised the presidential term from four to six years. While Mr Putin continued calling the shots during Mr Medvedevs presidency, he was not quite happy with his performance. #Constitution: Russia must remain a strong presidential republic. The President should be able to relieve the Prime Minister and deputy PMs President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) January 15, 2020 He was particularly critical of Mr Medvedevs decision to give the green light to the Western air campaign over Libya in 2011 that led to the ousting and the killing of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Mr Medvedevs decision to step down after one term to let Mr Putin return to the presidency also sparked massive protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 in a major challenge to the Kremlin. Observers speculated that Mr Putin may stay in charge after 2024 by shifting into the prime ministers seat after increasing the powers of parliament and the Cabinet and trimming presidential authority. Political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said Mr Putins speech made it clear he was pondering the move to the premiership. Putin is advancing the idea of keeping his authority as a more powerful and influential prime minister while the presidency will become more decorative, Mr Oreshkin said. Expand Close Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the State Council (Shamil Zhumatov/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the State Council (Shamil Zhumatov/AP) Other potential options include a merger with neighbouring Belarus that would create a new position of the head of a new unified state, a prospect rejected by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. In his address, Mr Putin said the constitution must also specify the authority of the State Council consisting of regional governors and top federal officials. Some analysts have theorised that Mr Putin may try to continue pulling the strings as head of the council after stepping down as president in 2024. Mr Putin also emphasised the need to amend the constitution to give it a clear priority over international law. The requirements of international law and treaties and decisions of international organs can only be valid on the territory of Russia as long as they dont restrict human rights and freedoms and dont contradict the constitution, he said. He also said that the constitution must be tweaked to say that top government officials are not allowed to have foreign citizenship or residence permits. Mr Putin focused his state of the nation address on the need to encourage population growth by offering additional subsidies to families that have children. The Russian leader said Russia would remain open for cooperation with all countries while maintaining a strong defence capability to fend off potential threats. He added that new weapons systems would protect Russias security for decades ahead. For the first time in history, we arent trying to catch up with anyone, Mr Putin said. On the contrary, other leading nations are yet to develop the weapons that Russia already has. : Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday challenged Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to dissolve the Assembly and seek a fresh mandate if he intended to shift the state capital from Amaravati. The Leader of the Opposition said he would permanently quit if the YSR Congress won a fresh mandate. The state government should conduct a referendum if it was not ready to go for fresh elections, he added. "If you are so bent on going head with your plan (of having three capitals), dissolve the Assembly and go for elections. If you win, then take such decisions," the former Chief Minister told Reddy. On Sankranti day, Chandrababu and his family spent the day with farmers and women of Amaravati region, who have been agitating for nearly one month, demanding that the government drop the move to relocate the state capital. Addressing the farmers at Velagapudi and Tulluru, the TDP chief warned that the Chief Minister was playing with fire. "The Chief Minister has no right to change the state capital... Amaravati is the capital of Gods, but now demons have descended to destroy it, Chandrababu said. Referring to the government's plans to do away with the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, enacted in December 2014, Naidu wondered what would be the fate of the agreements the government had signed with the farmers, who gave away their lands for building the capital. "The agreement is sacrosanct. The governments action will not stand legal scrutiny if it is challenged in court," he added. The TDP president said they would soon meet the Governor on the farmers issue seeking justice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For a conference located in the heart of Americas sin city, Las Vegas, the CES gadget show has had an oddly puritanical attitude towards sex tech. For the past few years it was possible to find the odd sexual aid aimed at men toward the back of the health and fitness halls, but it wasnt until last year that the category established itself at CES. The Vesper, a vibrator you can also wear as a necklace, is Crave's best-selling product. Credit:Peter Wells In 2019, Lora DiCarlo dared to exhibit a prototype sex toy designed for female sexual pleasure, without the requisite pretence of health and fitness, and it garnered an Innovation Award for the tiny robotics inside. A few days later the CTA the company behind CES revoked the award, stating it was against the rules because the product was "immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA's image". Every February, on the day before Lent, the small Mexican town of San Juan de la Vega honors its namesake saint with a loud tradition that has come to be known as the Festival of Exploding Hammers. The origins of this bombastic festival are shrouded in mystery. According to one local story, Juan de la Vega, a wealthy miner and rancher, was aided by San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist) to recover gold stolen by bandits and residents came up with the exploding hammers to loudly commemorate their victory over the outlaws. Another story claims that San Juanito the patron saint of the town, was an outlaw himself, a sort of Mexican Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and that the todays celebration is a reenactment of the fight between San Juanito and the local dons. Whatever the real origin may be, the explosive tradition is so popular in San Juan de la Vega that locals will risk life and limb to keep it going. Photo: YouTube screengrab On Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) the young boys of San Juan de la Vega head out to a designated place on the edge of town, bringing with them pouches of home-made explosives and long-handled sledgehammers. The explosives are usually a mixture of potassium chlorate and sodium packed tightly so they can then be affixed to the head of a sledgehammer. On the big day of the festival, those brave enough to take part in the celebration will bang their sledgehammers against rail beams causing explosions strong enough to cause serious injuries. The Festival of Exploding Hammers used to take place in San Juan de la Vega, but years ago authorities finally realized the danger the celebration posed to bystanders and created a special detonation area on the edge of town. Its still very dangerous to those who take part in it, but at least innocent bystanders are safe. And its not like police and other local authorities havent tried to band the explosions in the past, but the people of San Juan de la Vega love their tradition too much. We do this out of devotion, one local told WSJ reporters. You have faith in a saint and you must demonstrate that. The problem with the exploding hammers is that the size of the explosives has increased substantially over the years. If in the beginning we had small, thumb-sized packs that only caused a bang and a bit of smoke, today its all about who has the bigger bomb attached to their sledgehammer. The blasts are sometimes strong enough to make the sledgehammers fly out of their owners hands on impact, and even cause serious injuries. Hammer wielders regularly get burns on their hands and other parts of their bodies, a few years back a young man got his hand blown up by an explosion, and catching some sort of shrapnel is not uncommon. That said, serious injuries are relatively rare considering that about five tonnes of explosives get detonated every year. Still, with explosives getting larger every year, the chances of horrific, potentially fatal injuries increases, and many are worried that this competition to cause the loudest bang may soon become the cause of tragedies. Its been going wrong for more than a decade now, a local man said. Many of these boys dont even know why they are blowing things up. They dont have an idea who the saint is. BEIRUT Carlos and Carole Ghosn, the former first couple of carmaker Nissan, are united again in Beirut. They hold hands in the street and whisper together in a mix of Arabic and French. They kiss. But the pair's most visceral display of unity comes when they talk about Carlos Ghosn's former home. "I'm done with Japan," said Carole Ghosn in an interview with her husband in a private house in Beirut. Two weeks ago, Carlos Ghosn made a dramatic escape from house arrest in Japan, where he was awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds. He denies all charges. Shortly after Ghosn appeared in Beirut, Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Carole on suspicion of alleged perjury related to the misappropriation charge against her husband. "What they're accusing me of is a bit of a joke," said the 54-year-old Lebanese-American national, who spent many years as a fashion designer in New York and whose children live in the U.S. city. "I testified for hours and they told me you are free to go, and now, nine months later ... this comes up. They are vindictive. This has nothing to do with the law." Related: Carlos Ghosn was even more adamant. "I spent 18 years in Japan; I never suspected this brutality, this lack of fairness, this lack of empathy." Tokyo prosecutors have said his allegations of a conspiracy are false and that he has failed to justify his acts. The plan to flee to his childhood home of Lebanon developed quickly with a small group of people, a "reasonable price" and utter secrecy, he said. "The first rule if you want to do something like is that no member of your family should be aware because they become very anxious," he added. Story continues Asked whether she would have dissuaded him from escaping, Carole Ghosn blurted: "Yes!" But then she paused, looked at her husband and added: "No. I mean, actually, let me rephrase. If you told me this at the beginning, I would have said, 'No, of course not. You're going to fight this and prove your innocence.' ... But then, with time, we saw how the prosecutors were behaving ... I said 'Oh my God, my husband is never going to get a fair trial,' and I was desperate." "I'm happy he did it," she said. Japan's justice minister has said Ghosn's escape from his trial could constitute a crime. Human rights focus Beirut has no extradition agreement with Japan, and Ghosn's legal team is pushing for him to stand trial in Lebanon. But Ghosn said last week that he does not want his own case to hurt relations between Lebanon, which is currently in the throes of an economic crisis, and the world's third-largest economy. The Ghosns have been attempting to focus the narrative on the question of human rights and what they say is the inhumane way that Ghosn was treated after his arrest in late 2018. Ghosn says he was held in isolation, given only limited access to his lawyers. His Japanese attorneys this week said that records showed he had been interviewed by the Japanese, without a lawyer present, for an average of 7 hours each day for the 130 days he was jailed. Some days the questioning lasted 11 hours. Ghosn's biggest complaint: He was prevented from seeing or speaking to his wife. The couple had been married for two years second unions for both when Ghosn was first arrested. He says they spoke for only two hours in nine months. "They wanted to break me, they wanted to put me into a situation where life was miserable," he said. Japan's Justice Minister Masako Mori has called the accusations "absolutely intolerable." During his arrest, Carole Ghosn said she sought the support of Human Rights Watch, hired a high-profile human rights lawyer in Paris, and appealed directly to President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron to help her husband's case. Carlos Ghosn said he was determined up until late last year to stay in Japan and see through the investigation and his trial. On Christmas Day, he said, he realized the legal cases could last five years, and he decided to bolt. The Ghosns said their life in Beirut consists of working with their legal team and spending evenings with friends. Both have their regrets including, for Carole Ghosn, throwing a lavish party at the 17th century palace in Versailles, France, for her 50th birthday. The party has become part of a separate investigation in France to establish if the venue was obtained improperly by the Ghosns (which both deny), and has also prompted criticism of the couple as leading an extravagant lifestyle. "It was a beautiful event, and now it has turned out to be a big disaster," said Carole Ghosn. "Now, I look at it, it's unfortunate I wish we never did it." Both said they would be happy to stay in Lebanon for the rest of their lives, if that was necessary. As for returning to Japan? "Never," said Carole. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> You Might Also Like The mid-January deadline set by the US has passed with Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan still deadlocked over the GERD Now we are in a critical situation. Seventy per cent of the dam is built and we are still holding time-wasting negotiations that are leading us nowhere. The presence of the US or the World Bank as observers does not seem to have positively impacted the negotiations, said a diplomat who talked to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity on Monday. After four rounds of talks held during the last two months had failed to come up with an agreement between the three countries, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri headed to Washington this week to participate in the second meeting on the dam to be held there as part of the US drawn roadmap. The plan had set 15 January as the deadline for an agreement to be reached. During his visit, Shoukri met with US officials and experts in an attempt to resume negotiations over the dam. Abbas Sharaki, a professor of political science at Cairo University, believes the failure of talks in Washington may open the door for the US and World Bank to become mediators rather than observers. Both have the ability to come up with technical alternatives that can help resolve the differences, he says. Any negotiating process needs clear intentions and guidelines, says Mohamed Hegazi, a former deputy to Egypts foreign minister. We need to know Ethiopias goals for the negotiations. Obscurity, wasting time and moving from one phase of talks to another should not be allowed, he said. At the end of last weeks fourth round of talks Egypt and Ethiopia announced that the two-day discussions had ended in deadlock. Egypt said it had attempted to create a convergence of views by submitting proposals that guarantee Ethiopia will be able to generate electricity continuously, even during periods of severe drought, without harming Egypts water share. It is obvious, explained Sharaki, that in Washington this week the same differences continued to stand in the way of any agreement. The statement issued by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry before this weeks meeting in Washington seemed to suggest that Addis Ababa had decided the meeting will fail even before it had begun, he said. The diplomat agreed with Sharaki, adding that the Ethiopian Foreign Ministrys statement didnt seem intended to move negotiations forward. False allegations against Cairo will not create the right atmosphere for negotiations, let alone agreement, he said. Under Egypts proposal it will take between 12 and 21 years to fill the dam, and Ethiopia will be liable to pay compensation for the cumulative deficit of water it uses to fill the dams reservoir, claimed the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry. Egypt denied the claims. The Egyptian d Foreign Ministry described the Ethiopian statement as deliberately misleading and presenting an entirely false picture. Egypt did not specify the number of years it should take to fill the reservoir. The three countries agreed more than a year ago to fill the dam in stages depending on the level of the Blue Nile. The Egyptian proposal was to fill the Renaissance Dam in six or seven years if the rivers level is average or above average. And during periods of drought the Egyptian proposal would enable the Renaissance Dam to generate 80 per cent of its electricity production capacity, Egypt said in its statement issued last week. Awol Allo, an Ethiopian professor at the UKs Keele University, agrees the talks failed primarily because of differences over the period of time necessary to fill the reservoir. In the latest round of talks, he says, Egypt proposed an even longer period, based on a new definition of drought while the Ethiopians stuck to previous proposals making progress difficult. But the key difficulty, says Allo, is mutual distrust. Both countries have legitimate concerns but have not been able to build the trust necessary to strike a deal on politically sensitive issues. Meanwhile, Ethiopia has called for mediation from South Africa, the incoming president of the African Union. Hegazi doubts the Ethiopian call will help negotiations and questions what Addis Ababa can present in negotiations with South African mediation that it had not already presented in negotiations held with the US and World Bank as observers. Egyptian negotiators should be wary of the call. It looks like procrastination on the part of Addis Ababa which appears to want the Washington talks to conclude without achieving anything, he said. Allo does not believe Ethiopias call on South Africa is a serious invitation to mediate. The Ethiopian prime minister mentioned it in a passing remark, in relation to South Africas incoming chairmanship of the African Union. Having more mediators is not consistent with the expressed wish of the Ethiopian government to keep the discussion between the three parties. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that he had asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting in Pretoria this week to mediate to find solutions to the disagreement between the three countries after the latest round of negotiations ended in stalemate. We are willing to play a role in whatever agreement can be crafted, and we will remain supportive to finding peaceful solutions between countries on our continent, Ramaphosa said. In November last year the US invited the three countries to meet in Washington. The talks were attended by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and World Bank President David Malpass as observers. The participants agreed to conduct four rounds of meetings in the presence of representatives from the US and the World Bank and Washington set 15 January as the deadline for the three parties to resolve their disputes over the dam. The first meeting was held in November in Addis Ababa, the second and third rounds were held in December in Cairo and Khartoum last month. The fourth and final round took place in Addis Ababa last week. The meetings failed to produce an agreement on the filling and operating processes of the dam. The dispute over the filling and operation of the massive dam began in 2011.Cairo has repeatedly expressed its fears that the dam will reduce the amount of Nile water flowing to Egypt. Addis Ababa denies the dam will harm Egypt and insists it is vital to its economic development. In 2014 a series of tripartite talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan began. In 2015 they signed the Declaration of Principles, according to which the three countries would cooperate to reach an agreement on guidelines for filling the dams reservoir and its annual operation. More rounds of talks were held, but Egypt declared the failure of the negotiations in October last year and President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi called for international mediation to resolve the issue. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Iran's foreign minister said on January 15 an existing nuclear deal the country struck with world powers was not dead and that he was unsure if any new pact agreed by US President Donald Trump would last. "The United States didn't implement (the existing deal's) ...commitments, now it has withdrawn... I had a US deal and the US broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a security conference in New Delhi. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Tuesday for Trump to replace the 2015 deal with his own new pact to ensure Iran did not get an atomic weapon. Trump's administration abandoned the pact aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in 2018 and has since reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran. The US president said in a tweet he agreed with Johnson on the need for a "Trump deal". Iran is interested in diplomacy, but not in negotiating with the United States, Zarif said, adding the existing pact was among the "best deals" he could envisage. Zarif spoke a day after Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran of violating the terms of that agreement, a move that could eventually lead to the reimposing of U.N. sanctions. He said Iran would respond to a letter sent by the three European countries and said the future of the pact, which was "not dead", rested on Europe. Iran denies its nuclear programme is aimed at building a bomb but has gradually rolled back its commitments under the 2015 accord since the United States pulled out. It argues that Washington's actions justify such a course. Tensions between the two countries have risen following the US killing of Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory missile attack by Iran on US forces in Iraq. Zarif said Iran had sent a message to Washington through Swiss mediators on the night of the missile strike, calling it an act of self-defence in response to Soleimani's killing. Zarif said the commander's death was a major setback in the fight against Islamic State. Many in the region saw Soleimani as a hero for his role in defeating the jihadist group. Tournament bass fishing is not an easy sport to learn. One way to become a better angler is to learn from the best, even if you just recreationally fish. North Alabama anglers can get that chance January 18-19 in Gadsden as The Bass University arrives in town. The event will include instruction from a number of the best-known names in bass fishing, including Ott DeFoe, Scott Canterbury and Matt Herren on Saturday and Jordan Lee, Mike Iaconelli and John Crews on Sunday. All are current Bassmaster Elite or Major League Fishing Pro Tour anglers. Created by professional anglers Pete Gluszek and Iaconelli, each Bass University event includes 12 seminars over two days. Each seminar is approximately 45 minutes long and covers cutting-edge bass fishing tactics, techniques and tackle. The Gadsden seminars will be focused on fishing in Alabama. Bass University seminars are two-day events, but individual days can be purchased when selecting ticket options. Discounts are available for anglers 17 and under. All students receive a gift bag of tackle and special offers from event sponsors. The Gadsden event will take place at The Venue at Coosa Landing, located at 201 George Wallace Drive in Gadsden. This is a great opportunity for area anglers to learn from top pros who have fished in the biggest and best tournaments in the country in essentially a one-on-one basis. said Hugh Stump, executive director with Greater Gadsden Area Tourism, who is bringing the event to town. This is one more way we can spotlight Neely Henry Lake as a top fishery in Alabama, Stump said. Bass University is being presented by FishNeelyHenryLake.com and Bucks Island Marina. Ticket prices vary from about $50 for a one-day student ticket to about $200 for an adult two-day ticket. For more information, visit The Bass University website at www.thebassuniversity.com or call 404-660-0185. Crappie USA event slated for Weiss Lake March 7 Crappie anglers from several states will travel to Weiss Lake at Centre, AL for a Crappie USA Tournament Trail event March 7. Weiss, on the Coosa River, is famed as one of the best crappie lakes in the nation. Crappie USA is a team event, with two anglers per boat. Anglers can register on-line at www.crappieusa.com. Late registration and a pre-tournament seminar will be held the day before the tournament at Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, 801 Cedar Bluff Rd Building A in Centre, AL. The tournament weigh-in will be held at Graves Three Rivers Landing at Alabama Highway 9 and County Rd 63 in Cedar Bluff. Weigh-in begins at 3:00 pm. Tournament spokesman Ron Presley says this is a good opportunity for non-competitors to learn how the big ones are caught. Interviews of the top five teams are conducted following the weigh-in. A FREE Crappie Kids Fishing Rodeo will be held in conjunction with the tournament at Graves Three Rivers Landing. Sign up for the kids event will be Saturday morning at 8:00 am with fishing from 9:00 am - 11:00 am. The rodeo is a chance for children to learn fishing basics and win some prizes. An adult must accompany all participating children. The event is free to children 12 years of age and under. All participants are eligible for a chance to win one of the six Crappie USA $1,000.00 scholarships. The scholarships are awarded annually at the CUSA Classic. Forever Wild Board Meets in Montgomery February 6 The Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust will hold its first quarterly meeting Feb. 6 at the Richard Beard Building at 1445 Federal Dr., in Montgomery beginning at 10 a.m. Forever Wild is a program for funding preservation of wilderness or natural habitat of special interest across the state. The public is invited to attend this meeting and is encouraged to submit nominations of tracts of land for possible Forever Wild program purchase. Written nominations may be submitted by email to Forever.Wild@dcnr.alabama.gov or by letter to the State Lands Division, Room 464, 64 N. Union St., Montgomery, AL, 36130. Nominations can also be made online at www.alabamaforeverwild.com/contact/nominate_land_tracts. Life was normal for Rebecca Gondos and her husband, Peter, until they and fellow tenants at 650 Parliament St. were forced to evacuate following a six-alarm fire some 17 months ago. Then things took a turn for the worse. Like everyone else who was displaced by this fire, the family initially spent time in temporary housing. They stayed at one friends place for five days. Then they moved to the basement of a work colleagues place, where they lived for two months. But the colleagues family members were moving in, and the Gondos had to relocate again this time to one-bedroom condo in Yorkville that soon proved too tiny for both of them and their two rescued cats. They later found a more spacious one-bedroom condo nearby, where they reside today. During this time, Gondos, 52, has been diagnosed with two types of cancer first, endometrial cancer last January, and then breast cancer in February. She has since undergone three surgeries and requires constant treatments at Princess Margaret hospital. I had 43 radiation treatments due to the two cancers, and that means a trip to the hospital everyday, five days a week, for months, said Gondos, who works at a private wealth management company a job she says helps her with options to work from home from time to time, as she battles through the changes in her life. Everything was great before, and then the fire hit, and then everything just went to hell in hand basket, said Gondos, noting she and her husband had lived in their 22nd floor apartment for more than 15 years. Adding all of these serious medical issues on top of not being in your home, in your own bed, surrounded by your own belongings, it has been exceptionally difficult for both my husband and myself. Nearly a year and half after displacement, and more than two months since the last significant update from property management, Gondos is left wondering: has everyone forgotten about the 1,500 people who were forced out of their homes? The Aug. 21, 2018 fire, which started in an electrical chamber and rocked the highrise residential building in St. James Town, did not cause any serious injuries. But Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop would later describe the damage as absolutely the worst devastation to a buildings entire electrical system that he has seen. As a result of the mass displacement, building management scrambled to find temporary shelter for the residents. Some stayed at nearby community centres, while others were housed in hotels or told to make arrangements with friends and family. But as it became apparent repair work would be substantive, residents were advised to look for alternatives that would last longer including rental spaces at buildings under the same management. Many potential return dates have been proposed, only to be pushed back multiple times, due to the amount of restoration work required. Management also had to go through a legal process in order to relocate tenants belongings from their original units into garage locker rooms to facilitate the repair work, which contributed to the delay. Theres also a $40-million class action lawsuit underway seeking compensation for displaced residents, alleging negligence on the part of the landlord and property management. But, now more than ever before, there could be some good news on the horizon. Danny Roth, who speaks for Wellesley-Parliament Square property management, told the Star that management is getting very, very close to issuing a reoccupancy announcement. There are some Ts that need to be crossed and some Is that need to be dotted, but very much in the immediate, he said, noting he expects the announcement to be made in the coming weeks. Theres still work that is ongoing, but the vast majority of the reconstruction effort is now complete and were in the very final process of getting the building ready to be reinhabited. He said management will announce a reoccupancy protocol to ensure the safe and orderly return of tenants, recognizing some may need to make arrangements with the places theyve been living during the displacement period. He said management understands the frustration of tenants whove been out of their homes through no fault of their own, but called it a stretch to say theyve been forgotten. Whenever we had tangible information to share, that information has been shared, he said, noting every effort has been made to make sure people are taken care of, and repair work is done quickly and properly. Roth said tenants in fewer than 100 units have broken their lease and moved on. The majority those renting just under 500 units are still registered as tenants and looking forward to coming back. He said their rental rates will be what they were at the time of the fire. In the time theyve been displaced, if any tenant wanted to live somewhere else, they could very easily have gotten out of their lease with us, and not have all this stress on their head, he said. We dont want to lose tenants, we want to welcome everybody back, but that option has always existed for tenants all the way along. Gondos said she understands management taking time to ensure the building is in proper shape before allowing people to move back in, but the process has taken too long and there was a lack of proper communication to keep tenants in the loop. She said she was especially disappointed to see management post holiday wishes last month on their website, something she said was extremely insensitive. They just dont seem to care. Theres 1,500 people that want to go home, you know, she said. Its our second Christmas, our second new year out of our homes, and theyre wishing us a happy 2020. Seriously? Who does that? Last week, Gondos sent an open letter to Mayor John Tory and Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, imploring them to do something to help displaced people who now seem to have been forgotten. Im tired and we just want to go home, she wrote in the letter. Tory agrees displaced residents should be frequently updated on the work progress at their building, and hell make that request to the landlord right away, wrote his spokesperson Don Peat in a statement to the Star. The fire in this private building has had a heartbreaking impact on residents and the mayor understands both their ongoing frustration and their desire to be able to come home, Peat wrote. The focus of the city is on making sure the landlord is working as quickly as possible to get the work done and that when the work is completed that the building is safe. The city is committed to supporting that work in any way we can to help resolve this situation. During the restoration process, the city is continuing to conduct inspections to ensure the work is in compliance with the Ontario Building Code, said the citys chief communications officer Brad Ross. More inspections will be conducted once repairs are over, and Toronto Fire Services will conduct required inspections for fire protection systems to ensure the building is safe before reoccupancy, he said. As the waiting continues, Gondos and her husband have decided to remove their belongings from the garage locker into a warehouse space through their insurance company, as they worried about potential damage or some of their important materials collecting dust. But she said her insurance is getting used up due to the continued delay to return home. She said some of the tenants of 650 Parliament St. were newcomers and young people using the relatively cheap rental prices as a stepping stone before they bought their own homes, but some others are longtime dwellers who just love it there and are in that community to stay, she said. Gondos said over the decade and a half she and her husband lived in the building they had decorated, hung pictures on the walls and made custom shelving. We made it our home. It wasnt just a place to sleep, she said. Read more about: KYODO NEWS - Jan 16, 2020 - 04:22 | Japan, All Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife denied any intention to resign after prosecutors searched their offices in Hiroshima on Wednesday over alleged law violations in her election. Kawai, 56, and his 46-year-old wife Anri are suspected of having paid 13 female campaign announcers a daily allowance of 30,000 yen ($273), double the amount permitted by law, during the House of Councillors election campaign in July in which she won a seat, according to sources familiar with the matter. The two lawmakers separately told reporters Wednesday night that they will not resign either as lawmakers or as members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. They said they are fully cooperating with the prosecutors' probes but declined to comment on the allegations while the criminal investigations are taking place. "Even though I would like to give my explanation, the matter is being investigated as a criminal case and I should refrain from commenting on it," said the former justice minister who has not appeared in public for over two months. (Katsuyuki Kawai (L) and Anri Kawai) (Reporters gather in front of a building that houses an office of Anri Kawai in Hiroshima on Jan. 15, 2020.) University professors and local voters have filed criminal complaints against the couple, while prosecutors have already started questioning those involved in the election campaign, the sources said. Following the search, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference that the couple "need to be held accountable for their own actions." Kawai resigned as justice minister in October after the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine reported the allegation online, while his wife submitted to the LDP a medical certificate stating she was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder and needs to rest for one month. In another potential matter, a man who said he helped in Anri Kawai's election campaign told Kyodo News that a local LDP branch she headed paid him 860,000 yen for his role seeking support for her from local assembly members and voters. The election law bans election offices from rewarding such work. Related coverage: Japan's justice minister to quit over wife's alleged election law breach Japan lawmaker in casino scandal faces fresh bribe-taking allegation Over 70% want gov't to review casino plans amid bribery scandal: Kyodo poll LONDON Dating apps including Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder leak personal information to advertising tech companies in possible violation of European data privacy laws, a Norwegian consumer group said in a report Tuesday. The Norwegian Consumer Council said it found serious privacy infringements in its analysis of how shadowy online ad companies track and profile smartphone users. The council, a government-funded nonprofit group, commissioned cybersecurity company Mnemonic to study 10 Android mobile apps. It found that the apps sent user data to at least 135 different third party services involved in advertising or behavioral profiling. The situation is completely out of control, the council said, urging European regulators to enforce the continents strict General Data Privacy Regulation, or GDPR. It said the majority of the apps did not present users with legally-compliant consent mechanisms. The council took action against some of the companies it examined, filing formal complaints with Norways data protection authority against Grindr, Twitter-owned mobile app advertising platform MoPub and four ad tech companies. Grindr sent data including users GPS location, age and gender to the other companies, the council said. Twitter said it disabled Grindrs MoPub account and is investigating the issue to understand the sufficiency of Grindrs consent mechanism. Period tracker app MyDays and virtual makeup app Perfect 365 were also among the apps sharing personal data with ad services, the report said. IAC, owner of Tinder and OkCupid, said the company shares information with third parties only when it is deemed necessary to operate its platform with third party apps. The company said it considers the practice in line with all European and U.S. regulations. The U.S. doesnt have federal regulation like the GDPR, although some states, notably California, have enacted their own laws. Nine civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of California, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, Congress and state attorneys general of California, Texas and Oregon asking them to investigate the apps named in the report. Congress should use the findings of the report as a road map for a new law that ensures that such flagrant violations of privacy found in the EU are not acceptable in the U.S., the groups said in a statement. The FTC confirmed it received the letter but declined to comment further. The creators of the MyDays, Perfect 365 and Grindr apps did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Dublin, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Business Jet Market - Annual Review - 2020 - Key Trends, Issues & Challenges, Growth Opportunities, Force Field Analysis, Market Outlook" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Business Jet market has been on the resurgence path while facing headwinds in a difficult & challenging market environment with signs of recovery over the past year or so. The industry, however, has shown tremendous resilience over the past decade with portfolio refresh through new product introductions, reinforcement of presence across key markets & regions and services portfolio expansion having been the key focus areas for industry OEMs in a difficult demand environment. The aircraft utilization levels across most operators & users, however, remain at a pretty good level, thereby, driving the requirements & revenues from aircraft service & aftermarket activity for the industry. The market for business jets remains skewed towards heavy jets where the three way battle for market shares continues to be fought amongst Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault. Gulfstream has already announced the G700 to take on Bombardier's Global 7500 while Bombardier is likely to present a stiff challenge to Gulfstream going forward as a pure play business jet manufacturer post its complete exit from commercial & regional aviation businesses. Further, New aircraft designs from the industry OEMs are witnessing significant uptake by the customers while the demand diminishes for legacy aircraft platforms. Further, regulatory mandates & enhanced sustainability focus are likely to drive new aircraft sales and modernization as well as upgrade of existing aircrafts over medium term translating into an overall fillip for the industry. Additionally, the market dynamics for business jets are likely to witness a major transformation with the era of supersonic business jets likely to become a reality towards the middle 2020s with a number of industry OEMs working on the development of supersonic business jets with active pursuit of R&D towards development of a range of supersonic flight technologies. On the contrary, the ongoing trade war situations, wave of protectionism and macroeconomic slowdown as well as environmental uncertainty have been impacting the new aircraft purchases by operators & companies with a recovery in 2020 highly contingent on developments on the global trade scenario. Additionally, the tightening of regulatory mandates, with the latest European environmental taxes and the upcoming emissions reduction & offsetting scheme are likely to put further pressure on the aviation industry. Additionally, a surge in crude oil prices emanating from the political volatility in the Middle East is likely to further exacerbate the situation and impact the profitability of operators. Excerpts & Key Themes of Analysis 1. Business Aviation market on the cusp of recovery with reference to demand & annual business jet deliveries 2. Introduction of new business jet programs stimulating demand and driving sales of new aircraft programs 3. The competitive intensity between Gulfstream and Bombardier for market leadership to intensify going forward with Gulfstream's latest G700 program to take on Bombardier's Global 7500 while a leaner Bombardier post restructuring with a laser sharp focus on the business aviation segment is bound for resurgence going forward 4. Increased focus on sustainability by the industry likely going forward led by increased usage of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and technological innovations 5. Industry showing early signs of consolidation which could materialize into M&A activity going forward 6. New aircraft programs from the industry OEMs registering good uptake by the customers with demand diminishing for legacy aircraft platforms 7. Analysis of emerging global macroeconomic environment & trade scenario over near term & likely impact on business aviation market 8. Urban Aerial Mobility (UAM), Entry into Service of Leonardo's AW169 in 2020 as the world's first civil tiltrotorcraft and likely implications for Business Aviation going forward 9. Tightening global regulatory norms pertaining to CO2 emissions from Aviation and analysis of upcoming Carbon offset & mitigation schemes 10. Development of Hybrid-Electric & Pure Electric Propulsion Technologies by the Industry & the Road Ahead Key Topics Covered Section 1: Global Business Aircraft Market - Introduction & Market Overview Section 2: Market Segmentation Global Business Aircraft Market Key Segments Global Business Aircraft Market by Segments Global Business Aircraft Fleet Size, Evolution & Growth Rate Section 3: Business Aviation Dynamics & Key Drivers Section 4: Industry Trends Section 5: Market Trends Section 6: Technology Trends Section 7: Key Issues, Challenges & Risk Factors Section 8: Global Business Aircraft Market - Force Field Analysis Analysis of Driving & Restraining Forces and their Overall Dynamics Driving Forces Restraining Forces Section 9: Global Business Aircraft Market Outlook for 2020 Section 10: Strategic Market Outlook & Demand Projections Global Business Aircraft Market through 2028 Analysis of Emerging Market Scenario for Business Jets Global Demand Outlook Business Aircrafts Forecast to 2028 Demand Growth Projections for Business Jets through 2028 Light Jets Medium Jets Heavy Jets Demand Growth Forecasts for Key Geographic Markets & Regions through 2028 Companies Mentioned Gulfstream Bombardier Dassault For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/9qtzql Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. With rise in Omicron cases, SC to conduct hearings virtually for next two weeks Can't allow every person who thinks of some solution to COVID-19 to file petition: SC Won't stop Jallikattu: SC refuses to stay bull festival, asks petitioners to approach high court India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 15: The Supreme Court on Wednesday has refused to entertain a plea challenging the Madras High Court order, which ordered to conduct Jallikattu in various districts of Tamil Nadu, under supervision of monitoring committees headed by a retired district judge. "We won't stop Jallikattu," the apex court said and asked the petitioners to approach the High Court. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea against the Madras High Court order that had allowed Jallikattu festival to be conducted in some regions under the supervision of monitoring committees. "Jallikattu" is the popular-yet-controversial bull-taming event where participants come together to stop a bull that runs amok in their village. The Supreme Court order comes on a day when the bull-taming festival is being celebrated in parts of Tamil Nadu. 730 bull catchers, over 700 bulls participates in Jallikattu For the safe and smooth conduct of jallikattu, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court at Madurai on Monday constituted the organising committee to monitor and supervise the jallikattu events. The court also appointed advisory committees consisting of local residents to assist the organising committee in the conduct of Jallikattu. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The Centre's notification allowing the sport was passed on 6 January, 2016. Following mass protests, it was replaced by the state legislature passing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017, which legalized Jallikattu. The Centre thereafter, withdrew its 2016 notification allowing the controversial sport. Jallikattu: Bull tamers gear up to put good show for Pongal 2020, here are some interesting facts Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India Chapter has written to the Tamil Nadu government seeking strict action against organisers of a 'Jallikattu' type of event using a rare breed of foxes in Salem district. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 15, 2020, 12:16 [IST] INDIANAPOLIS - Research scientists at Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine have conducted the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the pros and cons of population screening for dementia. The researchers found no harm, as measured by patient reported depressive and anxiety symptoms, from screening for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia in diverse rural, suburban and urban primary care clinics in Indiana. Furthermore, the trial did not identify any benefit from screening in reducing emergency department visits and hospitalizations, or increasing advance care planning. "Many patients and families have concerns that dementia screenings may create anxiety or depression in patients because there is, as yet, no cure for this disease. However, this study shows that is not the case," said Nicole Fowler, PhD, MHSA, associate director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute. Dr. Fowler, an assistant professor of medicine at IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief research scientist, is first author of the new study, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "Dementia screening provides awareness for the patient and their family, allowing them to take action - including advance care planning -- and we now know that the screening does not harm the patient. Though we found many patients declined to follow up a positive screening, the knowledge obtained from a screening at least allows them to enter a watchful waiting period or choose to be engaged," Dr. Fowler said. While 70 percent of study participants who screened positive for cognitive impairment declined a follow up diagnostic assessment, those who did complete a follow up and then received collaborative care had significantly decreased hospital admissions as compared with study participants who were not screened but later developed cognitive impairment. Previous studies led by IU School of Medicine and Regenstrief research scientists have found that the collaborative dementia care model decreased behavioral and psychological symptoms in patients living with dementia and reduced healthcare utilization, resulting in annual cost savings ranging from $908 to $2,856 per patient. "For a number of reasons, including the lack of drugs to treat dementia and the stigma around the condition, people are hesitant to engage in the next steps of the process after screening," said Dr. Fowler. "The health care system needs to help bridge this gap and encourage people to follow up on the results of screening tests as they would for any other condition." The study noted that "the finding of statistical equivalence of screening on patients' symptoms of depression and anxiety" is important given that previous studies measuring the public's perceived attitude of dementia screening reported that patients were concerned that this screening would make them feel depressed or anxious. In fact, it did not. Dementia affects more than 5 million people in the United States and is frequently unrecognized and underdiagnosed in primary care settings, where most older adults receive their health care. It is estimated that as many as half of primary care physicians are unaware of their older patients' cognitive status. More than 4,000 primary care patients age 65 years and older were enrolled in the randomized, controlled Indiana University Cognitive Health Outcomes Investigation of the Comparative Effectiveness of Dementia Screening (CHOICE) trial. Two-thirds of study participants were female; two-thirds of study participants were white. "This study is groundbreaking because we have scientifically negated the concern that dementia screening may be harmful," said Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, the study's senior author and principal investigator of the trial. "Until now, the lack of evidence of potential harm of dementia screening has been a barrier to dementia screening in primary care. Hopefully our finding of no harm from screening has eliminated this obstacle." ### Additional authors on the paper are Greg Sachs, M.D., a Regenstrief Institute research scientist, professor of medicine and division chief of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at IU School of Medicine; and Anthony J. Perkins, M.S., and Sujuan Gao, PhD, IU School of Medicine. This study was funded by National Institute on Aging grant R01AG040220. Dr. Fowler is currently leading the Caregiver Outcomes of Alzheimer's Disease Screening (COADS) trial examining the impact of dementia screening of older adults on their family member caregivers. About IU School of Medicine IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability. About Regenstrief Institute Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its researchers are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe. Regenstrief Institute is celebrating 50 years of healthcare innovation. Sam Regenstrief, a successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission. About Nicole Fowler, PhD, MHSA In addition to her role as a Regenstrief Institute research scientist and associate director of the Center for Aging Research, Dr. Fowler is an assistant professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and an implementation scientist at the Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science. About Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, is a Regenstrief Institute research scientist, the founding director of the Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science, and holds the Richard M. Fairbanks Chair in Aging Research at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Boustani is also the founding director and chief innovation and implementation officer at the Sandra Eskenazi Center for Brain Care Innovation, in addition to serving as director of senior care innovation at Eskenazi Health. When Philip Harris came to Conroe in 2015, he jumped into local community theater with both feet. His mother, Chris, has acted in Oklahoma his whole life, so being involved in the local theater was a natural fit. At the Owen, hes been involved in just about every aspect of the theater and now he can add director to that list. Harris, who works in the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office, directs dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace for The Players Theatre Company at the Owen Theatre Jan. 24 through Feb. 8. You cant name another show like Arsenic and Old Lace, he said. There are so many colorful characters and its so bizarre in such a cool way. The plot centers around Mortimer Brewster, played at the Owen by Jonathan Stone who was most recently in Lend Me a Tenor. Mortimer Brewster is living a happy life in that he has a steady job at a prominent New York newspaper, hes just become engaged, and he gets to visit his sweet spinster aunts to announce the engagement. Mortimer always knew that his family had a bit of a mad gene his brother believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt and his great-grandfather used to scalp Indians for pleasure but his world is turned upside down when he realizes that his dear aunts have been poisoning lonely old men for years. When Mortimers maniacal brother, Jonathan. (who strangely now resembles Boris Karloff) returns on the night that the aunts were planning to bury the newest victim, Mortimer must rally to help his aunts and protect his fiance all while trying to keep his own sanity as well. Theres not a boring moment in the show, Harris said. He said Stone brings a ton of energy to the stage and that energy keeps driving the show forward. Cast (in order of appearance) Abby Brewster - Marilyn Moore The Rev. Dr. Harper - Michael Hayes Teddy Brewster - Dale Trimble Officer Brophy - Dalton Cook Officer Klein - Steve Murphree Martha Brewster - Terry Lynn Hale Elaine Harper - Amanda Abright Mortimer Brewster - Jonathan Stone Mr. Gibbs & Lieutenant Rooney - John Thompson Jonathan Brewster - Katt Gilcrease Dr. Einstein - John Kaiser Officer O'Hara - Travis Cook Ms. Witherspoon - Dixie Cooper Creative Team Director - Philip Harris Assistant Director - Ashley Truitt Stage Manager - Angela Bowman Costumes - Comelle Wright Props - Kerri Edwards Set Design - Roger Ormiston Set Decoration - Michael Hayes Light Design - Kevin Downs Sound Design - Sheila Cannon See More Collapse Mortimer is the straight-man of the show, trying to juggle all these crazy, larger-than-life characters orbiting around him. The show also offers a reunion for Owen veterans Terry Lynn Hale and Marilyn Moore, who play the spinster sisters Martha and Abby Brewster. They first played the Brewster sisters in Huntsville four years ago. Harris was looking for a certain chemistry among the characters and this chemistry came alive when 30-plus year friends Hale and Moore took the stage. There can be a look between them that can say more than a line of dialog, said Harris. Its fantastic. Another veteran to Conroe theater, Katt Gilcrease, plays Mortimers brother, Jonathan Brewster. Its also familiar territory for him as he directed Hale and Moore in their roles as the Brewster sisters in the Huntsville show. Arsenic and Old Lace was the first show he was a part of in high school and hes since directed it twice and played Jonathan Brewster and Officer OHara several times. Of Jonathan, Gilcrease said hes outsmarted by the women her and he cant stand it. Hale said she was drawn back into the role because of the chemistry between she and Moore. You dont get a chance to be with somebody on stage and have this chemistry that is natural and flows, Hale said. We really do know what the other one is thinking, Moore added. The Owen Theatre is at 225 Metcalf Street in downtown Conroe. Visit www.owentheatre.com or call 936-539-4090 for tickets. shernandez@hcnonline.com There will be a border in the Irish Sea under the Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson, the EU's chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier confirmed there would be "checks and controls" between Britain and Northern Ireland under the agreement that will govern the UK's exit from the EU. Boris Johnson claimed several times during the general election campaign that there would be no checks on the Irish Sea, and was accused by the Opposition of lying. Whether the Prime Minister had misunderstood the agreement he had signed, or was indeed lying to the public, the text of the deal signed in November is clear that there will indeed be checks. "The implementation of this foresees checks and controls entering the island of Ireland," Mr Barnier said during a sitting of the European Parliament. "I look forward to constructive co-operation with British authorities to ensure that all provisions are respected and made operational." Mr Barnier had kept quiet during the UK general election campaign, telling anyone who asked him - even in private - that he did not want to say anything that could have political impact and undermine his Brexit deal. Mr Johnson repeated his claim just on Monday, telling a Press conference: "Be in no doubt. We are the Government of the United Kingdom. I cannot see any circumstances whatever in which there will be any need for checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to GB. "The only circumstances in which you could imagine the need for checks coming from GB to NI, as I've explained before, is if those goods were going on into Ireland and we had not secured, which I hope and I'm confident we will, a zero tariff, zero quota agreement with our friends and partners in the EU." During the election he was even more emphatic, saying: "We will make sure that businesses face no extra costs and no checks for stuff being exported from NI to GB." But his analysis does not accurately reflect what is in the Brexit deal he signed. The Government's own internal analysis, leaked during the general election campaign, said there would be checks on goods in both directions. It also said there would be a devastating impact on the Northern Ireland economy and claimed 98% of Northern Ireland export businesses would be "likely to struggle to bear this cost" of customs declarations and documentary and physical checks on goods within the UK. The DUP's Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson last night dismissed Mr Barnier's comments as "typical of his continual attempts to undermine Brexit". He said: "Michel Barnier should take time to read the recent agreement that has been reached in which the UK Government has committed to introduce measures that will mitigate the impact of the arrangements for Northern Ireland post-Brexit. "The EU withdrawal agreement actually states that Northern Ireland businesses should have unfettered access to the UK single market and we are determined to ensure that is the case." The Lagan Valley MP added: "These comments are designed to be unhelpful and Michel Barnier should now focus on negotiating the future relationship rather than trying to cause problems with the withdrawal arrangements. "He should accept that Brexit is happening and it's now time for the EU to get down to the business of agreeing a new free trade agreement. In the end the internal UK market will be a matter for the UK Government post-Brexit. "When you consider that all the Northern Ireland parties and business leaders have united in calling on the UK Government to introduce the measures that they are now committed to, I think that shows where the impetus is in all of this. "Talk of border checks are out of tune with what both Northern Ireland businesses and political parties want to see." Up to 30,000 lives could be saved over the next decade thanks to a proposed pioneering government collaboration with pharmaceutical company Novartis to tackle heart disease a leading cause of death in the UK. The yet to be approved drug inclisiran, a treatment to lower cholesterol, will be studied in UK patients as part of a large-scale NHS clinical trial expected to start later this year. Additionally in a world-first, the drug is expected to be available through a population-level agreement pioneering a game-changing approach to reducing the risk of heart disease. Early results from clinical trials suggest that if inclisiran is given to 300,000 patients annually, it could help prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes, and has the potential of saving 30,000 lives in the next 10 years. Heart disease is the worlds biggest killer and the second biggest cause of death in the UK, with over three million people suffering from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and two and a half million currently relying on statins to lower their cholesterol. Recent trials have shown inclisiran can halve bad cholesterol in just two weeks. Inclisiran, a bi-annual injection, is expected to be filed for approval as a preventative add-on treatment to statins for patients who have already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease later this year. It will also be put through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellences (NICE) approval programme at the earliest opportunity possible and NHS England will agree a population-level commercial arrangement with the company to make it widely available to patients as soon as 2021. The agreement will make a significant contribution towards meeting the NHS long term plan commitment to preventing 150,000 cardiovascular deaths over 10 years. Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, said: The discovery and development of Inclisiran marks an important change in the approach to pharmaceutical interventions for public health. This program has introduced the use of health care system data from the NHS to dramatically reduce costs by rapidly identifying patient populations through health records. I am excited by this collaboration which is likely to have far-reaching impact on the way population level disease therapies are developed in the life sciences sector. The collaboration between Novartis, NHS England, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and the Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) at Oxford University represents an innovative approach to tackling major public health issues and positions the UK as a world-leading destination to develop revolutionary medicines. The innovative collaboration was announced on Monday 13th January 2020 by the Chair of NHS England Lord Prior at the J.P Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco. The collaboration also includes the creation of an industry and academic consortium to improve efficiency in manufacturing this form of innovative medicine in the UK. The unique population health model used by the UK will enable the collaboration to address the needs of patients and health systems that have previously not been able to be met on a large scale. The new cost-effective process will lead the way for innovative approaches to helping meet large-scale, public health concerns. This highlights the UK as a prime destination to get new medicines to patients faster and more cost-effectively. Its appetite for innovation, unrivalled infrastructure and world-leading joined-up healthcare system offers the opportunity for similar deals to be done for other drug development projects of this scale. The UK plans to remain at the forefront of the global life sciences industry, giving NHS and patients faster access to innovative medicines while supporting the growth of the sector. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Oxfords Nuffield Department of Population Health, Martin Landray, said: This trial provides an opportunity to demonstrate how highly streamlined research can be conducted in the UK using design elements that have worked well in previous trials such as ORION-4, combined with features developed for UK Biobank, such as the use of large, conveniently located clinics. The trial will provide a very reliable test of the efficacy and safety of inclisiran to support a population-health approach to the management of cholesterol, and act as an exemplar for future trials of other treatments in the UK. Man escapes crashed plane just before it's hit by train Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty MOSCOWDuring his annual state of the nation address to the Russian parliament on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said repeatedly that the Russian people expect changes, and the one announced less than three hours laterdescribed on Kommersant FM radio as Operation Successorseemed to throw a lot of cards up in the air. Putin Can Teach Trump a Lot About Hanging on to Power The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvev, and the whole cabinet resigned, leaving more than 140 million people wondering what political course their country is about to take, whether more liberal at last, or even more conservative. Not everything was done, Putin said after that announcement, praising the cabinet faintly, but everything never works out. The political elite is being careful with its comments since few know who will benefit from this major change. Predictions by Russian pundits about the next PM bounced from the most liberal to the most conservative candidates. So, what does all this resigning really mean? Former member of parliament Gennady Gudkov had one of the darkest predictions. Now, officially they are taking a course toward unchangeable power, that would not respect any international laws: tomorrow we are going to wake up in a dictatorship, like Turkmenistan with a national leader who will be never replaced, Gudkov said. Putin will be playing the role of the PM and the head of state, he will assign judges. All aspects of national government will be in Putins hands without checks or balances, and the country will ignore outside judgments. Major decisions by international courts are expected, including about the downing of the Malaysian airliner MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, but, Russia will not obey the decisions, said Gudkov. One of the leading observers on radio Echo of Moscow, Olga Bychkova, believes that not only Russias wars but also Russias political system will be hybrid now, too.. Putin could not exchange places with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for the second time in 2024, so now he is inventing a new scheme with some weak PM for this transition period; one thing is clear, there will be no liberalization. Story continues Before these surprise announcements in the middle of the afternoon, Putin had been telling the parliament and people of Russia about the countrys growing powerespecially military power on the international scene. And amid all the talk of a government shake-up it is not clear at all when or if he would ever give up a role as Commander in Chief. Putin spoke about the unpredictable situation in the Middle East, where Russias ambitions and its presence grow by the day. He insisted that Russia is not threatening anybody, that its goal is to call on the five major nuclear weapons states to keep the peace: It is necessary to demonstrate the will, wisdom, and courage, Putin said about the situation in the region. More than a little triumphalism could be heard in Putins tone as he addressed dozens of officials, including silver-haired bureaucrats, women, and Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders: For the first time in the history of nuclear missiles, including the Soviet period, we are not trying to catch up. On the contrary, the worlds leading states aim to create the weapons that Russia already owns. Putin added that Russia had produced enough weapons for decades to come. Amid Iran Crisis, Russias Mideast Presence Just Keeps Growing In his speech, Putin said he intended to change the State Constitution, altering the balance of power between the President and the Parliament, and to hold a public referendum on the subject. The result: rampant speculation that when his current presidential term ends, he may seek to retain power as the countrys prime minister, which he did after his first two terms as president. After that hiatus, he is now in his fourth term. I was listening to the presidents address today wondering who is going to solve all these problems, parliamentary deputy Sergei Mironov told Kommersant, speculating that Aleksei Kudrin, a former minister of finance, could be one of the candidates for the PMs post. In any case, the Kremlin is not going to weaken its grip on the political arena or cut down on its defense programs. At the NATO summit last month, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about military challenges in the relationships with Moscow: We strongly believe in dialogue with Russia. We believe in arms control. We must avoid a new arms racethats dangerous, especially when it comes to nuclear weapons. In other words, the threat of such a race seems near at hand. Russia is aware that after the collapse of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force treaty a year ago, when the Trump administration pulled out, the world has been paying close attention to Russias ballistic missile programsand Moscow is only too happy to show off its ambitious weapons. Every day the channel of the Russian Defense Ministry, Zvezda, broadcasts military tests of the newest weapons as well as videos of military training. This week, Zvezda says, the Russian military is providing air defense for Syria, while hundreds of civilians leave Idlib in Aleppo province. The Kremlin portrays Russia as a victorious peacemaker in the Middle East, a source of stabilitya role that would be welcomed by millions of Russians, if only it were true. Over the last six years, Russia has been accused of committing war crimes and carrying out assassinations in Ukraine, Syria, the European Union, and Africa, even as the Kremlin is trying to promote Russia as a predictable, reliable ally, in contrast to the United States of Donald Trump. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers serve, some officially, some not, in post-Soviet countries. These include Tajikistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and in the Middle East and Africa. But the Kremlin does not reveal a true picture of the price Russia pays with human lives for the Kremlins ambitions. Independent military analyst Alexander Golts cites the outcome of a battle in eastern Ukraine in September 2014 that reportedly killed up to 200 Russian soldiers: When hundreds of dead are counted in the aftermath, says Golts, Putin immediately backs up. Russia has not been admitting its military presence in Ukraine, Libya, Sudan, and Central African Republic but its mercenaries, soldiers widows, and friends tell reporters about Wagner and other mercenaries fighting and dying abroad. That said, compared to U.S. losses in military adventures since 2002with more than 4,200 American soldiers killed in Iraqthe cost to Russia of its interventions in Syria or Ukraine still can be counted in the hundreds. To recruit more soldiers for the Middle East, the Defense Ministry shows propaganda films and invite veterans to talk about their success and earnings. The recruitment is like hypnosis, I dont remember how I signed the contract for Syria, I was not thinking straight, Oleg, a 23-year-old event manager in Moscow told The Daily Beast in a recent interview. He was serving in Rostov on Don in 2018. Officers promised he would make more than 500,000 rubles, about $8,140. in four months without risking much. The money sounded appealing, I guess; but my grandfather, a retired officer, made me break the contract; I am happy I did not go to Syria, Oleg said. Families of mercenary soldiers killed in Russias secret operations complain about unpaid compensations, but who can they sue and in what court? According to the latest social polls by Levada Center of sociological studies, 39 percent of Russian citizens say that the court system does not really deserve trust and 23 percent believe that the courts are not to be trusted at all. As a result, Russia is the worlds leading country when it comes to the number of applications to the European Court of Human Rights. But Putin decided to close the window. The demands of international legislation and treaties, and also the decisions of international bodies can only apply to Russias territory when they do not entail restricting human rights and freedoms, and do not contradict our constitution, he said, leaving it to his own government to interpret what human rights and freedom means. Many of Putins supporters welcomed that thumb in the eye of international courts. It is important that we wont obey international laws, finally, Oscar-winning film director Nikita Mikhalkov said after Putins address. Clearly, many Russians embrace Putins model for ruling the country: respect for the right of the strongest. Nobody knows how to make an authoritarian country with a huge nuclear arsenal obey international law, except to recognize its power, Golts told The Daily Beast. And nobody knows that better than Vladimir Putin. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Washington: The leading progressive contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have clashed over whether Sanders privately said he did not believe a woman could defeat Donald Trump. The long-time friends had previously sworn off attacking each other, but that truce ended at the final debate to be held before Democratic voters in Iowa choose their preferred candidate on February 3. Six Democratic presidential candidates spoke at the first debate of 2020. Credit:Daniel Acker The latest polls show a close four-way contest in Iowa between Sanders, Warren, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, raising the intensity of the debate in Des Moines, on Tuesday night (Wednesday Australian-time). Some of the leading candidates will also have their campaigning severely curtailed in coming weeks because they will have to serve as jurors in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial. On Tuesday, January 14, a passenger car crashed into a truck near the Polish town of Kobiel, killing four people, two of them were Ukrainians. This was reported by tvn24. "A truck collided with a car. Medical workers, who arrived at the scene, did not find any signs of life among the people who were in the car," fire rescuer Maciej Zhodigowski stated. Police officer Daniel Nizdropa confirmed the death of all passengers. He also reported that the truck driver remained unharmed and had been sober at the time of the accident. The chairman of Yaroslavichi United Territorial Community, in the commentary for Rivne Vecherne, confirmed that killed Ukrainians were brothers and came from the village Velyka Horodnytsia of Mlynivskyi district, Rivne region. As we reported earlier, road accident took place in the Odesa region: on the route Odesa - Ovidiopol nine people were killed in a disastrous crash. Ukrainian government bodies acknowledge that about 95% of roads are in poor condition. In the ranking of countries based on the quality of the road, which was made as part of the World Economic Forum, Ukraine constantly ranked the last: last year it ranked 130 (out of 137). Two key suspects in the murder of Tamil Nadu special sub inspector (SSI) of police Y Wilson were arrested from Udupi railway station on Tuesday, police said. The police have identified the suspects as Abdul Shameem (32) and Thoufiq (28), both hailing from Thiruvithancode near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. According to the officials, acting on the specific inputs provided by the Intelligence Bureau and the Tamil Nadu police, a joint team of Mangaluru and Udupi police laid the trap near the Udipi railway station and nabbed the duo. They would be brought to Kanniyakumari for further interrogation, the officials added. While Shameem is a suspect in the 2014 murder of Hindu Munnai functionary KP Sureshkumar in Chennai, Thoufiq is an accused in the case pertaining to the murder attempt on a BJP leader in Kanniyakumari in 2017. Wilson was on a routine vehicle check-up at Padanthalumoodu checkpost. When he attempted to stop the SUV coming from Thiruvananthapuram, one of the occupants got off and fired three rounds at him and then fled in the vehicle to Kerala. The special sub inspector, who received bullets in his chest and abdomen, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The police recovered three empty shells and two live .32 pistol ammunition from the spot. CCTV footages secured from a nearby location showed the assailants fleeing the spot with one of them carrying a hand gun. Police were able to identify the suspects with the help of CCTV footages, which showed the two assailants running towards Thiruvananthapuram on the National Highway. As per preliminary investigations, the Tamil Nadu and Kerala police cite the murder to be a possible retaliation for the recent arrest of three terror suspects in Bengaluru by the Tamil Nadu Q Branch police. WASHINGTON - New materials released by House Democrats appear to show Ukraine's top prosecutor offering an associate of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, damaging information related to former vice president Joe Biden if the Trump administration recalled the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The text messages and documents provided to Congress by former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas also show that before the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, was removed from her post, a Parnas associate now running for Congress sent menacing text messages suggesting that he had Yovanovitch under surveillance in Ukraine. A lawyer for Yovanovitch said Tuesday that the episode should be investigated. The cache of materials released by House investigators late Tuesday exposed a number of previously unknown details about efforts by Giuliani and his associates to obtain material in Ukraine that would undermine Trump's Democratic opponents. Their emergence on the eve of the Senate impeachment trial spurred Democrats to renew calls for the White House to turn over documents related to the Ukraine pressure campaign that it has refused to share with Congress. Among the revelations in the documents released Tuesday: a message from Giuliani to Parnas saying he had involved a person he called "no 1" - possibly Trump himself - in an effort to lift a U.S. visa ban on a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was planning to come to the United States to make claims about Biden. The materials also include a letter Giuliani wrote to Ukraine's then-president-elect, Volodymyr Zelensky, requesting a May 14 meeting with the new leader in Giuliani's "capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent." Giuliani scrapped his planned trip, and the meeting never took place. Another document released by the House investigators appears to show Parnas directly involved with efforts to get Zelensky to announce investigations related to Biden. In handwritten notes on a piece of stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna, Parnas wrote, "get Zalenksy [sic] to Annouce [sic] that the Biden case will be Investigated." "All of this new evidence confirms what we already know: the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically," the chairs of the House Intelligence, Oversight, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees said in a joint statement. "There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress." Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment. The materials show that Parnas, a Russian-speaker who helped coordinate Giuliani's outreach to Ukrainian sources, was directly communicating with an array of top Ukrainian officials. Among them was Yuri Lutsenko, at the time Ukraine's top prosecutor and a close political ally of then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was running for reelection. Lutsenko wanted to get rid of Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador, in part because she had been critical of his office and supported a quasi-independent anti-corruption bureau he despised. The messages, written in Russian, show Lutsenko urging Parnas to force out Yovanovitch in exchange for cooperation regarding Biden. At one point, Lutsenko suggests he won't make any helpful public statements unless "madam" is removed. "It's just that if you don't make a decision about Madam - you are calling into question all my declarations. Including about B," Lutsenko wrote to Parnas in a March 22 message on WhatsApp. It's unclear if 'B' refers to Biden or Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served from 2014 to 2019. Four days later, Lutsenko told Parnas that work on the case against the owner of the gas company is proceeding successfully and evidence of the money transfers of "B" had been obtained. "And here you can't even remove one fool :(" Lutsenko laments, again appearing to push for Yovanovitch's ouster. "She's not a simple fool[,] trust me," Parnas responded. "But she's not getting away." Parnas, days later, told Lutsenko that "soon everything will turn around and we'll be on the right course." Lutsenko responded that he had copies of payments Burisma made to the investment firm co-founded by Biden's son Hunter. The next month, Yovanovitch was removed from her post at Giuliani's urging. Lutsenko later said publicly that he found no evidence of wrongdoing under Ukrainian law by Hunter or Joe Biden. A spokeswoman for Lutsenko did not respond to a message requesting comment. The new documents also introduced a new character in the drama over the ambassador's ouster: a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut who asserted to Parnas in messages that he had Yovanovitch under physical and electronic surveillance. "Wow. Can't believe Trumo [sic] hasn't fired this b----," Robert Hyde wrote in an encrypted message to Parnas on March 23. "I'll get right [on] that." Hyde described having contact with a "private security" team located near the embassy that was apparently monitoring the ambassador's movements. "She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off," he wrote in one message. "They will let me know when she's on the move," he said in another. Later, he alerted Parnas that he had been told Yovanovitch would not be moved to a "special security unit." "They are willing to help if we/you would like a price," he said in one note. "Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money . . . what I was told." Hyde did not explain how his team might "help" Parnas, who responded only with "lol." When asked for comment by The Washington Post in a text message, Hyde replied: "Sorry I can't talk right now." In a statement, Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, said, "There is no evidence that Mr. Parnas participated, agreed, paid money or took any other steps in furtherance of Mr. Hyde's proposals." Late Tuesday, Hyde tweeted that he was "never in Kiev," calling the messages as a joke that he and his friends wrote "to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks." Hyde is one of three Republicans running to unseat an incumbent Democrat in the 5th Congressional District in Connecticut. He frequently tweets about his support for Trump and posted photos of himself with the president. Lawrence Robbins, a Yovanovitch attorney, said in a statement: "Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened." During his July 25 phone call with Zelensky, Trump denigrated Yovanovitch. "Well, she's going to go through some things," Trump told the Ukrainian leader. Yovanovitch testified that she was devastated by the president's comments and felt threatened by them. The newly released documents also detail Giuliani's involvement in trying to secure a U.S. visa for Lutsenko's predecessor, Viktor Shokin, who has alleged that Biden asked Poroshenko to fire him because he was investigating the owner of Burisma at the time. Biden has denied the allegation, saying he pushed for Shokin's firing as part of U.S. anti-corruption policy toward Ukraine, consistent with a broad consensus among U.S. and European officials at the time that he was failing to reform the country's corrupt judicial system. Shokin was fired, after Biden's urging, in March 2016. Parnas was hoping to bring Shokin to the United States to meet with Giuliani and record his claims against Biden, but the U.S. Embassy, then run by Yovanovitch, had blocked Shokin's visa. In January of last year, Parnas texted Giuliani to say the embassy had denied the visa. "I can revive it," Giuliani replied. A day later, after the visa still hadn't come through, Giuliani assured Parnas: "It's going to work I have no 1 in (sic) it." Shokin didn't receive a visa. Instead, he gave a statement to Giuliani over the phone. The trove of documents also appears to include Giuliani's first formal outreach to Zelensky. On May 10, he wrote to the president-elect personally, identifying himself as Trump's private lawyer and asking for a meeting at which he would be accompanied by Victoria Toensing, a Washington lawyer who assisted Giuliani in the early phases of the Biden-related inquiry. The missive came after Parnas made overtures to an array of top Ukrainian officials, including Ivan Bakanov, a close aide to Zelensky who is now head of Ukraine's intelligence agency, in an effort to secure cooperation from the new Ukrainian leadership. At one point, Parnas expressed frustration that the connection had not been established. "Please let me know what's happening and why we have not been able to do the call yet," he wrote. On May 9, Parnas sent Bakanov a New York Times article that described Giuliani's agenda for a planned trip to Ukraine, including the former New York mayor's interest in investigating the Biden family. Giuliani later scrapped the trip, telling Fox News he was convinced Zelensky was surrounded by enemies of Trump and enemies of the United States. - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Ashley Parker contributed to this report. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. CINCINNATI, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ultimus Fund Solutions (Ultimus) today shares insights from a panel discussion with Private Fund industry experts ( via a video link ) during a recent industry event they hosted in New York City. The panel, entitled Private Funds Update, was moderated by Lisa Vioni, CEO of Hedge Connection, and featured speakers David MacPhee, CEO of Ultimus LeverPoint, and Krista McCoy, Chief Business Development Officer for Ultimus LeverPoint. Heightened scrutiny into funds has increased the demand for institutional-grade, back-office administration, said Vioni. Many funds choose to outsource these functions, as it strengthens their reputation to have a best in class resource handling non-alpha generating activities. MacPhee commented, Managers need to partner with a provider that has a recognized name and reputation to help them navigate all the facets of delivering their investing vision. For many, they only have one opportunity to impress investors and create confidence that the foundation of their enterprise is solid. During the event, the panel also covered: How fund administrators can help offer transparency and keep funds aligned with Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) standards Why third-party valuations are so important When investors are assessing emerging managers, defining their criteria for evaluation Best practices for handling due diligence questionnaires The next-generation of private funds administration based on current market-drivers McCoy added: We designed our outsourced private fund administration model so that it encompasses all the elements managers need including robust reporting to respond to new U.S. tax laws, optimal data connectivity for better insights and execution, and access to a team of professionals that can be leveraged as an extension of the managers core team. Having streamlined operations results in reducing the workload for managers and provides them the ability to deliver cost savings that impact their funds bottom line and flow-through to investors. Ultimus LeverPoint will be attending the Private Equity International (PEI) CFOs & COOs Forum at the Grand Hyatt New York next week, where you can learn more about how to outsource your private fund administration from our experienced team including Krista McCoy, Andy Jones , Jessica Robertson , and Ehab Orabi . LEARN MORE: Watch the full panel conversation video HERE To learn more about how to facilitate Financial Introductions, visit Hedge Connection.com To learn more about Ultimus Acquisition of LeverPoint, read the press release HERE . About Ultimus Ultimus Fund Solutions (Ultimus) is a leading provider of full-service fund administration, accounting, and investor solutions to support the launching and servicing of registered funds, private funds, and public plans. The company also offers customized structures designed for the unique needs of pensions, endowments, foundations, and other large institutions. Ultimus deep commitment to excellence is achieved through investments in best-in-class technology, compliance programs, organization-wide cyber security efforts, and hiring seasoned professionals. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in other major cities such as Chicago and New York, Ultimus employs more than 750 seasoned accountants, attorneys, paralegals, application developers, fund administrators, compliance specialists, and many others with years of experience in the financial services industry. Servicing over 1,200 total traditional and alternative funds, Ultimus helps investment managers and fund families flourish in todays increasingly sophisticated and dynamic investment landscape. For more information, visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com . About Ultimus LeverPoint Ultimus LeverPoint Private Fund Solutions provides high-quality fund administration solutions to more than 230 firms with over $90B in Assets Under Management (AUM). Ultimus LeverPoint clients are spread over a diverse range of private fund firms across the country, ranging in size from first-time firms with AUM of $50M, to established firms with AUM of $19B. In 1995, LeverPoint began as part of The Encompass Group of The Ayco Company L.P. In August 2007, the business transitioned from The Ayco Company, a Goldman Sachs subsidiary, to form LeverPoint. The company continued to operate as a leading boutique fund administration firm until September 2019, when it joined forces with Ultimus Fund Solutions. Today, Ultimus LeverPoint is growing to become one of the largest independent private fund administrators in the industry, providing differentiated high-quality services and a broader set of capabilities, while also investing further in technology. Visit http://leverpoint.com to learn more. 2012-NLD-1/15/2020 8231 UFS 1/15/2020 West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who is facing flak from various quarters, even his own partymen, for his comments that anti-CAA protesters "were shot like dogs", Wednesday slammed his critics and said those who are castigating him had themselves opened fire on protesters on various oacssions. Ghosh said he is not at all bothered about the criticism as whatever he has said is for the country. "I stick to my comments. I am not bothered about the criticism. Whatever I have said is in favour of the country. The TMC and Congress is criticising me. They too have opened fire on protesters on various ocassion," he said. Ghosh has kicked up a row with his remark at a public meeting in Nadia district on Sunday that "anti-CAA protesters were shot like dogs in BJP-ruled states", provoking criticism from political rivals as well as his own partymen. Asked whether he is ready to work as the state party president for the second term, he said he has filed the nomination and will do whatever his party asks him to do. Ghosh was appointed as state president in December 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The right of a Fairbanks murder case suspect to a speedy trial was not violated by delays in transporting him from Maine to Alaska, a judge ruled Tuesday. An attorney for Steven Downs, 45, said it took 82 days to transport him to Alaska, making it impossible for Downs to be tried within 120 days, Fairbanks television station KTVF reported. Downs is charged with first-degree murder and sexual assault in the 1993 death of Sophie Sergie, 20. She She was found dead in a bathtub of a University of Alaska Fairbanks dorm bathroom. She had been shot and stabbed. Downs was arrested in Maine in February. Defence attorney James Howaniec at a hearing said Downs right to a speedy trial had been violated. Superior Court Judge Thomas Temple on Tuesday heard testimony regarding the delay and agreed with state prosecutors that the rule was not violated because of extenuating circumstances. U.S. Marshal John Lajeunesse testified that there were at least two mechanical issues with the aircraft used to transport Downs to Alaska that caused a delay. Also, Lajeunesse said, a building where Downs was housed was under a medical quarantine on the day that Downs was supposed to be transported. Howaniec in a statement said he was not troubled by the judges decision. We are happy that well be moving forward on our motions to dismiss and suppress evidence in April, he said. Downs was a university student at the time of the killing and lived at the dorm where Sergies body was found, according to Alaska State Troopers. Downs attended UAF from 1992 to 1996, moved to Arizona and later moved to Maine, the Anchorage Daily News reported. DNA genetic genealogy testing led to Downs, Alaska State Troopers said last year after his arrest in Auburn, Maine. In a first case registered under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act, seven persons have been booked for extortion, police here said on Wednesday. The offence has been registered against gangster Vishal Goswami and six of his aides under provisions of the GCTOC Act that came into force on December 1, 2019, an official said. While Goswami and his two aides, Ajay and Rinku, are currently lodged at Ahmedabad Central Jail, four other gang members were arrested on Wednesday, special commissioner of police Ajay Tomar said. The accused formed "an organised crime syndicate" to run an extortion racket using mobile phones smuggled inside the jail, he said. "Acting on a tip-off, a team from the city crime branch arrested four members of the gang who were working at the behest of Goswami," Tomar said. The three jailed accused conspired with the four others outside and targeted businessmen using mobile phones smuggled into the jail premises, he said. They would threaten their targets through WhatsApp calls and messages, the senior official added. The police have recovered three mobile phones, two SIM cards, a notebook with phone numbers and a pin to insert SIM cards from the jailed accused, he said, adding that 20 mobile phones, Rs 50,000 cash, a pistol, 40 cartridges, a motorcycle and a car were seized from the others. The jailed accused are serving a seven-year term in Ahmedabad Central Jail for a crime registered in 2012, Tomar said. More than 50 cases have been filed against Goswami and his gang across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Tomar said, adding that the accused would also threaten witnesses deposing against them in courts. Apart from the GCTOC Act, the seven accused have also been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prisoners Act, he said. Meanwhile, Tomar said one of the key features of the GCTOC Act is that intercepted telephonic conversations would now be considered as legitimate evidence. The bill, earlier named as the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, had failed to get the presidential nod thrice since 2004 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Browns move to Flagstaff from Las Vegas shocked many fans of TLCs Sister Wives, as it seemed more than a little sudden. And with four mortgages back in Nevada, the family didnt seem financially prepared for the move. On the Jan. 12 episode of Sister Wives, Lonely in Flagstaff, it seemed like the Browns also werent entirely emotionally prepared for the big change. Kody Browns four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown, met for lunch and revealed just how isolated they felt living in separate homes clear across town from one another. Fourth wife Robyn even let it slip that she sometimes didnt feel like she was part of a plural family at all. The Brown wives and kids | Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic The Brown wives met for lunch to discuss their difficult move to Flagstaff Sister Wives fans have noticed that, despite their desire to be close as a family, the Brown wives often dont seem to spend much time together. As soon as Kodys four wives met for lunch, that ongoing problem became clearer than ever. Meri, who had recently returned from six weeks alone in Las Vegas after being kicked out of her first Flagstaff home by angry neighbors, was frustrated that her sister wives hadnt helped her move her furniture. Im completely alone over there, Meri said of her new rental. Im still sleeping on a mattress on the floor. While Meris sister wives suggested she hire someone to carry her furniture up the stairs on the side of her house (which is built alongside a mountain), Kodys first wife said she was hurt they werent volunteering to do it themselves. I mean, to me, thats kind of what family does, she told them. Meri even said their refusal to help her move the large furniture made her feel isolated from the family. Im feeling like their love and caring for me is conditional, she said of her sister wives. Robyn Brown said she doesnt even feel like shes in a plural family Meanwhile, fourth wife Robyn, who said she always felt alone in her first marriage and longed to be part of a plural family in her second one, also admitted she was struggling with isolation in Flagstaff. Were starting to feel The pinch of being apart, the mom of five said. We are separated into the rentals, so it feels like weve seen each other even less. The Sister Wives star even confessed that she didnt feel like she was part of a polygamist marriage at all. I feel like Im not a part of a plural family right now. Its been really, really weird, she told TLC producers. Still, Robyn hinted that both Meris isolation and her isolation were sometimes just part of being a plural wife (polygamists wife). Kodys a very busy person, Robyn said. He has a lot of demands on him. Its nothing personal that Kodys not right there whenever [Meri] needs him. Because hes not for any of us. And thats just what it means to be a plural wife. The other wives agreed that they felt left out of the larger family Third wife Christine and second wife Janelle shared their sister wives feelings of loneliness in Flagstaff. Janelle even said she felt so alone that she was starting to experience symptoms of depression. Im kinda going crazy, the Sister Wives star said. The car doesnt leave my garage for a day or two, and all of a sudden I start wondering why I just wanna lay on the couch and life is so hard, and its too hard to get dressed. She concluded, Its the isolation. Kodys second wife confessed that she often wondered whether Flagstaff was the right decision for the Brown family in the end. I start to question, like, why are we living here? Why am I doing this? she told producers. I have got to see people, and I have got to see people that I know and care about, because I cant keep doing this. Christine, too, admitted she wasnt feeling close to her sister wives since the move. I feel like they were fine in my life without me and they really didnt even need me in their life, Kodys third wife told Sister Wives producers. I would just let myself get into this funk of thinking they were mad at me and they really didnt want to have anything to do with me. A 26-year-old suspect in the killing last year of a man in the parking lot of a Hudson Valley restaurant is one of the fugitives State Police say they are searching for as part of their Warrant Wednesday initiative. Jamaad Mikal Murphy, 26, is wanted by State Police in Middletown after allegedly shooting a man outside the Made in Puerto Rico restaurant at 505 Schutt Road Ext., in Wallkill. News 12 Westchester says Matthew Napoleoni, 23, was killed on Nov. 3. Murphy is charged with second-degree murder. Troopers said Murphy fled the scene with a .40-caliber handgun. Troopers said Murphy has "JM" tattooed on his right arm and "Rachel" tattooed on his left. He has allegedly used the aliases Dyzier and Tyzier. Murphy is one of several suspects troopers hope the public can help them find. Lee M. O'Dell, 57, is wanted on an arrest warrant out of Halfmoon Town Court on charges of criminal contempt, aggravated family offense, unlawful imprisonment, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. Police said the charges stem from a domestic incident in which O'Dell also violated an order of protection. Ryan E. Lawrence, 26, is wanted by State Police in Raybrook on charges of grand larceny, possession of a forged instrument, and petit larceny. Troopers said Lawrence is wanted for altering checks from an employer and then cashing from for more money that he was owed. Jacob A. Shostack, 25, is wanted by State Police in North Syracue on a charge of fourth-degree grand larceny. State troopers said Shostack used a stolen credit card in September 2018 to make purchases at a gas station in a town of Clay. Derek J. Maurice, 38, is wanted by State Police in Brewster on charges of bail jumping, falsifying business records and criminal possession of stolen property. Troopers say Maurice was accused of selling stolen property to a pawn shop. Julian M. Jones, 25, is wanted by State Police in Ithaca on a trespassing charge that accuses him of failing to go to court after he was accused of entering an apartment and then breaking items inside. Winston Sharpe, 21, is wanted by State Police in Lyons on a charge of criminal mischief that accused him of doing $4,000 worth of damage to a property in the town of Lyons. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. William D. Hartson, 40, is wanted by State Police in Batavia on charges of drunken driving and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. State Police said he was arrested after a June 2018 traffic stop on Route 20. Edward M. Davis, 56, is wanted by State Police in Farmingdale on a charge of driving while intoxicated that troopers said is linked to an Aug. 23, 2008, arrest on Long Island. Curtis L. Brown, 64, is wanted by Sgtate Police in Tarrytown on a charge of driving while intoxicated that stem from a June 5, 2006 traffic stop on the state Thruway. New feature documentary David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet will premiere on Netflix this spring, and now we've got our first glimpse of the ambitious project. The 93-year-old filmmaker has teamed with the World Wildlife Fund to make the film, which finds him reflecting on his own life, but also the devastating changes he's seen in decades of studying the natural world. Human beings have overrun the world, Attenborough warns. Were replacing the wild with the tame. This film is my witness statement, and my vision of the future, he adds. Our planet is headed for disaster. We need to learn how to work with nature rather than against it. And I'm going to tell you how. Read more: Attenborough biopic is UKs most wanted We wish someone would. David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (Credit: Netflix/WWF/Silverback Films) Featuring some stunning photography, the film was shot around the globe, and is being described as his 'most personal project to date'. Per the movie's official synopsis: In his 93 years, David Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Now, for the first time he reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen. It premieres at cinemas on 16 April, and will stream on Netflix later in the spring. Digital currency is very likely to restructure financial models and monetary systems, which is both a current challenge and a future opportunity. Li Lihui, former president of the Bank of China, noted this in his keynote speech at a seminar on the future of digital currency which was held on Jan. 13 in the National School of Development at Peking University, one of China's top universities. Noting that digital currency will be at the core of global digital economy competition in the future, Li said it is necessary for China to speed up its work in this area and explore plans to issue a China-led global digital currency. "Digital finance is bound to further strengthen the globalization of finance," Li said. He called on China to actively engage in and lead the creation of the global digital finance system, strengthen its coordination with global digital finance regulation, and promote a unified international regulatory standard for digital finance and digital currency. He also called on China to accelerate the establishment of its digital finance system with a view to promote the healthy development of digital finance. His insights and suggestions were compiled into the book "Digital Currency: a Book for Government Officials," which was launched at the seminar organized by the National School of Development and the Institute of Digital Finance at Peking University, as well as the People's Daily Press. Last spring, the U.S. Census Bureau released data showing that the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County once again lost population. In what has become a ritual, public officials were pressed by reporters to respond. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald suggested not reading too much into the latest of a long string of down years. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didnt back off his goal of adding 20,000 city residents by 2025. Both dismissed the idea that another year of population loss is a warning that the city and the regions largest county face a grim future. Population growth long has been a popular barometer of whether a city or region is succeeding, stagnating or failing. More people fuel the economy in a number of ways, making for a more vibrant place and a healthier long-term outlook, the argument goes. But the relationship between population, a regions economy and the well-being of its citizens is complicated. No major U.S. metropolitan region has lost more people since the 1960s than Pittsburgh. Few have endured an economic calamity as severe as the collapse of its steel industry. Yet, the per capita wealth in Pittsburgh is higher and several indicators of quality of life are better in southwestern Pennsylvania than in most of the metro areas that have passed it in population. We are unique, in a way, because we still are a pretty dynamic and vibrant region, said Vera Krekanova, chief research officer at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, a nonprofit economic development organization covering southwestern Pennsylvania. But we are one of the few large metro areas that arent growing and the data raise concern. The allure of growth Population growth doesnt guarantee economic health, but it does influence conditions and perceptions that promote it. About 70 percent of a regional economy is made up of providing goods and services to the local population. The more people a region has, the larger the market to support local businesses and others, such as museums, theaters and other cultural amenities that raise the quality of life. Places with a growing population provide a deeper pool of prime-working-age adults for businesses to hire than regions hemorrhaging people. Southwestern Pennsylvania is on the wrong end of those numbers, but it has plenty of company. Nearly 80 percent of U.S. counties lost people ages 25 to 54 over the last decade, a Moodys analysis suggests. The losses have been felt in urban, suburban and rural counties, although the majority of the counties affected are outside of urban centers. Northeastern, mid-Atlantic and midwestern states have been hit the hardest. And in five northeastern statesVermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshireprime working age population declined in every county. More people means greater demand for housing. However, chronic population loss leads to weak demand and lower housing values, which discourages property owners from spending on other things. For every $100 drop in housing value, property owners spend $5-$10 less on average, a study by Princeton University and University of Chicago researchers found. The tax burden of paying for public infrastructure and services is also affected. A growing population broadens the tax base, allowing for a larger source of public revenue with the costs shared among a larger group of residents. Shrinking populations stress municipalities. They see their revenues dry up faster than their costs, most of which are fixed, such as maintaining roads and other infrastructure built for a larger population and the pensions and benefits of a workforce that bloomed in an era of greater economic vitality. Population loss can also lower county credit ratings, increasing how much they have to pay to borrow money. As population is a basis for drawing political districts, such as seats in the U.S. Congress, it affects the influence cities and counties have with federal and state governments, including the ability to leverage funding for capital projects and services. And whether population is growing or shrinking shapes perceptions. Growth tends to catch the eye of expansion-minded businesses. Places bleeding residents and workers give them pause. Companies looking for a location to put a new facility will limit themselves to the top 25 markets in the country, said James Futrell, vice president of market research and analysis at the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. We were the 18th largest metro region in the country in 2000. We are now 27th. Businesses that want to grow see our data. Were one of the metros that are declining. They might not understand what the reasons are or the demographic challenge of the steel collapse. The message is, something horrible is wrong with Pittsburgh. We are not as large and were not growing, (and growth) is associated with vibrancy and health. Even the regions high-profile recovery from the economic trauma it suffered several decades ago hasnt put such perceptions to rest. There are a lot of interdependencies in the economy we are in. Growth is everything. If you dont grow, youre losing out, Krekanova said. But for us, its not growth for the sake of growth. It is more about vitality. How do we continue to prosper so the people, businesses and place can prosper? A different view The region has lost more than 14 percent of its population since 1969. But what has happened since the collapse of the regions dominant industry suggests that population growth as an indicator of economic health and quality of life can paint a misleading picture. Today, the strengths of the regions economy lie in prospering and promising industries, such as health care, artificial intelligence, robotics, life sciences, education and energy. They rose from the ashes of industrial decline to create a strikingly diverse economy in a region that had largely relied on the fortunes of manufacturing. The recovery has been widely heralded, never more than when Pittsburgh hosted the 2009 G20 summit and became the darling of the worldwide news media for its economic rebound, environmental progress, and the richness of its arts and culture. The region also weathered the Great Recession better than most others a decade ago. Its overall crime rate is among the lowest among metro areas. And top rankings in national best places polls has become an expectation rather than an exception. Jobs are being created, but at a tepid pace compared to most other metro regions. The workforce, heavy with older workers, struggles to grow. And the region continues to lose a few thousand more people to other places in the U.S. than it gains each year. But, by and large, people in the region like the quality of life it offers. More than 68 percent of Allegheny County residents rate the quality of life excellent or very good, while less than 1 percent describe it as poor, according to a quality of life survey done by Pittsburgh Today and the University of Pittsburgh last year. A region like Pittsburgh doesnt always have to be growing to be a nice place to live, said Paul Flora, manager of regional economic analysis at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He argues that using population and job growth as measures of economic health misses the point. More than numbers, its the type and characteristics of jobs in the region that matter. When per capita income is adjusted to reflect the buying power people have in their region, the Pittsburgh MSA more than holds its own. Of the 17 regions that have leap-frogged Pittsburgh in population since 1969, only Minneapolis, St. Louis and Seattle have higher real per capita income. And only four have lower poverty rates. In Las Vegas, where population has grown at an estimated 4.5 percent a year since 1969, a tourism industry that doesnt pay very high wages dominates the economy. In Pittsburgh, key job sectors include health care, technology and energy that pay higher wages. Its not about size, Flora said. Its more about the makeup of the industries, the mix, and more importantly, how progressive and productive the firms are. If theyre successful, youre golden. Reasons for the regions resiliency include early air pollution regulations, flood control and periods of downtown renaissance that helped create conditions for todays diverse economy to develop. The expertise of the regions research universities has attracted high-profile technology companies. Natural gas in the Marcellus Shale play has spurred development of its downstream manufacturing potential. And the public and private sectors have shown the will to collaborate. Flora acknowledged that a smaller population bears the costly upkeep of infrastructure built for a larger population. And the fix requires tough decisions. Regional economists have been saying it for years: If the region is in decline, we ought to think about how to manage that. It takes a tremendous amount of political will to do so. First, you have to say, maybe were not going to grow next year. Thats been a problem in western Pennsylvania. A physical therapist killed his wife, their three young children and a dog in an affluent Florida suburb near Walt Disney World and then left their bodies there for days, authorities said Wednesday. Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said at conference that Anthony Todt faces homicide charges for the deaths of his wife, Megan, and their three children ranging in ages from 4 to 13. The suspect had confessed to the slayings and was cooperating with detectives, according to the sheriff. "We grieve along with the victims' family and friends," Gibson said. "I cannot understand what would cause a person to commit such evil and horrendous acts." The bodies were discovered Monday in a rental home that sold last April for USD 650,000 in Celebration, an affluent community near Disney World. Deputies had been called to the house to assist federal agents who had an arrest warrant for Todt, the sheriff said. Gibson wouldn't say how the wife and children died, stating he would wait until the coroner released results. He said they appeared to have been killed in late December. Todt had a physical therapy practice in Connecticut where he would travel during the work week, returning to Florida to be with his family on weekends, the sheriff said. Out-of-state family members of the Todts had asked for a well-being check in late December. Then, earlier this month, federal agents asked deputies to get in contact with Todt. Both times deputies went to the house but saw nothing out of place, Gibson said. "We didn't notice anything suspicious," the sheriff said. The sheriff didn't state a motive for the killing and also didn't elaborate on what Todt was being investigated for by federal agents. Todt was booked into jail on Wednesday. Since being taken into custody on Monday, he had been in a hospital where he was taken after ingesting Benadryl and making comments about wanting to harm himself during his arrest. Court records in Osceola County show the landlord of their five-bedroom home was seeking their eviction, saying they owed him more than USD 5,000. They were paying a monthly rent of more than USD 4,900. Online records in state court in New York showed Todt and his businesses were facing debts to creditors. Todt and his businesses were on the hook for more than USD 63,000 in one case and more than USD 36,000 in another case from two judgments issued last year in Ontario County, New York, the records show. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mumbai: "Kick 2", starring superstar Salman Khan, will release in December 2021, director Sajid Nadiadwala has revealed. Nadiadwala said he will soon finish the script of the much-awaited sequel to 2014 blockbuster "Kick". But before "Kick 2" hits the screens, Salman and Nadiadwala will return for "Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali", slated for Eid 2021 release. "I had started writing this film even before I started with 'Kick 2'. Salman and I are collaborating after six years and it feels just like our 'Judwaa' days back then. 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali' is a film with a very different approach and we are sure the audience will love to see Salman in the avatar we have planned," the filmmaker said in a statement. "We are yet to lock the female co-star post which we will start working on the shoot dates. 'Kick 2' will happen in December 2021, I am in a process to finish writing the script," he added. The filmmaker last September said that "Kick 2" will not be releasing on Eid 2020. "Kabhi Eid, Kabhi Diwali" will be written and produced by Nadiadwala and Farhad Samjhi will direct. We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our privacy policy BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.15 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors continue monitoring activities in Iran, IAEA told Trend commenting on the latest decision of Iran regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "The IAEA is aware of Irans announcement regarding a fifth step in reducing its commitments under the JCPOA. The IAEA notes that the government statement also said that Irans cooperation with the Agency will continue as before. IAEA inspectors continue to carry out verification and monitoring activities in the country," said the agency. The IAEA said it will keep its member states informed of any developments in this regard in a timely manner as appropriate. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced in a statement on Jan.5 the fifth step in reducing Iran's commitments to JCPOA. "The Islamic Republic of Iran no longer faces any restrictions on its nuclear program, including enrichment capacity, percentage of enrichment, amount of enriched material, and research and development," said the statement. As Iran said, from now onward, its nuclear program is merely based on its technical needs, while the countrys cooperation with the IAEA will continue. In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran in November of the same year. In order to preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal stated in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed. On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories having not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal. On Sept. 5, Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA. On Nov. 5, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. --- Follow the author on Twitter:@Lyaman_Zeyn The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), the leading UAE-based international district cooling developer, has announced an agreement to acquire the Masdar City district cooling plants and concession, which will grow to provide efficient cooling services to more than 2.7 million sq m of sustainable urban communities in Masdar City, with a total capacity of about 69,000 tonnes of refrigeration (RT). In line with the ethos of Masdar City, this will continue to be the most efficient and sustainable cooling system in the Middle East. This advancement represents a major milestone in Tabreeds strategy of providing efficient cooling to sustainable cities around the world. In addition to the plant, Tabreed will also acquire the use of two deep geothermal wells located in Masdar City that are a part of a major research & development collaboration initiative, which will see Tabreed leverage its sector expertise and innovative approach to create unique, reliable and sustainable cooling solutions through geothermal technology. The agreement was announced during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), a global platform that brings together a unique fusion of industry leaders and policy makers to share knowledge, implement strategies and deliver solutions that will help drive human progress. The signing was witnessed by Khaled Al Qubaisi, chairman of Tabreed and CEO Aerospace, Renewables and ICT at Mubadala, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar. Bader Al Lamki, Tabreeds chief executive officer, said: At Tabreed, we are committed to developing sustainable technologies and innovative advanced cooling solutions that support the growth of sustainable urban communities. We will be integrating, in operating the plant, our state-of-the-art AI module control system that will more efficiently and economically adjust the plants operating parameters to the specific cooling requirements thus further reducing carbon emissions across the city and beyond. As an industry leader, our strategic and solid partnerships have allowed us to diversify our operations and venture into energy solutions such as geothermal technology. We look forward to the continuation of a highly successful partnership with Masdar as it paves the way to achieving the ambitious energy efficiency targets set for the city, added Al Lamki. This agreement reflects the progress Masdar City has made in developing its residential and commercial portfolio and our commitment to providing the most innovative solutions available, said Yousef Baselaib, executive director, Sustainable Real Estate at Masdar. By working with an industry-leading specialist in Tabreed, we can be sure our clients will benefit from the best cooling solutions, meeting the citys needs now and in the future. Tabreeds expertise in leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence will help Masdar City meet its sustainability objectives. Masdar City is a world-renowned green city and one of the worlds most sustainable urban communities; it is home for some of Abu Dhabis most iconic and sustainable buildings, including the UAE Space Agency HQ, MAF Masdar City Center, Irena HQ as well as Siemens HQ. It is a low-carbon development made up of a rapidly growing clean-tech cluster, business free zone and residential neighbourhood with restaurants, shops and public green spaces. Sustainability is the key ethos of Masdar City, sharing Tabreeds vision of efficient and low-emission urban developments. With over 20 years of operational excellence, Tabreed is the partner of choice for organisations interested in benefiting from environmentally friendly district cooling solutions that support the regions energy sustainability strategy. With 80 district cooling plants across the region, Tabreed currently delivers over 1.16 million refrigeration tons to key developments, including iconic infrastructure projects such as Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabis Al Maryah Island, Yas Island, Dubai Metro, Dubai Parks and Resorts, Bahrain Financial Harbour in Manama, Bahrain and the Jabal Omar Development in the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service He betrayed our country when he used the powers of his office including withholding vital U.S. military assistance to pressure that government to help him win reelection. He invited foreign interference into our elections again, Nadler said. He jeopardized our national security. He did it all for his personal, political gain. And then he violated the Constitution by stonewalling Congresss efforts to investigate, ordering an absolute blockade of evidence. In August 2019 a team of scientists and conservationists broke new ground in saving the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. They harvested eggs from the two remaining females, artificially inseminated those using frozen sperm from deceased males and created two viable northern white rhino embryos. With great support from the Kenyan Government and in the presence of Hon Najib Balala, - Kenya's Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife - the team repeated the procedure on December 17, 2019, and was able to create a new embryo over Christmas. This significantly increases the chances of successfully producing offspring. The procedure has proven to be safe and reproducible, and can be performed on a regular basis before the animals become too old. Preparations for the next steps of the northern white rhino rescue mission are underway. Four months after the ground breaking first "ovum pickup" in August 2019, the team repeated the procedure with northern white rhinos Najin and Fatu on December 17, 2019, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The animals were placed under general anaesthetic and nine immature egg cells (oocytes) - three from Najin and six from Fatu - were harvested from the animals' ovaries using a probe guided by ultrasound. The anaesthesia and the ovum pickup went smoothly and without any complications. The oocytes were transported immediately to the Avantea Laboratory in Italy. After incubating and maturing nine eggs, four from Fatu and one from Najin were fertilised with sperm using a procedure called ICSI (Intra Cytoplasm Sperm Injection). One out of five eggs from Fatu fertilized with semen from Suni developed into a viable embryo with the help of Geri, an innovative benchtop incubator with integrated continuous embryo monitoring capabilities designed to provide an individualized and undisturbed incubation environment, donated by Merck. The embryo is now stored in liquid nitrogen along with the two embryos from the first procedures. Hon. Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Kenya's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife: "As a government, we are glad that the northern white rhino in-vitro fertilisation project by a consortium of scientists and conservationists from Kenya, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy collaborative partnership has been able to successfully produce three pure northern white rhino embryos ready for implantation into southern white rhino as surrogate mothers in coming months. This is a big win for Kenya and its partners, as the northern white rhinos are faced with the threat of imminent extinction, where only two of them, females Najin and Fatu, are left in the whole world and are currently hosted by Kenya. It's a delicate process, and for that, we thank the concerned parties, the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Avantea Laboratory and Dvur Kralove Zoo, for putting in all of their efforts in ensuring that the critically endangered species do not disappear from the planet under our watch. I urge the scientists to continue digging deeper into technology and innovations to ensure that not only this concerned species does not go extinct, but other species that are faced with similar threats. The fact that Kenya is at the centre of this scientific breakthrough also makes me very proud. It's amazing to see that we will be able to reverse the tragic loss of this subspecies through science." Preparations for the next steps of the mission for saving the northern white rhino from extinction are underway simultaneously to the creation of embryos. The plan is to select a group of southern white rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy from which a female could serve as surrogate mother for the northern white rhino embryo. To achieve the best possible results for work with pure northern white rhino embryos, the team relies on experience from similar embryo transfer procedures in southern white rhinos that have been performed in order to address reproduction challenges in European zoos. Despite the fact that more research is still needed, the team expects that a first attempt for this crucial, never before achieved step, may be undertaken in 2020. In December 2019, the team also transported the semen of Sudan, the last northern white rhino male that died in March 2018, from Kenya to Germany. The aim is to use it in future for production of more embryos. However, as the semen was collected in 2014 when Sudan was already over 40 years old, it is necessary to test it first and then see whether it could be used for such purposes. The egg collection, embryo creation and preparation for the embryo transfer is a joint effort by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), Avantea, Dvur Kralove Zoo, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). The entire process is part of the "BioRescue" research. Its goal is to significantly advance assisted reproduction techniques (ART) and stem cell associated techniques (SCAT) complemented with a comprehensive ethical assessment carried out by the University of Padova for the benefit of the northern white rhinoceros. The consortium is partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and comprises of internationally renowned institutions from Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Kenya, Japan and USA. Quotes Thomas Hildebrandt, Head Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz-IZW: "Our repeated success in generating a third embryo from Fatu demonstrates that the BioRescue program is on the right track. Now, the team will make every effort to achieve the same result for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her. We are strongly committed to our plan to transfer a northern white embryo into a surrogate mother in 2020 to ensure the survival of the northern white rhino." Jan Stejskal, Director of International Projects, Dvur Kralove Zoo: "We don't know how many embryos we will need to achieve a successful birth of a new northern white rhino calf. That's why every embryo is so important and why a long-term cooperation between scientists, experts in zoos and conservationists in field is a crucial element if we want to give hope to a species that would otherwise go extinct in few years." Cesare Galli, Director, Avantea: "Having produced another embryo again from Fatu and none from Najin indicates that we cannot waste more time as aging of the animals is not a favourable condition." Richard Vigne, Managing Director, Ol Pejeta Conservancy: "We have taken yet another small step along the road of saving the northern white rhino from extinction. We have a long way to go and success is far from assured, but Kenya continues to play her part at the centre of a multi-national collaboration to save this species. Let us hope for news of a successful northern white pregnancy in the not too distant future." Brig (Rtd) John Waweru, Kenya Wildlife Service Director General: "We are thrilled at the two successful ovum pick-ups and the subsequent creation of embryos which together mark crucial milestones in the ambitious race to save the majestic Northern White Rhino species from imminent and irreversible extinction. We are delighted at the steady progress every time such a step is made. The more than decade-long journey Kenya has walked as part of an international collaborative rescue mission is a strong testament to what can be achieved when humanity comes together in a collaborative approach. We remain upbeat at the prospects of the groundbreaking efforts to revive the Northern White Rhino from disappearing from the planet. Kenya Wildlife Service reiterates her commitment to the partnership contributing to this historic initiative that's pushing the frontiers of science." Barbara de Mori, Director of the Ethics Laboratory for Veterinary Medicine, Conservation and Animal Welfare - University of Padua: "Like the previous ones, even this new embryo has been created under a rigorous ethical assessment of all procedures involved, taking care of the welfare of Najin and Fatu in all aspects. All the stakeholders involved participated in the ethical assessment, confirming the importance to carry on with this project in order to give the two northern white rhino females a chance to rise their offspring and hopefully save their species." Jan Kirsten, Head of Global Business Franchise for Fertility, Merck: "It's a privilege to support the mission to save the world's most endangered mammal with our expertise and world-leading technologies. We are excited that a viable, Northern White Rhino embryo has developed with the help of our Geri incubator." Steven Seet, Head Public Relations, Leibniz-IZW: "The additional embryo is a remarkable success. The worldwide public awareness of our conservation research is very important. Media and people show that they care about nature. We hope that supporters will contact us directly to be part of the endeavour of saving the northern white rhinos from extinction." ### Gary Starkweather, an engineer and inventor who designed the first laser printer, bringing the power of the printing press to almost anyone, died on Dec. 26 at a hospital in Orlando, Fla. He was 81. His wife, Joyce, said the cause was leukemia. Mr. Starkweather was working as a junior engineer in the offices of the Xerox Corporation in Rochester, N.Y., in 1964 several years after the company had introduced the photocopier to American office buildings when he began working on a version that could transmit information between two distant copiers, so that a person could scan a document in one place and send a copy to someone else in another. He decided that this could best be done with the precision of a laser, another recent invention, which can use amplified light to transfer images onto paper. But then he had a better idea: Rather than sending grainy images of paper documents from place to place, what if he used the precision of a laser to print more refined images straight from a computer? What you have to do is not just look at the marble, he said in a talk at the University of South Florida in 2017. You have to see the angel in the marble. Two are freshmen lawmakers Crow a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Garcia a former judge in Houston. Demings is the former police chief of Orlando and Jeffries is a lawyer and member of party leadership. Lofgren has the rare credential of having worked on the congressional staff investigation of then-President Richard Nixon's impeachment he resigned before the full House voted on the charges and then being an elected lawmaker during Bill Clinton's. 'The Smoke That Thunders' or the world's largest waterfall - Victoria Falls - is struggling to live. The recent flow at Africa's biggest waterfall is at its lowest since 1995. This is threatening tourism and electricity generation in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Victoria Falls is where southern Africa's Zambezi river cascades down 100 meters into a gash in the earth and has drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their stunning views. However, it is not unusual for Victoria Falls to run low on water during the dry season, according to reports. The Zambezi River Authority said that flow has slumped to 109 cubic meters-per-second (3,850 cubic feet), a 1.7-kilometer (1.1 miles) curtain of falling water at the peak of a normal wet season. According to the Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, drying up of Victoria Falls is due to climate change and has warned that one day they could disappear entirely. He questioned if people would want to want to pass by the Zambezi without the mighty Victoria Falls. According to officials, they typically slow down during the dry season but this year had brought an unprecedented decline in water levels. Dominic Nyambe, a seller of tourist handicrafts said, outside his shop in Livingstone, on the Zambian side, said that it is his first experience of seeing it like this. He added that the drought affects them because clients can see on the Internet. They do not have many tourists. Local businesses in Zambia and Zimbabwe compete to have visitors come to their corner of the falls. The drought is threatening the livelihoods of regional farmers. Zimbabwe and Zambia have experienced a long-running drought which has resulted in incessant power cuts due to a reliance on hydroelectric power. Over five million people need food aid in Zimbabwe alone. A video that had 40,000 hits on YouTube sparked claims that Victoria Falls was 'almost bone dry.' It features an unknown woman who claims to be on the Livingstone, Zambia side of Victoria Falls, asking people to pray for rain. She funnily refers to the Victoria Falls as "Victoria Rocks." The video is headlined, "Victoria Falls Are Almost Bone Dry" published on September 26, 2019. The prolonged drought is affecting much of Southern Africa. The Zambian president finds it surprising when people trivialize it and say 'climate change is not real.' He said that things can change only if rich countries do more to combat climate change and help poor nations. The falls on the Zambezi river bestrides the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia and the flow of the stream fills the Kariba Dam, the site of the two countries' largest power plants. The drought could curtail a lucrative white-water rafting industry in the gorge below the cataract and may see the power plants at Kariba shut down, worsening power cuts in both countries. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the falls is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site which describes it as the" largest curtain of falling water in the world." RELATED ARTICLE: New National Park to Protect Australia's, Horizontal Falls New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in a case related to the violence during protests against Citizenship Act in Daryaganj. Chandrashekhar has been accused of inciting people during a protest at Jama Masjid on December 20. The court, however, restrained Chandrashekhar from visiting Delhi for four weeks. It also asked him to not hold any dharna till assembly elections. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau granted the relief to Azad on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000. The court also said that before going to Saharanpur if Azad wants to go anywhere, including Jama Masjid, in Delhi till 24 hours, police will escort him there. Special circumstances call for special conditions, the judge said. During the verdict pronouncement, the lawyer appearing for Azad said the Bhim Army chief faces threat in Uttar Pradesh. Azad's outfit had called for a protest march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on December 20, without police permission. Other 15 people arrested in the case were granted bail by the court on January 9. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizon Media, the largest independent media agency in the world, announced today that it has hired Wanda Kato as EVP Managing Partner. Kato is charged with driving further momentum across the agencys Constellation Brands portfolio and continuing to drive excitement and player participation for the iconic California Lottery business. The move is effective immediately and Kato will report to Serena Duff, EVP General Manager of Horizons Los Angeles office. Kato is a highly regarded marketing leader known for her strong client partnership skills, her ability to accelerate client vision and to inspire and motivate the teams around her. She has a strong track record of translating business goals into improved outcomes, especially by connecting brands in more relevant and rewarding ways with Millennials and the Gen Z audience. Kato has particular expertise working across large, diverse portfolio businesses, understanding the dynamic omnichannel experience, she has significant digital expertise and a broad skillset that includes optimizing an effective data and analytics strategy for major marketers. Kato comes to Horizon Media from OMD where she spent eleven years working with companies such as CBS, CBS All Access, Pop, Wells Fargo, Snapchat, University of Phoenix and IMAX. Wanda is a highly collaborative senior leader, said Serena Duff, EVP General Manager, Horizon Los Angeles. She is a thoughtful and creative marketer, an inclusive leader who welcomes ideas from everywhere and she is relentless in her pursuit of innovation. Working with Wanda, I look forward to making 2020 another remarkable year of achievements and growth, said Duff. What drew me to Horizon was the commitment to their culture and their passion for driving innovation, said Wanda Kato, EVP Managing Partner. The media landscape is changing so rapidly that you cannot wait and watch, you have to stay nimble and iterate. To do this successfully, you need to attract the right talent and you need to motivate them to build the future for their clients, said Kato. In addition to her client duties, Kato will also work closely with the Los Angeles leadership team to enhance internal operations and to accelerate the organic and new business growth of the office. About Horizon Media Horizon Media, Inc. is the largest independent media agency in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York, and has offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. With estimated billings of $8.7 billion and over 2,300 employees, Horizon is the third largest U.S. media agency according to COMvergence data. Recognized as one of the worlds ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company, Horizon Media has been named Media Agency of the Year by MediaPost, Adweek and AdAge and is known for its highly personal approach to client service. Renowned for its culture, Horizon is also consistently named to all the prestigious annual Best Places to Work lists published by Fortune, Forbes, AdAge, Crains New York Business and Los Angeles Business Journal; including Best Workplaces for Diversity, Best Workplaces for Women, and Best Workplaces for Millennials honors. Earning the industrys highest honor, Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder of Horizon Media, was inducted into the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Hall of Fame in 2019. For further information please contact Horizon Media Stephen Hall (212) 220-1744 shall@horizonmedia.com The management of Access Bank Plc on Wednesday announced its intention to expand its businesses into the Republic of Cameroon. The bank made this known in a disclosure notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The notice, signed by Sunday Ekwochi, the Company Secretary, said that the move followed the approval obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The bank said it obtained a No Objection approval from the apex bank to set up a subsidiary in Cameroon. The Cameroon subsidiary will take off once regulatory approvals are obtained in the country, the bank said in the disclosure Wednesday, adding that the expansion is in conformity with the banks strategic objective to become Africas Gateway to the World. Access Bank had last year announced a merger scheme with Diamond Bank as parts of its drive to expand and serve its customers. Last March, the bank in a corporate filing with the NSE announced it received the final approval of both the CBN and the SEC to the proposed Scheme of Merger with Diamond Bank. The merger of the two banks was touted to be one that will produce Nigerias biggest bank in terms of both capital base and network among all the 23 commercial banks in operation in the country. With the new merger, both banks (Access and Diamond) said they would leverage on their distinct potentials to build a stronger bank. Access Bank boss, Herbert Wigwe, said both banks have complementary operations and similar values, and a merger with Diamond Bank, with its leadership in digital and mobile-led retail banking, could accelerate Access strategy as a significant corporate and retail bank in Nigeria and a Pan-African financial services champion. The planned expansion move to Douala signals part of the promise of last years merger. Upon completion of all necessary regulatory filings in Cameroon, Access Bank Plc will become the 16th commercial bank to operate in the country alongside United Bank of Africa (UBA). Local media reports in Cameroon suggest that the new subsidiarys headquarters will be in Douala, Cameroons economic capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed the candidacy of Russian Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin for the position of Prime Minister, the Kremlin press service informed, Trend reports citing TASS. "Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a working meeting with Mikhail Mishustin, offering him to take up the post of head of government. After obtaining his consent, he proposed Mishustins candidacy for the position of Prime Minister for the consideration of the State Duma (Russias lower house of parliament - TASS)," the press service informed. Mishustin headed the Russian Federal Tax Service since April 2010. He is currently 53 years old. Haiti - Taiwan : Arrival of 400 tonnes of rice The Republic of China/Taiwan has donated 400 metric tonnes of rice to Haiti through the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) for the benefit of the Haitian people. The landing took place last weekend at the port of the National Port Authority (APN) at the Bicentenary. 2,200 metric tonnes of rice are to be delivered to FAES on behalf of the Haitian government during this month to help vulnerable populations meet their food needs. On behalf of the President of the Republic, Jovenel Moise and the Haitian people in general, the Directorate General of the Economic and Social Assistance Fund thanked the government of the Republic of China/Taiwan which has spared no efforts to support Haiti at the time as several thousand people face food insecurity. S/ HaitiLibre Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:31:32|Editor: zyl Video Player Close SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two rare deep sea dolphins have washed up on an Australian beach in separate incidents over the past few weeks, leaving marine scientist baffled at the discovery. Easily identified by their black and white markings, the southern right whale dolphins were found on Port Fairy's East Beach in Victoria State, however only one of the mysterious animals was able to be retrieved by authorities for examination. "It is interesting that we have two (stranded) close together and in relatively similar locations," natural environment programs officer at Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Mandy Watson, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday. "These animals are normally found in deep water well offshore so they're very rarely seen in inshore waters." Details about the creatures, found in pods of up to 1,000 along the Continental Shelf, remain fairly scarce, as observing the species is extremely difficult and expensive. "We don't know much about these species, really, because they live in habitats that are so rough and so remote from us that it makes everything complicated," Deakin University marine ecologist Paul Tixier explained. Hoping to find out what happened to the wayward dolphin, tests will soon get underway that may shed light on the mystery. "We are always interested in knowing what's going on out there, and this could give us a glimpse of the conditions far offshore," Tixier said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Political attacks against members of the Philippine press have intensified in 2019, according to an international human rights group. In its World Report 2020 released Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), the Human Rights Watch said state security forces have continued to harass, threaten, and attack Filipino journalists three years into President Rodrigo Dutertes administration. Political attacks against journalists intensified in 2019, beginning with the arrest on two occasions of Maria Ressa, executive editor of Rappler, a news website, which has published extensively on the drug war, the HRW said in its 652-page report, stressing that the cases filed against Ressa were baseless. A total of eleven complaints including of tax evasion, libel, cyber libel, and the alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law have been lodged against Ressa and some members of the Rappler staff since 2018. Human rights advocates have attributed these developments to the online news platforms critical reportage of the current administration a claim repeatedly debunked by Malacanang. READ: Duterte washes hands of Maria Ressa's arrest Apart from Ressa, the rights group also pointed out the death of Kidapawan-based radio news anchor Eduardo Dizon, who was shot dead in July. Murder charges have already been filed against North Cotabato leaders of Kapa-Community Ministry International, Inc for Dizons killing. The report added other members of the press were also subjected red-baiting and threats with some journalists accused of having links to communist groups. Malacanang, however, has previously maintained that press freedom in the Philippines remains robust. Continued attacks against activists, environmentalists? The report noted there had also been continued attacks and killings of political activists, human rights defenders, and environmentalists in the past year. Citing data from Rappler, the HRW said there were over a hundred killings of these individuals on Negros Island from July 2016 to August 2019. While some cases may be drug-related, most victims were activist farmers and farmer group leaders, reflecting the violent land conflict that has wracked the island for decades, the report read. Attacks against members of the civil society also continued, the group added, with sedition complaints filed against Vice President Leni Robredo, members of the opposition, and religious leaders. No letup in drug war killings Human rights advocates also tagged the administrations war on drugs as the country's gravest human rights concern in 2019 and stressed the need for accountability for all those behind the killings. Four years into the drug war, the need for international mechanisms to provide accountability is as great as ever, HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said during the launch of 2020 World Report. The report said the governments flagship anti-illegal drugs program also damaged the livelihood, education, and mental health of surviving family members of victims. The group also lamented the supposed involvement of police officials in the killings, claiming some had a modus of planting weapons near suspects bodies. Government data shows more than 5,000 people have been killed in anti-illegal drug operations since Duterte took office in July 2016. Human rights groups, however, have cited higher figures. The chief executive faces a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection with his flagship anti-drug campaign. Lawyer Jude Sabio filed the "communication" before the Hague-based tribunal in April 2017. Two months later, then opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes and then Rep. Gary Alejano also filed supplemental communication before the court. RELATED: ICC says lawyer's complaint vs. Duterte cannot be withdrawn The court's prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, last year launched a preliminary examination on the situation in the Philippines. The ICC said it aims to conclude the move by next year to see if there is a need for a formal investigation for the case. A teenage birdwatcher who campaigns for greater diversity in conservation and the environmental sector is to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bristol. Mya-Rose Craig, 17, from Compton Martin in Somerset, will receive the Doctor of Science degree in February - three months before she sits her A-level exams. She is believed to be the youngest person to be given such an award, with education campaigner Malala Yousafzai previously receiving a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh aged 16 in 2013. Mya-Rose has been studying birds for almost all of her life and is the youngest person to have seen half of the world's bird species. Mya-Rose Craig, 17, from Compton Martin in Somerset, will receive the Doctor of Science degree in February (pictured with Sir David Attenborough) The student, known as BirdGirlUK on Twitter, began running nature camps for visible minority ethnic teenagers when she was just 13 She has been studying birds for almost all of her life and is the youngest person to have seen half of the world's bird species. The student, known as BirdGirlUK on Twitter, began running nature camps for visible minority ethnic teenagers when she was just 13. She has given more than 50 talks, organised two conferences and written several articles in her fight for equal access to the natural environment for such communities. Previously, she has been pictured with Sir David Attenborough and Bill Oddie. Mya-Rose was nominated for the honorary degree by Dr Rich Pancost, head of earth sciences at the University of Bristol. Dr Pancost said: 'Although only 17, Mya-Rose has already created a phenomenal amount of positive change for nature and is a fantastic role model for her peers. 'In addition to being a world-leading ornithologist, she has delivered over 50 inspirational talks and is a passionate advocate for the need to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in both the conservation sector and the climate change movement. 'We are proud of her links to Bristol and delighted to present her with an honorary degree next month.' Mya-Rose Craig with naturalist Chris Packham. She was nominated for the honorary degree by Dr Rich Pancost, head of earth sciences at the University of Bristol Mya-Rose Craig with comedian and conservationist Bill Oddie. She has given more than 50 talks, organised two conferences and written several articles in her fight for equal access to the natural environment for such communities In his nomination, Dr Pancost described how Mya-Rose 'epitomises courage' in her challenge of the conservation and environmental sectors to tackle diversity. He said her enthusiasm on Twitter had inspired so many to take an interest in wildlife and 'enjoy the beauty of nature while protecting its fragility'. Both Dr Pancost and Mya-Rose will make speeches when she is presented with her honorary degree on February 20. The teenager is currently studying English literature, Spanish and media studies at A-level and will sit her exams in May. She plans to take a gap year before going to university to study politics and international relations. Dr Pancost said: 'Although only 17, Mya-Rose has already created a phenomenal amount of positive change for nature and is a fantastic role model for her peers' 'I felt so emotional hearing that I had been nominated with such famous people and realising that my message must be getting through,' Mya-Rose said. 'It feels strange that I will receive an honorary doctorate of science before I have taken my A-levels.' In 2016, Mya-Rose organised a conference entitled Race Equality in Nature, which was attended by 90 people. She is now planning another conference, focusing on how to make wildlife films relevant to VME communities. The Paterson Police Department, which has been the subject of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation that led to charges against eight cops, plans to equip 150 officers in its patrol division with body-worn cameras by the end of March, officials said Wednesday. Ninety-nine percent of the time (cameras) exonerate the police officer, said Jerry Speziale, the citys police director. They are very good for the transparency of the police department and to help the police officers to protect themselves. The cameras from Axon Enterprise the largest provider of police body cameras in the United States will cost about $560,000 for a five-year contract and will be paid for with capital improvement money, bonds and the departments operating expenses, according to Paterson police Chief Troy Oswald. The contact includes special software to blur out childrens faces, license plates and police computer screens, Oswald said Wednesday. The announcement comes about a week after a Paterson police sergeant became the eighth city police officer arrested as part of an FBI corruption probe that began three years ago. The move to add body-worn cameras has been in the works for at least a year. Sgt. Michael Cheff is accused of stealing more than $2,000 from the safe of an alleged drug dealer and of falsifying paperwork to cover up thefts of money that other officers stole. Last summer, the police department was under scrutiny after Jameek Lowery, 27, died in a hospital two days after live-streaming his visit to police headquarters. Following days of angry protests, an autopsy revealed that Lowery had died of bacterial meningitis and not at the hands of police officers. In the coming weeks, officers in the patrol division less than half of the departments 376 police officers will receive three days of training on how to use the cameras. Excluded from wearing cameras are officers working narcotics, street crimes, traffic and those assigned to desk duty, Oswald said. Officers with cameras will activate the body-worn devices to capture recordings that begin 30 seconds before the camera is turned on. The cameras are self-contained, Oswald said, noting that each camera has its own battery and hard drive. When officers place the camera on a charging dock, the video theyve created is uploaded to a government-protected cloud server, he said. The video can later be reviewed and used as evidence in criminal cases. Videos will be available for public inspection under New Jerseys Open Public Records Laws unless exempted by state attorney general guidelines, Oswald said. The purchase of body cameras for Paterson police came at the urging of the city councils public safety committee and Mayor Andre Sayegh. I have pursued purchasing body cameras since the first day I took office because they hold everyone accountable the police and the public, Sayegh said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. HOUSTON -- The likelihood of a patient responding to immune checkpoint blockade may depend on B cells in the tumor, located within specialized immune-cell clusters known as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Studies published today in Nature conclude that enrichment of B cells, a type of immune cell known for producing antibodies, in TLS was predictive of response to checkpoint blockade in patients with melanoma, soft-tissue sarcomas and renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Checkpoint inhibitors offer the potential for long-term survival to patients across many cancer types, but not all benefit equally. Researchers previously have identified several useful biomarkers of response, which are helpful in identifying patients that may or may not benefit from checkpoint blockade. The current studies conclude that the presence of B cells and their location within TLS, which act as a lymph node within the tumor, is critical for response to checkpoint blockade, suggesting a dynamic interaction between several components of the immune system. Mature B cells in tumors of responders suggest active role in tumor immune response An MD Anderson-led study found that B-cell markers were the most differentially expressed genes in responders relative to non-responders, and B cells in the tumors of responders appeared to be more mature and specialized. These findings were first presented at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. "These findings open up a whole new area -- that B cells are actually big drivers in cancer immunotherapy, specifically checkpoint blockade," said corresponding author Jennifer Wargo, M.D., professor of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology. "This could lead us to important biomarkers for therapy response as well as potentially new therapeutic options." The team analyzed samples from patients with advanced melanoma receiving neoadjuvant, or pre-surgical, checkpoint inhibitors as part of a clinical trial sponsored by MD Anderson's Melanoma Moon Shot, part of the institution's Moon Shots Program, a collaborative effort to accelerate scientific discoveries into clinical advances that save patients' lives. The researchers also studied a group of patients with metastatic RCC being treated with neoadjuvant checkpoint blockade as part of a clinical trial led by Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology, and Jianjun Gao, M.D. Ph.D., associate professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology. Tumor samples were collected from patients at baseline and during treatment through the APOLLO platform, and detailed immune profiling was completed in part by the immunotherapy platform, both part of the Moon Shots Program. In each cohort, the expression of B cell-related genes was significantly higher in responders and was predictive of response to checkpoint blockade. These findings were further corroborated in an analysis of curated melanoma samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas, in which high expression of B-cell markers was associated with significantly improved overall survival. "These data indicate the importance of cell types other than T cells, such as B cells, in the anti-tumor immune responses generated by immune checkpoint therapies," said Sharma. "There is a great need to identify biomarkers of response to therapy, and these data may allow for future studies focused on developing composite biomarkers that represent both the T- and B-cell responses." The researchers determined that B cells were localized in the TLS, and the density of B cells and TLS in the tumor was higher in responders. Further analysis of these infiltrating B cells showed that those in responders expressed more markers of mature and differentiated B cells, such as memory B cells and plasma cells. "Through these studies, we find that B cells are not just innocent bystanders, but are themselves contributing in a meaningful way to the anti-tumor immune response," said first author Beth Helmink, M.D., Ph.D., fellow in Surgical Oncology. Wargo also collaborated on another study published today, led by Goran Jonsson, Ph.D., and researchers at Lund University in Sweden, which analyzed an additional group of patients with metastatic melanoma and similarly suggests an important role for B cells within these lymphoid structures. The researchers continue work to clarify the precise role for B cells in driving responses, but suggest they may be producing tumor-specific antibodies that could be leveraged for future therapeutic approaches to enhance checkpoint blockade. A full list of collaborating authors, research support and disclosures can be found with the paper here. Sarcoma patients with B-cell enrichment have improved survival and response rates In a cancer type previously thought to be refractory to immunotherapy, profiling of soft-tissue sarcomas established five distinct classes of the disease that predict survival outcomes and response to checkpoint blockade. Those with the best outcomes were marked by enrichment of B cells within TLS in the tumor, according to results published today. The study was led by Wolf Fridman, M.D., Ph.D., and a team from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research together with Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Melanoma Medical Oncology at MD Anderson. "These results suggest there may be new ways of predicting responses to immunotherapy by including B cells as a novel biomarker," says Tawbi. "Perhaps most exciting is this also opens up the possibility for a therapeutic targeting of B cells in ways that could identify new avenues for treating these patients." Soft-tissue sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that develops in soft tissues of the body, such as muscles and fat. This diverse group of cancers comprises more than 50 subtypes, classified by their appearance under a microscope, which doesn't yield tremendous insight into underlying biological behavior, explained Tawbi. Thus, the researchers sought to characterize sarcomas by their immune characteristics by profiling expression of immune-related genes in more than 600 patient samples. The resulting classifications grouped sarcomas into five classes, ranging from "immune desert" tumors to "immune high" tumors. Tumors with highest levels of immune markers had significantly longer overall survival when compared to "immune desert" sarcomas. The expression of B-cell markers was the strongest factor associated with survival in these patients. A closer look at tumor samples revealed that TLS existed almost exclusively in the "immune high" tumors, and these structures had high densities of many immune cell types, including B cells. To investigate correlations with response to checkpoint blockade, the researchers analyzed pre-treatment samples from patients enrolled in SARC028, a multi-center trial performed through the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) and led by Tawbi. Patients on this trial had metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas and were treated with checkpoint blockade against PD-1. There were no responders among those with low expression of immune markers, but half of patients in the "immune high" class saw a response to checkpoint blockade. These patients also had a significantly improved progression-free survival compared to those in the "immune desert" classification. "All of the patients that responded to checkpoint inhibitors did truly have those immune-high signatures, especially with enriched B cells, highlighting the fact that there might be a really important role for these cells in the response to immunotherapy," said Tawbi. "Based on these results, it may now be possible for us to identify more types of sarcomas for which we can use immunotherapy effectively." The authors are working to validate these findings in a broader cohort of patients and to identify the underlying mechanisms for B cells acting in the tumor, but they suggest these findings can be used to build a novel risk-stratification tool for better utilizing immunotherapies in patients with sarcoma. A full list of collaborating authors, research support and disclosures can be found with the paper here. ### About MD Anderson The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world's most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution's sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world. MD Anderson is one of only 50 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). MD Anderson is ranked No.1 for cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" survey. It has ranked as one of the nation's top two hospitals for cancer care since the survey began in 1990, and has ranked first 15 times in the last 18 years. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672). I was taken by surprise Friday, when Gov. Greg Abbott made Texas the first and so far, only state to refuse refugee settlement, opting out of a program that more than 40 other governors have already signed up for, including 17 Republicans. As far as moral tests go, this couldnt have been easier. This was an open-book (as a Catholic, Abbott should know which one), single-question, answer-written-on-the-blackboard kind of exam: Should we allow people who are fleeing from persecution, who have been stringently vetted and, in many cases, waited for years to come to America, to settle in Texas? How anyone answers this question with a no boggles the mind and breaks my heart. The governor was not alone in his feelings, though. Much as there was condemnation of his action, there was also support on social media. Some of it was straight up racist, so theres little to be done there; but some seemed to come from a lack of information or misconceptions stoked by Abbott himself which can be easily addressed. In that spirit, Ive taken some comments from the Houston Chronicle Facebook page and turned them into a study guide. Hopefully we can ace that next quiz. Great job Governor Abbott! Texas is already the home of millions of illegal aliens! We need to take a stand!! People crossing the border illegally has nothing to do with refugee resettlement. The internationally accepted definition of refugee is someone who was forced to leave their country due to persecution, war or violence. Persecution can be because of race, religion, nationality, political affiliation or membership in a particular social group. Its easy to see why there may be some confusion. In his letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Gov. Abbott shamelessly conflates refugees with asylum seekers at the southern border and with illegal immigration. Asylum-seekers on our southern border have fled their home countries to come here, seeking entrance at a port of entry because of fear of persecution back home. Refugees are individuals who have fled their home country to a new place, and while in that new country apply to admission to America under its refugee resettlement program. By the time they are admitted to the U.S. they have been thoroughly vetted by international and U.S. officials. Refugees for resettlement typically wait for years and are chosen by the U.S., which under Trump has reduced greatly the number of refugees accepted each year, Let them go to those 40 other states. Texas is full! The state has been generous in the past when it comes to resettlement. As Abbott pointed out, Texas receives more refugees than any other state, with roughly 1 out 10 refugees coming to the U.S. resettled here. But lets put those numbers in perspective. Between 2010-2015, the state welcomed 41,647 refugees. For 2020, the Trump administration has capped the number of refugees at 18,000. Even if Texas received 10 percent of that, were talking about 1,800 new people coming to a state with a population of almost 30 million. Full? Hardly. Where's the magic money gonna come from you bleeding hearts? In part, from the refugees themselves. The federal government provides them a loan to travel to the U.S., which they are required to pay back. The State Department gives resettlement agencies, many of them church-affiliated, a one-time sum to pay for furniture, clothing, rent and food for up to 90 days. After three months, the federal government works through states and nonprofits to provide limited assistance, with the goal being to get refugees integrated and holding down a job as soon as possible. Let's help our own that are here already. We are not a welfare state, nor can we save the world. Helping refugees does not preclude us from helping others. I have a feeling that this zero-sum attitude is less a call to help everyone than an excuse to help no one. And just as we have a moral responsibility to help those suffering among us, so should we extend those values beyond our borders. Its not about saving the world, either. If that were the case, were not even close with refugees. Worldwide, there were more than 70 million people who were displaced due to war or persecution in 2018. About 20 million fall under the United Nations mandate. Last year, more than 75,000 people were submitted for resettlement by the UN. Of those, about 20,000 were resettled in the U.S. When you consider the strength we wield and the values we profess, we should be doing more for refugees, not less. Carrasco is an editorial writer and columnist. Email him at luis.carrasco@chron.com SAN DIEGO, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Judicate West, one of Californias leading providers of private dispute resolution services, welcomes Richard Huver to its roster of neutrals. Huver will be based in the San Diego office and is available for mediations statewide. Richard is a tremendous addition to our roster. I have known him for 16 years, and he is truly first class, said Mark Kaufman, Judicate Wests Executive Vice President. With 30 plus years of experience, as both an attorney and a neutral, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will benefit our clients. As a mediator, hes built a reputation on being very well-prepared, and he is an extremely skilled negotiator with a closers mentality. A mediator since 2016, Huver draws upon more than three decades of legal experience, litigating all types of matters relating to business disputes, insurance bad faith, personal injury, wrongful death, elder abuse, wrongful termination and professional liability. He has also handled cases involving auto and aviation accidents, with a focus on insurance coverage and bad faith issues. Huver worked for 12 years in Los Angeles with attorney Ned Good before moving to San Diego in 1994. He was then with Levine, Steinberg, Miller & Huver for 16 years before leaving to start his own law firm, The Huver Law Firm, in 2009. He founded Huver Mediation in 2016 and has served on the San Diego County Superior Courts Civil Mediation Panel since 2016. Huver has held numerous leadership positions in San Diego, including serving as president for both Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (2006) and the San Diego County Bar Association (2015). Huver is a Senior Master with the Louis M. Welsh Inns of Court and a member of Lawyers Club of San Diego, California Women Lawyers and the Southern California Mediation Association. He was recognized in the Alternative Dispute Resolution category in the 2019 edition of San Diego Super Lawyers after just his third year mediating. Huver received his J.D. from Southwestern University Law School (1987) and his B.B.A. from the University of San Diego (1982). He earned mediation certificates from the National Conflict Resolution Center and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. About Judicate West Judicate West is one of Californias leading providers of private dispute resolution services with a distinguished roster of proven neutrals, including retired state and federal court judges plus attorney mediators and arbitrators from a wide variety of practice areas. Founded in 1993, the firm prides itself on maintaining the utmost integrity in delivering innovative solutions to all types of civil cases. The firms successful formula involves top-tier neutrals and an experienced staff who is dedicated to being the gold standard in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Judicate West has offices in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. January 14, 2020 Release Readout of Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper's Meeting With Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono On January 14, Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper hosted Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono at the Pentagon, where they reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Japan Alliance and reflected on its evolution since the signing of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security sixty years ago. Secretary Esper and Minister Kono exchanged views on the Middle East and affirmed their commitment to advancing maritime security goals in the region. Secretary Esper reiterated the U.S. commitment to the full implementation of President Trump and Chairman Kim's Joint Statement at the Singapore Summit, which includes the complete elimination of the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction, their means of production, and their means of delivery. This goal is the same one laid out by the UN Security Council in multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Secretary Esper thanked Japan for its strong leadership in United Nations Security Council Resolutions sanctions enforcement to disrupt North Korea's illicit ship-to-ship transfers, and for hosting multinational forces that support this effort. Both Ministers restated their commitment to maintain a rules-based order in the East and South China Sea, and more broadly in the region and world. The leaders agreed on the need to expand their relationships with partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The Secretary welcomed Japan's efforts to strengthen cooperation and improve interoperability with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, India, Australia, and trilaterally with the United States and the Republic of Korea. Secretary Esper and Minister Kono agreed on the importance of adapting the United States and Japan's capabilities to effectively address the dynamic security environment. They welcomed the ongoing, seamless coordination between their ministries to integrate the implementation of the National Defense Strategy and Japan's National Defense Program Guidelines. The leaders agreed to continue efforts to enhance Alliance capabilities and to support interoperability. Secretary Esper and Minister Kono and agreed on the importance of strengthening information security practices to protect advanced defense technologies. The Ministers committed to work together closely to implement U.S. forces realignment initiatives, including construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility. Secretary Esper noted the importance of Japan's steps towards completing the purchase of Mageshima to support field carrier landing practice. Secretary Esper and Minister Kono affirmed the importance of sustaining the operational readiness of U.S. forces in Japan. Both Ministers recognized the importance of local community engagement in ensuring stable stationing of U.S. forces in Japan, and Secretary Esper committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety for all U.S. personnel. Following the meeting, the Ministers held a joint press conference. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2057223/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At least 30 people were killed while 100 were feared kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on commuters along Kaduna-Zaria Highway on Tuesday, according to security report and police statement. The Emir of Potiskum Umar Bubaram was amongst those who sustained severe injuries and still receiving treatment at the hospital as of Wednesday night, police said. Gunmen opened fire on Mr Bubarams convoy around Maraban Jos interchange of the busy highway at about 11:00 p.m., according to security sources. The emir reportedly lost four of his drivers in the attack, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. A police statement on Wednesday night said the men were dressed in military fatigues when they struck on the axis, which has been amongst the most notorious haven for kidnap-for-ransom criminals in recent years. Kaduna police spokesperson Sabo Abubakar said only six people were killed in the attack while five sustained injuries. He admitted many people were kidnapped but did not give a figure. But top security sources briefed on the incident told PREMIUM TIMES the feared death toll was at least 30 as of Wednesday morning. The attack marks the latest in a string of violent attacks on civilian population across Kaduna and nearby states in Nigerias northwest. Senate President Ahmed Lawan, who comes from Yobe where Potiskum is one of the largest settlements, reacted swiftly to the attack on Mr Bubarams convoy Wednesday night, condemning it in strong terms while condoling with victims. The police said a manhunt for the suspects and an investigation into the attack began on Wednesday. By Javier Solana MADRID The new year began with yet another senseless foreign-policy decision by U.S. President Donald Trump. The assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, who led the extraterritorial operations of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was a reckless, provocative, and shortsighted move. Soleimani no doubt had an extremely pernicious influence in the Middle East. But he also was the leader of an armed branch of the Iranian state and enjoyed obvious personal popularity in his country, no matter how much Trump pretends otherwise. Once again, the United States has acted excessively and set a dangerous precedent that its adversaries could use as an excuse to carry out similar operations. After the attack on Soleimani, Trump went so far as to threaten Iran repeatedly with the destruction of some of the country's precious cultural sites, which would constitute a war crime. Although Trump seems to have reconsidered, his chronic impetuosity only highlights the lack of proper planning. The assassination of Soleimani was a sensationalist move, probably intended mainly for domestic consumption. Yet, in the long term, will it be effective? Obviously, the answer will depend on Trump's objectives vis-a-vis Iran. His administration has argued that the president's drastic intervention will have a deterrent effect on the Iranian regime, to which Soleimani was an absolutely indispensable asset. That assumption is questionable. Although Iran's retaliation in the form of missile attacks against two Iraqi bases that house U.S. troops has so far been relatively subdued, the regime will stick to its guns. Nor can it be supposed that the loss of Soleimani, for all his importance, will be insurmountable for the regime, which has already named Soleimani's trusted deputy as his successor. The crux of the problem for the U.S. is that it has no clear objectives regarding Iran, and hence no clearly defined strategy. In the Middle East, the U.S. should have learned by now, that is a recipe for disaster. Today's tensions do not imply that either Trump or Iran's leaders are seeking war. Yet, on many occasions, states have stumbled into unwanted conflicts, especially when overconfidence makes them reckless. With his wild swings, Trump has managed to force not only Iran into a corner (which could prompt its leaders to adopt a more aggressive stance), but has also painted himself into one. In the absence of a plan, it is no surprise that his administration constantly contradicts itself. Just when Iran was feeling the effects of a wave of brutally repressed domestic protests, the U.S. relieved the pressure on the Iranian leadership. The huge crowds that turned out to mourn Soleimani do not lie. With Iran's legislative elections just a few weeks away, the U.S. offered the most conservative and anti-American elements in the country a golden opportunity. Now, however, the spotlight has returned to the Iranian regime, owing to its own mistakes. After Iran's leaders admitted following three days of official denials that Iranian missiles accidentally downed a Ukrainian civilian airplane, killing all 176 people aboard, the regime has once again become the target of popular outrage. The way the situation has played out serves as a reminder of Iranian citizens day-to-day troubles, which reflect the effects of domestic and foreign negligence. The anti-regime protests roiling Iran are being echoed in other Middle Eastern countries where it wields notable influence. Overcoming their respective religious differences, both Lebanese and Iraqis have in recent months risen up against Iran's meddling, much of which was orchestrated by Soleimani himself. But Trump ignored Napoleon's famous maxim: "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake." Now, the Iraqi parliament has demanded (albeit symbolically) the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the country which would be in Iran's interest. The Trump administration has responded chaotically, by mistakenly announcing a troop withdrawal and then denying that a pullout was imminent. Nonetheless, the possibility that Trump might end the U.S. military presence in Iraq is not to be dismissed, even though the withdrawal would likely be rather undignified. For now, NATO forces fighting the Islamic State have suspended their operations, and some U.S. allies have begun to evacuate their troops from Iraq. But this does not mean that the U.S. is leaving the Middle East: On the contrary, the number of American troops in the region has increased by 15,000 over the last six months. And while U.S. energy dependence on the Middle East may have diminished, the "pivot" toward Asia, announced by the Obama administration, hasn't happened yet. Obviously, a larger conflict with Iran would hamper U.S. efforts to contain China, America's main global competitor. To the long list of U.S. follies must be added the perverse incentives that Trump has highlighted with his latest blow against Iran, which has raised an uncomfortable question: Would the U.S. have acted the same way toward nuclear-armed North Korea? Iran fulfilled, to the letter, the 2015 nuclear deal signed by the main global powers formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and continued to fulfill it for a year after Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the pact. And yet, while Trump held amicable meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, his administration subjected Iran to crushing economic sanctions treatment that is unlikely to encourage the Kim regime to stake its future on denuclearization. Although Iran has announced that it will now stop abiding by the JCPOA's restrictions on its nuclear program, it has not closed the door on the possibility of salvaging the deal. Moreover, U.S.-Iranian tensions seem to have diminished slightly in recent days. But this may be a mirage: The downing of the Ukrainian plane has added a new element to the equation, which the Trump administration appears all too eager to exploit. Furthermore, Trump has not abandoned his intolerable demands and continues to pressure the JCPOA's other signatories to abandon the agreement. In the end, the U.S. will have to recognize an indisputable reality: In situations as critical as this one, which was created unnecessarily, diplomacy is not an option, but an obligation. To avoid catastrophe, which should be the top priority for all parties involved, this is without doubt the road that must be taken. Javier Solana, a former EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, secretary-general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain, is currently president of the Esade Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution. His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). Addressing a press conference here, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said: "The entire operation to arrest Davinder Singh was being planned by the J&K Police and no leniency will be shown to the arrested officer." Jammu, Jan 15 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday said that it will refer the case of the disgraced DSP, Davinder Singh, to the National Investigation Agency. "His interrogation is going on," he said. Davinder Singh was arrested last week with top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naved Babu and lawyer Irfan when their car was intercepted by the police on the highway at Kulgam in South Kashmir. Sources say that Davinder was taking Babu and his accomplice to Jammu. The DGP also gave details about an encounter which took place in Doda district on Wednesday in which Hizbul Mujahideen militant Haroon Abbas was killed. The DGP said that Abbas was active in the Doda district since 2018 and was trying to revive militancy in the Chenab valley. zi/rs/bg Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:31:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Connective power can be a remedy to heal this divisive world and a force to build a more prosperous global community. And China's practice over the years has proven its viability. BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- World political and business leaders will flock to the snow-capped Swiss town of Davos next week for the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, sharing their ideas on the theme "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World." Three years ago at the same spot, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a landmark speech at the 2017 WEF, and also addressed the United Nations Office at Geneva, calling for concerted efforts to champion globalization and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Guided by such a vision, China has worked to bring the world together to solve the most unprecedented problems challenging peace and development today. Photo taken on Jan. 22, 2018 shows the logo of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) CONNECTIVE POWER The world has witnessed unprecedented changes over the past three years, adding to uncertainty about the future. In March, at a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France in Paris, Xi raised "four deficits" in global affairs, namely a governance deficit, trust deficit, peace deficit, and development deficit. With trade protectionism the norm and trade tensions striking a nerve, the slowing-down of global growth is edging towards a new decade low. In October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its expectations for world economic growth to 3 percent for 2019, the slowest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis. International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath (2nd L) attends a press conference in Washington D.C., the United States, Oct. 15, 2019. The IMF lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2019 to 3 percent. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) "Rising trade and geopolitical tensions have increased uncertainty about the future of the global trading system and international cooperation more generally," the IMF said in its October report. Beside of protectionist moves, unilateralism is also on the rise and has been eroding international solidarity. A prolonged Brexit has drained Britain and its European partners. Washington has abandoned its due responsibilities on the global stage with its withdrawal from international agreements, such as the Iran nuclear deal, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and the Paris climate agreement. Meanwhile, in a complex and interconnected world, countries find themselves facing more common challenges in maintaining effective state governance, safeguarding regional peace, narrowing the income gap, and adapting to changes emerging from a new round of technological revolution. No one can stand up alone to these challenges, and isolationist and protectionist actions will only worsen the situation. Connective power, against this backdrop, can be a remedy to heal this divisive world and a force to build a more prosperous global community. And China's practice over the years has proven its viability. Guests attend the signing ceremony of an agreement on the cooperation between Asian think tanks during the consensus conference for the second Hongqiao International Economic Forum on China's 70-year Development and the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2019 (Xinhua/Cai Yang) NETWORKS OF CONNECTION In his Davos speech in 2017, Xi stressed the need to pursue a model of open and win-win cooperation. In practice, China has been an important player in fostering connective power on the global stage. From the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the two editions of the China International Import Expo, China has offered platforms of opportunities and a road to prosperity for its partners. The BRI, proposed in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa -- on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. China has twice held the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to facilitate investment and collaboration along the routes. China has thus far signed 199 cooperation documents with various countries and international organizations via the forums, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last month. The BRI reduces shipping times for both BRI and non-BRI economies, which translates to significant reductions in trade costs, according to a report by World Bank economists published in 2018. China also seeks to dovetail the initiative with the development priorities of several Asian, African and European nations. The Piraeus Port in Greece, under cooperation with China, has been built into the largest port in the Mediterranean region and one of the fastest growing container terminals in the world. The project has created jobs for locals and boosted the Greek economy, previously hit by a long debt crisis. Aerial photo taken on Jan. 16, 2019 shows the Piraeus port, Greece. (Xinhua/Wu Lu) Connecting countries through culture and people-to-people exchanges is also an important driver for human progress and global peace and prosperity. Frequent high-level exchanges in recent years, along with major events such as the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations held in Beijing in May, have seen more diversified cooperation to support exchanges of tourists, youth, think tanks, and museums across borders. China is also a firm defender of multilateralism, calling for concerted efforts at the policy level to improve global governance on various international occasions. Through concrete actions, it has pushed to improve the rules-based global multilateral trading system, and bolster coordination on combatting terrorism, cyber security, and climate change, to name a few. The opening ceremony of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China, April 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) GLOBAL RESONANCE Using connective power to tackle pressing global issues has gained traction from scholars and experts across the world. "Anything which helps make the world more safe ... should surely be welcomed, and in today's global environment which we maintain by being, and staying, 'connected,' this initiative by China deserves to be welcomed most warmly," Anthony Glees, a professor of international relations and security at the University of Buckingham, told Xinhua. "It could be seen as a realistic attempt to recognize that there are issues and tensions that could become fissile but that together, through diplomacy, they are capable of resolution," Glees said. "Two heads are always better than one, a dozen heads even more so." Some leaders of foreign parties, who were here to attend the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, visit an exhibition displaying China's outstanding achievements over the past five years in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua) Europe, including Britain, has benefited from Chinese investment as illustrated in the BRI, he said, adding that Chinese investment will be key for a Brexit Britain to develop new industries and infrastructure. In turbulent times, China remains at the vanguard of protecting the common interests of most countries. It remains committed to promoting fairness and justice, and safeguarding multilateralism to build a community with a shared future. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis once commented that Greece has come to understand the true meaning of "friends" through cooperation with China on the Piraeus Port. Energy is the mainstay of every development aspiration, said Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, a professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and "any agenda or initiative that aims to create ... energy interconnection should be given the highest priority if we have to create a better interconnected world." China can play a vital role in terms of promoting global energy interconnection, said the scholar, adding that massive initiatives require transnational cooperation and commitment from every potential stakeholder. An Asian culture carnival is held during the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) at the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Charles K. Armstrong, a professor with the Department of History at Columbia University in New York, told Xinhua that "China is contributing enormously to the global economy and new technological developments." "It has become a catalyst for connection and exchange throughout Eurasia and beyond, in the spirit of pluralism and peaceful co-existence of different political, economic and social systems," he said. (Video editor: Wang Han) (TNS) The Federal Communications Commission says it will use more accurate coverage maps as it gets ready to disburse more than $20 billion worth of funds to increase broadband coverage in rural areas potentially helping thousands of households and businesses in North Carolina.However, a majority of the money, which comes from the FCCs new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund , would be distributed using existing maps that overstate how many households in the country truly have access to high-speed, reliable broadband, according to rules proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.Historically, the FCC has overstated how many households and businesses are able to access broadband because of how it defined access. The FCC has relied on internet service providers (ISPs) to self report which census blocks are served by broadband.However, if just one home in a census block is served, then the entire census block is counted as served. Census blocks, which have hundreds or thousands of people in them, can vary drastically from each other. In size , they can range from a single square block in a city to hundreds of square miles in rural areas.For example, according to the FCC, around 94% of North Carolina households have access to broadband. But state officials and advocates say, both anecdotally and empirically, that number is incorrect , The News & Observer previously reported.Advocates have complained about that methodology, and the FCC said last year it would create more detailed maps . With more accurate maps, more areas could become eligible for federal and state dollars.Closing broadband divideBut the first phase and largest chunk of the $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund wont use those new maps. The first $16 billion of the fund will go to competing broadband providers who promise to extend service to the parts of the country that have no current access to high-speed broadband.The FCC estimates that there are 6 million homes and businesses across the country that meet that definition. In North Carolina, that translates to an estimated 169,000 homes and businesses.In the second phase, the FCC will use the new mapping process that will target census blocks that are only partially serviced by broadband providers, opening up potentially many more households and businesses to coverage. Those Phase 2 funds wont be distributed until that mapping system is completed.In a blog post , Pai said he wished to divide the fund into two phases, so the money would get distributed as quickly as possible.We dont want millions of rural Americans to wait longer than necessary to obtain the economic, educational and health care opportunities provided by high-speed broadband, he wrote.The FCC said the new fund, which builds off a smaller fund that distributed $1.5 billion in 2018, is the largest effort to close the broadband divide.The digital divide affects many people in many rural communities, Pai, the FCC chairman, said in a statement. Ive said that the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund would be our boldest step yet to bridge this divide, and today we get a glimpse of the broad impact this investment in rural America would have across the country. Our staffs initial estimate shows that in 25 states, there would be more than 100,000 locations that would be eligible for Phase 1 of the fund.How fund will be distributedThe funds will be paid out over the next 10 years. The FCC will vote on Pais proposal on Jan. 30.The money is expected to be distributed via an auction system, where broadband providers bid for certain locations. Providers that promise faster speeds will get priority. The standards for lowest acceptable speed have been raised from 10 megabits per second and 1 Mbps for uploads to 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads.The auction for the first phase is expected to happen later this year. Theres no timeline yet for when the second phase will happen.Christopher Chung, the CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, said the size of the FCCs fund is great news because of how important broadband has become in rural economic development.In North Carolina, 18% of households did not have an internet subscription in 2017, according to a report from the N.C. Technology Association. That was above the national average of 16.2%, and the state ranked 36th in the country on that metric.Residential broadband investment like what the FCC is announcing is important not just because it enables residents of rural communities to work remotely or start businesses that dont depend on being in specific physical locations, Chung said in an email, but also because its increasingly critical for rural populations to access health care (i.e. telemedicine) and education resources (be it distance learning or just accessing the internet for schoolwork). What just happened? Few things are more terrifying than receiving a warning from the National Security Agency (NSA), and that's exactly what happened to Microsoft yesterday. The intelligence organization discovered a severe flaw in Windows, and instead of harnessing that knowledge to further their own goals, the NSA's programmers disclosed it directly to Microsoft. According to security news site KrebsonSecurity, the flaw in question resides in crypt32.dll, a Windows module that handles "certificate and cryptographic messaging functions in the CryptoAPI." Krebs says CryptoAPI allows developers to "secure Windows-based applications using cryptography," among other things. If compromised, crypt32.dll could allow bad actors to spoof digital signatures on malware, making viruses appear legitimate while hiding far nastier surprises inside. The site also says a vulnerability in this component may negatively impact the security of various Windows 10 features, including (but not limited to) "authentication on Windows desktops and servers," and the protection of sensitive data sent over the web via Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. I get the impression that people should perhaps pay very close attention to installing tomorrow's Microsoft Patch Tuesday updates in a timely manner. Even more so than others. I don't know... just call it a hunch? \_()_/ Will Dormann (@wdormann) January 13, 2020 Though Krebs speculates that "all versions of Windows" are likely to have been affected by this vulnerability (crypt32.dll has been in use since the early days of Windows), the NSA has so far only confirmed that Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 are impacted. Either way, though, Microsoft gave the flaw a ranking of one, which is the second-worst classification you can hope for as a user. Patches for the serious flaw have already rolled out to affected systems (whether you're an enterprise customer or a normal user), so be sure to check Windows Update for the latest security fixes. Built in the late 1800s by Polish immigrants, St. Laurentius church in Fishtown has deteriorated since the Archdiocese of Philadelphia decided to close and deconsecrate the church in 2014. Read more After years of quarreling and questions about the viability of saving St. Laurentius, the abandoned Fishtown Catholic church may have finally received the small miracle it needed. On Monday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sold the 19th-century Polish church to a New Jersey developer, who said Tuesday that he is committed to trying to save the stone building with an eye toward turning it into offices. Humberto Fernandini, the developer, who has been active in Philadelphia for roughly 10 years, said he purchased the church this week after the development team that initially tried to save it transferred to him its agreement of sale. I love the church itself. I think its an amazing project, and I was sort of enamored with the building, Fernandini said. We are committed to keeping the church standing; however, we are still evaluating the structural integrity of [the buildings] towers. The transaction, confirmed by the archdiocese, is a significant milestone for the building, which has been embroiled in controversy and has faced the possibility of demolition since it decided to close the church in 2014. At the time, the archdiocese said the building was beset by vertical cracks and a heavily deteriorated facade, putting it in danger of collapse. On Tuesday, Philadelphia developer Leo Voloshin said he was no longer involved in the project, and was really happy that the transaction has closed. A spokesperson for the archdiocese said in a statement that while it is disappointing that this day did not come much sooner, due to a variety of challenges, all are relieved that the building has been sold. At times in the nearly six years since the closure, it seemed that St. Laurentius fate was set, including in 2015, when the archdiocese moved to demolish it. But an effort by residents and preservation advocates to designate the building as historic was fast-tracked. In 2015, the Historical Commission added St. Laurentius to Philadelphias historic register, which gave the landmark some protection from demolition and offered hope for its future. Over the years, however, St. Laurentius, at Berks and Memphis Streets in fast-changing Fishtown, faced a series of setbacks that threatened its reuse. Though Voloshin and Linden Lane Capital Partners stepped forward to redevelop and preserve the church, their efforts were stymied by a lawsuit that sought to stop Voloshins proposal for apartments from moving forward. Then, on two occasions stones tumbled from the side of the building to the ground. Finally, last March, the Department of Licenses and Inspections said the stones that cover the towers were expected to fail at an accelerating rate. A separate report submitted last month to L&I implied largely the same. Over time, St. Laurentius became a poster child for how difficult it can be to preserve buildings in Philadelphia, a city that ranks among the most historic places in the United States. Developers often say that it can be too expensive, or that the the citys zoning process can take months to navigate. A trio of bills signed into law last year by Mayor Jim Kenney aim to make preservation easier, though advocates say more can be done. Still, had one of the bills that Kenney signed been implemented earlier, Voloshin and Linden Land might have had more success with their proposal. The bill, introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla, gives historic special-use properties churches and theaters, for example more flexible zoning options without a variance. Voloshin had sought a variance to redevelop the church into apartments but was blocked by an appeal from a group of neighbors, the Faithful Laurentians, who said they wanted to see the church maintained as a sacred place. By the time a state court rejected the groups appeal, the cost to save the church, according to Voloshin, had significantly grown. Fernandini said that he and Voloshin are friends and that he decided to take over Voloshins agreement of sale. He said he was considering making [the church] into offices with perhaps a small cafe on the first floor. St. Laurentius, built in 1882 and paid for by Polish immigrants who sought their own place of worship, has long served as a reminder of the neighborhoods roots. Fernandini said its origins hit home: His wife and her parents are of Polish descent. I told them I had this Polish church, and they almost collapsed. They were overjoyed, Fernandini said. Still, questions remain about the safety of the churchs Gothic towers. In March, L&I said it might be compelled to order the demolition of the north towers in the interest of public safety. However, in December, L&I said that the church was in better shape after the archdiocese spent roughly $135,000 repairing the facade over the summer. Fernandini said he will soon seek opinions from other structural engineers to determine the towers safety. St. Laurentius will be his first major redevelopment of a historic structure, Fernandini said. Mr. Matos faces as many as 22 years in prison if he is convicted of assault charges at a trial, which has not yet been scheduled. His lawyers say he has never been charged with a violent crime before. He was arrested in 2015 for marijuana possession. The district attorneys office declined to name the students, but a law enforcement official identified them as Jorge Morales and Jose Bosch, who are from Guatemala and attend college in Boston. The night of the stabbings, Mr. Morales was highly intoxicated, court papers indicated: He had a blood alcohol concentration of .30, almost four times the legal limit of .08 that is generally established for safe driving. He and Mr. Bosch were visiting New York and looking for a strip club and late-night pizza when the incident occurred, according to the documents. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Morales said he was about to turn 21 and was out celebrating with friends. He said he remembered drinking beer and vodka and looking for pizza but could not recall searching for the strip club. I was pretty drunk, so I dont remember some stuff, said Mr. Morales, now 22. Jose told me I kicked the box where he was sleeping, and thats the reason he got mad. Mr. Morales spent his birthday in the hospital. Mr. Bosch did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Matos tells a different story. He said he had been surprised by what he thought was an assault near his head and had believed he was under threat. Standing shoeless, he grabbed a knife he used to cut twine and tape from the cardboard boxes, ready to protect himself. He told investigators that the men returned and confronted him, with one of them bumping into him. When he goes past me, he rubs his shoulder at my chest like, like, You aint nothin, and like, Yes, so what? Mr. Matos told investigators. Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated dramatically earlier this year after the killing of General Qasem Soleimani by the U.S. military, in response the IRGC attacked U.S. military bases hosting U.S. troops, without causing any injuries. Web.de presented the interview with expert of the German Association of Foreign Policy (DGAP) Josef Braml. - Recent developments in Washington and Tehran relations have been evaluated as de-escalation. The Iranian 'revenge attack' caused no casualties among Americans, while Donald Trump backed away from the threat to target Iranian cultural sites. How dangerous is the situation? - It seems that the situation between the U.S. and Iran has become less tense. The focus of attention is once again shifting to the main "bone of contention" - the nuclear deal, which, according to the U.S., has long ceased to work. After Trump withdrew from it, there were only two possibilities left: either the U.S. and Israel put up with the possibility of Iran creating an nuclear bomb, or they start delivering preventive strikes against Iran. According to the U.S., the Iranians had a new chance to change their behavior, that is, to stop all actions that threaten Israel, stop uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities, as well as stop conducting "games" in the region. If the Iranians continue their previous course, it will be playing with fire. Iran should never be mistaken again by deciding that Trump, for internal political reasons, would not risk launching a military campaign. That is, either Iran ceases uranium enrichment and its regional "games", or it may aggravate the war. After all, the war, in one form or another, has been waged for a long time. - Is the ball in Iran's court now? - Yes, the U.S. government clearly showed Iran by killing Soleimani that its previous assessment of the U.S. strategy on Iran was erroneous. The Iranians believed that because of American weakness and the impending withdrawal of troops, they could expand into the region. Iranian strategists like General Soleimani thought that the U.S. withdrawal from the region would only be a matter of time, and Tehran would be able to challenge its archenemy - Israel. But the Iranian command has grossly miscalculated, and should reconsider its position as soon as possible. In order not to jeopardize their own regime, the Iranian leadership must make peace not only with the United States, but also with Israel. - They often say that Trump is impulsive. Does Trump have a strategy in his policy towards Iran? - He has a strategy, and it is simple. Israel and the United States share a common position that the nuclear deal does not eliminate the Iranian threat. According to this position, Trumps decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal and put additional pressure on Iran was logical. Europeans do not share this position of the United States. They believe that the deal limited Irans efforts to create nuclear weapons. Europeans were confronted with a fait accompli, and Europe could not oppose anything serious to the geopolitical pressure of the United States. Americans called on European firms to stop commercial relations with Iran if they did not want to risk access to the American market or the ability to make transactions in dollars. Although the Europeans created the INSTEX mechanism, which is designed to facilitate trade with Iran, but this mechanism did not convince the Iranians. The Iranian regime has no motivation to stay in the deal anymore. - Trump called on Germany, France, the UK, Russia and China to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, and recognize the danger of the Iranian regime. How should Germany position itself? - German diplomats should take into account that the nuclear deal, despite all the diplomatic efforts to save it, now has zero significance. An old Native American proverb says: "when the horse dies, get off." Americans has a name the Middle East for the region that we call the Near East - because it is actually closer to us. When the Americans drop bombs there, they have to deal with far less consequences than the European continent. NATOs European allies should take Trumps demands seriously and do more for their security, including in the Middle East. - The foreign policy crisis has diverted attention from U.S. domestic political topics. Meanwhile, the impeachment process is the first topic on the agenda there. Is it possible to say that Trump expects to divert attention from the impeachment process? - That was not the main reason. Most likely, the Iranians made a mistake, believing that they could advance in the region due to Trump's internal political problems. The Iranian leadership should have understood that Trump would respond if he was given a reason to strike - and the Iranians were on the way to this. Trump will use foreign policy threats to unite the government around him. Even the Democrats in Congress will find it difficult to resist the will of the Supreme Commander. They will be forced to rally around him, and criticism and control will be perceived poorly in such a situation. Undoubtedly, these events also changed the agenda and focus of attention. Italian political theorist Machiavelli would definitely advise Trump to find some conflict in order to distract attention from internal problems. - What is the role of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in this process? - Pompeo has a hardliner stance on Iran. - How can military action affect Trump's re-election chances? - The 'war president' has the best cards in his hands to win the election. This applies to the presidential election, as well as to the congressional elections this year. Trump is supported by only the Christian right-wing voters, he rallies Jewish voters around him. An especially important role is played by Florida. Trump sends a message to his voters: "Whoever stands on the side of Israel, stands on my side, because I protect Israel from Iran, which wants to wipe this country off the face of the earth." This is not only about Jewish voters, but also about the evangelists, one of the central electoral groups of Republicans who, in anticipation of 'salvation', have great interest in Israel. - Didn't Trump make an election promise to withdraw troops from the crisis regions? - Yes, that's right. And he partially fulfilled this promise. The Americans withdrew many ground forces, including with the goal of reducing their own responsibility in the case of a military confrontation. After possible preemptive strikes, the United States has fewer targets in the region for Irans retaliatory strikes. - Many Democrats are skeptical of U.S. intelligence reports... - If the Iranians give a clear reason to start war or continue their work to develop a nuclear weapon, the debate in the Democratic camp will change very quickly, becoming much more 'patriotic'. In this case, the Democrats will have to stand up for Israel - not least to convince their voters. An attack on the U.S. embassy may lead to escalation and domestic political support for the U.S. military operation just as quickly. More important, China has agreed to beef up its protection of intellectual property rights, to refrain from forcing foreign companies operating in China to transfer their technology to domestic firms, and to open up more of its economy to foreign investment. These measures could help American and other foreign businesses that are interested in selling in Chinas markets, investing there or using the country as part of their global supply chains. In return, the United States has reduced some tariffs on Chinese imports and canceled additional tariffs. Why did China make these concessions? Therein lies a deep irony. Many elements of the deal will make the Chinese economy stronger. China wants to be a more dynamic, innovation-led economy, so better protection of intellectual property rights will help. Opening up parts of its economy, such as banking and insurance, will spur competition and innovation in, for example, the Chinese financial sector. Many of the ostensible concessions are in areas where Chinese reformers have long sought to create change for their countrys own good. Chinas economy will also get a short-term boost from the trade deal. Stimulus measures, such as more spending by local governments, lower taxes and more bank credit, have kept growth from stalling, but the economy remains fragile. Private investment has been weak, partly reflecting the uncertainty caused by the trade tensions. Even a cease-fire, and the prospects that further tariffs can be avoided, might help mitigate the slump in business sentiment and investment in China. China has also agreed not to artificially devalue its currency, the renminbi, to boost its exports. This concession is ironic in a different way. For years, the United States has asked China to let its currencys value be determined by market forces. Now both countries seem to have agreed on letting this happen unless markets want to push down the value of the renminbi. In that case, all bets are off and Washington wants Beijing to override the market. The United States has deferred its more substantive demands to the next phase of trade talks. These include Chinas corporate subsidies, which give its companies a leg up on foreign competition, the dominance of state-owned enterprises in its economy, as well as a mechanism to review Chinas progress on meeting its commitments on these issues. This was one of the more contentious part of the negotiations, since China did not want to be seen as ceding sovereignty over any of its domestic policies. The new dialogue could provide a more balanced mechanism for regular reviews of Chinas commitments. Nothing will change overnight, but at least some fundamental issues are being confronted squarely. A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked an executive order allowing state and local authorities to refuse to resettle refugees, just days after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott made Texas the only state to withdraw from the program. In a strongly-worded 31-page decision, U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte said that the new consent requirement is likely unlawful for violating the 1980 Refugee Act, which sets conditions for refugee resettlement and grants the federal government authority over where to send them. Giving states and local governments the power to consent to the resettlement of refugees which is to say veto power to determine whether refugees will be received in their midst flies in the face of clear Congressional intent, Messitte wrote. One is left to wonder exactly what the rationale is for doing away entirely with a process that has worked so successfully for so long. A spokesman for Abbott did not respond to an email seeking comment. Abbott is the only governor to opt out of the federally funded program while seven other states including Georgia, Florida, and Alabama had not yet notified the State Department of its decision before the injunction. The Justice Department declined to comment on whether it would appeal the ruling. A State Department spokesman said the agency is reviewing the judges decision. The new veto power for states and cities, required by an executive order President Donald Trump issued in September, is unprecedented in decades of U.S. resettlement. It comes as the White House has slashed the number of refugees allowed into the country to a record low of 18,000 for 2020 down from 30,000 in 2019 and an average of 102,000 annually during the programs peak under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. This year, about 2,000 refugees were expected to be resettled in Texas, compared to 7,800 admitted during the last year of President Barack Obamas administration in 2016. Todays ruling not only protects the important work the resettlement agencies have been doing with communities for decades, but also reflects our values as a nation, said Melissa Keaney, an attorney for the International Refugee Assistance Project who argued the case on behalf of three national resettlement agencies. Mark Hetfield, chief executive of HIAS, a Jewish refugee organization which was a plaintiff to the lawsuit, said the judges decision reflected the fact that 42 states including 17 led by Republican governors agreed to continue taking in refugees. An overwhelming majority of governors and municipalities have already expressed their desire to continue welcoming refugees, Hetfield said in a statement. To those few who have not, we say not only is it unkind and un-American to ban refugees from your states and towns, but it is unlawful. In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday, Abbott wrote that since 2010, more refugees have been sent to Texas than any other state and about 1 in 10 are resettled here. At the same time, the governor wrote, the state has been the focus of immigrants crossing the southern border. The state and non-profit organizations have a responsibility to dedicate available resources to those who are already here, including refugees, migrants, and the homeless indeed, all Texans, Abbott wrote. His spokesman, John Wittman, defended the decision in a statement earlier this week, saying it will not prevent any refugee from coming to America. Withdrawing from the program would have meant federal funding could not be distributed to resettle any refugees in Texas, said Kimberly Haynes, a regional refugee coordinator with the South Texas Office of Refugees. But it would not have prevented refugees from coming here on their own without such assistance. Most refugees coming to Houston are joining relatives and would likely have continued to resettle here no matter where they initially were placed, Haynes said. But under Abbotts withdrawal they would not have qualified for federal services to help them integrate, including assistance with housing, finding work, and learning English. Were breathing a big sigh of relief knowing that communities across the country can continue to welcome refugees and wont have to make decisions if they want to be with their family members or access important services, especially when it comes to Texas, said Jen Smyers, director of policy for Church World Service, a national resettlement agency that joined the lawsuit against the government. She said the issue of refugee resettlement had wrongly been conflated with illegal immigration and asylum seekers at the southern border. Refugees must prove they suffered persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. They apply for the protection through the United Nations from another country and can be resettled all over the world. The U.N. estimates there are an unprecedented 25.9 million refugees globally over half of whom are under the age of 18 and most go to Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan. Of the 30,000 refugees admitted into the United States in the 2019 fiscal year ending in September, 60 percent were from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar. They undergo stringent U.S. State Department security screenings and multiple interviews in a process that can last three years and are widely regarded as the most-closely vetted entrants to the country. Other than Texas, two counties and one city opted to block refugees from coming there. No refugees had been resettled in the counties Appomattox in Virginia and Beltrami in Minnesota for years, Smyers said. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno of Springfield, Mass., which has been a resettlement destination for refugees, also said he would not consent to their admission, though city council members were considering measures to overrule him. On Tuesday, state Attorney General Ken Paxton appeared on Fox & Friends to defend Abbotts decision, saying Texas had resettled the greatest share of refugees in the nation and that it was expensive. I think people understand in Texas that we have done our share for a long time and were going to continue doing our share given the fact that Congress is not reacting to the border crisis, Paxton said. No direct state funding goes to refugee resettlement, although refugees can qualify for Medicaid and food assistance. A spokesman for Paxton did not immediately return an email seeking comment. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said hed like to have a private conversation with Abbott to get more detail about his thought process in declining to accept refugees, even as the senator said he understood that the state had long borne the brunt of illegal immigration at the border. I think legal immigration is a good thing, and these refugees - once they come to the United States, theyre not required to live where theyre settled. They could move tomorrow, Cornyn said. Still, he said, Abbotts decision was certainly within the governors purview and not my decision to make. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington D.C. group that supports reducing immigration, cast the ruling as another lawless attempt by judges who dont like Trump to prevent his policies from going into effect. Ali Al Sudani, who came here as a refugee from Iraq a decade ago and is now chief programs officer at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, said he was grateful the decision would continue allowing refugees to resettle in Texas, popular for its plentiful job opportunities, cost of living and rich faith community. He said he hoped the legal challenge would not continue to politicize what for decades has been a program with bipartisan support. I hope this will be a situation where the federal government, state government, local, faith, nonprofit and business groups come to realize once again that this is the right thing to do, the American thing to do, Al Sudani said. lomi.kriel@chron.com Houston Chronicle reporter Benjamin Wermund contributed to this report. Employees at a company in Swindon are being rewarded with four extra days of holiday if they dont smoke. Recruitment agency KCJ Training and Employment Solutions introduced the policy on 2 January to compensate staff who do not smoke, rather than penalising those who do. Managing director Don Bryden, who is a smoker himself, introduced the policy in the hope that it would inspire employees to quit, and force other businesses to follow suit. Inspire Creative Media's James Hackett, who is representing Mr Bryden, said the company was inspired to introduce the policy after reading about businesses doing the same in Japan. Reading that got Don thinking, Mr Hackett told The Independent. Its an awful lot of time for smokers to take out smoking. New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Show all 12 1 /12 New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters New smoking graphics proposed by the FDA Reuters Mr Bryden calculated that if smokers at his business are taking three 10-minute smoke breaks every day of the week, it adds up to over 16 days every year. So he decided to compensate non-smokers with the additional four days. The way he sees it, its discriminating against non-smokers not to do this, said Mr Hackett. Its not great when youre sat at your desk and the smokers can get up and take a break and youre just sat there. A 2014 study by the British Heart Foundation and the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimated that smoking breaks cost British businesses 8.4bn a year in lost productivity if smokers disappear for 10-minute breaks four times a day. Mr Bryden said that the policy has already been embraced by smokers and non-smokers at the company out of 11 employees, around half currently smoke. Since the policy was introduced one employee has permanently quit smoking, and two others are trying, said Mr Hackett. The new policy stipulates that if employees give up smoking for a year then they will be entitled to the four days extra holiday as well. Recommended Vaping and smoking together doubles likelihood of stroke says study Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) says employees are entitled to an uninterrupted break of at least 20 minutes for every six hours worked per day. But longer breaks like a lunch hour or smoking breaks are at the discretion of the employer. The Office for National Statistics says in the UK, 16.5 per cent of men (around 3.9 million people) and 13 per cent of women (around 3.2 million) are smokers. Mr Hackett said the company see this as the evolution of smoking law and it is the next logical step for business owners to take. Back in the day people could smoke at their desks, now they have to go outside, this is just the next step, he said. Were already looking for the next thing we can do. Carlos Ghosn was long one of the most admired executives in the auto industry. He was hailed as a corporate savior when the French automaker Renault bought a stake in Nissan and dispatched him to Japan on a rescue mission. He built a thriving global alliance between the two companies, and for 12 years he led both simultaneously. Carlos Ghosn did some great things, said Scott Smith, the owner of four Nissan franchises in Georgia. He gave us a lot of good product. He was the Lee Iacocca of Europe. Mr. Ghosns career was abruptly halted 14 months ago with his arrest in Japan on charges of financial wrongdoing. After an audacious escape from custody and a surreptitious trek to Lebanon, he declared that he was determined to restore his personal reputation. But however his legal troubles play out, there are growing questions about another aspect of his reputation: whether he left Nissan in good shape. Less than three years after Mr. Ghosn gave up the top job at Nissan, it has slipped into a deep slump. Revenue and profits are falling in markets around the world. Sales in the United States its most crucial market after China fell 10 percent in 2019, a staggering decline at a time when auto sales are at near-record levels. Backpackers who were sexually harassed by farm employees while working towards their second year visas have shared their horror stories. People looking to extend their Working Holiday Visas and stay in Australia for another year must complete 88 days of paid seasonal work. Many of the young women take to online marketplaces such as Gumtree to look for work, where they quickly found they were preyed upon by men. One young woman, named Tamsin*, revealed how a farmer asked her to strip down into just a thong for an irrigation job. Backpackers have shared the horror stories and creepy messages they received from Australian men while doing their farm work (stock image) People looking to extend their Working Holiday Visas and stay in Australia for another year must complete 88 days of paid seasonal work (stock image) 'He said actually you might have to strip down into a bikini. Then he said actually even a bikini bottom would wet the seat (of the truck),' she told 9News. 'You'll have to be in a thong. Then he said would I accept working nude. I just kept thinking is he actually seriously asking for that?' Sonia*, 21, had been offered a job on a horse farm via Gumtree but after driving ten hours to what she believed was the farm, she found she was stuck in the middle of nowhere. The 21-year-old was so desperate to secure a job and extend her time in Australia she accepted the job after talking to the boss over the phone. While the man initially seemed nice, once she arrived he told her she 'was too young for him' and put his arm on her leg. Nicole* said she believed there were predators lurking the advertisements by young women on Gumtree and admits she is afraid of Australian men. 'I've actually been drugged by Australian men I think they target foreign women because we don't have a network of family or friends to protect us or in some cases to even know where we are or how we're doing,' she said. Many of the young women take to online marketplaces such as Gumtree to look for work, where they quickly found they were preyed upon by men (stock image) The women all said they were targeted on Gumtree, where they went to try and find jobs. They also received a barrage of messages from men asking, with one asking for a sugar baby in exchange for $8,000. Meanwhile, other men asked for massages in return for 'cash in hand' and were looking for women to count and put away $250,000. A backpacker named Amanda* said she did not have her picture available on Gumtree but was still met with many disgusting messages. The horror stories come just six months after 24-year-old Belgian backpacker Davine was raped and kidnapped by a man she had contacted on Gumtree. She was offered employment on a remote pig farm in Meningie, 150km southeast of Adelaide in February 2017 but when she arrived her nightmare began. Davine, 24, posted a Gumtree advertisement seeking short term work and was offered employment on a remote pig farm in Meningie, 150km southeast of Adelaide, in February 2017 Gene Charles Bristow lured a 24-year-old backpacker to his hobby farm in Meningie under false pretenses in February 2017 Gene Charles Bristow, 54, kidnapped her after pressing what turned out to be a fake gun against her back. 'He was telling me to stop moving and stay still but I wouldn't let him. I was struggling and he put something against my back,' she told 60 Minutes. British backpacker Grace Millane died in New Zealand after she was strangled by a Tinder date who left her body by the side of the road. In May last year, 18-year-old Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez made national headlines when he disappeared from Byron Bay and has not been heard from since. A Gumtree spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'The safety and security of our community is our main priority.' 'While the majority of our community members have a positive experience, on rare occasions bad seeds do target our users. 'We work closely with law enforcement to assist with reported incidents, and urge users to report any suspected unlawful activity to the Police. 'The number one safety tip for job seekers, including backpackers, is to find out as much information about a company before interviewing and accepting a role. 'We recommend everyone using Gumtree should visit our Help section for tips on how to have a safe and successful experience and to be vigilant when using any online marketplace.' *Names have been changed. Fraud Fighting Group Names New Leader The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud announced that its general counsel, Matthew J. Smith, has been promoted to executive director. Smith replaces Dennis Jay, who retired after serving as executive director since the coalition was founded in 1993. Smith has been general counsel and director of government affairs for the coalition since 2018. The nonprofit organization is an alliance of more than 200 consumer groups, insurers, government agencies and other organizations. The coalition combats all forms of insurance fraud, across all lines of insurance. Smith previously founded the Smith, Rolfes & Skavdahl Co. law firm in Columbus, Ohio. The firm specialized in all aspects of defense against insurance fraud, from investigations to civil actions, under Smiths leadership, the coalition said. Smith has won more than 100 civil trials including cases against home and business insurance arsonists, chiropractors who fraudulently over-bill, pill mills, imaging clinics and other insurance swindlers, the coalition said. Smith also pioneered using data from cell towers as evidence in civil insurance-fraud cases which is now standard practice for insurance-fraud cases around the U.S. He also helped popularize searches of social-media to gather evidence of suspected fraud. An Ohio native, Smith graduated from Northern Kentucky University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati. CRU Group Adds to Executive Team CRU Group Adjusting Services announced the appointment of Adam Norman as vice president of its Northeast Region. Norman is responsible for the companys operational service delivery and client relationships across a multi-state territory, CRU Group said. The company is headquartered in London with a U.S. headquarters in Dallas. Normans background includes claims technical, operational and client-facing experience, the company said. Norman and his family will remain based in Boston. He will report directly to the U.S. chief executive officer and serve on the U.S. Leadership Team, the company said. Liberty Company Appoints Claims Manager The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers announcedhad appointed Kimaili Davis as claims manager. Davis graduated from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. She started his career with the National American Insurance Company of California and has over 25 years of claims experience, specializing in workers compensation, the company said. Her previous employers include Hub International, Momentous Insurance Brokerage, and most recently Poms & Associates, the company said. Kimaili will be focusing on expanding the companys claims department to match its aggressive growth strategy. Liberty is an independently owned, full-service broker with offices throughout the country. Transcom Hires Business Development Director Transcom Solutions, which provides transportation and translation services for the workers compensation industry, has appointed Stephen Rios as director of business development. Rios will be responsible for maintaining and developing client relationships within Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, as well as executing sales and marketing strategies, the company said. Transcom said Rios has more than 20 years of experience within the sales, marketing, and account management arenas of the workers compensation health care industry. Most recently, he was vice president of client services for Orchid Medical. His career includes leadership positions at Mitchell International (formerly Jorden Reses PBM), Tech Health, and Cypress Care. Based in Braselton, Ga., Rios is an active member of the national Risk InsuranceManagement Society, the Atlanta RIMS chapter, and the Atlanta Claims Association. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Georgia. Transcom is headquartered in Riverview, Fla. (Bloomberg) -- The FBI is pressing Apple Inc. to help it break into a terrorists iPhones, but the government can hack into the devices without the technology giant, according to experts in cybersecurity and digital forensics. Investigators can exploit a range of security vulnerabilities -- available directly or through providers such as Cellebrite and Grayshift -- to break into the phones, the security experts said. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the perpetrator of a Dec. 6 terrorist attack at a Navy base in Florida, had an iPhone 5 and iPhone 7, models that were first released in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Alshamrani died and the handsets were locked, leaving the FBI looking for ways to hack into the devices. A 5 and a 7? You can absolutely get into that, said Will Strafach, a well-known iPhone hacker who now runs the security company Guardian Firewall. I wouldnt call it childs play, but its not super difficult. That counters the U.S. governments stance. Attorney General William Barr slammed Apple on Monday, saying the company hasnt done enough to help the FBI break into the iPhones. Apple in New Clash With U.S. Over Access to Terrorists IPhones We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday. The comments add to pressure on Apple to create special ways for the authorities to access iPhones. Apple has refused to build such backdoors, saying they would be used by bad actors, too. Indeed, Strafach and other security experts said Apple wouldnt need to create a backdoor for the FBI to access the iPhones that belonged to Alshamrani. Neil Broom, who works with law enforcement agencies to unlock devices, warned that the software version running on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 could make it more difficult to break into the handsets. But it would still be possible. Story continues If the particular phones were at a particular iOS version, it might be as easy as an hour and boom, they are in. But they could be at an iOS version that doesnt have a vulnerability, he said. On Tuesday, a Department of Justice spokesman said he didnt have any update on the governments efforts to unlock the device. Apple referred to comments it made on Monday. Apple Says Its Helping FBI Investigate Florida Terrorist Attack Still, new vulnerabilities and exploits are uncovered all the time. Apple and security firms such as Cellebrite play a cat-and-mouse game nowadays. The iPhone maker releases a new device or a new version of its iOS operating system that locks everything down. Then security firms and researchers start probing, and often find ways to hack into the handsets after several months. Those exploits sometimes turn into tools that the FBI and police can use to access data on iPhones. Broom said U.S. agencies work with security firms, including Cellebrite, that would bend over backwards to help the government in hopes of winning big contracts. Our technology is used by thousands of organizations globally to lawfully access and analyze very specific digital data as part of ongoing investigations, Cellebrite, owned by Japan-based Sun Corp., said in a statement. As a matter of company policy we do not comment on any ongoing investigations. In 2016, Bloomberg News reported that Cellebrite helped the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to a shooter behind an attack in San Bernardino, California. The company has declined to confirm its participation. The Behind-the-Scenes Fight Between Apple and the FBI GrayKey is offered by Grayshift, a firm based in Atlanta that counts former Apple software security engineer Braden Thomas among its staff. Grayshift didnt respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. A new security flaw known as Checkm8 affects chips in iPhones released between 2011 and 2017, according to Strafach and other researchers. That includes the iPhone 5 and iPhone 7. With the Checkm8 vulnerability, you should be able to get a forensically sound image of the file system, unless they had a crazy long passphrase, Strafach said. The iPhone 7 includes the Secure Enclave, a dedicated chip for storing fingerprint data and other sensitive information on the device, but even that could be breakable, he said. Its simply a question of whether the government will pay a contractor to get into these phones, Strafach added. If it cant be done with the Checkm8 vulnerability, they can pay a contractor to do it. The Checkm8 flaw may support updated hacking tools from Cellebrite. The Israel-based company offers a UFED Physical Analyzer, a special Touch2 tablet and software for PCs called 4PC to law enforcement agencies and other customers. That all costs about $15,000, according to Broom. Theres often an annual maintenance fee of more than $4,000, too, Broom said. The FBI would likely also need other tools to unlock the iPhones, such as Grayshifts GrayKey or Cellebrite Premium, a special on-premise service for law enforcement agencies. Those could cost $100,000 to $150,000, according to Broom. They already have these tools around the country. So they wouldnt be paying anything more to break into these phones, they could just be waiting for a certain exploit like Checkm8 to become available, Broom said. Japanese Pinball Maker Tied to IPhone Hack Set for Terror Fight On Monday, Apple said it has provided all of the information it has related to the device, via internet-based services such as iCloud. However, some data of potential interest to the FBI would only be available on the iPhones. For instance, iMessage texts are encrypted when stored in the cloud, but they are often readable on the devices. This wont end the standoff between the FBI and Apple, though. It is becoming more difficult for firms like Cellebrite to hack into iPhones as the devices get more sophisticated, said Yotam Gutman, marketing director at cybersecurity company SentinelOne. Breaking into an iPhone 11, the latest Apple smartphone, would be a lot harder, if not impossible, Strafach said. (Updates with Cellebrite comment in 14th paragraph) --With assistance from Gwen Ackerman and Amy Thomson. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at mgurman1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Jillian Ward For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. As expected, Microsoft did reveal a fundamental flaw in Windows that affected Windows 10s cryptographic library. Januarys Patch Tuesday updates issued today, however, fix the issue, which is specific to Windows 10 and Windows Server. The flaw, CVE-2020-0601, was found in the usermode cryptographic library, CRYPT32.DLL, that affects Windows 10 systems. (Contrary to earlier rumors, it does not affect Windows 7, which coincidentally is being shut down Tuesday as well.) Fortunately, Microsoft reported that the library was not in active use, though that doesnt prevent an attacker from weaponizing it now that its been disclosed. Specifically, the attack could allow malware to hide behind a spoofed cyrptographic signature. Antivirus software could therefore identify malware as legitimate applications, or fake banking sites could use the vulnerability to trick a users PC into thinking it was legitimate. Microsoft did not cite the source that reported the vulnerability. The Washington Post had reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) had developed the exploit, then turned it over to Microsoft. The NSA itself took credit for the discovery in a security advisory released Tuesday. Specifically, CVE-2020-0601 will affect Windows 10, according to Microsoft. The NSA believes it will affect Windows Server 2016/2019 as well. Exploitation of the vulnerability allows attackers to defeat trusted network connections and deliver executable code while appearing as legitimately trusted entities, the NSA said. Examples where validation of trust may be impacted include: HTTPS connections, signed files and emails, [and] signed executable code launched as user-mode processes. The NSA advised basically everyone to apply the Patch Tuesday patches as quickly as possible to avoid risking their PCs. NSA assesses the vulnerability to be severe and that sophisticated cyber actors will understand the underlying flaw very quickly and, if exploited, would render the previously mentioned platforms as fundamentally vulnerable, the NSA wrote. The consequences of not patching the vulnerability are severe and widespread. Remote exploitation tools will likely be made quickly and widely available. Users should ensure that their Windows 10 PCs are up to date, and make sure that they enable Windows Update to send down the patch when its ready. More details of the January 2020 Windows security updates are available here. - A Delta airliner experiencing mechanical trouble dumped jet fuel onto a school playground in the Los Angeles area, leaving 20 students and several adults with minor injuries. Delta Flight 89 took off from Los Angeles en route to Shanghai on Tuesday and was forced to turn back due to engine trouble, a Delta spokesperson said. The plane landed safely around noon after dumping its fuel, which fell onto a wide area, including Park Avenue Elementary School, located about 16 miles (25 kilometres) east of the airport. Fire officials said about 20 children and 11 adults complaining of skin irritation or minor respiratory problems at the elementary school were treated on the spot and did not require hospitalisation. In a statement to AFP, a Delta spokesperson said the fuel was released to allow the plane to land safely. "Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX," Adrian Gee said in the statement. "The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight," he added. "We are in touch with Los Angeles World Airports and the LA County Fire Department and share concerns regarding reported minor injuries to adults and children at a school in the area." The fuel also landed on other schools in south Los Angeles but there were no injuries among students or staff, authorities said. In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said students and staff were on the playground of the elementary school when the incident happened. They "may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes", it said, adding that school officials "immediately called paramedics, who are on the scene and are treating anyone who is complaining of skin irritation or breathing problems". The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident and said there are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of major US airports. "These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground," the agency said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A father has confessed to killing his wife, three children and their dog inside their home in a town designed and developed by Disney, a sheriff has said, as it's revealed he owed creditors $100,000. Anthony Todt, his wife Megan and their children Alek, Tyler and Zoe were reported missing from the Celebration gated community of 7,400 people, on the outskirts of Disney Hollywood Studios theme park last week. Neighbors hadn't seen them since mid-December and relatives said they hadn't heard from them since January 6. But cops say the physical therapist, 44, was replying to text messages from loved ones while living with their dead bodies. Anthony Todt, killed his wife Megan, their children Alek, Tyler and Zoe, and their dog, according to police. They were reported missing by family members a week ago but neighbors hadn't seen them since mid-December Cops said he was taken to hospital after having taken some pills when they arrested him. He is pictured Wednesday being led from Sheriffs Office Administration Building to be transport to jail On Monday, officers confirmed four bodies had been found inside the home in Celebration - a gated community designed and developed by Walt Disney. Police said the family had been inside the entire time and Todt sent messages to relatives as he lived with the bodies The manner in which they died and where they were found in the home has not yet been made public. However they are believed to have died 'sometime toward the end of December'. Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said Wednesday: 'I can tell you on December 29, 2019, our office received a request by a family member of Anthony Todt who resides outside of the State of Florida to check the well-being of the Todt family because she had been told they had the flu, and she had not heard from them for two days' . He said authorities went to the home on Reserve Place but werent able to contact anyone inside. However it wasn't a concern as Todt, who owns a practice in Connecticut was known to travel during the week and fly back to Florida for weekends. Cops 'did not observe anything suspicious' during the visit. But they returned to the physical therapist's home on Monday - a day after a concerned neighbor called them. They obtained a warrant to enter the property and found the family had been 'inside the home the entire time'. 'Deputies discovered four deceased individuals inside,' Sheriff Russ Gibson said. Todt was arrested at gunpoint in front of shocked neighbors. Police added that Todt was taken to hospital after taking pills and making comments about harming himself. Todt was pictured Wednesday in a white jumpsuit after his release from hospital and while being transported to jail. The sheriff continued: 'The cause of death of the four decedents inside the home is homicide. Anthony has cooperated with the investigation, and he has confessed to killing his wife Megan Todt, 42 years of ageand their three children.' He added: 'Anthony also killed their family dog, Breezy.' They had recently moved from Connecticut to the rented home in Florida on the outskirts of Disney World and in December were served with an eviction notice for their rented home They own two physical therapist businesses and owe two creditors $100,000 after defaulting accounts from 2018 Family said they last heard from them January 6 but Todt sent messages to relatives as he lived with the bodies. Cops first did a welfare check at the home December 29 after family reported concerns. Authorities werent able to contact anyone inside but weren't concerned as the family often traveled Cops returned to the home Monday with a warrant to enter after neighbors contacted them and federal police said they were unable to get in contact The Todt's had recently moved from Colchester, Connecticut, to Celebration, Florida. They had lived in Florida two years and court documents show the couple was served with an eviction notice December 22. A total of $6,300 was reportedly owed for December ($4,921) and January rents at the North Village home. The couple's one-year lease runs until the end of April 2020. However they owned another home 500 feet away on Longview Avenue. Anthony runs two physical therapy businesses in Connecticut - including Performance Edge Sports LLC - and obtained a licence in 1999. But the state says his physical therapy credentials lapsed on September 9, 2019, after they were not renewed. According to the business' page, Family Physical Therapy, Megan was a physical therapy instructor at the family's business. Both Anthony and Megan earned master's degrees in physical therapy and Megan was also a qualified yoga instructor. Megan's licence was active until the end of January. The landlords of that business's Westchester, Connecticut office were in the process of eviction for the Middletown Road location last week, the Hartford Courant reports. He owned $100,000 to two creditors, and two New York investment firms sued Todt in early 2019. The suspect had agreed to fulfill payments to Green Capital Funding LLC by June 2018 and stopped sending any payment by December 2018. He owes the company $63,525, including interest and attorney's fees on a $50,218 damage claim, according to the Norwich Bulletin. The company sued him January 24, 2019. He stopped paying Business Merchant Funding in February then they sued him in March. He owes them $36,200. Mr Todt was under probe in an open 'False Claims Act investigation' but details are under seal. A neighbor said Todt was led out of the house at gunpoint Friday before being arrested in front of the house On Wednesday, it was unclear how they died and where they were found at home Friday Pictured: Authorities appear to be loading bodies into a hearse outside the home in Celebration, Florida Mr Todt was also under probe in an open 'False Claims Act investigation', Attorney William Tong confirmed to Fox 16 on Tuesday. Details of the case connected to Connecticut are sealed. Federal agents said they had 'negative results' when they tried to contact the family, and on January 9 contacted local police. 'It brings me great sadness to report such a tragedy,' the sheriff continued in the news conference. 'I can not understand what would cause a person to commit such evil or horrendous acts. 'But I can say that if theres any one person or any family out there thats going through a crisis or a difficult situation, theres help out there for you.' When Todt was only four years old his father was convicted of the attempted murder of Todt's mother, Loretta Schmid. Robert Todt was having an affair and the wrestling teacher ordered one of his special education students to kill his wife, but the mother survived being shot in the face, however she lost an eye in the 1980 incident. Both Anthony and Megan earned master's degrees in physical therapy and Megan was also a qualified yoga instructor Pictured: a residential eviction document filed on December 22 against Anthony and Megan Todt at the home address in Celebration, Florida After the family were feared missing, a Facebook group titled 'Looking for the Todt Family' was created where one family friend wrote: 'Worried sick! I keep sending them messages on messenger and they are being sent but not delivered. I'm guessing their phones are off. Praying for their safe return.' Social media posts indicated the children were home-schooled. A neighbor said her husband last saw the family in a packed vehicle on December 15. 'They are our neighbors and my kids play with them. He speaks to them often when he is walking our dog bc Megan is often out walking theirs. My kids haven't played with them since before Christmas because they have not seen them outside,' she wrote. 'My husband was going to offer them our beach buckets bc he was going to toss them and he assumed they were going on vacation because of the way their vehicle was packed.' The First Selectman's Office Town of Colchester said the news was 'shocking'. For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255. Scandal-ridden conglomerate Fuxing Group received another blow as the industry regulator revoked the business licenses of its private fund affiliates and banned former executives from working in the industry as part of a campaign to clean up market irregularities. The Asset Management Association of China, a self-regulatory organization of fund management companies, issued a penalty order Wednesday over allegations including billions of dollars of embezzlement and illegal marketing and business practices. The association said about 36.6 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) of funds raised by Fuxing were embezzled, including 669 million yuan for executives personal use, causing massive losses for investors. The fund industry regulators decision followed penalties issued last week against Fuxing and its former executives by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The CSRC and Asset Management Association penalties are administrative orders. Criminal investigations of the companies and former executives are still underway. The associations order revokes the qualifications of two Fuxing-affiliated companies to run private fund management businesses. The association also slapped lifetime bans from the fund market on Zhu Yidong, former chairman of Fuxing Group, and ex-President Zhao Zhuoquan. Five other former managers of Fuxing Group were banned over the next three or 10 years for their involvement in the companys violations, the Asset Management Association said. The CSRC, Chinas top securities regulator, also banned Zhu and Zhao from entering the securities market for life, according to a statement last week. Fuxing, which ran a massive web of affiliated companies and privately offered funds, lies at the center of a financial scandal that since mid-2018 has become one of the biggest crises ever to hit Chinas private fund industry. The case shed light on the brewing risks in Chinas booming private fund sector as fund managers exploited legal loopholes to tap risky businesses with clients funds. Caixin learned last year that auditors found that Fuxing and its subsidiaries had about 20 billion yuan of assets on their books but more than 40 billion yuan of unpaid debts. The CSRC found that the 160 privately offered funds managed by Fuxing affiliates had raised 36.8 billion yuan from investors over roughly six years starting in 2012. However, most of the money did not end up invested in the projects described in the companys contracts with investors. Instead, it was funneled through Fuxings affiliated companies into accounts that the CSRC referred to as pools of funds, which executives then tapped for other purposes, including their personal use. Fuxings private fund affiliates violated industry rules by marketing privately offered funds to random, public investors, promising guaranteed returns, the fund industry regulator said. Since September 2018, more than a dozen executives from Fuxing and affiliates were taken into custody by Shanghai police over the case. In August 2018, Zhu was arrested abroad and brought back after he fled. Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) Guo Yingzhe contributed to this story. Caixin Global has launched Caixin CEIC Mobile, the mobile-only version of its world-class macroeconomic data platform. If youre using the Caixin app, please click here. If you havent downloaded the app, please click here. The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Wednesday postponed all varsity examinations and said new dates will be announced soon. "All examinations of the University have been postponed. New dates will be announced soon," the varsity PRO Omar Saleem Peerzada said in a statement. On December 15, clashes broke out between the police and students protesting against the amended citizenship law. The police fired tear gas shells outside the AMU after stones were pelted on them. Protests have been held in different parts of the country against the CAA which grant citizenship to people from minority communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Receives the 'Great Place to Work and Great Place to Learn certifications' and the SkillsFuture Employer Award making Amgen Singapore Manufacturing (ASM) a special place for its employees Established five years ago, Amgen Singapore Manufacturing (ASM) has grown its presence and is now recognized as one of Singapores employers of choice having received the Great Place to Work and Great Place to Learn certifications as well as the SkillsFuture Employer Award recently. A biotechnology innovator since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies. Since 2011, Amgen has expanded its geographic presence from approximately 50 to 100 countries, enabling the company to play a growing role in serving the rapidly increasing demand for better healthcare around the world. Our culture is what makes Amgen a special place to work. We have a powerful mission to serve patients and a set of values that emphasize patients, science, ethics, trust and respect, said Emily Razaqi, Vice President, Site Operations at ASM. With millennials poised to make up the majority of the workforce by 2025, understanding what motivates and keeps them engaged will continue to remain key for Amgen in attracting and retaining the best talents. This is crucial as the required skillsets for Singapores workforce are now more diverse than ever with digital transformation and emerging technologies reshaping and disrupting industries at an accelerated pace. Lifelong learning is the future of work. To continue growing as a leading global enterprise and to deliver medicines for patients, we not only take pride in being an industry-leading, family-friendly place to work but also in building an agile workforce. We also invest in a diverse, inclusive environment that enables our employees to stay relevant and future-ready. Amgen is proud to play an integral role to create a positive work culture, to champion employees skills development and to build a lifelong learning workplace culture in alignment with Singapores national agenda. To be recognized with three awards is a positive affirmation that we are on the right track in creating a progressive workplace that unlocks the best in our people, she added. Being certified as a Great Place to Work recognizes an organizations efforts to build a high-trust workplace culture for its employees. We commend Amgen and its leadership for their ongoing commitment to listen to and act on employee feedback to create positive changes in the workplace including a culture that promotes physical safety, collaboration across departments, and camaraderie in the workplace, shared Evelyn Kwek, Managing Director of Great Place to Work Singapore. AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS 1) Great Place to Work Certification: Awarded by the Great Place to Work Institute, the Great Place to Work certification is considered the Gold Standard in identifying and recognizing great workplace cultures. ASM joins a host of leading organizations in the medium and large workplace category, as one of Singapores employer of choice. This is a testament of Amgens commitment to building a positive workplace culture that supports diversity and inclusion, work-life balance and rewarding careers. The companys certification follows the completion of the 2019 Great Place to Work Trust Model employee survey where employees were asked about the aspects of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie. ASM employees rated the company at or above the benchmark of other top Asia biopharmaceutical companies on over 85% of the items surveyed. At least 7 in 10 Amgen employees have had consistent, positive experiences with their leaders and colleagues, their work and the work environment. They also recognized their workplace as one that consistently demonstrated the characteristics of a supportive learning environment, including providing a physically safe workspace, supportive leaders, cooperative and committed co-workers, and individual employees who have a desire to improve their skills and share knowledge for the good of their team and organization. Employees also felt respected by the management in terms of professional support and involvement in decisions, and took great pride in their individual impact, the work of their team and the company. 2) Great Place to LearnTM Certification: ASM received its second consecutive Great Place to Learn certification, in recognition of its efforts to foster a positive learning and high-performance workplace culture that enhances workforce skilling and business transformation. The Great Place to Learn certification was developed in conjunction with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to recognize enterprise achievements in promoting continuous learning and innovation. This is in line with the national SkillsFuture agenda to encourage enterprises to promote continuous learning and innovation in the workplace to enhance individual skills mastery and business agility to weather disruptions. 3) SkillsFuture Employer Awards 2019: Presented by the President of the Republic of Singapore, ASM is a proud recipient of the SkillsFuture Employer Awards 2019 (non-SME category). This prestigious award honours exemplary organizations that champion employees skills development and build a lifelong learning culture at the workplace. A national movement to provide Singaporeans with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential, the SkillsFuture movement drives Singapore's next phase of development towards an advanced economy and inclusive society. The award acknowledges ASMs efforts in creating a high impact learning environment, where employees are equipped with necessary vocational skills for their career success and where development opportunities are created for employees to grow and evolve professionally. OTHER KEY AMGEN TALENT DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES At Amgen, we are strong believers in investing in our people to help them stay relevant and future-ready. We regularly meet with employees to uncover their career interests and goals so that we can tailor our talent development programs to the individual. By doing so, we are building an agile workforce equipped with the right talent and skills to support our evolving business and to fulfil Singapores aspirations to become Asias premier hub for the biomedical industry. Ultimately, we know that these efforts will make a greater positive difference in the lives of our patients in Singapore and around the world, said Jessica Simpson, Director of Human Resources at ASM. Since its opening in 2014, ASM has grown its workforce by more than 450% to over 350 employees. As the biotechnology industry evolves, Amgen remains committed to talent development programs that champion continuous learning to advance a local pipeline of highly-skilled biomanufacturing talents. These include: Industry-Manpower Development Programs Through Project ZODIAC, DNA and Local BOOST Programs ASM is an active participant in developing a pipeline of skilled specialists for Singapore's biologics manufacturing sector through industry manpower development programs such as Project ZODIAC (through Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers' Advisory Council (BMAC), Development and Apprenticeship (DNA) and Local BOOST (Local Biologics Skills Training)). ASM actively participates in partnerships with SSG, Workforce Singapore (WSG), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to drive structured talent development programs for employees/participants to attain the required certification and the necessary skills and competencies they need, supporting and contributing to the Skills Framework for biopharmaceuticals manufacturing. To date, 11 DNA, 19 BOOST and 51 Project ZODIAC employees have gone through the programs through ASM. FUEL Your Potential Program The FUEL Your Potential program is an 18-month global Operations talent development program to develop Operations employees for key roles. Employees are rotated through different assignments across global Amgen offices to build skillsets and learn from different cultural approaches. Efforts include on-the-job development, job rotations, mentoring, career development resources and structured learning. This holistic learning approach not only enables Amgen to develop talents but empowers employees on their career progression. To date, four Amgen Singapore employees have gone through or are currently undergoing the global FUEL program. Amgen Early Career Professionals (AECP) Employee Resource group AECP brings Amgen professionals in the first three years of their careers together to broaden their knowledge and build career development opportunities. Through informative lunches, learning sessions and coffee chats with the leadership teams, AECP serves as a platform for networking and mentorship across functions and hierarchies. WE2 (Women Empowered to be Exceptional) An employee resource group, WE2 enables all team members (women and men) to leverage each other's unique and diverse talents to deliver exceptional results that positively impact Amgens workforce, business and community. These are achieved through support and interest groups, networking events, coaching and mentorships, and workshops that encourage learning beyond employees job roles The Australian share market finished session at fresh highs on Wednesday, 15 January 2020, as risk appetite picked up ahead of the signing of a preliminary trade pact between China and the United States. Almost all sectors advanced on Wednesday, with consumer staples the lone decliners. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index inclined 32.64 points, or 0.47%, to 6,994.84, while the broader All Ordinaries added 35.50 points, or 0.5%, to 7,113.50. US President Donald Trump is slated to sign the Phase 1 trade agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House later in the day. As part of a U. S.-China trade deal, China will pledge to buy $200 billion of U. S. goods over a two-year period in four industries, according to several reports, in return the U. S. will scrap a new round of tariffs and cut the tariffs on $120 billion worth of Chinese goods in half to 7.5 percent, but a 25 percent tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports will remain in place. The two sides have an understanding that no sooner than 10 months after the signing of the agreement at the White House Wednesday, the U. S. will review progress and potentially trim tariffs now in place on $360 billion of imports from China. Mining stocks were mixed, with losses from Rio Tinto (RIO), Fortescue (FMG) and South32 (S32), easily offset by strong gains from gold producers. Gold stocks jumped, with Evolution Mining and St Barbara adding 4.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively. Gold miner Resolute Mining gained as much as 3.4 per cent, after announcing a deal to sell its Ravenswood Gold mine for up to A$300 million (S$279 million) to a consortium led by resource-focused private equity firm EMR Capital. Energy stocks also climbed up, with oil and gas explorer Beach Energy rising 4 per cent, while Papua New Guinea-focused Oil Search rose 1.2 per cent. CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar, sensitive to shifts in broader risk appetite, fell against the U. S. dollar. The Australian dollar was at 0.6899, falling back from the 0.69 level a day before. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Europe Puts Iran on Notice, Urging Tehran to Comply with Nuclear Deal By Jamie Dettmer January 14, 2020 European powers have triggered a formal legal dispute in reaction to Iran's decision last week to shrug off all restrictions placed on it under a landmark international agreement that intended to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. France, Germany and Britain say they made the move in hopes of preserving the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), hoping that by doing so Iran can be coaxed back into compliance. Analysts say the move is more likely to spell the formal end of the deal, which Iran signed four years ago with six international powers, and was struck while Barack Obama was in the White House. 'Let's replace it with Trump deal' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated much the same by suggesting it would probably be better if the existing "flawed" deal were replaced with a new agreement negotiated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Breaking with his French and German counterparts, Johnson floated the idea during a BBC radio interview of the current agreement giving way to a Trump deal, complimenting as he did so the U.S. president's negotiation skills. "Let's replace it and let's replace it with the Trump deal. That's what we need to see," Johnson told the BBC. Later, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab distanced himself from Johnson's remarks, emphasizing that the invoking of a legal dispute by the three European signatories was aimed at bringing "Iran back into full compliance with its JCPOA obligations." He told the House of Commons that "the UK, France and Germany will remain committed to the deal." Iran's breach of 2015 nuclear deal The 2015 agreement placed tight restrictions on Iran's civilian nuclear program, with the goal of preventing it from developing such weapons, in exchange for sanctions relief. Tehran announced it would no longer observe any nuclear restrictions after the targeted killing of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top general, in Baghdad in a U.S. drone attack earlier this month. The Iranian government announced it would "set its limits based on its technical needs." In a joint statement Tuesday, the French, German and British foreign ministers, who have been trying to keep the deal alive, said Tehran's announcement had left them with no choice but to take action within the deal's framework and to invoke a dispute resolution mechanism. If the dispute cannot be resolved, it could open the door to European powers joining the United States in re-imposing sanctions on Iran. Even before Soleimani's death, Iran had been breaching the nuclear deal, slowly lifting limits on its production of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons. Tehran said it was entitled to do so after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the international agreement in May 2018 and reinstalled sanctions. The U.S. leader has said he wants a new agreement that would place indefinite, as opposed to temporary, curbs on Iran's nuclear program and halt Iranian development of ballistic missiles. The European foreign ministers said their countries referred to as the E3 have been trying to bring Iran back into compliance and are engaged in diplomatic initiatives to de-escalate tensions in the region. But they added that, "In the meantime Iran has continued to break key restrictions set out in the JCPOA. Iran's actions are inconsistent with the provisions of the nuclear agreement and have increasingly severe and non-reversible proliferation implications. We do not accept the argument that Iran is entitled to reduce compliance with the JCPOA." Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, responded by saying in a statement, "The Islamic Republic of Iran, as in the past, has complete readiness to support any [act of] goodwill and constructive effort to save this important international agreement." Iran's foreign minister later said that the Europeans were falling in line with the U.S., saying in a tweet they had "bowed to U.S. diktat." Some analysts say the Europeans are bowing to the inevitable and by invoking the dispute mechanism, they are starting to draft the JCPOA's formal obituary. If the parties fail to resolve the dispute in the coming weeks, the European powers would be entitled to ask the U.N. Security Council for a "snapback" or re-imposition of international sanctions against Iran. But reaching that stage in the process could take months. "The E3 understands that they need to create greater deterrence against continued Iranian nuclear escalation and to make clear the severe consequences in the form of snapback for the regime," said Foundation for Defense of Democracies Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz in an email to VOA Persian. "They hope to avoid snapback and use the dispute resolution mechanism to get Iran back into compliance. I imagine they also hope to use the mechanism's extension provisions to delay the need for snapback until they have a better idea of whether Trump will be re-elected." Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, said he expected all parties to make "intensive efforts in good faith" now that the dispute mechanism had been triggered. "The JCPOA is a significant achievement of sustained multilateral diplomacy following years of negotiations," he said. "In light of the ongoing dangerous escalations in the Middle East, the preservation of the JCPOA is now more important than ever," he added. Robert Malley, president of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based research group, said he considers the European move a "mistake" that will likely have the "unintended consequence" of strengthening hardliners in Tehran. Malley, a former Obama administration official who helped negotiate the landmark nuclear with Iran, added, "The more they [the Europeans] go down that road, the more they risk losing Iran and the more they risk pushing Iran in a completely different direction." Iranian officials say they're willing to return to compliance and that their increased stockpiling of enriched uranium is reversible, if Iran starts receiving the economic benefits it expected when entering into the nuclear deal, and if the U.S. lifts sanctions. VOA Persian's Michael Lipin contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Guillermo Salgado Jr., 30, turned himself into authorities on Sunday following the hit-and-run on Dec. 28, 2019. Salgado, of the 5300 block of South Francisco Avenue, was charged with felony counts of failing to report an accident causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death, according to Chicago police. CoverWallet joins the growing portfolio of Aons New Ventures Group, which functions as an incubator for growth-stage capabilities focused on delivering new sources of value to Aons clients. Moving forward, CoverWallet will go to market as CoverWallet, an Aon company. Read next: Empowering agents, MGAs, and carriers through tech solutions We could not be more excited about this partnership. Were both very excited to bring our teams together on behalf of our clients, said Tony Goland (pictured), Aons chief innovation officer, and head of the global New Ventures Group. Were not calling this an integration. This is about bringing our teams together in a way that preserves the innovative and entrepreneurial culture that attracted us to CoverWallet in the first place. Much of CoverWallets focus is on the digital client experience. As a client-focused firm, almost everything we do at Aon is about delivering the best experience for clients, whatever their needs and preferences are. Ultimately, we want to give our client access to the best of both people and technology, and were going to enable all of that with data and analytics. This acquisition of CoverWallet is another step in that journey, where Aon has innovated over time on behalf of our clients. Its very exciting. As part of Aons New Ventures Group, CoverWallet will apply its data and analytics capabilities, technology, and operational expertise to Aons digital client experience, while also liaising with leadership and global solution lines across Aons geographies to accelerate the growth of CoverWallets core business. The initial focus will likely be in the US, Europe and Australia markets, where the two firms launched some commercial partnerships prior to the acquisition. After that, they will expand CoverWallets capabilities systematically throughout Aons global business, Goland explained. Read more: Hyperion X chief data officer drives customer first approach Our first priority is to bring the two teams together so that our new colleagues at CoverWallet can start working closely with the Aon team. Then, we want to harness the culture, the talent and the capabilities of CoverWallet and scale it to something that is relevant for a company of Aons size, Goland told Insurance Business. Were aiming for symbiosis. The New Ventures Group is not designed to be a skunkworks off to the side; its meant to work closely with the global business to achieve that symbiosis and to expand and accelerate new sources of value for Aons clients. We dont have a consolidation strategy; we have an innovation strategy. We want to create net new value, and well use all the tools in the toolkit to do that, including organic investment, hiring talented individuals, and making acquisitions. Were using all of those tools to bring together the capabilities we need in order to keep innovating on behalf of clients. Netherlands To Split Tax Agency by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 15 January 2020 On January 11, 2020, Dutch Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra informed the House of Representatives about the Government's plans to restructure the tax authorities. Currently, a single entity, the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst), is responsible for administering and collecting taxes and social contributions, enforcing customs rules and paying out income-related benefits, largely to families and individuals. The reforms will see the Belastingdienst split into three offices, separately responsible for taxes, customs, and benefits. Each office will fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and will have a separate director general. The reforms will also entail the overhaul of the tax authority's information technology systems, which, Hoekstra said in his letter to parliament, have become outdated. While Hoekstra's letter does not set out a specific timetable for the reforms, he said that some changes can be achieved in the short-term, while others are expected to take a number of years. Donald Trump took a victory lap on Wednesday as he signed a trade deal with China at the White House as his impeachment sped towards the Senate on Capitol Hill. He boasted to an audience of dignitaries that a new trade deal with China will bring 'a future of fair and reciprocal trade,' then complained about the 'impeachment hoax,' and praised a string of Republican senators who he needs to vote for his acquittal. The president has long complained about a massive trade deficit between Washington and Beijing. He pledged during the 2016 campaign to come down hard on China. 'We are righting the wrongs of the past,' he said Wednesday, observing that 'our negotiations were tough, honest, open and respectful.' 'This is the biggest deal anyone's ever seen,' he said, because 'China has 1.5 billion people.' The president spent nearly a half-hour acknowledging business leaders and lawmakers who crowded into the East Room to watch. And he noted that some House members might have to leave early in order to vote on a motion to send articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate. Some of the congressmen may have a voteit's on the impeachment hoaxso if you want, you go out and vote. ... It's not going to matter becausae it's gone very well. But I'd rather have you voting than sitting here listening to me introduce you, okay?' he said with a grin. 'They have a hoax going on over there. Let's take care of it.' Trump was not accompanied by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sent Vice Premier Liu He in his place. Xi's absence left some with the impression that Washington wants the deal more than Beijing does. Done deal: Donald Trump and Liu He sign the phase one trade deal which calls a halt to escalations in the U.S.-China trade deal and is claimed to mean up to $50 billion in agricultural sales to China Signed, sealed, delivered: China's vice-premier Liu He and Donald Trump show their signatures in the completed phase one trade deal East room ceremony: Donald Trump hosted the Chinese vice-premier Liu He in the East Wing in front of an audience of Republican senators and Congressmen and figures from the American business world - almost all of whom he named President Donald Trump stood alongside China's vice premier Liu He, not its president Xi Jinping, when he signed a landmark trade deal on Wednesday Awkward exchange: Donald Trump moved to shake hands with China's vice-premier Liu He, who extended his left hand instead Unusual handshake: After Liu He extended his left hand, Donald Trump grasped two of his fingers in an attempt to shake his hand The president announced that he will 'be going back to China in the not-too-distant future to reciprocate,' but it's unclear what he would be reciprocating for. Vice President Mike Pence said the deal would guarantee $40-50 billion in Chinese purchases of American agriculture products. And Trump said China will stop forcing American companies to share proprietary technologies with Chinese partners. 'You don't have to give up anything anymore. Just be strong,' he said to business leaders in the room. The White House's guests included top executives from UPS, Boeing, AIG, JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard, VISA, Citibank, Honeywell, Dow Chemical, eBay and Ford Motor Company; casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who aims to see markets opened to him in China; television commentator Lou Dobbs; and Trump's ambassador in Beijing, Terry Branstad. Second time lucky: After Liu He spoke through a translator, the two succeeded in shaking hands Trump acknowledged lawmakers and businessmen in the East Room including casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson Chinese representative: President Xi Jinping sent vice-premier Liu He, who spoke through a translator (left) Packed: The East Room was fool for the invited audience of business leaders, White House aides and congressional Republicans Everyone gets a mention: Chuck Grassley, the Iowa senator was asked to stand, while Trump claimed that Grassley had 'made [James] Comey choke like a dog' Official delegation:Donald Trump is flanked by as Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer First daughter: Ivanka Trump was followed into the East Room by Robert O'Brien, the National Security Advisor Branstad, a longtime Iowa governor before coming to Washington, got the job because of his deep ties to global agriculture. While Wall Street will carefully examine the fine print, the trade deal will allow businesses around the globe to breathe a sigh of relief. After a nearly two-year battle, the signing could give Trump an election-year boost as well. Still, tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports remain in place, leaving many Americans to foot the bill. Reporters covering the East Room event on Wednesday wore White House credentials with no date printed on them. That unusual feature suggests Trump's trade negotiators weren't certain whether the event would happen as scheduled. Journalists shoot shoulder-to-shoulder, including a contingent of dozens from Chinese media outlets. The 'phase one' agreementwhich includes pledges from China to beef up purchases of American crops and other exportsalso comes just as Trump faces an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, giving him a victory to trumpet at least in the short term. As he is about the face an impeachment trial, President Donald Trump will be able to tout a trade deal with China It's unclear which country will get the better end of the deal, but Trump has trumpeted every development that is favorable to the United States China-US trade has diminished in both directions since Trump began venting about an imbalance of hundreds of billions of dollars wach year The easing of US-China trade frictions has boosted stock markets worldwide in recent weeks, as it takes the threat of new tariffs off the table for now. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump's negotiating stance led to a 'fully enforceable deal' which could bring additional tariffs. If China fails to abide by the agreement, 'the president has the ability to put on additional tariffs,' Mnuchin said on CNBC Wednesday as part of a media blitz promoting the new pact. However, the most difficult issues remain to be dealt with in 'phase two' negotiations, including massive subsidies for state industry and forced technology transfer. But Mnuchin said the deal puts pressure on Beijing to stay at the negotiating table and make further commitments, including on cyber-security and other services to win relief from the tariffs that remain in place. 'In phase two there will be additional roll backs,' Mnuchin said. 'This gives China a big incentive to get back to the table and agree to the additional issues that are still unresolved.' Still, elements of the deal the administration has touted as achievements effectively take the relationship between the two powers back to where it was before Trump took office. 'The US-China phase-one deal is essentially a trade truce, with large state-directed purchases attached,' economist Mary Lovely said in an analysis. Even so, 'The truce is good news for the U.S. and the world economy.' Still, the trade expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, cautioned that 'we will continue to see the impact of this in slower investment and higher business costs.' U.S. officials have said they will release details of the agreement set to be signed at a White House ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. After announcing the deal December 13, the U.S. canceled a damaging round of new tariffs that were due to kick in two days later and promised to slash in half the 15 percent tariffs on $120 billion imposed September 1 on consumer goods like clothing. Mnuchin dismissed a Bloomberg report that the initial agreement could include provisions to roll back more tariffs on China after the election. 'The tariffs will stay in place until there is a phase two. If the president gets phase two quickly, he will consider releasing tariffs. If not, there won't be any tariff relief,' Mnuchin said Tuesday on Bloomberg TV. 'It has nothing to do with the election or anything else.' Washington said Beijing agreed to import, over two years, $200 billion of U.S. products above the levels in 2017, before Trump launched his offensive. Trump has repeatedly touted the trade pact as a boon for American farmers, saying China will buy $40 to $50 billion in agricultural goods. U.S. farmers were hit hard by the tariff warnotably on soybeans which saw exports to China plunge to just $3 billion from more than $12 billion in 2017. The Trump administration paid out $28 billion in aid to farmers in the last two years. But many economists question whether they have the capacity to meet that demand. And Lovely raised a question about the wisdom on relying so heavily on the Chinese market. 'It also means Chinese retaliation could be reinstated, dampening farmers' willingness to invest to meet the very hard export targets in the deal.' Trump and Xi Jinping have a cordial working rapport but the Chinese president didn't travel to Washingtonleaving the impression that Trump wants it more than he does U.S. and Chinese officials say the agreement includes protections for intellectual property and addresses financial services and foreign exchange while including a pr.ovision for dispute resolution, which Mnuchin said will be binding for the first time. Trump in August formally accused China of manipulating its currency to gain an advantage in trade and offset the impact of the tariffs. The label, which had no real practical impact, was removed earlier this week. The deal also restores a twice-yearly dialogue process that previous administrations conducted regularly but that Trump scrapped. Kicking up a debate, an influential Catholic Church in Kerala has said "Love Jihad is a reality" and alleged that scores of women from Christian community from the southern state were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities. The synod of Syro-Malabar Church, an apex body of Catholic Bishops chaired by Cardinal George Alencherry, also accused the state police of not viewing the matter cautiously and taking timely action in 'Love Jihad' cases. Denying the charges, the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic outfit, questioned the "timing" of the statement and urged the Church to withdraw it immediately "as it would only help create division amid growing unity among various sections of society against Hindutva Fascism." The Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) welcomed the Church statement and called for a united fight against 'Love Jihad' in Kerala Society. An official of the Kerala State Women's Commission refused to comment, considering the sensitivity involved in the matter. There was no immediate reaction from the police and government as well. "There are circumstances in which Christian girls are killed in the name of Love Jihad in Kerala," the Synod has alleged in a statement issued through Syro-Malabar Media Commission here on Tuesday night, referring to the attacks against Christians across the world. The Synod has termed as "shocking" the killing of Christians in Nigeria on Christmas day. It is a matter of concern that Love Jihad is gaining grounds in Kerala putting in danger its social peace and communal harmony, the Synod said. "It is a reality that 'Love Jihad' is happening in Kerala in a planned manner targeting Christian girls," it said. The Synod, referring to a police record, said out of 21 people who were recruited into Islamic State terror outfit, half of them were converted from Christian faith and it should be an eye opener for the community. Noting that unofficial accounts say many girls were being used in terror activities through Love Jihad, the Synod said it was a serious matter and such accounts state that Love Jihad is not only "in the imagination". The Synod, however, said it was not assessing the 'Love Jihad' as an issue affecting the friendship between religions and urged the government to treat it as one related to law and order and not as a religious matter. The Church demanded speedy action against the culprits involved in the 'Love Jihad.' It also called for efforts to sensitise parents and children about the dangers of Love Jihad. The PFI, often being accused of playing key roles in alleged 'Love Jihad' cases in Kerala, claimed that the state police, after conducting a thorough probe, had earlier submitted a report in the Kerala High Court, stating that there was no cases of 'Love Jihad' in the state. "The Church is raising such a baseless allegation at a time when the minorities including Muslims and Christians and the people of Hindu community are in a joint fight against the Fascist government at the Centre. Their untimely statement would only help divert the people's attention from the key issues that society is facing at present", Elamaram told PTI. Urging the Bishops to immediately withdraw the statement, he said, "I don't know what is their interest in making such a statement at this juncture." Not a single Muslim community is holding 'Love Jihad' to increase the number of Muslims here, claimed Elamaram. He, however, said there were instance of inter-religious marriages in Kerala in which Muslim girls marrying Hindu and Christian boys and Hindu and Christian girls selecting partners from the religions of their choice. Such marriages cannot be termed as 'Love Jihad', he said. Asked about the Bishops' allegations that Christian girls are targeted and recruited to Islamic State terror outift, the PFI leader said not a single Muslim organisation in India have recognised the Islamic State and such recruitments should not be seen as part of a 'jihad' as doubts prevail in minds on who created the IS. Former president of the VHP, SJR Kumar claimed that 'Love Jihad' exists in Kerala society. He alleged that there were centres in Kerala to "convert Hindu and Christian girls who are being lured into the trap of love by youths with criminal backgrounds". "We have brought this issue into the attention of the Kerala society much earlier. But nobody listened to us. Now, we are happy that the Bishops have realised the threat of Love Jihad. It is the time of a joint fight against this menace," Kumar told PTI. He also alleged that Muslim men trap Hindu and Christian women into marriage and forcing them to convert to Islam. "The converted Hindu and Christian girls are being used in drug trafficking and terrorism," Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yesterday (January 14, 2020), legendary actor Raj Kapoor's daughter and Shweta Bachchan's mother-in-law Ritu Nanda passed away at the age of 71, after her seven-year-long battle with cancer in New Delhi. After attending her funeral, Amitabh Bachchan took to his blog to pay an emotional tribute for his daughter's mother-in-law in the evening. Talking about how he came to know about Ritu's passing away, the actor wrote in his blog, "...that silent knock at the work place .. the hurried expression of worried concern .. the hours that sleep in most parts of the World that seek the midnight .. shuffled steps , soft anxious and disturbed conversations .. and then within a blink .. the lights go out .. .. she has gone .." Recalling all their moments together, the superstar further wrote, "...polite conversation , of reminisce , of association , of happy times spent together , of the fight and struggle for the ailment for years .. and most of all the loneliness of them that are left behind .. the vacuum .. the emptiness .. the presence that filled up the entire home .. lost and gone .." Giving a glimpse of her personality, he further wrote ".. that empty favourite chair .. that corner of preference .. the unstinted care and concern for all when present , now suddenly not in existence .." Recalling her as a homemaker, he added, ".. the voice of the bird that built her little nest, heard no more .. the delicate nest shedding its strains of the making .. the command the control the authority , suddenly absent .." His post on the blog further read, "is it at times, the knowledge of an end in its proximity.." and continued how only those who have gone know it and wrote ".. only they would know .. and only they would never be able to share!" The superstar concluded his post by summing up what Ritu has meant to all of them - family and friends. "An ideal daughter , an ideal sister , an ideal wife , an ideal Mother , an ideal in-law , an ideal Mother-in-Law , and an ideal friend .. has left us for good in a distance we cannot cover .. for now .. !!", wrote Big B. Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Shweta Bachchan and her kids Navya Naveli and Agastya paid their final respects to Ritu Nanda in New Delhi. RIP Ritu Nanda: Her Rare Pictures With Raj Kapoor And Family Will Leave You Teary-eyed Raj Kapoor's Daughter Ritu Nanda Passes Away; Neetu Kapoor Mourns Her Death! Special forces commandoes descent from an Advanced Light Helicopter as they display their skills during the Army Day Parade at Cariappa Ground, in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) merican rapper Cardi B has been praised by Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders after she expressed her ambitions to become a politician. The 27-year-old music star touted a move into public office on Sunday when she tweeted: "I think I want to be a politician." Mr Sanders, who hopes to be picked by his party to run against President Donald Trump later this year, said he thought it would be "great" for her to bring her experiences into the political forum. Related Ethiopian Dam talks to continue in Washington on Wednesday Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday discussed in Washington with US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien ways of fostering bilateral ties at the political, economic and security levels, the Egyptian foreign ministry said. The two sides exchanged views on regional issues and the latest developments in Libya, where they asserted the importance of strengthening efforts to restore security and stability to the North African country. The pair also discussed ways to fight terrorist groups and their financiers. During the talks , minister Shoukry expressed his appreciation for the US efforts to broker an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which addis Ababa is building on the Nile, in way that achieves the best interest of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. Search Keywords: Short link: In school buildings with indoor air quality related problems, such as moisture damage, temperature problems or poor ventilation, pupils experience slightly more symptoms than in buildings in which conditions are stated to be good based on expert evaluation. However, the association between indoor air quality of the school building and the pupils' symptoms was so weak that it is not possible to reliably assess the quality of the indoor air based on the amount of reported symptoms. This was found in a recent study, by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the University of Helsinki, which was published in the scientific journal Environmental Health. The researchers found that inadequate indoor air quality was connected to the pupils' respiratory and general symptoms, such as colds, coughs and headaches. Some link to lower airway or skin symptoms was also found, but not to eye symptoms. It is worth maintaining and investigating buildings Earlier research also suggests that symptoms are not a good marker of the indoor air quality of a building. "We need more research on how much indoor air impurities explain the differences in symptoms between schools, in comparison to other factors that influence symptoms. To date, these other factors have been remarkably little researched," said Professor Juha Pekkanen. Besides indoor air, other factors that influence symptoms include the age of the person, their health and stress levels, including how well they are doing and feeling at work and school, and beliefs and concerns about the risks of poor indoor air. The fact that many issues influence people's symptoms in indoor environments needs to be considered when interpreting the results of indoor air questionnaires. Questionnaires aimed at building users provide valuable additional information for the management of indoor air quality problems. However, the decisions on renovations should be based primarily on data obtained by investigating the building." Jussi Lampi, Chief Physician The study included 129 lower and upper primary school buildings in the Helsinki area. The building conditions were assessed based on the City of Helsinki's evaluations. The Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare's indoor air questionnaire was used to gather data about pupils' symptoms. More than 12,000 pupils responded to the questionnaire. The response rate was 60%. FLINT, MI-- Flint is celebrating Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20 with various events planned throughout the city to remember the civil rights icon. University of Michigan-Flint activities The U of M-Flint is hosting a variety of activities and volunteer opportunities, beginning with an MLK Day breakfast at 8 a.m. in the Michigan Rooms of the University Center. Dr. Diane J. Goodman will be speaking at the breakfast about creating equitable and inclusive classrooms, addressing microaggressions and facilitating difficult conversations. Goodman will be hosting a workshop on this topic later in the day from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. in French Hall 251. A blood drive is also scheduled from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the University Center Happenings Room. The university is encouraging everyone to participate in a day of service by signing up for multiple volunteer opportunities available on campus and throughout the city. You can find a full list of volunteer opportunities and sign up here. Flint Childrens Museum The Flint Childrens Museum will be open with special hours in honor of MLK Day from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. General admission of $6 includes a craft activity and unlimited play. Kids can create a paper doll to hang around the museum in exchange for a prize. Flint Public Library The Flint Public Library is hosting an MLK Day program from 2 - 4 p.m. that will begin with speaker Inez Brown, the city clerk of Flint. She will be followed by musical guest Spiritual Wonders and presentations from Phi Delta Kappa, Gamma Delta Kudos and Gamma Delta Xinos. Flint Institute of Arts Families can stop by the FIA Art School from 3 - 5 p.m. to create artwork that reflects the contributions of MLK. At 4 p.m. the Institute of R.H.Y.M.E.S. Men of Excellence will be performing step in the FIAs Isabel Hall. The FIA will be open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. with free admission for all visitors, and all events and activities are free and open to the public. 2020 MLK Day of Service United Way of Genesee County is hosting a day on rather than a day off by packaging 200,000 meals for those facing food insecurity. From 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., hundreds of volunteers will be packaging meals at Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center. Registration for this event is now closed. MAPLE GROVE, Minn. A Maple Grove man who managed a McDonald's restaurant was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for raping a 14-year-old employee. Andrew Otero Albertorio, 25, pleaded guilty in November to one of four criminal sexual conduct charges against him, according to a news release issued by the Hennepin County attorney's office. Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Rachel Kraker had asked Judge Jeannice Reding for a 12-year prison sentence, citing Otero Albertorio's use of his authority over the victim to pressure her into sexual acts. Reding handed down the lower sentence because Otero Albertorio had "a limited supervisory role" over the victim, and there was "no predatory action." She also said "there was some sense of a relationship on behalf of the suspect and the victim." Otero Albertorio apologized in court to the victim and her family, the county attorney's office said. ADVERTISEMENT The victim's parents reported to Maple Grove police in January 2019 that their 14-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted by her 24-year-old manager at the McDonald's where she worked. The victim told police Otero Albertorio started flirting with her shortly after she began working evenings at the restaurant in summer 2018. She said that while Otero Albertorio often discussed having sex with her, she declined because he was her manager and so much older than she was, according to the criminal complaint against him. In early December, Otero Albertorio cornered the victim in the restaurant's cooler and raped her, the complaint said. Over the course of the next month, they had sex several more times, charges said. Crop production in Britain will fall dramatically if climate change causes the collapse of a vital pattern of ocean currents, new research suggests. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) brings heat from the tropics, making Britain warmer and wetter than it would otherwise be. University of Exeter scientists show that, while warming Britain is expected to boost food production, if the AMOC collapses it would not just wipe out these gains but cause the "widespread cessation of arable (crop-growing) farming" across Britain. Such a collapse -- a climate change "tipping point" -- would leave Britain cooler, drier and unsuitable for many crops, the study says. The main problem would be reduced rainfall and, though irrigation could be used, the amount of water and the costs "appear to be prohibitive." "If the AMOC collapsed, we would expect to see much more dramatic change than is currently expected due to climate change," said Dr Paul Ritchie, of the University of Exeter. advertisement "Such a collapse would reverse the effects of warming in Britain, creating an average temperature drop of 3.4C and leading to a substantial reduction in rainfall (?123mm during the growing season). "These changes, especially the drying, could make most land unsuitable for arable farming." The study examines a "fast and early" collapse of the AMOC, which is considered "low-probability" at present -- though the AMOC has weakened by an estimated 15% over the last 50 years. Professor Tim Lenton, Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, said worst-case scenarios must be considered when calculating risks. "Any risk assessment needs to get a handle on the large impacts if such a tipping point is reached, even if it is a low-probability event" he said. advertisement "The point of this detailed study was to discover how stark the impacts of AMOC collapse could be." The study follows a recent paper by Lenton and colleagues warning of a possible "cascade" of inter-related tipping points. The new study reinforces the message that "we would be wise to act now to minimise the risk of passing climate tipping points" said Lenton. Growing crops is generally more profitable than using land as pasture for livestock rearing, but much of northern and western Britain is unsuitable for arable farming. "With the land area suitable for arable farming expected to drop from 32% to 7% under AMOC collapse, we could see a major reduction in the value of agricultural output," said Professor Ian Bateman, of Exeter's Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute. "In this scenario, we estimate a decrease of 346 million per year -- a reduction of over 10% in the net value of British farming." Speaking about the expectation that moderate warming would boost agricultural production in Britain, he added: "It's important to note that the wider effects for the UK and beyond will be very negative as import costs rise steeply and the costs of most goods climb." The study focusses on agriculture, but AMOC collapse and the resulting temperature drop could lead to a host of other economic costs for the UK. The AMOC is one reason that average temperatures in Britain are warmer than those of many places at similar latitudes. For example, Moscow and the southern extremes of Alaska are further south than Edinburgh. The paper, published in the inaugural issue of the journal Nature Food, is entitled: "Shifts in national land use and food production in Great Britain after a climate tipping point." 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Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 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 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482451810)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048250a628)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482451810)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048250a628)') 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 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04824e35d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048250a628)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048250a628)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67c80)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04824821c8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04824821c8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 By PTI NEW DELHI: As many as 36 members of the Union Council of Ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this week in order to spread words about the government's policies, particularly those taken in the last five months after the abrogation of Article 370. This will be the first visit by so many Union ministers since the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and was bifurcated into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken the initiative to make the citizens of both the UTs aware about the government policies they were earlier deprived of. The Union Home Ministry is coordinating the visit of the Council of Ministers. The group of Central ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir, including sensitive areas in the Valley, starting January 18. The ministers will visit different districts in both the UTs between January 18 and January 24. Minister of State for Home, G. Kishen Reddy, has written a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, informing him about the scheduled visits. Union Minister Smriti Irani will visit Katra and Panthal areas in Reasi district on January 19, while Piyush Goyal will be in Srinagar. This will be the second round of visit to Jammu and Kashmir by Union ministers after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ will be considerably larger than its predecessor, the S10+. This information comes from Max Weinbach, who actually shared a photo in which you can see the two devices side-by-side. Mr. Weinbach managed to get his hands on a ton of information regarding the Galaxy S20+. He shared the very first live images recently, followed by a ton of additional info. He also shared some info for the Galaxy S20 series in general. The Galaxy S20+ will be a lot larger than the S10+, it seems In any case, as you can see, the Galaxy S20+ will be considerably larger than its predecessor. The phone will be a lot taller, and we mean a lot. Its clearly visible in the provided image. Advertisement This image could be a bit deceiving regarding width, but it seems like theyre quite similar in that regard. The Galaxy S20+ does seem to be a bit wider, though. Unlike the Galaxy S10+, the Galaxy S20+ will include a centered display camera hole. That camera hole will be a lot smaller than the pill-shaped one on the Galaxy S10+. Both devices have really thin bezels, as you can see, but the S20+ has thinner top and bottom ones. The side bezels seem to be equally thin, at least based on the provided image. Advertisement Corners are rounded on both phones, quite a bit, actually. The same goes for display corners. Samsung is actually said to be using a sheet of 2.5D curved glass on top of the Galaxy S20+. That handsets display should offer a much less of a curve than the one on the Galaxy S10+. Do note that the Galaxy S20+ will not be the largest member of the Galaxy S20 family. The Galaxy S20 Ultra will be even larger, that goes for both height and width. In addition to those two phones, Samsung is also expected to announce the Galaxy S20. All those phones will become official on February 11, in San Francisco. The Galaxy Z Flip foldable is also rumored to arrive on that day. Advertisement 12GB of RAM will be standard for all Galaxy S20 flagships All three Galaxy S20 smartphones will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865. All of them will include 12GB of RAM as a standard option, while the S20 Ultra will be available in a 16GB flavor as well. The Galaxy S20 and S20+ will arrive in both 4G and 5G variants. The Galaxy S20 Ultra, on the other hand, will be available in a 5G option only. It is worth noting that the Galaxy S20e will not become a reality, at least according to rumors and leaks. Samsung has decided to completely ditch that line, as the S20 basically becomes the most affordable member of Samsungs flagship family. New Zealand Defence Minister Ron Mark says New Zealand should be looking closely at whats happening in Australia and do some serious forward planning, as there is a concerning trend of fires breaking out, especially on the East Coast. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) says it has the resources to deal with a major wildfire, with fire crews having recently fought a major forest fire in Napier a fire which grew to over 300 hectares before it was contained. While supporting Australia, we also retain enough resources locally to ensure we have the capacity to fight bushfires in New Zealand, a FENZ spokesperson noted. There are 11,800 volunteer firefighters in New Zealand, and 1,810 career firefighters. According to FENZ, New Zealands fire risk is currently rated as low or moderate in most areas, though a couple of spots in North and Mid-South Canterbury are classed as high, meaning any work involving heat generation or sparks must be done with fire extinguishers on hand. New Zealand saw its worst wildfire in over 72 years in Pigeon Valley, a blaze which burnt across 35km of land and forced the evacuation of a town of 2,500 people in February 2019. Prior to that, 2017s Port Hills fire caused $18.3 million in damage. University of Auckland professor of environmental science George Perry says that although New Zealands fire risk is lower than that of Australia, rising temperatures and increasing summer fires could make the country more vulnerable to large-scale blazes and, as it stands, Kiwis are not very well prepared. Theres a high risk that what we end up with is a more flammable landscape that is more vulnerable to fire, Perry said. I would say most people in New Zealand are not prepared at all. People are very prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic activity, but I dont think most people would have thought about fire as a threat. People have always seen it as something that happens in Australia or California or parts of the Mediterranean basin, and not something we need to worry about so much. If you look at the average over the last 30 years, these recent fires are very large, he stated. They are very significant, especially because the vegetation here has not really adapted to fire at all. When it comes to protecting against fire risk, the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says it is vital for homeowners and workers whose tools could lead to a fire hazard to understand the dangers, and to take appropriate measures to avoid any incidents. There have been two significant events [in the past] the Tasman District fire in February 2019, which had an estimated cost to the insurance industry of $3.98 million, and the Port Hills fire in February 2017, which cost $18.3 million, ICNZ insurance manager John Lucas said. It is critical that mitigation measures are taken to manage dry grass and dry ground level vegetation by both local authorities and property owners. Grass along roads should be regularly mowed, as fires can start simply from a spark from passing traffic. Also, grass around houses and under tree canopies in forestry areas should be mowed and kept low to reduce risks. Those undertaking work involving machinery in dry rural areas also need to take preventative measures, Lucas added. The first step is to always check the local fire risk and abide by fire danger measures in your area. If you do undertake work, you must have first response firefighting equipment at hand, as well as fire spotters positioned around the area to respond quickly if a fire flares up. Importantly, all work should be abandoned when there are windy conditions which can carry sparks far and wide. Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president, looks on during a news conference in Tehran, Iran, on February 6, 2018. Ali Mohammadi | Bloomberg | Getty Images DUBAI, United Arab Emirates In an angry speech on state television, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at the U.S. and Europe for its presence in the Middle East and for what he described as the latter's failures in upholding the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. U.S. troops are "insecure" in the region today, and EU troops "might be in danger tomorrow," Rouhani declared, according to a Reuters translation, marking the first time the leader has directed a threat toward European forces in the region. He demanded the U.S. leave and accused it of making the region insecure, saying it should "apologize to Tehran" for its "previous crimes." The U.S. has significantly increased its troops presence in the Gulf in the past year as shipping and oil facilities have come under fire from attacks blamed on Iran, which Tehran denies. The U.K. has about 400 forces in Iraq, spread around Irbil, Baghdad and Taji, all locations that have been targeted by Iraqi Shiite militias backed by Iran's Quds Force, the external operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. EU forces are also stationed in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and France and Britain have small numbers of special forces in Syria. A number of EU countries have personnel in Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-IS coalition, stationed in Iraq. Former Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3, the most dramatic escalation between Washington and Tehran in a series of tit-for-tat attacks. Western forces and embassies in the region have been on high alert since then. Smart Dubai has launched a "Smart Supplier" app, which now allows suppliers registered with the Government Resource Planning Systems to access data, contracts, bids, and financial transactions from more than 50 Dubai Government entities. The launch is part of Smart Dubais plans to meet the goals of the Dubai Paperless Strategy and transform all applicable internal and external government transactions into paperless operations by December 2021, reported Emirates news agency Wam. The Smart Supplier mobile application is available on Apple and Android phones, allowing all registered suppliers to conduct their transactions using their smartphones any time and from anywhere. This includes viewing documents related to bids, observing billing processes and paying tender fees, among other services. While users do not require a username or password to view the listed public bids, they will need them to access and apply for these bids. "Smart Dubai has launched a series of initiatives and services in an effort to automate Dubai Government operations. These projects and services will serve to promote our role in achieving the objectives of the Year of Preparation for the UAEs 50th Anniversary, announced by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said Wesam Lootah, CEO of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment. This, in turn, expedites Dubais transformation into a full-fledged smart city, and paves the way for implementing the Dubai Paperless Strategy 2021. The Smart Supplier application offers services allowing users to easily pay the fees of their tenders, if any, and submit invoices to government entities easily, saving nearly 40 percent of the time normally needed to process these invoices. The app also provides an interactive panel that allows registered suppliers to view their relevant statistics, the volume of work undertaken with government entities, and all of their contracts. Additionally, the app allows suppliers to apply for delivery notifications for products and services, and receive digitally signed documents for products and services. As for government entities, the application allows them to enlist more suppliers for their available services, which serves to increase competition and speed the provision of better services. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close courtesy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office is searching for a man they say last month burglarized a vehicle in New Caney for cash the driver had just picked up from a bank. Around 1 p.m. on Dec. 13, a man stopped at a Wells Fargo bank at 22420 Community Drive in New Caney, cashing two checks. He then stopped at Master Diesel Services auto repair shop at 23440 U.S. 59 South in Porter. An employee informed him he saw someone going inside his vehicle. The man then found the cash he picked up at the bank had been stolen, according to the sheriffs office. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:30:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Dana Halawi BEIRUT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Some Lebanese officials and experts blame Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh for the drop in the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the U.S. dollar after having adopted a fixed exchange rate for the past 30 years. For the past few months, Lebanese banks imposed restrictions on people's withdrawal in U.S. currency, creating fear among depositors about their dollar accounts and prompting them to increase their demand for dollar, which led to a further weakening of the Lebanese pound. Since banks failed to cater to the demand of depositors for U.S. dollar, people started withdrawing Lebanese pounds and exchanging them at money exchange companies which created a parallel market with one U.S. dollar sold at 2,500 Lebanese pounds. Former Interior Minister Marwan Charbel accused Salameh of conspiring with exchange companies by allowing them to increase the price of the U.S. dollar to generate revenues for exchange companies and banks at the same time. Charbel explained that people can ask their banks to withdraw their U.S. dollar deposits by checks and then exchange these checks from money exchange companies at a lower value which create a profit for exchange companies. "Then, exchange companies share this profit with banks," he said. Charbel urged Salameh to intervene and stop these practices in a bid to restore people's confidence in the banking sector. He said Salameh is legally allowed to stop such practices. Elias Hankash, parliament member, accused Salameh of conspiring with exchange companies because he did not use his legal power to stop money exchange companies who sell the U.S. dollar at a higher price. Hankash also assured that money exchange companies are getting their U.S. dollar from banks which means that banks have liquidity in U.S. currency but they are depriving people from their deposits. Layal Mansour, economist and lecturer at the Lebanese American University, blames Salameh for not being transparent and turning a blind eye to U.S. dollar withdrawals by big depositors while preventing small depositors from using their dollars properly. Mansour told Xinhua that less than 1 percent of the Lebanese own 50 percent of deposits in Lebanon with accounts worth millions of dollars while the other 50 percent of deposits are owned by small depositors. Mansour added that even if half of the population with small bank accounts went to banks to withdraw their deposits, Lebanon would certainly not have reached this level of deterioration. Meanwhile, Nassib Ghobril, economist and head of the economic research department at Byblos Bank, attributed the shortage in U.S. dollar to lower liquidity in Lebanese banks caused by the withdrawal of 10 billion U.S. dollars in September, October and November 2019. Ghobril told Xinhua that there was a bank run by Lebanese people caused by the loss of confidence in the banking sector following Fitch downgrade of Lebanon's rating and the uncertain security situation after the Israeli drones' crash in Beirut's southern suburbs followed by the U.S. sanctions imposed against Jammal Trust Bank in September last year. Ghobril noted that banks closed for around 12 days in October 2019 after the beginning of nationwide protests because of security reasons which prompted people to run to banks after they re-opened in the first week of November last year to withdraw their deposits or transfer them outside the country. "People withdrew big amounts of money because they feared that banks would shut down again while banks were not prepared for this scenario," He said. Reacting to reports that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that a woman cant win the race, The View co-host Meghan McCain said on Tuesday that Sanders has a problem with women and that she doesnt want another misogynist in the White House. At the top of Tuesdays broadcast of ABCs chatfest, the table discussed the fallout from the story, which dropped a day before Tuesday nights Democratic primary debate. Sanders has denied that he made the comment to Warren, while the Massachusetts senator insisted in a statement that it did happen. Co-host Sunny Hostin said she doesnt doubt that he perhaps said that. Because when you read Hillary [Clinton]s book, she does say that all of the innuendo and all of the Bernie Sanders attacks really led the way and paved the way for Trump calling her Crooked Hillary, Hostin added. So she thinks Bernies attacks really harmed her. McCain, meanwhile, insisted that this is a big story because Sanders hurt Hillary Clinton so much in the last election. She went on to say that while Sanders has a good reputation in Washington and is known as being congenial, his supporters have a bad reputationmeaning the Bernie bros. Its actually one of the few things that really connects liberal pundits and conservative female pundits together is just a level of misogynylook at Twitter, and some of the accounts they dodirected towards specifically women, women in politics, and women in political commentary, she continued. Im sure Ill have my Twitter lit up on fire because of this, but he has a problem with women. As the other women at the table agreed with her, McCain added that Sanders has had that problem for a long time while noting that alls fair in love and war when it comes to Warrens team likely dropping this story now. I dont want another misogynist as president, the conservative host proclaimed to applause. Women in this country are sick of it, and I have always thought he has had a problem with women. Story continues The rest of the panel, meanwhile, would go on to express their concern over Sanders and his supporters potentially creating a rift during the Democratic nomination process, adding that they are worried that it could result in a fractured convention. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. British ambassador returns to UK after tensions with Iran "Ambassador Rob Macaire is returning to the UK Wednesday on a long-planned visit," the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement. UK's ambassador to Iran is to return to the country for a long-planned visit, British authorities announced. The FCO statement came following local reports from Iran that Macaire was leaving on the request of the Iranian government following his brief arrest during a protest in Tehran. HE WILL RETURN TO IRAN He will have a number of meetings while in the U.K. and this is very much business as usual. He will be returning to Iran in the coming days, the office said. Rob Macaire was briefly detained over the weekend during an anti-government protest in Tehran, but the ambassador said he was attending a vigil for the victims of the crash. This Monday Britain summoned Irans ambassador to the U.K. for an explanation of Macaires arrest. In relation to the arrest of the U.K.s ambassador over the weekend, I would say this was an unacceptable breach of the Vienna convention and it needs to be investigated, a statement by a Downing Street spokesman said. He said: We are seeking full assurances from the Iranian government that this will never happen again. All right, this is completely true: Bernie does have a video that came out from 30 years ago, all right? Its true, he does! Where he said in the video he thinks a woman could be elected president. Then again, we cant really know if this was recorded 30 years ago, because the guy has looked the same his entire life. Like, for all we know, maybe every time Bernie gets in trouble he just records a new video and makes it look old, you know? TREVOR NOAH Yes, if you want to see Bernie say nice things about female presidential candidates, go to YouTube. If you want to see his supporters saying terrible things about them, go to the comments section. STEPHEN COLBERT In his defense, back in 1919, Bernie Sanders was one of the first senators to support a womans right to vote. JIMMY KIMMEL Im surprised Bernie said that to Warren. You think he would have learned his lesson after he said the same thing to Cleopatra. JIMMY FALLON But this is a rare and unexpected rift between the senators. Theyre usually on the same page. I mean, up until now, Bernie and Elizabeth Warren have spent just about every debate looking like a married couple at a diner complaining that their soup isnt hot enough. JIMMY KIMMEL EDWARDSVILLE The U.S. Attorneys Office on Tuesday issued a public statement saying it would examine recent high-profile murders in Madison County, but stressed stringent legal guidelines that could prevent federal authorities from stepping in. The statement comes in response to a request by Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons to have the cases of a man charged in the murder of Edwardsville attorney Randy Gori, as well two other suspects accused of killing three in Bethalto, be moved to federal court so the death penalty could be pursued. The murder of Randy Gori was a senseless and brutal crime, the statement begins. We at the U.S. Attorneys Office join the community in shock, grief, and outrage. Other area homicides described in recent media accounts also appear to be heinous acts of cruelty that demand justice. This office will promptly review any request we receive to open an investigation, but we cannot assess whether federal law has been violated until the facts from the investigations are presented to us. The statement explains that cases prosecuted federally fall under three categories if the crime involves a federal official, if the murder occurred on federal land or if the killing occurred during the commission of another federal offense, such as bank robbery. Not all of these crimes are punishable by the death penalty, the statement says. Nor does a homicide automatically become a death-eligible federal crime simply because someone crossed a state line. Gibbons has said that since Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, I no longer have available to me the ultimate punishment for the most brutal and heinous crimes. The U.S. Attorneys Office says for a crime to be considered eligible for the federal death penalty, the case must be reviewed and evaluated by the Capital Case Section within the Criminal Division of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. The process culminates in a decision by the Attorney General of the United States to seek or not to seek the death penalty against an individual defendant, the statement said. Those decisions are based upon the specific facts and laws applicable to the case, with the goal of ensuring that the federal capital sentencing laws are applied consistently and fairly across the nation. We have a long history of working with our state and local law enforcement partners to achieve just outcomes in southern Illinois, and we will continue to stand with the victims families, the police, and the Madison County States Attorneys Office as the community seeks justice for these crimes. THE CASES On Dec. 19, Shari Yates, 59; Andrew AJ Brooks, 30; and John McMillian, 32, were shot to death in a Bethalto home. Brady Kane Witcher, 41, and Brittany McMillan, 28 both of Birmingham, Alabama have been charged with first degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated vehicular hijacking in their deaths. Witcher also has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. According to court documents, Witcher and Brittany McMillan also are accused of killing a woman in Alabama on Dec. 13 as well as kidnapping a couple, stabbing one of them and taking their car in Nashville, Tennessee on Dec. 14. They were arrested at a motel in Hazelwood, Missouri, allegedly in possession of Yates vehicle, on Dec. 19. On Jan. 4, Randy Gori, 47, a prominent attorney, was killed in an unincorporated area of Madison County outside of Edwardsville. Timothy Banowetz, 28, of Wentzville, Missouri, has been charged with first degree murder, armed robbery, auto theft and aggravated unlawful restraint in connection to his death. Court documents allege Banowetz travelled by automobile from Missouri to a secluded location near Goris home where he threatened Gori and two minor children with a deadly weapon and restrained them. The victims allegedly were taken into the home by Banowetz, who also is accused of stabbing Gori to death. Court documents state the crime was interrupted by an individual who had arrived at the house, prompting Banowetz to flee. On Jan. 9, Kadeem Noland, 27, of St. Louis, and Christine Mills, 34, of Granite City, allegedly were staying in St. Louis and travelled to James Thomas home in Granite City. Court documents allege they fatally shot Thomas just inside the front door of his home before fleeing back to St. Louis. Noland and Mills both have been charged with first degree murder. Noland also has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. The city could soon get its own ferris wheel observatory on the lines of the one in London, to enable tourists to capture a birds eye view of Mumbai. The state is planning to build Mumbai Eye, a giant ferris wheel, at Bandra Reclamation, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said. The slow-moving ferris wheel have enclosed capsules, in which people can sit and enjoy the view of the area around. Pawar said the plan was discussed in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and it received a nod from all ministers. It was discussed to have a Mumbai Eye and other such observatories in other cities. We keep seeing these structures around the world... We can have it at a vacant plot in Bandra Reclamation if there are no Coastal Regulatory Zone issues. Besides London, other cities such as Singapore, Nanchang in China, Las Vegas have such giant ferris wheels, which are popular tourist attractions. The project will be implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). We have been asked to carry out the project in todays meeting. The location selected to explore [the possibility] is near the Bandra end of the sea link. We will soon invite expressions of interest (EoI) for the same. The MMRDA will also seek clearances from various departments for the project, said RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA. A MMRDA official, who was part of the Cabinet meeting, said the government aims to create a new tourist attraction in the city. The London Eye and other projects are a huge attraction for tourist as well as locals, he said. This is not the first time Maharashtra government has toyed with the idea of building the tourist attraction. In 2014, the state government had planned it, but it did not fructify. In 2008, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had proposed the idea of Mumbai Eye. However, it did not materialise. Sena legislator Ravindra Waikar said he had mooted the plan in 2008 when he was the standing committee chairman in Mumbai civic body, and later as a minister int the BJP-led government. I had proposed and worked on this plan. We wanted to make it higher than any other city at that time. We had identified Bandra Reclamation as the spot. We visited the locations, did studies, brought in experts, and even decided to carry out on a public-private partnership, but it did not materialise, Waikar said adding that the project could be expedited as there is a political will now. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Representative image The Cabinet will consider de-criminalisation of about 44 offences under the Companies Act, according to flashes run by CNBC-TV18 The offences to be considered for de-criminalisation include the non-obedience of disclosure norms, non-obedience of court or National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) orders and violations of norms under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Cabinet is also likely to consider norms to tighten corporate governance for systemically important non-listed companies. The Cabinet is also considering a proposal for loss-making companies to pay higher remuneration to key management personnel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 19 last year said the government is working to decriminalise provision of Companies Act to make it easier to do business in the country. He said the recent cut in corporate tax has brought rates to all-time low for businesses. Modi had said many provisions of the Companies Act have been decriminalised and work is on to bring in more provisions. Pet O'Connell looks at the region on the Cork-Kerry border that is such a renowned repository of traditional music and dance Its a long way from Ballinahulla, but Denis Doody is big in Japan. Nearly 6,000 miles from his home near Ballydesmond, the intricacies of the late Sliabh Luachra accordion players 1978 album Kerry Music now come under the scrutiny of eager students in the Pacific. Fellow box player Bryan OLeary is impressed by the appreciation for the music of his homeplace on the Cork-Kerry border, encountered during his 2018 tour of Nagoya, Kyoto, and Tokyo. They loved it in Japan, says Bryan. I thought Id have to fill them in on musicians styles and the next thing, I was being asked dyou know on Denis Doodys album, on track two?And they had Johnny OLeary, Jackie Daly tunes... I was amazed. Bryan shares their admiration for the musicians in whose footsteps he walks - the likes of OKeeffe, Denis Murphy and his sister Julia Clifford, known as the Waivers, and his own grandfather Johnny OLeary Not alone was the 2014 TG4 young musician of the year born into the tradition, but his academic education also encompassed a masters degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick, his thesis examining the Sliabh Luachra button accordion-playing of Doody, Daly, Johnny OLeary, and Jimmy Doyle. But while Bryan is a proud purveyor of the areas distinctive polkas and slides, he admits the deceptive simplicity of its dance rhythms means Sliabh Luachra as a regional style can sometimes get undersold as a poor relation of the jigs and reels of Clare, Sligo, or Donegal. As Matt Cranitch, who wrote a PhD thesis on fiddle master Padraig O Keeffe and the Sliabh Luachra tradition, observes, the relative ease with which the notes of polkas can be played may be inversely proportional to the difficulty involved in creating the appropriate rhythm and swing. And, unless the tune is imbued with these characteristics, then much of its real essence is missing. Not only are Sliabh Luachras signature polkas and slides often misrepresented, adds Bryan, but they have become an overly narrow definition of a style which has a far greater breadth than is commonly appreciated. Bryan agrees that polkas and slides of course are a massive part of the tradition and people of the area are very proud of them. But he points to a wealth of distinctive barn dances, waltzes, reels, jigs, and hornpipes in the playing of Murphy and Clifford, OKeeffe, and his own grandfather. You dont hear too many people playing them outside of Sliabh Luachra. Theres common repertoire that we all share with different traditions but theres also so much material that isnt fully appreciated yet and it needs to get the recognition it deserves. He highlights the fiddle-playing of the late Mikey Duggan of Scartaglin. I called up to the house before he died to listen to him play by the fire. I was amazed - he was playing lovely jigs, reels, slides, polkas, and then he took off playing unusual waltzes that you wouldnt hear outside this niche. If people in other areas only knew the wealth of the repertoire. Were probably the most cut-off regional style and maybe we dont get the same level of promotion. The musical intonation of Sliabh Luachra is something Bryan passes on aurally to his own accordion pupils. In a polka or slide you cant do it justice by writing it out on a piece of paper. It has to be developed by ear. When the emphasis is on the offbeat you cant write that down - that has to be developed from listening upon listening, he says. You need to make the rhythm yourself and lean on the long notes, otherwise it doesnt sound anything like Sliabh Luachra music. Bryan honed his own skills from years of listening and playing with masters of Sliabh Luachra music, though never directly from his grandfather. My earliest memories of Irish music are in his company because when I was young I used to be taken to some of his sessions, and in particular the one in Knocknagree, in Dan OConnells bar, which he played in for close to 40 years. He would have played there in the earlier years with the great Denis Murphy but at the time when I was young going there I didnt fully appreciate that. I had a first cousin the same age as me and if the music was in the front of the bar, we were out the back doing our own thing. So I have great memories of the place but unfortunately I didnt play with him and didnt have a gra for music at that stage. His grandfather did, however, have a profound influence on his musical career, though it was a career that almost ended before it began. Henry Cronin taught me tin whistle in first or second class. I was absolutely useless at it and couldnt bring out a note, he admits. There used to be mornings when he used to come that I used to be crying going down to school because I didnt want to take the tin whistle. After his parents acceded to his requests to give up the whistle, it was the death of Bryans grandfather that sparked his interest in the music which had been around him all his life. It was the day he died it really affected me and I was so upset by it. He was buried in Gneeveguilla and I said to my mother that day I think Im going to start the accordion. She probably thought I was bluffing a bit, but the following week I went down to Henry again, only this time with a new instrument. Classes followed with Nicky McAuliffe, a living encyclopedia of traditional music, who with his wife Anne was last year awarded a TG4 Gradam Ceoil lifetime achievement award. Years of musical immersion saw Bryan learn from the likes of his aunt Ellen OLeary, Jimmy Doyle, and Julia Cliffords son Billy. And I was always listening to Denis Murphy or Padraig OKeeffe or Johnny and I nearly forced myself to learn by ear. At the start I wasnt getting them fully right, but what really helped me in learning by ear was that I came to a session in Killarney, religiously every Sunday all through my teens, with Jimmy Doyle, Joe OSullivan and Paudie Gleeson, in Buckleys bar. With myself and Jimmy there was a special connection straight away because Jimmy had been a great friend of my grandfathers and a great disciple of his music. They grew up neighbours and Jimmy would have learnt all his early music from Johnny so it was a nice link because Jimmy would have passed the local stuff on to me. This passing-on of the local tradition is its lifeblood, and while the vibrant music Bryan now plays, including with the group The Conifers, is anything but old-fashioned, it is informed by his knowledge of generations that went before him. Some people say you should stop looking at the past but I draw my inspiration from the past, he says. Bryan traces the tradition through his grandfather and the Waivers of Lisheen, via their teacher Padraig OKeeffe and another seminal figure on the Sliabh Luachra landscape, Tom Billy Murphy of Ballydesmond. Labyrinthine connections make up the areas cultural identity, and back another generation, OKeeffes teacher was his uncle Cal Callaghan. Cal picked up influences from the music of Scottish fiddle players he worked with in America, and from Corney Drew of Dromtariffe, who also taught Tom Billys teacher, Tadhg O Buachalla, known as Taidhgin an Asail since he, like Tom Billy, travelled the roads by donkey, both being blind or partially sighted. Though some also played other instruments they were, to a man, fiddle players - a not insignificant fact, even in an area where the button accordion is now firmly established in the tradition. The fiddle was always the number one, says Bryan. A lot of the research I was doing was based on the accordion music of the area, but youre always learning about the fiddle music while youre doing that because everything the accordion players did in Sliabh Luachra was based on the fiddle. Regarding his grandfather Johnny, he relates: Padraig OKeeffe gave him two bits of advice when he met him first: First of all was to play C#/D style accordion tuning. He felt that it blended better with the fiddle music. It all came down to what fitted better with the fiddle. The second thing Padraig OKeeffe said to him was to leave off the bass because he felt that would overpower the tightness of the duet between the accordion and fiddle. All the stuff we have of Denis Murphy and Johnny is very sweet, and his accordion was always tuned tightly, like Jackie Daly did with Seamus Creagh - they wanted their accordions to blend with the fiddle - and Johnny would never use the bass when hed be playing with Denis. When I was doing my research I was lucky enough to interview Jackie [Daly] and Jimmy Doyle and its amazing listening to them, that they were completely immersed in the fiddle tradition. Jimmy Doyle said when he was young he used to obsess over Denis Murphy and used to try and imitate the Waiver at everything. One of Jackies main teachers growing up was a man called Jim Keeffe, who was a fiddle player that was a pupil of Padraig, so he was listening to fiddle music from day one. In Johnnys music you can hear some of the double-stopping that fiddle players do, the chording. He might hold down two buttons at once which creates a kind of a chord, a bit of a drone, and thats taken completely from the fiddle music. All the accordion players when they were growing up there were so many fiddle players around, so Jackie struck up the partnership with Seamus Creagh, Jimmy Doyle and Dan Leary; Johnny and Denis Murphy - they were all playing regularly with fiddle players. By experimenting with bass, Daly broke barriers, because even on his first recording, Music from Sliabh Luachra, the way he uses the bass is outstanding... Jackie was the first to make the bass acceptable in polkas and slides. The CD with Seamus Creagh broke more boundaries because they arranged the music. It was exciting and it brought something new to the table. To survive as a living tradition, music must constantly adapt and change, just as the polkas and slides of Sliabh Luachra are thought to have originally accompanied the quadrille dances fashionable across 18th and 19th Century Europe. Bryans own music looks both forward and back, the title of his 2015 CD with Colm Guilfoyle repeating the words of Padraig OKeeffe, who when asked to describe his townland of Glountane once replied it was Where the Bog Is. It would be an admirable attempt too at describing Sliabh Luachra, which literally translates as The Rushy Mountain, but defies precise geographical definition. Trying to pinpoint its location is akin to asking Google Maps for directions to Tir na nOg, the late writer Con Houlihan of Castleisland having famously described Sliabh Luachra not as an exact place, but a state of mind whose location had become a moveable feast. Though its soil quality may be poor, the wild landscape which provided shelter for Rockites, outlaws and various other rebels has proved fertile ground not only for musicians but writers and artists. Bryan says the creativity of the place is witnessed in the Irish language poetry of Aogan O Rathaille and Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain, both from Gneeveguilla. I always think they must have drawn inspiration from the hilly landscape. Im passionate about where I come from and I get inspired looking out my window at the hills and fields of the place. The link between music, landscape, and people and is never more evident than in the playing of Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford, he says. They kind of painted a picture in your head, and great imagery comes to mind for me when I listen to the older musicians - youre nearly looking at the places they were from. Con Houlihan came out with a comment about Denis Murphy, something along the lines of you can see the sun rising over Knocknaboul when you hear him play, and you can hear the cows being driven in for milking. He said he painted in marvellous colours, which a good musician should do because it should set you on a journey. Sliabh Luachra music and its musicians and dancers have indeed journeyed far afield. Though its heart may beat loudly around Scartaglin, Ballydesmond, Knocknagree, and Gneeveguilla, it is in the blood from Newcastlewest and Listowel to Rockchapel and Freemount, Killarney, Newmarket, and Kanturk, and its soul can be found wherever in the world its rhythms are played. The dance The composer of many tunes, Bryan wrote a polka of special significance this year, in tribute to a central character in the set dancing tradition of Sliabh Luachra, Anne Keane, who died in July. Every year we used play for a set in Milltown Malbay and Anne used to be the main woman, inside at the Westbridge which used to be seen as the Sliabh Luachra bar in Milltown. My mother and father, Ellen my aunt, and Eileen Buckley and Ger Connor used to form the set and it was a reunion for them after Dan Connells [bar in Knocknagree] closed. You knew you were at ease when you played for them. The difference is that the people you were playing for, for the dancing, would happily sit down and listen to you for two or three hours. They were into the music along with the dancing. I played at the funeral with a few more and as the coffin was leaving the church she wanted a set danced up at the top of the church and I thought what a way to go, with a polka set being danced. This inspired the title of a polka in her honour Dance your way to Heaven. Bryan adds: I feel very strongly that people like that should be remembered. Its only a small token but its important to acknowledge her. She was an ever-present at all good things in the trad calendar to do with Sliabh Luachra. The past masters Padraig OKeeffe (1887-1963) from Glountane Cross, Cordal, gave up a career as a school principal for that a travelling music teacher. His pupils included Paddy Cronin, Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Paddy Jones, and hundreds more, and he developed a distinctive system of notating bowing and ornamentation. They say he turned the ONeills collection of 1001 tunes inside out, says Bryan OLeary. He told my grandfather he knew every one of them, and the day he was being buried, Denis said to Johnny [OLeary] theres at least 1,000 tunes that we never heard of gone into that grave. I would say theres truth in that because its rare that when Ive been given manuscripts of Padraigs that I wouldnt learn something new out of it. Its just a well, of all different tune types. You never know what youre going to get in any manuscript of his. Hes still teaching us because his repertoire was endless. My grandfather said he would have got a lot of tunes from Tom Billy [Murphy] as well, kind of undercover, because apparently they used to have a bit of war, the two of them. On one occasion the fair was on in Knocknagree and Tom Billy was inside the door of a bar playing and being blind, he was happy out, playing away on the fiddle, and Padraig came in and sat up by the bar and was listening to Tom and any tune that Tom played that Padraig didnt have, he used to go into the pocket and write it down shorthand. Then, before he left, famously, there was another tune that Tom was after playing that Padraig hadnt heard, and he was after writing it down and on his way out he said that was a lovely tune Tom, what was the name of that? Tom knew the voice straight away and apparently he told him where to go. The Future There are certain sets I think every young person in the area should be taught from day dot the Ballydesmond polkas, the Knocknaboul polkas, the sets from the Star Above the Garter album. I find it very hard to teach just one tune when I know theres another to go with it, says Bryan OLeary, who teaches in Tureencahill, Newmarket, and by Skype to students in Japan and South Korea. Wherever in the world a musician comes from, there is no substitute for immersion in the tradition, he says, citing upcoming Kerry musicians Kirill and Michael Healy, both adopted from Russia. The two boys live inside in the Arbutus sessions [in Killarney] with Jimmy Doyle and theyve immersed themselves in it. Their parents take them everywhere and theyve had such a grounding from Padraig Buckley in the Killarney School of Music that they have respect for the music and [know] the significance of being able to sit down in a session with John Brosnan or Jimmy Doyle or going up to Scartaglin and meeting Jackie Daly. The boys are regular attendees and performers at Scaraglins monthly Handed Down series which, Bryan adds, is a massive resource for young musicians and Sliabh Luachra enthusiasts in general. See: worldfiddledayscartaglin.ie Conservatives called Mr. Obamas vision doomed from the start, and have argued that the relief from economic sanctions Iran won in exchange for limits on its nuclear program only funded more Iranian aggression in the Middle East and beyond. Nor did Iranian politics show much sign of moderating, despite conciliatory talk from Irans president, Hassan Rouhani and its American-educated foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Now the Trump administration is testing an alternate approach, having abandoned the nuclear deal and adopted its maximum pressure posture. Administration officials are especially bullish about that strategy in recent days, as Irans government contends with renewed protests and absorbs the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani. And in an ominous turn for Tehran this week, Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear deal, after months of effectively looking the other way at increased Iranian nuclear activity. In neither case was the ultimate, explicit goal regime change, said Suzanne Maloney, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former State Department official in the George W. Bush administration. But there was a kind of theory of the case under Obama that engagement could lead to the sort of fundamental changes in Iranian policy, almost irrespective of the character of the regime, that the U.S. had been seeking since 1979, she said. No one expected overnight change, but many Obama officials believed that Secretary of State John Kerrys copious diplomacy with Mr. Zarif, fueled by economic integration, might be the beginning of a deeper relationship that could defuse Ayatollah Khameneis declarations that Iran could never trust America. A young Lao girl sells bananas at her family's roadside stall on the outskirts of Vientiane, in a file photo. Despite educational efforts by the Lao government, an increasing number of Lao women and girls mostly from poor rural communities or ethnic minorities -- are falling victim to trafficking schemes. The victims are often promised jobs in China by Lao brokers, but upon arrival are either sold to brothels or to Chinese men looking for brides. Between 2008 and 2018, at least 3,000 Lao women were tricked into moving to China, according to a report in an anti-human trafficking conference on October 2018 in Vientiane. Out of that number, only 600 women were able to return to Laos. Even with Laos launching education campaigns and working with other governments to reduce trafficking, news of trafficked poor women and girls continues to appear on social media. On Jan. 10, a source from Oudomxay provinces Houn district told RFAs Lao Service about a local woman who had been sold by her Chinese husband to a brothel in the city of Yueqing in Chinas Zhejiang province. The source said she used to know the victim, a 20-year-old woman from a poor family in Sibounehuang village, and that the victim met her future husband when she went to work on a banana plantation near the village. They were married in 2015 when the victim was 15, and moved to China that year. They had been living as husband and wife for a few years but the husband sold the wife to a brothel some time before she was arrested in 2018 for illegally entering China. She was recently released, but does not speak or read Chinese and has no means of support in China. Chinese police published the victims photo on Facebook, hoping her relatives would come to China for her, and that notice alerted the Lao source to her story. We shared the news that was posted online, because we were horrified to learn that something so bad had happened to the girl we used to know, the source said. To make sure she was the one in the picture, we went to her old village and asked around. They said it was her, she added. But her family doesnt know anything yet. They dont even have a telephone. Only young people like me can see the news posted. We just want someone to help her, said the source. An official of Houn district said the relevant authorities are not aware of the case because nobody had reported anything about the victim until now. Theres no information about that yet, but we plan to consult with our superiors so that the Houn district Womens Union can get her back with the cooperation of her family and village, the official said. Police in Houn district said that there were over 30 cases of this kind of trafficking in the district between mid-2018 and the end of 2019. Some of these were able to escape and return home, but many are still missing. The police said they are trying to solve the problem by warning the public in order to prevent young women and girls from being lured away with promises of easy work for more money in China, or living a good life as the wife of a well-to-do Chinese husband. The police said many girls and young women want to support their poor families in Laos with what they earn in China, so the idea seems very attractive. The police also acknowledged that in Houn district right now there is no work or way to get income in many villages. There are only unemployed people here. Theres no jobs for them to do so they can get any kind of income, so girls between 10 and 20 years old are all trying to get Chinese husbands, an officer said. The Phongsaly incident Another incident of trafficking involved a girl from the Hmong minority who was 14 or 15 years old when she married a Chinese man in 2015 and has been missing ever since. Police in Phongsaly provinces Bountai district told RFA that the girls parents did not know the identity of the man their daughter married, but when they last saw their daughter, three or four Chinese men came to their house in Mouchitai village. They led the daughter to their car and drove away. Because of the extreme poverty they were living in, her parents did not report to the authorities that their daughter was missing. They did not know exactly what to do and they had no money to file documents to start a search for her, or to finance a trip to China to get the Chinese police to do it. They did not come report to us, said a police officer. We do not know where to start investigating this case. We do not know the date it happened, the car that took the girl away, and we dont even know whose daughter it was, the officer said. We dont know her father and mothers names, the officer added. Mouchitai village authorities told RFA the father of the victim passed away and was survived only by the victims mother and brother. The village authorities helped report the case to the district and the province. The authorities said that Mouchitai is very remote and most of the Hmong living there are very poor, and do not have the opportunity to attend school, so many of the young girls are easily tricked by strangers. The Xayaburi incident RFA learned on Jan. 8 about a case in Xayaburi provinces Hongsa district, where two Hmong girls aged 16 and 17 were lured away by Chinese men in early January last year. They just left and thats it. They went with the Chinese men just last year, said a local village official. They snuck away. They were not married first and they have not come back yet, the official said. Police said one of the girls, from Phoudorkmai village, had visited Luangprabang province with her family to see relatives. It was there that she was introduced to a Chinese man who promised to pay about 30-40 million kip (U.S. $3,3754,500) for her to marry him. Her father and mother agreed without notifying the village authorities. The other girl, from Kok Aet village, was betrothed to a Chinese man for 10 million kip ($1125), paid to her parents at their home. The parents really allowed their daughter to go with the Chinese man, and thats why they did not report the case, said a police officer. Five cases already this year Already this year there have been at least five cases of Lao young women and girls trafficked to China as the brides of Chinese men. RFAs Lao Service arrived at this number by scouring social media and local reporting. While it is impossible to know the exact number of trafficking victims, it is likely given the known trafficking cases that the victims are all young women or girls who are from poor families in remote areas of Laos. The U.S. State Department placed Laos on the Tier 2 Watch List in its 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully meeting minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, though the report noted the country was making significant efforts to do so. Laos was upgraded from its Tier 3 ranking in 2018 for providing restitution to some trafficking victims through the criminal justice process, directly providing services to trafficking victims, issuing a decree to form anti-trafficking steering committees at the provincial and local levels, and conducting increased training and awareness-raising at the local level to help implement the decree, the report said. The annual report ranks countries around the world as Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, or Tier 3, in descending order based on whether they meet the minimum standards to combat trafficking set by U.S. law. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Manichanh Phimphachanh. Written in English by Eugene Whong. LOS ANGELES Some aviation experts said Wednesday that they were puzzled after the crew of a commercial airliner decided to dump fuel at low altitude during an emergency landing, causing a vapor to fall on schoolyards and neighborhoods east of Los Angeles International Airport. No one is going to dump fuel where these guys did it over populated areas and schools. Its a pretty outrageous thing, said Ross Aimer, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts and a retired United Airlines pilot. They should have gone over the ocean or landed heavyweight. Delta Air Lines said Flight 89 to Shanghai had an engine problem after takeoff Tuesday and needed to quickly return. The Boeing 777-200 landed safely after circling back over Los Angeles while dumping fuel to reach a safe landing weight, the airline said in a statement. Los Angeles County firefighters were called to schools where nearly 60 children and adults were examined for minor skin and lung irritations, but none required hospitalization. Fire Inspector Sky Cornell also said monitoring showed the vapor wasnt flammable. When a plane is forced to turn back after takeoff, the weight of a full load of fuel carries a risk of damaging the jet during landing. That can be costly for airlines to fix. And even if there isnt damage, airlines try to avoid overweight landings because they are required to inspect planes, which puts them out of service. When turning back with a full fuel load, pilots have three choices, according to John Cox, a safety consultant and former airline pilot: burn the fuel, which can take hours, dump it or land overweight. In case of a fire, he said, pilots will dump as much fuel as quickly as they can and land. A less dangerous situation tends to lead to using up or dumping fuel. According to recorded radio communications, air traffic control asked the Delta crew if they wanted to return to LAX immediately or linger over the ocean to hold and burn fuel. Were going to go ahead, the pilot or co-pilot responded. Weve got it back under control. Were not critical. OK, so you dont need to hold or dump fuel or anything like that? the controller asked. Ah, negative, was the response. But the plane did dump fuel as it headed back. The Delta crew reported a compressor stall in the engine but they got the engine back under control they were not in an immediate threat condition, and they started out over water, Cox said. Why they continued to dump fuel at low altitude when they werent in a fuel-dumping area, and didnt advise ATC (air traffic control) that they were dumping fuel those are questions this crew is going to have to answer. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating, citing procedures that call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground. Scott Martin, a propulsion expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said a stall puts more pressure on the compressor, and the Delta pilots might have assumed the worst that they could soon face an engine failure that could cause parts to break off and become shrapnel capable of piercing the fuselage, fuel tanks or hydraulic lines. That might also explain why they were flying at such low altitude to avoid putting more stress on the troubled engine, he said. They may have decided, We dont have time to fly higher and dump the fuel, we need to get the fuel off now and get back down to the runway,' Martin said. A Delta official spoke at a press conference with school officials Wednesday but offered no further insight into the fuel dumping. I know that there are a lot of questions about the process that was followed and those kinds of things, said Dana Debel, Deltas managing director of government affairs. There is an ongoing investigation that was opened immediately after the flight landed back. Little is known about the health effects of exposure to kerosene-type jet fuel, according to the federal Health and Human Services Department. Studies using military personnel suggest it can affect the nervous system, but that research involved people who work around jet fuel all the time. Rats that were fed kerosene showed no increase in tumors, the agency said in a 2017 summary. The Los Angeles County Public Health Department said students that were exposed to the fuel vapor were sent home with instructions on how to clean themselves with soap and water and to thoroughly wash their clothes and to discard them if the odor remained. Some exposed individuals have experienced mild symptoms such as skin irritation and upper respiratory irritation such as cough, the department said in a statement. These symptoms are generally expected to improve on their own. Delta sent cleaning crews to work with Los Angeles Unified School District crews to clean outside areas of the campuses and all reopened Wednesday. __ Condon reported from New York City. Associated Press reporters David Koenig in Dallas and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. DHAKA: The Dhaka High Court has rejected a petition seeking a rescheduling election of two city corporations scheduled to be held on January 30 as the day coincides with Saraswati Puja, one of the biggest religious festivals of the countrys Hindu community. The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam on Tuesday issued the order after hearing the petitioner, the state, and the Election Commissions lawyer. The high court order has sparked protests several hours later at Shahbagh, leaving thousands of citizens trapped in massive gridlocks on the connecting roads. Petitioners are now likely to challenge Dhaka high court order in the top court. Hundreds of Dhaka University students kept the busy intersection blocked for one and a half hours from 5 pm on Tuesday. They gave the Election Commission until noon today to change the date of the elections. Live TV Utpal Biswas, spokesperson of the protesters and vice president of the universitys Jagannath Hall Student Union, told reporters, If the Election Commission does not meet our demand by 12 pm Wednesday, we will lay siege to the commission. In his immediate reaction, Supreme Court lawyer Ashoke Kumar Ghosh, the petitioner, told reporters, We are aggrieved and we will go to the Appellate Division challenging this order. After the commission announced on December 22 last year that polls to Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) would be held on January 30, the Hindu community voiced its opposition to the decision immediately as it was set to celebrate Saraswati Puja on January 29-30. Matters became more complicated with the school holiday calendar sanctioned by the government marking January 29 for the Hindu religious festival. Many Hindu religious groups, including the Puja Udjapon Parishad and Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), had urged the Election Commission to move the election day to facilitate the community in celebrating the festival. Many educational institutions under both city corporations organize Saraswati Puja and are also used as polling centres during local and general elections. As the Election Commission refused to move the election day, Advocate Ashoke filed the petition at the High Court on January 5, seeking its directive on the matter. DU students on Sunday and Monday had also demonstrated on the campus, urging the court to defer the election day. The Jagannath Hall of DU, which falls under DSCC and houses the institutions Hindu students, also wrote to the returning officer concerned making the same demand. This dormitory hosts one of the biggest celebratory programs in the city on Saraswati Puja every year. The High Court observed that the Education Ministry had declared January 29 a holiday for all educational institutions for Saraswati Puja, and even the Supreme Court had the day marked as a holiday in its calendar. It said the Election Commission announced the January 30 polls schedule for DNCC and DSCC after also considering the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations beginning on February 2. (With Agency inputs) Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, speaking in Beirut after his dramatic escape from Japanese justice, said on Tuesday that the French ambassador had warned him shortly after his arrest that his own company was plotting against him. "Frankly, I was shocked by the arrest and the first thing I asked is make sure Nissan knows so they can send me a lawyer," Ghosn told Reuters in an interview in Beirut. "And the second day, 24 hours from this, I received a visit from the French ambassador who told me: 'Nissan is turning against you'. And this is where I realised ... The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is seen after an explosion, in this handout satellite image taken March 14, 2011 and released on December 24, 2019 by Maxar Technologies. (Photo : Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS) It's been almost nine years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster happened, and the natural world has wasted no time in reclaiming its space. Research, published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, indicates a sheer lack of human intervention is more than enough for wildlife populations to thrive despite pervasive radiation. The Fukushima evacuation sector, five years after the human evacuation, has turned out to be domestic to a considerable array of mid- and large-sized mammal populations. Analyzing over 267,000 natural world photos, researchers found 20 species within the 'uninhabitable area,' including wild boars, the Japanese hare, macaques, pheasants, foxes, and the raccoon dog - that's related to the fox. Wildlife biologist James Beasley from the University of Georgia explained that the results represent the first evidence that numerous species of flora and fauna are now enough in some areas in the Fukushima Evacuation Zone, despite the presence of radiological infection. He added the results indicate that species have increased in abundance following the evacuation of people. The research targeted three areas around the Fukushima nuclear plant. One with the highest degree of infection and no human access, one with common infection and restricted human access, and one with "some" radiation and open human access. While previous studies have targeted on figuring out the presence and health of individual animals, that is one of the few studies to observe the populace numbers as a whole. This data, the authors say, provides precise proof that human abandonment has more of an effect on animal populations than radiological exposure. Like Chernobyl, where brown bears, bison, wolves, lynxes, Przewalski horses, and more than 200 chicken species inhabited the area, animals are also returning to fully-restricted regions of Fukushima. The authors wrote that the comparatively larger abundance of raccoons and macaques in the area might be explained by way of exploitation of previously unavailable resources on the interface of rural development and wildlands. Radiation areas and geography of the regions, according to the researchers, confirmed little impact on the distribution and abundance of these species. "The terrain varies from mountainous to coastal habitats, and we know these habitats support different varieties of species. To account for those factors, we included habitat and panorama attributes consisting of elevation into our analysis," explains Beasley. The researcher added the outcomes show that stage of human activity, altitude, and type of habitat were the factors influencing the abundance of the species evaluated, rather than radiation degrees. The handiest actual exception became the serow, which is a goat-like mammal native to Japan. Usually, this species does not like to be among humans; however, on camera, the serows kept showing up in settled areas. The authors assume this is probably because the uninhabited regions have been domestic to an abundance of boar, which might have been enough competition to keep the serow out. The researchers didn't observe the health of character species. But if these animals are suffering adverse outcomes from radiation, it's no longer showing up at a populace degree, nor does it seem to affect their abundance in the long-term - far from it. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get the benefits from fresh, high quality functional ingredients like ginger, turmeric and probiotics. Ginger Shots, Inc announced that they have officially changed their company name to Tulua, to reflect their rebranding of the companys premium line of functional superfood shots. Along with the name change is a new website: http://www.drinktulua.com. As a category innovator and leader, the company has been actively expanding beyond their original Ginger Shots product line by adding Probiotic Shots and Vitality Shots over the past year. The rebranding has harmonized all of the companys functional shots under the Tulua brand. All Tulua shots remain USDA Certified-Organic, kosher, preservative and additive free, made with the highest quality ingredients, and High Pressure Processed (HPP) to maintain nutrients. As the new Tulua brand appears on shelves, so will new packaging with greater visibility of the contents, an easy-to-open cap, and an exciting new high-impact label design. We wanted consumers to be able to clearly see our actual cold-pressed organic juices, says CEO Zeyad Moussa. Quality is of critical importance to us and we want people to see that what theyre getting in one of our ginger shots, for example, is a fistful of pressed ginger juice. This is especially important as we see similar offerings that contain water, extracts, powders or flavorings instead of cold-pressed juices. The new label design combines high-impact graphics with key product features and benefits. The companys original Ginger Shots product line launched in 2016. In early 2019, Tulua launched two new organic product lines: Probiotic Shots and Vitality Shots. The new Probiotic Shots each feature one billion CFU of a premium probiotic, as well as cold-pressed functional ingredients and juices in four different blends (Tart Cherry, Blueberry Lemon, Apple Cinnamon, and Turmeric). The new Vitality Shots are available in two varieties (Turmeric Ginger and Apple Cider Vinegar), with each featuring a highly beneficial, consumer-preferred ingredient. Tulua is one of the first companies to bring a wide range of functional superfood shots to the national level. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get the benefits from fresh, high quality functional ingredients like ginger, turmeric and probiotics, says CEO Zeyad Moussa. A lot of these ingredients are difficult to work with, and we want to eliminate the hassle. Distribution of Tulua products has consistently expanded beyond their original Southern California market and are now available at many leading natural, conventional, and mass market retailers across the US, as well as at select corporate dining facilities, airports, and online e-commerce retailers. About Tulua Tulua, formerly Ginger Shots, is a privately-held company that began in 2015. All of their products are manufactured in and shipped from their state-of-the-art facility in Huntington Beach, CA. Tulua is dedicated to developing lines of organic and natural wellness products with simple, straightforward ingredients and functional benefits. Visit http://www.drinktulua.com or @DrinkTulua on social media. The Tilsit treaties were two agreements signed in July 1807 in the town of Tilsit, East Prussia, by Napoleon I of France after winning the Battle of Friedland. The first agreement was signed by Napoleon I and Emperor Alexander I of Russia on July 7, 1807, after meeting on a raft in the middle of the Neman River. The second agreement was signed with Prussia on July 9, 1807. These agreements were signed at the expense of the King of Prussia, who agreed to a truce after the French army captured Berlin. Napoleon I cemented his power in Central Europe after signing the treaties, as well as gaining Russia and Prussia and Russia as his allies against Great Britain and Sweden. Franco-Russian Treaty The Franco-Russian treaty ended the battle between France and Russia, and started an alliance between the two empires. The French Empire and Imperial Russia agreed to assist each other in numerous disputes. For example, Russia joined the Continental Blockade against the British, while France decided to support the Russians against the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon I also managed to convince Imperial Russia to initiate the Finnish War and force Sweden to join the Continental Blockade. The Emperor of Russia vacated Moldavia and Wallachia, which the Russian army occupied during the Ruso-Turkish Battle. Imperial Russia also handed over Cattaro and the Ionian Islands to France, and France guaranteed the independence of the Duchy of Oldenburg and numerous other states which were under Emperor of Russias German relatives. Franco-Prussian Treaty The Franco-Prussian treaty stripped Prussia of almost half its territory and enabled France to create numerous sister republics from the territory it gained from Prussia. Some of these sister French republics included the Republic of Danzig, Duchy of Warsaw, and the Westphalia Kingdom, while other territories were awarded to Russia and other French client states. The left bank of Elbe river was given to the Westphalia Kingdom, Cottbus to Saxony, and Bialystok to Russia. Additionally, a considerable percentage of Polish land owned by Prussia became the Duchy of Warsaw. Prussia was forced to reduce its military to 43,000 soldiers, and the French Empire fixed its tribute to be levied from the Prussian Kingdom at 154,500,000 francs. The treaty was considered to be a national humiliation and unequal by numerous observers in Russia and Prussia. Therefore, the Russian army refused to follow Napoleons order, and Russian royalty blocked Napoleons plan to marry the tsars sister. The union between Russia and the French Empire broke down after the Russian Emperor began allowing neutral vessels to dock in Russian ports in 1810. The alliance ended in 1812 after the French army crossed the Neman River and invaded Russia. Population and Territorial Losses Experienced by Prussia Under the terms of the Tilsit Treaties, the area of Prussia was reduced by about 50%, from 124,868.68 sq mi to 61,339 sq mi, and its population decreased from 9.75 million to 4.5 million. The states revenue, which previously amounted to $40 million, was significantly reduced since all of the ceded provinces were fertile and rich. Most of the territory Prussia gained after the partitions of Poland was ceded, and Russia gained a territory that was inhabited by over 200,00 people. Married At First Sight's upcoming seventh season has introduced another outrageous cast member. In a new trailer for the show, groom Ivan Sarakula is shown spraying deodorant on his feet before walking down the aisle to avoid sweating in his shoes. 'I do challenge the norm a lot,' the 30-year-old admits in his introduction. 'I do challenge the norm a bit': Married At First Sight's upcoming seventh season has introduced another outrageous cast member, Ivan Sarakula 'I've been labelled before as obnoxious,' he adds. The Ukrainian-born real estate agent also admits that he doesn't consider himself attractive. On Nine's official website, Ivan is described as having 'traditional family values' and 'strong opinions' that can easily offend people. Fresh and clean! In a new trailer, Ivan is shown spraying deodorant on his feet before walking down the aisle to avoid sweating in his shoes Ivan is far from the only controversial participant on the new season of MAFS. Viewers were recently introduced to Melbourne-based bodybuilder Hayley Vernon, who could be the show's most outrageous bride ever. While meeting the other women in the experiment for the first time, Hayley's alpha female persona left several of them speechless. 'I've been labelled before as obnoxious,' the 30-year-old real estate agent says 'I don't consider myself attractive': The goofy groom admits that he's not confident in his looks 'I've got a lot of drive, I've got goals and I've got ambitions. I want someone that can balance me,' she said, while speaking at an alarmingly fast rate. 'Good luck to him!' responded fellow participant Tash Herz. The trailer then cut to footage of Hayley trying on her wedding dress. Outrageous: Viewers were recently introduced to Melbourne-based bodybuilder Hayley Vernon, who could be the show's most outrageous bride ever 'I'm in awe of what I look like!' Hayley said while admiring her reflection in the mirror 'I'm in awe of what I look like!' she said while admiring her reflection in the mirror. In the latest trailer, she is shown clashing with Ivan at one of the dinner parties, flicking a card into his face after he accuses her of causing drama. Married At First Sight will return to Channel Nine on February 3 BJP leader Uma Bharti said here on Wednesday that Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar went to Lahore with "proper planning to create unrest" in India, with the help of Pakistan. "He is an educated man with knowledge of foreign affairs. So, he went there (Lahore) with proper planning, to create unrest in India, with help from Pakistan. Congress is creating a situation like 1947 by dividing Hindus and Muslims," said Bharti. Aiyar invited trouble by discussing India's internal matters in Pakistan. During a panel discussion in Lahore, Aiyar claimed that there is a rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over articulation of NPR and NRC. He said that duo is the face of "Hindutva" in the country. He was at a panel discussion programme in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday in which journalist Najam Sethi was also present "NPR has never been regarded by Narendra Modi government as the predecessor to setting up NRC. In Parliament, the Home Minister has said so and there are written assurances been given in Parliament by Home Ministry that it is in-fact a predecessor to that," said Aiyar. "There is a rift in the at-least articulation of it between two people who are the face of Hindutava in our country i.e. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," he said. "I don't think that the Indian perception of the hit that India's image has taken internationally matches the Pakistani perception of the hit that India's image has taken," said the Congress leader. "I think we see that several things that have happened, somebody like me would see it as inadequate internationally and I think Modi could easily ride it out... But he would find greater difficulty in riding out the sudden expression of opposition to some of his favourite ideas, that is seen on the streets," said Aiyar. Aiyar on Tuesday joined the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Register of Citizens (NRC) in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and attacked the BJP-led central government saying that they fought elections on the promise of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', but they did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash. "They got the majority in the election because they said we will do 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (Together for everyone's progress). But what they did? They did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash (destruction)'," Aiyar had said while addressing protesters. "Whatever I can do personally for you, I am ready to do that. Jo bhi qurbaniyan deni hon, usme main bhi shaamil hone ko tayaar hun. Ab dekhein ki kiska hath mazboot hai, hamara ya uss (wo) kaatil ka? (Whatever sacrifices need to be given, I am ready for the same. Now let's see whose hand is strong, ours or that murderer's?)" he added. The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The New York Times, which President Donald Trump often describes as "failing," said in an investor release on Tuesday that 2019 was a record year for digital growth. The New York Times said it added 1 million net digital subscriptions in 2019, which is its highest annual growth for that figure since the company launched its digital model in 2011. It now has 5 million total subscriptions, according to the company. The company doubled its annual digital revenue to $800 million in four years, one year ahead of its original goal to do so. "The total includes 3.4 million core news subscriptions, more than 300,000 to NYT Cooking and 600,000 to NYT Crossword, as well as nearly 900,000 print subscriptions," the company explained. The circumstances facing The New York Times Company when CEO and President Mark Thompson took over in November 2012 were bleak. Quarterly advertising revenue had fallen 9% and net income was down over 80% year over year. Since then, The New York Times stock has more than tripled in value, according to data compiled by FactSet. Thompson told CNBC in June of last year that the company continues to grow thanks to an emphasis on quality journalism and a commitment to digital readers. "Our model is a very simple model which is we should invest in great content," Thompson told CNBC at the time. "The future of journalism is make more journalism ... and then figure out smart ways to put that in front of people and asking them to support that journalism." Japan, Morocco Sign New Tax Agreement by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong 15 January 2020 On January 8, 2020, Japan and Morocco signed a double taxation agreement. The DTA caps the withholding tax rate that can be charged in the source country for cross-border dividends income at 10 percent. A reduced five percent rate will apply where the recipient holds at least 10 percent of the voting power in the paying company, if it is a company of Japan; or at least 10 percent of the capital of the paying company, where the company is a company of Morocco. The agreement sets the maximum withholding tax rate for interest income at 10 percent, with an exemption for interest received by government bodies of each country. The maximum withholding tax rate for royalties is 10 percent, with a reduced five percent rate for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment. The DTA also provides for the exchange of information and for mutual assistance in the collection of tax claims. It contains an anti-abuse provision and provides for mutual agreement procedure dispute resolution. Anger has been building up in Iran in the wake of the downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran and the failure of the regimes missile attacks on US military bases in Iraq The demonstrations in Iran over the last few days have not only been in protest at the regimes cover-up of the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran earlier this year, but also out of anger against the dire situation the country is getting into while its leadership promotes its resistance call and threats against America. According to the little information coming out of Iran, a growing number of Iranians, especially among the youth, are fed up with the decades of suffering under international sanctions and isolation from the world. Some analysts say that the regimes illusions of power and so-called defiance have been exposed as illusory by events since US drones killed Al-Quds Force leader Qassem Suleimani, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on 3 January in Iraq. The straw that broke the camels back was the IRGC rockets hitting the Ukrainian airliner in a mistake that cost the lives of the almost 180 passengers on board after it took off from Tehran International Airport in Iran. This was an event that for many simply showed the incompetence of the militia hailed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as an elite force deserving of a budget of billions and more than that allocated to the national army. Anger has been building up in Iran since the regimes threats of revenge for the killing of Suleimani turned into missile attacks that damaged Iraqi military bases with no loss of life among the US forces stationed in them. There is a feeling among the protesters in Iran that the regimes defiance of the US is hollow and might lead the country into the abyss. Since the US assassination of Suleimani and others near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, the Iranian leadership and IRGC generals have issued strong statements about a retaliatory response with the ultimate goal of driving American forces out of the Middle East. But the missile attacks on the Ain Al-Assad base in the Iraqi Anbar Province and another base near Irbil in the north of Iraq on 8 January did not inflict the promised pain on the American military. Some analysts in the region attribute this to Iranian pragmatism, since Tehran knows the limits of its power compared to that of the US and does not want to suffer the consequences of a counterattack if it harms American troops in the region. However, the US media also quoted a senior American military official dismissing the idea that Iran had intentionally avoided killing American troops by aiming for uninhabited parts of the bases. What is known for a fact is that Iran told the Iraqi authorities of them a few hours before the attacks and that this message was probably passed to the Americans so they could take precautions. However, one Dubai-based Saudi analyst ruled out the notion that the Iranian leadership had meant to pass the message on to the Americans as a sort of contained proportionate response that would be tolerated by the US. Instead, he argued that Iranian over-confidence had led to a lack of planning and an overblown trust in the countrys military capabilities. He said that some of the 16 missiles fired had missed their targets by considerable distances. Rumours have circulated that the missiles did not carry lethal warheads either, as the Iranians announce when they test new weapons, but these rumours have mainly aimed to support the argument that there had been some covert Iranian-American agreement on a benign military response. There are considerations that refute such implicit coordination. On the day preceding the missile attacks, an Iranian journalist posted on his Twitter page a video filmed in the countrys Ahwaz Province showing IRGC convoys transferring missiles and missile launchers to the Iranian-Iraqi border. During the day, accounts close to the IRGC on social media repeatedly posted a publicity video of a missile launching with the message that revenge is imminent. This video did not require sophisticated systems to detect, as it was in the public domain. Yet, the US media reported after the missile attacks that communications between Iranian military leaders had been intercepted, giving an early warning that missile attacks on Iraqi military bases hosting American troops were in the making. American military satellites monitored the movements of the missile launchers, and even conveyed their location to intelligence centres in Washington. The Americans also have concrete evidence that Tehran is preventing its proxy militias in the region from attacking American interests. Were receiving some encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages to those very same militias not to move against American targets or civilians, US Vice-President Mike Pence said during an interview with the US channel CBS News on the evening of 8 January. American analysts say that the assessment of CIA Director Gina Haspel has been proven right. She is thought to have advised US President Donald Trump days before Suleimanis killing that the threat the Iranian military leader presented was greater than the threat of Irans response if he was killed. Whether the Iranian response was meant to be proportionate in order to contain American wrath, or whether it represents the maximum of Irans military capability, regional powers are now in a wait and see situation. Trump has said he is still open to negotiations on a new deal with Iran, though he also announced a new batch of sanctions just after the missile attacks. Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are raising the stakes in their support of the demonstrations in Iran, hoping that internal pressure along with external pressure through sanctions will bring the Iranian leadership to the negotiating table. Trump has tweeted that Iran has never won a war, but never lost a negotiation. This has been the position of the Arab Gulf countries all along, and they hope that Tehran will now come to its senses. One Gulf source said he expected the exposure of Irans military failures might lead to negotiations. He drew an analogy with the decision by Khameneis predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini, who in 1988 accepted a UN resolution ending eight years of war with Iraq. People still remember Khomeinis rhetorical description of the decision to give up, when he said that taking this decision was more deadly than taking poison. I submitted myself to Gods will and drank this drink for his satisfaction. The current situation might not be very different. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the title: Irans exaggerated defiance Search Keywords: Short link: Joe Pesci is known for volatile, explosive performances in such films as Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and "Casino," along with more antic, comic turns in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Home Alone" movies and "My Cousin Vinny." So, the still menace of Pesci's performance in Scorsese's "The Irishman," playing Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino as a man confident in the illicit power he wields, has struck many as revelatory, all the more so coming as Pesci's first movie role in nearly 10 years. The role in "The Irishman" has earned Pesci his third Oscar nod for supporting actor; he was also nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Golden Globe Awards, SAG-AFTRA for the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the BAFTA Awards. "The Irishman" earned 10 Oscar nominations overall. In a recent interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Scorsese credited Pesci with really discovering the character for everyone while working on the scene where Pesci's Bufalino and Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro) first met. Bufalino eventually draws Sheeran into the plot to kill Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), sealing all their fates. Born in Newark, N.J., the 76-year-old Pesci began performing as a child but struggled as an adult actor. He was managing an Italian restaurant in the Bronx when Scorsese and De Niro sought him out after seeing the little-known 1976 film "The Death Collector," wanting him for the role of Jake LaMotta's put-upon younger brother Joey in 1980's "Raging Bull," for which Pesci earned his first Oscar nomination. Pesci quietly retired in 1999 although in a recent interview, Scorsese said Pesci now disputes whether he retired or simply stopped getting roles and has since appeared only in "The Good Shepherd," directed by De Niro, "Love Ranch" and as a voice performer in the animated "A Warrior's Tale." When Pesci won the supporting actor Oscar in 1991 for "Goodfellas," his acceptance speech was simply, "It's my privilege. Thank you." After the premiere of "The Irishman" at the New York Film Festival, he was asked during an onstage Q&A alongside Scorsese, De Niro and Pacino to talk about coming on board the project after such a long time away. Pesci politely declined to answer, saying: "I don't know what to say." On Monday, Pesci continued with his understated public comments. He released a statement following the nomination that said, "I'm honored but as usual I'm humbled into speechlessness. I'm grateful to the Academy, our cast and crew and extend my sincere congratulations to the rest of the nominees." De Niro has said that he and Scorsese had to ask Pesci 40 or so times to play the part in "The Irishman" before he agreed. So if it seems unlikely that "The Irishman" is the beginning of some renaissance for Pesci, that makes the cold finality of his performance something to savor all the more. REDDING, Calif. - The Redding Police Department arrested two men after they located a "suspicious" U-Haul truck that appeared to be spray painted and stolen. 45-year-old Eric Schornsten and 33-year-old Kyle Britton, both of Redding were arrested on Tuesday evening. The white U-Haul pickup truck was located at the Enterprise Car Wash at 900 Hartnell Avenue in Redding around 11:20 p.m. A records check conducted by police revealed to them that Schornsten is on Shasta County Superior Court Probation. Following this, officers conducted a search on him and the U-Haul truck. Through investigation, officers said they located a suspected meth smoking device, 27.5 grams of meth, 1.7 grams of heroin, a large amount of manual and electric cutting tools, masks, gloves, several tow hitches, and white spray paint cans. On top of all this, California license plates for a similar vehicle to the U-Haul truck, registered to the county of Shasta were found. Due to all the evidence, officers believed that Scornsten and Britton were attempting to conceal the U-Haul truck by spray painting it. Officers said they believed the suspects would possibly change the license plates, and then use the U-Haul truck and burglary tools to commit thefts and avoid detection. The U-Haul company was contacted but had not reported the vehicle as stolen, it was proved to be spray painted, authorities said. Anyone with additional information to this case is encouraged to contact the Redding Police Department at 530-225-4200. BizTrendsLive!2020 - Book now Bizcommunity invites you to Join our Vision for Africa at BizTrendsLIVE!2020 - a 360 perspective on trends shaping our region from London to Lagos, Senegal to sub-Saharan Africa.Made possible in association with Ster-Kinekor and Kantar, speakers have been curated to provide a snapshot of a new decade of African tech, trade and trends - one of Afro-positivism, Afro-optimism and Afro-disruption. Event: BizTrendsLIVE! Time: Registration from 1pm. Presentation: 2pm - 5.30pm. Networking cocktails and snacks: 5.30pm - 6.30pm Date: Thursday, 30 January 2020 Location: Ster-Kinekor IMAX Theatre, Mall of Africa, Midrand Price: R250-00 per head, 15% discount for bookings of 5 or more Opening address by Wamkele Mene Former Chief Negotiator African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) MHM Consulting; (JHB and NYC) Ndeye Diagne - Kantar MD Kantar Francophone Africa & Ghana Afro-Centrist, Afro-Enthusiast, Afro-Disruptor Content Creator & Speaker Consumer Insights specialist, data storyteller and guru with a knack for trends and disruptive innovation Award Winner, Africa Market Research Association, 2019 Post graduate degree in marketing & communication from French business School ISC, Paris Master's degree in English literature Sylvester Chauke - Founder DNA Brand Architects Founder DNA Brand Architects, 2018 Agency of the Year, one of the most innovative agencies in South Africa, working with some of the most revered brands on the continent 100 most influential young Africans, 2018 list The All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year, 2017 TV personality on SABC The Next Brand Ambassador NBC Africa All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year BBQ Young Leader of the Year European Business Assembly Best Enterprise and CEO Award Oliver Empowerment Top Empowered Young Entrepreneur World Confederation of Businesses Business Leader Award Falcon Award for Excellence in Leadership Golden European Award for Quality and Commercial Prestige Odette van der Haar - MD of Publicis Africa MD of Publicis Africa Consummate marketer, visionary leader, entrepreneur and innovator Former CEO, JWT Johannesburg Former CEO of the Association for Communication & Advertising (ACA) The Next Brand Ambassador, SABC 3 reality television show judge Legends of APEX award recipient, 2019 Bronwyn Williams - Flux Trends contributor, author and speaker Flux Trends contributor, author and speaker Bizcommunity trend contributor Part economist, part marketer, with particular areas of expertise in Blockchain, technology, artificial intelligence, scientific marketing and the future of finance Degree in commerce and marketing management from University of Johannesburg Degree in Fintech from the University of Oxford Degree in Digital Branding from Vega Brand School Post-Graduate qualification in Economics, through the University of London, with a focus on post-cash markets Future Studies, University of Stellenbosch Tosin Lanipekun - Executive director of Advertising Week Africa Executive director of Advertising Week Africa Co-founder and Managing Partner Image & Time, a creative and advertising agency with offices in Lagos and London with a global and pan-African scope, client brands such as JP Morgan, HSBC and Xerox Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria Masters degree in Digital Media from London Metropolitan University D&AD member Member of the Institute of Leadership & Management Member of the Chartered Society of Design, UK Heidi Brauer - Chief Marketing Officer, Hollard Insurance Chief Marketing Officer, Hollard Insurance Chartered Marketer (SA) PRISM and Loeries Grand Prix award-winning marketer Former Executive Manager of Comair taking care of kulula.com, British Airways, SLOW lounges, Daddy's Deals, kulula credit card, jetsetters and Executive Club brands PRISA's Lifetime Achievement Award finalist 2017 Motheo Matsau - Deputy CEO, Ster-Kinekor Theatres Sales Strategy and new channel development Ster-Kinekor Former SuperSport Head of Marketing (SA/ROA) Former MultiChoice_DStv SA Head of Acquisition Marketing Launched DStv Walka in SA and Sub Saharan Africa GIBS MBA BizTrends and BizTrendsLIVE!2020 reflects a more dynamic and diverse group of trend opinion and practitioners than ever before. Expect an exciting overview of factors influencing the future of intra-African trade, culture, finance, marketing, tech and more... More Australians are very concerned about climate change as the unprecedented bushfire crisis continues to ravage the country, a new survey has found. Think-tank the Australia Institute on Wednesday published a survey of more than 1,000 people, finding that almost half are now 'very concerned' about climate change compared to less than 40 per cent six months ago. 'The bushfire crisis has intensified concern about climate change for many Australians, a majority of whom think the country is experiencing the impacts of climate change right here and right now,' institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said. More Australians are very concerned about climate change as the unprecedented bushfire crisis continues to ravage the country, a new survey has found. Red haze is seen in Nerrigundah, New South Wales 'There is also a clear emotional toll, and the distressing images of dead and injured wildlife and charred forests have left most Australians worried that the bush will never be the same again.' About 80 per cent of Australians are concerned about climate change, an increase of five points from July. 'The fossil fuel companies that profit from climate change should be contributing to meet the costs of climate-fuelled disasters, but currently it's the Australian community who pays,' Ms Bennett said. The Australia Institute has proposed a national climate disaster fund, which would be created by a levy on pollution from coal, gas and oil production. The survey results come as Science Minister Karen Andrew seeks to quell public criticism of the government's approach to climate change by saying it's time to move on in the debate. 'Every second that we spend talking about whether the climate is changing is a second we are not spending on looking at adaptation, mitigation strategies,' she told ABC radio. 'It really is time for everyone to move on and to look at what we're going to do.' Her view puts her at odds with a handful of coalition backbenchers who remain outspoken about their denial of climate change. English French Montrouge, 15 January 2020 Credit Agricole S.A. unwinds 35% of the Switch guarantee mechanism On 2 March 2020, Credit Agricole S.A. will unwind1 35% of the Switch guarantee mechanism implemented between the Regional Banks and Credit Agricole S.A, less than a year after the disclosure of its Medium Term Plan, in which it committed to unwind half of this guarantee by 2022. The Switch guarantee mechanism corresponds to a transfer to the Regional Banks of a share of the regulatory requirements that apply to Credit Agricole S.A. for its insurance activities in return for a fixed remuneration. The partial unwinding of this intragroup transaction is a new step towards the simplification of the solvency structure of Credit Agricole S.A. It strengthens the net income generation capacity of Credit Agricole S.A., with an accretive impact on the net income Group share of 58 million euros in 2020 and roughly 70 million euros in full year. The impact of this transaction on the CET1 ratio of Credit Agricole S.A. will be approximately -40 basis points from 31 March 2020. Credit Agricole confirms its 11% CET1 target set out in the Medium Term Plan for Credit Agricole S.A., a level that compares favourably with the 8.7% SREP requirement. Credit Agricole S.A., as the central body of Credit Agricole Group, also benefits fully from the legal internal financial solidarity mechanism. This transaction will have no impact on the results nor on the solvency ratios of Credit Agricole Group. Credit Agricole S.A. press contacts Charlotte de Chavagnac + 33 (0)1 57 72 11 17 charlotte.dechavagnac@credit-agricole-sa.fr Olivier Tassain + 33 (0)1 43 23 25 41 olivier.tassain@credit-agricole-sa.fr All our press releases are available at: www.credit-agricole.com www.creditagricole.info 1 The transaction is subject to the audit of the absence of decrease of the equity-accounted value of insurance during the second semester 2019, this will be performed in the disclosure of the 2019 financial statements. Attachment BAGHDAD - Iraqs outgoing prime minister said Wednesday it was up to the next government to see through parliaments decision to oust U.S. troops. Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdis comments came ahead of planned protests against the American military presence in Iraq called for by an influential Shiite cleric. Washington has responded to Iraqs requests to initiate troop withdrawals with blunt refusal. And on Wednesday, U.S. officials said the U.S. military is resuming operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq and is working to soon restart training Iraqi forces. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss decisions not yet made public. Meanwhile, Qatar said it was seeking to play a mediating role amid escalating tensions following a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. Abdul-Mahdis government is in caretaker status following his resignation in December under pressure from mass demonstrations. I request that the president, parliament and political parties nominate a new prime minister, a new government that has full authority because these difficult, complicated circumstances, especially with pulling of the troops ... that needs a government with full authority so it can go forward, Abdul-Mahdi said in comments aired Wednesday from a Cabinet session the previous day. The U.S. strike prompted Iraqs parliament to pass a non-binding resolution requesting the government end the presence of American troops in the country. Abdul-Mahdi has stood by the resolution despite signs of de-escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. Iran retaliated for the killing by hitting two military bases hosting U.S. troops but did not cause casualties. Last week, Abdul-Mahdi asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to work out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, but Washington responded saying the two sides should instead discuss how to recommit to their partnership. Abdul-Mahdis recent remarks suggest he is keen on maintaining good relations with Washington yet firm that U.S. troops must leave. I am determined to keep our friendships with all. They all helped us, they all scarified for us, some with blood, some with financial aid in fighting (the Islamic State group), he said. We also respect the parliaments decision and we are working on implementing it in the right manner that guarantees Iraqs sovereignty. Meanwhile, followers of influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr acted on his call for millions to take to the streets to demonstrate against the American troop presence by announcing planned protests to take place next week, according to a statement circulating on social media verified by two activists. The protests are expected to take place on Jan. 24, according to the statement. The cleric, who also leads the Sairoon bloc in parliament, derives much of his political capital through grassroots mobilization. Activists in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of a four-month anti-government protest movement, said they feared the demonstrations would spark clashes. We are afraid that he will decide to start the protests in Tahrir, said Mustafa, an activist who gave only his first name fearing reprisals. In this case there would be big issues with the Tahrir demonstrators. Meanwhile, Qatars Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said the Gulf country was making contacts with regional and international countries in order to de-escalate regional tensions. His visit to Iraq comes days after Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visited Tehran. Qatar, together with some friendly countries, is trying to decrease tensions. We have made international contacts for more consultations with our brotherly and sisterly countries, al-Thani said in a joint press conference with Iraqs Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed al-Hakim. Al-Thani met with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Saleh later Wednesday. We discussed ways of decreasing tensions in our region and we have our common efforts and joint efforts together with our friends in Iran and America and our talks, said al-Hakim. __ Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report from Washington. (TNS) New Orleans City Hall's computer systems have more or less recovered from the cyberattack that pummeled them in December. But residents won't be able to access many police reports or other public records for at least another week.While thousands of city computers have been cleared for use, requests for police reports filed before the Dec. 13 attack won't be fulfilled for another few days or longer, depending on the date of the report, the city said.The online public records system, where users can make requests online, is expected to be back up and running within two weeks.Handwritten reports filed in the month since the attack are being made available to residents requesting them at New Orleans Police Department headquarters, though they may take some time to locate, a city spokesman said.Residents need public records for many reasons, including to begin home renovations or to file insurance claims after a fender bender. But the system for providing those documents has been crippled ever since the city's computers were compromised when an employee apparently provided their credentials in response to a hacker's email, essentially granting that hacker an entryway to the city's servers and computers.Officials detected ransomware on the network and unplugged computers to stop the malware from spreading further. But one in five computers had become so compromised that they had to be replaced.Chief Information Officer Kimberly LaGrue, who has been leading the push to restore the city's computers and servers over the past few weeks, said the website has gone from "visibility to functionality," meaning people can once again pay property taxes and report blight or potholes online.The city has spent $1.5 million to restore its systems since the attack, and it expects to spend $500,000 more on cybersecurity efforts this year. The city could also raise the value of its cybersecurity insurance policy.As of Friday, more than 3,100 computers were cleared for city employees to use. Police districts were able to file electronic reports last week for the first time since the attack.Police reports filed before the attack that date back to 2009 are now accessible to the public, and police will begin fulfilling requests for those records by the end of this week, spokesman Trey Caruso said.Reports filed before 2009 could be available within two months. And handwritten reports filed after the attack are available at NOPD headquarters, but have to be searched for manually and could take time to find, Caruso said.New Orleans resident Matthew Cabana went to the NOPD's South Broad Street headquarters Friday to get a copy of a handwritten report filed this month after a thief stole Cabana's motorcycle. He said he was told all records were unavailable. Without a copy of his report, he can't replace his bike, as his insurance company won't honor his claim.Many who have experienced a vehicle break-in or theft in recent weeks have faced a similar problem."I am fortunate in that it was just a motorcycle, and I have another means of conveyance," Cabana said.Users will be able to easily access the city's online records system, Next Request, within two weeks, Caruso said. For the past month, people have been told to submit their requests at City Hall in person and to expect delays.New Orleans is one of dozens of municipalities across the U.S. whose systems have been affected by cybercriminals in the past year. The targets also included the state of Louisiana. The FBI is still investigating the source of the local attack. (Sharecast News) - Commercial passenger aircraft leasing company Avation announced on Wednesday that it has delivered the second of two Airbus A321 aircraft to Vietjet Air under a long term operating lease, which were being transitioned from a prior operator. The London-listed firm said the aircraft had completed calendar airframe maintenance checks, been configured for operations by Vietjet Air and had been painted in the airline's livery. "Vietjet Air operates a substantial route network of 135 routes including domestic and international destinations in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India and Myanmar," the Avation board explained in its statement. "It operates a modern fleet of Airbus A320s and A321s with an average age of 3.3 years. "Vietjet Air is a valued existing customer of Avation." At 1026 GMT, shares in Avation were up 1.25% at 299.7p. Baker Street Funding is a legal funding firm located in New York City that specializes in providing plaintiffs and attorneys with pre and post-settlement funding. The driving force behind this organization is Daniel DiGiaimo, the CEO and President. Mr. DiGiaimo has an impressive back-ground in financial services and previously worked at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer & Co. Holding a minor in Law and a BA in Finance from PACE University, Mr. DiGiaimo manages all funding decisions and is responsible for the success of the company. Baker Street Funding is not your regular litigation funding company and their unique ability to diversify risk and foster strategic partnerships with major players within the legal funding industry, sets them apart from the competition. Baker Street Funding is extremely well-capitalized and can deliver quick financing decisions to help attorneys and their clients focus on what matters most. Their staff of experienced litigators is well aware of how litigation and arbitration process work. They understand the pressure that clients can be under during high stakes arbitration and they are helping them with timely financial support and guidance to get the most out of their claim. They have helped thousands of Americans obtain the best settlement funding solutions and have provided those clients with a total of $50 million in funding in the past year alone. Plaintiffs and their attorneys can enjoy flexible terms at the lowest rates. When it comes to litigation funding, no one is better. At Baker Street Funding, each and every person is treated with dignity and respect and not just like another case. They focus on providing their clients with a lawsuit cash advance on the future proceeds of their pending settlements. The process takes as little as 24 hours from the moment when they receive a copy of the case documents to the moment of wiring out the funds. Although third-party litigation funding is quite a new phenomenon in the United States, it managed to take off quickly and become an important part of the legal landscape. Our plaintiff funding business, where we provide personal injury plaintiffs with liquidity, in order for principal and a set rate of return to be paid upon successful settlement of their claim, has grown enormously in the past two years. We only work with a fraction of personal injury plaintiffs nationwide and if the economy takes a turn for the worse, there will be more plaintiffs in need of immediate capital. Investors see that as a great compliment to a portfolio of domestic equities and fixed in-come. As far as the importance to plaintiffs and counsel, quite simply the liquidity that we provide allows the plaintiff to continue to fight for a settlement that they deserve. It is a well-known tactic of insurers to drag out cases as long as possible in order to force the plaintiff into taking a smaller settlement. We help even the playing field., said Daniel DiGiaimo, CEO of Baker Street Funding. Baker Street Funding is Americas no.1 preferred pre-settlement funding firm and considered one of the best pre-settlement funding companies nationwide. A settlement advance is also known as a non-recourse financing agreement, which means that if the client loses the case, he or she is not obliged to pay the company back. Baker Street Funding provides immediately available cash to customers they believe they have strong enough cases to win and pay back. Clients who choose them for litigation funding can enjoy a series of benefits such as no credit check, no job required, fast approval and funding, no risk, and contracts that advance from as little as $1,500 to $5 million or more. At Baker Street Funding, many types of cases are considered. They list a number of case types on their website that they have funded previously but are always looking for new and interesting cases. Typically, they offer services such as personal injury pre-settlement funding, post-settlement funding, lawsuit advances, settled case funding, case cost funding, litigation funding, disbursement funding, bundled settlement advances, surgery funding, malpractice pre-settlement funding, premises liability settlement funding, and more. The team of professionals working at Baker Street Funding is committed to providing their customers with accurate real-time updates on their applications and to lend a compassionate ear in their time of need. They believe everyone deserves a better financial future and they are here to deliver more value to their clients lives. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 14:34:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HOHHOT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- An alleged murderer was finally captured in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region after absconding for 33 years. According to police in Chen Barag Banner under the city of Hulun Buir, the suspect, surnamed Li, stabbed someone to death with a knife after a quarrel with the victim in December 1987. The police launched a manhunt but no progress was made. Thanks to advanced intelligent technologies that led to new investigation clues, they identified a resident surnamed Quan in the city of Manzhouli as the suspect, and arrested the man recently. Li confessed to the murder to the police. Further processing of the case is underway. Since 2012 the federal governments preferred approach has been to launch pilots rather than introduce permanent programs Why does Canadas federal government launch economic class pilot programs? Since 2012 the federal governments preferred approach has been to launch pilots rather than introduce permanent programs Why does Canadas federal government launch economic class pilot programs? Since 2012 the federal governments preferred approach has been to launch pilots rather than introduce permanent programs Why does Canadas federal government launch economic class pilot programs? Since 2012 the federal governments preferred approach has been to launch pilots rather than introduce permanent programs Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Since a 2012 reform to Canadas Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), Canadas immigration minister has had the legal authority to introduce new economic class pilot programs to welcome immigrants that can help address economic and labour force priority areas across the country. Other than one exception, every new federal economic class program since that reform has been introduced as a pilot, including several ones launched in 2019, and two new ones that could be introduced in 2020. The rationale for pilots Prior to the introduction of the pilot program approach the federal government needed to table new economic class programs to Parliament. These programs would then be reviewed, debated, and voted on before they could be opened up to prospective immigrants. This process, while democratic, could also be slow. When it comes to Canadas immigration system, slowness can be problematic and make it even more difficult for employers to fill jobs in the midst of skilled labour shortages. Therefore, the 2012 reform has been beneficial in several regards. It allows the federal government to launch pilot projects quickly and without parliamentary delay. Simply put, these pilots are trial runs that exist for up to five years and can welcome no more than 2,750 principal applicants under a given pilot per year. As such these pilots reduce the costs of launching programs that may prove unsuccessful. Rather than potentially spending months debating the launch of a new program, introducing it, and then determining it is not serving its purpose, the federal government can test pilots and then determine whether to make them permanent, scrap them, or reform them. For these reasons, the federal governments preferred approach is now to launch pilots rather than introduce permanent programs. One needs to go back to 2013 for the last federal economic class program that was launched as a permanent one: the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs Pilots prior to 2019 Prior to 2019, the federal government launched three pilots. In 2013, it launched the Start-up Visa Pilot to welcome innovative entrepreneurs to Canada. The SUV became permanent in 2018. So far, the program has had mixed success. On the one hand, it has enabled Canada to attract entrepreneurial immigrants with high human capital characteristics. On the other hand, its intake numbers have been low with just several hundred immigrants arriving through it per year. The SUV has not been able to funnel the highest calibre immigration candidates to the business incubators and private equity investors responsible for recruiting immigrants under the program. As a result, the incubators and investors are often overwhelmed with applications from individuals who may not be the best fit. Another challenge is that the overwhelming majority of SUV immigrants go to Toronto and Vancouver, which does not help efforts to promote innovation across Canada. Launched in 2015, The Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Fund pilot was introduced to welcome immigrant investors. However, due to limited interest, the federal government stopped accepting applications within a year of its launch. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP), launched in 2017, was developed to help welcome more immigrants to Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The AIP has been the most successful pilot to date as it has led to more than 4,000 immigrants now calling Atlantic Canada home. The new mandate letter of Canadas recently appointed immigration minister indicates the federal government will take steps to make the AIP a permanent program with at least 5,000 spots available each year. New federal pilots in 2019 In January 2019, the federal government announced the launch of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP). Eleven communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia are now participating in the RNIP as they seek to attract and retain more newcomers. The RNIP is still in its early days but we will get a good sense of its performance towards the second half of 2020. In February 2019, the federal government launched two new pilots for caregivers. The pilots aim to provide caregivers with a more direct pathway to permanent residence (PR). Candidates are assessed for their PR eligibility upon application. In addition, caregivers are provided with occupation-specific work permits that enable them to switch employers. This measure protects them from potential cases of employer abuse. Caregivers can also be joined by their children as well as their partners who are eligible to receive open work permits. Employers no longer need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire caregivers. The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot was launched in July 2019 after the federal government announced its introduction during the tabling of its budget in March. Given the importance of the agri-food sector to Canadas economy and the persistent labour shortages it is facing, the three-year pilot aims to draw newcomers who can fill vacancies in the meat processing and mushroom farming industries. Two new federal pilots in 2020? Federal pilots have become the new normal and we may learn about two new ones in 2020. They include a new Municipal Nominee Program (MNP) that will seek to complement existing federal pilots and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in promoting broader distribution of immigration across the country. Moreover, the federal government indicated in Immigration Minister Marco Mendicinos mandate letter it intends to launch an additional new rural pilot program. Canadas federal and provincial governments currently offer some 80 economic class pathways which are fairly comprehensive in terms of welcoming immigrants who can help promote economic development in a number of ways. The introduction of federal pilots since 2013 has assisted in this regard. Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved It's hard to protect something you can't find. A new Stanford study reveals sampling soil for animals' left-behind DNA can provide valuable information for conservation efforts - with significantly less cost and time - than currently used methods, such as camera traps. The process, outlined Jan. 14 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, also proved effective at distinguishing genetic differences between animals that otherwise look identical, an arduous task with traditional tracking approaches, and may have even revealed previously unknown species diversity, according to the researchers. Although the technique still needs refinement, the authors are optimistic it could one day revolutionize the study of species in the wild. "We need a quantum leap in the way we identify and track animals," said study lead author Kevin Leempoel, a postdoctoral research fellow in biology at Stanford. "This may be it." A hopeful solution The specter of extinction hangs over more than a quarter of all animal species, according to the best estimate of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which maintains a list of threatened and extinct species. Conservationists have documented extreme declines in animal populations in every region of Earth. One of the most promising tools for monitoring biodiversity - key to large-scale conservation efforts - is the study of environmental DNA, or eDNA, in discarded animal materials, such as hair, feces, skin and saliva. After extracting DNA, scientists sequence and compare it to online DNA sequence databases to identify the species. It's a relatively fast, low-maintenance process compared to traditional approaches, such as live-trapping, animal tracking and camera trapping, for studying species diversity, distribution and abundance. The researchers spent about $4,500 for all the study's supplies, other than lab equipment. A similar study with camera traps could cost more than twice as much. Despite the obvious advantages, questions about the efficacy of eDNA analyses have remained. That's in part because most research so far has been done only in ocean and freshwater environments. Among the few studies done on land, most have been in enclosed areas, such as zoos, or limited to a small number of species. Seeing the unseen Working at Stanford's 1,193-acre Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Leempoel and his colleagues studied eDNA in soil. Not only did they identify almost every animal that nearby camera traps had spotted in the previous four years, they also found genetic evidence of a number of small mammals, including bats and voles, rarely if ever seen by the cameras. These creatures had likely escaped the cameras' gaze because they are too small to trigger them. Overall, there was an 80 percent chance of finding an animal's eDNA in an area within 30 days of the animal's presence there. Another advantage of eDNA is the possibility of distinguishing species that look similar. For example, the researchers found the DNA of the Norway rat in soil samples, confirming the presence of this species in the area for the first time. Previous camera surveys could not tell the difference between Norway and black rats. Compared with camera records and other observations, eDNA identifications appeared to be closely correlated with how frequently and recently animals had been in the area. The analysis turned up no hint of badgers - unrecorded on cameras for the previous four years - domestic cats or weasels - caught on camera only a few times in the previous two years. "By corroborating photographs of animals with their genetic remains in the environment, this study reveals both hidden biodiversity in a terrestrial ecosystem and how well these eDNA techniques will work in other places," said study senior author Elizabeth Hadly, the Paul S. and Billie Achilles Professor in Environmental Biology in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences. Toward a new paradigm Despite these positive results, questions remain about the potential of eDNA analysis. Scientists do not know how frequently an animal must pass by a given area to be detectable in an eDNA sample, or how recent that passage must be. If an animal's size affects the amount of DNA it leaves behind, as the researchers speculate, some animals would only rarely be sampled while others would be overrepresented. No one knows the precise volume and number of samples that should be collected for maximum accuracy, which environmental source - soil or something else - is the most versatile, or whether all species are even detectable via eDNA analysis. The study results appeared to overrepresent some species, such as mountain lions and bobcats, possibly due to the felines' habit of frequently marking their territory with urine and feces, and because they frequently use trails such as those where the researchers took soil samples. In general, it's impossible to know whether pieces of skin, fur or dried scat were transported by wind or by other species that had consumed the animal as prey. Perhaps most importantly, incomplete DNA databases and limitations of the study's design made it difficult to detect all species present in the area, and caused at least two inconsistent results among the genetic sequencing approaches the researchers used. Analyzing eDNA remains relatively time-consuming because proven protocols have yet to be established. Still, the researchers are optimistic about the approach's promise. "Its overall accuracy, combined with decreasing costs of genetic sequencing and new portable sequencers, makes eDNA a likely candidate to become the standard for biodiversity surveys in the next decade," Leempoel said. ### To read all stories about Stanford science, subscribe to the biweekly Stanford Science Digest. Hadly is also a faculty director of Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a member of Stanford Bio-X and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Trevor Hebert, an academic technology specialist at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, also co-authored the study. The research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Stanford University Mellon Grant and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Contact Kevin Leempoel, Biology: (650) 229-9482, leempoel@stanford.edu Elizabeth Hadly, Biology: (650) 245-1775, hadly@stanford.edu Rob Jordan, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment: (650) 721-1881, rjordan@stanford.edu Generally speaking the aim of active stock picking is to find companies that provide returns that are superior to the market average. And the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. To wit, the Catalyst Media Group share price has climbed 41% in five years, easily topping the market return of 11% (ignoring dividends). On the other hand, the more recent gains haven't been so impressive, with shareholders gaining just 12% , including dividends . Check out our latest analysis for Catalyst Media Group While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During five years of share price growth, Catalyst Media Group moved from a loss to profitability. On the other hand, it reported a trailing twelve months loss, suggesting it isn't reliably profitable. So we might find other metrics can better explain the share price movements. We note that the dividend is higher than it was previously - always nice to see. Maybe dividend investors have helped support the share price. You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). AIM:CMX Income Statement, January 15th 2020 If you are thinking of buying or selling Catalyst Media Group stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet. What About Dividends? As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Catalyst Media Group, it has a TSR of 159% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! Story continues A Different Perspective Catalyst Media Group provided a TSR of 12% over the last twelve months. Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. It's probably a good sign that the company has an even better long term track record, having provided shareholders with an annual TSR of 21% over five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Catalyst Media Group (including 1 which is is a bit unpleasant) . If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. baona/iStock(TOKYO) -- Japan's environment minister announced he is taking paternity leave after the birth of his first child, and the news garnered international headlines and shocked social media in a nation where "death from overwork" is considered a public health issue. Shinjiro Koizumi, who is also the son of conservative former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, announced he would be taking family leave Wednesday, saying he didn't want to leave all the child care up to his wife and he wanted to do more to help out around the household, according to Japan's national broadcaster NHK. Koizumi's announcement marks the first time a serving cabinet minister in Japan will be taking paternity leave. He said he plans to take a total of two weeks off during the first three months after his baby is born. He hopes to set an example for other fathers as the nation deals with a crisis of work-life balance, and declining birth rates. Some experts blame the declining birth rates on a lack of support for working women who often bear the burden of child care and household work in addition to their jobs. Only 6% of fathers took paternity leave in Japan in 2018, according NHK, which cited government statistics, while approximately 80% of new mothers did. Of those who did take paternity leave, most took off less than a week. Koizumi's decision faced some backlash from some in Japan, who accused him of skirting his public duties. Social media also lit up with mixed reactions to his announcement. Japan ranked higher, however, than the U.S. in a United Nations report released in 2019 that looked at family leave policies among "high- and middle- income countries." The U.S. ranked lowest on the list of 41 nations for family-friendly policies. Just last month, federal government employees in the U.S. got paid parental leave for the first time with the passage of a new bill. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Lebanon: demonstrators, police wounded in Beirut clashes Protests against the Lebanese banking, political system (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 15 - Demonstrators and police officers were wounded in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in Beirut during violent clashes registered in the central Hamra road near the headquarters of the central bank, according to local sources. The sources said hundreds of young demonstrators and activists protested against the Lebanese banking and political systems. (ANSAmed) The Sicilian mafia has been defrauding the EUs agricultural subsidy scheme for years to the tune of 10m (8.57m), Italian authorities have said. Officials say Italys state and financial police made 94 dawn arrests across Sicily in relation to the scam, which apparently dates back to 2013. According to authorities, thousands of acres of farmland in the east of the island have been fraudulently qualifying for EU agricultural subsidies. Some land actually eligible for European aid is also said to have been acquired by the gangs through extortion and threatening its owners. National anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho said mobsters used extortion to force sales of the lands. 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 Cafiero de Raho described the alleged racket as a criminal system, a system of fraud and said rival crime families had joined forces to take their share. Recommended How EU farm subsidies are abused by oligarchs and populists Officials say farmers who declined to participate in the fraud reported the activities to the authorities, helping to bust the alleged mobsters. Gianluca Rizzo, an MP from the governing Five Star Movement party, told the Associated Press news agency that the arrests represented a true and real blow to the heart of a criminal system that, sucking away European funds to develop our region, makes money off the backs of future generations. The farm subsidies like the Common Agricultural Policy make up over a third of the EUs entire budget. Italy is one of the largest recipients of Common Agricultural Policy payments, taking in 12 per cent of the total behind only Germany, France, and Spain. The Delhi government and the prison authorities informed the court that under the rules, it will have to wait for the mercy plea of Nirbhaya convict to be decided before executing the death warrant. (Photo Credit: File Photo) New Delhi: In a major setback that may delay the execution of the rapists of sensational 2012s December 16 case, the Delhi government on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that execution of Nirbhaya convicts is not possible on January 22 as the mercy plea is pending with President Ram Nath Kovind. Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were told by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by convict Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. The Delhi government and the prison authorities informed the court that under the rules, it will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. The Delay Tactic They also said that none of the four convicts can be executed on January 22 unless the present mercy plea is decided. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay. Advocate Rahul Mehra, Standing Counsel for Tihar Jail authorities said that, 'Execution of convicts (2012 Nirbhaya case) will surely not take place on January 22'. He further stated that fate of a death convict comes to finality only after his mercy plea is rejected by the President. Mehra further said that, 'It can only take place 14 days after the mercy plea is rejected as we are bound by the rule which says that a notice of 14 days must be provided to the convicts after the rejection of mercy plea.' No Relief From Supreme Court On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petitions filed by two Nirbhaya convicts. Two convicts Mukesh Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma had filed the curative pleas after a Delhi court issued death warrants against them. A curative petition is the last legal remedy available to a convict apart from mercy plea. A five-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan was hearing the curative pleas. The mercy plea Mukesh Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, filed a mercy plea before the President of India on Tuesday, prison officials said, shortly after the Supreme Court refused to stay his scheduled execution. Mukesh has also moved to Delhi High Court seeking stay on the death warrant issued by a trial court citing his pending mercy plea. The court is expected to hear the matter on Wednesday. Tara Houska, an attorney and Indigenous rights activist, was going through TSA security at MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport when a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Houska she would need to have her braids patted down as a security precaution, reports Fox News. "She pulled them behind my shoulders, laughed [and] said 'giddy up!' as she snapped my braids like reins," Houska said on Twitter. "My hair is part of my spirit. I am a Native woman. I am angry, humiliated. Your 'fun' hurt." Going through @TSA at @mspairport, the agent said she needed to pat down my braids. She pulled them behind my shoulders, laughed & said "giddyup!" as she snapped my braids like reins. My hair is part of my spirit. I am a Native woman. I am angry, humiliated. Your "fun" hurt. tara houska (@zhaabowekwe) January 13, 2020 When Houska informed the agent that her actions were dehumanizing and disrespectful, the agent explained that she was having "fun." Federal Security Director Cliff Van Leuven sais Houska's description of the incident was accurate. From Fox News: Chabad representatives serving twenty university campuses Europe-wide met up in London last weekend for Chabad on Campus Europes annual conference. On the agenda were concerns about enhanced security, innovations in Jewish education and maintaining a strong Jewish focus. Seasoned representatives and newer recruits networked and swapped ideas and advice, shared their challenges and celebrated each others successes. The European conference provides a dynamic and interactive forum for discussing the broad issues facing Chabad on campus emissaries across Europe, says Rabbi Yossy Gordon, CEO of Chabad on Campus International. At Least Five Rockets Land Near Iraq Base Hosting US Forces - Reports Sputnik News 22:00 14.01.2020(updated 02:23 15.01.2020) A US-led military coalition said to be backing the Iraqi government in its fight against Daesh terrorists has been training Iraqi army forces for several months at a military base located in Taji. The attack on the Iraqi base comes amid escalating tensions in the region due to the ongoing standoff between the United States and Iran. Following the attack, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) spokesperson Col. Myles Caggins III said that no coalition troops were injured. According to earlier multiple reports citing Iraqi military sources, several rockets hit the Taji military base, north of Baghdad, on Tuesday. A source in the Iraqi security forces confirmed that at least five Soviet-made Katyusha-type projectiles hit the military installation. Alsumaria News, citing a source, reported that five projectiles landed near the base. Local media reported that at least three people were injured. Contradicting reports suggest that casualty figures could be higher. The Iraqi military confirmed in a statement that the attack targeted a military installation where American personnel are deployed, but denied reports that there were injured. Earlier this month, the Iraqi parliament approved a resolution that required the immediate and complete withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, in protest over a US drone attack near the Baghdad airport that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Iraqi Shia militia. Lawmakers noted that the assassination violated Iraqi sovereignty, and the country's government filed a complaint to the UN Security Council. Iran later retaliated by attacking two military bases hosting American troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles. Iraqi military bases housing US personnel have reportedly faced multiple attacks over the past two months. *Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS, Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A woman discovered her husband had been looking at child pornography while searching on his laptop for bank statements. The woman from Hawke's Bay, in New Zealand, used her husband's computer while he was out of town. She was horrified when she stumbled on images of young girls in sexual positions stored on his laptop. The 68-year-old man, from Hastings, New Zealand, had 13 images of young girls in sexual positions stored on his laptop (stock image pictured) His wife immediately contacted police and an investigation was launched. Police seized the laptop and found a further 25 deleted images of naked children. The victims were aged between 8 and 12, however, one image involved an infant. The man, who has interim name suppression, appeared in Hastings District Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing objectionable material, Hawkes Bay Today reported. According to the summary of facts, the man told police he felt he had a 'sickness and needed to be cured'. He was remanded on bail and is due to be sentenced on March 4. Australian Associated Press Michael Lang, a co-creator and promoter of the 1969 Woodstock music festival that served as a touchstone for generations of music fans, has died.Michael Pagnotta, a spokesperson for Lang's family, said Sunday the 77-year-old had been battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma and passed away Saturday at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. A new program launching at the University of Toronto is looking to increase the number of Black law students. The Black Future Lawyers program is a collaboration involving the universitys faculty of law, the Black law students association, and Black legal alumni. One of its main focuses will be Black undergraduate students who may be considering law school, and will include special workshops and information sessions about financial aid and getting a legal education. It will also offer mentoring and job shadowing with Black lawyers and judges, the university has said. The thesis that we had is that there had been an under-presentation of Black students, said Josh Lokko, national president of the Black Law Students Association of Canada and a law student at U of T. Students either arent applying, are not being accepted or theyre not accepting offers when theyre extended, so we try to address those things. According to the law schools self-declared class profile information, Black students have typically represented about one per cent of the students entering law school, though the school has said some have identified as mixed race. Lokko said the program will seek to teach Black students about the benefits of law school, and will also help them with things like building a strong law school resume and feeling supported once they do get accepted. One of the main issues, in my opinion, is students dont really understand the benefits that law school can bring, Lokko said. When I came to law school, for example, I didnt really know much about how the legal profession worked at all. I happened to plug into the Black legal community and that was really helpful. If that had not happened, I would have had a lot more difficulty in my law school experience. The university said that next year it will be launching a Black student application stream. Aside from having to meet the usual academic requirements, Black students will also be able to submit an additional personal statement and their application will be reviewed by at least three members of the Black community. The Black Future Lawyers program was inspired by the Black student application program in U of Ts faculty of medicine, which launched in 2017. The medical school said as of 2018-19, 14 Black students were starting the Doctor of Medicine program, compared to one student in 2016-17. There were 15 Black students starting the MD program in 2019-2020. The school said it attributes these increases to the Black student application program as well as a support program which offers mentorship to students. France has taken note of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member's request to raise the Kashmir issue again in the council. However, the country's position remains 'unchanged' and the matter must be settled bilaterally between New Delhi and Islamabad, French diplomatic sources told ANI. Earlier in the day, Radio Pakistan reported that the UNSC will meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Kashmir. "France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise Kashmir issue again in this body. France's position is unchanged -- Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally as we have stated on several occasions and will continue to reiterate to our partners on UNSC," sources said. In December last year, France had vetoed the move to convene a meeting on Kashmir. That meeting had been called by China after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a letter to the UNSC on December 12, had expressed concern over a possible further escalation of tension between New Delhi and Islamabad after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5. The UNSC had met on Kashmir in August last year, the first such meeting in decades after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status. China, in the meeting, had strongly criticised the move to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kung Hei Fat Choi! The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announces as the Year of the Rat approaches, exciting plans are underway in Hong Kong. The HKTB, together with title sponsor Cathay Pacific Airways, is going to celebrate Chinese New Year in a brand new way this year with the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Carnival. Rather than simply staging the night parade on the first day of Chinese New Year, the HKTB is putting together a carnival that will run from the first day (January 25) through to the fourth day (January 28). In addition to the signature parade, the event will feature a variety of family-friendly elements, enabling locals and visitors alike to kick off an auspicious New Year with their loved ones. HKTB Director- Canada, Central & South America Mr. Michael Lim said, The HKTB has been staging its Chinese New Year event to spread happiness across the city for nearly a quarter of a century. This year being the Year of the Rat, the leader of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, it is not only the beginning of a new cycle, but it also marks the staging of the 25th edition of this signature event. This provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate the much-loved festival in a new way. We will show to visitors from around the world with our fun, vibrant celebrations that Hong Kong remains an open and welcoming travel destination. The four-day carnival will be held at the Art Park of the West Kowloon Cultural District also the first time for the HKTBs Chinese New Year event. The carnival will include daily parades along the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade as well as stage performances from day into the night. These displays will include the greatest number of international performing troupes in the events history. A total of 26 international troupes and 22 local groups, totalling over a thousand performers, will treat spectators to exciting demonstrations of acrobatics, dance, music, magic, comedy, jumping stilt performances and more. International teams include: NBC World of Dance and HHI PH Varsity champions UPeepz and VPeepz from the Philippines will steal the spotlight with their dynamic hip hop dance moves. Les Vitamines, Canada, the high-energy duo, who often take part in street carnivals and parties, combine acrobatics, juggling, circus stunts, balancing acts, mime and a great deal of humour to delight their audiences. While the parade and performances are the highlights of the New Year carnival, there will be far more going on over these days. Popular city photo spots will be decorated with giant installations of cartoon characters that are sure to delight children and provide families with photos that will remind them of their time in Hong Kong for years to come. Workshops on balloon twisting and face painting will also be available to keep children busy and happy. Lion dances will be performed all over the region: in the streets and villages and even in hotel lobbies. Dazzling and exciting are the events that mark the New Year, but theres another element that makes this time in Hong Kong so special: flowers. Flowers and plants, most with significance for health, prosperity and happiness in the New Year, are exchanged and displayed everywhere, the highlight being the flower market in Victoria Park where the exquisite offerings are traded under glowing lamplight, creating a display like no other. And then theres the food! Hong Kong is famous for its wide variety of food offerings, and the New Year is, of course, no exception. At New Year, restaurants and families serve traditional dishes that, it is believed, bring good luck, while the first Chinese New Year Carnival Market will feature 15 street food stalls offering international snacks to keep the carnival revellers happy. The Lunar New Year celebrations draw to a close on the 15th day of the New Year with the Yuen Siu, or Spring Lantern Festival. A Taoist tradition, Yuen Siu is believed to be the day when the Lord of Heaven visits Earth to check up on humans. In his honour, exhibitions of brightly coloured lanterns are displayed in prominent public places and at Taoist temples. With Yuen Siu, the New Year celebrations come to an end, and Hong Kong embarks on another busy year full of traditional celebrations, sporting events, art shows, festivals, business and excitement! For further information about the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Carnival, please refer to DiscoverHongKong.com/ChineseNewYear. For media enquiries, please contact Karisa Lui, Tel: (800) 563-4582/(416) 366-2389 ext 204, Karisa.lui@hktb.com . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/60fdf153-0abe-4e36-9e1f-b9fb8dfca450 January 14, 2020 News By Terri Moon Cronk Defense.gov Esper, Japanese Counterpart Reaffirm Bilateral Defense Relationship Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper and Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono met at the Pentagon to reaffirm the defense relationship between the United States and Japan. Speaking with reporters after today's meeting, Esper noted that on Jan. 11, the United States and Japan celebrated the 60th annual signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. "The agreement formalized our commitment to addressing shared security concerns on the basis of freedom and democracy," he said. "Since then, we have united to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region and to uphold a rules-based international order." Esper thanked Kono for Japan's decision to deploy its self-defense force assets to the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. "In advancing our maritime security objectives, we will continue to share information and cooperate on operations in the Middle East as we work to promote freedom of navigation and freedom of commerce," the secretary said. Another American priority is the complete denuclearization of North Korea, Esper said. "The relationship [between] the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea remains vital to addressing this challenge, and we will continue trilateral defense exercises and information sharing to bolster regional security and achieve that objective," he said. The United States also seeks to balance constructive engagement with China as it protects U.S. interests, the secretary added. "We continue to counter China's destabilizing behavior in the region, especially in the South and the East China Seas," Esper said. "And we remain opposed to unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of the Senkaku Islands." They also discussed their progress and the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, Esper said. "We are grateful to Japan for ensuring our access to training ranges and air spaces, which help us maintain our readiness and enhance regional security and stability to deliver a strong deterrent message to China and North Korea," he said. Esper also thanked Japan for its leadership in advancing information security. "We must maintain the momentum of last year's 2+2 meeting as we shore up potential vulnerabilities and expand our cooperation in areas such as space and cyber," he said. The secretary said the U.S.-Japan alliance has experienced a remarkable evolution over the past 60 years, and their strong, bilateral relationship will continue to be critical to collective security and regional stability. "I look forward to deepening that relationship working with you in the future," Esper told Kono. "I thank you for your great cooperation and your friendship." Kono said he is grateful to have the opportunity to visit Washington as Japan's defense minister and hold discussions at the Pentagon with Esper on making the two nations' alliance even stronger at the beginning of this milestone year. First discussing the situation in the Middle East, including the recent developments in Iran, Kono said Esper explained how U.S. forces are operating in the area. "I responded that we will make persistent, diplomatic efforts to ease the tension and stabilize the information in the region," Kono said. Second, the defense minister said they affirmed that ballistic missile launches in North Korea, pose a serious threat to regional security and agreed on the full implementation for "resolution of complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of ballistic missiles." The defense minister said he and Esper also promised to work closely to counter North Korea's illicit ship-to-ship transfers. "[The] Japan-U.S. alliance has become even stronger, and we affirm to continue to closely work together to reinforce the alliance's deterrence and response capability to operationalize our aligned strategies," Kono said. "It was highly significant that we discussed the many issues and concerns and agreed upon the way ahead between our defense agencies," the defense minister said. "I'll commit myself to making our alliance even stronger based on today's outcome." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The first-ever direct flights between the two capitals will start on 5 June, with four flights a week EgyptAir and the Irish authorities have agreed to operate direct flights between Cairo and Dublin, Egypt's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The first-ever direct flights between the two capitals will start on 5 June, with four flights a week. The Egyptian embassy in Dublin has worked for years in coordination with national carrier EgyptAir and Irish authorities to launch this route, Egypt's ambassador to Ireland Khaled Tharwat said, according to a statement by the ministry. The new route is expected to "boost Irish tourism to Egypt and enhance trade and investment cooperation between the two countries." The ambassador expects there will be high demand on the new route in both directions, given that Cairo is an international aviation hub for African and Middle Eastern countries. Search Keywords: Short link: " " Almost a third of new 2017 cars didn't include spare tires. So what's a driver to do when they get a flat? kenneth-cheung/Getty Images If you've been shopping for a new car recently, you may have noticed something missing from many newer models: a spare tire. How can that be? What's a driver to do when they get a flat if they don't have a spare? But it's true: According to a new study from AAA, nearly one-third of new 2017 model year vehicles don't come equipped with a spare tire. And even though the number of cars without spares has decreased in the last few years (36 percent of new cars came sans spares in 2015) many drivers still don't seem to realize it's a problem until they get a flat. Case in point: AAA says it received more than 450,000 calls from members in 2016 who had flats and were surprised to discover they didn't have spares. Of course, automakers don't risk alienating customers without a few good reasons, but a stranded driver who gets caught off guard might not agree with them, no matter how good the car company thinks it is. So why exactly are automakers choosing not to include spare tires with new cars? There are several explanations: The car has run-flat tires instead It saves the automaker money The car weighs less without a spare Automakers can claim a slightly higher fuel economy rating Special design considerations Advertisement Run-Flats and Fuel Efficiency If you've purchased a new BMW in the past few years, chances are it doesn't have a spare tire. That's because BMWs are typically equipped with run-flat tires, which feature a stiff sidewall or internal reinforcement. Other automakers use run-flats, too, but BMW has become known for leading the charge. Run-flats are designed to drive up to 50 miles (80.4 kilometers) after being punctured below a top speed of 50 mph (80.47 kph) until drivers can reach a safe location. They have to replaced once they're damaged, and they are more expensive and harder to find than regular tires. It's hard to argue that supplying run-flat tires saves automaker moneys, but what about when they put traditional tires on those cars and still don't provide a spare? That could be nothing more than the automaker wanting to save a buck. Here's why: It costs about $100 to buy your own spare at a tire shop or at the dealership, and the proper jack and wrench will cost a bit more. Considering the automakers get these supplies at a lower cost, it's unlikely they're saving any more than $100 per vehicle. Hyundai is often pinpointed as one of the automakers leading this trend, but it says it is a matter of weight savings, not cost savings. Hyundai includes a tire mobility kit instead of spares in many of its cars. Michele Tinson, a Hyundai representative, explained the car company's strategy via email. "The main benefit of equipping a vehicle with a tire mending kit over a temporary spare tire is the nearly 25-pound weight savings; cost was never a significant decision factor for Hyundai," Tinson says. "Automotive engineers are constantly finding ways to improve a vehicle's efficiency, and weight reduction is a major factor in helping vehicles achieve better fuel economy." In other words, reducing the car's total weight increases fuel economy. Tire Rack, which tests and sells tires, discovered that weight savings can improve a car's fuel consumption up to 1 percent. That, too, is tempting for the automaker, because fuel economy ratings play heavily into a vehicle model's marketing strategy, as well as the brand's overall fuel consumption averages. Advertisement Space Considerations The increasing popularity of hybrids and EVs is another factor for automakers to eliminate spare tires. There are specific challenges in designing cars that require battery packs in addition to a gas engine or electric motor. Generally, the battery ends up under the rear seat or in the trunk, which encroaches upon the vehicle's storage space. "Our engineers made the decision to locate the hybrid/plug-in/electric battery systems in the spare tire well in order to maximize the passenger and cargo volume of our alternative powertrain vehicles," Tinson says. " " The battery packs for most hybrid vehicles are located in the trunk, leaving little to no room for spare tires. Firstsignal/Getty Images This isn't a huge problem for larger cars, but most alternative fuel vehicles are small. A compact plug-in hybrid sedan or hatchback with no cargo space is a tough sell, and automakers need to compromise somehow. Bye-bye, spare. For what it's worth, Hyundai said that, due to customer feedback, the company has recently reconsidered its strategy for non-hybrid/EV models. The Accent and Elantra, for example, used to come with tire mending kits but now come with spares. Until more manufacturers follow suit, the onus is on car buyers to be prepared. If you're shopping for a car soon, find out which manufacturers are the worst culprits, and keep that in mind while you're at the dealership. And if you've bought a new car recently, take a peek in the trunk before you find yourself stranded. Now That's Interesting Tire inflator kits are becoming a popular alternative to spare tires. They don't take up much space and they're easy to use. But they don't work every time: The puncture in the tire has to be small no larger than 4 mm and in the tire's tread; if it's in the sidewall, you're out of luck. Advertisement Originally Published: Nov 9, 2017 Oren Cass, author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America, has written a deeply confused response to Samuel Greggs essay How Economic Nationalism Hurts Nations. Casss essay, Comparative Disadvantage, goes off the rails almost immediately after defining comparative advantage: Comparative advantage allows trading partners, whether individuals or nations, to specialize where each has the lower opportunity cost, increasing total output and, through mutually beneficial exchange, leaving both with more to consume. The sooner that each side discovers its advantage and specializes accordingly, the sooner benefits can flow. Cass rejects the consensus of economists since David Ricardo on the grounds that: the description bears no resemblance to how the international economy operates. Even the stylized example raises more questions than it answers. Israel is indeed an international technology powerhouse. But why? Is it simply in the nature of small, socialist agricultural communities founded by refugees and beset constantly by war and terrorism to become centers of innovation? Is it something about the Mediterranean winds, perhaps? Or, as the World Bank suggests, has it been the Israeli governments explicit goal to position Israel at the core of the knowledge economy. There is broad agreement as to the significant role played by the government in the emergence and development of Israels vibrant and dynamic high-tech sector. Comparative advantage does not describe how nations or persons specialize in things they excel at but rather why countries produce and export things at which they do not have an absolute advantage: The explanation of the apparent paradox is that the citizens of the importing country must be even better at producing something else, making it worth it for them to pay to have work done by the exporting country. Amazingly, the citizens of each country are better off specializing in producing only the goods at which they have a comparative advantage, even if one country has an absolute advantage at producing each item. Comparative advantage is not a blue print for economic policy but an explanation of dynamic market phenomena. Economic development and specialization is not mono-causal. Institutions, human capital, entrepreneurship, natural resources, geography, technology, knowledge, labor, and old fashioned financial capital all play a role. If political will were all that was needed New Zealands industrial policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s would have lead to unprecedented prosperity and not a public debt crisis. Thankfully New Zealand abandoned the economic ignorance which animates all central planning, including industrial policy, and embraced the market centered reforms that continue to make it one of the freest and most dynamic economies in the world. UPDATE (9:36 a.m.): A juvenile has been charged with manslaughter in Tuesday's deadly shooting at Bellaire High School. ORIGINAL STORY: Two people were taken into custody Tuesday night related to the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old student at Bellaire High School, according to the City of Bellaire and Houston ISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan. In a statement Tuesday night, Bellaire police said they apprehended the pair at about 7:30 p.m. but did not release any additional details. Their relationship to the victim is unclear. Later Tuesday night, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office is pursuing charges against the unnamed shooter. Bellaire Mayor Andrew S. Friedberg struck a somber note in a lengthy statement, saying: School is supposed to be a safe place, but our very basic sense of security now gives way to worry. We owe it to our children to find some way to restore it MORE ON BELLAIRE SHOOTING: Despite tragedy, Bellaire HS staff returns to work today Lathan initially said Bellaire High would reopen on Wednesday with additional security and grief counselors, but the district later said classes would be canceled. Staff was asked to report to the campus Wednesday and students are expected back Thursday. A 17-year-old who attends Bellaire said he did not hear the gunshot but saw his classmates rush out of the school around 4 p.m., just before dismissal. He said the victim was involved in the schools JROTC program. Footage from TV station KHOU showed an ambulance leaving the school around 4 p.m. as throngs of students and teachers watched from the sidewalk. Scanner traffic indicated the student was shot in the chest and taken to Ben Taub hospital. An hour after the shooting, the City of Bellaire warned residents in a tweet to avoid the area and remain indoors. Bellaire police confirmed it was not an active shooter situation. Confusion about what happened dominated conversations outside the school Tuesday evening as some parents and students waited to hear more details from district staff and police. At about 6:30 p.m., Lathan came out of the school surrounded by police to give a briefing but did not answer questions about the ongoing search for a suspect or offer more details other than that the student died. Our hearts go out to the students family, friends, classmates and the students here at Bellaire High School, Lathan said. She did not say where on campus the shooting occurred. GUNS IN SCHOOLS: Texas gun debate is rekindled after second mass shooting of Sept. 2019, only on HoustonChronicle.com The lack of information frustrated Jonasu Wagstaff, a parent at the school. She pelted Lathan with questions as superintendent walked back inside the school. I have two children that come to this school, she yelled. I need to know theyre going to be safe! Lathan did not respond. Wagstaff said the shooting illustrates the reality that students have to face in an era where school shootings dominate national headlines several times a year. My daughter is sitting at home, and shes really upset and terrified, because this is her worst nightmare come true, she said, adding, We dont have to live like this in our society. Swati Narayan, who also stood outside Bellaire High on Tuesday evening, said she and her two kids graduated from the school. She now works as a liaison for Moms Demand Action and said the shooting demonstrates the need for more gun safety legislation. Were not doing enough, she said. If this keeps happening, were not doing enough. I cant rest. In a statement, Houston ISD officials said the Bellaire Police Department would conduct the investigation. Before the arrests, helicopters and drones surveyed the area around the high school, which falls in a large concentration of residential homes. Bellaire serves 3,450 students in the southwest Houston-area city, and is the largest high school in Houston ISD. The school reported two incidents of students using or possessing firearms during the 2018-19 school year, and Principal Michael McDonough sent a message to parents in October 2019 about an incident involving a handgun on campus. SANTE FE SHOOTING: Accused Santa Fe shooter transferred to mental health facility in Vernon Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old was shot in the leg in Gulfton, less than two miles away from Bellaire High School. That teenager was expected to survive. Tuesdays shooting at Bellaire High marked the first time someone was shot at a local school since Oct. 10, 2019, when a student was shot and injured at Houston ISDs Westbury High School after school hours. Houston ISD called that case an isolated incident and that the student survived. On Nov. 13, 2018, 18-year-old Lamar High School student Delindsey Dwayne Mack was shot and killed near that campus in a targeted gang-related shooting. A 15-year-old classmate walking next to him was grazed by a bullet along her arm. The deadliest K-12 school shooting in Texas history happened in May 2018 at Santa Fe High School, located about 45 minutes south of Houston. Rhonda Hart, whose daughter Kimberly Vaughan was among the 10 killed in the massacre, expressed her outrage about the Bellaire High shooting on Twitter. Two (expletive) weeks into 2020 and weve succeeded in our first school shooting, Hart tweeted. Way to go, Texas. Mayor Sylvester Turner also issued a statement saying the city was both shocked and heartbroken that a 16-year-old student at Bellaire High School was shot and killed on campus Tuesday afternoon. A learning environment is the last place where young people should feel unsafe and in fear of their lives. Yet gun violence continues to disrupt schools and destroy families across the country. shelby.webb@chron.com julian.gill@chron.com jacob.carpenter@chron.com We havent seen a holistic look at our entire bus system ever, as far as I know, Carter said in an interview after Wednesdays meeting. Its a unique opportunity for us to take a look at how our service is operating, how its meeting the needs of our customers and having conversations with them about how that service should look. Peru's highest court on Tuesday began debating President Martin Vizcarra's decision to dissolve Congress and call parliamentary elections after opposition lawmakers filed a lawsuit alleging the move was unconstitutional. Constitutional Court Justice Carlos Ramos, the case's rapporteur, presented a draft ruling arguing the dissolution of Congress was legal, according to a live broadcast on the court's social media Tuesday. As the debate got underway, Justice Manuel Miranda said he was in favor of the draft, while Justice Jose Luis Sardon said he was opposed and maintained that the dissolution was unconstitutional. The seven member body is expected vote on the case in the coming days. Miranda's statements in favor of declaring the dissolution constitutional may tilt the ruling in Vizcarra's favor. Prior to the debate, three other justices planned to vote in favor of the president's decision and three were opposed, with Miranda the only justice undecided, La Republica reported on Jan. 13. Vizcarra shut down Congress on Sept. 30 and called a parliamentary election following months of political gridlock as his administration sparred with the opposition-controlled legislature over measures to fight corruption. A series of graft scandals implicating former presidents, judges and lawmakers has roiled the country over the past few years. The dissolution of Congress, the country's least popular institution, sent Vizcarra's approval rating soaring, though opposition parties labeled the move a "coup." "The court has to bring this chapter to a close so as to build social peace," said Milagros Campos, who teaches constitutional law at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima. It's the most important case that's ever come before the court, which was founded in 1980, she said. Elections for a new Congress are scheduled for Jan. 26. Should the court declare the dissolution unconstitutional, it won't affect the electoral process and the court won't take any measures against Vizcarra. Its chief concern is whether he respected the constitution and whether the law requires clarification to avoid similar disputes in the future, said Campos. But an adverse ruling could spur lawmakers to investigate the president's decision. Some former lawmakers seeking re-election say he should be impeached. Vizcarra said dissolving Congress eased political tension and helped avoid the sort of mass unrest that's affected neighboring countries in recent months. At the heart of the dispute is whether or not the government lost a no-confidence vote on Sept. 30 and was therefore entitled to dissolve Peru's unicameral Congress. The lawsuit also states the government violated the parliament's independence by attempting to force changes to the way justices are elected. by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, January 15, 2020 iHeartMedia has announced a reorganization of its Markets Group, and the fallout has already included layoffs. The reorganization at the countrys largest radio network is intended to enable iHeartMedia to maximize performance in each of its markets and development of new platforms, by leveraging its investments in technology and artificial intelligence, its unique scale and leadership position in the audio marketplace, its multiple platforms, and its consumer and data expertise, according to the company. To enhance resource-sharing, the company is grouping its markets into three divisions defined by their common needs and characteristics, each led by multiple presidents. They will report to Greg Ashlock, who continues as overall president of the Markets Group. The new region division, comprising many of the biggest markets, including New York and Los Angeles, will be led by division presidents Kevin LeGrett and Scott Hopeck. advertisement advertisement A metro division will house markets that are large areas that still encompass multiple communities, but unlike the largest markets, are not regional hubs. That divisions presidents are Tom McConnell, Tony Coles and Linda Byrd. A community division includes markets that focus on the shared needs of one community and one trading area for most businesses and advertisers, and will also group markets into geographically close/culturally similar areas. That divisions presidents are Shosh Abromovich, Nick Gnau and Dan Lankford. In addition, iHeartMedia has promoted Julie Donohue, who has been running its cross-markets Multi-Market Partnerships Division, to president of that division. The companys Integrated Revenue Strategies group, led by Hartley Adkins, will be merged into the Markets Group. Adkins will become chief operating officer of the Markets Group, working with Ashlock. iHearts new tech- and AI-enabled Centers of Excellence, which consolidate expertise in various functions in specific locations, will be implemented in every market, enabling each market to leverage iHearts scale and shared resources across programming, marketing, digital, podcasts, sales and sales support, says the company. iHeart is the rare example of a major traditional media company that has made the successful transformation into a 21st century media company one with unparalleled scale, reaching 91% of Americans each month with our broadcast assets alone, more than any other media company, Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman stated in the reorganization announcement. We are now using our considerable investments in technology to modernize our operations and infrastructure, further setting us apart from traditional media companies; improve our services to our consumers and advertising partners; and enhance the work environment for our employees. Meanwhile, yesterday brought dozens of layoffs, including program directors in key U.S. markets and senior DJs, according to Billboard, quoting one source who described the cuts as a bloodbath. Other sources have cited multiple layoffs, including top positions at stations in Baltimore, San Antonio, Austin and Nashville, reports Variety. But iHeartMedia says the cuts should be put in the context of the structural modernization and the size of the company. During a transition like this, its reasonable to expect that there will be some shifts in jobs some by location and some by function, the company told Variety, in a statement. But the number is relatively small given our overall employee base of 12,500. That said, we recognize that the loss of any job is significant; we take that responsibility seriously and have been thoughtful in the process. Unique collage and assemblage artist Kiffi Diamonds work will be on display at The Brookfield Library Art Gallery Monday, Feb. 3, through Thursday, Feb. 27. There will be a meet-the-artist reception Sunday, Feb. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m. (Snow date Feb 23.) Using her signature style and strong design sense, Diamond combines idiosyncratic materials into witty visual narratives in the exhibit, Whimsical Surrealism, the library said in a news release. For the past four decades, I have combined disparate materials to create cohesive compositions and solve problems, generating quirky, compelling visual narratives. the Ridgefield artist said. Her works have been featured at museums and galleries across the country, including many in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Inspired by the personality of the objects, Diamond looks for richness of character, patina and history to let a dialog unfold, creating something compelling, the library said. The Brookfield Library Art Gallery will be open for dedicated viewing of this exhibit on Fridays, from noon to 2 p.m., in February and whenever there is not a library program in session. Kiffi brings ordinary objects to life with her strong sense of composition. Her pieces are fascinating and will have you looking at them from all different perspectives you will want to look from across the room to get one perspective and then get in very close to see her choice of objects and how they create the image, said Library Director Yvonne Cech. I am amazed at how she can use a number of different textures and seemingly unconnected items to tell a story or make a statement. Anyone who enjoys or is even curious about modern art should see this exhibit. Its a really fun art form and showcases her great imagination. Bring the whole family to this one! Area artists are invited to submit samples of their work either in person at the library or on the librarys website at www.brookfieldlibrary.org. The Art Gallery Committee will review all submissions and will contact those selected and will schedule exhibits. Library patrons will be able to see each exhibit as they attend library programs in the community room. Check the librarys website for information on dedicated viewing Art Gallery viewing days and times. The Art Gallery space has been made possible by the support of The Friends of the Brookfield Library. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to support the library through fundraising, including the annual July book sale, the Friends primary fundraising event. Heres how it works: From Jan. 24 through Feb. 9 yes, thats 17 days, not a week restaurants in the city and suburbs will offer two- and three-course lunches ($24), weekend brunches ($24) and three- and four-course dinners ($36 or $48). Some restaurants feature lunch only, or dinner only; some offer both (or all three, if theres a separate brunch menu). In nearly every case, the restaurants regular menus also are available. Suspected armed bandits on Tuesday stormed Makosa community in Zurmi Local area of Zamfara State killing two health workers supervising a polio vaccination exercise, residents have said. Witnesses said the suspected bandits, who stormed the community primary health care centre wielding sophisticated weapons, shot dead the health personnel after a verbal disagreement between them. Residents identified the deceased as Lawali Suleiman and Aliyu Muhammad popularly known as (Ali Invitation). One other person sustained injuries and is currently responding to treatment at an undisclosed hospital. A source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the bandits robbed the residents, mostly women, who were on a queue waiting with their siblings for the polio vaccination. The spokesperson for Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara, Ayobami Oni-Orisan, said he would confirm the incident and call back. He is yet to do so in the time of filing this report. But PREMIUM TIMES obtained a military internal memo confirming the incident. Read the memo below: *ARMED BANDITS ATTACK* Available info revealed that, on 14th Jan, 2020 about 1430hrs, bandits wielding AK47 rifles attacked a health center at Makosa village under Zurmi district, Zurmi LGA. 2. During the onslaught, Aliyu MUHAMMAD and Lawali SULEIMAN were shot dead while two (2) others sustained varying degrees of gunshot wound. 3. Checks revealed that virtually all the livestock in the village have been mopped up by the brigands who live about a kilometer away, as its availed that only a waterway separates their den from the affected community. 4. Source disclosed that bandits in Zurmi LGA, particularly those areas bordering the infamous kagara, Gidan Jaja and Kurya axes, have become brazen and harbor with their cattle not distant from the villages. 5. Above is for your info, please. The Ghaziabad Police late on Tuesday night recovered a grey-coloured SUV which they suspect belongs to Greater Noida (West) resident Gaurav Chandel, who was found murdered on January 7. His body was found stones throw away from his house in Gaur City. The police said that the car was found abandoned at about 11 pm on Tuesday at Akash Nagar locality which falls under the jurisdiction of Masuri police station. The information about a car abandoned outside houses in Akash Nagar was given by local residents. The SUV had no registration plate and had a parking sticker of Gaur City, and looks like it is the same SUV which belonged to deceased Chandel. We are investigating further and are also in touch with our counterparts in Noida, said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, Superintendent of Police (rural). We are also trying to find out if the SUV was parked in Akash Nagar on Tuesday night or it was parked earlier, he added. Chandels murder had sparked protests in Greater Noida (West) and top police officials of the Meerut (Range) along with the divisional commissioner (Meerut) also met his family after the incident. Chandel worked as regional manager with a private healthcare firm in Gurugram. On January 6, while on his way back home from office, he spoke to wife Preeti around 10.30 pm and said he was near the Parthala roundabout. Thereafter, he went incommunicado for five hours as his family tried to track him using his phones location. Chandels body was found around 4 am on the service lane between Parthala roundabout and the Hindon bridge. His location, which kept changing, was traced under the Phase 3 and Bisrakh police jurisdictions. He received two gunshot wounds in the head, among other injuries, the autopsy report said. Chandel had purchased a Kia Seltos SUV in December. His SUV, laptop, two phones and wallet were missing when his body was found. Gauravs family said that only his wrist watch and a cigarette box were recovered from the spot. An online petition started last week calls for renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights activist from Alabama who was among those beaten at the bridge while marching for voting rights on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. Lewis announced on Dec. 29 he is battling stage four pancreatic cancer. Brenda Jones, communications director for Lewis, said Lewis did not have any immediate comment on the effort. Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers on Feb. 21, 1940, outside Troy. He is now a Democratic congressman representing Georgias 5th District, and is in his 17th term, having served since 1987. His district includes much of north Atlanta. The petition to rename the bridge for Lewis began circulating Jan. 9 and as of Wednesday morning, Jan. 15, had 4,275 signatures. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who is from Selma, responded to the petition with the following statement: My friend and mentor, Congressman John Lewis, deserves all the praise and recognition for being the beloved civil rights leader that he is. While I understand and respect the movement to rename the bridge in Selma in his honor, I also believe it to be counterproductive. While a magnanimous gesture, such a symbolic effort, at this moment, when John is in the fight of his life, is not what he needs. I urge us all to band together in support of his recovery. The best way we can honor John is by rededicating ourselves to restoring the full protections of the VRA (Voting Rights Act) of 1965 and fighting to get H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, signed into law. Renaming the bridge in Selma is thoughtfully symbolic, but passing a law that protects the rights of all Americans to vote is the ultimate action that furthers the legacy of Congressman John Lewis. The current petition is not the first effort to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which bears the name of a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. senator and Democratic Party leader who became a grand dragon in the Ku Klux Klan in 1887, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. In 2015, an effort to rename the bridge the Journey for Freedom Bridge got more than 180,000 petition signatures and a resolution passed the Alabama senate. It never made it out of a House committee for a vote, so it died at the end of the legislative session. Sewell also opposed the effort to rename the bridge in 2015. I am strongly opposed to changing the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, she said in a statement released at the time. The historical irony is an integral part of the complicated history of Selma a city known for its pivotal role in Civil War and the civil rights movement. The bridge is an iconic symbol of the struggle for voting rights in America, and its name is as significant as its imposing structure. Changing the name of the bridge would change the course of history and compromise the historical integrity of the voting rights movement. As inheritors of the legacy surrounding the historical events that took place in Selma, we must safeguard that history good and bad and resist attempts to rewrite it. (TNS) To prevent millions of federal dollars from getting lost in translation, the New Mexico state and local governments, and nonprofits are aiming to knock down 2020 census barriers for residents who speak languages other than English.Online and over the phone, U.S. census forms and interviews will be available in 13 languages, none of which are Native American. Census instructions are available in 59 languages, but Navajo, also known as Dine, is the only Native language to make that list.In response, the New Mexico Complete Count Commission, a coalition of state and community leaders, is producing audio recordings explaining how to fill out census forms in the languages of New Mexico's tribes Navajo, Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Eastern and Western Keres, Zuni, Jicarilla Apache and Mescalero Apache.Hundreds of billions of federal dollars are given to states each year based on the nation's 10-year count, including nearly $8 billion for poverty-stricken New Mexico, which heavily relies on the federal funding. More people included in the count means more funds for the state. But most vulnerable to an undercount, many advocates say, are those who live in rural and remote Native communities.According to New Mexico Counts, a coalition of 11 statewide philanthropic organizations promoting the census, about 2 percent of New Mexico's population wasn't counted in the 2010 census. A similar undercount this year could cost the state nearly $1.5 billion in funding for food assistance, Medicaid, education, transportation and other programs over the next 10 years.Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham set aside $3.5 million from the state budget to help support local governments' 2020 census efforts, ranging from nearly $600,000 for Bernalillo County to $10,000 for Mora and Los Alamos counties.The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is receiving $400,000 for tribal outreach efforts.But some advocates say the funds are not enough. Last week, U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., criticized what she called a lack of federal government support for ensuring an accurate count in Native communities.Its becoming more clear that a failure to count Indian Country in the 2020 census is a failure for the federal government to live up to its trust responsibility to Native nations," Haaland said Thursday, following a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing.County and Pueblo officials in New Mexico say most of their census funds will go toward local media campaigns to encourage people to participate in the count and to work as an enumerator. These federal government employees go door to door, asking residents to fill out census forms after other efforts fail, such as mailing paper forms and invitations to participate in the census online.Before turning to resources such as audio recordings, available on a smartphone app, census organizers say the most effective strategy to ensure everyone in a community is counted is finding enumerators who speak the residents' language."When cases arise with a language that is not listed, we rely on state and local partners," said Sergio Martinez, U.S. Census Bureau partnership coordinator for New Mexico and Utah. "This is why it's important for us to be able to hire locals and ensure the census is counted by New Mexicans."Keegan King, Policy and Legislation Bureau chief for the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs, which is carrying out the audio recording project, said the agency is still fine-tuning the recordings for details, such as the different dialects of Tiwa spoken in the Taos and Isleta pueblos.Written instructions, such as the ones the federal government is providing in Navajo, can be useless, King added."A lot of the census language is highly technical," King said. "It's not the same colloquial version of the language people are used to and can be difficult to translate and understand. In Pueblo communities, even those that have a written alphabet, most of it is an oral language, so we're really focused on working to identify enumerators so that people in the community that are bilingual can be doing that work."Beyond Native languages, Anni Leming, civic engagement coordinator at the New Mexico Asian Family Center, said there are other minority groups in New Mexico marginalized by the census."The tricultural myth that pervades here in New Mexico is that our residents are either Native American, Hispanic or Anglo," Leming said. "That gets rid of existence of African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and many other communities in New Mexico."We really want to move away from that myth," she said. "I think the census is a good opportunity to recognize the diversity in our state." An Iranian man holds a picture of a victim of the Ukrainian 752 flight crash during a demonstration in front of Tehran's Amir Kabir University on Jan. 11, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Iran Regime Suppresses Protesters Demanding Justice for Flight 752 and End to Regime Canada offers support to victim families News Analysis Protests in various parts of Iran after the regime admitted to shooting down Ukraine flight 752 by accident, killing all 176 people aboard, have been met with violent confrontation by authorities. According to U.S.-based Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, who is in touch with the victims relatives in Iran, Iranian authorities are also pressuring family members to avoid speaking to the media about the tragedy. By contrast, in Canada, where most of the passengers on the flight taking off from Tehran were headed57 held Canadian citizenship and many others were residents of the countryelected officials are pushing for accountability from Iran. Several large-scale memorials have since been held, with mayors and provincial and federal representatives attending. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with family members of the victims and attended memorial services in different parts of Canada to honour the victims. Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, whose city was home to 13 of the victims, read a poem by the Persian poet Rumi and delivered condolences in Persian at a memorial ceremony held at the University of Alberta, where many of the victims worked or studied. A video of a tearful U of A president David Turpin speaking the day after the tragedy was circulated widely in Iranian social media chat groups. (L-R) Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and University of Alberta President David Turpin listen to speeches during a memorial in Edmonton on Jan. 12, 2020, for the victims of the Ukrainian plane disaster in Iran that occurred on Jan. 8. (The Canadian Press/Todd Korol) On behalf of Iranian-Canadians, thank you Canada, thank you for being a gracious parent for us troubled children, read a social media post shared by many among the Iranian diaspora in Canada over the weekend. London-based Iranian late-night show host Sina Valiollah wrote: Im thankful that there were some dual citizens on the flight so at least their second country would seek the truth. If all the passengers were Iranians, by now [Iranian state TV] would have made an idiotic report with fake witnesses to utter nonsense and the issue would have been wrapped up! A Shift The downing of the passenger plane on Jan. 8just a few days after the United States killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq and amid a big push by Irans state media to rile up nationalistic sentiment over his deathwas a major blunder for the Iranian regime (some remain skeptical that the attack was accidental.) The tragedy followed another embarrassing incident just days before, when more than 50 people were killed in a stampede at the state funeral in Soleimanis hometown of Kerman. Demonstrations erupted in various cities following the authorities admission that the military shot down the plane, with protesters chanting slogans against the regime and its leadership. An Iranian man confronts riot police during a demonstration outside Tehrans Amir Kabir University on Jan. 11, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images) Videos show protesters in the capital of Tehran chanting commander-in-chief [supreme leader Ali Khamenei], resign, resign. Citing accounts of protests in various parts of the country, veteran Paris-based Iranian journalist Amir Taheri said that this is [the] first time regime change is demanded at grassroot [sic] level, especially by young Iranians. Kaveh Shahrooz, a senior fellow with the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute, wrote on Twitter: Maybe Im seeing only what I want to see, but this time somehow feels different. Ordinary people are angrier. The regime seems more scared. Their defenders in the West are running for cover. Something seems to have shifted. No Reform In a video shot on Jan. 14, University of Tehran students are seen chanting Neither referendum, nor reform. Instead, they ask for Strike, revolution. Reform refers to the prevailing line of thought in prior years that saw many of those not content with living under the regime rallying behind the moderate faction in the establishment, with the justification that a regime change is out of reach and the most practical course of action is to work toward making reforms and pushing for gradual freedoms within the regime. In recent years, however, given that both the moderate and hardliner factions are ultimately loyal to the regime, there have been increasing calls for an outright regime change. Iranian protesters hold flowers as riot police fire tear gas during a demonstration in front of Tehrans Amir Kabir University on Jan. 11, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) In a tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump offered his own comments on not putting too much stock on negotiations with the Iranian regime. National Security Adviser suggested today that sanctions & protests have Iran choked off, will force them to negotiate. Actually, I couldnt care less if they negotiate. Will be totally up to them but, no nuclear weapons and dont kill your protesters, he wrote. Expanding on the tweet, Richard Goldberg, a former adviser to Trump on Iran, said in a tweet in Persian that Iranian opposition has always complained that negotiating with the regime while people are protesting in the streets gives legitimacy to the regime and weakens the protesters. This tweet from the president is an important statement that should give more courage to Iranians as they go on the streets, he said. For his part, Trump also sent tweets in Persian offering support to the protesters, while warning the regime not to kill the demonstrators. : . . . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2020 During last Novembers protests sparked by overnight fuel price hikes, Iranian authorities killed 1,500 people, Reuters reported citing insider sources. Due to an internet blockade during the protests, few details of confrontations with the protesters are available. Iranian-born Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted the high number of likes one of Trumps Persian tweets has garnered, saying, It is already the most liked Persian tweet in the history of Twitter. A strong show of support by Iranians for Trumps Iran policy. Trumps tweet, which at the time of this writing has close to 370,000 likes, has considerably more likes than most of his recent tweets. Non-Iranian users have contributed to the like count as well. Some Iranian diaspora commentators who are not a fan of Trump have also praised his approach on Iran. In an op-ed for the Toronto Star, Shahrooz lists the reasons he doesnt support Trumps policies such as his travel ban, but says he has grasped certain key truths about dealing with Iran that other presidents missed. While Barack Obamas team tried to distinguish between moderates and hardliners in Irans regime, Trump has recognized that these distinctions are insignificant, Shahrooz wrote. Instead, Trump has so far rightly targeted Irans entire regime. He adds that Trump has figured out that the regime responds to sticks not carrots, revealing them as paper tigers after they didnt retaliate strongly over the killing of Soleimani. He contrasts this with the approach taken by Obama, who rewarded Iran with a windfall, both in cash and sanctions relief, but failed to persuade Iran to change its hostile behaviour in the region. Finally, for all his shortcomings, Trump supports Irans citizens fighting their repressive government, Shahrooz wrote. In 2009, millions took to Irans streets in protest and chanted Obama, youre either with [the regime] or with us. Obama remained silent, effectively signalling that he was with the regime. A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad who has been accused of inciting people during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest at Jama Masjid in New Delhi on December 20, while restraining him from visiting Delhi for four weeks. The court further directed him not to hold any dharna in the national capital till the elections here and said that 'the nation cannot be exposed to anarchy'. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau granted the relief to Azad on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with two sureties of like amount. The court also said that before going to Saharanpur if Azad wants to go anywhere, including Jama Masjid in Delhi in 24 hours, police will escort him there. "There is no material in the form of CCTV footage or audio recordings to prima facie show the direct involvement of the accused with the alleged violence and it was admitted by the police that the CCTV footage upon which they were placing their reliance was of a very poor quality which does not even reflect the presence of other accused who have already been granted bail," the judge said. Special circumstances call for special conditions, the judge said. During the verdict pronouncement, the counsel for Azad, advocate Mehmood Pracha, said the Bhim Army chief faces threat in Uttar Pradesh. "Whenever the accused is required to come to Delhi for his medical treatment, he shall inform his schedule to the DCP of the crime branch and the SHO of Fatehpur police station at Saharanpur, who shall convey the same to DCP Crime Branch, Delhi. During the period of his visit, the accused shall be under an escort," the court said. It further clarified that the condition has been imposed till February 16. "Violence or destruction of property was totally unacceptable and for any kind of damage to private or public property during the protest, it is the organisers who would be responsible for the damage and liable to compensate for the loss. "There has to be zero tolerance for any kind of violence and lawlessness cannot be encouraged. The nation cannot be exposed to anarchy. "Of course, it goes without saying that protests do lead to inconvenience but it has to be ensured that these protests do not last for a long time at places under public use," the court said, in its order. The court further said that while exercising one's right, another's should not be violated and no inconvenience should be caused to anyone. "I may observe that in our democratic set-up, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest guaranteed by the Constitution, which cannot be curtailed by the state. "However, at the same time, our constitution strikes a fine balance between the rights and duties. "While exercising our right of peaceful protest, it is our duty to ensure that no corresponding right of another is violated and no inconvenience was caused to anyone," the judge said. It further said that reading of the preamble to the Constitution of India cannot prim facie be taken as incitement. "I may observe that for the judges, legal persons and the offices under the constitution, the Constitution of India is a sacred document and if this was correct, then reading this document cannot prim facie be taken as incitement. "While on one hand the accused specifically affirms that he read out the preamble, the investigating officer claimed that he had made inflammatory statements, details of which have not been placed on record, so much so that there was no statement of any eye witnesses to affirm the same," the judge said. The court further said that the protest call was only for one day and the march was from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar and no assessment of damage has been made till date. Earlier, the investigating officer of the Crime Branch of Delhi police had alleged before the court that Azad can be clearly seen giving 'inflammatory speeches' at a large gathering at Jama Masjid, in the drone camera footage available with them. The counsel appearing for the police, had said that the allegation were serious and sensitive in nature involving commission of offence against the nation and not against any individual, which in itself is a heinous crime. Earlier, the court had said that people are out on streets as what should have been said inside Parliament was 'not said'. Asserting that it is one's constitutional right to protest, it had also observed that Delhi Police was behaving 'as if Jama Masjid was Pakistan'. Azad's outfit had called for a protest march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on December 20, without police permission. Other 15 people arrested in the case were granted bail by the court on January 9. The meeting on January 10 was the first on economic issues organised by the MoIT in Vietnams 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship. Luong Hoang Thai, Director of the MoITs Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said the event discussed the cooperation in facilitating intra-ASEAN trade and consulted about initiatives such as simplifying customs procedures with the aim of reducing 10 percent of trading cost within the bloc in 2020. Participants looked into ways to double the intra-bloc trade value in the 2017-2025 period as targeted in the 2025 Trade Facilitation Strategic Action Plan of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the AEC 2025 Strategic Action Plan for Trade in Goods. Issues put on the table also included the establishment of a mechanism for exchanging information about non-tariff measures (NTMs), the increase of consultation between ASEAN governments and the business community, and a proposal for regulatory impact assessment of NTMs. The meeting updated the database on NTMs built by ASEANs partners to publish on the ASEAN Trade Repository and the national trade repositories of the member countries. It also proposed the organisation of workshops and capacity building for the nations. Thai noted that as the chairman, Vietnam actively conferred with other ASEAN members, the ASEAN Secretariat, the blocs specialised agencies and partners to help the meeting reach unanimity on the issues raised at the meeting. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend: Uzbekistans Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Complex (MMC) plans to attract loans of Russian banks Sberbank and VTB in the amount of about $3.9 billion to modernize production, as follows from the decree of Uzbekistans President of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Trend reports citing Uzbek media. The document approved 25 modernization projects of Navoi MMC, which are included in the investment program of Uzbekistan for 2020-2022. Previously, Navoi MMC announced plans to implement 27 modernization projects for existing and under construction facilities in 2017-2026. The total cost of the projects was over $3 billion. Their implementation will increase the plants production capacity by 30 percent, as well as create an additional about 31,000 jobs. Navoi MMC is one of the largest gold producers in Central Asia. The production of precious metals at the plant in recent years has amounted to more than 70 tons with a total production of about 100 tons. Currently, Navoi MMCs production complex unites four metallurgical plants (MMP) - in Navoi (MMP-1), Zarafshan (MMP -2), Uchkuduk (MMP -3) and Zarmitane (MMP -4). In March 2018, the plant began construction of the MMP -5 on the basis of the Auminza-Amantai gold ore deposits in Central Kyzylkum. Navoi MMP is also the only producer of one of the export-oriented products in Uzbekistan - natural uranium. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri An Adelaide man charged with using fireworks to deliberately light bushfires on a day of total bans and high fire danger has been granted bail. The 31-year-old, who cannot be named, is accused of deliberately starting two bushfires at Aldinga Beach, south of Adelaide, on December 28. The fires were started in scrubland and were quickly extinguished by firefighters, before the man was arrested by police several days later. The 31-year-old, who cannot be named, is accused of deliberately starting two bushfires at Aldinga Beach (pictured), south of the city, on December 28 He was refused bail by a magistrate but appealed that decision in the South Australian Supreme Court on Wednesday. Prosecutors told the court the outcome of the fires could have been 'catastrophic' and that pedestrians were in the area when multiple skyrockets were fired at a vacant property from inside a car. But defence counsel David Edwardson QC said there was not enough evidence to link the charged man to the crime. Justice Greg Park agreed, noting that the prosecution case 'doesn't look particularly strong' at this point. 'The circumstances of this offending are particularly serious,' he said. 'It was a day of total fire ban, the temperature was 35 degrees or more at the relevant time, the particular bushfire was discharged into a vacant grass block which caught fire and several hundred metres of grass was scorched or burnt. 'All of those matters are very serious but I'm particularly mindful of the problems with identification at this point.' But Justice Parker said the man could not be considered a flight risk, and released him on bail ahead of his next court appearance in October. I didnt know it at the time, but I was about to join my very last performance calibration session. This was late in 2018, when I was a managing director at Instagram, and these sessions had been a common part of my life -- just like they are at many big companies. Theyre a time for senior managers to discuss the performance of their individual team members, applying common organizational standards across job levels. HR specialists moderate performance discussions on a biannual, sometimes quarterly, basis. Conceptually, theres nothing all that weird about calibration. But thats conceptually. I have held senior-level marketing roles at YouTube, Spotify, Google, and Instagram, so Ive sat in on a lot of these. And the reality is this: A group of highly opinionated, often outspoken managers get together in a room shielded from prying eyes. Most managers gather in a physical conference room; others dial in by phone or video, making it nearly impossible for everyone to weigh in equally. The HR representative says a few obligatory words toeing the company line, and then the verbal battle swords come out. For the next several hours, we go around the room, screens, and phone lines making the best case for why one managers team member deserves an exceeds expectations rating (Shes a rock star!), while anothers should be a meets expectations (Hes solid but hasnt gone to the next level) or, worse, a dreaded meets most expectations (Her peers sometimes find her difficult to work with). During one particularly memorable calibration session at Google, a young mans rating was under scrutiny because his manager argued that this employee needed to grow a pair of balls. Every so often, HR will step in to suggest that the group bump a few people down because were aiming to hit a normal distribution of ratings. Were not looking for a perfect bell curve -- very few people are rated at the lowest or highest ends -- but the bell cant be too top-heavy. Although positioned as an objective method to evaluate employee performance, I have found calibration to be an almost entirely subjective experience, with sometimes dire consequences. One below-average rating means less bonus money; two in a row triggers a performance improvement plan that routinely ends with getting fired. But Ill be honest; for years, these problems never really sunk into my brain. I was a devotee of data. That was the best way to reach customers, I believed -- and, naturally, that meant it was the best way to manage employees as well. Data was core to my Ph.D. work and the thing I dedicated my career to. And even when I was emotionally shaken -- a moment, only a few years ago, when I lost my father in a tragic and haunting way -- I reacted by submerging myself even further into a data-driven, analytical, emotion-free world. That space just made more sense. Related: The Future of Data Is Streams, Not Snapshots But during this performance calibration session, something inside me started to crack. I had a thought: By plotting performance on a normal curve, were treating people as data points, not as human beings. I had been videoconferencing into this meeting and felt an urge to leave it. So I turned my camera off. I sat and thought. It was unclear how much time had passed when I turned the camera back on to rejoin my Instagram colleagues. I stared into the lens, past the lens, to see the looks of silent victory or resignation on the faces of my peers, most of them crammed around a small conference room table in Menlo Park, Calif., nearly touching elbows. I had entered a rare moment of silence, as if everyone were leaning in to hear the barely whispered secrets of the universe. And thats the moment when I knew I was done. Done with Instagram. Done with the career that I had been building for the past two decades. Done with the notion that turning everything into data -- especially human beings -- is anything other than personally and professionally damaging. It was time to do better. At the age of 20, like so many college students, I was in search of some kind of truth. Math and the harder sciences lay outside my mental wheelhouse, so I settled on cognitive psychology, with a focus on language and reasoning. This was a bulls-eye on people skills, but backed by brain biology and a heap of statistical analyses. I became enamored with the vernacular of objectivity. People who participated in my experiments became subjects. To get published in the field, I was instructed to be in constant pursuit of statistically significant results. I learned how to run t-tests and ANOVAs and other math-y things that allowed me to abstract away from the individual in order to talk about populations. This was a version of truth I could identify with, and I was hooked. After college, I entered a graduate program in psychology. I found new ways to experiment on subjects. By the time I was 26, I had earned my masters and my Ph.D. Then I went into advertising, where I was something of a corporate unicorn -- the guy with a Ph.D. in quantitative psychology who employs a data-driven skill set to help sell mainstream products like Cheetos and Slim Jims. I found this intoxicating, but I wanted even more. So after a few years at ad agencies, I made the leap to a marketing role at YouTube, and later to Spotify. With their well-known missions to organize the worlds information in different ways, there seemed to be no better space for someone infatuated with the hunt for truth and objectivity. I joined YouTube in 2011, and my timing was good. Id been invested in data-as-truth for a long time, and suddenly data became the central currency of corporate America. Topics I had delved into as a doctoral candidate -- A/B testing, artificial intelligence, rational versus emotional decision-making -- became mainstream business parlance. Everyone began talking more excitedly about adopting data-driven approaches to everything, and I watched as leaders across industries started to demand increasingly more data in order to inform -- and, in many cases, guide -- critical business decisions. The field of marketing in particular has embraced the quantitative mindset. In part, this is due to a correction of the Don Draper era of advertising, where big, transformative ideas materialized toward the bottom of a martini glass. Theres a logic to this: Marketing used to rely upon the whims of a few, but now we have the technical capacity to understand the interests of the many. And that, in turn, has enabled us to track and calibrate exactly how people react to different messages -- a perfectly reasonable interest for any business. Then this capability was democratized -- Facebook and Google, along with other technology platforms, have made it famously easy for any business to target people down to an exact science. These massive digital advertising platforms quickly changed what it means to be a successful marketer -- its no longer about establishing real, human connections with people as customers, assuming that was ever the goal. Today, the Holy Grail of advertising can be framed as personalization meets attribution. This is the mechanical process of delivering highly relevant and valuable communication to customers (personalization at scale), and then understanding in great detail the impact and result of that effort while gleaning new insights (attribution). Thats why it seems like just thinking about buying a new pair of pants can result in chinos following you around the internet until youre beaten into clickable submission. Data drives statistically significant results. I got this. I built new tools and strategies to optimize it, and I saw a return. And then: My own data set changed. Coming back home from a work trip, just before wheels-up takeoff, I received a call alerting me that my father was in the hospital. He had been found in his suburban backyard that morning suffering from two critical blows to the head -- and there was no chance he would recover. Dead. Murdered? It appeared that way, although there were no witnesses and not enough evidence to know for sure. He was gone by the time I landed, and I had absolutely no clue how to process the noxious human cocktail of denial, anger, sadness, fear, and unabashed grief. I took to the task of managing these emotions like an unflinching robot. I ate up the procedural minutiae as a proxy for feeling anything on a human level. There wasnt much conscious about the shift, but I reverted to seeing the world as divided objectively into two parts. There was the task of conquering the soul-sucking tactics of sudden loss, and there was proving to the world that nothing -- not even a tragedy -- would stop me from blindly achieving. The idea of pouring myself into work came so naturally that I never once paused to think about it. This didnt make me an especially pleasant colleague. I was fired from Spotify. Then I went to Google, and onward to Instagram -- a believer in data as a corporate strategy but also, personally, as a method of separating work from my humanity. I wasnt ready to blend the two. Related: Best Ways to Use Data in Making Decisions But then I realized that this is exactly what we must do if were ever to succeed in business (or, for that matter, in life). Well never really reach people if we just focus on their output. Well never build truly great, resonant brands if we dont connect with people as individuals. So to start, I quit Instagram. Image Credit: Doug Chayka After corporate life, I did what anyone in a career crisis does: I worried. Then I relaxed and traveled a bit, discovered the value of sleep, and enjoyed quiet mornings that didnt begin with an overflowing inbox. I learned that theres more to this world than the narrow band Id been laboring in. I started speaking with others who felt stuck or were looking to make change. I confronted the issues I had put off; I properly grieved for my father and started, slowly, to learn how to talk about it with others. And then I tried to find my new place in this world. Which meant starting with new ideas. As an oversimplification, Ive come to think about business activity -- spanning departments, companies, even entire industries -- as running along a two-dimensional axis. On one end lies the operational, tactical, or transactional aspects of how organizations get things done. In marketing, these are activities like making a piece of advertising, running a story through a PR outlet, creating customer experiences, or deciding how and when to run a promotion. These, and other transactional activities, are tactics we can easily measure to tell stories about why what were doing is working or not. On the other end of the axis lies the foundational elements of how a business runs. For all organizations, this is about spending the time to craft or revisit the authentic mission and vision of a company, the core values the company holds, and how that business is positioned for greatness in the world beyond just the top and bottom lines. This work is based on telling human stories that resonate emotionally, not just rationally -- and, clearly, this type of foundational work is much harder to measure. And that makes it harder to think about. All points along this transactional-to-foundational axis contribute to the success of any organization, but corporate obsession with Big Data has made it far too easy to ignore the foundational elements of business entirely. After all, it is so much easier to focus on measuring KPIs and crafting stories about success by exceeding agreed upon, but often arbitrary, metrics. For a long time, I simply didnt see this as a problem. Who needs emotional resonance when you have metrics? But once I stepped outside corporate life and started looking at business as a regular, feeling, grieving, unemployed consumer, I started to really appreciate the disconnect. When businesses ignore the foundational elements of relationships, it can result in failure of epic proportions. Across the past few years alone, the marketing world has offered a constant string of cautionary tales. Pepsi launched an expensive ad starring Kendall Jenner in 2017 that had nothing to do with Pepsis mission or core values; in the same year, Audi ran a Super Bowl ad talking about empowering young women, but its entire board consisted of older men; and just recently Gillette produced an ad aimed at tackling toxic masculinity without any regard for how it made its core customer -- men -- feel. These all made news, and they were discussed as boneheaded missteps. But I know what they really are. Theyre cases of blindly embracing data (Fifty-two percent of people say a brand needs to stand for something bigger than just its products and services), without much recognition that there are humans on the other end, and that those humans have finely tuned bullshit detectors. This is what happens when organizations execute without clearly defining or aligning to their operating system, which comprises such foundational elements as the core reason why the company exists (beyond making money), why it does what it does or makes what it makes, and how it goes to market and positions itself to the world. But this is exactly the direction we need to head in if we want to thrive in business and, more important, as human beings. Today, I consult. I know, I know -- its cliched and expected: the man who left corporate life and now serves his old masters in new ways. But I find it satisfying in that I can now walk into data-driven places and say, Stop. In corporate life, we are tempted to separate human emotion from business practice, just as I separated data from humanity for most of my career. But I have come to realize that the line between these things is completely arbitrary. Drawing a stark distinction puts us at a big disadvantage as businesses and as people. I hope Im not alone in thinking this, and perhaps Im not. In the summer of 2019, it was heartening to see executives from the Business Roundtable assert for the first time that companies need to invest in the well-being of customers and employees rather than focusing solely on shareholder value. Well see how committed they truly are to doing that. But it is, if nothing more, a good way to start the conversation. Related: Your Data Is Useless If You Don't Have a Management Strategy The reality is that marketers have long understood the need to build and foster meaningful emotional connections between businesses and customers. The quality of these connections helps to define the worlds most iconic brands. But as technology, data, and metrics have moved to the forefront of corporate discourse, the context in which to establish these emotional relationships has changed. The net result of the connected world is that people are producing more signals about who they are, what they talk about, and the things they like. So the temptation -- one I understand all too well is to move away from individuals and to look for human patterns in the tangled web of data. There is value in doing that, of course. Im not saying that advertising is pointless, or that targeted marketing doesnt work. But I am saying that you cant confuse those tools for what it means to build relationships with humans. So how do businesses do the more important work? First, they need to acknowledge that there are living, feeling human beings at the beginning and end of every transaction -- and that a shift in thinking must be employed to really build emotional connections with their customers. For example, Ive started to think about how businesses can construct a business relationship arc to help simplify their marketing goals. Whenever a person interacts with a brand, they experience milestones or feelings. Its exactly like how they first interact with other people. At first, a consumer will only know that a brand exists -- they see it, maybe they try it and form some early opinion about it, but thats it, just like meeting a new person at a party. Over time, the relationship can develop. Consumers will attach deeper meaning to some brands, or will think about them in certain ways, or will attach some new meaning to the brand. Now the business relationship arc is developing. Things get interesting as they move further up the arc, where customers might incorporate a business or a product into a part of their lives, or think of the brand as something that shapes or defines them. Very few companies (or people!) are able to take the relationship beyond that, to a place where they are indispensable and would be forgiven no matter what happens. But its possible. Successful companies are the ones that find ways to move people up the arc -- to go from merely existing to being something people care about, and then something theyll defend. This requires thinking about what moves people as humans, not just what motivates them as groups. Businesses also need to establish what I call their brand operating system. In technology, operating systems support basic functions that enable more complex tasks to happen. Similarly, for companies, a brand operating system is what delivers a clarity of purpose to inspire and catalyze the potential, power, and humanity of any business. At the heart of a companys operating system is a core brand essence, a central idea. Its what the company is about -- and its an internal thing, not a tagline or campaign. At Nike, for example, there is the central belief that if you have a body, you are an athlete. This is at the heart of who Nike is, serving as a north star for how it operates and communicates as a company. With that in place, Nike can build a holistic operating system that includes details about why the company exists, what its trying to achieve, the distinct value it offers to its customers, fundamental beliefs that provide norms for how it makes decisions, and the collection of characteristics that represent the style in which it communicates. These are precisely the ingredients that make us unique as individuals, and they are essential to building companies that mean more to people than just the things they make and sell. Belief is at the heart of any companys OS. But belief cant be established without good leadership. So heres where a business turns inward -- where it takes its philosophy on reaching customers and applies it to its own employees. Data got us those performance calibration sessions. But a focus on humanity can get us somewhere else entirely. Many employees, across all levels, care about what they do beyond a written job description. They might not do everything well, but they double down on their strengths, building successes from the things theyre good at. Performance calibrations, as Ive experienced them, are rarely about identifying or evaluating strengths. They seem designed to weed out employees who defy expectations or who dont check off all the mandatory boxes, arbitrary as they may be. There has to be a better way to get the most out of a human workforce. So consider the advice I was given years ago. Originally meant to apply to qualities of leadership, I think the sentiment is best applied to how we can nurture human talent in the workplace and in daily life, beyond any traditional evaluation methods: Big or small, have a vision. People need to understand why you get out of bed in the morning. Then, discover and describe the passion in that vision. If you dont really care about what youre doing, neither will anyone else. Vision and passion fall on deaf ears without persuasion -- the ability to get others on board. And most important, embrace humility. This means bucking against the trend -- fueled by data -- of committing to being right and defensively closing yourself off. Humility means being curious about other people, being open to what they offer, and realizing that we all have a lot to learn about what makes us tick. It took me a while to get there. And now, I believe, this can go a long way in allowing us to treat each other properly -- not as data points, but as fellow human beings. Related: Your Data-Driven Marketing Is Harmful. I Should Know: I Ran Marketing at Google and Instagram No todo esta en las redes sociales: Cuida tu reputacion en el mundo real Los 7 pecados mortales en LinkedIn Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved There's a British antidote to our cold, chaotic world - and it's called coziness. The feel-good, sock-heavy concept is a nice addition to "new year, new you" routines, right up there with ichigo ichie: the Japanese expression that reminds us to put down our phones, because each moment is unique and isn't coming back. Both are among the practices outlined in a rush of new books from other countries that seem to imply that Americans are doing it wrong and could be happier. Here's a look at the lessons four of these new guides impart. To learn how to be anchored in the present, consult "The Book of Ichigo Ichie," by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. You could spend this beautiful, fleeting moment opening the zillionth tab in your internet browser, or you could smell the rain-soaked earth or contemplate the citrusy tones of your hot tea. Whatever you choose, know that each tiny speck of time, though it might feel like all the others, is unique and will never happen again - so relish it. That's the idea behind the ancient Japanese concept "ichigo ichie." "The moment is a jealous lover that demands we give it our all," Garcia and Miralles write, a fairly dramatic description for a tenet of Zen Buddhism. "Every unrepeatable moment is a small oasis of happiness. And many oases together make an ocean of happiness." To savor each moment like it's the last, one must fully employ the five senses. Keep your phone in your pocket as you go for a walk and check the color of the sky and shapes of the clouds instead of your texts. Walk barefoot on the grass or dirt. Blindfold yourself and then eat an apple, noting how it feels in your hand and in your mouth - chewing "as if it were the only thing in the universe." It's ultimately a hopeful practice, a promise that while we'll never get these moments back, we can squeeze a whole lot of life out of them before they go poof. To de-stress, curl up with "Cosy," by Laura Weir. There are parallels between British coziness and the Danish concept of hygge. But hygge carries a "certain elitism ... now that it's been hijacked by hipsters and interior design magazines," Weir writes. So, no twinkle lights are necessary to get cozy. But socks? Now, those are divine. Over the past few years, Weir, a London-based journalist, found herself "seeking comfort from politically dark winters and the relentlessly bleak news cycle." Reprieve came in the form of coziness - which essentially means retreating inside with whatever makes you happy, doing whatever you do when no one is watching. In breezy chapters complemented by charming illustrations, Weir evangelizes on the joys of quotidian pleasures such as warm feet, warm fires and, obviously, tea. There are recipes for cozy feasts - cottage pie, apple crumble - plus craft ideas and suggestions for comfy, layered outfits. Weir romanticizes downpours and enthuses about sound baths and regular baths. She likens napping to a "decadent snack" and extols the virtues of dimly lit rooms. "Cosy" might be British, but warm, fuzzy feelings are universal, and Weir's guide to comfort and contentment is pleasant if not particularly novel. Homebodies will appreciate the permission to stay in and practice self-imposed lethargy - which, to be sure, is good for overworked and over-socialized brains. To have better balance, take a break with "The Little Book of Fika," by Lynda Balslev. Sad desk lunch, meet fika: the Swedish ritual that pairs short, twice-daily coffee breaks with conversation and a gooey treat. Americans can have their to-go cups; Swedes - consistently ranked among the world's happiest people - see coffee as an opportunity to slow down and appreciate a simple pleasure. "In many cultures, the notion of drinking coffee is active and frenetic," Balslev writes. "Swedish fika is quite the opposite. It's a moment to relax and reflect, [and] connect with friends and family, nature or oneself." "The Little Book of Fika" is, literally, little - small enough to fit in a palm, and short enough to devour during a 15-minute fika. The practice, which traces back to the 1600s, is part of the lagom movement, or the concept of "not too much, not too little - just enough." It's observed at home, at coffee shops, in parks, in the office; wherever there's coffee, there can be fika. "Consider it a caffeinated meditation," Balslev suggests. Leave your desk to make a dark roast, or take a thermos to savor in a park. Don't multitask - his is a break, after all - but catching up with a friend or colleague is encouraged. You'll return to regularly scheduled life feeling clear-minded and sated (and only partly thanks to the Swedes' fika-favorite cinnamon buns). To make more friends, study "The Power of Nunchi," by Euny Hong. Let's say you're going to a party. Think of the room as a beehive, Hong suggests. Each person has a specific job, and yours is "eye-assessing," or careful observation. Inferring what your peers are thinking and feeling, and how you should react, is the Korean practice of nunchi, which literally translates to eye-measure. It's "the Korean superpower," Hong declares. "Some people even go as far as to say it's how Korean people can read minds ... In the short term, nunchi will save you from social embarrassment. In the long term, nunchi will make the waters part for you." Nunchi is like a sixth sense, an innate ability to choose the right partner in life or business, ask for a raise at the right time or make everyone you meet like you, even if they can't articulate why. Some people are born with it; others hone it. Korean parents teach it alongside such important life lessons as "look both ways before you cross the street" and "don't hit people." The 5,000-year-old concept is nuanced but ultimately simple: Pay attention. Hong delivers a set of rules including "never pass up a good opportunity to shut up," and "if you just arrived in the room, remember that everyone else has been there longer." All you need is your eyes and your ears, and with Hong's guidance, you, too, can become a nunchi ninja in the New Year. --- Haupt is a freelance writer and full-time health editor in Washington, D.C. An off-duty Secret Service employee has shot and killed a dog in Brooklyn, officials confirmed. The shooting reportedly took place on Monday night after the agent said the dog charged him, according to a spokesperson for the New York Police Department. The employee, described as an agent of the government protection force, reportedly fired their weapon just one time at the dog, leaving it dead. An off-duty Secret Service employee was involved in the shooting of an unrestrained and aggressive canine in Brooklyn, NY yesterday, a Tuesday statement by the Secret Service said. While the statement described the dog as unrestrained and aggressive, photos from the scene appeared to show it under a white blanket, with a leash visible and presumably attached to its collar. Secret Service stumped by shooting at White House Show all 2 1 /2 Secret Service stumped by shooting at White House Secret Service stumped by shooting at White House Pg-39-White-House-getty.jpg Getty Images Secret Service stumped by shooting at White House Pg-39-White-House-1-ap.jpg AP The leash was not, however, being held by the owner in the photos. She scared a cop who was walking home, the dog's owner, who was not identified, told the New York Daily News. He shot her and shes dead. The Secret Service has indicated it is investigating the shooting. While the government agency is perhaps best known for protecting the president and first family, as well as other prominent politicians and their families, the service also conducts investigations and is tasked with protecting critical infrastructure in the country. The Secret Service has a field office in downtown Brooklyn, though it is not clear that the agent was stationed there. The shooting itself occurred in the Windsor Terrace neighbourhood in Brooklyn, which is found to the south of Prospect Park. MIDDLETOWN Thousands of Connecticut residents are at risk of not being counted in the 2020 U.S. Census due to a lack of adequate state and federal funding, as well as fears held by undocumented persons that their participation could risk deportation. These and other findings were presented during a recent meeting of the Middletown-based Middlesex Coalition for Children at the deKoven House by Michael Sullivan, research & policy fellow at CT Voices for Children. The program highlighted Risk of an Undercount and What it Means for Us. Middletown primarily the downtown area is among municipalities with a large concentration of neighborhoods considered hard to count. Households of concern include those earning low incomes, those with lack of access to the internet, and others who live in rural areas. The city faces the most census hardships out of any municipality in Middlesex County, according to Izzi Greenberg, executive director of the coalition, who spoke to the Press about the issue Tuesday. In fact, the city has a disproportionate number of undocumented people, Greenberg said. Is this a census issue or is this a system issue? How can we take neighborhoods that are low-income and make them not hard to count? What can we do as a society is clearly a big, big, big question, she said. What is happening nationally that is having a chilling effect on people who are immigrants? Are people who are not American-born living in the country marginalized? she asked. Are they going to be willing to take the census and have themselves on record. No matter what, anyone living in America should be counted. Children are growing up here. We need them to be cared for and protected regardless of their parents immigration status, Greenberg said. Thousands of state residents are at risk of not being counted, including young children, communities of color and immigrants. A lack of state funding to support local outreach and education increases this risk and means that Connecticut is falling behind nearby states that invested in planning, coordination, and outreach for the Census, according to CT Voices. An undercount of 3 percent would be a pretty dramatic loss of funding, Greenberg said. Meeting participants discussed concerns about how to answer certain sections of the census, including those surrounding race, ethnicity and gender, Greenberg said. Last week, Mayor Ben Florsheim and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz joined local and state officials at City Hall to announce the proposal to create a Middletown Complete Count Committee. The Common Council is expected to take up the issue at its February meeting. Each person who is uncounted costs us $2,900 in lost revenue to the state, said Bysiewicz, who established a statewide nonpartisan panel last February. So, it makes a difference. Already, more than 110 cities and towns in the state have joined the effort, she said. Greenberg believes the census is sorely underfunded. I dont think priority is quite there in the federal administration. Federally, my understanding is, they have a lot less money than usual. If you look at Connecticut compared to other states, were spending less. The recommendation is to spend $1 per person. Connecticut allocates much less than that, Greenberg said. Thats best practice. Some places are spending $3 or $4 a person, because we know if you count everybody, you get a lot of money. The federal funding follows that. Its in our best interest to really, really spend the money to get an accurate count, she said. The state has earmarked up to $500,000 for census efforts, which must be matched with private money. Census officials have faced increasing challenges, including the cancellation of test rehearsals in two of three states planned to improve the accuracy of the survey, according to the CT Voices report. Also, the Trump administrations plan to add a question about citizenship to the decennial census for the first time in 70 years raised concerns this question would discourage participation by households that have immigrants, the organization reported. The census bureau estimated that adding the question would lead to an 8 percent decline of self-response rates in households with noncitizens. This year is the first time residents will be able to fill out census data online. The bureau will send mailings to 75 to 80 percent of households asking residents to respond to the survey online, and only send a paper questionnaire if a household has not responded to other mailed reminders. Sullivans presentation included national net undercount estimates, which shows 4.6 of children under 5 are undercounted (3.3 percent in Connecticut); youth 5 to 9, 2.2 percent; black residents, 2.1 percent; Hispanic residents, 1.5 percent; and renters, 1.1 percent. Those numbers may appear small, but the repercussions are widespread. Its school lunches and Head Start and Title 1 schools everything you can think of comes from using census data, Greenberg said. If we dont get it right, its 10 years until we get to get it right. We need people who are trusted in the neighborhood to get these census jobs so we can have trusted messengers going door to door making sure people fill out their forms, Greenberg added. The state is offering part-time flexible work to aid efforts toward the 2020 U.S. Census. For information, visit 2020census.gov. The U.S. Census Bureau increased its hourly rate for census takers in Connecticut from $21 to $23 an hour, state Rep. Quentin Phipps, D-Connecticut, announced this week. He said the state is hiring for a variety of temporary jobs, including census takers, recruiting assistants, office staff and supervisory staff. Applicants must be 18, a U.S. citizen, pass a background check and have a valid social security number. To access the Connecticut Voices for Children report, visit bit.ly/30m2MEx. Sullivans slide presentation can be found at bit.ly/2Ns8tvt. ALPENA, MI - One person is dead after a head-on crash that involved three vehicles in Alpena this week. People in two of the vehicles were uninjured while three people in the third car suffered injuries ranging from minor to critical, according to a Michigan State Police news release. All three people were transported to a local hospital where 88-year-old Martha M. Krajnik, of Alpena, died shortly after arriving. The crash occurred around 12:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 13, on Genschaw Road near Princeton Avenue in Alpena, police said. A Chevy Trailblazer driven by an 18-year-old woman was traveling north on Genschaw when it swerved into the southbound lane to avoid a Ford F-150 that was stopped as it waited for another vehicle to turn. The Trailblazer had minor contact with the F-150 before crashing head-on into a southbound Toyota Prius. The drivers of the Trailblazer and the F-150 did not report injuries. The crash remains under investigation, police said. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call the MSP Alpena Post at 989-354-4101. The completed investigation will be sent to the Alpena County Prosecutors Office for review. MSP Alpena Post troopers were assisted at the scene by the Alpena County Sheriffs Office, Alpena Township Fire Department and Alpena City Fire/EMS. READ MORE: State Police investigate U.P. inmate death Cigarette sparked house explosion hour after bullet punctured gas pipe Northern Michigan school custodian charged with child porn, leads police to more Michigan could get $43M in outdoor recreation, conservation upgrades Vaezi: Gov't to stand by families of victims of air disaster IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 14, IRNA -- Chief of Staff of the presidential office Mahmoud Vaezi said on Tuesday that the government stands by the bereaved families of the air disaster in which the young elites fell victims to US Cyber attacks on Iranian radar system. Vaezi made the remarks in an Instagram post on Ukrainian Plane Crash in Tehran, saying these days are bitter and hard. He expressed his sincerest condolences to every single family affected by the accident. He wished patience for the families of the victims. After the US increased tension in the Middle East by assassinating Iran's Lieutenant-General Qasem Soeimani, the country made a reaction and hit the US airbase in Iraq with missiles. Iran's military had been put on alert to counter any US adventurism. But unintentionally, a Ukrainian Boeing 373 was shot shown near Tehran minutes after takeoff. Iranian officials have admitted that human error was responsible for downing the passenger plane and expressed regret and apologized for the tragedy. 9376**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A Delhi court, while granting bail to Bhim Army Chief on Wednesday, recited Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem 'Where the Mind is Without Fear' and said citizens have a fundamental right to peaceful protest which cannot be curtailed by the State. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said that Tagore had in early 1900's, when the British followed the policy of Divide and Rule, visualised a nation where there is no fear in the minds people, education is attained by all, people are enlightened and do not create walls of discrimination. She added however that while exercising the right of peaceful protest, it was our duty to ensure that no corresponding right of another is violated and no inconvenience was caused to anyone. She said that Tagor was most relevant today. "I am reminded of our reverend patriotic poet Rabindranath Tagore who is most relevant today. He during the colonial era in early 1900's when British followed the policy of Divide and Rule, visualised a nation where where there is no fear in the minds people and education is attained by all; people are enlightened and do not create walls of discrimination," she said. Tagore wanted his countrymen to be honest and thoughtful, she said and recited his famous poem, 'Where the mind is without fear'. She said that in "our democratic set-up, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest guaranteed by the Constitution, which cannot be curtailed by the State." "However, at the same time, our constitution strikes a fine balance between the rights and duties. While exercising our right of peaceful protest, it is our duty to ensure that no corresponding right of another is violated and no inconvenience was caused to anyone," the judge said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spike Lee has made history by becoming the first black person chosen as jury president for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The filmmaker said he was honoured to be the first person of the African diaspora chosen for the prestigious position in the festivals 73-year history. Festival organisers hope Lee will shake things up among the worlds cinema elite at the event, which runs from May 12 to 23. Anti-racism campaigners, meanwhile, hope Lees appointment will wake up the French cultural world to persistent discrimination and the damaging stereotypes it perpetuates. When I got the call ... I was shocked, happy, surprised and proud all at the same time, Lee said in a letter. He said Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema. The best films of 2019 Show all 20 1 /20 The best films of 2019 The best films of 2019 20. Minding the Gap One of the years biggest cinematic curveballs occurs at the midway point of this stirring documentary. Billed as a film about small-town US skate culture, Bing Lius Minding the Gap grows into a haunting depiction of class and masculinity, and how once inseparable groups of friends tend to untangle and diverge as they come of age. Few of 2019s films cast quite as long a shadow. Adam White Hulu The best films of 2019 19. The Farewell The Farewell rips your heart out of your chest. Then it hands it back to you, wrapped gently in cotton wool. Director Lulu Wang loosely adapts a chapter in her own life, as we follow a young woman (Awkwafina) travelling back to China to say goodbye to her terminally ill grandmother. Delving into all the intricacies of immigrant identity and family politics, its a comedy of warmth and bracing honesty. Clarisse Loughrey A24 The best films of 2019 18. Us An opportunity for Jordan Peele to cement his status as one of horrors modern maestros, Us reels us in with old-fashioned thrills. Then it leaves us with the terrible dread of realising weve been looking into a mirror this whole time. Lupita Nyong'o delivers two of this years best performances in one film, both as our hero and as her sinister doppelganger one of an army of Tethereds that emerge from underground seeking vengeance. Clarisse Loughrey Universal Pictures The best films of 2019 17. Pain & Glory All of Pedro Almodovars films feel autobiographical in one way or another, but Pain & Glory couldnt be more lived-in if he stepped out in front of the camera to introduce every scene. A lushly romantic ode to cinema, shared history and cruelly interrupted love, it features a career-best performance from Antonio Banderas Zorro at his most tender and vulnerable. Adam White Sony Pictures The best films of 2019 16. Vox Lux Vox Lux is 2019s most damning filmic portrait of American culture. We begin with a teenage girl (Raffey Cassidy), who survives a school shooting and ends up a pop star. As an adult, shes played by a breezy, vicious Natalie Portman. Her strut is one part Sia, two parts Lady Gaga. Its an ugly, despairing film that comes gift-wrapped in sequins, presenting art as the cavernous pit we throw our traumas into. Clarisse Loughrey Neon The best films of 2019 15. Under the Silver Lake A paranoid puzzle box of a mystery, Under the Silver Lake is far more interested in the directions down the rabbit hole than allowing star Andrew Garfield to crawl his way out of it. Thats also the most pleasurable aspect of David Robert Mitchells film, a sunny LA noir which is sinister, hilarious and (potentially ruinously) male. Its probably 2019s most polarising film, adored and reviled in equal measure, but undeniably a work of striking creative autonomy. Adam White Mubi The best films of 2019 14. High Life High Life has its silly sub-Barbarella moments (Juliette Binoche testing out the spaceships very own orgasmatron machine) and clearly wasnt made on a Hollywood budget. Nonetheless, veteran French auteur Claire Deniss first English language film is a typically provocative and subversive affair. Binoche plays Dr Dibs, a scientist on board a ship full of criminals and trying to harvest healthy foetuses. Geoffrey Macnab A24 The best films of 2019 13. Ad Astra Ad Astra is a space movie with an Oedipal undertow. Brad Pitt gives a fine, understated performance as the introspective astronaut trying to save the world and find his father at the same time. Writer-director James Gray throws in references to Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. This is a slow-moving but beguiling film with an unexpected emotional kick. Geoffrey Macnab Fox The best films of 2019 12. Happy as Lazzaro A bee keepers daughter, Italian director Alice Rohrwacher is one of European cinemas visionary young talents. Happy As Lazzaro, her best film yet, is a magical realist fable that combines hard-hitting social comment about the exploitation of rural workers with flights of astonishing lyricism. The film also has one of the best performances of the year from newcomer Adriano Tardiolo, an 18-year-old economics student who plays the holy innocent, Lazzaro, with an ingenuousness which rekindles memories of Peter Sellers in Being There. Geoffrey Macnab Simona Pampallona/Netflix The best films of 2019 11. Burning Based on a Haruki Murakamis short story, Burning from South Korean maestro Lee Chang-dong is a meditation on dealing with isolation and the tricks being alone might play on your memory. Jong-su (Ah-in Yoo) is forced to play detective when Steven Yeuns affluent bachelor rolls into town an event that coincides with the disappearance of a schoolfriend. Burning is a searing drama whose central unanswered mystery unnerves long after the credits role. Jacob Stolworthy Thunderbird Releasing The best films of 2019 10. For Sama News coverage has hardly been short of harrowing, violent footage of the Syrian Civil War. But too often missing are the human moments inbetween the bombings and the bloodshed. In Waad Al-Kateabs first person account of the uprisings aftermath, her cameras gaze never flinches from the horrors it sees as she and her husband try to maintain a rebel hospital amid a reign of bombing from President al-Assad but nor does it stop rolling while she falls in love, has a baby, and jokes around with her friends and neighbours. This is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is an important, powerful, astonishing documentary. Alex Pollard Republic Film Distribution The best films of 2019 9. Can You Ever Forgive Me? It feels almost blasphemous to be glad of Julianne Moore stepping down from a role, but Lee Israel the cantankerous, lonely literary forger who found herself the target of an FBI investigation in the Nineties feels like a part Melissa McCarthy was born to play. Nimbly directed by Marielle Heller (who was shunned by the Oscars in the Best Director category), Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a sharp, funny and deeply compassionate examination of loneliness and self-destruction. Richard E Grant and Dolly Wells give wonderful supporting performances, too. Alex Pollard AP The best films of 2019 8. Booksmart As deeply indebted to the teen movie genre as it is formally and narratively rebellious, Booksmart grounds its traditional night-before-graduation plot (teenagers eager to crash a party) in touching character-driven drama. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, both instant stars, convey the ever-shifting dynamics and heightened dramas of adolescent best-friendship perfectly. Behind the camera, meanwhile, actor-turned-director Olivia Wilde demonstrates a staggering amount of emotional empathy and technical mastery for someone so green. Adam White Annapurna Pictures The best films of 2019 7. The Irishman Comparisons to Martin Scorseses previous films (Goodfellas, Casino) are unfounded considering The Irishman is unlike any other gangster film youll see. With his three-hour-30-minute-long opus, Scorsese places the harsh spotlight on mortality. Instead of tracking the rise of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) from regular family man to seasoned hitman with glitzy panache, we see him shamefully confess his crimes as an elderly man ruminating on his past in a nursing home. The result is an unsettlingly moving character study unafraid to ask the big questions.Jacob Stolworthy Netflix The best films of 2019 6. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood With his ninth feature, Quentin Tarantino took a breath and crafted an unhurried, oddly heartwarming fable, one that came with a career-best performance from Brad Pitt. Its release rolled around with the usual smattering of discourse-steering controversy but, for all the complaints about the directors depiction of his film star subjects, including the scant usage of Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, the fact remains that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is one of the filmmakers most accomplished films a freeneasy sun-soaked delve into Sixties Hollywood, whose much-discussed final 20 minutes provided topics of conversation all summer long. Jacob Stolworthy Andrew Cooper/Sony-Columbia Pictures via AP The best films of 2019 5. Eighth Grade For too many years the internet was exclusively evil in movies, something for tech boffins to hack, or used to steal Sandra Bullocks identity. Bo Burnhams Eighth Grade felt so comparatively real because it felt like the real internet, which has been as toxic and terrifying as it has been helpful to a generation of young people. Elsie Fisher, as a 13-year-old girl chronicling her confidence and anxieties in a vlog, is an adorable delight here, in a film that is devastatingly, heartbreakingly and endearingly human. Adam White Rex The best films of 2019 4. The Favourite Yorgos Lanthimoss delightful, subversive vision has shaken the cobwebs out of costume drama. Set in the 18th century, it follows a trio of women two cousins, Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone), and the ruling Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) as they vie for power over each other and England. Desire, savagery, and manipulative vulnerability all become weapons in the hands of those who have no choice but to fight dirty. But, then, Colmans childless, gout-ridden Queen Anne tenderly reveals her shattered soul its an Academy Award-winning performance that brings a slice of tragedy to an otherwise sublime farce. Clarisse Loughrey AP The best films of 2019 3. If Beale Street Could Talk The marriage of disparate talents united to ensure If Beale Street Could Talk is worthy of mention alongside Barry Jenkins previous film, Moonlight The Independents film of the decade. With his film, Jenkins takes the words of James Baldwin and translates them into visual poetry. From Nicholas Britells mesmerising score to Regina Kings towering supporting performance (that Oscar was well deserved), the result is a creative tour de force. Jacob Stolworthy Photos Annapurna Pictures The best films of 2019 2. Marriage Story Here is a love story about divorce. Noah Baumbach writes and directs this aching, empathetic depiction of a couple whose marriage has fallen apart. As ruthless divorce lawyers driving a wedge between two people already hanging by a thread, Ray Liotta and Laura Dern are magnificent, while Scarlett Johansson gives her best performance in years as a woman trying to do the right thing without knowing what that is. But the real star is Adam Driver, who hulking as he is makes himself seem small and fragile. For his rendition of Sondheims Being Alive alone, Marriage Story deserves all the awards coming its way. Alex Pollard Netflix The best films of 2019 1. Little Women Greta Gerwigs adaptation of Louisa May Alcotts 1868 novel the story of four Massachusetts sisters coming of age during the American Civil War may be a period piece, but there is nothing staid or stuffy about it. The girls, played by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson and Eliza Scanlen, talk and clamber over one another, their hair messy, their dresses scorched, their ambitions unfettered. It is a lively, profound adaptation. Alexandre Desplat provides the exuberant score, and Yorick La Sauxs cinematography is lush and textured. I didnt want it to be beautiful at the expense of being real, said Gerwig. But I did want it to feel like you wish you can jump inside and live in there or eat it. I remember trying to explain that to the gaffer, who was like, You want what? I was like, I want them to want to eat it. And how delicious it is. Alex Pollard Sony Pictures Entertainment Speaking on Frances RTL radio, festival organiser Thierry Fremaux said it wasnt a political decision, but noted that black artists are underrepresented in the cinema world. Many of Lees films have been shown at Cannes, and his BlacKkKlansman won a major prize at Cannes two years ago. The rest of the jury members will be announced in April. Without explicitly mentioning Lees career-long fight against racism or other political views, the festival said Lees perspective is more valuable than ever and that Cannes is a natural homeland and a global sounding board for those who (re)awaken minds and question our stances and fixed ideas. Ladj Ly, whose film Les Miserables echoes some of Lees work and tackles tensions between police and minorities in a poor Paris suburb, hailed the move by festival organisers. Les Miserables screened at Cannes last year and won an Oscar nomination Monday for best international film. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up The honorary president of French black rights group CRAN also welcomed Lees appointment. The arts world considers itself above questions of discrimination, Louis-Georges Tin told The Associated Press. But the #MeToo campaign showed that sexism is all too present in the arts world. And racism is too. Tin expressed hope that Lees role in Cannes could prompt the French cinema world to take a hard look at how it treats minorities and Frances own colonial history. In French cinema, he said, its always the blacks who make you laugh and Arabs who scare you. Last years Cannes jury president was Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu, and the festivals top prize went to Korean director Bong Joon-hos Parasite, who was nominated this week for Best International Film at the Oscars. Additional reporting by agencies Drive Time Postscript Kansas City police chase ends with 5 in custody KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri, police arrested five people Tuesday afternoon following a pursuit. KCPD told 41 Action News a silver Ford Focus and a black Volkswagen Jetta were involved in a rolling gun battle. Officers were first called to 58th and Prospect on reports of the sound of shots fired. Fanboy Consequences Fan charged with assault after crash leaving Chiefs game A fender-bender that occurred Sunday as fans left Arrowhead Stadium following the Chiefs' win in the AFC Divisional Round has landed a man in jail. Johnathan Brown, 42, was charged Monday with assault after allegedly punching a man after his son was involved in the crash. More Deets On Recent Gunfire 2 wounded in shooting near 80th, Flora Tuesday evening Two people were injured in a double shooting Tuesday evening near 80th Street and Flora Avenue, Kansas City police said.The shooting was reported about 6:30 p.m.Authorities said one victim was in serious condition at a hospital. The second victim was in stable condition, police said.Investigators have not released any other details. Targeting Real Estate Dylan Ruffin's family home up for sale in Mission MISSION, KS (KCTV) -- Highlands Elementary School in Mission is about 16 steps from the house where it all went down. Parents were terrified that day and so were people in the neighborhood, but a recent for sale sign that's gone up has given them some peace of mind. Local Murder Suspect Kansas City man accused in wife's killing booked into jail KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The man accused of shooting his wife to death at a south Kansas City home was released from the hospital on Tuesday and booked into jail, according to records. Brandon Petsch, 36, was charged Saturday with second-degree murder and armed criminal action after his wife, Georgia Petsch, was found dead Friday inside the home in the 300 block of West 98th Street. Deadly Drama Declaration 'Captain America' actress accused in Olathe killing said she acted in self-defense An actress charged in the stabbing death of her mother in Olathe told police and 911 operators that her mother had attempted to kill her and she acted in self-defense, according to court records released Tuesday. Medical examiners however, determined there were no signs the mother was ever in control of the weapon. KCPD Chase Overnight Driver crashes, is arrested near east KC intersection KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One man was arrested and another injured in a Tuesday night crash in Kansas City, Missouri. The crash occurred just before 10 p.m. at East 23rd Street and Cleveland Avenue. The driver of the car reportedly may have been trying to elude police when the crash occurred. Worthwhile Kansas City Effort To Increase The Peace KC woman starts new initiative to tackle gun violence KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City woman wants to stop gun violence in the city with a initiative focused on conflict resolution. Leah Banks started an initiative called U-ROC. It's an acronym that stands for "Uniting and Reclaiming Our Community." A quick look at news stories from across the metro regarding police action, court cases and alleged misdeeds.And this is thefor right now . . . An intercontinental ballistic missile lifts off from a truck-mounted launcher somewhere in Russia in a file photo. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) Wages and Warfare: Standard Measure May Vastly Understate Russia, Chinas Military Spending The United States famously spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined, almost three times that of its nearest rival China and 10 times that of Russia. But that commonly used data is flawed, according to a handful of analysts and academics, who are trying to persuade think tanks to adopt a different set of numbers to rank military spending. According to their analysis, Russias defense spending in 2018 was not $61 billion, but $159 billion. And Chinas spending is almost double the latest $250 billion figure at around $450 billion, reaching 75 percent of U.S. military spending. The new numbers come from using a different way of calculating: eschewing the time-honored method of comparing spending via exchange rates for a method that adopts a measure known as power purchasing parity (PPP), which compares what currencies can buy locally. For military analysts and generals steeped daily in details of missile batteries, warship numbers, troops, training, terrain, asymmetric advantages, and theories of victory, neither set of crude figures is likely to much affect overall assessment of an adversarys military prowess. But these topline spending figures are resulting in misleading newspaper reports and skewing threat perceptions among some key decision-makers, claim those producing the new data. Chinese troops march during a military parade in Tiananmen Square to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images) I think this crude military spending analysis has permeated every level of the decision-making apparatus, said Richard Connolly, director of the Center for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Birmingham in the UK, referring to the regular numbers as calculated using the market exchange rate. Ive been banging this drum for about two years, he told The Epoch Times. I think I am the only person who has written about Russian military expenditure at PPP. Nearly everybody, be it think tanks, such as the IISS, CIPRI, or the media more widely or policymakers, will use market exchange rate. That market rate is the standard measure used to rank military spending internationally, he says. Most key decision-makers use it. He says it distorts because it does not account for the cost of labor or fluctuations in currency markets. It understates military expenditure in poorer countries and overstates it in richer countries. Military expenditure in selected countries (USD billion) at market exchange rates: the usual figure used to compare military spending. Source SIPRI. (Richard Connolly) An Alternative Measure In October 2019 Connolly wrote an occasional paper (pdf) for CNAa research organization with a 75-year history of military analysisbreaking down how the exchange rate data do not reflect Russias military spending and proposing a new set based on a PPP analysis. Connolly says it is sometimes obvious that using market exchange rates just doesnt add up, giving the example of Russian military spending around 2014-2016a time when Russia was ramping up military spending, They were buying more equipment, they were engaged in more operations, they had peaked in military procurement, they had in that year dozens of intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, tens of fast fighter jet aircraft, and over 100 helicopters. You go through this phenomenal list in just that year (2014) alone. Measured in rubles terms [military spending] was rising pretty sharply during this period. Russian anti-aircraft missile systems C 400 drive during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the Nazi siege of Leningrad, at Dvortsovaya Square in Saint Petersburg on Jan. 27, 2019. (Olga Maltseva/ AFP via Getty Images) But at market exchange rates, because the price of oil collapsed in the late summer/early autumn of 2014, the ruble weakened. So according to the market exchange rate, military expenditure [apparently] declined in 2014 and then into 2015. When he produced a PPP-based estimate it put Russian military spending at $159 billion 2018 last year, instead of the $61 billion from the exchange rate figure. Russian defense spending peaked at over $200 billion in 2016, according to his data. Russian military expenditure at market exchange rates and PPP exchange rates, 2005-2018 (USD billion). Source: SIPRI; IMF WEO; calculation by Connolly. (Richard Connolly) According to Connollys PPP calculation, Irans spending would be nearly $50 billion last year, as opposed to the $13 billion exchange rate figure, which he points out is quoted in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Report last year. Chinas spending is over $450 billion, according to his calculations. Military expenditure of selected powers at PPP exchange rates, 2005-2018 (USD billion) Source: SIPRI; IMF WEO; calculations by Richard Connolly. (Richard Connolly) Chairman of Joint Chiefs Agrees Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley alluded to these issues in 2018 when challenged by a senator wielding the usual exchange rate figure for Russian military spending during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing. Were spending $600 [billion], $700 billion against an enemy thats spending $80 billion, said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the panel. Why is this even a contest? In response, Milley picked up on the problems with the numbers. Were the best-paid military in the world by a long shot. The cost of Russian soldiers or Chinese soldiers is a tiny fraction. (L-R) Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley hold an end of year press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 20, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) I think youll find that Chinese and Russian investments, modernization, new weapons systems, etc., their [research and development]which is all government-owned and also is much cheaperI think youd find a much closer comparison, concluded Milley. The cost of labor is the main factor that skews the figures, agrees Connolly. The problem with PPP is that there is no commonly agreed-upon formula for military spending, says Richard Bitzinger, Visiting Senior Fellow, Military Transformations Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. So it is natural that most analyses of military spending would use the standard exchange rates. He says that the argument about whether to use PPP has been around for a while. Chinese navy sailors march in formation during a parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in 1949 in Beijing, China, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) The main advantage is that a PPP, if done right, can provide a more accurate and comparable figure of defense spending, reflecting true spending power, Bitzinger told The Epoch Times. The disadvantages are that it can overstate spending power, and fail to take into account intangibles like training, leadership, morale, quality of equipment, etc. Bitzinger agrees that the exchange rate figure is misleading to an extent. But using topline defense budget figures is always a risk: it can only tell so much about a countrys military priorities, directions etc. One should always be wary of one data point analysis. Even if you can figure out what a spending figure is, most military analysts say it is only a broad indication of military power, and even further from any analysis of how any two adversaries would fare on each others turf or in any other given context. A true assessment of a countrys military prowess (and whether its improving or comparatively better than anothers) always requires a broad approach: budgets, procurement, quality, training, tactics etc., says Bitzinger. For Russia, and even more so for China, making any kind of assessment of military spending is hard, because spending is often obscured or fabricated. While most analysts and governments understand that Chinas published military spending figures are stark fiction, they are used to provide at least one kind of official indicator of the growth of Chinas military spending, Rick Fisher, Senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center told The Epoch Times. Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 ballistic missiles roll during a parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2019. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo) Government and private sector researchers, however, are able to assess what little China does reveal and combine that with unique sources to arrive at useful estimates, but this remains a daily and intensive chore. Professor Peter Robertson, Dean and Head of the Business School at the University of Western Australia, has been crunching the numbers on military spending and is convinced that exchange rate-based spending figures are misleading and the PPP-based figures are a better option. Like Connolly, he doesnt think the numbers are causing problems of perception deeper in the corridors of the Pentagon. But certainly I think in the media in discussion and so forth, people are using this as a quick benchmark on how it compares with the U.S., or how it has changed over recent years, he told The Epoch Times. More Bang for the Tourist Buck Explaining the difference between the exchange rate and PPP, Robertson gives the example of tourists heading to poorer countries. The exchange rate that you get at the airport is a market exchange rate, and in a global economy that kind of reflects an average price of traded goods across countries. If I buy a TV in Australia, and then I convert my dollars to yuan and go to China and buy the same TV, it might cost around the same, he says. But if you are buying things that are labor-intensivelike street food, home care services, a hotel, a housemaidyou will find that your money goes a lot further. So the question is: for the military, does the effect hold or not? he says. In theory, an exchange rate comparison might hold roughly true for military equipment, such as machine guns, which are also sold on the international market, says Robertson. Ceremonial unit soldiers during a military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2015. (RIA Novosti via Getty Images) But the military also consists of personnel. And thats where the problem occurs. Chinas got a lot of personal. Roughly speaking about one-third of the military budget goes on soldiers or defense staff generally. Robertson has calculated the costs of roughly comparable security services in the United States and China. It turns out that Chinese soldiers are very cheap in comparison to U.S. soldiers, even when once adjusted for differences in skill level and so forth. According to his analysis, Chinas defense sector is about twice as large as the way the exchange rates measure. Russia is about three times larger, says Robertson. Turkey about four times larger. Using exchange rate-based data not only skews comparison between countries but can also skew the year-to-year comparison within the same countries, according to both Robertson and Connolly. Robertson gives the example of Chinese military spending. In recent years there has been a lot of stuff in the press about double-digit percentage growth in Chinas military spending, says Robertson. Whats actually happening in the background is that there is rapid wage growth in Chinaand so the military, like the factories are facing increasing personal costs, pensions. So the amount of real resources they are getting for the same expenditure is going down. PPP: Better, But not Perfect? Once the adjustment has been made for the cost of rising wages, that increase in military expenditure is a lot more moderate than the exchange rate figures indicate, he says. Robertson says that he compared his own more tailored data-crunching of military spending against PPP numbers and the exchange rate figure. Youve got one thats good for machine guns (the exchange rate) and one thats good for personnel (PPP). The question is: which ones going to be better on average for military spending? I worked out that the PPP oneseven the ones based on the consumer indexdo a better job than those based on market exchange rate. But theyre still not exactly the right number either. Connolly said he came to a similar conclusion. Using the PPP measure is not perfectbut I think its roughly right, says Connolly. U.S. dollars at the market exchange rate is precisely wrong. He notes that some people say that consumer price baskets used for PPP are not military-specific. However, he believes that basket is still related to the costs a military will incur, which is why the comparison holds. Whats the cost of transport? Thats going to relate to the cost of logistics. Whats the cost of living? Thats going to help to measure the purchasing power of a soldier. Whats the cost of a car? That will be related to the cost of manufacturing etc. Connolly concedes the need for a simple figure for a side by side comparison. All I would say is use PPP, rather than market exchange rate. Just that one change, I think, would be massive. He says he is working on a PPP formula specific for the Russian military and that others are working on one for China. Spending and Strategy For analysts at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), the challenge of comparing military spending is not simply putting a set of simple numbers in policymakers handsbut getting them to think about the strategic implications. Drilling into the details of military spending reveals military-strategic choices and their limitations, according to Harrison Schramm, senior fellow at the CSBA. In our current work, we are focused on the strategic choicesand money ends up being a proxy because money is easy to measure,Schramm told The Epoch Times. The answer that we are looking for in our work is, If I choose A, how does it impact the ability to choose B in the future? So thats the level of detail we are going for. Making a true apples to apples comparison of spending is very hard, says Schramm. The real art in this is to choose assumptions that are tractable and explainable, he says. They are choosing less-than-perfect classical statistical methods to crunch out equations to figure out the cost of ships or planes, precisely to make the process more accessible. Machine learning or neural nets might give a better answer, Schramm says, but its an answer that you would never be able to explain. It is almost more important to be able to explain why we think thats the number than to actually have a precise number because that gets into the choices a nation has to make. I would consider this to be a runaway victory if I could simply get people to acknowledge openly that there are choices that have to be made [by adversaries writ large], and that its not everything all of the time. Some people have this idea that China is this juggernaut and that they can just build ad infinitum. And that is not true. But getting to the numbers isnt easy. Hiding the Numbers Theres a wealth of data that the U.S. has in open forums about how they spend their money, says Schramm. The Russians and Chinese dont do that. We have their topline, by which I mean the total sum of the checks that they are able to write. And then we have it broken down by a couple of categories. Its extremely opaque. What makes this hard is that it is possible that the Chinese and Russians themselves dont know what it really costs. When doing analysis or trying to apply statistics against it, you find yourself having to make a lot of assumptions because the problems have so much freedom. Chinas sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning (C), sailing during a drill at sea on April 18, 2018. (AFP via Getty Images) Adding to the problem of assessing Chinas military spending is the increasingly blurred line between military and civilian spending, says Fisher. Under Civil-Military Fusion, you now have a broader requirement for the economy to serve the military. In essence, anything under the control of the Chinese Communist Party that it deems is necessary for military power construction can be diverted to that end. So it is possible to ask: is it now essentially impossible for anyone, even Chinese, to tell you a real number for Chinese military expenditures? He explains that the U.S. Department of Defense has been publishing an annual assessment of Chinas military strength, now called the China Military Power Report, since 1998. For 20 years, this report has for American taxpayers and the rest of the world defined the rise of Chinas power. Chinas political and military leadership will never produce a report as credible as the U.S. report. Every year they complain and howl about this report, but my assessment is that they are very thankful as this report produces the fear they very much desire. Meanwhile in Russia, the market exchange rate numbers suit President Vladimir Putin, who frequently quotes them, notes Connolly. He says they play up the notion of the encircled fortress, of a plucky beleaguered Russia surrounded on all sides by far better-funded Western military powers. Connolly says that although his figures might suit the budget-pushing military hawks, he believes the market exchange rate figures are used in the West partly because it suits a certain narrative about the Western countries far out-muscling their rivals. Luxury Mercedes-Benz cars line up in a showroom. Photo by Shutterstock/Ewa Studio. Sales of luxury cars in Vietnam surged in 2019 with the rich showing greater preference for premium vehicles in a fast-growing economy. Mercedes-Benz sold the highest number of luxury cars at 6,800 units, up 8 percent from 2018, according to data acquired by VnExpress. The imported crossover SUV Mercedes-Benz GLC 300, priced at VND2.56 billion ($110,600), was the best-seller, accounting for 40 percent of the number of units sold by the German brand. With 20 models, many assembled in Vietnam, Mercedes-Benz created sales gap with the rest of the luxury market. Toyotas luxury brand Lexus recorded a sales surge of 157 percent year-on-year to 1,511 units in 2019. Sales of the only Asian luxury brand rose after plummeting in 2018 due to a government decree limiting car imports. Swedish brand Volvo recorded sales of 500 units last year, up 250 percent from 2018, with the most in-demand model being the compact crossover SUV Volvo XC60 priced at VND2.85 billion ($123,200). Sources said most other German brands like Porsche and BMW recorded increasing sales. Audi was the only brand with decreasing sales due to import challenges, a representative confirmed. Insiders say Vietnams fast-growing economy and expanding middle class, along with rising car discounts led to the sales surge last year. Manufacturers plan to export new models this year to Vietnam, giving customers even more luxury options. Auto sales in Vietnam last year rose 11.6 percent from 2018 to 322,322 units, with 58.8 percent of them locally-assembled, according to Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association. The Megxit is now almost coming to a close and 'ex-royals' are seemingly getting flooded with job offers. One of the first and funniest being from Burger King. On Monday, the burger chain jokingly offered Prince Harry one of their signature paper crowns, after they announced their exit from royalty. Instagram Burger King Argentina started the joke by offering a job to Prince Harry on Instagram. The social media campaign in Spanish says, 'Dear Duke, you can look for your first job without giving up your crown'. Another reads, 'Dear Duke, If you are looking for a job, we have a new crown for you'. 'We found out that the Prince and Duchess decided to give up their roles in the royal family and will work to become financially independent. So, we have a proposition for you: do as thousands of people and take the firsts steps in the workforce with us', says an accompanying open letter. 'You know the crown will suit you perfectly. Also, after many years living as dukes, it is time for you to start eating like kings', it concludes. @ harry, this royal family offers part-time positions Burger King (@BurgerKing) January 13, 2020 The offer started a debate online, with some slamming Burger King for belittling the decision, and others raving about the food chain's wit: #1 He's giving up being a "senior royal", not his dignity. Michael Greenfield (@greenfieldmj) January 13, 2020 #2 I completely respect their decision! None of us knows what they have to deal with. Plus I believe that Harry is right to protect his family from the same horrible stuff that his mother had to go through! *have a heart* Lisa Newitt (@lisanewitt) January 13, 2020 #3 pic.twitter.com/d8eaDWBt81 T For Love and Country (@ToriDi) January 14, 2020 #4 #5 Will his wife let him??? Courtney (@Courtjase1) January 14, 2020 #6 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced in a statement published on the official Instagram account of Sussex Royal, that they 'intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen'. The Queen has backed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following a crisis summit about their future roles, saying the royal family 'respects and understands' their desire to step back as senior royals. Iranian security forces used unlawful force in moving to quell peaceful protests over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet, according to Amnesty International. Authorities arbitrarily detained scores of demonstrators, beating them with batons and firing volleys of rubber bullets and pointed pellets completely inappropriate for use in any policing situation, of which the human rights group claims to have evidence in the form of victims x-rays. The situation in Iran right now is even more painful than death, a witness in Tehran told Amnesty. They are killing us slowly; they are torturing us to death. After a brief few days of rare national unity in the wake of Qassem Soleimanis assassination, the planes destruction and officials ensuing denial saw anti-government sentiment erupt once more, with thousands of demonstrators braving incarceration. Others reportedly risked execution with shouts of death to the dictator a reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Independent previously reported on footage appearing to show helmet-clad police beating protesters with batons as gun-wielding militiamen roamed the streets, some of which were spattered in blood. Witnesses reported a handful of gunshot victims, yet the police denied using lethal force. Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Show all 23 1 /23 Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police dispersed students chanting "radical" slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University - People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic's initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster ISNA/AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University A protester confronts an Iranian police officer AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians light candles for victims EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran Chanting "Death to Britain", up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran AFP via Getty Images Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. AP Another witness told Amnesty how the security forces fired tear gas into the entrance hall of a metro station to stop people leaving to join the protest an account consistent with footage posted to social media. There was so much tear gas, they said. I was so mentally stressed and anxious that I initially didnt even realise that I had been shot ... the special forces of the police were firing pointed pellets at people. My coat is now filled with holes and I have bruises on my body. The streets were filled with armed plain-clothed agents firing shots into the air and threatening to shoot people. A member of the security forces chased me when they saw me filming the protest and thats when I was shot in the leg with a pointed pellet. Two x-rays obtained by the group clearly show pellets lodged in the knee joint of one protester and the ankle of another. The same eyewitness claimed authorities had threatened doctors and she was turned away by three medical centres and even a veterinary clinic after seeking treatment. On Tuesday, she was allegedly told by a doctor in Tehran that she had to leave immediately because if the hospitals intelligence department discovered she had been among the protesters she would be arrested. While scores of arrests are believed to have taken place across the country, in Tehran and Amol, Amnesty alleges detainees families are being denied information about their fate and whereabouts, amounting to enforced disappearance. The group has also received allegations of sexual violence against at least one woman arbitrarily arrested by plain-clothes officers. The woman was allegedly taken to a room in the police station for questioning, where a security official forced her to perform oral sex on him and attempted to rape her. Irans security forces have once again carried out a reprehensible attack on the rights of Iranian people to peaceful expression and assembly, and resorted to unlawful and brutal tactics, said Amnestys Middle East research and advocacy director, Philip Luther. The Iranian authorities must end the repression as a matter of urgency and ensure the security forces exercise maximum restraint and respect protesters rights to peaceful expression and assembly. Effigy of UK ambassador to Iran set on fire in Tehran Detainees must be protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and all those who have been arbitrarily detained must be released. Protests erupted in November, sparked by a fuel price hike amid punishing US sanctions, which Donald Trump has demanded be reinforced. Hundreds of thousands eventually turned out to rail against poverty, government corruption and the regimes incorrigible nature. Between 300 and 1,500 people are believed to have been killed, and thousands detained, but a government-enforced internet shutdown served to obscure details of the protests and their death toll. The demonstrations believed to be the largest since the 1979 revolution stalled with the US killing of Soleimani, but reignited in a diminished but no less enraged fashion with the regimes downing of Ukrainian Airlines flight 752, which killed all 176 people on board. On Wednesday, as protests entered their fifth day, footage purported to show mourners in Mahabad ripping the Islamic Republics flag from atop the casket of a victim of the crash. New Delhi: As per an idea that came to Union home minister Amit Shah, no less than 36 Union ministers will visit Jammu & Kashmir, including sensitive areas, in a week-long blitz starting January 18. The purpose of the visits is to tell the people of Jammu & Kashmir that the effects of the August 5 curtailment of special status have been positive. People in both parts of the Union territory will be told of the development measures taken by the government for the good of the people. While sources said both parts of the state, Hindu-majority Jammu and Muslim-majority Kashmir, will be visited by the ministers, they added that there will be 51 visits to Jammu and only 8 to Srinagar, PTI reported. The Union Home Ministry is coordinating the visits. Amit Shahs junior minister G Kishen Reddy has written to Jammu & Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam informing about him about the impending visits. In his letter to Subrahmanyam, Kishen Reddy said his boss Shah has desired that all members of the Union Council of Ministers visit Jammu & Kashmir to disseminate information about the Centre's policies for the development of the Union Territory and the steps taken by the government since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state on August 5. The schedule for the visits will be discussed and finalised at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on January 17. PTI reported the details of some of the ministerial visits: * Smriti Irani will visit Katra and Panthal areas in Reasi district of Jammu on January 19. * Piyush Goyal will go to Srinagar, also on January 19. * Kishen Redy himself will visit Ganderbal on January 22 and Manigam on January 23 * Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will visit Sopore in Baramulla district on January 24. * V K Singh is scheduled to visit Tikri in Udhampur on January 20 * Kiren Rijiju will go to Suchetgarh in Jammu on January 21 * R K Singh will visit Khellani in Doda district * Shripad Nayak will hold a meeting at SKICC in Srinagar Some of the other Union ministers who will travel are Anurag Thakur, Giriraj Singh, Pralhad Joshi, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Jitendra Singh This will be the second round of visits by Union ministers to Jammu & Kashmir after the abrogation of special status on August 5. A considerably smaller field of Democrats running for president will debate beginning at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The debate will be co-hosted by The Des Moines Register and CNN, which will broadcast live. It also will be streamed live on CNNs homepage with no cable login required, on CNNs various apps, and via sources such as Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. The Des Moines Register will stream it at DesMoinesRegister.com. The debate runs from 9 p.m. eastern time to 11 p.m. It will include former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobucher, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, businessman Tom Steyer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Several candidates didnt make the field because of missing polling or fund-raising requirements, including entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker also failed to make the cut and dropped out of the race Monday. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2020) - EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) ("EuroLife" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated enterprise focused on the pan European hemp, cannabinoid, and health & wellness sector, is pleased to announce its return to Europe to assess opportunities in the CBD Hemp sector and to meet with leading European hemp companies. Mr. Derek Ivany, Chairman of the Eurolife Advisory Board and President of JJ WOLF Investments Ltd. ("WOLF"), a merchant banking and advisory firm, will join Shawn Moniz, CEO of EuroLife, to identity and assess opportunities within premium CBD markets in Europe on behalf of EuroLife. "We are building off the groundwork established on recent expeditions to Europe which identified a number of potential opportunities including the equity investment in state-of-the-art industrial hemp cultivation operation located near Dresden, Germany," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of EuroLife. "I believe that those companies equipped with low cost production combined with tactical downstream capability will be successful and we continue to execute on mandate of establishing EuroLife Brands as one of Europe's premium hemp CPG companies. We continue to be very encouraged by the response we are receiving as we plan for this trip." With a population of over 700 Million citizens, and over 500 Million in the EU alone, the European opportunity within the hemp and cannabidiol marketplace is large growing at a substantial pace. A robust hemp market exists in the EU today, with production in most member nations. In 2018, European cultivation grew by over 40% from 2015 to more than 40,000 hectares of production. Hemp production is centered in France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Romania, with Germany making inroads and playing an increasingly important role in the hemp market share. The Company also announces it has arranged for a non-brokered private placement of 10,000,000 units (each a "Unit") of the Company at a price of $0.05 per unit for gross proceeds of $500,000. Each unit consists of one common share (a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.075 per common share at any time on or before the 24-month anniversary of the closing of the offering. Story continues Net proceeds from the funds raised will be used to complete the acquisition of the Dresden Hemp transaction, and continued expansion across Europe. All shares and warrants are subject to a four-month hold period. About EuroLife Brands Inc. EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMA) (OTC Pink: EURPF) is a leading global markets cannabis brand empowering the medical, recreational and CPG cannabis industry worldwide through a data-driven CBD marketplace supported by exclusive and unbiased physician-backed cannabis education and detailed consumer analytics. For additional information: Contact: ir@eurolifebrands.com or visit EuroLifeBrands.com No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Issuer's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Issuer or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51469 Recep Tayyip Erdogan won't hold back from "teaching a lesson" to Khalifa Haftar if his eastern Libyan forces continue attacks against the country's internationally recognised government, the Turkish president said on Tuesday. Erdogan said Haftar had "run away" from Moscow after Monday's peace talks between him and the head of the Tripoli-based government, Fayez al-Sarraj, failed to lead to a ceasefire to end nine months of fighting. Middle East Eye reports in its article Turkey ready to 'teach a lesson' to Haftar after Libya talks end without resolution that Sarraj signed the ceasefire agreement but Haftar left Moscow without signing the accord, asking for more time to consider the matter. "If the putschist Haftar's attacks against the people and legitimate government of Libya continue, we will never refrain from teaching him the lesson he deserves," Erdogan said in a speech to AKP politicians in parliament. "It is our duty to protect our kin in Libya," Erdogan added, saying that Turkey had deep historical and social ties with the country and that Haftar would have taken over the entire nation if Ankara had not intervened. Erdogan also said in his speech that Turkey was determined to stop the Syrian government from violating a ceasefire, which came into effect on Sunday in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib to prevent 400,000 people fleeing towards the Turkish border. Germany confirmed on Tuesday it will host a conference on Sunday in Berlin to support the United Nations' effort to achieve peace and reconciliation in Libya. Representatives from the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, Turkey, Italy and the UN will be among the participants, said the German government in a statement. Germany has also invited Sarraj and Haftar, it said. Libya has been mired in chaos since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The talks in Moscow came after a ceasefire, initiated by Turkey and Russia, saw a lull in heavy fighting and air strikes on Sunday, though both factions accused each other of violating the truce as skirmishes continued around the capital Tripoli. According to a draft of the deal which Sarraj signed and which was shared by a GNA spokesperson with Middle East Eye, both sides would create a joint military commission to ensure the stability of the truce. The draft joint statement says a 5+5 military commission would determine the line of battle between the parties, monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and ensure the sustainability of it. Each side will also assign a representative to join UN-led economic and political dialogue and form a working group on the intra-Libyan political settlement. Earlier this month, Turkey deployed forces to support Sarraj's government, while Russian military contractors have been deployed alongside Haftar's LNA forces. Asked about those mercenaries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that any Russian citizens fighting in Libya were not representing the interests of their state or receiving money from it. UPDATE: How you can help victims of massive Bound Brook fire that ripped through downtown The man charged with starting the massive fire in Bound Brook Sunday night posted several messages online that allude to fire or threaten to burn things down, court records show. Juan Hector Padilla, 28, of East Second Street in Bound Brook, made the comments on Facebook in the two weeks leading up to the fire, an affidavit of probable cause obtained by NJ Advance Media shows. "Im thinking of burning down this building that they put up to (mess) with my head, Padilla allegedly wrote on New Years Day. Four days later, he shared a post that read, Going to start the fire at 7. I will burn the world to the ground, Padillas Facebook page posted on Sunday afternoon, about four hours before the blaze began. The Somerset County Prosecutors office declined to comment on the Facebook posts, citing the ongoing investigation. Padilla was arrested Tuesday morning, two days after a blaze ripped through the Meridia II apartment building on Main Street in downtown Bound Brook. The flames spread to a second under-construction building. Both construction projects were destroyed, as were several other homes and a business in the area. A massive fire ripped through commercial buildings in downtown Bound Brook on Sunday, Jan. 12.Photo courtesy Marc Teschic Padilla was caught on a surveillance camera entering a liquor store on Main Street, court records say, where he purchased a bottle of alcohol and cigars. He walked across the street and out of that cameras frame, before entering the frame of another camera. Video recorded by the second camera shows Padilla walking into the parking lot next to Meridia II, and "into the area of the origin of the fire several times, records say. The second time Padilla left the area, smoke was seen "emanating from the area of origin behind the subject, records show. Padilla denied he was near the apartment building in an interview with police, court records show. The clothes he was wearing Sunday night were collected as evidence, records say. Drone footage after Bound Brook fire Padilla is charged with second-degree arson and third-degree hindering investigation, apprehension and providing false information, the prosecutors office said Tuesday. Additional charges could be filed as the investigation continues. He is being held in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing Friday morning. A motion to detain him as the charges are pending has been filed, court officials told NJ Advance Media. The fire began around 8 p.m. on Sunday night in the Meridia II building, and spread quickly to the apartment across the street and several homes. Over 100 firefighters from nearly every town in the county, as well as several from outside of Somerset, responded on Sunday. A smaller number of crews remained at the apartments on Tuesday. Firefighters battle a 7 alarm fire on East Man Street in Bound Brook, January, 12, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for No one was seriously injured in the fire. A Bound Brook firefighter suffered a sprained ankle, officials said. Between 100-200 residents were evacuated from their homes Sunday night. While many were able to return by Tuesday, a number of residents will be displaced for longer, Bound Brook officials said. Twenty residents are temporarily displaced pending the demolition of 17-15 West Main Street building, and about 15 residents are permanently displaced after their homes were destroyed, Bound Brook officials said. The New Jersey Red Cross is providing emergency assistance, and the Somerset County Department of Social Services is arranging temporary housing. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Police facing probe for violence in France Police violence in France has been a subject of controversy since the Yellow Vest protests and continues to be the main focus because of the ongoing pension reform protests. French prosecutors launched Wednesday a preliminary probe into alleged police violence after a video showing police tripping a pension reform protestor went viral, according to local media. WATCHDOG GROUP WILL INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), France's police watchdog group, will investigate the video, allegedly recorded in Toulouse on Jan. 9, and the police violence during protests, the daily LeMonde reported. On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron said some officers show unacceptable behaviors, however, it is not right to say that all police officers used violence against protesters. I expect the highest ethical principals from our police officials. I have asked the interior minister to make very concrete proposals in this regard, France24 quoted the president as saying. In the recent year, a protestor died of police violence, 26 people lost their eyes, and nearly 500 others were injured during the demonstrations. The pension reform strike started in protest of the government's planned overhaul of the nationwide pension system. President Emmanuel Macron is steadfast in his position that the 42 different plans currently in place need to be consolidated into one. "Instead of coloring the grass the way you see it, why not color it the way it makes you feel when you're there?" This is the advice Richard Casper received that changed his life forever. Art changed his life, especially his post-military life, at a time when he needed it the most. Now, he wants to give that same power to fellow vets who might be at the end of their rope. "I was going downhill," Casper says of his time after the Marine Corps. "I was going to die." He was drawing a photo of himself next to his friend Luke's grave in Houston, Texas. Everything else about the drawing was colored true-to-life. All that was left was to color the grass around him. Casper didn't think much of his professor's advice -- he didn't want to ruin his work -- but he went along with it and colored the grass red. When his classmates saw the work, knowing Casper's past as a Marine in Iraq, he was awestruck at how quickly they interpreted it. They'd begun to pick up on feelings that Casper had never expressed to them, things he could never say out loud. (Richard Casper) "They said things like, 'You made the grass red because you saw his blood,'" says Casper. "'You watched him die' or 'it makes you angry to think of it.'" All he had to do was draw it. When Casper left the Marine Corps in June 2007, things like traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress were not as widely known or talked about as they are now. Casper definitely never considered them before he was diagnosed. During his first few months in Iraq, his Humvee was blown up four separate times, and his good friend was shot and killed. When he got back to the United States, he simply left the military without going to medical. No CT scan, no X-ray. That's how it went back in 2007. Life after the Marine Corps didn't go very well. Casper did everything he was supposed to do as a newly separated veteran. He went home and started school, but he struggled and didn't know why. The specter of the "22 veteran suicides per day" loomed large. Eventually, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, where they discovered his brain injury. Like the Marine he was trained to be, he adapted to his new situation. These days, veterans and their families know the warning signs of PTSD. The military and VA know what to look for and when to conduct tests for TBI. New veterans, along with so many of Casper's contemporaries, can find help where they need it because of vets like him. As he struggled with the lingering effects of his time in the Marine Corps, Casper eventually turned to the power of art as a means of not only expressing himself but letting his loved ones know what he was feeling and thinking. Now he wants to teach other vets to get their experiences out onto a page -- for themselves and for their loved ones. Casper enrolled in an arts program at a small community college in Bloomington, Illinois. That's where he first drew the red grass around his best friend's grave. But he isn't just turning veterans on to painting to express themselves. That's something they can do in their own communities. His medium of choice now is country music. Casper's first Marine Corps assignment was the Camp David Presidential detail. (Richard Casper) As he progressed in art school, he turned to songwriting as a means to talk about Luke, his best friend. Casper couldn't talk about him because it just made him break down. "If people wanted to know about Luke, I wanted to be able to hand them a song and walk away," he recalls. "I want people to know about who he was and how he lived, but I couldn't talk." That's when Casper met Mark Irwin, a country songwriter who wrote Alan Jackson's "Here In The Real World," as well as 2013's "Highway Don't Care" by Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift. Casper asked Irwin if he could come to Nashville so the two could write a song for Luke that would do his departed friend justice. Irwin agreed. The two wrote Luke's song in under three hours. The experience of expressing himself through art and telling his best friend's story through song was so cathartic, Casper decided he was going to build a program for other veterans to do the same thing and find the same healing. With the help of co-founder Linda Tarrson, that's when CreatiVets was born. American veterans are responding so strongly that Casper and CreatiVets can hardly keep up. He designed the organization to be a creative opportunity that any veteran, even those who swear they would never want or need help, would find it hard to turn down. "It's so powerful to watch, even just being behind the scenes," says Casper. "Just doing anything that we could do to get a veteran turned on to art music to help them heal." CreatiVets brings veterans backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, country music's longtime pilgrimage site, to work with experienced Nashville songwriters and translate their feelings into songs over a four-day session. Then, they record the songs with the best session musicians in Music City. But these songs aren't for release on the radio. If the veteran doesn't want to allow their song on CreatiVets' SoundCloud, that's OK. Many others do. It's about expressing thoughts and feelings in a way the veterans were unable to do before. Even the most reluctant of veterans who need help would have a hard time saying no to songwriting and a country music jam session at the Grand Ole Opry. If country music or songwriting isn't at the top of a veteran's list, CreatiVets also has three-week accredited art courses for vets at top schools around the country, including the University of Southern California, Houston, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Civilians are invited to see their works and talk to the veterans about them. "Our big thing is that a veteran can share their experience, the story of their lives, for the first time because it's a song," Casper says. "It's a powerful thing." The program is catching on in the country music world. CreatiVets even visits Zac Brown's own "Warrior Week" and comes to teach songwriting at his Georgia campsite. The only problem for CreatiVets now is funding: Veterans are so responsive the waitlist is years long. That solution only requires funding. To find out more about CreatiVets, sign up for its programs or donate, visit its website. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. Want to Know More About Post-Military Careers? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (January 15) refused to set aside the death warrant issued for the hanging of four Nirbhaya gangrape-murder convicts and said that convict Mukesh Singh could approach the trial court, which issued the death warrant. The HC, however, also said that it found nothing wrong in the death warrants issued by Delhi's Patiala House court for the hanging of four convicts on January 22 at 7 am. Mukesh's advocate Rebecca John withdrew Mukesh's plea and said that they will now approach the trial court with information on recent developments in this case. The plea was heard by a division bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal. In his plea, Mukesh had informed the High Court that his mercy petition is pending before Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and President of India, therefore, he should be given a minimum 14 days notice between the rejection of his mercy petition and scheduled date of execution. In a related development, Delhi government said the court on Wednesday that four convicts can surely not be hanged on January 22 as a mercy petition filed by Singh is pending. Live TV Both the Additional Solicitor General and Delhi government lawyers said in court that all four convicts in this case will get 14 days from the day President Ram Nath Kovind takes a decision on their mercy petitions. It is to be noted that Mukesh had approached the HC after the Supreme Court dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the Nirbhaya case on Tuesday. A five-judge Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the petitions filed by the convicts, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The article of famous Lithuanian historian Algis Kasperavicius has been published in lrytas.lt journal dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in Baku. Armenpress presents the full article: This January marks the 30th anniversary of the tragedy when the last Armenians were forced to flee Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, due to the ongoing Azerbaijani pogroms. In other areas of Azerbaijan there were no Armenians left, even though they had lived there for hundreds of years. During the pogroms, units of the Soviet Army with tanks and other heavy weapons entered into Baku, the million-city. They entered late, when the pogroms were in full swing. The army was opposed by Azerbaijani activists, many of whom had attacked or even killed Armenians, plundering and destroying their property. The future mayor of Vilnius, Arturas Zuokas, then a budding journalist, visited Baku on January 24-31, 1990 and wrote about Armenian suffering in the newspaper of the Vilnius University: "People were being thrown out of the windows, burned and beaten to death. This testimony is even more valuable considering the fact that Zuokas condemns the entry of troops. In his view, the rescue of the Armenians was a pretext for the main purpose of suppressing the Azerbaijani national movement led by the Azerbaijani People's Front. (See: A. Zuokas. What do tanks defend on the streets of Baku? // Universitas Vilnensis February 9, 1990). The biggest clashes with the army took place on the streets of Baku on 19 and 20 of January. It is on 20th January that present-day Azerbaijan annually commemorates a Day of Mourning. The commemoration is being organized by the authorities, and this year the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, addressed the citizens urging them to participate in as many events as possible, during which they will, as usual, curse and threaten Armenia and Armenians. In Lithuania, we will probably see articles or comments in the press and on the Internet, in which, like many times before, the 1990 January events in Baku and 1991 events in Vilnius will be compared. In both cases there were fatalities and injuries due to the actions of the Soviet Army. By the way, in Baku far more than in Vilnius. There, in Baku, soldiers and officers were killed and injured as well. However, this difference is not an argument for denying the similarity of the events in Baku and Vilnius. What is important, is what had happened in Lithuania and Azerbaijan until those events. And, of course, it is also important, how these events are explained now, and which of the moments are being highlighted. In Lithuania, as it is well known, Sajudis did not proclaim hatred towards people of other nationalities living in Lithuania, and there was no violence against the foreigners. The Republic of Lithuania, which declared independence on 11th March in 1990, recognized all the people residing in its territory as citizens of the State, regardless of their nationality. In January 1991, there were no conflicts or battles between people due to national hostility. The violence of the Soviet internal army was opposed by peaceful rallies attended by thousands upon thousands of people from all over Lithuania. During the night of January 12 to 13, the military shot 13 unarmed people, several hundreds were injured or had otherwise suffered. In the face of nonviolent resistance, USSR leaders did not dare to resort to the widespread use of force, thus soldiers were returned to the barracks. The events of 13th January in Lithuania are regarded as sad and at the same time honorable anniversary, and it is never wasted with accusations and threats against people of other nationalities living in Lithuania. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's path to state-building in the Soviet Union was accompanied by Armenian pogroms, massacres and expulsion. It is the totality of these actions that is called ethnic cleansing. It is true, that the ethnic cleansing began yet in the distant Soviet years, when the so-called Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was incorporated into Azerbaijan. The population was made up half of Armenians, and the Baku authorities by any means urged or forced them to leave for Armenia or other parts of the USSR. It is clear that for the Azerbaijani authorities it was no longer possible to kill Armenians in Soviet times, as they did together with Turkish army after the 1917 Revolution in the Caucasus. However, displacement without bloodshed was long, but proved to be effective. In 1989 there were no Armenians left in the territory of Nakhichevan ASSR. In the rest of Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, the Armenian population made up over 90%, and the Azerbaijani authorities were not successful in eliminating them. Instead, they tried to limit the economic development of the area and the cultural life of the Armenians. Several times Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh addressed Moscow to join their territory with the neighboring Armenian SSR, but did not receive a positive response. Within the framework of the reforms started by Gorbachev, on 20th February in 1988 the Council of People's Deputies of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region adopted a request for the transfer of territory from the Azerbaijani SSR to the Armenian SSR. Moscow delayed, refusing to make such territorial changes, and Azerbaijanis organized appalling Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, the industrial city of Azerbaijan. Sadistic massacres and the mass rapes of women reminded Armenians of the mass killings in the Caucasus after 1917 and the Genocide of Armenians and other Christians in Turkey in 1915-1923. Turkey still denies it, meanwhile Armenians are still being treated this way in modern Azerbaijan. Its authorities declined to negotiate with Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh and in 1991 formally abolished the autonomous status of this area. After that, the area was proclaimed Artsakh (an old Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh). Supported by Armenia, it successfully withstood attacks of the Azerbaijani army. A ceasefire deal was announced in 1994, but Azerbaijan is preparing for a revenge. This is evidenced not only by the clashes on the Line of Contact, the reinforcement of the army, but also the incitement to hatred towards Armenians among the inhabitants of the country. Armenia is not only accused of depriving Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan. Also, the very existence of the Armenians - one of the oldest Christian nations - is being denied. It is claimed that the present territory of the Republic of Armenia was allegedly inhabited by Azerbaijanis in the early 19th century, and Armenians were displaced from Turkey by Russian tsars. Thus, according to Azerbaijani propagandists, Armenians are not a nation, nor do they have their own land. Thus, they are preparing an excuse for a possible upcoming Armenian genocide in the case of the invasion in Artsakh or even Armenia. In the meantime, Azerbaijani diplomats abroad are recruiting journalists and other individuals capable of writing and sharing propaganda or at least the most favorable portrayal of Azerbaijan and its government policies in exchange for paid trips to their country or other kinds of payments. But never mention Armenian pogroms, ethnic cleansing and incitement to extreme hatred. Unfortunately, the activities of such diplomats are also noticeable in Lithuania. Alongside the influencer, serving to Azerbaijani Embassy, a musicologist and publicist in Lietuvos aidas wrote about her travel impressions titled "Baku Etudes". In these etudes the "Armenian occupation" of Nagorno-Karabakh is condemned, which allegedly violates Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, recognized worldwide. However, it is not mentioned that the restoration of such "integrity" would result in the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh becoming refugees. Thus, not only the circumstances of January events in Lithuania and Azerbaijan differ, but also the conclusions drawn from them. WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), in partnership with Student Veterans of America, is offering two U.S. Navy student veterans $10,000 each in scholarships under a new program announced during the Surface Navy Association's 32nd National Symposium. Applications for the scholarship grants are accepted on the SVA website from January 15, 2020 April 1, 2020. The Raytheon SPY-6 Scholarship, named for the U.S. Navy's SPY-6 Family of Radars, provides returning sailors an opportunity to achieve educational goals and position themselves for success in civilian professions. The scholarships will be awarded to sailors who pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree at an accredited university and demonstrate leadership in their local community. "Investment in our student veterans - the future leaders of our industry - provides opportunity to gain unique experience, product knowledge and customer-centric insights that protect our service men and women around the world," said Paul Ferraro, vice president of Raytheon's Seapower Capability Systems business. "Our SPY-6 scholarship rewards Navy student veterans who exhibit superior academic achievement and are leaders on campus and in their communities." The Raytheon SPY-6 Scholarship is the latest initiative as part of Raytheon and SVA's $5 million multi-year partnership to provide military veterans the resources, support and advocacy needed to succeed in higher education. About Raytheon Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter. About Student Veterans of America With a focused mission on empowering student veterans, SVA is committed to providing an educational experience that goes beyond the classroom. Through a dedicated network of more than 1,500 on-campus chapters in all 50 states and 4 countries representing more than 750,000 student veterans, SVA aims to inspire yesterday's warriors by connecting student veterans with a community of like-minded chapter leaders. Every day these passionate leaders work to provide the necessary resources, network support, and advocacy to ensure student veterans can effectively connect, expand their skills, and ultimately achieve their greatest potential. For more information, visit us at www.studentveterans.org. Media Contact Ian Davis +1.978.284.9579 [email protected] SOURCE Raytheon Company Related Links http://www.raytheon.com According to research published online Jan. 13, 2020, in JAMA Pediatrics, maternal stress, anxiety and depression cause women's fetuses to end up with impaired development in key brain regions before they are born. The Children's National Hospital study authors note that their unprecedented findings underscore the need for universal screening for psychological distress as a routine part of prenatal care. They also say taking other steps would be beneficial to support stressed-out pregnant women and to safeguard their newborns' developing brains. In another study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, babies whose mothers experienced more stress before birth could be born with an impaired part of the brain that has previously been linked to psychiatric disorders. The afflicted area of the brain is called the uncinate fasciculus, which is a white matter tract that connects parts of the limbic system. Researchers from King's College London examined 251 premature babies and their mothers to investigate for the first time the relationship between maternal stress and a child's brain development. Women who were more stressed before or during pregnancy gave birth to babies whose white matter developed differently. The researchers did not look at how these brain changes affect behavior. The mothers of the babies were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked them about their experiences of stressful events, citing events that ranged from everyday stress, such as moving house or taking an exam, to more severe stress such as bereavement, separation or divorce. When a mother is stressed, anxious or depressed while pregnant, her child is at increased risk for having a range of problems, including emotional problems, ADHD, conduct disorder and impaired cognitive development. Both altered brain structure and function are linked with prenatal stress, and also the mother's experience of early childhood trauma. These findings show more work is needed to support the mental wellbeing of expectant mothers. According to lead author Alexandra Lautarescu, a doctoral researcher from King's College London, while pregnant women are often asked by their GPs to state whether or not they've experienced depression or anxiety, they are rarely asked about general stress levels. Genetic transmission and the quality of postnatal care are also likely to contribute to some of these findings of association. Several large cohort studies have found associations independent of possible confounding factors, including birth weight, gestational age, maternal education, smoking, alcohol consumption, and most importantly, postnatal anxiety and depression. One of the possible reasons behind the studies is that stress hormones, such as cortisol, reach the baby in the womb through the placenta. More than one in ten babies are born prematurely worldwide, having been born before the 37th week of pregnancy. Elysia Poggi Davis from the University of Denver emphasized, "I think we're becoming aware that we have to start thinking of these things during pregnancy, not waiting until after the baby is born." The more the exposure to Mom's cortisol in the womb, the larger was the infants' cortisol spike in response to a blood draw on the first day of life. In the findings, maternal cortisol can pass through the placenta and that infants born to mothers who experienced a mood disorder during pregnancy show increased cortisol and norepinephrine, as well as decreased dopamine and serotonin. RELATED ARTICLE: Study: Eating Six or Seven Servings of Fruit a Day During Pregnancy Can Boost Babies' Cognitive Development India and Russia have begun negotiations on an agreement for long-term assured supplies of crude oil, especially from Russias Far East region, as New Delhi looks to diversify its energy sources and do away with over-dependence on the Middle East, people familiar with developments said. The negotiations are being handled by Rosneft, the largest global public oil and gas corporation, and by Indias petroleum ministry. The two sides are also eyeing an agreement on liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Russia after the agreement on crude oil is concluded, said people on both sides familiar with the negotiations. The talks have focused on long-term assured supplies of oil that will not be affected by developments in other parts of the world, such as West Asia, said a person who declined to be identified. A second person said on condition of anonymity that the Indian government is working on an easier and economical sea transport route from Russia to India. Transportation of energy [from Russia] is one of the key concerns, but we are working on a solution, the person said. The Russian side, the people said, is looking at tapping reserves in its Far East region, which stretches from Siberia to the Pacific Ocean and is estimated to have 10 to 14 billion tonnes of oil and 14 to 15 trillion cubic meters of gas. The negotiations on oil and gas supplies are part of the five-year roadmap for cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector that was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Vladivostok last September for the Eastern Economic Forum and the annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian gas producer Novatek also signed an agreement with Indian energy firm Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) for LNG supply and joint development of downstream LNG business. A joint statement issued after the Modi-Putin summit said the two sides would cooperate in geological exploration and joint development of oil and gas fields in Russia and India, and develop ways of delivering Russian energy resources to India, including a long-term agreement for sourcing Russian crude oil. The second person said, India imports more than 80% of the crude it processes. It imports almost half of its crude oil requirements from the Gulf region, which is prone to disruptions because of geo-political reasons. This often threatens our energy security, both in terms of price and supply volatilities. Energy import from Russia is, therefore, a reliable alternative, the person said. Though India has a refining capacity of 249.4 MT, annual capacity utilisation has been often more than 100%. In 2018-19 domestic refiners processed 257.2 MT of crude in 2018-19. Out of that more than 88% (226.5 MT) was imported crude, and more than 63% of that (142.9 MT) came from the Middle East. India is looking for reliable and economical alternatives; especially after the US embargo against Iran that has now reduced Iranian crude import to almost zero. Russia could be one such alternative, the person said. Oil and gas imports have figured in petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhans meetings and visits to Russia since last year. During a visit to Russia last August, Pradhan met top Rosneft officials and energy minister Alexander Novak and discussed collaboration in oil and gas. He also welcomed Rosnefts proposal for new investments in refining and petrochemical operations. The two ministers also met more than 20 CEOs and representatives of Indian and Russian oil and gas companies and discussed Indian investments in energy assets in Russia, and Russian investments in new initiatives to make India a gas-based economy, including use of natural gas in transportation. During Rosenoft CEO Igor Sechins visit to New Delhi last September, an Indian consortium of Bharat PetroResources, Indian Oil Corp, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd and the Russian behemoth signed a non-binding cooperation agreement on the Indian firms taking stakes in oilfields in Russias Far East. During another visit by Pradhan to Russia last October, he met Sergey Tyrtsev, first deputy minister for development of the Far East and Arctic, and discussed energy cooperation. Pradhan also met deputy prime minister and presidential envoy for the Far East, Yury Trutnev, and discussed the sourcing of crude oil and potential Indian investments in the oil and gas sectors. RS Sharma, former chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), said transportation of crude and LNG from Russia has to be cost effective to make commercial sense. India must explore long-term, reliable and cost effective options. Russia has potential, he said. MAPUTO President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi has been sworn in on Wednesday, January 15 and inaugurated for his second term in office and who is also the fourth President of the Republic of Mozambique. The President received instruments of power namely the Constitution of Mozambique, Court of Arms, the Presidential Standard, the Mozambique Seal, Mozambique National Flag during a function that took place at the independence Square in Maputo. Ten Heads of States have been in attendance, while Uganda was represented at the swearing in ceremony by Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi. In his inaugural speech, President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi the past five years have greatly challenged Mozambique like the drought in the South and the floods in the North as well as the severity of the cyclones Idai and Kenneth in which lives and property were lost and destroyed respectively. President Nyusi stressed that peace has been and will continue to be the absolute priority for Mozambique adding that the sovereignty of his country will not be negotiated or mortgaged. On the Democratic process in Mozambique, the President said participation of the citizens in the process of governance cannot be achieved unless all Mozambicans enjoy equal opportunities of access to basic services, access to justice and to national resources. He added that there is need for free debate that respects opinions and freedoms of each Mozambican men and women collectively. On education President Nyusi said its an important sector for development and more attention will be dedicated to the expansion and improvement of education services by seriously focusing on knowledge production, training of competent teachers at all levels and mobilising resources to improve the working conditions of teacher teachers and provide equipment for education infrastructure. On health, he said that there was need to fast track the Presidential initiative that intends to implement the programme of one district, one hospital with a view to extending quality and specialised healthcare network alongside human resources training. On creation of jobs for the youth the president said that under the presidency, an office will be dedicated to deal with youth issues and employment. The President called for the need to combat corruption in all forms as well as demand for integrity, ethics and professionalism to public officials and agents to consolidate the culture of transparency and accountability. Related If the new year represents a new beginning to some, for others it is just same old same old.. Fortunately, for Apple (AAPL), same old same old will do just fine. The worlds most successful company has started 2020 in exactly the same way it finished 2019: by reaching new all-time highs. The tech giant is up by another 7% since the turn of the year and at the time of writing is trading at $312.68. So, is Apple stock finally set for a pullback? According to Wedbushs Daniel Ives the answer is a resounding NO. Incredibly, the 5-star analyst believes we are just at the beginning of a transformational new cycle. Apples current iPhone 11 upgrade cycle is reportedly boasting an uptick of demand in China. Couple this with "jaw dropping" AirPods momentum, and according to Ives, the upcoming FY1Q report will boast positive results and provide strong March guidance as well. The real catalyst for Apple over the next 12 months, though, will be the impending 5G super cycle. The iPhone 12 is expected to rollout in September and will boast 5G capabilities across its entire range. Ives expects demand for the 5G enabled units to be between 200 million to 220 million and marks the figure as the new line in the sand. Furthermore, the analyst argues, the Street has yet to factor in Apples $50+ billion revenue stream from its assorted services. These include the newly launched streaming service Apple TV+, the Apple credit card and the well-established App Store and Apple Music, amongst others. Bottom line, what does it all mean, then? Well, according to Ives, expect Apple to be the first company with a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2021. Apple has potential to be the first $2 trillion valuation given the 5G tailwinds and services momentum potential over the coming years. The services business we assign a $500 billion to $650 billion valuation range given the increasingly importance of this key revenue stream that is getting a new appreciation by investors as Cook & Co. further monetize its golden jewel installed base of what we estimate is currently 925 million iPhones worldwide, the analyst explained. Story continues Ives, therefore, reiterated an Outperform rating on Apple along with a price target of $350. Should the target be met, in addition to a smartphone, investors pockets will be ringing from another 10% addition. (To watch Ives track record, click here) Does the rest of the Street think Apple is on its way to a $2 trillion market cap, too? Not currently. The average price target is $288 and implies possible downside of 9%. According to the rest of the Street, then, we might be waiting a little longer to meet a $2 trillion valued company. (See Apple stock analysis on TipRanks) He (Miguel) said all he could think about was to get everybody out of the house, said Bahenas friend and employer Chris Cusato, owner of Kalo Foods bakery in Stokesdale. He ran upstairs and told his wife and little girl (Anna) to get out. And the fire spread so fast. He went in to get Mason and Miguel was able to get him out. The blaze destroyed all of the young familys belongings and they lived with Margensey until they could reestablish a new household in Eden. Kindness was a hallmark of gentle dad Bahenas personality Miguel loved his family and his kids and was always showing pictures of them, Cusato said through tears. Hes been with us for six years and he has got a wonderful personality charming with a very sharp wit and extremely funny and talented, she said. I felt like he was one of my kids. We got really close. Sometimes it was just me and him baking, and we talked about lots of things. Endowed with a multitude of talents, Bahena performed quick mathematical calculations in the bakery and swiftly developed refined piping skills for icing cupcakes with rosettes and the like, his boss said. In 2018, you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. As a matter of fact, I didnt say it. If any of the women on this stage or any of the men on this stage win the nomination I hope thats not the case, I hope its me but if they do, I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country. What did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? I disagreed. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women Amy and me. [cheering] I have won every race, every place, every time. I defeated an incumbent Republican When? running for Congress. When? 1990. Thats how I won beat a Republican congressman. Wasnt that 30 years ago? I beat an incumbent Republican congressman And I said, I was the only one who has beaten an incumbent Republican in 30 years. The two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes are the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies. I was part of that deal to get the nuclear agreement with Iran, bringing together the rest of the world, including some of the folks who arent friendly to us. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw it differently. Its time to get our combat troops home. If were going to do something with North Korea, were going to have to do it in concert with our allies. We have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting. I have the most endorsements of current Iowa legislators and former Iowa legislators in this race. And to have support right here in Iowa from some of the most recognizable black elected leaders ... I am going to be able to stand across from him on that debate stage and say, to my friends in Iowa, the Midwest is not flyover country. When he gets to the tough talk and the chest thumping, hell have to stand next to an American war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to serve. Ive been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on this stage. Ive taken all the hits he can deliver and Im getting better in the polls ... On the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2015, the artist Kubra Khademi strapped a suit of metal armor over her clothes and headed outside. The armor, which she had cobbled together in the workshop of a local blacksmith, had bulbous breasts and an ample bottom. It was the centerpiece of a carefully planned street performance. Only this wasnt just any street: It was a busy thoroughfare in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Sheathed in her bulging suit, Ms. Khademi walked along the road in a silent eight-minute performance. By the time she left, traffic had stopped and a mob of menacing men had formed. They were insulting me and making fun of me, saying Shes crazy, shes a foreigner, shes lost her mind, shes a prostitute, the artist recalled in a telephone interview from Paris, where she now lives. Yet, had I not put on this performance, I would have been unhappy. It was a complete success. It shook everyone up, and brought the debate brazenly out into the open. TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (17,352.90 , up 59.48 points.) Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Up 11 cents, or 4.95 per cent, to $2.33 on 14.6 million shares. Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA). Health care. Down 61 cents, or 8.59 per cent, to $6.49 on 10.2 million shares. Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Down 14 cents, or 2.46 per cent, to $5.54 on 9.1 million shares. Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED). Health care. Up $1.02, or 3.39 per cent, to $31.14 on 7.1 million shares. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TSX:AQN). Utilities. Down nine cents, or 0.48 per cent, to $18.74 on 5.3 million shares. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down six cents, or 0.22 per cent, to $27.49 on 5.1 million shares. Companies in the news: Aphria Inc. Aphria Inc. slashed its outlook after a delay in opening additional Ontario cannabis stores and a ban on vape products in Alberta. The Leamington, Ont.-based cannabis company said Tuesday that it now expects net revenue for its 2020 financial year to be between $575 million and $625 million. It had previously predicted that total would be between $650 million and $700 million. Aphria also said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amoritization will now amount to between $35 million and $42 million, rather than between $88 million and $95 million. Encana Corp. Shareholders in Encana Corp. have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the oil and gas company moving its headquarters to Denver from Calgary and changing its name to Ovintiv Inc. CEO Doug Suttles says the 90 per cent vote in favour of the resolution shows clear support for the long-standing Canadian company's decision to move its corporate home south of the border, despite public criticism from Encana founder Gwyn Morgan and shareholder Letko, Brosseau & Associates Inc. Encana announced the changes in October as part of a reorganization that includes a one-for-five share consolidation, also approved by shareholders on Tuesday. Endeavour Mining Corp. (TSX:EDV). Up $1.30 or 5.5 per cent to $24.96. Endeavour Mining Corp. is walking away from its attempt to buy Centamin PLC. The companies had been in merger talks since late last year regarding a possible deal after Toronto-listed Endeavour made a stock-swap proposal to acquire Centamin. The proposal valued Centamin at roughly $2.5 billion at the time. However, Endeavour now says it does not plan to make a firm offer and therefore the merger discussions have been terminated. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2020. Schools that are affiliated under Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) have not started the admission process for the next academic year as the state education department is yet to decide the fate of the newly formed board. Officials from the state education department said that the new education minister, Varsha Gaikwad, was reviewing the boards working. We are waiting for instructions from the new minister before communicating anything to the schools, said the official. A total of 81 schools. which are part of the board, are yet to begin admissions for 2020-21.We took affiliation to the board as it promised to bring in new teaching methods. While most parents gave us good feedback there is a lot of uncertainty about the boards future. We have thus asked parents who wish to admit their children next year to wait, said a representative of a MIEB school in the city. The board, which was an ambitious project of former state education minister Vinod Tawde is now being reviewed by the new government after receiving several complaints about lack of transparency in the functioning of the board. After the change in government, the contracts of several officials on the board were not renewed, which is now becoming a cause for concern for the schools. An official asked us to cooperate even after the change in government. This is a matter of concern as there seemed to be uncertainty about the boards functioning, added a principal. In 2018, the government started the project on a pilot basis in 13 schools across the state. Last year, it accepted applications from 455 schools from the state to become part of the first 100 to be selected for the board. Of these, five schools were from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Former Machachari actress Wanjiku Mburu, who is fondly known as Mama Baha, is preparing to stage a walk to President Uhuru Kenyattas office later this month. She is expected to start the walk from Nairobi West to State House on January 28, which also happens to be her birthday. This in a bid to catch the Presidents attention whom she had visited earlier in an attempt to find his brother who was kidnapped in 2013. On 28th of January is my birthday and on this Day I walk for my brother Georgie. Please walk with me, together we will walk far. #bringgeorgehome #bringbackgeorgy #blood #brother #abduction #mogadishu, she wrote. This comes weeks after Wanjiku Mburu posted a video on socials highlighting the governments futile attempt to bring back her brother who is reportedly being held hostage in Mogadishu. In hushed tones I was told, Im in a meeting Ill call you later, this went on for a while until they no longer bothered to pick my calls. See Mr President my brother was kidnapped and its now 3 years since and theres nothing from you or your office. After everything has been said, its been said but nothing done read part of Mburus letter addressed to the President on 12th August 2017. Heres a video: A mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will head to Belarus in February to evaluate the preparedness of the countrys national infrastructure for a nuclear power station under construction in the town of Astravets near the Lithuanian border. The Belarusian Energy Ministry said on January 15 that the mission will start its work on February 24. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed off on the nuclear power plant back in 2008, partly to lessen the country' dependence on Russia to meet its energy needs. The nuclear power plant, however, is being built by Russian companies contracted by Rosatom and Moscow is jointly financing the project, which has had cost estimates ranging from $5 billion to $22 billion. The construction site has witnessed a series of mishaps, including the dropping of a 330-ton nuclear-reactor casing in July 2016. It was only more than two weeks after the incident that the Belarusian Energy Ministry confirmed there had been an "emergency situation" at the construction site. The planned site of the Astravets plant has been a concern for Lithuania ever since the project was announced in 2008. The Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is less than 50 kilometers away, meaning that Minsk is at odds with IAEA recommendations made after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan that plants should not be built within 100 kilometers of major population centers. Belarus expects to have the two 1.2 gigawatt VVER 1200 reactors online in 2020, according to the Astravets website. With reporting by BelTA and AFN.by Suspect in killing of former Arkansas state senator now accused in murder-for-hire plot originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A bizarre twist has been uncovered in the case of a woman accused of killing her friend, Linda Collins-Smith, a former Arkansas state senator. Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, 49, once an aide to Collins-Smith and an employee at the former senator's business, was charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence after Collins-Smith was found dead at her home in Pocahontas, some 145 miles northeast of Little Rock, on June 4. Now, prosecutors allege O'Donnell wanted to hire someone to kill Collins-Smith's ex-husband and his new wife while in jail. MORE: Prosecutor drops out of case involving murdered Arkansas state Sen. Linda Collins-Smith New charges were filed Tuesday against O'Donnell based on testimony of jailhouse informants, including two felony counts of solicitation to commit capital murder and two misdemeanor counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence while in custody of the Jackson County Jail, according to court documents. Video: Ex-staffer Pleads Not Guilty to Linda Collins-Smith Murder O'Donnell allegedly told the women she tried to solicit that the murder of Phil Smith had to occur in his home and that the homicide needed to be staged as a suicide, according to the probable cause affidavit. The women also were told they would be paid with the stash of gold and silver that Smith, a former state judge, had in his home, authorities said. In addition, investigators have alleged O'Donnell wanted to have her former prosecutor, Henry Boyce, killed, as well as the former judge presiding in her homicide case, Harold Erwin. O'Donnell's attorney, Lee Short, told ABC News that jail inmates routinely offer questionable information on others in the jail to win privileges or sentence reductions. "It's not surprising at all -- inmates do it all the time," Short said soon after the new charges were filed. "In high-profile cases, especially homicides, people tend to seek opportunities to improve their situations by giving statements against people." Story continues MORE: More questions than answers in case of Rebecca O'Donnell, who allegedly killed a former Arkansas state senator On Oct. 24, inmate Shana Hembrey told Jackson County Det. Adam Zitzelberger that O'Donnell attempted to hire herself and fellow inmate Cassandra Geoffrion to kill Smith, according to the court documents. Hembrey is currently being held on charges of felony theft and identity fraud, and Geoffrion is being held on charges of possessing drugs and weapons. Hembrey also told Zitzelberger that O'Donnell wanted Hembrey and Geoffrion to blow up her vehicle in order to destroy any evidence that may be inside. During a follow-up interview on Nov. 7, Hembrey told Arkansas State Police Special Agent Mike McNeill that O'Donnell also wanted them to kill Smith's new wife, Mary Smith. Hembrey said she was instructed to "shoot or hang" Smith and was "supposed to pack a bag so it looks like Mary was in the process of leaving him," according to O'Donnell's charging documents. PHOTO:In this Monday, June 17, 2019, photo, Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell, left, leads Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell to a hearing in Randolph County Circuit Court in Pocahontas, Ark. (John Lee McLaughlin/The Jonesboro Sun via AP) Surveillance footage from inside the jail on Nov. 5 showed O'Donnell passing two pieces of paper into Geoffrion's cell. Geoffrion alleges the paper, since turned over to authorities, contained forged suicide notes for Philip Smith. Former inmate Rebecca Landrum, who was held on one count of felony theft, also told law enforcement that O'Donnell approached her multiple times while she was in jail, telling Landrum she wanted her to kill the original judge overseeing O'Donnell's capital murder trial, Erwin, and the first prosecutor, Boyce. Both Boyce and Erwin have since withdrawn from the case because of conflicts. Landrum alleged O'Donnell told her that she had been set up by Phil Smith for Linda Collins' murder, and that "police had planted stuff in her trunk." Landrum claimed O'Donnell told her to "make evidence disappear" by blowing up her 2005 Honda Civic in Randolph County. MORE: Prosecutors to seek death penalty for suspect in shooting death of former Arkansas Sen. Linda Collins-Smith Landrum told investigators that gold and silver inside Smith's home that would serve as payment had been appraised by Collins-Smith to be worth anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 during the couple's divorce. The informants cooperating against O'Donnell all were prosecuted by Boyce in cases handled by Judge Erwin during November and December. The case has been strange from the start, with officials refusing to reveal even the most elementary information connected to it and slapping an unprecedented gag order and seal on the vast majority of records associated with the probe. ABC News is suing to have the seal and gag lifted or modified. O'Donnell is facing the death penalty if convicted of killing Collins-Smith. She is being held without bond on the original charges. An arraignment on the new charges has not been scheduled. Tim Loggains, O'Donnell's fiance, said in a statement on Tuesday: "My family's faith in Becky is unwavering. We cannot imagine the evidence will actually substantiate these allegations. The allegations defy believability. I won't even comment on the informant's extensive criminal history but instead will wait to see if the State produces credible evidence at trial." DUBLIN, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Corrugated Board Packaging Market - Size, Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The corrugated board packaging market was valued at USD 262.61 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach USD 339.95 billion by 2025, recording a CAGR of 4.41%, during the forecast period of 2020-2025. According to a report by Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) 2017 Paper & Packaging Consumer Trends, compared to five years ago, the sustainability of paper-based packaging today is much more important to almost half of the consumers (50%). Rising consumer consciousness and rising concerns by regulatory bodies regarding sustainable packaging and the cost benefits associated are encouraging the use of environment-friendly packaging products, and is driving the growth of the corrugated board packaging market. For instance, Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) in July 2016 announced that it would introduce mandatory requirements for companies to adopt sustainable materials in packaging to reduce packaging waste in the next 3-5 years. Also, corrugated packaging comprises 88% of recycled content with the additional fresh fibers coming from sustainably managed forests, it is harmless rather than catastrophic. Moreover, if a corrugated box ends up in the ocean, it will be degraded within two months. Prominent e-commerce companies such as Amazon are moving towards corrugated board packaging for e-commerce packaging as it helps in controlling costs apart from offering an environment-friendly option. The corrugated board packaging market will also benefit from increased global trade and healthy economic conditions. The rising consumption in developing nations, such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, provide strong growth prospects for the corrugated board packaging market. Recently, countries like India (State of Maharashtra) have banned the usage of plastic packaging. This is poised to drive the demand of corrugated board packaging. Key Market Trends Processed Food Segment Expected to Occupy Significant Market Share The demand for convenience foods is on the rise due to the busy lifestyle of people. Hence, processed food, which has a quick cooking time, attracts many consumers. The increasing population also drives the demand for processed food, which is convenient as well as healthy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employed women in the United States alone has grown from 53.6 million in 1990 to 71.9 million in 2017. These factors are increasing the need to provide high-quality packaged and processed foods to customers. As corrugated board packaging keeps moisture away from products and can withstand long shipping times, corrugated board packaging is increasingly being adopted by companies to offer better outcomes to customers, especially as a means of secondary or tertiary packaging. Further, innovations in the domain are expanding the scope of applications for corrugated cardboard packaging. Companies such as THIMM Group developed COOLandFREEZE, a box made up of corrugated cardboard for temperature-controlled shipping that enables the joint transport of frozen, chilled and non-refrigerated products within one package. This innovative packaging ensures effective insulation and the constant refrigeration of fresh products over a period of at least 36 hours. As this corrugated cardboard packaging is a more sustainable alternative to polystyrene or plastic shipping solutions, the demand for this market is expected to rise rapidly over the forecast period. North America Expected to Exhibit a Significant Growth North America's robust financial position enables the region to invest heavily in advanced solutions and technologies. These advantages have provided the regional organizations a competitive edge, in the market. Moreover, the region enjoys the presence of several major corrugated board packaging vendors, such as International Paper Company (United States), Georgia-Pacific LLC (United States) and Sealed Air Corporation (United States), among others. Rising awareness among consumers regarding environment-friendly products is expected to drive the demand for corrugated board packaging market in North America over the forecast period. Government initiatives for stimulating eco-friendly packaging materials coupled with the efforts from CPA (The Corrugated Packaging Alliance), a corrugated industry initiative, with the mission to encourage corrugated packaging; are providing an added impetus to the growth of this market. over the forecast period. Government initiatives for stimulating eco-friendly packaging materials coupled with the efforts from CPA (The Corrugated Packaging Alliance), a corrugated industry initiative, with the mission to encourage corrugated packaging; are providing an added impetus to the growth of this market. According to Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) 2017 Paper & Packaging Consumer Trends, 51% of American consider packaging waste to be a critical environmental issue. Apart from this, e-commerce revenue across all product categories are also likely to reach USD 513 billion by 2021, which will further drive the demand for corrugated board packaging in North America . Almost 95% of the North American consumer goods are transported across the globe in corrugated boxes. by 2021, which will further drive the demand for corrugated board packaging in . Almost 95% of the North American consumer goods are transported across the globe in corrugated boxes. Many major cities such as California , New York , Washington , Maine and Massachusetts have banned the use of plastics containers and bags and several other single-use non-recyclable products that are harmful for the environment, which in turn, boost the demand for corrugated board packaging. , , , and have banned the use of plastics containers and bags and several other single-use non-recyclable products that are harmful for the environment, which in turn, boost the demand for corrugated board packaging. However, at a regional scenario, with food chains such as McDonald planning to use 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, manufacturers are choosing to use these opportunities to build consumer trust by proactively addressing the environmental issues than resisting to change. These factors will further augment the demand for corrugated board packaging market over the forecast period. Competitive Landscape The market for corrugated board packaging is fragmented with many players in the market providing packaging solutions. Companies are continuously innovating to promote sustainable packaging by providing environment-friendly packaging products. In order to leverage the opportunities, companies such as Mondi released corrugated box designs for wine merchants that fulfill online consumer orders. Their latest release of Vino Box Sprint is a corrugated box with an integrated pop-up divider insert that is capable of efficiently packing up to six bottles for safe delivery. Apart from this, Mondi has also opened its heavy-duty corrugated plant in Simet, Poland to address the growing needs of the Polish corrugated market. Growing e-commerce in Poland will further augment the demand for corrugated board packaging, which in turn, provides an added advantage to the company. to address the growing needs of the Polish corrugated market. Growing e-commerce in will further augment the demand for corrugated board packaging, which in turn, provides an added advantage to the company. WestRock is building a new plant in Brazil which is expected to be completed in mid-2019 to meet the growing regional demand for corrugated packaging. The company also invested to acquire KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp owing to the strong demand for packaging products in the growing US economy. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET INSIGHTS 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Industry Value Chain / Supply Chain Analysis 4.3 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis 5 MARKET DYNAMICS 5.1 Introduction to Market Dynamics 5.2 Market Drivers 5.3 Market Restraints 6 MARKET SEGMENTATION 6.1 End-user Industry 6.1.1 Processed Foods 6.1.2 Fresh Food & Produce 6.1.3 Beverages 6.1.4 Paper Products 6.1.5 Electrical Products 6.1.6 Other End-user Industry 6.2 Geography 6.2.1 North America 6.2.2 Europe 6.2.3 Asia-Pacific 6.2.4 Latin America 6.2.5 Middle East & Africa 7 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 7.1 Company Profiles 7.1.1 Klingele Papierwerke GmbH & Co. KG 7.1.2 Mondi Group 7.1.3 Smurfit Kappa Group 7.1.4 DS Smith PLC 7.1.5 Klabin S.A. 7.1.6 International Paper Company 7.1.7 Nippon Paper Industries Ltd. 7.1.8 Georgia-Pacific LLC 7.1.9 Rengo Co. Ltd. 7.1.10 Sealed Air Corporation 7.1.11 Cascades Inc. 7.1.12 WestRock Company 7.1.13 Oji Holdings Corporation 7.1.14 Packaging Corporation of America 8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS 8.1 Investment Analysis 8.2 Future Outlook For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/b8zhnk Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com ST. LOUIS, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced ICU Care, the nation's leading provider of high-acuity telemedicine, announced a tele-ICU services launch with HSHS St. Mary's Hospital, a full-service health care facility serving central Illinois. The new care partnership is the second Advanced ICU Care collaboration within the HSHS system, complementing an on-going relationship with HSHS St. John's Hospital. The partnership engages Advanced ICU Care to provide 24/7/365 care delivery, offering an extra layer of support to the HSHS St. Mary's Hospital bedside team to improve critical patient outcomes and reduce average ICU length of stay for patients. Combining advanced telemedicine technology and skilled critical care teams, Advanced ICU Care provides HSHS St. Mary's Hospital with around-the-clock proactive patient intervention and high-acuity clinical expertise which can also reduce bedside care team burnout. This form of collaboration ensures that all ICU patients receive the highest level of critical care. "St. Mary's Hospital's approach to healthcare combines the compassion and human touch of more than a century of caring with the modern technologies available today. Our mission made our partnership with Advanced ICU Care an easy choice with their state-of-the-art technology offering and experienced clinical teams supporting care for our most critically-ill patients," said Mike Hicks, President and CEO of HSHS St. Mary's Hospital. "Advanced ICU Care is proud to welcome a second HSHS hospital to our technology-enabled clinical care," said Lou Silverman, CEO of Advanced ICU Care. "Together, our seasoned care teams will ensure outstanding care delivery for critically-ill patients at HSHS St. Mary's Hospital and ultimately improve outcomes." Advanced ICU Care is the largest and most experienced tele-ICU provider in the nation. The organization serves hospitals and health systems alike resulting in over one million care interactions annually delivered from nine geographically dispersed care centers. About HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Founded in 1878 by three Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, HSHS St. Mary's Hospital is a 230-bed, all private room health care facility that combines modern technology with the caring spirit of the original founders. St. Mary's is situated on an attractive 21-acre campus overlooking Lake Decatur and offers a broad spectrum of comprehensive health services, including the latest diagnostic equipment, interventional cardiology, surgical and medical intervention, emergency medical care, outpatient radiation therapy, pain management and a sleep center. St. Mary's also offers a wide range of community education and wellness programs. The hospital also has both a unique intergenerational day services program and the community's only provider of hospital-based behavioral health services for all ages. Learn more by visiting www.stmarysdecatur.com. About Advanced ICU Care Advanced ICU Care treats more ICU patients and saves more lives than any other independent tele-ICU provider in the nation. Our clinical response platform leverages U.S. board-certified clinicians, nine technology-enabled care centers, and sophisticated connectivity and diagnostic technology and is contracted to deliver 24 x 7 x 365 clinical expertise and proven clinical results to patients in nearly 100 hospitals nationally. Serving a large and growing cohort of ICU patients, families, providers, hospitals and hospital systems since 2006, and adding in-patient telemetry monitoring services in 2016, the Advanced ICU Care team is proud to serve as a leader in telemedicine and honored to partner with our clients in defining and delivering the best of acute care to the patients we serve together. To learn more about our story, visit http://advancedicucare.com/. SOURCE Advanced ICU Care Related Links http://www.advancedicucare.com West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will meet the leader of opposition in the Assembly Abdul Mannan and CPI(M) legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty next week to discuss matters over two pending Bills, a Raj Bhavan statement said here on Wednesday. For other politicial parties including the ruling Trinamool Congress, the date for the meeting remained January 17, as decided earlier, it said. Dhankhar on Monday had invited Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of legislature parties for a meeting on Friday to discuss matters related to West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 and West Bengal State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill, 2019. The first Bill seeks to check incidents of mob assault and lynching in the state, while the other will pave the way for setting up an SC/ST commission in the state. The Bills have been cleared by the Assembly on August 30 last year and are waiting for the governor's approval. Both Chakraborty and Congress leader Mannan had informed Dhankhar of their inability to attend the meeting due to prior commitments on Friday. The meeting will "take place for leader of opposition Abdul Manan and Dr Sujan Chakraborty on January 21, 2020 as they have intimated prior engagements outside state on this date and suggested for January 21, 2020. For others the meeting is as scheduled on January 17," the Raj Bhavan statement said. Besides Mannan and Chakraborty, Dhankhar had also called leaders of the RSP, AIFB, CPI, GJM and the BJP at the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saif Ali Khan On Clubbing With Sons Ibrahim, Taimur: I Am An Old Man Now Just Pretending To Be Cool Just a few weeks into 2020, one of San Franciscos longstanding restaurants is calling it quits after a 28-year run. French bistro Fringale will permanently close its doors on Jan. 25, the Chronicle reports. Since 1991, Fringale served savory Basque-French dishes at its Mission Bay location at 570 4th Street, but a changing neighborhood has pushed owner Jean-Marie Legendre to shutter. According to the Chronicle, business at Fringale dropped by 30 percent when the Municipal Transportation Agencys Central Subway Project began construction six years ago just outside its doors. The project is expected to create a direct transit link between downtown San Francisco and the T Third Line route on 3rd Street. A growing shift in demographics became a challenge at Fringale after an influx of tech hubs in the area. Legendre suggested that many techies are dodging full-service restaurants, especially during the lunch rush. "They dont go out for lunch anymore, because they all get food from their offices," Legendre told the Chronicles Janelle Bitker. "The duck confit takes 15 minutes to cook these people are always on the clock and they want everything right away." Fringales impending closure comes around the same time of two other San Francisco restaurant closures. On Sunday, Noe Valleys Savor Open Kitchen closed after 19 years in the neighborhood. Owner Charlie Sirhed attributed the closure to rising expenses and, similar to Fringale, a shift in the neighborhoods demographics. The Ferry Buildings Brown Sugar Kitchen is also expected to close on Jan. 19 after a short stint in San Francisco. Reasons behind the sudden closure arent clear, but chef-owner Tanya Holland told Eater that she wanted to focus her efforts on her flagship location in Oakland. Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: Susana.Guerrero@sfgate.com | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3 Asian News International In a unique and exciting contest, NASA has shortlisted students from all across the USA to name its latest Mars Rover that would be shot into space in July this year. One student out of the selected 155 semifinalists for the 'Name the Rover' essay challenge would receive the opportunity to christen the rover with a name and witness its launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. According to a joint release by Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA HQ, the currently unnamed rover is a robotic scientist weighing more than 1,000 kilograms Its mission objectives include: searching for signs of past microbial life, characterizing the planet's climate and geology, collection of samples for a future return to Earth and paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. "This rover is the first leg of a round-trip mission to Mars that will advance understanding in key science fields like astrobiology," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division. "This contest is a cool way to engage the next generation and encourage careers in all STEM fields. The chosen name will help define this rover's unique personality among our fleet of Martian spacecraft." With more than 28,000 essay submissions received from K-12 students, NASA recruited volunteer contest judges from every U.S. state and territory. The 4,700 eligible judge volunteers, who were selected from a diverse pool of educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts, played an instrumental role in selecting the semifinalists. The next phases of judging would reduce the competition to nine finalists, and the public would get the opportunity to vote for their favourite name online in late January. The result of the poll would be taken into consideration for choosing the final name. The nine finalists would then hold talks with a panel of experts, including Glaze, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, NASA JPL rover driver Nick Wiltsie and Clara Ma, who proposed the name for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, as a sixth-grade student in 2009. The grand prize winner would be announced in early March 2020. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Despite the fact that Russia is one of exporters of car industry to neighboring countries and to world markets, the demand for Turkeys cars increases in this country, Turkeys ministry of Trade told Trend. Turkey is interested on export of cars to the Russian and other markets, a source in the ministry said. Turkeys export of cars to Russia increased by 16.4 percent from January through December 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $528.1 million. In December 2019, export of cars from Turkey to Russia dropped by 4.3 percent compared to December 2018, amounting to $31.3 million, the ministry said. Turkeys export of cars dropped by 3.1 percent in 2019 compared to 2018, amounting to $30.5 billion or 17 percent of Turkey's total export. Export of cars from Turkey increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019 compared to the same month of 2018, amounting to $2.5 billion or 16.5 percent of Turkeys total export. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $33.2 billion in November 2019. In November 2019, Turkeys export increased by 0.1 percent compared to November 2018, amounting to $15.5 billion. In this month, Turkeys import increased by 9.7 percent compared to the same month of 2018, and reached $17.7 billion. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $340.5 billion from January through November 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe on car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures local brands of buses such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu STAMFORD Stamford-based Americares has deployed an emergency response team to assist families displaced by the volcanic activity in the Philippines, according to a news release. The team, based out of the Americares office in Manila, is distributing protective masks, cleaning kits and essential hygiene products to families staying in evacuation centers in the Batangas province. Toxic ash and debris spewed from the Taal Volcano on Sunday, triggering mass evacuations, canceling hundreds of flights at Manilas main airport and prompting a state of calamity in Batangas province. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert to a Level 4, indicating an imminent explosive eruption and ordered a total evacuation within 14 kilometers of the volcanos danger zonea process made difficult by the poor visibility and, for many, a lack of transportation. Local authorities have also warned of a possible volcanic tsunami in the lake surrounding the volcano, which can be triggered by falling debris after an eruption, according to the release. Our first priority is ensuring displaced families have access to critical relief items to protect their health, said Paul Pagaran, Americares country director for the Philippines, in the release. Our emergency response experts are ready to meet the most urgent health needs in the hardest-hit communities. Inhaling volcanic ash particles can cause breathing problems, particularly for children, the elderly and those with chronic respiratory issues. Residents of affected communities have been advised to wear protective masks or place a wet cloth or towel over their face when going outdoors. Located in the Pacifics Ring of Fire, a seismically active region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, Taal is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines. Americares has been providing assistance to the Philippinesone of the worlds most disaster-prone countriesfor more than 20 years. Americares established a base of operations in Manila in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 to respond more quickly to disasters and strengthen health care for families in need. In addition to preparing for and responding to disasters, the Americares Philippines team helps to repair, rebuild and support critical local health centers, often the only source of care for thousands of people. If Donald Trump follows the example of the two US presidents who were impeached before him, he will not be at his upcoming Senate impeachment trial. But the historic clash between his attorneys and the House Democrats charged with presenting the case against him will give Mr Trump a chance to vicariously face-off against a longtime nemesis: House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff. The California Democrat, who on Wednesday was named by house speaker Nancy Pelosi as one of the Democratic managers who will take charge of the case in the Senate, first drew the presidents ire in July 2017, when Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Schiff, who was then working on the intelligence committees investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the panels ranking member, spent all of his time on television pushing the Dem loss excuse. Over the course of his presidency, Mr Trump has attacked and demeaned Mr Schiff in over 300 tweets and countless public statements using terms like corrupt, deranged, shifty and pencil-neck, while Mr Schiff has called the president infantile and accused him of bringing ill repute to the office of the presidency. And if Mr Schiff had been one of Mr Trumps betes noires before the inquiry began, his opening statement at a 26 September hearing of his committee guaranteed that the president would not stop targeting him. Mr Schiff described the reported contents of the phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky in theatrical terms at one point comparing it to a mafia-style shakedown although he never claimed that he was speaking the actual words spoken by the president. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS In response, Mr Trump claimed Mr Schiff had illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people, and suggested that he be arrested for treason. He has repeatedly assailed Mr Schiff for making up what Mr Trump has called a perfect phone call, and suggested that the US constitutions speech or debate clause should not provide him immunity for statements made in the course of his official duties. Since then, Mr Schiff has remained a constant hate figure for Mr Trump and his supporters by virtue of his status as a leader of the investigation into whether Mr Trump committed impeachable offences. He is accused of withholding $391m in military aid to Ukraine in order to force that countrys president to announce investigations into former vice president Joe Biden and a conspiracy theory which posits that Ukraine not Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Mr Schiff, a former prosecutor, won plaudits for keeping his committees impeachment investigation under control and shutting down Republican attempts to disrupt proceedings, such as the time he told Florida Republican Matt Gaetz to absent yourself from a closed-door deposition that had been crashed by a number of House members who werent entitled to be in the room. Republicans, however, have claimed without offering evidence that Mr Schiff was somehow violating House rules by conducting depositions in a secure room used by his committee, and by not allowing House members who were not members of the investigating committees to be present in closed depositions. But despite efforts to paint Mr Schiff as a hopelessly biased, cartoonish figure in the eyes of voters, the nine-term congressman is uniquely qualified for this moment in history as one of the few living people who has actually successfully led an impeachment in the upper chamber. In 2010, the House voted unanimously to approve four articles of impeachment against then-US District Court Judge Thomas Porteous for engaging in corrupt conduct and making false statements to investigators. Among the three Democrats and two Republicans who were appointed to present the case to the Senate was Mr Schiff, who helped obtain a unanimous vote to convict on one of the four articles and two-thirds votes to convict on the remaining three, as well as a vote to disqualify Mr Porteous from holding any office of honour, trust or profit under the United States. It was a task well-suited to Mr Schiff, who came to congress from the US Attorneys office in Los Angeles, where he had achieved prominence in the late 1980s by convicting an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of passing secret documents to the Soviet Union in exchange for promises of money and gold. That experience factored heavily into Ms Pelosis decision to tap her fellow Californian as both the Houses chief investigator and chief prosecutor. Trump Impeachment Hearing: Adam Schiffs closing speech Hes a full package, Ms Pelosi said of Mr Schiff in an interview with the New York Times last year. He knows his purpose. He knows his subject. He always thinks strategically, and he respectfully connects with people. Indeed, Mr Schiffs ability to speak extemporaneously while making passionate arguments was on full display during his committees hearings, and during the Houses debate on whether or not to make Mr Trump the third impeached president in US history, after Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. While his recent performance may have been at the front of Ms Pelosis mind when deciding who to select to present Democrats case to the Senate, that 1980s spy case might have been a factor as well. When making his closing argument in the case after persisting through three separate trials, Mr Schiff argued for conviction because it was one of government misconduct and government corruption of the highest and most disturbing order. Now Open 15 January 2020 Canopy by Hilton, Hilton's (NYSE: HLT) lifestyle hotel brand, announced the opening of Canopy by Hilton Washington DC | Embassy Row. Owned and operated by The Bernstein Companies, the eight-story, 154-room upper upscale property is nestled in the historic Embassy Row neighborhood between popular Dupont and Logan Circles, just minutes from many of DC's famous museums, local restaurants and bars, premier shopping and beautiful green spaces. Canopy Washington DC | Embassy Row's design is inspired by the capital's iconic architecture and history, Embassy Row's diverse cultures and the laidback atmosphere among DC locals. The design mixes concrete finishes that echo the national monuments around town with Canopy's signature color palette of orange, wood tones and natural hues. The hotel's whimsical collection of art features exaggerated proportions and lively pops of color. Guests will begin enjoying the works upon arrival with a signature entrance piece, a face composition made up of smaller faces from many backgrounds and ages, that highlights the city's diverse and inclusive culture and engages guests with an emotionally fulfilling dialogue. The first-floor restaurant, Truno, is inspired by the Icelandic idea of having a "Truno," which is the act of sharing stories with friends or strangers over drinks. Its open atmosphere and global menu enable guests and locals to experience great stories, colorful cultures and local flavors. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the bar stays open late with a cocktail and bites menu. A signature of the Canopy by Hilton brand, the hotel hosts a complimentary tasting each evening showcasing local drinks and bites. The hotel's staff has also been trained by Proprietors LLC, the training arm of the renowned Death & Co. bar chain, as part of Canopy by Hilton's brand partnership. Canopy Washington DC | Embassy Row provides an array of amenities to suit guests who are looking to work, exercise and relax. Several include: More than 650 square feet of meeting space that can host small meetings and intimate social events (the "Foreign Affairs room" seats up to 12, and the "Nomada room" can accommodate up to 10 and features floor-to-ceiling windows) Complimentary bikes to tour the neighborhood Canopy's signature Transfer Lounge with lockers and private showers for guests who arrive early or need to store luggage after checking out A retail wall, curated in partnership with "Shop Made in DC," that features products from local makers Canopy Washington DC | Embassy Row is located at 1600 Rhode Island Ave., NW and is in walking distance of many attractions (including the National Mall, monuments and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center), as well as dozens of locals' favorite restaurants and bars along the 14th Street corridor and around Dupont and Logan Circles. As part of Hilton, Canopy Washington DC | Embassy Row guests enjoy benefits of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for the company's 17 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly with Hilton have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi and the Hilton Honors mobile app. As a lifestyle brand that embraces its locale, Canopy by Hilton provides guests with authentic and unique local experiences. Each property is designed as a natural extension of its neighborhood with a connection to local art, food, drink and culture. Hotel Team Members are called Enthusiasts Canopy's local experts and connect guests to the best of their neighborhood, offering recommendations for the best restaurants, shops, running paths and more. The latest laser metal cutting machines and the worlds first automated welding and assembly line were introduced to the regional market at the 16th edition of SteelFab 2020, under way in Sharjah. The regions largest showcase of machinery, equipment, tools, and accessories for the metalworking and forming industry is being held at Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). The four-day event will run till January 16. On display are the latest products and services relating to welding and cutting technology, machine tools, fasteners and allied industries, some of which are showcased for the first time. Saif Mohammad Al Midfa, CEO of Expo Centre Sharjah, affirmed that SteelFab has become the first and most preferred destination for steel fabrication and metal companies looking for state-of-the-art technologies. At this annual show, interested companies can find everything that meets their business needs and go above and beyond their expectations, said Al Midfa. The accelerating technological development in the steel and metal industry has made it imperative for manufacturing companies to constantly look for the latest innovations that can catapult their businesses into new levels of excellence. With that in mind, we, at the Expo Centre Sharjah, are doing our best to enhance SteelFabs position to keep it the first and the only platform in the region that meets aspirations attracts leading companies in metal technology and technologies and offers the latest innovations in these fields, he added. One of this years highlights was launching the latest laser metal cutting machine by the Chinese company Bodor. The machine precisely cuts off the iron, steel, copper plate, aluminium plate, titanium, and other metal plates, and is widely used in processing metal accessories for automotive, elevator, electrical accessories, cutting railways and other industries. Additionally, the Austrian company "Zeman" introduced the first automated welding and assembly line in the world, which is capable of processing and welding equipment with a weight of up to 6 tons and is based on a fully robotic system. Meanwhile, companies from the UAE have also had a strong presence in the show. MK Factories Equip & Machinery TRD, has showcased a distinguished group of factory equipment of iron and laser machines and scissors as well as equipment for the production lines of fully equipped factories; while Arwani Trading presented a large number of digital machines for auto parts and industrial equipment, in addition to displaying a group of welding robots. More than 300 manufacturers, distributors, and 700 brands from 35 countries from across the world are displaying products and solutions ranging from the requirements of the smallest of the fabrication works to everything that a large project would require. Every international brand worth its name is available at the stalls that are spread across nearly 20,000 sq m. Also participating in the exhibition are the US-based Haas Automation, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of CNC machine tools, and Ebflow, a UK-based company specialising in the manufacture of equipment for the oil and gas sectors, including flotation tanks, floating tubes, undersea building structures, cooling towers, in addition to the shipbuilding equipment industry. TradeArabia News Service Former DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson has advised Conor Murphy - who currently holds Stormont's purse strings - to stop complaining that the Government's financial package to the new Executive falls short of what was expected. "All the parties drew up this enormous wish-list without securing the money to deliver it," Mr Wilson told the Belfast Telegraph on Tuesday night. "Conor Murphy is facing an uphill job but there's no point in him moaning about it. "The parties don't have any leverage any more. "The Secretary of State knows that they aren't going to walk out of the Executive." Read More Mr Wilson said that the new Sinn Fein Finance Minister must be honest. "He should just admit that the Executive is on a tight budget. There is no point in gurning every day about how the government did the dirt on us," he said. "He needs to ask each of the parties to identify their big priority. "If he doesn't do that, there will be tit-for-tat opposition around the Executive table to every spending decision he makes. They will be at loggerheads forever." The DUP MP said that the Barnett consequentials - the formula for distributing money to the devolved regions - may have made it initially appear that New Decade, New Approach meant much more money than it did. "The parties now need to make the best of it," Mr Wilson said. "In 2007, the DUP went back into the Executive with Sinn Fein (after the St Andrews Agreement) in what wasn't a hugely popular move. One of our conditions was that there should be a massive financial package. "That money didn't last long as it was hit by the recession. "Government cutbacks wiped it out." Mr Wilson said that "complaining about the financial package" was the wrong approach. "There is room to cap waste by departments. Conor Murphy has good officials in the Finance Department. "I found that if you go to the government with a genuine case, you can get money," the East Antrim MP said. "It could be argued, for example, that Northern Ireland should get something in return for the third Heathrow runway. "A business case can also be made to the Treasury that to enable long-term savings, a bit more money needs to be spent now to reform public services." Meanwhile another former DUP Finance Minister, Simon Hamilton - who is now chief executive of the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce - said it was vital that the return of devolution was supported by a generous financial package from the government. He said: "We are all well aware of the scale of challenge that the new Executive faces. "Belfast Chamber believes that it is important that the return of devolution is underpinned by a financial package that permits the delivery of important infrastructure and enables essential reform of our public services." Mr Hamilton continued: "In Belfast Chamber's Belfast Manifesto we set our '7 Priorities for a Better Belfast'. "This included the need to upgrade the city's water and sewerage system and the construction of the York Street Interchange. "The inclusion of these and other vital projects in the deal that restored devolution is welcome and Belfast Chamber hopes that the funds will now be made available to realise them as soon as possible so that we can create more jobs, attract more investment and grow our economy". Egypt's top prosecutor Hamada El-Sawy has ordered the formation of a new investigative team to solve the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured and killed in Cairo in 2016. The new team will "take all the necessary investigative measures to uncover the truth with complete neutrality and independence," according to a statement issued by the prosecutor-general on Wednesday. The decision comes after two days of meetings between Egyptian prosecutors and their Italian counterparts, which concluded on Wednesday. Regeni, a 28-year-old student who was doing postgraduate research on the Egyptian labour movement, disappeared on 25 January 2016, the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution. He was found dead 10 days later in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo. Egyptian investigators said his body bore signs of torture. El-Sawy stressed that the prosecution authorities of both countries are cooperating to uncover the truth behind the killing with "complete objectivity and transparency, away from false information reported by the media about the case." Egyptian and Italian authorities have been holding regular meetings in Cairo and Rome to discuss the investigation into the murder. Egyptian officials have repeatedly dismissed reports that security officials were involved in Regenis killing. Search Keywords: Short link: Members of Katy City Council questioned representatives of a proposed cell tower in north Katy about the height of the tower as well as about the site-selection process and whether they had exhausted all possibilities before selecting land owned by Katy Independent School District between Hutsell Elementary and Katy Junior High and zoned residential. Ward A Councilwoman Janet Corte said, Id like to know if you have looked at other locations. Im not comfortable that you truly exhausted all possibilities as far as looking for another location. Councilman at large Chris Harris questioned representatives of the applicant, Ecosite II LLC on behalf of T-Mobile West LLC, about the possibility of lowering the 180-foot tower by 40 feet. Council, minus Ward A Councilman Frank Carroll III, unanimously voted to continue the public hearing on a special-use permit until its first meeting in February, or Feb. 10, to give the applicant time to provide members with additional information after legal counsel for the applicant Bebb Francis, a San Antonio attorney, said he had a scheduling conflict and couldnt appear at the next meeting in January. Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox During the Jan. 13 public hearing, the speakers were Craig Donaldson, radio frequency manager for T-Mobile; Dave Petrakovitz, a real estate agent who spoke on the behalf of the applicant, and Mark Tiedt, Katy ISD executive director of maintenance and operations. The Katy City Council is the third government board theyve addressed. They began in November before the Katy Board of Adjustment which approved three variances for the project at 5364 Franz Road. At its Dec. 17 meeting, the City Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the special-use permit to City Council. Commissioner Sam Pearson voted against the permit citing concerns about the company earning profits from public property and safety. Tiedt told Katy City Council that Katy ISD trustees accepted his recommendation at their November school board meeting to approve a lease agreement with Eco-Site II, LLC for a cell tower site to be located on the site of the Support Services Complex, contingent upon it being approved for a permit. He said the lease called for the district to receive $2,000 a month from T-Mobile. Revenue could increase as the proposed tower as the capacity to accommodate three other carriers in addition to T-Mobile, who then also would pay the district. The school district has 11 other towers. Francis underlined the need for increased wireless services pointing out that the city since 2018 has grown by 35 percent. He noted both the citys and school districts addition of programs and apps that depend upon wireless service to connect the community with information about upcoming events and emergencies and to connect parents with the school district in terms of services and programs. Prime Property: Get Houston real estate news sent directly to your inbox The proposed tower site is a 60-by-30 foot compound tucked in behind existing building with access controlled by an automatic gate, he told council. A nearby dock has a surveillance camera and an eight-foot fence surrounds the proposed tower site, he added. Harris said he wasnt ready to vote yes and asked project developers to rework their plans to include a lower tower at 140 feet or the same height as a water tower. He also asked about tree-shaped towers and said he had seen photos of some that dont look bad. Francis said there arent too many 180-foot pine trees and said they dont look real. But he added they could accommodate any requests council had. Donaldson displayed maps show an area within which the signal strength fell short and which would be remedied by construction of the proposed tower. He said a shorter tower would reduce the distance reached by the signal. Donaldson said they wanted to locate the tower as close as possible to mobile phone users to provide the best service possible. Councilman Duran Dowdle asked if the tower would only service T-Mobile and about other towers in the area and whether they couldnt be used by T-Mobile to close the reported communications gap. He was told three other carriers could use the tower and existing towers lacked space for T-Mobile to use. Dowdle inquired about the other three carriers, but no information is available at this time. Dowdle also noted that quite a bit of the area involved is just open property and parkland. Because the property is being used by a business, does the property status change from nonprofit he asked the attorney, who said no. Corte asked about the range of service for the tower and learned it was about mile radius. She asked about placement of a tower at the nearby Legacy Stadium and then asked whether a tower couldnt be placed at Katy Junior High similar to the placement at Cardiff Junior High. Donaldson said relocating the tower means it wouldnt service the area which now experiences a service gap. She asked if the tower primarily would service Katy ISD property and asked how many T-Mobile customers existed in that area. Donaldson didnt have a figure on number of customers. He said customers are using their devices more which increases demand for service. She asked if Katy ISD reach out to T-Mobile. Tiedt said T-Mobile reached out to the school district. karen.zurawski@chron.com A local farmer has once again called on Louth dog owners to control their pets after a flock of his sheep were attacked by a rogue dog this afternoon in Bellurgan. Louth IFA rural development chairman Matthew McGreehan said the dog, a black labrador cross, attacked his sheep just after 1pm today: "One of my sheep is missing and two of the other sheep (pictured above hiding from the dog) are traumatized. Dog control in rural areas is a serious issue. "I lost 13 sheep after a dog attack in November. And a farmer in Togher had a dog attacking his flock (of 40-50 sheep) over Christmas. "The message still isn't getting across." In the IFA's Submission to the Department of Rural and Community Development on the Review of Measures relating to the Control of Dogs in Ireland the IFA outlined: "The IFA is proposing that there should be one single central Government database for microchipping and recording all dogs, similar to the AIMs system in the DAFM for bovines. "This would cover initial registration, microchipping, movement, and sales. In addition, there needs to be a direct link between the dog-license and microchipping, with control on the single database in one Government Department. "This approach, with strong implementation, would increase dog-licenses and the level of microchipping, which in turn would provide much needed additional funding for a more effective dog warden service. "IFA is of the view that both microchipping and licence should be directly linked to the owners PPS number and Eircode on the database. A disc should be issued to dog owners in receipt of payment of the licence. "This disc should be attached to the collar of the dogs and displayed to show its licence. IFA is proposing that as part of the campaign to encourage and incentivize microchipping and licencing, consideration should be given to the concept of an insurance/compensation fund which would cover dog owners in the event of their dog inflicting damage on people and/or livestock." There's renewed hope for the redevelopment of Casement Park today. Northern Ireland Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey says the building of a new stadium is a key priority of the new Stormont Executive. Plans for a 34,000-capacity stadium were originally submitted in early 2017 but were held up due to a lack of a sitting government in Stormont. The stadium has been lying idle since 2013. Tom Daly, chairman of the Casement Project Board, said: Ulster GAA, the Casement Park Project Board and our members throughout Ulster warmly welcome the commitment provided within New Decade New Approach to see the completion of the Regional Stadia Programme and the GAAs new provincial stadium in West Belfast. It is a reflection of their commitment to the project and to the sporting and economic benefits that a new Casement Park will provide that the Minister for Communities Deirdre Hargey and the Minister of Finance Conor Murphy visited the site within their first few days in office. We will continue to work closely with the Department for Infrastructure to conclude the planning assessment, as we look forward to delivering an iconic stadium for Gaels throughout Ulster. Independent Alliance junior minister and Waterford TD John Halligan has confirmed he will not contest the General Election and retire from national politics. His alliance colleague Shane Ross let the cat out the bag on Tuesday by saying he was saddened by Mr Halligan's decision to stand down, only for a spokeswoman to say he misspoke. But the popular Waterford TD has now confirmed the news which had been widely expected. Mr Halligan in a statement on Wednesday morning, said that after much consideration, I have decided that I will not be contesting the upcoming General Election and will subsequently retire from political life. Having given over 30 years of my life to politics, I now feel the time is right to start a new chapter and devote more time to my family - my wife, children and grandchildren - all of whom have been an unfailing support to me, he said. He said it has truly been a profound honour to represent the people of Waterford at both local and national level throughout my career. I have served every single day in public office fighting for what I believed was right and working with determination on behalf of my constituents, he added. As a Minister of State it has been my privilege to work alongside Irelands leading scientists and researchers and to promote our educational institutions and businesses on the world stage. I am deeply indebted to my loyal campaign team, who have assisted me in so many ways over the years. I also want to pay tribute to my staff, who went above and beyond in their daily commitment so to assist every single person who came to my office in need of help or support, he added. Most of all I want to humbly thank the people of Waterford who have put their faith in me for these past three decades. "Together we have experienced many highs and lows down through the years. We have endured trying times as a city and county but have held fast in the spirit of community and emerged stronger for it. It is heartening for me to step aside at a time of regeneration, growth and renewed optimism in Waterford, he said. First elected to Waterford City Council in 1999, he was first elected to the Dail as an Independent in 2011. A founding member of the Independent Alliance, he played a fundamental role in the Government formation talks after the 2016 General Election. He was subsequently appointed junior minister for Skills and Learning. He courted headlines when he suggested that he and other Alliance members could travel to North Korea as possible mediators. In November 2017, the Workplace Relations Commission found that he had violated equality legislation by asking a candidate "Do you have children? How old are your children? during a job interview; the WRC ordered the minister's department to pay 7,500 to the candidate. Earlier: John Halligan will not contest General Election Independent TD for Waterford John Halligan has confirmed that he will not contest the next election. The Junior Minister had been a partner in government as part of the Independent Alliance. The decision to retire marks the end to a 30-year political career. After failing to win a Dail seat as a member of the Workers' Party in 2004 and 2007, Mr Halligan was elected as an Independent in both 2011 and 2016 getting over 8,000 first preference votes at the last General Election. "Having given over 30 years of my life to politics, I now feel the time is right to start a new chapter and devote more time to my family - my wife, children and grandchildren - all of whom have been an unfailing support to me," the former Mayor of Waterford said in a statement. Speculation about the Waterford TD's future grew after Shane Ross said he was " Read More: Meanwhile, the campaign for those who are running in General Election 2020 is underway with parties setting out their stalls. Fine Gael are in Monaghan while Fianna Fail are in Dublin for the first full day of campaigning. The 32nd Dail was dissolved yesterday, with the Taoiseach announcing that polling day is February 8. The election coincides with a number of sporting events, including Ireland's Six Nations match against Wales. TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- European Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX-V:ERE.UN, ERES) is pleased to announce that the trustees of ERES have declared the January 2020 monthly cash distribution of 0.00875 per Unit and Class B LP Unit (the January Distribution), being equivalent to 0.105 per Unit annualized. The distribution will be payable to holders of the Units and Class B LP Units (the Unitholders) of record on January 31, 2020, with payment on February 18, 2020. The Euro-denominated distribution will be paid in Canadian dollars based on the exchange rate on the date of payment (estimated C$0.01270 per Unit and Class B LP Unit). Registered Unitholders will be provided with an option to elect to receive such distribution in Euros rather than Canadian dollars. If no such election is made, registered Unitholders will be paid the distribution in Canadian dollars based on the above exchange rate mechanism. Beneficial Unitholders will not have an option to elect to receive the distribution in Euros. The final cash distribution in respect of December 2019 was C$0.01270 per Unit and Class B LP Unit. To encourage participation and reward our loyal Unitholders, investors registered in our Distribution Reinvestment Plan will continue to receive an additional amount equal to 5% of their distributions paid in the form of additional Units. ERES intends to continue to make regular monthly distributions, subject to the discretion of the ERES board of trustees. ERES continues to target an AFFO payout ratio in the range of 80% to 90%. ERES Limited Partnership will make corresponding cash distributions to holders of Class B LP Units. About ERES ERES is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust. ERESs Units are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ERE.UN. ERES is Canadas only European-focused multi-residential REIT, with a current initial focus on investing in high-quality multi-residential real estate properties in the Netherlands. ERES owns a portfolio of 131 multi-residential properties, comprised of 5,632 suites and ancillary retail space located in the Netherlands, and owns two office properties in Germany and one office property in Belgium. ERESs registered and principal business office is located at 11 Church Street, Suite 401, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1W1. For more information, please visit our website at www.eresreit.com. For further information ERES ERES Mr. Phillip Burns Mr. Scott Cryer Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer 416.354.0167 416.861.5771 p.burns@eresreit.com s.cryer@eresreit.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Observing that sexual assault is a "common experience" for women who use public transport, a Mumbai court on Wednesday awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment to a man for molesting a former Bollywood actor on board a domestic flight in December 2017. Vikas Sachdev (41) was convicted under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) by a special court for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases. After the verdict, Sachdev was granted bail. Judge A D Deo observedin her order that the case was about a "most common experience of sexual assault" that women face while using public transport. But women ignore it thinking that there is no likelihood of coming across the assailant after the journey, and therefore such incidents go unreported, she said. The present case would "demonstrate that elite mode of the transport is not an exception", the judge said, referring to the fact that the actor was travelling in the business class. The judge also dismissed Sachdev's defence that the victim was suffering "hallucination". The victim was cross-examined at length but her testimony that Sachdev touched her with his foot while sitting behind her on the flight remained "unscathed", the court said. The incident took place when the victim, then 17 years old, was travelling by an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai. She narrated it through a video post on Instagram. "So, I was in a flight travelling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miserable. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it...," she said. "The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck," she said in the video. The victim had announced her "disassociation" from the field of acting last year. Meanwhile, after the verdict was delivered, Sachdev was granted bail and his sentence was suspended so as to enable him to file appeal. "We will be filing appeal in the High Court immediately. We have a very good caseas she didn't identify the accused during the trial and didn't turn up before the court when recalled," his lawyer Adnan Sheikh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Video Shows Two Iranian Missiles Hit Ukrainian Plane By RFE/RL's Radio Farda January 14, 2020 New security camera footage posted online shows two Iranian missiles struck a Ukrainian passenger airliner after takeoff from Tehran on January 8. The new video, which was verified by The New York Times, emerged on January 14 amid continued protests in Iran as President Hassan Rohani called for a special court to be set up to investigate the downing of the plane by the country's air defenses that killed all 176 people on board. Also on January 14, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced the first arrests made over the air disaster, without naming them or specifying how many. The New York Times said that the missiles were launched from an Iranian military facility some 13 kilometers away from the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737-800. The footage shows that neither projectile immediately took down the plane which catches fire and is circling back toward Tehran airport, it said. The video was originally uploaded on YouTube by an Iranian user. "Extensive investigations have been carried out and some people have been arrested," Esmaili said. He added that around 30 people had been arrested in the protests over the air disaster as thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tehran and several other cities to vent their anger with the clerical establishment over the incident. Meanwhile, new videos circulating on social media purported to show fresh protests on January 14 in the evening at universities in Tehran, along with clashes between students and Basij militia loyal to the establishment. Rohani said earlier that all those responsible for the "unforgivable error" must be "punished." Daily protests have been held in Iranian cities since January 11, after the country's military said UIA Flight PS752 was shot down "unintentionally" by an antiaircraft missile shortly after it took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport three days earlier. Most of those killed in the disaster were Iranian and Canadian nationals. The crash occurred with Iran's air-defense forces on high alert following an Iranian ballistic-missile attack a few hours earlier against U.S. forces in Iraq. "The judiciary should form a special court with a ranking judge and dozens of experts," Rohani said in his speech, adding that the Iranian armed forces' admission in the incident was "a good first step." "For our people it is very important in this incident that whoever was at fault or negligent at any level" faces justice, he said. Authorities in Tehran denied using live ammunition on demonstrators, after videos posted online purported to show police and security forces opening fire and using tear gas to disperse protesters near Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square on the night of January 12. Reuters said videos showed blood on the ground and images of people who appeared to be security personnel in the vicinity of protests carrying rifles. Other posts showed police in riot gear hitting protesters with batons on the street, the agency said. The U.S. State Department has warned Iranian authorities that Washington was not going to "tolerate" violence against the protesters. "We want the regime to know that the United States is watching, that the world is watching, and that we are going to shine a very, very big light on any abuse by the regime to their own people," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told RFE/RL on January 13. The Ukrainian airliner was carrying 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 10 Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons. Iran has invited Canada and Ukraine to take part in the investigation into the plane disaster. A team of Canadian experts visited the site on January 14 where the Boeing 737 crashed, Iran's ISNA news agency reported. Earlier in the day, Iranian state TV reported in an online post that aviation officials from Iran, Ukraine, and Canada held a meeting in Tehran on January 14 over the investigation of the crash. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was glad Tehran had identified the downing of the plane as an "appalling mistake" and added that it was important the bodies of the British victims are now repatriated. Asked whether Iran should face consequences, Johnson told the BBC, "They're clearly guilty of an appalling error, I don't think we are currently envisaging any further escalation of the tensions." Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said on January 11 that his unit accepts "full responsibility" for the tragedy. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his "deep sympathy" to the families of the 176 victims and called on the armed forces to "pursue probable shortcomings and guilt in the painful incident." With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and the BBC Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-rohani -wants-special-court-to-probe- ukrainian-plane-downing/30376150.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Monster truck driver Adam Anderson was in San Antonio when he attempted to jump a school bus for the first time. It didnt go well. Ill never forget it because I crashed, he said. When you have an obstacle such as a school bus, they change after every truck goes. They said you better not do it, but I said I think I know a way to do it. I definitely did not do it the correct way, and we were there until 7 oclock the next morning repairing the truck. Awesome is how Anderson, who was driving the Taz monster truck at the time, describes the incident now. Another San Antonio memory: He debuted a retro version of Grave Digger, a blue-and-silver Ford panel truck, at an Alamo City Monster Jam. Since 2016, though, the five-time Monster Jam grand champion has been driving the ghoulish green and purple Grave Digger, the iconic truck his father, Dennis Anderson, created in 1982, three years before he was born. It will be his first time driving Grave Digger in San Antonio when Monster Jam returns to the Alamodome this weekend. Monster Jam When: 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday Where: Alamodome, 100 Montana St. Tickets: $15-$96 at alamodome.com and ticketmaster.com Things to know Pit party: Pre-show pit parties 2:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday give fans a chance to get an up-close look at the monster trucks and meet the drivers for autographs or photos. Pit passes are $15 at tickemaster.com and must be accompanied by a Monter Jam ticket. Park and ride: VIA will offer park-and-ride service to the Alamodome starting at 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday from the Crossroads Park & Ride, 151 Crossroad Blvd. The cost is $2.50 each way. See More Collapse Fourteen trucks, including Black Stallion, Dragon, El Toro Loco and Stone Crusher, will take part in the high-volume, high-flying monster truck competition. Drivers compete head-to-head, against the clock and for judges the fans in the stands in events such as two-wheel skills, donuts and freestyle. Thats when things can get wild. A YouTube video from a Monster Jam last year in Lexington, Kentucky, shows Grave Digger teetering perilously on its front wheels after a jump during a freestyl run. Anderson does a sort of reverse wheelie to get the truck back on four wheels before it tips over it looks like a Transformer doing the moonwalk. Its controlled chaos, Anderson said. Its a feat to balance a 12,000-pound truck or to save it from a crash or to do a back flip. It does take a lot of focus, a lot of control. Because of the technology thats in these trucks now, its just taken it to the next level. Its not as easy as driving a passenger car down the road I definitely dont have air conditioning in there. But the tools that I have to work with are the best tools within the sport of Monster Jam. Monster trucks are more than 10 feet tall and about 17 feet long. The tires are more than five feet in diameter. The drivers sit in what is basically a steel cage attached to the truck frame. The colorful truck bodies modeled on familiar vehicles such as a Ford F-150 pickup or a classic 50s Chevy Bel Air are made of fiberglass. Driving one is very exciting, Anderson said, but when Im in there, man, I feel like Im a machine, and I have to make that truck go for as long as it can for as wild as it can for the people. Though he grew up around Monster Jam, Anderson said he didnt know for sure he was going to follow in his fathers giant tire treads until he experienced competition firsthand. Honestly, it took me driving the truck in front of a crowd of people to realize this is what I was going to do, he said. To get that adrenaline rush and also to see it was almost win or lose, people were excited for you, sad for you, just the emotion that people gave you. It was an unbelievable feeling and still is to this day. Though Grave Digger, with its horror movie paint scheme and blood-red headlights, is the star of the show, Anderson said he is occasionally recognized by superfans in the cities where Monster Jam stops. I appreciate everything they do for us, he said. If they happen to spy us sitting in a restaurant, I dont mind one bit if they come up and ask for a picture. When Monster Jam was in the beginning, we were there, my family was there, and started what Monster Jam is today. So we came from nothing and were very appreciative of where we are today. Jim Kiest is the arts and entertainment editor for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jkiest@express-news.net | Twitter: @jimik64 Photo: Jeff Turner/Flickr Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Sacramento. Students at a Sacramento high school raised money for a class gift. Then it went missing. Students at C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento raised money for a senior gift in 2017, only to have the account depleted two years later then replaced after teachers realized the money was missing. Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee. RV pulling 2nd RV leads officers on slow-speed chase in Sacramento County The driver of an RV, which was pulling another RV, led officers on a slow-speed chase Tuesday morning in Sacramento County. Read the full story on KCRA. Microtransit going macro as it expands in Sacramento area Less than two years after launching a limited pilot program, the Sacramento Regional Transit District is expanding its on-demand microtransit service to six new areas throughout the Sacramento region. Read the full story on KCRA. Sacred Sacramento Torah scroll returned A sacred Sacramento Torah scroll that was confiscated in Israel and held by police has been returned. Read the full story on KCRA. Sacramento declares shelter crisis following concerns over tiny home evictions Even Mayor Darrell Steinberg seemed confused: Why were residents of the tiny home housing project being told they could no longer stay? Read the full story on ABC Sacramento, KXTV. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Next week, well remember the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr, who died 52 years ago this year. Its also, of course, a time to reflect on the state of race relations within the church. One of those efforts has been the OneRace Movement, a group that has brought more than 500 Atlanta-area pastors of all ethnic and racial backgrounds together in the name of reconciliation and revival. In 2018, the movement hosted a worship service at Stone Mountain, the largest tourist attraction in the state of Georgiaand also where confederate heroes Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson are etched in granite. Why host an event meant to promote strengthening race relations at such a polemic site? It's a place with a dark history, but also present cultural significance, said Hazen Stephens, the co-director of OneRace. ...Biblically, whenever reformers would come in, the first thing that they would do is they would go to the high place and they would remove the Asherah poles and they would take down the idols. And we felt like what we were doing at Stone Mountain as we were calling church leaders to go to a place where spiritually, an idol was erected over a 100 years ago, and to tear down that idol and say, this is not what our city stands for anymore. Learning this type of history is part of OneRaces model: Know the story. Own the story. Change the story. This knowledge is crucial for white Christians trying to gain credibility from Christians of color when they enter into these conversations, says co-director Josh Clemons. If I were going to say something to the white church, I would say get invested in the story. It's time to listen, he said. ... 1 Burmese employees operate equipment in a production line of Letpadaung copper mine. (Photo by Sun Guangyong/Peoples Daily) Letpadaung copper mine project in Monywa, Sagaing Region of Myanmar, as one of the demonstration projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has brought tangible benefits to Sagaing Region. Operated by Chinas Wanbao Mining Ltd. and with a predicted production life of around 30 years, the Letpadaung copper mine is so far one of the largest copper hydrometallurgy projects in Asia. Attaching high importance to its social responsibility, the Chinese company has endeavored to carry out community assistance and development programmes in the locality of the copper mine, creating an economic ecosphere featuring organic integration with the Letpadaung copper mine as the core. The Letpadaung copper mine has realized win-win results for five parties, including Chinese companies and their Myanmar cooperative partners, as well as the government of Myanmar, adjacent communities of the project, and employees in the copper mine, who have gained long-term and stable revenues and earnings from the project, said U Tin Aye, former chairman of Myanmars Union Election Commission (UEC). The project is of profound significance for Myanmars national economic development, and the improvement of peoples living standards, U Tin Aye told Peoples Daily. Various equipment used in the Letpadaung copper mine is purchased from around the globe, and the technological level and the mines capacity for processing and management are all among the best in the world. In addition, the amount of taxes paid by the project is also among the highest in foreign-funded enterprises in Myanmar. The Letpadaung copper mine has realized high-quality development through promoting improvement in quality and efficiency. In 2018, the mines output of cathode copper had exceeded 100,000 tonnes for the first time since it was put into operation, and the cathode copper yield of the mine reached 120,000 tonnes in 2019. The technology applied by the Letpadaung copper mine is recognized as the most environmentally friendly technology of copper hydrometallurgy in the world. The project has gained environment control qualifications from international certification authorities for all relevant processes. It can stand any test, said an executive of the mine. The quality of products produced in the Letpadaung copper mine has gained recognition from more and more countries as their understanding of the project increases with each passing day, stressed the executive. In the mine lot, waste rocks are piled up neatly, and every slope is covered with trees, shrubs, and grass, which makes the slopes look like terraced fields if seen from a distance. In order to maintain a good natural environment in the area, the Letpadaung copper mine project has carried out continued efforts to monitor such aspects in the project area and its surrounding communities as surface water, underground water, air, noise, and soil. New monitoring points are constantly added to the project with the improvement in the production facilities of the project. According to executives of the project, the Letpadaung copper mine has invited international authoritative agencies in environmental assessment to formulate plans for environmental management and monitoring and reports on the environmental and social influence of the project. A technician works in the master-control room of Letpadaung copper mine. (Photo by Sun Guangyong/Peoples Daily) The project has applied high international standards on environmental protection and strict environmental protection measures, endeavoring to reduce its impact on the environment, disclosed relevant executives of the project. Wanbao Mining Ltd. pays high attention to sustainable development. It has adhered to the principle of exploitation while reclamation, endeavoring to build a green mine. So far the company has reclaimed a total of 360,000 square meters of land, and the first batch of shrubs planted in the area have reached the height of a man, an executive at the mine lot told Peoples Daily. At present, the number of Burmese employees in the project has exceeded 3,500, accounting for 90 percent of the total staff members in the project. The project has provided training in various professional skills for more than 8,000 people. According to a Burmese assistant engineer in the project, his salary is far higher than the average pay level of the locality. My family is now building a new house, which costs about $40,000. All the money is from my salary. My friends all envy my opportunity to work in the Letpadaung copper mine. And the fellow students in my old school have asked me when the mine will start new recruitment and how can they be prepared for the jobs, said the assistant engineer. In the evening, a room in the project area is usually brightly lit, with all the tables filled with employees learning Chinese. Meanwhile, a vocational school in the area, which covers an area of about 40,000 square meters, is gradually taking shape. Wanbao Mining Ltd. plans to open an international vocational school to offer continued, professional, and systematic training in vocational skills for employees, so as to promote the development of vocational education in the locality of the project and provide intellectual and technological support for the economic and social development of the surrounding areas of the project. Besides promoting economic development of Myanmar, the copper mine has also brought significant benefits to the local people of Myanmar since its completion. Under the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, Wanbao Mining Ltd. has helped more than 30 villages near the mine embark on a path to prosperity. In an effort to improve the living conditions of the people living in areas adjacent to the project, the Chinese company and its cooperative partners have established a specialized fund for the social development of the neighboring communities. By the end of 2019, the project has accumulatively invested about $8 million in multiple fields, including repairing roads, supply of water, supply of electricity, education, medical care and health, significantly improving the infrastructure and peoples living standards for the local communities. A mother with an eye for design has transformed her rented home - saying she is lucky enough to have a landlord who lets her do 'whatever she wants'. Tricia Montgomery, 44, said when she moved in to the Sydney home five years ago, the property was in desperate need of some tender love and care. When she realised she would be living there for the long haul, Tricia spoke to her landlord. 'I asked if we could paint and change a few things and the landlord said he was more than happy to let us loose to do what we wanted,' Tricia told FEMAIL. Several years later, the home is a stunning monochrome space - complete with new carpets, paint and modern interiors. A mother has transformed her basic rental property - saying she is lucky enough to have a landlord who lets her do 'whatever she wants' with the Sydney-based home (pictured after) Mum-of-one Tricia Montgomery, 44, said when she moved in to the home five years ago, the property was 'in desperate need' of some tender love and care (pictured before) Slide me When she realised she would be living there for the long haul, Tricia spoke to her landlord and asked if she could paint and change a few things (pictured before and after) So how did Tricia transform the property? First of all, she explained she spoke to her landlord. 'He has helped to cover some costs, like the new carpet and things, but we have paid the rest as it's our home for now so we might as well make it a happy place,' she said. The 44-year-old said all the work has been carried out 'on a budget', and within that $6,000 budget, they have laid vinyl flooring, replaced all of the blinds and light fittings, and added a new kitchen bench and sink stove. There have also been numerous decorative changes that have been made. Several years later, the home is a stunning monochrome space - complete with new carpets, paint and modern interiors (bathroom pictured after) Tricia said before she started, she spoke to her landlord and asked how much he would cover and how much he would allow her to change it (bedroom pictured after) The 44-year-old said all the work has been carried out 'on a budget', and within that $6,000 budget, they have laid vinyl flooring, replaced all of the blinds and light fittings, and added a new kitchen bench and sink stove (pictured before and after) Tricia (pictured) said she knew the rental was going to be long-term so she wanted to do it 'Before, there used to be a green sink, a green faded bench and green trim yellow walls,' Tricia said. 'This is a LONG term rental so I thought if I have to live in it it might as well be semi nice!' Today, the Montgomery home is a modern property filled with industrial-style fittings and stylish-looking extras. While everything looks expensive, Tricia said she got many of the home items from the likes of Kmart, Target and TK Maxx. She also did not stray over her $6,000 budget, proving you don't need tens of thousands to transform a home. Today, the Montgomery home is a modern property filled with industrial-style fittings and stylish-looking extras (pictured) 'This is a LONG term rental so I thought if I have to live in it it might as well be semi nice!' Tricia said (bathroom pictured after) Speaking about her tips for renters, Tricia said the first thing you need to do is get your landlord on board. 'Ease your landlord into the makeover by making little subtle changes at first,' she said. 'Then, as he sees the improvements, hit him with your next lot of ideas and projects. Ours is the bathroom.' The 44-year-old said you don't always have to spend lots of money to make things look good, too. Stores such as Kmart stock plenty of on-trend cheap items. Speaking about her tips for renters, Tricia said the first thing you need to do is get your landlord on board (main area pictured after) When Tricia shared her home online, others were quick to say it looks 'divine' and she should be an interior designer (bedroom pictured after) When Tricia shared her home online, others were quick to say it looks 'divine'. 'Wow, you're so clever well done. You should look at styling homes for a job, you've done a great job!' one person posted. 'You're so fortunate to have such a great relationship with your landlord. If it were mine I'd be more than happy to let you loose on it, you've done a great job,' another added. A new year, a new decade for the Canadian economy. But what is Canadas advantage for the 2020s? Were not going to undercut the global heavyweights on taxes or labour costs. To win this race, we have to place strategic bets on a few important horses. Fortunately, were already running ahead in a lane with critical global significance: clean tech. I dont know of any other country doing a volume of smarter, more innovative work in this space. But if Canadian innovators have the tech, why arent they already leading this race? Why are commercialization and scale such chronic problems for our startups? Heres one big reason: Their home market isnt adopting enough of their transformative solutions. The problem isnt supply, its demand. Demand from consumers in some cases, but also demand from Canadian business leaders, who have the capital but simply arent as supportive of homegrown technology solutions as they are in other countries. For years, economists, analysts and journalists fretted over Canadas competitiveness problem. They cite the same old causes (history, culture) and offer the same old policy solutions (lower taxes, less regulation). But the issue persists. While taxes and regulatory policies are important, theyre too often an excuse to drive dividends and stock buybacks and line investors pockets. For greater effect, they should be designed to incentivize adoption of transformative technologies especially technologies that Canada can leverage to compete on the global stage. Like clean tech. We often talk about commercialization like its a nut for startups to crack before profiting. But lack of adoption also hurts the big companies, because theyre missing out on competitive advantage. This isnt charity its fiduciary duty. Our competitors understand whats at stake. Look at how Germany, South Korea and the United States support their homegrown companies. Look at China, which is speed-running the adoption race at giant scale. Alibaba has 550 million shoppers. Didi, which bought out Ubers China operation, has 20 million drivers in 400 cities. Thats what all in innovation adoption looks like. Back to clean tech. One important lane for Canada is energy storage. Our country sells surplus energy too cheaply and buys peak energy too dearly. Our inability to use renewables efficiently has kept us pumping out carbon too long. We need energy storage solutions. Fortunately, we have companies like Hydrostor, which pumps compressed air into underwater balloons at off-peak times, then releases it to run generators when the grid needs power. They did a much-publicized pilot off the Toronto Islands, but had to go to Australia to see the technology adopted at scale. That project in a flooded mine will seek electricity directly into Australias national grid. Here in Canada, it took fellow innovation NRSTOR to partner with them to launch a commercial scale rollout in Goderich, Ontario. And China? Its in the middle of a five-year plan to invest almost $500 billion in renewables. Are we waiting for the next wave of commercially viable energy storage companies to happen there? That could work out. Or we could get another Huawei. Why not buy the solutions being developed at home? The big tech story of 2019 was venture capital froth. But the investments that really matter to most companies are when people and businesses buy their products. In the decade ahead, Canadian businesses need to keep their eye on the products emerging in their own back yard. Competitive advantage means spending on transformational tech before someone else does. If a Canadian companys not in a position to do it today, it can help by championing smart policy that will make it easier to do so. For instance, innovation-friendly policies like flow-through shares, which spurred investment in Canadas resource sector decades ago. What resources were to the old economy, innovation is to the new one. Picking lanes, strategic bets, adopting transformative homegrown technologies for competitive advantage thats Canadas advantage for the 2020s. Novelty royal merchandise featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is still on sale around Windsor, but retailers have dropped prices on items featuring the Sussex's after their announcement that they will be taking a step back from royal duties. The area around Windsor Castle is extremely popular for tourists and gift shops adjacent to the castle are often packed with people trying to take home their own little piece of royalty from their visit. But one store seemed to have fully gotten on board with the couple's decision to leave the UK to spend more time in Canada and was offering cut price memorabilia at their outlet. Items that were reduced in price included tins of tea bags which had a photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stood outside Kensington Palace, after their engagement announcement. Items that features Prince Harry and Meghan are seen on the middle shelf among generic London items such as the red telephone box Merchandise featuring Duke and Duchess of Sussex on sale in Windsor after the couple recently announced they will be taking a step back from their Royal roles and are planning on splitting their time between the United Kingdom and Canada Tea tins that were on sale included ones with pictures of Meghan and Harry during their wedding day (left) as well as the Queen waving (right) A token of our love? These stamps were also reduced from 30 to 25 at the store in Windsor The tins had been put on offer at a special price of two tins for 8 or 4.99 each. Others tins which included a special Royal Wedding caddie, which had a picture of Meghan and Harry kissing on the front, were also on sale, along with tins of the Queen waving. These more deluxe tins had been marked with special price stickers of two for 15 or 7.99 each. In one store, the Royal items had been placed in the middle of a shelf of other generic London items which featured iconic tokens such as the red telephone box and a London bus. Magnets at one store in Windsor were still on sale which included Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day In many cases, items that included Prince Harry and his wife Meghan (left) were placed next to items featuring the Queen (right) Joke party masks were also on sale at the store, helping royal fans become their favourite member of the family In the fiscal year of 2018/19, Windsor Castle and Frogmore Cottage were the most popular of all Royal Estate collections and received over 1.65 million visitors. This was followed by admissions to Buckingham Palace during its summer opening. In total over three million people paid admissions fees to the royal estates over that time period. This afternoon Prince Harry broke cover for the first time since the Sandringham summit, as he took to social media to announce the Invictus Games. Wish you were here? Post cards featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were also on sale Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge has been a member of the royal family since her 2011 wedding. However, she had been with Prince William for many years prior to that. After all of that time, it is really not that surprising that Kate has formed close relationships with many members of the royal family. After all, she has spent holiday seasons with them, as well as many other important events and engagements. As a senior royal who is married to the future queen, we know that we will always see Kate front and center whenever she is making an appearance. Over the years, Kates bonds with other royals have become pretty tight. She is extremely close to Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and is actually like the big sister that Prince Harry never had. We know that Kate is absolutely wonderful, and we can only imagine that even those who are further away from the throne adore her as much as everyone else does. One family member, in particular, is said to be extremely close to the Duchess of Cambridge, and it was pretty unknown to many royal fans. Here is the surprising reason why Queen Elizabeth admires Kate. Kate Middletons close relationship with Queen Elizabeth Kate Middleton and Prince William | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Although many people already knew that Kate and the queen got along just fine, most probably didnt know just how tight they actually are. According to Marie Claire, their bond has grown pretty strong in recent years, and they have even been seen making joint appearances. Although the duchess and her majesty have known each other since 2008, it actually took a while for them to become close. So, why is this? Well, it turns out that in the beginning, they just didnt have as much time to spend getting to know each other as they would have liked to. And, they are also both a little shy. Fast forward all of these years later, and the two royal women have had the time that they needed to become as close as they are. They truly enjoy each others company, and Queen Elizabeth is said to love spending time with Kate and talking about everything that is going on in her busy life. How wonderful! Kate Middleton is a future queen In addition to being a wonderful person, Kate is in the unique position of being a future queen consort. We cant imagine the pressure that she is under, and Queen Elizabeth knows better than anyone just how important it is to learn how to do things perfectly. According to Closer, Kate takes her royal duties extremely seriously and knows that she is watched just a little more than other members of the family since she is married to the future ruling monarch. Inquisitr even reports that Prince Williams grandmother keeps a pretty close eye on Kate, going as far as to send her notes when she feels that a particular look isnt fit for a future queen. The reason why Queen Elizabeth admires Kate Middleton So, why is it that the queen absolutely adores Kate? According to Daily Mail, it is mainly due to the dignity that Kate has and how she so wonderfully presents herself in front of members of the public. Kate has done so much work in her years as a member of the royal family, and she never fails to disappoint the queen. She manages to carry herself with such grace and poise, making her a perfect fit for the role of the future queen consort. Queen Elizabeth knows that Kate will work hard and do whatever it takes to be the best queen consort that she has, and it is because of those qualities that she has such admiration for her granddaughter-in-law. CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Calcite Market by Type (GCC, PCC), Application (Paper, Paints & Coatings, Construction, Plastics, Adhesives & Sealants), and Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America) - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Calcite Market size is estimated to be USD 10.1 billion in 2019 and projected to reach USD 13.0 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2019 to 2024. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=50319659 Browse in-depth TOC on "Calcite Market" 105 - Tables 34 - Figures 143 - Pages View Detailed Table of Content here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/calcite-market-50319659.html Increasing demand from the paper and plastics applications for calcite, coupled with easy availability and cost-effectiveness, are expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Ground calcium carbonate type is projected to lead the calcite market during the forecast period The calcite market based on type has been segmented into ground calcium carbonate and precipitated calcium carbonate. In terms of value & volume, ground calcium carbonate accounted for the largest share of the calcite market in 2018 and is also projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Demand is driven by its wide usage as a filler in various applications such as paper and plastics. The paper application is projected to be the major consumer of calcite during the forecast period The global calcite market is segregated based on application into paper, paints & coatings, construction, plastics, adhesives & sealants, and others. In terms of value & volume, the paper application accounted for the largest share of the market in 2018. This growth is attributed to its ability to enhance the printability, whiteness, and brightness & opacity of the paper. The plastics application is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=50319659 Asia Pacific is projected to be the largest consumer of calcite during the forecast period Based on region, the calcite market is segregated into Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, North America, Europe, and South America. Among these, the Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share in 2018 and is also projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to the expansion in calcite manufacturing and high demand from the plastics and paper industries in China, Japan, and India, among others. Moreover, cheap labor, easy availability of raw material, and other factors are expected to fuel the growth of the market in the region during the forecast period. Key players in the Calcite Market, namely, Imerys S.A. (France), Omya AG (Switzerland), Minerals Technologies Inc. (US), Huber Engineered Materials (US), Gulshan Polyols Ltd. (India), and 20 others are considered for the study. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=50319659 Browse Adjacent Markets: Bulk Chemicals and Inorganics Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Calcium Carbonate Market by Type (GCC and PCC), End-Use Industry (Paper, Plastic, Paints & Coatings, Adhesive & Sealants), and Region (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2024 Paper Pigments Market by Type (Calcium Carbonate and Kaolin), Application (Coated Paper and Uncoated Paper), and Region (APAC, North America, Europe, and RoW (Middle East & Africa and South America)) - Global Forecast to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/calcite-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/calcite.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg Alaska Airlines has promoted four staff to key guest experience roles, with a view to creating future growth for the company. Effective immediately, Sangita Woerner has been promoted to senior vice president of marketing and guest experience; Charu Jain has been promoted to a new role as senior vice president of merchandising and innovation; and Vikram Baskaran will succeed Jain as the vice president of information technology services. Additionally, Kyle Levine has been promoted to senior vice president of legal and general counsel. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> Woerners role will broaden her focus on improving the end-to-end guest experience, and to continue growing the Alaska brand and customer loyalty. She joined Alaska in 2015 and led the companys 2016 brand relaunch, the airlines onboard product and service redefinition as it integrated with Virgin America, and creating new uniforms in partnership with front-line teams. During Woerners five years with us, she has built a strong marketing organisation and led Alaskas move to a single brand with the acquisition of Virgin America, including the consolidation of two loyalty programmes and upgrading our onboard product for a modern West Coast vibe and fresh local flavour, said Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Shes a leader who has insatiable drive to take care of our guests and build a powerful brand. In her new role as senior vice president of merchandising and innovation, Jain will work closely with the airlines commercial business, operating divisions and technology teams to implement guest experience enhancements. She has more than 25 years of experience as a senior technology executive and joined Alaska in 2017 as vice president of information technology services and chief information officer. Charu is a proven technology leader who integrated hundreds of systems through the acquisition of Virgin America. Her responsibilities include driving both employee and guest-facing innovation, along with taking Alaska to the next level with merchandising our products and services, and managing our ever-evolving distribution channels, said Harrison. Baskaran heads up information technology services as vice president. Along with Jain, he led the IT team through the complexities of integration with Virgin America. Baskaran joined the company in 2013 as a managing director of technology. As the senior vice president of legal and general counsel, chief ethics and compliance officer and corporate secretary, Levine heads Alaska Air Groups team of legal, governance and compliance professionals; supports the board of directors activities and shareholder services; and sits on the companys executive committee. He joined the company in 2006. In addition to critical counsel through our merger with Virgin America, Levine has built out a strong legal team, strengthened our ethics and compliance programme, and served as a company-wide champion for diversity and inclusion. He has earned this promotion and were all glad to see it happening, stated Brad Tilden, chairman and CEO of Alaska Air Group. A husband had to seek medical help after his wife put a metal nut on his penis to punish him for being unfaithful in Ukraine. The unnamed victim in his 40s was woken up by pain in the morning and saw his organ being 'strangulated' and swollen. He tried to take the nut off by himself but failed before calling an ambulance and being hospitalised in the city of Zaporizhia, in the south of the country. The unnamed man, pictured, said he awoke to find his penis being strangled by a metal ring that his wife had slipped on during the night in Zaporizhia, in the south of Ukraine After examining the man, doctors called a 'Kobra' rescuers crew because they did not have the necessary tools to remove the chastity nut. Rescuers had to use a circular saw to cut the nut in two places before they were able to take it off. The tense operation was made even harder because the cutting device kept producing sparks. The metal nut also heated up as a result of the friction meaning rescuers were forced to douse it with water to cool it down. Oleksandr Brienko, the rescue team commander, told local media: 'We received a call from doctors who asked to remove the nut. We used special equipment to do the job. The man was lying on the surgical operating table under anaesthesia while we were cutting the object off.' Eduard Nekhoroshev, also from the local rescue service added: 'We often face similar incidents and are quite trained in removing rings, handcuffs and other objects off people's bodies. The rescue team are pictured using a circular saw to cut the nut constricting the man's penis in Zaporizhia, Ukraine on the day of his injury The rescue team had to use a circular saw to break the metal in two places, before they were able to remove it from his penis in Ukraine Rescuers struggled because the saw required cooling down as they attempted to remove the nut in Ukraine 'In this case, we actually saved the man's penis. He will be able to become a father in the future.' Now the man is undergoing treatment in the City Hospital five and doctors say he will get better soon. According to medics, the organ will regain its functionality in full. Reports say the man was punished by his wife after she learned that he had been cheating on her. The angry woman screwed the nut onto her unfaithful husband's penis at night while he was sleeping deeply in their bed, local media report. Now the man is thinking of asking for a divorce, according to Ukrainian media. YEREVAN. The Prosecutor's Office has rejected the appeal by Armenia's third President Serzh Sargsyan's lawyer against the decision to place attachment on Sargsyan's property. The Prosecutor's Office has confirmed this news to Armenian News-NEWS.am. The Special Investigation Service (SIS) has placed attachment on Serzh Sargsyan's property, but his legal defender Amram Makinyan had appealed this decision. The SIS announced the indictment of Serzh Sargsyan on December 4, 2019. According to the official report, occupying the office of the President of the Republic of Armenia and using his respective official position, in 2013 he organized the theft of 489,160,310 drams by a group of officials. He was charged with a criminal offense, and a signature bond to not leave Armenia was chosen as the pretrial measure for him. Five people are involved in this criminal case. The investigation into Serzh Sargsyan's criminal case is over. Cookie Preferences Cookie List Cookie List A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website when visited by a user asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting for our advertising and marketing efforts. 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TV-talking lawyer of Stormy Daniels vs. Donald Trump fame is now in federal custody Michael Avenatti was arrested today. Quite a change of fortune for the former cable news darling and wannabe presidential candidate. The dude is in federal custody right now. The Daily Beast has more. Reporter Jason McGahan of The Daily Beast wrote tonight from Los Angeles, "Just moments ago ex-Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti was taken out of the California State Bar Court in LA the custody of federal agents." Just moments ago ex-Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti was taken out of the California State Bar Court in LA the custody of federal agents. pic.twitter.com/cU8sM4DUw1 Jason McGahan (@JasonMcGahan) January 15, 2020 "Avenatti was taken into federal custody around 6pm PST during a break in testimony in a disciplinary case in which he was testifying to accusations he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client," adds McGahan. As Avenatti was led out of a hearing and arrested this evening, he told reporters, "Completely innocent." https://t.co/1MiHn4Lmsm Emily Jane Fox (@emilyjanefox) January 15, 2020 More at The Daily Beast. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo News tweeted, "Per this court document, lawyer Michael Avenatti has been arrested for violating terms of his pretrial release. It's unclear what those terms were. Was set to begin trial on extorting Nike next week in NYC." Per this court document, lawyer Michael Avenatti has been arrested for violating terms of his pretrial release. It's unclear what those terms were. Was set to begin trial on extorting Nike next week in NYC pic.twitter.com/tXzggMK849 Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) January 15, 2020 Michael Avenatti was arrested today in the middle of a California Bar hearing to suspend his license because he stole millions from a client. https://t.co/x21sZhayjO kate briquelet (@kbriquelet) January 15, 2020 Breaking: Michael Avenatti was arrested by feds tonight, reportedly for "violating the terms of his release" https://t.co/XrRJO7vJPM via @JasonMcGahan who is on the scene Katie Baker (@Katie_M_Baker) January 15, 2020 A TRINCITY woman was arrested by Fraud Squad officers at the Port of Spain High Court on Tuesday after she allegedly attempted to use a fraudu Goa Forward Party (GFP) leader Ashma Sayed said on Wednesday that she had resigned as vice- chairman of the State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The GFP was part of the BJP-led Goa government till July 2019 when its ministers were dropped from the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet. The party is still part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Sayed, who heads the GFP's women wing, announced her decision on Twitter. "I have resigned as vice chairman, Goa State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation as a mark of protest against #CAA," she tweeted. The CAA, which came into effect on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 on account of religious persecution. Massive protests have erupted against the CAA since its passage by Parliament in December last year. The GFP has been opposed to the amended Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trial of Kem Sokha under way two years after he was arrested in what some say is a politically charged prosecution. Phnom Penh, Cambodia A court has begun its treason trial for opposition leader Kem Sokha more than two years after his arrest. Almost no journalists and no non-governmental organisations were allowed into the courtroom on Wednesday, drawing criticism from civil society groups and the press. Court officials said the courtroom was too small to accommodate all, and seats were reserved for embassy officials, relatives, and members of Kem Sokhas Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Two journalists one from Voice of America and one from Reuters News Agency were given unused seats reserved for United States embassy officials and attended the morning session, but were prevented from re-entering in the afternoon. Kem Sokhas lawyer Pheng Heng told reporters that proceedings were slow to start, and nothing substantive about the charges was discussed. Pheng Heng said he and his legal team requested to use the full version of the speech around which the charges against Kem Sokha centre instead of an abbreviated, two-minute version the courts had so far shown. The court then showed one hour of the speech but said in order for it to be admitted as new evidence, defence lawyers would have to make a written request. Kem Sokha was arrested in a midnight raid in September 2017 after a public speech he gave in 2013. In the speech, he talked about receiving support from the US to create change in the country from a grassroots level. He was released in November last year but barred from leaving the country and engaging in politics. The charges against Kem Sokha led to the dissolution of his CNRP in November 2017 ahead of national elections in July 2018. The ruling Cambodian Peoples Party took all 125 seats. The governments lawyer, Ky Tech, said other than the US, others allegedly involved in the case included Indonesia, Serbia, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Taiwan and India. Conspiracy Government lawyers started questioning Kem Sokha, Ky Tech said, though he declined to give details. This could affect the rights of the accused, he told reporters. In a Facebook statement, Kem Sokha reiterated his innocence. I categorically deny the charge of conspiracy with foreign powers which was brought against me, he said. I did not commit anything of which I am accused. But government lawyers insisted the case against Kem Sokha was strong. Its common that a defendant claims that they are innocent. But we have an abundance of evidence to prove to the judges. Kem Monovithya, Kem Sokhas daughter and a CNRP official, called the trial a farce. Kem Sokha is innocent and needs to be acquitted. His political rights also need to be reinstated so Cambodia can get back on the track. Lets move on, she told Al Jazeera. Her colleague Mu Sochua, CNRPs vice president, agreed. She said fair trial standards were violated by not opening the hearing to the public. All charges must be dropped, she said. What evidence? Police guarded roads surrounding the court, while a growing number of activists waited in front of the building to express their support for the opposition leader. Among them was Sok Yoeung, 74, who said she supported the opposition for about 20 years. I want to see what evidence they show I havent seen any act by him that shows he betrayed the nation. Another supporter, Neth Noeun, said she had seen first-hand that the Cambodian courts were not independent. She said her daughter was arrested after someone planted drugs in her bag allegedly because she and her daughter were CNRP supporters. She received a three-year sentence at the time. Now its been more than three years and she is still in prison. They keep changing the date of release. I have not been informed why, Neth Noeun said. This court is made only for the rich, and the court is not independent. It has not been announced when a verdict is expected, though news reports suggested the hearings would last three months. The trial comes at a politically sensitive time with the European Commission scheduled to issue its decision on a preferential trade agreement in February. The EU has threatened to withdraw the agreement based on human rights concerns. It initiated its formal withdrawal procedure in February last year. Should it decide to pull out, tariffs on Cambodian goods could be reintroduced by mid-year. The government wants to put on a show for the international community, Naly Pilorge, director of the human rights organisation Licadho, said. For this trial to take place now and for the trial to take up to three months, its clear that its a show to the international community, in particular to the European Union, in response to the trade preference [agreement ], she told Al Jazeera. [But] if this is a show for the international community, then the court and the government must hold this trial with more transparency than usual. Its one of the most high-profile cases of the past two decades, and the people that voted for CNRP in 2017 are very interested in seeing how the court will proceed with the charges against Mr Kem Sokha. Former Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed on the Iowa debate stage Tuesday that he's taken the most heat from President Trump and the Republicans of the 2020 hopefuls - and his poll numbers are only going up. 'I have been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on this stage,' Biden said at the CNN debate in Des Moines. 'I've taken all the hits he can deliver and I'm getting better,' he added, pointing to his strong showing in recent polls. Biden was also asked if it was going to be difficult to run against Trump, who could see the Senate vindicate him in an impeachment trial - due to start next week - where the ex-veep and his son were central characters in the president's alleged plot. The 2020 hopeful said it was 'irrelevant' and said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was right to act, as Trump had 'in fact, committed impeachable offenses.' 'This Republican Party, they've gone after - savaged my surviving son, gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won't even carry on television because they're flat-out lies,' Biden said. 'And I did my job, the question is whether he did his job. And he hasn't done his job.' Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed that he's taken the most heat from President Trump and the Republicans - and his poll numbers are only going up Joe Biden reminded the debate audience that President Trump (pictured) and Republicans had 'savaged' his surviving son, who's become a central character in the president's impeachment Former Vice President Joe Biden (center), standing alongside Sens. Elizabeth Warren (left) and Bernie Sanders (right), pointed out that he's been the object of Trump's affection - and has still remained a viable Democratic frontrunner The House of Representatives impeached Trump last month over a scheme to hold up $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the country's president to announce he was investigating Joe and Hunter Biden. Biden has been a consistent frontrunner in the 2020 campaign - though Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg have sporadically leapfrogged him in polls. Trump also pressured the Ukrainian leader to look into the origins of the 2016 Russia investigation. Hunter Biden, whose older brother Beau died of brain cancer in May 2015, had served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which Trump and his allies have tried to characterize as corrupt. That corruption carried over to Joe Biden, Trump has suggested, because Hunter only got the gig because of nepotism. Biden said at the debate that it 'doesn't matter whether he's gone after me.' 'I have to be in a position that I think of the American people,' he said. 'I can't hold a grudge.' Biden said the job of the next president of the United States would be to 'not only fight, but heal.' But he pointed out that by him winning he could also splinter the nation a greater deal. 'Notwithstanding that there's going to be more division when he's defeated by me next time,' Biden said. Biden argued throughout the debate that he would make it out of the Democratic primary race because he had the broadest coalition. 'And by the way, I have overwhelming support from the African-American community, overwhelming. More than everybody else, number one,' Biden said. 'Number two, working class people, where I come from in Pennsylvania, and places I come from in Delaware, have great support.' 'I have support across the board,' Biden said. Biden said he was especially keen to fight Trump on an economic message. 'And I'm not worried about taking on Donald Trump at all,' he added. Biden continues to hold an eight-point lead in national polling, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. The most recent Iowa poll, from Monmouth, has Biden up by six points. Though another recent poll, from the Des Moines Register, had Sanders up by three. T hank you for your campaign to raise awareness of, and support to tackle, the unacceptably high level of school exclusions in London. It is vital that all children who can be are included in traditional classrooms. Vulnerable young people, such as those with mental health and special educational needs, as well as those from a BAME background, are far more likely to be excluded. We absolutely must prioritise early intervention and support for children and young people who need it, as well as training for staff to recognise and respond to warning signs. School across London are lacking the resources to provide this, so the Mayor of London has invested 5 million into reducing exclusions via his Violence Reduction Unit. Tomorrow at Mayors Question Time, I will be holding him to account to demonstrate the progress he has made and what the next steps are to protect and support Londons vulnerable young people. Jennette Arnold OBE AM, Labours London Assembly education spokesperson Editor's reply Dear Jennette It is great, and of course crucial, that you should be holding the Mayor and his Violence Reduction Unit to account. Initially the Mayor resisted the call in our June 2018 Save London Lives campaign to set up a VRU, but later did a U-turn. It has now been going 16 months and I was heartened to see that last November the Mayor announced a 4.7 million investment over three years to cut school exclusions. Mayor Sadiq Khan / PA However, when I drilled into the detail, I found that this figure included 2.5 million going to councils and charities working with vulnerable children generally, and only 1.5 million targeting school inclusions, with just 300,000 to be spent on training teachers to be more inclusive. I was left with the impression that their 4.7 million headline figure was rather padded and misleading. It would be great if your questions could elicit how much is really being committed to tackle exclusions and how much is new money. David Cohen, Investigations Editor Shame on UK for refugee response Martin Bentham claimed if Labour MPs had honoured their manifesto commitment to Brexit by voting for the Withdrawal Bill, then Lord Dubs provisions to protect child refugee rights would now be law, [January 14]. His amendment should never have been contingent on the Withdrawal Bill. It was an amendment to the Immigration Act. As a country, we have behaved shamefully in our response to the refugee crisis. Beryl Wall Blot on the skyline View of the London skyline featuring St Paul's Cathedral, 22 Bishopsgate, and the Leadenhall Building / PA Archive/PA Images The new skyscraper at 22 Bishopsgate becomes uglier as it nears completion. It beggars belief that this eyesore was ever given permission. The design clashes with the innovative designs of the London skyline. This is such a stupid decision, I suggest that the building should be nicknamed The Dumbo. Joe Harrisson E-scooters are ace While e-scooters can pose a risk to pedestrians and riders, air pollution poses a wider threat. We need more emission-free alternatives. With safety features, e-scooters could be this alternative. The Government should legalise this green alternative now. Alan Clarke, Director of UK Policy and Government Affairs, Lime Do more to tackle sexual harassment We need more laws like the Voyeurism Act [Upskirting allegation made to police nearly every single day since new law, January 9]. Our research of 2,590 people aged 14-21 in the UK, India, Brazil and Kenya shows that 12 per cent in the UK worry about being sexually harassed every day, increasing to 41 per cent in Brazil. We need to tackle the problem at its cause as the law can only play one part in tackling it. Sexual harassment happens because of deep-rooted social norms which constantly undermine womens bodies and see them as the property of men, for them to exploit and control. Through our #MyBodyIsMine campaign, fronted by activist Gina Martin, ActionAid is calling for more women and girls to reclaim their rights and say #MyBodyIsMine no-one elses and for their voices to be heard at every level. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 17:36:18|Editor: Wang Yamei Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Life returned to normal in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday following a tensed day in the wake of rebellion by a security force belonging to the General Intelligence Service (GIS). Early Wednesday, the Sudanese army announced retaking of the GIS's buildings which were seized by a rebellious security force on Tuesday. "After peaceful attempts with the rebel force have failed, least possible force had be used to end this rebellion," Mohamed Osman Al-Hussein, Sudanese army's chief of joint staff, told a press conference. He announced that two army soldiers were killed and four others injured, including two officers, during an operation for retaking the seized buildings. "All headquarters of the GIS's Operations Authority are under control of the armed forces," Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said at a press conference. Al-Burhan further announced the opening of airspace at Khartoum International Airport, which was closed by authorities for five hours as a precautionary measure. On Tuesday, headquarters of the GIS's Operations Authority witnessed heavy gunfire in Khartoum, an incident that al-Burhan described as "a conspiracy against the revolution of the Sudanese people." He stressed that the Sudanese armed forces are determined to confront any attempt to destabilize the security. Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, speaking at a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday, commended the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces for ending the rebellion. Tuesday's heavy gunfire incidents sparked fear among the citizens of central Khartoum and the areas of the GIS's headquarters. Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu accused former security chief Salah Abdallah of being behind the gunfire around the GIS's buildings. "What happened is a plot carried out by Salah Abdallah and a number of officers," Daqlu said in a statement issued by the sovereign council. Daqlu further blamed the GIS's command for the incidents, saying "the situation is under the control of the armed forces." Meanwhile, the Freedom and Change Alliance, which led the protests against the former government, regarded Tuesday's events as a move by the counter-revolution forces with the aim to cripple the transitional period. The former Transitional Military Council in August dissolved the GIS's Operations Authority. An estimated 13,000 dismissed ex-employees were asked whether to join the army or the Rapid Support Forces or be discharged and get end-of-service rewards. The majority opted for the latter, and some refused to hand over their weapons until they get the rewards. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 21:05:50|Editor: Wang Yamei Video Player Close NANNING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have captured underwater video of Bryde's whales for the first time in south China's Beibu Gulf. Chen Mo, associate researcher of Guangxi Academy of Sciences and a member of the research team, said on Wednesday that the video is of great significance to the comprehensive understanding of the marine mammal's living habits, especially the study of its behavior. "The video provides a significant scientific basis for large marine mammal protection and has important value for protecting the marine ecological environment of the Beibu Gulf," said Chen. Bryde's whale, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical waters, is regarded as a very mysterious species of cetaceans, with a body length of 10 to 12 meters and a weight of up to 15 tonnes. The researchers have been conducting research on the whales when they were first discovered in waters off Weizhou Island in 2016. Weizhou Island in Beibu Gulf, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is among the country's few coastal areas where large cetaceans frequently appear. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Another snowstorm has closed a major highway in the Pacific Northwest, delaying truckers in the region. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) tweeted Monday evening that US-2 between Stevens Pass and Gold Bar would remain shut down due to the weather. WSDOT also said crews will reassess the situation today, but there is no estimated time of reopening. WSDOT told FreightWaves that "Oversized vehicles are prohibited across I-90 Snoqualmie Pass." SONAR Critical Events and radar on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, 10 a.m. EST. Ongoing Northwest snowstorm threat. The Oregon DOT said "There are a few points on I-84 where you will hit a chains required restriction. These begin at Cabbage Hill (if heading EB) at MP 226. So far no chains required on I-5 (but still a minimum, carry chains through all snow zones), but it's icy going over the summits at the border." Areas of heavy snowfall and gusty winds will be scattered across the mountains of the Northwest, fading later today and tonight. But there's no rest for the weary another storm will arrive by Wednesday night, lasting through Thursday, followed by another storm on Saturday. Truckers will need to be extra careful if they have to drive through these areas. Carriers, shippers and brokers should plan ahead in order to protect their bottom lines. Besides occasional road delays that could last for hours, minor delays in air cargo are possible at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (ICAO code: SEA) and on railroads in the region. What does it take to clear the pass when it closes? Push spun out vehicles off the highway. Call the tow companies. There's only a couple near the pass and on a day like today, they might take up to 2 hours to arrive. Get our plows past the backup to clear the highway. pic.twitter.com/UE2ylw8qzG I-90 Snoqualmie Pass (@SnoqualmiePass) January 12, 2020 Up to 12 inches could accumulate through tonight in some high elevations of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and northern Rockies. Even the Seattle metropolitan area could see a few inches. Story continues Because of periodic storms in the region since the beginning of the year, it won't take much more to keep road conditions risky for truckers. Even if the closed section of US-2 is reopened, drivers will have to take it slow. Lookout and Snoqualmie passes on I-90 could also be trouble spots, and I-80 from the Reno-Lake Tahoe area into eastern California and over Donner Pass won't be a picnic either. Other parts of the country will see stormy weather later this week. A potentially high-impact storm could result in icy conditions, large amounts of snow and occasional whiteout conditions from the upper Midwest to the Northeast beginning Friday. Carriers, shippers and brokers can use FreightWaves Critical Events to keep track of assets such as airports, rails, oil/petroleum facilities and ports in the target zone of any high-impact or long-term storm systems. As shown on the FreightWaves Critical Events maps in this article, the assets are color coded based on the anticipated level of disruption. Weather forecast details are also available. SONAR Critical Events on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, 10 a.m. EST. Potential Midwest-Northeast high-impact snowstorm. Now is the time to plan. This late-week storm could dump 12 inches of snowfall or more in some areas from Minnesota and Wisconsin to upstate New York and northern New England. Blowing snow is possible, leading to possible near-zero visibility at times. The high winds may result in scattered power outages. Areas of southern Canada along the U.S. border could also get hit hard. Local and regional supply chains and business operations could be disrupted for a few days, and some passenger jets carrying belly cargo could be grounded. Look for updates about this storm on the FreightWaves website and social media sites. Have a great day, and be careful out there! Image Sourced from Pixabay 0 See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. By Laman Ismayilova Week of Patriotic Cinema is underway in Azerbaijan. The event is timed to the 30th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. Film screenings dedicated to the national heroes as well as meeting with film crews are part of the event. The project was co-organized by the Cultural Ministry and Baku City Main Department of Culture to strengthen the spirit of patriotisms as well as to inform the young generation about the courage of national heroes. The film screening began with the performance of the National Anthem of Azerbaijan. A moment of silence was observed in memory of Black January victims. On the first day of the Patriotic Cinema Week, a film "April Height" directed by Zamin Mammadov was screened at Binagadi Central House of Culture. The film is dedicated to the national hero Shukur Hamidov. The film "Unfortunate Fate" directed by Taleh Ismayilov was presented at Mushfigabad House of Culture. The film tells a story of the national hero Vugar Huseynov. The screening of the film "Mirpasha" directed by Emin Efendiyev was held at Nardaran Cultural Center. The film is dedicated to the national hero Hidayat Rustamov. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Home Search ICH New Facts Change Everything, the Sickening Truth About Why Iran Schooled America By Gordon Duff January 14, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Information has come to light that indicts the United States not just for the Soleimani killing but also for the over 300 killings during the Iraqi protests in late 2019. In fact, it can be proven that the United States not only organized the protests but also is responsible for killing protestors as well, hundreds of them, something we have seen before, Maidan in 2014, Libya in 2011 and Cairo in 2009. In each event, the killings of protestors lead to regime change favorable to the US. Though evidence of false flag snipers in Maidan is overwhelming, this is the first real smoking gun that clearly establishes the US military as a terrorist organization. We begin our story. The Soleimani murder, at the hands of Pompeo, Esper and Trump, was much more than the simple hubris and ignorance most assume. It is also assumed, quite wrongly, that the US occupation of the oil and opium rich lands of Asia is driven by national interest, at least to a part, perhaps even a small part. That is false also, patently false. The backstory behind the killing of Soleimani is rooted in the explosive riots and the mysterious murders that pushed Iraqi Prime Minister Mahdi to resign on November 30, 2019. Mahdi had been in office a year and had been, for the first time, addressing Iraqs massive corruption, an endemic problem with any nation that has the misfortune of being occupied by the United States. Iraq has a Shiite majority that has slowly assumed political dominance after years of suppression under Saddam Hussein. In fact, it was Iranian General Soleimani who came to Iraq in 2003 to organize the Shiite militias, the current PMU, now part of Iraqs Army, to fight alongside American forces that were overthrowing Sunni Baathist rule. Trump claims he had Suleimani murdered for his part in the killing of Americans during this period, when in fact Suleimani was closely allied to the US, at least until the US decided to begin a war with Iran in 2007. However, this is another story for another time, one also wrought with deception and double-dealing. Critical to understanding events is understanding Americas real role in Iraq. To do that, it is necessary to understand why Iraqs parliament voted unanimously to oust American troops. The story behind this is much more than the death of Suleimani, far more, and has been suppressed. That story involves a broader geopolitical narrative that transpired when Iraq under Mahdi tried to remove Americas heel from its neck. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Italian journalist Federico Pieraccini investigated the story behind Mahdis address to parliament, the recorded portion of which in no way answered any real questions about why Iraq would make such a drastic move as to expel American troops, ending the billion dollar a year payoff scheme that fed so many Sunni politicians. Pieraccini tells us this: [Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq] Halbousi attended the parliamentary session while almost none of the Sunni members did. This was because the Americans had learned that Abdul-Mehdi was planning to reveal sensitive secrets in the session and sent Halbousi to prevent this. Halbousi cut Abdul-Mehdi off at the commencement of his speech and then asked for the live airing of the session to be stopped. After this, Halbousi together with other members, sat next to Abdul-Mehdi, speaking openly with him but without it being recorded. This is what was discussed in that session that was not broadcast: Abdul-Mehdi spoke angrily about how the Americans had ruined the country and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50% of oil revenues, which Abdul-Mehdi refused. That deal with China was the result of Mahdis abandoning any attempt to work with the United States after years of seeing his nation bled dry. It is no secret that the United States had little or no role in fighting ISIS and, were one to ask the Shia majority of Iraqi citizens, most would insist that the US brought ISIS to Iraq with Saudi help. In meetings with Sunni leaders, held in Baghdad in January 2014, exactly that was explained to me, how ISIS was to offset Shia influence and guarantee Iraq would remain under US-Saudi control. The Sunni leaders, who controlled key military commands and provincial governorships, planned to simply turn affairs over to ISIS and, in fact, did so despite my warnings. Months later, several I met with had been beheaded by ISIS. What goes around comes around. As to Mahdis deal with China, that as we will see, precipitated the American staged coup, the following from the Middle East Institute: Upon arriving in Beijing on September 19 at the head of a 55-member delegation, Iraq Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi described the visit to China as heralding a quantum leap in bilateral relations.The five-day visit culminated in the signing of eight wide-ranging memoranda of understanding (MoUs), a framework credit agreement, and the announcement of plans for Iraq to join Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Since then, however, a wave of angry anti-government protests have swept across much of Iraq, leaving more than 100 dead and thousands wounded a vivid reminder of the countrys ongoing struggle for stability and of the obstacles to the further consolidation of China-Iraq relations. These anti-government protests are attributed to threats made by Donald Trump, as we will see in the full text of Mahdis address to parliament, below. The rationale is simple, the China deal was Iraqs best effort to address unemployment and economic inequality, why would someone want to sabotage it? More on Mahdis leadership below, again from the Middle East Institute: Since early 2018, the central government of Iraq has been working assiduously to capitalize on the territorial defeat of Daesh, which three years earlier had overrun and controlled nearly one-third of the country. A working relationship between the GOI and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been reestablished. After repeated delays due to a series of security incidents the newly constructed Qaim border crossing with Syria has reopened. Planning for construction of a new crude oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey is underway. Yet, although Iraq has entered a period of relative calm, the country faces a multitude of challenges.The security situation in the country is fragile. According to a recent report by the Pentagon, Daesh has solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq. Meanwhile, the GOI is struggling to maintain a delicate balance in its relations with key allies US / Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as to avoid becoming another front in an escalating Iran-Israel proxy war. On July 1, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi issued a decree ordering the integration of all Iraqi militias, including the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Only with a broader context of events, with an understandable timeline, can we adequately assess Trumps blunder here. But also, we can only asses the nature of Trumps methods through an unedited translation of the nature of the critical exchange between Trump and Mahdi that led to Soleimanis murder. Finally, the complete address by Abdul Mahdi has been made available, which now fills the gaps the West has allowed to support the limited narrative fed to congress. This is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead. Upon my return, Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement. When I refused, he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership. Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands, then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me. I refused again and handed in my resignation. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese. After this, when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike (just as Trump had threatened, he would do), I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this third party. I was supposed to meet him [Soleimani] later in the morning when he was killed. He came to deliver a message from Iran in response to the message we had delivered to the Iranians from the Saudis. The Kingdoms statement regarding the events in Iraq stresses the Kingdoms view of the importance of de-escalation to save the countries of the region and their people from the risks of any escalation. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the US strike. In light of the rapid developments, the Kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences. Saudi Arabia is sending a delegation to Washington to urge restraint with Iran on behalf of [Persian] Gulf states. The message will be: Please spare us the pain of going through another war. It is also clear that Trumps hubris in his wild threats against Iraq and his willingness to murder the foremost military leader in the war on terror is based on what American author and former CIA officer Robert David Steele calls the Cult of West Point Class of 1986and Politico calls the West Point Mafia. Steele postulates that this single class, a collection of bad apples as it were, has pushed Trump toward one failed endeavor after another. From Stratfor: Since graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986, the careers of Mike Pompeo, Ulrich Brechbuhl, Brian Bulatao, Mark Esper, David Urban and Mark Green have periodically intersected. Now they have converged in the Trump administration. These are the geniuses that told Trump Iran had only old Soviet scud type missiles, with liquid fuel, no guidance and poor reliability. Of course, none have actual military experience other than as place holders and seat warmers. Then the surprise came, Irans missiles rained down on al Asad Air Base, easily pushing past Americas Patriot missile defense system, 0 hit. Worse still, the highly advanced solid fuel missiles from Iraq hit within not yards but within 10 feet of targets, actually much closer than that. Similarly, when missiles plowed into the consular facilities, really weapons warehouses, at Erbil International Airport, in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq, the US denied any hits claiming to have shot down two of three missiles and the other a wide miss. Then, as is so often the case, American military personnel billeted in the apartment buildings just south of the facility uploaded their video to YouTube. Three missiles, thee direct hits, dramatic explosions, which the Americans seemed to enjoy immensely. We now enter a new world, not just one with America schooled but with Americas actual role exposed, occupier, terrorist and thief. Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War that has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades and consulted with governments challenged by security issues. Hes a senior editor and chairman of the board of Veterans Today, especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook. Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== How And Why Iran Shot Down Ukrainian Boeing The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. [January 15, 2020] Bon Secours Mercy Health and Lirio Announce Partnership and Investment CINCINNATI and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bon Secours Mercy Health and Lirio, LLC today announced their new strategic partnership at the 38th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, initiated by a direct investment from Bon Secours Mercy Health in Lirio's innovative behavior change AI platform. John Starcher, president and CEO of Bon Secours Mercy Health will join Lirio's board of directors. "Together with Lirio, Bon Secours Mercy Health is leveraging leading edge technology to continuously learn from our patients, families and community members, which will allow us to translate that learning into personalized health programs and communications that empower individuals to make healthy decisions and take healthy actions," said Justin McGoldrick, M.D., chief clinical research and innovation officer at Bon Secours Mercy Health. "This will be central to our health system's enhanced ability to improve the overall health of the communities we serve." Lirio and Bon Secours Mercy Health will co-develop new behavior change programs that influence health decision-making for those at risk for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. These programs will eventually be marketed and sold to other health systems globally under commercial terms agreed to between both parties. Bon Secours Mercy Health will license and deploy existing Lirio behavior change programs, such as women's health programs and programs that encourage the use of digital engagement tools like patient portals. "Bon Secours Mercy Health has a bold vision for extending care beyond the hospital into the community and addressing oot causes of poor health," said Mike West, Lirio's chairman and CEO. "We are excited to co-develop new behavior change programs that target at-risk populations proactively and preventatively in ways that both improve care quality and achieve operational efficiencies. By effectively utilizing large volumes of population health data, we can activate consumers by guiding them with personalized, data-driven health journeys." Bon Secours Mercy Health will now have access to Lirio's deep talent pool of behavioral scientists, data scientists and AI researchers to join forces with its clinical experts in population health, data analytics and various community partnerships that address social determinants of health. About Bon Secours Mercy Health Bon Secours Mercy Health is one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. The ministry's quality, compassionate care is provided by more than 60,000 associates serving communities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as throughout Ireland. Bon Secours Mercy Health provided care for patients more than 10.5 million times in 2018 through its network of more than 1,000 care sites, which includes hospitals, as well as home health agencies, hospice, skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Consistent with its commitment to serve each patient with dignity, Bon Secours Mercy Health provides nearly $2 million per day in community benefit. The mission of Bon Secours Mercy Health is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of its communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. For more information, visit https://bsmhealth.org/ About Lirio Lirio is a behavior change AI platform that moves people along their unique journey to better health through person-centered communication. The company brings together the power of behavioral science with artificial intelligence to learn the most effective way to communicate with people in a particular context. That insight is applied to create personalized behavior change programs for health systems and large employers resulting in improved engagement and outcomes. For more information, visit https://lirio.com Media Contact: Patrick Hunt 865-243-2418 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bon-secours-mercy-health-and-lirio-announce-partnership-and-investment-300987906.html SOURCE Lirio [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] After he was struck down by malaria and typhoid, Togolese tailor Ayawo Hievi thought he was set to recover when he started taking drugs prescribed by his doctor. But far from curing him, the medication he was given at the neighbourhood clinic made him far worse -- eventually costing him one of his kidneys. The drugs were fake. "After four days of care, there was no improvement, but I started to feel pain in my belly," Hievi, 52, told AFP. After two weeks of suffering he became unable to walk and was rushed into the university hospital in the West African nation's capital Lome. "The doctors told me that my kidneys had been damaged... the quinine and the antibiotics used to treat me in the medical office were fake drugs." Now, over four years later, he remains crippled by chronic kidney failure and has to go to hospital for dialysis regularly. Hievi's horror story is far from unique in a continent awash with counterfeit medicines. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year some 100,000 people across Africa die from taking "falsified or substandard" medication. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene estimated in 2015 that 122,000 children under five died due to taking poor quality anti-malaria drugs in sub-Saharan Africa. Weak legislation, poor healthcare systems and widespread poverty have encouraged the growth of this parallel -- and deadly -- market. Since 2013, Africa has made up 42 percent of the fake medicine seized worldwide. The two drugs most likely to be out-of-date or poor, ineffective copies are antibiotics and anti-malarials, say experts. And bogus drugs not only pose a risk to the patient -- they also play a worrying part in building resistance to vital frontline medications. - 'Difficult to trace' - In a bid to tackle the scourge, presidents from seven countries -- the Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Uganda -- meet Friday in Lome to sign an agreement for criminalising trafficking in fake drugs. The goal is to bolster cooperation between governments and encourage other African nations to join the initiative. But even if leaders put pen to paper, the task of stamping out the flows of counterfeit medication is huge. Medicines spread out on plastic sheets or offered at ramshackle stalls are for sale at markets across West Africa. Those hawked on the streets are often a fraction of the price of what's available in more reputable pharmacies where controls are stricter and supplies often have to come through official channels. "It is very difficult to trace where the fake medicines come from," said Dr Innocent Kounde Kpeto, the president of Togo's pharmacist association. "The countries which are mentioned on the boxes are often not the countries of origin or manufacture of these drugs. The manufacturers cover their tracks so as not to be identified". It is estimated that between 30 and 60 percent of medicine sold in Africa is fake and Kpeto said most of it comes from China or India. Efforts to staunch the deadly torrents of counterfeits have made some headway. Some trafficking hubs have been dismantled, such as Adjegounle market in Cotonou that served as a key gateway for fakes heading to giant neighbour Nigeria. In mid-November, the police in Ivory Coast made a record seizure of 200 tonnes in Abidjan and arrested four suspects including a Chinese national. Togo is one of the pioneer countries trying to stop the flow. It changed the law in 2015 and now traffickers can face 20 years in jail and a fine of some $85,000 (75,000 euros). In a show of force in July the authorities burnt over 67 tonnes of counterfeit pharmaceuticals discovered between But even given these recent successes, those in the industry like Dr Kpeto insist that the threat is still grave and involves "highly organised criminal networks". "The phenomenon remains major," he said. Traffickers can turn an investment of just $1,000 (900 euros) into a profit of $500,000, he claimed. The fake medicines are smuggled in the same way as guns or narcotics and often bring higher returns. - 'Die for nothing' - Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with a market of 200 million people, is the number one destination on the continent for fake drugs and a showcase of difficulties being faced. In September 2016 the World Customs Organization seized tens of millions of fake pills and medicines at 16 ports around Africa: 35 percent were intended for Nigeria. Across the vast nation there are tens of thousands of vendors selling the counterfeits. Competition between traffickers is fierce and the official agency meant to combat the problem is overwhelmed. In a bid to improve the situation, Vivian Nwakah founded in 2017 start-up Medsaf and raised $1.4 million to help Nigerians track their medication from producer to user. "The country doesn't have a reliable and centralised distribution network," she said. "A hospital sometimes has to deal with 30 or 40 distributors for all the medications it needs. How can you have quality control with so many suppliers?" As a result, fake or faulty medicine has not just flooded markets but also pharmacies and hospitals -- both state and private. Sometimes, without hospital administrators even being aware, that means the drugs that reach the patients can be expired, poorly stored or the wrong doses. Medsaf works to ensure the quality control of thousands of products at over 130 hospitals and pharmacies in Nigeria. It looks forward to expanding deeper into Nigeria as well as Ivory Coast and Senegal. The company uses technology, database management and analytics to monitor the movement of medications and verifies their official registration number, the expiry dates and storage conditions. "Technology we use can help to solve most of the issues related to fake drugs," Nwakah said. "People die for nothing. We can change that." Dangerous: Fake drugs seized by Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Africa is awash with fake drugs, say experts. Children with malaria are especially at risk A drugs stall on a street in Lagos. Informal sales outlets are a major channel for counterfeit medicine Up in smoke: Fake drugs are destroyed in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria after being seized by watchdogs This is the horrifying moment a 76-year-old grandmother was thrown out of her Maryland home and onto the ground by police who were searching for her granddaughter. In the video, one officer is seen grabbing Rena Mellerson and escorting her to the front door of her Baltimore residence. A second officer is then seen running up to Mellerson, grabbing her and hurling to the ground. 'I didn't do nothing,' the woman is heard saying as one of the officers attempts to handcuff her. This is the horrifying moment 76-year-old Rena Mellerson (left and right) was thrown out of her Maryland home and onto the ground by police who were searching for her granddaughter Baltimore County family asks why 76 year old woman was thrown to the ground by county police during arrest. Unarmed. Police say she interfered with arrest of her granddaughter on charge of disorderly conduct. On video: pic.twitter.com/icR0iCzbDL Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) January 13, 2020 According to WBAL, Mellerson was not seriously injured in the incident. She was arrested and taken into custody. Police charged Mellerson with assault, interfering and obstructing and hindering the arrest of her granddaughter, Cierra Floyd. Authorities went to Mellerson's home looking for Floyd following a traffic stop on Friday. Floyd was also arrested on Friday and charged with similar violations as her grandmother as well as disorderly conduct. Mellerson's daughter, Barbara, told WBAL: 'My mother is a 76-year-old woman, lives alone, minds her business, never broke the law. She doesn't even have a moving violation.' 'For her to go through something like this is ridiculous, and every time she thinks about it, she starts shaking. I had to take my mother to the hospital.' Following the incident, Baltimore County police chief Melissa Hyatt released a statement on social media. 'A video that revealed a portion of an interaction between Baltimore County Police Department officers and two individuals Friday afternoon has garnered public attention and concern. The video is unsettling to watch and raises concerns.' 'I didn't do nothing,' the woman is heard saying as one of the officers attempts to handcuff her Following the incident, Baltimore County police chief Melissa Hyatt released a statement on social media. Hyatt said that she has 'ordered a thorough investigation of the incident in its entirety' Hyatt said that she has 'ordered a thorough investigation of the incident in its entirety'. 'Part of the review includes viewing body-worn camera footage of the entire incident, along with interviews and review of other documentation. 'Upon the completion of this expedited investigation, the body-worn camera footage will be released.' Hyatt went on to thank the individual who taped the incident, saying 'our residents are important partners in our communities'. 'We hold our officers t a high standard of accountability. Maintaining the trust of those who live, work and visit Baltimore County is paramount as we continue to work together to keep communities safe,' she added. YEREVAN. Former MP Manvel Grigoryan remains at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Yerevan, and he receives insulin for 24 hours. Grigoryan's lawyer Levon Baghdasaryan told about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am today. He added that Grigoryan has been hooked up to an artificial respirator since yesterday. Manvel Grigoryan has been at the aforesaid intensive care unit since yesterday. Grigoryan, who is in custody, is charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, embezzlement of property, tax evasion, misuse of state funds, and setting up theft of property. His attorneys had appealed the ruling of the Yerevan court of first instance which had denied the motion to release him on bail, but the Court of Appeal had denied this appeal. WASHINGTON Union leaders say the close to 1,800 striking Asarco workers in Arizona and Texas remain strong as the strike entered its fourth month Monday with little hope of a settlement in sight. They are hoping that it ends soon but they know it can go on for a while, said Ruben Gonzales, vice president of United Steel Workers Local 937. The union has tapped its strike relief fund, and some workers have had to take temporary jobs to help pay the bills. But union leaders and supporters say they are in for the long haul and are getting support from the community that has helped workers cope with the length of the strike. We havent had one member lose their home, weve never had a repod vehicle, no ones lights are being shut off, Gonzales said. The waters are staying on, the gas is staying on. Workers brought their fight to the state Capitol on Monday, rallying to demand that lawmakers hold foreign companies accountable for their treatment of U.S. workers. ALBANY The capital city is among 10 municipalities across the state to receive grant funding for innovative programs related to housing and code enforcement. State Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday announced more than $8 million in grant awards to cities including Albany, Rochester, Binghamton and Syracuse. The grants are part of the Cities for Responsible Investment and Strategic Enforcement (Cities RISE) program, which aims to creatively address blighted, vacant or poorly maintained properties through the use of housing and community data from state agencies. Albany and Elmira each will receive $1 million to implement code enforcement programs with an emphasis on making code enforcement more effective, efficient and equitable. Grant awards for the 10 cities range from $546,000 to $1 million. In the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis, New Yorkers are continuing to struggle to find and maintain quality affordable housing options, James said in a news release. Cities RISE provides a thoughtful approach to how municipalities revitalize its communities, and ensures that housing issues are addressed. My office will continue to proudly use the funds secured from settlements with banks to combat New Yorks housing crisis. The program was launched in 2017 to help New York families and communities rebuild from the housing crisis, and provided 16 municipalities a two-year subscription to a data platform that integrated and analyzed data - from code enforcement records to fire and police data - to help better inform decisions on addressing blighted properties. Ten of those municipalities have been selected for the additional funding in the second phase, which required cities to develop strategic housing or code enforcement programs through the data they were able to collect in the first phase. For Albany, the funding will help provide resources and education to improve landlord/tenant relationships, assist elderly homeowners with estate planning and create opportunities for residents to become homeowners if they are willing to maintain vacant properties, Mayor Kathy Sheehan said. This revitalization initiative goes (along) with one of the primary goals of my administration, creating a city where every neighborhood works," Sheehan said. We are eager to put the analysis, technical support and training received during the first two phases of Cities RISE to work in transforming Albany neighborhoods. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. In Rochester, Mayor Lovely Warren said the funding will go to creating a property manager licensing program, among other uses. Thanks to Attorney General James and the Cities RISE program, Rochester will remain a leader in ensuring quality, affordable housing for our residents," Warren said in the release. These vital dollars will help prevent evictions, provide for emergency repairs and help create a property manager licensing program. Enterprise Community Partners, a national community development intermediary that specializes in affordable housing, is overseeing the initiative. Regional airline Flybe was rescued yesterday after the British government promised to review taxation of the industry and shareholders pledged more money to prevent its collapse. The agreement comes a day after the emergence of reports suggesting it needed to raise new funds to survive through its quieter winter months. After crunch talks with shareholders, Britain's finance ministry said it would review both air passenger duty (APD) and Britain's regional connectivity as part of the plan. Flybe operates dozens of internal routes in the UK, as well as a services to elsewhere in Europe including Dublin, Cork and Ireland West. The airline carries about eight million passengers per year. "I welcome Flybe's confirmation that they will continue to operate as normal, safeguarding jobs in the UK and ensuring flights continue to serve communities across the whole of the UK," British Chancellor Sajid Javid said in a statement. "The reviews we are announcing today ... will ensure that regional connections not only continue but flourish," he added. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said earlier that Flybe was important for Britain's transport links and that the government would do what it could to help the carrier. "This is a positive outcome for the UK and will allow us to focus on delivering for our customers and planning for the future," Flybe chief executive Mark Anderson said. Under the deal, the Flybe shareholders agreed to put in tens of millions of pounds to keep the airline running. Flybe, which has 68 aircraft and about 2,000 staff, was bought last year by Connect Airways, a consortium created by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group - the operator of Aer Lingus Regional - and investment adviser Cyrus Capital. Lucien Farrell, chairman of Connect Airways, said it was "very encouraged" by the UK government's planned reviews and desire to strengthen regional connectivity. "As a result, the shareholder consortium has committed to keep Flybe flying with additional funding alongside government initiatives," he said. The aviation industry has long opposed APD, a tax of at least 13 (15) levied on passengers departing from UK airports, which raised about 3.7bn for the British government in 2018/19. Flybe has said its business is disproportionately harmed by the tax. The airline says the tax makes its flights more expensive than rail and road alternatives because passengers travelling on return flights within the UK will pay it twice. Greenpeace and other environmental groups, however, reacted angrily to suggestions that the UK government could help to encourage flying. Reuters British television viewers will see a tampon string clearly visible from a woman's underwear for the first time in a new advert that encourages more women to exercise. The unflinchingly honest video is the work of Sport England's This Girl Can campaign. To mark the initiative's fifth birthday, the inclusive advert aims to show the 'unfiltered reality of women being active' and features 29-year-old Hannah Johnson, from Essex, who is seen with her tampon string hanging from her knickers as she gets changed to attend a yoga class. Celebrities and athletes alike have heaped praise on the commercial, which hits screens on Friday and is the This Girl Can's fifth ad since it was launched in 2015. Scroll down for video The latest ad from the This Girl Can campaign, part of Sport England, will show a tampon string clearly visible from a women's underwear in a commercial for the first time. The woman in the advert is 29-year-old Hannah Johnson from Essex, who is seen slipping on her yoga pants before taking to the mat to help ease her period pains The real-life scenario sees Hannah then striding out of the changing room and stretching out on a yoga mat. The 29-year-old says her cramps are so bad she once stopped exercising while menstruating - but says it now helps her to manage the pain Elsewhere in the video, the one-minute production also shows a woman using jogging to help her overcome the symptoms of menopause, a busy mother-of-three enjoying time to herself through sport and also a disabled swimmer zipping carefree through a swimming pool. A slew of famous names have got behind the campaign and the new ad. Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in recorded history, wrote on Twitter: 'Love love love this and loveeee #ThisGirlCan' Radio and TV presenter Jo Whiley added: 'Completely LOVE this advert and can relate to this on so many levels. I often work out with my daughter India and SO many times there are tears & indignities & bodily fluids & mucho swearing,' Sports presenter Clare Balding added that she is 'once again inspired by the brilliant women featured.' Other women said they were delighted to see different women, with bodies like theirs, so confidently represented. 'Such a lovely ad, I'm thrilled to see bodies like mine represented, finally!! These Girls most definitely Can!' wrote one woman in response to the video. 'Tampon string realness!' enthused a second. Hundreds of women applied to be a part of the campaign and Hannah, 29, from Redbridge, Essex is seen using yoga to ease heavy menstrual cramps, and breaking taboos. Elsewhere in the ad, the one-minute production also shows a disabled swimmer zipping carefree through a swimming pool Big names have got behind the campaign and the new ad. Dina Asher Smith, the fastest British woman in recorded history, wrote on Twitter: 'Love love love this and loveeee #ThisGirlCan' She is shown pulling up her yoga pants with her tampon string dangling from her underwear. She then strides out of the changing room and is seen stretching out on a mat, despite having strong period cramps in real-life. 'Recently, I have become so unapologetic about my periods, and what I go through with my period pains every month. 'But there was definitely a moment where I was like 'do I really want to be the one with my tampon out on a national TV campaign?' Of course there was some trepidation,' Hannah told Metro.co.uk. Mum-of-three Kirsti (pictured), 37, from Chorley Wood, Rickmansworth, is shown breastfeeding before handing her baby over to her partner so she can play netball Mother and daughter Patrice (left) and Yvonne (right), (aged 24, and 54 respectively), from Haringey, London, are seen jogging together in the ad. While Yvonne uses exercise to help with menopause symptoms, Patrice has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Hannah told producers that her painful stomach meant that she used to try and avoid strenuous activity. She says that she now uses exercise to help manage the pain, and says she's become more comfortable in her body and more appreciative of how much it's capable of. Sport England says 3.5 million women have become involved in sport or physical activity as a result of their efforts since launching This Girl Can. However, it also reports that 40 per cent of women aged over 16 are still not active enough to get the full benefits of sport and physical activity. Lisa O'Keefe, Sport England's director of insight, says the campaign is once again trying to encourage women that they do not need to be 'in shape' or confident in their body in order to take part. O'Keefe said: 'This Girl Can is about helping women feel confident, so they can overcome the fears about being judged that our research showed was stopping many from getting active. Since we launched five years ago, we're seeing more relatable images in advertising and social media, but there's a long way to go until women's lives are being shown in a realistic way.' Other people were also pleased with the advert and thankful that bodies like theirs are finally being represented. 'I'm thrilled to see bodies like mine represented, finally!' said one woman She added that the strong imagery used in the video is a way of women's struggles becoming more visible: 'We've designed the new adverts to show things we're still not seeing - women using exercise to manage period symptoms or juggling motherhood - all while celebrating women of all shapes, sizes, abilities and backgrounds.' O'Keefe also called on 'all advertisers, the fitness industry, influencers, and brands to think about how they can support women to be active and using more relatable imagery is an important start.' Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, But that outcome, which would likely terminate the agreement, is precisely what the Europeans say they are trying to avoid. There is nervousness that Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, with his eye on a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington, might crack, but European officials consider that possibility unlikely. Mr. Johnson and his government support the nuclear deal and collaborated on a statement with France and Germany on Tuesday that said we are not joining a campaign to implement maximum pressure on Iran. On Tuesday, Mr. Johnson urged new talks with Washington and Tehran to try to negotiate a Trump deal to supplant the current one. Under the dispute mechanism, explained Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, time limits on discussions can be extended by consent. Any party to the deal can go directly to the United Nations Security Council to request the re-imposition of United Nations sanctions, but no one is expected to do that, unless Mr. Johnson unexpectedly capitulates to Washington. John R. Bolton, Mr. Trumps former national security adviser, has argued that the Americans can make this request themselves. The Europeans disagree, saying Mr. Trumps repudiation of the nuclear accord last year means the United States is no longer a party to it. Still, Ms. Geranmayeh said, both Iran and the United States are unpredictable. If there is no diplomacy or something else poisons it militarily, the Europeans have triggered a clock that could end up more quickly at the Security Council, she said. The political unrest in Iran, following the killing of General Suleimani and Irans accidental shooting down of a civilian airliner, creates enormous uncertainty. The government in Iran is cracking down on protests, and with parliamentary elections next month, hard-line rhetoric is bound to increase. While Iran insists its nuclear work will remain peaceful, its decisions to disregard the nuclear deals limits on both the volume and purity of Iranian nuclear fuel have raised worries that the country could amass enough enriched uranium to create a bomb in a matter of months. Advertisement Prince William yesterday spoke of the importance of getting over disagreements and moving forwards together, in poignant comments given his own family woes. He and Kate visited Bradford for their first joint engagement of the year the theme of which was community and bringing people together. It will seem particularly relevant given Prince Harry and Meghans dramatic decision to quit frontline royal duties and reports of tension between the brothers. Speaking at a community centre in the city, William, 37, said: Its sometimes trying to get people to understand thats its OK to have these challenges, we just need to deal with them and we need to move forwards rather than just be stuck in paralysis and pretend they dont happen, which is no good. The Duke of Cambridge was speaking to Near Neighbours - a group which brings together people of different religions and ethnicities - and said: 'It's sometimes trying to get people to understand that's it's OK to have these challenges (pictured: Kate looks lovingly at William as they help make Kulfi milkshakes at MyLahores flagship restaurant in Bradford) The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Bradford City Hall to hear about life in the city from young locals Prince Harry also broke cover for the first time tonight in a post on the 'Sussex Royal' Instagram page to promote his Invictus Games, which he said had the power to 'heal families.' As if to emphasise his and Kates role as keepers of the monarchys flame in his brothers absence, he said the couple were keen to go to parts of the UK they had not visited much to understand some of the complex challenges... that people find it hard to talk about. He added: You can see that communities are trying to come together, trying to help each other, trying to get to know each other... if we can replicate that around the country it can only be for the good. Aides last night said he had not intended to make a direct reference to the royal crisis, but accepted parallels could be drawn. In the past senior royals have used public engagements to allude to major issues. The Queen famously intervened in the Scottish referendum debate, then the Brexit crisis, with seemingly throwaway remarks. Harry is understood to be remaining in the UK until at least early next week to hammer out the details of 'Megxit' before joining Meghan and Archie, who have been in Canada (pictured: Meghan boarding a sea plane on Vancouver Island on Tuesday) The Bishop of Bradford, Tony Howarth, echoed Williams comments by saying it was hugely important for families to come together to talk. He said of William and Kate: At a bumpy time for our nation here is a young couple at ease with themselves and at ease with all the different communities theyve met today, bringing people together and showing we are all at our best as one family. Amid claims Meghan has been the victim of racism and did not feel welcome in the UK, the bishop stressed the inclusiveness of the Royal Family and praised William and Kate for visiting Bradford, one of Britains most diverse cities. He said: The Royal Family have made it very clear all the way along that Britain is a nation for everyone, every religion, every culture.Her Majesty has done that, Prince Charles has done that and now we can see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will do that. The Prince of Wales was championing Christian-Muslim relationships well before it became fashionable. And for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to go to Pakistan showed they are picking up the baton. And in coming to Bradford and meeting all the different communities they show they are taking the lead in showing how Britain can celebrate its diversity. Meanwhile it was business as usual for Kate and William yesterday as they shook hands and even made mango shakes on their royal away day. They started their day at the historic City Hall in Bradfords Centenary Square, where crowds had gathered from early morning to greet them. Mother-of-three Kate, 38, insisted her husband was not keen on having another child, telling a fan: I dont think William wants any more. Inside City Hall, the couple sat down with young community volunteers. Kate is handed white roses in Centenary Square in Bradford as crowds went wild for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Kate was giggling as she helped make kulfi milkshakes at MyLahore restaurant, which has taken inspiration from Lahore, considered the food capital of Pakistan Prince William spoke about 'challenges' and the 'need to move forward' during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first joint engagement since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit as senior royals William told Rosena Nawaz: We all look after our bodies, go to the gym, keep fit. But we need to think about our mental fitness each day too. Theres a clinical side to mental health but we need to keep our minds healthy and positive every day. Its about mental fitness too. Liaba Kazmi, 15, told the couple she lived in Carlton Bolling, one of the most deprived areas of Bradford, and wanted to become a politician or a policewoman to bring about change. There is a saying where I come from that a five-year-old can find a drug dealer quicker than a police officer can its true, its absolutely true, she said. I see these kids of six or seven hanging around on street corners at 10 oclock at night without their parents. Outside City Hall one person in the crowd shouted: Can I just ask you about your brother? William used a blender to make some traditional drinks while his wife laughs uproariously at his expense William tried his wife's handmade milkshake while Kate sampled her husband's lassi at MyLahore in Bradford The future Queen then sampled the fruit of her labour and clearly enjoyed the milkshake swirled with fresh fruit William shared jokes with the kitchen staff and learned about some of the community work undertaken by the restaurant But if William heard, he was not letting on. Later at MyLahore restaurant, British boxing superstar Amir Khan implored the future king and queen to sit together and resolve the situation with Harry and Meghan for the good of the Royal Family. Speaking after meeting the royal visitors, he said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had made rash decisions but added that he believed Meghan would always be welcome in Britain. Mr Khan also rejected suggestions the UK is a racist country. He stressed: Ive been in many places around the world, Ive travelled around the world from America to Pakistan...and always come back to England because thats my home. William and Kate tried their hand at making mango and kulfi milkshakes at the restaurant, which runs apprenticeships for local college students as well as giving free meals to the homeless. William may have been relieved about the warm reception as the storm over his brother's exit from Britain rumbled on People hold Union Jack flags ahead of William and Kate meeting with the members of the public in Bradford Prince William waves to the crowds gathered outside Bradford City Hall after leaving with his wife Kate Kate shakes hands with well-wishers outside Bradford City Hall during the royal visit to West Yorkshire The Duchess of Cambridge smiles as she holds a child's hand during a walkabout outside Bradford City Hall this afternoon The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford on their first royal engagement of the year Kate is in a dress by Zara, a coat by Alexander McQueen and earrings by Zeen that she wore on her royal tour of Pakistan The Duchess of Cambridge smiles as she walks behind a waving Prince William outside City Hall in Bradford During their visit to Bradford City Hall on January 15 they spoke with young people about life in the West Yorkshire city The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at City Hall in Bradford to meet with representatives from local employers and businesses Were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lured to Canada by chocolate treats? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were such big fans of a Canadian treat served to them by diplomats that even they asked to take some home with them - just a week before deciding to move to Canada permanently. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a reception at Canada's high commission in London just days before they announced their plan to step back from senior royal duties. They were served chocolate wafer Nanaimo bars, prompting diplomats to joke that they helped 'sealed the deal' - although they were unaware of the prospective move. A source told the i's deputy political editor Hugo Gye: 'They loved the chocolate - at the end of the night they even asked if they could take a plate of it home with them.' Canada's High Commissioner to the UK, Janice Charette, said Harry and Meghan would be able to 'enjoy some privacy' when they move to the country in the near future. She joked: 'I think it was their visit to Canada House last week that sealed the deal!' Advertisement The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge smile as they speak to young people and employers at Bradford City Hall The Duchess of Cambridge listens to what is being said during her visit with William to Bradford Kate smiles and waves at a group of school children who lined up to meet the Duchess of Cambridge in Bradford Kate smiled and laughed as she spoke to primary school children in Bradford's Centenary Square Prince William, left, enters a building as the Duchess of Cambridge waves to the crowd ahead of their meeting The Duchess is meeting representatives from employers and businesses who are helping young people into employment Prince William and Kate arrive at Bradford City Hall as they are greeted by well-wishers and meet employers The duke and duchess speak with local business leaders in Bradford as well as young people on their career prospects Harry breaks cover for first time since Megxit Video star: Prince Harry promoting the Invictus Games online The Duke of Sussex broke cover last night for the first time since he and Meghan announced that they were standing down as senior royals. Harry appeared in an online video to announce that the next Invictus Games for wounded service personnel and veterans will take place in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2022. His video came as it emerged that Harry will not fly back to Canada to be reunited with his wife and baby son Archie until next week. Today he faces an awkward return to Buckingham Palace as he hosts the draw for the Rugby League World Cup. The Queen is not expected to be in residence as the duke undertakes his first major engagement since he and Meghan sparked a royal crisis last week. Harry has several meetings in the UK early next week, after which he is expected to fly to Vancouver island, where Meghan and Archie are staying in the 10.7million villa where they spent Christmas. The island is a celebrity hotspot favoured by the likes of Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and singer Nelly Furtado. The Sussexes enjoyed hikes and morning jogs during their stay, away from the royal spotlight. In a sign that the duke is attempting to carry on as normal, the Invictus Games video which he recorded yesterday was posted on the Sussex Royal Instagram account. He said in a statement: Germany has been a key part of the Invictus Games family since the very start in 2014 and I know that they will be exemplary hosts in picking up the mantle and showcasing what sport continues to do for these inspirational men and women in their recovery. The 2022 Invictus Games will bring together more than 500 competitors from 20 nations, with events held across Dusseldorf over the course of a week. Advertisement Kate, rattle and roll... Duchess wows the crowds The Duchess of Cambridge put her in-laws woes to one side as she charmed crowds in Bradford. Kate dished out handshakes and hugs to flag-waving children outside City Hall, wrapped up warm in a military-style Alexander McQueen coat over an 89.99 houndstooth check dress from Zara. The duchess, who also showed off eye-catching earrings from Pakistani designer Zeen, was there with her husband to meet youngsters from across the city engaged in volunteer and community work At the nearby Khidmat Centre, which helps vulnerable members of the community, Kate joined in for a session of its Older But Wiser project, supporting grandparents who are kept busy by looking after their grandchildren. The duchess danced with toddler Sorayah Ahmad during a sing-song, helping her to shake her rattle in time to the music. Kate met representatives from local businesses who are helping young people into employment in Bradford on January 15 The Duchess of Cambridge brushes her hair as she arrives for a visit to City Hall in Centenary Square, Bradford on January 15 The visit on January 15 comes days after the Queen agreed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could step back as senior royals The Duke of Cambridge returned to royal duties in Bradford on January 15 following a tumultuous week for the Royal Family The Duchess of Cambridge meets people outside City Hall during her visit to Bradford on January 15 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people on January 15 William and Kate arrive in Bradford to cheers from several hundred well-wishers on Centenary Square on January 15 Kate arrives for a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people from across the community on January 15 The Duchess of Cambridge visits City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square to meet people in the West Yorkshire city The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited projects in Bradford which support the community and promote cohesion Prince William and Kate go on a tour of Bradford as they meet young people and employers on January 15 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Bradford City Hall to hear about life in the city in West Yorkshire The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square on January 15 The royals are visiting projects in Bradford that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities William and Kate arrived in Bradford on January 15 to cheers from several hundred well-wishers on Centenary Square During their visit to Bradford City Hall, they are speaking with young people about life in the West Yorkshire city The couple are visiting a number of projects that promote cohesion within one of the UK's most diverse cities William and Kate's visit comes just two days after the Queen agreed Harry and Meghan could step back as senior royals Prince William and Kate arrive in Bradford on January 15 after what has been a tumultuous week for the royals Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge smile as they arrive for the engagement in Bradford on January 15 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge return to royal duties in Bradford for their first official engagement of the year The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at City Hall in Bradford as she goes inside with her husband Prince William During their visit to Bradford City Hall, the royal couple are speaking to young people about life in the West Yorkshire city Kate shakes hands with local children who cheered the Duchess and shouted her name as the royals were shaken by Prince Harry's decision to walk away from life as a senior royal William and Kate were smiling and tactile with the West Yorkshire crowds who were delighted to see them there William joked with a section of the crowds that they were the 'noisy corner' as the people of Bradford came out in force to support the Cambridges The Duchess complimented these children on their school uniforms and played with one girl's hat before asking them if they were 'freezing' One young supporter who was waiting in the cold had a brief chat with the Duchess who then gave him a big hug, thanking him for seeing them Huge cheers greeted the royal couple as they entered and came out of City Hall to meet members of the public The Duchess of Cambridge waves as she visits City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square to join a group of young people The visit to the West Yorkshire city is William and Kate's first joint public engagement together in two months Prince William smiles as he talks to officials welcoming him to Bradford City Hall for the royal visit The Duchess of Cambridge arrives in Bradford as the royal couple visit a number of projects in the city Gov. Ralph Northam delivers the State of the Commonwealth address at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 8, 2020. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Virginia Governor Declares State of Emergency at Capitol Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally 'Intelligence shows the threat of armed militia groups storming our capitol,' Northam says Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency and is banning firearms and other weapons on the state capitol grounds ahead of a gun-rights demonstration next week. We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies that there are groups with malicious plans for the rally that is planned for Monday, Northam told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday. Intelligence shows the threat of armed militia groups storming our capitol, he added. Northam said authorities received reports of out-of-state militia groups and hate groups planning to travel from across the country to disrupt our democratic process with acts of violence and added that they may be are coming to intimidate and to cause harm, it was reported. His declaration, according to a statement on the governors website, prohibits weapons on the grounds of the capitol for three days. The declaration will provide joint law enforcement and public safety agencies with more resources ahead of the rally, his office said. The declaration is also temporary and extends from this Friday, Jan. 17, to Tuesday, Jan. 21. After the emergency expires, most firearms will be allowed on the capitol grounds as Virginia is an open-carry stateunless another emergency declaration is made. No one wants another incident like the one we saw at Charlottesville in 2017. We will not allow that mayhem and violence to happen here, he said, reported USA Today, referring to a rally where clashes broke out and a protester was killed. But Virginia Citizens Defense League organizer Philip Van Cleave, the organizer of the Richmond rally, said the event will still take place. He said its not clear how his group or others will respond to the emergency declaration. Hell no, hes not going to stop it with that little act, Van Cleave told the newspaper, adding that legal action could be pursued. The governor and leadership in the Democratic Party have declared war on law-abiding gun owners, and theyre tired of it, Van Cleave said. Its basically people saying were fed up. Weve had enough. He added that Northam has touched the third rail and has motivated people to drive across the state and from other states to come protect our rights. Northam, in news reports, has tried to dispute the idea that police in Virginia will go door-to-door to confiscate guns. We have no intention of calling out the National Guard. Were not going to cut off peoples electricity. Were not going to go door-to-door and confiscate individuals weapons, Northam said on Jan. 7. We are going to pass common-sense legislation that will keep guns out of dangerous hands and keep Virginia safer. It is just that simple. The senior leaders discussed the current security environment in Europe. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley has called Ukraine a "key partner to NATO." Read alsoUkraine says ready to become NATO's operational partner in Iraq "Ukraine is a key partner to NATO and plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe," he said during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Ruslan Khomchak in Brussels, Belgium, on January 14, 2020. It is noted the senior leaders discussed the current security environment in Europe. On January 14, Khomchak took part in the 182nd Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session in a format with the operational partners of the Resolute Support Mission (Afghanistan), according to the official website of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia also recently confirmed that 2019 was the warmest and driest year on record for the country - Getty Images AsiaPac The 2010s were the hottest decade on record and 2019 the second hottest year, according to data released on Wednesday by the United Nations. Extreme events such as the wildfires in Australia are likely to become much more common as the warming trend continues, the World Meteorological Organisation said. Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. It comes after scientists earlier this week said the world's oceans were also the hottest on record last year, and had absorbed the equivalent to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom bomb explosions over the past 25 years. More than 90 per cent of excess heat is stored in the oceans, making them a key measure of warming. Warming temperatures have been blamed for melting ice in the Arctic Credit: PA The UN body compiled data from five sources, including the Met Office and Nasa, and compared to records dating back to 1850 to show that the world has warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius since the industrial era. Last year was only cooler than 2016, which was affected by the warming impact of a particularly strong El Nino climate cycle. It also showed that average global temperatures during the past five years were also the highest ever recorded. Governments have committed to targets to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in order to limit the catastrophic impact including widespread drought, loss of coral reefs and melting of nearly all Arctic sea ice. Higher temperatures have been blamed for the severity of the wildfire season in Australia, which has killed 28 people and burned more than 15 million acres across the country. The Aletsch glacier above Bettmeralp, Swiss Alps, which could completely disappear by the end of this century Credit: AFP The world is currently on track for a warming of at least 3 degrees Celsius, despite climate change dominating the global political agenda. For the first time, business leaders heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week identified climate-change related threats as the biggest global risks, a survey showed yesterday. Story continues The UK has set committed to bringing all emissions of all greenhouse gases, the major contributor to warming, to net zero by 2050. But it has not yet laid out a roadmap for how it will achieve the goal. This year will be crunch time for the Paris climate agreement, under which nations signed up to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The UK will host the COP26 summit later this year in Glasgow, where signatories are expected to present their plans to reach the target. "If we look at all the impacts around the world that are now occurring as a result of this warming, it is obvious that we are not succeeding in preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system," said Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Ministerial-level delegates from 12 countries on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Delhi on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue. Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia; Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan; Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary; Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor of Afghanistan; Tomas Petricek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic; Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives; Hasan Mahmud, Minister of Information of Bangladesh; Urmas Reinsalu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa; Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of The Commonwealth and Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, were the delegates who called on the Prime Minister. A Prime Minister Office release said that the Prime Minister welcomed the leaders to India and appreciated their participation at Raisina Dialogue 2020. It said the Prime Minister spoke about the large-scale efforts undertaken by the government for rapid and inclusive socio-economic development and highlighted their significance for alleviating major global developmental challenges and attaining Sustainable Development Goals. (ANI) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Azercell Telecom LLC has announced a final report on Mobile Dental Clinic for its successful activity in 2019. The doctors of the clinic visited thousands of boarding schools, orphanages in Baku and regions and examined many people in need. 507 people have had a medical examination, whereas 546 patients have been treated. Considering the lack of dental cabinets in most orphanages, Azercell has supplied Mobile Dental Clinic with the best modern medical equipment. The company aims to help all the orphans living not only in Baku but also in the regions of the country. It is worth informing that all the medical examinations and treatment provision are carried out by the Caspian Compassion Project with the support of Azercell. Mobile Dental Clinic has provided checkups and treatment as needed to thousands of people throughout its operation. For more information, please contact [email protected] The leader of the mobile communication industry, the largest taxpayer and the biggest investor of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. Currently, 4.8 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Mobile operator controls 49% of market share; while its geographical coverage constitutes 99.2% (excluding the occupied territories); and population coverage 99.8%. Azercell was the pioneering mobile operator to introduce a number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, mobile internet services, 24/7 call center service (*1111), 7/7 Front Office service, Azercell Express offices, M2M services, 4G technology and pilot version of 5G, mobile, online customer care services and customer services through social media, mobile e-signature service ASAN Imza etc. Rapidly increasing 4G network of Azercell covers nearly 60 regions of the country, including Baku and Absheron peninsula. According to the results of mobile network quality and wireless coverage mapping surveys by international systems, Azercells 4G network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan. Azercell is the only company in Azerbaijan and CIS region which has been awarded Gold Certificate of International Investors in People Standard. Protesters against TC Energy's Coastal GasLink project in western Canada block a major road in the business district of Toronto By Rod Nickel (Reuters) - Construction of the C$6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in western Canada resumed on Tuesday, after an indigenous group that opposes the project had ordered its workers off their territory. Coastal GasLink, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, will move gas from northeast British Columbia to the Pacific Coast, where the Royal Dutch Shell-led LNG Canada export facility is under construction. While less contentious than oil pipelines, Coastal GasLink faces opposition from some leaders of the Wet'suwet'en people, who say the project interferes with their hunting and trapping rights. The British Columbia Supreme Court granted an injunction last week against blockades preventing access for workers, after protests a year ago resulted in arrests. Wet'suwet'en Nation rejected the decision and said on Saturday that it had issued an "eviction notice" to Coastal GasLink from its territories. Work has now resumed after a holiday break, Coastal GasLink spokeswoman Suzanne Wilton said, including clearing, construction of work camps and pipe delivery. The company added in a statement that it would delay resuming work on a particularly sensitive site, known as Camp 9A, where Wet'suwet'en last year said they found stone tools that are thousands of years old. Coastal GasLink said it has requested a meeting with the hereditary chiefs. But one of the opponents, Likht'samisyu Chief Dsta'hyl, tweeted that they would only meet with government and police officials, not the company. Spokespersons for other chiefs could not be reached by phone. The Wet'suwet'en have scheduled protests through this week in several Canadian provinces. Many other indigenous groups along the pipeline's path support the project because it will create jobs and long-term financial benefits. Private equity firm KKR & Co Inc said in December that it and Alberta Investment Management Corp would jointly buy a 65% stake in Coastal GasLink. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Bill Berkrot) California attorney Michael Avenatti has been rearrested for alleged bail violations, prosecutors in New York told a judge late Tuesday. The prosecutors said in a one-page letter to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe that they were told by prosecutors in Los Angeles that an arrest warrant had been issued and it was expected Avenatti would be arrested soon. 'We understand that has now occurred,' the New York prosecutors said in the letter. 'We are still gathering information and will provide an update to the Court as soon as we can,' the letter added. The letter was submitted by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman and signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Richenthal. Three other prosecutors were also listed. California attorney Michael Avenatti has been rearrested for alleged bail violations, prosecutors in New York told a judge late Tuesday Avanetti also faces charges that he defrauded clients of millions of dollars. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, along with allegations in a criminal case in Manhattan federal court alleging he ripped off ex-client porn star Stormy Daniels of proceeds of a book deal California authorities did not immediately confirm the arrest. A message seeking comment was left with Avenatti's attorneys. In their letters, New York prosecutors said Los Angeles prosecutors notified them that Avenatti was arrested in California for alleged violations of the conditions of his pretrial release. Avenatti was scheduled for trial next week in Manhattan federal court. That trial pertains to allegations that he extorted Nike for up to $25 million. He has pleaded not guilty. But he also faces trial in May in Los Angeles on charges that he defrauded clients of millions of dollars. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, along with allegations in a criminal case in Manhattan federal court alleging he ripped off ex-client porn star Stormy Daniels of proceeds of a book deal. The second New York trial was scheduled to start in May. Earlier Tuesday, Avenatti was on a telephone conference with his lawyers, prosecutors and Gardephe. During the hearing, the judge refused to postpone the trial scheduled to start with jury selection on Wednesday. Avenatti's lawyers had requested a monthlong delay to study additional documents. Avenatti has said he has been unfairly targeted by the U.S. Justice Department after publicly quarreling with President Donald Trump. Gardephe said he'll rule during another telephone conference on Wednesday whether to allow evidence about Avenatti's financial condition to be shown to jurors. A federal judge has ordered porn star Stormy Daniels to pay President Donald Trump $293,000 in legal fees after an earlier dismissing her defamation lawsuit against him. Michael Avenatti represented her in the case Prosecutors say they'd like to show the jury that Avenatti's debts coincided with demands he made early last year in meetings with Nike lawyers for between $15 million and $25 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky told Gardephe that Avenatti's law firm would not have been able to stay in business because the firm had a $10 million judgment against it. Defense attorney Danya Perry said prosecutors exaggerated Avenatti's debts, particularly what the law firm owed, and she disputed claims by the government in court papers that Avenatti owed over $15 million. 'It doesn't get close to that,' she said. Although Podolsky insisted prosecutors needed to reveal the debts at trial to show Avenatti's motivation to seek so much money from Nike, the judge expressed doubt. Gardephe said: '$15 to $20 million is a very compelling motive to commit a crime even if you dont happen to be in debt. I have to take that into account also.' Perry said the amount of money requested for an internal corruption probe of Nike was first suggested by a Nike attorney rather than Avenatti. In 2018, Avenatti represented porn star Stormy Daniels who was ordered to pay President Donald Trump $293,000 in legal fees afterdismissing her defamation lawsuit against him. Trump's attorney, Charles Harder, had requested nearly $390,000 in fees, but in Los Angeles, federal Judge S. James Otero cut the amount by 25 percent. He also wanted a nearly equal amount in sanctions, but only received $1,000. Daniels alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement days before the 2016 presidential election. Were not flipping a switch and shutting down production overnight, Bloomberg said. Were going to help people get cleaner, pollution-free homes and buildings, and well put thousands of people to work installing that infrastructure. Already, there are more renewable energy jobs in western Pennsylvania than jobs in fossil fuels. That gives people working in the shale gas industry some options for how to use their skills. Regular season La NFL It ended up being one of the most exciting matches offered throughout the entire campaign, and that was it Riders vs. Chasers He came to this fight with the obligation to win yes or no Playoffs, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet resigned Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin announced major changes to the structure of Russia's government. Why it matters: This is part of a much wider shakeup. Putin is facing constitutional term limits that, unless amended, will force him to leave office in 2024. In his state of the nation address, Putin proposed a referendum that would shift more power to the prime minister and cabinet and away from any presidential successor. Medvedev said after Putin's speech that, under these conditions, I believe it would be right for the government of the Russian Federation to resign," per the WSJ. Medvedev served as president from 2008-2012 when Putin was serving as prime minister, and the two swapped jobs upon Putin's return to the Kremlin. Putin said Medvedev would be offered the newly created post of deputy chairman of Russias security council. Medvedev is unpopular, and has occasionally been used by Putin as a scapegoat for the government's failings. Putin's choices for prime minister and other top jobs will be closely watched for hints that a successor is being groomed. Details: "Putin suggested amending Russias constitution to limit a future president to two terms in office he has served four tightening residency requirements for presidential candidates, and letting parliament choose candidates for prime minister and the cabinet, in effect weakening the presidency," per the Guardian. What to watch: Putin could return as prime minister in 2024 or take charge of the state council, which will also become more powerful. Another theory is that he will place himself at the head of a potential new commonwealth between Russia and Belarus. Go deeper... 20 Years of Putin: Tracing his rise from KGB to Kremlin TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan 15, 2020, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, along with Katarina Verrelli, on behalf of herself and others who seek access to vaccine information, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Adam Schiff has abused government power and infringed on their free-speech rights. "Who appointed Congressman Adam Schiff as Censor-in-Chief?" asks AAPS General Counsel. "No one did, and he should not be misusing his position to censor speech on the internet." In February and March 2019, Rep. Schiff contacted Google, Facebook, and Amazon, to encourage them to de-platform or discredit what Schiff asserted to be inaccurate information on vaccines. He then posted the letters and press release on the House.gov website. Within 24 hours of Schiff's letter to Amazon dated Mar 1, 2019, Amazon removed the popular videos Vaxxed and Shoot 'Em Up: the Truth About Vaccines from its platform for streaming videos, depriving members of the public of convenient access. Under a policy announced in May 2019, Twitter includes a pro-government disclaimer placed above search results for an AAPS article on vaccine mandates: "Know the Facts. To make sure you get the best information on vaccination, resources are available from the US Department of Health and Human Services." The implication of this disclaimer is that if information is not on a government website, then it is somehow less credible. On Facebook, a search for an AAPS article on vaccines, which previously would lead directly to the AAPS article, now produces search results containing links to the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Visits to the AAPS website have declined significantly since March 2019, both in absolute terms and relative to the decline that would result from a story's losing its recency. "The internet is supposed to provide free access to information to people of different opinions," stated AAPS Executive Director, Jane Orient, M.D. Dr. Orient continues, "AAPS is not 'anti-vaccine,' but rather supports informed consent, based on an understanding of the full range of medical, legal, and economic considerations relevant to vaccination and any other medical intervention, which inevitably involves risks as well as benefits." AAPS argues in the complaint against Rep. Schiff: "The First Amendment protects the rights of free speech and association. Included within the right of free speech is a right to receive information from willing speakers. Under the First Amendment, Americans have the right to hear all sides of every issue and to make their own judgments about those issues without government interference or limitations. Content-based restrictions on speech are presumptively unconstitutional, and courts analyze such restrictions under strict scrutiny." The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Related Links https://aapsonline.org Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi state, has dismissed claims that he is on admission at a London hospital. Mukhtar Gidado, his spokesperson, dismissed the rumour that the governor is hospitalised in London for an undisclosed illness. The spokesperson, in a statement, said the governor was only away on a medical appointment for a minor procedure and that he returned to his temporary residence the same day. He said, The Bauchi State Government has noted with concern, rumors being peddled by some mischief makers suggesting that His Excellency Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed is bed-ridden and cannot be back anytime soon to continue to perform his duties. Some members of the opposition have, in the wake of the on-going Supreme Court case, unfortunately, insinuated that His Excellency is in the United Kingdom for the long haul because of what they term to be his deteriorating Health condition. I wish to state that this dubious line of thought exists only in the wicked and diabolical world of the rumor merchants. Read Also: Bauchi Teacher Went To Work Only Seven Times In 11 Years Our Governor was away on a medical appointment with his doctor, had a minor procedure and returned to his temporary abode the same day. He even had a road walk barely 3 hours after the procedure. Those who are active on social media must have seen a picture His Excellency personally posted, looking rested and cheerful. I can confirm to the good people of Bauchi State that our Governor will be joining us soon as he personally indicated in a social media feed this morning. Finally, the Governor extends his appreciation for the endless prayers, phone calls and messages he has been receiving from the kind and loving people of our State in particular and other well-wishers across Nigeria. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said BJP leader Udayanraje Bhosale should give proof he is the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, and asserted that no one has ownership rights over the Maratha warrior king. Raut also said NCP chief Sharad Pawar is the "Janata Raja" (enlightened king) as people of Maharashtra have given him that title. In an interview to a media group during its award function here, the Shiv Sena leader also revealed that he had once met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, and "admonished" him. Also, in a piece of advice to Rahul Gandhi, he said the Congress leader should spend "15 hours" in the party office. Raut, whose party formed a coalition government with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra last year, said it is Bhosale's right what to speak as he is now in the BJP and putting forth his opinionas an opposition leader. Amid the controversy over the book "Aaj Ke Shivaji: Narendra Modi", written by BJP leader Jay Bhagwan Goyal, Bhosale on Tuesday said, "Every time, it is said that ask descendants. When the Shiv Sena was christened, when the word 'Shiv' was used, did you come and ask the descendants?" Asked about Bhosale's comments, Raut said, "He should bring proof that he is the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji." Raut said Shivaji Maharaj is "considered as God" and one does not go to God and tell him before worshipping him. "No one has the ownership rights over Shivaji Maharaj," the Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member said. He also said that the title of 'Janata Raja' has been given to Sharad Pawar by people of Maharashtra because he has worked for them. "Similarly, people of the state gave the title of 'Hinduhriday Samrat' to (late Sena supremo) Balasaheb Thackeray," Raut said. Bhosale, who was earlier in the NCP, on Tuesday said no one in the world can be compared to Chhatrapati Shivaji, the 17th century Maratha ruler who is a highly revered figure in Maharashtra. The former Satara MP, who is a descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, also dared the Shiv Sena to remove the word 'Shiv' from its name, and rechristen the party as "Thackeray Sena". He also said that only Chhatrapati Shivaji can be called the 'Janata Raja' and nobody else, a remark viewed as a swipe at Sharad Pawar, who is sometimes referred to by the title in political circles. Meanwhile, recalling days of the underworld in Mumbai, Raut said he had once met fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and rebuked him. "I haveseen him, I have met him, I have spoken to him and I have also admonished him," the Sena leader said. Asked what advice he has for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Raut said, "He should spend 15 hours in the party office. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Brandon University Students Union will be meeting the universitys dean of health sciences later this week to discuss the class of nursing students being punished for academic dishonesty. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us The Brandon University Students Union will be meeting the universitys dean of health sciences later this week to discuss the class of nursing students being punished for academic dishonesty. BUSU president Olusola Akintola told the Sun on Tuesday that he, along with BUSUs director for health studies, the president of the health students society and two representatives from the affected class will be meeting with dean John Moraros on Friday. Akintola did not offer any commentary on the situation, deferring until after the meeting takes place. BUSU previously issued a statement saying that they were working with university administration to ensure an acceptable outcome to the situation. The 46-48 students in last semesters Nursing Foundations II class were made to re-write their final exam after the university determined it had been compromised. As punishment, the maximum grade students could receive on their exam was lowered to 70 per cent. Last Saturday, the Sun reported that sources had come forward to say that the class was being punished for using study information from a publicly available test bank to study for their exam that their professor had used material from to create his final exam. The university said last week that this did not match their version of events, but would not provide specifics. BU spokesperson Grant Hamilton told the Sun over the weekend that the university may be able to share some information on the situation later this week. The Brandon Sun Doctors say a brain-damaged baby boy at the centre of a High Court life-support treatment dispute has died. Midrar Ali's father Karwan Ali, 35, and mother, Shokhan Ali, 28, want specialists at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester to keep providing life-support treatment. They say their son is growing and should be given more time. Medics at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust claim that Midrar Ali, pictured, has suffered brain stem death and it is in his best interests that all treatment ceases Karwan and Shokhan Ali, pictured with baby Midrar and his elder brother, right, is in Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust hospital Midrar's parents broke down yesterday in the High Court, pictured, after medics said the four-month-old infant was 'tragically' dead But a lawyer representing the trust which runs the hospital has told a judge overseeing the case that 'tragically' Midrar is dead. Barrister Neil Davy, who represents Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, told Mrs Justice Lieven that keeping Midrar's body connected to a ventilator was not dignified. The judge was given updates at a preliminary hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London on Tuesday. She is due to decide whether life-support treatment should continue after a trial in Preston next week. Mrs Justice Lieven said the evidence before her was that Midrar, who is nearly four months old, had suffered 'brain stem death'. She said the 'real issue' she would have to decide was whether the little boy was 'dead already'. Mr and Mrs Ali wanted next week's trial, scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday, delayed so that another doctor could examine Midrar. But Mrs Justice Lieven decided that delay would not be in Midrar's best interests. She said three specialists involved in Midrar's care, plus a specialist from another hospital, had already examined the little boy and concluded that ending life-support treatment was the right option. 'This is an incredibly tragic case,' said the judge. 'My heart absolutely goes out to the parents.' But she added: 'The evidence is that Midrar has suffered brain-stem death.' She went on: 'The real issue is whether he is dead already.' Both Midrar's parents were at Tuesday's hearing. Mrs Ali broke down when Mr Davy said Midrar was dead. Midrar has been receiving life-support treatment in an intensive care unit since shortly after his birth. Complications during birth led to him being starved of oxygen and suffering brain damage. Hospital bosses want Mrs Justice Lieven to rule that ending life-support treatment is in Midrar's best interests. After Maharashtra and Bihar, Odisha has become the third State to write to Centre urging for holding enumeration of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes along with the general census in 2021. In a letter to cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, Odisha chief secretary, Asit Tripathy, said, that the census of these communities can be done either by inserting suitable columns in the Census format or by prescribing a separate format for a simultaneous enumeration of the SEBCs and OBCs. Tripathy pointed out that no formal census including caste details of the population has been undertaken since 1931. Non-availability of reliable and authentic data about the exact number of SEBCs and OBC population has become an impediment for taking up focussed planning for these communities. Odisha government has an abiding commitment for inclusive growth, Tripathy wrote. Last week, the state Cabinet had passed a resolution to request Centre for the census of OBC and SEBC. The chief secretarys letter to Centre came on the day Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan questioned the Odisha governments move of seeking enumeration of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Castes. In a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Pradhan said the move to pass the resolution was a dilatory and step trying to mask the extant policies of the state Government denying state-wide reservation for OBC and SEBC categories. Mentioning about central governments 27% reservation to OBCs in government jobs as well as in educational institutions, the union minister questioned why Odisha was not implementing it. Even after nearly 30 years of central governments 27% reservation to OBCs in government jobs as well as in educational institutions, it is difficult to decipher why Odisha government is not providing any such reservations to OBCs in public employment or in educational institutions and to SEBCs in educational institutions, Pradhan wrote. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has approved the total ban on the deployment of workers to Kuwait. In a resolution dated January 15 and released Thursday, the agencys governing board said the government will stop the processing and deployment of all Filipino workersincluding household service, semi-skilled, skilled, and professional to the Gulf State. The move came following the release of the local autopsy results on Jeanelyn Villavende, a Filipina domestic worker allegedly killed by her Kuwaiti employers in December. POEA said the National Bureau of Investigations findings, which showed that the 26-year-old was sexually abused and brutally murdered, countered Kuwaiti officials inadequate autopsy reportwhich only highlighted Villavendes physical injuries. Exempted from the ban, however, are skilled workers and professionals categorized as balik-manggagawa-- or employees who took time off for vacation and holidays. No more issuance of overseas employment certificates The latest ban would prohibit the government from issuing overseas employment certificates (OEC) to Filipino workers, Senate Labor Committee Chair Joel Villanueva clarified on Thursday. Meaning to say, minsan kahit may contract na kayo sa recruitment agency at recruitment agency sa ibang bansa, wala yung OEC, hindi kayo makakatuloy, Villanueva told CNN Philippines The Source. [Translation: Meaning to say, even if you have a contract with the local recruitment agency and the recruitment agency of other countries, if you dont have the OEC, you wont able to fly out.] The lawmaker, however, said those who have already paid for the documents may ask for refund from POEA. Ang good news, nakausap namin ang POEA, pwede niyong i-refund 'yan sa inyong recruitment agencies. At kung hindi kayo i-refund, i-reklamo niyo sa POEA, he added. [Translation: The good news is, we talked to POEA. You can refund it from your recruitment agencies. If you dont get your refund, you can send a complaint to POEA.] POEA earlier this month imposed only a partial deployment ban, which covered newly-hired household service workers. READ: Admin case filed vs. recruiter of slain OFW in Kuwait Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III previously said the ban may be lifted if Kuwaiti courts take appropriate action on the Filipinas case. Foreign authorities, however, have yet to confirm if the suspects Villavende's Kuwaiti employers have already been charged. HONOLULU The giant red star Betelgeuse might be harboring a gruesome secret in its past. A new model posits that the prominent night-sky object was once two stars, until the larger star ate its smaller companion. And that could explain several of Betelgeuse's peculiar properties. Betelgeuse is a whopper of a star, with a diameter of 600 million miles (965 million kilometers), bigger than the orbit of Mars, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory . At a relatively close distance of 520 light-years from Earth, Betelgeuse is also one of the few stars whose surface features can be resolved with telescopes. By closely monitoring Betelgeuse's surface, different researchers have calculated that the star's rotational rate is somewhere between 11,000 and 33,000 mph (17,700 to 53,000 km/h), Manos Chatzopoulos, an astronomer at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, said during a session on Monday (Jan. 6) at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society here. Related: 15 Amazing Images of Stars This is surprising because as a star ages and enters the red giant phase of its life, like Betelgeuse has, the star expands and its rotation typically slows down, much like an ice skater pushing out their arms to slow their spin, Chatzopoulos told Live Science. Betelgeuse is also a runaway star , meaning that the object is zipping along at a mind-boggling speed, in Betelgeuse's case, 67,000 mph (108,000 km/h) relative to background stars in the Milky Way, he added. "For such a famous star that everyone knows and loves, nobody has tried to explain the combination of these two things," Chatzopoulos said, referring to its odd rotation rate and speed. "So how do you put together these two facts?" A clue might come from where Betelgeuse is thought to originate, a star-dense region known as the Orion OB1a association. Along with colleagues, Chatzopoulos has suggested that gravitational interactions with the many stars in that region could have flung Betelgeuse away at high speed millions of years ago, explaining the star's hyper-velocity. Betelgeuse might have also had a smaller companion, the researchers posited, which got tossed out along with it. As Betelgeuse aged and expanded, it might have engulfed this partner, which would have stirred up Betelgeuse's outer layers "like stirring up coffee with a stick," Chatzopoulos said, and increased its rotation rate. He and his collaborators have run sophisticated stellar-evolution computer models incorporating all these ideas. The results that best fit Betelgeuses observed features suggested it was once two separate stars, one with 16 times the sun's mass and another with four times the sun's mass. The researchers are preparing to submit their research to The Astrophysical Journal. The researchers' models were also able to match the amount of nitrogen seen in Betelgeuse's atmosphere, which is unusually high. This is a potentially corroborating piece of evidence, because the stirring of a companion star might have dredged up nitrogen from Betelgeuse's center, Chatzopoulos said. Earlier work by Chatzopoulos' former Ph.D. advisor offered the idea that Betelgeuse was formed as the merger of two stars . Chatzopoulos said that his new research expands on that prior idea and adds in specific simulations to account for the red giant star's rotation and speed. "I think it's interesting," said Andrea Dupree, a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who was not involved in the work. Dupree and her colleagues previously proposed that Betelgeuse may have swallowed exoplanetary companions. But she said it would be useful to take a closer look at Betelgeuse's properties, some of which haven't been measured in as long as 30 years, before saying anything definitive. Betelgeuse has lately been in the news over the possibility that it could imminently burst as a spectacular supernova. Should Chatzopoulos' research provide the new explanation of Betelgeuse's birth, does it mean anything about the star's death? Chatzopoulos doesn't have an answer to that. But if his idea is correct, he said it could mean Betelgeuse was rejuvenated at some point in the past with fresh material from the companion that the star consumed. That could have led scientists to underestimate Betelgeuse's age, meaning it's not set to explode anytime soon. As an astronomer specializing in supernovas, he finds this perhaps a bit disappointing, he said. "All of us who study supernova wish it would happen in our lifetime," he said. Editor's Note: This story was updated to remove mention of spots on Betelgeuse's surface being used to measure rotational speed; not all measurements relied on these spots. Originally published on Live Science . Water woes and a lack of funding are among the many problems said to be affecting residents A teacher attacked London Palladium staff when she and her wife were ejected for loudly complaining about a show starring The Greatest Dancer judge Todrick Hall, a court heard. Kate Kenward and Nicole Casey, both 35, were asked to leave their royal circle seats after complaints from other audience members that the women were drunk and ruining the US stars show, which also featured Cheryl, a fellow judge on the BBC show. Kenward, head of technology at Leytonstone School, struck door manager Michael Hamer as the couple were escorted to the foyer and also shoved Loretta Belsham into a door. US-born Casey had to be restrained by theatre staff during the incident on October 13 last year, and she headbutted Pc Amil Georg after being arrested and taken into custody. Cheryl with Todrick Hall Westminster magistrates court heard the couple had been drinking before the incident, which began as the American Idol finalist performed hits from his latest album as part of his Haus Party world tour. There were complaints from other theatregoers and both defendants were obviously drunk and were complaining about the performance, said prosecutor Leila Nahaboo-Osman. They were asked to leave and Casey had to be restrained by members of staff. The court was told that when Casey was pinned down by theatre staff in the foyer, she complained of pain in her right arm from a metal rod that had been inserted during surgery. Kenward shouted let her go and shoved Ms Belsham aside as she went to try to help her wife, and also admitted striking Mr Hamer, who has a pacemaker. She now fears being reported to the Teaching Regulation Agency due to the convictions, but told the court bosses at her school have been supportive. Kenward also said she may now face difficulties in travelling to America with her wife because of her criminal record, describing the incident as a momentary act of stupidity. Casey told the court she cannot remember headbutting Pc Georg. Both women, from Leytonstone, have now written to the assault victims to apologise. Magistrate Lynne Gailey told them: This was an unprovoked attack at the theatre and at the police station and you both had been drinking. We have heard you are both of previous good character, remorseful, have stopped drinking and sought counselling. Headbutting a police officer is particularly nasty, but you have both shown remorse and are clearly upset about this. Kenward pleaded guilty to two charges of assault. She was fined 300 and ordered to pay 150 in compensation to Mr Hamer, as well as 117 in court costs and fees. Burma ICJ to Rule on Emergency Measures in Myanmar Genocide Case on Jan. 23: Gambia A supporter holds a picture of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration outside the International Court of Justice during hearings in The Gambias genocide case against Myanmar in The Hague, Netherlands on Dec. 11, 2019. / REUTERS THE HAGUEThe International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations highest court, will issue a decision on a request for emergency measures in a genocide case against Myanmar on Jan. 23, the Gambian Ministry of Justice said on Twitter on Monday. The mainly Muslim West African country filed the suit in November, alleging Myanmar was committing an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. The ICJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in a military campaign that expelled more than 730,000 Rohingya from the country. It asked the International Court of Justice to order provisional measures to prevent more harm, a first step in a legal case that is expected to go on for years. Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, traveled to The Hague last month to defend her country against the charges. She denied that genocide was taking place and said the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, once championed in the West for her decades-long fight for democracy for Myanmar, said Myanmar did investigate and prosecute soldiers and officers accused of crimes. She said that under those circumstances, the court should not intervene. The Gambia lodged its lawsuit after winning the support of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has 57 member states. Only a state can file a case against another state at the ICJ. The Gambia has said Myanmar cannot be trusted to bring alleged military perpetrators of crimes against the Rohingya to justice. It has asked the court to order provisional measures for Myanmar to stop its forces committing all acts that amount to or contribute to the crime of genocide against the Rohingya including killing, rape and destruction of homes and villages. The Gambia also asked judges to order Myanmar to ensure that any evidence of atrocities is preserved. The International Court of Justices decisions are binding and not subject to appeal, though the court has no means of enforcement and countries have occasionally ignored them or failed to adhere fully. You may also like these stories: Intl Media Shows Lack of Fairness, Ignores State Counselors Message to the ICJ Legal Team Defended Myanmar to Best of Their Ability at ICJ, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Says Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Offers Personal Thanks to Myanmar Supporters in The Hague Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump at the G-20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. The highly anticipated "phase one" trade deal is expected to be signed imminently, but that doesn't mean it will lead to negotiations toward the next round of agreements anytime soon, China's Global Times said Wednesday. "We can't expect that China-US trade friction will disappear simply because of signing a deal," a source close to the Ministry of Commerce told the Global Times, a tabloid under the People's Daily, which is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China. The person also said trade arguments, tariff threats and U.S. investment restrictions on China will become the "new normal" over the longer term, adding existing tariffs imposed on Chinese goods will not be lifted "in the short term." However, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, a top economic advisor to President Donald Trump, told Fox News on Wednesday that the two sides "will move into phase two immediately." U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators planned to sign the phase one deal on Wednesday in Washington. The interim deal is expected to include an agreement by China to purchase some $200 billion of U.S. goods over two years. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday that more tariffs will be rolled back in a future "phase two" trade deal with Beijing, and future agreements will likely be segmented into multiple rounds. "Just as in this deal there were certain rollbacks, in phase two there will be additional rollbacks," he told CNBC. "It's really just a question of and we've said before phase two may be 2A, 2B, 2C. We'll see." The trade war between the globe's two largest economies has dragged on for nearly two years, resulting in each side slapping levies on billions of dollars' worth of imports. Click here to read the original story from the Global Times. The family of Love Island star Ollie Williams are employing security to keep a 24-hour watch on their home following the fury over his trophy hunting photos. Animal rights activists left threats on an answer machine message on their Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall after images of Ollie emerged posing next to slaughtered animals in Africa. His horrified parents Andrew and Clare Williams have also alerted Devon and Cornwall Police, who are now investigating. Quit: The family of Love Island star Ollie Williams are employing security to keep a 24-hour watch on their home following the fury over his trophy hunting photos Ollie quit the ITV2 show after just three days following the backlash. A family source confirmed to MailOnline: There has been a threat. It was in the form of a message left on an answer machine on the estate. The Police have been informed and are investigating who is behind it. Mr and Mrs Williams are currently away from their Cornish home, a property on the edge of the sprawling 2000-acre Lanhydrock estate near Bodmin. Local Security firm Coast 2 Coast is keeping a round-the-clock watch on the house - even photographing the registration plates of every visiting car Danger: Animal rights activists left threats on an answer machine message on their Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall (above - family home not pictured) after images of Ollie emerged posing next to slaughtered animals in Africa Controversy: Love Island viewers have been in uproar after photos of the heir to the 2,000-acre Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall emerged of him proudly posing beside a warthog, water buffalo and giant eland to promote his hunting business Controversy: Ollie quit the ITV2 show after just three days following the backlash- his exit will be shown on Wednesday's episode A well-placed source said: The guards are not just there to keep the press at bay. There has been some threats made against Ollie and his family from animal rights activists after images of him on trophy hunts were made public. There has been a security presence at the family home today and there will be for the foreseeable future. It is round-the clock and the guards are working in shifts to keep watch. Terror: His horrified parents Andrew and Clare Williams have also alerted Devon and Cornwall Police, who are now investigating Everyone who visits is having their details recorded and the registration plates of their vehicles photographed as a precaution. Ollie, 23, was pictured posing with a dead warthog, water buffalo and a giant eland listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The now deleted snaps were said to have been uploaded on to the Instagram account of Ollies hunting business, Cornish Sporting Agency. The business is listed on Companies House as a hunting, trapping and related service activities and is registered at the Lanhydrock estate, now controlled by the National Trust after being given away by Ollies great-great uncle in 1953. Defiant: A petition calling for his removal from Love Island was signed by 35,000 people and Ofcom said that Ollie was the subject of more than 400 complaints He's off! Ollie said he quit the show realised he was still in love with Laura Nofer, who he split from last year (pictured together at Royal Ascot in June 2018) In one of the photos, Ollie is seen kneeling beside one of the animals with the caption: Youve gotta love it when you put your binos up and see a bull like this on the other end! The Cornish Sporting Agency, which was taken offline in November 2018, offered hunting trips to countries like Mozambique and South Africa as well as bird shooting in the South West of England and deer stalking in New Zealand. Sources close to Ollie claim the photos were of him culling sick animals and that it was untrue that he is involved in hunting for sport. Instead he has been described as a passionate conservationist who has worked with an anti-poaching unit in Mozambique. However a petition calling for his removal from Love Island due to his links with trophy hunting was signed by 35,000 people and Ofcom said that Ollie was the subject of more than 400 complaints from outraged viewers. Denial: Sources close to the contestant previously denied any suggestion that he has hunted for sport after pictures emerged of Ollie posing alongside a variety of dead animals Among those criticising him were TV adventurer Ben Fogle who said: I have spent many years exploring the subject of big game animal hunting. And, although it is often excused by hunters as a tool for conservation, I find it difficult to stomach the notion of hunting for pleasure. I dont think it is respectful to pose next to a dead animal that you have just shot. Wheres the empathy in that? Wildlife TV presenter and co-host of the BBCs Springwatch Chris Packham added: What on earth are ITV thinking about giving this man a platform? You cant give a platform to people who are killing wildlife for fun. ITV refused to make any comment tonight when contacted by MailOnline in light of the threats made against Ollies family. Love Island continues on Wednesday on ITV2 at 9pm. Here, we will look at Maryam Rajavis speech, focusing on how Iran is now an explosive and volatile society, how the Resistance Units turned that anger into an uprising, and how the regime responded by massacring a valiant generation. Maryam Rajavi said: The objective basis and root of this uprising is an explosive society seething with discontent. The protests flared up in cities to which deprived people from villages and small towns had migrated. She noted that the protests were seen all across Iran, naming Islamshahr, Robat Karim, and Zourabad, as just some of the nearly 200 cities that took part in the uprising because their situation is so deprived of services and they are essentially cut off from the rest of the country. Maryam Rajavi said: These cities and towns have not emerged overnight; they are the product of the regimes plunder and pillage, particularly since the 1990s. The regime does not have any solutions because it is itself the one that has created so much misery, destitution, and social calamities. This, she said, leaves the mullahs at an impasse when they confront the hotbeds of rebellion as the repression will only make the uprising stronger in the long term. And the uprising will be back, stronger than ever. Even the regime was forced to admit that the resistance units have been working ceaselessly for two years to keep the protest fires burning in order to set the regime itself ablaze. Maryam Rajavi said: The November 2019 uprising proved the correctness and validity of the strategy based on resistance units and rebellious cities. The Iranian Resistances leader formulated and announced this strategy in 2013, after the massacre of PMOI members in Ashraf. Indeed, the idea of resistance units is a trailblazer and a guiding light for the rebellious young generation in Iran. She then explained that when the regime was faced with an uprising for freedom in Iran, the regime committed a crime against humanity by ordering a brutal crackdown. Protesters, many of them young and some of them children, were shot in the head and chest at close range. Their bodies were thrown into dams and water channels. Those arrested have been tortured and sexually assaulted. But Maryam Rajavi warned that the mullahs are digging their own graves because the crackdown has made the people that much angrier. Maryam Rajavi said: This is the dynamics of future uprisings and it strengthens the resolve of the people of Iran in their fight for freedom. A fearless, daring and enlightened generation has come to the battlefield with extraordinarily high morale to overthrow the regime. The rebellious generation of the November uprising is a significant force in the forthcoming showdown between the Iranian peoples great Liberty Army and the mullahs regime. In our next piece, we will look at why the word should speak out against the regime. Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Representative image The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is considering offering subsidised loans to mobile manufacturers to attract suppliers to Apple and Samsung to start operations in India,reported Bloomberg. The report also quoted an official saying that giving interest subsidies on local borrowing by such handset manufacturers is likely to be a part of the upcoming Budget, set to be tabled on February 1. Industrial zones with tax and customs clearance, along with infrastructural facilities like roads, railways and water supply, could also be a part of the larger plan. Currently, Apple's iPhone XR is being assembled by its supplier Foxconn in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Even the South Korean tech giant Samsung has set up its largest manufacturing facility in Noida, thus setting up shop in India. Experts say that phone shipment is expected to see high single-digit to double-digit growth in India as smartphones aiding everything from shopping to banking to social media. Counterpoint Research Associate Director Tarun Pathak expects India's smartphone market to grow by 9 percent this year, and in double digits (by 12-14 percent) in 2020. The Bloomberg report quoted figures that showed that the Indian electronics manufacturing export segment achieved record numbers year after year since 2014. The Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program is designed to identify, cultivate and advance the next generation of palliative care leaders. As part of the leadership program, each Sojourns Scholar receives $180,000 in funding ($90,000/year over a two-year period) to conduct an innovative and impactful clinical, policy, educational, or systems change project in the field of palliative care. Scholars also receive individual mentorship to design and implement a development plan that supports their growth as national palliative care leaders. In addition, the newest cohort will participate with other scholars in a collaborative learning community. "We are pleased to support the innovative projects and personal development of this elite group of palliative care professionals to better meet the growing needs of patients and families living with a serious illness," said Peggy Maguire, president and board chair, Cambia Health Foundation. "These emerging leaders are change agents for a health care system that is more person-focused, holistic, compassionate, sustainable and healing." Listed below are the 2019 Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program Grant Recipients: Name Institution Innovative Project Danetta E. Hendricks Sloan, PhD, MA, MSW Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Advancing the Development of Faith - Centered, Community-Based Advance Care Planning within African American Churches David S. Wu, MD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Integrating a Narrative Approach to Goals of Care (GOC) Conversations in the Intensive Care Unit James A. Fausto, MD MHA FAAHPM University of Washington TRAC-PC: Telehealth for Rapid Access to Community-based Palliative Care Jessica S. Merlin, MD, PhD, MBA University of Pittsburgh Consensus-based approaches to managing opioids, including opioid misuse and addiction, in ambulatory palliative care: development and dissemination Kashelle Lockman, Pharm.D., M.A. University of Iowa College of Pharmacy Preparing Pharmacists for Interdisciplinary Palliative Practice Kei Ouchi, MD, MPH Brigham and Women's Hospital A nurse-led behavioral intervention to empower seriously ill older adults to formulate their goals for medical care in the emergency department Megan Lippe PhD, MSN, RN The University of Alabama Enhancing the Provision of Palliative Care in Alabama through APRN Education and Leadership Meghan R. Potthoff PhD, APRN-NP, PCPNP-BC, CPNP-AC Creighton University Pediatric Palliative Care Conversation Toolkit for the Chronic Critically Ill Ranak Trivedi, Ph.D. Stanford University/VA Palo Alto Health Care System South Asian Family Approaches to Diseases (SAFAD): A Program to Enhance Caregiving among South Asian Women Living with Breast Cancer Susan Lysaght Hurley PhD, RN Care Dimensions, Inc. Addressing the Palliative Nursing Workforce Gap: A Hospice Nurse Residency Program To learn more about the individual scholars, please visit the Sojourns Scholar page on the Cambia Health Foundation website. The Cambia Health Foundation launched the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program in 2014 with the goal of advancing capacity, leadership and innovation in the field of palliative care. The Foundation's purposeful investment in palliative care leadership supports a larger vision of a transformed health care system that is more compassionate and person-focused. Since the program started, Cambia has awarded more than $11 million to 62 scholars around the country, each focused on different areas of palliative care, but all committed to improving the experience of people facing serious illness and their caregivers. About Cambia Health Foundation Cambia Health Foundation is the corporate foundation of Cambia Health Solutions, a total health solutions company dedicated to making health care more person-focused and economically sustainable. Founded in 2007, the foundation has funded almost $70 million in grants to advance patient- and family-centered care for all. Cambia Health Foundation strategically invests in philanthropy to change the way people experience health care from birth to natural completion of life. Learn more at www.cambiahealthfoundation.org, and follow us on Twitter: @CambiaHealthFdn . SOURCE Cambia Health Foundation Related Links http://www.cambiahealthfoundation.org The Duchess of Cambridge cut a stylish figure as she mixed designer with high-street during a visit to Bradford today. Kate Middleton, 38, who was joined by husband Prince William, 37, looked her usual stylish self in a bespoke military-style khaki coat by one of her much-loved designers, Alexander McQueen. The mother-of-three combined the high-end piece with a 89.99 printed black and white flowing, long-sleeved dress with belt detail from Zara, that has since been reduced to 15.99. The royal completed her outfit with a pair of 520 black block heels by Gianvito Rossi and a 550 Aspinal of London midi 'Mayfair bag' - both of which she has worn to previous engagements. Kate Middleton, 38, mixed high street with designer as she arrived in Bradford with husband Prince William today The Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) donned a black and white flowing, long-sleeved dress with belt detail from Zara, that has since been reduced to 15.99 Kate wore her hair brown hair loose in a soft wave and tucked behind her ears, revealing a glimpse of her 6.15 gold and green ceramic drop earrings by Zeen, which she also recycled. The natural beauty kept her makeup simple, adding just a touch of blusher on the apples of her cheeks and a light lashing of mascara. Meanwhile, Prince William wrapped up warm in a smart navy coat and coordinating trousers. He introduced a pop of colour with his burgundy tie, which stood out against his light blue shirt. Kate wrapped up warm in a bespoke Alexander McQueen coat, which features utilitarian pockets, a high-neck collar and metallic buttons (pictured) The mother-of-three was joined by her husband Prince William, who opted for a navy coat and coordinating trousers During their visit, the couple will take a tour of the city as they visit a community project that aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren. They will meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project - a workshop series helping grandparents to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and giving them information about raising children in the 21st century. While in West Yorkshire, William and Kate will also visit young people, employers and families at a series of projects that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities. Today was the couple's first joint public engagement together since a charity event in London two months ago on November 12 for their volunteer text support service Shout. The duchess completed her outfit with a pair of 6.15 dazzling ceramic drop earrings by Zeen (pictured) DES MOINES, Iowa - Conflict between Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is a story that has been waiting to happen. What no one expected is that their first clash of the 2020 Democratic president race would come over issues of gender, class and electability. Contradictory versions of what happened during a private dinner more than a year ago as both were preparing to enter the race - Warren says Sanders told her a woman could not win the White House; Sanders says he said no such thing - brought them to the brink of open conflict. Significantly, the flash point underscored the broader reality that success for one could mean the undoing of the other. When the two met on the debate stage Tuesday night, neither appeared eager to air the details of what happened at their dinner in December 2018. Sanders stoutly denied again that he said or believes that a woman can't win the presidency. Warren stood by her version of events and used the moment to state forcefully why she is confident a woman can win and might do better than a man against President Donald Trump. But even if the two appeared ready to declare a truce about their dinner onstage, there is little doubt that they remain on a collision course as voters begin to cast their first votes of the campaign, with the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses and the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary the testing grounds that will shape the futures of both. After the debate wrapped up, Warren appeared to avoid shaking hands with Sanders, and the two appeared to have a testy exchange. Tuesday's debate at Drake University was the last such event ahead of the caucuses, and it came days before the Senate begins the impeachment trial of the president. The debate highlighted that at a time when any of four candidates appear to have a chance of winning the caucuses, there are two pairings in competition with one another. Former vice president Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg are appealing to those looking for more modest policy initiatives and calls for unity, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., trying to break into that competition. Meanwhile, Sanders and Warren are appealing to voters looking for big policy changes and a candidate with a fighting posture. Neither Sanders nor Warren is thinking or talking about small-bore politics. Sanders wants a grass-roots revolution to overturn the current power structure. Warren has said, "We have a better chance of winning a big fight than we do a small fight." For the past year, the two have avoided taking on each other, preferring to focus on those larger visions. In part, that's because they are longtime friends, having met years before Warren moved from academia to politics. They found common cause over the concerns about the hollowing out of the middle class and a shared belief that the economic and political systems are rigged against ordinary Americans. They still share those assessments of the economy and of the political system. Sanders attacks the billionaire class at every turn. Warren describes the system as one that has been corrupted by money and power. Each has made that message the foundation of their presidential campaigns. And each is wary of alienating voters that are loyal to the other but at some point may be up for grabs. For the past few months, Warren found herself looking at Buttigieg as a more immediate threat in Iowa. She took a lead in a September Iowa poll by the Des Moines Register and CNN, only to see Buttigieg overtake her in the November poll. She and the mayor seemed to be competing in Iowa for the support of more-affluent voters with college degrees. Sanders' campaign saw that as an opening and seized it. Over the weekend, Politico reported that volunteers in the Sanders campaign were being urged to tell voters that Warren was a candidate of the elite - of the rich and well educated. Warren expressed disappointment, and Sanders noted that he had not personally approved the script used by the volunteers, emphasizing that he had not directly attacked Warren at any point since the campaign started. But that hardly resolved the matter. The Sanders campaign criticism appeared designed to cast Warren as a candidate with a narrower appeal. Then came the story, first reported by CNN, about Sanders' ostensible comments during the dinner conversation in December 2018. Whatever competition exists between Warren and Buttigieg - and there is some - the new story was a reminder of the inevitability of the competition between Sanders and Warren. The biggest issue that has shadowed the candidacies of both Sanders and Warren is whether any nominee who is as liberal as they are, whose agendas would enlarge the role of government as much as each has proposed, can win a general election against Trump. But the other question, heard from voters along the campaign trail, is whether any female candidate can capture the White House. It is a question understandably resented by female candidates, but one they nonetheless must confront. Warren did so cogently when the question arose in the debate. "This question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and it's time for us to attack it head-on," she said. "And I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at people's winning record . . . Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women, Amy and me." Warren also sought to harness her candidacy to earlier Democratic pathbreakers, noting that in 1962 some questioned if a Catholic could win the presidency and that in 2008 they asked the same about an African-American - but that John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama proved them wrong. Sanders said that "of course" a woman can win the presidency, but added that the central question for Democrats is who is best equipped to defeat Trump, and argued that the energy surrounding his candidacy gives him the strongest chance. A major factor contributing to the inevitability of a Sanders-Warren clash is the political calendar, with the first two states - Iowa and New Hampshire - potentially decisive in determining which one has the support to move to the later contests with momentum. Iowa has turned into a free-for-all. Sanders was leading in the latest Iowa poll, considered the most reliable indicator of voter attitudes here. Biden is leading in a Monmouth University poll released this week; Warren and Buttigieg both have led in earlier surveys. The order of finish in Iowa now becomes extremely important for all four candidates. New Hampshire could be even more consequential, especially for Warren and Sanders, given political history. Both come from states adjacent to New Hampshire, which historically has proven an advantage. That gives both of them a potential edge, and whoever finishes behind the other will have suffered a significant setback. For the next three weeks, the fluidity of the competition in Iowa will consume all the campaigns. The major candidates will be looking at one another, aware that the order of finish, however close, will shape perceptions in ways that all the polls and commentary cannot do. Sanders sees an opportunity to seize an advantage with a victory here and then in New Hampshire. Biden knows that a victory in Iowa could set him on a course to the nomination. Buttigieg knows that a strong finish here, especially one that puts him ahead of Biden, could be the springboard for his hopes. And Warren counts on her deep organization to surprise those who believe she has fallen back. There have been surprises over the past year with the ebbs and flows of the polls and candidate performances. But there are some things about the Democratic race that have been clear from the start. One of those is the Warren-Sanders dynamic, and as the days before Iowa continue to dwindle, that has come into clearer focus. Photo: William White/Unsplash From a book discussion to live music, there's plenty to enjoy in Philadelphia this week. Read on for a rundown of ideas for how to fill your calendar. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. William Iezzi book signing From the event description: William Iezzi, former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, will sign and discuss his debut novel "Armando's Havana Loves," a romantic suspense novel. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 6:30-8 p.m. Where: Shakespeare & Co., 1632 Walnut St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Attic Brewing Co. pre- prohibition party From the event description: Guests can expect hors d'oeuvres from the Trolley Car Cafe, along with a vintage candy bar and drink specials, themed cocktails and a full list of freshly brewed Attic Brewing Co. beers. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 7-11 p.m. Where: Attic Brewing Company, 137 Berkley St. Admission: $50 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets MNYK Session From the event description: MNYK Sessions are shows for local Philly artists to showcase their music hosted by MNYK Studios, Manayunk's newest creative studio. The event is BYOB. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 8-10 p.m. Where: MNYK Studios, 4145 Station St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets January monthly concert with William Prince From the event description: For his eagerly-awaited sophomore album, songwriter William Prince begins with single word, "Reliever," which informs a collection of exceptionally rendered explorations of what, who and how peace is found. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 8-10 p.m. Where: Philadelphia Folksong Society, 6156 Ridge Ave. Admission: $0-$18 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on January 14 that all passengers flying with the airline will be able to carry out self-service check-in service at kiosks when departing from Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and HCM City. The move represents the first time that self-service check in kiosks have been applied to customers in Vietnam and will help passengers save time when checking in their luggage. In addition, it will also help flyers avoid the long-queues that build up in check-in areas of major airports, especially during the hectic Lunar New Year period. As a result, passengers will now be able to weigh their own luggage at the kiosks, enter the luggage information into the system, print the luggage tag, and then proceed to take their luggage to the Vietnam Airliness reception desk. Following this, the luggage will then be put onto the conveyor belt once the information on the boarding pass and the baggage tag is confirmed to match the actual baggage claim. At present, passengers flying with Vietnam Airlines are able to check in across 43 kiosks at the domestic terminals of Noi Bai, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, and Tan Son Nhat airports. In order to assist passengers in completing all necessary procedures, the national flag carrier has arranged staff and signboards to be posted at kiosks and close to baggage claim counters. Passengers will be able to check in at kiosks between 24 hours and 60 minutes ahead of their scheduled departure time. For those not flying with checked baggage, passengers will able to use the boarding pass printed from the kiosk and go straight to the security check-in before heading to the boarding gate. In addition to check-in kiosks, the airlines passengers will also have other convenient check-in options such as checking in via the website at www.vietnamairlines.com, or alternatively via the airlines mobile app, by calling 1900 6265, or using the automatic check-in service found on mobile applications. According to statistics released by Vietnam Airlines, some 50 per cent of passengers departing from Noi Bai, Da Nang, and Tan Son Nhat airports use online check-in services via websites, mobile applications, and kiosks. This figure often reaches over 60 per cent on particularly busy periods such as national holidays and New Year, with the service helping passengers save time and reducing congestion at airports during peak times. VOV A monitoring group set up by top European clothing brands to check worker safety standards in Bangladesh said Wednesday it will wrap up in May, more than six years after the collapse of a garment factory prompted the intervention by retailers. The multi-storey Rana Plaza factory complex, where workers were making clothes for top global brands, collapsed in April 2013 killing at least 1,134 people and injuring another 2,000. The tragedy, triggered by issues such as flagrant disregard of building codes and safety regulations, prompted global fashion brands to set up two monitoring agencies to inspect Bangladesh's 4,500 apparel factories. Accord, the bigger of the two groups and established by some 200 European brands including H&M, Tesco and Carrefour, inspected some 1,650 factories. With its five-year mandate long expired, Bangladeshi manufacturers have been demanding Accord shut up shop, as as they feared the group would widen its scope to areas such as workers rights. Another group, called Alliance, was made up mostly of North American retailers and wound up operations after inspecting nearly 1,000 factories. On Wednesday, Accord and Bangladeshi garment manufacturers signed an agreement to set up a new Ready-made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC) to take over the work of the Accord by May 31. "We are taking over from Accord all of its resources and will follow their protocols along with inserting a national context" said Rubana Huq, the president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. "It is an important milestone," Accord spokesman Joris Oldenziel told AFP. He said retailers, unions and manufacturers will have representatives on the council, a national initiative, which will carry forward the work of Accord to ensure safety in factories. "Accord has been very successful in preventing factory accidents... but still a lot of work needs to be done," Oldenziel said. Union leader Babul Akter gave the new RSC a guarded welcome. "We'll be observing how it performs. We hope it can work independently just like the Accord and its work will be legally-binding," he told AFP. Bangladesh is the world's second-biggest garment maker after China, with USD 35 billion dollars of exports a year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There is widespread hostility among workers and young people in the United States over the Trump administrations provocations against Iran, which brought the world to the brink of a catastrophic war last week. Three decades of disastrous wars have produced popular skepticism to the official propaganda machine and opposition to the launching of new wars. The decision was made to temporarily delay a full-scale war with Iran not only because the military wants more time to prepare, but also because sections of the political establishment realize they have not done enough to counter public opposition to war. An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday found a majority of Americans56 percentdisapproved of President Donald Trumps handling of Iran and feel less safe. After more than 7,000 were killed and nearly ten times as many wounded during the US wars over the last two decades, discontent among US soldiers is even higher. A Pew Research poll conducted last July found a majority of military veterans believed that the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria were not worth fighting. Sixty-four percent disapproved of the war in Iraq, 58 percent disapproved of the war in Afghanistan and 55 percent disapproved of the war in Syria. A reporting team from the World Socialist Web Site spoke with Fiat Chrysler workers at Warren Truck Assembly Plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan, late last week. They distributed a WSWS Autoworker Newsletter statement calling for opposition to the looming war with Iran and explaining the political and historical roots of US aggression against the oil-rich Middle Eastern country. One veteran worker said, I know a few people online in Iran, and they feel the same way. They are putting out love. They know that Americans arent all alike. Campaigners for the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter outside Warren Truck Assembly Plant on Friday Asked what she thought about the Democrats role in enabling Trumps provocations, she added, Thats what happens when you have just two parties. Another worker said, It started with the Iranian Revolution. I think that our policy is driven by the military industrial complex. They want to get control of everything. This is about economics, nothing more, nothing less. It is all about oil and money, another worker added. The United States should not be involved in the business of other countries. We need to take care of working people here. Reporters asked a young temporary part-time worker whom he thought benefited from the wars. It is the government that benefits. This is the most powerful country, but we cant have a meeting and get something together instead of jumping into war and dropping bombs. It might not be the case this time, but every time we have an election, there is some kind of conflict in that region. We dont need to be there. I have friends in Saudi Arabia. When you hear from that perspective in the Middle East, they dont want us in their country. The same with Iraq. We wouldnt want anyone in our country taking over and jumping in. This president is making really bad decisions. I dont agree with him. Nobody really wants war. We want to do what is right, defend our country. But thats why we are supposed to be a democracy. But Trump is being totally barbaric, like any other dictator. It is almost like we are being run under a dictatorship. Florida teacher holding sign during Monday's mass protest in Tallahassee to demand increase pay and school funding Other workers denounced the war moves in more explicit terms. Larry, a retired General Motors worker and long-time reader of the WSWS, said, I was scared when Trump assassinated General Suleimani. I said to myself, Here we go again with another 20-year murderfest in the Middle East. Trump is looking after the interests of the oil companies and defense contractors. Iran and Iraq have some of the worlds largest oil reserves. The US should get out of the Middle East and stop interfering with the lives of the people there. I remember when Reagan was doing the same thing by waging secret wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and other Central American countries in the 1980s. Behind these wars, the US corporations are looking to grab raw materials and set up cheap labor platforms. Ive come to realize this over the last 50 years. People in the US have to understand that capitalism is a world-wide system and the same corporations that are attacking our jobs and wages here go all over the world to exploit cheap labor and the lack of environmental protections. They want to even out the wages all over the world, by driving us into poverty. Karl Marx said the capitalists breed us to work and produce another generation to exploit once were worn out or dead. We have to unite labor around the world to fight this. We have to communicate with each other. The proletariat has the same goals everywhere: to take care of our families, to have dignity. We dont want to be rich but to have enough to live in dignity. All working class people around the world feel the same. Why should we follow these politicians, and the union officials too, who want us to fight and kill each other for corporate profits? The growth of the internet gives me great faith that we can stop war. Workers and young people can talk to a family in Iran, Russia or China. We can see that we have the same goals and all want dignity and peace. The Iranian people are not our enemies, they dont want to start another world war. They hate Trump, not the American people. That is what the government fears, that workers and young people around the world will talk to each other and oppose war. That is why they threw Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning into prison, because they exposed the war crimes. Obama and the Democrats are just as guilty as Trump and the Republicans. A GM worker from Flint Assembly with many family members in the military also commented on the role of social media. Its great that American youth are getting on the internet and talking directly with youth in Iran. These kids use social media to study the issues and they dont want to fight a war for nothing. A Missouri tradesman and member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, which was established in 2018 at a meeting sponsored by the World Socialist Web Site and Socialist Equality Party, said, One thing that struck me as very different between today and back in 2003 or even later is the conversations I have at work. After the murder of Suleimani, the guys I work with are saying, That president of ours is a damn idiot. Hes done it now. This is all gonna blow up. But theres no followup about supporting the troops or any of that. The attitude is very different today. Some of these guys voted for Trump and you dont even hear his name. What I hear is, They arent gonna fool me again. The murder of Suleimani and what could follow is chilling. It was also totally illegal, criminal. What is a president that makes this decision to murder a general of a sovereign nation? It forces one to take stock of not only the last four to five years, but the lessons of a whole period. Bush and Obama laid the ground for this. A GM worker in Missouri and a long-time reader of the WSWS added, Killing a major Iranian general is insane. Iran is not a country that can be bullied without consequence, as it has ties to nuclear-armed Russia. Bragging about extrajudicial assassination when the world is on a hair-trigger is insane. This is part of a buildup to a war that would have horrific casualties on all sides. Food stamps were just cut for 700,000 US citizens. Our government spends billions of dollars on war while millions suffer from hunger and poverty. There is no way we go through 2020 without the same mass protests in the United States that have hit other countries around the world. Steve, a teacher from Northern California and a member of the Steering Committee, said, I oppose US imperialism and its drive towards world war. Imperialism uses its military, its political system, and its economic web of ruthless capitalist enterprises to impose its death grip on the working class and the masses at home and abroad. The assassination of the Iranian general Suleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, came after the US military bombing of locations in Iraq and Syria which murdered more than 25 people. This is part of a decades-long campaign by US imperialism, Israel and Saudi Arabia not only against Iran and Iraq, but against the masses in the Middle East, including in Yemen, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Libya. The working class in the United States has a heavy responsibility to oppose US imperialism and to organize the class struggle within the USA to overturn imperialism and establish the socialist society. We must do this in conjunction with the working class and masses of the Middle East who have the responsibility to organize a revolutionary movement and class struggle to push US imperialism out of the Middle East, overthrow its lackies and establish socialism throughout the region. I stand in solidarity with the people of the Middle East and the world against imperialist war. Around one in five adults in England and Wales experienced a form of child abuse before they turned 16, figures suggest. In the year to March, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 8.5 million adults aged between 18 and 74 had been abused before the age of 16. Experiences ranged from being threatened as a child to rape. In the year to March, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 8.5 million adults aged between 18 and 74 had been abused before the age of 16 (file photo) The survey also estimated that 3.1 million were victims of sexual abuse before the age of 16 (2.4 million women and 709,000 men). This is equivalent to around one in 13 adults in this age bracket. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) examined existing data in a bid to 'provide a more complete picture' of the scale of child abuse in the country for the first time. Information on sexual, physical and emotional abuse as well as neglect experienced by children was gathered from a range of public bodies to produce the findings. The information from the crime survey estimates the prevalence of adults who experienced abuse before the age of 16 but does not measure the 'current level' of child abuse in the country, the ONS added. Figures were compiled using information from government departments like the Home Office, the Department for Education, the NHS, and officials in Wales, as well as the National Crime Agency and organisations like the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. According to the research: There were 19,847 counselling sessions given to children by Childline in the UK where abuse was the primary concern in the year to March. At the end of March, 49,570 children in England and 4,810 children in Wales were looked after by their local authority because of experience or risk of abuse or neglect. Around one in seven adults who phoned the National Association for People Abused in Childhood helpline said they had not told anyone about the abuse before. Around half of adults (52%) who experienced abuse before the age of 16 also experienced domestic abuse later in life, compared with 13% of those who did not experience abuse before the age of 16. Andrew Fellowes, public affairs manager at the NSPCC, said: 'It is clear from reading this that we simply do not know how many children are suffering right now, hampering our ability to plan and fund services to help them recover. 'It's crucial government conducts a prevalence study so we get a true picture of the scale of abuse in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) examined existing data in a bid to 'provide a more complete picture' of the scale of child abuse in the country for the first time 'Only then will we know what services are needed to protect and support abused young people.' Alexa Bradley, of the Centre for Crime and Justice at ONS, said: 'Child abuse is an appalling crime against some of the most vulnerable in society, but it is also something that is little discussed or understood. 'Today's release is ONS's first attempt to fill an important evidence gap on this critical issue. 'Measuring the extent and nature of child abuse is difficult because it is usually hidden from view and comes in many forms. 'Bringing data together from different sources helps us better understand both the nature of child abuse and the potential demand on support services.' Emily Stallard, 37, was arrested after allegedly attempting to build a bomb inside a Florida Walmart: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office A woman in Florida was arrested after she allegedly tried to create a makeshift bomb capable of causing mass destruction inside a local Walmart, using household products she pulled off of the shelves, officials said. Emily Stallard, 37, began opening up items while walking through the store with a child when a security guard noticed she was behaving in a suspicious manner, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office. The security guard then alerted an off-duty Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer, and the two watched as the woman reportedly collected nails, denatured alcohol and a Mason jar while roaming through the aisles. They stopped the woman just as she was lighting a wick, an arrest report read, and managed to prevent her from causing harm until police officers arrived on the scene. She spat on the deputies faces as she was being taken away in a patrol car, WFLA reported. This woman had all the supplies she needed to cause mass destruction at her disposal, Sheriff Chad Chronister told the local news outlet. Had it not been for an alert off-duty law enforcement officer and a watchful security staff at Walmart, she may have followed through with her plans to cause an explosion inside the store. The sheriff added: I cant stress enough: if you see something, say something. You dont have to tackle a bad guy to be a hero. One phone call to law enforcement when you spot something or someone suspicious can ultimately save lives. Stallard was charged with attempted arson, fire bombing, child abuse and battery of a law enforcement officer. Her bond has been set at $8,500 (6,534). In a statement, Walmart said it takes the safety and security of our customers and associates seriously and thanked local law enforcement for their quick response. The company also said it was assisting the sheriffs office as it conducts an investigation into the incident. Stallard was still in jail as of Tuesday. Read more Sia surprises Thanksgiving shoppers by going undercover at Walmart I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at peoples winning record, Warren, a second-term senator from Massachusetts, said. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. She didnt name the men or the elections, but Joe Biden is the veteran of two previous, miserably unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency. Pete Buttigieg lost bids to become the treasurer of Indiana and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.In contrast, Warren noted, The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women Amy and me. And the only person who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me. Sri Lankan Cabinet on Wednesday decided to draft a new law to strengthen the country's intelligence services, according to a senior minister, months after the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. The National Intelligence Act would give priority to the national security and ensure that the intelligence personnel would not be under any danger in the future, government's spokesperson and minister, Bandula Gunawardena said. The government's move to strengthen its intelligence services comes months after a string of suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday on April 21 last year, killing 258 people, including Indians and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. "The intelligence services are a key component of the state. They were made to suffer during the last government," Gunawardena said. He alleged the work of intelligence agencies got restricted during the previous government. "Work of intelligence agencies have been restricted because of lack of legal provisions to empower them. The objective of introducing the National Intelligence Act is to prevent these shortcomings," a statement issued by the government after the Cabinet meeting said. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his election campaign pledged that the state intelligence services would be strengthened if he is voted to power. Since being elected with a clear majority in the November 16 polls, Rajapaksa had revamped the state intelligence by appointing Brigadier Suresh Sallay, a former Militaryman, to head it. His entire campaign was based on how the previous regime of under President Maithripala Sirisena and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had neglected national security, leading to a massive intelligence failure in averting the Eastern Sunday attacks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For Gods sake do not let this disciplinary meeting get out of hand. This man is a good compliance person, as I told you. The (attorney generals) office and the Sheriffs love working with him," McClain wrote to Quinns top aides in an email obtained by WBEZ. "He has kept his mouth shut on Jones ghost workers, the rape in Champaign and other items. He is loyal to the Administration. Medvedev, 54, part of Putins St. Petersburg inner circle, has long been dominated by his more popular and far more powerful political mentor. For four years starting in 2008, he acted as a seat-warmer, nominally the president but with a more important function of enabling Putin to maintain his power behind the scenes before returning to the presidency in 2012. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Amid Taal Volcanos continued unrest, a lawmaker on Wednesday called on state scientists to release regular and consistent advisories to help the public prepare better for future calamities. Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga lamented the lack of alerts from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology saying its latest bulletin on Taals volcanic activity was last shared over a month ago. According to Barzaga, the bulletin bared pertinent information including recorded volcanic earthquakes and temperature increase which were not properly relayed to residents. They said on their bulletins on December 3 that there were already 23 volcanic earthquakes. And there was already an increase in temperature in the water. 31.5 Celsius to 31.6, Barzaga told CNN Philippines The Source. We have experienced that on January 12, as early as 11 a.m., there was already smoke, there were also volcanic tremors. Inspite of that, we did not receive any warnings in so far as the public is concerned They should inform the public, he added. Barzaga previously sought an investigation into the governments disaster response efforts amid Taals eruptions. His House Resolution 643, filed on Monday, particularly aims to determine the timeliness of Phivolcs information and warning dissemination. Monitoring equipment present? The solon said the proposed hearing will likewise shed light on the availability of Phivolcs monitoring equipment. Does Phivolcs have the necessary manpower? We have learned our lessons in the past... Do they have the sophisticated equipment? What are the things lacking? Barzaga said. The agency had said it is open to investigation. Barzaga, however, said his fellow lawmakers have yet to set a date for the probe. As of Wednesday, over 40,000 residents from Batangas and Cavite have been evacuated following Taals stream-driven eruption on Sunday. Volcanologists have warned of a possible hazardous explosive eruption soon, prompting the Batangas local government to place the province under a state of calamity. Power outage and tremors have also been experienced around the area following Taals eruption. The activity has also sent ash falling in nearby provinces including in parts of Metro Manila. READ: Taal Volcano eruption: Things you need to know The Batangas provincial government has since called for donations for evacuees including N95 masks, drinking water, clothes, food, and gasoline, which will be used for vehicles for evacuation and rescue operations. LIST: Where to send donations for Taal evacuees A potent 100 per cent natural face oil found its way in to the hands of the Duchess of Cambridge earlier this year. Apparently she tried it, loved it, and proceeded to recommend it to her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Sussex. The two are now avid fans of UK-made Beuti Beauty Sleep Elixir, which is made up of 14 natural plant oils, including pomegranate seed, chia seed, geranium, softalia nut, strawberry seed, lavender, blueberry seed and neroli. The brand behind the sell-out product (the oil sold out almost instantly on Look Fantastic once news broke of its royal seal of approval) sells only two products, both of which are totally natural and made from essential oils. Essential oils are having something of a moment: its been reported that the global aromatherapy market is projected to grow by 8 percent between 2017 and 2024. Beuti Beauty Sleep Elixir, 47, Shop it here / Beuti In a piece for the New Yorker it was reported that in the autumn of 2017, American essential oils company Young Living grew tenfold. Similarly, its rival doTERRA claimed it made $1 billion in sales in 2015. But the popularity of essential oils hasnt come without controversy. There are as many proponents of the concentrated natural oils as there are opponents, and equally as many brands including them, as excluding them. So we thought it high-time to create a guide to essential oils, what they do, how they work, and to give you both sides of the argument with a little help from the experts. What are essential oils? Essential oils are the essences derived from plants, flowers, roots, seeds or peels, often created through a process of distillation (the process of purifying a liquid via heating.) The word essential comes from the essence of the plants characteristic fragrance, and the oils are often used by companies as an alternative to synthetic fragrances. But Dr Sophie Shotter, an anaesthetist who now works in aesthetic medicine, warns that it's precisely "...these fragrances which can cause problems, and modern science has shown that these oils are actually problematic for the skin and can cause severe irritation." "The term essential oils covers hundreds of ingredients as its an umbrella term for potent oils extracted from plants," explains Andrea Pfeffer, founder of Pfeffer Sal. The natural plant derivatives possess a small molecular size meaning they can penetrate the skin's multiple layers quickly, delivering high levels of nutrients as they do so. However, the experts warn that they are incredibly potent and highly concentrated making them potentially volatile, as the skin's reaction to them can't always be predicted. What are the benefits? Essential oils have seen their popularity skyrocket, especially in an industry which has become ubiquitous with people searching out natural remedies. The plant derivatives themselves have roots in ancient beauty rituals and have been used for centuries to solve a myriad of skin complaints: from soothing dry skin to reducing signs of ageing. But experts are advising that the oils must be fully understood from a technical perspective before people invest. London-based holistic health and skincare expert Gemma Clare advises: "Just because something's natural doesn't mean that it doesn't come with potential dangers to be aware of." Clare recommends chamomile as a very good remedy for calming inflamed skin, while she advocates for rose oil being used to hydrate parched skin but, she warns, "with essential oils, balance and moderation is key as they can be very, very damaging if used incorrectly." "Essential oils are the most active components of a plant and that is why they have a place in skincare," says Californian-based April Gargiulo, founder of cult-beauty brand Vintner's Daughter, which has just two products, the Active Botanical Essence and the "multi-correctional" Active Botanical Serum. Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum, 175, Shop it here / Vintner's Daughter The Vintner's Daughter doesn't advertise on Instagram - rare for a brand in 2020 - but has managed to build a cult following, which includes Goop-founder Gwyneth Paltrow. The brand's serum contains over 22 different botanicals which ex-acne sufferer Gargiulo claims "changed my skin and more importantly the relationship I had with my skin." AMLY is a British botanical brand which boasts the efficacy of its holistic skincare. "One of the most valuable attributes to a raw material that has been unadulterated lies within its strength of purity. In skincare we rely upon the values of science as well as the infinite value of natures design," its co-founder, Lisa Smallpiece, explains. In essence - pardon the pun - using these active treatments on the skin is a way of keeping a skincare regime natural and free of synthetic substances, but essential oils are highly concentrated and so must be fully understood before use. But do they actually work? This a conversation which has been doing the rounds in skincare circles for a while now, as there's scientific research to back up scepticism. While there are several oils that aid in healing, toning, and brightening skin (tea tree, rosehip and lavender are among the few), there are also those which have the potential to spark serious reactions and even chemical burns due to allergies and phototoxicity. Phototoxicity is a chemically-induced skin irritation, which is exacerbated by sunlight. Some of the elixirs which can trigger phototoxicity include bergamot, lemongrass and clove, including many others, and it essentially means that by using these oils in skincare and then exposing skin to sunlight, the chances of burning skin or causing pigmentation are dramatically increased. "There's just not a one-size-fits-all answer as to whether essential oils are necessarily bad or good, but they are very, very potent and people must understand that. One drop of rose oil, for example, contains approximately 1,000 rose petals. That could be really damaging to sensitive skin," Clare explains. Paula Begoun founded her brand, Paula's Choice, in 1995 and is a point blank opponent of using botanicals in skincare. "Essential oils are a serious problem for skin. They cause inflammation, leading to all kinds of issues, including weakening skins barrier, triggering redness, depleting vital substances in skins surface, and generally preventing skin from looking healthy," Begoun expands. Drunk Elephant The Littles, 71, Shop it here (Cult Beauty ) / Cult Beauty Paula's website even goes as far as to say: "there is no best essential oil for skin. They all pose a risk in some way or another. And Paula's not alone in banishing botanicals from her skincare. Tiffany Masterton, founder of award-winning skincare brand Drunk Elephant, also omits them from her formulations. "There are some essential oils which have been shown to have beneficial effects, such as rosemary for acne. When used in very low concentrations of 0.1% some research suggests they can be non-irritant," Dr. Shotter divulges. "However these research papers dont take into account that most skincare products which contain essential oils combine multiple oils, again raising the risk of irritation. None of the essential oils have evidence of efficacy anywhere close to gold-standard medical skincare ingredients." Can I use them if I have sensitive skin? It is believed by many that essential oils are inherently safe because they're natural, but with that comes an immeasurable level of potency, which isn't necessarily compatible with sensitive skins. "If you have compromised, sensitive skin or are experiencing conditions such as acne or rosacea, we would recommend you steer clear as they are potent, could cause reactions, and will have limitations in what they can do to resolve your condition," Pfeffer explains. "I would also say that they are not going to have a huge rejuvenating effect either." Dr. Shotter is clear in her advice: "Any skin with impaired barrier function will be particularly prone to problems from essential oils - rosacea, eczema and angry inflamed acne for example. The fragrant essential oils can make irritation worse, deteriorate the skin barrier further and can actually be pro-ageing by increasing micro-inflammation within the skin." The founders of AMLY are equally as tentative about recommending their active products to those with sensitive skin: "Oils are active, this is what gives the benefits, however for some people with skin sensitivities this may be an issue." Examples of gentler oils, which are low in aldephydes and phenols (the compounds found in plants which irritate the skin), are geranium, chamomile, blue tansy and ylang-ylang. What's the verdict? Essential oils are controversial little plant derivatives, but the takeaway here seems to be that they are most impactful when used in moderation. For sensitive skin, it would appear that their high potency would only work to irritate and further cause disruption to skin but, as Clare states, "people must learn how to 'use them responsibly.'" For Dr. Shotter, her advice is to steer clear of essential oils: "Nowadays we have fabulous, gentle medical grade ingredients suitable for even the most sensitive of skins." She suggests avoiding any oil which is fragranced, as it is precisely these compounds which are most likely to irritate. U.S. President Donald Trump said, speaking at a rally in Wisconsin, that Washington is not looking for regime change in Iran. The president also praised Iranians protesting against the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his government. "The good people of Iran are taking to the streets in numbers like nobodys seen before, and theyre really protesting the repressive regime and demanding a better future. Theyre great people. And theyre tired of watching their leaders plunder around to stoke violence and death and war," he described the protests in Iran. Trump also warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the government of Iran that they must not harm any protesters. "We support the Iranian people and their courageous struggle for freedom," the New York Times cited the U.S. leader as saying. Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor of US President Donald Trump, moved the court seeking to withdrew his guilty plea on charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) before he was to be sentenced in just two weeks. Flynn's lawyers filed a motion with the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday night, a week after the federal prosecutors recommended a six-month prison sentence to Flynn. They had accused the Justice Department of violating its plea agreement with Flynn, The Hill reported. "The prosecution seeks to rewrite history and send Flynn to prison," the filing said. "Flynn will not plead guilty. Furthermore, he will not accede to the government's demand that he 'disavow' any statements made in his filings since he obtained new, unconflicted counsel," his lawyers wrote. "Michael T. Flynn is innocent. He has cooperated with the government in good faith for two years. He gave the prosecution his full cooperation," the filing further said. Flynn had pleaded guility in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the US. Meanwhile, Flynn's lawyers have asked the court to delay his sentencing set to be held on January 28. Prosecutors said in a brief filing that they will not oppose that request, according to the US media reports. A plea agreement was reached between Flynn and special counsel Robert Mueller's office two years back. Flynn has also vowed to cooperate in the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential polls. In December 2018, prosecutors had initially batted for leniency for Flynn, citing his cooperation and his military record. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Did U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., once say he didnt think a woman could be elected president in 2020? It depends on who you want to believe. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Sanders told her that during a private conversation in 2018, while Sanders adamantly denied it. Well, as a matter of fact, I didnt say it, he said. And I dont want to waste a whole lot of time on this, because this is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Warren firmly repeated the claim but said she wasnt trying to start a fight with Sanders. Regardless, she was able to use the topic to make an argument for her electability. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie," Warren said. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head on." Warren said she and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are the only candidates on the debate stage who have won every election they participated, also pointing out the only person on this stage that has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the last 30 years is me." Klobuchar cited Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who decisively beat Republican Bill Schuette two years after Michigan flipped for President Donald Trump, while listing examples of women who can win. Whitmers commanding 10-point win over Schuette, who was endorsed by Trump, re-energized Democrats left shell-shocked after Trumps 2016 triumph. Former Vice President Joe Biden said the various identity categories embodied in a candidate is less important than Democrats picking a candidate who can unite the country. The real issue is who can bring the party together and represent all elements of the party, Biden said. African-American, brown, black, women, men. Gay, straight. The fact of the matter is, I would argue that, in terms of endorsement around the country, endorsements where ever we go, I have the broadest coalition of anyone running up where in this race. President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy from his campaign rally in Milwaukee, which also took place Tuesday night. Trump took Sanders side. She said that Bernie said a woman cant win, Trump said. I dont believe that Bernie said that. I really dont. On a sunny, cool day as fall gave way to winter, a team of biologists and technicians dragged white cloths through the underbrush at Lord Creek Farm in Lyme. They were looking for blacklegged ticks, which carry Lyme disease and four other deadly illnesses. As ticks attached to the cloth, the team counted them and put them in jars for further study at their lab at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. Japanese barberry bushes grew thickly beneath the trees at this private horse farm that for years has cooperated with Lyme disease researchers. As the group dragged cloths, they noticed ticks on each others pant legs and coats, and began to pick them off. This seemed to prove what the team leaders, biologists Scott C. Williams and Megan Linske, have found in one of their previous studies: More ticks thrive beneath tangles of Japanese barberry, with its year-round leaves and thorns, than in landscapes without barberry. About an hour earlier, surveying The Preservepublic land in Old Saybrookthe team had found just one tick. That forest has no visible barberry and few invasive plants. Throughout 2019, the scientists sampled 40 forested places in all corners of Connecticut. This study aims to calculate which landscapes attract ticks and which dont. The early results, which they made public for the first time last week, reveal astonishing densities of the ticks that carry Lyme and four other diseases. In Fairfield and Litchfield counties, scientists found more than 20,000 adult biting ticks per square mile. The densities were almost as high in New Haven and New London counties, with more than 18,000 and almost 17,000 ticks per square mile respectively. Their tick samples also reveal the grim truth of how Lyme disease increases in ticks if they survive into adulthood. Only 15% of nymphs (young ticks) that the team collected carry Lyme, but within a year of feeding on mice that carry the disease, almost half adult ticks carry Lyme disease. Nymphs are a threat to humans because they are so small and their bites often go undetected. The town of Lyme, of course, is like ground zero for Lyme disease, which was discovered there in the 1970s. The blacklegged ticks carry Lyme disease and four other deadly diseases: anaplasmosis, borrelia miyamotoi disease, babesiosis, and Powassan virus. Williams said infection with Powassan in 2019 was low, just five cases in the state. But Powassan is a dangerous illness. Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagen of North Carolina died of Powassan in October. Congress is considering a bill called the Kay Hagan Tick Act for tickborne disease research funding. Lyme disease has become a national health crisis. It is caused by a microscopic spirochete that enters the bloodstream and hides in the tissues. In 2018, Connecticut ranked fourth in the nation for Lyme cases, with 1,859 reported new cases that year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. But the actual cases are probably 10 times that number (or roughly 18,500), the CDC reported. Nationwide, the CDC estimates 300,000 cases a year. In 2015, a study at Johns Hopkins University estimated that as many as 440,000 new cases of Lyme are diagnosed each year, costing the health system $712 million to $1.3 billion a year. How to help avoid tickborne diseases Homeowners should cut back Japanese barberry bushes on their property every five years. Change clothing after coming inside. Scientists often put their clothes right into a dryer. If spending extended time outdoors, people might prefer protective clothing treated with insecticide, available through outdoor outfitters. People can avoid tick bites by learning how to check themselves for ticks. Click here for information. See More Collapse The states altered forests Lyme disease has been around for millennia. It evolved into ticks that bite humans because the landscape now favors those ticks. Since about 1900 Connecticut has changed from mostly farmland into a land of small forest patches interrupted by grassy areas. The white-tailed deer and white-footed mouse, two important animals whose blood ticks need to survive, all thrive here. Although 60% of Connecticut is forest, much of that forested land is cut up into narrow segments. Such fragmented woods create lots of places at the edge of woods where sunlight encourages the shrubs that deer eatand where ticks survive. At a forum on urban forests three months ago, Williams told a group of scientists and amateurs that deer have created landscapes that favor ticks. They eat native plants and leave behind invasive plants that tend to shelter the ticks through the winters. Both scientists said that the time has come to understand why these forests harbor ticks. At the same forum, Linske called the life cycle of the blacklegged tick quite the process. It goes like this: In the ticks first year, as nymphs, they feed on mice. Not all ticks are infected, but those that are pass the diseases on to the mice. The mice then pass on those diseases to other uninfected ticks that bite them. After feeding, the ticks drop off the mice. They then spend another season feeding on other animals, especially deer. Thousands of ticks can be found feeding on a single deer. Unlike mice, deer cant spread diseases ticks carry to other ticks from their bodies. The deers most important roles in spreading Lyme is they provide blood meals to ticks just before they lay their eggs. The blacklegged tick has been called the deer tick. It would be truer to call Connecticut a deer landscape. Williams said deer dont pass on Lyme disease the way mice do, but deer are pivotal to keeping ticks healthy so they can lay their eggs. Deer also disperse seeds of some plants that encourage ticks. This is an important study, and the hope is to have it continue every year, Williams said last week, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only gave us enough funding for this first year. He said they need state or federal funding to continue sampling. Their work could better define areas where people are more likely to contract dangerous tickborne diseases. And it will help Connecticut residents understand better how to avoid ticks. To see the locations where the team collected ticks click here. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team, a nonprofit news organization dedicate to health reporting. State health and aged care ministers say they are concerned by the federal government "rushing to privatise" aged care assessments for elderly Australians. Their comments come after the chair of the Royal Commission into Aged Care said the commission's interim report did not endorse the government's decision to put the management of aged care assessment teams (ACAT) out to tender. Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said it was incorrect to say the federal government was privatising aged care assessment teams. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Currently, states employ specialised teams of nurses, allied health workers and geriatricians who assess how much care and support is needed by elderly Australians for tasks including showering and cooking. The federal government reimburses states and territories for this service, and then provides home care packages as needed. In December it was revealed the federal government will put the management of ACAT out to tender, with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard saying the plan lacked logic. Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck hit back, saying the move was supported by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Throughout her 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Shelley Thurman always took the time to volunteer. While in San Diego, she took the opportunity to clean up beaches. In Hawaii, Thurman spent a great deal of time volunteering at the thrift store. When she came to Edwards as a civilian in 2005, it was only natural that she would continue to give back to the community. Still new to Edwards, she made the decision to give animals a second chance - every cat and Airmen's best friend that came through the door; she was determined to help them find a new family. After more than six years with Adopt-A-Pet, she continues to serve as the organization's president. As president, Thurman oversees all organizational activities and volunteer efforts, maintains schedules, coordinates funding, schedules veterinarian appointments, manages medical records and ensures that all medical conditions are properly handled. All of which is done in her spare time away from her family and her job as a supervisor who conducts helicopter inspections for Marine Aircraft Group 41. "When I first came here, my husband found out there was this place. He emailed the president and received all the information. I stopped by, filled out the paperwork, took the tour, and I've been here ever since," said Thurman. "Now, I'm very busy. I work 40 hours every week with the Marines on base and then probably close to 30 hours with A-Pet. It's so worth it." At any given time, Adopt-A-Pet provides a safe haven for between 22 and 25 cats, as well as five to eight dogs. The waitlist to surrender pets at the facility is approximately four to six weeks, with first priority given to owners preparing for a Permanent Change of Station. The enormous responsibility assumed by Thurman and the additional volunteer force costs an estimated $22,000 every year. "People sometimes think that because we're located on base we receive government funding," said Thurman. "The truth is that we don't receive any funding from the Air Force or Federal Government." Most of the costs can be attributed to veterinary care, ensuring that all regulations are upheld, as well as the health of the animals. "Most costs for the Adopt-A-Pet facility are vet bills. We are required to ensure every animal has all its shots and is spayed or neutered before leaving, unless of course they are too young. We also microchip all the animals even though we are not required to. Another thing is that we test cats for feline leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, even though we don't have to. It really is a good thing to do, so we do it." All funding for Adopt-A-Pet is received through private donations and collected adoption fees. The Combined Federal Campaign is another opportunity for the organization to receive the financial support to continue giving cats and dogs the chance to find a loving family. Adopt-A-Pet will wait as long as it takes for each animal to get their second chance. According to Thurman, there have been animals that temporarily resided at the Adopt-A-Pet facility for more than four years. All that time, the volunteers spend learning the unique personalities of the animals to make sure each animal that gets adopted meets the specific needs of the families. For nearly two years, Sandy Berry has volunteered at Adopt-A-Pet, working mornings Monday through Friday to ensure that the animals' needs are met. For Berry, the joy of volunteering is having the chance to care for the animals as well as having the opportunity to spend time with them and learn their personalities. "I think what I enjoy the most is taking care of these cats and dogs, which are essentially homeless. I like the fact that we're giving them love and showing them that humans are kind, while they're waiting to go to their next home. They really have such cute personalities," said Berry. "Most importantly, the animals always know that we will be here for them." After nearly two years of volunteering, she has become quite familiar with the animals' various personalities and according to Berry, the organization has a pet to match all personalities, as well as family structures. Adopt-A-Pet is a place where civilians and the active duty military can join forces to put the animals first and give them an incredible opportunity to find the perfect family. Senior Airman Mai Harris, 95th Aerospace Medical Squadron, has volunteered with Adopt-A-Pet for more than two years. "I absolutely love animals and I saw this place when I was looking for somewhere to volunteer. I typically spend between two and three hours a week, every week volunteering here. I really enjoy playing with the animals and giving them special attention and quality time," said Harris. "I am always encouraging Airmen to volunteer, even just once. We always need more volunteers." The Adopt-A-Pet organization was created to accommodate the needs of families preparing for a PCS, who were unable to take their pets with them to their next duty location. Today, although families preparing to PCS are top priority for the organization, they also accept animals from Animal Control and the general public on a space-available basis. "For PCS, we need notification at least a couple weeks in advance. Families need to diligently try to find another home for their animal, because that's obviously the best solution. If they cannot find one, they need to let us know and get on the wait list," said Thurman. "If they find a home for their animal while they're on the waitlist, we can always take your name off the list. Don't wait until a day or two before, because we can't do the last minute thing." Adopt-A-Pet requests at minimum, one week of advanced notice, so they can make space for the animal. "There will always be a need for this place and with that, volunteers willing to help the animals find new homes," said Thurman. For more information about animal adoption, volunteer opportunities, or making a donation log onto www.petfinder.com/shelters/ca913.html or www.facebook.com/APETRescue to view animals available for adoption. Keep Up-to-Date for Your Next PCS Get the inside information from those who know. Get PCS help and all the news and benefits information you need delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe to Military.com now.. The Delta pilots who bombarded elementary school playgrounds with jet fuel before making an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport failed to notify air traffic control of the need to jettison fuel and did not dump it at an optimal altitude, the FAA said Wednesday. Pilots typically are directed by controllers to an appropriate area to dump fuel, a protocol that did not occur Tuesday, the FAA said in a statement. "The FAA is continuing to investigate the circumstances behind this incident," the statement said. Delta made national news Tuesday when pilots of Flight 89 bound for Shanghai dumped the fuel before making an emergency landing moments after takeoff. Delta said the twin-engine Boeing 777 had experienced engine problems. Scores of people on the ground, including students at multiple elementary schools, were treated for eye and skin irritation, Los Angeles County fire officials said. Decontamination stations were set up, but no injuries required hospitalization, authorities said. Peter Goelz, a former managing director for the National Transportation Safety Board, said it might be too early to judge the decisions of a pilot trying to ensure the safety of his passengers and crew. "A 777 flying nonstop to Shanghai is absolutely loaded with fuel," Goelz said. "So loaded that to land right away after takeoff poses a significant danger." Goelz, who is not involved in the investigation, said guidelines usually call for fuel to be dumped over water and/or at an altitude of 10,000 feet so it can disperse and minimize environmental damage. But the rules change for a very heavy plane that needs to get back on the ground, he said. An unidentified girl covers her mouth as she leaves with a relative the Park Avenue Elementary school in Cudahy, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Goelz said every pilot knows the story of Swissair Flight 111, a Geneva-bound MD-11 out of New York that plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2, 1998. None of the 229 people aboard survived. The crew had called in an emergency but was flying away from an airport so it could dump fuel over water when it crashed. Story continues "Pilots know that when you have a problem that threatens the aircraft and you have to get rid of fuel, you get rid of it fast," he said. "You don't want things like this (contamination) to happen, but the alternative is too dire." The FAA said it was investigating the fuel dump, noting that procedures call for fuel to be dumped over "designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground." Iran attack: New video reportedly shows second Iranian missile hitting doomed Ukrainian passenger plane Delta said the unexplained engine issue required the plane to "return quickly" to LAX. "The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight," Delta said. The airline said it was in touch with the airport and fire officials and expressed concern over "minor injuries" to adults and children. The smell of jet fuel wafted through some neighborhoods. The Los Angeles Unified School District said crews washed down playgrounds, play equipment, lunch tables and drinking fountains. it said air conditioning was left on at the affected schools overnight to thoroughly ventilate classrooms and other school buildings. Delta said it dispatched 13 cleaning crews to assist the district in the overnight cleaning job. School Board Vice President Jackie Goldberg was "shocked and angered" at the fuel dump over the Park Avenue Elementary School playground in Cudahy and promised to closely monitor the investigation. "I am sorry our school community had to go through this very scary incident today," Goldberg said. Goelz was willing to give the pilots the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. "Right off the bat, I would not be criticizing the crew until I have more information," he said. "It was not an easy call." Is it safe after crashes? Boeing faces 737 Max reckoning in 2020, as new CEO seeks to end crisis SOURCE AP This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delta jet dumps fuel: Pilots didn't seek permission from controllers A retired salesman has received a suspended prison sentence for the sexual abuse of a young boy while they were both members of a Christian youth group in the 1960s. Gordon Black (aged 70) was aged between 16 and 20 years old when he molested the victim, who was aged between 12 and 16 at the time. At the time they were both in the Boys Brigade, an international Christian youth organisation and Black had a more senior position. The victim, now aged 66, said he still becomes angry when he thinks about the abuse. He said he can still recall the smell of cigarettes on his abuser's breath. Black of Mill Meadows, Arklow, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of indecent assault of a male on dates between 1965 and 1969. The maximum prison sentence for the offending at that time was two years. Judge Martin Nolan said that Black had exploited a situation of strength over the victim and said his actions were reprehensible. But he said he didn't think that Black deserved a prison sentence, noting that Black admitted his offending and had expressed genuine remorse. He also noted the absence of any other convictions at his age. He suspended a two year prison term on condition that Black keep the peace for that period. Garda Keith Alford told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that one of the assaults took place after a trip organised by the youth group. Black was driving the victim home and pulled the car over and told the victim to get into the back seat because he wanted to show him something. Black got into the back seat too and molested the child. He took out his own penis and tried to get the victim to kiss it and repeatedly asked him to do so. The child began to panic and was becoming upset. The court heard that Black saw how upset the child was becoming and he stopped and fixed himself up. In 2017, the victim went to gardai. He said that during this assault Black kissed him on the lips. I'm 66 now and I can still remember the smell of cigarette on his breath, he said. Black admitted the offending to gardai and told them that he himself had being abused as a child by three different people. He told gardai about an incident during a Boys Brigade camping trip in Laytown, Co. Meath, when he molested the victim. The victim had no memory of this attack but Black's admission was followed up by a guilty plea. In a statement, the victim said that recalling the abuse still makes him angry. He said the attacks prevented him from being able to show affection for his daughters when they were children. Luigi Rea BL, defending, said his client was a much younger man at the time of this offending and has gone on to live an otherwise blameless life, raising a family and working as a salesman. He was going through a phase which he has long, long passed out of, counsel said. Mr Rea said his client fully understood now the serious consequences of his actions. Ocean, New Jersey, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Services offered by Palmer Administration and how useful they are in a day to day activity of their consumers. Palmer Administration Services came in handy for me with their warranty plans that helped me repair my car at a very low expense. Their auto protection plans are affordable and reliable, and you can count on them any day, and any time you get a breakdown. I have the all-inclusive Palmer extended warranty plan and to date. It is one of those plans I would recommend to anyone. This is about the benefits of signing a warranty with Palmer Administration because they can be of great help, especially if your car breaks down in some suburb area with no garage around or anyone to help you. This is from personal experience. They will reach you as fast as they can with little to no delay with all the equipment required for the job and all the necessary spares if there need be. They never disappoint and will always be there for you. Here is one of those life lessons that will convince you to obtain a warranty with Palmer Administration. Just a month a god, I was heading to New Jersey for a vacation on the holidays. We decided to take the road because of all the fun that comes with it, all the singing in the car and the excitement of road trips. We all know the weather during the holiday is never good --- all the snowing and road blockages. We still took the road anyway. On the way, we had a significant breakdown. We stood for almost an hour, hoping for a car to come by and offer us some assistance. People stay a lot indoors during this time of the year; at that moment, we wished we had done the same. But then I remembered the warranty offered by Palmer Administration Services, and that I had signed up for one. Why did I not think of this earlier! I made the call, and within thirty minutes, their staff had arrived, and they repaired my car within a blink. They made my holiday a success. Palmer Administration Services offer auto protection plans that you can depend on and are completely affordable. Their customer service skills are on the top-notch, and their staff offers quality services. Besides, when they sign you up for a plan, they advise you on the most appropriate policy for you. Palmer Administration Services has equipped themselves with over thirty years' experience, and therefore it is okay to say that they know what they are doing and are good at their job. They hold better business bureau accreditation. Their auto protection plans are extended and of the original guarantee. Their auto protection plans are very innovative and are the best. In Palmer's extended warranty plan, they cover a wide range of vehicle repairs and services. Palmer Administration Services is the most trusted company in the warranty business, and you can be sure to depend on them anytime you need them. Their programs are also transferable so you can sell the policy when you decide to market and sell your vehicle. If you need a warranty that fits your budget, then you should consider the Palmer Administration Services. They have plans for all that is very affordable and meet the budget of all those with vehicles. One can personalize these programs too. With Palmer Administration Service, you can make as many requests as you want, and to make it better, no claim is unreasonable. Almost in all cases, you do not deal with the repair team at an individual level; they get their pay from Palmer Administration Services. The minute you decide to purchase the Palmer Administration Service plan and take that bold move towards doing it, you will get the best customer services, and you will never regret that decision. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:35:19|Editor: yan Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon National Gendarmerie said Wednesday four people suspected of trafficking in human bones have been arrested in the West region of the country. Gendarmerie officials told reporters that they were arrested in the West regional town of Koutaba "with bags containing human bones". The suspects are said to have emptied the content of the tombs they had targeted in the town for a promised sum of 10 million CFA francs (about 17,000 U.S. dollars). The Gendarmerie presented the suspects and the human bones during a media briefing in the town on Wednesday. In early January, police caught three other traffickers in the capital Yaounde in possession of a bag containing human bones reportedly deterred from graveyards in the city. Body parts of humans and rare animals are prized by some in central Africa for their supposed supernatural powers and used in occult ceremonies. Traffickers often get human remains from grave-robbers, but a recent spate of killings has also been linked to the gruesome trade. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global xanthan gum market size is expected to reach USD 987.7 million by 2020, expanding at a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Growth of oil & gas industry is expected to be one of the primary factors driving xanthan gum demand over the forecast period. Increasing use of xanthan gum as an emulsion across a wide array of applications including salad dressings, toppings, relishes, sauces, non-fat milk, dairy products, baked and frozen foods coupled with growth of food & beverage industry is anticipated to augment market growth. Oil & gas and food & beverages together accounted for over 80% of xanthan gum market in terms of volume as well as revenue in 2013. Food & beverages is anticipated to be the fastest growing application of xanthan gum over the forecast period closely followed by oil & gas. Growing population, changing lifestyle of consumers and rising number of restaurants and cafes especially in India and China coupled with increasing use of xanthan gum as a low price alternative to guar gum in a wide range of food applications is expected to result in high demand for xanthan gum. Increasing demand for petroleum and petrochemicals is expected to result in increasing use of xanthan gum over the forecast period as it is an important component employed in drilling fluids. To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/xanthan-gum-market Further key findings from the study suggest: Asia Pacific was the largest market accounting for over 40% of global xanthan gum volume share in 2013. Food & beverage growth in China, India, Malaysia and Singapore is expected to drive market over the forecast period. In addition, growing oil & gas production in China on account of their rising demand in automobile and chemical industries is expected to have a positive impact on market over the next six years. Xanthan gum market demand in pharmaceutical applications accounted for less than 5% in 2013. Xanthan gum is primarily used to retard drug release in tablets and is compatible with numerous stabilizers and thickeners. Growth in the pharmaceutical industry is likely to propel xanthan gum demand over the next six years. Recovery of pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. is expected to drive market growth over the forecast period. Positive industry outlook of pharmaceutical sector in China and India on account of favorable FDI policies and supporting regulatory policies to boost domestic production output is expected to have a positive impact on market. S. Department of Commerce announced antidumping duties on imports of xanthan gum from China. This move is anticipated to restrict the supply of xanthan gum manufactured in China. Companies operating in China, including Fufeng and Deosen, are likely to be negatively impacted by the implementation of antidumping duties in the U.S. Antidumping duties are anticipated to be in the range of 15% to 154%. Key market participants include Fufeng Group, Deosen Biochemical Ltd, CP Kelco, ADM, Jungbunzlauer, DuPont Danisco, Meihua Group and Pfizer Inc. Xanthan gum production is confined to the U.S., Austria, France and China. Raw material availability in China and Austria is anticipated to force market players to maintain their manufacturing units in vicinity. Xanthan Gum Market Share Insights Fufeng Group and Jungbunzlauer are major integrated product manufacturers, with their manufacturing base located in China and Austria, where carbohydrates is derived from potato and other starch products such as sugarcane. The companies including Pfizer, Cargill and ADM are integrated in their operations where the companies procure raw materials from suppliers and manufacture xanthan gum; these companies captively consume the product to manufacture a variety of foods & beverages as well as pharmaceuticals. In 2013, CP Kelco introduced KELTROL a new gluten free xanthan gum variety of bread which could be easily structured as per the need of the consumers for better dough viscosity, improved dough structure and increased volume. Leading manufacturers, Fufeng and Deosen, opted for capacity expansion in order to maintain their dominant position in the market. This led to market oversupply and resulted in decreasing prices of the product at the global level. Cut-throat competition between these two companies further decreased xanthan gum prices from 2012 to 2014. About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare Its a handwritten note that prompted panicked calls to police over fears a girls welfare was under serious threat. Yet those who dialled 911 in California last week were unaware the makeshift sign in the back window of a car suggesting a young child had been kidnapped was simply a prank on the girls mother driving the vehicle. HELP ME SHES NOT MY MOM!! Help!! the note read, prompting California Highway Patrol South Sacramento to send out multiple officers and a dog squad after concerned bystanders called in. The note which prompted a huge police response. Source: CHP - South Sacramento The vehicle was pursued and pulled over with authorities quickly realising it was all a hoax. It was determined that the juvenile had made it all up and thought it was a fun thing to do, California Highway Patrol South Sacramento said in a Facebook post. The mother was unaware of what her daughter was doing and after it was determined that there was no foul play, the mother and daughter were allowed to leave the scene. Police issued a warning over the incident, urging parents to be vigilant to their childrens actions in the back seat. California Highway Patrol South Sacramento said six units had been sent out for the incident and it was a waste of valuable police resources. The force used the hashtag #notfunny to end their post. This is a reminder that parents need to be aware of what their children are doing in the back seat at all times, the post said. One commented they hoped the child was spoken to about the ramifications of their behaviour. Playing like that is not cool. [Theres] kids really out there missing and every second is crucial in finding them, another said. What a waste of cops time for a prank. They could have been saving someone who really needed help. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. 1984 anti-Sikh riots: SC grants 4-week parole to Balwan Khokhar to perform his father's last rites India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 15: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the plea and granted parole for four weeks to Balwan Khokhar, who, along with former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, to perform his father's last rites. They were convicted in the case in which 73-year-old former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life for the "remainder of his natural life" by the Delhi High Court on December 17. Khokhar and Yadav surrendered before Metropolitan Magistrate Aditi Garg after the court accepted their application to surrender. Kumar is likely to surrender later in the day. Media was not allowed inside the courtroom. The high court had set a deadline of December 31 for them to surrender and undergo prison term. It had on December 17 also convicted former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The case in which they were convicted and sentenced relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I area of Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a gurudwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. 1984 anti-Sikh riots: SC seeks report in 4 weeks on health of Sajjan Kumar The riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards. The high court had on December 21 rejected Kumar's plea seeking extension till January 30 to surrender. He has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the conviction and life sentence awarded by the high court. In its judgment, the high court had noted that over 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the national capital during the 1984 riots which was indeed a "carnage of unbelievable proportions". It also said the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency. The HC had further said there has been a familiar pattern of mass killings since Partition, like in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh in 2013, and the "common" feature of each was the "targeting of minorities" with the attacks being "spearheaded by the dominant political actors, facilitated by law enforcement agencies". The high court had set aside the trial court's 2010 verdict which had acquitted Kumar in the case. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 15, 2020, 12:31 [IST] PORT CLINTON, Ohio Authorities found a body believed to be Harley Dilly in a vacant Port Clinton home they searched Monday afternoon, bringing a tragic end to a four-week search for the missing 14-year-old boy. Investigators believe Harley died after climbing into a chimney at the home and getting stuck inside it, Port Clinton police Chief Rob Hickman said at a news conference Tuesday. Hickman said the boys death appears accidental, according to a live stream of the news conference provided by WKYC-Channel 3. This is a tragic outcome to the case, and a tough loss to the community," Hickman said during the news conference. Harley died of compressive asphyxia, the Ottawa County Coroners Office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. The coroners office concurred that his death appears accidental. Authorities found Harleys coat and glasses on the second floor of the home, beside the brick chimney, Hickman said. It appears he climbed an antenna tower to the roof and entered the chimney. The chimney is blocked between the first and second floors, causing Harley to become trapped, Hickman said. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement Tuesday that his office is heartbroken over Harleys death. He said every effort was made to find the boy. Chief Hickman shouldered the weight of this investigation which has resulted in a tragic outcome for Port Clinton, Yost said in the statement. No case is tougher than when a kid goes missing. Authorities converged on the home to search it Monday afternoon. The home is located on Fulton Street in Port Clinton, near the Dilly residence, and is a summer home that is currently being remodeled, Hickman said during Tuesdays news conference. Harley was last seen about 7 a.m. Dec. 20 when he left home to go to school, according to the Port Clinton Police Department. Surveillance video from showed him headed down an alley toward Magruder Hospital, which is the typical way he walked to school, police said. Dillys family fully cooperated throughout the investigation, Hickman said previously. The FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, State Highway Patrol and other agencies participated in the investigation. Community members also took part in searches of the Port Clinton area. On Saturday, dozens of volunteers joined to search Lakeview Park, according to WEWS-Channel 5. Authorities also offered reward money for information that could help them find Harley. Community donations pushed the reward to $19,500 as of Saturday, Hickman said on Facebook. During Tuesdays news conference, Hickman thanked community members for their support. This is not the outcome anyone wanted, Hickman said during Tuesdays news conference. But thanks to your help and support, we have some closure for the family. The UN aviation watchdog will join the investigation into the crash of the Ukrainian airliner in Iran that killed all the 176 people on board. Minutes after the Ukrainian flight PS752 took off from Tehran last week, it came crashing down killing all the passengers and crew. Among those killed were dozens of Iranians and Canadians. The flight was headed for Kiev, the Ukraine capital. Iran on Saturday admitted that it had accidently shot down the plane shortly after striking American air bases in Iraq in response to the US drone killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Tehran launched an investigation into Ukrainian plane crash and on Tuesday announced to have made the first arrests in connection with the incident. Iran had invited the UN for support in its probe into the Ukrainian plane crash. In a statement, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said that the invitation from Iran was accepted on Tuesday. The ICAO has appointed senior and expert technical staff, who will now serve as advisors and observers in the probe, it said. Few details of the investigation have been released by the Iranian authorities, but Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address that it will be overseen by several experts, and that the judiciary will create a special court. AP Initially, Iran denied responsibility for the crash, reportedly blaming it on a technical failure but eventually admitted that the operator of a missile defence system had mistaken the plane for a missile and shot it down. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the country's judiciary reportedly said at a press conference that the investigation will look into the causes and direct impact of the incident. A specialised agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It is based in Montreal, Canada. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The ICAO serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 Member States. The U.S. and China are set to sign the first phase of a trade deal on Wednesday that includes steps to resolve a nearly two-year trade war but leaves some of the thorniest issues unresolved. The agreement staves off some punitive U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and has Beijing commit to end its practice of forcing foreign companies to disclose their technology, according to the U.S. trade representative. Under the agreement, Washington says Beijing will increase its imports of U.S. products by at least 200 billion dollars over the next two years. Neither side has released specifics of the deal. The phase one deal leaves in place Washingtons tariffs on 370 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports, while reducing the tariff rate on some of those goods from 15 to 7.5 per cent. It is unclear when representatives will negotiate a phase two deal or when they will rescind their tit-for-tat tariffs. Analysts say that some of the most difficult issues in the U.S.-China trade relationship remain unsolved. We are not likely to see in this agreement any provisions addressing the key structural problems with China, Jennifer Hillman, a trade expert at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said on Tuesday. READ ALSO: Hillman cited Beijings use of subsidies to prop up companies that flood markets with goods and drive down prices among the practices. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that the deal is remarkable for how little it achieves at an enormous price. Chinese observers also feel like the deal, while halting a trade conflict that was spiralling out of control, does little to serve Chinas interests. Beijing might find it hard to purchase the set amounts of U.S. agricultural, energy and manufactured goods outlined in the agreement without alienating other countries, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. I think China has made a lot of concessions, and the implementation of the first phase of the agreement poses a considerable challenge, he said. Other countries have raised objections to the deal, saying it would force China to adopt a system of managed trade to the detriment of other nations, Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said Wednesday in Beijing. China will commit to buying U.S. manufactured goods worth 75 billion dollars, 50 billion dollars worth of energy, 40 billion dollars in agricultural products and up to 40 billion dollars worth of services, sources told Politico magazine. (The U.S.) wanted to have a real, comprehensive agreement also covering structural changes, Wuttke said, and they came up basically with a shopping list that China has to fulfill. (dpa/NAN) It was revealed last week that he was leaving the ABC drama series Grey's Anatomy after 15 years. And according to PageSix.com Tuesday, Justin Chambers is looking forward to 'life, family, love and friendship' as he moves on from the show. Asked by the tabloid Monday about their report he'd been receiving treatment for mental health issues at an exclusive facility in Connecticut, the actor, 49, simply responded 'maybe' before adding: Greys has been very supportive of me and Im very grateful and its been a great ride.' Positive: According to PageSix.com Tuesday, Justin Chambers is looking forward to 'life, family, love and friendship' as he moves on from medical drama grey's Anatomy after 15 years Chambers said he's taking things 'one day at a time' and acknowledged he's emotional about leaving the show which he's been a part of since the beginning. When the series started in 2005, his character Alex Karev was a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. Over the years, Karev went on to be a resident and then became a pediatric surgical fellow. 'Theres no good time to say goodbye to a show and character thats defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,' Chambers said in a statement confirming his departure. Exit: 'Theres no good time to say goodbye to a show and character thats defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,' Chambers said in a statement last week confirming his departure. Moving on: Greys has been very supportive of me and Im very grateful and its been a great ride,' the actor, 49, told PageSix on Monday (pictured with Ellen Pompeo and Jesse Williams) New chapter: Chambers, who's been married since 1993 to wife Keisha with whom he shares five children between the ages of 25 and 18, said he wants to diversify his career choices 'For some time now, however, I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices. And, as I turn 50 and am blessed with my remarkable, supportive wife and five wonderful children, now is that time.' Chambers has been married since 1993 to wife Keisha with whom he shares five children between the ages of 25 and 18. Grey's Anatomy will resume its 16th season on January 23 and the series has already been renewed for a 17th season. Chambers' departure leaves only three original cast members on the show: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens, Jr. Kem Sokha, who led Cambodia's now disbanded opposition party is being tried for treason - AFP A Cambodian court on Wednesday opened the trial of Kem Sokha, an opposition party leader accused of treason during a widespread crackdown on government critics. The case against him has drawn condemnation from rights groups and the international community, who have accused Hun Sen, the South East Asian nations longtime leader, of trying to silence political rivals. Kem Sokha, the leader of the popular main Cambodia National Rescue Party, was arrested in 2017 and has since been held in jail and under house arrest. The CNRP was then dissolved by the countrys supreme court ahead of 2018 elections, which Hun Sen then won with a huge majority. On Wednesday, diplomats packed the small municipal court room in the capital, Phnom Penh, but some journalists and human rights workers were denied entry, fuelling fears of an unfair trial. Kem Sokhas daughter Monovithya Kem has called the case against her father a farce. Hun Sen, Cambodia's leader, has been accused of trying to silence critics Credit: Mak Remissa/REX Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said it should be dismissed. Kem Sokha will be the victim of a show trial on completely bogus treason charges, he said. The reality is that Kem Sokha did nothing he should have been charged for and this entire pre-trial prison detention, house arrest and now trial has been a massive violation of his human rights. Judge Koy Sao opened proceedings with the charge that since 1993, Kem Sokha implemented a secret plan in collusion with foreigners, including Americans and Canadians, to overthrow the government and instigate regime change. Mr Sokha denied the accusation. Defence lawyers have indicated that the court could take up to three months to deliver a verdict, meaning the case could still be in progress by the time the EU makes a decision next month on whether to cut Cambodias preferential trade status over its human rights record. Huawei has hit back at comments made by former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull that allowing the Chinese giant to build Britains 5G network would hamper the ability of Five Eyes nations to share intelligence. In an interview at BBCs Radio 4 World at One, Turnbull said that fact that the other Eyes the other parties to that Five Eyes relationship are taking a different approach indicates it would become an issue if the UK was to go with Huawei. Huawei Australia director of corporate affairs Jeremy Mitchell said that in over 15 years in Australia it has never had any cyber security issues. During our engagement with the Turnbull government we made it absolutely clear we would take whatever measures were necessary to mitigate any perceived risks identified. Indeed, our founder Ren Zhengfei has made it quite clear that he would rather shut down the entire company than take any actions from any government that would harm the interests of our customers, Mitchell said. Huawei has worked closely with security agencies around the world to help find solutions on risk mitigation on 5G and are always willing to do so with Australian security agencies. During the interview, Turnbull said that the real question around choosing or not to use Huaweis 5G was whether this is a loaded gun and if you want to have that risk. He said that under the Chinese law, their telcos are obliged to assist their intelligent services from a national security point of view. Do you want to give China the capability to materially interfere with what will become one of the most fundamental technological platforms of your modern economy? Do you want to give that capability to do that? Turnbull asked. The real issue is network availability. If you have another party who may not always have your best interest at heart choosing to shut down or remove access to a part of your economy, a part of your network, that is a very fundamental risk. Turnbull said that Australias decision to bar Huawei was because it concluded there was no satisfactory mitigation of the risk. Mitchell said it was disappointing the former PM continues to rely on factually incorrect information when commenting on the governments decision to exclude Huawei from delivering 5G in Australia. Following the 5G ban Turnbull told Australians that the ban was imposed because 5G technology required a different network architecture to 4G networks but real world 5G deployments have now shown that to be completely false, Mitchell said. Turnbull explained that he is not saying that Huawei is doing anything wrong or has any bad intentions but a threat is the combination of capability and intent. Intent can change in a heartbeat. He also said that the UK would of course be vulnerable if it chose to go ahead and use the Chinese technology company to develop the countrys 5G communication network. Turnbull also criticised the Five Eyes nations for allowing the most powerful telecommunications companies being two Chinese and two Scandinavian companies. Four natives of West Bengal, who work in the city, were arrested by the Pune police on Monday on six counts of card cloning and cheating. The four were produced in a local court on Tuesday where they have been remanded to police custody till January 24. The accused have been identified as Jamdesh Ali, Sadik Shaikh, and Ata Ur Raheman, all residents of Chanchala, Malda in West Bengal, and Dulal Hussain, a native of Harishchandrapur in Malda, West Bengal. Shaikh, Rehman and Ali have been working at a petrol pump in Camp since the past three months. They collected card details of customers at the petrol pump who paid using cards, then used it to make clones and then defrauded them. The police noticed a sudden surge in the number of cases of peoples debit cards being used from distant locations, even though their cards were in their possession. A team led by Gangadhar Ghavate, assistant police inspector, cybercrime police station realised that most victims had used the card at a petrol pump in Camp. Upon investigation, the three men working at the petrol pump landed on police radar. During interrogation, the three told the police that they collected and took the information to their fourth partner Hussain. A case under Sections 419 and 420 of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 66(c) and 66(d) of Information Technology Act has been registered against the four. Two homeless mothers and two male supporters were arrested on misdemeanor obstructing offenses during the eviction early Tuesday morning of the group Moms 4 Housing that had been occupying a home in West Oakland since November, a sheriff's spokesman said. The four people who were arrested at the house at 2928 Magnolia St. shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday were identified as mothers Tolani King, 46, and Misty Cross, 38, and supporters Jesse Turner, 25, and Walter Baker, 28. The four people were booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and released later in the day after posting $5,000 bail each, according to jail records. A GoFundMe account at https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-moms-out-of-jail-fund to raise money to pay for their bail had raised more than $29,000 as of late Tuesday afternoon. Cross and Baker are scheduled to be arraigned at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin at 9 a.m. Thursday and King and Turner are scheduled to be arraigned at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland at 9 a.m. on Feb. 13. Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday evening selected a site near the Los Guilicos complex in east Santa Rosa for a temporary emergency outdoor shelter for 60 homeless people currently camping on the Joe Rodota Trail between west Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. Supervisors rejected a site located in the county's administration center in Santa Rosa. The plan for each of the two sites included 60 64-square-foot housing units, restrooms, showers, a dining area and warming station, a dog run, county services navigation center, medical services and 24-hour security. The 1.8-acre administration center site on Administration Drive is close to public transit and a shopping center that includes a Safeway and restaurants. The 2-acre Los Guilicos site on North Pythian Road is near the county's Juvenile Justice Center, busy state Highway 12 and the Oakmont senior community. The total one-time costs for each option is around $2 million, and total ongoing costs for each is $240,000 a month. County officials want to free approximately 220 campers from the unsanitary conditions, including a rat infestation, along a paved 1-mile section of the bicycle and pedestrian Joe Rodota Trail by the end of the month. A 2.6 magnitude quake rattled an area of east Richmond late Tuesday night, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake hit exactly at 11 p.m. in the area of the East Richmond Heights neighborhood. There are no reports of injuries or damage. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman on Tuesday announced city officials are in negotiations to purchase a Market Street building, to be converted into affordable housing. The project at 1939 Market St., in the city's Mission Dolores neighborhood, would provide 100 percent permanently affordable housing and would likely serve low-income seniors, according to the Mayor's Office. "Projects like 1939 Market Street are exactly why we fought for affordable housing in the budget and why we passed the Affordable Housing Bond," Breed said in a statement. Santa Clara County supervisors on Tuesday committed to considering a safe-parking program for homeless residents to sleep overnight in their vehicles. According to a proposal that passed the through the board Tuesday, the county will partner with local municipalities, nonprofits and community members to find safe parking sites that could provide overnight shelter "at very low or no cost." This would include parking for RVs and cars, potentially on sites operated at all hours of every week. "It's become increasingly clear that some of these programs would benefit from additional County support and engagement. Cities have faced a number of barriers to opening safe parking programs, including finding appropriate sites, the lack of insurance for non-profit partners, and challenges in establishing 24-hour lots," Supervisor Joe Simitian said in a statement. "We need to identify more sites, find a way to keep them open 24/7 and connect local non-profits with the insurance coverage they need to get the job done," he said. Despite threats of lawsuits from a waterfront coal storage business, the Richmond City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday night to phase out storage of coal and petroleum coke in that city. The ordinance gives businesses three years to wind down coal and coke storage operations. In practice, the ordinance will directly affect only one Richmond business, Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation on the Santa Fe Channel east of Point Richmond and south of the Iron Triangle neighborhood. The terminal stores coal shipped from Utah mines before export to Japan. Levin also stores petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining, from the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo before it is shipped. The proposed "coal ordinance," as Mayor Tom Butt called it, was created following complaints from the public about increased coal dust in the air in parts of Richmond. It would govern only the storage of coal in Richmond; it will not have any effect on transportation of coal through the city by rail. Levin's waterfront site could transition to storing other materials, according to a Richmond city staff report. At the Richmond council's Dec. 3 meeting, dozens of speakers addressed the council about the coal ordinance. Many were Levin employees or their union leaders who fear Levin's 62 jobs would be lost because of the ordinance. A number of others were community activists, health professionals or other residents concerned about high asthma rates in the city, and coal dust's possible role in that. At that meeting, Levin officials told council members the company would sue the city if this ordinance was approved. Wednesday will be cloudy. Highs will be in the lower 50s. South winds will be 5 to 15 mph. Wednesday night will be breezy, with rain likely in the evening and then rain after midnight. Lows will be in the upper 40s. South winds will be 10 to 20 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph after midnight. Thursday will be breezy with showers in the morning, then showers likely and a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs will be in the lower 50s. Southwest winds will be 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Samir Ali - Trend: The history of crimes committed in Azerbaijans Sumgayit city, leave no doubt that these crimes were carried out namely by Armenian nationalists, Editor-in-Chief of Azerbaijans Baki Khabar newspaper, political expert Aydin Guliyev told Trend. The true essence of the events in Sumgayit was revealed long ago, however, Armenia and the Armenian lobby dont leave attempts to impose their insinuations on the world community, said Guliyev. It has been fully proven that the events in Sumgayit in 1988 were organized and executed by Armenian special services, terrorists, the expert noted. There is numerous evidence that in anticipation of Sumgayit events, the Armenians did special preparatory work. Investigations by the authorities of Azerbaijan and the former USSR unequivocally prove that the Armenians committed these events with special intent. Guliyev said Armenian ideological centers used the same inhumane methods they have been using more than once over the past century. The Armenian tactics are as follows - kill their own people, blame it on the Turkic world, form the image of a martyred people and thus justify their groundless territorial claims. The same vicious aggressive tactics were applied in Sumgayit, said the expert. The Sumgayit events in February 1988 in the wake of the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh was a planned component of the plan of the Armenians to seize Azerbaijans territory. The organization of these events immediately after the outbreak of separatism in Khankendi city are actions that complement each other within the Armenian aggressive strategy, Guliyev said. The expert said that structureless power in Azerbaijan and the deprivation of Heydar Aliyev of authority in Moscow by the end of 1980s simplified the implementation of the Armenians plans. "The facts prove that the moving Heydar Aliyev away from the political arena of the USSR during the activity of the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh region was the primary stage of the Armenian plan, Guliyev said. The events in Sumgayit, following the adoption of an absolutely unlawful decision to "annex" Nagorno-Karabakh in favor of Armenia, in accordance with the Armenians plan, should have assured the world community that "living with Azerbaijanis within Azerbaijan is dangerous. Bloodshed in Sumgayit was necessary for this"," Guliyev said. Armenian nationalists strived for realization of the killings of Armenians in Azerbaijan so much that if Sumgayit didn't work out, they would have tried to do so in other Azerbaijani regions," Guliyev said. Multinational population in Sumgayit, including many Armenians, deep structuring of the Soviet State Security Committee (KGB) in the city created extremely favorable conditions for their bloodthirsty plans, the expert said. If such a statesman as Heydar Aliyev was in power that period, the attempt of Armenians to commit the massacre and blame it on Azerbaijanis, would fail, Guliyev said. "The tragedies in Sumgayit and then in Khojaly were required by the Armenians to strengthen the false thesis of the impossibility of the coexistence of two communities within Azerbaijan, to convince the world that it is necessary to occupy the adjacent areas for the safety of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, the expert said. All these and other tragedies in Azerbaijan occurred in accordance with Armenias aggressive plans against Azerbaijan, Guliyev said. However, the effect of the events in Sumgayit in the form conceived by the aggressor, did not last long. In particular, systematic diplomacy and politics which was observed after Heydar Aliyev returned to power made it possible to prove the guilt and aggression of Armenians," Guliyev added. Despite Armenias attempts to use these events against Azerbaijan, Baku managed to expose the insidious enemy and convey the essence of the Sumgayit events to the world," Guliyev added. The Berejiklian government is being urged to quickly overhaul a little-known law that could prohibit people from using caravans as emergency accommodation, as it grapples to find temporary shelter for homeless bushfire victims. Volunteer organisation Find A Bed, which was set up in response to the devastating fires that swept through the NSW South Coast on New Year's Eve, encountered the issue after it began receiving offers of donated caravans from people all over Australia. The organisation's co-founder Erin Riley, a PhD communications student at the University of Technology, Sydney, said locals in the Batemans Bay area, where hundreds of homes were razed, were wary about falling foul of the legal restrictions around caravan use. The town of Mogo on the NSW South Coast was devastated by fire on New Year's Eve. Credit:James Brickwood "Some people already own caravans or have access to caravans and just want to live on their land or nearby. In other cases, we have been offered donor caravans which people want to provide but can't as long as the regulations are the way they are," Ms Riley said. The House Intelligence Committee has released a 'trove' of information from indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that includes a written push for the Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens just a day before the House plans to send over impeachment articles to the Senate. Included are notes scribbled on Ritz Carlton stationary from the Ritz Carlton in Vienna, presumably by Parnas, who was both a client and associate of Giuliani in his efforts to pressure the new Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens. 'Get Zalensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated,' reads one notation in large lettering, using another spelling President Volodymyr Zelensky's name. The documents include a May 10 letter from Giuliani to the Ukrainian president seeking a meeting with Trump's 'knowledge and consent' The House Intelligence Committee released information provided by Giuliani associate Lev Parnas President Trump has insisted there was no pressure put on Zelensky. A list on the stationary says: 1) 'Put together Package. 2) go to DC with package.' The next line says: 'do my "magic" and cut deal,' with the word 'deal' underlined. The third line says: 'victoria / joe retained,' and lists $100,000 a month. That is a reference to prominent DC lawyers Joe di Genova and Victoria Toensing, who were involved in the case. It also says 'begin media campaign.' Also included are WhatsApp exchanges between Trump donor and Republican congressional candidate Robert Hyde and Parnas. The men discuss now-fired U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who testified in the House. Lev Parnas has been indicted on campaign finance violations. His lawyer says he wants to cooperate with investigators The House Intelligence Committee released information provided by Giuliani associate Lev Parnas. One page mentions two top Trump World lobbyists, says 'P.R. Group, $$ ???, and '*Rudy*' The House Intelligence Committee released information provided by Giuliani associate Lev Parnas The House Intelligence Committee released information provided by Giuliani associate Lev Parnas President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Aram Roston/File Photo In the March 22, 2019, Hyde wrote, in reference to the longtime U.S. diploamt: F*** that b****. The next day, Parnas replied with a screen grab of Fox host Laura Ingraham, who hosted Giuliani on her show. Hyde responded, still referring to Yovanovitch: Wow, cant believe Trump hasnt fired this b****. Ill get right in that. The trove also includes an introductory letter from Giuliani to Zelensky on personal letterhead in my capacity as a personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. The letter is dated May 10, right after Zelenskys election. He requests a personal meeting days later on a matter he doesnt identify. The notes mention top Trump world lobbyist Brian Ballard as well as lobbyist Robert Stryk, who runs 'private diplomacy' firm SPG. Another note likely references Russian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, although the notation says: 'Firtish Toxic.' Firtash has been fighting extradition to the U.S. to faces racketeering charges. 'Cut deal or get dismissed,' says another notation. Following his arrest, it was revealed in court that Parnas got $1 million from Firtash in $200,000 installments. Other information also appears to connect Trump and Parnas. An October 2 email from Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow who will be representing Trump in his impeachment trial writes former Trump lawyer John Dowd granting permission for him to represent Parnas. "I have discussed the issue of representation with the president,' it says. The president consents to allowing your representation of Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman,' in reference to another indicted Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman. Trump said after the indictment that he did not now Parnas and Fruman. Parnas attorney Joseph Bondy has released numerous photos of Parnas and Trump and Parnas and Trump family members. Another line in the notes says 'Ukrain ledger,' which could be a reference to the infamous black ledger detailing payments to former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort. The ledger is part of a claim by Giuliani that it was Ukraine that committed 2016 election interference. Ukraine is currently serving a 7 1/2 year sentence after getting convicted on tax and corruption charges. >>> Vietnams foreign trade to exceed US$500 billion in 2019 >>> PM attends ceremony marking US$500 billion in import-export revenue >>> Ten notable events of Vietnam's industry and trade sector in 2019 Amidst many countries in the region and around the world suffering in their import and export economy, Vietnam's US$500 billion is an impressive figure, contributing to the overall development of Vietnams economy. Import-export setting new record As one among the key items that maintained a relative high export growth, exports of wood and wood products always saw a growth rate of up to 17-18% during most of 2019. In the southern province of Binh Duong which is dubbed as Vietnams capital for wood exporting, Dien Quang Hiep, Chairman of the Binh Duong Furniture Association (BIFA), said that with about 4,700 enterprises invest in wood product manufacturing and processing, besides traditional markets, the increase in exports to new and upcoming potential markets such as Canada, the Eurasian Economic Union and the South Central Asia opens up new opportunities for Vietnam's furniture exports throughout 2019 and in the years to come. Vietnam's signing of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as FTAs with ASEAN (AFTA), Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and more recently the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) has helped cut or eliminate import tariffs on many products of the countries participating in the agreements, thus creating a competitive advantage for Vietnamese wood products, Hiep said. Along with wooden furniture, a range of Vietnamese items maintained high export growth rates in 2019, such as cell phones, computers, textiles and footwear. The contribution of these items helped the country's export and import turnover officially reach US$500 billion in mid-December last year, an impressive figure demonstrating the growth and sustainable development of foreign trade in Vietnam's economic structure. The country's export turnover also reached the goal set by the National Assembly (up from 7-8%), with the trade surplus reaching over US$11 billion. Remarkably, in the context of a constantly fluctuating world economy, with trade tensions among major countries negatively affecting the global demand and export turnover of big powers continuously declining, the impressive figures of Vietnams import and exports make more sense. Analysing the successes of import and export activities in 2019, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that in 2011, Decision No. 2471 approving the national strategy for sustainable import and export of goods in the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030 was approved by the Prime Minister. This strategy which set the goal by 2020, that the export growth rate would reach 10% a year, and the trade deficit would be fundamentally solved. However, diversified and synchronised major solutions, focusing on strengthening Vietnams production and export capacity, boosting market development, favourable financial policies, restructuring State-owned enterprises and creating favourable conditions for credit market development, have helped Vietnam realise its roadmap comfortably, thus meeting and exceeding the targets set out in the above decision. The figure of US$500 billion in import-export turnover helped Vietnam reach the Top 30 countries with good import-export growth in the world. Considering the growth of the whole period of up to 13%, Vietnam is in the top of the world in maintaining high and sustainable growth. In particular, the trade surplus of more than US$11 billion solves a lot of problems, especially in the macro economy. Stable foreign exchange reserves at a high level ensure continued investment in expanding production and creating market confidence, Minister Anh stated. In addition, the record import and export figure also shows that Vietnamese businesses have effectively taken advantage of 12 effective FTAs. Currently, Vietnamese goods have been exported to 200 markets and countries in the world. The growth rate of trade turnover to markets with FTA signed with Vietnam, such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Canada, have been maintained at double digits. What plans for 2020? 2020 is considered a pivotal year, as it is the last year in implementing the five-year socio-economic development plan for 2016-2020 to open a new stage of development for the country. Regarding import and export under goings, 2020 is identified as a year with multiple difficulties and challenges. The world situation in terms of both politics and trade is forecast to be more complicated. The trade conflict among major powers has not yet ended and is likely to have further complicated manifestations in expanding into various fields and reaching higher levels. Regional and international instability also continue to be at risk of outbreaks and spreads, which may threaten the stability of global economy and trade. According to Minister Anh, in this context, the important solution that the Government has determined to boost during the current period is to maintain macroeconomic stability and creating a favourable environment to facilitate Vietnam's cooperation with its partners, as well as enhancing the production capacity of the economy and actively participating in international trade. In addition, it is necessary to boost growth drivers by facilitating administrative reform and institutional and legal improvement to achieve in-depth development that is closely linked to investment and international integration activities. Vietnam has targeted to continue to implement a consistent international integration strategy, while protecting Vietnamese goods from the risk of product origin fraud. Its important to identify the core subject of import and export undertakings is the business community, and the State only plays a supportive role. So in addition to the support from the State, the business community should strive to make a breakthrough in import and export doings, said Minister Anh. One of the key Vietnamese export items is tra fish. Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that tra fish export in 2020 is expected to witness positive signals since the US has announced anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra fish at US$0 per kg. Furthermore, additional Vietnamese enterprises have been allowed to register for exporting tra fish to the US. Statistics from VASEP showed that currently, the export turnover of tra fish to the US has just stood at roughly US$300 million compared to over US$2 billion of the whole industry. Despite it not being at a high level, the US is still considered a potential market for Vietnamese tra fish. Therefore, in order to expand exports to the US and other markets, businesses need to continue reviewing and finalising the legal policy system to put it into operation, as well as organising the implementation of the food safety control system in production and trading of tra fish, Hoe affirmed. Karnataka Cabinet expansion likely to be further delayed with BSY still to meet Shah India pti-PTI Bengaluru, Jan 15: The much awaited expansion of Karnataka cabinet is likely to get delayed, with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday stating that it will be done after BJP national President Amit Shah's visit to the state on January 18. As the Chief Minister is scheduled to travel to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet, the very next day- January 19, the Ministry expansion exercise is likely to take place only after his return. "On January 19, I will have to go to Davos, where I will take part in an investors meet and come back on January 23," Yediyurappa said. Speaking to reporters in Shikaripura, he said, "Amit Shah is coming to state on January 18, after discussing with him at the earliest I will expand the cabinet." Shah will be here to address a huge rally at Hubballion January 18 aspart of the BJP's nationwide outreach programme to create awareness among the people about the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Chief Minister, who is anxiously waiting for the BJP high command's nod to expand his ministry, amid intense lobbying by the aspirants, had recently expressed his wish to complete the exercise before Davos visit, if he gets clearance from Amit Shah. Disqualified legislators who got re-elected during the December 5 bypolls on BJP ticket, and are all set to become Ministers too had exerted pressure on Yediyurappa to expand the cabinet before the foreign visit. According to party sources, though Yediyurappa had plans to visit New Delhi to get clearance from the high command, he did not get appointment from the party leadership for the same. Yediyurappa along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya as well as chief ministers - Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh) are among those expected join over 100 Indian CEOs in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos later this month for the WEF's 50th annual meeting. As the Chief Minister has already made it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths. Currently there are 18 Ministers, including the Chief Minister in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. However, with some reports that the high command may not be keen on making all the 11 re-elected legislators, whom Yediyurappa has given assurance, as Ministers, it remains to be seen how things turn out. Cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the Chief Minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as promised and also make place for old guards, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise. He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with allocation of key portfolios. Also, disqualified legislators, who lost on BJP ticket during the bypoll, openly expressing their ministerial aspirations, has added to the Chief Minister's worry. Noting that he will be presenting the budget on March five, Yediyurappa said preparations are on for it. "Naturally the budget will give importance to agriculture and the plan is to provide assistance to SC/ST and other backward communities. Budget will come to shape by the end of February. It will be presented on March 5. After detailed discussion on the budget during the month, we will seek for its approval from the assembly," he said. This will the first budget of Yediyurappa government after coming to power in July last year, and the Chief Minister who holds the Finance portfolio will present the budget. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins yesterday returned to the exact spot from which he flew to the moon 50 years ago with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Mr Collins had the spotlight to himself this time - Mr Armstrong died seven years ago and Mr Aldrin cancelled. Mr Collins said he wished his two moonwalking colleagues could have shared the moment at Kennedy Space Centre's launch complex 39A, the departure point for the first moon landing. "Wonderful feeling to be back," the 88-year-old command module pilot said. "There's a difference this time. I want to turn and ask Neil a question and maybe tell Buzz Aldrin something, and of course, I'm here by myself." Mr Collins's grandfather emigrated from Dunmanway, Co Cork, in the early 1860s to join the rest of the family in Cincinnati, Ohio. At Nasa's invitation, Mr Collins marked the precise moment - 9.32am on July 16, 1969 - that the Saturn V rocket blasted off. He was seated at the base of the pad alongside the centre's director, Bob Cabana, a former space shuttle commander. Mr Collins recalled the tension surrounding the crew that day. "Apollo 11 was serious business. We, crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders. We knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe, and we wanted to do the best we possibly could," he said. Collins remained in lunar orbit, tending to Columbia, the mother ship, while Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Eagle on July 20, 1969, and spent two-and-a-half hours walking the lunar surface. A reunion at the Kennedy firing room by past and present launch controllers, along with Mr Collins's return, began a range of celebrations marking each day of Apollo 11's eight-day voyage. At the Air and Space Museum in Washington, the spacesuit Mr Armstrong wore went back on display in mint condition, complete with lunar dust left on the suit's knees, thighs and elbows. In Huntsville, Alabama, where the Saturn V was developed, thousands of model rockets were launched simultaneously, commemorating the moment the Apollo 11 crew blasted off for the moon. Hundreds of youngsters attending Space Camp counted down and cheered as the rockets created a grey cloud, at least for a few moments, in the sky. Back at Kennedy, Mr Cabana turned the conversation to Nasa's next moonshot programme, Artemis, named after the twin sister of Greek mythology's Apollo. It seeks to put the first woman and next man on the lunar surface - the moon's south pole - by 2024. Mr Collins said he likes the name Artemis and, even more, likes the concept behind it. He pointed out Mr Armstrong was among those who believed returning to the moon "would assist us mightily in our attempt to go to Mars". Seventy-eight children under 16 have already died in the outbreak of Dengue related illness in Yemen, with more than 52,000 suspected cases being recorded across the country. Save the Children warned this could signal the start of an epidemic. AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Seventy-eight children under 16 have already died in the outbreak of Dengue related illness in Yemen, with more than 52,000 suspected cases being recorded across the country. Save the Children warned this could signal the start of an epidemic. Heavy rainfall, coupled with the ongoing conflict, is disrupting clean water supplies. Because of the disruptions, people use water basins to collect rainwater and these uncovered water sources combined with the rain have contributed to the spread of mosquitoes in the affected areas, resulting in an upsurge in suspected dengue cases. If measures are not urgently put in place to strengthen the health care system so that cases can be detected early, the death total which reached 192 people by the end of 2019, could increase sharply. Cases have been recorded in almost all governorates in Yemen with the most affected being Hodeidah and Aden which recorded more than 60% of the deaths in the country. Save the Children Hodeidah Field Manager Mariam Aldogani, herself recovering from Dengue fever, said: Hodeidah has the second highest death rate in the country with 62 adult and children deaths in 2019. We have never seen anything like this before. More than 40 of our staff including their families have been affected by the fever. We are getting reports of deaths on a daily basis in remote areas of the governorate. Some of our health facilities are working 24 hours a day and last week one of our facilities recorded 30 cases in one day, most of which were children. The economic situation in the country has not made it any better for people. Parents cannot afford to bring their children to the hospital or to buy the medication. Hospitals are full, and some patients are kept in hospitals having to lay on the floor because of a bed shortage. Its really bad. Children as young as eight months have not been spared by the dengue fever. In some of the hospitals all you can hear are children crying in pain. We are currently supporting 48 health facilities in Hodeidah which recorded more than 6000 Dengue fever suspected cases in 2019. Save the Children's health centres have been receiving many cases of children suffering from dengue, and its teams on the ground are diagnosing and treating patients whilst referring the most severe cases. Ali, 8, recently contracted Dengue fever in his home village not far from Hodeidah City. His parents brought him to Al-Thawrah Public Hospital a major health facility in Hodeidah City which has been supported by Save the Children for several years now. Ali is receiving medical treatment along with 14 other children aged between 2 and 8 years. His mother said: I had to leave everything back there in the village and stay with my son in here. [Hes having] high temperature all the time and hasnt eaten anything for three days now. Save the Children has also procured medical supplies to respond to Dengue fever and malaria outbreak in its areas of operations, including Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah and Hajjah. It is also raising awareness among health workers and community health volunteers on how to deal with Dengue and other hemorrhagic fevers. With the constant occurrences of preventable diseases in Yemen, only peace across the country can guarantee quick responses and rebuilding of a health system that is facing collapse. Yemen is still reeling from a cholera epidemic, which led to over 2 million suspected cholera cases between October 2016 and August 2019. Close to five years of conflict has resulted in the countrys health system at breaking point, with more than half of all health facilities closed or only partially functioning. Many hospitals have been damaged by airstrikes or ground fighting, and there is a widespread critical shortage of essential medicines and qualified staff. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement. ......................................... End/ 257 A contractors calculation error that went undetected for months will delay changes to the way caregivers of vulnerable Oregonians are paid, a state official told lawmakers during public hearings this week. A coding mistake undercounted how many people need the most extensive -- and costly -- services, said Lilia Teninty, who directs the Office of Developmental Disabilities Services. The incorrect figure was unknowingly used to approve a larger-than-budgeted raise to workers caring for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, we agreed to the plan, and then we found this error, Teninty told the Senate Human Services committee Monday. She recounted the mistake to the House Human Services Committee Tuesday. Lawmakers have convened in Salem to discuss their priorities for the short legislative session that begins in February. They will decide then whether to cover the costs that werent included in agencies two-year budgets approved last year. Teninty said it will cost an estimated $12.2 million to fill the gap driven by the incorrect data. The error has also forced her to hold off on completely rolling out the new wage schedule until January 2021, instead of July as originally planned. State officials discovered the flawed data in December as they prepared to send out letters about the changes to more than 27,000 people receiving support statewide, Teninty said. According to Teninty, contractor Human Services Research Institute made the error. John Agosta, its executive vice president, declined to discuss what happened or Tenintys description of how the mistake occurred. I cant comment on that, he said. I defer everything to Lilia. Teninty said her office, a branch of the Department of Human Services, is talking with state attorneys about how they might recover some of the money paid under the contract with Human Services Research Institute, which is based in both Tualatin and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The raises to service providers were part of a years-long project to reform how Oregon helps people with developmental delays and disabilities pay for the care they need. State officials had worked with consultants from the Human Services Research Institute to create a standard assessment to determine the level of care people required, and as a result, the money they would receive to pay for it. The assessment takes certain factors into consideration, such as age and individual needs. An advisory group reviewed the assessment in early 2019 and found it erroneously grouped some people with the highest needs into a lower support tier than what they actually required, Teninty said. We agreed at that point to change how we were using the assessment, she said. That change was lost, though, when the contractor handed off the work to a new employee, she said. The employee was provided the old, unrevised information. As a result, the contractors estimates included 2,000 fewer people than necessary in the highest-needs level. Unaware of the error, state workers used the contractors data to decide how to implement wage increases tied to the new service levels. Lawmakers had given them a $30 million pot of money to work with. Some of the money went toward immediate 4% raises. Clients, their families, direct care providers and others all weighed in on how to divide the remainder, Teninty said. This is where things kind of went a little bit south for us, Teninty said. Im politely calling it a hiccup. After the plans were finalized, state workers discovered their numbers conflicted with the Human Services Research Institute data. Teninty said the contractor identified a trio of errors. The largest was the misclassification mistake. We were calculating a much lower number of people in that highest level of support than what was accurate and what we had all agreed on, she said. Her office shelved the new wage rates until January 2021 and required Human Services Research Institute to implement new quality assurance measures, Teninty said. To honor the commitments state officials made when they thought they had more money to spend, they plan to increase provider wages by 7% in July. The move would bring the average hourly wage of direct support providers to $14.38, Teninty said. At the close of Tenintys presentation on Monday, Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, thanked Teninty for being willing to bring bad news to light. To be able to talk about it and put it out there, and share the problem together and try and solve it, is important, Gelser said. -- Molly Young myoung@oregonian.com Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Read more: Two Birmingham brothers out on bond for murder were arrested early Tuesday in another shooting. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force took Nykeil Brown, 21, and Quindarrius Brown, 19, into custody about 6:30 a.m. in the 500 block of 41st Street North. They were arrested without incident. The Browns were sought in a December shooting in Bessemer that left two people wounded. The shooting happened Dec. 12 in the citys Southside Homes. Lt. Christian Clemons said the brothers opened fire on a vehicle. A man and a woman inside that vehicle were wounded and treated for injuries that werent life-threatening. A motive has not been disclosed. Authorities have been searching for the Browns since then. They are each charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling and one count of criminal mischief. Their bonds are set at $76,500 each. The suspects were arrested last year and charged with murder in the March 30, 2019 shooting death of Tavarus Jamal Johnson. In that case, Bessemer police and fire medics responded at 2:15 p.m. that Saturday to a report of a person shot on Longbrook Drive. Officers said they arrived on the scene to find Johnson, 26, critically injured on the side of a home in a neighborhood there. Medics worked on Johnson at the scene and then took him to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. Nykeil Brown was arrested on April 2 with bond set at $100,000. He was released from jail on April 28. Quindarrius Brown was arrested on the murder charge on May 29. He was released from jail the following day, also on $100,000 bond. Prosecutors on Dec. 13, 2019 requested that bond for both suspects be revoked in light of the new shooting charges, but court records dont reflect a disposition for that request. Court dates have not yet been set on the new charges. EasyJet is resuming flights to Egypts Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the first time in nearly five years, following the lifting of travel restrictions to the area. The airline said two flights a week would be launched from Manchester Airport from June 7, and flights from London Gatwick will commence on September 30. There will also be flights to nearby Hurghada. UK airlines were banned from flying to the region following the bombing of a Russian plane soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board, in November 2015. But in October last year, the Department for Transport (DfT) lifted restrictions due to improvements in security procedures and close co-operation between our aviation security experts and their Egyptian counterparts. The return of easyJets route to Sharm el-Sheikh is very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sunseekers all year round Stephen Turner, Manchester Airport EasyJets decision comes two months after rival travel company TUI announced its own resumption of holidays to the region. Smaller firms and travel agents have also relaunched services to Sharm el-Sheikh, which was previously one of the most popular destinations for British tourists keen for some sun. Ali Gayward, UK country manager at easyJet, said: We are looking forward to operating these flights this summer and adding them to an ever-growing range of great destinations for our customers. Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: The return of easyJets route to Sharm el-Sheikh is very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sunseekers all year round. EasyJet also announced that it will launch three new flights to Rome in Italy and twice-weekly flights to Menorca, starting in June. The company added: With Egypt proving popular in the North West, the airline is also extending its winter flights to Hurghada to operate year-round three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, with the first flight departing on 1 June. Bosses said they expect to carry more than 37,000 passengers on the new routes in the first 12 months, serving almost five million passengers to and from the airport. The closure of Sharm el-Sheikh to foreign flights in November 2015 had a major impact on several travel companies, who had pinned their hopes on the growing tourism trade to the region. Monarch Airlines blamed the ban, in part, for its collapse in 2017, and tourists still intent on visiting the resort would previously have to travel to Hurghada and take a ferry. Terror funding: NIA raids at Manipur, Nagaland lead to recovery of Rs 82 lakh India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in Manipur and Nagaland in connection with a terror funding case. The case relates to a terror funding case relating to the NSCN (IM) wherein unaccounted funds were being taken by one Alemla Jamir from Delhi to Nagaland. Jamir is said to be working for the NSCN (IM) and was arrested while carrying cash to the tune of Rs 72 lakh. The searches conducted by the NIA at the homes of Jamir's associates led to the recovery of Rs 82.6 lakh. In addition to this, the NIA has also recovered digital devices, 15 smartphones, one hard disk, one pen drive, one memory card and four laptops. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News Assam Rifles ambush case: NIA charges six terrorists The NIA also found certain insurgency and extortion related literature and incriminating documents. It was revealed that the unaccounted money was being used for the purchase of the property. Meanwhile, the NIA is looking for an absconding accused, Pungting Shimrang. T he health secretary has rejected a suggestion that the public should be flying less to save the planet. Matt Hancock said the real solution to the climate emergency was greener planes, although he admitted he was unsure when such options would be introduced. Following the controversial bail-out of airline Flybe, Mr Hancock was asked on BBC Radio 5 whether people should be flying less, to which he replied: Nope. He added: Connectivity around the country is incredibly important At the same time flying has already decarbonised and can decarbonise more. When pressed on addressing the climate catastrophe and whether the public should be willing to make sacrifices - such as catching the train rather than flying to Aberdeen from London - Mr Hancock again replied that technology was instead the solution. The Government has announced it will review an environment tax on flying to help bailout Flybe / Mark Harkin/Flickr I have flown from London to Aberdeen and I would again if it was necessary, he said. Nicky Cambell asked: Shouldnt we make those sacrifices considering what is happening to our planet? Mr Hancock replied: No, we should use technology to reduce carbon emissions for instance electric planes are a potential in the not to distant future." He added: "Im here to talk about the health service (but) Im told that electric planes are on the horizon if that's not pushing the metaphor too far. The comments come in light of a Government announcement that it will review air passenger duty (APD) an environmental tax on flying on domestic routes, among other measures, in an effort to help struggling airline Flybe. Campaigners warned Boris Johnson that any APD review that leads to cheaper air travel would be a complete scandal and rip up the Prime Ministers pledge to show leadership on the climate crisis. In response to Mr Hancocks comments, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: Either Matt Hancock thinks airplanes run on fairy dust, or he does know theyre a major source of planet-heating emissions but simply doesnt care. Whichever it is, his comments fly in the face of the Conservative manifesto commitment to tackling the climate emergency. Hes right about one thing, though regional connectivity is crucial, and thats why ministers should invest a lot more in clean transport infrastructure while making sure millions of people are not clobbered by rail fare hikes every year. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday performed rituals as head priest of Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. The 'Peethadhishwar' offered khichdi to Baba Gorakhnath for happiness, prosperity and peace in the country as soon as the temple gates were opened at 3.00 am. As per the tradition, the khichdi sent by the king of Nepal was offered soon after, the UP government said in a statement. After this, the devotees who visited the temple in lakhs, also offered the khichdi (rice-dal) to the Baba Gorakhnath. The Chief Minister spent his time among devotees and urged them to take laiya-til as 'prasad,' the release said. Later in the afternoon, he joined community meal with thousands of people. The Khichdi Mela that is organised at the temple premises on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, continues for about a month and attracts devotees from all over north India. The devotees also come from far-flung areas of Nepal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Horrific contamination was no secret over two decades at a Metro Detroit factory. Michigan officials tracked it, while a federal cleanup only targeted the most obvious chemicals left behind when it was forced to close. Now the states elected officials - surprised by green ooze seeping onto I-696 signaling the extent of remaining pollution - are raising questions about how it got to that point and what the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) can do to fix a system with a hell of a lot of contaminated sites under its watch. We want to make sure the programs we have in place are working, said Rep. Shane Hernandez, chair of the Appropriations Committee in the Michigan House of Representatives, as he opened a hearing on the issue. Our fresh water is what makes this state. EGLE staff is dealing with contamination of enormous scale, said Liesl Eichler Clark, director of the department. Thousands of properties are in some degree of oversight, she said, in a system that isnt even fully digitized. One solution she poses is to stop pulling punches with repeated violators of environmental laws who are not acting in good faith. Were going to enforce environmental laws in a reasoned and consistent way, Clark said. Thats something everyone in this room should welcome and support. Otherwise, she said, more situations with unsolved contamination threatening Michigan waterways could be the result. Its really hard to believe that more red flags shouldnt have been raised sooner and more frequently, Clark told the committee about the highway ooze. How did 25 years of enforcement activity still fail to rectify this situation? This problem is disappointing. Similar concerns were raised over and over by both legislators and the local officials invited to share their experiences in learning about the contamination at the former Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights and working with the state. Remaining underground contamination at EPS became visible when it leaked as the green ooze onto a Metro Detroit highway in late December, prompting state and federal officials to re-visit the closed facility at 945 East 10 Mile Road in Madison Heights. Nobody walked away and thought it was clean, said Tracy Kecskemeti, district supervisor at EGLE, after the Environmental Protection Agencys emergency chemical removal activity there in 2017. Certainly we did not think it would move onto the highway. But that movement is a symptom of how the circle of contamination keeps widening, along with the impact. Soil and water tests continue at EPS, as groundwater is captured before it can reach storm sewers and drains. Now officials are working other properties owned by Gary Sayers, including one in Detroit with a similar homemade basement chemical pit and another in Sanilac County where empty and rusted barrels raise questions about environmental impact there. Known contaminants had been hexavalent chromium, trichloroethylene (TCE) and cyanide. Now PFAS chemicals are added to the list of concerns, with PFOS at 742 parts-per-trillion (ppt) identified in groundwater at the EPS site and lab tests showing extremely high levels of FTS 6:2, a newer form of PFAS, according to state officials. Test results at other sites are pending, officials said, while the reach of the contamination still hasnt been fully outlined. Melissa Marsh, the city manager of Madison Heights, called the entire experience a travesty. The city is now suing Sayers to demolish the building, an effort thats taken years to even get a court date. Sayers recently was imprisoned after a federal trial in 2019 for improper chemical storage. City officials believed the site would be under monitoring by EGLE, Marsh said, given its status as only one of three businesses ever closed by the state. The investment of the EPA in 2017, totaling more than $1.5 million and a year of staff time, also indicated the severity, she said. Based on nothing else, the recurring violations should have made it at least be inspected on an annual basis, she said. Her request of the state is for funding of a complete cleanup of EPS and the related sites in Sanilac County and Detroit. She also wants support of long-term measures to address other contaminated sites throughout the state more effectively. Other officials from both Oakland and Saranac counties raised concerns about communication between EGLE and their offices, funding for cleanups and how the state prioritizes sites that will get its attention. Clark said EGLE prioritizes contamination that will affect drinking water sources, a practice that protects the public but also doesnt reach sites, like EPS, that is surrounded by a municipal drinking water source. She also is looking for more solutions in a renamed department that, as the Department of Environmental Quality, remains untrusting and untrusted following the Flint Water Crisis. She praised staff and their technical expertise. But shes also in the midst of a top-to-bottom review of processes ordered by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, an effort that will take months. The department, she said, will benefit from greater standardization, consistency and predictability. We plan to apply lessons from this immediate review to other aspects of our organization, she said. Clark also plans to launch an Environmental Justice Policy Committee, she said. That should help her department hear more from residents who can help guide priority-setting. While the Appropriations Committee guides state financial decisions, no one named a figure that would be appropriate for funding efforts to help avoid future cleanup crises. Expenses climb quickly, Clark said, and even a blank check couldnt guarantee that a similar circumstance wouldnt happen again. So far, the recent EPS cleanup costs are more than $200,000, Kecskemeti said. A final total will reach millions, with the final pricetag increasing now that PFAS is part of the chemical mix. The EPA is reevaluating EPS for Superfund status, which could increase the funding for a cleanup. But that doesnt leave Marsh hopeful for her community, she said. The site was rejected for further work once by the EPA, and she expects that to happen again. I believe it could be 10 or 12 years before we see a cleanup, she said. Thats unacceptable. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval here on Wednesday. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2020 which is currently going on in the national capital. During his address at the conclave, Zarif targetted the US over its air raid which killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month. He said that US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Islamic State (ISIS) are "celebrating" the death of Soleimani. "The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against the killing of Soleimani," he said. Zarif said that Soleimani was the "single most effective force" against the ISIS and hence, the US is celebrating as they "did not like" Soleimani. Talking about Iran's airstrikes at two military bases in Iraq, Zarif maintained that Tehran retaliated in "self-defence" and rebuffed Washington's claims that Soleimani was planning to attack US embassies. Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on January 3. Days later, Tehran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at two US military bases in Iraq. Soleimani's death has marked a dramatic escalation in tension between the US and Iran, that has often been at a fever pitch since Trump, in 2018, chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the 2015 nuclear pact the world powers had struck with Tehran. Countries including the UK and India have urged Iran to pursue urgent de-escalation. (ANI) An inmate of the Midlands Prison threatened to burn down a prison officers house and claimed he knew where the officer lived. At Portlaoise Circuit Court, Martin Foley (47), 50 Castle Park, Athy, Co Kildare, was charged with threatening to damage property. Garda Clodagh Murphy gave evidence, along with State barrister, Mr Will Fennelly, that on August 25, 2017, a prison officer at the Midlands Prison was threatened by the accused. The accused threatened to rob and burn down his house and said he knew where the officer lived. He said he was given the address by Big Boy, a named prisoner. A P19 was issued in the prison for the threats, however the accused did not acknowledge what he had said. He told gardai he didnt even know the name of the officer he threatened. Garda Murphy said the accused was a chronic drug addict for most of his life and had spent most of the last 30 years in prison. The accused had 136 previous convictions and is currently serving a sentence. In a victim impact statement, the prison officer said he felt the accused was going to act on his words. He said he has been left with a heightened sense of security since the incident and now when he returns home he searches the house for intruders. The accused took the witness box to apologise for his thuggish and appalling behaviour, saying he had taken tablets on the day which he came up on. Judge Keenan Johnson said the offence would normally attract a custodial sentence, but he accepted that the accused was in throes of a drug addiction and the threats were out of character for him. The matter was put back to March 20 next, for a probation report, urinalysis and a governors report on the accused. Alameda County sheriff's deputies arrested two women and a man early Tuesday morning during their eviction of the group Moms 4 Housing that had been occupying a home in West Oakland since November, a sheriff's spokesman said. The group live-streamed the eviction from the home at 2929 Magnolia St. shortly before 6 a.m. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly called it "not your typical eviction," given the high amount of community and media interest in the occupation of the home since Nov. 18. An Alameda County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled that the women had no valid claim of possession of the home, which was to be evicted at some point by the end of this week. Kelly said the doors of the home had been fortified by the group, prompting deputies to use a ram to enter early Tuesday. Inside, the two women and man agreed to be arrested peacefully, he said. The judge in the trial of a transient man charged with murder for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland in 2018 denied a defense motion Tuesday to move the case away from Alameda County. Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer said the defense did not meet its burden of showing that John Lee Cowell, 29, can't get a fair and impartial jury in the case in which he is charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Wilson and her sister 26-year-old Letifah Wilson on the platform at the MacArthur station at 9:36 p.m. on July 22, 2018. Cowell also is charged with a special circumstance allegation that he killed Wilson while lying in wait, a charge that would result in life in prison without parole or the death penalty if he's convicted. Wilson's family members and a large group of their friends and supporters applauded loudly when Hymer denied the change of venue motion. Outside of court, Wilson's mother Alicia Grayson said she's happy with Hymer's ruling. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning unanimously approved buying two multi-unit residences that will provide temporary, shared rental housing for some of the 220 homeless people currently camping on the paved Joe Rodota Trail between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. The purchases include a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 866 Sonoma Ave. in Santa Rosa The .41-acre parcel also includes two cottages and a large detached garage. The selling price is $1.15 million. The second purchase is a multi-unit property containing a two-bedroom, two-bathroom remodeled cottage and a duplex with each unit containing two bedrooms and one bathroom at 8190-8194 Arthur St. in Cotati. The selling price is $980,000. The tenants of the two residences will be required to pay rent equal to one-third of their monthly income. Nearly all of the two dozen people who spoke at the meeting opposed the purchases. They said the Joe Rodota Trail campers include people from outside of the county and substance abusers. Many objected to spending $2.1 million on the two residences. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday he is joining a lawsuit appeal that could determine whether a state housing law overrides charter cities' right to set housing design guidelines. Becerra filed a notice of intervention with the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Monday, supporting a tenant group's appeal of a decision by a San Mateo County Superior Court judge. The case concerns the state's Housing Accountability Act, which was passed in 1982 and has been amended several times. The law limits cities' ability to reject proposed developments that comply with their general plan and zoning requirements. But last year, Superior Court Judge George Miram, ruling in a lawsuit filed against the city of San Mateo, said charter cities retain the right to set additional design guidelines, under the home-rule powers granted by the California Constitution. The eventual outcome of the case will greatly affect the scope of the state law because 58 percent of Californians live in the state's more than 120 charter cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will interview six applicants for appointment to the open county clerk-recorder/elections chief position, including one from their own board's ranks and two high-ranking officials in the Clerk-Recorder's office. Those interviews, which will be public, are set for Jan. 21 in the supervisors' chambers in the main County Administration Building at 651 Pine St. in downtown Martinez. Each interview will probably last 20 to 30 minutes, and will begin after the board's Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration, likely in the early afternoon. The supervisors made it clear Tuesday morning that whomever is appointed will have to be comfortable with taking what they say could become an appointed position in the next few years. It's also possible the clerk-recorder and elections chief roles could one day be separated. During Tuesday's board hearing, a handful of people implored the supervisors to try to make the elections chief job an appointed one. That change from an elected position to an appointed one would require approval by Contra Costa County voters. A 17-year-old boy died in a shooting in Oakland on Monday afternoon, according to police. Officers responded at 4:44 p.m. to a report of a shooting in the 1400 block of 48th Avenue and arrived to find the victim suffering from gunshot wounds. The boy, an Oakland resident, was pronounced dead and his name is not yet being released, police said. No arrest has been made and no suspect information was immediately available from Oakland police. A man killed after being run over by a Muni light-rail train early Sunday morning has been identified as Todd Odnamar, according to the San Francisco medical examiner's office. Odnamar, a 21-year-old San Francisco resident, had reportedly been sitting on couplers between two stopped Muni cars near Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale Avenue, police said. Once the Muni train started moving again around 1:30 a.m., Odnamar fell off and landed underneath the second car just before he was struck. Medical crews pronounced him dead at the scene, according to police. Odnamar's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral services. In a statement, Odnamar's family called his death an accident, describing him as "sweet and gentle." A 69-year-old woman riding an electric scooter suffered life-threatening injuries when she struck a cement mixer along San Francisco's waterfront on Monday afternoon, according to police. The collision was reported at about 3:25 p.m. at the intersection of The Embarcadero and Bay Street. The woman was taken to a hospital and an update on her condition was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon. A 77-year-old man died after a vehicle hit him in Sunnyvale on Monday evening, according to the city's Department of Public Safety. The pedestrian, identified by the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office as Sunnyvale resident Milton Thorne, died at a hospital after being hit shortly before 7:45 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Fair Oaks and South Eden avenues. Responding officers found Thorne lying injured in the roadway. He was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries there, public safety officials said. The driver whose vehicle hit Thorne remained at the scene, cooperated with investigators, and is not suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The vehicle had been traveling north on Fair Oaks Avenue at the time of the collision, public safety officials said. A 70-year-old man was arrested Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl whose family had hired him to drive her home from school in San Jose, police said. Tuan Binh Nguyen was arrested after a security guard called 911 to report he interrupted a suspect sexually assaulting a girl in a vehicle parked behind a business in the 1000 block of East Capitol Expressway, according to police. The security guard said he approached the vehicle and saw the girl fighting off Nguyen. The guard held Nguyen at gunpoint until officers arrived to take him into custody, police said. Investigators learned the girl's family had hired Nguyen several years ago to drive her home from school. On Monday, he had dropped off other children and the girl was alone in his car as he drove and parked behind the business, police said. Nguyen was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment, digital penetration with a child under 14 years old, and a lewd act with a child under 14 years old, according to police. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Legislative staffers in the Delaware General Assembly are seeking to form a union, which could be a first of its kind in the country. (Credit: Dover Post) Read more The day they returned from their annual six-month break to begin the 2020 legislative session, Delaware state lawmakers were greeted with the news: Their staffers want to unionize. A majority of the more than 40 staffers are in favor of unionizing with Council 81 of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union of public employees in the United States, the proposed Delaware General Assembly Union said. If it becomes official, it would likely be the first union in the country that represents state legislative staffers from both parties. The move to unionize comes as conservatives and right-wing groups have sought to roll back public-sector employees collective bargaining rights. Our group spends every day working full time, nights, and weekends for the people of the First State, the unions statement reads. We know that a union will help us do a better job of retaining talent, providing basic worker protections, and delivering results for the people of Delaware. The effort is the latest example of young, mission-oriented workers deciding to form a union to bargain for stronger protections on the job a notable development in that union membership has fallen since the 1950s. Today, one in 10 Americans is a union member. In the last year in Philadelphia, public defenders, health center workers, and journalists have chosen to unionize. The wave is part of a broader trend of worker activism at a time when the wages of American workers have stagnated as productivity has grown. The legislative staffers asked leaders of the General Assembly to voluntarily recognize their union. If they dont, the workers will have to go through a formal National Labor Relations Board election. In the 30-day period before an NLRB election, employers typically organize a campaign to inform workers about the implications of forming a union. Labor experts say these campaigns are usually designed to dissuade workers from voting for a union. Workers were optimistic about the chances of voluntary recognition. READ MORE: WHYY has not voluntarily recognized a new employee union. Now what? "Luckily in Delaware we have legislative leaders whove stood by labor for a decade, Dylan McDowell, Delaware Senate Democratic deputy communications director, told the American Prospect, which first reported the news. The Democratic Caucuses, both of which hold the majority in the states House and Senate, said in a statement that they would proceed under the rules outlined in the federal National Labor Relations Act. In a joint statement, the minority leaders said that they found out about the union campaign only on Tuesday, and that there were still many unanswered questions about the union proposal. READ MORE: Why a Google spreadsheet was the most powerful tool for labor in 2019 Democratic legislative staffers outnumber their Republican counterparts: There are 33 Democratic staffers and nine Republican staffers, the union said. Two staffers in the proposed bargaining unit are nonpartisan. In order to win an NLRB election, the workers in favor of the union need a simple majority (50%+1). A first for legislative staff unions Though some campaign staffers have unionized in the last few years, legislative staff unions are rare. States usually have rules describing which employees can collectively bargain and political staffers tend to be among the most restricted, said William P. Jones, a labor historian at the University of Minnesota. AFSCME Council 81 said it found no legal restrictions on the Delaware staffers right to organize. There are two unions that represent legislative staffers in Maine, but they represent only nonpartisan workers, such as researchers and lawyers. On the local level, city council staffers in Denver and Berkeley, Calif., have unionized in the last year, the American Prospect reported. Francis Ryan, a Rutgers labor historian who has studied the public sector workers union AFSCME, said he had never encountered any legislative staffers being represented by the union. Burke properly recused himself from the matter, which involved a property tax classification break, but the board found he failed to do a due diligence check before writing the letter to another city official in the matter, which involved a client of his law firm even though his law firm did not represent the client in this matter. Johna Von Behrens is a member of the League of Women Voters, which is co-sponsoring two candidate forums with NAACP Champaign County and The News-Gazette on Jan. 30 and Feb. 10 at the Champaign City Building. Led by Stray Dog Capital and Rocana Ventures and including several prominent impact investors such as Almanac Investments , CPT Capital and New Crop Capital , the net proceeds from the investment, totaling over $32 million, will be used for significant expansion in distribution across North America, Europe and into Asia, the opening of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and new product and food service channel launches in early 2020. Valued at $4.5 billion, the U.S. plant-based foods retail market grew five times faster than the total U.S. retail food sales over the past year1. "Consumer demand of trailblazing plant-based alternatives is nearly insatiable, and this trend is led by taste and availability. This next phase for Good Catch is laser focused on meeting consumer desires with culinary applications across all channels," said Chris Kerr, CEO and Co-Founder of Gathered Foods. "This round of investment emphasizes the food industry's recognition of our strategy, our reception by consumers, and anticipation for more innovation to come." "When we met the Good Catch team, we were immediately captivated with their mission to develop more sustainable plant-based seafood products that taste as delicious as traditional seafood," said John Haugen, Managing Director of 301 INC. "Good Catch stands out as a strong, expandable brand with passionate leadership, and we're excited to partner to grow." Behind the success of Good Catch are founding chef partners and brothers, Chad and Derek Sarno. They have worked tirelessly to help create the company's proprietary six-legume blend (peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans and navy beans), utilized as the base of these inaugural Good Catch products. The added superior umami flavor from seaweed and algae extracts creates that real seafood flavor. All Good Catch products are free of dairy, GMOs, mercury, toxins, microplastics, microfibers and are safe and enjoyable for those with shellfish allergies. These products exhibit the same texture, flavor, and nutritional value as conventional seafood, without harming the environment. "Good Catch is pioneering a new, promising sector of the fast-growing plant-based protein category and we're thrilled to support their continued growth and progress as they deliver consumers great-tasting plant-based seafood products that support their brand missionand ours, as well," said Dan Curtin, President and CEO of Greenleaf Foods, SPC. According to the United Nations, nearly 90% of the world's marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted2, with fisheries subsidies playing an integral part. Keeping startling statistics such as this in mind, Good Catch believes that the only truly sustainable seafood is one that allows fish to remain in the ocean, undisturbed. Seafood is consumed globally and found within myriad culinary applications. From an environmental standpoint, Good Catch is hopeful that by creating delicious seafood alternatives, they'll be able to make a real environmental impact. "On the heels of widespread adoption of plant-based meat and increasing consumer concern about the environmental impacts of food production, the market is ripe for Good Catch's next-generation plant-based seafood," said Caroline Bushnell from the Good Food Institute, "Plant-based seafood provides a host of environmental benefits, including alleviating pressures on rapidly depleting fisheries, providing relief to fragile ocean ecosystems, reducing the impact of fishing nets on the ocean plastic problem, and reducing production-related GHG emissions." As the appetite for plant-based seafood continues to grow, the goal is to make Good Catch accessible and available for everyone. Good Catch products are now available in over 4,500 retail outlets across the United States, and will be launching in the UK in the coming weeks. About Good Catch Good Catch is a chef-driven revolutionary food company developing flavorful, 100% plant-based seafood alternatives. Founded by pioneering chefs Chad and Derek Sarno, Good Catch products offer the taste, texture, nutrition, and experience of seafood without harming the environment. United by love of good food, plant-based eating, and animal welfare, Good Catch is on a mission to raise consciousness, reduce harm, and preserve environmental resources, all while delivering a great culinary experience. The team is dedicated to creating great tasting plant-based foods for everyone, from vegan to omnivore and everything in between. Good Catch Plant Based Fish-Free Tuna is available nationwide in three versatile flavor offerings including Naked in Water, Mediterranean, and Oil & Herbs, with new products coming to market in Spring 2020. Visit GoodCatchFoods.com and follow @goodcatchfoods on Facebook and Instagram. 1 The Good Food Institute (July 16, 2019) Plant-Based Food Retail Sales Are Growing 5x Total Food Sales. Retrieved from https://www.gfi.org/spins-data-release-2019 2 United Nations (July 13, 2018) 90% of fish stocks are used up fisheries subsidies must stop. Retrieved from https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=1812 SOURCE Good Catch Related Links https://goodcatchfoods.com The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced today that the fourth year of the Sheep Welfare Scheme will commence on the 1 February 2020. Existing participants in the scheme will be automatically enrolled in year 4 and will not need to take any action should they wish to remain in the scheme. The Sheep Welfare Scheme provides support to farmers for undertaking actions which make a positive contribution to flock welfare. Information packs containing terms and conditions of the scheme in year 4, along with Action Record books for 2020, will shortly be issuing from the Department to existing participants in the scheme. The scheme was launched in December 2016 Applications for participation in year 4 of the Sheep Welfare Scheme are now also being accepted from new entrants to sheep farming. For the purposes of the scheme, a new entrant to sheep farming is defined as an applicant who has applied for a new herd number from 1 January 2020 and prior to 31 December 2020, or an applicant with an existing herd number who has not held or traded in sheep for a two year period up to 31 October preceding the scheme year. The Department urged all eligible new entrants to the sheep sector to return their forms by 1 February. Naomi Campbell has offered her support to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry following their decision to step back from frontline royal duties. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shocked the world last week with their decision to 'step back' and become 'financially independent'. Yet supermodel Naomi, 49, insisted she was firmly behind the announcement, as she told PA: 'I support them whatever.' Support: Naomi Campbell has offered her support to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry following their decision to step back from frontline royal duties It is not known if Naomi knows or has met the Sussexes, but she has previously voiced her support for the pair after they took legal action on the British press. She told The Guardian: 'When I heard [she was taking legal action], I was like "Bravo. Good for her"'. In a statement released on their Sussex Royal Instagram account, Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, announced they would be stepping back from royal duties following 'many months of reflection and internal discussions'. They intend to 'become financially independent' while still 'continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen', the statement said. The couple spent six weeks over the festive period based in the Canadian province of British Columbia - staying at an exclusive property on Vancouver Island. Stepping back: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shocked the world last week with their decision to 'step back' and become 'financially independent' The duchess, a former actress, lived and worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits and knows the country well having lived there for seven years. Following a meeting at Sandringham on Monday, the Queen said the royals had held 'very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family'. The monarch, 93, added: 'Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family. 'Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. 'It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK. 'These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.' The Sussexes have several celebrity friends, including George Clooney and his wife Amal and Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has denied advising the couple on their decision to move to Canada, but said she will support them. The Nigerian Police Force, Zone 11, in Osun State on Tuesday, detained a PREMIUM TIMES journalist, Alfred Olufemi, over a report that exposed an Islamic cleric, who raped a 16-year-old girl, in Ede. Mr Olufemi, who was accompanied by this reporter to the police station, was detained for about six hours. The two journalists arrived at the station around 1: 30 p.m. and left the police custody around 7:15 p.m. While in custody, a police officer bullied the two reporters and forced our correspondent to delete pictorial evidence of his colleague writing a statement at their office. The Genesis PREMIUM TIMES, in July last year, exclusively reported how Habeebulah Abdulrahman, (popularly known as Al-Edewy), was accused of raping a 16-year-old female student of his Islamic school. In response, Mr Abdulrahman told PREMIUM TIMES that the teenager is his wife and he had the right to have sexual intercourse with her. The victim, born in 2003, lost her dad at a young age and stays with her mother in Ede, a town in Osun State. She recently completed her junior secondary education in the town. PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that the cleric, in January 2019, invited the girl to join his Islamic class, which is a short distance from her house, for proper Quranic teachings. The girl yielded, with the consent of her mother. But, the Islamic scholar, after a while, requested her hand in marriage. The girl, on several occasions, rejected the proposal. However, Mr Abdulrahman persisted until he raped her. This newspaper gathered that he gave the victim several gifts, with the motive of luring her into marriage, but when confronted, he claimed he was only supporting her because she has no father. Police arrest cleric According to Section 358 and 359 of the Criminal Code Act- part five, anyone who commits the offence of rape is liable to life imprisonment; while attempt to commit the offence is felonious and such offender is liable to 14-year imprisonment. Also, Section 31 of the Child Rights Act 2003 stipulates that a person who commits an offence of defilement is liable on conviction to life imprisonment. Although yet to be domesticated in 11 other states, the Osun State government passed the Child Rights Act into law in 2017. Before PREMIUM TIMES expose, the family unit of the police had earlier said the suspect absconded when police officers visited his residence in Ede. However, after PREMIUM TIMES report Mr Abdulrahman eventually showed up in Osogbo, where he was questioned and detained. After he was detained, his lawyer came around and two lawyers from the side of the victim were also present, a police source said. The police said they would file a lawsuit as soon as possible. This was confirmed by members of the victims family and their lawyer. He was thereafter arraigned on a three-count charge of abduction of a young girl to an unknown destination to have carnal knowledge of her and indecent assault by touching. Mr Abdulrahman was granted bail with the condition of providing a level 12 civil servant who owns a landed property- a condition which he met. He was freed afterwards. Pressure Following this newspapers report, the family and our correspondent continue to face pressure and threat from unknown individuals who warned against further reports on the incident. After much pressure, members of the victims family shared dissenting views on the settlement of the issue. Advertisements While some believed that an out-of-court settlement is a welcome development, some said the matter should be treated as a criminal case and justice should prevail. The 16-year-old girl later vowed to commit suicide if her family accepts an offer to settle the matter out of court. The proposed settlement includes that the accused admit to committing the offence and tender an unreserved apology, which he did. Petition against Premium Times In December, PREMIUM TIMES journalist was contacted by a police officer, identified as Sergeant Adisa, who informed him about a petition against him. The petition was over the report, which exposed the criminal act of the cleric. On Tuesday, Mr Olufemi alongside this reporter honoured the police invitation. He was accused of publishing fake report about the personality of the cleric. In his petition, Mr Abdulrahman denied granting any interview to PREMIUM TIMES, a claim which differs from his position when he was in the police custody, where he affirmed that the reporter disturbed him on several occasions. Premium Times Journalist, Alfred Olufemi and Kabir Adejumo. When this correspondent questioned why police failed to write officially to PREMIUM TIMES head office, despite being advised by Mr Olufemi to do so, Sergeant Adisa threatened to send this reporter out of his office, as he emphasised that no one can teach him his job. Around 3 p.m. after writing his statement, Mr Olufemi, the victims family and the complainant, were taken to a senior officer, Benjamin Ayeni, for further interview. Throughout the period of interrogation, the cleric did not deny the allegation against him. A bullying Sergeant During further interrogation at Mr Ayenis office, Sergeant Adisa, again, bullied our correspondent who accompanied his colleague to the station. He threatened to send this reporter out for taking sides with his colleague, after insisting that Mr Abdulrahmans petition is baseless, without talking about the genesis of the matter, which is having sexual intercourse with an underage. When asked to respond to our correspondents question, Mr Abdulrahman noted that he did not petition the police to investigate, but, his major aim is to know PREMIUM TIMES interest in his affairs. Mr Ayeni further took the parties involved in the matter to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, who told our correspondent that proper invitation would be sent PREMIUM TIMES and other parties involved for further interrogation on January 30. After this, Mr Olufemi was granted bail on self-recognition around 7 p.m. Sergeant Adisa then insisted on searching our correspondents phone as he mandated this reporter to delete all the pictures that were taken during the time they were at the station. He had, earlier, threatened to jail our correspondent if any audio or pictorial evidence is found on him. At 7:15 p.m, the two journalists signed out of police custody. Update: The Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has demanded a report into the attempted removal of a tent in which a homeless man was sleeping. The man was injured yesterday afternoon on the Grand Canal at Wilton Terrace when the tent was removed using an industrial vehicle. In a tweet, Minister Murphy said he was "saddened" by the news. I was saddened to hear of the incident by the canal yesterday. My thoughts are with this poor man as he recovers in hospital. Ive demanded a full report in to the incident which is under Garda investigation. My campaign poster which was located at the scene has been removed. Eoghan Murphy (@MurphyEoghan) January 15, 2020 He said: "I was saddened to hear of the incident by the canal yesterday. My thoughts are with this poor man as he recovers in hospital. "Ive demanded a full report in to the incident which is under Garda investigation. My campaign poster which was located at the scene has been removed." This photo perfectly encapsulates the ireland of 2020, @LeoVaradkar s Ireland, cranes in the background for multi national offices, crime scene of a man bulldozed on to a truck by machinery while sleeping in a tent, & the minister for the #homeless with a disgusting grin on face pic.twitter.com/uxw1C5BO8D Ken Mc Fadden (@unspeakable28) January 15, 2020 However, Focus Ireland believes there is an agenda to make homelessness less visible in our cities. Head of Advocacy at Focus Ireland, Mike Allen, says alternatives are not in place for many people. Mr Allen said: "The local authority and Irish Waterways have been trying to deal with the tent issue both as a safety issue, which is bitterly ironic in this circumstance, but also, and I think this needs to be said, as a way of making the problem less visible in the city." Earlier: Council react as homeless man injured when tent removed while he was asleep inside Dublin City Council have said that the homeless man left seriously injured after he was injured in an attempt to move a tent he was sleeping in, was in a "precarious and dangerous location". The man was injured yesterday afternoon on the Grand Canal at Wilton Terrace when the tent was removed using an industrial vehicle. "An individual was injured during the process and was taken to hospital," a statement from Dublin City Council confirmed. "The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive is currently liaising with the hospital and every support is being provided." The statement added the Council are engaging with the man and that accommodation will be made available to the man "Every action that is taken by state services is taken in the interest of health and safety of those individuals experiencing homelessness." Meanwhile, the CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless, Anthony Flynn, is calling for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Mr Flynn told RTE Radios Today with Sean ORourke that this was not the first time that Waterways Ireland had tried to move people sleeping in tents to conduct works on a canal. There has been an increase in people sleeping in tents because of safety fears, he explained. Waterways Ireland had recently served eviction notices to the people sleeping in tents on the banks of the Grand Canal. This is a crisis of epidemic proportions. Procedures should be put in place before tents are lifted. Mr Flynn said he was not aware if the person operating the utility vehicle had checked the tent to see if it was occupied before it was lifted. This was a breakdown in communications, there was a lack of consultation. Authorities had acknowledged recently that there was a shortage of 300 beds in the system for the city, he said. There is no where to send these individuals. We havent the beds to put them into. Mr Flynn called for a full investigation. Somebodys life was put in danger when that lift was executed. The key stakeholders need to manage the situation. If activities like this are to take place then there should be greater cooperation, he urged. 'Serious questions need to be asked' as homeless man found in tent in Dublin in critical condition A homeless man is in a serious condition in hospital after he was injured in an attempt to move a tent he was sleeping in Dublin. It happened yesterday afternoon on the Grand Canal at Wilton Terrace when the tent was removed using an industrial vehicle. Gardai at Pearse Street are investigating. It is understood the man was living rough in the area for a number of months. "Serious questions need to be asked of the DRHE (Dublin Region Homeless Executive) senior management on bed availability and the level of service, said Anthony Flynn, CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless. This story has been updated at 9.20am Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya recently had a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the UN headquarters in New York. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) meets with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya in New York on January 9 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in a news release that its deputy minister attended the UN Security Council open debate Upholding the UN Charter to Maintain International Peace and Security, chaired by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh. In his speech, Kyslytsya highly valued Vietnams initiative to launch the year marking the UNs 75th anniversary with the discussion of the importance of upholding its founding document the UN Charter. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said at Kyslytsyas meeting with the Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Vietnam, the two sides focused on the prospects of strengthening relations in economic, trade and political areas, as well as of the enhancement of cooperation between the two countries at the UN and other international organisations. They also commended the ongoing development of friendly partnership ties between the countries. In particular, they agreed to continue working on the preparation for vice-ministerial political consultations in 2020 and a visit by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Vietnam. Minh expressed sincere condolences in connection with the crash of the Ukrainian plane in Iran and agreed with Ukraines position on the need to ensure a comprehensive, independent and transparent investigation into this tragedy. VNA BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP announced today that four prominent Birmingham attorneys Jesse S. Vogtle, Jr., Randolph H. Lanier, Eric T. Ray and Paul H. Greenwood have joined Waller's Birmingham office as partners. They previously practiced at Balch & Bingham, LLP. "It's very exciting to welcome these accomplished attorneys," said Waller partner Larry Childs, who joined the firm when it opened its Birmingham office in 2005. "Growing our capabilities and depth in Birmingham is a key priority for the firm and this is a great way to start 2020." "Financial services and real estate are areas of strategic focus for Waller and we are committed to expanding and strengthening the services we can provide our clients," said Waller Chair Matt Burnstein. Vogtle has multiple areas of financial experience, including assistance to financial institutions and creditors in complex commercial bankruptcy matters and civil litigation and providing advice to banks on core bank operating contracts and vendor agreements. His practice also includes advising public entities on the creation and development of industrial parks and economic development of those parks. He has litigated and protected the interests of clients in state and federal courts across the country and his experience also includes advocating on behalf of clients in arbitration, mediation, and multi-party financial disputes. Vogtle represents clients ranging from national, regional and community banks to universities, public entities, medical research facilities, real estate developers, commercial landlords, and private equity and venture funds. Lanier has more than 35 years of experience providing counsel on complex commercial finance transactions and development projects in more than 25 states and the District of Columbia. His experience includes office buildings, warehouses and industrial sites, retail and hospitality, condominiums, multi-family, recreational facilities and planned unit developments. Ray represents financial institutions, lenders, utilities and other creditors in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings and other types of commercial litigation. His experience includes all facets of creditor representation including preference and fraudulent transfer litigation, executory contract issues, asset sales and purchases, and bankruptcy appellate proceedings. Ray also advises clients on issues related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Greenwood represents lenders with commercial real estate projects, construction loans, and other transactional matters. He also represents clients facing bankruptcy disputes, litigation, loan workouts, restructuring, and complex real estate issues. Greenwood is recognized in Best Lawyers in the categories of Banking and Finance Law and Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. About Waller With more than 250 attorneys in three states, Nashville-based Waller assists clients in complex transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. The firm has a national reputation in healthcare and financial services and boasts robust practices in private equity and real estate. Media Contact: Sarah Brawner Phone: 615.610.0323 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP New Delhi: On Army Day (January 15) when Captain Tania Shergill of Corps of Signals led an all-male contingent, she became the first woman officer to have achieved the feat. Captain Tania Shergill, a fourth-generation woman army officer, has been named as a parade adjutant for the Republic Day as well. She is an electronics and communications graduate and was commissioned from the Officer Training Academy, Chennai on March, 2017. Both her father and grandfather have served in the Army. Her father was in 101 Medium Regiment (Artillery) while her grandfather was in the 14th Armed Regiment (Scinde Horse). Interestingly, her great grandfather was in the Sikh Regiment. Live TV During Republic Day parade in 2019, Captain Bhavna Kasturi was the first woman officer to have led an all-men contingent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind took to Twitter to congratulate the Indian Army on this day. PM Modi wrote, "The Army is the pride of India. On the occasion of Army Day, I salute the indomitable courage, gallantry and valour of all the soldiers of the country." President Kovind said, "On Army Day, greetings to the valiant men and women of the Indian Army, to the veterans and to their families. You are our nations pride, the sentinels of our liberty. Your immense sacrifice has secured our sovereignty, brought glory to our nation and protected our people. Jai Hind!" Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year in India in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India in the year 1949. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images It took around 45 minutes, but moderators at Tuesday nights debate finally addressed the elephant in the room: How would Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren respond to the report that Sanders told Warren he did not think a female candidate could win in 2020? CNN moderator Abby Phillip began the exchange with a question that left no room for interpretation, despite the Vermont senators denial of the private exchange: Why did you say that? WATCH: Bernie Sanders responds to reports that he told Elizabeth Warren that a woman couldn't win the election: "Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't say it." pic.twitter.com/ZxwDqiQhfC Axios (@axios) January 15, 2020 After his direct denial, Sanders dismissed the importance of the allegation of sexism, claiming that serious focus on the matter is what Donald Trump, maybe some of the media, want. He said it was incomprehensible that I would think a woman could not be president of the United States, citing his record of supporting the idea of a putting a woman in the Oval Office; Sanders also noted Hillary Clintons popular-vote win in 2016 as evidence of the irrelevance of the sexist myth. After Sanders again denied the contents of the conversation, Phillip essentially ignored his answer, asking Warren what she thought when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election. In her response, the Massachusetts senator again countered his account, saying that she disagreed with Bernies statement. CNN: "Sen. Sanders, you're saying that you never told Sen. Warren that a woman could not win the election?" SANDERS: "That is correct." CNN: "Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election." pic.twitter.com/zdXOfIpdOY Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) January 15, 2020 From there, Warren smoothly deescalated the conflict, while making the case for her electability. Bernie is my friend, she said, and Im not here to try and fight with Bernie. She then attacked the underlying concern of electoral sexism head on, noting that the men on the stage had lost ten elections. The only people onstage whove won every single election theyve been in are the women, Amy [Klobuchar] and me, Warren said. The only person on this stage whos beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me, referring to her win over Scott Brown in 2012. Senator Klobuchar then added that all types of candidates can win, they just have to be competent. But while listing examples of competent female candidates, she forgot the name of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly: Awkward. Amy Klobuchar forgets the name of Kansas' Democratic governor while highlighting women Democratic governors. #DemDebate #CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/lfestsmelc NewsBusters (@newsbusters) January 15, 2020 The exchange then return to Sanders, who wanted to let the audience know that he, too, defeated a Republican incumbent in Congress in 1990, leading to an all-together unnecessary back-and-forth over the definition of how long ago 30 years was: For dumbest debate moment, Warren and Sanders argue about whether in the last 30 years is inclusive or exclusive of 1990 pic.twitter.com/LGC23cClLC Unwrittenhistory (@unwrittnhistory) January 15, 2020 And though the conversation onstage remained cordial, after the closing comments, the body language of the two senators appeared far more contentious than their words during the debate. (Tom Steyer will be able to prove the the case for his candidacy if, and only if, he reveals the contents of the exchange between the pair of progressives.) Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. Life Molecular Imaging at the 14th Human Amyloid Imaging meeting in Miami Exciting new research presented using Life Molecular Imaging compounds at the 14th Human Amyloid Imaging meeting in Miami, Florida Life Molecular Imaging (LMI) announces today that new research results on its approved and investigational positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging tracers will be presented at the 14th Human Amyloid Imaging (HAI) meeting in Miami (January 15-17, 2020). The contributions cover nine (9) presentations demonstrating the value of its approved compound Neuraceq (florbetaben F18 injection), and fifteen (15) presentations supporting the potential of its investigational Tau-PET tracer PI-2620. A comprehensive clinical evaluation with imaging biomarkers, such as amyloid PET imaging, can improve the diagnostic accuracy. In addition, the combination of Neuraceq and the investigational PI-2620 tracer for the detection of tau pathology, provides a powerful PET imaging biomarker platform for the appropriate characterization of subjects enrolled in clinical trials supporting drug development in neurodegenerative diseases. The value of imaging biomarkers, particularly the combination of amyloid-beta and tau in the same subjects, is increasingly recognized. Highlights also include the presentation of the results from a multi-center evaluation of PI-2620 in subjects with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) as well as a poster describing the performance of PI-2620 in subjects with corticobasal syndrome (CBS). "We are particullary impressed by the data that the research groups collected over the last year in PSP patients" said Dr. Andrew Stephens, MD, PhD, CMO of Life Molecular Imaging. "PI-2620's ability to also detect 4R tauopathies, such as PSP and CBS allows us to pursue the development of PI-2620 not only for AD, but also for additional neurodegenerative diseases, where previous tau tracers showed limitations." Datasets involving LMI compounds presented at the HAI meeting include the following presentations: Amyloid-PET Neuroimaging presentations involving Neuraceq (florbetaben F18 injection): January 15, 2020 Bullich et al. (Poster #5 Session 1A): Early detection of amyloid load using 18F-Florbetaben PET Klein et al. (Poster #21 Session 1A): Concordance of visual and quantitative assessments of baseline amyloid scans in the GRADUATE gantenerumab studies Landau et al. (Poster #24 Session 1A): Validation of highly sensitive and specific florbetaben positivity thresholds using ADNI participants and young controls Lao et al. (Poster #25 Session 1A): Additive contribution of white matter hyperintensity to amyloid and neurodegeneration on cognitive decline in a diverse, community-based cohort of older adults January 16, 2020 Gispert et al. (Poster #84 Session 2A): Preliminary quantitative results of the AMYPAD prognostic and natural history study Seo et al. (Poster #88 Session 2A): Head-to-head comparison of F-Florbetaben and F-Flutemetamol uptakes in the cortex, striatum and white matter Ewers et al. (Poster #69 Session 2A): Higher microglia biomarker levels are associated with slower rates of amyloid-beta accumulation in humans and in a transgenic mouse model of amyloid-beta Kim et al. (Poster #91 Session 2A): Prevalence of amyloid PET positivity in cognitively normal East Asian populations January 17, 2020 Iaccarino et al. (Poster #137 Session 3A): In vivo amyloid-PET and tau-PET evidence in early-onset Alzheimers Disease: taking the LEADS Tau-PET Neuroimaging presentations involving PI-2620: January 15, 2020 Bischof et al. (Poster #4 Session 1A): A pons cluster detected by a data-driven approach may serve as a favorable reference region for 18F-PI-2620 Tau PET analysis Stevenson et al. (Poster #48 Session 1A): Monitoring disease pathophysiology using multiparametric PET acquisitions: The McGill TRIAD Cohort January 16, 2020 Aguero et al. (Session 3: Neuropathology I): Comparison of autoradiographic binding profiles of Flortaucipir, MK-6240 and PI-2620 in human postmortem tissue samples across the spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases Malarte et al. (Session 4: Neuropathology II): In vitro characterization of second-generation tau pet tracers in human autopsy brain tissue Brendel et al. (Session 5: Clinical I): 18F-PI-2620 tau-PET in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy A multi-center evaluation Stephens et al. (Poster #90 Session 2A): PI-2620 Tau PET is associated with amyloid-beta levels in scans from subjects of the elenbecestat MissionAD program Villemagne et al. (Poster #76 Session 2A): Assessing A, tau, and reactive astrocytosis in aging and AD January 17, 2020 Brendel et al. (Poster #122 Session 3A): Perfusion-phase 18F-PI-2620 tau-PET imaging as a surrogate marker of neuronal injury Brendel et al. (Poster #123 Session 3A): Binding characteristics of 18F-PI-2620 differentiate the clinically predicted tau isoform in suspected 3/4-repeat and 4-repeat tauopathies Brendel et al. (Poster #124 Session 3A): 18F-PI-2620 tau-PET for assessment of heterogeneous neuropathology in corticobasal syndrome Bullich et al. (Poster #125 Session 3A): Optimal reference region for the quantification of tau load in the brain using 18F-PI-2620 PET Koran et al. (Poster #143 Session 3A): Validation of clinical protocols for clinicians analyzing 18F-PI-2620 tau PET/MRI images Dore et al. (Session 7: Tau I): Towards a CenTauR cortical mask Toueg et al. (Poster #169 Session 3A): Elevated medial temporal lobe Tau PET with 18F-PI2620 in normal controls with borderline neuropsychological testing profiles Trelle et al. (Poster #170 Session 3A): Hippocampal tau accumulation predicts individual differences in episodic memory in cognitively normal older adults About Neuraceq (florbetaben F18 injection) Indication Neuraceq (florbetaben F18 injection) is a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of the brain to estimate -amyloid neuritic plaque density in adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimers Disease (AD) and other causes of cognitive decline. A negative Neuraceq scan indicates sparse to no amyloid neuritic plaques and is inconsistent with a neuropathological diagnosis of AD at the time of image acquisition; a negative scan result reduces the likelihood that a patients cognitive impairment is due to AD. A positive Neuraceq scan indicates moderate to frequent amyloid neuritic plaques; neuropathological examination has shown this amount of amyloid neuritic plaque is present in patients with AD, but may also be present in patients with other types of neurologic conditions as well as older people with normal cognition. Neuraceq is an adjunct to other diagnostic evaluations. Limitations of Use A positive Neuraceq scan does not establish the diagnosis of AD or any other cognitive disorder. Safety and effectiveness of Neuraceq have not been established for (i) Predicting development of dementia or other neurologic conditions; (ii) Monitoring responses to therapies. Important Safety Information Risk for Image Interpretation and Other Errors Neuraceq can be used to estimate the density of -amyloid neuritic plaque deposition in the brain. Neuraceq is an adjunct to other diagnostic evaluations. Neuraceq images should be interpreted independent of a patients clinical information. Physicians should receive training prior to interpretation of Neuraceq images. Following training, image reading errors (especially false positives) may still occur. Additional interpretation errors may occur due to, but not limited to, motion artifacts or extensive brain atrophy. Radiation Risk Administration of Neuraceq, similar to other radiopharmaceuticals, contributes to a patients overall long-term cumulative radiation exposure. Long-term cumulative radiation exposure is associated with an increased risk of cancer. It is important to ensure safe handling to protect patients and health care workers from unintentional radiation exposure. Most Common Adverse Reactions In clinical trials, the most frequently observed adverse drug reactions in 872 subjects with 1090 Neuraceq administrations were injection/application site erythema (1.7%), injection site irritation (1.1%), and injection site pain (3.4%). About PI-2620 Tau deposits, in conjunction with beta-amyloid plaques, represent the other pathological hallmark of Alzheimers disease, with tau deposits further playing an important role in other neurodegenerative diseases. PI-2620 is binding to 3R/4R and 4R tau deposits and is a next generation 18F-labeled investigational PET tracer with favourable properties and imaging characteristics. It was discovered in a research collaboration between Life Molecular Imaging and AC Immune, a Swiss-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. Life Molecular Imaging has the exclusive, world-wide license for research, development and commercialization of tau PET tracers generated within the discovery program. About Life Molecular Imaging (LMI) Life Molecular Imaging (LMI, formerly Piramal Imaging) was formed in 2012 with the acquisition of the molecular imaging research and development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG. It is now part of the Alliance Medical Group (a member of the Life Healthcare Group) offering an integrated business including research and development laboratories, a network of cyclotrons, radiopharmacies and imaging facilities. By developing novel PET tracers for molecular imaging, LMI is focusing on a key field of modern medicine. The organization strives to be a leader in the Molecular Imaging field by developing innovative products that improve early detection and characterization of chronic and life-threatening diseases, leading to better therapeutic outcomes and improved quality of life. Please visit https://life-mi.com. About Life Healthcare Group Life Healthcare Group is a market-leading, international, diversified healthcare organization. Life Healthcare has over 33 years experience in the South African private healthcare sector, and currently operates 66 healthcare facilities in southern Africa. Services include acute hospital care, acute physical rehabilitation, acute mental healthcare, renal dialysis, and employee health and wellness services. The Group owns Alliance Medical Group, the leading independent provider of medical imaging services within Europe, operating across 10 international countries. Life Healthcare also owns Scanmed S.A. (Poland) which provides healthcare and medical services in 20 Polish cities, with over 65 medical specialisations and diagnostic services available in 32 facilities. Visit lifehealthcare.co.za Media Contact: Nicole Fletcher | Marketing Communications | Life Molecular Imaging +1 857-202-1122 | n.fletcher@life-mi.com The final English county without a McDonalds has approved the controversial proposal to build a drive-thru. Some residents had complained about plans to bring the Golden Arches to Rutland, saying it could ruin the brand of the tiny county, which is known for its picturesque countryside. Others had aired concerns that the McDonalds just outside Oakham town centre would harm local trade, attract anti-social behaviour and increase litter. Rutland County Council voted in favour of the plans on Tuesday evening on the basis it would not harm neighbouring homes and businesses or the character of the surrounding area, and would create a significant number of new jobs. Gordon Brown, a councillor, said: I know there are lots of people, both inside and outside of Rutland, who have strong opinions about whether or not there should be a McDonalds in the county. Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Show all 8 1 /8 Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Cheesy Rice Bowl with Chicken Strips (India) This cheesy rice bowl with chicken strips from McDonald's India looks like the ideal concoction for a cold winter's day if you're a fan of fast food cuisine. The bowl contains almost 700 calories. McDonald's India Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Ham N' Egg Twisty Pasta (Hong Kong) The Ham N' Egg Twisty Pasta dish is advertised as a breakfast meal on the menu for McDonald's Hong Kong. The dish comes with one egg, a slice of ham, twisty pasta and diced vegetables. McDonald's Hong Kong Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Big Shrimp (Russia) Costing 173 rubles (1.98), these breaded tiger prawns are an ideal snack for any shellfish lovers with an affinity for fast food. The prawn bites come with a mayonnaise-based shrimp sauce. McDonald's Russia Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Pizza Mac (Germany) What do you get if you combine a pizza with a Big Mac? The Pizza Mac, of course! Available at McDonald's Germany, this pizza-burger hybrid comes with a double serving of beef, a layer of mozzarella cheese and a spicy tomato sauce. McDonald's Germany Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world EBI Filet-O Burger (Japan) The EBI Filet-O burger, on offer at McDonald's Japan, contains a combination of breaded shrimp, onions and lettuce in a classic McDonald's sesame seed bun. McDonald's Japan Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Germknodel doughnut (Austria) The Germknodel doughnut is available to eat at McDonald's Austria and McDonald's Denmark. The heart-shaped doughnut is iced with a poppy seed and sugar mixture and contains a sweet plum filling. McDonald's Austria Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Bubur Ayam (Malaysia) Bubur Ayam, a rice porridge chicken concoction, is available on the menu at McDonald's Malaysia. The dish comes with spring onions, sliced ginger and diced chillies. McDonald's Malaysia Eight of the strangest McDonald's meals from around the world Chicken McDo with McSpaghetti At McDonald's Philippines, you can order a piece of breaded chicken with a serving of spaghetti bolognese. One bite and you'll (maybe) be able to picture yourself dining at a fine Italian establishment. McDonald's Philippines He said: We have to be impartial and can only make decisions based on whether or not an application complies with the relevant national and local planning policies. A council report said there were more than 50 formal objections to the plans compared with 23 representations in support with the majority concerned with increased rubbish in the area. Mr Brown said McDonalds would provide waste bins near the restaurant and conduct three litter picks every day in the 100 metres around the site. People had also cited concerns about plastic pollution and recyclable packaging and the impact on local pubs and restaurant. The Duchess of Rutland appeared on Good Morning Britain before the vote, suggesting the new McDonalds could swing her support if it served pheasant nuggets and burgers. The review presented to the councils Planning Committee was positive overall, calling the wasteland site off Lands End Way appropriate and saying the natural and neutral colours and materials of the proposed design would not have an adverse impact on the surrounding area. A McDonalds spokesperson said: We are delighted that the Rutland Planning Committee has approved our application for a new restaurant in Oakham. Over the last year, we carried out an extensive consultation process, speaking to local residents about our plans, and have been heartened by the levels of support we have received. The new McDonalds will create at least 65 new jobs for local people, and were excited about working alongside the local community. Additional reporting by Press Association Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Political and legal hurdles remain over whether the ERAs 1982 ratification deadline still applies and over a Department of Justice opinion issued last week that said that the national archivist should not record Virginias ratification because of that deadline. Five states that ratified the ERA years ago have withdrawn their ratifications, and no federal court has conclusively ruled whether that is legal, and how it impacts Virginias quest to become the final ratification required for the amendment to take effect. Kim Wall, a distinguished freelance journalist, was murdered by Peter Madsen, who has been jailed for life and since married a Russian artist - AFP The Danish killer of Kim Wall, a distinguished freelance journalist, has married a Russian artist who says she has since been inundated with abusive messages online. Peter Madsen, who was jailed for life after murdering Wall in Denmark on his self-built submarine in 2017, confirmed on social media this week that he married Jenny Curpen on December 19. Ms Curpen, a former journalist who fled Russia to claim political asylum in Finland, has defended their marriage and insists it is not part of an art project. She also claimed that Madsen, who sexually assaulted Wall before dismembering her corpse and dumping her body parts at sea, was also a victim of the crime. My husband committed a horrible crime and he is punished for that. However, knowing him for real give [sic] me an exclusive right to say that I am lucky to be with the most beautiful, smart, talented, devoted and empathetic person and man ever, she wrote in a post on social media earlier this week. "My husband is the one of two victims of his crime and staying alive was a punishment itself for him." In an interview with the BBC, Ms Curpen denied that the marriage was part of an art project, insisting that her relationship with Madsen was genuine. Peter Madsen was found guilty of murdering Kim Wall Credit: Scanpix Denmark/Bax Lindhardt/via REUTERS She said that since the marriage was made public she has received thousands of weird, stupid, absurd or aggressive comments, messages and threats of physical nature from many so-called normal, law-abiding good people". Madsen, an eccentric inventor, committed the murder after inviting Wall on to a submarine that he had built himself. He admitted to dismembering Walls body and dumping the parts at sea, but insisted she had died during an accident during their trip. He was convicted of her murder in April 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a judge noting the unusual brutality of his actions. A psychiatric evaluation conducted during the trial described him as a narcissistic psychopath. Wall, a Swedish journalist who was just 30 when she died, had reported from across the world for Time magazine, the Guardian and the New York Times. Bernie Sanders builds momentum with progressive groups ahead of Iowa caucus originally appeared on abcnews.go.com With less than three weeks until voting starts in Iowa and beyond, the campaigns of both Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are jockeying for support from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The two candidates have been friends for nearly 20 years and have, until now, maintained a pact of non-aggression during the 2020 race. Earlier this week, Sanders vehemently denied reports, including a statement from Warren herself, that he said a woman couldn't win against Donald Trump. On Monday, Democracy for America, a progressive organization, called on the two candidates to cool down their rhetoric. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, you both are progressive champions and our movement needs to see you working together to defeat your corporate Democratic opponents not attack each other, the group tweeted. Progressives will win in 2020, but only if we dont let the corporate wing or Trump divide us. However, the escalating of tensions between the two progressive, veteran lawmakers comes as Sanders builds momentum with a slew of progressive endorsements ahead of the Iowa caucus. The Sanders campaign snagged endorsements within the past week from immigrant rights group Make the Road Action, youth-led environmental group the Sunrise Movement and advocacy group for people of color Dream Defenders. PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders hosts a climate rally with Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ro Khanna in Iowa City, Iowa, Jan. 12, 2020. (Scott Morgan/Reuters) We can and we must fight for a country where members of our communities are free to stay, free to move, and free to thrive," said Javier Valdes, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road Action. "And we are proud to fight alongside Bernie Sanders to realize that vision. Sunrise Movement co-founder and executive director Varshini Prakash campaigned for Sanders in Iowa. We endorse Bernie Sanders because he stands for a Green New Deal, said Prakash at a rally in Iowa City. Prakash cited Sanders' pledge to address climate change, racial inequity, immigration and health care during her speech. Story continues Bernies track record is consistent, read a statement from the Dream Defenders announcing their endorsement of Sanders presidential bid. Throughout his career, he has pushed visionary ideas long before they were politically popular. (MORE: 3 weeks before Iowa caucus, candidates' closing arguments come into focus) PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is welcomed to the stage by Sunrise Movement co-founder Varshini Prakash, right, at the Graduate Hotel, Jan. 12, 2020, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Those endorsements are only the most recent. The Sanders campaign can boast endorsements from the Center for Popular Democracy Action, Peoples Action, and several labor unions. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, members of the so-called squad of progressive freshman congresswomen of color, have stumped for Sanders on their home turfs and in early voting states. We earned those endorsements because of the long history of the senator fighting on behalf of and alongside these communities for issues they care about, said Sanders' National Political Director Analilia Mejia. We communicated extensively in regards to policy platforms and in regards to issue campaigns that they were working on, and we made them part of the campaign, even before they endorsed, by way of soliciting their input, Mejia said. Securing these endorsements is important to rallying potentially millions of people behind a candidate, according to ABC News contributor and Democracy for America CEO Yvette Simpson. I think the progressive grassroots endorsements mean so much more than just $1, or a name on a website, or whatever, Simpson told ABC News. Because it comes with all of that power, real people ready to activate and mobilize behind these candidates. Simpsons progressive organization endorsed Sanders in 2016, but hasnt yet endorsed a candidate for the 2020 race. PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks at a campaign stop at Fisher Elementary School, Jan. 12, 2020, in Marshalltown, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) The Sanders campaign did lose out on an endorsement from the Working Families Party to Warren in the fall. The group endorsed Sanders in 2016. Senator Warren knows how to kick Wall Street kleptocrats where it hurts, and shes got some truly visionary plans to make this country work for the many, Maurice Mitchell, the Working Families Partys national director, told the New York Times in September. We need a mass movement to make her plans a reality, and were going to be a part of that work. The Sanders campaign attributes the endorsement to timing. A person familiar with the Sanders campaign strategy said that including the input of grassroots organizations and elected officials across the country meant a slower rollout of policy proposals, many of which came after the Working Families Party endorsed Warren. They didn't benefit from our immigration policy rollout, our housing policy rollout, said Mejia, who served as the executive director for the New Jersey Working Families Alliance prior to joining the Sanders campaign. They didnt benefit from a whole host of platforms that once we rolled them out, these organizations were reminded that Bernie was their guy. (MORE: Warren jabs Sanders over purported attacks in volunteer talking points, Sanders denies responsibility) Meena Bose, executive dean at Hofstra University's Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, said Sanders is building a very strong constituency within the Democratic Party. Due to the health issues last fall, there was a time even into late last fall where it seemed as though perhaps the progressive wing of the Democratic Party -- the progressive supporters -- might look to Warren, that there was an opening there, Bose said. But after a very strong performance in the December debate [and] impressive fundraising, we've seen the endorsements. Its pretty clear that Sen. Sanders is in this race to stay and go to battle for the nomination. Conversely, Simpson urged that with the uncertainty of the race, Warren shouldnt be counted out. One of the things that you'll notice is that while Bernie has certain parts of the party, Elizabeth Warren has some of those parts of the party, too, she said. Warren has been endorsed by former 2020 opponent and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, progressive activist Ady Barkan, and the only member of the squad who didn't endorse Sanders, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. According to Sanders officials, more endorsements are to come -- the product of months of courting grassroots organizations, elected officials and communities. What [endorsements] mean for our campaign is that we expand our capacity, we expand our ability to talk to voters, expand our reach within target communities, and we do so with organizations and leaders who have the respect and trust of potential voters for the senator, said Mejia. Turkey-based Elkon, a leader in concrete batching plants, said that US construction technology firm Katerra has ordered five concrete plants from the company for a giant project consisting of 4,101 family houses in Saudi Arabia. Katerra is a technology-oriented off-site construction company emerging from the Silicon Valley. The company focuses on transforming the building with technology, as if it were an industrial product. Katerra currently operates in the US and India, has started its projects in Saudi Arabia with the aim of bringing its technologies to the Middle East and Gulf countries. Katerra signed an agreement in the presence of Saudi Arabian Minister of Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail to build 4,101 houses within the framework of the housing development programme led by the Ministry of Housing as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030: Economic Diversification mission. Within the scope of the project, 2,482 houses will be built in Makkah and 1,043 houses will be built in Madinah Al Munawwarah. In addition, 140, 191 and 245 houses will be built in Al Bahah, Al Jouf and Qassim respectively. The company has ordered four units of the Elkomix-90 Quick Master compact concrete batching plant, each equipped with 2250/1500 l twinshaft mixer and one unit of the Elkomix-120 Quick Master compact concrete batching plant equipped with 3375/2250 l twinshaft mixer, each of which will be installed in different cities. The plants in Elkon's Quick Master compact concrete batching plant family can be installed and dismantled very quickly, can be easily transported between construction sites and installed on flat concrete surface without requiring any special concrete foundation. Each concrete batching plant has a shuttle-type automatic aggregate pre-feeding system for loading aggregates without concrete loading ramps. Also, there are five water-cooling chiller units in the five concrete plants in order to enable the production of high-quality concrete even in hot weather conditions of Saudi Arabia. In addition to the project in Saudi Arabia, Elkon supplied the concrete transport buckets, telescopic distributor concrete buckets to distribute the concrete to the desired heights and Elkon automation systems for the existing and new precast factories of Katerra in Hyderabad, India. TradeArabia News Service Woman checks the air quality in her home using the DARWIN System's accompanying mobile app. The trend for healthy living has been on the rise for decades now, particularly gaining momentum by leaps and bounds in the 21st century. One of the last places to be untouched by it is the home, but the new DARWIN Wellness System is poised to change that by making it easier than ever to monitor the air, lighting, and water quality in it. The Company The DARWIN Wellness System makes for interior spaces that are ultra-clean and impeccably well-lit. Back in 2012, Delos launched its real estate company in New York. What made them unique was their wellness real estate focus. Their mission was clear: to improve the quality of home living by monitoring and controlling the elements that keep people healthy: air, water, and lighting. The DARWIN system (aka DARWIN Home Wellness Intelligence) was formally launched in Sydney, Australia in the fall of 2019. The system includes lighting that imitates natural light patterns in homes along with sensors and filters that identify and eliminate impurities in the air and water. How It Works The home environment is monitored by DARWIN on a tablet similar to an iPad. The Wi-Fi-dependent system displays several metrics gathered through air quality sensors and filters that perceive and eradicate impurities like pollution and smoke from the home. On top of that, the systems water purifiers eliminate chlorine, heavy metals, and other negative elements from the homes tap water. A family enjoys a home-cooked dinner surrounded by clean air and abundant natural light. Light is also a major component in health maintenance, with natural light patterns playing a big part in overall human wellness. DARWINs lighting component is designed to replicate natural light patterns, with blackout shades that are programmed by residents to bathe the home in natural light at a specific time each morning and slowly dim each evening. Paul Scialla, CEO of Delos, explains that the lighting system was designed to offset the negative effects of humans spending too much time inside. Were indoors for most of our lives, he says. And while we may not be able to change that, DARWIN gives you the ability to change your environment. Story continues Spreading the Word Delos chose Australia to debut the DARWIN System for practical reasons. Beth McGroarty, the Research Director for the Global Wellness Institute, says: Australia is a trailblazer in wellness real estate and started taking it seriously almost two decades ago, before it was a worldwide trend. Delos teamed up with Simonds and Lateral Estate, two Australian real estate developers, for the project. Today, DARWIN-enhanced properties are on the market in the outer reaches of both Sydney and Melbourne. According to Global Wellness Institute statistics, wellness real estate is a $134 billion market worldwide and is estimated to increase to almost $200 billion by 2022. Australias market share is valued at $9.5 billion, making it the third largest on Earth behind the United States and China. A family enjoys a home-cooked dinner surrounded by clean air and abundant natural light. Delos projects in Australia also include lower-cost and luxury properties. They joined forces with Simonds, a major homebuilder, on lower-priced residences in the state of Victoria and several suburbs in the Melbourne region. Lateral Estate is also currently offering DARWIN-enhanced luxury apartments in a Sydney suburb for prices ranging from $550,000 to $1.4 million. The New York Public Library's list of the 10 most-checked-out books of all time, revealed Monday for its 125th anniversary, largely consists of children's books. Chances are you have read, or heard of, at least one. There's "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats and "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss, each checked out nearly a half million times. There's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Where the Wild Things Are." But there is also one very famous children's book conspicuously missing from the list: "Goodnight Moon." You remember: the great green room, with the telephone and balloon and the painting of the cow jumping over the moon, and the soothing words to which millions of children have been tucked safely into bed: "Goodnight stars, Goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere." So conspicuous was its absence from the most-read list that the library felt a need to explain why, giving the 1947 book by Margaret Wise Brown an honorable mention. It was almost an apology, as there was, in fact, something to apologize for. While children and their parents have loved the bedtime story for decades, Anne Carroll Moore "hated" it. Moore not only ran the children's section at the library for 35 years, she actually invented it. And her influence on the entire industry was so widely felt that, even though she technically retired from the library in 1941, her opinion still kept the book off the shelves for decades. "By all measures, this book should be a top checkout (in fact, it might be the top checkout) if not for an odd piece of history: extremely influential New York Public Library children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore hated Goodnight Moon when it first came out," the library said in an addendum to its list. "As a result, the Library didn't carry it until 1972. That lost time bumped the book off the top 10 list for now. But give it time." The unusual snippet of cultural history, which was first reported by Slate, draws attention to a largely forgotten figure responsible for introducing an entire generation of children to libraries in the early 20th century, yet who grew up at a time when most libraries didn't even allow children inside. Moore's distaste for several beloved children's books published in her time, including E.B. White's "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web," may make her seem like villain in the eyes of readers or parents today, said Jan Pinborough, author of "Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children." But the notable dissents Moore is known for now, Pinborough said, belie her more important life's work: nearly single-handedly engineering children's services at the library as we understand them today. "We take children's libraries so for granted now," Pinborough told The Washington Post. "But she created these innovations, these beautiful welcoming spaces for children. She took down the silence signs. She designed child-sized tables. . . . And she ordered books in many languages so that all of the children, including many immigrant children, could actually check out books and bring them home. . . . She made all these great contributions, but I feel like today she's looked at as villainous because of her efforts to quash a few certain books." Moore, born in Maine in 1871, moved to New York in 1895 and very shortly thereafter "more or less invented the children's library," as New Yorker writer Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor, reported in a 2008 story about the librarian's relationship with White. She opened her first at the Pratt Institute in 1896 and her next at the New York Public Library in 1906, as its first director of the new children's department. Less than a decade after stocking the shelves with kid-friendly storybooks, in 1913, those books accounted for one-third of all checkouts at New York library branches, Lepore reported. Before long, libraries around the country copied Moore's children's services and looked to her for recommendations on which books to collect. Once she started offering reviews, Moore's stamp of disapproval - or her refusal to add a book to her library's collection - was enough to ruin a book, said Betsy Bird, collections development manager at the Evanston, Illinois, Public Library. "When she didn't like a book, she would say, 'This is truck,' " Bird, who was previously a youth materials specialist at the New York Public Library, told The Post. "People would make this pilgrimage to her in the library to show her their book, and if she didn't like it she would tell people right to their face." That is exactly what happened to Margaret Wise Brown the first time she went to meet Moore with a publishing colleague in 1938, according to a biography of Brown by Leonard Marcus. The two disagreed stylistically. Moore was a lover of fairy tales and fables. Brown, a believer in rhyme, in speaking to children in their own language. They never quite saw eye to eye, Marcus noted. "Do you want to know what I think of these books?" Moore asked Brown and her companion, Bill Scott, when they came with a stack of books. "Truck, Mr. Scott! They are truck!" So it would be no surprise, then, that when Brown's most famous work, "Goodnight Moon," was published, the unusually powerful New York librarian "didn't really care for it," Bird said. "Goodnight Moon" went on sale for $1.75 in the fall of 1947 and then - for the next several years - was almost forgotten. The reviews that year were fine but not great. The Christian Science Monitor said it "creates an atmosphere of peace and calm" for children, while the New Yorker was unmoved: "Goodnight Moon" was "hypnotic bedtime litany," the critic wrote, according to Marcus's biography, "Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon." But at the New York Public Library, the internal opinion was particularly harsh: It had been "dismissed as an unbearably sentimental piece of work," according to Marcus. Moore was by then retired from the library but her influence did not go away in the slightest: She still attended every meeting, as Lepore reported. And so for years, presumably following the advice of its most famous in-house critic, the library refused to add the book to its collection. Only 6,000 copies of "Goodnight Moon" were sold in the fall of 1947, according to Marcus, and sales had tanked by its second year in circulation. Bird said that the book's explosion in popularity in later years is still somewhat of a mystery. Marcus theorized that "Goodnight Moon" traveled to more and more parents by word of mouth amid the post-World War II baby boom starting in 1953, when suddenly sales started inching back up. "There may be no specific explanation for what ensued - 4,000 copies sold in 1955, 8,000 in 1960, nearly 20,000 in 1970, and onward and upward - other than that parents who knew Goodnight Moon and found it memorable recommended it to their friends," he wrote. Neither Moore nor Brown, however, would live to see it. Brown died in 1952 at age 42, while Moore died in 1961 at 89. Her influence had waned toward the end of her life after she disagreed with critics writ large about the merits of White's two classics, "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web" - the latter of which is No. 6 on the New York Public Library's list of most-checked-out books. But Lepore told The Post via email that she would hope the formidable New York librarian's unpopular opinions don't go on to spoil her remarkable influence on kids. "That Moore, she was a pistol," Lepore said. ". . . But, given that people have forgotten, ignored and dismissed everything Anne Carroll Moore did for public libraries and for children, it'd be pretty tragic injustice if she gets remembered only to be attacked for having hated 'Goodnight Moon' and banned 'Stuart Little'." "We want to return to our homes in Mizoram, but without ensuring our safety, security and livelihood, how can we go back amidst uncertainty," Bruno Msha, General Secretary of the MBDPF told IANS just before leaving for the national capital. An 11 member delegation of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), the apex body of the migrants, left here on Wednesday for New Delhi to attend the crucial meeting which top officials of the Union Home Ministry and the Mizoram and Tripura governments will attend. He said: "The quadripartite meeting in the presence of the Union Home Minister is likely to be held on Thursday. Government should consider the future of our next generations. There are more than 7,000 children in the refugee camps, what would be their future ?" Msha accompanied by MBDPF President A. Sawibunga and other refugee leaders said that the displaced tribal people are willing to go back to their villages in Mizoram, but the Mizoram government is too rigid to solve their basic issues permanently resulting in the failure of previous repatriation process. Msha said : "Now we want that the Dampa Tiger Reserve Sanctuary in Mizoram be de-reserved so that tribal refugees are rehabilitated there. "Our other demands are a development package by the Union DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) and Tribal Affairs Ministries for long-lasting and all-round development of the backward Reang tribals and providing security to the tribals by a Central para-military force." In Aizawl, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that a quadripartite agreement would be signed in New Delhi on Thursday for a long-lasting solution of the Reang tribals issue, locally called "Bru". "In the presence of the Union Home Minister, the agreement would be signed between the officials of the Union Home Ministry, Tripura and Mizoram governments and leaders of the MBDPF. "Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and the Mizoram Chief Minister were invited by the home ministry to remain present in the crucial meeting," Zoramthanga said while addressing the meeting of party leaders and members of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF). Over 35,000 Reang tribal refugees, including women and children, have been sheltered in seven relief camps in northern Tripura since October 1997 after they fled their villages in western Mizoram in the wake of communal tension. Meanwhile, the Tripura government's Additional Secretary L.T. Darlong said that the state government has extended the period of supply of food and relief to the refugees up to March. A top official of the Tripura CM's Secretariat told IANS that Chief Minister Deb recently wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah to sanction funds to rehabilitate Mizoram's tribal refugees in Tripura. The official refusing to disclose his identity said that Deb in his letter to Shah said that of the 35,000 tribal refugees comprising 5,400 families, 400 to 500 families could be settled in each sub-division in Tripura. The opposition Congress in Tripura on Tuesday threatened to launch an agitation if the tribal refugees are not repatriated within a month. The Union Home Ministry through the Tripura government has spent over Rs 900 crore to provide relief to the refugees during the past over 22 years. A Home Department official in Aizawl said the Union Home Ministry recently sanctioned Rs 350 crore for rehabilitation of the tribals in Mizoram, after completion of the repatriation process. According to a Tripura Relief Department official, after the four-partite agreement in Delhi on July 3, 2018, the stalled repatriation of refugees resumed on October 3 with arrangements made by the Tripura and Mizoram governments. Only a few hundred immigrants have returned to their villages in Mizoram, after the agreement as the majority of the tribals are reluctant to go back. The Delhi agreement had finalised a six-point benefit package for each refugee family. It included Rs 4 lakh financial aid, monthly allowance of Rs 5,000, Rs 1.5 lakh for building a house and free ration for two years. But the refugees subsequently refused the package, demanding security by central paramilitary forces and allotment of five hectares of land to each refugee family, besides the formation of an Autonomous District Council (ADC). "The repatriation process could not be carried out properly due to protests and obstacles put up by a section of refugees, mostly women," Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Kanchanpur Abeda Nanda Baidya told IANS. The refugees had been demanding an ADC for the Reang tribals, re-arrangement of resettlement areas, liberty to each family to choose their area of resettlement, deployment of central forces for the protection of the repatriated refugees and cash assistance.The refugees hail from three districts in Mizoram -- Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib -- spanning across nine of the state's 40 Assembly constituencies. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 19:00:56 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 898 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Buying, selling and leasing vehicles will be made easier in Canada thanks to PowerBand Solutions Inc.'s (TSXV:PBX) (OTCQB:PWWBF) (Frankfurt:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company") creation of a leasing and financing division for its Canadian customers.The move, which will offer customers leasing and financing options, is an important step to allow consumers in Canada to fully benefit from PowerBand's cloud-based platform that revolutionizes the buying, selling and leasing of cars, trucks and other vehicles. PowerBand's mission is to bring its cloud-based system to thousands of dealerships and consumers across Canada, as well as North America.The company is currently in advanced discussions to arrange lease lines for consumers and dealers who use PowerBand in Canada."The PowerBand cloud-based transaction platform will enable people to buy, sell, trade or lease vehicles with the same ease they now order a taxi or buy a product on their smart phone, tablet or computer," said PowerBand CEO Kelly Jennings. "We want to bring this revolutionary approach to buying cars to Canadians, which is why we are creating a division to ensure financing and leasing options for consumers and dealers in Canada." PowerBand will be arranging similar lease lines and financing options for US consumers and dealerships in the near future.PowerBand expanded the reach of its transaction platform by acquiring a majority share of MUSA Auto Finance, LLC ("MUSA") in July, 2019. Founded in 2016, MUSA's innovative transaction platform modernized the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing experience, providing dealers and consumers with the most advanced leasing options in the industry. The technology takes an application, calculates a lease, auto-decisions the application, provides an approval back to dealer partners and prefills a lease contract accurately. Approvals can occur in less than eight seconds. As a result of its proprietary technology, MUSA was awarded a contract by Tesla Motors to become a national leasing partner in 2018.The MUSA acquisition builds on the significant investment by Bryan Hunt, director of the Fortune 500 company J.B. Hunt Transport, and PowerBand, in the 50/50 joint venture D2D Auto Auction LLC. This partnership further introduces the PowerBand platform to North America's pre-owned vehicle auction market, valued at more than US$100-billion annually.1Source: the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA)About PowerBand Solutions Inc.PowerBand Solutions Inc. is a technology provider listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's cloud-based platform is revolutionizing how we buy, sell, lease, and auction vehicles. With the recent receipt of its exporter license and its acquisition of MUSA Auto Finance, the Company is now well positioned to become a leader in the USD$10 billion cross-border used vehicle export market, the USD$100 billion used vehicle auction market, and the USD$120 billion vehicle leasing market in the U.S. and Canada.For further information, please contact:Richard Goldman, VP Corporate DevelopmentP: 1-866-768-7653rgoldman@ powerbandsolutions.com FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law.Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.SOURCE: PowerBand Solutions Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:00:28|Editor: yan Video Player Close AMMAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Jordan and Palestine's Al-Quds Electricity Company on Wednesday signed an agreement to increase electricity exports to the Palestinian territories. Jordan will increase its electricity exports from 26 megawatts to 80 megawatts under the deal, Jordanian Minister of Energy Hala Zawati said at a press conference in the capital Amman. Increasing electricity exports will start from the end of this year, Zawati added. "This is an important deal to enhance energy cooperation between Jordan and Palestine and it is part of Jordan's efforts to enhance grid connectivity with neighboring countries," she said. Jordan started electricity exports to Palestine in 2008. Suspense prevailed on Wednesday over whether the Kolkata police has registered an FIR against 150 "unidentified" people after a protest by Left students on Saturday against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The students had dubbed the meeting a "compromise" by Banerjee on livewire issues like the CAA and NRC. Banerjee, however, had insisted it was a "courtesy call". Immediately after meeting Modi she had joined the sit- in by the students' wing of her party. It was there she encountered the Left protest. A reliable source told PTI and some other media organisations on Wednesday morning that an FIR was lodged against around 150 people over the protest against Banerjee. However, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Murlidhar Sharma said late Wednesday evening that no case has been lodged in connection with the incident. "There is no such case. This is an incorrect news," Sharma told PTI. On Saturday, members of SFI, AISA, IC of Presidency University students unions chanting 'Azadi' and 'Shame Shame' broke three barricades put up near the stage of the dharna, not far from the Raj Bhavan, and demanded explanation from Banerjee as she rushed from a programme attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the venue. The Left students had alleged that Banerjee had "compromised" the agitation against CAA by meeting Modi, which Banerjee had termed as a courtesy call. The TMC supremo, somehow placated the students saying she would not go back on her stand on the CAA-NRC-NPR. She said that she raised the issue of financial assistance that the state is yet to receive from the Centre. Modi was on a two-day visit to the city to participate in the 150 years celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust, amid massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide NRC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. I will be using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple! Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Pfizer The calculation We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$15.6b US$14.5b US$18.7b US$20.0b US$21.7b US$22.9b US$23.9b US$24.8b US$25.6b US$26.3b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 5.75% Est @ 4.55% Est @ 3.7% Est @ 3.12% Est @ 2.7% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 6.6% US$14.6k US$12.8k US$15.4k US$15.5k US$15.7k US$15.6k US$15.3k US$14.9k US$14.4k US$13.9k ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$148b Story continues The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 10-year government bond rate (1.7%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.6%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2029 (1 + g) (r g) = US$26b (1 + 1.7%) 6.6% 1.7%) = US$550b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$550b ( 1 + 6.6%)10= US$290b The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$438b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$40.1, the company appears quite undervalued at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind. NYSE:PFE Intrinsic value, January 15th 2020 Important assumptions Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Pfizer as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.895. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldnt be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price to differ from the intrinsic value? For Pfizer, I've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine: Financial Health: Does PFE have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does PFE's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Are there other high quality stocks you could be holding instead of PFE? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every US stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Toronto, Ontario, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has been expressing its concerns to government since March 2019 surrounding the increase in youth uptake of nicotine e-liquid that resulted from the entrance of the vape product branches of big tobacco companies into non-age restricted retail locations. The data supports that youth uptake did not exist prior to this entrance of these big tobacco vape brands in mid-2018, such as Juul Labs Canada, which sell only products that feature higher nicotine levels then were ever previously available in the vape market. Juuls decision today to remove their flavoured product offerings was clearly a play to increase their profits for shareholders and to remove competition from the marketplace, as any flavour bans would result in the closure of Canadian produced flavoured low nicotine e-liquid products. Over the history of the vaping industry, tens of thousands of flavours have been introduced to the marketplace with little to no impact on youth uptake; the only significant social impact of vape products prior to 2018 was a corresponding reduction in smoking rates, both in Canada and internationally. It was only with the mass introduction of high nicotine products in non-age restricted retail locations, supported by aggressive marketing campaigns associated with big tobacco vape brands sold in these environments, that we have seen any significant impact on youth uptake. Juuls closed pod-based systems have always been very limited in flavour selection but instead feature products with high nicotine levels, 59 mg/ml, 40.5 mg/ml and 17.4 mg/ml, which can produce a nicotine buzz - a key element in youth uptake or experimentation and nicotine addiction. Prior to big tobaccos entrance into this the market, vape vendors only sold nicotine e-liquid ranging in strength from 0 mg/ml to a maximum of 24 mg/ml, with sales predominantly in the 3 to 6 mg/ml strength. Unfortunately, despite the clear connection between high nicotine vape products and youth uptake, it is flavours that have been miss-cast as the major source of this issue. The European Union allows for thousands of flavour options for adult smokers, while limiting nicotine levels to 20 mg/ml, and under this regulation has seen no issue with youth uptake. Instead, this approach has resulted in substantive reductions in smoking rates, as was seen in the pre-big tobacco vaping era here in Canada. This again substantiates that the increase in youth uptake is not related to flavouring, but to the lack of regulation surrounding high nicotine products, non-age-restricted access and aggressive marketing campaigns. Now that the Government of Canada has taken action to shut down the aggressive marketing campaigns by tobacco owned vape brands, Juul is removing flavours in an attempt to create the same big tobacco vape product monopoly that they have created through a similar announcement made last year in the United States. By feeding into the misconception that flavours are the driver for youth uptake, they have been able to eliminate responsible adult only product vape shops from the market while ensuring their ability to continue selling high nicotine products. We again call on the Canadian Government to prohibit nicotine levels over 20 mg/ml to eradicate youth uptake. It is essential that appropriate steps be taken to protect our youth, while maintaining the availability of these life saving products for adult smokers looking for a far less harmful alternative to combustible tobacco. The data clearly demonstrates that the availability of a variety of flavours is a key component in transiting millions of adult smokers globally to this far less harmful alternative to smoking. Combustible tobacco companies have never before made decisions in the best interests of public health or society at large and their announcement today proves this once again. About the Canadian Vaping Association The Canadian Vaping Association (canadianvapingassociation.org) is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for the burgeoning Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 300 manufacturing, retail and online vaping businesses in Canada and has no tobacco companies, nor their affiliates, as part of their membership. The association is the primary liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of the CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education supplied bilingually to health officers, media, and elected officials. Attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested by IRS agents at a California courthouse on Tuesday for allegedly violating the terms of pre-trial release. Avenatti, who faces multiple charges of extortion and fraud in New York and Los Angeles after trying to extort over $20 million from Nike, was attending a day-long disciplinary hearing at the California Bar Court. According to police, he posed a threat of substantial harm to the public when he was taken into custody. Avenatti is facing a possible disbarment in a separate filing. Completely innocent, Avenatti allegedly told reporters as he left the courthouse. Besides the Nike case, Avenatti has been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from clients, including hiding a million-dollar settlement from a mentally ill paraplegic and stealing the identity of former client Stormy Daniels to receive a $300,000 book advance. Avenatti was supposed to travel to New York on Tuesday night for his criminal trial with Nike, but Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles, told Fox News that Avenatti was now expected in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., on Wednesday. I can confirm that he was arrested by federal agents, Dean Steward, Avenattis lawyer, said in a statement. I anticipate a bail hearing at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Magistrates Court in Santa Ana. I havent seen the details of the warrant, but should have it later this evening. Mrozek also confirmed that Avenatti was arrested on suspicion of violating his pre-trial release but added that the documents related to the arrest were under seal. More from National Review SAGINAW, MI A 20-year-old Bay City man has been found guilty of one felony related to the sexually assaulting a younger relative, though a jury exonerated him of a second charge. On Friday, Jan. 10, a Saginaw County jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Ezekiel R. Blackmon guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charge is limited to touching and is a 15-year felony. The same jury found Blackmon not guilty of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, a 10-year felony. Both charges related to the same victim, prosecutors said. Testimony during the trial showed Blackmon assaulted a female relative over several years when she would have been in middle school and Blackmon was 15 through 18. The crimes occurred in Saginaw County, prosecutors said. In October, Blackmon had pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Presiding Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson later allowed Blackmon to withdraw his plea because he would not sentence Blackmon under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which would have sealed Blackmons record. Charges were initially authorized against Blackmon in March 2018. His trial before Judge Jackson had begun on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Blackmon remains in custody without bond pending sentencing, the date of which has yet to be set. Album Sales Took A Major Hit Last Year Despite all the chatter of vinyls resurgence and other positive notes in the world of physical sales, the number of albums sold last year was down fairly dramatically, according to a new report from Alpha Data. ________________________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 The year-end report from Alpha Data, the data analytics platform formerly known as BuzzAngle that powers the Rolling Stone Charts, shows that album sales continue to fall at an alarming rate. Streaming has taken its toll on the venerable format, as its sales dropped by 23% from the previous year to just 93 million. To illustrate the point, Taylor Swifts Lover was the best selling physical album and that reached only 1.1 million copies, a figure that could be sold in just a week during the albums peak. Even those numbers are somewhat fudged since Lovers sales were massively boosted by bundles, with CDs, vinyls and digital downloads offered as add-ons to T-shirts and sweatshirts. Here are the top albums of 2019 by sales: Lover, Taylor Swift 1.1 million When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish 595,000 Happiness Begins, Jonas Brothers 484,000 Fine Line, Harry Styles 453,000 A Star Is Born: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper 438,000 BTS Map of the Soul: Persona, BTS 382,000 Hollywoods Bleeding, Post Malone 357,000 Fear Inoculum, Tool 344,000 DNA, Backstreet Boys 314,000 thank u, next, Ariana Grande 268,000 This is a trend that should continue, since modern artists have little use for the album. Streaming has turned the industry into one of singles, and its more profitable and better for fan engagement to produce them more often than to wait for the typical album cycle of between one and two years. Yet some artists still want or need to make an album, and while thats good news for studios, engineers and producers everywhere, it doesnt do the artist or band much good. The long time between releases contributes to severe fan attrition, and some of those fans will never come back. Until the next format comes along that favors the need for multiple songs, music will continue to be a singles world. Better get used to it. Share on: 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: 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: 28:
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The move for Zschech comes after serving at Hillsong Church for 25 years alongside Pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston as worship pastor of the Hillsong team, leading praise and worship worldwide. On the Hillsong Church website, Senior Pastor Brian wrote, "Mark and Darlene have been an enormous blessing to Hillsong Church and they will move into this new role with the complete support of both the Hillsong Church eldership and Bobbie and I personally. For 25 years the Zschech family have been an integral part of our church family and whilst they will be greatly missed, we feel as though this is a good and a timely step for them. "We have welcomed Darlene to continue to be part of the team in key Hillsong praise & worship projects and, with Mark, in Hillsong Conference's and we pray great things for their future." It's time now to meet the newest members of our Morning Mug Club -- brought to you by Holland Farms Bakery & Deli. Rome Free Academy Rhapsody will host its 9th Annual Central New York Show Choir Festival on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:30pm in the RFA Auditorium. RFA Rhapsody will welcome performing ensembles from: Waterville, Whitesboro, New Hartford, Frankfort-Schuyler, Westmoreland, Holland Patent, and Proctor. Presale tickets are $8.00, and are available from members of any performing group or at Jervis Public Library in Rome. Tickets will be $9.00 at the door, and will be available beginning at 6:30pm the evening of the show. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire Noble Capital Markets, Inc. (Noble) is pleased to announce that Jeb Bush, governor of Florida (1999-2007), will deliver the opening keynote address at Nobles sixteenth annual small & microcap investor conference NobleCon16 to be held Feb. 16-18, 2020, at the flagship Hard Rock Guitar Hotel & Casino, located 10 minutes from the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Considering the address is on Presidents Day, Mr. Bush offers a unique perspective on the upcoming election, given his close family ties to the White House. Bush, who is the second son of former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and a younger brother of former President George W. Bush, was Floridas Secretary of Commerce before becoming the states first two-term Republican governor. During his eight years as governor, Bush pushed an ambitious Everglades conservation plan, supported caps for medical malpractice litigation, launched a Medicaid privatization pilot program, and instituted reforms to the state education system, including the issuance of vouchers and promoting school choice. During his eight years in office, Bush became known for his pro-business, low-taxes position. He reduced taxes by $19 million, cut the size of Floridas state government by 6.6% and vetoed $2 billion in new spending. And state reserves went from $1 billion to $10 billion, resulting in Florida being the only state from 1999-2007 to be upgraded to AAA by analysts at S&P. Before running for the Republican presidential nomination in June of 2015, he served as the head of a consulting company whose clients ranged from technology startups to Fortune 500 companies. Jeb Bush is a unifying leader who brings civility to the discussion of bipartisan viewpoints while addressing the key issues facing Americans. An articulate student of policy, Bush will dissect for the NobleCon audience the current political climate by offering fresh insights on the hot-button issues in the news. Whether leading transformation efforts on issues of importance like education, healthcare and immigration, or managing crisis response to the eight hurricanes that hit Florida during his time in office, Bush understands how organizations can literally be blown apart by the winds of change. He has written three books: Profiles in Character; Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution; and Reply All: A Governors Story 1999-2007. NobleCon offers family offices, self-directed investors, investment advisors and institutional investors direct access to Americas most important asset: emerging growth companies, said Bush. These are the companies that represent breakthroughs in technology, science and medicine. Im looking forward to being a small part of this important conference. Mr. Bush's keynote address is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. in the Seminole Ballroom at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The full listing of events, meetings, keynotes and panel presentations is available at www.nobleconference.com . All the NobleCon attending companies are featured on www.channelchek.com , a new investment community dedicated exclusively to small- and microcap companies and their industries. Channelchek is tailored to meet the needs of self-directed investors and financial professionals and is the first service to offer institutional-quality research to the public for FREE at every level without a subscription. More than 6,000 emerging growth companies are listed on the site, with growing content including webcasts, podcasts and balanced news. About Noble Capital Markets, Inc. Noble Capital Markets (Noble) is a research driven boutique investment bank that has supported small & microcap companies since 1984. As a FINRA and SEC licensed broker dealer Noble provides institutional-quality equity research, merchant and investment banking, wealth management and order execution services. In 2005, Noble established NobleCon, an investor conference that has grown substantially over the last decade. Contacts: General NobleCon Information: https://www.nobleconference.com NobleCon Registration: https://www.nobleconference.com/sixteen#register info@noblecapitalmarkets.com 561-994-1191 ext. 2111 Corporate Communications: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212.418.1217 Office Editor@NetworkNewsWire.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/485f34c1-23e3-40a5-951c-cb992bfdca19 A family has been left devastated after scammers attempted to profit from the death of their veteran firefighter father. Bill Slade, 60, died on Saturday while fighting a blaze with Parks Victoria near Omeo in East Gippsland. The firefighter was survived by his wife Carol, daughter Steph and son Ethan. But when the family started grieving over Bill's death they discovered someone was trying to scam the community using his name. Scroll down for video PICTURED: Bill Slade, 60, was fighting fires with Parks Victoria at Omeo when he died on Saturday A fundraising page was set up after the Wonthaggi firefighters death on Donorbox, raising $140 before being shut down. Daughter Steph Slade told the Age she was appalled someone would try and benefit from the death of her father. 'I find it disgusting that a person would do something like this considering the circumstances,' she said. Steph flagged the fake fundraiser in a post on Facebook, urging people not to donate to the online scam. The fundraiser has now been removed by Donorbox who told the Age they were working on ways to prevent fake fundraisers being set up. 'We regret to see the scam fundraiser and have taken it down after your report,' he said. The spokesperson said they were looking for 'various ways to take down these types of fundraisers before they go live'. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched a dedicated hotline for bushfire related scams last week. Members of the public are urged to report any fake appeals of fundraising initiatives to the consumer watchdog. PICTURED: A fundraising page set up to raise funds for funeral costs for dead firefighter Bill Slade, 60, has been removed after it was exposed as a scam Since the launch of the site there have been more than 250 reports of fraudulent fundraising initiatives relating to the bushfire crisis. Bill Slade, 60, was killed by a falling branch while fighting a fire at Omeo when he died on Saturday. The married father of two from Wonthaggi has been remembered as one of the longest serving, most experienced and fittest firefighters. 'This is a significant loss for the Forest Fire Management Victoria family and the community as a whole,' FFMV boss Chris Hardman said Sunday morning. Mr Slade was on a taskforce working at the fire's edge. The veteran firefighter had 40 years' experience and was a married father-of-two (regional Victorian town of Omeo pictured) 'Although we do have enormous experience in identifying hazardous trees, sometimes these tree failures can't be predicted,' Mr Hardman said. 'It would have been a traumatic experience for everybody on that taskforce.' Mr Slade had worked on major fire incidents in the past including the Ash Wednesday bushfires. His 40 years service was recognised in a presentation in November. The death takes the death toll from the bushfire season to 28, with 20 confirmed deaths in New South Wales, three in South Australia and five in Victoria. Mr Slade's death follows the death of fellow FFMV firefighter Mat Kavanagh, 43, who died on duty when his vehicle crashed on the Goulburn Valley Highway on January 3. Mr Slade had worked on major fire incidents in the past including the Ash Wednesday bushfires Mr Hardman said despite the deaths firefighters would continue to be deployed. 'We have to be out there ... it's a long time before the risks around these fires are over,' he said. They'll be out in the field until late February or March, or possibly beyond. 'I think we need to be really clear unless we get really significant rains ... 100-150mm of rain we're going to be in this for the long haul,' he said. Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp said 'benign conditions' are forecast in coming days, including thunderstorms expected to bring rain. Victoria Police and Worksafe are investigating Mr Slade's death. More than 1.3 million hectares have been razed since November 21, while 286 homes and 400 other buildings have been damaged. Currently, there is an Advice Warning for Omeo as there are numerous bushfires burning east of Omeo that are not yet under control, according to Vic Emergency. Pictured: East Gippsland Sheba Medical Center Director General Yitshak Kreiss with Governor Tom Wolf I see the connection between Sheba and Thomas Jefferson as the start of a great collaboration between Pennsylvania and Israel. Sheba Medical Center, considered one of the top 10 hospitals in the world, today hosted Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. Governor Wolf visited the campus of Shebas ARC Innovation Center, which is the central hub for medical innovation in the State of Israel. He was joined by Dr. Mark Tykocinski, Provost of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, which has cemented a partnership with Sheba to deepen cooperation in the arenas of improved healthcare and medical innovation. Governor Wolf and Dr. Tykocinski met with the founders of a range of start-up companies housed within Shebas ARC Innovation Center in order to gain a firsthand look at how the U.S. and Israel can collaborate to achieve medical breakthroughs that bring improved health to Americans, Israelis and the global community. Sheba is honored that the State of Israel picked us to be the official host for the governor, said Sheba Director General Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, who hosted the Governor and his delegation. At Sheba we capture the start-up mentality of Israel to create an ecosystem that will truly make an impact on the world. At a meeting with the leadership of Sheba Medical Center and its ARC Innovation Center, Governor Wolf said: I see the connection between Sheba and Thomas Jefferson as the start of a great collaboration between Pennsylvania and Israel. During his tour of the ARC Innovation Center, Governor Wolf met with the founders of cutting-edge Israeli startups housed at Sheba including Datos, MDClone, Art Medical, Irody, Valera Health and Somatix. The ARC Innovation Center at Sheba is a one-of-a-kind platform bringing together Israeli startups with novel healthcare solutions, academia, patient data, leading industry players and investors. Upon the conclusion of his visit, the Governor looked on as a tree was planted in his honor on the campus of Sheba Medical Center to commemorate and capture the spirit of the growing ties between Pennsylvania and Israel and its national hospital. Governor Wolf was presented with a gift from Prof. Kreiss, a glass tree sculpture crafted by an Israeli soldier with severe PTSD who received treatment and was rehabilitated at Sheba Medical Center. Video footage of Governor Wolf's visit to Sheba Medical Center can be found here, courtesy of Viva Creative. Photos of Governor Wolf with Sheba Director General Yitshak Kreiss can be found at this Dropbox link. About Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer Born together with Israel in 1948, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer is the largest and most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East. Sheba is the only medical center in Israel that combines an acute care hospital and a rehabilitation hospital on one campus, and it is at the forefront of medical treatments, patient care, research and education. As a university teaching hospital affiliated with the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University, it welcomes people from all over the world indiscriminately. To learn more, visit: eng.sheba.co.il. COLUMBIA, S.C. - Supporters of a bill that would ban almost all abortions in South Carolina want some leaders in the South Carolina Senate to know they wont let the proposal quietly die. Hundreds of them packed a Statehouse lobby Wednesday to call for a vote on the bill whose only likely obstacle to becoming law is passing a two-thirds procedural vote in the Senate. There are enough Democrats and Republicans from less conservative districts to keep blocking the bill. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has said several times before the 2020 legislative session started this week that Republicans dont have the votes and he sees no need to halt debate on other issues like tax reform, education or selling state-owned utility Santee Cooper for several days for a filibuster that according to his vote counting math cant be beat. Thats what happened in 2018 to a similar abortion ban bill. Massey supports the stricter abortion rules, but said he needs to consider the chances of it passing. Yall saw that movie two years ago, the Republican from Edgefield said. I was a player in that movie. I did not like that. The Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act would make make almost all abortions illegal once fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks after conception. Several similarly conservative states have passed similar bills, but they are all tied up in court. But political considerations didnt matter to the people at the rally, who were joined by Gov. Henry McMaster, again saying he will sign the bill as soon as he can. It easily passed the House last year. If you cant protect the dignity and life of all the citizens of South Carolina, Im not sure your tax code is going to matter, said South Carolina Citizens for Life President Lisa Van Riper. Opponents of the bill said it is not constitutional and South Carolina would waste money in court fighting it. They also said most women dont realize they are pregnant before a heartbeat is detected. Similar bills have passed in recent years in Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio. Missouri approved a ban on abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy and Alabama lawmakers simply outlawed all abortions. All of them remain tied up in courts. The 2020 elections are part of the political calculations too. All 46 senators and 124 House members are up for reelection. The Republican and Democratic primaries are in June with filing for the seats in March. Supporters of the abortion bill said they can find conservative candidates who will promise to bring the bill to a vote to run against reluctant Republicans. A lot of South Carolina will know who they are, Van Riper said. McMaster only spoke briefly after an enthusiastic reception and chants of we choose life rang around the lobby after he spoke. The governor said all rights in American government are only protected when life is considered sacred. It is the right of life that is foundational, McMaster said. ___ Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP The Egyptian Foreign Ministry before the Egypyian-Ethiopian-Sudanese meeting in the US dotted all the necessary in the statement it released following the last round of talks in Addis Ababa in which Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan failed to reach an agreement over their pending differences on the rules and principles governing the filling of the reservoir and the operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The fault for the failure is certainly not Egypts. Egypts guiding principle throughout has been that any agreement should ensure the interests of all parties. Egypt has no problem with the construction of the Ethiopian Dam as long as it does not jeopardise Egypts water rights, which is why it has engaged in so many rounds of negotiations in recent years. In March 2015, Cairo, Addis and Khartoum signed the agreement on the Declaration of Principles, outlining 10 major principles to which the signatory parties committed themselves. Egypts stances and demands have remained consistent with these principles in all the negotiating rounds ever since. When negotiations broke down earlier this year, seven years after they had begun, Egypt felt compelled to appeal to the international community to intervene, which President Al-Sisi did in his address to the UN General Assembly in September. When the US offered to help, Egypt accepted willingly. It then welcomed the outcome of the US-sponsored negotiations and faithfully adhered to the terms of the agreement that was reached in Washington on 6 November. There followed four negotiating rounds between the three countries technical committees, during which Egypt worked as best as it could to overcome the impasses. Afterwards, Egypt was forced to announce that the negotiations did not produce results commensurate with its demands, initiating a new phase in a process involving a life and death issue for the Egyptian people. The spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation said that the negotiations showed that Ethiopia had no sincere desire to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement and that Addis was actually bent on acting unilaterally in filling the reservoir and operating the dam, in violation of international law. He stressed that Egypt cannot accept this and that it remains determined to safeguard its quota of Nile waters as stipulated under previous agreements. Contrary to the Ethiopian claim, Egypt has not insisted on a specific number of years for the filling of the GERD reservoir. But it does oppose Ethiopian attempts to impose a de facto reality, to assert its control over the Blue Nile, and to fill and operate the dam without concern for the welfare of downstream nations, and Egypt in particular, the last country on the Nile before it reaches the Mediterranean. Ethiopia should not be allowed to treat the Blue Nile like the other transboundary rivers it has sought to control to the detriment of neighbouring countries. Over a year ago, Cairo, Khartoum and Addis agreed that the filling of the GERD reservoir should proceed in stages based on the annual flow of the Blue Nile. Egypt has proposed that this process should take place over six to seven years in the event of average or above average flooding levels, so as to avoid harm to downstream nations. It also proposed that, in the event of significantly lower than average flows from the Blue Nile headwaters, Ethiopia could reduce electricity production at the dam to 80 per cent of its capacity, meaning that Addis would only have to shoulder a minor burden due to the drought. Regardless of whether the next round in Washington produces positive results, or whether Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agree to extend negotiations for another limited period, or whether they opt for an international mediator, Egypt will continue to insist on its full and undiminished rights to Nile waters, on the principle of avoidance of harm to any party, and on the need for a consensual mechanism to operate the new dam. These principles are not negotiable. No country can stand by while its main source of water is exposed to risk, jeopardising the lives of over 100 million people. Ethiopia is now trying to buy time and gain an edge over the other parties by spreading falsehoods to the effect that Egypt is intransigent. Such behaviour is indefensible and does not stand to reason in light of the constructive and flexible approach that Egypt has consistently brought to the negotiating process, to which there is ample testimony. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: (CNN) At least 71 people have been killed and dozens more injured in northeast Pakistan after a series of avalanches destroyed and buried houses on Tuesday. The avalanches were triggered by heavy snowfall in the Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to local authorities. Dozens of houses had been wrecked and buried by the snow, with most of those killed and injured in their homes when the avalanches hit, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, state minister for disaster management and rehabilitation, on Tuesday. Apart from the 71 dead, another 53 people have been injured, local officials said on Wednesday. The death toll may continue to rise, as there are fears that many people may still be trapped. In the aftermath, desperate villagers conducted a search and rescue attempt to find those buried in the avalanche, carrying shovels and wading into the deep snow. Emergency personnel are also on the ground responding to the crisis. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday he had asked the national disaster agency, the military, and federal ministers to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected residents. Several of the injured victims were airlifted by army helicopters to the region's capital, Muzaffarabad, for treatment, and more helicopters will airdrop food and essential supplies to residents cut off by snow. In a tweet on Tuesday, the region's Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan extended his condolences to those affected, adding that his administration would "leave no stone unturned to alleviate the sufferings of (the) affected population." The avalanches come during one of the harshest winters in 20 years. Daily life in Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been severely affected, with roads blocked by snow, communication services down, and disruptions to electric power supplies. Separately, in the country's southwestern province of Balochistan, 16 people have died in 48 hours this week due to rain and snow related incidents, said Imran Zarkoon of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Heavy snowfall is normal for this time of year, said Zaheer Ahmed, director of the National Weather Forecasting Centre in the capital, Islamabad. But "due to climate change, this year the intensity of cold is much higher than the previous few years." This story was first published on CNN.com, "At least 71 killed and dozens injured after avalanches bury homes in Pakistan." The Gujarat High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by four persons against a single- judge bench order rejecting their plea for compensation to 60 Sikh families in Ahmedabad, who were allegedly affected during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice A J Shastri on January 9 rejected the appeal. The petitioners had sought compensation from the Gujarat government claiming that the 60 Sikh families were affected by the 1984 riots that broke out across the country following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. The petitioners claimed that even after over three decades, around 60 Sikh families in Ahmedabad were not adequately compensated by the Gujarat government, nor proper investigation undertaken. They sought "appropriate compensation in accordance with law and damages occurred to the properties of victim families", which was rejected by Justice A Y Kogje in an order passed on June 12 last year. The division bench's order, which was passed last week and made available on Wednesday, said the petitioners failed to provide material facts to justify the relief. The court also said that the Ahmedabad collector in his report said that the representations of the petitioners do not indicate any loss suffered by the appellants. The court also said that no factual details were provided to justify the claims of the families, and that "a few non-suited persons" (petitioners) were espousing their cause. "On the basis of the material which is made available on the record, we see no infirmity in the order passed by the learned Single Judge. Accordingly, the appellants have miserably failed in making out a case and that being the position, the appeal lacks merit," the court said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) First Fortnight, Ireland's Mental Health Art & Culture Festival, brings a variety of events to venues around the country during January. The festival brightens the darkest month, replacing the outward lights of Christmas festivity with the inner sparks of creativity and stimulation. Oisin McKenna's one-man show premiered in the Dublin Fringe Festival last autumn; it returns here making a valuable contribution to the theme of isolation and loneliness, a focus of this year's festival. Perched on an impossibly high stool, McKenna is an appealing stage presence with a warm, unguarded voice. The 60-minute monologue opens and closes with verse sections, but the majority of the material has the accessible tone of low-key narrative realism. We hear about the life of this Irish gay man working in an office in London, desperate for human connection. He meets a nice guy, Joe, and falls for him; but true intimacy remains elusive, as Joe doesn't appear to have monogamy on his mind. McKenna's character is simultaneously utterly contemporary and gently old-fashioned. The show is especially good at capturing the texture of life for current twentysomethings; their left/right political orthodoxies, the pressure to conform to "correct" opinions, the instinct to Instagram. Every day is an exhausting litany of push-notifications and bombardment from eBay. Forging connection is confounded by the problem that Wednesday is too early to make arrangements for the weekend. McKenna's character has the millennial quality of being hyper self-aware; but this self-knowledge is currently a hindrance, rather than a help, in his search for love. Anna Clock's deft audio design creates a dramatic mental soundscape, punctuating the action with notification pings, bits of Abba music and atmospherics. Michael Hankin's set design is simple but beautiful: a constant stream of falling glitter, accumulating as a heap of shiny dust on the floor. Director Darren Sinnott steers the performer towards a sense of true storytelling intimacy. McKenna's script is heartfelt, and captures a sense of loneliness perfectly; but whilst emotionally brave, it is dramatically timid. Thus, when his isolation and heartbreak turns into a destructive depression, the amiable narrative style feels inadequate to the depth of the dramatic task. But this is still a very affecting show, that reveals a lot about the intricate workings of the emotional brain and the difficulty of finding true connection in our hyper-connected world. A comic route to the heart of tragedy In One Eye, Out the Other Smock Alley Boys' School, Dublin Until tonight; Tours to Cork City on Jan 16; Carrick-on-Shannon on Jan 17; and Newbridge on Jan 18 Tadhg Hickey's monologue play has many of the qualities of a stand-up comedy show; his delivery has a comedian's timing, and the 50-minute script is full of one-liner gags. We meet Fergal, a drinker from a long line of alcoholics. He tells us about his life, his crazy boozy Cork family, his misfit status. The story takes a surreal turn as Fergal fills his empty flat with old toys and statues to keep himself company. He creates fantasy friendships with a number of female sporting heroes, including Sonia O'Sullivan, Katie Taylor and Michelle Smith de Bruin. His neglectful boozed-up mother, whom he still loves with the affection of a small child, is a complex and toxic presence in the mix. When the twist in the tale comes, it creates a dramatic jolt, and catapults the evening into the stark realms of tragedy. Video of the Day This CCCahoots production, which also had its first outing at the Dublin Fringe Festival, is both funny and poignant. Director/dramaturg John McCarthy makes a vital contribution in shaping Hickey's daring and risky performance. This is exciting work, with real emotional reach, and a clever dramatic take on its dark alcoholic substance. Six local award-winning artists will be highlighted in the second annual Houston Area Oil Painters of America art show and sale Feb. 7-9. It takes place at 127 Simonton St., in the Conroe Art League Gallery at the Madeley Building. Honored artists during this first Oil Painters show of 2020 include Lois Blackburne, George Bramlett, Juan Cantavella, Beau Crump, Tom LaRock, and Debra Riley. All are residents of Conroe or The Woodlands and were juried into membership in the national organization of Oil Painters of America. These are representational artists with a passion for realism, said publicist Karen Grace. They will be exhibiting landscapes, portraits, narratives, and still life paintings. All six have won local and national awards in the art world and will attend an opening reception Feb. 7. The show opens at 10:30 a.m. and continues until 8 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8 and continues until 8 p.m. The reception, with the featured artists present, is from 5 until 8 pm. on Feb. 7. The public is cordially invited, with no admittance fee charged to attend the three days of shows or the February 7 reception. On Feb. 9, the last day, the show and sale open at 12 noon and close at 3 p.m. All exhibited paintings will be for sale, with prices varying among the artists. Another opportunity exists for the purchase of art treasures because members of the Conroe Art League will display and sell original paintings during their famous 12 X 12 fundraiser. The CAL members artwork will be presented on gallery walls. Work of the six HAOPA artists will be set up on panels in the center space, according to member Beau Crump. Seekers of original art may buy the 12 X 12 inch pieces for $200 each, or bid on them for future purchase. Lois Blackburne, a self-taught artist, describes her artistic style as detailed and impressionistic. She is recognized in Conroe where she has taught oils, pastels, watercolor, and china painting at Hobby Lobby for the past 20 years. Her works include landscapes, pet and other portraits, still life, and florals. She also attended numerous workshops and seminars that were taught by master artists, including Juan Cantavella, whose work is also honored at the February exhibit. Ms. Blackburne joined the Conroe Art League in 1978 when she moved to Conroe. Another self-taught artist, George Bramlett, ascribes his ability to his father. I have enjoyed art my entire life but was not able to focus on it until my later years, he said. Among his awards he counts a first place in 2019 Lone Star Art Guild, and 2019 Peoples Choice Award from Conroe Art Gallery. He also was a finalist in the 2019 Madeley National Show. Bramlett places emphasis on artistic details to bring life to subjects, and to create a moment in time feeling among viewers. Juan Cantavella earned a degree in architecture, and is nationally known for highly detailed portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes. A self-taught artist, he has lived in The Woodlands since 2014. Beau Crump mostly taught himself to paint, although he has perfected his skills by enrolling in workshops and seminars for the past 43 years. Additionally, he studied portraiture with Juan Cantavella, and is recognized for his landscapes and portraits that are painted in a detailed, impressionistic style. Numerous among Crumps works are scenes depicting Louisiana as well as Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah. Viewers also will find some of the artists views of England, France and Germany. A Conroe resident for more than a decade, Crump earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology from Northwestern State University in Louisiana, and studied engineering at Kilgore College in Texas. Tom LaRocks journey to his position of artistic honor was nourished by lessons taken at Renewal Center, studio of his son Living Master Joshua LaRock in New York City. That happened in 2013 and included instruction at that citys Grand Central Academy, as well as LaRocks studies with other artists in New York and Florida. With those experiences for background, LaRock returned to Texas in 2017 to become professional. His style is expressed as classically realistic with hints of contemporary impressionism. Although he is best known for landscapes and still life, he also enjoys painting portraits and narratives. LaRock earned a degree in physical education at University of Texas, El Paso, and another in mechanical engineering at University of Texas, Austin. He has resided in The Woodlands since 2004. Debra Riley, a Montgomery resident since 1999, studied with a number of recognized instructors including Lois Blackburne. Her favorite subjects and artistic style trend toward landscapes, still life, and portraits. Ms. Riley earned a degree in business and human relations from Amber University; sits on the executive board of Conroe Art League; and has been an Art Colony Giverny Artist for the past two years. Peggie Miller may be reached at pegmiller01@gmail.com. Congress is a co-equal branch of government and has the authority to place restrictions and requirements on the executive branch including the office of President. To sign a law but refuse to implement certain provisions through a signing statement would amount to a line-item veto, which is an authority that has been expressly kept from the president at this point. Disagreements about constitutionality of provisions should be resolved by the courts. By Trend The Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, in accordance with its mandate, plans to conduct the next ceasefire monitoring exercise on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Azerbaijan's Aghdam district on Jan. 16, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk, his field assistants Simon Tiller and Martin Schuster will carry out the monitoring exercise from the territory of Azerbaijan. The Personal Representative`s field assistants Ghenadie Petrica and Mihail Olaru will carry out the monitoring exercise on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied and controlled by the armed forces of Armenia. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. Opalesque Industry Update - Members of the International Advisory Board for Fund Selection (IAB) recently raised concern that investors expected daily liquidity from asset classes that could not always support it. Meeting recently in Madrid the IAB, which is sponsored by the Spanish funds' platform Banco Inversis, said that the reason why such issues kept arising was because there was often a mismatch between the liquidity of investment classes not matching the liquidity of the underlying assets. The Group felt that regulatory attempts to try to balance the competing demands of investors with the objectives laid down by the fund manager was increasingly difficult as accelerating early redemptions could alter the dynamic of the fund and challenge its original purpose. It was suggested that while attempts to bolster risk management across all facets of fund management might be seeking to meet investor concerns - particularly in the retail market - the real test of any perceived failure would come down to a judgement of the reasonableness of the manager's risk management actions at a point in time. IAB member and Investment Management head at London based Cass business school Prof Andrew Clare, said, that appreciating the opportunities and risks relating to liquidity across all asset classes, was often a question of investor education: "Appreciating the opportunities and risks relating to liquidity in the various asset classes is a question of investor education. For example, in the case of property, most people know that they can't wake up in the morning and decide to sell their house by 12 o'clock the same day. But investors expect to have daily liquidity in their property portfolio, that is, the option to complete commercial property transactions in a day! To have daily liquidity in property funds is just nonsensical. Of all the asset classes, it's probably the biggest mismatch between product and underlying asset there is. In my view the industry needs to bite the bullet and explain to investors when they can't have daily liquidity, particularly in property funds." The IAB agreed that there was no simple 'tick box' approach to liquidity management, for even if managers designed a product that had a longer liquidity window then it was likely that it would not be commercially viable across the whole marketplace. Union minister of state Debasree Chaudhuri ran into opposition from a section of local residents and Trinamool Congress workers on Wednesday, when she went to a neighbourhood in Raiganj town in her constituency to campaign for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A group of residents, mostly women, encircled her vehicle and sought explanations about CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC). There was a heated argument between the residents and the ministers entourage. The incident took place at Indira Colony area in Raiganj, 400 km north of Kolkata. The junior minister for women and child development was participating in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s door-to-door campaign and party workers were distributing leaflets, explaining CAA, when the agitation started. It continued for about 15 minutes after which Chaudhuri left the area. Some of the protesters raised go-back slogans. They were led by local TMC leader Manju Rava. Why are they asking us to prove our citizenship after coming to power with our votes? she asked. The 48-year-old MP from Raiganj in north Bengal alleged that BJPs opponents engineered the agitation. It was a political conspiracy. People have wholeheartedly welcomed CAA, said Chaudhuri. Trinamool Congress denied any link with the protest despite Manju Rava leading some protesters. All the people are angry with BJP for CAA and NRC. BJP leaders may face spontaneous agitation at any place and at any time. We have nothing to do with Wednesdays incident, said Raiganjs civic body chairman and TMCs North Dijanpur district president Kanaialal Agarwal. Protests have continued to rage across Bengal against the CAA since the Parliament approved it on December 11. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been at the forefront of the anti-CAA protests. The Congress, Left parties, students and women have also been protesting separately against the amended citizenship law. Despite protests against the amended law in various parts of the country, Union home minister Amit Shah has insisted that there is no question of rolling it back. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Deepika Padukone has been in the limelight for a while now, thanks to the release of her film, Chhapaak and her visit to the troubled JNU in New Delhi. The actress showed her support against the brutality faced by the protesting students at JNU. Ever since the actress took this stand, netizens have been divided and are analysing her brave move. By and large, Deepika has been praised for showing her support to the students, when majority of the film industry has remained silent on it. Today Chhapaak director, Meghna Gulzar, spoke about her actress visit to the university and said, We have to be able to separate between the personal and professional. What somebody does in their personal life and professional needs to be looked at separately. Chhapaak has been praised by critics. The actress role of an acid-attack survivor is being lauded by critics and audience. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film also stars Vikrant Massey. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:59:37|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close A worker repairs the traffic light damaged by protesters in the Hamra street in Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 15, 2020. Around 47 Lebanese army members were injured in clashes with protesters on Tuesday evening near the Central Bank of Lebanon in Hamra in the capital Beirut, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday. (Photo by Bilal Jawich/Xinhua) BEIRUT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Around 47 Lebanese army members were injured in clashes with protesters on Tuesday evening near the Central Bank of Lebanon in Hamra in the capital Beirut, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday. Army members were injured due to heavy clashes with protesters who attempted to break into the central bank of Lebanon while destroying banks' entrances and ATM machines. Injured army members were transferred to nearby hospitals. Also, the internal security forces directorate reported that 59 protesters were arrested for attacking banks and throwing stones at army members. Hundreds of protesters demonstrated near Lebanon's central bank on Tuesday evening while criticizing its governor for adopting policies that led to their impoverishment. Protesters also accused the governor of wasting people's money in banks and blamed him for the restrictions imposed by banks on depositors' withdrawals. Lebanese banks have been imposing, for the past few months, strict limits on people's withdrawals in U.S. dollars due to shortage in banks' liquidity creating fear among people about losing their deposits. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Armenia Wine Company, which started in 2006, has become a symbol of modern Armenian winemaking thanks to its award-winning wines, exemplary vineyards and state-of-the-art technologies. Summing up the exciting results achieved in 2019, the company is embarking on a new investment project in 2020. 21st Century Vineyards and Organic Viticulture Armenia Wine Company began cultivating organic viticulture in 2017, emphasizing the importance of environmental protection, as well as honesty towards consumers and employees. As part of a plan to expand its own vineyards, in 2019 the company planted another 14 hectares of organic vineyards in the village of Sasunik in Aragatsotn marz (province), thus bringing the overall area of its vineyards to 74 hectares. Armenia Wine products are made from Armenian and European grape varieties purchased from four regions of the country. In 2019, two more varieties were added to the 15 varieties already cultivated - organic Siran and Petit Verdaux. In 2019, the company procured more than 7,000 metric tons of grapes from some 600 suppliers. Wins and partners in the international market The best presentation of Armenian wines in the international market has been one of Armenia Wine's most important missions since the very first day of its establishment. It cooperates with companies in more than 26 countries showcasing the delicate aroma of Armenian terroir in the Russian, Belarusian, Czech, American, Canadian, French and other markets. Being one of the largest wine exporters, in 2019 the company obtained six new partners and increased total export volumes by 25%. Last year, the company participated in 5 international exhibitions, winning 27 medals for its high-quality wines - 5 gold, 6 silver and 16 bronze. Achievements in the local market Since its inception 11 years ago, Armenia Wine has become one of the most recognized and beloved wine brands in Armenia. In 2019, the company's products were on sale in over 7,000 sales and service centers across Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, with sales volume surging by over 35%. Wine tourism center In 2019 the winery hosted more than 7,000 tourists from 15 countries, positioning itself as one of the wine tourism centers in Armenia. Visitors to the winery were not only shown the products of Armenia Wine, but also were told the history and culture of Armenian winemaking and the art of wine tasting. The Hazarashen wine store in the winery offers visitors Armenia Wine products at factory prices. The year of 2019 was also marked for the company by the reopening of the Nazani national restaurant, along with interesting approaches in the tasting and professional halls. Throughout the past year, the company organized a number of educational programs in the field of wine-making, designed to train local specialists. Upcoming programs Armenia Wine, as the first winery to have introduced innovative and modern technologies is now entering a new phase of development. Promoting the development of organic agriculture in Armenia, the company introduces modern agricultural technologies and cultural formats that are used today in the most developed countries. In 2020, the winery will expand the process of planting new vineyards, paying particular attention to the Armenian and European varieties already under cultivation by adding Armenian native varieties. Continuing its specialized education programs and the exchange of practical knowledge with the involvement of the best international experts, in 2020 Armenia Wine will continue cooperation with rural economies to obtain high quality grapes. The company will also continue to invest in gastrotourism. A unique wine museum will be created, where visitors from Armenia and abroad will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the 6,000 year-old history of Armenian wines. In 2020, Armenia Wine will unveil a new and unique product, Port wine, and will present to the local and international markets a brand new French-style manufactured Armenian cognac with the flavor of Armenian terroir. The company takes pride in announcing its success in the world markets. Armenia Wine's products have their worthy place among the highest quality wines with the most demanding buyers in the world. Christian school denies report claiming it expelled student over rainbow birthday cake Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian school in Kentucky is denying claims that it expelled a 15-year-old student for having a rainbow cake at a birthday party. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported Tuesday that a family has accused Whitefield Academy, a private Christian school in Louisville, of expelling their teenage daughter over a rainbow birthday cake. Kimberly Alford told the news outlet that Whitefield Academy expelled her daughter following a social media post, believed to be one of the student with the cake, as well as a rainbow sweater. I just feel like it's a label (school officials) have put on her, she said to the Courier-Journal. Just because I'm wearing a rainbow doesn't mean I'm gay. However, in a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Wednesday morning, Whitefield Academy denied that the photo was the reason for the expulsion. In fact, she has unfortunately violated our student code of conduct numerous times over the past two years, the school told CP. In the fall, we met with the student to give her a final chance to begin to adhere to our code of conduct. Unfortunately, she did not live up to the agreement, and therefore, has been expelled. Whitefield went on to note that students enrolled at their institution must adhere to a lifestyle informed by our Christian beliefs and that parents are made aware of that from the onset. There are numerous school options in our community for students who do not wish to attend a Christian-based school, and we wish our former student all the best as she finds a learning environment that is right for her, they continued. It is unfortunate that one of the students parents chose to post internal family matters on social media, and we hope our former student is not adversely affected by what her parents chose to make public about her situation. Whitefield Academy was founded in 1976, originally as a ministry of Highview Baptist Church, and offers educational programming from preschool to the senior year of high school. Whitefield is looking for students from Christian homes who desire to be part of the Whitefield family. Our students have a desire to be successful both spiritually as well as academically, explains the FAQ section of their website. Students looking to enroll should understand they will pursue an advanced curriculum designed to prepare them for college and life. Whitefields policies support the admissions of students from a variety of ethnic, denominational, and socio-economic backgrounds. PHOENIX - The Trump administration said Tuesday it will start deporting about 250 Mexicans a week on flights from Tucson, Arizona, to Guadalajara, over 1,000 miles (1,640 kilometres) from the border. The move reflects how Mexicans have become a higher priority in border enforcement as fewer Central Americans head to the U.S. The flights aim to deter attempts at crossing the border illegally by sending people deeper into Mexico. Immigration authorities began the repatriation flights to Mexicos interior in December. The Department of Homeland Security said there will be two flights a week, starting Jan. 24. Heather Swift, a department spokeswoman, said the flights satisfy a longstanding request of the Mexican government and will take people who are deported closer to their hometowns. Mexicans from states that border the U.S. will not be put on the flights. Mexicans are exempt from a U.S. policy introduced a year ago to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. More than 56,000 asylum-seekers had been turned back by the end of November, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, about two-thirds of them Guatemalan or Honduran. The policy, called Migrant Protection Protocols, has expanded across the border as the number of Central Americans arriving at the border has plunged. Mexicans accounted for half of the arrests and people stopped at the U.S. border in December, more than three times more than any other nationality and a shift from much of last year, when Guatemala and Honduras were the top countries of origin. This is another example of the Trump administration working with the government of Mexico to address the ongoing border security crisis, Swift said. A similar program in place from 2004 to 2012 also flew Mexicans who had crossed the border through Arizona deep into Mexican cities at the cost of $100 million over its lifespan. The repatriation program was meant as a deterrent for border-crossers who might attempt the trek again. Mexican officials initially had doubts, but they embraced the program as a way to save lives at a time when thousands of migrants were dying in the desert. Over 125,000 people were flown at no cost to them. The program ended when the number of migrants began to drop. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 13:45:51|Editor: zyl Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Michael Flynn, U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, is asking a federal court to let him withdraw his guilty plea on charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Flynn's lawyers made the request in a motion filed with D.C. District Court on Tuesday night, two weeks before he was set to be sentenced, said a TheHill news report. "Mr. Flynn will not plead guilty. Furthermore, he will not accede to the government's demand that he 'disavow' any statements made in his filings since he obtained new, unconflicted counsel," his lawyers wrote. "Michael T. Flynn is innocent. Mr. Flynn has cooperated with the government in good faith for two years. He gave the prosecution his full cooperation," the lawyers wrote, accusing the Justice Department of violating its plea agreement with Flynn. Flynn's lawyers also asked the court to delay his sentencing, which is set for Jan. 28, for at least a month. Earlier this month, federal prosecutors recommended that Flynn be sentenced to up to six months in prison. Flynn, also a senior adviser to Trump's presidential campaign team and a retired lieutenant general, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with then Russia's ambassador to the United States during the Trump presidential transition period. Lying to the FBI, whose criminal nature Flynn said at the hearing he was aware of, carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years. However, Flynn's plea agreement stated that he could face between zero to six months in prison. In December 2018, prosecutors initially recommended leniency for Flynn, citing his cooperation and his military record. Twitter cant tell us whether, or how, Tuesdays CNN/Des Moines Register debate might change voters minds. But it can give us the perspectives of some of the people with expertise on primary races: veteran campaign strategists, consultants and analysts. Here is a sampling of their reactions. Elizabeth Warren There was no real disagreement about the most effective moment of the night: Senator Elizabeth Warrens response to the inevitable question about her dispute with Senator Bernie Sanders. After saying she was not here to try to fight with Bernie, Ms. Warren pivoted to the much larger question of womens electability. What we will likely remember most from this night is @ewarren and her well litigated exchange with @BernieSanders on electability. This is very tricky terrain for women candidates and she came out the winner. Jennifer Palmieri, former spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Im watching the #DemDebate with 30 of my university students, and they overwhelmingly picked @EWarren as the winner at the first break. Why? Because she emphasized female pride and empowerment. Frank Luntz, Republican pollster and consultant Warren is the only candidate whose performance could shake things up. Her electability riff was the most memorable thing all night. The fact she was the only candidate to break through with a singular moment ups the odds that tonight helps her. Ian Sams, former spokesman for Senator Kamala Harriss presidential campaign Bernie Sanders The consensus among the strategists and analysts was that Ms. Warren won the electability exchange with Mr. Sanders. But Mr. Sanders got good reviews for his overall debate performance. The exchange w/Warren notwithstanding, Bernie brings real energy to these debates. Probably uses them to energize his folks more than anyone does. Mo Elleithee, Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service and former Democratic National Committee spokesman The fact is Bernie Sanders knows his stuff. He also has a really impressive and consistent record of prescience on matters of foreign policy, climate, and trade. Kumar Rao, director of Justice Transformation at the Center for Popular Democracy Amy Klobuchar Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has performed well in almost every debate, and this one was no exception. Commentators singled out her responses on Iran and health care as particularly strong. Very solid, direct answer by @amyklobuchar on her predictions of what Trump would do with Iran. She said it, he did it. Amanda Renteria, interim president of Emerge and former national political director for Hillary Clinton Incredible moment for Klobuchar on long-term care she demonstrated she really understands this critical issue that would make a huge difference for every American. Jess Morales Rocketto, political director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance Strong closing by @amyklobuchar. We need a candidate who is actually going to bring people with her. Shes won every race. Easy to hurl insults. Easy to draw ideological lines in the sand. Whats hard is the work of governing. If youre tired of extremes, shes for you. Laura Belin, Iowa political commentator Joe Biden Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has a reputation for shaky debate performances, but strategists thought that he held his own on Tuesday, especially on foreign policy. @JoeBiden is so knowledgeable on foreign policy - its his forte, he knows it, we know it. Opportune time to demonstrate his strength in this area 20 days before the Iowa caucuses. Adrienne Elrod, former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton Biden is the most improved debater of this cycle. Rough in 1st couple of debates, but hes really hit his stride in the later debates. Mo Elleithee Pete Buttigieg Like Mr. Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., had some of his strongest moments in the foreign policy section of the debate, bringing in his own military experience. @PeteButtigieg personalizing the issue of war to a Navy buddy, achingly walking away from his toddler as he shipped off to Afghanistan was very effective. David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama A reminder through @PeteButtigiegs #Iran answer, that he is one of the most gifted communicators we have in the field. Connects the wonky #JCPOA to the bigger issue and highlights the centrality of collaboration to American security. Rose Jackson, senior policy adviser at the Open Society Foundations and former State Department official Tom Steyer The former hedge fund executive Tom Steyer was something of an odd man out: the only candidate onstage with no experience in elected office. And while strategists appreciated his focus on climate change, as well as his choice to reiterate other candidates responses, that lack of experience showed in the foreign policy and national security sections of the debate. Gathered Foods, a NYC-based food tech company, raised over $32M in Series B financing. The round was led by Stray Dog Capital and Rocana Ventures, with participation from Almanac Investments, CPT Capital and New Crop Capital, as well as Greenleaf Foods and 301 INC, the venture arm of General Mills. The company intends to use the funds for expansion in distribution across North America, Europe and into Asia, the opening of its manufacturing facility, and new product and food service channel launches in early 2020. Led by Chris Kerr, CEO and Co-Founder, Gathered Foods is the maker of Good Catch plant-based seafood products. The founding chef partners and brothers, Chad and Derek Sarno, have created the companys proprietary six-legume blend (peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans and navy beans), utilized as the base of inaugural products. All Good Catch products are free of dairy, GMOs, mercury, toxins, microplastics, microfibers and are safe for those with shellfish allergies. Good Catch Plant Based Fish-Free Tuna is available nationwide in three versatile flavor offerings including Naked in Water, Mediterranean, and Oil & Herbs, with new products coming to market in Spring 2020. Good Catch products are now available in over 4,500 retail outlets across the United States, and will be launching in the UK in the coming weeks. FinSMEs 15/01/2020 A 24-year-old severely malnourished student who survived on less than a dollar a day for years to support her brother has died, according to media reports on Wednesday. The plight of Wu Huayan who survived on 2 Yuan (USD 0.30) per day for years shocked China when pictures of the young woman, who weighed just over 20kg, emerged last year. She was admitted to hospital with breathing problems in October 2019. Donations flooded in to help her recovery, but her brother told reporters she had died on Monday, BBC reported on Wednesday. Wu had told the Chongqing Morning Post that she turned to the media for help after watching her father and grandmother die because they had no money to pay for treatment. "I don't want to experience that -- to wait for death because of poverty," she said. Her brother told Beijing Youth Daily that Wu was just 24 when she died. Doctors said last year that the third-year university student was suffering from heart and kidney problems as a result of five years spent eating minimal amounts of food. A Chinese charity which raised over a million Yuan for Wu transferred only 20,000 yuan before her death to the hospital, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. The 9958 Rescue Centre, a project of the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC), held up the funds because Wu needed heart surgery and the money was to be provided for her recovery, according to a statement from the CCAFC on Tuesday. Wu's death comes at a time Chinese President Xi Jinping has stepped-up a campaign to eliminate poverty by this year. According to official media reports, 740 million people have been lifted out of poverty from 1978 to 2017, roughly 19 million each year, which the ruling Communist Party asserts due to its effective governance. In the last few years, China has focussed its poverty alleviation programme in far flung rural counties where millions of poor continue to live. In his new year's speech this year, Xi reaffirmed his resolve to eradicate poverty in 2020. He vowed to lift all rural residents living below the poverty line and eliminate poverty in all poor counties. Around 340 poor counties across China will get rid of poverty and more than 10 million people will be lifted out of poverty by the end of 2019, Xi had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egypt's military says one of its fighter jets crashed in the Sinai Peninsula where the country's forces have been battling militants and that the pilot was killed. The Islamic State group claimed it downed the aircraft. According to a tweet by Egypt's military spokesman, Tamer Refai, the jet crashed during a training exercise on Tuesday. He said that an investigation into the crash was underway. The Islamic State group said in a posting online that its fighters had hit the F-16 jet with a missile near the town of Shabana, south of the border town of Rafah in Sinai. Egypt has for years been battling an insurgency in northern Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State affiliate. The fighting intensified in 2013, after the military overthrew the country's elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi. Authorities heavily restrict access to that part of Sinai, making it difficult to verify claims related to the fighting. On Wednesday, Egypt's general-turned-president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, attended military exercises at a new airbase on the Red Sea coast in the country's far southeast. The carefully staged show observed by el-Sissi featured the country's special forces, anti-aircraft artillery, fighter jets, and Apache helicopters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi, two days after the Sena skipped a crucial opposition meet in Parliament complex. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after the Shiv Sena formed the coalition government in Maharashtra with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. The Shiv Sena termed it as a routine meeting between the two leaders. Sources said the two leaders discussed the current political situation as also issues of coordination and issues concerning environment and tourism, which the Sena leader handles as a minister in Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi is also learnt to have discussed issues of Citizenship Amendment Act and National Populationg Register with the junior Thackeray during the 30-minute meeting. Sources said Thackeray also met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and is learnt to have discussed ways to improve coordination between the alliance partners. The Shiv Sena had skipped the crucial opposition meet convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Parliament complex on Monday, which adopted a unanimous resolution not to implement the NPR process in states which opposed the implementation of CAA. The Congress has said the Sena was to attend the crucial opposition meeting, but could not due to communication issues. No Sena MP was present in Delhi on Monday, the sources had said. Slate's Who Counts? series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. The Missouri Supreme Court invalidated a key portion of the states voter ID law on Tuesday, crushing Republican legislators latest effort to suppress the franchise through draconian regulations. Justice Mary Rhodes Russells opinion for the court shot down a bizarre law forcing voters who lack a government photo ID to sign a contradictory affidavit that could subject them to perjury charges. Her decision made a point to defend the voting rights of disadvantaged groupsincluding, notably, trans and nonbinary peoplewhom other judges often overlook in assessing attacks on suffrage. Russell expands the courts recognition of who suffers when politicians restrict the vote and how disenfranchisement undermines their equal participation in democracy. Her 52 decision, which rests on the state constitution, cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning it is the last word on the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Missouris conservative lawmakers have spent years trying to make voters present identification at the polls. In 2006, the legislature passed a voter ID statute, but the Missouri Supreme Court promptly struck it down. The courts decision rested on two provisions in the state constitutionone that bars the government from interfering with the free exercise of the rights of suffrage, and another that guarantees to everyone equal rights and opportunity under the law. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the court reasoned, Missouris constitution explicitly protects the fundamental right to cast an equal vote in each election. And the voter ID law, which discriminated against the poor, elderly and disabled, violated this right with no justification. Ten years later, the legislature sought to override the court by placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing voter ID legislation. There is no evidence of mass voter fraud in Missouri (or any other state) in recent history, yet Missourians passed the amendment and allowed the legislature to implement voter ID. The new law directed citizens to present a government photo ID to vote. But it also allowed them to cast a ballot by presenting some other identification and signing an affidavit, an exception known as option two. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That exception formed the basis of Tuesdays ruling, because it is so bizarre, so garbled and contradictory, that it seems designed to scare voters out of casting a ballot. Heres how option two works: If you dont have a Missouri license or a federal ID, you can provide some other documentation, like a utility bill or bank statement, that contains your name and address. You can also provide a student ID from a school within Missouri. But if you use one of these lesser IDs, you also have to sign an affidavit. That affidavit states that you do not possess a form of personal identification approved for voting. It also compels you to acknowledge that you are required to present a form of personal identification, as prescribed by law, in order to vote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Think about that for a moment. By signing the form, you are swearing under oath that you do not have the necessary ID to vote while acknowledging that you must have the necessary ID to vote. How can that be? As Russell explained, the affidavit is misleading because it suggests that a nongovernmental IDa bank statement, for instanceis not approved for voting. Its also inaccurate, because these nongovernmental IDs are approved for voting under the law. And, worst of all, the affidavit is downright contradictory: It requires you to present some identification and then swear that you do not have any identification. Advertisement Advertisement The voters who brought this lawsuit feared that if they signed the affidavit, they would face criminal prosecution. Election officials did not understand the form either, leading them to turn away qualified voters in 2017, before a lower court blocked the law. If individuals trained in executing election law cannot decipher it, how could a layperson possibly decode this Kafkaesque word saladunder penalty of perjury, no less? Concluding that the affidavit unconstitutionally infringed on citizens right to vote, Russell invalidated it. Missouri voters will now be able to cast a ballot with a wide array of identification records, free from any obligation to sign a troubling, incoherent affidavit. Advertisement Advertisement When the court struck down Missouris former voter ID law in 2006, it focused on the burdens placed on certain disadvantaged individualslow-income people who cant afford a license, as well as elderly or disabled people who struggle to navigate the states licensing bureaucracy. Russells decision recognizes a broader category of people harmed by limitations on access to the ballot, most notably gender minorities. She highlights the struggles of one plaintiff, a transgender Missourian named Patrick, who wanted to vote with an official state ID to avoid the affidavit. But, Russell explained: Advertisement Patrick testified that they do not have appropriate documentation to obtain a birth certificate or nondrivers license that reflects their correct gender. The record reflects that to obtain photo identification, Patrick would be required to obtain a court order or affidavit from a health care practitioner indicating they underwent gender transformation surgery. Advertisement Russells opinion should ensure that, in Missouri, no person will be turned away from the polls because of their gender identity. The two dissenting justices argued that the court should simply invalidate option two entirely, forcing every voter to present a government photo ID to cast a ballot. But this nonsensical solution, Russell wrote, would create an unconstitutional system in which people like Patrick would lose their right to vote. Missouris discriminatory gender marker laws bar many transgender and nonbinary people from obtaining an accurate state photo ID. The government, Russell noted, cannot place such an obstacle in the path of qualified voters. It is refreshing to see a judge condemn the hoops that many transgender people must jump through to obtain a valid voter ID. A majority of states make it difficult for trans residents to acquire documents that accurately reflect their gender. In at least 18 states, including Missouri, individuals must undergo medical transitionwhich some trans people do not needthen provide proof of treatment to the government. Other states require a court order, and a handful refuse to change legal gender at all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moreover, only 14 states plus the District of Columbia allow residents to use nonbinary gender markers on their licenses. Missouri does not have this option, so people like Patrick can never obtain a state photo ID that accurately reflects their gender. And without that ID, election officials can turn them away. This problem is well documented in the 34 states that require photo ID, yet it is frequently disregarded by the courts. In 2018, the Williams Institute estimated that in just eight of these states, 78,000 transgender voters faced disenfranchisement. Low-income individuals were more likely to experience this problem, in part because so many states (including Missouri) force them to undergo (potentially unnecessary) surgery and then get a court order, an expensive and time-consuming process. Advocacy groups have created guides to walk Americans through voting while trans, yet for so many people, the barriers to the ballot box remain insurmountable. Russells opinion should ensure that, in Missouri, no person will be turned away from the polls because of their gender identity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the federal judiciary, under the influence of Donald Trumps appointees, grows increasingly hostile to voting rights, the fight for the franchise will move to state courts. Weve already seen state judges in North Carolina and Pennsylvania take up the mantle under their own state constitutions. These piecemeal victories are no substitute for a U.S. Supreme Court committed to voting equality. But SCOTUS has brushed off the burdens of voter ID as minimal, ignoring the struggles of people like Patrick. Its up to state supreme courts like Missouris to fill the void and guard against senseless voter suppression. Simply greenlighting films by women and people of color isn't enough either. Studios have to make sure they support these films from the beginning of the race through the entire awards season. The work can't be left to the smaller studios like A24 and Neon. A24 did what it could for "The Farewell," but imagine if the movie had the same marketing budget as "The Irishman" or an awards campaign like that of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." (Of course, big-money campaigns don't necessarily yield awards. No matter how much Netflix threw at "The Irishman," it was shut out of the Golden Globes on awards night.) Fr. Sefer (Aho) Bilecen, of the church of Mor Yakup in the province of Mardin. The prosecutor did not formalize the charge, nor did he provide explanations. According to local sources, he distributed bread to members of the PKK. For the crime of "terrorism" he faces up to 10 years in prison. Istanbul (AsiaNews) - Turkish authorities have arrested an Assyrian priest from the church of Mor Yakup, better known as the church of Saint Jacob in Nisibis, in the south-eastern province of Mardin. The area has a Kurdish majority where there have been tensions with the central government for some time. News of the arrest of Sefer (Aho) Bilecen on January 9 was only reported in recent days following complaints on social media by activists and faithful of the local Assyrian and Chaldean communities. So far no official reasons have been given for his arrest. Local sources report that the public prosecutor allegedly secreted the file and did not disclose the (alleged) charges against the religious. However, according to some testimonies, he was arrested and charged - along with two other Christians in the area - for crimes related to "terrorism". A local source speaking on condition of anonymity says that the Assyrian monk faces a sentence of five to 10 years in prison "for distributing bread to PKK members", the Kurdistan Workers' Party outlawed in Turkey and whose leader Abdullah Ocalan has been in prison since 1999. On 9 January, the source continues, Turkish forces searched the monastery which lies in one of the areas where the clash between the Turks and Kurdish independence activists arose and of which the monk is custodian. In the past, the monk decided to reopen the structure, long abandoned and in ruins, asking for permission from the bishop of the area. Thanks to the efforts made by Fr. Aho, the monastery (dating back to 1500) was able to reopen its doors and welcome faithful and priests. His work did not go unnoticed among the Turkish authorities, who ordered his arrest for "complicity with the terrorists". Yuhanna Aktas, head of the Assyrian community in Mardin, complains about the lack of information regarding the arrest of the priest. "The church of Mor Yakup - he underlines - is located on Mount Balotelli, and there is not even a house around it. Aho Bilecen is very young. He left Istanbul and came here. There is no one around him, except for a handful of students. It is not clear - Aktas concludes - why a priest should be arrested". Contacted by International Christian Concern Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist for years in the United States, reports that "this latest arrest of three Assyrians can be linked to the incessant conflicts between the PKK and the Turkish army". Unfortunately, he adds, "the Assyrians are in the midst of these two hostile groups." Between the 1980s and 1990s, during the height of the armed conflict between Kurds and Turks, thousands of Assyrian villages in the southeast of the country were evacuated. And many of the Christians have been forced to abandon their homes and lands in search of salvation German prosecutors on Wednesday said they were investigating three people who allegedly spied for China, with media reporting that a German former EU diplomat was among the suspects. "We can confirm an investigation into suspected espionage" for Chinese state security bodies, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office told AFP. Der Spiegel weekly said one of the suspects was a German diplomat who worked at the European Commission in Brussels before serving several stints as ambassador for the European Union in foreign countries. The other two are reportedly lobbyists employed by a "well-known Germany lobby firm". Prosecutors refused to provide details about the suspects and said no arrests have been made. But they confirmed Spiegel's information that police were on Wednesday raiding homes and offices linked to the trio in Berlin, Brussels and the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg. According to Spiegel, prosecutors accuse the former diplomat and one of the lobbyists of "sharing private and commercial information with the Chinese ministry for state security". The third suspect apparently only indicated "a willingness to do so". The diplomat at the centre of the probe reportedly ended his EU career in 2017 and switched to working for a lobbying firm, where he then recruited the two other suspects. The spying is alleged to have started that same year. If the allegations are confirmed, it would be a rare case of Chinese espionage being uncovered. "Although there is always much talk about large-scale Chinese spying operations in Germany and Europe, investigators are rarely successful against Beijing's secret services," Spiegel wrote. - Huawei tensions - The probe comes at a time of intense debate in Europe's top economy about whether or not to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from developing Germany's 5G mobile networks. Critics, led by Washington, say Huawei is too close to Beijing and its equipment could be used as a tool for spying -- an allegation Huawei strongly denies. US President Donald Trump has already ordered American firms to cease doing business with market leader Huawei, and has urged allies to follow suit. Australia and Japan have also taken steps to bar or tightly restrict the firm's participation in their 5G networks. Germany so far has resisted pressure to ban Huawei. Chancellor Angela Merkel has instead said Berlin would insist on stringent security requirements without barring individual companies. China is a crucial trading partner for Germany but concerns have mounted in recent years over a spike in Chinese investments in German firms. The buying spree has fuelled fears of vital German knowhow and technology being sold off to Beijing, prompting the government to tighten restrictions on foreign takeovers. China is a crucial trading partner for Germany but concerns have mounted in recent years over a spike in Chinese investments in German firms They're often seen hitting the town together after growing close on last year's series of Love Island. And Anna Vakili cut a casual figure as she joined her BFF Amber Gill, 22, at Heathrow airport before flying to Thailand together on Tuesday night. The pharmacist turned reality star, 29, went makeup free ahead of the long-haul flight and ensured she would be comfortable in a green tracksuit. Trip time: Anna Vakili, 29, cut a casual figure as she joined Amber Gill, 22, at Heathrow airport before flying to Thailand together on Tuesday night Anna added some warm layers to her cosy ensemble with a white teddy bear coat and accessorised with a pretty gold necklace. The beauty tied her long locks into a sleek ponytail as she arrived at the departures terminal and slung a small white handbag across her chest. Ensuring that she had all the essentials to hand, Anna pulled a black suit case behind her which had Miss Pap written on the front. Relaxed: Both Amber and Anna went makeup free ahead of the long-haul flight and ensured they would be comfortable in white trainers Smiles: Amber appeared to be in good spirits as she arrived at Heathrow airport on Tuesday Amber also appeared to be in good spirits as she made her way through the airport in a pair of blue shorts and a black coat. She tucked her curly locks under a black cap and added a little designer glamour to her ensemble with a large black Chanel bag. Amber also opted for a make-up free look and both the former Love Islanders opted for comfortable white trainers as they prepared for their long flight to Thailand. Ready to go: Anna tied her long locks into a sleek ponytail ahead of the long haul flight All packed: The beauty donned a black cap and accessorised with a large Chanel handbag The girls' trip away comes after Amber shut down one troll who branded her a 'flop' on Instagram, boasting: 'my bank balance says otherwise'. The reality star was left furious by the snarky comment which was left when she asked people what her goals should be for 2020. The troll replied to Amber's question: 'Asking other people to determine your goals in your life... And this is why you flopped.' Excited: Amber donned several pretty rings for the flight and her trip with MissPap Ready to go: Anna pulled her own black suitcase as she arrived in departures on Tuesday Amber sassily replied in the caption: 'My bank account says otherwise but let's not talk about that... Just reminded me why I hate you all.' The fiesty Newcastle beauty then addressed the troll: 'I've never heard that word before, it is in the dictionary? 'Never felt that, never heard of that, never experienced that. I hope I don't sound ridiculous but I don't know what flopped is.' Happy: Anna and Amber grew close when they were in the Love Island villa last year and are often seen out together Fresh faced: Anna opted to go makeup free for the flight, but ensured her nails were perfectly painted Last month, Amber revealed she's a millionaire just five months after she was crowned the winner of Love Island alongside her ex Greg O'Shea. The influencer signed an exclusive six-month deal with online fashion brand MissPap in September - earning her 1 million just eight weeks after leaving Majorca. And in an interview with The Sun on Sunday she said: 'I always told my family I'd be a millionaire and now I am.' live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered an investigation into allegations made by JSW Paints, among the newest entrants in the country's paints industry, against Asian Paints, the largest player. JSW Paints, part of the JSW Group, has alleged that its bigger peer has resorted to actions making use of its dominant position in the country's paints market, and also of cartelisation. "The Commission is of the opinion that there exists a prima facie case which requires an investigation by the Director General...The Commission also directs the DG to complete the investigation and submit the investigation report within a period of 60 days...," the statutory body said in a statement on January 14. Listing out instances, which JSW Paints alleged were against the provisions of the Competition Act, the company charged that Asian Paints had pressurised dealers to "stop dealing with JSW Paints". "Asian Paints targeted dealers/distributors/retailers partnering with JSW Paints directing them to stop dealing with JSW Paints... dropping service levels by delaying supplies and deliveries, asked dealers to remove display of JSW Paints products from their retail shelves and dealer signboards," the Commission notes in its order of the allegations. "The company is currently examining the order and will take appropriate legal recourse. The company will extend full co-operation to CCI in the matter," Asian Paints said in a statement. JSW Paints, which was set up in 2016, had launched its products in most of the southern states. It is said to have faced 'problems' in Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, so far. "Asian Paints allegedly also pressurised enterprises that provided infrastructure facilities like warehouses to JSW Paints to not keep products of JSW Paints," said the statement from the CCI. Twitter cant tell us whether, or how, Tuesdays CNN/Des Moines Register debate might change voters minds. But it can give us the perspectives of some of the people with expertise on primary races: veteran campaign strategists, consultants and analysts. Here is a sampling of their reactions. Elizabeth Warren There was no real disagreement about the most effective moment of the night: Warrens response to the inevitable question about her dispute with Sen. Bernie Sanders. After saying she was not here to try to fight with Bernie, Warren pivoted to the much larger question of womens electability. What we will likely remember most from this night is @ewarren and her well litigated exchange with @BernieSanders on electability. This is very tricky terrain for women candidates and she came out the winner. Jennifer Palmieri, former spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Im watching the #DemDebate with 30 of my university students, and they overwhelmingly picked @EWarren as the winner at the first break. Why? Because she emphasized female pride and empowerment. Frank Luntz, Republican pollster and consultant Warren is the only candidate whose performance could shake things up. Her electability riff was the most memorable thing all night. The fact she was the only candidate to break through with a singular moment ups the odds that tonight helps her. Ian Sams, former spokesman for Sen. Kamala Harris presidential campaign Bernie Sanders The consensus among the strategists and analysts was that Warren won the electability exchange with Sanders. But Sanders got good reviews for his overall debate performance. The exchange w/Warren notwithstanding, Bernie brings real energy to these debates. Probably uses them to energize his folks more than anyone does. Mo Elleithee, Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service and former Democratic National Committee spokesman The fact is Bernie Sanders knows his stuff. He also has a really impressive and consistent record of prescience on matters of foreign policy, climate, and trade. Kumar Rao, director of Justice Transformation at the Center for Popular Democracy More for you Warren and Klobuchar Teach the Boys a Lesson Amy Klobuchar Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has performed well in almost every debate, and this one was no exception. Commentators singled out her responses on Iran and health care as particularly strong. Very solid, direct answer by @amyklobuchar on her predictions of what Trump would do with Iran. She said it, he did it. Amanda Renteria, interim president of Emerge and former national political director for Hillary Clinton Incredible moment for Klobuchar on long-term care she demonstrated she really understands this critical issue that would make a huge difference for every American. Jess Morales Rocketto, political director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance Strong closing by @amyklobuchar. We need a candidate who is actually going to bring people with her. Shes won every race. Easy to hurl insults. Easy to draw ideological lines in the sand. Whats hard is the work of governing. If youre tired of extremes, shes for you. Laura Belin, Iowa political commentator Joe Biden Former Vice President Joe Biden has a reputation for shaky debate performances, but strategists thought that he held his own on Tuesday, especially on foreign policy. @JoeBiden is so knowledgeable on foreign policy - its his forte, he knows it, we know it. Opportune time to demonstrate his strength in this area 20 days before the Iowa caucuses. Adrienne Elrod, former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton Biden is the most improved debater of this cycle. Rough in 1st couple of debates, but hes really hit his stride in the later debates. Mo Elleithee Pete Buttigieg Like Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, had some of his strongest moments in the foreign policy section of the debate, bringing in his own military experience. @PeteButtigieg personalizing the issue of war to a Navy buddy, achingly walking away from his toddler as he shipped off to Afghanistan was very effective. David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama A reminder through @PeteButtigiegs #Iran answer, that he is one of the most gifted communicators we have in the field. Connects the wonky #JCPOA to the bigger issue and highlights the centrality of collaboration to American security. Rose Jackson, senior policy adviser at the Open Society Foundations and former State Department official Tom Steyer The former hedge fund executive Tom Steyer was something of an odd man out: the only candidate onstage with no experience in elected office. And while strategists appreciated his focus on climate change, as well as his choice to reiterate other candidates responses, that lack of experience showed in the foreign policy and national security sections of the debate. I really love @TomSteyers take tonight. Using his precious air time to reiterate a complimentary message and praising other candidates instead of trying to draw an overt policy contrast. Adrienne Elrod @TomSteyer consistently strong on climate. I like the passion he shows on this issue. Paul Begala, former adviser to President Bill Clinton Not his fault but this whole national security discussion left @TomSteyer on the outside looking in. Just doesnt have much relevant experience. David Axelrod The smaller the debate stage, the more Steyer seems out of his league on substance. Dave Wasserman, editor at the Cook Political Report This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Note: This story has been extensively updated as of 1/16/2020 6:00 p.m. On Monday, schools across Alabama celebrated being designated a Standout School by the national school-ranking organization, Niche.com. Thousands of readers shared the Niche ranking, congratulating schools on the list, with good reason. However, according to Niche, the only schools that were supposed to be considered for the ranking are schools where more than half of the student body at the school is designated as economically disadvantaged. And because of the way the Alabama State Department of Education reported that information to the U.S. Department of Education, Niche got it wrong, including schools on the list where far fewer than 50% of students were economically disadvantaged. Congrats to the hard-working teachers and students at these schools! Posted by al.com on Monday, January 13, 2020 Niche Customer Specialist Maggie Kohlhas told AL.com late Wednesday that Niche used federal data reported by states to determine which schools were eligible, looking at what percentage of students were designated economically disadvantaged. We publish the Niche Standout Schools ranking each year with the goal of highlighting schools that are excelling despite limited resources, who might not otherwise get the credit that they deserve, Kohlhas said on Thursday. On Thursday, Kohlhas pointed AL.com to the actual federal data used to create the 2020 list of Standout Schools. That data contains math and reading test results for the 2016-17 school year and is posted on EDFacts, a federal government website. That data, submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by the Alabama State Department of Education, showed 100% of students were designated as economically disadvantaged in all schools that participated in the national Community Eligibility Provision program, which allows districts where more than 40% of students families receive certain types of federal financial assistance to offer free meals to all students in all schools, regardless of an individual students family income. That program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, began in 2014. While it may not have been technically accurate to count all students in every school in all CEP-participating districts as economically disadvantaged, the U.S. Department of Education gave permission for states to do so. The 2016-17 school year is the only year the Alabama State Department of Education designated all students in CEP-participating schools as economically disadvantaged. State department of education communications director Dr. Michael Sibley wrote in a statement to AL.com on Thursday that 2016-17 was the first time the state counted all students in CEP-participating schools as economically disadvantaged on federal accountability data. However, Sibley continued, it was quickly determined that this approach resulted in data that could not be effectively or equitably compared system to system. In February 2018, the state superintendent wrote in a memo to all local superintendents that only students whose families are receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for needy Families (TANF), and/or Medicaid benefits as well as students in foster care, homeless or had guardians who are migrant workers would be designated economically disadvantaged. The 2017-18 federal assessment data, which Kohllas said will be used to determine the 2021 Standout Schools in August, reflects those varying percentages, AL.com confirmed. While accurate based on the data that Alabama education officials submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, of the top 15 standout high schools, six actually met Niches criteria for Standout Schools. At both the middle school and elementary school level, four of the 15 did. Montgomery REPRESENTS in Alabama's 2020 Standout Schools report! @MPSAL boasts THREE TOP 10 High Schools (two in TOP 5 -- most of any city or county system in state), TWO TOP 5 Middle Schools & THREE TOP 10 Elementary Schools! https://t.co/P3CCLLLfpj City of Montgomery (@CityofMGM) January 13, 2020 AL.com added the designation of magnet to each of the Standout Schools that operate as magnet schools. Magnet schools on this list requires students to meet entrance requirements, which could include taking an admissions test, having a minimum grade point average, performing an audition or other selective criteria, to gain admission. Students in magnet schools in Birmingham City, and in Montgomery and Mobile counties, while having lower levels of poverty than non-magnet schools, also participate in the CEP, meaning students can eat free meals, based on the district-wide rate of poverty. The inconsistency in how Alabama education officials reported which students are economically disadvantaged ultimately misinformed Niches metrics for calculating the Standout School list. Heres the 2020 list of Niches Standout Schools, the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals (Niche FRL) noted on each schools description on the Niche website, and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students reported to the U.S. Department of Education by the Alabama State Department of Education for the 2016-17 testing year (EDFacts ECD %). These are the top 15 Alabama Standout High Schools, according to Niche.com. These are the top 15 Alabama Standout Middle Schools, according to Niche.com. These are the top 15 Alabama Standout Elementary Schools, according to Niche.com. Check out this list of Alabama's 15 "Standout" elementary schools, 15 "Standout" middle schools, and 15 "Standout" high schools. Out of the whole state, 15 are in Mobile County Public Schools. #LearningLeading Posted by Mobile County Public Schools on Monday, January 13, 2020 Updated 1/15/2020 6:05 p.m. to correct a misstatement that all magnet schools require students to pass an admissions test before being admitted. Magnet schools on the list are selective admission schools, meaning there are admission criteria, but passing an admissions test is not necessarily one of the admission criteria. We apologize for the error. Updated 1/16/2020 6:00 p.m. to include Niches explanation of where the dataset they used to create the list came from and the Alabama State Department of Educations statement on why the data was submitted in that manner. The charts were updated to include the percentage of economically disadvantaged students the Alabama State Department of Education submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, which Niche used to determine the Standout School list. By The Saker January 14, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - When you go to vet school, they teach you a simple principle: if you are under a bridge and you hear hooves, think of horses first, but dont forget there are also zebras out there. This is exactly what comes to my mind when I hear all the speculation about the shooting down of the Ukrainian airliner by a IRGC SAM. Lets begin with a few horses: Seems to me that the most logical assumption and assume human error, especially since the Iranian have already admitted full responsibility. Furthermore, there is no imaginable reason for the Iranian to have shot down this aircraft deliberately (did you know that most of the passengers were either Iranian nationals or of Iranian descent?). Next, for the life of me I dont see how Iran can be accused of trying to hide the truth when then admitted full responsibility even long before the investigation was concluded. Not only that, but HAD they wanted to hide the truth, it would have been extremely simple, really: they were in FULL control of a war zone. They could have ejected all civilians and claimed that the US had bombed the location to conceal its role, or something equally insipid. Instead, they first said show us your evidence and then they declared we will show you OUR evidence which shows OUR guilt. Compare that with what the US does when it shoots down and airliner (either when they admit it, like the Iran Air 665, or when they cover it up, like TWA 800 or Itavia Flight 870 or, even more crucially, all the CIVILIAN Soviet airliners shot down over Afghanistan by CIA run insurgents!). Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter As for the protests, they are simply yet another sign that, just as in Russia and the USA, Iran has a 5th column which is willing to make use of absolutely ANY pretext to try to overthrow the legal government. A gas explosion in downtown Tehran, or a train wreck, or even a local tornado for these folks anything is just one more pretext to overthrown the Islamic Republic and hand their country over to Uncle Shmuel. So what else is new? We see the exact same 5th columnist all over the globe. As for Trump chiming in his admiration for the Iranian people, that is just a sign that the White House lacks serious Iran specialists, thats all. As for the Idiot-in-Chief or the Malevolent Manatee we already know that they are as ignorant as they are narcissistic. Again, nothing newsworthy here. Lots of unanswered questions however. Frankly, the story as presented by the Iranians makes no sense to me (not because I think that they are lying, but because there are a lot of information holes which need to be plugged). Why did the Iranian civil and military authorities not close down the Iranian airspace (which the US side, by the way, seemed to have done). Next, did the Iranian air defenses not get all the flight plans of all the aircraft in Iranian space? I had the privilege to participate in a few air defense exercises as a young man, and not only did we have full access to all the flight plans of any civilian aircraft over all of Europe, we even had their transponder signals live on our main displays. Was the Ukrainian transponder on? I strongly suspect that yes as a PIC cannot take off without this instrument in perfect working order (at least this was the case with European airlines in the 80s and 90s). The commander of the SAM unit explained that he had 10 seconds to take a decision and that he got NO order from the higher instances (regimental, divisional, national air defense authorities). I dont have any reason to doubt him, but if he indeed speaks the truth, then this shows a glaring weakness of the Iranian air defenses. Not only was his audio/video call for instructions not answered, the air defense networks were either down or frozen. HOW could that happen in a theoretically very redundant and highly survivable military network?! Then there is the Ukrainian PIC. The logical thing for him to do would have been to contact his corporate bosses in Kiev and they might even have contacted the Ukrainian authorities. The question is WHO and WHY took the decision to take off when the situation was self-evidently fantastically dangerous. Questions, questions and more questions indeed Now a look at zebras Could a US drone have shot the airliner? Could the US have conducted a cyber-attack? Maybe. But, as I often like to remind everybody, possible is very, very far form likely. For example, what would be the US motive? I dont see one. Why choose a Ukrainian airliner? Again, this makes no sense to me. Then, a cyberattack is all fine and dandy until we look into details. Was the putative cyberattack directed at, hmmmmm what exactly?! The computers are radars of the civilian ATC? The IRGC air defense network? The specific SA-12 battery? Maybe the Ukrainian airliner? Maybe at all of these at the same time? Yeah, maybe. But, as I think Carl Sagan, liked to say extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and in this case, there is ZERO evidence. Yes, tons of speculation, but speculation does not amount to evidence, not even indirect evidence. So what are we hearing, horses or zebras? Frankly, I would love to blame it all on the US or Israel but, alas, I dont see even a shred of any real evidence supporting this hypothesis. Maybe we will see it in the next few days, weeks or months, and I will GLADLY admit that I was wrong. But, alas, the way I see it is that the most logical and likely explanation is a major, huge and most embarrassing SYSTEMIC problem in the Iranian air defenses. This says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the regime or about the Mollahs or anything else. There have been quite a few civilians airliners shot down by mistake and even deliberately, and there will be more. To blame the regime for that monumental screw-up is simply illogical to the extreme. This kind of misguided logic makes someone always blame the regime when accidents happen in a country one does not approve off, but only blame fate or the will of God or even Murphys Law when (even HUGE) accidents happen in politically correct-countries. This is not only hopelessly partisan, this is also infantile. However, it is also likely that there were MANY folks in the Iranian air defense which showed criminal recklessness and that these shall be punished, and not just easy fall-guys like the poor battery commander (who took the correct decision knowing and NOT knowing what he knew and did not know at the time, but higher up, on the level of both political and managerial responsibility: colonels and generals. Not the regime but SPECIFIC colonels and generals, yes. As for the actions of the regime I find them almost ideally honest, open, speedy and honorable. In fact, almost too honorable. I understand that the IRGC is an elite organization which will demand that some of its leaders now fall on their swords, but I am actually concerned that the Iranian authorities are almost TOO willing to accept blame. I still think that there are waaaay too many unanswered questions and until we get clear answers, including to nitty-gritty details answers, we ought to wait before jumping to any conclusions. Before I quit, lets make one last comparison: lets compare how neutral, democratic, noble, and otherwise putatively civilized SWITZERLAND acted when by the TOTAL fault of Swiss Air Traffic Control a Russian passenger jet and a US cargo jet crashed into each other over southern Germany. Look it up yourself, and watch the excellent movie made about the father of one of the victims. If on that instance Switzerland truly scoped a shameful F- then Iran deserves a solid A+, at least in any objective comparison. This article was originally published by "The Saker" - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The resolution on the complaint filed against Vice President Maria Leonor Leni Robredo and other members of the opposition for their supposed involvement in an ouster plot against President Rodrigo Duterte will be released this month, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday. "My information is that this important case will be resolved within the month of January," Guevarra said in a forum in Manila. He was referring to investigation started in August into the validity of the complaint faced by 34 personalities who supposedly linked Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade. READ: DOJ to start probe on sedition raps vs. Robredo, opposition over narco list videos The complaint stemmed from the claims of Peter Joemel Advincula who admitted being the hooded Bikoy narrating in the viral "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos linking Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade. He then made a turnaround in his earlier claims against the Dutertes and said the opposition was behind the series of videos. The respondents include then opposition senators, Otso Diretso senatorial bets and church officials, who were also accused of cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice. The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed the complaint before the DOJ on July 18, citing Advincula's testimonies. Meanwhile, Robredo and opposition members have repeatedly denied the allegations, calling the PNP's move sloppy. READ: Robredo on sedition case by PNP" A work of 'sloppiness' Robredo's camp earlier noted that the sedition complaint is an attempt to unseat the Vice President, as the criminal prosecution could not be backed up by any solid evidence. READ: 2019 for the opposition: The uphill climb that fell flat OAK BROOK (dpa-AFX) - McDonald's Corp. is adding monosodium glutamate or MSG, a controversial flavor enhancer, to its newly testing fried-chicken sandwich, Bloomberg reported. The fast-food giant, in its efforts to compete with Popeyes and Chick-fil-A in the ongoing crispy chicken sandwich war, started offering its own crispy chicken sandwiches in select stores in Houston, Texas and Knoxville, Tennessee in early December. McDonald's plans to offer the products nationwide in 2020. At present, McDonald's does not use MSG in products on its national menu items. As per the report, the company will be adding the ingredient in tests of a Portuguese sausage and a soup base in select locations in Hawaii, as well as more crispy chicken fillets in Augusta, Georgia, and Seattle. A McDonald's spokeswoman stated that the company received positive responses about its new Crispy Chicken Sandwich and Deluxe Crispy Chicken sandwich from customers in Houston and Knoxville. The customer feedback and insights from the ongoing tests of its chicken sandwich will now form its future decisions. Both Chick-fil-A and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen reportedly use MSG in their chicken sandwiches, among other menu items. The Food and Drug Administration has considered the use of MSG as generally safe. The ingredient has been in use for long in fast foods around the world. However, it has raised health concerns from many consumers, who have complained about its side effects including headache, numbness and heart palpitations. McDonald's in its website has stated that it uses real, quality ingredients to elevate the taste of food and the spirits of people who enjoy it all over the world. The company earlier decided to remove artificial preservatives from its chicken nuggets. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Photo: Tellawi Lounge/Yelp Wondering where to find the best lounges near you? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top lounges in Fresno, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're in the market. Looking to catch up on the latest trending spots? Now's a good time, since consumer spending at bars and lounges tends to rise in January in the Fresno area, according to data on local business transactions from Womply, a small business software provider and email marketing company. Total affected businesses at Fresno-area bars and lounges last year rose by 51% in January over the month before. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1. Little Leaf Bar Photo: james m./Yelp First on the list is Little Leaf Bar. Located at 6011 N. Palm in Northwest Fresno, the lounge and Asian fusion spot is the highest-rated lounge in Fresno, boasting 4.5 stars out of 53 reviews on Yelp. 2. Manhattan Restaurant photo: martin l./yelp Next up is Northwest Fresno's Manhattan Restaurant, situated at 1731 W. Bullard Ave., Suite 121. With four stars out of 148 reviews on Yelp, the steakhouse, lounge and New American spot has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Tellawi Lounge Photo: tellawi lounge/Yelp Northwest Fresno's Tellawi Lounge, located at 2085 W. Bullard Ave., Fresno Breakfast House, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the lounge and cocktail bar 4.5 stars out of 37 reviews. 4. Lucy's Lounge photo: rita b./yelp Lucy's Lounge, a lounge, cocktail bar and jazz and blues spot in Central Fresno, is another go-to, with four stars out of 72 Yelp reviews. Head over to 733 E. Olive Ave. to see for yourself. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Jim Pappas, 56, of North Wilmington, Del., takes his first bite of the brisket cheesesteak from Mike's BBQ, marking his 500th cheesesteak on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Read more Jim Pappas steps up to the counter at Mikes BBQ with high expectations and a sense of accomplishment. He orders the South Philly barbecue joints brisket cheesesteak meltingly tender brisket, house-made whiz, and onions folded into a Carangi seeded roll. As he waits for his sandwich, he explains to the man behind the register why a photographer is present, documenting this momentous occasion: Its the 500th cheesesteak Pappas has eaten in 20 months time. Wow, congratulations, the man exclaims. Thats insane. Three years ago, Pappas, 56, a Delaware County native, started working as an Uber and Lyft driver. He and his wife had separated, his kids were grown, and he had moved to the Wilmington area. I was trying to find what to do with the second half of my life, Pappas says. Around May 2018, he reconnected with a childhood friend, and the two decided they could hang out together while visiting new cheesesteak joints. Hed solicit his ride-sharing customers recommendations to shake things up. When I started, my friends were like, What are you doing? Youre an idiot. Everybody knows where to get a good cheesesteak. It didnt take long before this friendship exercise became a mission a cheesesteak adventure: I got the passion, I realized there was something there. Pappas developed a scoring system, initially a 35-point rubric. Luckily, Pappas says, I have another friend who enjoys telling me when Im doing something stupid. He told me, 35-point grading system? Thats the dumbest thing Ive heard in my entire life. That means nothing. You guys gotta make it out of 100. And so he did. He grades steaks on the roll, meat, cheese, extras, and the shops overall atmosphere. (Craft beer offerings will boost the total; cranky service will lower it.) Its all tracked in a meticulous Google spreadsheet on his website, philadelphiacheesesteakadventure.com. READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the Philly cheesesteak He began eating several a week, sometimes two a day. With each sandwich, his cheesesteak insight grew: Were the mushrooms fresh or canned? Did the onions spend time on the grill? Was the cheese mixed into the meat, or just melted on top? What bakery made the roll and was it toasted? Driving passengers took him to new corners of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, and everywhere he went, discoveries abounded. At Hunts Annex Lounge in Woodlyn, he had a cheesesteak served on Texas toast. (According to the spreadsheet, it was fantabulous!!) Lawrence Townships Meatheadz won him over with the Drippin Steak, rib-eye with provolone on an Amoroso roll dipped in au jus. At Readings Ugly Oyster, he balked, then swooned over peanuts a 75-cent extra: Peanuts are an amazing treat on a cheesesteak. He reveled in the goodness of garlic bread cheesesteaks, of which there are too many to count. He hit 275 steaks around May 2019. But May is a tough time to have an anniversary, Pappas says, so he set out to hit a nice round number 500 by Christmas 2019. He ratcheted up the pace in October, aiming for 10 steaks a week. He and his friends ate nine during a two-day trip to the Jersey Shore. (If hes not joined by friends when hes eating, Pappas stops at half a sandwich and gives the other half away. To stay trim, he walks 3 miles every day.) In the end, he ate his 500th steak on Jan. 8, two weeks after Christmas. Sporting a Philadelphia Cheesesteak Adventure zip-up (adorned with a waving cheesesteak-man logo), Pappas sits at one of the tables in Mikes BBQ, the brisket sandwich on a tray before him. He pulls out his phone to take a video as he begins to assess. Im telling you, Jenn. Im a little concerned already. He tucks in to the sandwich, chews, and considers. I can bite and manipulate and make sure I get cheese with meat, he says. A gob of whiz clings to his beard. "Its good but ... you really need bite discipline, and you need a fork. This is one of those deals where everythings great individually, but its up to you, the eater, to make sure you taste it together, he concludes. You have to know what youre doing. Pappas has no shortage of cheesesteak know-how. Asked if hes ready to stop, he says no. This is the beginning. Hes had four more cheesesteaks since. READ MORE: Our best Philly tips: Read our most useful stories Europe is the biggest market for coffee producers in the world, accounting for 33% of the worlds coffee consumption in 2018. Asia and Oceania are ranked second with a market share of 22%. Latin America and North America come in third and fourth with 20% and 19% respectively. According to data from Eurostat, Germany is the largest consumer of coffee in Europe, accounting for 26% of total consumption. Other significant markets in the EU include Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Europes demand for coffee is expected to remain stable over the long-term as the market becomes saturated. The market will, however, remain attractive to coffee exporters across the word. Germany In 2017, the nation imported 1,065,255 tonnes of coffee, nearly twice as much as Italy, which is ranked second. In 2015, Germanys per capita coffee consumption was 14.3 pounds per year, well above the EU average 11.9 pounds per year. The country, however, lies behind Nordic countries on per capita coffee consumption. Countries such as Finland and Sweden have a per capita coffee consumption of 26.5 pounds per year and 15.4 pounds per year, respectively. German coffee consumers prefer Arabica coffee that is lightly roasted. In line with the preference, German demand has shifted towards mild flavors in the Arabica group and Brazilian Naturals. About 24.6% of Germans in 2016 consumed coffee daily. Germany is also a major hub for coffee re-exports. In 2017, the countrys share of re-exports was 53%. Green coffee re-exports in 2017 were 348,000 tonnes. The leading destination for re-exports was Poland and the US with 91,000 tonnes and 78,000 tonnes respectively. In 2017, the exports were valued at 987 million euros. Italy Italy is the second-largest coffee importer in Europe, accounting for 17% of Europes entire imports in 2018. In 2017, the country imported 552,285 tonnes of coffee. The country is also the most significant green coffee importer in the world and the second-largest producer and exporter of coffee in Europe after Germany. Italian coffee consumption had gone up considerably since 1995 when coffee consumption was just 253,000 tonnes compared to 606,000 tonnes consumed in 2018. Brazil, India, and Vietnam are the main coffee suppliers accounting for 64% of all coffee imports. Most coffee beans enter the country via the Port of Trieste and Port of Genoa. Over the years, coffee imports have been on the rise. From 2014 to 2018, imports grew at an average annual rate of 3.2%. In 2016, Italys total coffee imports consisted of Robusta (38%) and Arabica (62%). The county has a strong roasting industry that consumes about 98% of green coffee imports. Some of the main coffee roasters in the country include Illycaffe, Kimbo, Lavazza, and Massimo Zanetti. In 2018, Italy exported 221,000 tonnes of coffee, accounting for 22% of the total European market. The main export destinations were Germany (20%), France (9.5%), and the UK (5.9%). Belgium In 2018, Belgium imported 276,000 tonnes of green coffee valued at 606 million euros accounting for 8.7% of Europes total green coffee imports from producing countries. From 2014 to 2018, imports grew at an average rate of 2% annually. Per capita, coffee consumption in Belgium is estimated to be 15 pounds per year. Small coffee houses have increased significantly in major cities such as Brussels and Antwerp. Belgium also serves as a significant international coffee hub. The significant amount of coffee traded in the world goes through the Port of Antwerp, which is used as a transit and storage site. It is considered the largest coffee storage site in the world, with an estimated 250,000 tonnes stored at a time. The port accounts for 50% of Europes entire coffee logistics business. Belgium is also a major re-exporter. In 2018, the country re-exported 219,000 tonnes of coffee with a market value of 497 million euros. The country mainly re-exports to the Netherlands, which accounts for 60% of all Belgian green coffee re-exports. Other significant markets are France (22%), and Germany (5.5%). From 2014 to 2018, export volumes grew by about 7.8%. Spain In 2017, Spain imported 238,817 tonnes of coffee, making it the fourth-largest coffee importer in Europe. Coffee is part of Spains gastronomic culture and can be consumed at any time of the day. The annual coffee consumption for the average Spaniard is 9.9 pounds, which is below the European average of 11.9 pounds per year. Spain consumes an estimated 14 billion cups of coffee each year, translating to 600 cups per person each year. The traditional import of low-quality coffee has set the quality bar very low in the country, but demand for higherquality coffee has been increasing over the years. Various forms of certification, including Organic, Rain Forest, and Fair Trade, have contributed to the improvement in the quality of coffee purchases. France In 2017, France imported 216,998 tonnes of coffee. The country is regarded as a mature coffee market that has a long coffee consumption tradition. Over the past couple of years, concerns about the effects of caffeine on overall health have put considerable pressure on the French coffee sector. Larger companies in the country focus primarily on providing their customers with coffee in convenient single-serving packaging. Smaller companies, on the other hand, are exploring the specialty coffee market. The average per capita coffee consumption is 11.2 pounds, which is close to the European average. United Kingdom In recent years coffee consumption has been rising in the United Kingdom (a state that is known for its long tradition of tea consumption as its preferred hot beverage). In 2017, the country imported 161,492 tonnes of coffee, making it the sixth-largest coffee importer in Europe. The coffee market in the United Kingdom grows at an average rate of 10% yearly. Despite being one of the largest coffee markets on the continent, per capita consumption is relatively low. The average Briton consumes about 7.3 pounds of coffee per year. Among coffee consumers, instant coffee is the most preferred, particularly among the older generations. Sweden In 2017, Sweden imported 98,359 tonnes of coffee, making the country the seventh-largest coffee importer in the continent. The country has the second-highest per capita coffee consumption in Europe with an average of 3.2 cups of coffee per person per day, which is just behind Finland that consumes 3.5 cups of coffee per person per day. The demand for specialty coffee is growing rapidly. Swedes are known to be critical of coffee served abroad, which, by comparison, is weaker than Swedish coffee. Tourists are often warned about taking Swedish coffee as its strength is believed to cause palpitations and malady. Finland Finland has the highest per capita coffee consumption rate in the world at 26.5 pounds of coffee per year. The country imports nearly all its coffee from developing nations with Brazil as its leading supplier. In 2017, the country imported 66,587 tonnes of coffee. Consumers in the country focus on the quality and variety of coffee. A significant amount of imports are re-exported to Russia as green or roasted coffee. In 2017, the green coffee re-exports amounted to 7.1 thousand tonnes representing only 1.1% of Europes entire exporting markets. From 2013 to 2017, the volume of re-exports increased by 32% while the value increased by 22%. Paulig, Finlands main coffee roaster is the second-largest supplier of coffee in Russia. Netherlands The Netherlands is categorized as a medium-sized coffee market. In 2017, the country imported 54,939 tonnes of coffee. Similar to other European countries, consumers in the Netherlands are increasingly shifting towards convenient and high-quality fresh coffee. The country, which has a population of approximately 17 million people, accounted for 4% of the EUs green coffee consumption in 2015. The Netherlands has a per capita coffee consumption rate of 11.7 pounds per year, which is close to the European average. The Dutch take (espresso) blends of Robusta and Arabica. Arabica coffee takes up 60% of the market share. Portugal In 2017, Portugal imported 45,968 tonnes of coffee. The per capita coffee consumption rate is 9.5 pounds per year. Portugal has one of the highest coffee shop concentration rates in Europe, with an impressive 41.6 coffee shops per 10,000 people, which is an indication of the significance of coffee in the country. Coffee is an important part of the daily lifestyle in Portugal, with people having many cafes from which they can choose to enjoy the hot drink. A high number of tourists in the country also means that the coffee shop business is very popular and profitable. Trends In The European Coffee Market The coffee market in Europe is mature but is also constantly evolving. Ready to-drink, specialty coffees, and single-serve methods are increasingly growing in popularity. Sustainability is also becoming a concern among industry stakeholders with retailers and buyers using certification to promote sustainability. There is also a growing demand for transparency and traceability through the value chain. In recent years the European market has also been hit by two consumer demand waves. In the 2010s, the market experienced a growing demand for higher-quality coffee, with consumers focusing on particular taste attributes. The wave was characterized as the coffee-like-wine consumer attitude. Currently, the European market is experiencing a wave that has been called the science of coffee. Consumers are demonstrating a need to understand the intrinsic characteristic of coffee beans and the influence of preparation on the final taste. There the issue lay until 2017, when a Democratic state senator in Nevada, Pat Spearman, persuaded the Legislature to ratify the amendment, even though the deadline had long passed. That move revived interest across the country, and Illinois followed suit in 2018. An effort in Virginia fell short a year ago, but after Democrats won in November, they promised to try again. Is Virginias assent enough to get to 38 states? Thats a bit cloudy. Virginia is the 38th state to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, but over the years, five of those states Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee have voted to rescind their ratifications, and it is possible that opponents would challenge the amendment on that basis. They would not have precedent on their side. After the Civil War, several states tried to take back their ratifications of either the 14th or 15th Amendments, but they were counted in the Yes column anyway, and all of those states later re-ratified the amendments. What about the deadline? That is the big question now. It could be repealed, or challenged in court, or both. Most amendments to the Constitution have not had explicit ratification deadlines. The most recent one, the 27th, had been pending for more than 200 years before it was finally ratified in 1992. Supporters argue that the deadline for the E.R.A. is unenforceable because it is stated only in the preamble to the amendment, and not in the amendment itself. The Supreme Court said in 1921 that amendments had to be ratified within a reasonable time after passage, and that Congress had the authority to set a deadline, as it has almost always done since then. But in 1939, the court ruled that the question of whether ratification of an amendment was timely and valid was non-justiciable in other words, it was up to Congress, and none of the courts business. Congress extended the deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment once by three years and supporters say it could do so again, or repeal the deadline entirely. A bill to do that was introduced in the Democratic-controlled House in April and attracted broad support. It would also have to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, where its prospects are less clear, though it has sponsors there from both parties. Legal experts disagree, however, on whether Congress has the power to remove the deadline retroactively, and that issue could land in court. A Flybe plane takes off from Manchester Airport. Photo: Reuters/Phil Noble British Airways-owner IAG (IAG.L) on Wednesday said that it had filed a complaint with the European Unions executive arm about the government rescue package for regional airline Flybe. IAG believes that the bailout, which could see the government offer Flybe an extension on unpaid air passenger duties worth 100m, constitutes illegal state aid. The European Commission may agree with IAGs assessment if it finds that the deal would involve the UK government unfairly providing assistance that is not available to other airlines, something that could in turn harm competition. The commission, however, approved loans made by the German government in September 2019 to save Condor, a Thomas Cook subsidiary. Earlier, Willie Walsh, the CEO of IAG, blasted the governments decision to rescue regional airline Flybe, calling the move a blatant misuse of public funds. Ministers on Tuesday evening announced a bailout that could end up being worth more than 100m ($130m) for Flybe, saving more than 2,000 jobs. The government is still in negotiations regarding the extension on unpaid air passenger duties. But business secretary Andrea Leadsom said that the government had reached an agreement with shareholders to keep the company operating. The commission said on Wednesday that it was willing to discuss the rescue package with the UK government, noting that the the deal should attempt to avoid distorting competition. In general ... any state aid intervention needs to be designed so that competition is not distorted and a level playing field is maintained, said Arianna Podesta, a spokesperson for the commission. Walsh said on Wednesday morning that the consortium that owns Flybe wanted taxpayers to pick up the tab for their mismanagement of the airline, branding it a blatant misuse of public funds. In February 2019, the consortium, Connect Airways, completed the purchase of the assets and operations of Flybe for 2.8m. The consortium is owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation, and Cyrus Capital Partners. Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by US airline Delta. Walsh pointed out that prior to the acquisition by Connect Airways, Flybe had argued that taxpayers should subsidise regional routes. Glanbia Co-op has announced a new monthly payment for milk supplying Members and details of its 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme. Glanbia Co-op owns 60% of Glanbia Ireland (GI) and receives a dividend each year which equates to 30% of the milk processors annual Profit-After-Tax (PAT). At the formation of GI in 2017, Members voted at a Special General Meeting (SGM) in Punchestown to ring-fence this dividend for distribution to active farmer Members of Glanbia Co-op. In 2020, milk supplier Members of Glanbia Co-op will receive a 0.4 cent per litre (cpl) payment each month on all milk supplied as their Share of GI Profit. This payment to Members will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of the milk delivered. Furthermore, Members will also have an to opportunity to participate in the 2020 Trading Bonus scheme. Glanbia Chairman Martin Keane said: The combination of the new monthly Share of GI Profit payment and the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme is an equitable, transparent and a more immediate means of returning the Co-ops share of GI profit to our active farmer Members. The 2020 Glanbia Co-op policy is being outlined to shareholders at a series of nine information meetings which commenced across the Glanbia region on Tuesday 14 January. 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme Meanwhile, Glanbia Co-op has announced details of the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme, which will reward farmer Members of the Co-op for purchases made from Glanbia Ireland and its subsidiaries. For milk supplier Members of Glanbia Co-op, the 2020 Trading Bonus is potentially worth up to 0.4 cent per litre (cpl) on all milk delivered in 2020 (Table 1). For grain growers, a Trading Bonus of up to 10 per tonne of grain supplied is available for 2020. As shown in Table 1, the Milk Supplier Trading Bonus is worth up to 2,000 to a 500,000 litre supplier spending over 8 cpl with Glanbia Ireland this year. All qualifying 2020 purchases made from Glanbia Ireland are included in the calculation (purchases made through Purchasing Groups count at 50% for 2020). At the end of 2020, the total spend will be divided by the total litres of milk delivered to generate a cent per litre input spend for each Member. The applicable Trading Bonus will be paid in February 2021. Table 1: Glanbia Co-op 2020 Trading Bonus for Glanbia Ireland milk suppliers* Level of trade with Glanbia Ireland (cpl) Trading Bonus (cpl) Trading Bonus* () for 500,000 litre supplier Share of GI Profit payment** 5.0 7.99 0.2 1,000 2,000* 8.0 0.4 2,000 2,000* *VAT flat rate addition will be paid on milk supplied by non-VAT registered farmers who have confirmed their non-VAT registered status in writing to Glanbia at the rate applicable at the time of payment. **The Share of GI Profit will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of the milk delivered by Members. Feed Bonus Beef, sheep and pig farmer customers of Glanbia Ireland that are Glanbia Co-op Members will also qualify for a Feed Bonus on their tonnes purchased this year. For non-milk suppliers, the 2020 Feed Trading Bonus will be 10 per tonne on Beef, Dairy and Sheep Feed products purchased from Glanbia Ireland; There is 3 per tonne available to qualifying Co-op Members on purchases of pig feed and straights; Eligibility for Feed Bonus payments is confined to non-milk suppliers in 2020 (all feed purchases continue to count towards a milk suppliers total spend for the Milk Supplier Trading Bonus). Commenting, Martin Keane, Chairman of Glanbia Co-operative Society, said: The 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme builds on the very successful Trading Bonus Scheme operated in 2018 and 2019. In the coming weeks, the 2019 Trading Bonus Scheme will return almost 14m to our active farmer shareholders. The Trading Bonus rewards our Members for trading with the business that they majority own, Glanbia Ireland. It is an equitable and transparent means of returning a share of Glanbia Irelands profit to active farmers. Member Admission criteria The Council of Glanbia Co-op has approved a series of changes to the criteria for admission of new Members to the Society, as well as related matters. Glanbia Co-op Chairman Martin Keane said that the main objectives of the changes are to: Encourage greater Co-op involvement among the next generation of farmers and; Ensure that Membership admission continues to be confined to persons actively farming. The rules have been simplified to aid access with a requirement of 1,000 shares set for all new Members. Previously, the shareholding was set out at the higher level of 2,000 shares, or one share per 200 litres of milk. The minimum shareholding required to become a member of the Glanbia representative structure has also been reduced to 1,000 shares. This makes Committee membership more accessible to a greater number of A1 members, Martin Keane said. The Board are keen to ensure there is a clear path for young, active farmers to join Glanbia Co-op and also to consider becoming involved in the representative structure of the Co-op. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who is on a three-day visit to India addressed the Amazon SMBhav event for small and medium enterprises in Delhi on Wednesday. The CEO said that the company will invest $1 billion in digitising small and medium businesses. "We will invest $1 billion in digitising small and medium businesses and export $10 billion worth of 'Make In India' goods by 2025," he said. Hailing India's democracy, Bezos said that the 21st century belongs to India. He added that India and the US - the world's largest and oldest democracies - would be the century's most important alliance. "The dynamism, the energy... the growth. This country has something special and it's a democracy," Bezos said. Bezos also spoke about the Blue Origin space project. He said that he hopes it would reduce the cost of access to space. "Our descendants will eventually move all heavy industries and manufacturing into this space. We need to use other resources in the solar system. We need space entrepreneurs. We want Blue Origin to reduce the cost of access to space," he said. He said that dynamic and entrepreneurial civilisation in space is the need of the hours. Bezos said we need this so that two people in a dorm room can start a space company. The CEO spoke about climate change and how a company the size of Amazon can contribute. He pledged to comply with the Paris Accord goals. Bezos said that the company will eliminate usage of plastic in deliveries in India by June 2020. "Amazon will be 100 per cent sustainable electricity user by 2030," he said. Those not acknowledging climate change as real, he added, 'is not being reasonable'. Amazon has already ordered 1,000 electric delivery vehicles. It has also said that its pro-climate decisions would have "multiplier effect on associated companies". Bezos reached India on Tuesday and visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. "Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi," he tweeted. Also read: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos invokes Mahatma on his India visit Also read: Amazon pumps in over Rs 1,700 crore in its India units Baroness Karren Brady has claimed she resigned from the board of Sir Philip Green's retail empire because staying on would have been incompatible with her 'feminist credentials'. Brady quit the board of Taveta Investments - Green's Arcadia empire's holding company - in February last year. At the time of her resignation, Green was facing allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, before being charged with four counts of misdemeanour assault in the US after a pilates instructor alleged the mogul touched her inappropriately. Brady was also facing pressure for not speaking out against Green, after having previously criticised Harvey Weinstein. Now, Brady says that her decision to quit the company 'says all it needs to say'. Baroness Karren Brady quit the board of Taveta Investments - Philip Green's Arcadia empire's holding company - in February last year Asked on Sky News how she could square her feminist credentials with some of the accusations made, Brady replied: 'I didn't square them because I resigned so I think that says all it needs to say.' However, she admitted that she was still in touch with the disgraced mogul. After the allegations were first published against Green, Brady initially refused to resign. Two weeks before her eventual resignation, she pledged not to quit Taveta because she felt 'a sense of duty' to staff - including her social media star daughter Sophia Peschisolido, 22, who works for Topshop's PR arm. She was then branded a 'hypocrite' for staying on having been an outspoken critic of abuses of power in the workplace and was among those to condemn film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey. The businesswoman responded: 'Why should I?' when a reporter questioned whether she would be resigning. At the time of her resignation, Green (left) was facing allegations of sexual harassment and bullying. Brady (right) is seen ahead of the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster Brady also did not accept an invitation to appear in before the Women and Equalities Committee's inquiry into NDAs to explain whether the board signed off payments of up to 1 million to silence staff. After her change of heart business leaders and MPs insisted she should make clear what she was told about the accusations and if she knew about the payments. Frank Field said: 'Lady Brady needs to say whether she was informed, did she know, was she party to these gagging orders of women who say they were appallingly treated by Sir Philip Green'. Labour MP Jess Phillips said: 'Karren Brady will still have to answer to what went on under her watch and so she should, but it is Green who is ultimately responsible and, like always, it feels like powerful men can get away with anything.' Vince Cable said Brady must explain why she has suddenly 'decided she can't defend the indefensible'. [January 15, 2020] First Community Bank Offers Plinqit Savings App First Community Bank announced today that it will offer Plinqit, a savings app and the only savings tool that pays users for learning about personal finances, helping customers save money and creating higher engagement for financial institutions. An expansion of First Community's digital offerings, Plinqit supports the savings needs of customers. With Plinqit's patent-pending Build Skills, the only platform that pays users for engaging with content, users can grow their knowledge of finances. By simply watching a video or reading an article from the Plinqit library and taking a short quiz, users are rewarded for learning more about financial wellness. Plinqit's ease of use and implementation attracted First Community Bank to the tool, but the institution's desire to help the members of its community achieve financial wellness made Plinqit a perfect fit. "At First Community Bank, we believe that when banks support their community, the community is stronger for it," said Dale Cole, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Community Bank. "We are proud to do everything in our power to strengthen our local economy, and one of th best ways we can deliver on our promise is by helping people learn about finances so they can begin saving. Plinqit is a unique tool that satisfies our customers' digital needs and encourages smart financial decisions. We are excited to offer Plinqit." "Plinqit was created to not only help financial institutions, like First Community Bank, broaden their digital portfolio and better engage with customers, but also to help bridge the knowledge gap in personal finances," said Kathleen Craig, founder and Chief Executive Officer of HT Mobile Apps, creator of Plinqit. "There is a true need for improved financial literacy with 41 percent of Americans reporting that their lack of understanding of finances is holding them back from making financial progress. And, Plinqit has a proven track record - more than 60 percent of users that reach their savings goal continue to save by setting new goals." Craig continued, "This partnership with First Community Bank will allow us to help them fulfill their mission of serving their community and making it stronger by supporting their customers' path to financial achievement in an engaging way." About Plinqit Plinqit is a mobile first platform that is elegant and highly powerful at the same time. Unlike any other savings app on the market, its patent-pending Build Skills pays users for engaging with content, creating higher user engagement for financial institutions. Created by Millennials for Millennials, Plinqit helps financial institutions connect with this important demographic in a meaningful, relevant way - bringing together digital customers, FI's and savings in one beautiful place. For more information, visit www.plinqit.com. About First Community Bank First Community Bank, which is locally owned and managed, opened August 4, 1997, in Batesville, Arkansas, and currently operates 26 full-service branches in Arkansas and Missouri. First Community employs more than 428 professional bankers and reports assets of $1,505,984,000 as of September 30, 2019. For more information, visit www.firstcommunity.net/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005518/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Britney Spears has rubbished a French art gallery's claim to be hosting her 'first solo show' of paintings. Galerie Sympa in the southwestern Figeac village posted to Instagram last week alleging that the show was slated to open Saturday. However a publicist for the 38-year-old pop star explained to the BBC this week that 'there is no truth to this.' Nothing to see here, folks: Britney Spears has rubbished a French art gallery's claim to be hosting her 'first solo show' of paintings At the time of writing Galerie Sympa's website homepage still advertises the Britney exhibition, entitled Sometimes you just gotta play!!!!!. Britney posted a viral Instagram video in 2017 of herself out on her balcony painting pastel florals, and in the caption she wrote: 'Sometimes you just gotta play!!!!!!' One of the paintings in Britney's 2017 Instagram post is the image Galerie Sympa is using to promote their supposed exhibition, both on social media and their website. In their Instagram post last week, the art gallery wrote: 'Were thrilled to announce that we will be opening @britneyspears first solo show in a contemporary art gallery on Saturday, the 18th of January 2020, from 6 to 9 pm #britneyspears #britneyb**** #artsyfartsy #sometimesyoujustgottaplay'. Bold: Galerie Sympa in the southwestern Figeac village posted to Instagram last week alleging that the show was slated to open Saturday Setting the record straight: However a publicist for the 38-year-old pop star explained to the BBC this week that 'there is no truth to this' Making a reference to Britney's 2012 single of the same name, the gallery said the exhibition would run 'till the world ends.' Last month Us Weekly reported Britney intends to go to court in 2020 over her custody arrangement with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. Britney and Kevin share two sons, Preston, 14, and Jayden, 13, and although custody was initially evenly split the deal changed this August. Inspiration: Britney posted a viral Instagram video in 2017 of herself out on her balcony painting pastel florals, and in the caption she wrote: 'Sometimes you just gotta play!!!!!!' Origin story: One of the paintings in Britney's 2017 Instagram post is the image Galerie Sympa is using to promote their supposed exhibition, both on social media and their website A judge officially downgraded Britney to 30% custody of her children - a division of labor she and Kevin had already been practicing for a year, TMZ reports. Although they agreed to this split in August, an Us Weekly insider says that Britney now wants to alter the arrangement. 'Britney's goal in the new year is to go to family court and petition the judge for increased custody time with the boys,' said the source. The enemy opened fire from proscribed 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Russia's hybrid military forces on January 14 mounted 10 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action. Read alsoUkrainian officer: Russia's possession of military hardware in Donbas can be proved "The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 10 times on January 14. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in enemy shelling," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in a morning update on January 15, 2020. The enemy opened fire from proscribed 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Novotroyitske, Nevelske, Shyrokyne, Luhanske, Orikhove, Krymske, and Novoluhanske. "Since Wednesday midnight, Russia-led forces have mounted one attack on Ukrainian positions near the town of Svitlodarsk, using an 82mm mortar," the update said. After 18 months of economic combat, the United States and China are set to take a step toward peace Wednesday. At least for now. President Trump and Chinas chief negotiator, Liu He, are scheduled to sign a modest trade agreement in which the administration will ease some sanctions on China and Beijing will step up its purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. Above all, the deal will defuse a conflict that has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy. But the Phase 1 pact does little to force China to make the major economic reforms such as reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies that the Trump administration sought when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018. The U.S. has yet to reveal details of the agreement, though U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said they would be made public Wednesday. Most analysts say any meaningful resolution of the key U.S. allegation that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive to supplant Americas technological supremacy could require years of contentious talks. And skeptics say a satisfactory resolution may be next to impossible given Chinas ambitions to become the global leader in such advanced technologies as driverless cars and artificial intelligence. The signing of the Phase 1 deal would represent a welcome, even if modest, deescalation of trade hostilities between China and the U.S., said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and and former head of the International Monetary Funds China division. But it hardly addresses in any substantive way the fundamental sources of trade and economic tensions between the two sides, which will continue to fester. In a letter to Trump on Monday, the top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, complained that the Phase 1 deal appeared to make very little progress in reforming Chinas rapacious trade behaviors and seems like it could send a signal to Chinese negotiators that the U.S. can be steamrolled. The thornier issues are expected to be taken up in future rounds of negotiations. But its unclear when they will begin. And few expect much progress before the November U.S. election. Phase 2 I wouldnt wait by the phone, said John Veroneau, who was a U.S. trade official in the George W. Bush administration and is now co-chairman of the international trade practice at Covington & Burling. That is probably a 2021 issue. Under the Phase 1 agreement, which the two sides reached in mid-December, the administration dropped plans to impose tariffs on an additional $160 billion in Chinese imports. And it cut existing tariffs in half, to 7.5%, on $110 billion of good from China. Beijing agreed to significantly increase its purchases of U.S. products. According to the Trump administration, China is to buy $40 billion a year in U.S. farm products an ambitious goal for a country that has never imported more than $26 billion of U.S. agricultural products a year. The deal may be most notable for what it doesnt do. It leaves in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports a level of protectionism that would have been unthinkable before Trump took office. Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics calculates that the Phase 1 agreement will leave nearly two-thirds of Chinese imports covered by Trumps tariffs. Beijings retaliatory tariffs affect more than half of American exports to China. The average U.S. tariff on Chinese imports has risen from 3% in January 2018 to 21% now. High tariffs between the worlds two biggest economies, Bown says, are now the new normal. The Trump administration argues that the Phase 1 deal is a solid start that includes Chinese commitments to do more to protect intellectual property, curb the practice of forcing foreign companies to hand over sensitive technology and refrain from manipulating their currency lower to benefit Chinese exporters. In advance of the Phase 1 signing, in fact, the Treasury Department on Monday dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator. And by maintaining significant tariffs on Chinese imports, the administration retains leverage to force Beijing to abide by its commitments something the United States says Beijing has failed to do for decades. Weve never punished them before, said Derek Scissors, China specialist at the American Enterprise Institute. If you dont have tariffs, you can write down anything you want, and the Chinese will cheat. The administration contends that, however narrow the Phase 1 agreement may be, it represents a significant breakthrough. Across the board, its a really, really good deal for the United States, Lighthizer told Fox Business Network on Monday. And it will work if reformers in China want it to work. And if that happens, great. If it doesnt happen, (the pact) is fully enforceable. We expect them to live up to the letter of the law. Well bring cases well bring actions against them if they dont. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Scissors said the trade war has already delivered a benefit for Trump, even if it hasnt forced Beijing to make major changes to its economic policy: Trumps tariffs have reduced Chinese exports to the United States and narrowed Americas trade deficit with China. The president has long lambasted the U.S. trade gap with Beijing as a sign of economic weakness, though many economists disagree. A wide trade deficit can actually reflect economic strength because it means that a nations consumers feel prosperous and confident enough to spend freely on imported goods as well as on home-grown goods. This year, the U.S. deficit with China in the trade of goods has declined by 16%, or $62 billion, to $321 billion compared with a year earlier. And the deficit will narrow further if Beijing lives up to its pledges to buy dramatically more American imports. Trumps tariff hikes have proved to be a headwind for Chinas economy, which was already slowing, though the damage has been less than some forecasters expected. Chinese global exports eked out a 0.5% increase in 2019 despite a plunge in sales to the United States, according to Chinese customs data. Chinese exporters responded to Trumps tariff hikes by shipping goods to the United States through other countries and by stepping up sales to Asia, Europe and Africa. The government reported double-digit gains in 2019 exports to France, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia. It is unrealistic for the U.S. government to think they could defeat China by exerting extreme pressure, said Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute of WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. As an economy with a massive size, China will gradually absorb such external shocks. China didnt get everything they wanted out of this deal, and the U.S. has obviously not got the structural changes in the Chinese economy they wanted, said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics. But they are going to get a substantial increase in exports and a reduction in the bilateral trade (deficit), which I think the Trump administration will clearly see as a win. Paul Wiseman and Joe McDonald are Associated Press writers. The global two-wheeler ignition switch market is expected to post a CAGR of almost 8% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005021/en/ Technavio announced its latest market research report titled global two-wheeler ignition switch market 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire) Asia accounts for a significant share of the global two-wheeler sales. Despite the increase in road congestion and sluggish development of road infrastructure, the sale of two-wheelers has been growing steadily in Asian countries. Countries such as China, India, and others are seeing a surge in the demand for two-wheelers owing to the growing demands for daily commuting. Therefore, the increase in the sales of two-wheelers in Asia will have a positive impact on the growth of the global two-wheeler ignition switch market. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30617 As per Technavio, the development of the keyless ignition system in two-wheelers will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2019-2023. Global Two-Wheeler Ignition Switch Market: Development of Keyless Ignition System Several two-wheeler manufacturers have started offering keyless ignition systems as an option in some of their two-wheeler models. Keyless ignition systems improve convenience and safety in two-wheelers and enable locking and unlocking of the steering lock as well as the fuel filler cap. Currently, the penetration of keyless ignition systems in the two-wheeler market is low as only a few luxury two-wheeler models come equipped with this feature. With the growing demand for convenience, safety and security in two-wheelers, the adoption of keyless ignition systems will increase during the forecast period. "Many premium motorcycle makers are shifting their manufacturing plants to Asian countries. In addition, the development of a biometric-based ignition system will further boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Global Two-Wheeler Ignition Switch Market: Segmentation Analysis This market report segments the global two-wheeler ignition switch marketbytype (key-enabled ignition switch and keyless ignition switch) and geography (Americas, APAC, and EMEA). The APAC region led the market in 2018, followed by the Americas and EMEA respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to maintain its dominance over the market. This is due to the strong economic growth in developing countries such as China and India. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Customer Landscape Geographical Segmentation Geographic comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Landscape disruption Competitive scenario Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005021/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com/ The division in the surrounding community and inside the parish of the historic St. Francis of Assisi Church was in plain view Monday night as the City of Hamiltons Board of Adjustments heard another three hours of testimony. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is seeking a conditional use permit that would allow for the dismantling of the 122-year-old church and the construction of a larger and more accessible building on the site. So far, the board has heard six hours of public testimony and been provided with reams of written documentation from both sides of the proposal. A third meeting has been set for Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Hamilton City Courthouse. At that meeting, board members will have the opportunity to ask questions of attorneys representing the church and the Southside Preservation Committee, which represents neighbors and others opposed to the church being torn down. Following the question-and-answer period, both sides will be allowed to offer a 10-minute summation before the board begins its deliberations. About 80 people attended Monday nights hearing. Many spoke sadly about the division within the Hamilton community and the St. Francis of Assisi parish thats followed the proposal to tear down the structure built by the famous Copper King, Marcus Daly. Nansu Roddy has lived in a 115-year-old home not far from the church for the past 38 years. Her home was built by one of Dalys business partners in Hamiltons original townsite. Its been a very frustrating process for the neighbors, Roddy said. Weve been forced to protect our property rights against a very wealthy and powerful entity, the Catholic Church. Not easy. As property owners, we should have never been put in this position. Roddy said the neighbors werent notified about the proposal to tear down the church that serves as a centerpiece in the historic neighborhood until the churchs requested variances went before the Board of Adjustments last year. The neighbors formed the Southside Preservation Committee, which filed the lawsuit that ended with an agreement that the Board of Adjustments would redo the process. Many of the parishioners who want to tear down the church are our friends, Roddy said. The division this proposal has created in this community and the church is unprecedented. It was not handled properly by the church as our neighbor. Some church parishioners told the board the current building is structurally unsound and not accessible to the handicapped or the elderly. A retired physician, Smokey Callaghan-Stover, said the celebration of Mass is the center of the Catholic religious practice, but he estimated that a quarter of the local Catholic community cant attend Mass at St. Francis of Assisi because of physical limitations caused by aging or disability. We need a sacred building that is safe, accessible and adequate for our entire faith community, Callaghan-Stover said. Our 123-year-old church was built during a time when materials or building practices are not what they are today. Currently, he said all the entrances into the church are above ground level, the aisles are too narrow to accommodate wheelchairs or walkers, and there is no way to quickly get people out of the building in an emergency. All of us love our existing church building and are saddened that it no longer meets our needs to fully practice with our religious faith community however it is more worth it to us to be welcoming to all in our faith community than preserving a building that has become woefully inadequate, Callaghan-Stover said. Tom Holmes offered his testimony from his wheelchair. The St. Francis parishioner has been disabled since 1983. Holmes said its difficult to get up the ramp with his wheelchair. The slope of the ramp is right at the edge of federal disability requirements. His troubles dont end once he gets up the hill. Holmes said hes been stuck in the entry door. Once inside, the doors there are also hard to navigate. And then Holmes said he either has to sit in the corner by himself or in the aisle. The church is not at all ADA accessible, he said. Joe Quinn has been a parishioner since 1966. He always figured that he would be buried out of this church. Now he worries his church cant keep up the maintenance of the building, which he said has no basement, siding that wont hold paint and a roof that needs to be replaced to ensure that shingles will stay put. If we try to remodel, were going to spend as much money as it is to build a new church, Quinn said. There is no sense in doing that. Were tired of trying to keep the maintenance going. I dont want to sink another $2 million to remodel and still end up with nothing. Other longtime parishioners disagree. Allen Maki said the estimated $5.5 million difference between renovating the old church and building a new church could used to provide 19 college scholarships or feed 34 hungry families in the valley for a year by tapping only into the interest on those funds. I feel ashamed that the church leadership has apparently not looked into any of this, Maki said. I feel ashamed that the church leadership has belittled and intimidated long-standing members of their own parish for disagreeing. I feel ashamed the church leadership says they would be willing to take out the MAPs program. I feel ashamed that the church leadership has now threatened our wonderful town of Hamilton. Above all, I feel ashamed that we have to have this discussion in Ravalli County. Gina Schallenberger has been a parishioner for 43 years. She opposes the demolition of the historic building. First and foremost, the church is not just a building, Schallenberger said. It is a sacred space. The proposal to tear the building down has divided the church community and she fears that without compromise, that division wont heal. I understand that the people who are in favor of this believe the current church does not meet the needs of today or needs of future, but demolishing is not the only solution, Schallenberger said. The new church could be moved to a suitable location out of town that would not impact neighbors, would leave the MAPS program in place and offer value to the people who care about sacred space and history. Renovating buildings unites communities, she said. We have excellent examples of history preserved with the Creamery, the library, the old courthouse and the old hospital. Hamilton would not be the same if all the renovation of historic buildings had not been accomplished. Kristie Heiland spoke for 70 parishioners who signed a letter in support of saving the historic church. The fourth-generation Bitterroot resident who thinks her great-grandparents may have been part of the original 50 families who attended the church said she is saddened by the division thats occurred. They are my church family, Heiland said. I love them deeply. There are a lot of parishioners who have come to me and asked me to be a voice for them because we are not all in agreement. An engineer by training, Heiland said she understands the challenges the church faces. As a lifelong Bitterroot Valley resident, she also saw a community come together to preserve the Daly Mansion and create probably one of the most beautiful places in our county right now. Heiland said shes fortunate to have lived in one place long enough to feel like she has put her roots down. I live in the same house that my dad was raised in, she said. So even though Im 40, when I go into that home, I have a sense of my roots being there. I know its just a building, but its a special building to me. The same is true for the church, Heiland said. I know its a building, but when I go into St Francis, it not only has my faith but it has my roots. In times of trouble when I needed to find my roots that building was that sacred space that has my roots that are important to me. I think there are a lot of people who feel that same way. Heiland said the church does need a new building to accommodate everyones needs and potential growth, but the current location isnt the right spot to do that. If you approve the request, the only people you will be appeasing is a portion of the church community and once the church is torn down, the building and the neighborhood cannot be restored, she said. As you know, this is a very final decision. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Picture : L-R : Cindy Reverol Bermudez, International Advisor of PetroVietnam Dubai, Hon. Minister Gabriel M. Obiang Lima, Antonio De Santis, Executive Director of PetroVietnam Oil DMCC Dubai, at Petr Equatorial Guinea has discovered and produced but now we need to be responsible for our own resources and create entities at the international level. I hope one day we have entities like PetroVietnam and thats why were focusing more on learning and training. This relationship is a priority now. Equatorial Guineas Minister of Mines, H.E. Gabriel M. Obiang Lima, recently visited PetroVietnam Oil Corporations newly opened Dubai office to congratulate the team on their latest move. His visit to the centre also marks the start of a possible profitable business relationship between the two countries through PetroVietnam Oil DMCC. What I like about Vietnam is that theyve gone through a smooth transition in the oil and gas industry from discovering to transforming to operating, says H.E. Gabriel Obiang Lima. Equatorial Guinea has discovered and produced but now we need to be responsible for our own resources and create entities at the international level. I hope one day we have entities like PetroVietnam and thats why were focusing more on learning and training. This relationship is a priority now. Known as an energy-efficient country, Equatorial Guinea is also a member of the OPEC. It is one of the smallest producers with OPEC and while H.E. Gabriel Obiang Lima notes that they cannot be like the bigger countries, their focus was to efficiently develop their resources. He states that their key objective to join the OPEC was to learn from other countries and develop their resources. The Middle East is a good example of a transition from hydrocarbon to other ones and we too want to replicate the same. However, since our sector is only gas, we need to look at transitioning in that sector upstream, midstream and downstream. Over the last couple of years, there have been several discussions on fossil fuel exploitation and global warming. Particularly for countries heavily dependent on oil, this has been a huge matter of concern. H.E. Gabriel Obiang Lima finds it unfair to blame the suppliers for this. You cannot stop using fossil fuel immediately. They have been there for a long time and the fact that there is a demand for the same means that it is a commercially viable product. Interestingly, the countries who have the fossil fuels are the ones that are developing. And they need those resources to develop. The consumers have to use the resources responsibly. Moreover, the world has witnessed a clear transition from oil to gas and Equatorial Guinea is all set to undergo the transformation. However, despite Africa being gas prone having witnessed a lot of gas discoveries, according to H.E. Gabriel Obiang Lima, there is still time for the transition. Previously, developing countries would produce oil and sell it to developed countries, their end-users. That trend is also changing. So we need to operate our resources well. The start of the relationship with PetroVietnam, a national oil company of Vietnam, will, therefore, open many doors of training and development for Equatorial Guinea, says H.E. Gabriel Obiang Lima. If the investor isnt coming in, you need to do it yourself. And Vietnam has already created a market in its own country for gas and final consumers. They have witnessed and worked through the transition so that learning is going to be an asset for us and would strengthen the relationship between Vietnam and Equatorial Guinea. While extending his support to PetroVietnam, he also invites established entities across Asia to explore Africa for setup and investment. People are very scared of investing in Africa but that is a mistake. China has invested and has grown. They were willing to take the risk and in fact found the African countries very receptive. Id also like to remind national oil companies that they are not government companies, so they need to be profitable. To be qualified as an IOC, you need to prove your worth outside your country. You cannot do it from sitting in your home country. You can become a profitable entity if you decide to grow beyond your borders. In his closing remarks, Executive Director of PetroVietnam Oil DMCC, Mr. Antonio De Santis, thanked Hon. Minister Gabriel Obiang Lima, by saying, Your visit to our office at the start of this new decade signifies a new beginning in the cooperation between both institutions. On behalf of our Chairman and members of our team here in Dubai, I would like to thank you as we look forward to working with your esteem country to harness the opportunity from your upstream production fields and gas projects. Zarif slams EU's dispute mechanism as 'a strategic mistake' Iran Press TV Wednesday, 15 January 2020 12:34 AM Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denounced as a "strategic mistake" the European Union's decision to trigger a dispute mechanism under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Zarif criticized the European signatories to the landmark deal once again on Tuesday for failing to abide by their commitments under the JCPOA and said triggering a dispute resolution mechanism is legally baseless and politically a strategic blunder. Abbas Mousavi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, earlier said the Islamic Republic would respond "firmly, decisively, and aptly" to the unconstructive measure taken by the Europeans against the deal. On Tuesday, the three European signatories to the Iran deal France, Britain and Germany formally triggered the dispute mechanism, which accuses Iran of violating the agreement and could lead to the restoration of the anti-Iran UN sanctions that had been lifted by the JCPOA. After the mechanism is implemented, Iran would be given 15 days to resolve the dispute with the three European states, collectively known as the EU3. The process can ultimately lead to a "snapback" which refers to the re-imposition of the UN Security Council's sanctions that were lifted after the nuclear was reached in 2015. Russia sees no grounds to trigger dispute mechanism Russia also reacted to the European move, saying there are no grounds to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism in the Iran nuclear deal. Citing Russia's foreign ministry, the TASS news agency said Moscow argued that the activation of this mechanism may make it impossible to return to implementation of the agreement. Russia has also warned that the EU's decision risks new escalation. The European states are trying to blame Iran for failing to commit to the deal, while themselves stopped their contractual commitment of meeting the Islamic Republic's business interests after May 2018, when the United States left the accord and began threatening others not to do business with Tehran. Last May, Iran began a set of countermeasures in response to the US's withdrawal and the EU3's betrayal of Tehran's interests under US pressure. The countermeasures saw Iran reduce its obligations under the JCPOA. As part of its fifth and final commitment reduction step, Tehran decided to stop observing all limits on its nuclear industry after January 3, when US drone strikes assassinated senior Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'The Vietnam War' producers fork out over $30,000 in song royalties Producers of 'The Vietnam War' has compensated a Vietnamese songwriter VND700 million ($30,192) after using his music in the documentary series without approval. According to Vietnam Centre for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC), the Vietnamese composer informed them the American TV documentary series "The Vietnam War" had used his song without permission. With 76 collective management and publishing contracts across 116 countries, VCPMC subsequently collected VND700 million ($30,192) in royalties from the production company. As the series remains on air, the copyright fee is set to increase, meaning the musician would receive greater pay in future. A helicopter from 336th Aviation Company sprays chemicals over a Mekong Delta jungle during the Vietnam War, a legacy still affecting local residents today. Photo by Shutterstock/Everett Historical. VCPMC explained the American producers had mistakenly assumed the Vietnamese composer to have passed away as the song was composed over 50 years ago, hence failing to seek permission. The song was performed during several occasions by a band featured in "The Vietnam War" and in another American movie, which acknowledgement the Vietnamese songwriter. "The Vietnam War" is an 18-hour documentary TV series created by American filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In the 10-part series, Burns interviews decision-makers and rank-and-file soldiers. He also spoke to those who did not fight in the war, which set off a protest movement in the U.S., divisions of which can still be felt today. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Irans top diplomat acknowledged Wednesday that Iranians were lied to for days after the Islamic Republic accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The admission came as new surveillance footage purported to show two surface-to-air missiles 20 seconds apart shred the airplane and kill all 176 people aboard. The downing of the Ukraine International Airlines flight last week came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over its unraveling nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for the first time Wednesday threatened Europe by warning its soldiers in the Mideast could be in danger over the crisis as Britain, France and Germany launched a measure that could see United Nations sanctions re-imposed on Tehran. The crash and subsequent days of Iranian denials that a missile had downed the airplane has sparked angry protests in a country already on edge as its economy struggles under crushing American sanctions. Tensions between Washington and Tehran reached a fever pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blame for deadly roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces early last Wednesday, just before Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport. Iran for days afterward insisted a technical fault downed the 3-year-old Boeing 737-800. It wasnt until Western governments, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, went public with their suspicions the plane had been shot down that Iran admitted it fired on the plane. Not admitting the plane had been shot down was for the betterment of our countrys security, because if we had said this, our air defense system would have become crippled and our guys would have had doubted everything, said Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards aerospace program, in television footage aired Wednesday. Hajizadeh only days earlier apologized on state television and said: I wish I were dead. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at a summit in New Delhi, became the first official to describe Irans earlier claims as a lie. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Zarif said. Zarif went onto praise Irans military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on. However, he said that he and Rouhani only learned that a missile had down the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Irans civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. The Guard knew immediately afterward its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. The new surveillance footage obtained by The Associated Press showing the missile fire was filmed off a monitor by a mobile phone. It appears to be taken near the town of Bidkaneh, northwest of Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport. The two minutes of black-and-white footage purportedly shows one missile streaking across the sky and exploding near the plane. Ten seconds later, another missile is fired. Some 20 seconds after the first explosion, another strikes near the plane. A ball of flames then falls from the sky out of frame. The footage corresponds with AP reporting, appears genuine and matches geographic features of the area. The date in the upper right-hand corner of the video appears to correspond to Irans Persian calendar. It also explains how so many people filmed the shoot down: The first explosion drew their attention and their filming mobile phones to the predawn sky. Amid all of this, Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday launched the so-called dispute mechanism pertaining to Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran has been breaking limits of the accord for months in response to President Donald Trumps decision to unilaterally withdraw America from the deal in May 2018. After Soleimanis killing, Iran announced it would no longer abide by any of the nuclear deals limits, which had been designed to keep Tehran from having enough material to be able to build an atomic bomb if it chose. However, Iran has said it will continue to allow the United Nations nuclear watchdog access to its nuclear sites. Speaking before his Cabinet, Rouhani showed a rarely seen level of anger in wide-ranging remarks Wednesday that included the threat to Europe. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Rouhani said. We want you to leave this region but not with war. We want you to go wisely. It is to your own benefit. Rouhani did not elaborate. European forces have been deployed alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. France also maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Britain has opened a base in the island nation of Bahrain. European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told reporters that officials were aware of the threats, but the European Union had no plans to leave Iraq. Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini told lawmakers his government has plans to increase Romes troop levels at the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes. German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, meanwhile, made an unannounced visit Wednesday to the Azraq base in Jordan, where German troops serving in the fight against the Islamic State group are based. Germany wants to resume training Iraqi forces. Rouhani also reiterated a longtime Iranian pledge that Tehran doesnt seek the bomb. That pledge comes amid Western fears that the time it would need to have enough material for a nuclear weapon is narrowing. Under the deal, experts estimated Iran needed a year. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Iranian state media said the British ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, had left the country. Macaire departed after being given what the state-run IRNA news agency described as prior notice, without elaborating. Britains Foreign Office insisted Macaires trip to London was routine, business as usual and was planned before his arrest and brief detention in Tehran on Saturday. He was detained after attending a vigil about the plane shoot down that turned into an anti-government protest. Britain said he planned return to Iran. ___ Schmall reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Nadia Ahmed and Jill Lawless in London, Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Frances DEmilio in Rome contributed to this report. India and China must find equilibrium and understanding on key issues affecting their relationship because the two neighbours and emerging powers have no choice but to get along, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, a think tank event backed by his ministry, Jaishankar said India hasnt closed its doors to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and it is up to the other states involved in the free trade agreement to convince the country to sign on. He also described India as a stabilising power and not a disruptionist power on the world stage, and it shouldnt be self-centred or mercantilist. India should be law-abiding and work for a rules-based order while using its capacities for global good, including as a net security provider and in dealing with challenges such as terrorism and climate change. Speaking on ties with China, Jaishankar said: To my mind, it is absolutely necessary that the two countries find equilibrium and find accommodation and understanding on the key issues which affect each other. For me this is a must, it is not a choice. Neither side can get the relationship wrong, he said, adding, The reason is that we are neighbours. It is vital for neighbours to reach understandings as a general principle. The India-China relationship is also unique because it is very rare to have two powers who are neighbours rising on the global stage in approximately the same timeframe, he said. The challenge for both sides is deciding the terms and the basis for reaching understanding on their differences and how this will work. I would say it is a work in progress and it will be continue to be a work in progress, he said. With India and China expected to be among the worlds top powers within a decade, the logic of reaching an understanding will be a very, very powerful logic, he said. Ties between China and India were hit by the military stand-off at Doklam in 2017, but they improved after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in Wuhan in 2018. The second informal summit was held in Mammallapuram last October. On the RCEP, Jaishankar said India pulled out of the trade deal being negotiated by the 10 Asean states and six trade partners last November as the offer made by the other countries didnt meet Indias expectations. Where RCEP is concerned, we have to look at cost and benefit. We will evaluate RCEP on its economic and trade merit. We have not closed our mind to it, he said. The ball, he said, is in the court of the other countries involved in RCEP. India had pulled out of RCEP as its core concerns were unresolved and the proposed deal would impact the livelihoods of all citizens. RCEP states such as Japan have said efforts are being made to get India to join the trade deal likely to be signed in February. Though India has been a prisoner of its past image, it is now more of a decider and shaper than an abstainer, and this has been reflected in its work in areas such as connectivity and climate change, Jaishankar said. India is involved in 142 connectivity projects around the world, 53 of which were completed in the past five years. Answering a question on how the country is dealing with criticism over the actions in Kashmir and the new citizenship law, he said the key issue should be whether India is going to define itself or allow others to define it. I would like to believe that it is the first. That is my political outlook and that of my party, he said, adding it is important to see how India responds to common challenges faced by many countries. Dont get fixated on the dots and ignore the line. These are important issues. At the end of the day they reflect the mindset towards governance, he said. He added, The bottomline is: Are we going to just inherit problems, multiply them, pass them on, or are we going to deal with some of them and probably leave the people who come after us better off. According to the latest study conducted by Market Growth Analysis the global market for precision medicine is anticipate grow manifold, reflecting a robust CAGR of over XX% during 2018 to 2025. Rapid augmentation of the medicine industry across the globe will certainly benefit the global market for precision medicine. In addition, factors such as growing infrastructural development, higher investments, streamlined drug approval systems along with companion diagnostics are expected to favor the overall market growth during the assessment period. Cost-effective DNA profiling and increasing prevalence of carcinogenic diseases worldwide are additional factors that are projected to propel the market growth. Moreover, apt storage of genome data is of great significance to the global market for precision medicine as demand for data medicare is on the rise. However, acute data storage capacity, data privacy breach and discrepancies in funding systems and hefty price tag of personalized drugs may deter the market growth in the near future. Request Report For Sample: http://marketgrowthanalysis.com/reports/sample/436 The global market for precision medicine has been categorized into various parent segments that are further segmented into smaller sub-divisions. On the basis of technology, next-gen sequencing, bioinformatics and drug discovery technology are expected to be the technologies highlighting the expanding the market width in forthcoming years. Based on applications, the oncology segment is expected to witness an overwhelming growth and is estimated to reach US$ XX Billion over 2025, reflecting a staggering XX% CAGR. This is primarily owing to increasing prevalence of tumor-related disease amongst the global geriatric population. On the other hand, increasing cases of arthritis will favor the growth of immunology segment, which is expected to surpass US$ XX Million in revenues by 2025 end. Get Request for Toc: http://marketgrowthanalysis.com/reports/toc/436 Vendor News Key players operating in the global market for precision medicine include Eli Lilly And Company, Novartis AG, AstraZeneca and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. 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The US and Canada will be the heavyweights of the global market owing to the existence of well-established medical industries in both the countries. In Europe, the market is expected to witness a steady growth and will increase its revenues charts close to US$ XX Million, riding on a healthy CAGR of over XX% during the assessment period. This is largely due to the increasing demand for precision medicines in countries such as France, UK, Italy and Germany. The Asia Pacific region is another region which is considered to be full of business potentials. The region is projected to increase at over XX% CAGR to reach approximately US$ XX Million by 2025 end. The market in APAC will be heavily dominated by Japan, while, India and China will compete for the second spot. Likewise, the in Latin America the market is expected to surge at a pace in terms of revenue over 2025. However, MEA will witness a sluggish growth of the market which is attributed to the lack of initiatives for conductive extensive research and development activities. Make an enquiry before Buying: http://marketgrowthanalysis.com/reports/buy/436 The army celebrates January 15 as Army Day every year as it was on this day that the first Indian general took charge of the Indian Army. General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) took over as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949. The first two chiefs of the army after Independence were British. Cariappa replaced the last British commander General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher who served in the top position from January 1, 1948 to January 15 1949. Buchers predecessor General Sir Robert McGregor Macdonald Lockhart served as the chief from Aug 15, 1947 to December 31. Cariappa, fondly known as Kipper, was only 49 when he took charge of the army. He served as army chief for a full four years, retiring on January 16, 1953. During the partition, he played a key role in reaching an amicable settlement for the division of the army between India and Pakistan. He was then a member of the army sub-committee of the Forces Reconstitution Committee. He was elevated to the five-star rank of Field Marshal in April 1986, in recognition of his distinguished military service. Only three military officers have held the five-star rank: Cariappa, Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. 10 things about Army Day 1. The Army Day parade, held at the Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment, is one of the chief highlights of the celebrations. The army chief takes the salute and inspects the parade led by the General Officer Commanding, HQs Delhi Area. The other two service chiefs also attend the parade every year and take salute. This parade is also a part of the Republic Day parade. 2. Apart from the three service chiefs, Indias first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat will also attend the parade this year and take salute. Rawat took charge as CDS on December 31. He heads the department of military affairs and is also the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services. 3. The parade ground is one of the largest such grounds in Delhi. It was named after Cariappa in December 2016 in honour of the Field Marshal. The Cariappa Parade Ground hosts several ceremonial events every year, with the Army Day parade topping the list. 4. The army chief gives away gallantry awards to soldiers and unit citations to different battalions for outstanding and sustained performance during operations and also peace time. 5. On Wednesday, 15 soldiers will be decorated with gallantry awards while 18 battalions will get unit citations. 6. Recipients of Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra (the highest wartime and peacetime gallantry awards, respectively) participate in the Army Day parade every year. 7. The military hardware to be showcased at Wednesdays parade includes infantry combat vehicle BMP-2K, K9 Vajra-T artillery guns, locally built Dhanush towed guns, T-90 main battle tanks and the short span bridging system. 8. The parade will consist of 18 different contingents and will also feature a combat display in which soldiers simulate action in enemy territory. 9. A lady officer will be the Parade Adjutant for the first time in the history of the parade. A fourth generation soldier, Captain Taniya Shergil was commissioned into the Corps of Signals two years ago. The parade adjutant plays an important role in directing and conducting the parade. 10.The army chief hosts a traditional reception at his official residence on Rajaji Marg as part of the celebrations. The reception or at home is attended by the President, the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, top officers of the armed forces, former army chiefs and defence attaches of foreign countries posted in Delhi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Banks have called for legislative changes to allow them to better deal with mortgage holders who are separated. One in 10 of those behind on their home-loan payments are couples who have split up, and these are among the most difficult arrears cases to resolve, according to the banks. Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has called for new laws that would allow a court to impose a debt resolution on a non-cooperating borrower who is part of a couple. It also wants a change in legislation to allow banks to pursue a borrower who will not sign up to a debt deal when the partner has reached a deal with the bank. Often it is the ex-wife who is co-operating and still in the home with the children while the husband has left, according to mortgage arrears campaigners. Legal and regulatory complexities around dealing with separated couples in arrears meant lenders currently adopt a case-by-case approach, the BPFI said. Potential new solutions could include treating each party as a single borrower with the repayment capacity assessed on an individual basis, but with both borrowers remaining liable for the outstanding debt. Another option is to offer short-term alternative repayment arrangements if only one party is engaging. Brian Hayes, chief executive of the banking lobby group, called for regulatory and legal changes to help separated borrowers who are in arrears. Central Bank regulations could be changed to help the engaging party and the one who is not co-operating to find a workable solution. The banking body also suggested the personal insolvency legislation could be changed to allow a lender to pursue a co-borrower who refuses to co-operate or sign up for a deal. Changes should be made, the banks suggest, to allow court-approved agreements to be put in place that override the current scope non-cooperating borrowers have to veto an agreement. The BPFI said consideration should be given to amending the provisions of the Mediation Act 2017 to oblige solicitors in family law cases to also include the issue of the mortgage as part of the mediation stage in a separation. The solutions have been prompted by queries to the banks by Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath. Mr Hayes said he had written to the Central Bank, the Insolvency Service, the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice and Equality as well as MABS with the proposed suggestions. "We all wish to see the outstanding level of mortgage arrears reduced as effectively and quickly as possible which is why we will be hoping for a constructive response," he said. A man who police suspect strangled a 16-year-old suburban Chicago girl in 1976 may have killed as many as a dozen young women and plotted to kill others before he died during a fatal knife attack on a teenage boy, a detective investigating the case said Tuesday. When we start digging to see common threads (in missing persons cases), there are nine that were aware of and that number could go up to 12, Lisle Police Detective Chris Loudon said of his investigation into Bruce Lindahl, who has been linked by DNA evidence to the 1976 slaying of Pamela Maurer. That total raises the chilling prospect that from the 1970s until his death in 1981, Lindahl may have been abducting, raping and killing women and girls without raising suspicions in various suburban police departments. Just as unnerving is the evidence that women who fled his grasp by pure luck or their own actions may have narrowly escaped death. Loudon told of the time that police pulled over a car Lindahl was driving to discover an unconscious woman bleeding from a deep gash in her head. They said, What are you doing? and he said he was taking her to the hospital, Loudon said. But he was going in the wrong direction. Rather than let him drive off, the police had an ambulance take the woman to the hospital, where an examination revealed she had been sexually assaulted. The woman did not remember anything about what happened after Lindahl gave her a sip of something at a party, so no charges were ever filed in the case, Loudon said. But the detective said hes confident Lindahl was driving to a remote spot to kill the woman and dump her body. Lindahl was 29 when he died during a fatal knife attack on 18-year-old Charles Huber; he inadvertently severed a major artery in his own leg and bled to death. Loudon said the scene where their bodies were found suggested that Lindahl may have planned to also kill Hubers girlfriend who was sleeping a few feet away in another room. The cops back then thought, and I think it makes sense, that he was going to kill Huber and then kill the girlfriend and blame the deaths on each other, he said. The case of Debra Colliander suggests another close call for another woman. It was Colliander who reported that Lindahl abducted her from a suburban shopping mall, took her back to his apartment and raped her before she escaped. Days before she was to testify at Lindahls rape trial, she disappeared and her body wasnt found buried in a shallow grave until after Lindahls death. It was only in trying to retrace Lindahls steps in the Maurer investigation that detectives found in a report that a woman had told police someone had tried to abduct her from the same mall on the same day Colliander vanished. Then there were the stories from women who dated Lindahl. Some said he would hand them a knife and tell them to pretend to attack him so that he could show them self-defense. Loudon said he suspects those play fights were part of a ruse to kill the women and make it look like he was simply defending himself. While he is hopeful that DNA evidence will link Lindahl to other crimes, Loudon acknowledges it is only in the case of Maurer that such evidence has been found. But there are plenty of coincidences. When Lindahl lived in the Lisle area, women there were disappearing. About the time Lindahl moved to the Aurora area, women stopped disappearing from the Lisle area and started disappearing from closer to his new home, Loudon said. He said the body of a young woman was found about a block from the spot where Maurers body was found. And the day Lindahl is believed to have abducted Maurer, he tried but failed to convince another girl to get into his car in a neighboring community. Investigators are running down new tips received since Mondays announcement, and are trying to identify several women whose photographs many of them nude were discovered in Lindahls apartment after his death. One of those photos appears to show Deborah McCall, a Downers Grove high school student who vanished in 1979 and whose body has never been found. In some of the photographs, the young women look terrified. Others look like they are posing voluntarily, with not a hint of fear on their faces. But a story about Colliander is a reminder that those faces cannot be trusted. Colliander described to police how Lindahl ordered her into a lewd pose while he took photographs. She said he was saying to her, Why arent you looking like you are having fun? Loudon said. RICHMOND Virginia Democrats are on their way to making it easier to vote in elections. The newly empowered Democrats have made voting rights one of their top priorities this legislative session. And on Tuesday, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee advanced what is essentially early voting permitting registered voters to vote absentee in any election without having to provide a reason for voting before Election Day. The committee voted 11-4, with two Republicans joining the majority Democrats. The bill heads to the Senate floor. Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, the patron of Senate Bill 111, said she started introducing an early voting bill more than a decade ago. The Senate panel supported a few other campaign finance and voting bills, including SB 217 from Sen. David Suetterlein, which would require lawmakers and those holding statewide office to report contributions over $1,000 received during a period beginning Jan. 1 and ending the day before the first day of the regular session of the General Assembly. Currently, contributions received in January of nonelection years dont have to be disclosed until July 15, which is after the regular legislative session concludes and new laws take effect. Suetterlein, a Republican from Roanoke County, said donations from people perhaps trying to influence state policy deserve scrutiny. That money may be used for purposes of Facebook advertising for legislation we might be doing, all sorts of things, Suetterlein said. Howell worried lawmakers already have their plates full with work they need to accomplish before the start of session, and this only adds to the load. Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, said its important for the public to be aware of if donors are trying to buy lawmakers votes. Its important for the people to know who dumps money into us, Peake said. The committee also backed Suetterleins SB 57 that would extend electronic campaign finance reporting to all boards of supervisors, city council and local constitutional offices in the commonwealth. Some senators questioned whether it would be difficult for elected officials in rural localities without broadband to file electronically. Suetterlein said he didnt think it was unreasonable to ask them to go to a library a few times a year to fill out the forms. Also, he pointed out, he notices a lot of elected officials in small communities have social media accounts. These folks arent going to say they arent going to accept emails from constituents, Suetterlein said. The panel delayed voting on some campaign finance bills, including one proposal to cap contributions to General Assembly candidates to $2,500 by individuals and $5,000 for PACs and statewide candidates to $5,000 by individuals and $10,000 for PACs. Peake didnt think the bill was worded tightly enough to prevent donors from circumventing the limits by funneling it through other groups to get to a candidate. The committee will also revisit a bill from Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, prohibiting candidates or campaign committees from accepting contributions from a public service corporation. But that was not before a debate broke out. Petersen said he would be frank, that his bill is targeted at the two regulated electric utilities. Petersen has been a major critic of Dominion Energy, the largest corporate contributor in Virginia politics, which he said has been able to influence state policy to the detriment of residents. Youre putting this bill in because you have personal beef with Dominion and want us to share in your problem? Sen. Lionell Spruill, D-Chesapeake, asked. No, Petersen responded. Emily Little, a resident of Charlottesville, spoke in favor of the bill, saying its hard to regulate somebody who gives you a lot of money. If you think that some moneys going to buy some of these votes up here, youre absolutely wrong, said Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania. Spruill asked Little if she thought money should be taken out of politics. Little said, definitely. Bless your heart, bless your heart, Spruill said. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A college student who told the New York Times about her questionable interactions with former Erie Art Museum director Joshua R. Helmer says that she is glad Helmer is no longer in his position but that the museum should have acted sooner. He disrespected me, Asla Alkhafaji told the Erie Times-News about Helmer. Before he led the Erie institution, Helmer was the assistant director of interpretation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where current and former employees also told the New York Times he fostered personal relationships with more junior-level women while holding out opportunities to advance their careers. He separated from the Philadelphia museum in early 2018 for undisclosed reasons. Alkhafaji, who was 19 in 2018 when she says Helmer, then the Erie museums executive director, pressured her to take his phone number and invited her to his house, told the Times-News that his behavior was not normal. I dont think a boss who is 29 years old inviting a 19-year-old lady to his house is normal at all, she told the paper. After Alkhafaji, a Gannon University student who was completing a work-study job at the art museum, rebuffed Helmers text invitation to visit his home with a cool back deck, she said the directors attitude toward her changed. He became cold and later told her she was the most useless intern we have, she says. Alkhafaji told the Times-News she ultimately met with members of the Erie museums board of directors about Helmer, requesting an apology because I did not do anything wrong to him and he was disrespecting me. Alkhafaji, who moved to the United States from Iraq, told the Times-News that she moved here to get a better future but that "nobody in the world treated me this way. As of Monday, Helmer, 31 was no longer employed at the Erie Art Museum, according to a statement posted on the museums Facebook page. The notice came days after the Times article published, alleging that Helmer entered into relationships with more female subordinate employees while dangling chances for professional advancement. He told the New York Times that the allegations against him were a result of office politics. You make enemies, he said. The Times article prompted outrage in both communities. In Erie, a Change.org petition calling for Helmers firing garnered more than 3,000 signatures. In Philadelphia, museum staff also wore red buttons reading We Believe Women to work and spoke out on social media using the hashtag #MuseumMeToo. A petition expressing solidarity with the women in the Times article and calling for structural change has been signed by more than 350 current and former Philadelphia Museum of Art staff members, including a handful of highly regarded museum curators. READ MORE: Mayor Kenney wants Philadelphia Museum of Art to revamp harassment policies after scandal involving former manager Honestly, they should have terminated him from his position immediately, Alkhafaji told the Times-News. Surprisingly, nothing happened, and I dont know why. I have no clue. Maybe hes good at his job or whatever. But, after what a lot of women talked about, I think they do have to take action not need to, they have to because its important. What about other delays? In Europe, you can use a simple calculation to decide whether to take the train or fly, says Nadia Elizabeth, a U.K.-based travel blogger and frequent train rider in Europe. If the train takes less than five hours, its almost always better than flying because thats the minimum time youll spend mucking about on even the shortest intra-Europe flight. You have to factor in travel time to the airport, security delays and other airport hassles. And remember, unlike an airplane, the train usually takes you right to the center of town. First Cross Racial United Methodist Pastor to Keynote the Allentown Community Martin Luther King Service NEWS PROVIDED BY Allentown United Methodist Church Jan. 15, 2020 TRENTON, N.J., Jan. 15, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Greater Allentown Ministerial Association to host the Allentown Community Martin Luther King Service on Sunday, January 19, 2020, at 2:30 PM at Allentown United Methodist Church, 23 Church Street, Allentown, New Jersey 08501. The keynote speaker is Rev. Dr. Jessica Davis, the senior pastor of Allentown United Methodist Church in Allentown, New Jersey. Dr. Davis is the first cross-racial appointment to Allentown United Methodist Church as the first African American Pastor of Allentown UMC in its over 200-year history. Prior to serving Allentown UMC, she served as the first female pastor of the historic St. Paul United Methodist Church in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. Dr. Davis will be sharing from her published speech, "Shofar of Justice." The following is an excerpt: "We have gathered here today to remember and celebrate the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to keep his American voice alive. First, I want to take this opportunity to remind each of you to never forget the fifteen-year struggle behind the creation of the United States federal holiday, 'Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.' "In 1968, Michigan Congressman John Conyers introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King's assassination on April 4th on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The bill stalled in 1968, and in response, six million Americans signed petitions to endorse the holiday. Then, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm joined Congressman Conyers and resubmitted the legislation. They submitted this legislation session after session until 1983. Congress finally passed the holiday legislation and the late President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983. "Let us never forget the struggle or we indeed will be destined to repeat it." The Greater Allentown Ministerial Association is composed of clergy from the different churches of Allentown and the surrounding areas who meet to plan worship services for the community and discuss matters of common concern for the churches and community. SOURCE: Allentown United Methodist Church CONTACT: Dr. Jessica Davis, Senior Pastor, 609-259-7392, drjessicadavis@gmail.com Related Links http://www.allentownumcnj.org [January 14, 2020] Global Transaction Monitoring Solutions Market 2019-2023| 15% CAGR Projection Over the Next Five Years| Technavio The transaction monitoring solutions market size is poised to grow at a CAGR of nearly 15% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005581/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global transaction monitoring solutions market 2019-2023. (Photo: Business Wire) With more people becoming digitally connected and the growing adoption of online transactions, personal identity and data control have become a primary concern for online retailers. Moreover, the number of cyber thefts by cybercriminals and hackers is growing at an alarming rate. Such cases are frequently reported across the world and cost enterprises several billions of dollars each year. The high risks of identity theft can be eliminated with the use of a decentralized identity such as transaction monitoring solutions for identity management. Thus, the growing need for protection against online frauds will fuel market growth during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31278 As per Technavio, the emergence of advanced technologies in transaction monitoring will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over th forecast period. This research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2019-2023. Transaction Monitoring Solutions Market: Emergence of Advanced Technologies in Transaction Monitoring The transaction monitoring solutions market is witnessing the development of advanced technologies that aim to enhance these solutions. Vendors are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in transaction monitoring solutions to make services smarter and more secure. Smart AI-based transaction monitoring solutions have features such as network threat detection, intrusion detection, object classification, and behavioral analysis. Thus, the integration of technologies such as AI and blockchain with transaction monitoring solutions will drive market growth during the forecast period. "Other factors such as the growth of quantum computing and the need for multi-factor authentication with transaction monitoring will have a significant impact on the growth of the transaction monitoring solutions market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Transaction Monitoring Solutions Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the transaction monitoring solutions market by deployment (cloud-based and on-premises), application (anti-money laundering, customer identity management, fraud detection and prevention, and compliance management), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The North American region held the largest share of the market in 2018, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America, respectively. The growth of the transaction monitoring solutions market in North America can be attributed to factors such as the presence of established vendors and the increasing adoption of online payments in BFSI, retail, healthcare, and government sectors in the US and Canada. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Geographical Segmentation Regional comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005581/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have proposed a series of media restrictions that would make real-time reporting impossible at Trumps impeachment trial. Sheryl Gay Stolberg tweeted some of the proposed restrictions: NEW: Senate is considering new restrictions on reporters covering Trump impeachment trial, including additional security sweeps. Standing Committee representing reporters "vigorously objects." Statement forthcoming. Excerpt below: pic.twitter.com/R4Zs8YEZOa Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) January 14, 2020 Among the limits that Senate Republicans want to put on reporters is a ban on electronic devices in the Senate chamber, which means that there will be no live tweets, videos, or reports from the Senate while the trial is going. Reporters will be limited to pen and paper only, which would make real-time reporting of what is going on inside the chamber away from the camera impossible. Speaking of cameras, Republicans only want one camera with no audio present when Democrats officially deliver the articles of impeachment. Reporters would also have no access to the Senators as they come and go from the chamber, which as anyone who watches cable news understands, is one of the prime methods for reporters to speak to Senators and get reactions. Reporters will also not be allowed to accompany Senators to the elevators. The Republicans are proposing a media blackout that would limit the coverage to one Senate approved feed of the impeachment trial. Mitch McConnell isnt just trying to run a sham trial. He is trying to stop the American people from seeing the truth behind the sham. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Over the past years, leading cement maker has Holcim Philippines, Inc. has launched new products and services that help local builders deliver high-quality structures and grow its business. Aside from these, the company has also focused on digital innovations that enhance customer experience and capture opportunities online. Leading cement maker Holcim Philippines, Inc. has steadily introduced digital innovations such as online customer portal Easybuild to improve its service to business partners. Among Holcim Philippines successful digital tools is online customer service portal called Easybuild, which is used by more than half of its 1,200 business partners nationwide. The latest version launched in 2018 provides customers 24-hour connection with the company for a hassle-free experience in placing orders, checking delivery status, reviewing account history and credit standing among others. Easybuild also allows customers to settle their transactions with Holcim, which partnered with Metrobank for the online payment platform. The company plans to tie up with more financial institutions to provide customers payment options. Customers point to how Easybuild lessens administrative tasks and smoothens their transactions with the company. For example, Easybuild sends SMS and e-mails to users once an order is confirmed. This allows customers to track down their orders, removing the need for constant follow-ups. Easybuild also provides an option to have orders delivered to their preferred sites. Easybuild has made business transactions easier. You can access all the information you need and place an order with just a click, said Cheeny Jacob, administrative manager of ready-mix concrete producer JJ Horizon based in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte Rowell Dy, owner of AGI Hardware in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, could not agree more. He said, EasyBuild makes it easier to find the products you want to purchase, place an order, and monitor them unlike before where you need to go through a lot of paper works. The latest version of the customer portal comes with a mobile app version, allowing mobile-friendly features and better accessibility to Holcim customers. I can say that the app helped us in stock and performance monitoring, especially since all the information we need is already in one platform, said Roselyn Fung, owner of J+ Hardware in Lala, Lanao del Norte. We do not have good access to the Internet here in Ilocos Sur, so I use the mobile app version of Easybuild. Instead of wasting a lot of time placing and monitoring my orders, I can access all the information I need using the app. In less than two minutes, you can already place your order, said Gil Tapaoan, owner of hardware GVT Trading. Holcim Philippines pioneered the online customer platform in the cement industry in 2002 and sees more opportunities in using digital tools to improve engagement with current partners and reach more clients. The company recently piloted listing its products on digital marketplace Beam and Go to reach overseas Filipinos who are interested in purchasing construction materials for home building and repairs. Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President for Sales William Sumalinog said customers can count on the company to continuously introduce more innovative products and tools that respond to their needs. The changing profile of the market and our customer requires us to adapt and innovate. We are committed to these innovations to better serve our customers and grow our business, he added. A boy of 14 suffered a broken leg when mother-of-two Nicole Lyons, 25, ran him over for playing knock and run at her home in Tarvin, Cheshire A boy of 14 suffered a broken leg when a young mother ran him over for playing knock and run at her home. The youngster and three friends had been carrying out the childhood prank on residents in a Cheshire village. But when they knocked on Nicole Lyonss front door, she shouted from an upstairs window that she would slit their throats. Soon afterwards the mother-of-two drove her partners powerful BMW at the boys, hitting two of them. One suffered a broken leg, while another injured his back and was left with cuts and bruises after being thrown into the air. Two were unharmed. The youngster whose leg was broken needed emergency surgery and spent six weeks in plaster, Chester Crown Court was told. Police who arrested Lyons, 25, found a draft of a threatening Facebook post on her mobile to a local residents group that said: Just so you know boys you messed with the wrong house. Do not come near my house again. You will have your throats ripped out, Ive seen your faces. I will be speaking to your mummys and daddys [sic]. Lyons narrowly avoided jail yesterday after admitting grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, assault, failing to stop and failing to report an accident. Judge Simon Berkson told the mother, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving, the boys were innocent victims of [you] using the vehicle as a weapon. He added: They were playing a teenage game that has been played in this country [for decades]. Lyons narrowly avoided jail yesterday after admitting grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, assault, failing to stop and failing to report an accident. Pictured: Nicole Lyons arriving at court This was a very dangerous piece of deliberate bad driving and you are fortunate the injuries were not worse than they were. The court heard teenagers in the area had been playing knock and run in the days leading up to the attack on January 2 last year. Lyons, who apologised to the boys as she left the dock, was given 20 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and a two-year driving ban The prank, also traditionally known as knock down ginger, involves ringing a doorbell and running off before the homeowner answers. Myles Wilson, prosecuting, said the group of boys ran away after targeting Lyonss home in the village of Tarvin. But 15 minutes later she borrowed her partners BMW 4 Series to go to the shop. On her return she spotted the group at the entrance of the housing estate where she lived and accelerated at them. All four wheels of the BMW mounted the pavement and the car hit two of the boys as they tried to flee. Lyons, who initially denied threatening the boys, claimed they had been swearing at her and she had only driven slowly at them. But photos from the scene revealed tyre marks on the pavement that contradicted her account and she eventually admitted driving dangerously. Lyons, who apologised to the boys as she left the dock, was given 20 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and a two-year driving ban. In a victim impact statement, the injured child said he still suffered anxiety. Another said he hadnt been able to get Lyons angry face and noise of the engine out of his head. Wayne Jackson, defending, admitted his client had over-reacted. Fukushima wild boar Toru Hanai/Reuters The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is considered the second-worst nuclear accident in history. According to a new study, animal populations are thriving in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone, which was abandoned after the accident. The animals are multiplying in the absence of humans, despite the lingering presence of radiation. Visit Businessinsider.com for more stories. The villages outside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan are relatively quiet. In the town of Okuma, elderly men walk the streets searching for trash or fallen branches to pick up. Residents buy newspapers and snacks at the local convenience store. But in some nearby communities, humans still aren't allowed back. Almost nine years ago, on March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami caused three nuclear meltdowns and multiple hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima power plant. The incident forced 150,000 people to evacuate across a 440-square-mile area. Although many neighborhoods remain empty today, wild animals like boar, snow monkeys, and red foxes seem to be thriving, even in the presence of lingering radiation. For a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, researchers observed more than 20 species on camera over the course of 120 days from May 2016 to February 2017. "Our results represent the first evidence that numerous species of wildlife are now abundant throughout the Fukushima Evacuation Zone, despite the presence of radiological contamination," James Beasley, a wildlife biologist who co-authored the study, said in a press release. Here's what the researchers saw. The Fukushima disaster is considered the world's second-worst nuclear accident, behind Chernobyl. Fukushima REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Only two disasters have ever been designated "level 7" nuclear accidents the classification used by the International Atomic Energy Agency for major events with widespread health and environmental effects. The 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was one; Fukushima was the other. Story continues The latter released plumes of radioactive material into the air, putting residents at risk of developing some forms of cancer if they stayed in the area. Some of the evacuation orders have been lifted, but only about 5% of the original population has chosen to return. Okuma Fukushima Lars Nicolaysen/Getty Images In early 2019, Japanese authorities determined that radiation levels in parts of Okuma (a town that had about 10,000 residents at the time of the Fukushima disaster) were low enough for people to return. The government has also partially lifted the evacuation orders in Namie, allowing around 21,000 former residents to reoccupy certain areas of the town if they want to. But only about 1,000 people have moved back. Some former residents remain skeptical about safety, while others find it too painful to live among the demolished homes and empty school buildings. A team of researchers from Fukushima University and the University of Georgia divided the current evacuation zone into three parts. Fukushima exclusion zone Phillip C Lyons et al. On the map above, beige represents areas that were not evacuated and are currently occupied. Radiation there never surpassed normal background levels. Green represents areas in which people were evacuated but allowed to return starting in 2016, after remediation efforts were complete. Red indicates zones the Japanese government has labeled as "difficult-to-return." Radiation levels measured there have been high enough to cause skin cancer, so humans are unlikely to be allowed back for several more years. The researchers used that information to study how wild animals are faring in Fukushima. Fukushima Badger Phillip C Lyons et al. They snapped more than 267,000 photos of wildlife there, using cameras stationed at 106 locations. For the most part, the animals stuck to their normal behaviors. Fukushima Wild hare Phillip C Lyons et al. Nocturnal raccoons were active at night, for example, while diurnal pheasants were active during the day. The analysis showed that wild boars were three to four times more likely to be found in the deserted zone than in the areas occupied by humans. Fukushima Wild boar Phillip C Lyons et al. The boars were spotted more than 46,000 times, making them the most abundant species observed in the disaster region. More than half of the sightings took place in the "difficult-to-return" zone where humans aren't allowed. In Fukushima's abandoned towns, wile boars roam the streets, forage for food, and tear apart dilapidated homes. They seem to have multiplied fast since humans left, the researchers wrote. (Wild boars have one of the highest reproductive rates of all large mammals.) Some residents of the occupied zones hunt the boars to restrict their population growth. They've also reported that the boars no longer seem scared of humans. "They stare squarely at us as if saying, 'What in the world are you doing?'" Shoichiro Sakamoto, a resident of the town Tomioka, told Reuters. "It's like our town has fallen under wild boars' control." Japanese serow goat-like mammals with long legs like antelope seem to prefer the inhabited zone. Fukushima Japanese serow Phillip C Lyons et al. The animals typically avoid areas with lots of humans, but the researchers suspect that the serow are steering clear of the wild boar. Another possible explanation is that the serow had trouble surviving in the abandoned zones, where radiation is higher. Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) preferred the restricted zones. Fukushima monkeys Phillip C Lyons et al. Red foxes, by contrast, were somewhat evenly distributed across all three zones. The researchers didn't test the animals for radiation, but they think many received significant doses based on where they were spotted. Fukushima Raccoon dog Phillip C Lyons et al. Research has shown that radiation from the Fukushima disaster contributed to DNA damage in earthworms, barn swallows, mice, and wild boar. Scientists also think radioactive contaminants may be interfering with the reproduction of goshawks, a type of raptor. But in general, animal populations appear to be growing. A similar situation has arisen in Chernobyl, where scientists believe a lack of humans has given rise to a diverse wildlife community. Read the original article on Business Insider Janet Hook Janet Hook covers national politics for the Los Angeles Times. She returned to the Washington bureau in 2018 after spending eight years covering politics and Congress for the Wall Street Journal. Her first stint with The Times was in 1995-2010 covering Congress and politics. She is a native of Long Island, N.Y., and a graduate of Harvard University. She has lived in the Washington area since 1980 except for one blissful year in Palo Alto on the John S. Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists. In a stroke, Larry Fink became one of the most powerful champions of green investing in global finance. But behind his new sustainable-investing push at BlackRock lies an uncomfortable truth: going green won't be easy or quick. BlackRock founder Larry Fink has sent a powerful signal to markets - but how much can his own company's funds apply the new climate change mantra? Credit:Bloomberg Today BlackRock funds hold a 6.7 per cent stake in Exxon Mobil, for instance, as well as 6.9 per cent in Chevron and 6 per cent in Glencore. And, in all likelihood, they'll keep holding them, for the same reason that BlackRock is so big and successful: two thirds of its roughly $US7 trillion ($10 trillion) in assets are squirreled away in funds that passively track market indexes, rather than actually pick stocks or bonds. ST. LOUIS (AP) One day after St. Louis top prosecutor filed a federal lawsuit alleging a concerted and racist conspiracy to push her out of office, other black female prosecutors from across the U.S. defended Kim Gardner, saying theyve faced the same resistance in their own communities. Six prosecutors, already in St. Louis for a universitys panel discussion, joined a rally Tuesday at a downtown courthouse to show support for Gardner. The St. Louis circuit attorney on Monday filed what she called an unprecedented federal civil rights lawsuit accusing entrenched interests including the city, the police union and others of intentionally impeding her efforts to reform racist practices, in part by seeking her ouster. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. Gardner became St. Louis first-ever black circuit attorney when she took office in January 2017. She is among several progressive prosecutors elected in recent years who have increasingly focused on issues such as reducing mass incarceration, providing drug and mental health treatment and holding police accountable. Her methods have rankled some in St. Louis criminal justice community. Other black female prosecutors said they, too, have received pushback. The vitriol toward black women is especially problematic, said Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who won re-election in 2018 as Baltimore's top prosecutor, despite a tenure that, like Gardner's, has been characterized by a rising homicide rate and discord with police. Ive experienced it myself," Mosby said. "Ive been in office for five years and Im here to let her know that shes not alone. Suffolk County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Rachel Rollins said the establishment often tries to marginalize black female prosecutors. When we point out that institutional racism and class-ism are alive and well in our criminal system, they call us angry, crazy, desperate or frantic, a dog whistle that is all too familiar for us, Rollins said. We are not deterred and let them keep talking because we arent going anywhere. Story continues Gardner's lawsuit names the city government for which she works. Jacob Long, spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson, who like Gardner is a Democrat, called the lawsuit meritless. Jeff Roorda, the business manager of the St. Louis Police Officers Association who is named in the suit along with the union, said pushback against Gardner is because she is the worst prosecutor in the United States, not because of her race or gender. He said during a news conference that her policies have allowed killers and other violent criminals to go free and contributed to St. Louis worst-in-the-nation per capita homicide rate. He was particularly perturbed by Gardner citing the Ku Klux Klan Act, enacted during Reconstruction largely to help protect freed slaves from violence. The lawsuit says the act was adopted to address precisely this scenario: a racially motivated conspiracy to deny the civil rights of racial minorities by obstructing a government officials efforts to ensure equal justice under law for all. The lawsuit cites a litany of racial problems involving St. Louis police, including a watchdog groups report last year that identified several officers accused of posting racist, violent or prejudiced messages on Facebook. It cites how a black undercover officer was allegedly attacked by four white colleagues who mistook him for a protester during a 2017 demonstration, and how the police union provided lawyers after the officers were federally indicted. The suit also notes Roordas support of Darren Wilson, the white officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Wilson was not charged with a crime and he later resigned. Gardner is scheduled to be deposed Wednesday in the criminal case against William Tisaby, the private investigator she hired in early 2018 to investigate former Gov. Eric Greitens. Gardner charged the Republican governor with invasion of privacy for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman during an extra-marital affair. The charge was eventually dropped but Greitens resigned in June 2018. In March 2018, Greitens' attorneys accused Tisaby of lying during a deposition. Last June, Special Prosecutor Gerard Carmody indicted Tisaby for perjury. Tisaby denied wrongdoing. Tisaby's indictment raised concerns about whether Gardner was complicit in his alleged crime. The indictment said Gardner failed to correct his inaccuracies or report them, and that she made incorrect statements to defense lawyers and a judge. She said she did nothing illegal or unethical. Gardner was not indicted but the investigation remains open. Roorda said Gardner's lawsuit is an effort to distract from her own legal troubles. Make no mistake: This is the last act of a desperate woman who is trying to silence her critics, Roorda said. CPPCC city committee chief reviews 2019 work By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-01-15 10:47 Over 1,300 expats participated in activities held by the citys political advisory body in 2019, said Dong Yunhu, chairman of the CPPCC (The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) Shanghai Committee. At the 3rd session of the 13th CPPCC Shanghai Committee which opened on Tuesday, January 14, Dong delivered a report on the Committees work throughout 2019. According to him, last year, over 100 foreign affairs activities were organized by the Committee, involving more than 1,300 expats. In the forms of seminars, roundtable meetings, open days and others, the activities introduced the development of New China over the past seven decades and the system of the CPPCC, enabling foreigners to have a deeper understanding of Chinas political system and development path. Speaking of the challenges threatening Hong Kongs prosperity and stability, Dong said the Committee members in Hong Kong, over the past months, had made positive voices on the global stage and fought against violence to stop chaos and restore order. In addition, the 15th edition of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Cooperation and Development Seminar was held in November 2019, where participants reached consensus on continuing to support Shanghais and HKs roles in Chinas reform and opening-up in the new era. The year of 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of Macaos return to China. For eight consecutive years, youngsters from Macao were organized by the CPPCC Shanghai Committee to participate in an annual visiting program in Shanghai. Through their internship and social practices, the young Macanese learned more about the countrys national systems. The friendly relationship between the CPPCC and expats and overseas Chinese has always been treasured by the local committee. Held in the Shanghai Expo Centre, the 3rd session of the 13th CPPCC Shanghai Committee will conclude on January 18. Yorkshire-based bakery Cooplands has raised over 8,000 for The Trussell Trust through sales of its pork sausage rolls. The bakery raised 8,303 for The Trussell Trust, donating 5p from every purchase of its four sausage rolls for 1 deal to the charity from 20December to 3 January. The fundraising began after dad blogger LadBaby donated the proceeds from his Christmas number one I Love Sausage Rolls to the charity. No one should need a food bank in the UK this generous donation will help us continue to work with food banks. We know we can reach a future where everyone has enough money for the essentials, but we cant get there alone, said Richard Moody, fundraising director at The Trussell Trust. The charity aims to support food bank centres across the UK, provide emergency food to people locked in poverty, while also campaigning for change to end the need for food banks. Christmas holidays should mean fun and enjoying family time together, but knowing that some families are going without the food they need is heart-breaking. We loved watching LadBabys video and felt we could do something to support their fundraising aims, said Belinda Youngs, CEO at Cooplands. Our sausage rolls are a regional best-seller, so it seemed a fitting link, and we hope the money we raised will go towards The Trussell Trusts mission to protect every familys right to good food all year round. Sean Gutierrez, a member of the Sugar Land Fire Department and a 27-year volunteer with the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo, was recently elected 2020 Fair President. Outgoing Fair President Marie Pollard and the Fair board recently announced Gutierrez was elected to serve as the 84th President of the Fort Bend County Fair Association. Sean is an absolute constant at the Fort Bend County Fair, from operating a forklift to the master of ceremony duties, he has proven he can do it all, Pollard said in a press release. Gutierrez joined the Fort Bend County Fair Board of Directors in 2011 where he oversaw the Safety Committee, Clean Up and Set Up. Year after year, he oversees pre-fair set up of pens, banners and the transformation of the Fairgrounds. During the Fair days, Sean continues to be the heartbeat of staging, delivering, transporting, and troubleshooting of all events. Year-round, Sean can be found greeting guest at the Crawfish Boil, behind the mic helping announce at the Boots and Buckles Fishing tournament, on the squeeze gate at the Steer Tag In, or just about any Fair event to help it run smooth. Sean has been serving on the Executive Board for several years and continues to be active in the Fairs year-round operation, Pollard said. In 2017, Gutierrez was named the Texas Association of Fair and Events "Volunteer of the Year", an honor that recognizes all of the fairs, rodeos, and events held around the state including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, The State Fair of Texas, and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Sean earned the honor for his commitment, dedication, and complete selflessness when it comes to the work to put into the Fort Bend County Fair. As President, Gutierrez choice for the Fair theme is: Volunteers Make the Difference. As a high school student, Gutierrez began volunteering with the Missouri City Fire Department. Since then, he has worked for Sugar Land Fire Department where he currently serves as a Lieutenant. In March, he will mark 30 years of service to the City of Sugar Lands Fire Department. For the past eight years, Gutierrez has also served as a part-time firefighter for Fulshear/Simonton Fire Department. Gutierrez and his wife, Barbara, have two children and five grandchildren. The 2020 Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo is scheduled from September 25 to October 4, 2020. Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia and his government resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday, the news agency Tass reported, giving President Vladimir Putin new leeway to reshape the Kremlin to his liking and put loyalists in positions of power. The news came just after Putin had called for a national referendum on amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the state council, which currently has little weight. That move fueled speculation about Putins plans when his term ends in 2024. New Jersey Bill to End Religious Exemption for Vaccines Collapses in State Senate Religion will remain an acceptable reason for New Jersey parents to exempt their children from receiving vaccinations required to attend public schools, at least for now, after a controversial bill failed to pass in the state Senate. The New Jersey Senate Bill 2173 collapsed on Monday after its Democratic sponsors failed a second time to gather enough votes for its passage. The defeat came after a last-minute effort on Jan. 10 to secure a much-needed Republican vote. The proposed legislation was amended to allow private schools and daycare centers to admit unvaccinated children, which ultimately generated new opposition. The decision to keep religious belief as a valid reason for childhood vaccine exemption is considered a win for thousands of parents across the state, plenty of whom protested outside Statehouse in Trenton this Monday. According to immunization reports from the New Jersey Department of Health, more than 13,000 children ranging from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade remained unvaccinated for the 2018-2019 school year, citing religious reasons. Thank you, God! protesting parents cheered from the gallery above the Senate chamber after learning that the legislation fell one vote short, reported NJ Advance Media. Opponents decried the bill as an attempt to take away their rights as parents and their freedom of religious expression. Five states, namely California, Maine, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia, have banned using religious exemptions against childhood vaccinations. Following what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) described last year as the greatest measles outbreak since 1994, Maine, New York, and Washington amended their vaccination laws in the hope to reduce the risk of another major outbreak. Current immunization law in New Jersey requires babies and children to be vaccinated against more than a half-dozen diseases before they enroll in licensed child care programs and preschool. By the time they begin grade school, they need to receive nearly twice as many shots, including vaccines against measles, polio, tetanus, and whooping cough, among other infections. All college students will need a meningitis vaccine as well. The New Jersey vote on the vaccine bill came shortly after hundreds of students in Seattle, Washington, were barred from attending classes for failing to present vaccination record required by state law. Washington House Bill 1638 (pdf), which took effect in July 2019, removed personal and philosophical exemptions to MMR vaccines for every child at every public and private school, as well as every daycare center in the state. SANTA FE A Democratic state senator wants New Mexico one of the nations top oil-producing states to take a four-year break from issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing. Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez of Albuquerque pre-filed a proposal for the legislative session that calls for several state agencies to study the impacts of fracking and recommend new regulations. The ban on new permits would expire in mid-2024. It isnt clear whether the proposal will be considered in the coming session, which is largely dedicated to budget proposals and other agenda items approved by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But Sedillo Lopez said she hopes the legislation, Senate Bill 104, will generate public discussion, even if it isnt passed this year. State residents, she said, deserve a thorough analysis of how hydraulic fracturing affects the environment and public health. I think its really important for the state to take a breather and to look it, Sedillo Lopez said Tuesday. Opponents of the bill which was also introduced last year say it would strangle the states economic growth. An oil boom in southeastern New Mexico has allowed the state to ramp up spending on education and other services. Supporters of this bill better be willing to walk into every classroom in New Mexico and explain to families why they want to jeopardize one-third of the budget to appease radical environmentalists, said Larry Behrens of Power the Future, an advocacy group for the state energy industry. A ban on fracking would cost billions to our state and threaten more than 100,000 jobs, yet supporters will still drive to Santa Fe in their gas-powered cars and not think of their hypocrisy for even one moment. Sedillo Lopez said that her proposal would temporarily halt the issuance of new permits, not halt energy development already underway, and that opponents are overstating the financial impact. New Mexico is now the No. 3 producer of oil in the United States, with help from hydraulic fracturing and other techniques that have unlocked oil and gas buried in the Permian Basin. Fracking involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to extract oil and gas. 2019 Impact Awards Interdisciplinary 3D Printing Project Has Real-World Impact At Louisiana State University, an undergraduate student used 3D printing and a lot of ingenuity to create the first personalized human model for cancer research. Category: Education Futurists Institution: Louisiana State University Project: Project Phantom Project lead: Meagan Moore, undergraduate research scholar Tech lineup: Autodesk, BigRep, Human Solutions, KISSlicer, Rhinoceros, Simplify3D In addition to solving a significant problem in radiation therapy, undergraduate research scholar Meagan Moore utilized data from her research with Project Phantom to create science-based art. Most universities have dipped their toes into the 3D printing and makerspace waters, encouraging student innovators to develop prototypes of design ideas. But it is still uncommon for students, especially undergraduates, to get involved in the design of products that will have a significant impact in the real world. That is why the story of Louisiana State University undergraduate research scholar Meagan Moore stands out and has been recognized with a Campus Technology Impact Award. Working in the lab of Prof. Wayne Newhauser, the Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics, Moore 3D printed what the lab describes as the first personalized human model for testing radiation therapy. Her effort is an example of using fairly accessible technologies to build and potentially replace something used in the clinic to personalize patient cancer treatments. The interdisciplinary collaboration required to solve the engineering, design, 3D printing, and medical testing challenges involved in the project were a great learning experience for Moore. "For me, hearing the word no is just a way to find another way to yes," she said, "and sometimes, those tend to take you to projects and concepts that you never would have interacted with otherwise. I have a background in art and science, and I am doing a degree in engineering, and this project has allowed me to use every bit of my background." Here is the problem Newhauser's lab set out to solve: In radiation therapy, mannikins called "phantoms" are used as surrogates for human tissue to test radiation exposure, and to figure out the best angle to distribute a dose. However, anthropomorphic phantoms for radiation dosimetry are expensive (around $40,000), are available in only a few standard sizes, and are limited by geometric design. Personalized anthropomorphic phantoms could be useful for quality assurance in the clinic when treating a patient with non-standard anatomy such as medical implants, amputations or obesity. People of all body types get cancer, but no personalized full body phantoms exist. Previous students of Newhauser's had begun work on 3D printing of human anatomy to address this radiotherapy issue. "Meagan's big contribution has been to figure out how to print a life-sized, personalized replica of an actual person we scanned using 3D printing technologies," Newhauser explained. "There was a lot of work and ingenuity in practical engineering aspects to make this thing work," he noted. They had to be able to move it, so it couldn't be made of solid plastic or it would be too heavy. It had to be a shell they could fill with water, so it had to be water-tight, but they need to have measurement instruments inside to characterize the radiation beams. "Meagan powered through challenge after challenge on the technical engineering side," he said. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano shared this image of an ash cloud over Australia on Jan. 13, 2020. As the deadly Australian wildfires spread smoke around the world, astronauts in space are closely watching the burns advance. International Space Station commander and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano sent a series of tweets showing the environmental effects of the deadly bush fires, which have killed dozens of people in recent weeks and are now wrapping smog around major Australian cities, such as Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. NASA is tracking smoke spreading around the globe , which Parmitano could easily see from space. "An immense ash cloud covers Australia as we fly toward the sunset," Parmitano tweeted Monday (Jan. 13) , showing a thick cloud of dust and smoke covering the desert. More pictures from Parmitano showed the dust streaming over the ocean near Australia. "Australia fires: lives, hopes, dreams in ashes," he said in another tweet Sunday (Jan. 12). Related: Australia's Deadly Wildfires in Photos: The View from Space NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who just completed 300 consecutive days in space on her first space mission, also shared several pictures from orbit showing dust flying across Australia and smoke rising from several fires. "Australia. Our hearts and thoughts are with you," Koch tweeted Tuesday (Jan. 14). Thunderstorms induced by the wildfires are accelerating the smoke plume in its path around the world. The smoke is now likely to arrive back in Australian airspace in the coming days, according to ABC Australia . Since the smoke is rising at least 17 kilometers (10 miles) high, it can "travel relatively unimpeded, above most of the atmosphere and weather," Lisa Harvey-Smith, an astrophysicist at the University of New South Wales, told ABC. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano shared this image taken over Australia on Jan. 13, 2020. (Image credit: ESA/NASA) Australians are quickly learning about the different types of clouds that accompany wildfire smoke plumes. These fire-born clouds carry names such as pyrocumulonimbus and flammagenitus, according to a recent NASA Earth Observatory blog post . "The formation of pyrocumulus clouds requires fires to burn hot enough to create an updraft of superheated, fast-rising air," NASA wrote. "As the hot air rises and spreads out, it cools, causing water vapor to condense and form clouds. In certain conditions, powerful updrafts can create clouds that rise several kilometers and turn into full-fledged thunderstorms the storms pose serious risks for pilots and firefighters due to powerful turbulence ." NASA astronaut Christina Koch shared this image of smoke towering over Australia on Jan. 14, 2020. (Image credit: NASA) Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . In context: Advertisements are how many websites stay afloat these days, but many users have opted to avoid seeing them entirely by installing ad-blocking browser extensions, like AdBlock or AdBlock Plus. However, even those add-ons don't always do what they promise to. AdBlock Plus, in particular, has drawn criticism in the past for its "Acceptable Ads" program. The Acceptable Ads program's stated goal is to improve the quality of advertising throughout the web. It aims to do this by laying out a few specific standards that participating advertisements must follow. For example, they cannot interrupt the flow of an article or web page, and they must be easily-distinguishable from normal content. If a company's advertisements meet that criteria and the firm offers AdBlock Plus' owners a nice payout (according to one Democratic senator -- more on that in a minute), the ads can be added to the Acceptable Ads whitelist. This whitelist allows participating ads to be shown to any AdBlock Plus users who haven't opted-out. Though this whole concept (first introduced in 2011) was already considered sketchy by some users, the situation became even more complex a few years later. In October of 2015, AdBlock Plus opened up its Acceptable Ads program to competing extensions. On the same day, AdBlock (one such competitor) revealed that it had been sold to an "anonymous buyer," and that it would be joining the Acceptable Ads program. If that situation sounds a bit weird to you, you aren't alone. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden believes that AdBlock's sale and subsequent Acceptable Ads participation represents a "likely [violation]" of federal law. According to him, when AdBlock automatically enrolled its users in the Acceptable Ads program without acquiring consent, it probably broke the FTC's rules on privacy policy changes. "The FTC has made it clear that when one company buys another and "change[s] the privacy promises already made to consumers, [the buyer will] need to inform consumers and get their express affirmative consent to opt in to your new practices," Wyden writes. He goes on to claim that AdBlock's decision opened up users to tracking and targeting. Whether or not AdBlock truly broke federal law remains to be seen, but Wyden has asked the FTC to investigate the situation nonetheless. The organization says it's received his request, but we don't know what (if anything) they plan to do about it for now. Middle image credit: Shutterstock OAKLAND (BCN) A former Richmond man who previously was convicted in federal court for credit card and identity theft crimes appeared in court in Oakland on Tuesday on a murder charge for a collision in East Oakland in 2012 that killed a 21-year-old woman. Elton Lee Flenaugh, 40, who allegedly uses at least four aliases, was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on Monday, returned to court on Tuesday to be assigned an attorney and is scheduled to enter a plea at his next hearing on Feb. 4. Flenaugh is charged in connection with the death of Brianna Elaine Carmina Ford of Georgia in a collision at 90th and Bancroft avenues at about 11:20 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2012. Ford was a passenger in a 2001 Lincoln Continental that was hit by a BMW M6 that Flenaugh allegedly was driving. The California Highway Patrol said officers who were patrolling East Oakland tried to stop the driver of the 2007 BMW M6 on 90th Avenue near Bancroft Avenue because he was speeding, CHP Officer Sam Morgan said shortly after the collision that the driver initially yielded and pulled over, but when two CHP officers got out of their patrol car and tried to contact the driver and his passenger the driver sped away. The officers briefly lost sight of the BMW but then noticed that it crashed nearby into a 2001 Lincoln Continental carrying five people, Morgan said. Ford was killed in the crash and three other passengers suffered moderate to major injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment, according to Morgan. Oakland police Officer Phong Tran, who helped continue the investigation into Ford's death, wrote in a probable cause statement that the BMW driver fled from the vehicle on foot and escaped arrest the night of the collision. Tran said DNA evidence from an airbag on the BMW that deployed in the collision identified Flenaugh as the driver and primary suspect. In addition, Tran said the BMW was registered to "Joshua Ford," which he said is one of the aliases Flenaugh uses. Authorities said Flenaugh also uses the aliases Ali Waheed and Charles Jackson. The murder charge against Flenaugh was filed last Oct. 22 and a warrant for him was issued that same day. On Jan. 10, Flenaugh was brought to Alameda County from a federal prison in Virginia where he was serving a term of 9 years and 3 months for his 2013 conviction on credit card fraud and identity theft charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release that when Flenaugh was sentenced the court held him responsible for using the credit and debit card account information and identity information of more than 100 different victims to make counterfeit credit cards and driver's licenses, and for losses of between $200,000 and $400,000. The cards were affiliated with accounts at financial institutions throughout the U.S. but primarily at credit unions in California, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington. Federal prosecutors said their investigation revealed fraudulent credit cards, licenses, and stolen credit card account and identity information of hundreds of people were found in personal items seized from and during searches of email accounts controlled by Flenaugh and another defendant, an Apple iPad seized from them and a 2007 BMW M6 automobile registered to one of Flenaugh's aliases. Alameda County prosecutors say that in addition to Flenaugh's conviction in federal court he has five prior felony convictions in the Bay Area. They say Flenaugh was convicted of unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle in Alameda County in 2000, evading an officer in Contra Costa County in 2002, evading an officer in Alameda County in 2004 and of second-degree robbery and theft by fraudulent access card in separate cases in Santa Clara County in 2004. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Mamata's move in trying to publicly put some distance between the TMC and CPM-Congress alliance is a clever attempt at reinvigorating the struggling political forces so that the anti-TMC vote gets split instead of consolidating in favour of the BJP. A curious development is taking place among the Opposition political space. The Congress, led by its president Sonia Gandhi, on Monday held a meeting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC. The meeting at the Parliament complex was aimed at solidifying Opposition unity against the BJP, but it exposed the faultlines among the Opposition instead as key players such as Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal, DMK chief MK Stalin and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee stayed away. Amartyaji is right. The problem is that the Opposition parties are agreed on national issues, but divided in their various states. This is why it is difficult to assemble all of them on a common platform or front; they tend to put their local interests first. So BJP wins w/ 37%. https://t.co/94JUCfTBNY Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 13, 2020 The Congress was obviously unhappy. It accused the regional outfits of putting own interests ahead of 'national' interest. In return, the regional satraps accused the Congress of trying to steal credit and hijack the movement. It is evident that Opposition unity is hampered by mutual trust deficit, but some motivations lie deeper. Take Mamata for example. Among all the absentees, the TMC supremo's absence was most interesting because her motivations are not immediately apparent. The Congress is not a player of consequence in West Bengal, unlike New Delhi, and hence Mamata was not driven by compulsions that faced Kejriwal. Since the Delhi elections are a three-way fight between the ruling AAP, BJP and Congress, any truck with Congress on CAA/NRC may damage Kejriwal's chances of getting re-elected. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are wary of Congress for different reasons. The SP still believes that its alliance with Congress during 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections was a mistake that has caused it lasting harm. 'Behenji' Mayawati is still upset with Congress for trying to poach her MLAs in Rajasthan. Mamata, however, is playing a completely different game, perhaps under the guidance of poll strategist Prashant Kishor. Few will give credence to her public statement that she chose to stay away because the Left and Congress unleashed violence in the state during the 9 January trade union strike. The nationwide strike saw Congress and Left activists clash with the police in Bengal but stray incidents of violence and arson or laying down of a few crude bombs on railway tracks are unlikely to have caused Mamata to take such a drastic step. Her rhetoric, too, borders on overreaction. Vowing that she won't allow Left and Congress to make the strike successful in Bengal, Mamata reportedly said: "Those who don't have any political existence in the state are trying to ruin its economy by pursuing cheap politics such as strikes." Does a marginalised CPIM and a struggling Congress possess enough clout to "ruin" Bengal's economy through a strike call? This is as fantastic a theory as Mamata's stated reason behind boycotting the Congress-led Opposition meeting in New Delhi against CAA/NRC when she said: "I have decided to boycott the meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi on 13 January in New Delhi as I do not support the violence that the Left and Congress unleashed in West Bengal yesterday (Wednesday) You don't tell me how to fight CAA If needed, I will fight alone." Some commentators have interpreted it as Mamata's attempt to not let Congress take the credit for anti-CAA protests and not ceding leadership space on this issue. Mamata's calculations are different. Notably, her decision not to attend the anti-CAA meeting in New Delhi and clamping down hard on strikers on 9 January have allowed local CPIM and Congress leaders to allege that the chief minister is "hand in glove" with the BJP and is acting at Narendra Modi and Amit Shah's behest. CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty was quoted, as saying: Mamata "is basically answerable to her Delhi bosses in BJP. She is frustrated after the bandh called by the Left-Congress trade unions became successful." This posturing in Bengal ought to give us an idea about the political game under way in West Bengal. Mamata's move in trying to publicly put some distance between the TMC and CPM-Congress alliance in the state is a clever attempt at reinvigorating the struggling political forces so that the anti-TMC vote gets split instead of consolidating in favour of the BJP as was evident during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where the BJP emerged as the principal Opposition force in the state with 18 out of 42 seats. The general elections, that resulted in an overwhelming return mandate for Modi-led NDA government, show BJP's vote share had shot up to 40.2 percent from 17 percent in 2014. Curiously, while TMC's seats crashed to 22, its vote share remained intact, even registering an increase from 39.7 percent in 2014 to 43.3 percent in 2019. Quite clearly, TMC suffered due to a consolidation of anti-TMC votes in BJP's corner. The Left Front's vote share crashed to 7.5 percent in 2019 from nearly 30 percent in 2014, while Congress also recorded a decline from 9.6 per cent to 5.5 percent. Mamata would have carefully analysed the results, and so did the Congress and Left. While the last two is expected to form an alliance in 2021 Assembly polls, that may not be enough if their vote share continues to bleed. This is bad news for Mamata, who is also worried about the presence of Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM cutting into her Muslim vote bank. Mamata's calculation, therefore, is to somehow prop up the Left Front and Congress that now lies emaciated and marginalized by playing a pantomime of faux rivalry with them, so that at least a bit of anti-TMC votes move away from BJP. That's why Mamata won't mind when the Left and Congress accuses her of being in a "secret pact" with the BJP because it serves her purpose too. She may even encourage such a charge. Mamata does run a risk of letting Left Front eat into the anti-BJP votes, but that's a risk the TMC supremo will willingly take. A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official apologized to a Native American activist on Tuesday after a TSA agent told her to 'giddyup' at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Indigenous rights activist and attorney Tara Houska says she was heading home to Bemidji Monday when a TSA agent said she needed to pat down her long braids and then pulled them behind her shoulders and said 'giddyup' as she snapped them like reins on a horse. 'My hair is part of my spirit. I am a Native woman. I am angry, humiliated. Your "fun" hurt', Houska shared in a Tweet on Monday. Indigenous rights activist and attorney Tara Houska says she was headed home to Bemidji Monday when a TSA agent said she needed to pat down her braids Houska claims the TSA agent pulled the braids behind her shoulders and said 'giddyup' as she snapped them like reins of a horse Houska said that she informed the woman - who she describes as being 'middle-aged' and 'blonde - that she had 'used her authority to dehumanize and disrespect' the lawyer, she said that the agent was dismissive. The activist continued: When I informed the middle-aged blonde woman who had casually used her authority to dehumanize and disrespect me, she said Well it was just in fun, Im sorry. Your hair is lovely. < that is NOT an apology and it is NOT okay.' Houska, who is Objibwe, says she doesn't want the agent fired, but thinks TSA needs to improve its sensitivity training. Houska, who is Objibwe, says she doesn't want the agent fired, but thinks TSA needs to improve its sensitivity training Houska (right) had been in Washington DC with two other Indigenous activist women in attendance for the 'Fire Drill Friday' climate change protest that included celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix (center) and Jane Fonda Houska can be seen marching with Fonda and Phoenix during the rally in DC In a statement, the agency said TSA officials investigated the incident, and on Tuesday afternoon TSA's Federal Security Director for Minnesota Cliff Van Leuven spoke with Houska and apologized for the officer's actions and comment. 'TSA holds its employees to the highest standards of professional conduct and any type of improper behavior is taken seriously,' the statement said. Acknowledging the apology, Houska shared that she was pleased with the 'good resolution from a bad situation.' Fonda and Phoenix were escorted by police during the climate change protest Houska has been a huge critic of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project in Minnesota 'My braids are not reins, I should be treated with dignity, as should everyone else,' she shared on Tuesday. 'Good resolution from a bad situation. We need more education & empathy for one another.' Houska had been in Washington DC with two other Indigenous activist women in attendance for the 'Fire Drill Friday' climate change protest that included celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix and Jane Fonda. She had been protesting in opposition to the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project in Minnesota. The controversial oil pipeline project has been met with steep opposition from Indigenous communities in the state. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The UPS Store, Inc., the worlds largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal, print and business service centers, has been ranked again as one of the top franchise brands, according to Entrepreneur Magazines 2020 Franchise 500. Ranked at No. 5 overall out of 1,000 companies, The UPS Store is also first in the postal and business services category and the only retail business service center brand in the top 10. This marks the 30th year the retail chain has appeared on the list, and its fourth consecutive year in the top five brands overall. Since 1980, the annual Entrepreneur Franchise 500 has been one of the most prestigious and comprehensive franchise rankings, celebrating franchise brands across 17 distinct business categories. To be included in the list, franchise brands are evaluated on over 150 data points, including size and growth of the system, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. The UPS Store continues to rank as one of the top franchise brands by offering strong brand equity and reputation, delivering excellent customer service and providing extensive franchise owner training and support. Once again, The UPS Store is grateful to be recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a leading franchise brand, said Tim Davis, president of The UPS Store, Inc. The strength of The UPS Store network is driven by the passion and commitment that franchisees have for their business, their customers and their local communities across North America. For entrepreneurs looking to franchise, The UPS Store offers opportunities backed by an established business model, with a variety of franchise options including traditional and nontraditional locations, rural markets and multiunit opportunities. The UPS Store proudly supports entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds, including veterans, retirees, minorities and female entrepreneurs. Learn more about The UPS Store franchise opportunities at www.theupsstorefranchise.com . About The UPS Store With more than 5,000 locations in North America, The UPS Store network comprises the nations largest franchise system of conveniently located retail shipping, postal, print and business service centers. The UPS Store locations in the U.S. are independently owned and operated by licensed franchisees of The UPS Store, Inc., a subsidiary of UPS (NYSE: UPS). Services, pricing and hours of operation may vary by location. For additional information on The UPS Store, visit theupsstore.com. For information on The UPS Store franchise opportunities for opening a The UPS Store location, visit theupsstorefranchise.com . Follow The UPS Store on Twitter at @TheUPSStore and like The UPS Store on Facebook at facebook.com/theupsstore . Nothing contained in this release is intended as an offer to purchase a franchise. The UPS Store franchises are offered only by delivery of a franchise disclosure document in compliance with FTCs rule on franchising and applicable state law. Nothing herein is intended to amend or disclaim any information contained in The UPS Store Franchise Disclosure Document. The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has commended the commitment of the Kaduna State Government to peace. Nicholas Okoh, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, stated this Wednesday (today) in Kaduna when he visited Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The primate assured the governor that the Church of Nigeria shares and supports this commitment to peace. Mr Okoh, an archbishop who led a nine-man delegation of the Church of Nigeria, thanked the governor for receiving his team. He also expressed gratitude for the audience Governor El-Rufai granted in November 2019 to a team of bishops led by Ali Buba Lamido, the archbishop of Kaduna Province. The Primate recalled that he mandated the visit of the Archbishop Lamido team and said that the Church of Nigeria is grateful that the team was received with goodwill in a meeting that clarified the status of St. Georges Cathedral, Zaria. Mr Okoh confirmed to the governor that the attention of the Church was drawn to the unguarded and unacceptable writings of one of our Bishops, the Right Reverend Abiodun Ogunyemi, the Bishop of Zaria Diocese. Mr Okoh assured Mr El-Rufai that we want to state it clearly that the Church of Nigeria is not partisan in the politics of the nation and that the position of Bishop Ogunyemi is not the position of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Speaking further, Mr Okoh said, this second visit to your exalted office is to reassure you of the fact that the Church of Nigeria is not fighting with Governor and the government of Kaduna State. He added that our brother Bishop Ogunyemi has been cautioned and warned to desist from making utterances and writings that are tantamount to threatening the peace of Kaduna State and the nation at large. It is pertinent to put it on record that the Church of Nigeria has sat several times in meetings and extensive discussions with our brother, Bishop Ogunyemi, where he was cautioned and charged to desist from utterances and writings that could lead to misunderstanding between the Church and government, and stir up religious crisis. Your Excellency, we can assure you that he has given an undertaking to be of good behaviour. Mr Okoh reiterated the belief of the Church of Nigeria in the biblical teaching to give back to Caesar what is Caesers, and to God what is Gods. He added that we believe God sets up leaders and that the government of Kaduna State is in existence by the grace of God. The Anglican Church does not engage itself in fighting government, rather, it seeks fruitful ways of engaging the government for the benefit of the citizens of the land. Concluding his remarks, Mr Okoh said that the Church of Nigeria seeks the peace of our country Nigeria as well as that of Kaduna in particular and cannot be a party to any attempt to destroy the peace that we are enjoying at the moment. Mr El-Rufai thanked Mr Okoh and his delegation for the visit. He said the Kaduna State Government was disappointed by the conduct of the bishop over the issue of St.Georges Cathedral, Sabon-Gari, which the government had decided since 2016 to preserve for its historical significance. He explained that the government is considering gazetting the cathedral as a historical monument. The governor disclosed that given the sad legacy of religious crisis in the state, the government cannot take lightly anything that threatens the security of the state. Speaking to reporters after the meeting with the Governor, Mr Okoh said he came to Kaduna to discuss peace in Nigeria and Kaduna State, stressing that Nigerians must build bridges of peace for the nation to move forward We have to come to Kaduna to discuss peace in Nigeria and Kaduna state. We must build bridges and not to create problems in the country because it will consume everyone. We must work together and build Nigeria. On the Primates team were former Foreign Minister, Odein Ajumogobia, who is the Chancellor of the Church of Nigeria, and bishops from Lokoja, Kubwa, Kaduna and Dutse, and Abraham Yisa, the registrar of the Church of Nigeria. Signed Muyiwa Adekeye Special Adviser to the Kaduna Governor (Media & Communication) Daesh Claims Responsibility For Last Week's Attack on Niger Army Base - Reports Sputnik News 17:58 14.01.2020(updated 18:23 14.01.2020) Last week, a military base in Chinegodar, in the western Tillaberi Region of Nigeria, was assaulted by unidentified militants. According to the recent data provided by local security sources, the attack has claimed the lives of 89 Nigerian soldiers. Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing the SITE Intelligence Group that Daesh* has claimed responsibility for the attack on an army base in Niger last week. While the official death toll equals to 89 Nigerian soldiers been killed, Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed in a statement that it has killed 100 soldiers and wounded an unspecified number of others. In December 2019, terrorists attacked an army camp in western Niger near the Malian border killing at least 70 soldiers, while 30 others went missing. The Daesh* terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. Niger is part of the G5 anti-jihadist task force which also includes Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania and is fighting against Boko Haram militants as well as jihadists linked to the Daesh* group. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan said Wednesday the country's chief of intelligence had resigned after government forces and paramilitaries crushed a mutiny launched by members of his agency in the capital. General Abu Bakr Mustafa handed over his resignation after clashes between agents of the General Intelligence Service, formerly known as the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and government forces killed five people including two soldiers. "He called us by telephone and we asked him to give a written resignation -- which he did. We are now examining it," the chairman of Sudan's ruling transitional council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told state television on Wednesday. On Tuesday, heavy gunfire broke out at several Khartoum bases of the intelligence agency after some of its agents rejected a retirement plan proposed by the country's new authorities. NISS agents were at the forefront of a crackdown on protesters during a nationwide uprising that led to the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir last April. Late on Tuesday, troops from the regular army and from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) crushed the rebellion after storming these bases amid heavy gunfire. Burhan's deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- who else heads the RSF -- has blamed the former chief of NISS, Salah Gosh, for the rebellion. General Mustafa had been appointed as chief of the newly named General Intelligence Service after Gosh resigned in the wake of Bashir's fall. Search Keywords: Short link: Keeping care costly Re: ACA, good but Your Turn, Jan. 3: The ACA was intended for those without insurance so they could afford it and to keep costs down. In 2009, a Harvard Medical School study found that 45,000 people died because they had no health insurance. I agree with the letter writer when she says, Regulations for insurance companies and hospital billing practices would certainly help. The ACA did limit the costs. Unfortunately, since 2010, Republicans have attacked the ACA. Theyve doomed the latest House bill that reduces medical prescription costs. Republicans have no plan this year for all Americans. Thats why many are interested in Medicare for All to eventually get rid of greedy insurance companies. So, this writer should be aware that its Rep. Will Hurd, Sen. John Cornyn and their party keeping our costs high. Adam Castillo, Leon Valley A light rail fantasy Re: S.A. can future-proof mobility with light rail, Friday: I got a chuckle reading Lyndon Henrys advocacy piece for light rail in San Antonio. Getting transportation advice from anyone involved in Austins transportation mess is like learning ship navigation from the captain of the Titanic. Lets identify light rail for what it really is in Texas, a tax money-burning boondoggle that makes left-leaning politically correct folks feel good. Mr. Henry, San Antonio does not want to waste tax dollars on light rail. We will leave that for you to do in Austin. Frank Coniglio Step back, Austin When San Antonio needs advice on homelessness or anything else from the Peoples Republic of Austin, we will let them know. For now, not so much. Penelope Talley Pentagon Mulling Relocation of US Troops From Africa to Pacific Sputnik News 23:33 14.01.2020 The US Department of Defense is considering taking a step back from its counterterrorism operations in Africa in the near future as the US military begins to shift its focus to the Pacific region, according to the nation's top general. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley informed reporters on Monday that the topic of scaling back the US' presence in Africa "to increase readiness of the force in the continental US" or the Pacific has been discussed at the Pentagon. Since taking office last year, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been vocal about the US military's need to shift troops out of counterterrorism operations and focus its attention on Russia, "the instigator of aggression in Europe," and China. "We're developing options for the secretary to consider, and we are developing those options in coordination with our allies and partners," he told AFP shortly after arriving in Brussels for talks with NATO allies. Milley's confirmation of these talks comes just weeks after reports citing individuals close to the Pentagon suggested the department's reduction in US troops in Africa would include the abandoning of a drone base in Niger and terminating the military's assistance to French forces conducting anti-terror campaigns in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Commenting on the US' desire to scale back counterterror operations on the continent, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed that he hoped he could get US President Donald Trump to reconsider the pullback of troops from West Africa. "If the Americans were to decide to leave Africa, it would be really bad news for us ... I hope to be able to convince President Trump that the fight against terrorism also plays out in this region," he said Monday during his summit in Pau, France, with leaders from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - also known as the Sahel G5. Macron also announced during the Monday meeting that he would "engage additional combat capabilities" and send a total of 220 additional troops to combat terrorists in the Greater Sahara region. Earlier this month, US Africa Command announced that additional troops had been sent to East Africa following the January 5 attack on a US base in Kenya by al-Shabaab terrorists that resulted in the deaths of one American soldier and two US defense contractors. A study published by the US-based Africa Centre for Strategic Studies last year found that despite the US military's increase in counterterror forces in Africa, terror-related violence has increased, and militant Islamist group activity on the continent "has doubled since 2012." The research noted that while there were five "active militant Islamist groups" operating within Africa in 2010, that number has since ballooned to roughly two dozen acitve groups - many of which carry out regular attacks on 13 African countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chances are that youve probably never looked twice at the breakdown of the amount you pay when you ask for the cheque at a restaurant. Theres the usual GST and service tax and thats about it. Well, this one gentleman did and he must have had to do a double take when he realised that he was charged for asking a stupid question. Reddit Redditor 'humblemangoes' posted the picture of the bill in which he was charged an equivalent of Rs 27 ($ 0.38) for his misdemeanor. But hes not the only one. Many patrons have been charged the same amount for asking stupid questions in the past. Heres another diners bill that shows the same amount. Reddit Toms Diner in Denver, Colorado doesnt do this out of malice. The eatery is a favourite among locals and apparently quite popular. The weird charges are in line with Denver humour. In fact, 'Stupid Question' is listed on the menu itself. Heres a Zomato listing of the diner. According to Hunter Landry, the manager at Toms and the nephew of the proprietor, Tom Messina, "It's meant to be playful. It's good to keep things light in today's world." He also said that the listing in the menu was added 20 years ago by Tom, as a means to add a bit of fun to the proceedings. Of course, more people jumped on the thing and shared their own experiences of being asked stupid questions. Reddit And the diners humour doesnt stop there. There are some healthy options too. If you catch the drift. We hope Toms Diner keeps the humour alive. People really need it. Especially in these times. Alek Sigley (pictured), 29, was detained for nine days in North Korea An Australian student who was briefly detained in North Korea last year over spy charges said he had been kidnapped by secret police and forced to make a false confession. Alek Sigley was held for nine days from June 25 while studying for a postgraduate degree in modern Korean literature at the prestigious Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. He was expelled from the country after Swedish officials helped broker his release. North Korean state media KCNA said he had admitted his 'spying acts' including passing data and photos he collected by utilising his status as a foreign student to 'anti-state' media outlets. Beyond denying that he was a spy and saying he was sad to have lost access to North Korea, Sigley has not previously publicised details of his detention. In a first piece account Sigley (middle) wrote that he was kidnapped by 'agents' (Sigley arriving at Tokyo airport on July 4) Australian student Alek Sigley, 29, who was detained in North Korea, arrives at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo In his first-hand account carried by a South Korea magazine, Sigley said that what appeared to be agents from the Stasi-like State Security Department, known as bowibu, 'kidnapped' him from his dorm at the university. 'I was innocent but they filed false charges against me,' he wrote, without elaborating. 'They endlessly tried to teach me some kind of lessons by forcing me to make a written confession which was a concoction of fabricated evidence and crimes and illogical legal reasonings.' Sigley said on Twitter on Wednesday he had avoided speaking directly to the media in favour of telling his story 'in my own words'. The article was printed in North Korea Monthly, published by the Seoul-based North Korea Research Institute, and included stories from his childhood and details about the lives of international students in North Korea. During his detention, Sigley said he had 'no idea' when he would be released because he was 'completely cut off' from the outside world, while Australian officials were scrambling to secure his freedom with other countries. 'They succeeded in teaching me one lesson: the falsehood of the North Korean legal system,' he said. During his time in North Korea, Sigley had published articles about daily life for NK News and other specialised websites. The treatment of foreign citizens by the secretive North has sometimes become a geopolitical issue. The death of American student Otto Warmbier in 2017 following his 17-month detention in North Korea lead to a spike in tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Warmbier was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 15 years of forced labour after being accused of trying to steal a propaganda poster in his hotel. He was returned to the United States in a coma and died soon after. North Korea, heavily sanctioned over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes, has expressed frustration at stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States. U.S. officials say North Korea must take more concrete steps to dismantle its weapons programmes before sanctions can be eased. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:52:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has become a major destination for migrant children on the move from countries throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in its latest report released on Wednesday. More than 642,000 migrant or displaced children currently live in South Africa, making it the country with the largest child migrant population on the continent, said the report titled "Data Snapshot of Migrant and Displaced Children in Africa." South Africa's mixed movements includes refugees, asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, smuggled migrants and unaccompanied and separated minors, the report said. Many refugee and migrant children experience ongoing violence and exploitation on their journey and many arrive in the country without parents or caregivers, while others arrive with parents or relatives and they are later separated, according to the report. Currently, the care and protection of unaccompanied and separated migrant children is determined by the courts in South Africa and these children are often placed in Child and Youth Care Centers (CYCC), or in temporary community-based foster care, the report said. In this context, UNICEF and the South African Red Cross Society last week signed a partnership agreement to improve the protection and care of separated and unaccompanied migrant children in South Africa. Both partners will work with the Department of Social Development to undertake a national in-depth survey of unaccompanied and separated migrant children in alternative care in the country - such as children living in institutions - and they will then provide emergency support to children and families who migrated to South Africa from other countries. The support will include food, shelter, school supplies, but the support will also go beyond physical needs with psychosocial support. The lack of national data on the numbers of unaccompanied and separated migrant children prevents national authorities to fully plan for their care and protection, said the report. The data collected during the survey will be used by authorities and service providers to better support migrant children, including identifying options for alternate care and address the barriers that those children face such as accessing birth registration as well as education and health care services. "Global data show that South Africa is a major route for migration in the region, but there has been limited understanding of the situation of children on the move inside the country," said Muriel Mafico, UNICEF's Acting Representative in South Africa. "The partnership with the South African Red Cross will support the efforts of the Department of Social Development to better understand the situation of migrant children in the country to ensure that they have access to appropriate child protection services and reunification with the families which is a long-term and durable solution for them," said Mafico. Priscilla Shirer to undergo surgery due to 'dangerous irregularities' in left lung Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer announced Friday that doctors will be removing an entire lobe of her left lung after discovering a small nodule that contained some dangerous irregularities, and thanked supporters for their prayers ahead of the procedure. The daughter of Tony Evans and founder of Going Beyond Ministries revealed on Facebook that three years ago doctors discovered a small nodule in her left lung. Several pulmonary specialists and I have watched it meticulously since then. This past summer, it was clear that something surgical needed to be done as the nodule had begun to grow and show signs of dangerous irregularities, she said. Shirer, who recently lost her mother, Lois Evans, to a rare form of cancer, said the past few months have been filled with difficulty for her family. For those reasons, the surgery was delayed but I cannot put it off any longer without jeopardizing my own health, the mother-of-three said. So this Monday, 1/13/20, surgeons will be removing an entire lobe of my left lung. Thank you for praying for me and for our entire family. We refuse to cave to fear, anxiety or a decrease in faith because, well ... aint nobody got time for that! Through it all, we still believe God. We are trusting Him for a favorable outcome and that I will return to full health personally and full function in ministry, she continued. Im incredibly grateful to you for lifting me, Jerry, our sons ... and my entire family up to our Father. We are tired but we are holding steady. Shirer said she decided to open up about the upcoming procedure after word began to spread on social media. On Tuesday, the women in my home church surrounded me in prayer regarding an upcoming surgery that I have scheduled, she explained. Since then, news of this procedure began to spread on the inter webs by concerned individuals so I wanted to take a moment to address it personally. In addition to the death of Lois Evans, the Evans family is still grieving the death of Tony Evans father in November, the unexpected loss of Evans' sister, Beverly Johnson, who died last January, along with his niece, Wynter Pitts, who also died last year, and his brother who died six months before that. Speaking at her mothers celebration of life service last week, Shirer expressed confidence in Gods faithfulness in the midst of difficult circumstances. She said her mothers primary interest was that her children develop a personal relationship with the Lord and grow a legacy of faith. If there is one thing you can do in honor of my mother, it's do not let your hearts be troubled, Shirer said. Its to believe that the God of Ephesians 3:20 and 21 is still who He said He is. Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond anything you can ask or think, to Him be the glory both now and forevermore in Jesus name, amen. UNSC resolution demands Afghanistan territory not be used to attack countries, shelter or train terrorists UNSC likely to hold closed door meet on Kashmir tonight India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Jan 15: United Nations Security Council is set to hold a closed-door meeting on Kashmir in New York tonight. The move comes after China, acting on behalf of Pakistan, is pushing for a discussion on India's August 5 decision to revoke Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. France, which had played a lead role to thwart a similar effort by China a month ago, has disapproved of the attempt. "France's position has not changed and is very clear: the Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally - as we have stated on several occasions and will continue to reiterate to our partners on the United Nations Security Council," ANI reported quoting French diplomatic sources. For long India has maintained that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one and after the abrogation of Article 370 the issue is internal. On August 5, India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution removing special status to Jammu and Kashmir and has also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Reacting to India's decision, Pakistan expelled the Indian High Commissioner soon after deciding to downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi. Natalia Tena, the actor of 'Game of Thrones' and the 'Black Mirror' Christmas Special, heads an international cast From the creators of 'Velvet' and 'Under Suspicion', the series revolves around the exodus of 3 billion people who, fleeing an impending catastrophe, travel from the future to the present LINK TO DOWNLOAD TRAILER LINK TO DOWNLOAD PHOTOS MADRID, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Starting January 20, 'The Refugees' (8x50'), the first Spanish series co-produced with the BBC, will air for the first time on Atreseries Internacional. It is a dramatic thriller with a futuristic premise in which nature plays a starring role. From the creators of 'Velvet' and 'Under Suspicion', the ATRESMEDIA series delves into the mystery that surrounds a family whose life will be forever changed by a disturbing visit. The reason: humanity is experiencing the greatest exodus in its history as 3 billion people from the future travel to the present to escape from an impending global disaster. Every refugee must follow two rules: They cannot talk about the future or interact with their families. The Refugees will travel from the future to prime time on Atreseries with a very international cast, led by the British actor with Spanish roots, Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones, Black Mirror and Harry Potter), David Leon (RocknRolla, Vera) and Will Keen (Holby City, The Bill, The Impressionists, The Wire, Casualty 1907, Elisabeth), with Brendan Price (The Nameless), Gillian Apter (Celia), and Charlotte Vega (El secreto de Puente Viejo). Executive produced by Ramon Campos, Teresa Fernandez Valdes and Nacho Manubens, The Refugees is an original idea by Ramon Campos, Gema R. Neira, Adolfo Valor and Cristobal Garrido, directed by David Pinillos and Elias Leon and filmed in the Madrid mountains. AIR TIMES Every Monday, starting January 20 Latin America 20:00 Mexico / 21:00 Colombia / 22:00 Venezuela / 23:00 Argentina U S 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1077323/ATRES_SERIES_Logo_Logo.jpg SOURCE Atresmedia Related Links http://www.atresmediacorporacion.com Today, India is celebrating its 72nd Army Day. The Army Day is celebrated every year at all Army Command headquarters to honour the country's soldiers. What is National Army Day, how do we celebrate it and what is its purpose? These are some of the frequently asked questions on Army Day. Here's all you need to know: What is Army Day? Army Day is celebrated to mark Lt Gen K M Carriappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. The transfer of power from the British to India ... Turkey defender Merih Demiral will almost certainly miss Euro 2020 after his club Juventus said on Tuesday he will be out for at least six months following knee surgery. In a statement, Italian champions Juve said that the 21-year-old had undergone "perfectly successful" surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. "The time required for an optimal recovery is 6-7 months," the club added. Demiral limped off a quarter of an hour after opening the scoring in the 2-1 win at Roma on Sunday that put his side top of Serie A, damaging his knee after jumping for a header. His probable absence from the Euros will be a blow for Turkey, who came to rely on Demiral during their successful qualifying campaign for this year's tournament. Demiral has played 11 times for his country and appeared in every one of their qualifiers. Turkey take on Italy in the opening match of Euro 2020 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on June 12. Demiral was one of the Turkey players who celebrated the winning goal in his country's 1-0 qualifying win over Albania in October with a military salute in support of the Turkish offensive in Syria. He repeated the gesture during their 1-1 draw with France a few days later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six Democratic candidates, the smallest field to date, met in the first debate of 2020 and the last one before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. Elizabeth Warren walked away with the most memorable moment of the night as she discussed whether a woman could beat President Donald Trump. Look at the men on this stage tonight," she said. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women. NJ Advance Media asked Democratic strategists and other analysts to weigh in on the seventh presidential debate. Heres what they had to say. Democratic political consultant Peter Fenn: I would call it the play-it-safe debate. The differences were civil and the attacks muted. Warren was prepared for the question about press reports that Bernie told her a woman couldnt win, which Sanders denied. But all agreed that was light years from a true statement and all defended a womans strength against Trump. On the loser side, Steyer struggled and his constant pivot to looking always at the camera was irritating. He also had the least air time of the night. Mayor Pete stuck to his usual presentation, as articulate as ever, but did not seem to have as good a night as in some previous debates. With the first 45 minutes on foreign policy he should have talked more about his military background. Biden held his own and had a good closing statement that might help him in Iowa. But Biden is Biden in debates and wont change much in the future. Bernie and Warren did well and Sanders showed real energy. Both remain vulnerable on health care and Klobuchar and Biden and Buttigieg took their shots. Klobuchar probably needed a stronger performance to break out but was still appealing and pushed her pragmatism and warmth Krista Jenkins, political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and poll director: Warren walks away from last nights debate a winner, and provided the best answer so far regarding the viability of her candidacy, and that of Amy Klobuchars. Joe Biden held his own, but his much vaunted (and statistically inaccurate) status as a frontrunner in some polls was hard to square with the more dominant performance of progressives Warren and Bernie Sanders. Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray: The worst question was about the media-driven controversy over what Sanders reportedly said to Warren. However, it led to probably the best clapback this cycle, giving Warren and Klobuchar the opportunity to address whispers from some corners that only another old white guy can beat Trump in the heartland. In the end, the audience that really mattered for this debate is the one where it was held. Iowa is basically a four way race right now and all of the top contenders did well, so Im not sure the leaderboard shifted at all. Klobuchar needed a break-through to join that group and though she differentiated herself on a number of key issues, she did not perform as well in this debate as she has in the past. Tom Steyer didnt quite seem to belong on stage with the other five. Democratic political consultant Julie Roginsky: Winners: Biden: Nothing that took place on stage tonight affected his status as a frontrunner. Warren: She spoke at length and convincingly of her views and agenda. Losers: Buttigieg: He did not say anything to further advance his campaign. Sanders: It remains to be seen how much it affects the campaign going forward but he seemed to defensive and repetitive when Warren and the moderator accused him of suggesting a woman couldnt be president. Democratic political consultant Glenn Totten: Winners: Warren was clearly the winner. She had energy and established herself as the most viable woman in the race. She handled Sanders masterfully. Biden had a few moments where he lost focus and that highlighted his age. But overall the former vice president delivered a fairly safe and solid performance that was just good enough not to lose. His best moment was his closing statement that he delivered with passion. While others may disagree, I thought Pete Buttigieg gained some ground by focusing his answers on the future and not rehashing the world of past congressional votes. He touched a cord by personalizing the sacrifice of our service members who served in Iraq and delivered a compelling closing statement. Steyer won just by being on the stage. Losers: Klobuchar needed a breakout performance to stay competitive in this presidential race. She didnt deliver it. She gave off an aura of desperation the entire evening and made no headway in establishing a compelling message of why she should be president. Sanders didnt do himself any favors. The exchange over the viability of a woman winning the presidency with Warren was a disaster. And instead of letting it go, he went back for a second bite of the poisoned apple. CNN: Winners: Buttigieg: The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor proved Tuesday night that he is the best debater in this field. But he also did something more important than that, too: In the first 30 minutes of the debate, Buttigieg showed a competency, steadiness and depth of knowledge coupled with personal experience that should help him pass the commander-in-chief test in the eyes of voters. Warren: The Massachusetts senator delivered the line of the night, noting that the four men on the stage had lost 10 races while the two women on stage she and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar had never lost a race. And wasnt just a zinger that will be quickly forgotten, either; its an effective pushback against the idea that she is too liberal to beat Trump. Klobuchar: The Minnesota senator went into the debate with a simple goal: Cast herself as a pragmatic alternative to voters looking for someone other than Biden (or, to a lesser extent, Buttigieg) to vote for. She, generally speaking, accomplished that goal although Klobuchar was less of a standout in this debate than in the last one. Losers: Biden: If Buttigieg is the best of the debaters among the top six, then the former vice president is the worst. On Tuesday night he consistently seemed to forget or misstate a point, forcing him to go back and restate it to make sure he got it right. It made for a halting performance, in which he came across as less forceful and sure of himself than others on the stage. Sanders: His dismissiveness about Warrens statement that he had told her a woman couldnt win the White House in 2020 I didnt say it, he claimed bothered me. Sanders tried to portray the issue as immaterial hatched by Republicans and the media to distract voters. But its not. Warren herself said on the record! that when she told Sanders she thought a woman could win, he disagreed. Steyer: Simply put, the billionaire businessman looked badly out of his depth. He struggled badly to make the case that he was better equipped than his rivals to manage the countrys foreign policy his answer amounted to the fact that he has traveled a lot internationally (and, no, I am not kidding) and things didnt get much better for him from there. For most of the debate, it felt like the Top 5 were involved in one conversation and Steyer was just, well, there. Washington Post: Winners: Warren: The big question going into the debate was just how Elizabeth Warren would handle the conspicuously timed story that Bernie Sanders told her a woman couldnt be elected president. And she handled it obliquely. Sanders: To the extent that people care about whether Sanders actually said what Warren said he did, he also had a strong response. He flatly denied the claim. He noted that he said a woman could win decades ago. He said the back-and-forth is what Donald Trump and maybe some other media want. Klobuchar: Medicare-for-all has come up so much in these debates that bringing it up often elicits groans from people who cover these things. Little of it seems new anymore. But Klobuchar carved out her niche on it Tuesday night. Losers: Buttigieg: For arguably the first time on one of these debate stages, the former South Bend mayor was something of a bystander who didnt really add much. In the middle: Biden: Biden looks like a decent bet to win in Iowa despite some not-so-strong debate performances, so maybe he didnt need a big one on Tuesday. But he was just okay. New York Post: Winners: Warren: Warren shined. She was ready for the much-anticipated question about the electability of a female nominee and nailed it. Her answer transcended the campaign dustup with Sanders and spoke to the ideals of the Democratic Party. Buttigieg: Once again, he scored big as the lone outsider. He is a skilled debater who answers every question in a way that reinforces the central narrative of his campaign that Washington is broken and he can fix it. Klobuchar: She was on top of her game tonight. Shes an effective storyteller who knows how to drive home a point. And she was definitely on-brand with a lot of Midwestern pragmatism. Losers: Steyer: A waste of podium. Theres no rationale for Steyer to be on this stage. His spot could have gone to any in a long list of more qualified candidates who have had to drop out. Treading Water: Biden: The bar was a lot higher as the frontrunner. He made no big mistakes but also scored no major points. If he was looking to close out Iowa with a crescendo, he failed. Sanders: Hes been running for president nonstop for the past six years, but hasnt added to his coalition in all that time. He effectively delivered pieces of his stump speech. If you love Bernie, you loved it. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Prince Harry and wife Meghan have said they hope to have a more independent life Pic: Getty Meghan Markle did not join the royal summit with Britain's Queen Elizabeth and senior royals by phone and instead relied on her husband to put their case for a new independent life. There has been speculation about whether Meghan, who is in Canada with baby son Archie, was able to participate in Monday's discussions convened by the queen at Sandringham. "In the end, the Sussexes decided that it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join," a source said. Transition Meghan is reportedly the driving force behind the couple's wish to step back as frontline royals, become financially independent and live part of the year in Canada. After the Sandringham summit the queen issued a statement which sanctioned a new "independent life" for Harry and Meghan - known in the UK as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - away from full-time royal duties. She said they would begin a transition period living in the UK and Canada. The move has raised questions over the costs of the couple's security during their time in North America and who would foot the bill. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the costs, and what role they will play in Canadian life, would be the subject of future discussions. Asked during an interview on Monday whether Canadian taxpayers would have to pay, he replied: "We're not entirely sure what the final decisions will be. I think most Canadians are very supportive of having royals be here, but how that looks and what kind of costs are involved, there are still lots of discussions to have." Harry and Meghan spent six weeks over the festive period based in the Canadian province of British Columbia, staying at an exclusive property on Vancouver Island. Meghan, a former actress, lived and worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and knows the country well. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is "absolutely confident" the royal family can resolve the crisis around Meghan and Harry's future roles. "My view on this is very straightforward: I am a massive fan of the queen and the royal family," he said. "I'm absolutely confident that they are going to sort this out." Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven impeachment managers, who will act as prosecutors in the Senate. They include the most prominent leaders of the impeachment investigation, Representatives Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Here are the latest updates. On Tuesday, House Democrats released records detailing how Mr. Trumps associates pushed Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rivals. The records add pressure on Republicans to include witness testimony and additional documents. Another angle: Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the trial. The role is largely ceremonial, but it still carries risks, our Supreme Court reporter writes. Whats next: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said the Senate was unlikely to consider the substance of the case until Tuesday. In the latest US-Iran escalation, Russia sees new opportunities to expand its influence in the Middle East. On January 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Syria for the second time in three years. During his previous trip to Syria in December 2017, Putin landed at Russias Hmeimim airbase for security reasons. This time he took the ostensibly riskier step of touching down at Damascus International Airport, which had previously been the target of attacks, including by Israel trying to hit pro-Iran militias. While back in 2017 Russian media held off on reporting on Putins trip until after he departed, there was no such delay this time around. Putins choice of destination and timing is hardly accidental. It was meant to show that he has nothing to fear when visiting a key regional ally. The gesture is even more poignant considering the recent assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani at Bagdad airport. The death of the Iranian general could cause more instability in the region, but for Russia, this may mean more opportunities to grow its clout in the Middle East. Irans power broker Soleimani played an important role in Russia-Iran relations. It has been rumoured that he persuaded the Kremlin to intervene in the Syrian war on behalf of Bashar al-Assads regime during an unofficial visit to Moscow in July 2015. For most Russian security analysts, however, this version of events seems implausible. It was reported that in June 2015 Moscows military specialists had already travelled to Syria and identified a location for a Russian military base near Bassel al-Assad International Airport in Latakia. By late July, special forces units were sent to clear land around the airport to establish what would be known as Hmeimim airbase. In other words, Russia clearly intended to intervene militarily in Syria before that alleged visit. But while the extent of Soleimanis influence may have been exaggerated, it was by no means negligible. The Kremlin found him to be a reliable partner on whose assistance it could count, especially during the initial stages of its troop deployment to Syria. Despite its close cooperation with Iran in the Syrian war, Russia did not hesitate to turn a blind eye when Israel started attacking Iranian-backed militias, which Soleimani directed. From Irans perspective, Russia could have prevented the attacks since it purported to protect Syrian airspace. The Iranians repeatedly expressed their displeasure at the lack of aerial protection for the positions of the forces it backs in Syria, but, through various channels, Moscow explained that it did not wish to intervene in the conflict between Iran and Israel in Syria and did not want to get involved in the transit of weapons to Lebanon. And even though Russia deployed an S-300 missile system to Syria following Israels role in the downing of a Russian plane in September 2018, these attacks continued. Despite officially maintaining cordial attitudes towards one another, Russia and Iran do not see eye to eye on many aspects of the Syrian conflict. While Moscow has been committed to strengthening Syrias formal security and military institutions, Tehran has been trying to build alternative ones. Soleimani, in particular, had been trying to strengthen the position of Iran-backed militias in Syrian state structures, which had displeased the Russians. On the ground, there has been persistent tension between Iranian and Russian-backed forces. There have been assassinations in both camps and fierce competition for territory and credit over the fight against ISIL (ISIS). The friction became especially apparent in Deraa province, where rebels accepted reconciliation with the regime under Russian sponsorship. There, Russian forces expelled some units of the Fourth Division, which is known to have close ties to Iran, to maintain its influence over the area. Meanwhile, Iran has sought to strengthen its grip on the capital, Damascus, by buying land to effectively create a security zone around it. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also managed to strengthen its position in Homs province, where the Russian company Stroytransgaz mines phosphates for export. Soleimani had played a special role in these tensions, often acting outside of his official mandate as IRGC commander. By cultivating relations with pro-Iran militias, the commander sought to grow his clout and secure leverage over regional elites. New opportunities for Russia Immediately after the news broke of Soleimanis assassination, both the Russian defence and foreign ministries condemned the act. Yet the Russian presidency refrained from commenting directly on the matter. It is also telling that photos of a small Russian delegation expressing condolences to Iranian officials at the Iranian embassy in Damascus were published on social media and not on any of the state news agencies. While Soleimanis death may lead to an escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States and exacerbate instability, for Russia, this may present new opportunities. Up until his assassination, the Iranian commander acted as a de-facto guarantor of stable relations between the Iranian government and its proxies, including Syrian militias. After his death, it remains to be seen if Iran will be able to maintain the same level of close coordination with these forces or manage their activities in Syria and other countries. If the Iranian grip over these forces falters, Moscow could exploit it to grow its influence in Damascus. With his Iranian allies scrambling to control the situation after Soleimanis death, Syrias al-Assad may become even more dependent on Russias support. Putins visit to Damascus should be seen in this context it was intended to demonstrate Russias dominance in Syria and convey its confidence in its approach to the region. His decision to use Damascus airport may indicate that Russia is pushing for a greater economic role in Syria. Last year several airlines, including Bahrains Gulf Air and UAEs Etihad, mulled resuming flights to Damascus. Russian businessmen have already shown interest in bankrolling the airports expansion with a new terminal. According to some reports, Russia even asked Israel to cease targeting the airport and in return, it said it might help reduce the volume of Irans supplies through Damascus, the very supply route that until recently had been overseen by Soleimanis Quds Force. Yet Russias economic activities in Syria lag behind Iran in terms of scale and scope. Being engaged in a wide range of sectors from construction and real estate to manufacturing industries Tehran has played a major role in the Syrian economy after 2011. While there are business opportunities for Russian companies, especially as the Assad regime has promised to give them preferential treatment, many are reluctant to engage for fear of Western sanctions and uncertainty over returns on any investment. So far the main Russian player in Syria is Stroytransgaz, linked to Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko, which is primarily engaged in developing oil and phosphate deposits. Soleimanis death also opens the door for Russia in Iraq, which is contemplating expelling American troops from its soil. The measure was supported by some Iraqi parties and the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMFs). It is true that the Iraqi parliaments resolution calling on the government to remove US troops lacks legal force. Nevertheless, it is a sign of disruption in the US-Iraq relationship. In recent years Russia has demonstrated its ability to turn such crises in Iraq into opportunities. In 2017, for example, Russian energy giant Rosneft expanded its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan amid tensions between Erbil and the central government over the independence referendum. Uncertainty following the Soleimani killing may prompt Iraq to buy Russian anti-defence systems, whether the S-400 system or other models. Bagdad has already shown interest in buying Russias systems. Talks first started in August last year following Israels air raids against pro-Iran militias in Iraq. More recently, PMF Commander Qais al-Khazali suggested Russia and China can replace US military support and advice in Iraq, an offer which will no doubt please the Kremlin. The bottom line is that Moscow continues to demonstrate its ability to convert Washingtons missteps in the region into political and diplomatic gains. Soleimanis assassinations brought tragedy to Iran and its fallout will pose new challenges to the Trump administration. For Russia, however, the Iranian commanders death means a fresh set of opportunities in Syria, Iraq and beyond. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Iranian social media users on Wednesday reported that warning issued by intelligence and security forces and heavy riot police presence on the streets has forced students to call off planned rallies in Tehran on the fifth day of protests in the country. Since early afternoon social media users posted pictures and videos of large groups of security forces and fully-geared riot police around the capital's major universities, describing it as "laying siege to universities". Later on they reported that under heavy pressure students have called off their planned rallies at Tehran and Amir Kabir universities. Heavy riot police presence at Vali-Asr roundabout near Tehran University on 15 January. The Twitter post refers to the riot police as "Ninjas". On the fifth day of protests, however, students at Isfahan's Industrial University held a "silent rally". The images posted on social media show them holding placards reading "176 plus 1500 [killed in the Ukrainian plane crash and November protests]. Denying it is a lie, not human error". A video posted on Twitter on Wednesday evening shows students and Basij militia members chanting against each other at Sanandaj University in Kordestan Province and voices in the video taken in the dark imply the militia are beating the protesting students. Meanwhile, groups of hardliner students gathered in several universities and protested freely. Social media users claim many of the participants in these rallies were not students and call their rallies organized attempts to overshadow student protests in the previous four days. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Wednesday admitted that the protesters are angry because they have been fed lies about the Revolutionary Guard's role in downing a Ukrainian passenger plane last week which killed all 176 onboard. At the dawn of the new decade, Big Tech runs deep, embedded in every level of government as millions of citizens have become comfortable working online with local, state and federal agencies. Information is rarely more than a few clicks away for just about every law-abiding citizen -- and it is just as available to anyone bent on breaking the law. This revolution has been rolling out for a generation, and, for all intents and purposes, peak technology access and adoption has finally been achieved between the people and the public sector. Up until now, government IT has been focused mainly on function: process automation, implementation and establishing networking policies. Today, however, highly publicized data breaches, election vulnerabilities and social media's influence on everything from currency to health care, government IT professionals and cyber-savvy lawmakers are charging ahead with unprecedented purpose and speed toward the greater goal of data protection. Security first When I first started working in government services over 25 years ago, cybersecurity was barely on the radar. As the private sector developed more sophisticated data protection technologies, the government's mission-critical defense systems followed suit, and civilian agencies played a persistent game of catch-up. Fast forward to today: the pendulum is about to swing in the opposite direction, starting with the Defense Department's security-first initiative and its emerging Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements. DODs priority is to now protect every mission and to ensure security in every vendor along its supply chain, from the biggest industrial contractors to the smallest administrative and support firms. With the move to the cloud, mission-critical priorities must be certified for security across all missions due to supply-chain exposure and third-party vendor risk. DOD's security-first initiative starts with its relationships with hundreds of thousands of contractors. Under the CMMC, all will be required to meet new standards starting in 2020 before they can respond to RFPs or renew contracts. Expect similar initiatives to spread quickly across all federal, state and municipal agencies. The standards will flow down into commercial supply chains, and vendors will naturally seek and adopt similar protocols that will spread throughout the private sector. The security-first mentality will catch on quickly and become a national, government-inspired standard that will stand in sharp contrast to the slow trickle-up security that characterized public sector IT before 2020. The world will be a safer place, but beware: CMMC compliance requirements are stringent, audit processes are complex and certification is pass/fail. The learning curves, implementations and costs will be historic. Data protection Government has always focused on security. Whats different now is that were seeing federalism in action with new privacy regulations coming out of the states. Voter expectations are driving the agenda for more privacy, which helps inspire government to return cybersecurity to its root purpose: protecting the data. Bills are coming to Congress in efforts to give American consumers similar privacy rights as those granted under the EUs General Data Protection Regulation. The move is on to establish a trade enforcement bureau, and the National Security Agency is updating guidance on cloud cybersecurity that will produce positive ripple effects. Large-scale, politically motivated cyber attacks are playing out every day around the world. According to the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement officials, nation states are now behaving like organized crime, wreaking havoc on federal systems and, among other targets, pressuring the nation's voting systems with every threat imaginable. Because cyber criminals are not waiting until November, voluntary voting security guidelines are prioritizing cyber defense and testing. Media attention in the upcoming political season will generate unprecedented new levels of public awareness of cyber crime and social media interference. The general public, and most government IT organizations outside the defense infrastructure, will come to a better understanding that a single infected email, one unauthorized network access or a single line of unsecure code is all it takes to put national security and government services at risk. The danger was always there, but increased public attention will drive policy toward more effective security. The bottom line is that private enterprises serving government agencies will be held to the same information management practices as the organizations they serve. Commercial entities will be compelled to achieve competitive parity in audit and assessment standards or risk losing business. The governments mission to protect personal, sensitive, proprietary and classified information from a wide range of malicious actors is enormous, essential and constant. Starting in 2020, government will be setting the pace with everything: the standards, the policies and the culture that will define the next generation of government information technology. Function has led the way for decades. Now, security is first, and function will follow. Clayborne Carson is professor of history at Stanford University and director of its Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. He is the author and editor of numerous books on King and the civil rights movement. Carson was chosen by Coretta Scott King to oversee the publication of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Seven of 14 planned volumes have been published under his direction. Q. Could you start by telling us something about your background? Because as I understand it, youre not only a leading scholar of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, but are yourself a veteran of that movement? A. Yes, I was at the March on Washington and I knew Stokely Carmichael for most of his adult life. I was much more closely connected to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) than to King. My first book was on SNCC. So, I kind of come at this from the point of view of grassroots movements being the heart of the movement, rather than King being this charismatic leader at the top. Clayborne Carson Q. Id like to ask you something that weve been asking all the historians with whom weve been speaking. And that is whether or not you were approached by the authors of the 1619 Project as it was being prepared or prior to its publication? A. No, no I wasnt, which is strange because if you go to our website, we have a lot of educational materials for schools. So, I wasnt approached as a historian, but Im also an educator engaged in on-line teaching, trying, as much as possible, to get free material in the hands of students. I would have loved to work with the New York Times, with all of their clout and resources, to make a change in terms of how American history is taught in the schools. I just think that part of the problem of this whole project is that they did not really approach this as a collaborative activity involving historians, educators, and journalists. It seems quite obvious that the number of people involved in the actual process was quite limited. Q. It also seems that it was written to a preconceived determination, and that historians who might have a somewhat different take were avoided. Its also not clear to whom they did speak. The editor-in-chief, Jake Silverstein, in his reply to the five historians, said that they spoke to a group of African American scholars, but they didnt say who was in that group. A. Yes, and that was a little bit strange. You know if I were called in to have a meeting at the New York Times and they told me theyd like to do this project to make people more aware of the deep roots of African American history within American history and the importance of 1619, I would have said fine, that sounds wonderful, how can I help? I can understand, however, why some scholars would be reluctant because of the work that should go into something like this. I was very much involved in Eyes on the Prize, for example. Eyes on the Prize: Americas Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 was a critically acclaimed six-part documentary that aired on public television in 1987 Q. Right, you were the senior academic advisor for Eyes on the Prize ? A. I was one of four. That was a three-year commitment. We met regularly for three years to produce that series. There was a lot of research, the selection of whom to interview. We had what we called the school and at every stage the filmmakers would come in with footage, and we would critique it: Well, why didnt you interview this person? Why didnt you ask that question? It was an interactive process for three years to get that on the air. On 1619, Im just not sure on a lot of the factual background of this, and maybe youre trying to figure that out, too. Q. Eyes on the Prize is a real achievement and the immense amount of work that went into it is clear. With 1619, you think about the orientation of this project to school children, and its problems become all the more glaring. And that it didnt talk to eminent historians might be more pardonable if it were not also claiming to be imposing an entirely new narrative on American history and a new curriculum in the schools. What you say about Eyes on the Prize is interesting. You get the impression that the 1619 Project was pulled together quickly. A. Yeah, thats what I would compare it to. Henry Hampton was the guiding force behind Eyes on the Prize. One of the things that happened was that the scholars got together before the filmmakers arrived. So, from the very beginning. Thats why we called it a school. The filmmakers came in, and we had a number of discussions right at the start of the process, before any filming was done. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963 One result of those early discussion was to answer the question, do you tell this as a story about King? Or do you tell it the way most of us wanted it told, that King was important, but he was the result of a movement, not the cause of the movement? The bus boycott in Montgomery would have happened, even if King had never been born. It was already a successful movement before he became the leader of it. Similarly, with the sit-ins, and the Freedom Rides, and the voting rights campaign. In all of these cases King was the beneficiary of movements he didnt start. Thats not to deny the importance of Martin Luther King. Ive spent the last 30 years researching him. But it does put his contribution in context. Q. Kings 91st birthday is coming up. He was born a little more than a half-century after the Civil War, and its been a little more than a half-century since his assassination. Youve explained that he was the product of a movement, not its creator, but I wanted to ask you more about what went into his formation as a leader. I dont know if that question is better approached by considering Kings historical antecedents, or by assessing just what the civil rights movement was. Martin Luther King at the March on Washington A. The course Ive taught for many years at Stanford is not called The Civil Rights Movement. I avoid that term. Because when did it begin, and when did it end? Theres no date that you can give me that clarifies this. Was it the founding of the NAACP in 1909? Did it end in 1965 or 1968? Whats going on with the suppression of the Voting Rights Act right now? The term I prefer is the modern African American freedom struggle. Then you can say that that struggle has been going on since the beginning of the African presence in America and is still going on today. But we can choose to look at a certain period when it was possible to build a mass movement and when there were major civil rights reforms. That doesnt mean that the movement started then. It just means that for a very brief period of time it was successful. It was able to get major changes and end the Jim Crow legal system in the 1960s. And that was an enormous achievement. Q. And were speaking of a mass movement, are we not, when were talking about the 1960s? A. It becomes mass in certain places at that time, particularly in the South. Thats the difference between then and now. There was a mass movement that was directed against legalized segregation in the South. And after that there was this recognition that a lot of these problems were not limited to the South. You had a massive movement in Chicago, in New York, in Los Angeles, where I was. So, if we see this in terms of continuity, rather than saying back in Civil Rights Days, it just gives you a more honest picture. Alabama troopers deployed against peaceful marchers during the Birmingham to Selma March. March 15, 1965. Its just like saying the antislavery movement had certain periods where it achieved major victories. But the antislavery movement was going on from the Stono Rebellion of the early 18th century. The anti-slavery movement was going on from the time there were enough slaves here to mobilize a movement. So, you have rebellion, and you have freedom struggles. If your focus is on when and how do freedom struggles occur throughout history, then thats an important topic to take up. What are the circumstances that led to them? That kind of gets back to the 1619 Project. A lot of their focus seems to be the founding of the United States as a nation. The way I would look at that, is that at that time, for a variety of reasons, you have a predominant group, white men, beginning to articulate a human rights ideal. We can study why that happened when it happened. It had to do with the Enlightenment, the spread of literacy, the rise of working class movements. All of these factors led people to start talking in terms of human rights. It was both an intellectual movement from the top down and a freedom struggle from the bottom up. People begin to speak in terms of rights: that, I, we, have rights that other people should respect. The emergence of that is important. And it does affect African Americans. We know that from Benjamin Banneker and lot of other black people who realized that white people were talking about rights and said, well we have rights too. Thats an important development in history, and an approach to history that doesnt say we should privilege only the rights talk of white people. Theres always a dialogue between that and oppressed people. You have to tell the story from the top down, that intellectuals began to articulate the notion of rights. But simultaneously, non-elites are doing thatworking class people, black people, colonized people. Benjamin Banneker depicted in 1943 mural by Maxime Seelbinder at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. Banneker, the son of a former slave, corresponded with Thomas Jefferson over the Declaration of Independence and racial equality. There were three nations that came out of the spread of literacy and Enlightenment ideals. Usually the focus is on the United States and France. But Haiti came out of that as well. That often gets overlooked. Q. I agree with you. I think one of the things that is missing in the lead essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones is any appreciation of the power of the contradiction that was introduced in 1776 with the proclamation of human equality, and also the impact of the Revolution itself. I thought in our interview with Gordon Wood he took that question up very effectively, pointing out that slavery became very conspicuous as a result of the Revolution. Also disregarded is the Afro-Caribbean historian Eric Williams, who analyzed the impact of the American Revolution on the demise of slavery. Instead the Revolution is presented as a conspiracy to perpetuate slavery. A. Yes, and its wonderful to concentrate on that contradiction because that to me explains Frederick Douglass, it explains King. What all of these people were united on was to expose that contradictionand we should always keep exposing itthe contradiction between the self-image of the United States as a free and democratic country and the reality that its not. If you are a black leader, your job is to expose that contradiction. If you go through a list of all the great orations in African American history, nearly all of them focus on that. They want to expose that and use that contradiction. Q. Im glad you mentioned Douglass and King. Richard Carwardine, in our interview with him, said that he was struck by the absence of Douglass, whose name does not appear in the lead essay or anywhere else. The same is true of King, whose name appears only once in a photo caption. The Civil Rights movement is barely mentioned. Black Power and Malcolm X are absent. The list of whats left out is astonishingno A. Phillip Randolph, no Harlem Renaissance. But I wanted to ask you about the absence of King, and any significant attention to the civil rights movement, and what you make of that. A. Phillip Randolph, a socialist and founder in 1917 of anti-war and anti-lynching African American newspaper The Messenger, became leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union. A. I think thats the saddest part of this, that the response of the New York Times is simply to defend their project. Rather than to say, we welcome the critique, lets work with you to see what we can do. Obviously, this would have been better done a year ago, two years ago, but its never too late. And particularly if the purpose of this is to have an impact on the way young people are educated. Im very concerned about that. I call our education program The Liberation Curriculum. I see it as a way of encouraging people to see themselves as rights bearers and right declarers. One way of looking at the founding of this country is to understand the audacity of a few hundred white male elites getting together and declaring a countryand declaring it a country based on the notion of human rights. Obviously, they were being hypocritical, but its also audacious. And thats what rights are all about. It is the history of people saying, I declare that I have the right to determine my destiny, and we collectively have the right to determine our destiny. Thats the history of every movement, every freedom movement in the history of the world. At some point you have to get to that point where you have to say that, publicly, and fight for it. At various points women have done that. Just in our lifetime gay people have done that and raised what would have been astounding to people 50 years ago or 100 years ago. So, the question is how do you move someone from acquiescence in their own oppression to that audacious statement of, we have the right to determine our own future? We have the right to participate in the decisions that affect our lives? In a way, if they can do that, that simple declaration is a statement of freedom. Of course, backing it up with something other than a declaration is kind of necessary! To have the power to make someone listen. Q. The American Revolution was a revolution that drew on masses of people, ultimately, and so too the Civil War, which going all the way back to the Progressive historians has been called The Second American Revolution. And in terms of mass movements, the freedom struggle, as you call it, is certainly among the most important in American history. You raise an important point, the decisive question of why some things happen when they happen. So, 100 years after the Civil War this mass movement of very oppressed people takes place in the American South and then, as you said, it also grips the big cities. Why does it happen when it happens? Why in the 1960s? A. I would argue that freedom struggles are always going on. All you have to do is look for them carefully and you will see that at the grassroots level they are always going on. But the question is when can they develop power? Well a lot of that is changes that, by nature, are gradual. Among the most important changes leading to the articulation of rights was the spread of literacy. As people became more literate it became harder to dominate them. Literacy in the African American tradition, from Frederick Douglass learning to read to Malcolm X being in jail and learning to read the dictionaryliteracy is itself a freedom. One of the commonalities of oppressed people is that they get all of their information through people who dominate them. Malcolm X, right, and Martin Luther King meeting in Washington D.C. March 16, 1964 For most of human history people never got more than 20 miles from where they were born. They knew very little of the world. There was no way of overcoming that until you could get to the point where you could read. That was often purposeful. Dominant people wanted to control information. You dont want people working for you to know that they can walk 20 miles and find better conditions. Of course, you can also mystify them by religion and say, theres this sacred book. You cant read it, but I can interpret if for you, and tell you what your role in society is. So, literacy is huge. So is mobility. Just think of the impact on the whole notion of labor when workers in Europe began to move from place to place building the cathedrals. They learned by moving to a new place that conditions could be better. Thats why there was a huge movement to put up gates at the outskirts of Paris and other cities, because they knew that once you got in the city you could negotiate with whoever wants your labor. So, literacy, mobility. But the commonality of it is just being able to not be enslaved by ignorance. I remember doing an interview with one of the young people who launched the sit-ins, I think it was David Richmond [TM: Richmond, 1941-1990 was one of the Greensboro Four, who staged a sit-in at Woolworths Whites Only lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960.] And he said to me one of the important experiences were just visiting the North. He came back to the South and asked himself, why am I putting up with this? The whole world is not like this. So, mobility, literacy, being able to expand your frame of reference. Civil rights protesters integrate the lunch counter at a Woolworth's Sit-In, Durham, North Carolina, on February 10, 1960. Q. Those are important points. I suppose its not accidental that the civil rights movementand youve problematized that term for me, so I should say in its 1950s and 1960s iterationemerges in cities in the South, in Birmingham and Montgomery. A. Exactly. And it emerges among college students. That is another important factor. Of course, theres no commonality in education itself. It can be education to continue slavery, or it can be education to liberate yourself. Thats why I call our material a liberation curriculum. That is, how do you educate people to imagine that a better world is possible than the one you are a part of? And once youve done that for enough people, you have a lot of discontent that can be mobilized. One of the things that strikes me is that so much of any oppressive world is built on mystification. Just think of how many people assume that corporations are something that was not invented. Havent we always had them? So, you have this entire legal structure that maintains wealth, and not only just maintains it, but mystifies it. We cant know how this happened thatwhat is it now, 100 people? Or 500 people?Have $6 trillion worth of wealth? How is that even conceivable? That level of concentration didnt even exist in the Gilded Age. Q. Let me ask you a little bit more about King, and what went into his formation. I suppose the common knowledge, so to speak, is that its Baptism and Gandhi. A. Both Gandhi and King were Enlightenment figures in the same way Toussaint Louverture was. They are seeing the possibilities in this movement, that in their time, is dominated by white males. What they did in their most profound speeches and writingsfor Gandhi its in his writings and for King its more in his speechesis to say, why should it be limited to that? If there is this notion, this ideal, that every human being has certain rights that other human beings should respect, and if a couple hundred white men can go into a room in Philadelphia and create a nation, why cant we declare we want another kind of nation? That we want a different kind of society? And the only thing thats really stopping that is our own imagination. King does this in his most famous speeches, starting with Montgomery. You have this movement that is a bus boycott. We want to sit wherever we want on a bus. So thats a very concrete right, and Rosa Parks asserted that. Then they organize a boycott. And King is asked to be the leader of it. He gives his first speech, and what does he do? He says, you may think what youre doing is fighting for a seat at the front of the bus, but Im here to tell you that youre fighting for human rights, youre fighting for the Declaration of Independence, the Sermon on the Mount. In his first speech he lays it all out: This is not about a seat at the front of the bus. Its about much more than that. Use your imagination. Rosa Parks rides at the front on December 21, 1956, the day Montgomery's busses became legally integrated He was very good at doing that. When I saw him at the March on Washington it was the same thing. Most of us were there for the Kennedy Civil Rights bill. We hadnt seen it and didnt even know what it was. And what he does in that speech is he doesnt even mention the pending legislation. He goes back to human rights, to that ideal expressed in the Declaration of Independence, back to those kinds of things, just like Frederick Douglass would have done. Its about your own liberation. Its not about the right to sit at the lunch counter. And thats what becomes inspiring. Because, quite frankly, those are people for whom the immediate goal is not worth the sacrifice. Just think of all those people walking through the rain in Montgomery trying to get to their jobs for 381 days. Its about something more than that. Its about our own liberation. Q. Why was it that the historian C. Vann Woodwards Strange Career of Jim Crow was considered a bible of the movement? I believe that King paraphrased from it extensively at the end of the Selma to Montgomery march. King said in a portion of that speech, And as the noted historian, C. Vann Woodward clearly points out, the segregation of the races was really a political stratagem employed by the emerging Bourbon interests in the South to keep the southern masses divided and southern labor the cheapest in the land. A. My understanding is that one of the reasons why Woodward called it The Strange Career of Jim Crow is the point that segregation is something artificially imposed rather than the natural course of Southern history. He was saying that segregation was not seen as an essential part of white domination in the South. The slaves werent segregated from the masterthey were dominated. But its precisely when slavery ended that you needed this public manifestation of the separation of the races. Dorothea Langes photograph of the children of Mississippi sharecroppers, white and black, gathering food for a Fourth of July celebration in 1936 There was a generalization, which had some truth to it before the civil rights reforms, that in the South white people dont care how close black people get as long as they dont get too high; but in the North, people dont care how high black people get as long as they dont get too close. We associate the Jim Crow system with the overall system of white domination, but it was simply one expression of it that became more and more common in the late 19th century, in response to challenges to white political domination. Q. King was by the standards of African American leaders today, very left in his politics, opposing the Vietnam War and launching his interracial Poor Peoples Campaign in the final years before his assassination. Is it correct that he understood himself as a social democrat? A. Well, I edited a book called The Autobiography of Martin Luther King. You might look at that. Its not like a secret. On their first date King told Coretta he was a socialist. Coretta was at the Progressive Party Convention in 1948. She was an acquaintance of Paul Robeson. One of the things Im writing about is her relationship to King. When they are dating back in 1952, she sends him a copy of Edward Bellamys Looking Backward and King writes her about how impressed he is by Bellamys ideas. So, King says something along the lines of, thats what hes going to base his ministry on and that he looks forward to the day when there will be a nationalization of industry. This is 1952. Paul Robeson Q. Right at the height of the McCarthyite Red Scare. A. Exactly. Q. And you knew Coretta Scott King? Because I think, in general, the media portrayal of her is a grieving widow, but an intellectual non-entity. A. Have you ever heard of Womens International Strike for Peace? In 1962 she goes to a peace conference in Geneva, and this is followed by the first major womens march in Washington, which she participates in. By the time the Vietnam War becomes more intense, shes already taken a stand, and long before Martin did. I think that shes way underestimated, in terms of her impact. She has her own F.B.I., file by the way. She was investigated by the F.B.I. from the 1950s on. They were very worried about Womens International Strike for Peace because most of the women around the world who supported it were socialists, communists. Clayborne Carson with Coretta Scott King in 1986 Q. And Kings opposition to the Vietnam War, which seems relevant given the US war drive against Iran? A. Next week we plan to play a recording, a new recording, of his Riverside Speech. We were able to find a recording that was better than that which was available. It was at Riverside Church but for some reason it wasnt the one circulated. It was recorded from his microphone, so it doesnt have any of the background noise. Its very interesting to listen to it today. TM: King delivered his Riverside Speech, also called Beyond Vietnam, on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York. King referred to the war as madness, that created a hell for the poor, and called the American forces strange liberators. Three days later the New York Times issued an editorial condemning King (Dr. Kings Error April 7, 1967) for slander against US military practices in the brutal neo-colonial war and for broaching the connection between the cost of the war and the depletion of social reform programs. (Alliance News) - Shares in Quiz PLC sank early Wednesday, after the clothing retailer reported "lower than anticipated" sales in the Christmas period amid footfall declines and difficult trading conditions in the UK. Quiz shares were 10% lower on Wednesday morning in London, at 16.85 pence each. In the seven weeks to January 4, revenue fell 9.3% from the year before, despite the company reporting that it was "pleased" with its Black Friday sales. Black Friday , which occurred later than usual in 2019 on November 29, sees retailers offer a flurry of promotional discounts. Quiz said: "As previously indicated, during the group's current financial year Quiz's stores and concessions have experienced a reduction in footfall compared to the prior year. This trend continued during the period resulting in revenue from the group's UK standalone stores and concessions decreasing by 7.0%." It wasn't just high street woe which Quiz reported, online sales were down 15% year-on-year during the period. This was attributed to the company ending partnerships with third-party sellers. Quiz said: "Over the past 12 months, the group has terminated unprofitable revenue streams through a number of third-party website partners. As a result of these actions as well as weaker sales through some of the group's remaining partners, revenues generated from third party online partners declined significantly against the prior year." In its own websites alone, online sales were 5.9% higher year-on-year during the seven week period. Despite the sales falls which occurred broadly across the board, Quiz said its trading in the year-to-date has been in line with internal expectations. Cost-cutting and efficiency-boosting measures ensured Quiz has "largely offset the impact on profitability of the lower than anticipated sales" during the seven weeks. Gross margins during the period were in line with expectations, the company said. Chief Executive Tarak Ramzan said: "Whilst the trading backdrop has remained challenging, it is disappointing to report a decline in revenues in the period. We were pleased that revenues through our own websites grew in the period with less promotional activity than in the prior year, which underpins our confidence in the health of the Quiz brand. "We have continued to make good progress in improving gross margins and reducing costs in line with the strategic priorities set out by the board last year. With our cash position, we remain confident that we can improve our financial performance and grow revenues." By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:43:20|Editor: yan Video Player Close WARSAW, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A record-high fine of 120.6 million Polish zloty (31.8 million U.S. dollars) has been imposed on automaker Volkswagen Group Poland for misleading customers about the emissions of its vehicles, the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) said here on Wednesday. "Volkswagen manipulated the emissions indicators and it misled consumers by claiming that its vehicles are environment friendly. Environmental awareness has been rising in Poland, so many consumers could have deliberately favored cars that emit smaller amounts of harmful substances," UOKiK President Marek Niechcial said in a statement on Wednesday. Niechcial said that the level of the fine was justified by the fact that the unfair practice had lasted for eight years and that the company had made no steps towards reaching a deal. The fine, which can still be appealed, is the highest in the history of the Polish consumer watchdog. Poland is the second country to slap fines on the German automaker after Italy's consumer protection agency earlier fined the company five million euros. The "dieselgate" scandal erupted after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discovered that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed engines in several types of cars to activate emissions controls only during testing. This meant that, while the cars met the standards during testing, they were later likely to emit up to 40 times more in real-world driving conditions. Sebi on January 15 introduced a facility for investors of PACL Ltd, having claims of up to Rs 5,000, to view status of their applications and rectify errors in the form, so that the markets regulator can initiate the process of refund for such entities. The regulator said the portal, wherein investors can view status of their claim applications, will be operational from January 24 and the last date for checking the status of applications and rectification of errors will be July 31, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a statement. PACL, which had raised money from the public in the name of agriculture and real estate businesses, was found by Sebi to have collected more than Rs 60,000 crore through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS) over a period of 18 years. A panel headed by retired Justice R M Lodha had initiated the process of refunds for investors of PACL having claim amount up to Rs 5,000 and till date over 3.81 lakh such investors have been paid. However, certain applications could not be processed further on account of one or more errors. The regulator in December said an opportunity will be provided to those whose applications had errors "to make good deficiencies as may be applicable to their claims, so as to enable their claims to be processed". Accordingly, Sebi has asked investors to check the status of their claim applications online on https://www.sebipaclrefund.co.in and rectify the errors, if any. It further said the portal will be operational from January 24, 2020. "The last date for checking the status of claim applications and/or rectification of deficiencies will be July 31," the regulator said. In December 2015, Sebi had ordered attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money due to investors. Sebi had asked PACL as also its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order dated August 22, 2014. The defaulters were directed to wind up the schemes and refund money to the investors within three months from the date of the order. It started with some trips to Bunnings and Jaycar for materials to build a prototype gut health tracker, and now a team of researchers are on a quest to commercialise a tool to translate tummy rumbles. "There were a lot of wires sticking out [in the first prototype], but it was enough to get proof of principle," Noisy Guts chief executive Dr Josephine Muir recalled. Dr Mary Webberley (left) and Dr Josephine Muir are commercialising the Noisy Guts technology. Dr Muir will spend 2020 working towards Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval for the Noisy Guts belt, a technology which is the brain child of gastroenterologist and Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall. Over the past few years, a team of researchers at the University of Western Australia, including Dr Muir and project manager Dr Mary Webberley, have found correlations between sounds from the gut and the presence of gut disorders. Ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, AAP leader Narayan Dutt Sharma on Wednesday accused Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia of asking him to shell out Rs 10 crores for the party ticket from Badarpur constituency. "Manish Sisodia called me to his house and said that 20-21 crore were being offered by Ram Singh for the ticket from my constituency, and then proceeded to ask me how much I was ready to cough up. Sisodia asked me for Rs 10 crore, I said that I did not have the money as I am an honest man," Sharma told ANI here. He further accused the party of giving tickets in exchange for money in several constituencies. "There are many places where tickets have been taken away from party leaders and given to others in exchange for bags filled with money," he said. Sharma also said, "I have already resigned from the party. My next goal is to go among the public and unmask the corrupt here. I will fight elections from Badarpur independently against the AAP and candidates from other parties." Earlier on January 13, Congress leader and former MLA from Badarpur, Ram Singh Netaji along with three others on Monday joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Model Code of Conduct came into force in Delhi on January 6 after the Election Commission of India announced that the assembly election in Delhi will be held on February 8. The counting of votes will take place on February 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MUSCATINE The Muscatine School Board on Monday night heard updates on several programs and special education teachers. Gretchen Price gave an update on the district's Career Pathways program. The initial directive for this project was to ensure the success of all of our students. One of the things we found (in our research) was that even though kids understand the need to become prepared and develop the skills needed in order to be successful, very few of them were achieving post-secondary education. One of the things research showed that rate of achievement varied based on what the district thought was the issue and how it was addressed. One constant, however, was the need to develop career exploration and multiple pathways for success. So we sort of took that as an initiative, Price said. For the Career Pathways offered at Muscatine, students can take the program through eighth grade or college completion, depending on how long the student wants to take it. Students have the option to take college-level classes while in high school, either online or taught by a teacher for college credit, or they can take a Career Academy, which is focused more on moving toward an associates degree or a job. The Lagos State government said on Wednesday that it pulled down the Fela Anikulapo-Kutis statue at Allen Roundabout for the improvement of road infrastructure and to ease traffic gridlock in the state. Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State governor told PREMIUM TIMES that the roundabout had been identified as the cause of traffic gridlock in the area and there is need to reduce the roundabout and ultimately remove the statue. We are the ones that erected it as the Lagos State government, the only constant thing in life is change and the state government has decided to change it, he said. The statue was unveiled on October 15, 2017, by the immediate past governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, to honour the late Afrobeat legend and freedom fighter. The Liberation Statue, as it was named, was erected to mark the 79th posthumous birthday and the 20th anniversary of Felas demise, according to Mr Ambode, adding that he would forever be accorded his position in the global hall of fame of artistes. While stating the reason for the removal of the statue on Wednesday, Mr Akosile said it would aid the expansion of the road and ease traffic gridlock. For the improvement of traffic situation, we realised there is a need to do junction improvement and about five junctions were identified. The five junctions and roundabouts in Iyana-Ejigbo, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Allen Avenue, and Maryland will be reduced to pave way for road expansion and free flow of traffic, Mr Akosile said. While Maryland and Allen roundabouts have artworks at the Centre, the statues and sculptures will be removed because of the road engineering work that needs to be done. Mr Akosile said the artworks and statues are being removed and relocated to a more appropriate place where they would not cause problems. The official added that about 60 traffic gridlock points have been identified in the state and the government is working on them to bring relief to the populace. Next week, St. Helena Mayor Geoff Ellsworth is hosting a community forum on community health, childrens health and blue zone health. The discussions on healthy living will be held from 7-9 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 23 and from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Jan. 25, both at the Native Sons Hall, 1313 Spring St. in St. Helena. For more information, visit geoffellsworth.org. Our Milky Way galaxy is strewn with billions of planets, alien worlds still unseen by human eyes at least for now. Only three decades ago we didnt know if there were planets beyond our own solar system. In 1995, astronomers discovered that a star in the constellation Pegasus was wobbling back and forth, tugged by the gravity of an unseen planet, an exoplanet, a hot and hellish world unfit for life as we know it. The wobble method of planet hunting relies on sensitive spectroscopes. As an orbiting planet tugs on its star, the starlight we see shifts from blue to red and back again. The Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009. It found thousands of exoplanets by staring at a small patch of the Milky Way. Kepler didnt look for wobbles. It looked for small dips in starlight, when a planet crosses in front of its star. Kepler found systems of planets, groups of worlds swirling around their star, lonely planets encased in ice, other worlds scorched by fire, newborn planets shrouded in dust, waterworlds, and planets swept by global storms, planets dancing in orbit with two stars, or even three, and even planets from other galaxies that were swallowed up by the Milky Way. In recent years, astronomers have taken the first direct images of exoplanets, blurry pixels of alien landscapes. Weve discovered a free-floating planet not bound to any star. And weve seen signs of planets being born, infant worlds scoring dark rings in the dust around their stars. Now a new planet hunter will join the search. On April 16, 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, will lift off from Cape Canaveral. TESS will spend two years scrutinizing the entire sky, watching nearby stars for minute dips in brightness caused by a nearby alien world. TESS four cameras cover a swath of the sky 96 degrees tall. TESS will divide the sky into sections like the slices of an orange and stare at each section for 27 days, then move on to the next. After two years we will have covered the whole sky. TESS will fly an unusual orbit, swooping as far out as the moon every two weeks before falling back close to Earth and dumping a torrent of data to eager astronomers. TESS is a target hunter. The planets it finds can be studied by the next generation of telescopes on Earth and in space. With luck TESS will discover worlds suitable for lakes and oceans, with rich atmospheres and chemical signals we can detect. Their gases could tell us whether these planets are habitable or inhabited by the likes of us. The Milky Way holds more planets than stars and a diversity that we still havent begun to plumb In the search for life and meaning in the cosmos, our own world is still the gold standard. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant on Tuesday hit out at Yogesh Soman, Director of the Academy of Theatre Arts (ATA) in the University of Mumbai, for his derogatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to the media in Mumbai, Sawant said, "If Yogesh Soman is making statements which are political in nature, that is not right. A person at his post must not make such remarks. He was taking BJP's side being on a government post." "The matter should be thoroughly investigated and strict action should be taken," he added. Soman is facing flak after he shared a video online in which he responded to Rahul Gandhi's controversial remarks where he said 'he was not Rahul Savarkar'. Soman, in his video, retorted that the Congress scion did not have Savarkar's qualities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend: Uzbekistans Ministry of Innovative Development is working on commercialization of technology for import-substituting activated carbons based on local raw materials created by scientists from the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of Uzbekistans Academy of Sciences, Trend reports citing the press service of the ministry. This technology was studied by specialists of the Ministry and a business plan was created. As part of the Innovation Ideas Week-Innoweek-2019, an agreement was signed with local manufacturers for the introduction of this technology in the industry. At present, activated carbon of more than 2,000 tons per year for the industrial needs of Uzbekistan is imported from abroad in the amount of more than $8 million for the oil and gas, chemical, metallurgical and food industries. The production of activated carbon in the country, the introduction of research by Uzbek scientists will save foreign currency, export domestic innovative products to the world market, and implement programs to localize production in the oil and gas sector. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri The health secretary says the public can carry on flying as often as before despite the climate emergency, rejecting the idea of sacrifices to save the planet. Matt Hancock said the solution was greener planes, such as those powered by electricity although he admitted he did not know when they could be introduced. Asked if people should be flying less because of the climate catastrophe following the controversial bail-out of Flybe he replied: Nope. And, asked if he would fly from London to Aberdeen, Mr Hancock said: Yes of course it thats necessary... If I needed to get to Aberdeen and I didnt have time to take the train. The comments come amid growing criticism of the government for signalling it will cut air taxes to rescue Flybe, while claiming it can still hit its climate targets. Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Show all 50 1 /50 Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent But Mr Hancock said ministers were right to step in to save regional flights, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: Being able to connect different parts of the country is important. He claimed: Flying has already decarbonised and can decarbonise more, and when it was suggested sacrifices will be necessary to address the climate crisis replied: No. We should use technology to reduce carbon emissions. For instance, electric planes are a potential in the not too distant future, the health secretary said. However, asked when they would come in, he admitted: Im actually here to talk about the health service you will have to get the transport secretary on. Im told that electric planes are on the horizon, if thats not pushing the metaphor too far. Greenpeace attacked the comments, accusing him either of ignorance about the damage planes cause or that he simply doesnt care. Either Matt Hancock thinks planes run on fairy dust, or he does know theyre a major source of planet-heating emissions but simply doesnt care, said John Sauven, its executive director. Whichever it is, his comments fly in the face of the Conservative manifesto commitment to tackling the climate emergency. And Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesperson, said: This Tory government is happy to promote flying despite the climate emergency and the damage air pollution can do to our planet? In the year the UK is hosting the COP26 climate change conference, the country needs a government that takes the climate emergency seriously. The comments come after Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, was criticised for claiming using recycled cooking oil to fuel aeroplanes can help solve the climate emergency. The governments own climate advisers have warned the aviation industry must not rely on biofuels to offset an increase in emissions in the years to come. Ministers have also admitted they will not decide how to fund a strategy to end the UKs contribution to climate change until the end of the year. The government has already been fiercely criticised for lacking urgency and practical solutions for tackling the climate emergency in announcements so far. The climate crisis was barely mentioned by Boris Johnson during the election campaign and he boycotted the Channel 4 debate on the issue in which he was replaced by a melting ice sculpture. By Anna J. Park NongHyup Financial Group will launch a joint venture (JV) with the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO), the world's largest fertilizer cooperative, in a bid to make inroads into India's financial market, the group said Wednesday. The announcement came a day after NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-soo and IFFCO Chairman US Awasthi signed a share subscription agreement at IFFCO's headquarters in New Delhi. Under the accord, NH Capital, a subsidiary of NongHyup Financial, has acquired about 25 percent of the shares of IFFCO-Kisan Finance an affiliated company of IFFCO becoming the second-largest shareholder of the agricultural equipment-specialized finance company. This is the first time a Korean financial firm has moved into the Indian market through a JV with a local financial company. With the deal, NH Capital expects to get access to the cooperative's membership of some 36,000 entities. "Considering India's high economic growth rate and solid growth in agricultural equipment markets, as well as competent shareholders' networks, Kisan Finance has a bright growth prospect," Kim said during the signing ceremony. "As a strategic investor, NongHyup Financial Group will fully support Kisan's business expansion and growth." Along with the establishment of a branch of its bank in India, NongHyup plans to expand its business projects, focusing on agriculture and finance in the Southwest Asian region. The authorities released the monk Sefer (Aho) Bilecen, from the church of Mor Yakup. He had been arrested on charges of "terrorism" for giving bread to a PKK member. In the province of Srnak, two elderly spouses disappear into thin air. They were the last two Christians left in the village of Meer. Istanbul (AsiaNews) - Turkish authorities yesterday released the monk Sefer (Aho) Bilecen, from the church of Mor Yakup in the province of Mardin, detained for a few days on the charge - never officially formalized by the prosecutor's office - of "terrorism". In reality, the Assyrian priest had been targeted by security forces for sharing food [a piece of bread, ed.] With a member of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party outlawed in Turkey and whose leader Abdullah Ocalan has been in prison since 1999. The priest was arrested on January 9 together with two other Christians in the south-east of the country, in an area with a Kurdish majority and scene of confrontation and violence with the Turkish military. Local sources report that an anonymous complaint alleged that he distributed food to members of an outlaw movement (the PKK). The Assyrian journalist and leader of the Belgian community David Vergili announced his release with a message via Twitter. The other two Christians (Josef Yar and Musa Tastekin) arrested together with the priest are both heads of two villages in the region. During the frenzied days of the arrest, the head of the Assyrian Associations Foundation had compared the arrest of Sefer (Aho) Bilecen to the controversial story of the American missionary detained for 21 months by Ankara, speaking of "the second Pastor Brunson case". Among those who intervened to ask for the release of the Assyrian priest there is also the European Syrian Union. While this case has come to a positive conclusion another case of mysterious disappearance within the Turkish Christian community has been reported. Assyrian sources have denounced the kidnapping of the last Christians of the Assyrian-Chaldean village of Meer (Kovankaya, ayarnak province), in south-east Turkey, taken by "unidentified men". A witness said that on the afternoon of 11 January, a group of people took Houmouz Diril and his wife Simoni (pictured) from their home and led them to a destination that remains unknown at the moment. Their son, Remzi Diri, a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Istanbul, who came to visit his parents the following day, found the house empty, thus denouncing the disappearance. Houmouz Diril and his wife had returned to Meer a decade ago to live again in their home village. They were the only and last Christians in the village and in all these years they have repeatedly rejected the requests - if not intimidation - from the Turkish authorities to abandon the area. In an appeal, the Christians of the Turkish south-eastern province launch an appeal for prayer, to obtain the release of the two spouses, who are elderly and sick Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE A Santa Fe homeowner said he will appeal a ruling by city government that he must remove pro-Palestinian art from the stucco walls surrounding his east side home on Camino Lejo. The photo-like posters, introduced by the words End military aid to Israel, can be seen from Old Pecos Trail near San Mateo Road. On Tuesday, the city sent Guthrie Miller a letter informing him that he has 10 days to remove the multipart mural because its material and colors do not conform to historic district standards. In a statement, city spokeswoman Lilia Chacon confirmed that Miller, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist, has the right to appeal. In an interview, Miller said he was originally approached about five years ago by a group called Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine about having his wall plastered with pro-Palestinian posters and that he agreed. The posters put up on July 12, 2015, lasted about one day, Miller said, and were reportedly torn down by a well-dressed man. This time was different, he said. No one asked his permission to put up the art, which he said was the work of indigenous activist and artist Remy, from Arizona. I woke on Sunday, Jan. 5, and the art was there, Miller said. But he said he is not opposed to Remys message that Palestinian women and children are being victimized by Israeli soldiers. The mural has provoked debate on Facebooks Santa Fe Bulletin Board, where reactions range from What (expletive), anyone who would support this has very little insight to the history of the region to So sad, so true so powerful! Rabbi Berel Levertov of Santa Fe Jewish Center Chabad took issue with calling the art pro-Palestinian. In a statement, he said, Lets not call it Pro Palestinian when it really is just anti Israel, and it does nothing to help the Palestinians who are suffering under their terrorist leaders. Much of the latest installation has been destroyed since it went up. But Miller said it originally included the juxtaposition of an image of a Native American woman being arrested by Santa Fe police during a 2017 demonstration against the now-defunct Entrada with a picture of a Palestinian woman being confronted by an Israeli soldier with a gun. The Entrada, part of the Fiesta de Santa Fe for decades before it was halted in 2017 after three years of Native protests, commemorated the reoccupation of Santa Fe by the Spanish 12 years after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Miller said Remy and activists in Red Nation, a Native group based in Albuquerque, are aligned with the Palestinian cause. Levertov said, For the Native American artist to equate the Israeli Jews (with) the white Europeans who conquered America and persecuted the indigenous people is simply a complete twist of the basic fact that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel for at least 3,500 years. Miller said he plans to go through with the appeal to bring more attention to human rights violations against Palestinians. I think it will be an interesting process, he said. The citys notice to Miller said that stuccoed exterior walls in the Historic Review District must be brown, tan, or local earth tones and that the rules do not provide for the application of artwork on paper with starch-paste glue. Gunja Sharan By Express News Service Brands such as Thomson TVs, Black & Decker steam irons, Elle handbags and Blaupunkt bluetooth have become profitable in a short span of time through brand licensing, which in turn is a win-win situation for brands, licensees as well as consumers, according to Rishabh Singla, managing partner, LicenseWorks. Explaining the advantages of brand licensing, Singla said, It helps a brand, homegrown or international, expand into a new product category, which enables them to reach new consumers and retail points thus helping brand owners extend and maximize their brands power and reach. For instance, LicenseWorks has worked with Super Plastronics, a manufacturer and marketer of TVs in India, which was looking to grow its business. LicenseWorks has helped the firm to partner with French brand Thomson to launch TVs in India. Similarly, it helped Indian audio firm Envent to partner with German brand Blaupunkt to launch its products in India, which is now one of the bestselling brands in its category, said Singla. Based in Gurugram, the agency has recently helped the American brand, Sata Barbara Polo Club launch apparel and footwear in India through a retail group. The entire process happens with the help of third parties, who are experts in product categories and they can be either manufacturers or retailers, the company said. To launch a new brand is a daunting task, it can take decades to grow one and find a foothold in the market. But licensing enables these third parties to introduce their products under a recognized brand that helps them penetrate in the market, achieve better profitability via higher margins and ramp up sales/market share quickly, he said. For brand owners, licensing partnerships are beneficial as they enable them to explore and expand into new product lines, which further helps in expansion of their customer base and growth in brand equity. For licensees, the partnerships enable them to acquire the rights of a well-known brand, and develop and sell approved products under that brand name across distribution channels. Thus, licensees get immediate traction and are able to scale up their business at a faster pace. Brand licensing, for consumers, is a mean to engage with their favourite brands through new brand extensions, instead of just being restricted to a limited core product range. This is how a well-executed licensing partnership is a win-win situation for all brand owners, licensees and, ultimately, consumers, Singla added. On being asked about how a firm can secure a licence, he said, to secure the right licensees for a brand owner (licensor), we gauge their credibility on three factors product development capabilities, distribution capabilities and marketing expertise. We look for partners/licensees who can first develop a strong, high-quality product range consistent with the (licensors) brand image and positioning. Secondly, the partner must have a strong distribution and service network. Thirdly, that partner should have the acumen to grow and manage a world-class brand. For brand owners Licensing partnerships are beneficial as they enable them to explore and expand into new product lines, which further helps in expansion of their customer base and growth in brand equity. For licensees, partnerships enable them to acquire the rights of a well-known brand, and develop and sell products Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 17:25:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A smart patrol robot works in railway signalling room in Shanghai to ensure the security and punctuality during the annual Spring Festival travel rush. MONTREAL, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VoIP.ms, a state-of-the-art Montreal-based VoIP Provider, announced today the launch of Free Porting across U.S. & Canada for Local & Toll-free DIDs*. Effective today, residential and business users wishing to switch operators while keeping their old phone number can have their number transferred free of charge; in addition to this, portability transition is shorter and easier than before. "We pride ourselves to be a fully Contract-Free, Pay-as-You-Go and Bring Your Own Device provider," commented David Rouleau, Chief Operating Officer at VoIP.ms, "but it just made sense to seal the deal with free porting. Since the company creation back in 2007, VoIP.ms has always been advocating to offer a hassle-free solution to its customers." VoIP.ms keeps growing with significant product development in the past months. The company has launched various features to remain universally recognized as the most feature-rich VoIP provider, namely: Automatic Top-Up Referral Program T.38 Faxing Audio Conferencing Call Encryption Extra Security Features (incl. TOTP, 2FA, etc.) just to name a few. * For all the details regarding this announcement, please visit: https://voip.ms/en/free-porting. About VoIP.ms Founded in 2007, VoIP.ms is a Canadian voice over internet protocol (VoIP) bring-your-own-device provider headquartered in Montreal, Canada with over 75,000 happily satisfied customers. VoIP.ms provides a vast range of standard telephony features, as well as enhanced communication features to simplify both business and residential communications such as local, DID numbers in 60+ countries. It also offers termination (outgoing calls) in over 125 countries across the globe, toll-free numbers, and services such as E911, SMS, virtual fax and virtual PRIs. For more information on VoIP.ms, please visit https://voip.ms Media Contact Daniela Brito Marketing Manager 1-855-606-1475 [email protected] Related Images voip-ms-logo.png VoIP.ms logo VoIP.ms Montreal based VoIP provider SOURCE VoIP.ms Related Links https://voip.ms UP assembly polls will be about '80 per cent vs 20 per cent'; BJP will win: Yogi Adityanath Muslim population went up due to special rights: Yogi Adityanath India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Lucknow, Jan 15: The populations of Muslims is up as they got special rights, Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has said. He said that the population had increased after partition since they were given special rights and facilities unlike in Pakistan. The Muslim population has gone up by 7 to 8 times since 1947. None have objections, but they should work for development. This increase has taken place because of the special rights given to them. All possible steps were taken to ensure their growth, but what happened in Pakistan, he said while addressing a rally in Gaya. People who thrive on country's resources fomenting terror and naxalism: Yogi Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News He further said that those opposing the citizenship law were committing the sin of working against national interests. Both the Prime Minister and Home Minister deserve acclaim. But they are being attacked, Yogi also said. He also said that the Modi government did not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion. Many have benefited from the welfare schemes of the government. Was anyone asked before being included as a beneficiary about his religion or caste, the UP CM further asked. We look forward to working with them quickly and would expect that the U.N. sanctions will snap back into place, he said on CNBC. The Europeans decision to invoke the deals formal dispute resolution process arrived at a flammable moment for Iran, after weeks of domestic and international tumult. Antigovernment protests broke out in several cities last month, but the targeted killing by the United States of a top Iranian general this month temporarily united the country behind its leadership, and Iran fired missiles at bases housing American troops in Iraq in retaliation. On Jan. 8, a Ukraine International Airlines flight to Kyiv crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard. After claiming for three days that the disaster had resulted from mechanical failure, Iran acknowledged that its own antiaircraft missiles had shot the plane down, as Western governments and news organizations had reported. The crowds of mourners that packed Iranian cities for the slain Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, last week gave way to widespread, though smaller, protests against the governments handling of the airliner accident. The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, acknowledged the protesters anger and seemed to validate it in remarks on Wednesday at a diplomatic conference in New Delhi. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, news organizations reported him as saying. After admitting to shooting down the plane, the Iranian military said that human error had been at fault, not any system problem. On Tuesday, the militarys Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had arrested a person who had recorded a video of a missile striking the plane images that undermined Irans initial denials. Horrific bodycam footage released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows a man wildly waving a machete at a cop and jumping on top of him as he attempts to hack at him before he is shot. The man in the footage was identified as Nathaniel Pinnock, who was shot down after he was alleged to have robbed an auto supply story on November 25. He is seen in the footage, and witness video, being chased by police who used a taser and bean-bag shotgun unsuccessfully to stop him before he was shot. Scroll down for video The man in the footage was identified as Nathaniel Pinnock, 22, who was shot down after he was alleged to have robbed an auto supply story on November 25 Footage of the suspect shows him just moments before he raises a machete to strike an officer An officer's body cam footage shows the suspect moments before he raises the machete to strike, but is gunned down The bodycam video was released as part of a 'Critical Incident Community Briefing' prefaced by warnings of its graphic content by Josh Rubenstein, the LAPD's public information director. 'A word of caution, the images and information you're about to see may be disturbing. When a police officer uses force to arrest a suspect, or defend against an attack, it is graphic and difficult to watch,' he says. Captain Gisselle Espinoza, of the media relations division, explains what is seen through out the footage. She said the incident began around 11:20 a.m. on November 25 The release of the video footage was to help give the public a better understanding of events as they unfolded and led to the shooting, police said, and the investigation may take up to a year to complete. Captain Gisselle Espinoza, of the media relations division, explains what is seen through out the footage. The footage includes a mug shot of Pinnock, and plots the path he was alleged to have taken after the robbery. The foot chase after the robbery briefly leads police to the exit of a drive-thru at a fast-food restaurant. Pinnock is seen in the footage being ordered to put the machete down. He crouches down, but does not appear to release the blade. Instead, the footage shows the suspect run into the drive thru lane, where he opens the drivers side door of a dark-colored car, which has been abandoned by its driver. Bodycam footage and a witness' cell phone video included in the release at that moment showed the failed taser discharge. Instead of being immobilized, Pinnock is seen jumping into a dark colored car at the drive-thru window. A witness' cell phone video was included in the footage showing a different vantage point of the suspect running into the drive-thru He is then seen in the footage driving off in the vehicle. The footage shows the vehicle striking patrol cars in the drive thru before it is blocked from getting away. The chase resumes, while still Pinnock is seen still carrying the machete. The footage shows an officer chasing the suspect after he crashed a vehicle he stole from the drive thru An image of the suspect and an officer falling to the ground after shots are fired An officer's bodycam shows the cop discharging a bean-bag shot gun at the suspect, who suddenly turns back at the cop. 'Drop the machete!' the officer yells at the suspect, when he starts backing away. The footage shows the officer falling to the ground as Pinnock raises the blade over his head and gunshots are heard. The footage then shows the suspect on the ground in the middle of an avenue. He is not moving as police officers, some looking unnerved, circle around him. Cops said Pinnock was taken into custody and taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The machete was recovered from the scene. Chinese tourist nanny drowns in Phuket villa swimming pool as child looks on PHUKET: Police have yet to reveal what led to a Chinese nanny looking after a young girl in a rented villa swimming pool to drown while the girl remained floating in an inflatable ring just metres away. tourismdeath By Eakkapop Thongtub Wednesday 15 January 2020, 05:40PM Tourist Police question Ms Wang's friends at Thalang Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Lt Sommanat Nayao of the Thalang Police reported that staff at Thalang Hospital had notified police of the Chinese womans death at 2:40pm yesterday (Jan 14). The cause of death was confirmed as drowning, Lt Sommanat said. Officers arrived at the hospital to be shown the body of Wang Cuiying, 47, Jilin, in northeastern China, still dressed in a black swimsuit. Police noted that Ms Wangs body had no scratches or bruises, and showed no other signs of a struggle. Ms Wangs friends told police that Ms Wang had traveled to Thailand with 14 friends. They arrived in Phuket last Friday (Jan 10) and were scheduled to leave today (Jan 15). Ms Wang had been hired by her friends as a nanny to look after their daughter, who was of only preschool age, Lt Sommanat explained, but declined to confirm the age of the girl. Lt Sommanat said that the maid attending to the villa, which he noted was at a hotel in Moo 7, Pa Khlok, was at the villa with Ms Wang and the girl when she heard a scream and something shouted in Chinese language. Not understanding what the girl had shouted, the maid ran to find out what had happened and saw Ms Wang floating face down in the pool. The girl was also in the pool, floating on a swimming ring, Lt Sommanat said. The girl was safely brought out of the pool, but Ms Wang was unconscious and unresponsive. The villa manager was notified, and [the manager] called Thalang Hospital to send an ambulance, Lt Sommanat added. A medical team soon arrived and sped Ms Wang to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead on arrival. Doctors specified the cause of Ms Wangs death as drowning, Lt Sommanat noted. However, Lt Sommanat declined to confirm whether Ms Wang suffered any pre-existing medical condition, or if she was even able to swim. I cannot make any conclusions until I finish the investigation, he said. Lt Sommanat did not confirm whether he had inspected the scene. I have informed the Chinese embassy so that Ms Wangs relatives can make arrangements to have her body taken back to her home country, Lt Sommanat added. A court here has sent a man to judicial custody after he was arrested with cartridges at Jodhpur airport, police said on Wednesday. Durg Singh, a resident of Panchodi in Nagaur district, was scheduled to fly to Pune on a Spice Jet flight but was nabbed by security officials at the airport. He along was working at a gas agency in Pune for the last few years, police said. "We arrested him since he had no arms license and produced him in the court which sent him to judicial custody," SHO, Ratanada Police Station Zulfikar Khan said. "He was caught with two live cartridges during the scanning of his luggage... The cartridges were kept inside a file," the police officer said. Singh, however, told the security officials that the cartridges were purchased about 8 years ago and were meant to be used for making a key chain and a talisman. "Singh claimed that the cartridges inadvertently got stuck somewhere in the file and he forgot about them," said Khan. A case under arms act was registered against Singh, Khan said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Working for Backroads is more than a job, it's a lifestyle "Were looking for a wide variety of people, interests and skillsets for the 2020 travel season. If you think youve got what it takes to work for Backroads, wed love to hear from you." Backroads, the leader in active travel, today announced that it is hiring for Trip Leader and other field based roles for the 2020 season. For more than 40 years, Backroads has been running biking, hiking, multi-adventure, family, private and active ocean and river cruise trips worldwide, in more than 60 countries. The company is particularly seeking bilingual candidates who have a true interest in connecting with and serving others. Backroads Trip Leaders are recognized as the best in the travel industry, consistently earning a 98% approval rating from guests for their outstanding performance as interpreters, facilitators, ambassadors and all-around sources of inspiration and goodwill. Often referred to as a lifestyle Backroads Trip Leaders work hard intense events that include high physical and social activity. Its a rewarding job for those who are flexible, adaptable, resourceful and adventurous, and want the opportunity to live and work in some of the most desired travel destinations in the world, said Jo Zulaica, Director of Leader Development at Backroads. From Americas national parks, to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, and beyond, Backroads Trip Leaders provide exceptional customer service and on-trip support, enabling guests to enjoy their Backroads adventure stress free. Backroads Trip Leaders and Field Staff are the best in the business, said Tom Hale, Founder and President of Backroads. Were looking for a wide variety of people, interests and skillsets for the 2020 travel season. If you think youve got what it takes to work for Backroads, wed love to hear from you. A pioneer in active and adventure travel, Backroads was founded on the principles of creating extraordinary experiences for its guests, being the most guest-focused travel company on the planet and incorporating the highest quality possible into the philosophy and fabric of the company. Backroads is an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To qualify, applicants must be 21 years of age or older, hold a valid drivers license and clean driving record, and have English fluency. As an active professional, all applicants must be able to lift 50 pounds of weight. For more information and to apply, go to: http://www.backroads.com/leaders About Backroads Backroads was founded in 1979 by Tom Hale and has been a leading innovator in active and adventure travel for over 40 years. The company hosts thousands of guests each year, 75% of whom are repeat guests or referrals from past guests, in hundreds of locations across the globe. Backroads is a founding member of the Adventure Collection. For more information, please visit backroads.com. Or call 800-462-2848 daily, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pacific time. Coming on the heels of President Trumps decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the debate opened up with a relitigation of the war in Iraq, and a renewed discussion over how and whether the candidates would commit troops in the Middle East. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) committed to bringing combat troops home, while former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg pointed to his own experience in the military. Former vice president Joe Biden cast his experience in that office as invaluable, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suggested Bidens vote in favor of the Iraq War was disqualifying. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 06:59:14|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- It is of great importance for the United States and China to deepen collaboration and exchange ideas in retail industry as both sides can learn a lot from each other on this front, an expert from U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Tuesday. "We want to see free trade not just of goods but also free trade of ideas. I think that's very important for the retail industry," Mark Mathews, vice president of research development and industry analysis at the NRF, told Xinhua during the ongoing Retail's Big Show in New York. The expo NRF 2020 Vision ran from Sunday through Tuesday, featuring over 800 companies from nearly 100 countries and regions. The event was aimed to offer new ideas, perspectives and technologies to global industry insiders. "We all believe we can learn a lot from what's happening in China," said Mathews, noting there are many changes and innovation happening in Chinese retail industry, such as the introduction of payment technology, which benefits both the consumer and retailer. The veteran retail expert attributed China's rapid innovation to the country's "focus on economic growth and doing the right thing for economic growth," adding the new trends in China's retail also provide great opportunities for U.S. businesses. Mathews said the global retail industry is experiencing a major tendency of cross-border collaborations in terms of company level. "We are seeing retailers getting together and combining and create consortium," he said, adding it is expected to see more alliances of retailers across countries in the future so that they could have more competitiveness. Calling the Retail's Big Show "a melting pot of ideas," Mathews underscored the importance of exchange and communication in order to strengthen cooperation in the sector and promote the industry. "We all learn from each other. We learn about things that can help us do our jobs better and help our industry grow faster," he stressed. The three-day event attracted nearly 4,000 people all over the world, including exhibitors, industry visitors, experts and speakers, according to the organizer. As pioneers in reshaping the retail landscape, over a dozen Chinese companies, including Lenovo, Qingdao Hisense, Sunmi Tech, and Wintec System, joined the grand show with high-quality hardware facilities and retail solutions designed to enhance modern user experience. Mathews said he welcomes more Chinese exhibitors to come and share their perspectives in the industry. "I certainly hope that we have more Chinese people here. It's good for us and it's good for China," he said. In a 53-44 vote, the House voted in favor of the bill removing the 13 township assessor offices that remain in nine of Indianas 92 counties. The bill would transfer to county assessor offices the duty of determining the value of buildings and land for property taxes. Research Higher Ed Enrollment Decline Continues; For-Profit Shrinkage Slowing The estimated national enrollment by institutional type from 2017 through 2019. Source: "Current Term Enrollment Estimate" from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Four-year for-profit colleges took the brunt of the continued decline in higher education enrollments. Between fall 2018 and fall 2019 enrollment dropped by 2.1 percent for those institutions, representing 15,711 fewer students year-over-year. However, that was just a fraction of the shrinkage that same type of school experienced between fall 2017 and fall 2018, when the decrease was a whopping 15.1 percent. According to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the "Current Term Enrollment Estimate," which reports enrollment information twice a year (in December and May), overall postsecondary enrollment is down yet again by 1.3 percent from fall 2018. The second largest drop was felt by public two-year and four-year schools (-1.4 percent and -1.2 percent, in turn), losing 77,092 and 97,426 students, respectively. Four-year nonprofits shrank by 0.6 percent over that same period, representing the loss of 22,027. Also, for the first time, according to the Research Center, the "unduplicated count" fell below 18 million for fall enrollment, which totaled 17.965 million students. The state with the biggest drop was Florida, where 52,328 fewer students enrolled. No other state came close. New York lost 1.8 percent, or 19,386 students, and California lost 0.8 percent, or 19,272 students. Fifteen states saw increases in enrollment, led by Utah, with growth of 4.9 percent from fall 2018 to fall 2019 (a jump of 16,757 more students). No other states came close to that kind of increase. New Hampshire was second, with a change of 3.4 percent year-over-year, representing the addition of 5,183 students. "With every institutional sector experiencing enrollment declines this fall, the higher education industry has now shed more than 2 million students since its peak in 2011 and the unduplicated count has fallen below 18 million for the first time," said Doug Shapiro, executive research director for the Center, in a statement. He noted that "most of the pain" hit schools in the Midwest and Northeast, while some states in the South and West experienced "modest growth." Enrollment by major has evolved. While the category of "liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities" lost 84,519 students (7.1 percent) between fall 2018 and fall 2019, the greatest gain by sheer numbers was yet again computer and information sciences and support services, which drew 20,369 more students than in the previous fall semester (for a 4.5 percent increase). That was followed by psychology, which grew 3.8 percent and added an additional 16,865 students. In other findings, across all institutions, about 159,000 fewer men and almost 84,000 fewer women were enrolled in fall 2019 compared to fall 2018. Also, as reflected in recent reporting from the Center, the age of enrolling students is getting younger. Over the last four years, the average age of full-time, undergraduate students dropped from 22.3 to 21.8 years old. The complete report and spreadsheet with data is openly available on the NSC Research Center website. It is now more than a month since the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by Parliament, sparking off protests around the country that show no signs of abating. If anything, popular anger against the law has hardened due to police brutality especially in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. Joining the Dots is a weekly column by author and journalist Samrat in which he connects events to ideas, often through analysis, but occasionally through satire *** It is now more than a month since the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by Parliament, sparking off protests around the country that show no signs of abating. If anything, popular anger against the law has hardened due to police brutality especially in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. A welter of other resentments has flowed into the protests against the CAA and National Register of Citizens, which have now come to symbolise everything that many Indians dislike about their present government. There is unhappiness at the high prices of vegetables and the low state of the economy. There is irritation at the daily lies about practically everything, which have ceased to fool anyone except the completely brainwashed. There is anger at constant rebukes delivered at high decibel to anyone who has a different point of view. There is exasperation at unending bigotry with no signs of any of the promised vikas. There is shock at the brutality unleashed by the police in Uttar Pradesh and by goons with police help on young students in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. Probably every issue could have been handled much better if the government had shown any signs of listening to those who disagree, or at least to its own experts, and working out compromise solutions. Instead, we have seen even small issues escalate into massive battles. In the case of JNU, the original issue was actually a much smaller matter related to a sudden hike in fees and other costs, to which a section of students objected. The Human Resources Development ministry worked out a compromise formula but, according to the Indian Express, the Higher Education Secretary who worked out the compromise solution was transferred practically overnight for his efforts. The cost to the University Grants Commission involved in accepting this compromise, which on average is somewhere in the range of Rs 1,000 per student per year towards service and utility charges in a university with a total of around 7,300 hostel residents, is obviously negligible for the government at less than Rs 1 crore. Last financial year, just one Indian bank, the State Bank of India, wrote off bad debts worth Rs 76,660 crore. The public sector banks have been busy writing off lakhs of crores in bad debts, which they are unable to recover. Meanwhile, some bloodsucking netas are busy trying to squeeze a thousand rupees a year out of students, many of whom are genuinely poor, by using goons to beat them up. That mean, thuggish approach has caused matters to escalate. The situation now is that, although the Vice-Chancellor has belatedly agreed after the attack on students to the compromise formula he had previously rejected, the issue now is no longer about the fee hike. It is about the criminal assaults and attempts to murder students and faculty that happened with evident support of the administration under him, for which the Delhi Police is yet to make any arrests. The demand now is for the VCs removal, and justice for the crimes. A similar escalatory spiral has occurred in the case of the Citizenship Amendment Act which was forced through despite long and clear expression of objections by many sections, especially in Northeast India. The attitude towards them is clear from statements emanating from BJP leaders. Dilip Ghosh, the BJPs West Bengal chief, said proudly that anti-CAA protesters were shot like dogs in BJP-ruled states. When faced with criticism over this, he retorted, whatever I said is what the partys stand is. If we get a chance in Bengal, we will handle it in a similar way. These are not the words of a democrat. They are the words of a tyrant. If shooting unarmed protesters like dogs is the party stand, as Ghosh says, then India has ceased to be a democracy in all but name. A periodic holding of elections by itself is not enough to make for substantive democracy. Ideas of dissent and dialogue are important in democratic societies and polities. The government of the day is expected to channel differences into healthy debates and work out acceptable compromises. There is none of that happening at present. This government was elected with a big majority only months ago and is in no evident danger of collapse. On the other hand, the protests against CAA and NRC are not about to vanish either, because they are peoples protests. Opposition leaders will face the ire of their own voters if they are seen trying to cut shady deals. The demands of the protesters are quite clear. They want the CAA struck down, and they do not want the NRC in any form. On the matter of striking down the CAA, the Supreme Court will have the final word. On the matter of all-India NRC, it is up to the government to restore the National Population Register exercise to its original form because in its amended form it is seen as the first step towards the NRC. Unfortunately, no matter what the court or government decides, it may be impossible to find any solution that satisfies all sides in Northeast India. If the Northeast is exempted from CAA, the million-plus Hindus among the 1.9 million excluded from Assams NRC, mostly Bengalis, who have been led on so far by the BJP on promises and hopes, will cry betrayal. If the Northeast is not exempted, sub-nationalist forces in the region will get a fresh impetus of the kind they have not got since the early 1990s, when the United Liberation Front of Asom was at its peak. If the Supreme Court fails to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of all then, barring the possibility of a referendum, the country may be left to stagger along from crisis to crisis for the remainder of the term of this government. Vanderpump Rules Training Days Season 8 Episode 2 Editors Rating 2 stars * * Previous Next Photo: Bravo It is official: I do not understand this show anymore. Part of the confusion lies in very simple matters, like how I dont know where these people live or what their houses look like. I cant, on a visceral level, understand how the garments Katie wears in any given scene actually drape on her body, or why Jax is wearing a Tom Schwartz T-shirt (and where I could possibly buy one for myself). And then there is the deepest question of all: Who the fuck are all of these people, and why does this show keep focusing on creatures whose last names I dont even know? But I also dont understand what this show is anymore on a more existential level. Like why, on Gods burning earth, would any of these people want to go back to their jobs at SUR? When we started this endeavor together eight years ago, it was about a group of drunk, oversexed strivers working at a restaurant while trying to make their dreams of stardom a reality. They are all now famous. According to this French kiss of a story in the Hollywood Reporter (was it written by Lisa Vanderpumps publicist?), the original cast is pulling in somewhere around $500,000 a season just from the production alone. And yet there are two story lines in this episode about how former employees want to return to the warm bosom of goat-cheese balls and Pumptinis. Tom Sandoval, who is now a small business owner (that is not a comment on the size of his business; it is a short joke), says even though Lisa fired him from SUR last year so he could focus on Tom Tom, he still picks up a couple of shifts a month so he can leave the bar with a huge stack of cash because its instant gratification. If thats what he wants, he should dust off those abs of his and join the Magic Mike show in Vegas. Maybe they need a horn player. When Toms working one of his shifts, Ariana shows up in a beautiful red cape with her hair perfectly coiffed and asks Lisa for a few shifts a week because shes tired of sitting around the house. In a scene more choreographed than Meghan Markles withdrawal from the royal family, Lisa says she needs to think about it. I get that they both miss their jobs, the easy money, and, most likely, the thrill of being in the place where their celebrity status is most distilled, but it is time to move on. I also miss the job I had in my 20s working at a nightclub, but that doesnt mean I want to go back. I am now a grown person and must have grown-person employment, make grown-person money, and, most important, go to bed at a grown-person hour. The same should go for these two. Its especially ironic that Ariana shows up to beg for a shitty bartending job dressed like a real, legit L.A. lady. She doesnt need to go back to SUR. She could bartend anywhere, she could open a boutique, she could probably do a better job managing Kristens T-shirt company than Kristen does. The whole point was to get the hell out of SUR and move on to something better. We have achieved maximum better, people. As for the action at SUR, theres nothing I could possibly care less about. I would rather be tickle-tortured by a decaying sea cucumber than watch Dayna and Max go on a date. I would rather sit in a chamber of Todd Phillipss hoagie farts then hear about how Scheana is training Dayna less than shes training Charli, an unhatched Pokemon. I would rather watch Joker on repeat, which is basically the same as the chamber of farts, than watch Brett train Lisa Vanderpump in her backyard (with his shirt on). I would rather talk about Lucy Lucy Apple Juice for 24 consecutive episodes than meet Danica, who got suspended from SUR for pushing her bartender boyfriend, unless I can see this actual shoving of the boyfriend. And I would rather do any of those things than watch Dayna do stand-up comedy. Oh my God, guys, Daynas stand-up comedy. I give her credit for getting onstage and telling jokes, because she is braver than I am and probably better than I would be. However, this stunk worse than the Todd Phillips Chamber of Farts. It was the level of moderate humor usually achieved by supermarket greeting cards, Bazooka gum wrappers, and Family Guy episodes. Whats gross is that everyone is like [light clapping], Shes good [looking at each other smiling and nodding and still clapping], Shes good. No, she is not, and just telling me shes good does not make her good, just like telling me that Brussels sprouts cost a million dollars does not make it so. The only things I vaguely care about in this episode have to do with the degradation of Scheana, and thats because, well, it makes me laugh. Can you believe Scheana bought Max an Apple Watch for Thanksgiving? What person is so insecure that they give gifts for random holidays? Hey, happy Fourth of July, I got you a motorcycle! I also relished Brett taking Scheana to the walk-in to break up with her for 15 minutes and Scheana totally taking that as a sign that hes flirting with her. Meanwhile, we get little more of Stassi than her helping Brittany take her booty-door photos for Jaxs wedding present. We get little more of Katie than her trying on old wedding dresses. We only see Lala and James make up for about three seconds in a recording studio. (Has James been demoted to the Pump Rules equivalent of friend of?) We dont even get a glimpse of Schwartz, yet we see Dayna and Max, two turtles in search of shells, go on a date together. What universe do we live in now, and will someone please tell me how to get a Lyft back to Valley Village? Finally, the episode ends with a little bit of old-fashioned drama about Kristen and Carter, which, honestly, Im having a hard time ginning up interest in myself. The problem is that Kristen has broken up with Carter, but he doesnt want to break up so he keeps insinuating himself into her life. Everyone thinks thats because Kristen pays all of Carters bills, which may be true even though we have nothing to base it on. Kristens rebuttal is Maybe hes upset because he loves me and our family is being torn apart. It would be utterly pathetic if it werent no, thats just pathetic. Weve already established that Kristen is pulling in good money for the show; if she wants to have a kept man at home, then why do all these people care so much? It seems Kristen is always complaining about it to her friends and then not really doing anything about it, so that is what makes them frustrated. I think Kristen just needs to take control of the situation one way or another, but I also think that a part of Kristen relishes the drama of someone wanting and needing her even if she doesnt want or need that person. After all, if weve learned anything over the years, its that Kristen is a perpetual-motion machine of messiness. Jax has the difficult task of telling Carter that if hes not in a relationship with Kristen then he isnt invited on the groups joint bachelor-bachelorette weekend in Miami (something that hasnt been adequately explained, because weve been watching Charli Minus XCX learn how to use a POSitouch machine). Carter doesnt take the news well, and Jax advises him to just let Kristen go. But what if thats not what I want?, he asks, before going out into the living room and giving Kristen the saddest, crying-est hug Ive ever seen outside of a Hallmark Christmas movie. In the apartment next door to Kristens, which is where Tom Sandoval used to live, he and Tom Schwartz are lying totally naked on the knobby carpet in postcoital bliss. Im so glad you kept the lease on this place so we could meet up, Schwartz says, his hand rubbing sweat and secretions into Sandovals chest. He changes position and can feel every cell of his skin peeling off of Sandovals, both crying for release and begging to return to the warmth of contact. As he sits up against the wall and surveys the piles of clothes scattered around, he says, Do you think were becoming, you know, irrelevant? Ahead of the 2020 Academy Awards, Vulture is revisiting the endings of this year's Best Picture nominees. Louis Garrel (as Friedrich Bhaer) and Saoirse Ronan (as Jo March) in Little Women. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing Little Women ends where it begins, in the offices of publisher Mr. Dashwood (Tracy Letts). At the opening of Greta Gerwigs film, Jo (Saoirse Ronan) stands at Dashwoods door, psyching herself up to go in and sell a short story she wont even claim as her own. And as the movie approaches its conclusion, two years later, she returns to sit at his desk and argue over the fate of the heroine of a novel shes been writing will she marry, or will she remain unwed? Jo points out that the character has firmly and repeatedly expressed a lack of interest in matrimony. Dashwood counters that readers would find such an outcome unacceptable: If you end your delightful book with your heroine a spinster, no one will buy it. It wont be worth printing. We understand that its not just the ending of the novel theyre fighting over; its become clear that the book Jos been struggling to write all this time is actually Little Women itself. Theyre battling over what will happen in the movie were watching whether this hybrid version of Jo, who owes as much to author Louisa May Alcott as to Alcotts most famous character creation, will end up like the character on the page or the real woman who wrote her. Its been hard to buy the scattered complaints that Gerwigs ingenious restructuring of Alcotts novel has somehow turned the story into a puzzle box requiring intense concentration to decode. Gerwigs version of Little Women leaps back and forth in time, but its not exactly Lost. Having the saga of the March sisters unfold nonchronologically doesnt make it harder to follow so much as it asks the audience to start with different associations for each sibling. Were introduced to Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh) as separate adults as, respectively, a married mother of two, a writer and tutor living in the city, an invalid, and an art student abroad in Paris. They begin as individuals so that when the movie returns to their shared childhood, growing up in genteel poverty in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1861, we understand how their formative experiences inform their later choices their whole story of domestic struggles and joys. The only sequence in the movie that offers true uncertainty is the ending, and it does so deliberately and with a decided lack of resolution. By that point, Little Women has just about caught up with itself, the parts of the past it has been jumping back to coming closer and closer to its present. Before we get to the grand finale, theres one last flicker of a flashback, to Jos initial meeting with Friedrich Bhaer (Louis Garrel), the German professor she weds in the novel, on the steps of the New York boarding house they both share, and under the roof of which theyve developed a friendship with a possibility for more. After that, the movie is done hopping between timelines. Instead, what used to be the present story line becomes the past as the movie skips forward. Or maybe thats not what happens, and maybe what we see at the end is not the juxtaposition of two different points in time, but two different realities the ending that Jo wrote for her stand-in on the page, and the path she chose for herself in her actual life. So in one scene we see Bhaer, clearly looking for an excuse to see Jo again, arriving at the March home for a lovesick impromptu visit, the family howling for Jo to chase after him when he eventually says good-bye and departs. Then we cut to the Dashwood household, where the initially dismissive publisher realizes he might have a hit on his hands when his daughters rush into the room clutching Jos manuscript and demanding to know what happens next. Then back to the carriage that a giggling Amy and Meg are using to rush Jo to the station to stop the man she loves from leaving for good. And, finally, were in Dashwoods office, for that fateful discussion. Here, Dashwoods query as to why the books heroine didnt end up with her beloved childhood friend Laurie (Timothee Chalamet) echoes that of many an aggrieved Alcott reader over the years. Jos concession that the character will end up with someone I suppose marriage has always been an economic proposition. Even in fiction echoes a line Amy said earlier to Laurie. Its a reminder, maybe, of who the author of that scene was supposed to be. At some point in Little Women, the present becomes the past or maybe fiction? Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing When the movie drops us from this negotiation back to the train station again, glowing in the night, its unclear if what were watching is something thats taking place in Jos life, or if its part of the semi-autobiographical book shes been writing. The music swells, and what happens is the age-old stuff of cinema, the big finish the racing through the rain, the frantic searching through the crowd, and the kind of glorious kiss that has, in the long history of movies, always been used to signal a happily ever after. Its a swooning clinch good enough to be shown in two angles. In Gerwigs script, the scene header notes that THE PRESENT IS NOW THE PAST. OR MAYBE FICTION, an ambiguity that comes through in the way it looks on camera as well. Though its part of the timeline that has, until this point, had a cool tint to mark it as the present, the scene has the warm tones of memory or of fabrication. Alcott herself never married. One of the lines that Gerwig gives to Jo in the movie Id rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe is actually the authors own. She didnt intend for Jo to marry either, and clashed about this with her own publisher, not to mention her readership. As she wrote to a friend after the first part of Little Women was published, so many enthusiastic young ladies wrote to me clamorously demanding that she should marry Laurie, or somebody, that I didnt dare refuse & out of perversity went & made a funny match for her. Bhaer is, in that light, an ornery response to an audience Alcott saw as treating marriage as if that was the only end and aim of a womans life. If Jo had to be paired with someone, she decided, it would be with an older, absentminded man who shames her out of writing the commercial fiction with which shed been making a living. In the book, Bhaers proposal is sweetly awkward no climactic running through the 19th-century equivalent of an airport terminal while theyre out doing errands in town, he with his hands full of shopping, she bedraggled and damp. Of all the affectionate tweaks that Gerwig makes to her source material, its what she does with Bhaer that feels most telling a way of navigating all the complicated currents of what constitutes a satisfying conclusion for characters pushing against the constraints of whats expected of them as women. The Bhaer in the movie isnt all that much like the one on the page he isnt, to use Alcotts word, quite so perverse a pick. For instance, the literary Bhaer is not a dreamboat played by French actor and director Garrel, but a stout, bearded fellow whom Jo describes as someone who hadnt a really handsome feature in his face. When, in the movie, the character ungently criticizes Jos writing, he does so not to chastise the moral qualities of her writing (like Bhaer does in the book) but to suggest shes wasting her talent on material unworthy of it. And most importantly, in the movie we see Bhaer with Jo before we ever see her with Laurie. Hes linked to a bustling New York overflowing with immigrants and with life. Their dance at the beer hall sets up their relationship as one thats not about a reluctant surrender to domestic obligations but as filled with the promise of the new. After a scene in which Jo haggles over payment for and the copyright of the novel, the movie cuts between two more sequences. In one, Jo watches as her book is being printed and bound. In the other, all of the characters are gathered at Plumfield Academy, the school Jo has set up in the house left to her by grouchy Aunt March (Meryl Streep). The latter scenes, in the script, are labeled FICTION(?), and can be interpreted as representing the ending of the book Jo wrote rather than the life she went on to lead, one that might find her contentedly single and focused only on her career as an author. But whats particularly lovely about Gerwigs maybe-maybe-not ending is that theres no need to make that call. Maybe theyre two separate possibilities, maybe ones fiction and ones fact, and maybe theyre able to coexist. Gerwig leaves the top spinning, letting us appreciate that her character doesnt need to be married off to get a happy ending, while allowing that sometimes you just want to see a passionate kiss in the rain as well. As Dashwood puts it, Its romance! And as Jo puts it, Its mercenary! Like so many things in life, its actually a little of both. NEW DELHI: An IndiGo Airline's pilot was off-rostered and an inquiry ordered against him after a woman air traveller accused him of ''harassing and misbehaving'' with her and her 70-year-old wheelchair-bound mother during a recent flight. Taking cognizance of the matter, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the airline has "off-rostered" the pilot following the incident. I requested my office to contact @IndiGo6E as soon as I saw the tweet by Ms @SupriyaUnniNair about the pilot's behaviour with her & her 75 yr old mother in need of wheelchair assistance. The airline has informed @MoCA_GoI that the pilot has been off-rostered pending full enquiry https://t.co/NVkjr6ubti Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 14, 2020 The airline too assured the woman complainant on Wednesday that necessary action will be taken against its pilot. ''We're aware of complaint raised by a passenger on Chennai-Bangalore flight last night. The matter is under internal review and necessary action will be taken. Our team is in touch with the customer to ensure her concern is understood well&to help avoid such experiences in future,'' the Haryana-based airline said in a tweet. The matter came to light after Supriya Unni Nair, a woman who was travelling from Chennai on an IndiGo flight, requested for wheelchair assistance for her septuagenarian mother who has difficulty walking. However, the pilot of the flight allegedly "harassed, threatened and prevented" the duo from de-boarding the flight. He even threatened to get them arrested. All because the women had requested a wheelchair. The woman later narrated the whole incident on Twitter, seeking the attention of netizens as well as Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to the potential risk of abuse persons with disabilities are liable to face in public and commercial transport. Taking to Twitter, Nair wrote that her flight was running late. After it landed, Nair who always calls for assistance while travelling with her mother, tried doing the same by calling the assistance bell. When no response came, Nair said she walked up to the crew inside the plane. Live TV "She claimed we don't have access to a wheelchair when it was clearly printed on the ticket. When I pointed this out to her, the captain came barging out and yells at me for pressing the assistance button and annoying him and his crew,' Nair wrote. After an altercation, the ground-staff in charge of handling the wheelchair assistance arrived but the pilot allegedly prevented the Nair and her mother from disembarking the flight. He also hurled abuses at Nair and went on threaten her with a night in jail, claiming he would get the CEO down and together "they" would teach her some manners. This is not the first time that a person with a disability has been denied services on board a flight in India. In December 2017, Air India crew caused controversy when one of its ground staff members refused service to a researcher on a wheelchair. The new, expanded SamTrans bus service from the Peninsula to San Franciscos Embarcadero appears to be doing double duty as a late-night homeless shuttle that regularly drops those with nowhere to go onto city streets and parks at the end of the line. Some of those homeless people may be coming from San Francisco International Airport, where San Francisco police hand out free bus tokens to keep them out of the terminals at night. This at a time when the city just opened a $4 million Navigation Center not far away to deal with homelessness along the waterfront. Its unconscionable that agencies are playing what appears to be musical chairs with the homeless, said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes the Drumm Street block where the SamTrans line terminates. Now Playing: People exit a SamTrans bus late a night on Drumm Street in San Francisco near Sue Bierman Park. Video: San Francisco Chronicle Private security guards who patrol the area around the Embarcadero Center first noticed the nocturnal drop-offs last month when there was a surge in the number of homeless people around nearby Sue Bierman Park, particularly on weekends. The influx was a bit of a puzzle for the guards, who regularly patrol the areas parks, sidewalks and doorways and are familiar with the homeless people in the area. It was as if they had dropped out of the sky. And they didnt seem to know where they were, said one of the guards, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak for the security company. A few weeks back a couple of the guards happened to be near the 300 block of Drumm Street on a Sunday at around 2:30 a.m. when a SamTrans bus stopped. This is it. The end of the line. Everybody off, they heard the driver announce. Out poured about a half dozen apparently homeless riders, who quickly melted into the darkness. The guards returned a week later and videoed a SamTrans bus discharging another group of homeless people. Some operators have mentioned that theyve had homeless people on board, but there hasnt been much said beyond that, SamTrans spokesman Dan Lieberman said. Homeless or not, passengers are expected to exit the bus at the end of the line. A bus ride from the Peninsula to San Francisco would normally cost $2.25. SamTrans, however, provides homeless support organizations in San Mateo County with a regular supply of free ride tokens for those in need. Plus, as your paper has previously reported, police officers at San Francisco International Airport have provided tokens to homeless people that end up at the airport after a late-night BART ride, Lieberman said. SFO spokesman Doug Yakel estimated that the airport gives out bus tokens to between 20 and 25 homeless people a night during the winter months, and that 12 to 15 of them are SamTrans tokens. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. These individuals are given the option of taking SamTrans from the airport, Yakel said. And some of those lines wind up ending their route at Drumm Street after midnight. This is just the type of homeless dumping that we sued the state of Nevada over a few years back, Peskin said, refering to the 2015 Greyhound therapy case that found the state of Nevada was giving unwanted psychiatric patients one-way tickets. How a transit agency that primarily serves neighboring San Mateo County wound up with a Drumm Street stop is a bit of a head-scratcher to Peskin as well. Last February, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency pulled out a block of metered parking along Drumm Street to be used as a rest stop for SamTrans bus drivers. Six months later, the rest stop became a bus stop. SamTrans staff saw an opportunity to expand bus service north of Market Street and respond to some of the feedback wed gotten from customers, so we worked with SFMTA and other stakeholders to add additional stops past the Salesforce Transit Center, Lieberman said. As a result, Drumm Street is the final stop for a number of SamTrans lines, including the 292 bus, which ends there at 2:31 a.m. on Saturdays and 2:21 a.m on Sundays. That just about the time the homeless population in the area swells. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phil Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KGO-TV morning and evening news and can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier Even if unemployment in Texas were sky-high, accepting a few hundred refugees would be the right thing to do. But the truth is that Texas, with nearly 30 million people, had among the fastest-growing economies in the United States last year, the result being a rock-bottom unemployment rate. The states acute labor shortage in construction, oil and other industries is regarded as a grave threat to its economy. If Texas were an independent country, its $1.6 trillion economy, roughly the size of Russias, would be the planets 10th-largest. Absorbing the refugees who were in line to be resettled in Texas this year would hardly have registered as a blip a fact recognized by the mayors of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and other major cities in the state, who said earlier they would happily accept refugees. Markets regulator Sebi has rejected Axis Bank's plea to allow the lender to invoke the pledge on shares in the Karvy Stock Broking Ltd (KSBL) matter. The order comes after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on December 20 had asked Sebi to pass an order by January 15, 2020 in the case. The tribunal had modified its earlier directive passed on December 17, wherein it had asked the markets watchdog to pass an order within 15 days in the case. Axis Bank had moved SAT seeking the shares pledged by KSBL to the lender be unfrozen, so that it can invoke the pledges. The move had come following a Sebi directive to the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) in November that prevented Axis Bank from accessing the securities pledged with the lender by KSBL. KSBL owed Rs 81 crore to the bank which was given in the form of overdraft against shares. As per the data provided by NSE, securities pledged by KSBL in favour of Axis Bank belonged to its fully paid as well as partly or unpaid clients. The value of securities belonging to fully paid client is Rs 171.74 crore and the value of securities of other than fully paid clients is Rs 13.69 crore. Regarding pledging of securities of fully paid clients, Sebi said a stock broker has no authority to pledge the securities of its fully paid clients. If a broker pledges securities of its fully paid clients, it amounts to misappropriation of clients' securities. "Even if securities belonging to fully paid clients are pledged by the stock broker, such pledge does not pass any title to the pledgee, as the stock broker in such case himself/itself does not possess any title/right over such securities. Thus, pledge of securities, belonging to fully paid client, is not treated as valid pledge in law," Sebi noted. "Pledging of securities of unpaid clients required taking of 'explicit authorization' by the stock broker from each such client and in respect of each such pledging. The Representor (Axis Bank) has submitted that the PoA (power of attorney) given by the client was sufficient authorization to create such a pledge. However, I do not agree with such interpretation given to the scope of PoA," Sebi Whole Time Member Anant Barua said in an order on Tuesday. He further said PoA given by the client to the broker can be used for the purpose of pledging in favour of the stock broker, only for the purposes of meeting the margin requirements. The bank in its representation to Sebi also said in respect of partly or unpaid clients, KSBL be directed to issue five days notice to the clients or the bank be allowed to issue five days notice to clients to enable the clients redeem the pledged shares by making payment of the corresponding outstanding indebtedness, failing which the lender be permitted to invoke the pledge on shares. If the bank is able to show proof of authorisation in respect of securities having value of Rs 13.69 crore belong to unpaid clients, such securities can be released to it after following the procedure under supervision of NSE, Axis Bank said in its submission. The regulator has rejected Axis Bank's plea in the matter. Sebi, through an interim order passed on November 22, barred KSBL from taking new brokerage clients and also prevented it from using the PoAs given by its clients after the brokerage was found to have allegedly misused clients' securities to the tune of over Rs 2,000 crore. Securities held by KSBL were used by the brokerage for borrowing from the lenders courtesy the PoA. The securities held by over 83,000 clients were given back to them after Sebi asked NSDL to do so, forcing lenders -- Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank -- to move SAT and secure an interim relief on further transfers. However, SAT on December 4 refused any immediate relief to top lenders and directed them to approach Sebi by December 6 and that Sebi pass an order. NSDL's move helped 90 per cent of KSBL's demat account holders get back their securities. Later, Sebi refused to provide any relief to the four lenders. Bill Hutchinson / The Chronicle A California Highway Patrol officer discharged his firearm on Monday in San Jose after a fleeing suspect drove into the officers patrol vehicle, officials said. No one was injured in the officer-involved shooting, according to the CHP Hollister-Gilroy division. How Long Each Candidate Spoke Military Foreign policy Trade Can a woman win? Health care Child care Education Impeachment Climate change Electability Note: Each bar segment represents the length of a candidates response to a question. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders had the most speaking time of the six presidential candidates in the January Democratic debate. The debate started with a lengthy discussion on military and foreign policy in the wake of an American drone strike that killed Irans top military commander. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said his vote in 2002 to authorize the war in Iraq was a mistake. Democrats debated the merits of a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico. Mr. Sanders said he wouldnt vote for the deal because it doesnt address climate change, a move backed by Tom Steyer, who said climate is his number one priority. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Ms. Warren said they supported the new deal, which came together after negotiations between President Trump and House Democrats. Note: The size of each circle represents the total length of a candidates responses to a topic. The candidates again divided into two distinct camps on health care: Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren said they support a Medicare for all approach, while Mr. Biden, Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar criticized the cost of such a plan, instead favoring a public option. Mr. Sanders denied that he told Ms. Warren in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. Of course a woman can win the presidency, he said. All the candidates agreed. Get full coverage of the Democratic presidential debate from the Times. VP Workouts We deeply appreciate VP Workouts and their customers, and how theyre helping us to restore youth and families mentally, socially and academically. Together we are making a difference. VP Workouts, the first mobile app to create tailored workout routines using artificial intelligence (A.I.) pledges 5% of its gross revenue to group homes for foster children. Founded by philanthropist and entrepreneur Nicholas Schindler, VP Workouts mission is to not only offer the best personal training app to customers, but to be charitable and giving. Their ultimate goal is to fix a broken foster care system. VP Workouts is currently partnered with the state of the art Unks Place in Dayton, Ohio. Unks Place strives to improve and develop the mental, physical and spiritual facets of youths lives. The facilitys comprehensive program provides safety, stability, education, hope and fulfillment to its residents. Its their vision that the liberating training curriculum they provide will prepare each child for college, independent living and more. Unks Place considers VP workouts one of its heroes, rather than a donor or partner. Schindler and his team are passionate and proactive about giving back to Unks Place. A staggering 65% of youth in foster care will be incarcerated, abusing drugs and alcohol, pregnant or dead by the age of 19. VP Workouts refuses to sit back and accept these statistics and the current state of the foster care system. By giving Unks Place a portion of its gross revenue from app sales, VP Workouts along with its customers can make a difference in the outcome of these childrens lives. I brought a vision to Nicholas and he gave credit, financing, time and integrity to make it a reality, Cornelius Hagans, CEO and Founder of Unks Place commented, Foster children have a good home thanks to him and his company. We have directly impacted the lives of youth who were incarcerated, abandoned, abused and severely traumatized. Because he believed in us, children have been adopted, removed from locked-down facilities and returned home to their families. We deeply appreciate VP Workouts and their customers, and how theyre helping us to restore youth and families mentally, socially and academically. Together we are making a difference. About VP Workouts VP Workouts is dedicated to providing affordable and customized workout plans to the masses. Founded in 2017 by humanitarian Nicholas Schindler, VP Workouts is based out of Covington, OH. By ensuring subscribers world-class workouts optimized for them, it is our hope that everyone can enjoy the results a personal trainer provides, without the hefty price tag. VP Workouts donates 5% of gross revenue to group homes for foster children. To learn more, visit us at http://www.vpworkouts.com. About Unks Place Unks Place is dedicated to aiding in the mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing of youth ages 12 to 21 by creating a safe, educational and nurturing environment. The Unks Place name allows our youth to know we are family. All staff are Aunts and Uncles where our youth can feel loved and at home. Our TEAM is here to support the wellbeing of our residents. As we strive to build up each individual's commitment to self and society, we look to give direction and praise in each moment of their lives with the intention of celebrating every attempt at being their best. To donate, volunteer and learn more, visit us at http://www.unksplace.org. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign an initial trade deal at the White House in Washington on January 15, 2020. Read more WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed a trade agreement Wednesday with China that is expected to boost exports from U.S. farmers and manufacturers and is aimed at lowering tensions in a long-running dispute between the economic powers. Trump said during a White House ceremony that the deal is righting the wrongs of the past." He promoted the signing as a way of delivering economic justice for American workers and said, "We mark a sea change in international trade" with the signing. The agreement is being described as phase one" of a larger negotiation focusing on tensions in the U.S.-China trade relationship. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in a letter to Trump that the first phase is good for China, the U.S. and for the whole world. The letter was read by Beijing's chief negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He. But this agreement would do little to force China to make the major economic changes such as reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies that the Trump administration sought when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018. The White House ceremony gave Trump a chance to cite progress on a top economic priority on the same day that the House prepared to vote to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. He told Republican lawmakers attending the ceremont that he understood if they had to leave early for votes. They have a hoax going on over there. Let's take care of it, Trump said. The agreement is intended to ease some U.S. economic sanctions on China while Beijing would step up purchases of American farm products and other goods. Trump cited beef, pork, poulty, seafood, rice and dairy products as examples. The deal would lower tensions in a trade dispute that has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy. Trump said easing trade tensions was critical. "Keeping these two giant and powerful nations together in harmony is so important for the world," Trump said. The world is watching today. White the deal stops short of many changes the president has sought from China, it leaves in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports, leverage the administration hopes will generate future concessions. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said work on follow-up negotiations will hinge on how China fulfills the commitments it made in the initial phase. We have to make sure this is implemented properly, Lighthizer said. This is the first agreement like this of its kind and we have to make sure that it works. His Chinese counterpart said "the world is now at a critical historical crossroads" facing choices of how to promote country-to-country cooperation. "Cooperation is the only right choice,'' said Liu. Larry Kudlow, Trumps chief economic adviser, said the agreement vindicated the presidents strategy of using tariffs in trade negotiations, though not in every instance. I think with China he was exactly right, Kudlow said. I think the tough tariffs hurt their economy and made them much more amenable to a good deal. Most analysts say any meaningful resolution of the main U.S. allegation that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive to supplant America's technological supremacy could require years of contentious talks. Skeptics say a satisfactory resolution may be next to impossible given China's ambitions to become the global leader in such advanced technologies as driverless cars and artificial intelligence. This first phase hardly addresses in any substantive way the fundamental sources of trade and economic tensions between the two sides, which will continue to fester, said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and and former head of the International Monetary Fund's China division. The thornier issues are expected to be taken up in future rounds of negotiations. But few observers expect much progress before the U.S. presidential election in November. Phase 2 -- I wouldnt wait by the phone, said John Veroneau, who was a U.S. trade official when George W. Bush was president and is now co-chair of the international trade practice at the law firm Covington & Burling. That is probably a 2021 issue. The U.S. has dropped plans to impose tariffs on an additional $160 billion in Chinese imports, and it cut in half, to 7.5%, existing tariffs on $110 billion of good from China. Beijing agreed to significantly increase its purchases of U.S. products. According to the Trump administration, China is to buy $40 billion a year in U.S. farm products an ambitious goal for a country that has never imported more than $26 billion a year in U.S. agricultural products. Derek Scissors, China specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the trade war has already delivered a benefit for Trump, even if it hasnt forced Beijing to make major changes to its economic policy: Trumps tariffs have reduced Chinese exports to the United States and narrowed America's trade deficit with China. The president has long lambasted the U.S. trade gap with Beijing as a sign of economic weakness, though many economists disagree. A wide trade deficit can actually reflect economic strength because it means that a nation's consumers feel prosperous and confident enough to spend freely on imported goods as well as on home-grown goods. So far this year, the U.S. deficit with China in the trade of goods has declined by 16%, or $62 billion, to $321 billion compared with a year earlier. The deficit will narrow further if Beijing lives up to its pledges to buy dramatically more American imports. Trumps tariff increase have proved to be a headwind for China's economy, which was already slowing, though the damage has been less than some expected. Chinese global exports eked out a 0.5% increase in 2019 despite a plunge in sales to the United States, according to Chinese customs data. AP Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing and Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Rights Groups Demand Cambodia Drop 'Bogus' Charges Against Kem Sokha on Eve of Treason Trial 2020-01-14 -- Cambodia should immediately drop "bogus" charges against opposition chief Kem Sokha, rights groups demanded Tuesday, the eve of a planned two-day treason trial in a case they said will be overseen by a politically controlled judiciary beholden to Prime Minister Hun Sen's government. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Kem Sokha will be "the victim of a staged trial on completely bogus treason charges" when proceedings at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court get underway on Wednesday, and that the government should "cut their losses by dropping the charges against him." "But clearly Prime Minister Hun Sen decided instead to extract the proverbial pound of flesh from Kem Sokha for daring to challenge him," he said in a statement of the opposition leader, who faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. "The reality is Kem Sokha did nothing he should have been charged for and this entire pre-trial prison detention, house arrest and now trial has been a massive violation of his human rights. Sadly, there's no hope Cambodia's politically controlled judiciary will dare do anything to call into question the paucity of the prosecutors' case or the sheer injustice of the proceedings." Kem Sokha, 66, was arrested in September 2017 and charged with treason over a video recorded four years earlier in which he discusses a strategy to win power at the ballot box with the help of U.S. experts, although he maintains his innocence and his lawyers have said that prosecutors lack evidence to convict. Two months after Kem Sokha's arrest, Cambodia's Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP for its role in the alleged plot and banned 118 of its officials from political activities. The move to dissolve the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the country's July 2018 general election. Robertson slammed a last minute registration requirement for courtroom monitors as "the icing on the cake of this sham trial," noting that of a maximum 30 available seats, 23 will be reserved for diplomatic officials. Four senior members of the CNRP told RFA's Khmer Service on Tuesday that the court had denied their request to attend the trial. "Even now, the government is playing games with foreign governments, deciding on [who] will get a seat to the show, while also achieving its objective of limiting reporting by independent journalist and human rights NGOs," he said. "By capping the number of observers in court, Cambodia is damaging Kem Sokha's rights by keeping most of the public out of what is supposed to be a public trial." 'Concocted narrative' Robertson's concerns were echoed on Tuesday in a statement by London-based Amnesty International, whose regional director Nicholas Bequelin said that after two years held in "arbitrary detention," authorities have yet to present "a shred of credible evidence to support a charge of treason." "The non-existent crime was politically manufactured to further the suppression of the opposition party," Bequelin said. "The Phnom Penh Court must acquit Kem Sokha to bring an end to this mockery of justice." Bequelin dismissed the allegations against Kem Sokha as lacking a basis in facts and law, calling it a "concocted narrative" and "a front for the systematic denial of the rights to freedom of association and expression of millions who support the CNRP" who are suffering at the hands of a "weaponised" criminal justice system. "Kem Sokha's charges must be voided and the rights of CNRP members must be fully respected to enable them to freely participate without discrimination in Cambodia's political life once again," he said. Bequelin also slammed Cambodian authorities for placing restrictions on who can observe Kem Sokha's trial, saying they are working to limit scrutiny of the proceedings. "The gravity of these absurd accusations demands that the authorities uphold the highest standards of fairness and transparency, which requires holding a public hearing," he said. "It is essential that human rights monitors and journalists are given unhindered access to the trial." EBA implications Both HRW and Amnesty International noted that Kem Sokha's case is of particular import to the European Union, which has called for his release and a host of improvements to Cambodia's human rights situation ahead of a February decision on whether to withdraw the country's tariff-free access to its markets under the "Everything But Arms" (EBA) scheme for developing nations. "Given the shoddy, rights abusing way the government has treated Kem Sokha, and the government's failures to make any serious progress on other rights issues, the EU will be fully justified if it takes harsh action next month to enforce the human rights provisions contained in the EBA agreement," HRW's Robertson said. Kem Sokha's attorneys said Tuesday that a court official had informed them the trial could take up to three months, which would mean the case could still be ongoing by the time the EU makes a final decision on the EBA next month. Independent political analyst Kim Sok told RFA that a trial like Kem Sokha's needs time to conduct fairly, saying that if it wraps up within the allotted two days "it means everything was prepared [by the court] ahead of time." Koul Panha, the former executive director of and currently an advisor to local electoral watchdog Comfrel, said he expects the government will have Kem Sokha's trial delayed "for a long time" so that the CPP can "use his case for political negotiation with the opposition to appear that they are easing political tensions when they are pressured by the international community." "Delaying the court hearing would provide many advantages to the ruling party, including more opportunities to negotiate with the EU to maintain EBA status," he said. Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Pheap Aun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content January not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Steven OBrien, a Dublin native living in Queens, New York, was jailed for six months at a New York court for the assault of Longfords Danny McGee in 2018. Mr OBrien (26) pleaded guilty to the one-punch assault, which ultimately resulted in the death of Drumlish native Danny. Danny died after being found unresponsive outside a bar in Queens at approximately 4am on November 22, 2018, following a verbal altercation with Mr OBrien. The twenty-one year old was then taken to hospital, but was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was found to be a blunt impact injury to the head. Dannys mother Colleen said the impact of her sons death on her is immeasurable. She said in a victim impact statement: The impact of Dannys death on me is immeasurable. As his mother there is no one in this world who loves him as much as I do or misses him as much as I do. Life will never be the same without him. I will mourn him and grieve for him and miss him every day for the rest of my life. The Longford mother criticised Mr OBrien for not coming forward to admit his guilt at the beginning. She said: Had Danny been ill or had this been some type of accident, I think that acceptance would come, eventually. However, this was no accident and I will never be able to accept the manner of his death. While I hear your apology and want to believe it is sincere your actions that night and for a full year after tell a completely different story. I have seen the video and the events that transpired that night. In conclusion she said: You had many opportunities to plead guilty but instead you chose to prolong our familys agony. Read also: Family of Longford man Danny McGee heartbroken after one punch ended his young life BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: European countries should fulfill their commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, a.k.a. nuclear deal), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reports citing IRINN. Rouhani said that Iran is likely to return to fulfilling commitments under this deal. The president added that all steps in Irans nuclear program are taken under the IAEAs control. The Iranian president said that it is absurd to claim that nuclear bomb is being prepared in the countryunder control by the IAEA inspectors, where additional protocol agreement with IAEA is implemented. With the beginning of implementation of the JCPOA in 2016, Irans economy grew and about 3 million barrels of gasoline per day were exported, Rouhani added. On Jan. 14, 2020, the UK, France and Germany issued a statement regarding Iran's suspension of its obligations within JCPOA and announced that they launched a process to resolve nuclear disputes. If problems are not solved in this process, the matter will be discussed at the UN Security Councils meeting. In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran in November of the same year. In order to preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal stated in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed. On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories having not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal. On Sept. 5, Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. Iran no longer faces any restrictions on its nuclear program. Damara Scott says she was leaving her job at a Glen Ridge bank six years ago when she saw a customer pressed up against the glass door. Scott, a PNC Bank wealth manager, asked the man if he was coming into the bank, according to a lawsuit. No, Im following you, Scott recalled the customer saying as she walked to her car. I offer full services and Im willing to please. Then, the man approached Scott from behind, grabbed her and grinded into her buttocks, according to the lawsuit. The man, who was charged with sexual assault, died shortly after the incident. He had a long history of sexually harassing African-American female employees and customers in the bank branch, Scott alleged in her lawsuit against the bank. But the PNC Bank in Glen Ridge kept him as a customer. Next week, Scott will go to court to argue PNC Bank should have done more to protect her. More than six years after the October 2013 altercation in the bank parking lot, she says she is still traumatized by the incident. I want it to be clear to companies, to businesses, that women matter and women should matter above profit, said Scott, 41, of Bloomfield. A PNC Bank spokeswoman said the lawsuit mischaracterized what happened in the bank parking lot and video surveillance footage will show there was no sexual assault. "It is unfortunate that plaintiffs counsel has chosen to brand an elderly customer, now deceased, as a sexual predator who allegedly sexually assaulted the plaintiff when that will not be established by the evidence, including a video of the interaction between the customer and plaintiff. We look forward to presenting the evidence in court, which will make it clear what actually occurred, said Marcey Zwiebel, a spokeswoman for PNC Bank. The company also denied the bank put profit ahead of the safety of its workers. No allegation of sexual assault should be taken lightly, and PNC has a long-standing commitment to providing a safe environment for our employees and customers to work and do business," Zwiebel said. Scott, who filed her lawsuit in 2015, is scheduled to be in Superior Court in Newark Tuesday as jury selection begins in the civil case. She is asking for an unspecified amount of damages from her former employer. Scott has already settled a lawsuit against the estate of the bank customer, Patrick Pignatello of Glen Ridge, who allegedly assaulted her. She is not allowed to disclose the terms of the settlement, which was reached last spring, her attorney said. Pignatello was charged with sexual assault after the 2013 incident with Scott in the bank parking lot. He died less than two months later of an apparent heart attack while shoveling snow, according to his obituary. His family declined to comment Tuesday on Scotts lawsuit. Pignatello, the owner of a local construction company, was well known in Glen Ridge as a philanthropist. He had been awarded the title Mr. Glen Ridge by the borough council in 2009 for his generosity to the town, which included fixing up a local ball field, painting lampposts and volunteering on local projects. At the PNC Bank, Pignatello had a history of groping and harassing female workers and customers in the Bloomfield Avenue branch in Glen Ridge, according to Scotts lawsuit. She said he had been occasionally banned from the branch. However, Scott alleges the bank management never closed Pignatellos accounts because he was a wealth management client and a profitable customer for the bank. Scotts attorney, Nancy Erika Smith of Montclair, said the law says companies have a responsibility to protect their employees from sexual harassment from fellow employees, customers and clients. Every company has to provide its employees with a safe, harassment-free work environment, Smith said. Scott, who had worked at PNC Bank for 18 years and worked her way up to wealth manager, said she began having panic attacks after the incident in the parking lot, struggled to continue working at the bank and developed a fear of people walking up behind her. She is no longer working. I had a good life ... Now, Im struggling. Im struggling to function, Scott said. Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Voice of the Martyrs releases prayer guide to help Christians pray for persecuted believers Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Voice of the Martyrs has released a detailed prayer resource to help Christians in the U.S. support the growing number of Christians being attacked for their faith abroad. The Oklahoma-based Christian persecution watchdog groups 2020 Global Prayer Guide was created with the goal of helping American Christians better understand and pray for Christians living in intolerant countries. VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton, who also hosts the organizations radio program, told The Christian Post that the guide on various nations was based off extensive research by the groups staff and regional Christian communities. A great deal of work and effort has gone into making sure that the 2020 Global Prayer Guide is accurate and up-to-date so that people can use it to pray knowledgably for Christians in nations where they are persecuted, Nettleton explained. The guide divides countries that are intolerant of Christianity into two categories: Restricted Nations and Hostile Areas. A Restricted Nation would be a country that engages in government-sponsored repression of Christians, with examples including China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Vietnam. By contrast, a Hostile Area is a region where Christianity is technically legal, but persecution occurs through families or factions, with examples including Colombia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka. Nettleton told CP that he believed a reason for the rise in persecution was due to the growth of the church in hostile and restricted nations. Part of the reason we see more persecution in some of the nations where VOM works is because the church is growing so fast, said Nettleton. More Christians whether in China, in India or in the Muslim countries of the Middle East means there are more targets for potential persecution. Nettleton hopes the guide will be a valuable tool for American Christians to pray in more detail for those suffering persecution for their faith. My hope is American Christians will put it next to their Bible and use it throughout the year to guide their prayers for our persecuted brothers and sisters, he added. This guide gives people information about how to pray and what to ask God to do for our brothers and sisters facing persecution. The release of the guide comes as the Communist Chinese government is expected to implement harsher measures against religious groups. The Vatican news outlet Asia News recently reported that, starting Feb. 1, religious groups will be expected to seek government approval for more aspects of their lives and will be required to promote the Communist Party. Religious organizations must spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as national laws, regulations, rules to religious personnel and religious citizens, educating religious personnel and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, supporting the socialist system, adhering to and following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, read the news rules, in part. India on Wednesday slammed Pakistan for again trying to raise the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council where it failed yet again to find any support, with New Delhi asserting that Islamabad needs to focus on the hard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India. China, Pakistan's 'all-weather ally', stood alone in the Pakistani corner to get the Security Council to focus on the Kashmir issue. The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan. Earlier on Wednesday, China made the fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue under "other matters" during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said: "We once again saw an effort made by one member state of the UN, fail in plain view of all others". "We are happy that neither alarmist scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by representatives of Pakistan in the UN fora were found to be credible today," Akbaruddin told PTI. "We are glad that the effort was viewed as a distraction and it was pointed by many friends that bilateral mechanisms are available to raise and address issues that Pakistan may have in its ties with India," he said. A European source, heading into the Security Council meeting, had described the discussions on Kashmir during the closed consultations to be "low key." A top European diplomat said the issue should be resolved bilaterally and it was a "domestic affair." Akbaruddin further said that "Pakistan's practice of using false pretences to distract from addressing the malaise that afflicts it has run its course. We hope that Pakistan pays heed to the clear signals sent out here today and focusses on the hard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India." Coming out of the meeting, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said: "We had a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir. And I'm sure you all know that Foreign Minister of Pakistan wrote letters to the Security Council asking the Security Council to pay attention to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. "The issue of India and Pakistan has always been on the agenda of the Security Council and today we have also seen some tensions, so the Security Council had a briefing and heard at the briefing from the Secretariat concerning the current situation on the ground. Members exchanged views on that". Zhang later said China "has stated our position very clearly. We remain concern about the situation on the ground (in Kashmir)." When asked if the meeting advanced anything, he said: " I am sure the meeting will be helping both parties to understand the risk of further escalation and will encourage them to approach to each other and to have dialogue and to seek means, to seek solutions through dialogue. I think that will be helpful". The current move by China was the third such attempt since August when the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under of the Constitution was scrapped by the government, and the state was bifurcated into two union territories. In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after the government scrapped J-K's special status. However, the meeting did not yield the desired results for China as the member-states maintained that India's move was an internal issue. Last month, France, the US, the UK and Russia foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC. China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J&K, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh. India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram, signalling a recalibration of bilateral ties. (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.) Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal's member Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale has resigned from the post, nearly ten months after he was administered the oath of office for a five-year term, the Personnel Ministry has said. Bhosale has tendered his resignation from the office of member (judicial), with effect from the afternoon of January 12, 2020, it said in an order. "I have tendered my resignation from the post of judicial member on January 6, with effect from January 12, 2020 due to personal reasons," he had said in a tweet after PTI had reported about his resignation on January 9. A former chief justice of the Allahabad High Court, Bhosale was administered the oath of office by chairman Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on March 27, 2019. A Lokpal member is appointed for a five-year term or till attaining the age of 70. Bhosale, 63, comes from a family of freedom fighters. He served as judge of the high courts of Bombay and Karnataka and as acting chief justice of the high court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 15 months (2015-2016). According to rules, an incumbent on ceasing office as a Lokpal member is barred from taking up any diplomatic assignment or contesting any election of president, vice president, member of either House of Parliament or State Legislature among others. There is a provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel. Of these, four need to be judicial members. All the eight Lokpal members were administered the oath of office by Justice Ghose on March 27. Besides Bhosale, former chief justices of different high courts -- Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi -- had taken oath as judicial members of the Lokpal. The first woman chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam were sworn in as the Lokpal's non-judicial members. The Lokpal Act, which envisages the appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013. The government is working on finalising a format to file a complaint with the Lokpal. As per norms, a complaint shall be filed in the prescribed form to be notified by the central government. Lokpal received 1,065 complaints till September 30, 2019. Of these, 1,000 have been heard and disposed of, according to latest official data. William Lupfer, rector of Manhattan church with billions in assets, resigns for 'Sabbath rest' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Rev. William Lupfer, rector of the land-rich, Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church in Lower Manhattan that boasts a diverse investment portfolio worth $6 billion, resigned from his post with a plan to follow his dreams like the Holy Family. Lupfer, 59, who has served in the role since 2015, resigned from the more than 300-year-old church noted as the richest Episcopal church in the world, in a brief letter on Jan. 3, according to Episcopal News Service. After five years of intensive work together with the Vestry, staff, parishioners, and our other stakeholders in the community and around the world, Kimiko and I have come to the decision to step away for a time, resign as Rector of Trinity, and enjoy some Sabbath rest to open our hearts to Gods call for the next chapter of our ministry together, Lupfer wrote in his three-paragraph resignation letter, cited by The Living Church. In his final Sunday at Trinity Wall Street on Jan. 5, Lupfer told the congregation that while it's customary for rectors at the church to retire, he isnt the retiring type and plans to go follow his dreams with his wife, like the Holy Family. Some of you have heard that this is my last Sunday at Trinity and I have offered my resignation as rector. Most people do not resign from rector, they retire from rector here at Trinity. Thats the custom, but Im not the retiring type and so my wife and I have opened our hearts for discernment, he said. He explained that he had not been able to effectively discern while in his role as rector and is looking forward to improving that part of his life during a period of rest. The role of rector is pretty busy so its hard to discern while driving about 100 miles an hour down the road day and night. So well take some time and [are] grateful for Trinitys generosity to do that. Well take some time on Sabbath, he said. I promise you. As my wife and I go forward to follow our dreams like the Holy Family followed their dreams, we will always hold you in our hearts and we will pray for you and we will be your biggest fans and your loudest cheerers. The vestry noted in a letter also cited by The Living Church that they were grateful for Lupfers service. Dr. Lupfer has made significant progress toward the goals he set out to achieve. He has been a champion of expanding community engagement through the churchs Housing and Homelessness and Racial Justice initiatives and through the development of Trinity Commons as a convening space for the local community; he has overseen a historic renovation of Trinity Churchs nave, which re-opened on Christmas Eve; and he has led an effort to help the Anglican Communion build capacity and develop leaders who can serve the Churchs mission far into the future. We are grateful for his years of service, the vestry said. Much of the churchs financial success has been attributed to their tax-exempt status as well as wise management of their holdings which can be traced to a gift of 215 acres from Queen Anne in 1705. The church still owns about 14 acres of that grant. With Lower Manhattan now in the middle of a real estate boom, the value of the churchs holdings in an area known as Hudson Square has also helped to improve the churchs wealth immensely. The churchs real estate arm, Trinity Real Estate, entered into a joint venture that gave it a majority stake in 12 buildings with 6 million square feet of commercial space. In 2018, they signed a $650 million deal with the Walt Disney Company. It is also building its own glass tower that will house administrative offices, public gathering spaces and commercial tenants while giving its historic sanctuary a $110 million renovation. With a membership of just 950 parishioners, the church reportedly largely lives off its assets, reporting no congregational plate-and-pledge income for the past four reporting years. Most of the churchs 22-member vestry, including Gabrielle E. Sulzberger, wife of New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., are also reportedly not members of the church. Only seven persons serving on the vestry are listed as members of the parish. The Rev. Phillip A. Jackson, Trinitys vicar, was named priest-in-charge effective Jan. 6. An Air India flight from Washington to Delhi, which was scheduled to leave the US capital on Sunday morning, left on Wednesday morning after a 57-hour delay. The flight landed at Delhi at around 7.40 pm on Wednesday. Flight AI-104, a non-stop service with 133 passengers onboard, was preparing for take-off when the aircraft developed issues with the braking system and returned from the tarmac to the parking bay. The engineers and technicians were called for inspection when they learnt that the flight will have to be cancelled as the aircraft could not be operational for the day, said a Delhi-based official from the airline. Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar confirmed the delay and said, The flight was scheduled to depart for Delhi on Sunday but it had to be cancelled due to technical reasons and took off after a delay of 57 hours from Washington. ALSO WATCH | Will privatise Air India, no other option: Aviation minister Hardeep Puri Sources said that the airline had earlier assured passengers that the flight would take off on Monday but a spare part that the aircraft needed did not arrive from India on time, further delaying the flight till Tuesday. When few of the passengers did not agree to wait for one more day at Washington, more than half of the total passengers were taken to Newark by road and accommodated in Air Indias flight from Newark airport, airline sources said. The remaining passengers stayed back and departed for Delhi on Wednesday after the spare part, which was later called from Newark, arrived on Tuesday. Airline sources said that the flight took off from Washington at 9.40 am (IST) with six business class and 66 economy class passengers. Though it is not clear whether the problem in Washington was caused by the choice of aircraft. A former airline official questioned the airlines decision to use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (smaller aircraft than B-777) for a long haul flight like Washington-Delhi. AI-104 was earlier serviced by B-777 before the aircraft was shifted to the Delhi-London sector. B-777 is more suited for long haul services as the aircraft carries more fuel and is more spacious. The airline is operating its Dreamliner because its Boeing 777 aircraft is being used for Delhi-London sector from January 6. The load factor for Delhi-London flight is more than Delhi-Washington. Also, as per few calculations done, it was found that B-777 is feasible for London than B-787, hence the Dreamliner was shifted to operate to The US capital, said one of the top airline officials. Air India did not comment on its plan to replace the B-777 with B-787 Dreamliner on the Delhi-Washington route. Air India has commenced 12 new international routes in the financial year 2019-20. These include: Delhi-Toronto, Mumbai-Stansted (London), Amritsar-Stansted, Mumbai-Heathrow, Mumbai-Doha, Delhi-Doha, Mumbai-Nairobi, Indore-Dubai, Kolkata-Dubai, Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Dubai and Mumbai-Kuwait. It has also planned to increase the frequency of its recently added Delhi-Toronto flights from thrice a week to daily departures. Wombats have been allowing other endangered animals into their homes as they flee fire-torn bushland. Animals have survived the bushfires by fleeing into underground tunnels set up by wombats. The tunnels have become a refuge for species like wallabies and echidnas, as they shelter from the fires. Documentary filmmaker Peter Hylands has been visiting the firegrounds of the devastated Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary. Mr Hylands told Yahoo the landscape is almost completely burnt and the devastation to the local wildlife is incredible. But he said he believes some survivors managed to escape because of the ground work put in by wombats. 'You've got animals that are completely unscathed and those must be the animals that have been under the ground, it's the only explanation when the fire zones are so extensive,' Mr Hylands said. 'There are quite a few wombats in that region, and there's quite an extensive network of burrows. What was particularly amazing is it's clearly not only wombats who are using those burrows in the firestorm,' he said. STOCK: Beloved Australian marsupials have been opening up their homes to allow other animals an escape route from the raging bushfires Wombat Rescue Manager Yolandi Vermaak told the Daily Mail Australia she has witnessed other animals taking advantage of these networks. 'At most, there would be animals fleeing into burrows. I've seen echidnas going into burrows- lizards, and skinks, rabbits- those sort of things. I have even seen a small wallaby,' she said. 'The burrow systems are quite complex- and these can include tunnels up to 20 or 30 meters long with several entrances and interconnecting tunnels lead to sleeping chambers. PICTURED: Wombat Rescue and Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary captured a wombat and butterfly sharing a burrow in the firegrounds at Tallaganda, 50km southeast of Canberra 'Wombats don't do herding. I guess of their own accord these animals would flee into the burrow systems.' Wombat Rescue has partnered with the Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary on a mission to provide support to the wildlife affected by the fires around Tallaganda, 50km southeast of Canberra. Wildlife carers have been conducting weekly operations to drop off food and water supplies in the bushfire ravaged countyside, and will continue doing so until a significant rain event. Ms Vermaak has been strapping on go pro and head torch and physically crawling through wombat burrows to check on surviving wombats. PICTURED: Koala populations across Australia have been decimated in the recent bushfire crisis She said she hasn't found a single burnt wombat during her search and rescue missions. During a recent food and water drop crews uncovered a series of survivors- includng two water dragons, wallabies, skinks and wombats. The group captured a video of a wombat and butterfly keeping cool with a caption of hope. 'Nature is so resilient... it clings to life,' the post said. The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday ordered the removal of two senior health department officials from their posts, following the death of six tribal infants at a state-run hospital here. State health minister Tulsi Silawat, along with a team of senior officers, inspected Kushabhau Thakre district hospital here. Speaking to reporters after the visit, Silawat said the department's senior officials were directed to remove Shahdol's chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Rajesh Pandey and the district hospital's civil surgeon Umesh Namdeo from their posts. "The state government is serious about the untimely deaths of children. An inquiry committee headed by the district collector has been formed. Further action against the guilty employees and officials will be taken on the basis of the committee's report," Silawat said. Earlier, Silawat inspected the children's ward at the hospital along with minister for Scheduled Tribe Welfare Omkar Singh Markam and principal secretary (Health) Pallavi Jain. Six infants, some of them a day-old and others two- and-a-half-months-old, had died during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday in the hospital's Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU). Following the incident, the CMHO had claimed that the infants were admitted in the SNCU of the hospital in a critical condition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A pharmacist in Bergen County pleaded guilty Wednesday to a health-care fraud conspiracy that dispensed expensive and unnecessary medication to U.S. postal workers who had faked disability claims, authorities said. Estela Blaustein, 55, of Mahwah, was the pharmacist-in-charge at The Fair Lawn Pharmacy, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Blaustein pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Beginning in November 2016, Blaustein participated in a scheme to obtain millions of dollars in health benefits from the federal workers compensation program by prescribing and dispensing expensive, but medically unnecessary, pain creams, Carpenito said in a statement. Dr. Mark A. Filippone, 71, of Wallington, treated hundreds of now-former postal workers for injuries they claimed to have suffered on the job, authorities said. Filippone facilitated their phony disability claims by submitting forms and medical reports to government programs for workers who were not really disabled, Carpenito said. Filippone steered prescriptions for topical pain creams to the pharmacy, which was owned by Joseph Vangelas, 33, of Fort Lee and Marlene Vangelas, 58, of River Vale, authorities said. The Vangelases allegedly conspired with Zachary Ohebshalom, 33, of Edgewater, to convince Filippone to continue to send prescriptions to the pharmacy, according to Carpenito. To induce Filippone to prescribe the medically unnecessary pain creams in the exact formulations they desired, Joseph Vangelas and Marlene Vangelas purchased Filippones medical office and then permitted Filippone to continue to use the premises, for which he routinely failed to pay rent, Carpenito said. Filippone continued to send prescriptions to the pharmacy, so long as Ohebshalom and the Vangelases permitted him to remain rent-free in the property, Carpenito said. Charges are pending against Filippone, the Vangelases and Ohebshalom. Carpenito estimated the fraud conspiracy resulted in losses of $1.5 million to $3.5 million. Blaustein faces up to 10 years in prison and more than $250,000 in fines when she is sentenced on April 22. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Our approach was to try to tell without prejudice what is the life of this world. These days, when you mention a priest, they are soon a suspect for the reason everybody knows. So its important to do a piece about priests where they can be saintly, they can be normal, they can be bad. It is important for them. I think it is natural that intelligent people in the church will react very well to this work. Papal buffs will remember Sorrentinos The Young Pope, in which Jude Laws egotistical Pius XIII (originally Lenny Belardo) first grappled his way to princely power. Sexy and surreal, it was nevertheless surprisingly uncontroversial. Says the director: Works about the Vatican in the past were of two types, either against it or completely hagiographic. Conversation and conciliation between conservative Benedict and progressive Francis, as the Oscar-baiting film The Two Popes propounds on Netflix? Or something closer to Italian maestro Paolo Sorrentos The New Pope, a fever dream of power, lust and faith foaming copiously over eight hour-long episodes? Everyone loves a secret. You dont have to be a Catholic to be curious about what goes on behind the walls of the Vatican, with its cabals of cardinals, risky finances, reputed factional divides and raunchy history; heaven only knows what goes on in that holy inner sanctum. The series found something close to closure when Pope Pius suffered a heart attack that plunged him into an apparently irreversible coma. At the start of this series, renamed The New Pope, Lennys immobile body has become the focus of a cult: one radio station broadcast the sound of his unconscious breathing round the clock to the devoted masses. Meanwhile, the leaderless church is beset by terrorist and other threats. A new pope must be found. Enter John Malkovich as Sir John Brannox, an erudite, aristocratic Englishman in cardinals silks who seems to have wafted in from Brideshead Revisited. Says Sofia (Cecile de France), the unfeasibly luscious Vatican marketing manager, the man seems to be made of velvet. Loading Like Lenny, Brannox strives for holiness. I dont think sex is really the big motivator in his life. I think hes quite a haunted character in a lot of ways. Fragile, with a sense of the spiritual, says Malkovich. Its very much an exploration, an investigation, of the sacred and the profane, of the struggle to believe and the struggle to live, really. Sorrentino was drawn initially to Malkovich as an actor who already had a peculiarly iconic aura. He says: There is a movie called Being John Malkovich; there is no Being Robert de Niro or Being Meryl Streep. Then I met him. Talking to him for three, four hours I started to think that the best thing was to adapt the role to the real John Malkovich. John Malkovich in my perception is wise, ironic. Hes distant but can be warm, all things that were very, very interesting for the pope that I was looking for. Sorrentinos reveries of popedom are long on bling but short on explanation; much of the dialogue is so elusive it comes across as a series of riddles. Malkovich says most of it was translated, from Sorrentinos Italian script into English by a non-native speaker. Then theres the element of maybe a kind of Italianate flippancy and irony that may not be easily understood in English. My wifes Italian and she would get very frustrated with me because of my insistence on clarity. But I think its just a kind of thing Paolo has. Many, many times I had to say OK, but what does this mean?' And I think that is part of his mystery. Even his Italian is as liquid as his shooting, so its not easily pinned. Sir David Attenborough has warned that 'human beings have overrun the world' in a trailer for his new film. The feature-length documentary, titled David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, looks back on the defining moments of his life and the environmental devastation that has taken place during that time. As well as highlighting some of the issues that climate change poses, he also explores some of the potential solutions. Sir David Attenborough is pictured in the documentary A Life On Our Planet, which looks back at environmental disasters in the naturalist's lifetime In the trailer, the veteran broadcaster, 93, said: 'I've had the most extraordinary life. It is only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. 'The living world is a unique and spectacular marvel, yet the way we humans live on earth is sending it into a decline. 'Human beings have overrun the world. We're replacing the wild with the tame. This film is my witness statement and my vision of the future.' The film will also be available to view on Netflix (Jonathan Brady/PA) Sir David added: 'Our planet is headed for disaster. We need to learn how to work with nature rather than against it and I'm going to tell you how.' The WWF conservation organisation helped to produce the film. Colin Butfield, WWF's executive producer for the film, said: 'For decades, David has brought the natural world to the homes of audiences worldwide, but there has never been a more significant moment for him to share his own story and reflections. 'This film coincides with a monumental year for environmental action as world leaders make critical decisions on nature and climate. 'It sends a powerful message from the most inspiring and celebrated naturalist of our time.' In the trailer, Sir David wants that humans have `overrun the world (Kirsty OConnor/PA) David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet will be shown in cinemas on April 16 live from the premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where Sir David will discuss the film on stage before the viewing. The film will be broadcast in the UK, the Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. It will then be released on Netflix. Washington A Wisconsin judge has found the state's election commission and some of its members in contempt for failing to comply with an order to immediately purge more than 200,000 voters from the state's rolls. Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Paul Malloy said the Wisconsin Elections Commission must begin deactivating the 209,000 voter registrations belonging to people believed to have moved. If it does not, three of its six commissioners will be fined $250 per day until they comply with a December order to remove the voters from the rolls. The commission also faces a fine of $50 per day. Three of the six members of the commission voted not to take action on the list of voters flagged for removal. Malloy also rejected a request from the state to halt his order pending an appeal. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, said in a statement he is "disappointed" by the ruling. "The outcome of this case will impact the voter registrations of well over 100,000 Wisconsinites," he said. "Appellate review of such a consequential decision is clearly appropriate, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission has diligently sought such review." The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm, asked the court earlier this month to hold the commission and five of its six members in contempt and impose a hefty daily fine against them. The group's motion stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in November against the state's election agency, after the agency said it would wait 12 to 24 months before purging voters who failed to respond to a notice mailed by the state. Under state law, Wisconsin voters believed to have moved are sent a notice from the elections commission to the address on their voter registration and have 30 days to confirm their address or update their information. Those who fail to take action are removed from voter rolls. Story continues The state sent notices to more than 232,000 voters and later identified 209,000 who were sent the mailing and either did not respond or whose letter was returned as undeliverable. Malloy last month ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to immediately toss out those registrations. The agency appealed the order to the state court of appeals, and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty asked the state Supreme Court to take up the case. The appeals court said it would not take action because of the pending request before Wisconsin's high court. But later Monday, the state Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on whether to take up the dispute over the voter purge immediately, so the case remains with the appeals court. Wisconsin is a key battleground state in the 2020 presidential election. President Trump won the state in 2016 by nearly 23,000 votes, meaning the removal of more than 230,000 voters could have a significant impact on the next contest. Kentucky miners block coal train over missed paychecks U.S. firefighters lend a hand in Australia as bushfires ravage the country Senior citizens are shacking up with roommates to make ends meet WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's push to restart federal executions returned to court Wednesday in Washington for arguments about how officials planned to carry out those death sentences. The Justice Department is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse a judge's order that determined the administration probably exceeded its powers in adopting a new lethal-injection protocol to use when resuming executions. The judge's order, handed down in November, blocked the Justice Department from carrying out four lethal injections it had scheduled for December and January. Under the timeline the department laid out last year, the final execution on the schedule was set to take place Wednesday. Instead, attorneys for the Justice Department and the death-row inmates made their cases during two hours of arguments in a courtroom near Constitution Avenue. An attorney for the Justice Department said the judge's order, if allowed to stand, would effectively hobble federal attempts to carry out executions, while an attorney for the death-row inmates questioned what she called "the government's sort of categorical, one-size-fits-all protocol." When the Justice Department announced last summer that it planned to carry out the first federal executions since 2003, officials also said they had adopted a new lethal-injection protocol using a single drug. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in November found the government likely overstepped its authority with that protocol, which she said was inconsistent with a 1994 law requiring federal executions be carried out "in the manner prescribed by the law of the State in which the sentence is imposed." The law also, she added, says that for states without the death penalty, courts must select a state that does have one for federal death sentences. The Trump administration's protocol, she said, "very likely exceeds" its authority under that law. "The public interest is not served by executing individuals before they have had the opportunity to avail themselves of legitimate procedures to challenge the legality of their executions," Chutkan wrote in issuing a preliminary injunction. Her injunction blocked four of the five executions scheduled by federal officials, while a fifth was separately put on hold by another court. The Trump administration unsuccessfully asked the Supreme Court to put Chutkan's ruling on hold and allow it to proceed with the executions. In December, the court denied that request three days before the first of the executions was scheduled. No dissents were announced, but three justices - Samuel Alito Jr., Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - included a statement saying they respected the decision while urging the appeals court to move quickly in deciding the case. The justices also said they thought the Trump administration was "very likely to prevail." On Wednesday, the three judges on the panel - David Tatel, Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao - seemed to agree that the question boils down to the definition of the word "manner" and how it fits within the statute. The Justice Department has argued this word refers to the mechanism for imposing the death penalty, such as lethal injection, rather than more granular details of the procedure, including whether a sedative is offered or how a catheter must be inserted. Melissa Patterson, an attorney for the department, asked why Congress would have mandated that federal executions hinge on precisely what a state legislature wrote into its statutes. "Why would Congress have intended to hamstring the federal government?" she asked. Tatel, nominated by President Bill Clinton, repeatedly pressed her about the department's narrow reading. Both he and Rao, nominated by President Donald Trump, at times suggested Congress had given states primary responsibility for carrying out federal executions. "What's the authority for the proposition that 'manner' can only mean method?" Tatel asked. "Isn't that the key question in the case?" Catherine Stetson, an attorney for the death-row inmates, said there was a difference between what she depicted as less central parts of execution procedures - such as the specific times an inmate must be moved from their cell to the death chamber - and what she called key parts of an execution plan. Those, she said, were things that impacted what the inmate experience during an execution, including the drug dosage and qualifications of people involved. "Those are the core of any execution protocol," she said. "That is what we are talking about when we talk about manner." Stetson said federal officials could lobby Congress to change the law but could not "override the prerogative of the states to set the manner of execution." She also noted federal officials have far less experience carrying out executions than their counterparts in the states, where far more death-row inmates are held and the majority of executions carried out. "The people who know what they're doing are the states that are carrying out the death penalty," she said. States across the country have shifted their lethal-injection protocols in recent years and scrambled to obtain drugs in the face of opposition from pharmaceutical companies that do not want their products used for executions. The new lethal-injection protocol unveiled by the Justice Department last year utilizes one drug - pentobarbital - rather than a three-drug combination that had previously been used. Federal officials say they selected it because the drug has been used frequently - including in Texas, the country's most active death-penalty state - and upheld by courts as constitutional. The four death-row inmates with executions blocked by Chutkan were convicted in Texas, Missouri, Indiana and Iowa. Missouri, like Texas, uses pentobarbital for lethal injections, while Indiana has a three-drug protocol. Iowa does not have the death penalty, so the courts for that case selected Indiana, where federal executions take place. The government and the public "have a significant interest in the timely implementation of lawfully imposed capital sentences," Justice Department attorneys said in court filings. Attorney General William Barr has also said the department has a responsibility to victims and their relatives to carry out the sentences. Attorneys for the death-row inmates have pushed back against the Justice Department's invocation of victims' families to argue for carrying out the executions, noting some relatives have vocally opposed this. The first execution, originally scheduled for December, was intended to carry out the sentence for Daniel Lewis Lee, a member of a white-supremacist group convicted of murdering an Arkansas family, including an 8-year-old girl, according to the Justice Department. Some relatives of the victims in Lee's case - including the woman whose granddaughter and daughter were killed - have asked the Trump administration not to execute him, instead asking he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The other inmates involved in this case are Wesley Ira Purkey, found guilty in Missouri of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 16-year-old; Alfred Bourgeois, convicted in Texas of physically assaulting and murdering his 2-year-old daughter; and Dustin Lee Honken, found guilty in Iowa of murdering two federal witnesses, along with the girlfriend of one witness and her two young daughters. Attorneys for the death-row inmates have also taken issue with the government's urgency in the case. "Defendants had taken no steps to schedule the executions until this summer, when they endeavored to do so at an unreasonably fast pace," they wrote. Esper Says US Has Legal Authority to Attack Iranian Soil Sputnik News 13:27 14.01.2020 The January 3 assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani saw Iran-US tensions soar to new heights, prompting an Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq and briefly sparking fears of a full-blown military conflict in the region. The United States has the legal and constitutional authority to continue attacking 'Iranian proxies', in Iraq or even on Iran's home soil, in response to attacks against US troops, Defence Secretary Mark Esper has said. "We hold Iran responsible for its proxies, and we will retain the right to exercise self-defence and take action where legally available and appropriate to hold those proxies accountable for their actions," the Pentagon chief said, speaking to NPR. According to Esper, President Trump is entitled to attack Iran under Article 2 of the US Constitution, which gives the president the power to unilaterally engage in military actions in the event of an 'attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." The president's rights are also backed up by the Authorization for Use of Millitary Force (AUMF), the legal measure passed by Congress in 2001 following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Esper suggested. The latter document has been renewed annually for nearly two decades, and used to justify US wars and military deployments around the globe, from Afghanistan and Iraq to the Philippines, Georgia, Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea. Esper also again defended the Trump administration's decision to target General Soleimani, saying the Iranian commander became a "compelling target to take out" because "there was complete agreement based on what he had done and what he was planning to do." Soleimani, Esper claimed, had "the blood of hundreds of American soldiers and Marines on his hands." The latter assertion, including the claim that Iran provided Iraqi militias with arms to attack the US after the 2003 invasion, remains questionable. However, there is substantive and documented evidence to suggest that Soleimani actually indirectly assisted US efforts against Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda* in Afghanistan and by targeting Wahhabi terrorists in the campaigns against Daesh (ISIS)* in Iraq and Syria. Shifting Narrative Senior officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department have had a difficult two weeks justifying the US decision to assassinate Soleimani, with the rationale shifting from claims that he posed an "imminent" threat to US interests, to President Trump's comments Monday that it didn't matter whether the threat was imminent or not because of the general's "horrible past!" In recent days, anonymous officials speaking to US media alleged that the US actually began planning to kill Soleimani as far back as July 2018, with the periods of June 2019 and September 2019 also mentioned. Soleimani, 62, was killed on January 3 when the convoy he and a senior Baghdad-allied Shia militia leader were in was hit by a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport. The commander's death led tensions between Iran and the US to spike to new highs, with Iranian leaders and commanders warning that they would "avenge" Soleimani's death. On January 8, Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched close to a dozen missiles at US bases in Iraq, with Tehran warning Baghdad about the strikes several hours ahead of time. On Monday, Iranian Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi announced that the Iranian government would seek to prosecute President Trump in an international court over Soleimani's assassination. * Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WASHINGTON Virginia on Wednesday became the 38th and potentially pivotal state to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, setting up an expected legal battle over what happens next. If codified into the Constitution, the change would explicitly declare that women have equal rights under the law. Supporters say it's a long-needed protection for women who continue to face discrimination in the workplace and struggle against domestic violence and sexual harassment. Opponents argue it's an unnecessary amendment that could enshrine in the Constitution protections for abortion. Opponents of the ERA also say that even with Virginia's passage, the amendment is dead because the timeline for state action has long passed. Supporters say the deadline is subject to challenge. If approved, the Constitution would state that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Here's a look at what Virginia's vote means: How did we get here? Congress approved the ERA in 1972, including in it what the Congressional Research Service calls a "customary, but not constitutionally mandatory" seven-year deadline for ratification by three-fourths of the states. When the number of states fell three short of the required 38 by 1977, Congress extended the deadline to 1982. But no additional states acted by the new deadline. In 2017, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Illinois followed in 2018. And, after coming within one vote of passage in the Virginia Legislature when it was under GOP control last year, the now Democratic-controlled Legislature voted Wednesday to approve it. Who are your role models? USA TODAY seeks your Women of the Century to commemorate 19th Amendment Suffragettes march for the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote at the Republican National Convention in Chicago in June 1920. Chief organizer and author of the Equal Rights Amendment Alice Paul stands second from right. What happened Wednesday? The Virginia state Senate passed the amendment 28-12, shortly after senators were informed the House had passed the measure, 59-41. When the Senate vote was announced, a throng of supporters stood and clapped. Their cheers echoed through the chamber. Story continues In so many areas, we still have a long way to go, Democratic state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, one of the measures sponsors, said during debate on the Senate floor Wednesday. Whether its the board rooms, whether its the highest offices in states or in the country, too often women are not there because theyve had to overcome years of discriminatory laws. The Equal Rights Amendment will take a major step in the long march towards equality. Its our time. Weve waited long enough. But Republican state Sen. Amanda Chase, said the ERA will lead to removal of restrictions on abortions and remove gender designation for bathrooms, locker rooms, jail and hospital rooms. Besides, she said, it's unnecessary because of the "equal protection" language of the 14th Amendment. The ERA does nothing for true equality of women but uses women as a political pawn to push the liberal agenda, Chase said on the floor. What happens next? Each chamber must still pass each other's resolution and Gov. Ralph Northam must sign it, steps expected to happen this week or the next. After two-thirds of the states have acted on a constitutional amendment, it's the job of the archivist of the United States a nonpartisan position to certify that it's been ratified. Because of the questions surrounding whether the ratification deadline is valid, the archivist has asked the Justice Department how it should proceed. This is the first time that a proposed constitutional amendment was approved by the required number of states after a deadline under the premise that it could still be ratified. If the amendment is certified by the archivist, it won't take effect for two years. Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment react to the Senate Privileges and Elections committee vote to report the ERA amendment the floor of the Senate during a Committee hearing at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. How has the Trump administration responded? The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said last week that the only way to ratify the amendment is to start the process over again. "We conclude that Congress had the constitutional authority to impose a deadline on the ratification of the ERA and, because that deadline has expired, the ERA Resolution is no longer pending before the States," the opinion states. Amendment supporters argue the deadline may not be enforceable. And, if it is, Congress may have the ability to change the deadline as they did once before. Which states are leading the legal challenge against the ERA? The Justice Department weighed in because Alabama, South Dakota and Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit against the archivist in December. "The people had seven years to consider the ERA, and they rejected it," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. "To sneak it into the Constitution through this illegal process would undermine the very basis for our constitutional order." What other states haven't backed the amendment? Besides Alabama and Louisiana, other states that have not ratified the amendment are: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. (Lawmakers in some of those states are considering ratification.) South Dakota, which is part of the legal challenge, ratified the amendment in 1973 and then voted to withdraw in 1979. Four other states Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho and Kentucky also voted to withdraw in the 1970s. Whether the Constitution allows states to do that is another potential issue for the courts. Equal Rights Amendment supporters demonstrate outside Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 8, 2020. What is Congress doing? While the legal battles play out, Democrats in Congress are getting involved. The House Judiciary Committee approved in November a resolution removing the ratification deadline. The Democrat-controlled House could easily pass the resolution but it faces a much more difficult path in the GOP-controlled Senate. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., praised Virginia's action Wednesday and told USA TODAY that he's working with the Judiciary Committee to bring legislation to the floor soon. On a separate track, House and Senate Democrats have also introduced legislation to start the ratification process over. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., right, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2011, where she announced the re-introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment. Why do supporters back the ERA? Advocates say the amendment would provide an explicit guarantee of protection against discrimination on the basis of sex that is as strong as the protections that exist against discrimination based on race or national origin. While many federal, state and local laws prohibit discrimination, those can be changed much more easily than a constitutional amendment. And courts are still treating sex discrimination cases inconsistently, advocates say. Why are opponents fighting the ERA? Much of the opposition to the amendment is coming from anti-abortion advocates who argue that it could enshrine in the Constitution protections for abortion that dont now exist and would do so just as theres hope that the Supreme Court will overturn its 1973 ruling that women have a constitutional right to an abortion. They point to court decisions in Connecticut and New Mexico that used state-approved equal rights amendments to allow "medically necessary" abortions for women on public assistance. Is the ERA likely to become a 2020 campaign issue? The 2018 elections led to historic gains for women as energized voters and first-time candidates fueled a record-breaking gender gap that was demonstrated by the massive Women's March the day after Trump's inauguration. The #MeToo movement and fallout over Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court has fanned the gender wars and the battle over abortion that will be a prominent theme in the presidential election year. Democrats vying for the nomination to take on Trump have brought up their support for the ERA at debates and other settings. "I supported the ERA from the very beginning," former Vice President Joe Biden said at the first Democratic debate last year. The fourth Women's March to show opposition to Trump is Saturday. That show of force will be followed the next week by anti-abortion activists' annual "March for Life." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia passes ERA, becomes 38th state approving amendment for women New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying that the party has forgotten anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and has deviated from its ideology. Speaking at a press conference here, Javadekar said, "Anna Hazare was betrayed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. They (AAP) forgot Hazare after getting power. In the past five years, the AAP had worked in a way that you feel what had happened with the party. The party got separated from the values of Hazare." Javadekar also accused AAP of spreading lies and rumours regarding the CAA. "Delhi Chief Minister recently said due to CAA, crores of Hindus, Muslim and people from other religions will have to leave the country. I say at least read the CAA before commenting on it. The law does not take away citizenship it gives citizenship to those who suffer from religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan." "Those who face religious persecution in Pakistan they came to India and for over two decades failed to get Indian citizenship as there was no law. The CAA is the law to give them citizenship. Now the people understand this point," the Union Minister said in presence of senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel. Praising the BJP government at the Centre, the Union Minister said, "Article 370 was abrogated from Jammu and Kashmir, and it helped in drastically reducing terror activities there. People of J-K want development, stability and peace. The removal of Article 370 helped in that." "The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Ram Temple issue was accepted by both Hindus and Muslims. The Lok Pal bill was passed by the Modi government while the AAP only did speeches on it," Javadekar said while praising the Prime Minister Modi-led NDA government. "They (AAP) had said that they will not take residence or car. But when they came to power they took multiple residences and cars. So the people of Delhi will decide wisely in the assembly polls. "The slogan for Delhi is "Dekgh Badla Hai Ab Delhi Dadlo" (Country has changed now change Delhi)," he added. (ANI) Former Dog the Bounty Hunter cast member Justin Bihag was arrested in Colorado on Sunday, according to TMZ. The 36-year-old bounty hunter was arrested for being 'in violation of a court order to lay off booze and drugs' according to the gossip site. And it was Lyssa Chapman - daughter of the show's lead Duane 'Dog' Chapman - who 'snitched' on the cast member, per TMZ. Mentor: Former Dog the Bounty Hunter cast member Justin Bihag [R] was arrested in Colorado on Sunday, according to TMZ. Seen here with Chapman in 2003 Upon entering Justin's home police found 'signs of marijuana in the house' and noted that Bihag 'reeked of alcohol' say TMZ. During the search, 'Justin called Duane on the phone, who apparently tried calming him down'. However he was eventually arrested on suspicion of violating his protective order, which banned him from any substance use. Family connection: According to the arrest report it was Lyssa Chapman [pictured] - daughter of the show's lead, Duane Chapman - who tipped off police to the violation Justin is actually the son of Moon Angell, whom Duane is rumored to be dating following the death of his wife Beth last June. The TV personality defended his romance with Angell last Wednesday, saying that he's an empty nester in need of companionship as he mourns his late wife Beth, who passed away after battling throat and lung cancer for two years. 'Who knows what my future holds, but right now I need her,' the reality TV personality, 66, told Radar. 'There will never be another Mrs. Dog but that doesn't mean I have to be so sad.' The veteran bounty hunter praised Moon as 'a trustworthy and loyal friend to [him] for over 20 years,' and 'experienced' with him and the family dynamic. Chapman's statements came in the wake of bad blood between Angell and his daughter Lyssa, who called Angell 'disgusting' and has slammed her on social media for preying on a widower in his most tender of times. Tangled web: Justin is actually the son of Moon Angell [pictured with Dog], whom Duane is rumored to be dating following the death of his wife Beth last June As many as 90 percent of Encana shareholders voted in favor of the companys proposed renaming and move to the United States as the company seeks to improve its access to more investment capital in index funds and passively managed funds, Encana said. The new name of the oil company will be Ovintiv and its headquarter will be in Denver, Colorado. "We are extremely pleased with the vote of confidence from our shareholders today. With 90% of our securityholders voting "FOR" the resolution, there is clearly support for our efforts to expose Ovintiv to the deeper pools of capital in the U.S.capturing the value we know exists within our equity," chief executive Doug Suttles said in the company statement. "We will continue to focus on innovation and efficiencies throughout our operations, delivering the financial and operational performance our shareholders expect." According to the company, the move will not have any impact on day-to-day operations in Canada, where Encana/Ovintiv has an extensive presence in the Montney shale patch. Most of the companys assets, however, are in the U.S., spread across the shale patch. Encana has been expanding this presence, too. In 2018, it struck a $5.5-billion deal to acquire Newfield Exploration, which catapulted it to the ranks of the largest shale operators in the country. While the shareholder support for the move to the south was understandably welcome by the management, it also speaks volumes about the investment environment in Encana/Ovintivs home country. This environment has drawn a lot of criticism from the industry as tight energy sector regulation and bleak growth prospects combine to discourage investors from staying in Canadian oil. However, the majority of Encanas shareholdersover two-thirdsare in the United Stats anyway, according to Bloomberg data, so it makes sense for the company to go where its shareholders are, despite criticism that the move wont solve all of its problems. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: [January 15, 2020] ProMIS Neurosciences Appoints Dr. Jose Luis Molinuevo to its Scientific Advisory Board TORONTO, Ontario and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. (TSX: PMN) (OTCQB: ARFXF), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, has welcomed Jose Luis Molinuevo, MD, PhD, to its scientific advisory board (SAB). Dr. Molinuevo is an internationally recognized neurologist, researcher, professor, principal investigator and clinician focused on Alzheimers disease (AD) and related disorders, including other protein misfolding diseases such as Parkinsons. Dr. Molinuevo is the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Prevention Program at the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) in Barcelona, Spain, which focuses on Alzheimers disease prevention from a clinical, cognitive, genetic, and biomarker perspective. He is an associate professor at the University Pompeu Fabra, member of several professional societies governing neurodegenerative diseases, principal investigator of multiple clinical trials and research studies on AD and author of more than 330 international scientific papers, several books and over 20 book chapters on neurodegenerative diseases. He received his MD from the University of Valencia and his PhD in neurology from the University of Barcelona. Dr. Molinuevos research contributions to Alzheimers and other protein misfolding diseases has strengthened our understanding of toxicity in the brain, said Eugene Williams, Executive Chairman of ProMIS Neurosciences. Hes a beacon among the community of researchers who believe the revised amyloid hypothesis which zeroes in on the toxic oligomer of beta amyloid as the driver of brain cell death will drive a next generation of beta-amyloid targeting therapies that offer precision selectivity for this toxic target following anticipated regulatory approval for the first-generation candidate, aducanumab. Were honored to work with such an accomplished, committed SAB, and extend our warmest welcome to Dr. Molinuevo. This is an incredibly exciting time in Alzheimers disease research, said Dr. Jose Luis Molinuevo, MD, PhD. In this decade, well see the first disease modifying therapy for AD followed by better, second generation therapies, validating decades of data showing the toxic role of misfolded amyloid beta in the brain. Protein misfolding is a root cause of several other neurodegenerative diseases, and ProMIS is uniquely able to target only the toxic oligomer of these misfolded species, a previously elusive accomplishment. Im honored to join such an esteemed group of leaders in neurodegenerative disease as we embark on a decade that I feel will be marked by several disease-modifying therapies for not only Alzheimers but a host of other neurodegenerative diseases. ProMIS SAB members are highly published and cited contributors to current scientific understanding of Alzheimers, Parkinsons, ALS, protein misfolding diseases in general and other neurodegenerative diseases. Current members include: Neil R. Cashman, MD is Chief Science Officer at ProMIS Neurosciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding Diseases and serves as the Director of the UBC ALS Centre. Dr. Cashman is recognized as a pioneer in the field of prion-like misfolded proteins and their role in development of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular ALS and AD. Neil Cashman is co-chair of the SAB. Sharon Cohen, MD is a trained behavioral neurologist and former speech language pathologist. Her memory clinic and dementia clinical trials program at Toronto Memory Programme are the larest and most active in Canada and have contributed substantially to patient care and to global clinical trial cohorts. Through her commitment to knowledge translation and her passion for clinically meaningful outcomes, Dr. Cohen provides a valuable perspective which places the patient at the center of Alzheimers drug development programs. Todd E. Golde, MD, PhD is Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida where he directs a robust program of scientific discovery aimed at translating basic discoveries in neurodegenerative disease into diagnostics and treatments for patients. Dr. Golde is co-chair of the SAB. William C. Mobley, MD, PhD is Associate Dean for Neurosciences Initiatives, Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences, Florence Riford Chair for Alzheimer Disease at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and the universitys Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment. Dr. Mobleys research focuses on the neurobiology of neuronal dysfunction in developmental and age-related disorders of the nervous system. C. Warren Olanow, MD is the past Henry P. and Georgette Goldschmidt Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and present Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neurology and in the Department of Neuroscience. Andre Strydom, MD, PhD is a professor in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at Kings College London, and Honorary Consultant psychiatrist, South London and the Maudsley NHS Trust. His current projects and collaborations include the LonDownS consortium, funded by the Wellcome Trust/ MRC, to study the neurobiology of Alzheimers Disease in Down syndrome to understand the underlying factors that may influence variation in age of onset of symptoms. His research in Down syndrome includes investigation of biomarkers of cognitive decline. He has been an investigator on clinical trials of new drug treatment options in Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and autism. Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD is a neuroscientist and geneticist with scientific expertise in Alzheimers disease and brain health. He serves as Vice-Chair of Neurology, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, and as a Director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Lary C. Walker, PhD is Associate Professor of Neurology and Research Professor at Emory University Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Dr. Walkers research has been directed toward understanding the mechanisms by which the Alzheimer-associated proteins amyloid beta and tau form pathogenic assemblies in vivo and how these agents spread in the brain. About misfolded proteins and the toxic oligomer Misfolded proteins play a key pathogenic role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Misfolded proteins aggregate, forming small clumps (oligomers) that are both toxic to neurons and responsible for the prion-like propagation (spreading) of the neurotoxicity, ultimately leading to clinical symptoms of disease. Using its novel drug discovery engine, ProMIS can uniquely and selectively target the toxic oligomer, filling a critical gap for drug developers: traditional approaches to developing antibodies are unable to isolate and target the toxic oligomer with adequate precision. The companys Alzheimers disease program includes two antibody candidates that offer targeting of the toxic oligomers of tau and amyloid beta, currently one of the most promising areas of therapy development in Alzheimers disease. ProMIS Parkinsons disease program includes several potential antibody therapeutic candidates aimed at selectively targeting toxic oligomers of the protein a-synuclein, considered a root cause of Parkinsons disease. ProMIS has also identified antibody candidates that selectively target toxic oligomers of the protein TDP-43, considered a root cause of ALS. About ProMIS Neurosciences ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing antibody therapeutics selectively targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimers disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinsons disease (PD). The Companys proprietary target discovery platform is based on the use of two complementary thermodynamic, computational discovery engines -ProMIS and Collective Coordinates- to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique precision approach, the Company is developing novel antibody therapeutics for AD, ALS and PD. ProMIS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ProMIS is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMN, and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ARFXF. Visit us at www.promisneurosciences.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn For media inquiries, please contact: Shanti Skiffington [email protected] Tel. 617 921-0808 For Investor Relations please contact: Alpine Equity Advisors Nicholas Rigopulos, President [email protected] Tel. 617 901-0785 The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A VILLAGE shopkeeper has told how he confronted a gang of masked raiders who broke into his store during the night. Gavin Caple and his wife Sharon, who run Binfield Heath Stores, were in bed upstairs when they were woken up by the shops alarm going off. They went down to investigate and Mr Caple confronted the thieves just as they were getting back into their getaway car with about 1,000 worth of cigarettes. He decided not to chase them as they drove off. The raid happened at 12.45am on Thursday last week when three men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas or hoodies smashed a lock on the front door of the shop. They then ripped the cigarette cabinet from under the counter and loaded it into their Mini outside. The Caples, who have run the business for 10 years, then came downstairs. Mr Caple said: We were in bed and the alarm went off. We could hear banging inside the shop. The pair of us jumped out of the bed and were downstairs within a minute-and-a-half. As we went into the shop there were three geezers in a Mini and the last one was just getting in. In that time theyd got through the door, pulled the cigarette cabinet out and got it in the back of the car. The cabinet was hanging out the back of the Mini. The last one was getting in and said, why dont you eff off? Another man then got out of the car and pushed the cabinet all the way in before the car was driven off towards Shiplake Row. Mr Caple said: They didnt put the cars lights on and as soon as they started driving I was on the phone to the police. I just wanted to run after them and get my stuff back but Sharon stopped me and thank God because you never know whats going to happen. My wife was shaken up. At the end of the day no one was hurt, which is the main thing. He said the kiosk was screwed to the back of the counter and was locked every night. He added: The door lock was smashed to pieces all over the floor. The police took prints from the lock and the door. Mr Caple said he would now be installing CCTV at the shop. Weve never had any problems here and we dont carry that much stock, he added. He praised villagers for their support, saying: People have been brilliant. You couldnt ask for more genuine, lovely people who were worried about us. So many are offering to help its a proper little community, which is lovely. The door will be replaced by the Phillimore Estate, which owns the shop. Mr Caple said the Mini was light coloured, possibly white, and may have had five doors. Two of the gang were over 6ft tall and slim. Anyone with information should call Thames Valley Police on 101, quoting reference number 35 of January 9. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a transition fund meant to bankroll the sort of deep changes needed. (Photo: AFP/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD) That figure, a 10-year investment to be sourced from leveraged public and private funds, is part of a European "Green Deal" - an ambitious rethinking of the economy, transport and energy sectors to turn the EU into a leading light in the fight against global warming. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who has made the project the centrepiece of her mandate that started last month, presented the plan at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. With those outlays came some growth opportunities, she insisted. But in any case, "the costs of failure to act here would be enormous ... so we have no option other than to invest in this now". That message is reinforced by recent scientific assessments that carbon dioxide concentrations are heating the planet faster than predicted when the Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015. To help overcome the knotty problem of putting coal-dependent EU regions - for instance Poland, the Czech Republic, or parts of Germany - on the path of renewables, her Commission has proposed a "just transition mechanism" meant to bankroll the sort of deep changes needed. A 'DAUNTING' PATH It aims is to make available up to 100 billion a year, as a "pledge of solidarity and fairness for those who face the deepest challenges to make this journey with us," Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told MEPs. The core of the mechanism will be an EU transition fund of 7.5 billion over the period of the next EU long-term budget, running from 2021 to 2027, as part of "cohesion" spending meant to boost regional development. While open to all member states, it is meant more for those that will have to give up fossil fuel energy. "What we're doing here is a message to coal miners in (Spain's) Asturias, (Greece's) western Macedonia or Silesia (a region including parts of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany), to the peat harvesters in the Irish midlands," Timmermans said. "We know you face a steeper path to climate neutrality ... the road to it looks daunting today," he said. The transition mechanism "is a pledge that the EU stands with you in this transition". The Commission wants to see the fund encourage equivalent investments from members states, and also spur private sector activities in areas protecting the environment, making buildings more energy efficient, and boosting the use of renewable energy. The European Investment Bank will become a "climate bank" by offering loans to further the EU goal. The Commission says an extra 260 billion in investments are needed per year to finance the switch, which would also entail social changes as populations adapt to new policies for transport, energy and agriculture. Some of the gap between the transition mechanism and that cost projection would come from a quarter of the long-term EU budget under a proposal by the previous Commission. A final agreement on the way forward has to be worked out between the Commission, the European Parliament and member states. POLAND UNCONVINCED Poland has so far refused to sign on to the far-reaching project, worried about the economic and social costs involved. And there is also a tricky debate over nuclear energy to be navigated. France champions the atomic power it relies on as a relatively beneficial energy source when it comes to climate emissions. The Czech Republic and Hungary also defend nuclear as part of their energy mix. But other member states, such as Luxembourg and Austria, are opposed to nuclear energy being painted as "green". S heila Caffell was the adopted sister and victim of Jeremy Bamber, who was found guilty of murdering five members of his family at White House Farm in Essex in 1985. The murder scene was made up to look as though it was a murder-suicide committed by Sheila but after further investigation police arrested Jeremy. It comes as ITV releases a six-part dramatisation of the White House Farm murders, 35 years later. Here, we take a look at the life of Sheila Caffell and how she was initially implicated in the killings. Who is Sheila Caffell? Sheila was born as Phyliss to the 18-year-old daughter of a senior chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. At just two weeks old, she was given up by her mother and put into care by the order of her grandfather. Then at three months old, she was adopted by Nevill and June Bamber, who renamed her Sheila. The couple from Essex were unable to have their own children and had already adopted a son - Jeremy. White House Farm in Essex / PA During her childhood, Sheila attended various schools in Essex, Sussex, Norfolk and London. Relationship with Colin Caffell and her adopted family At 17-years-old, she found out she was pregnant with her boyfriend Colin Caffell's child but her parents arranged an abortion. Sheila then returned to her studies at a secretarial college before training to become a hairdresser and she also worked as a fashion model for a short period of time, spending two months in Tokyo with an agency. When she was 20, she married Colin and soon she was pregnant again. The couple lost the baby when she was six months pregnant and she suffered another miscarriage before giving birth to twin boys, Daniel and Nicholas in June 1979. After having her sons, Sheila stopped modelling and lived off welfare and low-paid jobs such as cleaning and as a waitress. She got divorced from Colin soon after amid reports that he had an affair. ITV's new six-part drama will focus on the White House Farm murders / ITV The mother-of-two found soon fell into a new friendship group where she was given the nickname "Bambi" and became involved with partying, drugs and older men. Sheila's relationship with her adoptive mother was troubled and worsened after her abortion. It is reported that June began calling her the "devil's child" as their relationship completely fell apart. Her history with mental illness Sheila had quite a long history of mental health issues which included violent outbursts and banging her head against walls. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1983 after she was referred to a psychiatrist by her family, who had described her as agitated, paranoid and psychotic. Sheila had also spoken about killing herself, but doctors did not believe she was a genuine risk. Her twin boys, Daniel and Nicholas (Alamy ) / Alamy She spent some time in hospital and still took anti-psychotic drugs when she was discharged, but was then readmitted in 1985 - five months before her death. At one point she came to believe she had been in direct contact with God and that people, including her boyfriend, were trying to kill her. Four weeks later, she left hospital but continued to have monthly injections of a drug which had a sedative effect. From that point forward, Sheila had little time with her sons. According to her brother, the family had spoken about putting them into foster care on the night they were all killed. Why was Sheila Caffell accused of the White House Farm murders? Her history of violence and psychotic episodes created a strong case for her possibly killing four members of her family before turning the gun on herself. Her brother Jeremy Bamber also claimed that he had received a phone call from his father to say that Sheila had "gone crazy" with a gun on the night of the killings. Sheila was found with the murder weapon, a .22 rifle, lying on her chest pointing towards her neck. Jeremy Bamber portrayed by actor Freddie Fox She also had a bible to her side, which the defence barristers claimed suggested a ritual killing. From the start of the investigation, police believed that Sheila had killed herself and her family. Her brother told Essex Police that she knew how to fire a gun and that she had a "deep and intense dislike" of her mother. Who is Jeremy Bamber? Born in 1961 as Jeremy Marsham, he was adopted by June and Nevill Bamber that same year. Jeremy attended a private prep school and then went on to boarding school in Norfolk. According to his friend Brett Collins, he was sexually assaulted aged 11. On August 7, 1985, the police received a call from Jeremy at 3.30am. Jeremy Bamber is still serving a life sentence in HM Prison Wakefield / PA He claimed his father Nevill had called him to say his sister, Sheila had "gone crazy" and had got ahold of their father's rifle. June's body was discovered with Sheila's, while Nevill's body was found in the kitchen. His dad had been shot eight times and had also been beaten. Jeremy's girlfriend at the time, Julie Mugford, later implicated him, saying he was after his 436,000 inheritance. During his trial in 1986, Ms Mugford told the court that Jeremy had spoken about sedating his family and setting the farm house on fire, before plotting to hire an assassin to kill them. (Natural News) For some odd reason, the science-based medicine folks refuse to acknowledge that their precious vaccines arent a one-size-fits-all miracle medicine. While even the manufacturer package inserts openly admit because they have to that some children wont respond to vaccines and might even suffer adverse effects from them, both the media and health authorities alike want us all to believe them when they say that vaccines are 100 percent safe and effective, which is why theyre working tirelessly to eliminate vaccination exemptions all across the country. Of particular concern is the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella, a highly controversial multivalent jab that weve repeatedly warned doesnt hold up to scientific scrutiny. In fact, the MMR vaccine was fraudulently approved based on flawed and inaccurate studies, and is linked to causing a 340 percent increase in autism specifically among African-American boys. There are many other problems with the MMR vaccine that continue to be ignored by those with the loudest voices in our society, which is why groups like Childrens Health Defense (CHD) are publishing groundbreaking research that tells the ugly truth about vaccines that nobody else seems willing to tell, save for Natural News and a few other independent media sources that have braved the tide of censorship in defense of the facts. As part of an installment series about vaccine failure, CHD recently published an extensive piece about the many problems inherent to the MMR vaccine. The following is information about this deadly jab youre unlikely to hear or read about anywhere else, which is why were committed to doing our part in getting the message out loudly and clearly. 100% organic essential oil sets now available for your home and personal care, including Rosemary, Oregano, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Clary Sage and more, all 100% organic and laboratory tested for safety. A multitude of uses, from stress reduction to topical first aid. See the complete listing here, and help support this news site. Fundamentally speaking, the MMR vaccine simply doesnt provide true protection against measles like the medical establishment claims. As it turns out, primary and secondary measles vaccine failures are more common than many people think, with as many as 12 percent of children who receive the first dose of measles vaccine exhibiting whats known as primary vaccine failure. Almost none of the official story about the benefits of the MMR vaccine is true For reasons that CHD claims remain largely unknown, measles vaccination often fails to induce the expected antibody response thats believed to create immunity meaning the vaccine is certifiably useless. And even in individuals for whom the vaccine appears to take, the science shows that many vaccinated individuals have lower levels of measles-specific antibody than do those with immunity derived from exposure to wild-type measles virus. Secondary failure is also common, as even the best immunity procured by measles vaccines is temporary at best. At worst, no immunity is conferred at all, and vaccinated individuals still contract and spread vaccine-type measles infections to themselves and to others. Another problem with measles vaccines is that they dont pass any real immunity on to the next generation. A measles-vaccinated mother, for instance, will not pass on adequate immunity to her children like an unvaccinated mother who contracted measles naturally when she was a child would. This creates a situation in which the children of measles-vaccinated mothers are more prone to developing the type of serious measles infections that the media and health authorities constantly claim unvaccinated children are contracting and spreading. And that brings us to another point: Measles-vaccinated individuals in general are still getting measles, and perhaps at an even higher rate than the statistics show. While media and government mouthpieces would have us all believe that getting vaccinated always prevents infection, the truth of the matter is that vaccines contain viral components, sometimes in live form, that are still capable of causing a vaccinated person to become ill. Be sure to read the full CHD article about measles vaccine failure at this link. You can also learn more about the dangers of childhood vaccination at Vaccines.news. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com ChildrensHealthDefense.org NaturalNews.com Photograph: PTI Photos On December 14, Yogesh Soman, director of Mumbai University's Academy of Theatre Arts, recorded a video criticising Rahul Gandhi's remark against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In the video, Soman is heard speaking about Rahul's 'pappugiri', attacking his lineage. Soman's video was in reaction to Rahul's remarks at a public meeting on the same day where he refused to apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi for his 'Rape in India' remark in the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament. 'I am Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar,' Gandhi said at the rally, taking a jibe at Savarkar's mercy petitions to the British. Soman's counter video, shot and posted on social media on the same day, took a barb at the Congress leader. 'You really aren't Savarkar,' Soman said in the video, 'The truth is you aren't even a Gandhi.' In the video, Soman is heard calling Rahul Gandhi's grandfather Feroze Gandhi 'abba' (a word Muslims use to address their fathers). Clarifying his 'abba' statement, Soman claims he was calling him Feroze 'aaba' (which in Marathi means grandfather). "I said aaba, not abba," Soman claims in a conversation with Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com. "I didn't use the word abba." About his remark that Rahul is not even a Gandhi, Soman, who has acted in Drishyam and Uri: The Surgical Strike, says, "Gandhiji ke goon hum main bhi nahi hai (Even we don't possess the qualities of Mahatma Gandhi). Whenever anybody says 'Gandhi' he means Mahatma Gandhi." Soman's contention is that he was referring to Mahatma Gandhi and not casting aspersion on Rahul Gandhi's lineage when he said in the video that Rahul Gandhi is not even a Gandhi. About Mumbai University's action to send him on 'forced compulsory leave' after the furore created by the Congress's students union, the National Students Union of India, for his remarks against their leader, Soman says, "I haven't even seen the letter that talks about sending me on 'forced compulsory leave'. I am getting all these reports through newspapers and TV channels." "If I get any legal summons or letter to such an effect (that I have been sent on 'compulsory leave') from them or whenever I meet them, because I am in Pune right now, I will record my statement. Only then will I openly speak to the media." Trouble for Soman began on Monday, January 13, when students at Mumbai University's Kalina, north west Mumbai, campus protested, demanding his ouster over lack of quality lecturers, untimely lectures and poor facilities. When asked about the issue, Soman refused to comment. "I don't know if this (forced leave) is legally valid, but they have done it," he says about the university's decision to send him on leave. "I will record my statement before the committee when they set up an enquiry committee and call me to know my side (about the complaints by students about poor facilities). I have keeping away from making my official statement public. I will record my statement before the enquiry committee," he says. What immediately triggered action against Soman was the demonstration by NSUI members on January 14, seeking Soman's removal as punishment against his comments against Rahul Gandhi. "I am not commenting on whether Mumbai University is acting under some kind of political pressure. I will speak my mind before the authorities," Soman says, when asked if he is being targeted for his politics. "I stand by my remarks against Rahul Gandhi," he says, "I also stand by what I said in that video." Tekashi 6ix9ine has reportedly asked a judge to allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, on the grounds that he believes he is at risk while in jail. TMZ reports that his lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, filed a request to allow the rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, to serve the rest of his 24-month sentence under house arrest or in a community correctional facility. He claims his safety is at serious risk because he snitched on a notorious gang, the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods, and believes the private jail he is in also houses Blood members. Hernandez received a reduced sentence last month in a racketeering case, after giving much-publicised testimony about fellow rappers and his former crew. 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 Before testifying, he had faced decades in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and other charges. The judge overseeing the case said he deserved a substantial reduction due to his cooperation. It was game-changing, US District Judge Paul Engelmayer said of Hernandezs testimony in December 2019. It was complete and it was brave. Prior to his sentencing, Hernandez expressed regret for joining the Nine Trey Bloods, apologising to his family, fans and victims in the case. Im not a victim, he said. I put myself in this position from day one. I made a lot of bad choices in life, but that does not make me a bad person. He added: Im happy that the public was able to witness me dealing with the consequences of my actions because I feel like it sheds a light on what can come from gang affiliation. By PTI WASHINGTON: In an apparent hate crime, a new gurdwara in the US state of California has been defaced with a swastika graffiti. Police officials took statements from the Granthi (priest) of Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara Sahib in Orangevale, where the incident took place. On Monday morning, a day after the Sikh temple was officially inaugurated, people saw the words "White Power" and a swastika sign graffitied on the property. The graffiti was removed later on the day. "I strongly condemn the racist graffiti spray painted at a Sikh house of worship in Orangevale," Indian-American Congressman Ami Bara said. He said California's seventh congressional district, in which Orangevale is located, has a community of diversity and inclusion, and Sikhs are an integral part of it. Dimple Kaur Bhullar from the Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara Sahib Sangat said, "We began services as of mid-December 2019, the weekend of January 10-12 we had our official Grand Opening with Bhai Sahib Harjinder Singh Ji Sri Nagarwale, without any problems. There was no negativity before this." In a statement, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund, the oldest civil rights and advocacy organisation of the community, condemned the defacement of the gurdwara. In an interview to local Sacramento Bee, Harbans Singh Sraon described the action as "ignorant" and committed by someone who doesn't know or care to learn anything about who they are. "If they knew what Sikhism is, they wouldn't do it. That person in my opinion was ignorant. I wouldn't use any other words. Once they know us, they will love us. But it's a matter of getting together," he said. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is investigating the vandalism as a hate crime, the CNN reported. California has one of the largest populations of Sikhs in the US. The Yuba City, which is about an hour's drive away from Orangevale, draws around 100,000 people for its annual Nagar Kirtan parade, a Sikh festival, it said. This Monday, the envelope was finally unsealed, and the results were not what anyone expected. No, were not talking about the Academy Awards nominations, but the Oscars of the car world: the 2020 North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year Awards. For 26 years, the organization has doled out honors to the auto industrys best, with the deciding votes being cast by 50 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada. As such, the jurors are not beholden to anyone and drive just about every new model imaginable, so receiving the award is a boon to automakers both within the industry itself and to show to consumers who are looking for a truly neutral and unbiased opinion. The winners for car and truck of the year were somewhat expected, but also a huge relief to the automakers that were launching make-or-break vehicles: the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and the Jeep Gladiator pickup. On the other hand, the winner in the utility field is an SUV you may have never heard of before: the Kia Telluride. Here are the nine finalists: Car Winner: Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Hyundai Sonata Toyota Supra Utility Winner: Kia Telluride Lincoln Aviator Hyundai Palisade Truck Winner: Jeep Gladiator Ford Ranger Ram Heavy Duty Why is Kias win such a big deal? First of all, the South Korean brand has never taken home this award before in any category. Second, its proof they can slug it out with the best of them in the bigger-is-better SUV category that the U.S. is exporting to the rest of the world. When the 2020 Telluride premiered, the automaker described it as the largest Kia ever, and North American journalists are rewarding them for that; the SUV also won Car and Drivers 10 Best and MotorTrends SUV of the Year awards. Kia bet big, literally and figuratively, on the 2020 Telluride and won (Kia) Thats not to say the increase in size is the only reason the Telluride triumphed. In a press release for the awards, Karl Brauer, Executive Publisher at Cox Automotive, said, The Tellurides interior layout and design would meet luxury SUV standards, while its refined drivetrain, confident driving dynamics and advanced technology maintain the premium experience. Traditional SUV brands take note: theres a new star player on the field, he said. You know who else will be taking note? American buyers. You can bet Kia will be slapping this huge vote of confidence on all its ads and press releases going forward, and those who may have never considered Kia before will at least make a stop at the dealership to see what all the fuss is about. But do you really need a three-row behemoth that only gets a combined 23 miles per gallon? Probably not. Can the planet afford the international increase in gas-powered SUVs that were seeing? Definitely not. But as the Kia Telluride shows, as long as bigger and bigger vehicles pay off, automakers are going to keep upping the ante. The post The Best SUV of the Year Is Not What Anyone Expected appeared first on InsideHook. Tumors of the colon, so-called colorectal carcinomas, are the second to third most frequent tumors in women and men in Germany. The surgical removal of the tumors is a central component of the therapy. Two aspects are important for long-term survival after surgery: firstly, oncologically correct surgery and secondly, the right treatment if complications arise after surgery." PD Dr. Armin Wiegering, head of the Visceral Oncology Center at the University Hospital of Wurzburg in Bavaria, Germany There is a clear correlation between the number of operations performed per year in a hospital and the chance of survival. This was shown by Wiegering's research team in a study whose results are published in BJS Open, a journal of the British Society of Surgery. Mortality rates in small hospitals are twice as high The results of the study: In hospitals that perform few operations on colorectal carcinomas (an average of six per year), the post-operative mortality rate is twice as high as in hospitals with large case numbers (an average of 50 per year). This difference is not due to the fact that complications occur more often in smaller hospitals - because, according to Wiegering, this happens about equally often in all hospitals. Rather, the difference is that patients in small hospitals die more often from the complications. "In large hospitals, on the other hand, there is a sufficient infrastructure to save patients in the event of postoperative complications," said the Wurzburg physician. Facts and figures of the study In Germany, more than half of all patients with colon cancer are currently operated in hospitals that do not meet the minimum case numbers (50 per year) required by the German Cancer Society DKG. With more than 150 cases per year, the University Hospital of Wurzburg is one of the hospitals with very high case numbers. The study included all cases of colorectal carcinomas that were operated in hospitals in Germany between 2012 and 2015. That was a total of 64,349 patients. Across all hospitals, 3.9 percent of the patients died. In small hospitals the rate was 5.3 percent, in large clinics only 2.6 percent. Studies on further tumor diseases "This is the first time that we have been able to prove for Germany that there is a clear correlation between the number of patients operated per year and the success of the operation," said Wiegering. His team was surprised at how big the difference is. "We had not expected that the mortality rate in smaller clinics would be twice as high. It is therefore elementary to operate on patients in hospitals whose medical staff has sufficient experience." Wiegering's team now plans to carry out similar analyses for stomach carcinomas, liver metastases and other tumor diseases. The new Finnish Prime Minister has called for discussion of a flexible working schedule for her country - a four-day-week or six-hour working day. Sanna Marin, 34, - the second youngest head of government in the world - posted her ideas on Twitter late last year, saying it would allow workers to spend more time with their families. `Shorter working hours can and should be discussed. A 4-day week or a 6-hour day with a decent wage may be a utopia today, but may be true in the future,' she said. The mother-of-one leads a centre-left coalition with four other parties which are all headed by women, three of which are under 35. Finland's new Prime Minister last year revealed her vision for a flexible working schedule in the country that would involve a four-day-week or six-hour working day She said: 'I believe people deserve to spend more time with their families, loved ones, hobbies and other aspects of life, such as culture. 'This could be the next step for us in working life.' At the time of her comments, a few months before she became Prime Minister, Marin held the position of Minister for Transport. While in office in that position, Marin advocated for shorter work weeks to improve employee rapport and productivity. In Finland currently it is normal to work eight hours per day, five days per week. The proposal was immediately welcomed with enthusiasm by the minister of education Li Andersson, the leader of the Left Alliance. The mother-of-one leads a centre-left coalition with four other parties which are all headed by women, three of which are under 35 She said: 'It is important to allow Finnish citizens to work less. It is not a question of governing with a feminine style but offering help and keeping promises to voters '. In neighbouring Sweden, where the six-hour-day working day was trialled in 2015, results showed that employees were happier, wealthier and more productive. In early December Finland's ruling Social Democratic Party council voted 32-29 to name Sanna Marin over rival Antti Lindtman to take over the government's top post from incumbent Antti Rinne. In November Microsoft Japan took a bold move in a bid to improve work-life balance by introducing a three-day weekend for their employees. The results showed that productivity went up by a staggering 39.9 per cent. Aruba Releases Transfer Pricing Documentation Templates by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington 15 January 2020 Caribbean territory Aruba has released instructions on the completion of transfer pricing documentation and released model templates for completion. In announcement no. 86 of 2019, the Government of Aruba confirmed the introduction of a transfer pricing documentation regime in line with that proposed by the OECD in BEPS Action 13. It is effective for fiscal years ending on or after January 1, 2019. The release includes examples of the master file, local file, and country-by-country report multinational groups should complete. The CbC report should be filed annually and contain a breakdown of the amount of revenue, profits, taxes, and other indicators of economic activities for each tax jurisdiction in which the multinational group does business. Under the OECD framework, the CbC report should be filed by companies headquartered in Aruba whose consolidated group turnover exceeds EUR750m, or where a group has operations in Aruba but will file its report in a territory that lacks an agreement for the exchange of CbC reports with Aruba. The Decree implementing Article 30, second paragraph, and Article 32, fifth paragraph, of the National Ordinance on Profit Tax (AB 1988 no. GT 47) (the Regulation on additional documentation requirements for transfer pricing) was published in the Official Gazette on December 23, 2019, President Hassan Rouhani appealed Wednesday for "unity" and flagged the need for radical changes to the way Iran is run, after a wave of angry protests over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner. The Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was shot down in a catastrophic error shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard. One week on from the disaster, Rouhani called for "national unity" in remarks broadcast live on state television. "If there was a delay" by the armed forces to release information about what happened, "let them apologise," he said. The blunder and its handling by authorities sparked four consecutive nights of protests in Tehran calling for those responsible to resign or be prosecuted, leading to at least 30 arrests. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said people were demonstrating because they were deceived for days. "In Iran... people can state their views. Sometimes they state their views in excessive ways, sometimes the reaction is excessive," he said in New Delhi. "But the fact of the matter is, (over the) last few nights we've had people in the streets of Tehran, demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days." Amnesty International said Wednesday it had evidence security personnel used "unlawful force" by targeting protesters with rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and airgun pellets. The London-based rights group said that "in many cases the actions by the security forces violated the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under international law". A student association's call to protest in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon was cancelled ahead of any gathering taking place. - Khamenei to lead prayers - State news agency IRNA said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would lead Friday prayers in Tehran this week. It would be the first time he has done so in nearly eight years. The latest protests have been much smaller than nationwide demonstrations against fuel price hikes in November that Amnesty International said left more than 300 dead in a crackdown by security forces. The Ukraine International Airlines plane was downed with Iran on high alert hours after it fired a volley of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq. Iran launched the attack on Iraqi bases in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm. Rouhani also on Wednesday said Iranians wanted "diversity" as he urged electoral authorities to refrain from disqualifying would-be candidates from a February 21 parliamentary election. That would mark a major shift in a country where candidates are vetted for their loyalty by constitutional watchdog the Guardian Council. "The people are our masters and we are its servants," Rouhani said. "Allow all parties and groups to run for office," he said. "The country cannot be governed by one political wing alone." - Crisis after crisis - Iran has been rocked by crisis after crisis since 2018. In May that year, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 agreement that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Since then, the United States has slapped waves of sanctions on Iran as part of a "maximum pressure" campaign. Washington says it seeks to rein in Tehran's missile programme as well as its "destabilising behaviour" in the region. Iran has hit back by progressively reducing its nuclear commitments. On Tuesday, as tensions mounted over the downed airliner, European parties to the deal launched an arbitration process charging Iran with failing to observe its commitments to the accord. Iran warned Britain, France and Germany they must "be prepared to accept the consequences" of their move. - 'American soldier not safe' - Rouhani blamed the Americans and their allies for causing "insecurity" across the Middle East. Their "mistakes", he said, included Soleimani's killing, interventions in Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and the US decision to pull out of the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iranian oil. "Security in this sensitive and important region will come at the expense of the entire world," said Rouhani. "Today the American soldier is not safe, tomorrow it could be the turn of the European soldier," he added, warning the US and its allies to leave the region. The downing of the plane came after a spate of disasters for Iran. On January 7, at least 59 mourners were trampled to death at a funeral procession for Soleimani. Iran has also been hit by flooding since Friday that has claimed at least three lives. Rouhani said the disasters should lead to a "big decision" about Iran's political system. "And that major decision," he said, "is national reconciliation." "These elections must be the first step." In 2017, Khamenei rejected the possibility of "national reconciliation". The idea, which called for more pluralism, had been presented at the time by reformists as a way to heal wounds left over from the disputed 2009 re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. BEIRUT Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday that the French ambassador had warned him shortly after his arrest that his own company was plotting against him. "Frankly, I was shocked by the arrest, and the first thing I asked is make sure Nissan knows so they can send me a lawyer," Ghosn told Reuters in an interview in Beirut. "And the second day, 24 hours from this, I received a visit from the French ambassador who told me: 'Nissan is turning against you'. And this is where I realized that the whole thing was a plot." Former Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who was forced to resign last year after admitting that he had received improper compensation, told a news conference shortly after Ghosn's arrest that Ghosn had been using corporate money for personal purposes and under-reporting his income for years. The arrest of Ghosn, widely respected for rescuing the carmaker from near-bankruptcy, has put Japan's criminal justice system under international scrutiny. Among the practices now under the spotlight are keeping suspects in detention for long periods and excluding defense lawyers from interrogations, which can last eight hours a day. "When he told me that 'two hours or three hours later, after your arrest, Saikawa went in a press conference and made his infamous statement where he said, you know, 'I am horrified, but what I'm learning...'' so when he told me he made these statements, I said 'Oh my God this is a plot'." Ghosn, 65, fled Japan last month while awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. The one-time titan of the car industry said the alternative to fleeing would have been to spend the rest of his life languishing in Japan without a fair trial. Ghosn said he had escaped to his childhood home of Lebanon in order to clear his name. He noted that there were conflicting stories about his astonishing escape, but declined to say how he had managed to flee. Story continues Tokyo prosecutors said his allegations of a conspiracy were false and that he had failed to justify his acts. The 14-month saga has shaken the global auto industry and jeopardized the Renault-Nissan alliance, of which Ghosn was the mastermind. Japan's Ministry of Justice has said it will try to find a way to bring Ghosn back from Lebanon, even the countries have no extradition treaty. Ghosn said the Japanese authorities were intent on preventing him from having a just trial. You Might Also Like It's got nothing to do with 'German ancestry' The flying of this flag has nothing to do with "German ancestry". If you want to display your German ancestry then perhaps fly the German flag. This flag represents an affiliation with a political party that not only cowardly murdered millions of Jewish people but also was in direct conflict with Allied troops in the Second World War. It is also a direct insult to our serviceman and women who fought against the Nazi regime to give us the freedom we enjoy today. Make no mistake, Hitler wouldn't have spared non-Jewish citizens had he been victorious. Julian Roberts, Burwood At least people spoke out The report of a Victorian couple flying a flag featuring a swastika and other Nazi-related symbols over their home, justified by the resident as honouring her German ancestry, has appropriately raised significant issues and concerns. It is at the same time heartening to read that this action has outraged some of the couple's neighbours and has led to condemnation by both the government and opposition. This is a key example of the power of those who choose not to be bystanders in the face of unacceptable behaviour. It is only the silence of witnesses to such a display that potentially leads to the unaware and ill-educated admiring that defeated, discredited philosophy. Tony Weldon, Caulfield An insult and a chilling reminder The couple who were flying the Nazi flag are insulting the memory of those gallant Australians who fought Hitler's monstrous regime as well as many who died in the service of our country. It must be a chilling reminder to Jewish Holocaust survivors and other victims of the regime such as Roma and other "racially impure" or undesirable groups. I deeply honour the service of all who have worn our uniform including that of my great-uncle Ben Morgan who died as a German prisoner of war in February, 1945. The Nazi flag with all the evil that it represents should never be flown in our nation. Peter Curtis, Werribee South THE FORUM The free lunch is over Blaming Scott Morrison for his response to bushfires is pointless. At the last election the Australian people chose him and his government to run the country, a key factor being more tax breaks, even for the wealthy. It was clear then the Morrison government's environmental policies were almost non-existent. It has consistently ignored expert scientific opinion on many issues. Despite the dire circumstances of the fires, Morrison has not changed his policies. Why should he when he was given a mandate by Australians? Preserving the future of our planet comes at a cost. Australians have not been prepared to pay the cost of acting on climate change. And, as we are experiencing, the human and environmental costs are rising. Australians must be willing to pay for the future. They must elect a responsible, science-based government that will implement changes and ensure that the major generators of climate change and environmental destruction contribute, rather than just taxpayers. The free lunch of riding on the sheep's back is over. Are we prepared to pay the cost for a future? Leigh Ackland, Deepdene A panel is all we need We don't need a royal commission into the bushfires. What we need is a high-level panel of experts in the fields of forest management, firefighting, meteorology, climate science and other disciplines. The panel would bring together the existing practices and sciences. The panel would report directly to the Prime Minister and consider prior royal commission reports and the existing mountains of data and current knowledge. David Fry, Moonee Ponds What about the Grand Prix?It is extraordinary that the Andrews government, always loud and proud of its environmental activism, continues to throw money at the staging of the Grand Prix. The race is a component of sport's largest carbon footprint, with teams flying about the world to various places where their machines do even more damage to the planet. It is a relic and Andrews should do the right thing and consign it to its inevitable fate. Kevin Summers, Bentleigh It's a risky business Your correspondent (Letters, 15/1) observes that the public should not have to wear the contractors' costs associated with contaminated soil in the West Gate Tunnel. Yes, contractors do bid artificially low and then make further claims after they've got the job. But, in truth, the only people who believe there are such things as cheap, fixed-priced contracts are politicians, lawyers and those who've never actually run one. Contracting for big civil works is a risky business; it is usually impossible to do enough soils investigation before you submit your price. It would be very easy to go broke. So, in many jobs the contractors decline in the contract to take total cost responsibility for all soils risks. Not afterwards, but actually in the contract. Maybe they did decline to take all soils risk in this case. Who knows? It's probably "commercial in confidence", a ploy used by politicians so they can deny any fault in their own processes. As a former energy industry project manager, I have no great sympathy with the construction contractors but sometimes you do have to see the whole picture. Colin Simmons, Woodend It sounds positive ... Scott Morrison is very good at choosing words. He says that the government's climate policy will "evolve". Evolution is an extremely slow process. He means "don't expect any appreciable development in the near future". His statement that we should concentrate on "resilience" and "adaptation" translates to "get over it and learn to live with it". The words sound positive but are not encouraging at all. Wal Close, Surrey Hills It's not 'business as usual' If we exercise, we increase our health risks under these smoke-haze conditions. If we don't exercise, our health suffers anyway. Those with respiratory sensitivities are obviously at risk. Our fruit and vegetables will cost more; another health risk. Health is just one sector that will suffer for some time. Action is needed now to plan for Australia's changing fire profile. We cannot have "business as usual" scenarios any longer. Carmel McNaught, Balwyn North A foolish gesture The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly arising from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the city . I remember that as commuters emerged from the Underground, local people who were blind or sight-impaired were waiting to guide them home; a great gesture. Sixty-five years on, and in 2017 Scott Morrison brings a lump of coal into our Parliament and tells us not to be afraid; a foolish gesture. Ros Collins, Elwood Why so negative? Your correspondent's churlish criticism of the choice of wine made by Lyn McPherson of the Ark Clothing Company in her Spectrum interview over lunch is a clear example of the human trait of negativity bias (Letters, 14/1). Ms McPherson is a fantastic flag-bearer for the Australian-made rag trade trying to compete with the overwhelming number of labels who use cheaper labour offshore. As an Ark customer of both the clothing and the Indigenous painted boab nuts, I have utmost admiration for her. Yet your correspondent manages to make a negative out of so many positives in her interview. Human nature. Makes me sad. Diana Yallop, Surrey Hills Setting a new day Every year there is a dispute about the choice of January 26 for Australia Day. This has a negative connotation for the Indigenous people of this country because it commemorates the settlement of Europeans in Australia. I suggest that Australia Day become the fourth Monday in January. It no longer ties Australia Day to an event that is controversial for our Indigenous people. Nevertheless, it retains the essentials of our current Australia Day, namely: a public holiday at the end of January before school holidays end; an Australia Day that will always fall on a Monday, making it always a long weekend; an Australia Day that is often a hot, summer, beach and barbecue day, which is quintessentially Australian. We have the precedents of non-date-related holidays already with Easter, Labour Day and the Queen's Birthday. Let us have an Australia Day in which every Australian can participate and celebrate, no matter what our origins, background, heritage, religion or culture. Laurence Harewood, Kew A recipe for doing little Of course the Prime Minister wants a royal commission into the bushfires. He was part of a government that desperately tried to avoid the banking royal commission, but he learnt that having a royal commission can generate a lot of information and chatter, and a few token heads can roll (no matter how widespread the egregious behaviour), but overall the government can get away with doing very little about the recommendations. And that's exactly what the Prime Minister wants to do about the environment very little. Linda Skinner, Mooroolbark Dropping the ball There is no surprise that WorkSafe bureaucrats avoid owning their part in transferring deceptively and incorrectly labelled hazardous materials to an unsuspecting legitimate facility. For the EPA the legitimate facility is an easy target. How on earth were Worksafe unaware of the hazardous nature of the materials being transferred? The EPA should investigate WorkSafe, and WorkSafe should prosecute its own for their role in creating an unsafe work environment for the employees at the legitimate facility. When a bureaucrat makes a mistake there is no need to be concerned about truth or justice you can predict the likely course of action by identifying the self-interest. Chris Wallis, Albert Park Time is money As your headline states, "Climate denial 'a waste of time"' (The Age, 15/1), but as the adage says, time is money. Every day, week, month and year coal, oil and gas interests can pressure governments into delaying climate change action is another period of time when their profits flow unimpeded by carbon taxes or other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel companies spend millions creating uncertainty about climate science not because they think the science is wrong but because they prioritise profit over planet. Helen Moss, Croydon Let them marry I write with reference to the article "Two popes face off over celibacy" (The Age, 13/1). In the Bible in Matthew's Gospel chapter 8 and verses 14 and 15 we read: "Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So he touched her hand and the fever left her." Surely if the Roman Catholic Church's first Pope was married, why not all the clergy? Pope Francis has said that celibacy is a tradition not a doctrine, so let them marry. Richard Cooke, Warrnambool Follow the money There is an enormous amount of money pouring into the relief effort for the bushfires, the latest figure I could find being $200 million. With such widespread devastation this can go a long way. The last thing we need is a royal commission into the fires. What we do need is a commissioner to oversee the distribution of these funds to make sure it doesn't get swallowed up by bureaucracy in all its wasteful and self-serving ways. And for god's sake, don't let local councils get involved; they will all go on research trips to Europe investigating fire-proof rubbish bins. Don Relf, Pascoe Vale South AND ANOTHER THING Air quality in Melbourne To my country friends, I guess I really do live in the big smoke now. Carl Harman, Brighton The world's worst air pollution. A one-off or "the new normal"? Paul Murchison, Kingsbury In late 2019 Australia was ranked as the worst-performing country on climate change policy on the Climate Change Performance Index. How appropriate it is, then, that Melbourne is now recording the worst air quality of any major city in the world. Peter Martina, Warrnambool Given Melbourne's hazardous air quality, and warnings not to do any strenuous exercise outdoors, why were Australian Open qualifying matches scheduled here on that day? Where was the duty of care to the players? Garry Meller, Bentleigh Climate change An announcement by the Prime Minister that he will focus on "practical measures" in relation to climate change is an admission that he will do practically nothing. Jane Edwards, Peterhead, SA Politics Peter Harris (Comment, 15/1) warns that the Coalition seems more concerned about public perception than actual policies. That's what happens when you get an advertising man leading a government. Phil Alexander, Eltham Where is Peter Dutton (is he busy counting the numbers)? Kevin Pierce, Richmond Furthermore Going forward, is there any chance that legislation can be passed to prevent politicians from saying "going forward"? Ross Coulthard, Glen Iris Finally Just wondering how useful our submarines will be in combating climate change? Andy Indrans, Taradale Now the world knows of our vulnerability to fire, can we be sure that our nation's best defence is a fleet of billion-dollar submarines? US venture investment in China is expected to plunge to a six-year low for 2019, as a deepening technology decoupling between the two countries rips apart early-stage deals. The volume of American venture capital investment in Chinese start-ups is estimated to fall to less than US$4 billion in 2019 from its peak of US$17.4 billion in 2018, according to a report published by Rhodium Group and the National Committee on US China Relations on Monday. The retreat was attributed to a combination of a cooling Chinese technology sector, policy headwinds and political uncertainty caused by the prolonged trade war between the world's two leading economies. The report, reviewing US-China venture capital trends over the two decades ended 2019, calls on US policymakers to "avoid disruption and unproductive decoupling without purpose". "The US must more narrowly articulate China-specific security and economic concerns," said the report's authors, led by Rhodium's Adam Lysenko, a data analyst at the American research firm. "Leaders must weigh marginal increases in national security against the economic and security costs of limiting participation in the US technology sector." The writers cautioned that some defensive policy tools under discussion or being implemented "could undermine the attractiveness of the US to entrepreneurs, potentially eroding the US leadership position in global tech development". The two countries completed nearly 5,000 transactions worth US$66 billion during the 20-year period, according to the report. Owing to the inherently private and international nature of such deals and their complex legal structures, data compilation was difficult, the authors said, terming their estimate of the total number and value of deals as conservative and likely hitting the low end of the spectrum. A sign for 5G at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing in November. Photo: Reuters alt=A sign for 5G at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing in November. Photo: Reuters Story continues But the landscape changed drastically recently as total funds raised by China-based start-ups fell to US$17 billion in the first half of last year, from US$61 billion in the first half of 2018, according to Pitchbook, a Seattle, Washington-based data provider for private capital markets. The venture capital space is taking the centre stage in policy debates in Washington as deals made by this particular group of investors are mostly in emerging technologies that could become the linchpin in the race to dominate global technology. As China takes the lead in a number of critical areas, including next-generation 5G mobile technology, US strategic doctrine has shifted from presuming eventual Chinese convergence with liberal market principles to expecting a long-term systemic rivalry. That shift has resulted in a significant drop in two-way capital flows between the US and China as Washington moves to tighten the rules for foreign direct investment. Chinese acquisitions of US assets have dropped to US$18 billion in 2019 from a peak of US$60 billion in 2016, Rhodium data showed previously. US venture capital funds and corporations contributed about US$47 billion, roughly 16 per cent, of the US$300 billion raised by all Chinese start-ups over 20 years. The amount of investment grew rapidly in the decade starting in 2010, the report said. The jump was largely attributed to the rise in funding of Chinese tech firms like Ant Financial, a fintech affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, online bulk seller Pinduoduo and video-sharing social media TikTok owner Bytedance. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Most US venture investors are large players with a long track record in China, with the top 10 players accounting for more than 50 per cent of all deals, according to the report. A Tencent sign at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, in south China's Zhejiang province, in October. Photo: Reuters alt=A Tencent sign at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, in south China's Zhejiang province, in October. Photo: Reuters While US investors have been active across many tech areas since 2000 with mobile, software-as-a-service and e-commerce being the leading segments, the last three years have seen artificial intelligence, big data and life sciences take over as the fastest growth areas. Chinese policy, on the other hand, is generally more supportive of inbound venture capital as Beijing seeks to encourage foreign investment. In the last decade, Chinese tech companies have benefited from funding from the US. Today's tech giants like Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent have all received initial venture funding from American venture capitalists. But the recent expansion of US investment reviews and stricter export controls created headwinds for Chinese venture capital investment in the US, the report said. Chinese capital also faces pressure from domestic policies, including capital controls. A financial deleveraging initiative and industrial policy interference also created uncertainty for the investment group. During the 20 years ended 2019, Chinese investors contributed an estimated US$15 billion, accounting for less than 2 per cent of the roughly US$1 trillion raised by all American start-ups, the report found. Total investment by the group of Chinese venture investors into the US dropped to US$1.1 billion for the first half of 2019 after peaking at US$2.5 billion in the first half of 2018. Sign up now for our 50% early bird offer from SCMP Research: China AI Report. The all new SCMP China AI Report gives you exclusive first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments, and actionable and objective intelligence about China AI that you should be equipped with. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:22:31|Editor: zyl Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- NASA will announce the name for its next Mars rover in March, according to a latest release of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA initiated the "Name the Rover" essay contest and received more than 28,000 submissions from students from kindergarten to 12th grade, 155 of whom were selected as semifinalists, according to the JPL. The next phases of judging will reduce the competition to nine finalists, and the public will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite name online in late January. The essay contest winner will be invited to see the spacecraft launch in July from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the state of Florida. The currently unnamed rover is a robotic scientist weighing more than 1,000 kg. It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth and pave the way for human exploration of the planet, according to the JPL. "This rover is the first leg of a round-trip mission to Mars that will advance understanding in key science fields like astrobiology," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division. "This contest is a cool way to engage the next generation and encourage careers in all STEM fields. The chosen name will help define this rover's unique personality among our fleet of Martian spacecraft," Glaze said. Bengaluru: As India plans to roll out a nationwide facial recognition system this year, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan believes that the country must develop its own databases for efficient implementation of breakthrough technologies that use artificial intelligence and machine learning. A facial recognition system is a technology capable of identifying or verifying a person by analysing patterns based on the person's facial textures and shape. Gopalakrishnan noted that India should carry out its own trials before implementing the facial recognition systems, as currently the algorithms used to train these mostly employ data of white men belonging to the Anglo-Saxon community, and it is unclear whether it will work properly in the country. "We also need to look at biases. One of the reasons why I believe India must do research in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) particularly is because most of the databases that are used to train these systems which we use today are being trained with data which is not from India," he told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Infosys Prize ceremony here. Gopalakrishnan, who is also the trustee at Infosys Science Foundation (ISF), noted that AI is a tool which impacts every industry, including research. The Infosys co-founder explained that AI and machine learning can be used to further leverage data to create new products, and new services like facial recognition, text translation, and diagnostics. Facial recognition is typically used as access control in security systems, and can be compared to other biometrics such as fingerprint or eye iris recognition systems. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) last year said the proposed facial recognition system will help catch criminals, and find missing children. Asked about the concerns raised by activists and tech experts who warn of the risks to privacy and from increased surveillance, Gopalkrishnan said "we need to sit down and come out with ethics governing the facial recognition as it is an issue that the people all over the world are grappling with." "We need to start building our own databases. Training databases must include sufficient data from India. It is a chicken and egg problem. "Because when you have huge amount of data, if you want to leverage the computing power to analyse that data, and come out with patterns or inferences, machine learning is the tool to use to find the patterns for you," he said. Gopalakrishnan added that a soft stance may be required to train Indians to use these systems, understand the implications, as well as the downside and go forward. "There is a lot of debate about using facial recognition in even unlocking your phone, but now they are going back to biometrics or iris recognition because in some way the facial recognition didn't work as it should be,? he said. "But we should be doing this work. Don't wait for somebody else's tool to come to India. We should start collecting our own data that is is very important, he added. Citing another example of AI and ML use, Gopalakrishnan said scientists can use standardised DNA sequencing databases, specific to India, to develop new molecules and treatment protocols, with these systems trained using this native data. "We should be doing our own trials before deciding whether it works in India or not. The human being is as important as these tools because we make the decision to either not use the data, or to fine tune the data," Gopalakrishnan added. Around 18 lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country, and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal took holy dip at the confluence of the sacred Ganga and the Bay of Bengal here on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Wednesday. Over 30 lakh people have gathered here for the pilgrimage, breaking all previous records, a senior official of the state government said. "Till 8 am, around 18 lakh people have taken dips in the holy waters. Several lakhs are waiting," he said. Every year on Makar Sankranti, lakhs of Hindus flock the Sagar Island in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district to take the holy dip and offer prayers at the Kapil Muni temple. "Last year, we had a record number of 20 lakh pilgrims visiting the island. This year, that record has been broken as we have witnessed over 30 lakh pilgrims arriving. It was peaceful and the pilgrims have also appreciated our arrangements," the official said. Security has been beefed up in the island, around 100 km from Kolkata, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is monitoring the situation, officials said. Besides deploying senior officers, around 10,000 police personnel and civic volunteers have been posted for the gathering -- the Ganga Sagar Mela. Security officials are also keeping a watch on the waters and patrolling is being done, they said. Drones and around 1,000 CCTV cameras are being used. Several watch towers have also been set up. The state government, for the first time this year, is using an air ambulance at the Sagar Island. Pilgrims also took dips at several ghats in other parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata and Howrah. Amid tight security, thousands of people took holy dips at Babughat, Doi ghat, Baje Kadamtala ghat, Saradamani ghat, Ratanbabur ghat, Bagbazar ghat and Kumartuli ghat, all on the banks of the Hooghly river in Kolkata, officials said. The picture was similar on the other bank of the river in Howrah where many took dips at Telkal ghat, Shibpur ghat and Ramkrishnapur ghat, they said. In the districts as well, thousands of people took dips at sunrise in different rivers and waterbodies. Makar Sankranti marks the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. It is known by various names in different parts of the country and in West Bengal it is celebrated as Poush Sankranti, after the Bengali month Poush. Hindus believe that taking dip at the Ganga Sagar, the confluence of the sacred river and the sea, will help one achieve "moksha" or salvation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DERBY A former correction officer and city resident was charged Wednesday with illegally collecting workers compensation benefits, according to a news release from the state Division of Criminal Justice. Emanuel Franceschi, 31, of Clearview Court in Derby, was arrested by inspectors from the Workers Compensation Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief States Attorney on a warrant. The warrant charged Franceschi with one count of fraudulent claim or receipt of benefits and one count of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community. The arrest warrant affidavit indicated that Franceschi worked as an unlicensed home improvement contractor while collecting workers compensation benefits for an injury he reported he sustained while working for the Department of Correction. Franceschi was approved for wage replacement and medical benefits on the basis that he was unable to work and was required to report any other income, the warrant indicated. But while collecting the benefits, Franceschi allegedly did home improvement work for two DOC coworkers that included carpet removal, laying floors and installing a door. The warrant claims that Franceschi did not report the income. The investigation began after an anonymous complaint to the Workers Compensation Fraud Control Unit and complaints by the DOC coworkers. Franceschi is no longer a DOC employee, the news release said. There was no further clarification about his position, including where he was based and how long he had been with the department. Franceschi was released on a $10,000 bond. Hes scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 30. She is about to be the proud mother of two. But for now, Jenna Dewan was spotted heading out to her yoga session with her baby bump on full display on Tuesday afternoon in Studio City. The 39-year-old actress looked simple and chic while rocking a black puffer jacket and black leggings ahead of her guided practice. On the go: Jenna Dewan was spotted heading out to her yoga session with her baby bump on full display on Monday afternoon while in Studio City She wore her short brown hair down and in loose waves and a pair of bright pink aviator sunglasses that matched her pull-over sweater. As she headed inside she carried a large navy tote bag on her arm while sporting bright colored sneakers. But the Flirty Dancing host isn't the only one gearing up for the big change, her six-year-old daughter Everly, whom she shares with her ex Channing Tatum, is also getting ready for her new role as a big sister. Stylish: She wore her short brown hair down and in loose waves and a pair of bright pink aviator sunglasses that matched her pull-over sweater Step Up: As she headed inside she carried a large navy tote bag on her arm while sporting bright colored sneakers 'She just said to me this morning,"I'm preparing myself for that baby to cry all the time,"' Dewan said of her daughter to People magazine. 'It was so adult and she asked me if the baby cried in the night if she could get out of her bed and go sing the baby song. And I was like, that is so sweet.' Dewan also revealed Everly is 'old enough to understand that she's going to have responsibilities and she's a big sister.' Growing bump! As she walked she rested her hand on her growing baby bump Jenna and her new partner Steve Kazee have been dating for about a year now. The two started dating back in 2018 and were spotted for the first time out together in November of that year. And shortly after celebrating their one-year anniversary together complete with adopting a puppy named Cosmo, they also revealed that they were expecting their first child together. Chic: She had her short brunette hair loosely styled as she headed into class Stunning: Jenna looked stunning in orange while out on a date with her partner Steve Kazee in New York City Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-14 23:36:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A protestor holds a picture of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua) The risk is that "there will be a wave of attacks and counter-attacks that never end. Each side will cite the other country's aggression to justify its own actions," said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Long-standing U.S.-Iran tensions may continue after the tit-for-tat fight between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks, experts have said in recent interviews. The U.S. government said Friday that it has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, days after Tehran's missile attacks on U.S. military bases in Iraq. U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday in a White House statement that the measures are aimed at denying Iran revenue that "may be used to fund and support its nuclear program, missile development, terrorism and terrorist proxy networks, and malign regional influence." Tensions between Tehran and Washington have reached new heights since the United States killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad's airport on Jan. 3. "Multiple armed organizations in the Middle East worked with General Soleimani and declared after his killing that they will attack U.S. forces or facilities," Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the center for international and security studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua. "If these attacks come, the U.S. leadership will have to decide whether to retaliate against Iran or only against the specific attacker," Ramsay said. Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that the risk is that "there will be a wave of attacks and counter-attacks that never end. Each side will cite the other country's aggression to justify its own actions." Trump's words on Twitter signaled that the U.S. has no intention of defusing the "maximum pressure" on Iran. On Sunday Trump expressed his support on Twitter for protests in Iran, after Tehran admitted that its armed forces had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board. Michael O'Hanlon, also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that while Iran "won't want a war," it may ramp up attacks on military facilities or oil-related infrastructure. However, confrontation does not have to be a foregone conclusion, Ramsay believes, adding that numerous steps could be taken to reverse the spiral of escalation. "There are lots of possible steps that could be taken quietly on each side. The U.S. could pick spots to relax its controls on the use of dollars by the Iranian Central Bank, allowing the real purchase and delivery of medical and humanitarian goods," Ramsay said. "The United States could also allow some oil transactions to take place. Iran could hold off on the steps it announced a few days ago about moving away from the nuclear deal and it could privately discuss these with the International Atomic Energy Agency," he added. It is "not clear what Trump's long term strategy is with Iran," West said. "Although Trump says he wants to avoid Middle Eastern entanglements, he already has sent additional troops to that region and may have to send more to protect American interests," West said. A $105 million Amazon.com fulfillment center under construction in Beloit is not only expected to create hundreds of jobs but is expected to be completed in time for the 2020 holiday season, the online retailer has announced. Ground for the 1.3 million-square-foot building in Gateway Business Park was broken in late 2019 by Seefried Industrial Properties. Amazon announced this month the warehouse will employ 500 people who will start at a minimum wage of $15 per hour and work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship items to customers. We are thrilled that Amazon chose the Gateway Business Park to build in the state-line area, said Andrew Jahnke, executive director of the Greater Beloit Economic Development Corporation (GBEDC). A lot of hard work went into making this project a reality, and we certainly look forward to the positive impacts on the Beloit economy. Development of the 750-acre business park, located at the intersection of Interstate 39-90 and Interstate 43, began in 2001 and is now home to some of Beloits largest companies. Tenants in the park, owned by the city and GBEDC, include Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, Kettle Foods, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, G5 Brewing and Pratt Industries. The new Amazon facility would also be near the 400,000-square-foot order fulfillment center for Staples that opened in 2006 and employs nearly 300 people. For the Amazon project, the 80 acres of land at 1255 Gateway Blvd. were sold for $1 an acre by GBEDC and no other city subsidies are being used on the project, officials said. The cost of the project, which was previously not made public, was disclosed Wednesday by the city of Beloit, which released details of the projects building permit. Amazon has been growing its infrastructure with large projects since 2015, when it opened in Kenosha a $250 million distribution and fulfillment center on 165 acres. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the project is comprised of two buildings totaling 1.5 million square feet. It also has reported that a proposed 2.6 million-square-foot Amazon distribution center on 75 acres in Oak Creek is a $200 million project that will receive up to $7.5 million in state tax credits if it creates 1,500 jobs. In 2018, Amazon opened a 96,600-square-foot delivery center in a vacant warehouse in the village of Sussex, just north of Waukesha. In July, the company took over the remaining space in the 192,000-square-foot building that could increase the number of employees there to as many as 275 , said Kasey Fluet, the villages assistant development director. Amazons Beloit facility would also be about 20 miles north of a 200,000-square-foot Amazon air-freight facility that opened last fall at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Illinois. Amazon has told Beloit officials that it has invested $1.6 billion in Wisconsin and estimates that it has created an additional 4,000 jobs on top of the companys direct hires. This development would not only provide our community with jobs and increased property value, but also a valued relationship with a household name, said Lori Curtis Luther, Beloits city manager. A project of this magnitude is certainly a game-changer for Beloit. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A former Sterling Heights man already ordered to serve life in prison for murder got another life sentence from an Oakland County judge this week for the shooting death of a Waterford Township man, all part of a multi-county crime spree nearly two years ago. Vernest Griffin, 47, was sentenced Jan. 13 by Oakland County Circuit Judge Daniel OBrien to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Eriberto Eddie Perez, his former supervisor at Aluminum Blanking, Inc. in Pontiac. Perez died at the scene after Griffin fired an AK-47 at him as he sat at his desk. Vernest Griffin found guilty of all charges, including homicide, in Wayne County court Jury finds workplace shooter Vernest Griffin guilty of murder, other crimes In December, an Oakland County jury found Griffin guilty of Perezs premeditated murder, as well as two counts of assault with intent to murder during a shootout with Waterford police who caught up with him after Perez was killed. OBrien sentenced Griffin to 23-60 years for those crimes. He also was sentenced for a felonious assault conviction and felony firearms crimes for the Feb. 1, 2018 string of crimes that started with Griffin killing another of his former bosses, Keith Kitchen, that day at BSD Linehaul in Taylor. After Kitchen was shot to death, Griffin carjacked a semi-truck from BSD Linehaul and drove it to Aluminum Blanking to confront Perez. Last March, a Wayne County jury convicted him of first-degree murder, carjacking, armed robbery and felony firearms possessions. He was sentenced a few weeks later to life in prison. Deadly year: Oakland County had 29 homicides in 2018 Vernest Griffin, charged in murderous shooting spree, found competent Psych testing ordered for Vernest Griffin, charged in workplace shooting spree Friday vigil for man gunned down in killing spree in Pontiac ALSO SEE: Grandma swindled out of $7,500 in fake jailhouse request MSP: Beverly Hills police department among agencies IDd with alcohol testing unit problems First Watch cafe gets liquor license for new Royal Oak location Water justice summit coming to Pontiac to create county environmental action plan Holly businesses targeted with fake cash Oakland County commissioners want states road funding formula changed With two-thirds of officers ready to retire, Waterford police hiring plan picks up speed Birmingham therapist Beth Jaslove sentenced for stealing from patients Waterford elementary students earn spot in state robotics tournament Downton Abbey inspired tours return to Meadow Brook Hall, Valentines dinner upcoming A 52-year-man was killed and three persons including his wife and daughter injured when their car overturned in Maharashtra's Nashik district, the police said on Wednesday. Two of the car's passengers are related to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray but they escaped unhurt, said a senior police officer. The accident took place near Sinnar, about 190 km from Mumbai, on Tuesday night when Supriya Shrungarpure (65), Amruta Shrungarpure (34), Ajay Vishwanath Karande (52), his wife Veena (48), daughter Kareena (18) and Manish Mishra (33) were returning from Shirdi to Mumbai, the official said. Supriya and Amruta are relatives of Rashmi Thackeray, the chief minister's wife, he said. Mishra, who was driving the car, apparently dozed off following which the car overturned while passing over a narrow bridge. Ajay Karande, his wife, daughter and the driver sustained serious injuries whereas the Shrugarpures escaped unhurt, the officer said. Earlier, another police official had said that Ajay Karande was Thackeray's relative. All the injured were rushed to a hospital in Nashik where Ajay died during treatment, the official said. The others were said to be out of danger. A case of accident has been registered at Wavi Police Station and probe is underway, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Its now up to a Cumberland County jury to decide if a man on trial in the stray-bullet shooting death of a 9-year-old child is guilty. Leroy Frazier III, 21, of Bridgeton, was the first of four defendants to face trial in the killing of Jennifer Trejo, who was struck shot as she slept in her bed on July 17, 2018 in Bridgeton. Prosecutors allege Frazier and three others opened fire on a group of people gathered in front of an Elmer Street home around 12:30 a.m. No one in that group was struck, but a stray round pierced the rear wall of the house where Jennifer was sleeping on nearby Church Street. Jennifers father, Ruben Trejo, testified last week about racing to the hospital with his wounded child and wept as he spoke of how she died in his arms. In closing arguments Wednesday morning, the defense argued that evidence presented by prosecutors was sparse and failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Frazier was involved. Frazier and fellow Bridgeton residents Michael L. Elliot, 27, Charles H. Gamble, 19, and Zahmere K. McKoy, 20, were indicted in 2018 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges. During the trial, the prosecution presented surveillance camera video from multiple locations that they said showed the four men making their way to and from Elmer Street around the time of the shooting. The shooters allegedly targeted at least one man in the group on Elmer. Investigators found 19 bullet casings on Elmer Street and investigators believe three guns were used in the shooting. Frazier said he was at home with his daughter at the time of the shooting, but prosecutors presented Facebook messages they said contradicted that claim. Investigators found a bullet casing under a floorboard in Fraziers home that was similar to a few of those recovered at the shooting scene. Prosecutors also presented images from social media that they claimed showed the suspects wearing clothing similar to the garments worn by the men seen on the surveillance videos, and social media communications between the defendants in which Frazier told them to get rid of clothing. Defense attorney Emily Bell called the evidence against her client circumstantial and said the state hadnt made its case. The state has not proved beyond a reasonable that Leroy Frazier committed the crimes for which he is charged, Bell told the jury Wednesday. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a sad story, but it would be even sadder if the wrong person was convicted on these charges. Jennifer Trejo, 9, of Bridgeton, was struck and killed by a stray bullet in 2018. Bell criticized police efforts to interview witnesses and gather evidence at the shooting scene. She also challenged reliability of ballistics evidence and claims that social media posts tied Frazier to the crime, and argued that surveillance camera footage didnt conclusively prove her client was one of the men shown. Referring to evidence presented showing social media exchanges in which Frazier told his co-defendants to throw away their clothing, Frazier told investigators that he said this because he had bed bugs in his home, Bell said, arguing that the state had taken the exchange out of context. The state claimed it was connecting the dots but, they connected the dots with their theories, Bell argued. Theyre formulating the evidence to match their theory and not the other way around. The evidence is quite sparse in this case. Senior Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Vogelsong urged the jury to use its common sense when reviewing the various pieces of evidence presented. Vogelsong conceded that the evidence against Frazier was circumstantial. When you connect all of the evidence, however, sometimes, circumstantial evidence can be more persuasive than direct evidence, she said. You start connecting all of the circumstantial evidence, you start connecting all of these dots, you should be firmly convinced of the defendants guilt. You should be firmly convinced that the defendant went to 119 N. Laurel Street, met with his three accomplices and walked to 13 Elmer St. You should be convinced that when they got there, they fired their guns 19 times All resulting in Ruben Trejo rushing his daughter to the hospital and her dying in his arms. Vogelsong argued that that, no matter which defendant fired the shot that killed Jennifer, all four were responsible for the crime. The other three defendants are scheduled to face trial later this month. Following a motion filed by the state last year, Fraziers case was tried separately from his co-defendants in December, according to court documents. That move stemmed from an interview Frazier and his attorney had with investigators in August 2018, when Frazier outlined his involvement, as well as the involvement of his co-defendants, in the shooting, according to the motion, and provided expressly incriminatory confessions. Prosecutors argued that because of Fraziers statements incriminating himself and his co-defendants, a joint trial could result in prejudice against the other defendants. Under the agreement reached when he made that statement, it could not be used against Frazier in the states case, but could be used to cross-examine him and rebut any arguments or evidence offered on his behalf. Prosecutors may also use anything he said to pursue leads and can use any evidence obtained as a result against your client in any manner, according to the agreement. Defense attorney Al Wheeler, who represents defendant Michael Elliot, sought dismissal of his clients indictment last year, arguing that the prosecution should have revealed evidence developed in the Frazier interview with the grand jury. The Cumberland County Grand Jury was never informed of the existence of the clearly material and potentially exculpatory evidence developed in the proffer session, Wheeler wrote in his motion to dismiss. Superior Court Judge Robert Malestein denied the motion to dismiss in December. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Despite multiple recent reports that identified Torontos vulnerability to money laundering, the RCMP has decided to disband its Ontario financial crimes unit, the Star has learned. Announced internally on December 10 in a series of meetings held in detachments across the province, the decision will see 129 officers and eight civilian staff re-assigned to other units, including organized crime, anti-terrorism and drugs, according to an internal email obtained by the Star. Breaking up a stand-alone unit devoted to investigating complex and difficult cases has financial crime experts worrying that fraud and money laundering activity will increase. It just wont work, said Garry Clement, former director of the RCMP proceeds of crime unit. The RCMP, in my view, has sort of lost sight of the fact that taking on financial crime requires a very high degree of expertise. After a review of federal policing priorities in April 2019, the RCMP is now focusing all its resources on three areas: National security, transnational serious and organized crime and cyber crime, the email stated. As a result, financial crime was no longer a stand alone priority, and ... all current Financial Crime Positions are being eliminated, states the email, which was sent to RCMP officers across the province the day after the town hall meetings in December. The RCMP told the Star the move will allow the force to better focus on urgent threats while not denting its ability to tackle financial crime. The financial crimes officers integration into other units will attain the most effective use of our existing resources, according to the email. This integrated approach is anticipated to increase our ability for effective operations. The focus will be on the overall criminality of the file which may or may not have a financial crime component. (Financial Crime) employees can expect to be cross-trained. Asked to comment on the email, Assistant Commissioner Jodie Boudreau, the commanding officer of the RCMP in Ontario, said: Tackling financial crime continues to be aligned with our federal mandate as it is now embedded in overarching criminality ... There is no anticipated gap expected in the fight against financial crime or impact to Canadas economic integrity ... This integration will allow us to focus on the highest threats. A similar reorganization happened in B.C. several years ago, said Clement, where there has since been an explosion of money laundering in casinos, real estate and luxury cars. It amazes me that they tried this approach of dissolving the (financial crime) units and putting them together with other units and we know the results, he said. Last year, former deputy commissioner of the RCMP, Peter German, released two reports on the staggering scale of money laundering in B.C. and revealed that there wasnt a single federal police officer in the province devoted to money laundering. This prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to announce a dedicated money laundering task force in the federal budget. B.C. is currently planning a public inquiry into money laundering. Meanwhile, the belated crackdown in B.C. may have criminals turning their attention to Toronto, where a hot real estate market and weak oversight provide ideal conditions for financial crime, according to a report released last year. A second report highlighted how, over the last decade, at least $20 billion in anonymous cash has been used to buy GTA property. These reports underlined the potential for widespread money laundering in the GTA, virtually unhindered by law enforcement. Theres been growing public awareness of the problem since the Panama Papers investigation in 2016, when the Star revealed how criminals and tax evaders from around the world are using Canada to snow wash their money. In an interview with the Star, German said the RCMP shouldnt be moving away from financial crime enforcement when fraud and money laundering are on the rise. Eliminating economic crime as a national priority for the RCMP is a mistake. It was recognized years ago that protection of our economy is a critical issue for the national police. Furthermore, following the money trail is accepted around the world as likely the most effective way to attack organized crime where it hurts most, German said. Even when charges are laid, convictions have proven elusive. Last month, the Star obtained statistics showing that between 2012 and 2017, 86 per cent of all money laundering charges were withdrawn or stayed. Henry Tso, who headed the RCMPs Financial Crimes Unit in Toronto until 2012, said that the RCMP has been moving away from dedicated investigation teams for financial crime in Ontario, and individuals and companies that have been defrauded are turning to private investigative firms to go through the civil process for financial recovery. All those big cases are not going to be investigated ... The police, their priorities have changed, said Tso, who now works for the consulting firm MNP and routinely investigates the same kinds of frauds he probed as a police officer. Fraud victims come to us since many get turned away from police services due to (a lack of) capacity in financial crime units ... When we are engaged, we do the investigation and forensic accounting to provide expert reports for civil remedies. If the client wants criminal charges, our reports can be provided to the police to pursue those charges. he said. Back in the 1980s and 90s, the RCMP pioneered a different kind of integrated unit, Clement said. Instead of putting a lone financial crime investigator on teams devoted to drugs or gangs, teams devoted to financial crime were integrated with prosecutors, tax auditors and customs officials to follow complex money trails wherever they led. They were highly successful, Clement said, and they have since been adopted in the UK and U.S. But the integrated financial crimes units were disbanded in mid-00s. The RCMP is failing miserably on the enforcement front, you would think that they would go back to a tried and proven model, Clement said. Last fall, the Ontario government announced it was creating a Serious Fraud Office that would bring together Ontario Provincial Police investigators and prosecutors to tackle complex cases. The RCMPs move is the very opposite of the Ontario initiative to create a specialist (unit), said German. Addressing the first plenary session of the ongoing 28th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF 28) in Australia, Politburo member Phong said multilateral parliamentary diplomacy creates dialogue opportunities, helps build trust and prevents conflicts through respect for international law and the United Nations Charter. She suggested promoting parliamentary partnership in 2020 by enhancing mutual trust, understanding and respect, and expanding the partnership between the APPF and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and international organisations. These efforts aim to create more resources and step up cooperation in addressing conflicts and disputes in the spirit of dialogue, openness, construction and mutual support, in line with international law, the legislator said, stressing the need for parties to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions that violate international law and may escalate tensions and complicate the situation. NA Vice Chairwoman Phong called on APPF member parliaments to join hands with governments, paying more attention to sustainable development and making sustainable, inclusive development the regular and long-term orientation for the sake of all sides. On this occasion, the Vietnamese legislature proposed organising inter-parliamentary cooperation activities for sustainable development in 2020 when Vietnam serves as Chair of the AIPA. In the framework of the APPF 28, the Vietnamese NA delegation has actively participated in meetings on politics-security, economy-trade, and the meeting of female parliamentarians. On the sidelines of the APPF 28, Vice Chairwoman Phong met with Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Tony Smith. Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Tony Smith. (Photo: VGP) She took the occasion to express sympathy to Australia over human and property losses caused by wildfires in the country. She affirmed Vietnams consistent policy of attaching importance to the strategic partnership with Australia. She thanked Australia for continuing to provide official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese expatriates in the country to integrate into host society. She also thanked Australia for backing Vietnams candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure, saying she hopes that the two countries will continue their collaboration and mutual support in regional and international issues, for peace, stability and development in the region and the world as well. Regarding the bilateral legislative ties, she said the two sides should enhance the operational efficiency of the two friendship parliamentarians groups, as well as the sharing of working experience between their parliamentarians. Phong conveyed Vietnamese NA Chairman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngans invitation to the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives to attend the 41st General Assembly of the AIPA in the capacity as an observer parliament. The event is scheduled to be hosted by Vietnam in late August 2020. For his part, Smith highlighted the thriving relations between Vietnam and Australia over the past decades, and affirmed that Vietnam holds an important position in the hearts of Australians. He said bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, national defence and security is very important to the bilateral ties, which was touched upon by Prime Minister Scott Morrison during his official visit to Vietnam last August. He agreed with the guest on the need to further promote the relations between the two parliaments and friendship parliamentarians groups. MESA, Ariz., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- J. Ladd Williams, DDS, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Achiever in the field of Medicine as a Dentist at Picture Perfect Smiles. Devoted to quality dental services, Picture Perfect Smiles is one of the best offices in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas. They provide seamless, flawless smiles and a warm, friendly environment. The office employs dental professionals who are highly-trained and experienced, working together as a dedicated, caring team. Services include general and restorative dentistry, Opalescence Teeth Whitening, dental bonding, tooth colored fillings, Invisalign, gum recontouring, porcelain veneers, porcelain crowns, inlays and onlays, full mouth reconstruction, "teeth in a day" implant retained dentures, and TMJ treatment. The office is located near the border of Estate Grove Valencia Est, at 1244 N Greenfield Road #103. Revered in Maricopa County for his gentle touch, Dr. Williams is a patient-preferred dentist. Leading an impressive career for twenty-five years, he has continuously increased his expertise, specializing in Implantology and sleep apnea, as well as the other services offered at his practice. An academic scholar, Dr. Williams attended the University of Washington Dental School, one of the top four dental schools nationally and one of the top fourteen internationally. He earned a Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS), graduating as valedictorian and receiving the Senior Dental Student Award. On account of his academic accomplishments, Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honor Society and the Alpha Omega National Honor Society inducted him. He continues increasing his knowledge, periodically undergoing training and completing courses in restorative dentistry. To remain abreast of the latest developments, Dr. Williams is an active member of the American Dental Association (ADA), Arizona Dental Association (AZDA), American Academy of Gold Foil Operators (AAGFO), Academy of Operative Dentistry (AOD), American Academy of General Dentists (AAGD), American Academy of LDS Dentists, and Pankey Institute of Higher Learning. For his excellence as a dentist, the Consumer's Research Council of America chose Dr. Williams as one of "America's Top Dentists" in cosmetic dentistry and occlusal rehabilitation and Who's Who National Registry listed him. When he is not at work, Dr. Williams enjoys scuba diving, riding motorcycles and dirt bikes, and in outdoor activities with his family. He is thankful for his father Dr. James R. Williams, wife Janet, and six children. Dr. Williams dedicates this recognition to Dr. L.D. Pankey. For more information, please visit http://www.pictureperfectsmiles.com Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com MILWAUKEE U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, has expressed a fear that Democrats will destroy this country. During remarks at a Donald Trump campaign rally Tuesday in Milwaukee, Johnsons statement was met with cheers from some 10,000 conservative supporters filling the seats at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, 400 W. Kilbourn Ave. Thats because distrust of the Democratic party is perhaps the highest its ever been among conservatives, especially among Trump supporters. Johnsons alignment with Trump, becoming one of the presidents right-hand men by supporting him throughout the impeachment process, has endeared him to No. 45. During the rally, Trump called Johnson a great guy. In return, Johnson said, 2020 is when were really going to assemble the Trump Party. Really concerned Were not angry. Were a little concerned, Johnson said Tuesday. When we listen to the Democratic presidential candidates, we get really concerned. The Minnesota native and manufacturing CEO from Oshkosh was elected in 2010 and aligned himself with the Tea Party and promised decreases in federal spending. When he first started thinking about running for office a decade ago, Johnson said he actually had to put some thought into which party to align himself with. His first thought: Im not a socialist, so I couldnt be a Democrat. He feels that the Democratic Party, specifically its members who are eyeing the presidency, is becoming dangerously leftist. This country is at a defining moment, he said. The Democrats are no longer Democrats. They are socialists. Of the six Democrats who participated in Tuesdays debate in Des Moines, which occurred simultaneously with the Trump rally, only Bernie Sanders aligns himself expressly with socialism; the Vermont senator calls himself a Democratic Socialist and is still technically an independent in the Senate. Job training initiative Johnsons remarks werent locked in on partisanship. He also talked up his touted Joseph Project. Its a career-placement program targeted at getting ex-offenders back into the workforce. The faith-based program is run out of Milwaukees Greater Praise Church of God In Christ. The pastor of that church, Jerome Smith, led Tuesdays rally in prayer, preceding even the National Anthem. You take care of yourself, Johnson said of his and Republicans ideals. If you take care of yourself, you have the capability of taking care of your fellow man. When we listen to the Democratic presidential candidates, we get really concerned. U.S. Sen Ron Johnson, R-Wis. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra Wed, January 15, 2020 13:07 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32236f15 1 News Lake-Toba,Toba-Lake-festival,travel,tourism Free The North Sumatra administration has said it will cancel the annual Lake Toba Festival this year, following the small turnout in December 2019. North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said the festival would be evaluated. There will still be a festival, but the name and activities will be different, Edy told the press at his office on Dec. 13, adding that events considered to have contributed to attracting tourists to Lake Toba would be maintained. Edy said his administration could no longer rely on the festival as its latest edition had failed to attract visitors. To increase visits, especially that of foreigners, he said activities in the Lake Toba region must be presented in such a way that was attractive to tourists. He cited examples, such as incorporating an international triathlon with the festival. We will organize other activities to make tourists interested in visiting Lake Toba, Edy said. North Sumatra Culture and Tourism Agency head Ria Novida Telaumbanua said one of the reasons the festival would be scrapped was the date change from December to June, during school holidays. Read also: Toba Lake Festival fails to bring in tourists As the event was moved to June, there was very little time to prepare and we decided to cancel this year's festival, Ria told the press at the North Sumatra Legislative Council. North Tapanuli Regent Nikson Nababan disagreed with the cancellation. Its the quality of activities that needs to be improved, so the festival is not seen as boring. This [cancellation] was a bad decision, Nikson told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Samosir Regent Rapidin Simbolon also expressed his disapproval, saying that the festival had not reached its potential. He suggested that the festival be managed by a professional event organizer while still involving all stakeholders in the region. RE Nainggolan, a North Sumatra community leader, said the festival needed to be evaluated and improvements. The festival has become an annual event and its been well known since the 1980s, Nainggolan said. (syk/wng) Veteran DMK leader Duraimurugan said the Congress does not have a vote bank to make a dent on his party's prospects Vellore: A day after it said only time will tell whether ties with the Congress would go back to normalcy, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday upped the ante, saying if the national party wants to quit the alliance, it can do so. Party veteran Duraimurugan, when asked about Congress's charge that DMK violated coalition dharma and that the grand old party might leave the alliance, he said,"if they want to quit, let them do so. How are we concerned, what is the loss for us?." Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Pongal event in Vellore, the DMK treasurer said the party was not worried about Congress leaving the alliance and in particular he was not concerned. Asked whether it will not impact the votes in favour of DMK, Duraimurugan said his party will not be affected at all. In his sarcastic style, he said the Congress does not have a vote bank to make a dent on his party's prospects. "Do they have votes to make an impact?" he asked. On his party colleague and former Union Minister TR Baalu saying that only "time will tell" on ties, he said: "Baalu said only time will tell. But I have answered the question." Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief KS Alagiri again sought to downplay the widening rift which appeared to heading for a break-up. Going soft on the DMK top leadership, he told reporters in Chennai that the reason for his party not getting some seats vis-a-vis the recent civic polls was not due to the Dravidian party's high command. It was owing to some functionaries at the local level, he said, adding, "we have to express our constraints. We do that and it is our duty." On Tuesday, DMK said it skipped a meeting of Opposition parties convened by Congress on CAA at Delhi since its party chief M K Stalin was accused of violating coalition dharma over local body polls. While DMK senior leader TR Baalu said only time would tell whether the ties have become normal again, Alagiri played down the discord and asserted that both parties were "two joined hands" and the alliance would go on. On 10 January, Alagiri had said that Congress was not alloted a fair number of posts of local bodies chiefs by DMK and this went against "coalition dharma". Dublin, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Nanoporous Membranes Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The nanoporous membranes market is expected to register a CAGR of over 7% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the market studied include growing need to treat wastewater and rising water desalination activities. Low adoption rate of these membranes by developing countries and poor fouling resistance of the nanoporous membranes are going to hinder the market growth. The market for nanoporous membranes is majorly consolidated as there are very few players manufacturing nanoporous membranes. The major players in the market are SmartMembranes GmbH, Hunan Keensen Technology Co.,Ltd., SUEZ, inopor, MICRODYN-NADIR, etc. among others. Key Highlights North America is expected to dominate the global market during the forecast period. Surface grafting of fouling-resistance membrane is likely to act as opportunity in the future. Market Trends Growing Demand from Water Treatment Application Nanoporous membrane exhibits high performance for water purification. It helps to filter pollutants, such as metallic ions, salts, organic molecules, and microbes from wastewater. To design high-performance nanoporous membranes for water purification, various types of organic, inorganic, and hybrid materials are used. The water treatment industry has been witnessing strong growth, which is widely fueled by the increased industrial demand for water. As water is utilized in huge quantities in numerous industries, such as power, steel, mining, & metallurgy, petrochemicals, oil and gas, food and beverage, and textile and dyes, various governments across the world are found implementing regulations on these industries related to wastewater treatment before releasing the water back into the environment. Such market requirements are leading to increasing the number of water treatment plants across the world. Northeast Water Purification Plant (NEWPP) Expansion Phase 2 in Texas, United States, Bull Run Filtration Project in Oregon, United States, Reconstruction Project of Linville Water Treatment Plant in South East Queensland, Australia, etc. are some of the upcoming projects. Hence, with all such projects to come, the demand for nanoporous membranes is expected to increase for water treatment applications during the forecast period. United States is Expected to Dominate the Market in the North America Region The United States is a major industrialized country that houses multiple industries in heavy, medium-scale, and small-scale categories. The country is known for its booming commercial activities. Moreover, the USEPA has also been focusing on supplying clean drinking water and runs a fund called Clean Water State Revolving Fund', through which it finances the environmental compliances to meet the infrastructural needs. Apart from the funds, the government is also encouraging private investments in the treatment of water and wastewater. The usage of biological water treatment technologies is increasing in other industries, such as food and beverage, paper and pulp, pharmaceutical, chemical industries, etc. The United States Naval Research Laboratory developed nanoporous membrane microbial fuel cells that use a non-PEM to generate passive diffusion within the cell. The membrane is a nonporous polymer filter (nylon, cellulose, or polycarbonate). It offers comparable power densities to Nafion (a well-known PEM), with greater durability. Hence, with such innovations, coupled with rapidly growing end users, are expected to boost the demand for nanoporous membranes in the country, during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Growing Need to Treat Wastewater 4.1.2 Rising Water Desalination Activities 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 Low Adoption in the Developing Countries 4.2.2 Poor Fouling Resistance of Nanoporous Membranes 4.2.3 Supply Deficiency of Nanomaterials 4.3 Industry Value-Chain Analysis 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 Material Type 5.1.1 Organic 5.1.2 Inorganic (Ceramics, Carbon Nanotubes, and Graphene) 5.1.3 Hybrid 5.2 Application 5.2.1 Water Treatment 5.2.2 Fuel Cells 5.2.3 Biomedical 5.2.4 Food Processing 5.2.5 Other Applications 5.3 Geography 5.3.1 Asia-Pacific 5.3.2 North America 5.3.3 Europe 5.3.4 South America 5.3.5 Middle East & Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements 6.2 Market Share Analysis 6.3 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players 6.4 Company Profiles 6.4.1 Alfa Laval AB 6.4.2 Applied Membranes Inc. 6.4.3 AXEON Water Technologies Inc. 6.4.4 BASF SE 6.4.5 DowDuPont Inc. 6.4.6 Hunan Keensen Technology Co. Ltd. 6.4.7 Hydranautics - A Nitto Group Company 6.4.8 inopor GmbH 6.4.9 InRedox LLC 6.4.10 Koch Membrane Systems Inc. 6.4.11 MICRODYN-NADIR GmbH 6.4.12 Osmotech Membranes Pvt. Ltd. 6.4.13 Pure-Pro Water Corporation 6.4.14 SiMPore Inc. 6.4.15 SmartMembranes GmbH 6.4.16 SUEZ Environnement S.A. 6.4.17 Synder Filtration Inc. 6.4.18 Toray Chemical Korea Inc. 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS 7.1 Surface Grafting of Fouling-resistant Membrane 7.2 Fabrication of Multi-functional Membranes For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wzmgvt Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Unless youre an attorney, criminal law can be confusing, even for die-hard Law & Order fans. The states new bail reform law, all 20 pages of it, is no exception. Heres what you need to know about bail, the new law and the various new provisions that it puts in place for people accused of a crime and awaiting trial. What is the purpose of bail and pretrial detention? The point of bail, submitting a payment in order to be released from jail, is to encourage someone who has been charged with a crime to return for their court dates. Defendants are constitutionally protected by the Eighth Amendment against excessive bail. In New York, a judge is able to consider a variety of factors when setting bail, such as prior criminal history, whether or not someone has previously returned to court and the charges against the defendant. Judges cannot directly consider the danger someone might pose to the community or other individuals when setting bail or determining whether someone should be held in jail before trial. Bail is used as collateral and returned to a defendant at the end of their criminal proceedings. If a person cant post bail, they are jailed for the course of their trial. If a defendant flees after posting bail, he or she forfeits that money. Pretrial detention and bail are not meant to keep accused criminals off the streets prior to a conviction. What changed under the new bail law? Under the new bail law, prosecutors can only ask for bail or pretrial detention in certain felony cases including almost all violent felonies and a handful of misdemeanor charges. Nearly all Class A felonies the most serious category of crime, including murder, first-degree arson and first-degree kidnapping are still eligible for bail or pretrial detention. So are the vast majority of felony sex offenses. Witness tampering and witness intimidation also fall under that category, as do terrorism and terrorism-related charges. Most other misdemeanors, nonviolent felonies and a couple categories of violent felonies now lead to someone being automatically released. However, a judge can impose nonmonetary conditions like electronic monitoring or travel restrictions to help ensure that someone returns to trial, if thats considered necessary. A judge can use the same set of criteria for bail to set nonmonetary restrictions. One notable change, however, is that judges can no longer consider the strength of a case against a defendant nor the likelihood of a conviction when setting bail or nonmonetary conditions. Wait, there are some violent felonies that will lead to a defendant being automatically released? Yes, certain felonies are technically categorized as violent or sound like they are violent that wont be eligible for bail. In some cases, though, the crimes dont involve a weapon or even direct interaction with the victim. Second-degree manslaughter also referred to as involuntary manslaughter is one of the more serious sounding crimes that now leads to an automatic release. This crime is not even technically considered a violent felony under state law. Although someone died, a defendant accused of second-degree manslaughter is not believed to have intended to kill or injure the victim, and they are accused of acting in a criminally reckless way that resulted in death. This is different than varying degrees of murder, when the defendant is generally accused of intentionally trying to kill someone, or even first-degree manslaughter, when there is at least an intent to cause harm. The two violent felonies that lead to an automatic release are second-degree burglary and second-degree robbery, but only in very specific instances. For the burglary charge, the automatic release only occurs if the building that the defendant is accused of breaking into is a dwelling. In other words, if someone is unarmed, does not threaten anyone and does not harm anyone when breaking into a home, that person will now be automatically released. Similarly, someone accused of second-degree robbery can only be released if that person is helped by a second person, but neither caused physical harm or displayed a weapon. What about the guy who allegedly robbed a bank in New York City and is now accused of committing another bank robbery after being released? In that case, the accused was charged with grand larceny, which is considered a nonviolent felony under state law. He did not allegedly use or display a weapon, nor did he cause any physical harm, so he was automatically released without bail. However, if this person is in fact arrested again while awaiting trial for the original arrest, stricter pretrial restrictions, including bail, may be imposed. Stricter pretrial conditions can be set for any defendant who is arrested for a felony after being released, regardless of the nature of the original felony charge. Bail can also be set if someone repeatedly does not show up to court or engages in alleged witness tampering while released. Its important to remember that there was no guarantee that this alleged bank robber would have been in jail pretrial prior to the passage of the bail reform law. If bail had been set, he could have posted it and been released. What about domestic abuse and domestic violence cases that are not eligible for bail? What protects those victims? As it was before the bail reform law took effect, judges remain able to put in place certain protections if the victim of a crime shares a home with the defendant. These include issuing an order of protection against a defendant and ordering a defendant to give up their firearms. If a defendant violates the order of protection, a judge can set bail or hold that person pretrial. That person would be accused of criminal contempt, which is considered bail-eligible under the new law. Other instances of someone violating an order of protection while released prior to trial can lead to stricter pretrial conditions. This was also true before the bail reform law was passed. In addition, misdemeanor domestic violence offenses and all felonies can also qualify a defendant for electronic monitoring, the most restrictive nonmonetary condition a judge can impose upon release. What about a proposal that would allow judges to consider the danger a defendant poses when deciding on bail or pretrial detention? The idea of adding a clause about dangerousness is not new, and was in fact negotiated out of the new law that passed as part of last years state budget. Several other states, including New Jersey and California, allow judges to hold a defendant before trial if that person is deemed to pose a risk to the community or others. Many wanted to give judges similar discretion in New York as a safety measure, and the issue has been raised again now that Democratic leaders have opened to door to tweaking the bail reform law. On the surface, bail and dangerousness seem interwoven, but realistically they are two different issues, particularly in New York. Bail is meant to ensure compliance with the criminal justice system by encouraging defendants to return to court, while dangerousness is a public safety measure. Although federal courts and some states allow a defendants right to bail to be waived in certain instances with regard to dangerousness, New York has never directly allowed judges to do this. Advocates for criminal justice reform argue that giving judges this discretion would result in the same biases that saw poor, minority defendants disproportionately incarcerated pretrial while they are still innocent in the eyes of the law. Coincidentally, the federal law that allowed judges to consider dangerousness when deciding whether to waive bail came as a result of heightened fears about crime in the 1970s after the bail reforms of the 1960s. So does bail reform make us less safe? The short answer is that it is too soon to tell in New York. Although newspapers and television news have highlighted sensational cases, there is no data yet on the overall impact of the new bail reform law and whether it has had any significant effect on public safety. Its also impossible to tell if the number of people missing court dates has increased, decreased or remained steady under the new law. However, data from New Jersey which changed its bail system in 2017 and includes assessments of public risk suggests that eliminating cash bail does not lead to a surge in crime, and defendants there showed up to court at the same rates as before. Of all foreign players, only Starbucks managed to make it into the Top 5 in Vietnam Vietnam is the worlds second-largest espresso exporter, according to CNBC. Also, the market is a fierce battlefield for cafe chains. Gloria Jeans, an Australia-based coffee brand which owns about 760 coffee stores in over 65 countries, had to say goodbye to Vietnam after 10 years of trying to conquer the market. Coffee Bar and Caffe Bene also opened fewer stores than expected. The Kafe, a coffee chain that was well-known in Vietnam years ago, also admitted defeated after three years, despite the $5 million investment from Cassia Investment (Hong Kong). Starbucks, entering Vietnam in 2013, has one store for every 1.7 million people in Vietnam, which is much lower than other ASEAN countries like Malaysia, Thailand, or Cambodia. Starbucks has far less coverage than in regional countries. Source: CNBC As the worlds second-largest espresso exporter, Vietnamese people are proud of their legendary thick, heavy brew sweetened with condensed milk. Vietnamese espresso is brewed from robusta beans, which have a sharper, more bitter taste, and higher caffeine content than arabica. This type of coffee is used by the country from pop-up cafes to well-known coffee chains and even at home. However, Starbucks and other Western cafes brew drinks from arabica and their drink menus do not have Vietnamese consumers favourite drink. According to Hai Lieu, founder of Letto Coffee & Tea, local cafes understand domestic customers and are better adapted to the market. Local cafes are flexible in changing their menu. For instance, Highlands Coffee and The Coffee House added bubble tea, which is a popular drink among the young in Vietnam, he said. Another reason drinkers spend more time in local cafes is that they offer unlimited and stable Wi-Fi, whereas foreign branded cafes usually limit internet connectivity. Due to these issues, Starbucks and other foreign branches have been left behind by Highlands Coffee. A report from Euromonitor in last April showed that the five largest coffee chains in Vietnam account for 15.3 per cent of the market, with Highlands holding 7.2 per cent. Meanwhile, Starbucks is second in revenue thanks to opening new stores that pushed its market share to nearly 3 per cent. Previously, data from Vietnam Industry Research and Consultancy (VIRAC) showed that Starbucks Vietnam's revenue in 2018 was VND593 billion ($25.78 million), equal to about one-third of Highlands Coffees. Meanwhile, The Coffee House came before Starbucks, for the first time, to stand in the second position in revenue with VND669 billion ($29.1 million). However, the return on sales (ROS) of Starbucks was nearly equivalent to Highlands Coffee (VND27 billion $1.17 million) in 2018, whereas, The Coffee House only collected VND2 billion ($86,960). The middle class is rising in Vietnam, and the market value for coffee and tea retailers in Vietnam is greater than $1 billion, according to Euromonitor Worldwide. Native Vietnamese chains are opening in greater numbers and performing better than their foreign counterparts. Native chains charge much less for espresso, adapt faster, to new traits and have an enormous foothold in the market. Click here to read the full article. Kalie Shorr had the years most acclaimed album from a freshman country artist, with the critically heralded Open Book. Now, after several years of being featured as an upstart on CMT or CMA package tours and more than a few appearances on the Opry shes about to head out on her first real tour of her own, starting with a hometown show Jan. 31 at Nashvilles Exit/In and continuing with gigs at spots like New Yorks Mercury Lounge March 16. Shorr was most recently seen as the opening act on LeAnn Rimes Christmas tour and, in Nashville, opening for Keith Urban, Stevie Nicks and Jason Isbell at the citys signature outdoor New Years Eve event. There, in contrast to the more intimate rooms shes about to play, Shorr performed in front of a crowd estimated by officials at over 200,000 revelers although, in fairness and humility, shell admit there might have only been 100,000 at the time she took the stage. Still, Shorr says, sipping champagne with Nicole Kidman was a heady and gratifying end to the rough year bracingly documented in the highly autobiographical Open Book album, which came out in October. More from Variety That highly-independent-in-every-way album was a staple of country-cognoscenti critics lists at the end of 2019. The New York Times Jon Caramanica had it on his all-genre top 10, calling it the sort of gut-wrenching album made by someone who understands how vital and detailed country music can be, and who is faithful to its heritage (including its lineage of resistance). Everyone in Nashville is likely hoping to sandpaper her into something just a little bit less confrontational; fingers crossed that doesnt happen. The Guardian wrote, Astonishingly, she addresses her past with mordant wit and vast reserves of empathy plus gigantic hooks worthy of Nashville-era Taylor Swift, pop-punk icons Paramore and Jagged Little Pill-era Alanis. Variety included it in lists of the years best country albums as well as overall best, touting her as already having become one of the best contemporary songwriters the genre has to offer. Story continues But shes calling the tour the Too Much to Say tour, as opposed to the Open Book tour. I was hearing that people thought it was actually going to be a book tour, she laughs. Shell be playing the object of her acclaim from top to bottom, as well as singles that put her on the map earlier, like 2016s Fight Like a Girl, and a few choice covers that may veer outside the country realm, like My Chemical Romances Teenagers. (Theyre one of my favorite bands and they got back together this year, so were like, lets celebrate!) Open Book might as accurately have been called Open Newspaper, since the stories she told in it were veritably freshly ripped from the headlines of her life, which included not just the usual stuff of a traumatic breakup though there was that but her sister dying of a heroin overdose early in 2019, something thats referenced or alluded to in more than one track. In the midst of singing openly about depression in the midst of some highly commercial-sounding work, Shorr also either celebrates or laments having resorted to tequila as a tonic something thats not highly out of the ordinary for a 25-year-old country artist, but which does make some of this albums material less suitable for, say, Radio Disney, which has given a lot of airplay to her less combustible singles and EPs and brought her on to co-host a show on Radio Disney Country a year ago. Theres this very dichotomous component to my music, Shorr says. And I was trying to be intentional about reconciling that, individually, sonically, just in how I talk. I do have somewhat of a younger fan base, but not nearly as young as I think I originally thought. And I was putting this pressure on myself to have this squeaky clean, Americas sweetheart kind of energy. But Americas sweetheart has not gone through nearly as much as s as I have. So when I decided to put FU Forever on the album [a song that does, in the end, use the phrase that appears only as an acronym in the title], that was a huge moment in where I was willing to go. Because I had to be like, Okay, if we do this, I cant go back I cant be that again. But the head of Radio Disney, thats his favorite song on the album. Hes like, I cant play it, but I love it so much! And I dont want to be putting stuff out like that just for shock value. People see through that. But I dont think that being a role model is about not swearing or not drinking tequila. At the end of the day, that song is about pulling myself out of an abusive relationship and taking a step back and seeing what it was. And thats something that I think young girls should hear, you know maybe once theyre a little older, and maybe not like an 8-year-old, but a 15-year-old girl hearing that song, I dont think that hurts her. Oh, stay with him thats being a bad role model, letting people treat you like s. She adds, For my parents, I dont think FU Forever is necessarily their favorite, but they also know the ins and outs of my breakup, so theyre like, Youre not wrong. Open Book has been a completely independent project, despite the suitably commercial sheen to its sonics. What would have been different if shed been signed to a major label? For starters, it wouldnt have come out for another year and a half, she laughs. (Nashville insiders will get where shes coming from on that one.) Even now, I think people now in Nashville on the gatekeeper level dont fully understand the album. I think people like it but dont really know what to do with it. And I love that. Thats kind of your goal as an artist, I think, is to throw people off for a little bit. But I think that it would have gotten watered down a lot. I think FU Forever wouldnt have gotten put on there. I think it wouldnt have been as well received by people outside the country sphere. I think they would have turned down the guitars in the mix. They might not have let me skateboard in a music video, she laughs. Radio airplay isnt necessarily the goal. I think some people talk about country music like country radio is the genre and Kacey Musgraves is the subgenre, but its actually the opposite. Country radio is so sonically similar and topically similar that thatsthe subgenre of country. Kacey Musgraves is country, and then country radio has its own (niche) over there. Shes as much in the outspoken-punky-pop lineage of Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette as she is of Swift and Miranda Lambert, but dont doubt her country cred just because she emigrated from the Northeast to Nashville to make her stand. Remember the Jeff Foxworthy You might be a redneck jokes? My family was a Jeff Foxworthy joke. And so people are like, Why do you sing country music if youre from Maine? My mother lives in Portland, Maine, but my dad is in norther Maine. People just have idea that Maine is like all people in khakis and polos. Like, I lived in the woods, too. I have literally stolen a tractor and driven it down the main street of my hometown. I remember when I first heard (Gretchen Wilsons) Redneck Woman I was like, Oh my God. I feel seen! Shorrs tour dates so far: Jan. 31 Nashville, Tenn. Exit/In Feb. 20 Los Angeles, Calif. Hotel Cafe Feb. 21 Las Vegas, Nev. Stoneys Rockin Country March 14 Stamford, Conn. Palace Theatre March 15 Uncasville, Conn. Mohegan Sun Wolf Den March 16 New York, N.Y. The Mercury Lounge May 15 Sault Ste Marie, Mich. Kewadin Casino May 16 Sault Ste Marie, Mich. Kewadin Casino More dates to be added Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region, Trend with reference to Reuters reports. We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries to think about collective security mechanisms... starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other to military exercises, Lavrov told a security conference in New Delhi. Tensions in the Gulf have risen following the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory missile attack by Iran on U.S. forces in Iraq. Washington: The US and China have declared an official truce in their two-year long trade war, signing a deal that will see the US reduce some tariffs and China purchase hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American goods and services. US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed the "phase one" agreement at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday morning (Thursday morning Australian time). "Today we take a momentous step - one that has never been taken before with China - toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal," Trump said. While Trump described the deal as a "landmark" accord, critics said its benefits were relatively minor and left many of the most difficult structural issues unresolved. Chandigarh: Even as the ruling Congress and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dubbed it beadbi(sacrilege), dissidence-hit Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday went ahead with its political conference at the historic Mela Maghi in Punjabs Muktsar. The Congress and AAP refrained from holding any such meeting, claiming to be adhering to the Akal Takhts call against mixing religion with politics. But for the Akali Dal, holding a political conference at the historic fair was extremely important, given the credibility crunch it has been facing ever since it was swept out of power in 2017. SAD held the rally in Muktsar mainly to showcase its strength. Holding it at the Mela Maghi at the holy city, which it has been doing for a long time, assumed significance as Akali Dal doesnt want to lose its tag of a panthic party and at the same time aims to consolidate its eroding popularity. Addressing the mega rally, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal lashed out against the rebels, especially former MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his son and ex-finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, saying that the party was not the fiefdom of the Badal family as alleged by the rebels. The assertion comes in the wake of allegations levelled by Taksali (old guard) Akali leaders that the Badals had seized control of SAD. The Akali Dal is facing its worst crisis since its inception in 1920. The party last December celebrated its 99th foundation day, but in the absence of some prominent veteran Akali leaders, who instead chose to hold a parallel convention in Amritsar on the very day when SAD put Sukhbir Badal at the helm of the party for a third consecutive term. Former MPs Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Rattan Singh Ajnala, and ex-minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan had in the autumn of 2018 rebelled against the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal as SAD president, and went on to form the Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). The latest to join the rebel bandwagon are the Dhidsas, who raised their voice against the undemocratic functioning of SAD. The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday expelled the estranged father-son duo from the party, but it wasnt a knee-jerk reaction. The narrative was being built for the D-day for a long time. The senior Dhindsa had demanded the resignation of Sukhbir Badal as the party head after the drubbing in the 2017 assembly polls. But his advice wasnt heeded. Sukbhir continued as the party president and appointed a large number of office-bearers, much to the chagrin of the veterans. In October 2019, a disgruntled Dhindsa resigned as the leader of the Akali Dal in Rajya Sabha. He, however, insisted that he wont quit SAD, but also demanded a change in the way the party was being run. Consequently, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa closed ranks with the Taksalis and took part in the parallel function. Speaking at the event, the 83-year-old sought the support of likeminded outfits to "liberate" SAD from the Badal family and revive its lost glory. Following suit, son Parminder Singh Dhindsa tendered his resignation as the leader of SAD legislature party in the Punjab assembly on January 3, a position bestowed upon him barely six months earlier. All the while his father spoke out against the Badals, the junior Dhindsa had maintained a stoic silence. After Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa put down his papers and joined the rebel camp, all eyes were on Parminder, expecting him to side with his father. But he took his time. While Sukhdev attended the parallel function of the splinter groups, son Parminder was conspicuous by his absence, though his father had claimed, My son and I are on the same page. The 46-year-old didnt show up at SADs event either. Even when the Lehra MLA tendered his resignation, he just wrote a one-line letter, which was at once accepted by the partys core committee. No sooner did Parminder resign, the SAD president appointed Sahnewal legislator Sharanjit Singh Dhillon as the leader of the legislature party, giving an inkling of the things to come. A week later, the father-son duo was thrown out of SAD for anti-party activities. During the political conference at Muktsar, the SAD president hit out at the Dhindsas, saying the party had done enough for them. Sukhbir said, Sardar Dhindsa had been a SAD candidate for over 30 years, but he only managed to win one election. Despite this, the party gave him respect. He was made the chairman of the Electricity Board, sent to the Rajya Sabha and made a union minister. He lost by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes and was still made a union minister. Who does that? His son and son-in-law too were granted party tickets for Lok Sabha, but they lost too. Now he says he wants mukti from the Badals. Reacting to the suspension, Parminder Singh Dhindsa said the party had been reduced to a group of flatterers and he and his father had seen the expulsion coming. The Congress launched a scathing attack on SAD for expelling the father-son duo and alleged that the party had been reduced to the personal fiefdom of the Badals. Congress ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Gurpreet Singh Kangar issued a joint statement and said, The Dhindsas had openly revolted against the stifling control of SAD by the Badals, declaring their intent to liberate the party from the family and revive its lost glory. Further riling SAD, the ministers also criticised Sukhbir's wife and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal for her presence at the meetings of SADs core committee, despite not being its member. Hitting back, Akali Dal accused the Congress of attempting to weaken the party, stating that the ministers statement proved Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and his son Parminder were being used as pawns by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The cat is out of the bag. The Dhindsa faction, which consists of Dhindsa, his son Parminder and son in law Tejinderpal Singh Sidhu only, are being feted and supported by Congress with the sole aim of splitting the panthic votes, SAD leaders said in a statement. MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal justified her presence at the core committee of SAD and targeted the Dhindsas. Normally parents sacrifice everything for the growth of their children. But in the present case, he (Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa) himself enjoyed all senior positions in the party and when the turn of his son (Parminder Dhindsa) came to witness political growthfamily pressure is being put on him. It is really a sad state of affairs. I dont want to say anything more on this issue. The expulsion of the Dhindsas from the Shiromani Akali Dal has thrown the century-old party into a fresh bout of turbulence. Already battling the sacrilege storm, this turmoil has shaken SADs footing. It has sown seeds of hope in the splinter factions, which see this as an opportunity to forge a panthic front in Punjab. At present, the fight is on to emerge as the better, more devout, panthic Akali. The image of the Shiromani Akali Dal as a panthic party has taken a dent ever since it got embroiled into a controversy related to sacrilege, firing on Sikh protesters and granting pardon to controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The splinter Akali groups, like the Congress, are trying to build their bastion on the very foundation of religion, and hence trying to keep SAD at bay. From this churning have emerged signs of another panthic front in Punjab politics. The suspension of the Dhindsas has strengthened the morale of the splinter groups who plan to unite in Delhi on January 18 and hold a Badal Nahin Badlav meeting at the residence of MP Dhindsa. In a way, the splinter factions are trying their very best to wrest control of SAD from the Badals. After his and his fathers expulsion, Parminder Singh Dhindsa had said, We are fighting to restore the democracy and accountability in SAD, adding that the party had to go back to the basic ideology and introduce collective leadership in the Akali Dal. For the veteran Dhindsa, SADs nadir provides him an opportunity to position himself as the prime mover in the efforts to forge a front of disgruntled Akali leaders and ragtag factions. No wonder Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is thinking something big here. In Punjab, politics has forever revolved around religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made inroads into almost each state in the country, and is certainly eyeing Punjab. But it lacks a Sikh face for this Sikh state, which can counter the charisma and stature of a Parkash Singh Badal or Captain Amarinder Singh. SAD and the BJP have been at loggerheads recently. Be it the issue of seat-sharing in Haryana or the BJPs open declaration of becoming the largest party in Punjab by 2022, the rumblings of disagreement have grown louder every passing day. During the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP severed its alliance with its traditional ally in Haryana and tried to pressure SAD to give into its demands for a larger chunk of seats in Punjab. The alliance for the February 8 Delhi assembly polls is yet to be finalised and SAD is bargaining for more seats. The BJP is yet to respond, with the body language of its leaders suggesting it might even go alone. For the BJPs ambition to come true in Punjab, Sukhdev Dhindsa can be the vanguard. With his sobriety and moderate moorings, Dhindsa can be pitted against Parkash Singh Badal, or for that matter, his son Sukhbir. And if the senior Dhindsa falls short of the sought-after Sikh-face tag, Parminder Singh Dhindsa has set the ball rolling by stating that former minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had an important role to play in the future politics of the state. He (Sidhu) is a popular leader amongst the masses. Nobody can deny this fact. Only time will tell what decision he takes. But that decision will have a huge impact on Punjab politics, said Dhindsa. As Rahul Gandhi attends Jallikattu, check why #Goback_Rahul is trending on Twitter Lovely experience to see Tamil culture in action: Rahul Gandhi on Jallikattu 31 injured in Jallikattu event in Madurai India oi-Mousumi Dash Madurai, Jan 15: Over 31 participants injured during Jallikattu competitions in Madurai on Wednesday. Jallikattu event held at Avaniyapuram in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. 6 people were admitted to the nearest Rajaji Hospital for treatment. Over 700 bulls in Avaniyapuram, 730 bulls catchers in Alanganallur and 650 bulls in Palamedu have participated in Jallikattu competitions this year. India is celebrating the harvest festival of Pongal which is also known as Makar Sankranti is some parts of the country. Though the festivity was low key in southern districts of Tamilnadu, including Madurai, following the Supreme Court ban on the bull-taming sport of Jallikattu. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News Jallikattu: Bull tamers gear up to put good show for Pongal 2020, here are some interesting facts Jallikatu is a traditional event in which a bull (Bos indicus), such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people. Washington and Beijing are set to sign a phase-one deal, aiming to reduce some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured goods. The United States and China are set to sign a phase-one trade deal. It aims to boost Chinese purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured goods, and in return, Washington is expected to suspend additional planned tariffs on Chinese imports. But the US treasury says existing tariffs will stay in place, at least until there is a phase-two deal. Al Jazeeras Katrina Yu reports from Beijing. Love Island twins Eve and Jess wound up viewers from Manchester on Tuesday night when they patronisingly branded it 'a new hot spot' and asking where it was located. The blonde students, who waltzed onto the show as latecomers on Sunday evening, were on a double-date with Callum and Mike who both hail from the northern city. Discussing the location, the girls - who come from London - declared it an up-and-coming hot-spot. Geo-blocked! Love Island twins Eve and Jess wound up viewers from Manchester on Tuesday night when they patronisingly branded it 'a new hot spot' and asking where it was located This enraged Mancunians who took to Twitter to slam them for their uninformed remark, claiming that it is already a hot spot - with some calling for the twins to be banned from ever visiting. They then asked Mike and Callum what's between London and Manchester, seemingly unaware of where the city precisely was. This outraged viewers further, who pointed out that Eve declared herself an A* geography student when she first entered the villa. Tweets cropped up slamming the twins to the tune of: 'These twins need to stay outta Manchester we dont want them!' Confused: The girls seemed to know so much... and so little... about Manchester Northern exposure: The blonde students, who waltzed onto the show as latecomers on Sunday evening, were on a double-date with Callum and Mike who both hail from the northern city In the NO! Discussing the location, the girls - who come from London - declared it an up-and-coming hot-spot Tweets cropped up slamming the twins to the tune of: 'These twins need to stay outta Manchester we dont want them' Another posted: 'The twins asked where is half way between Manchester and London... Isn't one of them studying Geography? I cant!!' A third tweeted: '"It's a new hotspot. It's actually becoming a new hotspot." The #LoveIsland twins on Manchester, that little known hidden gem of nightlife.' A fourth added: 'Did she legit say Where half way between London & Manchester. I swear one of the twins said yesterday she was studying geography. Bet all those A* were a lie to.' Keep them out! This enraged Mancunians who took to Twitter to slam them for their uninformed remark, claiming that it is already a hot spot - with some calling for the twins to be banned from ever visiting Fail! They then asked Mike and Callum what's between London and Manchester, seemingly unaware of where the city precisely was 'F**king twins saying Manchester is a new hot-spot f**k right off! #Manchester has always been a hot-spot!' another wrote. 'Petition to ban the twins from Manchester...' someone else suggested. As another typed: 'Study geography but dont know where half of Manchester & London is. Get these twins in the bin!' The twins haven't gotten off to the best of starts on the show, after they irritated Shaughna and Leanne by swooping in and stealing their men from under them. Romance? Fans also found them annoying when Eve bragged about Tyga sliding into her DMs, only for him to ridicule her about this on Twitter afterwards Funny: The rapper, 30, was tagged in a fleet of tweets when Eve revealed the news during the Spill The Tea challenge But fans also found them annoying when Eve bragged about Tyga sliding into her DMs, only for him to ridicule her about this on Twitter afterwards. The rapper, 30, was tagged in a fleet of tweets when Eve revealed the news during the Spill The Tea challenge. But fans poked fun at her revelation, with one sharing a photo of Tyga alongside a guy who looked like him, with the caption: 'Sorry she was talking about the guy on the right'. Tyga replied to the meme with a series of cry laughing faces. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The trial of a top Cambodian opposition leader charged with treason began Wednesday, more than two years after he was arrested in what is widely seen as a politically motivated prosecution. Kem Sokha was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested in September 2017 on the basis of an old video showing him at a seminar where he spoke about receiving advice from U.S. pro-democracy groups. He could be imprisoned for up to 30 years if found guilty. His party was dissolved by Cambodias Supreme Court in November 2017 on the same basis. The actions were seen as intended to ensure victory by long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party in the 2018 general election by eliminating the only credible opposition force. Cambodias courts are considered to be under government influence. I know strongly that I am totally innocent so I have to go to the court and challenge the charge and demand that they drop the case, Kem Sokha told The Associated Press on Wednesday. I have never done anything wrong so the court has to drop the charges. It was unclear whether the public would get a fair account of Kem Sokhas testimony, as the court had earlier announced there would be no room for journalists in the courtroom. Chan Chen, one of Kem Sokhas lawyers, told reporters after the morning court session that the cases political nature requires that it be solved by talks among politicians rather than in court. My colleagues and I know that Kem Sokhas case is one about politicians differing points of view, and needs to be solved through political means, he said, alluding to a past political settlement that ended a civil war with the communist Khmer Rouge. The morning session was occupied by legal formalities as evidence was introduced for the trial. Chan Chen said that when the video clip was introduced, the defence noted that it was an abbreviated, edited version of their clients remarks, and they would be presenting a complete version. The human rights group Amnesty International called for the charges against Kem Sokha to be dropped. After two years held in arbitrary detention, the authorities have not presented a shred of credible evidence to support a charge of treason, said Nicholas Bequelin, the groups regional director. The non-existent crime was politically manufactured to further the suppression of the opposition party. The Phnom Penh Court must acquit Kem Sokha to bring an end to this mockery of justice, he said. The trial begins at a politically delicate time for Hun Sen, as Cambodia faces likely trade sanctions from the European Union. Hun Sen has been in power for 35 years and has vowed to serve two more 5-year terms in office. His party swept all the seats in the National Assembly in the 2018 polls, but drew condemnation from human rights groups and Western nations, which charged that the election was neither free nor fair. The EU began a process that could result in its withdrawal of preferential duty-free and quota-free status for imports from Cambodia because of deficiencies in labour and human rights. It is due to announce its decision in February. The threatened action could badly hurt the Cambodia economy, which depends heavily on exports of low-cost textiles and footwear. The EU accounts for almost half of Cambodias exports. Cambodia is one of several developing nations with whom the EU has an Everything But Arms or EBA program granting preferential access to the European market for products other than weapons. Hun Sen has publicly said he wont let Cambodia be pushed around and its low-cost export industries can survive without the benefit of the trade privileges. The courts late last year allowed Kem Sokha to be freed on bail after a period of tightly restricted house arrest, but he is still banned from political activity. The opposition partys co-founder, Sam Rainsy, has been in self-imposed exile since 2015, avoiding prison for a defamation charge along with a slew of other legal charges brought by the government. Kem Sokhas trial is expected to take up to three months, meeting twice a week, said Phnom Penh Municipal Court President Taing Sunlay, according to a report by the U.S.-government-funded Voice of America. Opposition supporters were warned against provocative activities during the trial. A few dozen supporters gathered outside the court, which was guarded by police. ___ This story corrects the defence lawyers name to Chan Chen instead of Chan Chan. To deter Chinese sea claims, Indonesia puts its fishing fleets on the front line by Basten Gokkon January 15,2020 | Source: Mongabay Indonesia is ramping up its fisheries in the waters around its northern Natuna Islands, following an incursion into the area by fishing boats and a coast guard vessel from China. The area in question is internationally recognized as part of Indonesias exclusive economic zone, a sweep of sea extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the countrys coast. But according to China, the area falls within the Nine-Dash Line that stakes Beijings claim to much of the South China Sea. (China doesnt claim the islands themselves, but fishing rights within the seas around them.) The latest standoff began last December when a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels appeared to be operating in the Natuna waters, accompanied by a Chinese coast guard ship. While foreign boats are allowed to pass through a countrys EEZ, fishing there is strictly prohibited. Indonesia has since beefed up its military presence in the area, with the Chinese vessels reportedly leaving Indonesias EEZ earlier this month. President Joko Widdodo, who visited the islands in a show of force, has also asked Japan to invest in fisheries, energy and tourism in the Natunas, in a bid to cement Indonesias presence in the area. There is no bargaining when it comes to our sovereignty, our countrys territorial, Widodo said on Jan. 6. In addition, the government has called on domestic fishing fleets operating in the Java Sea to deploy to the Natunas some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away. This last move has prompted criticism of both the longstanding lack of government support for Natunas local fishers, and the potential for a fresh dispute if the better-equipped Java fishers are perceived to benefit at the expense of the Natuna fishers. Experts have highlighted the scarcity of Indonesian fishing vessels operating in the Natunas and the lack of facilities on land to process catches, which inevitably end up being taken to Java. Exploiting the resources in Indonesias EEZ by our national fleet is a form of effective occupation by us [who] clearly have the sovereign right there. Ari Purbayanto, isheries professor, Bogor Institute of Agriculture Institute (IPB) Weve always been weak in exploiting the natural resources in Indonesias EEZ, including the Natuna waters, Ari Purbayanto, a fisheries professor at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture Institute (IPB), outside Jakarta, told Mongabay in a text message. Most of the catches brought ashore in the Natunas come from vessels smaller than 10 gross tonnage (GT), while larger boats reportedly almost never landed their catches there. The Natuna waters are estimated to have more than 750,000 tonnes of fish stock. The government has tried to address this by establishing a cold storage center and a boat repair station in Natuna. Exploiting the resources in Indonesias EEZ by our national fleet is a form of effective occupation by us [who] clearly have the sovereign right there, Purbayanto said. But others have criticized the plan to send hundreds of fishermen from the northern coast of Java to Natuna. They warn the increased Indonesian fishing presence wont necessarily deter Chinese or other foreign fishing vessels, while at the same time they could potentially trigger conflict with the local small-scale fishers of Natuna. We can and are willing to sail all the way to the EEZ, but the thing is our fleet is inadequate and we dont have the technology, Al Izhar, a fisherman from Natuna, told Mongabay Indonesia in a phone interview. But if we are trained, we can contribute to play our role in being on the front line for the nation, he added. Beefing up the states security presence is also key to tackling fishing by foreign vessels, experts say. Indonesias former fisheries minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, was widely hailed for her tough policy against foreign poachers, which centered on seizing and sinking their boats. Indonesias tough policy against foreign fishing boats under Susis leadership in the last five years clearly grabbed the attention of and became a key consideration for neighboring fishing vessels to be more careful when they operate in the borders or within Indonesias EEZ, Arifsyah Nasution, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, told Mongabay in a text message. Maritime observers have called for an immediate easing of tensions between Indonesia and China in Natuna, which they warn could affect the sustainability and security of the fisheries industry in the region. Purbayanto said that Chinese fishing boats typically used destructive equipment such as large pair trawls. They will drain the resources while we just watch it happen, he said. Its possible that right now were importing fish from China that actually was stolen from Indonesia. Eco-Business 20092020 Theme(s): Others. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The members of the Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel are fighting a merger with another synagogue because they fear the 87-year-old temple will be demolished. Legal papers, dated Aug. 13, 2019, state that Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center and Ahavath Israel in Tottenville would like to merge. However, a committee has been formed by several long-time Ahavath Israel members to stop the merger, because of concerns that the property will be sold for development purposes. Although no official development plans have been presented, members of the Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel said they feel that once the merger takes place, there will be little use for the Tottenville temple, and it will be sold to a developer, who could build up to two houses on the property within the current zoning. The congregation -- housed in an 87-year-old building, which sits on property that is 80 feet by 100 feet -- has a membership of about 40 families, said Mike Berman, who has been a member of Ahavath Israel for more than 40 years, and is among those leading the fight against the merger. This was a beacon of Jewish life at the Southern end of New York State. ...Its a sin to knock down a synagogue," said Berman, noting there hasnt been a full-time rabbi at the temple for many years. However, it was Ahavath Israels board members who reached out to Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center -- located about five miles from the Tottenville temple -- to consider a merger. Over the last decade or so, membership has continued to decline and expenses have continued to rise, and the result is that we cant continue to operate as business as usual, said Eric Fishbein, treasurer of Ahavath Israel. He said that the board of Ahavath Israel decided that Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center would be a good fit as far as sharing common values and spirituality" for a merger. The overwhelming majority of the membership voted to approve the merger, said Fishbein. Emotions have run high, and people definitely have an attachment to the congregation. When reached by the Advance, Stewart Feigel, chairman of the board of trustees for Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center, said he didnt know whether or not the temple would be demolished after a merger. He issued the following statement to the Advance on behalf of the Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center: Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center has always opted to benefit the Jewish community whenever possible. When our synagogue received a request to consider a merge with congregation Ahavath Israel we responded favorably and expressed a willingness to merge our names. ...The request was made by the board of Ahavath Israel and the decision to do so was voted upon overwhelmingly by Ahavath Israel and Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center for the purpose of benefiting both synagogues. Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center is ready to assist any temple that requests help and will continue to do so in the future." He added: I would like to point out that Ahavath Israel hasnt had a rabbi in many years, and they [members of Ahavath Israel] have come to love our rabbi, Stephen Stern, and that is why many of them specifically want to join with us." Berman said that in lieu of a merger, the Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel would like to put a new rabbi in place to run the congregation in Tottenville. Ahavath Israels board members reached out to Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center -- located about five miles from the Tottenville temple -- to consider a merger. (Courtesy of Mike Berman) OPPOSITION TO THE MERGER After the necessary legal papers for the merger were filed in Richmond County Supreme Court last year, the Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel filed an opposition, Berman said. The temple was built 87 years ago with the members own hands, but the congregation was formed even before that. ...This synagogue doesnt have to be merged with another synagogue that will just sell and demolish it, he added. Said Enid Stein, a lifetime member of the synagogue, in a letter of opposition to the court: I find it heartbreaking to think that a synagogue that has stood for 87 years will be torn down. ...Ive heard some congregants say, Its only a building, but it is so much more. The Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel is fighting a merger with another synagogue because they fear the 87-year-old temple will be demolished. (Courtesy of Mike Berman) The Committee to Save Synagogue Ahavath Israel has started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to save the temple. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER "It is at times of tension like these," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday, after Iran admitted that one of its missiles had shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, "that tragedies like this crash can happen." Before concluding his prepared remarks, Trudeau also said that Iran must take "full responsibility" for the tragedy. It's possible, in a nuanced world, for those ideas to co-exist. But these are difficult days for nuance. From the moment it became clear that the aircraft had been shot out of the sky, there have been questions about whether U.S. President Donald Trump, in ordering the targeted killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, shares some of the responsibility for the tragedy of PS752. Trudeau has been pursued by those questions. As tempting as it might be to point fingers, a debate over blame right now might risk obscuring a larger lesson about international conflict. The most prominent Canadian blaming Trump right now is the chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Foods, Michael McCain. He tweeted on Sunday about the "irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behaviour" of "a narcissist in Washington." American commentator David Frum had made a similar argument days earlier. Asked about McCain's comments on Monday, Trudeau stopped short of explicitly pointing at any specific action or actor. "I think if there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families," he told Global National. "This is something that happens when you have conflict and ... war. Innocents bear the brunt of it. And it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation, on moving forward to reduce tensions and find a pathway that doesn't involve further conflict and killing." The prime minister's reference to recent escalation might sound like a comment on the targeted killing of Soleimani. But Soleimani's death happened after Iran's associates had acted to escalate the conflict with the United States with an airstrike that killed an American contractor in December and with the crowd of protesters who stormed the American embassy in Baghdad. Story continues A crisis with no single catalyst Trudeau also has pointed out that the conflict in the region is not a recent development. "The reality is there have been significant tensions in that region for a long time," the prime minister said Saturday. Politically, it might be difficult for any Western leader to single out the United States for blame. Practically, it also would be difficult to identify an indisputable starting point for the sequence of events that led to the deaths of 57 Canadian citizens last week. If Soleimani hadn't been killed by the Americans, Iranian defence forces might not have been primed to shoot a plane out of the sky. But a long chain of actions and reactions in the region, spanning decades, led up to Soleimani's demise. "Assigning blame publicly is an extremely political thing," said Thomas Juneau, a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa and a former analyst at the Department of National Defence. Todd Korol/THE CANADIAN PRESS Had Trump chosen not to order Soleimani's death, he said, PS752 probably wouldn't have been shot down. "But why did the U.S. kill Soleimani? Because Iran launched its Shia militias in Iraq to attack the American embassy in Baghdad. "You could move backwards until 1979 and the [Iranian] revolution. If you really want to have a bunch of academics in the room, they will go back to 1953, when the U.S. supported a coup in Iran. This is a very difficult exercise." If you see Trump's order as rash and reckless, you're likely all the more tempted to blame him for everything that happened after. If you view Soleimani's death as justified and ultimately productive, you might be less inclined to connect it with what followed. While the post-crash investigation may produce details that complicate our understanding of what led to this disaster, it ultimately could be difficult to completely divorce the American action from the wider pattern of regional escalation. But one thing, at least, is indisputable: an Iranian rocket killed 176 civilians, many of them Canadians. Iran is responsible for that. Iran must account for it. And Iran almost certainly will be called on to provide compensation for the families of those who died. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images Trudeau's comments about what can happen to non-combatants at a time of heightened political tension and conflict echo the words offered by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014 after a Russian missile brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine. "Now is, I think, a sombre and appropriate time for all of us to step back and take a hard look at what has happened," Obama said, long before anyone had reason to blame Donald Trump for much of anything. "Violence and conflict inevitably lead to unforeseen consequences." Ten civilian flights shot down since Second World War As Stephen Saideman, a professor at Carleton University's Paterson School of International Affairs, noted last week, PS752 and MH17 are just two of at least ten civilian flights that have been shot down since the end of the Second World War. Most of those disasters, Saideman argued, occurred outside of a climate of open warfare, when tensions between two or more countries were running especially high. Given how much of the last 80 years nations have spent in one state of armed tension or another, it might be argued that tragedies like PS752 are effectively rare. But the innocent lives lost and damaged by the destruction of PS752 can also be viewed in the wider context of the unforeseen, but inevitable, events that surround any military conflict. "When conflict comes, when situations escalate, there are collateral victims, there is collateral damage. In this case, remember that most of the collateral damage is innocent Iraqi civilians, innocent Iranian civilians. But in this case, it happened by a string of very unlucky coincides that it included 57 Canadians," Juneau said. "When states go to war, academics will tell you that there is a tendency to neglect, in the calculus leading to the decision, the costs of war. And the costs of war are extremely unpredictable. They are unforeseeable in many ways ... We should foresee that there will be unforeseen consequences." That lesson might risk getting lost in the back-and-forth over Trump's actions and responsibility. Speaking at a memorial for victims of PS752 in Edmonton on Sunday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney a former Conservative defence minister offered an assessment that lines up with the words of both Trudeau and Obama. "Whether their lives were taken by incompetence, by accident, or by design, we know everyone aboard that plane were victims of a chain of actions rooted in the all-too-human failure to resolve conflicts peacefully," he said. Among the consequences of this dark moment in Canadian and world history might be a sharper understanding of the risks inherent in any nation's decision to go to war and the suffering that inevitably reaches well beyond those who do the actual fighting. The year 2020 should the year of implementation of the bilateral decisions taken by India and Russia last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday. The prime minister made these remarks when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on him, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. During their interaction, Lavrov briefed the prime minister on his country's position on key international and regional issues. Lavrov is in Delhi to participate in the 'Raisina Dialogue'. "The Prime Minister noted that several important decisions and outcomes were reached between the two countries in 2019. He suggested that the year 2020, which is also the 20th anniversary year of the establishment of strategic partnership between India and the Russian Federation, should be the year of implementation of those decisions'," the statement said. Lavrov conveyed that President Putin looked forward to the visit of the Prime Minister Modi to Russia in May 2020 to participate in the 75th anniversary celebration of the Victory Day, and in July 2020 for the BRICS and SCO Summits. The Prime Minister welcomed the fact that he would get multiple occasions this year to meet Putin, and said that he also looked forward to hosting the Russian President for the annual bilateral summit later this year in India. During the interaction, Modi referred to the wide-ranging conversation he had with Putin over telephone on January 13, and noted the progress in the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the previous year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia and his government resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday, the news agency Tass reported, giving President Vladimir Putin new leeway to reshape the Kremlin to his liking and put loyalists in positions of power. The news came just after Putin had called for a national referendum on amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the state council, which currently has little weight. That move fuelled speculation about Putins plans when his term ends in 2024. The Constitution limits a president to two consecutive terms, meaning that without a change, Putin would have to step down at that time. The last time Putin faced the two-term limit, in 2008, Medvedev was elected president and Putin became prime minister, though he remained the real power in the government. Putin returned to the presidency in 2012, and Medvedev became prime minister. Putin, who has hinted at staying in power beyond 2024, could be planning a similar move, becoming a newly empowered prime minister or head of the state council. But he offered few details on Wednesday about the changes he was seeking and gave no hint of his own plans. Read more about: The Emirates A380 is ready to draw in thousands of visitors at this years edition of the Kuwait Aviation Show 2020, which commenced today and runs till January 18. The A380 on display today carries the distinctive Expo 2020 blue mobility decal and will be open to both trade visitors and the general public, allowing them a glimpse into the largest commercial passenger aircraft in the world. The Emirates A380 on display features 14 luxurious First Class Suites, 76 flatbed seats in Business Class, and 429 generously pitched seats in Economy Class. The aircraft will also feature the newly refreshed OnBoard Lounge. Emirates is the largest operator of the A380 with 115 in its fleet flying to 53 destinations. Over 143 million passengers have flown the Emirates A380 since it commenced operations in 2008. The A380 fleet has also flown over 163,000 round trips and has travelled over 2.2 billion kilometres. Emirates has been operating to Kuwait since 1989 and today serves the destination with six daily flights. - TradeArabia News Service Push to Shine More Light on Officer-Involved Deaths Comes to Kansas In the early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2004, a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer had just completed a traffic stop when a truck approached a nearby stop sign - and then gunned it. The officer followed to pull over the driver. The ultimate outcome of the stop was that police shot and killed the driver, 21-year-old Michael Bell Jr. The youngster's mom continues to push for change, here's another round-up of her continued fight for more public information and insight into how authorities determine "justifiable" shootings . . . Read more: DAMASCUS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian air defense forces responded to an "aggression" targeting the T-4 air base in the central province of Homs on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported. Preliminary reports indicated that the attack was carried out by war planes against the air base, which is located in the countryside of Homs, the report said. It did not mention who targeted the air base. Policeman shoots dead robber during knife attack in Phuket Town PHUKET: A Phuket City Police officer shot dead a knife-wielding robber in Phuket Town early this morning after the robber attacked the officer, leaving him with a knife wound to his neck. violencecrimepolicedeath By Eakkapop Thongtub Wednesday 15 January 2020, 07:07PM The body of Aekkasit Kesorn, 34, from Nakhorn Sri Thammarat, lies covered at the scene of the shooting in Phuket Town early this morning (Jan 15). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The robber lunged again, forcing the officer to draw his firearm and shoot in self-defence, Deputy Chief of Phuket City Police Lt Col Chana Suthimas told The Phuket News today (Jan 15). Police were notified through the 191 hotline of a robbery in progress in front of a single-level apartment building in Soi Hongleng-U-Thit, off Mae Luan Rd in Phuket Town, at 2:20am, Lt Col Chana explained. People living in the area called the police after seeing a young couple being robbed at knifepoint, he added. Officers Snr Sgt Maj Nirute Boonrat and Cpl Warat Jairerng, on patrol at the time, responded to the call. They arrived to find Aekkasit Kesorn, 34, from Nakhorn Sri Thammarat, still threatening the couple, Miss Amara Laosin, 30, from Krabi, and Mr Pongpat Chaichon, 29, from Trang, with a knife. They were frightened and asking for help. Miss Amara was bleeding from a knife wound on the left side of her stomach, Lt Col Chana said. Aekkasit was holding Pongpats bag, which contained two mobile phones valued at about B8,000, Lt Col Chana added. The officers ordered Aekkasit to stop and place the knife on the ground, but he ran forward at Cpl Warat and attacked him with the knife. Cpl Warat used his baton to stop him, but Aekkasit turned and attacked Snr Sgt Maj Nirute, Lt Col Chana said. Snr Sgt Maj Nirute was wounded in the left side of his neck and fell to the ground. Aekkasit tried to attack him again, so Snr Sgt Maj Nirute drew his gun and fired one shot to stop him, he said. Aekkasit was shot in the neck. He collapsed and died at the scene, Lt Col Chana noted. According to the police report issued to the press later today, Inspector Capt Ronnaphum Permpoon, Deputy Chief of Phuket City Police Investigation Division, has filed charges against both Aekkasit and Snr Sgt Maj Nirute while police complete their investigation. For the robbery of Miss Amara and Mr Pongpat, although now dead Aekkasit posthumously faces charges of committing robbery in the nighttime, causing injuries to others and carrying a weapon in public. For the attack on the police officers he also faces charges of attempting to kill officers while on duty and carrying a weapon in public without necessary reason. For firing the fatal shot that killed Aekkasit, Snr Sgt Maj Nirute faces a charge of manslaughter (under Thai law, technically a Murder 2 charge). Asked why Snr Sgt Maj Nirute failed to aim his firearm somewhere less potentially fatal, Lt Col Chana said, While he was being attacked, there simply was not enough time. Snr Sgt Maj Nirute said Aekkasit was so close, and that he fired just one shot. The injuries sustained by Snr Sgt Maj Nirute and Miss Amara were not serious and both were allowed to leave Vachira Phuket Hospital to go home today, Lt Col Chana said. Officers will question Snr Sgt Maj Nirute later, he added. Phuket City Police Chief Col Theerawat Liamsuwan today went to inspect Aekkasits body at the Vachira Phuket Hospital morgue, where he told the press that Aekkasit had a criminal record and had previously been charged for drugs and illegal possession of a firearm. He was arrested and charged with illegal possession of gun in Phuket, in 2012, and arrested and charged possession of an illegal drug in Nakhon Sri Thammarat that same year, he said. Col Theerawat did not specify which drug Aekkasit had previously been charged for, but Lt Col Chana earlier today told The Phuket News, We found methamphetamine in his blood. Barring West Bengal and Kerala, all states have reissued notifications for the exercise to update National Population Register (NPR) and communicated the same to the Centre, two officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. The two states have asked for a temporary hold on the exercise while others including Congress-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh have agreed to conduct the exercise, they added. The officials cited above said West Bengal and Kerala had earlier notified they would participate in the exercise, but they backtracked after the passage of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) last month that has triggered protests across the country. Kerala moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday saying the CAA violates the Constitutions secular nature. The opponents of the CAA, which seeks to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh before 2015, insist it is discriminatory and unconstitutional as it leaves out the Muslims and links faith to citizenship in a secular country. They say it could result in the expulsion or detentions of the Muslims unable to provide the documentation if the law is seen in the context of a proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC). An exercise carried out in Assam to identify undocumented immigrants led to the exclusion of around 2 million people from the NRC last year The government has in the past described NPR, which is a comprehensive biometric database of all usual residents in India as opposed to the Census or a database of households, as the first step towards a nationwide NRC. It now maintains that there is no link between the two and that an all-India NRC is not immediately on the anvil. The NPR has generated controversy with the Opposition parties contending the exercise is linked to the National Register for Indian Citizens (NRIC) aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. We have been informed through our state Census commissioners that both states [Kerala and West Bengal] have asked for a temporary hold. We are hoping that the situation will be resolved soon, one of the officials cited above said on condition of anonymity. No other state has informed us about any reservation... The NPR database will be updated between April 1 and September 30 along with the house listing phase of Census 2021. Declaration of mother tongue, sharing parents names, their dates of birth and birthplace are to be declared in NPR if they are living in the same household, the officials said. If the parents are living separately, their enumeration will happen separately. There are concerns around sharing parents birthplaces which may be reviewed before the final exercise is rolled out, the second official said. HT on Monday reported language information may be sought under NPR is for the first time even as this information was previously collected under the Census exercise. NPR was created in 2010 and updated in 2015. On both occasions, officials said, data on mother tongue was not collected under the exercise. In addition to the mother tongue, NPR 2020 will also seek information on the place and date of birth of a residents parents, apart from nationality. The section on mother tongue is not in the NPR 2020 form, but the NPR manual prepared to train enumerators has a separate section called, Code for Mother Tongue. Longtime neighborhood eatery Savor closed in San Francisco's Noe Valley on Sunday. The 24th Street spot was in business 19 years with a menu known for its omelettes, crepes, burgers and salads. In 2017, a new owner took over and fully revamped the restaurant. Charlie Sirhed remodeled the outdoor patio, which was popular with dog owners on weekends, and also refreshed the indoor eating area and kitchen. The former owner had switched the restaurant to counter service in an attempt to cut expenses, but many customers disliked the change. Sirhed then hired more employees to bring back table service. Lunch specials and a kids-eat-free night were also added to attract customers. "Unfortunately, business didn't get better so we couldn't catch up any longer with all the expenses, bills and fees," he said. ALSO: Brown Sugar Kitchen is closing SF Ferry Building location Sirhed believes the restaurant's demise is partly due to a shift in the neighborhood's demographic. "I think the whole Noe Valley has changed," he said. "Its not like before. All the regular customers have gotten old. A lot of new people have moved into the area. Its all tech people. The new people arent loyal to the community. The loyal customers who are left werent enough to support the restaurant." Noe Valley has seen a handful of restaurants close in recent months, including Mexican bar and restaurant Noe's Cantina and breakfast spot Toast. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman whose district includes Noe Valley said restaurants in the neighborhood and all over the city are struggling to hang for many reasons including increased rents, decreased foot traffic, predatory delivery services, high labor costs and increasing city fees. "I have been saddened to learn of these closures, and I and my office will be working with the Noe Valley community to bring new restaurants to the neighborhood and of course to support the many great establishments that are still here, Mandelman said in a statement. Hoodline was the first to report this story. Find more recent restaurant closures in the gallery above. This story was updated at 10 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2019. Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Domestic policy tends to dominate American presidential campaigns, especially on the Democratic side. The current contest has been no exception, with a relentless focus on healthcare, taxes, social justice and of course who is most likely to unseat President Donald Trump. With the events of the past week, its time to make space on the agenda for foreign policy. The war drums have eased, at least for now. After flexing their muscles, the United States and Iran stepped back from the brink of war. But the shadow war continues. Washington imposed more economic sanctions last week, and Tehran renounced international restrictions on its nuclear weapons program. Both sides threatened further retaliation. The simmering conflict could boil over at any time. And it could spill into Iraq, Syria and other Gulf countries. Americans are tiring of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have claimed 7,000 American lives since 2001. But neither Trump nor any of his would-be successors has offered a strategy for winding down the U.S. presence there, or in about a dozen other countries where ground troops have been deployed under the auspices of the post-9/11 war on terror. Americas global challenges arent limited to the Middle East. Theres little doubt that North Korea is still pursuing its nuclear ambitions despite three summit meetings where Trump and Kim Jong Un fawned over one another. Like tensions with Iran, Trumps trade wars in Europe and Asia heat up and cool off without resolution. NATO and other traditional alliances are strained, again largely because of the presidents erratic and impulsive approach to diplomacy. China is a rising security threat in the Pacific, and its treatment of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, not to mention Uighurs and other Chinese Muslims, has been nothing short of deplorable. No threat looms larger than climate change. Immediate international cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential if the most devastating impacts are to be avoided, or at least limited. That will only occur with U.S. leadership. And U.S. security experts warn that Russia, Iran, China and other countries may try to meddle in the 2020 presidential election. The winner of the 2020 election, whomever that may be, is likely to be faced with all of these issues. And unforeseen issues will rise. Presidential candidates stick to domestic issues, conventional wisdom says, because thats what voters care most about. But presidents devote much of their time to international affairs, and no one exercises more hard or soft power than Americas chief executive. Congress routinely battles with presidents on domestic matters but tends to defer too much so, in our judgment to the White House on foreign affairs. So voters need to know where the candidates stand, who will advise them and how they will make decisions about war and peace. The candidates owe it to voters to explain how they would manage those vital responsibilities. Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California Naomi Long has hit out at anonymous social media trolls but believes the issue extends far beyond devolved government Naomi Long has hit out at anonymous social media trolls but believes the issue extends far beyond devolved government. Ms Long, who has been subjected to personal online abuse alongside other high-profile female politicians including the DUP MP Carla Lockhart, said responsibility falls on the companies who provide social media platforms. Her popularity with the centre ground electorate has also previously made the East Belfast Assembly member a target of vicious electoral threats, especially in the run-up to the recent Westminster election. Asked for her views on people who write defamatory posts, she said "online bullying is a massive issue". Read More But Ms Long also said it wasn't necessarily "something that is simply dealt with in the Northern Ireland space at a devolved level". "You're essentially dealing with global corporations, who also need to take responsibility - not just the individuals who post but the platforms on which they're publishing their material," she added. Defending Ms Lockhart against slurs in the past, Ms Long previously said on Twitter: "It's disgusting, yet all too common an experience for women in particular in public life. It's bullying. It needs to stop." And yesterday she revealed how her complaints to companies behind some social media platforms fell on deaf ears. Ms Long added: "I have personal experience of sending (on) some fairly horrendous threats and abuse to those companies and being told that it doesn't breach their standards - which begs the question 'what are your standards if this is acceptable?' "The police are pretty responsive around these issues and do take them seriously, but online bullying is a much wider piece and when you talk about mental health, online bullying of young people is increasingly an area of concern. We need to look at strategies on how to deal with social media. Anonymity online is dangerous." She added: "A lot needs to be done but not necessarily as a matter for the Department of Justice. Some work needs to be done by those large companies who has responsibility for the platforms." TECH Perspectives is Microsol Resources' technology and innovation conference that brings together thought leaders at the forefront of building innovation to discuss new and existing technologies that are reshaping the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. TECH Perspectives conferences are held in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and this year for the first time in Seattle. With two keynote presentations and two exciting industry panel sessions, each TECH Perspectives conference enables the building community to benefit from lessons learned by industry professionals. For more information and to register, please go to www.techperspectives.com . The opening keynote address will be delivered by Maria Mackey, Real Estate Director of Vulcan Real Estate. She manages Vulcan's portfolio of corporate real estate and leads Vulcan's financing negotiations on its real estate investments. In her role, Ms. Mackey has established relationships with more than 27 different lenders including life insurance companies, banks, and pension funds. She has secured more than $3.5 billion in financing across a variety of real estate and construction loan programs. "We are thrilled to be able to bring TECH Perspectives to Seattle for the first time and look forward to having Maria Mackey of Vulcan Real Estate give the opening keynote," says Emilio Krausz, President of Microsol Resources. "The attendees from the AEC community will gain valuable insight hearing from Ms. Mackey and our presenters on how they are advancing sustainability, technology, and design in every project," added Mr. Krausz. Agenda Highlights for TECH Perspectives Seattle 2020 The industry keynote address will be delivered by Donna Laquidara-Carr, the Industry Insights Research Director from Dodge Data & Analytics who provides editorial direction to the SmartMarket Report Series, covering such diverse topics as World Green Building Trends, Prefabrication and Modular Construction, the Business Value of BIM and Managing Risk in the Construction Industry. In addition, we have technology innovators to present and hold insightful discussions about: Collaboration & Building Information Modeling (BIM) | How do we make sure we're all working on the most up to date information and maintaining a single source of truth? With BIM at the core of the project delivery, the need for any time, anywhere, collaboration, data continuity comes into play. We will hear from Salla Palos , Director of Transformation Services of Microsoft; Angus MacGregor , Principal of Olson Kundig ; Robert Otani , Principal of Thornton Tomasetti's CORE Studio; and Josh Rodgers , Virtual Design Construction Manager of Mortenson Construction. | How do we make sure we're all working on the most up to date information and maintaining a single source of truth? With BIM at the core of the project delivery, the need for any time, anywhere, collaboration, data continuity comes into play. We will hear from , Director of Transformation Services of Microsoft; , Principal of ; , Principal of Thornton Tomasetti's CORE Studio; and , Virtual Design Construction Manager of Mortenson Construction. Smart Buildings | Every day, we hear about a new "smart" technology that will change our lives. But what does smart mean in the context of designing, developing, and operating buildings? This session we will hear from AEC's industry leaders on how smart building tech and data can provide a deeper role for design intelligence in the era of the digital twin. We will hear from Stephen van Dyck, Partner of LMN Architects; and Nicholas Desbiens , Head of Digital Practice of KPF. The half-day conference is accredited by the AIA for 3.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). For an up-to-date schedule of the sessions, and to register for the TECH Perspectives Seattle conference, visit the TECH Perspectives website at www.techperspectives.com. Conference Organizer Contact: Anna Liza Montenegro, Director of Marketing | Microsol Resources [email protected] | (212) 465 8734 SOURCE Microsol Resources Corp. Related Links http://www.techperspectives.com Following the success of their online training services, InventoryBase Academy launches a new CPD accredited practical course for inventory providers PORTSMOUTH, England, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New for 2020, InventoryBase Academy lead from the success of their online training to deliver a hands-on, practical property reporting experience. Last year saw the launch of InventoryBase Academy and the popular online course, "Learn How To Produce Professional Property Reports" with over 200 graduates, which highlighted the requirement for further training. "Practical Property Reports" - a CPD accredited training day held in Portsmouth, was attended by aspiring inventory clerks and practising inventory professionals looking to update and upskill using InventoryBase software. It gave attendees the opportunity to put newly obtained skills into practice, in a practical working environment whilst benefiting from the experiences of seasoned inventory clerks and business owners. Key takeaways included: how much time check out reports take and why they should be charged at equal to if not more than the inventory. Why GDPR is a vital component of a clerks role and a very intense discussion around lone working especially how to safely test an alarm and what systems should be put into place to ensure optimum safety. The practical element of the course involved conducting an inventory and then 'revisiting' to complete a checkout using the InventoryBase app effectively. Sian Hemming-Metcalfe, Head of Training & Development for InventoryBase Academy said: "We're really pleased to have delivered our first practical course for InventoryBase Academy for 2020. It was great to meet with like-minded professional inventory providers. We all tend to work independently so to have the opportunity to 'talk shop' was a key feedback point as well as some interesting discussions about the current state of the lettings industry. Moving forward; we are working on adding more subjects and further material during the year with the clear aim to support all clerks during this great period of change." The next on-site course, "Practical Property Reporting" will be held on 5th February in Portsmouth - book your place here . Other InventoryBase Academy courses include " Learn how to produce professional property reports " & " Legionella risk assessments ". About InventoryBase Academy InventoryBase Academy provides CPD accredited training and development for professionals throughout the lettings industry. There is a range of courses available designed by industry professionals to assist those at all levels to learn and improve their skills. Provided in-line with InventoryBase, part of RadWeb Ltd, we also provide a property inspection platform for Inventory Clerks, Property Management Companies and Letting Agencies of all sizes. Our platform and service enables clerks and property managers to manage both properties and staff on the move and is available on most mobile devices. From workflows to audits and assisted scheduling, alongside training - InventoryBase provide the complete package for anyone managing rental property. Representatives from InventoryBase are available for media interviews and speaking opportunities. For more information on InventoryBase or to arrange a demonstration, contact: Laura West InventoryBase Email: laura@inventorybase.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 08:19:21|Editor: zyl Video Player Close People visit the Baghdadi Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020. Opened in 1970, the Baghdadi Museum is a local history museum featuring scenes from different periods with lifesize models representing ancient Baghdad life, especially in folk crafts, trades, local customs and street life. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan has lashed out at Ryan Gallagher in an expletive rant on Instagram. The 52-year-old blasted his former co-star on Wednesday, after the comedian spoke negatively about his ex-'wife', Davina Rankin, on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Nasser shared an article about Ryan's comments, and said: 'I wish someone can tell this w**ker to stop trash talking Davina and move on. Without her, he would be nothing.' Scroll down for video Less than impressed: Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan (left) has lashed out at Ryan Gallagher (right) in an expletive rant on Instagram. Pictured together in 2018 'Besides, he told us we can have her. Bloody lies! Now stop Ryan, just stop!' he added. Nasser had previously slammed Ryan in 2018 after he'd referred to Davina as a 'pig' during a stand-up comedy routine. 'Calling Davina a pig, to me, that upset me personally,' he told Daily Mail Australia at the time. 'He's a clacker, put it that way.' Scorned: The 52-year-old blasted his former co-star on Wednesday, after the comedian spoke negatively about his ex-'wife', Davina Rankin, on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! Furious: Nasser shared an article about Ryan's comments, and said: 'I wish someone can tell this w**ker to stop trash talking Davina and move on. Without her, he would be nothing' On Tuesday's episode of I'm a Celebrity, Ryan slammed Davina while discussing her infamous 'affair' with Dean Wells on MAFS two years ago. In an extraordinary revelation, the 31-year-old funnyman claimed that his ex-'wife' had warned him she was going to be unfaithful in the experiment. 'We were on the honeymoon, and we were intimate and stuff like that. You sort of get lost in the moment,' he began. 'And as we were flying back, as we were landing, [Davina] goes, "You know, when we get back we meet other people and you can hook up with anyone." 'And I was like, "I don't think that...!"' Bombshell: On Tuesday's episode of I'm a Celebrity, Ryan slammed Davina (pictured) while discussing her infamous 'affair' with Dean Wells on MAFS two years ago Scandalous: In an extraordinary revelation, the 31-year-old funnyman claimed that his ex-'wife' had warned him after their honeymoon that she was going to be unfaithful in the experiment Ryan went on to explain that Davina eventually cheated on him with Dean, before the affair was exposed at a commitment ceremony. Despite the fact Davina had 'run off with another man', Ryan was still obliged to take her to meet his family during homestays. 'I had to take her to my parents' place. I've only introduced four girls to my family,' he said. 'I didn't tell mum and dad what happened. I knew they would treat her different, so I left it.' But Davina apparently had other plans. Ryan added: 'She told my mum [about the affair]. She started crying and everything.' Catch up: Charlotte Crosby (right), who is growing close to Ryan (left) on I'm a Celebrity, was fascinated by the MAFS saga and said she wanted to 'watch it' As Ryan continues to share gossip in the jungle about their time together, Davina finally broke her silence on Wednesday. She told Daily Mail Australia that their former relationship is 'pretty irrelevant' to her now, after welcoming a daughter, Mila-Mae, with her new partner, Jaxon Manuel, two months ago. She said: 'I haven't heard or watched anything, so I don't actually know what you're talking about. I don't need to make any comment, it's pretty irrelevant to me.' In 1974, a rock critic checked out a new artists show at a local club in Cambridge, Mass. He wrote I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen. The critic was Jon Landau, the man who would soon become The Bosss manager, a co-producer for many of his classic records, and confidant through more than 40 years of rock icons career. Now, Landau, 72, will receive the honorary Ahmet Ertegun Award at the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. The award honor(s) songwriters, producers, disc jockeys, record executives, journalists and other industry professionals who have had a major influence on rock and roll." While its not announced who will present the award, Springsteen himself would be an obvious choice. Irving Azoff, best known as longtime manager of the Eagles, will also receive the award. Landau, a Massachusetts native, was listed as co-producer for seven Bruce albums, from 1975s Born To Run to 1992s Human Touch and Lucky Town. This years Rock Hall induction ceremony will take place May 2 at Public Hall in Cleveland. It will air live on HBO and SiriusXM satellite radio. Inductees for the 2020 class were announced Wednesday and led by New Jersey pop powerhouse Whitney Houston. Houston, who was born in Newark and raised in East Orange, has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and notched 11 Billboard No. 1 singles. Houston died in 2012, at age 48. Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., The Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode and T. Rex are all entering the Rock Hall this year, too. Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Clashes over settlement homes demolished in West Bank Army overseeing area to prevent retaliation (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, JANUARY 15 - A large contingent of Israeli soldiers on Wednesday entered the Jewish outpost of Kumi Ori (in Nablus, West Bank) to demolish two illegally built homes there, Israeli public radio said. It said residents at the outpost put up physical resistance and threw rocks at the soldiers, one of whom was injured. Kumi Ori is near another outpost, Yitzhar, considered a stronghold of the extremist fringes of the settlement movement. Local sources said the army is currently overseeing the area and major intersections to prevent extremist Jews from retaliating with attacks against Palestinian villages in the area.(ANSAmed). Local authorities are hoping to make contact with the driver of a white Ford transit van with Utah plates. Pennington County Deputy Gordon Larsen said his office didn't have any direct reports of criminal activity involving the van, but there have been some complaints from people in Wall. "We can't confirm any illegal activity," Deputy Larsen said Tuesday afternoon. "But there has been some suspicious activity around Wall, so we would like to talk to them and clear it up." There has been a spike in credit card theft in the area and the van has aroused suspicion due to the out-of-state plates and a large antenna on the roof that some have said appears to be able to intercept WiFi signals. Anyone with information about the vehicle is asked to call the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 0 T he UK's lead envoy in Iran is returning to London for talks following his arrest in Tehran. British ambassador Rob Macaire, who was detained amid the rising tensions in the Middle East, is set to return to Iran following a round of meetings. The envoy has been labelled persona non grata by Irans judiciary, meaning someone who is prohibited from remaining in or entering a country. It was calling for his expulsion after the envoys arrest on Saturday over his attendance at a vigil for the 176 people, including four Britons, killed when Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jet. The Foreign Office said he would return after time in the capital and a spokesman said: It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here. Mr Macaire was detained for more than an hour before being released, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported. He was said to have been one of a number of individuals held on suspicion of organising, provoking and directing radical actions. Mr Macaire was said to be "safe and well" in the UK embassy on Saturday night. On Sunday morning UK time the diplomat sent a series of tweets to say he was not involved in a protest and was just wanting to "pay respects" to those who died. Following this, Mr Raab said in a statement: The arrest of our ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law. Two care workers who mocked dementia sufferers and threw stones at them during a spate of sick pranks have been jailed for 20 weeks. Student nurse Abana Arshad and care assistant Amy Greenhalgh, both 24, hurled gravel at victims as they begged them to stop and would laugh as they filmed their reactions on mobile phones. Up to seven elderly residents with dementia or Alzheimers were secretly targeted by the pair while they worked a shift at a specialist EMI unit at the Laburnum Court care home in Salford, Greater Manchester. Arshad and Greenhalgh, whose mother is a nurse, were eventually found out when one was seen loading her pockets with gravel from the driveway. One resident had rolled up plastic gloves thrown at her. Stones were also found on the floors of the rooms of the victims. None of the victims were able to say who ill-treated them due to their conditions. After he case Sonia Morris, 37, whose mother Zena was one of the victims said: 'There has been no remorse, no apology. In fact Amy needed it explaining about the effect their behaviour has had on the family. 'At an earlier hearing I couldn't believe the arrogance of them. Outside court they were smiling, laughing and having fun as if it was all one big joke. 'We could even hear them saying it 'will be all done soon and we will go home, have tea, watch TV and put our onesies on'. It's just shocking how they have been.' Student nurse Abana Arshad (right) and care assistant Amy Greenhalgh (left) both 24, outside Manchester Magistrates the court heard that when the pair realised they were going to be discovered, they tried to pin the blame on some of the residents and smeared one innocent senior colleague as a 'crackhead.' They also warned each other to delete any incriminating pictures on the phones. In a Facebook exchange Greenhalgh said: 'Someone's reported us about stones being thrown' only for Arshad to respond. 'Are you for real? You can't trust anyone in work I swear. Haha. Just say Jack threw something at Cindy.. Delete it all off your phone to be on the safe side.' Greenhalgh added: 'Did we get all the stones off the floor in the rooms' whilst Abana replied: 'Don't think anybody will clock that. I'll back you.' Police found the messages when they interviewed the pair about the conduct. One mocking video of a resident was recovered which said: 'Cindy dancing on the floor - checking if people are looking haha' with lots of laughing emojis. Sonia Morris, 37, whose mother Zena Morris (pictured) was one of the victims said: 'There has been no remorse, no apology' Up to seven elderly residents with dementia or Alzheimers were secretly targeted by the pair while they worked a shift at a specialist EMI unit at the Laburnum Court care home (pictured) In a statement Craig Gardner, whose 67-year old father Jack was one of the victims said he and his sister had to sell their parent's house to pay for the 1,000 a week care fees for Jack and their mother who has Alzheimers and who lives in a different nursing home. Mr Gardner, 43, said: 'Other staff at the care home have been nothing short of brilliant in caring for our dad and other residents but it's been utterly horrifying for us to find out it has been taken away from us by the very people who should have been caring for him. 'He has been truly let down and whilst the nature of his illness likely means he will forget, we will not. At Manchester magistrates court, Arshad, from Crumpsall and Greenhalgh from Eccles were each jailed for 20 weeks after being convicted of ill-treating a person without mental capacity. Several of their victims have since passed away. Sentencing District Judge James Hatton told them: 'The victims deserve more from two young people who should have been caring for them. 'They should have been treated with dignity, yet they were not. They should have been treated with respect yet they were not. Instead these two defendants treated the victims like they were there for their own amusement. 'They mocked and bullied people who were unable to protect and defend themselves and they never demonstrated any genuine remorse for their behaviour.' The incidents took place on July 15 2018 whilst the pair were working together at the 31 bed unit. Senior colleague Aaliyah Hussain told an earlier hearing: 'When I went outside on a break I saw Abana, stand up from bending down and put something into her pocket. A couple of stones dropped out of her hand and she put her hands into her pockets and returned through the main entrance. 'Upon returning one of the other residents was shouting: 'stop it. Why are you doing that? Get away'. It was over and over again and she was quite distressed. 'Abana and Amy were both there in the doorway of her room. I went into the lady's room and there was some stones on the floor under her chair. I spoke to her but she wasn't able to tell me what had happened so, I just reassured her. Then I could hear the resident next door shouting: 'Stop doing that. Don't throw them at me don't throw them at me'. 'I went into her room and there were stones on the floor. I asked Abana and Amy what they where doing but they were just laughing and didn't give me proper reasons. There was a comment made one of the other residents who had been in bed and she tried to chase both of them when they threw stones at her. Abana threw a stone and then blamed another resident.' Ain al-Asad Air Base (Iraq) (AFP) - Moments after volleys of Iranian missiles began to batter Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, US soldiers at the desert facility lost contact with their ultra-powerful -- and expensive -- eyes in the sky. At the time the attack was launched at 1:35 am on January 8, the US army was flying seven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Iraq to monitor bases where US-led coalition forces are deployed. They included MQ-1C Gray Eagles, advanced surveillance drones that can fly for as long as 27 hours and carry a payload of up to four Hellfire missiles. "We thought it may lead to a ground assault, so we kept the aircraft up," said one of the pilots, 26-year-old Staff Sergeant Costin Herwig. Herwig was flying a Gray Eagle when the first Iranian missile struck the base, retaliation for the January 3 killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad. Most of the other 1,500 US soldiers had been tucked away in bunkers for two hours, after advance warning from superiors. But 14 pilots had stayed in dark containers-turned-cockpits to remotely fly the "birds" and monitor essential feeds from their high-powered cameras. A US soldier walks past a drone at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar (AFP Photo/Ayman Henna) The first missile blasted dust into their shelter but the pilots stayed put, Herwig told AFP during a press tour of the base organised by the coalition. The next rounds came closer and closer, and the light-haired soldier recalled that he had "accepted fate". "We thought we were basically done," he said. - 'There was no control' - But the real crisis was yet to come. The volleys of missiles, which soldiers said lasted about three hours, slammed into sleeping quarters directly adjacent to the pilots' operations rooms. "No more than a minute after the last round hit, I was heading over to the bunkers on the far back side and saw the fire was burning all through our fibre lines," said First Sergeant Wesley Kilpatrick. Extensive damage at Ain al-Asad military airbase used by US and other foreign troops in the western Iraqi province of Anbar after Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling desert facility (AFP Photo/Ayman HENNA) Those lines link the virtual cockpits to antennas then satellites that send signals to the Gray Eagles and pull the cameras' feeds back onto the screens at Ain al-Asad. Story continues "With the fibre lines burnt, there was no control," said Kilpatrick. The soldiers could no longer locate the drones and were left blind to events in the air -- and on the ground. If a drone had been shot down, for example, the besieged teams at Ain al-Asad could not have known. "It's a pretty big deal, because it's so expensive and there's a lot of stuff on them that we don't want other people to have or the enemy to get," said Herwig. A single Gray Eagle costs around $7 million, according to 2019 army budget estimates. They have been used in Iraq since at least 2017 by the coalition to help fight the Islamic State jihadist group. The coalition is required to get a green light from the Iraqi government to fly drones and planes, but those permissions had expired several days before the Iran attacks. US army drones on the tarmac at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar (AFP Photo/Ayman Henna) The US army had kept the drones in the air anyway, a senior American defence official told reporters, after months of rocket attacks on Iraqi bases where their forces are based. - Beat the clock - As the bombs crashed closer on January 8 and with the drones unaccounted for, the pilots finally clambered into bunkers. But as soon as the blasts stopped, they rushed back out, now facing a race against time to get their signals up and running so they could find -- and land -- the Gray Eagles. As dawn started to break, soldiers scrambled to replace 500 metres (yards) of melted fibre cables and reprogramme satellites so they could reconnect to the UAVs. Last step? Land the "birds." The Iranian ballistic missiles had punched holes across Ain al-Asad's airfield and the control tower was empty. "The airfield was shut down so we had to land without talking to anybody. We didn't know where any (other) aircraft was. That part was pretty stressful," said Herwig. The priority was one Grey Eagle that had been scheduled to land just as the missile attack began, and which stayed flying throughout until it was worryingly low on fuel. The pilots worked for hours to land each drone one by one, their adrenaline pumping even as other soldiers were recovering, showering and assessing the damage. At around 9:00 am, the final drone was brought down to earth. "We landed all our own birds back on site," said Kilpatrick, smiling in relief and pride. "It was quite a feat." Saudi Arabia executed 184 people last year Saudi government carried out its highest number of executions for six years. Saudi Arabia executed 184 people in 2019, human rights organization Reprieve said on Monday. Despite coming under intense scrutiny in recent years over its human rights record, Saudi Arabia still carried out its highest number of executions. THE COUNTRY'S ACTS ARE AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW Of those executed, 88 were Saudi nationals, 90 were foreign nationals and 6 were of unknown nationality, the report said. Three teenagers were among the dead. Sentencing a person to death who is under 18 is banned under international law. But executions of the youngsters went ahead despite Saudi Arabia vowing not to put juveniles to death. The judicial process in Saudi Arabia has been under fire since the international spotlight focused on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in which five individuals were immediately sentenced to death without undergoing fair trial. The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two companies for exploiting North Korean overseas labor after a UN deadline to return workers who bring vital revenue to the regime. The sanctions which block any US assets of the companies and criminalize any financial transactions with them come amid a stalemate in diplomacy as North Korea threatens to test a new weapon. The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Korea Namgang Trading Corporation, a North Korean company which it said has maintained workers in Russia, Nigeria and the Middle East. It also blacklisted Beijing Sukbakso, a Chinese company that has handled lodging and remittances for workers. Mumbai, Jan 15 : Comedian and YouTube sensation Bhuvan Bam will participate at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting 2020. The forum will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 21 to 24. The event brings together 3,000 global leaders. Guests invited this year at the Davos meet include US President Donald Trump, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and climate activist Greta Thunberg. The theme of this year's meet is 'Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World'. Bhuvan will be at Davos primarily thanks to his impact on YouTube, as an online creator. At the meet, he will attend conferences and will also be vlogging his experience to educate his audience on the discussion of a cohesive and sustainable world. "Being invited to WEF 2020 is an honour. I'm looking forward to meeting world and industry leaders to open discussion on important subjects. WEF was founded 50 years ago, and the initiative of having an annual meet where powerful people from across the globe unify for the betterment of the world is what we all need, especially in a time like this," Bhuvan said. Joining Bhuvan will be 100 Indian CEOs and other creators from YouTube. While in Davos, Bhuvan will also attend a dinner hosted by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who is inviting creators from around the world. Bhuvan has emrged as an online sensation with his brand of comedy. He also addresses important issues such as girl-child education, water conservation, women safety and conservation of the environment through his videos on his popular channel "BB Ki Vines". WEF 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the meet. This year at the meet Bollywood star Deepika will be awarded with a WEF Crystal Award. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday blamed first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the "14-year delay" in liberation of the coastal state from the Portuguese, inviting a sharp reaction from the Congress which asked him to study the history. Speaking at the "Know Your Army" programme, Sawant said while the country achieved Independence in 1947, Goans had to wait 14 years more till 1961 to taste freedom. "Then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for this delay. It was because of him that Goa's liberation got delayed by 14 long years. We would have got liberated from the Portuguese had Nehru possessed the necessary political will and really concerned about the people," the CM said. He thanked the Army for freeing Goa. Reacting to the CM's statement, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar said the CM should read the history before speaking on such sensitive issues. "He doesn't know the history. He should at least talk to freedom fighters before making such statements," he said. Sawant should tell the nation why it took 52 years for the RSS to accept the national flag. "When the entire country was celebrating Independence, RSS leaders were in mourning. They were sad that the British had left the country," he commented. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reliance Jio has placed Rs 4,700-crore bids for mobile tower and fibre assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), a subsidiary of RCom New Delhi: UV Asset Reconstruction Company (UVARC) and Reliance Jio have emerged as highest bidders in asset sale process of debt-ridden Reliance Communications from which lenders expect to recover Rs 25,000 crore, according to banking sources. Reliance Jio has placed Rs 4,700-crore bids for mobile tower and fibre assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), a subsidiary of RCom. UVARC has placed bids of around Rs 16,000 crore for spectrum, real estate assets as well as the enterprise and data centre businesses held in RCom and Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL). "Jio and UVARC have emerged as the highest bidders at Rs 25,000 crore for RCom assets at committee of creditors (COC) meeting held on January 13, 2020," a source closely involved in the development told. Bharti Airtel and Varde Capital were also in the fray for RCom assets. "In addition, the lenders will clawback the priority payments of around Rs 4,300 crore made to Chinese lenders (Rs 1,300 crore), Indian lenders (Rs 3,000 crore). Lenders will start recovering the monetisation proceeds starting March 2020," the source said. RCom's secured debt is estimated to be around Rs 33,000 crore. Lenders have submitted claims of around Rs 49,000 crore in August. With this, the 38 secured lenders of RCom would recover 75 percent of the total outstanding of around Rs 33,000 crore. This is the highest-ever recovery of dues by financial creditors in the telecom sector that has seen the exit or shutdown of 9 out of 12 telecom companies since 2012, the source said. The bidders have committed to pay 30 percent of the proceeds of around Rs 7,500 crore within 90 days, the source said. The Committee of Creditors members will have to now obtain their respective board approvals so that they can put in final vote to approve the resolution plans on January 31 ahead of the NCLT filing due by 3 February. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost) United Nations, Jan 15 : China has informed the members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that it will raise the India-Pakistan issue during a closed door session on Wednesday, according to diplomatic sources. It is likely to come up after the scheduled session on Mali, when it will adjourn from its chamber to the consultation room for closed consultations. Rather than focusing on Kashmir, as it did at a consultation in August, China is expected to take a broader approach to India-Pakistan issues by including Kashmir in it and claiming that a serious situation was developing on the subcontinent and asking for a briefing. For this, China is expected to draw attention to a letter from Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to the Security Council alleging border violations by India and the deployment of more weapons. In the letter, Qureshi alleged that India had removed parts of the fence on the Line of Control in five sectors and deployed Brahmos and anti-tank and other missiles along the line. China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun had mentioned this letter after his failed attempt to hold consultations on India-Pakistan in December last year. Qureshi is expected to be at the UN on Wednesday, stopping here on his way to Washington for meetings with US officials on the Iran crisis. But he will not be here in time for the consultation, and even if he were, he would not be allowed to participate directly. He is scheduled to have a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later in the evening. The official schedule for the Security Council mentions only Mali as the topic of consultations, but there is a provision for raising other issues under the "any other business" category that Beijing wants to utilise, diplomats said. China last month tried to raise the India-Pakistan and Kashmir issues at a similar consultation, but withdrew its request when it found overwhelming opposition to it. Diplomatic sources said that Beijing was making a second attempt as the Security Council's composition changed in January when five non-permanent members retired and were replaced by a fresh set. It is hoping that it may get support from some of the new members and not be totally isolated as before. Regardless of the support it gets, China has the right to raise any issue it wants. While the US was the President of the Security Council in December, Vietnam, a newcomer to the body, has that role now. Wednesday's consultation will be similar to the one held in August that focused on the Kashmir issue after the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Nothing came out of that meeting, with the members refusing to even allow a statement on the meeting to be issued. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) The man convicted last month of sexually assaulting two women one of them at the BottleRock music festival by cutting holes in portable toilets has been sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison. Peterson William Fontes, a 42-year-old Richmond resident, received the sentence the maximum under state law Tuesday from Napa County Superior Judge Scott R.L. Young, according to a news release from the county District Attorneys Office. A jury had convicted Fontes Dec. 10 on two counts of sexual penetration by force, as well as one count each of second-degree burglary and vandalism and a special allegation of vandalism causing more than $400 in damage. Napa Police arrested Fontes on May 26, 2019, the final day of BottleRock at the Napa Valley Expo, in connection to a womans report that someone had assaulted her the day before through a hole that allowed the suspect to reach inside a commode. Fontes was later identified as a suspect in a similar incident involving a temporary restroom at an Alameda County street fair, and was also charged with that crime, the District Attorneys Office said. Both victims testified against Fontes at trial. This defendant exhibited an extreme and reprehensible degree of criminal sophistication and planning in carrying out these sexual assaults, Deputy District Attorney Kristen Orlando said in the Napa County statement. He meticulously placed holes in handicap porta-potties at busy events and preyed on unsuspecting women during their most private moments, when they were at their most vulnerable. The sentence this court imposed was the maximum sentence the law permits. We hope that it provides the survivors some well-deserved closure, and are grateful that it will ensure that they, and the community, are safe from this defendant for as long as possible. You can reach Howard Yune at 707-256-2214 or hyune@napanews.com Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Police violence against journalists has become widespread in Kenya, where several journalists have been attacked in the last two weeks alone. On Monday, January 13, photojournalist Labang Wallonga was beaten by a police officer while covering a protest against Standard Gauge Railways by locals and the business community in Mombasa. According to KUJ, it is not the first time the photojournalist has been attacked by police officers. Another journalist, Ian Byron, was hit on the head with a bottle by Governor Okoth Obados aide in Migori, south-west of Kenya. Both journalists work for the Daily Nation, one of the main independent newspapers in Kenya. Media workers have repeatedly denounced police violence cases at local police stations; however, not a single one has been investigated so far. The KUJ has accused the government of failing to comply with its commitment to implement the UN's Plan on Action on the safety of journalists. KUJ General Secretary, Erick Odour, said: If no action is taken against violators of media freedom, we will have no choice but to take the matter to the UN through the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) during the next reporting session. The IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger said: It is unacceptable for those who are committed to protecting citizens, to be the ones who trample upon human rights. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Kenya and will fully support them at international level if the authorities continue ignoring police attacks against media workers. An international conference titled Turkmenistan and International Organizations: Cooperation for Peace and Development was held in Ashgabat ahead of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Turkmenistans permanent neutrality later in 2020. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the grand opening of the conference. The forum brought together top officials and representatives of the Government of Turkmenistan, regional heads of international organizations, including the UN, OSCE, EU, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, as well as heads of the diplomatic corps accredited in Ashgabat, local and foreign mass media. In his opening speech at the conference, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that Turkmenistan opted for a development model that is called positive neutrality and formulated its fundamental provisions, including peacefulness, non-interference in the affairs of other states, respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-participation in international military organizations and treaties. The head of state also emphasized that Turkmenistan remains a reliable ally and effective partner of the UN in maintaining political stability in the region, developing good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation. The forum was also attended by the head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia German, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Elena Panova, Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Natalia Drozd, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the European Union Delegation to Turkmenistan Lubomyr Frebort and others. Speaking at the conference, they noted the unique nature of Turkmenistans policy of neutrality that is aimed at achieving global goals on maintaining stability, economic growth and security exclusively through peaceful means and coordinated actions of the international community. Later, the international conference Turkmenistan and International Organizations: Cooperation for Peace and Development reconvened for plenary meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. During the conference, the UN agencies and a number of departments of Turkmenistan signed the Annual Work Plans for 2020. In conclusion, the conference participants adopted a statement addressed to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. In particular, the statement urges to continue the comprehensive support for UN cooperation with neutral states to make greater use of the principles of neutrality and preventive diplomacy in ensuring international security and sustainable development. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022 Port Neches was the scene of two chemicals leaks in a span of about 18 hours between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. The unified command handling the TPC Group plant site after a Nov. 27 explosion reported on Monday night that there had been a release of butadiene detected within the plants fence lines that had been tracked to a leak. Early on Tuesday morning, the regions emergency communication system, the Southeast Texas Alerting Network, sent out a targeted message to people in Port Neches alerting of a leak of latex from the Lion Elastomers facility behind TPC Group on Port Neches Main Street. Air monitoring levels available from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality showed slight levels of volatile organic compounds, but nothing at a level that the agency considers problematic. The air monitoring reports posted to TCEQs Port Neches incident site no longer include a category for butadiene levels, but the agency has said it is still monitoring for the substance along with a handful of other harmful compounds. Both incidents were reported to have been cleared shortly after the alert, and TPC Groups leak was fixed within the hour. Sara Cronin, a spokesperson with TPC Group, said the leak was a part of the hiccups that responders have to calculate for as they continue securing parts of the plant that were damaged in the initial explosion and resulting fires. Were handling it today as we did on day one, Cronin said. Weve made significant progress and we are at the point where we can start transferring material, but our work is still focused on responding to an active scene. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick confirmed that the Lion Elastomers leak was fixed around 9 a.m. on Tuesday and there were no reported impacts outside the companys fence line. A cause of the leak at Lion Elastomers was not reported with the warning. Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson said work at the TPC Group site was still noticeable to all who live or pass by the area on one of Port Neches most frequently traveled roads, but Monday and Tuesdays incidents were handled without much alarm to the community. I didnt even really notice it, but I know that we would have been notified if there was something imminent outside their fence line, Johnson said. For the most part, he said, people around the plant seemed to be getting back to normal and using the coping skills theyve gained after a series of disasters to start pulling the community back together. Monday also marked the second week of activities aimed at moving all the chemicals out of the TPC Group site by barge or by rail. Cronin said some of the pipe infrastructure at the plant had been cleared for safe use and was being utilized along with barges to transfer chemicals, but destinations for the cargo werent available. The unified command has repeatedly said that emptying the plant will take several weeks and structural reviews were still being performed on all the storage tanks. High-purity butadiene has been given first priority for transfer, followed by lower purity butadiene, raffinate, polyblends and other process materials. The highest purity butadiene will be the easiest chemical for TPC Group to either sell or readily use at other facilities, but Cronin said the priority list was based on efficiently securing the site and bringing the event to an end. jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/jdickjournalism A one-day view of Toronto-listed Organigram shares on Jan. 15, 2020. Shares of Organigram (OGI.TO)(OGI) rose nearly 50 per cent in Wednesdays trading session on the heels of strong quarterly results, driven in large part by pot sales to other licenced producers. Wholesale revenue was 37 per cent, or $9.2 million, of the $25.2 million in sales booked by Organigram in the three months ended Nov. 30 2019. Thats a more than 1,500 per cent increase compared to the roughly $535,000 reported in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, sales into the recreational market fell almost four per cent. Chief executive officer Greg Engel said while Organigram has not historically been a major wholesaler, the decision to diversify the companys revenue was based on strong demand among licenced producers for high-quality cannabis. But the question of whether Organigram can expect hefty wholesale revenue long-term is not one he can answer easily. It is dependent on the other companies and their needs, Engel told Yahoo Finance Canada on Wednesday. Speaking on a conference call with analysts after the closing bell on Tuesday, Engel warned wholesale orders can have big variations on the revenue on a quarterly basis. He declined to provide wholesale guidance beyond saying the company has booked wholesale purchases in the current quarter. Wholesale cannabis is sold at a lower price than pot sold through medical and recreational channels. However, the company pays for less packaging and labour. Organigram chief financial officer Paolo De Luca said 2.6 million grams were sold in wholesale transactions in the quarter, at an average selling price in the high $3 range. The average net selling price per gram of dried flower equivalent declined $1.28 per gram to $4.57 in the first quarter. Organigrams fiscal first quarter financial results showed the company topped analyst estimates and returned to a positive adjusted EBITDA number figure. The company has high expectations for its cannabis 2.0 portfolio. Its first vape pens were shipped to retailers in December. Cannabis infused chocolates are expected to be released in the current quarter, and a powdered cannabis beverage is set to be released in February. Story continues We've seen so far with the launch of 2.0 products very strong consumer response, Engel told Yahoo Finance Canada. We've seen lineups at the stores. He added that one province, which he declined to name, recently tripled an order for Organigram cannabis chocolates. A number of analysts were pleased with the companys first quarter results. Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett called it a return to the Organigram of old. Given the high bar they had set themselves, and two quarters of declining financials, this print should be a relief that headwinds were temporary and supports our confidence which sees OGI as one of our preferred picks in the cannabis industry, he wrote in a note to clients. CIBC analysts said the quarter was surprisingly encouraging given todays difficult operating environment. However, they cautioned against expectations for sustained wholesale revenue of this magnitude. A meaningful portion of this came from robust wholesale revenues, which arent overly sustainable, but this still speaks to OGIs ability to cultivate quality products at reasonable cost, John Zamparo and Krishna Ruthnum wrote in a note to clients. Both CIBC and Jefferies have a $5.00 price target on Organigram shares, and buy and outperform ratings, respectively. Toronto-listed Organigram shares surged 45.91 per cent to $4.10 at 1:21 p.m. ET on Wednesday. New York-listed shares jumped 45.14 per cent. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Margot Robbie has claimed everyday sexism is 'naturally ingrained in people'. The Oscar-nominated actress, 29, detailed her experiences with discrimination in the movie industry, while revealing she still battles 'impostor syndrome' as she posed in a cover shoot for Glamour's January digital issue. Margot joined her Birds Of Prey co-stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Rosie Perez for the new spread ahead of her appearance as Harley Quinn in the superhero spin-off. Wow: Margot Robbie has joined her Birds of Prey co-stars on the cover of the January edition of Glamour magazine In the candid interview, Margot discussed her battle with 'impostor syndrome' and subconscious everyday sexism within the film industry. The actress, who wowed in a silver ensemble, admitted that she sometimes doubts her career and worries that people will think she's 'not good enough for this'. The Wolf of Wall Street star also added that if she could tell her younger self anything on the set of Neighbours, where she played Donna from 2008 until 2011, it would be 'you are actually good enough'. Margot added: 'I would want to tell her, 'You are actually good enough.' The biggest thing for me was I had this impostor syndrome. Leading ladies: The Australian actress, 29, joined Elizbeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Roise Perez in a stylish photoshoot 'I still get it sometimes and think everyone will realise, "How did you get here? You are not good enough for this? Who let you in?" The star admitted that she is her own worst critic, she continued: 'I don't think there is one thing where I have said, '"you have nailed it." I always think, "you did what you set out to do but you missed the mark here and next time you are going to do it different."' Since bursting into Hollywood with her bombshell role as Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street, Margot has recently turned her attentions to producing. The Australian star produced her Oscar-nominated film I, Tonya, with Allison Janney scooping the Best Supporting Actress gong. Upcoming: She is set to star in the Harley Quinn spin-off, Birds of Prey, which takes place after her leading character's split from the Joker (pictured in character) Candid: In the candid interview, Margot discussed her battle with 'impostor syndrome' and subconscious everyday sexism within the film industry (pictured at the Golden Globes earlier this month) While Margot also served as a producer on her upcoming film Birds of Prey where she also plays leading role Harley Quinn. Yet despite not receiving any sexism comments directed at her, the Australian star admitted that subconscious everyday sexism does occur with female producers. Margot shared: 'It's naturally ingrained in people - even if you are the one who should be dictating the decisions - that they turn to the closest, eldest male in the room and direct the question at them. It's just an inherent thing everyone has got in their DNA. 'When people are asking the question and I have the answer and they so readily will turn to my producing partners who are guys and will ask them. Gorgeous: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 35, who plays Huntress in the film, wowed in an orange ruffled asymmetrical dress on the cover later changing into a teal coloured satin midi dress 'It's a finance thing so I will ask the guy. And they are like, "actually she is the one with the answer, you should ask her!" It's the societal construct we have grown up knowing. 'I think the interesting thing now is that everyone is so conscious of that and they often catch themselves. I think people really want to embrace the idea of equality.' She added: 'I think they are a little shocked they hadn't before, and they didn't have that mindset and they weren't conscious of it.' For the stylish photoshoot ahead of the release of Birds of Prey, Margot looked incredible in a white lace dress with silver sequinned and jewel-encrusted detailing. Work it: Jurnee Smollett-Bell, 33, who plays Black Canary, wore a simple blue plunging dress for the magazine cover and later wowed in a pink and purple mini dress embellished with sequin floral detailing She later changed into a plunging plum coloured satin slip dress for the magazine's cover photo. The star's platinum blonde locks were crimped into a glossy hairdo, she added a slick of striking make-up. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 35, who plays Huntress in the film, wowed in an orange ruffled asymmetrical dress on the cover later changing into a teal coloured satin midi dress. Jurnee Smollett-Bell, 33, who plays Black Canary, wore a simple blue plunging dress for the magazine cover and later wowed in a pink and purple mini dress embellished with sequin floral detailing. Wow: While Rosie Perez, 55, looked sensational in a plunging red wrap dress and later wowed in an off-the-shoulder black sequinned gown While Rosie Perez, 55, who plays Renee Montoya, looked sensational in a plunging red wrap dress and later wowed in an off-the-shoulder black sequinned gown. Birds of Prey sees Harley Quinn (Robbie), Black Canary (Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Perez) team up to protect young Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). The new movie hits theatres on February 7, 2020 and Margot will reprise her role in The Suicide Squad sequel later in the summer. See the full feature in the January Digital Issue of GLAMOUR UK available online now. Advertisement Airport lounges are often exclusively reserved for first and business class flyers. But the Qantas International Lounge at London Heathrow Airport, which opened in November 2017, is open to all travellers willing to pay $104 (55) - even if they are not flying with the Australian airline. The price tag gives access to the luxurious lounge which boasts a gin bar, a cocktail bar, a Rockpool-inspired menu, hot and cold buffets, bedrooms, bathrooms, showers and plush sofas spread across two levels. The Qantas International Lounge at London Heathrow Airport, which opened in November 2017, is open to all travellers willing to pay 55 ($104) - even if they are not flying with the Australian airline. Pictured: The lounge's cocktail bar The lounge is designed like a London private members club such as Soho House or Annabel's. The Gin Bar has a range of Australian gins such as Green Ant and Four Pillar while cocktail bar upstairs serves drinks designed by Rockpool mixologists with views of the airfield. Since the lounge is open from 8.30am to 8.30pm, brunch, lunch and dinner are all available depending on the time of day one is using the lounge. The hefty price tag gives access to a luxurious lounge with a gin bar, a cocktail bar, a Rockpool-inspired menu, hot and cold buffets, bedrooms, bathrooms, showers and plush sofas spread across two levels. Pictured: The lounge area with the cocktail bar in the background Poll Would you pay $104 to use the Qantas London Lounge? Yes, I would No, I would not Would you pay $104 to use the Qantas London Lounge? Yes, I would 207 votes No, I would not 70 votes Now share your opinion Available from 9.30am, brunch options include eggs benedict, quinoa bowls, smoked salmon, roasted field mushrooms and herbed bruschetta. Lunch begins at 1pm and is comprised of hot and cold buffets. The hot buffet is comprised of soup, curries and dahl dishes, which were popular among travellers. Meanwhile, a cold buffet of sandwiches, salads, cakes, fruit and British classics like scones with jam and cream is available downstairs. At 6pm, the Rockpool-inspired a la carte dinner service begins with favourites such as salt and pepper squid, buffalo mozzarella, steak and chips, a club sandwich and pavlova. In addition, there is an all-day barista service and various refreshments and snacks available all the time. Since the lounge is open from 8.30am to 8.30pm, brunch, lunch and dinner are all available depending on the time of day one is using the lounge. Pictured: The dining area and the Australian gin bar Available from 9.30am, brunch options include eggs benedict, quinoa bowls, smoked salmon, roasted field mushrooms and herbed bruschetta. Pictured: A quinoa bowl with a poached egg, avocado, kale and feta cheese For those travelling on business, there is 24 hour wifi and various business facilities including flexible work spaces and workstations. There are six shower suites and for those looking to refresh and several bedrooms for weary travellers who need to have a nap between flights. The Qantas London Lounge was formerly reserved to those flying first or business class but this change in mid-2019 when the payment scheme was introduced. Although the $100 price tag is not cheap, some travellers on long-haul flights may find the lounge worth it given the numerous high-quality facilities and services. While royal fans have no way of knowing what kind of discussions have been going on behind closed doors about Prince Harry and Meghan Markles planned exit from the royal family, many have wondered if Queen Elizabeth attempted to convince the couple to change their mind. Her supportive statement included a little clue that hints she hoped theyd have a change of heart. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Karwai Tang/WireImage Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a big announcement Prince Harry and Meghan Markles announcement about taking a step back indicated they had discussed things with the queen first. In part, they shared on Instagram: After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. They further noted how they plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. The couple shared that they would continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. The queens initial reaction pointed to complicated issues Queen Elizabeth released a statement in response to the Sussexes announcement that noted how complicated things were and called for a special meeting to discuss the issue. The queen shared: Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through. The queen offered her support, but wished she didnt have to Following a meeting with Prince Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles to discuss the Sussexes plan to leave royal life, the queen issued a new statement, offering her support, but noting that she hoped for a different outcome. The queens statement shared: Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghans desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family, the statement continued. The queen further shared a transition period, explaining: Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK. She added: These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days. Did the queen try to change their minds? According to Katie Nicholl, writing in an article for Vanity Fair, Sources close to the Sussexes say the couple had already made up their minds about their future before the so called Sandringham Summit. Nicholl shared that, according to a separate royal source, the Queen and her immediate family were hoping that the couple might reconsider their dramatic decision to step down. She continued: They did not and instead the Queen issued an unprecedented statement after yesterdays family meeting saying that she and the family would have preferred Harry and Meghan to stay as full time royals. According to yet another source, its believed that the queen and the senior royals went into the talks hoping to convince Harry that he and Meghan are a very vital and much needed and loved part of the family,. No one wants to see the family break up like this, but Meghan and Harry seem quite determined to press ahead with their plans to split and become financially independent and do their own thing. Democratic presidential hopefuls former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) participate of the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Biden: It Was a Mistake to Trust Bush on Iraq War Former Vice President said that it was a mistake to trust the President George W. Bush administration on whether they were going to war with Iraq. Biden, 77, was a senator and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2002 when he voted in favor of a resolution that authorized Bush to use military force against Iraq. Speaking to lawmakers before the vote, Biden said that failure to overwhelmingly support the resolution was likely to enhance the prospects that war will occur. He voiced support for the invasion of Iraq for years until saying, for the first time in 2005, that the vote was a mistake. Asked about the situation during the Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 14, Biden said: It was a mistake to trust they werent going to war. They said they werent going to war. After the war started, Biden said, I was in a position of making the case that it was a big, big mistake. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 78, who has repeatedly criticized Biden over his vote for the resolution, said of Bush and Bushs Vice President Dick Cheney: I thought they were lying. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe did things differently, he added. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who served in the military, later said he gained crucial experience during that time. There are enlisted people that I serve with barely old enough to remember those votes, he said. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), left, speaks as former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg participates during the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) The next president is going to be confronted with national security challenges different in scope and in kind from anything weve seen before, he added, citing climate security challenges as an example. Buttigieg said that people in charge would need to draw on experience, adding: For me, those lessons of the past are personal. Biden later said that he would leave small numbers of troops in the Middle East to deal with ISIS, the terror group. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said shed also leave troops in the Middle East, criticizing President Donald Trump for withdrawing troops from Syria late last year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said shed withdraw all troops from the Middle East. We have to stop this mindset that we can do everything with combat troops, she said. Us keeping combat troops there arent helping. Also on the debate stage was billionaire Tom Steyer. The rest of the field includes entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), ex-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.). There are four debates in early voting states. The next debate is to take place on Feb. 7 in Manchester, New Hampshire, followed by another in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 19 and another in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 25. A $6 billion budget deficit presents a quandary for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He wants to get things done without breaking the bank, but that can be difficult to do without raising taxes or cutting existing spending. His control of public authorities, however, gives him significant leeway to pursue the policies he outlined in his Jan. 8 State of the State without making the deficit worse. The governor has tasked public authorities with overseeing policy agenda items big and small, including a $300 million effort to redevelop the Erie Canal, various projects totaling tens of millions of dollars that aim to increase New Yorkers reliance on green energy and the $14 million redevelopment of a ski lodge in the North Country. The extent to which public authorities will allow the governor to keep costs off the state budget will be more clear once he unveils his state spending plan before a Jan. 21 deadline. However, it is already obvious that his current plans for public authorities amount to a significant chunk of spending. An important feature of public authorities is the fact that they can often spend money that is not included in the state budget, even if the bill falls on the general public one way or another. Public authorities give a lot of leeway and have different levels of connection to the state budget, said David Friedfel, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission. It's important that taxpayers particularly when it (concerns) taxpayer dollars, whether it be through assessments on their electrical bill, or directly through the state budget have a clear sense of how much money is being allocated to these authorities and how much they're spending. Cuomo is looking for the New York Power Authority, for example, to raise $300 million over five years through its bonding authority to pay for the redevelopment of the Erie Canal, which became a subsidiary of the authority in 2017. The governor has asked the board overseeing the authority, whose members he nominates, to approve that funding at its January meeting months before the state budget would be approved. Considering that the canal is already a drain on the authoritys finances, it is unlikely that it would ever generate the money to pay back the bonds, according to McMahon, even if the project does accomplish its goals to boost tourism, mitigate flooding and otherwise enhance the areas around it. However, by pursuing the project through the authority, Cuomo will be able to move a policy priority without widening the deficit for the fiscal year that begins April 1. Public authorities like the New York Power Authority and the New York Energy and Research Development Authority are quasi-government agencies whose leaders are appointed by the governor but otherwise function much like private companies. They are also intended to be largely self-supporting. NYSERDA gets funding from electrical rate payers and energy auctions. The power authority can issue bonds and pay them off by selling electricity. While governors from both parties have leaned on public authorities to fund their priorities in recent decades, Cuomo has asserted his control over authorities like NYSERDA and the power authority to a much greater extent than his predecessors, according to E.J. McMahon, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy. Hes dropped any idea of quasi-independence from them, McMahon said. Thats what he does. State lawmakers would be able to weigh in on one big ticket item on Cuomos environmental agenda a $3 billion environmental bond to fight climate change by restoring habitats and mitigating flood dangers if voters end up approving it. And other items that Cuomo is pursuing fall more squarely under his executive authority. This includes a number of initiatives that would be overseen by NYSERDA: $100 million in investments from the Green Bank to promote the manufacturing of electric vehicles, $30 million in funding for building retrofits, and $5 million in consulting assistance to help local communities transition to clean energy. There are also the unspecified costs of additional efforts to promote solar, wind and energy storage projects. Meanwhile, the power authority will provide an initial investment to provide charging stations for electric vehicles in areas where little demand is expected at first. Cuomo is making political hay from other public authorities as well. The Olympic Regional Development Authority is pursuing a $14 million project to rebuild a ski lodge in the North Country. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is involved in an effort to expand Penn Station in Manhattan. While this effort will likely cost billions of dollars by the time it gets done, it would not require an amendment to the MTA capital plan that was recently approved by its board. Instead, Empire State Development which oversees the New York State Urban Development Corporation and the New York Job Development Authority will oversee the project on behalf of the MTA and Amtrak. The project would be funded by commercial development in the area and payments in lieu of taxes, city money that would go to the state because of the loss of property tax revenue from the project, according to a press release from the governors office. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the reliance the governor has placed on public authorities this year is in line with past practice. Everything you just mentioned is well within the wheelhouses of the relevant agencies and are extensions of tasks theyve performed for years, he told City & State. It would be unusual to not have these projects undertaken by these authorities. The upcoming budget plan will show how all of these ideas translate to actual dollars and cents. Some initiatives will require bonds. Others will come from revenue streams to public authorities that come from outside the normal budget process. If the budget plan ends up showing that Cuomo is turning toward public authorities more this year than before, it would help him achieve one of his top goals for the 2020 legislative session getting a deal on a balanced budget without raising taxes. Correction: The payments in lieu of taxes to fund the Penn Station expansion would come from the city. The source of the money was incorrect in an earlier version of this story. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to make a state visit to Britain in early 2020, in what will be their first overseas visit since Naruhito acceded to the throne in May last year. "Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress will stay at Windsor Castle," said a statement from Buckingham Palace. The visit is planned for spring, the statement said. It will be a rare overseas trip by Masako, who did not go on many visits with Naruhito while crown princess due to her recovery from a stress-induced illness. "The relationship between our country's imperial family and Britain's royal family has played an important role in fostering strong ties between both of our countries," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. "In line with this spirit, the emperor and the empress have received an invitation to visit," he said, adding that plans were under way for the imperial couple to visit during the April-June period. Britain's exit from the European Union, due to take place on Jan 31, has concerned some Japanese investors and major companies that were encouraged by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to use the country as a launchpad into Europe. Elizabeth has hosted two previous state visits from Japan: Naruhito's father Emperor Akihito - who became the first Japanese monarch in two centuries to abdicate when he stepped down in favor of his son last year - made a state visit in 1998 and Emperor Showa (Hirohito) made a state visit in 1971. Voucher tenants must leave south Kansas City apartment complex after landlord's contract terminated KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nearly 100 tenants who receive federal housing assistance must move out of a south Kansas City apartment complex because the Housing Authority of Kansas City, Mo., said the owner refuses to maintain minimum living standards. Some tenants are worried about finding another place to live. Sad story about local living space and the dearth of affordable options for seniors and the vast majority of this broke-ass town. take a look: IMAGE: Russian President Vladimir Putin with head of the Federal Taxation Service Mikhail Mishustin, who has been named as the country's new prime minister by him, in Sochi. Photograph: Sputnik/Alexey Nikolskiy/Kremlin via/Reuters Russian Prime Minister Dmitri A Medvedev and his cabinet resigned on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his hold on power for many years. Putin invited Russian Federal Tax Service head Mikhail Mishustin to become the country's new PM and the latter accepted the offer. 'President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Mikhail Mishustin and invited him to take the prime minister's post. Having the consent, he submitted Mishustin's candidacy for the post of the prime minister to the State Duma for consideration,' said the Kremlin in a statement. In a statement issued by the Russian news agency Tass, Medvedev linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Putin, New York Times reported. Putin, who under current law must step down in 2024, proposed amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the State Council, which currently carries little weight. Putin and Medvedev had done something similar in 2008 allowing Putin to remain in charge. Medvedev was elected President. Putin became prime minister, though he remained the real power in the government, and he returned to the presidency in 2012, when Medvedev became the Prime Minister. On January 10, the government officially notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, against which (and against its companion measures, NPR and NCR) spontaneous protests have erupted in practically all parts of the country, but it is in no position to lower its guard, such is the quality of the most salient challenge that has presented itself before Prime Minister Narendra Modis government in its six years. The protests are far from abating although they are no longer in the volatile form in which they were first seen in Assam, and later at Jamia Millia Islamia and other parts of Delhi and UP. The government countered this with hubris, with home minister Amit Shah making it a point to reiterate daily that the CAA will not be modified, leave alone rescinded. While defending CAA, ministers and others seldom refrain from referring to Pakistan. They seek to link the protests to our western neighbour through a sleight of hand. The whole thing is laughable, but it has serious communal intent. The effort of the establishment seems to be to show that it is the minority communities alone that are protesting, and not normal Indians. This is belied by what we see every day. But its not clear what would have been amiss if this had indeed affected only minority interests? In a democracy, unlike a theocracy, are the minorities expected not to voice their concerns? In the case of the CAA, it has been constitutionally challenged most recently by the Kerala government in the Supreme Court. This is an important avenue of protest. Another example of the continuing nature of the peoples unhappiness with a law that raises a question mark on the government changing the criteria for citizenship is the decision by Jamia Millia Islamia to file an FIR against the Delhi police for unleashing wanton violence against its students after illegally entering the campus on December 15. The protests against CAA and other measures were a spontaneous outburst of anger by Indias young people, more so the university community, that was met with savage repression by the government. For that reason, its hard to see the peoples challenge dying down easily. The Opposition parties came into the picture afterwards. Their participation was important. It took the form of more than a dozen state governments saying they would oppose the three measures that have disturbed the countrys composure. Even Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, whose party helped pass the CAA in Parliament, has announced his opposition to the NRC-NPR. On Monday, the Congress and its UPA partners, besides the Left parties, sat in conclave under the leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to deliberate on how to coordinate and take the protests forward amid the economic downturn and stagflation. That some well-known regional parties, who otherwise oppose the CAA, did not attend the meeting can be little comfort to the Centre. An overdose death at George Hill Correctional Facility points to the need for more consistent approach to treating incarcerated people in addiction. Read more On Christmas Day, five women incarcerated in Delaware Countys George W. Hill Correctional Facility overdosed on heroin, one fatally. According to The Inquirer, the teenage son of one of the women brought the heroin with him to holiday visitation hours. The GEO Group that operates the facility the only privately operated county jail in Pennsylvania said in a statement that the jail provides rigorous treatment programs to treat addiction. Addiction experts consider the use for medications like methadone and buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder the gold standard. The medications bind to the same brain receptors that heroin and fentanyl does to prevent craving. There are decades of evidence showing that these medications are more effective than detox and abstinence in preventing relapse. George W. Hill is one of the many jails and prisons in Pennsylvania that does not offer these medications. They do use a medication called Naltrexone (brand name Vivitrol), an injection that shuts down the receptor for a month instead of binding to it. Naltrexone has the least evidence to support its effectiveness and requires multiple days of detox to initiate treatment. In George W. Hill, only people incarcerated for more than 90 days are eligible. The average stay in the jail is 42 days. READ MORE: Bucks County DA: Opioid statistics dont tell full story of progress | Opinion Lawsuits on behalf of individuals who were forced to discontinue their addiction treatment due to incarceration in Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, and Washington resulted in judges ordering correctional facilities to provide methadone and buprenorphine. The crux of the lawsuits: Forced withdrawal is a cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the George W. Hill facilitys approach is not unique. The larger problem is the wide variation in the availability of medications to treat opioid use disorder across Pennsylvanias county jails. Bucks County jail, for example, offers only naltrexone, like George W. Hill. Montgomery County jail offers all medications only for people who were on active treatment prior to their incarceration. The state prison system which is completely separate from each of the county jails also offers all medications for those who are already treated, but only naltrexone before release to the community for those who are not. Philadelphia Countys jails and the Camden County Jail both continue and initiate treatment using medications for those who need it. County and state administrators say they are planning to expand their medication program. Last year, Maryland lawmakers required county jails and state-run detention facilities to screen for opioid use disorder and provide all three medications. Pennsylvania should consider similar legislation. The benefits could reduce overdose deaths statewide. Since 2016, Rhode Island started screening all people incarcerated for opioid use disorder and made all three medications available. The program reduced overdoses after release from incarceration by 61% a decrease so large that it amounted to a 12% reduction in the states overall overdose deaths. READ MORE: Camden County Jail launches medication-assisted drug treatment program for inmates READ MORE: Philadelphia womens prison tries bold move to save lives: Give inmates a treatment opioid One of the greatest challenges of the opioid use disorder is to engage people in treatment. For some addicted individuals, the only contact they have with formal systems is through incarceration. Jails and prisons can provide a critical role by initiating effective treatment it is also the pragmatic thing to do to reduce the demand for smuggled drugs. 2019 Queens Award winner Language Insight have announced that they have appointed Federica Meacci as their new Strategic Director in order to continue their rapid rate of growth and expansion. Federica will join the team at Language Insight at the end of January 2020 and will be based at their London office. Federica previously worked at Language Connect as their Operations Director, where she spent over 7 years building up her knowledge and expertise in the translation industry, she also has over 4 years of experience as an Italian translator and interpreter. We are delighted that Federica is joining Language Insight. She brings a wealth of experience which we feel will strengthen our position within the translation industry. We are excited for 2020 and gearing up for another period of strong growth, says Managing Director Donna Twose. As Language Insights Strategic Director, Federica will be responsible for all strategic operations across the business incorporating project management teams, translation teams, as well as other support functions, streamlining processes in a continuance of pursuing added value and service delivery for all clients across the board. I am really excited to join Language Insight, which not only is a market leader in translation services, but is also a company with committed and ambitious professionals that have created a fun, stimulating and family-like environment, says Federica Meacci. Language Insight are positive that their new Strategic Director will help them continue their strong international growth, which has grown by 230% over the past three years, which means that international trade now makes up over 49% of Language Insights turnover. Federica adds: I am delighted to have the opportunity to steer the company through the next phase of growth, which will see new verticals and a more diversified offering, as well as extended coverage. I am looking forward to bringing my 10 years of experience in the language industry and in Market Research, and work with the whole team to create a roadmap that provides our clients with the very best language services and experience. Language Insight are hopeful that 2020 will be another year of continuous growth, and are excited for their new Strategic Director to start her new journey with them later this month. If you would like to know more about Language Insight and their language services, please visit their website: https://www.languageinsight.com. About Language Insight: Language Insight is one of the UKs most trusted language services partners specialising in transcription, translation and interpreting for a wide range of sectors and industries. With over 10 years experience, Language Insight are committed to providing their clients with high-quality language services. In 2019, Language Insight was honoured with The Queens Award for Enterprise for International Trade which is one of the most prestigious awards that can be bestowed on any UK business. They are also one of very few Language Service Providers to have 3 ISO accreditations for Quality Assurance (ISO 9001), Information Security (ISO 27001) and Translation Services Management (ISO 17100). Find out more at https://www.languageinsight.com/. Address: Language Insight Head Office 1 The Crossroads Business Park, Freckleton Street, Kirkham, Preston, Lancashire PR4 2SH Phone Number: 01772 252 333 Email: info@languageinsight.com Press Contact: Rebecca Twose Marketing Executive Though the Sundance Film Festivals 2020 edition is over, acquisitions are still underway. Some are the hottest films arrived at the festival with distribution already in hand. IndieWire has compiled all of the acquisitions so far and will continue to update the list as the festival unfolds and more buys come in. Netflix, which dominated this years Oscar nominations, is the distributor that came to the festival with the most titles including the high-profile Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana from director Lana Wilson and Sundance regular Dee Rees latest effort, the Anne Hathaway-starring The Last Thing He Wanted. More from IndieWire Heres everything thats been picked up, with more to unfold in the coming days. Title: Surge Section: World Cinema Dramatic Competition Buyer: FilmRise Aneil Karias feature directorial debut stars Ben Whishaw as a man who, over the course of 24 hours in London, goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation. Whishaw earned a special jury award for acting for his role. Title: Wander Darkly Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Buyer: Lionsgate Tara Mieles drama follows a couple (Sienna Miller and Diego Luna) who, after a tragic accident, are forced into a disorienting and surreal journey of reliving fond recollections and reckoning with the overwhelming truths of their present circumstances. Title: The Dissident Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: Briarcliff Entertainment Oscar-winner Bryan Fogel (Icarus) directs a film that unearths secrets surrounding the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia. Briarcliff is planning a theatrical and VOD release in late 2020 to coincide with the two-year anniversary of Khashoggis government-ordered murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Story continues Title: Tesla Section: Premieres Buyer: IFC Films Ethan Hawke stars as inventor Nikola Tesla in a film directed by Michael Almereyda that follows Teslas contentious relationship with Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan). Title: Possessor Section: World Cinema Dramatic Competition Buyer: Neon Brandon Cronenbergs sci-fi thriller follows an agent working for a secretive organization that uses brain implants to inhabit other peoples bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients. The cast includes Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Title: Relic Section: Midnight Buyer: IFC Midnight For her debut feature, Natalie Erika James directs Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, and Robyn Nevin in a haunted-house movie where the environment is as frightening as the terror of facing a deteriorating loved one. Title: Epicentro Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition Buyer: Kino Lorber Hubert Saupers exploration of contemporary perspectives from Cuba illustrates how the island nation is partially frozen in time in the post-colonial era. Title: Time Section: US Documentary Competition Buyer: Amazon Garrett Bradleys documentary centers around Fox Rich and her quest to get her husband out of prison while raising her family. It uses a combination of new footage and diary-style home videos from Rich to paint a poetic portrait of the effects of incarceration on one family. Title: Spaceship Earth Section: US Documentary Competition Buyer: Neon Matt Wolfs documentary uses archive material and new interviews with biospherians, some of the people who in 1991 built an enormous replica of Earths ecosystem called called Biosphere 2. Title: The Glorias Section: Premieres Buyer: LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions Writer-director Julie Taymor (Frida, Across the Universe) offers a non-tradition biopic on feminist icon Gloria Steinem with a cast playing the journalist and activist at four different points in her life: the youngest Gloria is played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong (It Chapter Two), teenage Gloria by Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation), young adult Gloria by Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), and the 40-plus Gloria by Julianne Moore. The cast is rounded out by Bette Midler as Womens Movement leader Bella Abzug and Janelle Monae as Ms. magazine co-founder Dorothy Pitman Hughes Title: Save Yourselves! Section: US Dramatic Competition Buyer: Bleecker Street From writer-directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, a story about a hip Brooklyn couple (John Reynolds and Sunita Mani) who seek refuge from technology during a weeklong trip to an isolated cabin, where they are shielded from knowledge of an alien attack. Title: Shirley Section: US Dramatic Competition Buyer: Neon Josephine Deckers film follows a young couple who move in with author Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) and find themselves in the midst of drama that inspires Jacksons next novel. Title: Kajillionaire Section: Premieres Buyer: Focus Features Produced by Plan B and Annapurna, writer/director Miranda Julys first film since 2011s The Future centers on a family of con artists (Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins) whove spent 26 years training their only daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) to grift at every opportunity. But when a charming stranger (Gina Rodriguez) enters their fray, Old Dolios (Wood) world is shaken. Title: Sylvies Love Section: US Dramatic Competition Buyer: Amazon Writer-director Eugene Ashes film follows an aspiring TV producer and a musician whose paths cross once again years after they share a summer romance. Theyre forced to choose what matters most. Title: The 40-Year-Old Version Section: US Dramatic Competition Buyer: Netflix Writer-director-producer Radha Blanks feature debut follows a down-on-her-luck New York playwright (Blank) who decides to salvage her artistic voice by becoming a rapper and recording a mixtape at age 40. Title: Assassins Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: Magnolia Pictures In Malaysia, the strange murder of North Korean royal family member Kim Jong-nam sets off a global investigation. At the center of the story, two women are on trial for the murder. Are they assassins or pawns in a political game? Title: Siempre, Luis Section: Special Events Buyer: HBO First-time filmmaker John James film is an inspiring portrait of Luis A. Miranda, Jr., a Puerto Rican migrant who helped shape New York politics for over three decades. Title: The Fight Section: US Documentary Competition Buyer: Magnolia Pictures and Topic Studios Elyse Steinberg, Joshua Kriegman, and Eli Despres look at a team of ACLU lawyers battling President Donald Trumps policies such as the so-called Muslim ban. Title: I Carry You With Me Section: NEXT Buyer: Sony Pictures Classics and Stage 6 Films After falling for a man and consequently being forbidden from seeing his son, a Mexican chef crosses the border to advance his career with the promise he will return in this gay love story from Jesus Camp director Heidi Ewing. Title: Identifying Features (Sin Senas Particulares) Section: World Dramatic Competition Buyer: Kino Lorber Fernanda Valadez feature debut follows a mothers journey as she searches for her son who disappeared en route to the US border. Title: Boys State Section: US Documentary Competition Buyer: Apple, with theatrical release from A24 Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, who produced the Moss-directed North Dakota oil fields documentary The Overnighters together (with Moss directing), offers a look at a one session of a long-running youth leadership program centered around mock elections and subsequent governing. Title: The Truffle Hunters Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition Buyer: Sony Pictures Classics Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaws unusual story of elderly men in the Italian forests of Northern Italy on a quest to find the white Alba truffle. Title: Herself Section: Premieres Buyer: Amazon Studios Mama Mia! director Phyllida Lloyds Irish drama follows a woman who rebuilds a future away from her abusive ex-husband by constructing her dream house. Title: Uncle Frank Section: Premieres Buyer: Amazon Studios Alan Ball, screenwriter of American Beauty, directs this 1970s-set road movie starring Sophia Lillis and Paul Bettany. Title: Ironbark Section: Premieres Buyer: Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions Ironbark tells the true-life story of British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is tasked by his country to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, working with British intelligence agent Dickie Franks (Angus Wright) and Emily Brosnahans Emily Donovan. Title: The Night House Section: Midnight Buyer: Searchlight Pictures Rebecca Hall stars as a widow who begins to uncover her recently deceased husbands disturbing secrets. Title: Palm Springs Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Buyer: Neon/Hulu, around $15 million After carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg) and reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated after they are unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other. Sambergs enough of a familiar face to make this accessible comedy appeal to buyers seeking lighthearted material. Title: His House Section: Midnight Buyer: Netflix Remi Weekes film focuses on a young refugee couple who, after their escape from war-torn Sudan, struggle to adjust to a small town in England that has an evil lurking beneath the surface. Title: Mucho Mucho Amor Section: U.S. Documentary Competition Buyer: Netflix Directors Cristina Costantini (Science Fair) and Kareem Tabsch (The Last Resort) explore the story of Walter Mercado, the iconic Puerto Rican astrologer who was watched daily by 120 million people, including his sudden disappearance from public life in 2007. Title: Charm City Kings Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Buyer: Sony Pictures Classics Inspired by Lotfy Nathans 2013 documentary of the same name, Angel Manuel Sotos narrative take follows 14-year-old Mouse (Jahi DiAllo Winston, The Upside) in his bid to join Baltimores Midnight Clique, a group of dirtbike riders who rule the streets. Midnights leader, Blax (Meek Mill, in his feature film debut) takes the teenager under his wing and Mouse finds himself torn between a straight life and one filled with money and violence. The screenplay is by Sherman Payne, with a story by Chris Boyd, Kirk Sullivan, and Moonlight writer-director Barry Jenkins. SPC announced it acquired the film in December and plans to release it in select theaters April 10 before a wide release the following week. Title: Never Rarely Sometimes Always Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Buyer: Focus Features Pastels Adele Romanski, who produced 2017 Best Picture winner Moonlight, was among the producers of this intimate portrait of two teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania. The pair make a trek across state lines to New York after one of them unintentionally becomes pregnant. Riley Keough and Taylour Paige appear in Zola by Janicza Bravo, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Anna Kooris.All photos are copyrighted and may be used by press only for the purpose of news or editorial coverage of Sundance Institute programs. Photos must be accompanied by a credit to the photographer and/or 'Courtesy of Sundance Institute.' Unauthorized use, alteration, reproduction or sale of logos and/or photos is strictly prohibited. Zola Title: Zola Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Buyer: A24 Director Janicza Bravo (Lemon) returns to Sundance with a film adaptation of an infamous 148-tweet Twitter thread. The film tells the story of two women (Taylour Paige and Riley Keough) who bond over their hoeism and embark on an ill-fated trip from Detroit to Florida. Title: Crip Camp Section: U.S. Documentary Competition Buyer: Netflix Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrechts film explores a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers that helped ignite a landmark movement. Title: Dick Johnson Is Dead Section: U.S. Documentary Competition Buyer: Netflix Kirsten Johnsons inventive portrait seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever using the tools of her trade and her familys dark humor to stage fantasies of death and beyond as part of a familys reckoning with death. Title: Welcome to Chechnya Section: U.S. Documentary Competition Buyer: HBO Director David Frances investigation into a group of activists risking peril to confront anti-LGBTQ policies in Chechnya uses unfettered access and protection of subjects anonymity to help expose an under-reported atrocity. Title: Into the Deep Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition Buyer: Netflix What started as a documentary of amateur inventor Peter Madsen turned into something else after Madsen murdered Kim Wall aboard his homemade submarine. Downhill Downhill Title: Downhill Section: Premieres Buyer: Fox Searchlight Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell star in this English-language remake of the Force Majeure. Like the Swedish original, directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Way, Way Back) explore one couples marital tension after barely escaping an avalanche during a ski vacation. Title: Dream Horse Section: Premieres Buyer: Bleecker Street Toni Collette stars as a cleaner who, along with a bartender (Damian Lewis) decide on a whim to breed a race horse in their Welsh village. As the horse rises through the ranks, Jan and her community are pitted against the racing elite in the film from Welsh director Euros Lyn. Title: The Last Thing He Wanted Section: Premieres Buyer: Netflix Dee Rees (Mudbound) directs Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, and Ben Affleck in an adaptation by the Joan Didion book of the same name. The film follows a Washington, D.C. journalist who finds herself wrapped up in the very story shes trying to break. Title: Lost Girls Section: Premieres Buyer: Netflix Based on a true story, the first narrative film from documentarian Liz Garbus (The Fourth Estate) centers around a womans (Amy Ryan) quest to find her missing daughter in a tony Long Island community. Her search brings her attention to over a dozen murdered sex workers. Title: Promising Young Woman Section: Premieres Buyer: Focus Features Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, and Connie Britton star in Killing Eve showrunner Emerald Fennells look into the life of a, yes, promising young woman whose life is turned upside down. That leads her to live a double life by night and right the wrongs of the past in this revenge thriller. Title: Sergio Section: Premieres Buyer: Netflix After directing the 2009 documentary of the same name, Greg Barker delivers a scripted take on the story of top UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, whose life hangs in the balance during a treacherous mission following the US invasion of Iraq. Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, Garret Dillahunt, Will Dalton, Bradley Whitford, and Brian F. OByrne star in the film with a screenplay from Dallas Buyers Club Oscar winner Craig Borten. Wendy Title: Wendy Section: Premieres Buyer: Fox Searchlight In a re-imagining of Peter Pan from Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin, Wendy is lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued and she must fight to save her family, freedom, and the spirit of youth from the peril of growing up. Title: The Go-Gos Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: Showtime From Alison Ellwood (American Jihad), an examination of the first all-female band to play their instruments, write their songs, and have a No. 1 album featuring candid testimonies from band members and others. Title: Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: HBO Documentary Films Known for his work on behind-the-scenes documentaries, director Laurent Bouzereau turns his lens to the story of Natalie Wood, who drowned in 1981, with a focus on the unique perspective of Woods daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and others who knew the Rebel Without a Cause actress. Title: Miss Americana Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: Netflix After Tiller Emmy winner Lana Wilson directs an inside look at a transformational period in Taylor Swifts life as she learns to embrace her role as songwriter and performer and harnessing the full power of her voice as a woman. Title: Rebuilding Paradise Section: Documentary Premieres Buyer: National Geographic Documentary Films From director Ron Howard, the documentary unfolds during the year after the most destructive wildfire in California history as the people of the town of Paradise rebuild their lives. Title: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Section: Kids Buyer: Disney+ Tom McCarthy, director of Best Picture-winner Spotlight, turns to family fare with an adaptation of the kids book by the same name. The film follows Timmy Failure and his 1,500-pound polar bear partner as they operate a Portland detective agency. Launch Gallery: Sundance 2020 Lineup Gallery: New Films From Festival Favorites and Many More Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're a real cowboy (or girl), keep June 11 open on your calendar and grab your Stetson. The "Urban Cowboy" Reunion Tour is on its way to the San Antonio area. Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee and the Urban Cowboy Band are stopping in New Braunfels on June 11 at the Brauntex Theatre. Gilley's official social media pages have been announcing new show dates, including the New Braunfels stop. Gilley and Lee provided much of the soundtrack for the 1980 phenomenon starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. Both musicians are featured throughout the club scenes in the film. Songs like "Lookin' for Love" and "Stand by Me" set the scene of the love story between Bud, played by Travolta, and Sissy, played by Winger, that twists and turns on the Texas-sized dancefloor at Gilley's night club in Pasadena. RELATED: Bars across San Antonio will open as early as 6 a.m. for these offshoot 'Cowboy Breakfast' events The June 11 stop in New Braunfels will be just a few days after the 40th anniversary of the movie's June 6, 1980 release date. Gilley and Lee often tour the country together. The Gilley's website says his shows are "full of stories, music and tender moments." "You just never know what Gilley is going to say and do and the audience loves it," the Gilley's website touts. "They dance in the aisles, sing along, and laugh with Gilley." Tickets have not been released, but if you "got smarts real good," you should keep an eye on the Brauntex Theatre Facebook page for upcoming information. Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:45:33|Editor: yan Video Player Close KIEV, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the situation in east Ukraine during a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said a statement on the Ukrainian president's official website Wednesday. Zelensky thanked Merkel for her active participation in the Normandy Four summit held in Paris on Dec. 9 and for supporting Ukraine in the process of conflict resolution in the east. The head of the state also said that Kiev is currently working on drafting new lists for the potential held person exchange. The president expressed concern about the failure to comply with agreements to ensure a "complete silence" in Donbas, adding that Ukrainian side will actively work to promote additional measures for a complete and comprehensive ceasefire at the next consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. Zelensky noted that the Ukrainian side has already identified a list of three additional sites for troop pullback which should be implemented shortly. Merkel praised Ukraine's efforts to build peace in the east of the country and reassured that Germany would continue to support Ukraine. Mechanical problems that plagued NY Waterway this month could be abating after a big boat that was on the sidelines is scheduled to return to service Wednesday. The Betsy Ross, one of NY Waterways largest ferries, is scheduled to return to service Wednesday afternoon, said Pat Smith, a spokesman. That eases schedule changes and the use of some smaller vessels that affected the commute between Monmouth County and New York. The 400-passenger ferry that normally operates on the Belford-New York City route was sidelined for warranty work that was scheduled to be completed during the holidays when commuter traffic is lower, Smith said. Six days of work were lost due to the holiday and stringent (federal) labor rules" that contractor mechanics had to adhere to, said Charles Patricolo, NY Waterway vice president in a Jan. 13 letter to commuters. NY Waterway used several smaller vessels and some chartered ferries to help supplement the Betsy Ross being out of service. What has happened to NYWaterway? Ferries are not running on time. Please update app with correct timings!! #nywaterway Alison Cairns (@AlisonCairns4) January 12, 2020 Other commuters complained that some Hudson River ferries didnt run on regular rush hour schedules and that the company didnt issue an alert to warn commuters. A 7:50 a.m. ferry between Hoboken and New York was a no-show on Monday and Tuesday. Smith attributed the problem on the Hoboken to World Financial Center route to a last-minute issue with a vessel that forced service frequency to be cut from two to one boat. He said there wasnt time to send out an alert and the problem was quickly resolved. This weeks issue comes on the heels of what NY Waterway President and founder Arthur E. Imperatore called a spate of bad luck that taxed the ferry fleet and hampered operations last week. In addition to the Betsy Ross being out of service, up to four ferries were sent to an off-site shipyard for engine work and other vessels had mechanical issues. NY Waterway rented vessels and resumed a normal schedule late last week. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters If the only constant in life is change, Gov. Cuomo hopes to carry that expression out in a new version of the New York state flag. They would be the first changes in 138 years. The Democrat & Chronicle reports that Cuomo would like to redesign the flag for the first time since 1882. He would like to add the Latin phrase, e pluribus unum" to the flag, which is an expression the governor has plastered on NYC subway stops and airports, train stations, and rest stops in Upstate New York. E Pluribus Unum is the other sign:the concept was originally that we form a country & open the doors. Out of many, we form one.#2ndAveSubway pic.twitter.com/ZhYPgl0Qg9 Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 1, 2017 The phrase translates to out of many, one and the governor is making the case that its addition would deliver a powerful, unifying message at a time when the nation is sharply divided. In this term of turmoil, let New York state remind the nation of who we are, Cuomo said during his State of the State Address. Lets add E Pluribus Unum to the seal of our state and proclaim at this time the simple truth that without unity, we are nothing. The proposed changes to the New York state flag seal. Screenshot from State of the State YouTube video. Rich Azzopardi, Cuomos senior adviser, confirmed the governor wants to change the seal and also the coat of arms and the flag. According to the New York State Library, the present flag is a modern version of a Revolutionary War flag. The first version of the official seal included an image of a sun rising over the mountains. Over the years an official coat of arms was added to the seal, and four other changes were made. In the seals current design, figures on either side of the shield within the Great Seal represent Liberty and Justice. On a banner below is the State motto, Excelsior, which means Ever Upward. The proposed changes would add E Pluribus Unum to the banner below Excelsior, however, changes will only come if Cuomo gets other lawmakers support. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, Oswego County, said the state has bigger issues to worry about. There are $6.1 billion more important things to be focused on, Barclay told Democrat & Chronicle. Read more Gov. Cuomos 2020 vision of NY poster lacks clarity for some Walsh: Cuomo support for Syracuse STEAM high school a big win for city Cuomo proposes $3 billion bond act for NYs environment Love Island star Edyn 'Mac' Mackney is no stranger to setting pulses racing with her skimpy bikini snaps. And on Tuesday, the reality star was up to her old tricks when she posted a scantily-clad snap of herself on Instagram. The blonde beauty posed on her kneels in the swimsuit, while soaking up the sun in the shallows of a pristine beach. Oh, my! Love Island star Edyn 'Mac' Mackney, 23, (pictured) flaunted her ample assets in a skimpy pink bikini as she posed suggestively in the shallows of a beach on Tuesday Edyn wore her blonded tresses out, while bringing her hand up to her hair looking as if she's going to run her fingers through her luscious mane. The reality star appeared to be promoting a skin care brand with the racy snap, calling the brand one of her favourites. Edyn recently celebrated her one-year anniversary with former Bachelorette star Apollo Jackson, with the pair getting together after their run on the shows. 'Love doing life with you': Edyn and Bachelorette star Apollo Jackson celebrated their one-year anniversary last month, sharing a cutesy snap together Taking to Instagram last month, Edyn shared a snap of the pair celebrating the milestone moment while out for dinner. She captioned the post: 'We have no idea when our actual anniversary is but decided to celebrate last night.' Before adding: 'God damn I love doing life with you Apollo. Happy one year! Bring on 2020, so many adventures ahead.' 'Just clicked': Edyn told WHO back in January that the couple began dating in December 2018 after starting out as friends For their night out, the reality star wore a black mini dress with sheer sleeves with high heel wedges, while Apollo, whose real name is Jake Spence, wore an open button-up shirt and ripped jeans. While the two happily embraced as they posed for the photo, the stars have not had an easy year. In July, Apollo returned to work as a sales assistant on the Gold Coast, after admitting he was struggling to find work as a magician. Struggles: While the two happily embraced as they posed for the photo, the stars have not had an easy year. In July, Apollo returned to work as a sales assistant on the Gold Coast, after admitting he was struggling to find work as a magician Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Apollo said that he's glad he now has a job to 'help pay the bills', as he tries to become a full-time entertainer. 'This year was quite hard to get a job, I think after New Year's there's always a lot of people vying for work as well,' Apollo said. 'I'd just put a bunch of time and money into starting a stage show which I was really excited about unfortunately it didn't work out.' Claim to fame: Apollo appeared on The Bachelorette in 2017 with Sophie Monk (pictured) Apollo said at the time that his grandmother was dying, so he wanted to spend as much time as her while he could. Edyn told WHO back in January that they began dating in December 2018 after starting out as friends. 'We started to hang out more and more, we just clicked,' she said. The President of Albania, Ilir Meta, has vetoed a proposed law that would stifle online media following the pressure from the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania (APJA), who denounced the bill as "authoritarian". The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) welcomed the decision, stressing that anti-defamation laws must not be used as tools to restrain press freedom. The proposed amendments to the Law on Audiovisual Media and the Law on Electronic Communications would have granted new government bodies such as the Albanian Media Authority (AMA) and Albanian Communication and Postal Authorities (AKEP), the power to instantly block media websites and impose excessive fines for any violations of dignity and privacy. It would have also introduced mandatory registration requirements for online media. According to news reports, President Meta feared that Albania would become more authoritarian and would violate the Albanian constitution if the proposed package of reforms was passed. Parliament can now either accept the decree and restart the process to amend the law, or it can reject the project with a simple majority. The President's refusal to approve the package was due in large part to the work of the APJA and international pressure. On December 10, 2019, the IFJ backed the APJA in its call to reject the proposed amendments. Other international organizations issued a joint call to Prime Minister Edi Rama to withdraw the bill and restart the process with the assistance of the Council of Europe in Tirana. The APJA announced it will keep monitoring the process: We repeat our deep concerns about this censorship package and encourage again Prime Minister Edi Rama to withdraw this initiative. Self-regulation is the only democratic option for independent media, supported by the relevant international bodies in Albania. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: We welcome the veto of the President of the anti-defamation package which would have put media freedom at serious risk. We urge the parliament to consider the APJA's views when drafting further laws affecting media activity. One after another, Star Wars movies have flopped in China, defying efforts to bring one of the most successful franchises in history into a market that has printed money for the heroes, monsters and robots of other films. Avengers: Endgame made more in its 2019 opening weekend in China than all the Star Wars premieres combined. Why? You could think of it as an accident of history. The New York Times Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Wednesday (January 15) granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in case related to violence during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests at Delhi's Daryaganj on December 20. Azad was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly inciting people during a protest against the new legislation on December 20. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau granted bail to the Bhim Army chief with some strict conditions. The court has restrained Azad from remaining in Delhi for four weeks and to not hold any 'dharna' (protest) until February 16. Azad was granted relief by the court on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000. The court ordered that Azad should be taken back to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh but allowed him to visit Delhi's Jama Masjid within 24 hours to pay obeisance. While granting bail to Azad, Additional Sessions Judge Lau said that special circumstances call for special conditions. The court has also said that Azad cannot visit Shaheen Bagh where anti-CAA protests have been going on for over a month now. Live TV During the hearing on Azad's bail plea, his lawyer Mahmood Pracha told the court that the Bhim Army chief faces threats in UP. The court also ruled that Azad will have to appear before an SHO in Saharanpur every Saturday till a chargesheet is filed by Delhi in this case. During the hearing, court also reprimanded Azad and said that he should "respect institutions and the prime minister". Azad was arrested by Delhi Police after he had called for an anti-CAA protest march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar without police permission. Other 15 people arrested in the case were granted bail on January 9. This month, Market Street, east of 10th Street, will become free of private cars the first step of several planned to redesign San Franciscos dramatic eastern boulevard. Its been part of the city since its earliest days, when city surveyor Jasper OFarrell added the diagonal line to his map in 1847. OFarrell made the street 40 feet wider than New Yorks grandest promenade, Broadway, Margot Patterson Doss reported in her column, making Market Street an ideal place for public celebrations and demonstrations. While the annual Pride celebrations, war protests and anti-nuclear demonstrations, and celebratory parades for the Warriors, Giants and 49ers are fresh in our memories, Market Street has been the stage for large public rallies and demonstrations for more than a century. A search through The Chronicles archives turned up long-lost stories and photos of Market Street serving as San Franciscos public square. There were major celebrations in the 19th century to welcome visiting Presidents Rutherford Hayes and Benjamin Harrison. At Kearney and Market, thousands had congregated, the April 26, 1891, Chronicle reported on Harrisons visit. As the Presidents carriage arrived, it could barely make its way. It was surrounded by a living wall. In 1908, the Great White Fleet the U.S. Navy battleships traveling around the world arrived in San Francisco, and the celebration included a well-attended parade down Market Street. A huge crowd, estimated at 500,000, watched 8,000 sailors and Marines land at the Ferry Building and then march down Market Street to the Civic Center. It was a continuous parade by water and land from the battleships to Van Ness Avenue, without a hitch, The Chronicle reported. Certainly one of the most emotional celebrations on Market Street occurred April 22, 1919, when, nearly six months after Armistice Day, the troops from the 363rd Infantry and 347th Artillery units, which included many San Francisco citizens, returned from serving on the front in France. Chronicle reporter Dudley Barrows described the emotional reunion: A great intake of breath on the part of half a million lungs a mental girding up of every faculty of triumphant expression, and then the human deluge! In the twinkling of an eye, San Francisco with one prolonged and thunderous sob of praise to God and pride, joy, and frenzy charged down on her returning soldier boys and enfolded them in her ample bosom. Traffic on Market has been an issue for more than 100 years, and San Francisco has considered banning vehicles from the street before. On July 20, 1916, The Chronicle ran an editorial supporting a jitney bus ban from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Police were also called upon to establish lanes for pedestrians crossing Market Street. At last the mere pedestrian is recognized as having rights, The Chronicle wrote. No longer is he to feel that he is embarking on a perilous adventure and taking his life in his own feet every time he dares cross from one side to the other of the main thoroughfare. At least not from 10:30 to 4:00. Last month, Chronicle writer John King made an archive discovery of his own: a downtown plan from 1963, with a succinct and thoroughly convincing case for why cars should be banned from Market Street. But amid resistance from business groups and the mayor himself, the plan was apparently scrapped. But the reasons for doing so back then, King found, were extremely similar to the decision that will change Market Street this month. The Chronicle 1919 More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond. More from The Chronicle Not Your Century: 1919 the Boston Molasses Flood. Our San Francisco: Forget the Golden Gate Bridge, here are Bay Area locals treasured landmarks. Downtown skyline changes: See the Transamerica Pyramid rise amid rancor. FDR discovery: 80-year-old, long-buried photos of presidents Bay Area visit. From the Archive is a weekly column by Bill Van Niekerken, the library director of The Chronicle, exploring the depths of the newspapers archive. Its part of Chronicle Vault, a twice-weekly newsletter highlighting more than 150 years of San Francisco stories. It is edited by Taylor Kate Brown, The Chronicles newsletter editor. Sign up for the newsletter here, and follow Chronicle Vault on Instagram. Contact Bill at bvanniekerken@sfchronicle.com and Taylor at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com. Description GIS 15 January, 2020: A three-day workshop focusing on the importance of health-related detrimental effects linked to alcohol consumption, kicked-off this morning at the seat of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Port Louis. The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, was present at the opening ceremony. Medical officers, specialised nurses, nursing officers, specialised healthcare assistants in health promotion, healthcare assistants and community healthcare officers are attending. These participants will be trained and empowered to sensitise the population at community level and work sites as well as students of secondary schools to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. In his address, Minister Jagutpal spoke of the alarming rate of alcohol-attributable ill-effects worldwide and indicated that alcohol consumption contributes to three million deaths each year globally as well as to disabilities and poor health conditions of millions of people. Although only half of the global population drinks alcohol, he said, it has been identified as the worlds third leading cause of ill health and premature death among those aged between 15 to 49 years old. On this score, Dr Jagutpal pointed out that the World Health Organisation has identified alcohol as the causal factor to more than 200 diseases and injury conditions. Speaking on the statistics for Mauritius, the Minister of Health stated that as per the Non-Communicable Disease survey 2015, 52.8% of the Mauritian population, representing 41.0% of women and 66.2% of men, consume alcohol on a regular basis. Mauritius, he further underlined, has an alcohol dependency rate of alcohol drinks of 1.9% against 1.5% across African countries. In 2018, 143 individuals died due to alcohol overconsumption in Mauritius, he further highlighted. As per the figures of the Mauritius Police Force, he added, one third of road fatalities in Mauritius is due to alcohol consumption. Dr Jagutpal also spoke of the strong link between alcohol abuse and criminal offences and domestic violence. With regards to alcohol consumption and the youth, he underscored that the Global Student Health Survey 2011 revealed that 72.6% of adolescents had their first drink before the age 14 years old with clear denotations of the easy access of alcoholic beverage to minors. Moreover, the Minister highlighted that the introduction of various measures such as the zero-tolerance drink driving policy launched in 2018 has yielded beneficial results in terms of regulating the use of alcohol. A National Action Plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol 2020-2024 is in the pipeline, Minister Jagutpal announced. This document will be viewed as a backbone to the implementation of community-based interventions and counter measures to tackle alcohol health issues, he pointed out. CASEVILLE The Caseville City Council passed an ordinance Monday that allows medical marijuana establishments to set up in the city. The ordinance passed with a 5-1 vote, with council member Todd Talaski the dissenting vote. As part of the ordinance, no more than two provisioning centers and no more than three secure transporters will be authorized in Caseville. The city council will review the maximum number of each type marijuana facility allowed and determine if that number should change. Facilities in Caseville can only be operated by a state operating license holder and can only be operated for as long as that license is in effect. Sale times would be allowed seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. No merchandise or product pictures can be displayed in windows or anywhere they may be seen from a public sidewalk adjacent to the establishment. An amendment was added to the ordinance prohibiting all forms of electronic signage or lighting that is viewable from a public sidewalk. Facilities must be 1,000 feet away from any schools and 300 feet away from any churches. Licenses issued by the city are valid for one year and need to be renewed at least 30 days prior to expiration. Violations of the ordinance are classified as misdemeanors, with first violations being a fine between $100 and $500 or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both, and a second or subsequent violation being a fine between $250 and $500 or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both. The city of Caseville reserves the right to amend or repeal the ordinance in any way. Caseville city Clerk Jamie Learman said that once the ordinance is published, the city can start accepting applications for medical marijuana stores in 20 days. The council also voted 5-1 to set the fee for medical marijuana store applications at $5,000, with Talaski again being the vote against. Public comments about the ordinance ranged from how this was a good step forward for the city, to someone saying how they did not want to be part of a progressive society, to asking if this ordinance is too restrictive, as there are no provisions for waivers regarding distance and there a lot of churches in downtown Caseville. Learman said there are many possible sites in the southern part of Caseville, past the Caseville Family Arena and an old Little Caesars. Council member Darin Sprague also said the ordinance can be amended to add waivers if necessary and that only eight percent of properties in Caseville can possibly house a medical marijuana store. The council also passed two other ordinances at this weeks meeting, one about fireworks and another about signage in the city, both by 6-0 votes. The signage ordinance allows tourist-oriented directional signs within the city, with the city being the recipient for any tourist-oriented directional signs after approval from the Michigan Department of Transportation. The city street administrator is in charge of approving or rejecting the placement of such signs. A sign installation fee shall also be paid by the applicant among application submission. The fireworks ordinance is an addition to the weapons & explosives chapter of the citys general offenses code. It limits the use of fireworks in Caseville to New Years Eve, the Saturday and Sunday preceding Memorial Day, June 29th to July 4th, July 5th if that day is a Friday or Saturday, and the Saturday and Sunday preceding Labor Day. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has said he was in favour of inscribing the image of Goddess Lakshmi on banknotes which could "improve the condition of the Indian currency". Swamy was speaking to reporters on Tuesday night after addressing a lecture series titled 'Swami Vivekananda Vyakhyanmala' in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district. Responding to a question about the picture of Lord Ganesha printed on the Indonesian currency, Swamy said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi can answer this question. I am in favour (of this). Lord Ganesha removes obstacles. I rather say that a picture of Goddess Lakshmi (on currency notes) may improve the condition of Indian currency. Nobody should feel bad about this." Swamy said there was nothing objectionable in the Citizenship [Amendment] Act. "The Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had requested this (CAA). Manmohan Singh had also requested in Parliament in 2003. We did it. Now they are not accepting it saying that we did injustice to Pakistan's Muslims. What injustice was done? Pakistan's Muslims don't want to come, we can't force them," Swamy said. Earlier, while delivering the lectures, Swamy said DNA of Muslims and Hindus is same like that of Brahmins and Dalits. Swamy claimed the BJP would soon introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which he said had been repeatedly directed by the supreme court in the past 70 years and by Article 44 of the Constitution. Expressing concerns over the rising population, Swamy said India would leave China behind by 2025 as the most populous nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Minister Backs Army Chief's Statement on Reclaiming Pakistan-Controlled Kashmir Sputnik News 14:33 14.01.2020 New Delhi (Sputnik): Relations between India and Pakistan have traditionally been tense over competing claims to parts of the Kashmir region since both nations gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Indian parliament passed a resolution in 1994 staking a claim over the whole of Jammu and Kashmir. India's Deputy Minister of Defence on Tuesday backed a recent statement by the country's Army Chief saying the armed forces would take steps to reclaim Pakistan-controlled Kashmir if it received orders from the government to do so. Deputy Minister of Defence Shripad Naik supported Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane's first statement to the media after assuming charge of his office on 31 December 2019. "That is their (army's) zeal. His (General Naravane's) statement is not inappropriate. The government will give due consideration to this thought," the ANI news agency quoted Minister Naik as saying. General Naravane had said that Indian security forces were ready to take appropriate action to gain control over the Pakistani side of Kashmir. His statement came five months after India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said he expected India to gain physical control over the Pakistan-administered part of the Kashmir region one day. "There is a parliamentary resolution that the entirety of Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India. If Parliament wants it, then that area (Pakistan administered Kashmir) also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we'll take appropriate action," General Naravane told media in New Delhi on 11 January. "The Line of Control (LoC), the military-controlled de-facto border that separates India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, is very active and the Indian armed forces assess all intelligence alerts related to that part of the country very seriously," Naravane said. The Pakistan government is yet to react officially to General Naravane's statement, though the Information Minister of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir Mushtaq Minhas responded with a "We are waiting" tweet. Historically tense relations between India and Pakistan, which both control Kashmir partially but claim it in full, hit a new low last summer when New Delhi revoked the seven-decades-old temporary special autonomous status accorded to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019. The state is now divided into two federally administered territories, which Islamabad describes as a blatant violation of the 1972 Simla Agreement and the UN Conventions of 1948 and 1949. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address (Newser) A New York City neighborhood was rocked Monday when an off-duty Secret Service agent fatally shot a dog wearing a leash. A couple was walking the female Belgian shepherd in Brooklyn's Windsor Terrace residential area when they encountered the unidentified agent around 9:45pm, per the New York Daily News. "The dog charged him," so "he let one round go," police rep Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell tells the New York Times, noting the agent reported the shooting and remained at the scene while police arrived. While the Secret Service described "an unrestrained and aggressive canine," the owner had a slightly different take, per the Daily News: "She scared a cop who was walking home," he said of his dog. "He shot her and she's dead." story continues below Seeing the dog's body on the sidewalk "was pretty horrifying, especially since so many of the onlookers were walking their dogs when they stumbled onto the scene," a witness tells the Times. But "the hardest part was watching the owner grieve." She notes police "seemed to be looking to de-escalate the situation and pacify the owner" as "no one was getting arrested or questioned." A law enforcement official tells the Times that the owner wasn't holding the leash and wasn't even in sight when the shooting occurred. The Daily News reports the shooting occurred at a corner. Still, residents were alarmed. "I can't think of any dog that is so menacing that I feel I would need to have a firearm to protect myself," a man who manages a nearby stable tells the Times. (Read more shooting stories.) -The winners of the first edition held in Malaysia will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector. -The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Syafa Mustaffa and Aresha Suraya, of the International Islamic University Malaysia, winners of the first edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Malaysia, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. All activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the Barcelona Center of Design; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. Recent announcements in Chad and Malaysia offer interesting examples of ways to encourage the take-up of, in Chads case, the internet, and, in Malaysias case, digital transactions. For Chad the approach is a simple one. As part of the Finance Act 2020 that came into effect on 1 January, the government has removed the 18 per cent excise duty incurred by telecommunication service providers in the country. This has prompted authorities, via the Agency for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP), to lobby service providers to reduce their rates for internet services. This in turn has resulted in a reduction in the cost of internet access, with operators Airtel and Tigo slashing the prices of their data plans. This is a significant move in a country where mobile broadband has limited penetration and internet usage is very low. However, internet costs (including handset purchase) are still likely to be out of reach for many Chadians. Meanwhile, according to Reuters, Malaysia is about to hand out somewhere in the region of $110 million to nearly half of its citizens, in a drive to increase digital transactions. The money will be distributed through Southeast Asian e-wallet operators Grab, Boost and Touch 'n Go. Every Malaysian aged 18 years and above and earning less than 100,000 ringgit a year an estimated 15 million people will be eligible to receive a one-time shopping handout of 30 ringgit through one of the e-wallets (100 ringgit is equivalent to about $24.5). The 30 ringgit must be spent between 15 January and 14 March. While digital payment is certainly growing in the country (by about 10.8 percent annually, according to one estimate), it will be interesting to see whether growth accelerates after this handout comes into effect. BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Sachs has successfully completed 86% of the consumer relief required of it under its 2016 settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and three states as of December 18, 2019, according to the January 15 report by the Independent Monitor of the settlements, Professor Eric D. Green. According to Professor Green, Goldman Sachs is continuing to make steady progress towards fulfilling its obligation to provide $1.8 billion in consumer relief under those settlements. It is the Monitor's thirteenth report since the April 11, 2016 settlement. According to Professor Green, in the 19 weeks covered by the most recent report, through December 18, 2019 Goldman Sachs forgave the balances due on 792 first lien mortgages, representing total principal forgiveness of $78,946,811 and an average first lien principal forgiveness of $99,680. Total reportable credits amounted to $78,830,630 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. The modified mortgages are spread across 42 states and the District of Columbia, with 48% of the credit located in the three settling states and 49% of the credit in Hardest Hit Areas (census tracts identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as containing large concentrations of distressed properties and foreclosure activities). Goldman Sachs also forgave amounts due on unsecured debt and loans secured by liens junior to second liens on 68 loans for a total forgiveness of $6,249,331, an average of $91,902, and a total reportable credit of $2,482,058 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. The loans are located in 15 states, with 40% of the associated credit in the three Settling States and 68% of the credit in Hardest Hit Areas. The consumer relief provided in the most recent period brings the total relief provided by Goldman Sachs to $1,547,327,585 the Monitor said in the report. "Thus, some three years and ten months after the Settlement Agreements were signed, Goldman Sachs appears to be approximately 86% toward completing its Consumer Relief obligations," Professor Green said in the report, which again noted data suggesting Goldman Sachs has now exceeded the minimum amount of credit that must be earned in each of the three settling states of California, Illinois, and New York. Goldman Sachs' two settlement agreements resolved potential claims regarding the marketing, structuring, arrangement, underwriting, issuance and sale of mortgage-based securities. Besides the Department of Justice, California, Illinois and New York, Goldman Sachs reached settlements with the National Credit Union Administration Board and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Des Moines. Under the settlements, Goldman Sachs agreed to provide a total of $5.06 billion, including consumer-relief valued at $1.8 billion to be distributed by the end of January 2021. Professor Green, a professional mediator and retired Boston University law professor, was named by the settling parties as independent Monitor with responsibility for determining whether Goldman Sachs fulfills its consumer-relief obligations. He has assembled a team of finance, accounting and legal professionals to assist in the task. The report is available at the Monitor's website at: http://goldmansachs.mortgagesettlementmonitor.com . The website provides further details about the settlement, plus contact information for Goldman Sachs, the Department of Justice, the Attorneys General of California, Illinois and New York, and agencies that provide legal or tax advice to consumers. The Monitor's mailing address is: Monitor of the Goldman Sachs Mortgage Settlement, P.O. Box 10310, Dublin, OH 43017-5910, and the e-mail address is [email protected] . SOURCE Monitor: Eric D. Green An Alabama couple was scheduled to fly home Tuesday along with their sons body, nearly two weeks after the child care worker at Yongsan Garrison died during open-heart surgery at a South Korean hospital. An autopsy confirmed that Gregory Allen, 31, died from pulmonary embolism on Jan. 2 after arriving Dec. 30 at Soon Chun Hyang University hospital in Seoul in a disoriented state, according to his parents. Gregory Allen was a child and youth program assistant at the Child Development Center on Yongsan, a sprawling Army base in Seoul that is in the process of being closed. He was much loved by the children, their parents and his co-workers, who became alarmed when he failed to show up for work on Dec. 30. Leroy and Margie Allen, of Madison, flew to Seoul as soon as they heard their son had fallen ill, but they struggled for days to retrieve the body from the hospital after he died, leaving a $24,000 bill for his care. Leroy Allen said hospital officials refused to release the body until the bill had been paid. The hospital denied the body was held for payment, blaming bureaucratic issues for the delay. We do not want the circumstances that we had to endure by the hospital demanding money at 3 a.m. to happen to any other soldiers, civilians, family members and contractors still serving at Yongsan military installation in Seoul, Leroy Allen said Tuesday. A friend started a GoFundMe page that raised more than $10,000 to help the family. The Department of Defense mortuary affairs team collected the body last week and an autopsy was performed at Camp Humphreys, the new U.S. military headquarters base south of Seoul. A funeral has been scheduled for Saturday in Gregory Allens hometown of Ferriday, La. Written by The Stars and Stripes and distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Over the past year, San Francisco lawmakers have called for universal mental health care and free Muni for all. The newest push? Free dental care for every San Franciscan. Supervisor Dean Preston the boards newest member said at Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting that he asked the Budget and Legislative Analyst office to explore the costs and feasibility of providing free dental care in the city. Not surprisingly, poor oral health continues to disproportionately affect low-income people, vulnerable communities, and the already undeserved, Preston said in a statement. As lawmakers both national and local have focused on universal health care, there has been little conversation around dental care in particular. The citys health care program, Healthy San Francisco, does not provide dental or vision care. There are limited resources located in the Bay Area that provide free or reduced-cost services, according to the programs website. The range of services and costs vary depending on an individuals income and the clinics policies. Those covered under Healthy San Francisco can get dental services at a few clinics operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. But the program does not pay for or reimburse the cost of dental services. Bad or missing teeth can interfere with efforts to get a decent job, and in a city with rampant income inequality, it is the responsibility of our city government to do all we can to ensure that all San Franciscans have a shot at a healthy, productive life, Preston said. Trisha Thadani Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani Myanmar State Counselor Aung Sang Suu Kyi speaks during a meeting with citizens as part of the 68th Kayah State Day anniversary events in Loikaw, capital of eastern Myanmar's Kayah state, Jan. 15, 2020. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with ethnic Karenni youth in eastern Kayah state Wednesday to discuss local grievances there, the latest step to shore up her ruling National League for Democracys relations with ethnic groups as the party faces year-end elections. The visit, and a trip on Jan. 10 to Kachin state, follows the formation last September of a new committee dedicated to engaging with and promoting relations with ethnic political parties in the multiethnic country that has seen decades of internal warfare. Aung San Suu Kyis travel comes as her government grapples with a sputtering peace process marked by ongoing hostilities between national forces and rebel ethnic armies in its far-flung regions, producing hundreds of thousands of displaced villagers. She had made forging peace and creating a democratic federal union the primary goals of her administration after winning elections in 2015. It also comes as the government faces genocide-related lawsuits in three international courts, including the U.N.s top court, the International Court of Justice. The ICJ will issue a decision on Jan. 23 on a request filed by Gambia to order provisional measures to prevent further violence against Rohingya Muslims, more than 740,000 of whom were driven into exile in Bangladesh in 2017. During a 20-minute meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Loikaw, the Kayah state capital, seven Karenni representatives asked the state counselor to intervene in an issue involving confiscated farmland and arrested farmers and to remove a controversial statue of her father, General Aung San, from a public park in Loikaw. We discussed our concerns only briefly, said Khun Thomas, joint secretary of the Union of Karenni State Youth. She said all of our concerns would be recorded, but she didnt make any decisions. The youth leaders agreed to hold negotiations with representatives from the state government, Union government, Karenni youth groups, and ethnic civil society organizations to try to resolve by peaceful means the disagreement over the General Aung San equestrian statue erected in February 2019, said Karenni youth leader Khu Reeral. The state counselor also assigned the ethnic affairs minister to implement the negotiation mechanisms, he said. The ethnic affairs minister said his ministry is working to implement them as soon as possible. Many ethnic minorities oppose the erection of the statues in their states because Aung San, a hero in the countrys fight for independence from British rule, came from the ethnic Bamar (Burman) majority that dominates the country, and because they believe that the current government should focus on achieving equal rights for them. Six young Karennis who demanded the removal of the statue and openly criticized Kayah state government authorities over the handling of the issue were sentenced in November 2019 to six months in prison with hard labor. The Karenni youth representatives also asked Aung San Suu Kyi to look into lawsuits filed by Myanmars army against 40 farmers from two state townships, charged with trespassing, damaging public property, and destroying military fences. Eleven of them are currently in prison. Ban Yar, director of a Karenni human rights group who participated in the meeting with the state counselor, said that although the meeting was brief, it presented a good opportunity to discuss pressing local issues with her. We think it was a good opportunity that seven of us from youth groups and farmers were allowed to meet with her and talk about our concerns, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. For the farmers, the [government] could create a mechanism to handle their problems with land grabs, he said. But there are still many issues to talk over. It will take time. Committee to promote ethnic engagement The NLDs new Ethnic Affairs Committee consists of chairman Nhtung Hka Naw Sam, a lower house lawmaker from Kachin state, and 15 members from other states and regions. Tin Myo Win, chair of Myanmars Peace Commission, serves as one of two committee vice chairmen along with Karen state Chief Minister Nan Khin Htwe Myint. Nhtung Hka Naw Sam said the committee will mediate issues such as those concerning the erection of General Aung San statues in ethnic states rather than getting involved in armed conflicts in ethnic areas. We have been criticized that we are weak in dealing with ethnic political parties after winning the 2015 election and forming the government, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told RFA in late December. Thats why weve formed a separate committee to promote engagement. This is a required process in the path we are taking, he said. This new committee will help facilitate understanding and cooperation with ethnic political parties. Tun Aung Kyaw, former secretary of the Arakan National Party (ANP) and current member of the partys Policy Committee, said the NLD has not forged good relations with the dominant ethnic parties in Rakhine and Shan states. The NLD doesnt have good relations with either the SNLD [Shan Nationalities League for Democracy] or the ANP, two ethnic parties that won the most seats in their respective states [in the 2015 elections], he said. Thats why weve concluded that the NLD has mishandled [ethnic] issues, he said. It has especially treated ethnic political parties as if it has the upper hand. Senior SNLD leader Sai Leik said better relations will be necessary before the NLD government can forge a federal union. If it wants to build a genuine federated union in 2020, it has to have good relations with ethnic political parties, he said. This is a multiethnic country, he added. If a single major party is winning every election, then we are returning to a one-party authoritarian system. So, the NLD needs engagement with ethnic parties. No plans to negotiate Salai Kyae Oo Bi Htaung of the Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP), which represents the interests of ethnic Chin people, questioned the sincerity of the NLD governments new ethnic affairs committee. We have been listening to their statements, [and] they have said that they dont have any plans to negotiate with ethnic political parties and allies to form a coalition government, he said. Now, they are trying to engage as the next election approaches. Tu Jar, chairman of the Kachin Peoples Party (KPP), welcomed the creation of the new committee. Major parties should take ethnic peoples issues into consideration, he said. The ethnic minorities have fragile emotions due to repression, so I think the NLD is reaching out to them for engagement, and it is a positive change, he said. It is best if it continues to engage with mutual understanding and respect. But political and ethnic affairs analyst Maung Maung Soe said the NLD might be too late with its latest attempt to win over ethnic political parties. If they cannot negotiate with the ethnic parties, they will not be successful in the 2020 elections, he said. Expanding on earlier comments, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt indicated that the committee would focus on soft issues and not on improving relations in the run-up to the elections. The committee is intended to work on issues related to ethnic culture, literature, language, and affairs, he said. The committee should also work on exchanging views on what the federated union should look like. We dont intend it to improve relations with ethnic groups ahead of the upcoming elections, he said. We still have a long way to go in conceptualizing a model of a federal union suitable for Myanmar. We understand that there should be close negotiations between ethnic parties and the NLD. Aye Kyaw, executive director of the Open Myanmar Initiative, a nonpartisan NGO that monitors parliamentary activities, said matters concerning culture should be carried out at the local level. If the NLD really wants to promote ethnic culture and literature, it should do it at the grassroots level, he said. It can conduct the research on recording, collecting, and promoting ethnic culture and literature. Then, the ethnic people will be persuaded to vote for the party. Khun Bedhu, a campaign manager for the Kayan National Party (KNP), said the NLD intends to use the committee to improve relations with ethnic people as a part of its campaign endeavors for the upcoming elections. Indeed, if it really wants to nurture the literature of ethnic people, it should reform education policy to promote the teaching of ethnic languages in the schools, he said. It should change the schools to allow multilingual teaching. But the NLD government didnt change the fact that ethnic language and literature lessons are still extracurricular activities at schools, he added. It gives only meager support for these lessons. I conclude that the committee it formed is just for campaigning ahead of the elections. Rohingya men carry a child injured in an explosion on a hill near Htikehtoopauk village, Buthidaung township, in Myanmars northern Rakhine state, Jan. 7, 2020. Photo courtesy of a citizen journalist Civilian casualties climb Chief among the NLDs ethnic concerns is the ongoing armed conflict in northern Rakhine state between Myanmar forces and the Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting for greater autonomy in the region. An escalation in hostilities which began over a year ago has resulted in the displacement of more than 100,000 people as estimated by a domestic relief group, and a growing number of civilian casualties. The armed conflict has claimed about 20 causalities so far this year, with RFAs figures showing at least nine dead and 11 injured in Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Buthidaung townships in northern Rakhine and in Paletwa township in of Chin state since Jan. 5, joining dozens who were killed in 2019 in shootings, mine and artillery shell explosions, and murders by unidentified attackers. A recent report by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), a Sittwe-based organization that promotes ethnic rights and has been tallying numbers of dead and wounded, said 102 civilians had died and 252 had been injured during the past year as of Jan. 4. Fighting became intense since earlier this year, said REC secretary Zaw Zaw Tun. The number of causalities has increased due to the fighting. Children who had nothing to do with the war were among the causalities. A mine explosion near Htikehtoopauk village in Buthidaung township on Jan. 7 killed four Rohingya children aged eight to 10. Their 25-year-old teacher and five other children were severely injured and had to be hospitalized. A toddler was shot to death on Jan. 15 when a displaced family from Nyaung Kan village in Minbya township was returning home by boat. Family members and local residents blamed Myanmar soldiers for the shooting, but the army dismissed the charge. We cant say for sure who we can hold accountable and responsible or who we can file complaints with, said Myat Tun, director of the Rakhine State Human Rights Defenders Association. Human rights groups like ours have reported these issues to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission in the past, but we were told that it has to acknowledge the conclusions of the Tatmataw [Myanmar military] because its difficult to access those areas, he said. So, theres no responsibility and accountability. Some deaths have also occurred from a spillover of fighting into neighboring Chin state. On Jan. 10, a schoolteacher and two other residents of Siphalaung village in Paletwa township were killed. The same day, the Khumi Affairs Consultative Council reported on January that an AA soldier attempted to sexually assault a young woman from Paletwas Kyee Lay village, and that those who intervened in the incident were beaten. AA conducts probe The AA released video footage on Jan. 14 claiming to have conducted an investigation and finding the sexual assault accusations to be untrue, though villagers have said otherwise. We have never covered up issues of human rights violations, said AA spokesman Khine Thukha. We sent senior commanders to investigate the incident in Kyee Lay village, he said. We then addressed the issue as best we could together with the people. We will take decisive action against anyone who commits crimes. Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun has insisted that soldiers always follow the rules of engagement when it comes to war but did not answer a question about whether any action has been taken against troops who violated military rules in Rakhine state. There have been reports of Myanmar soldiers shooting civilians in villages and beating up or torturing others thought to be aiding the enemy during interrogations amid the conflict. The REC said that 337 people were arrested in 2019 on suspicion of having links to the AA, while 21 others were reported missing. The war in Rakhine state is taking place among the local population, said political analyst Maung Maung Soe. It appears to be guerrilla warfare, so fighting has occurred near villages and towns. Some shooting has been indiscriminate, he said. Its hard to avoid civilian causalities as long as the war is going on. The best way to avoid civilian causalities is to sign a cease-fire agreement. Reported by Nay Myo Htun, Phyu Phyu Khine, Wai Mar Tun, and Min Thein Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. The anticipated fireworks never went off at Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate, with all six candidates shying away from the type of direct confrontations that could shake up the results in the Iowa caucuses, now less than three weeks away. Instead, the Democrats onstage in Des Moines were content to stick with the talking points they have been making for weeks as each tried to convince voters that theyre the one who can beat President Trump in November. When a chance came to use sharp elbows on an opponent, the candidates were almost apologetic. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had sparred in recent days over a private meeting in 2018 where Sanders reportedly told Warren that he didnt believe a woman could be elected president. Asked about that meeting, Sanders quickly said he didnt want to waste time on that question, because its what Donald Trump and ... the media wants. Then he denied he ever said anything of the sort. People know Id never say that, Sanders said. How could anybody in a million years ... believe that a woman could not be president of the United States? But even when Warren made it clear that Sanders had downplayed her electability, she swiftly added that Sanders was a friend and she was not here to try to fight with Bernie. And she didnt. Warren did draw some of the loudest applause of the night when she challenged the notion that a woman couldnt beat Trump. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections, she said. The only people on this stage who have won every single election theyve been in are the women, Amy (Klobuchar) and me. Even the disagreements that have split the candidates during months of campaigning were polite and understated. When Sanders was asked again how much his plan to provide free health care for everyone in the country would cost, he continued to decline to provide numbers, saying only that it would cost far less than Americans are now paying. I think you should show how youre going to pay for things, Bernie, countered Klobuchar, a Minnesota senator. There are plenty of differences between the candidates, with Sanders, Warren and businessman Tom Steyer pushing the progressive agenda and Klobuchar, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg calling for a more moderate approach to a post-Trump future. But not everything broke along those lines. While Sanders and Steyer both said they would not support the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement because it didnt do enough to address climate change, Warren said she would vote for it when it came before the Senate. The new trade deal is a modest improvement, she said, and will help the countrys farmers and workers. We should accept that relief and ... get up the next day and begin the fight for a better trade deal. For most of the two-hour debate, the candidates were more intent on making their points and avoiding mistakes than treading any new ground. Biden, for example, continued to tie himself closely to former President Barack Obama, arguing that his experience as vice president and as a longtime leader in the Senate gave him a resume no other candidate could match. When it comes to world affairs, he said, Im prepared to compare (my record) to anybodys on the stage. Biden also said he was more than ready to deal with any mudslinging Trump might deal out in the presidential campaign. Im prepared, he said. Ive been the object of his affection more than anyone else on this stage, with the president regularly attacking him in tweets and at rallies. It was a tough night for Steyer, a billionaire businessman who has never run for office before. Asked why he would be the best person to serve as commander-in-chief, he tried to make inexperience a virtue. As a businessman who has never been in the Washington loop, Steyer said he could provide an outside perspective. ... Its time for someone from the outside to have a strategic view about what were going to do and how were going to do it. He also argued that as a businessman, he is the only candidate who could credibly challenge Trump on the economy. Buttigieg, who served as a Navy intelligence officer in Afghanistan, also said he had a unique background to put up against Trump. Not only is he from the Midwest, which is a Trump bastion, but during a presidential campaign Trump will have to stand next to a war veteran and explain how bone spurs kept him out of the war in Vietnam. The next Democratic debate is scheduled for Feb. 7 in Manchester, N.H., just days before New Hampshires Feb. 11 Democratic primary. That date could change, though, if it conflicts with the Senates upcoming impeachment trial of Trump, party officials said. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a federal securities class action has been filed on behalf of investors in 500.com Limited (500.com or the Company) (NYSE:WBAI) who purchased American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of 500.com from April 27, 2018 through December 31, 2019, inclusive (Class Period). All investors who purchased American Depositary Receipts of 500.com Limited and incurred losses are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. ## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ## On December 31, 2019, 500.com issued a press release announcing that the Company's Board of Directors (the Board) has formed a Special Investigation Committee (SIC) to internally investigate alleged illegal money transfers and the role played by consultants following the arrest of one consultant (also a former director of the Company's subsidiary in Japan) and two former consultants by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. 500.com further disclosed the resignation of Xudong Chen as Chairman of the Companys Board, effective December 30, 2019, and that the Board has accepted the request from Mr. Zhengming Pan, Director and Chief Executive Officer, to temporarily step aside from his positions, effective December 30, 2019, until the conclusion of the SICs investigation in order to ensure a thorough and fair investigation. On this news, 500.coms ADR price fell $1.08 per share, to close at $7.52 per share on January 2, 2020, the following trading day. Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or visit our website at www.whafh.com. Contact: Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP Kevin Cooper, Esq. Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis Email: gstone@whafh.com , kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774 Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. A nightclub has asked partygoers to send in their best mumps photos for a chance to win 100 of clothing vouchers. Oops Newcastle is offering the prize because a large number of mumps cases is sweeping the city. In adults, the disease can cause a range of serious conditions and can even result in potentially fatal meningitis. The competition has resulted in a series of 'before and after' pictures which most viewers have found hilarious. But the club night itself admitted it was important to be vaccinated against the disease, incidents of which have risen as a result of fewer people getting the MMR vaccine. Oops Newcastle is offering 100-worth of fashion vouchers to the winner. A number of people sent in their before and after photos (pictured) The club responded to the various photos sent to them after their request on social media Oops Newcastle posted on Sunday: 'Some of the photos I've seen of people with Mumps are mental. 'Maybe I should give out some prizes for the best mumps faces to make up for missing out on a couple of weeks of life as you've been sick?' They followed it with another which read: 'We need to do like before/after. So like a normal photo then compared to your mumps head. 'Best one I'll give you 100 voucher for like ASOS or something. And I'll do some other prizes. Seen as you have been through the wars and that.' Artur Lebed from Port Ellesmere, Cheshire had his photos sent in by a pal. The images show the 23-year-old normally, compared to a photo of his severely swollen neck and face. The competition has resulted in a series of 'before and after' pictures which most viewers have found hilarious. Kim Bussey, 24, shared images of her looking like 'Mr Potato Head' after contracting the mumps virus. Speaking today, she said: 'I can't believe I didn't win. My mum forgot to take me to my second immunisations, but I got it once my mumps went last year. 'I still suffer with sore glands, but the effect can take years to go. My memory has been affected by it too. Christmas this year gave me the look back.' Joss Walmsley, 21, from Derby also shared his snaps with the caption: 'Having the time of my life.' Speaking today, he said: 'I got it 6 months ago. I went to the doctors and firstly they said it was an ear infection, and then my mum started to get a lump on her neck. 'I went back to the doctors and I said I may have mumps, but they was reluctant to admit it was mumps, a further 2 of my friends got it! Competition winner Niamh Gunn who posted a picture of herself suffering from the ailment on social media Olivia Murphy posted a number of images of herself on social media when she was suffering from the mumps After receiving more than a thousand replies, the club conceded that people needed to get vaccinated against the mumps 'It lasted about three to four weeks. There is no cure for mumps, which I think is ridiculous how much technology and resources we have nowadays.' After receiving more than a thousand replies, the club seemed to concede to the very real threat. They posted: 'I think it's safe to say that we all need to get vaccinated against mumps so we don't look like that fat Snapchat filter.' A spokesman for Oops Newcastle, which is based at Greys Club, said: 'I just put it up for a laugh. I know it can be serious if you don't get medical treatment but everyone in Newcastle got sorted quite quickly. Another nightclub reveller got the pictured a nice snap of himself on holiday (right) and then a image of him suffering with the illness (left) Ben Plunkett posted an image of him suffering from the mumps (right) and entitled it 'let me know if you want to borrow any chins' The nightclub admitted 'I think it's safe to say that we all need to vaccinated against mumps so we don't look like that fat snapchat filter' 'I was being sent these photos by people who come to my club night and I just thought I would turn it in to a competition. It was just a joke.' Mumps is a serious illness that can have potentially life threatening complications. According to the NHS website: 'Mumps can lead to viral meningitis if the virus moves into the outer layer of the brain. 'Other complications include swelling of the testicles or ovaries (if the affected person has gone through puberty).' Mumps can be prevented through the MMR childhood vaccination, which provides 95% immunity. There is currently no cure for the disease and 2018 saw 1088 confirmed cases in England and Wales alone. A 49-year-old Cleric, Adebayo Kabiru, on Tuesday, appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates Court for allegedly defrauding one Mrs Oluwadamilola Oyesomi of N4.3 million. Kabiru, whose address was not provided, is facing a two-count charge of fraud and stealing, to which he pleaded not guilty. The Prosecutor, ASP Ben Emuerhi, told the court that the defendant committed the offences with some others still at large, in Dec. 2018 at Pen- Cinema, Agege area of Lagos. Emuerhi said that the defendant collected the money from the complainant within a space of two months to make certain sacrifices. He converted the money to his personal use and went on spending spree, but later ran away when he realised that the police were after him. The police arrested him a year later, the prosecutor said. He said that the offences contravened Sections 280(1)(a)(b) and 314(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Olufunke Sule-Amzat, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum. Sule-Amzat said that the sureties must show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State government. She, thereafter, adjourned the case till Feb. 24 for mention. NAN A federal judge Tuesday halted the House Ways and Means Committee's bid to obtain years of President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns, staying progress in that case until a ruling is made in a separate lawsuit involving former White House counsel Don McGahn. Judge Trevor McFadden's decision in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., gave new weight to McGahn's case, which has become tied up in the congressional impeachment proceedings against Trump. McFadden said in a court order that he gave his reasons for staying the case during a phone conference earlier Tuesday with lawyers for Trump and the Democrat-led House panel. At the White House's direction, McGahn had defied a subpoena issued by House Democrats as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. A federal judge in Washington ruled in November that McGahn must testify in compliance with the subpoena, and rejected the Trump administration's claim of "absolute immunity" for certain advisors. The Department of Justice appealed the case; a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments on Jan. 3. The case is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee wrote in December that McGahn's testimony is "central" to the impeachment investigation into Trump, which remains active even as the House prepares to vote to send articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday. McGahn's testimony could even potentially yield "new articles of impeachment" against Trump, those lawyers wrote. A spokeswoman for Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass, as well as spokesmen for House general counsel and the Department of Justice, did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment on McFadden's stay. Trump has refused to publicly disclose his tax returns either before or after winning the 2016 election, despite a longstanding tradition of presidential candidates and presidents doing so. A man has been accused of stealing a caravan on the bushfire ravaged New South Wales south coast. A homeowner discovered their caravan, worth about $40,000, was missing when returning to their property south of Batemans Bay on Saturday after bushfires impacted the area. Police later found the caravan, along with three chainsaws and a generator which were stored inside it, and a small amount of cannabis at a property on the Princes Highway in Mogo, NSW Police said in a statement on Wednesday. A homeowner discovered their caravan, worth about $40,000, was missing when returning to their property south of Batemans Bay on Saturday after bushfires impacted the area. Cars are seen queuing to leave Batemans Bay A 52-year-old man was charged with goods suspected stolen in/on premises and possess prohibited drug. The man was refused bail to appear at Batemans Bay Local Court later on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has used his annual state-of-the-nation speech to call for broad changes to the constitution that would strengthen parliament's powers ahead of the end of his term in 2024. In a January 15 address to Russias two-chamber parliament -- the Federal Assembly -- Putin said the countrys 1993 constitution should be amended, including giving the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament -- the right to name cabinet ministers and the prime minister, a power that currently belongs to the president. At the same time, Putin said Russia must remain a strong presidential republic, with the president retaining powers such as the right to dismiss the prime minister and cabinet ministers, as well as naming top defense and security officials. "This will increase the role and significance of the country's parliament," Putin said. "Given that the proposed reforms concern significant changes to the political system, the work of legislative, executive, and judicial authorities, I believe it is necessary to hold a plebiscite on the entire package of the proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution," Putin added without specifying any date for a vote. Russia last conducted a referendum in 1993 when it adopted the constitution under Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin. Putin also suggested tightening the requirements for becoming president, saying any future Russian president should have lived in the country for at least 25 years and have no foreign citizenship or residency. In addition, he also talked about a constitutional change that would enshrine the priority of domestic legislation over international law. The speech came with the country still under Western sanctions for its actions in Ukraine, Syria, as well as its election meddling in the United States. The sanctions have hampered the country's economic growth, leading to rising poverty rates and growing discontent highlighted by protests last summer in Moscow. Putin, 67, has dominated politics in Russia for two decades, serving as president or prime minister since 1999. In 2018, Putin was reelected to another six-year term. He will have to step down after his term ends under the current law, which limits the president to two consecutive terms. The address at Moscows Manezh exhibition hall is one of three regularly scheduled national appearances that Putin makes each year -- the others being a lavish question-and-answer session with the public and a stage-managed annual press conference. It is the 16th time Putin has delivered the address before an audience that also includes government ministers, judges from the constitutional and supreme courts, leading regional officials, and other members of the political elite. In response to public discord, Putin spelled out social-spending measures to counter Russias declining population, which he characterized as a direct threat to the countrys future, including a nationwide school hot-meal program. Putin said low incomes remain an obstacle to increasing the population, now at about 147 million, as the country faces the consequences of the post-Soviet economic collapse that led to a steep drop in the birthrate. "We need to expedite achievement to meet the large-scale social, economic, and technological challenges our country faces," he said. "Our society is clearly demonstrating a demand for change. People want development and are trying to make progress in the fields of vocation, knowledge, and well-being," Putin said. In his speech, Putin also boasted about Russian weaponry. He claimed that Russia is leading in the global arms race and no longer forced to catch up to other world powers. Army chief Gen M M Naravane on Wednesday hailed the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 as a "historic step" and said the move has disrupted plans of the "western neighbour and its proxies," in a clear reference to Pakistan. The armed forces have "zero tolerance against terrorism", he said at the 72nd Army Day function held at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment. "We have many options to counter those who promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to use them," he said. On August 5 last year, the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, both of which officially came into being on October 31. "Abrogation of Article 370 is a historic step. It will prove to be important in integrating Jammu and Kashmir in the national mainstream. This decision has disrupted the plans of our western neighbour and its proxies," the Army chief said. Gen Naravane said the country had to face some security challenges last year. "Not only it countered proxy war but also other situations. Whether it is the LoC (Line of Control) or LAC (Line of Actual Control), we have ensured security with activeness and strength," he said, adding that the situation at the northern borders (China border) is relatively peaceful. The Army chief said the situation along the LoC is linked to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. "Today, we remember those who have made ultimate sacrifice for the country. It will keep inspiring the coming generations," he said. Mentioning his visit to Siachen last week, he said he was extremely happy to see all the ranks brimming with confidence at the post. "In last few days, some of our soldiers achieved martyrdom due to avalanche. We will always remember their sacrifice," he noted. On the insurgency in the Northeast, he said the army and the Assam Rifles have worked together and "the situation has improved a lot" in the region. "And to establish peaceful atmosphere, pressure is being maintained on insurgent groups," Naravane said. Attending the Army Day parade for the first time as the Army chief, he also said the forces' "eyes are also on the future warfare" and the planned Indian Army's Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) is an important step to face challenges that may come up later. He said the army's "niche capabilities" are also being enhanced. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lt Gen K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat were also present on the occasion. It was the first time that a chief of defence staff attended the Army Day parade. Before arriving at the parade ground, the three services chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff paid homage to martyrs at the National War Memorial. Last year, the army especially focussed on the next of kin of the defence personnel so that the jawans can focus on their primary jobs, Naravane said, adding that the "next of kin of jawans will always be on our priorities". The Army showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets during the majestic parade, with artillery gun systems Dhanush and K9-Vajra taking part in it for the first time, officials said. Captain Tania Sher Gill, the first woman Parade Adjutant, led all-men contingents during the parade, drawing praise from senior officers and loud cheers from the audience, which included members of the diplomatic corps. The Army chief asserted that fast-tracked acquisitions have enhanced capabilities of the forces, as with the induction of Sig Sauer rifles, new Sniper rifles, M777 American Ultra Light Howitzers and the K-9 Vajra earlier. This year too, new weapon systems will be acquired, like AK-203 rifles and medium-range surface-to-air missiles, he added. "Rest assured that the government will fulfil all the military needs, every year. And we are going to be future-ready for contact or non-contact warfare with a focus on technological capabilities being enhanced," Naravane said. Friendly foreign countries have shown interest to partner with the Indian Army and it is engaged with 99 countries through defence cooperation. Naravane asserted that jawans and officers in the army will continue to live up to the core ethos of 'Naam, Namak, Nishan'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By PTI BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's claim that the Centre had offered him safe passage to India in exchange for his support on the abrogation of Article 370. Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, has been wanted in India for money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches. He had left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency. ALSO READ: India offered to revoke my charges in exchange for support on Article 370 abrogation, says Zakir Naik The controversial preacher had recently made a claim that a representative of the Narendra Modi government had approached him in Malaysia in September last year, and offered him safe passage to India in return for his support for the Centre's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status. Tweeting a video of Naik's claim, Digvijay Singh on Wednesday said, "The Prime Minister and the Home Minister should officially deny Dr Zakir Naik's allegations or else it will mean that 'anti-national' Dr Zakir Naik's accusation was right." Talking to reporters in Indore hours later, Singh said, "Through a video, Naik has issued a statement saying that Modi and Amit Shah had sent an emissary to him in September 2019, who told him (Naik) that if he supports the government on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, cases against him would be scrapped and he will be able to return to India." "If Zakir Naik, who has been dubbed as anti-national by Modi and Shah, has given such a statement, then they should deny it," he said. "My question is why the prime minister and home minister have not refuted Naik's charge so far," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said. Jane Wareing and Marcus Wareing lost personal items in the raid on their home (Credit: Getty Images) TV chef Marcus Wareing and his wife were left deeply upset after a criminal gang ransacked their home in a 33,000 jewellery raid. The MasterChef: The Professionals stars 5 million house in Wimbledon was targeted by a gang of burglary tourists who flew in from Chile just days before the raid. Among the items taken from Wareing - a former protege of Gordan Ramsay - was a watch engraved with the words Hells Kitchen, a gold Rolex and two Omega watches worth more than 12,000. Read more: Gordon Ramsay wants participants for new 'The Apprentice' style BBC food show Marcus Wareing was a protege of 'Hell's Kitchen' star Gordon Ramsay (Credit: Getty Images) Kingston crown court heard how the thieves smashed their way throught first-floor patio doors and raided the couples master bedroom, while the family were away at their second home in Kent in October last year. The total value of the stolen items and damage to the home was 33,711. Wareing said: We are pleased that the men have been caught and would like to thank Wimbledon police for assisting us during this time. They made us feel safe and secure again in our home and were utterly brilliant. Judge Jonathan Davies said three orange dots had been sprayed on the back fence of the Wareings home in advance of the raid, identifying it to the theives as a high-value property. Chef Marcus Wareing and his wife were away at the time of the raid (Credit: PA) The Michelin star chefs wife Jane lost jewellery including bracelets, earrings, gold chains, a 1,500 Cartier watch, a 520 pair of Christian Louboutin shoes and a treasured locket containing pictures of her father and uncle which remain unrecovered. Danko Carvajal-Donaire, 20, Claudio Donoso, 20, Nicolas Portilla Astorga, 27, and Jorge Rojas, 22, were captured a few days later on their way to another burglary. Rojas was wearing a gold pendant belonging to Mrs Wareing at the time of his arrest, and detectives found a picture of Carvajal-Donaire and Astorga posing with some of the jewellery. Read more: Anna and Gregg Wallace share heartbreaking news that they can't have more children Judge Davies sentenced all four men to three years and four months in prison, saying: No one here or abroad should be under an illusion that somehow the UK is a soft touch. Each of you came to this country with one purpose - crime. No other reason for your visit to the UK has been offered to me. The thieves have admitted being recruited totravel to the UK to carry out robberies. They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle and going equipped to steal, and are likely to be deported. Vendors at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show tackled an oft-discussed goal for municipal leaders: how communities can leverage smart city solutions to transform aging infrastructure.In 2017, the U.S. received a D+ on its infrastructure report card given by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The attached report showed the nation's cities suffered from deteriorating roads and bridges, the likes of which were "impeding our ability to compete" in the global economy and spurring job and GDP losses by the millions and trillions, respectively.Panelists at a CES session this month generally agreed that these problems could be tackled through smart initiatives pushed by public-private partnerships. At the same time, they agreed that horizontal collaboration between city agencies will also be a winning strategy for adoption.Every city I talk to none of them have money," said George Karayannis, vice president of Panasonic's CityNOW. "They all have infrastructure that generally needs to be upgraded and/or replaced," he added, highlighting the budgetary shortfalls many communities face.The model for those collaborations can be seen in CityNOW's own work: The division, which seeks to create "human-centric communities that are resilient, sustainable and digitally integrated," has partnered frequently with Denver over the last few years to implement multi-million-dollar automated vehicle and traffic programs. It also recently installed a bevy of smart street lights, sensors and solar panels in one of the city's neighborhoods and has stated it wants to turn the whole surrounding municipal area into a smart city by 2026.Creating smart city departments within administrations could be another way to advance initiatives, offered Suzanne Murtha, with global infrastructure firm AECOM. Murtha, who is president of the company's Connected and Automated Technology division, said that much like cities have transportation and sanitation departments, governments should also form smart departments, so that efforts are organized and centralized under one office.The problem is "not just the fact that communities dont have money, but the bigger opportunity that [communities are missing, which] ... is an opportunity for all those different agencies in the city to come together and find a way to fund something broad across all of them that can be impactful," Murtha said.Murtha also said cities should look into attached usage charges as a funding mechanism. Much like New York City's controversial "pay-to-drive" plan , attaching fees to infrastructure usage could prove a smart way of paying for projects."Quite often in the public sector, we disconnect payment for a service with the use of a service and so it devalues our infrastructure and the use of our infrastructure and the services we provide," she said.AECOM recently began supporting an automated bus consortium which pooled the resources of its client members to purchase as many as 100 automated buses, the likes of which will soon be used for pilot projects in various cities Karen Lightman, executive director with the Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University , said that a good case study for a community in need of smart solutions for infrastructure is the city where she lives, Pittsburgh, which is also a community that lost nearly half its population over a period of several decades and suffered from bankruptcy for years. Lightman said that while the city is now growing both its population and tax base, there is a real need for investment in physical and digital infrastructures.Tax structures to drive revenue for these projects have to be considered carefully, said Lightman, cautioning that the payment method put forward has to have citizens in mind.Panelists also admitted the process of transformation for many communities will be long term."This is a destination, not a journey," said Karayannis. "We're talking about decades and decades of investment." Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Jallikattu was held in Avaniyapuram in Madurai in which about 700 bulls and about 730 bull tamers participated. The traditional Jallikattu is part of the Pongal festival celebrations in the state. Chennai, Jan 15 (IANS) About 30 persons were injured in the bull taming sport of Jallikattu that was held in Madurai district in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, according to reports. A bull tamer has to hang on the bull's hump for some minutes in order to claim the prize that ranges between gold and silver coins, household articles, and consumer durables. Meanwhile Tamil Nadu celebrated harvest Pongal festival thanking the rain and sun gods and farm animals on the first day of Tamil month of Thai. Across the state people got up early, put on new clothes and offered special prayers at temples. At homes at the auspicious time children beating a small drum shouted 'Pongolo Pongal', 'Pongolo Pongal' when the milk started boiling over the pot as a part of preparing 'Chakarai Pongal' the special dish of the festival. In some homes conches are blown prior to the formal offering. When the milk boils over, other ingredients - rice, jaggery, Bengal gram - are added to the milk and finally ghee fried cashews, almonds and cardamom are also added. The pleasant aroma filled the homes making people salivate for the dish. The mud pot or stainless steel in which the dish is cooked is decorated by tying up ginger, turmeric, sugarcane pieces and banana at the neck. The Pongal dish is offered to the sun god as thanksgiving and eaten as 'prasad'. People exchanged greetings and Chakarai Pongal with their neighbours. The Pongal festivities take place over four days, the first day being Bhogi, which was on Tuesday, when people burn their old clothes, mats and other items. Homes are painted afresh. The second day is the main Pongal festival celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month Thai. The third day is the Mattu Pongal when bulls and cows are bathed and their horns painted and worshipped as they play an important role in farms. Women feed the birds with coloured rice and pray for the welfare of their brothers. The fourth day is the Kannum Pongal - the day to go out and meet relatives and friends, and go sightseeing. vj/kr A Chinese company plans to buy more than 100 million litres of groundwater from a community so badly hit by droughts that 50 truck loads of water have to be driven in every day. Farmers and landholders are furious that the Southern Downs Regional Council approved the controversial Chinese sell-off. Residents have been hit by harsh water restrictions and are only allowed to wash their clothes every third day and are forced to have three minute showers. The area is completely dependent an astonishing 50 truckloads of water being carted in every day from a dam 75km away. A dried up-dam at Cottonvale apple orchard (pictured), outside drought-ravaged Stanthorpe, which is in the Southern Downs region The council has told its ratepayers that new restriction translates to no more than 90 seconds of shower time using a non-water efficient shower head (pictured) Landowners said there was 'no excuse' for the lack of government opposition to the Chinese holding company's plans to guzzle the local groundwater. Cattle farmer Andrew O'Dea, whose family have worked the land for four generations, said he was 'gutted'. 'This mine is going to have a severe impact on our groundwater supplies,' he told the Australian. he said. 'There is no excuse to justify taking 96 million litres of water a year out of the aquifer. The risk is just too high.' His 8,000 hectare farm normally holds around 200 breeders, but thanks to the crippling drought there are just six. Low water levels and dry land at the Storm King Dam near Stanthorpe (pictured) has left residents rely on trucks delivering water daily An 80-litre water restriction per person per day is in place for Stanthorpe residents (an earlier and more lenient 100-litre restriction in the town in October) 'I guess its a bit of salt in the wound, having to make decisions based on a lack of water when others are trying to sell their excess,' he said. The council tightened the water restrictions last month, just one day after approving the controversial deal. It will take around 96 million litres of water a year away from the community from an aquifer beneath the Cherrabah Resort near Warwick. The water will then be transported to the Gold Coast for commercial plastic bottling. The Chinese-owned Royal Duke Holdings, operator of the Cherrabah Resort, has succeeded in winning approval for its groundwater mining venture on various conditions, including upgrading nearby roads. Grazier John Cookson feeds sheep on his family's drought affected property near Dirranbandi in southwest Queensland (pictured) as the state continues to suffer Storm King Dam, the main resource for the area's water, is at just 9.6 per cent capacity. Southern Downs Mayor Tracy Dobie told the newspaper it was not the council's job to issue and manage water-extraction licences, as this is a government matter. The 'full-time water carting' from Connolly Dam consists of 1.3 megalitres per day and Ms Dobie said the operation is the biggest of its kind by an Australian local government. The ground in Warwick, Queensland (pictured) is so dry that it is regularly falling apart under people's feet 'We've now commenced full trucking of water. There's 14 trucks doing three trips a day,' she said. 'The council promised the community we would not run out of water. 'The initial stages of water carting went extremely well and without incident. We will now move to full-time water carting to provide water to the Stanthorpe Region.' Remaining local reserves will be kept back for emergency use. Last month, Stanthorpe received 200,000 litres of water and 130 tonnes tonnes of hay bales in a huge emergency supply package from Australia's Muslim community (pictured) Despite the water importation, an 80 litres per person restriction will remain in place - four times less than the average individual water consumption of 340 litres per day according to Riverina Water. The council has told its ratepayers the restriction translates to no more than 90 seconds of shower time using a non-water efficient shower head. The desperate situation in the state's south-east was further highlighted last year when a struggling Stanthorpe farmer was robbed of 70,000 litres of drinking water by his neighbour. Andrew Todd, 61, had thieves target his Stanthorpe property in Queensland's south-east three times over five months, stealing a mass amount of water. The forces will carry out live shooting range exercises of various weaponry by naval, air, ground and air defence forces, proving the armed forces capability to secure national interests Egypts military will complete the final stage of its Qader 2020 military exercise in the coming days, a statement by the armed forces read on Friday. According to the statement, formations and units of the armed forces ground, navel, air, air defence and special forces, and commandos, are carrying out a number of training activities in all strategic directions in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. The forces will carry out live shooting range exercises of various weaponry by naval, air, ground and air defence forces, proving the armed forces capability to secure national interests and deal with all hostilities in strategic directions simultaneously. Qader 2020 comes as an affirmation on the Egyptian armed forces strength and readiness to secure the nations capabilities and wealth, where the capabilities of the armed forces saw remarkable development in the past five years, the statement concluded. Search Keywords: Short link: COLUMBIA, S.C. - Medicare for All has played a role in nearly every stage of the Democratic presidential campaign, but theres been some quibbling over how that phrase is defined. With just weeks until the first 2020 contests, several groups are organizing grassroots efforts aimed at convincing voters they should back candidates who fully support the legislation from which the phrase is derived. This week, as candidates descended on Iowa for Tuesdays debate at Drake University, U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Mark Pocan, co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, planned a Medicare for All town hall in Des Moines. That event, in conjunction with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement a progressive group whose political arm has endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president aimed to highlight how Medicare for All will help small businesses and working families, organizers said. Months ahead of the lead-off caucus votes, the group sponsored town hall meetings featuring health care policy experts from the Sanders Institute, the now-defunct think-tank started by Sanders wife and son. The signature Medicare for All health care proposal of Sanders 2016 presidential effort has in concept stood for a single-payer, government-run health care system. But the phrase has become somewhat of an umbrella term for a variety of plans to revamp and otherwise reconfigure the existing system. Sanders has often reminded debate audiences that he wrote the damn bill on Medicare for All, which remains the centerpiece of his 2020 campaign. Several other candidates, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, signed on to support the measure, although as a candidate, she has stressed using executive power to make immediate changes, like lowering prescription drug costs. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg says he backs Medicare for all who want it, and businessman Andrew Yang posited creating a government-run health insurance system but ultimately rolling out something without a public option component. In South Carolina, home to the first Southern primary, Medicare for All NOW, an advocacy group launched by former health care executive Wendell Potter, released a digital ad campaign Wednesday focused on convincing the black voters who make up most of the states Democratic electorate that they should support candidates who back the proposal. South Carolina was chosen, in part, because its one of three dozen states that havent expanded Medicaid, according to Kerri Harris, a former Senate candidate and the groups movement director. The group will be training canvassers to go into five South Carolina counties and aim to educate people in minority and low-income areas about the proposals and how they would benefit. We havent as organizations taken it to the people, Harris said. South Carolina is going to be our ground zero. Harris said her organization relies on the definition of Medicare for All as laid out in legislation, which Sanders Senate office said will create a federal universal health insurance program to provide comprehensive coverage for all Americans, including prescription drugs, and with no co-pay or deductible costs. In the coming months, organizers said the group will expand its campaign to lower-income communities in other states that also havent expanded Medicaid. Some of this effort, Harris said, has been complicated by candidates, at times, using varying definitions of Medicare for All, so clearing up misconceptions is paramount. Theres a lot of misinformation, she said. We are in communication with many campaigns, letting them know that this is the type of messaging that were using, and we are consistent with our messaging. To win over any moderates, some voters are encouraging candidates to start thinking about the general election fight ahead, when the argument for a single-payer system could potentially be harder to make. Stop talking about Medicare for All or make it a modified version, advised Lee Williams, a 69-year-old retired Navy officer who attended a recent Warren event in South Carolina and plans to back the Massachusetts senator. It isnt the people who are Democratic -- and have been -- that she needs to convince. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Turnover of trade 2021, November Published: 15 January 2020 Turnover in trade grew by 0.5 per cent in November According to Statistics Finland, turnover in total trade adjusted for working days increased by 0.5 per cent in November from November 2018. Over the same time period, the working day adjusted volume of sales, from which the impact of prices has been eliminated, increased by 1.2 per cent. Both turnover and sales volume grew in all trade industries except for wholesale trade. Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and sales volume in total trade (G), % In November, working day adjusted turnover in motor vehicle trade increased by 4.8 per cent and the volume of sales by 4.2 per cent year-on-year. In retail trade, working day adjusted turnover and sales volume both increased by slightly more than two per cent. The biggest growth among retail trade industries was seen in department store trade and daily consumer goods trade. The turnover of department store trade was 3.8 per cent and that of daily consumer goods trade 3.1 per higher than one year earlier. The volume of sales in these industries also developed favourably. In specialised store trade, turnover increased by 0.9 per cent and sales volume by 2.4 per cent. In wholesale trade, working day adjusted turnover and sales volume fell from the year before. Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and sales volume in industries of trade, November 2019, % (TOL 2008) Turnover in trade remained on level with the previous month Seasonally adjusted turnover in total trade remained in November on level with the previous month. Over the same time period, the volume of sales fell just slightly by 0.1 per cent. In October, both turnover and sales volume, in turn, decreased by around half a per cent compared to the previous month. Change in seasonally adjusted turnover and sales volume in total trade (G) from the previous month, % During January to November, turnover in total trade adjusted for working days grew by 0.9 per cent and sales volume by 0.6 per cent from the corresponding period in 2018. Trend of turnover and sales volume in total trade The calculation of indices of turnover of trade is based on the Tax Administrations data on self-assessed taxes, which are supplemented with Statistics Finlands sales inquiry. The volume index of sales is calculated by removing the effect of price changes from the value index series. The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well. The data for the latest month are preliminary and they may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months. Source: Turnover of trade, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Suvi Kiema 029 551 3509, Reetta-Maria Salokannel 029 551 3657, palvelut.suhdanne@stat.fi Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko Publication in pdf-format (289.8 kB) Updated 15.01.2020 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Turnover of trade [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-0939. November 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 11.1.2022]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/klv/2019/11/klv_2019_11_2020-01-15_tie_002_en.html The University of Mumbai (MU) has sent Yogesh Soman, director of the Academy of Theatre Arts, on compulsory leave following protests by students for his alleged derogatory remarks against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The university has also set up an inquiry committee to look into the matter. On Monday, vice-chancellor Suhas Pednekar issued a letter to the protesting students informing them that the university has set up a committee to look into the complaints filed by the students against Soman. Meanwhile, Soman has been sent on leave, according to the letter, a copy of which is with HT. Since December, students have been demanding the removal of Soman after he uploaded videos on his social media accounts, in which, he allegedly made derogatory statements against Rahul and Indira Gandhi. Somans remarks were in the context of a statement made by the Rahul about the Citizenship Amendment Act. Pednekar, in his letter, said that the inquiry committee will look into all the allegations made by students. Soman was unavailable for comments. An Afghanistan veteran is re-enlisting in the army at the age of 59 and will be joining the same unit as his son. Staff Sgt. Monte L. Gould will undergo basic combat training to rejoin the army after a 10-year hiatus. He plans to join the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion's detachment out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The former marine described his bid to reenter the army as a 'last hurrah', describing the opportunity to serve his country as a 'thrill'. Staff Sgt. Monte L. Gould (right) is re-enlisting in the army at the age of 59 and will be joining the same unit as his son Staff Sgt. Monte L. Gould will undergo basic combat training to rejoin the army after a 10-year hiatus 'If I'm lucky, I got 20 more years and then I drop dead,' he told the Army Times. 'To me, this is a last hurrah. To have the opportunity to serve again is a thrill. I'm looking down the gun barrel at 60, and I know all the health problems that come after that.' Gould has kept his fitness levels up during his time out of service and practices jiu jitsu. He also covers a distance of seven miles with a 50-pound weight each week. Gould initially joined the Marine Corps in 1978 before working in law enforcement in California. He enlisted in the Army National Guard as an infantryman for the Desert Storm Operation in 1991 to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Gould initially joined the Marine Corps in 1978 before working in law enforcement in California. He enlisted in the Army National Guard as an infantryman for the Desert Storm Operation in 1991 to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait Gould deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 In the early 2000s, Gould joined civil affairs through an Army Reserve unit in Upland, California and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004, where he served as a civil affairs team sergeant. He later joined the 7th Psychological Operations Group, which is garrisoned at Moffett Field, California, before deciding in 2009 to leave the Army Reserve and settle down to spend more time with his wife and family. Gould worked as a civil affairs soldier in the Army before retiring in 2009 Over a decade later, he got the itch again when his son switched from infantryman to Army Reserve to be a civil affairs specialist like his father and he decided to enlist once more. Gould says he is determined to stay in the army as long as possible and set an example to younger soldiers. He is not the oldest ex-serviceman to reenlist. According to the US Army Recruiting Command, a 68-year-old re-enlisted in July 1999. Students work on changing policy to allow alcohol sales at home games Students say selling alcohol at the home games could decrease binge drinking, improve attendance and create a more vibrant atmosphere. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said that the people of India should lead the world in finding unity in diversity rather than searching for diversity in unity. There is diversity in the universe and we have to accept and respect it. It is the culture of this country to live with the knowledge that diversity came out of unity. We are not the ones who search for diversity in unity. We are the ones who understand that there is unity in diversity, Bhagwat said addressing a gathering here. He was attending an event to inaugurate a medical dialysis centre in the national capital, which was also attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The RSS chief said that people nowadays look for how they are different from others. Nowadays, our caste or political allegiance determine whether we are united or separated. The whole world is plagued by this wrong approach. Indians have to correct this trend, Bhagwat said. It doesnt take long for one to become many. The universe was created on the whim of Bramha Ji. He said that he was alone and bored. So, the universe was created after a big bang and focused to create many, he added. Bhagwat said that RSS workers are always engaged in selflessly working for the welfare of society and those in need. The law firm and legal services technology company Atrium plans to lay off an undisclosed number of in-house attorneys in a bid to restructure the San Francisco startup. Company CEO Justin Kan wrote in a blog post that Atrium will keep a small group of partners in-house who will serve our clients with strategic services like financing and (mergers and acquisitions), as well as work with our network of vetted and trusted firms to deliver general corporate legal services. Kan said in-house attorneys will have the option to become preferred providers in the companys network, which answers startup founders legal questions. Kan also wrote that he intends to expand the firms offerings beyond legal services. Atrium describes itself as a corporate law firm and technology company that provides legal and business services to startups, charging them on a subscription basis. Atriums technology allows companies to streamline common tasks, manage documents, collaborate with lawyers and track work. Kan founded the company in 2017. A prolific entrepreneur, he previously founded the company that would become the video-streaming service Twitch. The company says it works with over 450 startups. It received $65 million in funding in 2018 and has raised a total of $75.5 million, according to the startup database Crunchbase. The company did not respond to emailed requests for comment asking how many employees would be affected. No WARN Act notices, required by state and federal law when significant layoffs take place, were filed with the California Employment Development Department as of Tuesday. The threshold in California for such notices is the firing of 50 or more employees in a 30-day period. Atriums business model put it in direct competition with established law firms in Silicon Valley, who have also been working on speeding up or automating repetitive legal tasks, according to William Henderson, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington who has studied the legal tech industry. Theyre competing against, at least for startup clients, some of the very best business law firms in America, Henderson said of Atrium. He said firms serving Silicon Valley clients like Wilson Sonsini, Ropes & Gray and others give away common documents for free in the hopes that companies will come to them as clients when their legal needs reach a certain level of complexity. At some point or another, theres going to be enough ambiguity where youre going to be willing to pay a lawyer, he added. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Henderson said companies like Atrium and larger firms target companies with high growth potential. They want to give them some care and feeding in the early days with the idea that 3 out of 10 will grow and become substantial consumers of legal services. Some experts also believe that only a small portion of the legal profession can truly be automated away. In a 2016 paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus Frank Levy and co-author Dana Remus found that only about 10% of legal tasks could be handed over to computers. Certainly, automation is having a significant impact on the labor market for lawyers, but predictions of widespread displacement of lawyers are premature and overblown, Levy and Remus wrote. Only relatively structured and repetitive tasks can be automated, they added. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice A woman was killed by her estranged husband before he and her father-in-law used an excavator to bury her body then sent fake text messages from her phone to make it seem as if she had abandoned her son and left, prosecutors allege. A trove of documents released by Florida prosecutors have revealed gruesome new details related to the murder and dismemberment of Nicole Montalvo, whose remains were found buried in two separate locations in St Cloud last year. Montalvo, 35, was last seen alive on October 21 when she dropped off her son, Elijah, at the home of her estranged husband's parents. She was supposed to pick up the child from school the next day, but never showed up. Officers discovered her remains buried in two to five feet of dirt on two properties associated with her father-in-law and his family, leading to the arrests of Christopher Otero-Rivera, 32, and his father, Angel Luis Rivera, 63. Christopher Otero-Rivera, 32 (left), and his father, Angel Luis Rivera, 63 (right), are facing charges in the brutal murder of Otero-Rivera's wife, Nicole Montalvo Montalvo, 35, was killed and dismembered on her in-laws' property in St Cloud, Florida, on October 21, 2019 Deputies later recovered the woman's organs on two properties associated with the Rivera family in the area Documents allege Rivera and his son used an excavator to bury Montalvo's remains in two to five feet of dirt Otero-Rivera is facing a charge of premeditated murder and failing to report a death, while his father is accused of abuse of a dead body and failure to report a death. Some 1,160 documents were released by the Orange-Osceola State Attorneys Office on Tuesday. According to them, when a detective interviewed Rivera while investigating Montalvo's disappearance, he told them he received a text message from her on the day she dropped off her son at his home. 'I'm really sorry about everything,' the text read. 'I should have listened to you. I made a bad mistake. I need you and Wanda to take care of Elijah for a few days until I get things figured out. Please do this for Elijah. I am with a friend that is going to help me through this. Tell [him] Mommy loves him.' But the detective wrote in a report that he believed the message was fake because the location data showed that Montalvo's phone never left her father-in-law's home. According to the records, investigators established that the suspects used an excavator that Rivera had rented through his non-profit organization to bury his daughter-in-law's organs. Detectives tracked the digging equipment to Rivera's property using a GPS system. A woman who was renting a room from the family told detectives that she saw Angel and his son using the heavy machinery in the yard, and that Angel's wife, Wanda Rivera, would not let Montalvo's son join them, which struck her as odd because the boy was usually in the company of his father and grandfather whenever they worked outside. According to the records, data from Otero-Rivera's ankle monitor, which he was wearing at the time, placed him at the scene where his ex-wife's remains, including her liver and spleen, were later recovered. Rivera claimed he had received a text message from his daughter-in-law saying she was leaving her son, Elijah, with his family because she needed to leave to 'get things figured out.' Detectives believe it was Rivera who sent the message to himself Montalvo was last seen alive dropping off her son at Rivera's home on October 21 Additional organs were found at the home of his brother, Nicholas Rivera, who was subsequently arrested on child pornography charges. Under questioning, Nicholas told detectives that he was at his father's home on the day Montalvo was murdered. He said that when he entered the garage on the property, he saw his sister-in-law's lifeless body laying in a pool of blood. At the urging of his mother, Nicholas left, but returned to the home that evening to find his father driving the excavator back and forth in the yard, then cleaning an orange push cart. Forensic tests later indicated the presence of blood on the garage floor and door, on the push cart, in the laundry room, as well as on loppers, pruning shears and a machete. The documents do not clarify how investigators think Montalvo was killed. According to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, at the time of Montalvo's disappearance and subsequent death, she and her husband were in the midst of a separation. A year ago, the mother-of-one had her husband arrested on charges of kidnapping, domestic abuse and theft, after accusing him of beating her and stealing her credit cards and cash, according to MyNews13.com. Otero-Rivera (left) is facing a charge of premeditated murder and failing to report a death, while his father (right) is accused of abuse of a dead body and failure to report a death Rivera was released on Monday night (pictured hiding beneath a jacket) after a judge reduced his bond from $350,000 down to $160,000 Montalvo told investigators last October that Otero-Rivera and a woman, identified as 31-year-old Toni Rocker, took her to a remote area, where her estranged husband proceeded to slap her across the face for texting a friend. He then allegedly hurled Montalvo to the ground, stuffed a rag in her mouth, tried to break her neck and threatened to kill her if she called 911, WESH2 reported. Rocker, who allegedly held Montalvo at knifepoint during the attack, was later acquitted at trial of kidnapping, robbery, and aggravated assault charges. She is not considered a suspect in Montalvo's death, according to officials. Meanwhile, Otero-Rivera pled no contest to hindering a witnesss ability to communicate with law enforcement, unlawful possession of a credit or debit card, and battery. The more serious charges of kidnapping, robbery, and aggravated assault were dropped in the agreement. Otero-Rivera pleaded no contest to charges of battery, hindering a witnesss ability to communicate with law enforcement and unlawful possession of a credit or debit card. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the more serious charges of kidnapping, robbery, and aggravated assault. He served just eight months in jail, after getting credit for time served, followed by two years of probation, according to Orlando Sentinel. Under the conditions of his plea agreement, he was barred from having any contact with Montalvo, except through a parent communication app. Just weeks before her death, Montalvo sent a letter to a judge asking to dismiss a protection order she had against Otero-Rivera since June 2016, when she accused him of attacking their son. In 2018, Montalvo had her husband arrested on kidnapping and domestic abuse charges. Otero-Rivera ultimately pleaded no contest and was sentenced to probation In her request to the judge, the mother said it was in the best interest of their son to have the protective order dropped. According to social media posts, Montalvo worked as a server at a pizza parlor in Kissimmee, Florida. Her final status update went up on her page on the morning of October 21, just hours before her disappearance. Montalvo wrote that she was watching the 1997 film Selena, where Jennifer Lopez portrays the eponymous Mexican-American pop star who was murdered by a fan at age 23. Days earlier, according to the newly released records, Montalvo confided in a friend that her estranged husband and his father threatened to hack into her Facebook account and downloaded a nude photo of hers as part of an alleged plot to have her son taken away from her. Otero-Rivera remains jailed without a bond on a probation violation charge. His father was released on Monday night after a judge reduced his bond from $350,000 down to $160,000. As of Wednesday morning, prosecutors have not indicted the father and son for the murder of Nicole Montalvo, drawing the ire of Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson. 'Were disappointed with the decision of the State Attorney not to take this case and move forward with it,' Gibson told Spectrum News 13 earlier this month. 'Ive seen cases that theres not even a body and people are convicted of murder.' With distributed workforces all the rage in the tech community these days, startups are trying to build new tools to keep those teams connected and communicating in the ways that make folks most comfortable. One of these companies is the Orlando, Fla.-based startup, Yac, which just raised $1.5 million in financing from a clutch of investors to reinvent voicemail for teams raised on Slack and Zoom calls. The digital, distributed workforce is a phenomenon that's on the rise, and the increasing number of remote workers shows no sign of slacking. Indeed, new statistics indicate that 3% of Americans are working from home full time these days. Number of Americans working from home fulltime has nearly tripled over past 20 years, and trend is accelerating pic.twitter.com/VE2XS9VM4b (@hunterwalk) January 12, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js These remote workforces can reduce costs for both young and mature companies alike, but they come with certain trade-offs and can make communication and collaboration more difficult, according to Yac co-founder Justin Mitchell. He points to the problems with communication and culture at Away, which contributed to the ouster of that company's chief executive (who was later re-hired). Yac addresses the issue of providing verbal feedback and communication asynchronously instead of needing to respond in real time. Email and voicemail also perform these asynchronous communication functions, but Mitchell says that they're just not tools that respond to the needs of the modern workforce. So far, there are 4,500 messages a month left on Yac's service, and the company has around 250 daily active users. A desktop view of Yac's messaging service in action Yac was born out of the digital design agency SoFriendly and was initially built for Product Hunt's Maker Festival. The winning team at the event, Yac, took off as a business when the founding team got a call from Adam Draper, the third-generation venture capital investor. Draper's Boost VC was an early backer of the company, which went on to collect additional funding from Betaworks and Active Capital. Story continues The key, Mitchell says, is the asynchronous aspect of communication that Yac enables. As a distributed team itself, Yac and SoFriendly knew the perils and annoyances that come from the always-on, real-time communication platforms like Slack or the in-person conference call or video call via Zoom. "We know a lot of headaches that a fully remote organization runs into," says Mitchell. "I hope for us to be the next Zoom but for a distributed workforce." The company currently has six full-time employees and is using the same freemium model that made Slack so initially compelling to early-stage companies. The free version provides unlimited messaging, but there's a cap on how long messages will remain active. For paying customers there's no retention limit and the company provides transcription services and deeper integrations with a team's workflows, says Mitchell. It's all at a cost of $8 per-user and the company is launching its first paid plans this month. The future of meetings will be asynchronous, in your ears and hands-free, says Pat Matthews, the chief executive and founder of Active Capital. Just look at any city and youll see people are no longer working in cubicles, theyre on the move, in coffee shops and multitasking. Thats the power of building for remote-first instead of office workers. Mitchell says the product is good for distributed teams -- whether they're distributed across floors of a building or across cities in the U.S. or around the world. Using Yac is kind of like calling over to a friend while you're working, but because it's asynchronous you don't have to bother them. It makes working remotely a lot easier, especially when your team is scattered around the country, says Charlie Taylor, head of Partnerships, Bose, and an early Yac user, in a statement. Can the same thing be done with a voicemail or an email? Mitchell acknowledges that it can, but that the experience is clunky and negative. What's more annoying than a missed call? Getting a Yac is using a Snap-like interface to send a video message. DES MOINES, Iowa Some key takeaways from Tuesdays Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, the final forum before the Iowa caucuses: CIVILITY AND SUBSTANCE OVER FIGHTING AND FRICTION After the United States killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Democrats were bracing for fights over foreign policy. Instead, a whole lot of substance broke out. There was a brief skirmish between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who opposed the Iraq War, and former vice president Joe Biden, who apologized for supporting for it. But most of the opening 30-minute discussion one-quarter of the time set for the debate focused on the future. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California businessman Tom Steyer tried to argue that their outside-the-Beltway resumes would be benefits in the Oval Office. What we are hearing is 20 years of mistakes by the American government in the Middle East, Steyer said. Its time for someone from the outside having a strategic view on what were trying to do. The two liberals, Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, argued the United States needed to pull its troops entirely from the Middle East and Afghanistan. The American people are sick and tired of endless wars that have cost us trillions of dollars, Sanders said. Warren said generals keep arguing the United States is turning the corner in its fights. Weve turned the corner so many times were going in circles in these regions, she quipped. The two voices backing traditional foreign policy were Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who both argued for at least a small military presence remaining in the Middle East. Buttigieg, a 37-year-old who served as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan, cast foreign policy as part of his generational argument. There are enlisted people I serve with barely old enough to remember some of those votes, he said after Biden and Sanders talked about their 17-year-old Iraq war votes. ___ ABOUT THE FIGHT THAT DIDNT HAPPEN The pre-debate chatter was about an expected fight between Sanders and Warren over Warrens assertion that Sanders told her in 2018 that a woman couldnt be elected president. Sanders denied it, Warren didnt press it. Their fight didnt happen, but it did spark a more spirited discussion about gender and power. Sanders continued to deny hed ever said it. Does anyone in their right mind believe a woman cant be elected president? he asked. The answer is yes. Its a sentiment often heard among Democratic voters and operatives who are still traumatized by Hillary Clintons 2016 loss. Warren did not repeat onstage that Sanders made the statement but said, This question about whether or not a woman can be president needs to be addressed head-on. Warren said she and Klobuchar, the two women on the stage, were the only ones who had won every election they had run. But there was obvious tension when Sanders tried to correct Warrens statement that she was the only person onstage whod beaten an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years. He noted hed ousted a Republican when he won his first congressional election in 1990. That was 30 years ago, Warren responded coolly. After the debate, it appeared that Warren declined to shake Sanders hand. ___ RARE OOPS FOR A STUDENT Klobuchar is an A student in the art of the local when she campaigns across Iowa. Dropping names of local political officials, cities, counties, vote totals and local heroes, Klobuchar is a disciplined candidate reminding voters in Iowa she understands them. Yet, in the middle of an explanation of all the women who won governorships in 2018, she got stuck trying to remember the name of Laura Kelly of Kansas. And her name. Im very proud to know her, and her name is governor Kelly, Klobuchar said, swallowing the new governors last name. She later tried to bounce back with a tongue in cheek. During an exchange about health care, Klobuchar quipped, The Affordable Care Act is 10 points more popular than the president of the United States. ___ GLOBAL TRADE HITS HOME IN IOWA On trade, there was some clarity, at least as far as Sanders is concerned. He refused to support the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, despite his admission that it made modest improvements over the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (Steyer said he wouldnt sign the deal because it didnt do enough to address climate change.) All the Democrats agreed that President Donald Trumps trade war with China and North American allies has hurt American jobs and the rural economy especially in Iowa, among the nations leading export economies. Sanders back-and-forth with his colleagues revealed a rift between his economic isolationism and the rest of the fields half-a-loaf approach. Sanders said the deal will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs and stops short of addressing environmental concerns vital to his campaign. His ideological opposite, Biden, suggested there was nearly no trade pact Sanders would support. Warren, despite opposing U.S. trade agreements with Asia and Europe, said we have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting and they are hurting because of Donald Trumps initiated trade wars. ___ STEYERS BET HAS PAID OFF He is worth more than a billion dollars but appears to own only one questionable red knit tie. But Tom Steyer, the activist who ran an investment company, made it to the final debate stage before Iowa votes. And he made his presence felt. He used his money to fund ads in early states that raised his profile enough to clear the debates polling and donation thresholds. He has largely been a background presence in previous faceoffs, but Tuesday night he stood out by occupying an unusual niche the anti-corporate billionaire. Corporations are having their way with the American people and the American people are suffering, Steyer said at one point, endorsing the single-payer health care plan outlined by Sanders, an avowed socialist. Later, he said his children didnt deserve government-paid-for college, effectively siding with Buttigiegs more centrist approach on free college. But then he argued that he had been talking about a wealth tax before Warren, whos made it her keystone proposal. The redistribution of wealth to the richest Americans from everybody else has to end, he said. Asked by CNNs Wolf Blitzer if his funding of a pro-impeachment push since late 2017 was a smart move, given that Trump is likely to be acquitted in the upcoming Senate trial, Steyer said: Standing up for whats right is always worth it, Wolf. And I will never back down from that. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. In a new study, astrophysicists have found a certain gamma-ray glow in the sky, known as unresolved gamma-ray background (yellow), to coincide with cosmic regions that contain a lot of matter (red). The correlation could lead to a better understanding of highly energetic astrophysical objects and dark matter. The gamma-ray map was created with nine years of data from the Fermi spacecraft, and the map showing the density of matter is based on one year of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). CREDIT Daniel Gruen/SLAC/Stanford, Chihway Chang/University of Chicago, Alex Drlica-Wagner/Fermilab Astrophysicists have come a step closer to understanding the origin of a faint glow of gamma rays covering the night sky. They found that this light is brighter in regions that contain a lot of matter and dimmer where matter is sparser - a correlation that could help them narrow down the properties of exotic astrophysical objects and invisible dark matter. The glow, known as unresolved gamma-ray background, stems from sources that are so faint and far away that researchers can't identify them individually. Yet, the fact that the locations where these gamma rays originate match up with where mass is found in the distant universe could be a key puzzle piece in identifying those sources. "The background is the sum of a lot of things 'out there' that produce gamma rays. Having been able to measure for the first time its correlation with gravitational lensing - tiny distortions of images of far galaxies produced by the distribution of matter - helps us disentangle them," said Simone Ammazzalorso from the University of Turin and the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Italy, who co-led the analysis. The study used one year of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), which takes optical images of the sky, and nine years of data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which observes cosmic gamma rays while it orbits the Earth. "What's really intriguing is that the correlation we measured doesn't completely match our expectations," said Panofsky fellow Daniel Gruen from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, who led the analysis for the DES collaboration. "This could mean that we either need to adjust our existing models for objects that emit gamma rays, or it could hint at other sources, such as dark matter." The study was accepted today for publication in Physical Review Letters. Two sensitive 'eyes' on the sky Gamma radiation, the most energetic form of light, is produced in a wide range of cosmic phenomena - often extremely violent ones, such as exploding stars, dense neutron stars rotating at high speeds and powerful beams of particles shooting out of active galaxies whose central supermassive black holes gobble up matter. Another potential source is invisible dark matter, which is believed to make up 85 percent of all matter in the universe. It could produce gamma rays when dark matter particles meet and destroy each other in space. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi spacecraft is a highly sensitive "eye" for gamma radiation, and its data provide a detailed map of gamma-ray sources in the sky. But when scientists subtract all the sources they already know, their map is far from empty; it still contains a gamma-ray background whose brightness varies from region to region. "Unfortunately gamma rays don't have a label that would tell us where they came from," Gruen said. "That's why we need additional information to unravel their origin." That's where DES comes in. With its 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, it snaps images of hundreds of millions of galaxies. Their exact shapes tell researchers how the gravitational pull of matter bends light in the universe - an effect that shows itself as tiny distortions in galaxy images, known as weak gravitational lensing. Based on these data, the DES researchers create the most detailed maps yet of matter in the cosmos. In the new study, the scientists superimposed the Fermi and DES maps, which revealed that the two aren't independent. The unresolved gamma-ray background is more intense in regions with more matter and less intense in regions with less matter. "The result itself is not surprising. We expect that there are more gamma ray producing processes in regions that contain more matter, and we've been predicting this correlation for a while," said Nicolao Fornengo, one of Ammazzalorso's supervisors in Turin. "But now we've succeeded in actually detecting this correlation for the first time, and we can use it to understand what causes the gamma ray background." Potential hint at dark matter One of the most likely sources for the gamma-ray glow is very distant blazars - active galaxies with supermassive black holes at their centers. As the black holes swallow surrounding matter, they spew high-speed jets of plasma and gamma rays that, if the jets point at us, are detected by the Fermi spacecraft. Blazars would be the simplest assumption, but the new data suggest that a simple population of blazars might not be enough to explain the observed correlation between gamma rays and mass distribution, the researchers said. "In fact, our models for emissions from blazars can fairly well explain the low-energy part of the correlation, but we see deviations for high-energy gamma rays," Gruen said. "This can mean several things: It could indicate that we need to improve our models for blazars or that the gamma rays could come from other sources." One of these other sources could be dark matter. A leading theory predicts the mysterious stuff is made of weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs, which could annihilate each other in a flash of gamma rays when they collide. Gamma rays from certain matter-rich cosmic regions could therefore stem from these particle interactions. The idea to look for gamma-ray signatures of annihilating WIMPs is not a new one. Over the past years, scientists have searched for them in various locations believed to contain a lot of dark matter, including the center of the Milky Way and the Milky Way's companion galaxies. However, these searches haven't produced identifiable dark matter signals yet. The new results could be used for additional searches that test the WIMP hypothesis. Planning next steps Although the probability that the measured correlation is just a random effect is only about one in a thousand, the researchers need more data for a conclusive analysis. "These results, connecting for the first time our maps of gamma rays and matter, are very interesting and have a lot of potential, but at the moment the connection is still relatively weak, and one has to interpret the data carefully," said KIPAC Director Risa Wechsler, who was not involved in the study. One of the main limitations of the current analysis is the amount of available lensing data, Gruen said. "With data from 40 million galaxies, DES has already pushed this to a new level, and that's why we were able to do the analysis in the first place. But we need even better measurements," he said. With its next data release, DES will provide lensing data for 100 million galaxies, and the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will look at billions of galaxies in a much larger region of the sky. "Our study demonstrates with actual data that we can use the correlation between the distributions of matter and gamma rays to learn more about what causes the gamma-ray background," Fornengo said. "With more DES data, LSST coming online and other projects like the Euclid space telescope on the horizon, we'll be able to go much deeper in our understanding of the potential sources." Then, the scientists might be able to tell if some of that gamma-ray glow stems from dark matter's self-destruction. DES is an international project with over 400 scientists from 25 institutions in 7 countries, who have come together to carry out the survey. Parts of the project were funded by DOE's Office of Science and the National Science Foundation. NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is an international and multi-agency space observatory. The analysis used Fermi-LAT data that were publicly released by the international LAT collaboration. ### SLAC is a vibrant multiprogram laboratory that explores how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. With research spanning particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, materials, chemistry, bio- and energy sciences and scientific computing, we help solve real-world problems and advance the interests of the nation. SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building program, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is the preeminent program for the design, construction, maintenance and operations of high-performance green buildings. The Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) is the first performance-based system in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, developed for rating green buildings and infrastructures. The dual Green Building certification awarded to Msheireb Station: GSAS 5 Stars (in design and build under railways scheme) and LEED Gold (LEED 2009 for new construction) is a significant milestone as the subway station has achieved the highest GSAS rate for a non-residential building in Qatar and becomes the first LEED Gold underground metro station in the world. Msheireb Station was awarded these sustainability certificates for implementing strategies in: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, cultural and economic value and innovation in design. The advanced Green Building targets, the jobsite's inner-city position, along with the project's complex structural design placed high demands on the execution of the construction work. CCC's project teams providing management, technical, and construction expertise ensured that the ambitious infrastructure project met CCC's high standards of excellence. About Consolidated Contractors Company: Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) is a global leader in the engineering and construction industry. Established in 1952 and operating worldwide, CCC has provided more than 67 years of project management, engineering, procurement and construction services to the industry, is currently engaged in 45 ongoing projects globally, and employs around 140,000 people internationally. CCC's construction operations span the globe including the CIS, Africa, Australasia and the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) as well as other countries in the Middle East. CCC's partners include some of the most reputable engineering and construction companies in the World including Bechtel, Fluor, KBR, ABB, Chiyoda, JGC, Linde, Tecnicas Reunidas, Thyssen Krupp, Hochtief, Technip, and Saipem to name a few. The company's landmark construction projects include the Karachaganak Main Works Contract, Kashagan Field Development Project, Dubai Mall, the Abu Dhabi International Airport - Midfield Terminal Building, Riyadh Metro Project, Residential Towers, Hotels, Power Stations, Water and Sewage Treatment Plants and Networks, Roads and Bridges, Industrial and Process Plants and Pipelines around the World. Consolidated Contractors Company contributes to and is a founding member of The World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - PACI and is a founding member of The Pearl Initiative. CCC also contributes and is a member of the UN Global Compact, Transparency International, and Anti-Corruption London, all to ensure its business ethics, anti-bribery & anti-corruption policies and sustainable growth in all forms of its operations. Contact: Nafez Husseini, Vice President ICT, Digital Business & Sustainability, Consolidated Contractors Company, Phone: +30-210-6182-163 | Email [email protected] SOURCE Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) TRONDHEIM, Norway, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aker BP is pleased to invite investors, analysts and media to its Capital Markets Update on Tuesday 11 February at 10:00 (CET) at Hotel Continental, Oslo, Norway. Program: 09:30-10:00 (CET): Registration at Hotel Continental 10:00-12:30 (CET): Capital Markets Update - presentations by executive management in Aker BP Light refreshments will be served. To attend, please submit your registration to [email protected] by 4 February 2020. A live webcast of the presentations will be available on the company's website www.akerbp.com/en. CONTACT: Investor contact: Kjetil Bakken, VP Investor Relations, tel.: +47-91-889-889 Lars Mattis Hanssen, Senior IR Professional, tel.: +47-994-59-460 Media contact: Tore Langballe, VP Communications, tel.: +47-907-77-841 Ole-Johan Faret, Press Spokesman, tel.: +47-402-24-217 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/aker-bp-asa/r/invitation-to-aker-bp-s-capital-markets-update-on-11-february-2020,c3009292 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Aker BP ASA The last time Tiffany Lazons mother saw her, she told her not to wait for her. That was in November. Now, a community officer from the Albany Police Department is stationed outside her house on 16th Avenue and no one has heard from her since Christmas. I just had a gut feeling on Christmas, Lazons mother, Zodelle Sales, said. Dec. 25 marked the end of a long string of what the family describes as unusual communications from the 37-year-old Lazon. On Veterans Day, Sales and her granddaughter, Felicity Halberg, traveled to Albany to see Lazon. After spending some time at the 16th Avenue house, the group went to eat at the local Applebee's. (Lazon) kept getting text messages and phone calls she said were the wrong number, Sales said. At the end of the meal, Lazon ordered two more meals. She ordered a steak, and she doesnt eat steak, Sales said. We asked her if she wanted us to wait for her and she said, No, you go ahead. Thats the last time I saw her. In a string of text exchanges, Sales and Halberg asked about Lazons Thanksgiving and Christmas plans. Lazon didnt make Thanksgiving but told them she might meet them for a meal on Christmas. She never made it. I texted her on Christmas and said, Merry Christmas.' Sales said. All I got back was Merry Christmas. Subsequent texts Sales sent to Lazon that day went unanswered. Its just not like my mom, Halberg said. She texts paragraphs and uses emojis. Lazon's phone now goes straight to voicemail. Albany police report that they received a welfare check request from the family on Jan. 8. Officers attempted to contact Lazon and were unable to locate her. The next day, authorities contacted Lazons estranged husband, Craig Lazon. (He) did not know the current whereabouts of Tiffany Lazon and indicated Tiffany was moving to Washington, an APD statement read. Both Sales and Halberg said Tiffany never mentioned moving to Washington and that if she has, shes moved without her car, clothes, money or cat. She wouldnt just leave, said Halberg, who will turn 20 on Saturday. She wouldnt take off before my birthday. According to Sales, Tiffany Lazon was living with PTSD from her time in the military. Halberg was in kindergarten when her mother enlisted, leaving her in Sales care. Tiffany came home; I think Felicity was in eighth grade, Sales said. She served 10 years and had PTSD and when she came out, it was bad, but she was always bubbly and outgoing. By Tuesday afternoon, police tape surrounded the front of the house on 16th Avenue. Lazons white SUV was still in the driveway, its license plate emblazoned with veteran and bumper stickers covering the storage rack, with one plastered in the middle: Not all those who wander are lost. Tiffany Lazon is described as 5-foot-5 and weighing 115 pounds. She has blond hair, blue eyes and wears glasses. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who has seen Lazon or has information about her disappearance is asked to contact the Albany Police Department at 541-917-7680. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 2 Sad 17 Angry 2 Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 11:41:41|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close CANBERRA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced an additional 58 million Australian dollars (39.9 million U.S. dollars) in support funding for bushfire-affected communities. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston announced on Wednesday that the funding would make more food vouchers, support services and financial assistance available to Australians affected by the ongoing crisis. Families in bushfire-hit towns who are eligible for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (DRP) will also receive an extra 400 AUD for each child. "I know many Australians are doing it really tough, they've seen their homes and livelihoods destroyed or damaged by these devastating fires," Morrison said. "We are hoping this extra support will assist tens of thousands of people affected by bushfires to get through the coming days and weeks. "We will direct relief providers to team up with local businesses, so this money can have a dual effect of helping families get back on their feet, as well as boosting local economies." The national death toll for the bushfire season rose to at least 27 and more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed across the country. Ruston announced that the government will invest in financial counselling for affected areas. "As affected Australians count the personal toll of these devastating fires we want to make sure they have support to plan and rebuild their lives," she said. "On the ground financial counsellors will provide free and confidential support including assessing a person's financial situation, identifying options and making decisions, advocating and negotiating with third parties such as banks and insurance companies and advising what other support services are out there." BARCELONA, Spain - Emergency workers found a lifeless body Wednesday at a petrochemical plant in northeastern Spain, bringing the death toll to two from an industrial explosion and fire that also injured eight people, authorities said. The dead individual was found buried under debris inside the plant, where a worker has been missing since the Tuesday night blast, Miquel Buch, the regional head of Catalonias interior department, said. A preliminary investigation indicated the force of the factory explosion near the coastal city of Tarragona killed another person in a nearby neighbourhood when a piece of metal struck his residence, regional authorities said. Authorities are investigating the cause of what they described as a chemical accident on the premises of chemical maker Iqoxe. , The eight people injured all worked there, officials said. Iqoxe CEO Jose Luis Morlanes said the explosion occurred in a 20-ton tank of ethylene oxide in a part of the plant that had not had any problems since it was built in 2017. Morlanes said the company was investigating the causes of the explosion but its inspectors could not approach the site while firefighters were still working. According to the companys website, Iqoxe is Spains sole producer of ethylene oxide, a chemical compound used for making detergents, solvents and other products, as well as glycol, one of the main raw materials in the production of plastics. The explosion could been seen for miles as local residents posted videos showing the aftermath of the blast, with flames and a big column of black smoke emerging from an area dotted with big industrial tanks. Tarragona is located 115 kilometres (71 miles) southwest of Barcelona, the regional capital of Spains Catalonia region. Since 2015, the city has housed a 1,200-hectare (2,965-acre) chemical hub, ChemMed, that was described as the largest of its kind in southern Europe. ... are you reading now? I have two books on the go. The first is a proof by the Irish writer Ruth Gilligan called The Butchers (coming out in March). It's set in Ireland at the time of the BSE crisis in the UK and brings rural life in a changing Ireland and some dark folklore traditions face to face. So far, so immersive, and the young girl's perspective, in particular, is brilliantly drawn. I'm certain it will continue to unsettle me with my vegan ways but Gilligan is a writer I admire, so I'll steel myself. I'm also reading Amanda Mason's gripping Gothic debut The Wayward Girls because I love a ghost story. The tale switches between 1976 and the book's present day. The setting isolated house, Yorkshire Moors establishes the perfect mood to explore the haunting secrets of two sisters. I've not yet finished and am wondering what delicious chills Mason will come up with next. Jess Kidd (pictured) is currently reading a proof by the Irish writer Ruth Gilligan called The Butchers (coming out in March) and Amanda Mason's gripping Gothic debut The Wayward Girls ... first gave you the reading bug? I was largely taught to read by my eldest sister with the help of her library of Mills & Boon romance novels. However, the book that gave me the reading bug was Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy by Christine Nostlinger. The gorgeously eccentric Mrs Bartolotti accidentally receives a son, named Conrad, in the post. He's designed to be the perfect child but Mrs Bartolotti proves to be the most imperfect of mothers. He helps her put her life in order and she teaches him how to play. An anarchic joy of a book that demonstrates that love conquers all and that adults are generally clueless even if they pretend they are not. ... would you take to a desert island? Jess would take Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl to a desert island Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl, because I'm assuming I'll be alone on the island and will have to befriend a volleyball and it would be good to be reminded of the best kind of human relationships. I'm a great Dahl fan and this tale, which centres on the life of a boy and his father who live in a caravan getting by, is wonderful. Widower William fixes cars and engages in clandestine poaching. Danny, a baby when his mother died, finds that his father's night-time excursions are not without risk or repercussions. Looking to shame a rich and selfish local landowner by disappearing his pheasants before a big shoot, William comes up with a cunning plan. This is a book that sublimely captures how precarious life can be, even for the child of a loving parent. It will be a great tale to read aloud, with all the voices, to my new pal, Wilson the volleyball . . . ... left you cold? No book has entirely left me cold. I'm an optimistic reader and a very slow one, so that by the time I've read a book it's lived a few months with me and is a tatty old friend. One that chilled me was Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy's anti-Western following the exploits of the brutal Glanton Gang as they commit atrocities along the Mexico-U.S. borderlands in the 1840s. Without a single likeable character the story is propelled by relentless violence in a landscape that is vast, mean, bleak but rendered in glorious Technicolor. I'll take this to my desert island to terrify Wilson with if he's a bad ball. n Jess Kidd's latest novel Things In Jars is out in paperback (Canongate, 8.99). It has taken more than 40 years, but finally the rulers responsible for the brutal repression Iran has suffered since its 1979 revolution have revealed themselves to be little more than a bunch of incompetent and corrupt liars. The regime's woeful attempts to conceal the full extent of its involvement in the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet as it left Tehran mean that the ayatollahs no longer have any credibility when it comes to running Iran's affairs. There may be a few die-hard supporters of the regime claiming the Trump administration is ultimately to blame for the disaster, because it would never have happened had the White House not inflamed tensions by killing Qasem Soleimani, Tehran's terrorist mastermind. This argument, though, has no credence as it was Iran that precipitated the crisis in the first place by killing an American contractor in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, and then organising a violent protest against the US embassy in Baghdad. Moreover, not even the most fanatical devotee of the ayatollahs' religious dictatorship can deny that it was the Iranian military, not the US, that fired the anti-aircraft missile that brought down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board. The regime then compounded Iran's national humiliation by, initially, refusing to accept responsibility for the disaster, only to be forced to accept culpability after Western intelligence agencies were able to prove categorically that the aircraft had been shot down, and was not the victim of engine failure, as Iranian officials had claimed. Telling bare-faced lies has become a familiar refrain for the ayatollahs in their desperate bid to cling to power as the country has lurched from one crisis to another. When confronted, for example, with incontrovertible evidence of their mismanagement of the country, such as their catastrophic handling of the economy which has brought oil-rich Iran to the brink of Venezuelan-style penury, their response is to blame the US and its allies for punitive economic sanctions. No mention is ever made of why the sanctions were imposed in the first place, such as their funding of terror groups and their efforts to deepen their interference in countries like Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Now, thanks to the gross ineptitude of the regime's handling of the Ukrainian aircraft disaster, it is abundantly clear to the thousands of Iranian demonstrators who have taken to the streets that it is their own government, not the Americans, who are the villains of the piece. Consequently, the Islamic Republic is experiencing its greatest existential crisis since its creation in 1979; one where it is no longer tenable to resort to the repressive tactics that have previously enabled it to crush dissent, such as deploying the Revolutionary Guard, as it did during the 2009 Green Revolution, to kill and terrorise civilian protesters. Key figures within the regime are said to be deeply unhappy with the country's current predicament, with more moderate figures, such as President Hassan Rouhani, claiming military leaders misled them about what really happened to the plane. Tensions between Iran's so-called moderates and the hardliners loyal to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are nothing new. Ever since the moderates helped to negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, the hardliners have done their utmost to undermine it. Britain, Germany and France, the European signatories to the agreement, yesterday responded by officially triggering a dispute mechanism. This could ultimately result in them joining Washington in ending their co-operation with Tehran, thereby deepening Iran's international pariah status. With the hardliners on the back foot in the wake of the Ukraine aircraft disaster, as well as the demise of Soleimani, their iconic leader, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Iran's moderates to seize the initiative, and begin the process of repairing relations with the outside world. In this context, they should heed Boris Johnson's suggestion yesterday that the best way to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the West would be to negotiate an improved nuclear deal, one that addresses the Trump administration's concerns. The ayatollahs need to understand that, unless they can find a way to extricate themselves from their current predicament, it is simply a matter of time before their beloved Islamic Republic is consigned to oblivion. ( Daily Telegraph, London) The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are due to visit a number of projects that promote cohesion within one of the UKs most diverse cities. William and Kate will meet young people, employers and families during the visit to Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Wednesday. The couple will join in with workshops, including one session helping grandparents with child-caring responsibilities and another aimed at bringing people together in religiously and ethnically diverse communities. The duke and duchess will begin the day at City Hall, in Centenary Square, where they will hear about life in Bradford from a group of young people and meet representatives from local businesses who are helping young people into employment. They will then go on to visit one of the citys Khidmat Centres, which focus on helping the most vulnerable members of the community. While there, William and Kate will join in a session by Better Start Bradford, which delivers more than 20 projects to pregnant women and families with children under the age of four, and meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project a workshop series in which grandparents are helped to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and given information about raising children in the 21st century. The duke and duchesss final engagement will see them joining a workshop run by Near Neighbours, an organisation that helps people in diverse communities to get to know each other better, build relationships of trust and improve their neighbourhoods. It follows a tumultuous week for the royal family following the Queen agreeing to allow the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to step down as senior royals and begin a new life, splitting their time between the UK and Canada. High Court legal documents were also published in the battle between Meghan and the Mail on Sunday that could lead to her father testifying against her should the case go to trial. The entertaining and suspenseful Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament came to a conclusion Tuesday night, when Ken Jennings emerged as the winner. Jennings won a trophy, $1 million, and the title of the greatest of all time. Jennings, and his fellow champions, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter, put on a splendid show in three matches last week, and in the fourth, and deciding match Tuesday, on ABC. Jennings entered Tuesdays match having already won two, Holzhauer had won one, and Rutter hadnt won any. Despite Holzhauer putting together an impressive run in the second game of Tuesdays match, Jennings earned the win with a combination of canny wagering, and knowing the correct answer. In addition to his Jeopardy! achievement, Jennings has Northwest roots. Its no accident, he said after a Jan. 8 panel appearance at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, that someone from the Northwest should know so much about so many topics. A Seattle-area native who is now again living in the Washington city, Jennings said the Northwest rainy climate makes it easy to read, and consume all sorts of media. Its depressing, Jennings said, jokingly. You dont want to go outside. James Holzhauer gives Ken Jennings a tribute, as Brad Rutter looks on, during "Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time." (Photo: ABC/Eric McCandless) ABC On a more serious note, Jennings said, the Northwest has also produced several winners of the National Geographic GeoBee competition for young people, an event that Alex (Trebek) used to host. I was an indoor kid, recalled Jennings, who spent many of his growing-up years abroad, with his family. As his website says, Jennings was an avid viewer of Jeopardy! on the Armed Forces Network. If my parents made us go outdoors for a couple of hours in the summer, we would often end up standing at the glass, wondering when we could come back in, and watch our game shows. Related: Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time players spill info on strategy, game play, inside jokes (no pants!) Jennings also gets to Portland sometimes, as he said following the press tour panel for Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. I was in Portland last week, Jennings said. I spent a hundred bucks at Powells (bookstore). We were coming back from Cannon Beach -- my kids love the Oregon coast. My grandparents lived in Eugene when I was a kid, so wed always spend our summers in Oregon." Jennings notched his Greatest of All Time victory Tuesday thanks to the Final Jeopardy clue, which was: He has 272 speeches, the most of any non-title character in a Shakespeare tragedy. Putting their answers in the form of a question, in correct Jeopardy! style, the three champs revealed what they had written. Rutter, who didnt know the right answer, wrote a tribute to longtime host Alex Trebek: Who is, Youre the best, Alex!" As the audience clapped, Rutter joked, Its true, and I should get credit for it." Holzhauer also had the incorrect answer, and guessed Horatio, a character in Hamlet. He bet all of his points, in his typical all-in style. Jennings knew the right answer, which was Iago, the villainous character in Othello." Jennings bet nothing, however, which allowed him to end the match with the most points. That earned Jennings the win, the Greatest of All Time title, and $1 million. Holzhauer and Rutter each won $250,000. More of our coverage: -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. CNN Philippines (Metro Manila, January 15) Kapeng barako (barako coffee) farmers suffered heavy losses when Taal Volcano started unleashing its pent-up wrath, but all is not lost, the agriculture chief said Wednesday. The Department of Agriculture reported that at least 73.95 million-worth of coffee was damaged after the volcano started emitting ash, magma and steam on Sunday, threatening the local coffee industry. The volcanos restlessness affected 748 hectares of land and 3,541 metric tons of the coffee in Batangas which accounts for most of the damage and Cavite, the department said Tuesday. But all hope is not lost for farmers who cultivate barako or liberica, as they could still save their produce. READ: Agriculture Dep't: Initial crop, livestock damage from Taal eruption pegged at 577M Agriculture Secretary William Dar, in an interview over CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon said Wednesday: Pwede naman i-rejuvenate. Kung nabali-bali na ang mga sanga, dapat i-cut at lalago na ulit 'yon. [Translation: They could still be rejuvenated. If the coffee tree branches broke, they have to be cut and they will grow back.] But if the trees had gotten totally damaged, Dar assured them that the government is ready to give 5,000 coffee mother plants to affected growers. Dar earlier said those in the agricultural and fisheries sectors affected by Taals unrest could each loan 25,000 with zero interest. They can pay back the government in five years, he added. Livelihood grants worth 130 million were also distributed on Tuesday to farmers and fisherfolk in Calabarzon, he added. The region is comprised of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. In 1740, a Spanish Franciscan monk introduced the first coffee tree in Lipa, Batangas, according to nonprofit Philippine Coffee Board. Coffee growing was then adapted in other parts of the province namely Ibaan, Lemery, San Jose, Taal, and Tanauan, the group added. . The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, in its latest bulletin on Wednesday, said that Taal Volcano is emitting less ash and steam, but that "a hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days." Taal's activity may last from days to several months, the institute added. State volcanologists recorded Wednesday cracks or fissures in several villages in Sinisian, Mahabang Dahilig, Dayapan, Palanas, Sanggalang, Poblacion, Mataas na Bayan in Lemery, Pansipit, Bilibinwang, Agoncillo, Poblacion 1235 in Talisay, Poblacion in San Nicolas in Batangas, which caused structures in those areas to partially collapse. Boris Johnson has vowed to 'cut the head off the snake' of criminal gangs - as he takes personal charge of a new Whitehall taskforce. The PM told Cabinet he wanted to put law and order at the heart of the government's agenda - with 'county lines' drugs organisations and stabbings key targets. Mr Johnson - who is expected to chair a committee of ministers to coordinate the drive - declared in an interview yesterday that he wants to 'totally wind up' the scourge of 'county lines' gangs. And he spelled out his plans in a Cabinet meeting. 'He said that we have historically been strong on law and sorder but in recent years been less clear on it,' a cabinet source told The Times. Boris Johnson (pictured giving a BBC interview yesterday) has vowed to 'cut the head off the snake' of criminal gangs Home Secretary Priti Patel (left) and Robert Buckland (right) will serve on a new Cabinet committee on crime 'He said that hes wanted a return to clarity on it and addressing the concerns of the British public.' The new committee on criminal justice is expected to include Home Secretary Priti Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, Attorney Geoffrey Cox, and Chancellor Sajid Javid, In keeping with the overhaul of Whitehall being pushed by Mr Johnson's chief aide Dominic Cummings, it will be modelled on the Brexit 'XO' committee which led preparations for No Del. Ms Patel told Cabinet yesterday that police estimate an 'astronomical' 10,000 children could be involved in county lines gangs. She reportedly said ministers needed to "cut the head off the snake by going upstream" and making Britain's borders more secure to stop the flow of drugs. In a BBC Breakfast interview yesterday, the PM said the criminal networks were 'reducing quality of life' for people across the UK and had to be tackled. Mr Johnson said: 'I want to see crime come down. I want to see the county lines drugs gangs wound up, rolled up. 'They are reducing the quality of life for people across our country, they are killing young kids. I want to see that thing totally wound up.' The National Crime Agency has identified some 2,000 individual county lines 'deal lines' that are controlled by criminal kingpins - with the largest number operating out of London. They use children as young as 11 to distribute drugs in other parts of the country. The National Crime Agency has identified some 2,000 individual county lines 'deal lines' that are controlled by criminal kingpins (file image) The police watchdog for England and Wales last week urged the government to crack down on rules that allow people to buy the phones anonymously. The watchdog called for a Home Office review of the 'criminal abuse' of pay-as-you-go mobile phones, which can be bought for as little as 10 from high street stores. Officers suggested people 'should have to register personal details when buying a mobile phone or replacement SIM card' to prevent the handsets and numbers being used for drug dealing, the findings by the Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said. Cronkite News WASHINGTON Even as it was losing the fight to put a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, the bureau was running tests last summer that it now claims show the question would not have affected response rates. That finding will not affect the 2020 Census, but advocates say it is a distraction they dont need as they try to get historically undercounted groups to trust in the process and fill out the census forms. And, they charge, the findings are just wrong. The bureaus most recent findings fail to account for how residual fear on the citizenship question could have deterred people from participating in the test, they charge. A very plausible interpretation of the results would be that the damage has already been done. The folks that were essentially dissuaded from participating made a decision way before the Census launched their experiment, said Robert Santos, vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute. I and others pointed out that there were alternative interpretations to that finding, so they shouldnt conclude that there would be no impact there, Santos said. The bureau declined interview requests, pointing instead to earlier statements on its website. That blog post stuck by the studys findings, while assuring the public that results of last summers test would have no impact on this springs census. The results of the 2019 Census Test will not trigger a major change in our communications campaign strategy, which was built on prior research that indicates that self-response differs across communities, and that some populations may be fearful about participating in the census, the bureaus blog post said. The findings, released October 31, were based on a test of about 480,000 test forms sent in June and July to households across the country half of which got the question on citizenship. Both test forms still included the other questions that will be on the 2020 Census, such as age, sex, Hispanic origin, race, relationship and homeownership status. The bureau said there was less than a 1% difference in response rates on forms that had the citizenship question and those that didnt. It said there were no differences in the age or race of respondents who got the different forms in the test. The forms were going out about the same time that the Supreme Court was rejecting the bureaus attempt to put a citizenship question on the 2020 Census form. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote then that the Commerce Department failed to justify its decision to include the question, calling Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross explanations contrived and not genuine. Opponents of the citizenship question had spent months in court arguing that the question was being pushed by the Trump administration because it would lower response rates by non-citizens something the bureaus own research had shown last year. That fight is still causing lingering confusion in Latino communities over what actually will be included on the census, as well as what that information could be used for, said Lizette Escobedo, director of the national census program for the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. This is an impact were going to continue to see repercussions of up until the actual enumeration process next year, Escobedo said. A lot of the work that weve been doing now is all of the education work, she said. Weve been having to really just focus on the very basic and specific aspects of what folks should expect on the form, and the fact that part of what they shouldnt expect on the form is any facts about citizenship or immigration status. Since the Supreme Court ruling, advocates have had to make a big effort to get that trust back from our community, said Patricia Foxen, deputy director of research at UnidosUS. Its not just that question, Foxen said. Its everything that was happening around that you know, the Trump administrations policies toward immigrants and refugees have had a real chilling effect on a lot of different things. William Frey, a senior fellow for the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, pointed to how much is riding on an accurate census count, including the apportionment of seats in Congress and the Electoral College. Just counting citizens, as opposed to the overall population, would skew the way congressional districts and state districts would work, he said. Not responding to the census can also mean a loss of access to government programs that rely on census data to get funding, Frey said. A lot of those programs are delegated to young people school, education, various social safety-net types of programs which many of those people who wouldnt fill out the forms might qualify for, Frey said. While the issue might return for the 2030 Census, Frey said opposition could be even greater then. The groups who dont want it to happen are going to become a larger part of the population and a larger part of the voting population, who will determine whos in Congress over the next 10 years and whos the next president, Frey said. Its a big if.' For now, Escobedo said, the challenge NALEO faces is educating people about what the census will include without reigniting the previous fears. What were trying to do is not kind of beat the same drum, she said. Were focused on educating on what to expect and reiterating that every single person in the household on April 1, 2020, must be counted, but its going to be a huge lift. Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University Join the Conversation Related Stories Key indices were trading lower on subdued Asian cues. At 9:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 95.43 points or 0.23% at 41,857.20. The Nifty 50 index was down 41.15 points or 0.33% at 12,321.15. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.13%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.02%. Both these indices outperformed the BSE Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 511 shares rose and 458 shares fell. A total of 41 shares were unchanged. Among stocks, Wipro fell 1.89%. Wipro, on consolidated basis, reported 3.79% decline in net profit to Rs 2,455.90 crore on 2.28% increase in revenue to Rs 15,470.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. IT services segment revenue rose 3.03% to Rs 15,100.60 crore crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. In dollar terms, IT services segment revenue was at $2,094.8 million, a sequential growth of 2.2%. The company expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of $2,095 million to $2,137 million. This translates to a sequential growth of 0.0% to 2.0%. Canara Bank shed 1.32%. Canara Bank said that it has decided to call-off the divestment process of its entire stake in Can Fin Homes, which was under progress. Mindtree rose 0.07%. Mindtree, on consolidated basis, reported 45.93% rise in net profit to Rs 197.00 crore on 3.42% increase in revenue to Rs 2,000.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. Digital business grew by 13.5% y-o-y. Piramal Enterprises was up 0.46%. Piramal Enterprises informed that a meeting of the company will be held on 17 January, 2020, to consider and approve the issue of secured nonconvertible debentures on private placement basis amounting up to Rs 300 crore. Saksoft rose 3.11%. Saksoft said that Credit Analysis & Research Limited (CARE) has assigned an upward rating to the long term bank facilities of the Company from CARE BBB +; Positive (Triple B Plus; Outlook Positive) to CARE A - : Stable (Single A Minus; Outlook: Stable). CSB Bank jumped 3.26%. CSB Bank informed that the regulatory restrictions imposed by RBI on opening of new branches in view of the delayed Initial Public offering, have been lifted by RBl, with effect 10 January 2020. Accordingly, the Bank can currently open branches under the general permission of RBI for all banks. Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the signing of an initial US-China trade deal, with sentiment somewhat dented by comments reportedly from the US Treasury Secretary's that tariffs would remain in place for now. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly said on late Tuesday that the United States would keep in place tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a second phase of a US-China trade agreement. In US, stocks posted a mixed finish on Tuesday as doubts about the extent of import tariff reductions in a trade deal with China saw equities retreat from fresh intraday records for the benchmark indexes. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indonesia's Lion Air considered putting its pilots through simulator training before flying the Boeing 737 MAX but abandoned the idea after the plane maker convinced them in 2017 it was unnecessary, according to people familiar with the matter and internal company communications. The next year, 189 people died when a Lion Air 737 MAX plunged into the Java Sea, a disaster blamed in part on inadequate training and the crew's unfamiliarity with a new flight-control feature on the MAX that malfunctioned. The cockpit of a grounded Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8. Credit:Bloomberg Boeing employees had expressed alarm among themselves over the possibility that one of the company's largest customers might require its pilots to undergo costly simulator training before flying the new 737 model, according to internal messages that have been released to the media. Those messages, included in the more than 100 pages of internal Boeing communications that the company provided to politicians and the US Federal Aviation Administration and released widely on Thursday, had Lion Air's name redacted. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The number of people forced to leave their homes due Taal Volcanos unrest rose to more than 40,000, according to disaster response officials. As of Wednesday noon, 43,681 people are taking shelter in 217 evacuation centers in Batangas and Cavite, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The council also reported that 53,019 people have been affected by the volcanos eruption. However, Brig. Gen. Kit Teofilo, commander of the Joint Task Force Taal, told reporters Wednesday that 82,068 people are now taking shelter in evacuation centers. Michael Salalima, Metro Manila Development Authority's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management focal person said over CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday that evacuees still need water, meals and beddings. Click this link for the list of groups accepting donations as well as how to contact them. On Tuesday, NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal urged the local government of Batangas to ban residents from returning home following reports that some locals defied orders to evacuate amid Taal Volcano's activity. However, Teofilo said "less than a thousand" still remain in the 14-kilometer danger zone, while several others attempt to return to their homes out of fear of being looted. "Pabalikbalik kasi eh, minsan nailikas na, akala wala, biglang bumabalik so may nakakalusot na," he said. [Translation: They come back and forth. Sometimes they've already been evacuated, but they suddenly return, so some pass through us.] The police and the military has kept Talisay, one of the towns closest to Taal Volcano, off limits to people and will remain so until the volcano no longer poses a threat to public safety. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is overall in-charge of calamity response, also said in a Tuesday briefing that the government will bar people from going back to the island where Taal Volcano stands. He said the move has the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief Renato Solidum noted Wednesday that there should not be residents in the Taal Volcano Island as it is a permanent danger zone. Phivolcs, in its latest bulletin, said that Taal Volcano is emitting less ash and steam, but they are still warning against a dangerous or hazardous explosion "within hours or days." Taal's activity may last from days to several months, based on its eruption history. Taal Volcano began acting up on Sunday afternoon. The following day, a "weak" lava fountain also gushed out of the volcano in a magmatic eruption, state volcanologists said. A few possible explanations for why they might not greet you: They are scanning the perimeter for interlopers. They are not early birds. They recall past attempts to engage you in conversation that found you standoffish, owing to your secret tendency to harbor resentment from the morning. The best way to make a friend is to be a friend, and the best way to force someone to say hello to you is to make eye contact and offer a clear, bright Hello! every morning until you break them. Lets be gentle with one another before 10 a.m. Fan Mail I read your column online and always seem to draw a comparison to Hustler magazines Forum because so many of the letters seem contrived. Then I think about their content, and I realize the writers must be either extremely insecure or just plain indecisive. Doesnt make me feel better, but reminds me I have just wasted a few minutes that I will never recover. We are in grave danger if any of them are allowed to vote or procreate. Anonymous The internet has brought a lot of good to the world, such as the highly revered Work Friend column, but it has also facilitated the spread of incorrect information and lackluster opinions on which even holders grasps are tenuous. Forum was a Penthouse feature. Please click here. Primal Screen Therapy Our team had a meeting with another team requiring a screen share from my laptop. As the meeting ended and everyone hung up, my manager, who was unable to attend, messaged me to ask how it went. I was unaware that our messaging was not the private conversation I thought it was; other people were reading our messages because they hadnt closed out their screens. None of what we said was unprofessional or untrue, but a woman who can be difficult did a screenshot of the messages and sent it to my bosss boss, who had been on the call. I am really upset about this invasion of privacy, lack of respect and questionable ethical judgment. I want to address this situation, as I feel violated and wronged. This person needs to have consequences, in my opinion; she is a V.P. and should know better. I dont know her well and will see her in person at a large-ish meeting in two weeks. I dont really want to call her myself, and I feel like H.R. should do something, but all of this just furthers the friction, even though shes bringing it on herself. 1) Shouldnt this person have closed her screen and/or let me know that my screen was still open? 2) What the $&@? Sending the screen to my bosss boss what could she hope to achieve with that?! Anonymous 1) Yes, that is the professional, polite and kind thing to do, but not the most strategic, entertaining or delicious thing to do, which is why many people would not do it. China must rethink its hardline stance towards Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday, as she warned the island was already independent and that any invasion would be "very costly" for Beijing. Tsai won a second term over the weekend with a record 8.2 million votes, an outcome that was seen as a forceful rebuke of China's ongoing campaign to isolate the self-ruled island. China's leadership had made no secret of its desire to see Tsai turfed out because she and her party refuse to acknowledge their view that the island is part of a "one China". Beijing regards Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary -- especially if it declares independence. But in her first interview since Saturday's re-election, Tsai told the BBC there was no need to formally announce independence because the island already runs itself. "We don't have a need to declare ourselves an independent state," she said in the interview, which aired on Wednesday. "We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan." Modern Taiwan has been run separately from the mainland for the last 70 years. For decades, it was a dictatorship under Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists following their 1949 defeat to the communists in China's civil war. But since the 1980s, it has morphed into one of Asia's most progressive democracies, although it is only diplomatically recognised by a dwindling handful of countries. Polls show growing numbers of Taiwanese reject the idea that the island should be part of the Chinese mainland. "We have a separate identity and we're a country of our own," Tsai said. "We deserve respect from China". - 'Stink for eternity' - China has greeted Tsai's re-election with anger, warning against any move to push the island closer towards independence. "Splitting the country is doomed to leave a name that will stink for eternity," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this week. Chinese state media also accused Tsai of winning the election through cheating, without providing evidence. On Wednesday, Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office said there were no plans to change policy towards the island after the landslide election. "Taiwan's future lies in the unification of the country," spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said, adding its future must be decided by "all Chinese people". But Tsai said China should respect the wishes of Taiwan's electorate. "I hope the Chinese side can understand in-depth the opinion and will expressed by Taiwanese people in this election and can review some of their current policies," she told reporters on Wednesday. Tsai was speaking as she announced a new "anti-infiltration law" had been signed into effect making it illegal to launch political activities that are backed or funded by "hostile external forces". Supporters say the bill is aimed at clamping down on China's infiltration of Taiwan's politics while opponents called it anti-democratic. - Costs of war - In her BBC interview -- which came as Taiwan held annual military drills on the south of the island -- Tsai warned Beijing against sending in troops. "Invading Taiwan is something that is going to be very costly for China," she said. Critics accuse Tsai of being needlessly antagonistic towards Beijing. But Tsai said she had resisted pressure from within her own party to be more forceful on the issue of independence. "There are so many pressures, so much pressure here that we should go further," she said. "Maintaining a status quo remains our policy... I think that is a very friendly gesture to China." Tsai has repeatedly said she is willing to talk to Beijing as long as there are no pre-conditions. But Beijing has refused, cutting off official communication with her administration. Over the last four years, it has also has ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure, hoping it would scare voters into supporting the opposition. But the strong-arm tactics backfired with voters resoundingly backing Tsai for another four more years. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen won a second term at the weekend with record support -- seen as a forceful rebuke of China's campaign to isolate the self-ruled island Results of the presidential election in Taiwan. Taiwan is holding annual military drills this week For the fourteenth year in a row, Canadian Mortgage Professional is ranking the top-performing brokers in the country. After receiving an overwhelming response in previous years, CMP is back once again to recognize the brokers who have remarkably surpassed the changing conditions in the Canadian market. Inclusion in the list is not only a recognition of the work done by brokers, but also an affirmation that the industry continues to grow and fosters a healthy competition among colleagues and friends across the industry. Ahead of the Budget, gems and jewellery industry has sought reduction in import duty on gold to 6 per cent and on cut and polished diamonds to 2.5 per cent to revive the sector. "The high duty of 12.5 per cent on gold coupled with the goods and services tax has made buying jewellery very costly, affecting consumer demand. After the Budget last year, we have met the finance minister several times and we are positive that the government will look into the industry plight and reduce the customs duty to 6 per cent," All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) Chairman Anantha Padmanaban told PTI here. Saying that liquidity is a major area of concern, he said, the government should take steps to ensure thatbanks lend to jewellers. "Banks are staying away from lending to jewellers due to recent incidents of fraud and bankruptcy in the sector. This is affecting manufacturing and many units (are) closing down and (resulting in) lay offs," he added. The GJC, in a presentation, urged the government to waive off bank commission on use of credit card or reduce it to 0.20 per cent from 1-1.5 per cent, thus ensuring a boost to 'Digital India' and gems and jewellery industry. It also sought relief from Capital Gain Tax, which is keeping customers away from buying jewellery. "We urge the government that in case jewellery sold is reinvested in new jewellery, exemption from Capital Gain as per Section 54F of the Income Tax Act 1961 should be extended to the gems and jewellery industry. This will help the industry to move towards organised and compliant business practices," Padmanaban added. World Gold Council Managing Director, India, Somasundaram PR said that last year's import duty hike on gold from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent needs to be reversed. "Increase in taxes has impeded efforts to make gold an asset class particularly at a time when gold prices have risen globally. The thriving grey market has diluted efforts to reduce cash transactions and penalises organised and compliant players," he added. The employment potential of the vast, predominantly-handcrafted jewellery industry needs to be augmented through a long term gold policy intervention. "The gold industry should be encouraged to operate transparently and come out of the shadows of a parallel economy, with appropriate infrastructure and standards, underpinned by robust gold spot exchange, bullion banking, innovation and responsible business practices," he added. The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) sought reduction in import duty on cut and polished diamondsto 2.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent and amendment in taxation provisions to allow sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zone in Mumbai. The exporter's body, in its presentation to the government, also urged for introduction of job work policy for gems and jewellery sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Her new series, The Plot Against America, is set to air in mid March. And on Wednesday, Winona Ryder made a stunning appearance at the 2020 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, California, to chat up the show. The 48-year-old beauty looked much younger than her years with a wrinkle-free face as she wore dark colors. Scroll down for video Covered up: Winona Ryder kept things clean cut when she joined her The Plot Against America cast at the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour on Wednesday in Pasadena She looks the same: The Hollywood staple has not aged much since the 90s when she dated her Edward Scissorhands co-star Johnny Depp Winona wore a black long-sleeved dress that was cinched in at the waist before flaring out into a skirt. The Hollywood vet covered up the modest look with a dark brown blazer and wore platform lace-up shoes to add to her petite 5ft3in stature. The actress kept her accessorizes minimal to a few rings and a gold watch. Modest look: Winona wore a black long-sleeved dress that was cinched in at the waist before flaring out into a skirt as she posed with John Turturro and Zoe Kazan Gorgeous: Winona's brunette tresses were styled out effortlessly over her shoulders into loose curls Winona's brunette tresses were styled effortlessly over her shoulders into loose curls. The Stranger Things star sported a glowing complexion with a sweep of blush, dark eye and a nude glossy lip. She was joined by her co-stars, David Simon, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, Anthony Boyle and John Turturro. Stunner: The Stranger Things star sported a glowing complexion with a sweep of blush, dark eye and a nude glossy lip Premis: The Plot Against America is a six episode mini series 'imagines an alternate American history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey. The Plot Against America is a six episode mini series 'imagines an alternate American history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey.' It comes at a time when they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh who becomes the president and turns the nation towards fascism. The HBO series is scheduled to air its first episode on March 16, 2020. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Anastasia Savchenko - Trend: A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Total E&P Absheron and the French Embassy in Baku, Trend reports from the signing ceremony Jan. 15. On the same day, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Total E&P Absheron, the University of Strasbourg (Unistra) and UFAZ (a joint project of the French-Azerbaijani University led by the University of Strasbourg and the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University), as well as between PASHA Bank, the University of Strasbourg (Unistra) and UFAZ as part of strengthening and developing professional cooperation in the field of education and science. The documents were signed by rector of Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Professor Mustafa Babanli, Rector of the University of Strasbourg Michel Deneken, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Zacharie Gross, President of Total E&P Absheron Regis Agut and Chairman of the Board of PASHA Bank OJSC Taleh Kazimov. Earlier, various meetings were held between UFAZ and PASHA Bank to arrange students' participation in the banks practice program and provide them with the opportunity to continue their career at the bank after graduation. On Sept. 17, 2019, fourth-year students studying computer science at UFAZ, as part of the UFAZ Career Days, visited the PASHA Bank digital laboratory for the first time. The PASHA Bank team, which regularly visits UFAZ, held interactive meetings with students on topics such as the importance of behavior skills in the ICT labor market. Government work was suspended and schools were closed in a number of towns and cities, including Manila, because of health risks from the ash. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. The restiveness of the Taal volcano and several new fissures in the ground nearby likely mean magma is rising and may lead to further eruptive activity, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. Pakistan Harsh winter weather kills 70 more people MUZAFFARABAD Severe winter weather has claimed more lives as avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall killed 55 people in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and 15 died in neighboring Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. The latest deaths raise the two countries overall death toll from the severe weather to 126 since Sunday. The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir was the worst-affected area, with 55 deaths in the past 24 hours, said Waseem Uddin, a spokesman for Pakistans National Disaster Management Authority. China Bus falls into sinkhole; 6 dead, 4 more missing By David Lewis and Peter Hobson In a refinery just outside Ugandas main airport, workers slip bars of freshly refined gold into clear plastic bags sealed with a sticker of the national flag black, yellow and red and the label Ugandans Treasure. Uganda produces little gold of its own. Alain Goetz, who set up the refinery, says that by branding gold from abroad as Ugandan, the operation is merely imitating others for example, the Swiss dont mine the gold they refine in Switzerland. The refinery, African Gold Refinery, is part of a trend across Africa. Small-scale mining is booming, and new gold refineries are opening by the dozen, to process metal produced by informal diggers in Africa and beyond. The refineries, which often win high-level political backing, can be positive because they offer miners and states a way to extract value from their own mineral wealth rather than just exporting raw commodities. But if not properly controlled, they risk adding to problems of smuggling and funding conflict. Some of Africas new gold refineries are in South Africa, a major gold producer with an already large refining industry. There, authorities granted 19 refining licences in the year to March 2019 as many as in the previous three years combined. Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa where until 2012 there were only a handful of refineries as many as 26 are now either operating or under construction across 14 countries from Mali to Tanzania, including in states which mine little gold at home, a Reuters survey found. Governments of gold-producing countries in Africa have long complained that the precious metal in their rocks is being illegally produced and smuggled out on a vast scale, sometimes by criminal operations, often at a high human and environmental cost. By refining gold, states hope to capture value that is being lost. The only way to stop (smuggling) is having multiple refineries in Africa, said Frank Mugyenyi, head of the minerals unit at the African Union. But because informal miners already often operate through smuggling networks to avoid tax and scrutiny, officials and industry sources say some refineries risk inevitably joining these shadowy channels. With so many refineries competing for gold to process, each has scant incentive to check where its gold comes from. Just 13 of them state they can handle more than 1,400 tonnes of gold a year, worth around $70bn (63bn). That means they could treat around twice Africas estimated total gold production, and nearly a third of the worlds supply. Of 22 refineries surveyed by Reuters, 14 did not respond to requests for more information about the size and nature of their business. Two responses to the survey showed a lax approach: One small operator, Bupe Chipando who heads Alinani Precious Metals Ltd in Kenya, said he does not yet purify gold, but just melts blocks of impure metal together and ships them overseas. Officials said they knew of at least two other African refiners who did the same thing. Another, Robert Baker, the CEO of Bekora Miners in Cameroon, said most of the gold his refinery processed was not declared to customs, in order to avoid paying tax on metal it exports. Cameroons government did not respond to requests for comment. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed global sourcing standards against which it recommends refineries are audited. Outside South Africa, no African refineries have yet followed that recommendation, said Louis Marechal, an OECD expert on responsible business conduct at who has travelled widely in Africa consulting with governments and companies on how to regulate and source gold responsibly. The new refineries offer an important outlet for millions of individuals who dig for gold using basic technology. Industrial mining companies usually fly metal they produce in Africa to large refineries accredited by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the industrys standard setter. All but one of these is outside the continent. Concerned about the risks of rights abuses, crime or conflict in the supply chain, LBMA-accredited refineries typically steer clear of metal from informal miners. Six of Africas new refineries in Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda and Uganda shared output data with Reuters. With combined annual capacity for around 270 tonnes, they currently process around 41 tonnes of gold a year worth some $2bn. For comparison, refineries in Switzerland handle around 2,500 tonnes of gold a year, worth $120bn at current prices. Some people in the industry concede that it is hard for Africas new refiners to be accepted as mainstream suppliers. Large banks, jewellers and electronics makers generally only accept gold from refineries accredited by groups such as the LBMA. - Reuters In a refinery just outside Ugandas main airport, workers slip bars of freshly refined gold into clear plastic bags sealed with a sticker of the national flag black, yellow and red and the label Ugandans Treasure. WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has subpoenaed Denver law enforcement for information on four foreign nationals wanted for deportation and may consider expanding the unusual practice to other locations if necessary. Its an escalation of the conflict between federal officials and so-called sanctuary cities. ICE, the Homeland Security agency responsible for arresting and deporting people in the U.S. illegally, could take the subpoena to a federal judge, who can order them to hand over information and find them in contempt if they dont comply, officials said. But Denver officials strongly disputed the claim that they had not been co-operative with an initial request for information from ICE. Denver officials said they already had sent along information on three of the men. The fourth was still in custody, and information would be sent when he is released. But Denver, like many other jurisdictions around the country, will not hold any inmate beyond their release date in order for ICE to collect them because it violates their civil rights. We are reviewing the administrative subpoenas from ICE, which were not issued by a court of law, said Theresa Marchetta, the director of strategic communications with the mayors office. We want to be very clear that our immigration ordinance fully complies with federal law. Curbing immigration, both legal and illegal, has been a top priority for President Donald Trump, who has insulted Mexicans as rapists and murderers and who claims immigrants pose a safety threat, despite studies showing they commit less crime than non-immigrants. He has tightened rules on who can come, restricted who can receive public benefits and sent more than 50,000 people back to Mexico to wait out asylum claims. The battle between sanctuary cities, localities that provide added protection to immigrants and refuse to co-operate with federal officials, and federal law enforcement has only escalated since Trump took office. In 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent letters to 29 cities, metro areas, counties or states considered to have adopted sanctuary policies, saying those policies may violate federal law and threatening to withhold law enforcement grants. They eventually got the funds after courts chipped away at the threat. Thirteen states have enacted laws to allow immigrants to get drivers licenses without proof they are in the U.S. legally, and some restrict data sharing with federal authorities. The subpoenas were issued Monday. In three of the cases, officials have 14 days to respond with information, and in one case, three days. Ryan Luby, a spokesman for the city attorneys office, said the subpoenas requested additional information than what was already provided. The subpoenas were not issued by a court of law and not signed by a judge. There is no indication they are related to a criminal investigation, he said. Denver does not comply with subpoenas unless they are Court-ordered or unless they are primarily related to a criminal investigation. Our immigration ordinance fully complies with federal law. Henry Lucero, deputy executive associate director for ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations, said the agency doesnt want to get into the business of subpoenaing fellow law enforcement agencies he called it a last resort. But because of changes in how municipalities work with ICE, it could be necessary, he said. And ICE officials believe they have the legal right to do it under the Immigration and Nationality Act. In the past, we had full support. We collaborated in the interest of public safety, he said. This is a drastic change, he said of the subpoenas. And one ICE is forced to do, and puts other agencies on notice that we dont want this to happen. We want to protect the public. The administrative subpoenas are usually sent by ICE to employers or landlords but have never been sent to law enforcement agencies before, Lucero said. The four men, three Mexican nationals and one Honduran, had all been arrested and jailed for violent offences such as sexual assault and child abuse and had all been previously deported, according to ICE. ICE officials contacted Denver to request jail release notifications involving four inmates, Luby said. Contrary to what ICE is saying, we honoured three of those requests for the three inmates released at that time. We will honour the request for the fourth inmate when he is released. ICE officers rely on help from local law enforcement to find suspects. Over the budget year that ended Sept. 30, officers arrested about 143,000 people, about 13,000 fewer than last year, and deported more than 267,000. More than 92,000 of the arrests were of people with criminal convictions, officials said, including for homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault and assault. But immigrant advocates and lawmakers say ICE is deporting people who have been in the U.S. for decades, who have families and make contributions to American cities and who should not be their focus. Sanctuary cities are creating havens for those people so they can feel safe and can report crime without fear of deportation. ICE officials pointed to a New York City case where a 21-year-old Guyanese national was arrested and accused of raping and murdering a 92-year-old woman in Queens on Jan. 10. According to ICE, the suspect had beaten up his father during a brawl in November that resulted in an arrest. Federal officials sent a request to hand him over for deportation. New York City police say they didnt get a request, though ICE insists it was sent. But even if they did, under the terms of New Yorks local laws, they would not have turned over the 21-year-old. In the Denver cases, one man from Mexico was arrested for sexual assault, another for vehicular homicide and a third for child abuse and strangulation assault. The Honduran man was released after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. All had been removed from the country previously. While discussing the Texas church shooting last week, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg said that we just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place. It may be true I wasnt there; I dont know the facts that somebody in the congregation had their own gun and killed the person who murdered two other people, but its the job of law enforcement to have guns and to decide when to shoot, Bloomberg said in Montgomery, Ala., on December 30, as reported by Conservative Review. You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place. Bloomberg is, of course, correct. Although the shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement tragically took two lives, it could have been much worse had an armed, trained volunteer security guard not been there to shoot the gunman dead before he could do even greater damage. This incident was about as clear an example as you could get for how maintaining our Second Amendment rights can save lives and, therefore, it might seem like a pretty odd thing to reference when youre arguing against gun rights. The Second Amendment, after all, worked in this case; people are alive because of it, and Bloomberg is going to say that he wished the situation had been different? Its truly shocking in terms of stupidity but its also par for the Michael Bloomberg course. Its hardly surprising for Bloomberg to have expressed such an unyielding stance on gun rights; hes been doing so for years. Whats more, the right to self-defense is far from the only individual right that Bloomberg has a history of disrespecting. In fact, despite the fact that hes somehow managed to brand himself as a moderate choice, Michael Bloombergs record is actually that of an authoritarian nightmare. Throughout his career, Bloomberg has repeatedly shown blatant disrespect for individual rights and civil liberties. The first thing that comes to mind is probably the way he tried to micromanage New Yorkers food choices during his time as mayor. His most famous effort in this area, of course, was his failed attempt to protect us from drinking too much soda but it wasnt the only one. During his time as mayor, he also launched a campaign called the National Salt Reduction Initiative, reportedly even going so far as to compare the common ingredient to asbestos. Story continues Bloomberg also has a pretty dismal record when it comes to allowing Americans the freedom to make their own decisions about marijuana use. In fact, according to CNNs DJ Judd, Bloomberg referred just last year to marijuana legalization as perhaps the stupidest thing weve ever done. Now, to be fair, Bloomberg has (only) recently evolved on this issue: Last month, a campaign spokesman said that Bloomberg now believes in decriminalization and doesnt believe the federal government should interfere with states that have already legalized and that no one should have their life ruined by getting arrested for possession. But this is, quite simply, too little too late. The conversation, after all, has progressed with one of Bloombergs primary opponents, Pete Buttigieg, openly professing a truly pro-freedom, pro-individual rights stance: Decriminalize them all. Whats more, I actually find it astounding that Bloombergs campaign spokesman would even have the balls to complain about people having their lives ruined by getting arrested for possession. Bloomberg was, after all, a long-standing supporter of stop and frisk which directly led to thousands of people being arrested for marijuana possession and he remained one even as the truly totalitarian impacts of the policy were being reported. In fact, at the beginning of last year, he was still defending it. Of course, much like his stance on marijuana, his position on this issue has also conveniently evolved with his pursuit of the presidency; he apologized for the practice a couple of months ago. This is also, frankly, too little too late. For one thing, youd have to be pretty stupid not to notice how his stances on these issues have conveniently just happened to change just in time for his presidential run. Whats more, his apology does nothing to change the damage that stop-and-frisk has already done: People who got roughed up by police for no reason still live with that trauma, and people who were arrested for victimless crimes still had to live with those consequences. Worse, Bloombergs support of stop-and-frisk isnt the only example of him demonstrating a complete disregard for the Fourth Amendment. No hes also supported the secret surveillance of U.S. citizens. Under his mayorship, the NYPD was secretly spying on Muslim Americans, and Bloomberg defended it as being necessary to keep this country safe. The truth? The NYPD has since admitted that the program did not lead to discovering even a single terrorism plot. For this one, Bloomberg has yet to apologize. With several members of the Democratic party (including multiple Democratic candidates) openly promoting socialist policies, a businessman like Bloomberg might seem like a nice choice. But as bad as a socialist president would be for the country (and it would be bad), I cant say that I see an established authoritarian as a great choice, either our individual rights and civil liberties are too important. More from National Review In two weeks time President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is scheduled to hand the rotating presidency of the African Union to his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. In the bilateral meeting that traditionally precedes the official hand-over Ramaphosa is expected to quiz Al-Sisi about Egypts position on Ethiopias request that Cape Town mediate between Cairo and Addis Ababa in an attempt to resolve their persistent disagreements over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Last week, in the wake of another inconclusive round of talks in Addis Ababa and ahead of the meetings that took place in Washington on Monday and Tuesday (13 and 14 January) Ethiopias Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced he would seek the mediation of South Africa in its capacity as the next chair of the AU. Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, the outcome of the final meeting in Washington was yet unreleased. Ahmeds appeal for a new mediator was construed as a tacit admission the Washington talks would not see a breakthrough on the most significant sticking points the volume of water that Egypt will lose during years of drought, and linkage between the operation of GERD and Egypts 50-year-old High Dam. An Egyptian diplomat who previously served in Addis Ababa characterised the Ethiopian request for South African mediation as manipulative given that South Africa is hardly a close ally of Egypt. It is no secret that Egypt and South Africa have competing positions on the continent. It is also no secret that Egypt might wish for another African mediator even though South Africa is the next chair of the AU, said the diplomat. Egypt has issued no official statement on Ahmeds proposition. It has, however, criticised Ethiopia for failing to meet its promises to work with Egypt and Sudan and agree arrangements that allow for Addis Ababa to pursue its development goals without inflicting harm on Egypt, the one Nile Basin country facing a severe water shortage. Ethiopia, the same diplomat says, has not been acting in good faith despite the sincere wish on the part of Egypt to reach a fair arrangement. Ethiopia has been trying to put pressure on Egypt in East Africa, on the assumption that this would get the Egyptian authorities compromise on the water file. According to the diplomat, Ethiopia has been lobbying East African countries, including Sudan, against Egypt. Officials in Cairo have repeatedly complained about an unsympathetic Sudanese position which seems to align more with Ethiopia than with Egypt. Throughout the 12 months, during which it chaired the African Union, Egypt has tried to counterbalance this Ethiopian campaign. However, according to officials familiar with the African file, Egypt still has a lot of work to do. Part of the problem that Egypt is facing with Ethiopia and the rest of East Africa, officials argue, is the support that Addis Ababa has received for over 10 years from two of Egypts closest Arab allies, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They are true allies of Egypt and we work together on many fronts but they too have interests in East Africa, said one official. Relations with East Africa and Nile Basin states have topped Egypts agenda during the past year, in its capacity as AU chair, and will continue to do so in 2020. We have plans to work with these countries on so many fronts: development, trade, health and more, said a government official. Cairo is not sure, however, how far this consolidation of relations will serve its position when it comes to GERD. In parallel with its continued focus on East Africa, Cairo will also have to continue working to preserve its strategic interests in North Africa. In cooperation with the UAE, Egypt has given a considerable push to Khalifa Haftar, the military leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army who is in an extended battle with militias supporting Fayez Al-Sarraj, the chair of the internationally recognised government of Libya. However, this push had not forced Al-Sarraj and his militias to back down. Nor has it prompted more international support for or recognition of Haftar. Actually, despite the advances that Haftar has managed to make on the ground, with considerable Egyptian and Emirati help, he is still not being considered as the potential next leader of Libya, commented a Cairo-based European diplomat. The same diplomat added that more countries than ever are conversing with Al-Sarraj. Traditionally, the Russians have been closer to Haftar but this week we saw [Russian President Vladimir] Putin invite Al-Sarraj and Haftar to Moscow as part of a joint initiative with Turkey which is a direct ally of Al-Sarraj. Putin offered the initiative with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week following the Russian presidents visit to Turkey. And unlike Egypt, Turkey was very active in the indirect talks between Haftar and Al-Sarraj that took place in Moscow earlier this week. According to the European diplomat, Al-Sarraj curried favour with Putin by agreeing to an initial ceasefire agreement that Haftar declined. The prolonged conflict in Libya is a source of deep concern to Tunisia and Algeria as well as to Egypt though the three states differ on how the situation should be managed. Last week Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri was in Algeria for talks. Egypt is planning further consultations with both Algeria and Tunisia ahead of the Berlin Conference on Libya that has finally been scheduled to convene on 19 January. Algerias newly sworn in President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will attend the conference. This week Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stressed the importance of the Berlin Conference to attempts to ensure stability in Libya. If we fail to keep up the truce in Libya we cannot talk, Conte said. He was speaking ahead of a visit to Egypt on Tuesday where he met with President Al-Sisi for talks on Libya. Senior Egyptian officials have been in talks with their counterparts in Russia, the US, Italy, France and Germany over Libya. The talks have covered far more than developments along Egypts border with Libya, encompassing the southern and southwestern portions of the country. The southern part of Libya, which is controlled by neither Al-Sarraj nor Haftar, is packed with militias that move back and forth from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. The area represents a serious challenge for the war on violent Islamist militant groups. Egypt has been working particularly closely with both Germany and France on this front. Senior Egyptian officials have been repeatedly telling their European counterparts that without a strong Libyan army the south of Libya will continue to be a transit zone for militias moving around the Sahara. For Egypt this is a serious security concern that it has been working to resolve. In a report issued earlier this month the International Crisis Group included the conflicts in Libya and Burkina Faso as likely to be two of the most problematic in 2020. According to the report, despite the promising role of its Nobel Laureate Prime Minister Ahmed, Ethiopia too could face an upsurge of ethnic violence and socio-economic riots. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the title: Mission Africa continues Search Keywords: Short link: Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to Myanmar, scheduled from January 17 to 18, is expected to deepen the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation and promote the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) from conceptual planning to construction. Chinese and Burmese workers test the equipment at the distribution station of China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines in Mandalay, Myanmar. (Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily) As a landmark project between the two countries, the economic corridor is bound to form a three-pillar giant cooperation pattern, boost connectivity among large projects along the routes, and benefit both countries and peoples. Myanmar is an important partner of China to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative. With complementary advantages, China and Myanmar boast huge potential for cooperation. Leaders of the two countries have drawn up blueprint for the BRI construction on many bilateral and multilateral occasions. Myanmar attaches great importance to the BRI. Many cooperative mechanisms and platforms have been established under the Initiative, such as the joint committee for Myanmar-China Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation, the joint committee for the CMEC, and the CMEC Forum, and the Steering Committee for the Implementation of BRI, which was firstly held in February, 2019. The 21st century is the one featuring globalization and connectivity, said Dr. Khin Maung Nyunt, Senior Research Fellow of Myanmar Development Institute (MDI),a researcher with the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, adding that the insightful BRI proposed by China, which aims to strengthen interconnectivity, suits the trend of the world. The oil and gas distribution center in Mandalay. (By Sun Guangyong, People's Daily) As a demonstration and prototype project of the BRI, the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project has brought significant changes to Kyaukpyu, a town in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. The town was only provided with electricity two or three hours every day and it was expensive for independent power producers to generate electricity, said a local working in hotel management. With the project, about 602,700 cubic meters of gas is transported to the power plants in Kyaukpyu every day, providing electricity for the locals 24 hours each day at a much lower cost. The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project has not only enabled Myanmar to make monetary gain by exporting gas overseas, but has boosted the employment at home. It has brought direct economic benefits of $520 million for Myanmar by November 30, 2019. With a batch of down-to-earth projects, Chinese companies have improved the economic and social conditions for Myanmar to secure greater economic growth. While villagers at Mon State, south Myanmar, have gained access to household appliances like refrigerators and televisions, those from over 30 villages near the Chinese-constructed Letpadaung Copper Mine have become better-off. Myanmar has poor infrastructure, yet the development of rural areas especially depends on infrastructure construction, said Dr Nay Lin, chairman of Myanmar Alinyaung (Brightness) Foundation ( MAF). He pointed out that many cities in Myanmar, Rangoon for one, have greatly improved the infrastructure since Myanmar became a part of the BRI construction. More highways have been built and some projects have helped the rural residents to make more money, he noted, adding that the country has developed in the highest level with the smallest cost thanks to the BRI. In November 2017, China proposed building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor to form a large cooperation pattern between the two countries. One month later, leaders from the two countries reached an important consensus on building the economic corridor, from where the corridor has entered a period of fast development. A worker operates the equipment at a smeltery of the Letpadaung Copper Mine. (By Sun Guangyong, People's Daily) China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding on building the CMEC in September 2018. The CMEC has actually benefitted Myanmar. The countrys economic growth rate is estimated at 7 percent from the fiscal year of 2019 to 2020 as the CMEC has stimulated the transportation and tourism in Myanmar, according to a report on the income and expenditure of the country, as reported by the Burmese media. The CMEC has not only helped the areas along the corridor to build their own industrial system, but has also boosted relevant industries such as transportation and improved the local education and science and technology, noted U Thit Linn Ohn, former Ambassador of Myanmar to China. He added that Myanmar hopes to put into practice the cooperative projects under the CMEC to benefit the people of the two countries. Here are the companies the Yahoo Finance team is watching for you today. The FAA is investigating why a Delta (DAL) pilot decided to dump fuel over the Los Angeles area, injuring dozens of adults and students. The flight heading to Shanghai experienced an engine problem right after take-off, and the pilot unloaded its fuel before returning to LAX. Delta says the plane followed "normal procedure" but they "share concerns" over the injuries. Amazon (AMZN) is loosening the grip on its FedEx (FDX) ban. The e-commerce giant will now allow third-party sellers to once against use FedEx's ground network to send Amazon Prime deliveries. Amazon is also extending a hand to small businesses in India by investing $1 billion to bring these companies online, after it was accused of undermining those local sellers. President Trump is calling out Apple (AAPL). He wants the tech giant to unlock the naval base shooter's two iPhones. He tweeted, They will have to step up to the plate and help out." Attorney General William Barr made a similar request of Apple on Monday. Apple has reportedly not told the Justice Department if they can even unlock the phones. A top exec at NBCUniversal (CMCSA) is jumping ship. George Cheeks is heading to ViacomCBS (VIAC), where he's expected to succeed Joe Ianniello as head of the network, according to the Wall Street Journal. No word on when he would start the his new role. Cheeks oversees NBC's television production business and its late-night programming. Microsoft (MSFT) is breathing a sigh of relief now that it's issued a software patch to fix a security flaw in its Windows 10 operating system. The National Security Agency found that Windows 10 was vulnerable to hackers who could send corrupt files but make them look like they are coming from a trusted source. Microsoft says there are no signs anyone exploited the issue. A newly released video appears to show two missiles striking Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on January 8. All 176 people on board the flight were killed after it was brought down over the Iranian capital Tehran, hours after Iran had fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The video, published by the New York Times, appears to show the two missiles striking more than 20 seconds apart. Iranian authorities have previously admitted that Iran's military shot down the plane. On January 11, Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force said the plane was shot down by a short-range missile and was misidentified as a cruise missile by an air defense operator. Iran has not previously indicated that the plane was struck twice. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tweeted on Saturday a reference to multiple "missiles" but did not give any clarification. "Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people," Rouhani wrote in English, though he did not confirm how many were fired. "Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake." Rouhani added that "the Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake," and Tehran has vowed to investigate and hold the perpetrators to justice, even as protests have erupted in the capital and other cities calling for Rouhani and others to resign. Iranian riot police used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Tehran's Azadi Square Sunday. Protests have also reportedly occurred in other cities around the country, including Shiraz, Esfahan, Hamedan and Orumiyeh. Video showed some protesters calling for the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down, a far cry from the solidarity and national unity seen in the days after Soleimani's killing. "Death to the dictator," some chanted in the capital, Tehran, in footage posted on social media. In one video, demonstrators chanted, "Khamenei have shame. Leave the country." The China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) on January 13 announced the recipients of its 11th awards for pediatric excellence at a ceremony held at the China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Centre for Young People in Beijing. Six pediatric research projects, including "Innovative Research on the Pathogenesis and Surgical Treatment of Bile Duct Anomalies in Pediatrics", won the Soong Ching Ling Pediatric Medicine Award, while two others won the Soong Ching Ling Pediatric Medical Achievements Award. Hang Yuanxiang, executive vice-chairman of the CSCLF, explained that the awards are aimed at promoting the development of pediatrics in China, strengthening the training of medical staff in the field, and further improving children's health care systems. Children's health is an important foundation for sustainable social development. After years of efforts, the health of children in China has improved significantly. According to Yu Yanhong, a member of the Leading Party Members' Group of the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, China's national neonatal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, and under-five mortality rate were 3.9, 6.1, and 8.4 respectively in 2018. This was down more than 78% compared with rates in 2000, outperforming the averages for middle- and high-income countries. The Soong Ching Ling Pediatric Award was established by the CSCLF with support from the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. It aims to commend scientific research achievements in pediatric medicine and encourage pediatric medical workers to dedicate themselves to research in the fields of clinical medicine, basic medicine and public health. Since it was launched in 2006, a total of 87 medical research projects have been recognized with the award. Since the inception of Simon Youth Foundation in 1998, shoppers at Simon Malls, Mills, and Premium Outlets have been among SYFs most ardent supporters, contributing millions of dollars to support the foundations mission to help students graduate. As a thank you to these supporters, SYF is once again helping a deserving graduating senior living near Houston pursue a college education. Simon Youth Community Scholarships are awarded in every community across the country that is home to a Simon Mall, Mills, or Premium Outlets center. Visit syf.org/scholarships to apply for a scholarship. The deadline to apply is Feb. 19. Scholarship recipients are eligible for a one-time $1,500 scholarship, which may be applied to tuition at an accredited college, university, vocational or technical school. Students who will be graduating high school in 2020 and live in the communities surrounding The Galleria and Houston Premium Outlets are eligible. The scholarship program is part of a larger initiative called Simon Supports Education, which includes several opportunities designed to engage mall patrons in support of SYFs mission. Consumers can support SYF in a variety of ways while shopping at Simon malls including purchasing an SYF Visa Simon Giftcard. One dollar from the sale of each gift card directly funds the foundations scholarship and graduation programs. In addition, shoppers can opt to donate a Simon Giftcard balance to SYF. The scholarships awarded at the ceremony are funded largely by Simon Property Group employee and shopper donations. At Simon Youth Foundation, we are committed to helping students graduate and pursue their dreams through education, said J. Michael Durnil, foundation president/CEO. We strongly believe that cost should not prevent students from furthering their education. With the incredible support of our corporate partner, Simon, and its Simon Supports Education initiative, we are humbled to help eliminate this financial burden through SYFs scholarship programs. In 2019, SYF awarded more than $1.6 million in scholarships to more than 407 graduating seniors. Over 20 years, SYF has awarded more than $18 million in post-secondary scholarships to 5,000 students. Simon has awarded scholarships to 23 high school seniors in the Houston-area through the Simon Youth Scholarship program. In addition to the community scholarships, 11 regional awards called Awards of Excellence will be given to top candidates. The regions eligible are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Orange County (CA), Orlando and Seattle/Tacoma. Additionally, one Award of Excellence will be awarded to an applicant from a Simon Premium Outlet. Students from these areas will have the opportunity to receive a $10,000 award ($2,500 for up to four years). SYFs 2020 scholarship recipients will be selected by International Scholarship and Tuition Services, a third-party partner. Applicants will be evaluated based on academic promise, financial need, written response, work experience as well as community and extracurricular involvement. Recipients will be notified in May 2020. Robots are becoming an increasingly important part of human care, according to researchers based in Japan. To help improve the safety and efficacy of robotic care, the scientists have developed a control method that could help robots better replicate human movement when lifting and moving a patient. They published their results in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica. "In recent years, shortage of caregivers has become a serious social problem as the result of a falling birth rate and an aging population," said Changan Jiang, paper author and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Ritsumeikan University. Nursing care robots are already in use in several care facilities, but come with limitations. For example, robots responsible for lifting a patient from a bed to a chair must be heavily supervised by a human care provider. The control method the robot uses to lift and hold a person must also contend with the issue of friction. The weight of a human could cause the robot's arms to stall out in mid-movement. In Jiang's paper, the researchers report the development of a method to control the movement of a nursing care robot's arm to make a safe and comfortable posture without having to compensate for the friction between care-receivers and the robot's arms in a computer simulation. "In a real-world application, the friction cannot be ignored, and it will affect the arms' performance of holding and the lifting-up motion," Jiang said. "In our research, instead of compensating the friction, we utilize static friction reasonably during holding and lifting up of an object. This is the most important idea of our research." Static friction keeps an object at rest. For example, a truck climbing a steep ramp must have enough force to propel itself upwards, otherwise static friction between the truck and the road will grind the movement to a halt and keep the truck still. With nursing care robots, the researchers made the static friction work for them by applying it to a two-link object--the robot's equivalent of a human arm. By assuming the arm is working from a state of static friction, with the care-receiver's body acting as the thing that keeps the arms from moving, the researchers programmed the arm to keep the body at rest. As such, the care receiver has a safe and comfortable experience, and the robot's arm doesn't need to work to compensate whatever friction is introduced. Next, the researchers plan to add a third link to the control method, which will represent a torso. "We plan to extend the two-link object to a three-link one, which is more similar to a human's body and to design a new control method to realize a safe and comfortable holding and lifting-up motion," Jiang said. Satoshi Ueno, also with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ritsumeiken University, co-authored the paper. ### Fulltext of the paper is available: http://www.ieee-jas.org/en/article/doi/10.1109/JAS.2019.1911759 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=8894750 IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica aims to publish high-quality, high-interest, far-reaching research achievements globally, and provide an international forum for the presentation of original ideas and recent results related to all aspects of automation. Researchers (including globally highly cited scholars) from institutions all over the world, such as MIT, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, Princeton University, select to share their research with a large audience through JAS. IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica is indexed in SCIE, EI, Scopus, etc. The latest CiteScore is 5.31, ranked among top 9% (22/232) in the category of "Control and Systems Engineering", and top 10% (27/269, 20/189) both in the categories of "Information System" and "Artificial Intelligence". JAS has been in the 1st quantile (Q1) in all three categories it belongs to. Why publish with us: Fast and high quality peer review; Simple and effective online submission system; Widest possible global dissemination of your research; Indexed in SCIE, EI, IEEE, Scopus, Inspec. JAS papers can be found at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6570654 or http://www.ieee-jas.org Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis (pictured) ruled on Tuesday that the accusers will be allowed to make impact statements at Keith Raniere's sentencing and will not be forced to reveal their identities A New York judge will allow the victims of NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere to make impact statements during his upcoming sentencing. Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled on Tuesday that the accusers will not be forced to reveal their identities. 'The court already granted a nearly identical application from the government permitting victims to testify under pseudonyms at his trial because Mr. Raniere failed to identify a particularized need for this information to be disclosed in open court,' the judge said, according to the New York Post. Garaufis also noted that Raniere will still be provided with the full name of witnesses who submit statements to the court. Prosecutors in the case had argued that allowing the victims to keep their identities secret at the sentencing would protect them from possible retaliation. Raniere's attorney responded by saying that there is no evidence that his client has tried to retaliate against his accusers. His lawyer said that while he may learn the names, their real identities will be sealed off to the public. Raniere will be sentenced this month on charges of trafficking and racketeering after being convicted last year. Prosecutors in the case had argued that allowing the victims to keep their identities secret at the sentencing would protect them from possible retaliation. Raniere's attorney responded by saying that there is no evidence that his client has tried to retaliate against his accusers Raniere (center, in a sketch from May 2019) will be sentenced this month on charges of trafficking and racketeering after being convicted last year The case against Raniere was largely centered around the secretive sect of Nxivm called DOS where women were starved, blackmailed, branded and forced to submit to a variety of sexual acts including orgies at the request of their 'master,' Raniere. It took just four hours of deliberation for a jury to find Raniere guilty on all counts. The trial lasted for six weeks, during which time multiple women were called to the stand to describe how they served as 'sex slaves' to Raniere and were forced to have his initials branded on their bodies. These women testified about how they were forced to turn over collateral in the form of damning and often false statements about themselves, while also providing graphic nude photos of themselves, including images of their genitalia. That was not all either, with Raniere also making demands that the woman stay thin and not trim their pubic hair. 'Over the last seven weeks, this trial has revealed that Raniere, who portrayed himself as a savant and a genius, was in fact a massive manipulator, a con man and the crime boss of a cult-like organization involving sex trafficking, child pornography, extortion compelled abortions, branding, degradation and humiliation,' US Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement at the time. 'The evidence proved that Raniere was truly a modern-day Svengali.' Raniere now faces life in prison after being convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and attempted sex trafficking. Others from his inner circle including Smallville actress Allison Mack and heiress Clare Bronfman (pictured in 2018) have also sensationally pleaded guilty to various NXIVM-related crimes Last month, it was revealed that the sentencing for Bronfman (pictured), the financier of the sex cult NXIVM had been postponed as a judge considers giving her more prison time than recommended amount He was also convicted on all 11 underlying counts of racketeering that fell under the wire fraud charge. Raniere had entered a plea of not guilty to all charges. Others from his inner circle including Smallville actress Allison Mack and heiress Clare Bronfman have also sensationally pleaded guilty to various NXIVM-related crimes. Last month, it was revealed that the sentencing for Bronfman, the financier of the sex cult NXIVM had been postponed as a judge considers giving her more prison time than recommended amount. Bronfman, the 40-year-old billionaire heiress to the Canadian conglomerate Seagram, was due to be sentenced on January 8, but in December Garaufis pushed the date back to February 14. It was recommended that she serve 21 to 27 months in prison, but Garaufis is considering an even longer sentence. However, Garaufis did not provide an explanation as to why he's considering a harsher sentence. Self help guru Raniere founded NXIVM in the 1990s as an organization meant to help women pave a path to person growth. Bronfman (left) and her sister Sara (right) reportedly fell into the group through NXIVM's 'Executive Success Program' workshops. Sara has never been accused of committing any crimes But Sara did agree in December to give up her ownership interests in three properties near Albany that are owned by the organization. In exchange, the 43-year-old will receive a 20 per cent share of their sale He was arrested last April in his Mexican hideaway with a harem of sex slaves. Bronfman, the daughter of billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram liquor chairman, Edgar Bronfman Sr, worked as the group's financier using her family fortune to keep the group afloat. Prosecutors say Bronfman aided Raniere by paying off his credit-card debt and helping get an illegal immigrant into the US. In the cult, Bronfman contributed more than $14million to the organization and established a trust fund to contribute to legal costs. The case against Raniere was largely centered around the secretive sect of Nxivm called DOS where women were starved, blackmailed, branded (pictured) and forced to submit to a variety of sexual acts including orgies at the request of their 'master,' Raniere Bronfman pleaded guilty in April 2019 to conspiring to harbor immigrants for financial gain and fraudulent use of identification. She joined NXIVM in the early 2000s and became its legal enforcer, filing and financing lawsuits against Raniere's enemies, according to the New York Times. She and her sister Sara reportedly fell into the group through NXIVM's 'Executive Success Program' workshops. Sara Bronfman-Igtet agreed in December to give up her ownership interests in three properties near Albany that are owned by the organization. In exchange, the 43-year-old will receive a 20 per cent share of their sale. According to an agreement filed in US District court, Bronfman-Igtet's amount will be capped at $200,000 for all three properties. The three properties are located near each other on New Karner Road just outside Albany. One of the locations is the headquarters of the NXIVM organization, the Times Union reported. Bronfman-Igtet has never been accused of committing any crimes. BALETE, Philippines Taal Volcanos eruptions have eased in the past 24 hours, scientists said on Wednesday, but they warned that the picturesque mountain was still threatening hundreds of thousands of people just 40 miles south of Manila. Renato Solidum, Jr., who leads the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said that Taals calm could be deceptive. What were saying is that it was generally weaker compared with yesterday, Mr. Solidum said, adding that it was hard to tell if the mountain was also easing its rumbling. Taal, the Philippines second-most-active volcano, surprised even volcanologists when it suddenly erupted on Sunday. Within hours, the volcano on an island in the middle of a lake shot a plume of ash a mile high and triggered multiple earthquakes. The Army has decided to withdraw "some" troops from insurgency-affected states in the Northeast and move them to barracks as violence in the region has come down drastically, Eastern Army commander Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan said here on Wednesday. He said the decision was taken in view of an improvement in the situation in the insurgency-hit states. "As far as the security situation in the insurgency- affected states is concerned, it is rather stable and all parameters concerning violence have come down drastically," Lt General Chauhan told reporters here after a wreath-laying ceremony on Army Day at Fort William, the Eastern Command headquarter. Chauhan said at least two battalions have been withdrawn from eastern Assam in view of an improved situation there and sent to the barracks. He said the situation in Nagaland and Manipur was "far better than what it was in 2018, 2017 or previous years." "Keeping the improved security situation in view, the Army has decided to withdraw some troops from the active counter-insurgency grid and move them to barracks," he said. With the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in force in disturbed areas of the northeastern states, the Army actively participates in internal security there, with powers to search premises and make arrests without warrants. Section 4 of the AFSPA, which the Army terms as an "enabling Act", also gives it the power to "use force, even to the extent of causing death", destroy arms dumps, hideouts and to stop, search and seize any vehicle. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nicoya, a leading provider of advanced analytical instruments for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, announced today that it has raised $10 million in Series A financing. The funding round was led by Whitecap Venture Partners with participation from existing investors, including Garage Capital, MaRS IAF, Laurier Startup Fund, University of Waterloo Student Venture Fund, and others. The funding will enable Nicoya to expedite the development of new products focused on drug discovery, grow its team from 50 employees to 80over the next year, expand its reach to more international markets, and target new opportunities within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Nicoya uses nanotechnology, microfluidics, and AI to create products that enable scientists to better understand diseases such as cancer, hepatitis, Alzheimers, cardiac, and others and develop treatments for them. The companys first product, OpenSPR, is the worlds first benchtop surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instrument. This industry-disrupting product has given every scientist access to powerful molecular interaction data from their own bench. By providing more people access to these precise analytical tools, Nicoya is helping to accelerate the time to new discoveries and new drugs that will ultimately help to extend human life. Nicoya, which was launched in 2012 as a spin-out of the University of Waterloo, is also a graduate of the Universitys Velocity incubator and Accelerator Center, and Waterloo Regions Communitech innovation hub. Today, the companys scientific instruments are used by hundreds of the worlds leading researchers in academia, government, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies in over 40 countries. Data from Nicoyas instruments have been published in leading academic journals such as Nature. The team at Nicoya are creating disruptive, world-class technology that is aiding in the development of life-saving drugs that have the potential to change the way people live. Nicoya has established itself at the centre of disease research and drug discovery for scientists around the world. We are proud to add this innovative Canadian MedTech company to our investment portfolio and look forward to supporting their team. Russell Samuels, Partner at Whitecap Venture Partners As a company with its roots in academia, Nicoya remains committed to retaining highly trained technical talent in Canada. Currently, all except six of Nicoyas current team of 50 have either a science or engineering degree. The company is also unique in that its team is very balanced from a gender profile, with 49% of its employees identifying as women. Flash Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on late Tuesday paid a visit to a Thai hospital to see a Chinese woman who was being treated with the new coronavirus. Anutin, Dr Sukum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Public Health, and Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Ministry's Department of Disease Control, went to the airborne infection isolation room where the woman was treated at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute at Bamrasnaradura Hospital in Nonthaburi Province, a province adjacent to Bangkok. Anutin said that the Chinese patient showed signs of improvement, had slept well and did not show symptoms of fever. If the Department of Medical Sciences and Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine both confirm that the Chinese patient is free of the virus, she will be discharged and will return to China, Anutin said. "We have earlier detected that three other Chinese people from Wuhan had a fever but were not infected with the new coronavirus," said Anutin, "If they recover, they will be discharged and can continue their tour in Thailand." Anutin told the Thais that there is nothing to panic about. There is neither cure nor vaccine for the disease; patients are treated according to their symptoms so that their bodies can develop immunity, said Anutin. The lady tourist from the city of Wuhan of China's Hubei province was the first person in Thailand infected with coronavirus. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar on Tuesday met Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Secretary Amit Khare and briefed him about the students protest outside her office on Monday. Akhtar requested the ministry to initiate an inquiry into the police action in the university library. Students entered the JMI campus and protested outside the VC's office demanding an FIR against Delhi police for the December 15, 2019 incident of "police brutality" in the university library. Students had also demanded rescheduling of exams and security for students. The Vice-Chancellor had on Monday, announced that the exam dates of the varsity will be rescheduled and assured students that security in the campus has been increased. On December 15 clashes had erupted between the Delhi Police and Jamia students after a protest against the newly-amended Citizenship law turned violent. (ANI) A heroic top-secret firefighting effort has saved the last of a 200-million-year-old tree species threatened by the unprecedented bushfire crisis. New South Wales firefighters guarded the world-renowned Wollemi pines - given the nickname 'dinosaur trees' - in the state's Wollemi National Park by dropping fire retardant and laying an irrigation system. But the highly co-ordinated rescue mission to keep back the Gospers Mountain mega-blaze has mostly been kept a secret so the pines' location is not given away. Scroll down for video The world-renowned Wollemi pine trees (pictured) have been saved in a top-secret firefighting mission from the Gospers Mountain megablaze The highly-co-ordinated rescue mission (pictured) to keep back the Gospers Mountain mega-blaze has mostly been kept a secret so the pines' location is not given away The state government on Wednesday confirmed efforts by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and NSW Rural Fire Service ensured the wild Wollemi pines survived the fire. The blaze, which was this week finally brought under control after two-and-a-half months, ripped through more than 512,000 hectares north-west of Sydney. Firefighters used large air tankers to drop a blanket of fire retardant over the remote area. Specialists firefighters were dropped into the site from helicopters to lay an irrigation system and NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said while some trees were damaged the species would survive. 'The 2019 wildfire is the first ever opportunity to see the fire response of mature Wollemi pines in a natural setting, which will help us refine the way we manage fire in these sites long-term,' he said. 'Illegal visitation remains a significant threat to the Wollemi pine's survival in the wild due to the risk of trampling regenerating plants and introducing diseases which could devastate the remaining populations and their recovery.' The Gospers Mountain blaze (pictured in Bilpin on December 21), which was this week finally brought under control after two-and-a-half months, ripped through more than 512,000 hectares north-west of Sydney A helicopter is pictured flying over the Wollemi National Park. The state government on Wednesday confirmed a co-ordinated effort ensured the wild Wollemi pines survived the fire Australian National University associate professor Cris Brack told The Sydney Morning Herald it was believed from fossil evidence the trees once lived across Australia between 100 and 200 million years ago. He said the trees were so precious because they are difficult to clone - meaning they are likely to be 100,000 years old. Parts of central NSW received rain on Wednesday and more was expected across the state on Thursday but authorities fear forecast heavy falls could impact water quality and cause landslips and flooding. An expert said it was believed from fossil evidence the trees (pictured in Wollemi) once lived across Australia between 100 and 200 million years ago Up to 30mm is predicted for parts of the south coast however falls are expected to be patchy due to associated thunderstorms. Meanwhile, the rejuvenation process has begun in parts of NSW with inspections of bushland in Kulnura near Wyong on the Central Coast revealing new growth had already begun. The Darkinyung Local Aboriginal Land Council inspected bush land on Wednesday for the first time since the Three Mile Fire ripped through the area. A fire crew member works to keep the Wollemi pines safe from the Gospers Mountain bushfire burning nearby The council's senior land management officer Kelvin Johnson said some trees which were up to 400-years-old had been hollowed out and others completely destroyed. However some trees had begun to throw up new greenshoots and it would take 18 to 24 months for the area to recover. 'In some spots it breaks your heart that a month ago it was lush, green and flowering,' Mr Johnson said. 'Big old trees are now just black stumps attached to the ground. In saying that, it did get heavily hit but it did fair good compared to other areas. 'The trees are in their defence mode already, they've lost their canopy, they've lost their leaves, so they can't breath. So they've put suckers out from the base of the tree all the way up and it's new growth three weeks after a wildfire went through there.' S Lalitha By Express News Service BENGALURU: In a scenario similar to Hollywood star Tom Hanks film The Terminal, a woman from Tanzania and her two young children, including an infant, who are deportees from Male, have been living in the lounge of Kempegowda International Airport for the last five days. Immigration authorities have refused to allow them into India, with food being provided to them at the airport. The airport operator, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), confirmed the incident. A BIAL spokesperson said, Three Tanzanian nationals who were denied entry into India by immigration authorities are currently being assisted with repatriation flights to their home country. Their welfare needs, while in transit, are being looked after by the BIAL team. Sharing details, an airport source said that the woman and her kids had flown from Goa, where her husband is employed. From there, they planned to go to Mumbai and then to Male on an Air India flight on January 9. She had a valid visa for Male. On reaching Male, immigration authorities there refused to allow her to enter their country as she only had a one-way ticket. She did not have sufficient money or bank balance to show, so they refused to allow her into the Maldives. They decided to deport them back to India. The family was put on the next Air India flight heading to Bengaluru, a source said. At KIA, immigration authorities refused to let them step inside the city and they were taken to the lounge here. Steps were taken in co-ordination with different airline staff to facilitate her departure to Tanzania via an Oman Air flight. However, just before the family was to board, the airline said their office manager at Dar Es Salaam airport was refusing let the trio board. With no means to enter her country nor being allowed onto Indian soil, the family is now stuck, the source added. Her husbands mobile has been unreachable for the last five days, he added. Ben T, a passenger heading to Amsterdam, tweeted on January 13, At Bangalore airport woman with 2 small children stuck for 4 days with boarding passes from Air India. Lounge staff is trying, but pls retweet and hope to get a solution this way (SIC). Immigration officials could not be reached for their response. ROME - UN secretary General Antonio Guterres said humanity was fighting a ''suicidal war'' against nature during a ceremony designing Lisbon as the 2020 green capital of Europe. ''Humanity is fighting a suicidal war against nature that reacts and responds with hurricanes, fires and severe draught in several regions of the world'' but the actions of mankind ''will not destroy the planet, which will continue to rotate around the sun for millions of years, but will destroy itself and the possibility of living on earth'', Guterres said. The secretary general recalled that global greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise and that natural disasters are more likely to happen with rising temperatures. Guterres said 2020 can be the year in which the fight against climate change can become more effective and there are three occasions to stop men's war on nature: the conference of States on biodiversity, the conference on oceans in Lisbon in June and the COP26 meeting that will enable countries to adopt concrete measures against climate change. Guterres stressed that these events will take place as three battles are ongoing: one for biodiversity, where one million species are disappearing; the battle for the oceans, with growing pollution and plastic and the battle to make the Paris agreement an effective tool against climate change. According to the UN chief, the international community knows exactly what to do: ''We cannot let temperatures rise more than 1.5 degrees by the end of the century and for this it is necessary to abandon fossil fuels''. Guterres stressed that another factor of hope is the growing mobilization of youths who are asking for the ''political willingness to lead these transformations''. Turkey arrests priest who gave water and bread to Kurdish fighters: report Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Assyrian priest and two other Assyrian Christians were arrested Friday in Turkey and slapped with terror charges for allegedly offering bread and water to Kurdish militants who visited his monastery, according to reports. Priest Sefer Bilecen of the Mor Yakup Monastery in southeast Turkey was detained last Thursday, according to the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency in addition to two other Assyrian Christians, Musa Tash Takin from Sidri and Youssef Yar from the Uckoy. They remain detained. According to the outlet, Turkish gendarme accused the pastor of aiding and abetting the Kurdish militant outfit aligned with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, a group recognized by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization. Bilecens arrest reportedly came in response to testimony provided by a member of the PKK-aligned Peoples Defense Forces (HPG) who claimed that Bilecen gave bread and water to HPG members when they visited the church in 2018. Bilecen is said to be the only caretaker of the monastery located in the town of Mardin. Evgil Turker told Mezopotamya news that the arrest of Bilecen was unnecessary and called for his release. "As men of God, priests have to comply when somebody asks for help, no matter what their religion, race, language or ideology," Turker was quoted as saying. Turker compared Bilecens case to that of American missionary Andrew Brunson. Brunson, who served for two decades as a missionary in Turkey, spent over two years in prison in Izmir after he was accused of supporting Kurdish fighters and the Gulen movement, charges that Brunson claimed were false. "We may not have a [U.S. President Donald] Trump of our own, but Turkey will have a second case of pastor Brunson," Turker was quoted as saying. Reports of Bilecens arrest drew the ire of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a congressionally mandated panel of independent experts who advise the White House, Congress and the State Department on Religious Freedom issues. USCIRF is concerned by initial reports that authorities have detained Father Sefer Aho Bilecen, priest of the Mor Yakup Church in Nusaybin, #Turkey, and two other members of the small Syriac Orthodox community for unclear reasons, a tweet from the commission reads. The Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights reports that the priest and the two Christians were taken to an Uckoys village police station and then sent to Mardin. We at the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights express our full solidarity with the three Christian detainees, a statement from the group reads. We hold the Turkish authorities fully legal responsibility for their physical integrity, and we demand that they release them immediately and without any delay. The Syrian and Iraqi Christian humanitarian group A Demand for Action confirmed the arrests through sources on the ground in Turkey. While the two lay people were arrested in their villages, Father Aho Bilecen was forced to follow the authorities after a raid at the monastery, A Demand for Action Facebook statement reads. These arrests have left the 3,000 remaining Christians of the Syriac-Orthodox faith and Assyrian-Syriac ethnicity in a state of fear and confusion. This kind of behavior by the Turkish authorities is the reason why the vast majority of Christians of Tur Abdin have left the region, and live in scattered. According to A Demand for Action, the Mor Yakup Monastery was closed for two decades before Bilecen became a monk. The monastery is situated in an area that serves as a focal point in battles between the PKK and the Turkish government. Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, told the U.S.-based advocacy group International Christian Concern that Assyrians have been targeted and massacred for their ethnicity and religion for centuries. Although they have been left all alone by the world powers, they have been so resiliently trying to hold on to their ancient homeland, she said. And they need the voice and support of faithful Christians and all other human rights advocates more than ever now. Since a failed coup attempt in 2016 that was blamed on the Gulen movement, the Turkish regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has engaged in a giant crackdown on any person who is suspected of having ties to the coup attempt or Kurdish rebel groups. Tens of thousands have been arrested as a result. Additionally, Turkey has reportedly deported numerous foreign pastors and missionaries in recent years. USCIRF ranks Turkey as a Tier 2 country of concern for religious freedom violations in its 2019 annual report, stating that religious freedom in Turkey remained deeply troubling. The lack of any meaningful progress on the part of the Turkish government to address longstanding religious freedom issues was continued cause for concern, the USCIRF report states. Many serious limitations on the freedom of religion or belief continued, threatening the continued vitality and survival of minority religious communities in the country The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) continues to work towards establishing a strong foothold in the Northern European tourism market. Efforts to draw in more visitors from the region will commence this year with its participation at the Matka Nordic Travel Fair in Helsinki, Finland, taking place from January 15 to 19. The latest edition marks the second consecutive year that SCTDA will be joining the premier global travel event. In 2020, the authority will showcase Sharjahs range of diverse tourism offerings - from world-class hotels to exciting adventures and other fun activities to special packages and promos which are expected to appeal to the Northern European travellers. The five-day Matka Nordic Travel Fair is the largest travel and tourism exhibition in Northern Europe, an important source market for Sharjahs tourism sector. More than 50,000 visitors and about 20,000 tourism and travel agencies yearly attend the international gathering. According to SCTDA, the Matka Nordic Travel Fair is an opportunity for the authority to boost awareness of Sharjahs beauty and hospitality and what the emirate has to offer as one of the GCCs top tourist destinations. SCTDA delegates will take advantage of the travel fairs popularity to directly engage with a large percentage of international tourists. Furthermore, SCTDA will display Sharjahs major hospitality projects launched to help fast-track the industrys development and increase its global competitiveness. Over the next five years, for instance, the number of hotel rooms in the city is expected to increase by 50 per cent supporting the influx of visitors to the emirate. A total of 34 new hotel facilities with up to 5,700 rooms combined will be added to the existing numbers within the period. Besides Sharjahs large-scale hospitality developments and unique tourism products, SCTDA will also give emphasis on its key strategies to promote Sharjah as a year-round global destination for family holidays. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, chairman of SCTDA, said: As the largest tourism and travel exhibition in Northern Europe, the Matka Nordic Travel Fair is a significant and strategic platform for us at SCTDA to showcase the emirates diverse range of tourism products for visitors and companies in the region. Our participation is part of our continuous efforts to raise Sharjahs profile as a leading destination that attracts all kinds of tourists from all over the world. The emirate is known for its world-class hotel services, modern tourism infrastructure, and exciting activities, among others. Its eco-tourism segment is also steadily rising in popularity thanks to the governments intensified enhancements of the local eco-tourism offerings and relevant promotional initiatives. International hospitality institutions have been flocking to the local market over the years to capitalize on its immense growth opportunities amid the vibrant domestic tourism. Tourism is a key pillar of the governments economic diversification initiative. Sharjah welcomed more than 578,000 European travelers in 2018, up 24 per cent from 468,034 tourists recorded in 2017. Joining the SCTDA delegates in the global event are the executives of the Sharjah International Airport Authority, Sharjah Expo, Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Sheraton Sharjah Beach Resort & Spa, Radisson Blu Resort Sharjah, Coral Beach Hotel, The Act Hotel and Orient Tours, Wasel Tours. - TradeArabia News Service Goldman Sachs' missed profit expectations as it blamed a surge in litigation charges Legal costs relating to a Malaysian fraud scandal have weighed on Goldman Sachs' results. The US bank missed profit expectations as it blamed a surge in litigation charges. It made profits of 6.4billion over 2019, down 19 per cent from the previous year, after setting aside 940million to cover litigation. The Wall Street giant has been rocked by the fallout from 1MDB, a Malaysian investment fund designed to direct money into strategic projects. In 2015, then-prime minister Najib Razak was accused of channelling money from the fund into his own bank accounts. Goldman Sachs sold bonds to investors on behalf of the fund, and much of the legal provisions it has set aside are expected to go towards a settlement to resolve accusations that it overlooked corruption at 1MDB. The bank revenues in total for the year were effectively flat at 27.8billion. Former Labour MP Keith Vaz has made a return to politics just weeks after quitting Parliament over a drugs and prostitutes controversy, it was revealed today. He has taken over as chairman of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) in his former Leicester East seat after he was replaced by a hardline Corbynista for December's general election. But the move, approved at a rowdy meeting on Tuesday night, sparked an outcry and accusations that he was lining up a return to the Commons. Mr Vaz, 63, did not run in his former Leicester East seat in the December 12 general election, having been handed a six-month suspension from the Commons after he was caught offering to buy Class A drugs for male sex workers. The former Europe minister was found by the House of Commons Standards Committee last year to have committed a 'very serious breach' of code of conduct for MPs. North West Leicestershire Tory MP Andrew Bidgen said: 'I believe Keith Vaz has been an malign influence on our local and national politics for far too long. 'It is unbelievable given the parliamentary standards ruling that the Labour Party consider him fit to hold the position of association chairman. 'Leicester deserves better than this.' Mr Vaz, 63, was handed a six-month suspension from the Commons after he was caught offering to buy Class A drugs for male sex workers John Thomas (right), a former CLP chairman and ally of Mr Vaz, said that the local party was 'in chaos' after the departure of Mr Vaz (left) John Thomas, a former CLP chairman and ally of Mr Vaz, said that the local party was 'in chaos' amid disquiet over the view of new MP Claudia Webbe, who took the seat in December with a much reduced majority. 'The new MP is a Corbyn supporter but the party in Leicester is much more to the right. Keith knows the people here,' he told the Guardian. Mr Vaz has refused to go quietly into the night after his departure from the Commons. Earlier this month he returned to Westminster to play a role in shaping the upcoming Labour leadership battle. He attended a meeting of the party's ruling National Executive Committee that decided the rules and format of the battle to replace Jeremy Corbyn. He is understood to have retained his seat on the NEC as a representative of ethnic minority party members. Married with two children, Vaz, who was born in Aden to a family from Goa, was the MP for the central England seat of Leicester East from 1987 to last year. The Sunday Mirror reported in September 2016 that Vaz, posing as an industrial washing machine salesman called Jim, invited two male prostitutes into his flat to engage in paid-for sex and offered to pay for cocaine for another man to use. The standards committee said his explanation that the men were there to discuss redecorating the London flat, and that he may have been given a 'spiked drink', was 'not believable and, indeed, ludicrous'. Ms Webbe, a controversial supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, retained the seat for Labour (pictured). But her 6,019 majority was down from the 22,428 achieved by Mr Vaz in 2017 'I found Mr Vaz's account of the events that led to the media reports incredible,' said Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, in October. 'I found his reason for being unable to assist me fully with my inquiry implausible.' Mr Vaz was suspended from Parliament for six months on October 31 but because of the dissolution for the election he could have dodged his punishment if he was re-elected. Instead he announced in November that he would not stand, saying: 'I have decided to retire after completing 32 years as the member of parliament for Leicester East. In that time I have won eight general elections. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve my constituency since I came to the city in 1985.' He was replaced as a candidate by Ms Webbe, a controversial supporter of Jeremy Corbyn who retained the seat for Labour. But her 6,019 majority was down from the 22,428 achieved by Mr Vaz in 2017. New Delhi: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday reiterated Moscows support for New Delhis permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. Lavrov, who was speaking at Indias flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, 'Raisina Dialogue' said, We believe India should be permanent member of UN Security Council. We are convinced that the overriding trend of the global development is the objective process of the formation of new centres of economic might, financial power and political influence and India is obviously one them, ANI quotes Lavrov as saying. Also Read: Confident Of India Becoming Permanent Member Of UNSC: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar Launching an attack on the US for flouting the idea of Indo-pacific, Russian foreign minister said, Concept of Indo-Pacific initiated to contain China; its aim shouldn't be divisive. Initiators of Indo-Pacific told us it is more democratic than Asia Pacific; we don't think so, Lavrov added. Also Read: Raisina Dialogue: Iran's Javad Zarif Says India Can Play Role In De-Escalating Tensions In Gulf Region He said that the new Indo-Pacific concept being pushed by US, Japan and others is 'attempt to reconfigure' existing structure. However, supporting India's position on the Indo-Pacific concept, Lavrov said, "There should not be any effort to contain anyone; we support India's position." Moreover, this year, the theme of the event is 21@20: Navigating the Alpha Century, and it will see over 180 delegates from 105 countries including many deputy foreign ministers, former prime ministers, former presidents, national security advisors, military chiefs and other high level policy-makers, scholars and officials will participate in the event. Also Read: Russia will train Indian astronauts of Gaganyaan mission: PM Modi Besides, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his counterparts from Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Denmark, Hungary, Rwanda and Tanzania will also be participating in the event. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and former prime ministers of Sweden, Republic of Korea, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and Bhutan are also participating in the conference. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. An alleged Ponzi-like scheme that raised at least $75 million has a midstate connection. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that it filed an emergency enforcement action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Kenneth D. Courtright III of Illinois and his company, Todays Growth Consultant Inc., which also operated under the name The Income Store. The action is in connection with an alleged scheme that raised at least $75 million from more than 500 investors throughout the United States and abroad, according to the SEC. That civil action by the SEC forced the shutdown of an office at 1001 Millersville Road in Manor Township, Lancaster County, according to LNP. The office had 80 employees in the beginning of December, plus others working remotely or as contractors, Landon Wenger, a former employee, told the paper. From at least 2017 through at least October 2019, the company and Courtright, promised investors an endless minimum guaranteed rate of return on revenues generated by websites, according to the SECs complaint. In exchange for an investor's "upfront fee," the company claimed that it would either buy or build a website for the investor, and develop, market, and maintain the website, the complaint said. The SEC claims that the company falsely promised that it would use investors funds exclusively for expenses related to the investors website, but that the sales were conducted through unregistered securities offerings, and the company used new investors funds to pay investor returns, in a Ponzi-like fashion, and to pay Courtrights personal expenses, including his mortgage and private school tuitions for his family. The Lancaster County office ran thousands of websites for the investors, but was not involved in pitching the product to potential investors, Wenger told LNP. The SEC said that investors should be cautious any time there are promises of a guaranteed rate of return in perpetuity and that investors can learn more about Ponzi scheme red flags by using the SECs Investor.gov website. --Sign up for PennLives newsletters Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Advertisement A gorilla that was seriously injured in a zoo fire on New Year's Eve had to be shot dead by a police officer after vets were unable to euthanize it, it has emerged. An official report detailed the previously unreported drama in the wake of the blaze at Krefeld zoo earlier this month. Rescuers searching through the charred remains of the primate house on New Year's Day found two animals still alive: the gorilla and a female orangutan, the interior ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia state said. Vets were able to euthanize the orangutan but struggled to do so with the gorilla. After getting permission from a senior officer, a 34-year-old police officer killed the gorilla with shots from his submachine gun. Image shows Kidogo, the gorilla believed to have been shot dead by a 34-year-old police officer in Krefeld, after vets were unable to euthanize him This file photo from January 1 this year shows a toy ape placed between candles at the entrance of the Zoo in Krefeld, Germany Firefighters are pictured working at the burning monkey house of the zoo in Krefeld, western Germany, early on January 1 A 48-year-old silverback gorilla called Massa was among the animals killed in the inferno at the zoo on New Year's Eve in Krefeld Investigators believe the fire which killed dozens of animals was caused by airborne lanterns that were released by three women celebrating the new year. The lanterns, which are illegal to use in Germany, had inadvertently landed in the zoo. The suspects responsible for the fire which killed dozens of animals are a mother, 60, and her two adult daughters believed to be in their 30s, Krefeld police confirmed on January 2. The three women from Krefeld in western Germany lit five paper Chinese lanterns and launched them into the sky on New Year's Eve, despite a ban on the objects, which they had ordered online without a permit. Candles and soft toys are placed at the entrance outside of the zoo in Krefeld, Germany, late evening January 1, 2020 Gerd Hoppmann, head of the Krefeld investigation commission, holds up one of the recovered paper lanterns at a press conference An Orangutan mother and its baby are pictured together at Krefeld Zoo in December 2016. According to investigators, the fire was ignited in the north-eastern corner of the cage and the animals were either burnt to death or killed by inhaling toxic smoke The blaze at Krefeld zoo in northwestern Germany destroyed the entire ape house killing dozens of animals inside while fruit bats and birds also died in the fire They handed themselves into police after learning of the disaster on the news, in which the entire ape house burned down and more than 30 animals, including five orangutans, a 48-year-old silverback gorilla called Massa, a chimpanzee and several monkeys, as well as fruit bats and birds, were killed just after midnight on New Year's Eve. Criminal police chief Gerd Hoppmann described the women as 'completely normal people who seemed very sensible, very responsible'. Hoppmann added that it was 'courageous' of them to hand themselves into police after learning of the fire, saving them a lengthy investigation. 'That is courageous. It stands for something that they handed themselves into the police like that. It is a decent thing to do and earns my respect,' he said. He said that they fear reprisals. The suspects could either face up to five years' jail time or be hit with a fine. Kidogo, the gorilla who was shot dead in the aftermath of the fire, is pictured in an image from 2014 at Krefeld Zoo in Germany A note with text 'in silent commemoration and loving memory' at the entrance outside of the zoo in Krefeld Debris: The charred remains of the monkey enclosure. Police had to shoot a gorilla because its injuries were so severe A woman lights a candle at the main entrance of the Zoo in Krefeld, Germany at the start of this month The burned-out monkey house of the zoo in Krefeld pictured in the early hours of January 1 Firefighters at the burned-out monkey house of the zoo in Krefeld. The fire on New Year's Eve was caused by flying lanterns According to Hoppmann, the internet companies selling the lanterns provide no warning about the countries they are banned in and there was nothing in the product description that could have informed the buyer. Many Germans welcome in the new year legally with fireworks at midnight. Sky lanterns, however, are both mostly illegal and unusual in Germany. The mini hot-air balloons made of paper have been used in Asia for centuries. Authorities are investigating on a single charge of 'arson through negligence', which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in jail. Police admitted that the incident was an 'exceptional' one. Four of the five lanterns were recovered by authorities. Several witnesses reported that they had seen the cylindrical paper lanterns (file picture) with little fires inside flying in the night sky shortly before the blaze Analysts studied the handwriting on one of the lanterns and inspected the burned-out animal enclosure at Krefeld Zoo, as well as analysing wind and weather patterns to determine those responsible and the exact details surrounding the case. According to investigators, the fire was ignited in the north-eastern corner of the cage before strengthening and spreading, and the animals were either burnt to death or killed by inhaling toxic smoke. 'I've seen very many human corpses,' Hoppmann said. 'And I was struck by how like humans the bodies of the great apes looked when transformed by the fire.' The ape house had been fitted with plexiglass - a transparent plastic material - a few years ago after a hailstorm. Foliage on the roof of the enclosure may have played a role in strengthening the fire, police said. The zoo has been criticised for not installing sprinklers within the ape house which could have prevented the fire from spreading. A makeshift shrine was set up at the entrance outside of the zoo in Krefeld in the wake of the New Year's inferno The city of Krefeld is considering a ban on fireworks, in the wake of the devastating incident. Department store chain Real said it would stop selling the lanterns, which are still permitted in the northern, coastal region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Krefeld Zoo was reopened on January 3 but zoo officials erected barriers around the enclosure to avoid 'catastrophe tourism' and macabre photos. Earlier this month, the two apes, the gorilla and the orangutan, were thought to be doing well considering the circumstances. A funeral for the dead animals was organised for employees of the zoo. Crippling strike action by nurses planned for Monday looks set to be called off after a government promise to address staffing shortages. The health unions are waiting for a formal offer on pay parity and increasing staff numbers from the new Health Minister at Stormont before making a final decision. However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on Tuesday night described a meeting with Robin Swann as "positive". Unison also welcomed its "constructive" talks with the UUP MLA. Read More Both unions are due to meet separately tomorrow to discuss the offer from the Department of Health. It comes after Mr Swann said he would make available the extra 30m needed to meet unions' demands over pay, which will bring workers into line with the rest of the UK. However, it has emerged the money has not yet been given to the Department of Health by Westminster to help the Executive meet a key pledge of the New Decade, New Approach document. Speaking to the Assembly yesterday, former UUP leader Mr Swann said: "I should clarify that the funding of the 30m cost of the move to parity in the current year is to be financed by drawing forward proposed allocations for future years. "So, while I am glad that it is not impacting on the funds available for other services this year, it is important to note that it has not been financed by an additional allocation to Northern Ireland." Despite this, Unison and the RCN have indicated they believe a deal between workers and the Department of Health can be reached. Mr Swann has just four days to stop further 12-hour strike action by the RCN. The other unions are continuing with work-to-rule protocols for members. Anne Speed, Unison's head of bargaining and representation, said last night: "We genuinely hope that justice for our members and patients alike is imminent. "Their courage and tenacity has put the health and wellbeing of the people of Northern Ireland at the heart of a new political agenda. "We remain optimistic that an agreement can be reached and that our dispute can be resolved." RCN Northern Ireland director Pat Cullen added: "We are pleased that the minister has listened carefully and responded quickly to our concerns and that the situation in relation to pay parity has now been resolved. "We are also satisfied that real progress has been made in relation to safe staffing and recruitment and retention of nursing staff. "The minister has committed to a costed implementation plan for safe staffing within an agreed short period. "There is a long way to go and we will work closely with the minister and the Department of Health to find a sustainable way forward. "We are immensely grateful to our members, who have stood up for patients and nursing during this difficult period of industrial action. Speaking to this newspaper yesterday on a visit to the Ulster Hospital, where he met with some of the staff keeping the health service afloat, Mr Swann said: "When I got up on Saturday, I didn't think this would be a title I'd be carrying today. "This is not an opportunity or a challenge that my party could have passed. We were committed that if health was on the table, we would take it. "The fact that we got to this stage where the nurses had to go on to the picket lines was regrettable. It was a disgrace that we got to a place in Northern Ireland where the nurses and the health service workers had to take the action we have seen. "I would ask the unions to work with me. I stood with them on the picket line in December and I will stand with them as Health Minister. "They have shown a lot of patience. Nurses waited 104 years before going on strike. We should never have got to that point. I will be doing my best not to let them down. We have made a statement today. I'm going to be in it for the long term." Mariam Pashinyan, the elder daughter of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, is an adult and has the right to express her views on this or that issue, including publicly, and I dont see any problem with that. This is what head of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Lilit Makunts told reporters today. According to her, the relevant authorities need to demand clarification regarding publication of information with regard to the statement by former director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan, or Artur Vanetsyan himself should provide the information. Makunts didnt respond when she was asked if she had information about Vanetsyans attempt for a coup detat. The Texas jury in a second lawsuit brought by USAA against Wells Fargo also determined that Wells Fargo had willfully infringed on USAAs remote deposit capture (RDC) technology patents. The first lawsuit with a different jury resulted in $200 million in damages; this most recent decision orders Wells Fargo to pay an additional $103 million in damages. The first lawsuit dealt with autocapture technology, while this one dealt with broader patents, including the technology that reads the check to verify the routing/account numbers and the information submitted by the consumer. While Wells Fargo has not formally requested an appeal in either lawsuit, the bank in December filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas asking the court to stay the judgement in the first case pending any post-judgment motions. While the bank still has not indicated whether it will appeal that decision, in another sealed motion, Wells Fargo has asked for a new trial in the first case. No motions have been made in the second case. NAFCU is also monitoring a request from the vendor that provides Wells Fargo, and thousands of other financial institutions, with RDC technology for a federal judge in California to issue judgment that its technology does not infringe on USAAs patents. Elizabeth Warren appeared to snub a handshake from Bernie Sanders at the end of a Democratic presidential debate in which previously genial ties between the pair began to fray. Footage showed Ms Warren turn to engage the Vermont senator in a seemingly terse exchange, either ignoring or failing to notice his outstretched hand in the process. I felt like okay, theres something going on here good night, Im out of here, said bystander and fellow candidate Tom Steyer, who added: You could see it was an awkward moment. With less than three weeks before the Iowa caucus kickstarts the official nomination process, Ms Warren and Mr Sanders longstanding ceasefire in their rival progressive bids may be starting to crack under the pressure. The fissure first appeared after Politico reported that the Sanders team were instructed to warn voters against supporting Warren. Then, sources told CNN that when Ms Warren informed Mr Sanders of her intention to run for president at a private meeting in 2018, he had responded that he didnt believe a woman could win. Mr Sanders team has strongly denied the claim, with campaign manager Faiz Shakir calling it a lie. What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponise whatever he could, Mr Sanders said in a statement. Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by three million votes in 2016. Ms Warrens communications manager Kristen Orthman initially declined to comment on the allegations, but on Tuesday Ms Warren released a statement, saying of the conversation: I thought a woman could win; he disagreed. Ms Warren maintained the two were longtime friends and allies and would continue to work together, saying she would not discuss further discuss the matter, which she described as our differences in punditry. While both parties appear to have surmised the fracas would do little to benefit either of their causes, the controversy came to the fore during Tuesdays debates, when the moderator asked Mr Sanders: Youre saying that you never told Senator Warrant that a woman could not win the election? That is correct, he replied, before the moderator immediately asked: Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? While the framing of the question drew laughter from the Vermont senator and the audience, later evolving to outrage from his supporters on social media, Ms Warren responded: I disagreed. Neither candidate explicitly referred to the accusation again during the debate, but Ms Warren used the issue to immediately pivot into a series of apparent set pieces on the subject. Firstly, she argued that herself and the only other female candidate, Amy Klobuchar, had enjoyed more electoral success than their male counterparts saying: Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. Elizabeth Warren: 'The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women' Continuing to reference the allegations in a roundabout way, she framed a female victory in historic terms. Look dont deny that the question is there. Back in the 1960s people asked could a Catholic win, she said, referring to John F Kennedy. Back in 2008 people asked if an African American can win. In both times the Democratic Party stepped up and said yes, and got behind their candidate. And, finally, she took a backhanded aim at the DNCs apparent fear that Mr Sanders is too divisive. The real danger we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who cant pull the party together or someone who takes for granted big parts of constituency, she said. We need to excite all parts of party, bring everyone in and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. The most recent CNN/Des Moines Register poll has Mr Sanders leading the pack with 20 per cent support, followed by Ms Warren at 17 per cent, with Pete Buttigieg in third place at 16 per cent. Bell-ringers and bishops have bashed plans for Big Ben to chime and church bells to ring out in celebration of Britains exit from the European Union. Boris Johnsons suggestion the public could bung a bob for a Big Ben bong to get the famous bell to ring at 11pm on 31 January have been met with opposition. And Brexiteers calls for churches to ring their bells across the nation at 9am on 1 February to mark the first morning of our independence have also been snubbed. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said it does not endorse bell ringing for political reasons as a principle, while bishops pointed to canon f8 of church law which states only the priest of a church can decide when its bells are rung. Big Ben: Behind the clock face Show all 5 1 /5 Big Ben: Behind the clock face Big Ben: Behind the clock face clockreuters.jpg Reuters Big Ben: Behind the clock face clockface.JPG Mimi Mollica Big Ben: Behind the clock face clockbell.jpg Mimi Mollica Big Ben: Behind the clock face clockworkings.jpg Reuters Big Ben: Behind the clock face IanWestworthReuters.jpg Reuters The Right Reverend Alan Wilson, bishop of Buckingham, told Radio 4s Today programme: Two thirds of the population were never interested in [Brexit] in the first place so its not really something that brings people together, its something that pulls people apart and we really need to move on. I think to express a political point of view about it, sort of instrumentalising church bells to do it, is pretty tacky actually. However the Rev Andy Bawtree, vicar of St Peter and St Paul in River, Kent, said he wanted his bells to ring and would be discussing it with his church council. Bell ringers ring a Peal Composition of Cambridge Surprise at Westminster Abbey after Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced birth of baby boy, 23 July, 2013. (Miles Willis/Getty Images) A spokeswoman for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said: There are historical moments for which bells have been rung end of world wars for example. However the Central Council, as a principle, does not endorse bell ringing for political reasons. Individual towers have discretion to ring for such occasions but is on a case-by-case basis and typically needs permission from the incumbent. However Leave.EU campaigners called for churches to echo their reaction to the Allies victory against the Nazis in the Second World War. They said: Whichever way you look at it, 1 February will be the most momentous morning in British history since the glorious day in 1945 when our country celebrated victory over the Nazi regime in Germany. Big Ben has been silent since 2017 as the 315ft, Grade I-listed Elizabeth Tower which holds the bell and clock face undergoes a 61m restoration, in which costs have already more than doubled. In his first sit-down interview of 2020, the prime minister told the BBC the government was working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong and looking at whether the public can fund it. The idea was ruled out by the House of Commons Commission on Monday after it was revealed the original estimated cost of 120,000 had soared to 500,000. A view from the bottom of the "slide" at the Oktibbeha County Lake on Wednesday, which worsened overnight. KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, third from right, and Community Chest of Korea Chairman Ye Jong-suk, fourth from right, pose with other officials after KB donated 10 billion won to the charity, at the latter's office in central Seoul, Wednesday. The group said it has donated 121 billion won over the past 20 years to the organization. Courtesy of KB Financial Group [January 15, 2020] Alyce Named Leader in the G2 Winter 2020 Account-Based Execution Software Grid Report Alyce, the AI-powered gifting platform that's redefining sales and marketing outreach, today announced its position in the Leader quadrant in G2's (News - Alert) Winter 2020 Grid Report for Account-Based Execution. Leaders are determined by their high levels of customer satisfaction and likeliness to recommend ratings from real users on G2, the world's leading business solutions review website. As part of this Winter 2020 report, Alyce also scored highest in G2's Relationship Index for the Account-Based Execution category (with a score of 9.59 out of 10), which is measured based on ease of doing business, likely to recommend, and quality of customer support. Alyce also scored highest in the same Account-Based Execution category (9.21 out of 10) in G2's Usability Index, ranking companies based on ease of administration, ease of use, and meeting other key requirements. "Enterprise companies are turning to Alyce to transform their approach to growing their business, looking to create personal experiences and authentic connections that resonate with buyers and customers," said Sean MacPherson, Head of Customer Success. "Alyce's commitment to creating lasting and sustained relationships with our customers and helping them see success is resonating with the market and we are thrilled by G2's recognition as a category leader. This is truly a testament to the dedication, spirit, and strength of our customer success team." "Rankings on G2 reports are based on data provided to us by real users of the products," said Michael Fauscette, Chief Research Officer at G2. "Technology buyers use the ranking on G2 to find the best software products based on the real-world voice of the user, accelerating their digital trnsformation projects and gaining competitive advantage." Alyce has received more than 125 G2 Crowd reviews. Review highlights include: "Alyce is the best door opener - companies that I've been working for months, not responding whatsoever, finally answering me because it's a unique AND personal way to reach someone." ~Allison F. "Creative and personalized way to engage prospects. Alyce's is a great way to engage with prospects on a personal level. The AI will recommend gifts to send to prospects based on a variety of factors - all of which increase your chance of getting a response from them. Giving the option to exchange gifts or donate the value of the gift to charity is also an awesome aspect of Alyce - I am really a big fan of the charity donation." ~William R. Since its inception, Alyce has been focused on creating real personal experiences that help businesses grow with the only platform that gives sales, marketing, and customer teams the ability to create individual personal gifts at scale. Fully focusing on the recipient and customers' interests, rather than sending everyone the same generic item, Alyce bridges the physical and digital marketing worlds to help companies create breakthrough connections engaging people on their own terms. Providing the power of choice, recipients can select the personal gift recommended, pick something else from the Alyce gift marketplace, or even choose to donate the value of a gift to a charity of their interest. "We've had a huge year at Alyce with 1,200% growth, closing out the year with some of the largest enterprise brands, including 6Sense, Bandwidth (News - Alert), Citrix, Dialpad and ServiceNow selecting our platform, and more importantly, investing in our unique personal experience business approach to help them scale and grow more effectively," said Greg Segall, founder, and CEO of Alyce. "And now being recognized by G2 is an amazing milestone honor and testament to our focus on making our customers incredibly successful, with them accomplishing tremendous ROI - leading to greater expansion, adoption, and utilization of the Alyce platform throughout their organizations." About G2 G2, the world's leading business solution review platform, leverages more than 790,000 user reviews to drive better purchasing decisions. Business professionals, buyers, investors, and analysts use the site to compare and select the best software and services based on peer reviews and synthesized social data. Every month, more than three million people visit G2's site to gain unique insights. Learn more about what users have to say on G2 Crowd's Alyce review page here. Learn why our customers love Alyce by visiting our customer stories page. About Alyce Alyce is an AI-powered gifting platform that helps sales and marketing teams build rapport, earn trust and generate loyalty through personal gifting. Alyce bridges the physical and digital marketing worlds to help enterprises better engage and connect with prospects, customers and employees alike while delivering measurable results. Founded in December of 2015, Alyce is a venture-backed, privately held company headquartered in Boston, MA. Learn more at www.alyce.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005152/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Advocates for minorities and low-income people fear that Ubers recent overhaul of its ride processes could lead to discrimination against people traveling to neighborhoods some drivers perceive as less desirable. Drivers can now decline to take passengers to San Franciscos Bayview-Hunters Point or East Oakland, for instance areas already underserved by transportation. Uber last week gave California drivers much more autonomy, including the ability to know every rides destination in advance and to reject ride requests without penalty. The changes are Ubers attempt to shield itself from being forced to reclassify drivers as employees under the states new gig-work law, AB5, but some outside groups say the overhaul creates conditions for prejudicial treatment. We fear this new system could only exacerbate discrimination, said Hana Creger, environmental equity program manager at Oaklands Greenlining Institute, which promotes racial and economic justice. Drivers could refuse to go to certain neighborhoods they deem as unsafe. Uber is aware of the increased potential for bias and said it will closely monitor trips for destination discrimination. Rejecting requests for discriminatory reasons, including rejecting trips solely to avoid particular neighborhoods, violates Ubers Community Guidelines and California law, it wrote in a blog post to drivers announcing the new ride processes. Lyft has not matched Ubers change, so Lyft drivers still cannot see their riders destinations. Despite Ubers assurances, advocates for minorities remain concerned. We have well-developed patterns of racial exclusion in the U.S., whether housing, land use policy or transportation, said Bob Allen, director of the transportation justice program at Oaklands Urban Habitat, a nonprofit advocating for historically disenfranchised communities. Folks of color, particularly black folks, are not able to get a taxi pickup as often in their neighborhoods. I think it would also be an issue under Ubers new policies. A related issue is that drivers might reject less-lucrative short-hop trips, something that seniors and others with mobility issues rely upon. However, that might be mitigated since Uber provides incentives for drivers to complete a certain number of trips within a certain time frame. Uber said it has not seen high rejection rates for short trips since the changes. Clarrissa Cabansagan, new mobility policy director at TransForm, an Oakland nonprofit working on climate and mobility justice issues, said that independent analysis would be the best way to track destination discrimination. San Francisco required applicants for its scooter and bike street-rental permits to explain how theyd serve communities of concern and provide ongoing data on that, she noted. (TransForm worked with bike-rental company Motivate, now owned by Lyft, on its inclusion plans and with Lyft on its unsuccessful scooter application.) But while the city has the authority to regulate bikes and scooters on its streets, it lacks jurisdiction over Uber and Lyft. They are regulated at the state level by the California Public Utilities Commission. That agency requires the companies to provide annual reports on ZIP codes served, but spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said the data are not used to track changes in service by areas. The agency is always focused on ensuring nondiscriminatory practices by the entities it regulates and utilizes all of its tools and resources to meeting that end, Prosper said. Uber has started its own studies. Because the changes were phased in starting in December, the company could compare drivers who knew destinations with those who didnt. It said it looked at acceptance rates for trips going to Bay Area locations identified as communities of concern by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and did not find any differences in acceptance rates or arrival times. So far, we have seen no indication that drivers are accepting trips to disadvantaged areas any less frequently than other areas because of this change, but we are keeping a close eye as these changes roll out more fully across the state, Uber said. Passengers who want to complain about discrimination or other ride-hailing issues can contact the state agency at CIU_intake@cpuc.ca.gov or 800-894-9444. They should also contact Uber via the app so it can track their complaints with their accounts, Uber said. While passengers are aware when a driver cancels an accepted trip, they wont know if a driver rejects their ride request because it will get passed on to other drivers until the company finds someone who accepts it. The rejections would manifest in longer wait times, which could best be tracked by Uber or outside observers monitoring control groups. Cabansagan said the issues could be nuanced drivers might reject ride requests because theyre tired and dont want to drive too far, for instance. As a person of color who understands sensitivities about white folks feeling the hood is dangerous, you cant just automatically assume that cancellations/rejections equal racism, but you can do digging, she said. Access to timely, affordable transportation is a lifeline for people who need to get to school, work, stores and doctors. In outlying neighborhoods with fewer public transit options, ride-hailing has improved residents mobility. We see a lot of our communities in disadvantaged neighborhoods use Uber and Lyft because transit is so infrequent, Cabansagan said. That benefits people who otherwise might spend more than a third of their income on a vehicle. Ride redlining by taxi drivers is already well documented nationwide. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Hansu Kim, owner of Flywheel Taxi, San Franciscos second-largest fleet with 300 cabs, said that is no longer an issue. In the past, without a doubt, neighborhoods in lower-income areas were not served as well, he said. Today thats nonexistent. The loss of rides for the taxi industry (due to Uber and Lyft) has been so extreme that any ride a taxi driver gets, theyre going to take. Even in the worst parts of the city where traditionally there was discrimination in the past, (passengers are) getting picked up very quickly. In contrast to taxis, Uber and Lyft have long promoted that ride-hailing reduces discrimination because drivers dont know passengers names or destinations. New transportation options like Uber add a reliable and affordable option to the transportation ecosystem for low-income neighborhoods, the company wrote in a 2015 blog post touting a study it financed that found that its rides in underserved areas cost less and arrived faster than taxis. But some researchers have found that ride-hailing still suffers from racial profiling, even before Ubers recent changes. Passengers with names that sounded stereotypically African American were more likely to have rides canceled and to have longer waits for pickups than people with white-sounding names, according to a 2018 UCLA doctoral dissertation based on a three-year study in Los Angeles. (Drivers dont see passenger names until after accepting trip requests.) Cancellation rates and wait times for black riders were even higher on taxi rides. I think theres a very real chance of (Ubers new policy) potentially increasing discrimination, said thesis author Anne Brown, now an assistant professor of planning, public policy and management at the University of Oregon. The taxi industry is the best way to see consequences of a very similar policy: Taxis can see destinations of riders before accepting trips and weve seen that low-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color are very poorly served by taxis, she said. In interviews, drivers say, We dont want to serve those neighborhoods, theyre dangerous, we wont get a trip back. Shes also concerned about a potential snowball effect if drivers wont accept trips going to neighborhoods of concern, then there will be a lower supply of drivers for outgoing trips from those areas. Brown agrees that monitoring is one way to safeguard against bias. People change their behavior when they know someone is watching, she said. That element is important to retain. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an outdated location for the Greenlining Institute. It is in Oakland. While Makar Sankranti is most popular in West India, down south, the festival is known as Pongal and in the north, it is celebrated as Lohri. Uttarayan, Maghi, Khichdi are some other names of the same festival. (Image: PTI) New evidence shows Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused and trafficked hundreds of young women and girls on his private Caribbean island, some as recently as 2018, significantly expanding the scope of his alleged conduct, a top law enforcement official said in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday. Mr. Epstein, a wealthy financier who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail last year, was bringing girls as young as 11 and 12 to his secluded estate in the Virgin Islands, known as Little Saint James, and kept a computerized database to track the availability and movements of women and girls, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit, which was filed by Denise N. George, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands, broadened the dimensions of the wrongdoing in which Mr. Epstein was said to have engaged. He had been charged by Manhattan prosecutors in July with sexually exploiting dozens of women and girls in New York and Florida, but they did not point to any actions beyond 2005. In August, Mr. Epstein hanged himself at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he was being held awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Prison guards had not checked on him for hours on the night he died, and the circumstances surrounding his death are now the subject of at least three federal investigations. Protests in Iran grow following shooting down of plane; Ayatollah called to resign Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Protesters in the Islamic Republic of Iran staged large-scale demonstrations over the weekend, with some demanding the resignation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the nations top official. The protests were sparked by the recent admission by the Islamic Republic that they had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 passengers, most of whom were Iranian. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Tehran, with police using teargas on the demonstrators. By Sunday morning, both sides had stepped up their presence, according to AFP. Apologize and resign, declared the Iranian publication Etemad daily, as reported by AFP, which also noted that a similar demand was carried in an editorial published by the daily news source Jomhuri-ye Eslami. Those who delayed publishing the reason behind the plane crash and damaged peoples trust in the establishment should be dismissed or should resign, stated the editorial, according to AFP. President Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets, two in English and two in Farsi, expressing his support for the protesters and demanding that the government not harm them. To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching, tweeted Trump. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people! The most recent tensions began when U.S. forces killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani while he was in Iraq. According to the U.S., he was planning attacks on American soldiers. Iran responded by launching a series of missile attacks on positions in Iraq. While no American casualties were reported, one missile took out a Boeing 737 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines soon after takeoff from Tehran International Airport. Initially, the Iranian regime claimed that it was the result of engine failure and the pilot losing control of the plane. The current protests and calls for Khameneis resignation come not long after the Islamic Republic experienced a wave of large-scale protests both in 2018 and last November. According to a U.S. State Department report released last month, Iranian authorities may have killed as many as 1,000 unarmed protesters during the November demonstrations alone. And as the truth is trickling out of Iran, it appears the regime could have murdered over a thousand Iranian citizens since the protests began, said Brian Hook, senior advisor to the Secretary of State, in a statement in December. We cannot be certain because the regime blocks information. Among those murdered are at least a dozen children, including 13 and 14-year-olds. CLEVELAND, Ohio A former Boy Scouts of America worker was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison for secretly filmed underage boys changing in locker rooms and bathrooms. Thomas Close, 39, recorded children changing between 2011 and 2018 at various locations, including a YMCA in Sandusky, the Firelands Scout Reservation near Oberlin and in his own bathroom when he had children over to swim in his backyard pool, federal officials said. Close, who lives in the small city of Shelby near Mansfield, pleaded guilty in September to two counts of sexual exploitation of children and receipt and distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster also placed Close on a lifetime of supervised release and ordered him to pay $949 in restitution. Federal agents identified 143 child victims in the videos Close stored on his computer. The children were filmed as they changed before and after swimming or before and after showers. Some of the children were as young as seven years old at the time. Close was associated with Troop 406 in Richland County and was known as Aqua Joe. He was a troop leader and aquatics director. He admitted to filming boys with a spy watch and a video recorder and organizing them in files on his computer. Agents received a tip in May 2018 about online child porn videos likely filmed in Sandusky. That tip led them to the YMCA, to the Boy Scouts and then to Close, authorities said. Officials at the Boy Scouts Lake Erie Council in Cleveland confirmed that some of the videos were shot in teepees at the Firelands Scout Reservation in Wakeman. Scouts sometimes changed clothes in the teepees. A Boy Scouts official provided investigators with a June 2017 report about a complaint against Close made by a den leader. The director told Close that he would be fired if it happened again, according to court filings. Agents found all 11 videos Close shot that made their way on the internet on Closes computer, according to his plea agreement. They also found 3,900 more videos sorted by year, location and some descriptors. Of those, 1,906 contained child pornography. Close also told agents that he had downloaded child pornography since he was 16 years old, and that his sexual preference was for boys between the ages of six and 16. Agents found more than 110,000 files of child pornography on his computer and more than 800,000 that authorities classified as being exploitative of children, according to Closes plea agreement. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments section. Read more: Former Ohio Boy Scouts worker pleads guilty to filming children changing Ohio Boy Scouts employee indicted on sex charges, accused of filming underage boys Ohio Boy Scouts of America employee charged with secretly filming boys changing Housing, childcare and roads were on voters minds as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar headed to Co Cavan for his first canvassing session of the General Election campaign. While his Fine Gael party is keen to put its handling of Brexit at the heart of its campaign to hold on to power, the issue did not come up with voters he met on Wednesday in Virginia, which is set in a border region. It was bread and butter issues such as housing and childcare that voters wanted to discuss, rather than Fine Gaels handling of Brexit negotiations. Mr Varadkar arrived in the rain-soaked town and walked Main Street with two new candidates, TP OReilly and Sandra McIntyre, together with a sizeable group of young canvassers. Varadkar got a round of applause from some Fine Gael supporters as he left Cavan following his canvass. Main issues raised with him were childcare, insurance costs, bypass for town and minimum unit pricing #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/kWnJ1lG4iU Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) January 15, 2020 Mr OReilly took charge, leading the Taoiseach on a whistle-stop tour of the town, including a butchers, a pharmacy, clothes shops and bars. A number of schoolchildren stopped Mr Varadkar for a selfie, while he engaged them in conversation in Gaelic. While Mr Varadkar is not as adept at the art of the walkabout and glad-handing as his predecessor Enda Kenny, he attracted a mainly warm reception and drew traffic to a standstill as he passed through the town. A young mother-of-two, carrying her baby, approached him and asked what he was going to do about the high cost of childcare. I have two kids under three and 70% of my wage goes on childcare, she said. Please, Im just requesting and asking you what are you going to do for young educated women like myself who are being put out of the workforce? Mr Varadkar made positive noises about a national childcare plan and assured her he wanted to see more young parents being able to stay in work. A barman at the Riverfront Hotel asked what the Taoiseach was going to do about minimum unit pricing, saying the cost of cheap supermarket alcohol and the high cost of insurance was hitting the pub trade. People can go across the road to the shop and buy a heap of cans for 10 euro how are we meant to survive? he asked. Mr Varadkar said the days of shops selling cheap alcohol would come to an end but that he would have to vote for Fine Gael. There was plenty of support from constituents looking for a guarantee that a bypass would be built for the busy commuter town, which they said had become choked with traffic. Youll want to leave now to beat that traffic or youll miss your big meeting later, quipped one local, as Mr Varadkar departed in his ministerial car to Dublin where he is due to meet the new President of the EU Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen on Wednesday evening. With a wave and a round of applause from supporters, day one of the campaign was complete. - The winners of the first edition held in Indonesia will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fellicia Amanda of the Parahyangan Catholic University, winner of the first edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Indonesia, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their design qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. Throughout these three days, all activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD (Barcelona Centro de Diseno); and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. Investing for the first time? It can be nerve-wracking, confusing, and intimidating. Investing requires a basic undertaking of essential financial concepts; enough knowledge and confidence to avoid common investing mistakes; and, an understating of your investment goals. By the time you're ready to start investing, you should have specific goals in mind. Are you investing for retirement, a major purchase, or to fund a child's education? Forming a concrete vision can help you become more rooted in that goal, and dedicated to making it real through consistent action. It helps to first empower yourself with some basic investing knowledge. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has an excellent primer for novice investors which readily explains basic concepts, such as risk, returns, compound interest, and key difference between various types of investments. Choosing your first investment When choosing an investment for the first time, many experts suggest sticking with what you know. Are you already knowledgeable about certain companies, industries, or investment types? Perhaps via your employer retirement plan, friends and family, or personal interest and experience? If you do have an expertise, chances are you're likelier to be more comfortable and knowledgeable when making a first investment selection. If you do not have a specific area of expertise that makes you comfortable about investing and that would make you like many Americans investing in broadly diversified funds, including index mutual funds and ETFs, is a good option. Another key choice? Understand the fees you're paying. Index mutual funds and ETFs tend to offer lower fees than actively managed mutual funds in the past few years some have eliminated management fees entirely. Paying high fees risks eroding a significant percentage of your earnings. Over time, investment fees can consume thousands of dollars in potential earnings. Finally, a first investment should be held for at least a year, in order to avoid short-term capital gains taxes. Avoid high turnover or excessive trading early in your investment career; the costs associated with placing multiple trades, plus their tax implications, make it an unwise strategy for novice investors. More from Invest in You: 4 steps to cut spending for 2020 Free online tools to help you become a better investor Online efforts encourage LGBT Americans to mind their finances Avoid these 4 common investing mistakes DON'T: Gamble with money you can't afford to lose. If your emergency fund needs work, or you have high interest debt, you probably can't afford to lose a single dollar. DON'T: Seek out exotic products. Inverse leveraged funds can seem like a great way to triple your money quickly, but they carry a ton of risk, and let's face it, they can be a bit tricky to manage properly. Do you know what "inverse leveraged" means? Exactly. Stick with investments you understand properly for now. DON'T: Pay a lot of money for advice or education. Do you really need a $5,000 seminar to learn how to invest your first $1,000? Chances are, you can learn the basics of investing, and do just fine, without shelling out tons of money. DON'T: Allow yourself to give up if your first investment choice doesn't work out as you'd hoped. We all learn from our mistakes. If you start small, educate yourself, and stick to the things you understand best, those small mistakes can be the catalyst for the investing successes of tomorrow. And when you're ready to commit, take the pledge to get invested at CNBC.com/Invested. SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox. CHECK OUT: Why January is a particularly great time to invest your money via Grow with Acorns+CNBC. Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns. An eight-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three minors, including two brothers, in Balaghat district, 431 kilometres south east of Bhopal, on Sunday afternoon. The accused have been arrested, police said on Tuesday. According to police, the victim hailed from a village under Rampaili police station. Police said that girl had gone to a neighbours house to watch television on Sunday afternoon, where the crime was allegedly committed. Superintendent of police (SP), Balaghat, Abhishek Tiwari said, When the girl went to the house in the neighbourhood at about 12.30 pm, there was no one in the house except the two brothers, aged 15 and 13 years, and their 14-year-old friend. They allegedly gang raped the girl, said Tiwari. The girl returned home around 4.30 pm and told her mother about the incident, he said. The SP said an FIR (first information report) was lodged against the three for gang rape and under different sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. They were arrested, produced before a juvenile board and sent to a juvenile home, officials said. Putin, who has been in power either as President or Prime Minister since 2000, also proposed a two-term limit on the Presidency and tighter residence qualifications for top posts, both in the political sphere and the judiciary. Moscow, Jan 15 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday proposed giving the State Duma, the lower house of the country's Parliament, greater powers, including to choose the country's Prime Minister and other ministers. In his State of the Nation address to the State Council, he said a nationwide referendum should be held on these proposals, which will weaken the power of the Presidency, the post he holds till 2024. In his over an hour-long address, Putin also focussed on domestic issues, calling for tackling the rising levels of poverty and corruption. Also highlighting the demographic crisis the country was facing, he announced a number of cash incentives for Russian families, including increases in child benefit, free hot lunches for school kids, and 50 per cent increase in grants to mothers of large families. He, however, did not speak about sanctions the country faced or foreign issues, not even mentioning Ukraine. The address was telecast live and special screens were put up at various public places, drawing large crowds who listened avidly to him. Reacting to the speech, analysts said that this seems to be a way to enable Putin stay at the helm, after he finishes his fourth Presidential term in 2024. Hours after his speech, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev announced that he and his government had submitted their resignations, Russian media reported. "In this context, it is obvious that, as the government, we must provide the President with a capability to make all decisions, which are required to implement the proposed plan," Medvedev said. Accepting the resignation, Putin asked the ministers to function as a caretaker government until a new one is formed. Before announcing their resignation, Medvedev met Putin for discussions, the Kremlin's press office said. Putin also said that he plans to create a position of Deputy Secretary of Russia's Security Council, and offer it to Medvedev. vd/arm STARKVILLE, Miss. - Authorities worked to lower the level of a rain-swollen lake in rural north Mississippi on Wednesday, hoping to avoid the failure of a dam amid forecasts of more rain. An inspection of the earthen dam in Oktibbeha County on Tuesday led to warnings that it was in danger of failing and recommendations that area residents evacuate. Rain remained a possibility in the area through Saturday, according to updated weather forecasts. There are currently no signs of active water flowing through the dam at this time, William McKercher, chief of the states dam safety division, said in an email interview. The lake level is being lowered to relieve stress on the structure in advance of the coming rainfall. McKercher added that officials will maintain the lowered lake level until such time that substantial repairs can be made. Oktibbeha Countys emergency director, Kristen Campanella, said the lake level had risen a foot (30 centimetres) by Wednesday morning, endangering about 130 properties and nine highways downstream. Mississippi has one of the highest numbers of dams that pose dangers and are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to a two-year investigation by The Associated Press. Evacuation was not mandatory but was recommended, Campanella said. She said as many as 25 residents have told law enforcement officials they would consider evacuating if conditions worsen. At least one resident told The Associated Press she wasnt going anywhere. Ive been here 30 years, Valeria Hogan, 70, said as she sat in a car on a dirt road, less than a mile from the dam. She said shes seen workers making repairs and shes confident it will hold. Same lake, same arrangement. Its no problem. The dam is an earthen structure with a two-lane road atop it, and traffic was still being allowed to cross. The dirt road shoulders were squishy with mud in places. County engineer Clyde Pritchard said the main lake spillway was emptying thousands of gallons from the reservoir every minute, and workers installed four 8-inch siphons to move water from the lake over an auxillary spillway and into a nearby stream. Seepage caused by the high water level in the lake loosened soil on the normally dry side of the dam and caused a dirt slide that Pritchard discovered Tuesday. The dirt-red gash grew rapidly after it was located but appeared stabilized Wednesday, said Pritchard. Pritchard said the normal surface area of the lake is 426 acres (172 hectares) but it has grown to about 900 acres (364 hectares). Lavar and Maefrances Bibbs, a married couple, walked from their home near the dam to the top of the levee to check out the water level. Bibbs said they are staying put though they continue to watch the weather. The forecast says its supposed to be raining again, 100%, but right now its just at a standstill, Lavar said. Im hoping everything calms down and everyone can feel safe around here. The Oktibbeha County Lake dam was rated fair the last time it was inspected in 2016. A February 2019 report made available to the AP on Tuesday noted ongoing seepage problems that the owners the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors said they lacked money to fix. Pritchard said the county has been seeking money to repair deficiencies in the dam since a 2014 inspection, but the price tag is an estimated $8 million. Thats a lot of money for a rural county, he said. Workers have tried for months to lower the lake level but a broken spillway valve hampered progress, Pritchard said. The warnings in Oktibbeha County came as heavy rains caused problems around the state. Shelters were opened and sandbags were handed out in the Jackson metropolitan area Tuesday. Flash flooding remained a possibility in parts of the state Wednesday. There have been at least two other dam failures in the South after heavy rains within the past month. Holmes Lake Dam in Hinds County, Mississippi, failed Jan. 2. Some vehicles were damaged, but no injuries were reported. A post-failure inspection indicated that faulty construction may have allowed internal erosion of the earthen dam, said Willie McKercher, chief of the Dam Safety Division at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. A pond swollen by heavy rains broke through a dam in Aiken County, South Carolina, on Dec. 23, damaging several vehicles but causing no injuries. Records provided to The Associated Press show that a state engineer determined in 1992 that the dam was too small to be regulated. But a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said that after the failure, staff have been re-evaluating whether the dam should come under state oversight. ___ Associated Press reporters Kevin McGill in New Orleans, Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report. ___ APs data customers can access an exclusive data set showing high-hazard dams across the country, including in Mississippi. If your news organization is not yet licensed to access our data distribution, please contact apdigitalsales@ap.org for enrolment details. ___ An earlier version of this report had incorrect spellings for the names of Valeria Hogan and Maefrances Bibbs. The UN's top court said Wednesday it will deliver its decision next week on whether emergency measures should be imposed on Myanmar over alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslims. The ruling comes a month after Myanmar's civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to The Hague to defend the bloody 2017 crackdown by her nation's army against the Rohingya. The mainly Muslim African nation of The Gambia brought the case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice after around 740,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh, carrying accounts of widespread rape, arson and mass killings. "The International Court of Justice... will deliver, on Thursday 23 January 2020, its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by The Gambia," the court said in a statement, adding that it would happen at 10:00am (0900 GMT). The Gambian Ministry of Justice had announced the date on Twitter earlier Wednesday. The Gambia brought the case against Buddhist-majority Myanmar with the backing of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation. Canada and the Netherlands have since also lent their support. At the December hearing, The Gambia alleged Myanmar had breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, meaning that the case could go before the ICJ, the highest judicial organ of the United Nations. It also said there was a "serious and imminent risk of genocide recurring" and called for urgent "provisional measures" to prevent Myanmar from committing any further atrocities or erasing any evidence. It is not clear how specific the emergency measures would be, but enforcing them would likely prove difficult. If the court rules in The Gambia's favour, this would be just the first step in a case likely to take years. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya still live in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in what Amnesty International has branded "apartheid" conditions. UN investigators have said Myanmar's actions amounted to genocide. Suu Kyi admitted in her appearance before the court that the army may have used excessive force against the Rohingya, but said the case was based on "misleading and incomplete" claims, calling for it to be dropped. The 74-year-old, once regarded as a rights icon in the West, also said the case risked reigniting the crisis. ICJ judges have only once before ruled that genocide was committed, in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. Suu Kyi's defence of the generals was widely condemned in the West but proved popular at home with a public largely unsympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Myanmar insists its own investigations will ensure accountability for any human rights violations but critics deride the domestic panels as toothless and partial. Myanmar also faces other legal challenges over the Rohingya, including a probe by the International Criminal Court -- a separate war crimes tribunal -- and a lawsuit in Argentina which notably alleges Suu Kyi's complicity. burs-rs-dk/dl The ICJ has said it will deliver a decision on whether emergency measures should be imposed on Myanmar over alleged genocide Major Rohingya refugee camp populations in Bangladesh, as of December 2019. Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) Two soldiers were killed and four others, including two senior army officers, were injured during a confrontation in Khartoum on Tuesday between the Sudanese army and a rebel group from a dissolved intelligence unit, the Army said in a statement on Wednesday Moscow [Russia], Jan 15 (ANI): Russian Federal Tax Service head Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday accepted President Vladimir Putin's offer to become country's prime minister after the government of Prime Minister Dmitri A Medvedev resigned. "President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Mikhail Mishustin and invited him to take the prime minister's post. Having the consent, he submitted Mishustin's candidacy for the post of the prime minister to the State Duma for consideration," said the Kremlin in a statement. Medvedev and his Cabinet resigned after Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his hold on power for many years. In a statement issued by the Russian news agency Tass, Medvedev linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Putin, New York Times reported. Putin, who under current law must step down in 2024, has proposed amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the State Council, which currently carries little weight. (ANI) The Democrats are outraged that we killed this terrorist monster, even though this monster was behind hundreds and hundreds of deaths," Trump told the crowd in downtown Milwaukee not far from where Democrats will hold their convention this summer. He added that Soleimani was the king of the roadside bomb. Great percentages of people don't have legs right now and arms because of this son of a bitch. First Cross Racial United Methodist Pastor to Keynote the Allentown Community Martin Luther King Service NEWS PROVIDED BY Allentown United Methodist Church Jan. 15, 2020 TRENTON, N.J., Jan. 15, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Greater Allentown Ministerial Association to host the Allentown Community Martin Luther King Service on Sunday, January 19, 2020, at 2:30 PM at Allentown United Methodist Church, 23 Church Street, Allentown, New Jersey 08501. The keynote speaker is Rev. Dr. Jessica Davis, the senior pastor of Allentown United Methodist Church in Allentown, New Jersey. Dr. Davis is the first cross-racial appointment to Allentown United Methodist Church as the first African American Pastor of Allentown UMC in its over 200-year history. Prior to serving Allentown UMC, she served as the first female pastor of the historic St. Paul United Methodist Church in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. Dr. Davis will be sharing from her published speech, "Shofar of Justice." The following is an excerpt: "We have gathered here today to remember and celebrate the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to keep his American voice alive. First, I want to take this opportunity to remind each of you to never forget the fifteen-year struggle behind the creation of the United States federal holiday, 'Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.' "In 1968, Michigan Congressman John Conyers introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King's assassination on April 4th on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The bill stalled in 1968, and in response, six million Americans signed petitions to endorse the holiday. Then, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm joined Congressman Conyers and resubmitted the legislation. They submitted this legislation session after session until 1983. Congress finally passed the holiday legislation and the late President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983. "Let us never forget the struggle or we indeed will be destined to repeat it." The Greater Allentown Ministerial Association is composed of clergy from the different churches of Allentown and the surrounding areas who meet to plan worship services for the community and discuss matters of common concern for the churches and community. SOURCE: Allentown United Methodist Church CONTACT: Dr. Jessica Davis, Senior Pastor, 609-259-7392, drjessicadavis@gmail.com Related Links http://www.allentownumcnj.org According to most medical literature, Ned Desbrow should not have survived the amputation of his left leg in a regional Queensland field eight months ago after it became caught in a winch. Not only did the Toowoomba teenager survive against all odds, but he is also back skateboarding, riding his motorbike and has even started his own clothing line - Funky G's. Ned Desbrow asleep at the Princess Alexandra Hospital with his mother Melita Carlyon by his side. Credit:RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Mr Desbrow called his mother, who was at work, and said: "You need to help me, my legs gone." Just before 10am on May 9 last year, Mr Desbrow's leg became wrapped in winch wire and trapped within the winch mechanism itself on a property in Tara, 200 kilometres north-west of Toowoomba. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has stated that Ukraine strongly condemns all forms of intolerance and anti-Semitism, and authorities at all levels are making efforts to combat their manifestations. "With regard to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel of January 13, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stresses that Ukraine strongly condemns all forms of intolerance and antisemitism, and the Ukrainian authorities at all levels make every effort to fight any of their manifestations. It has been recognized by the influential international and non-governmental institutions, and the Ministry of the Diaspora Affairs of Israel as well. This assessment is also consistent with the data of the Jewish community of Ukraine and national non-governmental human rights organizations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on Tuesday. The ministry assured that "preservation of the historical truth about the Holocaust tragedy in Ukraine, restoration of the historical justice, including towards those who had fought for the independence of our country and whose memory had been disgraced by the Soviet propaganda, will remain the important goal of Ukraine's state policy." The Foreign Ministry reiterated that "civilized nations should be guided by the principle of commemoration of all the perished, and the discussions in this sphere should be conducted at the level of experts and historians, and not politicians." As reported, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the celebration in Ukraine of the ideologists of the Ukrainian National Movement, who they said were responsible for the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. Some extra-planetary Caltech news to take your mind off Earth Reports Caltech: "A rare asteroid orbiting snugly within the inner confines of our solar system has been discovered by Caltech's Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, a survey camera based at Palomar Observatory. The newfound body, named 2020 AV2, is the first asteroid found to orbit entirely within the orbit of Venus." More from the Caltech media announcement, which hit the wires around 11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern: "Getting past the orbit of Venus must have been challenging," says George Helou, executive director of the IPAC astronomy center at Caltech and a ZTF co-investigator, who explains that the asteroid must have migrated in toward Venus from farther out in the solar system. "The only the way it will ever get out of its orbit is if it gets flung out via a gravitational encounter with Mercury or Venus, but more likely it will end up crashing on one of those two planets." 2020 AV2 belongs to a small class of asteroids known as Atiras, which are bodies with orbits that fall within the orbit of Earth. More specifically, it is the first "Vatira" asteroid, with the "V" standing for Venus. Vatira asteroids, which were only hypothesized until now, have orbits that fall entirely inside the orbit of Venus. The ZTF camera is particularly adept at finding asteroids because it scans the entire sky rapidly and thus can catch the asteroids during their short-lived appearances in the night sky. Because Vatiras orbit so close to our sun, they are only visible at dusk or dawn. 2020 AV2 is the third Atira discovered by ZTF as part of its Twilight program developed by Wing-Huen Ip of the National Central University in Taiwan, and Quanzhi Ye, formerly of Caltech and now at the University of Maryland. The asteroid, which was initially designated ZTF09k5, was first flagged as a candidate on January 4, 2020, by Bryce Bolin, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. Soon thereafter, an alert was posted by the Minor Planet Center, the official organization for cataloging small solar system bodies such as asteroids, and this piqued the interest of the astronomical community. Several telescopes around the globe followed up on the target, helping to pin down the body's unusual orbit and narrow down estimates of its size. The asteroid spans about 1 to 3 kilometers and has an elongated orbit tilted about 15 degrees relative to the plane of our solar system. During its 151-day orbit around the sun, it always travels interior to Venus, but at its closest approach to the sun, it comes very close to the orbit of Mercury. "An encounter with a planet probably flung the asteroid into Venus's orbit," explains Tom Prince, the Ira S. Bowen Professor of Physics at Caltech and a senior research scientist at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA, as well as a co-investigator of ZTF. "It's the opposite of what happens when a space mission swings by a planet for a gravity boost. Instead of gaining energy from a planet, it loses it." Members of the ZTF team says they look forward to hunting for more Vatira asteroids in the future. "We have no idea how many more there are like this or if it's unique," says Helou. Read more: First Asteroid Found Inside Orbit of Venus [caltech.edu] The BJP in Madhya Pradesh launched a scathing attack on Wednesday against the Congress government alleging that it is so blinded by hatred against Veer Savarkar that it suspended a decorated principal because notebooks with the Hindutva icons photo and brief sketch on his life were distributed among students in his school. RN Kerawat, principal of government high school, Malwasa in Ratlam district was suspended on Tuesday by the district education officer, Ratlam KC Sharma for distribution of the notebooks without any permission from the department. The notebooks were distributed by an NGO named Veer Savarkar Hitarth Jan Kalyan Samiti on November 4. The suspension order was issued on the instructions of Ujjain division commissioner Ajeet Kumar, education department officials said. Principal RN Kerawat was suspended as per instructions from the commissioner, Ujjain division as he had not sought any permission from the department to distribute the notebooks. A show-cause notice had been issued to him and he had admitted in his reply that he had distributed the notebooks, district education officer KC Sharma said. The NGO convener Prabhu Neka said the suspension was unfortunate and warned of an agitation if it is not revoked. We have been distributing notebook among students for the past six to seven years. But this year the principal was suspended by the Congress government, which is very unfortunate. It is unfortunate more because the principal is honoured with the Presidents Award for his excellent record, Neka said. If the government doesnt withdraw the suspension order within 7 days an agitation will be launched by residents of Ratlam including employees organisations against the governments action, he threatened. Kerawat said the suspension order has shocked him. I was shocked to get the suspension order. My school has been on top in board results. This was not the first time when any NGO helped needy students of the school. What I did was in the interest of poor students. If the government thinks I was wrong in allowing the poor students to have notebooks I cant say anything in this regard, he said. BJP national vice-president and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the government of being by hatred against Savarkar. The chief minister and his government are so blinded by the hatred against Veer Savarkar that they are insulting icons of the country. The governments act of suspending the principal has hurt sentiments of people of the state. Congress leaders need to read the biography of Veer Savarkar to know his contribution to the freedom struggle and the country. We demand immediate revocation of the suspension. However, Congress justified the action saying that there was no politics in it and that saffronisation of schools will not be allowed. It was a question of discipline. Schools are temples of education. Its saffronisation which was witnessed during the BJPs regime cant be allowed, Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said. Recently, a booklet painting Veer Savarkar in poor light was distributed among Congress Seva Dal members during their national camp at the outskirts of Bhopal also drew fire from the BJP. (With input from Sudhir Jain in Ratlam) Valerie Colin, CPA, MST I have been honored to have the opportunity to run this department and help develop young talent for the last seven years, said Thaw. Valerie is an excellent tax practitioner and will be a very effective leader for the department. Gumbiner Savett Inc., a full-service public accounting firm based in Southern California, has a new leader for its tax department. Valerie Colin, a senior tax shareholder in the firm, will now hold the position. David Thaw, CPA, MST, also a tax shareholder, steps down after seven years at the helm. Thaw is also the co-leader of the real estate group in the firm and is responsible for overseeing tax compliance with regards to client income tax reporting obligations for public and privately held companies. I have been honored to have the opportunity to run this department and help develop young talent for the last seven years, said Thaw. Valerie is an excellent tax practitioner and will be a very effective leader for the department. Colin celebrated her 25th anniversary with the firm last year. She has over 35 years of experience in tax, accounting and business consulting. A former auditor turned tax practitioner, Colin has devoted many hours as a mentor to several tax practitioners within the firm as well as to students at Loyola Marymount University, her alma mater. I am looking forward to the challenge that the role of departmental leader brings, said Colin. David has a done a wonderful job navigating the changing needs of the firm and the profession. I hope to do the same and help the department continue to grow. About Gumbiner Savett Inc. -http://www.gscpa.com Gumbiner Savett Inc. is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Santa Monica. Founded in 1950, its purpose is to enrich its clients lives by facilitating the achievement of their financial objectives and providing career fulfillment for its employees. Gumbiner Savett is dedicated to being a preeminent assurance, tax and business advisory firm for growth oriented businesses, middle market enterprises and high-net worth individuals in Southern California. In addition to traditional private and public company accounting and tax services, it specializes in general business consulting, estate and trust planning, fraud examination studies, business services and bookkeeping and litigation support. Gumbiner Savett Inc. is an independent member firm of BKR International. We know the harmful effects of plastic is causing havoc on our planet and pro-environment groups, as well as scientists, have urged people and governments to curb its use. India was expected to implement a nationwide ban on plastic on Gandhi Jayanti last year but it backtracked at the last moment from doing so. Regardless, there has been an outcry against the use of plastic in the country and several success stories have also come to the fore as more and more people are taking it seriously. But not everybody seems to be following it, sometimes for the pitiest of the reasons. Thousands of plastic kites have found their way into Hyderabad this Sankranti, despite a ban on single-use plastic by the Telangana government. Even at the state-sponsored International Kite and Sweet Festival yesterday, several people were seen flying plastic kites. According to a TOI report, the sky was flooded with kites that were made out of plastic and that's not a healthy sign, particularly at a time when we are aiming to curb plastic use. While theres a big profit for sellers, its a big loss for the citys health as these plastic kites take years to disintegrate and would prove fatal for Hyderabads soil and water. Plastic covering the land can stop water from percolating into the soil. This can stop the citys groundwater levels from rising, Arun Krishnamurthy, founder of the Environment Foundation of India, was quoted as saying by TOI. He added: And if this plastic is burned, itll cause severe air pollution. They can also endanger birds and animals. Many kites get entangled on tree canopies. As plastic reflects light almost like a mirror, it can disorient birds and increase the chances of accidents, said C Srinivasulu, head, Centre for Bio-diversity and Conservation Studies, Osmania University. And the threat of animals ingesting plastic is always there, he added. BCCL Plastic kites that end up in garbage are eaten by stray animals, causing immense pain or even death in some cases. The government should strictly ban the manufacture and sale of plastic kites in the state, said Mirza Kareem Baig, member of the Forest and Wildlife Protection Society (FAWPS). Amid environmental fears, kite traders across Dhoolpet, Gulzar Houz and Dabeerpura said that the sale of plastic ones has consistently increased in the city. This year, 90% of their profits came from selling designer plastic kites, priced between Rs 4 and Rs 200. We reduced our stock of traditional paper kites this year as there is very little demand. Customers prefer plastic kites because they dont tear easily even on a windy day, said Mohammad Rahmat, a 30-year-old trader from Dabeerpura. BCCL When asked about plastic kites being allowed inside the state festival, Burra Venkatesham, secretary for youth advancement, tourism and culture said, There are thousands of people coming to the festival. If we check each one of them, the enthusiasm will be lost. So, we are slowly trying to make them understand that using plastic is not good for anybody. It is more education than enforcement. Maybe they will slowly stop using plastic, if we continue to educate them. He added: We have at least ensured that there is no plastic being used in stalls where sweets are being sold. We have asked participants to use recyclable material. Iran's sky safer for all flights than ever before: Iran's Army Cmdr. IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 14, IRNA -- Iranian Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Musavi said on Tuesday that today's Iranian sky is safer for all flights than ever before. Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said that Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces the Supreme Leader has called for coordination of the IRGC and other armed forces to ensure accuracy of the air defense system. He expressed condolences to the families of mourners and the noble nation of Iran, saying: "The recent air disaster that caused deaths of our dear compatriots was bitter and sad and had a profound effect on the security and armed forces of the country." Tehran University said in a statement that US cyber attacks on Iranian radars has paralyzed Iranian air defense system. Lawyers say cyber attack has been recognized one thousand times dangerous than Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Chemical Weapons. The war laws and Geneva Conventions and the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) have prohibited WMDs, the unconventional arms including cluster bombs to save Civilians in the armed conflicts 6125**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday affirmed India's continued commitment to developing strong and friendly relations with Iran and thanked Iranian leadership for the progress in Chabahar project. The Prime Minister made the remarks during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is in India for the Raisina Dialogue 2020. Zarif, who called on the Prime Minister, shared his perspectives on the recent developments in the region. The Prime Minister mentioned India's strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region. Tensions escalated between Iran and the US following killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month in a raid. Iran had carried fired ballistic missiles on airbases housing US forces in Iraq in retaliation. Welcoming the Iranian Foreign Minister, Modi recalled his warm and cordial discussions with President Rouhani in September 2019 on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York. According to a PMO release, the Prime Minister reiterated India's continued commitment to developing her strong and friendly relations with Iran. "He thanked Iranian leadership for the progress in Chabahar project, including through designating it as Special Economic Zone," the release said. (ANI) New year, same old stupid claims from politicians. When will this end? This time, the claim made by West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is so stupid and weird, that I'm almost impressed by the creativity. Basically, he said that flying objects actually existed during Ramayana days. Wait, not just that. He also said Arjuna's arrows in Mahabharata had atomic powers in them. While addressing a programme, he reportedly said, "It is not in the 20th century, but it was during the period of Ramayana, we had flying objects (Uran Khatola). Sanjay narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it." Yep, makes perfect sense. But seriously, how do they come up with stuff like this? I'm honestly curious about their thought process that actually makes them come up with these theories and conclusions, and want to know what makes them feel so confident in it that they share it with the world. I have said it a million times before, and I'll say it again - there needs to be an IQ cut off to become a politician, it's high time and we desperately need it. As usual, and as expected, he was ripped apart online and I don't even feel bad, he really did have it coming. Apparently. In Ramayana we had 'udan khatola' (flying machine). Those arrows of Arjuna had nuclear power. The world can no longer afford to ignore India WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankar And Cow dung is Plutonium https://t.co/i5KLnJdiIE Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) January 15, 2020 Hmm. Westbengal Governor claims that Arjun's arrow had atomic power! It seems that people lost their brains/sense after joining BJP . pic.twitter.com/Q02kXE3Qzx Reshma Alam (@reshma_alam9) January 14, 2020 A hot take. never ending bs, this need to validate religion as the supreme truth by fitting it into structures of existing scientific consensus https://t.co/9W0xFeStUD Sandhya Ramesh (@sandygrains) January 15, 2020 Debunked. He is wrong. Arjun's arrows had thermonuclear power.https://t.co/gRE6UsWDyz Aryan Srivastava (@aryansrivastav_) January 15, 2020 Not cool This man is the Governor of West Bengal. These are the kinds of people Modi & Shah appoint as Governors. https://t.co/Y3mP7n4qrY Vivek Tiwari (@Viv2511) January 15, 2020 So mean. It was all glorious till the Mughals came & confiscated our nuclear warheads, the meanies. https://t.co/uAyVdqKadA Priyamvada Gopal, Proud JNU Alum (@PriyamvadaGopal) January 15, 2020 Probably. "As the Fort Mill area experiences continued growth and expansion, Watercrest is fortunate for the opportunity to provide seniors the highest quality of care, service and amenities in an upscale and enriching environment," says Marc Vorkapich , principal and CEO of Watercrest Senior Living Group. "Watercrest Fort Mill will offer an unparalleled experience for seniors while cultivating relationships with families, associates and business partners within this growing community." Watercrest Fort Mill will offer 75 assisted living and 32 memory care apartments with premium accommodations, resort-style amenities, and world-class care. Residents will enjoy pampering in elegant Spa W, savor private label Watercrest wines at the wine bistro, and relish the flavors of locally grown, seasonal ingredients and organic fare whether dining outdoors, bistro-style, or in the chef's private dining room. The innovative design of Watercrest Fort Mill includes a stunning promenade, pool, fireplace, signature water wall, multiple dining venues, and children's play space. Watercrest's uniquely designed Market Street Residence will showcase an 'outdoor' streetscape with salon and spa, bakery, post office, and numerous LifeBUILT programming touches; a highlight and crucial element of their multi-sensory memory care programming. Future residents, family members and associates are encouraged to visit the sales office to discover the difference in care, amenities and lifestyle offered at Watercrest Fort Mill. The office is located at 4184 Doby's Bridge Road, Suite 102, across from Indian Land Elementary School. Visit the office from 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday or contact Executive Director, Joy Patterson at 803-590-7005, for more information. Watercrest Fort Mill is currently under construction by Shiel Sexton at 8154 English Clover Lane and scheduled to welcome residents in Spring 2020. It is the second senior living development project partnered between Watercrest Senior Living Group and Waypoint Residential. Their first project, Watercrest Newnan Assisted Living and Memory Care is currently welcoming residents in Newnan, Georgia. Watercrest Senior Living Group was founded by Marc Vorkapich, CEO, and Joan Williams, CFO, to honor our mothers and fathers, aspiring to become a beacon for quality in senior living by surpassing standards of care, service and associate training. Watercrest senior living communities are recognized for their luxury aesthetic, exceptional amenities, world-class care, and innovative memory care programming offering unparalleled service to seniors living with Alzheimer's and dementia. Waypoint Residential, LLC ("Waypoint") is a vertically integrated real estate investment firm specializing in rental housing. Waypoint acquires and develops conventional multifamily, student and senior housing properties throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.waypointresidential.com. A certified Great Place to Work, Watercrest Senior Living Group specializes in the development and operations of assisted living and memory care communities, and the growth of servant leaders. Visit www.watercrestseniorliving.com. SOURCE Watercrest Senior Living Group Related Links http://www.watercrestseniorliving.com Prince Williamss body language while out meeting crowds in Bradford today signalled that the future king has a new found confidence despite the recent turbulence the royals have faced. The Duke of Cambridge presented his wife Kate Middleton with a single white rose this afternoon, after the couple received bunches and bunches of flowers during their visit, where they were warmly received by large crowds. Body language expert Judi James today told MailOnline that the 'unusually romantic PDA' is a clear signal that the couple enjoy meeting crowds while undertaking their royal duties. Their appearance in the northern city comes as the couple finally got back to royal business amid the turmoil caused by Harry and Meghan's abdication crisis. The couple were filmed walking out of Bradford City Hall before greeting crowds. After splitting up and mingling, the couple are then reunited - it is then that, while Kate clutches on to a bunch of white roses, William tenderly hands her a single flower. Prince William today handed Kate Middleton a single white rose during a visit to the northern city of Bradford Kate Middleton was seen speaking to crowds at the event and knelt down to engage in conversation with the youngsters Prince William was also seen waving at crowds today as he left the Khidmat Centre in Bradford Judi added that it was unlikely but still possible that the country could suffer a Megxit split, or that the country could take sides against either the Cambridge's or the Sussex's that 'rumours of a rift have been made official'. 'So there could have been a sense of trepidation as William and Kate appeared together in public after Harry and Meghan announced their move to Canada. 'The rock star reception with crowds screaming approval do have a visible effect on both William and Kate here, though, with their expression turning from mildly anxious to grins of utter delight as they greet the fans. 'Kate performs some active mirroring with the children in the crowd, offering sweet 'baby Waves' before bending to their height to engage them in close up and quite lengthy conversations.' The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge smile as they speak to young people and employers at Bradford City Hall today William tried his wife's handmade milkshake while Kate sampled her husband's lassi at MyLahore in Bradford Despite Kate being completely adored by the crowds, Judi said it was actually William who was a 'revelation' during today's visit. 'Whether it's relief or delight or both his often shy smile broadens as the crowds show their love and with his signature frown gone you can see his upper cheeks rounded in what's called an 'Apple' effect that is always a sign of genuine pleasure. 'He engages with the crowds using humour and emphatic gesticulation and there is every suggestion that his confidence is back. 'Show-boating to the crowd he even hands his wife a rose in an unusually romantic PDA and it's clear from Kate's dimpled smile that she's enjoying the gesture too'. Judi also added that the pair were much more expressive than normal, but appeared to come across a little more tactile. 'Even fun body language didn't seem to be down to the 'Meghan' factor of more tactile displays, it seemed based more on feelings of relief and delight at the tide of affection that greeted them. 'It made William drop his guard a little and flirt with his wife while both he and Kate appeared to get much closer with and have more prolonged chats with what were very obviously their fans. 'The pressure levels on these two must have been high over the past few weeks and bullying comments must have made them worry about negative public opinion after years of hard work to get it 'right' so it's not surprising that this upbeat reception made both William and Kate happy to be a bit more emotionally revealing than normal.' During the visit today the couple's first stop was a community project that aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren in the West Yorkshire city. William and Kate were smiling and tactile with the West Yorkshire crowds who were delighted to see them there The destination will raise eyebrows due to the upset caused to the Queen who was forced to agree to let her grandson Harry emigrate to Canada with Meghan and Archie this week. After meeting excited crowds in Bradford's Centenary Square, the Cambridges headed to British Asian restaurant chain MyLahore where Kate giggled as she made and drank a Kulfi milkshake while her husband knocked up a mango lassi, which he called 'delicious' as he took a sip. Today's visit to the West Yorkshire city was William and Kate's first joint public engagement together since a charity event in London two months ago on November 12 for their volunteer text support service Shout. The engagement in Bradford was announced just last week on January 8 while tensions within the Royal Family were at a high before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said one day later that they were stepping down. It has been a tumultuous week for the royals which also saw legal documents published in the battle between Meghan and the Mail on Sunday that could lead to her father testifying against her should the case go to trial. William and Kate will also meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project - a workshop helping grandparents to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and giving advice on raising children in the 21st century. The couple - who have three children, George, six, Charlotte, four, and Louis, one - will also visit young people, employers and families at projects that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities. Two short months ago, former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch sat before the House Intelligence Committee for the second public hearing of the impeachment inquiry. One of the most senior women in the U.S. foreign servicea 33-year veteran who held two previous ambassadorships prior to being posted in Ukraine in 2016Yovanovitch showed up to testify in direct defiance of the Trump administrations directive against government officials taking part in the impeachment proceedings. Poised and reserved in the limelight, Yovanovitchover several hoursdescribed what it had been like to be targeted in the media by the presidents personal attorney and eldest son, summarily ousted from her position last April, and then name-checked by the president during his now-infamous July 25 phone call with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelensky. In that call, the most powerful person in the world said of Yovanovitch, the former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and shes going to go through some things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It didnt sound good, Yovanovitch said when asked in November about learning of the presidents comments. It sounded like a threat. It sounded familiar. In a previous deposition, Yovanovitch described how Ukrainian officials had warned her that the presidents personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had been in touch with a former Ukrainian prosecutor general, and that they had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me. At the time of that October deposition, she understood things to mean her eventual ouster. She couldnt have known, as was revealed in new documents turned over to the Intelligence Committee by indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, that the things the presidents men had in mind might have been darker. According to Parnas WhatsApp exchanges, someone appears to have had the ambassador under physical and electronic surveillance last March, as Giuliani was making his moves against her position in Ukraine. Most ominously, the exchanges include cryptic messages that more could be done toward the ambassador for a price. Its now an open question if the presidents goons had hired other goons to stalk a U.S. ambassador. Advertisement Advertisement Remember how you felt watching her testify. In her November testimony, Yovanovitch also described what it was like to be advised last April by the foreign service that she needed to leave Kyiv on the next plane, because they were worried for her security. Yovanovitch had been hosting an embassy event that same evening, honoring a Ukrainian anti-corruption activist who had died painfully, over many months, after someone attacked her with acid. And in real time, as Yovanovitch sat in the chamber offering testimony of her abrupt removal from Kyiv, Trump took to Twitter to denigrate and insult her again: Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him. It is a U.S. Presidents absolute right to appoint ambassadors. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its very intimidating, she said of the real-time witness tampering. I cant speak to what the president is trying to do, but the effect is to be intimidating. Yovanovitch went on to testify that the State Departments failure to defend her and others would deeply damage the institution. This will soon cause real harm, if it hasnt already, she said. When the lengthy hearing ended, Yovanovitch moved to leave the room and the gallery broke into a spontaneous standing ovation. The personal threat to Yovanovitch was apparently greater than previously known. Among the many stunning elements of the documents released Tuesday night were a series of breathtaking WhatsApp messages between Parnas and Robert F. Hyde, a Republican running for congress in Connecticut. Hyde was messaging Parnas last spring about Yovanovitch. Fuck that bitch, Hyde messaged Parnas on March 22, in response to a series of articles and tweets Parnas had sent him highlighting Giulianis then-underway media campaign against the ambassador. The next morning, Hyde continued: Wow. Cant believe Trum[p] hasnt fired this bitch. Ill get right in that. Within a few hours, it appeared that Hyde had Yovanovitch under direct surveillance. He messaged Parnas: She under heavy protection outside Kiev. The exchange of articles continued, then two days later on March 25, Hyde sent Parnas a message saying, what should I do with this?, then they are moving her tomorrow?, then The guys over they asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them, then Wake up Yankees man, and then she talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off. The messages about her apparent whereabouts continued throughout the day. The address I sent you checks out, Hyde wrote. Its next to the embassy, he continued. And then, ominously: They are willing to help if we/you would like a price. Hyde added: Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with moneywhat I was told. Parnas responded at this point LOL. The next day, the updates picked up again. Hyde told Parnas on March 26: If you want her out they need to make contact with security forces. The day after that, he wrote: Its confirmed we have a person inside. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What the hell was Hyde proposing be done to Yovanovitch and how could he have known when her phone was off? Was this part of a broader criminal conspiracy? Crucially, what was Giulianis knowledge of and connection to all this? Where was the money to pay for it coming from? Late Tuesday Yovanovitchs attorney, Lawrence Robbins, called for an investigation. Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing, Robbins said. We will hopefully learn more in the coming days about what Hyde was doing and who authorized it. Mother Jones reported on Tuesday that two months after his exchanges with Parnas, Hyde was taken into custody at Mar-a-Lago under a state law that allows for involuntary confinement of people who might pose a risk to themselves. He has been widely photographed with Trump and his family. On Tuesday evening, Hyde claimed that was playing with Parnas, because I was kidding is now a blanket defense to criminality in America. Advertisement The line from Hyde to Parnas to Giuliani to Trump is pretty clear. The tranche of documents also included an October email from Trump attorney Jay Sekulow authorizing former Trump attorney John Dowd to represent Parnas and saying he had discussed the issue with Trump and The President consents. Dowd had previously told Congress that Parnas and his business partner Igor Fruman had been working for Giuliani in connection with his representation of President Trump. The latest news demonstrates just how much more needs to be investigated to get to the bottom of Trump and his cronies actions in Ukraine. It also points to the peril of an impeachment trial whitewash that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has threatened in the past month. Advertisement Advertisement But even considering the bigger impeachment picture, we cant lose sight for a moment of what happened to Ukraines ambassador and what she had already been through for this country. Yovanovitch described in her House testimony her multiple tours of duty, including coming under attack at the embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, by a gunman, who sprayed the Embassy building with gunfire and being caught in crossfire between presidential and parliamentary forces during the 1993 attempted coup in Russia, which necessitated her to try three times without a helmet or body armorto get into a vehicle to go to the Embassy. Over three decades, Yovanovitch put her life and body on the line to protect the United States, as she testified because it was our duty. And yet last spring she was apparently being threatened by a U.S. citizen, a man working in direct coordination with an associate of the presidents attorney. Giuliani, meanwhile, worked toward her ouster and knew she was being removed even before she did. And all this came amid a growing sense on the part of the foreign service that Marie Yovanovitch was not safe in Ukraine. Having survived enemy fire, she was being threatened by Americans as she served the country. And her superiors at the State Department were unable or unwilling to help her. The Justice Department failed to care and this all still hasnt had a proper investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi named impeachment managers for Trumps Senate trial in the shadow of a promise by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to try to prevent witnesses from testifying. If Republican senators go along with McConnells plans, it means they dont want to know what happened to Yovanovitch, the details of which are increasingly horrifying. Yovanovitch was never a victim of this administration simply because she never allowed herself to be. She did her job admirably and then she testified. Nevertheless, she is persisting. That she was derided as a bitch, allegedly stalked like prey, and then threatened by the president himself are probably among the least frightening things that have happened in her storied career. But remember how you felt watching her testify. Because if we fail to get to the bottom of what happened to Marie Yovanovitch, she and good people like her wont keep standing up for us forever. Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence here, two days after the Sena skipped a crucial opposition meet in Parliament complex. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after the Shiv Sena formed the coalition government in Maharashtra with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Shiv Sena termed it as a routine meeting between the two leaders. Sources said the two leaders discussed the current political situation as also issues of coordination and issues concerning environment and tourism, which the Sena leader handles as a minister in Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi is also learnt to have discussed issues of CAA and NPR with the junior Thackeray during the 30-minute meeting. Sources said Thackeray also met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and is learnt to have discussed ways to improve coordination between the alliance partners. The Shiv Sena had skipped the crucial opposition meet convened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Parliament complex on Monday, which adopted a unanimous resolution not to implement the NPR process in states which opposed the implementation of CAA. The Congress has said the Sena was to attend the crucial opposition meeting, but could not due to communication issues. No Sena MP was present in Delhi on Monday, the sources had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi court granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad on Wednesday in the case filed against him for an incident of violence during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest in the National Capital's Daryaganj on 20 December. A Delhi court granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad on Wednesday in the case filed against him for an incident of violence during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest in the National Capital's Daryaganj on 20 December. Sessions judge Kamini Lau, while granting the bail, imposed a few conditions on Azad. The Bhim Army chief has been barred from holding any protest or dharna till voting in Delhi Assembly elections concludes on 8 February. He has also been told to restrain from visiting the Shaheen Bagh protest, India Today reported. The judge instructed Azad to leave Delhi for four weeks and to stay put in Saharanpur for that period. The court told Azad to record his presence with the Saharanpur Police station in Uttar Pradesh every Saturday. On the second day of the bail petition hearing, Lau took up the case where she had left off on Tuesday. Calling Delhi Police's investigation and arrests made during anti-CAA protests as "discriminatory", Lau noted that the speech made by Azad at the Jama Masjid during the protest wasn't 'incendiary'. Lau asked the prosecutor whether the Delhi Police had an estimation of the damage after a protest against the contentious law took a violent turn, resulting in arson at the Daryaganj area of the National Capital. The prosecutor said that the process of assessment of the damage was underway. In response, Lau asked, "Are you saying that there is no evidence of Chandra Shekhar Azad delivering an 'inciting speech'?" Lau asked Azad's lawyer Mahmood Pracha to read some of the tweets written by the Bhim Army chief which have been termed "most incriminating". "Ambedkar said don't think I've died after I am dead, I will be alive till the Constitution is alive," Pracha read and told the judge that this tweet "incited" people to uphold the Constitution, Live Law reported. However, when Pracha cited another tweet which said, "When Modi is scared he puts the cops forward," the judge said that "this was problematic". In regard to another tweet, which compared Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) followers with Ambedkarites, Lau noted that the mention of the RSS "could be" inciting. To this, Pracha said that drone surveillance of the protest at Jama Masjid will "establish that there was no violence", Bar and Bench reported. Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) December 20, 2019 On Wednesday, the prosecution began with informing the court about the other cases that are pending against Azad, submitting that previous involvement in crimes is a "paramount consideration in deciding on a bail application", Live Law reported. The prosecutor also quoted a judgment of the Supreme Court in this regard. However, when the prosecutor further submitted the terms of conditions to organise rallies or dharnas, Lau said that when there is no permission for the same, the issue of compliance with or disobeying the terms doesn't arise. "It is anyway a bailable offence," Lau noted, adding, "Terms and conditions apply when you give permission (for protest). If you don't give permission, terms and conditions don't matter. In some cases you pick up people, in others, you don't. This is discrimination." The prosecutor also said that Azad had written an email seeking permission for the dharna at Jama Masjid, and that it had not been granted. "Of course you will not allow. If there is something happens, you don't want it falling on your shoulders." Further, the judge asked to hear the offences filed against Azad under the IT Act, reportedly for the "inciting" posts. Pracha read the posts on Twitter that lauded BR Ambedkar and another through which he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "pushing the police forward whenever there was a threat". Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) December 20, 2019 In response to the post about Modi, Lau was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying, "We have to respect our officers.. Prime Minister is an institution." She also reiterated that Section 144 of the CrPC, which puts restrictions on public movement, cannot be invoked repeatedly. She added, "We are all fighting for our rights but we forget our duties.. we block roads, we destroy property, it's our State no... These laws have to be read in accordance with the Constitution," Regarding the use of Section 144, Lau on Tuesday slammed the prosecutor after they said that permission was a prerequisite for protests and said, "What permission? The Supreme Court has said repeated use of Section 144 is abuse. I have seen many people, many such cases, where protests happened even outside Parliament. Some of those people are now senior politicians, chief ministers." Lau also stressed on the need to push for dialogue before resorting to protests over an issue. "It's time to take care of the convenience of others. Protests come last. Dialogue comes first," Lau was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench. Asserting that anarchy cannot be allowed, she also added that dialogue should take place between small groups. "You exercise your constitutional right then, we'll see if it's legal or illegal," Lau concluded. Lau also sought an assurance from Azad's counsel that if the Bhim Army chief is granted bail, a similar situation of violence won't take place. "You are a good orator, you are a crowd puller, you will have all kinds of people joining you. How do you ensure that in case he is released, something similar will not happen?" she said. "When the damage to public property is an outcome of a protest called by you, you have to be responsible." Pracha clarified that the protesters who were marching from Seelampur to Jantar Mantar was not on Azad's call, but a "peoples' call". "My call was to march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar. My people had gone back (before Seelampur march)," the counsel submitted. By way of assurance, Azad's counsel said that a video of every rally of his can be provided if required. "I am only reading and making speeches. I can videograph everything if they want me to, every time I go," the counsel said. Fifteen other people arrested in the case were granted bail by the court on 9 January. Azad sought bail in a local Delhi court on Monday claiming that police invoked "boilerplate" charges against him and arrested him "mechanically" without following the due process of law. Azad, who was kept in judicial custody for almost a month, claimed that he was falsely implicated as the allegations levelled against him in the FIR were not only "ill founded", also "improbable". In a scathing critique, Lau, who was hearing his bail plea on Tuesday, slammed the Delhi Police for the investigation and arrests made during the anti-CAA protests. "You are behaving as if Jama Masjid is Pakistan," judge Kamini Lau told the Delhi Police over its action against protesters agitating against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act. Lau further questioned the "objectionable statements" on the basis of which the Delhi Police made the arrests. "Where is the illegality? Tell me about the law. What has investigation shown?" the judge asked. Judge Lau was in news in 2017 after a bench of Justice Valmiki J Mehta and Justice Indermeet Kaur of the Delhi High Court initiated criminal contempt charges against her after she made "judicial improper remarks" against a sitting Delhi High Court judge. Lau was additional district judge in 2017. Additional District Judge at Tis Hazari, judge Lau had written four applications to the high court, asking the court to delete certain adverse remarks and observations made by the judge of the Delhi High Court against her after matters dealt by her was brought before the higher court. However, the two judge bench of the Delhi High Court considering those applications noted that the remarks made by the judge of the high court were like judicial comments and hence cannot be omitted. But the court took strong offence to the allegations and language used by Lau. With inputs from agencies DES MOINES State legislators gave a cautious nod Tuesday to Gov. Kim Reynoldss plan to push the states general fund spending above the $8 billion mark for the first time in the 2021 fiscal year that begins July 1. I didnt have that penciled in when I was thinking of a number to come up, with so well see, said Sen. Michael Breitbach, R-Strawberry Point, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, shortly after Reynolds unveiled her fiscal 2021 budget plan for $8.093 billion. The Republican governors new budget calls for a 4.4 percent boost, or nearly $343 million more, than the $7.75 billion that will be spent this year. That increase presumes the GOP-run Legislature goes along with her request to still this year pass a $111 million supplemental measure for unpaid Medicaid costs and provide $20 million in disaster aid to flood-stricken regions of Iowa. Reynolds spending plan would provide a 2.5 percent boost in state aid to K-12 schools a $100 million increase. The School Administrators of Iowa which represents 2,000 administrators across the state is seeking a 3.75 percent increase. It would increase next years funding for Medicaid by $167 million and boost workforce and rural development initiatives, child care and other priority areas. Still, it would leave a projected $386.5 million surplus by June 30, 2021, according to staff briefing documents. Iowas three public universities would see a total boost of about $15 million in general education dollars, and a $5.2 million general aid increase would go to Iowas 15 community colleges. Im just anxious to see how shes going to balance this budget because the spending that shes doing and then the tax cuts that shes proposing they just dont fit, that is not possible to do both like that and expect there to be money to fund all of those projects, said Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Included in the governors legislative package, however, is a proposal to boost the states sales tax by 1 cent effective Jan. 1, 2021, and to use some of the proceeds to further drive down state income tax rates by $170 million and take over a share of county mental health costs now paid through local property tax levies. The tax swaps would have a net impact of reducing the states overall general fund revenue by $7.3 million in the second half of fiscal 2021. Also, three-eighths of the money generated by the proposed sales tax increase would go into the Iowa Water and Land Legacy trust fund as prescribed by a 2010 state constitutional amendment approved by voters. But the governor proposes changing the distribution formula so more of the money goes to water quality, conservation and natural resources and less to trails and recreational amenities. Initially, about $37.5 million of the sales tax increase would flow into the IWILL trust fund in fiscal 2021, and an expected $81.2 million would be generated in fiscal 2022. Overall, state officials project that increasing the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent annually (along with existing 1 percent for local option and 1 percent for school infrastructure) would generate about $540 million. According to the governors office, Reynolds proposed tax policy changes would build on income tax cuts passed in 2018 by accelerating the reduction in rates. In fiscal 2023, under her plan, the highest of four tax brackets would be 5.5 percent and the lowest would be 4.0 percent compared with 6.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, under current law. On the property tax side, the governor proposed to have the state take over about $80 million in mental health costs currently funded by a levy capped at $47.28 per region. Iowas 99 counties are grouped into 15 mental health regions and each county levies a property tax to support its region. The new cost-share ratio of 70 percent state money and 30 percent county funding would be based on a lower levy of $12.50 and still generate enough money to cover the expected yearly cost of $130 million for adult and childrens mental health commitments. The governor proposes what that budget looks like. The House and the Senate will determine whether they can meet those goals and whether their visions align with hers, said Breitbach. Well see how that works out. The governors budget plan also seeks to fund increases of $15 million for rural broadband connectivity, about $4 million more for Future Ready Iowa initiatives and make changes to Iowas child care rules that will carry a $600,000 cost in the first fiscal year. The state is projected in end the current fiscal year on June 30 with a $465 million surplus. But the governors staff indicated that about $111 million in supplemental funds - $98 million for Medicaid and $20 million for additional flood relief will push the general fund budget to nearly $7.75 billion. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Concerns that indecent images of children shared online are often taken by children themselves have been raised after a UK watchdog found that 30% of these types of images were user-generated. Eve Farrelly, executive director at Cari (Children At Risk in Ireland), said that peer-to-peer abuse is a serious issue in Ireland. We have definitely seen an increase in peer-to-peer abuse, and technology is often used in this, she said. Someone takes a picture or distributes a video, it could be two people who think that theyre in a relationship they send a picture to their boyfriend, who screenshots it and shows it to a friend. You potentially lose control of that image forever when you send it. If you wouldnt send it to your grandmother, do not send it. Its about control, reclaiming your autonomy, and control by not sending it out into the world. Young people need to be made aware of the longevity of anything shared online. Ms Farrelly said that Cari, which provides specialist support for victims of child sexual abuse, has 90 children on a waiting list of about one year for its services. The organisation is currently supporting 56 children therapeutically, including three children aged under three years. It saw more than 100 children for forensic examinations and had more than 1,000 calls to its helpline in 2019. Of the 90 children it helped through criminal trials last year, the majority had experienced rape or sexual assault. Without the right intervention at the right time, the detrimental impact of the abuse can last a lifetime, said Ms Farrelly. Interventions and therapy do not erase the abuse, but with it the abuse does not become the fingerprint of who you are as an adult, but it becomes an experience you had. The UKs Internet Watch Foundation found that about one-third of explicit images of children it discovered online were selfies. A report from Hotline.ie, a confidential online tool where people can report images of child abuse, found that reports of these images jumped by 174% between 2017 and 2018. Its analysts found 1,437 reports of child abuse content posted online in 2018 compared with 524 in 2017. It said 6% of children in the imagery were aged three years and younger, 77% were aged four to 12, and 17% were aged 13 to 16; 74% were girls, 6% were boys, and 20% were both boys and girls. Of the images, 6% involved the most extreme category of abuse, level 5, involving sadistic sexual torture or bestiality involving a child, and 47% were in the second most extreme category, involving penetrative sexual activity between adults and children. Cari helpline: 1890 924567; www.hotline.ie BAR HARBOR, MAINE The study of therapies and interventions to expand healthy human lifespan has been limited by a lack of animal models: traditional vertebrate models such as the mouse live too long to get rapid results, while the most popular model, a roundworm called C.elegans that lives for only three weeks, is rungs away from humans on the evolutionary ladder. In recent years, however, scientists have developed the African turquoise killifish as a model to bridge this gap. Its short lifespan of only four to six months offers rapid insight into the effectiveness of anti-aging interventions, while its biological traits, including vertebrate-specific genes and organs and a complex immune system, are directly relevant to the study of human aging. Thanks to a $75,000 grant from The Cotswold Foundation, the MDI Biological Laboratory will add the African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) to its growing roster of animal models, thus strengthening the institutions longstanding tradition of engaging in comparative research to gain an understanding of the mechanisms involved in aging and regeneration. The African turquoise killifish is the shortest-lived vertebrate to be bred in captivity, said MDI Biological Laboratory faculty member Aric Rogers, Ph.D. Using it as a model we will be able to rapidly identify and test the genes, gene pathways and environmental manipulations governing aging and longevity, which in turn could lead to new therapies to extend healthy human lifespan. The new models ability to regenerate means it can also be used as a platform to study how regenerative ability declines with age, thus allowing the institution to build on its new research focus on the interface between aging and regeneration. That focus was established in 2019 with the addition of a course on the interrelation between these fields that will be repeated in 2020. We are deeply grateful to The Cotswold Foundation for its support of our initiative to become a leader in the unexplored scientific territory at the interface of aging and regeneration, said Hermann Haller, M.D., MDI Biological Laboratory president. Because it is a vertebrate, the African turquoise killifish will open doors to new insights into why aging occurs in humans. A native of East Africa, the African turquoise killifish was first identified as a new species in 1969. Though prized by aquarium enthusiasts for its brilliant coloration, it wasnt until 2003 that it attracted the notice of scientists in search of an animal model for aging occupying the space between invertebrates and longer-lived vertebrate models such as the mouse and zebrafish. An advantage of the new model is that it shares many symptoms of aging with humans, including loss of muscle mass, decline in immune function, even loss of memory. The initial research at the MDI Biological Laboratory, to be conducted by Rogers, Voot Yin, Ph.D., and Sam Beck, Ph.D., will focus on charting the progress of these age-related degenerative changes. Once the scientists have identified the biomarkers of aging in the new model, they will pursue additional funding to use it to study the interface between aging and regeneration. Rogers anticipates it will eventually be employed as a model by a number of faculty members, as well as by visiting scientists and by students enrolled in courses in these areas. The MDI Biological Laboratory has always been committed to the idea of using the animal model that is best suited to the study of the biological problem at hand, Rogers explained. With this exciting new model, we will have the ability to explore aging in an animal that ages in a similar manner to us, but at a much faster pace. The only limit to discovery will be our own creativity. The African turquoise killifish is not entirely new to the institution: in recent years it has been introduced during summer courses on aging and regeneration by visiting faculty members Dario Riccardo Valenzano, Ph.D., of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany, and Itamar Harel, Ph.D., of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Valenzano and Harel have been leaders in the development of the colony management techniques, laboratory protocols and genetic tools required to establish the African turquoise killifish as an animal model. Both are former post-doctoral students in the laboratory of Anne Brunet, Ph.D., at Stanford University School of Medicine, one of the pioneers in the use of the new model. The African turquoise killifish is not to be confused with another valuable model, the Atlantic killifish (Fundus heteroclitus), or mummichog, which inhabits tidal estuaries such as Northeast Creek near the MDI Biological Laboratory. Atlantic killifish from Northeast Creek have long been used by MDI Biological Laboratory scientists to study kidney disease, adaptation to toxic pollution and more. About the MDI Biological Laboratory We aim to improve human health and healthspan by uncovering basic mechanisms of tissue repair, aging and regeneration, translating our discoveries for the benefit of society and developing the next generation of scientific leaders. For more information, please visit mdibl.org. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global cancer gene therapy market size is expected to reach around US$ 3.2 billion by 2026. Cancer Gene Therapy Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 29.7% during the forecast period 2019 to 2026. Free Download Sample Report Pages for Better [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1670 North America dominated the global cancer gene therapy market in the year 2018. The region has experienced the potential growth owing to the presence of cancer gene therapy companies such as Ziopharm, Cobra, Finvector, Sangamo Therapists Inc., and Novartis AGamong others. The presence of a large customer base along with favorable reimbursement policies is additionally accelerating the regional market growth. Moreover, favorable medicare policies and growing number of hospitals and clinic centres are expected to enhance the market growth in the global cancer gene therapy market in future. According to American Cancer Society, in 2017, around 15.8 million cancer cases are diagnosed and it is expected to witness the growth of cancer cases with 16.5 million in 2018. Growing prevalence of such diseases further expected to raise the demand for cancer gene therapy in North America. The Europe region is expected to exhibit a second-largest share in the cancer gene therapy market. Stringent government regulations regarding hospital devices and rapid industrialization, technological advancement in therapy, growing number of surgeries in countries, such as Germany, the UK, France, Spain, and Italy, are expected to enhance the market growth in the global cancer gene therapy market during the forecast. Asia-Pacific region is expected to exhibit highest CAGR in the cancer gene therapy market. The rapid growth in the urbanization, growing healthcare industry in developing countries, and liberalization of foreign direct investment in the medical sector are the major driving factor for the region in the global market. Moreover, the rising geriatric population and growing awareness regarding treatment options increases its dominance in the global cancer gene therapy market in future. View Detail Information with Complete [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/cancer-gene-therapy-market Growing demand for cancer gene therapy in various end user applications, growing awareness about cancer treatment across the globe and multi-functionality of cancer gene therapy are the main drivers for the market growth of the global cancer gene therapy market over the forecast period. Furthermore, rising investment in research and development of cancer treatment and supportive government initiatives further grows the demand for cancer gene therapy over the forecast the period. Moreover, technological advancement and increase in the number of applications, and availability of advanced healthcare facilities in developing countries are expected to enhance the market size. This also expected to open investment opportunities in the global market for the manufacturers in the coming years. However, high treatment costs of cancer gene therapy, low purchasing power of consumers, risk associated with the therapy are expected to hamper the growth of the global cancer gene therapy market during the forecast period. Non-viral vectors segment have dominated the product segment in the year 2018 and the segment is projected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period from 2019 to 2026. Growing prevalence of blood cancer, epiretinal membrane and diabetic retinopathy and escalating demand for non viral surgery further expected to drive the demand for the segment. The manufacturers Sangamo Therapists Inc., Novartis AG, and Sarepta Therapeutics are the mainly investing in the development of Non-viral vectors, which expected the lead the market in the coming years. Browse More Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals Industry Research [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/industry-categories/healthcare-and-pharmaceuticals Hospital segment dominated the cancer gene therapy market on the basis of end use in the year 2018. The major factors that are driving the growth of this segment are availability of high-tech equipment and technologies in hospitals and growing number of hospitals across the globe. This expected to enhance the dominance of the hospital segment in the global market over the forecast period. Some of the leading competitors are Cobra, Finvector, Sangamo Therapists Inc., Novartis AG, Sarepta Therapeutics, Caribou, Vigene Biosciences, Sirion Biotech, bluebird bio, Cellectis, and Ziopharm. Some of the key observations regarding cancer gene therapy industry include: In July 2019 , Abbott Medical Optics Inc. announced partnership agreement with Johnson & Johnson, a provider of advanced software solutions for life science R&D. The partnership increases the development of cancer gene therapy products and increases the efficiency of strain development processes. , Abbott Medical Optics Inc. announced partnership agreement with Johnson & Johnson, a provider of advanced software solutions for life science R&D. The partnership increases the development of cancer gene therapy products and increases the efficiency of strain development processes. In October 2018 , Carl Zeiss Meditec AG signed acquisition agreement with IanTech. The acquisition focuses on providing technological solutions for viral vectorssurgeries. , Carl Zeiss Meditec AG signed acquisition agreement with IanTech. The acquisition focuses on providing technological solutions for viral vectorssurgeries. In November 2018 , Novartis AG received approval from European commission for luxturna, a gene therapy to treat patients with a vision loss. The approval enhances the brand identity of the company and enhances its customer base. , Novartis AG received approval from European commission for luxturna, a gene therapy to treat patients with a vision loss. The approval enhances the brand identity of the company and enhances its customer base. In January 2017 , Novartis AG signed partnership agreement with Caribou. The partnership focuses on innovation and development of gene therapies. Request for [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-customization/1670 The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation. Buy this premium research [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1670 If you would like to place an order or have any questions, please feel free to contact at [email protected] | +1 407 915 4157 OR +1 408 900 9135 About Us Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. Among the industries served include aerospace and defense, information and communication technology (ICT), semiconductor and electronics, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, advanced materials, banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI), and others. 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Website: https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com Contact Us: Mr. Frank Wilson Acumen Research and Consulting 17890, Castleton St #218, Rowland Heights, CA 91748 United States Tel: US +1-407-915-4157 OR +1-408-900-9135 Asia: +918983225533 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Acumen Research and Consulting Related Links https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com After two weeks of tremors in Puerto Rico, peaking on January 7 with a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings and left at least one dead, heavy seismic activity and warnings continue. With thousands losing or fleeing their homes, afraid that they will collapse, the response by local authorities and US government has been marked by callous austerity and fears of social unrest. The islands Secretary of State, Elmer Roman, announced Tuesday that there are 8,023 refugees in official camps administrated by the government or NGOs, while many more are sleeping in smaller camps and on sidewalks. The authorities said they will stop providing shelter locally, while the aftershocks continue to cause structural damage, and federal authorities estimate a 17 percent chance of an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude or greater in the next 30 days. Even though experts have warned against mass relocations due to costs for refugees, pushing them to take risks, and a slower recovery process, Roman announced that the government will not provide aid unless people travel to five base camps set up only until this week by the National Guard. Puerto Ricans on the island and supporters in the continental US have taken their own initiative to provide staple goods and other aid, with hundreds of volunteers driving to the most affected towns. The administration of acting governor Wanda Vazquez, who was installed last August after mass demonstrations involving up to 1 million people forced the resignation of two governors, has prioritized the preparedness for another social upheaval over preparedness for another natural disaster. Beyond the deployment of the local 8,500 National Guard troops, all local police have been called back to duty from vacations and Washington will send 300 security officials from special task forces. Vazquez signed an executive decree so that the latter are immediately sworn in as agents of peace, with special enforcement powers. The local legislature introduced a bill this week to request the deployment of Special Forces from the US military. Another bill requests financial institutions and telecommunication companies to create deferred systems of payments, without interest, to those affected, and a third orders a publicity campaign on legal issues for those who lost their homes without limiting that insurance companies, financial institutions, banks and law firms in Puerto Rico organize their legal departments and personnel and reach out to camps themselves. After a power outage across the entire island on January 7, power had been restored to most of the island by Tuesday, but 11,000 people were still without electricity in the Arecibo region and 15,000 without running water. Major repairs were still being carried out to the two main power plants of the island. Last week, the Trump administration approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, but doubts have been raised that even the meager $5 million made available through the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) will be delivered after the scandalous response of the Trump administration to Hurricane Maria in 2017. The estimated costs for rebuilding the island after Hurricane Maria surpassed $100 billion, but the White House has only released $1.5 billion of the $8 billion approved in federal aid. A Housing and Urban Development official told the Washington Post last week that Puerto Rico has only spent $5.8 million, citing strong financial controls by the federal government. Puerto Rican National Guard Major General Jose Juan Reyes declared this week that their relief operations have been affected by the fact that out of the $550 million approved for the Puerto Rican National Guard in response to Hurricane Maria, the Trump administration reassigned $420 million to build the border wall with Mexico. With trillions assigned for war by overwhelming bipartisan majorities since Hurricane Maria, the Trump administration is preparing a devastating war against Iran as it starves the US territory of funds. The corporate press has stressed the surprise factor of the earthquakes, claiming that generations have not felt such an earthquake. However, the alarm was raised by experts repeatedly, but was dismissed. The extent of the destruction and suffering this week is the result of official negligence by a government that places the profit interests of Wall Street above social needs. A 6.0 earthquake on September 23 last year50 miles off the coast compared to less than 10 miles during the recent tremorsraised alarms across the island, just like the 6.4 earthquake in January 2014, located 17 miles north of the coastline. Shortly after the September 2019 earthquake, Christa Von Hillebrandt-Andrade, the former head of the islands seismic network, warned: The island of Puerto Rico is surrounded by faults that could generate very strong earthquakes, and other faults cross it that could lead to major earthquakes and a significant impact. One can expect an earthquake above magnitude 8 Puerto Rico has to be ready for an earthquake and tsunami, 100 percent 24/7. This week, Von Hillebrandt told AP, For decades, scientists and people like me have been informing and alerting communities and the government of Puerto Rico of the physical threat, denouncing that not much action was taken. Moreover, while the immediate structural integrity of the schools is being assessed, officials are entirely silent about making the necessary renovations or reconstructions to guarantee the safety of students. The president of the Puerto Rican Association of Engineers, Juan Alicea, said last October in response to a new study that found that 1,000 of the 1,200 schools in the country have not been subject to any of the necessary renovations to abide by 1987 anti-seismic building codes, The worst thing is that we know what to do and how to do it, but it must be carried out. This week, Alicea told AP that 200,000 homes are not built to code: If we dont take action, this is going to cost us a lot of money and a lot of lives. Those forces that channeled the protests last August behind illusions that Vazquez would respond to social pressures are chiefly responsible for the fact that power remains in the hands of stooges of the ruling financial oligarchy and the continued official negligence toward the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Puerto Ricans. This includes left Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who made empty appeals last year to the Financial Oversight and Management Board controlled by Wall Street to soften austerity measures, and also portrayed the installation of Vazquez as a victory. The local trade unions, chiefly those self-promoted as combative, like the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation (FMPR) and the electricians union UTIER, suppressed the protests by promoting illusions in Vazquez. History is filled with tales of bravery and glory from battles throughout the ages: Waterloo, Gettysburg, D-Day, and... Jared's Epic NERF Battle? Okay, so maybe you won't find it in the history books. But this war between foam blaster armies can be found in the Guinness Book of World Record under "Largest Toy Pistol Fight". If you long for days of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your brothers-in-arms vanquishing the enemy with colorful sponges, fret not, your moment of glory is here. The 5th annual Jared's Epic NERF Battle will be held Saturday, March 21st, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. PHOTOS: Toys R Us returns to Houston with more interactive store "When I created the epic Nerf battle in 2016 my intention was to break a Guinness world record and raise some money for charity," said Jared Guynes, founder and organizer. "The event has grown and grown and now is definitively the largest organized NERF event of any kind in the world." Guynes said In 2019 the event attracted attendees from 33 states and six countries. But Texans still represent more than 80% of the players. Contestants will actually battle on the same field as the Dallas Cowboys. Players attending the event will get a ticket for a Self Guided Stadium Tour, letting them roam around the stadium and check out areas like the locker rooms and cheerleader areas. NERF warriors will also participate in a four-hour series of battles, armed with their own unmodified NERF blaster and ammo. Apparently the weaponry has evolved since most of us played with them as kids, so be prepared to be attacked with sponge-throwing bows, bazookas, elite, vortex, zombie, ultra, etc. Players will also get a chance to purchase NERF merchandise and collectibles, and meet NERF YouTube celebrities (yes, they do exist). If you're ready to get your NERF on, admission is $32. Attendance will be capped at 4,000. To sign-up, click here. Danny Hermosillo is the Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippines lawyer who filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of murder in a bloody anti-drugs crackdown said on Tuesday he will no longer pursue the case. The complaint filed by attorney Jude Sabio in 2017 is one of several communications to the court calling for Duterte's indictment over thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings during his campaign against narcotics. "I fervently request that it be expunged or erased from the record, and that it should not be used in any way in the ongoing preliminary examination," Sabio said in a 28-page letter addressed to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Sabio is the lawyer for Edgar Matobato, a man who has testified in the Philippines Senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte's orders. In his letter, Sabio said the ICC case had been used by opposition politicians as a "tool for propaganda" and should therefore be "thrashed and set aside". Former Senator Antontio Trillanes, one of Duterte's most vocal opponents, said the president's allies must have a hand in Sabio's decision, saying it was an indication they are worried about the ICC case. There was no immediate comment from Duterte's office. Under ICC rules, a prosecution could still proceed after a submission were withdrawn by an external party. While a complaint from a single, external party could alert the prosecutor to possible crimes, it would not in itself be the basis for a case. The prosecutor's office would initiate its own investigation to determine whether crimes under the ICC's statute had been committed and warranted charges. In a December 2019 report, the office of the ICC prosecutor said it would aim to finalize a preliminary examination to enable it to reach a decision on whether to seek authorization to open an investigation into the Philippines. Duterte has been dismissive of the ICC process. Story continues The firebrand leader unilaterally withdrew in March 2018 from the ICC's founding treaty, saying it skirted due process and the presumption of his innocence and sought to portray him as a "ruthless and heartless violator of human rights". Last month he said he would refuse to cooperate if put on trial. Human rights groups say Duterte's anti-drugs crackdown involved systematic executions and police cover-ups. Police reject that and say the nearly 7,000 people they have killed were armed drug suspects who resisted arrest. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Editing by Alex Richardson) Although oil production in the Permian Basin shows all signs of slowing down in the new year, the West Texas shale revolution is not over yet. In fact, shale oil production in the United States will keep growing, albeit at a slower rate, to reach a jaw-dropping, record-breaking 14 million barrels per day in just a few years from now. In the long run, however, it is likely that production growth in the Permian will continue to decline. As Oilprice reported in September of last year, the nature of shale wells is that they decline in production much more rapidly than conventional wells, leading to inevitable slowdowns such as what we are currently witnessing in the once almighty Permian. Bloomberg echoes this sentiment, reporting that shale wells lose as much as 70 percent of their production in the first year, meaning that explorers have to constantly pour money into more drilling just to maintain production. By contrast, once up and running, conventional wells lose as little as 5 percent each year, providing a much more solid production outlook. Although the status quo over the last several years has been an oil glut and subsequently low oil prices, in large part thanks to the gush of shale oil out of the United States, that could all be over soon. In fact, in a statement at Mondays International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) in Saudi Arabia, the Oil Minister of Bahrain said that an abundant supply of oil, currently seen amid rampant U.S. shale production, might not be so reliable as we progress through 2020, as paraphrased by CNBC, who moderated the panel. Related: Has OPEC Found Its Oil Price Sweet Spot? Khalifa Al Khalifa was quoted, Going forward, all eyes are on U.S. production again, if theres going to be an extra million barrels (of production a day), yes, this will suppress oil prices but the current indicators of rig counts ... are telling you that maybe that is going to be a challenge [...] So, my recommendation is all eyes on U.S. production, if they can hit 14 million (barrels) then yes oil prices will extend a bit further but, eventually, this sentiment that there is ample supply will have to shift, there will be a scarcity impulse in supply and when that happens in the next few years, definitely, it could be as early as the end of this year, we will have to see. Al Khalifa backed this up by referencing the relatively few major oil discoveries in recent years and the ebb of major oil investments, saying, we can see that investments are not as bold as they once were, then perhaps that inflection point isnt that far away. Al Khalifa is far from alone in the sentiment that oil is not as sure of an investment as it once was. Even Saudi Arabia has made major efforts to diversify their portfolio in recent years by divesting from oil and even providing ill-fated venture capital to companies such as WeWork. Back in 2017, the Vision 2030 economic reforms even lead the Saudi Finance Minister to boldly proclaim I wouldn't care if the oil price is zero." In fact, the Saudis even acknowledge that the writing is on the wall for peak oil. In this years Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO), the company was forced to acknowledge that peak oil consumption is just around the corner, recognizing the International Energy Agency (IEA)s assessment that demand could plateau as soon as 2030. Conversely, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods, who spoke on the same panel as Al Khalifa on Monday, said that demand will continue to grow in the decades to come because of the important role that energy and oil and gas plays in modern life from a supply standpoint, this industry goes through lots of cycles (one of) which is the shale revolution and the supply that came with that, so were going to see ups and downs. He emphasized that producers should continue to focus on efficient production despite market volatility, shale revolution and peak oil be damned. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By Daniel McConnell, Juno McEnroe, and Cianan Brennan Fine Gael will unveil tax cuts and new spending plans totalling 11bn until 2025 in its bid to retain power following the calling of Election 2020 by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Taioseach Leo Varadkar speaks to the media before dissolving the 32nd Dail at Government Buildings, Dublin. Photo credit: Damien Eagers/PA Wire Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are set to contest the most presidential-style general election in history, with Mr Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin in a race to become taoiseach. Following days of speculation, Mr Varadkar called time on the 32nd Dail before its scheduled return today, and announced that the country will go to the polls on Saturday, February 8, after a 24-day campaign. Speaking exclusively to the Irish Examiner, Mr Varadkar said he wants to lead the next government to deliver the extra houses and health services needed but that all of that depends of a good trade deal with the UK post-Brexit. We need to invest in housing, healthcare, and education, as well as rural development, he said. All of that depends on a good trade deal with the UK after Brexit. I lead the best team to do that for Ireland alongside Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Helen McEntee. Fine Gael will formally launch its campaign in Monaghan, while Mr Martin and his party will kick off their campaign in Dublin. Key details of both parties plans have emerged. The Irish Examiner has confirmed that: The Taoiseach, Tanaiste, and finance minister will be the key players in Fine Gaels campaign, with other ministers such as Simon Harris and Eoghan Murphy playing more minor roles; The party will promise to increase public spending and introduce further tax cuts amounting to 11bn over the next five years; The tax cuts and spending increases will range between 1.6bn next year and 2.5bn in 2023; Fianna Fails campaign will primarily focus on Mr Martin and finance spokesman Michael McGrath; The party is set to target Fine Gaels failure to tackle the drug feuds in Dublin and Drogheda; Fianna Fail will offer tax breaks for small businesses. According to Fine Gael sources, the partys slogan, A Future To Look Forward To, seeks to make clear thatwhile progress has not yet been felt by everyone and there is more to do. The lessons of 2016 are learned, and well learned, said one senior source. We will champion our work on the economy and Brexit, but we will also not seek to eke out a 1-1 draw in health and housing. We will be upfront about those. After informing the Cabinet of his decision, Mr Varadkar spoke to Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin and other opposition leaders and informed them of his decision. Michael Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, speaks to the media, with party colleague, Michael McGrath, TD, in Dublin after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed Ireland's General Election will be held on Saturday February 8. Photo credit: Damien Eagers/PA Wire Announcing the election on the steps of Government Buildings, Mr Varadkar thanked the people for the opportunity to lead the country. It has been a privilege to lead this country as your Taoiseach for the last two and a half years, he said. Thank you for that honour, and for your trust in me. Mr Varadkar said he called the snap election in the best interests of the country, deciding to spare it a prolonged campaign which would have happened had he waited until April or May. I have always said that the election should happen at the best time for the country, he said. Now is that time. In deciding not to seek agreement on a date for an election in April or May, I do so knowing that, even if this was possible, we would effectively enter into a three- to four-3-4 month election campaign. Mr Martin said it is time for change. Its time for a new government that would really focus on tangible and incredible improvements in health, in housing, and on reducing the cost of living thats impacting so many families across the country. Mr Martin said voters, particularly young home-buyers who could not afford a home, were frustrated. People find it very difficult to buy a house, finding it very difficult to survive in the rental situation, he said. The opposition leader opened his partys election battle by attacking Fine Gaels newly released slogan for the campaign. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images As Democrats debated and declined to shake hands in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night, President Trump was just one battle state over, rambling on in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at his second rally of the year. Just as the Democratic contest focused on foreign policy more than in previous debates, Trump, too, looked beyond American borders in his rally, spurred into this territory by his targeted strike on Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. As Democratic candidates expressed the need for restraint and congressional approval for future acts of war, the president boasted of his free-wheeling assaults on intelligence targets worldwide. Below are his notable claims, of varying accuracy, on the deescalated conflict with Iran, as well as an assortment of unhinged rally favorites from the president. Trump says Soleimani killed hundreds of thousands of people Though Soleimanis Quds Force did provide Iraqi insurgents with lethal explosively formed penetrators, its unclear where the president got this number. Trump also made fun of critics concerned with the administrations ever-changing rationale for the extrajudicial strike. He paraphrased Democrats, asking Was the attack imminent was it imminent? Trump just claimed Soleimani killed "hundreds of thousands" of people pic.twitter.com/hCGba3gt1S Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 15, 2020 Trump says Soleimani was actively planning new attacks, but cites none The president backed this claim by pointing to plans orchestrated prior to the Iranian generals death, like the protests inside the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. But as information continues to emerge, this statement is proving harder to defend not that this would stop Trump from doing so. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that he didnt see any evidence backing Trumps claim that an attack on four U.S. embassies was imminent. And on Monday, NBC News reported that Trump had been close to ordering a strike on Soleimani since June 2019, further eroding the imminence argument. Trump claims Soleimani "was actively planned new attacks" but in the next breath talks about past attacks linked to him. pic.twitter.com/JhDgWbeHgx Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 15, 2020 The misinformation wasnt limited to Iran Lets just say that the president is probably unfamiliar with SykesPicot although his historical errors arent limited to the Middle East. At his rally last week, the president said that there was no one living in Ohio 200 years ago. The territory, where ancient earthwork cultures date back over a thousand years, became a state in 1803. "It's been there for -- a thousand years," Trump says of the Turkey-Syria border that is less than 100 years old. Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 15, 2020 Trump says he kept the oil in Syria The president has been boasting of this war crime since October, although U.S. forces are only protecting Syrian oil fields. (Thankfully, nobody is taking the threat seriously.) Trump also included a tragically incorrect interpretation of his hasty, Erdogan-influenced call to pull the bulk of U.S. troops from northern Syria We can help our friends the Kurds as his decision directly resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Kurdish civilians at the hands of Turkish-allied forces. "People said to me, 'why are you staying in Syria?' Because I kept the oil. Which frankly, we should have done in Iraq" -- Trump touts war crimes pic.twitter.com/ttBP1y9bao Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 15, 2020 Trump is still obsessed with military personnel straight from central casting In December, the president said that F-35 pilots are more attractive than Tom Cruise; their faces are equal, but their bodies are better. Trump says the soldiers who came to the aid of the embassy were "better than Tom Cruise, at his best." Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 15, 2020 Trump suggests Lyndon B. Johnson is in hell, along with John Dingell The president adapted his terrible insult lobbied at the late Michigan congressman from his December rally for the Democratic president. "You know, Lyndon Johnson was sort of a tough guy. Can you imagine his phone calls? He's probably looking down, or looking up" -- Trump suggests LBJ is in hell pic.twitter.com/4At8tr4Tvv Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 15, 2020 Area billionaire doesnt know how dishwashers work Trump's complaints about new dishwashers are nuts and suggest he's never used one in his life pic.twitter.com/D7E6R0TNsQ Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 15, 2020 While we fully expect this to be peaceful, there are legitimate concerns of a few bad actors hijacking the rally, House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said in a statement. Law enforcement says those agitators are acting on their own volition and are not part of the busloads of Virginians visiting the Capitol. While we are grateful for the precautions taken by law enforcement, the Governors actions will unfortunately impede the ability of people to exercise not only their Second Amendment rights, but their First Amendment rights as well. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global school furniture market size is anticipated to reach USD 6.2 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 6.0% over the forecast period. Increasing focus on the educational sector across rural and urban areas and compulsory basic education schemes provided by governments around the world are affecting the growth of the market. Furthermore, increasing construction of schools in developing regions has contributed to market growth. According to ISC Research, a prominent supplier of international school data, there were just under 10,300 English-medium international schools across the globe in January 2019, with 5.6 million students enrolled. Key suggestions from the report: By product, the seating segment dominated the market with a share of 51.3% in 2018. This can be attributed to features such as wide application, high durability, and the ability to add mobility and functionality By application, classrooms accounted for the largest revenue share of 79.9% in 2018. Increasing student enrolment in schools across the globe has upped product demand Asia Pacific is expected to register the fastest growth in the market, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.1% from 2019 to 2025. Rising culture of private school education in developing countries is a key factor driving the regional market Top players operating in the school furniture market include Fleetwood Group; Scholar Craft; VS America, Inc.; Smith System Mfg. Co; Knoll, Inc.; Haworth Inc.; VITRA INTERNATIONAL AG.; Virco; Office Line; and MOBeduc. Read 80 page research report with ToC on "School Furniture Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Storage Units, Seating Furniture, Lab Furniture), By Application (Classroom, Library & Labs), And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025'' at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/school-furniture-market Growing trend of ergonomic chairs for comfortable seating has promoted the demand for flexible classroom furniture. Demand for multi-functional tables and chairs that can be used in classrooms, labs, and libraries, among others is also on the rise. Introduction of various raw materials for production of furniture that is more stable, durable, and sustainable has played a key role in market growth. For instance, manufacturers have been making tables, chairs, and benches with materials such as molded plastic, processed or engineered wood, and high-pressure laminate. Demand for space-saving furniture with storage options in classrooms has witnessed considerable rise. For instance, CBT Supply Dba Smartdesks creates smart chairs and tables with stackable options and multi-functional applications for classrooms and offices. In terms of product, the seating category dominated the market with a share of 51.3% in 2018. This can be attributed to features such as wider application than other pieces of furniture, high durability, and the ability to add mobility and functionality. In addition, growing demand for chairs and tables on castors, which helps to easily rearrange furniture, has fueled segment growth. By application, classrooms accounted for the largest revenue share of 79.9% in 2018. Increasing student enrolment in schools across the globe has upped the need for chairs and tables in classrooms. Introduction of swivel chair designs with ergonomic features has been a recent addition in many schools, looking to replace traditional chairs. Asia Pacific is expected to register the fastest growth in the market, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.1% from 2019 to 2025. Rising culture of private education in developing countries, owing to better quality of education and facilities as well as focus on numerous extracurricular activities, is fueled by growing disposable income and improving lifestyle. This is projected to have a positive impact on the demand for classroom furniture. For instance, private schools in China accounted for more than 35.0% of total schools in the country, reaching a total of 183,500 schools in 2018. Grand View Research has segmented the global school furniture market based on product, application, and region: School Furniture Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) Seating Furniture Storage Units Lab Furniture Others School Furniture Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) Classroom Library & Labs Others School Furniture Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) North America U.S. Europe Germany U.K. Asia Pacific Japan China Central & South America Brazil Middle East and Africa Find more research reports on Homecare & Decor Industry, by Grand View Research: Plastic Furniture Market The global plastic furniture market size was valued at USD 11.9 billion in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2019 to 2025. The global plastic furniture market size was valued at in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2019 to 2025. Camping Furniture Market The global camping furniture market size was valued at USD 197.2 million in 2018. Increasing participation in camping and other outdoor recreational activities is driving the market for camping furniture over the world. The global camping furniture market size was valued at in 2018. Increasing participation in camping and other outdoor recreational activities is driving the market for camping furniture over the world. Folding Furniture Market The global folding furniture market size was valued at USD 3.1 billion in 2018. Demand for space saving and multi-purpose furniture has increased due to development of compact size flats in many countries, thus leading to the growth of the market. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of four juvenile suspects accused of being involved in a series of cellphone robberies near San Francisco's Civic Center. According to police, the first robbery happened on Dec. 16 just outside of San Francisco City Hall around 11:30 a.m. when a woman walking on Polk Street said a suspect grabbed her cellphone out of her hand and then fled on foot with four other suspects. Days later, on Dec. 20, officers learned of another robbery near Larkin and Hayes streets around 2:20 p.m. In that case, a victim said a male suspect approached her from behind and grabbed her phone before fleeing with another male on foot, police said. About 20 minutes later, another robbery occurred just blocks away at Hyde and McAllister streets. In that case, a victim said a male suspect approached her as she waited for the bus and grabbed her cellphone, then ran off with another male, according to police. When officers responded to that location, they were able to detain two 15-year-old male suspects. Officers cited both and transported them to the Huckleberry Community Assessment and Resource Center. After further investigation, officers determined that the two juveniles previously cited and two other juveniles were involved in the robberies, police said. On Jan. 2, officers teamed up with police in Richmond and Hercules to serve search warrants in both cities, resulting in officers locating all four juveniles. The four were arrested on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy and booked into the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center, according to police. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. The childcare sector wants clearer guidelines on when to send children home during future bushfires and has called for emergency concessions to allow fire-affected children to continue to access childcare. Representatives from early childhood centres, schools and universities descended on Canberra on Wednesday for a meeting convened by Education Minister Dan Tehan in response to the summer's unprecedented bushfires. Elizabeth Death, chief executive of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia, said there needed to be improved national coordination, including "very clear national guidelines on when to close" and more information on what resources were available in emergency situations. The peak body developed its own advice for its centres, taking into account their geographical isolation, accessibility, particular needs of their children and other factors. Residents in Daraa have protested and called for the regime's downfall after the body of an executed man was discovered reports Brocar Press. Hundreds of residents of Daraa city mourned a young man, Mohamed Ismail Labash Abazid, after residents found his corpse riddled with bullets in the al-Arbain district in Daraa. Brocar Presss correspondent in Daraa, reported that residents had mourned Abazid in a protest in which they called for the downfall of the regime, and in which they chanted for the young man, Oh martyr, rest, rest we will continue the struggle. The correspondent said that residents had blamed the death of the young man on the regimes Political Security branch, saying that Abazid was kidnapped seven days earlier in Daraa city. The killing of the young man came after Daraa city residents staged a protest in which they called on the regime to reveal the fate of prisoners. Abazid was formerly a member of an opposition group and after the settlement he stuck to his house and did not join regime forces. Daraa province has witnessed continuous tensions, manifested by assassinations, systematic killings of civilians and former commanders in opposition groups and others in regime ranks, at a time when residents have accused regime agencies of assassinations and killings. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. BEAUFORT, S.C., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 4, 2020 a Beaufort, SC husband and wife team comprised of Bernie and April Hester begin the journey of a lifetime as they embark on a 2,200-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail to raise awareness for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Traversing over mountains, trails, cities and roadways April, who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), is hoping that her efforts dubbed the "Finish MS Hike" will bring much-needed awareness to multiple sclerosis and can help and inspire others afflicted with this incurable disease. Beaufort SC Couple hiking the Appalachian Trail to raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis It's important to note that April is not alone. Hers is just one of the approximately 400 new cases of multiple sclerosis diagnosed each week, contributing to the more than 1,000,000 people in the United States living with this disabling neurological condition. While most individuals are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, multiple sclerosis can be developed at any age. Over the past 2 years the couple has thru hiked the 500-mile Palmetto Trail in South Carolina three times and the rugged remote 77 mile Foothills Trail traversing the South Carolina mountains twice to prepare for this upcoming hike. According to Suzette Anderson of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF), although thousands of individuals hike the Palmetto Trail each year, very few attempts to Thru hike the trail. This valiant effort combined with the debilitating physical effects of multiple sclerosis are a few reasons why April and her husband Bernie have been recognized as Trail Ambassadors by the PCF. "Bernie and April are an inspiration as they tackle a thru-hike while raising critical awareness for MS. Their personal story will inspire others facing life challenges and is a story of overcoming obstacles," stated Natalie Cappuccio Britt, Former Executive Director for PCF. "A thru-hike is always an incredible adventure and is no easy feat. We wish April and Bernie all the best as they take on this new adventure and encourage others to get outside and take a few steps with them for such an important cause." For those interested, the couple is encouraging others to follow along with them on their adventure. They have established a trail journal that they will be posting to throughout the hike at www.trailjournals.com/muleandinchwormAThike, as well on Instagram @Mule_Inchworm and a map showing their location at https://share.garmin.com/OurATAdventure. All this will allow you to follow their progress, send them encouraging messages, read about their journey and gain insight as they face and conquer challenges. In fact, the couple has already begun providing entries to keep their audience informed. "While hiking 2,200 miles would be a challenge for anyone, April will face many physical challenges throughout because MS affects the central nervous system. To complete this will be such an accomplishment and without a doubt, shows the fighter in April and what an inspiration she is, especially to those living with MS," said Carly Arnold, Coordinator of Fundraising Support for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Trails and Organizations discussed in the press release The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Learn more at: www.nationalMSsociety.org. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy Learn more at: www.appalachiantrail.org/ The Palmetto Conservation Foundation Learn more at www.palmettoconservation.org or call 803-771-0870. The Foothills Trail Learn more at: https://foothillstrail.org/ Contact: Bernie Hester [email protected] 843-473-0183 Instagram Mule_Inchworm http://www.trailjournals.com/muleandinchwormAThike https://share.garmin.com/OurATAdventure SOURCE Bernie Hester Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Joe Jackson (Agence France-Presse) London Wed, January 15, 2020 16:02 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32242b20 2 Entertainment BTS,K-pop,#KPop,music Free Korean pop superstars BTS helped launch a global public art project in London on Tuesday inspired by their message of inclusivity and involving renowned artists including Antony Gormley and Tomas Saraceno. The K-pop septet has teamed up with an array of artistic talent from around the world to help forge a series of contemporary exhibits going on display in five cities across four continents. The project -- "Connect, BTS" -- used the boy band's support for "diversity, love and care for the periphery" as the starting point for the series of disparate multi-disciplinary artworks. They will be complemented by video messages introducing the piece recorded by BTS. "We're very excited and really happy to be part of this project," said band member RM -- real name Kim Namjoon -- at a launch event at London's Serpentine Galleries, where one of the exhibits was unveiled. "We have always been inspired by the ability of music to communicate across borders and barriers which is not very different from what art does," added band mate Suga, as they joined via live video-link from the South Korean capital Seoul. BTS, the first K-pop group to top charts in the US and Britain, has seen its global profile surge in recent years. They completed a lucrative world tour in 2019 before performing in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve. The floppy-haired musicians, all in their 20s and often sporting earrings and lipstick, have built a predominantly youthful fan base on a message of self-acceptance and tolerance. The curators of "Connect, BTS" hope to tap into their huge online profile and tens of millions of followers on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. "This project will encourage appreciation of diversities and establish ground for great new synergies to be born," said its art director Daehyung Lee. Read also: Tokopedia responds to allegations of promoting LGBT community in BTS commercial 'Out of their silos' The various artworks will go on show in the Korean and British capitals, as well as in Berlin, Buenos Aires and New York. The London offering, "Catharsis", by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen, features an audio-visual simulation of a re-imagined old-growth forest portrayed in a single continuous camera shot. It can be seen at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park until March 15. Meanwhile in New York's Brooklyn Bridge Park, British artist Gormley has crafted 18 kilometers of looping and coiling aluminium into a vast "drawing in space" which will be unveiled on February 4 and remain there until March 27. "This is a really wonderful example of, in a way, people jumping out of their silos and in a sense making something that could just be an idea a reality," Gormley said. Berlin's Gropius Bau venue will host its offering, a series of performance works by over 17 international artists, from Wednesday until February 2. Buenos Aires is set to showcase Argentine artist Saraceno's "synthesis of art, science and environmental activism" from January 21 for two months. Meanwhile two works will be unveiled in Seoul at the city's Dongdaemun Design Plaza between January 28 and March 20. Trump administration wants to put more pressure on the Chinese telecoms giant, accusing it of threatening US security, The United States government is nearing the publication of a rule that would vastly expand its powers to block shipments of foreign-made goods to Chinas Huawei, as it seeks to squeeze the blacklisted telecoms company, two sources told the Reuters news agency. The US Commerce Department in May placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns. That allowed the US government to restrict sales of US-made goods to the company and a small number of items made abroad that contain US technology. Under current regulations, key foreign supply chains remain beyond the reach of US authorities, raising frustration among China hawks within the administration and a push to expand US authority to block more shipments to Huawei. But US businesses say an effort to enable the government to regulate more sales to Huawei to include low-tech items made overseas with very little US technology could end up needlessly hurting US companies while encouraging Huawei to source more goods abroad. Reuters reported in November that the Commerce department was considering broadening the De minimis Rule, which dictates how much US content in a foreign-made product gives the US government authority to regulate an export. Under current regulations, the US can require a licence or block the export of many hi-tech products shipped to China from other countries if US-made components make up more than 25 percent of the value. According to two people familiar with the matter, Commerce has drafted a rule that would lower the threshold only on exports to Huawei to 10 percent and expand the purview to include non-technical goods such as consumer electronics including non-sensitive chips. According to one of the people, the Commerce Department sent the rule to the Office of Management and Budget, following an interagency meeting last week. If other government agencies sign off on the measure, the rule could be issued in a matter of weeks as a so-called final rule, with no opportunity for public comment before it goes into effect, the people said. Widening the net Commerce has also drafted a regulation that would expand the so-called Foreign Direct Product Rule, which subjects foreign-made goods that are based on US technology or software to US oversight. This would be broadened to include low-tech items made abroad that are based on US technology and shipped to Huawei, the people said. The controversy surrounding Huawei is an additional source of friction between the US and China, as the worlds top two economies continue to engage in their trade war. The two sides are due to sign a Phase One trade deal on Wednesday, but many of the USs accusations against China including the allegation that Beijing forces foreign companies to hand over key technology in return for market access remain unresolved. The Trump administration has tried to convince Washingtons allies to steer clear of Huawei gear in next-generation 5G mobile telecommunications network buildouts, citing the potential for the telecoms giant to include backdoor security vulnerabilities that could allow China to spy on Western networks a charge Huawei has vigorously denied. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that Huaweis critics should suggest alternative equipment providers, but then added he would not risk the United Kingdoms security when upgrading the nations 5G communications network. Huawei responded, saying it was confident the UK would assess the evidence in deciding whether its equipment should be deployed in 5G networks. A decision is expected this month on whether to allow Huawei to supply some non-core parts for the UK network. Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said the company strongly agreed with Johnson that the British public deserve to have access to the best possible technology. We are confident that the UK government will make a decision based upon evidence, as opposed to unsubstantiated allegations, he said in a statement. He added: Two UK parliamentary committees concluded there is no technical reason to ban us from supplying 5G equipment and this week the head of MI5 said there is no reason to think the UKs intelligence-sharing relationship with the US would be harmed if Britain continued to use Huawei technology. In December, Huawei, the worlds largest smartphone maker, reported an 18 percent jump in revenue for 2019 and a 20 percent increase in shipments of smartphones. The bipartisanship on criminal justice issues that Wisconsin lawmakers demonstrated in 2018 when they passed a monumental juvenile justice overhaul appears to be fading. Republican lawmakers this week introduced a package of Tougher on Crime bills that would provide increased criminal penalties and likely expand both the adult and juvenile prison population. Less than a week before, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and fellow Democratic lawmakers unveiled a package of criminal justice legislation of a seemingly opposite approach, setting incarceration limits for non-criminal supervision violations, expanding earned release eligibility and allowing for shortened community supervision options. The substantial differences between each partys approach underscore the fact that movement on nearly every legislative issue has been hampered by discord between the parties under split government. Not even criminal justice reform is immune. Its a subject that once seemed promising for bipartisan progress after both Republicans and Democrats voted in 2018 to close the troubled Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake youth prison and approve a rewrite of the states juvenile justice system. Criminal justice reform is a bipartisan issue, said Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, who helped Evers and others unveil a number of Democratic criminal justice bills last week. Its one of those issues this session that really was the victim of the breakdown of bipartisanship in the Capitol. An Evers spokeswoman said that while the governor needs to review the Republican bills in more detail, he opposes any measures that would increase the states prison population. For Republicans, the two criminal justice packages throw into sharp relief the difference between how Democrats and Republicans view criminal justice reform. (Democrats) version is everything they possibly can to prevent people from being incarcerated and our idea of criminal justice reform is to do everything we possibly can to protect society and build safer neighborhoods. said Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin. At times those concepts will clash. The Republican approach is directly at odds with that of Democrats, who have prioritized reducing the states prison population by as much as half while calling for investments in rehabilitative community programs they say would prevent crime. Republicans argue the Democrats approach is misguided and wouldnt decrease crime rates. These bills push us in the wrong direction, Goyke said. Forty-five states plus Congress have enacted some degree of criminal justice reform aimed to reduce penalties or reduce the prison population. The sky has not fallen in those states. You can reduce the prison population without compromising public safety. Goyke had worked with a handful of Republicans on his criminal justice bills, but they later declined to name themselves as co-authors. One of those Republicans, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said in a statement she decided to focus on the Republican bills because they have strong support in the Legislature. Sanfelippo said he expects the majority of the Republican bills will pass the Legislature this session. Tougher approach The GOPs legislation would toughen the states approach to crime. Among other things, the bills would require the Department of Corrections to recommend revoking a persons extended supervision, parole or probation if the person is charged with a crime while under any of those programs. They would also prohibit certain violent criminals those convicted of any violent felony or misdemeanor from qualifying for early release from prison or early discharge from probation. Under current law, for example, a number of violent offenses remain eligible for early release programs, such as child trafficking and abuse, bank robbery, arson and armed burglary. One of the proposed Republican bills would exclude offenders guilty of such crimes from being eligible for early release. These bills would almost certainly boost the states adult prison population, which is already slated to surpass an average of 24,500 inmates in the next fiscal year without any changes to policies. Despite a possible increase in prison population the bills would cause, Republicans didnt introduce any legislation that would provide the funds to expand the states already overcrowded prisons. In early 2018, Republicans advanced a similar bill that would have toughened parole revocation standards, but also tried to authorize $350 million in borrowing for a new prison and additional assistant district attorneys. At the time, the DOC had estimated the bill would have led to an increase of 600 inmates per year and prison costs of $57 million per year. Another Republican bill would impose a 180-day mandatory jail sentence for third-offense retail theft, and another would seek to make it more difficult for prosecutors to dismiss charges of illegal possession of a firearm by felons convicted of violent crimes. Youth prison And as lawmakers struggle with closing down Lincoln Hills in time and providing smaller, regional replacements, another one of the bills would likely increase the states juvenile prison population by expanding the crimes for which a youth offender may be placed in a juvenile correctional facility. Already, the plan advanced by a key committee to partly replace Lincoln Hills with smaller regional facilities seeks millions of dollars more than the funding lawmakers provided and still doesnt meet the capacity needed. Sharlen Moore, executive director of Urban Underground, a youth grassroots group, criticized the GOPs new juvenile justice bill for expanding the number of young people sent to juvenile prisons, preventing them from accessing restorative justice programs that allow youth to better understand the harm theyve caused and how to repair it. We just have to look at incarceration in a much different way so were not continuously putting young people in these settings where theyre not learning, Moore said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Developments so far: The House vote, 228-193, comes at the start of a presidential election year. Seven House members will act as prosecutors in a Senate impeachment trial. The trial would be only the third in American history. With lawmakers divided on party lines, Trump can expect acquittal in the Senate. But new evidence today raises fresh questions about Trump's Ukraine dealings. The U.S. House voted Wednesday to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate and approve House prosecutors for only the third impeachment trial in American history. The nearly party-line vote moved Trump's impeachment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Democratic-run House to the Republican-majority Senate, where Trump expects acquittal, even as new evidence is raising fresh questions about his Ukraine dealings. The vote was 228-193, coming at the start of a presidential election year and one month after the House impeached Trump. The president is charged with abuse of power over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, using military aid to the country as leverage. Trump was also charged with obstructing Congress' ensuing probe.. "We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history," Pelosi said, addressing the House before the vote. Earlier, she declared: "Th is is what an impeachment is about. The president violated his oath of office, undermined our national security, jeopardized the integrity of our elections." Trump, during an event at the White House, rejected the charges as a "hoax." The seven-member prosecution team will be led by the chairmen of the House impeachment proceedings, Reps. Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee and Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, two of Pelosi's top lieutenants for only the third presidential impeachment in the nation's history. Ahead of Wednesday's session, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, about the Ukraine strategy. including an exchange with another man about surveilling later-fired Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch. Schiff said the new evidence should bring more pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is reluctant to allow witnesses to testify. "If McConnell makes this the first trial in history without witnesses, it will be exposed for what it is and that is an effort to cover up for the president," Schiff said. Later Wednesday, the House managers are to walk the articles across the Capitol to the Senate in a dramatic procession. The Senate trial is set to start Thursday. McConnell opened the Senate dismissing what he called a rushed impeachment that is more about the politics of Democrats who don't like Trump than the charges against him. "This isn't really about Ukraine policy or military money," McConnell said. "This has been naked partisanship all along." During Pelosi's press conference announcing managers, Trump tweeted that impeachment was "another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!" Trump's trial will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history, and it comes against the backdrop of a politically divided nation in an election year. The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday, although significant proceedings wouldn't begin until next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors and swear an oath to deliver "impartial justice.'' The managers are a diverse group with legal, law enforcement and military courtroom experience, including Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Val Demings of Florida, Jason Crow of Colorado and Zoe Lofgren of California. McConnell, who is negotiating rules for the trial proceedings, is under competing pressure from his party for more witnesses, from centrists who are siding with Democrats on the need to hear full testimony and conservatives mounting Trump's defense. Senate Republicans signaled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Trump, as Trump himself has suggested. McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that. McConnell said Tuesday. ''Our members feel we have an obligation to listen to the arguments." A mounting number of senators say they want to ensure the ground rules include the possibility of calling new witnesses. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is leading an effort among some Republicans, including Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for votes on witnesses. Romney said he wants to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, who others have said raised alarms about the alternative foreign policy toward Ukraine being run by Giuliani. Democrats have been pushing Republicans to consider new testimony, arguing that fresh information has emerged during Pelosi's monthlong delay in transmitting the charges. Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Trump. But it takes just 51 votes during the trial to approve rules or call witnesses. Just four GOP senators could form a majority with Democrats to insist on new testimony. It also would take only 51 senators to vote to dismiss the charges against Trump. At Tuesday's private GOP lunch, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky warned that if witnesses are allowed, defense witnesses could also be called. He and other Republicans want to subpoena Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, Burisma, while his father was vice president. McConnell prefers to model Trump's trial partly on the process used for President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999. It, too, contained motions for dismissal or calling new witnesses. McConnell is hesitant to call new witnesses who would prolong the trial and put vulnerable senators who are up for reelection in 2020 in a bind with tough choices. At the same time, he wants to give those same senators ample room to show voters they are listening. Here are the House's impeachment prosecutors: - Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Andrew Taylor and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A still from the teaser for M. Night Shyamalan's 'Servant' Read more M. Night Shyamalans creepy Apple TV+ series Servant is returning to Philly later this month to begin filming its second season. Servant is slated to begin production on Jan. 24, according to a flier from production company Uncle George Productions that was distributed to neighborhood residents. Filming will take place periodically around the 2100 block of Spruce Street through the winter and spring. The Rittenhouse neighborhood is iconic to Philadelphia, and our production is proud to showcase the beautiful surroundings and great architecture, the flier reads. Uncle George Productions hosted a neighborhood meeting earlier this month informing residents of planned street closures and parking restrictions, and indicated that future announcements with specifics would come via the community app Nextdoor. READ MORE: M. Night Shyamalans Servant disrespects Fitler Square residents | Opinion The company also said that there are plans for free displacement parking for residents affected by filming. Set in Philadelphia, Servant follows a wealthy area couple who lose a newborn child and subsequently use a lifelike doll to help cope with the trauma amid more sinister, mysterious events. The series first season premiered on the Apple TV+ streaming service in November to generally positive reviews, earning an overall rating of 85% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. More than anything, its a couple thats refusing to accept something that happened, Shyamalan said about Servant last year. Theyre using their wealth and status as a shield Its fractured underneath it all and theyre just barely holding it together." Apple TV+ renewed Servant for a second season before its first-season premiere. The shows first season will conclude Friday, with the posting of its 10th episode. Shyamalan began filming the first season in the Philadelphia area in late 2018, originally under the working title Crumpet. The shows production attracted media attention that December when a mock car crash in Rittenhouse Square created confusion about whether the scene was real. The Montgomery County-raised director has long filmed his projects at least partially in the Philly area, dating back to his 1998 comedy Wide Awake, which stars Rosie ODonnell as a nun with a penchant for the Phillies. Late last year, Shyamalan stumped for changes to Pennsylvanias movie tax credit system, saying that alterations could make the film industry in the state explode. Shortly after Servant came to Philadelphia, AMCs Dispatches from Elsewhere shot around Philly. That show is scheduled to be released in March. Now watch Narendra Modi smiling. Or is he laughing, chortling gleefully maybe? Lets say he appears to be vicariously pleased, for good reasons, perhaps. Look. Women, some in their 80s, many Muslim but a lot many of different beliefs and non-beliefs too, are braving Delhis freezing cold. They are holding daily vigil come night or day at Shaheen Bagh, standing up for the constitution, speaking up for the young and old killed in different parts of the country in protests against a draconian and communal citizenship law. They are intensely hurt by injustices inflicted on Kashmiris. They keep their eyes peeled as others sleep, against stealthy encroachments by the rulers on their dream of a syncretic India, which Gandhi and Nehru raised them to dream about. They seem ready to make the sacrifices that outraged students across the country are prepared to make, as they once did in the Freedom Movement. They believe they are winning, and they are indeed an inspiration for the honest fight at hand. And what are the opposition parties doing? The headlines should warm the cockles of Prime Minister Modis heart. Mayawati accuses the Congress of betrayal and says the party had poached her MLAs in Rajasthan on two occasions. Aishe Ghosh, brave student leader of JNU, meanwhile, got a few stitches on her bloodied head when fascist goons raided the Jawaharlal Nehru University. What is the opposition doing? Not long ago, Rohit Vemula died in Hyderabad after being hounded by the same goons who were backed by the same right-wing establishment. What did the opposition do? So what has changed since the fractious parties were roundly defeated in May last year for the second time in a row? The Dalit Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Aam Aadmi Party will not be attending the opposition meet convened by the Congress to decide on a joint strategy on the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens. Thats what the news item says. Shiv Sena, the Congress ally in Maharashtra, has also said it wouldnt take part in the meet. There are two elephants in the room the left and the Congress. The left can live with Udhav Thackeray sending the Shiv Sena a whole list of democratic ideas to pursue but it cannot tolerate Mamata Banerjee. Visit any Marxist library and figure out the bizarre logic. Ironically, no one knows the history of Nazi Germany better than the left. The Congress cannot live without seeing itself as the leader of the opposition. P. Chidambaram was barely out from jail when he spelt out the caveat. The opposition should unite, but the Congress must lead. If not? Suffer fascism? The Congress might remember that the man who led them to freedom never sought office or power. The left might do what it does best write a common minimum plan to involve the lowest common denominator. The Congress could push from behind if that is the only way the opposition cart can move. It needs to allay Mayawatis fears, and help Arvind Kejriwal critically defeat the BJP in Delhi next month. The battle to save Indias democracy from being shredded requires a focused strategy to funnel the already unleashed energy. It has to tap into every ounce of courage on offer. Without a coordinated plan the mighty courage and furious energy on display in different parts of the country could add up to a pitiable defeat regardless of Priyanka Gandhis heroic scooter ride through police barricades. Old examples of grit are too old. The anti-Vietnam war campaign is cited. True, the students uprising in America and Europe did shore it up. But it would perhaps not have fetched victory or any peace against the mighty American military but for a couple of intrepid journalists who demolished Richard Nixon, meanwhile, in another theatre of battle, with the Watergate episode. Even the committed Daniel Ellsberg with The Pentagon Papers expose got protected by the Watergate demise of Nixon. Julian Assange in comparison has had to struggle, as has Edward Snowden. When did we last hear of Mordechai Vanunu, blindsided by the harsh Israeli state for his heroic revelations of Israels nuclear arsenal? The steel frame of the Tudeh Party whose cadres had penetrated the deep state of the Shah and its extensive machinery of coercion overthrew the invincible emperor of Iran. For this, the party cadres marshalled their resources with care and preferred to keep things couched in quiet confidence. They harnessed the energies of the mullahs who were otherwise a chaotic lot. The Tudeh overthrew the Shah but failed to carry the clergy and suffered complete decimation. Indias right-wing Hindus have absorbed this lesson from Iran after failing to capture total power by infiltrating the JP movement. Pakistans democracy needed a dictators air crash to survive. What is Indias opposition counting on? Indian democracy can yet be saved with only a spoonful of unadulterated selflessness. The women in Shaheen Bagh believe so. By arrangement with Dawn Today we'll take a closer look at The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) from a dividend investor's perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. On the other hand, investors have been known to buy a stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations. A 1.4% yield is nothing to get excited about, but investors probably think the long payment history suggests Charles Schwab has some staying power. The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 4.7% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. Before you buy any stock for its dividend however, you should always remember Warren Buffett's two rules: 1) Don't lose money, and 2) Remember rule #1. We'll run through some checks below to help with this. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Charles Schwab! NYSE:SCHW Historical Dividend Yield, January 14th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. In the last year, Charles Schwab paid out 24% of its profit as dividends. We like this low payout ratio, because it implies the dividend is well covered and leaves ample opportunity for reinvestment. We update our data on Charles Schwab every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here. Dividend Volatility From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Charles Schwab's dividend payments. The dividend has been stable over the past 10 years, which is great. We think this could suggest some resilience to the business and its dividends. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was US$0.24 in 2010, compared to US$0.68 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 11% per year over this time. Story continues With rapid dividend growth and no notable cuts to the dividend over a lengthy period of time, we think this company has a lot going for it. Dividend Growth Potential While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. Strong earnings per share (EPS) growth might encourage our interest in the company despite fluctuating dividends, which is why it's great to see Charles Schwab has grown its earnings per share at 28% per annum over the past five years. Earnings per share have grown rapidly, and the company is retaining a majority of its earnings. We think this is ideal from an investment perspective, if the company is able to reinvest these earnings effectively. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. We're glad to see Charles Schwab has a low payout ratio, as this suggests earnings are being reinvested in the business. That said, we were glad to see it growing earnings and paying a fairly consistent dividend. Overall, we think there are a lot of positives to Charles Schwab from a dividend perspective. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 15 analysts we track are forecasting for Charles Schwab for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. A white bicyclist who was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a black motorist in Georgetown in 2018 was supposed to go on trial in a second, similar case on Monday. But the judge dismissed the charges in that case after the alleged victim failed to show up in court. BERLIN - German authorities say a gorilla that was seriously injured in a zoo fire at New Years had to be shot dead by a police officer after vets were unable to euthanize it. The dpa news agency said Wednesday that an official report detailed the previously unreported drama in the wake of the blaze at Krefeld zoo earlier this month. The interior ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia state said rescuers searching through the charred remains of the primate house on New Years Day found two animals still alive: the gorilla and a female orangutan. Vets were able to euthanize the orangutan but struggled to do so with the gorilla. After getting permission from a senior officer, a 34-year-old police officer killed the gorilla with shots from his submachine gun. Investigators believe the fire which killed dozens of animals was caused by airborne lanterns that were released by three women celebrating the new year. The lanterns, which are illegal to use in Germany, had inadvertently landed in the zoo. Kerala: The father said that the most important details were not on record. 'The children didn't commit suicide. There was no reason for them to commit suicide, when this happened my elder daughter was getting ready to take a bath and had kept her clothes in the bathroom. She had washed her siblings' clothes too. This is when the murder happened. Younger daughter informed the police that she had seen two people leaving the house, but still these details were not taken on record. This is why she was also killed. Even if she put two three chairs, she can't reach the ceiling. She is a short girl. It is difficult even for me to reach the ceiling from the cot,' he said. The mother and step-father of the two Dalit girls, who were killed after being sexually abused in Palakkad's Walayar, live in their newly-built house, right next to the single room house where both their daughters were killed. Their mother, Bhagyavathi, points at a window in the room and says, "It was through this window that Madhu (the main accused) escaped while he was found abusing my daughter, to which my husband is a witness." They have one son left, who stays at a children's' home in Palakkad after the murder of the girls. It was on 13 January, 2017 that the thirteen-year-old daughter of Bhagyavathi was found hanging inside her house. In two months, her nine-year-old daughter, a witness to her sister's murder, was also found hanging from the same ceiling. Two years since, the sessions court of Palakkad announced the verdict on 25 October, 2019 where all the accused, including a minor, were acquitted. The judgment termed the deaths as a 'suicide'. The postmortem reports of both girls term the deaths as 'unnatural'. Yet, the court chose to acquit the accused. Even with clear witness statements from family members, specifically from the younger daughter, why has the Kerala Police shielded the accused, questions Bhagyavathi. Further, she asks, "Were they acquitted because they were activists of CPI(M)?" 'They did not record eye witness account in the FIR' Bhagyavathi and her husband Shaji have been living alone since the murder of their two girls. They have cut off from Bhagyavathi's family since her cousins are two of the accused. Calling the judgment faulty, the couple said that it was also devoid of nuance. According to Bhagyavathi and Shaji, though they and the younger daughter are primary witnesses to the sexual abuse, their witness statements were not taken on record immediately. The younger daughter had told the police that she had seen two masked men running out of the house, this was also not recorded in the First Information Report. Both of them said that they didn't know how to deal with the police since something like this had never happened to them before. They weren't talking to anybody who could talk them through the procedure, said Bhagyavathi. But she also wants to keep faith in the current enrage and believes all of Kerala will stand with her and the accused will get punished. The first time the sexual assault came to the notice of the parents was in 2016. Bhagyavathi was at work, Madhu had visited their house and inquired about Shaji's health, who was unwell. After this, Madhu went to the house which was under construction. When Shaji wanted water he called out to his elder daughter, but she wasn't responding. He crawled on his hands to the window to see his elder daughter being pushed against the wall by Madhu and being sexually abused. Seeing this, Shaji shouted out immediately after which Madhu escaped through the window. Only after this did the girls speak up. When Shaji asked his elder daughter why she didn't tell this to them, she had said, "They had threatened me with death if I reveal it, I was scared." In less than a month, she was murdered. "I didn't go to work after this incident. We used to work in the fields, we are daily wage laborers. CPI(M) activists, including panchayat vice-president and ward member, had visited us after this judgment. They told us they will take us to the minister. But we were told that if we politicise this further, it will end up in nothing again. KPMS leader Punnala Sreekumar took us to meet the chief minister. We demanded re-enquiry of the case, we also demanded CBI inquiry in the case. The chief minister just told us to approach the High Court. The entire system is prejudiced against us." Shaji says that they believed that everything was on record but the most important details were not. "The children didn't commit suicide. There was no reason for them to commit suicide, when this happened my elder daughter was getting ready to take a bath and had kept her clothes in the bathroom. She had washed her siblings' clothes too. This is when the murder happened. Younger daughter informed the police that she had seen two people leaving the house, but still these details were not taken on record. This is why she was also killed. Even if she put two three chairs, she can't reach the ceiling. She is a short girl. It is difficult even for me to reach the ceiling from the cot," he said. RSS started this campaign against us: CPI(M) Speaking on the condition of anonymity a witness from the case said that the two of the accused are CPI(M)'s youth organisation DYFI's activists. "Their activities are limited to Attappallam unit. After the first girl's death, the police gave a report calling it a suicide but postmortem report indicated that the girl was subjected to sexual abuse. But the postmortem report was kept hidden from the family on the insistence of CPI(M)'s Attappallam branch secretary Babu. The family approached the police multiple times for the report but the police didn't give them with a copy." The witness believes that one of the reasons for the acquittal of the accused is because the court didn't hear all the witnesses in the case. "There are fifty-five witnesses to the case. I was called four times but I was not heard. I raised this issue with the police. The court heard me only in the last hearing, in a haphazard manner. The public prosecutor was in a hurry to wrap up the evidence." Former MP of Palakkad constituency and CPI(M) leader MB Rajesh denied any role of CPI(M) in fudging up the case. He said "RSS started this campaign against us, by using a photo of one of the accused taking part in an election campaign. The accused aren't important for CPI(M), they do not even have primary membership to the party. The faults are completely on the part of the police and the public prosecutor." The prosecutor Jalaja did not hear 25 witnesses which included crucial witnesses to the case. "She didn't discuss anything with investigation officers, she didn't oppose the bail of the accused. The investigation officer approached the high court to cancel the bail, but the major fall out was from the prosecutor's side. The prosecutor didn't even speak to the the doctor who conducted the postmortem of the girls. The prosecutor didn't visit the crime scene. The trial was absolutely undermined. A judicial enquiry is needed to expose the manner in which the police operated." This reporter reached out to the investigating officer who refused to comment on the issue. Sathy Angamaly, a Dalit poet and an activist, had visited the children's family when the elder girl was murdered."Anyone who has read the postmortem report can understand that the girls have been sexually abused. The court can take note of this suo motu. The court didn't do it and I think caste is the main reason. There are people who are instead trying to demoralise the girls' mother. Dalit men easily get portrayed as criminals and Dalit women easily get portrayed as sexually obscene. The day after we had gone to visit their house, a CPI(M)-backed Malayalam news channel had published an opinion piece where the mother is portrayed in a bad manner. I called them and complained and then they deleted it. Earlier, two sisters of Bhagyavathi have died under mysterious circumstances before." "When the first girl was killed, we had visited the police station. Sub-Inspector Chacko was the investigating officer. The POCSO act charges were added later. Later, DYSP Sojan took up the investigation, he was worse than Chacko. He is the one who alleged that the girls were not sexually abused rather it was consensual. No one sees Dalit children as children," says Sathy. Uma, an advocate working at the Kerala High Court says that in sexual crimes like these, the accused with political backing always manages a way out. Citing example of the recent Jisha murder and rape case in Ernakulam's Perumbavoor, Uma said in Walayar girls' case too, evidence was tampered with. She said that this was a norm in sexual abuse crimes such as these."They cremated Jisha's body so hurriedly. In Walayar case too, bodies of both girls were cremated hurriedly, without the parents' knowledge. If the masked men that the younger daughter saw running away were their relatives, she could have identified them. There is more to this than what we see," she added. A woman makes a 'Rangoli' design in front of her house on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, in a village on the outskirts of Agartala. (Image: PTI) A bizarre tentacled microbe discovered on the floor of the Pacific Ocean may help explain the origins of complex life on this planet and solve one of the deepest mysteries in biology, scientists reported on Wednesday. Two billion years ago, simple cells gave rise to far more complex cells. Biologists have struggled for decades to learn how it happened. Scientists have long known that there must have been predecessors along the evolutionary road. But to judge from the fossil record, complex cells simply appeared out of nowhere. The new species, called Prometheoarchaeum, turns out to be just such a transitional form, helping to explain the origins of all animals, plants, fungi and, of course, humans. The research was reported in the journal Nature. J eremy Bamber was found guilty of murdering his mother, father, sister and her two children at White House Farm in Essex, on the August 7, 1985. The scene was made up to look as though it was a murder suicide, but after further investigation police said it was murder and arrested Bamber. 35 years on, ITV is releasing a six-part dramatisation of the White House Farm murders. We take a look at Bamber's life and the tragic events that resulted in five deaths. ITV's new six-part drama will focus on the White House Farm murders / ITV Who is Jeremy Bamber? Born in 1961 as Jeremy Marsham, Bamber was adopted in June that same year by June and Nevill Bamber. His mother, Juliet Dorothy Wheeler, was the daughter of a vicar who had an affair with an army sergeant major who was also a controller at Buckingham Palace. Bamber grew up with his adopted parents in their Georgian farm house near Tolleshunt D'Arcy in Essex. Jeremy attended a private prep school and then went on to boarding school in Norfolk. According to his friend Brett Collins, Bamber was sexually assaulted aged 11. Bamber left school without any qualifications but managed to obtain his O-levels at sixth form in Colchester. After schooling, Bamber underwent a scuba diving course in Australia and New Zealand funded by his father. Upon his return, Bamber worked in a series of bars and restaurants, before going back to his father's home in Essex. What happened during the White House Farm murders? Jeremy Bamber grew up on White House Farm in Essex / PA On August 7, 1985, the police received a call from Jeremy Bamber at 3.30am. During the phonecall, Bamber claimed his father Nevill had called him to say his sister, Sheila Caffell, had "gone crazy" and had got ahold of their father's rifle. Police then visited the property and discovered Caffell dead on the floor of her parents' bedroom. The rifle was positioned against her throat. Cafell's six-year-old twin sons, Nicholas and Daniel, were then found dead in their beds. The body of Bamber's mother June was discovered with Sheila's, while Nevill's body was found in the kitchen. His dad had been shot eight times and had also been beaten. Initially, police believed it was a murder suicide, but eventually Bamber's girlfriend implicated him. Was there motive? Bamber's girlfriend at the time, Julie Mugford, tipped police off, saying Bamber was after his 436,000 inheritance. During Bamber's trial in 1986, Ms Mugford told the court that Jeremy had spoken about sedating his family and setting the farm house on fire, before plotting to hire an assassin to kill them. Where is Jeremy Bamber now? Bamber is currently an Category A inmate at HM Prison Wakefield / PA Bamber is currently serving a life sentence at HM Prison Wakefield. He and two other prisoners appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in 2013, claiming it was against their human rights to be denied any prospect of release - despite being handed life imprisonment. A general election to choose 160 TDs in 39 constituencies is on. Polling day is Saturday, February 8. In the swirl that has started, remember that Ireland enjoys the longest continuity under a written Constitution of any European country. The election of a 33rd Dail is a considerable achievement and not an inevitable outcome. The 1937 Constitution has aged, especially on social policy. But on the rights of the individual, the independence of the judiciary, and an acutely responsive electoral system, it largely delivered. Look around and, in terms of the durability of its institutions, Ireland has done well. They havent always been as effective on the policy as they have been flexible politically, however. Aside from an occasional landslide, it is a handful of votes in a handful of constituencies that counts. Political stability in the form of the two-and-a-half-party system from Fianna Fails entry to Dail in 1927 to the 2011 general election was remarkable. But more remarkable still was the durability of our political structures amid the public anger of economic collapse. In 2011, 45% of all TDs were elected for the first time. In 2016, 38% were elected for the first time. When the Dail was dissolved yesterday, only 17% of TDs were there nine years ago. Of those, not all enjoyed continuity of service. As a system, it was bent almost to the ground by a public anger, but it didnt break. Part of the reason for its durability is also its weakness. The multi-seat constituency ensures deep personal connections locally with national politicians. If politicians generally are out of favour, the local TD who is personally known and assiduously cultivates the community is different. They are not so bad, you see. In a European context, that need for feral competition among parliamentarians in the same constituency, let alone in the same party in the same constituency, is unknown. It is the deeply-rooted community presence of politicians, and the ability of the electorate to nuance their choices through the multi-seat system that has given Irish politics the safety values required. The downside is that there is little to protect national policy from purely local or highly sectional interests. Our inability to widen the tax base beyond an anaemic and now stalled local property tax is one proof of that. Historically, the failure to deliver water charges is another. There will be a lot of talk on health and housing in this election, but little on how the investments needed will be funded. Things are OK so long as the sun keeps shining. Economically, we never applied the lessons of the crash. Sensible decisions in the last budget, and politically reaching out again for the virtue of prudence, are undermined by budgets in 2016, 2017, and 2018 that were progressively more foolish and correctly decried as such. On the economy, it is an open question for this election whether Fine Gael is still more trusted and credible than Fianna Fail. The Fine Gael argument is that Fianna Fail cant be trusted because it is the party of the crash. Another is that the only government Micheal Martin can lead is one based on his centre-left party being in hock to others further left than himself. If Fine Gael has old style, Fianna Fail undermined its own credentials, failing in opposition to manage its spending commitments. Just off centre stage, spending demands abound, sponsored by the others on which the larger parties must depend. Outrageously, Labour wants to postpone moving back entitlement to the pension to 67. Having been crucified in government by the politics of the water charges, now it imitates the opportunism of that which did it in. A lot of the detail will be lost. But what will loom ever larger between now and election day is the question of who is trusted or believed more. For the first time since 2007, there is a real contest for the office of taoiseach and the opportunity to form a government. To that extent, this is a presidential-style election between the Taoiseach and the leader of the opposition. In 2007, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael combined to secure 68.9% of the vote. This time, that tally will be south of 60%. In a Dail of 160 TDs, their combined seats will be between 100 and 110. The prize of winning this election is unlike any other presented, certainly since 1948, and I wasnt around then. The use of the word win needs to be qualified in election coverage. The larger party that comes out ahead with more than 50, but probably fewer than 55 seats, wins first go at forming a government. But getting from the early 50s in Dail seats to 80, through a series of deals with Greens, Labour, Social Democrats, and myriad Independents is very challenging. Each has its own internal dynamic. If Labour is behind the Greens and it has only third pick of the policies and positions available, there will be an issue within Labour about government at all. The Social Democrat TDs have eschewed government or walked out of it. Few Independent TDs see their role in life as making up the numbers so another Independent colleague can enjoy ministerial office. No politician lacks ego or self-belief. The only government possible on a base of 50-odd seats is a house of cards. Momentum driven by the campaign could alter all of this. For now, I see a closely fought war of attrition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail over a relatively small number of seats. That puts the winner in the driving seat of a vehicle with levers that are attached to very little. Fine Gaels problem is that peak Leo has passed. It wasnt possible to cash the cheque at the time. Now its back to normal for his party. Its base is secure but that is not enough. It must make seat gains to stay in office. On a constituency-by-constituency basis, I can see a net gain for Fine Gael of two or three, but only if all goes well. It faces some certain losses and the effect of the Greens on its final tally is unknown. The problem is that the Fine Gael base is never enough. As a party, it hasnt been as smart at its politics as it should have been. Insularity has a cost. But if Fianna Fail has an edge, and I think it has a small one, it is well within reach of a good campaign by Fine Gael or being done-in by its own mistakes. It is not simply that this election is too close to call. It is that its ultimate result is only a preface to events, to which the campaign itself may not be a reliable guide. We elect a Dail on February 8. The 160 we elect not us choose a government. Flash Sri Lanka and Russia on Tuesday agreed to actively engage in regional organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and increase bilateral trade between the two countries to 700 million U.S. dollars from the existing 400 million dollars. Following bilateral discussions held between Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Colombo, the two ministers also agreed to enhance cooperation in several fields including tourism, food economy, fisheries, education, trade and investment, as well as security and defense. Minister Gunawardena said that Russia is Sri Lanka's 15th largest export destination and the 24th largest import origin country. "Today we had an excellent meeting where we renewed our commitment to further consolidate and transform our bilateral cooperation into a viable, results oriented and mutually beneficial partnership," Gunawardena said. "The two sides recognized the threats posed by terrorism, violent extremism, illicit drugs trafficking and other transnational organized crimes to national, regional and international security and agreed to continue our cooperation to pursue shared solutions and exchange best practices," the minister added. Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had been providing Sri Lanka cooperation in defense and several other sectors and and it will continue to do so. "Sri Lankan military will be assisted to improve its defense capacity, while we will also look at strengthening our bilateral ties in various other sectors," Lavrov said. Lavrov arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday on a two-day official visit and was accompanied by a 42-member delegation. The EU's Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has insisted there will be a trade border in the Irish Sea under Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal. Mr Barnier made the comments after the PM's repeated denials that the withdrawal agreement would lead to a trade border. Mr Johnson's comments have led to much confusion around the issue, with many pointing to his own agreement as proof that checks and controls would be required on goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Speaking in Belfast on Monday the Prime Minister said that he could not "see any circumstances whatever in which there will be any need for checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to GB. "The only circumstances in which you could imagine the need for checks coming from GB to NI, as I've explained before, is if those goods were going on into Ireland and we had not secured, which I hope and I'm confident we will, a zero tariff, zero quota agreement with our friends and partners in the EU," he told a press conference. On Tuesday Mr Barnier told the European Parliament that ""the implementation of this (deal) foresees checks and controls entering the island of Ireland". During the General Election campaign, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed a leaked Government document proved there would be custom checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The 15-page Treasury document said there would be customs declarations and security checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. It also claimed there would be customs declarations, checks and "potentially damaging tariffs", for trade travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The withdrawal agreement says that Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU rules on food and manufactured goods, while the rest of the UK will not. Northern Ireland will also continue to follow EU customs rules and will remain part of the UK's customs territory. This will lead to customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Even if a zero tariff trade deal is reached there will still be customs formalities as Northern Ireland will be enforcing the EU's customs rules at its ports. The EU's rules on "products of animal origin" means that meat, fish and dairy products must enter the EU through border inspection posts where they are subject to document checks, with some selected for physical checks. When these products are moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland they would be subject to these checks whether they are travelling to the Republic of Ireland or not. A zero tariff trade deal would remove costs around products which are deemed "at risk" of entering the EU after travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The withdrawal agreement states on customs and movement of goods: No customs duties shall be payable for a good brought into Northern Ireland from another part of the United Kingdom by direct transport, notwithstanding paragraph 3, unless that good is at risk of subsequently being moved into the Union, whether by itself or forming part of another good following processing. The customs duties in respect of a good being moved by direct transport to Northern Ireland other than from the Union or from another part of the United Kingdom shall be the duties applicable in the United Kingdom, notwithstanding paragraph 3, unless that good is at risk of subsequently being moved into the Union, whether by itself or forming part of another good following processing. No duties shall be payable by, as relief shall be granted to, residents of the United Kingdom for personal property, as defined in point (c) of Article 2(1) of Council Regulation 1186/20091, brought into Northern Ireland from another part of the United Kingdom. For the purposes of the first and second subparagraphs of paragraph 1, a good brought into Northern Ireland from outside the Union shall be considered to be at risk of subsequently being moved into the Union unless it is established that that good: (a) will not be subject to commercial processing in Northern Ireland; and (b) fulfils the criteria established by the Joint Committee in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of this paragraph. For the purposes of this paragraph, "processing" means any alteration of goods, any transformation of goods in any way, or any subjecting of goods to operations other than for the purpose of preserving them in good condition or for adding or affixing marks, labels, seals or any other documentation to ensure compliance with any specific requirements. Before the end of the transition period, the Joint Committee shall by decision establish the conditions under which processing is to be considered not to fall within point (a) of the first subparagraph, taking into account in particular the nature, scale and result of the processing. Before the end of the transition period, the Joint Committee shall by decision establish the criteria for considering that a good brought into Northern Ireland from outside the Union is not at risk of subsequently being moved into the Union. The Joint Committee shall take into consideration, inter alia: (a) the final destination and use of the good; (b) the nature and value of the good; (c) the nature of the movement; and (d) the incentive for undeclared onward-movement into the Union, in particular incentives resulting from the duties payable pursuant to paragraph 1. The Joint Committee may amend at any time its decisions adopted pursuant to this paragraph. In taking any decision pursuant to this paragraph, the Joint Committee shall have regard to the specific circumstances in Northern Ireland. 3. Legislation as defined in point (2) of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 shall apply to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland (not including the territorial waters of the United Kingdom). However, the Joint Committee shall establish the conditions, including in quantitative terms, under which certain fishery and aquaculture products, as set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council1, brought into the customs territory of the Union defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 by vessels flying the flag of the United Kingdom and having their port of registration in Northern Ireland are exempted from duties. The provisions of Union law listed in Annex 2 to this Protocol shall also apply, under the conditions set out in that Annex, to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. 5. Articles 30 and 110 TFEU shall apply to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. Quantitative restrictions on exports and imports shall be prohibited between the Union and Northern Ireland. 6. Customs duties levied by the United Kingdom in accordance with paragraph 3 are not remitted to the Union. Subject to Article 10, the United Kingdom may in particular: (a) reimburse duties levied pursuant to the provisions of Union law made applicable by paragraph 3 in respect of goods brought into Northern Ireland; (b) provide for circumstances in which a customs debt which has arisen is to be waived in respect of goods brought into Northern Ireland; (c) provide for circumstances in which customs duties are to be reimbursed in respect of goods that can be shown not to have entered the Union; and (d) compensate undertakings to offset the impact of the application of paragraph 3. In taking decisions under Article 10, the European Commission shall take the circumstances in Northern Ireland into account as appropriate. 7. No duties shall be payable on consignments of negligible value, on consignments sent by one individual to another or on goods contained in travellers' personal baggage, under the conditions set out in the legislation referred to in paragraph 3. Union minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo on Tuesday said Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone meeting a specific group of students on the JNU campus and ignoring others in the midst of promotion of her film Chhapaak, has not gone down well with some people. Supriyo said the names of some members of the group the actor had met with, have now surfaced as accused (in connection with the violence in the varsity). Addressing reporters, the BJP leader also slammed the trolls for making derogatory remarks against the actor over her visit. Ahead of the release of her film Chhapaak, Padukone visited the JNU on January 7 to express solidarity with students who were attacked by masked assailants two days earlier. The visit triggered a backlash from many netizens. Addressing a press conference in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Chhattisgarhs Durg district, Supriyo also accused Opposition parties of spreading a false propaganda about the new law. Responding to a query on Padukone getting trolled on social media, the MoS for Forest and Environment said, I am a big admirer of Deepika Padukone. I have even named my younger daughter as Naina after Padukones character in her film Yeh Jawani hai Deewani. Nowadays people write and speak anything even if it is abusive on social media Deepikas visit to JNU and meeting those, whose names are now being surfaced as accused (in connection with the violence in the university), and not meeting the other groups did not go down well with some people, he said. The BJP MP from West Bengal also said that people did not like Padukone meeting only a specific group in the JNU in the midst of promotion of her film. ...Despite that if anyone abuses or uses harsh words (against her on the issue), I condemned them. Use of any kind of abusive word at any forum should not be done, he said. Reiterating the party line on the new citizenship law, Supriyo said the legislation is not aimed at snatching away citizenship of people in the country. He said Opposition parties like the TMC, the Congress and the Left are spreading falsehood over the CAA for political reasons. Earlier, addressing a pro-CAA rally of the BJP in Durg, Supriyo said, An Italian translation of the new citizenship law will be sent to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Chinese one to leaders of the Left parties, if they have not understood its provisions properly. He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had clarified all doubts of all parties on the CAA in Parliament before it was passed. ALLEN PARK, MI - Police have not yet made an arrest in a southeast Michigan bowling alley shooting that injured three people after a line-cutting dispute. Three people were shot when eight rounds were fired into the vestibule of Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park on Monday, Jan. 6. The business is offering a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person of interest in the incident. The person of interest is seen wearing a red jacket in the video below, Allen Park Police Department said in a Jan. 15 Facebook post. Police have so far been unable to identify the man. Posted by Allen Park Police Department on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 The altercation that spurred the shooting involved someone attempting to cut in line at the bowling alley, police said. One of the people involved then went out to the parking lot, retrieved a handgun and then returned to open fire on people inside. Security broke up a shoving match between patrons in line just prior to the shooting, police said. When the man returned, he fired eight shots. Three people were shot while a fourth bullet was lodged in a persons jacket but didnt cause injury. Three people were taken to a local hospital. Two of those shot were in serious condition. Anyone with information about the shooting or person of interest should contact the Allen Park Police Department at 313-386-6377 or crimetips@allenparkpolice.org. READ MORE: 1 dead after 3-vehicle crash in Northern Michigan State Police investigate U.P. inmate death Cigarette sparked house explosion hour after bullet punctured gas pipe Lannett Co., maker of generic drugs, is among firms subpoenaed in a federal investigation of large rises in generic-drug prices. Read more The generic-drug manufacturer Lannett Co. Inc. was given approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday to market a branded anesthetic containing cocaine. Lannett, of Northeast Philadelphia, previously had sold an unapproved cocaine hydrochloride solution, C-Topical, subject to the FDAs enforcement discretion. The new cocaine pharmaceutical will be sold as a topical solution called Numbrino. Numbrino, which is the first branded drug in the 78-year-old companys history, will be marketed to physicians as a local anesthetic for the mucus membranes. It will not be available in retail pharmacies. Numbrino, pronounced numb-rhino (rhino means nose), will be used for diagnostic procedures or for minor surgery on the nasal cavities of adults. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug and considered to be highly addictive. But medical specialists otolaryngologists, for example (a.k.a. ear, nose, and throat surgeons) value cocaine hydrochlorides ability to numb highly sensitive tissues and constrict blood vessels. Lannetts previous cocaine-based drug had not undergone clinical trials, but the FDA had permitted the company to market the unapproved product. Numbrino went through rigorous Phase 3 testing, said a company spokesperson. It is the same product. We now have it FDA-approved and are able to market it as a branded product, said Robert Jaffe. The drug almost did not make it to market. Another drug maker, Genus Lifescience of Allentown, had filed a petition with the FDA claiming that Numbrino would infringe on its exclusive right to market its own cocaine product for five years. The FDA ruled against Genus in July. Lannett employs about 1,020 full-timers and produces about 100 generic drugs. In December, the FDA gave Lannett the OK to market a generic version of Adderall XR, an amphetamine salt often prescribed for ADHD. The company has largely divested itself of its generic opioids, Jaffe said. Only five years ago Lannett was heralded by Fortune Magazine as "the fastest-growing company in the U.S. and its stock reached an all-time high in April 2015 of $71.15. During the last five years, the companys stock like others in the generic industry has taken a beating as state attorneys general investigate allegations of widespread price fixing in the generics industry. Lannett additionally was hit when its supply contract for the thyroid medication Levothyroxine expired last March. The stock, LCI, plummeted in October 2018 to $3.33. In answer to the setbacks, Lannett CEO Timothy Crew has been aggressively launching new products in an effort to rebuild the company. LCI closed at $9.14 Tuesday. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 16:30:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 846 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Golden Lake Exploration Inc. (CSE:GLM) ("GLM" or the "Company") wishes to present an update on activities on the Company's newly acquired Jewel Ridge gold property near Eureka, Nevada, in the heart of a major gold-producing district.Jewel Ridge is located on the south end of Nevada's prolific Battle Mountain - Eureka trend, along strike and contiguous to Barrick Gold's two million-ounce Archimedes/Ruby Hill gold mine to the north and Timberline Resources' advanced-stage Lookout Mountain project to the south.Activities to date include:Data compilation is proceeding well, with 361 drill holes over the entire property area in the database. This represents millions of dollars of previous exploration expenditures and allows the Company to fast-track the vectoring of high priority drill targets.A priority target is the South Eureka Zone, where 82 holes comprising 3,895 meters have been drilled (average depth only 47.5 meters). The South Eureka Zone has not been drilled since the late 1980's due to tenure complications that were resolved with the purchase of 12 patented claims in 2012. Highlight intersections from previous drilling include:10.7 m @ 3.69 grams gold per tonne (g/t Au) in hole N8531, 21.3 m @ 4.21 g/t Au in hole N8536, 27.4 m @ 5.51 g/t Au in hole V25 and 24.4 m @ 3.48 g/t Au in hole VA5. Previous drilling on the South Eureka Zone was completed from 1971 to 1980 by General Minerals Development Corporation - Peter Galli Exploration, and from 1983-1988, by Norse-Windfall Inc. The Company treats the historic data as relevant and significant, but the Company is not able to verify the drill hole results, nor the assay techniques and laboratories.The company is also pleased to report, and present, a historic article by the Elko Daily Free Press, dated March 2, 2015 on the Catlin Shaft (Eureka-Croesus Mine), one of the current historic workings on the Jewel Ridge property: ( https://elkodaily.com/mining/blasts-from-the-past-major-henry-g-catlin-and-the/article_d5eac5ee-e751-57f6-896b-256ca368338c.html ). The article chronicles the last historic attempt to mine the carbonate replacement deposits of silver-lead-zinc (Ag-Pb-Zn) and gold (Au), from 1917 to 1920. The Catlin or main shaft was sunk on the Connelly claim at a depth of 122 meters, with drifts at the 31 meter, 61 meters and 122 meter levels. While initially successful, the mining operation suffered when the price of silver fell to US $0.70/ounce in December 1920, a decrease of over 50% from the price in 1919.About the Jewel Ridge PropertyThe property comprises 96 unpatented lode mining claims and 30 patented claims covering approximately 728 hectares (1,800 acres). The Jewel Ridge property contains several historic small gold mines which align along a north-south-trending stratigraphic contact of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, as well as several other gold mineralized zones with a variety of structural and lithological controls. The Company's focus is on Carlin-style disseminated gold deposits, the primary focus in the area since the late 1970s.Nevada Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGD) have a combined endowment of more than 250 million ounces, which are concentrated (85 per cent) in only four trends or camps of deposits: Carlin, Cortez (Battle Mountain-Eureka), Getchell and Jerritt Canyon. The Company cautions that results on adjacent and/or nearby projects are not necessarily indicative of results on the Company's property.GLM can earn a 100-per-cent interest in the Jewel Ridge property by paying Greencastle $155,000 in cash, issuing five million Golden Lake Exploration shares and spending $750,000 over three years.Qualified personGolden Lake Exploration's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by James Pirie, P.Eng., who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.About Golden Lake Exploration Inc.Golden Lake Exploration is a junior public mining exploration company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to acquire, explore and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to aggressively advance its exploration program on the Jewel Ridge property.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD"Mike England"Mike England, CEO & DIRECTORFOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:Telephone: 1-604-683-3995Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM) SOURCE: Golden Lake Exploration Inc. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) A lawmaker has urged the House of Representatives to look into the disaster response and contingency efforts of government agencies following the eruption of Taal Volcano over the weekend, according to a copy of his resolution released Tuesday. Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga on Monday filed House Resolution 643 directing the appropriate House committee to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation into Taals eruption as losses in terms of life and property are still unaccounted for. Barzaga's resolution said there is an imperative need to determine the necessary improvements in the responses of the different government agencies such as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and local governments to reduce the risks of natural disasters. The lawmaker addressed Phivolcs in particular about the timeliness of communicating necessary information on volcanic hazards and making real time warnings of Taal's volcanic activity. Although we recognize the challenges of the Phivolcs, there should still be an investigation if it has conducted comprehensive monitoring, its use and availability of monitoring equipment and if it has the technical expertise to make a timely forecast of the Taal Volcano eruption, the resolution read. It added that Phivolcs clearly lacked effort in dissemination of information of Taals volcanic activity to the general public, especially to those living in the nearby cities and municipalities of Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas. Whereas, as early as 11am of 12 January 2020, when the Taal Volcano is already manifesting an increase in volcanic activity, there are no news bulletins or SMS alerts from the Phivolcs and other concerned government agencies, the resolution read. The House will also look into the permanent settlement in Taal Volcano Island even when it has already been categorized as a permanent danger zone prior to the recent eruption. In a separate briefing in the afternoon, Phivolcs said they are open to any investigation by the government about the performance of their duties. It is within the purview of every government official to check or to see if we are performing iorjobs well. Pagdating po sa performance, all inquiries are welcome, said Ma. Antonia Bornas, Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division chief. We take our job seriously. Alam natin especially for Taal knowing what we know knowing what this volcano is capable of.hindi po talaga natinag ang ating pagbabantay sa bulkang ito. Talagang ganoon lang po ang nangyayari, masyadong mabilis ang escalation ng activity, she added. [Translation: We take our job seriously. We know especially for Taal, knowing what we know, knowing what this volcano is capable ofour team has always monitored this volcano. But thats how it really is, the escalation of the activity was too fast.] Sellers jacking up prices on masks, food should be charged Barzaga added that those who have been selling face masks, food and other supplies at an unreasonable cost amid the calamity should face charges. Appropriate charges need to be filed to those unscrupulous persons who sold face masks and other food and supplies at an unreasonable cost during these times of disaster, he said. READ: Duterte vows to give free masks amid reports of overpricing The local government of Manila has received complaints that N95 masks were being sold for 200, from the previous 30. With ash reaching nearby areas, health officials have advised the public, particularly those near Taal, to use an N95 respirator face mask, which protects against 95 percent of airborne particles. House will create rehab plan for Taal-affected areas The House will also create a comprehensive rehabilitation plan to help the cities and municipalities in Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna recover from their losses. In a statement issued Tuesday, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said that he has appointed House disaster management committee chair Lucy Torres of Leyte to coordinate with other committees in the lower chamber such as the agriculture, tourism, and trade and industry panels to address rehabilitation plans following Taals heightened seismic activities. A comprehensive rehabilitation plan will entail funding, logistical and operational support from various national government agencies. Different House committees and relevant government agencies as well as other urban planning experts can work on this plan to ensure that it is disaster-resilient and sustainable, Cayetano said. The 2020 General appropriations Act allocates a total of 16 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund. Of this amount, 3.3 billion goes to aid and relief and rehabilitation services to communities affected by calamities and 4.2 billion allocated for repair and reconstruction of permanent structures including capital expenditures. The DSWD told CNN Philippines that they have a stockpile of relief goods available, but private institutions are encouraged to cooperate with the government to manage donations to those affected by the eruption. The Phivolcs has raised Alert Level 4 over Taal Volcano, after it showed a marked unrest Sunday afternoon, indicating that it may generate a hazardous explosive eruption soon. MISSAUKEE COUNTY, MI A Michigan man faces child abuse charges after his attempt to discipline a child with a belt crossed the line, police said. Ronald Timothy Bean, 29, of Falmouth, was arrested on Jan. 10 and charged with third-degree child abuse in the presence of another child, a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. Authorities at the Michigan State Police Houghton Lake Post had been investigating the abuse complaint since Aug. 2019, when Bean allegedly hit the child, who is a relative but not his own child, with the belt. The childs sibling was present during the event, police said. Lt. Derrick Carroll said Beans use of the belt left bruising and strap marks on the childs body. You can get into the debate on whether its considered abuse to discipline a child with a belt. Everyone has an opinion on that, he said. But once you are visibly harming a child, I dont think theres much debate anymore. Bean was arraigned in the 84th District Court in Missaukee County and released on $1,000 bond. His next scheduled court appearance in on Jan. 27. An investigation has been launched into why a Delta pilot chose to dump fuel over Los Angeles schools, injuring 56 adults and children on Tuesday. Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai was forced to make an emergency return to LAX only minutes after taking off, with 181 passengers and crew on board. The pilot reported a compressor stall in the right engine damage to a jet turbine that can occur through malfunction or when a foreign object such as a bird hits an engine. The damage can reduce engine thrust or, in worst cases, lead to a fire. The plane's crew had earlier told air traffic control they were 'not critical' and did not needed to 'hold or dump fuel'. But the plane did later so, possibly while preparing to make a final turn before descending. Now federal authorities have announced they will look into why pilot made that decision over a densely populated area of Southern California after one expert admitted 'it was not an easy call'. Planes can take off weighted down for their journey, but if they must land early because of an emergency, it can be necessary to dump fuel so that the aircraft is lighter to avoid damage. Federal authorities will investigate why Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai dumped jet fuel over a densely populated area of Southern California, pictured, while making an emergency return to the airport, dousing dozens of schoolchildren in a smelly vapor Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai, with 181 passengers and crew on board, turned back to Los Angeles International Airport only minutes after taking off Tuesday The fuel sprayed out of the plane in two lines and descended at midday in the city of Cudahy and nearby parts of Los Angeles County, about 13 miles east of the airport Air traffic control asked the aircrew if they wanted to return to LAX immediately or remain over the ocean 'to hold and burn fuel,' according to a recording of the radio communications. 'We're going to go ahead,' the pilot or co-pilot responds. 'We've got it back under control. ... We're not critical.' 'OK, so you don't need to hold or dump fuel or anything like that?' the controller asks. 'Ah, negative,' the pilot responds. Delta Air Lines said the aircraft landed safely after releasing fuel, 'which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight'. But the internet was quickly clogged with people questioning the decision and suggesting that the pilot could have shut down the engine, retained the fuel and landed with one working engine at some risk of damage to the plane. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating. 'There are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of any major U.S. airport,' the FAA said in a statement. 'These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground.' However, pilots can deviate from the rules in an emergency for safety reasons, said Doug Moss, a retired airline captain and owner of AeroPacific Consulting, LLC, an aviation consulting firm based in Reno, Nevada. The pilot could have stayed over the ocean to dump his fuel but that could have taken a half-hour up to an hour, Moss said. Grandmother Teresa Santoya, left, consoles student Marianna Torres, 11, center, as she evacuates Park Avenue Elementary School after jet fuel fell on the school in Cudahy Tuesday A girl covers her mouth and nose as parents and children leave school after jet fuel was dumped on Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy on Tuesday Moss said when there is a compressor stall, the crew can't determine how much damage was done internally to the engine. 'The fan blades may have separated and cut into the fuel lines, leaving an uncontrollable fire as a future possibility,' Moss said. 'He's flying an airplane with a damaged engine that may be on fire,' Moss said. 'So he has to make the decision: Do I spend the time to dump fuel or do I put this thing on the ground as soon as I can? You're not going to kill anyone by dumping fuel.' 'There's no dereliction of duty. Everybody's trying to do the best they can but it's a fast-paced, dynamic ballgame and there's not a lot of time to think ... lives are at stake,' Moss said. 'He got it on the ground safely. Unfortunately, there was collateral damage. People got gas poured over them.' Peter Goelz, a former NTSB managing director, told USA Today: 'A 777 flying nonstop to Shanghai is absolutely loaded with fuel. So loaded that to land right away after takeoff poses a significant danger. 'Pilots know that when you have a problem that threatens the aircraft and you have to get rid of fuel, you get rid of it fast. You don't want things like this (contamination) to happen, but the alternative is too dire.' 'Right off the bat, I would not be criticizing the crew until I have more information. It was not an easy call.' Delta Air Lines said the aircraft landed safely after releasing fuel, 'which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight' (stock image) Officials said 31 children and adults were affected at Park Avenue school, pictured, and another 12 at 93rd Street Elementary school. The rest of those affected were at other schools The fuel sprayed out of the plane in two lines and descended at midday in the city of Cudahy and nearby parts of Los Angeles County, about 13 miles east of the airport. It fell on five elementary schools, officials said. The fuel, described by fire officials as a vapor, caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults but nobody was taken to the hospital and the only decontamination required was soap and water, officials said. Diego Martinez, a sixth-grader at Park Avenue Elementary in Cuday, said he and his classmates were outside for physical education class when they saw the airplane flying low overhead. 'It was very close,' he said. Shortly afterward, the air filled with the pungent odor of fuel. 'It was very strong, the odor,' the 12-year-old added. Some teachers at Park Avenue had headaches from the smell, said Antonio Buenabad, area representative for the United Teachers Los Angeles union. Officials said 31 children and adults were affected by the fuel dump at Park Avenue school and another 12 at 93rd Street Elementary school. The rest of those affected were at other schools. DailyMail.com has contacted Delta for comment. Beth Moore, Christine Caine march around Dallas hospital in prayer during Priscilla Shirer surgery Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Popular faith leaders Beth Moore and Christine Caine awoke early Monday morning to join in prayer for their peer, Priscilla Shirer, as she underwent lung surgery. Shirer, who recently lost her mother, Lois Evans, to a rare form of cancer, revealed on Facebook last week that doctors will be removing an entire lobe of her left lung after discovering a nodule that contained some dangerous irregularities. The surgery was delayed but I cannot put it off any longer without jeopardizing my own health, the Christian speaker and actress said. The morning of her surgery, Moore and Caine shared on Instagram that they were headed to the hospital at 6 a.m. armed and dangerous with anointing oil and the Bible to cover the mom of three in prayer. In the cab on the way to the hospital where our friend is having surgery. Armed and dangerous. And yes we will no doubt march around the hospital 7 times like its Jericho, Moore wrote on Instagram along with a video of the two ministers in a cab on the way to an undisclosed hospital in Dallas. We may stop short of praise dancing with banners in the waiting room, she added. Caine also shared the video and wrote, Sometimes you need a double barreled approach when you are going into active intercessory prayer for your friend who is having surgery. The two shared that the anointing oil and the Bible they carried were a perfect representation of the Holy Spirit and the Word of truth. They went to the hospital ready to rally around their sister in Christ. This is real sisterhood. No woman left alone. Whether she wants to be or not! Spirit and Truth working together, Caine continued. The day before surgery, Shirer shared a video on Instagram showing Moore at her house cleaning up for the War Room star after a family gathering. When youve had a few really tough weeks and youre on the eve of a few more tough ones but then your people show up - cooking and cleaning and making a celebration out of thin air, Shirer gratefully shared. Shirer decided to openly share about the procedure after word began to spread on social media. On Tuesday, the women in my home church surrounded me in prayer regarding an upcoming surgery that I have scheduled, she explained. Since then, news of this procedure began to spread on the inter webs by concerned individuals so I wanted to take a moment to address it personally. This past summer, it was clear that something surgical needed to be done as the nodule had begun to grow and show signs of dangerous irregularities, she said. A South Carolina man was sentenced Tuesday to two and a half years in federal prison for taking part in the illegal sale of 17 firearms, including five assault rifles in New Jersey over five months in 2017, authorities said. Richard Lowman, 31, pleaded guilty in May in Newark federal court to one count of conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed business of dealing firearms. U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi sentenced Lowman to prison and three years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. On six different occasions from May to September 2017, Lowman met with an unnamed person in Newark to sell firearms, Carpenito said in a statement. For some of the meetings, Lowman was sometimes with his uncle, Reginald Moultrie, but neither had a license to sell firearms, Carpenito said. Moultrie has pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and is awaiting sentencing. Lowman personally participated in the sale of an assault rifle on a Newark street in May 2017, Carpenito said. In August 2017, Lowman transported several firearms across state lines when he traveled to New Jersey from South Carolina, Carpenito said. Ultimately, six firearms were sold inside a residence in Newark on that occasion, Carpenito said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Army chief General M M Naravane on Wednesday hailed the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 as a "historic step" and said the move has disrupted plans of the "western neighbour and its proxies". IMAGE: Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane inspects the guard of honour during the Army Day Parade at Cariappa Ground, in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo The armed forces have "zero tolerance against terrorism", he said at the 72nd Army Day function in the Cariappa Parade Ground. "We have many options to counter those who promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to use them," he said. On August 5 last year, the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 that gave special powers to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories. The army chief said, "Abrogation of Article 370 is a historic step. It will prove to be important in integrating Jammu and Kashmir in the national mainstream. This decision has disrupted the plans of our western neighbour and its proxies". Gen Naravane said the country had to face some security challenges last year. "Not only it countered proxy war but other situations. Whether it is Line of Control or Line of Actual Control, we have ensured security with activeness and strength," he said, adding the situation at northern borders (China border) is relatively peaceful. The army chief said the situation along the LoC is linked with situation in Jammu and Kashmir. "Today, we remember those who have made ultimate sacrifice for the country. It will keep inspiring the coming generations," he said. Mentioning his visit to Siachen last week, he said he was extremely happy to see all the ranks brimming with confidence at the post. In last few days, some of our soldiers achieved martyrdom due to avalanche. We will always remember their sacrifice," he noted. Dhanush and K-Vajra gun systems were showcased for the first time in the army parade. Terming it an example of crony capitalism, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "The government is flouting norms and the defence procurement procedure 2016 (DPP-2016) in awarding the contract to the Adani-HSL joint venture". New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) The Congress has alleged a favouritism by the government towards the Adani Defence's joint venture with Hindustan Shipyard in the award of the Rs 45,000 crore contract for building six diesel-powered submarines, despite the company having no sectoral experience. "The Submarine Project 75-I is under a cloud of suspicion owing to allegations of favouritism, crony capitalism, violations of the DPP-2016 and an alleged over-ruling of Indian Navy and its empowered committee by the Narendra Modi government," said Surjewala. The Congress said five companies -- L&T, Reliance Naval & Engineering the government-controlled Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders, HSL and Adani-HSL JV -- replied to the expressions of interest (EoIs) invited by the government for building the submarines. "The empowered committee of the Navy, whose head is controller of warship acquisition, short-listed L&T and Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders, but the government is pressurising it to include the Adani-HSL JV. The meeting for the same is on Friday," Surjewala alleged. Alleging that the Adanis have zero experience and have flouted the project norms, the Congress leader said as till the final closure of EoIs on September 11, 2019, there was no official joint venture. On September 28, the companies announced formation of the joint venture, he said referring to media reports. "According to rules, the joint venture has to get clearance from the Ministry of Defence. But it had not been taken at the time submitting the EOI. The 'credit rating' has also been lowered to benefit the Adani JV. The norms say every entity bidding for a contract above Rs 1,000 crore should be categorised as 'A' but in this case it has been diluted to 'BBB'," alleged Jaiveer Shergill, Congress spokesperson, citing a HSL press statement. "This is apparent from a press conference/statement by HSL Managing Director Admiral L.V. Sarat Babu on September 28, where he categorically said the HSL is in the process of forming a joint venture with Adani Defence and the HSL is seeking permission from the government for the same," Shergill said. The reported decision of the 'empowered committee' of the Navy putting the so-called Adani Defence-HSL out of contention and consideration appeared to be prima facie correct, he said. "Why is then the Modi government seeking to overrule the Navy," he asked. miz/pcj RTHK: Report: two missiles struck downed jet in Iran Two Iranian missiles struck down a Ukrainian passenger jet, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, posting verified security camera footage showing double projectiles gliding through the sky before hitting their target. The missiles were fired 30 seconds apart and help explain a mystery as to why the plane's transponder was not working it was disabled by the first strike, before being hit by a second, the Times said. The Ukraine International Airlines plane was brought down shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. Tehran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence that the Boeing 737 had been downed by a missile. It came clean on Saturday when Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire independently. The blurry footage shows the plane on fire and circling back to Tehran's airport, the Times said. Minutes later, it exploded and crashed. The footage was shot from a rooftop in Bidkaneh, a village four miles from an Iranian military site, the Times said. Hundreds of angry protesters, most of them student, have taken to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, chanting slogans against the Islamic republic. Iran announced its first arrests over the accidental shooting on Tuesday, without naming who or how many people had been detained. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2020-01-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. esearchers at Princeton University have successfully recreated a key process involved in cell division in a test tube, uncovering the vital role played by a protein that is elevated in over 25% of all cancers. The researchers' findings, described in a pair of papers published in the journals eLife and Nature Communications, are a key step toward recreating the entire cell division machinery and could lead to new therapies aimed at preventing the growth of cancer cells. When cells divide, a spindle-like structure composed of thousands of filaments called microtubules attaches to chromosomes and pulls equal numbers of them into each newly forming cell. Each microtubule is assembled from individual tubulin molecules and, because errors in chromosome segregation can lead to cancer, it is vital that they assemble into microtubules at the right time and place to form a functional spindle apparatus. Branching microtubule nucleation, in which a new microtubule forms from the side of an existing one, is crucial to this process because it allows the cell to form large numbers of microtubules that all point toward chromosomes, enabling their capture by the spindle. Branching microtubule nucleation depends on several pieces of molecular machinery. One piece, called the gamma-tubulin ring complex (-TuRC), initiates the assembly of tubulin molecules into microtubules, while another, known as the augmin complex, recruits -TuRC to the side of existing microtubules. A protein called TPX2, whose levels are elevated in over 25% of all cancers, is also involved in branching microtubule nucleation. Elevated TPX2 levels lead to both aberrant microtubule assembly in cells and poor outcomes in cancer patients. But how TPX2 works with augmin and -TuRC to mediate branching microtubule nucleation and spindle assembly has remained unknown. "To better understand the mechanism of branching microtubule nucleation, we set out to reconstitute the process outside of the cell using purified proteins," said Sabine Petry, assistant professor of molecular biology at Princeton. In the eLife study, graduate students Raymundo Alfaro-Aco and Akanksha Thawani describe how they recreated branching microtubule nucleation in a test tube. One key finding from the study is that, like augmin, TPX2 can bind to microtubules and recruit -TuRC to initiate branching microtubule nucleation. Another surprising finding was that TPX2 also helps recruit augmin to microtubules, further enhancing the recruitment of -TuRC. "Branching microtubule nucleation therefore occurs most efficiently when augmin, TPX2, and -TuRC are all present," Alfaro-Aco said. "Surprisingly, TPX2 lies at the very heart of controlling this reaction, despite being only a single protein amongst the large multi-subunit complexes augmin and -TuRC." In the Nature Communications paper, Petry and her former graduate student Matthew King further reveal that TPX2 behaves like a liquid in promoting branching microtubule nucleation. Specifically, TPX2 forms a liquid layer on the surface of existing microtubules that beads up into tubulin-containing droplets, much like morning dew on spider webs. The researchers found that TPX2 and tubulin can condense together to form liquid-like droplets through a phase-separation mechanism identical to the one that causes oil droplets to form in water. New microtubules can form from these TPX2-tubulin droplets and, because the droplets condense on the surface of existing microtubules, this results in the formation of branched microtubule structures. "The study suggests that the co-condensation of TPX2 and tubulin creates a local reservoir of tubulin on a pre-existing microtubule that may be necessary to efficiently promote branching microtubule nucleation," King said. Together, both studies reveal that TPX2, somewhat overlooked before, is the lynchpin of branching microtubule nucleation. It travels to microtubules first to assemble all of the other components that ultimately give rise to a branching microtubule, and it does this while behaving like a liquid. Petry and colleagues think that cellular signals may regulate TPX2 condensation to ensure that it only occurs when a cell is dividing and needs to form a spindle. "Our findings on the behavior of TPX2 may guide future therapeutic efforts aimed at modulating cell division," Petry said. "In addition, our reconstitution of branching microtubule nucleation is an important step toward reconstituting the entire spindle apparatus, as well as other cellular structures that depend on this microtubule assembly pathway." The work published in both papers was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The work published in eLife was additionally supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and the American Heart Association. Raisin US chief executive Paul Knodel. Photo: Lukas Schramm Web German fintech Raisin is making its first foray into the US deposits market with the acquisition of banking software company Choice Financial Solutions. The acquisition means Raisin will licence Choices software to US banks, who can then create customised deposit products for their customers. Raisin declined to disclose what it paid to acquire Choice, which was founded in 2011. Launched in 2013 in Berlin, Raisins savings-and-investments platform enables people to set up one online account and search around for better rates for their savings, then move their money into accounts that offer higher yields, including banks in other European countries. Joining forces with Choice Financial Solutions lets Raisin begin offering cutting-edge services to banks and customers before we even launch our US platform, said Raisin US CEO Paul Knodel in a statement. Retail consumers increasingly expect convenience in every area of life, and banks today want to meet that demand, not just in terms of online and mobile banking, but also their banks available range of products. READ MORE: German start-ups attracted record investment in 2019 Raisin hired ex-Citigroup and Merrill Lynch executive Knodel to head up its US market entry last year. The startup has raised $200m (154m) in funding to datePayPal is one of its biggest investorsand says it has brokered 18.5bn (15.8bn) for 200,000 customers in over 28 European countries and 90 partner banks since it launched. Over the last decade weve been able to develop and perfect the missing piece for both banks and depositors: customisable deposits for each individuals needs... with no incremental operational overhead for the financial institution, said Choice FS founder and CEO Daniel Smith in a statement. Joining the Raisin family for us means greatly strengthening our ability to scale and connect our software to the sector that needs it most. Raisin bought Frankfurt-based MHB Bank last year, for an undisclosed sum, saying it would allow the company to make use of MHBs banking license to offer its financial services and investment products other eurozone countries in a speedier, more efficient way. [January 14, 2020] Ojas Eye Hospital Uses Zeiss Artevo 800 for Fast and Reliable Eye Surgery - Ojas Eye Hospital, one of the most comprehensive eye care facilities in Mumbai recently acquired Zeiss Artevo 800, for a fast and reliable eye surgery MUMBAI, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeiss Artevo 8000 is the first and only digital microscope on hand in the market so far. The view is excellent and less taxing compared to optical microscopes. This is the future technology for microscopes and might phase out optical ones. Today, there is no other microscope that possesses similar technology for competition or comparison, so a lot of refinement with the latest choices is expected. This is why Ojas Eye Hospital in Mumbai switched to this kind of technology to further improve their services.The first ever Mumbai's three-dimensional eye surgery and second in the state of Maharashtra was performed on the 11th of January, by Dr. Niteen Dedhia at the renowned Ojas eye hospital, Bandra using state-of-the-art Zeiss Artevo 800, after its installation on 6th January. With this state-of-the-art tool, even the smallest part of the eye is viewed and magnified stereoscopically on the 55-inch high definition 4K screen, offering greater precision as well as accuracy for most ecellent visual outcomes. This modern digital microscope is of extremely high power; therefore, a high-intensity light isn't needed compared to other optical microscopes used by other eye clinics. Zeiss Artevo 800 is like a pilot in a digital cockpit allowing real-time data in the doctor's view for utmost detail. This state-of-the-art equipment has 3D technology that allows the radiant digital picture to carry out various surgeries, including cataract surgery, retinal surgery, corneal surgery, Glaucoma surgery through special glasses. This device boasts of superb resolution and remarkable depth of field even with the low light intensity that avoids drying up the eye during surgery. This is possible with a 25% higher resolution of the optics and 25% better light transmission. It makes use of a 2 by 3 chip 4K camera that provides a fantastic stereoscopic vision when working deep inside the eye, like in retinal surgeries. It also enabled cloud connectivity with the Zeiss IOL Master 700 for error fast and error-free lens alignment. It also allows real-time measurement of these pressures during eye surgery. Eye Specialists in Mumbai praised the reliability of this device as it is easy to use compared to the traditional microscope. Also, the incessant strain on the neck and eyes looking into eyepieces is eliminated. With the addition of optical and digital microscopes, this hybrid technology has opened a whole new dimension to ophthalmic surgery. It is the future, and Ojas is proud to be a pioneer in acquiring it. According to Dr. Dedhia, "The integration of this new equipment helps us to make the process of eye surgery faster and successful. The fact that it is high-tech, we are in the position of providing the best service our patients deserve". About Ojas Eye Hospital: Ojas Eye Hospital is composed of well-trained eye surgeons and eye specialists. They make use of state-of-the-art tools as well as specialized eye procedures. They offer a friendly approach that educates, enlighten as well as gives details about the procedure. For more information about Ojas Eye Hospital services, please feel free to visit their website at https://www.ojaseyehospital.com/. Media Contact: Dr. Niteen Dedhia [email protected] +91-9821030290 Medical Director at Ojas Eye Hospital Ojas Eye Hospital Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1077011/Ojas_Hospital_Zeiss_Artevo_800.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Je vous remecie, Monsieur le Ministre, I would like to thank my colleague, Minister Bourita, for his very kind words. I am pleased to be here in Morocco, a country with which we enjoy historical ties. Today, we explored ways of bolstering our bilateral political and economic relations, including in areas such as trade, tourism, agriculture, maritime transportation, discussions between enterprises of both countries, cooperation in the Balkans and in Africa. We also exchanged views on our cooperation on a number of regional and international issues, pertaining to the Mediterranean and to North Africa, as well as to Moroccos relations with the EU. We would like Morocco to use our good services in their relations with the EU and would be very happy to help Morocco get even closer to the EU. I am very pleased that Greece and Morocco share a common perspective on those issues. But also and, importantly, to note both our countries commitment to always remain within the context of International Law in our foreign relations. We have particularly focused, as it is obvious, on Libya. In that regard, we reiterate our support to the efforts of the UN Secretary General Special Representative Mr. Salame, whom I have met in Brussels just a few days ago, towards reaching a political solution. We also hope that the upcoming Berlin Conference will achieve tangible progress in bringing this longstanding conflict to an end. May I be allowed also to say that we, Greece, were greatly surprised that Morocco was not invited at the meeting in Berlin on Sunday. We can not forget that Morocco was the cardinal factor of the Skhirat Agreement, which after eight months of hard work which you elaborated upon, Mr. Minister, was achieved. And all this experience now will not be present in Berlin. In Libya, we have been witnessing a sharp rise in instability and an unprecedented escalation of provocations by Turkey, which have already left their illegal footprint, similarly to what happened in Iraq, in Syria and in Cyprus. I think this is a serious source of concern to all countries in the region. I have to clearly say that the agreements signed by Turkey and Mr. Sarraj are entirely out of the scope of international law. They are null and void and produce no legal effects, whatsoever. Needless to say, they are beyond the Skhirat Agreement, which they clearly violate. They constitute an attempt to usurp the sovereign rights of third countries in the Mediterranean, while seriously undermining stability in Libya and in the wider region, and jeopardize the neighboring countries security. As I said before, they violate the Skhirat Agreement, Libyas national legal foundations, as well as international law and norms. What is more, Turkeys decision to deploy troops on Libyan soil is a violation of the sovereignty of a member of the UN and of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. Greece welcomes the major reforms carried out by King Mohammed VI in a dynamic of openness, progress and modernity, through the conception of an adapted and renovated development model and the promotion of an advanced regionalisation. Greece welcomes Moroccos role, under the ledership of the King on the regional and international levels, as a provider of stability and peace and a vector of growth and development in the region and in all of Africa. We support the UN efforts to reach a fair, realistic, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the issue of Western Sahara, in accordance with the relevant UN Resolutions. We also encourage all parties to continue their engagement in a spirit of realism and compromise. To this end, Greece considers the Moroccan initiative submitted to the UN as a serious and credible approach for reaching a solution to the problems. Regarding the European Union, Greece welcomes the recent renewal of the agricultural and fisheries agreements between Morocco and the EU. My colleague, His Excellency, made a clear remark on this. We also underline our support to the declaration of the Association Council of June 2019. Closer ties between the EU and Morocco have been proven mutually beneficial. We hope they will continue to be further enhanced in the future and Greece will do its part in this process. My dear Colleague, thank you very much for hosting us here today. And kindly allow me to say, I am hoping to see you soon in Athens. Thank you very much. JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] N. DENDIAS: Thank you for this question, I have touched upon this on my initial remark. First of all, we support every effort to bring this conflict into a conclusion and really establish peace and stability in Libya and the region. The agreement in Moscow failed to do that and we hope that Berlin could achieve something more. Although I have to say, as I said before, that we cannot understand why Greece is not a part of this process but even more we cannot understand why Morocco was not called in Berlin, after all the hard work that Morocco has done. And it was very successful work, if I may say so, because the only tangible result of all these efforts on Libya is the Skhirat Agreement. Unfortunately, neither we nor Morocco are present in Berlin. We hope for the best. We will see what happens there and we will discuss it afterwards. On the issue of the two memoranda signed between the government in Tripoli and Turkey, our clear position -which is also the position of the European Council and of the State Department is that those agreements are null and void. They were signed in clear breach of the Skhirat Agreement, they do not serve peace and stability in the region and they do not even serve the interests of the Libyan people. I am not even sure of they serve Turkeys true interests, but I am not the one that would be the judge of that. INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI) - Governor Eric Holcomb covered several important topics during his state of the state address Tuesday night. Representative Sheila Klinker was one of his escorts into the House chamber for the joint session. "The state of our state is stronger than ever," started the governor, followed by a round of applause. Something Governor Eric Holcomb attributes to hard working Hoosiers from South Bend to Evansville. He touted Indiana's low unemployment rate and booming workforce. He said we have made great headway on road infrastructure, but needs to do more in terms of safety. "Better roads has to mean safer roads," he said. "Which is why we must join 21 other states that have already passed hands free device driving law." He said Indiana has created more job opportunities for people with intellectual and physical disabilities, and that our recidivism rates are going down thanks to specialized job training for people in our prisons. For Representative Chris Campbell, she was not surprised by the governor's address. "He talks a lot about our future workforce but that investment has to be made at the ground level," she said. Governor Holcomb explained his much anticipated response to demands for teacher pay increases. He is recommending the General Assembly put $250 million from the state surplus in the next budget for the teacher retirement fund. Which he says will allow $50 million a year to be redirected to teacher pay. This is a vote that can only happen during a budget year, which won't be until 2021. "I'm pleased to see that he's going to do some new monies for teacher salary increases," he said. "I wish he would announce some pay this year for teacher pay, but he's our governor," said Senator Ron Alting. "He's putting money into the retirement fund instead of giving it to the schools," said Representative Campbell. "Let the schools use the money to pay their teachers. This $250 million, that should be an increase to the schools." Teacher pay increases this year was a big demand at the Red for Ed rally in November. State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick released this statement regarding Governor Holcomb's plan of action: While I appreciate the Governor including the teacher compensation crisis in the State of the State Address, I am disappointed Indiana continues to delay necessary action. Insufficient school funding resulting in inadequate teacher compensation impacts 1.1 million students, 78,000 Hoosier educators, and the future of our great state. Students cannot afford to lose more great educators while Indiana decides if we can afford them. The final thing Holcomb addressed was the need to lower Indiana's infant and maternal mortality rates. "To help more moms and babies have a healthier start. we're pursuing legislation that 27 other states have already adopted," he said. As News 18 previously reported, that's Senator Ron Alting's bill. His bill would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to its pregnant employees. Senator Alting said Governor Holcomb's message was one of overarching unity and bipartisanship. "This is not Washington," he said. "We work for the betterment of all people on both sides of the aisle in Indiana. And I'm very proud of that." Four British children whose parents joined ISIS in 2014 may be repatriated from a Syrian refugee camp - but only if their mother agrees she cannot return with them. The Government has said it will 'urgently investigate' bringing the children of Mehak Aslam, from East London, and Shahan Choudary, also from London, back to the UK. The move could lead to the return of dozens of children trapped in camps following the defeat of IS. Aslam joined the terrorist group with Choudhury, who became an IS gravedigger and was later imprisoned. The children of Mehak Aslam, from East London, and Shahan Choudary, also from London could be returned to the UK following the defeat of ISIS Both have been stripped of their British citizenship. Mohamed Aslam urged his daughter to sign the proposal from the Government which promised to begin investigating the process of the children's return. He told ITV he recognised the need for children to be raised by their parents but said it was not possible for his grandchildren. Mr Aslam said: 'That's a hard reality but at least they'll be safe here - at least they'll be safe and secure.' He said a fifth grandchild was killed in an explosion in Syria. Aslam joined the terrorist group with Choudhury (pictured), who became an IS gravedigger and was later imprisoned 'She passed away - I can never forgive them (her parents) for that. 'They wanted to take this step for themselves - that's fine, that's their problem. Why involve the kids in this?' An estimated 60 children whose parents joined IS are in Syrian refugee camps, with Whitehall long criticised over perceived inaction on their repatriation. The Aslam and Choudhury families approached the Foreign Office for help after watching an interview with Shahan Choudhury last June. A Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the Aslam children's case. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the AAP government and the prison authorities for creating a system which was "suffering from cancer" and "capable of being exploited" by death row convicts who wanted to "strategically" delay their execution. The strong remarks by a bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal came after the Delhi government and prison authorities told the court that none of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case could be hanged on the scheduled date of January 22 as one of them has moved a mercy plea. The four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7. Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra told the court that under the prison rules, if death sentence has been awarded to more than one person in a case and if only one of them moves a mercy plea, the execution of the others too has to be postponed till the plea is decided. "Then your rule is bad if you cannot take action till all the co-convicts have moved a mercy plea. It seems there has been non-application of mind (while framing the rules). The system is suffering from cancer," the bench shot back. The high court also pulled up the Delhi government and prison authorities for the delay on their part in issuing a notice to the convicts informing them they can move mercy pleas before the President. The bench said the notice ought to have been issued after the apex court's May 5, 2017 judgement, instead it was issued on October 29, 2019 and December 18, 2019. "Put your house in order. Your house is in disarray. The problem is people will lose confidence in the system. Things are not moving in the right direction. The system is capable of being exploited and we see a stratagem to exploit the system, which is oblivious about it," the high court said. In defence of the prison authorities, Mehra said the prison rules state that unless all the co-convicts have exercised all their legal remedies, we cannot issue the notice. He agreed the system was being exploited by the convicts to "frustrate" and "defeat" the process of law, as they were moving review pleas and curative petitions separately and in stages. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK, France, and Germany have officially triggered the dispute mechanism in the Iran nuclear deal while rejecting US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" sanctions on the country, Business Insider writes in the article The Iran nuclear deal is on the brink of collapse as Britain, France, and Germany trigger a dispute mechanism to directly confront Iran. The three countries negotiated the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran alongside the US, China, and Russia. The JCPOA was designed to stop Iran from producing its own nuclear weapons, and it set up a framework limiting the quantity and degree to which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium. 'We have therefore been left with no choice' The three countries' decision comes in response to Iran's May announcement that it would stop meeting some of its commitments under the deal and full withdrawal from it earlier this month. European countries have attempted multiple times to salvage the deal, but Iran has refused to return to the agreement. "We have therefore been left with no choice, given Iran's actions, but to register today our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPOA and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the JCPoA," the three countries said in a statement Tuesday. Here's how the dispute mechanism works after it is triggered, according to the text of the nuclear deal: 1. The Joint Commission made up of negotiators from the signatory countries has 15 days of resolve the issue. 2. If this fails after 15 days, any participant can refer the issue to the countries' ministers of foreign affairs. The ministers then have another 15 days to discuss and find a resolution. 3. If the issue isn't resolved after those 30 days, it will be elevated to the JCPOA Advisory Board, which has five days to negotiate. 4. If it still isn't resolved, then the complaining signatory country can treat the issue as "grounds to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part," and/or refer it to the UN Security Council. The US, Russia, China, Britain, and France sit on that council. 5. The UN Security Council would then have 30 days to find a resolution to continue with sanctions relief on Iran, which was enshrined in the JCPOA. 6. If no resolution is adopted, then all previous sanctions on Iran would be reimposed. This is also called a "snapback." Europe vows no maximum pressure on Iran, apparently recognizing Trump's failed strategy. Iran's withdrawal from the deal largely came in response to Trump's decision to pull the US out of the nuclear deal in May 2018 and to impose punitive "maximum pressure" sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. Trump had hoped his maximum-pressure economic strategy would force Iran's leaders to comply with the US's demands about its behavior, but it has largely emboldened the government against the US. Britain, France, and Germany appeared to rebuke the strategy by stressing that they wouldn't impose maximum pressure on Iran. They said on Tuesday, regarding the dispute-mechanism trigger: "We do this in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework." They added: "In doing so, our three countries are not joining a campaign to implement maximum pressure against Iran. Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA." Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern with the decision of the JCPOA European signatories to proceed with the dispute mechanism set in paragraph 36 of the JCPOA, and their appeal to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and coordinator of the Joint JCPOA Commission. We dont see any reason for such a move. We do not exclude that the ill-conceived actions of the EU Three will lead to a new escalation around the JCPOA and make it impossible to return the implementation of the nuclear deal in the originally agreed framework, which the European countries allegedly seek. The dispute mechanism was created for completely different purposes. The reasons for the difficulties in the implementation of the JCPOA are widely known and not related to Iran. When the mechanism was developed, no one could assume that the US would unilaterally withdraw from the JCPOA. Unfortunately, despite the serious efforts made by the parties involved, since Washingtons withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May 2018, the agreement has not yet been restored to its previous stability. Tehrans decisions to suspend its voluntary commitments under the JCPOA are reciprocal and, above all, are a reaction to gross violations of the agreements and UN Security Council resolution 2231 by the United States, while the Iranian nuclear program remains under constant, unprecedented in scope and depth verification by the IAEA. Iran fully complies with the NPT, implements the Agreement with the IAEA on comprehensive safeguards, applies the Additional Protocol. The transparency of Irans nuclear activities is a key element of the entire nuclear deal. We note the statements of the leaders of the EU Three about their rejection of the maximum pressure policy regarding Iran and their commitment to the JCPOA in spite of pressure from the United States. At the same time, despite the demonstration of readiness to work on creating reliable, effective ways to circumvent Washingtons obstacles, the above mentioned European countries are either not ready or cannot afford it. We also note serious gaps in the implementation of comprehensive agreements by the EU Three. If and when all these numerous and various problems are eliminated, Iran will have no reason to deviate from the initially agreed parameters of the JCPOA. The restrictions envisaged by the JCPOA regarding the Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran agreed to balance interests and mutual obligations, were temporary from the very beginning. This is well known by the EU Three. These restrictions were needed in order to create the IAEA space to receive answers from Tehran, then they were removed in less than six months. Nevertheless, Iran was ready to comply with all the conditions of the nuclear deal with due reciprocity and a responsible attitude on the part of other partners. Despite all the challenges, the JCPOA has not lost its relevance. We advocate its systematic comprehensive implementation in accordance with the parameters that were agreed in 2015 and enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution 2231. We urge the EU Three not to escalate the situation and abandon steps that call into question the prospects for the nuclear deal, " the statement reads. Baghdad: Firebrand Iraqi leader Moqtada Sadr called Tuesday for a peaceful million-strong march against US troops in Iraq, days after Parliament urged their departure following Washingtons killing of an Iranian general in a drone strike. Further upping the pressure on the American deployment, Katyusha rockets on Tuesday night targeted an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad where US-led coalition forces are based, in the latest attack on American forces in the country. The skies, land and sovereignty of Iraq are being violated every day by occupying forces, Sadr, a populist Shiite politician and cleric, wrote on Twitter. He urged Iraqis to hold a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations, without giving a date. Washington on January 3 killed Irans revered Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike that also killed a senior Iraqi military official. The Iraqi parliament responded by voting on January 5 to oust foreign forces including some 5,200 American troops who have backed the fight against Islamic State jihadists since 2014. Bases where US forces are stationed have been under a steady stream of rocket attacks for several months that have killed one American contractor and one Iraqi soldier. On Tuesday, a new rocket attack targeted the Camp Taji airbase north of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said, without specifying how many rockets hit the base. Police and medical sources told AFP two Iraqi personnel members were wounded in the attack. The military instability comes months into mass anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad and the country's south, condemning politicians seen as corrupt and inept. The rallies have persisted throughout but shifted to include calls for Iraq to be spared any conflict between Iran and the US. Iraq has been in political paralysis since the resignation late last year of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, with pro- and anti-Iran factions unable to agree on a candidate to form a new government. Protesters have rejected the possibility of reinstating Abdel Mahdi. The people reject that, said Hussin Ali Abdul Hussein, a demonstrator in Karbala, south of the capital. "We don't want to recycle the rubbish, we want a prime minister the public can accept." The protest movement and the ensuing crackdown by security forces has left around 460 people dead, mostly protesters. Activists have faced a campaign of intimidation, abductions and killings. When Joeli Brearley discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she had the usual concerns. Would the baby be healthy, would her morning sickness subside, and how would her life change? What she never imagined was being fired by voicemail the morning after telling her employer. I was in shock, shaking and pacing the floor when I heard, she says. I called my husband and started Googling but I didnt even know the phrase maternity discrimination, so I was just typing things like: Im pregnant, lost my job. Joeli, now 40 and a mother of two, was a project manager for a childrens charity that had a female CEO; the last workplace you might expect to treat a mother-to-be unfairly. But her story is all the more shocking in that it is far from unusual. Every year, around 54,000 women in the UK are illegally pushed out of their jobs because they get pregnant or take maternity leave, an official report found. In many cases their careers never recover, leaving their confidence shattered. Worse, many cant speak out because their employer has forced them to sign a non-disclosure agreement so thousands more cases could go unreported. The law could not be clearer. Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal to discriminate against women because they are pregnant or take maternity leave. Joeli Brearley, 40, from York, (pictured with her children, Theo, six, and Jack, four) who was fired after she revealed her pregnancy to her employer, has launched a campaign group Last week, top beauty company Liz Earle was ordered to pay more than 17,000 to an employee sacked when she was eight months pregnant. However, because the justice process is so expensive and drawn-out, it can be incredibly difficult for women to hold their employers to account. Having just lost their job and about to give birth, these women are uniquely vulnerable. So, often, firms bully them into accepting a bit of money in exchange for their silence. Others are forced to give up on proceedings to protect their families which is what happened to Joeli. We meet in the four-bedroom house in York where she lives with husband Tom, 36, and their children, Theo, six, and Jack, four. Joeli recalls her shock at the message from her boss sacking her. She says: My first thought was, Well this is really silly of them because of course the law will protect me. How naive I was! After the initial shock had subsided, she hired a solicitor, who wrote a letter threatening to take the charity to tribunal. But they did not even respond. That alone cost me 300, she says. I had no income coming in and didnt know how I could afford to take it further. At a hospital check-up, Joeli was told she was at risk of going into labour early and needed an emergency operation. They said I had to reduce the stress in my life, she says. Id just lost my job, didnt know how I was going to pay my mortgage and was then told, Whatever you do, dont get stressed. So I had to drop the case. It was a choice between the health of the baby or getting justice and that wasnt a choice. Fortunately, Joeli found a new job, and then had a healthy boy, Theo. For many women, finding alternative employment while obviously pregnant proves impossible. Hannah Martin, 47, from Sussex (pictured) was bullied into signing a non-disclosure agreement, when she was sacked from her job after having a baby Joeli soon started to hear from women in the same situation, including a university friend who was made redundant from a senior position at a stockbroking firm when she was six months pregnant. She had been there ten years and was the only person who was let go. I realised we needed a way to expose these stories, she says. And so Pregnant Then Screwed was born. Before starting the campaign group, Joeli says she didnt even consider herself a feminist. Ive always been outspoken but Id never experienced any inequality because of my sex until that point, she says. Im white, Im middle-class, I was doing well career-wise. But when this happened, it felt like the blindfold had been ripped off. Her organisation now has 35 unpaid volunteers across the country and two paid members of staff. She says: Initially, it was just a place for women to tell their stories anonymously but it mushroomed. Women kept asking me if they had a case, so we set up a free legal advice line, then a mentor scheme. The tribunal process is often prohibitive. Fewer than one per cent of women who experience maternity discrimination raise a claim. Jo Haider, 32, (pictured with her daughter, two) from Dorset, spent two years battling her employers to get the wages and holiday pay owed when she was made redundant You have just under three months to raise a tribunal claim after being sacked. So if you are fired while seven months pregnant, you would need to make a claim just before or just after giving birth. Legal aid for employment disputes was severely restricted in 2013. So if you cannot afford a lawyer between 5,000 and 10,000 for a simple case and as much as 30,000 for a complicated one you must almost always represent yourself. Its David versus Goliath, says Joeli. They can spend a fortune on the best lawyers and lots of women go through the process alone. The system is meant to work so that you can represent yourself but anyone Ive spoken to says it is just impossible. Even if you win, the average award in sex discrimination cases is less than 9,000, according to official figures, which leaves very little after legal costs. These obstacles make it easier for employers to buy silence. Hannah Martin says she was bullied into signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) when she was sacked from her job in advertising after having a baby. Hannah (pictured) recalls being frozen out by her boss, before being made to sign an agreement barring her from revealing the true reason for why she was being dismissed Now 47, she lives in Sussex with her husband Max and their children, Ollie, 16, and Mimi, ten. She says: The moment my boss looked me in the eye and lied to my face, falsely claiming Id had several verbal warnings for shoddy work, I knew this was a fight I couldnt win. Hannah, founder of online training programme Talented Ladies Club, had been called into a meeting with three men. To say it felt like an ambush is an understatement, she says. I was devastated, bewildered and in no doubt theyd make my life hell if I tried to brave it out. It made no sense: Id won several awards and been told my work was perfect at an appraisal months earlier. But that was before I had my baby. Determined to prove becoming a mother wouldnt hold her back, Hannah only went on maternity leave two days before giving birth. I was back at my desk four months later, she says. While pregnant, my manager had told me Id be able to work a day a week from home but he reneged on it on my return. And so, to have some semblance of work/life balance, I started leaving the office on time at 5.30pm. '"Perception is everything, my boss told me. Soon after, he began to freeze me out by not giving me any work. Then came that meeting. It was swift and aggressive. I could either go quietly, my boss told me, or theyd make it difficult for me to work anywhere else. I was told the official line would be Id resigned because I could not cope. I had to sign an NDA barring me from revealing the truth. Joeli (pictured right) revealed there are some companies that force women to do a shot of vodka each day to prove that they aren't pregnant A tribunal would take the time, money and energy that Hannah did not feel she could muster. Thankfully, I got a new job almost immediately, on 10,000 a year more, which felt like a kind of justice, she says. I can only talk about what happened now because the company has shut. I was blackmailed and bullied out of a job I loved and that will always feel like a terrible injustice. Such gagging orders have become a powerful weapon for the rich. Last year, the Government launched an inquiry after it emerged employers were abusing NDAs to silence victims of sexual harassment. Joeli says their use in maternity discrimination is a major concern. She adds: We know of household name firms that win awards for how brilliant they are to women, when behind closed doors women are announcing their pregnancy and then being kicked out. Jane van Zyl, chief executive of Working Families, the UKs work-life balance charity, says: We receive calls about this on a daily basis. And the more vulnerable women are for example, if they are on a low income or in a low-skilled job the easier it is for the employer to flout the law. Being sacked is far from the only form of discrimination pregnant women and new mothers face. Joeli tells me of a company where the boss forced women to do a shot of vodka at the start of each day to prove they werent pregnant. Then there was the woman who had hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness) and was forced to vomit in a waste-paper bin in an open-plan office because her boss didnt like her running to the bathroom all the time. Or another who was told by her boss to stop bringing the office down after a miscarriage. Joeli (pictured) believes employers use bullying and harassment to push women out, as they're aware it's illegal to sack a woman for being pregnant Devastatingly, none of these women ever did anything about it. Joeli says: Employers know sacking women because they are pregnant is illegal, so they use other methods to push them out. Its bullying, harassment, like a drip-drip effect. In the end you feel weak, like you cant cope. So often, women blame themselves. Joeli doesnt believe a change in the law is the answer, however. She says: The law is clear: it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity. The problem is that employers are flouting the law. She adds that banning NDAs outright might make things worse since it would stop many getting the small payouts they are currently offered for their silence. So campaigners are calling for an independent body to monitor what goes on behind closed doors. Then, if they spot employers using NDAs regularly to mask abhorrent behaviour, they could step in. Jane van Zyl says: A good start would be increasing time limits for tribunal claims, and extending protections from redundancy to all new parents for six months when they come back to work. But whats really key is workplace culture with better, more widespread flexible working, along with more new fathers taking leave. If this becomes the norm, then mothers are less likely to be seen as a liability. It is still all too common for employers to worry that women will have different priorities after having children. Joelis dedication to her new-found cause proves just how false that assumption is. Her husband Tom says proudly: Shes found her calling. She knows that this is what she is supposed to be doing and never switches off. Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is already unlawful and has no place in the modern workplace. We want to clamp down hard on discrimination against pregnant women and new parents, and so our upcoming Employment Bill will extend redundancy protection by six months for new mothers returning to work. We are also tackling the misuse of NDAs, so that workplace discrimination cannot be swept under the carpet. I won my case, but I still wont get a penny JO HAIDER was told she was being made redundant as sales and marketing director five days after the caesarean birth of her daughter, Safia, above, with Jo. It took a two-year court battle to get the wages and holiday pay owed by her employers, Cloud Social Media Ltd. Jo, 32, lives in Dorset with her husband Sayed and daughters, Natasha, six, and Safia, two. She says: Jo Haider (pictured with her daughter) was left with a 7,000 solicitor bill after battling her former employer in court The last thing I expected to land on the doormat, alongside cards congratulating me on the birth of our second child, was a letter telling me I was being considered for redundancy. No one else was being considered. It completely floored me. Id just given birth and was also caring for my three-year-old daughter. I was vulnerable and simply didnt have the emotional reserves to fight. On my last day in the office, two of the companys directors had kissed me on the cheek and promised theyd come to see the baby. Just six weeks later they sent me that devastating letter. Despite it being clear that Id go quietly, they then refused to pay me what I was owed, putting me through two years of hellish legal wrangling. Finally, an employment court ordered they pay me the 3,433 I was owed, plus 22,786 in damages. Ill never see a penny of it they liquidated the company, so I chased the directors for personal liability. But they have since been declared bankrupt, so Ill never get any money from them. Meanwhile, my solicitors bill is 7,000. But I couldnt have lived with myself if Id let them crush me without a fight. Ive had to take medication to help me through the depression it triggered. The case put me in debt and my marriage came under dreadful pressure. Im glad I fought it, no matter the cost. Winning was the validation that I desperately needed. Advertisement pregnantthenscrewed.com CASE STUDIES: RACHEL HALLIWELL Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) A Filipina in Singapore was sentenced to seven weeks of imprisonment on Tuesday for submitting false documents to the countrys Immigration and Checkpoints Authority . Noriza Dancel De Luna, 38, was arrested in October 2017 for presenting false statements in her applications for permanent residency for herself in 2008 and her daughter in 2009, ICA said in a statement. It said investigation showed that De Luna does not have any records of enrolment at Centro Escolar University, proving that the diploma and transcript of records she provided during her applications were not officially released by the said school. Any person who has made a false statement in their applications for immigration facilities will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law. This may include having their immigration facilities deprived or revoked, as provided for under the Constitution and the Immigration Act, the statement added. The agency said it will also review the statuses of family members of those convicted of any offence. DUBLIN, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Hydrogen Peroxide Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global hydrogen peroxide market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period, majorly due to its rising applications in pulp & paper industry. Increasing consumption of hydrogen peroxide as raw material for polypropylene oxide production (HPPO process) is augmenting the growth of the market. Health hazards associated with long-term exposure of hydrogen peroxide is likely to hinder the market's growth. Newer opportunities for hydrogen peroxide in wastewater treatment is projected to act as an opportunity for the market in future. The global hydrogen peroxide market is consolidated in nature, with the top five players occupying nearly 70% of the market. Majority of companies are focusing on expanding their production capacities, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. Growing end-user segments, such as electronics and consumer goods, have been the prime focus areas for a lot of companies in the recent times. These players include Solvay, Evonik Industries AG, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc., Arkema Group, Kemira Oyj. Key Market Trends Increasing Demand from Pulp & Paper Industry Hydrogen peroxide is extensively used in the paper and pulp industry as a bleaching agent, and it is used in the production of various types of pulps, such as mechanical, chemical, and recyclable pulps. It helps ensure optimal whitening of the pulps for these industries. Hydrogen peroxide serves as a principal bleaching agent in the bleaching of mechanical pulps. It can be used alone or with other bleaching agents. The use of hydrogen peroxide helps impart optimal whitening to the mechanical pulp. In the manufacturing of chemical pulp, hydrogen peroxide and sodium chlorate are the most extensively used bleaching agents. Hydrogen peroxide is the principle bleaching agent on total chlorine-free (TCF) sequence and is used to ensure a high degree of brightness, while minimizing the impact of effluents. Hydrogen peroxide also finds its application in re-pulping of wastepaper over other bleaching agents, as it aids in reducing the bleaching costs and decreases the effluent color. The United States , Asia-Pacific , and Europe are expected to witness strong demand for hydrogen peroxide in applications relating to the paper and pulp industry. , , and are expected to witness strong demand for hydrogen peroxide in applications relating to the paper and pulp industry. The aforementioned factors are likely to increase the demand for hydrogen peroxide over the forecast period. In Asia-Pacific, China is Projected to Dominate the Market In Asia-Pacific , China is the largest economy in terms of GDP. China is one of the fastest-growing economies globally and almost all the end-user industries have been growing, owing to the rising population, living standards, and per capita income. , is the largest economy in terms of GDP. is one of the fastest-growing economies globally and almost all the end-user industries have been growing, owing to the rising population, living standards, and per capita income. The country holds the highest share in rare minerals production, followed by other major countries, such as Australia , the United States , and Russia , among others. Further growth prospects in this sector are expected to provide positive outlook for the market studied in the near future. , , and , among others. Further growth prospects in this sector are expected to provide positive outlook for the market studied in the near future. China is a hub for chemical processing, accounting for a major chunk of the chemicals produced, globally. With the increasing demand for various chemicals globally, the demand for hydrogen peroxide from this sector is projected to rise during the forecast period. is a hub for chemical processing, accounting for a major chunk of the chemicals produced, globally. With the increasing demand for various chemicals globally, the demand for hydrogen peroxide from this sector is projected to rise during the forecast period. China is the largest pulp and paper producing nation in the world. The industry is modern and highly mechanized, and the labor is inexpensive. Due to government afforestation initiatives, forest cover is increasing in China . While this is a positive sign, there are concerns regarding social and environmental issues. As the largest wood importer in the world, with complex and opaque supply chains, significant challenges are also present. is the largest pulp and paper producing nation in the world. The industry is modern and highly mechanized, and the labor is inexpensive. Due to government afforestation initiatives, forest cover is increasing in . While this is a positive sign, there are concerns regarding social and environmental issues. As the largest wood importer in the world, with complex and opaque supply chains, significant challenges are also present. The electronics industry in China is the largest in the world. Electronic products, such as smartphones, OLED TVs, tablets, etc., have the highest growth in the market in the consumer electronics segment. With the increase in disposable income of middle-class population, the demand for electronic products is projected to rise in the near future, thereby driving the hydrogen peroxide market. is the largest in the world. Electronic products, such as smartphones, OLED TVs, tablets, etc., have the highest growth in the market in the consumer electronics segment. With the increase in disposable income of middle-class population, the demand for electronic products is projected to rise in the near future, thereby driving the hydrogen peroxide market. Hence, with growth in the various end-user sectors in the country, the demand for hydrogen peroxide is likely to increase in the future. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Rising Demand from the Paper and Pulp Industry 4.1.2 Increasing Consumption of Hydrogen Peroxide as Raw Material for Propylene Oxide Production (HPPO Process) 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 Health Hazards Associated with Long-term Exposure of Hydrogen Peroxide 4.3 Industry Value-Chain Analysis 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 4.5 Technological Snapshot 4.5.1 Production Process 4.5.2 Technology Licensing and Patent Analysis 4.6 Trade Analysis 4.7 Price Analysis 4.8 Supply Scenario 4.9 Upcoming Projects 4.10 Regulatory Policies 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 Product Function 5.1.1 Disinfectant 5.1.2 Bleaching 5.1.3 Oxidant 5.1.4 Other Product Functions 5.2 End-user Industry 5.2.1 Pulp & Paper 5.2.2 Chemical Synthesis 5.2.3 Wastewater Treatment 5.2.4 Mining 5.2.5 Food & Beverage 5.2.6 Cosmetics & Healthcare 5.2.7 Textiles 5.2.8 Other End-user Industries 5.3 Geography 5.3.1 Asia-Pacific 5.3.2 North America 5.3.3 Europe 5.3.4 South America 5.3.5 Middle East & Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Mergers & Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements 6.2 Market Share Analysis 6.3 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players 6.4 Company Profiles 6.4.1 Arkema Group 6.4.2 BASF SE 6.4.3 Chang Chun Group 6.4.4 Dow 6.4.5 Evonik Industries AG 6.4.6 Grasim 6.4.7 Guangdong ZhongCheng Chemicals Co. Ltd. 6.4.8 Gujarat Alkali and Chemicals Ltd. 6.4.9 Hodogaya Chemical Co. Ltd. 6.4.10 Kemira Oyj 6.4.11 Kingboard Holdings Limited 6.4.12 Merck KGaA 6.4.13 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc. 6.4.14 National Peroxide Ltd. 6.4.15 Nouryon 6.4.16 PeroxyChem 6.4.17 Qingdao LaSheng Co. Ltd. 6.4.18 Solvay 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS 7.1 Newer Opportunities for Hydrogen Peroxide in Wastewater Treatment 7.2 Growth of the Electronic Industry in Developing Asian Countries For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qy3nw Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Former Utah nurse, Elet Neilson (pictured), who stole painkillers and infected several patients with hepatitis C in 2014 has been sentenced to five years in prison A former Utah nurse who stole painkillers and infected several patients with hepatitis C in 2014 has been sentenced to five years in prison. Elet Neilson, 53, was sentenced Monday after previously pleading guilty in federal court to tampering with a consumer product and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. She acknowledged injecting herself with painkillers meant for patients while she worked as an emergency room nurse at the McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. Her attorney said the syringes she used somehow became mixed up in the chaos of the emergency room. Seven people contracted the hepatitis C Neilson carries, though state officials said she exposed as many as 7,200 patients to the infection. Neilson tearfully told the judge she was 'repulsed' by her behavior and never thought her actions would affect so many people. She said she turned to drug use in 2014 as a way to cope with a divorce and long overnight shifts. The woman also said she was under a lot of stress while caring for her young son, who is autistic. Neilson, who has the genotype 2b strain, also said she didn't know she had hepatitis C until the health department called her in 2015. According to Fox 13, Judge Dee Benson ordered Neilson to report to a facility in Bryan, Texas by March 2. TORONTO ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2019 / Grid Metals Corp (TSXV:GRDM ) ("Grid" or the "Company") today announced the closing of its financing ( the "Offering') announced on October 29, 2019. Pursuant to the Offering the Company has issued a total of 3,000,000 Units at $0.10 per Unit and 1,360,000 Flow Through shares at $0.125 per share for total gross proceeds of $470,000. Each Unit consists of a common share and a warrant exercisable at $0.15 per share for a period of two years. Subsequent to the initial closing announced December 2, 2019 the Company issued 1,080,000 flow through shares and 500,000 Units in the final tranche for gross proceeds of $185,000. Finders fees of $2,450 were paid in connection with the final tranche. The President and CEO of Grid subscribed for 200,000 shares of the flow through portion of the Offering. A portion of the proceeds of the Offering will be used to finance the exploration on the East Bull Lake palladium property, which is located approximately 80 km west of Sudbury Ontario. Information about the East Bull Lake ("EBL") property can be found on the Grid website at www.gridmetalscorp.com. Grid to Attend VRIC The Company is pleased to announce it will be attending the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference on January 19 and 20 and will be exhibiting at Booth #510. The Company will make a corporate presentation on January 20 at 2:40 pm and will include commentary on the strong palladium market. Grid has strong exposure to palladium through its Makwa-Mayville resource, its PGE zone at the Mayville property, and its EBL project. The next phase of work at EBL will target Lac des Isle-type (structurally controlled) palladium deposits. The Company recently announced the addition of Dr. Dave Peck Ph.D., the former V.P., Exploration at North American Palladium Ltd. (the former owner of the Lac des Isle palladium mine) to its management team. Dave has been appointed to the position of V.P. Exploration and Business Development. About Grid Metals Corp. Grid Metals Corp. is an exploration and development Company that has a diversified portfolio of projects in the nickel-copper-platinum group metal sectors. These commodities are vital to the emerging battery metals, energy storage and automotive sectors. All of Grid's projects are located in secure North American mining jurisdictions. The Company is focused on timely advancement of its property portfolio through prudent exploration and development activities. In addition to the East Bull Lake PGM Property Grid has ongoing development work at its Makwa Mayville Nickel-Copper-PGM project located in Manitoba. The Company is working on completion of an updated NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for that project. The existing PEA was completed in April 2014. To find out more about Grid Metals, please visit www.gridmetalscorp.com. On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp. Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 David Black - Investor Relations Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573223/Grid-Corporate-and-Financing-Update Above from left, the Shots booth at ANME; Alicia Sinclair with the new b-Vibe x Zoe Ligon collection; Icon Brands Icee Dildoes. Photos by Rick Garcia BURBANK, Calif.The ANME Founders Show wrapped its two-day Winter 2020 edition on Monday, with buyers and attendees visiting booths of some of the biggest manufacturers in the industry. In the Shots booth, reps were on hand to talk about the Irresistible touchless clitoral stimulator range. The Kissable, Seductive, Invincible, Mythical and Desirable use soft-pressure air wave stimulation to deliver intense external stimulation. Also getting buzz in the booth were Switch Kits. Available in six varieties, the Switch Kits feature a blindfold and feather tickler paired with a powerful vibrator base that comes with various detachable heads. Each head delivers a different type of stimulation. The kits comes with different amount of attachments in different combinations. The attachments come in wand-style, anal plug, dual stimulators, etc. The color schemes for the kits are black, deep purple and hot pink. Icon Brands had its Collage Dildos on display in the booth. The range features dildos in fun shapes with tattoo imagery covering them from tip to base. Icee Dildos were also a bright spot on the booth shelves. Released in the July show last year, and featuring the tag line They Fade to Cool, the traditionally shaped dildos fade from one color at the head to another at the base. Speaking of the base, it is a suction cup, which allows for hands-free solo play. The new Nasstoys booth at ANME In a brand-new booth, Nasstoys reps showcased 16 new items, among them the Triple Tickler, which is a new addition to the Vibes of New York range. Also new are the Fanny Hills Silicone Butt Plug and the Anal-Ese Collection Buttplug Cockring. Veteran sales team member Kathryn Hartman designed the booth with MB Exhibits Las Vegas, and it represents a bold new look for the venerable company. Hartman joked that her inspiration was the transporter room from Star Trek, and it does indeed have a futuristic feel. The front of the booth highlights the Statue of Liberty, underlining the company's status as the East Coast's leading pleasure product brand. Screens and display elsewhere in the booth show off various ranges, including Hartman's favorite, Vibes of New York. And there is shelf space for unboxed products that allow customers to try out the goods in a space that Elliot Schwartz dubs the petting zoo. The Nasstoys petting zoo, where clients can play with the latest toys. B-Vibe impressed visitors with the display of the new b-Vibe x Zoe Ligon collection. The new range of three plugs are designed by sex educator Zoe Ligon. The Swirl, Bump and Twist come in bright colors and fun textures. The Bump is the smallest of the plug, followed next in size by the Swirl and the largest is the Twist. All of the plugs vibrate and are rechargeable. These bright, appealing goodies seem made for social media promotion. Next to b-Vibe was Svakom, using the backdrops on its booth to promote its social media campaigns and F**K Taboos events. "It's a partyyou're going to have fun. And we're going to also talk about sex, said company rep Alexandro Feynerol. The most recent event was in Hong Kong, and Feynerol says there is a whole department that plans and organizes the parties. Earthly Body debuted its newest scents in its candle collection. The new scents will be available starting in April, said Georgene Smith Goodin, national sales manager for the company. Sinfulicious (blood orange, lychee and pineapple wood), Hot Rod (fuchsia peonies, loganberries and sand musk) and Casanova (fresh greens, wild jasmine and creamy coconut) come in 6-ounce tins and feature soy wax and hemp seed oils that, when melted, can be applied directly to skin for moisturizing or even a massage. The Sensational fragrance is now available in Body Lotion and Skin Butter forms. Also new in the booth this year were 2-ounce tubes of CBD Daily shampoo, conditioner and massage lotion. The items have been available in a kit for a while, but now they are available as individual products, Smith Goodin said. On the subject of body care products, adult game and novelty specialist Creative Conceptions has expanded into lubricants. The Skins SKUs will begin shipping in February. And the company also has a new display for its Quickie range of light-hearted fetish gear. Also expanding fetish options is Blush Novelties with its Noir collection (above). We have basic bondage stuff but this is taking it to the next level, said a Blush rep. European manufacturer Mystim made the trip to Burbank to show off its latest wares. The company had seen great success with its Opus E e-stim masturbator and followed up with new models for consumers who did not want a stroker with electro-stimulation. Sales rep Lulu Schwartzer was on site to demo the strokers, which were kicked off with a champagne and mimosa toast at the booth, complete with a Tibetan singing bowl ceremony. The new strokers come with vaginal, butt and donut openingsand what's even more intriguing is an add-on accesssory, the Hot Rod. This warming tube can be inserted into the lubed-up stroker to pre-heat it for action. Nobody likes a cold vagina, Schwartzer joked. For more, visit ANMEFounders.com. Life is about and defined by choices how we make them, what we decide, and how we live with the consequences. Governments have a particular responsibility as we rely on them to make choices on our behalf, especially the bigger national choices that we feel somewhat powerless to make or influence, while they use our money to fund them. Australian Defence Force troops and members of Forest Fire Management Victoria clear felled trees on the Princes Highway just outside Genoa. Credit:Private Luke Jones/7RAR 1 Brigade/ADF It is reasonable for us to expect these choices will be in the national interest, rather than to favour a particular group or interest, or for short-term political benefit. It is of considerable concern as to just how far we have drifted from this ideal. Sadly, the drift has occurred over several governments, so only tends to be recognised as it becomes a crisis. This is certainly the case with both current national disasters, the drought and the bushfires. Our governments were poorly prepared for both, and are struggling to respond. Both major parties, over the past couple of decades, played short-term political games with climate change rather than address its magnitude and urgency. We are left in the unimaginable position of still having no climate action plan, no energy policy, no national disaster plan, no waste-management policy, no fuel security strategy, and no transition strategies to achieve a low-carbon society by mid-century. BJP MP Pragya Thakur flew a kite with a message in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on the occasion of Makar Sankranti here on Wednesday. It was a "slap" on the face of "anti-nationals" who are opposing the law, the Bhopal MP said. The message on the kite mentioned the CAA, the scrapping of Article 370 and Ram Temple. "This symbolises the victory of our country flying high. I am sending out best wishes on Makar Sankranti to the countrymen," Thakur told reporters after flying the kite at Rivera Town area here. "This is in support of the CAA and a slap on the face for anti-nationals," she added. "The Act will stay and prevail. It is in the country's interest," Thakur said when asked about Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's statement that it would not be implemented in the state. "I am flying the kite for the victory of the laws enacted in 2019. And I am rejoicing," a smiling Thakur said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US-Iran Tensions Play Out on Iraqi Territory By Dale Gavlak January 14, 2020 The United States has rejected a request by the Iraqi government to pull out troops and has threatened possible sanctions in response to the request. U.S. troops are there to train local forces and fight Islamic State militants, says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Some analysts have dismissed the Trump Administration's threats as just rhetoric, but it has been reported that possible sanctions are being drafted. Analysts say sanctions against Iraq could wipe out economic progress, however small, made over the past several years. Sanctions also could force Iraq to further align with U.S. rivals, like Iran. As U.S. troops clear rubble from a military base in western Iraq struck by Iranian missiles, many wonder how tensions will play out between the Iraqi government and the U.S. military following the U.S. killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Mainly Shi'ite lawmakers recently voted to expel U.S. forces from the country and now Iraqi protesters have demanded the same, saying they are tired of being caught between the U.S. and Iran. Abbas Kadhim, who heads the Washington-based Atlantic Council's Iraq initiative, says the U.S. killing of Soleimani and Iran's retribution both on Iraqi soil undermined its sovereignty. "The Iraqi government is not interested in kicking out the U.S. troops. More, it's the pressures on the Iraqi government from Iran, from the friends of Iran who are inside Iraq, mostly armed groups that don't necessarily obey the orders from the commander in chief of the Iraqi security forces, that's the prime minister. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi fears that leaving the troops in Iraq puts them in harm's way, whether an Iranian bombardment or some kind of bombing by the armed groups inside Iraq," he said. Both Kadhim and Jordanian analyst Osama al-Sharif underscored that it's not an easy situation to navigate because the U.S. also doesn't want to leave Iraq. But it may have to in a year. "Definitely, the United States doesn't want to leave Iraq as an easy prey for Iran. It will upset the whole geopolitical balance in the region. It will send the Saudis and other Gulf countries looking for options if they cannot rely on the United States as an ally. We're talking about China, Russia. It's a big vacuum, if the U.S. is forced to leave," said al-Sharif. Qadim warns that relations are tenuous, however, and it would be best to negotiate behind closed doors, rather than through the media, to preserve both countries' interests. "If [the] U.S. leaves and slams Iraq with sanctions and crippling economic measure, then that will kill even the diplomatic relations. That would be a big loss for both countries," he said. Qadim added that both sides need to buy some time to give both an exit strategy out of the current crisis without having a winner and a loser. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Delhi, Jan 15 : The much-hyped visit of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was eventful on Wednesday with the CEO getting a roaring welcome from his colleagues and MSME players present at the auditorium in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, followed by his announcement of $1 billion investment in small and medium businesses in India. Although everything was not hunky dory, as traders across the country staged protests as scheduled against his visit under the aegis of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Few traders along with the CAIT leadership even reached the venue. As Amazon India head Amit Agarwal called upon Bezos for an on-stage chat during the first day of Amazon 'Smbhav' programme, several people, including his Amazon colleagues and MSME players present in the auditorium, welcomed him with roars and loud claps. The presence of Bezos at the event on Wednesday was a hard-kept secret by the company. However, the information or rather apprehensions were in the air that the world's richest person would make an appearance at the event. Speaking to Agarwal, he spoke about his experiments in life and how he dared to start his own venture of online selling and delivering books. He said that people should take challenges and should not be afraid of failures. "When you're trying to figure out something new, maybe that nobody in the world has ever done before. That is high-quality failure because when you're experimenting, you don't know if it's going to work. You have to organise to be able to experiment and you have to have a culture that supports failure," he said. "Amazon is the best place to fail," Bezos added. He further said that, along with Agarwal, he had failed in their two-decade long journey together and added that such failures may end up with a new innovation. The Amazon CEO made a major announcement during the interaction, saying that the company would invest $1 billion in digitising small and medium businesses (SMBs) on its platform in the country. Bezos also announced that the e-commerce major, through its global footprint, will help SMBs export products worth $10 billion by 2025. "We're committed to being a long-term partner of India. And actions speak louder than words," said Bezos. "Over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental $1 billion to digitise micro and small businesses in cities, towns and villages across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before. This initiative will use Amazon's global footprint to create $10 billion in India exports by 2025," he said. Under the initiative, Amazon would establish 'Digital Haats' in 100 cities and villages to help businesses integrate into the digital economy. 'Digital Haats' would be in local neighbourhoods and available to MSMEs irrespective of their association with Amazon, a company statement said. Bezos said the rationale behind the support is that business with SMBs in the country is doing well. "Because its working, and when its working, you should double down on it," he said. On the prospects of the Indian market and entrepreneurs, Bezos said that 21st century will be the century of India. "I predict that 21st century is going to be the Indian century," he said, adding that apart from the dynamism, India is a democracy which is a major characteristic of the country. He also observed that in terms of alliances, the 21st century would be about bilateral relations between the US and India. The Amazon CEO's India visit comes at a crucial time as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday ordered an enquiry into the business practices of e-commerce majors Amazon and Flipkart. Meanwhile, traders staged protests against his visit across over 300 cities under the aegis of CAIT. CAIT has been protesting for the past few months against what it calls "deep" discounts offered by the e-commerce platforms. According to CAIT, more than five lakh traders were present at the the country-wide protests. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal compared Amazon to the colonialism of the East India Company. "We are not afraid of competition. But, companies like Amazon and Flipkart are selling products below there market rates because of which samll traders are losing out on business," he said, adding that the e-commerce players have taken away 40 per cent of the business of offline retailers. "Jeff Bezos Go Back, Amazon Go Back" slogans were raised by traders at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital. Few traders, including Khandelwal and the CAIT leadership, also landed up near the venue of Amazon Smbhav, though after Bezos had left the venue. However, no major demonstration was held there as they left after speaking to a few reporters. Bezos will head to Mumbai on Thursday where he is likely to meet top Indian businessmen and Bollywood celebrities. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:54:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits the Open University of China in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Sun Chunlan Wednesday stressed deepening reform on vocational education and optimize the structure of highly skilled talent during her visit to the Open University of China, a new type of university supported by modern information technologies. Sun called for efforts to continue implementing the country's major policies and tasks of vocational education to promote its high-quality development. She also asked for strengthened efforts to build a better team of teachers for vocational education, improve their eligibility certification and management, and hire teachers from enterprises. Vocational education majors should be highly relevant to the market and industries, she said. Practical training and operations should be increased. Enterprises with various types of ownerships are encouraged to set up vocational education schools, Sun said. T rolls are targeting the social media accounts of a British backpacker who fell to her death in Australia, her family has revealed. Model and make up artist Madalyn Davis, 21, from Lincoln, died in a cliff fall at Diamond Bay in Sydney on Sunday. The beautician had been travelling in Australia for several weeks, having already toured Thailand and Bali, when she plunged 100ft from the top selfie spot. Her mother Rebecca Smith said her daughter was left vulnerable to abuse, resentment and manipulation online during her life but that a passion and zest for life allowed her daughter to continually overcome the abuse. In a statement, Ms Smith plead with trolls to stop expressing "abhorrent and vile opinions", which are still being posted on her Instagram accounts. The yoga teacher remembered her as an introverted extrovert who has struggled with a world that could be so unkind. Ms Davis had several Instagram accounts, specialising in eyelashes, where she found fame inadvertently through the expression of art, she added. "This caused a lot of pain in her life... she was left vulnerable to abuse, resentment and manipulation. "Despite this, Maddie still faced every day with optimism, and a smile on her face. "We couldn't be prouder of our most beautiful girl for everything she achieved and the lives she touched." She made a desperate appeal to social media users that all speculation and character assassinations cease while her family grieve, adding it was increasing the hurt for Ms Davis siblings. "We cannot comprehend how at such a traumatic time, a select few can be so heartless and target the most vulnerable suffering such acute emotional pain, she said. A GoFundMe crowdfunder page has already raised more than 3,000 in 24 hours for the family to campaign for the government to introduce tighter controls around bullying online. Devastated friends said yesterday Ms Davis had been living her dream in Australia, describing her as an angel and a free spirit, and calling her death an absolute tragedy. Emergency services launched a land and water search after reports of a fall at 6.30am on Sunday, and recovered a body around four hours later. New South Wales (NSW) Police said the body had not yet been formally identified, but it was thought to be Ms Davis. Former Princess Tessy of Luxembourg has urged fans to 'always stay kind' and begged them to be considerate of other people's feelings in a sweet handwritten note. Tessy Antony-de Nassau, 34, who lost her royal title when she divorced Prince Louis, wrote the short letter to thank followers for their Christmas cards and 'kind wishes' for the upcoming year. In her note, which was shared on Instagram by @LoopyCrown3, the former member of the Luxembourg royal family wrote: 'Don't do and say things about others you don't like others to say about you.' Alongside the letter, Tessy included a picture laughing alongside her two sons Gabriel, 13, and Noah, 12, as they giggled while she appeared to tickle them. Former Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, 34, has urged fans to 'always stay kind' in a handwritten note shared by a follower today The former royal, who is now known as Tessy Antony-de Nassau, shared a quote at the end of her letter, asking fans to speak with consideration for other people's feelings (pictured, with her two sons Gabriel and Noah) In Tessy's note, which she dated in January 2020, she wrote: 'Thank you so much for your kind wishes. Gabriel, Noah and I appreciate it very much. All the best and good health for 2020.' She went on: 'Don't do and say things about others you don't like others to say about you.' And signing off the note with two small love hearts, she wrote: 'Always stay kind.' Tessy and Prince Louis of Luxembourg, who met while serving in the army in 2004, announced in 2018 that they would be separating. Their divorce was finalised on April 4 last year, and Tessy was stripped of her royal title. Tessy, pictured in London in November, implored her followers to be kind to one another in the handwritten note, which was dated January 2020 Born a commoner, Tessy joined the Luxembourg Army in 2002 at the age of 18, rising to the rank of corporal. Two years later, when she was one of a handful of female UN peacekeepers in Kosovo, she met Prince Louis, who was visiting the army. His family only became aware of their love affair when Tessy fell pregnant and gave birth aged 19 - and unmarried - in September 2005, providing Grand Duke Henri with his first grandson. It infuriated the royal family, and Prince Louis renounced any claim to the title of Grand Duke due to the constitutional crisis they had created by having a child out of wedlock. When Tessy married Prince Louis in September 2006, six months after giving birth, in a modest country church wedding, the Grand Duke stripped her of any claim to his title. Tessy and Louis' fairytale marriage broke down in 2016, and they were granted a decree nisi in February last year The couple's fairytale marriage broke down in 2016, and they were granted a decree nisi in February last year. Tessy, who in 2017 was named Woman of the Decade by the Women Economic Forum for her work in women's empowerment, now lives in London with Gabriel and her youngest son Prince Noah of Nassau, while Louis lives in Paris. The philanthropist is the co-founder of social enterprise Professors Without Borders, which aims to improve access to higher education across the globe. She also works as a consultant, public speaker and is a UN Association patron. Types of obituaries The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries family obituaries and life stories. A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories. Composites made from self-assembling inorganic materials are valued for their unique strength and thermal, optical and magnetic properties. However, because self-assembly can be difficult to control, the structures formed can be highly disordered, leading to defects during large-scale production. Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan have developed a templating technique that instills greater order and gives rise to new 3D structures in a special class of materials, called eutectics, to form new, high-performance materials. The findings of the collaborative study are published in the journal Nature. Eutectic materials contain elements and compounds that have different melting and solidification temperatures. When combined, however, the composite formed has single melting and freezing temperatures -- like when salt and water combined to form brine, which freezes at a lower temperature than water or salt alone, the researchers said. When a eutectic liquid solidifies, the individual components separate, forming a cohesive structure -- most commonly in a layered form. The fact that eutectic materials self-assemble into composites makes them highly desirable to many modern technologies, ranging from high-performance turbine blades to solder alloys. "Having a single melting point has advantages in composite materials processing," said Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Materials Research Lab at the U. of I., who led the project. "Instead of depositing layers of material individually, we start with a liquid that self-assembles as it solidifies. This can speed up production and allows us to make larger volumes at one time." However, self-assembly can lead to problems, he said, as its uncontrolled nature can form defects. "Templating is a common practice used in organic polymers processing," said Ashish Kulkarni, an Illinois graduate student and the first author of the study. "However, it is not something that has been explored in inorganic materials processing because inorganic microstructures are more rigid and harder to control." To demonstrate this process in the lab, the team built templates with tiny posts arranged in hexagonal shapes to control the resolidification of a melt containing silver chloride and potassium chloride -- a eutectic material that naturally forms layers as it cools. "If not controlled, the only microstructures this system will form are layers," said Katsuyo Thornton, a professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan, who conducted computer simulations with graduate student Erik Hanson, both of whom are study co-authors. "We can vary the cooling rate to make the layers thicker or thinner, but the pattern stays the same. By adding a template that the liquid solidifies around, we hoped new patterns would emerge." The team found that as the silver and potassium chloride melt to solidify around the hexagonal-shaped templates, the posts get in the way of the layer formation and produce a composite with an array of different square, triangular and honeycomb-shaped microstructures instead -- the specifics of structure depending on the distance between the posts on the template. "The repeating nature of these templates and newly formed structures reduces the chances for defects to form," Braun said. "So, not only did we form exciting new microstructures, but we also reduced the number of defects in the resulting composite material." The researchers will explore how the new microstructures influence the physical properties of a wide range of eutectic materials. "The materials we used in our experiments are transparent, so the first direction to head in might be to explore optical materials, and there is a lot of potential in the area of photonic crystals," Braun said. "We're still a long way from real application, but the possibilities are abundant." Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:04:06|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least four rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel on Wednesday afternoon before its air defense systems intercepted half of them, the military said. The rockets triggered Code Red sirens in several locations in Israel, including the regional councils of Shaar HaNegev and Sdot Negev in the Negev Desert in the southern district. In a statement, the Israeli military said its anti-rocket Iron Dome system intercepted two of the rockets, without elaborating on the others. No group immediately assumed responsibility for the rocket fire. Militants in the Gaza Strip occasionally fire rockets at southern Israel as part of their struggle against the 13-year-long Israeli blockade on the Palestinian enclave. Last September, Netanyahu was taken off the stage at a conference in the southern city of Ashdod when a rocket from Gaza triggered sirens in the city. Israeli media widely referred to the incident as one of the triggers for the Israeli Black Belt military operation last November, during which Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior Islamic Jihad commander, was killed in Gaza. Al-Atta's killing sparked a two-day exchange of fire between Gaza and Israel that claimed the lives of at least 34 Palestinians in the enclave. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 01:43:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Climate crisis will be the top threat to the world in the next decade, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned in its latest report on Wednesday. According to the report, the biggest risks to the world over the next 10 years, ranked by likelihood, include extreme weather, failure to tackle climate change, human-made environmental damage, major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and major natural disasters. The Global Risks Report came before the WEF annual meeting next week in the snow-capped Swiss town of Davos, where nearly 3,000 participants from all over the world, including 53 heads of state or government, will discuss global economy, sustainable development, geopolitics and other topics. "The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning. This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks," Borge Brende, president of the WEF, said at a press conference in London. The report warned that without urgent attention to repairing societal divisions and driving sustainable economic growth, world leaders cannot systemically address threats like climate or biodiversity crises. Analysts said pressure is mounting on businesses to take action to help tackle rising climate volatility. John Drzik, chairman of Marsh & McLennan Insights, a global professional services firm that worked with WEF on this report, said that scientific advances mean that climate risks can now be incorporated into risk management and business plans, as high profile events like recent wildfires in Australia and California are adding pressure on companies to take action on climate crisis. "The biggest incentive for businesses is to see where growth opportunity is to do things differently in a low-carbon way. That can be everything from recognizing consumers' demand for low-carbon products to governments putting in regulations that will signal the (unsustainable) way products are manufactured or services are sold will not be profitable in the longer term," Emily Farnworth, head of Climate Change Initiatives at the WEF told Xinhua. Meanwhile, the report said downward pressure on the global economy continued to intensify in 2019, increasing the risk of economic stagnation. It warned a challenging economic climate may persist this year and "economic confrontations" and "domestic political polarization" are recognized as significant short-term risks in 2020. Key chairmen and rising Democratic stars to lead House prosecution of case against Trump in the Senate. This article has been corrected to state that Jerrold Nadler received his law degree from Fordham University, not Columbia University as previously stated. Washington, DC US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday named seven Democratic members of the House of Representatives as managers of the chambers case in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial. The group will be led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who spearheaded the Houses impeachment inquiry, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, whose committee was responsible for advancing the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. They are basically the prosecutors, said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School. They present the case on behalf of the House of Representatives on why the president should be convicted and removed from office and in this case also disqualified from ever holding future office, Tribe told Al Jazeera. In the Senate impeachment trial, all 100 senators must be present in the Senate chamber with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding. House managers will be responsible for presenting the factual evidence and constitutional legal basis for Trumps impeachment to the senators sitting as a jury. They have a fair amount of discretion about what they emphasise and the evidence they present, Tribe said. As the US prepares for the trial, here are the House members who will be presenting the Democrats case: Adam Schiff Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is a former federal prosecutor from California. His take-no-prisoners handling of the Houses inquiry into a suppressed whistle-blowers report led to Trumps impeachment for pressuring Ukraine. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff [File: Susan Walsh/The Associated Press] He has a strong mental command of the voluminous testimony and documents given to House investigators by 17 witnesses and is adept at telling the narrative of Trumps actions. Jerrold Nadler Jerrold Nadler is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which conducted a review of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election. It is the Judiciary Committee that wrote and advanced two articles of impeachment against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler [File: J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press] A career politician and representative of New York City, Nadler and Trump have a long history. Nadler has a law degree from Fordham University in New York and a keen understanding of the constitutional and congressional procedural issues surrounding Trumps impeachment. An even-handed but determined advocate, Nadler was an early and forceful proponent within the Democratic leadership of moving forward with the impeachment of Trump. Zoe Lofgren Pelosi said Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren has played a role in three presidential impeachment proceedings, including as a staffer during the inquiry of former President Richard Nixon and as a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of former President Bill Clinton. Democratic representative from California Zoe Lofgren speaking during a House Judiciary Committee markup of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington [FIle: Alex Brandon/AP Photo] Lofgren, who is from California, is serving her 13th term in Congress. She is also a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and chair of the Committee on the House Administration. Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Jeffries of New York is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Representative from New York Hakeem Jeffries questioning Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker during his testimony in the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, US [Joshua Roberts/Reuters] Before entering politics, he was a corporate lawyer in New York. Val Demings Val Demings has a law enforcement background, as the first black woman police chief of Orlando, Florida. Representative Val Demings [File: Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press] During the House impeachment inquiry, Demings was forceful on both the Intelligence and Judiciary committees in expressing outrage at Trumps unlawful behaviour. Jason Crow Jason Crow is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Before entering Congress, he was a lawyer in Colorado. Democratic representative from Colorado Jason Crow speaking as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington [File: House Television/AP Photo] Crow served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Ranger. Sylvia Garcia Representative Sylvia Garcia is a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Democratic Representative from Texas Sylvia Garcia speaking during a House Judiciary Committee markup of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington [File: Jose Luis Magana/AP Pool Photo] Garcia is among Texass first Latina women elected to the US House of Representatives. A senior Democrat mocked by Donald Trump as "pencil-neck" and a "deranged human being" will lead the case against him in the president's impeachment trial in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced. Congressman Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was named one of the "managers" of the process, which is expected to begin next week. Ms Pelosi also appeared to send a message to Vladimir Putin as Russian-backed groups are accused of sowing chaos on social media while the US prepares for 2020 elections after investigations reveal the depth of 2016 interference. She said: "This is about the Constitution of the United States, and it's important for the president to know, and for Putin to know, that voters in America should decide who our president is, not Vladimir Putin and Russia." Among the other Democratic leaders who will make the case for Mr Trump being removed from office, after the House impeached him on 18 December, is Jerry Nadler, who presided over the House impeachment vote. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS Ms Pelosi also announced that Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia will join the congressmen "to present the very strong case for the president's impeachment and removal." The trial marks Ms Lofgren's third impeachment, having participated in proceedings against Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Ms Pelosi defended her decision to withhold articles of impeachment against the president following the House vote last month, pointing to additional damning evidence that has surfaced in the following weeks that "further proves that the president was an essential player in the scheme" to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for millions of dollars in already-approved military aid while Ukraine faced an ongoing assault from Russia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has boasted that he is in "total coordination" with the White House as he attacked the process and House charges against the president. He denied giving assurances to the House that the Senate would introduce witnesses and evidence including testimony from former national security chief John Bolton and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and sponsored an effort to dismiss the impeachment entirely when it comes to the Senate. On Tuesday, he said he expects a trial to begin on 21 January, following the House submission of articles and managers on Wednesday. Ms Pelosi said that "time has been our friend through all of this" as more evidence has entered the public domain following the House's historic December vote. The House Speaker said new evidence and testimony should insist to the Senate "that there be witnesses and we see documentation". She repeated that a successful attempt to dismiss the charges against Mr Trump would amount to a "cover-up". Mr Schiff said the Senate leader "made it clear he didn't want a trial in the Senate" and that the time between the impeachment vote and the trial will "expose the degree to which [Mr McConnell is working hand-in-hand with the president". It will also be the Senate, not just the president, that will be on trial in the proceedings, Mr Nadler said. He said: "If the Senate doesn't permit the introduction of all relevant witnesses and of all documents the House wants to introduce, because the House is a prosecutor here, then the Senate is engaging in an unconstitutional and disgusting cover-up. Does the Senate conduct a trial according to the Constitution, to vindicate the republic? Or does the Senate participate in the president's crimes by covering them up?" In a statement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed that the president has "done nothing wrong" and "looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate" that she claims the president was denied in the House, despite repeated attempts to subpoena administration officials and documents as well as an opportunity for Mr Trump himself to appear with counsel. On Twitter, Mr Trump called the impeachment "another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!" Ms Grisham says Mr Trump "expects to be fully exonerated" by the Senate. "He has been impeached forever", Ms Pelosi said. "They can never erase that." If you've ever gone on a road trip through Texas, you know it can take sometimes more than 10 hours to drive across the Lone Star State. But you don't have to leave the state to find the perfect place to stop and spend some time. As the second-largest state in the United States, Texas boasts a variety of scenic landscapes, breathtaking country views and picturesque, hidden watering holes. The Janata Dal (United) headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is exploring a tie-up with the BJP for the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi, a senior leader said here on Wednesday. "I am in talks with the BJP leadership. Once things finalised, we will be in a position to share details like seat-sharing," JD (U) national general secretary Sanjay Jha disclosed this at a function held to mark Makar Sankranti here. The JD(U) and the BJP are running a coalition government in Bihar since 2005, barring around a year half when the former was in power with the RJD and the Congress in the state. The JD (U) had dumped its alliance partners in July 2017, forming the state government in alliance with the BJP again. At its last national executive held a year ago, the JD (U) had declared that it would go alone in the assembly polls in Haryana, Jharkhand and Delhi. The party did contest alone in Haryana and Jharkhand, where it faced a rout, getting less than one per cent of the total polled votes. Jha also took a swipe at the Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, which is exploring a tie-up with the Congress in Delhi. "The RJD must tell the people of Delhi about its misrule in Bihar, which had forced millions of people from the state to migrate elsewhere and made them objects of ridicule," said Jha, who is a close confidante of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Meanwhile, AICC in-charge for Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil said at a separate function that there was no problem in their alliance with the RJD. But there are serious problems between the BJP and the JD(U), he said. "We should read the fine print when (Home Minister) Amit Shah says the assembly polls will be fought under Nitish Kumar's leadership but refrains from saying that the JD(U) national president will be the chief minister in the event of the NDA victory," he said. "The BJP is known not just dump but bury alive its allies once they outlive their utility. Nitish Kumar will be treated with the same ruthlessness," Gohil alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 15th Finance Commission yesterday received a presentation on India's Health Sector. The presentation was given by Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Health & Family Welfare and V.K. Paul, Member, NitiAayog in a meeting held in New Delhi. Chairman, N.K. Singh and all Members of the Commission were present at this meeting along with senior officials. The Department of Health & Family Welfare proposed to the 15th Finance Commission for untied funds to help in funding gaps in Primary Health care in the States. This, they said, would help States with significant funding needs and health lag to get more funds and priorities spending on health. The Ministry also asked for performance based incentives - a Composite Health Index to be utilized to encourage States to demonstrate performance on year on year basis. The Ministry proposed a collaborative multi-sectoral non-ministerial approach by incorporating health impact considerations into the Government's decision making process - Health in All Policies. The Ministry projected the requirement of funds for a primary care for the purpose of addressing shortfall in infrastructure, health care professionals, supporting AB-HWCs, National Ambulance Service, and Funds for Medicines and Diagnostics. For a 5 year period, total of Rs.5,38,305.38/- crores fund has been projected. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has made a fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue in a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, but the attempt is likely to fail as all other member countries of the body are set to oppose it. French diplomatic sources said France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise the Kashmir issue once again in the powerful body and it is going to oppose it like it did on a previous occasion. The closed door meeting of the UNSC has been called to discuss an issue relating to an African country. China has made a request to deliberate on the ... LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Tullow Oil plc (TLW.L) Wednesday reported that its fiscal 2019 group working interest oil production averaged 86,700 bopd, in line with expectations. For the year, total revenue is expected to be about $1.7 billion, and gross profit is expected to be about $0.7 billion. Capital expenditure in 2019 was about $490 million. In fiscal 2018, revenue was $1.86 billion. Tullow said it expects to report pre-tax impairments and exploration write-offs of about $1.5 billion or about $1.3 billion post tax. This is primarily due to a $10/bbl reduction in its long-term accounting oil price assumption to $65/bbl and a reduction in TEN 2P reserves. The company is slated to release its fiscal 2019 results on March 12. Further, for fiscal 2020, the company noted that operations across the Group's production assets have started the year in line with expectations. 2020 Group average production guidance remains unchanged at 70,000 to 80,000 bopd. Capital expenditure is expected to be about $350 million, with an additional c.$100 million expected to be spent on decommissioning. Tullow expects to generate underlying free cash flow of at least $150 million from 75,000 bopd at $60/bbl. 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. Iran does not plan to sign any deal amending the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear deal, proposed by the current US administration, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif informed on Wednesday, Trend reports citing TASS. "Iran believes in diplomacy: but not in re-negotiating a UNSC Resolution we agreed on with 6 Governments & EU. We did not sign an "Obama deal" to go for a "Trump deal" now. Even if we did, who's to say we won't need Biden, Sanders or Warren (US presidential candidates - TASS) deal next year?" he wrote on Twitter. In his address to the nation on January 8, US President Donald Trump said that members of the JCPOA "must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place." The Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) implemented by UNDP says it has supported 150 projects with more than six million dollars in Nigeria. The National Coordinator of GEF-SEP, Ronke Olubamise, made this known at a stakeholder workshop on the GEF-SGP Country Programmes Strategy for the GEF Operational Phase 7 in Abuja. Mrs Olubamise said that the projects were implemented in 25 states from 2009 till date, adding that the projects were also co-financed with six million dollars by Non-Governmental Organisation and other donors. We have spent six million dollars on the projects and got co-financing from NGOs that are implementing them in the communities and other donors; 25 states have benefited so far in Nigeria, she said. She listed some of the states that benefited as Benue, Akwa-Ibom, Lagos, Kwara, Kogi, Osun, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Imo, Enugu, Anambra. She said that five priority projects being implemented by SGP in Nigeria were conservation of biodiversity, climate change, prevention of land degradation, persistent organic pollutant and protection of international waters. Mrs Olubamise said SGP would still support projects in any of the five projects in 2020, adding that more than 500,000 poor rural dwellers have benefited directly from all its projects over the years. She said SDG had always aligned its priority projects with the Federal Government priority in order to get its support for smooth implementation. She said some of the challenges facing SGP were monitoring and evaluation, operational vehicles, shortage of staff, accommodation, partnerships, knowledge management and poor progress report from some organisations handling communities projects. Over 20 projects were stopped due to progress reports, some came late, and some were not well written, this is one of the challenges we are facing, the national coordinator said. The focal person of the Ministry of Environment, Mrs Obisesan said over 125 countries including Nigeria were participating in SGP. She said SGP, which started operation in Nigeria in 2009, had supported over 150 projects in 25 states in the different focal areas to date. She said in the last 10 years of supporting environmental initiatives, over 16 national and international awards have been received by some of the projects and individuals who have implemented the projects. SGP features decentralised decision-making grant awards based on strategic direction outlined in the Country Programme Strategy by a voluntary National Steering Committee in each participating country. Mrs Obisesan said the principal objectives of GEF- SGP is to develop community-level strategies and implement technologies that can reduce threats to the global environment if they are replicated over time. To build partnerships and networks of stakeholders to support and strengthen community, NGO and national capacities to address global environmental problems and promote sustainable development. To ensure that conservation and sustainable development strategies and projects that protect the global environment are understood and practiced by communities and other key stakeholders. SGP is rooted in the belief that global environmental problems can best be addressed if local people are involved and there are direct community benefits and ownership. SGP is convinced that with small amounts of funding, members of local communities can undertake activities that will make a significant difference in their lives and environment with global benefits to complement the top-down, expert-reliant development interventions. (NAN) The policy cited 'resource constraints' to provide financial assistance to rare diseases that require lifelong treatment. The government will provide financial support of up to Rs 15 lakh under its Rashtriya Arogaya Nidhi scheme for the one-time treatment of rare diseases, according to the much-awaited draft Rare Diseases Policy. Under the draft National Policy for Rare Diseases released on Monday, beneficiaries would not be limited to Below Poverty Line families, but will also cover 40 percent of the population eligible as per norms of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana for their treatment in government tertiary hospitals only. The Union Health Ministry intends to notify certain medical institutes as Centers of Excellence for Rare Diseases. These include AIIMS, New Delhi, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. "The cost of treatment of patient in these centres of excellence will be met out of donations received through the online digital platform," according to the draft policy. The ministry has put up the draft policy on its website and sought comments and suggestions over it by 10 February. Rare diseases categorised under Group 1, such as Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs), immune deficiency disorders, chronic granulomatous disease, osteopetrosis, Fabry's disease and liver or kidney transplant, will be funded under the scheme. The policy cited "resource constraints" to provide financial assistance to rare diseases like Gaucher's disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Hurler Syndrome and Wolman disease that require lifelong treatment. "The government will endeavour to create alternate funding mechanism through setting up a digital platform for voluntary individual and corporate donors to contribute to the treatment cost of patients of rare diseases," the draft said. Rare diseases are severe and chronic illnesses and often life-threatening. Patients suffering from rare diseases, especially Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs), often lead a very incapacitating life. There are about 50 LSDs out of which only five have approved treatment options available in India. The Ministry of Health had formulated a National Policy for Treatment of Rare Diseases (NPTRD) in July 2017. Implementation of the policy was, however, faced with certain challenges. A limiting factor in its implementation was bringing states on board and lack of clarity on how much government could support in terms of tertiary care. When the policy was shared with state governments, issues such as cost-effectiveness of interventions for rare disease, the sharing of expenditure between central and state governments, flexibility to state governments to accept the policy or change it according to their situation, were raised. The policy had implementation challenges and gaps, including the issue of cost-effectiveness of supporting such health interventions for resources limited situation, which made it not feasible to implement. Given the challenges in implementing the policy, a decision was taken to reframe the National Policy for Treatment of Rare Diseases and an Expert Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Health in November 2018 to review it. Pending reframing the policy, the earlier policy has been kept in abeyance vide a non-statutory gazette notification dated 18 December 2018, till the revised policy is issued or till further orders, whichever is earlier, the draft document states. Holding that rare diseases place a major economic burden on any country and especially in resource-constrained settings, the draft policy states that at present very few pharmaceutical companies are manufacturing drugs for rare diseases globally and there are no domestic manufacturers in India. Due to the high cost, the government has not been able to provide these drugs for free. It is estimated that for a child weighing 10 kg, the annual cost of treatment for some rare diseases may vary from Rs 10 lakh to more than one crore per year, with drug dose and cost increasing with age. So far, only about 450 diseases have been recorded in India from tertiary care hospitals that are globally considered as rare diseases, according to the draft policy. The most commonly reported diseases include Haemophilia, Thalassemia, Sickle-cell Anaemia and Primary Immuno Deficiency in children, auto-immune diseases, Lysosomal storage disorders such as Pompe disease, Hirschsprung disease, Gaucher's disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Hemangiomas and certain forms of muscular dystrophies. Keeping in view the lack of availability of epidemiological data on rare diseases, constraints on resources and competing for health priorities, the government is in the process of setting up a National Registry for Rare Diseases at ICMR with the objective of creating a database of various rare diseases. Steps have already been taken in this direction by ICMR. Over a period of time, the registry is expected to yield enough information to be able to arrive at a definition of rare diseases best suited to the country. Jamia Millia Islamia will move court for registration of FIR against Delhi Police for storming the library and beating students last month during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment Act) (CAA), varsity officials said on Wednesday. An application will be filed very soon in the lower court under section 156(3) of CRPC seeking direction to police to register FIR, the university administration said in a statement. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Executive Council (EC) - the highest decision making body of Jamia Millia Islamia. On Monday, students gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtars office demanding the registration of an FIR against the Delhi Police for unleashing violence on the campus. Akhtar had assured students that the process of registering the FIR would start soon. The administration also cancelled semester examinations until further notice. ALSO WATCH | Jamia students protest, seek FIR over police action; VC gives assurance The anti-CAA protests on December 15, took a violent turn after protesters clashed with Delhi Police in the university. Officials of the university later said around 200 students were injured as police stormed the library, damaged university property and beat students and guards. The police claimed they had entered campus while chasing violent protesters, but denied allegations of entering the library or vandalisation. Students have also demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged police excesses on the campus. Akhtar also said that safety measures on campus were increased following the violence and efforts are being made to ensure students feel safe on campus. A team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) visited the university on Tuesday to record statements of the students who were injured during the police action on the campus last month. Japanese band Daiei Spray will perform in Seoul this Saturday. Courtesy of Daiei Spray By Jon Dunbar The Japanese hardcore punk band Daiei Spray is coming to Seoul this Saturday to play at the eighth installation of the "Behind the Tongue" concert series. According to Kyo, the band's guitarist, he met Yoon Daemin, the guy behind "Behind the Tongue," at a Daiei Spray show in Japan several years ago. Yoon told him about the Korean scene, and he eventually got to see Korean bands like Banran, Scumraid, Agari and Slant. He also came to Korea last year with his wife for sightseeing, and now is ready to bring his band over. Daiei Spray is named after a Japanese brand of strong hairspray that is popular among punks there. The band formed in 2004 in Hirosaki, north of Tokyo, but the band relocated to the capital in 2008 when Kyo had to move for work. Due to turnover of band members over the years, it took them until 2017 to release their first album, the seven-song 10-inch record "Isn't Brazing," which Unite Asia called "a beautiful piece of wax that one needs to own. Right now." "Because there were several member changes, each time, we must make most of the songs," Kyo said. "That's why we couldn't make enough songs for the album. After forming the current lineup, we released the first. And we will release our second album in early 2020. That is something to be glad about." The first album was released on Kyo's own DIY label Sakanade Records. "At first, we wanted to make the 1st album by DIY," Kyo said. "As a result, we realized that it was really hard to do all the advertising and production by ourselves." For the second album, expected out in February, they have teamed up with the label Debauch Mood to make life easier for the band. Their music is best characterized as punk rock influenced by the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene represented by bands such as Dag Nasty. The music is complex, emotional and easy to enjoy. Lyrically, the band touches on some pretty heavy domestic politics. "In Japan today, the ruling and Liberal Democratic parties and Shinzo Abe administration have a particularly strong right of mind, and have adopted a revision of Article 9 of the Constitution. It is evident that the long-running Abe administration has brutalized politics and power, and has exercised corruption and interests," bassist Onodera said. "On the other hand, I don't think that Japan is in a good situation now, with hidden poverty and increasing inequality. However, among the people, there are many people who think that nothing will change if they work alone or in small numbers, and only a minority is interested in politics. I want to send a message through the band and tell as many people as possible about the current difficult situation." The band members are aware of the diplomatic tension between Korea and Japan, started after South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor. Japan emplaced export measures on Korea as a result, leading to Korean consumer boycotts of products from and travel to Japan. But so far all of this trouble has had no effect on the underground music scenes of the two countries, which have been close for decades. "We are not worried about it. I am happy and very excited to be able to play the show in Korea. As a band, we don't have bad feelings for Korea. The nation instigates nationalism if the nation is not doing well, and really tries to redirect away from problems. At present, Japan is not in a good state, and there are many people who are worried about the future," Onodera said. "We think that nationality, race and language don't matter!" The show is this Saturday at GBN Live House in Mullae-dong, southwestern Seoul. Other bands playing include the Kitsches, Martyrs, The 1234-Dah! and Korose. Entry costs 15,000 won. Visit fb.com/koreanpunkandhardcore for more information. Professor Alasdair Roberts, Director at the School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Umass Amherst) delivered an engaging session on public policy at the JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) on Tuesday. Titled "Can Government Do Anything Right?", the session was based on his 2018-book (which goes by the same name) and touched upon critical aspects of public policy while addressing concerns about the failures of governments in the United States and India. A visiting faculty at the JK Lakshmipat University, Prof Roberts called for greater public participation and transparency in policymaking. During the session, Roberts talked about the importance of public policy to build societies that thrive, are prosperous, inclusive, where personal security is preserved, where human rights are ensured and people have access to basic services like good education, healthcare, economic security, clean water, clean air - 'a society which is a good place to live'. Talking about the challenges facing India's public policy, Prof Roberts raised questions on dealing with rapid urbanisation, roadblocks in creating liveable infrastructure, industrialisation, skill development to address employability issues and preparing people for economic transformation. He emphasized on the need for maintaining transparency and ensuring people have access to policies in a timely manner in a format that they understand. "India and the US are going through moments of "strategic shift" when old ideas about how to govern are challenged and replaced. Both countries have problems in common. They are both super-states - countries with very large and diverse populations and territory. The challenge is to find ways to maintain national unity while respecting diversity and human rights, and preserving the flexibility to respond to new threats in a timely way," said Prof Roberts, while drawing a parallel between India and the United States. "We see many common challenges and there is potential to learn from each other. Both countries are large democracies and the big challenge in this century will be to show that democracy is a good and an effective way of governing because we have, for e.g., an alternate model like China - an authoritarian system which thinks it has the right way to govern. The big challenge in the coming days would be to decide 'Who is right?' - is it the democratic model or the authoritarian model," added Roberts. "And while you can involve a billion people (all at once) in policymaking, devolution is very important where you give states more power to make decisions. If you let people make decisions at the community level then it's easier for people to participate in the decision-making process. That is also why is very important so that people know how to access information, use the information and participate in the process," he further added. The session sought to discuss the role, impact and challenges of Public Policy in India and steps that could be taken to create a conducive environment and address issues like employment and slow economic growth witnessed in the country. "Engagements like the one today give students first-hand experience and the opportunity to interact with renowned faculties from around the world, which may otherwise be a distant reality. We are trying to break those norms and bring about a transformation in the way we deliver quality to our students, differently but with more efficacy," said Prof Asheesh Gupta, Pro Vice-Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University. "Partnerships we have established with the industry, as well as institutions like UMass Amherst, are a part of this long-term strategy. We are hopeful these will go a long way in establishing our unique proposition to students and help us stand out as one of the most innovative universities in India and a preferred choice for higher education," added Gupta Roberts' visit is part of the University's ongoing efforts to provide its students with an exposure that goes beyond the normal and provides them with opportunities to interact and engage with the best of faculty from India and around the world. JKLU recently partnered with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst underlining their commitment to bring the best in higher education, research and opportunities from around the world to students in India. The collaboration envisages building pathways for students to get a full master's degree in areas like Data Analytics, Applied Economics and Public Policy from UMass Amherst along with a degree from JKLU, upon completion of the required coursework while studying in India and the US. "We are very excited to be in this partnership with JKLU so that we can work together in preparing the next generation of leaders, the way they work in the government, in civil society organizations, the private sector with the general ambition of crafting policies that serves the people of India," added Roberts. Released in 2018, Roberts' in his book 'Can Government Do Anything Right?' dwells upon the efforts and the efficacy of governments in the western world to address policy challenges they face. The book is an ideal vehicle for challenging students to look beyond current events and to reflect upon the role of government in addressing some of our society's biggest challenges over a broad arc of history. A day earlier, Roberts counselled students from the Institute of Management on career prospects and job opportunities in the Public Policy space. "If you're interested in Public Policy and Governance, the most exciting place to be in the world is India because it is such a dynamic and growing society in the process of such momentous changes and the choices that are made by the government today are going to be critical in determining how well people live tomorrow. Public Policy is all about is making sure the government is taking the right steps to promote a thriving society," concluded Roberts. The session was attended by Prof Asheesh Gupta, Pro Vice-Chancellor, JKLU, Dr RL Raina, Vice-Chancellor, JKLU, Senior Visiting Faculty, Prof MH Bala Subrahmanya, Former Chairman, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Sciences, Dr Rajendra Padture, Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Rajasthan, Dr Tulika Gupta, Director of Indian Institute of Crafts and Design and Prof Amit Jain, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Amity University Jaipur among others. This story is provided by NewsVoir. 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For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser NEW YORK, NY (Jan. 15, 2020)--The source of essential tremor--a movement disorder that causes involuntary trembling of the hands, arms, and head--has been enigmatic, impeding the development of effective treatments for a condition that affects 4% of people over 40. Now a new study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian suggests the tremors are caused by overactive brain waves at the base of the brain, raising the possibility of treating the disorder with neuromodulation to calm the oscillations. "Past studies have identified changes in brain structure in people with essential tremor, but we didn't know how those changes caused tremors," says Sheng-Han Kuo, MD, the study's senior author and assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "This study pins down how those structural changes affect brain activity to drive tremor." The study was published online today in Science Translational Medicine. About Essential Tremor Essential tremor is the most common movement disorder in the United States, affecting about 10 million Americans (approximately eight times as many people as Parkinson's disease). The condition causes involuntary, rhythmic trembling, usually in the hands, and is exacerbated during such activities as buttoning a shirt or using utensils. Although essential tremor is not life-threatening, it can severely impact quality of life. Some beta blockers and anti-epileptic drugs can reduce symptoms, but they carry side effects, such as fatigue and shortness of breath. They also don't work very well in essential tremor patients, which Kuo says isn't surprising since the cause of the condition hasn't been well understood. Tremor Patients Have Excessive Brain Activity in the Cerebellum The researchers have previously identified structural changes in the cerebellum of essential tremor patients and used a new cerebellar encephalogram (EEG) technique to search for unusual brain waves in this part of the brain. Among 20 essential tremor patients examined with cerebellar EEG, most had strong oscillations (between 4 and 12 Hz) in the cerebellum that were not found in any of the 20 control subjects. Patients with more severe tremors had stronger oscillations. Oscillations First Found in Mice The researchers first discovered the cerebellar oscillations in mice that had developed tremors closely resembling those seen in essential tremor patients. The tremors could be turned on and off by stimulating certain neurons in the mouse brain, alternately suppressing and unleashing the oscillations. "These results established a causal relationship between the brain oscillations and tremor, which cannot be directly tested in patients," says Kuo, who is also an assistant attending neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Excessive Oscillations Stem from Extra Synapses In previous studies of postmortem brain tissue from essential tremor patients, the Columbia team discovered that patients with essential tremor had an abnormally high number of synapses, or connections, between two types of nerve cells in the brain's cerebellum--climbing fibers and Purkinje cells. In the current study, again using postmortem brain tissue, the researchers found that the formation of these synapses appears to be influenced by a protein called glutamate receptor delta 2 (GluR?2). "When this protein is underexpressed, any excess synapses that form between climbing fibers and Purkinje cells are not eliminated, resulting in too many neuronal connections," says Kuo. When the team reduced expression of GluR?2 in mice, the animals developed tremors similar to those seen in humans. Restoring GluR?2 function suppressed the tremors, proving that the protein plays a key role in essential tremor. Potential for New Treatments The study opens several new possibilities for treatment of essential tremor, Kuo says. "Using cerebellar EEG as a guide, we may be able to use neuromodulation techniques such as tDCS or TMS (transcranial direct-current stimulation or transcranial magnetic stimulation) to reduce tremor, or even drugs to reduce transmission between the climbing fibers and Purkinje cells." Kuo is also working to develop medications that increase GluR?2 expression in the brain, which may reduce tremor. ### The study is titled "Cerebellar oscillations driven by synaptic pruning deficits of cerebellar climbing fibers contribute to tremor pathophysiology." The other contributors are Ming-Kai Pan (National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan), Yong-Shi Li (Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY), Shi-Bing Wong (CUIMC and Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan), Chun-Lun Ni (CUIMC), Yi-Mei Wang (National Taiwan University Hospital), Wen-Chuan (National Taiwan University Hospital), Liang-Yin Lu (National Taiwan University Hospital), Jye-Chang Lee (National Taiwan University Hospital), Etty P. Cortes (CUIMC), Jean-Paul G. Vonsatte (CUIMC), Qian Sun (Columbia and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH), Elan D. Louis (Yale University, New Haven, CT), and Phyllis L. Faust (CUIMC). The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants K08NS083738, R01NS104423, R01NS086736, R01NS073872, R01NS085136, R01NS088257, R01NS04289, and R21NS077094), Parkinson's Foundation, International Essential Tremor Foundation, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan, and National Taiwan University Hospital, and a Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Scholar Award. The authors declare that they have no financial or other conflicts of interest. Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cuimc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. did not meet several commitments in its state-mandated wildfire prevention plan last year, including performance review targets for tree-trimming work and benchmarks for power line inspections, the utility told a federal judge Wednesday. Only about 60% of PG&Es expanded efforts to prune or remove trees that could fall on power lines initially passed work-quality reviews, attorneys for the company said in a filing to U.S. District Judge William Alsup. PG&E had aimed to have 92% of the work meet expectations during the performance reviews. Attorneys said all of the power-line miles that did not initially clear the quality inspections had to be reworked and reviewed to ensure they were up to PG&Es standards. PG&E lawyers said the company completed or exceeded 46 of 53 specific commitments in its fire-prevention plan, which the California Public Utilities Commission approved in May. For example, an attachment to the filing says the company finished even more work as part of its expanded vegetation management program than it originally planned. While PG&E had completed less than one-third of the work as of late September, by the time the year was out, the company reached 103% of its goal. Tree-trimming reviews were one of the starkest areas where PG&E fell short of the targets spelled out in the plan. But it wasnt the only area the company said it was also unable to fix all the problems it found while inspecting power lines, for example. In addition to updating the judge about its expanded fire-prevention work, PG&E also discussed its routine vegetation management work. After routine inspections this year, the company said it completed work on more than 1 million trees last year, but still has 22,000 trees where work needs to be done. The company said the remaining trees include some that have been delayed because of environmental issues, permitting requirements and customer refusals. The fire-prevention plan has been of great interest to Alsup, the federal judge overseeing PG&Es probation arising from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. He made compliance with the document a new condition of probation, and last month he told PG&E to explain whether it was in compliance with the plan and Californias vegetation-management rules. In their response, attorneys said PG&E recognizes that it has more work to do to continue to improve its vegetation management and other wildfire mitigation programs. At the same time, PG&E has made significant progress in enhancing its readiness and responsiveness to the increased threat of potential wildfires across its service territory, they said. The number of utility-caused wildfires in high fire-threat areas of PG&Es service territory declined materially in 2019 and there was no repeat of the deadly catastrophic wildfires that devastated Northern California in 2017 and 2018. Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network consumer group, said he was concerned that PG&E was unable to achieve what he described as crucial public safety goals. What people want to see is fewer wildfires (and) fewer shut-offs, and its not clear from this how PG&E is going to achieve it, Toney said. So were very concerned. Toney said the court filing demonstrates a greater need for the utilities commission to have its own inspectors in the field to be able to verify that this work is being done. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California PG&E did fulfill its plans to inspect 50,000 of its heavy-duty transmission structures and nearly 700,000 lower-voltage distribution poles though crews completed the work months behind schedule. Those inspections unearthed thousands of high-priority problems to fix, some of which remained incomplete at the end of the year, according to the company. In the fire-prevention plan, PG&E said it would finish all top-priority repairs by May or June. But as of Dec. 31, the company still needed to complete about 4% of the most important distribution-line repairs and 7% of the top transmission-line repairs. PG&E said it was held back on distribution repairs by factors beyond its control and, for transmission repairs, the timing for when the company was allowed to take lines out of service. A temporary diversion of resources to the companys widespread planned blackouts an extreme measure to prevent power lines from starting fires also contributed to the delay, attorneys said in the court filing. The blackouts did not fulfill PG&Es original plan, either. In the version of the plan approved by the utilities commission, PG&E said it would inspect every power line it turned off before restoring electricity. In practice, the company focused its patrols on the lines that actually ran through areas with dangerous weather conditions. PG&E said it used operational judgment to determine whether to patrol lines that were interrupted only as a secondary effect of the de-energization of other lines. PG&E said it spelled out that new strategy in an amended version of its wildfire plan in April. But that document has not yet been approved by the state utilities commission. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris By Abdul Kerimkhanov Georgias Economy Minister Natia Turnava has refuted Armenian PM Nikkol Pashinyans recent claims that Armenia left behind Georgia in terms of GDP per capita in 2019, saying that Pashinyan must familiarize himself with elementary methodology. This is a wrong assessment, because it does not take into account elementary methodological issues. In general, if any politician or expert seeks victory with such indicators, I call on them first of all to familiarize themselves with the elementary methodology," Turnava said on January 11. In November 2019, Georgias National Statistics Office (GeoStat) introduced a new method for calculating GDP, which is not yet reflected in the reports of international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova also calculated the VAT in accordance with the new methodology, but this happened earlier, therefore, their data are already reflected in the IMF report. Believe me, in the conditions of this high economic growth, in our estimation, per capita GDP in Georgia will reach $4,700. Consequently, all this will be reflected in the next IMF report, Turnava concluded. Turnava was commenting on Pashinyans message published on his Facebook account on January 6 where he claimed that Armenia allegedly surpassed Georgia and Azerbaijan in terms of the indicator of GDP per capita based on the data of 2019. However, later he corrected the Azerbaijani part of his post, saying that his country will surpass Azerbaijan in 2020, not in 2019. Ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili also responded to Pashinyan, saying that Armenia never exceeded Georgia in terms of the GDP indicator. Nikol Pashinyan declared that Armenia has surpassed Georgia in terms of the GDP per capita for the first time ever. This hadnt happened during my administration, Shevardnadzes administration, and it hadnt happened after the reign of Tigran the Great. There is no ground in terms of geography and resources for Armenian citizens to have more incomes than Georgian citizens..., Saakashvili stated. Georgian economist Vakhtang Charaya said on January 9 that Armenia lags behind Georgia in all respects, including GDP based on purchasing power parity, average salary, credit rating, foreign investment, employment and unemployment, and Armenia lost 200,000 jobs over 5 years. So how could Armenia get ahead of Georgia? Charaya questioned. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A 16-year-old student mistakenly shot his friend dead in a Texas high school's ROTC room before fleeing the building, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The alleged shooter and a friend were arrested more than three hours after the Tuesday afternoon shooting at Bellaire High School in suburban Houston. Dramatic footage showed the moment a SWAT team found the suspect hiding near a dumpster. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said that based on evidence gathered so far that the shooting was not intentional and that both student were part of the ROTC group. The boy has been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his 19-year-old classmate. Multiple friends have identified the victim to KTRK as 19-year-old senior Cesar Cortes. They said he had recently enlisted in the US Army. Scroll down for video A 16-year-old boy (left) from Texas was arrested Tuesday on a manslaughter charge in the killing of his classmate, 19-year-old Cesar Cortes (right) Surveillance video shows heavily armed SWAT officers surround a dumpster in Bellaire, Texas, and corner the suspect and his friend Cops are seen pinning the alleged shooter to the ground on Caversham Drive near Chimney Rock Road The suspect is taken away in handcuffs from the scene, more than three hours after the shooting at the high school Local reports said Cortes was a platoon commander in the school's ROTC program. Police said they received a call about the shooting inside the school at around 4pm. Cortes was shot once in the chest and died later at a hospital. Just before 7.40pm, heavily armed SWAT officers in tactical gear converged on a dumpster behind a convenience store on Caversham Drive near Chimney Rock Road and ordered two young men hiding behind the trash receptacle to come out. Surveillance video obtained by KPRC shows the officers pin the suspects to the ground, then lead them away in handcuffs. The suspect was arrested following a three-hour manhunt in Bellaire, Texas, Tuesday night Another recording shows the accused shooter dressed in a red-and-black checkered jacket being placed in the back of a police vehicle. The 16-year-old was questioned for several hours overnight but refused to make any statements. Authorities say he could face upgraded charges pending the outcome of the investigation. The person who was arrested alongside the teen so far has not been charged with any crime. The gun used in Cesar's killing has not been located as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Bellaire police. Investigators said the suspect may have disposed of it after fleeing school. Police are asking people living in the vicinity of the high school to be on the lookout and contact them immediately if they find a discarded handgun. Police officers respond to a shooting at Bellaire High School Tuesday afternoon People wait outside Bellaire High School after a shooting and watch from the street as authorities respond Cortes' uncle spoke to Univision 45, describing his slain nephew as a 'star' who dreamed of serving his country. 'He was a very serious child and that is what hurt us all, we do not understand, because he never got into trouble,' the relative told the station in Spanish. 'This has taken us by surprise and his mother is broken.' The district canceled classes Wednesday, after Grenita Lathan, the interim superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, originally said they were going on as scheduled. Bellaire Mayor Sylvester Turner released a statement extending his condolences to Cortes' family and the high school community. 'A learning environment is the last place where young people should feel unsafe and in fear of their lives,' he stated. 'Yet gun violence continues to disrupt schools and destroy families across the country.' DES MOINES, Iowa - The Latest on the January Democratic presidential debate (all times local): 10:25 p.m. Six Democratic presidential candidates have wrapped up their final debate before primary voting begins with talk of hope, defeating President Donald Trump and bringing a divided nation back together. Former Vice-President Joe Biden said Tuesday that character is on the ballot in the 2020 election and that eight years of Trump in office would be an absolute disaster. Sen. Bernie Sanders said this is the moment when we have got to think big, not small, and have courage to take on the 1%, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she has hope in Americas future despite its challenges and looks forward to becoming the first female president. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says shell be a president who finds common ground instead of scorched earth to get things done, while former Mayor Pete Buttigieg says Democrats will get one shot to win big and send Trumpism into the dustbin of history. Businessman Tom Steyer says he thinks of the American people as his teammates, and pledged he wont permit someone to run down the field and kick my teammate in the face. ___ 10:05 p.m. Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg says he will keep up his effort to appeal to black voters, whose support will be vital to winning his partys nomination. The former mayor said during Tuesday nights debate in Des Moines, Iowa, that the black voters who know me best are supporting me, referencing local leaders in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg has built up support in some of the early states but has struggled in South Carolina, where black voters comprise the majority of the Democratic primary electorate. Its the first state where candidates mettle with black voters is tested. Buttigieg pointed Tuesday to his endorsement from U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland, who earlier this month became the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to back Buttigiegs campaign. ___ 9:55 p.m. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says the upcoming Senate trial on President Donald Trumps impeachment is a decency check on our government. This is a patriotism check, she added at Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate, noting the upcoming 2020 election is yet another check. Klobuchar and her fellow senators running for president will have to contend with the impeachment trial as the push to the Iowa caucuses enters its final days. Other candidates like former Vice-President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be able to continue campaigning freely as the Senate trial gets underway. Klobuchar also criticized her Senate Republican colleagues over reluctance to allow certain witnesses for the Senate trial, saying, Weve asked for only four people. And if our Republican colleagues wont allow those witnesses, they may as well give the president a crown and a scepter. They may as well make him king, Klobuchar said. ___ 9:45 p.m. Joe Biden says the outcome of a Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump wont affect his arguments against the Republican president in the 2020 campaign. And the former vice-president said at Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate that its irrelevant whether Trump claims exoneration if the Republican-led Senate votes as expected and doesnt remove him from office. Biden said House Democrats had no choice but to impeach the president for Trumps efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to launch investigations into Bidens son Hunters business dealings in the country and his own foreign policy engagement in Ukraine when he was vice-president. Trumps claims about the Bidens have been debunked. But Biden said he expects Trump and Republicans to continue to allege that the Bidens are corrupt. I did my job, Biden said at the debate. ___ 9:35 p.m. It all comes back to health care. Even after Democratic presidential candidates had an extended foreign policy discussion at Tuesdays presidential debate, they saved the fireworks for another fight over how to expand health insurance coverage. Joe Biden suggested that Bernie Sanders wasnt being candid with voters over the cost of his single-payer insurance idea. Amy Klobuchar said Medicare for All is so impractical that the debate isnt real. And Pete Buttigieg bristled at the suggestion that adding a public option plan to the existing market isnt a major step forward. Sanders said those more moderate candidates misrepresent a plan he said would indeed increase Americans taxes but eliminate the absurdity of private insurance costs. Elizabeth Warren tried a bit of a twist. She defended single payer, but noted that Republicans want to roll back even existing coverage. Ill take our side of the argument any day, she said of the entire Democratic field. ___ 9:25 p.m. Former Vice-President Joe Biden says one of his top rivals needs to be candid with voters on the cost of his health care reform proposal. Biden said Tuesday during the Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders should be more upfront with voters on how much it will cost to move the country to a single-payer Medicare for All system. Asked if voters deserved more information on the price of his signature proposal, Sanders maintained his argument that his proposal wouldnt bankrupt the country because it would end out-of-pocket and prescription drug prices. Biden proposes making fixes to the existing Affordable Care Act system, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposes somewhat of a hybrid. Noting she would use executive power to cut prescription drug prices, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said her $20-plus trillion plan costs more than those ideas because they represent only incremental change. ___ 9:10 p.m. Elizabeth Warrens argument that a woman is best suited to take on President Donald Trump led to a prolonged awkward dispute with Bernie Sanders. Sanders denied during Tuesday nights debate that he told Warren in 2018 that he didnt think a woman could beat Trump. Warren says he did and argued Tuesday night that shes the only candidate on stage who defeated an incumbent Republican candidate any time in the last 30 years. The Vermont senator disputed that, arguing that he defeated incumbent Republican Peter Smith in a 1990 congressional race. Warren then began counting quietly with her finger, asking, Wasnt it 30 years ago? Sanders noted his win again and then said the dispute isnt a pressing concern. ___ 9:05 p.m. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren declined an opportunity to continue their recent campaign trail feud during Tuesday nights debate, but Warren still took on her progressive opponent. Sanders again denied that he told Warren in a private 2018 meeting that a woman couldnt win the presidency. He called it incomprehensible that he would believe such a thing and said he didnt want to waste a whole lot of time on the issue because this is what Donald Trump ... wants. He also committed to doing everything in my power to making sure the eventual nominee wins. Warren has said Sanders did in fact tell her a woman cant win, and on the debate stage, she took on the issue of whether a woman can win head-on. Warren told the crowd that the male candidates on the stage collectively lost 10 races while she and Sen. Amy Klobuchar were the only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in. She also argued that female candidates have outperformed men, noting that female candidates and voters were pivotal in taking back the House and flipping statehouses during the last midterms. Warren pivoted to an implicit contrast with Sanders on electability, arguing that the real danger for Democrats is picking a candidate who cant pull our party together. ___ 9 p.m. Former Vice-President Joe Biden and businessman Tom Steyer say they would not meet with North Koreas leader without preconditions, as President Donald Trump has done. Biden said at Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate in Iowa that Trumps meetings with Kim Jong Un gave the North Korean leader legitimacy, and he criticized Trump for weakening sanctions against the country. He said his approach to North Korea would include working with China and Japan. Biden also noted that Kim once described him as a rabid dog who must be beaten with a stick. Steyer, a billionaire businessman, said the U.S. would need to work with its allies in regard to North Korea. He said staff could meet and see how far we can get. ___ 8:55 p.m. What has become a signature trade deal of President Donald Trumps administration is a conflict point among the Democrats competing to replace him. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said at Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, that he opposes the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, or USMCA, in part because it does not incorporate very, very strong principles to significantly lower fossil fuel emissions in the world. Asked why she backed the deal, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said it was a modest improvement over existing agreements and could be a placeholder for future reform. Former Vice-President Joe Biden said that, as president, he wouldnt push a trade deal that didnt include buy-in from environmentalists and unionists. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she backed the deal, as did former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who said it has been improved. It is not perfect. ___ 8:35 p.m. Theres a divide in Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate over the American military footprint abroad. The leading progressive candidates, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, blasted the trillions of dollars that the U.S. has spent in Middle East wars since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Warren said We have to stop this mindset and bring home combat troops. The more moderate candidates countered that a U.S. presence is necessary in the Middle East, though former Vice-President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg said the focus should be on small special forces. To some degree, the debate is about framing. Sanders and Warren dont go so far as to say they would never order military deployments. Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg are careful to express caution about large, extended missions of ground troops. But the differences highlight two distinct foreign policy camps within the Democratic Party. ___ 8:25 p.m. Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders says he fears that President Donald Trumps actions involving Iran could be leading the United States into a foreign policy quagmire of the highest level. The Vermont senator said at Tuesday nights Democratic candidate debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, that what he sees as the countrys top foreign policy disasters - the wars in Vietnam and Iraq - were based on lies. Sanders accused Trump of being dishonest about the intelligence that led to the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Sanders pressed the need for an international coalition, adding, We cannot keep acting unilaterally. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said this week that he had seen no hard evidence that four American embassies had been under threat when Trump authorized the targeting of Irans top commander, raising questions about the scale of the threat described by Trump last week. ___ 8:15 p.m. Former Vice-President Joe Biden wasted no time in the opening minutes of Democrats presidential debate in calling his 2002 vote authorizing an Iraq invasion a mistake. It was an unusually matter-of-fact tone of contrition for Biden, especially as he tries to emphasize his long foreign policy record as a vice-president and a six-term U.S. senator. The 77-year-old candidate has throughout his campaign mostly defended portions of his record that have come under criticism from his partys progressive flank. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders nonetheless tried to capitalize on the issue Tuesday night. He pointed out that he voted against the Bush administrations war powers request as a member of the House, and he called the war the worst foreign policy blunder in history. Biden maintained that hed compare his record overall to any of his Democratic competitors, and he pointed to his role in the Obama administration in dramatically scaling back U.S. involvement in Iraq. ___ 8 p.m. Six Democratic presidential candidates are taking the debate stage in Des Moines, Iowa, in a final showdown before primary voting begins. The half dozen candidates on stage Tuesday are all white and include four men. Its a stark winnowing of the Democratic field that was once the most diverse in history. The first debate of 2020 is starting with fresh tension between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren said Monday night that Sanders privately told her in 2018 that he didnt think a woman could defeat President Donald Trump. Sanders has vigorously denied making the comment. The dispute isnt likely to be the only one on stage. Sanders has ratcheted up his criticism of Vice-President Joe Biden over his past support of the Iraq War and other issues. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is looking to break out of the pack, building on strong debates and her arguments that former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg doesnt have enough experience to be president. Billionaire Tom Steyer is expected to face criticism that hes trying to buy his way to the White House as he floods early voting states with campaign ads. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. More than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year across the U.S., according to the National Canine Research Council. Texas and Houston are ranked as some of the worst areas for dog bites and fatal dog attacks in the nation, with Houston earning the 2018 title of the Dog Bite Capital of America from the U.S. Postal Service. Approximately 36 fatal dog attacks were reported nationwide in 2018, according to the nonprofit public education website DogBites.org. Between 2005 and 2017, the nonprofit recorded 433 deaths caused by dogs in the U.S., and 62 of those deaths occurred in Texas. During that same time period, family dogs inflicted 54 percent of all fatal attacks. Using this data from DogBites.org, Chron.com compiled fatal dog attacks that took place in the Greater Houston area from the early 2000s to 2019. Some of these cases involved stray dogs, but many concerned family-owned dogs or a neighbor's dog. Click through the photos above for more information on the fatal dog attacks around Houston between the early 2000s and 2019, according to DogBites.org... According to the nonprofit, pit bulls were responsible for 72 percent of the fatal dog attacks recorded in the U.S. in 2018. While this breed is often accused of aggressive behavior that can lead to fatal attacks, officials from the American Veterinary Medical Association have reported that a dog's breed does not determine its aggressive nature, but rather its individual history and behavior does. ON HOUSTON CHRONICLE.COM: Punish irresponsible owners when dogs attack [Editorial] One of the most recent Houston area fatal dog attacks took place last month off Arlington Street in Northside. A woman later identified as Medessa Ragsdale, 44, was found in a ditch after three pit bulls viciously attacked her. The owner of the animals was one of two people to report the attack to police. Because of city ordinances that require owners to keep their dogs contained on leashes, the owner could face a possible charge of negligent manslaughter. Some of the more unusual fatal dog attacks the city has seen concern people who are attacked by their own animals. Last February, a Houston woman known for her love of Doberman Pinschers was found dead in her backyard after an apparent dog attack. Police were called to the woman's home, later identified as Elaine Richman, 66, for a welfare check after she hadn't been seen at her dog training classes for two days. She was found covered with dog bites on her face, arms and hands. MAPS: 'Dangerous Dogs' identified in unincorporated Harris County Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. If the recent hacking of a Ukrainian gas company was done by the Russian military as the initial evidence suggests President Trump deserves some responsibility. The connection between Trump and the hacking would not be direct; there is no evidence that Trump or any of his aides were aware of the specific hack. But he has repeatedly encouraged foreign countries to interfere in American elections against his opponents which appears to be what happened in this case. No one should be surprised that those countries are doing exactly what Trump has encouraged. Its a complicated story, so I want to take it one step at a time: 1. The Times reported this week that Russian military hackers appear to have been targeting Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son served. As The Times story explained: Experts say the timing and scale of the attacks suggest that the Russians could be searching for potentially embarrassing material on the Bidens the same kind of information that Mr. Trump wanted from Ukraine when he pressed for an investigation of the Bidens and Burisma, setting off a chain of events that led to his impeachment. [January 15, 2020] CHILDLY's Dove Wallet Partners with Argos to Provide AML Solution SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CHILDLY announced that they have partnered with Argos, a global crypto KYC/AML solution provider, to build the automated compliance solution into the Dove Wallet and tighten its compliance standards as new regulatory demands come into place. Dove Wallet is CHILDLY's crypto wallet service that introduces anti-money laundering (AML) and customer identification (KYC) solutions. With the introduction of Argos KYC/AML solution, Dove Wallet expects to be able to comply with AML regulatory environments around the world more efficiently. It is also possible to prepare for the passage of an amendment to the Special Measure by the Korean government, which included the basis for implementation, along with last year's FATF policy recommendation. "All aspects related to compliance and information protection is the utmost priority for Dove Wallet. We will continue to leverage the benefits of best compliance technologies available to provide a safe and legal crypto environment to our customers," says Euntai Kim, CEO of CHILDLY. In the meantime, Dove Wallet also said they are preparing to obtain ISO 27001 accreditation & ISMS (Information Security Management System) Certificate, the government-backed standard for the protection of key information assets, to satisfy increasing demand for higher standard of crypto security for the service. About CHILDLY Founded and headquartered in Seoul, Korea, CHILDLY is a crypto finance startup that provides digital asset distribution services, Mining Pool Hub (miningpoolhub.com) and global crypto wallet service Dove Wallet (dovewallet.com). View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/childlys-dove-wallet-partners-with-argos-to-provide-aml-solution-300987316.html SOURCE CHILDLY BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Georgia will implement many large-scale projects in 2020, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said at a meeting of the city government, Trend reports citing Georgian media. According to him, this year, about 1.2 billion lari ($417 million) will be spent on two main areas: infrastructure and healthcare. The sum of 270 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will also be added to improve public transportation; in total, the capitals budget will be about 1.5 billion lari [$521.2 million], Kaladze said. The mayor noted that, since it is planned to implement many projects, some discomfort may be experienced by the population. He added that in the coming days, detailed information on the projects to be implemented this year will be provided to the capital residents. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 A group of Union ministers will visit later this month to spread awareness about the positive impact of abrogation of provisions and the development measures taken by the government for the region, sources said on Wednesday. The schedule for the visit of the ministers to the union territories of is likely to be finalised at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on January 17. The visit is an initiative of Union Home Minister and the ministry is coordinating it, the sources said. Union minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit the union territory of on January 19. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Academic Staff Union of Universities has dismissed speculations that President Muhammadu Buhari directed the stoppage of salaries o... The Academic Staff Union of Universities has dismissed speculations that President Muhammadu Buhari directed the stoppage of salaries of university lecturers yet to enrol into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). ASUU has been at loggerheads with the federal government ever since Buhari ordered all workers to enroll in the centralized payroll system to clamp down on corruption and ensure transparency. While ordering its members to shun the compulsory enrollment, ASUU had mobilized for strike over FGs refusal to negotiate and vowed that itll sanction lecturers who acted contrary to its stance on the matter. But on Tuesday, Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU president, disclosed that the union met with Buhari last Thursday and discussed the IPPIS issue, which the union had rejected with sound reasons. He added that the rumours that Buhari directed the stoppage of lecturers salaries were fake. To put the records straight, at no point during the meeting did President Buhari put a closure to the ongoing discussion on ASUUs preference for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), he said. He also did not direct that salaries of ASUU members be stopped for failure to enroll in the IPPIS. Any report to the contrary is circulated to mislead the public. He went on to reinstate the unions commitment to abide by its tradition of consultation and dialogue which informed the engagement with Buhari last week. We had useful discussions with the President and we are hopeful that our prayers will receive the expected prompt attention, he said. ASUU had rejected IPPIS on account of what it described as grey areas and warned that Nigerias university system could be thrown into chaos if the FG insisted on compulsorily enrolling of its members. However, Ahmed Idris, the accountant-general of the federation (AGF), had fired back, describing the unions opposition to the new system as an open endorsement of corruption. The federal ministry of education had also claimed that ASSU is jittery over IPPIS because the new system would expose the financial atrocities and irregularities committed by their members on FGs payroll. Advertisement These stark pictures show some of the scores of horses and farm animals who have been buried under the ash after a volcano erupted in the Philippines. Thousands of people were forced to leave their livestock behind as they fled from Taal volcano, which began spewing out ash and lava in a sudden eruption on Sunday. Many locals relied on horses to make money by ferrying tourists up the volcano and some have staged risky rescue missions to retrieve them. Experts say a further, more explosive eruption could be imminent but local authorities are struggling to keep impatient locals away from the volcanic island. The carcass of a horse is entombed in volcanic ash after it was killed in the eruption of Taal volcano in the Philippines, which began belching out ash and lava in a sudden eruption on Sunday A horse's mouth and head are just visible under layers of volcanic ash which have killed scores of horses and farm animals - while others have staged risky rescue missions to retrieve their livestock A horse's body is buried under volcanic ash at the waterside, on an island which is usually a popular tourist hotspot A horse's body lies entombed in volcanic ash next to the carcass of a cow which is floating on the shore off the island A dead carabao floats in water after being swept away, while a horse carcass is buried under volcanic ash on the beach, as the Taal volcano continues to release smoke and ash Dead trees near Taal's crater are seen covered in volcanic ash yesterday as the volcano continued to belch out lava and ash Some 40,000 people have taken refuge in shelters since the volcano exploded into life and let loose a towering burst of ash and jets of lava on Sunday. Several groups of locals have made the perilous trip to the island to retrieve their prized livestock despite the warnings from local authorities. 'Our lives are in our horses, they're how we make our living,' owner Alfredo Daet, 62, said yesterday after bringing three of his four animals to the mainland. 'We love our horses... that's why we wanted to save them,' he added. The creatures can generate $7 each per trip up to the stunning panoramic views above the volcano's main crater, a significant sum in a nation where millions survive on less than $2 a day. Scores of other farm animals on the island, including cows and goats, were killed in the eruption. 'If we let the horses die (on the island), we will be the ones that lose in the end,' another owner, Pejay Magpantay, said on Tuesday after 11 of his family's 14 beasts were saved. As the volcano has calmed slightly in the past 24 hours and is spewing less ash, the temptation to return has grown. Melvin Casilao said he and his neighbours in the town of Talisay need to feed their livestock, remove the thick ash from their roofs and pull their boats from the water. The carcass of a horse lies near the wreckage of destroyed houses on the volcanic island which is usually a tourist attraction A resident carries a rooster covered in volcanic ash from Taal's eruption - amid warnings a further eruption could be imminent Animals are seen aboard a boat after being rescued from near Taal volcano's crater by residents staging perilous rescue missions to save their farm animals and the horses who are used to ferry tourists up the volcano A resident washes a horse rescued from near the crater despite official warnings that another eruption may be cominmg A stray dog walks along a road covered in volcanic ash from the eruption which began suddenly three days ago Red-hot lava gushed out of a Philippine volcano on the picturesque island where the alert level is at its second-highest A column of ash and lava surrounds the crater of Taal after the volcano exploded into life on Sunday Another man who defied official warnings to sneak back to the island to check on his pigs said there was complete devastation. Taal is classified a 'permanent danger zone', according to government volcanologists, but nonetheless attracts tourists because of its spectacular sights. It is a 14-square-mile volcano island that lies inside a bigger lake formed from previous volcanic activity. Recently, Taal has been putting on a stunning and terrifying display, including an ash cloud illuminated with lightning bolts. Seismologists have noted a string of earthquakes and fissures opening up in roads, indicating that magma is still on the move and Taal remains very dangerous. The alert level for the volcano stood at 4 on a 5-point scale on Wednesday, indicating that an 'explosive eruption' remained imminent. The volcano has erupted dozens of times since 1572, the most destructive of which was in 1911 when it killed some 1,300 people and sent ash falling on to Manila. Its last major eruption came in 1977. Since the latest bout of activity there have been calls to keep people, once and for all, from living on the island. 'I strongly recommend that we implement the suggestion that... Taal (volcano) will be declared 'no man's land',' defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters yesterday. A motorist examines his Jeep yesterday after it was covered in volcanic ash during the eruption in the Philippines which is spewing lava half a mile high and constantly trembling with earthquakes An ash-covered cow is seen in the area after thousands of fleeing locals had to abandon their prized livestock A horse stands next to damaged structure at the Taal volcano island in Talisay yesterday. Thousands of people have fled their homes after the volcano erupted Cows stand beside damaged trees on Taal volcano island which has erupted numerous times over hundreds of years A worker carries a fallen branch in a resort blanketed with volcanic ash in Talisay yesterday, with authorities warning that the Taal volcano could continue spewing lava and ash for weeks - leaving thousands in limbo Advertisement The body of a US soldier who was killed along with a comrade in a roadside bomb by a Taliban device has been repatriated. Private First Class Miguel A. Villalon, 21, died alongside Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin, 29, during their first combat deployments when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan near Kandahar province on Saturday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which left two other American soldiers injured while they were conducting operations as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission. Last night the body of Pfc Villalon was repatriated back to the US from Afghanistan and arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. A US Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Pfc Miguel A. Villalon, late on Tuesday night at Dover Air Force Base Staff Sgt Ian P McLaughlin, 29, (left) and Pfc Miguel Villalon, 21, (right) were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Saturday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack A US Army carry team the coffin containing the remains of Pfc Villalon, as Vice President Mike Pence (center) and other dignitaries, salute the soldier's body late on Tuesday Vice President Mike Pence observes as military personnel carry a transfer case for fallen service member, Army Private First Class Miguel Villalon, during a transfer at Dover Air Force Base Vice President Mike Pence attended the dignified transfer for the fallen service member who had a US flag draped over his coffin. He was seen disembarking from Air Force Two upon arriving at Dover Air Force Base to attend the short ceremony. A US Army carry team brought the transfer case containing the remains of Pfc Villalon off the plane before military personnel saluted him. Both dead soldiers were assigned to the 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. McLaughlin hailed from Newport News, Virginia, while Villalon was a native of Aurora, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The soldiers' deaths were the first for US Forces in 2020. McLaughlin joined the Army in 2012 and his first assignment was as a horizontal construction engineer with the 62nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. Both dead soldiers were assigned to the 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion and were on their first combat deployments when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device The coffin of Villalon being carried off a flight back to the US last night. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which left two other American soldiers injured, as well as killing Villalon and Staff Sgt. McLaughlin Vice President Mike Pence (center right) and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten (center left) saluted the body of Villalon when it arrived back in the US on Tuesday night In 2016, McLaughlin was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, where he rose to become a squad leader. He graduated from the Advanced Airborne School Jumpmaster Course in 2018. McLaughlin's awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with 'C' device, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Action Badge and the Basic Parachutist Badge. He is survived by his wife and four children. Villalon joined the Army in 2018 and completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the following year. He served as a combat engineer for the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with 'C' device, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Action Badge. The 21-year-old is survived by his mother, who lives in Chicago, and his father, who lives in Brownsville, Texas. Beirut (AFP) - A missile strike on a Syrian airbase that Damascus blamed on Israel killed at least three Iran-backed militiamen, a monitor said on Wednesday. Four missiles hit the T4 base in Homs province, north of the capital, at around 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported, blaming the attack on Israel. It said the strike caused damage but no casualties. But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least three Iran-backed militiamen were killed. It said the strike damaged an Iranian arms depot, two military vehicles and a building still under construction. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the dead were all non-Syrians, adding that Israel was likely behind the attack. He said both Iranian forces and Russian military advisers were stationed at the base, which has been hit by Israeli forces in the past. An Israeli army spokeswoman made no comment when contacted by AFP. The missile strike adds to the growing tension in the Middle East after a US drone killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a targeted strike in Baghdad on January 3. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out many raids against forces of the Syrian government and its allies, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel insists it will not allow Syria to become a bridgehead for Iranian intervention in the region. A woman who noticed a tiny lump under her eye while applying her daily moisturiser was distraught to discover an aggressive form of skin cancer was growing on her face. Kristie Webster, 32, from Sydney, spent her childhood in typical Australian fashion, growing up outdoors playing netball, swimming and lounging on the beach in the sun for hours each day. But one morning in late February 2018, the mother-of-two spotted a small white bump just below her left eye in the bathroom mirror. 'At first, I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just a blind pimple,' she told Daily Mail Australia. But when she casually mentioned the spot to her sister two months later, her concerned reaction convinced Kristie to book a skin check to put her mind at rest. Less than a week after the check, she received the devastating news that her seemingly innocuous 'pimple' was actually an aggressive form of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. One morning in February 2018, Sydney mother Kristie Webster noticed a tiny lump under her left eye while applying her daily moisturiser, but dismissed the mark as a blind pimple Kristie, pictured with daughter Xara and son Knox in November 2019, had no symptoms save for the tiny lump which was later diagnosed as an aggressive basal cell carcinoma Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the world's most common type of skin cancer, beginning in the skin's top layer and manifesting as a small, white lump or brown scaly patch on sun-exposed areas, particularly the face, neck and shoulders. The first warning sign is usually a tiny bump or sore that doesn't heal. Doctors told Kristie the BCC was 'growing aggressively' and would spread across her entire cheek if they didn't act immediately. 'It was all so surreal - I was in shock,' she said. 'In shock at the thought my results came back positive for skin cancer, in shock that it was on my face, in shock that I was going to have surgery and not know the result. I was scared at the thought of the unknown.' Racing against the clock, Kristie met with a plastic surgeon who performed emergency surgery to remove the growth. The operation left her with a deep hole the size of a 50 cent coin in her cheek. HOW TO SPOT A BCC: FIVE WARNING SIGNS 1. An open sore that does not heal: It may ooze, bleed or crust. The sore may persist for weeks, or appear heal before resurfacing. 2. A reddish patch or irritated area: Typically on the face, chest, shoulder, arm or leg that may itch, crust, hurt or sometimes cause no discomfort at all. 3. A shiny bump: Pearly or clear, pink, red or white in colour. The bump can also be brown or black, and is easily mistaken for a common mole. 4. A small pink nodule: With a slightly raised edge and a crusted indentation in the centre, that can develop tiny surface blood vessels over time. 5. A scar-like, scaly area: Flat in texture and white, yellow or waxy in colour. The skin appears shiny or taut, with poorly defined borders. This warning sign often indicates a particularly aggressive form of BCC. Source: SkinCancer.org Advertisement After doctors warned her that the BCC was 'growing aggressively', Kristie had emergency surgery which left her with a deep hole the size of a 50 cent coin in her cheek If detected early, the prognosis for patients with BCC is excellent with a 100 percent survival rate for cases that have not spread to other sites (Kristie with son Knox in January 2020) In its early stage, BCC typically shows as a small 'pearly' bump, almost identical to a flesh-coloured mole or a blind pimple that doesn't come to a head. THE PEOPLE AT HIGHEST RISK OF SKIN CANCER Everyone is at risk of skin cancer, but the likelihood is significantly increased for people who have: - A high number of unusual moles (scientifically known as dysplastic naevi) - Fair skin and a tendency to burn rather than tan, freckles, light eye colour, light or red hair colour - Previous history of skin cancer Source: Cancer Council Australia Advertisement Darker growths, red patches of scaly skin or pink lumps with a 'wax' like surface are other telltale signs which are dangerous because they can be easily dismissed as innocent everyday complaints. Skin spots which bleed or crack should be reported to a doctor as soon as possible, as BCC growths are fragile and prone to breaking easily. If detected early, the prognosis for patients with BCC is excellent with a 100 percent survival rate for cases that have not spread to other sites. But if the condition is left untreated, BCC can grow to other parts of the body, causing significant disfigurement, and, in rare cases, death, meaning early intervention is crucial. A 2019 survey from Australian life insurance specialist TAL reveals a staggering 87 percent of women have not had a skin check in the past 12 months. Two out of three Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70. Before her diagnosis, Kristie would 'be lucky to put tinted moisturiser on' before leaving the house, but she now sees sun protection as a priority (pictured with partner Azza in December 2019) LIVING WITH BASAL CELL CARCINOMA Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a slow-growing form of non-melanoma skin cancer that begins in basal cells, which are small, round cells found in the lower layer of the skin's epidermis. It is the most common type of skin cancer, accounting for roughly 70 percent of cases. BCC typically appears as a white, waxy lump, or a brown, scaly patch on sun-exposed areas, most commonly the face, neck and back. CAUSE Skin cancer occurs when cells are damaged by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Between 95 and 99 percent of skin cancers in Australia are caused by exposure to the sun. HOW CAN YOU PREVENT IT? - Avoid being in the sun from 10am to 4pm, when UV rays are most intense. - Avoid the use of tanning beds. - Apply a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF of 30 or higher every day. - Use protective clothing and accessories with built-in sun protection. PROGNOSIS The prognosis for BCC is excellent, with the vast majority of cases treated successfully and a 100 percent survival rate for instances that have not spread to other parts of the body. Source: Cancer Council Australia Advertisement Thankfully, Kristie's surgery was a resounding success, with doctors able to remove all traces of cancer before it could spread. She spent several weeks recovering, gingerly cleaning the row of stitches which has left her with a prominent P-shaped scar beneath her left eye, a lasting reminder of the importance of protecting skin against the sun's harmful rays. Kristie will have skin checks every year for the rest of her life, but feels thankful for the wake up call cancer gave her. Kristie will have skin checks every year for the rest of her life, but feels thankful for the wake up call cancer gave her and her family (seen together on Christmas Day 2019) Before her diagnosis, she would 'be lucky to put tinted moisturiser on' before leaving the house, but she now sees sun protection as a priority for herself and her kids. 'At first, I was conscious of my scar and always wore makeup to try and hide it, but now I just look at it and am grateful as it could have been worse,' she said. 'It's a daily reminder to be sun smart and wear sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and protective wear. It takes two seconds to cover yourself and with so many foundations and creams with built-in SPF, it's not hard to be vigilant nowadays.' Ukraine's participation matters a lot to the Alliance, Assistant Secretary General for Operations says Dmytro Kuleba Segodnya Ukraine intends to send 20 military servicemen to Iraq, as soon as the NATO mission resumes its work in the region. Dmytro Kuleba, the Deputy Prime Minister for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration said so during his meeting with John Manza, the NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Operations. Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that on Facebook. "The invitation to become the operation partner of the Alliance in Iraq shows that Ukrainian combat experience and professionalism are considered valuable", he admitted. Reacting to the message of the Ukrainian side, NATO officials claimed that Ukraine's participation matters a lot to the Alliance. Ukraine's Defense Ministry added that the sides agreed on further steps in the implementation of NATO's new approach called "One partner - one program". They discussed the prospects of passing the strategy of Ukraine's national security and further development of strategic documents to implement this strategy. Previously, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. The Vietnamese steel industry is expected to face difficulties this year due to an increase in production capacity, falling demand and protectionist measures by countries to reduce imports, according to experts. Last year was a difficult one for steel exporters due to the increase in protectionism, they said. Exports to the US and the EU markets, the second and third largest markets for Vietnamese steel, fell by a combined 44 per cent in terms of volumes. Prices too dropped due to falling global demand, causing losses to some construction steel companies. Many companies have seen profit margins plummet, suffered losses or have cut output. Domestic consumption was also lower than in 2018, with consumption in the first 11 months growing by 3.5 per cent year-on-year compared to 10 per cent in 2018. Entering 2020 with opportunities from integration, especially the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, the steel industry expects to boost production and export to new markets. But the US Department of Commerce recently imposed import taxes of up to 456 per cent on corrosion-resistant steel and cold-rolled steel products using steel of Korean or Taiwanese origin, showing that protectionism continues and would put pressure on the steel industry. According to SSI Securities Corporation, domestic consumption is expected to grow at 5-7 per cent in 2020 due to the slowdown in the real estate market and public investment. But the increase in FDI could be a factor supporting demand. In 2020 construction steel capacity is expected to increase by 15 per cent, mainly due to the new Hoa Phat Dung Quat iron and steel production complex area and VAS Nghi Son plant with a capacity of 2 million tonnes and 500,000 tonnes. In the context of increasing competitive pressure, large companies in the construction steel segment with significant advantages in production, transportation costs and distribution such as HPG will hugely benefit. The galvanised steel sheet segment could be more stable in 2020 because large companies do not plan to expand capacity this year. According to SSI, a slowdown in China's economy might negatively affect steel demand, indirectly affecting steel prices in Vietnam. The Vietnam Steel Association forecasts Chinas steel demand to increase by 1 per cent this year, much lower than the estimated 7.8 per cent growth rate in 2019. Global demand is estimated to grow at 1.7 per cent compared to 3.9 per cent last year. Capacity increases amid a demand slowdown, especially for construction steel, would increase the pressure in the domestic market, making prices to be volatile, it added. VNA VN steel sector faces troubles in 2019 The steel industry experienced many difficulties in 2019 due to stronger steel imports and reduced sales of locally made products at home and abroad. Shelter Scotland drops court action against Glasgow City Council Shelter has dropped its court action against Glasgow City Council. The decision by the homelessness charity follows an announcement the Scottish Housing Regulator last month that it was launching an inquiry into the citys homelessness services. Shelter was taking the council to court over alleged breaches of its legal duty to provide accommodation to homeless people in the city. Shelter postponed its legal action last month after a last-minute intervention by the regulator shortly before the case was to go to court. The charity hailed it as a huge victory that the regulator had taken the unprecedented step, but said it would return to court if necessary. Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: Until last months 11th-hour intervention, the regulator was not using the full range of their legal powers to fix homelessness services in Glasgow. This regulator inquiry is long overdue and would not have happened if it wasnt for the 10,000 people in the city and beyond who gave us their support. It means that the regulator will focus on the failure by Glasgow City Council to meet its statutory obligations. This is a huge victory for everyone who has supported us in our campaign to get Glasgow City Council to honour its legal responsibilities. Those in power were ignoring this massive injustice. They are not ignoring it anymore. Our attention now shifts to the regulator and we will be sharing our evidence of the councils ongoing failures from our Glasgow hub. Responding to the news, a Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: Shelters legal action had no impact on the Scottish Housing Regulators decision and we welcome their move to abandon their court case. We are working constructively with the regulator in order to improve homelessness services and our door remains open to Shelter to engage positively with us. However, Shelter emphasised that the problem has not gone away and said that since the decision to pursue legal action was announced in August, almost 100 more people had come to the charity for help to get temporary accommodation. Brown added: The inquiry from the Scottish Housing Regulator brings new hope that this grave injustice can be stopped without going to court. The regulator still has the option to replace the city councils management team if they cannot show that they are capable of upholding their legal duty to guarantee safe temporary accommodation to every homeless person who needs it. We will be providing all our evidence to the regulator to assist with its inquiry and we will also return to court if necessary. I want to thank our supporters and ask them to stick with us until we see an end to the disgraceful practice of gatekeeping in Glasgow. As we announce our intention to withdraw from the court process at this stage, the campaign continues. Central Industrial Security Force personnel at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport handed over the passenger to Customs authorities for further probe. (Photo Credit: Representational Image) Kolkata: The CISF on Monday nabbed a man coming from Bangkok at the airport here for allegedly smuggling gold paste worth Rs 32 lakh by concealing it in his underwear and jeans, officials said. Passenger Amarjeet Singh was intercepted while he was going to board a connecting flight to Delhi and his frisking led to the recovery of over a kilogram of gold paste, they said. The traveller, coming from Bangkok, had taped the gold paste and hidden it in his inner wear and bottom lining of his denim pant, they said. Central Industrial Security Force personnel at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport handed over the passenger to Customs authorities for further probe. The total value of the seized gold paste is about Rs 32.25 lakh, they added. In an another incident at this airport on Sunday, four Bangkok-bound passengers were apprehended by CISF personnel with foreign currency worth Rs 68.38 lakh that was concealed in their bags and cellphone equipments. The seized currencies included US Dollars, Euros and Thai bahts. All the four men were handed over to Customs department officials. The Justice Department has concluded that the deadly mass-shooting attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola in early December, carried out by a Saudi Air Force trainee, was an act of terrorism. Though Lieutenant Mohamed Saeed al-Shamrani, who was killed during the attack, was determined to have acted alone, the United States is expelling 21 other Saudi military trainees after the FBIs investigation uncovered jihadist rhetoric and child pornography on their social-media accounts. Attorney General Bill Barr announced the terrorism finding and the expulsions at a Justice Department press conference on Monday afternoon. The attorney generals remarks demonstrate that longstanding national-security challenges continue to vex U.S. law-enforcement officials. Most significant is the problem of vetting foreigners, including the thousands of foreigners enrolled in training programs run by our armed forces, for anti-American ideology. Such an ideology is sharia supremacism, commonly distinguished from Islam, the religious creed adhered to by over 1.5 billion people globally, through the use of radical Islam, political Islam, and similar labels. The ideologys goal is the imposition of a fundamentalist construction of Islamic law (sharia). Though it is derived from Islam, sharia supremacism is far from the only way of interpreting Islam. In the West, it is not a majority interpretation of Islam, though it has influential backers. The most extreme form of sharia supremacism is jihadism, which advocates the use of force when necessary to establish and further the imposition of sharia, as well as to defend Islam when it is deemed to be under attack (which, in the view of jihadists, is more or less always). It is thus inevitable that a certain unknown percentage of Muslims are or will become sharia supremacists, and a certain unknown but smaller percentage of sharia supremacists are or will become jihadists. Consequently, it has long been known that our capacity to protect America from jihadist attacks hinges on our ability to discourage the infiltration of the political ideology that fuels them, which would necessitate vetting for sharia supremacism and jihadism when foreign Muslims seek to enter the United States. Nevertheless, though the Constitution would not prevent such vetting (there being no constitutional right for an alien to enter the U.S.), our laws, guidelines, and political conditions have made it practically impossible to bar foreigners from entering the United States on ideological grounds. Instead, we draw the line at violence: If it can be shown that an alien has ties to a known terrorist group, or has engaged in terrorist activities, that alien may be denied entry. Story continues The inadequacies of this approach are obvious, and the Pensacola attack brings them into sharp relief. Despite the extensive catalogue of ideologically driven terrorist attacks committed by Muslims in the U.S. and against U.S. targets over the last 30 years, our government has generally taken the public position that violent jihad has nothing to do with Islam (except in court prosecutions, where prosecutors commonly prove intent and motive by showing the nexus). We have been cowed into the concession that it would be Islamophobic bigotry to vet Muslim aliens for sharia-supremacist ideology. Indeed, we have even taken the nonsensical position that sharia the fundamentalist interpretation of which is authoritarian, discriminatory, and violent is completely compatible with the Constitution. Government officials do not wish to be perceived as oblivious to terrorist threats. Having straitjacketed themselves, officials delegate to third parties responsibility for some semblance of vetting. These include our partner governments, such as the Saudi regime, which was given responsibility for vetting the Saudi cadets in Florida. Of course, Saudi Arabia is the cradle of sharia supremacism, and the regime enforces sharia-supremacist strictures on Saudi society. While there are signs of reform, the kingdom is not close to being a liberal democracy. For decades, our government has considered the regime a strong American ally even as Saudi society has reliably produced anti-American jihadists (not least, 15 of the 19 suicide-hijackers who carried out the 9/11 atrocities). To rely on the Saudi government for assurance that its aliens seeking entry do not have sharia-supremacist sympathies is like asking the Muslim Brotherhood for guidance on what counterterrorism instruction our law-enforcement officers should receive (which, naturally, Washington has also done). In his December 6 attack, Shamrani killed three members of our Navy: Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23; Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, 19; and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21. Eight others were wounded before Shamrani was finally taken down by a deputy sheriff. At Mondays press conference, Barr said that investigators had concluded it was a terrorist act because it was motivated by jihadist ideology. This conclusion is amply supported by Shamranis social-media accounts, which were replete with claims that American policies are anti-Islamic, favor the invasion of Muslim countries, and persecute Muslims. At least some observers said that Shamrani had become more sullen and reclusive after a visit back home to Saudi Arabia shortly before he returned to the base and carried out the attack, which would have been a bigger bloodbath had it not been for acts of heroism by American military officials on the scene. There had been early reports that other Saudi cadets may have been complicit in the attack and recorded it pursuant to a plan. As is often the case in terrorist incidents, these first reports proved to be wrong. Barr explained that Shamrani acted alone. It turned out that some Saudis were on the scene at the time and, as commonly occurs these days, took out their cellphones to record some of the commotion when it started. These cadets, at the urging of their government, were completely cooperative with investigators, and no conspiracy was found. But here is the kicker: The investigation turned up evidence that 17 other Saudi cadets had social-media accounts containing jihadist or otherwise anti-American content. Moreover, 15 Saudi cadets had had some kind of contact with child-pornography. (There is overlap in these two groups.) Tellingly, the AG asserted, The relevant U.S. Attorneys Offices independently reviewed each of the 21 cases involving derogatory information and determined that none of them would, in the normal course, result in federal prosecution. So why is our government expelling 21 Saudi cadets? Because the Saudi government decided to take action. Barr elaborated that the regime decided this conduct was unbecoming of officers in the Saudi air force. Therefore, it dis-enrolled them from the U.S. training. With the enrollments retracted, there is no reason for these foreigners to be here, so theyve been sent packing. Lets put the child-porn issue aside. The bottom line is that we have 17 Saudi cadets getting valuable military training at a U.S. naval base who had jihadist and other anti-American materials on their social-media accounts. Yet, because possession of such materials is not a crime per se, we apparently would not have expelled them from our country. At least ostensibly, they have been expelled because the Saudi government objected to their continued presence. Of course, there are always political considerations at the intersection of law enforcement and international relations. The Trump administration considers Saudi Arabia to be an important counterterrorism ally. The administration knows that the American public, familiar for decades with the double-game the Saudis play propagating sharia supremacism while condemning the jihadism it inevitably spawns tends not to be thrilled by our alliance with Riyadh. By portraying the Saudi regime as fully cooperative in a terrorism investigation (they havent always been) and unwilling to countenance any hint of jihadism, the Trump administration, like previous administrations, can offer the rationalization that the Saudis are not the problem but part of the solution. That is, maybe if the Saudis hadnt cooperated, we would have expelled the cadets anyway, even though their conduct was not violent and did not establish criminal liability. Still, how do we not notice that the years the decades go by and nothing changes? We dont vet for sharia supremacists, or we trust a sharia-supremacist regime to do the vetting for us, and eventually there is a mass-murder attack. We investigate and, as night follows day, we find not just that one trainee sent to us by the sharia-supremacist regime is a jihadist terrorist, but that others are engaged in jihadist social-media chatter as well. And the beat goes on . . . More from National Review Dermavant Enters into Exclusive License Agreement with JT for Development and Commercialization of Tapinarof in Japan Details Category: More News Published on Wednesday, 15 January 2020 09:45 Hits: 1950 JT and its subsidiary, Torii Pharmaceutical, receive rights to develop and commercialize tapinarof for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis in Japan Dermavant to receive an upfront payment of $60 million, additional pre-commercial milestone payments of up to $53 million, and sales royalties Tapinarof is an investigational therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent (TAMA) currently in Phase 3 development in the U.S. with topline data expected in 2020 TOKYO, Japan and BASEL, Switzerland I January 15, 2020 I Dermavant Sciences, a dermatology-focused subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) for exclusive rights to develop, register and market tapinarof in Japan for the treatment of dermatological diseases and conditions, including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Along with this agreement, JT has signed an exclusive license agreement with its subsidiary, Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Torii), for co-development and commercialization of tapinarof in Japan. Tapinarof is a potential first-in-class, once-daily topical therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent (TAMA), which Dermavant is developing for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. To date, over 1,400 subjects have participated in 12 clinical trials for tapinarof. Tapinarof is currently in Phase 3 trials for psoriasis in the U.S. (PSOARING 1 and PSOARING 2), having previously demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant responses in Phase 2 trials for both psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Assuming positive Phase 3 results, Dermavant expects to file a New Drug Application for tapinarof topical cream for the treatment of plaque psoriasis with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021. Under the terms of the license agreement, Dermavant will receive an upfront payment of $60 million and up to $53 million upon the achievement of certain development milestones for tapinarof for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. In addition, Dermavant will have the right to receive royalties based on product sales of tapinarof in the indications. Psoriasis and atopic dermatitis affect millions of people worldwide, including nearly 13 million in Japan alone, said Todd Zavodnick, Chief Executive Officer of Dermavant. Having seen the very encouraging results from Phase 2b studies for tapinarof conducted in North America and Japan for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, we are grateful to partner with JT and its subsidiary, Torii, two prominent and well-respected leaders in dermatology. JT and Torii share our commitment to finding novel, safe, and effective treatment options for patients in Japan suffering from these debilitating immuno-dermatologic diseases. We are excited to partner with Dermavant for the development and commercialization of tapinarof. We are encouraged with the progress of its clinical trials, and jointly we hope to offer more treatment options for patients suffering with dermatological conditions in Japan, said Muneaki Fujimoto, President of Pharmaceutical Business, JT. Tapinarof demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant responses in five Phase 2 trials, where it met primary endpoints in both psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, said April Armstrong, M.D., Professor of Dermatology and Associate Dean of Clinical Research at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Coupled with a favorable tolerability profile, I believe that tapinarof with its novel mechanism of action could be a first-in-class topical treatment alternative, if approved. About PSOARING PSOARING is Dermavants pivotal Phase 3 psoriasis clinical program for tapinarof, which consists of two identical, multi-center, randomized, vehicle-controlled, double-blind, parallel group studiesPSOARING 1 and PSOARING 2to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tapinarof cream 1% dosed once daily (QD) for 12 weeks versus vehicle in adult patients aged 18-75 years diagnosed with plaque psoriasis. The primary endpoint of both studies will be a Physician Global Assessment (PGA) score assessment of clear skin (score of 0) or almost clear skin (score of 1), plus at least a 2-grade improvement from baseline, at Week 12. Following the 12-week, vehicle-controlled portion of the PSOARING trials, patients have the option to enroll in a separate, open-label extension study for an additional 40 weeks of treatment. About Psoriasis Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory skin disease characterized by red patches and plaques with silver scales on the skin. Psoriasis affects approximately 8 million people in the U.S. and 125 million worldwide, representing approximately 2% of the total population. The typical age of onset is 1525 years, but psoriasis can develop at any age. People with psoriasis are at an increased risk of developing other chronic and serious health conditions. Comorbidities include psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and depression. Psoriasis has a significant impact on quality of life and on psychological health. About Atopic Dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), commonly referred to as eczema, is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that results in itchy, red, swollen, and cracked skin, often affecting the folds of the arms, back of the knees, hands, face, and neck. AD is one of the most common inflammatory skin diseases, affecting over 28 million people in the U.S. alone and up to 10% of adults worldwide. AD occurs most frequently in children, affecting up to 30% worldwide. People with AD are more likely to have other allergic conditions, like asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergies. Itching is an especially bothersome symptom in AD, and tends to worsen at night, disturbing sleep and causing fatigue, which in children can lead to inattention at school. People with AD may also experience social and emotional distress due to the visibility and discomfort of the disease. About Japan Tobacco Inc.s Pharmaceutical Business Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) has a pharmaceutical business which focuses on research and development, manufacturing and sales of prescription drugs. JTs subsidiary Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is in charge of manufacturing as well as sales and promotion in Japan. For more information, visit https://www.jt.com/about/division/pharma/index.html. About Dermavant Dermavant Sciences, a subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics in medical dermatology. Dermavant leverages the Roivant platform to develop therapies that have the potential to address high unmet medical needs while driving greater efficiency in research and clinical development. The Companys robust medical dermatology pipeline includes both late-stage and early-development product candidates that target specific unmet needs in two of the largest growing immuno-dermatology markets, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, as well as other large markets, including vitiligo, primary focal hyperhidrosis, and acne. Dermavant is developing its lead product candidate, tapinarof (DMVT-505), as a novel therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent (TAMA) topical cream for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, which affect approximately 8 million and 28 million people in the United States, respectively. For more information, please visit www.dermavant.com. About Roivant Roivant Sciences aims to improve health by rapidly delivering innovative medicines and technologies to patients. It does this by building Vants nimble, entrepreneurial biotech and healthcare technology companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning incentives, and deploying technology to drive greater efficiency in R&D and commercialization. For more information, please visit www.roivant.com. SOURCE: Dermavant If a candidate does not follow a traditional route, there are alternative ways to becoming a certified teacher in the state of Louisiana. Learn more about these alternatives and which schools in the state offer acceptable programs. View Schools Those hoping to become a certified teacher in the state of Louisiana can choose from three different alternative pathways including the master's degree program, practitioner teacher program, and the certification-only program. Teachers can also choose from a variety of different concentrations like curriculum and instruction, early childhood education, elementary education, middle school education, secondary education, and special education. Is There Anything I Should Know About the Master's Degree Program Pathway to Becoming a Certified Teacher? This alternative program is considered to be an intensive pathway, and it will end with the candidate earning both their teaching certification and a master's degree. Earning a master's degree in either teaching or education can be done by taking classes either online or on campus, depending on the school that students attend. Students will typically need to earn around 36 credit hours of coursework, and hold a B average in their master's classes prior to being able to graduate from the program. Gaining admission to a master's degree program typically requires that students take the GRE exam within the five years prior to their application and submit their scores. Students will also need to submit copies of their official transcripts for consideration. Some schools may also require students to submit letters of recommendation. Which Schools in Louisiana Offer Master's Degree Programs in Teaching or Education? There are quite a few schools in the state of Louisiana that offer master's degree programs in either teaching or education. Some of these schools are: Southeastern Louisiana University University of Louisiana at Lafayette Northwestern State University of Louisiana Louisiana Tech University What Should I Know About the Practitioner Teacher Program? The second alternative option to becoming a certified teacher is the practitioner teacher program, which requires a candidate to be teaching at full-time status while they complete intensive coursework. To enter into this program, students will need to have already earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. These programs typically start in the summer, and students will need to complete around 21 graduate hours of study. A few of the certification areas that students may choose from include early childhood education, special education, elementary education, middle school education, and secondary education. Which Schools in Louisiana Offer a Practitioner Teacher Program? A few of the many different schools in Louisiana that offer practitioner teacher programs for students wanting to pursue an alternate route to teacher certification include: Louisiana College Northwestern State University University of Louisiana at Lafayette Is There Anything I Should Know About a Certification-Only Program? The last alternative option for becoming a certified teacher in the state of Louisiana is the certification-only program, which is for those who do not want to work full-time while earning their certification and do not want to earn a master's degree in the process. Students in this program will need to complete a minimum of 21 credits of coursework before earning their certification. To gain admission into a program like this, applicants will need to already hold a bachelor's degree in an area other than education from an accredited school, and some institutions require that applicants have a minimum of a 2.5 GPA. Lastly, students in this program will need to complete a teaching internship as well. What Schools in Louisiana Offer a Certification-Only Program for Teaching? A number of schools in Louisiana are available for those wishing to enter into a certification-only alternative teaching program. A sample of these schools include: [January 14, 2020] Indigenous Tribes in Southern California Are Now Participants in Pacific Wave Fourteen Native American tribes in Southern California are now directly connected to the state-of-the-art International Internet Exchange, Pacific Wave, and its peering, high-performance scientific networks, and ever-expanding global connectivity. Six more tribes are also expected to join in the coming months. This new connection enables tribal libraries, scientific research facilities, and cultural preservation institutions to collaborate with partners across the state, the nation, and the world. Tribal Digital Village, a tribal consortium-owned Internet service provider in San Diego County, has connected to Pacific Wave's infrastructure on the West Coast. A joint project of CENIC and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP), Pacific Wave interconnects most international Asia-Pacific research and education networks, key US Western regional research and educational networks, leading national-scale research networks, and major commercial research cloud services. Tribal Digital Village Network (TDVnet) was created by the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association (SCTCA) in 2001 to bring Internet services to key community buildings and resource programs on reservations. The 14 tribes now connected to Pacific Wave through TDVnet are: Barona Band of Mission Indians Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians La Posta Band of Mission Indians Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Indians Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians Pala Band of Mission Indians Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians "Through this new connection to Pacific Wave, thousands of indigenous people will benefit from enhanced connectivity," said Director of Technology for the SCTCA and Director of TDVnet Matt Rantanen. "All of these tribes have facilities that are now connected to regional, national, and international partners in the research and education community and beyond. This collaboration is an important start to bring global indigenous people onto a platform where they can connect throughout the Asia-Pacific Region and share their efforts to strengthen their communities. We all have very similar stories and histories of hardship and oppression, and could greatly benefit from sharing our individual solutions to overcome these obstacles and strengthen our communities as a whole." Pacific Wave's 100-Gbps backbone has access points in Seattle; Sunnyvale, Calif.; Los Angeles; and Tokyo. In additin, there are interconnection points of presence in Chicago, Portland, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and Tulsa. Operated in collaboration with the University of Southern California and the University of Washington, Pacific Wave is the official USA National Science Foundation-funded interconnection and international peering facility, and Software-Defined Exchange (SDX) for Pacific Rim networks. "Like the countries that Pacific Wave International Exchange connects, Native American tribes are sovereign nations and therefore should have access to the international exchange and its accompanying domestic peering," said Pacific Wave Board Director and President and CEO of CENIC, Louis Fox. "California and the entire research and education community are beneficiaries of this partnership as it will bring tribal libraries, scientific research facilities, and cultural preservation institutions onto the same networks as their peers, not just in the West, but across the US, and around the globe; and it facilitates many other partnerships among schools, cultural institutions, governments, and health care organizations." PNWGP and CENIC established the connection with TDVnet with help from Google (News - Alert) and AT&T. Google's Project Eagle Feather provided TDVnet with resources to enhance intra-tribal connectivity. AT&T provided a 10-Gbps circuit through their partnership with CENIC, which can be increased to multiple 10-Gbps or 100-Gbps circuits as demand increases, from TDVnet to a CENIC point of presence in San Diego. CENIC provided backhaul to Pacific Wave infrastructure in Los Angeles and Sunnyvale. Traffic began passing on the new connection in November. "By working together and sharing resources, PNWGP, CENIC, SCTCA, Google, and AT&T (News - Alert) have made it possible for all of us to do more, and in reality do it better with less than if we pursued these infrastructure deployments alone," said Pacific Wave Board Director and CEO of PNWGP, Ron Johnson. "Native Americans in tribal areas are among the least connected people in America," said Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf. "This new interconnection and the incontrovertible logic behind it, is a dramatic way to draw tribal communities into a rapidly digitizing world." "We are proud to be a part of this important partnership to provide these tribes with the Internet access they need to bolster education, employment, and health care, and to significantly improve the overall quality of life," said Chris Congo, AT&T AVP Global Business. To date, TDVnet has resulted in more than 650 miles of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links supporting 105 tribal buildings including tribal administration buildings, Environmental Protection Agency departments, fire stations, law enforcement facilities, utility departments, and libraries, schools, and Head Start programs. "We believe this partnership between Pacific Wave, private sector partners, and tribal communities has the potential to be replicated and extended initially in California, Washington, and Montana and, eventually, throughout the West. I look forward to engaging my research and education and private sector colleagues in related efforts," said Louis Fox. About Pacific Northwest Gigapop | www.pnwgp.net The Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP) is a nonprofit corporation serving research, education, health care, cultural, governmental, including tribal government, and R&D organizations across the greater Northwest and throughout the Pacific Rim. We provide cost-effective, robust, reliable, high-bandwidth, and high-capacity wide-area networking including high performance peering to support the missions of our participants. PNWGP, whose roots date back to the original Internet, is built and continuously evolved to maintain its standing as one of the highest caliber networks in the world. About CENIC | www.cenic.org CENIC connects California to the world - advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class network essential for innovation, collaboration, and economic growth. This nonprofit organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity network designed to meet the unique requirements of over 20 million users, including the vast majority of K-20 students together with educators, researchers, and individuals at other vital public-serving institutions. CENIC's Charter Associates are part of the world's largest education system; they include the California K-12 system, California Community Colleges, the California State University system, California's public libraries, the University of California system, Stanford, Caltech, USC, and the Naval Postgraduate School. CENIC also provides connectivity to leading-edge institutions and industry research organizations around the world, serving the public as a catalyst for a vibrant California. About Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association | www.sctca.net The Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association (SCTCA) is a multi-service non-profit corporation established in 1972 for a consortium of 20 federally-recognized Indian tribes in Southern California. The primary mission of SCTCA is to serve the health, welfare, safety, education, cultural, economic, and employment needs of its tribal members and descendants in the San Diego County urban areas. A board of directors comprised of tribal chairpersons from each of its member Tribes governs SCTCA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005901/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are expected to sign a "phase one" China trade deal on Wednesday at the White House. The signing comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced seven impeachment managers for the president's looming trial in the Senate, expected to start on Tuesday. The world's two largest economies reached a partial trade deal in December, a step toward de-escalation of the long-simmering trade war that has damaged U.S. farmers and created a drag on global growth. Under the pact, Washington agreed to cancel some new tariffs and reduce others, and China said it would buy more U.S. agricultural products. It also includes some reforms to China's policies on intellectual property and technology transfer. Trump sees striking a broad trade agreement and cracking down on Chinese trade abuses as a priority ahead of his 2020 reelection bid. The tariff battle between the U.S. and China has worried investors, who fear it will continue to drag on economic growth. The president said in a tweet on Dec. 31 that he expects to travel to Beijing to begin talks on "phase two" at a later date. Trump tweet Chinese media said the next round of talks may not start anytime soon. CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. A national restaurant chain has been fined 40,000 for misleading customers over the contents of a lobster dish. At British restaurant chain Ask Italian, one of the most expensive dishes on the menu the 14.95 Aragosta e Gamberoni was said to consist of lobster, king prawns, a creamy tomato sauce and a "hint" of chilli. However, following a routine inspection carried out by a Swansea Council trading standards officer, it was discovered that the dish did not contain as much lobster as one may have assumed, a discovery that has resulted in a penalty. In March 2019, after being served the dish in question at an Ask Italian branch in Swansea, the trading standards officer made a request for further information on the source of the ingredients. The officer was informed that the dish was made using a frozen Lobster Sensations product, which retails at 1.40 and was delivered to the restaurant pre-packed. The Aragosta e Gaberoni dish on the Ask menu (Courtesy of Swansea Council) On the back of a Lobster Sensations packet, it states that 35 per cent of the product is made from lobster, while 34 per cent is made from unspecified white fish. After pleading guilty to an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990, Ask Italian, which is part of Azzuri Restaurants Ltd., has been fined 40,000 by Swansea Magistrates Court. The court was reportedly told that once the issue of the lack of lobster in the dish was raised by the council to the restaurant, it was removed from menus in branches across the country. The Ask dish was made using frozen Lobster Sensations (Courtesy of Swansea Council) The ingredients in the Lobster Sensations product (Courtesy of Swansea Council) Rhys Harries, trading standards team leader at Swansea Council, outlined the teams role in ensuring that restaurants accurately describe the food on menus and that it reflects what appears at their table. When our officers visited the restaurant in March 2019, our investigations prompted some concerns over their most expensive dish which was described as lobster, Mr Harries said. We felt that the description on the menu compared to the product actually served was likely to mislead customers as to the substance of the food. Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Show all 13 1 /13 Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under, Europe's first underwater restaurant, opened on 20 March. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Located on Norway's southern tip, the unique dining space is submerged in the North Sea. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The dining room is sparsely furnished, dominated by a huge glass window at the back. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The building was designed by Snoehetta, the Norwegian architecture firm behind the September 11 Memorial Museum in New York. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The big window exposes the underwater not like an aquarium, its the real thing, said Snoehettas founder Kjetil Traedal Thorsen. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The exterior, a sloping wood and concrete cuboid that slants into the ocean, has a modern aesthetic, and is accessible via a steel bridge. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The full 18-course tasting menu with drinks costs up to 3,700 krone (330) per person. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Some 7,000 diners are already booked in for this bucket list experience. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Designers said the building is built to withstand extreme weather, including the wave of the century. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under is owned by the two Ubostad brothers who also have a nearby hotel. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Co-owner Gaute Ubostad said they expect to attract around 12,000 diners each year. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Theres room for around 40 guests in the underwater dining space. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Although doors opened on 20 March to friends and family of the owners, paying guests will gain access from April. AFP/Getty Images Mark Thomas, Swansea Council cabinet member for environment and infrastructure management, emphasised that customers who pay good money to eat at restaurants should actually be served with what they believe they have paid for. Our view is that customers were being misled and not aware of the additional ingredients in the meal, Mr Thomas stated. Im pleased that our observant trading standards team has been able to uncover this issue and hopefully it sends a strong message out to other restaurants, regardless of their size, that we will continue to check up on these issues to ensure customers in Swansea and elsewhere are being treated fairly. The Independent has contacted Ask Italian for comment. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Taking on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her stand on the citizenshipl law, BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao on Wednesday asked why she wants to give citizenship to the terrorists of Bangladesh. Referring to Banerjee's statement that students from across the country are opposing citizenship law, Rao told ANI: "The latest comment of Mamata Banerjee is laughable. It only exposes the complete frustration of a leader like Banerjee. The CAA is with regard to non-Muslim minority in Islamic countries. These countries are funding the parties like Congress and TMC." "The money looted from Sharda scam was also seized from Bangladeshi terrorists," he added. On Tuesday, talking about CAA protests, Banerjee said: "If there could be more than 43 universities in my state, then there are thousands of universities across the country. It is not one college or one university fighting this battle, but all are. All the students are protesting. From Bihar to Lucknow to Karnataka, everywhere students are protesting." She added: "For publicity, a few are setting buses ablaze ... That can't be called a movement. These days, I am noticing a couple of people who are coming with black flags, hurling abuses, resorting to vandalism ... This is nothing but cheap publicity. Those who encourage this are equally wrong." Talking about the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Banerjee said: "Show me one party nationally that has taken up this fight from the day one. We have always protested this. The BJP is doing identity politics. There are others who are resorting to 'bandh' politics." "Don't think that we are weak. We have a strong will power. Where there is a will, all battles can be won. If you think you will scare me to have an understanding with the BJP or try to silence me, then you are wrong," Banerjee had said. (ANI) - The winners of the third edition held in Russia will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexey Lukjanov of the Ivanovo State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, winner of the third edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Russia, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. Throughout these three days, all activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. (Newser) A Florida woman is facing charges of attempted arson and firebombing after police say she tried to build a bomb inside a Walmart. Emily Stallard, 37, "had all the supplies she needed to cause mass destruction" when she was arrested at the Tampa store around 6pm Saturday, Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement, per the Tampa Bay Times. "Had it not been for an alert off-duty law enforcement officer and a watchful security staff at Walmart, she may have followed through with her plans to cause an explosion inside the store." A security guard first noticed Stallardaccompanied by a childopening items on shelves, including what the sheriff's office said were "flammable materials, projectiles and matches." story continues below She got her hands on a Mason jar, nails, and denatured alcohol, to which she added a shoelace as a wick, according to an arrest report viewed by WTVT. Police say Stallard "encouraged the child" to take part in the act. Stallard was detained by the guard and an off-duty Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer before police arrived. Stallard allegedly spit on deputies as she was taken into a patrol car, per CNN. Additionally charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child abuse, and battery on a law enforcement officer, she's held in Hillsborough County jail with bail at $8,500. (Read more Florida stories.) T he Lord of the Rings is set to return to New Zealand with production on Amazon's highly-anticipated TV series beginning in February. Amazon unveiled the cast of the new series in a lengthy Twitter thread on Wednesday (Jnauary 15), and filming is set to take place in Auckland soon. Pre-production has already started on the show which is expected to become the most expensive ever made, with predicted costs of around $1 billion. Here's all you need to know about Amazon Prime's new Lord of the Rings TV series. When is the new series released on Amazon Prime? Hit: Peter Jackson's film trilogy was a critical and commercial success With production on the show set to begin next month, no official release date has been forthcoming - but it is expected the show will begin at some point in 2021. Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke said in 2018: "Itll be in production in two years; [but] 2021 is the hope. "But there are other people who wish it was 2020. Who is in the cast? Morfydd Clark is rumoured to be playing a young Galadriel / Dave Benett The Lord of the Rings on Prime account explained in a lengthy Twitter post in January just who would be appearing in the show. The tweet read: "A grand journey is defined by its travelers. Meet the first members of our fellowship. #LOTRonPrime. A THREAD." Cast members, which includes two Game of Thrones stars, were revealed in the post as Richard Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman. Aramayo, who is better known for playing young Ned Stark in four episodes of Game of Thrones, replaces Will Poulter (Bandersnatch, Midsommar) after he pulled out over scheduling conflicts and is reportedly set to play the hero Beldor. Another GoT alumni appearing in LotR is Mawle, who played Benjen Stark in the fantasy series. According to reports, Mawle will play the villian Oren in the series. Australian actor Kavenagh is thought to be playing a lead character called Tyra. Ex-Years and Years star Maxim Baldry is also rumoured to be appearing in a "significant role", according to the Radio Times. Meanwhile acting legend Ian McKellen - who played Gandalf in the films - has expressed an interest in returning to the role, suggesitng to Graham Norton way back in 2017 that he would not be too happy if he saw another actor in his place. What is the Lord of the Rings TV series about? Amazon have confirmed the series will take place before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, during the 3,441-year period known as the Age of Numenor, or the Second Age. Unfortunately this means that most of the beloved characters from the films won't appear in it. The official Twitter account posted a series of maps, along with the caption "Welcome to the Second Age" back in March last year. While the plot is yet to be confirmed, the show will definitely be a prequel to the films, although what it will cover is still up in the air as 3,441 years is quite a long time. On Saturday, officials announced that the government would withdraw, at least temporarily, a plan that would have raised the full-benefit retirement age, now 62 for many workers, to 64 for all professions. The Paris Opera Ballets dancers currently stop working at 42, then receive monthly payments equal to 45 to 48 percent of their top salaries. The New York Times Former chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah will be shifted to a house near his official residence, 163 days after he was taken into preventive custody following abrogation of Article 370 provisions, officials said here on Wednesday. Omar, presently kept in detention at Hari Nivas, is likely to be shifted on Thursday as the Jammu and Kashmir administration plans to use the Hari Nivas to accommodate a ministerial delegation from the Centre visiting the Valley soon, they said. A team of Union ministers including Railway minister Piyush Goyal, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State G Kishan Reddy are scheduled to travel soon to the Valley to educate the people about the developmental activities that have taken place after the abrogation of the state's special status and its division into two union territories. The house where Omar will be shifted is very near to his official residence and is being readied as he is a Special Services Group (SSG) protectee, the officials said. Along with his father Farooq Abdullah and another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Omar was among hundreds of political, social activists, lawyers and businessmen detained after the centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5 and divided Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Omar, Mehbooba and other politicians were detained under section 107 of Code of Criminal Procedure which allows authorities and an executive magistrate to put any person under preventive custody for a period of six months if he receives information that the person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity. Farooq Abdullah is the only mainstream politician against whom the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was slapped on September 17 for a period of three months, which was renewed on December 16 last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona said Wednesday that she's taking time off from her congressional duties to seek treatment for alcohol dependence after a 'serious' fall last week. Kirkpatrick, a Democrat whose swing district in southern Arizona has been targeted by Republicans in the November election, said she's 'finally seeking this help after struggling to do so in the past.' 'I am ready to admit that I, like countless other Americans, suffer from this disease,' Kirkpatrick said in a statement. 'Hard work and determination - which have brought me success in life - have not been enough to win this battle.' Kirkpatrick did not release details of her injury last week but described alcohol dependence as 'the underlying cause of my fall.' With physical therapy, she said she can fully recover. Seeking help: Ann Kirkpatrick, who represents Arizona's second district, took it back to the Democrats in 2018 having previously held the first district until 2016, when she ran for Senate against John McCain Missed: Ann Kirkpatrick was not present as the House voted on the articles of impeachment for Donald Trump Kirkpatrick did not she say how long she would be absent from Congress but indicated she has no plans to step aside, saying she has 'the full expectation and desire to return to work stronger and healthier and to continue serving my beloved Arizona.' She said her staff would continue representing constituents and she would publicly disclose her position on all the recorded votes she misses. She missed a Thursday vote on a resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. Kirkpatrick, 69, has positioned herself as a moderate in Congress, representing parts of Arizona for most of the past decade, including rural and conservative areas. Family: Ann Kirkpatrick is married to Roger Curely. They have two children and are grandparents She currently represents a swing district in Tucson and southeastern Arizona that Republicans are targeting in the 2020 election. Seven Republicans have filed paperwork to challenge Kirkpatrick in November. She previously represented a different swing district in northern and eastern Arizona before she ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. John McCain in 2016. McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, who has been open about her own struggles with addiction to prescription pain pills three decades ago, said on Twitter that she's 'sending lots of support and friendship to @RepKirkpatrick.' Before her first run for Congress in 2008, Kirkpatrick was a state lawmaker, prosecutor and attorney. Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican who unseated Kirkpatrick in a 2010 House race, tweeted that he's keeping her in his thoughts. Kirkpatrick won the seat back after Gosar switched to a different district for the 2012 election. 'There are many stressors in this business and at every reception and dinner alcohol is provided,' he wrote. 'It's easy - too easy - to become addicted and I wish god speed to my colleague, my friend and my fellow Arizonan. God bless you Ann.' From Chaand Nawab's repeated takes on live TV to another journalist referring to the company 'Apple' as a fruit, Pakistan's media persons have pulled off some bizarre feats on TV. Twitter This time again it's Amin Hafeez, the same guy who went viral for interviewing the cattle, then riding a donkey on live TV, The Geo TV Urdu journalist, Hafeez, who perhaps wanted to stand out, actually sat on a donkey while reporting about how donkey breeders could be happier about the animal trade and initiatives taken by the government. Hafeez who has established an identity for his weird antics, has now shown up on a live news segment dressed as a Royal Nawab, most likely explaining something about history. A Twitter video posted by another Pakistani journalist showed behind the scene footage of Hafeez dressed as a royal emperor brandishing a sword and reading the news before signing off for Geo News, Lahore. While Hafeez seems to have upped his reporting game to 'grander' things, others on Twitter fear that the same 'quirky' reporting style will make its way to India. And it really won't be a surprise if it does - after all, it's about capturing an audience and getting some engagement. People visit the Mansudae Grand Monument to lay flowers at the feet of the bronze statues of their late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. Authorities in North Korea are threatening to impose fines as punishment on ethnic Chinese residents for failing to participate in political events, signaling a possible end to the leniency the community has traditionally enjoyed as foreign residents, RFA has learned. Called Hwagyo in Korean, ethnic Chinese residents are not North Korean citizens and as such are not afforded certain rights that citizens have, but they have traditionally been exempt from obligations expected of citizens, including participation in political events. This exemption, however, is no longer in effect, say sources who cross the China-North Korea border regularly. In the weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 25 this year and is one of Northeast Asias most important holidays, many Hwagyo plan trips to China and are absent during political events that take place during the period. The new plan to penalize them for leaving the country at the end of each year indicates that under Kim Jong Uns leadership, Hwagyo may no longer enjoy special privileges. These days, the Hwagyo in Hamhung are leaving for China one by one to celebrate Lunar New Year, a Hwagyo from Hamhung, South Hamgyong province told RFA on Friday. But only those who participated in the [solar] New Years Day ceremony by paying contributions for floral tributes to the statues [of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il] can get exit visas, said the source. A Hwagyo living in Hamhungs Hoesang district had prepared to leave the country to spend [solar] New Year with his relatives in China, but had to delay his trip when he was told that he would be slapped with a huge fine if he missed the [local] New Years Day ceremony, the source said. Even though his mother who had returned to China permanently was ill, he was unable to leave because he was worried about what might happen to him if he missed the event, said the source. The source said Hwagyo are now expected to participate in every political event that is mandatory for North Koreans. [We] are obliged to take part in political events on major holidays such as New Years Day, Kim Il Sungs birthday and Kim Jong Ils birthday, said the source. Just like North Koreans, we must contribute monetarily and pay tribute in person to the statues of [the late leaders] from dawn [on these days]. If we dont do it we will face various disadvantages, the source added. North Koreans walk before statues of former presidents Kim Il-Sung (L) and Kim Jong-Il (R) at the Mansudae Grand Monument on New Year's Day in Pyongyang on January 1, 2017. AFP Hwagyo organizations toe the line According to the source, Hwagyo civic organizations are outwardly trying to maintain their loyalty, even organizing special tributes. On the first day of this year, the Hwagyo committee of South Hamgyong province paid tribute to the statues as a group, the source said. Some of the members of the Hwagyo committee went to Pyongyang as representatives and presented a basket of fresh flowers to the Kim Il Sung statue at the Mansudae Grand Monument, the source added. The monument complex at Mansudae is an iconic landmark that includes the famous 66 ft. statues of the former leaders. At the end and beginning of each year, Hwagyo have to go to China to raise funds for their yearly business, but as more and more of us are repeatedly absent from political events during the New Year, the authorities are starting to fine and penalize us, the source said. A resident of North Hamgyong province told RFA on Saturday that Hwagyo make most of their money during this period. They can earn a living as a peddler, selling [North Korean] goods in China, and [bringing back goods] from China [to sell in North Korea], or they can work at Chinese companies during that time, said the second source. The best time for business is at the end and beginning of each year, the second source added. But by traveling to China they were exempt from national political events or social support projects. Authorities caught on and started to impose hefty fines and reign in on issuing exit visas to force the Hwagyo into participating, said the second source. The second source cited an example of a Hwagyo trader from Chongjin who had to make a large contribution to continue operating his business. He donated 30,000 yuan (U.S. $4,347) as a loyalty offering to the State Security Department [Foreign Affairs Division], because he has to go to China to make money, the second source said. He needs approval from the [department] to do this, so thats why he made such a large offering, the second source added. The second source said that under Kim Jong Un, expected Hwagyo offerings for political and social events have risen significantly. The Hwagyo Committee in Chongjin told its members to pay 5,000 yuan (U.S. $725) if they fail to attend the New Years political event. This caused many of them to attend and postpone their trips to China. Hwagyo in North Korea are not recent immigrants from the PRC. Most entered the Korean peninsula at a time when the Republic of China (ROC) controlled the Chinese mainland or during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949). During the Korean War, many Hwagyo in North Korea fled to South Korea. Today in the South, most Hwagyo who have not naturalized as South Korean citizens hold ROC citizenship but have few or no ties to Taiwan, the territory currently controlled by the ROC. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Austin, TX, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightspeed Systems has again been honored by top ed-tech publication, Tech & Learning magazine, its 2019 Awards of Excellence contest. Each year, Tech & Learning strives to highlight the best ed-tech solutions for schools. Lightspeed was recognized for its all-in-one platform, Relay, within the category: Best Use in a District. A judge writes about the winner, Relay by Lightspeed Systems is used to provide students with access to the resources they need without exposing them to inappropriate content, and continues, the fact that its CIPA compliant and cloud-based is excellent. Relay is a district-wide solution that gives schools all the tools they need to make digital learners safe and successful: Protecting students from inappropriate content as well as self-harm, cyberbullying, and violence Empowering teachers to keep students focused and engaged in the classroom Ensuring the right apps, content, and device features are available to learners Reporting on all use and activity to drive high ROI, adoption, and student data privacy Relay is the only solution that provides all of these tools in an integrated cloud platform and works across all operating systems and devices. Lightspeed Systems VP of Marketing, Amy Bennett, states, its an honor to be recognized by a publication like Tech & Learning that focuses on education and helping schools solve their unique challenge just like we do. About Lightspeed Systems For over 20 years, Lightspeed Systems has built smart solutions to the challenges schools face when implementing technology. Partnered with 6,500 districts in the United States and 28,000 schools around the world, Lightspeed Systems offers integrated filtering, management, monitoring, and protection for schools through its groundbreaking platform, Relay. Headquartered in Austin, TX (with offices in Portland and the U.K.), Lightspeed protects over 15 million students in 35 countries. To learn more, visit https://www.lightspeedsystems.com. The death toll from devastating avalanches and floods across the Kashmir region has reached 160, officials have revealed. Rescuers are racing against time to reach scores of people believed still to be trapped inside their homes, buried under avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall in the disputed Himalayan territory. Officials said today that search teams aided by Pakistani troops had pulled out 21 more bodies from the crushed remains of their properties. The death toll from avalanches and floods in the Kashmir region has reached 160, officials have revealed. This was the scene in Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as rescuers scrambled to find survivors after an avalanche Desperate villagers picked up shovels as they searched for survivors following an avalanche in Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir today An ambulance heading to an area hit by avalanches, waits for a blocked road to be opened, in Keran, a small town in Neelum Valley Workers with heavy machinery clear a snow-covered road in Keran. Severe winter weather has claimed some 160 lives in the Kashmir region across Pakistan and Afghanistan The overall death toll due to severe winter weather has now climbed to 160 for Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said. The worst affected area was Kashmir's Neelum Valley, where the 21 bodies were retrieved, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, a minister for disaster management. He said that since Sunday, 76 people have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in weather-related incidents. Another 45 people were killed in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan and eastern Punjab provinces. Avalanches are common in Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety. The overall death toll due to severe winter weather has now climbed to 160 for Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said. Pictured: A man shovels away snow in Keran, Pakistan-administered Kashmir Rescuers are racing against time to reach scores of people believed still to be trapped inside their homes, buried under avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall in the disputed Himalayan territory Vehicles are stranded on a snow-covered road as workers with heavy machinery try to make it passable, in Keran, a small town in Neelum Valley, Pakistan-administered Kashmir This was the scene as an ambulance made its way to an area hit by avalanches in Keran, Pakistan-administered Kashmir Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan flew to Kashmir on Wednesday to visit the avalanche-hit areas. He visited a military hospital in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where several people, including women and children, were being treated after being rescued from Neelum Valley and elsewhere. In Afghanistan, the situation was returning to normal on Wednesday, following days-long heavy snowfall, rains and flash floods that killed 39 people and damaged about 300 homes there since Sunday. [January 15, 2020] Scan Global Logistics Acquires Australian Pioneer International Logistics as Part of Strategic Pacific and Australian Expansion STOCKHOLM, Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- We are pleased to advise that as of 15th January Scan Global Logistics has acquired Pioneer International Logistics (PIL) and welcomes the company and employees into the SGL-family. PIL is uniquely positioned in the Australian market with a strong market presence, proven business model and impressive growth since inception in 2010. The acquisition of PIL is a very important step forward, strengthening Scan Global Logistics Australia and the organization more broadly. "Scan Global Logistics has been present in Australia since 1998, and in 2018 initiated an ambitious expansion into the Australian logistics market with the acquisition of Kestrel Freight and Customs. With the acquisition of Pioneer International Logistics we are taking the next step in that plan. We have been talking to PIL since early 2019 and we are very pleased to finally be able to welcome PIL to the Scan Global Logistics Australian family," Says Sren Madsen, CEO, Pacific Region at Scan Global Logistics. With PIL as part of the SGL Group, we strengthen our service offering to Australian and Pacific customers, with existing customers of Pioneer International Logistics benefitting from enhanced capabilties including added expertise, technology, network, and e-commerce platform. "We are very pleased to become a part of Scan Global Logistics, a company with a culture and values that align with ours. Prior to being approached by SGL in early 2019 we were reviewing our options for future proofing our business so that we would be able to maintain our client relationships and grow market share in a changing competitive landscape. We saw that we needed to address the areas of E-Commerce, Technology, environment and sustainability. SGL is able to provide that support with additional financial strength - We see joining SGL as a natural evolution for our business which will strengthen our service and capabilities for existing clients and allow us to address a broader market" says Rob Erskine, co-owner of Pioneer International Logistics and future MD at Scan Global Logistics Australia. The three co-owners and key management team of PIL will continue with SGL Australia with Rob Erskine as MD, Rod MacPherson as Commercial Director and David Cooke as COO, ensuring the continuation of PIL's dedication and commitment to customer outcomes. CONTACT: For additional information, please contact: Sren Madsen, CEO, pacific Region Scan Global Logistics Mobile: +61 439 958 738 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Public/17398/3009232/84fd82769d184781_org.jpg Rob Erskine, Pioneer International Logistics & Sren Madsen, Scan Global Logistics SOURCE Scan Global Logistics A/S [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian entrepreneurs will have the chance to study in the Silicon Valley sponsored by the government, Deputy Minister of High Tech Industry Armen Abroyan told ARMENPRESS. Anyone above the age of 21, who has some entrepreneurial experience, perhaps having founded an organization or is a co-founder and have a new idea and think they will be able to advance it with this project can apply, he said. The deadline for submitting applications is January 27. There is great interest for this project. Even accomplished entrepreneurs are applying, something which is very exciting, Abroyan said. The 7-week training course will be held at the esteemed Draper University in California, USA. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Co-founder of Pandora Media Tim Westergren, as well as executives from AirBnB, YouTube and other corporations will share their experiences with the beginning entrepreneurs during the trainings. Abroyan said they have a goal of making Armenia a regional high tech hub, and in this context they highlight educational initiatives, among others. The deputy minister attached importance to this particular program, noting that it will enable to connect Armenia will global-level tech centers. This isnt simply an educational program, this gives the chance to gain experience and establish contacts, build relationships with investors: it is very important to find ways to advance your own ideas, he said. Abroyan says the joint program was agreed upon during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans visit to the Silicon Valley in 2019. The Armenian PM had met with the Drapers, the founders of the university. The lucky 15 entrepreneurs from Armenia will be selected by a commission delegated by the Draper University and the Armenian High Tech Industry Ministry. The commission will take into account the ideas, potential and other components while considering the applications. Armenia has been mostly focused on solving engineering problems, science and engineering idea was developed, but the component of transforming this idea into a business and expanding it was weak. We believe that entrepreneurial skills will be very useful for our specialists, the deputy minister added. After completing the training course, the participants will share their skills and experience with students and beginning entrepreneurs from across Armenia within two years. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan TARRAGONA, Spain (AP) The death toll climbed to three Wednesday from a massive explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Spain as one person died in hospital and another body was found in the wreckage, authorities said. Another seven people were injured in the blast near a northeastern city late Tuesday. The third victim, a man who had suffered severe burns, died in a Barcelona hospital almost 24 hours after the blast, Spanish private news agency Europa Press reported. Earlier Wednesday, emergency workers found a body buried under debris inside the plant, where a worker had been missing since the explosion, Miquel Buch, the regional head of Catalonias interior department, said. A preliminary investigation indicated the force of the factory explosion near the coastal city of Tarragona killed another person in a nearby neighborhood when a piece of flying metal from the plant struck his apartment, regional authorities said. Authorities are investigating the cause of what they described as a chemical accident on the premises of chemical maker Iqoxe. The seven people injured all worked there, officials said. Iqoxe CEO Jose Luis Morlanes said the explosion occurred in a 20-ton tank of ethylene oxide in a part of the plant that had not had any problems since it was built in 2017. Morlanes said the company was investigating the causes of the explosion but its inspectors could not approach the site while firefighters were still working. According to the company's website, Iqoxe is Spain's sole producer of ethylene oxide, a chemical compound used for making detergents, solvents and other products, as well as glycol, one of the main raw materials in the production of plastics. Regional firefighters for Catalonia said 30 crews worked through the night to combat a fire the explosion caused at the plant. Fire chief Albert Ventosa said the blaze was under control Wednesday. The fire could been seen for miles, and local residents posted videos showing the aftermath of the blast with flames and a big column of black smoke emerging from an area dotted with big industrial tanks. Story continues Antonia Caballero, 65, was cleaning her house when the explosion occurred. I thought that the door at the front of the building had collapsed. I looked out to the window and I saw the flames. I went to the door and left right away, she said. My sons called me. I though I was going to have a heart attack. Tarragona is located 115 kilometers (71 miles) southwest of Barcelona, the regional capital of Spain's Catalonia region. Since 2015, the city has housed a 1,200-hectare (2,965-acre) chemical hub, ChemMed, that was described as the largest of its kind in southern Europe. OAKLAND (BCN) A three-time felon was charged with murder on Monday for a fatal shooting in East Oakland last month. Andre Griffin, 36, was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on Monday for the shooting death of 36-year-old Keith Woodson in the 1400 block of 85th Avenue at 4 p.m. on Dec. 23. Griffin returned to court on Tuesday to be assigned an attorney and is scheduled to come to court again on Jan. 28 to enter a plea. Officers who responded to the shooting on 85th Avenue on Dec. 23 found Woodson and another man suffering from gunshot wounds. Woodson was pronounced dead at the scene, Oakland police Officer Wenceslao Garcia wrote in a probable cause statement. Investigators identified Griffin as the suspect in the shooting based on information that was provided by concerned citizens, Garcia wrote. In addition, Oakland police gang experts identified Griffin as the suspect through surveillance, social media, cellphone records that placed him at the scene of the shooting, surveillance footage and distinctive clothing, according to Garcia. A judge issued a warrant for Griffin on Jan. 6 and he was arrested at the federal courthouse in Oakland at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. When investigators interviewed Griffin, he said he didn't know the victims in the shooting and hadn't been in the area where it occurred, Garcia wrote. Griffin is charged with murder for Woodson's death, assault with a semi-automatic firearm for allegedly shooting the man who was wounded, and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors say Griffin was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine in federal court in 2012, of selling or offering to sell a controlled substance in Alameda County in 2011 and of grand theft in Alameda County in 2010. Woodson was one of six Oakland men who were indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2018 on charges related to the distribution of cocaine or cocaine base in the area of 85th Avenue and International Boulevard in East Oakland between February 2017 and April 2018. That's the same area where Woodson was fatally shot. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the prosecutions were the result of an investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Oakland Police Department. Court records indicate that Woodson entered a plea on Oct. 25, 2018, but the details of his plea aren't available. The records indicated that Woodson was placed in the Conviction Alternatives Program, which the U.S. Attorney's Office said is a post-guilty program for select individuals that focuses on drug and mental health treatment, alternative sanctions and incentives to address offender behavior, rehabilitation, and the safety of the community. Federal prosecutors said people selected for the program enter a guilty plea under a plea agreement which requires participation in the program and specifies the benefit to be received if the program is completed successfully: either a dismissal of the federal charges or a sentence reduced so that it doesn't include a term of imprisonment. Woodson was scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6. His attorney didn't respond to a request to comment on his case. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. China's trade with countries participating in its multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has posted "robust growth", totalling USD 1.34 trillion in 2019, as Beijing seeks to expand its export base away from the lucrative US and EU markets. Trade with BRI partner countries totalled 9.27 trillion yuan (about USD 1.34 trillion) in 2019, outpacing the country's aggregate trade growth by 7.4 percentage points, Zou Zhiwu, vice minister of General Administration of Customs (GAC) told media here on Tuesday. Touted as Chinese President Xi Jinping's pet project, the One Belt One Road initiative focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe. The BRI is aimed at furthering China's influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world. The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its strategic Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease. With over USD 60 billion promised investments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan is poised to get the lion's share of the funding. CPEC connecting China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port is regarded as the flagship project of the BRI. India has protested to China over CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). According to Chinese Foreign Ministry, China has inked 198 cooperation documents with 167 countries and international organisations under the BRI. China sees its trade expansion with the BRI countries as a way out to sustain its exports amid declining trend in the US and EU, its top export destination till now. Zou said China's foreign trade rose 3.4 per cent in 2019 to 31.54 trillion yuan (about USD 4.6 trillion). However, in dollar terms China's export growth decelerated sharply to 0.5 per cent in 2019 from a rise of 9.9 per cent in 2018 amid the trade war with the US. Imports, meanwhile, fell by 2.8 per cent in 2019 in in US dollar terms. In yuan terms, China's exports expanded by 5 per cent in 2019, while imports expanded 1.6 per cent. The minister added that that the sharp rebound in imports in the last month of 2019 was pushed up by China's renewed purchases of US pork and soybeans after China issued tariff waivers to purchase such US products in early December. Trade value with the US dropped 10.7 per cent in the 2019 amid the long-running trade war the customs data showed, making it China's third largest trading partner behind the European Union and the Asean region. While headline trade growth surged in December, this is more a reflection of base effects and price effects than of current strength, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China Economist at Capital Economics as saying about China's trade figures. MOORESVILLE, N.C., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- My Life's Simple is on track to pay its Ambassadors in excess of $25 million under their lucrative compensation program in FY2020 as a direct result of the overwhelmingly positive reception of their line of ReAction Full Spectrum Hemp Extract Products. ReAction is quickly becoming a leader in the Hemp industry by providing safe, reliable, powerful Products backed up by its exclusive Team of expert My Life's Simple Direct Sales Ambassadors. 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SOURCE My Lifes Simple Related Links http://www.mylifessimple.com Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. A detailed analysis report of the Global Telecom Equipment Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments. Drivers Growing deployment of 3G LTE (long term evolution) network Increasing usage of smartphone and internet Growing technical innovation in telecom sector Restraints Cyber threat The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities. The report classifies the market into different segments based on type. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market. Browse the complete Global Telecom Equipment Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/23297-telecom-equipment-market-report The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as: Alcatel-Lucent Inc. Apple Cisco Systems Ericsson Inc. Huawei Co. Ltd. Motorola Solutions Nokia Siemens Networks Pvt. Ltd. QUALCOMM Samsung Networks Inc. 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SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT: By Type: Public Switching Equipment Analogue Switches Digital Switches Transmission Equipment Transmission Lines Base Transceiver Stations Multiplexers Local Loops Communications Satellites Customer Premises Equipment Private Switches Local Area Networks Modems Mobile Phones Landline Telephones Answering Machines Teleprinters Fax Machines Pagers Routers By Geography: North America (NA) US, Canada & Rest of North America Europe (EU) UK, Germany, France & Rest of Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) China, Japan, India & Rest of APAC Latin America (LA) Brazil & Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa (MEA) Middle East and Africa Download Free Sample Report of Global Telecom Equipment Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-23297 The Global Telecom Equipment Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters Chapter 1 Telecom Equipment Market Preface Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Telecom Equipment Industry Analysis Chapter 4 Telecom Equipment Market Value Chain Analysis Chapter 5 Telecom Equipment Market Analysis By Type Chapter 6 Telecom Equipment Market Analysis By Geography Chapter 7 Competitive Landscape Of Telecom Equipment Companies Chapter 8 Company Profiles Of Telecom Equipment Industry Purchase the complete Global Telecom Equipment Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-23297 Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com: Global Telecom API Platform Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2025 About-Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 9028057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ New Delhi, Jan 15 : Hours after assuming charge as Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Wednesday, Anand Prakash Maheshwari has decided to visit Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The Uttar Pradesh cadre, 1984 batch IPS officer, who was appointed CRPF chief on January 13, will spend whole day in the Kashmir Valley and attend the unified command meeting there before returning back to Delhi on Friday, said sources. Earlier in the day, Maheshwari took over from ITBP Director General S.S. Deswal who was given the additional charge to head the country's largest paramilitary force, after DG R.R. Bhatnagar retired on December 31. Maheshwari, who will hold the post till his retirement in February next year, was handed over the DG's ceremonial DG at the CRPF headquarters and also accorded a guard of honour by force personnel. The Special Secretary, Internal Security, in the Ministry of Home Affairs prior to this, he has earlier worked in the CRPF as Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General. He has also headed the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and served as an Additional DG in the Border Security Force. The CRPF, with about 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks, is the lead internal security force of the country mandated to conduct anti-Maoist operations and to undertake counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. It also provides security to some VIPs. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Wednesday declined to entertain the plea of one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case against the death warrant and gave him liberty to challenge it in sessions court. A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said there is no error in trial court's January 7 order issuing death warrant against convict Mukesh Kumar Singh. The Delhi government informed the high court during the hearing that execution of convicts will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea has been filed by one of them. The four convicts -- Mukesh (32) Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. ALSO READ: Delhi government recommends rejection of convict Mukesh's mercy plea A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7. Lawyers of Mukesh told the bench that they will move sessions court against the death warrant after the high court said it was not inclined to interfere in the matter and that the petitioner should have moved the sessions court or the Supreme Court. The bench was informed by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. The Delhi government and the prison authorities said that under the rules, they will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. They also said that none of the four convicts can be executed on January 22 unless the present mercy plea is decided. ALSO READ: Nirbhaya convicts' execution won't happen on January 22 as mercy plea filed, Delhi government tells HC In response to the submission by prison authorities, the court said "put your house in order". "Your house is in disarray. The problem is people will lose confidence in the system. Things are not moving in the right direction. The system is capable of being exploited and we see a stratagem to exploit the system, which is oblivious about it," the court said. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay. During the hearing Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra told the bench that now that one of them has filed a mercy plea, the execution of none of the four can be carried out as per the Prison Rules. He said that since Mukesh has moved a mercy plea, as per the rules they have to wait for the other co-convicts to exhaust their mercy pleas as well. To this the bench said, "Then your rule is bad if you cannot take action till all the co-convicts have moved mercy plea. There has been no application of mind. The system is suffering from cancer." In defence of prison authorities, Mehra said the convicts were "frustrating" the legal process and system as they were filing curative and mercy pleas in stages to further delay their execution. Mehra said the date of January 22 for execution was "academic", as if no decision is taken till noon of January 21 on the mercy plea, then prison authorities have to move the sessions court for a fresh death warrant. If mercy plea is rejected before or after January 22, then also a fresh death warrant has to be sought from trial court in respect of all the convicts, he said. Apart from pulling up the prison authorities, the court expressed displeasure at the delay in filing curative and mercy pleas by Mukesh after the Supreme Court in May 2017 dismissed the appeals of the four convicts against their conviction and death sentence. The bench ticked off the prison authorities for the delay on their part in communicating to the convicts to move their mercy pleas after their appeals were dismissed by the apex court. The prison authorities had only on October 29 and December 18 last year issued notices to the convicts to move their mercy pleas. Mehra told the bench the delay was due to the reason that one of the convicts -- Akshay -- had not filed his review plea till 2019 and it was dismissed only on December 18. The review pleas of other three had been dismissed in July 2018. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren appears to refuse Bernie Sanders outstretched hand at the conclusion of the final Democratic debate (Patrick Semansky/AP) The ongoing sexism row between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders headlined the final Democratic debate before voting commences. Ms Warren was seen appearing to decline a handshake offered by Mr Sanders following the Iowa debate as the two sparred over Ms Warrens accusation that Mr Sanders told her privately that he did not think a woman could be elected president. Mr Sanders vehemently denied the accusation. Does anybody in their right mind think a woman cant be elected president? he asked. Of course a woman can win. Expand Close Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren after the debate (Patrick Semansky/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren after the debate (Patrick Semansky/AP) With the Democratic field tightly bunched among four leading candidates, the debate offered an opportunity for separation. However none of the six candidates on stage had the kind of moment likely to reshape the race in the final weeks before voting starts. Instead, the debate was generally marked by a focus on weighty issues of foreign policy, climate change and how to provide health care for all Americans. Even when disputes emerged, most candidates quickly pivoted to note their larger differences with Donald Trump. Mr Sanders did step up his attacks on former vice president Joe Biden over his past support of the Iraq War and broad free-trade agreements. I'm ready to take on Donald Trump because when he gets to the tough talk and the chest thumping, he'll have to stand next to an American war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to servePete Buttigieg Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who was mired in the middle of the pack, seized on Ms Warrens shifting positions on health care. Billionaire Tom Steyer acknowledged making money from investments in the fossil fuel industry, but highlighted his decade-long fight to combat climate change, an issue that came up repeatedly throughout the night. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, sometimes struggled for attention in a debate that often featured points of conflict between his rivals. Perhaps his strongest moment came when he described how, as a military veteran who is vocal about his faith, he could stand up to Mr Trump in a general election. Sen. Elizabeth Warren had the most speaking time during tonight's #DemDebate with nearly 19 minutes, followed closely by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar at nearly 18 minutes. Here's the full breakdown. https://t.co/DzZDkGX3F0 pic.twitter.com/igrbaxcaM5 CNN (@CNN) January 15, 2020 Im ready to take on Donald Trump because when he gets to the tough talk and the chest thumping, hell have to stand next to an American war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to serve, Mr Buttigieg said. And if a guy like Donald Trump keeps trying to use religion to somehow recruit Christianity into the GOP, I will be standing there not afraid to talk about a different way to answer the call of faith and insist that God does not belong to a political party. Several candidates also condemned Mr Trumps recent move to kill Irans top general as well as his decision to keep US troops in the region. Expand Close Six candidates appeared on stage (Patrick Semansky/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Six candidates appeared on stage (Patrick Semansky/AP) We have to get combat troops out, declared Ms Warren, who also called for reducing the military budget. Others, including Mr Buttigieg, Mr Biden and Ms Klobuchar, said they favoured maintaining a small military presence in the Middle East. I bring a different perspective, said Mr Buttigieg. We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment to ground troops. Security camera footage shows two missiles being fired 30 seconds apart causing the plane to crash killing 176 people. A new video has surfaced showing the moment two missiles hit a Ukrainian passenger plane over Irans capital, Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. The New York Times said it had verified the security camera footage, which showed two missiles being fired 30 seconds apart, neither of which brought the plane down immediately. In the video, the aircraft is seen flying for several minutes, on fire, before crashing to the ground and exploding. The newspaper said the first strike disabled the planes transponder before it was hit by the second missile. For days, Tehran repeatedly denied reports that the Boeing 737-800 plane had been shot down. An earlier video released on Friday also showed that the plane was hit by a missile was also published. The video, first reported by the New York Times newspaper and CNN, is consistent with statements made by Canadian, US and UK officials, who said intelligence indicated that an Iranian missile brought down the plane, a conclusion initially dismissed by Iran. Then on Saturday, Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire. The second blurry footage shows the plane on fire and circling back to Tehrans airport, the Times said. Minutes later, it exploded and crashed. The footage was shot from a rooftop in Bidkaneh, a village four miles from an Iranian military site, the Times said. Angry protesters, most of them students, have taken to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, chanting slogans against Irans leaders and demanding accountability. Irans judiciary on Tuesday announced the first arrests over the accidental shooting, without naming who or how many people had been detained. Fars news agency has also been quoted as saying that the person who took the first video was also arrested by authorities. The Republican congressional candidate who exchanged text messages with a Rudy Giuliani associate about the physical movements of a U.S. ambassador and spoke about getting her 'out' claims he was drinking when he wrote about surveillance of her. Robert Hyde, whose WhatsApp messages feature prominently in a new document release from information provided by indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, has pushed back forcefully since his messages with Parnas were revealed. He did not dispute the validity of the texts, which show detailed monitoring of the physical location of fired U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was removed from her post last year amidst an intense lobbying push by Giuliani and his associates. But Hyde blasted Trump nemesis Rep. Adam Schiff and claimed he sent the texts to 'some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks.' Robert Hyde, a congressional candidate in Connecticut, brushed off new messages that appear to show him monitoring the movements of a U.S. ambassador. 'For them to take some texts my buddy's and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable,' wrote Hyde, seen here with President Trump in an image posted on Hyde's Instagram account Hyde also told NBC News he was drinking when he sent the messages that the House released hours before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment managers for a coming Senate trial on two articles against President Trump. 'How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go? I was never in Kiev,' Hyde tweeted Tuesday night. 'For them to take some texts my buddy's and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable. Schiff is a desperate turd playing with this Lev guy.' When viewed in black and white following the document release, the messages have taken on what some readers took to be a more sinister tone, with Yovanovitch demanding an investigation. 'She under heavy protection outside Kiev,' Hyde writes in a March 23 message to Parnas, who was born in the former Soviet Union and who was indicted on campaign finance allegations, and who turned over information to the House Intelligence committee with his lawyer. Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas turned over WhatsApp messages and other information to House investigators Hyde says 'F*** that b****' in relation to former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch Late Tuesday Hyde denied ever being in Kiev, and said he was drinking when he wrote the texts Hyde blasted the media, offered to provide his email password, and wrote: 'bring it on' He tweeted that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jahana Hayes might have 'got drunk and lost the articles of impeachment' against President Trump Hyde published multiple images of President Trump on his Instagram 'I know crazy s***' Parnas responds. 'My guy thinks maybe FSB,' responds Hyde, referencing Russian internal security. Two days later, he wrote: ''They are moving her tomorrow.' Then he added: 'The guys over there asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them.' 'Private security. Been there since Thursday,' he wrote in another message. 'They will let me know when she's on the move.' 'They are willing to help if we/you would like a price,' Hyde added in another message that day. 'Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money ... what I was told,' he wrote. He also levels insults at Yovanovitch, a longtime foreign service officer who Ukrainian officials working with Giuliani considered a threat. 'Wow. Can't believe Trump hasn't fired this b****. I'll get right in that.' A March 26 message states: 'If you want her out they need to make contact with security forces.' President Trump also disparaged Yovanovitch in his infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he asked for a 'favor' that included probing the Bidens and a Ukrainian energy firm linked to Hunter Biden. 'Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money,' Hyde wrote in one message 'They will let me know when she's on the move': WhatsApp messages appear to show GOP congressional candidate Robert Hyde tracking the movements of U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch 'Well, she's going to go through some things,' Trump said of Yovanovitch. Yovanovitch's lawyer Lawrence Robbins called for an investigation and said 'the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing.' Hyde makes reference to drinking in other social media posts, where he also has shown an affinity for spycraft. In one tweet where he tags conservative commentator Dan Bongino, he writes: 'Shaken not stirred? @dbongino,' making a James Bond reference. In another, he mocks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for holding up impeachment articles. 'Who else thinks Hayes and Pelosi got drunk and lost the articles of impeachment,' he wrote over an image of Pelosi and Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes, whom he is seeking to unseat. According to his Twitter profile, Hyde is a Marine Corps Iraq War vet seeking election in the 5th Congressional District of Connecticut. It also misspells 'Congresss [sic] 2020.' He has donated to Trump and the Republican National Committee. Oregon lawmakers will consider trimming a controversial capital gains tax break when they convene in Salem next month, after news reports last year raised questions about it. At issue is whether the opportunity zone program, part of President Trumps 2017 tax overhaul, truly incentivizes redevelopment in blighted areas or is gravy for investors in projects that would happen even without the incentive. Last year, Bloomberg Businessweek dubbed Oregon Tax Breaklandia because state officials designated the entirety of downtown Portland as an opportunity zone. The Oregonian/OregonLives 2019 review of 1,000 pages of public records revealed that state leaders enthusiastically supported the tax break despite lacking answers to two critical questions: How much tax revenue the state could lose and what economic benefits the investments might yield for Oregonians. Since Oregons tax law automatically mirrors the federal code, the state now provides its own copycat version of the opportunity zone tax break. The state and federal breaks allow investors to sell something that has gone up in value, for example real estate or stocks, and then delay paying taxes on the profits known as capital gains if they reinvest the money in an opportunity zone project. Theres a short-term benefit of a 10 to 15 percent capital gains tax discount if investors keep their money in the projects at least five years. But the big tax savings would accrue to investors who wait at least 10 years to sell: they would pay no capital gains tax on profits from the project. As a state economic development official, Nick Batz, explained in a 2018 email to Business Oregon Director Chris Harder: It creates domestic tax havens. If Im an investor, I park my capital gains in the safest company I can find in one of these zones and wait ten years to withdraw ... tax free. Oregon House Democrats are now interested in scaling back the states opportunity zone tax break. House Bill 4010, introduced during an interim hearing Monday, would end the state tax break and require state economists to study the federal programs effectiveness. They would report back to the Legislature by November on whether Oregon should reinstate some form of the state opportunity zone tax break. The Senate Finance and Revenue Committee is holding an informational hearing on the tax breaks at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Committee Chair Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, said he is not convinced the opportunity zone tax break should be completely eliminated. To me the jurys still out, Hass said on Tuesday. I think everybodys taking an open mind to it. Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday morning. The meeting was seen as the Shiv Senas attempt to pacify the Congress leadership after the Sena skipped the meeting of Opposition parties against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) earlier this week. Thackeray met Gandhi at his residence in the capital. This is the first meeting between the two scions after their parties joined hands to form a government in Maharashtra. It is learnt that Thackeray apprised Gandhi about the state governments welfare programme, including loan waiver. The two leaders also discussed the current political scenario in the country. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party new allies of the Sena were unhappy over the absence of Sena leaders in the anti-CAA meeting called by Sonia Gandhi. Sena leader Sanjay Raut said there was miscommunication over the meeting. The Sena is now expected to attend an event to oppose CAA and National Population Register (NPR) in New Delhi later this month. Thackeray junior had flown to Delhi a day before the swearing-in of his father and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in November to personally invite Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh. He did not meet Rahul Gandhi then. No member of the Gandhi family attended the swearing-in on November 28. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A day after it said only time will tell whether ties with the Congress would go back to normalcy, the DMK on Wednesday upped the ante, saying if the national party wants to quit the alliance, it can do so. Party veteran Duraimurugan, when asked about Congress's charge that DMK violated coalition dharma and that the grand old party might leave the alliance, he said,"if they want to quit, let them do so. How are we concerned, what is the loss for us?." Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Pongal event here, the DMK treasurer said the party was not worried about Congress leaving the alliance and in particular he was not concerned. Asked whether it will not impact the votes in favour of DMK, Duraimurugan said his party will not be affected at all. In his sarcastic style, he said the Congress does not have a vote bank to make a dent on his party's prospects. "Do they have votes to make an impact?" he asked. On his party colleague and former Union Minister T R Baalu saying that only "time will tell" on ties, he said: "Baalu said only time will tell. But I have answered the question." Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief K S Alagiri again sought to downplay the widening rift which appeared to heading for a break-up. Going soft on the DMK top leadership, he told reporters in Chennai that the reason for his party not getting some seats vis-a-vis the recent civic polls was not due to the Dravidian party's high command. It was owing to some functionaries at the local level, he said, adding, "we have to express our constraints. We do that and it is our duty." On Tuesday, DMK said it skipped a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress on CAA at Delhi since its party chief M K Stalin was accused of violating coalition dharma over local body polls. While DMK senior leader T R Baalu said only time would tell whether the ties have become normal again, Alagiri played down the discord and asserted that both parties were "two joined hands" and the alliance would go on. On Jan 10, Alagiri had said that Congress was not alloted a fair number of posts of local bodies chiefs by DMK and this went against "coalition dharma". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ukrainian president working on own bill on Bureau of Financial Investigations media 14:18, 15.01.20 1069 Zelensky wants the Bureau to be subject to the President's Office. In his new role as president, Matt Gough will be responsible for the firms day-to-day operations including sales, marketing, client service, accounting, HR, technology, and market relations. He will also continue to oversee the companys operations in Washington, D.C. Matt joined the company in 2001 and has worked with many of Ames & Goughs design firm clients. He has led the firms new business development, and has even managed Ames & Goughs contractors professional liability insurance program. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and is active in area chapters of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Brett Gough will assist in managing the firm, focusing on firm-wide sales, marketing and client service as COO, a release said. He will also retain his title of executive vice-president and will continue to manage the companys Boston, MA operations. Brett joined Ames & Gough in 1995 and has been responsible for business development since then; he has also handled the risk management and insurance needs of large design firm clients. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and has the Construction Risk & Insurance Specialist designation from the International Risk Management Institute. Dan Knise, meanwhile, will work on the firms strategy and future initiatives in his new role. He will also continue to work directly with some of Ames & Goughs clients, and will mentor some of the firms up-and-coming professionals, a release said. He joined Ames & Gough in 2005 as president and has almost 40 years of senior leadership experience. File Image The much awaited expansion of Karnataka cabinet is likely to get delayed, with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday stating that it will be done after BJP national President Amit Shah's visit to the state on January 18. As the Chief Minister is scheduled to travel to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet, the very next day- January 19, the Ministry expansion exercise is likely to take place only after his return. "On January 19, I will have to go to Davos, where I will take part in an investors meet and come back on January 23," Yediyurappa said. Speaking to reporters in Shikaripura, he said, "Amit Shah is coming to state on January 18, after discussing with him at the earliest I will expand the cabinet." Shah will be here to address a huge rally atHubballion January 18 aspart of the BJP's nationwide outreach programme to create awareness among the people about the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Chief Minister, who is anxiously waiting for the BJP high command's nod to expand his ministry, amid intense lobbying by the aspirants, had recently expressed his wish to complete the exercise before Davos visit, if he gets clearance from Amit Shah. Disqualified legislators who got re-elected during the December 5 bypolls on BJP ticket, and are all set to become Ministers too had exerted pressure on Yediyurappa to expand the cabinet before the foreign visit. According to party sources, though Yediyurappa had plans to visit New Delhi to get clearance from the high command, he did not get appointment from the party leadership for the same. Yediyurappa along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya as well as chief ministers - Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh) are among those expected join over 100 Indian CEOs in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos later this month for the WEF's 50th annual meeting. As the Chief Minister has already made it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths. Currently there are 18 Ministers, including the Chief Minister in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. However, with some reports that the high command may not be keen on making all the 11 re-elected legislators, whom Yediyurappa has given assurance, as Ministers, it remains to be seen how things turn out. Cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the Chief Minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as promised and also make place for old guards, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise. He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with allocation of key portfolios. Also, disqualified legislators, who lost on BJP ticket during the bypoll, openly expressing their ministerial aspirations, has added to the Chief Minister's worry. Noting that he will be presenting the budget on March five, Yediyurappa said preparations are on for it. "Naturally the budget will give importance to agriculture and the plan is to provide assistance to SC/ST and other backward communities. Budget will come to shape by the end of February. It will be presented on March 5. After detailed discussion on the budget during the month, we will seek for its approval from the assembly," he said. This will the first budget of Yediyurappa government after coming to power in July last year, and the Chief Minister who holds the Finance portfolio will present the budget. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Winnipegs rental market is staying healthy, according to federal data released Wednesday. Thats despite an increasing struggle for renters in larger cities to find apartments. "When you look at Winnipeg, the rental market is pretty strong," said Christian Arkilley, a senior economist with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The Crown corporations annual assessment found Winnipegs rental market is in a healthier state than most of the country, with the national vacancy rate plunging to a rate last seen in 2002. Winnipeg held a stable vacancy rate in 2019, because supply has kept up with growing demand from young adults, seniors and immigrants, Arkilley said. Rent increases slowed slightly last year, bringing the average monthly rent to $1,070. University of Winnipeg housing researcher Jino Distasio says the city has "a much more balanced market" than a decade ago, when rents were high and the overall number of apartments was in decline. "Were just now starting to recover from a period of dormant activity in the rental-construction market," he said, attributing this to economic growth driving a boom in apartments being built all across the city. Distasio hopes that supply and demand continue to rise in tandem; both an oversupply or undersupply of units would likely drive up rents. "Right now I think were in a bit of a sweet spot, overall," he said. Winnipegs vacancy rate stands at 3.1 per cent overall, with two-bedroom dwellings most in demand. Nationally, just 2.2 per cent of rental units are on the market; it's the third-consecutive year that number has fallen. Arkilley said concerns about job security have more Canadians renting than buying homes, reducing the numbers of available units. Vancouver and Toronto residents are among the hardest hit. In Winnipeg, a quarter of all rental units changed tenants in 2019, a stable rate for both the downtown core and the suburbs. Thats compared to a turnover rate of just 9.5 per cent in Toronto, where renters are holding on to hard-to-find units. Distasio said hes curious to see CMHCs neighbourhood-level data, which will likely help developers decide where to build different types of units, and aide researchers in assessing vacancies in low-income areas. Roughly 35 per cent of Winnipeg households are rented, Distasio said, a demographic that sees more low-income people exposed to rent hikes. The more detailed data could also help indicate the impact of short-term rental sites like Airbnb on the availability and price of units. A McGill University study found that in 2018, about 200 of Winnipegs 1,900 rental units were being listed on such sites full-time. Affordability registered as a major theme in last falls election, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, with the three main political parties promising action to make it easier for Canadians to buy a home. The CMHC conducts its Rental Market Survey each October in census metropolitan areas big cities and surrounding suburbs that have a large proportion of commuters. Winnipegs area includes communities such as St. Clements, Tache and Rosser. There are more rental vacancies in those areas than the metro average, as is the case in the North End, Assiniboine and Transcona. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. There are below-average vacancies in the northeast and northwest corners of the city, St. James and everything south of Fort Rouge. Distasio was surprised that the most available form of Winnipeg rental is those with three or more bedrooms, at 5.9 per cent vacancy. He figured immigrant families would want those units, because birthrates are generally higher outside North America. However the average monthly price for those units, $1,543, could be too high for those families. Winnipegs rental market has held stable over the past five years, and Arkilley expects it will remain so in 2020. Regina and Calgary also reported stable vacancy rates. "The demand for rental units has actually increased in the Prairie region," said Calgary-based Arkilley, adding the number reflects the reality of more people opting to rent instead of purchasing houses as the economically hard-hit oil patch recovers. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca New Delhi: Komal Sharma, the girl officially named by the Delhi Police in the viral video of JNU mob attack, approached the National Commission for Women alleging that she was being framed. Latest media reports say that Sharma has claimed that it is not her in the viral video. In her complaint to the National Commission for Women, Sharma says that she is being unnecessarily showcased as the as masked attacker. I am not the woman in the JNU video, Sharma told the NCW. I have been deliberately and with some bad intention defamed to the extent that now condition has become bad to worst, Sharma said in her complaint to the NCW. NCW to rescue? I have started receiving calls from my relatives who are expressing their dismay considering me as the said alleged lady, Sharma added. Media reports suggest that acting on the complaint, the NCW has issued notices to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and some media houses to look into the matter. Meanwhile, notices have been issued to Chunchun Kumar and Dolan Samanta (who were named as suspects by Delhi Police) in connection with January 5 violence, for questioning. FSL team is also coming to JNU on Wednesday. Efforts are being made to trace Akshat Awasthi, Rohit Shah and Komal Sharma, police sources said. Who is girl in check shirt? More than a week after the shocking violence on the JNU campus, the Delhi Police had identify the masked girl with check shirt in disturbing mob attack video that went viral on social media after the January 5 incident. Komal Sharma is a student of the Delhi University. Reportedly, the ABVP has also admitted that she is their member. In the viral video, the girl along with other member of the masked mob were seen smashing windows and terrorising students of JNUs Periyar Hostel on the evening of January 5. JNU violence probe On Tuesday, two more suspects were questioned by Delhi Police's Crime Branch in connection with the January 5 violence on JNU campus while forensic experts spent the day trying to retrieve related data from the server, officials said. According to police, both Sucheta Talukdar and Priya Ranjan were questioned for two hours each in connection with the attack by a masked mob on January 5. The four persons who were injured in the attack were also examined. Thirty-four people, including students and faculty, were injured on January 5 when the masked mob entered the campus and attacked them with rods and sledgehammers. Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more The technology one-upmanship between the United States and China is fast becoming the new space race. Theres been a lot of talk in the press about the competition to reach 5G, but little traction outside of the tech community about something more momentous: the dangers of computing in a post-quantum world. The recent news from Google about its quantum capabilities is exciting. However, the prospect of supercomputing on this level raises several concerns about data integrity and the overall security threat. What Is the Quantum Tech Race? Nearly 40 years ago, Scientific American published an article that declared it would take 40 quadrillion years to crack the then state-of-the-industry RSA-129 security protocol. That feat was accomplished within 20 years from the date of that article, which was published in 1977. As recently as two years ago, Phys.org published a piece warning that quantum computing was posed to destroy Internet security as we knew it. That pronouncement may seem slightly hyperbolic, but it isnt far from the situation we face. The quantum tech race is a virtual contest for Internet supremacy thats being waged mainly between China and the United States. This technology is based upon the same principles and mathematical equations that drive research into quantum physics. Its expected to transition from the theoretical, experimental realm to become a fully formed, game-changing technology by the year 2025. Thats just over five years from now, which can seem like a century in terms of tech advances. Consider where we were just five short years ago. Post-Quantum Danger Zone Computers that employ quantum technology have the capability to perform complex calculations and run equally complicated models that smash the current encryption standards due to the power of this technology alone. The prospect of this led the National Sar Initiative (NSI) to issue the following statement:This move (the call for quantum-safe encryption algorithms) has been triggered in part by a statement by the NSA in 2015 that surprised the whole community: for those partners and vendors that have not yet made the transition to Suite B elliptic curve algorithms, we recommend not making a significant expenditure to do so at this point but instead to prepare for the upcoming quantum-resistant algorithm transition.'Both American tech researchers and their Chinese counterparts have declared that the future is coming sooner than we think. There are some politicians, researchers, and members of the military who believe that China has gained an edge in the competition. However, as of October 2019, Google claimed that it had jumped ahead of China. Last December, Congress passed the National Quantum Initiative Act, which is expected to disperse US$1.275 billion for quantum research over the next four years. Those pronouncements may or may not be accurate, but the fact is that our current encryption technology is no match for quantum-powered supercomputers. The first commercially available quantum-based supercomputer is expected to be on the market by 2022. Falling behind in quantum-based cybersecurity not only endangers financial and personal information stored on hard drives and in the cloud, but it also puts U.S. national security at risk. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Quantum computers have the potential to disrupt current security protocols that protect global financial markets, render many of todays sophisticated encryption systems inoperable, and upend secret government intelligence, wrote Erica Orange & Jared Weiner, and Eshanthi Ranasinghe, in an article posted on Medium. The U.S. and China arent the only players in this game. Theyre just the biggest and the ones that pose the potentially gravest threat to the others. The EU has unleashed $1.4 billion in quantum tech funding, and even e-commerce mega-platform Alibaba has built its own quantum computing research lab. Post-Quantum VPNs As it stands now, current cybersecurity solutions for consumers and businesses rely heavily on virtual private networks (VPNs), which use cryptography to create a secure tunnel between a user and the open Internet. The rapid advent of a quantum computer is likely to threaten the security of communications and data. Secure-IC is deeply involved in renewing the security technologies prior to the quantum era to ensure a safe and sound transition. This is why so many renowned experts in the field are designing cryptographic technologies resistant to quantum attacks. Does this mean cryptography-busting quantum computers are turning one of securitys most popular tools suddenly obsolete? If VPN technology doesnt evolve to keep pace, that would be the expected result. The good news is that efforts like the NIST Post-Quantum Project have forked the most effective encryption protocol on the market today, OpenVPN, and intend to have a quantum-resistant foundation for future VPNs to incorporate. The better news is that some of the industrys largest Web hosting companies have raised the bar higher, even though they have many more improvements ahead to compete with the violent upcoming technological advancements. Global companies like HostGator already are moving in this direction, slowly but surely, by offering extra security features like the ability to add SiteLock monitoring to a site. This service runs daily, looking for potential site breaches or hacks, and lets you know instantly when either is found. While the details might not yet be clear, expect the hosting industry to be ready to do its part to resist quantum hacking. Further, cybersecurity industry leaders like ExpressVPN and NordVPN already offer OpenVPN among their protocols, and you can expect other providers to follow suit as the prospect of quantum technology reaching the market draws near. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Meeting the Challenges The best way to fight fire is with fire, and so it is with quantum computing and cybersecurity. Were facing some serious issues but there are some encouraging proposals for effective solutions and countermeasures. The main goal of cybersecurity is preventing breaches and preserving data integrity. Current cryptography relies on asymmetrical encryption that uses a system of public and private keys to grant database access. The public portion of the virtual key can be used by anyone to deposit information, but it can be accessed only by whoever holds the private key. As of now, there are only four algorithms that quantum systems can solve that are unsolvable by conventional computer tech. The goal is to use technologies like blockchain, AI and machine learning to create uncrackable encryption standards that are going to become state-of-the-industry in the post-quantum world. Researchers are trying to fix the problem by breaking a few things in a testing arena using the same basic concepts. For example, the Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) is working on standardizing post-quantum cryptography protocols. In August 2019, IBM submitted its own algorithm in answer to the National Institute of Standards and Technology call for such research. The algorithm, known as CRYSTALS (Cryptographic Suite for Algebraic Lattices) has succeeded at encrypting a magnetic tape drive-based storage system at its research facility. The good news for researchers and enterprising tech entrepreneurs is that these algorithms are based on open source technology, which allows others to work on the problem and develop viable solutions ahead of the looming techpocalypse thats been predicted. Final Thoughts Beneath the bravado among superpowers about the tech supremacy is the struggle among tech security professionals, like DevOps and DevSecOps, to keep pace. Advances in computing certainly are life-changing, but the push to see how fast and how far we can surge into cyberspace brings with it a parallel need for comparable levels of mastery in cybersecurity. The fault doesnt lie with security specialists, per se. Behind the scenes, theyre working hard to develop post-quantum cryptographic security solutions that include advances based on the same technology. Its a lengthy process. Theres a lot of optimism within the industry, though. Cryptanalysts are confident that theyll be ready to meet the challenge when quantum supercomputers become stable and powerful enough to break through current public-key encryption standards. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network. Leader in clinical research for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other misfolded protein diseases joins advisory board of global leaders in neurodegenerative diseases TORONTO, Ontario and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. (TSX: PMN) (OTCQB: ARFXF), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, has welcomed Jose Luis Molinuevo, MD, PhD, to its scientific advisory board (SAB). Dr. Molinuevo is an internationally recognized neurologist, researcher, professor, principal investigator and clinician focused on Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders, including other protein misfolding diseases such as Parkinson's. Dr. Molinuevo is the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Prevention Program at the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC) in Barcelona, Spain, which focuses on Alzheimer's disease prevention from a clinical, cognitive, genetic, and biomarker perspective. He is an associate professor at the University Pompeu Fabra, member of several professional societies governing neurodegenerative diseases, principal investigator of multiple clinical trials and research studies on AD and author of more than 330 international scientific papers, several books and over 20 book chapters on neurodegenerative diseases. He received his MD from the University of Valencia and his PhD in neurology from the University of Barcelona. "Dr. Molinuevo's research contributions to Alzheimer's and other protein misfolding diseases has strengthened our understanding of toxicity in the brain," said Eugene Williams, Executive Chairman of ProMIS Neurosciences. "He's a beacon among the community of researchers who believe the revised amyloid hypothesis - which zeroes in on the toxic oligomer of beta amyloid as the driver of brain cell death - will drive a next generation of beta-amyloid targeting therapies that offer precision selectivity for this toxic target following anticipated regulatory approval for the first-generation candidate, aducanumab. We're honored to work with such an accomplished, committed SAB, and extend our warmest welcome to Dr. Molinuevo." "This is an incredibly exciting time in Alzheimer's disease research," said Dr. Jose Luis Molinuevo, MD, PhD. "In this decade, we'll see the first disease modifying therapy for AD followed by better, second generation therapies, validating decades of data showing the toxic role of misfolded amyloid beta in the brain. Protein misfolding is a root cause of several other neurodegenerative diseases, and ProMIS is uniquely able to target only the toxic oligomer of these misfolded species, a previously elusive accomplishment. I'm honored to join such an esteemed group of leaders in neurodegenerative disease as we embark on a decade that I feel will be marked by several disease-modifying therapies for not only Alzheimer's but a host of other neurodegenerative diseases." ProMIS' SAB members are highly published and cited contributors to current scientific understanding of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, protein misfolding diseases in general and other neurodegenerative diseases. Current members include: Neil R. Cashman, MD is Chief Science Officer at ProMIS Neurosciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding Diseases and serves as the Director of the UBC ALS Centre. Dr. Cashman is recognized as a pioneer in the field of prion-like misfolded proteins and their role in development of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular ALS and AD. Neil Cashman is co-chair of the SAB. Sharon Cohen, MD is a trained behavioral neurologist and former speech language pathologist. Her memory clinic and dementia clinical trials program at Toronto Memory Programme are the largest and most active in Canada and have contributed substantially to patient care and to global clinical trial cohorts. Through her commitment to knowledge translation and her passion for clinically meaningful outcomes, Dr. Cohen provides a valuable perspective which places the patient at the center of Alzheimer's drug development programs. Todd E. Golde, MD, PhD is Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida where he directs a robust program of scientific discovery aimed at translating basic discoveries in neurodegenerative disease into diagnostics and treatments for patients. Dr. Golde is co-chair of the SAB. William C. Mobley, MD, PhD is Associate Dean for Neurosciences Initiatives, Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences, Florence Riford Chair for Alzheimer Disease at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and the university's Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment. Dr. Mobley's research focuses on the neurobiology of neuronal dysfunction in developmental and age-related disorders of the nervous system. C. Warren Olanow, MD is the past Henry P. and Georgette Goldschmidt Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and present Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neurology and in the Department of Neuroscience. Andre Strydom, MD, PhD is a professor in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, and Honorary Consultant psychiatrist, South London and the Maudsley NHS Trust. His current projects and collaborations include the LonDownS consortium, funded by the Wellcome Trust/ MRC, to study the neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease in Down syndrome to understand the underlying factors that may influence variation in age of onset of symptoms. His research in Down syndrome includes investigation of biomarkers of cognitive decline. He has been an investigator on clinical trials of new drug treatment options in Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and autism. Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD is a neuroscientist and geneticist with scientific expertise in Alzheimer's disease and brain health. He serves as Vice-Chair of Neurology, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, and as a Director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Lary C. Walker, PhD is Associate Professor of Neurology and Research Professor at Emory University Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Dr. Walker's research has been directed toward understanding the mechanisms by which the Alzheimer-associated proteins amyloid beta and tau form pathogenic assemblies in vivo and how these agents spread in the brain. About misfolded proteins and the toxic oligomer Misfolded proteins play a key pathogenic role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Misfolded proteins aggregate, forming small clumps (oligomers) that are both toxic to neurons and responsible for the 'prion-like' propagation (spreading) of the neurotoxicity, ultimately leading to clinical symptoms of disease. Using its novel drug discovery engine, ProMIS can uniquely and selectively target the toxic oligomer, filling a critical gap for drug developers: traditional approaches to developing antibodies are unable to isolate and target the toxic oligomer with adequate precision. The company's Alzheimer's disease program includes two antibody candidates that offer targeting of the toxic oligomers of tau and amyloid beta, currently one of the most promising areas of therapy development in Alzheimer's disease. ProMIS' Parkinson's disease program includes several potential antibody therapeutic candidates aimed at selectively targeting toxic oligomers of the protein a-synuclein, considered a root cause of Parkinson's disease. ProMIS has also identified antibody candidates that selectively target toxic oligomers of the protein TDP-43, considered a root cause of ALS. About ProMIS Neurosciences ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing antibody therapeutics selectively targeting toxic oligomers implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The Company's proprietary target discovery platform is based on the use of two complementary thermodynamic, computational discovery engines -ProMIS and Collective Coordinates- to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique precision approach, the Company is developing novel antibody therapeutics for AD, ALS and PD. ProMIS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ProMIS is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMN, and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ARFXF. Visit us at www.promisneurosciences.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn For media inquiries, please contact: Shanti Skiffington shanti.skiffington@gmail.com Tel. 617 921-0808 For Investor Relations please contact: Alpine Equity Advisors Nicholas Rigopulos, President nick@alpineequityadv.com Tel. 617 901-0785 The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Daniel Craig has poked fun at his James Bond persona in a hilarious Heineken advert highlighting the differences between himself and the suave secret agent. The star, 51 - set to reprise his iconic role for the fifth and final time in No Time To Die this April - showed off his comedic side as he struggled to keep up with a taxi, dropped cutlery and lost his passport in the clip titled 'Daniel Craig vs James Bond.' Filmed the Spanish towns of Tamarit and Cardona, the clip opens with a relaxed Daniel sunbathing while clad in a cream shirt and chinos as the James Bond theme plays. 00-heaven: Daniel Craig has poked fun at his James Bond persona in a hilarious Heineken advert highlighting the differences between himself and the suave secret agent Running man: The star, 51 - set to reprise his iconic role for the fifth and final time in No Time To Die this April - showed off his comedic side as he struggled to keep up with a taxi in a car chase Getting a notification his taxi has arrived, he jumps into the vehicle, where his stunned and glamorous driver mouths 'James Bond'. Channeling her inner Bond girl as she floors the accelerator, a visibly uncomfortable Daniel - who is no stranger to a high octane car chase as Bond - grimaces as he is thrown about. Jumping out of the cab and looking decidedly frazzled, Daniel then realises he has left his passport and wallet in the back seat - and shooting a smouldering look, decides to chase after the car. Unlike 007, the star is seen struggling to keep up, before running out of stamina and stopping entirely as two elderly men say 'James Bond? No.' Daniel Craig VS James Bond: Filmed the Spanish towns of Tamarit and Cardona, the clip opens with a relaxed Daniel sunbathing while clad in a cream shirt and chinos Star-struck: Getting a notification his taxi has arrived, he jumps into the vehicle, where his stunned and glamorous driver mouths 'James Bond' Frazzled: Jumping out of the cab and looking decidedly frazzled, Daniel then realises he has left his passport and wallet in the back seat Handsome: Shooting a smouldering look, the star decides to chase after the car Giving chase: Daniel makes a strong start as he pursues the car through the streets Daniel shows off his undercover skills as he runs up to a castle where his driver was headed and sneaks past security, before stealing a tuxedo. Looking suitably debonair, the Layer Cake actor walks in on a money laundering operation, but, instead of intervening in explosive fashion, he turns a blind eye before marching into the kitchen. The star then collides with a waiter carrying a tray of cutlery as he continues his search for the driver - and like a true gentleman, helps to pick it back up. Sky-fail: Unlike 007, the star is seen struggling to keep up, before running out of stamina and stopping entirely as two elderly men say 'James Bond? No' Espionage: Daniel shows off his undercover skills as he runs up to a castle where his driver was headed and sneaks past security Iconic: The actor sneaks in and steals a tuxedo as he hunts for the driver Here he is: Daniel looks handsome as he bursts in on a money laundering operation Bond's not here: Instead of intervening in explosive fashion, he turns a blind eye before marching into the kitchen Another woman comes to help, with Daniel realising it is his taxi driver from earlier, saying:'I think you have my passport!' The glamorous woman says: 'Daniel Craig?' Nice try Mr Bond' to an unimpressed Daniel, signalling that the actor will forever be revered by fans all over the world for his role. As he walks into a candlelit bar, a band begins to play the James Bond theme, with the star - who once said he would rather 'slit my own wrists' than play Bond again - holding his arms out in exasperation, causing them to stop. The next part of the clip shows that Dry January has seemingly inspired 007 to cut down on the booze. Clumsy: The star then collides with a waiter carrying a tray of cutlery as he continues his search for the driver Chivalrous: Like a true gentleman, the star helps to pick it back up Shock: Another woman comes to help, with Daniel realising it is his taxi driver from earlier, saying:'I think you have my passport!' Oh dear: The glamorous woman says: 'Daniel Craig?' Nice try Mr Bond' to an unimpressed Daniel, signalling that the actor will forever be revered by fans all over the world for his role The Bond character has always been synonymous with a hard drink, preferring it a vodka martini, 'shaken not stirred'. A bartender presents him with a cocktail glass before the star signals he would like a non-alcoholic Heineken beer. Taking a sip, the dashing actor looks pleased as he shoots a smouldering look at the camera with the caption 'Once James Bond, always James Bond' appearing on the screen. The full advert release comes five days after a teaser clip of the star drinking non-alcoholic beer after being presented with a cocktail dubbed 'the Double O' was released. Not me: As he walks into a candlelit bar, a band begins to play the James Bond theme, with the star - who once said he would rather 'slit my own wrists' than play Bond again - holding his arms out in exasperation, causing them to stop Shaken, not stirred: The next part of the clip shows that Dry January has seemingly inspired 007 to cut down on the booze as he declines a vodka martini Cheers:The star signals he would like a non-alcoholic Heineken beer as the advert ends BTS: Daniel oozes 007 charm as he poses for the camera in a behind-the-scenes snap Daniel shook his head in disapproval, before pointing to an iced bucket of Heineken 0.0. Picking up the cool beverage however, it just turns out that Bond might just be trying to be responsible, telling the barman 'I'm working' as the classic theme tune plays. Although Daniel now says he is 'really happy' he signed up for a fifth film, his comments starkly contrast with his response about signing up again when he was asked in 2015, shortly before the release of Spectre. 'Id rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he said during an interview with London's Time Out magazine. Refreshed: The full advert release comes five days after a teaser clip of the star drinking non-alcoholic beer after being presented with a cocktail dubbed 'the Double O' was released 'Were done. All I want to do is move on.' The Layer Cake star added that if he were to sign up again, it would only be for the money. But Daniel did agree to star in the much-anticipated No Time To Die, for a reported fee of 18.4 million ($25million). As well as Casino Royale, Skyfall in 2012 and Spectre, Daniel also appeared in Quantum of Solace in 2008. Soft not stirred: The star gives the waiter a disapproving look as he is served a 'Double O' cocktail in a further clip No Time To Die, which is due out in April, has previously been described as the 'wokest' Bond film yet, following a series of revelations including the use of a part-electric Aston Martin Valhalla to the movie alongside the petrol-powered DB5. Actors and crew on set have also decided to be more environmentally conscious, having been spotted drinking from re-usable water bottles, saving an estimated 230,000 single-use plastic water bottles. Craig's Bond is brought out of retirement to work alongside the female special agent to save the world from a villain who has developed a deadly algae which threatens to kill the world's oceans a nod to the concerns of climate campaigners. More than 11 tons of packaging waste was also recycled, while producers sent 30 tons of food waste and biodegradable packaging to 'anaerobic digestion', in which micro-organisms break down material, producing a gas that can be used to generate electricity. A further 1.6 tons of food was donated to feed the homeless through the City Harvest charity. Drink another day: Picking up the cool beverage however, it just turns out that Bond might just be trying to be responsible, telling the barman 'I'm working' as the classic theme tune plays Last year, the Mail revealed that Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge had been brought in as a scriptwriter to ensure the blockbuster was appropriate for the #MeToo era. And now we have learned more secrets from the 200 million movie, due out in April. The script has Bond marrying Dr Madeleine Swann the psychologist played by French actress Lea Seydoux who first appeared in 2015's Spectre. But she refuses to take her new husband's name. Woke: The script has Bond marrying Dr Madeleine Swann (left, played by Lea Seydoux), but she refuses to take her new husband's name The morning after their wedding, Bond wakes sleepy-eyed and says 'Good morning, Mrs Bond', to which she replies: 'Don't you mean Ms Swann?' A source said: 'The phrase 'Bond girl' was outlawed from the set. The women in this film are all strong, brave and fiercely independent. These women are not helpless girls who jump into bed with Bond their reactions are very different from what people might think. 'Bond tries his usual seduction techniques but they fail miserably. It's very funny.' Ms Lynch, 31, said of her double-O role: 'Everyone was really responsive to having her be what I wanted. You're given a fresh perspective on a brand-new black woman in the Bond world.' She was determined her character should be a 'real' woman 'who has issues with her weight and maybe questions what's going on with her boyfriend'. Creative mind: Last year, the Mail revealed that Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge had been brought in as a scriptwriter to ensure the blockbuster was appropriate for the #MeToo era At the start of the new film, Bond has officially 'retired' to Jamaica and has relinquished his 007 credentials and licence to kill. Eve Moneypenny actress Naomie Harris also revealed that the female characters 'drive the plot' in the new film. Speaking to The Guardian this month, the British actress, 43, revealed that she, and the other three female leads, Lea Seydoux, Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch, have incredibly prominent roles in the movie alongside Craig. 'In Bond 25 you have four strong, intelligent women who are responsible for driving the plot forward,' the star - who reprises her role of Eve Moneypenny - said. 'They've never had that in Bond before.' Naomie added of Daniel's character: 'He's not disrespecting women, he's not after women because of how attractive she looks and what quality she is. 'He's genuinely in a relationship with a woman he respects, loves and cherishes,' she concluded of his romance with Lea's character. Statement: The No Time To Die trailer features strong female leads with Lashana Lynch unveiled as Nomi (L) - said to be the first female 007 - alongside aid Paloma (Ana de Armas, R) Speaking of their hugely important roles in the series, Ana, who takes on the role of Paloma, previously gushed about her female co-stars' ability to 'wear the pants' in the flick. This comes after reports that Fleabag creator Phoebe had been hired to make 007 more 'woke' and up-to-date in terms of women's rights. During an interview with Deadline in May, Waller-Bridge argued against this too. She said: 'Theres been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women. I think thats b*****ks! 'I think hes absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesnt have to. He needs to be true to this character.' James Bond fans heaped praise on writer Phoebe for championing women's empowerment after the first full trailer for the latest installment was released last year. New wheels: Craig will drive a hybrid Valhalla as well as an electric Rapide E model (pictured). Only 155 of the 250,000 vehicles have been built. However, the character hasn't stopped flying, with filming having taken place in Italy, Jamaica, Norway and London The new promotional clip sent viewers into meltdown as lead actress Lashana was unveiled as fierce agent Nomi - rumoured to be the first female 007 - alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig, his love Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) and his aid Paloma, played by Ana de Armas. And with the theme of feminism present in the film, excited social media users lauded Fleabag's Phoebe for bringing female characters to the forefront of the iconic franchise. One delighted fan penned: 'We stan powerful women in the 007 franchise #NoTimeToDie.' Another tweeted: 'Ill see it because I want to know what a Bond movie with Phoebe Waller-Bridges fingerprints all over it looks like. And because of Lashana Lynch. So yes, for the first time ever, Im seeing a Bond movie because of the women.' The first trailer for the film showed Bond's first meeting with Nomi who brusquely tells him: 'The world has moved on Commander Bond. You get in my way I will put a bullet in your knee. The one that works.' When Bond asks her if she is a double 0, she confirms she has been for two years. Daniel will also be the first Bond to embrace his grey hair in the upcoming film. The actor tried to disguise his natural shade in past films, but it has been reported that having Daniel look a little more 'mature' this time is perfect for his final time as Bond. Meanwhile, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has revealed she was 'devastated' when Craig said No Time To Die would be his final 007 movie. 'It's pretty devastating,' she told Empire. Broccoli added: '[And] if he hadn't come back [for No Time To Die], I was gonna go put a duvet on my head and cry for three years.' No Time To Die is released in UK cinemas on April 3, 2020. Iran Monday said it would expulse UKs envoy for further interference after the ambassador was briefly detained following his alleged participation in a protest. Iran calls for an immediate halt to all interference and provocation by the British embassy, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry also said its response will not be limited to summoning the ambassador (to the ministry) if this attitude persists. Tensions have flared up between the Islamic Republic and UK since last week after Iranian authorities Saturday detained ambassador Rob Macaire. Macaire is accused of attending an illegal demonstration following internal discontent in wake of the authorities admission that army forces brought down the Ukrainian aircraft, which crashed in capital Tehran last week as Iran launched dozens of missiles on US positions in Iraq following the assassination of Irans army top commander at Baghdad airport. Macaire reportedly denied the charges and argued that he went to an event advertised as a vigil for the 176 people who died when Iran mistakenly downed the Ukrainian airliner and left after five minutes when people started shouting, AFP reports. Irans threats came after the British foreign ministry summoned Tehrans envoy to lodge complaints over Macaires detention. Iran has stern relations with the UK, which it accuses of backing the US its arch global foe. Tehran charges both Washington and London of imperialism and arrogance. Washington DC [USA], Jan 15 (ANI): US President Donald Trump is likely to make a state visit to India towards the end of February, a senior Indian official told ANI. The official said that the dates of the visit are being worked out. The source further added that Indian diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu's appointment as the new Ambassador of India to the US will be announced 'soon' in light of the possibility that Trump is likely to be visiting India in February-end. Earlier on January 7, Modi told Trump in a telephonic conversation that ties between India and the US have grown from strength to strength. The Prime Minister also expressed his desire to continue to work with the US President for enhancing cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. During the talks, Modi highlighted the significant progress made towards deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries in the previous year, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Trump expressed satisfaction at the achievements in the relationship between the two countries in the last few years and reiterated his readiness for further deepening bilateral cooperation, according to the PMO. The Prime Minister also extended New Year greetings to Trump, his family and the people of the US. On the other hand, Trump reciprocated the gesture and wished the people of India prosperity and progress in the New Year. During the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in last September, Modi, who shared the dais with Trump, invited the latter and his family to visit India, saying it will give a new height to the shared dreams of the two countries. The Indian invitation to Trump was reiterated last month by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar when they called on Trump at the White House after meeting with their American counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue. (ANI) PRAGUE and MUNICH, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, today announced that Garry Kasparov, Chess Grandmaster, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation in New York and Avast Security Ambassador, and Michal Pechoucek, Chief Technology Officer at Avast, and Director of the AI Center at the Czech Technical University, will discuss the risks and opportunities of AI on the "Bavaria" stage at the annual Digital Life Design (DLD) Conference in Munich, Germany. The talk titled "What does AI add to our lives?" will take place on January 20 at 1:20 p.m. CET and will also demonstrate how AI can be used to thwart cyberattacks. Artificial Intelligence is today increasingly applied in critical areas such as medicine and across industries including automotive and manufacturing, but it also raises questions: Which jobs are machines taking from humans? What advantages will humans continue to have over AI algorithms? In conversation with Michal Pechoucek, Garry Kasparov will address these questions and discuss the role of AI in our society in the future. On January 19th at 5:00 p.m. CET, Garry Kasparov will also play chess with ten selected participants of the conference simultaneously. About Garry Kasparov, Avast Security Ambassador Garry Kasparov became the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 and was the world's top-rated player for 20 years. He first discovered the potential of AI during his famous matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. Ever since, he's spoken about future tech, most recently as Avast's security ambassador. His matches against arch-rival Anatoly Karpov and Deep Blue popularized chess and machine intelligence in unprecedented ways. About Michal Pechoucek, CTO at Avast Michal Pechoucek joined Avast as CTO in September 2019. Mr. Pechoucek leads the core technology and R&D organization at Avast. He is also responsible for the company's scientific research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity. Before joining Avast, Mr. Pechoucek spent over twenty years as a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague, during which time he led the Department of Computer Science and founded the Artificial Intelligence Center in 2001. Mr. Pechoucek has authored more than 400 high impact publications and contributed numerous innovative AI applications to research in computer science. He also started and successfully exited several startups in the field of Artificial Intelligence. About Avast Avast (LSE: AVST) is a global leader in digital security products. With over 400 million users online, Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SE Labs and others. Visit: www.avast.com. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Avast Related Links www.avast.com Matthew McConaghey is an Oscar-winner and one of the most famous actors in the world. But when he's out with his wife, he is merely Mr. Camila Alves. The 37-year-old American-Brazilian model looked stunning as always while out on a coffee run with hunky 50-year-old actor in New York City on Wednesday morning. Dynamic duo: Matthew McConaughey was joined by his lovely wife Camila Alves while out on a coffee run in New York City on Wednesday She looked fashionable as always in a long tan coat over all white including T-shirt, baggy trousers, and sneakers. Camila accessorized with a navy blue beanie, large designer shades and a necklace featuring a giant pendant. Her brunette tresses were worn down under the warm headwear as she accentuated her natural looks with complementary make-up topped off with a swipe of shiny lip. Matthew kept his look simple in the midnight blue coat - which many have compared to a bathrobe - over black trousers and leather Chelsea boots. Simply stunning: The 36-year-old American-Brazilian model looked fashionable as always in a long tan coat over all white including T-shirt, baggy trousers, and sneakers In the details: Camila accessorized with a navy blue beanie, large designer shades and a necklace featuring a giant pendant He completed the look under a patchwork Baker Boy cap and eyeglasses. The couple was married in 2012, sharing sons Levi, 11, Livingston, seven, and daughter Vida, 10. Matthew revealed that when proposing to his now wife he was unsure whether Camila was going to accept his proposal, in an interview with Esquire. He recalled: 'I remember hitting the knee, looking into her eyes. I remember her face. I remember this smile coming up from her feet. 'I remember her having to catch her breath. And she didn't say yes right away. And then the whole family was going, "Jeezus, she's gonna say no.'' ' Alright, alright, alright: Matthew kept his look simple in the midnight blue coat - which many have compared to a bathrobe - over black trousers and leather Chelsea boots Although she ultimately did say yes to his romantic gesture, the Dallas Buyers Club star's hectic schedule meant that it was almost impossible to set a wedding date Camila put up with it for four months before she took matters into her own hands and presented the hunk with an invitation to their nuptials. The couple now live happily with their children in Austin, Texas, and Matthew believes his career wouldn't be half as successful as it is now without the support of his family. McConaughey originally met Brazillian Camila at Hollywood hotspot Hyde back in 2006, and she became a US citizen in 2015. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.15 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Belarus has submitted a proposal to establish oil import from Kazakhstan, Kazakhstans Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media. According to Nogayev, representatives of The Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (Belneftekhim Concern) are planning to visit Kazakhstan to discuss the topic of import. Kazakhstan currently imports oil via diversified routes and we are ready to consider the proposal of the Belarusian party, Nogayev said. The minister noted that the import will be possible if there are economic benefits for Kazakhstan. We will host a number of meeting with resource holders if any of them will be interested in the agreement. I think that the agreement is very possible. Representatives are planning to visit before Jan. 20, the minister said. According to Kazakhstans then Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev, during Lukashenkos visit to Kazakhstan, parties signed a preliminary agreement on export of Kazakhstans oil and petroleum products to Belarus and on overall cooperation in the area. He added that Kazakhstan is planning on exporting from 1 to 3.5 million tons of oil and petroleum products a year to Belarus. As noted by Kazakhstans Vice Minister of Energy Asset Magauov earlier this year, Kazakhstan is counting on signing the agreement on oil export to Belarus in the beginning of 2020. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh DETROIT, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Airborne LiDAR Market by Type (Topographic, Bathymetric, and Topo-bathymetric), by Solution Type (System and Services), Service by Application Type (Corridor Mapping, Wide Area Mapping, Natural Resources, and Others), Service by End-Use Industry Type (Aerospace & Defense, Civil Engineering, Forestry & Agriculture, Transportation, Mining, and Others), by Platform Type (Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Rotary-Wing Aircraft, and UAV), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World): 2020-2025. This report, from Stratview Research, studies the airborne lidar market over the trend period of 2014 to 2019 and the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. The report provides detailed insights into the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market. Airborne LiDAR Market: Highlights LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure variable distances to the object located on the earth. The technology generates precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of an object and its characteristics in a cost-effective and opportune manner. The technology offers a wide array of advantages over the conventional sensors including a precise 3D image. There is a growing interest among many economies across the globe to embark on the process of developing their cadastral systems. This is opening doors for extensive surveying requirements. Surveying technologies have undergone a remarkable transition over the past few decades, with airborne lidar among the most suitable technologies in the current scenario. As per Stratview Research, the global airborne LiDAR market offers excellent growth opportunities in the entire ecosystem of the market and is estimated to grow at a double-digit rate over the next five years to reach US$ 673.0 million in 2025. Multitude of factors are driving the growth of airborne lidars, few of which are noted below: Growing number of geospatial surveys Superior performance of LiDAR as compared to photogrammetry Increasing use of UAVs for aerial surveys Increasing spending of government on updating country/regional maps Advancements in technologies Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/317/Airborne-LiDAR-Market.html Market Studied at Systems & Services Level The airborne LiDAR market can be understood at two different levels: Systems and Services, as most of the companies present in LiDAR systems are not into services and vice versa. At the system level, there are three iconic brands Leica (Hexagon), RIEGL, and Optech (Teledyne) which together hold a large share of the market. These three players have been driving the market at the global level and will continue to remain dominant in the foreseeable future. Based on the LiDAR type, topographic segment is expected to remain the dominant segment of the market during the forecast period. Topographic LiDAR is majorly used for applications such as country and city mapping, urban planning, transportation, utilities, and forestry. Bathymetric LiDAR uses green wavelengths in contrast to the topographic lidar system, which uses infrared wavelength. Nautical charting, marine & coastal engineering, habitat mapping and coastal zone management are some of the key applications of bathymetric LiDAR. The report segments the market based on the solution type as systems and services in which systems are further bifurcated into hardware and software. We have further broken down the hardware segment into sensor, navigation, GPS/GNSS, and others in order to provide the crystal-clear picture of the market. Between systems and services, services are estimated to remain larger as well as the faster-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Key market participants at the service level include Fugro, Quantum Spatial, Inc, Woolpert Inc., COWI A/S, AAM Pty Ltd, and Terratec AS, Veris Ltd, and BSF Swissphoto. The services market is broken down based on end-use industry into aerospace & defense, civil engineering, forestry & agriculture, transportation, mining, and others. Civil engineering is expected to remain the largest segment of the airborne lidar services market during the forecast period. Big projects executed in civil engineering include country-wise mapping, where the digital terrain model (DTM) and digital surface model (DSM) are developed from surveys. Forestry & Agriculture is also likely to offer sizeable growth opportunity in years to come. Airborne lidar remote sensing enables structural data collection with high spatial resolution, making it a reliable technology for even complex forest inventory, such as those of California and Amazon forests. Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample on the Exclusive Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/317/Airborne-LiDAR-Market.html In terms of region, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, whereas Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the fastest-growing market during the same period. Major government and private organizations of the USA conduct aerial surveys annually. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United States Geological Survey (USGS), American Electric Power (AEP), The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are some of the major organizations in the USA that conduct aerial survey and mapping projects. Some of the major players in the airborne lidar system market are Hexagon AB (Leica Geosystems), RIEGL, Teledyne Technologies, Inc., Velodyne LiDAR, Flir Systems Inc., Pheonix Lidar Systems, and YellowScan. Whereas major airborne lidar service providers are Quantum Spatial, Inc., Fugro N.V., Woolpert Inc, EUROSENSE GmbH, Diobotics, Merrick & Company, AAM Pty. Ltd., COWI A/S, Bluesky, and DIELMO3D. The market's attractiveness has led to a series of acquisitions of small players by big players, leading to greater market consolidation. Acquisition of Leica Geosystems by Hexagon AB, Optech by Teledyne Technologies Inc., and the recent announcement of the acquisition of Quantum Spatial, Inc., a leading player in the North American airborne LiDAR services market, by NV5 Global, Inc. are among some major acquisitions in the market. With advancements in technological offerings, companies are striving hard to develop products with unmatched features. High pulse rate, wide range of flying altitude, high accuracy, variable scan speeds, fast data delivery, and greater point densities are the major areas of focus for the market participants. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors. This report studies the airborne lidar market and has segmented the market in six ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the five ways in which the market is segmented: Airborne LiDAR Market, By Type Topographic LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Bathymetric LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Topo-bathymetric LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Airborne LiDAR Market, By Solution Type Services (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) System (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) (Product Type Analysis: Hardware, and Software) (Hardware Type Analysis: Sensor, Inertial Navigation System, GPS/GNSS, and Others) Airborne LiDAR Services Market, By Application Type Corridor Mapping (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Wide Area Mapping (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Natural Resources (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Airborne LiDAR Services Market, By End-Use Industry Type Aerospace & Defense (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Civil Engineering (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Forestry & Agriculture (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Transportation (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Mining (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Airborne LiDAR Market, By Platform Type Fixed-Wing Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Rotary-Wing Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) UAV (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Airborne LiDAR Market, By Region North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico ) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , The UK, Nordics, Russia , and Rest of Europe ) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , Australia , and Rest of Asia-Pacific ) Rest of the World (The Middle East , Latin America , and Others) Stratview Research has number of high value market reports in the global aerospace & defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html Other related premium market report: Military Laser Systems Market by Product Type (Laser Designator, Lidar, 3D Scanning, Laser Weapon, Laser Range Finder, Ring Laser Gyro, and Laser Altimeter), by Application Type (Homeland Security, Defense), by Technology Type (Fiber Laser, Solid-State Laser, Chemical Laser, CO2 Laser, and Semiconductor Laser), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World): Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, & Competitive Analysis: 2020-2025. About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. For enquiries, Contact: Stratview Research E-mail: [email protected] Direct: +1-313-307-4176 SOURCE Stratview Research OAKLAND (BCN) The case of a transient man charged with murder for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland in 2018 remained on track Wednesday when a judge ruled that he's mentally competent to stand trial. John Lee Cowell, 29, is charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Wilson and her sister, 26-year-old Letifah Wilson, on the platform at the MacArthur station at 9:36 p.m. on July 22, 2018. Cowell also is charged with a special circumstance allegation that he killed Wilson while lying in wait, a charge that would result in life in prison without parole or the death penalty if he's convicted. But the case against Cowell, who has a history of mental health problems, has moved slowly because his attorney Christina Moore has raised questions about his mental competency to stand trial. Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer suspended the criminal proceedings against Cowell on Dec. 27, 2018, saying there was "substantial evidence" that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. But at a hearing on July 17, Cramer reinstated the criminal proceedings, based in part on a report by psychiatrist Jason Roof of University of California at Davis that found Cowell was competent to stand trial. One psychiatrist who had examined Cowell earlier in 2019 said he believed Cowell was incompetent to stand trial but another expert said he was unable to arrive at a conclusion about Cowell's competency. Moore said at a hearing on Dec. 20 that she had new concerns about Cowell's competency so Cramer appointed Roof to examine Cowell again on Monday at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he is being held without bail. At a short hearing Wednesday afternoon, Cramer said that based on Roof's new report and Cowell's demeanor and responsiveness when he entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea last week, he believes the defense hasn't met its burden of showing that there's substantial evidence of a changed circumstance that indicates that Cowell is now incompetent. "The criminal proceedings are not suspended," Cramer said at the hearing, which was attended by about 30 of Wilson's family members, friends and supporters, including Minister Keith Muhammad of the Nation of Islam mosque in Oakland. Cramer's ruling means that jury selection for Cowell's trial will continue Thursday in the courtroom of another judge, Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer, who's an expert on mental health legal issues. The first panel of potential jurors in the case was brought into Hymer's courtroom on Wednesday morning to fill out questionnaires. Cowell's case is moving along quickly now because Cowell recently invoked his right to a speedy trial. On Tuesday, Hymer denied a defense motion asking that Cowell's trial be moved out of Alameda County because of all the publicity his case has received. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. By Abdul Kerimkhanov Strengthening of Azerbaijans army, its place among the most powerful armies in the world is increasingly becoming the sources of concern for the Armenian military-political leadership. Recently, Chief of the General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Artak Davtyan expressed his concerns over Azerbaijans boosting the equipment of the military group in Nakhchivan exclave. "Now there are samples of weapons and military equipment that were not there before. Along with this, we are also taking appropriate actions to prevent Azerbaijan from achieving superiority in this direction," he stated. Such pessimistic moods tormenting the Armenian commander and the Armenian society as a whole are understandable. Azerbaijan, equipping with the modern weapons, modernizing the material and technical base, has achieved great successes in enhancing the combat effectiveness and professionalism of its Armed Forces. Close attention is paid to strengthening of the defence potential of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is well substantiated. There are two reasons why Azerbaijan is boosting Nakhchivan's military potential. Firstly, Armenia permanently reanimates its territorial claims to Nakhchivan. Secondly, located in the most vulnerable part of Azerbaijan as a result of the occupation policy of Armenia, Nakhchivan remains in a blockade. This is one of the main reasons that the combat potential of the Autonomous Republic must constantly be at the highest level. Today, projects are being implemented in Nakhchivan aimed at further building up the military power of the autonomy and strengthening its defence potential. The creation in Nakhchivan of a separate combined arms army, equipping it with the most modern weapons and ammunition, the latest technology, the creation of new and modernization of existing military units - all this is done so that, if necessary, Nakhchivan can give a worthy answer to any potential aggression and threat. As for the extreme concern of the Armenian side, Azerbaijan, as a peace-loving state, is not going to attack anyone, including Armenia, but at the same time, it will never allow the creation of another Armenian state on its land. Baku has repeatedly stated this at the highest level. The alarm of the Armenian military and political circles, including over the Azerbaijani-Turkish military cooperation, is understandable. Remembering the sad results of the April battles of 2016, Armenia fears inevitable retaliation. It is worth recalling the operation of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army. As a result of successful actions in May 2018, the village of Gunnut in Sharur region and strategic heights of Khunut (2,065 meters), Gizilgaya (1,683 meters) and Mehridag (1,869 meters), located around the village, were liberated from Armenian occupation. Thus, if the Armenian military-political authorities are so much concerned about the military exercises held in Nakhchivan, including joint exercises with Turkey, then it should be understood that the only way out of this situation is to withdraw from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 18, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied a bid by Quest USA Corp., maker of SpinPop, to invalidate PopSockets' U.S. Patent No. 9,958,107. PopSockets sued Quest in the Eastern District of New York for patent infringement, prompting Quest's challenge. This development follows the International Trade Commission's June 14, 2018 decision to grant PopSockets a General Exclusion Order. The GEO makes it illegal to import into the United States any products that infringe upon PopSockets' U.S. Patent No. 8,560,031. PopSockets' GEO remains in full force and effect. After protracted litigation, Quest agreed to take a license to PopSockets' patents. The license ends a global dispute in which PopSockets' asserted intellectual property rights against Quest in several forums across the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. About PopSockets PopSockets was founded in 2010 by former philosophy professor David Barnett. Barnett was looking for a way to prevent his earbud cord from getting tangled, and he glued two buttons to the back of his phone and wrapped them around the buttons. In 2014, PopSockets was launched out of his garage in Boulder, Colorado and today has offices in Boulder, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Helsinki. More than 165 million PopSockets grips have been sold around the world. PopSockets exists to change the world for the better with innovative, magical products and community empowered activism. Products include the PopGrip, PopTop, PopWallet, PopThirst and PopMirror, all designed to increase the functionality of devices we use daily. In the fall of 2018, PopSockets premiered the Poptivism programa charitable giving platform where customers create their own PopGrip designs and PopSockets donates 50% of the sale price to the customer's charity of choice. The brand has donated over $3 million dollars in cash and product to 300 nonprofit partners. SOURCE PopSockets Related Links www.popsockets.com Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was the twentieth centurys most notable spokesperson and advocate for non-violent social change and the leader of the Civil Rights Movement from 1995 until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr,. was the son of Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King and was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Born of the name of Michael Luther King, Jr.,he later changed his name to Martin. His grandfather began the familys long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Martin Luther acted as co-pastor to his father from 1960 till his death. King studied in segregated schools throughout his life, and Morehouse College for his B.A., Crozer Theological Seminary for his B.D. and Boston University for his doctorate in Theology. Also read: Poetry by Kaifi Azmi that will move you and appeal to your pensive mood days By 1955, King had earned national recognition for his oratorical skills and courage after leading the first great African-American non-violent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States. The boycott was of the transportation company of Montgomery, Alabama which required non-whites to surrender their seats to whites, and stand or sit at the back of the bus. King and other civil rights activists were arrested and the boycott lasted 382 days. This boycott lead to the Supreme Court of the United States declaring unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, non-whites and whites rode the bus rode as equals for the first time in history. 0446676500 Over the next decade, King became the face of the Civil Rights Movement in America; by 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organisation formed to provide new leadership for the civil rights movement. King lead non-violent protests and mass-demonstrations throughout the decade. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King travelled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, and wrote five books as well as numerous articles which included the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, a manifesto of the African-American revolution. Perhaps Kings most famous and impactful speech was in Washington, D.C., where he lead over 250,000 people in a non-violent mass-demonstration to draw attention to racial discrimination and to demand civil rights legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans in 1963. King described the demonstration as,the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. His address, I Have a Dream went down in history as one of the most inspirational and moving speeches in history, he spoke of his dream of a United States devoid of racism and inequality and the dream of equality and unity. King became the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of African-Americans in the United States but also a world figure. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated. On the commemoration of Kings birthday on January 15th, here is a compilation of the most powerful quotes by King to honour him and his legacy. 1. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. 2. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 3. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. 4. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 5. Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last. At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The government is planning to cut some imports from Turkey and widen curbs on palm oil from Malaysia to oil, gas and other products, government officials said, targeting the two Muslim-majority countries for their criticism of India's policy towards Kashmir. The world's biggest buyer of edible oils has already effectively stopped importing palm oil from Malaysia by asking Indian importers to look elsewhere. New Delhi is now planning to restrict buying of petroleum, aluminium ingots, liquefied natural gas, computer parts and microprocessors from Malaysia, the two government ... To help consumers avoid a party penalty, while also supporting retailers during an important time period, Litehouse is kicking off its "Game Day MVP" promotion on January 19. The promotion features 13 oz. jars and 20 oz. family size squeeze bottles of Litehouse Homestyle Ranch and Chunky Blue Cheese dressings and dips, and will make consumers the MVP of their game day parties with discounted product pricing at retail, free Instacart delivery 3 , game day content and recipe inspiration, a consumer sweepstakes and even free dressing deliveries in Seattle during the Big Game. The Litehouse survey also found that salsa and ranch are leading dips for game day snacks, but nearly 1 in 3 Americans have run out of ranch or blue cheese on game day. View more survey results and facts on Game Day snacks here. "Ranch dressing is one of the leading dips for game day snacks like wings, pizza, veggies and chips, and this promotion will inspire consumers to create a winning Big Game snack spread or help those who may have dropped the ball on grabbing the essentials at the grocery story," said Camille Balfanz, senior brand manager at Litehouse. To save the day for fans who run out of their favorite dressing during the Big Game, the Litehouse #RanchtotheRescue Dressing Mobile will deliver free Homestyle Ranch and Chunky Blue Cheese dressings to eligible consumers in the Seattle area. On February 2, consumers in Seattle can tag Litehouse on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with their game day ranch SOS moment for a chance to receive a free dressing delivery from Litehouse during the Big Game. "While ranch dressing is a fan favorite, our blue cheese dressing also drives the category in January and February," continued Balfanz. "Retailers promoting with Litehouse see up to a 40% increase in sales, making this promotion a win-win for retailers and consumers alike." Fans nationwide can also score free Instacart order delivery through February 8 when they spend $15 on Litehouse products via Instacart, while supplies last, additional terms apply. Litehouse's classically delicious Homestyle Ranch, the #1 best-tasting ranch4, and Chunky Blue Cheese dressings are perfect for dipping, dunking and drizzling on popular Big Game fare. Litehouse dressings can be found in the refrigerated produce department at grocery retailers nationwide, and do not contain artificial preservatives, colors or flavors, and are made without high fructose corn syrup or added MSG. From January 19 through February 8, consumers can visit the Litehouse website to enter the "Game Day MVP" sweepstakes for a chance to win daily prizes or the grand prize of $3,000. To learn more about the sweepstakes, promotion, and #RanchtotheRescue rules and eligibility, follow Litehouse online or visit www.litehousefoods.com/game-day-mvp. About Litehouse, Inc. Litehouse, Inc. is a leader in refrigerated salad dressings, dips, cheese, freeze dried herbs and other innovative and delicious products. Founded in Hope, Idaho in 1963, Litehouse is proud to be a 100% employee-owned company. Each of the employee-owners is committed to providing great-tasting, high quality food made with real ingredients and crafted with care. Manufactured at the company's five U.S. facilities based in Idaho, Michigan, Utah and Virginia, Litehouse award-winning products are available in North America through general retail, e-commerce, foodservice, deli, club stores, and value-added goods such as meal and salad kits. For more information, visit www.litehousefoods.com, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. 1 IRI UNIFY POS latest 52 weeks ending September 9, 2019 2 Litehouse commissioned survey of 2,273 Americans who are planning to watch the Big Game 3 Additional terms apply 4 2017 blind consumer taste test sensory studies SOURCE Litehouse, Inc. Related Links https://www.litehousefoods.com The World Economic Forum has urged business leaders to step into the void left by governments in tackling climate change. For the first time, the worlds business elite has placed issues related to the environment in all top five spots on its list of concerns about the next decade, according to WEFs annual Global Risks Report. However, WEF risked accusations of hypocrisy ahead of its annual meeting in Davos next week, where some of the rich and famous will arrive at the Swiss ski resort by private jet. The World Economic Forum has urged business leaders to step into the void left by governments in tackling climate change - but it didn't stop them flying in on private jets Rachel Kennerley, climate campaigner at Friends Of The Earth, urged delegates to avoid private jets. As the leaders of the worlds most polluting countries and companies they should look at cutting those emissions as a priority, she said. As bushfires rage in Australia, and California repairs damage caused by wildfires, the WEF is now encouraging company bosses to come together in creating measures to minimise further damage to the environment. If leaders wait until geopolitical turbulence has calmed, the report added, time will run out to address some of the most pressing economic environmental and technological challenges. WEF president Borge Brende said: The political landscape is polarised, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning. This is when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of co-operation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks. The top five concerns on business leaders agenda are: Extreme weather events with major damage to property and loss of lives; Failure by businesses and governments to mitigate or adapt to climate change; Human-made environmental damage, such as oil spills and radioactive contamination; Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; Major natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. The WEFs annual meeting will host some of the worlds most powerful figures, from Donald Trump and Prince Charles to climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, central bankers and bosses of businesses such as Unilever and BP. Though many will fly in by private jet, the WEF claims the event will be carbon neutral due to a range of carbon-offsetting measures it has taken. The focus on climate risks comes after Blackrock, the worlds largest asset manager, announced measures this week to encourage investors to plough more of their money into environmentally friendly companies. Paul Morozzo, climate finance campaigner at Greenpeace, said last night: Its not enough to identify how grave the climate emergency is. The banks and financial institutions jetting into Davos next week have made trillions pumping money into climate-crashing fuels such as oil, gas and coal. Its time to stop funding the crisis and start backing the solutions. That means immediately ending support for fossil fuels we cannot afford to burn. Bank of England governor Mark Carney has also been pushing for governments, investors, lenders and businesses to pay attention to the financial impact which climate change might have. (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it filed an emergency enforcement action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Illinois resident Kenneth D. Courtright, III and his company, Todays Growth Consultant Inc., in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme that raised at least $75 million from more than 500 investors throughout the United States and abroad. According to the SECs complaint, from at least 2017 through at least October 2019, TGC, which also operated under the name The Income Store, and Courtright, the companys founder and current chairman, promised investors an endless minimum guaranteed rate of return on revenues generated by websites. In exchange for an investors upfront fee, TGC claimed that it would either buy or build a website for the investor, and develop, market, and maintain the website. As alleged, TGC falsely promised that it would use investors funds exclusively for expenses related to the investors website. In reality, as alleged, the sales were conducted through unregistered securities offerings, and TGC used new investors funds to pay investor returns, in Ponzi-like fashion, and to pay Courtrights personal expenses, including his mortgage and private school tuitions for his family. TGC and Courtrights alleged fraud promised a guaranteed return when the companys business model and financial condition could not possibly support it, said Antonia Chion, Associate Director in the SECs Division of Enforcement. To avoid further harm to investors and preserve the misused assets that have not already been dissipated, we have sought and obtained emergency relief. The SECs complaint, filed in federal court in Chicago on Dec. 27, 2019, and unsealed on Jan. 14, 2020, charges Courtright and TGC with violations of the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and seeks certain emergency relief as well as permanent injunctions, return of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. On Dec. 30, 2019, the Court issued a temporary restraining order, ordered an asset freeze and other emergency relief, and appointed a receiver for TGC. Investors can learn more about Ponzi scheme red flags by using the SECs Investor.gov website. Investors should be cautious any time there are promises of a guaranteed rate of return in perpetuity "The very nature of building homes means our customers place an incredible amount of trust in us each and every day, and we at Taylor Morrison are determined to make that experience as magical as it can and should be," said Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison chairman and CEO. "With great trust comes great responsibilityit's what inspires and motivates us to continue to always do the right thing and put our customers at the forefront of everything we do, every decision we make." With Taylor Morrison's previously announced acquisition of William Lyon Homes expected to close in early February, it's exciting to note that William Lyon also topped the Most Trusted charts, earning the No. 3 spot in 2020 and maintaining a Top 3 position for the last three years. The strategic combination will create the nation's fifth largest home builder based on the last 12 months of closings, and one that has earned an unrivaled reputation centered on trust. "One of the many reasons William Lyon Homes and Taylor Morrison are such complementary builders lies within the alignment of the companies' cultures and values," said Matt Zaist, William Lyon Homes president and CEO. "William Lyon is a family business with a long history of integrity, and we are delighted to join a company with one of the most recognized and highly regarded cultures in homebuilding." "When you look at the reputations Taylor Morrison and William Lyon hold in the public eye, you really couldn't have a more powerful combination," Sheryl added. "Trust is a virtue we're compatible on, and I cannot wait to begin building upon this reputation, together." The title of America's Most Trusted Home Builder was earned based on survey responses of more than 34,000 home shoppers in the top U.S. housing markets who were asked to rate the trustworthiness of more than 100 homebuilders. The survey aims to understand how trust impacts consumers' evaluations of builder brands. Lifestory Research, a national independent market research firm who conducts the survey, measured consumer brand awareness and trust and ranked the top 25 homebuilders based on annual closings according to their trust score. For study methodology and the full list of rankings, visit www.lifestoryresearch.com. About Taylor Morrison Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE: TMHC) is a leading national homebuilder and developer that has been recognized as the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 America's Most Trusted Home Builder by Lifestory Research. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona we operate under two well-established brands, Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes. We serve a wide array of consumer groups from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury, and 55 plus buyers. In Texas, Darling Homes builds communities with a focus on individuality and custom detail while delivering on the Taylor Morrison standard of excellence. Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this communication are forward-looking statements (or forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws. These include statements using the words "believe," "target," "outlook," "may," "will," "should," "could," "estimate," "continue," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "potential," "project," "intend," "estimate," "aim," "on track," "target," "opportunity," "tentative," "positioning," "designed," "create," "seek," "would," "upside," "increases," "goal," "guidance" and "anticipate," and similar statements and the negative of such words and phrases, which do not describe the present or provide information about the past. There is no guarantee that the expected events or expected results will actually occur. Such statements reflect the current views of management of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("Taylor Morrison"), or William Lyon Homes, a Delaware corporation ("William Lyon Homes"), and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, operational and other factors. Any changes in these assumptions or other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. All forward-looking statements attributable to William Lyon Homes or Taylor Morrison or persons acting on their behalf, and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in this paragraph. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. In addition, material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include, among other things: the inherent uncertainty associated with financial or other projections, including anticipated synergies; the integration of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes and the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits from the combination of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes, and the amount of time it may take to realize those benefits, if at all; the risks associated with Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' ability to satisfy the conditions to closing the consummation of the merger, including obtaining the requisite stockholder approvals, and the timing of the closing of the merger; the failure of the merger to close for any other reason; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties and others related to the merger; any unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the merger; the effect of the announcement and pendency of the merger on the respective business relationships or operating results of Taylor Morrison, William Lyon Homes, or the combined company; risks relating to the value of the Taylor Morrison common stock to be issued in connection with the merger, and the value of the combined company's common stock after the merger is consummated; the anticipated size of the markets and continued demand for Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' homes and the impact of competitive responses to the announcement and pendency of the merger; the diversion of attention of management of Taylor Morrison or William Lyon Homes from ongoing business concerns during the pendency of the merger; and the access to available financing on a timely basis, and the terms of any such financing. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in Taylor Morrison's and William Lyon Homes' respective filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including as described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Taylor Morrison's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the SEC on February 20, 2019, in William Lyon Homes' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC on February 28, 2019, and in their respective subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by law, neither Taylor Morrison nor William Lyon Homes has any intention or obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. Important Additional Information and Where to Find it This communication is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. In connection with the proposed merger between Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes, Taylor Morrison will file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 that will include a joint proxy statement of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes that also constitutes a prospectus of Taylor Morrison (the "Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus"). Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes plan to mail to their respective shareholders the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus in connection with the merger. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF TAYLOR MORRISON AND WILLIAM LYON HOMES ARE URGED TO READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE BECAUSE IT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TAYLOR MORRISON, WILLIAM LYON HOMES, THE MERGER AND RELATED MATTERS. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Taylor Morrison in the Investor Relations section of Taylor Morrison's website at http://investors.taylormorrison.com or by contacting Taylor Morrison's Investor Relations at [email protected] or by calling (480) 734-2060, and will be able to obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by William Lyon Homes in the Investor Relations section of William Lyon Homes' website at www.lyonhomes.com or by contacting William Lyon Homes' Investor Relations at [email protected] or by calling (310) 622-8223. Participants in the Merger Solicitation Taylor Morrison, William Lyon Homes and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and employees may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed merger. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the solicitation of the shareholders of Taylor Morrison and William Lyon Homes in connection with the merger, including a description of their respective direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus described above when it is filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding Taylor Morrison's directors and executive officers is also included in Taylor Morrison's proxy statement for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 16, 2019, and information regarding William Lyon Homes' directors and executive officers is also included in William Lyon Homes' proxy statement for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 29, 2019. These documents are available free of charge as described above. CONTACT: Alice Giedraitis (480) 840-8137 [email protected] SOURCE Taylor Morrison Related Links http://www.taylormorrison.com To help solve that problem, VHCC has opened a food pantry on the Abingdon campus to provide both canned food and some perishable foods, such as yogurt and cheese, to students, according to a recent story by Carolyn R. Wilson in the Washington County News. The food pantry is called The Phil Station in memory of the late faculty member Phil Ferguson, who died of cancer more than a year ago. Its in the MEC building on campus, and students may check in using an iPad in the pantry from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. They are encouraged to take whatever they need, at no charge to them. We have become increasing aware as surprising as it sounds that one of the problems some of our students face is food insecurity, said Kellie Crowe, coordinator of public relations and marketing at the college. The food pantry is our effort to realize this is a need and to make an available place where our students can come and get food. Aer Lingus passengers required oxygen as they fainted and cried when Storm Brendan forced a pilot to abort landing. The flight from Amsterdam to Cork had to circle over Ireland's south-western city for an hour. Terrified flyers were caught in the storm at the height of orange weather warnings on Monday, CorkBeo reports. Passengers were left terrified aboard an Aer Lingus flight when the pilot had to circle Cork for an hour (file photo) Pictured: The altered route as the pilot was forced to circle above Cork airport amid the stormy conditions on Monday It comes as 70mph winds are battering Britain as the storm sweeps across the UK and Ireland. One social media user shared a picture of the plane's flight pattern on Twitter, showing it circling the airport. It was caught in a holding pattern as passengers grew nervous amid the turbulent conditions. It came after the pilot's initial attempt at landing was called off and traveller Elizabeth Meehan reported that passengers were weeping as it was aborted. The 20-year-old said: 'I was sitting with my friends in the last row. Three of my friends are nervous flyers and were crying after we failed to land.' She praised the pilot for keeping everyone safe despite the stormy weather outside the plane. Twitter user Mark Foley shared a flight map online showing the plane's situation, writing: 'Things are not getting any better for the @AerLingus Amsterdam-Cork flight.' The pilot managed to land on a second attempt, but one passenger said more than 20 people were unwell and referred to the journey's end as 'scary'. Christiaan Beek said on Twitter: 'Big shoutout to the pilots from @AerLingus who landed the plane in the middle of this storm at Cork, after breaking off the first approach last minute!' MailOnline has contacted Aer Lingus for comment. Ian Leslie in New Statesman America: The night before I met Malcolm Gladwell, I went to see him speak at the Royal Festival Hall on Londons South Bank. The gig was sold out: as the young and diverse crowd filtered in, and the Specials played over the PA, I reflected on how unusual it is for a writer to fill so many seats, especially one with no creed to preach or secret to sell. People were not coming to sit at the feet of a guru. They were here to enjoy themselves. Gladwell, a strip of a man in jeans and sneakers, sauntered on stage, took his place behind a lectern and began telling a story from his new book, Talking To Strangers. Within two minutes he swerved off into a story about how he got the story, which involved him mistaking a call from a legendary CIA agent for one from Barack Obama. It doesnt always come across in his writing, but Gladwell is funny. At the South Bank his words flowed and fizzed with vocal energy; he used his voice like an instrument, at times lowering it suggestively (I mean I cant tell you what Barack and I talked about), at others leaping high up in his range to register incredulity (Ive been at dinner parties with the super-rich. All they talk about is tax!). His pauses and pay-offs were perfectly judged. He was interviewed on stage by the journalist Afua Hirsch. It transpired that they both have a white father and a black mother. Gladwell had a theory about this, based on his observation that until recently, it was unusual for the female half of a mixed-race couple to be white. But then, Gladwell had a theory about everything. Over the course of the evening he expounded on policing, schools, sport, prison, why rich people dont know how to enjoy being rich, and much more. Some theories were carefully weighed, others were riffs intended to elicit a gasp or a laugh. Even as Hirsch was wrapping up the Q&A, Gladwell interjected to ask why it always seems necessary to take questions from every part of the auditorium. When you walked in here you had this identity, he said, addressing the hall: Say, British, white, female. But in the last 45 minutes, youve acquired this new one: stalls left. And suddenly it seems like a monstrous injustice that nobody from your side has been picked. For nearly 20 years, Gladwell has been Americas most important public intellectual. If the label seems incongruous, that might be because we think of public intellectuals as those such as Steven Pinker or Niall Ferguson: hommes serieux who enjoy crushing those who disagree with them. Gladwell does not cultivate gravitas and doesnt much mind if you disagree with him. He is an intellectual hedonist: his big idea is that ideas should be pleasurable. Rather than trying to persuade, he seeks to infect readers with his enthusiasms: isnt this interesting? This ethos has birthed a whole publishing industry. Its only a slight exaggeration to say that, without Gladwell, there would no Freakonomics, no Nudge, no TED Talks, no Smart Thinking section in Waterstones. For those who find the whole genre unbearably superficial, Gladwell is to blame. More here. Russia Claims Progress but Falls Short on Libya Cease-Fire Deal By Charles Maynes January 14, 2020 Russia said it made progress after hosting indirect peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Libya despite failing to secure an open ended cease-fire deal between the warring sides in the nine-month war." Today we can report that some progress was made," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a press conference late Monday in which he described the eight-hour parallel negotiations with co-mediator Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as "serious talks." The head of the Tripoli-based, internationally-recognized government, Fayez al-Sarraj, agreed to sign a memorandum that promised an end to offensive military actions and creation of a commission to identify a line of division between the warring parties. Yet Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army who has made recent gains in an assault on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, asked for additional time to consider the proposal before leaving Moscow Tuesday without signing the agreement. Haftar later commented to Middle East media outlets, saying the Russian-Turkish plan "ignored many of the demands of the LNA such as a deadline for disbanding government forces and creation of a unity government. In Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained that Haftar had simply gone back on his word to sign the agreement while in Moscow. Russia's Lavrov pledged that Moscow would keep working on the Libyan peace deal "until a result is achieved." Libya descended into political chaos following a U.N.-mandated 2011 NATO military intervention that led to the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Subsequent civil wars have gutted the economy and caused an outflow of Libyan migrants to Europe often with the help of human traffickers. The Moscow talks come amid a broader push by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan to bring an end to the fighting despite backing different sides in the conflict. Turkey backs al-Sarraj while Russia has provided tacit support for Haftar's LNA alongside Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. While falling short of a peace agreement, the negotiations highlighted Moscow's growing influence as a power broker in the Middle East region with the Kremlin already involved in the war in Syria and managing a delicate balance of alliances that includes erstwhile (former) enemies Iran and Turkey, a NATO member. Putin and Erdogan pushed through a temporary cease-fire last Sunday that provided a lull in fighting. The Moscow negotiations also precede additional Libya peace talks scheduled in Berlin for this Sunday, when Putin and Erdogan are expected to join German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During a recent visit to Moscow, Merkel said she welcomed the Russian-Turkish diplomatic initiative in Libya and hoped the Berlin conference would give rise to "a peaceful and sovereign country." A statement on the Kremlin's website said Putin had informed Merkel about the results of the most recent Libya negotiations during a phone call on Tuesday. Yet Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu suggested the Libyan National Army's refusal to compromise in Moscow had suddenly put the conference in question. " The Libya Conference in Berlin has no purpose if Khalifa Haftar doesn't change his position," said Cavusoglu in comments carried by Russia's TASS news agency. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SALEM Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, the longest-serving legislator in Oregon history, is in a Portland hospital after experiencing severe hip pain. Courtney's office in the Oregon State Capitol said Tuesday that the 76-year-old Democrat hurt his hip while spinning last week while attending a conference in Arizona. He was in a considerable amount of pain, but was able to get back to Oregon, and is currently being checked out at OHSU, his office said in a statement, referring to OHSU Hospital. He is expected to be released in several days. Courtney is missing events this week as so-called Legislative Days in the capitol but expects to be back in time for the 2020 legislative session, which starts Feb. 3, the statement said. Courtney was first selected Senate president in 2003 and has been re-elected as the chambers presiding officer numerous times. He is in his fifth term as a State Senator, representing portions of Salem, Gervais and Woodburn. He previously served seven terms in the Oregon House of Representatives, including four terms as House Democratic leader. -- Associated Press The Congress-led Chhattisgarh has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the National Investigation Agency Act that was hurriedly drafted by the previous Congress-led UPA after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. P Chidambaram, who was brought in as home minister after the 2008 terror attacks, had pushed for creation of Indias first federal counter-terror probe agency with powers to supersede the state police in the investigation and trial of terror-related offences. The legal challenge has been filed by the Chhattisgarh governments lawyer Sumeer Sodhi under Article 131 of the Constitution that empowers the Supreme Court to decide disputes between the central government and states. Chhattisgarhs challenge to the NIA Act comes days after Kerala approached the top court against the amended citizenship law. Chattisgarh submitted that NIA Act takes away the powers of state government to conduct investigation through the police and confers unfettered powers on the central government to investigate offences listed as scheduled offences under the NIA Act. Moreover, it argued, there are no rules governing the exercise of power which gives ample discretion to the Centre to exercise its power at any juncture without providing any reason or justification for the same. The scheme of NIA Act is such that once brought in motion, it completely takes away the power of plaintiff to investigate the offences which have been categorised as scheduled offence under the NIA Act and which has been committed within the jurisdiction of the state, the petition stated. Chhattisgarh argued that the NIA Act does not have any provision for coordination between the Centre and state or any requirement of pre-condition of consent to be taken by the Central government from the State government before commencing an investigation under this law. The state, therefore, submitted that the Act is violative of the Constitution and goes against the federal spirit envisaged by the Constitution. When the law came up for parliamentary approval, there were a few dissenting voices during the discussion. Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had asked the government to make it mandatory to associate the State government in the investigation and trial of offences. But there wasnt much discussion around this. The law was passed within four days of its introduction. Many months later, P Chidambaram, the architect of the NIA Act, told then FBI Director Robert Mueller - according to a leaked US Embassy cable - that the National Investigation Agencys powers could be challenged in the courts as violating constitutional provisions on Centre-State relations. In the months after Parliament passed NIA Act, P Chidambaram had reportedly confided to the then US Federal Bureau of Investigation chief Robert Muller that he had come perilously close to crossing constitutional limits in empowering the NIA. Chidambaram, according to a US Embassy cable accessed via WikiLeaks, had explained to Muller India did not have the concept of a federal crime since law and order was the responsibility of the state governments. New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries What to expect from the Indo-China military commander level talks India has strong interest in peace, stability in region: PM Modi tells Javed Zarif India pti-PTI New Delhi, Jan 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the Iranian foreign minister that India has strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region. He made these remarks when Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on him here. "The Foreign Minister shared his perspectives on the recent developments in the region. The Prime Minister mentioned India's strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. The meeting comes on the back of tensions in the Gulf region, days after the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani in a US strike. Iran later launched ballistic missile strikes on two US military bases in Iraq, in retaliation against the January 3 killing of Soleimani. Zarif is in Delhi to participate in the 'Raisina Dialogue'. The prime minister also thanked Iranian leadership for the progress in Chabahar project, including designating it as Special Economic Zone. Welcoming Zarif to India, Modi recalled his warm and cordial discussions with President Rouhani in September 2019 on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York. The prime minister reiterated India's continued commitment to developing strong and friendly relations with Iran. Before and after approval, all pharmaceutical products receive a mandatory stability trial. Post-approval stability trials continue to monitor quality throughout the product lifetime and storage conditions in stability chambers and warehouses have been partially standardized. With biotechnology and biological product development, storage at -20, -40 and even -80 C is common rather than the usual 25 C at 60% RH and 40 C at 75% RH. Bulk materials are often stored in large warehouses or rooms, and some products are kept in comparatively small cabinets. However, the storage conditions must not be different from the conditions of the stability trials. Stability Chamber and Warehouse Storage Challenges The cost of a monitoring system with an alarm is small in comparison to the value of the product it protects. Storing the final product in freezers or warehouses may result in several million Euros worth of stock being held in one location. Testing products for stability performance can be laborious, costly and take some time despite the material costs being marginal, which is why testing quality and data validity are vital. Suitable Solutions from Ellab Perfect for continuously monitoring and recording the temperature and humidity in environmental chambers, stability chambers and warehouses, TrackSense LAB Wireless Temperature Data Loggers and TrackSense LAB Wireless Relative Humidity and Temperature Data Loggers are endorsed by Ellab. The data loggers are fitted with an LED, along with several alarm functions, instantly aware of when a cabinets conditions have changed. Image Credit: Ellab Validation of Stability Chamber and Warehouse Processes The qualification of stability chambers, warehouses and rooms requires similar standards to those in the qualification of autoclave, ovens, and so on. Part of the ValSuite Software, one of the most vital measures, particularly for warehouses, is the calculation of mean kinetic temperature (MKT). Initial operational qualifications (OQ) are used by organizations to map cabinets and subsequently continuous monitoring. Many of the corporations have found it necessary to intensify their process validation effort in regard to stability chambers, therefore, validating annually. The advantages of selecting Ellab data loggers for warehouse storage and stability chambers are built-in alarm functions, the minimization of losing quality and value, real-time data being available through the SKY option and stable monitoring of stability chambers, rooms and warehouse storage. Image Credit: Ellab About Ellab Ellab Validation & Monitoring Solutions - Industry Leading Accuracy Ellab has been your validation and monitoring partner since 1949, offering wireless data loggers and thermocouple systems for thermal validation processes as well as environmental wireless monitoring solutions. We serve both small and large companies within the Life Science and Food industries and have solutions for almost all applications such as sterilization, freeze drying, environmental chamber testing, depyrogenation, warehouse mapping, pasteurization and many more. In 2019 we joined forces with Hanwell Solutions Ltd. in UK in order to expand our product offering to cover industry leading wireless environmental monitoring systems. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. The Tidy Towns group in what is arguably one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland have appealed to politicians to stay off their patch with posters in during the General Election campaign. Abbeyleix Tidy Towns in Laois have thanked political parties and candidates in advance to please respect the town's no poster policy. "Abbeyleix Tidy Towns would like to remind all election candidates that Abbeyleix is a 'Poster Free Town' and thank them for their continued support," says a post on the Abbeyleix community facebook page. Candidates, Charlie Flanagan, Sean Fleming, Brian Stanley and Pauline Flanagan are tagged in the posted. They are all candidates in the Laois Offaly five-seat constituency. Abbeyleix, which is a heritage town, has been the most successful towns in the national Tidy Towns competition in recent years. Abbeyleix is among a number of Laois towns that had poster bans in place in the local and European elections last year. ESB Networks reminded all political parties involved during 2019's campaigns that the erection of posters on ESB electricity poles poses a serious safety risk to ESB Networks staff, contractors and members of the public and is strictly prohibited. The biggest obstacle for Fine Gael in the forthcoming election will be to battle people's perception of the party as having become out of touch after nearly a decade in power. Leo Varadkar attempted to strike a humble tone on Twitter yesterday as he tweeted a link to the party's new campaign video, which heavily features the Taoiseach - placing him centre stage of its election strategy. "We've made some good progress since I've become Taoiseach. But I know it's not enough and we want to do much more," he said, an acknowledgement the party's performance in health and housing have left it vulnerable to attack. An opinion poll in November saw Mr Varadkar's approval rating jump significantly, with 51pc of voters satisfied with his performance - nearly 10 points higher than those who expressed satisfaction with the Government. For Fine Gael, then, Mr Varadkar is deemed an asset and early indications are it will heavily rely on Mr Varadkar to sell the party. But personalising campaigns carries with it an implicit danger. If the face of a campaign loses the support and trust of the people, it could spell disaster for the party. In recent months, a normally surefooted Mr Varadkar seemed to lose his mojo with a series of party gaffes and missteps being badly handled by him. Having won plaudits for the manner in which the Government handled Brexit, Mr Varadkar failed to show the same decisive leadership when it came to domestic controversies which were allowed to fester and damage the party's image. In May, when this newspaper revealed Maria Bailey had taken a personal injuries action against a Dublin hotel after she fell from a swing, Mr Varadkar was slow to act despite public anger. Having issued a damning statement, saying there had been "inconsistencies in Deputy Bailey's account of events to me and the media that I cannot reconcile", Mr Varadkar inexplicably did not remove the whip from her. Obviously happy to live with those inconsistencies, he instead opted to ask her to step down as chair of the housing committee - a mere slap on the wrist in the context of the reputational damage that was done to the party. In October, Mr Varadkar was still staunchly defending Ms Bailey from her critics, saying he had confidence in her as a general election candidate - a confidence which was not shared by her local Fine Gael branch, which removed her from the ticket in November. If Mr Varadkar had taken more decisive action against Ms Bailey earlier, the story would not have dominated news coverage for months, making a mockery of claims by Fine Gael that it is the party most concerned with tackling the country's so-called compo culture. Mr Varadkar seemed incapable of gauging the level of anger that existed and miscalculated the longevity of the story, which remained front-page news for much of the year. The Taoiseach was similarly out-of-step with public opinion when it came to the Dara Murphy expenses controversy, preferring to defend the Cork TD's behaviour rather than acknowledge the obvious. According to Mr Varadkar, Mr Murphy's "main job" was not a TD but rather his work for a political grouping in the European Parliament - so it was perfectly fine for him to jet in and out of Dublin, stopping by the Dail to fob in for the requisite 120 days and collect his expenses en route. Mr Murphy may not have broken any rules but the Taoiseach's refusal to acknowledge a self-evident truth - a TD's "main job" should be representing their constituents in the Dail - resulted in him appearing utterly divorced from reality. It also provided the Opposition with lots of ammunition, which will no doubt be deployed in the coming weeks, to depict Fine Gael as having developed a bloated sense of entitlement in office. That Pavlovian urge to defend the indefensible, and deflect blame, has also been a feature of Simon Harris's stock responses to persistent increases in the numbers on trolleys. Late last year, when a 90-year-old woman spent 48 hours on a chair in the A&E unit at University Hospital Limerick, Mr Harris launched an attack on doctors in the hospital. He said consultants at UHL were too busy treating their private patients and were not "getting in their cars" and going to smaller hospitals where they could see more patients. In response, consultants accused the minister of "breathtaking political cowardice" for criticising doctors working in Dickensian conditions. Given that 760 people were languishing on trolleys all over the country last week, is it still the minister's contention that greedy consultants are to blame? Or, will he now concede that the extent and depth of the crisis is indicative of capacity problems within the health service - for which he, not consultants, is responsible. Framing overcrowding in hospitals as being the fault of medics was an asinine attempt to wriggle out of the firing line. Mr Harris is clearly frustrated that despite record spending on health - 17bn last year, an overspend of 334m - access problems in emergency departments are continuing to deteriorate. But, if he is to seriously address people's outrage about the appalling treatment being meted out to vulnerable patients, he will need to convincingly explain why the problem is recurrent and what he can credibly do to address it. Throwing medics under the bus will not cut it. When it comes to housing, the electorate will also need more than pictures of Eoghan Murphy wearing a hard hat to assure them that Fine Gael is up to the task of solving the crisis. Speaking to RTE radio on Sunday, Mr Varadkar insisted Fine Gael, despite being in office for nine years, has really only had two years to invest in housing and health. If this is the best the party can come up with to defend its underperformance in key departments, it is in serious trouble. The first housing plan under a Fine Gael government was launched in 2014. Mr Varadkar may not be very good at maths, but that's more than five years ago. If Mr Murphy believes his housing plan is working, then he will have to explain why it has resulted in record rents and record numbers of homeless people. If Fine Gael wants to enjoy a record three terms in government, then it needs to ditch the lazy spin, the defensive attitude and the desire to lay the blame for its failure at the feet of others. It needs to be honest and open about the party's errors as well as its successes. Any attempt to rewrite history will be given short shrift by the electorate. The Shiv Sena was in touch with the NCP and the Congress before the results of the Maharashtra assembly polls came out in October last year as it knew that the BJP would not keep its "promise", senior party leader Sanjay Raut claimed here on Wednesday. Raut also said it was Sharad Pawar who first decided that the NCP, the Congress and the Sena will join hands to form a coalition government. Notably, ahead of the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Pawar had always maintained that the NCP's mandate was to sit in opposition. Raut made the disclosure during an interview to the Lokmat media group at its award function. "It was (NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena coming together to form a coalition government) first decided by Sharad Pawar. I went to both the Congress and the NCP and consistently worked on this thought of coming together," he said. When asked whether the three parties had decided about a coalition before the assembly poll results, which were declared on October 24, Raut replied, "You can say so". "We knew it. In fact I was sure that the BJP will not keep its word (on sharing the post of chief minister with the Shiv Sena)," he said. Responding to a query, the Rajya Sabha (RS) MP said the Sena had realised that the BJP would not keep its word when the party registered a massive victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "A lot of things happened during the seat-sharing talks (with the BJP) for the assembly polls which made us believe that the BJP would not keep its promise," Raut claimed. He also exuded confidence that the Sena-led coalition government will last the full five-year term. "Our government is not like a test tube baby. It formally took birth, it was christened, and it will celebrate its birthday also," he said. Raut said the Uddhav Thackeray-led government enjoys a strong support of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and "unlike other multi-party governments it cannot be called as a 'khichadi sarkar". He refuted claims that the Sena has accepted a secondary position in the government under Sharad Pawar. "The formation of a government was necessary and all the three parties came together to give Maharashtra a new direction," Raut added. When asked about the Sena suddenly joining hands with its traditional rivals Congress and NCP, Raut asked "are these two parties belonged to Pakistan?" "There are political differences, but leaders from all the three parties love their country," he said. Raut said the Congress could have gone much ahead (in numbers) "had its senior leadership in Delhi concentrated on the party stronghold of Maharashtra". He further said that sharing of power in the coalition government was done on the basis of merit. When asked why the Sena let the crucial Home ministry slip away to the NCP, he replied, "This is our government and who is the chief minister of the state?" "While we are running the government for five years, we are also planning for the next five years," he said. Raut, however, refused to divulge information about unfolding of events in the run-up to formation of the government, which was culmination of many dramatic twists and turns. "Let somethings remain behind the curtains and let the picture go on," he said. Raut also said a strong opposition is necessary to deepen democracy. "There is a tradition, right from Yashwantrao (Chavan) to Pawar saheb to Balasaheb Thackeray....they ensured that good people from the Opposition get elected in the Assembly," he said. He said the BJP is a strong opposition with 105 MLAs. "There is a strength of 105 MLA which means there is a parallel government. The Opposition party should put a check on the government," he said. Responding to a query, Raut said he knew that Ajit Pawar's move to join hands with the BJP and take oath as deputy CM in November last year would come unstuck. "I was sure that efforts will be there (from the Opposition) to loosen the nuts and bolts of our vehicle, but I was sure that our vehicle will not skid as four wheels of the car were strong," he said referring to that development. He rejected criticism of the Sena putting Hindutva on the backburner to mould itself due to compulsions of coalition "Who says the Congress party is not a Hindutva party? Mahatma Gandhi was the biggest Hindutva leader. I have not seen any leader more Hindutvawadi than Lokmanya Tilak," he said. He said even Rahul Gandhi visits Somnath temple, tells his gotra, shows is sacred thread, "which is one of the values of Hinduism". "Similarly, (late PM) Indira Gandhi used to follow Hinduism. Why do you think that everything other than the Sena is non-Hindutva," Raut added. Raut said efforts should be made to bring 22 crore Muslims in the mainstream. He rued that elections have been fought by dividing Hindus and Muslims for the last 70 years, and it will continue like that. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan is to review the case of a Cork family who face being told to leave Ireland, the Irish Examiner can reveal. The Khan family, who have lived in the city since 2017, are due to meet immigration officials later tomorrow. News of the move by the Justice Minister was broken to the family by Tanaiste Simon Coveney. As a result, a planned demonstration by children from four schools on the steps of the Cork City Library has now been cancelled. However, the three teenage boys at the centre of the case and who were summoned to Dublin by immigration officials along with their parents will still not be attending the meeting. This is because they have been refused permission by their school principal - who has spearheaded a campaign to keep the Khan family in Cork - to take time off school to attend. The teenagers Zubair, Umair and Mutjuba Khan are - along with their parents, their sister and their older brother - facing deportation back to the UK. The three boys have been attending a secondary school in Cork since their arrival in Ireland from the UK in 2017 and living in direct provision since then. Zubair, a fifth year student, Umair, a Transition year student and Mutjuba, a second year student are studying at Colaiste Eamann Ris in Cork City. Immigration officials have reviewed their status and it is feared they could be asked to leave the country. Colaiste Eamann Ris Principle Aaron Wolfe has already condemned the prospect of the family being asked to leave as immoral. But with the boys parents and their older brother due to meet immigration officials tomorrow, he has banned the boys going with them. Its is against Irish law for these lads to miss school and I havent given them permission to take the day off," he said. We are shocked and delighted that Minister Flanagan is going to intervene. "The Tanaiste told me himself by phone at 6.45pm this evening. "I haven't had a chance to tell the family yet, but they will be delighted." He said teachers and other students will keep the teenagers company until their parents return back from Dublin. And he said that when they arrive at the National Immigration Bureau in Dublin at 2pm tomorrow afternoon, they were due to be greeted by a group from the Edmund Rice Schools Trust. The organisation, of which Colaiste Eamann Ris is a member, put up a petition on change.org in support of the Khan family that has attracted more than 5,000 signatures. Their oldest brother Hamza is a first year Sanctuary Scholar studying computer science at University College Cork under a scholarship scheme for refugees and asylum seekers living in Direct Provision centres. He has said his father, Mubeen, fled to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan to escape persecution in 1982. His wife Hina Mubeen is also from Pakistan but Hamza, his three brothers and sister were born in Saudi Arabia. The family continued to live in Saudi Arabia until the death of King Abdullah in 2015. The new king, King Salman and his son Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, introduced crippling new tax laws on July 1, 2017. A Department of Justice spokesperson said: For reasons of confidentiality, the Department cannot comment on individual immigration or asylum cases. If a decision is taken to transfer the Khan family back to the UK, from where they arrived in Ireland, they will have 10 days to appeal. If their appeal fails, they will have to return to the UK and could end up being sent back to Saudi Arabia. And from there, they could end up back in Pakistan. (Kitco News) The Perth Mint in Australia saw a surge in gold coin sales at the end of 2019, and it turns out Germany was behind most of those purchases, which hit the highest levels in more than three years in December. Gold coin and minted gold bar sales from December showed a 45% uptick compared to the previous month. There was a total of 78,912 ounces of gold coins and minted bars sold in December, marking the highest monthly increase since October 2016, The Perth Mint said last week. The year-over-year comparison shows that sales were up 170%. Germany played a big role in getting to these totals, contributing to most of the monthly increase, Neil Vance, Group Manager Minted Products at The Perth Mint, told Kitco News on Wednesday. We were happily surprised by the numbers in December. Just bear in mind, most of these sales have actually gone into Germany, Vance said. One of the reasons for surging demand out of Germany is investors worries about future economic growth, Vance pointed out. There are some underlying issues in the German economy Germany technically avoided a recession by 0.1% after having a negative Q2. Recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of contracting growth. In Q2, Germany reported a contraction of 0.2%, followed by a 0.1% growth in Q3. The latest numbers out of Germany showed that the economy grew 0.6% in 2019, marking the weakest expansion since 2013, according to Destatis, the countrys federal statistics office. Growth lost momentum in 2019, Destatis said. Growth in 2019 was mainly supported by consumption expenditure. And even though The Perth Mint has been doing marketing campaigns, targeting Germany specifically, Vance said that better sales are a reflection of investors economic and geopolitical concerns. It really is more to economic and geopolitical factors more than the marketing, he said. A lot of people dont realize that Germany has been quite affected by the trade war. They are quite a large exporter themselves and their economy really has suffered. The German market has traditionally been very strong for The Perth Mint. Germany and the U.S. are our two largest coin markets, Vance described. Weve got a very strong presence in the German market. Weve done a lot of marketing over the years, branding our Kangaroo coins. Our Lunar coins are very popular there as well. Germany has a strong history of owning gold and silver coins. Another factor boosting gold buying in Germany is a new law that came into effect on January 10, which limits the anonymous gold purchase buying from EUR 10,000 to EUR 2,000. That may explain part of the reason why December was quite large, Vance said. German gold buyers who purchase above that limit are now required to show IDs, and precious metal dealers are required to do criminal background checks for businesses. If a dealer suspects, he must report his potential customer to the authorities. If a trader fails to adequately comply with these obligations, he may face severe fines, German Finanzen100 reported. This is not the first time such a law was implemented. Just two years ago, the anonymous buying limit was at EUR 15,000. Looking ahead, The Perth Mints January sales are also looking very strong, said Vance, citing demand for the Lunar coins ahead of the Chinese New Year, which takes place in late January. People are buying up for that period We expect a very good January. We got a lot of orders in the system. And that really comes on the back of not only the economic situation in Germany but also the issues in the Middle East. Even in Australian dollars, gold is at record levels. It spiked above AUD $2,350, which is really unbelievable, Vance said. A fire destroyed a house on Highway 228, just west of Sweet Home on Thursday morning, Jan. 6, according to a news release from the Sweet Home An investigation by The Washington Post revealed a number of bungled chances by the Districts Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the fire department to address the safety problems in the months before the fire. After the police officer alerted the other agencies of his concerns, fire and housing inspectors never visited the property, and a business license regulator went to the home but gave up when he could not get inside. O xford University has offered a record number of places to state school students this year, according to new statistics. More than 69 per cent of undergraduate offers were to pupils from schools run by the state - up 4.6 per cent compared to last year. The total accepted from state education centres was 3,909 for the 2020 cycle as opposed to 2,889 for 2019. Oxford University says that this is the best percentage increase it has ever had, and the uptick comes following pledges to try and increase the number of offers to the non-private sector. The university said the overall offer rate has gone down to 16.7 per cent, from 16.9 per cent last year, due to a competitive process involving a higher number of applications. A record number of state school students will be hoping they get the grades to go to Oxford come August / PA State school pupils received 69.1 per cent of the offers, while independent school pupils got 30.9 per cent. UK applicants accounted for 78 per cent of offers, with 7 per cent of offers going to EU and 15 per cent to overseas applicants. Dr Samina Khan, director of undergraduate admissions and outreach at Oxford University, said: We are delighted by this record number of offers to state school students, and to students from under-represented backgrounds. She added: We know that students from some backgrounds are not as well-represented at Oxford as they should be, and we are determined that this should change. Having taught in state schools during my career, I know the wealth of talent that lies there. LONDON Britain failed to notify other European countries about tens of thousands of foreigners convicted of crimes in Britain, and then covered up the error to avoid embarrassment, according to a report on Tuesday in The Guardian. With Britain on the precipice of significant negotiations with the European Union over its post-Brexit security relationship with the bloc, the mistake threatened to weaken Europes trust in British law enforcement agencies heading into those talks. Under Britains arrangements with the European Union, it is supposed to send other member states an alert when citizens of another European country are convicted of crimes in a British court. But for five years, the Guardian reported, a British computer system failed to send the details of 75,000 such convictions to the offenders home countries, amounting to one in three of the required alerts. File image Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday called for "national unity" after the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner last week. "The people want to make sure that the authorities treat them with sincerity, integrity and trust," said Rouhani, also calling on the armed forces to "apologise" and explain what happened in the air disaster. (Newser) With less than three weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, six Democratic White House hopefuls are debating at Drake University in Des Moines. Three of themSens. Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, will soon be serving as jurors in President Trump's impeachment trial. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Tom Steyer are also taking part in the CNN/Des Moines Register debate, which is the seventh Democratic primary debate. There will be three more next month. Some highlights: The first question was on Iran, the Guardian reports. Asked why he would be best suited to serve as commander-in-chief amid rising tensions, Sanders pointed to his vote against the Iraq war in 2002, when he warned it would lead to "unprecedented levels of chaos in the region." Biden, who voted to authorize military action, said that vote was a mistake but defended his record, saying: "The man who also argued against that war, Barack Obama, picked me to be his vice-president." Buttigiegthe youngest candidate on stage, and the only veteransaid his generation was the one suffering the consequences of the 2002 votes. "There are enlisted people I served with barely old enough to remember those votes," said Buttigieg, who will turn 38 next week. "We have to get combat troops out" of the region, said Warren, though others, including Biden and Buttigieg, called for keeping a small number of US troops in the Middle East, the AP reports. "We've turned the corner so many times we're going in circles in these regions," Warren said. story continues below Biden, asked whether he would meet North Korea without preconditions, said "No" and criticized Trump's handling of dictator Kim Jong Un, CBS reports. "We gave him everything he's looking for: legitimacy," Biden said. After the former vice president noted that Kim had once called him a "rabid dog" that should be beaten with a stick, Sanders quipped: "But other than that, you like him?" Warren defended her vote in favor of the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, while Sanders argued against the "Trump-led trade deal" and vowed to vote against any trade deal that did not address climate change. Sanders denied telling Warren in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. "Anybody who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States," he said. "Go to YouTube today. There's a video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the United States." Warren sought to defuse the conflict, saying "Bernie is my friend and Im not here to fight with Bernie," the New York Times reports. She added: "The only people on the stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women: Amy and me. And the only person who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me." Sanders told her he defeated a GOP incumbent in 1990, leading to a brief back-and-forth over whether her "30 years" remark was accurate. On health care, there was a split between those who support Medicare for All and those content with expanding ObamaCare, reports the Guardian. Biden and Klobuchar accused Sanders of not being candid about the costs of Medicare for All. "I think you should show how youre going to pay for something, Bernie," Klobuchar said. She argued that the idea of Medicare for All is so impractical that the "debate isnt real." Steyer, who has had the least speaking time of any candidate, argued that health care costs are so high in America because corporations "own the system." "We're not negotiating against those corporations," he said. "We have corporations who are having their way with the American people and people are suffering." Sanders argued that college tuition should be free and student debt should be canceled, while Buttigieg and Steyera billionairesaid the children of the wealthy should not be going to college for free. On impeachment, Biden said it is "irrelevant" whether Trump would be harder to beat if he is acquitted in a Senate trial. Warren, asked how serving as a juror in Trump's trial would affect her ability to campaign, said: "Some things are more important than politics." Sanders called climate change a "national crisis" and rejected Klobuchar's claim that the candidates all had similar plans. "If we as a nation do not transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, not by 2050, not 2040," he said. But unless we lead the world right nownot easy stuffthe planet we are leaving our kids will be uninhabitable and unhealthy." Steyer said he would declare an emergency on his first day in office. Buttigieg, asked about his lack of support among black voters, admitted that he wasn't "perfect" on all the issues but said "the black voters that know me best are supporting me." He added: "The biggest mistake we can make is take black votes for granted. I never will." In closing statements, Klobuchar said she could bring the country together and "end the noise and the nonsense." Warren said she had a "heart filled with hope," while Biden said another four years of Trump would be an "absolute disaster" for America. "This is the moment when we have got to think big, not small," said Sanders. Steyer accused Trump and other Republicans of "kicking the American people in the face," and Buttigieg described himself as a unity candidate and urged people who are used to "voting for the other party but right now cannot look your kids in the eye and explain this president to them" to join him, CNN reports. Warren appeared to reject a handshake from Sanders after the end of the debate, leading to a brief exchange. (Read more Democratic debate stories.) DPs originate from parameter-dependent degeneracies of a system's energy lev-els. Due to the topological Berry phase, DPs play a fundamental role in physical and chemical dynamics, such as peculiar photonics in 2D materials or condensed matter systems which provide topological quantum processing. Meanwhile, active emitters in photonic structures are essential for the coherent electron-photon interface in the quantum photonic network. Therefore, realizing DPs in active photonic structures can greatly benefit the implementing of quantum information processing and scaling up in the quantum network. However, multiple quantum emitters in active cavities are usu-ally randomly positioned, thus result in symmetric and uncontrollable backscattering which forbids a degeneracy with only trivial eigenstates. As a result, the coherent in-terface between electrons and photons at DPs is hard to achieve. In a paper newly published in Light Science & Application, scientists from Insti-tute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-workers demonstrate DPs in two strongly coupled microdisks with embedded quantum dots (QDs). Due to that the individual control of each QD is impossible, a macroscopical control of backscat-tering was proposed based on the competition between two types of scatterers (QDs and defects), which solves the problem of low controllability. Through optimization, a balanced competition was successfully achieved with backscattering coupling strength from negative to positive in single microdisks, clearly demonstrated by the experi-mental statistics. Furthermore, compared to single microdisks with two-dimensional Hamiltonians, two strongly coupled microdisks have supermodes with four-dimensional Hamiltonians. The spectra are affected by not only the absolute backscat-tering coupling strengths but also their signs. Thus, coupled cavities are a good plat-form to study the fundamental physics of backscattering and make DP possible. Her-mitian degeneracies at DPs were observed when the backscattering coupling strengths in two microdisks have the same absolute value but in the opposite signs. At DP of two coupled cavities, the system has eigenspaces in which the phases of two microdisks have a nonlinear correlation, indicating a controllable phase shift between them. Therefore, the two coupled cavities are potential in directional laser and quantum phase control. Moreover, when the interaction between emitters and cavities is improved in future, this system can be predicted with an important role in studying quantum DP behaviors and integrating photons at DPs into quantum net-works. "The randomly positioned quantum dots and defects are very hard to control and can result in symmetric backscattering. We introduced the macroscopical control based on the competition between different types of scatterers and achieved backscat-tering coupling strength with both negative or positive values." "We experimentally demonstrated one pair of DPs in the spectra with two strongly coupled microdisks, which are different from the ordinary DP without backscattering or in a single perfect microcavity. DPs here can produce nonlinear cor-relation with a phase shift between two microdisks, with potential application in opti-cal quantum information processing, topological optics and fundamental physics at DPs using photonic structures." The scientists said. ### A police officer in the central province of Ha Tinh checks cat carcasses found in a bus, January 14, 2020. Photo courtesy of Ha Tinh newspaper. Police in central Vietnam have seized 600 kilos of frozen cat carcasses from a passenger bus traveling from the south to the north. The carcasses were stored in ice in six styrofoam boxes. The seizure was made in Ky Anh Town, Ha Tinh Province Monday night after traffic police stopped the bus, that had departed from Kien Giang Province and was on its way to Thai Binh Province. Nguyen Van Dinh, owner of the bus that was carrying around 40 passengers, and its driver, Dang Van Duong, failed to submit any receipt or paper for the origin of the carcasses, police said Tuesday. Duong told the police that when the bus arrived in Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta Monday evening, he was hired by a passer-by to carry the boxes to Thai Binh, and was told that someone will contact him to receive the package upon his arrival. He said he had no idea what was in those boxes, while Dinh said he was aware that they were cat carcasses, according to a report in a Ha Tinh newspaper. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary of Ha Tinh has suggested that the cat carcasses are disposed off. If an average cat weighed five kilograms, there were 120 cats on the bus. The owner of the bus and the driver have been detained in the central province for further investigation. Under current laws, they will be investigated for "transporting goods of unknown origin." There are no laws related to killing, selling and eating of cat and dog meat in Vietnam. Despite authorities trying to dissuade people from eating cat meat, many are not persuaded. Restaurants have even used cat meat imported from China because of the thin local supply. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:59:35|Editor: zyl Video Player Close SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted trade surplus for 95 straight months through December on a slower fall in export, customs office data showed Wednesday. The revised figure for trade surplus amounted to 2.0 billion U.S. dollars in December, staying in black for 95 months since February 2012, according to Korea Customs Service. Export, which takes up about half of the South Korean economy, declined 5.2 percent over the year to 45.7 billion dollars in December. The outbound shipment kept sliding for 13 straight months, but fall in December figure was slower than a 14.4-percent reduction in November. Import fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 43.7 billion dollars in December. For the whole year of 2019, the export diminished 10.3 percent from the previous year to 542.3 billion dollars. Import shed 6.0 percent to 503.3 billion dollars last year, sending the trade surplus to 39.0 billion dollars. Robert Hyde, left, with President Trump. Photo: Robert F. Hyde Campaign Last night, the House Intelligence Committee released several documents provided by Lev Parnas, one of the crooks President Trump recruited to help run his Ukraine extortion scheme. Two of the documents in the collection stand out in sharp, mordant contradistinction. One of them is a series of messages between Parnas, who met with Trump on several occasions and claims the president personally directed his mission in Ukraine, and Robert Hyde. A beefy retired Marine and current Republican congressional candidate, Hyde made several chilling remarks that seemed to indicate that he was surveilling Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and prepared to do something to her. Reading these messages makes clear Hyde was planning to do something unpleasant to Yovanovitch, apparently in tandem with some kind of security personnel he contacted, perhaps Russian ones: Wow. Cant believe Trumo [sic] hasnt fired this bitch. Ill get right in [sic?] that. She under heavy protection outside Kiev. My guy thinks maybe FSB [the Russian security service] The guys over asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off. Shes next to the embassy. They know shes a political puppet. They will let me know when shes on the move They are willing to help if you/we would like a price. Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money what I was told. Update she will not be moved special security unit upgraded force on the compound people are already aware of the situation my contacts are asking what is the next step because they cannot keep going to check people will start to ask questions If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces Contacted last night by the Daily Beast, Hyde did not elaborate on his activities in Ukraine, simply texting, Bull Schiff is a giant b*tch, a message unlikely to dispel the impression of goonery formed by his texts. In the end, Yovanovitch managed to get out. But it was a close-run thing. Yovanovitch testified that she was pulled out of an important ceremony to take an urgent call from a superior instructing her to get on the next plane to the U.S., which she did. Yovanovitchs work had posed a threat to the corrupt, pro-Russian figures in Ukraine who had been working closely with Parnas, Giuliani, and their other partners. Several months later, even after she had been removed from her post, President Trump appeared intent on doing some kind of harm to Yovanovitch. Well, shes going to go through some things, he told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his July 25 phone call. In the next sentence, Trump promised, I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call. The second document is a letter from Giuliani to Zelensky. By the time of the July phone call, the Ukrainian president appeared to know full well who Giuliani was and what role he was playing. But in early May, when he sent the note, Giuliani still needed a letter of introduction to the new Ukrainian leader. What is remarkable about the letter is the degree to which it inverts the relationship between a representative of the worlds richest and most prestigious democracy, on the one hand, and the leader of a small country notorious for its corruption. Giulianis letter explains that, even though he holds no government position at all, he represents the president of the United States in a private capacity: Photo: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence One would expect to find an exchange between an American and a Ukrainian official in which the point was, effectively, Dont worry if this sounds shady, thats just the way things are done in my country. Whats remarkable is that this is being said not by the Ukrainian to the American, but the other way around. Of course, the oddity Giuliani is trying to explain to Zelensky is the entire scandal. He is conducting diplomacy, using the power of the federal government, on behalf of Trumps interests as a private citizen. This is so obviously improper that Giuliani realizes it will appear improper even to a politician from a country rife with corruption. Trumps defense has hinged upon the fact that, in his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said do us a favor, which he claims must mean the United States, not his private interests. With the word us I am referring to the United States, our Country, he tweeted last month. I said do us a favor, not me, and our country, not a campaign, he wrote in his diatribe to Nancy Pelosi. Giulianis letter to Zelensky could not have refuted this defense any more effectively. He states in writing he represents Trump as a private citizen, not as President of the United States. And he proceeds to note that he is doing so with his knowledge and consent. The Giuliani letter is a written confession of the president abusing his power. The Parnas-Hyde texts are evidence of how the whole scheme played out on the ground, which is basically as an episode of The Sopranos. And as the sordid evidence of the scheme continues to pour out, it remains the position of the Trump administration and nearly every elected Republican that Congress is not entitled to to any additional testimony or documents. One can only imagine what a full accounting of the scandal would find. The rally came after news that civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton was denied the opportunity to testify on the issue of diversity in the state's judicial system at today's hearing. In the past several months Reverend Sharpton has visited Delaware calling for progress on the issue and penned a letter to leading law firm Skadden Arps calling for elite firms to do their part in advancing people of color in the legal industry. While people of color makeup over 60% Delaware's prison population, only four justices who serve on the three highest courts in Delaware are people of color. Said Reverend Sharpton in a separate statement released to Delaware Business Now, "To say that I am disappointed I was denied the opportunity to testify before the Delaware State Senate on the matter of [Mr. Fioravanti's] confirmation would be an understatement. Diversity transferred is not diversity created or advanced. Delaware must do better. Governor Carney and the State Legislature must do better. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue further with them, and will not rest until we address this injustice." Said Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Campaign Manager Chris Coffey, "While the appointment of Tamika Montgomery-Reeves to the Supreme Court made history, Governor Carney's decision to fill her vacant seat on the Chancery court with a candidate like Mr. Fioravanti would completely undo that progress. In order to fairly represent Delaware's residents, the court system must prioritize placing more people of color on the bench. It's disappointing the Senate chose not to hear from Reverend Sharpton, whose moral credibility on issues of racial justice is beyond question, but today's rally showed just how important this issue is to countless Delawareans." "We recognize the importance of our nominations to our highest courts," said Reverend Dennis. "We call on Delaware's Senate to consider diversity as an essential piece of justice when replacing the first African American justice that served the Chancery court. A variety of diverse voices must be a part of the discussion when deliberating on cases. When the court looks like the people that come before them, we see more fairness and justice." Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 5,000 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the issue. While their primary goal of saving the company has been accomplished, they continue their efforts to fight for more transparency in the Delaware Chancery Court. For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware or to join the cause, visit DelawareForBusiness.org. Contact: Mary Urban, [email protected], 410-456-2753 SOURCE Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Going green can be a costly business, as the EU's executive body will make clear on Tuesday when it launches a one-trillion-euro plan to finance its goal of making the bloc carbon neutral by 2050. That figure represents a 10-year investment to be sourced from public funds and leveraged private sector money. It is part of Europe's "Green Deal" -- an ambitious rethinking of the economy, transport and energy sectors to turn the EU into a leading inspiration in the fight against global warming. But behind the sweeping rhetoric of the endeavour, to be studied Tuesday at a sitting of the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, are a number of knotty problems that have to be worked out. A main one is how to set coal-dependent EU regions -- think Poland, the Czech Republic, or parts of Germany -- on the path of renewable energy. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a transition fund meant to bankroll the sort of deep changes needed, which would make available up to 100 billion euros (110 billion dollars) a year. She also wants state aid to seed investments that would protect the environment. The Commission says an extra 260 billion euros in investments are needed per year to finance the switch to clean energy and reduced emissions. A Commission document seen by AFP suggests the "just transition fund" be given 7.5 billion euros from the EU's long-term budget between 2021 and 2027. That is to be augmented by other EU investment programs and budgets, such as for transport and agriculture, as well as financing from the European Investment Bank and public-private ventures. The Commission wants a quarter of its long-term budget spending to go on the Green Deal transformation, and is banking on EU member states and the European Parliament backing its plan. At the same time it has to persuade its poorer, eastern member states to commit fully to the changes envisioned. - Poland unconvinced - Poland has so far refused to sign on, worried about the economic and social costs involved. And there is also a tricky debate over nuclear energy to be navigated. France champions the atomic power it relies on as a relatively beneficial energy source when it comes to climate emissions. The Czech Republic and Hungary too defend nuclear as part of their energy mix. But other member states, such as Luxembourg and Austria, are opposed to nuclear energy being painted as "green". The Commission document excludes transition fund money to finance the construction of nuclear power plants. But, under pressure from France and some eastern EU countries, a summit last month described nuclear energy as an option on the way to securing climate neutrality, leaving the broader question open for debate. The Supreme Court on Monday nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor of Imo Stat... The Supreme Court on Monday nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor of Imo State. The apex court declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state. In the unanimous judgment of the seven-member panel, read by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the apex court agreed that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in Imo State. Justice Kekere-Ekun said with the results from the 388 polling units added, Mr Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Consequently, she voided and set aside the declaration of Mr lhedioha as the winner of the 2019 governorship election in the South-East state. The court ordered that the certificate of return wrongly or unlawfully issued to Mr lhedioha be immediately withdrawn by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a fresh one issued to Mr Uzodinma as the elected governor of the state. Vote due to the appellant Senator Hope Uzodinma and the APC from 388 Polling Units were wrongly excluded from scores ascribed to the appellant(to them), the justices ruled. It is thereby ordered that the appellant votes from 388 Polling Units unlawfully excluded from the appellant vote declared shall be added and that the first respondent, Emeka Ihedioha, was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the said election. His return as the elected governor of Imo State is hereby declared null and void and accordingly set aside It is hereby declared that the first appellant (Mr Uzodinma) holds the majority of lawful votes cast at the governorship election held in Imo State on March 9, 2019. The justice said Mr Uzodinma has satisfied the mandatory constitutional requirements to be declared governor. It is hereby declared that first appellant, Senator Hope Uzodinma, is the winner of the governorship of Imo State held on March 9, 2019. The certificate issued to the first defendant (Mr Ihedioha) is hereby withdrawn. It is hereby ordered that the certificate of return shall be issued to the first appellant, Senator Hope Uzodinma, forthwith and he should be sworn in as the governor of Imo State, she ruled. Lower courts earlier decision The Court of Appeal on November 19 had affirmed the victory of Mr Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State. A five-member panel of the court led by Oyebisi Omoleye delivered the judgement following the appeals filed by the Action Alliance, All Progressives Grand Alliance and the All Progressives Congress challenging the election of the governor. The appellants had argued that Mr Ihedioha did not obtain the constitutionally required one-quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, as provided under Section 179 of the Constitution. The appellants, therefore, asked the court to set aside the decision of the election petition tribunal and declare them the winner of the election or in the alternative order a rerun. The Three Appeals The three appeals filed against the judgment of the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election of Mr Ihedioha, include that of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and its candidate, Ifeanyi Ararume; Action Alliance (AA) and its candidate, Uche Nwosu and that of the APC and its candidate, Mr Uzodinma. The different appellants asked the Court of Appeal to void the election of Mr Ihedioha on grounds that he did not obtain the constitutional one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with Section 179 of the Constitution. In their various submissions, through their counsel, they asked the court to set aside the decision of the tribunal and declare them the winner of the March 9 governorship election or in the alternative order INEC to conduct a fresh election into the office of Governor of Imo State. The three-member panel of the tribunal had in a unanimous decision delivered on September 21 held that Mr Ihedioha was lawfully declared the winner of the governorship election by INEC. The panel led by Justice Malami Dongondaji had in the judgment dismissed Messrs Ararume, Nwosu and Uzodinmas petitions for lacking in merit on the grounds that they failed to prove the allegations made in their petitions. Apart from claims that Mr Ihedioha did not obtain the constitutional one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with the provisions of the law, the petitioners had also alleged substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and Guidelines, including other irregularities. But the tribunal in its judgement held that the case of the petitioners was unmeritorious because they failed to call relevant witnesses and that evidence of witnesses called were based on hearsay. The tribunal, in addition, rejected documents tendered by the petitioners in support of their claims on the grounds that those who led evidence in the documents were not the makers of the documents. In his appeal, Mr Ararume urged the appellate court to upturn the decision of the tribunal on the grounds that the lower court erred in law when it arrived at the decision that his case and that of his party lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it. The appeal which was predicated on 22 grounds was argued by his lead lawyer, Awal Kalu, while that of Mr Nwosu and AA, was argued by Niyi Akintola. That of Mr Uzodinma and APC was argued by Damian Dodo. They all urged the panel to allow the appeal and grant all the reliefs sought by the appellants. However, the lead counsel to Mr Ihedioha and the PDP, Onyechi Ikpeazu and Kaham Ejelam respectively, urged the court to dismiss the appeals for being incompetent and lacking in merit. In a surprise move on Tuesday, Mr Nwosu withdrew his appeal, through his lawyer, Solomon Umoh. He withdrew the appeal based on a December 20 Supreme Court ruling that he, Mr Nwosu, was not a validly nominated candidate for the election. The respondents in the matter, including Mr Ihedioha and the PDP, did not object to the application of Mr Nwosu to withdraw his appeal before the apex court. Consequently, the court dismissed Mr Nwosus appeal. Ahead of todays judgment, controversial catholic cleric, Ejike Mbaka, had prophesied that the Supreme Court verdict would see would lead to Mr Ihedioha losing his position and Mr Uzodinma replacing him. THE CONTROVERSIAL 2019 ELECTION INEC had declared Mr Ihedioha, a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives winner of the governorship election in Imo. INEC said Mr Ihedioha polled 273,404 ahead of his closest rival and candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, who the electoral body said scored 190,364 votes. Mr Nwosu is the son-in-law of former Governor Rochas Okorocha who strongly backed his candidacy. Mr Nwosu lost his own case from the election petition tribunal to the Supreme Court. By the INEC result, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Ararume, came third ahead of Hope Uzondinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former polled 114, 676 while the latter polled 96,458. A total of 70 candidates representing various political parties took part in the election. Mr Ihedioha is the first of the governors elected during the 2019 governorship elections to be so removed. Britain's biggest budget airline is to return to Sharm el Sheikh after a gap of over four years. Flights on easyJet from Manchester will resume on 7 June bringing back the longest route on the network, at 2,555 miles. From Gatwick, flights to Egypts leading resort will start again on 30 September. In October 2015, 224 people were killed when a Metrojet charter flight to St Petersburg crashed soon after it holiday taken off from Sharm el Sheikh. After the worst aviation disaster Russia has known, many countries banned their airlines from flying to Egypts premier resort. Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Show all 11 1 /11 Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists The remaining souvenir shops still have all the tacky trophies you could wish for Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Empty beach Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Empty sunloungers Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Naama Bay at night Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists A shuttered tourist shop Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Deserted streets Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists The stallholders still turn up Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists Shuttered businesses Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists The few tourists in Naama Bay Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists More empty beach Nick Redmayne Sharm el Sheikh without the tourists The bus from Cairo is a long slog Nick Redmayne Passengers on easyJet and other UK airlines were flown home on planes with empty holds; their baggage was flown separately. The UK ban eventually ended in October 2019, after airport security at Sharm el Sheikh was deemed to be sufficiently enhanced. Charter flights to Sharm el Sheikh resumed just before Christmas, but easyJets return will prove highly significant especially for the peak winter season. The budget airline is also extending its winter flights from Manchester to another Egyptian Red Sea resort, Hurghada, to operate year-round from 1 June. Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: The return of easyJets route to Sharm el Sheikh is very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sunseekers all year round. Ali Gayward, UK Country Manager, easyJet, said: Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada are both fantastic destinations for both summer and winter sun, with stunning beaches boasting crystal clear waters and great diving and marine life to explore. Paul Eldred, a long-stay visitor to Sharm el Sheikh, told The Independent: The local traders, restaurants and hotels at least those that are still open, many have been forced to close are so glad that the British are back. Tourism has suffered so much due to the loss of British, German and Russian tourists. The Foreign Office warns: Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt. She started working with the racy underwear brand last year following her stint on the 2019 series of Love Island. And Maura Higgins sent temperatures soaring on Tuesday night as she shared a sultry mirror selfie of herself promoting Ann Summers. The Dancing On Ice contestant, 29, looked incredible as she showcased her svelte figure in a black lace lingerie set. Wow: Maura Higgins sent temperatures soaring on Tuesday night as she shared a sultry mirror selfie of herself promoting Ann Summers Maura teamed a daring plunging bralette and tiny thong with a pair of suspenders complete with a matching belt. The fiery Irish Love Island star styled her brunette locks into a voluminous blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of glamorous make-up as she posed up a storm for the racy mirror selfie. Maura captioned the photo with: 'Valentines is coming [black heart emoji] @annsummers.' The reality star has modelled several Ann Summers lingerie items since her stint on Love Island and she is the 'the definition of female empowerment,' according to Natalie Amosu, Chief Marketing Officer at Ann Summers. Racy: The Dancing On Ice contestant, 29, looked incredible as she showcased her svelte figure in a black lace lingerie set Sultry: The reality star has modelled several Ann Summers lingerie items since her stint on Love Island and she is the 'the definition of female empowerment,' according to Natalie Amosu, Chief Marketing Officer at Ann Summers (pictured in October) She said: 'We're so excited to be working with Maura on our #BeMoreMaura AW/19 campaign. 'Her open and honest expression of herself on Love Island and her straight talking personality struck a chord with the women watching. 'We hope this campaign will help progress the movement of women embracing their natural bodies and their freedom of expression.' Denied! It comes after Maura's boyfriend and Love Island 2019 star Curtis Pritchard denied rumours he 'cheated' on her on New Year's Eve It comes after Maura's boyfriend and Love Island 2019 star Curtis Pritchard denied rumours he 'cheated' on her on New Year's Eve. Appearing on Monday's instalment of Lorraine, he addressed a video that emerged showing him hugging a woman in a club. Curtis revealed to Lorraine Kelly: '[The] new year photos [are] nonsense - you can't hug somebody or talk to somebody in this day and age without something coming out!' Curtis was sure to insist: 'Me and Maura [pictured last week] are completely fine. I was there watching her on Dancing On Ice yesterday' He was sure to add: 'Me and Maura are completely fine. I was there watching her on Dancing On Ice yesterday.' Indeed, Curtis was pictured in the audience watching his girlfriend as she competed on the new season of the skating show, with everything seemingly fine between them. When asked how he thinks Maura's doing on Dancing On Ice, Curtis revealed: 'She has been so nervous, I was messaging her all day yesterday saying, "How are you feeling?" 'She was shaking, so scared. I was sweating in the audience. She went on there and did the best performance she's ever done. I think she got under-marked, or I'm not going to say who but some people have got over-marked.' Clearing things up: Appearing on Monday's instalment of Lorraine, he addressed a video that emerged showing him hugging a woman in a club Curtis revealed to Lorraine Kelly: '[The] new year photos [are] nonsense - you can't hug somebody or talk to somebody in this day and age without something coming out' He added: 'I've watched AJ doing Strictly Come Dancing so many times, but I got more nervous watching Maura on this because I was thinking, one little slip and that's it, you could be out of the competition. 'She's her biggest critique, she wants to be so good. She wants to be so good, she wants to be perfect.' The professional dancer, 23, grinned from the sidelines as Maura, 29, glided across the ice to the tune of Lizzo's Juice during Sunday night's show. Curtis was ever the doting boyfriend as he watched on in amazement as Maura, who started skating as a complete novice just months ago, completed twists and various other impressive moves. When asked how he thinks Maura's doing on Dancing On Ice, Curtis revealed: 'She has been so nervous, she was shaking, so scared' Weighing in: 'I think she got under-marked, or I'm not going to say who but some people have got over-marked,' Curtis said of Maura's performance On the sidelines: 'I was sweating in the audience,' said Curtis [pictured on Sunday] The rumours about Curtis were that he was supposedly seen in a 'passionate clinch' with a mystery woman on the dance floor of a night club in High Wycombe, Bucks, where he was doing panto at the time. According to The Sun, the pair were seen getting close during a night out at O'Neill's bar as they celebrated the end of the decade. In the clip obtained by the publication Curtis appeared to have his arms around the unknown woman. A source told the paper: 'He started embracing her, in the full view of the entire club. It was quite shocking given we all knew he had a girlfriend.' Elegance: The professional dancer, 23, grinned from the sidelines as Maura, 29, glided across the ice to the tune of Lizzo's Juice First performance: Maura wowed the judges as she kicked-off Dancing On Ice with her professional skating partner Alexander Demetriou, 28, on Sunday night A source close to Curtis denied allegations to The Sun that he had cheated on Maura. Maura wowed the judges on Sunday, when she kicked off Dancing On Ice with her professional skating partner Alexander Demetriou, 28. The Love Island star, who has built up a fierce rivalry with Joe Swah, jumped for joy as Holly Willoughby told her she had beaten him by half a point, while Curtis cheered from the audience. Unknown woman: Curtis was apparently caught in a 'passionate clinch' on the dance floor of a night club in High Wycombe, Bucks (pictured with Maura in September) Midwives have accused expectant fathers of treating maternity wards 'like a hotel' by sharing beds with their partners and ordering takeaways. New mothers are said to be too embarrassed to breastfeed or get changed because there are so many men staying at the postnatal unit at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Staff who've complained to bosses claim they've been told to 'just accept it', despite the presence of the visitors putting strain on their ability to deliver care. They also said the overcrowding even poses a fire hazard and has made it difficult to reach emergency buzzers and prevent the spread of infections. Midwives at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (pictured) have accused expectant fathers of treating maternity wards 'like a hotel' by sharing beds with their partners and ordering takeaways One midwife told Edinburgh Evening News: 'Childbirth and the postnatal period should be about women and babies and we're having to bend over backwards for men treating it like a hotel. 'It's a fire hazard because you have no idea how many people are on the ward at once and there has been absolutely no consultation on this. One in three maternity doctors in the UK are 'burnt out' Newborns and their mothers are being put at risk of sub-standard care because medics are so exhausted, a study in November warned. Researchers from Imperial College London found more than one in three maternity doctors are suffering from burnout. They claim this makes staff care less about patients and their job - which increases the risk of blunders being made. The survey of 3,000 obstetricians and gynaecologists also found stressed-out doctors were four times more likely to show signs of 'defensive' medical practices. These include avoiding difficult cases or procedures and over-prescribing drugs for ease, both of which can put mothers and their babies at risk of harm. Burnt-out doctors were also six times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and four times more likely to report depression, the survey found. They were three times more likely to suffer from anxiety, irritability or anger, and commonly had sleep and relationship problems. Researchers found 36 per cent of all qualified doctors fell into the stressed-out category, while 46 per cent of trainees were also likely to be sufferers. Advertisement 'There are women on the ward who are uncomfortable and too embarrassed to get changed or breastfeed because of the amount of visitors there staying over and their sleep is being disrupted.' It is understood that at least two members of staff have contacted the chief executive of NHS Lothian, which runs the hospital. But their complaints have fallen on deaf ears, according to the newspaper. Midwives said they have been told to 'encourage' expectant fathers to stay at home, but they are being defied. Alex McMahon, nurse director of NHS Lothian, said fathers should not be sent home because many mothers need to be supported after giving birth. He said: 'In common with all boards, NHS Lothian is implementing the guidance contained in the five-year action plan for maternity and neonatal care, issued by NHS Scotland, called Best Start. 'It says that fathers, partners and other family members should be actively encouraged and supported to become an integral part of all aspects of maternal and newborn care. 'As part of that, some mums like having their partners being there to support them at this special time and being involved in caring for their baby right from the start.' Dr Mary Ross-Davie, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) director for Scotland, said it had been a well established practice for fathers to stay on maternity wards for months, even years. She added: 'After some teething problems, the feedback we have heard in other areas has generally been positive staff often find the presence of partners a helpful addition in supporting new mothers. 'However, the physical space available in some wards does make have a large number of additional people staying in the area... difficult on occasion. 'We will certainly be working with local managers to find shared solutions to the concerns raised.' Libya's eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar delayed signing a ceasefire agreement at talks in Moscow, but Russia said it was hopeful the country's warring rivals would soon conclude the deal to end nine months of fighting. Talks on the terms of a ceasefire between Haftar's forces and the UN-recognised government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj went on for seven hours on Monday without the two delegations actually meeting, though Moscow noted "certain progress". Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has been under attack since last April from forces loyal to Haftar, who is based in the east of the oil-rich North African country with his loyalist politicians. The two sides were expected to agree the terms of a ceasefire that took effect over the weekend, raising hopes of an end to the latest fighting to wrack Libya since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Western powers are keen to stabilise Libya -- home to Africa's largest proven crude reserves -- because of concerns Islamist militants and migrant smugglers, already active, will take advantage of the chaos. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sarraj and the head of High Council of State in Tripoli, Khaled al-Mechri, had signed the document. But Haftar and his ally Aguila Saleh "have asked for a bit more time until morning" to study it, he said. Turkey and Russia's foreign and defence ministers acted as mediators, but the rival delegations did not apparently come face-to-face. "We have refused any meeting with Haftar," al-Mechri was quoted as saying by Libya al-Ahrar television channel. - Calls for 'credible' truce - The ceasefire initiative was launched by President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who jointly called for a truce in Istanbul last week. A fragile ceasefire went into effect from midnight Sunday, but Erdogan on Monday reiterated the "urgent necessity" for a permanent agreement after meeting with Italy's prime minister. German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Putin on Saturday and he supported her drive to hold a peace conference sponsored by the United Nations. Berlin said Monday the summit was planned for later this month. French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for a "credible, lasting and verifiable" truce. Diplomatic sources said discussions were also under way at the United Nations about establishing an observation mission in Libya to monitor the ceasefire, similar to an existing initiative in Yemen. "For the ceasefire in Libya to hold, there should be an impartial monitoring and implementation mechanism as well as confidence-building measures," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told AFP. The UN is already "recording and verifying reported ceasefire violations" through its political mission in Libya, which employs around 230 people, he added. - 'Turn page on past' - Sarraj on Monday called on Libyans to "turn the page on the past, reject discord and to close ranks to move towards stability and peace". Since the start of Haftar's offensive against Tripoli, more than 280 civilians and about 2,000 fighters have been killed and 146,000 Libyans have been displaced, according to the UN. Turkey and Russia's diplomatic initiative came despite the countries being seen as supporting opposing sides. Ankara dispatched troops -- in a training capacity, it said -- to support the GNA in January in a move criticised by European powers and US President Donald Trump. The GNA has also signed agreements with Ankara assigning Turkey rights over a vast area of the eastern Mediterranean, in a deal denounced by France, Greece, Egypt and Cyprus. Russia has been accused of backing pro-Haftar forces, which are supported by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- all regional rivals of Turkey. Several hundred Russian mercenaries are reported to be in Libya supporting Haftar. Putin said any Russians in the country are not in Moscow's pay. Russia supports Haftar as the stronger militarily and backed by its ally Egypt, said Russian defence analyst Alexei Malashenko. "Moscow wants to preserve its presence in Libya through Haftar, including its oil interests," he said. Russia could rekindle trade in arms and wheat and relaunch a stalled railway construction project. Europe and North Africa have also launched a diplomatic offensive to try to prevent Libya, with the increased involvement of international players in its conflict, from turning into what Berlin calls a "second Syria". King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday warned that thousands of fighters have left Syria for Libya and "that is something we in the region but also our European friends will have to address in 2020". James Corden has revealed he wears Spanx to host 'The Late Late Show' (Credit: PA) James Corden has confessed he wears Spanx to host The Late Late Show. The 41-year-old British actor - who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 to take over hosting the US chat show - opened up about relying on body control underwear after his guests The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan and drag queen RuPaul discussed their uncomfortable costumes. Corden said: I think I'm making a sacrifice wearing these Spanx. I'm not even joking. My New Year's resolution is to try to get to a point where I do one show this year, not wearing Spanx. Read more: James Corden: Gavin and Stacey reunion almost stayed an embarrassing secret flop The Cats star added: It'll be like I'm free, Ru, I won't know what to do! I'll be breathing. Oh you'll know babe. You'll know. I'll shout it from the rooftops. It'll be my first ever Instagram story! Cordens breakthrough acting role was in Kay Mellors ITV drama Fat Friends, about members of a slimming club, which ran for four series between 2000 and 2005. Corden met Gavin and Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones on the show and they came up with the idea for the sitcom about the coming together of two families from Wales and Essex. Corden opened up about battles with his weight last year when he spoke out about fat shaming. James Corden has admitted struggling with his weight (Credit: PA) Responding to a joke by talk show host Bill Maher, Corden said: Fat shaming never went anywhere. Ask literally any fat person. We are reminded of it all the time. Theres a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy, and were not We know that being overweight isnt good for us and Ive struggled my entire life trying to manage my weight and I suck at it. Ive had good days and bad months. Its official, Akon has his very own city in Senegal, known as Akon City. The rapper and entrepreneur tweeted Monday that he had finalized the agreement for the new city. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future, his tweet read. Akon, who is of Senegalese descent, originally announced plans for the futuristic Crypto city in 2018, saying that the city would be built on 2,000-acres land gifted to him by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. The new city would also trade exclusively in his digital cash currency called AKoin, he said. The official website for the city said it would be a five-minute drive from the West African states new international airport. I really want to make the biggest impact in Africa. Akon was born in Senegal before moving to Union City, New Jersey, at age 7, according to his website. Known for songs like Locked Up, Lonely, and Oh Africa, the Grammy-nominated rapper is more recognized as a businessman than a musician these days. His most recent venture is Akon Lighting Africa, which is providing solar power to African countries. I really want to make the biggest impact in Africa for sure, Akon said during a 2013 interview with CNN. If I could have my way, Africa would be the United States of Africa. The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:10:07|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIRUT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's state security arrested on Wednesday a Syrian national for joining the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the National News Agency reported. The suspect admitted that he was seeking to secure weapons and planning to attack offices of one of the Lebanese political parties. He also admitted to having planned to attack one of the Western embassies in Lebanon by using a drone. The arrestee was referred to judicial bodies for further investigations and legal procedures. Lebanon has, in the past few months, arrested a number of terrorists who were behind attacks in the country. The latest terrorist attack in Lebanon was carried out by an IS member, who blew himself up in the northern city of Tripoli in June 2019, killing four members of the Lebanese army and internal security forces. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran called on Tuesday for a special court to examine the downing of a passenger plane that killed 176 people, as protests flared in several cities over the disaster and officials' shifting explanations for it. But even as the president made the announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a powerful arm of the Iranian military, said it had arrested the person it identified as having recorded the video of a missile attacking the plane, which undercut the military's initial denials that Iran was responsible. The arrest was announced by Iranian media outlets affiliated with the Guards. Pro-government protesters burn an American flag and a cut-out depicting British ambassador Rob Macaire. Credit:AP The contradictory messages from the president, who is elected, and the Guards, who answer to Iran's clerical leaders, reflect the competing power centres in the Iranian government. For three days after the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines jet, the military blamed mechanical failure. It eventually acknowledged that it had mistakenly shot the jet down with a missile, but insisted that "human error" was to blame and not any systemic problem. : Kerala is set to get a digital university soon as the state government decides to upgrade the present Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) here to varsity status. A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Wednesday decided to recommend to the Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to issue an ordinance in this regard. The new digital university would be known as "The Kerala University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology," an official press release said here. The proposed university is part of the LDF government's various initiatives to promote and develop information technology industry and digital technology. The core objective behind the setting up of the university is to promote innovative research and entrepreneurship and strengthen industry-educational cooperation in the broad field of digital technology. The university is envisaged to give thrust upon new technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, block chain, cognitive science, the Internet of Things and augmented reality, the release said. The varsity would also help to develop quality human resource, it said. Five schools - the School of Computing, the School of Electronics Design and Automation, the School of Informatics, the School of Digital BioScience and the School of Digital Humanities - would be set up with the aim of addressing the shortage of high-quality manpower in the digital sector, it said. The focus of the proposed university would be on research in the areas of digital technology and graduate and undergraduate-level The Cabinet also decided to acquire 1,351 acres of land as part of extending the Kochi-Bangalore Industrial Corridor to Kochi via Coimbatore, the release said. The proposed land would be acquired through Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and Rs 1,038 crore is the estimated expense for the ambitious initiative, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The statement from Iraqas military did not say how many rockets had hit Camp Taji but reported that there were no casualties. (Photo Credit: File Photo) New Delhi: In the latest attack on installations where American troops are deployed, rockets targeted an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad hosting US-led coalition forces. The statement from Iraqs military did not say how many rockets had hit Camp Taji but reported that there were no casualties. The attack comes days after a volley of rockets hit an airbase in Iraq injuring four Iraqi soldiers. The Iraqi military confirmed the reports saying eight Katyusha-type rockets landed on Al-Balad airbase, wounding two Iraqi officers and two airmen. A majority of US airmen stationed at the Al-Balad airbase north of Baghdad had already left, the military sources said, following tensions between the US and Iran over the last two weeks. Military bases hosting US troops have been subject to volleys of rocket and mortar attacks in recent months that have mostly wounded Iraqi forces, but also killed one American contractor last month. That death set off a series of dramatic developments, with the US carrying out strikes against a pro-Iran paramilitary group in Iraq as well as a convoy carrying top Iranian and Iraqi commanders outside Baghdad airport. Tehran launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing American and other coalition forces in retaliation for the US killing top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Qasem Soleimani, the popular head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the arch-foes. Violations of Iraqs sovereignty: US on rocket attacks US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was outraged by another missile attack on an Iraqi airbase where US forces have been stationed, as neighbouring Iran signalled a wish to de-escalate regional tensions. Outraged by reports of another rocket attack on an Iraqi airbase, Pompeo tweeted. "These continued violations of Iraqs sovereignty by groups not loyal to the Iraqi government must end. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sundays rocket attacks. The US has previously blamed such attacks on Iran-backed groups in Iraq. Iraqi leaders privately want US troops to stay: Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Monday that Iraqi leaders have told him privately they support the US troop presence, despite public appeals for them to leave. This came after last week Iraqs parliament voted to expel the US military from the country. The lawmakers voted in favour of a resolution that mandates to end the presence of military of any other country in Iraq. With almost 5,000 US troops stationed in Iraq, the resolution seeks United States to withdraw its military. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Multiple shots have been fired at a home south of Brisbane in an early-morning shooting. Police said shots were fired at the property on Sirus Street, Eagleby, about 2.20am on Tuesday. A vehicle fled the scene shortly after the shots were fired at the Eagleby home. Credit:Nine News Nobody was injured, though the home sustained minor damage. A vehicle fled the scene shortly after. Three people were in the home when the shots were fired, Nine News reported. Thousands of people marched through the streets of Adyar on Wednesday evening to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens in a rally organised by the Muslim central committees of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The protest rally was inaugurated by Udupi district Khazi Alhaj Bekala Ibrahim Musliyar. Mangaluru: Thousands of people marched through the streets of Adyar on Wednesday evening to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens in a rally organised by the Muslim central committees of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The protest rally was inaugurated by Udupi district Khazi Alhaj Bekala Ibrahim Musliyar. 'Dua' (invocation) was offered by Dakshina Kannada district Khazi Alhaj Twaka Ahmed Musliyar. The people who took part in the rally were seen waving national flags. The organisers claimed that over one lakh people participated in the rally. Both sides of the highway were filled with those who came to witness the rally and traffic went haywire along a five-kilometre stretch of the road. Karnataka: Muslim central committees of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts held a protest rally against Citizenship Amendment Act in Adyar-Kannur, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/11BtnIiLgJ ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2020 Addressing the protesters, former IAS officer and activist Kannan Gopinathan alleged that the Centre wants to create fear among all sections of people and silence them. Society began to protest when the government crossed the limits and put curbs on democratic freedom, he claimed. The Centre thought that they can get away with CAA and NRC. However, people have realised the truth and have started coming out onto the streets, Gopinathan added. Activist Harsh Mander said the theme of the protest against the CAA and NRC is "national flag in one hand, Constitution is another and people will march forward with love in their hearts. The fight against NRC is the fight for the protection of our Constitution. The BJP is using NRC as a weapon to divide the people after Article 370 and Ram Mandir construction," he said. Human rights activist Shivasundar said the "chowkidar" appointed by the people is now asking them whether they are the real owners of their houses. The BJP only delivered hollow promises which is evident from the rising unemployment, fall in GDP, farmers suicides and the economic slowdown, he alleged. UT Khader MLA, BM Farooq MLC, former MLA Mohiyuddin Bava, Muslim central committee president KS Mohammed Masood, Ullal Qazi Fazal Koyamma Tangal, Dakshina Kannada district Wakf committee president UK Monu Kanachur, Sunni Youth Federation state general secretary Abdul Rashid Zaini and Karnataka Samastha Mushavara state secretary UK Abdul Aziz Darimi were present. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Denmark's Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod arrived on a two-day visit to attend the Raisina Dialogue-- India's annual global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics -- here on Wednesday. The visiting dignitary will be meeting with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and paying a courtesy call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later today. He is also scheduled to meet Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in the evening. On Thursday, Kofod will address the Raisina Dialogue 2020 and meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over dinner. He will be completing his visit on Friday. The flagship conference jointly organised by the MEA and the Observer Research Foundation has been India's contribution to global efforts to discover solutions, identify opportunities and provide stability in a century that has witnessed an eventful two decades. The three-day conclave will bring together 700 international participants, of which 40 per cent of the speakers will be women, emphasising India's commitment to gender equality. Along with the participation of 12 foreign ministers, including the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Estonia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Uzbekistan and the European Union, the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Afghanistan, the Deputy NSA of the United States and several other ministers of state will also present their ideas. The inaugural session of the mega-event that kicked off today was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other visiting leaders will also share their views on important challenges facing the world related to globalisation, 2030 agenda, the role of technology in the modern world, climate change and counter-terrorism. Over the course of two days thereafter (on January15-16), intensive deliberations will take place over 80 sessions around 5 thematic pillars - the nationalist impulses challenging global institutions and collective action, the debate on the global trading architecture, the role of technologies in determining political, economic and military power, the global development agenda and the state-individual relationship in the age of digital communities and cyberspace, according to a statement by the MEA. (ANI) In a scathing report on the way the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases were handled by the police, administration and even judiciary, a Supreme Court appointed SIT has said there was no intention of punishing the culprits and acquittals were "handed over by judges" to the accused in a "routine manner". The report of the SIT, headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra, has said that "whole efforts" of police and administration "seem to have been to hush up the criminal cases concerning riots". The cases were registered to give "clean chit" to certain persons, it said. The report, which was submitted in the apex court, dealt with 186 anti-Sikh riots cases referred to the SIT which was set up by the top court on January 11, 2018 to supervise further probe into these cases in which closure reports were filed earlier. It said the basic reason for these crimes remaining unpunished and culprits getting scot-free was lack of interest shown by the police and the authorities in handling these cases as per law or to proceed with the intention of punishing those involved. The report is also critical of the way these cases were handled by trial courts here and said: "It is not understood how the courts proceeded with trial of several crimes of rioting, murders, arson, looting having taken place at different locations, different times and even different dates together." The SIT has recommended exploring possibility of filing appeals, along with application for condonation of delay, against the trial court orders of acquittals in some of these cases. "Acquittals were handed over by judges to accused of 1984 riots in a routine manner," the report said. "None of the judgements on record show that the judges were alive to the situation of 1984 riots and were alive to the fact that for delay in lodging FIRs and statement of witnesses, the victims were not responsible". It said that due to protracted trial in these cases, the victims and witnesses were so tired of coming to the courts time and again that most of them had given up and those who had not given up, the courts refused to give credibility to their testimony on grounds, including delay in lodging of FIR and in recording evidence. The report said the scrutiny of files reveals evidence of involvement of the then inspector Survir Singh Tyagi, then SHO of Kalyan Puri police station, in a conspiracy with rioters. "It was a case where Insp. Survir Singh Tyagi deliberately disarmed local Sikhs of their licensed arms so that rioters could make them victim and cause loss of life and property. He was suspended from service but later on reinstated and promoted as ACP. The committee is of the view that his case be referred to riots cell of Delhi Police for action," it said. The report said that perusal of files revealed that FIRs were not registered by the police incident-wise or crime-wise and instead, several complaints were clubbed in one FIR. "Even the judges and magistrate did not give directions to the police to file separate 'challans' (police report) incident-wise/crime-wise," it said. There was no order of separation of trial incident-wise or crime-wise by the trial judges despite a specific provision in law that challan in each case had to be filed separately and each case has to be tried separately, it said. "Had the administration and police been serious in punishing the culprits, a special task force for investigating crimes committed within jurisdiction of each police station should have been created by providing necessary infrastructure including forensic teams and labs to this task force," it added. It said bodies of hundreds of riot victims were recovered and many of them remained unidentified but the police even did not preserve any forensic evidence so that at later stage, the identification could be done. "The whole efforts of the police and the administration seem to have been to hush up the criminal cases concerning riots," it said. The report said that 186 cases referred to the SIT had already been dealt with by an earlier SIT, constituted by the Centre in February 2015, which had submitted its report with respect to 199 cases. "A total of 426 persons were killed in the incidents covered by 199 cases out of which 84 dead bodies remained unidentified. More than two hundred persons were injured. About seven hundred properties including residential houses, shops, vehicles, commercial establishments, places of worship were damaged, looted or burnt," the report said. It said that out of these 199 cases, 114 were those which involved loss of property through rioting, arson and loot and 31 cases belonged to the category of cases involving bodily injuries with or without property loss. The report said there were 54 cases under the category of murder, with or without property loss, and trials were conducted in some of these cases but it resulted in acquittal of accused. It said all these 199 cases were scrutinised for possibility of further action but in none of these cases, further investigation was possible. The apex court had set up the SIT, also comprising retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular, in January 2018. However, Singh had declined to be part of the team on personal grounds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ARLINGTON, VA, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Aluminum Association released the following statement from Lauren Wilk, the Aluminum Associations vice president for policy, in response the recently signed phase one trade agreement between the United States and China: We congratulate President Trump and his administration on this important first step toward a more balanced trading relationship between the U.S. and China. As the parties move to the next phase of negotiations, we strongly urge negotiators to focus on addressing the unfairly subsidized overcapacity that is hurting U.S. aluminum producers and impacting the global aluminum market. A 2019 study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) documented tens of billions of dollars in government state subsidies to aluminum firms over a five-year period, mainly to a handful of aluminum-producing companies in China. It is essential to the long-term health of domestic aluminum manufacturers that China end the structural subsidies that make it impossible for U.S. and global aluminum producers to compete on a level playing field. We were encouraged by the recent announcement by the U.S., European and Japanese governments pursuing strengthened World Trade Organization (WTO) rules addressing industrial subsidies. The Trump administration has a tremendous opportunity to support more than 160,000 American aluminum workers by pursuing bilateral and multilateral agreements to rein in unfair activity in China. Last year, the administration committed to address how market-distorting forces, including subsidies and state-owned enterprises, can lead to excess capacity as part of ongoing trade negotiations with China. While targeted trade enforcement activity, including successful antidumping and countervailing duty cases, have reduced imports of Chinese aluminum into the U.S. in recent years, overcapacity continues to grow and, unfortunately, to penetrate other foreign markets. Over the past five years, aluminum overcapacity in China has grown by 60 percent and increasingly that metal is being exported to third party countries, further distorting global markets. Research firm CRU estimates that China will export more than 3.4 million tons of semi-fabricated aluminum in 2020, fully 3.5 times U.S. aluminum production. ### About The Aluminum Association The Aluminum Association represents aluminum production and jobs in the United States, ranging from primary production to value added products to recycling, as well as suppliers to the industry. The Association is the industrys leading voice, providing global standards, business intelligence, sustainability research and industry expertise to member companies, policymakers and the general public. The aluminum industry helps manufacturers produce sustainable and innovative products, including more fuel-efficient vehicles, recyclable packaging, greener buildings and modern electronics. In the U.S., the aluminum industry supports $174 billion in economic activity and nearly 700,000 jobs. For more information visit https://www.aluminum.org, on Twitter @AluminumNews or at Facebook.com/AluminumAssociation. New Delhi: China has made a fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue in a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York on Wednesday, but the attempt is likely to fail as all other member countries of the body are set to oppose it. French diplomatic sources said France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise the Kashmir issue once again in the powerful body and it is going to oppose it like it did on the previous occasion. The closed-door meeting of the UNSC has been called to discuss an issue relating to an African country. China has made a request to deliberate on the Kashmir issue under the agenda of Any Other Business Points. Sources said France's position has not changed and is very clear: the Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally. This has been stated on several occasions and will continue to be reiterate to partners in the UN Security Council, they added. Last month, France, U.S., U.K. and Russia foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir in the UNSC. China has been critical of India's reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir. Kansas Game Invest has rebranded as Amplifier Game Invest around six months after being acquired by THQ Nordic. The Swedish investment company was purchased by THQ last August for around $4.4 million, bringing with it a smorgasbord of minority investments in early-stage development studios including Palindrome Interactive, Fall Damage, Neon Giant, Kavalri, and Framebunker. THQ (which recently rebranded its own parent company) said the purchase would give it a great platform for strategic investments in early-stage companies as well as in established teams starting their own development studios. According to Amplifier chief exec Per-Arne Lundberg, the name change will help reflect the companys new ownership while clarifying its core mission focus. We wanted the new name to reflect the core of our business [of entering] long-term partnerships with talented game developers across the globe and help them to reach their goals. They are the stars and our job is to amplify their work, team and business, commented the CEO. BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DiamondRock Hospitality Company (the "Company") (NYSE: DRH) announced that Aimbridge Hospitality assumed management of the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel (the "Hotel"). The Hotel is now operated under a franchise agreement with Westin Hotel Management. L.P. ("Westin"), a subsidiary of Marriott International, which expires in 2026. The Hotel was previously managed by Westin. "Aimbridge has the unique expertise to drive tremendous results for our shareholders at the Westin Waterfront, Boston's dominant convention center hotel," said Mark W. Brugger, President & Chief Executive Officer of DiamondRock Hospitality Company. "We expect the hotel to have a record year in 2020 with group pace up 27%. The transition is projected to generate several million dollars of incremental EBITDA for our shareholders. We look forward to working with Aimbridge to provide our guests with an excellent hotel experience." The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority ("MCCA") owns and oversees Boston's two major convention facilities: the Boston Convention & Exposition Center ("BCEC") located in the Seaport District and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Back Bay. In December 2019, the MCCA engaged brokerage representation to sell the Hynes Convention Center and intends to use the sales proceeds to expand the BCEC facility and concentrate Boston's convention center business. The BCEC is among the largest convention facilities in the Northeastern U.S. and the 25 largest in the United States. The Hotel is the only hotel connected to the BCEC. About the Company DiamondRock Hospitality Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in top gateway markets and destination resort locations. The Company owns 31 premium quality hotels with over 10,000 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its hotels to be operated both under leading global brand families such as Hilton and Marriott as well as unique boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment. For further information on the Company and its portfolio, please visit DiamondRock Hospitality Company's website at www.drhc.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "project," "forecast," "plan" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made, including statements related to the expected duration of closure of Frenchman's Reef and anticipated insurance coverage. These risks include, but are not limited to: national and local economic and business conditions, including the potential for additional terrorist attacks, that will affect occupancy rates at the Company's hotels and the demand for hotel products and services; operating risks associated with the hotel business; risks associated with the level of the Company's indebtedness; relationships with property managers; the ability to compete effectively in areas such as access, location, quality of accommodations and room rate structures; changes in travel patterns, taxes and government regulations which influence or determine wages, prices, construction procedures and costs; and other risk factors contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information in this release is as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations. SOURCE DiamondRock Hospitality Company Related Links http://www.drhc.com Hundreds of migrants returned to Libya this month are at high risk of human trafficking as worsening violence is allowing criminal gangs to thrive, according to the United Nations. At least 953 migrants headed for Europe were picked up in the Mediterranean and sent back to Libya in first two weeks of 2020, said the UN's migration agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Mostly intercepted by Libya's coast guard, backed by the European Union, they were all taken to detention centres where aid workers said they have first-hand testimony of migrants being sold to traffickers. There are threats to migrants of being trafficked and it's definitely increasingly worrying, IOM spokeswoman Ms Safa Msehli told Reuters. The security situation gives room to these criminal gangs and to these smuggling groups to prey on the migrants and their wish to leave a rather unsafe country, she said. The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Show all 20 1 /20 The depth of the refugee crisis across the world The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Mexico A mother washes her baby as she waits for her fast-track humanitarian visa at the Mexico-Guatemala border in Ciudad Hidalgo. Unicef/Bindra The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Refugee children and youngsters from host communities play at a park in Palabek Refugee settlement, during the mid-morning break. This facility is supported by Unicef with EU financial assistance it also provides psychosocial support to refugee children as well as a place to play, learn, interact, sing and dance after all the traumatic experiences they may have gone through. Unicef/Nabatanzi The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Jordan Ali, two, rests on his fathers chest. His family are Syrian refugees and came to Jordan six years ago. Ali has just received his winter clothing kit from Unicef and its partner Mateen. Unicef/Herwig The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Bangladesh Children enjoy a ride on a homemade ferris wheel during Eid al-Ftr in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. They are celebrating the holiday in Balukhali, a Rohingya refugee camp sheltering over 800,000 people. The camp is one of the largest in the world, and is bracing for the onset of the monsoon rains. Unicef/Modola The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia Yulis Rivas, three, draws a picture of her parents in a Friendly Space in Cucuta, where Unicef provides learning activities for migrant children and parents from Venezuela. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Greece A young girl holds her doll in front of her tent at the refugee camp in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos. This is an overspill area of the camp, known as the jungle or the olive grove. In 2018, approximately 12,000 refugee and migrant children arrived in Greece by sea. Unicef/Haviv VII Ph The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Pupils play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in the Yumbe district of Uganda. Their school is supported by Unicef. Unicef/Bongyereirwe The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia Hundreds of pupils cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at 5am to meet a bus that will take them to school in the Colombian city of Cucuta. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Jordan Ayman, 11 days old, receives his vaccinations in one of the Unicef-supported health clinics in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Unicef/Herwig The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Ethiopia Sabirin Nur, 18, is a Somali student volleyball captain at Unicef-supported Melkadida primary school, helping to run sessions for other pupils. Sabirin says: As a female, many of us face challenges with our parents, like forced marriage or relatives trying to get us married. They want us to go home and be wives. Unicef/Ayene The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Pupils sing and play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, where migrants have fled from South Sudan. The centre is funded by UK aid and Plan International provides positive parenting services, early learning and recovery for children from war-related stress disorders. Unicef/Bongyereirwe The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Syria Khalid, 10, receives a measles vaccination in Tabqa city in Raqqa governorate. Khalid was uprooted due to escalating violence near his home, and returned a year ago. Unicef/Souleiman The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Lebanon Syrian refugee children in an informal settlement near Terbol in the Bekaa Valley. Unicef/Modola The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Daily life at the refugee camp in Moria. Unicef/Haviv VII Ph The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia A baby has checkup in a Colombian medical centre that receives support from Unicef. Every day, about 40 migrant children are vaccinated in this centre. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia Katty Baez helps her one-year-old Alfredo insert the straw into a juice box that was given to them by a stranger. Katty is traveling to Peru with her two children to meet her husband, who has been there for eight months, and does not know that the family is on the way. Katty wants to surprise him, because he has been working hard on a fishing boat and the children miss him. In this area, Unicef Ecuador is supporting the government to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitation, education and health services. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Ethiopia Pal Biel Jany, 15, wants to be the future president of South Sudan. He goes to school in Makod primary and secondary school in Tierkidi refugee camp in the Gambella region. Unicef/Mersha The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Lebanon Syrian refugee children play in Housh al Refka informal settlement in Bekaa Valley. Unicef/Choufany The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia Thiago Patania, 18 months old, takes a nap in the Unicef tent next to the Ecuadorian customs office in Rumichaca, while his mother waits in line to complete the immigration procedures for her passport to be stamped. Unicef has set up temporary child-friendly spaces and rest tents, as well as supplying thermal blankets, baby kits, and hygiene kits. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Cameroon Twelve-year-old Waibai Buka (centre) skips rope as a friend records a video of her with a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai. Waibai had to flee her village after an attack by Boko Haram. She has not seen her father since the attack and fears he might be dead. Unicef initiated a pilot project in January 2017 called Connect My School. Six solar-powered units help provide internet to schools in different parts of Cameroon. Two of the units were installed in schools in Cameroons Far North region one in Minawao refugee camp, the other in Baigai, near the Nigerian border, where some 50 per cent of children have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence. Unicef/Prinsloo Fighting has intensified in recent weeks between troops loyal to Libya's internationally recognised government and the forces of eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, who are fighting for control of the capital, Tripoli. The escalation has driven more migrants to try to escape the country, said the IOM. In addition to the 953 brought back this year, 237 were also picked up by charity rescue ships and are awaiting a port that will take them. During the same period last year, 23 bodies were recovered by the coast guard and no migrants were returned to Libya. Libya has been a key gateway for Africans trying to reach Europe for years, and about 140,000 migrants and refugees were residing in Tripoli before the fighting broke out last April, according to the International Rescue Committee. Even before that, migrants were preyed on by armed groups and traffickers, with slavery, rape and torture widely reported by human rights experts. There is no guarantee that prevents refugees and migrants returned to Libyan shores from falling back into the clutches of traffickers, said Ms Anais Deprade, a spokeswoman for the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). European governments can no longer pretend that Libya is a place of safety where refugees and migrants rescued at sea can be disembarked, she said. Ms Deprade said MSF knew of people who had been sold into trafficking from some detention centres, and that migrants who escape the centres - which are notorious for abuse - were also vulnerable as they try to survive on their own in a war zone. Reuters It was no surprise that J.R. Romano, the Republican state chairman, asked Robert Hyde Wednesday to drop out of the 5th U.S. House race, where Hyde is one of four candidates vying to unseat Democrat Jahana Hayes. Hyde responded back to Romano that hell do no such thing and tweeted JR RINO should resign from the @CTGOP ASAP. Just what the party needs, a human hand grenade with glue on it. Romanos message to Hyde who burst into the news Tuesday night as an apparent apparatchick in President Donald Trumps murky Ukraine operations came later than it should have. Thats due to the tradition of party leaders staying neutral, at least publicly, until a winning nominee emerges. Hyde, simply put, is not now nor has he ever been a serious candidate for Congress and no one should treat him like one. Its clear Hyde only launched his candidacy as a gratuitous tactic to boost his standing in the world of Republican black-ops skullduggery. Even there, some signs show hes just a poser, a selfie-shooting neophyte with a checkbook and a large physical presence. But a new cache of documents released by House Democrats showed he was tracking former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, apparently for President Donald Trumps back-channel efforts to turn Ukraine into a reelection tool. Worse, Hydes texts showed him calling Yovanovitch a bitch in a way that reasonable people could take to imply a threat to the former Connecticut resident and ousted U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Thats consistent with Hydes shady past, much of it documented by my colleague, Emilie Munson in Hearsts Washington bureau. He indicates his role model is Trump. Instead, I think of Hyde, an affable fellow in person, as an aspiring G. Gordon Liddy, the former FBI agent who led the White House Plumbers team under former President Richard M. Nixon culminating in the 1972 Watergate break-in. He had already drawn the ire of Connecticut political leaders in both parties in mid-December, with off-color remarks about Sen. Kamala Harris ending her bid for the White House. The top two elected Republicans in the state called on him to end his campaign. His political crime, however, is not the offensive comments that mirror Trumps twisted, misogynistic world view. Nor is it his involvement in an international political scandal directed by a president who was impeached for the deeds. Nor is it the various run-ins hes had with law enforcement agencies, some of them very serious. No, Hyde is guilty of something much worse in politics. Hes a sideshow who cant win and can cost other GOP candidates a shot at victory in a race Republicans could actually win. I have asked Rob Hyde to end his bid for Congress, Romano said in a tweet at 1:30 p.m., after he was besieged by reporters and, we presume, desperate local party officials looking to remove a cancerous tumor. His campaign is a distraction for the Democrats to raise money and falsely label all Republicans with his antics. In my view he is not helping other Republican candidates or @realDonaldTrump. Romano told me he sent a text message to Hyde, telling the landscaper and construction contractor-turned lobbyist, I think its time to end the campaign. Romano didnt get the response he wanted. His inclination would be that hes not going to do that, Romano said, declining to read Hydes return text to me. Romano added theres not much more he can do as party chairman. We couldnt reach Hyde all day but he tweeted that he would have extensive comments at 7 p.m. He appeared on America This Week with Eric Bolling, a conservative show, and did not talk about his campaign. But this could become a three-ring gift to Democrats if the party doesnt persuade Hyde to end this charade. Hyde, in a tweet, accused Romano of not supporting Trump, which is like calling Rachel Maddow a Republican. Romano, to say the least, has no aversion to controversy. But as he put it, because of Hyde, Republicans were not talking Wednesday about how they held a state House seat in Tuesdays special election. Were not talking about how good the Trump economy is doing, were not talking about how bad the Connecticut economy is doing. He had already delivered a sharp rebuke to Hyde on Dec. 17, after Hydes offensive tweet about Harris. He had even returned Hydes $1,000 in contributions to the state party a rarity for a donor whos not in trouble with the law. In the district, to say Hyde is an unknown among politicos is an understatement. Kevin Beal, Republican chairman in the town of Simsbury, where Hyde is listed as a voter, said hes barely met Hyde and that Hyde has had zero role in the local party. Other members of our party have said the same thing. We really dont know who he is, Beal said Wednesday. Beal, speaking before Romanos tweet, took pains to say its early in the campaign but he couldnt help mentioning that other Republicans look very strong. It is, in fact, a race the GOP can win against first-term Rep. Jahana Hayes, who burst on the scene as a political neophyte after Sen. Chris Murphy backed her over an establishment candidate in 2018. Republicans ran a weak candidate for that open seat, former Meriden mayor Manny Santos. This time around, theres evidence they wont make that mistake again. The possible frontrunner is Dave Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor who hasnt held elected office but has very close ties throughout the district. I met Hyde on Sept. 7 at the state Capitol rally for gun rights. Dressed in a suit and unloosened tie on a summer day, he told me he was the first declared candidate in the 5th. He talked about the Second Amendment and public policy in the cartoonish way of anti-government activists. He insisted we take a picture together and I was game. Turns out, I should have been honored. He has collected pictures of himself with Trump, Rudy Giuliani and other Republican operatives in Trumps underground gang, the one that forced Yovanovitch out. One of those characters, Lev Parnas, who faces federal criminal charges, was Hydes contact in the Ukrainian mission if the latest cache of messages is true. Parnass lawyer denied his client was involved in surveillance of Yovanovitch Wednesday, and ascribed the tweets to Hydes dubious mental state. Hyde was scarce Wednesday at the address where he apparently lives, where my colleague Ken Dixon found a Hummer and a 1950s Cadillac in the driveway of the upscale, raised ranch. No sign of him at his Avon office. His cell phone had a recording, Senator Hyde is unavailable. Dixon also reported that Hyde had raised no campaign funds as of his most recent filing. Maybe someday Hyde will be the next G. Gordon Liddy, who served time in jail and became a radio host and cult figure for the government-is-out-to-get-you set. For now, Hyde is a cloudy piece of the puzzle of Trumps disgraced Ukraine operations. Thats where he should stay not in a U.S. House race where real candidates are airing real issues. dhaar@hearstmediact.com California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin, a conservative jurist who nonetheless cast a critical vote for abortion rights soon after his appointment, announced his retirement from the bench Wednesday. Chin, 77, is the current courts longest-serving justice, having been appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1996. His departure Aug. 31 will allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to make his first appointment to the court, which for the past year has had four appointees of Gov. Jerry Brown among its seven justices, the first Democratic majority since 1987. The court seldom divides along partisan lines, however, and issues many rulings unanimously, including the Nov. 21 decision overturning a California law that would have required President Trump to release his tax returns in order to appear on the states primary election ballot. The judicial system has faced some major challenges in my time on the bench, but I believe the branch is now in a strong position, Chin said. He said he is retiring because I want to smell a rose and spend more time with Carol, his wife of 48 years, and their family. Newsom said Chins career exemplifies the promise of California, where a son of potato farmers could become a Supreme Court justice, and in turn help to grow the next generation of lawyers and jurists in our state. Chin, the first-Chinese American to serve on the court, is the son of Chinese immigrants, and worked as a youngster on his familys potato farm in Oregon. He graduated from the University of San Francisco and its law school, and later taught there. After law school, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army in Vietnam for two years, and was awarded a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal. He was an Alameda County prosecutor for three years, then practiced law privately in Oakland before Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him to the Alameda County Superior Court in 1988. Two years later, Deukmejian named him to the First District Court of Appeal, where he served for six years before joining the high court. He has compiled a generally conservative record, including a dissent from the 4-3 decision by Chief Justice Ronald George in 2008 that overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage. He wrote a 5-2 decision in 2011 that allowed police to search arrestees cell phones without a warrant. And he was the lone dissenter in a 6-1 ruling in 2014 that said the public has a right to learn the names of police officers involved in shootings, unless there was evidence that disclosure would endanger the officer. Chin said the ruling would reveal potentially incendiary information. But Chin cast the deciding vote in 1997 when the court struck down a decade-old state law requiring parental consent for minors abortions. The court had upheld the law by a 4-3 vote in 1996. But the ruling was not yet final when Chin joined the court, and he voted for a rehearing, then joined a 4-3 majority led by George that overturned the law as an invasion of minors right to privacy under the California Constitution. Opponents of abortion, who had opposed Chins confirmation to the court because of his past statements, campaigned to defeat both Chin and George in the 1998 election. But they won new terms handily. Chin won another 12-year term in 2010, the year that George retired and was succeeded by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. I would not want to go through that again, Chin said in an interview Wednesday, referring to the election campaign. During the campaign, he said, I met people from all over the state who believed, as I did, that we should not have judges raising their hands to test the political winds every time theyre called on to make difficult decisions. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Asked what cases he wanted to be remembered for, he cited a 1996 ruling in which the court unanimously overturned a womans manslaughter conviction for fatally shooting her abusive partner and ruled that a jury could consider the traumatic effects of past abuse, known as battered-womens syndrome, in deciding whether she had acted in self-defense. I spent the early part of my judicial career in family law, and I saw up close and personal the problems with domestic violence, he said. He also cited another unanimous ruling, in 2012, that increased California trial judges authority to evaluate proposed expert witnesses by deciding whether they would be relevant and reliable. Judicial colleagues regarded Chin as particularly knowledgeable on scientific issues, and, at the request of the National Institute of Justice, he led a working group that drafted an online training program for judges in science-related cases. He has been a leader in helping our courts embrace technology to expand justice to all Californians, said Cantil-Sakauye. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko SANTIAGO, Chile, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ENGIE Energia Chile S.A. (formerly known as E.CL S.A.) (" EECL ") announced today that it has commenced a cash tender offer (the " Tender Offer ") for any and all of its outstanding 5.625% Notes due 2021 (the " Notes ") listed below. The Tender Offer is being made pursuant to an offer to purchase dated January 15, 2020 (the " Offer to Purchase "), the related letter of transmittal (the " Letter of Transmittal ") and notice of guaranteed delivery (the " Notice of Guaranteed Delivery " and, together with the Offer to Purchase and Letter of Transmittal, the " Offer Documents "), which set forth the terms of the Tender Offer. The following table sets forth certain information relating to the Tender Offer: Title of Security CUSIP No. and ISINs Principal Amount Outstanding Tender Offer Consideration (per U.S.$1,000 principal amount) 5.625% Notes due 2021 CUSIP: 268270AA3 / P36020AA6 ISIN: US268270AA38 / USP36020AA68 U.S.$400,000,000 U.S.$1,034.50 Following consummation of the Tender Offer, the Notes that are accepted for purchase will be retired and cancelled. Holders of Notes that are validly tendered prior to or at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 22, 2020 or, in each case, any other date and time to which EECL extends the Tender Offer (such date and time, as it may be extended with respect to the Tender Offer, the " Expiration Date ") and that are accepted for purchase will receive the Tender Offer Consideration plus accrued and unpaid interest on such Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase from the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the settlement date. Holders will be permitted to withdraw tendered Notes at any time prior to the earlier of (i) the Expiration Date, and (ii) if the Tender Offer is extended, the 10th business day after the commencement of such Tender Offer, by following the procedures described in the Offer Documents. The Notes may also be validly withdrawn by following the procedures described in the Offer Documents if, for any reason, the Tender Offer has not been consummated within 60 business days after commencement. Holders who validly tender their Notes pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures described in the Offer Documents must deliver their Notes no later than 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 24, 2020, the second business day following the Expiration Time. Completion of the Tender Offer is conditioned on the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions described in the Offer Documents. EECL has the right, in its sole discretion, to amend or terminate the Tender Offer at any time, subject to applicable law. For additional information regarding the terms of the Tender Offer, please contact the dealer managers for the Tender Offer, BofA Securities, Inc. at (800) 292-0070 (toll-free) or (646) 855-8988 (collect), Citigroup Global Markets Inc. at (800) 558-3745 (toll-free) or (212) 723-6106 (collect) or Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. at (800) 372-3930 (toll-free) or (212) 225-5559 (collect). Copies of the Offer Documents may be obtained from Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the Tender and Information Agent, at the following web address: https://www.gbsc-usa.com/engie/, or, at (866) 470-3700 (toll-free) and (212) 430-3774 (collect). All deliveries and correspondence sent to the Tender and Information Agent should be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation, 65 Broadway Suite 404, New York, New York 10006, Attn: Corporate Actions. Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any U.S. state securities commission nor any regulatory authority of any other country has approved or disapproved of the Tender Offer, passed upon the merits or fairness of the Tender Offer or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of the disclosure in the Offer Documents. This press release shall not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of acceptance of the offer to purchase, which are being made only pursuant to the terms and conditions contained in the Offer Documents. The Tender Offer is not being made to, nor will the Offeror accept tenders of Notes from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offer or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. About EECL We are a corporation (sociedad anonima) organized under the laws of Chile. Our principal executive offices are located at Avenida Apoquindo 3721, 6th Floor, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile. Our telephone number is +56 2 2353 3200. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Other than statements of historical fact, information regarding activities, events and developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including, but not limited to, information relating to our future growth and profitability targets and strategies designed to increase total shareholder value, are forward-looking statements based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections. Forward-looking statements also include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future economic and financial condition and results of operations, the plans and objectives of management and our assumptions regarding our performance and such plans and objectives. Many forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "intend," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "projected," "estimated" and "potential," among others. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are predictions only and actual results could differ materially from management's expectations due to a variety of factors. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons working on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by such risk factors. The forward-looking statements that we make in this press release are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events and speak only as of their dates. We assume no obligation to update developments of these risk factors or to announce publicly any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements that we make, or to make corrections to reflect future events or developments, except as required by the federal securities laws. DISCLAIMER This press release must be read in conjunction with the Offer Documents. This announcement and the Offer Documents contain important information which must be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Tender Offer. If any holder of Notes is in any doubt as to the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own legal, tax, accounting and financial advice, including as to any tax consequences, immediately from its stockbroker, bank manager, attorney, accountant or other independent financial or legal adviser. Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee or intermediary must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Tender Offer. None of the Offeror, the Dealer Managers, the Tender and Information Agent and any person who controls, or is a director, officer, employee or agent of, such persons, or any affiliate of such persons, makes any recommendation as to whether holders of Notes should participate in the Tender Offer. SOURCE ENGIE Energia Chile S.A. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 09:05:58 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 759 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / MOTA VENTURES CORP. (CSE:MOTA)(FSE:1WZ:GR)(OTC:PEMTF) (the "Company" or "Mota Ventures") an emerging vertically integrated global CBD brand, is pleased to announce it will be hosting an investor conference call. Due to the significant number of inquiries from investors, Mota will be discussing recent announcements.The conference call will be held on Monday, January 20, 2020 at 1:15PM PST/4:15PM EST. Participants may dial in using the numbers below (no access code is needed).Toll free Canada/US: 1-800-319-4610International: +1-604-638-5340Germany: +0800-180-1954Investor questions can be submitted by email to IR@ motaventuresco.com prior to the conference call.Callers should dial in five to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and simply request to join the Mota Ventures investor call.The conference call will be available for playback until February 20, 2020 by dialing 1-800-319-6413 (toll free Canada/US) or +1-604-638-9010- (international), quoting access code 4011.Joel Shacker, President and CEO of Mota, commented: "Mota has made significant steps to further our business objectives and we welcome the opportunity to provide additional details about our progress to our investors. In order for investors to properly understand how to value our company, I believe its important to share this information with them. I also am looking forward to sharing details of our 2020 plans and how we plan to continue to execute on our long term goals of being a vertically integrated global CBD brand." About Mota Ventures Corp.Mota Ventures is seeking to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand. Its plan is to cultivate and extract CBD into high-quality value added products from its Latin American operations and distribute it both domestically and internationally. Its existing operations in Colombia consist of a 2.5-hectare site that has optimal year round growing conditions and access to all necessary infrastructure. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSMOTA VENTURES CORP.Joel ShackerChief Executive OfficerFor further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, Chief Executive Officer at +604.423.4733 or by email at IR@ motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementAll statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including with respect to its plans to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand, its plans to cultivate and extract cannabis to produce CBD and high-quality value added CBD products in Latin America for distribution domestically and internationally and its plans to acquire revenue-producing CBD brands and operations in Europe and North America. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.SOURCE: Mota Ventures Corp. Kim Brent / The Enterprise This weeks meeting at El Cristo Rey Catholic Church in Beaumont should dispel any doubt about the future of Hispanics in the Beaumont ISD. Spanish-speaking students and parents are here in significant numbers, and their totals will likely be growing in coming years. The district has been reaching out to them in commendable ways, but it must do more. It must provide more bilingual teachers and employees so that a new generation of immigrants can be fully educated and assimilated. The meeting showed the concerns of Latino parents; it must be met by positive action from the district. The surge in Hispanic students is clear, going from 16% in 2010 to 25% last year, a full fourth of all students. At Fletcher Elementary School, nearly 80% of the students are Latino. No one can predict how those numbers will look down the road, but the only real question seems to be how much they will increase. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and gave him a firsthand account of the situation prevailing in the Gulf region, sources said. The overall security scenario figured prominently in the talks, they said. The deliberations between them come amid the global focus on Iran and the US over the confrontation between the two countries following the killing of Iranian Maj Gen Qasem Soleimani. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. Maj Gen Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force, was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces are stationed in Iraq. Soleimani's killing has been the most dramatic escalation yet in the spiralling tensions between Iran and the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In televised announcement, outgoing PM says govt resigning to give president room to carry out constitutional changes. The Russian prime minister and entire government resigned on Wednesday as part of sweeping constitutional changes that could see President Vladimir Putin extend his hold on power. Putin, in his annual address to parliament, proposed a referendum on amending Russias constitution to increase the powers of parliament while maintaining a strong presidential system. I consider it necessary to conduct a vote by the countrys citizens on an entire package of proposed amendments to the countrys constitution, Putin said, without specifying a date for a referendum. He suggested amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and cabinet members. The president currently holds the authority to make those appointments. It will increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all cabinet members, Putin said. We will be able to build a strong prosperous Russia only on the basis of respect for public opinion. Together we will certainly change life for the better. The role of governors would also be enhanced, he said, though Russia would maintain its presidential system. Russia must remain a strong presidential republic. He also said he wanted to tighten the criteria for anyone wanting to become president anyone wishing to become president must have lived in Russia for the past 25 years. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who tendered his resignation to Putin, will be appointed the new deputy head of Russias influential Security Council. He had been the PM for eight years. This is to show that Putin trusts Medvedev, who has been at his side for many years now, said Aleksandra Godfroid, a journalist in Moscow. These changes do indicate a change in power structures, but at the same time, they do keep the president very strong. Hours after the government resigned, Putin named federal tax chief Mikhail Mishustin, 53 years old and a relatively unknown technocrat, as the new prime minister. Mishustin will face a vote of approval in the lower house of parliament on Thursday, the RIA news agency reported. The shakeup sent shock waves through Russias political elites, who were left pondering what Putins intentions were and speculating about future cabinet appointments. 191223202610520 Putins current presidential term ends in 2024 and the constitution requires him to step down. He will be 71 at that time. In his resignation announcement on state TV, Medvedev said he needed to quit to give Putin room to carry out the changes he wants to make. The current government will continue its work until Putin hand-picks a new one to oversee the constitutional changes to Russias systems and structures of power. The proposed changes to the constitution imply the government will actually be appointed by the Russian parliament, which is not how it is now, but at the same time, the president will retain the power to fire the government if he is not satisfied with their performance, said Godfroid. The president will also keep control of the army, police and security, and will be appointing the heads of those services, Godfroid added. In the annual address, Putin steered away from significant foreign policy announcements, sticking mostly to domestic issues. Russia last conducted a referendum in 1993 when it adopted the current constitution under Putins predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. "Imagine yourself on a cruise at sea with your stateroom infested with bed bugs. There was nowhere to go. We were trapped. We felt helpless. There were bed bugs coming out of the pillows and the mattress, we felt betrayed," said Mrs. Flores. Blood can be seen on the pillows while bed bugs crawl under the mattress, as shown by the video the couple recorded. The bed bugs feasted on Connie and her husband as they slept. The bites were so severe that it landed Mrs. Flores in the hospital. Her husband remains traumatized by the entire incident, said Brian Virag, Founder of MYBEDBUGLAWYERTM. The emotional suffering, however, continues to be the bigger nightmare for our clients. They continue to relive waking up in the middle of the night imagining bed bugs sucking the blood from their body as they slept, added Virag. "After this ordeal, I wanted to advocate and bring awareness to people who get exposed to bed bugs. No one should have to go through what we experienced," said Mrs. Flores. According to the lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Los Angeles (Case Number 2:19cv09961) by MYBEDBUGLAWYERTM and Law Offices of Aksana Coone (maritime cruise ship injury attorney), the cruise ship knew or should have known of the bed bug infestation and simply failed to protect its passengers from physical and emotional harm. The lawsuit also alleges that the cruise ship's policies and procedures were inadequate in maintaining the safety of their guests. "They simply were negligent in providing safe premises," said Virag. According to Virag, about one in every five Americans has either experienced or knows someone who has experienced bed bugs. MYBEDBUGLAWYERTM is the only law firm that specializes exclusively in bed bug litigation and has lawsuits pending against Disneyland, the Queen Mary and represents Brazilian Supermodel Sabrina Jales against Hilton Hotels. Virag and his firm have obtained the largest jury verdicts ever recorded in US History for victims of bed bug exposure. For interviews please contact MYBEDBUGLAWYERTM, directly at (818) 907-5333 or visit our website at www.mybedbuglawyer.com. Photos https://www.dropbox.com/sh/thvyo78ggs0pjt0/AABsXXQuCGFi7iVAa3Pcdgl2a?dl=0 Videos https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x3tbr336y092f9a/AAAhwKzRJWb_EQ2uXUBQYkv7a?dl=0 SOURCE MYBEDBUGLAWYER Related Links http://mybedbuglawyer.com The timetable of several trains on the Western Railway will undergo some changes from January 19 to accommodate Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express, a railway official said here on Wednesday. The timings of 12 Mumbai-bound and 16 Ahmedabad-bound trains, including four MEMU (Main line EMU) will change by five to 10 minutes at intermediate stations, a WR release stated. "Some Western Railway trains on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route have undergone minimal changes in their timings for the operational requirements and convenience of passengers," chief public relations officer of Western Railway Ravinder Bhakar said. The WR further informed that Ahmedabad-MGR Chennai Central Navjeevan Express and Porbandar-Mumbai Central Saurashtra Express will run with a delay of 25 minutes and 55 minutes respectively from Ahmedabad, but will still reach on their present arrival time. "Despite minimal changes in timings at few specific intermediate stations, there has been an increase of just five minutes in the journeys of two Mail-Express trains and two MEMU trains," Bhakar said. All the other affected trains will reach their destinations at their present arrival time, he added. The Indian Railway will ply Tejas Express, the second private train in the country, operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) from January 19. The railways will conduct an inaugural run between Mumbai-Ahmedabad on January 17. The train will run six days a week, barring Thursday, and will depart from Ahmedabad at 6.40 am and arrive in Mumbai at 1.10 pm. From Mumbai Central, it will depart at 3.40 pm and reach Ahmedabad at 9.55 pm. According to railways, the fully air-conditioned train has features such as sliding doors, personalised reading lights, mobile charging points, attendant call buttons, bio- toilets, automatic entry and exit doors and CCTV cameras. The first private train Tejas Express is operational on the Delhi-Lucknow route. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vietnam's No.1 conglomerate has just submitted to the Ministry of Transport a request to strike out the business registration of Vinpearl Air in a move to reshape its porfolio to focus on its core values. Last year, Vinpearl Air, the aviation arm of Vingroup, was expected to start domestic and international flights from July 2020 with a fleet of six aircraft, according to Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Dinh Viet Thang. Previously, Vingroup inked a co-operation agreement with CAE Oxford Aviation Academy, the leading aeronautical training organisation, to set up VinAviation High-Tech Human Resources Training School and Vinpearl Air Flight Training Center in Vietnam. Qualified candidates will receive basic training in one of the worlds leading aviation training centres in the US and Australia, as well as at VinAviation School in 26 months. Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup officially called off its ambitious plans in the aviation industry with Vinpearl Air The latest movement, on the other hand, would not affect the VinAviation training centre. The group is ramping up efforts to shift its core value of the digital technology-driven business as part of its long-term strategic plan. Moreover, the giant reaffirmed that it will continue its vigorous attempts to upgrade ageing facilities and accommodate the rising demand for airport infrastructure development in Vietnam. The Vietnamese aviation sector boasts immense potential since the demand for air travel will likely grow further, said Nguyen Viet Quang, deputy chairman and CEO of Vingroup. Yet the competition is getting fiercer as big players are setting stronger footholds in the market. We understand our core competencies and strive to specialise on our technology and industry strengths, thus, we halt our aviation arm to avoid redundancy in human and financial resources. Vingroup closed its retail business after the M&A deal with Masan Group As of late December 2019, Vingroup exit from its retail business after merging e-commerce site Adayroi with e-payment unit VinID. The move came barely two weeks after the merger of its supermarket chains and agribusiness with Masan Group. The shares of Masan, as one of the blue-chips, were among the hardest hit after the news. Witness unreliable says prime accuse in Muzaffarpur case: Court seeks response India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: A Delhi court has sought the response of the CBI on a plea filed by Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in a case of alleged sexual and physical assault of several girls in a Muzaffarpur shelter home, claiming that testimonies of witnesses in the case were not reliable. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha directed the CBI to file its reply within two days and deferred for the third time pronouncement of judgement in the case till November 20. The plea filed through advocate P K Dubey said the prosecution witnesses were not of sterling quality. The plea was filed as the probe agency had given a statement in the Supreme Court that the girls, who were thought to be allegedly murdered, were alive, said advocate Dheeraj Kumar, representing some of the accused in the case. The court had earlier deferred the order till January 14 as the judge was on leave and prior to it, the judgment was deferred by a month as 20 accused, who are currently lodged in Tihar central jail, could not be brought to court premises due to lawyers' strike in all six district courts in the national capital. The court had on March 20, 2018, framed charges against the accused, including Thakur, for offences of criminal conspiracy to commit rape and penetrative sexual assault against minors. The accused included eight women and 12 men. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The Court had held the trial for the offences of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, drugging of minors, criminal intimidation among other charges. Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Court adjourns pronouncement of judgement till Jan 20 Thakur and employees of his shelter home, as well as Bihar department of social welfare officials, were charged with criminal conspiracy, neglect of duty and failure to report the assault on the girls. The charges also included offence of cruelty to child under their authority, punishable under the Juvenile Justice Act. All the accused, who appeared before the court, pleaded innocence and claimed trial. The offences entail a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The court had reserved order on September 30 after final arguments by the CBI counsel and 20 accused in the case in which former Bihar Social Welfare Minister and the then JD(U) leader Manju Verma also faced flak as allegations surfaced that Thakur had links with her husband. She had resigned from her post on August 8, 2018. The CBI had told a special court that there was enough evidence against all the accused in the case. However, those accused have claimed that the CBI had not conducted a "fair investigation" into the case, which has been registered under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and entails life imprisonment as the maximum punishment. Additional Sessions Judge Kulshreshtha, during the in-camera trial, concluded the arguments in the case. The case was transferred on February 7 from a local court in Muzaffarpur in Bihar to a POCSO court at Saket district court complex in Delhi on the Supreme Court's directions. During the trial, counsel for the CBI told the court that the statements of minor girls, who were allegedly sexually assaulted, point to the fact that there was enough evidence against all the accused and they should be convicted. The matter had come to light after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) submitted a report to the Bihar government on May 26, 2018, highlighting the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in the shelter home for the first time. On May 29 last year, the state government shifted the girls from the shelter home to other protection homes. On May 31, 2018, an FIR was lodged against the 11 accused in the case. The top court had on August 2 taken cognisance of the alleged sexual assault of about 30 minor girls in Muzaffarpur's shelter home and transferred the probe to the CBI on November 28. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Thirteen Filipino repatriates from Iraq have arrived in Manila on Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. This represents the first batch of Filipino nationals repatriated from Iraq amid the tensions in the Middle East. A group of seven adults and two kids was supposed to fly to Manila on Tuesday but had some visa trouble in Baghdad. Authorities at the Baghdad International Airport reportedly held them for visa fraud, which the DFA dubbed as a "baseless" allegation. Philippine authorities earlier said that it will prepare the necessary documents to assist the Filipinos in their journey back home, adding that travel documents will be provided by the DFA to those who do not have their passports on hand. Four other Filipinos came from Erbil, north of Baghdad. The two groups travelled to Doha, Qatar to catch their Manila-bound flights. The 13 Filipinos were scheduled to head back to the Philippines on Sunday but their homecoming after ashfall from Taal Volcano disrupted NAIA operations. READ: Airlines pledge free flights for OFW repatriation amid Middle East tensions The Filipinos are fleeing the conflict in Iraq following a US drone attack that killed a prominent Iranian commander in Baghdad on Jan. 3. That was followed by an Iraninan retaliatory assault on an Iraqi military base housing US troops, but the two sides have since indicated they won't seek further retaliation, at least in the short term. Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu earlier said that about 1,600 Filipinos have expressed intent to avail of repatriation. However, only a few of them actually went to the Philippine embassy in Baghdad to arrange their exit. Data from the Department of Labor and Employment showed there are 2,191 overseas Filipino workers in Iraq, while records from the DFA counted 4,204 Filipinos in the Middle Eastern country as of June 2019. President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a mandatory repatriation of Filipinos from Iraq as crisis alert level 4 has been hoisted in the area since January 8. TIMELINE: US-Iran conflict and how it gravely affects Filipinos Filipinos remaining in Iraq are expected to be brought home "in the coming weeks," DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said. Cimatu said these Filipinos must be moved out of Iraq as soon as possible, as it is uncertain if the US-Iran conflict has really settled down. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles earlier said that these OFWs can either avail of livelihood training and packages as they head home, or seek redeployment in other countries not affected by conflicts to continue working. Chris Woodgate (pictured) died on a flight to Brisbane on Saturday An Australian father-of-three who suddenly died in front of his family on a long-haul flight was struck down with meningitis, Daily Mail Australia can reveal. Chris Woodgate, an otherwise healthy 38-year-old, fell ill on an Air Canada plane from Vancouver to Brisbane on Saturday and tragically died mid-flight. Mystery had surrounded the cause of his death, but his shattered wife Tanya Woodgate told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday night the Department of Health had been in touch. 'I have been contacted by the Health Department who informed me that Chris passed away from a non-contagious strand of meningitis,' she said. Meningitis is a rare but serious infection of the membranes, which cover the brain and spinal cord. If not treated quickly, it can be fatal. Ms Woodgate has been left completely broken by her husband's death. Tanya Woodgate's 38-year-old husband Chris died suddenly on an Air Canada plane from Vancouver to Brisbane on Saturday. She revealed he died of a non-contagious strand of meningitis (pictured: Tanya Woodgate with her husband Chris and their three children) In a Facebook post on Sunday, Ms Woodgate wrote that their three children, who were on the flight, have lost an 'amazing' dad. She wrote: 'It is with complete heartbreak which I write this tragic news. Chris passed away suddenly on our flight home from Canada yesterday. We are all in a state of disbelief and shock. What is meningitis? Meningitis is when the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord become infected. It can be caused by bacteria or viruses. Meningitis is very serious, and can cause death. Symptoms and signs of meningitis in adults and older children include headache and fever, vomiting, neck stiffness, drowsiness and confusion A purplered skin rash or bruising discomfort can also develop. Source: Better Health Advertisement 'I have lost a wonderful husband and Liam, Callum and Mia have lost their amazing dad. Our world will never be the same.' Explaining what happened to flight AC035, she added: 'Our flight was diverted to Honolulu and I am working to bring him home as soon as we can. 'I will post details of when a memorial will be held for him. Thank you for your support and respect of our privacy at this difficult time.' Air Canada said the flight was diverted to Hawaii due to a 'medical emergency' but Mr Woodgate could not be saved. A spokesman for the airline, Peter Fitzpatrick, previously said it would not disclose the circumstances of Mr Woodgate's death. 'Out of respect for the privacy of our customers, Air Canada cannot confirm the details about the medical emergency,' he said. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Ms Woodgate wrote that their three children, who were on the flight, have lost an 'amazing' dad Jessica Lani Rich, from the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, told Honolulu Star-Advertiser Mr Woodgate was sick before the flight left Vancouver. There were 257 passengers and 13 crew members on board the flight who were required to disembark and stay overnight in Hawaii. 'Air Canada did an excellent job taking care of their passengers,' Ms Rich said. Her organisation acquired a nurse to care for an 11-year-old who was flying on their own. The passengers, who were given accommodation and food vouchers, were put on a different flight on Sunday. WASHINGTON President Trump wanted to strike down a law that prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials, calling the ban so unfair to American companies, two Washington Post reporters recount in a new book. In the spring of 2017, Mr. Trump was at a briefing with Rex W. Tillerson, then the secretary of state, and aides in the Oval Office. At the mention of a bribery allegation, Mr. Trump perked up and told Mr. Tillerson that he wanted his help in scrapping the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the authors write. That law, enacted in 1977 and heavily enforced since around 2005, prohibits companies that operate in the United States from bribing foreign officials to obtain or retain business. It has become a major factor in corporate decision-making about operations abroad. Mr. Trump said that it was just so unfair that American companies arent allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas, according to the book, A Very Stable Genius, by Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig. Nigel Farage, a prominent Brexiteer and leader of the Brexit Party, on Wednesday announced that his 'Leave Means Leave' campaign group will host a celebration at Parliament Square in London to mark Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) on January 31. Farage said the group is planning a 100,000 pounds party on Brexit Day and called on the British public to sign up to be a part of the celebrations. Leave Means Leave have been given approval to hold an event in Parliament Square on 31st January, he said in a Twitter statement. Great news! It is a big moment in the history of this nation to celebrate. Register now, he said. The announcement comes amid an ongoing row over the Big Ben ringing in the moment Britain formally leaves the 28-member economic bloc at the end of this month. Given that the famous London landmark is currently under refurbishment, the government says the cost of such a temporary ringing of the iconic bell housed in the Elizabeth Tower would be as much as 500,000 pounds. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson light-heartedly asked the British public to help fund the costs if there was widespread interest in the move, calling for them to bung a bob for a Big Ben bong. His official Downing Street spokesperson said that while Brexit Day would be properly marked, there was no specific government fund dedicated towards it. Staunch Brexiteers, led by Farage, have questioned the government's muted preparations for what they say is a historic moment for the country. "It's almost as if the government is embarrassed by Brexit. They don't want to celebrate the moment, said Farage. Boris got elected on a massive majority on the basis of 'Get Brexit Done' and he can't even bring himself as Prime Minister to say they are going to fund this to show the world we are organised and we are ready. I frankly think that, around the world, at that moment at 11pm, if Big Ben doesn't strike, our country looks like a joke," he said. The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on January 31 after missing previous deadlines since the June 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit. Johnson's so-called EU divorce bill cleared its House of Commons hurdle earlier this month and is going through the remaining stages to become law. Besides a celebration at Parliament Square, which the Mayor of London led Greater London Authority (GLA) confirmed had been given provisional authorisation, some local events are also likely to take place across the UK to mark Brexit Day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Is Helvetia Holding AG (VTX:HELN) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. On the other hand, investors have been known to buy a stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations. With Helvetia Holding yielding 3.5% and having paid a dividend for over 10 years, many investors likely find the company quite interesting. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. Some simple analysis can offer a lot of insights when buying a company for its dividend, and we'll go through this below. Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis SWX:HELN Historical Dividend Yield, January 15th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Helvetia Holding paid out 49% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. This is a middling range that strikes a nice balance between paying dividends to shareholders, and retaining enough earnings to invest in future growth. Besides, if reinvestment opportunities dry up, the company has room to increase the dividend. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Helvetia Holding's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Helvetia Holding's dividend payments. During this period the dividend has been stable, which could imply the business could have relatively consistent earnings power. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was CHF2.70 in 2010, compared to CHF4.80 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 5.9% per year over this time. Story continues Dividends have grown at a reasonable rate over this period, and without any major cuts in the payment over time, we think this is an attractive combination. Dividend Growth Potential While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. Earnings have grown at around 3.6% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! Helvetia Holding is paying out less than half of its earnings, which we like. Earnings per share growth have grown slowly, which is not great, but if the retained earnings can be reinvested effectively, future growth may be stronger. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. We're glad to see Helvetia Holding has a low payout ratio, as this suggests earnings are being reinvested in the business. Second, earnings growth has been mediocre, but at least the dividends have been relatively stable. Overall we think Helvetia Holding is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 5 analysts we track are forecasting for Helvetia Holding for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher has called for more clarity in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement on the future status of EU citizens living in the UK including Northern Ireland. The Ireland South MEP says a range of issues need to be clarified including what rights and entitlements EU citizens will have if they end up living in the UK post Brexit. Mumin Omar and a host of other young Rochester residents are looking for ways to make the local mosques more inviting to a wider range of people. They want younger people involved, more women basically, they want a truer representation of their community. To kickstart the conversation, Omar is helping to host a viewing of the documentary film, " UnMosqued, " on Sunday, from 2 - 4:30 p.m. The film explores how mosques need to reform around the country, and how some have done so successfully. A discussion afterward will seek ideas on how to follow through on reform in Rochester. There will be no finger-pointing, Omar assures participants, but the discussion will look into concrete ways to create change. ADVERTISEMENT "Its going to be an idea-sharing session where people present solutions to this existing problem," Omar said. "Challenging to change. Its a cultural shift. Its going to take time to implement this. The film is going to be used. Theres a certain amount of joylessness, (the thought that) this is done, its hopeless. This film shows you that (reform)s been done before and can be done again and again." As a 20-year-old, Omar is one of the younger people in the Muslim/Islamic community who attend mosques in Rochester. Many of his peers want more youth representation. He explained that many mosques all over the world are led by a board of directors that are typically all-male, and all over 40 years of age. "Our society wasnt egalitarian," Omar said. "Women not present. Youth unrepresented. No person was represented except the men above 40 in the leadership. What can we do about this?" "The impetus is why we want to show the documentary is to start a culture of discourse within the community," Essa Mohamed, a Mayo Clinic postdoctoral fellow and fellow Rochester mosque attendee, added. He said there is a generational split thats obvious. "To say that a group of individuals who all come from the same socioeconomic background and same type of ideological perspective are going to be the representatives for a community that is quite diverse in thought process, quite diverse in gender identity, quite diverse in terms of their viewpoints in how we should conduct organizations I dont think thats at least what we envision on how that should be done," he said. Mosque leadership has a say in who can attend prayer, manage land sales, and have quite a bit of power in their community, he added. There are four mosques in Rochester, and Omar said that the communities viewers will see explored in the film mosques from Houston, Berkeley, and more are very similar to whats here. ADVERTISEMENT As for Rochesters Muslim youth, Omar said they have been very active over the past year and a half. They go to city council meetings and hold events as a way to integrate themselves more into Rochester, and let their ideas and voices be heard. "The energy thats coming, this has been run by kids from high school, RCTC, UMR, Winona State," Omar said. "We arent against the experienced. All were saying is have our demographic too. Have every person represented. When you have every person at the table, you have a diverse amount of ideas. Thats how were going to become a model society." {{tncms-inline content="

What: "UnMosqued" Film and Discussion

When: 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19

Where: Rochester Public Library, 101 2nd St. SE, Rochester

Cost: Free

" id="64981060-dbfd-4c92-84c4-a5c2bd109a2e" style-type="fact" title="If You Go" type="relcontent"}} What: "UnMosqued" Film and Discussion When: 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 Where: Rochester Public Library, 101 2nd St. SE, Rochester Cost: Free Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) on Tuesday became the fourth Republican senator to declare support for a Democrat-led resolution that aims to curtail President Trumps power to instigate military action against Iran. With the addition of Collins and three other Republicans, Democrats say they have enough votes to pass the war powers resolution in the Senate. Congress cannot be sidelined on these important decisions, Collins told the Washington Post after her announcement. The other Republican supporters of the resolution are libertarian-leaning senators Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, as well as Todd Young of Indiana. The resolution was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D., Va.) following the killing of senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in early January. Kaine has since removed wording critical of President Trump in a bid to make it more palatable to Republicans, and Young dubbed the revised resolution Kaine 2.0. Kaine said on Tuesday that he is attempting to bring even more Republican senators on board. Paul and Lee declared their support after exiting an intelligence briefing last week on the Soleimani strike. Both were incensed by what they considered to be overreach by the executive branch in carrying out the strike without congressional knowledge or approval, as well as by the alleged flippancy of the officials who delivered the briefing. It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government . . . to come in and tell us that we cant debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran, Lee told reporters following the briefing. Its un-American. Its unconstitutional. And its wrong. And I hope and expect that they will show more deference to their limited power in the future. More from National Review With the help of what seemed at times like an army of volunteers, the St. Vincent de Paul Ministry of the St. Helena Catholic Church, in collaboration with the UpValley Family Center, distributed boxes of food, fresh produce, age appropriate toys, gift cards and turkeys to 137 families, representing over 500 adults and children on Saturday, Dec. 21. Much thanks goes to Napa County Coalition of Toys for Tots, Catholic Charities, Napa Food Pantry & Salvation Army for providing the bulk of the donations and to Steves Hardware, the Napa Valley Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Adventist Health St. Helena, St. Helena Presbyterian Church, St. Helena Fire Department, St. Helena Parks & Recreation and the parishioners of St. Helena Catholic Church and many other St. Helena community businesses for their additional donations and assistance. None of it would have been accomplished however without the many volunteers from the St. Helena Catholic Church parish and others in the community, who gave up their Saturday morning to efficiently organize and execute the distribution. We of the St. Vincent de Paul Ministry of St. Helena Catholic Church wish blessings bestowed on all who contributed, as well as a very healthy and prosperous New Year! Pat Pingitore President, St. Vincent de Paul Ministry St. Helena Catholic Church ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The George Mason University Master of Laws (LL.M.) Degree in Global Antitrust Law and Economics provides students with in-depth study of global antitrust issues, from world-renowned antitrust and law and economics scholars. The LL.M. in Global Antitrust Law and Economics builds on the school's tradition and commitment to antitrust law and economics. The George Mason University Master of Laws (LL.M.) Degree in Global Antitrust Law and Economics provides students with in-depth study of global antitrust issues, from world-renowned antitrust and law and economics scholars. This online program is designed to meet the needs of working, foreign-trained attorneys, interested in gaining competence in a common law system. Students have the opportunity to take on legal work outsourced from the U.S., with the potential to take U.S. licensing exams in qualifying states. Scalia Law's Competitive Advantage: To earn an LL.M. in Global Antitrust Law & Economics through the program, students must complete 24-26 credit hours of coursework. Students may study full-time and complete the program in one academic year, or part-time for up to three years. Learn more about the degree program at https://www.law.gmu.edu/admissions/llm/llm_global_antitrust/. About George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School As Virginia's largest public research university, George Mason University sets the standard for a bold, progressive education that serves our students and communities. The Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University is ranked in the top 50 best law schools by U.S. News & World Report. Our strategic location in Arlington, Va., just two miles from Washington, D.C., gives students easy access to hundreds of opportunities and legal resources. Our location, together with our pioneering core competencies, a demanding curriculum, and influential alumni connections, give students a distinct advantage in a competitive work environment. CONTACT: Megan Ablondi (239) 325-4407 [email protected] SOURCE George Mason University - Antonin Scalia School of Law Related Links https://www.law.gmu.edu An armed robber struck a Southeast Portland bar Tuesday night, marking at least the 10th stickup at a neighborhood watering hole in two months. The suspect entered Gold Dust Meridian in the 3200 block of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard just before midnight, said Lt. Tina Jones, a Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman. The suspect left quickly with an unknown amount of cash, Jones said. There were no reported injuries. Calls and emails to Gold Dust Meridian were not immediately answered. The robbery occurred less than three blocks from Mulligans Bar & Grill, which a pair of gunmen hit on Nov. 12. Since then, armed bandits have held up at least nine other bars and taverns in east or North Portland. Police have reported no arrests in any of the robberies. The prior attacks generally took place early in the week and late at night. Most if not all involved two robbers, in contrast to Tuesdays stickup. Nov. 12, 12:50 a.m. Mulligans Bar & Grill (3518 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.) Nov. 18, 2019, 2:03 a.m. Tulip Shop Tavern (825 N. Killingsworth St.) Nov. 19, 2019, 12:19 a.m. Lotsa Luck Bar & Grill (2136 S.E. Powell Blvd.) Nov. 19, 2019, 2:30 a.m. Cosmo Lounge (6707 S.E. Milwaukie Ave.) Nov. 25, 2019, 11:33 p.m. Wilshire Tavern (4052 N.E. 42nd Ave.) Nov. 30, 2019, 11:17 p.m. Lombard Pub (3416 N. Lombard St.) Dec. 6, 2019, 5:29 p.m. Darcys Restaurant and Bar (4804 N. Lombard St.) Dec. 9, 2019, 1 a.m. Mock Crest Tavern (3435 N. Lombard St.) Dec. 11, 2019, 12:27 a.m. Darcys Restaurant and Bar (4804 N. Lombard St.) Dec. 20, 2019, 5 p.m. Barlow Tavern (6008 N. Greeley, Ave.) Jan. 14, 2020, 11:52 p.m. Gold Dust Meridian (3627 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Get an audio rundown of the days top headlines, now available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Were also on Amazon Alexa. Church St. NE, 100 block, 7:30 a.m. Jan. 4. A man entered a restaurant and became irate with two employees and spat in their direction. He reported the encounter to police and later when he returned to the restaurant, one of the employees yelled at him. The man stood outside and yelled back. A 34-year-old Vienna man was served a warrant. Apple and the U.S. Justice Department are at it again. This time its over cracking a brace of iPhones owned by the Saudi Air Force cadet who killed three sailors in a shooting spree last month at the naval air station in Pensacola, Florida. At a news conference held Monday to announce the findings of an investigation into the Pensacola incident, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr called out Apple for refusing to help the FBI recover data on the phones owned by the cadet, Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, who also was a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force. We have asked Apple for their help in unlocking the shooters iPhones. So far Apple has not given us any substantive assistance, Barr told reporters, reading from a statement. This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that investigators be able to get access to digital evidence once they have obtained a court order based on probable cause, he continued. We call on Apple and other technology companies to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks, Barr added. Barrs Comments Refuted Barrs comments provoked Apple to issue a statement of its own on the subject. We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation, Apple said. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing. Within hours of the FBIs first request for information, Apple provided the agency with a variety of information for its probe and continued to do so from Dec. 7 to Dec. 14. In response to six additional requests for information, the company provided investigators with iCloud backups, account information, and transactional data for multiple accounts. The queries resulted in many gigabytes of information that we turned over to investigators. In every instance, we responded with all of the information that we had, Apple said in its statement. We are continuing to work with the FBI, and our engineering teams recently had a call to provide additional technical assistance, it added. Apple has great respect for the Bureaus work, and we will work tirelessly to help them investigate this tragic attack on our nation. Backdoors Swing 2 Ways In its statement, Apple criticized the use of backdoors as a means for law enforcement to obtain data protected by encryption. We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers, the company stated. Today, law enforcement has access to more data than ever before in history, so Americans do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations. We feel strongly encryption is vital to protecting our country and our users data, it continued. Apple is right to provide strong security to its users, requiring a passcode or biometrics to unlock a phone, maintained Kurt Opsahl, general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online rights advocacy group in San Francisco. The attorney generals request that Apple re-engineer its phones to break that security imperils millions of innocent Americans and others around the globe, and is a poor trade-off for security policy, he told TechNewsWorld. Fundamental Disagreement There is a fundamental disagreement on this issue, observed Tim Erlin, vice president of product management and strategy at Tripwire, a cybersecurity threat detection and prevention company in Portland, Oregon. Advocates for lawful access believe that the ability to catch criminals outweighs the risks of compromised privacy, and privacy advocates believe that your right to privacy outweighs the governments right to search those devices, he told TechNewsWorld. Theres no doubt that the ability to bypass a devices encryption compromises privacy. The argument put forth in favor of such access is that its worth it, Erlin said. No one on either side of the argument law enforcement or technology has come up with a means to provide lawful access that cant be abused or exploited by unintended third parties, he continued. This isnt a new fight for either the U.S. government or Apple, added Erlin. By making a very public request on a very high-profile incident, Barr is aiming to put public pressure on Apple to comply where legal pressure has previously failed to get a result. Creating Public Pressure The Justice Department has wanted legislation mandating backdoors to encrypted devices for decades, noted Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C. A D V E R T I S E M E N T They knew before they asked that Apple wasnt going to be able to unlock the phones, he told TechNewsWorld. Rather, this is about picking a high-profile case to restart that debate and create political pressure for that policy, Sanchez continued. We know they did this in the San Bernardino case, where an internal watchdog report found that the FBI was so eager for a court fight to make a political point that they didnt put much effort into exploring other ways to crack the phone even though thats what ultimately worked, he said. Fourteen people were killed and 22 seriously injured during a terrorist attack four years ago on the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. The FBI pressured Apple to crack the phone of one of the terrorists, but the company refused. Eventually, a contractor was found with tools to hack the phone for the FBI. There are presumably dozens if not hundreds of phones the FBI would like to break into, Sanchez said. They know full well Apple cant do what theyre asking. Theyve decided to stage a public fight over this one because they think its a case that will create political pressure on Congress to give them the policy they want. Reason for Skepticism The Justice Department and FBI have been misleading the public about their inability to access data on cellphones, maintained Gregory T. Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, an online civil liberties and human rights advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. On one occasion, they overstated by at least a factor of four the number of phones they could not break into, he told TechNewsWorld. On another occasion, they sued Apple to compel assistance, even though they had a contractor 90 percent of the way to finding a solution. Eventually, the contractor broke into the phone, and the Department of Justice dropped the lawsuit, Nojeim said. So I think theres reason to be skeptical about FBI claims that its going dark, he observed. Encryption is important for the functioning of society today, added Nojeim. There are so many opportunities for the FBI to track us and gain information about who we contact and who contacts us. It has more access to more data about more people than at any other time in the history of the country. Chinese expansionism doesnt always involve reviving, or inventing, territorial claims along their borders. Chinese efforts to annex the South China Sea and large areas on their Indian border get a lot of diplomatic, military and media attention but there is another kind of Chinese expansion that, while less noticed, is becoming a serious economic and political problem for the countries the Chinese have been allowed to invade economically. There are a growing number of countries that allow Chinese investment on a large, multi-billion dollar, scale. Such large investments come with conditions, and thats where the trouble begins. The Chinese insist that they must bring their own Chinese workforce. This includes demands that these new visitors can establish their own Chinese settlements and then stay when the project is over. The new visitors must be allowed to start businesses. This sort of thing results in the Chinese establishing a permanent economic presence and control over a growing percentage of the local economy. This does not always end well, with the Chinese being driven out of the country along with any more Chinese investment. One reason for building a large navy and military air transport fleet is to provide armed escorts for Chinese bill collectors and diplomats. Many Chinese neighbors are actively resisting these terms because these nations know what it means; eventual annexation of some or all their territory because it is now Chinese. Even Russia and North Korea are threatened by this. Former Soviet Union provinces in Central Asia, independent since 1991, are seeking closer ties with nuclear-armed Russia for defense against these Chinese moves. China would be all over North Korea if it werent for the fiercely nationalistic North Korean dictatorship. All Koreans know that the historical Greater Korea used to include large portions of northeast China that once had majority Korean population. These areas now have large Korean minority populations but are indisputably Chinese. The same thing is happening in northwest China where Xinjiang province was once known as East Turkestan with a majority Uighur Moslem population. Centuries of Chinese efforts to turn Xinjiang from a conquered province into a Han (ethnic Chinese) majority region have succeeded in many respects. A similar effort is underway in Tibet, where the local population are distant cousins to the Han but have for over a thousand years resisted Chinese occupation and domination. Tibet is losing that battle. There is a similar situation in Chinese Outer Mongolia, a portion of neighboring Mongolia where centuries of Chinese trade and Han migration turned a large portion of Mongolia into what is now the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. China started its Hanification of the area in the 14th century, after the Mongol dynasty in China was overthrown and China sought to eliminate any future Mongol threats by gradually absorbing Mongolia. Currently the rest of Mongolia is called Outer Mongolia by the Chinese and is independent only because of alliances with Russia. In time the Chinese will make all of Mongolia Chinese. Considering their past experience, China is trying something different in Africa. Here China is sending in attractive trade deals first, followed by offers of huge development loans, but only if the locals accept Chinese terms. This is changing Africa and more and more Africans are wondering how far the Chinese will go. Since 2000 Chinese use of these invasion tactics has become increasingly obvious in the African nations involved. The most troublesome (for all concerned) side effect is the growth of intense anti-Chinese attitudes by resentful and still unemployed locals. The bad relations began when Africans realized that the Chinese bring their own workers and employ few locals for construction projects China was paying for. Over time fewer and fewer locals were used. This gave the Chinese greater control over projects, usually related to construction (buildings, roads, and the like) or mining. Currently, Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia are the major targets for these Chinese tactics. Similar efforts in North Africa have been less successful because local opposition developed quickly and were quite violent. So China now concentrates on sub-Saharan Africa. The Chinese point out that using their own workforce ensures that the project will get done on time and on budget. But there is a downside to the use of imported workers. It is easier for the Chinese to ignore local advice, which leads to construction practices that work back in China but not in various parts of Africa. Also the locals have different attitudes towards the use and maintenance of the new facilities. Often, after a decade or less, the Chinese projects are falling apart. No problem, because there are now plenty of Chinese (about two million now, throughout Africa) and Chinese companies (about 10,000 so far) to rebuild and maintain this infrastructure that has now become a vital part of the local economy The Chinese workers are kept in separate camps initially and eventually in newly built towns and city neighborhoods. The Chinese rarely mix with locals, giving rise to suspicions that they are Chinese convict labor. Theres no evidence of that, and Chinese managers everywhere tend to be very intent on tightly controlling work they are responsible for and seek to maintain, and profit from it, in perpetuity. Many of these Chinese workers stay after the project is completed and go into business locally. These Chinese construction projects please the local African officials because the Chinese get the job done quickly and with minimal problems from locals. Neither the local politicians nor the Chinese are concerned with long-term problems. China has been generous with business deals in Africa, and sent millions of Chinese to work, invest, or settle in Africa. The local tyrants are treated well as partners. That's because these thugs are shunned by Western nations and businesses. Because of this, China is increasingly seen as a supporter of evil governments and that has generated widespread African hostility towards all things Chinese. This has led to anti-Chinese riots in some countries and general animosity towards the Chinese at the grassroots level. Thus, when these countries go through their next rebellion, the Chinese are likely to be a popular target and a major loser if the rebels win. Despite the risks, China has been at this in a big way since 2002. This really kicked into high gear when China declared 2006 was officially "The Year of Africa." China went all out to make a favorable impression on African governments and increase Chinese economic and diplomatic activity in Africa that year. To that end, about a billion dollars worth of debts, of African nations to the Chinese government, were forgiven. The year before, Chinese commercial and government organizations invested over $20 billion in Africa. This was less than one percent of China's GDP but by African standards, it was a huge investment. However, there was some blowback. The Chinese were mainly after raw materials, especially oil. A lot of the billions invested were bribes for local officials. As usual, the average African was getting screwed by these deals. For example, a lot of the investment was for infrastructure (roads, bridges, structures), and a lot of those deals stipulated the use of Chinese labor for most of the work despite public promises of jobs for locals. There was never any intention of employing many Africans and the people signing these deals knew it. The Chinese pay such low wages that they could afford to fly in Chinese for many jobs. China is also flooding African markets with inexpensive goods. Both of these tactics are hurting local businesses and cause unrest among African business owners and workers. As a result, it's become common for opposition parties in Africa to accuse China of "neo-colonial exploitation." The accusation fits, and the Chinese will pay for it down the road, as will peacekeepers brought in to help clean up the mess. Russia, Central Asian and other Asian nations are seeing the same tactics being used on them and are demanding restrictions on these practices. Thailand turned down billions in Chinese investments because the Chinese would not limit the use of Chinese labor doing the work in Thailand. China is now more willing to negotiate because a growing number of nations are willing to do without Chinese investment if the terms include an influx of Chinese workers, many of whom want to stay for good. The overseas Chinese have been a presence in Asia for thousands of years. But until now the Chinese government was never much concerned with them. China was never, until the late 20th century, a major international trading power. Now China is and it is spending heavily to finance the migration of more Chinese to settle in foreign lands and never forget where they came from. For those who do, when the motherland calls, the Chinese government will remind the unwilling that they still have kin or other links back in China and how shameful would it be if this lack of cooperation became known. We're only a few weeks into January, but we bet you're already dreaming of jetting off on an exotic vacation in a far-away land (preferably one without WiFi). But after the bank purge that went along with the holidays, you can't even begin to justify dropping $3K on a four-day trip to Granada. You idly sit by sulking while your friends and coworkers plan extravagant trips to Peru and Nicaragua and wonder, "Seriously, how much does she make?" But we're about to throw down some jet-setting realness: You're booking your trips in the wrong place. Enter Travelzoo, an online site that does the hard work for you. Travelzoo is where you'll find hundreds of deals on flights, hotels, vacation packages and more. Think of it as Expedia combined with a travel agency but without all the fees and unwanted human interaction. Our favorite feature of the site? "This Week's Top 20 Deals" that calls out the best travel bundles in every corner of the world. And the trip we want to book ASAP? This six-night guided tour to Morocco for only $999 (including flights and four-star hotels). Already obsessing over of the art galleries in Fez? Here's everything you can expect on this once-in-a-lifetime trip: What's included? Roundtrip flights, six nights in upscale hotels, airport transfers, ground transportation in a private bus, sightseeing and entrance fees per itinerary, guide services, hotel porterage, daily breakfast and one dinner with wine. Where will we visit? 1. Rabat: The tour begins with one night in the capital of Morocco. You'll have a chance to explore the walkable city and enjoy the stunning views of the Atlantic coast. 2. Fez: Known for its history, culture and art, you'll spend two nights exploring this massive medina (which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). 3. Marrakesh: Ah, Marrakesh. Spend two nights exploring the many mosques and bustling souks while shopping for handwoven rugs and exotic spices. Story continues 4. Casablanca: Finally, end your trip with one night in Casablanca, the spot made famous by the 1942 film. When does the trip depart? Pick any date that works for you from November through December 2020. All departures through December 2021 from any major U.S. gateway are also discounted. The site touts this trip as having over $2,000 in savings (just think of all the Moroccan rugs you can now buy). This deal won't last forever though. Book by January 17, 2020 to secure your spot and leave that travel envy in the dust Sahara. BOOK NOW RELATED: 11 Travel Trends of 2020 That Will Awaken Your Wanderlust PureWow may receive a portion of sales from products purchased from this article, which was created independently from PureWow's editorial and sales departments. Driftnet fishing is a technique that utilizes gill nets attached to floaters. The nets are then allowed to float freely at the surface of a lake or sea. The net is considered very effective since it is near invisible while underwater. The fishing method involves laying nets 30 feet deep and up to 30 miles wide. The nets are then left to drift overnight before they are retrieved. In 1989, the United Nations passed a resolution to ban drift net fishing in the South Pacific region. Before the ban, regional fishery scientists had stated that the stocks of albacore tuna vital to the economies of small islands- could be wiped out if Japanese and Taiwanese boats continued drift netting at the same rate. At the time, Taiwan and Japan claimed that research was needed to support the ban, but the position met with harsh criticism from other countries in the region. Japan later reduced its South Pacific drift-net fleet and agreed to accept a moratorium. Taiwan, which is not a member of the UN, also indicated that it would comply with the agreement. The UN resolution, however, left open the possibility of lifting the ban if effective management and conservation measures were taken. Arguments In Favor Of A global ban on driftnets Drift nets are not selective, and their use results in a significant bycatch of non-target species such as turtles, sea birds, sharks, and marine mammals. For example, the drift-net fishery for swordfish in the Mediterranean results in the killing of huge numbers of striped dolphins, sperm whales, and smaller numbers of common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, fin whales, long-finned pilot whales, Cuviers beaked whales, and other non-target marine wildlife. Concerns about excessive bycatch in the early 1990s prompted the EU to ban the use of drift nets longer than 1.5 miles (before the ban the average length was 26 miles). Some fishing nations have, however, objected to the regulation and do not enforce. In the late 1980s, pelagic drift nets killed an estimated one million dolphins, porpoises, and other cetaceans, millions of sea birds, and thousands of seals and sea turtles annually. According to figures supplied by the Italian Merchant Marine Ministry, between 1990 and 1991, only 18% of the catch in Italian driftnet fleet in the Mediterranean was swordfish, and the other 82% consisted of 85 different non-target species almost all of which were discarded. Although hard evidence has not been provided, there are anecdotal reports that show substantial reductions in non-target species such as cetaceans in regions that have had intensive drift net fishing. Ghost Nets A significant number of drift nets are lost at sea, particularly during severe storms. The nets are manufactured from synthetic material and are resistant to degradation. The lost nets, also known as ghost nets, continue to snare fish, birds, turtles, sharks, and other marine wildlife for many years. It is difficult to assess the magnitude of the problem, but it undoubtedly increases the mortality of marine wildlife. Resource Depletion The relative economic efficiency of using drift nets in areas with dispersed stock has been taken to suggest that they increase the likelihood of resource overexploitation. Experts who support the argument claim that, as fish stock becomes depleted and more dispersed, the use of drift nets could still be utilized due to their higher economic efficiency, therefore, depleting the fish resource more quickly. Resource Wastage Drift is often criticized for great wastage of fishery resources. Fish caught in drift nets are often left in the sea for several hours before the net is retrieved, which means that a relatively high proportion of fish is spoiled and has to be discarded. The ratio of fish that is rejected due to spoilage is not usually reported. Still, observations made on Japanese vessels operating in the South Pacific suggest that the wastage is approximately 2% of the catch. Drift nets also have a significant fish drop-out (proportion of fish observed to fall off the net as it is hauled). Squid drift net fishery in the North Pacific has drop-out rates of between 3% and 10%. An experiment conducted in England found that seals consumed 5 % of salmon from the driftnets before the net was hauled. Some studies have also found that sharks were attracted to the nets. Physical Impediment To Sea Traffic Drift nets also pose significant challenges to other vessels and fisheries in general. Drift nets have been known to ensnare propellers and keels of other vessels occasionally. The frequency and economic consequences of such occurrences are, however, not adequately documented. Arguments Against The Ban It has been suggested that a full ban on drift net fishing could address the persisting environmental issues, but no attempts have been made to assess the knock-on effects of banning. According to opponents of the ban, proponents of the same fail to address the inherent weaknesses of a system that allow other forms of fisheries, which might focus on sensitive fishing areas and harm threatened stocks and causes great pressure on fisheries. Proponents of a ban also do not factor in other aspects such as pollution, which significantly affect fish populations. It would appear that putting fishermen off the water is an easier option or perhaps a higher priority than tackling pollution. As per the opinion of opponents, a ban would also undermine inshore fleets to the extent that fishing vessels that have been regarded as models of sustainable practice would have a key method at their disposal taken away. Socio-economic Impact On Fishing Communities The socio-economic impact of such a ban has not been disaggregated to port and communities that utilize driftnet fishing. The explanatory memorandum accompanying the ban proposal in the EU argues that the total value of small scale driftnets represents 0.14% of the total value of the UK landings in 2011. It asserts that the overall socio-economic impact of a total ban would be irrelevant at the national and sub-regional levels. Experts have argued that the wording could be seen as insensitive and inflammatory since the income generated by small scale fishing is anything but irrelevant for those who still rely on the practice. Environmental Impacts Are Not Well Researched Proposals to ban drift nets have been based mainly on the need to cut environmental impact associated with driftnets regardless of their scale. The environmental impact of small scale drift net fishing is not adequately researched primarily due to difficulty in monitoring such fleets. The assumption that a ban would improve environmental conditions remains unproven. Roy Smith from Defra believes the suppositions on drift nets are not entirely well-founded. Roy Smith argues that for the waters around the United Kingdom (the North Sea and Western waters), the current EU cetacean bycatch regulations (812/2004) target controls on bottom sea gill and entanglement nets, which is where the related bycatch has been an issue, rather than drift nets per se. He further states that a total ban of drift nets presupposes that the resultant move to alternative gears will present a more acceptable bycatch profile, which is not necessarily the case. UK fisheries cetacean bycatch monitoring and reporting suggest that a move away from driftnets to alternative trammel net fishing will not necessarily lower overall cetacean bycatch. UK fisheries for herring, bass, and salmon also do not have serious bycatch issues as exhibited in the Mediterranean and other fisheries that are of concern. Loss Of Income Drift net boats in the UK often have fish that are of better quality due to the limited amount of damage impacted on the catch when they are caught. The superior quality attracts a higher price premium, which goes to fishermen who are then better able to take care of their families. An Economical Method Of Fishing Drift nets are cost-effective and can target dispersed stocks in areas that would otherwise have been uneconomical using alternative methods of fishing. Drift nets, therefore, out-compete other fisheries in particular areas. Fuel Efficiency And Lower Emissions Drift net boats have low operating costs as a percentage of income earned compared to other fleets using alternative fishing methods. In the UK, fuel costs as a percentage of income for most vessels are about 12%. The lower costs are because the drift net boats do not have to tow large and fuel-costly nets. The low operating cost is only bettered by hook and line fishers. Drift net boats have lower carbon emissions, more economical engines that have a better carbon footprint compared to their larger counterparts. The sustainability credentials of drift net fishing have to be considered while factoring in greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Environmental Management Consideration In the past, various management measures have been taken to minimize the impact of fisheries on the environment. Some of the measures that have been adopted include restricting the use of certain gear types, the introduction of quotas for non-target species, banning particular types of gear from a specific area, and the development of modified gear that minimizes impact on non-target species. The management measures under consideration should be considered within the management objectives. In the case of driftnets, several environmental objectives may be relevant. For example, controlling the impact or elimination of bycatch from a particular species could be considered appropriate environmental objectives. Alia Bhatts First Look As Gangubai Kathiawadi Will Blow You Away; Check It Out SPRINGFIELD Suzy Batiz whose success in developing the toilet bowl spray cleaner Poo-Pourri earned her a spot on Forbes 2019 list of the countrys richest self-made women, will join headliner Tyra Banks as speaker at Bay Path Universitys 25th annual Womens Leadership Conference in March. Patrice Banks, who became a pioneer in the auto industry when she decided to leave a career as a Dupont engineer and manager to study to be an auto mechanic and open a full-service auto repair business staffed by all-female mechanics in 2017, has also been announced as a speaker. Batiz, whose net worth has been placed at $240 million, will be the morning speaker. The innovative Poo-Pourri was introduced in 2007 as a before-you-go toilet spray and its success as a smell cover-up - it is said to have sold 60 million bottles to date - its seen as a mirror of the business determination of Batiz who had undertaken a number of prior less successful enterprises. Batiz founded Supernatural, a line of household cleaning products, in 2018. Their parent company is Texas-based Scentsible LLC. Patrice Banks, whose Pennsylvania business Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center caught the interest of Hollywood producer and actress Elizabeth Banks and inspired what almost became the scripted comedy show Pattys Auto on Fox, will be the lunchtime speaker. Her center offers free monthly workshops for women to learn about car repair as well. The previously announced Tyra Banks, host of Americas Next Top Model, is the afternoon speaker. These speakers are true visionaries. Theyve built businesses as women, for women, around the specific perspectives that women gain as consumers, said Caron Hobin, vice president of Strategic Alliances, the Bay Path division that produces the conference for the Longmeadow-based university, in announcing the additional speakers. They exemplify the true power of perpetual determination, hard work and boundless creativity, and we think this will be one of the most interesting and motivating conferences ever. The conference, which this year is themed Own Your Now, takes place Friday, March 27, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center. Session speakers and their topics can be viewed on the conference website. Registration is offered online as well. Actor R Madhavan had the perfect response to a 3 Idiots picture shared by the Maharashtra Police on Wednesday. Using a meme of all three main characters of the hit 2009 film, the police tried to warn commuters against triple riding. The photo showed Madhavan, Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi riding a single scooter, without any helmets. The text next to the photo read, Triple seat. Jaane Nahi Dege Tujhe (We will not let you go) The polices tweet also read, Dil Jo Tera Baat Baat Pe Ghabraaye, Driver Idiot Hai, Pillion Pyaar Se Usko Samjha Le #AalIzzNotWell #RoadSafetyWeek @ActorMadhavan. Madhavan replied with a picture of himself from real life. In it, he is seen riding a bike all by himself and even wearing a helmet. I agree WHOLE Heartedly..., he wrote in his tweet. The actors fans loved his response. You are superb Sir. My Fav, wrote one. However, some recommended him to wear a full helmet for better protection. The star cast and crew of 3 Idiots recently celebrated the films 10-year anniversary. Boman Irani, who played the popular role of the dean Viru Virus Sahastrabuddhe got nostalgic. I am pleasantly surprised that people actually like an unhappy character like Virus. He is so negative. I had never thought Virus would be a character people would catch on with because of the negativity but it seems that the more times people watch this movie, the character becomes more relatable. Also, the character redeemed himself in the end and thats what helps add to the relatable nature of the character. I am so grateful that the film is loved. People should choose to love a character. Viewers have the real power over cinema -- it is because of their love and appreciation for the characters in this movie that it has come so far, Boman said. Also read: Deepika Padukone loves Alia Bhatts Gangubai Kathiawadi look, Ranveer Singh calls her Lulu The Gangster Aamir, Sharman, Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor starred in the movie based on Chetan Bhagats bestseller Five Point Someone. It revolves around three friends and their college days. The film became the biggest blockbuster of Bollywood, upon release. Its been 10 years and the movie is still etched in the hearts of people -- especially for actors performances and the hit songs like All izz well, Zoobi doobi and Behti hawa sa tha woh. Follow @htshowbiz for more YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan of the Republic of Artsakh issued a statement on the 30th anniversary of the Baku massacres of Armenians organized by Azerbaijan in January 1990. Armenpress presents the text of the statement: In January 1990, the Azerbaijani city of Baku again became a tramp for continuously executing massacres against Armenians (third time after 1905 and 1918 massive massacres of Armenians), where, unlike in other Azerbaijani settlements, a considerable number of Armenians were still living. After a crowded rally in Baku on January 13th, according to a predefined plan, a crowd of about 50,000, divided into groups, invaded the homes of Armenians in order to "clean" the city from them. During the period from 13th to 20th January, the Armenians of Baku were subjected to violence, massacres, looting and forcible expulsion for their nationality, massively violating their rights to life, not being tortured and discriminated against, liberty and security, property, fair trial, among others. The exact number of the killed people is not known yet, but according to our latest research, it is over 450 people. On the occasion of the massacres of Armenians in Baku and attacks on Getashen and other Armenian villages of Shahumyan region, on January 18th, the European Parliament adopted a resolution titled On the Situation in Armenia, which called upon the authorities of the USSR to guarantee real protection for the Armenian people living in Azerbaijan by sending forces to intervene. Only on the night of January 20th, the Soviet Army subdivisions were brought to the capital of the Azerbaijani SSR. Overcoming the fierce resistance of the Azerbaijani National Front troops, The Soviet army stopped the 7-days massacre of Armenians. On September 27th, 1990, an open letter addressed to the international community was published in the New York Review of Books. The letter was signed by 133 prominent scholars and human rights advocates from Europe, Canada and the USA, who voiced their complaint against the killings and pogroms of Armenians in Baku. It stated particularly that The crimes committed against Armenian minority have become a consistent practice in Soviet Azerbaijan, if not an official policy. That crime against humanity, organized by Azerbaijan in Baku, has accelerated and almost finished the full ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan. Within the framework of that ethnic cleansing, during 1988-1990, thousands of Armenians were killed and more than 400,000 Armenians were deported from Azerbaijani Sumgait, Kirovabad and other cities, as well as from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, with knowledge and permission of the USSR authorities. In subsequent years (including during the 1991-1994 Azerbaijan-Karabakh war), Azerbaijan continued the policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians, according to our analysis, which is in full compliance with the legal formulation of the genocide perpetrated under the UN 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Moreover, our research shows that apart from the depatriation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani Armenians, their rights to property and free movement, among others, have also been violated on a continuous basis. Many of these Armenians still bear the physical, psychological and material consequences of that policy. Those committed crimes have not received relevant legal assessment and have remained unpunished, which led to the implementation of the official anti-Armenian hatred policy pursued by the Republic of Azerbaijan. The victims of that policy are not only Azerbaijani Armenians and the population of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), but also all Armenians worldwide, as well as foreigners visiting Artsakh. As a reminder, the Artsakh Republic Human Rights Ombudsman published a special report in 2018 on the Azerbaijani anti-Armenian hatred policy, presenting concrete examples of its manifestation and relevant international law analysis. An active stage of manifestation of Armenophobia in the Azerbaijani society was also recorded in April 2016 - during the large-scale attack on Artsakh by Azerbaijan. The Human Rights Ombudsman, within the framework of his fact-finding mission, presented a report in 2016 on killings, beheadings, tortures and other cases of war crimes and human rights violations against civilians and military servicemen of Artsakh. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijani servicemen, who have committed such crimes, were later rewarded and encouraged by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Ombudsman urges the international community to give a proper legal assessment to the 1990 January massacre in Baku, in accordance with the fundamental principles and norms of international law, as well as to take action to end the ongoing anti-Armenian hatred policy. This path of racial hatred not only contradicts the well-known principles of international law, but also takes the two peoples away from conflict resolution and lasting peace. But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider. The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it is excited over the judgement of the supreme court in favour of Hope Uzodinma, its candida... The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it is excited over the judgement of the supreme court in favour of Hope Uzodinma, its candidate in the March 9 governorship election in Imo state. The apex court sacked Emeka Ihedioha as governor of the state and affirmed Uzodinma as winner of the election. In a statement on Tuesday, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APCs national publicity secretary, said the ruling party never lost faith in the judiciary. He expressed confidence that other stolen mandates will be restored. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is ecstatic over the Supreme Courts declaration of Senator Hope Uzodinma as the rightful winner of the 2019 Imo state Governorship election, Issa-Onilu said. Even as we are still wondering why we lost elections we clearly won in Zamfara State at the Supreme Court and how the same court ruled our party out of the electoral race in Rivers State, we have never, as a political party, lost faith in the judiciary. We salute Senator Hope Uzodinma, our supporters and members for their temperance displayed in the aftermath of the blatant rigging of the Imo Governorship election. We chose to focus on the judicial route to reclaim the Partys mandate. We are confident that our other stolen electoral mandates will be restored by the courts. The APC calls on all Imo State APC stakeholders to come together in support of Senator Uzodinma to ensure the success of the Partys Next Level agenda and to democratically entrench the APC in the state and entire South East. The 63-year-old Giammattei won the presidency on his fourth attempt in August for Vamos, a party founded in 2017 by politicians, businessmen and military officers on promises of battling poverty and providing better opportunities. (Photo: Twitter) Guatemala City: Guatemala swore in Alejandro Giammattei, a conservative physician opposed to gay marriage and abortion, as its new president Tuesday while the country's outgoing leader exited amid swirling corruption accusations. The ceremony came after a five-hour delay and boisterous protests against ex-President Jimmy Morales. The 63-year-old Giammattei won the presidency on his fourth attempt in August for Vamos, a party founded in 2017 by politicians, businessmen and military officers on promises of battling poverty and providing better opportunities. He promised on Tuesday to propose legislation declaring the country's street gangs as terrorist groups. He also pledged to promote the rule of law, protect investments and spur employment. Giammattei was sworn in before several Latin American leaders, among them Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Ivan Duque of Colombia and Lenin Moreno of Ecuador. US Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met privately with Giammattei before the inauguration. The US Embassy announced via Twitter that the two countries would sign a memorandum of understanding Wednesday on USD 1 billion in investment in the private sector to stimulate job creation in Guatemala. One of the early challenges facing Giammattei will be an Asylum Cooperation Agreement signed by his predecessor with the United States government. There was significant opposition to the deal inside Guatemala. The US began sending Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers to Guatemala under the agreement in November and recently said it would expand it to Mexicans. A similar deal signed with Honduras could send Guatemalan asylum seekers there. Giammattei inherits a country in which 59 per cent of Guatemalans live below the poverty line, according to official figures, while nearly one million children below age five are estimated to live with chronic malnutrition. He has proposed to build what he calls a "Mayan Train", high-speed rail with a line for cargo and another for passengers. The name mirrors a planned train project for neighbouring Mexico that will travel between coastal resorts, cities and Mayan ruins in that country's southeast. Giammattei will be working without a majority in Congress. His party captured 17 seats. The surgeon suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease of the nervous system, and uses crutches to walk. He has also worked as a business consultant in the private sector. In 2006, Giammattei was the head of the country's prison system when the interior ministry carried out a raid on the Pavon penal farm to regain control from the inmates. Thousands of police, soldiers and armed civilians raided the prison overnight and several inmates died in the operation. Authorities, bureaucrats and private citizens were arrested, tried and imprisoned for the raid, including Giammattei. After several months in jail awaiting trial he was acquitted and released. He takes over from Morales who spent much of his four-year term dodging corruption charges. The former television comedian who campaigned on a promise of "not corrupt, not a thief" will possibly be most remembered for kicking out a UN supported anti-corruption mission that was closing in on him and members of his family. Hours before the inauguration, Morales said he had left the country "stable" and blamed his detractors for attacking him. Juan Francisco Sandoval, head of the special prosecutor against impunity office, said he hopes the future will be better without Morales. "He was the roadblock for the fight against corruption and impunity," Sandoval said. In a farewell speech heavy on nationalist and religious themes, Alvaro Arzu, the outgoing president of Congress, said Morales had "defended the sovereignty of Guatemala" Catch the latest news, live coverage and in-depth analyses from India and World. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Flash Two Katyusha rockets on Tuesday hit a military base housing U.S. troops near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. The attack took place in the evening when the two rockets landed on the al-Taji military base, some 20 km north of Baghdad, where some U.S. troops are stationed, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate reports about casualties, the official added. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a few days after Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iraqi Iran-backed Shiite militia Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, said the Iranian initial response to the killing of an Iranian military leader was done and it is time for Iraq to respond to the U.S. airstrike. Al-Khazali's threat came after Iran fired ballistic missiles on Wednesday on two military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq's western province of Anbar and near the city of Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. On Jan. 3, a U.S. drone attacked a convoy near Baghdad International Airport, killing Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces. More than 5,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battle against Islamic State militants. A Brampton judge is the latest to slam the Toronto South Detention Centre, this time for the profoundly troubling spectacle of sending a prisoner to court for the start of his jury trial wearing only a huge security gown, without socks or underwear. We are not a country that debases those accused (or convicted for that matter) of criminal offences, Superior Court Justice David E. Harris wrote in a scathing decision released Monday, finding there was no possible justification for sending inmate David Baichoo to court without clothes. A prisoner has probably never appeared in Brampton Superior Court in only a security gown, let alone on the first day of his murder trial, Harris wrote. Proper treatment of those accused of crimes is of fundamental importance to the lifeblood of criminal justice and to our constitutional democracy. It is a basic ingredient of the rule of law. Maltreating accused persons is deeply offensive to our foundational values and cannot be tolerated. Harris joins several GTA judges who have criticized the conditions at the Toronto South. In a sentencing decision just last week, Toronto Superior Court Justice Andras Schreck accused the Ontario government of deliberate state misconduct for failing to improve the inhumane conditions at the notorious jail, which has been plagued with problems since it opened in January 2014 Harriss 22-page ruling is a summary of what he learned after Baichoo arrived in court for the start of his first-degree murder trial last Jan. 30 naked save for jail-issue shoes and an enormous, sleeveless security gown an item so large two of him could have fit inside, the judge noted. Security gowns they are sometimes called baby dolls in jailhouse parlance, although they bear little resemblance to the style of womans nightgown, Harris wrote are used in correctional institutions across Ontario for individuals on suicide watch or for those suspected of hiding contraband inside their rectums. According to the ruling, jail staff said Baichoo had scanned positive for contraband before he was sent to court, but Harris rejected that evidence as unreliable, noting that no contraband was ever recovered from his body. It was particularly unfortunate, Harris wrote, that the seriousness of Baichoos charges, and the fact he had been found guilty of misconduct against a jail guard days before the start of his trial, left the appearance that he had been purposely humiliated. Provincial jails are used to house people who are awaiting trial but have not received bail, as well as any person who has been convicted and sentenced to less than two years. Jail staff are responsible for preparing inmates for court. There ought to have been a chorus of alarm bells going off in the collective minds of (Toronto South) staff as they sent a man to court in a security gown. For example, if sending inmates in orange jumpsuits is prohibited, why should a person be sent in a security gown? Regular standards of humanity and decency ought to have prevailed, Harris wrote. As a result of Baichoos attire on a frigid January day his trial had to be postponed a day. The jury could not see Mr. Baichoo in the security gown without irreparable prejudice to this right to a fair trial, Harris wrote. In court, Crown attorney Eric Taylor called the situation, pretty shocking and pretty appalling in a lot of ways. After the incident, Baichoos defence lawyer, Leora Shemesh, brought an application arguing his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated and that he should have his sentence reduced or be awarded damages of $10,000. A series of hearings were held last year to determine what had happened and what should be done about it. According to Harriss ruling, the government ultimately privately acknowledged its fault and reached an undisclosed settlement with Baichoo. Reached Tuesday, Shemesh would not discuss the terms of that settlement but did, however, say that not only did her client lose a sense of his dignity that day, taxpayers literally paid for the lost court time, while jurors were inconvenienced and sent home. In his ruling, Harris noted that while the episode was settled last year, it is important for the public to know what happened. During his inquiry, Harris heard from a number of witnesses including the operational manager in admissions and discharge at the Toronto South jail. The judge wrote he was perturbed to hear the officers attitude that he did not have time to ensure that Mr. Baichoo was properly dressed. According to Harriss ruling, counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario argued the incident was an inadvertent error, a claim the judge said was not supported by the evidence. The hearings, he wrote, led him to conclude the jails conduct fell somewhere on a spectrum between negligence and deliberate and knowing misconduct. Harris wrote: Beyond mere indifference and depersonalization, the lack of respect and outright contempt for the people under his authority and, in turn, for the judicial system, reflects poorly on corrections. In the end, he wrote, the Toronto South failed to live up to its duty to ensure that the inmates in their institution were treated with humanity and dignity and were sent to court in a condition to permit judicial proceedings in a first-degree murder case to continue. Since the incident, Harris noted some positive changes at the jail, such as a memo by the deputy superintendent that no one should wear a security gown to court unless authorized by senior staff. In the meantime, Baichoos trial for first-degree murder in the 2016 death of Nam Pham continued and ultimately ended in a hung jury. Baichoo has since been tried again and was convicted, a verdict he is appealing. In his decision last week, Schreck, the judge who accused the province of misconduct, cited 14 judges rulings since 2015 that have criticized harsh conditions at the Toronto South. by Larissa Faw , January 15, 2020 Digitas North America has appointed two leaders to serve in newly designed senior-level roles on east and west coasts. Based in New York, Nathalie Huni joins as executive vice president, head of design, North America to develop and lead the agencys national design team, including product design, brand experience and identity as well as visual narrative. She most recently redesigned Marc Jacobs digital presence, and her nearly two decade-long career includes creative leadership roles at R/GA London and McCann NY, Huge, Grey NY, as well as at TBWA DAN PARIS and Publicis Net Paris. Concurrently, Dwayne Koh will work out of Digitas San Francisco as senior vice president, executive creative director, west coast to elevate the regions creative product across its operations in San Francisco, Los Angles and Seattle. advertisement advertisement He will also work on special projects nationally, and work closely with new business team members. Koh previously worked at Interpublics Huge in Oakland on innovation projects for Dolby and Ebates. Earlier in his career he spent time at Saatchi & Saatchi LA, and AKQA. His experience with brands includes Apple, Dolby, Asics, Toyota, Google, Jordan/Nike, Adidas, Converse, GE and Vans. Both will report to Atit Shah, Chief Creative Officer, North America. The Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) appealed to the competent authorities of Iran with a request to transfer the flight recorders from the Boeing 737 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), shot down by the Iranian military near Tehran, to the Ukrainian side. "The Office of the Prosecutor General's and the Security Service of Ukraine appealed to the competent authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a request for legal assistance related to the transfer of flight recorders to the Ukrainian law enforcers from the Boeing 737 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines, performing the Tehran-Kyiv flight PS752 and shot down by the Iranian military," the Prosecutor General's Office said on Telegram channel on Wednesday morning. The office assured that the Ukrainian side is taking all measures to ensure proper decryption of flight recorders and preservation of evidence in the investigation of the circumstances of the crash. Silver Short-Term Pullback Before Acceleration Higher Technical analyst Clive Maund charts silver's progress in comparison to gold's following recent world events. Silver's recent rally looks diminutive and stunted compared to gold's, but that's normal at this early stage of a new bull market, when silver typically underperforms gold due to investors being risk-averse and silver being perceived as more risky and volatile than gold. Nevertheless, as we can see on its latest 6-month chart, silver did manage to break out of its reactive downtrend in force from early September. Last week, at the time Iran lobbed missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq, it had a go at breaking above its late September highs. But it was not up to the task and fell back, putting in a reversal candle on big volume, which suggests that it probably has further to fall short termperhaps back to the upper boundary of the downtrend channel shown. But with the overall tenor of this chart positive, it should then turn higher again. Wheeling out the 10-year chart once more, which gives us the big picture, we see that, although so far looking much more restrained than gold, silver appears to be ascending away from the second low of a giant double-bottom pattern. The advance out of the lows of last summer was on good volume, which has driven both volume indicators quite strongly higher. This is bullish and marks a breakout drive out of the base pattern, with a completed breakout being signaled by silver breaking above the resistance, approaching and at $22/ounce. A break above this level will usher in a period of much more dynamic advance. The latest COT chart shows that Commercial short and Large Spec long positions are still at fairly extreme levels, which makes more corrective action over the near term likely. Conclusion Although last week's reversal candle and the current rather extreme COT readings make short-term weakness likely, perhaps to the upper boundary of the fall downtrend, the overall picture for silver is favorable, with it readying to break out of a giant, 5-year plus base pattern to follow gold higher. Marked acceleration is likely to follow a breakout above the $22 level. Clive Maund has been president of www.clivemaund.com, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003. He has 30 years' experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London. He holds a Diploma in Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts. Disclosure: 1) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of Clive Maund and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. Clive Maund is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not involved in the content preparation. Clive Maund was not paid by Streetwise Reports LLC for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. 2) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 3) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Charts and graphics provided by the author. CliveMaund.com Disclosure: The above represents the opinion and analysis of Mr Maund, based on data available to him, at the time of writing. Mr. Maund's opinions are his own, and are not a recommendation or an offer to buy or sell securities. Mr. Maund is an independent analyst who receives no compensation of any kind from any groups, individuals or corporations mentioned in his reports. As trading and investing in any financial markets may involve serious risk of loss, Mr. Maund recommends that you consult with a qualified investment advisor, one licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies in your legal jurisdiction and do your own due diligence and research when making any kind of a transaction with financial ramifications. Although a qualified and experienced stock market analyst, Clive Maund is not a Registered Securities Advisor. Therefore Mr. Maund's opinions on the market and stocks can only be construed as a solicitation to buy and sell securities when they are subject to the prior approval and endorsement of a Registered Securities Advisor operating in accordance with the appropriate regulations in your area of jurisdiction. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has sparked a controversy after he blamed Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for having delayed Goas liberation which resulted in the state being freed from the Portuguese rule 14 years after the rest of the country. Sawants comments which were made at the Know Your Army mela held in the state capital on Tuesday evening, came even as he praised and thanked the Army for liberating Goa in 1961. Truth be told, India got Independence in 1947, the people of the entire country got the fruits of Independence. But unfortunately for Goans, we had to wait 14 years to taste freedom. The Prime Minister at the time Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for this. And because of him we got liberation 14 years later. If he had the political will, if he was really concerned about Goans then, and really felt that Goa should have been liberated from the Portuguese then we would have got liberation 14 years earlier. Never mind in 1947. He should have thought about us at least in 1950, Sawant said. Why did we have to live under Portuguese rule for another 14 years, they have now to answer. Thanks to the military services. Goas freedom fighters and freedom fighters from around the country, they forced them to send military forces to Goa, Sawant said. Goa was liberated by the Indian Army on December 19, 1961, through a bloodless operation Vijay which saw the Portuguese surrender without offering a fight. However, Sawants comments denigrating Nehru caused an uproar. Jawaharlal Nehru spent around nine years in jail (aggregate of 3259 days); (is an) acclaimed internationally as statesman, gave us Discovery of India, History of World Civilisations, laid the foundations of modern India (and was a) strong crusader of science, technology and scientific temper, committed to democratic and secular values, the architect of NAM (Non Aligned Movement), Chacha Nehru for children, thinker, giant intellectual, unified India, Prabhakar Timble, a former State Election Commissioner said. Others pointed out that with several people pointing out that an armed annexation of Goa was contemplated only after all diplomatic efforts failed. Portugal is a founding member of NATO (which considers an attack on a single member state as an attack on all of them). The moment India became independent, Goas issue was raised in NATO and thereafter in security council. Nehrus fight was convincing the international community that Goa should belong to India, Dr Mukul Pai Raiturkar explained. What complicated this further was Portuguese never considered Goa as their colony - always as their [integral] part and therefore necessary component of their sovereignty. Next problem was how to tackle the security council resolution brought by the US to declare India an aggressive nation. This was tackled with the help of Soviet Union who vetoed the resolution, he added. A party loyalist who rose through the ranks from being an ordinary worker, a BJP youth leader with an RSS background, Sawant was chosen to succeed Manohar Parrikar as chief minister in March last year despite being among the youngest BJP legislators in the Goa Legislative Assembly. Earlier, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a press conference in Goa had made a similar statement leading to an uproar from the Opposition Congress. It is easy for them to make statements standing here today. They do not know what the situation was back then because their parent organisation (referring to the RSS) was not involved in the freedom movement. Even today they are looking at the issue from a British perspective, Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar said. The other colonial enclaves Pondicherry along with other French enclaves, joined India only in 1954, and de jure transfer was completed on May 28, 1956 while Instruments of ratification were signed on Aug. 16, 1962, from which date Pondicherry, consisting of the four enclaves, became a union territory. Earlier this week, a book written by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from New Delhi triggered a controversy as it compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Maratha warrior-king, Chhatrapati Shivaji. As the controversy raged, almost every political party in Maharashtra lapped it up to draw political mileage. This wasnt the first controversy involving the 17th century king, nor is it going to be the last. The significance of Shivaji and many things associated with his name makes him the most exploited icon in Maharashtras politics for more than five decades. For political parties, Shivaji is not just a political constituency, but his name is a currency that allows politicians to reach out to Marathas who account for 33 % of Maharashtras overall population. Its for the same reason that most political parties including Shiv Sena, BJP, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress have on occasions tried to appropriate Shivajis legacy, something that the warrior kings own descendants are not indifferent to as they too dabble in politics. If the Shivaji cult was first built by Brahmins, beginning with Lokmanya Tilak in the early 20th century, the Shiv Sena jumped into the fray and exploited Shivaji for its own political ends by projecting him as an Hindu icon. This was then was copied by the BJP. Not to be left behind, the NCP and Maratha offshoots like Sambhaji Brigade exploited the historic figure through the caste prism while targeting Brahmins to consolidate the bahujan vote bank. It was for the same reasons that the library of the Pune-based Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute was vandalized in 2004 in the wake of the controversy over the publication of a book on Shivaji by scholar James Laine. Although the Sambhaji Brigade activists had been booked by the police, the Pune court later acquitted all of them in absence of evidence. Like political establishments, historians and the bodies they are affiliated with have also behaved opportunistically by selectively projecting Shivajis history. This was evident when the Maharashtra government conferred the Maharashtra Bhooshan award on Babasaheb Purandare, a Brahmin author who created a larger than life image of Shivaji, as he faced opposition from Brigade and other Maratha historians like Srimant Kokate. Thus, if the NCP-Congress exploited Shivajis name in the 2004 and 2009 assembly polls, BJP used the icon in 2014. For the Sena, Shivaji has been the central plank of it politics ever since it was formed in the 1960s. The ultimate result of this race to appropriate Shivajis legacy has trapped the state trapped between two socially regressive political formations, with one wanting to whip up caste sentiments and the other, ride on the Hindutva bandwagon. Shivajis name is being used by everyone to pursue their own goals, says the warriors 13th descendant Udayanraje Bhosale, conveniently accusing various political parties without sharing the blame as he also fought elections on the same plank for years together before tasting defeat when he switched sides from NCP to BJP within days of getting elected. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Himalayan food is more than just pink sea salt. Its a cuisine all its own, a dynamic blend of Chinese and Indian flavors touting its own list of craveable dishes and the proof is right here in New Jersey, no mountain climbing required. Instead, I braved the New Jersey Turnpike (through a light snowfall, in my defense) all the way down to Mount Masala in Voorhees. Its a modest storefront in an unassuming South Jersey strip mall, housing a restaurant whose food hails from the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal a narrow band of country wedged between Chinas Tibetan region and Indias northern border. The nations location, between two of the most distinct and populous cultures on Earth, inarguably reflects upon the food. The restaurant opened in 2017, just three years after Gayatri Giri and her husband, Bharat Bist, came to America from Nepal. The Camden County suburb caught their eye as a place far removed from the bustle they experienced living in Queens while Bist studied at the Culinary Institute of America. We said, lets just go somewhere where theres peace," Giri says. "Where they know about food but dont know about Himalayan food. The beauty of Himalayan food is its juxtaposition of the cooking styles that surround the region. Think of a spicy curry thats more herbal than creamy, or fried rice that tastes like if your local Chinese takeout started making biryani (an Indian curried rice dish), featuring chicken, beef, shrimp or fish. Curried noodle dishes. Steamed dumplings called momos topped with tomato chutney. Want more food and restaurant news? Enter your email address to be the first to know: Restaurants merging separate cuisines are in vogue all over the United States sushi burritos are all the rage, and you can find just about anything in a taco these days but this style of food is nothing new in Himalayan culture. (Its) not typical Indian, not typical Chinese, Giri said. What we end up with is a fusion, with Himalayan herbs and Himalayan spices. All of Mount Masalas spices are imported from Nepal Nepalese Sichuan pepper, ginger, cilantro, garlic, cardamom and cinnamon are all prevalent, creating a range of potent herbal flavors that adventurous foodies will appreciate. It may not be the favorite of those who are less bold, but the ability to dictate your spice level remedies this. Nepalese art adorns the walls of the small dining room, paintings of the mountains from which the food hails. After telling the waiter I was looking for the most authentic Himalayan experience possible, he had some recommendations to make sure I got every essential flavor. He also asked which spice level I preferred, which should put anyone with a sensitive palate at ease. I ordered everything at a three out of five on the heat scale, which packed some heat but didnt ruin my day by any means. As a spicy food fan, I would probably go for a four next time. Chicken lollipops from Mount Masala in Voorhees. (Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The chicken lollipops were dark meat chicken wings in the shape of drumsticks, with a delectable spicy dipping sauce that was similar to a remoulade. Dont be scared by the dark meat. Its tender, juicy and flavorful. The chicken momos followed. After ordering them simply steamed, my waiter insisted I get them sizzling. Their presentation was similar to a plate of fajitas at a Mexican restaurant, steaming and indeed audibly hissing in tomato chutney. My patience was tested as I waited for them to cool, lest I burn my tongue, but the dish was a sight to behold. Once I dug in, I was blown away the sweet and spicy tang of the sauce atop the soft steamed dumplings. Knowing there was more food coming, I did my best not to devour the whole plate. Goldenya fried frice from Mount Masala in Voorhees. (Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The goldenya fried rice, another dish my waiter suggested, was reminiscent of Indian biryani but with the Nepalese Sichuan pepper giving it a distinct spice. My mouth tingled, in a good way. I topped it with the Chicken Manchurian, which reminded me of classic chicken in garlic sauce, but with more kick. Chicken Manchurian over Goldenya rice at Mount Masala in Voorhees. (Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The menu at Mount Masala can be intimidating, with dozens of unfamiliar appetizers, soups, curries, rices, noodles countless mysterious variations to chose from. But Giri and Bist opened Mount Masala in hopes of educating New Jersey on their culture, and the wait staffs patience with my questions was welcome. If you didnt believe Indian and Chinese food could come together harmoniously, allow this spot to convince you. Dont be scared to be on an adventure in the spicy world, Giri says. Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Six robbers posing as Crime Branch officials went to the house of a police officer in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district and allegedly decamped with jewellery and cash after holding his daughter and wife hostage at gunpoint, officials said on Wednesday. The incident took place on Tuesday evening at the Shastri Nagar residence of Pushkar Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) Amaria police station, they said. Six robbers gained entry into the SHO's house by posing as Crime Branch officials. They held his daughter, wife and tenant hostage at gunpoint and made away with jewellery and cash worth lakhs of rupees, the police said. The neighbours alerted Singh, they said. "We spoke to members of the (SHO's) family. Searches are being carried out. Our effort is to catch the culprits at the earliest," Deputy Inspector General Rajesh Pandey said. Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police Shailendra Pandey said police teams have been formed to crack the case and footage of nearby CCTV cameras is being examined. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Marijuana use among college students has been trending upward for years, but in states that have legalized recreational marijuana, use has jumped even higher. An Oregon State University study published today in Addiction shows that in states where marijuana was legalized by 2018, both occasional and frequent use among college students has continued to rise beyond the first year of legalization, suggesting an ongoing trend rather than a brief period of experimentation. Overall, students in states with legal marijuana were 18% more likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days than students in states that had not legalized the drug. They were also 17% more likely to have engaged in frequent use, defined as using marijuana on at least 20 of the past 30 days. The differences between states with and without legalization escalated over time: Six years after legalization in early-adopting states, students were 46% more likely to have used marijuana than their peers in non-legalized states. Between 2012 and 2018, overall usage rates increased from 14% to 17% in non-legalized states, but shot up from 21% to 34% in the earliest states to legalize the drug. Similar trends appeared in states that legalized marijuana more recently. Conducted by Harold Bae from OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences and David Kerr from OSU's College of Liberal Arts, this is the first study of college students to look broadly at multiple states that have legalized recreational marijuana and to go beyond the first year following legalization. advertisement It includes data from seven states and 135 colleges where marijuana was legalized by 2018 and from 41 states and 454 colleges where recreational use was not legal. That scope allowed Bae and Kerr to examine trends in the earliest adopting states as well as more recent adopters -- though, the data for the study is stripped of state- and college-identifying information, so does not speak specifically to any one state or institution. The data comes from the National College Health Assessment survey from 2008 to 2018, which asks about a wide range of health behaviors including drug and alcohol use and is administered anonymously to encourage students to respond more honestly. More than 850,000 students participated. Looking at specific demographics, researchers found that the effect was stronger among older students ages 21-26 than minors ages 18-20; older students were 23% more likely to report having used marijuana than their peers in non-legalized states. The effect was also stronger among female students and among students living in off-campus housing, possibly because universities adhere to federal drug laws that still classify marijuana as an illegal substance. "It's easy to look at the findings and think, 'Yeah, of course rates would increase,'" Kerr said. "But we need to quantify the effects these policy changes are having." Furthermore, he said, researchers are not finding increases in adolescents' marijuana use following legalization. "So it is surprising and important that these young adults are sensitive to this law. And it's not explained by legal age, because minors changed too." advertisement A recent companion study published in Addictive Behaviors in November by OSU doctoral candidate Zoe Alley along with Kerr and Bae examined the relationship between recreational marijuana legalization and college students' use of other substances. Using the same dataset, they found that after legalization, students ages 21 and older showed a greater drop in binge drinking than their peers in states where marijuana was not legal. Binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks in a single sitting within the previous two weeks. Researchers have not yet tested any hypotheses as to why binge drinking fell, but they have some ideas. An outside study previously found that illegal marijuana use decreases sharply when people hit 21 -- where there is a sharp increase in alcohol use. "When you're under 21, all substances are equally illegal," Alley said. "In most states, once you reach 21, a barrier that was in the way of using alcohol is gone, while it's intact for marijuana use. But when marijuana is legal, this dynamic is changed." Binge drinking has been on the decline among college students in recent years, but dropped more in states that legalized marijuana than in states that did not. "So in these two studies we saw changes after legalization that really differed by substance," Kerr said. "For marijuana we saw state-specific increases that went beyond the nationwide increases, whereas binge drinking was the opposite: a greater decrease in the context of nationwide decreases." The magnitude of effect was much larger with marijuana than with any of the other substances, Bae added. "So the changes following recreational marijuana legalization were quite specific to cannabis use." Future research is needed to see how those trends hold up over time, as additional states legalize marijuana and existing states continue to tweak their current policies, the researchers said. During a phone conversation with Merkel, Zelensky expressed concern over the enemy's failure to comply with the agreements to ensure sustainable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian side at the next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group for Donbas settlement, set to be held in Minsk January 16m will work to promote additional measures toward a complete and comprehensive ceasefire in Donbas, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said during his phone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Read alsoForeign minister elaborates on when Ukraine should start seeking alternative to Minsk deal At the same time, the president expressed concern over the enemy's failure to implement the agreements reached during the meeting of the Normandy Four leaders in Paris on December 9 on ensuring an actual regime of "full silence" in Donbas, according to the President Office press service. As UNIAN reported earlier, the first meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group for Donbas Settlement in 2020 is scheduled be held in Minsk on January 16. Andrew Gomber, a 36-year-old man from Chatham, New York who was convicted two weeks ago for plotting to abduct and rape women in two separate Berkshire County attacks in 2018, was sentenced this week to up to 10 years in state prison, according to reports. The Berkshire Eagle reported that Judge John Agostini on Monday ordered Gomber to serve his sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Cedar Junction in Walpole. The Eagle also reported that just before issuing the sentence, Agostini declared that Gomber was a very scary person. He was found guilty on Jan. 3 of assault with intent to rape, assault and battery, kidnapping, and assault and battery with intent to rape. He was found guilty or on two separate occasions six months apart in 2018 drove to Berkshire County seeking to abduct and rape women. On the first occasion, he grabbed a woman Jan. 7, 2018, outside of a store in Great Barrington. She fought with him and was able to escape. Later, he targeted a woman on July 2 on a trail at Olivias Overlook in Lenox. He knocked her down and attempted to drag her to the woods but she also fought with him and escaped. He was arrested in New York two weeks after the first assault after Great Barrington police identified him as a suspect. The second assault occurred while Gombar awaiting trial on the first offense. A Delta airplane returning to Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday morning dumped jet fuel on an elementary school playground, hitting several students. Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 "experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return to LAX," Delta spokesperson Adrian Gee said. "The aircraft landed safely after an emergency fuel release to reduce landing weight." The fuel was dumped over Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy, and hit several students and staffers who were on the playground. Firefighters said 20 children and 11 adults sustained minor injuries; all were treated at the scene. Josue Burgos, a sixth grade student at Park Avenue Elementary, told the Los Angeles Times he was in P.E. class when he felt the sensation of rain on his skin. He had fuel on his shirt, sweater, and shorts, and it "smelled bad. It wasn't water." Jack Guerrero, a member of the Cudahy City Council, said he is "calling for a full federal investigation into the matter, and expect[s] full accountability from responsible parties." More stories from theweek.com There's a plan to allow people to watch the only tape of Super Bowl I for free The paradox of Trump's trillion-dollar deficit Trump reportedly tried to bully DHS into enacting illegal policies Lou Dobbs shared on Fox Business Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Windfall Geotek Inc (TSXV: AIIM) would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #938 at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West (1055 Canada Place, Vancouver) on Sunday January 19 - Monday January 20, 2020. The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the bellwether of the junior mining market for the last twenty-five years. It is the number one source of information for investment trends and ideas, covering all aspects of the natural resource industry. Each year, the VRIC hosts over 60 keynote speakers, 350 exhibiting companies and 9000 investors. Investment thought leaders and wealth influencers provide our audiences with valuable insights. C-suite company executives covering every corner of the mineral exploration sector as well as metals, oil & gas, renewable energy, media and financial services companies are available to speak one on one. This is a must-attend for investors and stakeholders in the global mining industry. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference. We look forward to seeing you there. For further information: Windfall Geotek Inc Michel Fontaine 514-994-5843 michel@windfallgeotek.com www.windfallgeotek.com Jason Aldean is returning to Syracuse on the appropriately named We Back Tour. The country superstar will perform at the St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview on Aug. 13. Special guests Brett Young, Mitchell Tenpenny and Dee Jay Silver will open the show, according to Rolling Stone. Tickets will go on sale Jan. 24 as part of the Live Nation Country Megaticket at megaticket.com. Prices have not been announced, but the St. Joes Amp ticket package is expected to include admission to Thomas Rhett (June 11), Tim McGraw (July 10), Kenny Chesney (Aug. 20) and Lady Antebellum (Sept. 6). Aldean performed at the Amp in 2019, delivering a near-flawless show that included hits like Burnin It Down, My Kinda Party, Shes Country, Dirt Road Anthem, Hicktown, and You Make It Easy. His 2020 tour is named after We Back, the lead single off 9, his latest album released in November. At this point, nearly all of the St. Joes Amp headliners this summer are returning performers. Repeat acts at the Amp include Steely Dan, Zac Brown Band (for the fifth year in a row), Foreigner, Matchbox Twenty, Kidz Bop Live, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum and the Doobie Brothers. Thomas Rhett performed in Syracuse at the Oncenter last year. Tim McGraw is the only upcoming Amp headliner so far that hasnt played Syracuse in the past five years. Aldeans 2020 tour dates also include two more Upstate New York concerts: July 23 at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and July 24 at CMAC in Canandaigua. St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview 2020 lineup Our giant Upstate NY concert calendar: See hundreds of shows from Albany to Buffalo Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. A Colchester man has been charged with killing his wife, their three children and the familys dog in a case that law enforcement in Florida where it all happened called evil and horrendous. Police confirmed during a Wednesday afternoon news conference that 42-year-old Megan Todt, 13-year-old Alek Todt, 11-year-old Tyler Todt and 4-year-old Zoe Todt were killed sometime in late December. The familys dog, Breezy, was also killed. Reading through the names and ages of the victim, Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson got choked up sharing the age and date of birth for the couples youngest child. Anthony Todt, 44, was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of homicide and one count of felony animal cruelty, Gibson said. Anthony has cooperated with the investigation and he has confessed to killing his wife Megan Todt ... and their three children, Gibson said. Anthony also killed their family dog, Breezy. But investigators dont think the killings happened Monday, or even a few days prior. Gibson said the investigation and Anthony Todts statements to investigators so far have revealed that the homicides happened in late December. The bodies were inside the home the entire time until we located them on Monday, Gibson said. More News 4 CT family members feared dead in Florida The Todt family were first brought to the attention of Florida law enforcement on Dec. 29. A family member of Anthony Todt reached out to Florida police to check on the well-being of the Todt family. She told police she was told the family had the flu. She said she hadnt heard from any of them in two days. Gibson said deputies responded to the familys home at 202 Reserve Place in Celebration, Fla., but were unable to make contact with anyone. The deputies checked around the residence and noticed the blinds were closed, but ultimately they did not report anything suspicious and left. Gibson said its possible that when deputies responded to the home in late December, the family members and the family dog might have already been killed. Then, Gibson said, on Jan. 9 federal agents got in touch with Osceola County Sheriffs Office about an investigation involving Anthony Todt. Gibson said the investigation involved local police or a local branch of federal government in Connecticut. It was something that was occurring up there in Connecticut, Gibsons aid. Again, deputies responded to the home this time alongside federal agents. And again, the law enforcement officers were unable to get in touch with anyone at the home. That pattern continued throughout the weekend. But again, Gibson said, there was nothing suspicious to push them to further investigate. This family was known to travel, Gibson said, adding that it wouldnt be unusual for them to have picked up and gone somewhere for the day or the week. So on Monday deputies again responded to the Reserve Place home with federal agents to serve an arrest warrant for Anthony Todt from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Deputies made contact with Anthony (Todt) in the home with federal agents and he was immediately detained. A safety check of the home was conducted where deputies discovered four deceased individuals inside, Gibson said. But before law enforcement could formally charge Anthony Todt, he was taken to a local hospital. He may have ingested some dosage of Benadryl ... and he also made comments of potentially harming himself and so we took him to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Gibson said. He was released from the hospital Wednesday, which is when he was charged with the homicide and animal cruelty offenses. Gibson said Anthony Todt was transported to the Osceola County jail Wednesday afternoon. Gibson said he hasnt been made aware of whether Anthony Todt has told investigators why he allegedly killed his family, but did say that Anthony Todt has been cooperating with the investigation. Autopsies were performed Tuesday and the manner of death for the four family members were each ruled homicide. This is despicable and cannot be tolerated anywhere in the United States of America, let alone Osceola County, Gibson said. He wouldnt say how the wife and children died, but said he wanted to wait until the coroner released definitive findings This is still very much an active investigation. Gibson said he was unsure whether Anthony Todt told investigators why he allegedly killed his family, but did say that Anthony Todt has been cooperating with the investigation. We grieve along with the victims family and friends, along with the community, for this tragic loss of innocent lives, Gibson said. Myself, I cannot understand what would cause a person to commit such evil and horrendous acts. Up until Wednesdays news conference, police in Florida had been tight-lipped about the investigation since the bodies were discovered Monday. Speculation was in abundance over whether those involved were linked to the Todt family, who have extensive ties to Connecticut. Although the family had been living in Florida for the past couple of years, give or take, according to Gibson, Anthony Todt did not live in Florida full-time. He said Anthony Todt worked Monday through Friday in Connecticut, then returned to Florida on the weekends. In December, an eviction suit was filed with the Osceola County clerks office over alleged non-payment for the familys Florida home. According to the lease, which was filed as an exhibit with the court, the family had been in the home since May. Megan Todts Facebook page indicated that she studied at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. The university did not immediately respond to Hearst Connecticut Medias request for confirmation on this Wednesday. Anthony Todt and Megan Todt are listed as the owners of Family Physical Therapy, which has locations at 7 Park Ave. and 744 Middletown Road in Colchester, according to the business Facebook page. Connecticut Department of Public Health medical licensing records indicated that Anthony Todt allowed his license as a physical therapist to expire in September. His license was listed as being out of Celebration, Fla. Megan Todts license as a physical therapist would set to expire Jan. 30, DPH records show. Her license is out of Kissimmee, Fla., records show. Town officials in Colchester issued a statement Monday as the investigation in Florida was still unfolding and said services would be offered in the schools for students who needed it. Colchester First Selectman Mary Bylone in a statement Monday called the news shocking and heartbreaking. I know that the thoughts and prayers of our entire community are with the relatives and friends of the family involved, Bylone added. We cant always make sense of moments like this, but we can support each other. Colchester Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Burt said in a statement Wednesday that the entire town is grieving. As a close-knit community, we have come together and aligned our schools crisis teams with local mental health counseling resources to assist students who may be struggling with this shocking and deeply upsetting news, Burt said. Reporting by the Associated Press was included in this story. By Express News Service MUMBAI: The Director, Academy of Theatre Arts (ATA) in University of Mumbai was on Tuesday sent on forced leave for making derogatory remarks against women and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The university authorities said that after sending Yogesh Soman on forced leave, a fact-finding committee will enquire the students' complaints before taking further measures. Soman had allegedly made objectionable remarks against Gandhi and women on social media recently, the varsitys Chhatra Bharti unit President Shridhar Pednekar said. Students of ATA also harassed by him had to resort to a sit-in agitation at the Kalina Campus since January 13, along with Chhatra Bharti and All India Students Federation, Disha Vidyarthi Sanghatana and other activists, Pednekar said. Finally, with the intervention of legislator Kapil Patil, the University Secretary on Tuesday issued a letter stating that Soman had been sent on a forced leave, after which the students called off their strike. Soman, an accomplished actor, released his own video commenting on contemporary issues over social media. After the video was released on social media, student organisations had initiated an agitation against Soman. Meanwhile, the BJP said Soman was being targeted for over a month for praising Savarkar. Now he is sent on a forced leave. Is this not intolerance? former education minister and senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar asked while demanding a thorough probe into the whole issue. Shelar also demanded that a fact-finding committee should inquire into the conduct of Academy Of Theatre Arts of past five years. A court in Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region has sentenced 12 Tibetan villagers to prison terms of from one to almost two years for running a criminal gang, state media said on Tuesday. The 12, all residents of Tibets Sog (in Chinese, Suo) county, had been accused of fraud and of using religious influence to interfere in the affairs of local government, according to a Jan. 14 report by the Tibet Daily. They had also exploited and harassed local people and had preached superstitious ideas, attempting to spread the evil influence of religion in the villages, the Daily said in its report. All 12, including a man identified only by the single name Druk, had confessed their crimes and will now serve their terms in prison without appealing their sentences to a higher court, the Daily said. Speaking on Wednesday to RFAs Tibetan Service, Ngawang Tharpaa member of Tibets India-based exile parliament, called the jailing of the 12 Sog villagers a flagrant violation of the Tibetan peoples freedom of religion. In the name of cracking down on organized crime, the Chinese have now openly prosecuted advocates of Tibetan culture and religion on trumped-up charges, Tharpa said, adding, These are the heart and soul of Tibetan civilization. While anti-gang campaigns are being carried out across Tibetan regions of China, these are often used as an excuse to suppress environmental activists or ordinary Tibetans promoting use of the Tibetan language or combating corruption in local government, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of pilfering money, improperly seizing land, and disrupting the lives of local people. Many result in violent suppression, the detention of protest organizers, and intense pressure on the local population to comply with the governments wishes. Reported by Lobsang Gelek for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. Executed pastor's grave desecrated in Iran after 29 years; Family's heart 'wounded' yet again Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The family of a Christian convert pastor executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran is grieving after the grave of their loved one was desecrated. A cement slab commemorating the burial site of pastor Hussein Soodmand and other political dissidents was recently removed, according to the nonprofit watchdog group Article 18. Soodmand was killed over 29 years ago on Dec. 3, 1990. The Assemblies of God pastor who converted to Christianity in the 1960s served in ministry for over two decades. He was accused of apostasy and sentenced to death by hanging. Article 18, which promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, reports that Soodmand was buried on the edge of the Beheshte-Reza cemetery in the northeast city of Mashhad. But the only indication that he was buried in that location was the nondescript concrete slab above his grave. An Article 18 spokesperson told The Christian Post that the family discovered that the slab was missing when they went to visit the grave for the 29th anniversary of his death on Dec. 3. We don't know when it happened but we know when they found out, the spokesperson told CP. The family had gone to the gravesite for the anniversary and saw what had happened. Article 18 was told that there had been talks about the possibility of demolishing graves at the cemetery for years. The organization reports that it can be said that "official authorities" are responsible since they want to "give way to new luxury families graves that wealthy can buy. Article 18 can't say for sure whether the pastor's body was exhumed from the grave. "All we know is that this place where he was buried, which used to be outside of the main cemetery by quite a distance [but] has over time come to be just on its outskirts," the Article 18 representative explained. "So it is for this reason that now, after all this time, they have sought to use the space for further development of the cemetery. [It's] so they can offer the site for other families to bury their own dead." "Rev. Soodmand was not the only one buried on the plot," the spokesperson continued. "There were around 20 in total, all of whom were considered dissidents most if not all the others were part of the MKO or MEK, which even today seeks to overthrow the Iranian regime and is therefore considered a pariah." According to Article 18, the family was told by the people who maintain the cemetery that they had been ordered to expand the cemetery. "So we know it was officially sanctioned but just not precisely by who, though the land is owned by the local mayor's office, so that's our best guess," the Article 18 spokesperson said. "When the family asked who was responsible, they were just told 'they did it' meaning the government, but when they tried to press for clarification, they were not given a precise response." Soodmands daughter, Rashin, told Article 18 in an interview that the recent disrespect shown to our fathers grave wounded our hearts yet again. Our father was killed cruelly and contrary to the law, she said. They buried him in a place they called laanatabad [accursed place] without our knowledge and did not even give our family the opportunity to say goodbye to him or to see his lifeless body. Rashin Soodmand explained that for years, the family had to travel to the remote site to visit his unmarked grave. [W]e were not even allowed to construct a gravestone bearing his name, she recalls. And now, they want to completely remove the only thing of him left for us. We will take our appeal to any relevant national or international institution about this disrespect and cruelty. According to Article 18, Soodmand was tortured and held in solitary confinement after his arrest in 1990. Even though he was granted a short reprieve from prison, Soodmand refused pleas from friends and family for him to flee the country. He reportedly told loved ones that he was willing to sacrifice my life for my sheep. My escape from these dangers would weaken the flock of God and discourage them, he was quoted as saying by the nonprofit. I dont want to be a bad example to them, so I am ready to go to jail again and, if necessary, even to give my life for them. Soodmand was executed about two weeks after he returned to prison and his family wasnt told about his execution until after it was carried out. His son, Ramtin, a pastor of an evangelical church in Mashhad, was arrested by authorities in 2008. He was charged with anti-government activities and released months later. Iran has for years been listed by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for having engaged in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. Iran also ranks as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2019 World Watch List. Open Doors USA reports that it is illegal to hold church services or produce Christian literature in the native language Farsi. The regime also cracks down heavily on converts from Islam. Despite the immense persecution that converts from Islam face in Iran, the underground church movement in Iran has shown exponential growth in the last several years. Open Doors estimates that there are over 800,000 Christians in the country of about 82 million people. The Iranian government has imprisoned several underground church leaders. Among them is Youcef Nadarkhani, who was arrested along with others in 2016 for promoting Zionist Christianity. Before his arrest in 2016, he was sentenced to death in 2012 but was later acquitted. Nadarkhani recently went through a hunger strike to protest the regime for barring his children from completing their education. Last month, an Iranian pastor and eight other Christians were reportedly sentenced to five years in prison each. In 2017, a court in Iran sentenced pastor Victor Bet Tamraz to 10 years in prison for acting against national security while his wife was sentenced to five years in prison. Together, they helped run a Farsi-language church. In August 2018, it was reported that 12 Christian converts were sentenced to one year in prison for holding worship meetings and evangelism. Loading He was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month on charges of abuse of power over pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden as the president withheld aid from the country, and obstructing Congress' ensuing probe. New details of Trump's efforts on Ukraine emerged late Tuesday, increasing pressure on senators to call witnesses in the trial, a step that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been reluctant to take. House investigators announced they were turning over a "trove" of new records of phone calls, text messages and other information from Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Schiff said the information shows Trump's effort "to coerce Ukraine into helping the President's reelection campaign." He said this and other new testimony must be included in the Senate trial. The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday, although significant proceedings wouldn't begin until next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors, to swear an oath to deliver "impartial justice." McConnell, who is negotiating rules for the trial proceedings, said all 53 Republican senators are on board with his plan to start the session and consider the issue of witnesses later. Loading Senate Republicans also signalled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Trump, as Trump himself has suggested. McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that. "There is little or no sentiment in the Republican conference for a motion to dismiss," McConnell said. "Our members feel we have an obligation to listen to the arguments." A mounting number of senators say they want to ensure the ground rules include the possibility of calling new witnesses. Senator Susan Collins of Maine is leading an effort among some Republicans, including Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for witness votes. Romney said he wants to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, who others have said raised alarms about the alternative foreign policy toward Ukraine being run by Giuliani. Loading Democrats have been pushing Republicans, who have a slim Senate majority, to consider new testimony, arguing that fresh information has emerged during Pelosi's month-long delay in transmitting the charges. Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Trump. It takes just 51 votes during the impeachment trial to approve rules or call witnesses. Just four Republican senators could form a majority with Democrats to insist on new testimony. It also would take only 51 senators to vote to dismiss the charges against Trump. At Tuesday's private Republican lunch, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky warned that if witnesses are allowed, defence witnesses could also be called. He and other Republicans want to subpoena Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, Burisma, while his father was vice president. McConnell is drafting an organising resolution that will outline the steps ahead. Approving it will be among their first votes of the trial, likely next Tuesday. He prefers to model Trump's trial partly on the process used for then-President Bill Clinton's trial in 1999. It, too, contained motions for dismissal or calling new witnesses. McConnell is hesitant to call new witnesses who would prolong the trial and put vulnerable senators who are up for reelection in 2020 in a bind with tough choices. At the same time, he wants to give those same senators ample room to show voters they are listening to demands for a fair trial. Most Republicans now appear willing to go along with McConnell's plan to start the trial first then consider witnesses later, rather than upfront, as Democrats want. The use of small satellites is revolutionizing the commercial remote sensing industry and Planets innovative imaging and analysis products are at the forefront of that revolution. The International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) has announced that Tara OShea, Director of Forest Programs at Planet, will give a keynote presentation titled Combining Remote Sensing & Analytics Technologies: Emerging Environmental Applications. This highly anticipated keynote, the first of several available to both ILMF and the co-located ASPRS Annual Conference attendees, will kick off three days of conference programming on March 23, 2020, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. During her presentation, Tara will examine the explosion in the availability of remotely sensed data over the past decade and its impact on emerging environmental and climate applications. Tara will also showcase applications that combine Planet's unique global dataset with lidar data to create innovative capabilities in monitoring forest carbon stocks and emissions, mapping wildfire risk, and more. A full description of the keynote can be viewed here. We take immense pride in organizing a conference program that is highly technical in principle, states Lisa Murray, Group Director at Diversified Communications. So, whenever we identify a presentation that not only meets those technical standards but is also topical, in the way that Taras presentation is relevant to wildfires and climate change, its an obvious inclusion. With a background in sustainable land use and climate change, Tara OShea serves as the Director of Forest Programs at Planet where she oversees the company's strategy for leveraging its Earth observation capacity to help improve the world's ability to monitor global forests today - and account for the value of forests in the global economy tomorrow. Were elated to have Tara represent Planet as a keynote speaker at ILMF 2020, enthuses Bill Emison, Conference Chair at Diversified Communications. The use of small satellites is revolutionizing the commercial remote sensing industry and Planets innovative imaging and analysis products are at the forefront of that revolution. Registration for the 20th edition of ILMF, taking place with the ASPRS Annual Conference and the MAPPS Federal Programs Conference, as part of Geo Week 2020, is now open. Event organizers recommend registering early for the best price and to avoid lines onsite. To register, please visit: https://xpressreg.com/register/ilmf0320/landing.asp?sc=208910 ### About International Lidar Mapping Forum International Lidar Mapping Forum (ILMF) is a technical conference & exhibition focused on airborne, terrestrial, and underwater lidar as well as emerging remote-sensing and data collection tools and technology used for applications including Asset Management, Civil Infrastructure, Coastal Zone Mapping, Emergency Services & Disaster Response, Land and Natural Resource Management, and Urban Modeling. ILMF is part of a network of events and media for the global geospatial market organized by Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows, and online media with 15 years in the geospatial arena, including Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Europe, Commercial UAV News, International Lidar Mapping Forum, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, SPAR3D.com, AEC Next Technology Expo + Conference and AEC Next News. For more information, visit lidarmap.org. About Geo Week Geo Week is a multi-event collaboration including participation from International Lidar Mapping Forum, ASPRS Annual Conference, and MAPPS Federal Programs Conference to accomplish a year of geospatial business in just one week. Each of the three events will retain the distinct educational programs their respective attendees have come to rely upon for industry news and information as well as career development. Various conference pass options are available to allow attendees to take part in any or all programming and activities. For more information regarding Geo Week, please visit geo-week.com. About Diversified Communications Diversified Communications is a leading international media company with a portfolio of face-to-face exhibitions and conferences, online communities and digital and print publications. As producers of these market-leading products Diversified Communications connects, educates and strengthens business communities in over 14 industries including food and beverage, healthcare, natural and organic, business management and technology. Established in 1949 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, USA with divisions and offices around the world, Diversified Communications remains a privately held, third generation, family-owned business. For more information, visit http://www.divcom.com. The globalization of the last decade has had an especially big impact on Australia. When I left Melbourne for the United States in the early 1990s, it was as if I had moved to another planet Australia was just gone from my life. The move back was the opposite: Thanks to social media, cellphones and a global network of chefs and writers, Im almost as connected to America as I was when I lived in Los Angeles. And Australia is more visible than it has ever been. The worldwide reaction to the countrys current horrific fire season is a heartening reminder that our international connections are stronger than ever. Australias incredible slate of food festivals and events over the last decade has brought the worlds food media and chefs to our shores in greater numbers. The support from the tourism and public relations industries is such that those guests are treated splendidly, and often leave as true believers, ready to spread the gospel of Australia to the world. And the countrys current working chefs, bartenders and winemakers are undoubtedly the best-traveled generation of food industry professionals that Australia has ever seen. That globalization is also the development that is likely to pose the most challenges for Australian chefs and restaurateurs who like it or not are now competing in an international arena. Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy might have been booted out of the Oscars race, but that film was indeed one of the best made in Bollywood that year. While many people said that films like Article 15 and Tumbbad should have been sent for the Oscars, Gully Boy was also a good bet, especially because it made quite some waves at the Berlin Film Festival earlier. official poster Nevertheless, the film didn't make it to the Oscars nomination list, yet filmmaker Zoya Akhtar had no complaints. She was still looking at it with gratitude than failure. Amid all this, we didn't even realise that it will soon be an year to the movie's release. Gully Boy was released on Feb 14, and to mark the anniversary of the movie, the makers are releasing scenes that didn't make the final cut. The first deleted scene from Gully Boy has already been released. It is a rap battle between MC Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and D'evil, and it's savage. Take a look! Zoyas production house Tiger Baby also shared that it has debuted on YouTube, "A year since we came to your Gully, now were coming to YouTube. Instagram When Gully Boy was out of the Oscars race, Zoya Akhtar had said, "This has encouraged me to do what I do. We are born and bred in this business, you have ups and you have downs. You cannot let the ups go to your head or the downs go to your heart. Because I'm here to stay." "I'm here to make movies. My job is to take every experience and get better with it. I have to do that, I have no choice. My first film didn't do well, it doesn't mean I'm going to cry. I'm just going to make a better film, then another better one and so on," she told PTI. Meanwhile, Zoya Akhtar has been basking in the success of Ghost Stories, a horror anthology, which was directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee as well as Karan Johar. An Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket from the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File) Rockets Fired Into Israel, Military Says 2 of Them Intercepted The Israeli military said that four rockets were fired into Israel on Wednesday, with the country confirming that its Iron Dome System intercepted half of them. The four rockets were fired from Gaza and two rockets were intercepted mid-air by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a statement. The rocket attacks are the first since the United States, an ally of Israel, carried out airstrikes to kill top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani earlier this month. Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, has close relations with Tehran, which officially endorses the creation of a Palestinian state. 4 rockets were just fired from #Gaza at #Israel. 2 rockets were intercepted mid-air by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System. Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 15, 2020 Hamas, meanwhile, condemned the airstrike that killed Soleimani, who headed the shadowy Quds Force that backed a number of Iranian proxy militia groups in the region. In November, Israel killed a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, which is a Hamas-aligned group in Gaza. The group then fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, of which many were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, AFP reported. As a result, Israel struck dozens of targets inside Gaza. In Wednesdays rocket attack, the two remaining rockets not intercepted by the Iron Dome system fell into an open area, according to Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post. Israels Magen David Adom ambulance service told the Post that no damage or injuries were reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility. In December, a rocket was fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon as it hosted a rally with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was forced to seek shelter during the incident, but later returned to finish his speech. The IDF then retaliated by striking targets in the Gaza Strip, hitting Hamas targets that included military compounds, Haaretz noted. Israeli aircraft earlier in December also bombed Hamas sites, including military camps and a naval base, the report also said. On Tuesday, in nearby Syria, air defense systems were triggered on Tuesday following an aerial strike on a military base in Homs, state media said. According to the state-run SANA agency, Army air defenses confronted aggression on T4 airport in Homs eastern countryside. It added there were reports that say the aggression was perpetrated by drones and missiles and some of them were downed. The state-run news outlet blamed Israel for the incident. The army air defenses immediately intercepted the hostile missiles and shot down a number of them, meanwhile, 4 missiles reached the targeted area and the damages were limited to materials, a military source said via the state news outlet. Syrian media has claimed that the T4 base has been targeted by the Israeli Air Force in the past. Kirubakar Purushothaman By Express News Service Banks never ask for your OTP, Dont disclose your ATM card number/PIN/CVV/OTP/Online User ID and Password to anyone... messages like these from banks might be in your inbox even right now. If you think not divulging such information is basic knowledge and find such warnings to be silly, the new Netflix show Jamtara will tell you otherwise. Thousands of cybercrimes are committed in our country, and a small village in Jharkhand called Jamtara has a huge share in it. In this conversation Cinema Express, the director and the lead actors of Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayega speak to us about the show that is based on real-life incidents from an impoverished village. Director Soumendra Padhi says the show was inspired by a newspaper article about how school dropouts from Jamtara conned urban degree holders. A lot of credit must go to the writers Trishant Srivastava and Nishank Verma. They are the ones who visited Jamtara and did the research. Even the female cop character Dolly is based on a real-life character. The show is as close to reality as it can get, Soumendra Padhi says. The directors feature film, Budhia Singh: Born To Run, won the National Award for Best Childrens Film (2016) and when asked about his shift to the OTT format, he says, Medium is not a matter of concern. Its about the story. Netflix is in more than 190 countries and is in 26 foreign languages. You cant get a wider reach than that. We considered making it into a film, but it wouldnt have been as layered as it is now. Amit Sial is the only well-known face in Jamtaras cast who has done films like Bombariya and Raid. He plays a politician/gangster Brajesh Bhaan in the show. When asked about the difference he wanted to bring to his gangster, Amit says, The idea was not to make him unique but be honest with the man he was. Being a gangster is seen as a stepping stone to enter politics but the difference with Brajesh is that more than being a gangster, he is carrying a legacy. Sparsh Shrivatsava, who plays Sunny, the lead of Jamtara, talks of the preparation he underwent. I started to record people to learn how they speak and observed their body language. We had a workshop before the shooting, which helped break the ice with other actors and bring out the best among us. Anshuman, who plays a character called Rocky, says, Its a directors medium you have to mould yourself by understanding whats in the directors mind. Rockys character is fragile and when his brain stops working, his gun comes out. Theres a notion that with platforms like Netflix, any actor with talent would be able to find work, and Monika Panwar, who plays Gudiya Singh, the centerpiece of Jamtara, agrees. If you are skillful and have what it takes to express yourself, you will have work. Any actor would want to do layered characters and thats exactly what these platforms provide. This is magic. Soumendra doesnt think cybercrimes are taken as seriously as they should be in India. It is a global problem. In a country like India, it is underrepresented by the media because there is no bloodshed. Here, even if ten people die, it does not make it to the news, given our population. This cybercrime problem is serious and has spread to places beyond Jamtara, like cancer. Amit believes that the victims should share some of the blame too. They are able to con you only when you show greed and fall for their bait. They are taking advantage of human nature. Anshuman quickly throws in some statistics, If you analyse. In 2011, 9,600 cybercrime cases were filed. In 2012, it went up only to 11,500. But by 2017, over 47,000 cases have been filed. And we are only talking about the registered cases. Sparsh has the last word: So, our show has come out at the right time. RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. (CVE:REVO) shareholders have seen the share price descend 15% over the month. But in three years the returns have been great. In three years the stock price has launched 250% higher: a great result. So the recent fall in the share price should be viewed in that context. The fundamental business performance will ultimately dictate whether the top is in, or if this is a stellar buying opportunity. See our latest analysis for RevoluGROUP Canada With just CA$591,944 worth of revenue in twelve months, we don't think the market considers RevoluGROUP Canada to have proven its business plan. So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. It seems likely some shareholders believe that RevoluGROUP Canada will significantly advance the business plan before too long. As a general rule, if a company doesn't have much revenue, and it loses money, then it is a high risk investment. There is almost always a chance they will need to raise more capital, and their progress - and share price - will dictate how dilutive that is to current holders. While some such companies go on to make revenue, profits, and generate value, others get hyped up by hopeful naifs before eventually going bankrupt. RevoluGROUP Canada has already given some investors a taste of the sweet gains that high risk investing can generate, if your timing is right. When it reported in August 2019 RevoluGROUP Canada had minimal cash in excess of all liabilities consider its expenditure: just CA$299k to be specific. So if it has not already moved to replenish reserves, we think the near-term chances of a capital raising event are pretty high. It's a testament to the popularity of the business plan that the share price gained 65% per year, over 3 years , despite the weak balance sheet. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how RevoluGROUP Canada's cash levels have changed over time. You can see in the image below, how RevoluGROUP Canada's cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values). Story continues TSXV:REVO Historical Debt, January 15th 2020 In reality it's hard to have much certainty when valuing a business that has neither revenue or profit. One thing you can do is check if company insiders are buying shares. It's often positive if so, assuming the buying is sustained and meaningful. You can click here to see if there are insiders buying. A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 14% in the last year, RevoluGROUP Canada shareholders lost 45%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 23%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 7 warning signs for RevoluGROUP Canada (3 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CA exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. A MAJOR protest against University Hospital Limericks overcrowding crisis is to take place in the heart of Limerick city one week ahead of next months snap election. Led by the fledgling lobby group, Mid-West Hospital Campaign, the protest will take place on Saturday, February 1, in response to the record-breaking levels of patients on trolleys at the Dooradoyle hospital. The Enough Is Enough protest is likely to be the biggest one of its kind since March 2016, when around 300 people took part in a demonstration outside UHL. A decision to hold the protest comes just days after UHL set a new record for highest level of overcrowding when there were 92 patients on trolleys, less than two months after it had set the previous record of 85. It also came after a Limerick Leader story about a patient who was found dead with a suspected broken neck in the emergency department last month. The lobby group, which will be supported by the Stand Up For Mental Health Group, said that it expects to be the largest public action the region has seen since the water protests of 2015 and 2016. The water charge protests represented a significant movement ahead of the 2016 general elections. Mid-West Hospital Campaign Limerick spokesperson, Mary Cahillane said the conditions at UHL are not acceptable and it must not continue. We have had enough. Ninety-two patients on trolleys at UHL last week broke all national records again. UHL is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country. People of all ages, particularly the elderly, are in need of care but are terrified to attend the hospital. Patients languish on trolleys, sometimes for days, not getting the care they deserve. Healthcare teams in every category in the hospital are severely diminished due to under-resourcing and are, as a consequence, faced with inhumane levels of pressure from the beginning to the end of their shift. The former councillor said they want the matter to be declared a national emergency, and has called for a special taskforce to be established to tackle the problem. A 2015, a special emergency department taskforce of nationwide specialists and experts was set up while Leo Varadkar was Minister for Health. Separately, UL Hospitals Group also has an emergency care committee to manage all things in relation to the emergency department at UHL. The protest will start at St Johns Hospital at 1pm, and will make its way to Bedford Row in the city centre. We are asking for a massive turnout to end the healthcare emergency in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. There will be a number of guest speakers on the day, including Limerick Leader editor, Eugene Phelan. In its own Enough Is Enough campaign, launched in April 2019, the newspaper has highlighted the overcrowding crisis on a weekly basis and will do so until the opening of the 60-bed unit and when the Government makes efforts to tackle the crisis. H G Trueman Rd., 11800 block, Dec. 31. A man was asked to leave a liquor store after he argued with a cashier and became irate. The man finally got into his vehicle but refused an officers command to leave the premises, then shut the officers arm in the car window. The 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with trespassing on private property, obstructing and hindering, resisting/interfering with arrest, and second-degree assault of a law enforcement officer. [January 15, 2020] Jeenie Modernizes Access to American Sign Language Communication with Mobile On-Demand Video Interpreting WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jeenie, the leading peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand video and voice calls with HUMAN language interpreters, announced today the addition of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters to its mobile platform. Jeenie now functions as the first mobile and easily accessible form of on-demand Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) to facilitate face-to-face communication between Deaf and hearing persons who are in the same location. Unlike other VRI services, Jeenie offers instant access to qualified ASL interpreters right on your smartphone or iPad screen, with no advance scheduling and no supplemental technology. Deaf persons and users in need of ASL interpreting assistance connect to interpreters with a tap of a button to launch a live video call session within seconds for individual, daily use. The 24-7 availability of Jeenie interpreters provides users with an affordable and reliable way to facilitate their in-person communications. Our core mission is to combine HUMAN talent, technology and crowdsourcing to overcome language barriers, says Kirsten Brecht Baker, CEO and Co-Founder of Jeenie. We have built the Jeenie app to solicit better outcomes in situations where language differences create misunderstandings, frustration, or even health risks. We were approached by leaders in the Deaf community who suggested that our mobile app solution for spoken languages could also work for signed languages. The addition of ASL to our platform would not be possible without the direct input from many members of the Deaf community who provided us with invaluable nsights. To access an ASL interpreter, a Deaf person that requires assistance in communicating with a non-signing person need look no further than the mobile device that they carry wherever they go. After opening the app and selecting ASL as their language, users simply press the video call button and in less than a minute -- a live interpreter pops up on the screen of their smartphone or iPad to sign with them and to relay their interests to others. This removes the frustrating and all too common communication challenges Deaf persons can face while engaging in daily activities, from collaborating with work colleagues and interfacing with service providers (coffee shops, dry cleaners, grocery stores, etc.) to social activities such as family gatherings or dinner with a friend. Businesses can utilize Jeenie as a simple and cost-efficient way to communicate appropriately with and provide an enhanced customer experience for their Deaf customers, as well as comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other regulations. While some assistive communications technologies such as Video Relay Service (VRS) are indispensable resources for long-distance, telephonic interactions, Jeenies on-demand VRI service offers the Deaf community a modern, convenient solution for their face-to-face, in-person interactions. The service is not intended to replace in-person interpreters, which are essential and ideal in many situations - especially in medical and legal contexts. Rather, Jeenie is a communication resource for all those situations where an in-person interpreter is not available or is impractical due to the inability to pre-schedule. The companys vision is to break down ALL language barriers by offering assistance on their platform in as many languages as possible, both spoken and signed. The Jeenie team itself includes life-long language professionals, Deaf users of ASL services, and interpreters. Future enhancements to the Jeenie app include captioning that will aid hard-of-hearing persons and users in loud environments as well as the addition of other countries sign languages. The addition of ASL to the platform complements the apps current live interpreter language offerings that include: Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. For more information about Jeenie, visit www.jeenie.com . About Jeenie Jeenie is a global, peer-to-peer marketplace of HUMAN language experts standing by 24/7 to jump on a voice or video call to help you with any of your communication needs. With the tap of a button, the Jeenie mobile app connects customers with LIVE interpreters for language help & cultural advice in less than a minute. Jake Katz [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The US ranked 18th in this year's list of the best countries in which to raise a child, falling behind the UK, Canada, Australia and many European nations. Despite its economic stability, the US scores relatively low for being family friendly and fails to get two out of 10 points for 'safety' in the US News & World Report's 2020 rankings of the best countries, published Wednesday. Chief among the factors that separate the US from the upper echelon of countries for rearing children - dominated by Scandinavian countries - are American policies that don't require paid time off for working parents and the nation's gun violence. On the upside, the US is seen as having a well-established education system, but without better policies for caregivers, experts worry American kids and families may lose out. The US (red) barely made the top 20 places to raise children, falling at 18, well below the UK (red, right) and most of Europe, where employees are guaranteed paid parental leave In US News & World Report's annual overall rankings - compiled based on international perceptions of countries by the publication, the Wharton School's marketing department and BAV group - America is the 7th best nation. It gets nearly full marks (scored out of 10) for categories like entrepreneurship and cultural influence. But when it comes to the factors that shape day-to-day living, the US falls short. For matters of 'citizenship,' the US gets just a 5.4, comprised of sub-categories like gender equality, distribution of political power and its dismal marks for human rights (4.5), caring about the environment (0.9) and trustworthiness (1.6). Even closer to home, the US eked out just over half of its possible points for quality of life, and its these factors that deeply affect the development of children. US PARENTS FACE HIGHER COSTS OF LIVING AND DON'T GET PAID TIME OFF GUARANTEED TO FAMILIES IN MOST PEER COUNTRIES The monthly cost of living for a four-person family in the US, excluding rent, is around $4,045. In Denmark's capitol, Copenhagen, it's about $3,705. A year's worth of childcare in the US runs a family between $9,000 and $9,600, or upwards of $750 a month. Danes get a monthly subsidy of about $508 USD for kids under three, and of about $307 for those three and over. Not only does the US government provide no assistance for the cost of childcare, American companies aren't required to give employees paid time off to care for their children. 'One of the biggest, gaping holes in [in the US] is the lack of paid parental leave,' Dr Jody Heymann, a University of California, Los Angeles professor of public health and contributor to the UN's report on family friendly policies, told DailyMail.com. 'There are 187 countries with paid maternal leave, and the Us doesn't have it. 'Nearly half the world - and it's nearly universal in wealth countries - has the opportunity for foad leave for dads. 'This is a crucial gap.' At long last, the defense bill that President Trump signed in December gave 2.1 million government employees paid parental time off. But in 2018, only 17 percent of Americans in the private sector had access to paid family leave, according to government data. And Dr Heymann says it takes a toll on more than US families' bank accounts, affecting the well-being of children too. 'The first months and several years of life have profound impacts on children's immediate and long-term health and development and we need to put [protections] in place in the US,' she said. THE REST OF THE WORLD SEES THE US AS 'UNSAFE' AMID GUN VIOLENCE AND SCHOOL SHOOTINGS. Notably, the US got just 1.5 points for its perception of safety. An oft-cited statistic: there were more mass shootings in 2019 than there were days in the year. In 2019, there were at least 45 school shootings in the US and guns - accidentally or intentionally - are the second leading cause of death for children in the US. The last school shooting in Denmark was in 2015. Australia banned guns after a shooting that killed 35 people in 1996 and has had no school shootings since. Every recent attempt to pass gun legislature in the US has died on the vine, including regulations proposed following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that cost the lives of 20 children under age eight. The US Constitution guarantees the right to gun ownership - though notably not to health care for adults or children - and some argued last month that an armed security detail at a Texas church saved lives after a gunman opened fire there. TOP TEN BEST COUNTRIES TO RAISE A CHILD 1. Denmark 2. Sweden 3. Norway 4. Canada 5. Netherlands 6. Finland 7. Switzerland 8. New Zealand 9. Australia 10. Austria Advertisement TOP TEN BEST COUNTRIES TO RAISE A CHILD 1. Denmark 2. Sweden 3. Norway 4. Canada 5. Netherlands 6. Finland 7. Switzerland 8. New Zealand 9. Australia 10. Austria Advertisement But public health advocates widely slam firearm policies in the US, where a unique culture of violence and school shootings persists. The perception that the US is not a good place to raise children presents problems for those kids, their families and the future of he nation, says Dr Heymann. 'We should absolutely be concerned, because it is an incredibly important measure of how our country is doing now and will be doing over the coming decade,' she says. 'The extent to which we support the healthy development of all children, which we could do so much better at in the US, will affect the future quality of life of everyone who lives here. 'For children themselves as they grow into youth and young adults and for everyone who can take part in the economy to be able to rely on our next generation.' Regardless of the current posture toward attitude, Dr Heymann says that the desirability of the US as a place to live, work and raise a family has ramifications for international confidence in the health of the nation. 'Do people want to come here to work, to live and to grow the country?' she asks. 'Is this where everyone wants to invest their most important human resources? 'It's a crucial indicator, but the good news is there are clear ways we can do better.' A New York-style crackdown on crime was pledged today by the former minister overseeing the Tory bid to regain the London mayoralty. Greg Hands said the capital needed decisive leadership from City Hall akin to that seen in New York in the Nineties. Then mayor Rudy Giulianis broken windows approach to tackling minor offending was credited with a fall in serious crime. Mr Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham and a former chief secretary to the treasury, was last week appointed chairman of Shaun Baileys mayoral campaign. He believes a relentless focus on crime will improve Mr Baileys chances of defeating Labours Sadiq Khan on May 7. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani / AP There were 149 homicides in London last year, the highest figure for 11 years. Mr Hands told the Standard: Crime is clearly the Mayors biggest failing. That is the biggest area of public concern. City Hall figures unearthed by Mr Baileys campaign team show falling satisfaction with the Met police, among victims and Londoners more generally, in the last two years. Mr Bailey, a former Downing Street adviser to David Cameron, believes the figures demonstrate that Mr Khan, the police and crime commissioner for London, has failed to give the Met the support it needs. Mr Hands aims to really add a boost to Mr Baileys chances by enlisting support from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and across the Tory parliamentary party. This is the biggest electoral contest this year, and clearly the Prime Minister will be taking a big interest in this contest and in doing everything he can to ensure that Shaun Bailey is the next mayor of London, Mr Hands said. Mr Bailey lagged 22 points behind Mr Khan in the most recent opinion poll. Mr Hands claimed Mr Khans terrible track record made him very vulnerable. He said the Tory strategy would be to squeeze the also-rans the election is also being contested by the Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent candidate Rory Stewart and turn it into a two-horse race. To get serious on Londons crime, you need a new mayor, he said. The only person who can defeat Sadiq Khan is Shaun Bailey. Met police numbers have risen under Mr Khan to more than 31,000 and he has increased council tax to compensate for a loss of Government funding. A London Labour spokesman said: Greg Hands and Shaun Bailey are responsible for the huge cuts to the Met Police and youth services that caused crime to rise and put massive pressure on the Met police. They owe Londoners an apology Shaun Bailey for implementing the cuts as Downing Street crime adviser and Greg Hands for voting for them. They simply cannot be trusted to keep London safe. Listen to today's episode of The Leader: Global Maritime Forum Report Released Navy News Service Story Number: NNS200114-04 Release Date: 1/14/2020 10:33:00 AM From the Office of the Navy Chief of Information Washington, DC (NNS) -- The office of the Director, National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) / National Intelligence Manager for Maritime (NIM Maritime) has released a report on the Global Maritime Forum (GMF) held at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom in 2019. Rear Adm. Gene Price, USN, then-director of NMIO/NIM Maritime, partnered with the United Kingdom National Maritime Information Centre to host and facilitate the 2-day GMF event. The report provides a summary of the forum, which focused on "Unifying Unmanned Systems to Enhance Maritime Security: Building Networks to Solve Unique Challenges." The forum saw participation from private, academic, and international partners from eight different nations with varying roles in creating and networking unmanned systems, enhancing maritime security, and leading the cutting edge of autonomy and artificial intelligence. Through this forum, and subsequent engagement with the participating foreign and domestic institutions, NMIO/NIM Maritime brought together the Global Maritime Community of Interest to improve information sharing on cutting-edge unmanned vehicle and networking technologies. The goal of the forum was to foster a better understanding of a significant emerging technology that has the potential to improve maritime security in actionable, meaningful ways. The final report on the workshop is now available for download at: http://nmio.ise.gov/gmf/. The Director of National Intelligence created NMIO as an Intelligence Community Service of Common Concern in 2009 to advance governmental collaboration and unity of effort as outlined in the 9/11 Commission Report, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and the National Strategy for Maritime Security. NMIO facilitates information sharing and collaboration across a Global Maritime Community of Interest, which consists of U.S. federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments; the maritime industry; non-governmental organizations; law enforcement; academia; and our international partners. Learn more about NMIO online at http://nmio.ise.gov/index.htm. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Trump, reform crusader Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images One of the main defenses against impeachment that Republicans constructed on President Trumps behalf is that he supposedly withheld military aid from Ukraine only because he was concerned about corruption. Trumps request to investigate the Bidens was part-and-parcel of his general anti-corruption concern, suggested Ben Shapiro. Trump wanted to clean up corruption in Ukraine, and ensure taxpayer-funded aid wasnt going to corrupt causes, argues Rep. Mark Meadows. This defense has numerous flaws. It ignores the sequence of events, in which Zelenskys anti-corruption reforms preceded the suspension of aid. It ignores Trumps own words, which repeatedly insisted on investigating the Bidens, and not any other steps toward reform. It ignores the Pentagons official process assessing that Ukraine was taking steps against corruption. And it ignores the fact Trumps anti-corruption mission in Ukraine involved hiring crooks to work hand-in-hand with some of the most notoriously corrupt officials in Ukraine. But the silliest and most insulting aspect of the defense is the idea that Trump actually wants to suppress corruption. Skeptics have noted that he has placed no emphasis on fighting corruption in his foreign relations with any other country, and has indeed pursued closer relations with some of the worlds most corrupt regimes. Even that skepticism doesnt go quite far enough, though. Trump actually approves of corruption. A Very Stable Genius, a new book by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonig, reports that in 2017, Trump sought to eliminate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials. Its just so unfair that American companies arent allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas, Trump says, according to the book. Were going to change that. Asked about this report Friday, White House economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow told reporters were looking at it. Kudlow, of course, has written that Wealthy folks have no need to steal or engage in corruption, so he surely doesnt see any need to prohibit the rich from engaging in the kinds of untoward practices he is sure they would never need to do. This was a long-held position by Trump. In 2012, he called the law a horrible law that puts us at a huge disadvantage. This is not merely a matter of convenience for Trump. His business career has involved working with gangsters and paying off politicians. He believes in his soul that this is how business gets done. Many people are willing to engage in corruption, but Trumps participation is a matter of conviction. He is not merely corrupt but a corruptionist. Skeptics have noted Trumps disinterest in corruption. Trump has not focused on corruption to any significant degree as president, argued Philip Bump a couple months ago. But the truth is that Trump has focused on corruption. He wishes there was more of it. Its astonishing that, even as Trumps impeachment defense hinges upon his supposed hatred for foreign corruption, his administration isnt even hiding its desire to weaken the countrys most powerful law against overseas corruption. This post has been updated. Photo: CTV News Iran's president levelled threats Wednesday against Europe in response to European countries' new crackdown on his country's violations of their nuclear deal a move Canada is also supporting. The escalation of rhetoric over the nuclear deal is casting a shadow over an international meeting that Canada hopes will lead to justice and financial compensation for the families of the victims of Iran's shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne arrives in London later today for a meeting Thursday of the International Co-ordination and Response Group for families of victims of Flight PS752, which Iran downed last week killing all 176 people on board, including 57 Canadians and 82 Iranians. The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 89 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. The meeting at the Canadian High Commission will include representatives of Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain, and is being billed by Ottawa as a step towards "closure, accountability, transparency and justice including compensation for the families and loved ones of the victims." As attendees gathered, Canada demanded official status in Iran's investigation of the crash. In a news conference in Ottawa, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said two Canadian investigators are in Iran as part of an international team and have been getting good co-operation, but he wants their participation in the probe formalized. "We will not accept a situation where we are not being given the information we are looking for," Garneau said. He said the plane's "black boxes" are in Iranian hands and another two investigators are ready to go wherever and whenever the recorders are examined. He said he has seen a video recording publicized by the New York Times showing what appear to be two separate missiles targeting the plane, not just one, and that's exactly the kind of detail that the investigation must examine. After denying for days that it shot down the passenger plane, Iran's leaders apologized and admitted what they said was a mistake, striking a conciliatory tone. That shifted on Wednesday when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said European soldiers in the Middle East "could be in danger" as a result of Tuesday's decision by Britain, France and Germany to trigger a section of their 2015 nuclear agreement that could bring back European sanctions against Iran. The fate of the 2015 nuclear deal has been intertwined with the chain of events that led to last week's downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines plane by one, perhaps two Iranian surface-to-air missiles. In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal signed by the Obama administration, Germany and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council designed to prevent Iran from enriching enough uranium to produce an atomic bomb. Trump started a campaign of "maximum pressure" to force Iran to renegotiate a better deal, but that hasn't happened. On Jan. 3, Trump approved the drone attack that killed Iran's Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani. On Jan. 5, Iran said it would no longer abide by the nuclear deal's limits on the production of bomb-making material, but would still allow the UN to inspect nuclear facilities. On Jan. 7, Iran retaliated for the Soleimani killing by firing missiles at two Iraqi military bases where American troops are based. Canadian military personnel were stationed at one of them. A day later, the Ukraine passenger jet was shot down. In a Global News interview aired Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said had it not been for the recently elevated tensions, "those Canadians would be right now home with their families." On Tuesday, Iran announced arrests after "extensive investigations," but has yet to offer further details about specific charges. North Americans of Iranian descent say that while Iranian leaders appear to be taking unprecedented steps to soothe the pain of crash victims' loved ones, their true intentions are to maintain power. The data prompted one school board member to audibly recoil: Roughly 60 percent of the Natrona County School Districts high schoolers said theyd tried vaping at one point in their life, and more than 62 percent said they saw little to no risk in using e-cigarettes. They dont see the dangers. Its I mean, they dont see the dangers at all, said Shannon Harris, the principal at Natrona County High School. And I dont know what its going to take. The school board held its first of two public meetings aimed at addressing e-cigarette use Monday night, a sparsely attended affair that nonetheless shed light on the rampant vaping in the districts higher levels. More than 15 percent of the districts high schoolers said in a survey that they used a vaping product at least once a day. Roughly 44 percent said theyd vaped at one point in the previous 30 days. The majority of students 66 percent of high schoolers said their parents would consider it wrong to vape. Still, only 37 percent said there was moderate or great risk to the behavior. Across the nation in 2019, a wave of vaping-related illnesses suggested that 37 percent is correct. As of the first week of January, there had been more than 2,600 cases of a vaping-related lung illness, 57 people have died, and some survivors have needed lung transplants to recover. The condition, a mystery for much of 2019, is tied to the use of THC products. The data presented Monday night was new to the school board. But the anecdotal evidence from administrators like NCs Harris was not. Harris had previously told the board that vaping was a daily concern for the high schools. On Monday, board member Clark Jensen asked where the teens were getting e-cigarettes. Everywhere, Harris and Superintendent Steve Hopkins said in unison. Enforcing schools ban on e-cigarette use is hard, Harris said. The devices often look like jump drives. They dont set off smoke detectors. Vape detectors are expensive and only help so much especially in bathrooms, where vaping is more common and where they arent cameras. Harris said administrators at Pinedale High School had installed detectors in the bathrooms and were allowing one student at a time to use the facilities. Thats not possible in NC or Kelly Walsh, the states two largest high schools. We decided that if were going to spend that amount of money, we would rather spend it on education, Hopkins said. The district is looking at potential programs to use, and Harris threw out requiring training for students who are caught. Its a really hard habit to break, like smoking, she said. Theyre addicted. Because e-cigarettes are relatively new, theres not the mountain of data available like there is for traditional cigarettes. But theres still eye-opening information: One Juul pod contains the equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes. E-cigarette use doesnt prevent smoking or help wean people off traditional cigarettes in fact, just the opposite is true. A study in the U.S. previously found that e-cigarette use was associated with progression from experimentation with cigarettes to established smoking, according to an analysis published in the Annual Review of Public Health. That same analysis does cite a handful of studies that showed some link between current smokers weaning themselves off cigarettes and on to vaping products. Still, the analysis concluded, The overall conclusion that smokers who used e-cigarettes were significantly less likely to stop smoking cigarettes remained. Anna Kinder, the director of the Casper-Natrona County Health Department, told the school board there are especially pronounced health concerns for teens, who are using the products as their brains are still developing. She said theres a general perception that vaping is OK she cited the example of one parent who allowed her ninth-grader to vape after he finished his homework. When were talking about vaping in the youth, it has significant impacts on the hippocampus, where some of our learning and memory takes place, she said. Other studies have tied e-cigarette use in teens to damage to neural stem cells in the brain. While the relatively new release of e-cigarettes makes it difficult to judge the long-term effects of vaping, more and more information is becoming available about short-term effects. A Yale discussion about vaping cited a 2019 study, which found that people who use only e-cigarettes increase their risk of developing lung disease by about 30 percent compared with nonusers. The risks are even higher for those who use both traditional cigarettes and their electronic cousins. The Annual Review of Public Health analysis of vaping also warned of the risks associated with vaping. Although e-cigarettes deliver lower levels of carcinogens than do conventional cigarettes, and therefore may pose less cancer risk to users (albeit not zero cancer risk), they still expose users to high levels of ultrafine particles and other toxins that may substantially increase cardiovascular and noncancer lung disease risk, researchers wrote. The similarities between the effects of e-cigarettes and those of conventional cigarettes on determinants of cardiovascular and lung disease make it likely that e-cigarettes will impose similar long-term cardiovascular and pulmonary risks as those associated with conventional cigarettes. The school district will hold another public meeting on vaping at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 at its main facility. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A year-long narcotics investigation led to the arrest of 50 people in North Alabama, according to local authorities. Investigators with the Franklin County Sheriffs Office and Russellville Police Department were assisted by multiple other agencies in conducting the narcotics arrest warrant operation known as Direct Impact. The operation led to more than 80 grand jury indictments and arrest warrants with 50 subjects arrested and booked into the Franklin County Jail. The majority of the arrests occurred Monday and Tuesday. Six additional felony drug charges were made during the operation as well as three individuals taken into custody that were wanted by other agencies. Charges range from possession of a controlled substance and drug trafficking to chemical endangerment of a child and promoting prison contraband. The operation continues and more arrests are expected, law enforcement officials said. Arrested in the operation were: - Akufo-Addo has revealed that there are plans underway to make the Year of Return a permanent feature on the Ghanaian calendar - He believes the success of the 2019 Year of Return is enough justification for the initiative to be institutionalized - The president revealed that the tourism ministry is assiduously working on it Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed that there are plans underway to make the Year of Return a permanent feature on the Ghanaian calendar. According to Akufo-Addo, the tourism minister and her able team are trying their best to see if the Year of Return could become a permanent feature of our tourism landscape. Speaking at the Jubilee House with members of the Christian Council of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, said he believed the success of the 2019 Year of Return was enough justification for the initiative to be institutionalized and sustained making it a yearly historic and memorable event. READ ALSO: Investments yield the right returns in Ghana Dangote asserts The Tourism Minister and her team are sitting down to see if the Year of Return can become a permanent feature of our tourism landscape, he noted. The Year of Return turned out to be a much greater phenomenon than I anticipated. I didnt realize that when I first raised up the issue, it was going to turn out to be this huge. The president declared 2019 the Year of Return for Ghana to encourage Africans living in the diaspora to come visit the country. The campaign was targetted mainly at the African-American market to mark 400 years since the first enslaved African arrived in Jamestown Virginia in the United States of America. Aside the fact that the campaign was targetted at connecting African-Americans to their roots, the government is believed to have raked in $1.9 billion into Ghanas economy, according to the Tourism Minister. The government has since dubbed 2020, Beyond the Return in a bid to leverage the gains made in 2019. READ ALSO: ECOWAS: All Central Banks meet over the introduction of ECO currency Tourism Minister Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, revealed that a total of $1.9 billion was generated into the Ghanaian economy through the various activities related to the Year of Return. She said the Year of Return program massively increased the number of arrivals into the country. The Tourism Minister added that the Year of Return also improved Ghanas relationship with the rest of the world. READ ALSO: Investments yield the right returns in Ghana Dangote asserts Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Representative image India Gold February futures recouped losses and were trading higher on January 15 tracking gains in the international market after a top US official said tariffs on China would stay until a Phase 2 deal is completed. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on January 14, the United States would keep in place tariffs on Chinese goods until the completion of a Phase 2 trade deal, said a Reuters report. On the MCX, Gold contracts for February were trading higher by Rs 223, or 0.57 percent, at Rs 39,670 per 10 gram at 09:20 hours. Gold and silver prices extended the fall ahead of the signing of first phase trade deal between the US and China. Spot Gold closed below $1,550 and silver prices closed at $17.80 per troy ounce. At MCX, Gold prices slipped below 39,500 and silver prices slipped below 46,000 levels in the previous session. Experts feel that Gold is likely to remain volatile but will hold onto the support of 39,200 levels. Investors could use rallies to go short. Gold & Silver Rates Gold Rate in Mumbai 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai 10g of 22K gold in Mumbai View more Silver Rate in Mumbai 10g silver in Mumbai 1kg silver in Mumbai View more Show We expect both the precious metals to trade near crucial support levels if it holds then one bounce back is possible in the prices. If it breaks $1542 and $17.70 per troy ounce then further downside is possible in both the precious metals, Manoj Kumar Jain, Director, IndiaNivesh Commodities told Moneycontrol. Please keep a close watch on the support levels. Gold is expected to trade in the range of 39200-39500 and silver is expected to trade in the range of 45600-46100 levels, he said. Track live Gold price here Trading Strategy: MCX Gold February has given a gap down & has sustained below 39500 levels which indicate weakness to continue in the counter. It has strong support of its 21-Daily Moving Average which is placed at 39100 levels. International Gold is expected to trade in a range of $1535-$1548 levels. Intraday strategy: MCX Gold February Sell in the range of 39530-39550 with 39650 as stop loss and target of 39200 levels. Expert: Jateen Trivedi, Sr Research Analyst - Commodity & Currency, LKP Securities Ltd On the daily chart Gold traded flat to weak as US-China Phase I deal boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets but recent update about tariffs on China would stay until a Phase 2 deal is completed, ahead of the signing of an interim trade deal between the two countries is giving Gold prices support in early morning trade. Prices overall have priced in the trade deal phase I. Gold prices can be in some profit booking mode but the strong supports are placed near 39000 and if the levels hold on closing basis then bounce expected. For the day 39700-39850 will act as resistance whereas 39600-39475 as supports. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts 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. In 2016 Yakov Temov was appointed CEO of Connected IO Limited (ASX:CIO). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. View our latest analysis for Connected IO How Does Yakov Temov's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing, our data says that Connected IO Limited has a market cap of AU$8.4m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of AU$190k for the year to June 2019. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at AU$181k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under AU$289m, and the median CEO total compensation was AU$379k. A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Yakov Temov is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Connected IO has changed over time. ASX:CIO CEO Compensation, January 14th 2020 Is Connected IO Limited Growing? On average over the last three years, Connected IO Limited has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 36% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 56% over last year. This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Has Connected IO Limited Been A Good Investment? Story continues With a three year total loss of 83%, Connected IO Limited would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation. In Summary... It looks like Connected IO Limited pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. Despite some positives, it is likely that shareholders wanted better returns, given the performance over the last three years. So while we don't think, Yakov Temov is paid too much, shareholders may hope that business performance translates to investment returns before pay rises are given out. When I see fairly low remuneration, combined with earnings per share growth, but without big share price gains, it makes me want to research the potential for future gains. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Connected IO shares (free trial). Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presides over a plenary meeting of the State Council in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, or China's cabinet, will send a draft version of a government work report to multiple central and provincial-level government departments to solicit their opinions. The decision was made at a plenary meeting of the State Council Monday presided over Premier Li Keqiang. The meeting discussed the report, which will be submitted to the upcoming annual session of the National People's Congress, and arranged the cabinet's work for the first quarter. In his speech, Li highlighted the achievements made last year as China met its primary goals and tasks for economic and social development. He cited the country's economic growth remaining within a reasonable range, improved quality of development as well as stable employment with over 13 million new urban jobs created for seven consecutive years. The premier called for continued efforts to win the three major battles, namely preventing and defusing major risks, eliminating poverty, and pollution control, and promote high-quality development to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects this year. Li stressed the importance of further optimizing business environment to stimulate market vitality, and the need to foster new growth engines by pushing forward reform and opening up as well as innovation. Government departments at all levels should strengthen their sense of responsibility and urgency to start out well in the country's economic performance in the first quarter, said Li. The country will smooth out monetary policy transmission mechanisms, and give full play to multiple tools including the reserve requirement ratio to lower the financing costs of enterprises, especially manufacturing, private, small and micro businesses, Li added. The premier also urged further steps to ensure a stable supply of such agricultural products as pork, and keep the price stable for the holiday season. A Pakistani court on Wednesday sought the government's response on PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz's request for removing her name from the no-fly list. Maryam, the 46-year-old daughter of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was placed on the no-fly list in August 2018. She wanted to travel London to see her ailing father. She filed the petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC) for removal of her name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and return her passport, The Express Tribune reported. The lawyer of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)'s vice-president said that a two-member bench of the LHC presided by Justice Tarq Abbasi heard the petition and sought a written explanation from the federal government on the delay in removing her name from the no-fly list. On Tuesday, the federal cabinet, following a meeting headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, gave a nod to place Maryam's name in the ECL in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) corruption case. Maryam, whose name is in the ECL ever since she was convicted in the Avenfield corruption case in 2018, is also accused of money laundering. She was arrested by the anti-corruption watchdog on August 8 last year in a case pertaining to "shady business transactions" at CSM, where she is a major shareholder. She was granted bail by LHC in November later that year. PML-N supremo Nawaz left for London on November 19 to undergo medical treatment, a month after the three-time premier was released on bail from a seven-year prison sentence for corruption. Sharif is suffering from multiple health ailments, including an immune system disorder causing low platelet count, according to doctors. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Spokesman of Iran's election watchdog on Wednesday blasted President Hassan Rouhani for criticizing its mass disqualification of would-be candidates for the February 2020 parliament elections. Iran's Guardian Council which must approve the all candidates running for parliament, has rejected thousands of applicants, including 90 members of the current parliament. "Brawling to [force the Council to] qualify the unqualified [candidates] is nothing new. It is lamentable that the President has become a pioneer in this unpatriotic project," Abassali Kadkhodai, Spokesman of the Guardian Council Spokesman of the Guardian Council wrote in his tweet. In a cabinet meeting earlier on Wednesday Rouhani slammed the Council for mass disqualification of thousands of would-be candidates from running in the upcoming elections. Rouhani said people want "diversity" and accused the Guardian Council of trying to ensure total control by of one faction only; the hardliners who also dominate the election and Constitution watchdog bodies. On January 13 the Guardian Council Spokesman announced that it has disqualified 90 sitting lawmakers from running in the elections for "financial and moral corruption" and antagonism against the regime. The Council has disqualified two outspoken lawmakers, Ali Motahari and Mahmoud. Several other prominent lawmakers including the incumbent speaker Ali Larijani who has lost much of his influence are not running. Reformists say only 30 percent of their 16,000 candidates nationwide have been approved by the Council to run in the elections. Gold Price Talking Points: Gold prices started the year with an aggressive breakout to fresh six-year-highs. As fear has been priced-out of markets, Gold prices have settled, although the longer-term backdrop retains a bullish bias driven by longer-term expectations around global Central Banks. Gold Prices Peel Back to Swing Support, Bounce up to 2019 High Gold prices started the year with an aggressive show of strength, quickly running up to a fresh six-year-high as tensions firmed between the US and Iran. This furthered a move that showed visibly in late-December, as Gold prices had put in a topside breakout from a bull pennant formation; but this addition of fear put the theme in fever pitch as buyers rushed to the bid. At this point, Gold has set another fresh six-year-high at 1611; but has since seen that move pull back as tensions of eased around the US-Iran scenario. This doesnt necessarily eliminate the longer-term bullish backdrop, as another factor of importance remains of interest, and thats the potential for more softening from global Central Banks. But, this is likely a theme that will remain behind the front page, at least for now, leading to additional pullback potential in Gold prices as that fear bid gets further priced-out of the equation. The support looked at in last weeks article around 1535 has come in to help hold the lows. That support inflection led to a topside bounce and prices ran for more than $20 until resistance could show around 1557, which is the 2019 swing high. That level capped the highs for today and sellers appear to be on their way back into short-term Gold price action. Gold Hourly Price Chart Chart prepared by James Stanley; Gold on Tradingview Current price action is finding support around the 38.2% retracement of the November-January move and this level has already exhibited a bit of support earlier this week. This price may not hold for long, and a breach below opens the door for a re-test of the 1535 level, which was a swing-high from last September that current defines the weekly low. Below that, 1528 becomes of interest as this is the 50% marker of the November-January move; and below that is a confluent zone of interest that runs from 1515-1520. The former of those prices saw numerous resistance inflections in October-leading-into-November and provided a brief pause when Gold prices were breaking-out again ahead of year-end. But, to date, this price hasnt yet shown much for support and if price action does volley all the way down there, this could become interesting for bullish plays again. Gold Eight-Hour Price Chart Chart prepared by James Stanley; Gold on Tradingview Gold Price Strategy Moving Forward As looked at in this weeks technical forecast, the longer-term backdrop for Gold remains bullish in nature. This may be a bit obscured, however, by that early-year show of fear that created an outsized breakout. I had discussed the bigger-picture backdrop in Gold as one of the top trade ideas for this year, and that was largely driven by the premise of global Central Banks remaining loose-and-passive to stoke global growth. That hasnt really had much effect of recent, however, as the breakout was very much driven by fear. For longer-term approaches, that confluent zone that runs from 1515-1520 could remain attractive for support plays. Gold Price Daily Chart Chart prepared by James Stanley; Gold on Tradingview --- Written by James Stanley, Strategist for DailyFX.com Contact and follow James on Twitter: @JStanleyFX Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a surprise constitutional shakeup that could keep him in power beyond the end of his term in 2024, and appointed a new prime minister after Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet resigned. Putin used his annual state-of-the-nation speech on January 15 to call for a referendum on substantial constitutional amendments that would strengthen parliament's powers ahead of the end of his term in 2024. "Given that the proposed reforms concern significant changes to the political system, the work of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, I believe it is necessary to hold a plebiscite on the entire package of the proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution," Putin added without specifying any date for a vote. Hours later, Putin named little-known Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia's new prime minister after Medvedev resigned following the president's announcement. Mishustin, 53, has worked in the government since 1998 and has been head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010. Observers said the day's dramatic events are likely preparing the ground for 2024, when Putin, now 67, must leave the presidency. Putin has occupied the presidency or the prime minister's job continuously since 1999, and was reelected in 2018 for a final six-year term under the current constitution. Announcing the moves in his address to Russias Federal Assembly, Putin said the countrys 1993 constitution should be amended, including giving the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament -- the right to name cabinet ministers and the prime minister, a power that currently belongs to the president. At the same time, Putin said Russia must remain a "strong presidential republic," with the president retaining powers such as the right to dismiss the prime minister and cabinet ministers, as well as naming top defense and security officials. "This will increase the role and significance of the country's parliament," Putin said. "For my part, I want to thank you for everything that was done at this stage of our joint work. I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved," Putin said at the meeting with Medvedev and his cabinet. "Not everything was done, of course, but everything never works out completely," Putin added. Medvedev announced his government's resignation during the live broadcast of a cabinet meeting with Putin. "After the [constitutional] changes are adopted, and most likely this will be done after discussions, there will be significant changesin the balance of power," Medvedev said. "In that context, we, as the government of the Russian Federation, must provide our country's president with an opportunity to make all necessary decisions and in these conditions, I think the government of the Russian Federation made the proper move to resign," he added. Russian news agencies said Putin plans to create the position of deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and that the post will be offered to Medvedev. Observers say that Putin's choice of Mishustin, who lacks any political weight, indicates that the latter will not play an independent role. Mishustin will face a vote of approval in the Duma within one week. Russia last conducted a referendum in 1993 when it adopted the constitution under Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Tightening Presidential Requirements Putin also suggested tightening the requirements for becoming president, saying any future Russian president should have lived in the country for at least 25 years and have no foreign citizenship or residency. In addition, he also talked about a constitutional change that would enshrine the priority of domestic legislation over international law. The speech came with the country still under Western sanctions for its actions in Ukraine and Syria, as well as its alleged election meddling in the United States. The sanctions have hampered the country's economic growth, leading to rising poverty rates and growing discontent highlighted by protests last summer in Moscow. Aleksei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader and Kremlin critic, tweeted that Putin's speech clearly signaled his desire to stay in control after his term ends. "The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends," Navalny said. Navalny said he expected any vote on constitutional changes to be "fraudulent crap." Social-Spending Measures The address at Moscow's Manezh exhibition hall is one of three regularly scheduled national appearances that Putin makes each year -- the others being a lavish question-and-answer session with the public and a stage-managed annual press conference. It is the 16th time Putin has delivered the address before an audience that also includes government ministers, judges from the constitutional and supreme courts, leading regional officials, and other members of the political elite. In response to public discord, Putin spelled out social-spending measures to counter Russias declining population, which he characterized as a "direct threat" to the countrys future, including a nationwide hot-school-meals program. Putin said low incomes remain an obstacle to increasing the population, now at about 147 million, as the country faces the consequences of the post-Soviet economic collapse that led to a steep drop in the birthrate. "We need to expedite achievement to meet the large-scale social, economic, and technological challenges our country faces," he said. "Our society is clearly demonstrating a demand for change. People want development and are trying to make progress in the fields of vocation, knowledge, and well being," Putin said. In his speech, Putin also boasted about Russian weaponry. He claimed that Russia is leading in the global arms race and is no longer forced to catch up to other world powers. With reporting by Interfax and TASS Perhaps no one had more disdain for the Shirley Temple than the person for whom the kid-friendly cocktail was named. Those saccharine, icky drinks? I had nothing to do with [them], the actress told NPRs Scott Simon in the 1980s. If only she could have gone to the restaurant Fishnet in Baltimore, where the Not So Shirley Temple is balanced with savory baking spices. Around the country, restaurants are expanding their menus of thoughtful, complex, nonalcoholic cocktails to keep pace especially this month with a population thats drinking less. And while these drinks are made for adult palates, theyre also drawing an unexpected fan base: children. At the airy all-day cafe Hunky Dory, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, owner Claire Sprouse created the Pink Kong, a $9 nonalcoholic cocktail of rice milk, pink peppercorn tea and the cardamom-forward Seedlip Spice 94, for abstaining adults. Yet, kids suck it down, Sprouse says. Theres nothing stranger than having to cut off a child before they rack up a huge tab. At Yugen in Chicago, a 4-year-old recently sipped through the entire spirit-free cocktail pairing thats offered with the multicourse Japanese meal. In Indianapolis, young patrons at Gallery Pastry Shop are ordering lavender-pear lemonade, served in Champagne flutes. These kids have sophisticated palates, says co-owner Alison Keefer. They embrace spice, understand balance and love to learn about ingredients theyve never tried before. Photo: Alev Takil/Unsplash If you're a theater fan, mark your calendars: There's plenty to do when it comes to stage performances in Houston this week, from a classic Neil Simon play to a murder mystery. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 'California Suite' From the event description: A four-part comedy confection as only Neil Simon can write it! Four couples arrive in turn from London, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York and separately inhabit a Beverly Hills hotel suite, bringing along their problems, anxieties, and comical marital dilemmas. Neil Simon at his most humane, compassionate best. When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 8 p.m. Where: Theatre Southwest, 8944 Clarkcrest Price: $10 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 'The Last Five Years' From the event description: Before it became a feature film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, "The Last Five Years" began as a stage musical that was hailed as one of the 10 Best Shows of 2001 by Time magazine. Get ready for some inventive and heartrending songs, not to mention a brilliant approach to story structure, at Houstons Art Factory. When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 8 p.m. Where: Art Factory, 1125 Providence St. Price: $12.50 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 'Murder at the Book Club' From the event description: A meeting of the Queen Anne Mystery Book Club takes a dark twist and strange messages put the group on edge. Tensions rise, accusations mount and a murder investigation begins. When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 8:30 p.m. Where: Theatre Suburbia, 4106 Way Out West Drive Price: $9 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Flush with cash, Europes space agency hopes to put the troubles of 2019 in the past. Emerging from a year that saw the European Space Agency (ESA) suffer serious and sometimes embarrassing setbacks, ESA Director General Jan Woerner on Wednesday, in his annual news conference in Paris, revealed an ambitious and demanding year ahead. [It]is important at the beginning of a year to think about that its not just another year. Its a very special year, Woerner said. Everybody is talking about climate change as the predominant challenge. Yes, it is predominant, but we have also other challenges. In the coming 12 months, ESA plans to send a lander-rover mission to Mars, an orbiter to the sun, and a reprogrammable satellite into Low Earth Orbit. This schedule comes on the heels of a year in which ESA experienced problems with its ExoMars mission and saw its Galileo navigation system similar in function to GPS suffer a seven-day outage. Woerner also said that in addition to continuing to study the environment on Earth, ESA aims to take a leading role in tackling space junk mostly dead satellites and rocket parts that litter orbits around Earth. One challenge the space agency does not face, is money. The ESA budget Coming out of last Novembers Space+19 ministerial meeting in Seville, Spain, ESAs 22-member nations agreed to obligate a record 14.4 billion euros ($16.1bn) for the agencys five-year budget. On Wednesday, Woerner announced that an additional 100 million euros ($112m) is expected to come into the budget, making the new total 14.5 billion euros ($16.2bn). The increase is roughly a 21 percent boost over the previous budget, which was allocated in 2016 to cover the space agencys programmes and operations for three years. The top three contributors include Germany at 3.3 billion euros ($3.7bn), France at 2.7 billion euros ($3bn), and Italy at 2.3 billion euros ($2.5bn). Notably, the United Kingdom having promised 1.7 billion euros ($1.8bn), is ESAs fourth-largest contributor, despite its plan to leave the European Union on January 31. ESAs main challenge Woerner said his space agency remains confident that it will be ready to launch its ExoMars lander-rover mission by this summers launch window despite last years technical failures. Parachutes that were designed to slow the landers descent ripped not once, but in two high-altitude balloon tests. The parachute extraction systems were faulted for the failures. Normally ESA would have tackled the problem on its own, but because launch windows for Mars missions come around only once every 26 months, the challenge has been to fix the systems in time. We sought the support of JPL facilities to do some new ground tests, and in particular to redesign the bags for the main parachutes, said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA, who spoke at the news conference. Parker said ESA and JPL have already conducted four ground tests successfully and are planning two high-altitude tests for February and March, which he hopes will prove that the new bag design works and that all four parachutes can deploy without a snag. Lisa Maree Williams, Stringer / Getty Images Bushfires (wildfires in the U.S.) are a normal occurrence in Australia, but something has changed. Four years ago in early January, a fire started with two lightning strikes in a state forest 54 miles southwest of Perth, Western Australia. Within a day, the blazes merged and turned into a pyro cumulonimbus. I had never heard of such a term for a fire creating a cloud reaching 9 miles up into the stratosphere. Here in Houston we are familiar with the summer afternoon clouds that boil up like a witchs brew, and if were lucky, bring us a dose of cooler air and rain. But this pyro cumulonimbus was the fires own weather system built of smoke and fire and wind that razed 95 homes and the small town of Yarloop within minutes, killing two and then racing all the way to the coast where fleeing residents had to be rescued by boat. Ash and embers rained down creating further fires over the next two weeks, and my brothers town of Harvey was ordered to evacuate, too. What is currently happening on the east coast of Australia is the above multiplied by 200. The first fires that were started by lightning strikes in mid-November and fueled by drought and record breaking temperatures have spread, creating dozens of pyro cumulonimbus which have not only spewed ash and embers but have also caused their own lightning strikes to create further fires. Since the fires began, 10 million acres have burned, 2,000 homes have been destroyed, 25 lives lost and up to one billion animals have perished. An Arkansas couple was killed in a Texas crash that police there say was related to strong storms that hit the area over the weekend. Police said they had been alerted early Saturday morning that Evan and Sarah Nuessner had been traveling to McKinney, Texas, but they never reached their destination. A caller told police that a gray Ford Edge SUV matching the description of the missing couples' vehicle was seen on a U.S. Route 75 access road Saturday morning. Evan Nuessner was found dead inside the vehicle, police said. Authorities said that the strong storms and heavy rain in the area may likely caused the crash. After a search, crews found the body of Sarah Neussner in Post Oak Creek, about seven miles downstream from the crash. Police in Texas said that Sarah's body may have been swept from the vehicle after the crash occurred. The couple got married in October. Chris Grey, the manager of Bocca Italian eatery & pizzeria in Fayetteville, where Evan worked, called the deaths "horrible and shocking." "Everyone is still just blown away and torn up," Grey said. "Evan and Sarah were truly fun, adventurous, kind, enjoyable people. They were constantly going to music festivals and on road trips. I truly am blessed to have had the opportunity to minister their wedding back in October. I cant believe (they're) already gone." Ferocious storms, including tornadoes, killed at least 10 people over the weekend, in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Oklahoma. Watch the video above to learn more about this story. [January 15, 2020] Explore collaboration, BIM & smart building technology at Microsol Resources' TECH Perspectives in Seattle SEATTLE, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsol Resources, an Autodesk Platinum Partner and a premier provider of technology solutions to the building industry, will host its TECH Perspectives conference at the Seattle Art Museum on February 11, 2020. TECH Perspectives is Microsol Resources' technology and innovation conference that brings together thought leaders at the forefront of building innovation to discuss new and existing technologies that are reshaping the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. TECH Perspectives conferences are held in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and this year for the first time in Seattle. With two keynote presentations and two exciting industry panel sessions, each TECH Perspectives conference enables the building community to benefit from lessons learned by industry professionals. For more information and to register, please go to www.techperspectives.com. The opening keynote address will be delivered by Maria Mackey, Real Estate Director of Vulcan Real Estate. She manages Vulcan's portfolio of corporate real estate and leads Vulcan's financing negotiations on its real estate investments. In her role, Ms. Mackey has established relationships with more than 27 different lenders including life insurance companies, banks, and pension funds. She has secured more than $3.5 billion in financing across a variety f real estate and construction loan programs. "We are thrilled to be able to bring TECH Perspectives to Seattle for the first time and look forward to having Maria Mackey of Vulcan Real Estate give the opening keynote," says Emilio Krausz, President of Microsol Resources. "The attendees from the AEC community will gain valuable insight hearing from Ms. Mackey and our presenters on how they are advancing sustainability, technology, and design in every project," added Mr. Krausz. Agenda Highlights for TECH Perspectives Seattle 2020 The industry keynote address will be delivered by Donna Laquidara-Carr, the Industry Insights Research Director from Dodge Data & Analytics who provides editorial direction to the SmartMarket Report Series, covering such diverse topics as World Green Building Trends, Prefabrication and Modular Construction, the Business Value of BIM and Managing Risk in the Construction Industry. In addition, we have technology innovators to present and hold insightful discussions about: Collaboration & Building Information Modeling (BIM) | How do we make sure we're all working on the most up to date information and maintaining a single source of truth? With BIM at the core of the project delivery, the need for any time, anywhere, collaboration, data continuity comes into play. We will hear from Salla Palos , Director of Transformation Services of Microsoft; Angus MacGregor , Principal of Olson Kundig ; Robert Otani , Principal of Thornton Tomasetti's CORE Studio; and Josh Rodgers , Virtual Design Construction Manager of Mortenson Construction. | How do we make sure we're all working on the most up to date information and maintaining a single source of truth? With BIM at the core of the project delivery, the need for any time, anywhere, collaboration, data continuity comes into play. We will hear from , Director of Transformation Services of Microsoft; , Principal of ; , Principal of Thornton Tomasetti's CORE Studio; and , Virtual Design Construction Manager of Mortenson Construction. Smart Buildings | Every day, we hear about a new "smart" technology that will change our lives. But what does smart mean in the context of designing, developing, and operating buildings? This session we will hear from AEC's industry leaders on how smart building tech and data can provide a deeper role for design intelligence in the era of the digital twin. We will hear from Stephen van Dyck, Partner of LMN Architects; and Nicholas Desbiens , Head of Digital Practice of KPF. The half-day conference is accredited by the AIA for 3.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). For an up-to-date schedule of the sessions, and to register for the TECH Perspectives Seattle conference, visit the TECH Perspectives website at www.techperspectives.com. Conference Organizer Contact: Anna Liza Montenegro, Director of Marketing | Microsol Resources [email protected] | (212) 465 8734 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/explore-collaboration-bim--smart-building-technology-at-microsol-resources-tech-perspectives-in-seattle-300987889.html SOURCE Microsol Resources Corp. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A mob of 20 emus have been allowed to continue roaming the streets of a small town and snooping through front yards while looking for food. Residents of Nannup, south of Perth, fought with their local council to allow the mob to keep living in the town of about 600 people. The Shire of Nannup considered the emus 'potential hazards' and had plans to move them on using a high pressure cleaner, but residents resisted the move. Scroll down for video A mob of 20 emus have been allowed to continue roaming the streets of a small town The Shire of Nannup considered the birds as 'potential hazards' to the community as well as the emus themselves 'The emus have suddenly appeared over the past six months or so and they've proven to become a bit of a nuisance in people's yards, and doing their dung on public thoroughfares,' Nannup Shire President Tony Dean told ABC News Advice to locals Restrain from feeding the emus. Do not approach as the males are territorial and can become extremely defensive of their young. If confronted, loud noises and high pressure water from hoses may deter/scare them off. Please direct all related concerns to Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions on 9731 6232. Advertisement 'I have been here most of my life and it's the first time we've seen such a pack of this size in town, and it's clear their numbers are not in decline.' The issue flared up when a motorcyclist collided with an emu in December, killing the bird and causing significant injury to the rider. But when the council backed using a high pressure cleaner to get rid of the birds, residents spoke up to defend the emu mob. Following discussions with the community, the council decided to leave the emus alone but still warned residents not to approach the wild birds. 'Native wildlife management is the responsibility of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA),' they said. Nannup Shire President Tony Dean said residents will 'learn to live with them' The council clarified that they never supported the culling of the emu population and will have warning signs erected around town. 'During those conversations with DBCA the Shire of Nannup at no point has endorsed nor supported any culling of the local emu population. 'The Shire of Nannup is arranging for signs to be positioned at each entrance of Town informing drivers that emus are present in the area and to take care when driving. Mr Dean expects the talk around town to continue about the emus and said for the time being they have to 'live with them'. 'If they [residents and tourists] do have a close encounter with them, don't approach them because they are territorial and they can be quite aggressive.' T ensions in the Middle East show no signs of abating following two explosive weeks of diplomatic rows, threats of war and an unforgivable tragedy, in the wake of General Soleimanis death. It comes as European powers, including the UK, France and Germany, accuse Iran of not meeting its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal and make moves to ensure its renewed compliance as soon as possible. Now Britains ambassador to Tehran has been hurled into the centre of the diplomatic row following his arrest by Iranian police on Saturday. So why has British envoy Rob Macaire entered the fray? And why is Iran threatening to expel him from the country? Heres everything you need to know about Tehrans so-called persona non grata. What does persona non grata mean? Britain's Ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire / BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE/AFP via G The phrase is Latin for "unwelcome person" but it has also acquired a diplomatic meaning. In this sense it refers to a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a certain country is prohibited by that country. This designation was coined at the 1961 UNs Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations and entered into force in 1964. Under Article 9 of the treaty, a country can declare any member of diplomatic staff persona non grata "at any time and without having to explain its decision." It is the most damning form of censure a country can bestow on foreign diplomats given that they are protected from arrests and other forms of prosecution under diplomatic immunity. Any one declared persona non grata can be recalled from a diplomatic mission or have their functions with the mission terminated. If the declared person is not recalled, the country can refuse to recognise the person as a legitimate part of the mission. The designation can also apply to people who have yet to enter the country. Why has Iran used the term to describe the UK ambassador? Iranian protesters burn US flags in rally 1 /56 Iranian protesters burn US flags in rally Anti-US effigy during a rally outside the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images Effigies and banners during a rally outside the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images Iranian cleric takes pictures of anti-US banners AFP via Getty Images Iranian protesters pose for a selfie with another dressed as US president Donald Trump AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Iranian protesters hold placards with anti-US slogans AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators hold anti-U.S. placards in Arabic AP Iranian woman holds the flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement (Back) during a rally AFP via Getty Images Iranian women display religious symbols written on the palms of their hands AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators hold anti-U.S. banners and a torn makeshift U.S. flag upside down AP Demonstrators chant slogans as they set fire to a makeshift British flag AP Thousands of Iranian protesters wave national flags during a demonstration outside the former US embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran AFP via Getty Images Iranian protesters set US flags on fire AFP via Getty Images Schoolgirls hold the national flags along with anti-U.S. placards in the annual rally AP Iranian protesters set a US flag on fire during a rally outside the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images Iranian protesters set a US flag on fire during a rally outside the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images With anti-American slogans and effigies mocking US President Donald Trump AFP via Getty Images An Iranian woman holds a cardboard cutout representing a member of the Islamic State (IS) group in chains AFP via Getty Images An Iranian man walks past a new mural painted on the walls of the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Actors wear hats colored in the flags of the United States, Israel, and Britain imprisoned in a cage during the anti-U.S AP AP An Iranian man aims a dart at a picture of US president Donald Trump AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Iranian women pose for a selfie around an anti-US banner during a rally outside the former US embassy AFP via Getty Images Placard mocking US president donald Trump AFP via Getty Images In this Nov. 8, 1979, protesters chant outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Forty years ago on Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students overran guards to take over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, starting a 444-day hostage crisis that transfixed America AP 1979 - demonstrators burn an American flag atop the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, AP Nov. 27, 1979 file photo, demonstrators, including oil tank drivers with their vehicles AP 1979 - Iranians gather before the entrance of the U.S. Embassy compound in Tehran AP In this Dec. 12, 1979, a new sign appears at the U.S. Embassy compound warning that "Iran will bury you." AP 1979- an armed Iranian student patrols the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, AP 1979 - One of the hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran AP 1979 - Iranian students display their weapons during a news conference in Tehran AP 1979 - Iranian child holds a photo showing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini AP April 26, 1980 file photo, an undamaged helicopter sits on the ground behind the charred remains of a second U.S. helicopter in the Iranian desert of Dasht-E-Kavir, April 26, 1980. The site, about 300 air miles from Tehran, was where the United States rescue effort for those held hostage in Tehran was abandoned, and where a U.S. helicopter and transport aircraft collided. AP In this Nov. 5, 1979, a crowd of Iranian women wearing the traditional chador join an anti-U.S. protest in Tehran, Iran. AP 1979 - A mass of Iranian protestors is held back from the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. AP Irans judiciary named Rob Macaire persona non grata for allegedly participating in anti-government protests. Iranian spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, spokesman claims Mr Macaire played a provocative role in the street demonstrations, after attending a vigil for the 176 passengers killed in the Ukranian plane crash. He was arrested outside a Tehran university and detained for more than an hour on suspicion of organising, provoking and directing radical action, before being released. Mr Macaire has denied participation in the protests, insisting he had left the vigil as soon as people began chanting. Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of teh Ukrainian passenger jet / REUTERS But Iranian officials have dismissed his defence, saying he played a role in the illegal gatherings continuation. Mr Esmaili told reporters on Tuesday: It is not acceptable for us to see that the British ambassador went outside the embassy and took part in an illegal gathering, filmed it and had a provocative role in its continuation. And while he admitted the final decision over Mr Macaires expulsion would rest with Irans foreign ministry, he added: As far as we are concerned he is persona non grata. Peoples expectations and international regulations necessitate his expulsion. What has the response been and what happens next? Raab accuses Iran of violating international law after UK ambassador arrested Mr Maccaire is returning to London for talks after which he intends to return to Tehran, the UK Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday morning. A spokesman for the government department said the ambassadors visit to the UK has been planned for quite a while and is no indication he will be stripped of his diplomatic role. It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here, the spokespersons said. It comes after foreign secretary Dominic Raab condemned Mr Macaires arrest as being without grounds or explanation, calling it a flagrant violation of international law. Mr Raab said his department had received no formal notification from Tehran of any plans to expel the envoy, and warned that for the country to do so would be deeply regrettable given the diplomacy needed to salvage the nuclear agreement. We need to keep the diplomatic channels open and therefore futile gestures like that are not going to resolve the problems that the regime in Tehran faces, he said. On Monday, Iran's ambassador to the UK, Hamid Baeidinejad, was summoned to the Foreign Office to hear the government's "strong objections" to Mr Macaire's arrest. But Iran's foreign ministry issued an ominous statement following the meeting saying: Any new mistake of Britain will be severely confronted by Iran, and London will be responsible for that. Im sorry my heart attack is any inconvenience for you. Wow. As zingers go, this one from Thomas Markle to his daughter Meghan and her then fiance Prince Harry is right up there with anything even Prince Philips ever spat. In one brief but explosive text message, Mr Markle reveals his enormous pain, both physical and emotional, at the rift that exploded around the time of Meghan and Harrys wedding. His torment was contained in sensational court documents filed yesterday by lawyers for the Mail on Sunday newspaper for whom, full disclosure, I write a weekly diary - who are being sued by Meghan for publishing a letter from her to her father. There were many more messages too, revealing the full devastating behind-the-scenes fall-out between the Markles. In one brief but explosive text message, Thomas Markle, pictured with Meghan, reveals his enormous pain at the rift that exploded around the time of Meghan and Harrys wedding But at the heart of it, quite literally, is the question of three hearts. The first belongs to Thomas Markle, an elderly man in his 70s, who underwent emergency surgery for congestive heart failure, just four days before the Royal Wedding in May, 2018 brought on, he believes, by all the stress surrounding it. He has now provided medical records to support claims he first made in December, 2018, during an exclusive interview on Good Morning Britain with me and my co-host Susanna Reid. Those claims were widely questioned at the time. But now we know Thomas was telling the truth. He DID have emergency heart surgery, and he WAS advised by doctors not to fly 6,000 miles across the Atlantic for what would have been for him, the father of the bride, a very nerve-wracking experience watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The second heart belongs to Meghan, who loves to tell us all how caring, kind and sensitive she is. Yesterday, as the firestorm over her and Harrys decision to quit as full-time Royals continued to rage, she was seen flying by seaplane (ever mindful, as a celebrity eco-warrior, of her carbon footprint!) to visit a womens shelter in one of Canadas poorest neighbourhoods. As the firestorm over her and Harrys decision to quit as full-time Royals continued to rage, Meghan was seen flying by seaplane The media was informed she was there to offer support and boost the staffs spirits. And naturally, Meghan posed for photos with the women, knowing they would find their way to the press that she professes to loathe, to publicise her secret visit. Meghan posed for photos at a women's shelter, knowing they would find their way to the press that she professes to loathe, to publicize her secret visit She pulled the same trick last week with another secret visit to a Grenfell fire disaster community kitchen group in London, subsequently sharing the photos of herself and Harry at the kitchen on their SussexRoyal Instagram page. Like all good actresses, Meghan knows how to distract attention and self-promote herself as a charitable person. Yet what does it say about her that she would take a seaplane to go and see complete strangers (after taking four transatlantic flights between the UK and Canada in just seven weeks), yet has never once got on a plane to go see her own father after he suffered a heart attack amid the stress of her wedding? It says to me that Meghan Markles pretence to be the Queen of Hearts is built on the flimsiest of self-interested sand. Oh, shes all heart for strangers when there are cameras around. But it seems shes utterly heartless when it comes to the man who helped raise her, supported her financially, and about whom, right to the moment she met her handsome prince, she waxed lovingly and lyrically about on public social media platforms. And talking of the handsome prince, Harrys been very keen to portray himself as the King of Mental Health. Prince Harry, pictured with brother William, has banged on relentlessly about why we must all take special care of loved ones who are suffering distress For the past few years, hes banged on relentlessly about why we must all take special care of loved ones who are suffering distress. Listen to them! the saintly prince has regularly beseeched us. Help them! Nothing, he insists, is more important than aiding those with mental health issues. Yet when his own wifes father was suffering horribly from the stress of global media attention over their wedding, so much so that he had a heart attack, where was Harry in Thomass time of need? The answer is nowhere. Harry is accused of firing off angry text messages to Thomas as Meghan's father was suffering horribly from the stress of global media attention over their wedding Or rather, according to Thomas in the court documents, he was on the end of Meghans phone back in London, firing off angry text messages to him about how badly he was treating her. Its shocking enough that Harry has still never met his father-in-law. Yet what does it say about this passionate mental health crusader that Thomas says he was so disregarding of his wellbeing at such a difficult time? It tells me that like Meghan, Harry loves to talk a good game about compassion and empathy - but doesnt walk the talk when it comes to his own family. Thomas Markle is no innocent victim in all this. He made a big mistake in colluding with paparazzi over photos of himself preparing for the wedding. But his motives werent evil: he just wanted to look better in the media than all the sneaked pictures of him shuffling dishevelled from grocery stores with six-packs of beer. And in his interview with Good Morning Britain, he didnt speak badly of Meghan or Harry. He just repeatedly expressed a hope that they would forgive him for his mistake. But they couldnt. The Queen of Hearts and King of Mental Health have shown no mercy to Thomas Markle. Theyve thrown him to the wolves, refusing to speak to him for 18 months or let him meet his grandson Archie. Harry and Meghan have refused to speak to Thomas for 18 months or let him meet his grandson Archie Its a terrible way to treat an ailing senior citizen whose only crimes have been to father a girl who went onto marry a British royal prince, turning his quiet retired life in Mexico upside down, and to struggle to deal with the ferocious spotlight that subsequently fell on him. Meghan and Thomas are now on course to meet again in a courtroom later this year over publication of the letter she wrote him. She says it was a breach of her copyright and privacy. He says he did it to correct a one-sided version of the rift that five of her closest friends passed to People magazine with Meghans obvious approval. I think Thomas had every right to defend himself, and I feel huge sympathy for him. But regardless of whose side youre on, if this case goes ahead then it will be a sensational one, and many more Markle family secrets will doubtless tumble out in the wash. Already, the public is now able to read astonishingly detailed court evidence that puts a very different gloss on Meghan and Harrys attempts to portray Thomas Markle as a treacherous villain worthy of being disowned. No amount of Meghans carefully coordinated PR spin can change the cold, hard and now incontrovertible facts that her father underwent emergency heart surgery four days before her wedding - and both she and Harry have treated him with brutally callous dismissiveness ever since. Worth remembering next time they pop up to offer support and boost spirits to complete strangers in a bid to promote their kind-hearted credentials. Pope emeritus Benedict XVI with Pope Francis - REX Abattle inside the Vatican over a book about priestly celibacy took an odd turn on Tuesday when Pope Benedict demanded his name be taken off it, a day before it was due to appear in bookshops. The book, From the Depths of Our Hearts, puts up a staunch defence of celibacy and was interpreted as a critical attack on Pope Francis, who is mulling whether to relax the stipulation in parts of the world where there is an acute shortage of clergy. It contains an essay written by Benedict and was due to be published in French on Wednesday and in English next month. The Pope Emeritus, who in 2013 became the first pope in seven centuries to resign but who still lives within the walls of the Vatican, was credited as the co-author of the volume, along with a fellow conservative, Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea. But in an unexpected announcement, Benedicts aides said they wanted his name removed from the cover and from the books introductory and concluding chapters. Pope Francis celebrates mass in the Vatican on Jan 14 2020 Credit: EPA The move raised questions as to whether the 92-year-old Benedict had been in any way manipulated by conservatives keen to coopt him in the fight against the reformist Pope Francis. It was the latest twist in a saga that reflects the war of attrition being fought between traditionalists and progressives within the Catholic world. The pope emeritus knew that the cardinal was preparing a book and he sent him a text on the priesthood, authorising him to use it as he wanted, said Georg Ganswein, Benedicts personal secretary, whose good looks and suave manner have earned him the nickname the Black Forest Adonis. But he did not approve a project for a co-authored book and he had not seen or authorised the cover. It is a misunderstanding that does not raise questions about Cardinal Sarah's good faith. In the book, Benedict, 92, argues that a priest cannot devote all his time and energy to the service of God if he also has a family despite the fact that there are several parts of the Roman Catholic Church in which married priests are tolerated. Story continues Pope Benedict stunned the world when he resigned in 2013 Credit: AP Coming at a time when Francis is considering the deliberations of an October synod on whether to relax the celibacy rule in certain circumstances, it was seen as Benedict trying to influence the debate and of running, in effect, a parallel papacy. Cardinal Sarah, 74, strongly denied any suggestion that he had misled Benedict. "I solemnly affirm that Benedict XVI knew that our project would take the form of a book," the cardinal wrote on Twitter. In a lengthy statement, he insisted that Benedict knew his name would be on the front of the book and that accusations that he had manipulated the former pope were despicable. In future editions of the book, Benedict will be named as a contributor rather than the co-author, but the text of what he wrote would remain unchanged, the cardinal said. The French publishers of the book, Fayard, said that discussions were taking place about how to respond to Benedicts request to have his name removed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: Instability in the Middle East is detrimental to all countries, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reports via IRINN. Rouhani noted that unity of the countries of the region is the only way for its stability. The president added that Iran is ready to hold talks to restore stability in the region. Rouhani added that the countries of the Middle East should work together to drive the US out of the region. "The Iraqi parliament has taken a step in this direction," Rouhani noted, adding that this goal may not be reached in short term, but it will happen eventually. Referring to the latest developments in the region, Rouhani blamed the US for the unfortunate chain of events. It might seem bad, but the worst that can happen when you buy a stock (without leverage) is that its share price goes to zero. But in contrast you can make much more than 100% if the company does well. For example, the Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Limited (HKG:337) share price has soared 103% in the last three years. How nice for those who held the stock! On top of that, the share price is up 23% in about a quarter. Check out our latest analysis for Greenland Hong Kong Holdings To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. Greenland Hong Kong Holdings was able to grow its EPS at 260% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. The average annual share price increase of 27% is actually lower than the EPS growth. Therefore, it seems the market has moderated its expectations for growth, somewhat. This cautious sentiment is reflected in its (fairly low) P/E ratio of 4.20. You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). SEHK:337 Past and Future Earnings, January 15th 2020 It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Greenland Hong Kong Holdings's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Greenland Hong Kong Holdings's TSR for the last 3 years was 134%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. Story continues A Different Perspective It's good to see that Greenland Hong Kong Holdings has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 86% in the last twelve months. Of course, that includes the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 5.7%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Greenland Hong Kong Holdings that you should be aware of before investing here. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. An artists illustration of the Proxima Centauri planetary system. Portrayed on the right is the newly discovered exoplanet candidate Proxima c, which orbits the red-dwarf host star once every 5.2 Earth years. The system also includes the smaller Proxima b, on the left, a confirmed world that was discovered in 2016. Proxima b may not be an only child after all. In August 2016, astronomers announced that a roughly Earth-size exoplanet circles the closest star to the sun, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri, which lies a mere 4.2 light-years from us. (For perspective, the Milky Way galaxy's spiral disk is about 100,000 light-years wide.) That world, called Proxima b , orbits in Proxima Centauri's "habitable zone," the just-right range of distances from a star where liquid water could be stable on a world's surface. So, there's a chance that life as we know it may have taken root in the next solar system over from us. (How good that chance is remains a matter of considerable debate, however. For example, Proxima b is tidally locked to its host star, meaning it has a hot dayside and a cold nightside. And red dwarfs are very active stars, so powerful flares may have stripped the planet's atmosphere long ago.) Related: Proxima b: Closest Earth-Like Planet Discovery in Pictures Proxima b's discoverers analyzed "radial velocity" data gathered over multiple years by instruments called HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) and UVES (Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph), which are installed on telescopes operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. The scientists noticed that Proxima Centauri was being tugged slightly by the gravity of an orbiting planet: Proxima b. The team, led by Guillem Anglada-Escude of Queen Mary University London, didn't see any signs of other worlds orbiting the red dwarf at the time, but they couldn't rule that prospect out. And now, a new study reports that the closest exoplanet to Earth may indeed have a companion. In the new study, which was published online today (Jan. 15) in the journal Science Advances , a team led by Mario Damasso and Fabio Del Sordo (and including Anglada-Escude, who's a co-author) re-examined the old HARPS and UVES observations, along with a series of new HARPS measurements. The researchers subjected the data to new analyses that tracked Proxima Centauri's light spectrum over time, looking for regular oscillations that could betray the presence of an undiscovered planet. (Damasso and Del Sordo also presented their results at the Breakthrough Discuss conference in Berkeley, California, last April, before the paper had been accepted for publication.) There was a lot of information to go through; the combined HARPS and UVES measurements spanned about 17.5 years. This painstaking work unearthed a possible planet called Proxima c, which is at least 6 times more massive than Earth and may therefore be a type of world known as a super-Earth . Proxima c completes one lap around Proxima Centauri every 5.2 Earth years, making it a poor prospect for life as we know it. "Given the low luminosity of the host star and the orbital radius of the planet, it receives a very low insolation," said Damasso, who's based at the Astrophysical Observatory of Turin, which is run by Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics. "A simple estimate of the equilibrium temperature gives T~40 K," Damasso told Space.com via email. (Forty degrees K, or Kelvin, is equivalent to minus 388 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 233 Celsius.) But Damasso and Del Sordo both stressed that habitability is a difficult topic to address, given the many factors that go into it and the paucity of information available about most exoplanetary systems. For example, to gauge a world's true life-supporting ability, you'd need to know how thick its atmosphere is and what the air is made of, as well as how active its star is (as the Proxima b example shows). In addition, worlds that don't lie in the traditional "habitable zone" may still be able to harbor life as we know it. After all, the Jupiter moon Europa and Saturn satellite Enceladus are covered by icy shells, but both possess huge subsurface oceans of liquid water. In addition, the habitability talk generally assesses a world's suitability for Earth-like life, and there's certainly no guarantee that aliens in other systems share our biochemistry. "I am convinced there are so many unknown scenarios to be discovered about planetary features that go beyond our imagination," Del Sordo, who's based at the University of Crete, told Space.com via email. "But at the moment this conviction has nothing to do with science; it is only my personal point of view." Related: 10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life More work needed Proxima c remains a candidate for now, Damasso and Del Sordo emphasized; confirming its existence will require additional information. That information will ideally come from the European Space Agency's star-mapping Gaia spacecraft , the researchers said. "According to our study, if Gaia will deliver the data with the expected quality, and in the absence of any unknown impediment, the detection can be reliably confirmed or dismissed," Damasso said. The study team is also assessing how additional HARPS and UVES data might aid the confirmation effort, he added. In addition, the researchers are considering searching for Proxima c via direct imaging in particular, in photos captured by SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch), a tool installed on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. "This is really a challenging task, almost impossible for a blind search with the present capabilities, but having details about the candidate's orbit can help looking for the planet's reflected light in the right places," Damasso said. The difficulty of directly imaging Proxima c means that the lack of a detection by SPHERE would not be a significant strike against the candidate planet's existence, Del Sordo added. And the team's data do suggest that it's probably there, waiting to be found. "According to our calculation, at the moment the two-planet model is five times more probable than the one-planet model to explain the data," Del Sordo said. "It means it is 83% probable planet c exist[s]. Of course, follow-up will be crucial, as Mario said." Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . By Neil Michael and Eoin English Cork City Council is facing a potential annual bill of at least 1m to accommodate people it turned down for council housing following Garda checks. Under social housing assessment regulations, the council requires applicants to provide details of any convictions under a number of specified statutes relating to anti-social behaviour and public order offences. This could include individuals who may not have convictions but who may have come to the attention of gardai and people who may still be before the courts. However, they may not have declared this on the housing applications. There are currently 29 families or individuals in this category in Cork City and because they were rejected for council housing, they have instead been placed in private, emergency accommodation. This brings them in contact with some of the most vulnerable people in society, including homeless single mothers and their children. On average, private accommodation in Cork City is about 111 a night and the bill for the 29 families or individuals is estimated to be at least 22,000 a week, or more than 1m a year. At a meeting of Cork City Council on Monday, Fianna Fail councillor Kenneth OFlynn asked how many housing applications in emergency accommodation have failed due to Garda vetting checks. Mr OFlynn, who is an Independent candidate in the forthcoming general election, was told there were 29 families/individual applicants in homeless services in 2019 that would have been considered by the council for a housing allocation but have not been made an offer due to a related negative Garda vetting report. This was according to Brian Geaney, director of housing, who also said the management of such cases is governed by national guidelines. He said the issue is being looked at nationally and he expects a statement or new guidance to issue shortly. However, the Department of Housing told the Irish Examiner that decisions taken locally have nothing to do with its officials. A spokesperson said: This is a matter for Cork City Council. The Delhi Polices Crime Branch on Wednesday will question two more suspects in connection with the January 5 violence on JNU campus in which at least 35 people were injured, police said. Chunchun Kumar and Dolan Samanta have been called for questioning on Wednesday, they said. A team of Forensic Science Laboratory will visit the campus to retrieve data from the server room, a senior police official said. He said efforts are being made to trace Akshat Awasthi, Rohit Shah and Komal Sharma, who are absconding. JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, Sucheta Talukdar, Priya Ranjan, Dolan Samanta, Vhaskar Vijay Mech, Chunchun Kumar (a JNU alumni) and Pankaj Mishra have been named as suspects in the violence. So far, the police has questioned Talukdar, Ranjan, Ghosh, Mishra and Mech in connection with the attack. Awasthi and Shah, both first-year students of JNU, had featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV news channel. The police had identified Sharma, a student of Daulat Ram College, as the masked woman who was seen in the videos of violence shared on social media. She was wearing a check shirt, a light blue scarf and was carrying a stick. Her phone was switched off since Saturday night. When police had contacted Awasthi and Shah, they said they will join the probe but their phones were also switched off. Thirty-five people, including students and faculty, were injured on January 5 when the masked mob entered the campus and attacked them with rods and sledgehammers. (The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text, only the headline has been changed) WASHINGTON - The House will take a historic vote Wednesday on sending two articles of impeachment to the Senate and approving the team of lawmakers who will prosecute President Donald Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors, triggering only the third trial of an American president. The roll call will come nearly four weeks after a bitterly divided House charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressuring Ukraine to launch investigations that would benefit him politically. It ends a political standoff between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., but sets the stage for an intense partisan fight in the heat of an election year. Pelosi informed her Democratic caucus Tuesday morning of the upcoming vote after holding the articles for weeks in hopes of extracting concessions from McConnell on calling new witnesses as part of a Senate trial. McConnell refused - but the issue is still very much front and center for moderate Senate Republicans balancing party loyalty with difficult reelection battles. "The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial," Pelosi said, announcing the vote in a statement. ". . . The president and the Senators will be held accountable." Hours later, the chairs of four House committees released a cache of text messages and documents provided by an associate of Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that revealed new details about his efforts to seek damaging information about Democrats from sources in Ukraine. "There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress," the chairs of the House Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs committees said in a joint statement. Wednesday's vote sets in motion a ceremonial handoff between chambers, as House impeachment managers physically carry the articles across the Rotunda in a high-profile procession. McConnell said Tuesday, however, that opening arguments are unlikely to begin for another week. He sketched out initial steps this week, with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. sworn in as the presiding officer and next a swearing-in of all 100 senators, who will serve as jurors. Then, the Senate will break for the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, pushing any debate on rules governing the trial into next week. While Pelosi didn't announce her prosecution team Tuesday, many senior Democrats expect her to tap House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and a small group of others close to the investigation to make the case, closing out weeks of intense behind-the-scenes lobbying for the starring role in the trial. "There's a lot of people - I mean, Adam and Jerry foremost among them - who have all of the facts at their fingertips, and they're ready to go today," said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. "I mean, Adam Schiff could present the case this afternoon. So could Jerry." The late start complicates Republicans' plan to vote to acquit Trump before the Feb. 4 State of the Union address. "You know, as I recall, President [Bill] Clinton gave his State of the Union in the middle of that process, and I would expect - no reason to believe that same thing wouldn't happen," said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. The GOP was hoping Trump could use the annual address to pronounce himself exonerated, but the late start means the trial could easily extend past that date, prompting some Republicans, including Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., to float the idea of postponing the speech. The timing also raises the prospect of impeachment spilling into the New Hampshire Democratic primary on Feb. 11. Senators running for the presidential nomination, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., will soon find themselves stuck in the Senate chamber for hours, unable to campaign - a situation already complicating any plans ahead of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. For now, how the trial will proceed depends on about half a dozen centrist Senate Republicans and whether they will buck their leadership and side with Democrats on summoning witnesses such as John Bolton. The former national security adviser likened Trump's pressure on Ukraine to a "drug deal," according to sworn testimony from a former deputy, Fiona Hill. Republican leaders have united behind a no-witness strategy. But some moderates up for reelection in swing or Democratic states, including Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, are eager to show independence from the party in seeking a credible, robust trial. Should four Senate Republicans agree on the need to hear additional evidence, Democrats could force the issue, upending McConnell's plans. Preemptively, Senate Republicans have warned Democrats that should they prevail on securing testimony from witnesses such as Bolton or acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Trump's team will be sure to call their own witnesses, potentially even Hunter Biden, the former vice president's son who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his 2020 rival, Joe Biden, and Hunter Biden. On Tuesday, McConnell met with small group of Senate Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who told the leader that as long as Democrats insisted on calling witnesses, Republicans should do the same, casting it as "witness reciprocity," according to two Republican officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly. McConnell was receptive to Cruz's argument, according to the officials. Cruz spoke about his proposal, and the possibility of seeking Hunter Biden's testimony if Democrats push for Bolton to appear, with other Republican senators at the weekly GOP lunch.Politico first reported on the meeting. After the lunch, McConnell told reporters: "When you get to that issue, I can't imagine that only the witnesses that our Democratic colleagues would want to call would be called," McConnell said Tuesday. Senate Republicans have been coalescing around an argument that it was the House's duty - not the Senate's - to question firsthand witnesses who spoke to Trump about Ukraine. The White House repeatedly rejected impeachment investigators' summons for Trump's inner circle, but House Democrats declined to appeal to the courts to force the matter, citing the slow litigation process. In a floor speech Tuesday, McConnell argued that congressional investigators took 14 months to investigate Watergate before President Richard Nixon's resignation and accused Pelosi of trying to short-circuit the process. "They pulled the plug early because the facts were never the point; the point was to check a political box," McConnell said. The push for witnesses also complicates Democrats' internal dynamics. If impeachment managers argue during the trial that they need more evidence and additional witnesses, that could undermine their case that the facts are clear and that Trump should be removed from office. McConnell said that those "two things cannot both be true." "House Democrats' case cannot simultaneously be so robust that it was enough to impeach in the first place . . . but also so weak that the Senate needs to go fishing" he said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday that the two aren't mutually exclusive. "We've made our case," he said. "But I think the case can be amplified." Additionally, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., argued that the House's case was already "overwhelming" in support of Trump's removal but that there was no harm in pushing for more. "The case is already there - these witnesses and documents simply add to it," he said. "They confirm it. They corroborate it." Not every Democrat agrees. Several warned Tuesday that it could be a mistake for the prosecutors themselves to focus on the need for additional evidence - and said they should instead rely on outside political pressure to make that case. "We don't need witnesses to make this case. Witnesses can buttress the case, can maybe convince people with additional testimony as to the accuracy and validation of what we presented to them. But they're not essential," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va. Multiple Democrats, however, compared the House impeachment to a grand-jury indictment - one that presents sufficient but not complete evidence for a conviction - and said it would be appropriate to push for the additional witnesses. "It's hard to imagine how you decide this case and decide whether or not the president should be convicted of these very serious charges before us without evidence being presented by way of witnesses and documents," said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. "I think obviously the impeachment managers will make that case." The debate over witnesses unfolds as Republicans confronted one internal dispute. Senate Republicans have rebuffed Trump's weekend demand that their chamber move immediately to dismiss charges against him rather than holding a trial. "Little or no sentiment in our conference for a motion to dismiss," McConnell told reporters. McConnell has argued privately to the president that there would not be enough votes to dismiss the case, which could create embarrassing optics for him, according to one individual close to the senator who was not authorized to speak publicly and so spoke on the condition of anonymity. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans emerged from a private caucus lunch largely unified on sidestepping such a vote, with Blunt arguing that "we can't just have a one-sided process that suddenly ends." "This process needs to be a process where everybody is heard and . . . the person who would benefit the most from everybody being heard is the president," Blunt said. The move to skip a motion to dismiss is a reminder of the power held by a small band of moderates - Collins, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah - in determining the impeachment process. More than Trump, McConnell is listening to the demands of these members, hoping to keep them in line with the party. In another victory for this group, the resolution setting the scope of the trial is expected to include a provision guaranteeing a vote on whether to subpoena witnesses. - - - The Washington Post's Paul Sonne contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - Jane OMeara Sanders, the wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, has a clear message about the simmering dispute between her husband and Elizabeth Warren: Its over. OMeara Sanders defended her husbands integrity during a Wednesday interview, but she declined to attack Warren or inflame the feud in any way a day after the Massachusetts senator reiterated during a nationally televised debate that Sanders, a Vermont senator, told her privately that a woman couldnt defeat President Donald Trump. I think that this discussion is over, OMeara Sanders told The Associated Press. The leading liberal presidential contenders have been trying to de-escalate the feud almost since Warren inexplicably made the explosive allegation on the eve of this weeks debate, claiming that Sanders questioned the viability of a female presidential candidate during a private conversation in 2018. The subsequent attempts to tamp down the conflict, from the candidates on the debate stage Tuesday night and from their chief surrogates on Wednesday, reflect the dangerous stakes surrounding a fight that threatens to tear apart the Democratic Partys progressive base less than three weeks before presidential primary voting begins. OMeara Sanders said their campaign has no interest in promoting divisions like Trump does by gender, race or ethnicity. We remain committed to continuing a progressive movement made up of women and men, black and white, gay an straight, she said. The message is unity. At the same time, she described her husband as a person that everybody can trust and pushed back against Warrens accusation. Maybe people sometimes misremember things that happened, she said. But I know without a doubt that it is not anything Bernie would ever say. It is inconceivable because its not what he believes. And theres proof of that going back many, many years. Im not attacking Elizabeth Warren in any way, shape or form on this, OMeara Sanders continued. My message is Bernie is trying to bring people together. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. Isis is the second African lion to die at Brookfield Zoo in the space of two weeks An Illinois zoo has announced the death of a female African lion, just two weeks after the loss of her mate Zenda. Lioness Isis died on Monday after appearing to fall from a height of 15 feet into her enclosure's moat, suffering severe injury and leading veterinary staff to euthanize her. Brookfield Zoo said it was left 'devastated' and 'heartbroken' after the loss of the 14-year-old lioness. Lioness Isis died on Monday after appearing to fall from a height of 15 feet into her enclosure's moat, suffering severe injury and leading veterinary staff to euthanize her Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. The zoo has lost two African lions in the space of two weeks The zoo said in a statement: 'Animal care staff checked on 14-year-old Isis in her outdoor habitat yesterday morning shortly after 9:00 a.m. and all appeared normal. 'However, upon revisiting the habitat a short time later, she was observed laying on the floor of the moat. Although not witnessed, it appears that Isis fell and was injured. 'Despite the immediate and intensive treatment provided by the veterinary staff, Isis sustained significant injuries and the difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize her today.' Chicago Zoological Society's senior vice president of animal programs told USA TODAY that the lion's enclosure had complied with safety standards. He added that 15 feet is 'not a very large drop for a large cat.' The tragic incident comes just two weeks after the zoo euthanized her mate, 13-year-old Zenda. The zoo said Zenda was euthanized due to 'age-related issues that impacted his quality of life.' Both Isis and Zenda (pictured together) arrived at Brookfield Zoo in May 2008. The zoo said: 'Isis and Zenda were majestic animals who had a strong bond' Both Isis and Zenda arrived at Brookfield Zoo in May 2008. They could often be seen grooming one another and sleeping together, the zoo said. The zoo said: 'Isis and Zenda were majestic animals who had a strong bond. 'The animal care staff, who dedicated their lives to care for these charismatic lions, are heartbroken by their loss.' It's being reported that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who are currently trying to take a step back from the royal family, are staying at the Canadian mansion of billionaire Frank Giustra, who has ties to the Clintons. Though Page Six says that Harry and Meghan are staying at Giustra's mansion, they won't reveal who they're staying with. The site is a mansion on the waterfront near Victoria, British Colombia. Giustra Also Has Links To Hollywood The celebrity site adds that Giustra is an ex-stockbroker who co-founded Lionsgate, the movie studio, and is a big donor to the Clinton Foundation. Here's part of what happened. Fox News says Giustra and former President Bill Clinton traveled to Kazakhstan years ago to meet with its leader. Days after the meeting, Giustra made a more than $3 billion deal with Kazakhstan's state-run uranium mine. Months after that, Giustra apparently donated about $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation, and promising more where that came from. The New York Times wrote a story in 2015 further detailing what happened. Giustra Has His Own Problems The story, which become a tangled mess, continued when Clinton and Giustra denied that Clinton helped put the uranium deal together. Later, Giustra divested himself of the assets. Then in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was running for president, emails that leaked from her campaign chairman, John Podesta, revealed that Giustra and billionaire Carlos Slim donated $20 million to the Clinton Foundation, which set up the Haiti Development Fund. That fund was meant to help that country after its devastating earthquakes, though there was no public confirmation of that. Giustra at the time said the whole dustup was insanity a fking circus... Im like, seriously, folks? Im giving away money. Theres a campaign, a political campaign. Anybody with half a brain would know whats happening. The Fallout Continues Regardless of how Meghan and Harry got to Canada or where they're staying, their own controversy continues. Last week, the couple released a statement on Instagram detailing their decision to take a step back from their senior royal duties. Soon after their statement, Meghan flew to Canada. Story continues Many on social media are not happy to hear that Meghan and Harry are somehow linked with Giustra and his political tie-ins. @Robbin_Young wrote:"Frank Giustra, the largest donor to the Clinton Foundation. (Read the article! ) Harry and Meghan can go to hell. " How Much Can They Really 'Step Back'? Meghan and Harry's message to the world read in part: TAMPA, Fla. - Three strikes, and hes in. A thief who authorities in Florida said likely blew up three ATMs was able to take money from a Regions Bank in Valrico on Sunday. The first two blasts didnt yield cash, news outlets reported. The other explosions happened at a BB&T in Oldsmar in November, and a Pilot Bank in Tampa in December. All three locations are in the Tampa Bay area. In the Valrico and Tampa explosions, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the suspect painted the lenses of surveillance cameras black just before the blasts. Surveillance camera lenses were also painted black and ATMs tampered with at the Regions in Valrico in July and September, as well as a Chase bank in the Westchase area in December, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The suspect may be working with an accomplice but was often seen on surveillance video acting alone, Chronister said. The thief was seen on surveillance images wearing dark clothing with a cloth mask that only revealed his eyes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are working with the Hillsborough and Pinellas county sheriffs offices in the investigation. Authorities have also asked for the publics help tracking down the suspect or suspects. Virginia Delegate Suhas Subramanyam (above), a Democrat, has been named along with Republican state Sen. Emmett Hanger as co-chair of the Commonwealth Caucus, which was formed in the hopes of improving bipartisanship during the upcoming legislative session. (Twitter/SuhasforVA photo) Hisense will launch its range of TVs in India in March 2020. The brand will work at creating a position for itself giving premium features at affordable prices. Amit Dhaka, Marketing Head, Hisense India spoke to Digit about the positioning strategy of Hi Hisense has announced that they will enter the TV market in India in March 2020 and you can read more about the announcement here. In a conversation with Digit, Amit Dhaka, Marketing Head, Hisense India said that they plan to create a unique position for themselves in the Indian market. He says that the company will play in the growing TV space in India. The company will offer a wide range of products starting at 32-inches all the way up to 55-inches and larger. The TVs will run on Android TV OS with support for all popular streaming services. The brand will bring their Quantum Dot TVs as well as 8K TVs to give consumers more options to choose from. The company isn't looking at competing with budget brands in India nor will it price its products against the premium brands. It is looking at the space in between; bringing products with features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision at prices where a consumer does not need to sell an arm to enjoy these features. It is looking to fill in the gap between the budget and premium segment. In the budget space we have brands like Xiaomi, Thomson, Kodak, and more dominating the space with the premium space ruled by Sony, LG and Samsung. Hisense is looking to offer its products with features like Quantum dot, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and more in between the budget and premium space. Internationally, the Hisense H8F TV is well-reviewed. The TV brings with it a full array backlit TV with a 4K resolution and support for Dolby Vision. A lot of international reviewers have praised the TV for the features and performance it brings at the affordable price point. Hisense has confirmed to Digit that the company will bring the H8F to India, but the model number will be different. At CES 2020, Hisense officially released three new Laser TV products - the 75-inch Trichrome Laser TV, the Sonic Screen Laser TV and the Self-Rising Screen Laser TV. Looking back at the history of the Hisense Laser TV since 2015, Dr Lin, Vice President of Hisense Group, emphasized on the importance of innovation and shared his firm belief that the Laser display will dominate in the future. According to the press release, Hisense will launch its range of Smart Televisions in India with features like Quantum Dot technology which creates huge amount of Color combinations for more detail, Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos for full immersive & engaging cinematic experience in your home, Hi-View Engine to present stunning picture quality, Full Array Local Dimming with more dimming zones for better contrast ratio and a bezel-less slim design identity across entire range A rare pine species in a secret location in Australia thought to have existed among the dinosaurs has been spared from the bushfire, thanks to a "military-style" rescue mission. Wollemi National Park is the only place the Wollemi Pine grows in the wild, but the exact location is kept secret to avoid potential contamination by visitors. The mission was largely covert to preserve grove's undisclosed position in the park, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. To prevent the historic grove from facing the same fate as much of Australia's wildlife, firefighters dropped fire retardant, employed water-bombing aircraft, and were helicoptered into a remote area to set up irrigation to increase moisture content. The trees have survived fires before, said Cris Brack, associate professor at the Australian National University, but this year they are "abnormally hot and large." A few trees were lost, but a remaining 200 survived, per the Herald. Aging the trees is difficult, but they could be up to 100,000 years old. "When the pines were discovered in 1994, you might as well have found a living dinosaur," said New South Wales Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean told the Herald. Richard Kingsford, director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of NSW, likened the grove to the "Opera House of the natural world." "Losing it would have added to the catastrophe we have seen elsewhere," he said. Read more at the Sydney Morning Herald. More stories from theweek.com GOP Sen. Martha McSally calls CNN's Manu Raju a 'liberal hack' after he asks a basic question about impeachment Mitch McConnell should recuse himself Senate passes USMCA trade deal Nairobi, January 14, 2020 -- Ugandan police should drop all charges against journalist Willy Tamale and cease harassing reporters for their political coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 6, police in central Ugandas Wakiso district detained four journalists who were covering a planned political event by opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, according to news reports and Facebook posts by Robert Ssempala, the executive director of the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, a local press rights group. Police released three of the journalists later that day without charge, but detained Tamale, a reporter with the Luganda-language television station BBS Terefayina and a contributor to the Tamie Imagez YouTube page, until the following evening at the nearby Kasangati police station, according to Tamale and Ssempala, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app. BBS Terefayina is associated with the Kingdom of Buganda, a sub-national kingdom in central Uganda, according to the kingdoms website, and Tamie Imagez is a privately owned outlet that publishes content supportive of Bobi Wine, according to CPJs review of its programming. Ssempala told CPJ that police initially claimed that they were holding Tamale on charges of incitement. On January 7, authorities charged Tamale with disturbance and obstruction, and released him on police bond pending investigation, though they did not cite a specific law that hes alleged to have broken, according to Tamale and a police document reviewed by CPJ. Police requested Tamale check in at the Kasangati station on January 13; when he did, they asked that he return on January 20, Tamale and Ssempala said. On January 8, government security personnel in Lira, in northern Uganda, barred journalists from covering another of Bobi Wines planned public meetings and forcibly deleted pictures taken by two reporters, Denis Okello of Voice of Lango FM and Bismark Olang of Unity FM, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Arresting and harassing journalists who cover opposition events robs the Ugandan public of its right to stay informed about democratic processes in the country, said CPJs sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. Police should immediately drop any charges against Willy Tamale, and security personnel should provide public guarantees that journalists covering opposition politicians can do so safely. The January 6 and 8 events were part of a planned series of public consultations that Bobi Wine announced as part of his run for president in Ugandas 2021 elections, according to news reports. Police have repeatedly disrupted and stopped the meetings from taking place, according to those reports. The other journalists arrested alongside Tamale on January 6 included Ssematimba Bwejire, a senior reporter with the privately owned Radio Simba, and Edward Kisekka, a video journalist with the privately owned broadcaster NBS TV, both of whom were detained for about an hour and then released without charge, the journalists told CPJ via messaging app. Officers in plainclothes questioned Kisekka about why he had been filming them and forced him to delete footage that he had recorded, Kisekka told CPJ via messaging app. He said that one of the officers claimed that journalists were paid to fuel instability. Because the officers were not wearing uniforms, he said he did not know what agency or police department they were from. Police in Wakiso also arrested and briefly detained Arnold Sseremba, a reporter with NTV Uganda, according to a Facebook post by the station and a report by its sister publication, the Daily Monitor newspaper. At the Bobi Wine event at the Pacific Grand Hotel in Lira on January 8, military officers approached Okello and Olang, asked why they were taking pictures, and confiscated their phones and Olangs motorbike, the journalists told CPJ. Later that day, when Okello and Olang went to retrieve their gear, officers forced them to unlock their phones and deleted photos they had taken of the venue, the journalists said. In a separate incident on January 8, police officers at a checkpoint outside Lira stopped a group of reporters from several media houses who had travelled from the capital, Kampala, to cover Bobi Wines events, and told them to report to the nearest police station, according to a report by the Daily Monitor. The journalists abandoned their van and travelled by motorbike taxi to cover the event, according to Olang and Okello, who met the journalists at the event. Peter Nkulega, the regional police commander with jurisdiction over Lira, referred CPJ to Uganda national police spokesperson Fred Enanga for comment. Enanga did not answer phone calls or respond to text messages sent by CPJ asking for comment on the incidents in both Lira and Wakiso. Military spokesperson Richard Karemire, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, said that no reports had been filed to the army about any incidents involving journalists in Lira. He said any reports would be investigated if they were filed. In May 2019, Ugandas broadcasting regulator ordered 13 local stations to suspend staffers in connection with their coverage of Bobi Wine, and in September 2018 police arrested at least eight journalists covering the politician, according to CPJ reporting from the time. People tend to have strong opinions about pizza, and no pizza debate inspires fiery takes and near-fistfights like the question of whether or not pineapple is a legitimate topping. Its such a hot topic that Icelands president had to publicly apologize after floating the idea of banning pineapple on pizza in 2018. But if you steadfastly believe that no fruit of any kind belongs on a pizza, then a recent bit of unfortunate news will have you pining for the days when pineapple was the only topping you had to worry about. Thats because a viral Reddit post of a kiwi pizza from a Danish pizzeria has been making the rounds, and this thing looks horrifying. I have can now say I have witnessed hell@DaddyWarpig pic.twitter.com/WjC48p9Y3U Ranba_Ral (@Ranba_Ral) January 12, 2020 Maybe its because they couldnt live farther away from where theyre cultivated and dont know any better, but its so strange that the people of Denmark believe tropical fruit has a place on pizza. Is it that kiwis and pineapples exclusively shipped to pizzerias in Scandinavia and this is the only way for locals to try exotic fruits? Im truly baffled as to how this couldve come about. Fittingly given the intensity of the pineapple debate, reactions on Reddit were mixed. On behalf of Denmark, I sincerely apologize for this abomination, says one commenter. But the most upvoted reaction admits that this particular pizza looks bad, but I kinda want to try the combo. Other commenters believe it wouldnt be so bad with a salty element like ham to balance things out, so theres at least a certain amount of morbid curiosity about kiwi. WATCH: How to Make School Pizza If youll allow me to indulge in some conspiracy theorizing, I think this is all a ploy by Big Pineapple. They know that if they can shift the topping discourse into more extreme, kiwified territory, suddenly putting some charred pineapple on top of cheese and tomato sauce doesnt seem quite as weird. So dont fall for it if you see kiwi start to show up as a topping option in a part of the world that actually does pizza right (New York, Italy, etc.). Stay woke and skip the tropical fruits. We cannot allow Denmark to reshape our pizza discourse. Christopher Fallon abused and raped the man with learning difficulties two or three times a week (SWNS) A pensioner faces up to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of the repeated rape of a disabled man over a period of four years. Christopher Fallon, 71, tricked the vulnerable man in order to rape him for what prosecutors believe could have been anything up to 150 times. Fallon abused and raped the man with learning difficulties two or three times a week under cover of intimate massages which were meant to treat a chronic condition. The adult victim had so many difficulties that he could not see he was being abused. Fallon was found guilty at Plymouth Crown Court (Wikipedia) Plymouth Crown Court heard that when the man became suspicious he was afraid to say no to Fallon because he feared that he would be charged for the massages. Fallon, of Plymouth, Devon, denied 18 counts of sexual abuse, and told the court that he never massaged the man nor touch him indecently. But he was found guilty of four counts of rape, 10 of sexual assault and four of causing a person to engage in sexual activity. Read more from Yahoo News UK: Thomas Markle could testify against Meghan in Mail of Sunday legal battle Strong winds blow roof off building as Storm Brendan lashes Britain Schoolboy, 7, dies after being run over by council minibus in Wales A judge remanded him in custody until sentencing next month while a probation officer assesses the danger he poses. Recorder Richard Shepherd went on to thank the jury and urge them to seek counselling if they were troubled by the details of the case. Fallon, who was previously married and has children, is to be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on 17 February. Editor: I urge our politicians to set aside any partisan feelings and immediately abolish the new bail reform laws. They are a travesty of justice, which endanger not only law enforcement but law-abiding American citizens as well. In the short time they have been in place, criminals have been caught and released, only to re-offend the same day. It is a waste of taxpayer funds to bring in a criminal, process them, and release them only to repeat. It is also a field day for drug dealers who just go back to business as usual the minute they get out. Further, this law creates a danger and invasion to law-abiding victims who have to let the criminal back into their home to review the scene of the crime and gather all their personal information. And do you actually expect someone who has committed a serious crime to show up for court and be prosecuted? I honestly believe that this law was enacted in a partisan way in order to ensure more votes from criminals, illegals, their families and friends, and their sympathizers. Our legislators have lost touch with their constituents and have invited chaos and crime into our lives. Fact is, this law has actually brought American people together against the politicians that favor it, regardless of our political affiliation. If, in fact, there should be bail reform in any way, it must be drawn up with bipartisan transparency, and include the input of law enforcement, the judicial system, and the people. If you dont listen now, youll hear us at the voting booth. Tony Trello, Hudson Falls Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Craig Wrights lawyers have informed the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida that a third party has provided the necessary private key to unlock the encrypted file that contains a list of his Bitcoin holdings. The file has been presented to the court via a notice of compliance from Wrights lawyers. The proof of Wrights holdings has also been delivered to the plaintiff, Ira Kleiman, who is representing the Kleiman estate. Kleiman vs Wright Dr Wright, an Australian cybersecurity researcher living in London, is the defendant in a lengthy legal dispute with representatives of the late Dave Kleiman. The pair are thought to have jointly played a significant role in the early creation of the Bitcoin protocol. Acting on behalf of Kleimans estate, the plaintiffs allege that a significant sum of BTC was misappropriated by Wright after Kleimans death. Wright claimed that he could only access the disputed funds once the Tulip Trust that protected them had expired which happened at the beginning of 2020. However, he has so far only produced the encryption key which unlocks a list of total Bitcoin holdings and has not provided the private keys necessary to access the funds themselves. As a result, the pressure is still on Wright to deliver the final private keys, which he claims will arrive by bonded courier before February 3. February 3 deadline Wright has until February 3 to prove he has access to the Bitcoin wallets. Court filings from January 10 show that Wright was given an extension to an earlier ruling which would have seen him forfeit 500,000 Bitcoin, worth around $4 billion, to the Kleiman estate. Wright claims that if he can prove he has the private keys, then his pivotal role in creating the original Bitcoin protocol will be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Kleiman worked alongside Wright in the early days of the Bitcoin protocols creation, and many industry experts believe that Kleiman was in fact the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. Story continues However, Kleimans death in 2013 saw Wright claim to be the creator of the protocol. Kleimans surviving family claim that Wright misappropriated funds from his late business partner, and now seek restitution of the full 1.1 million BTC. You can read more about the Kleiman vs Wright case here. The post Craig Wright private key delivered, claims to prove Bitcoin holdings appeared first on Coin Rivet. A propaganda video distributed by a state-controlled news agency in Iran has depicted the fake assassination of leaders such as President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The clip, which was first released on January 10 by the Fars News Agency shows Iranian officials planning their revenge for the killing of Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani. A group of men are seen gathering around a board which has a list of possible targets, which included US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman. Iranian officials can we heard saying they want to go for the big fish, while others say we should target their head. Images from the video show leaders such as Donald Trump dead on the floor with fire around them Actors pretending to be Iranian officials are seen looking at a wall of targets before saying they will 'hit them' Shocking footage then shows the Capitol Building in flames, before Iranian forces storm the White House. Harrowing images then show what appears to be Donald Trump dead on the floor. The Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project posted a transcript of the video, which includes TV voice clips of President Trump. One man, using a walkie-talkie device says: "We have a report about a terror attack. Hajj Qassem's vehicle was hit." A TV report is then played in the background which talks about the 'martyrdom of Islam's venerable general, Hajj Qassem Soleimani'. Gangs of the men then wait around the White House and Capitol building before striking The footage also showed images of the White House which were later showed to have been attacked Iranian officials then go on to question who their main target would be and said: 'A fish rots from the head down. We should target their head... If we want to hit them, tonight is the time. 'I think we should think about it a bit more... C'mon, if you don't want to hit them, don't play with us.' The circulation of the video comes as Iran announced its first arrests over the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet. Today three countries in the EU launched a process charging Iran with failing to observe the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, curtailing its nuclear programme. Britain, France and Germany insisted they remained committed to the agreement, which has already been severely tested by the US exit from the accord in 2018. But even as their statement was released, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated he might prefer a comprehensive accord negotiated with US President Donald Trump instead of the 2015 deal. The decision to begin the so-called dispute mechanism process comes as tensions soar between the West and Iran following the killing of top commander Qasem Soleimani in a US strike, and the admission by Tehran days later that it had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner. In contrast, Warren noted, The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women Amy and me. And the only person who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me. Klobuchar, a third-term senator from Minnesota, said you dont need to be male to win just as you dont need other qualities pronounced necessary or optimal by some unnamed, amorphous committee of pronouncers. You dont have to be the skinniest person in the room, she said. You dont have to be the loudest person. You have to be competent. And when you look at what I have done, she added, I have won every race, every place, every time. I have won in the reddest of districts. I have won in the suburban areas, in the rural areas. That, she added, was why she had the most endorsements of current Iowa legislators and former Iowa legislators in this race. I dont mean to romanticize Warren and Klobuchar. Warrens boast about vanquishing a Republican incumbent? That incumbent was Scott Brown, whose victory in a special election in deep blue Massachusetts was considered something of a freak occurrence to begin with. And when Klobuchar began to tick off the names of women recently elected to high posts, she suddenly froze, unable to remember who the governor of Kansas was, though shed just said, Im very proud to know her. (Her name is Laura Kelly.) Im also not saying that Warren or Klobuchar would be the partys best bet. I dont know who would be. Im just saying that on a night when the viability of women aiming for the White House went from subtext to text, these two women found words not just in addressing that issue but also in talking about prescription-drug prices, climate change, nuclear weapons and more that exposed the bigotry and shamefulness of doubts about female candidates. Gardai have warned of delays on the N7/M7 and N4 tomorrow [Wednesday] due to a tractor protest in Dublin. A large scale demonstration in the capital by members of the farming sector is expected to include around 400 tractors. The vehicles are converging on the city centre from all around Ireland from early afternoon. Gardai said: "Traffic delays are expected on the main arterial routes into Dublin City Centre (N2,N3,N4,N7 N81) from 12 noon when tractors start arriving." Gardai said the protest will impact on traffic from 10am when road closures will come into effect on - Kildare Street Molesworth Street St Stephens Green South Merrion Square West/South/East Merrion Street Upper. In addition the following arrangements will apply: East bound traffic on Kevin Street will be diverted up New Bride Street St Stephens Green North and East will only remain open for public transport from 2pm. Bus corridors will not be impacted and Gardai are advising commuters to avail of public transport where possible. Gardai are continuing to liaise closely with those organising the protest and traffic updates will be provided on the @gardatraffic Twitter account. Newswire's Earned Media Advantage Guided Tour is a high-tech, high-touch service helping small to midsize companies share powerful stories to a greater audience, resulting in greater overall growth. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Newswire encourages business owners, executives, and marketing professionals to understand the PR landscape on a deeper level, by providing them the opportunity to deliver the right message, to the right audience, at the right time, through the right mediums via the Earned Media Advantage Guided Tour. Expert Earned Media Advantage Strategists work with customers through a story ideation process to create meaningful, "customerized' campaigns that are tailored to a company's business goals. Executive decision-makers have adapted the Guided Tour to help improve their media and marketing communication skills, favoring the high-tech used to achieve goals and high-touch quality of attention their company receives. "We work closely with our customers to thoroughly understand their business models and goals," says Charlie Terenzio, Director of Earned Media Strategy at Newswire. "We want to learn as much as we possibly can. That includes product or service launches, new hirings, company-run or sponsored events, conferences that representatives of the brand will be attending, and more. We take all of these items into consideration when planning a comprehensive media and marketing communications strategy." The Earned Media Advantage Guided Tour is an integrated media and marketing communications utility that simplifies customers' content strategies that allow small and midsize businesses to make a name for themselves to compete against larger, more established companies in their respective industries. "Our team has found that customer campaign performance increases when we conduct thorough research exploring the internal operations of our customers' businesses. It gives us a greater sense of what is going on during the day-to-day, as well as what's in store for the future. These are both immensely important aspects that we try to incorporate into each customer's media and marketing communications strategy," adds Terenzio. By taking a company's internal operations into consideration, Newswire's strategists are able to develop concepts for press release campaigns for the entirety of a 12-month period. Together with Newswire's proven science, process, and technology, businesses can find new, engaging stories to highlight for the Earned Media Advantage: greater brand awareness, increased traffic, greater return on media and marketing communications spend, and increased sales. With this approach, customers can now transform owned media (press releases) into the Earned Media Advantage. As a result, customers can lower their costs of press releases, increase the value of each release and lower paid media costs while shortening the journey for the Earned Media Advantage. Discover How the Earned Media Advantage is Transforming Business today and learn how to compete in the industry. About Newswire? Newswire delivers press release and multimedia distribution software and services (SaaS) that empower the Earned Media Advantage: greater brand awareness, increased traffic, greater return on media and marketing communications spend and the competitive edge. With over a decade of experience, Newswire continues to provide its customers with the ability to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time through the right medium.? To learn and experience Newswire, visit http://www.newswire.com. Contact Information Anthony Santiago Vice President of Marketing Newswire Office: 917-398-2622 anthony@newswire.com SOURCE: Newswire View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/572870/Newswire-Encourages-Executives-and-Business-Owners-to-Explore-New-Opportunities-for-Growth-and-Sales An actor in New Zealand experienced a rude awakening when he woke up to find a rat had been nibbling on his face and fingers as he slept. Ross Campbell, 63, said he thought he had been 'in a nightmare' after he spotted a giant rodent scurrying around his bedroom. The Auckland native told the NZ Herald he had fallen asleep after taking a sleeping pill but woke up hours later to blood gushing out of his mouth. Ross Campbell, 63, said he thought he had been 'in a nightmare' two months ago when he woke up to find a rat had been nibbling on his face and fingers The Auckland native, who has appeared in Hercules (pictured) recalled the horrifying moment he awoke to blood gushing out of his mouth around 3am one night Mr Campbell said he had felt a sharp pain as well as the feeling of 'fluid pouring down my face.' 'So I went and looked in the mirror and I looked like Dracula,' he said of the incident which happened two months ago. 'Mate, from the top of my lip to around the bottom, it had bitten me. It must have smelled my breath or something.' Mr Campbell, who has appeared in Hercules as well as Pit Stop commercials, didn't realise what happened to him at the time so cleaned himself and returned to sleep. Minutes later, he caught the rodent in the act, this time nibbling on his thumb. Mr Campbell said he made the move to his couch, having turned over his bed to discover 'bloody rat s**t' underneath. The terrifying incident was enough to spook him into going to the hospital, where he was given a tetanus shot. The actor said he believes rats had infiltrated his apartment following the development of the University of Auckland's Newmarket campus across the road. Mr Campbell admitted the incident left him so scarred, he now sleeps on a bed in his lounge. Raising the minimum wage could lower the suicide rate, according to a study published last week, delivering labour advocates a tantalizing new finding about the broader effects of wage changes even as some experts said other factors could explain the decrease. More than 47,000 Americans died by suicide in 2017, and with other so-called deaths of despair drug overdoses and alcoholism it has grown into a slow-motion public health crisis. The phenomenon is difficult to study, and researchers have struggled to find effective prevention strategies. The new study examined suicide rates from 1990 through 2015 across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and measured how they changed as the minimum wage increased. The researchers focused on adults between 18 and 64 years old with a high school education or less a group more likely than others to be affected by changes in the minimum wage. When controlling for changes in a states economy and welfare policies, the researchers estimated that a $1 increase in the minimum wage corresponded with a 3.5 per cent decrease in the suicide rate for those with a high school education or less. Without some of the controls, the decrease in the suicide rate was six per cent. The effect was most pronounced during times of high unemployment. The real world is a living natural experiment, said John Kaufman, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Emory University and the lead author of the study, which was published Jan. 7 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Yes, there are possible alternative explanations to what we saw, but these arent crude associations, these arent mere correlations, he said. We designed the study to account for multiple types of alternative explanations. The study echoed other findings about the nonfinancial effects of minimum wage increases. They have been linked to less chronic disease in adults, lower premature mortality and fewer cases of child maltreatment, said Yannet Lathrop, a researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, a non-profit organization based in New York that supports workers rights. Two 2019 studies also associated raising the minimum wage with lower suicide rates. Kaufmans research drew national attention in recent days, coming as suicide rates continue to climb and a movement to raise minimum wages sweeps across the country. Democrats in the House pushed through a bill in July that would more than double the federal minimum wage, raising it to $15, and dozens of states and cities have enacted similar wage increases. Raising the minimum wage by $1 couldve prevented thousands of suicides a year, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a leading progressive candidate in the presidential race, said in a tweet about the study. We will end the 40-year assault on the working class and the suffering it has caused for our people. Some politicians raised questions about the studys findings. A spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who leads a congressional committee that has examined suicides, told The Washington Post last week that the office had a different interpretation. Our reading, said the spokesman, Conn Carroll, was that the paper showed that a higher state minimum wage over the federal minimum wage is correlated with less suicide. By this logic, if we raised the federal minimum wage while keeping state minimum wages constant, suicide would go up! he said. Or, we could really reduce suicide by eliminating the federal minimum wage entirely thus creating a huge gap between state minimum wages and the federal one. These seem nonsensical. Carroll declined to answer further questions seeking clarification. Kaufman said that he did not expect the study to draw so much attention, and that it was part of a series examining changes in economic policy unemployment programs and tax credits, for example and how they affect peoples health. My approach is, when theres a disagreement, theres room to learn, he said. But only if people recognize that maybe they dont know everything. Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar in economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said the studys findings made sense. But she said she was concerned about not knowing what specifically drove decreases in the suicide rate. Are we adequately controlling for everything else? she said. Do we know that when people have high minimum wages, they tend to go to the doctor more? They seek more help for depression? She said policy-makers focusing on suicides may be ignoring potential costs of raising minimum wages, such as a reduction in hours worked. Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor at Columbia University who studies the effect of socioeconomic factors on suicide rates, said he did not find the results of Kaufmans study persuasive. He said looking at large groups of people, instead of homing in on specific individuals, allows for other factors to affect the suicide rates even if the study tried to control for some of them. It introduces room for spurious associations or associations that are hidden in their overall finding, Olfson said. He said that when taking into account the margin of error, the change the researchers found in the suicide rate was too small to make solid conclusions. You make sound public policy decisions in part based on strong empirical evidence at least thats the hope, he said. Studies that dont meet some basic standard, really, I dont think have much of a role in the discourse. But Margot Kushel, the director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California, San Francisco, said there would most likely be no other way to study the effect of minimum wage on suicide. Kushel, who is also a professor of medicine, said the study was well done, noting that it was not the first to link minimum wage increases to decreases in suicide. When you start to see so many well-done studies pointing in the same direction, it has to get you to think there may be something here, she said. She said researchers can never adjust for all confounders. To Fran Marion, a shift manager at a McDonalds in Kansas City, Missouri, who has been pushing for a higher minimum wage, the studys findings were not surprising. She said she knew workers who had died by suicide and who were stressed about providing for themselves or their families. She said she herself had been depressed when she struggled to pay for her health care or healthy food for her children. Ive been in those dark places, too, she said, where I dont want to wake up or I just want to give up because Im tired of struggling. One can understand the desire to be positive, especially at the end of a pretty grim year. Even so, this headline from the usually thoughtful New York Times left me gasping: This has been the best year ever: for humanity over all, life just keeps getting better. Images of the increasingly comfy life inside Third World shacks danced in my head. The New York Times piece recycled the narrative, peddled by the billionaire crowd, that the well-being of the human race has never been better. Amid growing criticism of extreme inequality, expect to hear lots more about how todays capitalism is benefiting the world especially next week when the global elite meets for their annual self-celebration in Davos, Switzerland. Its a powerful narrative. If capitalism is working wonders for humanity, maybe it doesnt matter that a small number of billionaires have an increasing share of the worlds wealth. But is the narrative true? The billionaire crowd is correct in arguing that, along with the rise of capitalism in the last five centuries, there have been significant advances in human life expectancy. But should capitalism get the credit? No, according to British anthropologist Jason Hickel, who notes that the dawn of capitalism plunged much of humanity into misery, with reduced nutrition. As a result, life expectancy actually fell in Britain, dropping from a lifespan of about 43 years in the 1500s down to the low 30s by the 1700s. Life expectancy only began to improve towards the end of the 1800s and only because of the public health movement, which pushed for separating sewage from drinking water. This extremely good idea was vigorously opposed by capitalists, who raged against paying taxes to fund it. So sanitation, not capitalism, may be humanitys true elixir. Indeed, things only truly got better, says British historian Simon Szreter, after ordinary people won the right to vote and to join unions that pushed for higher wages and helped secure public access to health care, education and housing again over the fierce objections of capitalists. This suggests that its not capitalism but rather the forces fighting to curb capitalisms worst excesses unions and progressive political movements that have improved peoples lives. Hickel also argues that, when properly measured, global poverty has increased in the last four decades, contrary to the claims of triumphant capitalists. All this is central to a burning question: is todays unbridled capitalism serving us all, or just those at the top? The question is suddenly in play in U.S. politics, with millions of Democrats supporting presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who openly advocate significant new taxes on the superrich. Public polling in the U.S. and Canada show strong support for such taxes. Even if billionaires are losing public support, they have a fallback threat: Dont even think of taxing us, because well just move our money offshore. But this might be changing too, according to Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley. In their influential new book, The Triumph of Injustice, they argue that advanced nations could effectively clamp down on tax havens if they co-ordinated their efforts, just as they do in other areas, like trade policy. Saez and Zucman point out theres nothing to prevent advanced nations from simply collecting the corporate taxes that the tax havens dont. Recent reporting requirements make this possible. It has never been easier for big countries to police their own multinationals, they argue. Should the G20 countries tomorrow impose a 25 per cent minimum tax on their multinationals, more than 90 per cent of the worlds profits would immediately become effectively taxed at 25 per cent or more. One can understand why the corporate crowd resorts to threats and bogus claims. Without them, its hard to defend todays unbridled capitalism. How does one, for instance, justify this: While most people saw little or no gain last year, the worlds 500 richest people saw their wealth grow by an astonishing 25 per cent, so theyre richer this year by another $1.2 trillion (an average of $2.4 billion each). Its hard to argue that money couldnt have been better directed somewhere else almost anywhere else. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:38:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close JINAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign trade of east China's Shandong Province rose 5.8 percent year on year in 2019 to over 2 trillion yuan (over 290 billion U.S. dollars), local customs authorities said Wednesday. According to Qingdao Customs, Shandong's exports rose 5.3 percent year on year to 1.11 trillion yuan, while imports increased 6.4 percent to over 929 billion yuan. In terms of major trade markets, ASEAN replaced the United States as Shandong's largest trading market in 2019, with total imports and exports up 15.2 percent year on year. In addition, Shandong's trade volume with countries and regions along the Belt and Road increased significantly. The total trade value to these countries exceeded 603 billion yuan last year, up 15.9 percent year on year, accounting for 29.5 percent of the total foreign trade value of the province. One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Mind Gym plc (LON:MIND). Mind Gym has a ROE of 41%, based on the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every 1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn 0.41. Check out our latest analysis for Mind Gym How Do You Calculate Return On Equity? The formula for ROE is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity Or for Mind Gym: 41% = UK6.4m UK15m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.) Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. You can calculate shareholders' equity by subtracting the company's total liabilities from its total assets. What Does ROE Mean? ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The 'return' is the yearly profit. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. Clearly, then, one can use ROE to compare different companies. Does Mind Gym Have A Good Return On Equity? One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Mind Gym has a superior ROE than the average (13%) company in the Professional Services industry. AIM:MIND Past Revenue and Net Income, January 15th 2020 That is a good sign. I usually take a closer look when a company has a better ROE than industry peers. For example, I often check if insiders have been buying shares. Story continues How Does Debt Impact ROE? Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used. Combining Mind Gym's Debt And Its 41% Return On Equity One positive for shareholders is that Mind Gym does not have any net debt! Its high ROE indicates the business is high quality, but the fact that this was achieved without leverage is veritably impressive. After all, when a company has a strong balance sheet, it can often find ways to invest in growth, even if it takes some time. But It's Just One Metric Return on equity is one way we can compare the business quality of different companies. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE. Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you'll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss thisfree list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. It was on the seventh floor in late 1967 that King was confined following his arrest after getting off an airplane in Birmingham. This would become the last of his numerous arrests for civil disobedience, as the civil rights martyr was assassinated just months later on April 4, 1968. "As the Jefferson County commission president pro-tem, I believe we should preserve Jefferson County's history, while embracing the spirit of change that exists today," Scales said. Scales also noted that while King's 1963 arrest and his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written while in the city jail, is world famous, few know about his stays in the Jefferson County jails at both courthouses in Birmingham and Bessemer. A portion of the former jail remains on the seventh floor, including two cells. Scales' resolution seeks to bring attention to the history that stands silently upstairs. Eventually, Scales will take additional steps to preserve the artifact and make it available for public viewing. Pettway also appeared before the commission to support the resolution and present several rarely seen historic photos and booking documents that showcase King's connection to the jail. "As the first African American sheriff to represent Jefferson County, it is very important to memorialize the work of King and others, which is the reason I am here today," Pettway said. "I want to educate people and I want the public to understand what this man did for us. It was a continuing sacrifice." Scales called the resolution a first step in finally acknowledging an invaluable piece of county, state and national history. "Martin Luther King's famous 'I Have a Dream' speech is manifesting itself in the way Jefferson County is perceived today in Alabama as well as the nation," Scales said. "In order for Jefferson county to move forward, it must first recognize its past mistakes, correct actions of old, and move forward with a sincere intent to embrace people from all walks of life." Contact: Joseph D. Bryant Office: 205-214-5507 Cell: 205-249-2258 [email protected] SOURCE Jefferson County HALIFAX - As Canadian firefighters boarded flights Wednesday to battle blazes in Australia, they noted they will likely have to employ some different tactics than they do to fight local fires. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Terry White, Kirk Webster & Paul Schnurr of the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry depart for Australia From Halifax Stanfield Airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Riley Smith HALIFAX - As Canadian firefighters boarded flights Wednesday to battle blazes in Australia, they noted they will likely have to employ some different tactics than they do to fight local fires. In Halifax, the first three of 69 Canadian firefighters heading to the island continent said hotter temperatures and drier conditions call for different measures than typical East Coast fires, where water is plentiful and the blazes are slower. Paul Schnurr, a wildfire training officer with the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, said differing weather, topography and ecology affect forest fires, and Canadians are trained to work with all of those variables. However, the incident commander says the Australian bush fires can spread quickly due to the lack of moisture, and response tactics often include extensive use of heavy equipment to clear gaps in the landscape. "The climate seems to be a lot drier than we've ever been in Nova Scotia, creating these large fires that aren't commonly seen here," said Schnurr, 50. The veteran firefighter said with water scarce in some of Australia's burning regions, crews are unlikely to be able to continually douse the flames. Terry White, Kirk Webster and Paul Schnurr of the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry depart for Australia From Halifax Stanfield Airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Riley Smith "When we don't have a lot of water ... we may be constructing (fire) guards with bulldozers and plows and if need be, hand tools to create a fire break," he said. Schnurr joined Lands and Forestry colleagues Terry White and Kirk Webster as part of a contingent heading towards Vancouver, with plans to land in Melbourne later this week for a month-long deployment. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre says 27 incident management staff are leaving for Melbourne on Thursday, followed by two more incident managers and 40 firefighters on the weekend. This is the sixth wave of Canadians helping out in Australia, bringing the total number to more than 160. Schnurr said the teams of Canadian firefighters will only learn their specific assignments as they land. "We know they're in a bad way and we're prepared to help out," he said. White, who came to the airport with his wife and two sons, noted the 32-day deployment is double the usual time he spends away from home to fight fires in Western Canada. "It's a mixed bag of emotions today," he said. "But I'm certainly looking forward to helping out. I was in British Columbia in 2017 and the Australians were helping out." The interagency centre, a Winnipeg-based non-profit entity run by federal, provincial and territorial fire management agencies, has said Australian firefighters helped out in Canada in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The island country is suffering a lengthy and deadly wildfire season that began in October several months earlier than usual. More than seven million hectares across the country have burned. Twenty-eight people have died, more than 3,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and the blazes have forced the largest peacetime evacuation in Australia's history. It's estimated more than half a billion animals have died. Smoke in Melbourne was so bad Tuesday that Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard needed medical attention in a qualifying match at the Australian Open tennis tournament. At least one other match was called off because of the smoke. Most of the Canadian firefighters who have travelled there to date are helping with managing the response teams, overseeing the use of airplanes, and providing expertise in how the fires will behave. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version misspelled Paul Schnurr's last name. Mumbai: Congress leader Milind Deora on Tuesday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to visit Mumbai and hold broader pre-budget consultations with various stake-holders of the economy including small traders and vendors. The former Union minister also noted that the economy is dangerously close to going off the rails. Deora said recent social unrest in India has dented its image as the socially and politically stable country that is conducive to doing business. Dont limit policy-making only to the select few: Deora In the run-up to Union Budget 2020-2021, I urge @nsitharaman ji to travel to Mumbai to interact with small traders & vendors, industry & other stakeholders. Dont limit policy-making only to the select few who can access New Delhi! Deora tweeted. Once the worlds fastest growing economy, India is coming dangerously close to going off the rails, he stated. Observing that the government alone cannot find solutions to the deepening crisis, the former MP said the financial capital be better engaged through consultations during such extraordinary times. By now, Indias Finance Minister should have visited Mumbai to meet with representatives of traditional markets, MSMEs, industry captains and representatives from banking and finance, he stated. Earlier, corporate leaders on Monday sought initiatives to support job creation besides enhanced spending on infrastructure and policies for agricultural sector as part of their Budget 2020 wishlist. While participating in a debate during a book launch here, TVS Group Chairman Venu Srinivasan sought more focus on job creation in the Budget next month. Similarly, Chairman and Senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram Ajay S Shriram urged the government to focus on agriculture sector, while Hero Enterprise Chairman Sunil Kant Munjal stressed on enhancing spending on infrastructure. The Union Budget is scheduled to be presented on February 1. Demand to seize Russian Xiaomi resellers assets worth $11.6 mln dismissed RIA Novosti, Vladimir Astapkovich 13:02 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed a petition of GPB Factoring company seeking to seize assets of Retentiva Distribution Company, a reseller of Xiaomi in Russia, in the amount of 714 million rubles (about $11.6 million), according to the court records. The absence of provisional remedy, the claimant insisted, could hamper or prevent enforcement of a court ruling, since the defendant had failed to take any action as to repay its debt. Nevertheless, the court dismissed the move citing the fact that the claimant provided no evidence of serious damages it was to suffer without the remedy it petitioned for. At the day of the hearing, the court noted, it had no reason to believe that dismissal of the seizure claim would prevent the enforcement of a court order or result in serious damages for the claimant. Earlier, the same court said that would consider a bankruptcy claim against Retentiva Distribution Company filed by Bank Otkritie on March 6. On November 26, the court granted a claim of Mobilidi and collected 201.7 million rubles of the principal amount outstanding under a loan agreement plus penalties from the reseller. Retentiva Distribution Company is also an official distributor of Jinga smartphones, cell phones and original accessories in Russia and American smart watches Fossil. The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate, and approve House prosecutors, for only the third impeachment trial in American history. The nearly party-line vote moved Mr Trumps impeachment from Speaker Nancy Pelosis Democratic-run House to the Republican-majority Senate, where Mr Trump expects acquittal, even as new evidence is raising fresh questions about his Ukraine dealings. The vote was 228-193, coming at the start of a presidential election year and one month after the House impeached Mr Trump. The president is charged with abuse of power over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, using military aid to the country as leverage. Mr Trump was also charged with obstructing Congress ensuing probe. We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history, Ms Pelosi said, addressing the House before the vote. Earlier, she declared: This is what an impeachment is about. The president violated his oath of office, undermined our national security, jeopardised the integrity of our elections. Mr Trump, during an event at the White House, rejected the charges as a hoax. The seven-member prosecution team will be led by the chairmen of the House impeachment proceedings, Adam Schiff of the intelligence committee and Jerry Nadler of the judiciary committee, two of Ms Pelosis top lieutenants for only the third presidential impeachment in the nations history. Ahead of Wednesdays session, Mr Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, about the Ukraine strategy, including an exchange with another man about surveilling later-fired ambassador, Maria Yovanovitch. Mr Schiff said the new evidence should bring more pressure on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who is reluctant to allow witnesses to testify. If McConnell makes this the first trial in history without witnesses, it will be exposed for what it is and that is an effort to cover up for the president, Mr Schiff said. Later Wednesday, the House managers are to walk the articles across the Capitol to the Senate in a dramatic procession. The Senate trial is set to start Thursday. Mr McConnell opened the Senate by dismissing what he called a rushed impeachment that is more about the politics of Democrats who do not like Mr Trump than the charges against him. The Constitution and our oaths to protect it are at stake. Thats what the Senate must consider. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/G9cnlyA3VV Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020 This isnt really about Ukraine policy or military money, Mr McConnell said. This has been naked partisanship all along. During Ms Pelosis press conference announcing managers, Mr Trump tweeted that impeachment was another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate! Mr Trumps trial will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in US history, and it comes against the backdrop of a politically divided nation in an election year. The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday, although significant proceedings would not begin until next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. The constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors and swear an oath to deliver impartial justice. The managers are a diverse group with legal, law enforcement and military courtroom experience, including Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Val Demings of Florida, Jason Crow of Colorado and Zoe Lofgren of California. Mr McConnell, who is negotiating rules for the trial proceedings, is under competing pressure from his party for more witnesses, from centrists who are siding with Democrats on the need to hear full testimony and conservatives mounting Mr Trumps defence. Senate Republicans signalled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Mr Trump, as Mr Trump himself has suggested. Mr McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that. Democrats have been pushing Republicans to consider new testimony, arguing that fresh information has emerged during Ms Pelosis month-long delay in transmitting the charges. Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Mr Trump. January 14, 2020 News By Jim Garamone Defense.gov NATO Nations Cannot Be Complacent, Milley Says NATO nations cannot afford to become complacent, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a break in his first alliance Military Committee meeting in Brussels. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley said people need to remember why NATO began in 1949. The defensive alliance was put in place to prevent the outbreak of great power war, and that's still a valid task, the chairman said. "Sometimes, people can become complacent and assume that peace is the state of nature," he added. "Peace doesn't happen by accident: It happens because of effort, resources, commitment, allies banding together to maintain a strong, cohesive alliance." The chairman said it has been obvious for a long time that Russia wants to divide NATO and make it weaker, if not destroy it. "That would be to their advantage," he said. "It's to the disadvantage of Europe and the United States if NATO would just collapse and fall apart." It's worth noting that there were two big periods of continental peace in Europe before NATO, Milley said. "One was following the Treaty of Westphalia [in 1648)] after the 30 Years War, where Europe tore itself apart," he said. The great power peace following it lasted about 100 years. Great power wars returned with the Napoleonic wars that ended in 1815, Milley pointed out. The countries of Europe put in place a balance of power so no great power fought another great power, he explained. "That lasts 100 years until 1914, and it breaks down," he said. The world faced great power wars through World Wars I and II, slaughtering between 145 million and 155 million people around the world, the chairman said. "NATO was put in place, and the structures of the international order were put in place, at the end of World War II to prevent a great power war," he said. "They weren't put in place to prevent terrorism. They weren't put in place to prevent Vietnam or Korea. They were put in place [to prevent] that great power war." The chiefs of defense spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Milley said the NATO leader spoke about the situation in the Middle East and his conversation with President Donald J. Trump about increasing NATO support to the training mission in Iraq. The chairman said he saw support from his counterparts for the alliance doing more in the Middle East. The NATO Military Committee has to come up with capabilities that would be needed, the general said. "I think you've got to look at what capabilities nations can provide," he added. "So, one for example, kind of an obvious one, would be maybe some ballistic missile defense support, because there are NATO allied troops at these various camps that just took Iranian ballistic missiles. So that's a possibility." He said he also can see providing logistics support, and possibly additional military training teams, to increase the volume and capacity of the Iraqi security forces. "Right now, the NATO mission in Iraq is somewhere around 500 guys," Milley said. "It's a noncombat train, advise, assist role ... building [Iraqi] capacity to secure themselves. The United States still thinks, and NATO still thinks, that's a valid mission and will continue that mission. We have no intention of not continuing that mission." NATO is a force for peace, Milley said. "This alliance is important," he said. "It's important to Europe, it's important in the United States and we should not become complacent about it. And things like defense spending and working together and interoperability and maintaining commitments to each other is important for preventing a great power war and in order to maintain peace and stability." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:31:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- An Ethiopian expert on Wednesday hailed Chinese assistance in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Speaking exclusively to Xinhua, Gedion Jalata, a senior advisor to the UNDP South-South Cooperation and a former consultant to UNECA-Capacity Development Division, said Chinese assistance in Ethiopia's ICT sector has helped the east African country make economic and technological leap. Jalata is also a CEO at Center of Excellence International Consult, a consulting firm based in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. "Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE have been intimately intertwined with Ethiopia's ICT sector development in recent years, including in the dramatic expansion of Ethiopia's telecom infrastructure," Jalata told Xinhua. ZTE and Huawei's telecom expansion works have been instrumental in boosting the state-owned Ethio-Telecom's capacity and customer reach, helping the number of mobile users in Ethiopia reach near 50 million. "I personally have travelled several times to China, most recently in November 2019, where I saw China's ICT sector playing a central role in the Asian country's development." "The ICT sector has been instrumental in boosting various Chinese sectors ranging from logistics to online payment systems," Jalata told Xinhua. Jalata said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to see further boost with the ever-increasing role of the ICT sector in the pan-global economic initiative. In October 2019, China's three major mobile operators launched their long-awaited 5G service plans with users in dozens of cities making a beeline for the ultra-fast cellular network. Ethiopian experts suggest China can help expand 5G services to foreign countries, as part of a beefed-up ICT role in the BRI. I am not a Methodist, but I am concerned about the breakup of the United Methodist Church. The church began in mid-18th century Britain under the leadership of John Wesley (1703-1791). There are 12.5 million Methodists worldwide. The United Methodist Church formed in 1907 and joined the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists in 1932. Its stated mission: nurturing faith and engaged in action for social justice at home and abroad. In late December, the United Methodist Church that it is expected to split up over long-standing disagreements about LGBTQ+ inclusion. A group of UMC bishops signed a proposal that outlines the separation and is likely to be approved at a general convention in May. The Rev. Douglas Damron, senior pastor at Epworth United Methodist Church in Toledo, Ohio stated, I think there is a broad agreement across the theological spectrum that, unfortunately, we have come to an impasse that cannot be bridged. I really do think that the church as we knew it died in February 2019, said the Rev. Alka Lyall, pastor at Broadway United Church in Chicago. The reader will immediately note the discrepancy between the cause of the breakup and the stated mission. Discrimination requires nurturing faith and engaged in action for social justice at home and abroad. A homosexual (gay) is a person primarily emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted to members of the same sex/gender. It is a natural occurring combination of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, internal sex organs, and genitals that differs from the two expected patterns of male or female. It is not a mental illness, nor is it a whim. About 6% of Americans are homosexual. Such behavior has been observed in animals other than human for decades but is considered rare. 63% of Americans consider homosexuality to be morally acceptable, while 35% do not. Homophobia is an term for a range of negative attitudes (e.g., fear, anger, intolerance, resentment, hatred, or discomfort) that one may have toward LGBTQ+ folks. The term can also connote a fear, disgust, or dislike of being perceived as LGBTQ+. The ancient Israelites were subjects of the Roman Empire and hated all things Roman. Romans were tolerant of homosexuals and therefore must be deplorable. This shows up in the Bible and taken as true by some. For a definition of terms and concepts used to describe homosexuality see: https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2013/01/a-comprehensive-list-of-lgbtq-term-definitions/ Other religious groups hold homophobic beliefs. Perhaps some will follow the Methodists and split conservatives from the enlightened. Even more disturbing is Project Blitz, an ultra-rightwing attempt to turn the United States into an evangelical theocracy. The group is flooding state legislations with proposed bills diminishing the necessary separation of church and state. According to David Barton, the Christian nationalist historian and one of four members of Project Blitzs steering team, Its kind of like whack-a-mole for the other side; itll drive em crazy that theyll have to divide their resources out in opposing this. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has identified more than 70 bills before state legislatures appear to be based on Project Blitz templates or have similar objectives. For example, in Oklahoma the legislature has passed a bill that allows adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate on the basis of their own religious beliefs. A Minnesota bill would allow public schools to post In God We Trust signs on their walls. Fortunately, a confederation of civil rights, business and political leaders is launching a petition drive initiative to expand Michigan law by including anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender residents. Trumpublicans are resisting the effort, and the issue may appear on the November ballot for voters to decide. Petition language would expand the definition of sex in the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1976 to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, guaranteeing safeguards in housing, public accommodation and employment. We must support this effort to keep Michigan safe for all our citizens. Ed Fisher writes a weekly column for the Morning Sun. New York, January 14, 2019 -- Malawian authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the assault of journalist Patricia Kayuni and ensure that those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 10, a group of protesters approached Kayuni, a reporter for the Roman Catholic Church-owned radio station Tuntufye FM, while she was covering a demonstration in Chitipa, in northern Malawi, and demanded that she stop taking photos, the journalist told CPJ via messaging app. When Kayuni explained that she was not taking photos, and said her phone battery was dead, some of the protesters beat her with sticks, kicked and punched her, pulled her hair, and tried to rip off her clothes, she said. One person hit her phone with a metal rod and broke it, Kayuni told CPJ. Protest organizers intervened and brought Kayuni to police officers, who then fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and brought Kayuni to a local hospital, where she was treated for her injuries and for an asthma attack she suffered during the incident, Kayuni said. She told CPJ she has swelling over her body and has a headache from the attack. Malawian police must identify and arrest the demonstrators who beat up Patricia Kayuni and ensure that they are held accountable for assaulting an unarmed journalist who was simply doing her job, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. If they fail to do so, the police will be signaling to the perpetrators that there are no consequences when it comes to attacks against journalists. The protesters were demonstrating against the Malawi Revenue Authority, a government agency that protesters allege collected high taxes but failed to fix roads in Chitipa, according to news reports. Masozi Kasambara, a reporter with the privately owned Zodiak Broadcasting Station, who covered the protest alongside Kayuni, told CPJ via messaging app that he took photos of blockaded roads and detained protesters, but was too afraid to take photos of the demonstrators in action, as they were too hostile. Kasambara said the group who attacked Kayuni were mostly teenagers who were armed with stones, sticks, and catapults. The protesters claimed that Kayuni was a police officer sent to photograph demonstrators, and proceeded to attack her, Kasambara said. "It was emotional and violent. It happened so fast that there was no time to think," he said. Dave Msongole, a leader of the Concerned Citizens of Chitipa, a local activist group that organized the protest, similarly told CPJ via messaging app that the attackers suspected Kayuni was a police officer. He said that protest organizers attempted to protect Kayuni from the attackers. Chitipa police spokesperson Gladwell Simwaka told CPJ via messaging app that police condemned the attack and would ensure that those responsible would be brought to justice. He said no arrests had been made, but police were engaging the community to prevent such attacks in the future. CPJ has published Safety Notes with recommended techniques and methods for journalists covering civil unrest. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images On Tuesday evening, the House Intelligence Committee released a trove of documents from Lev Parnas, Rudy Giulianis fixer in Ukraine, for consideration as evidence in the impeachment trial of President Trump. The papers further cement the connections between Parnas, Giuliani, and the president, despite Trumps attempts to distance himself from his own plot to solicit foreign interference in an American election. The documents, which the House Intelligence committee sent to colleagues in the Judiciary committee, strengthen Democrats calls for new evidence to be admitted and new witnesses to be heard in the Senate trial, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expects to start next Tuesday. A statement from the chairs of the four committees involved in the impeachment inquiry stated that the documents demonstrate that there is more evidence relevant to the Presidents scheme, but they have been concealed by the President himself. Like many elements of Parnass run-in with the law, some of the documents carry an aspect of humor, like his decision to document the impeachable scheme on hotel stationery: Among the evidence just produced by the House Intelligence Committee - a note from Parnas saying "get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be investigated" pic.twitter.com/nswPgc1kmF Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) January 14, 2020 On the back of the undated Ritz-Carlton note, Parnas wrote himself a reminder to do my magic and underlined his phrase cut deal. It also appears that Parnas may have been monitoring the location of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, through an American named Robert Hyde. A new character in the impeachment saga: Robert Hyde, a Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut. Prior to his apparent monitoring of Yovanovitch through an associate, Hyde was most prominently known for a horrible tweet regarding Kamala Harris and her decision to drop out of the Democratic primary in December. Um holy sh*t. This certainly makes it sound like Parnas and co. were actively tracking Yovanovitch's movements. This could explain why Yovanovitch was moved out of Ukraine so quickly. https://t.co/4rBRB06ZGN pic.twitter.com/5Gc8WcGPih Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 14, 2020 The last page of the documents features a letter from Trump attorney Jay Sekulow to former Trump attorney John Dowd, in which Sekulow says that the president consents to a plan for Dowd to represent Lev Parnas and his associate Igor Fruman. The President consents to allowing your representation of Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, the email reads. Email from Jay Sekolow to John Dowd, who have both represented Trump. "The President consents to your representation of Mr. Parnas and Mr. Furman [sic]." It's dated Oct. 2, 2019, a little more than a week before the unsealing of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman's indictment. pic.twitter.com/vqa2yEECmv Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) January 14, 2020 Such an exchange further erodes the likelihood of President Trumps October claim that he was not familiar with Parnas and Fruman: I dont know those gentlemen, he told reporters upon their arrest for campaign finance violations in October. Then again, so does a photograph of the three of them together, as well as a CNN report from November documenting at least ten interactions between Trump and Giulianis indicted associates. Egypt's Air Force on Monday carried out a number of reconnaissance missions to secure troops taking part in the "Qader 2020" manoeuvres, the Egyptian Armed Forces said on Monday. Troops from the naval and air defence forces, as well as commandos, aiming at securing the Mediterranean Sea coast and targeting terrorist hotbeds, participated in the ongoing military exercises in the North Coast, continued the statement. The Western Military Region also conducted a number of drills in cooperation with border guards to secure the country's western land and coastal borders. Last week, Egypt's naval forces carried out a full amphibious operation in the Mediterranean involving a mistral helicopter carrier, Gowind- and Perry-class frigates, a missile launcher ship, and a German-made Type-209 submarine, in addition to a number of anti-submarine units and special naval forces. Search Keywords: Short link: Some fishermen refused to live the lake because it is their source of livelihood. (Photo : Reuters) Taal volcano has shown fewer activities yet Alert Level 4 is still in effect. Ma. Antonia Bernas, the chief of Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division of Phivolcs, said that the chance for an eruption is still high even if the activities on the surface of the volcano has simmered down. According to the recent report of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, over the past 24 hours, the volcano's activity is "continuous yet generally weaker". There were only 159 volcanic activities recorded, compared to 466 on Sunday. However, there were around 17 new fissures discovered. Taal volcano also retains its status due to "hazardous eruption that may occur within hours or days". Phivolcs once again called for the people's cooperation, as some of them still refused to leave their homes even if it is located within the 14-kilometer radius from Taal's caldera. Assistant Secretary Casiano Monilla of the Office of Civil Defense said that evacuation gets delayed because some people defy Phivolcs' order. Some of them only heed the advice once the situation worsens, he also added. Philippine Coast Guard is patrolling the lake to warn fishermen. Chinese Coast Guard, who provided N95 masks and other necessities, also joined them. State of Calamity The province of Batangas has been under a state of calamity since Tuesday. According to the local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, at least 30,000 individuals have fled ever since the eruption started. This resulted in the evacuations being overly crowded. Some evacuees are appealing for basic necessities, including hygiene kits and extra clothes. Others are also asking for baby supplies. At the situation briefing, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologized for not coming to Batangas immediately due to flight suspension. Then, he proceeded to appoint Cabinet officials, including Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, on handling the emergency response. The Philippine chapter of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also conducted its mission to rescue animals stranded and abandoned on the island. PETA Asia Campaigner Jana Sevilla called the government to include the pets on evacuation plans because they are "dependent on us". Vice President Leni Robredo asked the vice governor of Batangas, Mark Leviste, to consider putting up an evacuation center for animals because some residents refused to leave their home because of the pets or the livestock they are taking care of. The estimated loss from the damaged livestock and crops is at least half a billion pesos (around $10 million), according to the local Department of Agriculture. Most of these are in the coffee industry. Apart from these, the DA also feared that the crisis greatly affects the fishing industry in the lake due to high sulfur content brought by the volcanic activity. At least 15,000 metric tons of Tawilis, an endangered fish that can only be found in Taal, is at risk. Fake News A rumor circulating online claims that Mt. Mayon, about 300 kilometer southeast of Manila, is on the verge of erupting. However, Phivolcs said that it is not true. While it is true that Mayon has been on alert level 2 for nearly 2018, Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum said that the online reports are exaggerated it, resulting in more people panicking because of multiple volcanoes threatening Luzon. Solidum asked the people to refrain from making such assumptions to prevent confusion. READ MORE: Taal Volcano: Steam Blast Could Be A Sign of 'Major Eruption' Saif Ali Khan On Why He Signed Jawaani Jaaneman The actor told the reporters, "I am lucky to get varied roles like Omkara, Tanhaji and these kind of films. Producer Jay Shewakramani came to me with this offer. He had the script, but for one or two years we did not talk about it. I wanted to do age-appropriate roles. I felt the father's role was interesting. This part was cool and of a different kind." Saif Ali Khan On The Pressure Of Ageing On being asked if he is afraid of getting older, the star said, "You have to be young at heart, you have to be good. I don't want to be very young, I don't want to be old either. But I am happy... Till the time, I am getting work I am ok. When I retire, I will retire, will chill. I like this idea of having some time for making money, some time to relax. There is a time for everything in life. And when that comes I will find other things to do, I will be very happy." The Actor Heaped Praises On His Co-star Alaya F Saif said that working with Alaya was a brilliant experience and added, "The new generation is so prepared as compared to what we were. I have worked with Shah Rukh Khan. And it was amazing, it was the same energy.' Saif On Reuniting With Tabu On The Big Screen Calling her one of the best actresses in the country, the Tanhaji actor said, "Anything she does comes alive. It is brilliant working with her." Amazon.com's founder Jeff Bezos announced an incremental investment of $1 billion in India to digitise the country's small and medium businesses. The country's exports contracted for the fifth month in a row by 1.8 per cent in December 2019 to $27.36 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry. With an eye on the growing number of digital transactions via credit and debit cards, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has floated new features for banks to ensure security and convenience of card users. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy: 1. Jeff Bezos' India experience: Flying kites and $1 billion investment Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said at the Amazon Smbhav event in Delhi that the company is the best place in the world to fail. 2. India's exports decline for fifth straight month in December 2019 to $27.36 billion India's trade deficit for the month also declined to $11.25 billion as against the deficit of $14.49 billion in December 2018. 3. Mandatory gold hallmarking set to revive 900 loss-making hallmarking centres It is estimated that so far only less than 30,000 jewellers have registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and a majority of the units in the unorganised sector are yet to register with the quality control organisation. Lender is facing a financial crunch on the back of rising non-performing assets and the exit of institutional shareholders; divergence in YES Bank's total NPAs stood at Rs 2,299 crore for FY19. 5. RBI allows users to enable, disable credit, debit cards; modify usage limit Under the new rules, banks will be able to issue credit and debit cards that can be used only at ATMs and with PoS devices. The choice of using the cards for contactless and international transactions will lie with the user. We're halfway through the January transfer window with clubs across Europe battling it out for their mid-season targets before the end of the month. Tottenham are holding out for 20million for Inter Milan target Christian Eriksen, while Manchester City are intent on keeping John Stones. Want to know who your club are looking to purchase? Follow our live transfer blog to find out as Sportsmail keeps you updated with all the latest news. Photo taken at the International Luxury Property and Residency Expo, Kiev, September 2019 In connection with the submission by President Zelensky to the Ukrainian Parliament on amendments to some laws of Ukraine on citizenship issues, the last few weeks, the topic of the second passport does not leave the pages of national media. Experts and economists analyze the benefits of dual citizenship in several different ways. Some even calculate possible dividends from granting Ukrainian citizenship to foreigners, primarily investors, who are ready to invest their capital in the development of the state economy. True, according to last year's study of the investment attractiveness of countries around the world, Ukraine ranked 58th, the lowest among Europe. According to the results of 2019, the country fell in the world ranking of passports by 2 positions. Given this fact, I would like to focus on another aspect that is relevant for wealthy citizens of Ukraine, seeking to maintain their authentic passport, but at the same time willing to invest in the economy of progressive states. It will be about investment visas - a popular way to obtain a residence permit with the possibility of naturalization. According to expert estimates, the most attractive European countries providing investment visas for foreigners are the UK, Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, Malta and Spain. On a global scale, the undisputed leader is the United States, followed by Australia, Singapore and the UAE. Among the conditions for obtaining a residence permit in these countries, the most common are: investing in real estate, replenishment of targeted state funds; purchase of debt instruments issued by the state (bonds, treasury bills, etc.) and investing in business (in the authorized capital of enterprises). The last condition is present in the program for obtaining an investment visa Tier 1 Investor from the UK and EB-5 from the United States of America. By the way, these states do not prevent the presence of dual citizenship among their citizens. What can not be said about Germany, Norway, Denmark and the Emirates. The rating of investment attractiveness of the countries of the world, conducted at the end of 2018, distinguishes the United States as a leader in attracting investment in business. The states managed to attract $ 296.4 billion of direct investments from foreign investors, which is 8.7% more than in 2017. Stably, most of the investment in American business comes from private investors from China, they are also the largest number of applicants for an investment visa EB-5: out of 9602 visa applications in 2018, 4642 applications came from investors from China. At the same time, the number of applicants from Ukraine does not exceed several tens per year (note. - the total number of immigrants from Ukraine to the USA is growing annually). The waiting time for consideration of the Ukrainian applicant under the EB-5 program does not exceed the time required to consider any other application for an immigrant visa (on average, 9-18 months). With the entry into force of the dual citizenship law, I am intriguing the growth dynamics of the number of Ukrainian visa applicants EB-5. The main advantage of immigration under the EB-5 program is the absence of requirements in the form of a certificate for knowledge of English, special education or work experience. It is the failure to meet these criteria that is often the reason for refusing to obtain other US visas. All that is needed to obtain an EB-5 investment visa is the applicants willingness to invest from USD 900 thousand to USD 1 800 thousand in the American economy. The size of the investment threshold for various regions of the United States is determined by TEA (target employment areas). TEA-related areas require a lower investment threshold ($ 900,000). The most attractive EB-5 investors are New York, California, Texas and Florida. Investments in these regions amount to $ 900,000. According to the terms of the program, the investment sphere is not important, the main thing is that the project meets its requirements. The main condition of the EB-5 is the stable development of the invested project over the next 5 years and the creation of 10 full-time jobs. Recipients of EB-5 can independently determine the area of investment, but I recommend that specialised companies seek the help from specialized companies and thereby exclude risks. Ideally, an immigration consultant and a lawyer should be engaged in preparing of package of documents for obtaining an EB-5 visa, as in other matters and investment visas of other states. An immigration consultant, as a rule, helps to select the investment reggion and investment fund for the client. The company "Second Passport" is a partnership fund specializing in construction in New York. The fund owns its own assets and works with a well-known New York developer, whose land is owned and not associated with credit histories. The fund has a successful history of completed projects. The main activity is the construction of social facilities, for example, charter schools. These are semi-private, semi-state institutions. The first facility has already been launched and is housed in a modern building, near the center of New York. The second is under development. In the USA, such institutions are a stable and long-term business. The next fund project is a shopping complex. The construction region is ideal for providing jobs. New York is the largest and wealthiest city in the United States. And it is also important that the head of the fund is always ready to meet personally with potential investors. He is fluent in Russian. As a specialist working in the immigration field for more than 10 years, I would recommend applicants for an EB-5 visa to focus on compact, but promising investment objects. Large projects are not always successful; their development is associated with great risks. Funds spent on bankrupt projects by the United States are not compensated and the EB-5 visa is canceled. Founder of the immigration company "Second Passport" Yuri Mosha The Russian Embassy in Syria posted a photo of a "fake humanitarian crossing", which was taken in 2018 and showed Syrians in Turkey queuing at the border to enter areas recently been captured by Turkey writes Al-Araby al-Jadeed. The Russian Embassy in Syria has been ridiculed by Syrian activists after publishing a tweet on Sunday using a fake humanitarian crossing photo, to imply that people in Idlib were queuing up to head to regime areas. Syrians under illegal armed formations [sic] had appealed to Russias Centre for Reconciliation in Syria for help to return home to areas under Assad regime control, the embassy tweeted in English. The tweet said that crossing points would be opened on Monday in Habit, Abu Duhur and Al-Hadir and was accompanied by a photograph showing Syrians apparently waiting to cross into regime-held areas. However, Syrian Twitter users pointed out that the photo was taken in 2018 and showed Syrians in Turkey queuing at the border to enter areas recently been captured by Turkish-backed Syrian fighters from Islamic State group and the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Twitter users posted the original article from the Turkish Anadolu news agency which featured the picture in reply. Others mocked the fact that the Russian embassy hadnt even bothered to airbrush out Turkish police visible in the background of the picture. At least you could do better faking this by using a photo in Winter! It is -1C in there and people are hanging out in T-Shirts?! one person tweeted. At least you could do better faking this by using a photo in Winter! It is -1C in there and people are hanging out in T-Shirts?! Not only fakers but also stupid! Last Thursday, Russia announced a ceasefire in Idlib province, which has been under ferocious bombardment by regime and Russian troops. Over 300,000 people have been displaced in the rebel-held province since 15 December. On Saturday, regime airstrikes killed 18 civilians in Idlib city and the town of Binnish. On Monday, regime helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to leave the opposition-held cities via the humanitarian corridors mentioned in the Russian embassys tweet. Local sources told The New Arab that there had been no civilian movement to the declared crossing points. They also said that the regime had shelled the town of Telmans and the city of Maarat al-Numan, which was deserted by its inhabitants last month, despite the ceasefire. Civilians in rebel-held areas who have accepted regime reconciliation agreements or entered regime-held territory have been arrested by the regime and fear torture or execution in regime jails. Thousands of people left the besieged Rukban refugee camp in the Syrian desert for regime-held Homs last year under UN guarantees, only to be detained by regime forces after being confined to reception centres. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accused President Donald Trump of lying for the reasons behind the killing of an Iranian general during the January Democratic debate. The January Democratic presidential primary debate kicked off from Iowa with questions about the candidates stance on wars in the Middle East. Sanders recalled his efforts to prevent the 2003 Iraq War while the Bush administration pushed for it on what Sanders called false pretenses. I thought they were lying, Sanders said. He then expressed concern that the Trump administration is pushing the U.S. toward a war with Iran based on lies. Trump and high ranking administration officials said Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani was planning an imminent attack, justifying the presidents authorization of a drone strike assassination without notifying Congress. Trump said Iran planned to attack four embassies during a Jan. 10 interview with Fox News, but did not provide specifics on where or when. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have recently criticized the president for failing to produce sufficient evidence to prove Iran was planning attacks on four U.S. embassies in the Middle East. The two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetime were the War in Vietnam and the War in Iraq," Sanders said. "Both those wars were based on lies, and right now, what I fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in Iraq. The American people are sick and tired of endless wars that cost trillions of dollars, he said at the debate, pointing instead to diplomacy. Sanders also contrasted his stance on the Iraq War with former vice president Joe Biden, who supported the invasion. Biden said the vote was a mistake, but said the Bush administration had misled him. He added that former President Barack Obama chose him as his running mate in 2008 to end the war. Candidates disagreed on whether its time to remove combat troops from the Middle East. Biden said a small force is needed to prevent the resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups, while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said its time to bring all combat troops home. Sanders said the defense spending would better be used on domestic affairs. The American people are sick and tired of endless wars that cost trillions of dollars, he said. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a veteran who served in the Iraq War, said any authorization of military force given by Congress should have a 3-year sunset to prevent endless wars. As President Donald Trump rallied supporters Tuesday night by defending his decision to kill a top Iranian general, the Democrats vying to replace him used their final debate before primary voting began to argue that doing so made the country less safe. With Trump firing up thousands in the battleground state of Wisconsin and the Democratic candidates squaring off in Iowa ahead of its Feb. 3 caucuses, the political events were expected to offer very different visions for the future of the country. But the contrast on Iran in nearly real time was especially stark. Addressing an audience in downtown Milwaukee not far from where Democrats will hold their convention this summer Trump spent much of his speech defending his decision to order the strike that killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, whom he labeled the world's No. 1 terrorist." That move came under intense criticism from Democrats and raised questions about whether it really prevented an imminent attack, as some Trump administration officials have claimed, and whether Trump should have consulted lawmakers. The Democrats are outraged that we killed this terrorist monster, even though this monster was behind hundreds and hundreds of deaths," Trump said, adding that thousands of people" don't have legs and arms because of this son of a bitch." He added, "The Democrats are doing everything possible to disparage what we did with the hit on this monster" and that the other party "should be outraged by Soleimani's evil crimes, not the decision to end his wretched life. Moments later and hundreds of miles away, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he feared that Trump's actions in Iran could lead the United States into a foreign policy quagmire of the highest level. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Trump had campaigned on stopping endless wars only to bring the country closer to them. And former Vice President Joe Biden said Soleimani's killing was dangerous and would not have been necessary if Trump hadn't pulled the U.S. out of a successful nuclear deal that the Obama administration had reached with Iran. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren pledged to bring U.S. combat troops back from the Middle East entirely, saying, We should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. Trump also took on the leading Democratic candidates, saying of Sanders: Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family, nor can they protect our country." Yet the president also defended Sanders in the ongoing he-said, she-said spat between Sanders and Warren, who has said Sanders told her during a private meeting in 2018 that he didn't believe a woman could win the White House a charge the Vermont senator vehemently denied. I don't believe that Bernie said that. I really don't ... It's not the kind of thing he'd say," said Trump, who routinely insults Warren with the slur Pocahontas. Trump also criticized Biden's tendency to mix up locations, including recently confusing Iran with Iraq. When you do that you can't really recover," Trump said. Winning back Wisconsin is a key part of Democrats' 2020 strategy and one of the reasons the party chose Milwaukee to host its national convention in July. Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and he is expected to make frequent visits in the coming months as he works to maintain his edge. Vice President Mike Pence warmed up the rally crowd by panning the Democratic candidates as too far left for the state. You know, I heard they've got another debate tonight. If it's anything like the other ones, those people are going to be standing so far on the left I think that stage is going to tip over," Pence quipped. Trump supporters began lining up Monday evening outside the arena to make sure they would be able to get inside. I think the Wisconsin vote is very important, very important," said Brenda Stoetzer, 60, from Hickory Hills, Illinois. And we need to just spread the message here that, you know, Trump is helping the people, the ordinary people. He's not making the rich richer. He's making everyone richer. I think he's done right by the whole country," agreed Nancy Freye, 65, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He's fighting for all of us every day. I don't know how you can even get anything done, but he does. So good for him and for us." Democrats, he said, should be angry about his crimes, not the decision to end his wretched life." Trump also went on an extended riff about his efforts to roll back energy- and water-saving regulations, panning energy-efficient light bulbs and low water flow dishwashers, showers and toilets, which he promised to replace. "Your dishes are going to be beautiful, he promised. Highlighting the politics of the city, Trump's rally was interrupted several times by protesters, who also demonstrated outside the arena where he spoke. While Democratic voters try to decide who is their best candidate to take on Trump, the president has been contending with the House vote to impeach him. After weeks of delay, the House will vote Wednesday to send its articles of impeachment to the Senate. Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and there is nowhere near the 67 votes needed for Trump's removal. Trump accused Democrats of wasting America's time with demented hoaxes" and witch hunts" while we're creating jobs and killing terrorists." Wisconsin's primary is April 7. Irans top diplomat acknowledged Wednesday that Iranians were lied to for days, after the Islamic Republic accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The admission came as new surveillance footage purported to show two surface-to-air missiles 20 seconds apart shred the plane and kill all 176 people on board. The downing of the Ukraine International Airlines flight last week came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US over its unravelling nuclear deal. People gather for a vigil to remember the victims of the Ukraine plane crash (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for the first time Wednesday threatened Europe by warning its soldiers in the Middle East could be in danger over the crisis, as Britain, France and Germany launched a measure that could see United Nations sanctions re-imposed on Tehran. The crash, and subsequent days of Iranian denials that a missile had downed the plane, has sparked angry protests in a country already on edge as its economy struggles under crushing American sanctions. Tensions between Washington and Tehran reached a fever pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blamed for deadly roadside bomb attacks on US troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing US forces early last Wednesday, just before Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport. Protesters hold flowers as tear gas is fired by police (AP) Iran for days afterwards insisted a technical fault downed the Boeing 737-800. It was not until Western governments, including Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, went public with their suspicions the plane had been shot down that Iran admitted it fired on the plane. Not admitting the plane had been shot down was for the betterment of our countrys security, because if we had said this, our air defence system would have become crippled and our guys would have had doubted everything, said General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards aerospace programme, in television footage aired Wednesday. Story continues Gen Hajizadeh only days earlier apologised on state television and said: I wish I were dead. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at a summit in New Delhi, became the first official to describe Irans earlier claims as a lie. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks in New Delhi (Manish Swarup/AP) In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Mr Zarif said. Mr Zarif went on to praise Irans military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on. However, he said that he and Mr Rouhani only learned that a missile had downed the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Irans civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. The Guard knew immediately afterwards that its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. The new surveillance footage obtained by The Associated Press showing the missile fire was filmed off a monitor by a mobile phone. It appears to be taken near the town of Bidkaneh, northwest of Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport. President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a cabinet meeting in Tehran (Office of the Iranian Presidency/AP) The two minutes of black-and-white footage purportedly shows one missile streaking across the sky and exploding near the plane. Ten seconds later, another missile is fired. Some 20 seconds after the first explosion, another strikes near the plane. A ball of flames then falls from the sky out of frame. The footage corresponds with AP reporting, appears genuine and matches geographic features of the area. The date in the upper right-hand corner of the video appears to correspond to Irans Persian calendar. It also explains how so many people filmed the shoot down: The first explosion drew their attention and their filming mobile phones to the predawn sky. Speaking before his cabinet, Mr Rouhani showed a rarely seen level of anger in wide-ranging remarks on Wednesday that included the threat to Europe. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Mr Rouhani said. We want you to leave this region but not with war. We want you to go wisely. It is to your own benefit. WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On January 6, 2020, a follow-up meeting at San Diego State University with the U.S. Census Bureau leadership was conducted as a part of an on-going series of meetings since 2010 asking for the Sikhs to be recognized as a separate ethnic group. UNITED SIKHS today is proud to announce that the United States 2020 Census will include coding for Sikhs, which means that Sikh Americans will be counted as a separate ethnic group. This announcement is a milestone for Americas Sikh Community, it will allow Sikhs to be counted and coded in the decennial U.S. Census that is conducted every 10 years. The Sikh communitys efforts have come to fruition. This has paved the way forward nationally not only for the Sikh community but also for other ethnicities in the United States, said Baljeet Singh, President of Sikh Society of San Diego. This historic announcement is the result of decades of advocacy by UNITED SIKHS at the national level on behalf of the Sikh community. Being involved in this civic engagement will help ensure an accurate count of Sikhs in the United States. Census data will help in tracking and measuring hate crimes against the community. It will also ensure equal and accurate representation of Sikhs. This is useful in providing access to members of Congress and other essential government services for the needs of the community, said Jasmit Singh, Advocacy Director, UNITED SIKHS. A separate code recognizes the unique identity of Sikhs and gives us an opportunity to have an accurate count of Sikhs in the United States to better serve the communitys needs, said U.S. Census Deputy Director Ron Jarmin. Working with UNITED SIKHS, we understand how this change affects the national Sikh community, leading the Census to add a separate ethnicity code, said Shagufta Ahmed, National Partnership Program Communication Directorate, Census Bureau. In order to be properly counted in the 2020 U.S. Census, UNITED SIKHS is educating the national Sikh community to write in Sikh under the ethnicity portion. The 2020 U.S. Census is active, and the forms are to be mailed out starting mid-March. UNITED SIKHS will be working closely with all community members on how to properly fill out the form. Sikh Americans can trace their ancestry in the U.S. back to the 1880s. Many Sikhs came to California to work on the railroads, agriculture, technology, and other industries. Sikhs continue to face bias, racism and xenophobia. Previously the U.S. Census grouped Sikhs into a general Asian-Indian category in the 2010 US Census. After the 2015 survey, U.S. Census Director Nicholas Jones from Race & Ethnic Research and Outreach Population Division stated, We realized the need and importance to include Sikh ethnicity in surveys moving forward. Current estimates of Sikhs living in the United States is close to a million. Sikhs meet the criteria for representation in the U.S. Census as a distinct ethnic group. Sikhs have a distinct unified appearance, culture, language (Gurmukhi), food and history. UNITED SIKHS has advocated for the separate coding for more than two decades and has filed commentary with the U.S. Federal Register. UNITED SIKHS has advocated for Sikhs to be added as an ethnic group so that action can be taken to address Sikh issues of significance such as bullying, intimidation and hate crimes against the community. At the municipal level, UNITED SIKHS National outreach coalition will work with community partners and the Census 2020 leaders for translation and outreach services to the Sikh American community coast-to-coast. With the 2020 census approaching, many historically under-coded communities will be at-risk for being under-counted and under-served, said Ruben Singh, UNITED SIKHS Census Manager. He also stated, We look forward to collaborating with our census partners and other Sikh organizations and institutions to address the unanticipated challenges of the 2020 Census. Census data is collected every 10 years, which determines Sikh representation in Congress, addresses certain commercial sector needs and determines how funds are spent towards the Sikh community on things like law enforcement, roads, schools, education, Punjabi language and hospitals. The Census Bureau is hiring now for many opportunities like Census takers. In the effort for ensuring a full count for the 2020 Census, please click here to visit job postings for outreach and education support by the census board. Completing the Census is a civic duty every household must engage in for the reasons stated above. It will help document the Sikh American communitys history for future generations to come. We will follow up with more communication and training on the revised 2020 census code. Please follow us on social media for real-time updates and ways to volunteer. If you have any questions, you may reach out to us at contact@unitedsikhs.org Attachments Appointment 15 January 2020 Born and raised in Germany, Cornelia has come a long way from her beginnings as an apprentice in the food and beverage industry. Following her Diploma in Hospitality Management from Cologne, Mitlmeier obtained her MBA from Danube University Krems in Austria before embarking on her impressive career that took her from her home country Germany to Austria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Japan and most recently Lebanon. She joins Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach from Four Seasons Hotel Beirut, where she has spent the last year at the helm of this 230 room hotel, overseeing the day-to-day operations of rooms, spa, five distinct restaurants and lounges and strengthening the overall guest experience. Prior to her first Four Seasons position, Cornelia held roles at The Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo, The Ritz-Carlton in Almaty, the Adlon Kempinski Berlin as well as several other renowned luxury hotels across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In her new role, Cornelia not only brings a wealth of knowledge and experience but is a proven leader who has overseen large food and beverage operations, while achieving high guest satisfaction and financial results. Though hotel work is Mitlmeier's primary passion, it isn't her only one, as she enjoys playing the piano and practicing yoga in her free time. Airbus Beluga XL Airbus The Airbus Beluga cargo plane fleet is tasked with transporting large sections of Airbus aircraft for final assembly. The company's newest and largest variant, the BelugaXL, just began operational service in January and is now flying full-time. The current fleet of five Airbus A300-600ST has been in service for 20 years. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Airbus' newest airplane that regular passengers won't be able to fly on is now flying full-time in Europe. The BelugaXL cargo plane just entered operational service and is now transporting Airbus cargo, CNN reported, following months of test flights. The Beluga is a cargo plane designed to transport major sections of Airbus planes to its assembly plants in Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany from suppliers around Europe. It flies pieces as large as the middle and rear fuselage of an Airbus A320 airliner or the wing of an A350 widebody. Airbus also uses a fleet of barges and trucks to move components around Europe. The BelugaXL will take over for the current generation A300-600ST Beluga that has been in service for two decades. Since it's based on the Airbus A330-200F freighter, the BelugaXL is larger, with greater cargo capacity, and is expected to deliver superior performance than its predecessor. The Beluga derives its name from the whale to which it bears a striking resemblance. In fact, the new BelugaXL is even painted to look like the animal. According to Airbus, it decided to build the BelugaXL in November 2014 as a response to the greater transport and capacity requirements the company expects in the years beyond 2019. Here's a closer look at the Airbus Beluga and BelugaXL. Benjamin Zhang contributed to an earlier version of this article. Airbus needs to move large numbers of components to its assembly plants in France and Germany. This includes whole sections of planes. Airbus A320 Hamburg factory AirbusIn the early days, Airbus used the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser-based Guppy transport planes. Story continues Aero Spacelines Guppy Airbus Flickr/Alan WilsonSince the mid-1990s, Airbus has used an aircraft called the Beluga. It's based on the company's A300-600 airliner and its official name is the A300-600ST Beluga. airbus beluga transport plane AirbusAirbus currently operates a fleet of five Belugas, to be replaced by the BelugaXLs. Airbus A300 600ST Beluga AirbusThe Beluga and its rotund cargo compartment have serious hauling power. Airbus Beluga transport Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesThis includes entire sections of fuselage. Airbus Beluga AirbusOr the tailfins. airbus beluga transport plane AirbusBoeing also uses a fleet of specialized transport planes to move large components around. They are called the Being 747-400LCF Dreamlifter. Boeing Dreamlifter cargo plane BoeingThe next generation Beluga, the BelugaXL, was introduced in June 2018 and just began flying full-time after receiving its certification from Europe's aviation regulator. Airbus Beluga XL AirbusIt's based on the Airbus A330-200F freighter. Airbus A330 200F first flight AirbusHere it is under construction. Airbus Beluga XL AirbusThe oversized aircraft allows for two Airbus A350 XWB wings to be transported at a time. Airbus BelugaXL First Flight Air To Air 074 AirbusAirbus says the BelugaXL's cargo bay has the largest cross-section out of all existing cargo aircraft. First BelugaXL delivered to ATI On ground_ AirbusThe BelugaXL is also 20-feet longer and its cargo compartment is more than three feet wider than its predecessor. It can also carry as much as 110,000 lbs of cargo. Airbus Beluga XL AirbusThe aircraft will primarily be transporting cargo between Airbus' production facilities in Europe including Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany. Airbus Beluga XL Airbus Read the original article on Business Insider Residents in Laurel town in the Philippines clean the roofs of their homes covered with volcanic ash. (AFP or licensors) One of the most active volcanoes of the Philippines, Taal Volcano, in the middle of a lake about 70 km south of the capital, Manila, has been spewing smoke and ash since Sunday. The government has ordered about half million people to evacuate from within a 14-km radius of the volcano. By Robin Gomes Catholic churches in the Philippines have joined their fellow citizens in providing much-needed disaster relief to people hit by the eruption of the Taal Volcano. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday called on dioceses to acts of charity and solidarity in the midst of this difficult situation. Special Mass collection CBCP president, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao said a possibility is to do a second collection in Masses and give this to the most affected local churches. Another form of solidarity is to respond to other needs, such as medical care and attention to those in evacuation centres, he said. In Batangas, more than 35,000 persons fled their homes and evacuated to centres from 27 cities and towns in the province following the eruption. The figure is expected to rise as more residents within the 14-kilometre danger zone continue to be evacuated. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said there are no reported casualties from the eruption to date. Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa, under whose jurisdiction comes the affected areas, celebrated Mass on Wednesday with volunteers helping the Churchs relief efforts. Faith is service to our fellows. You receive faith, you share faith, he said in his homily, urging all to make this the moment of faith. Masses will also be held in all evacuation centres in Batangas province on Saturday. Fake news and scammers Archbishop Garcera lamented the spread of fake news which gives a false depiction of the situation and causes confusion and panic. The archbishop also lamented a post using his name asking for donations to certain bank accounts. Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan has also warned the public against scammers using his name and that of other bishops to solicit supposed donations for volcano victims. Archbishop Garcera had appealed on Monday for aid to support their ongoing relief operations. Among the most urgent needs, he said, are food, potable water, hygiene kits, blankets, towels, medicine, and face masks. Children Meanwhile, Save the Children said on Tuesday an estimated 21,000 children living in the danger zone have been evacuated from their homes. The rights group expressed deep concern for the scared and confused children who have been forced to leave their homes, are missing out on school and face hunger and disease in cramped and unsanitary evacuation centres. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A former NYPD Internal Affairs detective, who in 2018 was charged with possessing a loaded firearm in his home, was arrested on over 90 new counts after he made numerous fake 311 complaints impersonating his neighbors, sent a message intended for Mayor Bill de Blasio in the guise of an NYPD official and drove his vehicle at a residents car on his street, authorities allege. William Nolan of Gadsen Place, New Springville, faces a litany of charges including third-degree falsely reporting an incident, aggravated harassment, fourth-degree stalking, second-degree menacing and criminal impersonation, according to a criminal complaint. From December 2017 to November 2018, authorities allege that Nolan made multiple 311 complaints via email while using the personal information of his neighbors, including their names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other contact information. The complaints range from no heat grievances which prompted a gas company to respond to his neighbors home, to teenagers drinking alcohol and smoking on the street, causing follow-ups with the provided contacts all of which were fraudulently made by Nolan, the criminal complaint alleges. In multiple instances between March and November 2018, Nolan also allegedly made complaints against a neighbor for illegally towing vehicles while using that neighbors contact info on the official 311 complaint. In October 2018, he impersonated an NYPD detective, using the mans phone number, email address and other information to make a complaint about the tow truck, prosecutors allege. An analysis of Nolans computers showed that he had text files of his neighbors contact information that he used to make the fake complaints, along with copies of the complaints themselves written verbatim, the criminal complaint said. Authorities said that his browser history indicated that he accessed the 311 site at the time the faux-311 service requests were made. In each instance, the contacts Nolan allegedly used confirmed with authorities that they did not make the 311 service requests made in their names. One New Springville resident, who allegedly received a trove of phone calls from Nolan with no legitimate purpose, said that he has been dealing with the alleged harassment for the last couple of years. Its been hard, said the man, who wished to remain anonymous to speak about an ongoing case, adding that a variety of organizations, companies and city agencies have arrived at his door because of the fraudulent complaints. As a result, the man said he has had to leave work to deal with responses to his home, adding that Nolans alleged antics have cost him thousands" over the years. CHARGES OF IMPERSONATING NYPD OFFICIAL The former NYPD detective allegedly impersonated others within the departments ranks. On multiple instances during 2018, Nolan, using the work email and name of Joseph Reznick, the deputy commissioner of the Internal Affairs Bureau in the NYPD, sent 311 requests intended for de Blasio, urging him to strip specific officers of their badges because they purportedly spread false rumors about the high-ranking NYPD official, according to the criminal complaint. Mayor de Blasio, the false rumors about me continue to be spread on the internet, social media, twitter and facebook, Nolan allegedly wrote under the guise of Reznick, adding that specific officers are propagating the gossip. Allow me to send my investigators to confiscate their retired NYPD identification cards, the email reads. This will stop them from further spreading false rumors about me and my actions. If you dont allow me to do this, there is a very good chance that certain embarrassing details of departmental misconduct investigations ... will be leaked to the press. Reznick said he did not submit the service requests addressed for de Blasio to 311, authorities said. The criminal complaint does not detail why he allegedly chose those specific officers to target, or why he thought a 311 complaint purporting to be from Reznick would reach de Blasio. On Aug. 20, 2019, Nolans online high jinks turned frightening when, at the intersection of Travis Avenue and Merrymount Street, he drove in his Jeep through a red light, made a U-turn and intentionally drove into [his neighbors] lane of travel toward the mans vehicle, the criminal complaint alleges. Nolan was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday and is due back in court on March 3, online court records indicate. Nolan currently has an open case regarding a Dec. 20, 2018 arrest in which police, armed with a search warrant, entered Nolans home and allegedly found loaded weaponry. He was charged in that case with criminal possession of a weapon, second and third degree; criminal possession of a firearm; criminal possession of a weapon, fourth degree; resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, second degree. Nolan is due back in court for that case on Jan. 28. Nolans lawyer, listed in court records as Matthew Santamauro, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on either case. LAWSUIT Nolan filed his own lawsuit against New York City and high-ranking NYPD officials in January 2019. In the lawsuit, Nolan claimed that his personal records had been altered to indicate that he was terminated by the NYPD. Additionally, Nolan said that he worked deep undercover within the department, rooting out corruption within the NYPD, which, he says, ultimately resulted in a contract being placed on his head, according to court papers. To protect himself and his wife from multiple threats, Nolan said in the filing that he chose to exercise his Second Amendment to keep and bear arms for self-protection by maintaining a New York City handgun license and five handguns. The status of that case is currently in limbo due to Nolans arrests. Amid liquidity squeeze faced by non-bank lenders, global buyout major KKR on Wednesday said it will infuse USD 150 million into its Indian non-banking finance company. The capital commitment will enhance the KKR India Financial Services' (KIFS) ability to provide loans to local companies by bolstering the financial position, an official statement said. The NBFC sector has been in troubles for over a year now, starting with the collapse of infra-focused IL&FS, triggering a liquidity crisis. In the statement, KKR's co-presidents and co-chief operating officers Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall said this is a "unique" time in the Indian credit markets, with many lenders being unable to invest despite a demand for alternative credit. The commitment "solidifies KIFS' financial position, allows KIFS to be proactive in a dislocated market, and reflects our confidence in KIFS and its mission to finance India's homegrown champions", they said. In the past 10 years, KIFS has deployed more than USD 5 billion in over 150 deals in India, it said. "Private lending in India is more important than ever. India has been an important part of KKR's global growth strategy in Asia," KKR India Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Nayar said. The statement said KKR, a majority owner of KIFS, will fund the investment through its balance sheet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: The Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, in accordance with its mandate, plans to conduct the next ceasefire monitoring exercise on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Azerbaijan's Aghdam district on Jan. 16, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk, his field assistants Simon Tiller and Martin Schuster will carry out the monitoring exercise from the territory of Azerbaijan. The Personal Representative`s field assistants Ghenadie Petrica and Mihail Olaru will carry out the monitoring exercise on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied and controlled by the armed forces of Armenia. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. LONDON - A dispute over a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is casting a shadow over an international meeting that Canada hopes will lead to justice and financial compensation for the families of the 176 victims aboard an aircraft shot down over Tehran last week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 photo, rescue workers search the scene where a Ukrainian plane crashed in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran's president levelled threats today against Europe in response to the continent's new crackdown on his country's violations of their nuclear deal a move Canada is also supporting. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ebrahim Noroozi LONDON - A dispute over a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is casting a shadow over an international meeting that Canada hopes will lead to justice and financial compensation for the families of the 176 victims aboard an aircraft shot down over Tehran last week. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne arrived late Wednesday in London hours before he is to host the meeting at the Canadian High Commission with representatives of Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain, all of whom lost citizens when an Iranian missile hit Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752. Dutch officials will also be attending given their expertise stemming from a five-year-long probe of the deadly shootdown of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, which investigators have blamed on Russia. Speaking in Ottawa, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the group would send Iran "strong messages" and "let them know exactly what has to happen." Garneau said Iran is co-operating with the two Canadian investigators on the scene as part of an international team, which included a look at the plane's wreckage Wednesday. However, Garneau said he wants their participation in the probe formalized to ensure Iran follows through on its invitation for Canadian experts to help analyze the plane's flight data and voice recorders, known as the "black boxes." "We can say a missile struck the airplane ... but we don't know anything about after that happened," Garneau said. "The airplane did continue in a loop before it tragically impacted the ground. What was happening during that time? Where did the impact occur? These are questions that the families of the victims want answers to and it is something that Canadians want answers to as well." All aboard, including 57 Canadians and 82 Iranians, were killed. The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 89 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. Omar Alghabra, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, said the Liberal government is "actively exploring" options for compensating victims' families in the interim knowing the international process could drag on for years. Iran denied for days it shot down the passenger plane, but later admitted to what it said was a mistake. On Wednesday, the country's top diplomat told an international conference that the military withheld the information from government and that Iranians were lied to for days after the crash. Garneau said he has seen a video recording publicized by the New York Times showing what appear to be two missiles targeting the plane, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the investigation is complete. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Europe its soldiers in the Middle East "could be in danger" because of a move by Britain, France and Germany to trigger a section of the 2015 nuclear agreement that could bring back European sanctions against Iran. Before travelling to London, Champagne issued a statement supporting the European decision and called on Iran to "restore its full commitments" to the deal. Garneau said the argument over the nuclear deal won't affect Thursday's meeting in London. The fate of the 2015 nuclear deal has been intertwined with the chain of events that led to last week's downing of the Ukrainian airlines plane. In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, after pillorying it as a failure to prevent Iran from enriching enough uranium to produce an atomic bomb. Trump started a campaign of "maximum pressure" to force Iran to renegotiate a better deal, but that hasn't happened. Tensions escalated further between the two countries when Trump approved a drone attack that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, on Jan. 3. Two days later, Iran said it would no longer abide by the nuclear deal's limits on the production of bomb-making material, but would still allow the UN to inspect nuclear facilities. And last week, Iran fired missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing American troops Canadian military personnel were at one in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. Just hours after that, amid nervousness about possibly American retribution, Iran's military shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. In a Global News interview aired Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said had it not been for the recently elevated tensions, "those Canadians would be right now home with their families." Anger has swelled in Iran as protesters have taken to the streets in recent days over the initial coverup by the military. Iran announced Tuesday the arrests of an unspecified number of people implicated after "extensive investigations" into the downing of the plane. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "It is a massive crisis in Iran, and it's a question mark as to whether these arrests and these measures will be sufficient to satisfy the public who clearly view this as going far, far higher than just a couple of operatives who dealt with the anti-aircraft missiles," said Trita Parsi, an Iranian-born analyst who co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington. Kiavash Najafi, an Iranian-born Canadian who served as an aide to the NDP's former foreign affairs critic, said the Iranian regime is split between people who do and don't want to co-operate with the West. He said the tragedy has given Canada an opportunity to influence change in Iran. "It's not just seeking justice for the victims and their families, but also it's to keep creating conditions so the country (Iran) can move forward towards democracy. That's what the majority of Iranians want," said Najafi, who spent his first 16 years in Iran. "Given that we have found this unique opportunity for Canada to have influence, I think it's really important to not lose sight of those aspects." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. With files from Jordan Press in Ottawa, and the Associated Press Western Asset Management Co. is reducing its Indian government bond holdings as tensions around a new citizenship law and the Kashmir region cloud the economic outlook. The $453 billion investor, an affiliate of Legg Mason Inc., is diverting some of its funds into longer-dated Malaysian and Chinese debt, according to Desmond Soon, head of investment management for Asia ex-Japan. It has an overweight position in India bonds. The initial market euphoria from Prime Minister Narendra Modis re-election last year is wearing thin as economic growth stutters and a policy making it harder for Muslim migrants to get citizenship stirs protests. Foreign holdings of Indian sovereign debt have dropped to near a three-month low. It certainly distracts Prime Minister Modis government from making the necessary economic policy and reform to focus on the economy," Soon, a 30-year investment veteran, said in Singapore. We are in the process of reducing India somewhat." Angry protests have erupted in many Indian states, forcing the government to send in hundreds of soldiers to aid local police. Modi also stoked tension in Kashmir, the nations only Muslim-majority state, when he ended seven decades of autonomy for the area in 2019. The changes, part of the election promises made by Modis Hindu nationalist government, have created mistrust among Muslims, who form about 14% of the population. Despite five interest-rate cuts last year to shore up growth, yields on 10-year India bonds remain some of the highest in Asia at 6.66%. A recent rally in the market, spurred by bond purchases from the Reserve Bank of India, has stalled as inflation surges to a five-year high. Stagflation looms as the economy grinds toward its slowest expansion in more than a decade. Malaysia Switch Western Asset is buying Malaysian debt as the oil exporter will benefit medium term from higher energy prices, Soon said. Gobal investors may also pour another $150 billion to $200 billion into Chinese bonds as the debt is gradually included in global benchmarks, he said. Other Investment Views Dollar bond sales from companies in Asia, excluding Japan, to exceed last years issuance in 2020 -- driven by Chinese companies seeking debt to grow Fund is overweight Indonesian and Philippines local currency bonds Asian countries appear poised to embark on fiscal easing, including Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan --With assistance from Chester Yung. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics Bushfire-hit children who have received $400 cash disaster recovery payments will get a further $400 under a plan announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday. Mr Morrison revealed a series of changes had been made to a number of schemes, including the child payment, as the government sought to simplify and improve the way the help is being rolled out. Before the announcement, welfare groups had voiced concerns the level of the payment had not been increased in 14 years. Bushfire-hit children who have received $400 cash disaster recovery payments will get a further $400 under a plan announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday. Fires at Mallacoota in Victoria are pictured 'Right now it is all about focusing on the basics people need,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra. He said families would not need to reapply to receive the extra payment, which would be rolled out from next Monday. As well, the process for applying for payments to volunteer firefighters who have foregone income to help tackle the blazes would be simplified. Firefighters would not need to substantiate their income losses in applying for up to $200 a day, capped at a total of $6000. However if they were seeking above $200 a day, up to $300, they would still need to substantiate the claim with a pay slip or other information. Disaster recovery grants of up to $75,000 for farmers have also been tweaked, with the program set to cover major assets for farmers whose residence may not have been affected but their fences or vehicles might have been damaged or destroyed. The government on Wednesday announced charities will get more government funding to hand out food vouchers, financial counselling and help with basics in bushfire-affected communities. A total of $40 million would go to charities the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul, with $10 million for the National Debt Hotline. The charities would be responsible for divvying out the vouchers as well as helping those impacted by the fires to pay for bills, petrol, clothing and transport costs. The increased funding for the debt hotline would go to getting locals into bushfire-affected areas to provide face-to-face financial counselling. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the extra assistance was welcome. But he said the government needed to reduced red tape and clarify which communities are eligible for various forms of help. 'It should never have been the case that people who have been impacted by the fires were told, 'No, you're not in the right area because the maps are wrong',' he told reporters in Melbourne, ahead of Mr Morrison's media conference. '(And) it should be the case that people have a single point of entry in order to get the support that they need.' Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten there was precedent from past natural disasters for simplifying the system of helping bushfire-hit communities recover. 'Now is not the time for the feral abacus and bean counters to run relief,' he said. 'Understand people have been traumatised. Let's get on with the business of helping people with the long journey of recovery. A bit of generosity in this point of the bushfire cycle would go a long way.' Calendar 2019 was a great year for Indian equities as the Nifty50 climbed 12 percent and the BSE Sensex climbed 14 percent. However, the broader markets continued to underperform frontliners for the second year in a row. The rally was only limited to a select 10-15 stocks and was further augmented by several measures taken by the government to spur growth including the corporate tax cut. Favourable global cues, stable oil prices, easing US-China trade deal and Brexit concerns propelled the upside. FII and DIIs flow also lent major support to equities in 2019. During the year, mutual fund houses poured in more than Rs 49,000 crore in equities. "Domestic mutual funds (MFs) witnessed steady flows during the year, propelling an uptrend in the AUM of equity funds for the sixth consecutive year," Motilal Oswal said. The brokerage said equity asset under management (AUM) of domestic MFs touched a new high of Rs 9 lakh crore, up 6 percent YoY, in CY19, led by a rise in market indices. Redemptions decreased 12 percent YoY to Rs 2,02,400 crore during the year, but a decrease in sales of equity schemes (down 14 percent YoY to Rs 3,07,900 crore) led to a decline in net inflows to Rs 1,05,400 crore in CY19 from Rs 1,28,800 crore in CY18, it added. The brokerage said mutual fund industry's average AUM increased 13.6 percent YoY to Rs 26.9 lakh crore in CY19, primarily led by inflows in equities, other ETFs, income and liquid categories. The year saw a notable change in the sector and stock allocation of funds. Domestic cyclicals' weight increased marginally by 30bp to 62 percent while defensives' weight decreased from 27.6 percent in CY18 to 27.4 percent in CY19 and global cyclicals' weight, too, decreased 10bp to 10.6 percent during the year, Motilal Oswal said. Mutual funds remained net buyers in 46 percent of stocks during December with highest net buying in Maruti Suzuki, UltraTech Cement, Nestle India, Titan Company and Coal India. Maruti Suzuki's value increased by Rs 1,200 crore and notably, the stock witnessed net buying by 17 of the top 20 funds, the brokerage said. During the month, in terms of value increase month-on-month, 5 of the top-10 stocks were from financials which were ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance, it added. Stocks exhibiting a maximum decline in value MoM were Reliance Industries, ITC, SBI, BPCL and SBI Life Insurance. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert 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. Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. 15.01.2020 LISTEN The re-assigned Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah has called on personnel of the department to give maximum support to the incoming head of the outfit, COP Ken Yeboah. She said corporation between the officers and the new CID boss, COP Ken Yeboah, will enhance the competence of the CID. Speaking at a sendoff ceremony organized in her honour by personnel of the Criminal Investigations Department, Maame Yaa Tiwaa admonished the officers to remain committed to the department and not persons On January 3, 2020, Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh reassigned twenty-four senior police officers including COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa. The twenty-four are expected to assume their new offices today, January 15, 2020. COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah is now the Director-General in-charge of Welfare at the Ghana Police Service. COP Isaac Ken Yeboah, formerly the Director-General in-charge of Administration is now the new Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department. COP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare who was the Director-General of Welfare is now the Director-General, Administration, while COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, previously the Director-General, MTTD is now the Director-General in-charge of Special Duties. ---citinewsroom Led by Professor Julie Bakker at Liege University (Belgium) and Professor Ulrich Boehm at Saarland University (Germany), there has been a major advancement in our understanding of how the brain controls physical response to intimacy and this was published in Nature Communications. They found that a hormone in the brain, called kisspeptin, drives both attractions to the opposite sex and sexual behavior. The scientists found that a male mouse secretes pheromones to activate the kisspeptin neurons which send this signal along to other neurons, releasing the gonadotropin hormones that control attraction to the opposite sex. Neuroimaging techniques have begun to be applied to the study of human sexual behavior. According to Boehm, "This work has provided new insight into how the brain decodes signals from the outside world and then translates these environmental cues into behavior." Testing female rodents, mate preference and copulatory behavior depend on pheromones and are synchronized with ovulation to ensure reproductive success. The neural circuits driving this orchestration in the brain have, however, remained ambiguous. Boehm added that little was known about how the brain ties together ovulation, attraction, and sex, but now we acknowledge kisspeptin that controls all of these aspects through different brain circuits running in parallel with one another. In conclusion, puberty, fertility, attraction, and sex are all controlled by a single molecule; kisspeptin. In another study, deep brain imaging techniques were used to analyze the brains of mice, including optogenetics which uses light to stimulate particular parts of the brain. They traced the trigger of attraction to the hypothalamus, an evolutionarily ancient structure at the bottom-center of the brain that is responsible for controlling major bodily functions such as body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior. The researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine examined the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the brain -- a specific set of neurons inside the hypothalamus -- because previous research found the mPOA was important for social and reproductive behavior in all vertebrate species studied from fish to human. By exposing female mice to male mouse urine, a large number of the neurons in the mPOA became excited into greater activity. However, human sexuality does not rely on a single "sex nucleus," but it involves many -- sometimes quite generic -- brain functions including those for arousal, reward, memory, cognition, self-referential thinking, and social behavior. People tend to feel bolder and less inhibited during sex because the part of your brain in charge of your logical reasoning skills temporarily takes a rest. Our brains control all steps of sexual behavior and in all its variations, from feelings of sexual desire and partner choice to arousal, orgasm and even post-coital cuddling. The brains of males and females are different and work differently when it comes to sexual activity. The orchestration between our sensory systems (vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch), the endocrine/hormonal system, and the autonomic nervous system result in sexual drive and desire. Researchers use fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Machines or a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to measure the blood flow and neuron activity in the brain. Results from these findings are finally being integrated for meta-analysis, allowing for improved precision in identifying activated brain areas. RELATED ARTICLE: Region in Brian Controls Decisions About Love S cientists have discovered what could be a second planet in a nearby solar system just four light years from Earth. What astronomers believe could be yet another exoplanet appears to orbit Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Known as Proxima c, the newly-found extraterrestrial body is about half the size of Neptune. It spins around Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf which is eight times smaller than the star the Earth orbits. The scientists from the University of Hertfordshire described the object as a "low-mass planet candidate". Amazing NASA Space Images - In pictures 1 /80 Amazing NASA Space Images - In pictures Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 NASA This 1969 photograph of the eclipse of the sun was taken with a 16mm motion picture camera from the Apollo 12 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home from the moon. The fascinating view was created when the Earth moved directly between the sun and the Apollo 12 spacecraft NASA Astronaut Bruce McCandless II photographed 320 ft from the Space Shuttle Challenger during the first untethered EVA, made possible by his nitrogen jet propelled backpack (Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU) in 1984 NASA The brilliant tapestry of young stars flaring to life resemble a glittering fireworks display in the 25th anniversary NASA Hubble Space Telescope image NASA Space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2011. This lift off is the last in the 30-year-old shuttle program Getty Images The first teklevision image of Earth from a weather satellite taken by the TIROS-1 satellite in 1960 NASA The Echo 2 satellite in 1960. Once the balloon was launched into orbit, a prerecorded message from President Dwight Eisenhower was transmitted from California and heard with clarity in New Jersey NASA The original seven Mercury astronauts and pioneers in human space exsploration pose in their silver spacesuits in 1961 NASA President John F. Kennedy calls for a moon landing in 1961 durning Congress NASA Astronaut John Glenn climbs into his Friendship 7 space capsule in the Atlas rocket in 1962. Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth NASA A close-up view of an astronaut's bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the moon in 1969 NASA Man's first landing on the Moon. Lunar Module, "Eagle," touched down gently on the Sea of Tranquility on the east side of the Moon. Astronauts Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong wre the first men to walk on the Moon in 1969 NASA After an 8 month voyage to Mars, Mariner 4 makes the first flyby of the Mars (the red planet) in 1965 and became the first spacecraft to take close-up photographs of another planet NASA Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan 4 spaceflight, is shown during his egress from the spacecraft. His face is covered by a shaded visor to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. He remained outside the spacecraft for 21 minutes during the third revolution of the Gemini-4 mission in 1965 NASA The X-15 completed 199 flights to the edge of space from 1959-1968. Neil Armstrong was one of it's budding young pilots NASA Earthrise over the moon from Apollo 8 in 1968 NASA American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the mammoth-sized Saturn V rocket on their way to the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. saluting the US flag on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission in 1969 NASA Home View of Moon limb with Earth on the horizon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission NASA Apollo XI astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin laugh with President Richard Nixon aboard the USS Hornet in 1969 Richard Nixon Foundation via Getty Images Lunar mission Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA) in 1972 NASA First image of Viking 1's foot plantid on martian soil foot in 1976 NASA The first ever long distance image of the Earth and Moon together. The image photograph was taken by Voyager 1 in 1977 NASA A dramatic view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings in 1979 NASA The first space shuttle launch Columbia lifts off in 1981 NASA Astronaut Sally Ride on the flight deck of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. She became the first American woman in space NASA One of the most celebrated images taken by the Hubble called 'Pillars of Creation' NASA Space shuttle Challenger destructs after lift off in 1973 NASA NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope aboard ESA's SOHO spacecraft took this image of a huge, handle-shaped prominence in 1999. Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun's hot, thin corona NASA Trailing a column of flame and smoke that dwarfs it, Space Shuttle Endeavour leaps into the clear blue Florida sky on mission STS-99 in 2000 Space Shuttle Atlantis clears the tower as it roars into space on mission STS-106 after a perfect on-time launch in 2000 NASA 2004 The deepest view of 10,000 galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope called the Hubble Ultra Field Deep (2004) NASA 2005 A new view of the Eagle Nebula, one of the two largest and sharpest images Hubble Space Telescope has ever taken (2005) NASA International Space Station pictured by the crew of Atlantis in 2008 NASA The rim of Gale Crater is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze, in this view of NASA's Curiosity rover of a sloping hillside on Mount Sharp NASA Taken on June 03, 2008 and released by NASA on June 4, 2008 shows US space shuttle Discovery Mission Specialist Michael Fossum being photographed by US Mission Specialist Ronald Garan (reflected in Fossum's face shield) as they work outside The International Space Station during the first of three planned space walks. AFP/Getty Images In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, NASA's Great Observatories -- Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory -- have produced a matched trio of images of the central region of our Milky Way NASA A striking black and white image showing the detail of the planet Saturn NASA This majestic false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows 'mountains' where stars are born. These towering pillars of cool gas and dust are illuminated at their tips with light from warm embryonic stars NASA The space shuttle Atlantis is seen over the Bahamas in 2011 prior to a perfect docking with the International Space Station NASA Aurora Australis, seen from a point over the southeast Tasman Sea near southern New Zealand. in 2011 NASA NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer, appears to touch the bright sun during the mission's third session of extravehicular activity (EVA). During the six-hour, 28-minute spacewalk in 2012 NASA Behold one of the more stunningly detailed images of the Earth yet created. This Blue Marble Earth montage, created from photographs taken by the VIIRS instrument in 2012 on board the Suomi NPP satellite, shows many stunning details of our home planet NASA Numerous recognizable features appear in this detailed view of London, photographed by an Expedition 10 crew member on the International Space Station (ISS). The most striking visual features are green open spaces such as Regent's Park, Hyde Park and St. James's Park east of Buckingham Palace NASA International Space Station image of London at night NASA This image of Tropical Storm Anna taken from the International Space Station in 2015 NASA Pluto's haze layer and its blue colour, taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) in 2015 NASA NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, dark, narrow streaks on the slopes of Hale Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on surface of present-day Mars. These dark features on the slopes are called "recurring slope lineae" or RSL NASA Earth observation taken during a night pass by the Expedition 49 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 NASA The moon rises in low Earth orbit by NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik from the International Space Station in 2017 NASA Hurricane Harvey is pictured off the coast of Texas in 2017 NASA The International Space Station continues its orbit around the Earth as Expedition 50 astronauts captured this night image of sparkling cities and a sliver of daylight framing the northern hemisphere in 2017 This composite image made from a series of 2018 photos shows a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in the Gale Crater NASA US. National Parks From Space. Mt Saint Helen's looking spectacular from above NASA SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft as it lifts off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in 2018 NASA NASA's Juno spacecraft captures Jupiter's southern hemisphere, as the spacecraft performed its 13th close flyby of Jupiter in 2018 NASA The stunning iamge was shared on social media by astronaut Paolo Nespoli NASA The Bailey's Beads effect is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total solar eclipse NASA The Moon is seen passing in front of the Sun during a solar eclipse from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington NASA Swirling cloud belts and tumultuous vortices within Jupiter's northern hemisphere picture taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft as it performed it's 13th flypast. Juno was about 9,600 miles (15,500 kilometers) from the planet's cloud tops. NASA The team combed through 17 years' worth of data, analysing the cyclical changes in the light spectrum emitted by Proxima Centauri. They found evidence of the star "wiggling" back and forth, indicating another planet could be in orbit. Findings suggest Proxima c orbits its host star every 5.2 years and may be a "super-Earth", with "a mass higher than Earth's but much lower than Uranus and Neptune". Measurements indicate Proxima c is orbiting at a distance that is 1.5 times farther than Earth is from the Sun, making it much colder than Proxima b, where temperatures are mild enough to permit liquid surface water. If its existence is confirmed, the researchers say Proxima c may provide insights into how low-mass planets form around low-mass stars. They believe it could also challenge models of how super-Earths are born, as planets such as these are believed to form near the "snowline" - the minimum distance from a star at which water can turn to solid ice. According to the researchers, Proxima c's orbit lies "far beyond this sweet spot". Hugh Jones, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, said: "The proximity of the planet and its orbit at a relatively great distance from its star, means it is one of the best possible chances for direct observations that will enable detailed understanding of another planet. "Our continuing observations and improved data processing has allowed us to discern the signal of Proxima c." However, the authors say more evidence is needed to confirm their conclusion. Mr Jones added: "We look forward to confirming the signal with new facilities and finding out how similar or different from our Solar System planets Proxima c really is." The research is published in the Journal of Science Advances. UN aviation experts to join Ukraine Airlines Iran crash investigation 14 January 2020 - Experts from the UN aviation watchdog, ICAO, will support the investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian Passenger plane in Iran on January 8, following an invitation from the Iranian authorities, which was accepted on Tuesday. In a statement, the ICAO said that it has appointed senior and expert technical staff, who will now serve as advisors and observers. Few details of Iran's investigation have been released by the authorities, but Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, said in a televised address that it will be overseen by several experts, and that the judiciary will create a special court. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the country's judiciary reportedly said, in a press conference, that the investigation will look into the causes and direct impact of the incident. Iran has admitted that Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 was shot down by its armed forces and announced on Tuesday that several people have been detained over the incident which, it says, was accidental. All 176 people on board were killed in the crash. The incident took place several hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile strike from home soil on US forces stationed in Iraq, in response to the US drone killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Initially, Iran denied responsibility for the crash, reportedly blaming it on a technical failure but eventually admitted that the operator of a missile defence system had mistaken the plane for a missile and shot it down. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Queen has released a statement confirming that she was supportive of the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs desire to step down as senior members of the Royal Family. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family, read the statement. Prince Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step down in a statement shared last Wednesday a move which took both the public and, by all accounts, the Royal Family by surprise. Following Mondays summit at Sandringham, the Queens statement provided further information as to how the Sussexes departure will work. She added: These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done. The statement was personal, addressing Harry by his Christian name, but vague leaving a number of unanswered questions. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex stand with the High Commissioner for Canada in the UK, Janice Charette (R) as they leave Canada House. [Photo: Getty] Where will Harry and Meghan live? In their original statement, the couple announced their intention to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America. They also said they would continue to use royal residence Frogmore Cottage, according to the Sussex Royal website. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK, read Her Majestys statement. READ MORE: Meghan and Harry 'value the ability to earn a professional income' But this does not indicate where they will spend time after this transition period or whether they will be allowed to keep their home, Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, on a more permanent basis. How will they be financially independent? The Queen echoed the pairs desire for financial independence in her statement, saying: Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds. Story continues The Queen pictured a day before the family "summit" at Sandringham (Getty) It is yet to be seen how much money the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be able to continue to claim from being royals, at the cost of the taxpayer. They announced on the Funding section of the Sussex Royal website they will be giving up the Sovereign Grant, which comes from taxpayer money. But Harry and Meghan's public and some private activities are still predominantly funded by the Prince of Wales from his private 21 million-a-year Duchy of Cornwall income. The Sussexes have trademarked the brand Sussex Royal and it is believed they could generate an income from this. The couple also expressed that they value the ability to earn a professional income, which in the current structure they are prohibited from doing, according to the Funding page. However, it is unclear what form this would take. What royal duties will they carry out? Harry and Meghan have stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family, but have said they will be continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. It is unclear what level of royal duty they will be expected to carry out going forward. Where will they live in Canada? The Queen has said the family will spend time in Canada and the UK. While their official residence in the UK is known, it is not clear where they would live in Canada. However, there is an indication they may set up a home on Vancouver Island, after spending their six-week break in this location. They also moved their dogs to the area. Where will they pay tax? It is not known where the pair will pay tax going forward: Canada or the UK. What will happen to their titles? On Monday, The Suns former royal editor Duncan Larcombe told Yahoo UK said it was very much a possibility the Sussexes could lose their Royal Highness titles. This would not be unprecedented. Both Sarah, Duchess of York, and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, were stripped of the style Her Royal Highness after divorcing Prince Andrew and Prince Charles, respectively. This is still yet to be seen. However, as the Queen referred to the pair as the Sussexes during her statement, it is likely they will maintain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles at least. Where will Archie go to school? The couple have said they will split their time between the UK and North America but presumably if Archie is to attend school, rather than be privately tutored, he will have to be educated in one of these locations. What citizenship will they have? When Meghan became engaged to Harry, it was announced by Kensington Palace she would apply for British citizenship. The status of this is unknown. READ MORE: What drove Harry and Meghan away from the royal family? Born to a British father and a US mum, baby Archie may hold dual UK/US citizenship. It is also unknown whether the family will apply for Canadian citizenship for the right to live and work in Canada, if they move there more permanently. When will we have more information? I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days, the Queens statement confirmed. Libyan rebel commander leaves Moscow without signing peace deal Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 7:28 AM Attempts to broker a ceasefire between the sides to the Libyan conflict have failed in Russia, Moscow has confirmed, as the head of rebel forces in Libya leaves the peace talks. Russia and Turkey have been trying to broker a halt to fighting between the Libyan government and rebel militia under the command of General Khalifa Haftar. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Haftar held about eight hours of indirect talks mediated by Moscow and Ankara in the Russian capital on Monday. On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that, despite the drafting of an agreement, Haftar had left without signing the deal. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Haftar had on Monday evening asked for until Tuesday morning to look over the agreement already signed by Sarraj but left the Russian capital without signing it. On Saturday, the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia. But that agreement unraveled soon after implementation time, as both sides accused each other of violating the truce. Russia 'to continue pushing for ceasefire' Commenting on Haftar's departure, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would continue pushing for a ceasefire agreement in Libya. "We will pursue our efforts in this direction. For now, a definitive result has not been achieved," he said at a news conference in Colombo on Tuesday. Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two rival camps: the government in Tripoli, and a camp based in the eastern city of Tobruk. Haftar, who is backed by Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, is the self-proclaimed commander of an array of militia groups apparently supporting the eastern camp. He launched an offensive to capture Tripoli and oust the government in April. His forces have been bogged down near the capital, yet he has pledged to continue the offensive. The government has sought help from ally Turkey, which has deployed troops to Libya even as it has been involved in the peace attempts with Russia. Meanwhile, Germany is set to hold a summit on January 19 aimed at promoting peace in Libya, which is the launching pad for refugees to Europe. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A court in Ukraines Russia-controlled Crimea region has ruled to prematurely terminate the probation period and expunge the criminal record of Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who was convicted of separatism on the peninsula. The court in Simferopol, the regions capital, on January 14 upheld the motion filed by the lawyer of Semena, who has contributed to the Crimea Desk of RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service. The ruling is supposed to take effect in 10 calendar days. In December, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine asked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to include the native Crimean journalist and five other colleagues on the list of people held captive in occupied territories for a prisoner exchange and be released to mainland Ukraine. Semena was arrested by the Russia-imposed authorities in April 2016 and charged with acting against the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. He says the accusation was politically motivated and violated fundamental freedoms of expression and that Russian authorities based their case on an inaccurate translation of one of his stories from Ukrainian into Russian. In September 2017, a court convicted him and gave Semena a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence and banned him from public activity for three years. Three months later, a court that Russia calls the Supreme Court of Crimea upheld his conviction. The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and international media watchdogs have all condemned the trial and verdict. The United Nations has documented numerous human rights abuses in Crimea, accusing the Russian-imposed authorities of conducting a persistent campaign of oppression that targets opponents of the peninsulas annexation, including many among the regions indigenous Crimean Tartars, independent media outlets, and journalists. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to seize Crimea in 2014 after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned office and fled to Russia amid a popular pro-democracy uprising. WASHINGTON Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren says shed order her secretary of education to cancel up to $50,000 in college debt for about 95% of student borrowers on her first day in office, effectively erasing outstanding loans for about 42 million Americans. The Democratic senator from Massachusetts vowed in a proposal released Tuesday to act immediately and not wait for Congress because the secretary of education already has broad authority to compromise on and modify student loans. Warren had already promised in previous plans to wipe out student loans for 42 million Americans while offering free tuition at public universities. Shes proposed a wealth tax on fortunes worth $50 million or more to pay for doing so, saying that will raise $2.75 trillion over 10 years. But those proposals would require congressional approval. Hours before a presidential debate in Iowa, which holds its lead-off caucuses on Feb. 3, Warren said shed move unilaterally to cancel debt first, then work with Capitol Hill to ensure programs to pay for it become law. The senator also wants to reduce backlogs so that qualifying borrowers are able to cancel loans through debt forgiveness plans that are already available. She said that could help an additional nearly 1.75 million borrowers. And Warren promised that on her first day in office, shed empower the secretary of education to limit the for-profit college industry and crack down on predatory student lending. Noting that black students default on college loans at more than twice the rate of their white counterparts, the senator said shed order the Education Departments Office for Civil Rights to investigate the core causes of and help rectify racial disparities in student borrowing. In announcing the plan Tuesday, Warrens campaign released a letter from three experts at the Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School, where Warren was a professor. They examined the authority granted by statute to the secretary of education and found what Warren was proposing to be a lawful and permissible use of the authority Congress has conferred on the department. In another development, Warren says fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told her when they met privately in 2018 that he didnt think a woman could win the White House. Sanders has denied that. But the Massachusetts senator said in a statement Monday that during their two-hour meeting two years ago to discuss the 2020 election, among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed. Will Weissert is an Associated Press writer. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15 2020 Following the conviction of Indonesian student Reynhard Sinaga for serial rapes in Manchester in the United Kingdom, the global media, including many outlets in Indonesia, have produced numerous reports about the shocking case. With the case making headlines in the country, local media observers and activists have raised concerns about the medias framing of sexual violence issues in relation to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Over the week, Reynhard, a 36-year-old PhD student living in the UK was on the front pages of worldwide news outlets after he was convicted of 159 counts of rape against men in Manchester. Police believe that Reynhard attacked at least 195 men during the 2015 to 2017 period based on the videos he recorded during the attacks on his two iPhones. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Advertisement A free-swinging Donald Trump lamented Tuesday in a reelection campaign rally in Milwaukee that Democrats aren't giving him enough credit for taking out Iranian terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani. The president referred to the slain Iranian military general as a 'son of a b***h' when mentioning how he planted roadside bombs that left U.S. troops missing limbs, burned badly and dead. Democrat lawmakers chastised the president in the days after Soleimani was killed earlier this month, claiming he didn't notify them of the attack and insisted there wasn't adequate intelligence to show that Soleimani was planning an 'imminent' attack on Americans. 'They're saying, 'Was the attack imminent? Was it imminent?' Does the fact that he's killed hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of Americans, and horribly killed and wounded thousands and thousands, that doesn't matter,' Trump said at his second rally of 2020. 'Was the attack imminent?' I think they're going to start a new investigation: 'Was the attack on this horror?' and by the way, he was in a country he wasn't allowed to be in. We don't mention that,' Trump continued in justifying why he took out Soleimani. He lamented that Democrats want to know if the attack was 'imminent.' 'Does the fact that he's killed hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of Americans, and horribly killed and wounded thousands and thousands, that doesn't matter,' Trump questioned the booing crowd President Trump speaking at a campaign rally at Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last night as he continues to hold rallies several times a month in key election states A man at the Milwaukee rally wore a shirt depicting the president emerging from his business suit as Superman Trump rallied supporters on Tuesday night by defending his decision to kill a top Iranian general, but the Democrats vying to replace him used their final debate before primary voting begins to argue that doing so made the country less safe Donald Trump focused his campaign rally remarks on taking out Qassem Soleimani instead of giving attention to impeachment, which dominated the news cycle in Washington, D.C. all day Tuesday The president defended the U.S. drone strike that killed Major General Soleimani, who led the feared Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, describing the Iranian general as 'the world's no. 1 terrorist' and 'king of the roadside bombs'. He added: 'Great percentages of people don't have legs right now and arms because of this son of a b***h'. And the Democrats should be outraged by Soleimani's evil crimes, not the decision to end his wretched life.' Trump mocked critics who have questioned whether Soleimani had planned 'imminent' attacks, saying: 'I think they're gonna start a new investigation. Was the attack imminent?' Vice President Mike Pence warmed up the rally crowd by describing Trump as someone who takes decisive action when the lives of Americans are threatened, citing recent events in the Middle East. 'When militants stormed our embassy in Baghdad, this president sent in the Marines. And he said, ''No more Benghazis'',' Pence asserted. 'And when American lives were threatened by the most dangerous terrorist in the world, President Donald Trump took action and Qassem Soleimani is gone.' Moments later in neighboring Iowa, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he feared that Trump's actions in Iran could lead the United States into a foreign policy quagmire of the highest level. As Trump fired up thousands in the battleground state of Wisconsin, the Democratic candidates were squaring off in Iowa During his speech in Milwaukee last night, Trump mocked his critics who have questioned whether General Soleimani had planned 'imminent' attacks on US troops Trump spent much of his speech at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena defending his decision to order the strike that killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, whom he labeled the 'world's No. 1 terrorist' President Trump referred to the slain Iranian military general, Qassem Soleimani, as a 'son of a b***h' when mentioning how he planted roadside bombs that left U.S. troops missing limbs Trump also took on the leading Democratic candidates directly, saying of Bernie Sanders: 'Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family, nor can they protect our country' Trump also took a direct hit at Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders. 'Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family and they cannot protect our country, nor do they want to, I think', Trump said of Democrats and the Vermont independent senator. The president delivered a greatest-hits rally in in rust-belt swing state Wisconsin, riffing on impeachment, Iran, his impending China trade deal and the shrinking ranks of Democrats who want to replace him. While Trump mostly steered toward 'wins' in his administration, impeachment took center stage back in Washington D.C. Tuesday was riddled with impeachment news as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday afternoon that the Senate would begin the impeachment trial next week just hours after Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote Wednesday to transmit the two articles to the upper chamber. The president remained quiet all day Tuesday on Twitter as attention was drawn to Capitol Hill, and Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing, dubbing impeachment a partisan 'witch hunt.' He only broke his silence on social media as he left for the rally, tweeting before boarding Air Force One: 'On my way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a #TrumpRally. Look forward to see you all soon!' Although the first half-hour of Trump's remarks ignored the news of the day, he finally brought up impeachment by calling it 'partisan' and the 'greatest hoax' in U.S. history. Addressing the crowd, the president defended the U.S. drone strike that killed Major General Soleimani, who led the feared Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force While Trump mostly steered toward 'wins' in his administration, impeachment took center stage back in Washington D.C. Trump addressing the crowd at a campaign rally at Panther Arena in Milwaukee o Tuesday night in the key election state A protester interrupted the rally momentarily on Tuesday night and was hustled out by security, throwing his 'Trump fears Bernie' sign into the press section as he left Instead of focusing on impeachment, Trump did a 'greatest hits' rally that highlighted taking our Iranian terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani and an impending trade deal with China Donald Trump arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Tuesday night for his second Keep America Great rally of 2020 The president remained silent on Twitter all morning and afternoon, tweeting for the first time as he departed the White House to head to the rally in the rust-belt swing state 'We got you know, Nancy Pelosi says, 'It must be nonpartisan!' And she said it has to be clear-cut. Well number one, it never happened. No problem. Number two, look at the vote. Three Democrats voted with us. 'So I guess you could say it was a nonpartisan vote because they voted with us, okay?' Trump said to enthusiastic rally-goers who booed impeachment. Trump took his two-hour flight to Wisconsin to lament that Apple would not agree to unlock the phone used by the Pensacola shooter. He also took a hit at Democratic leaders who headed the impeachment inquiry in the House. 'Cryin' Chuck Schumer just said, 'The American people want a fair trial in the Senate.' True, but why didn't Nervous Nancy and Corrupt politician Adam 'Shifty' Schiff give us a fair trial in the House. 'It was the most lopsided & unfair basement hearing in the history of Congress!' the president tweeted, using derogatory nicknames he dubbed for Senator Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff. Trump's Keep America Great rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is also being held on the same night as Democrats hold their first presidential primary debate of 2020. Six Democrats former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg and billionaire Tom Steyer will take stage Tuesday night in the first caucus state of Iowa. The Panther Arena at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee seats up to 12,700 people. While Trump was speaking in Milwaukee, six Democrats who want to replace him debated in Des Moines, Iowa A supporter wore a 'Trump 2020' hat to the rally on Tuesday night the campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in Milwaukee 'Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family and they cannot protect our country, nor do they want to, I think,' Trump said at the rally, specifically calling out the progressive lawmaker running for president Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike directed by Donald Trump earlier this month During the rally Trump also went on an extended riff about his efforts to roll back energy - and water-saving regulations, panning energy-efficient light bulbs and low water flow dishwashers, showers and toilets, which he promised to replace. 'Your dishes are going to be beautiful,' he promised. Highlighting the politics of the city, Trump's rally was interrupted several times by protesters, who also demonstrated outside the arena where he spoke. In the 2016 election, Trump narrowly won the swing state with 47.2 per cent of the vote compared to Hillary Clinton's 46.5 per cent. But Clinton faced a slew of backlash for largely ignoring Wisconsin and not campaigning there once during the general election. Now Democrats are trying to fix their mistake by focusing more attention on the midwest and rust belt swing-states. They will hold their Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Winsconsin in July this year. Trump held his first rally of the year last Thursday in Toledo, Ohio. There he celebrated his drone strike directive that took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Winning back Wisconsin is a key part of Democrats' 2020 strategy - and one of the reasons the party chose Milwaukee to host its national convention in July. Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016, cracking Democrats' long-held 'blue wall,' along with Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump is expected to make frequent return visits in the coming months as he works to maintain his edge. A report published by the Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea (CPIK) shows that the Diocese of Suwon led the way with plus 89.1 per cent. However, the annual growth rate has slowed down to less than 1 per cent. For the bishop of Daejeon, the Church is committed to fighting materialism and selfish competition. Seoul (AsiaNews) In the past 20 years, the number of Catholics in South Korea has gone up by a record 48.6 per cent, this according to a report published recently by the Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea (CPIK). Although the rate has slowed considerably in recent times, the community has increased from 3,946,844 faithful in 1999 to 5,866,510 in 2018. Of all the dioceses, Suwon, just south of the capital Seoul, recorded the highest growth, 89.1 per cent, followed by Daejeon, in central South Korea, with 79.6 per cent and Uijeongbu, north of the capital, with 78.9 per cent. The annual growth rate of the Catholic population has gradually slowed down to less than 1 per cent. By comparison, in 2000 and 2001, it grew by 3.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively, before falling to 2 per cent in 2009. The figure dropped to 1.7 per cent in 2010 before rising for a short period to 2.2 per cent in 2014, the year of Pope Francis' apostolic visit to the Republic of Korea. Finally, the rate dipped below 1 per cent, at 0.9 per cent, two years ago. Erected in 1962 as a suffragan of Seoul, the Diocese of Daejeon covers South Chungcheong province and the metropolitan area of the provincial capital. Out of 3.8 million residents, 315,000 are Catholic or just over 8 per cent of the population. Mgr Lazarus You Heung-sik, who has been the local bishop since 2005, chairs the Commission for Social Affairs of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK). He spoke to AsiaNews about some of the factors that have contributed to the growth of his diocese. In 2014, Pope Francis visited our diocese on the occasion of the 6th Asian Youth Day. When such a grace is received, it is necessary to put it to good use, he said. For this reason, we opened the diocesan synod on 8 December 2015, which coincided with the start of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. The diocesan synod lasted three years and five months, until 27 April 2019. It was an opportunity for everyone to walk together: priests, men and women religious, laity and young people. Walking together and listening to each other, with humility, always leads to a reawakening of the faith and the Christian life. For the diocese, the synod represented a path of community discernment of the Holy Spirit. It boosted the commitment of local Catholics to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel. Numbers notwithstanding, participation by the faithful in Sunday Mass and the sacraments confession is important. For me the current period is a very busy one. On 10 January, I celebrated the ordination of nine priests. At the same time, I took care of the transfer of 120 parish priests and parochial vicars. In the Diocese of Daejeon, the former serve each community for five years, the latter for two. Before they get to their new parish, they are called in for a personal interview with me. In our Diocese, about 25 per cent of the faithful take part in the services on a regular basis, 5 per cent higher than the national average. In this I see the fruits of the diocesan synod. With respect to why many people come to the Catholic religion, Bishop You said that "Today's world is the victim of materialism, envy, selfish competition. Everyone thinks about himself or herself and wants to do better than others. How can this lead to happiness and peace? Instead, community life is needed, with mutual love as a new commandment. When we walk together, we live experiences of faith, without which it is difficult to explain the faith. Such experiences lead to a 'concrete Christian life' on which Pope Francis insists so much. This is what the Holy Father stressed on the third World Day of the Poor, on 17 November; it is fundamental: the importance of seeking and finding the needy, not only once but continuously, being interested in the needs of others. This is something that is very beneficial to everyone's life and faith. In light of the growth of the Catholic population, the Church in Korea is ready to take on an increasingly important role in evangelisation in Asia, offering herself as an important support to communities in other countries. We always try to help others because in so doing we also mature. In giving, we get back more. The Korean Church is very much aware of the need to go out of the country, both materially and in terms of people and fidei donum missionaries. We shall continue on this path; we shall go ahead and do more and more. (P.F.) A sombre silence fell across Canadian university campuses Wednesday as the institutions honoured the 176 lives lost in a plane crash in Iran last week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Mourners attend a memorial to remember Canadian victims in last week's deadly downing of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran, in North Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward A sombre silence fell across Canadian university campuses Wednesday as the institutions honoured the 176 lives lost in a plane crash in Iran last week. Many students, faculty and researchers from more than a dozen Canadian universities were among those who died when the Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down by the Iranian military. Several hundred mourners gathered at the University of Waterloo in Ontario to pay tribute to two PhD students Marzieh (Mari) Foroutan, who was in the faculty of environment, Mansour Esfahani, of the faculty of engineering and three alumni. "We have lost so much life and love," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, the university's president. Alireza Mohamadizadeh, a PhD engineering student, went to middle school with Esfahani in Iran as 11-year-olds in 2002. He described Esfahani as an intelligent man who as a teen ranked 200 among 600,000 applicants in the nation's university entrance exams. After completing his master's degree at Sharif University of Technology, one of Iran's top schools, Esfahani got into the prestigious PhD engineering program at the University of Waterloo. The pair had lost touch for years before they ran into each other at a bus stop in Waterloo, he said. "It was like there was never distance between us for the past few years," Mohamadizadeh said. "He remembered all the teachers and their catchprhasese from middle school that I could not stop myself laughing." Esfahani had "so many sweet plans for his love life," he said, and left Canada on Dec. 10 to prepare for his wedding over the holidays. After the wedding, his wife remained in Iran. "She was about to join him in Feburary and start a new life here in Canada with Mansour," Mohamadizadeh said. "He never said goodbye." Minister of Transport Marc Garneau attends a news conference on the Iran plane crash, Wednesday, January 15, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Mazda Kompanizare, a research associate at the school who also came from Iran, said he was a close friend to Foroutan. "You have gone and your passing has left a burning fire in our hearts," he said at the memorial as he stifled tears. In Edmonton, a handful of students gathered in a room at the University of Alberta set aside for grief counselling. The school lost 10 people in the crash, including two professors and a number of graduate students. Asal Andarzipour, president of the university's Iranian Students Association, said she wanted to be with others who are grieving. "Silence is helpful," she said outside the room. "It means a lot to us to hear that all of the universities across Canada are uniting to take this moment." Many have been seeking out counselling, she said, to help process their emotions. "The room is definitely helpful and we are suggesting everyone go there," she said. In Montreal, most post-secondary institutions held informal moments of silence. Students and staff gathered at the Ecole de Technologie Superieure held a solemn moment of silence for a married couple killed in the crash. The couple, Arvin Morattab and Aida Farzaneh, had studied for PhDs at the school and Farzaneh was now a construction engineer lecturer. "This could have happened to any of us," said Morty Ghaffari, who is doing his doctorate work in automated production. "You never know how real it is until it happens to the person right next to you and you just realize how easily it could happen to any of us," he said. "It's so important to be here and support the ones who are directly hurt by this, support the ones who've lost their closest ones." Students at the University of Toronto fell silent at 1 p.m. to remember eight people with ties to the school, including six students. About 100 students stood to mark the moment in one first-year computer science class as they stared at the names of the eight crash victims projected on a screen at the front of the room. The school also announced Wednesday the creation of a scholarship fund for international students from Iran, or students of any background pursuing Iranian studies. Rahim Rezaie, a researcher in the faculty of applied science and engineering, said the fund would help keep the victims' memories alive. "The impact has been tremendous," he said after the moment of silence. "Eighty-five of those who perished, according to the Canadian Science Policy Centre, were either academics directly or very highly trained scientist folks." The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 89 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. Western University, in London, Ont., held a memorial later on Wednesday to celebrate the lives of Hadis Hayatdavoudi, Milad Nahavandi, Ghazal Nourian, who were graduate students, and Sajedeh Saraeian, an incoming student. Paul Davidson, president and CEO of Universities Canada, said it wanted to mark the one-week anniversary of the devastating incident. "The loss to our community is profound, the loss of potential, the really bright minds and engaged people who were pursuing research interests that were diverse, that were from all fields," he said. "It's a very far-reaching loss." This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 15, 2020. with files from Nicole Thompson and Paola Loriggio in Toronto, Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal and Colette Derworiz in Edmonton. Nigerias Electoral Commission, INEC, has reacted to the supreme courts judgment on Tuesday, which nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor of Imo State. PREMIUM TIMES reported how, on Tuesday, a seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad, declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state. The court then ordered that the certificate of return wrongly or unlawfully issued to Mr lhedioha be immediately withdrawn by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a fresh one issued to Mr Uzodinma as the elected governor of the state. An INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, in response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, on Wednesday, said the commission is constitutionally and legally bound to give effect to the judgement and orders of the Supreme Court. He noted that INEC would issue a certificate of return as soon it receives the order of the court. The judgement of the Supreme Court is final and the commission is not empowered to question or debate the propriety of the judgement or orders of the Supreme Court. As a public institution, we are constitutionally and legally bound to give effect to the judgements and orders of the Supreme Court. The commission will give effect to the judgement of the court the moment we receive the enrolled order of the court and will issue the candidate the requisite Certificate of Return, Mr Okoye said. The Ruling The case between Mr Uzodinma and Mr Ihedioha was among six governorship election appeals the apex court had proposed to decide on, but that of Kano and Bauchi states were adjourned to Monday while the date for Bauchi, Benue and Plateau state will be communicated later. In the unanimous judgment of the seven-member panel, read by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the apex court agreed that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in Imo State. Justice Kekere-Ekun said with the addition of the results from 388 polling units, Mr Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The judge did not provide the details of the new votes scored by each of the candidates after the addition of the results from the 388 polling units. She voided and set aside the declaration of Mr lhedioha as the winner of the 2019 governorship election in the South-East state. The court also ignored Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance (AA), who polled a total of 190,364 votes to clinch the second position, because, it had declared Mr Nwosu an invalid candidate for the election. LAGOS, Nigeria Fifty years ago, on Jan. 15, Nigerias civil war ended. Fought between the countrys southeast region, which seceded and called itself Biafra, and the rest of the country, which Britain supported and armed, the war was brutal. Over a million people died during three years of conflict. After being starved into submission by a blockade, the Biafrans surrendered and their leaders promised to be loyal Nigerian citizens. Half a century later, the wars legacy continues to hold Nigeria captive. It simultaneously brings the country together and pushes it apart. In the early aftermath of the war, the country appeared to be unified. Despite the wars shocking human tragedy, reconciliation was remarkably rapid. War and partition ironically created a consensus: The country, now united, should never be allowed to break apart again. The government declared a general amnesty for wartime combatants, refused to punish either those who led the secession or those who suppressed it and did not give medals to any soldiers who fought in the so-called Brothers War. The country was re-engineered to prevent another secession. To find a way for Nigerias more than 250 ethnic groups to live together peacefully, the country was split into 36 states, most of which coincided with the location of a major ethnic group. The federal government, whose power was increased, provided the states with funds which created a financial deterrent against secession. Geneva: The past decade has been the hottest on record, the United Nations said on Wednesday, warning that the higher temperatures were expected to fuel numerous extreme weather events in 2020 and beyond. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which based its findings on analysis of leading international data sets, said it also confirmed data released by the European Union's climate monitor last week showing that last year was the second hottest on record, after 2016. "The year 2020 has started out where 2019 left off -- with high-impact weather and climate-related events," WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement, pointing in particular to the devastating bushfires in Australia. "Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," he said. The UN agency said average global temperatures during both the past five-year (2015-2019) and 10-year (2010-2019) periods were the highest ever recorded. "Since the 1980s each decade has been warmer than the previous one," it said in a statement, warning "this trend is expected to continue". The UN said last year that man-made greenhouse gas emissions needed to tumble 7.6% each year to 2030 in order to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius -- the more ambitious cap nations signed up to in the landmark Paris climate deal. Current pledges to cut emissions put Earth on a path of several degrees warming by the end of the century. Significant warming Taalas on Wednesday said since modern records began in 1850, the average global temperature had risen by around 1.1 degrees Celsius, and warned of significant warming in the future. "On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, we are heading towards a temperature increase of three to five degrees Celsius by the end of the century," he warned. WMO also pointed to a new study published this week in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences with data showing that ocean heat content was at a record high in 2019. The past five years, and past decade were also the warmest on record in terms of ocean heat content, that study showed. Since more than 90% of excess heat is stored within the world's oceans, their heat content is a good way to quantify the rate of global warming, WMO said. Scientists stressed the urgent need to do more to counter the warming trend. "If we look at all the impacts around the world that are now occurring as a result of this warming, it is obvious that we are not succeeding in preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system," said Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. PITTSBURGH, Jan. 15, 2020 - A study involving tens of thousands of bariatric surgery patients found that gastric bypass patients were significantly more likely than gastric sleeve patients to end up back in the hospital in the years following surgery. The paper, published today in JAMA Surgery, describes one of the largest bariatric surgery studies ever done, and the first study of its size to focus on health problems years after the procedure. "In bariatric surgery, there has been an explosion of data, but most focuses on positive outcomes," said lead author Anita Courcoulas, M.D., M.P.H., professor of surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and chief of minimally invasive bariatric surgery, UPMC. "This study is important because it includes adverse events people might be concerned about." Drawing from data collected for the PCORnet Bariatric Study, the researchers examined electronic medical records from 33,560 bariatric surgery patients across 10 different medical centers from 2005-2015. "It was critical to have so many sites participating because that helps make sure that our findings are relevant to patients from all around the country," said coauthor David Arterburn, M.D., M.P.H., senior investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington, and co-principal investigator of the PCORnet Bariatric Study. About half of the patients included in this study underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and the other half had sleeve gastrectomy. With gastric sleeve surgery, the doctor treats obesity by removing a portion of the stomach so that patients eat less and feel full faster. With gastric bypass, the surgeon creates a stomach-like pouch in the intestine and short-circuits the stomach entirely, achieving the same effect. Five years after surgery, significantly more of the gastric bypass patients included in the study had undergone another abdominal operation or intervention, with an average of 12% of patients compared to 9% of those with a gastric sleeve. Endoscopy and hospitalization rates also were significantly higher for the gastric bypass group. There was no difference in mortality between the two groups after five years. Courcoulas suspects the reason patients need more care in the years after gastric bypass is that it's a more complex surgery than sleeve gastrectomy, though she was quick to point out that procedures for positive health changes, such as hernia repair, also were included in the analysis. Although the risks seem slightly higher with gastric bypass, the potential benefits are greater, too. An earlier paper using the same PCORnet dataset showed that gastric bypass resulted in significantly more weight loss than gastric sleeve. Ultimately, the results of these studies could be used to help patients and health care providers make more informed decisions about the type of bariatric surgery to pursue. "What we advocate is high-quality shared decision making between providers and patients," Courcoulas said. "It starts with a conversation about what their preferences and values are. Some people value low risk, some value high weight loss. It's important to have information on both sides of the risk-benefit equation." ### Additional authors on the study include R. Yates Coley, Ph.D., Robert Wellman, M.S., Jane Anau and Andrea Cook, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente Washington; Jeanne Clark, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University; Corrigan McBride, M.D., of University of Nebraska Medical Center; Elizabeth Cirelli, M.S.N., and Ali Tavakkoli, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital; Kathleen McTigue, M.D., of Pitt; Karen Coleman, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Sengwee Toh, Ph.D., Jessica Sturtevant, M.S., and Casie Horgan, M.P.H., of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute; Cheri Janning, M.S., of Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute; and Neely Williams, M.Div., of Community Partners' Network. This research was funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (OBS-1505-30683). To read this release online or share it, visit http://www.upmc.com/media/news/011520-courcoulas-pcornet [when embargo lifts]. About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu. About UPMC A $20 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 87,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a more than 3.5 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.2 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid $587 million in federal, state and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside is ranked #1 in Pennsylvania and #15 in the nation, and is one of only nine hospitals ranked in the nation's top 20 of America's Best Hospitals for 10 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is ranked in the nation's top 10 of America's Best Children's Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, go to UPMC.com. http://www.upmc.com/media Contact: Erin Hare Office: 412-864-7194 Mobile: 412-738-1097 E-mail: HareE@upmc.edu Contact: Amy Charley Office: 412-586-9778 Mobile: 412-738-3511 E-mail: CharleyA@upmc.edu New Delhi: Haji Ishraq Khan has become the second AAP MLA to quit the party a day after the Aam Aadmi Party announced its list of candidates for the Delhi assembly elections. Khan, who was elected from the Seelampur seat in 2015, was denied the ticket this time. Aam Aadmi Party has decided to field local MCD councillor Abdul Rehman from this seat. Rehman has been named in the FIR filed in connection with the violence during the protest against the Citizenship Act in Seelampur recently. Haji Ishraq Khan had set off the rumour mill in July last year after he met Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. However, Khan had rubbished the "rumour" that he had any plans to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Earlier on Wednesday, the sitting AAP MLA from Delhis Badarpur ND Sharma had also resigned from the party. He claimed that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had demanded Rs 10 crore from him for the Delhi Assembly Elections. "Sisodia had called me to his residence saying that Ram Singh (who has been given ticket from Badarpur) wants a ticket from your constituency by paying Rs 20-21 Crore. He demanded Rs 10 crore from me. I left from there after refusing," Sharma was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. "I have resigned from the party. I will contest election as an independent candidate," Sharma said. ALSO READ: These 15 Sitting MLAs Did Not Get Aam Aadmi Party Ticket Khan and Sharma are among the 15 AAP MLAs who lost their poll tickets or were replaced by other leaders. Other major sitting MLAs who were denied ticket by the party are party's chief whip in the assembly Jagdeep Singh (Hari Nagar), Surender Commando (Delhi Cantt), Pankaj Pushkar (Timar Pur), Ram Chander (Bawana), Sukhbir Dalal (Mundka), Hazari Lal Chauhan (Patel Nagar), Vijender Garg (Rajendra Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Raju Dhingan (Trilokpuri), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Choudhary Fateh Singh (Gokulpur) and Asim Ahmed Khan (Matia Mahal). An incredibly simple blunder by billionaire Andrew Forrest's company almost let valuable land for mining exploration fall into the hands of rival Gina Rinehart. Mr Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group filed an online form to renew a mining exploration licence about 4.31pm on March 29 last year, a court heard. But that was 89 seconds too late, according to regulations, leading the West Australian Resources Minister Bill Johnston to refuse the application. A business owned by Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest (with wife Nicola) almost lost a possible mining fortune to a rival owned by Gina Rinehart because of paperwork filed late Atlas Iron, a company owned by Australia's richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart (above), reportedly sought to pick up Mr Forrest's licence after the blunder The West Australian Supreme Court was told the Fortescue application had to be submitted by midnight on Saturday, March 30. However, given the paperwork was filed after close of business on Friday, the department deemed it hadn't been received until Monday, March 1. In a cruel, April Fool's Day twist, first reported by The West Australian, Fortescue was stripped of the licence it had held for 12 years and left in limbo for months. The question is was it too late? The relevant Minister thought it was. I do not WA Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Martin The case was taken to court after Mrs Rinehart's Atlas Iron applied to pick up the land, with that company and tenement manager Peter Gianni listed on the decision as 'interested parties'. Justice Kenneth Martin overruled the minister's decision about Fortescue's weekend predicament in a judgment handed down on Tuesday. 'Here, the last day of an exploration licence held by the applicant was a Saturday,' Justice Martin summarised. '(Fortescue) held the right to apply to renew that licence within the period before it expired. 'The applicant did apply electronically to renew via the relevant department's website on the immediately preceding Friday - then a day before the tenement otherwise would expire. Valuable mining land: A stock image of an iron ore mine in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia's north-west 'But because the application was electronically processed at 89 seconds after 4.30 pm on that Friday, the regulation permitting electronic renewals deemed the application to be lodged at 8.30 am the ensuing Monday following the weekend and thus, too late. 'The question is was it too late? The relevant Minister thought it was. I do not,' he ruled. The court decision comes as Mrs Rinehart, Australia's richest person, and Mr Forrest, who once held that same title, both made significant donations to the country's bushfire appeal. Mrs Rinehart made an undisclosed donation at a party held at her home with 150 guests recently. Mr Forrest pledged $70 million total in bushfire relief efforts. That included $10 million for a 'volunteer army' to deploy to fire zones, a second $10 million to affected communities working with the Red Cross and Salvation Army, and $50 million to design a 'national blueprint' for bushfire resilience. San Francisco, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright today announced that it has expanded its corporate finance practice in San Francisco with the addition of Bill Veatch and Catherine Hagerty, who join as partners from Reed Smith. Veatch has extensive transactional experience in banking, equipment leasing, venture lending and leasing, cross-border leasing and vendor finance. He focuses much of his practice on advising financial institutions and technology clients on the structuring of global equipment and software vendor programs, including the sale and securitization of receivables. Hagerty advises financial institutions and other lenders, borrowers and equipment leasing companies on the structuring, documentation and administration of various forms of complex debt financings. Her leasing experience focuses on the lifespan of equipment, including vendor agreements, sale and leasebacks, lease originations, cross-border leases and restructurings. Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbrights US Managing Partner, said: Bill and Catherine are highly regarded corporate finance lawyers who represent a wide range of clients in deals worth billions of dollars. They are exactly what we are looking for as we grow our West Coast presence. Gene Lewis, Head of Norton Rose Fulbrights US Business Practice, commented: Bill and Catherine have a strong track record of guiding clients through complex transactions. They will provide innovative solutions and outstanding service to our clients in the financial institution and technology sectors. Veatch, who authored The New Logic of the Law, Vol. 1 Building a Foundation for Artificial Intelligence Applications in the Law, said: We were attracted to Norton Rose Fulbrights advancements in artificial intelligence and natural language capabilities. Our clients will benefit from the firms innovative approach in this space. Hagerty, who also has extensive experience working on complex structured finance transactions, added: "The companies we represent face increasingly difficult matters that span many jurisdictions. Norton Rose Fulbright has the right experience in the places our clients do business, and our practices will benefit greatly. Admitted to practice in California, Veatch received his JD from the University of California Hastings College of Law, his LLB from the University of Manitoba and his BA from the University of Winnipeg. Hagerty, who is licensed to practice in California and New York, earned her JD at Duke University School of Law and her BA at William & Mary. Notes for editors: Norton Rose Fulbright Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm providing the worlds preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 4,000 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. Recognized for its industry focus, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare. Through its global risk advisory group, the firm leverages its industry experience with its knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses. Norton Rose Fulbright operates in accordance with its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, aiming to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of its offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact. Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein, helps coordinate the activities of Norton Rose Fulbright members but does not itself provide legal services to clients. Norton Rose Fulbright has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including London, Houston, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. For more information, see nortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices. Law around the world nortonrosefulbright.com Attachments By Julia Cheever Bay City News Service SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday he is joining a lawsuit appeal that could determine whether a state housing law overrides charter cities' right to set housing design guidelines. Becerra filed a notice of intervention with the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Monday, supporting a tenant group's appeal of a decision by a San Mateo County Superior Court judge. The case concerns the state's Housing Accountability Act, which was passed in 1982 and has been amended several times. The law limits cities' ability to reject proposed developments that comply with their general plan and zoning requirements. But last year, Superior Court Judge George Miram, ruling in a lawsuit filed against the city of San Mateo, said charter cities retain the right to set additional design guidelines, under the home-rule powers granted by the California Constitution. Miram upheld the city's rejection of a 10-unit housing development that didn't have an upper-floor setback required by city design guidelines. "This court finds that planning and zoning activities of local government are a classic municipal affair," Miram wrote. The eventual outcome of the case will greatly affect the scope of the state law because 58 percent of Californians live in the state's more than 120 charter cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Becerra said in a statement, "The state has a fundamental interest in helping Californians access affordable housing. We all have to work together to take on this challenge and that starts with having the units we need to meet demand." Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said he asked Becerra to enter the case, stated, "The Housing Accountability Act is an important tool to address California's housing supply challenges. "California will defend our ability to tackle the cost crisis by holding all cities accountable to statewide housing policy," he said. San Mateo City Attorney Shawn Mason responded, "San Mateo residents and officials recognize the lack of affordable housing as a serious issue and the city has a long track record of taking meaningful steps -- including enacting innovative policies and making financial commitments -- to address the problem. "Just as there are legal limits on the city's authority, the California Constitution limits the state's authority over charter cities as well," Mason said. He said city officials respect Becerra's decision to intervene and said, "We look forward to having our independent court system review this case." The lawsuit was filed by the San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation, the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund and two individuals. The advocacy fund and the two individuals on Friday filed a notice of appeal, which Becerra is now joining. A date for a Court of Appeal hearing has not yet been set. That court's future ruling can be appealed further to the California Supreme Court. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a proposal for a new 'Trump deal' aimed at resolving a nuclear row, criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises. If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal," Reuters cited the Iranian president as saying. According to him, Iran could reverse steps that exceeded restrictions in the agreement as soon as sanctions are lifted. "What we have done is reversible. Whatever we do on the nuclear issue is under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)," Rouhani said. This story was originally published by Undark and has been republished here with permission. Ten years ago, it wasnt possible for most people to use 3D technology to print authentic copies of human bones. Today, using a 3D printer and digital scans of actual bones, it is possible to create unlimited numbers of replica boneseach curve and break and tiny imperfection intactrelatively inexpensively. The technology is increasingly allowing researchers to build repositories of bone data, which they can use to improve medical procedures, map how humans have evolved, and even help show a courtroom how someone died. Advertisement But the proliferation of faux bones also poses an ethical dilemmaand one that, prior to the advent of accessible 3D printing, was mostly limited to museum collections containing skeletons of dubious provenance. Laws governing how real human remains of any kind may be obtained and used for research, after allas well as whether individuals can buy and sell such remains are already uneven worldwide. Add to that the new ability to traffic in digital data representing these remains, and the ethical minefield becomes infinitely more fraught. When someone downloads these skulls and reconstructs them, says Ericka LAbbe, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, it becomes their data, their property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Digital bone repositories already exist around the world, and while viewing those bones in a computer environment is often an option, most such repositories keep the underlying datawhich could be used to print new, physical bone replicasprivate. The repositories that do make the data open-access typically only include human remains that are older than 100 years because of the legal issues surrounding the potential to identify a person from their remains as well as the value of the data their remains might yield. Advertisement Advertisement Such are the vagaries now facing LAbbe and her colleagues, who launched a project called Bakeng se Afrika, or For Africa, in 2018. It is a collaboration with local and international partners to digitize about 700 recent, identified skeletons from university collections around South Africa. The scans will go in a single repository, and it is hoped that research arising from the new database will have immediate social applications. For instance, LAbbe works with police to help identify people whose bodies are discovered in the Gauteng province in South Africa, which is home to the countrys administrative and economic capitals, Pretoria and Johannesburg, respectively. More than 20,000 people are murdered in the country each year, with a disproportionate number killed in Gauteng. Advertisement The team hopes to share their data with researchers from other institutions in different countries, but they will need to resolve the ethical and legal concerns before their digital repository goes live. Sorting out whats right and whats wrong, LAbbe concedes, wont be easy: What are the ethics, she asks, behind printing a bone and using it? Skeletons are fundamental tools for teaching anatomy as well as researching human diversity. Understanding human variation can also help a variety of researchers and clinicians. In addition to forensic science, for instance, dentists can use data about cranial variation to improve the fit of dental implants, plastic surgeons can review studies of the average ear or nose for specific populations to help reconstruct a face after an injury, researchers can create databases to study bone abnormalities, and prosecutors have used prints of human bones in courts to illustrate how a person died. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Digital databaseswhich may have just a small number of bones from a private institution or as many as hundreds in larger collectionsadvance the relevant fields even more. And with the evolution of new scanning and viewing technologies, researchers are able to look inside bone images and manipulate them in ways that would not be possible with the real thing. Bone-scanning technology may also preserve remains for future generations, allowing researchers to avoid physical wear and tear on the originals. And for researchers in many developing countries, digital scans may be the only opportunity to research skeletal collections, as working on specimens in person is often limited by funding constraints. Advertisement Advertisement But these repositories come with loaded ethical questions that have often kept access to human-skeletal data under lock and key. LAbbes South African project isnt the first to grapple with these issues, but the creators of other repositories havent managed to devise universal solutions. Advertisement Digitised Diseases, a collaboration between the University of Bradford, the Museum of London Archaeology, and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, is one such database that launched in 2013 and showcases the variety of bone pathologies that can manifest in the human skeleton. But the collaboration had to suspend downloads from its repository after curators discovered that someone had downloaded a skeletal model and uploaded it into a publicly available online 3D software platform, divorced from its original context. It is hard to police, says Andrew Wilson, principal investigator on Digitised Diseases and a senior lecturer in forensic and archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford. We have a real dilemma there. We want it to be open and freely available for education and research. That was the wish of our partners and funders. Advertisement When the project launched, 3D imaging software and 3D printers werent as common as they are now, Wilson adds. These technological developments have made the team wary of posting additional downloadable data. Moving forward, Wilson says the company plans host its data directly on that same publicly available online 3D software platform itself and link directly back to Digitised Diseases, in order to retain a degree of visibility of the resource that people can link back to. Advertisement Advertisement Duke Universitys MorphoSource, an online library of skeletons where researchers can share data, avoids some ethical dilemmas by only containing human skeletons when all of the consent documentation is in place. And MorphoSource curators dont upload data themselvesthey oversee the infrastructure that allows any researcher or museum curator to upload and share data, or to simply use the site as an archive for private data. Bioarchaeological remains, which are older than 100 years, are explicitly not made publicly available, says Julie Winchester, co-director of the project. A member of the public will not be able to find them in a search of the site: We would additionally not allow the publishing of any human remains (regardless of age) that could be identified to an individual or whose relatives could be identified. Advertisement Meanwhile, John Kappelman, an anthropologist at the University of TexasAustin, has set up numerous sites where it is possible to view human remains, such as eanthro.org and eskeletons.org. But none of it is available for download. Kappelman says his team has no idea or any way to find out the identities of the original skeletons. Most of what we have here, its been here for pushing on 100 years, he says, so I dont have any good provenance on that. Advertisement Advertisement Like Wilson, Kappelman says he is unsure how one would manage those who abuse online repositories: I dont think there is any perfect way to police it, same as any kind of hacking. Keeping data safe is something the South African team will have to navigate. LAbbe says that the new South African digital repository, for which her team received $1.1 million at the beginning of 2019, will serve as research infrastructure. The collaboration includes Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and Stellenbosch University, both in South Africa; the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation; the University of Bordeaux in France; the University of Coimbra in Portugal; and K.U. Leuven in Belgium. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Initially, the new digital collection will include three types of bones most commonly used in research and forensicsbones from the forearm (radii), the thigh (femurs), and skulls from identified cadavers of colored, black, and white South Africans. (Colored is one of four officially recognized racial groups in the countryput in place during apartheidalong with black, white, and Asian/Indian.) The team plans to scan more people and bone types as the project progresses. But creating the database will be slow going. It can take a full weekend to capture a single adult cranium using the groups scanning equipment, called a micro-CT. Advertisement While the database will widen the access to the bone collection, it may also erode restrictions on how the bones are used. In order to access real human bones, researchers in South Africa require ethical clearance from their institutions, but scientists from other countries do not. Advertisement Researchers will have to follow the same procedures to access the digital repository, which will be housed and backed up on servers at the University of Pretoria. But once the data are downloaded, the original curators cede control. Researchers who work in countries with less-stringent ethical reviews could then use the skull images in research that is considered unethical in South Africa. One example is race science, which is premised upon the scientifically invalidated idea that humans can be broken into distinct racial categories, and that these differences can be measured. Race science is a sore topic in South Africa, where it underpinned the policy of apartheid, in which a persons race determined where they lived, their employment, and whom they could marry. In general, race science is deemed a morally and scientifically unacceptable area of study in South Africa. Advertisement Still, while plenty of evidence counters the core claims of race science, the field has resurged in recent years, which worries LAbbe: What if someone prints 20 skulls of people from South Africa20 skulls of black people? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She also worries that someone could take data from the repository, print copies of a persons skull, and sell it. In South Africa, we need to have an ethics constitution, so they cant download it and sell it, she says. The National Health Actwhich lays out the rules for the countrys public health systemdoesnt touch on what you do with an image of something. The issue extends beyond South Africa. There is no way to enforce any countrys legal and ethical framework on researchers in other countries. And the laws on human remains are uneven. In the United States, for example, the only federal law regulating the sale and ownership of human remains is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which has criminal penalties for trafficking in Native American remains. A first-time offender can face a fine of up to $100,000 and a one-year jail sentence. But many U.S. states allow commerce in other human remains, thanks in part to a major shortfall in American legislation: There is no law articulating whether human remains are people or objects. Advertisement Meanwhile, in South Africa and the United Kingdom, researchers require special dispensation to work on recently deceased human remains, according to the National Health Act and the Human Tissue Act, respectively. There is also a distinction between recent human remains, which fall under laws governing forensics, and older remains, which are regulated by archaeological heritage laws. Advertisement Despite the legal variations, countries have a long history of transporting human biological material across borders, whether it is blood for research or bodies for repatriation. Digital copies, on the other hand, are difficult to regulate because they dont have to go through official channels and could be emailed to anyone anywhere in the world. Advertisement For a digital image, even if you ask conditions to be met, it is out there, says Francisca Alves Cardoso, a biological anthropologist at the Center for Research Network in Anthropology in Lisbon, Portugal, who is investigating the ethics surrounding printed human bones. You are not able to control it. Advertisement Digitized databases of human remains, or artifacts made from those remains, have potential ethical problems beyond data access: The databases potential source materials may have complicated pasts. Scientists have been using and replicating human skeletons, faces, and bodies for hundreds of years, including resin castings, which were popular in the 19th century. Who owns the right to print which bones? Brenna Hassett But throughout this history, the question of consent has plagued the fields that most commonly use such replications of human remains, including anthropology, archaeology, and medical science. Consent is one of the cornerstones of biomedical ethics, and it affects any field that works with human remains. Advertisement Advertisement The issue is particularly prominent in South Africa, where scienceand anthropology in particularhas a history of unethically representing people and their remains. And today, South African curators are unsure of what to do with several types of relevant artifacts, including life and death masks, which are plaster casts made of peoples faces that were once used to show physical differences between races. Some of these masks are on display in the Wits University Hunterian Museum in Johannesburg, although parts of the collection, including the death masks, are in a restricted area accessible only to medical students and museum staff. Advertisement Some of the casts came from unidentified bodies in the Johannesburg mortuary, without the necessary ethical clearance. It is possible that family members could, in fact, recognize lost loved ones in these casts. Other examples include the bushman life casts, once thought to typify the countrys first inhabitants, which have been in storage at Cape Towns South African Museum since the early 2000s, after an outcry that the casts reinforced racist stereotypes and impugned the dignity of this group of people. The term bushmen has a fraught history and is sometimes considered a pejorative, but there is no other collective name for the diverse tribes that make up the regions first people. Other remains from these early tribes have similarly difficult pasts. It took years for South Africa to reclaim and inter the remains of Sarah Baartman, a young bushman woman whose body was displayed as a curiosity in Europe in the early 19th centuryboth in life and deathbecause it allegedly typified a bushmans physique. Baartman, who became known as the Hottentot Venus, traveled Europe as a stage curiosity in part because of her large buttocks. When she died in 1815, her manager, without her prior consent, sold her body to scientists at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Until the 1970s, the museum displayed a cast of her body, skeleton, and preserved brain and genitals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is also great sensitivity in South Africa, given its history of race science, around the provenance of skeletal collections. While the 700 skeletons earmarked for digitization in LAbbes project are from identified people, the countrys museums have many skeletons of unclear or dubious origins. Today, some institutions are working to correct these past errors. The University of Cape Town, for example, is identifying pieces from its skeletal collections that were not collected ethically and negotiating with the respective communities to repatriate the remains. But repatriation takes time, and even if some researchers are trying to remedy past mistakes, it isnt clear what will happen if the remains are scanned in the meantime. What if someone wants to 3D-scan bushman remains from the McGregor Museum? LAbbe asks. That museum has acknowledged that some of the skeletons in its collection may have been unethically obtained. What does it mean if you print a skull of someone who was classified as bushman? LAbbe adds. What will someone do with that print? What will the community think? Advertisement And the issue of data possession leads to questions of ownership and power. Who owns the right to print which bones? asks Brenna Hassett, an archaeologist at University College London in the U.K. Is it even possible to own the rights to part of a person? Advertisement Advertisement What happens, for example, if people build a business around selling 3D models of a leg from a skeleton that was freely available online? And then later, those people find that skeleton should not have been published in the first place, because it was stolen from a cultural group with deep sensitivities to the representation of the dead? Hassett wrote by email. Where would they stand? At the heart of this issue is whether the underlying data and the resulting images are the same as human bone. According to research from Francisca Alves Cardoso and Vanessa Campanacho, a bioanthropologist at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, many researchers, often from Western countries, argue that the data and source material are distinctthat a print of a bone is not human biological material, although the latter should still be treated with respect. But other groups, including aboriginal communities and indigenous groups, strongly disagree, and consider data and replicas to be part of the deceased individuals personhood. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, researchers have been digging into the abilities and limitations of 3D-scanning technology and discussing the possibility of a digital database of skeletons that would be open-access and available to anyone. But while there is much focus on the potential of the technology, says Priscilla Ulguim, a bioarchaeologist at Teesside University in the U.K., most of the research has bypassed ethical questions. Advertisement How we share these 3D models and how we communicate is just as important as the technology were using to create them, Ulguim adds. For example, in a 2018 paper published in Archaeologies, the authors point to a 2015 study that showed it was possible to create high-resolution models of Native American remains prior to repatriation, and also ignored arguably the more pertinent question of whether these digital data [should] be created and stored. Advertisement Other researchers are exploring how society feels about 3D-printed human remains. Im often told the general public thinks this, says this, but then there is no communication, says Campanacho. We dont know what the general public thinks. Campanacho is also working with Cardoso to investigate attitudes in Portugal and the U.S. via online surveys and social media. In Portugal, where the team has so far received about 310 responses, the majority would be OK having their own skeletons and those of their family members digitized after death, but there may be some conditions, Campanacho says. Respondents, she says, also seem positive about the creation and sharing of 3D digital models. In a study of attitudes in the U.S. toward 3D bone replicas, the team says its preliminary datawhich includes about 230 participantssuggests that many people would be happy to have their remains digitized and printed, with one exception. Regarding Native American human remains, the response was negative, Campanacho says. Respondents felt these remains should never, under any condition, be 3D-digitized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As is often the case with fast-moving technology, the law, ethical standards, and research practices havent had time to catch up with 3D-printed human remains. While LAbbe fears that her teams new digital repository could open the door for illicit or unsavory commercial endeavors, how her team addresses the ethical dilemmas in South Africa may show one possible path forward. Still, the answer in South Africa wont necessarily translate to other skeletal collections across the world. The circumstances of each skeletal collection are very different, says Gwen Robbins Schug, a professor of anthropology at Appalachian State University. People create and share models for such a variety of reasons that it would be difficult to make a blanket statement about what is and what is not ethical. The ethical considerations will also differ between communities and countries. Advertisement But the advantages of sharing informationincluding bone databetween countries are significant. Many of the researchers involved in the work so far are acutely aware that dealing with human remains, or even the data derived from human remains, comes with a heavy responsibility. We always have to treat human remains with respect, says Ulguim. They are individuals, people. They are someones mother, someones father. Advertisement One idea for ensuring consistency for dealing with digitized remains is forming a consensus set of ethical guidelines. Such guidelines are still some way off, but researchers at the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology have made a start by drafting rules they consider essential. And a resolution on digital bioarchaeological ethics, adopted by the Eighth World Archaeological Congress in 2016, lays out suggestions for how to deal with digital collections. Advertisement For new remains, one important step would be to include digitization on consent forms for people who want to donate their bodies to science. But that isnt possible if the human remains are older. For Ulguim, context is vital. Sometimes it is not possible to engage with relatives or communities because researchers dont know who they are, she says. In this case, the best thing to do is to contextualize the research and try to account for the lack of consent. Talk about your site, how you find it, the associated materials, give context about what youve found in your research. Advertisement Whether the data is of the recently deceased or a body that is centuries old, researchers require a strong rationale for wanting access to digital repositories of human remains or being able to print the bones, something that would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Why would you want a skeleton of a person, a replica of a real person in your house to hang hats or coats on? asks David Errickson, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Cranfield University in the U.K. There has to be a real scientific reason. I think it comes down to justification. Why are you doing what youre doing? Do you have permission to do this? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Curators of repositories should require more control over the datasets, Errickson suggests, not like Big Brother, but some kind of data string, a chain of custody like we would have in forensics. This is MorphoSources solution. The library allows researchers to track who views and downloads their data. Researchers have complete control over the data, and the onus is on them to ensure that they have the ethical permissions to publish it. We encourage the contributor to set access levels such that they feel comfortable with the risks incurred, says founder Doug Boyer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke. If theyre publishing datasets, he adds, it means theyre taking on the risks that someone may use the data for something they were not intending it be used for. For LAbbe, her work wrangling with the ethics of the digital repository is just beginning. In South Africa, this is a nascent field with little written on the subject, so she is building the repositorys constitution from scratch. Her own research will have to wait, she says with a sigh, since the constitution will take time to complete: Ill spend the next year writing it. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties? No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer. Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties. Michigan spends $25 million per year on finding PFAS contamination. Cleanup of the forever chemicals could cost multiples more of that amount. While the state is trying to protect residents and the environment from the per- and poly-fluorinated compounds, now Attorney General Dana Nessel is targeting chemical companies - and the funding they could bring to solve the problem. Despite their explicit knowledge of the potential dangers of PFAS, they deliberately and intentionally concealed these dangers, she said of the 17 companies the state sued on Tuesday. They did that, she said, "to protect their profits. Michigan will be pursuing damages from the 17 chemical companies that it asserts is responsible for 74 known sites contaminated with PFAS, which travels in groundwater and surface water, affecting wildlife and drinking water. According to state data, at least 1.9 million Michigan residents are drinking water with some PFAS; another 2.5 million people on public wells havent had their water tested. Without the lawsuit, said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the public will be left with the costs. Companies must be held accountable, she said. Polluters must pay. Now that claim moves into a Michigan courtroom, as the state becomes one of just a handful to pursue damages against the sources of PFAS. Its a move drawing support from environmental groups and some Democratic legislators, who say its a start toward highlighting the need to improve the states polluter pay laws. The lawsuit asserts that the companies deliberately concealed the dangers of PFAS and withheld scientific evidence. Some made the chemicals. Some used them in products. Among each of them, the lawsuit says, they used them "in a way that they knew would contaminate natural resources and expose Michigan residents to harm. The list of companies include the three that testified before congress last fall as representatives explored the role of the businesses in contamination: 3M, DuPont and Chemours, created as a spinoff of DuPont. Others named as defendants: Corteva Inc; Dyneon; Archroma; Arkema; AGC Chemicals Americas Inc; Daikin Industries; Solvay Specialty Polymers and Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, along with all of their entities. Several of them have operations in Michigan. The lawsuit specifically excludes PFAS used on AFFF, or fire-fighting foam. That type of contamination is typically found near airports and military installations, including the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. It was filed in Washtenaw County, where PFAS was found in the municipal water supply in Ann Arbor in 2014. By 2018, a source had been discovered: Tribar, a metal plater in Oakland County, was sending it through a wastewater plant and into the Huron River, which is the source of 85 percent of the citys drinking water. The suit tackles head-on issues that confound legislators and public health officials when they attempt to regulate the chemicals: Accepting public-facing health research and the impacts of PFAS on people; the role of short-chain PFAS and precursors - the chemicals related to PFOS and PFOA, but touted as less-harmful; and the ability of chemical companies to hide or obscure what they know and when they knew it. Defendants possessand have always possessedvastly superior knowledge, resources, experience, and other advantages, in comparison to anyone or any agency, concerning the manufacture, distribution, nature, and properties of PFAS and PFAS-containing products, according to the filing. It also says that the defendants undermined any research or risks associated with PFAS, while at the same time making partial and incorrect statements regarding the nature and impacts of the chemicals. "Defendants had a duty to disclose the truth and to act in accordance with the truth about PFAS. Information on dozens of the states contaminated sites is listed in the lawsuit, spanning the map of both peninsulas and touching community after community: Grand Rapids, Alpena, Manistee, Lansing, Saline. Some of the sites involve active businesses; some are long-closed. Some involve groundwater, while others have contaminated lakes and rivers, in some cases making their way to the Great Lakes. The breadth of the problem prompted statewide water testing, which resulted in the shut-down of the municipal well in Parchment, near Kalamazoo. Residents there, like in Northern Kent County, Ann Arbor, Grayling and other areas wonder what years of consuming the chemicals mean for their health. The lawsuit asks for compensation for natural resource damages; loss-of use damages; costs of investigation; costs of testing and monitoring; costs of providing water from an alternate source; costs of installing and maintaining an early warning system to detect PFAS before it reaches wells; costs of remediating PFAS from natural resources including groundwater, surface waters, soils, sediments, and other natural resources; costs of remediating PFAS contamination at release sites; any other costs or other expenditures incurred to address PFAS contamination and injury. Former Gov. Rick Snyder in summer 2018 asked ex-Attorney General Bill Schuette to pursue litigation against 3M as state officials were recognizing just how widespread contamination reached in the state. At that time, known major sites included Northern Kent County and Oscoda. Lapeer Plating & Plastics had recently been identified as a polluter of the Flint River, and Ann Arbors levels were getting attention from the state. Because of the scale and the scope of this problem and the associated expenses, it is necessary to pursue legal action against those who continued to produce and market these products, even once they were identified as the cause of this environmental contaminant," Snyder said at the time. Schuette didnt act, then the idea continued to take shape after he lost the 2018 election to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In May 2019, Nessels office issued a request for proposals from law firms willing to take on the litigation challenge - but without billing the state. By the June 5 deadline, 15 firms had replied. Five were chosen as semi-finalists to make presentations, and two firms combined efforts during that process. The contract was announced on October 17. While many states are considering PFAS litigation, Michigan is among the early filers. They all follow Minnesota, which sued 3M and won an $850 million settlement in early 2018. Michigans legal strategy should benefit the state, said Sean Hammond, policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council. Many contamination issues end up focusing on containment instead of cleanup due to the costs and weak polluter pay provisions in the law. We continue to see the taxpayers of Michigan ... having to pay for their own drinking water to be clean, instead of the company that polluted it, Hammond said. Read the lawsuit. Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday said it is recommending to the central government that the Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who was arrested while travelling with two Hizbul terrorists, should be sacked. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh said while speaking at a press conference said that Davinder Singh has now been suspended from his duties. "He has been suspended, we are recommending his sacking to the government. Cannot share right now what has been revealed during the interrogation," Jammu and Kashmir DGP said. As per the sources, Investigation Agency (NIA) Director-General earlier in the day met Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla pertaining to an investigation of a case related to Deputy SP Davinder Singh, who was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police while he was travelling with two Hizbul terrorists. The investigation of the case has been handed over to NIA, sources claimed. The sources further said that a team headed by IG level officer will go to Jammu and Kashmir for the investigation soon. The probe team will investigate Davinder's link with the terrorists. The NIA will also register a case after seeking details from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the source further added. Jammu and Kashmir police intercepted a vehicle on Sunday and arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh along with two top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists while they were travelling together. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We are excited to expand operations in Southern California. Our thirty years of experience and exceptional service distinctly qualifies RoviSys to deliver solutions that improve operational and financial results for our customers. RoviSys, a leading independent provider of comprehensive process automation, systems integration, and building management solutions, announced today the continued expansion of operations in California, with a new office in Thousand Oaks. Since 2015, RoviSys & RoviSys Building Technologies have supported customers and developed new relationships with clients across Southern California. The Thousand Oaks office represents a lasting commitment to the local community, providing space for forty existing engineers, managers and support staff, and ample space for growth. Our expansion in Thousand Oaks reflects a strategic decision to strengthen presence throughout the Western United States, and cater to customers who have worked or are working with RoviSys, but prefer a partner with a regional location, said John Robertson, CEO. We are excited to expand operations in Southern California. Our thirty years of experience and exceptional service distinctly qualifies RoviSys to deliver solutions that improve operational and financial results for our customers. RoviSys provides industrial network, control systems integration, MES, and industrial AI solutions across many industries including Life Sciences, Water Resources, Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, & Chemical through professional partnerships and a commitment to vendor independence. The company has locations across North America, and internationally, with offices in Singapore, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. An ever-growing team of employees with experience and knowledge to are committed to improving productivity and quality in the age of digital transformation. RoviSys chose to open its newest office in Thousand Oaks because of the citys location, potential for attracting talent, and recognition as a center of innovation and technology said Matt Knott, Director - Life Sciences. Our focus on technologies for pharmaceutical and biotech companies will be well received in the economy here. About RoviSys The RoviSys Company is a leading independent provider of information management solutions, manufacturing automation solutions, control systems integration, building automation, and enterprise and industrial networks. Since 1989, we have built a reputation of quality and continuity, technical expertise, and attentive customer service. We are distinctly qualified to deliver solutions that drive productivity, improve product quality, increase asset utilization and integrate technology for the Chemical, Petrochemical, Life Science, Consumer Packaged Goods, Glass, Metals, Power & Energy, Data Center, Building Management, Water & Wastewater, Paper & Wood and Oil & Gas industries. For more information visit http://www.rovisys.com. She leads the life of a globetrotting superstar. And Kim Kardashian shared that she was 'Always packing' as she set pulses racing on her Instagram page this Tuesday. The 39-year-old lounged across the floor of a walk-in closet while modeling barely-there bubblegum pink bikini that showed off her sculpted figure. When you got it: Kim Kardashian shared that she was 'Always packing' as she set pulses racing on her Instagram page this Tuesday Gathering her hair up into a high ponytail, the sizzling sensation modeled a pair of massive black sunglasses for her sultry mirror selfie. Kim was a bikini bombshell whilst glimpsed at the beginning of this week frolicking across a Mexican beach during a vacation south of the border. Her travel plans last year included trips to Japan and Armenia, the latter of which is where she has roots on her father's side. She had her children by Kanye West baptized during the Armenia trip just months before he dropped his gospel album Jesus Is King. In transit: On Monday Kim posted a snap with her and Kanye's six-year-old firstborn daughter North getting ready to go 'traveling' Kim's husband followed up Jesus Is King with Jesus Is Born, a Nativity-themed album he appropriately released on Christmas Day. On Monday Kim posted a snap with her and Kanye's six-year-old firstborn daughter North getting ready to go 'traveling'. This Tuesday Kim used her Twitter page to deny rumors that she booed Tristan Thompson from the stands at the Staples Center over the weekend. Setting the record straight: This Tuesday Kim used her Twitter page to deny rumors that she booed Tristan Thompson from the stands at the Staples Center over the weekend Tristan has a one-year-old daughter called True with Kim's little sister Khloe Kardashian, to whom he was serially unfaithful. However in spite of the conjecture that Kim was booing the Cleveland Cavalier she insisted that the opposite was in fact the case. 'I was there to support him! And was cheering screaming LETS GO TRISTAN!!!!!' said Kim, who was watching the Cavaliers play the Los Angeles Lakers. Less than a third of Britons think Big Ben should be rung to mark Brexit - should the necessary 500,000 be raised by the public - a poll has found. A total of 57 per cent of those asked thought Big Ben should not bong on Brexit day - while 30 per cent thought it should - the YouGov poll found. Meanwhile, 13 per cent said they don't know whether the iconic peal should be sounded at 11pm on January 31. The 13.7-tonne bell has been largely silent since 2017 while renovation works are carried out on the Elizabeth Tower which houses it, sounding only for important events such as New Year's Eve celebrations. Less than a third of Britons think Big Ben should be rung to mark Brexit - should the necessary 500,000 be raised by the public - a YouGov poll has found A total of 52 per cent of Leave voters think it should be rung on Brexit day, compared to 13 per cent of Remain voters. Boris Johnson yesterday said he is planning the crowdfunding campaign after Parliamentary authorities balked at the 500,000 cost. A House of Commons Commission dismissed the proposal for the bell to sound after MPs were informed that costs had soared to half a million from an original estimate of 120,000. The question posed by YouGov asked Britons: 'If the money can be raised from public donations, do you think Big Ben should or should not be rung on Brexit day?' Mr Johnson told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday: 'We are working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong.' Boris Johnson yesterday said he is planning the crowdfunding campaign after Parliamentary authorities balked at the 500,000 cost. Pictured: Boris Johnson today The campaign for the bell to ring at 11pm on January 31 - Brexit day - had been spearheaded by Tory MP Mark Francois. But costs have soared because the temporary floor - which had been put in place to strike the bell at the new year - has already been removed and would need to be re-installed. One source told The Telegraph: 'No one in the meeting thought it was worth spending 500,000 on having Big Ben strike the hour on one occasion. 'When you consider what else that money could be spent on, it's very hard to make an argument in favour of it.' The 13.7-tonne bell has been largely silent since 2017 while renovation works are carried out on the Elizabeth Tower which houses it But Mr Francois did not share that view, saying to the paper: 'What was the cost of it chiming on New Year's Eve? What was the cost of it chiming on Remembrance Sunday? 'I've already offered to go up Big Ben myself, ably assisted by Bill Cash, to ring the bell myself to save money. 'If all else fails, the BBC must have a recording of Big Ben chiming they could play at 11pm at no cost whatsoever to taxpayers.' Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage had planned to host a lavish party in Parliament Square to watch Big Ben's bongs on January 31 ring out. Ten thousand Leave supporters were expected to attend but it is now unclear how the Commission's decision will affect the plans. The Elizabeth Tower has been undergoing renovations and the ringing of Big Ben has been prohibited since 2017 to protect the workers' hearing, except on the special occasions to which Mr Francois referred. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: If the public wants Big Ben to bong and money is raised that is great. 'We will make sure that whatever happens... January 31 is properly marked, which is a significant moment in our history. He added: It will largely be for the public to determine if this happens. Wednesdays episode on Bigg Boss 13 was full of fights and heated disputes, following random banter between former lovers Vishal and Madhurima. Here are the top highlights from tonights episode: The day began with Arti Singh and Shehnaaz Gill engaged in a fun conversation as they role played like two married woman neighbours. They used Sidharth Shukla as a reference for Shehnaazs husband. Shehnaaz said Sidharth had divorced Arti, to which she agreed and even joked that it was only one month left for Sidharth Shukla to divorce Shehnaaz. On the other hand, Shefali Jariwala and Asim Riaz engaged in yet another fight over rotis for him. Shefali teased him, presenting the rotis with a heart-shaped design on his plate. However, Asim was irked with it the drama and declared she must not make rotis for him from the next day. Soon, Madhurima Tuli and Vishal Aditya Singh began fighting and she called him behenji. Despite several warnings from Bigg Boss as well as host Salman, they began fighting and it soon turned violent. First, Vishal threw water on her and then she hit him with pan and tawa, twisting and breaking the pan in the process. It all began when Rashami requested Vishal to make some tea and Madhurima also requested for the same but Vishal refused saying he will make tea only for Rashami. Asim asked Madhurima to make tea instead but she retorted saying that Vishal is incapable to do anything alone and always seeks support. Madhurima took the opportunity to tease Vishal, calling him Behenji. An agitated Vishal asked her to stop but she did not listen. Vishal threw water on her and she retaliated by splashing water. This water fight continued even after Bigg Boss warned them to stop it. Madhurima then began hitting Vishal with a pan. The fight soon turned ugly as she picked another vessel to hit him while Rashami and Aarti intervened and stopped them. Also read: Kapil Sharma names daughter Anayra, shares first pics: Meet our piece of heart Sidharth, Shehnaaz and Rashami also got involved and began fighting among themselves. During the fight, Vishal said, Maine tujhe banaya hai. (I made you). Soon, Shehnaaz and Rashami also had a heated debate over who was the one to be blamed. Later, Sidharth and Rashami also locked horns over the issue, with Rashami empathising with Vishal while Sidharth empathised for Madhruima. Vishal said he would leave the show rather than taking up the punishment with Madhurima. Bigg Boss asked Vishal if he would accept the punishment, he did not want to take it but Rashami and Paras insisted that he must not throw away his hard-earned money by breaking his contract for the show. Vishal eventually agreed to accept the punishment. Both Madhurima and Vishal cried while Shehnaaz laughed after both were jailed for the fight. Later, Vishal told Paras that he was fed of Madhurima playing the woman card. Later, the captaincy task titled Jaadugarni Ki Pariksha was announced in which Shehnaz, Mahira, Shefali, and Aarti were locked in a setup that resembled a haunted forest. At regular intervals, temptations would enter the house and if the contestants left the block, they would have to give up on the captaincy. The other housemates had to stay in the freeze position till the time temptation is in the house. The temptation comes in the form of family members of the contestants and as the first doorbell rings, Aartis brother Krushna entered the house. Arti was quick to sacrifice her captaincy and ran to hug Krushna. He was also accompanied by his twin sons. After praising Arti for her performance on the show, Krushna hugged Rashami and told her that he was upset when he saw her crying, asking her to take care. Follow @htshowbiz for more The Atlantic Station development is undergoing significant investment and upgrades, making it ideal for our new home. ARPR, an award-winning tech PR agency at the epicenter of the future of PR, announced that it has leased approximately 7,300 square feet and relocated its headquarters to the BB&T Tower in Atlantas Atlantic Station. The firm joins corporate tech giants such as Worldpay and Sage as well as growth-stage innovators like Calendly, at its new 17th Street address. More than 7 years ago our agency was born out of my (tiny) dining room. From there, we co-worked in Atlanta Tech Village, then we moved into a starter-office in Tech Square, and for the past two and a half years ago weve called Ponce City Market home. Each transition was due to our firm outgrowing the space we were in at that time, said ARPRs CEO Anna Ruth Williams. As we kick off 2020, were excited to more than triple our square footage while we simultaneously welcome new clients and hires to the ARPR family. The new office space will support the agencys projected growth in the new decade while providing a collaborative environment for its employees to continue to push the limits of what a PR firm can achieve. The collaborative workspace is not a new concept for the team. But, its headquarters now offers standing desks, a game room, an abundance of soft seating and natural lighting and an improved layout that will help with both solo and teamwork. The Atlantic Station development is undergoing significant investment and upgrades, making it ideal for our new home, said Sr. Business and Operations Manager Faria Holland. For example, our team can dine at a variety of adjacent restaurants, take walk breaks on the property and use their company-sponsored ClassPass memberships to workout at nearby gyms and wellness studios. In addition, clients and guests can stay at on-site hotels and enjoy the developments amenities while visiting our office. Were excited to see the renovations unfold during this exciting time at one of Midtowns hottest spots. To learn more about ARPRs client roster, marketing services and to view our job openings, visit http://www.arpr.com. ABOUT ARPR ARPR is an award-winning tech PR agency at the epicenter of the future of PR. Headquartered in Atlanta, ARPR helps its clients reputations thrive and their sales pipelines prosper through highly-integrated marketing strategies that push the limits of what a public relations firm can achieve. Since 2012, ARPR has twice been named Small Agency of the Year, dubbed a Best Place to Work six times, was honored as the 2016 Technology Agency of the Year, the 2018 Agency that Gets Results and the 2019 Fastest Growing PR Agency. For more information on ARPR clients and services, visit http://arpr.com and follow @AR_ _PR on Twitter and Instagram. [January 15, 2020] Ixia, a Keysight Business, Joins IBM Security App Exchange Community Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, today announced that the company's enriched NetFlow metadata -- IxFlow from Ixia, a Keysight Business -- integrates with IBM (News - Alert) security intelligence technology to help customers stay ahead of evolving security threats. Ixia's Vision network packet brokers (NPBs) with AppStack features generate enriched NetFlow metadata called IxFlow from network traffic. IxFlow provides detailed data about applications, devices, known threats, and geolocation that can be analyzed in IBM QRadar, the company's security intelligence platform, which analyzes data across an organization's IT infrastructure in real-time to identify potential security threats. Leveraging QRadar's open application programming interface (API), the IxFlow App for QRadar allows Ixia (News - Alert) and IBM customers to stream IxFlow metadata, which identifies hosts affected by malware, botnets and exploits, into QRada for analysis. Ixia NPBs also provide QRadar packet-level data for a detailed look at anomalies and alerts. The Ixia IxFlow App for QRadar is freely available to the security community through IBM Security App Exchange, a platform where developers across the industry can share applications based on IBM Security technologies. As threats are evolving faster than ever, collaborative development amongst the security community will help organizations adapt quickly and speed innovation in the fight against cybercrime. "With increasing risk of cyberattacks, incident response teams need full visibility across their hybrid networks to stay a step ahead of hackers," said Scott Westlake, vice president of alliances at Keysight's Network Applications & Security Group (formerly Ixia Solutions Group). "Ixia provides QRadar with full visibility in the form of enriched IxFlow metadata, enabling security teams to accurately detect and prioritize threats, as well as accelerate security operations processes to reduce the impact of incidents." IxFlow App for QRadar is available in the IBM Security app exchange: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/hub/?q=ixia About Keysight Technologies Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) is a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Keysight's solutions optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost with offerings from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments. Customers span the worldwide communications ecosystem, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics end markets. Keysight generated revenues of $4.3B in fiscal year 2019. More information is available at www.keysight.com. Additional information about Keysight Technologies is available in the newsroom at https://www.keysight.com/go/news and on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005585/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Centre Wednesday told the Supreme Court they have accepted the recommendations of a special investigation team (SIT), headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice S N Dhingra which has probed 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and they will take appropriate action as per the laws. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde was informed by senior advocate R S Suri, appearing for the petitioner, that the report of the SIT is damning for police officials and they would file application seeking action against the cops who were allegedly involved in the ghastly crime. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that they have accepted the recommendations made in the report and they will take appropriate steps. "We have accepted the recommendations and we will act accordingly as per law. Lot of steps are required to be taken and it will be taken," Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant. During the hearing, Suri referred to the SIT's report and said the "undercurrent is that police officials cant go scot-free for the things which had happened". "The report suggests that some action should be taken against police officials as they were in connivance. These police officials cannot go scot free. We will file a response to the report," Suri told the bench and added that he will also file an application seeking action against police officials. The bench was informed by Mehta that the records of these cases are kept in the apex court registry and they should be returned to the CBI so that further proceedings can go on. The bench directed that the records be given to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The SIT, also comprising retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular, was set up by the apex court on Janaury 11, 2018 to supervise further investigation into 186 cases in which closure reports were filed earlier. The SIT presently has only two members as Singh had declined to be part of the team on personal grounds. Earlier, in March last year, the top court had granted two more months to the SIT to complete its probe into 186 riot cases after the SIT informed it that more than 50 per cent of work was done and it wanted two more months to complete the investigation. Large-scale riots targeting members of the Sikh community had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on the morning of October 31, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of students have been told to leave university accommodation over 'Grenfell-style' fire safety fears. The blocks, which were refurbished in 2014, are near King's College Hospital where many of those affected are studying to become nurses and doctors. The decision to evacuate was made on December 19, but the 584 affected King's College London students were only told on Monday. The blocks, which were refurbished in 2014, are near King's College Hospital where many of those affected are studying to become nurses and doctors In a mass email, interim senior vice-president Chris Mottershead said: 'Relocating you is the right decision to meet our duty of care to you.' Yesterday the university refused to spell out the nature of the fire threat at Champion Hill, south London, but said there was no imminent safety risk. Photos appear to show that some of the blocks have cladding, which played an instrumental role in the Grenfell tragedy in 2017. The most expensive student rooms at Champion Hill cost 10,320 a year to rent. KCL said that any students who fail to secure alternative rooms would be put up in 'hotels, minimum 4-star, within Zone 2'. Compensation is on offer. Nevertheless, the email prompted concern from students, worried about the potential fire risks and the impact of disruption of their studies. Anne Kay, 23, a psychology graduate student, said: 'They didn't officially mention cladding but we basically got an email yesterday explaining they fear that there are fire hazards. I feel anxious.' The decision to evacuate was made on December 19, but the 584 affected King's College London students were only told on Monday Masters student Sarah Ericson, 23, said: 'It's ridiculous we have to be rehoused or find somewhere else to live within the next two weeks. Some people have exams.' Another student said: 'People are saying that the fire danger is similar to Grenfell.' Flammable cladding was a major contributor to the Grenfell Tower blaze which killed 72. Last November a fire engulfed a student accommodation building in Bolton. Thankfully all those inside escaped safely. KCL declined to describe the nature of the fire hazard yesterday. A spokesman said: 'We are very sorry that we are having to relocate our students. We have identified some potential fire safety concern that need further investigation.' 'There has been no incident and we have robust existing fire safety provision in place. If students have concerns about their studies, they can speak with their personal tutor.' Al-Shabab is not at its strongest point. In 2011, before a 20,000-strong African Union force intervened, and before the United States ramped up its airstrikes, al-Shabab controlled every city in southern Somalia and appeared on the verge of taking Mogadishu. The groups goal is still the same, however: to chase away, or at least outlast, foreign troops in Somalia, clearing the way for a broader takeover in which it could impose a strict version of Islamic law. American Russian social media influencer, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy recently landed up in jail after he climbed on one of the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. He later took to Instagram to share the photographs of him atop a pyramid. Check out his viral post here: Worst jail experience The 27-year-old Youtuber also wrote that no words could explain everything he went through in the past days. He added that he was locked up for five days in an Egyptian jail before revealing that he has been locked up a few times before and it was his worse experience this time. He further goes on to say that he will share the complete video soon. Last year, the social media star made headlines after he encouraged his girlfriend to evade a champion's league match in Madrid wearing nothing but a swimsuit promoting his X-rated website. His girlfriend who is a model by profession eventually landed up in jail. Read: YouTuber NikkieTutorials Comes Out As Trans Amid Pressure, Netizens All Hearts Read: YouTuber Receives 700 Pounds Worth Of Orders At Wetherspoons After Revealing Table Number Meanwhile, another YouTuber has been sentenced to four years in for insulting the Morrocan king on social media. The Morocco-based YouTuber who is known as 'Moul Kaskita' aka Mohamed Sekkai was sentenced in the western city of Settataccording to his lawyers. Sekkaki's videos usually get over 100,000 views, in one of his videos Sekkaki called Moroccans 'donkeys' and also insulted King Mohammed VI. King Mohammed VI is considered 'inviolable' under the constitution. According to Mohamed Ziane who is Sekkai's lawyer, they will appeal the verdict. This verdict of jail time comes less than a month after a prominent Moroccan rapper was sentenced to a year in prison for allegedly insulting a public official. Mohamed Mounir, who is popularly known as Gnawi, was charged with releasing a video that insulted the police. Read: YouTuber Jailed For 4 Years For Insulting The King Of Morocco Read: YouTube Sensation Jeffree Star's Breakup Announcement Leaves Netizens Heartbroken US President Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to roll back the massive tariff imposed on import of Chinese goods despite having succeeded to sign the first phase of a trade deal with China. During a historic signing ceremony at the White House, Trump said he will roll back the tariffs only if the second phase of the trade deal is signed between the two economic giants. The trade deal, considered as major political and diplomatic victory for President Trump, came on a day when the House voted to sent his impeachment trial to the Senate. Trump has used tariff as a leverage in trade talks with major economic powers of the world, mainly China. Trump asserted that he will continue with his policies on tariffs. "We are leaving tariffs on which people are shocked but it's great but I will agree to take those tariffs off if we are able to do phase 2. In other words, we are negotiating with the tariffs," Trump told the audience, which besides his cabinet colleagues and lawmakers included who's who of the American corporate sector. "We have 25 per cent on USD 250 billion worth of goods and then we are bringing the 10 per cent down to 7.5 per cent on USD 300 billion worth of goods plus," he said. "So I am leaving them on because otherwise we have no courts to negotiate with than negotiating with (Chinese Vice Premier) Liu He, is very tough but they will all come off as soon as we finish phase 2 and that will be something that some people on Wall Street will love but from what I see they love this deal the way it is now, Trump said. Describing the trade deal as more than an agreement, he said "this marks a sea change in international trade". "At long last, Americans have a government that puts them first at the negotiating table 1st in trade, first in every deal, every decision and every action we take a long with incredible enforceability," he said. "As we move on to phase 2, I look forward to continuing to forge a future of greater harmony, prosperity and really commerce, commerce and far beyond commerce between the United States and China," said the US President. "This is something that far beyond even this deal it is going to lead to an even stronger world because we now have -- we now have a big investment in each other and in getting along with each other and this deal is phase one," he said. Trump said there will be no phase 3. "This is something that is going to be so special however to our manufacturers, our farmers, our bankers, our service people," he said. The first phase of the trade deal signed by the US with China marked the conclusion of more than a year of tough negotiations including several months of suspension of talks between the two largest economies of the world. The first phase of the trade deal includes Intellection Property (IP) Protection and Enforcement, ending forced technology transfer, dramatic expansion of American agriculture, removing barriers to American financial services, ending currency manipulation, rebalancing the US-China trade relationship and effective dispute resolution. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 15:00:17 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1029 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Aureus, Inc. (OTC PINK:ARSN) ("Aureus" or the "Company") ( www.AureusNOW.com) an emerging leader in the food brand development industry which owns the Yuengling's Ice Cream brand ("Yuengling's Ice Cream" or "Yuengling's") ( www.yuenglingsicecream.com) including all intellectual property and its distribution at select retail locations is very excited to announce the addition of Tom Cardella, Hal Kravitz, and Bill Hackett to its advisory board.Tom Cardella, a 38-year veteran of the global beer industry, is the founder of Cardella & Associates LLC, a beverage industry-consulting firm. He was formerly president and CEO of the Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft, import and cider division of MillerCoors. Tom also served as eastern division president for MillerCoors, where he was responsible for all commercial operations in the eastern half of the U.S. Prior to the merger with Coors, Tom was executive vice president of sales and distribution for Miller Brewing Company, a position he took in August 2006. At Miller, Tom also served as senior vice president, international brands and market development. Earlier in his career, Tom held a variety of sales and marketing management positions at Miller before joining InBev in 1996."I have great respect for the Yuengling name as they are one of the most successful legacy breweries in the US. I find it a unique and intriguing opportunity to now be able to support Yuengling's Ice Cream, an iconic brand with great potential." Hal Kravitz spent more than 30 years as a leader within the Coca-Cola Company including roles in general management, strategy, operations marketing, sales and revenue management. Hal began his career with Coca-Cola in 1983 where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the field and at the company's headquarters focusing on sales, marketing, and operations. In 2001, after several other managerial roles within Coca-Cola North America, Hal was named Vice President and General Manager of Coca-Cola Enterprises' operations in the Southeastern United States, a business unit responsible for $2.5B in annual revenue. After seven successful years at CCE in his Southeastern GM role as well as serving as Chief Revenue Officer, Hal came back to the Coca-Cola Company to become president of Coca-Cola North America's Glaceau division post acquisition where he led its operations as President of this newly formed business unit, including oversight of brands vitaminwater, smartwater, Powerade, Fuze, and the company's energy drink brands. Hal then led the division's initial integration into the broader Coca-Cola North America business unit in 2009. After stepping down from Coca-Cola in 2013, Hal was a founding member of InterContinenal Beverage Capital, a New-York based merchant bank focused on advisory services and investment in the CPG and beverage industries. Hal has spent the last six years of his career helping entrepreneurial companies and emerging beverage brands drive growth and profitability. He most recently served as CEO and Board member of AQUAhydrate, a premium bottled water company owned by Ron Burkle, Yucaipa companies, actor Mark Wahlberg, and music industry mogul and entrepreneur Sean "P Diddy" Combs. Hal currently serves as President of the Certified Management Group, an outsourced sales and brand management company and division of Advantage Solutions."I'm thrilled to be part of the Yuengling's Ice Cream Advisory Board. The brand's strong heritage of high quality and strong consumer demand and relevance gives it significant category crossover potential. I look forward to being involved in building a long term profitable and sustainable business." Bill Hackett spent more than three decades in the beer industry, recently retiring as Constellation Brands' Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Beer Division.Bill joined Barton Beers in 1984 as National Sales Manager. He assumed additional responsibilities as the business grew through the 1980's. In 1993, Bill was named President of Barton Beers and continued in this capacity when Barton became Crown Imports in 2007 and when Constellation acquired the US rights for the business in 2013.In 2016, Bill assumed the role of Chairman of Beer and since then has provided strategic counsel to the Constellation Beer Division leadership team. Throughout his tenure with the company, Bill has played a critical role in developing and guiding the business strategy and long term vision for Constellation's beer business.As previously reported, Bill Hayde, the Principal of Waterside Capital Advisors, is one of the key bankers in Aureus' investment banking team. Mr. Hayde brings more than thirty years as an Investment Banker/Fund manager and is co-founder of Intercontinental Beverage Capital ( www.inbevcapital.com) and the Interim Opportunity Fund. With strong ties to the food and beverage industry, Mr. Hayde was instrumental in bringing in Mr. Cardella, Mr. Kravitz, and Mr. Hackett in an advisory capacity.About Aureus, Inc.Management and ownership recently changed hands. The new focus is on acquiring specific assets in and related to the food industry, with a focus on ice cream. Aureus owns the assets and trademarks of the Yuengling's Ice Cream brand, and the exclusive right to market and sell the products of the brand. The goal of Aureus in the operation to consolidate all factors that are positive for the Yuengling brand into a synergistic success for Aureus shareholders as well as the next generation of Yuengling consumers.About Yuengling's Ice CreamDeveloped by American businessman Frank D. Yuengling, as a dairy business to help support the Yuengling family brewery during the 1920s Prohibition period, Yuengling's Ice Cream has a strong tradition of making exceptional gourmet ice cream products in central Pennsylvania. The fan-favorite brand continues advancing its legacy and its renowned dairy quality, by using locally sourced dairy ingredients that contain no added hormones. Yuengling's Ice Cream is a super-premium ice cream, which means it has a butterfat content of 14% or greater. In addition to having high butterfat, Yuengling's also has low overrun (or a lower amount of air). This makes the ice cream less whipped and much more dense. Yuengling's also is constantly working to keep its product as "clean" as possible, by using as few ingredients as necessary, and those that are used are of a very high quality. The brands Yuengling's is most similar to are Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's. Residents were told its too late to leave a town on Victorias East Gippsland coastline as a ravaging bushfire closes in. Authorities issued an emergency warning late on Tuesday as the fire so strong it has created its own weather pattern moved in on Tamboon, 115km by road to Mallacoota on the NSW border which was decimated by recent fires. The fire is approaching from the east from the Croajingolong National Park. The warning has since been downgraded to watch and act. This EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE is being issued for Tamboon, Tamboon South. The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave. More details at https://t.co/kC5QO9Vgal pic.twitter.com/JrX9G2SnG3 ForestFireManagement (@FFMVic) January 14, 2020 Residents rushed to the beach to shelter from the approaching fire, ABC journalist Justine Longmore said on Twitter. There were 12 people who stayed in the town, authorities said. Vic Emergency said late last night residents best option was to shelter indoors. You must take shelter before the fire arrives. The extreme heat is likely to kill you well before the flames reach you, the emergency alert said. Shelter in a room that has two exits, such as a door or window including one directly to the outside. It is important to be able to see outside so you know what is happening with the fire. If your home catches on fire and the conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt. It may still be too hot to remain outside, so youll need to seek shelter in another structure or last resort option. A helicopter fighting East Gippsland fires on December 30. Source: AAP Fire crews are desperately hoping they can be assisted by forecasted rain over the out-of-control fire, however only 5mm is predicted to fall meaning the conditions will unlikely help. Story continues There are also fears lightning could start new fires. Seventeen fires were burning in Victoria on Tuesday evening. The recent bushfires have burned 1.4 million hectares across the state. Four people have died, with 353 homes and 548 other structures destroyed. NSW prepares for heavy rain in fire areas Bushfire-ravaged communities are preparing ahead of forecast heavy rainfalls that authorities fear could cause slips and flooding in some parts of NSW. Rainfall totals of 30 to 80 millimetres are forecast from Thursday, with strong falls possible for fire grounds in the Snowy Mountains, southwest of Sydney and South Coast regions. The Bega Valley Shire Council said it would work with the RFS to manage any impacts caused by the deluge. "Weather predictions indicate conditions are favourable over the next week for the containment effort," the council posted on its Facebook page. "There is predicted rainfall from Thursday onwards early indications show the possibility of heavy rainfall which may impact on sediment runoff into waterways. The rain forecast for the current week shows Australia's east coast set for a soaking. Source: BoM "This situation is being monitored and planned for by council and RFS." Firefighters have welcomed the forecast as the best news in months but the Bureau of Meteorology said the rain could be a "double-edged sword". "Hopefully some of this heavy rainfall will fall over fire sites and help control or even extinguish fires," meteorologist Sarah Scully said on Tuesday. "But it's a bit of a double-edged sword because heavy rainfall and gusty thunderstorms bring the potential for flash flooding, particularly in the burnt-out areas of NSW and Victoria which are now vulnerable to land slips and trees coming down." Despite the easing conditions, fire danger ratings are still high for large parts of NSW on Wednesday. With AAP Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Over 31 lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country, and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal, on Wednesday took holy dip at the confluence of the sacred Ganga and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'. Around 40 lakh people have congregated here for the pilgrimage, "breaking all previous records", a senior state government official said. "Till noon, more than 31 lakh people have taken dips in the holy waters. The final count could even exceed this figure," he said. Every year on Makar Sankranti, lakhs of Hindus flock to the Sagar Island in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district to take the holy dip and offer prayers at the Kapil Muni temple. "Last year, we had a record number of 20 lakh pilgrims visiting the island. This year, that record has been broken. It was peaceful and the pilgrims have also appreciated our arrangements," the official said. Security has been beefed up in the island, around 100 km from Kolkata, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is monitoring the situation, officials said. Besides deploying senior officers, around 10,000 police personnel and civic volunteers have been posted for the gathering -- the Ganga Sagar Mela. Security officials are also keeping a watch on the waters and patrolling is being done, they said. Drones and around 1,000 CCTV cameras have been put to use, and several watch towers set up. The West Bengal government, for the first time this year, is using an air ambulance at the Sagar Island, officials said. Pilgrims also took dips at several ghats in other parts of West Bengal, including in Kolkata and Howrah. Amid tight security, thousands of people participated in the rituals at Babughat, Doi ghat, Baje Kadamtala ghat, Saradamani ghat, Ratanbabur ghat, Bagbazar ghat and Kumartuli ghat, all on the banks of the Hooghly river in Kolkata, they said. In the districts as well, thousands of people took dips at sunrise. Makar Sankranti marks the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. It is known by various names in different parts of the country and in West Bengal, it is celebrated as Poush Sankranti. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The documents including phone records, texts and flash drives turned over by Parnas were sent to the House Judiciary Committee by three other House panels to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment, according to a statement. Some of the materials were made public while others were marked as sensitive. CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) President and CEO Dave Calhoun issued the following statement regarding the announcement today of a US-China trade deal: Boeing has a long-standing partnership with China that spans nearly 50 years. We're proud that Boeing airplanes will continue to be a part of this valued relationship, one that has fueled aerospace innovation and sustained manufacturing jobs. Boeing applauds Presidents Trump and Xi as well as Vice Premier Liu, Secretary Mnuchin and Ambassador Lighthizer for their leadership in building a fair and mutually-beneficial trading relationship between the United States and China. Contact Boeing Communications 312-544-2002 [email protected] SOURCE Boeing Related Links http://www.boeing.com English Lithuanian Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, address of the head office Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania. Siauliu bankas AB has received the notification of the person, closely associated with the manager, on transactions in securities issued by the bank (attached). Director of Securities Accounting Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene is authorized by the Issuer to provide additional information and is available on tel.: +370 41 595669. Attachment After a stretch of record warmth for much of the eastern half of the nation, winter is soon to return (or in some cases, show up for the first time). A strip of snowfall is in the forecast for parts of more than a dozen states within a 1,500-mile path from the upper Midwest to New England. A plowable snowfall is likely in many areas, while others along the fringe could see lesser amounts or a wintry mix between Wednesday and the end of the weekend. A pocket of upper-level energy will dive out of the Rockies late Friday, passing over the central Plains as its attendant jet stream dip, or trough, carries it eastward. That same upper-level support is already producing heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada in California. It's also been dumping snow in the Pacific Northwest, including the metro Seattle area. At the surface, a low-pressure area will slowly but steadily develop over the Plains on Thursday into Friday. Eventually, bands of precipitation will begin to form around the low-pressure center. The moisture feeding the system will originate from the Pacific as well as the Gulf of Mexico, with heavy downpours possible over the Interstate 35 corridor in Oklahoma and southern Kansas on Thursday night and Friday. Meanwhile, moisture will continue to move north, up the Missouri River, where it will run into cold air and flip the rain over to snow in eastern Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota into Saturday morning. Northern Arkansas will be the dividing line between more-wintry precipitation types to the north and all rain to the south. Eventually, the system will slide to the east, in the process dropping areas of moderate snow across the Great Lakes, Midwest and eventually New England. The greatest uncertainty at this point hinges on temperatures along the southern periphery of the snow zone. Right now, it looks as though the Interstate 80 corridor from the Corn Belt all the way to the East Coast is a general first guess as to where the snow-mix-rain line will set up. However, that could fluctuate in the coming days as the storm system begins to form. Even near that eventual boundary, however, the onset of precipitation should feature snow or a wintry mix in many locales. Models depict Chicago as being in the battleground of the precipitation types. But according to the National Weather Service office there, at least some wintry weather is a good bet Friday into Saturday. "This period has had consistency in accumulating wintry precipitation, and at the least some of that being snow (quite possibly several inches)," they wrote. "But also a period of ice remains forecast too." It's an equally tough call in Cleveland, which is also predicted to be the site of a temperature battle that will determine the dominant precipitation type. "Precipitation is expected to begin in all areas as snow, transitioning to rain as the warm front lifts north across the area on Saturday," wrote the National Weather Service in Cleveland. "There is a brief window where freezing rain may be a possibility." New York City will be fortunate to see the tricky weather arrive over the weekend, rather than interfering with busy commutes. The Big Apple will likely enjoy (or endure) a meteorological sample of all sorts Saturday. The National Weather Service laid out the timing in their Thursday morning discussion. "Precipitation is expected to begin as all snow Saturday morning into the afternoon, from west to east, and with a few hours of snow then transition to rain/snow, then all rain, from south to north," the NWS stated. There's a possibility that things wrap up as snow again Saturday night, as cold air is swept in on the storm's back side. In the nation's capital, a coating of snow is possible before a transition to rain Saturday morning into the early afternoon. All told, it's a slightly inconvenient storm track for meteorologists, with a number of large cities in the narrow mixing zone that's difficult to predict this far in advance. For cities farther north, such as Minneapolis, the forecast is clearer: moderate snowfall. The heaviest snows will fall in a swath from the extreme eastern Dakotas and Nebraska through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, with the heaviest snow occurring Friday. Up to half a foot of snow or more is possible. A miniature jackpot zone may exist over the Tug Hill Plateau in New York state, where enhancement off Lake Ontario could boost snow totals. Interior New England will also see several inches of accumulation over the weekend. Gusty winds are possible in the system's wake Sunday as chilly high pressure builds in behind the departing low. Temperatures may approach 30 degrees below average for this time of year in parts of the upper Midwest and eastern Great Plains on Monday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it is "essential" for China to continue its search for the source of a previously unknown strain of coronavirus, following confirmation that an infected patient is being treated in Thailand. Coronaviruses are described by the WHO as "a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases". Probably the best known is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, commonly known as SARS, which broke out in Asia in 2003, and spread to countries in North America, South America and Europe, before being successfully contained later that year. In a statement released on Monday, the WHO identified the patient, who was hospitalised in Thailand on January 8, as a traveller from the Chinese city of Wuhan. According to Thai authorities, the patient is recovering from the illness. "WHO reiterates that it is essential that investigations continue in China to identify the source of this outbreak and any animal reservoirs or intermediate hosts," it said. The new virus is believed to have originated in Wuhan, infecting dozens of people in China. On Saturday, Chinese media reported the first known death from the viral infection. Coronaviruses rely on animal to human transmission. There are several known coronaviruses currently circulating in animals, that have not yet infected humans. The health commission in Wuhan has reportedly declared that there is no evidence of any spread between humans. However, with the emergence of the Thailand case, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is planning to consult the issue with the members of the agency's Emergency Committee. He could also call for a meeting of the Committee at short notice, the statement said. The WHO noted that it has been expecting cases to be reported in countries other than China, underscoring the importance of monitoring and preparedness in other nations. The work of the WHO and the Chinese authorities in containing the new coronavirus will be made more complicated by the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, which begins on January 25, and sees hundreds of millions criss-crossing the country. The WHO has issued guidance on how to detect and treat persons infected with the new strain of the virus. The standard recommendations for halting the spread of coronaviruses include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs and avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing. Common signs of coronavirus infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amazon.com's founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday announced an incremental investment of $1 billion in India to digitise the country's small and medium businesses. The announcement, made at the company's event Smbhav in New Delhi, comes at a time when small traders are protesting against alleged predatory pricing and deep discounting from large global marketplaces. The event, largely for small businesses, looked tailor-made for Bezos to make the right noises. Attended by about 3,000 such businesses, Bezos spoke on everything from Indo-US relations to space entrepreneurship. Billions of Make-in-India products can be exported in the years ahead, leveraging the company's global footprint, he said. "I love India. Yesterday, I flew kites with a few kids. It is a good game," he said. He proceeded to foretell that the 21st century is going to be an Indian century. The audience loved it. "This country has something special. It is a democracy," he said. He added that the most important alliance in this century is going to be between India and the US. Bezos also reflected on his space venture, Blue Origin. As a child, he studied rocketry and rocket propulsion. Now, he is passionate about lowering the cost of access to space. "Long term, if we have to grow our civilisation, we have to use resources in the solar system. We need space entrepreneurs," he said. However, today, the price tag to get into space entrepreneurship is very high -- two kids in a dorm can start a software company but not a space venture. Blue Origin is about launch, land, and repeat. It is about reusable launch vehicles. The company believes that rockets should operate more like an airplane and should not be disposed of after one use. Also read: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos invokes Mahatma on his India visit Bezos also reflected on failures. "Amazon is the best place in the world to fail," he said and pointed to two kinds of failures. There are experiments, which are high quality failures, he said. "That's how you get innovation," he quipped. Amazon failed many times - it experimented with an auctions business and it failed, for instance. Marketplace, on the other hand, was a success. The Indian marketplace today has over 5.5 lakh sellers, mostly small businesses. The second sort of failure, Bezos said, was operations performance failure. It is about bad execution and one that cannot be celebrated. At a time when small traders are upping the ante against Amazon, Bezos' presence at the event, and his investment announcement, appeared a move to assure policy makers that the company was committed to India for the long-term. Also read: Jeff Bezos says Amazon will invest $1 billion to digitise small, medium businesses in India Also read: Amazon will export $10 billion worth of Make In India goods by 2025, says Jeff Bezos Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 12:26:44|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close The new optical remote-sensing satellite for commercial use Red Flag-1 H9, along with three small satellites, is launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 15, 2020. China sent a new optical remote-sensing satellite for commercial use into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday morning. The satellite, belonging to the Jilin-1 satellite family, also named Red Flag-1 H9, was launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 10:53 a.m. Beijing time. The new satellite, developed by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., has a super-wide coverage and a resolution at the sub-meter level. It is also capable of high-speed data storage and transmission. Via the same carrier rocket, three small satellites including NewSat7 and NewSat8 developed by an Argentinian company were also sent into space. (Photo by Lu Xing/Xinhua) TAIYUAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China sent a new optical remote-sensing satellite for commercial use into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday morning. The satellite, belonging to the Jilin-1 satellite family, also named Red Flag-1 H9, was launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 10:53 a.m. Beijing time. The new satellite, developed by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., has a super-wide coverage and a resolution at the sub-meter level. It is also capable of high-speed data storage and transmission. It will work with the 15 satellites of the Jilin-1 family already sent into orbit to form a constellation that will provide remote-sensing data and services for governmental and industrial users. Via the same carrier rocket, three small satellites including NewSat7 and NewSat8 developed by an Argentinian company were also sent into space. The Long March-2D carrier rocket was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Wednesday's launch was the 325th mission of the Long March series carrier rockets. Would you hand over a room in your house to strangers, giving them door keys, with no guarantee of their motives or behaviour? Of course you wouldnt! You might even call it madness. Certainly, madness is the blunt verdict of the United States, our closest ally, as Britain considers whether to entrust its most important electronic infrastructure the new 5G phone network to Huawei, a Chinese firm with close ties to that countrys Communist Party. Senior U.S. officials have provided the Government with a dossier of new allegations against Huawei, while a team of American experts arrived this week in a last-ditch effort to persuade the Prime Minister to block Huaweis involvement here. Senior U.S. officials have provided the Government with a dossier of new allegations against Huawei, writes EDWARD LUCAS America, along with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan, have banned use of the companys products with their mobile networks because of fears it could compromise national security. Boris Johnson, however, has pooh-poohed the warnings, and dismisses fears that the UKs vital intelligence-sharing relationship with America could be cut off if, later this month, the National Security Council decides to proceed with Huaweis involvement. Cheap Anyone opposing Huawei, he says, must explain what alternative they suggest. The PM has strong backing in Whitehall. The head of MI5 no less, Sir Andrew Parker, has said he sees no reason why using Huawei technology should damage Britains ties with America. The arguments for adopting Huaweis technology are tempting. The next big leap in technology is the Internet of Things. It merges the ubiquity of mobile phone signals with the data flows of the internet, offering a revolution in cost, convenience and adaptability. Imagine household devices that warn you if they need servicing or are about to wear out before they stop working. Pedestrian crossings that alter their timing according to the number of people waiting. Boris Johnson, however, has pooh-poohed the warnings, and dismisses fears that the UKs vital intelligence-sharing relationship with America could be cut off if, later this month, the National Security Council decides to proceed with Huaweis involvement, writes EDWARD LUCAS (Boris Johnson on BBC Breakfast) Cars that park themselves, book services, and communicate with other vehicles to avoid collisions. This will all be made possible because of 5G the fifth generation of mobile-phone technology. For readers with a technical bent, the first generation was the most basic mobile phones. Each one since has had greater ability to send, receive and process data, much of it valuable. Other European countries seem bent on allowing Huawei to sell them the 5G products that could help shape our economy and daily life for a generation. So why shouldnt we follow suit? There is no doubt countries that move most quickly to the Internet of Things and roll out 5G devices and systems will have an advantage. Their businesses will sustain lower costs. Innovative technologies will flourish. Investment, jobs and wages will rise. And as the leading provider of 5G equipment and services, Huawei the worlds largest provider of telecommunications equipment stands to profit on an enormous scale while exerting its influence into every aspect of our lives. Since Huawei exploded on to the world stage over the past decade, it has run rings round Western competitors. Other European countries seem bent on allowing Huawei to sell them the 5G products that could help shape our economy and daily life for a generation. So why shouldnt we follow suit? writes EDWARD LUCAS Its products are cheap, up-to-date and effective. Many readers will have come across its phones, such as the P30. But the company also produces the less visible systems, software and hardware that make mobile networks function. There is a catch, however. On the surface Huawei is just another company and strenuously denies it is under the influence or control of the Chinese state. Yet an investigation into the companys structure and values by The New York Times concluded its soul is steeped in Communist Party culture. Secret Well strive for the realisation of Communism until the end of our lives, said its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former military intelligence officer. He founded the company 32 years ago with a few thousand pounds of borrowed money. Last year its sales reached 100 billion nearly a fifth up on 2018. Critics wonder if its success is due solely to the brains and hard work of its staff, or if it has also enjoyed help from Chinese authorities. For years, Britain has dodged the question of whether to allow Huawei into our telecommunications infrastructure. In Banbury, Oxfordshire, an outstation of GCHQ, the Governments intelligence and communications headquarters, is examining the companys products in order to see if they contain secret capabilities that could be used for sabotage or espionage. The boffins from our electronic spy agency have found nothing malign. That presumably is the basis for the MI5 directors loyal support for the current Government line which itself stems from a view to profitable trade deals with China in a post-Brexit world. But British experts have repeatedly complained about sloppiness in Huaweis procedures. Documentation is incomplete or confusing. It is hard to work out how software is written or the way devices are designed. Huaweis managers may want to do nothing more than raise their colossal sales. But by trusting Huawei we are also trusting the Chinese Communist regime, with its record of brutality, mischief and mendacity, writes EDWARD LUCAS Modern technology is so complex that ruling out any possibility of mischief is like certifying that a haystack contains no needles. So the real question is not what Huawei does now, but what it might do in the future. Technology allows it to update its products remotely in effect, the company will indeed have a room in our house over which we have no control. The key point to remember is that all Chinese companies are mandated by law to help the countrys intelligence and security services in secret. Huaweis managers may want to do nothing more than raise their colossal sales. But by trusting Huawei we are also trusting the Chinese Communist regime, with its record of brutality, mischief and mendacity. At home the Chinese authorities use a sinister combination of surveillance capabilities to create a Big Brother state far worse than anything George Orwell conceived in his novel 1984. And already we are seeing signs of Chinese security agencies collecting data on people outside the country to stifle dissent, harass critics and find targets who could help their influence abroad. If the regime in Beijing chooses to step up that effort, Huawei, willingly or not, will be an accomplice. By letting Huawei in, we admit a potentially hostile power into our midst. The Prime Minister likes to quote in ancient Greek Homers Iliad about the Trojan war. Well can I suggest that he refreshes his memory on the matter of the Trojan Horse during that war? Freedom It was the trap which doomed Troy. The Greeks, pretended to give up their siege of the city, leaving a huge wooden trophy apparently as a gift. The Trojans wheeled the horse into their city, not realising an elite force of Greek soldiers were hidden inside. The result was disaster. Modern technology would seem like magic to the inhabitants of the ancient world, just as their beliefs seem like superstition to us. But the question facing Britain is simple. Do we put convenience and modernity ahead of security? Or, to put it another way, could the gift of Huaweis 5G technology turn out to be our Trojan Horse? In short, our freedom and security are at stake in the decision over Huawei. We should choose these values over the superficial promise of short term gain. Mr Johnson should remember another line this time in Latin from Virgil, describing the fall of Troy: Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Only this time its the Chinese. To commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, Madonna University will host a celebration Monday, Jan. 20, from 5:30-7:00 p.m., in Kresge Hall, featuring live music, dance performances, and guest speaker Dr. James Chaffers, who is a scholar, teacher, designer, and social activist. Chaffers' remarks will address the Universitys Mission theme: Impelled by our Mission and Heritage: We Build with Living Stones. An emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, Chaffers was first in the nation to earn a Doctor of Architecture degree. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he was recently elevated to the College of Fellows within the American Institute of Architects. While at U-M, Chaffers established the UM-Ghana Architecture Exchange, one of the first architectural study abroad programs in sub-Saharan Africa. In the local community, he has served as a founding member of the Detroit Housing Workshop for more than 30 years. In 1998, Dr. Chaffers was selected as the sole academic-professional designer to serve on a 17-member national design committee that generated the design criteria for a living memorial to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., constructed on the Mall in Washington, DC, and unveiled in 2011. A security alert has ended and residents have been allowed to return to their homes on Bann Drive in Londonderry after a suspicious object was examined. The object was found in a house by a resident and was declared by police to be "nothing untoward". A number of families had been evacuated from their homes. Army technical officers examined the object and the street is now reopened to traffic. (Newser) A divorced Kansas man who wants to talk to his children more often probably hasn't helped his cause by asking a court to let him kill his ex-wife and her attorney with a sword. According to court records seen by the Carroll Times Herald, 40-year-old David Ostrom asked a court in Iowa, where ex-wife Bridgette Ostrom, 38, lives, to allow him to settle a dispute over his ability to communicate with their two children with a "trial by combat." He said he had been "destroyed" legally and asked to be allowed to meet his ex-wife and her attorney, Matthew Hudson "on the field of battle where (he) will rend their souls from their corporal bodies." He also asked for 12 weeks to source or forge katana and wakizashi swordsthe long and short swords used by samurai warriors. story continues below Ostrom tells the Des Moines Register that he got the idea after reading about a case in which a judge on New York's Supreme Court acknowledged that duels had not been officially abolished. He says he filed the request out of frustration with Hudson. "I think I've met Mr. Hudson's absurdity with my own absurdity," he says, adding that he will allow the lawyer to serve as his ex-wife's "champion." In a motion filed against the request, Hudson corrected Ostrom's spelling, saying he must have "meant 'corporeal' bodies which Merriam Webster defines as having, consisting of, or relating to, a physical material body." Hudson also asked the court to suspend Ostrom's visitation rights and order a mental health evaluation. (Read more Iowa stories.) A woman who abandoned her baby in a Connecticut parking lot to freeze to death in 1988 has been identified by DNA testing, but won't be charged due to a statute of limitations, police said. Meriden Police Chief Jeffry Cossette said the manslaughter case has a 20-year statute of limitations, which means Karen Kuzmak Roche won't likely face charges. Roche, who is now married and living in Haddam, said she was 25 when the child was born and that her life was a mess when she left him to die, the chief said. A woman who abandoned her baby in a Connecticut parking lot to freeze to death in 1988 has been identified by DNA testing, but won't be charged due to a statute of limitations, police said. The child had been known as David Paul, by those who had discovered his remains Meriden Police Chief Jeffry Cossette said identified the mother who abandoned her child to freeze in 1988 as Karen Kuzmak Roche. 'Miss Roche indicated she had been waiting 32 years for the day on which police would be knocking on her door regarding this incident,' he said 'Miss Roche indicated she had been waiting 32 years for the day on which police would be knocking on her door regarding this incident,' Cossette noted. The State's Attorney's office in New Haven will have a final say on whether to charge her, reports WTIC. She did express remorse for leaving the baby at the foot of a tree in a Meriden parking lot, Cosette said. The child was found wrapped in a blanket on January 2, 1988, five days after being left to freeze. The case was cracked using a relatively new technique, which has been credited with helping solve cold cases across the country. It involves entering crime-scene DNA profiles into public genealogy databases, finding relatives of the person who left the DNA and building family trees that lead detectives to a suspect. The same method led to the 2018 arrest of the so-called Golden State Killer, who authorities believe killed at least a dozen people and raped 50 women. A police investigation unit is seen descending on the scene where the child was found on January 2, 1988, in footage from a news segment of the time Authorities are seen in a news segment from 1988 examining the scene where the child was found more than three decades ago An officer is seen removing the child's body, which had been left in blanket Roche told authorities that she called the fire department to report that they needed to search the parking lot for 'something' but didn't say it was her child. Cossette said first responders did go to the parking lot but did not find anything. She also told police that she was the only one who knew about her pregnancy, and she hid it with loose clothing. Police marked the discovery of the child held a memorial for him every year since the remains were discovered. Besides naming him David Paul, local clergy had referred to him as 'God's Little Man.' Police and others from the community marked the discovery of the child with an annual memorial (pictured) In addition to the statute of limitations on the manslaughter charge, Roche's phone call would make it difficult to prove that she had intended to murder her child, authorities said. The father was not identified, but officials believe he did not know anything about the pregnancy or the baby being abandoned. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:09:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A ceremony is held to mark the 2,570th anniversary of the birth of ancient Chinese sage and educator Confucius at the Confucius Temple in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, Sept. 28, 2019. Confucius (551-479 B.C.), an educator and philosopher, founded Confucianism, a school of thought that deeply influenced later generations. (Xinhua/Chen Bin) It is the development and progress of the mainland that fundamentally determines the direction of cross-Strait relations. BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Facing the complex and grim situation across the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese mainland has enough confidence and capability to overcome risks and challenges, a mainland spokesperson said Wednesday. It is the development and progress of the mainland that fundamentally determines the direction of cross-Strait relations, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press conference in Beijing. "We will uphold the basic principles of 'peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems' as well as the one-China principle, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely oppose separatist attempts and acts for 'Taiwan independence' in any form," Ma said. The mainland will continue to resolutely promote the interests and well-being of compatriots on both sides and the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and advance the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland, according to Ma. To her victims, they were priceless and irreplaceable family heirlooms. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. To her victims, they were priceless and irreplaceable family heirlooms. To former personal care home worker Anna Mercado, the wedding rings she pried from the fingers of her aged and vulnerable clients were just a means to extra pocket money. Prosecutors are seeking a one-year jail sentence for Mercado, who, while working at the Kildonan Long Term Care Home, stole jewelry from eight female residents between February and March 2019. All of the victims two of whom have since died suffered from mild to severe dementia. "This wasnt just stealing money, it was a violation of (the victims) personal integrity and autonomy," Crown attorney Nick Saunders told court at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. "Society has to know that these people must be protected." Court heard Mercado used lotion to remove tight-fitting rings, then sold them to a gold buyer, where they were melted down. For all but one of the rings, she received no more than $60. Family members of the victims told court how Mercado had shattered their trust and deprived them of cherished keepsakes. "I miss my mom with all my heart," said Leslie Ross, whose mother, Joan Wur, died just two weeks after Mercado stole two gold rings from her fingers. As Wur was dying and family members were gathering for their last goodbyes, Mercado "had the nerve" to visit and offer condolences, Ross said. "My mom would be heartbroken to know that instead of being passed on to her daughters, (her rings) have instead been melted down," Ross said. One woman said her mothers engagement ring was shipped from Canada to Scotland during the Second World War while her father was stationed overseas. Another said her mothers wedding ring never left her finger since she was widowed more than 50 years ago. The ring "was the last thing that was totally, totally hers," she said. "I feel guilty every day knowing I was not there to protect my mother." Sandy Hull said her 86-year-old mother has no memory of her wedding ring being stolen, and will often ask where it is. "I wonder if Anna Mercado knows she has caused this distress," Hull said. "This also makes me question the care she receives from her other caregivers I wonder if this type of thing could happen again." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Defence lawyer Colin Gray urged provincial Court Judge Larry Allen to consider allowing Mercado to serve a conditional sentence in the community, arguing a jail sentence could see her deported to the Philippines. Gray said Mercado was "tremendously forthright" when arrested, admitting to two additional thefts the police didnt know about. "She appreciates nothing excuses her actions," Gray said. Allen reserved his decision, and will sentence Mercado in the next month. As the sentencing hearing drew to a close, Mercado turned to face a court gallery full of her victims family members. She offered a tearful apology. "There is no valid reason to justify my illegal acts," she said. "I will carry that for the rest of my life. I know I hurt you the most because you trusted me the most." dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: According to secondary sources, total OPEC-14 preliminary crude oil production averaged 29.44 million barrels per day (mb/d) in December, lower by 161,000 barrels per day (tb/d) month-on-month, Trend reports citing OPECs Monthly Oil Market Report. Crude oil output increased mainly in Angola, while production decreased in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE, according to the report. The share of OPEC crude oil in total global production decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 29.4 percent in December compared with the previous month. Estimates are based on preliminary data from direct communication for non-OPEC supply, OPEC NGLs and non-conventional oil, while estimates for OPEC crude production are based on secondary sources. Preliminary data indicates that the global oil supply in December decreased by 0.06 mb/d to average 100.28 mb/d, compared with the previous month. Non-OPEC supply (including OPEC NGLs) increased by 0.11 mb/d compared with the previous month to average 70.84 mb/d in December, higher by 1.55 mb/d y-o-y. Preliminary incremental production in December was mainly driven by the UK, Norway, Canada, Mexico and the US. The 7th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held in December 2019, decided for an additional adjustment of 500 tb/d to the adjustment levels as agreed at the 175th Meeting of the OPEC Conference and 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting. These would lead to total adjustments of 1.7 mb/d. In addition, several participating countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, will continue their additional voluntary contributions, leading to adjustments of more than 2.1 mb. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn The Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Christian denomination in Kerala, on Wednesday said Christian girls are being targeted and killed after being forced into marriages and blamed the police for not taking effective measures to curb the menace. In an official communique, the church expressed serious concern over the issue and exhorted believers to be alert. It also said such practices were posing a serious threat to secular fabric of the state and cited many incidents to buttress its claim. Instead of viewing love jihad as a religious issue police should consider this as a law and order problem that threatens to vitiate communal harmony. Statistics with us show it is not sheer imaginary. There have been recent complaints in the state that women were sexually abused in the name of love and later forced to convert, the letter said. It also said that among the 21 people missing from north Kerala in 2016, who believed to have joined the Islamic State, many were converts from Christianity. There are reports that some of these Indian widows were languishing in a jail in Kabul. The communique signed by the media commission chief Father Antony Thalachellor said the church will carry out vigorous awareness programmes for parents and girls from the community. Love jihad is an alleged activity through which girls belonging to one community are converted by feigning love. Though the existence of such a phenomenon continues to remain under question, intelligence agencies do admit that in many conversion cases, modus operandi was similar and persons/institutions worked behind them were same. It came up prominently during the Hadiya Jahan case three years ago. Last year, vice-president of the National Minority Commission, George Kurian, had also sent a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a detailed probe by a central agency into such cases. In the letter, he claimed that many Christian girls were trapped and later forced to convert. He also quoted statics from an inquiry commission conducted by the Kerala Catholics Bishops Council saying at least 4,000 such cases were reported in one and a half decades in the state. The issue came up prominently during the Hadiya Jahan which grabbed national attention after the Kerala High Court annulled her marriage with Shefin Jahan saying it was a sham. Her father Ashokan had moved the court saying his daughter was indoctrinated and forcibly converted. He also claimed that she would be pushed to the Islamic State-controlled areas like the 21 missing people from the state. But in 2018, the Supreme Court had restored her marriage and allowed Jahan to go with her husband. Many reformist groups in the church, meanwhile, said that the issue has been raised at a wrong time and was intended to divert attention from some of the burning issues afflicting the church. Property disputes, capitation fee kickbacks and alleged sexual abuse charges against some priests church is mired in many issues. It seems this issue was raised all of a sudden to divert attention from them, said Kochi-based activist P Thankachhan. Both Hindu and Christian groups had floated helplines to check the so-called phenomenon. A Kochi-based yoga centre was in news for all wrong reasons last year after some of the girls complained that they were mentally and physically tortured at the centre to return to their faith. Prime Minister on Wednesday greeted army personnel on the Army Day, saying they are the pride of India. "The is the pride of Mother India. On the occasion of Army Day, I salute the indomitable courage, valour of all the soldiers of the country," he wrote on Twitter. The is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark the taking over as commander-in-chief of the by then Lt Gen K M Carriappa in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. Carriappa later became a Field Marshal. (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.) New Delhi: A report has emerged on how Ukraine International Airlines plane was brought down shortly after takeoff last week, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. According to New York Times, two Iranian had missiles struck down the passenger jet. NYT posted a verified security camera footage showing double projectiles gliding through the sky before hitting their target. Last week, Iran admitted that it shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane. Canada to investigate plane crash Meanwhile, Canadian investigators are flying to Tehran to access the wreckage and black boxes from a Ukranian jetliner. We dont fully know what the scope of our investigation will be, Transportation Safety Board (TSB) chair Kathy Fox told a press conference. However, she added, there have been early signs that Iran is allowing the TSB to play a more active role than is normally permitted. We do know what has happened. What we dont know is why it happened, Fox commented before listing off questions surrounding the crash that still need to be answered. Iran admits shooting down plane Regretting the crash, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani offered condolences to the families of the victims. Armed Forces internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people. Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake. #PS752 (sic), Rouhani said on Twitter. The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences, he said in another tweet. Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif termed the development as sad day. Using a heartbreak emoji, Zarif tweeted, A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces: Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations. Tensions are high in the Middle East after US killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Qasem Soleimani, the popular head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on January 3, ratcheting up tensions between the arch-foes. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Profits at Blackrock, the worlds largest asset manager, shot up 40 per cent to 1billion in a year which saw assets under management climb 1.1trillion. The investment titan now manages 5.7trillion for savers and pension funds around the world. Investors piled 327.3billion more into Blackrocks funds than they pulled out over the course of 2019 a record result for the firm, and more than three times as much as in 2018. BlackRock, which looks after $7trillion of clients' money, will exit investments that present 'high sustainability-related risk' This far exceeded the inflows of its nearest rival Vanguard, which pulled in 203billion. The other 782.5billion increase in Blackrocks assets came from rising markets and strong investment performance. The firm has managed to cash in on the growing popularity of passive funds among investors, which simply track an index and are often cheaper than actively managed alternatives. In 2019, customers piled 134billion into Blackrocks iShares range of index-tracking funds. Active funds, which tend to charge higher fees, still managed to pull in 84billion of investors money. A fierce debate has erupted over a western Sydney council's proposal to introduce 'female welcome spaces' for young women to congregate in public. The areas were originally intended to be called 'female safe zones' by The City of Canterbury Bankstown, but community consultation found the word 'safe' was not necessary. 'Responses revealed [women] did not feel in danger in Canterbury-Bankstown and there was no evidence to suggest ''female safe zones'' was an identified need based on a specific issue or request,' a spokesman told The Daily Telegraph. Local and founder of Community Support Services, Mona Mohamed, argued that the 'female welcome spaces' were needed Ms Mohamed who runs Community Support Services said many women 'open up with other women and be themselves' The plan has sparked debate among locals, with some claiming the idea would benefit the community - and others saying segregation creates more problems. The idea stems from council's Youth Plan which included a section stating there was an 'identified need' for safety in public spaces, including for women exposed to behaviour such as 'catcalling'. Ushen Isaac, a Canterbury-Bankstown local is concerned the female designated areas send the wrong message. 'It's absolutely wrong to segregate. When you separate one that's the time it starts all the issues. Everybody should be included. It all comes down to a lack of education in a society. If people are educated then they won't make others feel unsafe,' he said. Another local and founder of Community Support Services, Mona Mohamed, argued that the 'female welcome spaces' were needed. 'For Muslim women they open up with other women and be themselves. Women connect so well together. It can be their respite time or their ''me'' time. A lot of mental illnesses exist through isolation and feeling alone having a safe space would help that,' she said. More than 20 per cent of Canterbury-Bankstown residents are Islamic. Local councillor Linda Eisler has also said the spaces would not be women only and men would not be barred. She said the aim of the spaces was rather to provide designated areas where women could congregate to socialise and pursue activities they were interested in. The City of Canterbury-Banktown is expected to implement the 'female welcome spaces' this year Sebi on Wednesday introduced a facility for investors of PACL Ltd, having claims of up to Rs 5,000, to view status of their applications and rectify errors in the form, so that the markets regulator can initiate the process of refund for such entities. The regulator said the portal, wherein investors can view status of their claim applications, will be operational from January 24 and the last date for checking the status of applications and rectification of errors will be July 31, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a statement. PACL, which had raised money from the public in the name of agriculture and real estate businesses, was found by Sebi to have collected more than Rs 60,000 crore through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS) over a period of 18 years. A panel headed by retired Justice R M Lodha had initiated the process of refunds for investors of PACL having claim amount up to Rs 5,000 and till date over 3.81 lakh such investors have been paid. However, certain applications could not be processed further on account of one or more errors. The regulator in December said an opportunity will be provided to those whose applications had errors "to make good deficiencies as may be applicable to their claims, so as to enable their claims to be processed". Accordingly, Sebi has asked investors to check the status of their claim applications online on https://www.sebipaclrefund.co.in and rectify the errors, if any. It further said the portal will be operational from January 24, 2020. "The last date for checking the status of claim applications and/or rectification of deficiencies will be July 31," the regulator said. In December 2015, Sebi had ordered attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money due to investors. Sebi had asked PACL as also its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order dated August 22, 2014. The defaulters were directed to wind up the schemes and refund money to the investors within three months from the date of the order. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunman who opened fire at a Texas high school that left one student dead is being hunted by police. Grenita Latham, interim superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, confirmed the shooting victim at Bellaire High School had died. She gave no other information except that classes will go on tomorrow and took no questions. Emergency crews were seen performing CPR as the student was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance outside the school, KPRC-TV reported. Police officers respond to a shooting at Bellaire High School People wait outside Bellaire High School after a shooting and watch from the street as authorities respond There were conflicting media reports about whether the shooting happened inside or outside the school. The city, a suburb south west of Houston, confirmed on Twitter that there was a shooting and said the suspect is still at large. It advised resident to avoid the area around the school or remain in their homes. Officials gave no update on the suspect's status later at a news conference. Television footage from the school showed students gathered outside and police cars and an ambulance with their lights blazing. There were conflicting media reports about whether the shooting happened inside or outside the school Ukraine is a key partner to NATO and plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says the Head of Armed Forces General Staff Ruslan Khomchak Unian Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley met with Ruslan Khomchak, Chief of General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. U.S. Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. DeDe S. Halfhill reported that on January 14. The meeting took place at the NATO HQ in Brussels. "Ukraine is a key partner to NATO and plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe", reads the story on the website of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Khomchak and Milley discussed the current security situation in Europe. Besides, during his visit to NATO HQ, Ukraine's Chief of General Staff met with his counterparts from the Great Britain, Romania, Lithuania and Poland. The sides dicsussed boosting the military cooperation between Ukraine and the NATO member countries. Earlier, Dmytro Kuleba, the Deputy Prime Minister for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration said that Ukraine intends to send 20 military servicemen to Iraq, as soon as the NATO mission resumes its work in the region. Turtles continue to struggle in the world's oceans as research finds they are being forced to travel almost twice as far as normal to reach their feeding grounds. Greenpeace researchers fitted satellite trackers to ten female leatherback turtles in French Guiana to follow their movements as they ventured for food. Some made it as far as Canada and France in search of suitable feeding grounds, but one of the turtles tragically died after getting caught in a fishing net. Called Frida, she only made it as far as Suriname - 120km away - before becoming entangled and drowning. Her tale is echoed in a new short film released by Greenpeace in partnership with Aardman, the award-winning creators of Wallace & Gromit. Turtle Journey, a two-minute long film, follows the story of a turtle family and is voiced by Oscar winners Olivia Colman and Dame Helen Mirren. Greenpeace researchers tracked ten nesting female turtles in French Guiana to follow their movements through the North Atlantic as they ventured for food. Small satellite trackers were clamped to their shell (pictured) to watch them remotely The large leatherback turtles (pictured) were found in French Guiana and measured and each one of the ten was named. One of the turtles, Frida, only made it 120km before perishing Leatherback turtles migrate north after nesting to reach cooler waters where jellyfish, their prey, are more abundant. As the oceans warm and currents change, sea turtles are being forced to travel greater distances to find these abundant hunting grounds. The vast distances the turtles were forced to travel indicates the turtles are forced to adapt to cope with rapidly rising ocean temperatures and changing currents. These are driven by climate change and is forcing the turtles to venture further away from their breeding grounds than ever before. Wasting this energy to find food will likely result in fewer eggs being laid every season, inflicting more damage on an already dwindling population. The number of eggs laid by sea turtles on beaches in French Guiana is approximately 100 times smaller now than it was in the 1990s. Today, there are often fewer than 200 nests per season, compared to 50,000 in the 1990s, Greenpeace claims. Will McCallum of Greenpeace's Protect the Oceans campaign, said: 'Sea turtles survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, but they might not survive us. 'Human activity has put such severe pressure on sea turtle populations around the world that six out of the seven species of sea turtle are threatened with extinction, and without urgent action the situation will only get worse. 'The death of one out of the ten turtles we tracked just 120km from her nesting ground after being caught in a discarded fishing net is a stark and tangible reminder of the damage being caused to the oceans by humans.' The tale of Frida the sea turtle who died in fishing gear in Suriname is echoed in a new short film released by Greenpeace in partnership with Aardman, the award-winning creators of Wallace & Gromit (pictured) Turtle Journey, a two-minute long film, follows the story of a turtle family and is voiced by Oscar winners Olivia Colman and Dame Helen Mirren. It ends with a call for action for dedicated areas to protect marine life (pictured) Pictured: a leatherback turtle hatching on Awala Yalimapo Beach emerges from sand and seeks to reach the ocean. It was spotted in 2019 by a Greenpeace research expedition in French Guiana The damning report was released by Greenpeace alongside the short film Turtle Journey. In it, a family of leather-back turtles venture through the oceans before catasytrtophe strikes. Oscar-winning actresses Helen Mirren and Olivia Colman voiced two of the characters and have called for action to help save Earth's threatened marine life. Olivia Colman, voicing the turtle family's mother, said: 'We're taking [home] away from turtles, whales, penguins and so many other incredible animals. 'Most of us instinctively love the oceans and care about the amazing marine life that lives there, but far fewer people know how much pressure they are under. 'If we don't act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.' Her call to arms was echoed by Dame Helen Mirren, who said she was 'saddened' by the destruction caused by her generation. 'We have a chance to do something now and leave a legacy of properly protected oceans to all the people who come after us,' Dame Helen adds. 'We can't bring back what we've already lost, but we can protect what we still have. I hope this film will help to make more people realise the ocean is worth protecting, and inspires us to act before it's too late.' Greenpeace is campaigning for an international treaty to give marine life dedicated spaces away from human interference. Mr McCullum said: 'We must protect our oceans with a network of sanctuaries where turtles and other animals are safe to breed, grow old and feed. 'To do this we need a strong new Global Ocean Treaty to be agreed at the United Nations this year.' Former Louth TD Gerry Adams has confessed to being emotional at the prospect of stepping back as a TD for Louth after nine years serving the county. Gerry Adams was addressing a party meeting in Dundalk where he briefed activists on the successful negotiation to restore the political institutions in the North. Mr Adams said: As my term as a TD for Louth comes to an end I have to confess to being emotional about departing after serving the people of this constituency for nine years. "I am deeply indebted to the citizens who elected me in 2011 and again in 2016 with Imelda Munster. I want to thank all of them and also my comrades in Sinn Fein. "Throughout my nine years in Louth my endeavour was to keep a national focus while delivering locally. "This included developing alternatives to Brexit, advancing the national cause, co-operating with neighbouring border counties and campaigning for projects like Narrow Water Bridge which as recently as last week we succeeded in getting into the New Decade, New Approach agreement which enabled the re-establishment of the power-sharing government at Stormont. "Locally we concentrated on improving the provision of public services particularly the provision of a Primary Care Centre in Dundalk, Mental Health services, housing provision, a new county ground for the GAA, and much more. "Sinn Fein, along with civil society and organisations like Border Communities Against Brexit has worked hard to ensure that there will be no physical infrastructure reinforcing the border dividing Ireland. "But there is much more work to been done to protect our economies North and South and to oppose the efforts by the British to dilute the rights agenda in the North." This is the shocking moment a suspect is beaten with a baton, kicked and repeatedly shocked with a Taser by deputies during a traffic stop. Christopher Butler, 30, was pulled over after reportedly being seen driving 15mph and swerving on Interstate 95 in St. Johns County, Florida, at around 1.15am on December 29. Authorities said the suspect resisted arrest and attacked deputies but cellphone footage captured by a witness allegedly showed deputies using excessive force to subdue him. Video released by Butler's attorney shows a bald-headed officer kicking the suspect as he lies slumped against the side of a vehicle. After ordering him to 'get on the ground', another officer hits the suspect with a Taser and he screams in pain Three St. Johns County Sheriff's Office deputies were placed on paid administrative leave last week after the victim's family came forward with cellphone footage of the incident. Butler - who was reportedly badly injured - was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer and probation violation. He was also charged with DUI and remains in jail without bond. According to the arrest report, he kicked and punched officers and bit one deputy on the arm. A trooper then used a Taser on Butler, who fell to the ground but was said to be 'not fazed' by the shock. Police also claimed a hospital evaluation showed he was under the influence of PCP at the time of his arrest, News4Jax reports. But the suspect's lawyer claimed he was suffering from a 'severe medical condition'. Video released by Butler's attorney shows a bald-headed officer kicking the suspect as he lies slumped against the side of a vehicle. After ordering him to 'get on the ground', another officer hits the suspect with a Taser and he screams in pain. As he hunches over on the floor, the officers warn him to put his hands behind his back or he will get the Taser again. The bald officer then fetches a baton and strikes Butler with it four times while a colleague holds him down. The bald officer then fetches a baton and strikes Butler with it four times while a colleague holds him down The witness filming it accuses the officers of 'police brutality' and urges them to 'just cuff him'. Butler is hit again with a Taser by a third officer and falls forward on the concrete before the video cuts out. St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said it was not aware of the footage until a complaint was made by Butler's family. Force spokesman Chuck Mulligan said: 'Once we received the video we immediately placed three individuals on administrative suspension. 'And of course they have no law enforcement powers pending the outcome of that case.' According to the arrest report, Anthony Deleo, Joseph McGinnis and Patrick Ponticello were the deputies involved in the incident. A trooper who pulled Butler over and used his Taser on him was not disciplined. In a statement John M. Phillips, representing Butler, said: 'Our client was savagely beaten by police officers for 'not cooperating' while he was experiencing a severe medical condition. 'They then defamed him and mistreated him and he still can't get the medical attention he needs.' Butler's mother Teri Morgenstern told News4Jax her son was taking medication for a cold at the time and was not on any illegal drugs. She said: 'They beat him like he was nothing. Like he wasn't a human being.' NEW DELHI: In a stern warning to Pakistan, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday said that the country's armed forces will continue their policy of ''zero tolerance'' towards terrorism and that they are ready for any future warfare. Speaking on the occasion of 72 Army Day celebrations, Gen Narvane said, ''The Indian Army is ever vigilant and keeping an eye on global developments. We will continue to stick to our policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and cross-border infiltration emanating from the neighbouring country.'' ''There are many alternatives for dealing with terrorism and the Indian armed forces are fully prepared to thwart any challenge,'' Gen Naravane said. In his first speech on the Army Day, Gen Naravane said the soldiers are the strength of the armed forces. Adding that India has zero-tolerance for terrorism, Army Chief said that the borders are strongly guarded and that India is ready for any future warfare. The Army Chief congratulated the armed forces and their families on the occasion of Army Day. Saluting the soldiers for their valour, 'supreme sacrifice' and selfless devotion, chief Naravane said, "The Indian Army is taking rapid steps with regard to 'technological embrace' and 'indigenisation'. We shall continue to do all that we can to uphold our core values and ethos as also to live up to the trust reposed in us." ADGPI - INDIAN ARMY - Army Day 2020 https://t.co/HmXyLgmKjJ ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) January 15, 2020 The warning from Gen Naravane came on the occasion of 72nd Army Day. Gen Naravane also reviewed the annual parade at the Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi. He also presented gallantry and other awards to his personnel. Live TV Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and three services chiefs on Wednesday greeted the Indian Army on 72nd Army Day. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote, ''Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army.'' The PM also posted a video of Army personnel rescuing an expecting mother and said, ''I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child.'' Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also extended his greeting to the Indian Army personnel on the occasion of Army Day, 2020. The Defence Minister shared a photo with the Indian Army personnel on his twitter handle. "On Army Day today, I salute all valiant Indian Army personnel and recall with pride their indomitable spirit, valour and sacrifices in making India a safer place. #ArmyDay2020," Singh tweeted. CDS General Bipin Rawat along with Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane paid tribute at the National War Memorial on the occasion of Army Day. ##ArmyDay ' , - , , , ' ' ' pic.twitter.com/GiChfsBsT2 ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) January 15, 2020 Along with CDS and Army Chief MM Naravane, IAF Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh also paid tribute at the National War Memorial on the occasion of Army Day, 2020. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also extended wishes to the brave soldiers and ex-servicemen of the Indian Army."Wishing all the Indian Amry brave soldiers of, ex-servicemen who sacrifice their lives in protecting the country`s borders and their families a very happy Army Day. Jai Hind #Army Day 2020," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Army Day: What is the significance, history Every year, the Indian Army celebrates the Army Day on January 15. It is because, on this day in 1949, the Indian Army got its first chief. Lieutenant General KM Cariappa took over as the reins of the armed force as first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. The Army Day is celebrated at all Army Command headquarters in order to honour the soldiers of our country who have set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood and more than anything the love for the country. The annual parade is held at the Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi to mark the event. The parade is reviewed by Indian Army Chief. He also presents gallantry and other awards to Indian Army personnel. Neither is the national front-runner, but Mr. Sanders is believed to have gained significant ground in Iowa, and both are on the minds of the president and his team. Most of Mr. Trumps advisers see his biggest looming threat as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has maintained a steady level of support despite an onslaught of attacks from the president and his team. But there is often a divide between how Mr. Trump and his aides view opponents. Over the past few weeks, aides to the president in a series of conversations have discussed how to keep the focus on Mr. Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist who favors a significant expansion of government health programs and who is currently at the top of some Iowa polls. They see attacking him as a way to excite his base and draw attention away from other Democrats. Such efforts tend to be haphazard and revolve around Mr. Trumps comments at rallies and on his Twitter feed, as does much of the messaging of his campaign. The president, his advisers say, has been in need of a clear target for months, and he believes he is actually hurting Mr. Sanders. Mr. Trumps advisers do not necessarily share that view. But they find utility in trying to elevate Mr. Sanders, and aides are discussing ways to keep attention on Mr. Sanders in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3. MIAMI, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gridics LLC, a real estate tech and data company, today announced its recognition as a GovTech 100 Company for the second consecutive year. The annual GovTech 100 list is the result of a competitive, in-depth review of companies focused on, making a difference in, and selling to state and local government agencies across the US. "Year five of the GovTech 100 is one of the strongest we've seen, as companies both large and small are tackling more complex problems around state and local government," said e.Republic Chief Innovation Officer Dustin Haisler. Gridics LLC Gridics' nomination comes on the heels of a successful year defined by a string of new city adoptions, platform market expansion to new major metros, and the release of the world's most advanced municipal zoning platform, CodeHUB by Gridics . Since its launch in February 2019, CodeHUB has become the only data driven zoning publishing platform available to cities, combining the published text with a 3D mapping and citizen self service tools. "We're honored to be named a GovTech 100 company for the second year in a row. This recognition underscores our commitment to making local government more efficient," explains Gridics CEO, Jason Doyle. "Municipal zoning has long been too confusing for citizens to interpret. Our patented technology digitizes a city's zoning ordinance into parcel-specific data and visualizations. With that data, we are able to deliver unique citizen service tools and staff software applications which reduce low-value staff time spent answering basic zoning questions and improves overall transparency. As we look to 2020, we are excited to be leading the way in the world of tech-enabled planning and zoning and look forward to partnering with more cities." About Gridics: Gridics, short for Grid Analytics, develops real estate software applications, data and professional services with a focus on zoning interpretation and development analysis. For more information, visit www.gridics.com . Contact: Austin Rhoads 786-220-5295 [email protected] SOURCE Gridics LLC An image from a magnetohydrodynamic simulation by the Gamera project at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory shows bursty flows (in red and brown) in the plasma sheet. Auroras and satellite function might be influenced by ''bubbles'' of plasma near the tail of Earth's magnetosphere, researchers find. The sun continuously emits what is known as "the solar wind," a stellar breeze that can travel 1 million mph (400 kilometers per second) through space. On Dec.15, 2019, researchers published a new study that investigated the vibrations and "bubbles" that the solar wind creates within Earth's magnetically charged shell, and how it shows up on Earth's night side. Upon reaching Earth, the solar wind strikes the planet's magnetosphere. On the outer part of the magnetosphere, the solar wind's charged particles generally glide off like water on a duck's back; but in the inner magnetosphere, it causes turbulence, according to these researchers in a recent statement. Related: Rising 'Phoenix' aurora and starburst galaxies light up the skies This turbulence creates complex effects, including many different types of waves. For this study, physicists at Rice University developed a new method to study the disturbances, or oscillations, that occur in the plasma at the base of the magnetosphere.. The Rice University physicists collaborated with researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University to develop a code to help them run simulations about these oscillations, or "ripples." An algorithm known as the Rice Convection Model, which Rice officials say is "decades in the making," played a part in this magnetospheric code. The algorithm is called Gamera after the fictional Japanese monster of the same name. Earth's magnetosphere is shaped a bit like the cross section of a wing. The side of the magnetosphere facing away from the sun Earth's nightside is where you have the pointed tail of the wing and where "burst bubbles" of plasma get caught and sink back toward Earth, creating ripples within the plasma. The ripples move like a plucked guitar string that quickly returns to equilibrium, Frank Toffoletto, space plasma physicist at Rice University and lead author of the new study, said in the statement. These low-frequency waves, called eigenmodes, haven't been studied much but "appear to be associated with dynamic disruptions to the magnetosphere" that cause phenomena like beautiful auroras, or less-appealing events, like disruptions to satellites and power grids here on Earth. This new research was published on Dec. 15 in the journal JGR Space Physics. Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. The European Parliament has said it has grave concerns over the UKs treatment of EU citizens after Brexit and has accused Boris Johnsons government of putting them in jeopardy. MEPs on Wednesday backed a resolution by 610 votes in favour to 29 against with 68 abstentions criticising the UKs handling of the situation. The resolution also stressed that their approval of the Brexit deal later this month would depend on new assurances being given from the UK side. The EUs political groups united to accuse the UK government of failing to protect EU nationals from future discrimination by employers and landlords, and said Europeans should be issued with a physical document as proof of their right to reside in Britain. EU countries have watched the Home Offices bungled handling of the Windrush scandal with horror and worry that the same thing will happen to their citizens after Brexit. Recommended EU confirms there will be border checks inside UK under Brexit deal The same question came back time and again, with different personal twists, said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen during a debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday. One came from a young man who came from Benelux, living in the UK who was of course worried about his future. Another came from a British lady who has an Italian husband who was worried about his status, whats going to happen with him, she said. People want certainty about their lives and their future, and certainty about the future of their loved ones. Guy Verhofstadt, the parliaments Brexit coordinator, meanwhile said: If theyre not addressed now, before the end of the month, they wont be on the table before the end of the year. Pro-EU demonstrators pass the Houses of Parliament (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images) I cannot imagine that the European Parliament will agree, for example on an FTA (free trade agreement), without solving the problem and the concerns of the EU citizens and UK citizens. The resolution calls for the full protections of the divorce deal to be implemented, and questions the independence of the UKs independent monitoring authority for the system. It says better oversight of the body is needed, potentially with input from the EU side itself. 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 successful motion also calls on EU countries to provide legal certainty for British people living on the continent where the response has varied by country. Home Office figures show that around 2.6 million out of three million EU citizens living in the UK had applied for settled status by the end of November 2019. More than 2.2 million cases have been concluded, with 59 per cent granted full settled status and 41 per cent so-called pre-settled status. A Home Office spokesperson said: We have done far more than any other EU member state has done for British citizens, and its time they adopted a similarly generous approach. We have already provided certainty to 2.5 million people who have been granted status through the EU Settlement Scheme. Its free, theres plenty of support available and it provides a secure digital status which cant be lost, stolen or tampered with. Former national security adviser John Bolton shook up the Trump impeachment standoff recently with his announcement that, if subpoenaed, he is "prepared to testify" before a Senate trial. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has demanded a trial include witnesses. Schumer specifically wants the Senate to hear testimony from Bolton, current White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and two other White House officials, Robert Blair and Michael Duffey. To testify or not to testify? The potential witnesses have a lot of thinking to do. Their situation is unprecedented. There is no guidebook to tell them what to do. So here are some of the factors that Bolton, Mulvaney and other possible witnesses have to weigh: House vs. Senate: Neither Bolton nor Mulvaney testified before the House impeachment inquiry. Bolton did not receive a subpoena. Mulvaney defied one, at the direction of the White House. Bolton's former deputy, Charles Kupperman, was subpoenaed and asked a court to decide whether he would be required to testify. At that point, House Democrats abruptly withdrew the subpoena. Pelosi, impeachment leader Rep. Adam Schiff, and others claimed that a court fight would take too long, given the urgency that Trump be removed from office as soon as possible. So they dropped the issue. A judge later declared the matter moot. Now, the questions surrounding potential testimony remain unanswered. If there was a problem requiring judicial resolution in the House, wouldn't there also be a problem when the Senate seeks testimony? The answer is yes, but possibly in different ways. First, it seems extremely unlikely that a court would rule that the president's aides have a blanket immunity that would prevent them from even appearing before the Senate. But at the same time it seems likely that some, or perhaps all, of the conversations between Bolton and the president, or Mulvaney and the president, would be covered by executive privilege. It is not clear whether the White House will assert the privilege. But there seems little doubt that the White House, should it seek to bar the president's closest advisers from answering at least some questions, would have some legal options to pursue. The Roberts factor: House and Senate impeachment proceedings are entirely different from each other, and one of the biggest differences is the presence in the Senate trial of a representative of the judicial branch of government, in the person of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Constitution says the chief justice will "preside" over the Senate trial. On the other hand, the Constitution gives the Senate the "sole power" to try the impeachment. So it is highly unlikely that Chief Justice John Roberts will take charge of the Trump impeachment trial. But he will be there, even if he is just a rubber stamp -- in other words, he will give the imprimatur of the judicial branch to the Senate's actions. So, say the Senate, with the chief justice presiding, voted to issue a subpoena to Bolton, or Mulvaney or anyone else. And say the recipient of the subpoena challenged it in court. How exactly would that work? Federal judges are not in the business of overruling the chief justice of the Supreme Court. If an impeachment dispute ends up in court, Roberts' role could make the decisions of lower court judges -- in other words, the entire federal judiciary -- awkward at best. Show up, yes. Answer questions, no: Finally, even if Bolton or Mulvaney or others were subpoenaed, and even if they challenged the subpoena in court, and even if they lost, there is a difference between showing up to testify and actually answering questions. There is no doubt that both men, and perhaps others, could honor a subpoena, appear and then decline to answer a number of questions on the basis of executive privilege. If executive privilege covers anything, it is a president's deliberations with his chief of staff and his national security adviser on the issue of foreign policy. The privilege is the president's, not Bolton's or Mulvaney's or anyone else's. Bolton's brief statement said that he is "prepared to testify," but it did not get into details of whether he would answer all questions or whether he would follow White House directions, if there were any, or what else he might or might not do. That will be critical if Bolton, Mulvaney or other witnesses appear before the Senate. Each will be allowed to have a lawyer present, and it seems likely that White House lawyers will be present, too. Those lawyers could raise privilege issues repeatedly, depending on what is asked. Testimony that is billed as dramatic, and even explosive, might be somewhat less exciting in reality. Bolton's statement is an important development. But there is a lot more to the question of how testimony would work in a Senate impeachment trial. Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The world's two dominant economic powers, the United States and China, are poised to sign a trade truce on Wednesday, letting businesses around the globe breathe a sigh of relief. After a nearly two-year battle, the signing could give US President Donald Trump an election-year boost as well. Still, tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports remain in place, leaving many Americans to foot the bill. The "phase one" agreement -- which includes pledges from China to beef up purchases of American crops and other exports -- also comes just as Trump faces an impeachment trial in the US Senate, giving him a victory to trumpet at least in the short term. The easing of US-China trade frictions has boosted stock markets worldwide in recent weeks, as it takes the threat of new tariffs off the table for now. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump's negotiating stance led to a "fully enforceable deal" which could bring additional tariffs. If China fails to abide by the agreement, "the president has the ability to put on additional tariffs," Mnuchin said on CNBC Wednesday as part of a media blitz promoting the new pact. However, the most difficult issues remain to be dealt with in "phase two" negotiations, including massive subsidies for state industry and forced technology transfer. But Mnuchin said the deal puts pressure on Beijing to stay at the negotiating table and make further commitments, including on cyber-security and other services to win relief from the tariffs that remain in place. "In phase two there will be additional roll backs," Mnuchin said. "This gives China a big incentive to get back to the table and agree to the additional issues that are still unresolved." Still, elements of the deal the administration has touted as achievements effectively take the relationship between the two powers back to where it was before Trump took office. "The US-China phase-one deal is essentially a trade truce, with large state-directed purchases attached," economist Mary Lovely said in an analysis. Even so, "The truce is good for the US and the world economy." Still, the trade expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, cautioned that "we will continue to see the impact of this in slower investment and higher business costs." US officials have said they will release details of the agreement set to be signed at a White House ceremony at 11:30 ET (1630 GMT) Wednesday. After announcing the deal December 13, the US canceled a damaging round of new tariffs that were due to kick in two days later and promised to slash in half the 15 percent tariffs on $120 billion imposed September 1 on consumer goods like clothing. Mnuchin dismissed a Bloomberg report that the initial agreement could include provisions to roll back more tariffs on China after the election. "The tariffs will stay in place until there is a phase two. If the president gets phase two quickly, he will consider releasing tariffs. If not, there won't be any tariff relief," Mnuchin said Tuesday on Bloomberg TV. "It has nothing to do with the election or anything else." Washington said Beijing agreed to import, over two years, $200 billion of US products above the levels in 2017, before Trump launched his offensive. Trump has repeatedly touted the trade pact as a boon for American farmers, saying China will buy $40 to $50 billion in agricultural goods. US farmers were hit hard by the tariff war -- notably on soybeans which saw exports to China plunge to just $3 billion from more than $12 billion in 2017. The Trump administration paid out $28 billion in aid to farmers in the last two years. But many economists question whether they have the capacity to meet that demand. And Lovely raised a question about the wisdom on relying so heavily on the Chinese market. "It also means Chinese retaliation could be reinstated, dampening farmers' willingness to invest to meet the very hard export targets in the deal." US and Chinese officials say the agreement includes protections for intellectual property and addresses financial services and foreign exchange while including a provision for dispute resolution, which Mnuchin said will be binding for the first time. Trump in August formally accused China of manipulating its currency to gain an advantage in trade and offset the impact of the tariffs. The label, which had no real practical impact, was removed earlier this week. The deal also restores a twice-yearly dialogue process that previous administrations conducted regularly but that Trump scrapped. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lucknow top cop takes charge, promises smart policing LUCKNOW Lucknows first police commissioner, Sujeet Pandey, who took charge on Wednesday, stated that better and smart policing would be his top priority. He asserted that the police would be focused on reducing crime, improving investigation and establishing better connect with the general public. Reducing incidents of crime and their better investigation will continue to remain the priority of police in Lucknow. Police officials will have to understand their roles in the new system and work according to it, said Pandey. The officer spoke of constituting a dedicated team for prevention of crime and its investigation. The team was expected to have officers who are experts in surveillance, data gathering, forensics and law. A 1994 batch IPS officer, Pandey was holding the post of ADG (Allahabad zone) before being assigned for the role of first commissioner of police (Lucknow) by the government. To improve policing, we will focus on specialised postings for designated work. We can improve the quality of work by doing so, said Pandey during his interaction with the media. Pandey, who had earlier served as IG (Lucknow zone) earlier, also said he would ensure round-the-clock availability of police for people in distress. Lucknow police will establish Jan Sunwai platforms that will function round the clock, so that the police could provide relief to people in distress, said the officer. Better traffic management was also listed as a priority by the officer. Traffic is another important aspect, considering its volume in the city. We will work to improve the existing traffic system here. This will be done in coordination with the local administration, said Pandey. The officer later met additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi. The officers discussed the law and order situation in the city. Awasthi asked Pandey to use his experience to improve the law and order situation in Lucknow. Ways to ensure womens safety and the process of identification of criminal elements in the city were also discussed, said the officer. The police commissioner system was rolled out in Lucknow and Noida recently by the state government. Police officials posted at both these places would be trained about their additional duties under the new system. JAN SUNWAI PLATFORMS *Pandey said he would ensure round-the-clock availability of police for people in distress. *Lucknow police will establish Jan Sunwai platforms that will function round the clock, so that the police could provide relief to people in distress, said the officer. An urgent warning has been issued after deadly 'brain-eating' bacteria was found at a popular swimming spot. Serpentine Falls, a stunning swimming spot 50 kilometres south-east of Perth, was closed on Tuesday after the bacteria, Naegleria Fowleri, was found. The bacteria has sparked safety fears as it can cause an infection known as amoebic meningitis, which can lead to to inflammation of the brain. Serpentine Falls, a stunning swimming spot 50 kilometres south-east of Perth, was closed on Tuesday after the bacteria, Naegleria Fowleri, was found The bacteria was found during a routine water test, sparking safety fears as it can cause an infection known as amoebic meningitis, which can lead to to inflammation of the brain Amoebic meningitis is rare, but can be a fatal disease. Infection occurs where water is forced into a persons nose at pressure from jumping, falling or diving into the water. The Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale has urged for anyone who has recently been swimming in the area and experienced, severe and persistent headaches, high fever or other symptoms to contact a medical professional. The swimming spot has been closed until further notice. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders talk after the Democratic presidential primary debate - AP Elizabeth Warren took Bernie Sanders head-on over his alleged comment that a woman could not beat Donald Trump, saying she had never lost an election, unlike the men on the debate stage. In the final televised debate before voting begins in the race for the Democratic nomination, Ms Warren leaned into a row with fellow left-winger Mr Sanders about a comment he is reported to have made in a private meeting between the pair in December 2018. Video footage also appeared to show Ms Warren declining to shake hands with Mr Sanders as they exchanged words after the debate. The dispute brought to the fore the concerns among some Democratic voters that sexism played a role in Mr Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Asked about the claims during Tuesday night's debate, Mr Sanders strongly rebuked the claims saying: "I didnt say it... Does anybody in their right mind think a woman can't be elected president? Of course a woman can win." The Vermont senator went on to say it was incomprehensible he would make such a comment. Ms Warren, who represents Massachusetts in the Senate, stood behind her accusation and used the opportunity to make a forceful case for a female president. "Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie," she told the audience in Des Moines, Iowa. "But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and its time for us to attack it head on." Ms Warren used the moment to turn the heat on the four male candidates on the stage, saying "collectively they have lost 10 elections", while herself and the only other female on stage, Amy Klobuchar, had won every race they had run in. Story continues Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders talk after the Democratic presidential primary debate Credit: AP There was also a brief skirmish between Mr Sanders, who opposed the Iraq War, and Joe Biden, the former US vice president, who apologised for supporting for a 2002 measure authorising the military action. Several candidates condemned Mr Trump's recent move to kill Iran's top general and his decision to keep US troops in the region. Others, including Pete Buttigieg, Mr Biden and Ms Klobuchar, said they supported maintaining a small military presence in the Middle East. The terse exchange between Ms Warren and Mr Sanders, the two progressive candidates in the race, brought a week of growing tensions between the pair to a head. The longtime friends had avoided directly sparring with each other since entering the race, choosing instead to target the party's moderate wing, and in particular the front runner Mr Biden. However at the start of the week it emerged Mr Sanders' campaign had a script for cold calls where his volunteers were urged to tell voters Ms Warren was being backed by the elite if her candidacy was mentioned. Shortly afterwards Mr Sanderss alleged comment about a woman not being able to beat Mr Trump surfaced, leading to speculation it was briefed by the Warren campaign. The dispute deepened on Monday when Ms Warren took the unusual step of confirming the report, even as Mr Sanders continued to deny it. Voting begins in Iowa, the first state to make its decision on the nominee, in less than three weeks and Mr Sanders and Ms Warren are locked in second and third place in nationwide polling. Mr Biden is first. Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden greeets Senator Bernie Sanders as they take the stage for the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines Credit: Reuters Ms Warren saw an early surge in support and briefly overtook Mr Biden in October, but Mr Sanders has consistently led the field when it comes to generating campaign funding, taking in $34.5 million in the last quarter and topped a poll in Iowa this week. David Axelrod, a former campaign strategist to President Barack Obama, praised Ms Warren's performance on the debate stage, telling CNN the 70-year-old had thrown "a grenade" into the Bernie Sanders campaign. Meanwhile Mr Trump, who was holding a rally in Wisconsin, waded into the row, saying: "I don't believe that Bernie said that, I really don't. It's not the kind of thing Bernie would say." Iran and other nations have waged a stealth cyberwar against the United States for at least the past decade, largely targeting not the government itself but, rather, critical infrastructure companies. This threat to the private sector will get much worse before it gets better and businesses need to be prepared to deal with it. As in the days of pirates and privateers, much of our nations critical infrastucture is controlled by private companies, and enemy nations and their proxies are targeting them aggressively. The U.S.-Iran cyberconflict has simmered for years, but the current crisis boiled over with Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq that led to the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike that killed a senior Iranian general and terrorist leader. Irans supreme leader threatened harsh revenge, but said Iran would limit those efforts to military targets. But even before Iranian missiles struck U.S. military bases in Iraq on Jan. 7, pro-Iranian hackers reportedly attacked at least one U.S. government-related website, along with a number of private company sites. Of greater concern, a new report details significant recent efforts by Iran to compromise the U.S. electric, oil and gas utilities. Iran, which has reportedly attacked Saudi Arabian energy production, is also capable, according to U.S. officials, of conducting attacks against thousands of electric grids, water plants, and health and technology companies in the U.S. and Western Europe. Disrupting those systems could cause significant damage to homes and businesses and, in the worst case, injuries and death. Much of our targeted critical infrastructure is under the control of private companies. Without government protection -- and in the absence of any agreed-upon rules of cyber warfare -- businesses are at high risk, and strict American criminal laws prohibit many forms of cyber self-defense by private companies. But there are straightforward measures companies can take both to protect themselves and to enhance our collective national cybersecurity. What will Iran do? Though its impossible to predict with certainty the behavior of the Iranian regime and their many proxies, their cyberattacks likely will continue to go well beyond governmental systems, which are reasonably well defended. Iran and its supporters likely will focus on easier targets operated by private companies. A recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security alert highlights Irans capacity and willingness to engage in multiple types of destructive cyberattacks over the last decade. According to indictments filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, as cited in the DHS alert: Beginning as far back as 2011, Iran has conducted numerous Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, sending massive amounts of internet traffic to knock websites offline. Irans DDoS attacks have targeted, among others, financial institutions, for whom the resulting downtime reportedly cost millions of dollars. In 2013, one or more Iranians working for the countrys Revolutionary Guard illegally accessed the control system of a New York dam, although no direct damage apparently was done. In 2014, Iran conducted an attack on the Sands Las Vegas Corporation, stealing customer credit card, Social Security and drivers license numbers and wiping all data from Sands computer systems. Between 2013 and 2017, hackers working on behalf of Irans Revolutionary Guard conducted a massive cyber theft operation targeting academic and intellectual property data, along with email information, from hundreds of universities, more than 45 companies, at least two federal agencies, at least two state governments and the United Nations. It is possible that new efforts along these lines could be planned and timed to affect upcoming American elections. In addition, other countries could launch attacks and try to blame them on Iran, or vice versa. No clear cyber rules of engagement For conventional and even nuclear warfare, nations have, over the centuries, agreed to rules of armed conflict. Theyve developed ways to signal their intentions to escalate or deescalate a conflict. The U.S. and Iran have, for now, deescalated their public military conflict, thanks to Iran warning of its missile attack and not killing or injuring anyone and the U.S. not taking any further military action. But cyberspace remains the wild west, with few, if any, agreed-on rules of engagement or well-understood signaling mechanisms. This makes any ongoing cyberconflict between Iran and its enemies all the more dangerous, with critical infrastructure companies at risk of being caught in the crossfire. Without government assistance, those companies are largely on their own in defending against Iranian or other foreign government attacks. Strict criminal laws severely restrict companies defensive options, prohibiting, for example, technologies to trace and destroy stolen data. Collective cyberdefense All of that said, there are steps companies can take to protect themselves, not only from Iranian or other governmental attacks but against hacking by data thieves, ransomware gangs, corporate rivals, disgruntled employees or anyone else. Vigilance and communication is key. Companies, particularly in critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, financial, telecommunications and health care, should stay in closer-than-usual touch with appropriate governmental bodies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the appropriate cyber Information Sharing & Analysis Centers. ISACs can help companies quickly get threat intelligence from the government and report attacks that may have implications beyond a single company. Businesses also should carefully check their systems for malware previously inserted maliciously to enable future attacks. They should, of course, scan their systems on an ongoing basis for viruses and other malicious code that could let hackers have unauthorized access to systems or data. Companies should also securely back up their data, closely monitor data traffic on their networks, require workers to use multi-factor authentication when logging into IT resources, and provide cybersecurity training and awareness to employees. Protecting our national and economic security from attack is in the hands of private citizens and companies in a way that hasnt been true perhaps since British boat owners rescued their nations army from annihilation at Dunkirk in 1940. By taking reasonable cybersecurity measures, companies, and all of us individually, can not only help protect ourselves and our nation but, perhaps, even help to prevent a war. This article was first posted on The Conversation. The move may complicate efforts to revive stalled talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up nuclear weapons. The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two North Korean entities it accused of facilitating the export of workers from North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions. The US Treasury Department announced the sanctions on the Korea Namgang Trading Corp and China-based North Korean lodging facility Beijing Sukbakso. The move could complicate efforts to revive stalled talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. The department said the former entity had facilitated or been responsible for the exportation of workers from North Korea to generate revenue for the North Korean government or governing party. It said the latter ran a China-based lodging facility to facilitate labour export. The exportation of North Korean workers raises illicit revenue for the government of North Korea in violation of UN sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The sanctions imposed on Monday freeze any US assets of the blacklisted entities and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with them. They come at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Pyongyang has expressed frustration at what it calls Washingtons lack of flexibility in talks and warned that there were no longer grounds for it to be bound by a self-declared moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear weapons testing. US officials said North Korea must take more concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes before sanctions are eased. On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful North Korea would make the right decision despite slow progress. The sanctions that we have put in place on North Korea along with the rest of the world have certainly caused Chairman Kim to think seriously about the right path forward for his people, he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The ruling BJP held three public meetings in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district on Wednesday in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The public meetings were held in Kasumpti, Dhalli and Shoghi. The Bharatiya Janata Party activists carried out a march at each of the three places before holding the rallies. District BJP president Ravi Mehta accused the opposition Congress and the Left parties of misleading the public on the CAA. The CAA will provide Indian citizenship to the minorities facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and it will not snatch away citizenship of any Indian, he added. The BJP activists raised slogans in support of the CAA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the march in Shoghi Bazar located on the Shimla-Chandigarh highway. With this, the BJP's 10-day door-to-door campaign in the state to spread awareness in support of the CAA concluded on Wednesday. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the campaign on January 5 in Himachal Pradesh from Shimla's Totu to spread awareness about the CAA, which met with widespread criticism and countrywide protests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bengal reports 21,098 new COVID cases 11 Jan 2022 | 9:33 PM Kolkata, Jan 11 (UNI) West Bengal, witnessing a steady rise in the COVID-19 infection, reported 21,098 new cases on Tuesday, according to the state health department. see more.. Modi appeals to people to take booster dose of Corona vaccine 11 Jan 2022 | 9:25 PM Patna, Jan 11 (UNI) Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP member of Rajya Sabha Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday appealed to people to take shot of booster dose of Corona vaccine. see more.. Sikkim Democratic Front demands enhanced security for Chamling 11 Jan 2022 | 9:19 PM Gangtok, Jan 11 (UNI) Opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) on Tuesday demanded enhanced security for former Chief Minister Pawan Chamling after his alleged harassment in Melli at the hands of ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha activists. see more.. Three including TPC sub zonal commander nabbed in Jharkhand 11 Jan 2022 | 9:17 PM Hazaribagh, Jan 11 (UNI) Three ultras including a sub zonal commander belonging to the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) have been arrested by the Hazaribagh Police in Jharkhand along with arms and ammunitions. see more.. Sealed with handshake: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain to dissolve the Dail. Photo: Mark Condren Fine Gael is planning a three-pronged campaign which will see the party's key players separately seek to shore up support ahead of polling day on Saturday, February 8. It will be the first time an election has been held in Ireland on a Saturday since 1918 - with Fine Gael hoping the weekend vote will help more working families and students favourable to the party to get to the polls. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney will embark on separate nationwide tours while Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will be based in the party's headquarters in Dublin. Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney will both campaign separately with election candidates while Mr Donohoe, who is the party's director of elections, will hold daily briefings on the key issues. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin will launch a similar ground offensive, relying less on staged events in favour of meeting as many voters as possible. The opposition leader, who believes the main parties are "neck and neck", will push the message that the country needs change after nine years of Fine Gael government. However, Fine Gael is eager to highlight its ministerial team during the campaign, and a party source said Health Minister Simon Harris and Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will be "out front and centre" defending their records. "We will be very much taking on housing and health and Simon and Eoghan will be important figures," the source said. Fine Gael is also expected to target Border communities over the next three and half weeks to highlight its performance on Brexit. The party's campaign launch is being held today in a forklift factory in Co Monaghan. Yesterday, the Taoiseach said he called the election for February 8 because he wanted a new government in place for a crucial European Council Summit on Brexit on March 26. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail will launch a major ground offensive focusing on party leader Micheal Martin meeting voters during daily canvasses with teams of candidates. Last night, he was canvassing with the party's Dublin North West candidate Paul McAuliffe in Finglas. Fianna Fail's core message will be that the country wants change and it will criticise Fine Gael for making long-term promises about fixing the health service and the housing sector in the distant future. A Fianna Fail source said Fine Gael's election slogan, "a future to look forward to", was an example of its criticisms of the party. "The slogan that they pulled out demonstrates the key point we are making that they are always talking about things happening in the future," the source said. "People want things fixed now." Sinn Fein and the Labour Party are set to make the retirement age an election issue. Mary Lou McDonald will promise to reduce the retirement age from 66 to 65, while Brendan Howlin said he will stop it increasing to 67 next year if in government. However, the two main parties will seek to squeeze the smaller parties out of the campaign and force voters to choose between Fine Gael or Fianna Fail on election day. Speaking yesterday, Mr Martin said he believed the two parties were "neck and neck" in terms of public support. Mr Martin said there were "a lot of competitive electoral battles in the different constituencies" which will determine the outcome of the election. Fine Gael sources said they expected the two parties to win up to 60pc of the overall vote once the ballots are counted. The Fianna Fail leader also said he would "love" a head-to-head debate with Mr Varadkar. TDs from all parties are expected to face-off on a series of debates on RTE's 'Prime Time', which will focus on their portfolios. The first debate is due to take place on Thursday and it will see Mr Donohoe take on the other party finance spokespersons on the economy. Mr Varadkar confirmed the date of the election at the end of yesterday's Cabinet meeting. He told ministers if he was re-elected to power, he would first talk to Independent TDs who "had the courage to go into government" with Fine Gael in 2016. It means Mr Varadkar would be likely to ask Transport Minister Shane Ross and Children's Minister Katherine Zappone to rejoin Fine Gael in government if they are re-elected. Ms Zappone said she "would be happy to talk to anyone who wishes to speak with me", while Mr Ross expressed a desire to progress new legislation to overhaul how judges are appointed which failed to become law before the Dail was dissolved. After he informed the Cabinet, the Taoiseach called Mr Martin to inform him of the election date. Mr Varadkar then travelled to Aras an Uachtarain to officially seek President Michael D Higgins's permission to dissolve the Dail The election writ will be signed in the coming days and the election campaign will then have legally commenced. Candidates will have seven days to put their names forward for election after it has been signed. Parties were last night still putting final touches to their election tickets with a number of new candidates expected in the coming days. There has also been a wave of retirements of senior political figures, which means the landscape in several key constituencies has dramatically changed ahead of polling. Finding 'no merit' in the curative plea of the 2012 Delhi gangrape convicts, the Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the execution of all four on 22 January at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises. New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday told the high court that execution of the death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case will not take place on 22 January as a mercy plea has been filed by one of them. The four convicts Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) are to be hanged on 22 January at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on 7 January. Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were told by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by convict Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. The Delhi government and the prison authorities informed the court that under the rules, it will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. They also said that none of the four convicts can be executed on 22 January unless the present mercy plea is decided. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay. Finding "no merit" in the curative plea, the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances, the apex court cleared the way for the execution of the four convicts on 22 January at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises. The only option now available to the convicts is that they can file a mercy petition before the President, reported Bar and Bench. The hearing which is going on since morning will continue post-lunch. This is the sickening moment a pervert turns up to meet a child, before being confronted by vigilante paedophile hunters. Jason Tilbury believed he had been having explicit online conversations, over social media app Skout, with a 15-year-old girl but had been duped by Dark Justice. When the 50-year-old arrived at Newcastle Central train station to meet the schoolgirl, members of the group, who set up fake internet profiles to snare adults looking for illegal contact with children, were waiting. The undercover group members, who video recorded the sting, had already alerted the police. Jason Tilbury, who thought he was talking to a 15-year-old girl, is captured on camera by paedophile hunters Tilbury pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence at Teesside Crown Court and has now been jailed for 27 months. A member of Dark Justice said: 'The chat became sexual straight away, when he found out how old she was he clearly saw a weakness. 'It wasn't long at all, maybe a week, until he wanted to meet. 'He was always trying to cover his tracks, I think the sentence is brilliant, offenders are getting real sentences. Mr Tilbury sent a picture of himself topless to what he thought was a 15-year-old girl over media app Skout Mr Tilbury sent a picture of himself topless to what he thought was a 15-year-old girl over media app Skout 'It is really positive when you see a jail sentence, for any victim who might have suffered abuse it shows the system does care. 'It is better than a slap on the wrist, like a suspended sentence or something, and could keep a real child safe in future.' Tilbury of Hastings, must abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sign the sex offenders register for ten years. Formed in 2009 in New York City by vocalist-guitarist-producer Dustin Payseur, Beach Fossils was thrown under the infamous "indie rock" umbrella, a placeholder genre that once exclusively referred to independent artists but now applies to a broad sound that many musicians can claim. The "indie rock" umbrella has grown to encompass more than the moniker implies. Beach Fossil's sounds are spread across the umbrella's dome, each rib representing a distinct musical style. The band is sometimes surf rock, sometimes shoe gaze, sometimes dream pop, sometimes post-punk, sometimes lo-fi. Payseur, who started Bayonet Records with his wife Katie Garcia in 2015, wanted to make sure their "indie rock" label signed artists of all styles, not restricted by perceived genre. Payseur says he was drawn to the artists he's signed simply because they've moved him with their music. "Having a taste in music is like having a taste in food," he offers. "You dont eat something and think, 'Do I like this?' or 'Is it disgusting?' You just know." From a commercial standpoint, Bayonet Records is an indie rock label charting a course that's distinct from major labels such as Sony, Warner or Sub Pop, whose artists The Strokes, Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, for example sometimes get the "indie rock" stamp though they benefit from big budgets and wide distribution unavailable to smaller enterprises. From a musical standpoint, it has all become a blur. "The term indie rock is completely meaningless at this point anyway," Payseur says with a shrug. "People describe major rock bands as indie rock bands. ... If youre someone who loves music and makes music, the last thing you want to do is get trapped into making something one kind of way. I love all kinds of music and want to explore as much as I can." Beach Fossils will play Jan. 21 at the Charleston Pour House. If you go WHAT: Beach Fossils w/ Negative Gemini and Desert Noises WHEN: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 WHERE: Pour House, 1977 Maybank Hwy. PRICE: $18 advance, $20 day of show MORE INFO: charlestonpourhouse.com/show/beach-fossils Among artists on Bayonet Records are Frankie Cosmos, Lionlimb and Red Sea musicians that skew from emo to jazz to electronica and funk. "I wanted it to be this breeding ground for creativity," Payseur says of the label. And that also applies to his own music-making, a creative outlet he's turned to since he cut his teeth playing weekend gigs at the Milestone in his hometown of Charlotte. He moved to New York City to form a band and has settled on the current lineup after sifting and shifting through various instrumentalists over the years. In his stockpile, Payseur has hundreds of unreleased demos that he's been working on since he was a teenager. Some, he says, are entirely cringe-inducing. But he'll listen to others when he's stumped in the studio and recycle a particular guitar riff or lyric if it makes sense. "If you dont allow yourself to get to the point where youre vulnerable enough to look back and see that what you've made is cringe-y, you havent tried hard enough," Payseur suggests. "Otherwise, youre censoring yourself too much." When it comes to creating, Payseur doesn't censor. He compares the experience to something spiritual. He turns the lights off, preferring the dark to quell the distractions, and lights a Diptyque-brand candle (he says he splurges on his candles). Then, in the flickering ambiance of his home studio, Payseur lets the song take over his body. He says he starts with the bass, playing bass like guitar and then guitar like a bass, building the song step by step until the layers are so intense he has to peel some back to find the final track beneath. "I know that when Im sitting there and thinking about the song and where it should go next, Im doing it wrong," Payseur shares. "That song's not going to be any good. The best songs are (created) when Im so in the zone it becomes, not to sound too corny, like a spiritual experience where there is a lost sense of self, a lost ego. I'm not focusing on myself writing a song, I just kind of become song and the song is creating itself." For the upcoming album he's working on for Beach Fossils, he says he already has 103 demos. He hasn't yet settled on the final collection of about 11 tracks that will make the album. He says he'll know when it's ready. A new study unveils that rising temperatures as a result of global warming may increase deaths from car crashes, violence, suicides, and drowning - and these will have an effect on young people the most. Deaths from injuries have long been acknowledged to be seasonal, and the new research uses facts on almost six million deaths in the United States to calculate the impacts of a 2C upward thrust in temperature, the main target set by the world's nations. The scientists figured that this growth would bring about 2,100 more fatal injuries every year in the US alone. People tend to go outdoor more and drink more alcohol on hotter days, while better temperatures are acknowledged to increase charges of violence and suicide. The analysis did display a small reduction in the wide variety of deaths associated with injuries among older people, probably because there is much less ice in winter. Previous studies on the impact of the climate emergency on health have targeted common illnesses such as coronary heart failure and infectious diseases, which include malaria. The scientists say the youth play crucial roles in helping societies and economies and that measures to address deaths from injury ought to be a public health priority. Prof Majid Ezzati, a professor Imperial College London who is part of the research team, said the results show how much climate crisis can affect the youth. "We need to respond to this danger with better preparedness in terms of emergency services, social guide, and fitness warnings." Injury deaths had been anticipated to increase in all countries as temperatures rose, he stated, although local elements would impact the extent of the growth - for example, the usual of avenue safety or level of gun control. The world is presently on the right track for 3 to 4C temperature rise, suggesting the increase in damage deaths will be even higher. The study, published in Nature Medicine, is primarily based on information on recorded deaths from injuries in each county inside the mainland US between 1980 to 2017. It extensively utilized temperature records to discover the months while the average temperature changed into 2C better than usual. This enabled the researchers to account for the truth that people adapt to normal local situations but are suffering from uncommon temperatures. Comparing the facts allowed the scientists to estimate the annual boom in deaths that would end result from a 2C upward thrust. Men are already more likely than women to die from accidents, and the researchers found that 84% of the additional deaths were among men. The most affected age range is 15 to 34 years old. Road crashes accounted for 42% of the greater deaths and suicide 30%. Deaths from violence and drowning both made up a total of 14%. Drownings boom in a hot climate as more humans swim. Ezzati said a long record of labor that indicates injuries are fundamentally seasonal, noting that human beings drown more in summer. "We also know that warmth affects each of our physiology and our behavior," Ezzati added. The reasons deaths from suicide and violent assault boom in a hot climate are not fully understood. But the researchers stated it was possible that people spending more time outside had a greater danger of confrontations. People also tend to be more agitated in a hot climate and might drink extra alcohol, which could cause additional assaults. Previous research suggests that excessive temperatures related to higher degrees of mental distress, especially in young human beings. Injuries already kill more than five million human beings a year, aside from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, and such deaths are rising. Policies to address the climate crisis need to consist of measures to fight deaths from accidents, stated Shanthi Ameratunga and Alistair Woodward of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in a commentary on the studies. "The need to deal with this foremost public fitness hassle is specifically pressing in low- and middle-income international locations that enjoy over 80% of the global damage burden and are usually greater at risk of the results of extreme weather," they stated. "The public fitness community tends to forget about that harm deaths are definitely a pretty huge factor [in overall mortality]," stated Ezzati. "The emphasis on young people is a crucial component of the story, as they're educationally and economically active." Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, are, of course, embroiled in a separate family drama, as they seek to step back from their royal duties. After an emergency family summit on Monday, Queen Elizabeth said on Monday that she had agreed to a period of transition, during which her grandson and his wife would split their time between Canada and Britain. But she cautioned there remained complex matters for the family to decide. Liam Hemsworth publicly declared through his new PDA-filled photographs that he is no longer single. On Dec. 2019, months after the public spotted him kissing Maddison Brown for the first time, Liam led a new girl to meet his parents, Craig and Leonie, over lunch in Byron. The meeting appeared to be intimate enough that people speculated that he is already dating the young lady -- 21-year-old Australian model Gabriella Brooks. A source also told Us Weekly that Liam "feels comfortable" with the model. "His family approves of her and likes her, which is very important to him," the source went on. Since the meet-and-greet, neither Liam nor Gabriella confirmed their real score. However, this time, the 30-year-old actor let the photos of them do the talking. New Year, New Liam, New Girlfriend? As an extension to his 30th birthday celebration on Jan. 13, Liam chose to spend a day with Gabriella. But it was no ordinary "quality time" his fans expected. New Idea luckily photographed the "Isn't It Romantic" actor and his rumored new girlfriend at Byron Bay beach in New South Wales, Australia. The photographs revealed that the two are already getting more comfortable -- and steamy, at the same time -- with each other. In the photos, Liam and Gabriella can be seen lying side by side on the sand, sharing a kiss, doing all the PDA, and hugging each other. Liam, Gabriella Move On at The Same Time Before they spent their time with each other, the two previously went through downs and experienced failed relationships. The Australian model grabbed the spotlight after she broke up with "The 1975" frontman Matt Healy years after they publicized their relationship. Per The Sun, there was a "strain on their relationship, not helped by him being on tour a lot this year." The source also added that Gabriella had enough of Matt, who always parties at home. Meanwhile, Liam formerly announced in August 2019 that he and Miley Cyrus agreed to separate before their marriage even reached its first anniversary. Miley's representative told People: "Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what's best while they both focus on themselves and careers. They remain dedicated parents to all of the animals they share while lovingly taking this time apart. Please respect their process and privacy." After Miley, Liam also went out with "Dynasty" actress Maddison Brown. Two months after he called it quits with Miley, TMZ reported that Liam and Brown were seen romantically strolling around while holding hands -- almost inseparable -- after enjoying their meals at The Flower Shop Bar in West Village. In addition to the report, E! News also stated that they had photographed Hemsworth and Brown both smiling together on the subway before they were spotted in the village. However, their rumored romantic relationship was only shortlived, also as evidenced by Maddison's silence during her interview with Daily Telegraph - Australia. The reporter asked Brown if she is still single, but she chose to laugh the question off and told the reporter that she has rules. She refused to answer the question since she does not want to talk about her personal life. With all these events happened before they met, they can only hope for the best thing to happen. Public Works Director Matthew Supert said officials are aware of stakes with white paint or flags involving the nonprofit Julie, which checks underground utility lines to ensure safe digging, but added they dont know, yet, the companies who may be requesting Julies services. Within 30 days of placement, officials should have more information, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:23:31|Editor: zyl Video Player Close CANBERRA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia's science minister has said that people arguing over the existence of climate change and its impact on bushfires are wasting time. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said that unnecessary debate over the cause of Australia's bushfire crisis is distracting from recovery efforts and the development of new mitigation strategies. "Every second we spend discussing if climate change is real is a second we don't spend addressing these issues. Let's move on and get over this," she said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday night. Andrews will on Wednesday convene a meeting of Australia's top scientists who will be tasked with developing a response to the "devastating and surprising" fires. "My starting position in the discussion will be that the climate has changed and it continues to change," she said. "We need to focus on the steps to adapt and mitigate the impact of those changes." Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday committed to adapting to the changing climate. "The longer, drier and warmer seasons that we're seeing are a reality and so while you take your actions as part of a global effort on emissions reduction, the practical thing that actually can most keep you safe during the next fire or the next flood or the next cyclone are the things that most benefit people here and now," he told reporters in Canberra. "So climate resilience, climate adaptation, the fact that over the next 10 years, it's a fact that we've got longer, hotter, drier summers means we have to prepare practically as we have been and need to do so more in the future." Union Home Minister on Wednesday hit out at the Congress and other opposition parties for spreading negativity on jobs and economy fronts, saying those who did nothing in 60 years of their rule are now questioning the Modi government. Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) here, the minister said the government's target to make India a $5 trillion economy was achievable and the youth's inclination towards entrepreneurship may play a big role in achieving the objective. Shah said the Congress could only manage to take the country's economy to a $2 trillion mark despite ruling for decades, but the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership took it to $3 trillion in just 5 years time. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said those who did nothing to steer the country's economy in 60 years were now questioning the present government. He said the government is taking necessary steps to ensure that youth get the required skills and employment opportunities and are future ready. On the Opposition being raising the issue of unemployment, he said there are some who view things through a negative prism. "When they talk about unemployment, a question always comes to my mind, you have ruled this country for 50-60 years, what measures did you take," Shah asked referring to different Congress-led governments that were in power at the Centre since Independence. He further asked was there any new solution found during 50-60 years of Congress' rule to provide employment to the country's youth. Is it justifiable that "you (Congress) ruled for 50 years without doing anything new and now you are seeking answers from us", he said. The senior BJP leader said that the government has been taking several initiatives to skill the youth, saying that the young population is a major strength of the country. "Some may view this as a weakness, but I think 70 crore young population is a major strength," the minister said. He said the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) will not only help skill India's youth but will also make them job creators instead of job-seekers. On this occasion, Industrialist Ratan Tata, whose group is partnering the government in setting up the institute, said many visionary initiatives were being taken up by the present regime. "I wish I was 20 years younger so that I could contribute more," Tata said. Union Minister for Skill Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said before became prime minister, the country had seen of opportunism barring a small period of ruling under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Pandey also emphasised on skill development and said it ranged from areas from defence to artificial intelligence now. The 20-acre Indian Institute of Skills is among the three institutes that the government is setting up. The government has chosen Kanpur, Mumbai and Gandhinagar to set up Indian Institutes of Skills. The foundation stone for IIS, Kanpur was laid by Prime Minister at NSTI, Kanpur in December, 2016. The foundation stone for the institute in Mumbai was laid last year. The proposed institutes are to be modelled on Singapore's ITES. Shah laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) at Nasmed in Kalol tehsil of Gandhinagar through remote control at a ceremony at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. The IIS Gandhinagar and Mumbai are being set up in partnership with the Tata Education and Development Trust. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran were also present on this occasion. Shah suggested linking of the Indian Institute of Skills, Gandhinagar with around 272 industrial training institutes in the state towards upgradation of ITIs, a suggestion which was accepted by Ratan Tata. ALBANY New Yorks new top government transparency official was hired in darkness. When the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the hiring of Shoshanah Bewlay as the executive director at the Committee on Open Government last week, it came as news to many of the bodys 11 commissioners by design. The Cuomo administration had ordered Bewlays hiring stay under close wraps until just before a press release was issued Jan. 6, keeping the news secret from even the people overseeing the entity. Peter Grimm, who was appointed to the committee by Cuomo, had no idea Bewlay had been hired until he read about it in the newspaper. "I read her bio, and I look forward to learning more about her, said Grimm, the minority leader of the Rensselaer County Legislature. The Cuomo administrations extensive efforts to tightly control public information are well-established. New York is widely viewed as among the most challenging states in the country to obtain public records, despite a law on the books outlining the information that is presumed to be public. In her new role, it's also not clear if Bewlay will be allowed to push back or if she wants to. During her prior four years in the Cuomo administration, Bewlay was general counsel at the state Office of Information Technology Services and oversaw agency responses to open records requests. She routinely wrote opinions in favor of delaying and denying Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, ruling against the Times Union in 10 of out 10 decisions she issued last year to the newspaper. The committee, a very small office within the Department of State, is a quirk within state government where its staff attorneys in the past have focused on writing legal opinions about whether states agencies are justified in their decisions concerning the Freedom of Information Law requests they handle. It also is tasked with providing guidance and opinions on other open-government matters, including the Open Meetings law. The opinions sometimes cited in court cases arent legally binding and the Cuomo administration and many other government entities have routinely ignored them. Still, in a state government culture where public dissent is shunned, the committee's opinions, most of them written by the now scandal-plagued former executive director, Robert J. Freeman, have at times cast doubt on Cuomo's transparency practices. The committee, which issues annual reports on matters involving government transparency, had been known for its independence under Freeman, whose legal expertise built over decades in the job gained him acclaim and influence with the news media, masking a darker side. Freeman resigned in disgrace last year after a state investigation found hed simultaneously engaged in extensive sexual harassment of women who were either co-workers or journalists. The level of autonomy enjoyed by Freeman may be ending with his successor. In the state inspector general's report documenting Freemans misdeeds, the office found that his frequently-made statement that he answered to no one in state government meant he had too much freedom, which allegedly enabled his unbridled harassment. The inspector general recommends implementation of a clear supervisory and reporting structure for Freemans successor, the office wrote. After Freeman's departure, government-reform groups called for a replacement that would be perceived as independent from the state's political power structure. Instead, Cuomo picked someone who for much of her career thus far has worked under the governor. Bewlay, who is being paid $180,000-a-year in the new job, said in a statement that she takes very seriously the role this office has in promoting an open and transparent government for the people of New York. She said the office will continue the committee's important mission to advise the government, public, and news media on the Freedom of Information, Open Meetings and Personal Privacy Protection laws. The committee and its staff will continue to offer guidance, prepare written legal advisory opinions and deliver training to interested groups, she said. I look forward to working with the committee, members, the press and other stakeholders committed to honest and open democracy. Bewlay declined to be interviewed for this article or to answer written questions about her past work at ITS. She did not provide copies of her past legal decisions at the agency concerning FOIL requests, stating that those records themselves would have to be provided through FOIL. Of the 11 Committee on Open Government commissioners, six must be members of the public not in an elected office, and at least two must be current or former representatives of the news media. But many of those members had little role in Bewlays hiring. The Cuomo administration, in fact, asked members of a five-person group that led the search for an executive director made up of Department of State officials and commissioners not to tell the full board of directors about the hiring decision. Just before a press release was issued announcing the hiring, the committee's chairwoman, attorney Franklin Stone, sent an email announcing the hiring to the other commissioners. We were asked by DOS to hold off on informing the full board until everything was final, and I only got authorization to send an email to the (committee's) board an hour or so before the press release was issued, Stone said via email. Bewlay was "the best candidate among many impressive applicants," said Stone, an appointee of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. "We are looking forward to her leadership as (the committee) enters a new era." The Department of State did not answer questions about why it kept the process so secret. Unlike some other positions in state government, nothing in law required the committee's commissioners to vote to approve the hiring. Instead, the decision and process were left to Cuomo. As the top lawyer at the Office of Information Technology Services, Bewlay had an office across the hall from Robert Samson, the top official at the agency during the final two years of her tenure. There, she gained a reputation as an adept attorney, as well as Samson's staunch defender. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. In late 2017, an anonymous letter sent to Cuomos office, outlining still-unproven allegations of wrongdoing by ITS leadership, sparked an inspector general's investigation into the agency and a bunker mentality. In March 2018, after the allegations were anonymously posted on a website, NysITSCorruption.com, the office's leadership shut down its employees access to the website from their work computers. In addition, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, Bewlay was prominently involved in an internal ITS effort to root out the state employee or employees that were leaking internal information. The technology office has denied the anonymous allegations. After more than two years, the inspector generals office has still not closed the inquiry into ITS. In 2018, the Times Union filed a number of Freedom of Information Law requests related to ITS and Samson, whose conduct has also been the subject of an inspector general's investigation. The counsel's office, run by Bewlay, was tasked with responding. In response to the Times Union, an ITS FOIL officer delayed filling a number of the requests for phone and email records, and cited exemptions permitting the agency to not fill another at all both common occurrences in responses from agencies controlled by the Cuomo administration. The Times Union then filed a series of 10 appeals in 2018, seeking reversals. As the top lawyer at ITS, Bewlay was in charge of adjudicating the appeals. And in all ten instances Bewlay ruled in favor of the ITS FOIL officer, confirming the decisions to delay or deny access to records and ruling against the newspaper. Bewlay worked at the state attorney generals office under Cuomo beginning in 2007 and remained there until 2014. Previously, Bewlay worked as an associate at two major law firms Skadden Arps and Gibson Dunn where she specialized in the defense of large corporations in securities and tender offer litigation, according to the press release announcing her hiring. A major aspect of Bewlay's job at both the attorney general's office and ITS was overseeing its eDiscovery tool, a feature of Microsoft Office 365, which allows ITS to sift state employee emails for a particular search term. Last year, she refused to use that system to respond to FOIL requests from the Times Union for specific records. Previously, the state Department of Health had told the Times Union it could not fill a FOIL request seeking a search of agency employee emails for terms related to Crystal Run Healthcare, a major Cuomo campaign donor. But using its cloud-based system which ITS implemented to much fanfare in 2013 ITS can conduct searches of state employee emails for a particular term. When the Times Union asked ITS to do the email search that the health department claimed it could not, the ITS FOIL office under Bewlay refused. The law does not require it," an ITS spokeswoman told the Times Union last February, "and the process is inconsistent with the purposes of FOIL." John Kaehny, executive director of the government reform group Reinvent Albany, said that he does not expect Bewlay to go "head to head" with Cuomo's administration the same way Freeman at times did, given her background working for the governor. Instead, Kaehny said, she could use her technology background from ITS to do something about the antiquated way agencies and local entities keep track of FOIL requests and their progress. Politically sensitive FOIL requests, such as those filed by journalists, are often delayed because they're given an extra review by Cuomo's office, which is alerted to records' requests filed by journalists. But the vast majority of delays faced by New Yorkers are for simpler reasons: State and local governments can't keep up with the volume and complexity of requests. "Right now, the issue is less case law, and more one of customer service," Kaehny said. "The system is in a complete meltdown." Advertisement A Mississippi dam is on the verge of imminent collapse, officials said Tuesday, urging hundreds of residents to evacuate as the region is bombarded with heavy rains and flash floods. On Tuesday the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam swelled due to pounding rains that raised water levels in the area near Starkville. Water got between the dam and the ground beneath it, compromising the structure's integrity, engineer Clyde Pritchard said to the Starkville Daily News. Officials are now urging residents to evacuated the area, although the order is not yet mandatory. If it does break, the dam will flood 17,400 acres of nearby land to some extent. About 250 people would have to evacuate at least 112 households, the Commercial Dispatch reported in September. The Oktibbeha County Lake Dam in eastern Mississippi is 'imminent danger' of failing, officials said Tuesday due to heavy rains and floods. On Tuesday county officials tried to relieve water pressure on the dam by placing pipes into it to carry out water (above) Aerial footage shows county emergency workers trying to relieve water pressure from the dam. Water got between the dam and the ground beneath it, compromising the structure's integrity according to engineer Clyde Pritchard An aerial view of the dam pictured above. If the dam does break, it will flood 17,400 acres of nearby land and affect some 250 locals in at least 112 households 'There is a high probability of failure,' the National Weather Service in Jackson said Tuesday. 'Those in this area should evacuate and seek higher ground!' The map shows the danger inundation area (circled in red) that will be effected if the Oktibbeha Lake Dam breaks The flash flood warning on Tuesday affects Clinton, Jackson, Brandon, and Ridgeland, Mississippi Im on the scene by Oktibbeha County Lake. Emergency and county workers have placed four tubes to relieve water pressure on the dam. Stay tuned for more information #WCBINEWS pic.twitter.com/1cXjhwfR4g StephaniePooleWCBI (@StephPNews) January 14, 2020 'There is a high probability of failure,' the National Weather Service in Jackson said. 'Those in this area should evacuate and seek higher ground!' 'After inspection, the County Engineer believe failure of the dam is imminent,' The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said. On Tuesday county officials were seen trying to relieve pressure from the dam using tubes to pipe out water from the levee. The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors has issued a warning and activated the emergency action plan. Locals living long Riviera Road and Walter Bell Road should evacuate immediately, officials said. As of Monday evening only one person had evacuated. Severe storms have swept across the South, bringing severe flooding. The swollen Yazoo River in Mississippi pictured on Saturday A woman pictured being rescued on Tuesday in Pearl, Mississippi after her car got stuck in severe flooding A woman sits stranded in her Dodge Charger on a flooded street in West Jackson, Mississippi on Tuesday Some drivers in Jackson, Mississippi were left completely stranded on Tuesday as heavy floods inundated the region The weather map for the Jackson, Mississippi area on Tuesday pictured above The Oktibbeha County Lake Dam is located in eastern Mississippi Oktibbeha County is expecting to see half an inch or more of rain on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. The weather service in Jackson issued a flash flood emergency warning for northern Oktibbeha County and south central Clay County. Flash flooding is also forecast to affect northeast Louisiana, southeast Arkansas, and north portions of central Mississippi due to a cluster of showers and thunderstorms. Floods were so bad on Tuesday that the Warren County Fire service and Warren County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi rescued a driver who got trapped in a car in water. Later on Tuesday Clay County also warned residents, located downstream of the dam, to be on alert warning that they may need to evacuate if the dam breaks. In September the county sought federal funds to replace the Oktibbeha dam. The dam, built in the 1960s, has been in need of repairs for years. In 2016 state inspection confirmed the levee needed updates, but the county has struggled to get the funds to do so. Nearly 8 inches of rain has fallen this month at the Mississippi State University campus in Starville. At least 1.37 inches of rain fell Tuesday morning in Starkville. This has been the wettest start to January since 1989, according to Weather.com. Winter storms in the South have claimed the lives of at least nine people so far. [January 14, 2020] FASTSIGNS International, Inc. Celebrates 35th Anniversary with #1 Ranking on Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 Sign, Graphics and Visual Communications Franchisor Recognized As the Leading Franchise Opportunity in Its Industry for Fourth Consecutive Year CARROLLTON, Texas, Jan. 14, 2020 /CNW/ -- FASTSIGNS International, Inc. , franchisor of FASTSIGNS, the leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchise, announced today it has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 for the fourth consecutive year. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks FASTSIGNS as #55 the only sign, graphics, and visual communications franchise to be recognized in the top 100 for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power. "This is an incredible way to mark FASTSIGNS' 35th year in business being recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine for our continued position as the leader in our category. The FASTSIGNS brand has never been stronger, which is a testament to our outstanding franchisees, excellent franchise support team, strong unit-level economics, as well as the strength of our franchise opportunity," said Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc. FASTSIGNS reported exceptional results in 2019, including the signing of 35+ franchise agreements in the U.S and Canada. to develop new, co-branded, and conversion centers and the opening of over 30 locations. Internationally, FASTSIGNS opened its first locations in Chile, Malta, and France, and signed an additional master franchise agreement to develop centers in the Dominican Republic. This year, FASTSIGNS is aiming to sign 45+ franchise agreements and enter several new countries. In the U.S., the brand is targeting growth in markets like Michigan, Southern California, Florida, New York City, Boston and the northeast corridor. FASTSIGNS also is continuing to seek qualified candidates to grow its international footprint in target markets throughout the world, including Quebec, New Zealand, and Brazil, as well as countries throughout North Africa, Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Europe. For any existing business looking to expand into this fast-paced market, FASTSIGNS offers co-brand and conversion programs to help owners diversify their product lines and services to meet the growing demand for comprehensive signage and visual communications solutions. FASTSIGNS has helped countless owers of print shops, photography studios, camera stores, embroidery shops, and more, add a FASTSIGNS to their existing business or fully convert their store to a FASTSIGNS franchise. FASTSIGNS franchisees receive ongoing training and support to stay ahead of the competition and exceed the needs of their local business community. Both the co-brand franchise opportunity and conversion can be started with only $15,000 down on the initial franchise fee. FASTSIGNS also offers a special incentive for first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, sheriffs, and firefighters, which includes a 50 percent reduction on the franchise fee a savings of $24,875. FASTSIGNS is consistently ranked as a top franchise opportunity. In 2019, Entrepreneur named FASTSIGNS one of the Top Franchises for Veterans. FASTSIGNS also was recognized as one of the top business opportunities for veterans in Franchise Business Review's 2019 Top Franchises for Veterans report. FASTSIGNS was named to the 2019 America's Best Franchises to Buy list by Forbes magazine. FASTSIGNS made Franchise Direct's list of the Top 100 Franchises and ranked #2 on Franchise Gator's Top 100 list, both ranking the best franchises for 2019. Franchise Business Review has recognized FASTSIGNS as one of the "Best of the Best" for franchisee satisfaction for the last 10 years, as well as naming FASTSIGNS to its "Innovative Franchises" list in 2017, and its Top 50 Franchises for Women and Top Service Franchise lists in 2019. In 2018, Franchise Business Review named FASTSIGNS a "Best-in-Category" franchise. The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) awarded FASTSIGNS International, Inc. the Franchisees' Choice Designation for the seventh consecutive year for its strong relationship with Canadian franchisees, as well as extensive franchisee training and support. About FASTSIGNS FASTSIGNS International, Inc. celebrates its 35th anniversary in business in 2020 as the leading sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, and is the worldwide franchisor of more than 700 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers in 9 countries including the United States, Canada, Chile, England, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). FASTSIGNS locations provide comprehensive signage and visual graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes and across all industries attract more attention, communicate their message, promote their products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touch points. FASTSIGNS has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 for the past four years, a 2019 Top Franchises for Veterans by Franchise Business Review and a 2019 America's Best Franchises to Buy list by Forbes magazine. Learn more about sign and visual graphic solutions or find a location at fastsigns.com . Follow the brand on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/fastsigns , Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS . For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or call 214.346.5679). Contact: Chelsea Bear Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fastsigns-international-inc-celebrates-35th-anniversary-with-1-ranking-on-entrepreneur-magazines-franchise-500-300986872.html SOURCE FASTSIGNS International, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday entered into a closed-door meeting with Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, in Abeokuta. The meeting, which held in the pent-house of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, lasted several hours. The governor arrived for the meeting at about 2.30 p.m., and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, the duo retired to the pent-house where their meeting lasted till 3.40 p.m. It was Mr Makindes second visit to Mr Obasanjo since he became governor, last year. His first was a few weeks after he was sworn-in as governor. After the meeting, the former president hosted the governor and his team to lunch. He refused to comment on details of their meeting as at the time of filing this report Australia has turned orange. NASA Astronaut Christina Koch, a Michigan native currently aboard the International Space Station, shared three photos of the burning country to social media on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Views of Australia from space show orange clouds blanketing parts of the country as devastating wildfires continue to blaze. The fire season that began in late July has been the worst in decades, claiming at least 28 lives, thousands of homes and endangering hundreds of thousands of animals. Australia. Our hearts and thoughts are with you, Koch said in the social media posts. Australia. Our hearts and thoughts are with you. pic.twitter.com/6D7AS4LaDe Christina H Koch (@Astro_Christina) January 14, 2020 Smoke from the fires is expected to make at least one full trip around the world, which will create hazy skies and affect air quality globally, according NASA, which used satellite data to project the path of the smoke. The smoke will eventually return to Australia, which continues to be ravaged, CNN reports. The fire season began in late July, and has since devastated large portions of the country. Firefighters continue to work to contain the wildfires with international help, including crews from Michigan. Firefighters from the Huron Manistee National Forest, who are normally based in Cadillac, are now in Australia. One posted a photo holding baby kangaroo last week. Brian Stearns, a Huron-Manistee National Forests employee is pictured with a kangaroo joey who approached firefighters... Posted by U.S. Forest Service Huron-Manistee NFs on Wednesday, January 8, 2020 READ MORE: Michigan firefighters battling blaze in Australia post adorable photo with kangaroo Hopeless feeling for Grand Valley basketball player as his native Australia burns Michigan illuminates the night sky in astronaut photo taken from space Michigan astronaut shares beautiful photo of home state, Great Lakes from space Michigan astronaut sets record for longest spaceflight by woman Michigan native astronaut shares home picture she took on spacewalk The script for Colin Trevorrows scrapped ninth Star Wars film has allegedly leaked online, revealing a wildly different adventure to The Rise of Skywalker. Jurassic World director Trevorrow stepped down from the project in September 2017 after reportedly clashing with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy. Fans have been perusing the leaked script, which AV Club claims is legitimate, to see in which direction the Star Wars franchise would have gone, had Trevorrow stayed on as director. If the script is real (Disney is yet to comment on the reports), Trevorrows ideas were wildly different to Abrams. According to the script, the film would have been called Star Wars: Duel of Fates. Its opening crawl would have read as follows: The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remain unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death.Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems. Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom... This is said to have been the opening crawl for Colin Trevorrows scrapped Star Wars film The screenplay, which is said to have been co-written by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, has numerous interesting aspects to it, including a darker arc for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a heightened role for Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) and absolutely no Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) you can peruse the biggest takeaways here. Star Wars films ranked worst to best Show all 11 1 /11 Star Wars films ranked worst to best Star Wars films ranked worst to best 11. Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002) The prequel trilogy has lived on in infamy, but the true low point of this low point in the Star Wars franchise must be Attack of the Clones, the dry, crusted middle of the cinematic sandwich. While Revenge of the Sith has some sense of completion and The Phantom Menace has some sense of wonder, all Attack of the Clones has is a CGI Yoda bopping about the screen like an unswattable fly while battling Christopher Lees Count Dooku. Its a film driven by unnecessary desires: from the space politics, to Boba Fetts backstory, to Padme and Anakins romance. The latter is the most insufferable, since George Lucas never had much of an ear for dialogue, as notoriously pointed out by Harrison Ford when he declared on set: George, you can type this s***, but you sure as hell cant say it. Which leads us to one of the worst line readings in cinematic history, when Hayden Christensens Anakin laments: I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 10. Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005) Hollywood has increasingly made the assumption that darker means better when it comes to cinema it explains why the Harry Potter films look like they were made while someone gradually turned down the dimmer switch on the studio lights. Of course, audiences know that darker sometimes means that your protagonist-turned-villain becomes a youngling-murdering, amateur street magician-looking sourpuss. Anakins arc here comes to a whimper of an ending, underlined by the much-derided decision to have Darth Vaders first moments onscreen involve him howling Noooooo! up to the sky like a mournful hound. That said, Ewan McGregor confirms here that he managed to escape the franchise largely unscathed, as this instalment sees him have the most fun with the clunky dialogue (see: Hello there! and I have the high ground!). Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 9. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999) The Phantom Menace escapes slightly ahead of the rest of the prequel trilogy, if only for the fact it remembers these films are meant to be fun once in a while. The pod race its a good scene! Darth Maul is all looks, zero follow through its embarrassing to act like youve won, only to be cut in half and sent hurtling down an exhaust pipe but his inclusion in the film did introduce one of the best musical themes in Star Wars history, John Williamss Duel of the Fates. However, the space politics are a particular drag here, with all the talk of trade disputes, and, of course, it's obligatory to mention the terror that is Jar Jar Binks. Rex Star Wars films ranked worst to best 8. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Although its the weakest of the new generation of Star Wars films, Solo still holds up as a fun romp worthy of Han Solos rascal reputation. Alden Ehrenreich picks up on enough of Harrison Fords mannerisms to sell the character without sliding into imitation, while Donald Glover is a scene stealer from the very moment he walks on screen as Lando Calrissian. Its a lost opportunity, then, that the film is otherwise slowed down by an impulse to offer backstory to as many aspects of Hans character as possible. Did we really need to know how we got the name Solo? Really? Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 7. Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker Director JJ Abrams, like the hero of an ancient prophecy, was destined to make both enemies and allies with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There will be arguments. And there will be arguments about the arguments. There will be obsessive deconstructions and over-interpretations of each frame and intake of breath. But, at the end of the day, this is still a Star Wars film in its very bones, muscle, and sinew. Whatever controversy Abrams might have brewed up with his artistic choices, he still captures magnificently the soul of this series: that unwavering hope that the powerless can win, despite the odds. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Star Wars films ranked worst to best 6. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Theres a lot to wrap up in the concluding chapter of the original trilogy. The result is a few odd turns for the sake of plot convenience. What does one do with a character as enigmatic as Boba Fett? Why, have him topple into the Sarlacc pit within the first 20 minutes! How does one put to rest the love triangle hinted at in A New Hope? Why, insert a revelation that Luke and Leia are, in fact, brother and sister! Even the second Death Star oddly feels sillier than The Force Awakens and its third attempt at a giant ball in space, since The First Order at least had the excuse that their obsessive admiration of the Empire may have clouded their judgement. That said, theres still plenty of charm to be found here and the Ewoks arent all that bad. Before you dismiss them as irritating merchandise opportunities, its worth remembering that they have absolutely no qualms about killing and eating people. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) If Rogue One is any indication of Disneys plans for the franchise and its future, then theres no cause for concern. The first of the A Star Wars Story spin-offs, it shifts into gear with ease, soothing audiences by not straying too far from the familiar timeline while introducing a full set of new characters and a grittier tone. Stylistically, it feels more like a Vietnam War movie and is proof of how far a gifted director like Gareth Edwards can stray from the franchises usual formula and still feel grounded in the same world. Plus, you have to admire the guts it takes to deliver an ending like that Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 4. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) Disney made a very smart move with The Force Awakens. As the first Star Wars film of a new generation, it not only had to make its own mark, but feel familiar enough that it welcomed fans back with open arms. The balance is hit perfectly here. Thats largely due to the films new trio of central heroes, who radiate the same kind of warmth, bravery, and spirit that carved a special place in peoples hearts when they were first introduced to the franchises original stars. Daisy Ridleys Rey, John Boyegas Finn, and Oscar Isaacs Poe honour Star Wars's past while striding into its unknown future. It also helps that the film has landed on a villain like Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whose drive and complexity may see him surpass even Darth Vader by the end of his story in Episode IX. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 3. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) Any divisiveness the film attracted certainly proved one thing: heres a Star Wars film that actually took a creative risk. And what a bold, ambitious, and ultimately beautiful risk that was. Director Rian Johnson took the cinematic legacy presented before him and added a new richness to its textures. He allowed heroism to go beyond the clean divide between good and evil; through Luke and Rey, we were taught not to be ashamed of our doubts but to grow stronger because of them. We were taught not to use destiny as a crutch, but to know when to forge our own paths. The Last Jedi is a soulful film told through some of the most striking cinematography of the entire franchise. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Its the place where it all began. The Star Wars franchise has only become the success it is today because of how purely revolutionary the first instalment was as a piece of Hollywood filmmaking. It is, to this day, one of the most successful examples of the modern epic, endlessly imitated but so rarely with the same heart or ambition. George Lucas tapped into one of the most timeless qualities of storytelling: its ability to let us see and understand our own world through the eyes of another. Star Wars has become so iconic because, even on such a grand scale, we know and relate to the emotions at hand fear, love, or a desire to do whats right. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) The Empire Strikes Back is remarkable in its ability to pursue real emotional stakes. Its closing moments, the final note to its symphony of sacrifice and tragedy, leaves us with the single, delicate emotion that is hope, blooming in the darkness as our heroes set out to save Han and restore the Rebel Alliance. What A New Hope built up by making us fall in love with these characters, The Empire Strikes Back recouped in sharing with us their pain and their fears. Darth Vaders reveal that hes Lukes father has, of course, found its place in history, but theres an equal sense of emotional resonance in the moment Leia and Han depart, moments before hes trapped in carbonite. When Leias I love you is returned by Hans I know a line written by Harrison Ford himself were reminded of how magical Star Warss sense of storytelling can be, condensing everything that these two characters feel for each other into five simple words. Rex Features Since the release of Abrams The Rise of Skywalker last month, it has divided critics and audiences, with some highlighting the movies sense of adventure and others criticising it for its moments of fan service. Consequently, the film has a critical score of 54 per cent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes one of the lowest for any movie in the long-running Star Wars franchise. Its audience score sits at 86 per cent, though, which is 43 per cent higher than the score amassed by Rian Johnsons previous Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. A recent report claims that Abrams was left unsatisfied with several orders made by Disney in relation to his finished film. A full breakdown of Trevorrows alleged leaked script can be found on Reddit. Abrams recently revealed what he believes to be the answer to one of The Rise of Skywalkers biggest mysteries: what Finn was about to say to Rey before getting sucked into the quicksand in Pasaana. Find a list of every unexpected cameo in the film here. Tesla's Elon Musk is close to earning a record-breaking $346 million pay ay. The electric vehicle maker CEO, who doesn't earn a salary or cash bonus, instead gets options to vest based on Tesla's market cap and milestones for growth And he's coming close to earning the first $346 million tranche of options in a record-breaking pay package, after the electric vehicle maker's stock more than doubled in the last three months. Shares of Tesla surged 9% to a record high on Monday. Shares of Tesla surged 9% to a record high on Monday. By the market's close, the stock was still up almost 2 1/2 per cent Tesla's Elon Musk dances onstage during a delivery event for Model 3 cars in Shanghai, China, a week ago. The EV maker CEO, who doesn't earn a salary or cash bonus, and instead gets options to vest, is close to having a $346 million pay day They need to rise another 6% to put Tesla's stock market value at $100 billion and then be sustained at that level for both a one-month and six-month average in order to trigger the vesting of the first of 12 tranches of options granted to Musk to buy Tesla stock. Musk has already hit an operational target that is also necessary for the options to vest. For Musk's subsequent tranches to vest under the terms of the 2018 package, the company's market cap would have to continue to sustainably rise by $50 billion increments over the agreement's 10-year period, with the billionaire earning the full package if Tesla's market capitalization reaches $650 billion and the electric car maker achieves several revenue and profit targets. Musk's subsequent tranches vest if the company's market cap rises sustainably by $50 billion increments over a 10-year period Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla's China-made Model Y program in Shanghai. The billionaire earns his full options package if Tesla's market capitalization reaches $650 billion and the electric car maker achieves several revenue and profit targets Tesla already is the most valuable US car maker of all time, after the company closed just a week ago with a market value of $81.39billion. The company surpassed Ford Motor's peak of $80.81billion that was set in 1999. But Tesla's market value still trails Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG. Toyota Motor Corp is valued at $227.90billion while Volkswagen sat at $98.65billion by Monday's close. A full payoff for Musk, would be unprecedented. Pictured: a Tesla showroom. The company is already the most valuable US car maker of all time, after the company closed just a week ago with a market value of $81.39billion Musk, a Tesla co-founder and majority owner and CEO of rocket-maker SpaceX, would stand to make more than anything previously granted to a US executives, according Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisor that recommended investors reject the pay package deal at the time. Considering the options package and his recent management of the company, his pay package is 'is the very definition of pay for performance,' said Ian Keas, senior director at Longnecker & Associates, an executive compensation consulting firm. 'But is he the only individual that could serve in that seat as CEO and deliver that value to shareholders? That's the billion dollar question.' Musk's potential payout compares to the $638 million received by Snap founder Evan Spiegel in 2017 after the social network company's initial public offering. Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger in 2018 earned stock grants worth as much as $149.6 million, including awards related to Disney's purchase of film and television assets from Twenty-First Century Fox. Where are the girls? That was the question one of Felicia Knauls thesis advisors posed to her back in the early 1990s, when the then-Harvard University doctoral student was conducting research on street children in Bogota, Colombia. It didnt take long for Knaul to respond. She knew the answer immediately, telling her advisor that up to 90 percent of the street children in Latin America were boys. The girls, she explained, were suffering a far worse plight. They were trafficked into sexual exploitation. They were trafficked into domestic servitude. They were trafficked into forced labor. They were simply missing from sight, and no one was attending to their needs, Knaul, now director of the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, said Tuesday on the opening day of the National Human Trafficking Prosecution Summit on the University of Miami campus. Presented by the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in partnership with the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office and the University, day one of the two-day conference, which drew dozens of attorneys, law enforcement officers, and victim advocates, addressed solutions to an illicit industry that is second only to the drug trade in profitability, generating an estimated $150.2 billion in illegal profits each year. But prosecuting attorneys, said Hilarie Bass, chair of the Universitys Board of Trustees and a School of Law alumna who served as president of the American Bar Association, have the ability to wipe out human trafficking. The one thing I learned among many in that job [as president of the ABA] was the power of prosecutors, she said. You have the ability to identify social problems and focus on helping your local communities address them. You probably more than anyone else in your local communities have that power. Calling human trafficking a global pandemic, Knaul noted that the International Labour Organization estimates that there are more than 40 million people in modern slavery at any given time, with more than 20 million in forced labormany of them young women and children who suffer unthinkable acts of violence. Violence against women and young people is persistent and pervasive, said Knaul, who is also a professor of public health sciences at the Miller School of Medicine. Few if any health condition or risk factor affects so many segments of the global population, especially people living in poverty and in volatile situations including forced migration and humanitarian emergencies. About 1 in 3 women experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetimes, leaving them scarred and at-risk for a number of health conditions, Knaul said. And the costs of gender-based violence are astounding, amounting to more than 3.5 percent of global GDP. Thats double what many governments in our region of Latin America invest in educating their populations, Knaul said. Through a new commission on gender-based violence and maltreatment of young people chaired by Knaul and backed by the journal Lancet, we have a tremendous opportunity for change, she said at the summit. Saying the urgency of addressing human trafficking could not be more pronounced, President Julio Frenk also noted other University efforts aimed at addressing human trafficking, most notably the Miller Schools THRIVE (Trafficking Healthcare Resources and Intra-Disciplinary Victim Services and Education) clinic, a one-stop shop for victims and survivors that provides everything from primary and gynecological care to psychiatry and behavioral health services. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Miami-Dade County State Attorneys Office refer victims to the clinic. Still, human trafficking presents a daunting challenge that wont be easy to remedy. Migration, particularly forced migration, is another of its root causes, Knaul said, noting that some 192 million peopleabout 3 percent of the worlds populationnow live outside their place of birth and that up to 1 billion people will be displaced by climate change and forced into migration by 2050, putting even more people at risk of being trafficked. And Florida, said Knaul, is at the epicenter of what were seeing of the poor searching for better opportunities coming from Central and South America and the Caribbean, where high inequality, poverty and conflict, which mark our region, press, particularly children but also young people and women, into human trafficking. The solutions, said Bass, start here in this room. 'Cane Talk: A National Model of Healthcare for Survivors of Human Trafficking Dr. JoNell Potter is the founder and director of the THRIVE Clinic, a Miami health clinic specially designed to meet the needs of survivors of human trafficking, and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. A 12-year-old girl was found alive on Wednesday after being buried for 18 hours when an avalanche in Pakistan engulfed her family home, killing her brother and sister. Samina Bibi recalled screaming and shouting for help as she lay trapped in a room under the snow. The death toll from Monday's avalanches in Pakistan's Neelum Valley, in the Himalayan region disputed by Pakistan and India, rose to 74, according to Pakistani officials, as rescuers continued to recover bodies. Samina was one of the lucky ones. 'I thought I would die there,' she told Reuters from a hospital bed in Muzaffarabad, where she and dozens of other injured people were receiving treatment after being airlifted out of the avalanche area. Samina Bibi (pictured) recalled screaming and shouting for help as she lay trapped in a room under the snow on Monday in Pakistan's Neelum Valley Local residents gather next to a body of an avalanche victim covered in plastic as they search for other victims in the snow after heavy snow in Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on January 15, 2020 For Samina's mother, Shahnaz Bibi, who lost a son and another daughter, the rescue was nothing short of a miracle. After being pulled out of the snow earlier, Shahnaz said she and her brother, Irshad Ahmad, had given up hope of finding Samina alive. Samina said she could not sleep while she waited to be rescued. Her leg was fractured and blood was oozing from her mouth. For the family, the disaster happened very fast. 'We didn't hear a rumble,' Shahnaz said, recalling the moments before the avalanche buried the three-storey house where she and her family were sheltering with others from the village. At least 18 of them died. Samina and her family were huddled round a fire when the avalanche hit. 'It happened in the blink of an eye,' said Shahnaz. Local residents search for the avalanche victims in the snow in Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on January 15, 2020 Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan (C) looks at a young injured avalanche victim at a military hospital in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said the total number of deaths in snow-hit areas in Pakistan over the last couple of days had jumped to 100. More heavy snowfall is expected in the region from Friday. Another 10 people were killed in the Indian part of the Kashmir valley. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. In 2012, an avalanche engulfed a Pakistani army headquarters near the Indian border, killing at least 124 soldiers and 11 civilians. The juvenile who killed a woman in a Toms River parking lot last summer was revealed Tuesday to be the womans then 17-year-old son, and hell be tried as an adult, authorities said. Edgar Diaz, 18, of Manchester is charged with the Aug. 7, 2019 murder of his mother, Margarita Diaz, 44, also of Manchester, in a parking lot, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office announced Tuesday. The crime occurred in front of Edgar Diazs younger brother, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimers Tuesday afternoon statement said. Billhimer said Edgar Diaz voluntarily waived jurisdiction of the case from the family division to the criminal of Superior Court of Ocean County, and will be tried as an adut. Toms River police found Margarita Diaz when they were called to the Deer Chase Professional Park on Route 37 at about 8:40 p.m. for reports of an assault in the area. When officers arrived, they found her lying on the ground, badly wounded, prosecutors said. The officers attempted to save her life but she was pronounced dead at nearby Community Medical Center, officials said. An investigation by the police, prosecutors office and the Ocean County Sheriffs Office revealed that Edgar Diaz attacked his mother, stabbed her with a knife and slammed her head into the pavement outside their parked car, according to the statement. Edgar was arrested on Aug. 13 and has been lodged in the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center since that time. Diaz was also charged with weapons offenses and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors announced. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Kansas man embroiled in a custody battle asked the courts for a trial by combat using Samurai swords, reminiscent of Staten Islands trial-by-combat lawyer Richard Luthmann. David Ostrom, 40, claimed in court papers that he wants to give ex-wife Bridgette Ostrom, 38, and her attorney, Matthew Hudson, a chance to "meet me on the field of battle, where I will REND THEIR SOULS from their bodies, according to a New York Post report. The judges response stated in part, until the proper procedural steps to initiate a court proceeding are followed, this court will take no further action concerning any motion, objection or petition filed by either party at this time." In 2015, then-Staten Island attorney Richard Luthmann challenged a courtroom adversary to a Game of Thrones-style duel. In March, Luthmann, 39, pleaded guilty to a count of wire fraud conspiracy and a count of extortion conspiracy in connection with an unrelated matter. Companies are loath to accuse Chinese partners of theft for fear of getting punished. Business groups that represent them say Chinese companies use those corporate ties to pressure foreign partners into giving up secrets. They also say Chinese officials have pressured foreign companies to give them access to sensitive technology as part of a review process to make sure those products are safe for Chinese consumers. Do the methods work? Foreign business groups point to renewable energy as one area where China used some of these tactics to build homegrown industries. Gamesa of Spain was the wind turbine market leader in China when Beijing mandated in 2005 that 70 percent of each wind turbine installed in China had to be manufactured inside the country. The company trained more than 500 suppliers in China to manufacture practically every part in its turbines. It set up a plant to assemble them in the city of Tianjin. Other multinational wind turbine manufacturers did the same. The Obama administration questioned the policy as a violation of World Trade Organization rules and China withdrew it, but by then it was too late. Chinese state-controlled enterprises had begun to assemble turbines using the same suppliers. China is now the worlds biggest market for wind turbines, and they are mostly made by Chinese companies. A somewhat similar industrial evolution occurred soon after in solar energy. China required that its first big municipal solar project only use solar panels that were at least 80 percent made in China. Companies rushed to produce in China and share technology. The Chinese government also heavily subsidized the manufacture of solar panels, mostly for export. Chinese companies ended up producing most of the worlds solar panels. What industries could be next? Some in the Trump administration fear the same thing is happening in cars. Shortly after opening China to foreign auto companies, Chinese officials held a competition among global automakers for who would be allowed to enter the market. The competition included a detailed review of each companys offer to transfer technology to a joint venture to be formed with a Chinese state-owned partner. (Alliance News) - NetScientific PLC said Wednesday that Ian Postlethwaite will step down as chief executive officer, chief financial officer and company secretary to pursue other career opportunities. NetScientific shares were down 17% in London at 5.60 pence each on Wednesday at midday. The company said Postlethwaite's departure date is scheduled for July 14 in accordance with his service agreement and to ensure an orderly transition. Postlethwaite, who has served as chief financial officer since April 2016, was also appointed as CEO in April last year, when former Chief Executive Francois Martelet left in order to help the company in reducing costs and to pursue other career opportunities. NetScientific said it is continuing with its strategy review to determine how best to optimize returns to shareholders and decide on the required management arrangements. The company expects to announce the finding together with its annual results. The company said it intends to commence a process of future appointments following the conclusion of that review. Richard Sykes, chair of the company, said: "Ian's support has been valuable to NetScientific. He has provided a safe pair of hands during this challenging time as we continue to make the most of our reduced central costs and maximise the potential in our remaining portfolio companies to deliver value to shareholders." By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Misogynistic men who identify as part of the Involuntary Celibate (Incel) movement have been identified as an 'emerging domestic terrorism threat,' according to new research. The study, conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, looked at the domestic terrorism impacting the state - identifying that most falls under 'racially motivated, anti-government and single-issue' sentiments. 'White racially motivated' attacks were found to be the most violently active domestic terrorism type of all of various acts, but incel related incidents we seen as steadily 'emerging.' 'White racially motivated' attacks were found to be the most violently active domestic terrorism type of all of various acts in Texas, but a recent study found that incel-related incidents were steadily 'emerging' (stock) Specifically referencing incels Brian Isaack Clyde, Scott Paul Beierle, Alek Minassian, Christopher Harper-Mercer and Elliot Rodger; the study found that the violence over the past decade 'coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types' 'Once viewed as a criminal threat by many law enforcement authorities, Incels are now seen as a growing domestic terrorism concern due to the ideological nature of recent Incel attacks internationally, nationwide, and in Texas,' the study states. 'What begins as a personal grievance due to perceived rejection by women may morph into allegiance to, and attempts to further, an Incel Rebellion.' Specifically referencing Incels Brian Isaack Clyde, Scott Paul Beierle, Alek Minassian, Christopher Harper-Mercer and Elliot Rodger; the study found that the violence over the past decade 'coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types.' According to the study, involuntary celibate actors 'blame women and society for their failures to develop intimate relationships' While most single issue actors are known for attacking property, the study noted that Incels are one of the few groups that this isn't always the case. Elliot Rodger The study continued: 'Additionally, recent mass attacks by individuals associated with the Incel movement have thrust this issue from a relatively obscure online movement driven by predominately personal grievances, to a fourth type of single issue domestic terrorism.' According to the research, involuntary celibate actors 'blame women and society for their failures to develop intimate relationships.' 'Many advocate the use of violence against persons, both women and men, they perceive to be successfully engaging in such relationships,' the study reads. Attractive women in the movement are known as 'Staceys' while unattractive women are seen as 'Beckys.' Men identified as 'Chads' are said to be desireable by attractive women. NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PANTHER METALS PLC (the "Company") (Incorporated in the Isle of Man with company number 009753V) Change of Trading Address Panther Metals PLC (LSE: PALM) the company focused on mineral exploration in Canada and Australia, is pleased to announce a change of trading address with immediate effect. The company's new address details are provided below: Panther Metals PLC Eastways Enterprise Centre, 7 Paynes Park, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1EH United Kingdom Main telephone: +44 (0)1462 429743 For further information please visit www.panthermetals.co.uk or contact the below. The communications ministry on Tuesday authorized Japanese public broadcaster NHK to start simultaneous online streaming of its television programs from April. Those contracted with NHK, formally called Japan Broadcasting Corp, will be able to watch online programs on their smartphones and other digital devices without any additional fees. Under a Japanese law, people who install a TV receiver are obliged to sign a subscription contract with NHK. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has stipulated that conditions for the authorization include the prompt implementation of a specific framework to restrict the scale of online operations and creating opportunities for cooperation with private broadcasters. Although NHK will not initially have online programs 24 hours a day, it is aiming to provide "non-stop" streaming in the future. Attorneys for Audible and seven major publishers told the court this week that they have resolved their high profile copyright lawsuit over Audible's proposed 'Captions' program. In a January 13 letter, Audible attorney Emily Reisbaum writing on behalf of all parties, informed Judge Valerie Caproni that the sides have resolved their disputes, and asked the judge to give them until January 21 to allow the parties to submit signed settlement documents to the Court for approval. The settlement was expected after a December 27 letter, in which the parties told the court a final resolution was within reach. The AAP had no comment on the resolution of the case at this time and Audible did not return emails asking for details of the agreement. First filed in August of 2019 by seven publishers, the suit claimed that Audibles proposed Captions program, which scrolls a few words of an AI-generated transcription alongside an audiobooks narration in the Audible app, amounted to blatant copyright infringement. Audible countered that the Captions program enhanced the audio experience, and was protected by fair use. But despite the high-profile litigation, the program has not yet launched to the general public, not even for works in the public domain, where copyright is not an issue. Anyone who has interacted with young children knows that they love hands-on activities involving colours and pictures. Probably less well understood, and certainly less acted upon, is the fact that adults often feel the same way. We saw many demonstrations of this in the ASER 2019 Early Years survey this year. ASER is a survey of childrens schooling and learning status in rural India that has been conducted annually since 2005. This time, ASER focused on young children in the age group 4-8 years. During our interactions with these young children, over and over again we found older siblings, mothers and even grandmothers looking on fascinated (there were usually more adult women around than adult men) you could see that they too wanted to have a go at the simple activities that we included in the cognitive development domain things like putting cards in order by size (seriation) and doing a four-piece jigsaw puzzle. Stimulating curiosity and discussion about what we are up to is a key part of the household-based design of ASER, and the Early Years tasks that we used this year generated a level of interest that was unprecedented. So much so that once the process had been completed with the young children in a sampled household, we would often invite the onlookers to try doing the tasks themselves. And once didi or amma or bua had experienced the fun of figuring out how to make pieces of elephant come together as a real, complete picture of an elephant, it was a natural next step to discuss how it was easy to create more such activities by cutting up pictures from an old calendar or magazine. The Early Learning Development Standards (ELDS), developed by the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED) at Ambedkar University, New Delhi, with the participation of Unicef and a range of government and non-government institutions, suggest that the simple cognitive development tasks we used should be well within the capability of a five-year-old child to handle. The specification of learning outcomes developed by NCERT for children in pre-primary classes also includes these kinds of tasks. But in the ASER Early Years sample only about half of the five-year-olds could do them. One reason this matters is that the ASER Early Years data underlines what child development experts have been saying for years cognitive skills matter. The extensive literature on school readiness shows that childrens cognitive development is closely linked to their outcomes in many other areas. The ASER Early Years data shows a very clear relationship between childrens cognitive skills on the one hand, and their early language and numeracy abilities on the other. This relationship is visible in every subpopulation of the sample: it is true for children age 5 as well as those age 8, among children in pre-primary classes as well as those in Class 3 in primary schools. These findings point in the same direction as those of Indias first large-scale longitudinal study of young children the India Early Childhood Education Impact study (IECEI), conducted by ASER Centre and CECED between 2011 and 2016, which tracked a cohort of 14,000 children from age 4 to age 8. The IECEI study found, for example, that children who were able to do tasks such as sequential thinking at age 5 had better early language and numeracy outcomes than their peers who could not do these tasks and moreover, that this advantage persisted even three years later. How best to ensure that children acquire this toolkit of cognitive concepts and skills first, before they are required to plunge head-first into the primary school curriculum? Both ASER and IECEI data show that to some extent, no intervention is required children develop these skills naturally as they grow older. So one part of the solution may be to simply ensure that children do not enter school too early. Most states in India permit entry to Class 1 at age 5, and ASER data shows that almost a quarter of 5-year-old children in rural India are already enrolled in school along with some who are younger than 5. The age-class distribution in different types of schools shows that most of these underage (relative to RTE norms) children are in government, rather than private schools. Many children going to government schools also have limited access to learning support at home, relative to their private school-going peers, since increasingly, only children from the most disadvantaged households which are also those with the least exposure to schools and schooling attend government schools. Five-year-olds in Class 1 thus often face a double disadvantage, both of age and of limited home support, at the stage when they are just beginning their journey through the formal school system. And as ASER reports have been repeating for the last 15 years, lack of flexibility in the school system means that once children fall behind, it is very difficult for them to catch up. The other part of the solution is, of course, to ensure that children access high quality and developmentally appropriate pre-primary education that provides them with the foundational skills they need before they enter school. International recognition of the importance of ECE, as reflected in SDG 4.2, targets exactly this objective to support young children with the appropriate environments and inputs that will enable them to develop these foundational skills, thus providing children with a more level playing field in terms of their ability to cope with the formal school curriculum. This objective is now very much on the governments agenda, as seen most recently in the draft National Education Policy (2019). States are grappling with designing provisions and programmes for the early years that work for their context and needs. But while the various government systems sort out who will do what, and how they will coordinate with each other to ensure that the envisaged continuum of early learning moves from policy pronouncement to ground reality, it is important not to forget that at this young age children still spend most of their time at home. An uneducated mother may not be able to offer the expert scaffolding that a well-trained ECE teacher can provide to help young children grow and learn, but she can still do a great deal. A necessary first step, though, is to find effective ways of spreading the message that for young children especially, learning should not be about textbooks and memorising the right answer. For the many adults in a childs life, both at home and in pre-school or school, perhaps the most challenging puzzle of all is to be able to see the big picture in terms of how young children learn. Once the overall picture is clear, the studying and having fun pieces can be put together, arranged and rearranged in many different ways. Gibraltar, a British outcrop in the south of Spain, is home to around 34,000 people (Ben Birchall/PA) A former Cabinet Office minister said British overseas territories such as Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands should be able to elect MPs to Parliament after Brexit. John Penrose wants the 14 overseas territories, which include the renowned tax-havens the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, to be able to negotiate devolution arrangements similar to that enjoyed by all four countries within the UK, and also elect MPs to Westminster. They would send MPs to the Westminster parliament here, they would have their own devolved governments like the Welsh Assembly or the Scottish Parliament, the Weston-super-Mare MP told The House magazine. It would show that we are committed to being a global nation post-Brexit. Expand Close John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Mr Penrose made the intervention despite being a supporter of redrawing the electoral map to ensure each constituency has an electorate of no fewer than 71,000 people. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering the Boundary Commissions proposals for changing the shape and size of constituencies to fit such a blueprint. Gibraltar, a British outcrop in the south of Spain, is home to around 34,000 people, and the Falkland Islands, situated off the coast of Argentina, has a population of approximately 4,400. A devolution settlement and representation in the House of Commons could aid trade arrangements after Britain leaves the European Union, the Remain-backing Mr Penrose argued. Expand Close Boris Johnson, in his previous role as Foreign Secretary, honouring those who died in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict during a visit to Argentina (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boris Johnson, in his previous role as Foreign Secretary, honouring those who died in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict during a visit to Argentina (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The former Northern Ireland minister suggested sought-after goods and foods, such as lobsters from Tristan da Cunha, could enter into the UK internal market with fewer restrictions if a devolution arrangement was in place. It just makes the trading ties and links between our respective parts of the UK a great deal simpler, a great deal more friction-free, Mr Penrose said. The Conservative MP denied the move could be seen as akin to empire-building by Britain. People might make that argument but because we are offering and suggesting that these territories become equal parts of the United Kingdom, its hard to make an imperialist argument about this at all, the backbencher said. It is clearly something that is talking about equal status. A spokesman for the UK Overseas Territories Association told the Westminster magazine it was unaware of any formal talks between the Government and the overseas territories over the prospect of electing MPs to Westminster. After spending more than two decades in the spotlight, Jennifer Lopez is looking forward to settling down. She said in a new interview that she would love to move away from the United States and live a more simple life in a small town overseas. Naturally, fans have a lot to say about this, with some fully supporting Lopez and others pleading for her to stay. Jennifer Lopez on the red carpet | Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Jennifer Lopez talks about leaving the United States Lopez, a New York native, opened up to Vanity Fair in an interview published on Jan. 14. When asked to name something on her bucket list, the Jenny from the Block artist shared her dream of living outside of America. I would love to live somewhere other than the United States, in a small town in Italy, or on the other side of the world, in Bali, Lopez confessed. Find another life where its a little bit more simple and organic and where I get to ride a bike, and buy bread, and put it in my basket, and then go home and put jelly on it, and just eat and paint, or sit in a rocking chair where there was a beautiful view of an olive tree or an oak tree and I could just smell, she continued. I have fantasies like that. Fans react to Jennifer Lopezs comments about living in another country Many people said on social media that they totally support Lopez, explaining that she deserves to live however she wants. She has made millions so why wouldnt she give up so called celebrity life to enjoy the simple things in life in a beautiful place as she will never have to worry about money, one person said (via Pop Culture). Go out before people are asking why you are still around. Good for her, I would like to have the small town comfort also.. More power to her, commented another. Excellent move, a third person said on Twitter. Other posts, however, had a more somber tone. How will I go on? one fan asked on Twitter. Another pleaded, Please dont go. One person even said they found Lopezs comments odd, with one man writing on Facebook: I find it odd no, I find it ironic that people want to leave the country that gave them their education and their wealth. Think she could have done this somewhere else? Jennifer Lopez isnt going anywhere just yet Dont get it twisted Lopez isnt planning on taking this step any time soon. As of writing, shes busy with so many things, including her music and acting career. Lopez is also planning her wedding to former MLB star Alex Rodriguez, whom she got engaged to in March 2019 following a two-year relationship. And shes preparing for Super Bowl LIV, which goes down on Feb. 2 in Miami. Lopez will be performing alongside Shakira, and the two have promised that theyre going to put on a fun show. We want to make a beautiful, impactful, enjoyable, fun show for everybody, Lopez told Extra back in October of 2019. We want to bring everybody together. Thats the point. We as artists have that rare gift to be able to do that, and thats what I think our main goal is. That said, dont count Lopez out just yet. Lt Governor of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir G C Murmu has issued an order giving his advisor Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar sweeping authority on security and policing, including reshuffling of Station House Officers (SHOs). The order, issued by the general administrative department, gives powers to Bhatnagar, a retired 1983-batch IPS officer who has never served in JK, which include deciding on ground-level postings in consultation with Senior Security Advisor in Home Ministry, K Vijay Kumar, who has spent 11 months in the erstwhile state as advisor to former governor Satyapal Malik. As per the two-page order issued by the home department on Tuesday night, Bhatnagar would also oversee deployment of para-military forces and armed unit of Jammu and Kashmir police for "optimum effect". Bhatnagar, who recently retired as Director General of CRPF, would also address various aspects pertaining to intelligence activities and timely follow up besides coordinating with the Senior Security advisor. The order said Bhatnagar would also suggest appropriate measures for effective policing at the police station level which includes "reshuffling of SHO and other cutting-edge levels in consultation" with Kumar. All these things were earlier handled by Director General of JK Police who heads the 80,000-strong force. The practice was that the police chief could transfer anyone below the rank of Superintendent of Police, while postings of SPs and above ranks were done by cabinet or the state advisory board in consultations with him by keeping in mind requirements for anti-militancy operations. Among other duties assigned to Bhatnagar would be enhancing synergy amongst the security forces for operational effectiveness, coordinating effort to counter crisis, border propaganda and interventions for awareness and information dissemination. He will monitor and coordinate the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) for results in a time-bound manner and address various aspects pertaining to intelligence activities, the order said. He has to coordinate with Kumar for follow up actions. He would also be assessing the border grid to prevent infiltration in coordination with the special advisor, the order said. "To further rule of law, oversee measures to improve criminal investigation, forensic and prosecution" is also part of his charter of duties. He is also supposed to enhance faith in the criminal justice system and devise a mechanism for timely disposal of public grievances and crime control. He will ensure clean and responsive administration with weeding out of corrupt elements besides review performance of police on narcotics control and suggest measures for better controls and convictions. He will also monitor particular cases of offences against women and under POSCO to ensure timely disposal as per law, the order said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (ANSA) - Rome, January 15 - There are no military shortcuts in the Mediterranean region, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Wednesday. "The broader Mediterranean is seeing a particularly turbulent phase above all in Libya, Iran and Iraq," Di Maio told the Senate. "Widespread instability closely touches national interests. "The more Italy can be united and compact the more it will succeed in fielding an effective political action. "In the Mediterranean there are no military shortcuts, they do not produce sustainable solutions. Di Maio added that Italy had "stigmatized" outside interference in Libya, which had turned into a proxy war. He called for a European mission against this interference. Di Maio said Sunday's Libya conference in Berlin had been set up "also thanks to us". The foreign minister also said Italy's priority was military security in Iraq. He said Italy was asking for a compromise between Iran and the United States. Di Maio said Italy had been informed by the US after its drone strike killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Vietnam will strengthen controls on Ethoxyquin in feed production for the fishery industry to ensure stability in seafood exports to the EU, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). VN cracks down on use of banned substance in fish food Tran Dinh Luan, director of the MARDs Directorate of Fisheries, said according to an EU decision on controlling Ethoxyquin issued in 2017, the additive will be banned from feed and feed materials for all animals, including aquatic products, from April 1 this year. The ban was brought in due to fears the additive might cause a risk to human, animal health and the environment. Ethoxyquin as a feed additive is used in the preservation of fish meal. Most countries set maximum residue limits (MRL) of Ethoxyquin between 77 ppm and 150ppm (parts per million). The EU regulation is different from the regulations of Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US that have permissible limits of this substance in finished seafood products. Luan said from now until March 31, the directorate and localities would inspect the use of Ethoxyquin in feed production. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien has requested feed producers review the use of Ethoxyquin according to the requirements of export markets, especially the EU, one of Viet Nam's largest seafood export markets. According to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in 2019, the EU was the largest export market of Vietnamese shrimp with export value of about US$700 million, 21 per cent of national seafood export value. It was also the third largest export market of tra fish with export value of $227 million, accounting for 11.5 per cent. Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said the association had informed local fishery businesses and animal feed producers about the EU regulation. It had also evaluated Ethoxyquin control at seafood factories as well as difficulties in controlling residue of this additive in export products. To help local enterprises and supply chains control Ethoxyquin, the VASEP and fishery enterprises had proposed the MARD request feed production enterprises print accurate information about Ethoxyquin on labels. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Fisheries will inspect Ethoxyquin in feed products. The ministry should propose the EU consider the use of Ethoxyquin in feed materials within limits, the association said. VASEP has also taken 152 samples of raw shrimp for feed production to test for Ethoxyquin, including samples from a lot of large feed companies, such as CP, Thang Long, Grobest, Uni President and Tong Wei. These large enterprises make up about 70 per cent of the domestic animal feed market. The association found 83 of the samples did not meet the EU regulations on Ethoxyquin, or nearly 55 per cent of tested samples. Only raw shrimp of CP Viet Nam did not contain any Ethoxyquin. The companies said they had not added Ethoxyquin in the feed production process and this substance had been found in fish meal imported from Peru and Chile for domestic feed production. But the imports accounted for a small part of the total volume that those partners in Peru and Chile had exported globally. So, it was hard for them to ask fish meal suppliers to not mix Ethoxyquin in fish meal sent to Viet Nam, according to VASEP. According to a representative of CP Viet Nam, the company has requested its fish meal and fish oil suppliers not supply feed materials containing Ethoxyquin. It has also strictly controlled Ethoxyquin residue in raw materials before use in production. Therefore, CP Viet Nams feed products do not contain Ethoxyquin. In Viet Nam, the MRL of Ethoxyquin for seafood products is 150ppm while the permissible limits of this substance for Vietnamese export seafood products in the Republic of Korea and Japan are 0.01ppm and 0.2ppm, respectively. VNS Additional five Vietnamese seafood firms eligible to export to Russia The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (FSVPS) has announced that it is allowing a further five Vietnamese enterprises to export their seafood products to Russia starting from December 4, 2019. Begging forgiveness and apologizing for the grief he caused, on Wednesday night John Gardner became the countrys first execution of 2020. I am sorry, he said, while strapped to the gurney in Huntsville. I know you cannot forgive me but I hope one day you will. He thanked his friends and added, I want to see the Lord Jesus so bad. I hope you all understand. Sentenced to die for killing his wife Tammy, the Mississippi man already had a history of shooting and terrorizing women long before2006 when he arrived on death row. For 14 years afterward, he launched a string of appeals. But as he waited to be put to death, he grew old and fell into ill health. By the time the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected his final claim, the 64-year-old had one leg and was in a wheelchair. While I was deeply saddened to see that the Supreme Court denied review in Mr. Gardners case, I just went this weekend to see the new movie with Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy, said Houston-based attorney Seth Kretzer. Like me, Bryan Stevenson lost a case for a capital client who was then executed - but like this movie teaches, for those of us who are foot soldiers in the Long War for conviction integrity, the struggle continues, the hope endures, and the spirit never dies. Long before the murder that landed him on death row, Gardner led a life blanketed in violence. As a young boy, he was raised by a Baptist preacher father who would sometimes interrupt church services to beat him with a belt, according to his sister. When he got older, Gardner joined the Army, where a psychiatrist once noted that he had an inadequate, immature and sociopathic personality. He shot one of his wives while she was pregnant, leaving the 18-year-old paralyzed and ultimately killing her and the unborn child. The outburst netted him an aggravated assault conviction and an 8-year prison sentence in Mississippi. While he was still in prison, he struck up a new relationship - but soon after his release he turned menacing, threatening his new lover and her children. By late 2004, Gardner had gotten married yet again and was living with Tammy in Texas. At trial, prosecutors described their relationship as a relatively short, but violent marriage in which he had dominated, threatened and physically abused her. I cant leave, she told her boss. He will kill me. Despite her fears, in December 2004 she borrowed money to file for divorce and a few weeks later she met with her companys vice president to seek help disappearing. After the meeting, Tammy returned home - and two minutes before midnight she called 911, telling the dispatcher her husband had shot her in the head and that she couldnt hear anything because of the ringing in her ears. When the sheriffs showed up, they found Gardners white truck sitting in a near by ditch two or three miles from Tammys house. No one answered the door, so authorities kicked it down and found Tammy in bed, bleeding badly from a head wound. She died two days later. Gardner later turned himself in, but said he didnt have an answer when detectives asked him what happened to his wife. When the case got to trial, Gardners attorneys did not put on any evidence during the guilt-or-innocence phase. Prosecutors said that hed killed Tammy in an act of retaliation relating to the divorce, and that hed broken into her home before killing her. Either scenario would make the killing a capital murder instead of simply a murder. During the punishment phase, the court heard about his violent past - but they didnt hear about the theory of abandonment rage, a condition that could cause men to lash out against female companions. Years later, Gardners appeals team argued that his trial lawyers should have brought up the idea. During the guilt-innocence phase, it could have helped negate the burglary and retaliation claims that made it a capital crime, they said. During the guilt-innocence phase, it could have persuaded a jury to sentence him to life instead of death. But the courts never sided with the condemned prisoner and on Wednesday evening at 6:36 p.m. he died in Huntsville. There are seven other Texas executions on the calendar so far for 2020. This story is published in collaboration with The Marshall Project , a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters , or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter . (@fidahassanain) Former Interior Minister says that the fresh leaks which are coming from the UK and EU will expose both those who are in power and those who are in opposition. ISLAMABAD: (Urdu Point/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Jan 15th, 2020) Same like that of Panama leaks, another leaks about the political leaders of the country are likely to surface in Pakistan, PPP leader Rehman Malik predicted here on Wednesday. Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that there would be jolts in the country soon after the leaks. The documents he said would come from the United Kingdom and Europe and would be handed over to local media. He wrote: An other Panama like leaks will land soon in Pakistan from UK/ Europe -Millions of documents r going to be leaked from a corporate services firm from Lond & will soon reach to Pak media. Many Pakistani secret owners will be unmasked soon & this episode will give a big jolt,. Rehman Malik said that many hidden properties owned by Pakistanis would be exposed. There will be many Names including those who are in the government and those who are on opposition benches, wrote Rehman Malik. It may be mentioned here that Panama leaks jolted the country when the matter was taken to the Supreme Court in 2016 while decision was announced in 2017. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment faced the case along with many. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad says his convoy shot at in UP Will gherao PM Modi's residence if Lakhimpur Kheri culprits not arrested in 7 days: Chandrashekhar Azad Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad gets bail, can't be in Delhi for 4 weeks India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Jan 15: A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad with several restrictions, telling the 24-year-old leader, that he cannot hold any protests or stay in the city for four weeks. Delhi HC has accepted Azad's request to visit the Jama Masjid before he leaves for his hometown in Saharanpur. A Delhi court came down heavily on the police for failing to produce evidence of its charges against Azad. "It is one's constitutional right to protest," the court said, adding that people were out on streets because "inside parliament, things which should have been said were not said". The judge said, "You are behaving as if Jama Masjid is Pakistan. Even if it was Pakistan, you can go there and protest. Pakistan was a part of undivided India." Azad was arrested on December 21 on allegations of inciting violence during anti-CAA protests. The Bhim Army chief had said that there was no evidence against him in the FIR which states that he had instigated the crowd to march to Delhi gate from Jama Masjid and indulge in violence. Azad's outfit had organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the amended Citizenship Act on Friday, despite not having police permission. The marching protesters were stopped by police and paramilitary personnel near Delhi Gate, after which they turned violent and set a car on fire and damaged a few other vehicles. The police resorted to lathicharge and used a water cannon to control the situation. Other 15 people arrested in the case were granted bail by the court on January 9. A 32-year-old Gloucester County man whose face and tattoo appeared in child pornography images and videos pleaded guilty Tuesday in a federal courtroom, officials said. James Thiel, of Williamstown, admitted in U.S. District Court in Camden to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Thiel faces 15 to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and registration as a sex offender when he is sentenced on April 23, Carpenito said. Prosecutors said Thiel used his email and a file-sharing site to distribute photos and videos of children being sexually abused. The crimes occurred from April to August 2019, authorities said. Thiel produced and appeared in several of these images and videos along with a pre-pubescent child, Carpenito said in a statement. Detectives from the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office, assisted by agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, investigated the case, Carpenito said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. New Delhi: Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the 4 death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya ganrape and murder case, has approached a Delhi court seeking postponement of the date of his execution on the ground that his mercy petition is pending with the President of India. The court will hear the matter at 2 pm on Thursday. The plea was mentioned before Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who has issued notice to the state and parents of the Nirbhaya for Thursday. The court asked the counsel for Mukesh to supply an advance copy of the plea to the prosecutor. Mukesh's counsel moved the trial court immediately after the Delhi High Court declined to entertain his plea to set aside the January 7 order issuing his death warrant and asked them to approach the lower court. "There is nothing wrong with the trial court's order," the High Court said. Nirbhaya Convicts Unlikely To Be Hanged On January 22 During the hearing in Delhi High Court, the state government said the execution "will surely not take place" on January 22 because of a mercy plea filed by one of them. The bench was informed by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature. The Delhi government and the prison authorities said that under the rules, they will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant. Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta are to be hanged next Wednesday at 7 am in Tihar jail, according to the current death warrant. After the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition on Tuesday, Mukesh Singh had moved a mercy petition before the President on the same day. ALSO READ: Nirbhaya Convicts Earned Rs 1,37,000 As Prison Wages In Last 7 Years Delhi Govt Recommends Rejecting Mercy Plea Of Nirbhaya Convict Meanwhule, the Delhi government had recommended rejecting the mercy plea filed by Mukesh Singh, sources said. They said the recommendation on the mercy plea of 32-year-old Singh will now be sent to the Union Home Ministry. The recommendation comes a day after Singh filed the petition. The 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Days after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said there was no tradition of visiting families, which lose infants, his deputy, Sachin Pilot, on Tuesday said if there is not one, then it should be started. On one hand, we talk about discontinuing bad traditions such as keeping veils, but on the other, we hide behind traditions, he said. If there is no tradition of meeting bereaved families, then such a tradition should be started, Pilot said without naming Gehlot. Pilot, who has met the parents of the infants who died at Kotas JK Lon Hospital, had earlier criticised his government over the deaths saying its response to them was neither satisfactory nor sensitive or compassionate. He had called for accountability to be fixed after Gehlot had claimed there has been a decline in the infant deaths at the hospital during the Congress rule. Pilot on Tuesday said it was the governments responsibility to share the pain and visit the families of the dead children. There is no condolence meet for infants but it is our responsibility to wipe tears of their parents. Gehlot had told reporters last week that condolence meetings are not held for infants. I have not heard about people visiting families which lose infants, he said, referring to Pilots visit. The political leaders are using such incidents to settle personal scores rather than focusing on the real issue of health. They are deliberately trying to divert attention from the issue and playing a game to prove each other wrong, said political analyst Narayan Bareth. He said no one is debating that the government is spending a mere 1% of the GDP on health. I watched most of tonights Democratic debate. It was a pretty dull affair. To the extent there were fireworks, they occurred after the debate, albeit in the form of something that didnt happen a non-handshake. During the debate, as expected, there was an exchange between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren about the latters allegation that the former told her a woman couldnt defeat President Trump. The exchange was civil on its face. Neither party seemed angry about it at the time. But right after the debate, Sanders extended his hand towards Warren, who did not shake it. The two then exchanged words. Neither seemed at all pleased. In the long term, this dust up probably isnt good news for either candidate or for the left. I think Van Jones spoke for many intelligent leftists when he described the evening as dispiriting. For those who didnt watch much of the debate (a group that likely includes many of our readers), heres what happened between Sanders and Warren regarding the he said, she said dispute. One of the CNN questioners asked Sanders about his comment to Warren that a woman couldnt defeat Trump. The questioner, in effect, assumed a fact not in evidence or at least proven. Sanders denied making the statement and presented good arguments for why its implausible to believe that he made it. The idiot questioner (CNNs Abby Phillip, I think it was), ignoring Sanderss answer, then asked Warren what she said when Sanders told her that a woman couldnt defeat Trump. Warren said she disagreed and then launched into a spiel about how a woman could, in fact, defeat Trump. Her big applause line was that the men on stage have lost a large number of elections, but the women are undefeated. In addition, she said that no man on the stage has defeated an incumbent in 30 years. (Warren was off by a year. As Sanders responded, he defeated an incumbent in November 1990.) In making her boast, Warren was riding the coattails of Amy Klobuchar who has an outstanding election track record. Warren herself has won only two races, both in Massachusetts where Democrats almost always win and where her margins have been unimpressive. Shes no electoral juggernaut. But Im pretty sure that Warrens misleading rant played well with lefty feminists. And at the caucuses, it may help her pick up Klobuchar supporters in precincts (and there will probably be many) where the Minnesotan fails to reach 15 percent support, so that her people will have to caucus for another candidate. Based on this exchange, its difficult to understand why Warren didnt shake Sanderss hand. The explanation must lie in what happened earlier the conflicting stories about what Sanders said and maybe the anti-Warren script his supporters came up with. If the script is used in the future, perhaps the option of saying I like Elizabeth Warren will be eliminated. What are my general impressions of the way the candidates performed tonight? They are similar to my impressions of how they have performed in previous debates. Biden wasnt sharp, but he committed no gaffes during the 90 minutes (or so) that I watched. And he wasnt really attacked by anyone. Sanders commanded the stage early on and did an outstanding job of articulating (demagoguing might be the better word) far left positions on foreign policy. He didnt have an answer to the question of how much his Medicare for All program would cost, and he took fire for that. However, its likely that 30 percent or more of Democrats who will vote in primaries or will attend caucuses dont care what the answer is. Warren was a little slow out of the blocks, I thought. However, after her rehearsed spiel about woman winning elections, she picked up plenty of steam. She might have gained a little bit of female support tonight. Buttigieg, as usual, gave the most intelligent answers tonight. I doubt that he lit any fires, though. Klobuchar, as has been the case since the few sensible candidates dropped out, gave the most sensible answers tonight. I doubt that she lit any fires, though. Tom Steyer made no impression. He was a waste of time and space. Did this debate change the shape of the race, either in Iowa or nationally? I doubt it. Certainly not for voters who have been paying attention. For people tuning in for their first debate, who knows? The most likely scenario is that their views will, on aggregate, be similar to the views people who have been watching all along have formulated. I suspect that Warren may have helped herself with female voters and Sanders with hard left male voters. But only marginally. NOTE: This post has been modified to correct the identity of the CNN questioner who, I believe, took Warrens side in the he said, she said dispute. Every resident of Maharashtra should try to communicate in the Marathi language, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari said at Vashi in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. Speaking at the function to inaugurate Uttarakhand Bhavan, the governor said, "the exchange of culture between Maharashtra and Uttarakhand is an example of oneness". "There is a similarity between Marathi and Pahadi languages. It is not not at all difficult to speak Marathi. Every resident in Maharashtra should learn and try to speak in Marathi," the governor said. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and others were present at the function. Rawat said Tehri tourism is being developed with the funds of Rs 1200 crore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) January 14, 2020 News By Jim Garamone Defense.gov Milley to Participate in NATO Military Committee Discussions Army Gen. Mark A. Milley is in Brussels to meet with NATO counterparts and to check progress in the worldwide effort against terror groups. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will participate in the alliance's Military Committee meeting the first meeting at this level since December's NATO summit in London. The Military Committee meets three times a year and consists of the chiefs of defense from all 29 NATO nations. A second meeting of framework nations includes partner nations such as Australia, New Zealand and others, Milley said. "In this particular one, we're going to talk a little bit about the future in Iraq, in light of recent events," Milley told reporters traveling with him. Right now, the NATO training mission in Iraq is suspended in the aftermath of the killing of Quds Force leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The chiefs will also talk about the mission in Afghanistan and about violent extremist organizations all over the world. The military leaders will also discuss operations in the Trans-Sahel region of Africa. "The French have a lead on that, so they're going to talk about that," the chairman said. "We'll coordinate our activities and our resources and our positioning of forces in our tasks and purposes." Milley will discuss the U.S. initiative to strengthen the U.S. National Defense Strategy. Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper is working to execute and implement the strategy, "and that puts a great emphasis on Indo-Pacific and China, and de-emphasizes Middle East and Africa and South Central America," Milley said. "So, the general thought or theme or idea is that the assets and the commitments the resources that the United States puts into Central Command [area of operations] or the [Africa Command] area etc., could be reduced," he said, "and then shifted either to increase readiness of the force in the continental U.S. or shifted into Indo-Pacom." The U.S. process continues, and officials are developing options for Esper to consider. "We're developing those options in coordination with our allies and partners in the affected [areas of operations]," the general said. The military officials will bring their recommendations to their national leaders, he added. The meetings show the strong military-to-military ties that bind the alliance, Milley said. "The other part of [the meetings] is relationships, building strong military-to-military relationships at the senior level, and these become critically important," the chairman told reporters. When a crisis happens, these military leaders need to be able to communicate with counterparts and have a common understanding of the threats, he noted. "For example, in the Syria crisis, or the Baghdad raid or the Soleimani thing, I speak to these guys all the time," Milley said. "And I talked to a wide variety of allies and friends, and I even talked to people that might not be considered allies and friends." Policy is up to the political leaders of the nations, the general said. "I can just say what our current policy is, and what our current plans are," he added, "and my current guidance from the secretary of defense and the president is that we will stay in Iraq." On Iraq, he said, President Donald J. Trump spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the aftermath of the Soleimeni strike about increasing the NATO commitment. Milley said he will discuss what other nations can do in Iraq and more broadly in the Middle East. "It's important that the military have communications, because we oftentimes can clarify. We're all reporting to our national leadership, and we want to be able to make sure that we have a common operating picture and we understand the situation as best we can." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At the end of each year, the Danish government publishes a list of what it classifies as the countrys ghettos. There are currently 28. Areas where more than 50 percent of residents are immigrants or descendants of non-Western countries can be designated a ghetto based on the following criteria: income, percentage of those employed, levels of education and proportion of people with criminal convictions. Denmark is currently executing its controversial national ghetto plan One Denmark without Parallel Societies: No Ghettos in 2030 introduced by the previous government in March 2018, and now passed into a set of harsh laws and a housing policy. This involves the physical demolishment and transformation of low-income, largely Muslim neighbourhoods. Residents of these areas working-class, immigrant and refugee communities say the measures are aimed at containing as well as dispersing them. The term ghetto, with its negative connotations of festering crime, unemployment and dysfunction is a source of anguish for residents who believe the plan stigmatises them further while offering no improvements to their conditions. Anger, confusion and a feeling of betrayal are mounting among those deemed to be living in ghettos. Residents of ghettos are now subject to a different set of rules. Penalties for crimes can be doubled. Certain violations, for example, which are normally finable offences could mean imprisonment. Laws passed last March require children from the age of one to spend at least 25 hours a week in childcare to receive mandatory training in Danish values. There was even a proposal from the far-right Danish Peoples party that ghetto children should have a curfew of 8pm, although that was rejected by the parliament. But perhaps one of the most insidious rules is that public housing in so-called hard ghettos will be limited to only 40 percent of total housing by 2030. This means that public housing is now either being torn down, redeveloped or rented to private companies. The fear is that thousands across Denmark may have to leave their homes. By some reports, that number could be more than 11,000 people. Poul Aaroe Pedersen, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Transport and Housing, which is overseeing the housing changes, said in an email that the aim is to prevent parallel societies by integrating socially disadvantaged residential areas with the surrounding community through the development of different types of housing. Pederson said it is not possible to provide an exact number for how many people would need to move. According to lawyer Morten Tarp, two communities, one in the city of Helsingor and the other in the town of Slagelse, whose residents he is working to support, will receive the countrys first housing contract termination notices in early 2020. Mjolnerparken, a so-called hard ghetto, is a four-block housing complex situated in Norrebro, a lively, multicultural and gentrifying district in Copenhagen. There, 260 residencies will be sold. Residents have been informed through the housing association that they will have to move and are being encouraged to relocate to other areas. Many are uncertain about what will happen next. We visited Mjolnerparken and spoke to four residents about how the regulations are affecting their lives and their fears for the future. Lisbeth Saugmann, 76, pensioner: Im being forcibly relocated Lisbeth Saugmann grew up and spent most of her life in low-income housing, referred to by some as ghettos [Jamila Versi/Al Jazeera] Lisbeth has lived in the residence for elderly people in Mjolnerparken for almost a decade. She has been informed by the housing association that she will have to move. I was born in Arhus and spent most of my life in public housing and shared houses. Then eight years ago, I decided to move here, because my family all moved to Copenhagen. I wanted to live with others, because, you know, when youre new in a place it can be a bit overwhelming and the older you get it can be harder to make new friends. So I was happy to find a place here. Ive been very happy here. I really like Norrebro. I like that its such a mix of people. Im very glad to not be, sorry to say it like this, living with a bunch of rich as**oles. We found out about the ghetto plan when all the politicians and police came here, but they never spoke to us. They want to sell Mjolnerparken, but there are other ghettos in the country where they want to tear down healthy houses just because they dont like the people living there. I was a kindergarten teacher. Ive dealt a lot with kids that werent very stimulated, but that has nothing to do with skin colour. You have to use other methods to solve it. All the research will tell you this [plan] wont do anything. In the other housing associations where I lived, we had the same [social] problems, but everyone was white. They [the authorities] went in and they gave more opportunities for jobs and that helped. I see it [the plan] as something thats harming people, cutting at emotional ties and economically, its also just a waste of money. Thats how it is for people who dont earn a lot, or are sick, or arent in some way a part of the system. People are very sad. I think friendships are going to fall apart, and I think it will expose some vulnerabilities from people who are already struggling, especially if theyre told, You cant live here because we dont like you. Im being forcibly relocated. In the seniors residence, weve been able to get confirmation that we wont be separated as a group. And were the group thats white. I think thats been part of the reason were getting different treatment than the others. But we still have to pay much higher rent than we can afford. Especially now that Im getting older, how will I pay for my medicine? Its a nightmare. Everyones so confused about it. It makes me feel unsafe. People are talking about it all the time, even when you go to take the trash out. This place is going to be refurbished and theyll sell it for three times the price to rich people. I dont know what a parallel society is. I mean, maybe there are different realities. Maybe its the rich towns versus here, for example, because they live a completely different reality than we do. I dont think theres any parallel society here. Asif Mehmood, 52, taxi driver: Here, you never sleep hungry, youre never alone Theyre making us move here and here and there. I feel like theyre kicking us out of Denmark, Asif Mehmood says [Jamila Versi/Al Jazeera] Asif came to Denmark from Pakistan at the age of 20 and moved to Mjolnerparken with his wife and daughter in 1994. They raised their three daughters there. They have been told they have to leave and have received an offer of new housing. I really like Mjolnerparken. Here, you never sleep hungry, youre never alone. If you forget your wallet when you go to the store, someone will let you take the food home, because we know each other here. You can never do that in the city centre. We live in the best place you can be theres a train station, bus stations. My wife is ill. We live next to three different hospitals, all five minutes away. That makes it very easy. Im very dependent on people here. If Im at work and my wife or daughters have a small problem, I can call one of my friends to come help out. Its a huge support network. People can call it what they want, but its not a ghetto. Theyre [the government] the ones who built this place and now theyre starting to call it a ghetto. Thats not fair. Now that its become this hip place, they want people to move out and they use criminality as an excuse. Then they'll move us out from Copenhagen to the countryside and, eventually, they'll just kick us out of the country. Asif Mehmood, taxi driver If theres crime, lets fix it. But with this plan, they want to tear down the buildings. Just because we all have a different skin colour and wear different clothes doesnt mean were criminals. There are places like Allerod, with much more crime than here, but they dont call it a ghetto because theyre white. It doesnt make sense. Now they want us all to move to Wilders Plads [in Copenhagen] and pay double the rent there. So wont Wilders Plads become a ghetto if all the same people move there? And what about those of us who cant afford double the rent? Then theyll move us out from Copenhagen to the countryside and, eventually, theyll just kick us out of the country, like Inger Stojberg [far-right politician and ex-immigration minister] wants. But excuse me, were 99 percent Danish citizens living here. Even if they dont think we look Danish. Now Bo-Vita [the housing association] has been sending us these brochures saying, M is so happy, because now that hes moved, he finally has a sofa. What the hell? Youve seen that I have not one but two sofas. They need to find me a place that I can afford and that has an elevator for my wife. Im lucky. I make an OK amount. Weve gotten a new housing offer but its on the other end of town and far from the hospitals. And what about everyone else? They arent telling us anything. Everyone is very uncertain. Anonymous, 45: Were going to fight to stay One 45-year-old woman was interviewed anonymously. She arrived in Denmark as a Palestinian refugee when she was a teenager. I was born in Lebanon in 1974. In 1988 we moved to Denmark. First, we were in the asylum centre, and then we moved to Humlebaek [a coastal town] and lived in our own family home. But we didnt like it. My parents were lonely. So we applied to come to Mjolnerparken. First my husband, my new-born and I moved in, then my parents moved in next to us. We moved here to be in a social place. We really like being here. My five children grew up here with the other second-generation kids. My oldest child is 25 and the youngest seven. The oldest two have their own business and my daughters are studying public administration. I work in a canteen, but Ive applied for an internship in an office instead. I dont really like working in the kitchen. And Im a carer for my mum. Children cant find work if they live in Mjolnerparken. Lots of kids from outside the area faces we dont know come and make problems. Everything is stacked against the boys from around here. They dont feel Danish enough, theyre spoken down to, they dont get jobs, so then they have to do something else. I felt Danish until recently. Now I feel I'm not a part of this society. Anonymous When we moved here it was peaceful. Then the ethnic Danes moved out and suddenly it [got] a much worse reputation than it is. Ive lived here 25 years. I think Id be depressed if I moved from here, because I have so many good memories bad memories too, of course. Its not good for children to move. Especially if youre forced to do it. I felt Danish until recently. Now I feel Im not a part of this society. The politicians created their parallel society, with the bad reputation theyve given Mjolnerparken so that ethnic Danes dont want to live here. Its the fault of the housing association that they moved in so many immigrant families and now theyre saying its a problem. But it doesnt make sense. Blocks 1 and 4 arent being sold, so they will still be a ghetto. But they will be renovated, so some families will probably not come back, because the rent will be more expensive. You get three new housing offers and if you dont say yes, you dont get any help. But were not going to apply for offers. We are going to sue either the Copenhagen municipality or the state which is administrating the plan. The lawyers [who are helping us] are figuring that out. We are more than 50 citizens who dont want to move and who will sue. If we fail, Ill know weve tried. Samiah Qasim, 27, social worker: They dont see me as Danish any more Lately I dont feel so safe any more, Samiah Qasim says [Jamila Versi/Al Jazeera] Samiahs parents are originally from Palestine. Her immediate family is not having to leave their home, but her parents-in-law are. When her daughter is one, she will have to begin compulsory lessons in Danish values. Samiah recently organised a lets ghettogether party to invite people to come and see Mjolnerparken. I was born and bred in Blagardsgade [also in Norrebro], which is a former ghetto. Ive lived in Mjolnerparken for six years with my husband and my two children. His parents live here too. My husband has a masters from Copenhagen Business School. I really liked growing up in Blagardsgade. I felt really safe. I was very sceptical about moving to Mjolnerparken because of negative things I had heard from the media, but we needed a place to stay so we took it, and actually, I have become very happy about it. Theres a good community. You have all the shops and transport you need and there are cheap apartments. The only problem is the gangs. We used to have a gang problem in Blagardsgade, but then came more shops and cafes. It became really cosy and green. Suddenly there was a lot of activity for the boys clubs and internships and job offers, so they didnt have time to step into the gang area. That made a huge difference. I dont think they can be more wrong about the ghetto laws. Firstly, theres nothing wrong with the buildings which theyre selling or tearing down. Its the people that live in those buildings who are struggling. And thats where you need to use the resources to provide support like they did in Blagardsgade and do preventative work. My daughter is six months old and I just got a letter saying that since I'm from a 'ghetto' area, I have to sign up to send my child to this institution for 25 hours a week to learn 'Danish values'. Samiah Qasim I feel I have to fight. How can we change this law or even get it removed? Lately, sometimes, I fear that a crazy person will push me on to the train tracks just because Ive got a headscarf, and suddenly they dont see me as Danish any more. It wasnt like that eight years ago. The politicians have just created hate, fear and division, and thats very frightening to witness. My daughter is six months old and I just got a letter saying that since Im from a ghetto area, I have to sign up to send my child to this institution for 25 hours a week to learn Danish values. If we refuse, we dont get any benefits or child support. The only exception is if the municipality steps in. So if I say my child is not ready at the age of one but will be ready at one year and three months, it becomes societys decision. This has nothing to do with me as a mother. It is based simply on my address. If I moved over to the other side of the road, I would not be having any of these problems. I dont feel this law makes us feel included its the opposite. Youre saying to kids from a young age that they are not good enough, that they have to do extra to be accepted by society. Queen Elizabeth was not the only member of the royal family saddened by Prince Harry and Meghan Markles decision to step away from the spotlight. Sources claim that Kate Middleton was also hurt by the couples shocking decision to resign as senior members of the royal family. With the royals in damage control mode, heres a look at how Middleton really feels about Harry and Meghans big announcement. Prince Harry and Kate Middleton | Andrew Parsons WPA Pool/Getty Images Kate Middleton hurt by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle A source close to the situation claims that Prince William and Kate were disheartened by the news that Harry and Meghan are stepping down. Per the insider, William believes he went the extra mile to help Harry and feels like the announcement was selfish and reckless. According to Fox News, Kate was hurt as well and cannot stand to see her husband in such a state. To make things worse, Kate and Harry used to be very close, so watching him walk away has been very difficult. When Harry was feeling low or had problems, William was always there for him, as was Kate, the source shared. Kates incredibly hurt too. She acted as a mentor to Harry before Meghan came into the picture and hates seeing her husband so upset. Compare these 20 headline and see how differently royal reporters treated Kate Middleton and Meghan Marklehttps://t.co/EwwPd3waJe pic.twitter.com/WYP402SY2R BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 13, 2020 The insider added that Queen Elizabeth is pushing for William and Harry to display a united front in public. Both sides, however, are being stubborn and have little interest in playing nice for the cameras. There is no telling if the brothers will ever make amends. At this point, the royals are doing their best to clean things up and are hoping that Harry and Meghan will someday change their minds. Prince William speaks out Taking to social media, Harry and Meghan revealed their plans to leave the senior circle of the royal family and become financially independent from the crown. They also want to spend part of the year in Canada and the other half at their home in Windsor. In light of the shocking announcement, the royals have been scrambling to pull things together. Buckingham Palace released a statement in the days following the declaration, assuring royal watchers that discussions with Harry and Meghan are ongoing. William also reportedly said that he is very sad about his brothers decision to quit the royal spotlight. Prince William and Kate Middleton expressed interest in bringing Harry back into the inner circle, though there is little hope for that now. Never forget that Prince Harry has publicly defended Kate numerous times when she first started being royal. Prince William has never ONCE given Meghan the same courtesy. pic.twitter.com/jg148QcZ4m Battinson Rules (@Royal_Realness) January 9, 2020 Ive put my arm around my brother all our lives and I cant do that anymore Im sad about that. All we can do, and all I can do, is try and support them and hope that the time comes when were all singing from the same page. I want everyone to play on the team, Prince William reportedly shared. Harry and Meghans decision comes months after they both opened up about their struggles living in the limelight. Queen Elizabeth schedules a meeting In light of Harry and Meghans shocking announcement, Queen Elizabeth called a meeting to discuss the Sussexs future in the monarchy. William is believed to have attended the meeting, along with Prince Charles. Her Majesty wanted to meet with Harry so that they could all talk about his decision to step down as senior members of the royal family. After the meeting, Queen Elizabeth released a statement that they are supportive of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles desires, but wish that they would remain senior members of the royal family. Executive editor of The Sun Dan Wootton: "Prince Harry and Meghan won't relinquish their titles because they would have to bow to Prince William and Kate." Listen live https://t.co/sv3MZUm41c@JuliaHB1 | @danwootton pic.twitter.com/0knkIOfehI talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) January 9, 2020 We do know, however, that Kate Middleton was not present for the conference. Kate was spotted departing Kensington Palace early in the week. The meeting was held at Queen Elizabeths Sandringham estate, which means Kate missed out on it. Prince Harry and Prince William open up about feud rumors While we wait for this story to develop, William and Harry recently addressed the rumors that their feud was the reason for the split. Previous reports claimed that the rift between the brothers is what really caused Harry and Meghan to step down. In their joint statement, William and Harry referenced the false stories in the press. They slammed the reports and said that talks of a feud are offensive and potentially harmful. Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between the Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful, the statement read. Prince William and Prince Harry say 'potentially harmful' newspaper story is false https://t.co/PjOMb2hrI6 Sky News (@SkyNews) January 13, 2020 The statement did not, however, say anything about the rumors that Meghan was the driving force behind the couples decision to leave the inner circle of the royal family. Meghan recently flew back to Canada, which is why she was unable to make it to the emergency meeting. There is no telling what will happen with Harry and Meghan in the coming weeks, but they do seem content to follow through with their plans. Kate Middleton was not at the meeting and has yet to comment on the drama with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. A carjacking in Norwalk led to a pursuit with local and state police that ended in a deadly officer-involved shooting in West Haven, officials said Wednesday. Trooper First Class Christine Jeltema, a spokeswoman for Connecticut State Police, confirmed Wednesday night that the suspect shot during the officer-involved shooting in West Haven was fatally wounded. What led to the pursuit and deadly shooting began earlier in the afternoon when Norwalk police officers responded to the AT&T store on Route 7 for a report of a disturbance and information about a suspect armed with a knife around 4:30 p.m. While en route, a vehicle was reported stolen by the suspect in the disturbance. The responding officers saw the vehicle and tried to get the driver to pull over. Police said the driver did not stop, prompting a brief pursuit. Norwalk police supervisors called off the pursuit and advised the dispatch center to notify surrounding police departments and Connecticut State Police of the vehicles description and what happened. Police in Norwalk are still investigating the carjacking. But as news reached troopers out of the Bridgeport barracks at Troop G, officers spotted the suspect vehicle and tried as Norwalk police had to get the driver to pull over. Trooper Josue Dorelus, a spokesman for state police, said the driver instead engaged police in a pursuit that went into West Haven. Dorelus did not clarify what town or city the pursuit began in. There have been reports of an officer-involved shooting which occurred in the town of West Haven stemming from this aforementioned incident, Dorelus said in a statement Wednesday night. Dorelus did not say what specifically prompted the gunfire. He did not say how many troopers were involved in the pursuit or how many might have fired their weapons. It was unclear if the suspect had a gun or if the suspect tried to use a weapon on any police officers. Brian Foley, a spokesman for the state police Commissioner James Rovella, said no troopers were injured in the shooting. He said multiple troopers were taken to local hospitals per protocol. Dorelus stressed that the information was preliminary and that more information would be shared as it became available. The shooting prompted emergency personnel to shut down the Exit 43 off ramp of Interstate 95 north in West Haven. The closure was announced in a traffic alert by the state Department of Transportation around 5:20 p.m. The alert indicated the closure was because of police activity. Drivers in the area were advised to seek another exit. Battling climate change will be a focal point for discussions when business and political leaders descend on Davos, Switzerland for the WEFs annual meeting next week. The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising, and climate fires are burning, said Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum. This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of co-operation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks. Deutsche Bank strategists meanwhile said in a presentation prepared for the meeting that the question of our age is the extent to which societies will be willing to sacrifice economic growth for the benefit of reversing climate change. If governments fail to work together across borders, the results will be catastrophic when it comes to dealing with challenges like the climate crisis and species decline, according to the WEF report. The report likewise underscored the importance of policy makers and companies matching targets for protecting the climate with ones that help economies grow, as well as adjusting to science-based targets to avoid huge losses down the line. We are already seeing companies destroyed by failing to align their strategies to shifts in policy and customer preferences, said Peter Giger, group chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Group. Transitionary risks are real, and everyone must play their part to mitigate them. The annual Davos meeting has been criticized in past years, and this year was no different. When questioned about whether there was a gap between the WEFs rhetoric and the reality of CEOs and politicians arriving in Davos on private planes, WEF managing director Adrian Monck said, The sustainability measures we put in place actually overcompensate for the annual meeting. He pointed to carbon offsets, travel by train, and biofuels that are available at Zurich airport as mitigating measures. The risk of recession also looms over the global economy, with more than three-quarters of the surveys respondents identifying economic and geopolitical turmoil as one of their concerns. We are faced with a synchronized slowdown in the global economy, said Brende at a press conference in London. And were also faced with a situation where the ammunition that we have to fight a potential global recession is more limited. SOFIA -- Bulgaria's lawmakers have approved Emil Dimitrov as environment and water minister after his predecessor was charged with deliberate mismanagement of water supplies in a western region. Parliament on January 15 approved Dimitrov by 111 votes to 96 against as the water crisis in and around the western town of Pernik has affected about 100,000 people for months and led to anti-government protests. The former environment and water minister, Neno Dimov, resigned on January 10, a day after he was taken into custody following a round of questioning by investigators. Prosecutors accuse him of providing water supplies to industrial users even when he had been informed that the water in a dam -- the only source of drinking water to Pernik and the surrounding area -- had seriously decreased. Dimov, who faces up to 8 years in prison, has denied any wrongdoing and blamed the water crisis on dry weather and poor management of the local water facility. With reporting by Reuters [January 15, 2020] Consumers Should Control Their Data, and TimiHealth Blockchain Ecosystem Makes It Happen AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the very near future TimiHealth will begin advancing consumer monetization of genomics data with a 70/30 split with the owners of the data. In simple terms, consumers will receive 70% of the compensation received when they opt in to share their data in the TimiHealth blockchain powered ecosystem. To learn more and take care of your genomics data visit: http://app.timidna.com Data privacy is becoming more and more important; TimiHealth.com enables a new opportunity by giving consumers full data privacy and an ability to share in the value generated from their data. The US healthcare industry has a multi-billion dollar marketplace for information sold to data brokers, pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers. Yet consumers/patients receive none of the financial benefits. TimiHealth found some great examples of the deals that revolved around the sale of genomics data to pharmaceutical companies. This is a glaring example of big corporations profiting off consumers. Details Quantity & price per unit Data type 2012 - DECODE sold data to Amgen Unit quantity: 300,000 Price per unit: $1,383 Genomics data & Medical Records 2015 - 23andMe sold data to Genentech Unit quantity: 3,000 Price per unit: $20,000 Genomics data & Patient reported data 2015 - AncestryDNA sold data to Calico Unknown Unknown 2018 - 23andMe sold data to GSK Unit quantity: 4,000,000 Price per unit: $75 Genomics data & Surveys (includes 4 year exclusive access to data) 2018 - Genomic Medicine Ireland sold data to WuXi Nextcode Unit quantity: 400,000 Price per unit: $1,000 Genomics data & Medical Records Millions of people pay direct to consumer genomic companies substantial fees to obtain information regarding their heritage, genetic disposition for certain disease states, or pharmacologic compatibility with drug regimens. Unfortunately, most consumers are unaware that the personal data gleaned from such tests can then be sold to any number of research organizations for huge profitsnone of which are realized by the consumers themselves. TimiHealth's solution ensures that patients are in control of their own data where they can give permission for it to be used by their chosen healthcare providers and/or participating in the Timi Marketplace for data monetization. "TimiHealth is driven by a mission to remedy these inequities by enabling consumers to own, control, and monetize the value of their health data, including that about their genomic data. TimiHealth is built on the principles of trust, transparency and empowerment, with a goal of putting control back into the hands of the true owners of this valuable dataconsumers themselves," said Will Lowe, Co-Founder of TimiHealth. About TimiHealth: The blockchain powered ecosystem providing portability, security, and control of consumer genomics and health data. Media contact: [email protected], (281) 607-7770 Related Links https://timihealth.com Related Images timihealth-group-inc.png TimiHealth Group Inc Related Links Learn More Get Started View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-should-control-their-data-and-timihealth-blockchain-ecosystem-makes-it-happen-300987123.html SOURCE TimiHealth Group Inc [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi: Former BJP MLA and prime accused in the Unnao gang rape case, Kuldeep Singh Sengar has challenged the life imprisonment verdict against him in the Delhi High Court. On December 20 2019, Sengar was awarded life imprisonment by the Tis Hazari Court for raping and abducting a minor girl in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh. Also, a fine of Rs 25 lakh was slapped on him. Sengar lost his membership to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly too as a result of his sentencing because his jail term exceeds two years. Delhi's Tees Hazari court had convicted Kuldeep Sengar of Rape under section 376 of IPC and Section 5 and 6 of POCSO Act. The judgment was passed by Tis Hazari District Judge Dharmesh Sharma who had observed in the order that, "the CBI was able to prove the guilt of Kuldeep Singh Sengar beyond a reasonable doubt". Live TV The court said that prosecution had proved that the girl was a minor. The judge further went on to say that it has been established that she was sexually assaulted. Judge also observed that the matter wasnt reported immediately and there was a considerable delay. The victim faced threats and had moments of anxiety. Meanwhile, Sengar's co-accused Shashi Singh, accused of taking the rape victim to the MLA's house on the pretext of providing her job, was acquitted by the court. Sengar, a four-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh`s Bangarmau, had raped the girl at his residence in Unnao on June 2017, where she had gone seeking a job. He was arrested last year and is currently lodged in Tihar jail. One first-grade class at a charter school in Newark received the gift of a lifetime Wednesday$1,000 worth of school suppliesafter one of their parents won a company contest. Jihad Simmons, a driver for J.B. Hunt Transport, a national trucking company, entered in his companys annual Adopt-a-Class contest, which allows company drivers to nominate their child or grandchilds elementary school classroom for a donation of school supplies, worth up to $1,000. Simmons had to write a short essay explaining why his daughter SaBrias first-grade class at KIPP Seek Academy, a charter school in Newark, deserved to win the supplies. He submitted his essay in November. The companys corporate office then selects the winning essays and delivers the supplies to the school. So I sent (the essay) in, didnt think we would win, because opportunities like this dont happen where we come from, Simmons said. And we did. They made all the arrangements, they reached out to the teachers, they gave them a list of everything they need, and my god, did all the research, and boarded everything and now Im here to deliver. Kids line up to check out the truck. Jihad Simmons won a contest at work and his employer J.B. Hunt transport donated $1,000 worth of school supplies to his daughter's second grade class at Kipp Seek Academy in Newark, January, 15, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for Simmons personally delivered the supplies to the class Wednesday morning, on a 36-foot truck from J.B. Hunt. The first-graders, decked out in their Adopt-a-Class shirts from the company, were visibly excited and chanted J.B. Hunt! J.B. Hunt! at one point. Each student got to sit in the trucks passenger seat and pull the horn. Christine Romanos, one of SaBrias co-teachers, put together an Amazon wishlist for the company after finding out they had been selected. Her chosen items included pencils, whiteboards, markers, construction paper, glue sticks, and more. She specifically chose items for the students Innovation Station, an arts and crafts activity the students have every Wednesday. SaBrias classcalled the NYU classshared the donated supplies with the other first-grade classrooms. Every KIPP Seek Academy classroom is named after a college, with the expectation that the students will attend college. Jihad Simmons won a contest at work and his employer J.B. Hunt transport donated $1,000 worth of school supplies to his daughter's second grade class at Kipp Seek Academy in Newark, January, 15, 2020 Here Simmons helps kids down from the cab.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for SaBria was excited about the donations, and said she was happy because it was the first time my dad came to the school and delivered stuff for the school. J.B. Hunt selected 2,000 classrooms for their Adopt-a-Classroom program this year, Matthew Malgieri, an account manager for the company, said. Its wonderful to see such an incredible team of teachers and such a great group of students be rewarded in this way, said Antonia OSullivan, the principal of KIPP Seek Academy. I think this experience couldnt go to a better group. And obviously, the donations will make a big impact. Jihad Simmons won a contest at work and his employer J.B. Hunt transport donated $1,000 worth of school supplies to his daughter's second grade class at Kipp Seek Academy in Newark, January, 15, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @briannakudisch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The ringleader of a crew of thieves that stole high-end clothing and jewelry from stores in South Jersey and Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Louis Mathis, 49, of Philadelphia will also have to pay $398,960 in restitution and be subject to three years of supervised release after finishing his prison term, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Philadelphia said in a statement Tuesday. The crime spree began on March 29, 2016 when Mathis and a member of his crew stole $120,000 in diamond rings and other jewelry from Sears in the Deptford Mall, according to charging documents. In a second New Jersey heist, Mathis, Hasan Knight and another man stole $6,229 in rings and other jewelry from the same store on June 7, 2016, officials said. Finally, on Nov. 13, 2016, Mathis, Knight and two others took $5,335 in Ralph Lauren Polo brand clothing from Macys in the Moorestown Mall and then fled to Philadelphia in a stolen Infiniti QX56, authorities said. Mathis was also part of a crew that committed a smash-and-grab robbery of $200,000 in jewelry at Zales in Philadelphia Mills on Aug. 17, 2016. Fifteen days, earlier Mathis, Knight and an associate barged into Helzberg Diamonds at Montgomery Mall in North Wales, Pennsylvania and stole $67,396 in jewelry by breaking open display cases, authorities said. Customers and employees were in the store at the time of both Pennsylvania robberies robbery, court papers said. After each of the thefts, Mathis fenced the stolen items to shops on Jewelers Row and South Street in Philadelphia and to designer clothing sellers, the prosecutors said. Mathis and Knight previously pleaded guilty in October to Hobbs Act robbery and interstate transportation of stolen goods. Knight is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, also in federal court in Philadelphia. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 : The induction ceremony of a Su-30 MKI squadron in the southern skies will take place in the presence of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu on January 20, said a top Air Force official here on Wednesday. The range of this will be in the Indian ocean region up to Suez Canal. The development and integration of the weapon with aircraft was the result of the dedicated and synergetic efforts of the Indian Air Force (IAF), DRDO, BAPL and HAL, and will hugely enhance the operational capability of the force. Air Marshal Amit Tiwari, AVSM VMA Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command said to the media here that the newly resurrected 222 Squadron will be operationalised with Brahmos equipped Sukhoi-30 air superiority fighters with twin engine. "The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) which is a central maritime spread, bordering three continents, has an important role to play in regional peace, security and prosperity. The IAF is an intrinsically strategic force and is all set to extend the reach into the vast IOR," said Tiwari and added that the need for such surveillance was the need of the hour. "The Thiruvananthapuram Air Force airbase will play a crucial role in this. Expansion plans here are on the anvil and additional land is being acquired, next to the present base. We expect to complete the expansion in around four year's time," added Air Marshal Tiwari. The 222 Squadron, also known as 'Tigersharks' was raised at Air Force Station, Ambala on September 15, 1969 with Sukhoi Su-7 aircraft. In July 1971, the Squadron moved to Air Force Station Halwara and took part in the 1971 war with Pakistan. The squadron was recognised for its heroic efforts during the war and was awarded one Mahavir Chakra, three Vir Chakras, three Vayu Sena Medals and two Mention-in Dispatches. In December 1985, the 'Tigersharks' became the first Squadron in the IAF equipped with Mig-27 Aircraft. The Squadron was number plated in 2011. The 'Tigersharks', equipped with formidable, state-of-the-art air superiority fighter aircraft, which are armed with 2.5 ton air launched Brahmos missile of 300 Kms range, have the capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or on land with pin-point accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions. The capability of the missile coupled with superlative performance of the Su-30 MKI is all set to change the paradigm of maritime surveillance, security and strike in the region. Air Marshal Tiwari welcomed the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff and termed it as a good move. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. A former soldier stationed in Colorado received a life sentence for a drug robbery that ended in a deadly shootout. Tyler Lee Wheeler, 21, was sentenced Monday in the October 2018 death of Kenyatta Horne, The Gazette reported. Wheeler was found guilty of first-degree murder in October. Horne, 20, was shot when a crew of robbers led by Wheeler ambushed him during what was supposed to be a cocaine deal in Security-Widefield, authorities said. Wheeler was stationed at Fort Carson when he and accomplices arranged to purchase $700 worth of cocaine from Horne. The group planned to rob Horne outside his parents home in the community 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Colorado Springs. After seeing the men approach with guns out, Horne drew a pistol and a gun battle ensued, authorities said. Wheeler fired more than 20 shotgun shells, authorities said. An autopsy concluded Horne died of a single blast of birdshot in the chest. Two of Wheelers accomplices were sentenced to prison sentences of varying lengths and a third is awaiting sentencing later this month. Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin has failed to convince a federal appeals court that her criminal convictions for having her staff do political work are unjustified. That rejection by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit came Tuesday in and opinion by Judge came in an opinion by Judge Paul B. Matey. In short, Matey discounted Melvins argument that she didnt commit any crime but was wrongly prosecuted for violating what were merely internal workplace guidelines. Matey found that her acts were clearly criminal. Melvin, who won election to Pennsylvanias highest court in 2009, was convicted in 2013 of misusing her staff and office resources to promote her political campaigns. Her sisters former state Sen. Jane C. Orie and Janine Orie, who was Melvins judicial aide were convicted of similar offenses. Although she avoided a prison term, Melvin was sentenced to 3 years of house arrest. She also was ordered to perform community service at a soup kitchen and to write apology letters to every judge in the state. Melvin took her case to federal court after failing to convince the state appeals courts to void her convictions. She appealed to the circuit court after a U.S. Western District judge denied her petition for a federal review of her convictions. Matey wrote that Melvin was prosecuted for misusing tax dollars for private benefit. Evidence showed she required judiciary employees during the workday and using public resources to write letters to Republican Party officials, draft political speeches, fill out political questionnaires, prepare campaign fundraising and expense reports and write thank you notes to campaign donors, the judge noted. Some employees testified to spending a considerable percentage of their workday devoted to political tasks, rather than performing the tasks related to the public jobs they held, Matey added. Plus, he wrote, Melvin did not have immunity from criminal prosecution because of her occupation as a judge. The ruling on the Melvin case comes three months after the circuit judges denied Jane Ories appeal of her convictions. US President Donald Trump is likely to make a state visit to India towards the end of February, a senior Indian official told ANI. The official said that the dates of the visit are being worked out. The source further added that Indian diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu's appointment as the new Ambassador of India to the US will be announced 'soon' in light of the possibility that Trump is likely to be visiting India in February-end. Earlier on January 7, Modi told Trump in a telephonic conversation that ties between India and the US have grown from strength to strength. The Prime Minister also expressed his desire to continue to work with the US President for enhancing cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. During the talks, Modi highlighted the significant progress made towards deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries in the previous year, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Trump expressed satisfaction at the achievements in the relationship between the two countries in the last few years and reiterated his readiness for further deepening bilateral cooperation, according to the PMO. The Prime Minister also extended New Year greetings to Trump, his family and the people of the US. On the other hand, Trump reciprocated the gesture and wished the people of India prosperity and progress in the New Year. During the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in last September, Modi, who shared the dais with Trump, invited the latter and his family to visit India, saying it will give a new height to the shared dreams of the two countries. The Indian invitation to Trump was reiterated last month by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar when they called on Trump at the White House after meeting with their American counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From food courts and beer taps to onsite living quarters and Blue Ridge Mountain views with private parking, Charlottesvilles current crop of soon-to-be-finished office buildings are displaying a lot of class. And that class is Class A. Dairy Central, 3Twenty3 and the CODE building are currently under construction with hopes of adding nearly a half-million square feet of top-notch office space in the next two years in downtown Charlottesville. As much as half of that space is already under lease, according to developers. The projects are designed to provide employers with prestigious headquarters and employees with urbane amenities in an urban environment with scenic views and attractions. These buildings give us about 500,000 square feet of Class A office space and I would describe the current situation as unprecedented, said Charlottesville Director of Economic Development Chris Engel. Prior to this, we havent had similar space built in the city in about a decade. I think Charlottesville is a little bit of a sleeping giant, said Andrew Boninti, of CSH Development, which is developing the CODE Building. For some of us who have been in town for a while, Charlottesville has been a sleepy, small college town. Weve taken a lot of things for granted such as the Downtown Mall, the mountain views, Monticello and other attractions. But there are a lot of companies that would like to take advantage of those same amenities and developers have started saying why not Charlottesville? Its really appealing to businesses that want to provide their employees with the amenities and urban environment the employees want. Engel said the city is riding the wave of downtown revitalization thats inundating cities across the country. We are in demand from tech companies, bio-tech companies and others that are looking for full-service amenities to offer their employees in an urban setting, Engel said. Were not alone as Richmond is seeing a renaissance in their downtown and so is Washington, D.C.. Employers are trying to find locations that appeal to their employees, especially their younger employees who like the amenities an urban area can offer. According to the Building Owners and Managers Association, an international trade association for commercial real estate professionals, office space is most often divided into three classes: A, B, and C. Class C office space is designed for tenants requiring functional space at rents below the average for the area and Class B space competes for a wide range of users with rents in the average range for the area. Class A office spaces are prestigious buildings competing for premier office users with rents above average for the area. The buildings have high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and a definite market presence. The A train is rolling into Charlottesville and attracting an A-list of tenants even before buildings are complete. Officials with Stony Point Design/Build announced that two national firms have signed leases for its redevelopment of the Monticello Dairy on Preston Avenue, known as Dairy Central. The thick brick walls and facades with columnar treatments have gone from hosting the creation of daily confectionaries and delights to serving as the new home of Washington, D.C.-based CoStar Group, the largest digital real estate company in the world and San Diego, California-based Dexcom, a world-leading provider of continuous glucose monitoring systems for use by people with diabetes. The building is expected to open this year. The CODE Building will feature mall-level common areas and a pedestrian pass-through from the mall to Water Street as well as public common areas built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for energy efficiency with green roof terraces, joint work spaces, restaurants and a beer tap. Charlottesville-based companies Quantitative Investment Management, Investure and Felton Group have signed leases and CODE officials estimate another 40,000 square feet of office space is still available for lease. The building is expected to open next year. Also under construction is 3Twenty3, at 323 Second St. SE, that will feature floor-to-ceiling glass to provide tenants with dramatic views of downtown Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to the buildings website. The building is designed to have five stories for an estimated 120,000 square feet. It will sit on a four-story, 200-car parking structure. The building will feature a rooftop event space and deck, restaurants, charging stations for electric vehicles and indoor bicycle racks. In April, law firm McGuireWoods LLP leased 17,218 square feet at 3TWENTY3 for its planned relocation of its Charlottesville office. A crane collapse on Jan. 6 that broke the leg of one construction worker has delayed construction at the site, which was expected to be completed later this year. Also on the drawing board is the headquarters for Charlottesville-based Apex Clean Energy, a 187,000-square-foot, seven-story headquarters at 100 Garret Street, a few blocks from Charlottesvilles Downtown Mall. The building will eschew the concrete-steel-glass construction norm, opting instead for cross-laminated timber beams, and will feature 875 solar panels mounted to the roof and canopies and high-efficiency mechanical systems. Apex will occupy about 84,000 square feet of the building. The move toward high-tech offices with high end features was led by other companies, Engel said. He noted that the CFA Institutes renovations and relocation to the old Martha Jefferson Hospital building near downtown and WorldStrides relocation to Water Street in downtown presaged the demand for urban office spaces. Were seeing a mix of local companies as well as companies from out of the area who are finding the city attractive, Engel said. Its a good situation to be in. Including leases signed by other tenants, an additional 12,000 square feet of class A office space remains at Dairy Central after Dexcom and CoStar agreed to lease 17,580 square feet. The building will host 50,000 square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail space and an estimated 180 apartments. For Dexcom, the move will be sort of a homecoming as the company acquired Charlottesville-based TypeZero Technologies in 2018. We are thrilled to welcome CoStar Group and Dexcom to Dairy Central, said Chris Henry, President of Stony Point Development Group. These publicly traded tech tenants recently establishing a presence in Charlottesville, points to the strength of the local economy and attractiveness of Central Virginia for business growth. The buildings are offering amenities that traditional office space does not, including restaurants and food halls, retail shops, brew pubs, communal working spaces for cross-pollination of ideas between businesses and rooftop lounges. Some offer apartments and all offer onsite parking, most of it below ground or attached to the structures. Boninti said that, despite its association with violence and racism caused by the Aug. 12, 2017 Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville has a good reputation and that is attracting interest from employers and employees. Its a great community with a lot of attractions and its drawing the interest of a lot of businesses. Look at all of the hotels being built, Boninti said. Theres a real positive feeling about the community out there and a lot of companies are interested in the area. But if you dont have the space available to take advantage of the interest, he said. Thats where these buildings come into play. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. I recently proclaimed a huge confession: I dont get sake. I had attended sake tastings, sat through sake classes, watched sake documentaries. I had tried it, warm and cold, budget and high-end, paired with sushi and ramen. Its subtleties were lost on me I could barely enjoy a sip, let alone embrace its elusive joys. I shared my confession with sake expert Jonathon Edwards. You have to stop drinking wine for a week. Drink sake and nothing else, said Edwards, who works for importer Vine Connections. Wine takes over the palate, he explained, preventing the delicate nuances of sake to show through. Soon you will be able to understand. Excited to learn and to purge my palate, I started my seven-day #sakecleanse with a tasting at Binnys Beverage Depot, a Chicago wine and spirits superstore. Edwards was there, plying his wares, encouraging me to taste through the lineup, pointing up flavor profiles. I spoke to other sake neophytes in attendance, all who seemed equally mystified and curious. At the end of the evening, I stocked up for my week, purchasing the myriad varieties I had tasted. What does sake taste like? asked the woman behind the checkout. I told her I didnt really know. On day two of my immersion, I hurried home to the pretty bottles lined up in my fridge. Shrimp with carrot top pesto was on the menu. I paired it with Endless Summer, a honjozo-style sake with a pronounced saline tang that telegraphs its coastal origins it absolutely sang with the seafood. The third night landed on movie night Ive been known to smuggle cans of wine into theater, so why not portable sake? I filled my tote with a selection of chilled minis in jars and cans. My companion left hers untouched, but I found my cup of sake to be just the relaxing thing. I came home on the fourth night after a pretty grueling workday. Was a glass of sake going to do the trick, taking the place of a silky gamay with my cheese and crackers? Hell, yes. Most of the acidity in sake, I learned, comes from lactic acid, and the high glutamate content delivers an umami punch, perfect with artisan cheese. I couldnt continue a #sakecleanse without some high-end sushi, so I requested date night at Arami, a sexy sushi den. Again, my companion was reluctant, (he ordered Asahi, a Japanese beer), but I went for a glass of junmai nigori, a cloudy, unfiltered style, from the extensive list. Sake won the second round we both went for a glass of nama (unpasteurized), whose bold freshness highlighted the elegant raw fish. By day six, the nights were getting chillier, so I met a friend at the restaurant Sushi San for a cozy couple of carafes of warm sake and tako tacos. We poured for each other as tradition demands and left with a glow. I saved the best bottle of my haul for last to pair with a home-cooked meal at a friends place. We opened the Yamada Everlasting Roots, an earthy, rich junmai that matched the pork, ginger and mushroom donabe hot pot, and an Italian red. The wine was left virtually untouched. The results of my weeklong sake plunge? Sake completely surprised me. It satisfied as an after-work beverage and a food-pairing workhorse. Its fun to have a bottle in the fridge at home and exciting to explore restaurant drink menus. My #sakecleanse led me to a new drink buddy, and well be friends for life. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Ben Roback: Can Johnson pull off a triumph and bridge the gap between Trump and the EU on Iran? Ben Roback is Head of Trade and International Policy at Cicero Group. How do you solve a problem like Iran? You dont, if you refers to the individual. As we enter a decade of national sovereignty America First, Make in India, Belt & Road Initiative there are still several geopolitical challenges that require global responses. There is no better example than in the Middle East, where no single nation around the world is capable of unilaterally unwinding centuries of building tension. Even the Americans found that out under Barack Obama, in building a global coalition around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to combat Iranian nuclear expansion. Since then, Donald Trump has made Iran a central feature of his approach to foreign policy. At the start of the New Year, this sites Editor asked: Trump and Iran. Whats the plan?. Since then, tensions have both increased and thankfully cooled, but in truth we are no closer to finding an answer. Go big or go home The Presidents knee-jerk reaction to foreign policy challenges often appears to be a binary choice: go big or go home. In April 2017, Trump ordered the Mother of all Bombs to be dropped on an ISIS complex in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The political benefit was palpable: 92 ISIS militants were killed, a figure often cited by the president in subsequent rallies and press conferences. A fortnight ago, the President ordered an airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani. Less than ten days later, at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, he devoted a chunk of his speech detailing the fallout of the strike, while lambasting Democrats for not fully supporting the military action. And yet there are countless examples of Trump looking to pull back from costly and often deadly feuds abroad.He took American allies by near total surprise when he abandoned Kurdish forces and withdrew US troops from northeast Syria a move described by The Economist as a greenlight for Turkey to go after the Kurds, who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS and lost 11,000 fighters in the process. The President has even gone as far as saying the US should never have been in Middle East. It is perhaps lazy to assume that the Presidents only foreign policy motivation is domestic political benefit, but beyond that the objective is less discernible. Can a president really be for bringing our boys home while also dropping bombs and ordering assassinations abroad? Between a rock and a hard place As Britain plots its proud new place on the world stage, there is much work to be done. Brexit is often considered a political and regulatory challenge and opportunity, but rarely viewed through a foreign policy prism. Thought of in terms of Britains international place, Brexit is kaleidoscopic. On services regulation, we want the freedom to diverge with the European Union and align ourselves closer to the Americans. On fishing and farming, we want to be proudly British, breaking free from the shackles of the Common Agricultural Policy and set our own rules for our land and waters. But what role do we want to play in Iran? Elsewhere, will we join the Belt and Road Initiative like Italy, or firmly rebuff it at the insistence of Washington? Will we embrace the prospect of the greater Chinese investment associated with allowing Huawei access to the UKs 5G infrastructure network, or will doing so sour relations with the US? Those truly global challenges outscale even Brexit, and pose a more fundamental challenge to Britains future place on the world stage. In seeking to answer many of these questions, we may find that we are caught between a rock and a hard place. A Free Trade Agreement with the United States remains one of the standout jewels in the Brexit crown, and this President could hardly be more enthusiastic about doing a deal with our Prime Minister. Facing re-election in November, there is a clear and obvious incentive for the White House. And yet Downing Street, the Foreign Office and the International Trade department must have all the balance, craft and guile of a ballerina in driving our trade negotiations while occasionally standing up to the Americans on foreign policy disagreements. Iran has proven a perfect microcosm of a dilemma that will play out ad infinitum in 2020 and beyond. This week, we chose to be European, and stood alongside the French and Germans in triggering a dispute mechanism in the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action in relation to Iran. Under the mechanism, the Joint Commission (which is made up of representatives from every signatory) will have 15 days to review the situation. The future is uncertain. Boris Johnson is seeking to be the aforementioned ballerina. He wants to build a traditional transatlantic bridge between foreign policy in Washington and Europe. If the JCPOA is flawed and to be scrapped, it must be replaced by a comparable agreement, he argues. There is no sign of that being a popular viewpoint in Washington, but the prime minister could have taken a step closer to answering the Editors question: Whats the plan? Trump is a man who prides himself on deal making. If the JCPOA is to be scrapped, he might position himself as the foremost leader to negotiate a new and improved deal signed with his seal of approval or he could recline further from the international stage go big or go home. Bridging the divide between Europe and Washington would represent a monumental foreign policy and diplomatic victory for the Prime Minister. It would plant a proud British flag firmly on the world stage. Picking Up The Pieces Of Abkhazia's Latest Political Crisis By Michael Scollon January 14, 2020 The de facto president of the self-declared republic of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia whose independence is recognized only by Russia and a few others, has stepped down amid sometimes violent protests that erupted over what his opponents say was an illegitimate electoral victory. With Abkhaz leader Raul Khajimba out of the picture -- at least for now -- and new elections scheduled, where do things stand in the impoverished and increasingly isolated South Caucasus territory? A Crisis Unfolds Khajimba's January 13 resignation put an end to four days of protests that saw the storming of the de facto presidential administration in Sukhumi, efforts by Moscow to mediate, and the calling of a fresh vote to determine the region's next de facto president. The crisis erupted on January 9, when hundreds of protesters descended on the building that housed Khajimba's administration as the territory's highest court resumed hearings on an appeal of the results of the second round of the "presidential" election held in September. Alkhas Kvitsinia of the Amtsakhara party -- who became the main challenger after leading opposition candidate Aslan Bzhania fell ill due to suspected poisoning -- filed the appeal after garnering 46 percent of the vote to Khajimba's 47 percent, according to official results. Electoral authorities approved the incumbent's election to another five-year term, but Kvitsinia argued that the fact Khajimba had failed to reach the required majority nullified the vote. He demanded a fresh election. Protesters also reportedly demanded the arrest of a member of the de facto presidential staff whom they accused of involvement in the deaths of three people killed in a shoot-out late last year. Among those killed was a brother of the reported organizer of the protest, Ahra Avidzba, who was decorated as a "hero" for his role supporting the Moscow-backed separatists fighting in parts of eastern Ukraine. A Difficult Situation With the protesters occupying the administrative building and reportedly arming themselves, the court on January 9 postponed its hearing after disqualifying a judge seen by the opposition as close to Khajimba's administration. In parliament, lawmakers the same day passed an appeal asking Khajimba to step down voluntarily "due to the difficult sociopolitical situation." As night fell, Bzhania marked his return from medical treatment in Moscow by joining the protests at the "presidential" headquarters. Khajimba, meanwhile, who himself led opposition protests that forced his predecessor Aleksandr Ankvab out of office in 2014, retreated to his residence and denounced the "coup attempt." He rejected demands that he resign, called for talks with the opposition in order to avoid "further destabilization," and issued a statement saying that "the appeal adopted by the parliament may aggravate the social and political situation and lead to irreversible consequences." On January 10, Abkhazia's top court annulled the results of the September run-off, declaring the vote invalid. While Khajimba remained defiant and prepared his own appeal, the region's electoral authorities announced that a new vote would be held on March 22. Behind The Scenes Caucasus experts who spoke to RFE/RL describe a number of factors that play into the political crisis in Abkhazia, a breakaway Georgian territory that along with another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, was recognized as independent by Russia and a handful of other countries following the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008. "I think the current crisis in Abkhazia stems mainly from public frustration with a leader, Raul Khajimba, who is perceived to be weak and to have cheated to win the last election," said Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe. "There is a strong sense of malaise in the republic. The economy is stalled, and Russian financial aid has actually fallen in the last few years." De Waal, who ahead of the 2019 election wrote about Abkhazia's fear of "Ossetianization" -- essentially becoming isolated much like South Ossetia has been, despite Sukhumi's desire to be part of the wider world -- added that there has been "no progress either in developing domestically or in overcoming international isolation." However, de Waal noted that "Abkhaz politics is always divided, and Khajimba had many enemies." "The politically active segment of the population is quite small -- at best a few hundred people seized the presidential building," he said. "And we are now seeing the second president in a row in Abkhazia being forced out by a crowd." Aleksandr Krylov, the president of the Moscow Academic Society of Caucasian Studies, told RFE/RL's Russian Service that the Abkhaz people are frustrated with the lack of reforms, the region has been in stagnation, and this crisis could have been expected. "Everyone is tired of domestic disorder, the dominance of monopolies, the prevalence of crime," he said. "All this produces great disappointment among the people." Addressing Abkhazia's turbulent leadership history, Krylov said that "every time, the people expect that, with the rise of a new, strong leader, order will be instilled." The same was expected of Khajimba, he said, and expectations for the next leader will be similar. Russia's Role Russia maintains a troop presence in Abkhazia and has significant political and economic influence in the region. In August, Russian President Putin met with Khajimba in Sochi in what some read as an endorsement of the incumbent. But the Russians "appear to have been pretty much bystanders in this crisis -- unlike in the last one of 2014, when they actively worked to remove Ankvab," de Waal said. "In Moscow they know that any and every Abkhaz leader is heavily reliant on them," he said. "I think the calculation is that a leader with greater public legitimacy makes Abkhazia more stable and less of a headache, when they have other more pressing foreign policy issues to deal with." As in 2014, Moscow sent envoys to try to resolve the conflict, beginning with Deputy Security Council Chairman Rashid Nurgaliyev. Later, the powerful presidential aide Vladislav Surkov -- Putin's personal adviser who is widely seen as a gray cardinal who helped craft the Kremlin's domination of domestic politics and Russia's expansionist policies in Ukraine and elsewhere in the former Soviet space -- arrived in Sukhumi. But Surkov and Nurgaliyev "do not determine the events that take place there," Krylov said. "Their task is to ensure that there is no destabilization and shooting in Abkhazia." "In Abkhazia any politician, one way or another, is negotiable for Moscow, given the close cooperation that exists," he said, noting that half of Abkhazia's budget comes from Russian subsidies. "You need to be a crazy politician to quarrel with Russia." What Comes After The Fall? Following his arrival in Sukhumi on January 12, Surkov never met personally with Khajimba, speaking with him only by telephone, Surkov adviser Aleksei Chesnakov announced afterward. RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus desk reported that Surkov met only that evening with opposition leader Bzhania. Hours later, Khajimba announced his resignation, which was approved by parliament on January 13. De facto Prime Minister Valery Bganba was named acting president until the March 22 elections. Initially it was reported that Khajimba was bowing out of the new vote, but he later told the Russian state news agency TASS that "the situation only calmed down yesterday. I will wait and see what to do." The job of leading Abkhazia, he added, "is not the easiest one and I think I will have to think about the processes that took place and why the situation developed that way." In the meantime, attention turns to what comes next for the territory of just under 250,000. "The force that now has the greatest power in the Abkhaz political arena is the concentrated power of the opposition," Krylov said. "It solved its main task -- removing the 'president' from power," he told RFE/RL. "Now there will be a period of nomination, and everything will already depend on whether this political force remains unified or whether they each begin to act in their own interests." The reemergence of Opposition Bloc of Opposition Forces leader Bzhania, who on January 13 confirmed his intention to run in March, makes him the early front-runner. "Bzhania is now the outright favorite to win the next election," de Waal said. "Bzhania was actually the favorite last time round but didn't run because he fell ill in what seems to have been a poisoning incident." With reporting by Russian Service correspondent Lyubov Chizhova Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/abkhazia-political- crisis-explainer/30376986.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Democrats to vote on sending impeachment charges for imminent Trump trial FILE PHOTO: Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler waits to speak after a House vote approving rules for an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Trump in Washington (Reuters) - When the U.S. Senate begins the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump, a handful of lawmakers from the House of Representatives will act as prosecutors to lay out the case against the president. Those "managers," as they are formally known, will likely be appointed on Wednesday when House Democrats transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Here are some of the leading candidates: JERROLD NADLER The House Judiciary Committee chairman, 72, has been a Trump antagonist since he opposed a Trump real estate development in Manhattan decades ago as a New York state assemblyman. Nadler's committee crafted the two articles of impeachment against Trump, which were approved by the House on Dec. 18. ADAM SCHIFF The House Intelligence Committee chairman, 59, has been a leading figure in the impeachment inquiry that preceded the vote. Schiff spearheaded an investigation that featured testimony from U.S. officials about Trump's dealings with Ukraine, both in private and on national television. He also been a favorite punching bag for House Republicans. A former federal prosecutor, he represents a district in the Los Angeles area. HAKEEM JEFFRIES Jeffries, 49, is considered a rising star in the party and a potential future House Speaker. Representing a district in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, he was the top House Democrat behind a bipartisan criminal-justice reform bill that Trump signed into law in 2018. VAL DEMINGS Demings, 62, is the former chief of the Orlando, Florida police department. As a member of both the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, she has been involved in the impeachment investigation for months and knows the case against the president well. ERIC SWALWELL Like Demings, the 39-year-old Californian sits on both the Judiciary and Intelligence committees. He briefly ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. A former deputy district attorney, Swalwell is described by aides as being close to Schiff. Story continues JAMIE RASKIN A former constitutional law professor, the 57-year-old Maryland Democrat has played a prominent role on the House Judiciary Committee. Raskin, whose father was an aide to former President John F. Kennedy, filled in for Nadler to shepherd the articles of impeachment to the House floor. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI Krishnamoorthi, 46, was born in India and came to the United States at the age of 3. He worked as a state prosecutor before he was elected in 2016 to represent a district in a Chicago suburb. During the impeachment hearings, Krishnamoorthi came to the defense of one of the star witnesses, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who faced insinuations of disloyalty because he was born in Ukraine and emigrated as a child to the United States. "From one immigrant American to another immigrant American, I want to say that you and your family represent the very best of America," Krishnamoorthi told Vindman. ZOE LOFGREN Lofgren, 72, has deep experience with impeachment. She began her Washington career as a House Judiciary Committee aide when it held impeachment hearings against Republican President Richard Nixon in 1974. Elected to the House in 1994 to represent a Northern California district, she has served on the Judiciary Committee while it drafted impeachment articles against both Trump and Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1998. PRAMILA JAYAPAL An outspoken progressive, Jayapal, 54, became the first Indan-American woman to serve in Congress when she was elected to represent a Seattle-area district in 2014. She was a civil-rights activist before she was elected. JOAQUIN CASTRO A member of the Intelligence Committee, Castro, 45, also chaired his identical twin brother Julian Castro's presidential campaign. He was first elected to represent his San Antonio district in 2012. (Reporting by David Morgan, Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis) By ANI NEW DELHI: Army chief General Manoj Naravane on Wednesday said that the abrogation of Article 370 has adversely affected plans of the "western neighbour", apparently referring to Pakistan and its proxies. Addressing the Army personnel on the occasion of Army Day here, Naravane reiterated that India has zero-tolerance against terrorism. "Abrogation of article 370 is a historic step which will connect Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. The decision has adversely affected the plans of western neighbour and its proxies. We have zero-tolerance against terrorism. We have many options to give a reply to terrorists and will not hesitate to use them,' he said. In August last year, the government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Naravane said that the security has increased in North East areas due to continuous efforts of Indian Army and Assam Rifles and added that talks with many insurgent groups are underway. The Army chief said that the force is increasing its capabilities in space, cyber, special operations and electronic warfare. "We are also eyeing on future forms of battle. In the 21st century, the creation of integrated battle groups is an important step," Naravane said. He said that there will be a demand of high-level operation preparedness in the coming time."Indian Army is ready to face challenges today and is capable to face expectation of the future," Naravane added. The Army also showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets at the majestic Army Day parade on Wednesday. Naravane, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat were present on the occasion. Army's Captain Tania Shergil, the first woman Parade Adjutant, is set to lead all-men contingents at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantt, officials said. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lt Gen K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. This is the 72nd Army Day and it is the first time that a chief of defence staff is attending it. PM hails Chinar Corps Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the valour and professionalism of the Chinar Corps personnel who escorted a pregnant woman to a hospital through heavy snowfall in the Kashmir Valley. The Chinar Corps, an infantry field formation of the Indian Army which is presently located in Srinagar and responsible for military operations in the valley, posted a video on Twitter showing Army personnel and civilians escorting the woman on a stretcher. "During heavy snowfall, an expecting mother Mrs Shamima, required emergency hospitalisation. For 4 hours over 100 Army persons & 30 civilians walked with her on stretcher through heavy snow. Baby born in hospital, both mother & child doing fine," it tweeted tagging Modi. Replying to the tweet, Modi hailed the Army's humanitarian spirit. "Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child," the prime minister posted on Twitter. (With PTI Inputs) France, January 15, 2020 (SPS) - The association of Friends of the SADR in France expressed, again this year, their outrage and rejection of the passage of the Africa Eco Race Rally (12th edition - Monaco-Dakar) through the area of El Gargarat south of Western Sahara, in clear violation of the rights of the Saharawi people. Many Saharawis arrived at the scene and organized a strong protest to denounce the illegality of the situation and express their rejection of the fallacies and expansionist maneuvers of Morocco at the expense of their neighbors. On January 13, the Africa Eco Race Rally passed through the Elgargarat buffer zone south of Western Sahara, controlled by the United Nations Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO. Each participant in the Rally carries a map of route that in effect constitutes a propaganda, that presents / displays the map of Morocco annexed with the one of the Western Sahara. The association of Friends of the SADR in France regrets that as the Africa Eco Race Rally, which shows generous ambitions for peace and sustainable development, lends itself to political maneuvers that aim to legitimize the violent occupation of Western Sahara territory. In addition, since January 2014, Morocco prohibits the entry into this territory of people in solidarity with the Saharawi people (274 expulsions of 20 nationalities, including political personalities, independent observers, journalists, jurists, etc.). The Saharawi people have the inalienable right to self-determination and independence. 44 years after the Moroccan invasion of its territory, it has lost confidence in the peace process initiated by the United Nations. The Association of Friends of the SADR in France appealed to the UN, responsible for the decolonization of Western Sahara, to convince the organizers of the Africa Eco Race Rally to contact the Saharawi authorities in order to request their permission to the passage of the Rally through Saharawi lands and respect the rights of the people of Western Sahara. SPS 125/090/TRA BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has widened his lead to 26 points among Florida voters in the race for the Democratic party's nomination for president in 2020, according to a statewide survey by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI). Among the Democratic candidates, Biden has increased his support to 42 percent, up from 34 percent in BEPI's September 2019 poll. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders jumped into second place at 14 percent, while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren fell to third at 10 percent, down significantly from 24 percent support in September. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came in fourth at 7 percent, followed by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 6 percent, entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 5 percent and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 3 percent. Sanders fared best among Florida voters in head-to-head matchups against U.S President Donald Trump, with a 53-to-47 percent advantage on the president. Biden and Warren have narrow two-point leads on Trump, 51 to 49 percent, while Buttigieg finished in a 50-50 dead heat with the president. In September, Trump held small leads in each of these head-to-head matchups. With an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate looming, Florida voters are split on whether Trump should be removed from office, with 49 percent saying he should be removed while 51 percent are against removal. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has just completed his first year in office, is popular among voters with 48 percent approval and 28 percent disapproval, while 25 percent of voters were neutral or had no opinion. With tensions rising with Iran, 61 percent of voters do not think the U.S. is going to get into a war with Iran, while 39 percent think recent military action will lead to war. Trump's approval rating is slightly above water among Florida voters, with 45 percent approval and 43 percent disapproval. The survey was conducted Jan. 9-12 and polled 1,285 Florida registered voters. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The margin of error for both the Republican primary and the Democratic primary is +/- 4.4 percentage points. The polling results and full cross-tabulations are available at www.business.fau.edu/bepi. SOURCE Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative Related Links https://business.fau.edu/departments/economics/business-economics-polling Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:59:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Senior legislator Wan Exiang Wednesday called on compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and overseas to make new contributions in promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and advancing the process toward the peaceful reunification of China. People across the Strait and overseas Chinese should work together for greater national interests, said Wan, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He made the remarks at a Lunar New Year reception held in Beijing by the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), one of the eight non-Communist political parties on the Chinese mainland. Wan, also chairman of the RCCK Central Committee, said the RCCK will continue to build itself up and make further progress in all aspects in 2020. Dublin, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Corrugated Board Packaging Market - Size, Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The corrugated board packaging market was valued at USD 262.61 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach USD 339.95 billion by 2025, recording a CAGR of 4.41%, during the forecast period of 2020-2025. According to a report by Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) 2017 Paper & Packaging Consumer Trends, compared to five years ago, the sustainability of paper-based packaging today is much more important to almost half of the consumers (50%). Rising consumer consciousness and rising concerns by regulatory bodies regarding sustainable packaging and the cost benefits associated are encouraging the use of environment-friendly packaging products, and is driving the growth of the corrugated board packaging market. For instance, Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) in July 2016 announced that it would introduce mandatory requirements for companies to adopt sustainable materials in packaging to reduce packaging waste in the next 3-5 years. Also, corrugated packaging comprises 88% of recycled content with the additional fresh fibers coming from sustainably managed forests, it is harmless rather than catastrophic. Moreover, if a corrugated box ends up in the ocean, it will be degraded within two months. Prominent e-commerce companies such as Amazon are moving towards corrugated board packaging for e-commerce packaging as it helps in controlling costs apart from offering an environment-friendly option. The corrugated board packaging market will also benefit from increased global trade and healthy economic conditions. The rising consumption in developing nations, such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, provide strong growth prospects for the corrugated board packaging market. Recently, countries like India (State of Maharashtra) have banned the usage of plastic packaging. This is poised to drive the demand of corrugated board packaging. Key Market Trends Processed Food Segment Expected to Occupy Significant Market Share The demand for convenience foods is on the rise due to the busy lifestyle of people. Hence, processed food, which has a quick cooking time, attracts many consumers. The increasing population also drives the demand for processed food, which is convenient as well as healthy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employed women in the United States alone has grown from 53.6 million in 1990 to 71.9 million in 2017. These factors are increasing the need to provide high-quality packaged and processed foods to customers. As corrugated board packaging keeps moisture away from products and can withstand long shipping times, corrugated board packaging is increasingly being adopted by companies to offer better outcomes to customers, especially as a means of secondary or tertiary packaging. Further, innovations in the domain are expanding the scope of applications for corrugated cardboard packaging. Companies such as THIMM Group developed COOLandFREEZE, a box made up of corrugated cardboard for temperature-controlled shipping that enables the joint transport of frozen, chilled and non-refrigerated products within one package. This innovative packaging ensures effective insulation and the constant refrigeration of fresh products over a period of at least 36 hours. As this corrugated cardboard packaging is a more sustainable alternative to polystyrene or plastic shipping solutions, the demand for this market is expected to rise rapidly over the forecast period. North America Expected to Exhibit a Significant Growth North America's robust financial position enables the region to invest heavily in advanced solutions and technologies. These advantages have provided the regional organizations a competitive edge, in the market. Moreover, the region enjoys the presence of several major corrugated board packaging vendors, such as International Paper Company (United States), Georgia-Pacific LLC (United States) and Sealed Air Corporation (United States), among others. Rising awareness among consumers regarding environment-friendly products is expected to drive the demand for corrugated board packaging market in North America over the forecast period. Government initiatives for stimulating eco-friendly packaging materials coupled with the efforts from CPA (The Corrugated Packaging Alliance), a corrugated industry initiative, with the mission to encourage corrugated packaging; are providing an added impetus to the growth of this market. According to Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) 2017 Paper & Packaging Consumer Trends, 51% of American consider packaging waste to be a critical environmental issue. Apart from this, e-commerce revenue across all product categories are also likely to reach USD 513 billion by 2021, which will further drive the demand for corrugated board packaging in North America. Almost 95% of the North American consumer goods are transported across the globe in corrugated boxes. Many major cities such as California, New York, Washington, Maine and Massachusetts have banned the use of plastics containers and bags and several other single-use non-recyclable products that are harmful for the environment, which in turn, boost the demand for corrugated board packaging. However, at a regional scenario, with food chains such as McDonald planning to use 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, manufacturers are choosing to use these opportunities to build consumer trust by proactively addressing the environmental issues than resisting to change. These factors will further augment the demand for corrugated board packaging market over the forecast period. Competitive Landscape The market for corrugated board packaging is fragmented with many players in the market providing packaging solutions. Companies are continuously innovating to promote sustainable packaging by providing environment-friendly packaging products. In order to leverage the opportunities, companies such as Mondi released corrugated box designs for wine merchants that fulfill online consumer orders. Their latest release of Vino Box Sprint is a corrugated box with an integrated pop-up divider insert that is capable of efficiently packing up to six bottles for safe delivery. Apart from this, Mondi has also opened its heavy-duty corrugated plant in Simet, Poland to address the growing needs of the Polish corrugated market. Growing e-commerce in Poland will further augment the demand for corrugated board packaging, which in turn, provides an added advantage to the company. WestRock is building a new plant in Brazil which is expected to be completed in mid-2019 to meet the growing regional demand for corrugated packaging. The company also invested to acquire KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp owing to the strong demand for packaging products in the growing US economy. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET INSIGHTS 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Industry Value Chain / Supply Chain Analysis 4.3 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis 5 MARKET DYNAMICS 5.1 Introduction to Market Dynamics 5.2 Market Drivers 5.3 Market Restraints 6 MARKET SEGMENTATION 6.1 End-user Industry 6.1.1 Processed Foods 6.1.2 Fresh Food & Produce 6.1.3 Beverages 6.1.4 Paper Products 6.1.5 Electrical Products 6.1.6 Other End-user Industry 6.2 Geography 6.2.1 North America 6.2.2 Europe 6.2.3 Asia-Pacific 6.2.4 Latin America 6.2.5 Middle East & Africa 7 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 7.1 Company Profiles 7.1.1 Klingele Papierwerke GmbH & Co. KG 7.1.2 Mondi Group 7.1.3 Smurfit Kappa Group 7.1.4 DS Smith PLC 7.1.5 Klabin S.A. 7.1.6 International Paper Company 7.1.7 Nippon Paper Industries Ltd. 7.1.8 Georgia-Pacific LLC 7.1.9 Rengo Co. Ltd. 7.1.10 Sealed Air Corporation 7.1.11 Cascades Inc. 7.1.12 WestRock Company 7.1.13 Oji Holdings Corporation 7.1.14 Packaging Corporation of America 8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS 8.1 Investment Analysis 8.2 Future Outlook For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tsxp3f Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Marketing automation isnt a thing of the future its very much a part of the here and now for small and midsized businesses (SMBs) across the world. However, many are unaware of a variety of marketing automation tools that can help SMBs reach customers in a timely and effective way. In order for SMBs to compete with larger firms when it comes to customer reach, they need to approach their marketing plan with a strategic mindset. Marketing automation not only provides important opportunities for interaction with the customer, but also saves time. Thats especially important when running a small business. Time saved on marketing means being able to capture new business and have more time to commit to other vital tasks. Following are just a few of the many benefits marketing automation provides: Drives sales productivity; Helps guide sales and marketing teams work together for a common goal; Increases conversions; Boosts ROI by doing the work of a large marketing staff; and Compiles a complete view of customer behavior. If youre interested in taking advantage of marketing automation but dont know where to start, consider these four marketing automation solutions geared toward SMBs. 1. One-Stop Social Media Shop A social media management tool can be indispensable to small businesses trying to make the most out of their online presence. Having effective and timely social content is imperative in 2020, as many customers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media and to increase their spending with those brands. Securing a tool that will help manage this important customer connection is essential. This type of tool prevents you from having to post at an exact time across multiple platforms, and instead lets you schedule content in advance. That means businesses can plan their social media a week or month out, and not worry about interrupting their weekends, holidays and busy workdays to post on social sites. These programs also can provide SMBs the opportunity to create an organized posting strategy, analyze performance and respond to customers across multiple platforms from one easy-to-use interface. 2. CRM With Email Marketing Capturing important customer information in one localized place can help SMBs deliver an excellent customer experience and boost sales revenue. The right customer relationship management software can track all customer interactions and purchases. Some even offer predictive analytics technology that can help determine potential next steps and drive transactions. Youll also want a CRM that integrates email marketing automation, which will enhance the customer experience and increase the success rate of your email and follow-up campaigns. Email is a fantastic way to reach customers because it requires the reader to opt-in and allows for several layers of personalization. Marketers potentially can see a return of US$32 for every $1 spent on email marketing, research indicates, so having a CRM that facilitates this type of communication is imperative. A D V E R T I S E M E N T 3. Would You Like to Take a Survey? Customer feedback is a vital way for companies to improve. Small businesses often can achieve significant growth simply by soliciting and heeding the feedback of their customers. The challenge is that in-depth market research can be costly. Enter the online survey! This tool allows SMBs to gain valuable insights from customers without having to invest in lengthy market research programs. An online survey is convenient for the consumer and allows the data to be tracked and analyzed for insights. Do your customers like your most recent product upgrade? Is the packaging holding up during shipping? Do they feel the product was represented accurately online? How was their experience with your customer service associate? All of these questions and more can be answered through a short online survey. Small businesses can create different surveys for different customer interactions, allowing for customized feedback to propel growth. 4. Lets Chat Chat is another marketing automation tool that can strengthen the customer journey. Through the power of artificial intelligence, a chatbot gives a personalized experience and can field a variety of frequently asked customer questions directly from your website. Chatbots also can gather customer data for future marketing efforts, as well as help businesses reach their sales goals. A chatbot gives customers an instant response to their requests and can send links to make a purchase, or transfer customers to a live associate if needed. The Year of Automation 2020 is here and its time to embrace the new decade with the tools that will set up your business for sustained success in the new decade. Small businesses that invest in, and take advantage of, these four marketing automation solutions will be more likely to see the sales results and ROI they want this year. Marketing automation offers a variety of benefits, including time savings, the ability to drive more meaningful customer interactions that lead to transactions, and the opportunity to gain customer feedback and track behavior. These four automated tools can help pave an SMBs path to success in 2020 and beyond. File image Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be invited by India for this years Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, reports suggest. India will be hosting the SCO council of heads of government meeting for the first time later this year. A person aware of the development told the Hindustan Times that India will extend an invitation to Khan as per protocol and convention. However, it is up to Pakistan whether they want to send their prime minister or some other representative instead. The call could be taken later this year, closer to the meeting. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report. The development has not been confirmed by Indian officials so far. Besides Pakistan, leaders from eight SCO member-nations -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also expected to attend the meeting. India and Pakistan had joined the political, economic, and security alliance as full members in 2017. SCOs Secretary-General Vladimir Norov was in New Delhi recently. On January 13, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted: Received Secretary General #ShanghaiCooperationOrganization Vladimir Norov. Reviewed the progress in our cooperation as India prepares to take up the responsibility of chairing the Council of #SCO Heads of Government. On January 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had telephoned leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka to greet them on the New Year, but had skipped Pakistan. Tensions between the two neighbours rose dramatically in 2019 after the terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in February 2019. India had responded by carrying out airstrikes on JeM training camp in Pakistans Balakot. The following day, Pakistans aerial raid against Indian military positions in Kashmir was repulsed by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Tensions rose further when India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to J&K in August 2019. The Imran Khan government had slammed the move. However, both countries had participated in the SCO military exercise held in Russia in 2019. Separately, Russia will host a summit of the heads of state of SCO countries in July. In one of the most dramatic moments of his second State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey needs to change the pernicious sexism and abuse" that infiltrates politics around the state. The Democratic governor said we all must be disgusted by the stories of women" who speak of being mistreated by men who felt empowered, if not protected, by Trentons culture. He said too many people in power have their eyes away from bad behavior in the past, and he now called on everyone to "work together to tear down the existing system and replace it with one that treats everyone with equal dignity and respect. Misogyny is alive and well, Murphy said during his speech at the Statehouse in Trenton. But, together, we can change that. His remarks drew cheers from the crowd. A number of state legislators applauded. Still, some leading women lawmakers said Murphys comments wont mean much unless there is action. My reaction was he restated what we all know, and now its time for us to get involved with how were going to change the culture, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, told reporters after the speech. Was she encouraged that Murphy at least acknowledged the issues? No, Weinberg said. Because acknowledging it is not worthy of long rounds of applause, Im sorry. Murphys comments come weeks after NJ Advance Media published a report in which 20 women say they were the victims of sexual harassment and misconduct while working on political campaigns and doing lobbying work as recently as last year. The governor has called the report pretty shocking" and called for changes at annual events held by the State Chamber of Commerce and the state League of Municipalities that women singled out in the report as problematic. In response to the report, Weinberg announced shes forming an ad hoc committee to look for ways to change the toxic culture that women face in New Jersey politics. In addition, Murphys administration has faced heavy scrutiny for the way it responded to state employee Katie Brennans allegations that a then-Murphy campaign official raped her in 2017. The official, Albert J. Alvarez who has denied the allegations and has never been charged kept a job in Murphys administration for months after the governors inner circle found out. Plus, questions continue about some who worked on Murphys campaign still being held to non-disclosure agreements. Murphy has repeatedly insisted theres always been a way for folks to come forward if they felt like there was a workplace situation they wanted to raise." But Brennans attorney has asked a judge to allow Murphy campaign staffers to speak freely, arguing in court documents that a gag order effectively silenced people who worked on the governors election. After Murphys speech Tuesday, state Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, said shes glad Murphy is recognizing theres a misogynistic culture in the state of New Jersey. But, she added, until he releases women from his campaign and the men from NDAs, were never going to move forward. Corrado also said she sees total hypocrisy in Murphys statements. Actions speak louder than words, and we have not had any actions up to this day, she said. Calling out the League and calling out the Chamber and ignoring the problem in your own administration hypocrisy at its worst. In his speech Tuesday, Murphy did not outline specific new steps his administration would take to further protect women in politics. But the governor stressed that his administration has enacted several groundbreaking reforms to make our system survivor-focused, instead of geared to the protection of abusers." That includes a number of changes state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal put in place to improve how the state responds to sexual assault and harassment accusations. Murphy also noted that signed a number of bills to strengthen laws to protect sexual assault survivors in New Jersey including measures lawmakers introduced in the wake of the Brennan scandal. State Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, R-Union, said she wants to create legislation that would hold people in New Jersey accountable for sexual misconduct not only in office but also while in roles when a governors administration is in transition, to address scenarios like the Brennan allegations. But she also said women must feel empowered to stand up for themselves and confront those who assault or harass them. Theres situations where people say inappropriate things, we need to be able to say, stop,' Munoz said. I understand that some of these women are afraid to come forward because they think itll get in the way of their job. But we have to set a standard that this is unacceptable, and then do what we can legislatively to say, youre going to be punished if you do this. Somebody put their hands on me once and I just said, get your hands off me,'" she added. Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso, R-Monmouth, said it was unfortunate such a culture change required legislation. State Sen. Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, said she agreed with the governor that more needs to be done. I think its time we start publicly talking about that, Pou said. And more than just talking do something about it. Several men in the state Legislature said after the address Tuesday they had not witnessed the sexist culture in Trenton Murphy referenced. Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. TO VIEW MORE NEWS STORY, PLEASE CLICK ON NEWS TAB ON MAIN MENU BAR In the wake of longtime Pearland Mayor Tom Reids announcement he will not seek re-election in May, City Council has granted him the title mayor emeritus once he leaves office so that he can continue to represent the city once his term has ended. Reid has held the mayoral position continuously since 1993. Before that, he served the city as mayor from 1978 until 1990, making or a total of 39 years in the position. Before he stepped into the mayors spot, he had served on city council, a position he held from 1973 until 1978. During a Jan. 13 council meeting, Reid thanked his fellow lawmakers for the honor, which was unanimously approved. Ive enjoyed what I do, Reid said. I am so very proud of what we have here and what weve built. Pearland is special, and Im going to make dang sure we keep it that way. City Manager Clay Pearson said the move to create the title was spurred by council members, some of whom have spent years serving with Reid, including Woody Owens. Its been a good, long ride, Owens told Reid. Youre the face of Pearland no matter whos sitting in the (mayors) chair. Pearson said Reids long tenure as mayor and close connection to Pearland that makes the mayor emeritus title appropriate. This is an avenue for you to continue to represent Pearland the way youve been doing so well for so many years, he said. Council member Gary Moore agreed. Your leadership has been profound, he said. Youve done everything as a gentleman. You have a kind heart, and it shows. In other news, the council approved a one-year contract with Napco Chemical Co. to supply water-treatment chemicals for drinking water. The contract, which will run from Jan 15 through Jan. 14, 2021, is for an estimated $200,000, a $53,000 increase over the previous contract. Pearson explained, however, the city will only pay for what it uses so costs may be lower than $200,000 at contracts end. The council also approved a contract with LJ Power Generators for an estimated $95,000 for preventative maintenance and repairs of emergency generators. The contract will begin Jan. 30 and last through Jan. 29, 2021. Like the contract with Napco, the city will pay only for what services it uses. Last years contract was for $89,000. The events surrounding the US assassination of Iranian Quds Force leader Major General Qassem Soleimani brought to the surface the two main ideological forces that now battle each other across the Middle East the anti-imperial resistance of Iran and its Arab allies, and the freedom revolution of domestic protesters in the same lands. The first was reflected in the massive funeral processions in Arab and Iranian cities for Soleimani and his colleagues that were far bigger than the usual state-organised propaganda protests. Such outpourings of grief and anger in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and pockets elsewhere signify the central political dynamic resistance in their view which drives Iran and its allies, and shapes many regional developments. After a brief pause from the shock of the assassinations, respect for the dead, widespread anti-American anger, fear of wider conflict, much rain, and Tehrans admission of its error in downing the Ukrainian civilian airliner the second key regional dynamic reared its head again: popular demonstrations for freedom and democratic pluralism resumed across the same lands (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon), where large crowds wept for Soleimani and vowed to stand up to the US and its allies. These two forces now battle to define the identity and policies of the Middle East for decades to come. Resistance (moqawama) is how many Arabs and Iranians fight back against the US, Israel and their conservative Arab allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Revolution (thawra) for democratic freedoms, social justice, and pluralism that exploded in Arab countries and Iran since the 2010-11 uprisings is how determined ordinary citizens seek to remove the autocratic, incompetent or corrupt governments they blame for their deteriorating living conditions and denied rights. The two forces had coexisted in separate spheres for years, but they now openly clash head-on in Iran, Iraq, Syria and in Lebanon, as resistance troops try to beat down revolutionary protests by force. Resistance, the oldest of the two forces, since the 1980s has defined the policies of Iran and its Arab strategic partners, notably Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, Ansarullah (Houthis), Peoples Mobilisation Forces (PMFs) in Iraq and Syria, and other smaller groups. Nonviolent mainstream Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood also resist Western and Israeli political and cultural threats to Arab-Islamic societies, as do nationalist and progressive groups across the region that share this wide tent. Since soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has defined and implemented the core resistance strategy by building political and technical military capabilities among its Arab allies. This allows it to conduct operations throughout the Middle East via its Arab partners and allies, who pester, fight or deter their common foes in neighbouring lands, before the battle reaches Iran itself. They all use Irans asymmetrical warfare toolkit including missiles, cyber capabilities, attack drones and communications/surveillance systems to confront Israel (Hamas and Hezbollah) or conservative Arabs like Saudi Arabia and the UAE (the Houthis). General Soleimanis main mission was to develop this network of Irans Arab allies. Arab critics, however, see this as Tehrans hegemonic export of its Islamic revolution in order to weave a web of capable puppets under its control. Soleimani was able to foster so many Arab allies because many Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Yemenis and Palestinians had suffered badly from American, Israeli and conservative Arab policies of war and occupation; they were so weak and vulnerable that they willingly joined the Iranian-led, Islamist-driven movement as a self-preservation move. The self-proclaimed resistance axis ethos is to defy foreign threats and refuse to bow to American and Israeli demands, even at the cost of war or debilitating sanctions. Yet, Irans nuclear deal with the US, UK, Germany, France, China and Russia, and Hezbollahs indirect agreements and ceasefires with Israel show the resistance powers willingness to engage their foes politically, but only based on equal respect for the rights of all sides. Historians will determine whether resistance has been a heroic anti-imperial success or a naive fantasy. Its advocates say it evicted Israel from South Lebanon and Gaza, achieved strategic deterrence between Hezbollah and Israel, compelled the United States and its partners to agree to the nuclear deal, allowed Iran to survive severe sanctions, saved the Assad government in Syria, beat back the ISIL threat, and now may be pushing the US out of Iraq. Critics say these gains have come at a brutal cost to Arabs and Iranians, leaving entire countries in economic and environmental collapse, in top-heavy autocracies that constrain liberties and human rights, and brutalise those who protest peacefully. Some also fear that the resistance culture promises them only a future of perpetual warfare and economic distress. The revolutionary protests underway have rocked the region in the past decade. They have been led by a young generation which has borne the brunt of economic mismanagement and the increasing authoritarianism of what they see as a corrupt political elite more concerned with self-enrichment than the wellbeing of its people. This generation has decided to rebel against regimes they view as largely illegitimate and propped up by outside forces, which due to their incompetence are unable to provide for the basic needs of their citizens. Millions have taken to the streets, defying violent crackdowns, and demanding reforms or total changes in governing systems. Arab and Iranian protesters want to have a say in government policies to protect civil rights and pursue social justice, and to end the existing crony capitalist systems that have ravaged the middle class and spawned large-scale poverty and marginalisation. In doing so, some of these protest movements have come head-to-head with regimes supported by the US, Israel and its conservative Arab allies and others with regimes backed by Iran and its proxies. In the first case, they have been slandered as Islamists and extremists; in the second as US and Israeli collaborators. But many revolutionary protesters have been explicit about their opposition not only against inept and unjust rule at home, but also foreign interference from both the US and Iran. This sentiment was captured in a statement released on January 11 by protesting Iranian students at Amir Kabir (Polytechnic) University in Tehran, which said: The only way out of our current predicament is the simultaneous rejection of both domestic despotism and imperial arrogance. We need a politics that doesnt merely claim security, freedom, and equality for a select group or class, but that understands these rights as inalienable and for all people. As the full universe of resistance unfurls at this historic moment across the Middle East, the banner that Islamists and Arab nationalists had claimed exclusively for their battle against American, Israeli and conservative Arab threats has now been joined by a homegrown domestic resistance by Arab and Iranian citizens who confront their own governments and demand freedom, equality and dignity. Arab and Iranian ruling elites and their own citizens now openly fight and resist each other, seeking to define their countries identities and policies. This is probably the most consequential ideological battle in the Middle East since its state system was established a century ago. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. L to R: Tanaiste Simon Coveney, Candidate Sandra McIntyre, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Minister Heather Humphries TD, Minister Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister Helen McEntee TD and candidate Cllr. TP OReilly visit Combilift in Monaghan to launch their election campaign. Photo: Douglas OConnor. FINE Gael rolled out the big guns for its general election campaign launch at a forklift factory just outside of Monaghan town today. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Simon Coveney, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, local Cabinet minister Heather Humphreys and the EU Affairs Minister Helen McEntee were all at the Combilift factory to kick off the campaign. Here's some of what we discovered about how Fine Gael intends to campaign over the next three weeks. 1. Not a Dublin-centric party Mr Varadkar is keen to emphasise that Fine Gael is not, despite many claims to the contrary, a party that ignores or does not care about rural Ireland by paying a visit to Combilift. It is a successful and growing Irish business near the border that employs around 600 people and exports to 80 countries. It gave Fine Gael an opportunity to showcase its job-creating credentials. This company is frequently highlighted by Ms Humphreys, the Business Minister, as a local success story in her Cavan-Monaghan constituency and evidence of Fine Gael creating jobs in the regions. Expect more Fine Gael events outside the capital as the campaign progresses. 2. Brexit, Brexit, and more Brexit As Independent.ie revealed on Monday, Fine Gael will absolutely hammer the Brexit drum in this election and insist that it is the only party that can be trusted to handle the second half of the UKs protracted departure from the EU. Mr Varadkar gave a stark portrayal of the alternative to himself, Mr Coveney and Ms McEntee - the Brexit Team. If Micheal Martin, Sean Haughey and Lisa Chambers, had been handling the negotiations for Brexit or the negotiations in Northern Ireland would they have done a better job? he said. "I don't think so. But that's the decision that the Irish people have to make now. Ms Humphreys was more scathing, describing them as the "Fianna Fail Junior B Team", while Mr Coveney talked up Mr Varadkar as the key interlocutor who broke the Brexit stalemate with his famous Wirral summit with Boris Johnson last October. Mr Varadkar also claimed Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kellehers threat to vote against the Brexit withdrawal deal shows the party cannot be trusted on the issue. You will be sick of hearing Fine Gael talk about how well it has handled Brexit by February 8. 3. But maybe not the best team all over the park Mr Varadkar will happily talk up the credentials of his Brexit Team, but so far he is reluctant to talk about the merits of his Housing and Health Ministers who he could not guarantee would be returned to those jobs after the election. We asked him if a vote for the Fine Gael team included putting Eoghan Murphy back in the Department of Housing and Simon Harris back in the Department of Health. Who's appointed to what position in the next cabinet is for another day," he said. I won't be making any appointments to cabinet today or promising any appointments to cabinet today. 4. Apparently it's not Fine Gaels fault if theres a second election Amid some idle chat in political circles about the prospect of a second election if a government is not formed after this one, Mr Varadkar sought to get ahead of the issue by claiming Fine Gael would not be to blame for such a scenario. He stood over his position that Fine Gael will not facilitate a Fianna Fail-led minority government if it [Fine Gael] is the largest party in the 33rd Dail. It simply would not be democratic for the largest party to somehow put into power the parties that come second, third, fourth or fifth, Mr Varadkar. This conveniently ignores the fact that since the 1970s Fine Gael has led a government three times when Fianna Fail has been in opposition despite being the largest party in the Dail. Mr Varadkar claimed smaller parties would be to blame if the failure to form a government causes a second election. I will say [after the election] that 'we are the largest party' - if we are - and 'we're the ones who want to talk to those other parties about forming a government'. And I'm sure they will want to talk to us, I doubt they will want to cause a second election and that's what they will be causing - not us," he added. 5. A better start than 2016 - but danger here Four years ago, Fine Gaels general election campaign got off to a horrible start in a cramped hotel conference room a stones throw from Leinster House where Enda Kenny didnt want to discuss economic jargon. The party never recovered. By contrast this was a more professional and assured start from Fine Gael and its Brexit Team (are you sick of hearing that phrase yet?) with a clear message in the spacious conference room of a company that is a genuine Irish success story. However, the optics of posing for pictures while sat on a forklift on the same day that a homeless man was seriously injured as his tent was removed from a canal in Dublin will not be lost on many of the Taoiseachs critics and could imperil what has been a positive start to the campaign by the government party. [January 15, 2020] CIRA is funding digital literacy, cybersecurity, and internet infrastructure projects through $1+ million fund This year's granting program is open to all Canadians, but preference will be given to internet-related projects that benefit students as well as rural, northern, and Indigenous communities OTTAWA, Jan. 15, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is announcing the opening of its annual $1+ million Community Investment Program granting initiative for 2020. Beginning today, not-for-profits, charities, and researchers are invited to apply for funding that will improve the health and quality of Canada's internet. Applicants have until Feb. 25, 2020 at 2 p.m. EST to submit their application online. The Community Investment Program focuses on internet-related projects in Canada and awards grants of up to $100,000, including one grant of up to $250,000. To ensure support for digital projects in underserved areas and communities, this year's granting cycle will give preference to initiatives that benefit students and rural, northern and Indigenous communities. CIRA is looking for projects in these four areas: Infrastructure research or projects that improve internet speed, access, and costs. research or projects that improve internet speed, access, and costs. Digital literacy tools, research, and training programs to develop digital skills. tools, research, and training programs to develop digital skills. Cybersecurity projects or research that promote users' safety online. projects or research that promote users' safety online. Community leadership initiatives including events or research that engage Canadians in domestic internet policy issues. Since 2014, CIRA's Community Investment Program grants have provided $6.7 million in funding for 151 projects across Canada. To learn more about the program, funding categories, and projects that CIRA has supported in the past, head tocira.ca/grants. Executive Quote "Since 2014 we've funded more than 150 internet projects from coast to coast to coast. Now we're focusing in on some of Canada's hardest to reach places. We're especially looking for projects that benefit students as well as people in rural, northern and Indigenous communities who for too long have faced barriers to participating in Canada's digital economy. We hope our Community Investment Program grants can help teach our youth the digital skills they need to be safe online, and fill the gaps in education and internet access for people in under-served areas of Canada. --David Fowler, vice-president, marketing and communications Who can apply? Organizations recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency as registered charities Not-for-profit organizations; and, Academics and researchers affiliated with a Canadian university or college. Applications for this round of funding will be accepted until 2 p.m. EST, February 25, 2020. Examples of past projects awarded funding CompuCorps' Indige-preneurs program provides digital literacy workshops for Indigenous women focused on building an online business. The Gwich'in Tribal Council and University of Alberta researchers created resources to support citizen decision-making regarding broadband deployment in the Northwest Territories . researchers created resources to support citizen decision-making regarding broadband deployment in the . SimpleCell is an infrastructure project that allows residents without high-speed internet to access it from their cell phones and mobile devices within the historical Francophone region of the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland . About CIRA and the Community Investment Program CIRA is best known for our role managing the .CA domain on behalf of all Canadians. While this remains our primary mandate, as a member-based not-for-profit ourselves, we have a much broader goal to strengthen Canada's internet. The Community Investment Program is one of our most valuable contributions toward this goal and funds projects in infrastructure, digital literacy, cybersecurity and community leadership. Every .CA domain name registered or renewed contributes to this program. To date, CIRA has supported 151 projects with over $6.7 million in contributions. SOURCE Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Uptake today announced that it has joined the World Economic Forum . Uptake will collaborate with the Forum, other industry leaders, and policymakers to better understand digital transformation opportunities and provide insights and principles required for businesses to adapt. "We're at the outset of the Fourth Industrial Revolutiondefined by massive amounts of data and technological advancements like AI, ML and roboticsand we're seeing digital evolution in major industries across the world," shares Brad Keywell, CEO and Founder of Uptake. "Uptake helps companies capitalize on their data while ensuring data integrity. We join the Forum at this crucial time to add perspective and to provide solutions for corporations ready to take advantage of opportunities enabled through AI and Machine Learning." As a leading provider of analytics and predictive insights software for global businesses in industries including energy, mining, transportation, and manufacturing, Uptake has proven to be a trusted and reliable provider in harnessing the Industry 4.0 movement. Uptake's exclusive Asset Strategy Librarythe world's largest knowledge base of machine data, including failure modes and maintenance strategiesfortifies Uptake's products, which have accelerated digital transformation. Aligned with the mission of the World Economic Forum, Uptake will collaborate with other members to guide a responsible and optimal evolution of technology in support of enterprise software in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Uptake will work across many of the Forum's Platforms, while actively participating in the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Forum's hub for global, multistakeholder cooperation to develop policy frameworks and advance collaborations that accelerate the benefits of science and technology. Uptake was previously honored by the World Economic Forum being named a Technology Pioneer . Chosen for its innovative contributions within the industrial sector, Uptake collects and analyzes massive amounts of data captured from industrial equipment and infrastructure, recommending detailed insights and recommended actions in real-time that helps improve performance, reliability and security. This facilitates the creation of new data-driven business models for customers, equating to a greater competitive edge. Uptake joined the roster of other Technology Pioneer companies, such as: Airbnb, bluebird bio, Bloom Energy, Cyberdyne, Editas Medicine, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Proteus Digital Health, Scribd, Spotify, Twitter and Wikimedia. As a newly added partner, Brad Keywell and Uptake will be attending the World Economic Forum's 2020 Annual Meetingthe Forum's 50th Anniversary. Under the theme "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World," this year's meeting will bring together 3,000+ people from more than 140 countries, including Forum member CEOs, political leaders, academia representatives, religious leaders, NGOs, and the media. ABOUT UPTAKE Uptake is the intelligence system for industrial assets. Providing an AI-driven asset management solution that bridges the gap between industrial assets and front-line workers, Uptake gives all departmentsincluding maintenance, operations, finance and salesa single, shared view of every asset in an operation. With the power of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), Uptake helps customers monitor and increase the availability of assets, improve asset reliability, and streamline operations. Recognized for leadership in industrial IoT (IIoT) by the World Economic Forum, CNBC and Forbes, Uptake is headquartered in Chicago with presence in Canada, South American, Europe and Australia. To stay up-to-date on what we're doing, visit us at www.uptake.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . CONTACT Morgan Scott, Director of Communications (312) 465-6345 [email protected] SOURCE Uptake Related Links http://www.uptake.com There is a new president and so far he has been doing things protestors have demanded for nearly a year. Most Algerians opposed the recently replaced interim military government and its decision to hold presidential elections on December 12th. This was not an instant disaster because the candidate elected, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a former prime minister, formed his new government by appointing new government ministers that most protesters approved of, or could not criticize. None of the new ministers had opposed the weekly protests. Tebboune has also met with protest leaders and simultaneously organized an effort to create a new constitution that would make it more difficult for him, or any future president, to again become a corrupt president-for-life. The new president, as a former senior official himself, knows that there are many senior people in the government, military and business community who oppose such changes. Such opposition has to be expressed quietly but it is still there and it will be a year or more before it will be clear if a new, dictator-proof, constitution is possible or not. Most Algerians felt that rushing elections favored the election of another corrupt politician who will act like all the previous ones. In other words, there would be a few token prosecutions for corruption but the majority of the corrupt bureaucrats and business owners would return to their outlaw ways. This is seen as the reason why 70 percent of the Algerian unemployed are job-seekers in their late teens and 20s. Many have never been able to get a job. The unemployment rate is about 15 percent, up from the 12 percent is was stuck at for several years. The weekly nationwide protests have been going on since February and it is clear that Algerians could turn to violence if they feel they have exhausted peaceful options. So far there has not been any shift to violence and the new president is keeping the peace. Opposition to the presidential race was active but not violent. There were five candidates and all of them encountered lackluster crowds (including hecklers) or no people at all when a candidate would normally expect some supporters to show up. Campaign headquarters were sometimes attacked, but not in a violent way. Usually just pelted with eggs or defaced with anti-election slogans and posters. Three of the candidates (including the winner) had close ties to the disgraced FLN party that was led by deposed president-for-life Bouteflika. A fourth candidate (Abdelaziz Belaid ) was a known reformer who was willing to work with the FLN/Bouteflika government to achieve change. The fifth candidate was the head of an Islamic party that has cooperated with FLN in the past. The electoral commission disallowed 17 other candidates for various reasons. None of the five candidates had a lot of popular support and the three associated most with the FLN were thought to have the least of all. Most Algerians feared that the interim military government would declare the candidate with the most votes, no matter how few were cast, as the winner and new president. That might have required a second round of voting if none of the five candidates got a majority of the first-round vote. That would mean a new president with little popular support and facing continued weekly protests or worse. It did not work out that way. One of the former FLN loyalists did have a lot of support among those who did turn out to vote and is now the new president. Continued protests are prompted by chronic problems that are felt by the majority of Algerians. Corruption and mismanagement of the former government are seen as major reasons for the high unemployment, especially among younger Algerians. The majority of voters wanted a new president who would make a serious effort to deal with corruption and mismanagement. The newly elected president appears to be doing just that. Another incitement was how the interim government used its control over mass media to criticize the protestors at every opportunity and block any criticism of the interim government. A small but growing number of journalists were arrested for reporting what is seen and heard in the streets. This offended younger Algerians most of all because they are the most media savvy. They may be poor but most have cellphones and know how the media works. The new president quickly released most of the arrested journalists and prominent critics from jail. Further arrests have not occurred. So far so good but it will take a year or so to know for sure if the new government is the real deal or the corrupt old one repackaged to appear less threatening. There are other threats that have remained out of sight during the election crises. This includes Islamic terrorists, who continue to regard Algeria as unsafe for them and stay away or, if in the country, stay out of sight. That means more of these Islamic terrorists move north via Libya. That is still a problem for Algeria, especially because the Libyan civil war, which seemed almost over has now been extended with the intervention of Turkey to support the weaker side that relied on Islamic radical and Islamic conservative groups for its support. All this is not an immediate problem for Algeria, but will be eventually. January 10, 2020: For the 47th week there were mass protests demanding a new constitution and government that would not seek to perpetuate itself and the many corrupt practices that still exist. The crowds were noticeably smaller this week and there were several good reasons for that. President Tebboune, newly elected a month ago, had quickly acted on many of the items that had kept the protests going for nearly a year. January 9, 2020: Senior officials from Egypt and Algeria met once more and affirmed that both nations opposed any foreign intervention in the Libyan civil war. This was directed at Turkey, which was now openly intervening in Libya. Egypt also wanted to establish good relations with the new Algerian president. The new Algerian president had a good reputation in Europe and he has already been invited to visit Germany and Italy and discuss new economic and diplomatic efforts. The Algerian economy is stable but new projects have been on hold for over a year until elections were held and a new government formed. That has been done and the Europeans, who have long done a lot of business with and investing in Algeria, want to talk. Relations with neighbor Morocco are less friendly. Algeria is continuing to disagree with Morocco over how to handle the growing unrest in the Algerian refugee camps the government maintains for people who fled southern Morocco years ago because of the Moroccan separatists (Polisario) efforts to turn that part of Morocco into an independent state. In mid-2019 Algeria confirmed that these camps were becoming increasingly dangerous for residents and foreign aid workers as well as Algerians in the vicinity. There has been more crime in the camps, some of it common stuff but also more serious offenses committed by Islamic terror groups and organized criminal gangs that have established themselves. Foreign aid workers have been kidnapped, in part to persuade the foreign aid organizations to cooperate with the extortion and theft of relief supplies the various outlaw groups engage in. Before the recent presidential elections, Morocco sought to improve relations with the new Algerian government but so far, with the new president in power, the hostility between the two nations will apparently continue. Algeria has been a threat to Morocco in the past but during the last few years have been sharing concerns about growing problems with Islamic terrorists and criminal activity in these refugee camps. In early 2018 Algeria assured Morocco and the UN that it no longer had anything to do with Polisario, a group of Moroccan terrorists that Algeria helped create decades ago. But soon after that concern was expressed an Algerian Air Force transport crashed on takeoff and among the 257 dead were 26 Polisario members. The transport was taking off from a base near the Algerian capital carrying mainly military personnel. This was more than an embarrassment, it confirmed the accusations that Algeria could not be trusted when it came to Polisario, and perhaps other matters as well. For example, Algeria is one of the few Sunni majority Arab countries that supports the Syrian Assad government. Morocco hoped there might be some changes in Algerian attitudes but that does not appear to be happening when it comes to Polisario despite the threat these Moroccan separatists now pose for both Algeria and Morocco. December 28, 2019: The new president ordered the release of 70 people who had been arrested or prosecuted for demonstrating or reporting on the demonstrations. December 23, 2019: General Ahmed Salah, the military supreme commander who persuaded long-time president Bouteflika to resign last April, died of natural causes; a heart attack. Salah was thought to be in reasonably good health for a man of 79. At that age reasonably good is often not good enough. He was buried two days later and left the newly elected president with one less potential obstacle to the fundamental political changes most Algerians want. Salahs successor, Said Chengriha, was appointed by the new president and is seen as loyal to the goals of the new government. December 12, 2019: Former prime minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune was elected president. He had served under president Bouteflika as a prime minister, for three months, in 2017. Bouteflika dismissed him because Tebboune, who had served in Bouteflika government 15-20 years ago the two had moved apart on how Algeria should be governed. This gave Tebboune enough credibility in the presidential elections to win against four other candidates and get 58 percent of the vote. Only 40 percent of potential voters participated. So far he had made the right moves, at least according to the diminishing number of weekly protestors calling for a truly democratic and just government. The protestors had dismissed the elections as an effort by the Bouteflika era establishment to retain their power and corrupt practices. That may still be true but so far Tebboune seems to be siding with the protestors. He took office on December 19th. Smoke and steam rise from the boiler of the 300-megawatt generator at Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant in central Vietnam PHOTO: TNO Power Generation Corporation 1 (Genco 1), which is in charge of the plant, released a press statement on the incident today, January 13. At around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, the boiler of a 300-megawatt generator at the plant failed, with steam leaking out of the equipment. In response, the plant suspended the operation of the generator as a safety precaution. The incident did not have any environmental impact or human losses, stated Genco 1. Prior to the incident, the generator was operating normally, following a national electricity dispatch order, and its equipment parameters were at stable levels. Genco 1 said the supply of domestic coal is not sufficient to operate the generators. To make up for the shortfall, the State-run Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group has provided a type of imported coal since the end of 2019. Work on the Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant started on May 1961. After nearly three years of construction, the plant produced its first power output for the northern grid on November 1963. It currently has two generators, producing 300 megawatts and 330 megawatts. SGT A 16-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Bellaire High School classmate, an act that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said she believed was unintentional. The teen, whose identity was not released because of his age, was one of two people detained by Bellaire police in the hours after the shooting. Ogg described the shooting as reckless -- rather than intentional. Both teens were friends and members of the JROTC program. Late Wednesday, Bellaire police identified the victim at Cesar Cortes. The handgun used in the shooting has not been recovered, according to authorities. The news comes as staff members returned to Bellaire High School on Wednesday morning, fewer than 24 hours after the unidentified teen was killed. The 19-year-old senior was shot at the school around 4 p.m. Students were given the day off. Many of the student's friends gathered late Wednesday morning at Evelyn Park to remember Cortes, a member of the school's JROTC 20th Battalion and an Army recuit. Several teens began writing his name on posters to be displayed Friday at the school. Alejandro Morales, a JROTC battalion commander, said Cortes always wanted to be a soldier and recently enlisted in the Army. Its just so unjust that he had to be taken away like this, Morales said. 'WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS': Frustrated Bellaire HS parents react to news of student's killing Houston ISD initially told parents students should report to school Wednesday morning but later said they could have the day off, instead mandating that faculty and staff come in. Police originally stated the victim was 16 years old but later clarified that the he was 19. Staff writer Nicole Hensley contributed to this report. Once, he was the Gen Y team captain in the first version of Talkin Bout Your Generation, a blond boy from Brisbane with a weird, vaguely English-sounding accent who seemed to know little about anything that happened prior to 1990 and cared even less. With so many entertainment options, it's easy to miss brilliant streaming shows, movies and documentaries. Here are the ones to hit play on, or skip. Then Josh Thomas created one of Australian televisions best comedies, Please Like Me, a series about family and friends that was funny, sad, audacious and original. One of its distinguishing qualities was a fluid incorporation of a range of sensitive subjects. It depicted death, grief, depression, self harm, suicide, coming out, marital breakdown and awkward sex as easily as it displayed its love of French toast, truffled mac and cheese, crocheted cushion covers and floral prints. Thomass latest series, made in the US, exhibits many of the now-familiar themes and concerns: the emotional tangles of family life; millennials grappling with unaccustomed responsibility; the complications of human connection; bumpy romantic relationships. But it also looks a lot more like a glossy American sitcom, a shift emphasised by the title. Gone is the op-shop hip and cosy decor, replaced by the kind of TV-version of plush-comfortable middle-class life: king-size beds, kitchen island benches, in-ground pools. In-ground pools are just some of the differences in Thomas' new show. The set-up sees Nicholas (Thomas) visiting his father (Christopher May) and teenage half-sisters, Genevieve (Maeve Press) and Matilda (Kayla Cromer), in suburban Los Angeles. Genevieve is smart and earnest and grappling with mean-girl friends; Matilda is a gifted musician whos on the autism spectrum and has a crush on a popular boy. Nicholas is preparing to return to Australia and his mum (Vivienne Walshe) when an unexpected turn of events requires that he stay to care for his sisters. So the show moves into a classic comedy situation: a possibly unsuitable and ill-prepared man looking after two teenage girls while trying to get his own life in order. Through Genevieve and Matilda, the show is able to venture into the classroom, into teen rituals and diplomacies, as well as focusing on domestic activity and Nicholass affairs. Ashley Young's hopes of joining Inter Milan may have suffered a blow as the Italian giants close in on a swap deal with Roma. Inter forward Matteo Politano was pictured arriving at Rome's Fiumicino Airport at around 8am on Wednesday morning before heading off to a complete a medical. Reports in Italy claim that the 26-year-old will join Roma in a straight swap for full-back Leonardo Spinazzola, which could put Young's move at risk. Matteo Politano arrives at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on Wednesday as he closes in on a move Ashley Young's switch to Inter Milan could be in doubt as they look to do business with Roma The Manchester United veteran agreed terms with the San Siro giants last week and had hoped to seal a move to Italy this month. But it now appears that Antonio Conte has turned his attention to Spinazzola, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen to keep Young at Old Trafford until the summer. Politano came through the ranks at Roma but never made an appearance before joining Pescara permanently in 2013. Gazzetta dello Sport claim that he could finally make his debut for the club against Parma in the Coppa Italia on Thursday, providing the transfer goes through in time. Roma full back Leonardo Spinazzola appears to be on his way to rivals Inter this month Politano came through the ranks at Roma but never made his debut before joining Pescara Spinazzola has made 16 appearances for Roma this season, but the club are willing to let him go in order for Politano to replace the injured Nicolo Zaniolo. The Italy international ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Juventus last weekend and is expected to miss up to nine months. Conte, meanwhile, has been on the lookout for a new full back as he looks to keep pace with Juve at the top of Serie A. The former Chelsea boss wanted to add the experienced Young to his squad, but Sky in Italy claim that the 34-year-old is unlikely to make the switch if Spinazzola completes his move to Milan. President Akufo-Addo has said several persons who are involved in the banking sector crisis will be arraigned soon to answer for their misdealings. Addressing the 71st Annual New Year School and Conference themed Attaining Ghana Beyond Aid: Prospects and Challenges at the Great Hall, University of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said the state has had to spend over GHc 12 billion Cedis of public funds in order to rescue some 6,500.00 jobs as well as to protect funds of some 4.6 million depositors. Those responsible for these unfortunate happenings the President said ought to be punished. We have begun bringing those responsible for the banking crisis to justice. We have one case in Court and if prima facie evidence of criminality is found in the other ongoing investigations which according to my information is likely, then the perpetrators of these crises, that is, both the regulators and individuals will face justice soon President Akufo-Addo said. During the same time the President was addressing the New Year School, former CEO of defunct Beige Bank, Michael Nyinaku, and former CEO of defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng were both arraigned on charges of Stealing and Money Laundering in relation to the banking crisis. Both accused persons pleaded not guilty before Circuit Court Judge Emmanuel Essandoh. Hearing was adjourned to the 22nd of January 2020. Keynote Speaker Delivering the Keynote lecture at the event, former Chairman of the University of Ghana Council, Dr. Ishmael Yamson noted that for Ghana to attain the vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, the State must remove all micro impediments in the way of trade. On the recent banking crisis that bedeviled the country, Dr. Yamson said the challenges has has a further sad impact on the non-savings culture of Ghanaians in that, confidence in the financial sector amongst the people of Ghana has dipped further down. He called on government to ensure that those behind the rot discovered in the financial sector of the country are prosecuted and punished according. Dr. Yamson further noted that the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda of the current government ought to be adopted as a national vision and not a political agenda of a particular party in power. The Ghana Beyond Aid Charter that is has been developed must be made a national document. The New Year School The Annual New Year School and Conference was introduced in 1948 and it brings together people from all walks of life to deliberate on topical issues of national and international interests. The 71st edition was chaired by Professor Akua Kunyehia, Acting Chairperson of the University of Ghana Council. Starrfm It is a pleasure to report that the Roma Group Limited (HKG:8072) is up 43% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last half decade have been stomach churning. Five years have seen the share price descend precipitously, down a full 94%. The recent bounce might mean the long decline is over, but we are not confident. The fundamental business performance will ultimately determine if the turnaround can be sustained. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness. Check out our latest analysis for Roma Group Roma Group wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit. Over half a decade Roma Group reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 6.9% for each year. While far from catastrophic that is not good. If a business loses money, you want it to grow, so no surprises that the share price has dropped 43% each year in that time. We're generally averse to companies with declining revenues, but we're not alone in that. Fear of becoming a 'bagholder' may be keeping people away from this stock. The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). SEHK:8072 Income Statement, January 15th 2020 This free interactive report on Roma Group's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. A Different Perspective Investors in Roma Group had a tough year, with a total loss of 69%, against a market gain of about 10%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 42% per year over five years. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Roma Group (2 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here. Story continues Of course Roma Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Then-President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington on Dec. 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Federal Judge Blocks Trumps Order That Allows States to Reject Refugees A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration executive order that allows states and local governments to refuse refugees under a U.S. refugee resettlement program. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland granted a preliminary injunction (pdf) on Wednesday that enjoins the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order that requires resettlement agencies to obtain written consent from any state or local government areas they propose to resettle refugees. The executive order, which was signed in September 2019, gives states and local governments the power to decide whether they have the capacities and resources to accommodate refugee resettlement. State and local governments are best positioned to know the resources and capacities they may or may not have available to devote to sustainable resettlement, which maximizes the likelihood refugees placed in the area will become self-sufficient and free from long-term dependence on public assistance, the order states. This power was recently invoked by Texas, which became the first known state to opt-out of receiving refugees under the executive order. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state has already resettled about 10 percent of all refugees entering the United States over the past 10 years, and also dealt with a disproportionate number of illegal immigrants who cross into the border state. The case at hand was brought by three resettlement agenciesHIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Servicewho say their work has been directly impacted and harmed by the executive order. The agencies argue that the order gives states and local governments a veto power over refugee resettlement and that the order violates the law and express congressional intent. Moreover, they claim that the order causes them and refugees to suffer irreparable harm, saying that the order will be an evisceration of a long-standing refugee program (pdf). The Trump administration has argued that because the president has the authority to decide how many refugees are to be resettled each year, he has a subset power to determine whether state and local governments can decide whether refugees would be resettled into their communities. In a 31-page ruling, Messitte said that the order is unlawful because it gives state and local governments veto power and that it flies in the face of clear congressional intent. Messitte also agreed that the order causes the resettlement agencies harm as they will continue to be in a frenzy while trying to obtain written consents, which will divert them from their main purpose and mission and possibly cause them to close down operations in non-consenting states and locales. The almost inevitable loss of goodwill and harm of reputation, at least in non-consenting states and localities, will compound plaintiffs injuries, he said. He also added that the order does not appear to serve the overall public interest. One of the challengers of the order, HIAS, welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that they were grateful for the clarity of this injunction. An overwhelming majority of governors and municipalities have already expressed their desire to continue welcoming refugees, Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, said. To those few who have not, we say not only is it unkind and un-American to ban refugees from your states and towns, but it is unlawful. HIAS will continue our work resettling refugees who have come to our shores looking to restart their lives in safety. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham called the ruling preposterous and an example of nationwide district court injunctions run amok. Another lawless district court has asserted its own preferred immigration policy in place of the laws of the United Statesand, in so doing, robbed millions of American citizens of their voice and their say in a vital issue directly affecting their communities, Grisham said in the statement. President Trump rightly and justly recognized that your communities are unique, and while some cities have the resources to adequately support refugees and help them be successful, not all communities can sustain the substantial and costly burden. Knowing that, the Trump administration fulfilled a key promise by giving States and localities a seat at the table in deciding whether or not refugees will be placed in your communities. In addition, under the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress explicitly afforded the President authority over the refugee resettlement process, including by taking local consultation into account, she continued. We are expeditiously reviewing all options to protect our communities and preserve the integrity of the refugee resettlement process, she added. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to our request to comment. Thirty-seven states, six counties, and nine cities have so far notified the State Department that they will accept refugee resettlements in fiscal year 2020, which began Oct. 1, 2019. Meanwhile, two counties have so far opted outAppomattox County in Virginia, and Beltrami County in Minnesotafrom accepting refugees under Trumps order. While neither county has resettled refugees for several years, both county leaderships have said their county doesnt have the budget to support refugee resettlement. The United States will accept around 18,000 refugees in fiscal 2020, which has been progressively reduced from the 2016 ceiling of 110,000. Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report. Update: The report was updated to include a White House statement. The presidents order said states, cities and towns must provide written consent to have refugees resettled there. A United States federal judge has blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that gave state and local governments effective veto power over having refugees resettled within their jurisdictions. US District Judge Peter Messitte issued a preliminary injunction in Maryland on Wednesday at the request of three national refugee resettlement agencies that are suing to challenge the executive order. Agency leaders argued the order, which required resettlement agencies to get written consent from state and local officials before resettling refugees, effectively gives governors and county leaders the ability to override the resettlement process. The agencies also argue the order illegally conflicts with the 1980 Refugee Act, which enshrines the federal procedure of refugee resettlement. Messitte said the agencies are likely to succeed in showing that the executive order is unlawful. Refugee resettlement activity should go forward as it developed for the almost 40 years before the (executive order) was announced, he wrote in his 31-page ruling. Messitte added Trumps order doesnt appear to serve the overall public interest. The Trump administration announced the directive in November. The order would have applied to any refugees being resettled beyond June 2020. After being resettled, refugees are free to move anywhere within the US, but at their own expense. Texas first to reject refugees Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and HIAS a Jewish nonprofit filed the lawsuit in Greenbelt, Maryland, on November 21. They represent three of the nine national organisations that have agreements with the federal government to provide housing and other services for refugees. 170128164241556 Texas, which took in more refugees than any other state during the 2018 fiscal year, became the first state known to reject the resettlement of new refugees. Governor Greg Abbott said in a letter released January 10 that the state, which borders Mexico, has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system. The head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Krish OMara Vignarajah, told The Associated Press news agency the ruling, for now, puts on hold a policy that was causing irreparable harm to refugee families and resettlement agencys already. She added that it essentially re-opens the door to refugees being resettled in Texas. Its a significant day in which the rule of law won, OMara Vignarajah said. While at least 41 states have publicly agreed to accept refugees, a governors decision does not preclude local officials from refusing to give their consent. For instance, the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, had refused to give written consent for refugees to be resettled in the city. Trump and immigration Cutting immigration has been a centrepiece of Trumps presidency and 2020 re-election campaign. One of his first acts after assuming office in January 2017 was to issue an order cutting in half a plan put in place by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, to resettle 110,000 refugees in fiscal 2017. Since then, the cap has been slashed each year Trump has been in office. For 2020, the administration set a ceiling of 18,000 refugee admissions, the lowest since the modern refugee program began in 1980. Trumps executive order claims the resettlement agencies were not working closely enough with local officials on resettling refugees. He maintained his administration was acting to respect communities that believe they do not have the jobs or other resources to be able to take in refugees. During an October campaign rally in Minnesota, Trump said that he had delivered on a pledge to give local communities a greater say in refugee policy and increase vetting. Justice Department lawyer Bradley Humphreys had argued that the Refugee Act gives the president ample authority to make such a change. Humphreys said the executive order is designed to enhance the involvement of state and local officials in the process of resettling refugees. However, he insisted it does not give them a veto over resettlement decisions. Between 150,000 and 200,000 refugees remain in the pipeline for possible US resettlement while they live abroad, according to Linda Evarts, one of the plaintiffs lawyers. 1 of 2 Bajaj Chetak electric scooter launched with 7 advanced features Bajaj Auto launched the Chetak electric scooter in India for an introductory price of Rs 1 lakh. The two-wheeler maker will start the sales of the new Chetak scooter in Pune and Bengaluru first. Bajaj Chetak will not only be sold in India, but exported to European markets as well. Unveiled in India in October 2019, the new Chetak is the maiden electric product of the two-wheeler maker to be launched in India and is available in six colour options. It will be sold from select KTM dealerships. Below are the variant-wise price details of the Chetak electric scooter. - Bajaj Chetak Urbane - Rs 1 lakh - Bajaj Chetak Premium - Rs 1.15 lakh Powering the new Chetak electric scooter is a 4kW motor that develops 16 Nm of peak torque. It comes with an IP67-rated 3kWh (48V, 60.3 AH) lithium-ion battery, which can be charged using a 15 amp electrical outlet. The battery can be fully juiced up in five hours and up to 25 per cent in an hour. The charger is complimentary and it will be installed at the customer's house. The claimed battery life is 70,000 km. According to Bajaj Auto, the new Chetak's range is 95 km in the Eco mode and 85 km in the Sport mode. Bajaj Chetak comes with an overall warranty of three years or 50,000 km. The scheduled service is at an interval of one year or 12,000 km. The two-wheeler maker is providing three free services with the electric scooter. Read More... MBABANE - Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) students returned from home rejuvenated and ready for the new semester, only to be met with a hazardous environment. The institution seems unfit for human habitation judging from the overgrowth and shattered window panes. This state of affairs sums up the story of the students who returned to the institution of higher learning on Sunday evening. The concerned students said instead of finding a college that was ready to receive them and one that was well aware of their imminent return, they found nothing but overgrown grass as if it was a rainforest. Complained They complained that the grass was so tall such that snakes and other dangerous reptiles could be found there. As a result, the students said they were ready to abandon their lessons and go clear the premises themselves as it had been proven that the administration could not do it. The students said they preferred to clear the overgrowth because they knew that if they engaged in a protest over this issue, they would risk being suspended. They claimed this was the norm each time they attempted to raise issues with the administration. We are aware that boycotting lessons would reduce our lecture time, but we are willing to sacrifice our hours for lessons for our safety, one of them said. According to the concerned students, the situation was so dangerous such that they feared being within the college premises because the grass had literally grown to almost their height. Fear Their fear was that they could turn to be prey to dangerous animals like snakes and other vile creatures habitat in overgrown environments. In our dormitories, we are afraid to even open doors to let in the fresh cool breeze in this scorching heat as there might be hazardous elements that can make their way into our rooms and some of our dormitories do not have windows panes, they said. The students said they had noted that this had become a norm as every time they got back to the college, they would find it in such an appalling state. They said the administration only gave the support staff a green light to clean the college when they were in class and the roaring machines would disturb their rest and study sessions. They said the constant challenge in cutting the grass had always been said to be lack of petrol, but they disagreed with that as they believe d that the inventory for petrol should be placed early every year so that when they returned to the college, the lawn would have been cleared. Blamed They blamed the leadership of the college which they said was always fit and ready to punish and suspend students for petty misdemeanours but failed to do simple things like clearing the college and making it ready for students return. Meanwhile, when reached for a comment on the matter, ECOT Principal Nomcebo Nhlengetfwa said the matter was not yet reported to them. Basengaketi kutobika, sisengakayiva, stated Nhlengetfwa. When asked if it was normal practice for the administration to wait for the students to report overgrowth prior to attending to it, she hung up and did not pick up the phone thereafter when attempts were made to reach her again. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Twelve years after the Supreme Court ruled that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right "unconnected with service in a militia," the Second Amendment is in worse shape than ever. New York; California; Massachusetts; Connecticut; and Washington, D.C., with a combined population of 70 million, have outlawed the sale of most semi-automatic rifles and all gun magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds to the public. Colorado, New Jersey, Vermont, Maryland, and Hawaii also have restrictions on magazine capacity. Seventeen states have so-called "red flag" laws, allowing the summary confiscation of a person's firearms on hearsay, even if that individual has not been charged with a crime. A number of states have banned the sale of firearms between private parties, and New York and California prohibit the sale of ammunition without a government background check and registration of the purchase with the police. None of this legislation has been declared unconstitutional in court. This week, Gov. Ralph "Coonman" Northam and the Democrat-controlled state Legislature in Virginia are poised to impose New Yorkstyle gun control on the former capital of the Confederacy, including an "assault weapon" sales ban, a magazine ban, an "assault weapons registry," a "red flag" law, and a private transfer ban, despite vocal opposition from rural gun-owners. The passage of such legislation, which is a near certainty as of this writing, would deal a humiliating blow to the National Rifle Association, which located its national headquarters in Fairfax so its employees and lobbyists would not be subject to the District of Columbia's harsh gun laws. (Indeed, one Democrat-sponsored bill in the Virginia Legislature seems to written solely for the purpose of spitefully and vindictively closing the shooting range at NRA headquarters.) The Democratic Party with only a handful of exceptions, such as Sens. Manchin and Tester is committed to passing identical legislation on a national level the next time it wins majorities in both houses of Congress and captures the White House. The blame for all of this can be placed squarely on the late Justice Antonin Scalia, author of the majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. Heller was hailed as a "landmark" decision a triumph of conservative jurisprudence and Scalia's philosophy of "originalism" when it was decided in 2008. But the intervening years have demonstrated that the argument he presented in his opinion was unsound and contained language that enabled the political left to enact most of the gun control it wanted anyway. Scalia began by rejecting the argument, held by dissenting Justice John Paul Stevens and by the gun-control lobby for many decades, that the Second Amendment allows state militias (today's National Guard) to possess guns. He correctly pointed out that a plain reading of the text states that the "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" not the right of the militias is the right that "shall not be infringed." Scalia went on to argue that the Founders understood the right to keep and bear arms as a right of personal self-defense: "Nine state constitutional provisions written in the 18th century or the first two decades of the 19th century enshrined the right of citizens to 'bear arms in defense of themselves' ... putting these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right or possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation." Scalia further attacked "the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment." Clearly, then, modern arms like the AR-15 rifle should be protected. In light of such clear-cut jurisprudence, how has the political left been able to pass restrictive purchase requirements, carry requirements, and outright bans on modern arms without the slightest opposition from the courts? The answer is that Scalia practically invalidated his own opinion with the following: Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited[.] ... [N]othing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Further: We ... recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. [The majority opinion in U.S. v. Miller] said ... that the sorts of weapons protected were those 'in common use at the time[.]' ... We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of "dangerous and unusual weapons." The left has seized upon these phrases in an attempt to drive a stake into the heart of the Second Amendment. Indeed, H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, with 216 Democratic sponsors in the House, cited Scalia's language directly. The stated purpose of the bill is "to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited." "Mental illness" is a broad, subjective, ambiguous concept that can include conditions ranging from paranoid, delusional schizophrenia to commonplace anxiety to the rather questionable "oppositional defiant disorder." Gun-banners have interpreted it as broadly as possible; one Virginia Democrat already pronounced all defenders of the Second Amendment "mentally ill." If the right to keep and bear arms is a right to personal self-defense, what clause of the Constitution makes it invalid on the grounds of a school or government building? And how can discretionary and restrictive permitting processes, intended to make it extremely difficult or impossible to own and carry handguns, continue to exist in states like New York and New Jersey? Perhaps the most grievous error Scalia committed was his failure to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Miller, the only prior case dealing with the individual right to possess a gun. Miller, decided in 1939, was a flawed precedent. It upheld the National Firearms Act of 1934, which placed severe restrictions and punitive taxes upon machine guns, suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and destructive devices "in interstate commerce." The Miller court ruled that these items were not "in common use" by the militia, thus not protected for individual ownership. These are the "longstanding prohibitions" on "dangerous and unusual weapons" and "conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale" that Scalia referred to in Heller. But none of these supposedly "longstanding" prohibitions existed prior to the NFA of 1934, which was the first federal gun law in the nation's history. And nothing in the Constitution allows one provision, "the right to keep and bear arms," to be infringed by another provision in this instance, the interstate commerce clause. Would anyone accept the idea that journalists writing newspapers in "interstate commerce" should be subjected to punitive taxation, government licensing, and registration of their articles with a federal agency? Who would accept federal taxation, registration, and licensing of a pastor or rabbi preaching sermons "in interstate commerce"? Gun prohibitionists have used the language of Miller and Heller to contend that the semi-automatic rifles are "dangerous and unusual" and may be prohibited despite the fact that only a tiny fraction of annual homicides are committed with long guns of any type. The "common use" test articulated by the Miller court is a classic example of a Catch-22, and Scalia made a serious logical error in upholding it. A firearm is protected by the Second Amendment if it is in common use; but it cannot be in common use if it is banned. That makes no sense. Further, firearms technology has advanced over the past two and a half centuries. Arms that were once in common use, such as the Brown Bess musket and the Colt 1873 revolver, can no longer be said to be "in common use." Are they no longer protected? Conversely, the Glock pistol capable of holding 16 or more rounds and the fully automatic M-4 carbine with a 30-round magazine were not in "common use" when Miller was decided because they had not yet been invented. But they are in common use today, particularly by the military and by the police (who are not "the militia"). According to the logic of the Miller court, then, they should be available for civilian use, yet these are precisely the type of arms that modern gun control legislation has banned or seeks to ban for everyone but the military and the police. "Common use" is also a highly subjective phrase. A federal district court judge laughably ruled that the AR-15 rifle is not in common use and thus may be prohibited while other courts have ruled that uncommon weapons like nunchaku and stun guns are protected under the Second Amendment. The Heller decision turned out to be a bust. Aside from overturning a local handgun ban in the District of Columbia and providing the precedent to do the same in Chicago, it did nothing to advance gun rights nationwide. Rather, it provided gun-controllers with plenty of justification for equally restrictive legislation on a much larger scale. It is high time for the Supreme Court to issue a decision clearly and decisively upholding the plain language of the Second Amendment and to strike down the myriad laws "infringing" on the "right of the people to keep and bear arms." But that will not happen unless Donald Trump wins a second term and is able to replace aging liberal justices Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer with staunchly and reliably conservative justices. If Trump fails, the political left will continue to exploit the ambiguous and contradictory language that Justice Scalia used in Heller to undermine the Second Amendment until the constitutional "right" to keep and bear arms is effectively nullified and turned into a discretionary, government-granted privilege, as it is today in places like New York and California. On December 7, 2020, Ghanaians will go to the polls to elect parliamentarians and a president. It will also be the countrys 8th elections under the fourth republic. Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The incumbent, President Akufo-Addo will also hope he can beat his main contender, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama in the polls for a second time. President Nana Addo is already urging Ghanaians to give him four more years based on what he has been able to achieve in the last three years. READ ALSO: 3rd Ghana Teacher Licensure Exams results out; 78% passed He opined that the programmes and policies implemented by his government have put the country onto the path of progress and prosperity. YEN.com.gh explores some of the programmes and policies that the Akufo-Addo led administration has taken that he so much believes will win him the 2020 presidential elections. 1. Free SHS The Free SHS policy is the New Patriotic Partys flagship programme which started in September 2017. The policy allows every child in Ghana who qualifies for, and is placed in a public Senior High School for his secondary education will have his/her fees absorbed by the government. It is arguably one government programme that everyone supports, although some people hold different views about the mode of implementation. 2. Nation Builders Corps The Nation Builders Corps is another of the Akufo-Addo led governments programme that is meant to reduce or address the unemployment menace in Ghana. The NPP says the NabCo has provided over hundred thousand jobs for unemployed graduates. ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana 3. Planting for food and jobs To revamp the agricultural sector, the government of Ghana under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo introduced a flagship policy called Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) in 2017. The main aim of the programme is to address the declining growth of agriculture in Ghana and also provide jobs for the youth. READ ALSO: 2020 census to be postponed to a later date - Deputy government statistician 4. 1D1F The One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) policy is also an Akufo-Addo-Addo programme that is supposed to provide factories across the country. In December 2019, Nana Addo revealed that so far, some 58 factories are currently operational. 5. Zongo Development Fund It is an NPP programme that seeks to provide funds to develop the Zongo communities across the country. The funds are used to address the major challenges of the people who lived in zongo. READ ALSO: Explainer: Why Kofi Amoabeng was arrested 6. 1 constituency, 1 ambulance President Akufo-Addo will commission, on January 28, 2020, 307 ambulances for use in fulfilment of the 1-Constituency-1-Ambulance pledge. In the health sector, the NPP has also provided drone technology, where drones have been introduced into the healthcare system to help deliver essential medicine, blood and blood products to remote communities. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo is pleading with Ghanaians to give his government four years to continue the work they have started. Speaking at the maiden edition of the Results Fair held in Accra on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the NPP leader said his party and government has achieved a lot in the last three years in office. Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted a resolution to send two articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial on whether to remove President Donald Trump from office. On January 15, the Democrat-led legislative chamber approved by a margin of 228-193 the resolution that also appoints the seven lawmakers who will be trial prosecutors that were announced earlier in the day by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California). It also provides funding for the trial. "We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history," Pelosi said before the vote. All the trial managers have legal backgrounds and will be led by 10-term Representative Adam Schiff (California), a former federal prosecutor and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He will be joined by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (New York), Hakeem Jeffries (New York), a former litigator in private practice, Jason Crow (Colorado), a former Army Ranger and private attorney, Val Demings (Florida), a former police chief, Zoe Lofgren (Calfornia), a former immigration lawyer, and Sylvia Garcia (Texas), a former judge. The trial managers are subsequently expected to "march" the articles of impeachment to the Senate and deliver them, according to Pelosi. Once there, the managers will read the formal charges aloud on the Senate floor after which the impeachment trial can commence. The senators will be jury members in the trial and Chief Justice John Roberts will be the presiding judge. In explaining her decision on who to name as trial managers, Pelosi said the emphasis was on litigators. "The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our constitution, to seek the truth for the American people," she said. "Im very proud and honored that these seven distinguished members have accepted this serious responsibility." The adoption of the resolution came four weeks after the House in December charged Trump with abusing the power of his office for personal gain and obstruction of Congress. He specifically is suspected of trying to influence a foreign government -- that of Ukraine -- to investigate his political rivals. Trump has also been accused of withholding documents that the House requested during the fact-finding phase of the impeachment proceedings and of blocking or preventing testimony from administration officials. Trump denies the charges and has called the impeachment proceedings a "witch hunt." "The only thing Speaker Pelosi has achieved with this sham, illegitimate impeachment process, is to prove she is focused on politics instead of the American people," Trump said after Pelosi's news conference, as cited by the White House press office. "She failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing. President Trump has done nothing wrong. He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate...and expects to be fully exonerated," the press office statement said. "I have great confidence there is enough evidence to impeach the president," Pelosi said. [January 15, 2020] Beach Community Bank and First City Bank Announce Merger Agreement Beach Community Bank has entered into agreement with Florida First City Banks, Inc. and First City Bank of Florida that provides for the merger of First City Bank of Florida with and into Beach Community Bank. Completion of the transaction will result in a combined entity with approximately $675 million in assets, making it the largest community bank headquartered in northwest Florida. "I am thrilled at the rare opportunity to join forces with one of Northwest Florida's founding financial institutions," said Beach Community Bank President and CEO Chip Reeves. "And even more unique is finding another institution that shares community investment and client focused relationships as core beliefs. We are excited to foster the next level of relationship driven banking in Florida." Florida First City Banks, Inc. will undertake a voluntary action, allowing the transaction to be accomplished. This impacts Florida First City Banks, Inc. only. First City Bank of Florida's day-to-day operations and clients will not be affected, nor will depositors' insurance coverage. Beach intends to carry out the transaction together with the raise of new investment capital so that the combined entity may continue its legacy of serving the local community. The transaction is subject to approval of the Court and the regulators of First City Bank and Beach. Subject to those approvals, Beach anticipates closing the transaction early in the 2nd quarter of 2020. "This merger agreement represents an extremely desirable outcome for First City Bank as we faced the challenges of the Great Recession and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill," said First City Chairman and CEO John McGee. "We appreciate the resiliency of our team members, the unwavering support of our clients and the vision of Beach Community Bank." "This is an unprecedented opportunity for u," said First City Bank President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Bennett. "The merger allows us to continue our superior standard of service and responsiveness, while providing our client base a greatly expanded product suite and increased lending power." With this transaction, Beach Community Bank, which raised $100MM in a July of 2018 recapitalization, continues its impressive turnaround and growth story. "This merger is an important and integral next step for Beach as we build a Florida based multi-billion-dollar business bank," said Carl Chaney, former CEO of Hancock Whitney and current Chairman of Beach Community Bank. "We look forward to welcoming First City Bank's team members and clients." Hovde Group, LLC served as financial advisor to Beach Community Bank with Smith McKinnon serving as legal counsel and Nelson Mullins serving as special counsel. Gerrish Smith Tuck served as financial advisor and legal counsel to Florida First City Banks, Inc. and First City Bank of Florida, with Wilson, Harrell serving as special counsel. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains, among other things, certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements regarding certain of the Bank's goals and expectations with respect to the merger, and (ii) statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words "may", "could", "should", "would", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "projects", "outlook" or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current belief and expectations of the Bank's management team and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various factors (many of which are beyond the Bank's control). Although the Bank believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions could prove to be inaccurate. Therefore, the Bank can give no assurance that the results contemplated in the forward-looking statements will be realized. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be construed as a representation by the Bank or any person that future events, plans, or expectations contemplated by Bank. Relationship Driven. Business Centric. Community Focused: About Beach Community Bank Beach Community Bank offers a full array of financial products and personalized services to meet the needs of its consumer and business communities. With locations spanning from Pensacola to Tampa, Beach is a Florida based institution that pledges itself to reinvestment in local economies. Beach Community Bank's flagship commitment, the $1 Billion Lending Pledge, puts values in action as northwest Florida's leading business bank. For more information, visit beachcommunitybank.com Integrity. Service. Community: About First City Bank First City Bank of Florida was the first chartered bank south of Eglin Air Force Base. Through the efforts of the entire community, the bank was charted by and for the citizens in South Okaloosa County. Today, First City Bank of Florida remains the oldest independent bank on the Emerald Coast. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005751/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The extradition proceedings brought by the United States against Julian Assange are to commence in February 2020. The prosecution of Assange marks a new stage in the onslaught on core democratic rights and legality by the US, British and, indeed, global ruling class. Over the last two decades the ruling class has attacked the constitutional and legal foundations of bourgeois democracy. The rights of due process and free speech have been at the centre of this assault. There are new and dangerous elements in the prosecution of Assange. The US government historically has made efforts to undermine free speech and the ability of the press to report on the affairs of government and on due process. However, the political and legal attack on Assange represents a qualitative intensification of the destruction of core rights, and on legality itself as the mode of bourgeois rule. A veritable counter-revolution has been pursued by successive United States administrations in an effort to construct an authoritarian national security state. The US government now seeks to establish as law that journalistic activity, which discloses or publishes classified defence and other information, is criminal and amounts to espionage: that journalists will be imprisoned as spies. Julian Assange The British government in its treatment of Assange has also run roughshod over Assanges innumerable fundamental legal rightsincluding due process, customary legal practice, habeas corpus and the recognition of international lawin the course of acting as Americas prosecutorial handmaiden. This article seeks to address some of the broader political and legal significance of the defence of Julian Assange, and why the case raises immense historical issues for the future of mankind. The case of John Peter Zenger It is almost 300 years since the famous trial of John Peter Zenger, a New York publisher who was charged with libel, an offence at the time of publishing information opposed to the government. The year was 1734 and America was a British colony. The Zenger case had momentous revolutionary implications at a time of the rising ascendency of a new progressive class, the American bourgeoisie. John Peter Zenger was a German immigrant and publisher of a journal titled the New York Weekly Journal. The publication made harsh criticisms of the Colonial government and the Governor, William S. Cosby. Zenger accused the government of, amongst other things, rigging elections, and Governor Cosby of committing various crimes. Zenger had only published the material, the sources of the information were anonymous and Zenger refused to reveal their identities. He was thrown into prison for eight months by the Colonial authorities and badly treated, including being denied pen, ink or paper with which to communicate with the outside world and prepare his defence. The Governor arranged for the public burning of the New York Weekly Journal. A depiction of Andrew Hamilton defending John Peter Zenger in court Zenger was charged with libel, the legal meaning of which, at the time, involved no question of truth or falsity, merely the publication of statements critical of the government. Zenger admitted to publication of the material but advanced a defence, for the first time in the history of the Colony, of a right of free speech. His lawyer, Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia, addressed the jury on the momentous issue at stake in the trial. Given the actions of the American government today against Julian Assange, it is worth quoting Hamiltons brilliant and powerful address at length: It is natural, it is a privilege, I will go farther, it is a right, which all free men claim, that they are entitled to complain when they are hurt. They have a right publicly to remonstrate against the abuses of power in the strongest terms, to put their neighbours upon their guard against the craft or open violence of men in authority, and to assert with courage the sense they have of the blessings of liberty, the value they put upon it, and their resolution at all hazards to preserve it as one of the greatest blessings heaven can bestow.... Power may justly be compared to a great river. While kept within its due bounds it is both beautiful and useful. But when it overflows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed; it bears down all before it, and brings destruction and desolation wherever it comes. If, then, this is the nature of power, let us at least do our duty, and like wise men who value freedom use our utmost care to support liberty, the only bulwark against lawless power, which in all ages has sacrificed to its wild lust and boundless ambition the blood of the best men that ever lived... You see that I labor under the weight of many years, and am bowed down with great infirmities of body. Yet, old and weak as I am, I should think it my duty, if required, to go to the utmost part of the land where my services could be of any use in assisting to quench the flame of prosecutions upon informations, set on foot by the government to deprive a people of the right of remonstrating and complaining, too, of the arbitrary attempts of men in power.... But to conclude: The question before the Court and you, Gentlemen of the jury, is not of small or private concern. It is not the cause of one poor printer, nor of New York alone, which you are now trying. No! It may in its consequence affect every free man that lives under a British government on the main of America. It is the best cause. It is the cause of liberty. And I make no doubt but your upright conduct this day will not only entitle you to the love and esteem of your fellow citizens, but every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honour you as men who have baffled the attempt of tyranny, and by an impartial and uncorrupt verdict have laid a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbours, that to which nature and the laws of our country have given us a right to liberty of both exposing and opposing arbitrary power (in these parts of the world at least) by speaking and writing truth. At the end of Hamiltons address, the jury was instructed to convict Zenger, but after deliberating for a very short period returned with a unanimous verdict of Not Guilty. Emerging from the Zenger case there subsequently developed a legal doctrine, ultimately finding concrete expression in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, that truthful information could never be libellous (or seditious) and that speech could not be curtailed by any government action. Gouverneur Morris, a major figure at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 described the Zenger case as the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America. Perhaps more than any other event, the Zenger trial began the process towards the American Revolution. Natural Law Zengers defence rested on conceptions of Natural Law which were considered the basis of rights. These conceptions, which were gaining ground in America, were the product of the English revolutions and the ideas of John Locke and the emerging Enlightenment, which went back to the classical philosophical debates of antiquity on the question of the meaning of law, and might versus right, as discussed for example in Platos work, The Republic. In the late 16th century the Dutch Jurist and humanist Grotius first advanced the modern conception of Natural Law. Grotius asserted that true law was not an accidental human creation, not an emanation of political society, the State or the Church, but a genuine and necessary characteristic of Man, reflecting his essential social nature. The concept of Natural Law faced two major obstaclesthe arbitrary power of Kingly rule, and the Church and its theological and hierarchical conceptions. In the course of the Enlightenment, conceptions of democratic rights based on natural law were advanced by great original thinkers, such as Locke, Montesquieu and Voltaire. In his revolutionary work The Spirit of Laws published in 1748, Montesquieu wrote: Laws in their broadest sense, are the necessary relations which are derived from the nature of things: Once free from the yoke of religion, we should still be subject to the rule of Justice Law, like mathematics has its objective structure, which no arbitrary whim can alter, before there were any enacted laws, just relations were possible. To say that there is nothing just or unjust, excepting that which positive laws command or forbid is like saying that before one has drawn a circle all of its radii were not equal. The idea of an objective necessity in law expressing the social nature of Man was profoundly influenced by the scientific revolution that preceded these intellectual conquests. These conceptions of natural law and democratic rights were a momentous advance in human consciousnessfundamental and vital to the ongoing progress and civilisation of Mankind. People everywhere revelled in the transformation that these ideas represented. Voltaire at the time likened the advance in consciousness to a child beginning to walk. These conceptions found their expression in the great democratic Declarations, which accompanied the American and French revolutions and formed the ideological basis for the Constitutional form of government they created. Several passages from Lockes The Second Treatise on Government were reproduced verbatim in the Declaration of Independence, including the references to inalienable rights and a long train of abuses. Drawing on the Natural Law conceptions of the Enlightenment, the American revolutionaries set about creating a government and Constitution based on reason. The principal idea was that rights were not granted by any political power, but emerged from the nature of Man himself. As John Dickinson declared in 1766: Our rights and liberties are not annexed to us by parchments and seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establishes the laws of our nature. They are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives. In short, they are founded on the immutable maxims of reason and justice (quoted in Gordon S Wood; The Creation of the American Republic 17761787. Chapel Hill, 1969 p. 293). The nature of American democracy, created out of the revolution and embodied in its constitution, reflected both a unique and intense political outlook. The idea of the Sovereignty of the People and the inalienability of their rights was radical through and through. As Gordon Wood wrote in his seminal work The Creation of the American Republic: The trite theory of popular sovereignty gained a verity in American hands that European radicals with all their talk of all power in the people had scarcely considered imaginable except at those rare times of revolution. Civil liberty became for Americans not a government of laws, made agreeable to charters, bills of rights or compacts, but a power existing in the people at large, at any time, for any cause, or for no cause, but their own sovereign pleasure, to alter or annihilate both the mode and essence of any former government, and adopt a new one in its stead. (op. cit., p. 362). Madison and free speech James Madison, one of the American founding fathers, was the primary architect of the Bill of Rights and chief proponent of the need in a true democracy for the right of free speech to be absolute. Under the doctrine of Sovereignty of the People, Madison argued, for the people to rule wisely, they must be free to think and speak without fear of reprisal. Initially opposed to the enumeration of rights separate to the structure of the Constitution, on the basis that an enumeration would imply a limitation, Madison however acknowledged the popular will expressed in the ratifying conventions, which had approved remedies to the Constitution and shaped them into the Bill of Rights. James Madison On the right of free speech, and its absolute centrality to a free and democratic society, Madison was unequivocal and adamant. Public disclosure had to be utterly free and unfettered. Madison had a decided distrust of popular government; for that reason he insisted that political disclosure needed to be robust and vigorous so that the government could be freely criticised and its abuses exposed. Public opinion he wrote in 1791 sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free one. According to democratic theory, it is the people, and only the people, who rule. And for the people to rule wisely they have to be able to communicate with one anotherfreely without fear of governmental suppression. Freedom of speech and of the press were, therefore, essential preconditions for democratic government. Madisons commitment to free speech was absolute. His presidency (18091818) has not generally been viewed favourably, but it is significant that even in times of great crises (such as the war of 1812) Madison did not abridge rights, and insisted on the right of free speech even in time of war. Recognition of the critical status of free speech in a democracy was expressed in the right of free speech being the first of the enumerated rights in the Amendments to the Constitution. Free speech in war As a right protected under a bourgeois-democratic constitution (as opposed to a socialist constitution), free speech has been abridged by the ruling class from time to time when it has felt imperilled, and the socialist and communist movements have usually been the primary targets of such suppression when they have opposed the imperialist war aims of the US. In 1917 and 1918, the US government passed the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act respectively, which were consciously directed against socialist opposition to the war. In the case of Schenk v United States, the Supreme Court, including Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis, upheld the conviction of Charles Schenk, a socialist activist for distributing anti-draft pamphlets. The Court held that the Espionage Act did not violate the First Amendment because the anti-draft activities of Schenk presented a clear and present danger to the military operations and national security of the US, including the draft. Clearly, the Supreme Court sought to support the imperialist war aims of the US against socialist opposition. The Supreme Court also unanimously upheld convictions in the famous cases of Debs v United States (1919) and Frohwerk v United States (1919). Both Debs and Frohwerk were prominent socialist opponents of the war, and Debs a four-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted at the behest of Woodrow Wilson, and outlawed criticism of the governments war aims, the military and the promotion of principles contrary to the Act. More than two thousand cases were filed by the government under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, and there were over one thousand convictions. The Sedition Act was repealed in 1920, but the Espionage Act remains largely in force and is relied upon by the US government in its indictment of Julian Assange. This is no accident, but a product of the same militarist drives of US imperialism that prompted the legislation a hundred years ago. Americas post-Soviet war drive for world hegemony The persecution of Julian Assange for publishing documentation of the war crimes of the United States in Iraq must be examined in the historical context of the crisis of US imperialism, the deepening class conflict within the United States, the elites fear of revolution, and the consequent assault upon democratic rights and constitutionalism over the last two decades. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States turned quickly to an aggressive military foreign policy. At the same time, capitalist triumphalism could not conceal the deep underlying problems emerging in the US economy, arising from the hollowing out of industry, the spectacular rise in financial parasitism and corporate debt, and its accelerating loss of ground to major economic rivals. The Soviet Union had collapsed but the United States was in systemic irreversible decline. The first major post-Soviet symptomatic shock occurred in 1998, with the collapse of the $126 billion Long Term Capital Management hedge fund. (The head of LTCM was Myron Scholes, who the year before had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for a method to determine the value of derivatives). Ten years later, with the collapse of Lehman Bros, the death agony of American capitalism was verified beyond any reasonable doubt. Commencing in the early 1990s, the US ruling class, military and national security establishment embarked on a course of seeking to defend US world hegemony through the use of military force. It pursued a strategy of preventing the emergence of any rival to challenge US hegemony. America would henceforth exercise unchallenged domination over key regions and resources against its major rivals in Europe and Asia, through the global projection of overwhelming military power. At the NATO summit in Rome in November 1991, the US presented a New Strategic Concept for NATO, which emphasised the global context and the need for NATO to take a more expansive and less defensive strategic military role. The US and Britain both proclaimed the right to conduct humanitarian interventions, involving the use of military force to resolve disputes within other nations and to halt human rights violations. The quest of US imperialism to establish unrivalled supremacy over the globe, which accelerated through the 1990s, was expanded, particularly to the energy-rich regions of the Middle East and the Caspian basin. The 1992 Defence Department document entitled The Defence Planning Guidance summarised the new imperialist doctrine thus: Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defence strategy and requires that we endeavour to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power. These regions include Western Europe, East Asia, the territory of the former Soviet Union, and Southwest Asia. The doctrine of preventive war was adopted as official policy of the US. This doctrine had been gaining ground since the early 1990s among intellectuals who supported a more aggressive US foreign policy. In 1992, for example, the liberal Michael Walzer circulated a document signed by sixty intellectuals formulating the tenets of a new conception of just war. In his book Just and Unjust Wars (New York, 1992), Walzer argued that, when the US was confronted with unusual and terrible danger and a radical threat to human values, no restriction of an ethical or legal nature could apply, and any means of preventive destruction was morally legitimate. The National Security Strategy of the United States 2002 In the Quadrennial Defence Review Report, September 30, 2001, and the National Security Strategy of the United States, September 17, 2002, the US government set out in detail its new preventive war doctrine. The doctrine proclaimed the right of the US to unilaterally denounce other sovereign states, to force inspections in order to secure preventive disarmament, and to use military force if and when it considered it necessary or desirable. The National Security Strategy of 2002 also proclaimed the right of the US to act pre-emptively in circumstances of a perceived threat. The doctrines of preventive war, pre-emptive self-defence, humanitarian war and just war are all illegal in international law. The resort to force, to war, is prohibited following Nuremberg and its codification in international law charters and conventions. The adoption of these doctrines by the US represented, in historical terms, an immense regression in the ideological condition of Western civilisation. In 2003, the US planned and launched its aggressive war against Iraq. The alleged threats of weapons of mass destruction were proven to be fraudulent and, in any event, could not have formed a lawful foundation for the launching of war. According to the precedents established at Nuremberg, those civilian and military leaders who planned and carried out the aggressive war against Iraq should have been arraigned before a properly constituted judicial tribunal, afforded full and proper due process, and tried for crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the laws of war. The illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 constituted an immense escalation of Americas post-Soviet strategy. The criminality of Americas actions, and its brutality, expressed in such heinous crimes as the destruction and killings in Fallujah, were reminiscent of the aggression, criminality and violence of Hitlers attack on Poland in 1939. Most of the information that was published by Assange through WikiLeaks, and is the subject of the indictment, concerned the illegal and criminal activities of the United States in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the treatment of detainees of Guantanamo Bay. Millions of people around the world watched the Collateral Murder in Iraq video in horror when it was released in 2010. The attack on constitutionalism and legality Since 2000, militarism abroad in furtherance of Americas drive for global hegemony has gone hand in hand with attacks on constitutionalism and democratic rights at home. The opening assault on constitutionalism was the stolen election in 2000, when Republicans, Democrats and the Supreme Court alike defrauded American citizens of their right to vote. Albert Gore may have understood the seriousness of the implications, but did not fight to defend the peoples rights. In the following two decades, there has been a conscious drive by the bourgeoisie in the United States to disassemble the established constitutional order, implement a repressive legal regime and establish authoritarian rule. The George W. Bush administration seized on 9/11 to use the pretext of the War on Terror to vastly expand the powers of the state, advance executive rule and eviscerate constitutionalism. Under cover of the War on Terror, the Bush administration sought to place itself above the law in an unprecedented manner. The Guantanamo Bay legal black hole, designed to deny habeas corpus, was perhaps the most extraordinary anti-constitutional measure taken in centuries. The attack on constitutionalism was fully supported by the Democratic Party. Numerous steps were taken to advance authoritarian rule under cover of Americas war drive in the Middle East, including: * The Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act, which authorised arbitrary search, arrest, detention, monitoring and surveillance. * The creation of non-legal categories such as enemy-combatant to deny due process. * The practice of torture. * The rejection of international law norms, including the disavowal of the Geneva Conventions and rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The USA PATRIOT Act (full name Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Restrict, Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act 2001), and the establishment of Guantanamo Bay commenced the project of the ruling class to reconstitute Americas legal regime on authoritarian foundations. The Act provided for virtually unlimited powers of arrest, indefinite detention, warrantless search and seizure, surveillance and monitoring. Computer and phone communications, business records, library records, and other personal information were all liable to be seized under the Act by the FBI. In a very real sense, the Act provided the legislative framework for a national security state. There were dozens of court cases challenging the Act on constitutional grounds and, in virtually all instances of success, Congress, (with overwhelming bipartisan support) legislated additional laws to overcome the constitutional obstacles in order to maintain the repressive framework. With some amendments, which did not alter its fundamental police-state character, the PATRIOT Act was reauthorised over the last 18 years, including by the Obama administration which, in 2015, re-legislated parts of the Act that were due to expire in 2015 under an Act entitled The USA Freedom Act. An offshoot of the PATRIOT Act was the Terrorist Surveillance Program, which enabled the government to secretly track billions of phone calls, texts and computer communications made by millions of American citizens, without warrant. Under various different legislative guises (beginning with the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act 2008) warrantless surveillance continued under the Obama and Trump administrations, including the PRISM surveillance system exposed by Edward Snowden, the data collected under that system now being retained by major telecommunication corporations. The extraordinary denial of habeas corpus and due process at Guantanamo Bay paralleled the counterrevolutionary character of the PATRIOT Act (see WSWS article: Guantanamo Bay, habeas corpus and the Texan who would be king, 5 January 2004). John Yoo The governments actions were justified on the basis of legal concepts formulated by far right lawyers in the Justice Department led by John Yoo. They advanced an extreme version of the unitary executive theory, drawing on authoritarian Germanic legal notions of Staats Recht, stressing the primacy of national security over core democratic rights and legality. Yoo later gave testimony, at a subsequent Justice Department enquiry into the torture memos which he had drafted, that, in his view the Presidents war making authority was so broad that he had the constitutional power to order a village to be massacred. Not surprisingly, the view of the Justice Department and the State Department during the War on Terror was that the Geneva Conventions were a quaint irrelevance, which did not bind the United States. John Yoo is now a professor of law at UC Berkeley Law School. The denial of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees was challenged in the US Supreme Court in the case of Rasul v United States of America (2004). The Court ruled 6-3 (Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas dissenting) that Guantanamo detainees, irrespective of their citizenship, were entitled to challenge the legality of their detention in federal courts. The government responded by passing legislation outlawing access to the courts, titled the Detainee Treatment Act, which was passed with overwhelming Democratic support. The Act also gave immunity to government agents and military personnel from prosecution for enhanced interrogation methods that had been justified by the statist legal theories of Department of Justice Officials. The Signing Statement by President Bush, laying out his formal interpretation of the law, stated: The Executive branch shall construe [the provisions] relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief, and consistent with the Constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President to protect the American people from further terrorist attacks. National security liberalism The onslaught on constitutionalism under the Bush administration was largely defended by the liberal elites. Corrupted by decades of stock market profits, they had long ago abandoned any even notional support for constitutional norms or international law. This was reflected in the writings of authors such as Michael Ignatieff, who, in his book in 2004 The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in the Age of Terror, promoted the War on Terror myth and supported the abridgement of constitutional rights on the absurd basis that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Vast layers of the affluent liberal upper middle class were becoming strident supporters of the pre-eminence of national security, over the constitutional protection of core rights. In its current impeachment drive, the Democratic Party is seeking to remove a democratically elected president whom they view as an obstacle to the war aims of the Democrat-CIA-Pentagon Complex. The real objective and concern of the impeachment is regime-change in Russia, not the upholding of the Constitution of the US, to which the Democratic Party has no principled allegiance. The Obama administration, far from taking any steps to alter the course of Americas hegemonic strategy or defend its constitutional foundations, deepened the United States reactionary trajectory and the counter-revolutionary program of the bourgeoisie. The administration stridently advanced the doctrine of preventive war. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, Obama specifically embraced the doctrine. In this respect, to the extent that his presidency supposedly represented a liberal alternative to the foreign policy objectives of the ruling class, it was absolutely clear that within the entire political spectrum of the establishment there was overwhelming support for the destruction of the international law framework and legality between nations. Obama chastised ambivalence over the use of military force and proclaimed Washingtons right to use military power for the purposes of Just War, preventive war and pre-emptive warall the illegal doctrines with medieval roots condemned at Nuremberg as nothing more than cloaks for aggression and conquest. The Wall Street Journal heartily applauded Obamas Oslo declaration. Having made it clear that aggressive war was its foreign policy, the Obama administration proceeded to get on with extra judicial killings, indicating that its views on US Constitutional law were at one with its views on the Nuremberg principles. Drone killings were a favourite practise of the President. There were hundreds of them. Deportations of undocumented immigrants was another favourite. There were millions of those. Eric Holder, with Obama and Hillary Clinton In corroboration of its constitutional law outlook with its militarist war drive, the Obama administration expressed openly counter-revolutionary perspectives. After the killing of Anwar al Awlaki, a US citizen, in one of its drone strikes, there was an expression of dread and foreboding from various constitutional law groups. Are extra-judicial killings of US citizens legal? they asked. The chief lawyer of the US government, the Attorney General Eric Holder, in response to questions at Northwestern University Law School about al Awlakis killing, gave the following chilling answer: Some have argued that the President is required to get permission from a Federal Court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces. This is simply not accurate. Due process and judicial process are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process. This legal solecism has no precedent in over 800 years of legal history since the Magna Carta declared in 1215 that no freeman will be seized, dispossessed of his property or harmed except by the law of the land (Chapter 29), an expression that referred to the customary practices of the courts of England. In order to ensure that fundamental rights (including the right to life and liberty) could only be abridged by a court, and to eliminate any possible uncertainty about that arising from the language of the Magna Carta, during the rule of King Edward III (reigned 13271377), parliament enacted six statutes to clarify the meaning and scope of the liberties that Magna Carta guaranteed. The statutes interpreted the expression the law of the land as the judicial procedures that protect a subjects liberties. One of the laws, enacted in 1354, introduced the term due process of lawthe first appearance of that phrase in Anglo-American lawto describe Magna Cartas guarantee of judicial protections. The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution reproduces this language in its Due Process clause. The proposition that the government should be able to kill citizens anywhere in the world on the basis of legal standards and evidence that are never submitted to a court, either before or after the fact, could not prove in clearer terms that liberalism was morphing into fascism. Carl Schmitt Holders essential premise, that law and executive power are one, echoed the Nazi jurisprudence of the Third Reichs chief lawyer, Carl Schmitt. Schmitt developed legal theories that the leaders (Fuhrers) will was lawparticularly in periods of crisisbut also generally in the framework of his authoritarian jurisprudence. One of the principal tasks assigned to Schmitt as the Nazis crown jurist was to elaborate legal justifications for extra-judicial killings by Hitler. In his work Fuhrer Schutzt das Recht (The Fuhrer Protects the Law) in 1934, written following The Night of Long Knives, when Hitler ordered the murder of leading members of the SA and several prominent conservative politicians, including Kurt Schleicher, the former chancellor, Schmitt wrote: The Fuhrer protects the Law from the worst abuse if he, at the moment of danger, by virtue of his leadership as the Supreme Judge, immediately creates justice. The real Leader is always Judge too. Judgeship flows from the Leadership. Those who seek to separate the two seek to unravel the state with the help of the Judiciary. (Published in Deutsche Juristische Zeitung, August 1934) That, in essence was Holders view. And smooth-talking Harvard lawyer Barack Obamas as well. The US 2018 great power strategy Declaring its intensification of the drive to global hegemony, the US announced, in its 2018 National Defence Strategy document, that its two-decade policy of the War on Terror was now being superseded by a strategy focused directly against China and Russia. The militarist drive of the US, commenced after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was now to be taken to a higher stageto a major conflict with nation state rivals. Based on the strategic escalation, an armaments build-up of gargantuan scale has been initiated. In June 2018, a $716 billion military spending bill was passedwith overwhelming Democrat support. In the midst of the impeachment drive (and a brutal illegal war backed by the US in Yemen) on December 12, 2019, a $738 billion military budget was passed, again with overwhelming Democratic support. Through the inexorable processes of world economic development over the last 40 years, America has transformed into its opposite. Like Nazi Germany, it is not confident or free enough to respect legal constitutions and give a citizen a fair trial. Waging aggressive wars, destroying the rights of its citizens, embracing irrationalism and authoritarianism, are signs that the ruling class, and the elites and judiciary who support it, have reached a historical dead end and have become intellectually and morally bankrupt. In this historical and political setting, the US elites have commenced the prosecution of Julian Assange, marking a new stage in the counter-revolution. The prosecution of Assange Before examining the indictment, it is worthwhile to consider briefly the lawless character of Assanges persecution by Britain and the United States (and, indeed, Sweden) prior to his expulsion from the Ecuadorian embassy. Since the beginning of the matter, Assange has been subjected to endless procedural abuses and political interference in the legal process. Virtually every customary precept, practice and procedural protection, which an accused is traditionally afforded, has been discarded in the effort to railroad him. Assange was never the subject of any charges in Sweden. The extremely weak evidentiary basis for the allegations led to a declaration by the original Stockholm chief prosecutor, Eva Finne, that There is no suspicion of any crime whatsoever. The prosecution was subsequently reopened under political pressure. Although he was discharged by Swedish authorities and not required to remain in Sweden, he was later issued with an Interpol Red Notice, usually reserved for terrorists and dangerous criminals. The United Kingdom Supreme Court approved Assanges extradition to Sweden, based upon a clearly flawed European arrest warrant that was not signed by a judicial officer, as required by law. The UK government subsequently amended the terms of the European arrest warrant agreement to sanction the illegality. The Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, blocked Assanges right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The prosecution had been reopened following representations by the complainants lawyer, a leading campaigner in the Swedish womens rights movement, a member of the Social Democratic Party and of the organisation calling for a tax on men. The UK Supreme Court approved Assanges extradition, even though Swedish authorities refused to provide an assurance that he would not be extradited to the United States, notwithstanding that the US was preparing an Espionage Act prosecution against him. In breach of its legal obligations the Australian government took no action to provide assistance to Assange, and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard threatened to strip Assange of his citizenship, until she was advised that this was illegal. As was his right, Assange sought political asylum, which was granted by Ecuador. In violation of customary international law, neither Britain nor the United States recognised Assanges asylum. Consequently, Assange remained imprisoned for many years in the Ecuadorian embassy. In 2016, legal experts with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Assange was being detained unlawfully by Britain and Sweden. Those countries ignored its rulings. After refusing to interview Assange in London for six years, the Swedish prosecutor finally interviewed him in London in 2016. However, she barred Assanges Swedish lawyer from being present, a fundamental denial of Assanges basic legal rights. As a result of that outrage a Stockholm Judge in 2017 issued a demand to the prosecutor that she be questioned about prosecutorial misconduct. Rather than face that questioning she closed the investigation. It later emerged that she had also deleted email correspondence with the FBI. After the Swedish investigation was dropped, Assanges lawyers requested that the British arrest warrant for his bail breach also be dropped. There was a solid legal foundation for doing so, because the Swedish allegations, which were the subject of the bail, had been withdrawn and he had an international legal right to seek asylum, which had been granted by a sovereign state. In addition, he had been in a state of imprisonment for seven years. Judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected the request. As a matter of law, however, she should not have sat on the case. She should, in fact, have recused herself, as she was the wife of a leading government member of parliament and a business partner of the head of MI6, Britains equivalent of the CIA. Assanges right of habeas corpus was flagrantly violated in the punishment of one-year imprisonment inflicted upon him for the bail breach, when, in usual circumstances, a non-custodial sentence is imposed. There could not have been a more transparent example of the court lending its hand to executive illegality. Throwing Assange into Belmarsh high security prison, and hampering his preparation of the defence to the extradition request, was an open act of callous political vindictiveness and lawlessness. In this respect the conduct of the British government is the same as the colonial governors treatment of Zenger in 1734. In 2015, a federal court in Washington blocked the release of all information in respect of the Department of Justice investigation of WikiLeaks, on the basis that it was an active and ongoing national security investigation and could potentially harm the pending prosecution of Assange. Judge Barbara J. Rothstein in her decision opined it is necessary to show appropriate deference to the executive in matters of national security. The counter-revolutionary indictment The original six-page US indictment, dated March 6, 2018, charged Assange with one count of conspiring with Chelsea Manning to gain access, without authority, to Defence Department computers. In particular, it alleged that Assange attempted to crack a password to facilitate access to secret records so that Mannings identity could be concealed. The password was not cracked. The indictment was based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the main US anti-hacking statute. The pleading was factually threadbare, and legally very narrow, and clearly designed to obviate the necessity of directly confronting First Amendment issues regarding Assanges right of protected free speech activity. The count was, however, transparently a pretext to criminalise Assanges journalistic activity of obtaining information and publishing it on the WikiLeaks website. The first page of the US indictment of Assange The amended Superseding Indictment, running to 37 pages, filed on May 23, 2019, levelled 17 counts against Assange based on the Espionage Act 1917 (Title 18 US Code Section 793 and related sections) and retained the computer hacking allegation as count 18. The first 14 counts of the superseding indictment are based on allegations that Assange conspired with, and coordinated with Manning directly, in accessing the classified information as well as publishing it. The facts alleged, however, do not disclose that Assange did anything fundamentally outside of journalistic practice of obtaining information, including assisting a source conceal their identity. There is no doubt that Assange acted zealously in the pursuit of information disclosing the conduct of the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. The First Amendment, however, zealously protects the rights of citizens to free speech. In much of the commentary in defence of Assange, his activity is properly defended on the basis that he was a journalist. It needs to be borne in mind however, that the First Amendment protection of free speech is not a right limited to journalists. Every citizen has the right to publish information without government curtailment. As Chief Justice Warren Burger stated in 1977, Freedom of the press is of limitless scope. The First Amendment does not belong to any definable category of persons or entities; it belongs to all who exercise its freedoms. Counts 15 to 17 inclusive are counts which allege pure publishing of state secrets, independently of any antecedent activity involving Manning in illegally obtaining the information. Under these three counts, the government seeks specifically to criminalise pure acts of publication of classified defence information. These counts are truly counter-revolutionary elements in the indictment, directed at destroying First Amendment protection of publication of classified government information. The legal theory upon which these three counts are based involves the proposition that if someone, anywhere in the world, received classified defence material in the mail, from an anonymous source, and published it, they would be guilty of a crime of spying. Daniel Ellsberg There have only been two prosecutions in American legal history of non-government third-party publishers under the Espionage Act: The 1971 prosecution of Daniel Ellsbergs friend, Anthony Russo, for helping Ellsberg copy the Pentagon papers, and the case of United States v Rosen in 2009. In both cases, the indictments were withdrawn by the government after pre-trial judicial rulings questioning the legality of the prosecutions and prosecutorial misconduct. Significantly, the Pentagon papers case involved an attempt to stop publication, not to punish publication as a crime. In an effort to intensify the political underpinning of the indictment, the government alleges that Assange published material including the names of individuals who risked their safety and freedom by providing information to the United States and our allies. However, as a legal matter, the publication of that information is irrelevant. Nothing in the Espionage Act turns on whether or not names were published. Furthermore, it would, in any event, always be open to prosecutors to claim some other national security harm to justify Espionage Act prosecutions. The legal issue is one of principle. The national security juridical perspective underlying the indictment is succinctly set out in paragraph 29 of the indictment, where it pleads that Assange, Manning and others shared the objective of furthering the mission of WikiLeaks as an intelligence agency of the people subverting lawful measures imposed by the United States government to safeguard and secure classified information in order to disclose that information to the public. This Department of Justice legal pleading echoes the statements of Mike Pompeo who, as CIA chief in 2017, denounced WikiLeaks as a non-state hostile intelligence service. These perspectives have crystallised into the counter-revolutionary conception that the public has no right to be made aware of the activities of the government. Putting beyond any doubt the political purpose of the prosecution, in 2008 a secret report was prepared by the US Army Counter Intelligence Center on WikiLeaks, which was subsequently leaked and published in 2010. The report declared that WikiLeaks poses a counter intelligence threat to the US army. It stated Wikileaks.org, a publically accessible internet website, represents a potential force protection counterintelligence, operational security (OPSEC) and information security (INFOSEC) threat to the US army. The report called for WikiLeaks closure by destroying the trust of its readers. The transparently political purpose of Assanges prosecution, and the indictment itself, based on the Espionage Act, an unquestionably political statute, render the extradition effort of the United States in violation of the extradition treaty with the United Kingdom. There are precedents in English law that English courts are not to recognise the laws of other countries which are an affront to human rights. If the Espionage Act permits the criminalisation of journalistic activity, it constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, which, according to precedent, must not be sanctioned by English courts. This principle was laid down in the landmark case of Oppenheimer v Cattermole (1976) in which the House of Lords declared that English courts would not recognise a Nazi law that constituted a grave infringement of human rights (a law stripping Jews of German citizenship). However, given the lawless character of both governments in respect of Assange, and the contempt of Assanges rights displayed by the judiciary so far, it is by no means clear that the judicial authorities of the United Kingdom will uphold the law. At the time of Assanges arrest, Daniel Ellsberg, the consultant who leaked the Pentagon papers to the New York Times, made the following statement, The First Amendment is a pillar of our democracy and this is an assault upon it. If freedom of speech is violated to this extent, our republic is in danger. Unauthorised disclosures are the lifeblood of the republic. The prosecution of Assange represents a qualitative escalation in the two-decade attack on the legal-constitutional order of the United States. The authoritarian legal conception being advanced by the US government is that national security, which means the militarist war drive of the United States, trumps the peoples rights. If the case against Assange succeeds, it will criminalise journalism in the United States. Conclusion The Assange case represents a new stage in the global assault on constitutionalism and legality. Democracy is incompatible with the degree of inequality that now exists in the United States, its policy of aggressive war for global hegemony and the character of its ruling elites. The disintegration of the democratic system and the rise of the national security state are hallmarks of the deepening crisis of imperialism. The Democratic Party is instrumental in this process. Its hostility to Assange is as vicious and hysterical as the fascistic cabal around Trump. The bourgeoisie is dusting off the old reactionary statute books, such as the Espionage Act, to prepare the domestic legal framework for war preparations. For the ruling elites, Assange is just the beginning. These processes express not the strength of the system, but its historical demise and desperation, and therefore that it must be overthrown. The people have a democratic right to change the system of government and laws, so that it fulfils their needs and aspirations. History has given to the working class the task of defending (and developing to a higher level) the great revolutionary conquests of the past. The profound meaning and significance of the right of free speech to mankind was once eloquently described by the great liberal, Justice Hugo Black, in the following manner: Since the earliest days, philosophers have dreamed of a country where the mind and spirit of man would be free; where there would be no limits to enquiry; where men would be free to explore the unknown and to challenge the most deeply rooted beliefs and principles. Our first amendment was a bold effort to adopt this principle, to establish a country with no legal restrictions of any kind upon the subjects people could investigate, discuss and deny. The framers knew, better than perhaps we do today, the risks that they were taking. They knew that free speech might be the friend of change and revolution, but they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny. With this knowledge they still believed that the ultimate happiness and security of a nation lies in its ability to explore, to change, to grow, and ceaselessly to adapt itself to new knowledge born of inquiry, free from any governmental control over the mind and spirit of man. The struggle of the socialist movement to free Assange is an essential component in the struggle against war, reaction and authoritarianism. The working class must defend itself and its rights. It can only do this today through the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist state and the establishment of a socialist government and society, dedicated to the humane and peaceful progress and well-being of all mankind. The rising tide of revolt against capitalism worldwide must be transformed into the conscious effort to overthrow it. Beijings iconic Summer Palace tourist resort is the home of a huge new ice rink thats opened just ahead of the Winter Olympics. The rink measures 300,000 square meters and consists of two areas designed for different types of activities. The city has opened seven municipal ice rinks and four snow resorts to the public. Since 2014, ice and snow activities in municipal parks have attracted nearly 2 million visitors, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Center for Parks Jan 11, 2022 07:26 PM A lot of parents are citing their faith to receive exemption from vaccination, yet there is no major religion that is against it. (Photo : Burst) Despite the massive support on the bill that would remove religious practice as a reason to be exempted from vaccination among public schoolchildren, lawmakers in New Jersey refused to vote on it on Monday. According to Kevin McArdle, a spokesperson from the New Jersey Assembly Majority Office, this means the bill "dies" since it did not pass the two houses -- the Senate and the Assembly. Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, a sponsor of the bill, said that this disappoints her since this inaction can be dangerous not just to the unvaccinated students but to the entire community. She also added that vaccination is not a "personal choice" but a duty of "working together to protect" those who have a compromised immune system and cannot be vaccinated. Sen. Weinberg's words echoed Dr. Michael Brady's explanation about herd immunity -- a principle in which a vaccinated person does not just gain immunity from diseases but also prevents from transmitting it to others. A Controversial Bill There is no major religion that opposes vaccination. Yet according to a study, more and more vaccine-hesitant parents are citing their religious beliefs as a reason for vaccine exemption. And this is why it is not surprising that the bill has sparked an outrage that prompted a few thousand people to gather outside the New Jersey State House on Thursday. One of them is Beata Savreski, a mother of three. According to her, this bill will hinder parents from performing their duties to their children. She also said that this is worse than communism. Assemblyman Jamel Holley also expressed his opposition against the bill since this will promote segregation. For instance, he suggested that wealthier people will just send their kids to private school to skip the mandatory vaccination. Dr. Sean O'Leary, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, has a different religious interpretation about vaccination. For him, religions should be supporting it since it "saves lives and protect children". He also said that all non-medical exemptions should be completely removed since its benefits outweigh the risks. The governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, refused to release a statement about the bill. However, his priority is to secure the health of the nine million citizens in New Jersey, and he will decisions that are supported by facts and scientific consensus. For the pro, there is Republican Sen. Declan O'Scanlon. On his tweet on Thursday, he mentioned about the private school having a choice to admit unvaccinated children. Although he said that the bill is "not a perfect solution", he said it is still fair. The battle is not yet over Despite the house rejecting her bill, Sen. Weinberg promised that she and her colleagues will not stop working to get this bill passed to protect the children and to ensure safer classrooms for the next session. Richard McGrath, a spokesman for Senate President Stephen Sweeney, explained that the bill must be approved by the Senate, then the Assembly before the governor signs it. Despite the proven effectiveness of the vaccine, more people are campaigning against it that the World Health Organization included vaccine hesitancy on the 10 Global Health Threat in 2019. ALSO READ: 6 Commonly-Debunked Vaccine Myths We All Still Fear to Hear CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Composites made from self-assembling inorganic materials are valued for their unique strength and thermal, optical and magnetic properties. However, because self-assembly can be difficult to control, the structures formed can be highly disordered, leading to defects during large-scale production. Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan have developed a templating technique that instills greater order and gives rise to new 3D structures in a special class of materials, called eutectics, to form new, high-performance materials. The findings of the collaborative study are published in the journal Nature. Eutectic materials contain elements and compounds that have different melting and solidification temperatures. When combined, however, the composite formed has single melting and freezing temperatures - like when salt and water combined to form brine, which freezes at a lower temperature than water or salt alone, the researchers said. When a eutectic liquid solidifies, the individual components separate, forming a cohesive structure - most commonly in a layered form. The fact that eutectic materials self-assemble into composites makes them highly desirable to many modern technologies, ranging from high-performance turbine blades to solder alloys. "Having a single melting point has advantages in composite materials processing," said Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Materials Research Lab at the U. of I., who led the project. "Instead of depositing layers of material individually, we start with a liquid that self-assembles as it solidifies. This can speed up production and allows us to make larger volumes at one time." However, self-assembly can lead to problems, he said, as its uncontrolled nature can form defects. "Templating is a common practice used in organic polymers processing," said Ashish Kulkarni, an Illinois graduate student and the first author of the study. "However, it is not something that has been explored in inorganic materials processing because inorganic microstructures are more rigid and harder to control." To demonstrate this process in the lab, the team built templates with tiny posts arranged in hexagonal shapes to control the resolidification of a melt containing silver chloride and potassium chloride - a eutectic material that naturally forms layers as it cools. "If not controlled, the only microstructures this system will form are layers," said Katsuyo Thornton, a professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan, who conducted computer simulations with graduate student Erik Hanson, both of whom are study co-authors. "We can vary the cooling rate to make the layers thicker or thinner, but the pattern stays the same. By adding a template that the liquid solidifies around, we hoped new patterns would emerge." The team found that as the silver and potassium chloride melt to solidify around the hexagonal-shaped templates, the posts get in the way of the layer formation and produce a composite with an array of different square, triangular and honeycomb-shaped microstructures instead - the specifics of structure depending on the distance between the posts on the template. "The repeating nature of these templates and newly formed structures reduces the chances for defects to form," Braun said. "So, not only did we form exciting new microstructures, but we also reduced the number of defects in the resulting composite material." The researchers will explore how the new microstructures influence the physical properties of a wide range of eutectic materials. "The materials we used in our experiments are transparent, so the first direction to head in might be to explore optical materials, and there is a lot of potential in the area of photonic crystals," Braun said. "We're still a long way from real application, but the possibilities are abundant." ### Braun also is affiliated with the department of chemistry, the department of mechanical science and engineering, the Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. This research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Editor's notes: To reach Paul Braun, call 217-244-7293; email pbraun@illinois.edu. The paper "Archimedean lattices emerge in template directed eutectic solidification" is available online and from the U. of I. News Bureau. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1893-9 He was last seen alive about 2 a.m. Jan. 12 on Elvans Road SE in the Barry Farm neighborhood, about four miles from where his body was found. [January 15, 2020] Investment and Economic Development of Guyana are Focus of New Company by Bancroft Financial Bancroft Financial, LLC is pleased to announce the formation of Bancroft Management Partners, LLC to focus its efforts regarding the identification, evaluation, financing, and execution of investment opportunities in Guyana to participate in the strong multi-decade economic growth expected as a result of major oil discoveries announced by ExxonMobil, in Staebroek Field, offshore Guyana. The firm will focus on real estate, infrastructure, the financial sector, transportation, hospitality industries as well as services to the oil and gas companies operating in Guyana. In keeping with this focus, Bancroft is pleased to announce the participation of Mr. David Mahmalji as a founding partner of Bancroft Management Partners. Mr. Mahmalji retired in 2018 after 33 years with Hunt Oil Company, where he held a number of senior international positions in Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East, North, South & Central America including 4 years in Guyana. Mr. Mahmalji worked extensively with government and industry representatives in many countries to source, execue and bring projects to profitable fruition. Married to Pamela, a born and raised Guyanese entrepreneur together with their three dual U.S. - Guyana citizen children, he brings decades of experience and deep understanding of the social, political and business dynamics of the country. Ralph Curton, Chairman of Bancroft Financial, LLC, welcomed Mr. Mahmalji: "The addition of David to our team enhances our efforts and profile significantly and we are pleased he chose to partner with us. Mr. Mahmalji brings tremendous international business experience and local know how combined with many decades of experience operating successfully in nations around the world undergoing major periods of economic development." Jeffrey Van Putten, CEO of Bancroft Financial, LLC added: "We have been keeping up with developments in Guyana for a long time, developing key relationships, and building an inventory of projects and opportunities that will benefit from economic growth being driven by the world-class oil and gas discoveries in Guyana. With the initiation of first production in 4Q 2019 we believe that now is the time to start introducing sophisticated investors to compelling opportunities in Guyana." About Bancroft Financial, LLC: Formed in 2014 by Mr. Ralph Curton and Mr. Jeffrey Van Putten, Bancroft Financial provides capital and advice as a principal in transactions which include real estate, oil & gas, hospitality, finance, transportation, and other sectors. Bancroft Management Partners, LLC is an affiliate of Bancroft Financial and was founded to incorporate the expertise and strategic relationships of Mr. Mahmalji and others with respect to opportunities in and related to Guyana over the next decade. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005220/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Polls suggest that Australians want to take action on climate change, and business leaders have joined the call for emissions cuts. One business leader called the summers bushfires "our generations Port Arthur moment" a reference to the 1996 massacre that prompted changes to gun laws. Pressure is growing on the federal government to take more decisive action. But what form would greater climate change action take and what would it cost? Adaptation means putting in place measures to deal with the effects of climate change. Credit:Kate Geraghty What does climate action actually mean? Climate change action takes two forms: mitigation, which means reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a rate fast enough to prevent massive damage to our environment in the future; and adaptation, which means bracing and preparing for the changes that are happening and which will intensify. Adapting to climate change is essential and there are many ways to do so, such as beefing up emergency services and strengthening farms and infrastructure against fires, storms and rising sea levels. Advertisement But the source of the problem is the rising emissions that are trapping heat in the atmosphere and oceans. In Australia, emissions come from electricity, industry, transport and agriculture as well as other sectors. If we are serious about tackling climate change, we must reduce emissions faster than we are doing now. Thats the view of the worlds leading scientific bodies as well as the key expert bodies in Australia, including the CSIRO and the Australian Academy of Science. Their advice is clear: Australia needs to be close to carbon neutral by the middle of the century. It would be nice to be able to flick a switch and change to zero emissions next week. In practice, decarbonising the nation will be a long, complex process. The Garnaut Review, led by senior economist Ross Garnaut almost a decade ago, is still the most comprehensive assessment of Australias options for climate change action. It drew on leading Australian research on bushfire impacts to forecast an increase in bushfire danger by 2020. On our current trajectory, we are on track to see catastrophic fire days increase by 300 per cent by the second half of this century. The review outlines various types of policy that can help cut emissions, both "carrots" and "sticks". There are public subsidies, such as government funding for wind and solar farms; or special tariffs to pay householders with solar panels. Then there are systems for making polluters pay, such as a carbon price implemented through a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme. There are also policies that rely on regulating an industry, such as the now-abandoned National Energy Guarantee policy, under which companies would be required by law to use a mix of different technologies. Several types of policy can operate at the same time. Australia had a carbon price from 2012 to 2014 before it was repealed after a change of government. Currently, it has some direct subsidies for emissions reduction projects but no mechanism for cutting greenhouse gases at the speed required. The Garnaut Review found and other studies, including by the OECD and by the Australian National University, have since agreed that a carbon price coupled with an emissions trading scheme and a cap on greenhouse gas emissions would be the most effective and efficient way of cutting emissions. Advertisement The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has ruled out a "carbon tax" or other action that would raise electricity prices or affect polluting industries. In the wake of the fires, Mr Morrison has flagged "resilience" and "adaptation" as the areas he wants to focus on. However, he has suggested that more could be done to promote renewable energy and possibly cut emissions. How are we going with cutting emissions so far? Australia has promised the rest of the world it will cut its emissions by at least 26 to 28 per cent below its 2005 level by the year 2030 but is not tracking near these targets. The promises were made under the Paris Agreement, which covers the period from 2021 to 2030. Its complicated, but the government is partly relying on a couple of factors to say it is still on track. Measures of how much carbon we are emitting must also include how much has been absorbed, as part of a natural process, in the soil, where it does not contribute to global warming. The science is evolving, and estimates of soil carbon were recently revised and may be revised again before 2030. The government has relied on the latest revision to suggest that emissions have dropped in the past few years. Another factor they have relied on is "carryover credits". The government is banking on using carryover credits it received after the Kyoto Protocol the climate change deal, covering 2008 to 2020, that paved the way for the current Paris Agreement. Australia accrued the credits because it negotiated an easy target for itself under the Kyoto plan and then over-achieved. It is the only nation planning to use the credits to meet a large chunk of its promised target as much as half although some other nations such as Russia and Ukraine also hold credits and may use them. Other nations that had the option of using carryover credits, such as the UK, Germany and New Zealand, have ditched them, taking the view that the credits don't equate to real emissions cuts. Advertisement As it stands, Australias pledge equals a 6 to 8 per cent rise in Australias emissions by 2030 rather than an emissions cut. (This is excluding the volatile "land use, land use change and forestry" portion of our emissions cuts, which are highly uncertain.) Loading What is the government policy on climate action then? The governments policy toolkit is based on its Climate Solutions Package. Some elements of this policy are yet to be clearly explained but the centrepiece is an emissions reduction fund a pot of money worth about $130 million a year that can be paid to companies in return for cutting greenhouse emissions. Its successes have been modest so far. It has funded various projects that have cut or avoided a few million tonnes of emissions each year a far cry from the level of cuts needed to meet Australias pledges under the Paris Agreement. Business interest in the scheme has been dropping off, with hundreds of proposed projects dwindling to a handful by the middle of 2019. The plan has also been hindered by a series of failed projects ones that promised to make carbon cuts but didnt deliver according to the global scorecard website climateactiontracker.org. In short, Australia currently has no mechanism for controlling its greenhouse gas emissions and may not meet its Paris commitments. Advertisement A price on carbon means companies pay for emitting greenhouse gases. Credit:Jonathan Carroll How would effective climate change action work? The prevailing view among experts is that a carbon price with a "cap and trade" scheme is key to reducing emissions. As the Garnaut Review laid out over a decade ago, modelling suggests that if you let people make money from cutting pollution this can stimulate the growth of new industries. A carbon price is the cost that companies must pay to emit greenhouse gases. A company, by law, must not emit more pollution than it can cover with permits. An emissions trading scheme is a tool that governments use to control the rate at which a nations greenhouse emissions fall or rise, at the least cost to the public. It works like this: the government can cap how many carbon permits it issues each year. If it wants to cut 1000 tonnes of C02 to zero in 10 years, it can do so gradually by issuing 900 permits in the second year, 800 in the third, and so on. Meanwhile, companies can buy and/or trade permits as some companies cut their emissions, leaving them with spare permits, and others emit too much and pay the price. As time goes on, permits become more scarce, their price goes up and companies change their ways to cut their emissions. Meanwhile, increased demand makes low-emissions activities from wind farms to capturing methane from farms to planting forests cheaper as companies invest in them. A smart carbon market would have different but compatible strategies designed to balance profits and change in all sectors of the economy. It would put the levers that control the nations greenhouse gas emissions in the hands of the government instead of the hands of thousands of separate polluting businesses, as is now the case. Advertisement Claiming that books such as The Kite Runner, the childrens book Everywhere Babies and A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundoa parody authored by a staff writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliverviolate state obscenity laws, the conservative group Florida Citizens Alliance wants school libraries that make the books available to students to be criminally prosecuted, according to a report this week by the Tampa Bay Times. The so-called Alliance may now have the ear of Floridas right-wing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the paper reported. Not only do books that contain descriptions of sexuality violate Florida obscenity laws, but those that describe same-sex relationships also violate the states law that marriage may take place only between one man and one woman, according to the group, which has waged a years-long campaign to get what it calls porn off of school library shelves. Also on the list that the group has titled "Porn in Florida Public Schools, according to a WTSP-TV report, is the book The Purim Superhero, which attempts to explain the Jewish holiday of Purim to children. The holiday is sometimes referred to as The Jewish Halloween due to the tradition of dressing in costume to celebrate the occasion, though the two holidays have nothing else significant in common. But according to a description of the book by the site ReformJudaism.org, the protagonist of the book, Nate, has two male parents, though the same-sex relationship is not the focus of the story. By presenting Nate's family as a family just like any other, the book reinforces the idea that many different types of families are welcome in the Jewish community, the site says. But the Florida Citizens Alliance apparently wants libraries that provide the book to schoolchildren to be prosecuted. "Book bans are the worst kind of censorship, particularly when they are discriminatory and veiled as 'protecting' children, the American Civil Liberties Unions Florida Legislative Director Kara Gross told WTSP. LGBTQ children attend school and all children have family members, friends, neighbors, and teachers who identify as LGBTQ. Removing books from the shelves doesn't change that fact and only serves to erase the LGBTQ community, perpetuate ignorance and stereotypes, and stigmatize children and their families. Other examples of the porn on the groups list include Mommy, Mama and Me by Leslie Newman, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Photo By Joe Crawford / Wikimedia Commons T he moment eurosceptics have spent years, if not decades, waiting for has almost arrived the day Britain leaves the EU. The landmark event has been delayed three times since the date was first set for March 29, 2019. But after MPs backed Boris Johnsons Withdrawal Agreement Bill last week, it is looking increasingly likely that Brexit will happen on January 31. To mark the occasion, the UKs most prominent Brexiteers plan to stage a Happy Brexit Day celebration in Westminster. Heres everything we know so far about Leave Means Leaves Brexit Celebration. Nigel Farage is ready to ring in Brexit with a bang / AFP via Getty Images Wheres it happening? The event will be held in Parliament Square, thanks to provisional approval from the Greater London Authority (GLA). Nigel Farage tweeted that his lobbying group, Leave Means Leave, had been granted permission to hold the party, writing: Great news! His Brexit Party chairman, Richard Tice, posted his own excited Twitter announcement, writing: I am delighted to confirm that Leave Means Leave has secured approval from the authorities for the Brexit Day celebration in Parliament Sq on 31 Jan. We are still working on Big Ben and fireworks! A City Hall spokesman told the Standard: GLA officials have given provisional authorisation for an event to take place on Parliament Square on January 31. What time is it taking place? The event is currently due to run from 9pm till 11.15pm on January 31. How many people are expected to attend? Aerial of pro Brexit campaigners outside parliament More than 15,000 people have already registered their willingness to attend, according to Mr Farage, writing in The Telegraph. This estimate seems credible, given seas of protesters marched through central London on the date Britain was originally scheduled to leave the EU. On that day, two main pro-Brexit rallies gathered outside the Houses of Parliament one consisting of mainstream politicians and the other headlined by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Heated clashes ensued between police and protesters leading to a number of arrests. What can participants expect on the night? Leave Means Leave will hope for a barnstorming celebration / Leave Means Leave Organisers will hope the only clangers will come from the chimes of Big Ben, with fewer scuffles and more festivities this time round. Leave Means Leave have explicitly billed the night as a celebration so the hope is that it will be a joyous and festive affair, possibly featuring fireworks and definitely featuring speeches. Big name speakers have taken to the stage at other Leave Means Leave events. Julia Hartley-Brewer, Mark Francois, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Mr Farage himself have all addressed the crowds at previous rallies so similar lineups are likely this time round. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is to publish a memoir of her time in the White House in September, as her former boss Donald Trump enters the final strait of his re-election race, it was announced Wednesday. But her new book will hardly be a tell-all on Trump. Instead it will include a 'candid' look at her interactions with the press during her time as White House press secretary. '[The book includes] a candid account of my relationship and interactions with the press. And some reporters come out a lot better than others!' Axios reported. Sanders, 37, who served in the White House press shop from Trump's inauguration until July 2019 when she stepped back, had a close relationship with the president. The insight comes from a press secretary who had a contentious public relationship with the press corps, often squabbling in the press briefing room before cancelling the daily briefing altogether toward the end of her tenure. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will return to her focus on her relationship with the White House press corps in her upcoming book where she said she will give a 'candid account of my... interactions with the press' 'Speaking for Myself' will hit shelves in fall and will include Sanders participating in a book tour in September in the home stretch of the presidential election Sanders had been with the administration since Trump's inauguration until stepping down as in July 2019. Trump suggested she might run for governor of Arkansas and the former press secretary has not shut down the prospect Reporters also would question whether Sanders was giving them the full truth. That impression was reinforced when she admitted to the Robert Mueller investigation that a key claim she made was a 'slip of the tongue,' and another was 'not founded on anything.' She had claimed at a press briefing in the wake of the firing of James Comey that the rank and file had lost confidence in the FBI director and that the White House had heard that from 'countless members of the FBI.' But when she was interviewed by Mueller's team, to whom lying was a federal offense which could have seen her jailed, she admitted this was a 'slip of the tongue,' his report revealed. 'She also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made "in the heat of the moment" that was not founded on anything,' the report said. 'Speaking for Myself' will hit shelves in September 2020 and Sanders will begin her book tour September 8 during the home stretch of this year's presidential race. She is currently a Fox News contributor but a book tour is usually accompanied by interviews on major shows, which could open Sanders to the sort of critical questioning she has avoided after leaving the White House. 'From Arkansas to the White House and back, I'm excited to tell my story about the challenges of being a working mom at the highest level of American politics, and my role in the historic fight raging between the Trump administration and its critics for the future of our country,' Sanders teased on her website where preorders of the book are available. In June last year Sanders said, through tearful remarks, that she was leaving the Trump administration to spend more time with her family and head back to her home state of Arkansas. Trump suggested his former press secretary and one of his closest confidants in the administration might follow in her father, Mike Huckabee's footsteps and run for governor in Arkansa a potential next move she has not dismissed. During her tenure at the White House, Sanders joined Trump in waging attacks on media outlets and specific reporters, claiming they have it out for the president. Since leaving the White House, Sanders signed on to Fox News as a correspondent. Stephanie Grisham, the former press secretary to first lady Melania Trump took over in a duel role as Trump's press secretary and communications director when Sanders departed this summer. (Getty) Canadian business owners in parts of the country plan to keep spending, despite a murky outlook for the global economy. In a new report, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) surveyed 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and found that most of them plan to invest more in their businesses. Despite low confidence in the economy, Canadian entrepreneurs remain relatively upbeat about their own companys prospects, read the report. They expect to see sales grow over the next 12 months and to hire workers to meet sustained demand for their products and services. Factors boosting investment spending include strong demand for their products and services, a need to upgrade technology, and momentum from investments made last year. As the economy shifts toward services and digitization, businesses say theyll invest in technology, marketing, intellectual property, and training. Theyll spend less on tangible assets like real estate as well as machinery and equipment. Not everyone But not all types of businesses plan to open up their wallets. BDC said the expected rise in investment spending will come almost entirely from exporters. On one hand, theyre much more optimistic about the outlook for the U.S. and global economies. On the other hand, exporters face higher capacity constraints than domestic businesses. In fact, 56% of exporters are reporting some difficulties meeting an unexpected increase in demand, compared to 46% for domestic businesses. Businesses focused on the domestic market arent as upbeat and are less likely to deploy cash. Not everywhere Ontario and Quebec have been leading job growth, and businesses in the two provinces intend to increase spending the most. Manufacturing, technology, and services are the strongest sectors. However, Quebec businesses worry about labour shortages. Business owners are the most pessimistic in the Prairies, where low commodity prices have cut into cash flow. Businesses in British Columbia plan to spend less on machinery and equipment. Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. It's not just Americans who won't have access to Juul's fruity pods anymore. The company will also temporarily stop selling its mango-, vanilla-, fruit- and cucumber-flavored vaping products in Canada, according to CNBC, CBC and other sources. Michael Nederhoff, Canadian Juul Labs' general manager, has reportedly sent a letter to retailers and distributors, telling them that the company will no longer resupply them with those flavors after their stocks run out. CBC says Nederhoff told retailers in the letter that the company won't be pulling their current stocks. Also, he wrote that Juul might still bring back those flavors "under the guidance and regulation of Health Canada," though it's stopping their production for now. Once the flavored options run out, only the tobacco and mint options will be available for purchase. Juul stopped selling its fruity products in the US back in October 2019. In November, it stopped selling its mint-flavored vapes, as well. While those flavors may eventually be back in Canada -- mint, as mentioned earlier, will still be available in the country -- the same can't be said for the US market. The FDA officially banned their production and sale earlier this month in an effort to curb teen vaping. Same-sex marriage officially legal in Northern Ireland; Christian leaders express concern Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Same-sex marriage is now legal in Northern Ireland, sparking concern among religious and conservative leaders in the Christian-majority country. As of Jan. 13, same-sex couples are able to register to marry in the country, and those who are already married will have their union recognized by law, according to the BBC. Those who already have civil partnerships are not able to convert to a marriage. The move marks the implementation of legislation passed through Westminster last year, which legalized both abortion and gay marriage. The implementation of the legislation brings the province in line with the rest of the United Kingdom, where gay marriage has been legal since 2014. In July, the U.K. government declared that Northern Irelands laws on abortion and gay marriage were out of compliance with human rights regulations, and would have to change if the regions own government didnt intervene, The New York Times reported. The Northern Ireland Office is set to begin a consultation later this year about converting civil partnerships and the role of churches in same-sex marriages. The Protestant population is roughly equal to the Catholic population in the country. Last week, The Christian Institute expressed concern that the new law could get in the way of free speech and debate about gay marriage. It warned the Northern Ireland Office that it would seek legal action unless citizens receive clear protections for free speech, written into public order law, just like they were in England and Wales before gay marriage was introduced there. Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, said that when same-sex marriage registration starts on 13 January another set of robust protections will be needed to protect those in Northern Irish society who disagree with same-sex marriage. In response, Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith stated that Public Order legislation is being amended to underline that mere criticism of same-sex marriage is not an offense, Irish News reported. Furthermore, equality law is also being changed, to protect religious bodies and staff from being sued for declining to take part in a blessing or other event marking a civil same-sex wedding. Smith also pointed out that religious organizations will be permitted to dismiss a staff member who enters a same-sex marriage if that is incompatible with the organizations values. Additionally, with the changes in the law, private legal instruments, such as wills, are not forced to include same-sex marriage where that was not the intention. In a statement, Simon Calvert, deputy director for Public Affairs at The Christian Institute, said the institute was grateful that the Secretary of State has recognized the validity of the issues we have raised, and has acted to address each of the areas of concern that we have. He stressed the importance of proper training and guidance for the police, to ensure respect for freedom of speech on these issues. We dont want people using the police to try to punish those who believe in traditional marriage," he said. Several churches in Northern Ireland had previously insisted they would only conduct marriages between a man and a woman despite the legal change. The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord's teaching, that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and lifelong, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side," a spokesperson for the Church of Ireland told the Belfast Telegraph. The Rev. Jim Stothers, deputy clerk of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly, explained that the church body was committed to maintaining "the scriptural basis of marriage." "In every marriage service, the minister officiating is required to read this statement: 'Since the beginning of creation God, in His gracious purpose, provided marriage as the accepted way in which a man and a woman may come together as husband and wife,'" he noted. "This is the only basis on which marriage can take place within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The introduction of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland does not change that conviction." Turkey to 'teach a lesson' to Libyan rebel commander if anti-govt. offensive resumes Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 3:20 PM Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will "teach a lesson" to Libyan rebel commander Khalifa Haftar if he resumes his offensive against Libya's internationally-recognized government after withdrawing from ceasefire talks in Moscow. Erdogan issued the threat at a meeting of his party in Ankara on Tuesday, calling the head of the rebel forces in Libya a "putschist." "We will not hesitate to teach a deserved lesson to the putschist Haftar if he continues his attacks on the country's legitimate administration and our brothers in Libya," the Turkish president said. "Despite this, we find the talks in Moscow were positive as they showed the true face of the putschist Haftar to the international community." Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Haftar held about eight hours of indirect talks brokered by Moscow and Ankara in the Russian capital on Monday. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Haftar left the talks without signing a draft deal that Sarraj had already signed. The draft deal was aimed at ending nine months of fighting between the government and the militia groups under the command of Haftar. A shaky ceasefire had come into force on Sunday; however, both sides accused each other of violating it as skirmishes continued around Tripoli. Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two rival camps: the government in Tripoli, and a camp based in the eastern city of Tobruk. Haftar, who is backed by Egypt, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, is the self-proclaimed commander of an array of militia groups apparently supporting the eastern camp. He launched an offensive to capture Tripoli and oust the government in April. His forces have been bogged down near the capital, yet he has pledged to continue the offensive. The government has sought help from ally Turkey, which has deployed troops to Libya even as it has been involved in the peace attempts with Russia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip A high-ranking source in the Palestinian presidency told Al-Monitor that President Mahmoud Abbas is leaning toward postponing the release of a presidential decree that would determine the time frame of holding Palestinian general elections (legislative and presidential) until further notice. This came after Israels irresponsiveness to the Palestinian request to allow the elections to be held in Jerusalem, which might jeopardize the whole process. The Palestinian Authority (PA) sent an official letter to the Israeli government Dec. 10 asking it to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in the general elections, after the Palestinian government announced Nov. 14 reaching Palestinian consensus to hold them. Israel has not responded to the Palestinian request until now. The 1995 Oslo II Accord states that Palestinians in Jerusalem have the right to participate in Palestinian elections, provided that Israel makes arrangements to implement this step. The presidential source reported that Abbas asked the European Union (EU) and Russia to pressure Israel to allow holding elections in Jerusalem and giving Palestinians there the right to vote, like it was the case in 1996, 2005 and 2006. On Dec. 18, the Office of the European Union Representative in Jerusalem announced its readiness to support Palestinian elections politically and financially in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, as soon as Abbas issues the election decree. The source added, Some European countries [without naming them] are trying to pressure Abbas into releasing the election decree first, because that would help them pressure Israel more to abide by international law, which considers East Jerusalem part of the occupied Palestinian territories in 1967. During his participation in the Christmas Eve celebrations for Christian churches that follow the Eastern Orthodox Liturgical calendar in Bethlehem Jan. 6, Abbas said, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Either elections are held in Jerusalem too, or not at all. Some are insisting that we issue the election decree, but we cannot. If we issue it and then have to cancel it, we would face a big problem. Fatah spokesman Hussein Hamayel told Al-Monitor, Abbas refuses to issue the election decree before getting Israeli approval for Palestinians in Jerusalem to vote. Otherwise, Palestinians would be admitting Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. He added, This cannot happen, because we will never recognize any form of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine. The Palestinian government will not accept any alternative for granting Palestinians in Jerusalem the right to cast their ballots, such as the electronic voting option. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told the official Palestine TV Jan. 4, We will not accept electronic voting in Jerusalem. This is an issue of sovereignty, and Palestinians in Jerusalem must cast their ballots in person. Hamas, which won the legislative elections in 2006, is also bent on not holding elections without Jerusalem. But, at the same time, Hamas is calling on Abbas to issue the election decree without waiting for Israeli approval to hold elections in Jerusalem. Suheil al-Hindi, a member of Hamas political bureau, told Al-Monitor, We can force Israel to approve by creating public clashes with Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, similar to the public protests in Jerusalem through which the Palestinians forced Israel to remove the electronic gates in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque on July 25, 2017. He argued that such clashes would push the world to put political pressure on Israel to force it to allow Palestinians in Jerusalem to participate in the elections. Hindi condemned Abbas inclination to postpone the elections until further notice. He said, Such a measure will only entrench the [Palestinian] division and prevent unifying Palestinians behind one authority and a joint political program. Ahmad Awad, political science professor at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, told Al-Monitor, There is a pressing Palestinian need to hold the elections, as they are a constitutional duty that has been suspended since the last elections in 2006. They also are the best solution to end the Palestinian rift. He added, It is important to hold the elections to renew Palestinian legitimacy, which is an international demand. The policies of states and international bodies offering the PA financial support especially the EU require publicly elected official bodies to deliver this aid to them. Awad said it was unlikely Israel would allow Palestinians in Jerusalem to participate in the coming elections, like the previous ones. The US declaration of Jerusalem as Israels capital on Dec. 6, 2017, only weakens the possibilities, he noted. He underlined the Palestinian insistence on not holding elections without Jerusalem, saying, Succumbing would be a sign of official Palestinian abandonment of Jerusalem and of the Palestinians identity there. Awad noted, I believe the elections will be delayed, because of this hurdle. Mustafa al-Sawaf, political analyst and writer at Felesteen newspaper in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor that he doubts Abbas seriousness in holding general elections on the Palestinian territories. He said, Abbas announcement before the United Nations on Sept. 26, 2019, to hold elections was done under international pressure, as Palestinian elections have not been held for 14 years. He noted, But I think Abbas is neither ready nor serious about the elections because of Fatahs internal issues, mainly [the dispute with] Fatahs Democratic Reformist Current led by defected leader Mohammed Dahlan. According to Sawaf, Abbas thought Hamas would refuse to participate in the elections on condition of achieving Palestinian reconciliation first. But Hamas approval was shocking, he said. He added, For that reason, Abbas sought other impediments by insisting on linking the election decree release to Israeli acceptance to hold elections in Jerusalem. Abbas wants to hold Israel accountable in front of the whole world for his failed attempt to hold general elections. Maoist sympathisers on Wednesday allegedly vandalised a 'home-stay' near here by hurling stones, damaging property inside the premises and pasted a poster warning resort owners to shut their establishments, police said. The poster on the premises alleges sexual exploitation by some resort owners after luring tribal women into the area under the pretext of gifting rice and other essential materials, the police said. The establishment was not a fully functional one and dismissed all the allegations made in the poster, they said. "The issue is in the preliminary stage of investigation. We suspect it to be a minor attack by the Maoists in a resort which was not in use. I think they were sure that the place was not occupied, not even security personnel were there when the attack happened," a senior police official of the district told PTI. Combing operations in the nearby area have begun and charges of trespass, mischief and relevant Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act would be pressed, the official said. "I don't think the allegations in the poster are true. All the tribal families in the locality are receiving free ration from the government," the official said. The police is regularly organising house-visits in the hamlets, the health workers are interacting regularly, the child-line workers are active. This can also be a plot to extort money from the resort owners in the name of the tribal community, the official said. He also said that till now, there was not a single complaint of sexual harassment from any of the hamlets in the locality. The poster has said this attack was a warning to the resort owners. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wine made with honey, often called mead, could be the worlds oldest fermented beverage, with evidence suggesting it was consumed 7,000 years ago. Today, however, honey wine is a difficult sell, eclipsed by grape wines, craft beers and, lately, hard seltzer. Many drinkers mistakenly assume that all mead is invariably sweet. Theyve been disappointed with mediocre versions theyve tasted at Renaissance fairs. But makers of honey wine believe that sales would be much easier if they could just persuade potential buyers to take a sip. That isnt easy, given that production sites are few and not as gussied up and romantic as winery tasting rooms. And only occasionally does a restaurant wine list include a section devoted to mead. Ayele Solomon recognizes those drawbacks, so he has done something unusual for Northern Californias small but persistently hopeful community of honey-wine producers in December, he opened a free-standing tasting bar in a prime San Francisco setting, the Ferry Building. There, he daily pours samples of his four honey wines, one each dry and sweet, one each still and sparkling, inspired by the honey-wine tradition of his native Ethiopia, all under the brand Bee DVine. Solomon dapper, earnest, fastidious calls his releases honey wine rather than mead, though the terms are virtually interchangeable. Mead sounds too much like meat, its too old world, Solomon says. And people have had a lot of bad experiences with mead. Honey wine is a more universal way to describe the beverage and to indicate its stylistic sweep, he says. It also is the term used in Ethiopia, where it traditionally is known as tej. The tej he grew up with generally was homemade, rudimentary and consumed within days or weeks of fermentation. In Ethiopia, Solomon says, the honey customarily would be fermented with its comb and with gesho, stalks of the buckthorn bush. As rough as tej was, Solomon says it nonetheless tempted virtually every youngster to siphon some from the barrels in which it was stashed in a dark and cool corner of the family home. Every family sort of makes it. They drink it like kombucha, Solomon says. From Ethiopia, he and his family migrated to Kenya and then to the United States, settling in the Bay Area in the mid-1980s. After earning a degree in environmental economics at UC Berkeley, he returned to Africa. There, his work as a conservationist fostering economic opportunities for indigenous residents of the mountainous rain forest of Kafa in southwestern Ethiopia reintroduced him to honey wine. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle In Kafa, residents continued to harvest honey from beehives hanging in trees, a slow and labor-intensive chore. Solomon had some success in persuading honey gatherers to adopt more contemporary and efficient frame hives, but they also faced cutbacks in the availability of flowers for bees as more of the rain forest was cleared for easier, quicker and more profitable crops like corn and coffee. If you go Bee D'Vine: 1 Ferry Building, S.F. Tasting bar open 1-7 p.m. Monday-Friday;11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Flights $12. See More Collapse Nevertheless, Solomon grew increasingly intrigued by honey wine, and in 2009 began to explore its commercial potential, first in Ethiopia, then South Africa. In 2011 he returned to the family home in Pleasanton, started to experiment with hundreds of batches of honey wine in the garage, and established the Honey Wine Co., the parent company for the Bee DVine brand. He was drawn back to the Bay Area to pursue his interest in honey wine in large part because of Northern Californias wine-industry infrastructure. Three years later he released his first commercial honey wines. He focused distribution on Ethiopian restaurants, and for a while Ethiopian Airlines offered passengers his wines. Today, he makes his wines at Deerfield Ranch Winery in Kenwood. In addition to 3,000 gallons of honey wine annually, he also makes small lots of grape table wine under the brand Wancha, Amharic for horn cup. (The Wancha wines are Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from Lake County, and he doesnt pour them at the Ferry Building.) Solomon has been tireless in researching, documenting and promoting honey wine, even writing and publishing a lighthearted, 88-page book on the subject, The Celebrated Story of Honey Wine, the electronic version of which can be downloaded free at his website ( www.beedvine.com ) . His principal stylistic goal for his honey wines is to capture the essence of fresh and delicate flowers, with suggestions of earthiness, nuttiness and wood. Toward that end, he uses largely organically produced orange-blossom honey from beekeepers in Solano and Yolo counties. Customarily, 2 pounds of honey are used for each gallon of water, and the mixture is then fermented into wine. Nothing is added other than yeast. I want it traditional, what I grew up with, Solomon says, though during fermentation he eschews the Ethiopian custom of including comb and gesho, which he fears could add a bitter note to the wine, distracting from the fresh, floral and fruity attributes he wants to emphasize. But he does sell traditional bulbous berele (flasks used for drinking tej in Ethiopia) at his tasting bar. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. The dry version of his still honey wine the most popular in sales of his four styles is decidedly floral, with suggestions of melons and peaches in flavor. Honey is evident but not heavy, the acidity lifting, the finish lingering. Two years of aging in neutral French oak barrels rounds out the body without introducing distracting tannins. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle The delicate effervescence of the dry sparkling wine lifts the aroma and intensifies the flavor of honey, but the body remains light. Solomon says that his sparkling honey wines are the first in the world made with the charmat method, the same process used for Prosecco. Solomons sweet versions, both the still and the sparkling, spend less than half as much time in oak. Sweetness doesnt go well with oak, Solomon says. With both sweet versions, the floral notes and flavor of the honey are more pronounced, but neither tastes sticky. All the wines weigh in with 12.5% ABV, and the sweet versions carry about 4% residual sugar. Given the wines acidity, that level of sugar does not come across as cloying, lighter than the standard level found in traditional meads. Bee DVine is more expensive than most other honey wines and meads, the still version selling for $39 per 750-milliliter bottle, the sparkling for $49. He attributes the higher prices largely to his preference for premium honey, his use of custom-made French oak barrels and his Italian bottles. No one knows precisely how many commercial honey-wine producers are working in the United States, but the total is believed to be around 450, with the number growing slowly. Several longtime and successful producers are in Northern California, including Rabbits Foot in Sunnyvale, one of the larger meaderies in the nation, turning out about 60,000 gallons a year; Bargetto Winery at Soquel (Santa Cruz County), whose Chaucers line of meads dates from 1964; Heidrun Meadery of Point Reyes Station, celebrated for its methode-champenoise meads; and the Meadery San Francisco in Hunters Point, whose whimsical and colorful lineup includes a potent distilled mead. While these producers recognize that honey wine isnt likely to ever challenge sales of grape wine and craft beer in the U.S., they are encouraged by developments such as a rise in the availability of honey wine in kegs and cans (including an Anheuser-Busch honey alcohol beverage test-marketed on the East Coast in the summer) and growing consumer interest in honey wines that incorporate herbs, fruits and spices. Solomon, however, is having none of that, saying he prefers to remain a traditionalist. And now that hes in the Ferry Building, he believes he can win new honey-wine drinkers. Once you taste it, thats the crucial part, he says. Mike Dunne is a wine writer in Sacramento. He wrote on wine for the Sacramento Bee for 46 years. Email: food@sfchronicle.com WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Diagnosing EVALIthe e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury illness that's recently garnered national attentioncan be challenging. Initial symptoms may resemble pneumonia or go unrecognized, according to case analysis in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (JACEP) Open, a new open access journal. "Electronic cigarettes and vaping products are sending thousands of smokers, especially teens, to emergency departments," said Kaitlyn Works, MD, an emergency physician with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and lead study author. "We must be crystal clear with young people: E-cigarettes and vaping products are not a healthy alternative to smoking. They can be dangerous, cause injuries and illnesses, or even death." The analysis, "E-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI): a case report of a pneumonia mimic with severe leukocytosis and weight loss," details the case of a 20-year-old male with no significant medical history who was hospitalized for four days then left against medical advice, only to return to the emergency department for chest pain, fever and shortness of breath. For two weeks leading up to his emergency, he had a productive cough, fever, diarrhea, nausea and significant weight loss. "This flu season we are seeing an additional layer of complexityEVALI symptoms may resemble pneumonia and become more dangerous or deadly when left untreated," Dr. Works said. "A patient with EVALI may have symptoms that vary and overlap with many illnesses, making it more complicated to diagnose." Accurate diagnoses typically include the ruling out of other infections, autoimmune disorders or other conditions. In this case, negative tests were returned for strep, HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. A camera was inserted through the patient's airway to examine the lungs and a pulmonary consultation and CT scan confirmed EVALI. The authors also note that nearly one-third of EVALI patients require intubation and mechanical breathing help. As of January 2020, a total of 2,602 hospitalized EVALI cases have been reported in all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Fifty-seven deaths have been confirmed. CDC has identified vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent in many e-cigarette or vaping products with THC as a "chemical of concern" among EVALI cases. CDC recommends that people do not use e-cigarette or vaping products with THC. "The simplest way to avoid EVALI is to avoid these products," Dr. Works said. The Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (JACEP) Open is the official open access journal from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). JACEP Open delivers high-quality, peer-reviewed research in an open access format and joins Annals of Emergency Medicine as the leading sources of original research, case studies, clinical reports and perspectives dedicated specifically to emergency medicine and related topics. For more information, visit www.JACEPOpen.com. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 40,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org. Twitter: @EmergencyDocs SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Related Links http://www.acep.org Goldman Sachs said its fourth-quarter profits dropped by 24 per cent from a year earlier, as the bank had to set aside money to cover its looming settlement with US authorities over its role in a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund scandal. The investment bank said Wednesday that it earned a profit of USD 1.72 billion in the quarter, or USD 4.69 a share, down from a profit of USD 2.32 billion, or USD 6.11 per share, a year earlier. The results missed analysts' expectations for earnings of USD 5.47 a share. Despite having a strong quarter in trading, Goldman's results were marred by significantly higher expenses. The bank set aside roughly USD 500 million more to cover its legal expenses in the quarter. The bank is currently negotiating a settlement over its involvement in 1MDB, a Malaysian government-sponsored investment fund that became a conduit for high-level Malaysian officials to launder money out of the country. Malaysia's prime minister was arrested as part of the scandal, and another official is a fugitive and his whereabouts are unknown. Two former Goldman Sachs bankers have been charged for their role in helping 1MDB launder money. The bank also had a big jump in its compensation expenses, setting aside USD 3.05 billion in the quarter to pay its well-compensated employees, compared with $1.86 billion a year earlier. Many of Goldman's employees earn the bulk of their pay in large year-end bonuses. For the full-year, however, compensation and benefits costs at the bank were basically flat - reflecting the difficult year Goldman had in many of its businesses. The expenses overshadowed what was a pretty decent quarter for Goldman, reflecting financial markets' overall performance in the last three months of the year. Trading revenues were up 33 per cent from a year earlier, lead by a massive jump in revenue from trading bonds, commodities and currencies. For the full year, Goldman had a profit of USD 7.9 billion, down from USD 9.86 billion in the same period a year ago. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The makers of Street Dancer 3D have released a recreated version of Guru Randhawas hit 2017 Punjabi number, Lahore. Titled Lagdi Lahore Di, the new song shows Varun Dhawan practising dance with Nora Fatehi, who plays his girlfriend in the film, while drawing closer to Shraddha Kapoor also as the two dance together on a rooftop. Guru has himself rewritten the song with additional lyrics and has sung it all over again with Tulsi Kumar. While the song is much slower than the original one, the visuals of Nora and Varun grooving on a air strip with a plane parked in the background look interesting. Nora has also attempted a few difficult dance steps in the song. The song begins with Varun flirting with Shraddha. It ends with a kiss between the two after a gruelling dance sequence. Nora, who has performed several dance numbers in films such as Marjaavaan, feels Street Dancer 3D will give the required push to her career in Bollywood. Talking about her role in the film, she told IANS in an interview, It is a huge film and I have a very prominent and important role in it and the audience has the opportunity to see me dance and act at the same time. The positioning I have in this movie is something the people are looking forward to see and the experience shooting on the sets has been life changing as a performer. I am dancing in this movie in a very different style which I have never tried before and there is so many elements in the movie which are new for me and the audience to see. And I believe this will be a push in my career. Also read: Tanhaji vs Chhapaak box office day 5: Ajay Devgn film heads towards Rs 100 cr club, Deepika Padukones movie collects Rs 23 cr The Remo DSouza directorial is about dancers from India and Pakistan who unify against all odds for a common cause. The film, also starring Prabhu Deva (as Ram Prasad), Nora Fatehi (as Mia) and Aparshakti Khurana, is set to hit the screens on January 24 in 3D and 2D versions. It will clash with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwaris Panga, which stars Kangana Ranaut as a kabaddi player. Follow @htshowbiz for more Kumar Vishwas on Wednesday targeted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his tweet on Army Day. Vishwas said Kejriwal is saluting the Indian Army because elections are round the corner. Elections are cruel. Those who questioned the bravery of our soldiers and maligned our countrys image in the eyes of the international community, are today congratulating the Indian army, Vishwas said in Hindi while attaching Kejriwals tweet. , https://t.co/lVuqe0v4QH Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) January 15, 2020 My salute to the courage and determination of every jawan and officer of the Indian Army. The country is eternally grateful to you for your service, Kejriwal had said in his tweet on Wednesday morning. Vishwas comment on Twitter draws attention to the controversy around Kejriwals comments on the 2016 surgical strikes by the Indian Army. The AAP chief had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expose Pakistan by releasing proof of the surgical strikes. A number of Pakistani newspapers had reported Kejriwals comments. The BJP had attacked the Aam Aadmi Party, accusing it of lowering the armys morale by raising doubts about strikes against militant bases across the Line of Control - Indias de facto border with Pakistan. The comment by poet-politician also comes less than a month before the elections in Delhi. Kejriwal-led AAP, which will complete its full five-year term, is looking to come back to power and is highlighting the good work done during its tenure. Vishwas was one of the co-founders of AAP but due to differences with the partys top leadership, especially Kejriwal, had distanced himself from the affairs of the party. He had earlier too raised his voice against Kejriwal after not getting a Rajya Sabha seat. BSP President Mayawati has convened a meeting in the national capital on Wednesday to select party candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections. Delhi geos to polls on February 8 for which the nomination process began on Tuesday. The BSP has already announced to field candidates for all 70 seats in the Delhi elections. According to sources, the meeting will be attended by Delhi in-charge MPs, as well as the leaders of the Delhi Pradesh unit. The party leadership has given charge of completing the primary process of selection of candidates to BSP Rajya Sabha MPs Ashok Siddharth, Rajaram and Vir Singh. A party leader said the list of candidates will be released in the next two days after approval of the BSP President. In the last elections, the BSP could not open is account in Delhi, though the party had two MLAs in 2008. Robert Halfon is MP for Harlow, a former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman and President of Conservative Workers and Trade Unionists. I havent yet read Dominic Cummings recommended tome, High Output Management by Andrew Grove, the extraordinarily successful, former Chief Executive of Intel. For one thing, when I tried to order it a few weeks ago, it had mysteriously and temporarily sold out, probably because of a civil servant raid of Amazon. I did, however, buy another book by Grove entitled, Only the Paranoid Survive probably better suited to my temperament, anyway. The core argument of this book is that, however successful a business or organisation may be, at any time it will face a Strategic Inflection Point (SIP) a major change or disruptor, that will see a competitor emerge with a new product, that could have huge impact on the viability and profitability on that business. The SIP could come at any time and is often hard to predict. It could happen at a time when the company is seen as almost invincible, yet because the business fails to respond in the right way to the challenge, it ends up being swept away by the tsunami of the new SIP disruptor. All through the book, there are examples of companies where this has happened, including SIPs facing his own organisation, Intel. Although Only the Paranoid Survive was written in 1995, Grove predicted the major disruptor effect of the internet, in terms of software, media and connectivity. I can think of others. Remember Blackberry (I am one of the few that still have one as I love keyboards)? It used to be one of the most popular mobiles in the world and democratised email through handheld devices. Yet in just a few years it lost its market share because the management failed to understand the rise of the Apple iPhone and the democratisation of smartphone apps. By the time it did, it was too late. Only a few years ago did Blackberry start selling mobiles with Android Apps. Now, Blackberry is just basically a software security company and contracts out to other companies the making of keypad android phones. Grove argues that the best way to respond to SIPs is through open debate within the company, initial chaos and then a clear and unbending vision of how to succeed. He notes that, all eggs should be put in one basket, rather than trying to do a bit of everything, seeking to please everyone. He does warn, however, to watch the basket. It is also important to listen to those middle-managers and sales force, i.e. those at the coalface, as they can often see best what is happening and identify emerging trends. Interestingly, he notes that data, however important, is not everything. You need instinct, anecdote, and emotional intelligence, too: You have to be able to argue with the data, when your experience and judgement suggest the emergence of force that may be too small to show up in the analysis that has the potential to grow so big as to change the rules your company operate by. The point is, when dealing with emerging trends, you may very well go against the rational extrapolation of data and rely instead on anecdotal observations and your instincts. Why does this book matter? The answer lies in what Grove says about fear and complacency: Fear can be the opposite of complacency. Complacency often afflicts precisely those who have been the most successful. It is often found in companies that have honed the skills that are perfect for the environment. But when the environment changes, these companies may be the slowest to respond properly. A good dose of fear may help sharpen the survival instincts. I have lost count as to how many Conservatives I have recently met or spoken to (and Im absolutely NOT including the brilliant, new, Northern MPs who have been elected quite the opposite), who assume that we will be in power for the next ten to fifteen years and that it is all over for the Labour Party. That worries me. Not only is this not true psephologically, as recently highlighted by Lewis Baston in The Critic magazine (the Red Wall faces major challenges), but Conservatives are also not winning younger voters to the cause. Moreover, the Labour Party, a historical movement, is not going to be steeped in the mire of Corbynism forever. At some point, they or something else, at an unpredictable moment in time, will represent a strategic inflection point to the Government. Who is to say that if Labour elect a Corbynista person mark 2, that individual will still be there in two years time? Half a decade is an eternity in politics. This is why, continuous change and reform, both in Government and in campaigning, is vital, if Conservatives are to withstand a Strategic Inflection Point when it inevitably happens. The electorate remain volatile. Party tribal loyalties grow weaker every political day. Huge voter swings in one direction one time, could become huge voter swings in another way the next. It is worth reading this book. As Grove notes a man who survived Hungarian fascism, Nazism and Communism and arrived in the USA as a penniless immigrant fear stops complacency and can mean continued success. Only the paranoid survive, especially in the world of Conservative politics. WASHINGTON - Following Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement that the House would send impeachment articles to the Senate on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would start pretrial proceedings as soon as Thursday, signaling the end of the nearly monthlong standoff between the two over the shape of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. McConnell, R-Ky., said preliminary steps this week could include the swearing in of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who will preside over the trial, and senators. A vote to set up the rules and procedures of the trial is expected Tuesday, McConnell said, allowing arguments from House Democrats and the president's lawyers to get underway after that. House Democrats came to the decision to move the articles Tuesday in a closed-door meeting in the basement of the Capitol, according to Democratic sources. But Pelosi, D-Calif., had indicated Friday that she was ready to end the showdown. "The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial," Pelosi said in a statement. The House will also have to vote to approve the names of the House lawmakers who will serve as "managers" in the Senate trial. They will essentially act as prosecutors to present the case to senators. Those individuals were not named Tuesday but are widely expected to include Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., who conducted much of the investigation as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, among others. ADVERTISEMENT The trial will determine whether to convict Trump and remove him from office. So far, the 47 Senate Democrats are far short of the 67 votes they would need to convict; no Republican has publicly indicated they might buck their party. Pelosi had held the articles in hopes of getting more favorable terms for a Senate trial, including a commitment in advance for subpoenas of witnesses and documents. She was hoping to build pressure on McConnell and his Republican colleagues. But Senate Republicans refused to back down from their plan to punt any decision on witnesses until after the trial gets underway, leaving Democrats with little leverage. Last week, McConnell announced that he has enough Republican votes to adopt trial rules that don't immediately allow witnesses. His plan would call for a decision to be made on whether to subpoena witnesses after opening arguments from House Democrats and the president's lawyers. He noted that a similar process was used during President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Once it became clear that McConnell wouldn't budge on witnesses, Pelosi demanded that McConnell first release the text of the rules before she would release the articles. McConnell has not done so. Democrats grew frustrated with Pelosi's approach, with several Senate Democrats arguing publicly that there was no further leverage to be had by holding the articles. They indicated that they'd rather get on with the trial. But Pelosi's allies framed the delay as a win, arguing that the time in limbo allowed the public to see that Senate Republicans are tilting the rules of the impeachment trial to benefit the president. Other factors could be at play as well. The trial has been delayed long enough that it is quite likely Trump will still not have a Senate vote on his fate before he delivers the State of the Union on Feb. 4. Trump, like Clinton in 1999, would be forced to make the annual address to the Congress under the din of an impeachment without resolution of the Senate trial. ADVERTISEMENT Republicans have also speculated that Pelosi held the articles to hurt Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Iowa caucuses. He, along with the other senators running for president in 2020, will be stuck in Washington for a six-days-a-week trial instead of campaigning for the nation's first presidential caucus, to be held Feb. 3. Other candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, will have the state to themselves. "Sen. Sanders actually has a chance to win, but not now that Nancy Pelosi has held these documents," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. --- (Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.) --- (c)2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Perhaps Kassem was kept in prison because the regime did not want to acknowledge that the soldiers who responded to his U.S. passport by beating and arresting him had acted wrongly. Perhaps he was seen as a useful subject for regime propaganda, according to which American spies are seeking to destabilize the country. We dont know, and the Trump administration doesnt know, because Mr. Sissi and his jailers never offered a credible explanation. If you're talking about mainstream commercial hip-hop and rap in India, the first artist to cross your mind is definitely Akon. Case in point- 'Wannabe my Chammak Challo'? Well, yes he became quite popular in India, through Bollywood, even before that, actually, but India isn't the only place that's keeping his popularity in check. The rapper just bought a brand new city and has named it 'Akon City' and he will be building it from scratch! Twitter Well, before you jump to conclusions and wonder how can he claim just any piece of land and build a city, let me tell you that the piece of land has been gifted to him. Akon, who is of Senegalese descent, was gifted a 2,000-acre land by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. After he received this super generous gift, he announced in 2018 that he had plans for the futuristic 'crypto city' that he wants to build in Senegal, Africa. And two year later, here he is ready to start constructing the city, which, by the way, trades exclusively in Akon's digital cash currency called Akoin! Just finalized the agreement for AKON CITY in Senegal. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future pic.twitter.com/dsoYpmjnpf AKON (@Akon) January 13, 2020 It really feels like Alioune Badara Thiam aka Akon is creating a brand new Wakanda and we have a feeling he's going to try saving the world through it! The 46-year-old uploaded an image of him holding the contract on his Instagram page, with a caption which reads: 'Just finalized the agreement for AKON CITY in Senegal. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future.' One of the most fascinating aspects of the city is that its economy is going to run on cryptocurrency, which he plans to launch soon. While cryptos are a growing trend all over the world, no country in specific has decided to run its economy solely on it. It's still picking up slowly, and maybe in a few more years, we will be more reliant on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Maybe Akon's new city will prove to be a good example of a stable economy through cryptocurrency. Who knows? But if you ever want to go there to check it out, when it's open for the public, all you need to do is take a flight to Dakar, which is five minutes away from 'Akon City'. Twitter Akon also gave an interview last year, speaking about what the city would entail. He claimed the city would run completely on renewable energy and will eventually have its own airport. He also said the construction will begin in March 2020, and will probably take a decade to build, with stage-two beginning in 2025. Akon also mentioned that the Akoin cryptocurrency would act as the city's primary currency. Since Akon is from Senegal, he also pledged to help build tourism there. SAPCO, Senegal's state-owned tourism company, said Akon had made a pledge to contribute towards building tourism. SAPCO Secretary-General Aliune Ndiaye stated that Akon plans to build a complex in the seaside village of Mbodiene, some 120 kilometres south of the capital Dakar. Now. we're not sure if the tourism complex and the city fall under the same project or are entirely different ones but I suppose we'll find that out in due time. "[The city is] within 5 minutes of the new international airport, close to the coast and a short drive from Dakar, the capital city of Senegal (Akon's ancestral homeland). This mixed-use, master-planned city, contains everything from residential to retail, parks, stadium, light manufacturing, universities, and schools. 'Akon Crypto City has opportunities for brands, businesses and high-profile individuals to create amazing, inclusive experiences in a futuristic environment and welcomes anyone looking to step into the future." - Says the website for Akon's Crypto city. Twitter Akon, building a city from scratch, is something to actually watch out for since it'll be reflecting the future in every possible way. Here's wishing the rapper a ton of luck while looking forward to 2030, when Akon City will be up and ready! Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said the territorial Cabinet ministers and others now have to take priorclearance from the Centre as mandated before undertaking foreign trips. In her whatsapp message, the former IPS officer said one particular minister in the cabinet without mentioning his name has been visiting a country frequently without any intimation to the territorial Chief Secretary, the office of the Lieutenant governor or prior clearance of the government of India as is required. Bedi further said a few have reportedly visited 'sensitive' countries without any record with the territorial administration'. "All this now comes under due regulation and watch," she added. She referred to the visit to Singapore by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and a team (in November last year) and said the visit was yet to be finally settled "as statutory clearance under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) was not obtained by the Chief Minister and his team." The Ministers and others now have to take all prior clearances mandated before taking up foreign trips. It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister accompanied by the Industries Minister M O H F Shah Jahan and the chairman of government-owned Industries Development Corporation here R Siva, MLA (DMK), had visited Singapore on a five-day trip from November 6 last year to invite industrialists and investors to do business in Puducherry. Narayanasamy also claimed on return to Puducherry that he had informed the Centre and also obtained the 'political clearance' from the Union External Affairs Ministry before leaving for Singapore. The Lieutenant Governor, however, pointed out then that she was not aware of the Chief Minister and his team's visit to Singapore. Narayanasamy kept saying at press conferences and at other fora that it was a private visit on his part and on the part of two others and the purpose was to attract investors for the development of the Union Territory. Bedi, however, said the Chief Minister had told a press meet there (Singapore) first saying that it was a private visit and later saying it was a business trip seeking investments including for possible casinos, which have caused 'distress' among sections of society. Bedi also said there was now a clear circular from the government of India on rules relating to foreign trips of Ministers. The mandatory clearance for public officers already exists. "None of us in the government can travel overseas without due clearances and all departments and public officials concerned elected or appointed- to take note of this," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign tourists visit Hoi An ancient city in Vietnam's central province of Quang Nam (Photo: VNA) In terms of growth, the country ranked third with an increase of 27.7 percent year-on-year to 169,000 tourists, after Thailand (45.9 percent and 510,000 visitors) and Taiwan (29.8 percent and 927,000). Over the past five years, the average growth in the number of Indian tourists has reached 26.7 percent, from 65,600 in 2015 to 169,000 in 2019. In 2019, low-cost airline VietjetAir launched two direct flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to New Delhi, becoming the first airline connecting the two biggest economic, cultural and tourist centres of Vietnam and the capital of India. The same year, Indian low-cost airline IndiGo launched its first direct flights between Kolkata-Hanoi and Kolkata-Ho Chi Minh City. Elizabeth Warren claims that in December 2018, she told Bernie Sanders that a woman could win the presidency in 2020, and that Sanders disagreed. Sanders denies this. According to his version of the meeting, Sanders said only that Trump would attempt to undermine a female opponent by using scorched earth tactics. According to the Washington Post, two people with knowledge of the conversation support Sanderss version. The Post doesnt say whether these two people have first-hand knowledge or whether they are in the Sanders camp. I assume (1) they dont and (2) they are. Meanwhile, the New York Times says that people familiar with the meeting back up Warrens version. In their account, Sanders said not just that Trump would weaponize gender to thwart a female candidate, but also that he would succeed. However, the Times acknowledges that its sources werent at the meeting. Rather, they were briefed soon afterwards. I dont believe Warrens account. For one thing, we know shes dishonest. Ramesh Ponnuru reminds us that Warren denied her children went to private school when one of them did; she misrepresented her ancestry; and she said, ludicrously, that Democrats had warned her that no Dem could win a Senate race in Massachusetts. For another thing, its implausible that Sanders would advance the claim that a woman couldnt beat Trump, given that Hillary Clinton came close to doing so. Trumps margins in the states that put him over the top were razor thin. Dont forget that in December 2018, the Democrats were giddy about their victories in the mid-term election just one month earlier. Female candidates had helped lead the charge. Thus, I doubt that Sanders would have thought he could sell Warren the proposition that a female couldnt defeat Trump. And if he didnt think he could sell it, he would have to have been an idiot to state it. Its possible that this is how Warren interpreted Sanderss statement. Its also possible that shes misrepresenting what Sanders said in the hope of gaining an advantage over her rival for votes among women. On balance, I consider the second possibility to be more likely than the first. The possibility that Sanders actually said a woman couldnt defeat Trump runs a distant third to the two scenarios set forth in the paragraph just above. By the way, it was vintage Warren to claim that Sanders said a woman couldnt beat Trump and, in the very next sentence, say she has no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have more in common than our differences in punditry. Feminists will regard the alleged difference about a womans chance of defeating Trump as more than a pundits dispute. Which, of course, is why Warren accused Sanders of making the statement. In addition to a difference in punditry, there is now this difference between Sanders and Warren one is telling the truth about their December conversation; the other isnt, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Even allowing for the soft ball nature of many of the questions CNN interrogators tend to pose at Democratic debates, theres a pretty good chance that Warren will be called on to discuss her private meeting with Sanders. Similarly, theres a pretty good chance that Sanders will be called on to discuss the anti-Warren script his campaign used against the Massachusetts Senator. The gloves are off, as they should be this close to the Iowa caucuses. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has offered an apology for delaying the admission that the national military was responsible for downing the Ukrainian plane, Irans state TV broadcast the speech on January 15, reports TASS. I would like to offer an apology for the delay and for our tone, the president said. The Iranian President also urged the armed forces to provide more information about the crash of the Ukrainian plane. On January 8, the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane en route from Tehran to Kiev crashed shortly after takeoff near Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. There were 176 people on board, and no one survived. Among them were citizens of Afghanistan, Germany, Iran, Canada, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Sweden. On January 11, Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces issued a statement saying that the plane was accidentally downed by an Iranian missile after being mistaken for a cruise missile. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives could vote as early as Wednesday on a bill that seeks to begin to crackdown on drivers who talk on a hand-held while operating a vehicle. But its not an outright ban on adult drivers as other northeastern states, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, have adopted or as Rep. Rosemary Brown, the bills sponsor, wanted. Instead, the bill got amended on Tuesday in the House to make talking on a handheld wireless device while driving a secondary offense for drivers aged 18 and over. That means police could only cite an adult driver for using a handheld device while operating a vehicle if they were stopped for another violation or involved in a crash. The bill also weakens the states 8-year-old texting while driving ban for adults by making it a secondary, or non-stoppable, offense. For younger drivers, the amended legislation would make the use any handheld or hands-free device to talk while driving a stoppable offense. It wouldnt change the law for those drivers who already can be stopped for texting while operating a vehicle. In any case, the legislation sets the penalty at a $150 fine. Brown, R-Monroe County, came away disappointed that her House colleagues voted to amend her bill by a 117-79 vote. She said in offering her bill, her intention was to build on the states 2012 law banning texting while driving for all drivers, not weaken it. There was no part of me that wanted to reduce any measure to a secondary offense since I have a tremendous concern for road safety and cell phone use, she said. But Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon County, said the states texting ban has proven ineffective and unenforceable. I think this is important we keep this as a secondary offense, he said on the House floor. Many folks are responsible and perfectly capable of holding a phone and holding a conversation and driving a car at the same time. He said the federal government implemented a handheld phone ban on commercial drivers in 2012. In the seven years since, heavy truck crashes have increased. There really isnt the evidence or proof that this is the end-all, be-all to make our roads safer, Heffley said. Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery County, however, argued that the goal of the legislation was to not only make highways safer but reduce driving distractions. He said Heffleys amendment falls short of the goal. Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, was among those who favored Heffleys amendment but for a different reason than Heffley mentioned. He said given that some police do not collect race data, he was not in support of giving police officers more reasons to pull over drivers, especially black or brown ones. I think the Heffley amendment is another way to ensure we are not pulling people over for nefarious reasons, Harris said. But Brown argued that her outright ban for handheld devices would make the texting ban even more effective and enforceable. Our people are asking us to make some sort of difference or help with this situation," she said. "It is absolutely a concern in this commonwealth. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Through Instagram Justin Bieber raised some eyebrows towards Lyme disease as he shared a picture of him and captioned it, Reuters While a lot of people kept saying Justin Bieber looks like shit, on meth etc. they failed to realize I've been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health. These things will be explained further in a docu series I'm putting on YouTube shortly.. you can learn all that I've been battling and OVERCOMING!! It's been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever NO CAP To this his wife Hailey Beiber took twitter to support husband Justin Beiber, For those who are trying to downplay the severity of Lyme disease. Please do your research and listen to the stories of people who have suffered with it for years. Making fun of and belittling a disease you dont understand is never the way, all it takes is educating yourself. Hailey Bieber (@haileybieber) January 8, 2020 What is lyme disease? Lyme disease is a common disease in the United States. It is transmitted through infected deer ticks. This disease is also known as lyme borreliosis which is an infection caused by borrelia bacteria. The most common way to judge this disease is by checking your skin turning red. This will happen on the site where the tick might have bitten. It appears after a week of time. Reuters How Lyme disease gets transmitted? The small deer tick feeds on blood of mice and birds and then bites humans, contaminating their blood. After it injects the bacteria into the blood it grows locally which is also known as Early-localised disease. When it spreads in the blood it affects various organs of the human body. Usually these ticks are found in shrubs, bushes and wooded areas. They can get in touch with humans during outdoor activity. Causes of Lyme disease There are no other causes than the bite of a deer tick. Who all can get Lyme disease? From child to an adult anyone who gets bitten by the deer tick and that tick has that virus can get Lyme disease. health.clevelandclinic What are the symptoms of Lyme disease? The symptoms usually occur 3-30 days after a bite and it depends on the stage of the infection too. The early symptoms are flu like fever, fatigue, viral fever, body pain and swollen lymph nodes. The most identifying and specific symptom is a rash which can be seen on the body. What are the precautions for Lyme disease? To avoid Lyme disease, it is better to shower after coming indoors. Watch out for ticks on the body and check your clothes too. These ticks are the size of seeds like poppy seeds. Wear long sleeves and get full covered clothes while you are on a trip to wildlife. If you have any rash which is unusual to you, go and see a doctor. Use insect repellent spray when you go out. It is also suggested to stay away from animals which can have ticks like Dogs, horses, cattle's, deer and rodents. Romney said this week that he presumes he will vote in favor of hearing from Bolton, although he added that his view could change depending on what he hears from the trial. He also said Tuesday that he doesnt plan to put a list together of desired witnesses. Last week, Murkowski said she would be curious as to what Bolton would have to say, but she had not made a commitment on whether she wants to hear from the former White House official. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex took that New Year, New Me saying to heart. The Sussexes were sick and tired of the bullying, racism, and sexism that Meghan had been experiencing at the hands of the British press since she and the prince were first engaged. 2019 was supposed to be one of the best years in the duchess life. Meghan and Prince Harry celebrated one year of marriage, and they welcomed their adorable son, Archie Harrison. Sadly, the constant bullying from the public and press as well as the princes fallout with his older brother, Prince William made things extremely challenging. Now the duke and duchess have made a drastic decision, changing their lives and the structure of the royal family forever. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are done being confined to royal life From the Sussexes own candid admissions to the late Princess Dianas shocking revelations life as a member of the British royal family is no fairytale. Its also straining when the U.K. press and public refuse to allow you the space to be a human being. After a rough 2019, Meghan and Prince Harry have had enough. On Jan 8 the Sussexes announced they would be stepping back as senior royals. They also revealed they would only be living in the U.K. part-time. After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution, the Sussexes said in a statement. We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This is how Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will make money Breaking away from the royal family will allow the duke and duchess to make their own money. We doubt there will be any tell-all books or interviews. However, the duo has recently trademarked Sussex Royal which will elevate their brand in new ways. We can certainly see books, speaking engagements, Netflix series, and other things on the horizon. Meghan has reportedly already signed a voiceover deal with Disney. Though this deal is in exchange for a contribution to Elephants without Borders other deals like this could line the Sussexes pockets. Canada might pay for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles security bill Since the pair have their own money, separate from the royal family they certainly wont be living a destitute lifestyle. However, the major drain on their finances is their extensive security team. We would imagine that the U.K. taxpayers would continue to pay for the Sussexes security when they are in the U.K., but not for the other part of the year. Since Meghan and Prince Harry will be spending a good chunk of time in North America aka Canada, it looks like the country might be preparing to pay for the Sussexes security detail. Their security is one of the major issues that the Sussexes will have to contend with as modern and free royals. No, we havent spent any time thinking about this issue, Bill Morneau, Canadas finance minister. told CBC reporters. We obviously are always looking to make sure, as a member of the Commonwealth, we play a role. We have not had any discussions on that subject at this time. Were sure the Sussexes will figure everything out in time. Delhi High Court on Wednesday (January 15) will hear the petition of Mukesh Kumar, one of the convicts of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case, who pleaded the court to set aside trial court`s order on his death warrant. The division bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal will hear the plea. The convict's petition has informed High Court that his mercy petition is pending before Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and President of India, therefore, he should be given a minimum 14 days notice between the rejection of his mercy petition and scheduled date of execution. Live TV Notably, Mukesh Kumar approached the HC after the Supreme Court dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the Nirbhaya case on Tuesday. A five-judge Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the petitions filed by the convicts, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh. The curative petitions were filed in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22. Besides them, two other convicts named Pawan and Akshay are also slated to be executed on the same day at 7 am in Delhi`s Tihar Jail premises. These convicts were sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012. The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment. Notably, the four convicts have broke prison rules 23 times in total during their stay at Tihar, while three of them earned Rs 1,37,000 from prison wages, sources said. Tihar sources told ANI that Akshay got one punishment, Mukesh got three, Pawan got eight and Vinay has got 11 for breaking prison rules. While Mukesh chose not to do any labour work, Akshay earned Rs 69,000; Pawan earned Rs 29,000, and Vinay earned Rs 39,000 from prison wages. Vinay, who is the one to have got the maximum punishment among the four convicts inside the Tihar Jail, is facing anxiety, said the sources, adding that the family of all the convicts have been allowed to meet them twice before execution. Another convict Akshay`s family had met him last in November and he usually speaks to them over phone. No one has come to meet him since after the announcement of execution date. The sources have also shared that Pawan Jallad, one of the executioner, will stay inside Tihar Jail only, and added that he will come to Delhi two days before the execution and all the execution will happen together. (With Agency Inputs) (CNN) Microsoft has ended support for Windows 7. That means it will no longer provide updates or security patches for the 11-year-old operating system, and the hundreds of millions of PCs still using it are vulnerable to attack. One-third of PCs around the world run Windows 7, according to NetMarketShare. So, if you're one of those people impacted, what can you do? Good news, for starters: You don't have to throw your computer or laptop out of the window(s). It's still usable, but it's less secure. Microsoft is warning users in a special website that they will be at "greater risk for viruses and malware" because it will no longer provide security updates or fixes. Microsoft is suggesting you do one of two things: First, upgrade your existing equipment to Windows 10. The $139 version is good enough for most PCs -- even some older ones that still run Windows 7. There's also a Windows 10 Pro version for $199 if you use it for business purposes. To check if your computer will be able to run Windows 10, Microsoft has published a compatibility guide that will help you determine whether your specifications meet the minimums for the latest version of Windows. For example, your PC needs at least 32 GB of hard drive storage space, 1 GB of RAM and a processor with a clock speed of at least 1 GHz. Those aren't exactly stellar specs, but some older Windows 7 PCs won't make the cut. If your computer can't run Windows 10, it might be time to buy a new one. Even if you missed the flurry of holiday deals, Microsoft notes that computer prices are considerably lower than they were five to 10 years ago, when Windows 7 was in its heyday. Microsoft has created a quiz to help you find the right computer. If you're not going to do either of these things, well, good luck to you. The internet is filled with malware that might infect your Windows 7 machine, so keep your browser updated. Google Chrome said it will continue providing updates to browsers running on Windows 7 PCs until July 2021. Microsoft also said it will provide security updates for its Edge browser for around the same time, according to a report. (CNN Business didn't immediately hear back to confirm the date.) Still, browser updates alone aren't sufficient to protect your computer against hackers and bad actors. Operating systems have zillions of lines of code, and despite more than a decade of fixes and patches, holes and bugs continue to become apparent. Now that Microsoft has stopped updating Windows 7, those bugs will live on forever, ready to be exploited by bad actors. This is not a hypothetical. The massive WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 left millions of Windows XP computers vulnerable to attack. Microsoft ultimately relented and issued an emergency patch for the then-16-year-old operating system, but it has not updated it since. Hackers exploit the most vulnerable parts of the internet, and Windows 7, with its millions of users, will quickly become one of those. So get Windows 10 or a new Windows 10 PC. Or buy a Mac. You'll be a lot safer when you do. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 19-year-old woman who accused Cleveland Mayor Frank Jacksons grandson of attacking her last June was adamant on the witness stand Tuesday that Frank Q. Jackson Jr. punched her, choked her and struck her with a metal truck hitch for no reason. Some portions of her testimony diverged from previous statements about the incident that were included in police reports and appeared to contradict some testimony of friend who said she witnessed parts of the incident. Delilah Swifts testimony came on the second day of trial in the 22-year-old Jackson Jr.'s case. He is charged with felonious assault and abduction, both felonies, after Cuyahoga County prosecutors dismissed two counts of failure to comply before the trial began on Monday. Mayor Jackson sat in the back of the courtroom throughout much of Tuesdays proceedings. Swift said she and Jackson Jr. were in an often tumultuous on-and-off relationship for years leading up to the June 10 incident. Swift said that Jackson Jr. gave her and her then-16-year-old a ride from the Outhwaite Homes housing complex to a gas station on East 40th Street so she could cash her paycheck. While her friend ran into the store to cash the check and get something to eat, Jackson Jr. turned around and punched her in the face for no reason, Swift said. She also said that Jackson crawled into the backseat and choked her until her friend came back to the truck. Swift testified that the friend saw the choking, but the friend, who is now 17 years old, testified earlier Tuesday that she did not. She said she opened the door and saw Swift was crying. Swift said she did not try to escape and walk home at that time because the relationship was often volatile. The group then went back to the housing complex, where Swift said Jackson Jr. grabbed a metal tow hitch from the backseat and struck her several times, then dragged her across a field. Jackson ran away when other friends ran out the house. A Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority police report said that Swift told police after the incident that another man was in the truck at the time, the testimony showed. Both Swift and the teenager said Tuesday that no one else was in the car. The report also said that Swift initially told police that Jackson Jr. only hit her left knee with the hitch. Swift said she could not remember if she told the detective Jackson hit one or both of her knees. Defense attorney Jeffrey Saffold grilled Swift until she admitted that she suffered no injuries from the attack, and that Jackson Jr. dragged her across the field because she was clinging onto his leg and refused to let to go of him. "When you say he was dragging you, you were abducting him. You wouldnt let him go. He was trying to get away from you, correct? Swift paused before she answered, yes. Saffold also played social media videos that Swift had broadcast on Instagram Live after Jackson Jr. was charged in which she threw juice on Jackson Jr.'s girlfriend and discussed fighting her. Swift said in the video that the girlfriend, who was in court all day Tuesday, had invited her to a fight at the mayors house. Saffold used the videos to portray Swift as the aggressor in the relationship, a characterization that Swift ultimately agreed with. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Brad Meyer maintained that the videos were not relevant to what happened during the attack on June 10. He asked her who was the aggressor, who threw the first punch and who had the weapon on June 10. Frank, she replied, to each question. Testimony is expected to resume Wednesday morning. Read recent stories Cleveland mayors grandson acted in self-defense against wildly aggressive woman, defense attorney tells jury Jury selection begins in trial of Cleveland mayors grandson Attorney says Mayor Frank Jacksons grandson is 'a victim in assault case County grand jury indicts Cleveland Mayor Frank Jacksons grandson in beating case city attorneys declined to prosecute Cleveland prosecutor declined to charge Mayor Frank Jacksons grandson in beating of woman witnessed by others, records say Democratic presidential hopefuls started Tuesdays debate by slamming President Donald Trumps Iran policy and articulating their own vision for the future US force posture in the Middle East. Former Vice President Joe Biden vowed to leave troops in the Middle East in terms of patrolling the Gulf, characterizing the roughly 40,000 US troops currently stationed in the Arab Gulf states as a small number of troops. He also called it a mistake to pull out the small number of troops that are there now to deal with [the Islamic State], vowing to leave US special forces in place to deal with the terrorist group. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not directly address troop levels at the debate, but told Al-Monitor last week that I will do my best as president to bring our troops home as soon as possible, but I will not do it through a tweet. I will not do it by creating a situation where we get kicked out of the country [Iraq]. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., took a similar line at the debate, stating, We need to get our combat troops out. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., both criticized Trump for adding thousands of troops to the region in recent months. Buttigieg argued, We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment of ground troops. And Klobuchar vowed to leave some troops there, but not in the level that Donald Trump is taking us right now. Why it matters: Trump ordered an additional 3,000 US troops to deploy to the region after killing Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. This follows a steady buildup in the Gulf last year as tensions with Iran escalated. The Pentagon has become increasingly opaque about disclosing troop levels in recent years, but the Washington Post estimates that some 54,000 US troops are stationed throughout the Middle East, plus another 14,000 in Afghanistan. Approximately 3,000 of those troops are stationed in Saudi Arabia, the first time the United States has placed troops there since 2003. Whats next: The Iraqi parliament passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the roughly 6,000 US troops and all other foreign troops to leave the country earlier this month after the Soleimani assassination. Trump has ruled out withdrawing from Iraq until Baghdad pays the United States billions of dollars. He has instead threatened to sanction the fragile country. And after initially seeking to withdraw from Syria, he has kept about 800 troops there as part of a secure the oil mission in Kurdish-held territory. Know more: Key Senate Republican leaders are lining up behind the Trump administrations threats to impose crippling sanctions on Iraq as part of a bid to force Baghdad to accept an ongoing US troop presence. Congressional Correspondent Bryant Harris has the story here. And Joe Snell has the latest on how Warren is fusing domestic and foreign policy to challenge Trump by calling for an insider trading probe against the president over the Soleimani strike. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Desperate efforts by firefighters on the ground and in the air have saved the only known natural grove of the world-famous Wollemi pines from destruction during the record-breaking bushfires in NSW. The rescue mission involved water-bombing aircraft and large air tankers dropping fire retardant. Helicopters also winched specialist firefighters into the remote gorge to set up an irrigation system to increase the moisture content of the ground fuels to slow the advance of any fire. "It was like a military-style operation," NSW Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean told the Herald. "We just had to do everything." While most of the Wollemi National Park has been burnt by the huge Gospers Mountain fire north-west of Sydney, specialist remote-area fire crews managed to ensure the so-called "dinosaur trees" survived. "Wollemi National Park is the only place in the world where these trees are found in the wild and, with less than 200 left, we knew we needed to do everything we could to save them, Mr Kean said. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, backed by the Rural Fire Service, kept their efforts largely a secret to avoid revealing the location of the Wollemi pines. After announcing the Pentagon would ramp up its counter-drone efforts in the new year, the Defense Department recently established a new office to address the growing challenge of targeting pesky and sometimes lethal enemy drones, according to a top official. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord told reporters Tuesday that the DoD has created a 60-person team, headed by a two-star Army general, that will draft policy and field systems to best take out unmanned systems that pose a threat to U.S. installations and facilities -- especially those abroad. "Overall, the idea is to take all of the effort in terms of development and fielding and come up with three to five systems, which are the best for counter-UAS, and make sure we leverage those across the entire DoD," Lord said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington, D.C. Lord, who unveiled the Pentagon's ambitions for better counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) last month, said the team should have proposals ready by April. The DoD named the U.S. Army as executive agent for counter-UAS for all the services. Related: Finding New Ways to Fight Enemy Drones a 'Top Priority' for the Pentagon "One size does not fit all," Lord said. "You need a system with multiple sensors, multiple 'defeat' systems," Lord said. "We need defensive measures ... all the way up to group five, very large" unmanned aerial vehicles, she added. Group 5 drones include aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk. Lord said the goal is to prevent future attacks from drones, no matter their level of sophistication. For example, swarms of drones helped devastate Saudi Arabia's huge Abqaiq oil production facility and the nearby Al Khurais oil field on Sept. 14, initially knocking out about five million barrels per day of oil production, according to Saudi defense officials. Aramco, a state-owned oil company, operates the facility. Lord acknowledged that there is an assortment of weapons already out there. For the past several years, combat units have been equipped with drone-disabling systems such as Dedrone's DroneDefender, a shoulder-fired weapon that disables drones with radio waves and, when paired with an Israeli-made radar, can detect unmanned aerial vehicles from several kilometers away. In August, the Air Force awarded Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems a $23.8 million contract for two prototype high-energy laser weapons (HELW) systems, designed to take out UAVs. The service said it expects to deploy the HELW mounted on ground-based vehicles in a few months for a year-long test. The Air Force also gave Raytheon a $16 million contract to prototype the Phaser high-powered microwave counter-drone system, to be deployed and tested by service personnel within the same timeframe as the HELW. In the next few months, the Pentagon hopes to test more "comprehensive systems" in the field, Lord said. "It's just a variety of different types," she said. "And what we're trying to do is standardize to a degree on systems that have a range of capabilities." Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Dedrone now manufactures the DroneDefender. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Read more: Army's New Sighting System Could Lead to Reckless Shooting and Fratricide, Experts Say By Luo Yang CHONGQING, Jan. 15 -- Nine members of the 6th Chinese military medical expert team to Ethiopia left Chongqing for Addis Ababa, capital of eastern Africas Ethiopia for a one-year military medical assistance mission on Jan. 13, 2020. Chinese military medical experts have been implementing medical assistance tasks to Ethiopia for six years. This year marks the first time for the elite military doctors from multiple hospitals to jointly carry out the mission. The nine team members come from five military hospitals, covering seven medical departments including neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery, cardiovascular medicine and critical care medicine. They will conduct clinical treatment, personnel training and technical assistance mainly at the General Hospital of Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) upon arrival. Erdogan Says Turkey Ready To 'Teach A Lesson' To Libya's Haftar By RFE/RL January 14, 2020 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will "teach a lesson" to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar if his forces continue attacks against the North African country's internationally recognized government. Erdogan issued the threat in a televised speech on January 14, after General Haftar and the head of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Fayez al-Sarraj, left Moscow without reaching a cease-fire deal to end months of fighting. The two rivals didn't meet directly but their delegations on January 13 held about seven hours of closed-door talks with top diplomats and military officials from Russia and Turkey. Libya has been torn by violence since longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011. NATO-member Turkey has been backing the GNA, while Russia supports Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which is trying to capture the capital, Tripoli. A tentative cease-fire that came into force on January 12 saw a lull in heavy fighting and air strikes in Libya, although both sides have accused each other of violating it as skirmishes continued around Tripoli. After the January 13 meetings in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Sarraj had signed a draft truce agreement but that Haftar requested more time to consider it. The next morning, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Haftar had left the Russian capital without signing the document. Russian news agencies reported that Sarraj had also departed. Russia's Defense Ministry later said that Haftar had taken two days to discuss the agreements reached in Moscow with his allies, Russian news agencies reported. But speaking at a meeting of his party in Ankara, Erdogan said the "putschist Haftar ran away" from the Russian capital. "Despite this, we find the talks in Moscow were positive as they showed the true face of the putschist Haftar to the international community," the Turkish president said. He said the issue would now be discussed at a Berlin summit on Libya planned for January 19. Addressing at a press conference during a visit to Sri Lanka earlier in the day, Lavrov said Moscow would continue pushing for a permanent truce agreement between the warring sides in Libya's conflict. Turkey and Russia have both been criticized by UN and Western officials who say their efforts to arm their allies have led to an intensification of the violence. Erdogan announced earlier this month that he had dispatched military elements to Libya to ensure stability for the GNA. UN experts and diplomats say that Russian military contractors in recent months have deployed alongside the LNA. With reporting by AFP, TASS, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-says- libyas-haftar-left-moscow-without-signing -truce-deal/30376046.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address When dozens of Catholic leaders prepared to meet with Trump administration officials last month, one advocacy group planned a reception at an increasingly common stopping point for conservative religious groups in Washington: President Donald Trump's hotel in the District of Columbia. Catholic Vote, a political action group that lobbies on behalf of candidates who oppose abortion and gay marriage, held a 50-person afternoon reception on Dec. 16, the same day it and other Catholic groups met administrative officials for a briefing on "religious freedom," according to internal hotel documents obtained by The Washington Post. The afternoon reception, offering drinks plus appetizers including beef Wellington and jumbo shrimp cocktail, was organized by former Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp, the group's senior political adviser, according to the documents. Huelskamp, a former chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus, is known for his strong social conservatism including opposition to gay marriage. Catholic Vote selected the Trump hotel not to curry political favor with the administration but because it was a nice hotel nearby to the White House, said a spokesman for the group, Joshua Mercer. "It's pretty simple, actually. It was a beautiful venue with close proximity to the White House," he said. The event was modest by luxury hotel standards. Documents show it likely cost at least $2,500 but not tens of thousands of dollars that large room bookings and events can bring luxury hotels. Mercer declined to provide a total of the group's spending at the hotel. A Trump Organization spokeswoman did not return a request for comment. Catholic Vote is the latest in a long line of conservative religious organization to book an event at the Trump hotel while trying to build support for its cause in Washington, causing concern among ethics experts, government watchdog groups and congressional Democrats. Other religious groups that have booked events at the hotel during Trump's presidency include the Museum of the Bible, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Revival Outside the Walls Ministry, the First Liberty Institute and the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, according to hotel documents and news reports. Catholic Vote is not connected to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, as the bishops of the U.S. Catholic Church have their own lobbying efforts. Recently the president of Catholic Vote announced plans to use cell phone tracking data to target Christian voters in key states this year. At the Dec. 16 briefing, held in the Executive Office Building the day of Catholic Vote's hotel reception, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and attendees discussed legislation introduced by House Republicans earlier in December. Called the "Fairness for All Americans Act," the bill attempts to balance LGBTQ protections with concerns of conservative religious leaders, according to the Catholic Telegraph. LGBTQ advocates oppose the legislation and some take issue with business that conservative religious groups are booking at Trump's hotel. "The reality is Catholic voters overwhelmingly support full non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people," said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a D.C. group that advocates for the LGTBQ rights, in a statement. David called Catholic Vote's booking of the Trump hotel shameful and said "the fact that this corrupt back channel exists in the first place is the deeper problem." Catholic Vote's opposition to LGBTQ non-discrimination protections appears to be out of step with the majority of Catholics. More than 70 percent of American Catholics support such protections, according to polling this year from the Public Religion Research Institute. Critics of Trump have routinely raised concerns about special interest groups currying favor with the administration by spending money at the president's hotel, which he still owns because he retained his stake in his business when he entered the White House. The president's company, now run by his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is trying to sell its lease to the hotel, which operates in a federally owned building, the Old Post Office pavilion, on a lease the company signed in 2013. The deadline for bids is Jan. 23. Last week, House Democrats Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Dina Titus of Nevada stepped up the pressure by announcing that they plan to hold a Jan. 28 hearing on the General Services Administration's withholding of documents relate to the hotel. "In addition to discussing GSA's development and execution of the OPO lease, we will examine GSA's role in the Trump Organization's current effort to sell the OPO lease," the Democrats said in a statement. - - - The Washington Post's Sarah Pulliam Bailey and David A. Fahrenthold contributed. By AFP SEOUL: Alek Sigley was studying modern Korean literature at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang when he went missing in June, sparking international alarm. Canberra has no diplomatic representation in Pyongyang and turned to Sweden, the protecting power for its citizens. Stockholm sent an envoy and Sigley was released after nine days in detention -- a much shorter period than some foreigners arrested in the authoritarian North. Sigley had written articles for a number of publications while in Pyongyang and North Korean authorities accused him of espionage, saying they released him on grounds of "humanitarian forbearance". Writing in South Korean academic journal Monthly North Korea, Sigley said he was forced to admit guilt during an "unpleasant" nine-day interrogation "completely cut off from the outside world". "From my point of view, I was not guilty but was falsely accused by the authorities," he said. "They continuously made me write 'apologies' as if they wanted to teach me a lesson." He did not accuse authorities of physically mistreating him. His arrest was a "turning point in my life", he said, describing it as being "kidnapped" by North Korea's secret police. Sigley speaks fluent Korean and was already familiar with the North, organising tours to the isolated country and marrying his Japanese wife there in 2018. While in Pyongyang he posted apolitical content on social media about life in one of the world's most secretive nations, focussing on everyday Pyongyang -- everything from the city's dining scene to North Korean app reviews. But he said his experience in the capital was that of an "outsider" in a country "stricken with xenophobia". "It is practically impossible to make local friends," he says, though he was "on a few occasions" able to see the "human side" of those around him. "Those were the most pleasant and meaningful moments." In 2017 University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who had been imprisoned during a tour of North Korea and fell into a coma while in detention, died days after arriving back in the United States. Micheal Martin has said that there is now a very real possibility to form an alternative government that wasnt there in 2016. He said however that his statement that he would not go into Government with Sinn Fein was very credible. Ive outlined reasons why in terms of how that party operates as I could never be sure with Sinn Fein who youre dealing with, he said. Is it with unelected officials in Belfast who rule the roost, who control the levers of power within that party. Fianna Fails first electoral event of the campaign showed a relaxed Mr Martin in composed form ahead of the three-week sprint. At a news conference at the partys campaign HQ in Dublin flanked by his director of elections Dara Calleary and candidate for Dublin South Central Catherine Ardagh, the party leader steered clear of manifesto specifics but made it clear the twin pillars of his campaign would be the ongoing crises seen in health and housing. Attacking one of Fine Gaels three main pillars of their own, Mr Martin said that Fine Gael can no longer blame the crises in Irish public services on having insufficient finances. They excuse every failure, including rising waiting lists, rising house prices and rising homelessness as something they have not addressed because they have no money, he said. Now they have the money but they dont have the will to do so," he said. Three years after the Taoiseach said that the housing and homelessness crisis was being overcome its worse than ever. The Fianna Fail leader said that his party would be running 82 candidates and expected to be competitive in every constituency. I am confident that on February 8 we will prevail. He said that he felt he had done the right thing in removing TDs Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins from his front bench over the Votegate controversy, but would not be drawn on whether the pair would emerge on his front bench should he be elected Taoiseach. Likewise, in terms of his spokeswoman on Brexit Lisa Chambers, who was also caught up in the voting controversy, he said the issue had been dealt with by the Members Interests Committee. All investigations into the issue have now been rendered moot by the dissolution of the Dail. Regarding the spate of violent criminal attacks seen in Dublin and Louth earlier this week Mr Martin said the issue of criminality deserves a higher and more robust response. Theres a sense that were losing control of the State, in particular the age that young people are becoming involved in criminality is worrying, he said. In terms of his partys financial plans, Mr Martin accepted that an 11bn package, as described by Fine Gael, would be required by the year 2025 in broad budgetary figures. We have been prudent and progressive in terms of budgetary policy. We believe in staying within clear fiscal parameters. How you work within that broader envelope will be the determining factors in this election. Perhaps the most exercised Mr Martin became across the 40-minute event was in terms of the incident in Dublin which saw a homeless man sleeping in a tent severely injured as a result of waterways workers attempting to clear an area beside the Grand Canal with maintenance vehicle . That incident was described as a national disgrace by Fianna Fails spokesman on housing Darragh OBrien this afternoon. He said it was extraordinary regarding that terribly tragic event that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had suggested that Dublin Lord Mayor, and Fianna Fail election hopeful, Paul McAuliffe make a statement on the matter. Thats not how I do politics, he said, adding that the incident reflects the blight of homelessness across this country. A massive explosion at a petrochemicals factory in Spain killed a man at home two miles away after the blast flung a one-ton sheet of metal into the apartment above him. The 59-year-old, named in local media as shopkeeper Sergio Millan, died on Tuesday when his ceiling collapsed, said authorities in the city of Tarragona. Firefighters found the body of a second victim among the debris of the Iqoxe plant on Wednesday. The blast injured eight other employees, two of them critically, and sparked a fire that was still burning 24 hours later. Authorities said they had yet to remove the body of the second victim. There is structural risk in the area and work is being done to stabilise the area and safely reach the victim, said Catalonias interior department. 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 Officials are investigating the cause of what they described as a chemical accident. Iqoxe chief executive Jose Luis Morlanes said the explosion occurred in a 20-ton tank of ethylene oxide in a part of the plant which had operated without incident since it opened in June 2017. According to the companys website, Iqoxe is Spains sole producer of ethylene oxide, a chemical compound used for making detergents, solvents and other products, as well as glycol, one of the main raw materials in the production of plastics. The company, owned by Spains CL Grupo Industrial SA, said it had opened an internal investigation into the explosion. We deeply regret the loss of one of our co-workers and the suffering of those who are injured, Mr Morlanes said. The explosion reportedly flung a one-ton piece of metal through the window of flat, killing a man inside (EPA) Prime minister Pedro Sanchezs office said he was in touch with Catalan authorities and Madrid was ready to provide the necessary support due to this serious event, which has caused several injuries and substantial material damage. The civil defence agency, which initially advised people nearby to stay indoors as a precaution following the blast, said air quality tests carried out Wednesday had not shown any risk. Thirty firefighting crews worked through the night to combat the blaze, which caused thick columns of black smoke to rise into the air. The explosion itself could be seen from miles away, with residents of Tarragona a port city 71 miles southwest of Barcelona posting footage on social media. Antonia Caballero, 65, who lives near the plant, was cleaning her house when the explosion occurred. She said: I thought that the door at the front of the building had collapsed. I looked out to the window and I saw the flames. I went to the door and left right away. My sons called me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The U.S. and China signed what they're billing as the first phase of a broader trade pact on Wednesday amid persistent questions over whether President Donald Trump's efforts to rewrite the economic relationship with Beijing will ever go any further. The deal commits China to do more to crack down on the theft of American technology and corporate secrets by its companies and state entities, while outlining a $200 billion spending spree to try to close its trade imbalance with the U.S. It also binds Beijing to avoiding currency manipulation to gain an advantage and includes an enforcement system to ensure promises are kept. The ceremony at the White House, which included Trump, dozens of American business people and Chinese officials, was a rare moment of friendship lately between the world's two largest economies. Acrimonious talks stretching back almost three years have roiled financial markets, cast a cloud of uncertainty over investment decisions and hurt growth in both nations. "This is a very important and remarkable occasion," Trump said at the signing. "Together we are righting the wrongs of the past." The benchmark S&P 500 Index set an intraday record high for the sixth consecutive trading session. The deal, sealed on the same day the House prepared to refer articles of Trump's impeachment to the Senate, has already been criticized for what is missing. It does nothing to address areas like what U.S. authorities have long claimed is China's state-backed hacking of American companies and government institutions. Nor does it require the Asian nation to reform the vast web of state subsidies that form the spine of its model of state capitalism and have helped fuel the rapid growth of Chinese companies compete internationally. The administration says many of those issues will be covered in a second phase of a deal, though when those talks will begin and how long they will take remains uncertain. In the meantime, the U.S. is also set to maintain tariffs on roughly two-thirds of imports from China. "As soon as this kicks in we're starting phase two," Trump said. "I will agree to take those tariffs off if we're able to do phase two, otherwise we don't have any cards to negotiate with. They will all come off as soon as we finish phase two." At the ceremony, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He read a letter from President Xi Jinping, stating the two sides have to implement the agreement "in real earnest." "I hope the U.S. side will treat fairly Chinese companies," he said through an interpreter. In his own comments, Liu said China will "strictly honor" the pact. Trump's top negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, told reporters ahead of the signing that the administration was focused on implementing the initial agreement in the short term. Any further negotiations will only come after that, he said. Officials also insist that they are harvesting significant commitments from Beijing that mean the phase one agreement will benefit U.S. businesses and workers even if discussions never go any further. The deal requires China to do more to stop the sale of pirated goods and to apply criminal penalties on anyone caught steeling commercial secrets. It also requires Beijing to deliver an action plan withing 30 days of the deal taking effect on how it intends to meet its commitments. It also requires China to stop pressuring American companies investing in the country to share technology with local joint-venture partners. The agreement stipulates that the Chinese must stop supporting or directing the acquisition of overseas investment aimed at buying up technologies. "This is an enormous win," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters ahead of the signing, pointing to Chinese commitments on IP that will affect the technology sector as well as other reforms on currency, the opening up of the financial services sector to U.S. companies and the promised spending spree. Other supporters of Trump's trade policies insist that the initial deal goes a long way toward addressing the IP issues that were at the core of the case brought against China. "Anyone complaining that this doesn't resolve every U.S.-China issue needs to recall that this entire negotiation was based on a report on China's IP and techtransfer policies," said Clete Willems, who until last year was a member of Trump's national economic council and is now at law firm Akin Gump. China has already moved to address some U.S. complaints on IP. Over the past year, it has made a rapid-fire series of legal changes amid the negotiations to beef up protection. A new foreign investment law that took effect on Jan. 1 bans administrative agencies from forcing companies to transfer technological knowhow as a cost of entry to the Chinese market. It also exposes officials who disclose or leak trade secrets gleaned from regulatory approvals to potential criminal penalties. The U.S. is also moving to address remaining issues like industrial subsidies in other ways. On Tuesday the U.S., European Union, and Japan said they had agreed on the content of new stricter global rules on subsidies aimed largely at China and would be mounting a joint push to build support for them internationally. The Trump administration says what separates its deal most from others is the enforcement mechanism it establishes. Rather than rely on a slow-moving World Trade Organization dispute system that Trump in any case has already hobbled by blocking the appointment of top judges, the new agreement with China would allow the administration to move to punish Beijing with tariffs or other measures within 90 days if officials decided it was breaking its promises. But even Lighthizer acknowledges how effective that mechanism will be depends on Beijing. "This deal will work if China wants it to work," he said Wednesday. The deal is also unique in the breadth of specific Chinese purchase commitments it contains, which some critics in the U.S. see as uncomfortably reminiscent of the sort of state-directed central planning American diplomats have spent decades trying to get China to abandon. Even those purchase promises, the details of which are contained in a secret annex to the agreement signed on Tuesday, face questions. The text of the deal released Wednesday specifies $77.7 billion in Chinese purchases of manufactured goods including aircraft, $32 billion in agricultural products, $52.4 billion in energy and $37.9 billion in services in the two years through December 2021. Much of the attention has focused on whether U.S. farm exports to China can reach the $40 billion to $50 billion annual level that Trump has promised, which would mean doubling the $24 billion in agriculture and related products it imported from the U.S. in 2017, before the trade war began. There are also questions over a Chinese commitment to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S. oil and gas over two years and pledges to step up purchases of cars, planes and other manufactured goods. To meet the energy target, China would have to import roughly one-third of the 3 million barrels a day of crude that the U.S. exported last year over a two year period, according to Bloomberg calculations. Which is why analysts believe meeting that deal may depend heavily on buying natural gas, which is usually traded via long-term contracts rather than spot purchases. However, China may not have much appetite for any additional gas right now beyond the long-term contracts it has already committed to as it continues to struggle with a slowing economy and a slowdown in demand growth and already-brimming stockpiles. Likewise, U.S. LNG export plants have most of their volumes tied up in their own long-term contracts and would only be able to provide China with a marginal amount of spot supply over the next two years. - - - Bloomberg's Miao Han, Jenny Leonard, Stephen Stapczynski, Ye Xie, Justin Sink and Jordan Fabian contributed to this report. The 4th Thai Nguyen Vietnam Tea Festival will be organised in Thai Nguyen on April 17-19 to promote Vietnamese tea products, honour villages, producers and the tea processing industry. Thai Nguyen is the countrys second largest tea producer after the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The festival will feature a wide range of activities, including an opening ceremony, closing ceremony, a tea culture festival, a beauty contest, and conference on improving Thai Nguyen tea value and brand. Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Duong Van Luong said that the festival offers a good opportunity for tea producers and traders to exchange experience, as well as set up relations with domestic and foreign partners, helping local tea reach out to the world. Thai Nguyen, located 75 kilometres to the north of Hanoi, is the countrys second largest tea producer after the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Thai Nguyen is well-known for its green, aromatic and black teas. Tea plants have been grown in the province for around 100 years. Currently, Thai Nguyen province is home to more than 22,000 hectares of tea, with average output of 220,000 tonnes of fresh tea leaves each year. More than 80 percent of the local tea area is grown into VietGAP standard. Local tea has been sold in Chinas Taiwan, China, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, and several fastidious markets like the EU and North America. Under the project on increasing added value and sustainably developing Thai Nguyen tea brand during 2017-2020, the province is striving to have 30 percent of its tea planting area certified with VietGAP standard, and develop at least one high-tech tea production zone in each district, town and city. Besides, the province targets 30 percent of its tea output labeled with domestic trademark protection and joining in the global value chain, and 20 percent of its high-quality exported to international markets. VNA Long Coc tea hill spread their green to heavens rim We were lucky enough to have a chance to visit Long Coc in the northern mountainous province of Phu Tho, which is considered one of the most beautiful tea plantations in the country. A CCTV operator at the Westfield shopping centre was caught with 45 indecent images of children which he claimed to have downloaded to catch 'real paedophiles'. Terry Simms, 34, said he had downloaded the images when he was trying to catch real paedophiles, Inner London crown court heard. Police traced his internet address from a category C image that was uploaded to be shared with other users in 2016. Terry Simms (pictured), 34, said he had downloaded the images when he was trying to catch real paedophiles The judge, Ms Recorder Claire Davies told Simms, who worked at Stratford Westfield City as a camera room operator: You are 34 years old and have two children, aged six years and two months old. Social services have been involved and are aware and have closed your file. 'You have two character references which both speak highly of you. You have the support of your employer in the potential loss of your licence. Simms stood in the dock wearing a grey suit with glasses and a striped tie. His sexual harm prevention order prohibits him from possessing any device that accesses the internet unless it keeps the history of internet use and that he notifies the police that he possesses any such device. Simms is also prohibited from deleting the internet use of that device, installing any programme that can delete user history or installing any dark web browsing programme. He is also prohibited from installing or using any programme that automatically deletes messages, for example, Snapchat or downloading any type of peer to peer sharing programme. Destruction of his desktop computer and Chromebook was ordered. Simms, of Clapham, admitted possessing indecent photos of children. He was sentenced to a two year community order requiring that he follow an accredited programme for 20 days and rehabilitation requirement for 30 days. MailOnline understands that he was employed by the company Securitas, which oversees the shopping mall's security. Pictured: Westfield Stratford City in East London, where Simms was the CCTV operator Simms no longer works at Westfield Stratford City or any of its other shopping centres. According to his Facebook page Simms has also worked as a security officer at Apple Inc. MailOnline has approached Securitas for a comment. A woman in Florida was arrested after she allegedly tried to create a makeshift bomb capable of causing mass destruction inside a local Walmart, using household products she pulled off of the shelves, officials said. Emily Stallard, 37, began opening up items while walking through the store with a child when a security guard noticed she was behaving in a suspicious manner, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office. The security guard then alerted an off-duty Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer, and the two watched as the woman reportedly collected nails, denatured alcohol and a Mason jar while roaming through the aisles. They stopped the woman just as she was lighting a wick, an arrest report read, and managed to prevent her from causing harm until police officers arrived on the scene. She spat on the deputies faces as she was being taken away in a patrol car, WFLA reported. This woman had all the supplies she needed to cause mass destruction at her disposal, Sheriff Chad Chronister told the local news outlet. Had it not been for an alert off-duty law enforcement officer and a watchful security staff at Walmart, she may have followed through with her plans to cause an explosion inside the store. 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 sheriff added: I cant stress enough: if you see something, say something. You dont have to tackle a bad guy to be a hero. One phone call to law enforcement when you spot something or someone suspicious can ultimately save lives. Stallard was charged with attempted arson, fire bombing, child abuse and battery of a law enforcement officer. Her bond has been set at $8,500 (6,534). In a statement, Walmart said it takes the safety and security of our customers and associates seriously and thanked local law enforcement for their quick response. The company also said it was assisting the sheriffs office as it conducts an investigation into the incident. Stallard was still in jail as of Tuesday. January 14, 2020 Every business should have a dependable data backup plan in place. In fact, every day that you dont have data backup, youre putting your business at risk. Naturally, this is often easier said than done. Just how do you go about creating a data backup plan? Especially when your budget is tight and youre concerned about reliability? We asked the top experts in IT security these very questions, plus others related to creating a successful and reliable data backup plan. Heres what they said. What's the best way businesses can create a data backup plan? First of all, according to the experts, this depends. Adam Rippon, Founder of Sydney Technology Solutions, says: [Data plan creation] is very much determined by understanding the clients environment, the type of data they have (and how often it changes), and the type of backup/recovery required. e.g.: file level, virtual machine level, etc. At the same time, Marius Nel of 360 Smart Networks gives this detailed outline for creating a reliable and trustworthy plan: 1. All backups should have a local near-line copy and an off-site copy. 2. The systems should not be directly connected to the data being backed up (not on the same domain). 3. Data backups must be encrypted at rest and in transit. Additionally, when it comes to cloud providers, Nel says that vendors systems should never be the sole tool used for backups. Critical data should also have multiple backup solutions, meaning you need an off-site copy in addition to your on-site copy if the data is truly essential. Finally, Nel adds that backups need to be checked weekly (at least). Who should be responsible for creating the plan? Hiring an MSP is the best way to create a data backup plan that is wholly dependable. Adam Rippon adds that documenting business requirements, recovery point, and recovery time objectives should be an exercise that the MSP and client develop together The implementation should be performed by the MSP and reviewed by the client to ensure both parties are in agreement. Orange Crews Laith Pahlawan weighed in on this question as well, saying that before your data backup plan is created, it should have a committee [where] IT and Finance [are] involved. But it is better to communicate the plan with all department heads so that they know what is being backed up and know what to expect when systems crash. What specific details does the plan need to include? Its essential to revisit any backup plan on a regular basis. According to Jorge Rojas of Tektonic Inc., its critical to check on your data backup plan, minimum yearly [plus] every time there is a major change in the organization. Marius Nel suggests that the plan be visited daily as well, saying that your plan, should form part of the companys day-to-day operations and should be part of the culture. He adds that A data backup plan is not a tactical event but rather a function that forms part of every decision. Does the plan need to be revisited? How often? In a succinct list, Adam Rippon suggests that all data backup plans need to include: Type of Backups Location of Backups Number of Backups Recovery Point Objectives Recovery Time Objectives Frequency of Backups User Acceptance Testing When creating their backup plan, what is the most common mistake businesses make? According to Adam Rippon, the biggest mistake is, Failing to understand recovery time frames and failing to test backup recoverability. Laith Pahlawan has seen the biggest mistake be, not monitoring the backup and believing that you can set it and forget it. Finally, Jorge Rojas has seen too many clients, involve third-party support providers in the process. Speak to an MSP Today About Assisting With the Creation of Your Data Backup Plan Ready to get to work on your own data backup plan? Unfortunately, criminals are ready and waiting to pounce on companies without backup. The sooner you get to work organizing a plan for your companys data, the better. Speak to an MSP with data backup experience today to start building a plan. Your average marijuana plant is a rather unimposing, forest green weed that blends well with nature. The dirty truth, however, is that the business of growing cannabis is anything but green. In fact, the growing of pot is so power-intensive that its ecological footprint is quickly becoming an environmental nightmare. The $344 billion cannabis industry is one of the countrys most energy-intensive in the world, frequently demanding an array of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, fans and 24-hour indoor lighting rigs at multiple growing sites. Just how much electricity does the entire US marijuana industry consume? The numbers are mind-boggling. Theyre also the bane of the cannabis industry, according to Joseph Maskell, founder and president of AAXLL, one cannabis company aiming to be a major disrupter of the short-lived status quo. The key in this emerging industry is to be asset-light, says Maskell. With billions spent just on electricity in the US cannabis-growing industry, the companies that will survive the next culling, which is already in process, will be those with low capital outlays, no warehouses, no buildings, no machinery. Back in 2016, after the state of Oregon legalized recreational marijuana, Pacific Power in Portland recorded seven blackouts that the company traced to marijuana production. Meanwhile, a good 45% of Denvers increase in energy demand or load growth was directly linked to electricity that went to power marijuana growth. In other words, investors are going to have to unplug unless they want to see their profits go up in smoke. Appetite for Energy The electricity consumption of marijuana grow houses is staggering when you compare it to consumption by the average business or residential unit. In 2014, the NPCC worked out that it takes 4,000 to 6,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy to produce a single kilogram of marijuana product. Electricity costs can represent 20% of the total cost of cannabis production. Back in 2015, it was estimated that a 5,000-square-foot indoor facility in Boulder County consumed ~41,808 kilowatt-hours per month--or nearly 66x the average consumption by a household in the county. More than two percent of the citys electricity usage went to marijuana production. More recent estimates are not very encouraging either, even as more energy professionals enter the marketplace. Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, says that production of legal marijuana in the US consumes 1% of total electricity, or 41.71 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, at a cost of $6 billion per year. Thats enough energy to power 3.8 million homes or the entire State of Georgia. Generating that much electricity spews out 15m tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), or about what three million average cars would produce in a year. The actual figures could be much higher, says AAXLLs Maskell. A 2017 study by New Frontier Data revealed that only 25% of marijuana is produced legally, which is hardly surprising considering that recreational weed is legal in only 11 states and Washington DC. In effect, this means that growing marijuana could be consuming as much as 3-4% of the countrys electricity. Obviously, such insane levels of electricity consumption is putting a major strain on public utilities as evidenced by the Pacific Power blackouts. As Steven Corson, a Portland General Electric (PGE) spokesman, has lamented: We dont track the numbers specifically related to cannabis producers, but some have created dangerous situations by overloading existing equipment. Lack of Standards The huge energy appetite by the cannabis industry can be pinned on how grow houses operate. Ron Flax, the chief building official in Boulder County, says the basic issue is the lighting intensity inside the grow facilities which is much higher than for any other plant. For instance, Solstice, a Washington based marijuana producer, uses 1,000W high intensity discharge lamps (HID), for the vegetative phase of growth. Colorado, one of the leading cannabis states where most of the electricity is coal-powered, has devised schemes to discourage excessive power use by growers. The state requires commercial growers to either pay a 2c charge per kW or offset their electricity use with renewable energy (average electricity rate in Denver is 11.05 cents per kWh). The accrued funds go to the Energy Impact Offset Fund where they are used to finance sustainable cannabis cultivation and also educate growers. Meanwhile, Seattle City Light is incentivizing growers to shift to more efficient lighting technologies. The public utility has promised six-figure rebates to growers who switch to LED lights instead of power-guzzling HIDs. The big problem here is that the marijuana industry is still infantile and lacks clear standards. Even in states where weed is legal, production still tends to be done in underground operations with everyone doing what works for them. Its tough to be profitable right now in an industry thats so energy-intensive. Cannabis 2.0, says Maskell , will be an entirely different beast. Thats why AAXLL isnt focused on capital burying marijuana growing; rather, its focused on a revenue-generating end product that spends on marketing brilliance, like their Balance CBD line, not machinery. Eventually, the market might dictate that growers use cheaper greenhouses and take production outdoors where costs are bound to be much lower. In the meantime, its going to be a steep learning curve for the burgeoning industry. Companies to watch as the cannabis industry and the energy industry collide: Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE:CGC) (TSX:WEED) After securing a major $4 billion investment from beverage giant Constellation Brands, it seemed like Canopy Growth was on the top of the world. The same day, shares in the company surged by 30 percent. Though things have cooled down a bit since then after a downgrade from analysts of the Constellation Brands stock, Canopy has not stopped making moves in the market, most recently swallowing up renowned vaporizer producer Stor & Bickel Gmbh & Co., the creator of the iconic Volcano Medic and the Mighty Medic devices The 145 million all-cash deal makes it one of the largest in the marijuana sector this year, and Canopy Growth is not likely to stop there. Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) (TSX:ACB) Aurora Cannabis is one of the biggest names in the burgeoning marijuana sector. With a market cap over $1.9 billion, Aurora has carved out its position as a leader in the industry. And the company is still making moves. Recently, Aurora sealed a supply deal with Mexicos Farmacias Magistrales SA, the countrys first and, for now, at least, only federally licensed importer of raw materials containing THC. In an announcement from Aurora, the company stated that the deal firmly establishes Auroras first-mover advantage in one of the worlds most populous countries, where more than 130 million people will have federally legal access to a range of Auroras non-flower medical cannabis products containing THC. Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) (TSX: TPX-A) Molson Coors is an iconic multi-national beer company, with brands that are recognizable across the United States and Canada. Besides just its Molson and Coors lines, the company has also ventured into more niche beverages to take advantage of the growing craft beer market, buying up brands like Leinenkugels and Blue Moon. Not to be left behind in the marijuana boom, Molson Coors is also developing a line of non-alcoholic cannabis-based beverages with its partner, the Hydropothecary Corporation. Molson Coors Canada president and CEO Frederic Landtmeters noted, While we remain a beer business at our core, we are excited to create a separate new venture with a trusted partner that will be a market leader in offering Canadian consumers new experiences with quality, reliable and consistent non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages. By. James Burgess " " U.S. combat soldiers read of the death of Adolf Hitler in an 'Extra' edition of Stars and Stripes on May 2, 1945. Photo12/UIG/Getty Images April 1945. The Battle of Seelow Heights is underway. The Allied armies are closing in on Berlin, and the German army has failed to push back both the Soviet and the Allied fronts. Adolf Hitler, locked in his Fuhrerbunker, knows the war is lost. He decides to marry his mistress, Eva Braun, enjoy a Champagne breakfast, write out his last will and testament, and then commit suicide with his new wife. Their bodies are then burned in accordance with their wishes, and the world breathes a collective sigh of relief. But not everyone believes this official line about Hitler's end. That's why Matt Frederick, Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown tackle the history and intrigue behind What Happened to Hitler? in this episode of the Stuff They Don't Want You To Know podcast. Advertisement One of history's greatest villains, Hitler was responsible for creating a brutally fascist and racist regime in Germany that led to World War II and numerous atrocities like the Holocaust. It's understandable that his death was eagerly anticipated the world over, as many thought that the end of the man would mean the end of the war. Hitler's bodyguard reported that he had seen Hitler's and Braun's bodies before they were taken to the chancellery and burned. But the lack of bodies sparked rumors that they actually escaped during the last hours of the war. It's certainly possible as many as 9,000 Nazis escaped to South America and lived to ripe old ages, including the "Angel of Death" Dr. Josef Mengele. That's because Juan Peron, president of Argentina, ran a fascist-leaning government sympathetic to the Reich's aims and maintained neutrality throughout the war. Peron also helped establish "ratlines," ports through which Nazis could be smuggled out of Europe by way of Italy and Spain. Did Adolf Hitler and his new wife use the ratlines to get on a boat in Spain and escape to Argentina or Brazil? Some people think so, and that he lived as long as 1978. The FBI maintained files in which Hitler sightings are reported, although never verified, and didn't declare Hitler officially dead until 1956. In June 2017, a trove of Nazi artifacts were discovered behind a hidden wall in a home in Buenos Aires, Argentina and breathed new life into this theory. It's also been theorized that Hitler and a number of his SS men escaped to the secret fortress in Antarctica called Base 221. The Germans claimed they created the base in 1938 when a Nazi expedition discovered a huge underground cave where they made contact with aliens or unearthed alien technologies that allowed them to build advanced weapons systems. Perhaps Hitler escaped to that cold and desolate place to rebuild his vision for humanity, with alien tech to help? Though this tale seems a lot more unlikely than warm and sunny South America. A lot of the misinformation swirling around Hitler's whereabouts is due in part to Russian propaganda after the war. Josef Stalin was obsessed with making sure that Hitler was dead, and ordered his Soviet armies to exhume any remains they could find. The soldiers preserved ashes and some jawbone fragments identified as Hitler's, but Stalin was happy to let the Allies think he might still be out there somewhere. Those preserved bone fragments have now been tested and the secret Russian files released, so if you want to know what Matt, Ben and Noel think happened to Hitler (and about his alleged opioid addiction) tune in to this episode of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know. The last reactor at the Pickering nuclear station will be shut down within five years, says Energy Minister Greg Rickford. After the Star revealed the 49-year-old Ontario Power Generation (OPG) facility is getting its life extended, Rickford emphasized the power-plant, which supplies 14 per cent of the provinces electricity, will be slowly phased offline. The proposal put forward to cabinet from OPG was an optimization of the decommissioning process, the minister said Tuesday at Queens Park. OPG says that after a reactor has been shut down, the safe dismantling or decommissioning of it can take decades. It was a phased-in approach that was proposed one unit at a time over a defined period of time, he said of the station that currently has six reactor units up and running. Were taking it out for consultation. Elements of it are going to be subject to alterations or amendments to the existing licence, which go to 2024 at the units that are functioning. Rickford acknowledged there are still hurdles to clear in order for it to continue in operation after 2024. It wouldnt go beyond 2025 and that would be subject to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commissions (CNSC) process that they would go through in order to amend the existing terms of the licence, he said. The question is from a safety perspective are we able to optimize them? The answer right now, and for the foreseeable future, is yes. Not only is Ontario a tier-one jurisdiction for nuclear safety, those assets are heavily scrutinized at the very least by the CNSC and every time they get top scores. While the Star disclosed the news Monday the day after Ontarios provincial emergency office accidentally sent out a false alarm about Pickering across the province Rickford said an official announcement has not been finalized. Hopefully well be in a position to announce something in the coming months. By 2024 we would be down to one unit subject to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commissions process. The minister moved to allay concerns both about the supply of electricity since nuclear power accounts for about 60 per cent of generation in Ontario and any safety concerns. We have major refurbishments going online in the not-too-distant future, he said, referring to ongoing upgrades at OPGs Darlington nuclear station and the privately operated Bruce facility on Lake Huron. But NDP MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto Danforth) said he wants to see the business case to determine if its prudent to extend Pickering beyond its slated lifespan. And as is always the case with nuclear generation, we need the CNSC to determine if the plant can continue to operate safely and assure the safety of families throughout the region, said Tabuns. Opened in 1971, OPG says the facility and its associated spinoffs employ 4,500 people. Greenpeace Canada program director Shawn-Patrick Stensil expressed concern about the extension. This secretive decision by the Ford government puts Ontarians at greater risk, as the Pickering nuclear station is now proposed to be operated over a decade past its best-before date, said Stensil. The short-term electoral calculus may add up, but any transparent economic or risk assessment would opt for replacing this obsolete plant with safe, lower-cost renewable energy, he said. In August 2018, the CSNC renewed its operating licence after about $75 million was spent on maintenance. OPG said it will take 40 years to decommission the station, beginning with a safe storage period beginning three years after it stops generating electricity. Used fuel would be transferred to dry storage within 13 years then removed from the site within 30 years. It would take another 10 years to dismantle everything. The Crown-owned utility said the process is so lengthy in order to to minimize the total radiation dose received by workers during dismantling. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New site aims to recruit and support minority and women dealers Site features stories highlighting dealers, awards, events and an application link to join the FCA dealer network FCA has launched a new Dealer Diversity site designed to support and expand the number of dealerships owned and operated by minorities and women. The site www.minoritydealers.com provides a clearinghouse of information ranging from dealer success stories and awards to an online application process for those interested in joining the company's network of more than 2,600 dealers. The Dealer Network Diversity team endeavors to support the Dealer Network Operations team in sourcing candidates by creating a pipeline of qualified ready-now candidates for the dealer network through the new website. An additional goal is to provide candidates an opportunity to apply online using a secure encrypted website and to ensure awareness that the website exists as a resource. "This site now provides a direct link into what we are doing here at FCA when it comes to growing diversity among our dealers," said Phil Langley, Head of Network Development. "We know that a dealership operates to its maximum potential when it reflects the community it serves." The site works in tandem with the Dealer Investment Program, which was launched in early 2018. The program provides financial support to proven, high-potential individuals who want to operate a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram or Alfa Romeo-Maserati dealership, but have limited funds. The program seeks to match potential dealers with specific markets where they can succeed. FCA had 177 minority-owned dealers at the end of 2018, which is a 57 percent increase since 2010. FCA is now ranked No. 2 in minority-owned stores for the U.S. automotive industry. There are also 317 dealerships owned by women. "We must maintain strong relationships with our minority-owned dealerships and those sites owned by women," said Eric Wong, Senior Manager of Dealer Market Representation, Diversity and Technology. "This site provides a conduit so FCA can provide support to help our dealers achieve financial success." FCA will be conducting candidate interviews for high-performance individuals interested in joining the FCA Dealer Network at the National Automobile Dealers Association Show in Las Vegas. Interviews will take place at the Waldorf Astoria on Feb.15 and Feb 16. Appointments can be scheduled by emailing [email protected]. About FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is a global automaker that designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles in a portfolio of exciting brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram and Maserati. It also sells parts and services under the Mopar name and operates in the components and production systems sectors under the Comau and Teksid brands. FCA employs nearly 200,000 people around the globe. For more details regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit www.fcagroup.com. SOURCE FCA Related Links http://www.fcagroup.com Airlines on Tuesday resumed flights between Korea and Manila that had been grounded by the eruption of the Taal volcano in the Philippines on Sunday. A Korean Air flight took off from Incheon International Airport at 7:45 a.m. and an Asiana Airlines flight at 7:35 a.m. as Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport partially reopened. Flights to Guam and Saipan have also returned to normal. Air carriers had been forced to cancel or divert their flights to the popular winter holiday destinations due to the ash cloud from the volcano. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, however, the airport may be shut down again at any time as the risk of additional eruptions remains. "We look forward to further developing relationships in our marketing community. This meetup is not just about SEO; it's about creating open lines of communication and sharing between agencies and in-house marketers," Paula French Local digital marketing agency Search Influence is reviving the New Orleans SEO Meetup group. The first event will be hosted at Search Influence's Central City office on Tuesday, January 28. This local meetup is free and open to those interested in search engine optimization and its role in digital advertising. All levels and backgrounds are encouraged to attendfrom business owners, marketing professionals and students to SEO experts and novices. In the time since we started Search Influence in 2006, SEO and digital marketing in New Orleans have come a long, long way," said Search Influence CEO Will Scott. "In 2006, there were a mere handful of SEO practitioners. There is now a thriving community of agencies, consultants and in-house marketers. We are excited to bring this group together and explore how we can all learn, grow and optimize our potential. Meetups are planned to be held quarterly and will serve as a space for networking and sharing industry news. Cory Agular, Digital Marketing Analyst and SEO Specialist, will lead January's presentation: 2020 & Beyond: Trends in Local SEO. Light refreshments will be served prior to the presentation. "We look forward to further developing relationships in our marketing community. This meetup is not just about SEO; it's about creating open lines of communication and sharing between agencies and in-house marketers," Paula French shared when asked about the goal for ongoing meetups. French is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Search Influence and is excited to help reboot this local meetup. WHO: Search Influence WHAT: New Orleans SEO Meetup WHEN: Tuesday, January 25, 2020, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. WHERE: Search Influences address is 1610 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70113 and can be reached at (504) 208-3900. HOW: Advance registration is recommended: https://www.meetup.com/New-Orleans-SEO-Search-Engine-Optimization-Meetup/events/267542830/ Search Influence is a digital marketing based in New Orleans that serves local and national clients. With ROI-focused marketing strategies that help optimize the potential of each client, Search Influence offers search engine optimization, paid digital advertising, social media marketing and other made-to-measure strategies that elevate a companys connection with their clients. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the man widely credited with turning around the companys fortunes and making it cool again, is no stranger to criticism but it is unlikely he has been told that he needs to be educated. That alleged inadequacy was addressed on Tuesday by the Bharatiya Janata Partys member of Parliament from New Delhi, Meenakshi Lekhi. How the literate need to be educated ! Perfect example. Precise reason for CAA is to grant opportunities to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan & Afghanistan. How about granting these opportunities to Syrian Muslims instead of Yezidis in USA? Lekhi posted on Twitter. Her comments came after Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News, on Monday, quoted Nadella on Indias Citizenship (Amendment) Act saying: I think what is happening is sad... its just bad... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys. While several Twitter users pointed to Nadellas credentials, others mocked Lekhi by suggesting that the Microsoft CEO should perhaps go to WhatsApp University. The Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala described Lekhis comment as a typical example of the BJPs thin skin. Whenever someone nationally or internationally tries to show the BJP leadership a mirror, they are dubbed anti-national and are stopped from doing business in India, Surjewala said. Microsoft issued a separate statement from Nadella where he nuanced the issue without mentioning the names of countries or companies. Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds. Im shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefiting Indian society and the economy at large. Nadella isnt the first technology industry executive to face criticism for his position on CAA. In December, venture capitalist Tim Draper tweeted: India choosing one religion over another makes me seriously concerned about my plans to fund businesses there. #freedom #freedomofreligion. That comment, too, attracted debate. The CAA fast-tracks Indian citizenship for non-Muslim minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The passage of the act has caused people to come out on the streets in protests across India. In the North-east, where there is a fear that outsiders will take away jobs and claim scarce resources, the act is seen as something that could legitimise their claims. In other parts of the country, there is concern that CAA will be applied in tandem with a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), although the government has claimed there are no such plans for now. An NRC in Assam excluded 1.9 million people from the roster of citizens for want of documents. Some people also see CAA as exclusionary because it doesnt cover Muslims. The act has been challenged in the Supreme Court. Nadellas comments prompted historian Ramachandra Guha to comment on Twitter: I am glad Satya Nadella has said what he has. I wish that one of our own IT czars had the courage and wisdom to say this first. Or to say it even now. Some users on social media also posted that they wanted to know if Lekhi would boycott Windows, Microsofts flagship operating system. Outgoing NSW Nationals director Ross Cadell has been hired by the Port of Newcastle as its chief lobbyist as it continues to argue against a "financial cap" on the number of containers that it can handle. Mr Cadell, who oversaw the National Party's state and federal election campaigns last year and is leaving this month, will become a special projects director at the port, one of the country's largest export terminals, next month. Former NSW Nationals director Ross Cadell, inset, has been hired by the Port of Newcastle as its chief lobbyist. Credit:AAP, Facebook The Port of Newcastle was privatised by the Baird government in 2014. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has strongly criticised the deal, which requires the port to compensate the NSW government for loading containers above a minimum specified cap. The competition regulator alleges that such as condition makes it almost impossible for the terminal to compete with other recently privatised facilities at Port Botany and Port Kembla. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Bradford today on their first joint royal engagement of the year. They are in town to visit young people, employers and families at a series of projects that promote cohesion within Bradford, one of Britains most diverse cities. Kate chose to wear a beautiful long line forest green coat by Alexander McQueen, the designer responsible for her wedding dress. She accessorised the look with a pair of ceramic drop earrings from Pakistani brand Zeen that she has worn on several occasions before. The earrings cost just over 6 and are still available to buy online here. PA The duchess finished the look with a small, structured black leather bag from Aspinal of London. Weve seen Kate out and about with the Midi Mayfair bag on several occasions. She owns the top-handle bag in both lilac and black croc and, thanks to the Kate effect, it has sold out several times. It costs 495 and is available to purchase online here. Kate upped the glam of her otherwise understated look with smoky eye and bouncing blow dry. Getty Images While in Bradford William and Kate will join in with workshops, including one session helping grandparents with child-caring responsibilities and another aimed at bringing people together in religiously and ethnically diverse communities. They will begin the day at City Hall in Centenary Square, where they will hear about life in Bradford from a group of young people and meet representatives from local businesses who are helping young people into employment. Getty Images The Bono Regional Police Command has revealed many mysterious deaths in the region this year. In the latest statement issued to DAILY GUIDE by the Public Relations Officer of the Bono Regional Police Command, Chief Inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, two persons believed to be males, were found dead in separate farming communities in the region. According to the statement, one of the deceased, who was unidentified but also believed to be 60 years old, was found dead on January 4, 2020 on a farm at Krokrompe, a village near Yefri in the Nkoranza North District of the Bono East Region. The farm owner, Gabie Francis, who reported the death to the police, mentioned that he found a decomposing body on his farm when he went to fetch some charcoal he had prepared on the farm. The following day, detailed officers, the complainant and the assemblyman of the area visited the farm for investigations to begin. The body was completely decayed leaving only the skeletal remains. The deceased wore a pair of black trousers and a shirt with red dots in it. He was bare-footed with a rubber bowl beside him. Similarly, on January 2, 2020, at Ahenfiekrom near Nkrakwanta in Dormaa West District, another unidentified male body, also believed to be in his middle age, was found in a decomposed state on a farm. The deceased according to police report, was in white shirt and black trousers. The police command has therefore urged chiefs and people in the region to be on the lookout when they visit their farms. ---Daily Guide Peter Facinelli channeled his inner Neo in an action-packed Matrix inspired shoot for the cover of Mr. Warburton Magazine. The 46-year-old actor spoke candidly with the magazine's founder and creative, Derek Warburton, about his life in front of the camera, behind the scenes and even his new engagement. Facinelli, who's starred in the Twilight franchise, Nurse Jackie and and Can't Hardly Wait has spent over half of his life as a working actor. In the Matrix: Peter Facinelli channeled his inner Neo in an action-packed Matrix inspired shoot for the cover of Mr. Warburton Magazine where he opened up about his life in front of the camera, behind the scenes and even his new engagement 'I feel very fortunate to have been able to make a living over the last twenty five years doing what I am most passionate about, telling stories,' he told the magazine. One of his most famous roles, he explained, nearly didn't happen. Peter said that when he was first approached to play Dr. Carlisle Cullen in Twilight, his initial thought was no. 'When my agents first approached me, they asked me if I wanted to do a vampire film. I said, no.' He laughed. 'The way they pitched it,' he continued, 'it sounded like a bad horror film. But after I read the book, I was desperate to be a part of it. 'I feel very fortunate to have been able to make a living over the last twenty five years doing what I am most passionate about, telling stories,' he told the magazine. Tough guy! The 46-year-old posed in a series of action shots, fighting off bad guys 'I feel very fortunate to have been able to make a living over the last twenty five years doing what I am most passionate about, telling stories,' he told the magazine. 'I thought it was so well done. It was this beautiful love story with the vampire world as a mystical backdrop.' Accepting the role turned out to be a massive game changer for Facinelli who reprised his role as Carlisle for five films which grossed $3.346 billion dollars total. 'The International success of that film opened up a bigger worldwide fan-base for me, which I am very appreciative of,' Peter said. Every actor hopes that they are part of a film that has a worldwide appeal.' Working on Twilight while simultaneously starring as Dr. Cooper on the Edie Falco series Nurse Jackie was both a wonderful experience for the star, and a difficult one. Shocker: One of his most famous roles, he explained, nearly didn't happen. Peter said that when he was first approached to play Dr. Carlisle Cullen in Twilight, his initial thought was 'no' 'The way they pitched it,' he continued, 'it sounded like a bad horror film. But after I read the book, I was desperate to be a part of it.' 'The International success of that film opened up a bigger worldwide fan-base for me, which I am very appreciative of,' Peter said. Every actor hopes that they are part of a film that has a worldwide appeal.' Prime of his career: While working on the five Twilight movies, Facinelli also starred in Nurse Jackie but said that while it was a wonderful experience, it was hard to miss out on time with his three daughters 'To have a TV series where I was working with incredible actors, like Edie Falco, was so incredible for me at that time. I was literally filming both at once,' he explained. 'I would fly to Vancouver and shoot the sequels, then fly to New York to play Dr Cooper. Both roles were so different, and I loved having two jobs at a time.' He added: 'My kids were growing up right before me, and I thought to myself, who am I doing all this for? My kids will be grown up one day, and I'll have missed their childhood.' 'I thought it was so well done. It was this beautiful love story with the vampire world as a mystical backdrop.' (Pictured in Twilight with Elizabeth Reaser) 'I would fly to Vancouver and shoot the sequels, then fly to New York to play Dr Cooper. Both roles were so different, and I loved having two jobs at a time.' (Pictured in Nurse Jackie) After that realization, the actor took roles closer to home and turned his focus back on his family and said he tries to 'live in the moment' these days. He had quite a big moment to live over the recent winter holidays when he popped the question during a trip to Mexico to his girlfriend actress Lily Anne Harrison. He gushed: 'She said yes! She is the definition of love.' New beginnings: Over the recent winter holidays he popped the question during a trip to Mexico to his girlfriend actress Lily Anne Harrison He gushed: 'She said yes! She is the definition of love.' Previously, was married to 90210 star Jennie Garth from 2001-2013 and they share daughters Luca Bella Facinelli, 22, Lola Ray Facinelli, 17, and Fiona Eve Facinelli, 13. Peter said that he is 'looking forward to getting married' before considering more children and that he is open to where his life and career are headed. 'I feel blessed all around, and I'm excited for what the new decade brings,' he said. 'Just gonna take things moment by moment' UPDATE: 11:20 a.m. Convicted child killer Genene Jones, suspected in the deaths of dozens of children when she was a nurse in the 1970s and '80s, pleaded guilty Thursday to the 1981 death of an 11-month-old and was sentenced to life in prison. ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES: Convicted child killer Genene Jones is scheduled to change her not-guilty plea on charges that she killed five San Antonio babies under her care in 1981 and 82. A court document shows that Jones, who is being held at the Bexar County jail, is scheduled to appear in the 399th state District Court on Thursday morning. . Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said Wednesday he cannot comment until there is a resolution of the case, which is presently set for plea tomorrow morning. Details of a plea agreement were not available A text message sent to Cornelius Cox, Jones defense attorney, was not immediately answered. In the early 1980s, Jones, now 69, worked as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit of what later was University Hospital. On ExpressNews.com: In court, grieving family members confronted a former nurse accused of killing five children in San Antonio She is accused of killing Richard Ricky Nelson on July 3, 1981; Rosemary Vega on Sept. 16, 1981; Paul Villarreal on Sept. 24, 1981; Joshua Sawyer on Dec. 12, 1981; and Patrick Zavala on Jan. 17, 1982. All were patients at the hospital and ranged in age from 3 months to 2 years. Court records indicate that the children were injected with an overdose of a muscle relaxer or an unknown substance. A plea bargain is an agreement made between a defendant, prosecutor and defense attorney in which the defendant agrees to enter a plea of guilty or no contest rather than go to trial. Jones still could change her mind before the plea is entered. If Jones is tried, she would face a maximum of life in prison on each charge. Jones has been in prison since 1984 after being convicted of murder for killing Chelsea McClellan, who was 15 months old, by injecting her with a fatal dose of a muscle relaxer at a doctors office in Kerr County. Jones was sentenced to 99 years in that case and received 60 years for a similar attempt on a San Antonio child who survived. Set to be released in March 2018 after serving a third of her sentence because of a law designed to ease prison crowding, Jones was indicted in 2017 on the five murder charges filed in Bexar County. On ExpressNews.com: Nearly 40 years later, mothers want justice Had the alleged crimes taken place today, Jones could have been charged with capital murder-child under 10, a charge that did not exist in the 1980s. That capital offense is punishable by death or life in prison. Jones was scheduled to stand trial early this year after her lawyer abruptly withdrew his motion for a competency trial. Defense attorney Cornelius Cox told Judge Frank Castro at a September hearing that through research and observation, he no longer had any concerns about Jones being able to help in her own defense. Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 Associated Press contributed to this story. (CNN) Human rights activists and community leaders in Colombia are being killed at an alarming rate, the United Nations human rights agency warned Tuesday as it urged the government to "make a strenuous effort" to prevent attacks on those who are defending fundamental rights. "We are deeply troubled by the staggering number of human rights defenders killed in Colombia during 2019," agency spokeswoman Maria Hurtado said Tuesday. There were 107 activists killed in Colombia last year, she said, with 13 other cases under investigation that could bring the total to 120. The year before, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed 115 killings of human rights activists. "This terrible trend is showing no let-up in 2020, with at least 10 human rights defenders already reportedly killed during the first 13 days of January," Hurtado said at a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland. "The vicious and endemic cycle of violence and impunity must stop," she said. "Victims and their families have a right to justice, truth and reparations." The single most targeted group, Hurtado said, was human rights defenders advocating on behalf of community-based and ethnic groups, such as indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians. The number of female human rights defenders killed has increased "by almost 50 percent in 2019 compared to 2018," she said. More than half of the killings were recorded in four provinces Antioquia, Arauca, Cauca and Caqueta -- but killings happened in 25 of Colombia's 32 provinces, Hurtado said. The majority of the killings happened in rural areas formally occupied by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), where drug cartels, criminal gangs and newly formed armed groups operate, Hurtado said. The UN agency called on authorities to investigate each case of violence and prosecute those responsible, "including those aiding and abetting the deadly attacks." "The answer of the government should be multidimensional," Hurtado added. Government response Colombia's government under former President Juan Manuel Santos signed a UN-backed peace deal with FARC in 2016 after years of negotiations and half a century of conflict. The government of President Ivan Duque has come under sharp criticism for not doing enough to contain the violence and support the implementation of the peace plan, such as ensuring adequate security in rural areas, the proper rehabilitation and integration of former FARC members, tackling chronic poverty and providing basic services for residents. While there has been some progress, Hurtado said the number of deaths shows that more needs to be done. "We call on the authorities to redouble their efforts to ensure a free and secure environment for civic engagement and to increase the presence of civil State authorities in rural areas to provide basic services, such as health and education," she said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "'Staggering number' of human rights defenders killed in Colombia, the UN says." Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri on Wednesday faced protest in her constituency Raiganj in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district while campaigning in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), BJP sources said. The Union minister of state for women and child development alleged that TMC activists were behind the incident. Chaudhuri's convoy was surrounded by angry protesters when she went to an area in her constituency to attend a programme in support of the new citizenship law, sources said. The protesters shouted slogans against the CAA and demanded that the Act be revoked, they said. "Few activists of the TMC surrounded my car and raised slogans against CAA. I pacified them and made them understand the need for the Act. The TMC is misleading the people in the area. But, I am sure they will not succeed," Chaudhuri said. Local TMC leaders denied the involvement of party activists in the incident and said the local residents were angry with the BJP leadership over CAA and NRC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar defended on Wednesday his remark that the arrows of Arjuna, a character in the epic Mahabharata, had nuclear power, stressing that he subscribed to the Indian history and culture. Dhankhar also said he did not believe that Rama was a mythological figure. You dont believe that we were leaders in the world 4,000 years ago. You dont believe that Sanjaya gave description [of the Kurukshetra war] to Dhritarashtra. You dont believe that the arrows that Arjuna used were so powerful that they can be compared with the best in the current times. Sir, madam, I subscribe to Indian history, Indian culture. I am proud of it, he said in Kolkata. We have given to the world what the world never had. World is looking up to Indian language Sanskrit now. Nasa is looking at it. No other language is as rich as Sanskrit, even for scientific development, he said . On Tuesday, speaking at the 45th Eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair in the city, Dhankhar said flying objects existed during the time of Ramayana, drawing criticism from a section of scientists and scholars, and several politicians. Dhankhar said on Wednesday he respected the views of his critics, but had the right to disagree. I regard their opinion well. But that does not mean I have to agree to it...Sir try to read Indian history, Indian culture. I can join issues with anyone. It is so easy to say it is unscientific, he said. Some people may take Lord Ram to be a mythological figure, but I dont. It is said that the plane was invented in 1910 or 1911. But if we delve into our scriptures, we will see in the Ramayana that we had the uran khatola [aircraft], he said. I believe in my culture. I believe in my background of science, said the governor. Hitting out at Dhankhar, West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said, I fail to understand why the governor is making a laughing stock of himself. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, If Arjunas arrows were so powerful, let him give those to Prime Minister Modi. He can destroy all his enemies. We wont need the army. The Bengal unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Dilip Ghosh, came out in Dhankhars support and said, Do those criticising his statements have proof that such things did not exist? Have they studied our scriptures? What contributions have these scientists made? They criticise people for saying things that they have not studied, Ghosh said. Nuclear physicist and Padma Bhusan awardee Bikash Sinha said he is afraid that such statements can have a negative impact on the society. New Delhi: E-commerce major Amazon`s global CEO Jeff Bezos, who is on India visit, paid homage to 'Father of the Nation' Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat on Tuesday. Bezos, who is ranked amongst topmost global billionaires, also took to Twitter and shared a video of his visit to Raj Ghat. In the video, Bezos, wearing a white kurta-pyjama and orange high-necked waistcoat, can be seen laying a wreath on the memorial site. "Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi," his tweet said. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/xDXAT9cBgf Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 14, 2020 Bezos is on a three-day India visit starting from Tuesday. He is expected to attend an event organised by Amazon for MSMEs and later meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, he is also likely to meet top Indian businessmen and Bollywood celebrities in Mumbai. Bezos` India visit comes at a time when the e-commerce player is facing an anti-trust investigation on multiple counts, including deep discounts and exclusive tie-up with preferred sellers, in India. Live TV It had faced similar investigations in the EU and the US. Ahead of his arrival in India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday ordered an enquiry into the operations of both Amazon and Flipkart on multiple counts, including deep discounts and exclusive tie-up with preferred sellers. Finding merit in the allegations levelled by traders` body Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, the Commission asked its Director General (DG) to complete the investigation in 60 days from the receipt of the order. Meanwhile, traders across 300 cities of the country have threatened to hold protests under the aegis of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) during Bezos` visit. (With Agency inputs) State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that the people of the country have sent Congress to its home and there is no question of Amit Shah going back. "The people of the country have sent Congress to their homes, so where is the question of Amit Shah going back?" Bommai told ANI when asked about Congress' plans to hold a protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shah on his Hubli visit on January 18. "The Union Home Minister is coming to Hubli. Our party is doing a big rally in favour of CAA to create awareness amongst the people about the new law. The opposition is misleading the people. Hence, our President himself has taken over the responsibility of providing leadership in this rally," he added. The Hubli-Dharwad Congress unit will hold a black flag protest against Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Hubli on January 18. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Supreme Court on Wednesday granted four weeks parole to Balwan Khokhar, a co-convict of Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, to perform his father's last rites. Sajjan Kumar, the other convict in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, is at present undergoing life imprisonment in Tihar jail. Kumar had moved the Apex Court seeking bail on the health ground. The Supreme Court, after hearing his bail application, ordered for setting up a medical board to access his health condition. The Delhi High Court had convicted Kumar and Khokhar in connection with the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in national capital in 1984. (ANI) As Indias diplomatic corps set out to address questions and concerns from their international counterparts on controversial decisions such as the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories and revoking its special status guaranteed under Article 370 or the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, a similar exercise was carried out by the BJPs foreign affairs cell or the overseas cell. Led by Vijay Chauthaiwale, the BJPs overseas cell has come to be recognised as a key outreach arm of the party that works firmly and without delay in shoring up support for the governments policies. These foreign cells, which are present in a host of countries across the world, were instrumental in leading campaigns with the Indian diaspora taking out marches and celebratory rallies to welcome decisions such as abrogation of Article 370. While the governments explanation for a communication lockdown in the three regions of the erstwhile state was to avert violence, the diaspora took to social media and to the streets with posters and placards of how the provision was discriminatory to a section of the people, including the LGBT community. These cells act as the governments unofficial ambassadors, trying to breakdown the rationale of policy decisions to the man on the street. Now, as the anti-CAA protests intensify in the country, the foreign cells are back at work. Pro-CAA rallies have already been taken out in places such as California, where participants with placards NRIs support CAA, CAA is all about human rights chose to exhibit support for the legislation that seeks to fast-track citizenship for persecuted minorities from the neighbourhood who arrived in Indian before 2014. To counter the charge that the law is discriminatory, because it explicitly states that the provision of fast-tracking applications is limited to Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, the foreign cell has begun circulating literature on the provisions of the law. The Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation has drafted a white paper on the CAA, which has been circulated through email and social media to over 50,000 members. A second booklet including the testimonies of persecuted Hindus will also be circulated soon... all these are efforts to engage with people and clear the misconceptions, said Chauthaiwale. He said the cells are also upfront about protests against CAA in India being a democratic right of the people. There is a small section that is protesting and it is their democratic right, but we are engaging constructively with people outside to give the other side of the story, he said. Citing the role played by the foreign cell soon after the abrogation of Article 370, he said, ...There is a generation of people abroad who are not conversant with the historical background of Partition, their opposition stems more from the lack of knowledge that creates confusion. So, we went out and explained how Article 370 was discriminatory and not an issue that can be viewed from the binary of Hindu-Muslim. In the coming days, the foreign cell, which was instrumental in organising big-ticket events of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his Madison Square reception to the more recent Howdy Modi event in Houston, will focus more on party-to-party interactions. In 2019, the cell had organised visits of party delegates to South Korea and China. Chauthaiwale, who has a doctorate in microbiology and comes from a family moored in the ideology of the RSS, was picked for his current role by BJP president Amit Shah. While Chauthaiwale sees his role as an outreach mode for staying connected with diaspora, his critics complain that his role has the potential to overlap if not circumvent the diplomatic process. He was in the news recently when a British high commission team met him to express concern that the overseas friends of BJP were seen to support the Conservative party. The Labour Party openly supported a resolution against India; the diaspora there tried to do a few things, but the party had nothing to do with it. We are clear that some people who were involved in campaigns there were doing so in their capacity as British nationals. We are only interested in the outcome (of the elections), he said. Will there be changes in store for the cell as the party heads into a new phase, with a new party president taking over the reigns? ...That depends on the new president, but for now the engagement will continue,Chauthaiwale said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In two pivotal Phase 3 trials, SPRAVATOcombined with comprehensive standard of care achieved statistically significant rapid reduction of depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder who have current suicidal ideation with intent compared to comprehensive standard of care alone The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson today announced the submission of a Type II Variation Application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for SPRAVATO(esketamine) nasal spray. The application seeks to expand the use of esketamine nasal spray, beyond its current indication, as an acute short-term treatment, co-administered with oral antidepressant therapy, for the rapid reduction of depressive symptoms in adults with a moderate-to-severe depressive episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) who have current suicidal ideation with intent. The submission is based on results from two double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled multicentre Phase 3 clinical studies (ASPIRE I II), which evaluated both the efficacy and safety of esketamine nasal sprayversus a placebo nasal spray when used in addition to comprehensive standard of care (SOC). In these studies, SOC included initial hospitalisation and newly initiated and/or optimised antidepressant therapy, enhanced with extensive twice-weekly visits during the double-blind phase.1,2,3 In both ASPIRE I II, esketamine nasal spray combined with comprehensive SOC was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms, and demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant superiority over a placebo nasal spray plus comprehensive SOC in rapidly reducing symptoms of MDD at 24 hours after the first dose.1,2,3 The benefit of esketamine nasal spray plus comprehensive SOC on symptoms of MDD was apparent as early as 4 hours after the first dose.1,2,3 "Janssen is committed to reducing the devastating burden caused by serious mental health disorders," said Husseini K. Manji, M.D., Global Head, Neuroscience Therapeutic Area, Janssen Research Development, LLC. "There is a need to provide treatments that can rapidly reduce depressive symptoms of individuals living with MDD who are in need of urgent relief. We therefore look forward to working with the EMA to provide a new targeted treatment that could potentially deliver meaningful results for these patients." The safety profile was consistent with that observed in the clinical trial programme of esketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression, with no new safety signals. In the clinical trials, the most common adverse events (=20%) were dizziness, dissociation, nausea, somnolence and headache.1 "Patients with MDD who are assessed to be at imminent risk for suicide constitute a psychiatric emergency that require immediate intervention," explains Professor Maurizio Pompili, Director, University Psychiatric Clinic, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. "While currently available antidepressants are effective in treating depressive symptomatology, they can often take weeks to achieve their full effects. This delay is potentially dangerous, especially since suicide risk is highest early in treatment." In ASPIRE I II, both esketamine nasal spray plus comprehensive SOC and placebo nasal spray plus comprehensive SOC resulted in an improvement in severity of suicidality as measured by the revised Clinical Global Impression of Severity of Suicidality (CGI-SS-R) at 24 hours after the first dose. The treatment difference between the two groups on this secondary endpoint was not statistically significant. This may be due to the substantial beneficial effects of comprehensive SOC used in the clinical trial, including the impact of inpatient psychiatric hospitalisation in diffusing the acute suicidal crisis in subjects in both treatment groups.1,2,3 In October 2019, a supplemental New Drug Application was also submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for esketamine nasal spray for the rapid reduction of depressive symptoms in adult patients with MDD who have active suicidal ideation with intent.4 ENDS# *Professor Maurizio Pompili is a paid consultant for Janssen. He has not been compensated for any media work. About SPRAVATO As an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor. SPRAVATO (esketamine) nasal spray offers the first new mechanism of action in 30 years to treat major depressive disorder (MDD).5,6 Esketamine nasal spray is self-administered through a single-use nasal spray device, offering a novel mode of drug administration for the treatment of MDD. The decision to prescribe esketamine nasal spray should be determined by a psychiatrist.7 Esketamine nasal spray was approved by the European Commission for use in combination with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), in adult patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (TRD) in December 2019, and was approved for use in TRD patients by the conjunction with an oral antidepressant, for adults living with treatment-resistant depression by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2019.7,8,9 The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to esketamine nasal spray for major depressive disorder with imminent risk for suicide in August 2016.10 Adverse events should be reported. ?This medicinal product is subject to additional monitoring and it is therefore important to report any suspected adverse events related to this medicinal product. Reporting forms and information can be found at https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store. Adverse events should also be reported to Janssen-Cilag Limited on 01494 567447 or at dsafety@its.jnj.com. For further safety information, please see the Summary of Product Characteristics available at https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/product-information/spravato-epar-product-information_en.pdf. About Major Depressive Disorder Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects nearly 40 million people of all ages in Europe and is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.11,12 Individuals with depression, including MDD, experience continuous suffering from a serious, biologically-based disease, which has a significant negative impact on all aspects of life, including quality of life and function.13,14 At its worst, MDD can be fatal, with MDD patients demonstrating a 20-fold higher risk of suicide than the rest of the population.15 Despite treatment advances, currently available antidepressant medications can take between four to six weeks to reach their full effect,16 and one-third of people who suffer from MDD do not respond to these treatments.17 About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com/emea. Follow us at www.twitter.com/JanssenEMEA. Janssen Research Development, LLC and Janssen-Cilag International NV are part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the product development of SPRAVATO. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialise, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen-Cilag International NV, any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies and/or Johnson Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behaviour and spending patterns of purchasers of healthcare products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global healthcare reforms; and trends toward healthcare cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2018, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and in the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.govwww.jnj.com or on request from Johnson Johnson. Neither the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. References Canuso CM, et al. Presented at the 58th ACNP Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, US, 8-11 December, 2019: Poster 130. Fu DJ, et al. Presented at the 32nd ECNP Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, 7-10 September, 2019: Poster P323. Ionescu DF, et al. Presented at the 32nd ECNP Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, 7-10 September, 2019: Poster P607. Johnson Johnson Ltd. Press release on October 2019. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/janssen-submits-supplemental-new-drug-application-to-u-s-fda-for-spravato-esketamine-ciii-nasal-spray-for-the-rapid-reduction-of-depressive-symptoms-in-adults-with-major-depressive-disorder-who-have-active-suicidal-ideation-with-intent (last accessed January 2020). Duman RS. F1000Research 2018;7:659. Johnson Johnson Ltd. Press release on February 2019. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/fda-advisory-committee-recommends-approval-of-spravatotm-esketamine-nasal-spray-ciii-for-adults-with-treatment-resistant-depression (last accessed January 2020). European Medicines Agency. Esketamine nasal spray Summary of Product Characteristics. Available at: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines (last accessed January 2020). Johnson Johnson Ltd. Press release on December 2019. Available at: https://www.janssen.com/emea/sites/www_janssen_com_emea/files/spravatorv_esketamine_nasal_spray_approved_in_europe_for_adults_with_treatment-resistant_major_depressive_disorder.pdf (last accessed January 2020). Johnson Johnson Ltd. Press release on March 2019. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/janssen-announces-u-s-fda-approval-of-spravatotm-esketamine-ciii-nasal-spray-for-adults-with-treatment-resistant-depression-trd-who-have-cycled-through-multiple-treatments-without-relief (last accessed January 2020). Johnson Johnson Press Release on August 2016. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/media-center/press-releases/esketamine-recieves-breakthrough-therapy-designation-from-us-food-and-drug-administration-for-major-depressive-disorder-with-imminent-risk-of-suicide (last accessed January 2020). World Health Organization (WHO). Depression and Other Common Mental Health Disorders: Global Health Estimates, 2017. Available at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/prevalence_global_health_estimates/en/ (last accessed January 2020). World Health Organization (WHO). Depression. Available at: http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression (last accessed January 2020). World Health Organization (WHO). International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11). 6A71.3. 2019. Available at: https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http%3a%2f%2fid.who.int%2ficd%2fentity%2f2139612744 (last accessed January 2020). American Psychological Association (APA). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. 2013. Lepine JP, et al.Neuropsychiatric Dis Treat 2011;7(suppl 1):3-7. Machado-Vieira R, et al.Pharmaceuticals 2010;3(1):19-41. Ionescu D, et al. Dialogues Clin Neurosci 2015;17(2):111-126. Job code: EM-22939 Date of preparation: January 2020 FOR EU MEDICAL AND TRADE MEDIA ONLY View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005441/en/ Contacts: Media Contact Cristiana Maria Mobile: +32 473 11 28 10 Email: cmaria@its.jnj.com Investor Contacts Christopher DelOrefice Johnson Johnson Office: +1 732 524 2955 Lesley Fishman Johnson Johnson Office: +1 732 524 3922 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 13:39 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32237e5e 1 World #UK,UK,#ASEAN,ASEAN Free The United Kingdom has expressed hope of attending future ASEAN meetings as the country doubles down on its ambition to be a dialogue partner with the Southeast Asian grouping after Brexit -- which is expected to take place by the end of this month. UK's minister for Asia and the Pacific, Heather Wheeler, who was in Jakarta on Wednesday to open Britain's new mission to ASEAN, said the UK wanted to continue the friendship it already had with the countries in Southeast Asia. We've been a dialogue partner via the European Union for over 40 years. We would like to have that status going forward. We realize it is going to take a little time to get that done but we are planting the seed today to say that we'd like UK dialogue status with ASEAN partners, Wheeler told reporters. The UK introduced its All of Asia policy last year to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and has since decided that it would appoint a dedicated mission to ASEAN. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab made Bangkok his first overseas destination in July last year to attend an ASEAN ministerial meeting as a guest of Thailand, which, at that time, chaired ASEAN. The UK has also been expressing its intention to be one of ASEANs dialogue partners even though ASEAN has for years implemented a moratorium on the establishment of new dialogue partnerships. When asked on whether the UK would also want to attend future ASEAN meetings, including upcoming summits in Vietnam in November, Wheeler said her government was certainly hoping so. The last big ASEAN meeting came only three days after our general election so you will understand why our prime minister [Boris Johnson] could not go, but [] we would like to be there and we expect to be there, she said. Wheeler also conveyed the UKs position on the South China Sea -- the highly disputed waters where tensions between some ASEAN countries and China are recurrent -- saying that all parties should uphold international laws. We believe that everybody should stand by the laws of the sea and that we expect people to use all the appropriate legal mechanisms, she said. In her visit to Jakarta, Wheeler met Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto on Wednesday, as well as ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi and Indonesias Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar on Tuesday. (ipa) It could take generations to come to rebuild some communities in Australia, says founder and managing director of Fire Recruitment Australia, Brent Clayton. He says some towns may never recover. Its been over a decade since the Black Saturday fires in Victoria that killed 173 people and destroyed 35000 buildings and we are still recovering from that, says Brent. With firefighters from the Bay of Plenty and around New Zealand touching down in Australia to help fight the fires, Brent says it will add to the much needed human resources needed to continue fighting the fires. It may also give those that have been away fighting the fires over the Christmas period a chance to recover. The other thing it does is boosts morale amongst not only the firefighters but the country in general knowing we have that kind of support and genuine interest in helping us out with the bushfire disaster Australia is dealing with. Apart from dealing with the dirty, hot and strenuous job of fighting the fires, firefighters are dealing with trying to help people on potentially their darkest day, Brent says. Being away from family, work and other commitments and living in some pretty harsh conditions in order to do so, it can be extremely difficult fighting a fire all day and then sleeping in a tent on a 38-degree day for extended periods. With the millions of dollars that is being donated worldwide, he says a lot of the money will go to rebuilding areas impacted as well as a bolstered response including more trucks, aircraft etc. I think that people from around the world have been extremely generous and it really shows the beautiful side of human nature. He says he would love to see money like this go into preparation to avoid such large scale disasters in the future. Founder and managing director of Fire Recruitment Australia, Brent Clayton. Images: Supplied. The fires have seen an increasing interest for volunteer firefighters. My company, Fire Recruitment Australia, saw a 17 per cent increase in inquiries of how people could help. I think the awareness and devastation that is being seen due to the fires has contributed to this renewed willingness for people to help in any way possible. This will be extremely helpful going into the future with a more resilient bushfire response capability for Australia and New Zealand. We know we are going to get bushfires every year and from time to time they become extremely destructive like this fire season, Brent says. The lesson I see in this is prepare. Prepare resources like extra firefighting and reconnaissance aircraft, trained and resourced incident control centre staff. The other lesson is for individuals to have an awareness of their own situation and have a plan, the more people that can take responsibility for themselves, the less of a strain on the systems and resources, and finally, for people to understand what is allowed on fire ban days. Unfortunately, too many of these devastating fires start as a result of someone grinding or dropping a cigarette butt etc. His advice for the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand is to prepare for the worst. Allocate resources appropriately although it might be tempting to save money in the short term by not having all the resources in place, but I think the costs of rebuilding even once far outweigh the economic costs of having a world-class emergency response capability. The US - Huawei situation is way too complicated and multi-faceted to really get into right now. But, currently, as things stand, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and over 40 of its subsidiaries are on the US entities list, which means that their products are subject to export and transfer government restrictions. Beyond that, there is also a US government ban on purchasing Huawei tech. This new development actually deals with the flip side of the sales and supply chain. Simplifying things quite a bit, the US currently has a De minimis Rule dictating the minimum percent of US-made components that need to be part of any given foreign product for it to fall under US restrictions for sales and export. Currently, that percentage is set at 25% when it comes to high-tech products. As per this new yet unofficial information, the Commerce Department has drafted a rule that lowers said threshold to only 10% in regards to Huawei sales and also broadens reach to include non-technical goods like consumer electronics, including non-sensitive chips. Said rule is apparently already sent to the Office of Management and Budget, following a meeting last week. If other government agencies sign off on the document, it could be issued into a so-called final rule, with no opportunity of public comment in a matter of weeks. Of course, a lot of this currently falls under the realm of speculation, but all things considered, it looks like the current US administration is trying to further choke Huawei and more specifically its supply chain. That being said, some experts commented that such a rule would likely be more detrimental to US companies than Huawei, since it will push the Chinese giant to alternative suppliers. We'll keep you posted with further developments. Source Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at this hour. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Abrogation of Article 370 a historic step, says Army chief Army chief Gen M M Naravane hailed the abrogation of Article 370 as a historic step while speaking at the 72nd Army Day function in the Cariappa Parade Ground here on Tuesday. Read full story here. Not Indias way to be a disruptionist power: Foreign minister S Jaishankar at Raisina Dialogue External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India should become a stabilising power in the world. Read full story here. Will implement Justice Dhingra report on anti-Sikh riots, Centre tells Supreme Court The government will implement the recommendations of the Justice SN Dhingra-led special team that re-examined nearly 190 criminal cases connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that followed the assasination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Read full story here. National Population Register exercise on despite protests, pilot project started Despite the opposition against National Population Register (NPR) - a biometric database of ordinary residents of India - preparations are on in full swing to update it. Enumerators are being trained to collect data and a pre-test or pilot project has already started. Read full story here. Gangubai Kathiawadi first look: Alia Bhatt will pierce your soul as a gun-wielding brothel owner. Who was Gangubai? Alia Bhatt shared the first look in and as Gangubai Kathiawadi on social media on Wednesday. The actor plays the woman often called the madam of Kamathipura in Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Read full story here. Alia Bhatt, Sara Ali Khan, Emily Ratajkowski: Celebs show how to get that date night look right Going for a date is an exciting time for any girl, and provides an amazing escape from ones mundane life. Finally, the chance to let down your hair and have a fun night even though getting ready for the actual date can be quite excruciating. Read full story here. ICC Awards 2019: Rohit Sharma named ODI player of the year, Ben Stokes chosen world player of the year After a stunning year in both Test and ODI cricket, England all-rounder Ben Stokes has won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the world player of the year. Read full story here. A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Index of turnover in industry 2021, November Published: 15 January 2020 Turnover in manufacturing grew by 0.4 per cent in November According to Statistics Finland, working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing (TOL BCD) increased in November by 0.4 per cent year-on-year. Among the main manufacturing industries, most growth was recorded in the turnover of the electronic and electrical industry, up by 25.5 per cent from the year before. Of the main industries, turnover declined most in the forest industry, by 9.2 per cent from one year earlier. Seasonally adjusted turnover in manufacturing (TOL BCD) grew by 1.2 per cent compared with October. Annual change in working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing (BCD), % (TOL 2008) After the electronic and electrical industry, turnover in the main industries grew most in mining and quarrying, by 11.6 per cent, and in the metal industry, by 6.1 per cent in November from the year before. Besides the forest industry, turnover also decreased in the chemical industry, by 3.1 per cent, and in the textile, clothing and leather industry, by 2.7 per cent. Annual change in working day adjusted turnover in manufacturing by industry, November 2019, % (TOL 2008) Export turnover of the forest industry fell most among main industries in October In October, working day adjusted export turnover increased most in the industry of mining and quarrying, by 31.6 per cent, and in the food industry, by 16.3 per cent year-on-year. The export turnover of the textile, clothing and leather industry grew by 5.0 per cent. The export turnover of the forest industry, which has decreased for several months, declined by 13.2 per cent in October from the year before. Export turnover also fell in October in the chemical industry, by 7.5 per cent, and in mining and manufacturing, by 4.5 per cent from one year back. Annual change in working day adjusted export turnover and domestic turnover in manufacturing by industry, October 2019, % (TOL 2008) Domestic turnover decreased in October for most of the main industries. Domestic turnover declined most in the chemical industry, by 5.8 per cent, and in the forest industry, by 4.3 per cent from the year before. Domestic turnover grew in the electrical and electronics industry, by 3.6 per cent, and in mining and quarrying, by 0.8 per cent from one year back. Trend series of turnover, export turnover and domestic turnover in manufacturing (BC), January 2007 to October-November 2019, % (TOL 2008) The index of turnover in industry describes enterprises whose main industry is manufacturing. The calculation of the indices is based on the Tax Administrations self-assessed tax data which are supplemented with data obtained with Statistics Finlands sales inquiry. The monthly turnovers of manufacturing enterprises can vary considerably, especially in the metal industries. The variation is mainly due to invoicing practices. The final invoice for major machinery deliveries and projects may be recorded in the sales of one month, even if the delivery had required the work of several months or years. The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well. In terms of turnover, data for the latest month are preliminary and are released at a delay of around six weeks. The data may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months. Export turnover and domestic turnover are, for the time being, still released at a delay of two and a half months. Source: Index of turnover in industry 2019, November, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Maija Sappinen 029 551 3348, Heli Suonio 029 551 2481, myynti.teollisuus@stat.fi Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko Publication in pdf-format (338.3 kB) Updated 15.1.2020 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Index of turnover in industry [e-publication]. ISSN=1798-596X. November 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 11.1.2022]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tlv/2019/11/tlv_2019_11_2020-01-15_tie_001_en.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - HEYBRYAN MEDIA INC. (CSE: HEY) ('HeyBryan') the creator of the HeyBryan app that connects home-maintenance Experts to homeowners for help with small tasks around the home, is pleased to announce its partnership with Duuo (by The Co-operators Group Limited), a new digital insurance brand with a focus on the gig and sharing economies. Figure 1: HeyBryan Announces Partnership with Duuo, an Innovation-Focused Insurance Provider To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6572/51466_393cb0cc64a848e3_001full.jpg Since launching in late 2018, Duuo, in collaboration with Slice Labs Inc., has reimagined Canadian insurance by providing on-demand, digital solutions that meet the emerging needs of consumers and businesses participating in the sharing economy. Through the partnership, Duuo will develop a custom, easy-to-use insurance product that HeyBryan will be able to offer the home-maintenance Experts on its platform. "We're thrilled to partner with Duuo to provide our customers and our Experts with greater peace of mind when using the HeyBryan app," says Lance Montgomery, CEO of HeyBryan. "A like-minded innovator in the digital sharing economy, Duuo is a natural fit as our insurance partner," he adds. Upon developing the app in 2018, HeyBryan took several initiatives to ensure a safe and secure experience for customers, including payment processing through the app and an in-depth Expert screening process. The Company's partnership with Duuo is a further step in its commitment to deliver a secure environment for its customers. "As an emerging leader in the gig economy, HeyBryan shares Duuo's enthusiasm for innovation," says Robin Shufelt, Managing Director of Duuo. "Our goal is to help platforms like HeyBryan grow and flourish, which is why we're so excited to collaborate with them to develop Canada's first on-demand insurance solution in the home-maintenance category." Development will begin in January, with further details about the partnership and launch date to be revealed in the coming months ON BEHALF OF HEYBRYAN MEDIA INC. Lance Montgomery CEO, President & Director About Duuo: Duuo was created by The Co-operators, a proudly Canadian insurance company founded in 1945 by a small group of farmers and social pioneers who felt traditional insurance didn't meet their unique needs. Duuo is the 21st century version of this mindset. Launched in late 2018, Duuo is committed to creating new, on-demand solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of Canadians living and working in a highly innovative and fast-paced digital economy. For more information, visit www.duuo.ca or contact pr@duuo.ca About HeyBryan Media Inc. HeyBryan Media (CSE: HEY) is a peer-to-peer marketplace app offering a friendly and seamless way for customers to connect with trusted and vetted Experts for everyday home-maintenance needs. Founded in 2018, the app is named after Canadian HGTV personality and one of the country's most trusted contractors, Bryan Baeumler. Payments are processed through the HeyBryan app, eliminating the need for any in-person money exchange. Every Expert is background checked and credit checked to ensure a safe and secure experience for consumers. Typical tasks booked include handyman services, mounting or installation, furniture assembly, plumbing, painting, cleaning, lawn and yard maintenance, and more. HeyBryan accommodates busy schedules by allowing the independent workforce and consumers to communicate and work together. It's about real experts doing real work for real people. Investor Relations Contacts: Lance Montgomery, President & CEO 604-240-8192 lance@heybryan.com CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume, CEO 416-868-1079 x231 cathy@chfir.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates, forecasts, beliefs and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to: risks related to the development, testing, licensing, intellectual property protection, and sale of, and demand for, the HeyBryan App and the services offered thereby, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals where applicable, and the state of the capital markets. HeyBryan cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements provided by HeyBryan, as such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future results or performance and actual results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and HeyBryan expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51466 United Nations, Jan 16 : China drew a blank at the Security Council consultation at which it raised the Kashmir issue with members declaring it a bilateral issue and refusing to step in. Beijing's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun himself acknowledged it saying the meeting encouraged India and Pakistan to seek a dialogue with each other. India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said: "Pakistan's practice of using false pretenses to distract from addressing the malaise that afflicts it has run its course today." The consultation ended without a statement or an acknowledgement of the issues. Vietnam's Permanent Representative Dang Din Quy, who is the Council president for this month, did not speak to the media or make a statement as is done usually after such consultations. The consultation was held in a consultation room away from the Council chamber and no records of it are made. In a virtual admission that it was a bilateral issue, Zhang, who asked for the consultation, told reporters the meeting encouraged India and Pakistan "to have dialogue and to seek means to seek solutions through dialogues." A European non-permanent member said that the members felt there should be de-escalation of the situation there and it should be handled bilaterally. Akbaruddin said: "We are happy that neither the alarmist scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by representatives of Pakistan in UN fora were found to be credible today." "We are glad that the effort was viewed as a distraction and it was pointed by many friends that bilateral mechanisms are available to raise and address issues that Pakistan may have in its ties with India," he added. Asked what the meeting had achieved, Zhang said, "I am sure the meeting helped both parties to understand the risk of further escalation and will encourage them to approach to each other and to have dialogue." He refused to answer a reporter's question why China had raised the issue at this time. Earlier, Zhang told the media: "We have also seen some tensions, so the Council had a briefing, heard a briefing, from the UN Secretariat concerning the current situation on the ground." He also referred to a letter written by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to the Council last month, which he said asked "the Council to pay attention to the current situation in Jammu Kashmir." In the letter, Qureshi alleged that India had removed parts of the fence on the Line of Control in five sectors and deployed Brahmos, and anti-tank and other missiles being deployed along the line. A source with knowledge of the closed-door meeting, said that France had been supportive of India during the session and encouraged the Council to treat it as a bilateral issue. What emerged from this meeting is similar to the outcome of the consultation held in August, which also did not produce a statement. Only China's envoy spoke to the media about it about after that meeting. China had tried to bring up the Kashmir issue at the Council last month, but backed out at the last moment. A diplomatic source said that China had hoped that with the Security Council's composition changing in January when five non-permanent members retired and were replaced by a fresh set, it would get some traction. But it did not work out. Qureshi is expected to meet Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande later on Wednesday. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) If youre a Democrat running for President, the stakes were high tonight. Januarys Democratic presidential primary debate was the last one before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, where voters start to weigh in on the race. Recent polling suggests there isnt a clear front runner in Iowa yet, and many prospective caucus-goers are watching. The stage was the smallest and whitest so far. Only six candidates qualified this time and none of them are people of color: former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, billionaire executive Tom Steyer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The DNC raised the debate qualifications since last months debate: candidates had until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 10 to get at least 5% in four DNC-approved polls or at least 7% in two early-state polls (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada). They also needed at least 225,000 unique donors with a minimum of 1,000 unique donors in at least 20 states, U.S. territories or Washington D.C. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and entrepreneur Andrew Yang both people of color each met the donor requirements but didnt quite hit the polling threshold. Booker dropped out of the race on Monday. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg met the polling requirements but lacked the donor numbers; hes pledged to self-fund his campaign and thus wont qualify for any of the debates. The only Latino candidate in the field, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, dropped out of the race on Jan. 2 and endorsed Warren on Jan. 6. Its with a full heart that I share this newsIm suspending my campaign for president. To my team, supporters, and everyone who gave me a shotthank you. I am so proud of what we built, and I feel nothing but faith in what we can accomplish together. pic.twitter.com/Fxvc549vlJ Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 13, 2020 The candidates stood on stage based on polling averages released in January, with the highest polling candidates Biden and Sanders standing in the middle. They stood in the following order from left to right: Steyer, Warren, Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg and Klobuchar. Story continues The debate co-hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa had three moderators: CNN political anchor Wolf Blitzer, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip, and The Registers chief political correspondent Brianne Pfannenstiel. Given recent developments articles of impeachment are likely headed to the Senate, the state of U.S.-Iran relations, Australias raging bushfires, and tensions within the Democratic field there was plenty to talk about. Were down to the end here. That means theres pressure on everybody to try to show off, to be smart, to point out their opponents weaknesses, Stuart Rothenberg, a political analyst and senior editor of Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, tells TIME. But you dont want to go too nasty right at the end here. You dont want to look mean spirited. Thats not Midwestern nice. These are the biggest highlights from the January Democratic Debate in Iowa. I was the only one who has defeated an incumbent Republican in 30 years Warren showed more willingness to push back against her longtime friend and fellow progressive Sanders on Tuesday than in previous debates. Pundits speculated that there could be a shift in the dynamic between the pair during Tuesdays debate, especially after a report emerged the previous day that Sanders told Warren in a private 2018 meeting that he felt a woman could not win a Presidential election. Warren later confirmed the report, while Sanders strongly denied it. During the debate, Sanders doubled down on that denial and said that he had never told her a woman couldnt win. He further said that he has consistently supported the idea of a female president for the past 30-plus years. Democratic presidential hopefuls Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. | Robyn BeckAFP via Getty Images; Patrick SemanskyAP Moderator Abby Phillip pushed back on his response, asking Warren, What did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? I disagreed, said Warren, pointing out that unlike the men on the stage at the debate, both she and Klobuchar have won all the elections they competed in. She also cautioned voters to choose a candidate with broad appeal indirectly contrasting herself with Sanders, whom some have argued is too far left to appeal to moderates.The only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the last 30 years is me, Warren also said. And heres what I know the real danger that we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who cant bring our party together. Or someone who takes for granted big parts of the Democratic constituency. After Sanders pushed back, arguing that he had in fact defeated a Republican candidate in 1990, Warren jabbed, And I saidI was the only one who has defeated an incumbent Republican in 30 years. Warren and Sanders share an awkward post-debate moment Just after the debate ended, CNN cameras caught an awkward moment between Warren and Sanders that quickly went viral. As the candidates thanked each other before exiting the stage, Warren walked up to Sanders who had his hand outstretched. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., talk after a Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa., as businessman Tom Steyer looks on, on Jan. 14, 2020. | Patrick SemanskyAP Warren, however, declined to take his hand and instead spoke with him during what appeared to be a tense exchange. Things got even more awkward when Tom Steyer walked up to the two candidates, who ignored him and continued their intense discussion as he looked on. The moment ended with Sanders pointing at Warren and walking away, finally taking Steyers hand and shaking it. Speaking to MSNBCs Chris Matthews after he left the stage, Steyer said that he didnt know what they were saying, adding he was was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible. The campaigns are trying to de escalate but looks like Bernie and Warren may still have some stuff to work out. pic.twitter.com/8rz9mKhpCs Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) January 15, 2020 Candidates weigh in on impeachment With the debate taking place just one day before the House is set to vote on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the candidates were asked to address whether it would be more challenging to defeat Trump if the President were acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial. Biden said the Senates decision is irrelevant, and that impeachment is necessary even if the Senate does not vote to remove Trump from office. Theres no choice but for Nancy Pelosi and the House to move. He has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses, Biden said. Klobuchar, who would serve as a juror in the Senate trial, agreed that the impeachment trial and the election are a decency check for the U.S. government and that there is a constitutional duty to impeach Trump. She warned that if Republicans dont allow the four witnesses Democrats have requested to testify at the trial, it would undermine the democratic process. If our Republican colleagues wont allow those witnesses, they may as well give the President a crown and a scepter. They may as well make him king, Klobuchar said. Buttigieg also said that the Presidents conduct was impeachable and that voters should choose a candidate who can provide unity at the conclusion of his Administration. We are absolutely going to confront the President for his wrongdoing, but we are also each running to be the President who will lead this country after the Trump presidency comes to an end one way or the other, he said. Candidates commit to universal child care Pfannenstiel asked Buttigieg a question from an Iowa Democratic voter: how would he prioritize accessing quality affordable child care in your first 100 days in office? It makes no sense for child care to cost two thirds of somebodys income, the former mayor responded, saying he would work to drive those costs down. We shouldnt be afraid to put federal dollars into making that a reality. Pfannenstiel then asked Warren why her child care plan includes an income limit on free child care. Warren responded that her plan includes universal child care for everyone, it just has some people adding a small payment. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. | Patrick SemanskyAP Warren added that shes been there. She shared that if her aunt didnt help her with child care when, as a single mom, she first began her career, she said she would have quit her job. Warren argued that her two cents wealth tax will provide child care for everyone in the U.S. and will help stop exploiting women of color who do much of the child care work in the U.S. Sanders agreed with Warren that the nations approach to child care needs major changes, arguing it is an embarrassment. Biden said that he also supports free universal infant care, adding that he knows what its like to be a single working parent. Biden became a single father when his wife and his daughter died in a car accident shortly after he was elected to the Senate in the 1970s. Candidates spar on the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement Pfannenstiel asked the candidates about an issue that impacts many Iowans: the U.S.s many trade deals. On Wednesday, President Trump is set to sign phase one of a new agreement with China, and the Senate is poised to approve the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA), often referred to as the new NAFTA. The candidates split on their support for their new agreement, but nearly all spoke out against previous trade deals that they believe put the profits of multinational corporations above those of average Americans. Pfannenstiel specifically asked Sanders why hes announced he will not vote for the USMCA, despite the fact that it could provide some relief to farmers in Iowa and has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO. Sanders replied that the deal made some modest improvements but he plans to vote against it because it does not stem the outsourcing of well paying jobs and does not center the threat of climate change. He added that the Machinist Union and every major environmentalist group including the Sunrise Movement that recently endorsed him has opposed the deal. I will not vote for a trade agreement that does not incorporate very, very strong principles to significantly lower fossil fuel emissions in the world, he said. Sanders added that he voted against NAFTA and normal trade relations with China.Warren, on the other hand, said she will vote for the deal because it will provide some relief for workers. It will give some relief to our farmers, it will give some relief to our workers. I believe we accept that relief, we try to help the people who need help, and we get up the next day and fight for a better trade deal, she said. Sanders responded that it is not so easy to put together new trade legislation. If this is passed, I think it will set us back a number of years. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she would also vote for the USMCA, arguing that it would not only help American farmers but also that the U.S. needs a big trading block with North America to take on China. Buttigieg said he also supports the USMCA, saying Yes it has been improved, it is not perfect. Biden, who voted for NAFTA, said that under his administration climate activists and workers would be at the table when future trade deals are cut. Biden, who supports USMCA, added that I dont know if theres any trade agreement that [Sanders] would think made any sense. Sanders then turned to Biden and said, Joe and I have a fundamental disagreement here in case you havent noticed. Sanders then argued that previous trade deals, which Biden voted and advocated for, were written to increase the profits of large multinational corporations, adding that we need some corporate responsibility here. Biden responded that we need corporate responsibility but trade deals need enforcement mechanisms, which USMCA defenders say the new trade provides, at least to an extent. Steyer, who founded a climate non-profit, added that he like Sanders opposes the USMCA because it doesnt center on climate change, which he says is his number-one priority. He argued that because climate change is so crucial he cannot support the deal, even though it may give American workers some relief. (L-R) Democratic presidential hopefuls Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders participate in the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. | Robyn BeckAFP via Getty Images Biden and Steyer said they would not sit down with North Korea without preconditions Biden and Steyer said they would not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without any preconditions, as President Donald Trump has done. Despite the fact that Obama once said he would meet with the North Korean leader without any preconditions, Biden said he wouldnt meet with him now. We gave him everything hes looking for the President showed up, met with him, gave him legitimacy. Weakened the sanctions we have against him, Biden said. He explained that he would work towards better relations between Japan and South Korea, as well as put enormous pressure on China because its also in their interest for them to put pressure on North Korea to cease and desist. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. | Patrick SemanskyAP Biden then added that no, he would not meet with the North Korean leader who once said Joe Biden is a rabid dog, he should be beaten to death with a stick. Steyer agreed, saying he wouldnt meet with the North Koreans without preconditions because its not going anywhere. Its very clear that if were going to do something with North Korea, were going to have to do it in concert with our allies, he said. This is a classic situation where the United States idea of going it alone makes no sense. Sanders slams Biden over Iraq vote With the debate opening one week after a face off between the U.S. and Iran stoked fears of a prolonged military conflict, the moderators opened the debate by asking the candidates why they would make the best commander in chief. Sanders quickly drew attention to Bidens 2002 vote to give the President the authority to use force in Iraq. Sanders described the decision to go to war in Iraq as the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw it differently, Sanders said.Biden conceded that it was a mistake to give the President the authority to go to war in Iraq, and asserted that he changed his mind about the war soon after his vote. He also noted that he was later charged by President Obama with ending the war in Afghanistan. We should not send anyone anywhere unless the overwhelming vital interests of the United States are at stake. They were not at stake there, they were not at stake in Iraq, and it was a mistaken vote, said Biden. Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Warren also made the case that they are each best prepared to be the commander in chief of the United States, describing how their backgrounds prepared them for the role. Buttigieg pointed to his own service in the military, while Warren and Klobuchar referred to their time as Senators. Mainland China equity market finished session lower for second straight session on Wednesday, 15 January 2020, as investors took profit on caution ahead of the signing of an initial US-China trade deal, with sentiment somewhat dented by comments from the US Treasury Secretary that tariffs would remain in place for now. At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.54%, or 16.78 points, to 3,090.04. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 0.22%, or 3.91 points, to 1,814.21. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.55%, or 23.16 points, to 4,166.73. Phase one of the U. S.-China trade deal is set to be signed on Wednesday in Washington. As part of a U. S.-China trade deal, China will pledge to buy $200 billion of U. S. goods over a two-year period in four industries, according to several reports, in return the U. S. will scrap a new round of tariffs and cut the tariffs on $120 billion worth of Chinese goods in half to 7.5 %, but a 25 % tariff on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports will remain in place. The two sides have an understanding that no sooner than 10 months after the signing of the agreement at the White House Wednesday, the U. S. will review progress and potentially trim tariffs now in place on $360 billion of imports from China. However, reports released on Tuesday stated existing tariffs on Chinese imports would likely stay in place until after the U. S. elections in November and any reduction would depend on Chinese compliance with the terms of the accord. The U. S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said there was no agreement in place with China on further tariff reductions, taking the shine out of market enthusiasm about the upcoming trade deal. CURRENCY NEWS: The Chinese yuan was weaker than the previous late session close despite firmer midpoint fixing by the People's Bank of China. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) lifted its official midpoint CNY=PBOC for the fourth straight day to 6.8845 per dollar, 109 pips or 0.16% firmer than the previous fix of 6.8954 and the strongest since July 31, 2019. In the spot market, onshore yuan CNY=CFXS opened at 6.8910 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.8950 at midday, 105 pips weaker than the previous late session close. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The parent company of the Web Summit has filed accounts showing an increase in turnover to 35m from 29m in 2018. Manders Terrace, majority-owned by Web Summit co-founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave, also reported a 'gross margin' of 17m on the 35m in revenue. However, the company only recorded a pre-tax profit of 126,000, with almost all of the 17m in margin accounted for under "administrative expenses". Mr Cosgrave said the company, which is based in Dublin and employs almost 200 people, was pursuing a strategy of not focusing on profitability, as it considered further growth for the Web Summit's technology, including software development. "We don't intend to be profitable for many years to come," he said. "We're making a series of long-term bets, in particular on software. This is counter- intuitive in our industry. However, hopefully by 2028, these will prove as good investments. The size of our team continues to increase, as does the experience of our staff." The company also made investments in a number of other firms, including Amaranthine, a venture capital fund set up by Mr Cosgrave, Web Summit co-founder David Kelly and former Goldman Sachs executive Patrick Murphy. Amaranthine has been invested in by a number of other financial funds, including Draper Esprit, which has a presence in Ireland. Other entities invested in included the 'social impact' startup Grandpal, co-founded by Brian Daly and William Hollacsek, and Hyper Mega Investment. The Web Summit has grown in recent years, now hosting three global events in Lisbon, Toronto ('Collision') and Hong Kong ('Rise'). The trouble began once he returned. He kept her under strict surveillance. If I got near to a window and opened the blind, and if by coincidence a man looked at me, he would ask, Why is this guy looking at you? she told the television interviewer. He told her that she was too illiterate to be allowed to speak, and he forbade her to attend the weddings of her own siblings. She said she would visit her own mother in secret, because I was not allowed to see anybody from my family. When her mother asked her about her bruises, she told her that she had accidentally hurt herself after fainting because of her low blood pressure. I had nowhere to go, she said. I just had to put up with one beating after another, just put up with it. One of her daughters, who was 10 at the time, said her father had inappropriately touched her thighs under the table while they were having dinner. When Orantes confronted her husband, he accused his daughter of fabricating the story and then hit his wife, warning her not to file a complaint. After that, my daughter got scared and never told me anything more, Orantes said. In another episode, Orantes had taken her 8-year-old son to a doctor in a medical emergency. When she got home, she found the house shuttered and her husband waiting for her, surrounded by their other children. When she explained where she had been, he gave me a beating that could have killed me, she said. He accused her of going to sleep with all the guys of the neighborhood rather than visiting the doctor. At the end of Orantess TV appearance, the presenter offered her encouragement. Orantes responded, The only thing that weighs me down is not having done this before. Orantes said she had gone to the police more than a dozen times to report the beatings. But there were no laws in place to help her. Divorce had been legalized in Spain only in 1981, and when Orantes tried to leave her husband, he persuaded the judge to deny her divorce request. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 09:26:24|Editor: zyl Video Player Close CANBERRA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The premier of South Australia (SA) has departed for an official trip to Asia in an attempt to boost the state's tourism industry following devastating bushfires. Steven Marshall, who installed himself as the state tourism minister, left the country for a week-long trade mission to Japan and Singapore earlier this week. Following criticism of his decision to leave in the wake of devastating bushfires, Marshall on Tuesday night told News Corp Australia that the trip would provide an essential boost to the tourism industry in fire-affected communities. "Now more than ever, it is crucial we drive investment into our state by showing off what SA has to offer both on a national and international stage," he said. "Japan and Southeast Asia are two of our key regions when it comes to investment, trade and tourism, which is why I am visiting Tokyo and Singapore to explore opportunities for South Australia." He is expected to push for more direct flights between Southeast Asia and SA during meetings with senior government officials from Singapore and Japan. More than one third of Kangaroo Island, one of SA's biggest tourism attractions, has been burned by fires. However, tourism operators on the island have called for Marshall and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to remind potential international visitors that it remains open for business. "In my visits to Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills during the bushfire emergency, local communities and businesses have constantly urged me to spread the word that these areas remain open for business," Marshall said. "That is precisely what I am doing on this trip." [January 15, 2020] BLM Technologies Continues to Redefine Technology Solution Provider Category, Demonstrating Leadership in all Business Channels Minneapolis, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BLM Technologies, a leading single-source provider of complete technology solutions, today reported its end of year results for 2019, demonstrating solid performance in each of its lines of business and further cementing its position as a leading full-service technology solutions provider, specifically in its core portfolio of project services, managed services, and hardware sales. 2019 was a year in which we truly solidified our market leadership in several areas, and grew all of our business lines, in addition to making inroads into new channels, said Kevin Flaherty, Board Chairman, President, and CEO, BLM Technologies. We strengthened relationships with customers with whom weve worked for decades, diversified the industries we serve, and attracted scores of new customers who came to us after learning how wide and deep our expertise extends across multiple industries. Core Business Growth Financial institution hardware, the companys longest-standing line of business, experienced its fourth consecutive year of growth in 2019, and grew its revenue 25%, despite a reported industry-wide 7%-12% decline in demand for banking transaction devices. The company offers financial institution customers hardware sales, installation, tech support, on-site, and depot repair programs that cover both in- and out-of-warranty repairs. It attributes this growth to focusing on responsiveness to customers, customer retention, and being a full-service solution provider offering customers access to a full spectrum of services in support of their hardware purchases. BLM Technologies Depot Repair business also demonstrated exceptional performance by securing critical new partnerships with large business organizations. Our Depot repair service is incredibly advantageous for our customers, said Flaherty. When you combine the number of product brands and models we can repair with the fact that we can also repair in- or -out-of-warranty devices, our customers only have one vendor to call for all their devices. Tuning into Trends; Managed Services Growth The company has also parlayed recent industry trends into a growth opportunity. One such example is the gig economy, which meshes perfectly with BLMs FlexForce Program . FlexForce gives BLM's customers project management and an on-demand tech labor workforce to complete a wide variety of projects, allowing customers to remove the pain of sourcing tech labor, trying to manage projects, and all associated administrative work. Our company recognized the vast demand in multiple industries for what FlexForce offers, which also happens to dovetail with the gig economy, where were seeing an increase in the availability of contract workers, said Pat Hickey, Senior Vice President of Operations. We responded accordingly, both internally and externally, adding more talent and senior-level leadership, fully building our feature set of services, and adding more resources such as a new ERP system. These actions enhance our ability to complete huge projects for customers in the timeframes they need. Our very successful recent digital signage and sound masking project for one of the largest banks in the country is a prime example of our ability to bring in expertise and workforce at scale. Industry Diversification Success and a Look to the Future Finally, because so many of the companys services benefit other industries, BLM Technologies spent 2019 on industry diversification a strategy that paid off with additional growth. As the company looks to open additional lines of business, it continually bears in mind its core promise to become more important to the financial institutions it has served for more than 45 years as well as to its aspirations: to grow and expand to new industry verticals with new products and services that highlight its core competencies in technology and service delivery. We follow the industry, IT spending, and other technology trends closely, and nearly all of them are pointing to needs that only companies with broad technical expertise that continually hone their solutions to meet existing and future customer needs can meet, said Flaherty. Whether its offering IT decision-makers at financial institutions the latest secure software, providing hundreds or thousands of on-demand workers to complete installation, repair or project services, or staying on the leading edge of the latest audio-visual advancements, BLM Technologies welcomes 2020 and the opportunity to go beyond for all of our customers. About BLM Technologies BLM Technologies, Inc. solves technology and automation challenges by providing end-to-end solutions in imaging, payment and transaction, digital signage, on-site repairs, maintenance repair center service, IT outsourcing, and project management services. By applying more than 45 years of technical expertise and a consultative, vendor-neutral approach, BLM serves thousands of customers in the U.S. by packaging hardware and services to provide complete, turnkey technology solutions for customers across multiple industries including financial, retail, restaurant, education, healthcare, and government. A proven single-source provider of technology products and services, BLM Technologies partners with the top manufacturers in the technology industry to offer customers the newest and most innovative technology solutions available. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, BLM Technologies has additional facilities strategically located in Missouri, and California to serve IT and repair customers quickly and conveniently. Learn more at blmtechnology.com and follow us on Twitter @blmtechnology and LinkedIn. ### Krista Van Lewen for BLM Technologies [email protected] 415.608.0263 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has urged Apple to help unlock iPhones used by the attackers for a fatal shooting at U.S. naval base last month. 'We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements,' Trump tweeted Tuesday. 'They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country,' he added. At a news conference in Washington the day before, Attorney General William P. Barr had said the Justice Department asked Apple for their help in unlocking the shooter's iPhones, but the tech giant has not given it any substantive assistance. He called on Apple and other technology companies 'to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks'. The shooter is said to have possessed two Apple iPhones. Three U.S. sailors were shot to death by a Saudi trainee at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida on December 6. Eight other Americans were severely wounded in the attack. The assailant, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani of the Royal Saudi Air Force, was killed in retaliation. FBI had received court authorization based on probable cause to search both phones in an effort to trace all leads and figure out with whom the shooter was communicating. During the gunfight with first responders, the shooter disengaged long enough to place one of the phones on the floor and shoot a single round into the device. It also appears the other phone was damaged. Experts at the FBI crime lab were able to fix both damaged phones to revive its operation. However, both phones are engineered to make it virtually impossible to unlock them without the password. Barr said it is very important to know with whom and about what the shooter was communicating before he died. However, Apple rejected the claim that it did not help officials in their investigation. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Specialist mixed-use operator Kerten Hospitality has further strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Nicolai Padoan as the companys first global commercial head. Kerten Hospitalitys portfolio comprises aspirational and lifestyle-driven brands that have been purposefully designed to meet the needs of a well-connected, savvy generation of travellers and includes the fast-growing luxury boutique brand, The House Hotel, which offers guests authentic customised experiences, and the inventive and affordable mid-market brand Cloud7, which is focused on locality and culture. In his role of global commercial head, Padoan will lead Kerten Hospitality into a larger portion of trading hotels in addition to new developments, enabling more centralisation and a bigger economy of scale. He will also be responsible for creating and implementing a unified structure for all commercial departments, with a focus on providing enhanced revenue and digital marketing support and ultimately strengthening partnerships across Kerten Hospitalitys fast-growing portfolio. In a move which signals the companys commitment to expanding its footprint into new markets, Padoan will also assume the dual responsibility of director of development Europe. As Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality, explained: The appointment of Nicolai into this top-level dual responsibility role shows how seriously we are taking the increased interest from European investors. Its the first step towards introducing our community of brands into Continental Europe and will increase our reach and speed of response to an ever-growing number of interested partners. Swedish national Nicolai has lived, worked and studied in Sweden, Austria, Germany, United States, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur, and brings more than 14 years experience working in commercial roles within the sector, including a variety of Sales & Revenue and strategic positions for a leading global hotel brand. In recent years, he has focused predominately on Total Revenue Management, from Food and Beverage to Room Revenues and the optimisation of meeting spaces, improving efficiency and maximising Revenue Per square meter. Knippenberg added: Nicolai is a fantastic addition to the team, with a proven track-record of delivering success, building winning teams and challenging the norm. Add to this his vast expertise when it comes to looking holistically at revenue management and theres perfect alignment with our approach, adding value at every stage through transparency, scale, space optimisation and, ultimately, return on investment by creating unique spaces which support the local communitys needs for working, living and socialising. Padoan said: I am very honoured to be joining Kerten Hospitality at a time of fantastic opportunity. Theres a great buzz in the industry around what Kerten Hospitality is doing, and how it is continually redefining itself, differentiating itself from other brands by allowing owners to be partners so that they can create something meaningful together." Co-working spaces and residential services are all areas which have a great synergy with the hotel side of the business. Looking at Europe, I believe this is a market of great opportunity, not only in new development but potentially in conversions as well. Tailor made solutions to any asset out there really is what it is. As work-life becomes more and more important, this approach to hospitality in itself is speaking to a new audience, and the future generations of travellers. - TradeArabia News Service "In order to gain a competitive edge and amplify growth, organizations are striving to improve customer experiences, streamline operations and mitigate risk," said Bill Priemer, president and CEO at Hyland. "To meet those goals through the next decade, our customers are increasingly focused on cloud-based solutions, new blockchain use cases and intelligent automation technology such as robotic process automation." The six trends Hyland experts identified as attracting the attention of enterprise technology leaders are: 1. Prioritize cloud control Organizations will opt for managed cloud services to increase security and efficiency. Because hosting solutions in a public cloud requires extensive internal oversight, CIOs and CTOs see the value in outsourcing the management and hosting of their cloud infrastructure to experts who handle: Backing up data and implementing the latest security measures Maintaining and updating solutions to ensure compliance with national and international regulations Disaster recovery Scaling solutions up or down as data needs fluctuate 2. Keep up with game-changing data and privacy regulations The proliferation of national, international and even statewide data and privacy regulations such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act is forcing organizations to rethink the way they manage and protect information. As the stakes for companies to comply continue to rise, so will the challenge to keep up with the ever-changing regulations. Keeping data in perpetuity is no longer an option. As a result, organizations are investing in enterprise technology like content services solutions to automate document retention and records management policies. 3. Push blockchain beyond Bitcoin As business processes generate more and more data, and digital transactions increase, the need for transparency and authentication will grow. Blockchain is an increasingly viable way to provide those assurances across industries, from higher education to mortgage lending. 4. Using tech to answer economic questions The strong yet unpredictable economy will drive organizations to seek efficiencies today so they can be more nimble and competitive in the future. In the same way manufacturers have used technology to improve efficiency on the factory floor, organizations in every industry will focus on reducing the cost and complexity of business processes by improving the efficiency of knowledge workers in the back office. Areas such as accounts payable and other transactional departments are now looking to second- or third-generation solutions that intelligently automate processes. 5. Accelerate automation Fifty-two percent of the Fortune 500 companies that existed in the year 2000 no longer exist due to bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, or other reasons. This pace of change will accelerate, as the rise of intelligent automation technology will create new sources of revenue, leading to the rise of new companies and the demise of others. Robotic process automation will allow "digital workers" to toil around the clock at blinding speeds complementing human workers and eliminating the most tedious, repetitive manual tasks. Machine learning and AI will augment the productivity of knowledge workers by driving more processes and making more contextual decisions, freeing up employees to focus on the highest value tasks. 6. Embrace tech as a customer loyalty program With the rise of consumerization and the expectation for rapid response in every interaction, organizations are looking to speed up processes in order to improve employee and customer experiences and thereby gain a competitive edge. Content services technology will play a critical role in organizations' quest to deliver better experiences to the people they serve. To learn more about these technology trends and their impact for businesses in the next decade, visit Hyland.com or connect with a Hyland expert. About Hyland Hyland is a leading content services provider that enables thousands of organizations to deliver better experiences to the people they serve. Find us at Hyland.com. Media contact: Megan Larsen +1 440-788-4988 [email protected] SOURCE Hyland Related Links http://www.hyland.com US storms: At least 11 killed as severe weather hits south US storms: At least 11 killed as severe weather hits south At least 11 people have died as a result of severe storms sweeping across parts of the southern US, bringing high winds and heavy rain. Deaths were reported in the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by power cuts as a result of the storms, while homes have been destroyed and roads flooded. Several tornado warnings were in place on Saturday, with Alabama said to be most at risk. The storms have also brought the threat of ice and snow to parts of the Midwest. Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Saturday at Chicago's two main airports. The Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana said an elderly couple died on Friday, when a tornado destroyed their mobile home, carrying it some 200ft (61m) from its foundations. The couple's three dogs remained unaccounted for. Another man in the state was killed on Friday when a tree fell on his home, officials said. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that three people were killed in Pickens County, Alabama. Details were not immediately clear, but local media reported that they died as a result of an apparent tornado. "Please take these warnings seriously," the NWS in Birmingham, Alabama, said on Twitter when announcing the fatalities. You can look at the video and you can see that the student was clearly the aggressor and was much larger than she was, Dudley said. The bigger issue here is that the support that she needed as a new teacher was not there for her. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gold Lion Resources Inc. ("Gold Lion" or the "Company") (CSE: GL) (FWB: 2BC) is pleased to announce that effective immediately, Mr. Oliver Friesen has been appointed CEO and Corporate Secretary of Gold Lion. Mr. Friesen has been active in the mineral exploration industry since 2009 and has worked on a number of precious and base metal projects throughout Nevada, British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon Territory. He holds a B.Sc (Hons.) degree in geology from the University of British Columbia, as well as a M.Sc degree in geology from Simon Fraser University. Mr. Friesen currently serves as a director of another publicly traded mining company and brings with him over 10 years of project management and capital markets experience. Oliver Friesen, newly appointed CEO and Corporate Secretary of Gold Lion stated: "I am excited to join the Gold Lion team as CEO and Corporate Secretary and I look forward to helping the Company advance its 100% owned Fairview and Cuteye properties located within British Columbia. In addition, we are currently evaluating precious metal properties throughout the Americas, focusing on assets that we feel would compliment our existing property portfolio of high-quality assets located in stable mining jurisdictions." About Gold Lion Resources Inc. Gold Lion Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company actively involved in the exploration of its 100% owned Fairview Copper-Silver-Zinc, and Cuteye Au-Ag-Cu properties. The Fairview Property is a 2574-hectare mineral property located in the Kamloops Mining District of British Columbia, and the Cuteye Property is a combined 3,152-hectare land package located in BC's Golden Triangle District. For more information please visit: https://goldlionresources.com/ . ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Oliver Friesen Director T: (778) 772-1751 The CSE and Information Service Provider have not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement 15.01.2020 LISTEN So the Jean Mensah led Electoral Commission has decided that it would compile a new voter register before the 2020 elections and absolutely nothing or no one can make it see reason. In fact, they have advanced some technical arguments in support of this entrenched stance. The experts in IT would argue on the merits or otherwise of those arguments. I understand that for a lot of people who are not IT inclined, they are wowed by these technical jargons and so the EC would want to capitalize on these vulnerabilities. Remember when Dr. Bawumia, during the Supreme Court petition, believed himself a genius because he was using words like soft copy, PowerPoint presentation, PDF conversion, facial recognition etc. In fact, many were those who thought the NPP had a case because they did not understand that these were mere IT terminologies. I have since advocated for the introduction of a Comprehensive Computing Education at the basic levels so that never again would the citizenry be made a mockery of because of some mysterious IT jargons. Here we are again today that Jean Mensah and Dr Asare Bossman, having made up their minds even before they became EC commissioners that the EC ought to compile a new register, would like us believe that the need for a new register is necessitated by the imaginary urgent need to replace the IT infrastructure of the EC. All other justifications have fallen flat and so the EC is now clutching desperately on the IT infrastructure argument. First, there were arguments of the register being over-bloated and overstretched. That claim is even defeated by the near 100% turnouts recorded in the referendum that created the 6 new regions. Unless the referendum was not credible, no sane person or group of persons can make a case of over bloating against a register that has recorded turnouts of over 90% very recently in the referendum supervised by the same person or group. A database of human beings taking into account factors like death means there is always an acceptable margin of error. This over bloating claim is the weakest and I am not surprised the EC is no longer using it. There is also the claim that the EC had incurred costs in compiling previous registers and so the current cost in compiling a new register is justified. The only costs that can be justified are the ones already spent on acquiring the current biometric data which has proven to be fit for purpose and has successfully delivered two general elections with the possibility of a third but for the insistence of the EC on compiling a new register. The amount already spent may only become a waste if the current EC throws away the biometric database in order to compile a new biometric database when all that is needed is an update. And so, however you look at it, it is the current EC that would be wasting scarce tax payers money if they go ahead with their entrenched position of compiling a new biometric register. The cost-benefit analysis thus far does not give any compelling justifications for a new voter register. I think the EC would have done us all a world of good if they had stayed clear of the facial recognition argument. A system that they themselves know is only 80% effective amongst black people and therefore intends to only use it as second layer of verification for persons who cannot be verified by fingerprints. This, they say, would mean that those who are unable to be verified either by fingerprint or facial recognition would therefore be ineligible to vote. I dont know what informed this thinking but something must be wrong with the current EC if they do not envisage the human right abuses and the potential court cases it would suffer with such an arrangement. For instance, during the current district assembly elections, some 34,843 electorates were manually verified to vote. Under the ECs new proposal, assuming the facial recognition was to work at its full 80% efficiency, it means some 6,969 people would have been disenfranchised completely. This is certainly unacceptable as the number grows much bigger if you situate it in the context of general elections where turnout is much higher. This is Common Sense! The ECs last and only option now appears to be the need for a new data center and that some of the equipment/devices are end of life and therefore obsolete. For now, it looks like this is the only feasible claim the EC is hanging onto. I would leave this argument for the IT experts to argue it out as I do not believe that any data center in this world could reach its end of life in just about 7 or 8 years but then I am struggling to understand why the need for a new data center and/or equipment automatically translates into the need for the compilation of a new database. I mean, who does that in this day and age? Are the commissioners and their technical experts oblivious of the term COMPATIBILITY? This is not rocket science but basic computing! This is the reason why you are able to open your Word 1997 or 2003 document in Word 2010! All the EC ought to do is to give the specifications that would allow the database to run on the new data center and/or equipment to the vendors whose job it is to tailor their product to accommodate it. It is that simple! As to why the EC is determined to make it look more complex than it is defies logic. I was in the Ashanti region for my Ghana card registration, I witnessed the queues and the inconveniences people had to go through. Aside the issue of very few centers, the time spent on capturing data also contributed to the long queues and delays. The EC registration currently does not take that much time but would most likely be same as the Ghana card with the introduction of facial recognition. With the benefit of the experience of the limited registration in 2019, the queues may be much worse. The Ghanaian is growing impatient of the artificial inconveniences created by these state institutions to serve purposes only know to those in charge of these institutions. The EC should not put the 2020 elections at the mercy of the Ghanaian's anger! If the Jean Mensah led EC are not minded by the many cautions and wise counsel, they should at least do a common sense analysis, just as I have done. Please, pray for Ghana and the EC! Kwabreba Sawa Ahwiaa Kwabre East, Ashanti Region. (Photo: photo) (Photo: New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat) The latest wellness trend is to vacation solo and New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat makes perfect sense. Situated perfectly in Killington, Vermont where the famous Appalachian Trail and Long Trail meet, New Life Hiking Spa has been catering to solo wellness seekers since 1978. This highly rated wellness retreat offers "mountains instead of a treadmill" for exercise and includes three calorie-controlled meals and massages in its nightly rate. Solo travelers describe it as a "camp-like" atmosphere where all meals are served at the same time and evenings can be spent around a fire pit. Solo travel has been growing in popularity in the past decade, as have wellness retreats. Everyone from burnt out executives to caregivers have been seeking rest and rejuvenation by traveling solo. The global wellness market has grown 12.8 percent over the past couple of years, making wellness retreats one of the most popular vacation options for people wanting to go it alone on their vacation. New Life Hiking Spa is open seasonally in the Green Mountains of Vermont and upwards of about 70 percent of the guests travel solo. The founder and director of New Life, Jimmy LeSage says, "Much needed alone time is an essential part of wellness and we make it very comfortable for anyone to feel comfortable here, to recharge and return to life with a new outlook. Many of our solo guests are not only looking to take a break from their daily life, but to also figure out a way to go back home and incorporate what they learned on vacation into real life. They pick up new, healthy habits while they are here." Spending time in nature is a big part of the program. Each morning, at least three different levels of hiking are offered. From beginner nature walks in the forest to hiking up some of the highest peaks in Vermont, New Life's wellness programming centers around professionally guided hikes. The afternoon consists of a variety of wellness and fitness classes back at the hotel, a guided meditation walk around a waterfall or a holistic massage. One massage or reflexology appointment is included with each three night stay. New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat is often listed as one of the top wellnessretreats in the world by publications such as Town & Country, Travel & Leisure and Health Magazine according to articles that appear on internet searches. Individual reviews and comments from Facebook, Google and other review sites collaborate it is a worthwhile retreat. Amy Colletti from Florida commented, "I just booked by sixth trip back to New Life Hiking Spa. It is a treat I give myself for one week of every year. I usually go for one week, which includes two massages, daily hikes, food and a room. You just can't beat this place for the price. I always feel healthier when I leave. So happy I found it and plan to return every summer as long as I'm breathing!" Wellness retreats can be pricey, but according to our research, New Life Hiking Spa is the most affordable vacation of its kind in the country. Of the top rated retreat vacations, the average price is $1,100 per night for an all-inclusive wellness package. According to New Life's website, their nightly prices range between $229 - $269 (plus amenity charge and taxes) per night depending on length of stay. Retreats are offered with a minimum of 3 nights and go up to 21 nights. They are currently running an 8 night wellnessretreat special for 2020 at the total price (including amenity and tax) of $2,020 for a solo traveler. This includes a private room with a private bathroom, all meals, hikes and massages. For stressed out vacationers looking to take a solo vacation and immerse themselves in wellness, a retreat at New Life Hiking Spa is the perfect place to go. Set apart from the latest fads and trends, this retreat has proven itself with a forty-two year history, thousands of solo travelers, a back-to-nature approach and affordable packages. At New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat, guests can authentically take care of their body, mind and soul in a comforting and nurturing environment for the solo vacationer. 2020 dates are May 14 -October 5. Reservations can be made and more information can be found on their website at https://www.newlifehikingspa.com. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 MOSCOW, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 11th Gaidar Forum, Russia and the World: Challenges of the New Decade, is held at the Presidential Academy on January 15-16, 2020 and it brings together the leading international academics, politicians, financiers and representatives of the global business elite once again. More than 14,700 participants have registered for the forum, including 600 speakers from more than 30 countries. The Gaidar Forum is held at the Presidential Academy under the auspices of the Government of the Russian Federation. This year, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will work in the framework of the Gaidar Forum in a new format. On January 17, he will meet with experts who took part in the 11th Gaidar Forum. It is planned to discuss the issues raised during the discussions at the forum. Over 11 years, the Gaidar Forum has become one of the most respected expert platforms that traditionally determines the vector for public and academic discussion. This year's forum will focus on how to answer the main challenges facing Russia and the world in the new decade. The agenda of the event includes Russia's development strategy, national development goals and economic growth, science and technology breakthroughs and digitalization, the transformation of public administration systems and geopolitical trends, education and social elevators for young people, tax myths and the transformation of the banking system, and businesses' social responsibility. The Message from the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly becomes the leitmotif of the forum's business program. The session What Hinders Economic Growth? will be attended by First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin, and Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina. The participants in the discussion will specifically focus on the need for additional structural reforms, non-economic factors of economic dynamics and institutional measures that are necessary to launch growth mechanisms. During the session on Horizons of Economic Policy, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin will deliver a keynote report on the effectiveness of various economic policy tools. Global climate change will be discussed at the session on Climate Agenda: What Is Going to Change Everything? The participants will explore the potential the modern world has for responding to the climate crisis, as well as the possibilities of a technological response to this challenge. The session will be attended by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Mikhail Rasstrigin, President of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves, and representatives of major Russian companies. The participants in the session on National Technology Policy and Regional Specifics will try to answer the question of how to effectively incorporate regional specifics when forming a national technology policy. Head of Rusnano state corporation Anatoly Chubais and President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov will take part in the discussion of mechanisms for synchronizing support for technology companies at the regional and federal levels, the possibilities of forming interregional mechanisms for supporting technology initiatives and major businesses' role in regional technology policy. During the international session Greater Europe: Is It Still in The Making? experts will analyze the causes and prerequisites of the existing Russian-European relations and outline a comprehensive basis for their further development. The participants will include former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giulio Tremonti (19941995, 20012006, 20082011), Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel (20002007), Ambassador of the European Union to the Russian Federation Markus Ederer. One of the most interesting events at the forum will be the open dialogue Global Agenda: Challenges, Opportunities, Risks, where RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau and former President of France (2007-2012) Nicolas Sarkozy will discuss the likelihood of a new global crisis, the outlook and risks for the European Union in the new decade, as well as the political and socioeconomic consequences of digitalization at the global level. 11th Gaidar Forum Organizers: The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA); The Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy (Gaidar Institute); The Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR). Forum partners: General partners: Gazprom, Gazprombank. Strategic partners: Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Russian Railways, Pharmstandard group, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Novartis Group, MSD, ACIG Group, EF Education First. Partners: Prosveshcheniye Group, EY, Huawei, RVC, Russian Agricultural Bank. General information partners: Rossiya 24 TV Chanel, TASS, RBC, Business FM; strategic information partners: Kommersant Publishing House, Interfax, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Invest Foresight online business magazine, RIA FederalPress; main information partners: Anews.com, Gazeta.ru, Lenta.ru, News.ru, Profile; international partners: RT, Thomson Reuters, Sputnik, EFE, Cision, Pan Pacific Agency; information partners: Snob media project, PRIME economic news agency, RNS, Expert magazine, Parlamentskaya Gazeta, Polit.ru, Radio Ekho Moskvy, PRO Business TV channel, FINAM.RU agency, Davydov.Index, Strategia magazine, Ekonomika i Zhizn newspaper, ECONS.ONLINE website, Gosudarstvennaya Sluzhba magazine, TV BRICS. SOURCE RANEPA Related Links https://www.ranepa.ru BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: SOCAR and BP announced today that the first exploration well was spudded on the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea on 13 January, Trend reports citing BP. BP is operator and holds a 50% interest in the Shafag-Asiman production sharing agreement (PSA) with partner SOCAR holding a 50% interest. The SAX01 well is the first to be drilled in the contract area and is in accordance with BPs obligations under the PSA that was ratified by the Azerbaijani parliament in 2011. The well is planned to reach total depth of up to 7,000 metres, which is expected to take around nine months. Following this, well data will be analysed and, if successful, an evaluation programme may be conducted to confirm the results. Rovnag Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, said: A while back, we have successfully completed seismic study in the Shafag-Asiman block with our partner BP. Now we are embarking on the next step, and starting to drill an exploration well. The exploration drilling will allow to fully uncover the blocks potential. We are proud that today Azerbaijani companies SOCARs business units provide all key services, including the construction of platforms and jackets as well as drilling, for such complex projects, as Shah Deniz, Azeri-Chirag- Gunashli and Shafag-Asiman. We consider this as one of the most important achievements of Azerbaijani oil workers during the era of national independence. Gary Jones, BPs Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: We are excited and proud to be embarking on this first exploration well on Shafag-Asiman a structure which has significant potential for a large-scale gas discovery. A great deal of preparation has been made to assure a safe and robust drilling programme. The well is being drilled from the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible rig operated by the Caspian Drilling Company (CDC). The rig, which has full managed-pressure drilling capability, was contracted for the SAX01 well in November 2019 and then moved to the well location in preparation for the commencement of drilling operations. The Shafag-Asiman PSA between BP and SOCAR for joint exploration and development of the Shafag-Asiman offshore block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea was signed in Baku in October 2010. The block lies some 125 kilometres to the South-East of Baku. It covers an area of some 1,100 square kilometres. It is located in water depths of 650-800 metres. The block is 60km from Shah Deniz and 145km from the Sangachal terminal A 3D seismic acquisition programme was conducted on the contract area in 2012. Interpretation of the seismic dataset was completed in 2015 followed by the selection of the first well location and planning for drilling activities. Prime Minister Imad Khamis has delivered the condolences of President Assad to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani writes SANA. Representing President Bashar al-Assad, Prime Minister Imad Khamis on Tuesday offered condolences to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian people over the martyrdom of Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. During their meeting in Tehran, Rouhani lauded Syrias support of Iran, saying that Washington assassinated Soleimani because he supported the causes of the regions peoples. He asserted that Irans leadership and people stand alongside Syria and its people in the face of terrorism and economic embargo, stressing the importance of beginning reconstruction and returning life to normal in Syria. Rouhani also affirmed that deep-rooted Syrian-Iranian relations will continue along the same path. For his part, Khamis affirmed that Syria supports Iran and its right to defend itself, saying that the current conditions require developing bilateral cooperation in all fields. The Prime Minister thanked Irans government and people for supporting Syria in its war on terrorism, which he said will continue until terrorism is uprooted. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. TRENTON Both of the 1st Legislative Districts new Republican representatives were humbled by the magnitude of their newfound responsibility as they were sworn in Tuesday as members of New Jerseys 219th General Assembly. Its unbelievable, said Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, following the bi-annual ceremony inside the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton. I cant explain the outpouring of love once elected, even prior to being elected, that everybody in the community has given me, (from) my family, my friends, and also the constituents. Im still on cloud nine. McClellan, of Ocean City, and Erik Simonsen, of Lower Township, defeated incumbent Democrats Bruce Land and Matthew Milam. The pair ran alongside state Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, who defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Andrzejczak in last years only state Senate race. Testa was sworn in Dec. 5. Lower to pick new mayor, OC likely to leave seat vacant until election The swearing-in of two new members of the state Assembly on Tuesday will leave vacant seats The 1st District was the only one to switch from Democratic to Republican representation during the last election. District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa Central, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo is seriously advocating for Four More Years for His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP Government to continue its development agenda " There is no doubt that His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP Government has performed better within the last three years and therefore deserves to be given four more years to do more for the people. The evidence is there for everyone to see and feel it. People are feeling the real impact of the Free SHS policy, Planting For Food and Jobs, Planting For Export and Rural Development (PERD), NABCO, Regular payment of Teacher Trainees and Nurses Allowance, reduction of Water and Electricity tariffs among others Apart from that construction of Classroom Blocks, Market centers, construction of Road Network, provision of potable drinking water, One District One Factory, One Village One Dam as well as modern toilet facilities are there for people to see for themselves" Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo stated these when he joined some Communities in the Gomoa Central District to climax their annual Akwambo Festival at the weekend. Addressing separate durbar organized by the chiefs and people of Gomoa Dahom, Gomoa Abaasa, and Gomoa Aboso respectively, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo lauded the people for their communal spirit adding it had supplemented Assembly's development efforts. " In collaboration with Deputy Minister for Land and Natural Resources, Hon. Naana Eyiah who is also the Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, we have been able to support every community undertaking self-help projects in the District. Apart from providing social amenities like the construction of Classroom Blocks, Market centers, CHPS Compound, modern toilet facilities, and mechanised boreholes among others for various Communities, we have supplied trips of Sand, bags of Cement, iron rods and roofing materials for early completion of the projects. It is Worthy to note that almost all the Communities are taking various self-help projects to supplement the Assembly and for that matter the central government This show the level of confidence people have in His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP Government looking at is unprecedented achievements over the past three years Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo accompanied by Hon. Kweku Nyarko Koomson, Former Presiding Member for Gomoa Central District Assembly, Mr. George Obeng, Gomoa Central NPP Deputy Organizer, Hon. Fifi Duncan, Assembly Member-Elect for Gomoa Afransi Electoral Area and Madam Esi Hammond, a Leading Member of the NPP and other Constituency Executives, the DCE called on the people to vote massively for Nana Addo and Hon. Naana Eyiah to continue their selfless sacrifice towards the well-being of the citizenry. " Let me use this opportunity to thank Nananom and the good people in the Gomoa Central District for acknowledging efforts being made to improve their standard of living. Our constant interactions with Nananom clearly shows that they appreciate whatever we are doing as Government to better a lot of the people. On behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP government, I like to assure you that your encouragement has ginger us to do more for the people. That explains why we should give Nana Addo and NPP Four More Years to Do More" Hon Benjamin Kojo Otoo concluded by urging the youth to take advantage of the various policies and interventions like Free SHS, Scholarship for Tertiary students in Educational institutions to better their lives. He also cautioned them to desist from all forms of political violence in the wake of the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. Assembly Member-Elect for Aboso Electoral Area, Hon. Isaac Gyesi Korsah commenced DCE for Gomoa Central, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo as well as the Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Hon. Naana Eyiah for spearheading infrastructure Development projects in Gomoa Aboso and it's surrounding communities. He specifically mentioned the provision of a Market center at Aboso to boost economic activities, Nurse's quarters for the local CHPS Compound and construction of Classroom Blocks for schools in Gomoa Aboso. Hon. Korsah thanked Hon. Naana Eyiah for sponsoring Free Eyes Screening for over 800 people some of which were operated and giving spectacles Free of charge. The Queen Mother of Gomoa Dahom, Nana Esifua appealed to the Gomoa Central District Assembly through the DCE and Member of Parliament to ensure reshaping of the road linking the community to Gomoa Achiase to enhance smooth transportation of goods and services. Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), a unit of Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPower), said that it has begun the supply of recycled water to Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Approximately, 4.4 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of recycled water is now supplied to the islands community for landscaping, significantly reducing its reliance on desalinated water. ADDC has connected Saadiyat Island to the existing recycled water network from Yas Island. Recognising the potential of this untapped resource as well as its sustainable impact on Abu Dhabi ADDC has been developing the recycled water networks extension. The project is the first phase of a programme that aims to further enhance the utilisation of recycled water in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, reducing reliance on desalinated and ground water for landscaping and agriculture uses. The next phases of the program will expand to include irrigation to other parts of the Emirate, extending the use of recycled water beyond landscaping irrigation. Saeed Mohamed Al Suwaidi, managing director of ADDC, said: Water is one of the worlds most precious resources, requiring careful management, maintenance and deployment. We must constantly seek sustainable and practical solutions for optimal utilisation. Our new recycled water project is a significant milestone for Abu Dhabis sustainability objectives, as it maximises the use of desalinated water, prevents the depletion of natural ground water and channels untapped recycled water for municipality irrigation. This is just one step in a broader initiative that will drive our Emirates sustainable growth and development for decades to come. TradeArabia News Service A look at the tech jobs projected to be in high-demand and the skilled-tech workers employers will be hiring this year Canadas top tech jobs forecast for 2020 A look at the tech jobs projected to be in high-demand and the skilled-tech workers employers will be hiring this year Canadas top tech jobs forecast for 2020 A look at the tech jobs projected to be in high-demand and the skilled-tech workers employers will be hiring this year Canadas top tech jobs forecast for 2020 A look at the tech jobs projected to be in high-demand and the skilled-tech workers employers will be hiring this year Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A The high demand for tech talent in Canada is rolling into 2020 as experts start to predict the sectors outlook for the new year. Shortages in the technology sector labour market have prompted immigration programs in British Columbia and Ontario to step up recruiting efforts. In 2019 the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) extended its tech pilot to June 2020, and the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) started holding draws specifically for immigration candidates with tech experience. There are not enough [skilled workers] to fill those positions Theres really a shortage of labour, Patrick Poulin, president of the staffing division of Randstad Canada, told CIC News. Its definitely a key asset to have immigrants coming in to fill those positions. Its super important. Randstad Canada, a human resources consulting firm, released its predictions for 2020 on the top in-demand tech jobs in Canada, as well as in-demand skills, and salaries. The technology sector offers some of the most competitive salaries in Canada. For 2020, the average annual salary is an estimated $81,750. Low-earners in this field can expect to earn an average salary of $55,000, and the highest earners may bring home $140,000 or more. Tech talent continues to be highly sought after in major urban centres like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. If you have tech skills (in particular the ability to code in popular languages such as Java, python or various C-based languages) youll have your pick of employers in many of Canadas largest cities! the Randstad webpage said. Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs In-demand tech jobs The following eight positions are expected to be highly sought after in Canada according to Randstad: Developers and Programmers Full-stack developers with front and back end skills are especially sought-after though coding and programming skills are in high demand everywhere. Employers will be seeking skilled developers with knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Python and .NET. IT Project Manager The demand for this position has grown in Canada since last year. Employers are looking for those with project management skills specifically PMP, PMI or Agile Certified professionals. Quality Assurance Analyst Another position that is expected to be in-demand this year. Quality assurance analysts ensure software is user-friendly and bug-free. Data Analyst Data analysts make sense of the massive amounts of information that companies collect in order to run their businesses. Demand for this position is expected to grow as businesses increasingly rely on data. IT Business Analyst Analysts who specialize in tech and software analysis will be in especially high demand this year. Their role is to shape and optimize business systems and software to make them operate effectively. Senior Software Engineer The demand for coding skills and developers is particularly intense at the senior level. Randstad says, Employers are looking for candidates who already have a lot of experience, rather than hiring and developing their own junior and intermediate software engineers. Network Administrator Network administrators make sure everything runs smoothly for both employees and customers. They oversee their employers IT network and setup, manage servers and network equipment. Technical Support Specialist Tech-savvy workers with skills in customer support are expected to be in high demand this year. As the use of technology becomes more prevalent in everyday life, so does the need for professionals who can provide assistance and support to businesses and customers that are experiencing technical, hardware, or software issues. Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. NHLANGANO A shortage of doctors sparked a violent attack on a hospital orderly, by a patient, at a health facility on Monday. Chaos erupted at Nhlangano Health Centre when the irate patient assaulted the staff member, in full view of others, shortly after 2pm. It is understood that patients at the facility had been complaining about the slow pace at which the queue was moving when a hospital orderly tried to explain the cause of the delay. Interviewed witnesses said there was tension at the facility until the orderly tried to explain that the hospital was facing a staff shortage. The orderly reportedly said there were only two doctors at the facility, and pleaded for the patients understanding. But there was this one male patient who felt that the staff members were not paying enough attention to them. He took the hospital orderly to task. Further pleas from the orderly could not help to calm down the fuming patient, according to bystanders. Confrontation It was at the height of the verbal confrontation that the patient started to assault the hospital staff member. Eyewitnesses said they saw the patient slapping the male orderly repeatedly across the face, before he further threw a few punches. Those who watched the drama said the attack was so violent that a female doctor, who was available at the facility at the time, immediately stopped attending to patients after she heard the commotion. A source said the medical practitioner feared that she could also be attacked as well. Some patients who watched the spectacle unfold also ran for cover while others stood there confused. This also affected staff members, including nurses, who also left their offices in fear of the patient. The angry patient held the staff member hostage for a while until senior personnel at the facility called another male orderly and police officers, who came in shortly thereafter. The police officers later took both the orderly and the violent patient away. I understand they went to the police station where the aggressor apologised to the victim before he was released after a strong tongue-lashing, narrated an eyewitness. The orderly was contacted by this publication and he confirmed the incident. However, he referred further enquiries to his superiors at the health facility. A staffer, who was contacted by this publication, also acknowledged receiving a report about the violent episode that was played out at the hospital. The senior staffer condemned the attack on the orderly and appealed for patience from people who visit the facility for healthcare. Resolved The matter was further confirmed by Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, when contacted yesterday. Vilakati explained that the issue was resolved amicably by the parties concerned following the intervention of the police. No one was charged in relation to the incident after the patient asked for forgiveness from the hospital staff member, she said. The shortage of doctors has adversely affected health facilities across the country. Information gathered was that the number of doctors in government hospitals and health centres was less than the figure of the expected capacity of these facilities, with patients getting frustrated by long queues or even getting limited healthcare as a result. At the Nhlangano Health Centre for instance, it was gathered that the facility had previously operated with six doctors but now it is running with only three. This is precisely because three expatriate doctors left the country towards the end of the past year, leaving only three remaining to service the facility. It is believed their contracts were not renewed by government. Further compounding the issue is that one of the three medical practitioners who are currently working at the facility is on leave, which effectively means there are only two doctors currently present. We had three doctors from Cuba who left the country towards the end of last year. No other doctor has been brought to the hospital to replace the three who left, so you can imagine what is happening now, especially with the queues, said a hospital staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another nurse at the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital told this publication that: It is not just the unavailability of doctors, but we also have a serious shortage of nurses and nursing assistants. The shortage of equipment and medication is also another big challenge which compromises healthcare and the quality of services in our facilities. This was further corroborated by President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Bheki Mamba, who said several posts in health facilities were lying vacant because government was either failing to renew contracts of specialist expatriate medical practitioners or not replacing staff. He explained that these were staffers who had either resigned or left the healthcare service because of various factors. Replacements You will remember that government is not hiring at the moment. There are posts which are left vacant because of different reasons but government is not making the necessary replacements because of the current hiring freeze policy. This ends up affecting a lot of departments in the health service, he said. Mamba hinted that, as a union, they have brought into light all these issues but nothing has been happening and posts were not being filled. When queried about the shortage of doctors and other staff in health facilities, Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi said she was engaged in a meeting. She referred questions to the Principal Secretary (PS), Dr Simon Zwane, who could not be reached for comment. Several attempts were made to contact the PS but calls were not answered. A text message was also sent to both the minister and the PS but there had been no response at the time of going to print. Conversational difficulties with father after a divorce affects the childrens health negatively. "This demonstrates that contact with both parents after a divorce is important," says Professor Eivind Meland at the Department of Global Public Health and Care, University of Bergen. According to numbers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health around 40 per cent of all teenagers have experienced a divorce. "We wanted to explore what happens to the communication between parents and children after a divorce and how this impact the children's future health," Meland explains. The study included 1225 youths from the former region of Sogn of Fjordane. They were asked if they found it easy or difficult to talk with their parents. The answers were graded from "very easy" to "very hard or lost contact". The researchers also asked the children about their health complaints and self-esteem. The health complaints included various physical and psychological symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, stomach aches, anxiety, depression and trouble sleeping. They asked the children in 2011 and in 2013. In 2011 213 of these children had divorced parents. Two years later the number had increased to 270. The divorce did not seem to affect how they communicate with their mother, but are strongly connected to conversational difficulties with father. We also see that closeness to both father and mother impacts the children's health two year after the divorce." Professor Eivind Meland, Department of Global Public Health and Care, University of Bergen More health complaints when the children had lost contact with their father The researchers observed a clear connection between how easy the children found to talk with their father after divorce and health complaints later in life: "Those children that reported having lost contact or who find it difficult to talk with their father after divorce also had most health complaints," says Meland. They also saw a clear connection between the divorce and conversational difficulties between children and fathers: "It seems like conversational difficulties between children and father was present also before the divorce, but we also see that the divorce weakens the relationship between the children and their fathers," Meland states. If the children reported having a good relationship with both parents after the divorce, the divorce did not seem to affect the self-esteem or health to the children in any negative manner. Daughters find it hardest to talk with their father The study also shows that the girls have more difficulties talking with their fathers than the boys. Daughters also reported having more health complaints, but the consequence of conversational difficulties seemed to be the same for both sexes: "In the data we can see the tendency that girls suffer more from having lost contact with their fathers, but the difference is not significant," the researcher says. A neglected subject The data included information on which parent was the child's main caregiver and where the children lived, but it was not considered reliable enough to be included in the article. It suggested that three times as many children reported having lost contact with their fathers than with their mothers: "If the divorce is taken to court, it is the mother that most often ends up with the status as the main caregiver," says Meland, but adds that he sees a tendency towards that the parents decide to share the custody. Meland strongly believes that the importance of maintaining a close relationship between father and child after a divorce is a neglected subject: "Our research clearly shows that a strong relationship with both parents is important for the children's health. This should impact the family policy," says Meland. Putin: Minimum wages and pension adjustment rules need Constitutional guarantees Moskva city news agency, Andrey Nikerichev 14:03 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) The provisions that the minimum wages and salaries are to be at or above the subsistence income of the employable population need to be fixed in the Constitution, Russias President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday. In any case and in any situation, the President noted, the state social commitments must be met across the whole national territory; therefore he believed it was necessary to directly institutionalize the provision that the minimum wage in Russia could not be below the subsistence level of the able-bodied citizenry in the Constitution in addition to the current legislation. According to the President, the principles of respectable retirement benefits, including regular indexation of pensions, also needed to be guaranteed by the Constitution. She landed her first modelling job at just 10 years old and later rose to become one of the industry's most in-demand stars. And Cara Delevingne struck a pose as she showed off Puma's latest trainer style, Rise, while posing on a swirly link ladder in a trendy photoshoot. The Paper Towns actress, 27, donned a light green jacket and matching tracksuit bottoms for the shoot, along with a black crop top. Style: Cara Delevingne, 27, struck a pose as she showed off Puma's latest trainer style, Rise, while posing on a swirly link ladder in a trendy photoshoot Styling her blonde locks into loose waves, Cara looked every inch the supermodel as she posed on the ladder. The fashion house says that the Rise look is 'made for dynamic women, who walk onwards and upwards to reach their goals. 'Featuring PUMA's RS technology for high rebound, the Rise creates the feeling of walking on clouds through its oh-so-comfortable construction and soft, opulent lines.' Cara is in a relationship with actress and Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson, with the couple recently enjoying a trip to Brazil. Outfit: The Paper Towns actress donned a light green jacket and matching tracksuit bottoms for the shoot, along with a black crop top The pair also recently visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California, joining Cara's sister Chloe and other relatives visiting 'The Happiest Place on Earth. They also touched down in Morocco, where Cara surprised Ashley with a trip to commemorate her 30th birthday. 'I was surprised on my 30th birthday,' the actress said in an Instagram post. She continued: 'Morocco has always been a place I've wanted to visit. I faced so many fears and took on new adventures with my best friend by my side. Model: Styling her blonde locks into loose waves, Cara looked every inch the supermodel as she posed on the ladder Trainer: The fashion house says that the Rise look is 'made for dynamic women, who walk onwards and upwards to reach their goals They added: 'Featuring PUMA's RS technology for high rebound, the Rise creates the feeling of walking on clouds through its oh-so-comfortable construction and soft, opulent lines' 'I couldn't have asked for anything better. I love you @caradelevingne. Thank you for making my birthday the best yet.' In October, Cara opened up about her relationship, calling herself 'the luckiest girl in the world' to be in a romance with Ashley. 'It's so nice to have someone in my life that supports me so much and loves me,' she told E! News at in Beverly Hills at the Girl Up #GirlHero Awards. International travels: Cara and her girlfriend Ashleuy Benson recently spent time in Morocco, where Cara surprised her with a trip to commemorate her 30th birthday When she received the award, Ashley was showing support again, writing on Instagram, 'So proud of you, I love you @caradelevingne.' Both remain thriving in their careers, as Cara remains one of the world's top supermodels, while Ashley is set to appear with Ewan McGregor and Val Kilmer in the upcoming drama The Birthday Cake in 2020. The new trainer style is available now at PUMA.com, PUMA stores and selected retailers for $90 (69). Donald Trump suggested Tuesday night for the second time in a month that a deceased Democratic political icon is in hell, lobbing that insult at the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Trump said the same thing in December about Rep. John Dingell, who passed away last February. The president told a boisterous political rally crowd in Milwaukee that his much-dissected phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky, which launched the articles of impeachment against him, was 'perfect.' He added that the famously foul-mouthed LBJ was 'probably looking downor looking up' with bemusement. 'Did anybody read the transcript? Its a perfect call,' Trump said. 'In fact if you go back and look at Lyndon Johnson ... you know, Lyndon Johnson was sort of a tough guy. Can you imagine his phone calls?' 'He's probably looking downor looking up, and he's probably saying, "These people have gone crazy! That's the nicest call I've ever [heard]",' Trump joked. President Doanld Trump joked Tuesday night for the second time in a month that a prominent deceased Democratic politician had gone to hell Trump said 1960s-era President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who famously had a foul mouth and left behind salty phone recordings, might be 'looking up' at him with bemusement as he undergoes impeachment over a 'perfect' phopne call with his Ukrainian counterpart Some of LBJ's recordings, made with an Oval Office taping system, included racist rants and vulgar comments about women including reporters and White House staff Liberals on Twitter shoved back. Attorney George Conway, a frequent thorn in Trump's side whose wife is presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, jabbed that 'Trump is hoping to meet LBJ I guess.' Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said of LBJ's many surviving phone call recordings that '[as] hard as many of them can be to listen to now for many reasons, he didn't ask foreign governments to intervene in our elections in exchange for congressionally authorized military aid.' Trump raised Capitol Hill's collective blood pressure in December as he blasted Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell for lavishing praise on him in private while clobbering him with her public rhetoric. The president had given the late Rep. John Dingell 'A-plus treatment' following his death by lowering American flags to half-staff. Trump said in December that the late Rep. John Dingell (pictured), a devout Catholic, had been condemned to hellsaying he was 'looking up' at those still living rather than looking down Rep. Debbie Dingell, the late congressman's widow, slammed the president on Twitter 'She calls me up,' he told a rally crowd of Debbie Dingell. '"That's the nicest thing that ever happened! Thank you so much. John would be so thrilled. Hes looking down. Hed be so thrilled",' the president said, recounting what she had told him. After a dramatic beat, Trump jabbed: 'Maybe hes looking up. I dont know. ... But lets assume hes looking down.' Trump made the remarks after Debbie Dingell voted in favor of two articles of impeachment. She responded in a tweet: 'I'm preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love. You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder.' John Dingell was the longest-serving member of Congress wjhen he died at age 92. he had represented a House district outside Detroit for 59 years. - The winners of the first edition held in Australia will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hongxuan Chen from Septet Architects and Yiyun Yan from CXP Architects, winners of the first edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Australia, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their design qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. All activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD (Barcelona Centro de Diseno); and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, a leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. ISTANBUL - Iran said Tuesday that arrests have been made in connection with the downing of a Ukrainian airliner by mistake, as the president called for a special court to investigate the crash that set off days of anti-government protests. Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary, said Tuesday that "some individuals" have been arrested over the past three days after "extensive investigations," but he did not provide any details about the identities of the suspects or say how many people have been detained. An Iranian air defense battery shot down the plane last week, killing all 176 people on board during a hair-trigger standoff with the United States after a U.S. drone strike killed Iran's powerful Quds Force commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, earlier this month. Tehran retaliated last Wednesday, firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at facilities in Iraq hosting U.S. troops. In the hours after those attacks, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 with a surface-to-air missile. It later blamed the strike on "human error." Listed among the dead were 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians, including the crew. Most, if not all, of the Canadians were reported to be of Iranian origin or dual nationals. Iranian officials initially denied reports that the plane was brought down, but they admitted Saturday that the Revolutionary Guard, which maintains military bases in the area of the crash, shot it down by mistake. Over the next few days, protests flared on the streets of Tehran and other cities, led by students criticizing the missile strike and the initial denials. They chanted rare denunciations of Iran's leadership, putting the government on the defensive. The protests continued Tuesday. Videos posted on social media showed dozens of students gathered at the University of Tehran. "Without honor. Without honor," they chanted. "Our hands are empty. Put away your baton!" In a speech Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani addressed the crash at length, calling for a special court "with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts" to investigate. "This is not a normal case, and the whole world will follow the case in our court," he said, according to a transcript of his remarks posted on his official website. "Our people know that this accident was the result of an error and mistake, but who was involved and what circumstances led to the accident?" he said. His remarks appeared to cast blame partly on the United States, which he said had "inflamed the atmosphere and made the situation abnormal, threatened and took our loved ones from us." "All of this is true, but it does not mean that we should not address all the root causes of the incident," he added. "It is not just the one who pressed the button, but rather there are others, and I want this matter to be explained to people honestly." Rouhani also appeared to fault military leaders for waiting days to announce that the plane had been shot down, and he urged the authorities "to explain to the public the whole process." Rouhani has no control over the judiciary or the military, both of which are under the direct supervision of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "It is very important for our people that whoever, at any level, was to blame should be introduced and whoever is to be punished, should be punished," Rouhani said. "The most important thing is that people have to be sure that such incidents will not happen again." - - - The Washington Post's Erin Cunningham contributed to this report. Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou appeared to be feeling the strain while running errands in Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Tuesday. The sighting came just one day after reports surfaced that her millionaire boyfriend, Adam Rigby, had been slapped with an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) following an alleged incident with her ex-husband, Chrys Xipolitas. The 42-year-old actress was engaged in what seemed to be a serious phone conversation as she stepped out in a stylish summer dress. Is everything okay? Ada Nicodemou appeared to be feeling the strain while running errands in Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Tuesday She completed her laid-back look with Greek sandals and designer sunglasses, and styled her brunette hair loosely. Woman's Day reported on Monday that Adam and Chrys had been involved in an alleged dispute on the doorstep of Ada's home on Christmas Day. The exact reason for their argument is unknown. What's going on? The Home and Away star, 42, was engaged in what seemed to be a serious phone conversation as she stepped out in a stylish summer dress Altercation: The sighting came just one day after reports surfaced that Ada's millionaire boyfriend, Adam Rigby, had been slapped with an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) following an alleged incident with her ex-husband, Chrys Xipolitas Dispute: Woman's Day reported on Monday that Adam (left) and Chrys had been involved in an alleged dispute on the doorstep of Ada's home on Christmas Day Adam attended an AVO hearing at Sutherland Local Court last week, after NSW Police took out a temporary AVO on behalf of Chrys. A NSW Police spokesperson said: 'On Wednesday 8 January 2020 at Sutherland Local Court, a 50-year-old man [Adam] was served with a provisional Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) following an application by NSW Police.' The AVO reportedly forbids Adam to destroy or damage property that belongs to Chrys. Breaking the AVO terms could result in imprisonment for up to two years and a maximum fine of $5,500. Exes: Ada and Chrys, who split in 2016 after nine years of marriage, are pictured in June 2006 Family: The former couple share custody of a seven-year-old son, Johnas Xipolitas (pictured) Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ada Nicodemou, Adam Rigby and Chrys Xipolitas for comment. Ada and Chrys split in 2016 after nine years of marriage. They share custody of a seven-year-old son, Johnas Xipolitas. She began dating Adam, whom she met at a work function, several months after her separation. Mystery: The exact reason for the Christmas Day dispute is unknown. Pictured: Adam and Ada The couple often splash their romance across Instagram and were recently the subject of engagement rumours. 'Everyone is expecting Ada to come home with a ring on her finger. They're inseparable,' a friend told Woman's Day last year. Adam is the CEO and founder of Upside Realty, a fixed-fee real estate agency. WASHINGTON As Democrats top presidential candidates met for the last debate before voters start weighing in, the primary contest remains one of the most unpredictable in decades a contest not likely to end anytime soon. In the absence of a commanding front-runner, and with a plethora of well-funded candidates in the top tier, party activists say they have less certainty about the outcome than at any time since 1992, when Bill Clinton ultimately won in a crowded field. I cant remember a time when I had this many questions before the first votes, said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic strategist who worked on John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign. Things could play out 100 different ways. Against this backdrop, six candidates appeared together onstage Tuesday night for the last debate before the Iowa caucuses: Joe Biden, former vice president, Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; billionaire Tom Steyer; and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The debate was sponsored by CNN and the Des Moines Register. So howd they do? Heres your chance to weigh in. When all was said and done, who bested whom? Scroll down to register your vote. Tensions are rising among the candidates even among ideological allies who are increasingly taking shots at each other as the first round of voting nears. On Monday, for example, Warren and Sanders quarreled over whether Sanders had told her a woman could not win the presidential election. The sources of uncertainty are legion: Polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote, show four candidates bunched closely at the top Biden, Buttigieg, as well as Sanders and Warren. Even at this late date, more than half of Iowa Democrats are not certain whom they will back. Two billionaire candidates are wild cards: Steyer last week unexpectedly seized a place on the Iowa debate stage by doing well in polls in South Carolina and Nevada, which vote in mid- and late-February and where most other candidates were not running television ads. Former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is spending sums unmatchable by other candidates to advertise in states, including California, that vote in the March 3 multistate primary known as Super Tuesday. And President Donald Trumps impeachment trial in the Senate is a logistical headache for senators still in the race. The trial may keep them in Washington during the last two weeks before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, a crucial time for candidates to make their closing arguments in a state that prizes retail politics. The stakes are high because the candidate who comes out on top in Iowa even by a tiny margin goes into subsequent primaries, starting with New Hampshires on Feb. 11, with a gust of wind at his or her back. In the Olympics and presidential caucuses, the track looks crowded when they are running; but in the end, there will be a gold, a silver and a bronze, said Michael Meehan, who advised Sen. John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign. Those are the people who will get a huge, bright spotlight. Since the candidates last debate, in Los Angeles in December, the House has impeached Trump, and the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general followed by Iranian missile attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq has shifted attention sharply from domestic to foreign affairs. The change of focus is welcomed by Biden, who considers foreign policy his strong suit and is spotlighting it in Iowa. We live in the most dangerous moment in a generation, says the voice-over in a Biden ad in Iowa, which the campaign has updated to include references to the latest Iran news. This is a moment that requires strong, steady, stable leadership. Sanders came into the Iowa debate on a roll. He lost Iowa by a whisker to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and believes he can win it this time. He was expected to bring to the stage an intensifying effort to challenge Bidens arguments that he is the safest choice to beat Trump and has the strongest foreign policy record. Sanders has repeatedly attacked Bidens vote 17 years ago to give President George W. Bush authority for the Iraq War. Democrats need a nominee with bold ideas who can inspire the energy and excitement it will take to win the general election, he says, in a critique aimed at Biden. Nina Turner, Sanders national campaign co-chairwoman, on Sunday also published an op-ed in a South Carolina newspaper arguing that Sanders has a stronger record promoting racial justice than Biden, going after the support from African American voters that has been a core strength for the former vice president. Warren, who is looking for a campaign comeback after a fall slump, has been trying to make a new case for her candidacy: In a field polarized between Biden and Sanders, she could be a consensus candidate, her campaign says, noting that she is to the left of Biden, but has a stronger connection to the party establishment than Sanders. More than any other candidate thats going to be on that debate stage in a few days, Elizabeth Warren is the candidate who can unite the entire Democratic Party, former rival Julian Castro said when he endorsed Warren last week. She can bring people together. She can appeal to all sides. On Sunday, Warren made her unity pitch even as tensions rose over a report by Politico that the Sanders campaign had drafted a script for volunteers criticizing Warren for appealing mainly to upscale voters, not broadening the partys appeal an unusual break in the cordial relations between the two progressive candidates. We all saw the impact of the factionalism in 2016, and we cant have a repeat of that, she told reporters in Iowa, referring to the bitter primary fight between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Democrats need to unite our party and that means pulling in all parts of the Democratic coalition. The tensions between the two progressives heightened Monday when CNN reported that, at a meeting between the two senators in 2018 as they both prepared to run for president, Sanders told her that a woman cant win. Sanders, in a statement to CNN, denied the report and called it ludicrous. Warren late Monday issued a statement saying the two had disagreed about whether a female nominee would win. Debate stakes are high for Buttigieg because he has invested so much in making his mark in Iowa and New Hampshire. He told supporters it was a make-or-break moment in the wake of recent polls. Its a dead heat in both Iowa and New Hampshire two states where we have to do well in order to continue this campaign, he said in a recent fundraising email. The stakes are even higher for Klobuchar. She will have to overperform her single-digit showing in polls to come away from Iowa with any delegates. That gave her an incentive to again go on the attack against her rivals in the debate against Buttigieg for being too young and inexperienced; Biden for being a man of another era; Warren and Sanders for being too far left. That strategy is a double-edged sword. After the December debate, it brought an infusion of donations and attention, but it has yet to deliver the committed support she needs to be viable in Iowa or beyond. A key audience for the nationally televised debate will be local: the many Iowa Democrats who have not firmly made up their minds. The Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register and CNN released Friday found that some 60% of likely caucusgoers were undecided or only lightly committed to their preferred candidate. Sanders came in first as the choice of 20% of likely caucusgoers, followed by Warren, Buttigieg and Biden, but the gap between first and fourth was smaller than the surveys margin of error, meaning the poll cant say who is truly on top. Compared with the last Iowa Poll in mid-November, support for Sanders had risen, Buttigieg dropped, while Biden and Warren remained stable. The Iowa Poll lead has been a trophy that has been passed around among the top four: The No. 1 candidate in the previous three polls were Biden, Warren and Buttigieg. The poll suggested that Sanders supporters were the most committed. But Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Polk County Democrats, said the question for Sanders is whether his 20% showing is his floor or ceiling. Whether Iowans who are still making up their minds will consider him or not will make the difference, he said. Monmouth University on Monday released its own poll of Iowa Democrats that showed the same four candidates bunched at the top, but in a different order: Biden came in first with 24%, followed by Sanders with 18%, Buttigieg at 17%, and Warren at 15%. The crowded top tier of candidates are all coming off a robust fundraising quarter that has equipped them with the resources to stay in the race well beyond Iowa. Sanders consistently leads his rivals in raising money even as he refuses to hold private fundraisers and forsakes contributions from wealthy donors. The Vermont senator posted an impressive $34.5 million fundraising haul in the reporting period that ended Dec. 31. But his rivals have plenty of cash. Biden rebounded from anemic fundraising earlier in the campaign to bring in $22.7 million in the last quarter. Buttigieg topped him with $24.7 million, and Warren, who like Sanders eschews private fundraising events, drew $21.2 million. Bloomberg and Steyer are testing what bottomless personal wealth can buy in politics. The eye-popping $153 million Bloomberg has spent on television advertising dwarfs the $30 million Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren and Biden have spent combined, according to figures compiled by CNN. Bloomberg is betting that if there is no clear front-runner out of the first four states, his investment in Super Tuesday states such as California, Texas and Virginia will pay off. But he has also said that he will continue to invest his own money running anti-Trump ads and paying staff salaries into the fall even if he does not win the Democratic nomination. I am running to defeat Donald Trump, he said at a Friday rally in Atlanta. --The Associated Press Newly re-elected president says she hopes Beijing can understand the will expressed by votes in Saturdays election. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen urged China on Wednesday to review its policies towards the island, days after she won a landslide re-election victory, in a rebuke that could increase further tensions with China. We hope China can understand the opinion and will expressed by Taiwanese people in this election and review their current policies, Tsai told reporters in Taipei. She did not elaborate. China considers democratic Taiwan its own territory and has tried military threats and economic inducements to get the island to accept its rule. Taiwan says it is an independent country, called the Republic of China, its official name. On Wednesday a spokesman for the Chinese cabinets Taiwan Affairs Office, said Beijing would not change its policy to take control of Taiwan through its one country, two systems framework, despite the heavy turnout in favour of pro-independence candidates. Ma Xiaoguang said China would continue to insist on the so-called 92 Consensus that acknowledges the self-governing island and the mainland as part of a single Chinese nation. We do not insert ourselves into or critique Taiwans elections. This round of Taiwans local elections cannot change the status of Taiwan as a part of China, Ma said. Tsai, who has drawn the ire of Beijing for refusing to acknowledge that Taiwan is part of one China, secured a record-breaking win in Saturdays vote. Beijing has blamed what it called fake news as well as Western interference for Tsais victory. Beijings tactics backfire On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed her victory and warned supporters of Taiwan independence, saying splitting the country is doomed to leave a name that will stink for eternity. The one-China principle is a universal consensus held by the international community, he said, and one that will not be affected in the slightest by a local election in Taiwan. Supporters celebrated Tsais victory and chanted slogans in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong [Chris Stowers/AFP] Beijing, which has promised to one day take Taiwan by force if necessary, dislikes Tsai, who has pitched herself as a defender of liberal democratic values against an increasingly authoritarian China. Over the past four years, the Chinese government has ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure on the island. But the strong-arm tactics pushed voters to back Tsais Democratic Progressive Party, fuelled in part by Chinas hardline response to months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. After Tsais victory, China doubled down on its one-China principle, with foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang emphasising: There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:30:01|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenya said on Wednesday that creation of a new embryo through artificial insemination will help reclaim northern male white rhinos that had experienced an extinction linked to poaching and climatic stresses. Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, said the world should brace for the next generation of northern male white rhinos thanks to the successful creation of a new embryo through artificial fertilization in mid-December last year. "We are glad that the northern in-vitro fertilization project has been able to successfully produce three pure northern white rhino embryos ready for implantation into southern white rhinos as surrogate mothers in the coming months," said Balala. A consortium of Kenyan and foreign scientists, as well as the conservationists, created two viable embryos in August last year after inseminating eggs harvested from two surviving female northern white rhinos using frozen sperm from deceased male counterparts. After the nine eggs matured, five were fertilized with sperm using a state-of-the-art procedure and developed into an embryo that is currently stored in liquid nitrogen alongside the two that were created in August last year. Balala said that the creation of an additional embryo marked a milestone in efforts to recover the iconic northern male white rhino in Kenya and beyond. "This is a big win for Kenya and its partners, as the northern white rhinos are faced with the threat of imminent extinction," said Balala. He said that implantation of embryos to southern female white rhinos that will act as surrogate mothers will be carried out soon as efforts to recover their northern male counterparts gather steam. On a debate stage that features a former vice president and two of Americas best-known progressive leaders, even a billionaire can have a hard time standing out. But, as the US political world debated what could possibly have been said off-mic by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders after their tiff just an hour earlier during the Tuesday Democratic debate, businessman Tom Steyer managed to find his own breakout moment: People noticed that he had drawn something on his hand. As it turns out, the billionaire has been marking his left hand with that same symbol now for a couple of years a hand-drawn cross with four more crosses in each quadrant. And, while Mr Steyer a longtime Democratic donor is himself Christian, it turns out his motivation is even simpler than that. He does it to remind himself to stay honest, he has said. Heres what you need to know about the markings on the long-shot presidential candidates hand. The symbol is known as the Jerusalem Cross, or the Crusaders Cross The cross is perhaps best known for its use during the 13th Century, when it was displayed for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was established by European Christian crusaders who conquered Muslim lands. The cross was used before then, as well, and was apparently used in feudal states in the country that is now Georgia. It has been on that countrys flag since 2004. Its meaning is disputed Some claim that the five crosses represent Jesus Christ and the four gospels. Others claim they represent the five wounds Christ is said to have sustained while on the cross. Still others say it represents the four points of the compass. In the context of Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem, though, the symbol is generally seen as one of peaceful worship. Which explanation does Mr Steyer subscribe to? Mr Steyer, who is himself Christian, has used it for a somewhat more secular reason. During an interview last year with Buzzfeed News before his presidential bid was launched Mr Steyer said it had to do with being honest. All the biggest moments from January's Democrat debate It means to tell the truth no matter what the cost is, Mr Steyer said. For a while now, I have drawn it on my hand every day to remind myself to always tell the truth. I later discovered that it has traditionally been known as a Jerusalem cross. He has also provided a similar answer during an interview with Politico, and has indicated he started drawing it on his hand after he launched the group Need to Impeach in 2017, to try and keep himself honest. There are other modern interpretations, too As the BBC reports, the Crusades in the Middle East have been tied in recent years to the rise of white supremacists, and the Jerusalem Cross has been a part of that imagery. Just last year, for instance, a white supremacist who shot 50 people dead in Christchurch in New Zealand reportedly had references to the Crusades in his so-called manifesto. Crusades references were also observed at the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Beyond that, the Jerusalem Cross has been seen on a rifle called the Crusader that Donald Trumps adult son, Donald Trump Jr, reportedly took to a firing range. Mr Trump Jrs gun was also decorated with imagery of Hillary Clinton in jail. I am writing in response to Marcus Schnecks article about the deer torture incident. I am one of those animal rights people yet I dont think this act of cruelty reflects any law-abiding, moral hunters. I thank the Pennsylvania Game Commission for charging those involved with this unnecessary act of violent cruelty against an innocent creature. I dont believe this horrific act will taint all hunters, as it is obvious that these young men need a hard lesson in respect of animals, freedom and what it means to take responsibility for their actions. Brenda Schaadt Upper Nazareth Camp Taji military base, hosting U.S. forces, north of Baghdad, has been targeted with a missile strike yesterday, Iraq's armed forces has said. Iraq's military issued a statement saying there were no casualties after the strikes. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Investigative journalist James O'Keefe sent his undercover agents to check out what's going on with the Bernie Sanders campaign. On Tuesday, he dropped the first of what promises to be a series of videos focusing on the people working for Bernie. The video, which is embedded below, is pretty shocking. Kyle Jurek, a field organizer for Bernie in Iowa, is a foul-mouthed man with a limited vocabulary. He revels in thoughts of riots, explosions, burnings, beatings, and gulags. Jurek's imagination doesn't limit itself to what will happen in America if Bernie wins. Instead, he predicts the ultimate dystopia should Trump win re-election. For him, the 1968 Chicago Riots at the Democratic National Convention will serve as a small introduction to what Bernie-supporters will unleash should their man lose. It's not just conservatives who earn Jurek's wrath. In true Leftist fashion, he imagines a world in which Bernie's political rivals on the same side of the Leftist aisle get their comeuppance. He's no fan of the Clintons, for example, and makes the usual joke about the Clintons and suicides. He then adds, "We don't gotta kill the Clintons. We'll make them kill themselves. ... Reign of Terror." How very Soviet. Jurek also hates the same media that support Democrats and the other Democrat candidates, with special attention to the Bloombergs and Steyers of the world. JUREK: I'm ready to throw down now. I don't want to wait and have to wait for f DNC. UNDERCOVER JOURNALIST: Yeah, but with who, who you going to throw down with? JUREK: The billionaire class. The f media, pundits. Walk into that MSNBC studios, drag those m out by their hair and light them on fire in the streets. Jurek is especially hostile to Elizabeth Warren, whom he sees as someone who gained unearned fame simply because she's a woman: [S]o, like, you're okay with a woman if she has worse policies. Like just because she's a woman, because she has a vagina, that's why you're going to vote for her. Amusingly, Jurek, while apparently loving the idea of Bernie in power, doesn't have that much respect for Bernie himself. When it comes to Bernie's past fondness for Warren (a fondness that ended this week, when the two started slinging mud at each other), Jurek understands the problem: "Bernie's a bad judge of character..." There's a ready-to-win bumper sticker for you. O'Keefe promises that he'll soon drop another video, even more disturbing than this one. Apparently, though, it will again focus solely on Jurek. And that's where we need to make an important point. Jurek is just one man, and he seems to be a very disturbed, violent, angry man. Unless the Bernie campaign has affirmatively known about his views and done nothing, it's not Bernie's fault that a scary person has attached himself to Bernie's candidacy. In a two-party system, the crazy people have to go somewhere. However, subject to that caveat, there are still two things to consider: first, O'Keefe, who has the Andrew Breitbart tactic of trickling out increasingly more damaging videos, may have a lot more up his sleeve than one disturbed man. Second, Jurek's rhetoric, while not in line with anything Bernie has said, is completely consistent with the ideology Bernie espouses. When National Socialists, Italian Fascists, Soviet Russians, Castroite communists, or all other Leftist groups seek or hold power, their members do what Jurek dreams of doing: they end free speech, they beat people on the streets, and they send their opponents to the gulag or the gas chamber. You could say Jurek is the id of Bernie's belief system. Again, that's not saying Bernie has espoused violence, for he has not. It's just an observation about the history of the ideology Bernie holds so dear. In that regard, do not forget that Bernie has lived through some of socialism's worst convulsions World War II and the Holocaust, Soviet gulags, North Korean concentration camps, Castro's slaughters and prisons, and the millions dead in Africa and South America and he has never wavered, not one bit, in his support for socialism. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 14, 2020 | 05:53 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded Saturday to a home in Reidland after receiving a report of a stolen handgun. The victim told deputies that a local business had been doing work at the home, but after the job was completed, the victim noticed that a handgun was missing from within the home, along with about 65 oxycodone pills. The victim contacted the business, who then assisted deputies by providing information on the employees that had worked at the home. On Monday, detectives interviewed 28-year-old Christian Park of Benton, who allegedly admitted to taking the handgun and pills from the home. Park was arrested, and is being charged with one count of theft of a handgun by unlawful taking, and one count of theft of a controlled substance under $10,000 by unlawful taking. A Marshall County man is facing theft charges after an investigation into a missing handgun. Navinder Sarao was extradited to the US on charges of market manipulation after he carried out 'spoofing' trades The British trader branded the 'Hound of Hounslow' for sparking a trillion-dollar stock market crash from his bedroom should be spared jail, American prosecutors have said. Navinder Sarao was extradited to the US on charges of market manipulation after he carried out 'spoofing' trades from his parents' house in west London. At one point it was feared the 41-year-old could face a 380-year jail term. But as a judge in Chicago prepares to sentence him, prosecutors have urged leniency because of Sarao's 'extraordinary co-operation' with the authorities which has provided 'keen insights' on how to catch illegal traders. The Brunel University graduate, who is autistic, devised computer programs able to trade shares millions of times per day, driving their price up or down. At the last second Sarao would then cancel the 'spoof' trades and take advantage of the price change with genuine trades. After his arrest in 2015 he was blamed for a dramatic 'Flash Crash' on the American stock market in 2010. However, prosecutors said he should not go to jail because his mental health could suffer, while most of the 45million he made from his trades was lost to fraudsters. They said he continued to live with his parents, where he sleeps 'in a child-like bedroom that includes multiple stuffed animals', and used coupons to buy food at McDonald's. He is due to be sentenced on January 28. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:38:25|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Indian Railways has offered new business opportunities in the manufacturing sector worth 28,000 crore Indian rupees (4 billion U.S. dollars) across various areas such as rolling-stock manufacturing, sub-assembly or component manufacturing, machinery and tool manufacturing, and project execution. As per a new report of Opportunities for Capital Goods Industry with Indian Railways and Metros, prepared by the Capital Goods Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), there are various opportunities for capital goods sector under ambitious construction projects such as high-speed rail and dedicated freight corridors for the Indian industry. The report also highlighted that the Indian Railways had undertaken high priority initiatives such as electrification, rolling-stock upgrade, track expansion, besides metro projects in multiple cities which were in various stages of execution. It further said the Indian Railways' capital expenditure for 2019-20 was 1.3 lakh crore Indian rupees (18.5 billion U.S. dollars), while the total budget for 2019-20 stood at 1.59 lakh crore Indian rupees (22.7 billion U.S. dollars). The report was released by Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry Arun Goel and Chair of the FICCI's Capital Goods Committee Shailendra Roy. Speaking on the occasion, Roy said the Indian Railways was the lifeline of India's social and economic structure. Industry participation is a must for next generation of upgrades and expansion in Indian Railways' infrastructure and network, he said. Nigerians have reacted to the viral story of a man who took his girlfriend to the village to attend his own wedding to another woman. From the story, it was gathered that they had been dating her for three years. Taking to Twitter, a lady identified as Oroboghene shared the story and many Twitter users have reacted. According to the gist, he took his girlfriend whom he had been dating for 3 years, to his village for a wedding, which he told her was his brothers. READ ALSO Two Weeks After Marriage, Imam Discovers He Married A Man However, on the day of the engagement ceremony, he turned out to be the groom. See Story Here: The Census Bureau on Tuesday unveiled an ad campaign to persuade every household in America to fill out the once-a-decade survey, which begins next week in remote parts of Alaska. The decennial count of everyone living in the United States is used to determine a decade's worth of congressional apportionment, redistricting, and hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding. But a rising distrust of government, combined with the battle over whether to add a citizenship question and fears that the newly digital survey could be hacked, may make counting every person more difficult than ever. Many of the 1,000-plus print, television, radio and Internet ads target immigrant and minority communities, which are traditionally among the hardest to count, and emphasize that data collected by the Census Bureau is confidential and cannot be shared, even with other government agencies. Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, who will fly this week to Toksook Bay, Alaska, population about 660, to count the first person in the census, introduced the campaign in the District of Columbia, where placards displayed print and television ads, along with a coloring book about the census that will go to more than 117,000 schools across the nation. In one Spanish-language television spot featuring young Hispanic men, one says he is worried it could be dangerous to fill out the form. Not at all, his friend assures him, saying he filled out the census 10 years ago and it was fine. The campaign targets audiences in 13 languages, along with African Americans, Native Americans and children, who also are typically undercounted. But some immigrant advocates said they were distressed that there was no mention in the ads of the citizenship question the Supreme Court blocked from the survey last summer. "We still have concerns about the confusion that still exists around the citizenship question, and that they still don't have an ad that says there won't be a citizenship question," said Terry Minnis, senior director of census and voting programs at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, one of several groups that challenged the question in court. Ketzirah Lesser, director of strategy for Team Y&R, a group of 13 advertising and communications agencies that developed the ad campaign, said the ads did not refer to the citizenship question in part because they were developed before it was clear whether the question would appear on the form. But the team also decided it was better to stick with positive messaging rather than introduce the idea of a citizenship question to an audience that may not have heard of it, she said, adding, "A surprising number didn't even know about it, didn't even know it was a thing." Census Bureau spokesman Michael Cook said people were more concerned about confidentiality, which is addressed in the ads. The lead-up to this year's count has been unusually fraught. The Trump administration's attempt to add a question asking about citizenship caused many immigrant and minority communities to worry that filling out the survey could expose them to unwanted government scrutiny. The government has since vowed to get citizenship data from other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and some state motor vehicle offices. This census will be the first to be conducted largely digitally, raising concerns about technological failure and hacking. It is also occurring in a low-employment economy, which makes it harder to meet its goal of recruiting 2.7 million applicants for up to 500,000 temporary positions by early March. Recent reports from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Commerce inspector general - along with Democratic lawmakers, census experts and civic leaders - have expressed worry about cybersecurity and the bureau's ability to meet recruiting and hiring goals. At a House Oversight Committee hearing last week on reaching hard-to-count communities, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said she was "gravely concerned" that the bureau was unprepared for the 2020 count, citing "cyber threats, limited broadband access, reduced language assistance and gaps in outreach efforts." Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House census oversight subcommittee, called hiring "one of the primary issues that will keep census officials up at night for the next six months." Civic leaders told the committee that hiring outreach in immigrant communities has been insufficient and that the bureau is not doing enough to correct the misperception many Latinos have that the citizenship question will be on the form. An October GAO report noted that the bureau missed hiring targets during address canvassing in September and that in some places it had to hire people who lived far from where they would be working, sometimes in another state. The report called that "an early warning for what may occur later" when the bureau needs to hire enumerators. Tim Olson, associate director for field operations for the bureau, said the backlogs had been resolved and recruitment is on schedule, noting that the bulk of hiring is not set to take place until April. The bureau says it has recruited 1.7 million applicants and is hiring at a rate of nearly 25,000 a day. It recently increased the hourly pay for census workers in more than three-quarters of communities across the country, and it also has been targeting seasonal holiday workers whose jobs ended after Christmas and college students whose classes end in late spring. The GAO also placed the census on its high-risk list, in large part because of challenges in conducting it digitally for the first time, said Nick Marinos, the agency's director of information technology and cybersecurity. The bureau has been working with the Department of Homeland Security and private technology companies to secure census data, which will live in the cloud and at the bureau's data center, and to head off misinformation campaigns similar to those conducted around the 2016 election. Last month it announced a new team to combat misinformation and disinformation. It is also working closely with Google, Facebook and Twitter, and with Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network to identify and combat threats, said Stephen Buckner, the bureau's assistant director of communications. "We will know very quickly if something is breaking across social media or digital channels that looks suspicious so that we can address it quickly before it spreads . . . and get good content, factual content, back out there," Buckner said. In December, Google announced a task force to combat Census 2020-related abuse and fraud across Google and YouTube, and Facebook said it will remove content that misleads people about the U.S. census starting this year. Preparation has included "red-gaming" the system to locate weak spots and limiting international access to public websites like the one people in the United States will use to complete the survey, said Kevin Smith, the bureau's chief information officer. "I'm super confident that we're going to be able to securely collect, store and disseminate the data securely for the 2020 Census, but from a cybersecurity standpoint I think you would be hard-pressed to find any cybersecurity expert to say that there's a guarantee of no cybersecurity attacks or bad things happening," Smith said. Advertisement She is set to host the Strictly live tour, which kicks off on Thursday. And Stacey Dooley stole the show as she posed with the cast of the 2019 series at the dress rehearsals in Birmingham Arena on Wednesday. Channeling the coveted glitterball, which Kelvin and Oti Mabuse lifted in the grand final, the television personality, 32, donned a sequinned silver maxi dress. Stacey Dooley stole the show as she posed with Diane Buswell at the dress rehearsal in Birmingham Arena on Wednesday The floor-length dress sheathed her slender frame and featured puffball shoulders and a collared neckline. Adding to her sparkly stage ensemble with gold diamante shoes, Stacey wore her ginger locks in a high plaited bun and finished off her look with a smoky black eye. Stacey appeared in her element as she larked around with Dianne Buswell, 30, backstage before heading to the dancefloor. Run through: (pictured L-R Dianne, Amy Dowden, Emma Barton, Catherine Tyldesley, Saffron Barker, Luba Mushtuk, Janette Manrara, Stacey, Alex Scott, Karen Hauer and Katya Jones) Stunning: Channeling the coveted glitterball, which Kelvin and Oti Mabuse lifted in the grande final, the television personality, 32, donned a sequinned silver maxi dress Back with a bang: Stacey was lifted up by a trio of hunky male backing dances during the opening number The Strictly live tour: (L-R) Catherine Tyldesley and Johannes Radebe, Mike Bushell and Katya Jones, AJ Pritchard and Saffron Barker, Emma Barton and Graziano di Prima, Kelvin Fletcher and Janette Manrara, Amy Dowden and Karim Zeroual, Dianne , Alex Scott and Neil Jones and Karen Hauer As rehearsals got under way, Stacey was lifted up by a trio of hunky male backing dances during the opening number. The presenter threw her hands in the air, while her glamorous Strictly entourage posed in the background. Dianne looked incredible in a plunging white dance costume, which was adorned with tassels and gold beaded detailing. Head turner: Catherine Tyldesley, 36, wowed in a gold tassel number as she hit the dancefloor with her partner Johannes Radebe Entertaining: Katya and Mike Bushell, 54, put on a very animated display as they took to the stage to perform their routine Time to tango: Emma Barton and Graziano di Prima have been partnered due to Anton Du Beke's work commitments Luba Mushtuk, 30, and Karen Hauer, 37, showed off their leggy frames as they slipped into slightly different versions of the costume. Ahead of the run-through, Stacey fuelled up on coffee before heading to the dress rehearsals. The BBC star, who is dating Strictly pro Kevin Clifton, cut a casual figure in a grey tracksuit, black boots and Matrix-inspired sunglasses. Here come the girls: Luba Mushtuk (L) and Karen Hauer (R) showed off their leggy frames as they slipped into slightly different versions of the costume Strutting their stuff: The girls practiced some of their routines during rehearsals New year, new me: Katya Jones, 30, appeared happy and carefree as she strutted around the dancefloor, just days after ditching her wedding ring Winner Kelvin, 35, will dance with Janette Manrara, who has stepped in for Oti due to her Greatest Dancer work commitments. He said on Lorraine on Tuesday: 'It's been a whirlwind, from starting back in September to coming in as a replacement like I did. 'I had an amazing experience on the show with Oti and obviously we went onto win, whod have thought that? This is something very new and I've got a new partner in Janette.' New partnership: Winner Kelvin, 35, will dance with Janette Manrara, who has stepped in for Oti due to her Greatest Dancer work commitments Time to shine: It appears the winner has his own special routine with Janette, while Karen, Amy, Katya and Dianne acting as backing dancers The pressure is on: AJ Pritchard, 25, and Saffron Barker, 19, were no doubt feeling nervous ahead of Thursday's launch show The Emmerdale actor added: 'I'm sad to see Oti go and busy doing the Greatest Dancer. 'I am absolutely delighted to get a partner like Janette, who I've become quite close to the last few months anyway whilst we were filming for the show and managed to hang out quite a bit. 'She's great as are all the other pros. I've been gifted with little Janette and we are really enjoying our time together and I just can't wait.' Working hard: Alex Scott and Neil Jones pulled out all the stops for their routines Acrobatic: Alex was lifted into the air by Neil as the routine got under way Raring to go: Amy Dowden, 28, and Karim Zeroual, 26, appeared full of beans, with the CBBC presenter leaping in the air Bevvy of beauties: Janette, Dianne, Amy, Emma, Saffron, Stacey, Alex, Catherine, Karen, Katya and Luba posed at Arena Birmingham for the launch of the 2020 tour Caffeine kick: Ahead of the run-through, Stacey fuelled up on coffee before heading to the dress rehearsals Ready to salsa: Catherine Tylesdey, 36, looked ready to dance as she arrived at the arena clad in gym-wear Designer garb: Emma Barton, 42, added a touch of designer to her otherwise casual outfit as she wrapped a Gucci grey scarf around her neck, while Strictly pro Amy Dowden opted for an all-black ensemble Cosy: Head judge Shirley Ballas, 59, wrapped up in a plush pink coat, which she teamed with suede ankle boots and an elegant chiffon scarf The documentary presenter opted to go make-up free as she headed to Birmingham Arena before undergoing glamorous makeover. Catherine Tylesdey, 36, looked ready to dance as she arrived at the arena clad in gym-wear. The actress wore a white zip-up hoodie, black leggings and bright pink Nike trainers. Emma Barton, 42, meanwhile added a touch of designer to her otherwise casual outfit as she wrapped a Gucci grey scarf around her neck. Before the show: Karen, Dianne and Katya (L-R) all arrived in casual workout gear before changing into their sparkly costumes Caffeine kick: AJ, Kelvin, Karin and Johannes (L-R) grabbed coffees en route to rehearsals Shopping spree: Craig Revel Horwood popped to Harvey Nichols for a spot of shopping before heading to the rehearsals Last month, the creators behind the annual extravaganza revealed the names set for the string of performances. Set to raise the roof, winner Kelvin Fletcher and finalist Karim Zeroual will be joined by professional dancers Janette Manrara and Amy Dowden respectively. Also featuring will be Saffron and AJ Pritchard, Emma Barton and Graziano Di Prima, Mike and Katya Jones, and Catherine Tyldesley and Johannes Radebe. The celebrities will be joined by professional dancers Luba, Karen, Dianne, Joshua Keefe, Jake Leigh and Robbie Kemetoni. Casual: Dianne , Stacey and Emma looked in high spirits as they arrived back at their Birmingham Hotel following final dress rehearsals and press day ahead of the tour Long day: Luba and Karen looked effortlessly stylish as they arrived back at the hotel while Kelvin and Janette kept it casual in tracksuits Fun: Katya, AJ, Shirley and Karim were all smiles after a day of dress rehearsals as they arrived back to their hotel Pals: Johannas and Graziano both wore black knee-length coats with blue jeans as they arrived back at the group's hotel 2019 champ Stacey will be hosting the events, while Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli join fellow judge and director Craig Revel Horwood on the panel. The tour kicks off on January 16 in Birmingham and will run for 33 sequin-filled shows across the UK, ending in London on February 9. As part of the live shows, there will be a special Relaxed Performance in association with the National Autistic Society at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena on February 5 at 2pm. The performance is created to be accessible to those with autism, learning disabilities or additional sensory needs. Pink hats off to the hardworking, dedicated organizers of the 2020 Montana Womens March in Helena, and its partners, contributors and participants. A special shout out to Ronnie Whitaker, Rebecca Johnson, Clare Kearns, Sharon and Galen McKibben, Karen Lane, Janice Frisch, and Andy Shirtliff our core group thats been planning since September. I encourage folks to join them and the hundreds of people from all corners of Montana, this Saturday, Jan. 18, noon to 2:30 p.m. at Memorial Park. The event begins with an energetic rally of speakers and welcome by Helena City Manager Ana Cortez, inspirational poetry by our states Poets Laureate Mandy Smoker Broaddus and Melissa Kwasny, rousing music by Judy Fjell and the Montana Womens Chorus, followed by an enthusiastic march around nearby Centennial Park. Ours is among hundreds of Women Rising marches in Washington, D.C., and around the country harnessing the power of diverse women, including transgender women and people who are gender-nonconforming, and all of those who support them to make transformational social change. Its also to mark the 100-year Anniversary of the Womens Vote in this country. US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. Helenas theme is Put a Woman in Charge, to make room for everyone and level the playing field. We all have our own reasons for taking part in the Womens March. At 16, I was prohibited from running for high school student president. Girls dont run for president, I was admonished. It was 1971 and I won the secretary position. At 30, when offered a promotion, it was for less pay than my male predecessor. The news director said, Mike has a wife and child. I had my own family financial challenges and I went to work for the competition. Ill be wearing an ERA button on Saturday, remembering back in July 1978 in my early 20s, hoping my old yellow VW bug would make it from my home in Philadelphia down to D.C. and back. I marched on Washington with thousands of others wearing a sea of white for suffrage to extend the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed in 1972, but wasnt yet ratified. Nearly a half century later, were still marching for ERA ratification, hoping 2020 is the year. Since the original Womens March in 2017, where about 15,000 people descended on the Helena Capitol, and hundreds of thousands to our nations capital and other state Capitols, its been a movement about womens rights, which are human rights, equal opportunity and social, economic, environmental and climate justice. Writer and womens activist Gloria Steinem said, A movement is only composed of people moving. To feel its warmth and motion around us is the end as well as the means. And as the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently spoke, If you cant fly then run, if you cant run then walk, if you cant walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. Hope to see you at the Womens March. Mary Ann Dunwell is the Democratic State Representative for Montana House District 84, Helena/East Helena. She is also an organizer for the Montana Womens March in Helena. Love 4 Funny 14 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday inaugurated a seven-member team to prosecute President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial in the Senate. The team will be headed by the former prosecutor who has become a nemesis of the Republican president. After weeks of delay, the House is expected on Wednesday afternoon to send the two impeachment charges passed in December against Mr Trump to the Senate. This will clear the way for the trial that will determine whether he is removed from office to start in earnest next week. The weeks-long trial in the Senate controlled by Mr Trumps fellow Republicans is expected to ultimately end in his acquittal, leaving him in office. But it will focus attention on Mr Trumps request that Ukraine investigates domestic political rival, Joe Biden, as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, 59, will lead the House managers who will put the case to senators that Mr Trump should be ousted for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden and obstructing Congress. Mr Schiff spearheaded the House impeachment investigation into Mr Trumps dealings with Ukraine and is a frequent target of Trump attacks. The president called Mr Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, a deranged human being at a NATO meeting in Britain in December. Other managers include Jerrold Nadler, 72, who crafted the two articles of impeachment against Mr Trump, as House Judiciary Committee chairman. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the prosecutors were selected for their ability to make an effective case. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our Constitution, to seek the truth for the American people, Ms Pelosi told a news conference. Mr Biden is one of 12 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to face Mr Trump in the November 3 election, and the trial might still be underway when Iowa and New Hampshire hold their first party nominating contests in early February. Not one of the Senates 53 Republicans has voiced support for ousting Trump, a step that would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member chamber. The managers are Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia. Schiff and Nadler, in particular, have been lead figures on impeachment so far. Mr Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, will be the lead manager. The emphasis is on litigators. The emphasis is on the comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our constitution to seek the truth for the American people, Pelosi said. The choice of managers appeared also intended to reflect ethnic, gender and geographical diversity. White House reacts Meanwhile, the White House on Wednesday dismissed the naming of the seven. The naming of these managers does not change a single thing, said White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham in a statement. President Trump has done nothing wrong. He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated. Advertisements The emphasis is on litigators. The emphasis is on the comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our constitution to seek the truth for the American people, Ms Pelosi said. "The 2020 Census is your census, and its success depends on you. Its a once-in-a-decade chance to inform how billions of dollars in funding are allocated for critical public services like hospitals and health care clinics, schools and education programs, roads and bridges, and emergency response for the next 10 years," explained Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham. "Through advertising, public events, partnerships and digital and traditional media, we are embarking on a nationwide effort to let everyone in the country know about the upcoming 2020 Census and encourage them to respond online, by phone or by mail. And we are extremely committed to reaching those people who are historically undercounted. Today we will demonstrate how the Shape your Future. Start here. campaign will do just that." At a news conference in Washington, D.C., Census Bureau officials provided an overview of the communications effort and previewed ads that are part of the paid media campaign. Ads reaching multicultural and historically undercounted audiences began airing today while ads for general audiences will begin running in mid-February. Beginning in mid-March, households can respond to the census online, by phone or by mail. The communications campaign includes television and radio commercials, digital, social media and print advertising and messaging on billboards and at bus stops. The massive public education effort encourages participation among multicultural and hard-to-count populations with ads in English and 12 other languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. The Census Bureau and VMLY&R (Team Y&R) the advertising and communications team of 13 agencies that has expertise with multicultural and historically undercounted groups tested the ads in multiple languages and in diverse focus groups across the country. Team Y&R includes PSB, Wavemaker, Carol H. Williams Advertising, Culture ONE World, G+G Advertising, The Kalaimoku Group, TDW+Co., VMLY&R Puerto Rico, Wavemaker Puerto Rico, Reingold, BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), DCG, and Guidehouse. Examples of 2020 Census advertising can be seen at https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2019/2020-census-integrated-communications-campaign.html. In March, most households will be invited to respond to the 2020 Census. Inviting the nation to respond is a challenge and a big change from previous decades, said Maria Olmedo-Malagon, program manager for the 2020 Census Communication Campaign. Communication is key to educating people so they know why its important and how to respond. While people can now respond online, it is important to note that people can respond online or by phone in 13 languages or via the traditional paper questionnaire. Lessons learned from prior decades combined with extensive research on the rapidly changing media landscape will allow the Census Bureau to reach more people than ever before. During the response phases of the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will continuously monitor response rates and make timely decisions to refocus the communications efforts where needed. The work, research and dedication that has gone into this campaign is unmatched to that of any previous censuses, said Kendall Johnson, executive director of the communications contract, U.S. Census Bureau. Our outreach is multifaceted with a heavy focus on increasing response among groups that are historically undercounted. And its based on the most extensive research ever conducted to understand both what motivates people to respond to the census and what prevents them from responding. This is the third decennial census to include a dedicated advertising and communications operation designed to encourage the public to respond on their own. Higher self-response rates increase the accuracy of census statistics and save taxpayer money by significantly lowering the follow-up costs of sending census takers to households that have not responded. The 2020 Census Paid Media Campaign will occur in three phases: 1. Awareness/Education Phase (Jan. 14 March 12): Builds immediate awareness and provides educational information about the 2020 Census. 2. Motivation/Participation Phase (March 13 May 20): Inspires and motivates the public to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire online, by phone or by mail. 3. Reminder/Nonresponse Follow Up (May 13 June 28): Continues to remind people to respond to the 2020 Census and to support census takers as they go door-to-door to count households that have not yet responded. The 2020 Census will officially begin January 21, in Toksook Bay, Alaska, a remote fishing village located on the Bering Sea. Director Dillingham will be on hand to count the first person. Also known as the first enumeration, local census takers get a head start in rural Alaska when the ground is frozen, allowing for easier access to remote villages. Advertising in remote Alaska began in mid-December to provide awareness that census takers will soon visit villages to count the people who live there. The event also highlighted an extensive nationwide push to recruit part-time census takers for the 2020 Census. In order to count every person in the United States, we need to build the team to help with the count. This is a national census and we need people in every state and community to make it a successful one, Dillingham said. Not only is this great work, but its a chance for people to be a part of our nations history. For information about job opportunities, visit 2020Census.gov/jobs. The U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years. The 2020 Census will count everyone who lives in the U.S. as of April 1, 2020 (Census Day). Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and to inform how billions of dollars in federal funds will be allocated by state, local, and federal lawmakers every year for the next 10 years. Beginning in mid-March, households can respond online, by phone or by mail. For more information, visit the Census Bureau website. ### Grant Shapps held discussions with leaders from TPE, Network Rail and train manufacturers Hitachi Rail and CAF (PA) The Transport Secretary hauled rail bosses in for an urgent meeting to discuss the poor performance on TransPennine Express (TPE) routes. Grant Shapps held discussions with leaders from TPE, Network Rail and train manufacturers Hitachi Rail and CAF on Tuesday. He posted a message on Twitter stating that the meeting was for the bosses to explain the poor service passengers received in December and January. Yesterday I called in bosses from @TPExpressTrains @networkrail @hitachirailEU and CAF to explain the poor service passengers received in December & January. I have told them they must get their act together since I won't hesitate to escalate this futher. #TheYp Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) January 15, 2020 He added: I have told them they must get their act together since I wont hesitate to escalate this further. TPE runs regional and intercity trains between major cities in northern England and Scotland, including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The firm blamed train faults and crew shortages after dozens of trains were cancelled when new timetables were introduced on December 15. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) It is running a reduced timetable on some routes after a maintenance backlog and infrastructure problems delayed staff training on new trains. Last week, TPE announced enhanced compensation to cancel the 2.8% regulated fare increase this year for season ticket holders. When the scheme was launched, managing director Leo Goodwin admitted that our performance was not up to scratch at the end of last year and for this we really do apologise. He said: We have experienced a number of issues following the introduction of our new trains, resulting in disruption to a number of our customers journeys with us. Industry figures show just 39% of TPE trains arrived at their scheduled station stops within one minute of the timetable between December 8 and January 4, compared with the average across Britain of 62%. A man was shot in his hand in Central City on Tuesday evening, according to New Orleans police. Authorities said the shooting occurred at South Claiborne and Washington avenues before 7:45 p.m. Minutes later, another shooting was reported in the French Quarter. Police said a man was shot in the stomach in the 600 block of Royal Street around 7:50 p.m. The man was taken to the hospital by Emergency Medical Services, according to authorities. Details on possible suspects or motives in both shootings were not immediately available. More than a dozen popular games, health trackers and other apps on the Google Play store are bombarding users with invasive and unwanted ads, new research has revealed. Cyber security firm Bitdefender found 17 apps that employed various tactics to deliver nuisance ads, while giving the appearance of a legitimate app. The apps, which have more than half a million combined downloads, include a racing simulator, several QR code scanners and a weather app. "While not malicious per se, the tactics they use to smuggle themselves into Google Play and doge Google's vetting system are traditionally associated with malware," Bitdefender explained in a blog post. "The apps found have flown below the radar of Google's vetting system mostly because they also delivered on their promise: they do what they say they do." Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment but Bitdefender said the technology giant had been notified of the aggressive apps and is in the process of removing them from the store. Methods used to dodge Google Play checks include hiding their presence on a person's phone, as well as holding off from displaying ads for four hours after first being installed. Recommended Google Play scam apps downloaded more than 8 million times People who have already downloaded the apps reported their experience on the Google Play store, warning others to not install the apps to their devices. "The app is showing full screen ads and that is all. Don't ever install it," one user wrote. Another said: "Horrible intrusive ad popups even when the app is closed. I would give 0 stars if I could." Bitdefender researchers warned that one of the consequences of aggressive ads is that they cause increased battery drainage. The firm wrote: "While the Google Play apps found are not tagged as malware, but more as Riskware, users are strongly encouraged to always have a security solution installed on their devices, as it can accurately identify these apps and prevent users from installing them." Destination Residences Hawaii has a deep passion for these islands, and we want to create a way to authentically share the spirit of our island home via our favorite, hand selected Hawaiian adventures, said Destination Residences Hawaiis Area Managing Director Mike Cuthbertson. Destination Residences Hawaii, Hawaiis premier collection of vacation rental residences and condominium resorts, today debuts #DestinationBucketList, a collection of once-in-a-lifetime, authentically Hawaiian experiences. Exclusive to guests of its Maui and Island of Hawaii properties, these offerings are highly customized for those seeking a turnkey way to discover Hawaiis true bucket list adventures in a different way while enjoying the best of each island. Destination Residences Hawaii has a deep passion for these islands, and we want to create a way to authentically share the spirit of our island home via our favorite, hand selected Hawaiian adventures, said Destination Residences Hawaiis Area Managing Director Mike Cuthbertson. Travel is all about enriching experiences. Destination Residences Hawaii provides travelers with a gracious home away from home, and #DestinationBucketLists experiences were designed to truly connect people to the islands in an authentic manner. Our team worked with local experts and guides to create these packages, and in addition to delivering an unprecedented Hawaiian experience, we want to make it easy and seamless for our guests ultimately allowing our guests to spend less time planning and more time making memories. #DestinationBucketList includes the following standout experiences: Destination Hana (Maui): Immerse yourself in the beauty and bounty of the famed Road to Hana on Mauis remarkable eastern coast, expertly navigated by a professional driver and guide. Tailor-made for the natural explorers, this private excursion, featuring full door-to-door service, is the ultimate Maui offering that includes all the must-stops, ranging from walking Keanae Peninsulas rugged, picturesque shoreline to swimming in turquoise waters at pristine black sand beaches. Starting at $2,000. Destination Kohola Ultimate Whale Watch (Maui): Experience the magic of watching humpback whales on their migration from Alaska to the North Pacific Ocean. After transportation via luxury car service to Kaanapali Beach, set sail on a four-hour excursion on a privately commissioned 64-foot luxury sailing catamaran with a well-renowned whale naturalist, then sit back and observe these gentle giants in their natural environment, enjoying an open bar, custom lunch and other refreshments, while a personal photographer documents every minute of this special experience. Starting at $9,150. Destination Haleakala Sunrise (Maui): Experience the most memorable sunrise of your life in luxury, made to showcase the remarkable natural beauty that graces Haleakala (House of the Sun) every morning. During a private van tour, guests will see vibrant color shimmer across the Pacific and the West Maui Mountains before heading to Skyline Haleakala, the first zipline tour in the U.S. You then have an option to take an exhilarating bike tour from the base of the national park to the zipline, awakening you with fresh and crisp mountain air while you cruise the slopes, before stopping for lunch at Kula Lodge. Starting at $2,700. Destination Delicacies (Island of Hawaii): After a private helicopter tour of the Island of Hawaii featuring a waterfall landing, enjoy a hand-crafted guided culinary adventure, led by Hawaii Forest and Trail, to discover the islands most renowned delicacies all in one day, including behind-the-scenes experiences and tastings at the Waimea Farmers Market, Honokaa Chocolate Co., Mauna Kea Tea, Honopua Farm, a three-course dinner at Pueos Osteria and more. Starting at $8,700. Destination Summit & Stars (Island of Hawaii): Set out for an eight-hour adventure to witness one of the states most famous sunsets. After being picked up via private transportation, youll be whisked away to the top of the mountain. As the sun sinks below the horizon, take in spectacular volcano views, including Haleakala on Maui, and Mauna Loa and Hualalai on the island of Hawaii, while stargazing and enjoying a picnic-style dinner and warm beverages. Starting at $3,800. Destination Kohala (Island of Hawaii): Join your expert personal guide, a lifelong resident of the island of Hawaii, who will bring the history and waterfalls of the Kohala Coast to life in custom-curated day-long driving tour. Visit Puu Kohola, a sacrificial temple assembled to bring favor from the war god ku; see many of the locations important to Kamehameha I, the first king who fought from 1782 to 1810 to unite all of the Hawaiian Islands under one rule and changed the course of Hawaiian history forever; and experience the mana (spiritual power) of the sweeping coastal lookouts and soaring mountains of this diverse and stunning district. Starting at $730. Full details on the offerings, including pricing, may be found here. All activities are available for booking via Destination Residences Hawaiis concierge at (808) 891-6200 for experiences on Maui and (808) 885-5022 for experiences on the island of Hawaii. Destination Hotels is comprised of distinctive and diverse independent hotels and resorts for guests seeking a sense of belonging through connections to unique cultures and places. For more information, please visit http://www.destinationhotels.com/destination-residences-hawaii. ### Elizabeth Warren took the unusual step on Monday of confirming a report that fellow Democratic White House contender Bernie Sanders told her during a 2018 meeting that he did not believe a woman could win the 2020 presidential race. Warren and Sanders are fellow U.S. senators, friends and their party's progressive standard-bearers who agreed early in the nominating contest to an informal non-aggression pact. But amid escalating tensions between the two rivals and with the first nominating contest looming in early February, Warren pushed back against Sanders' denial of a CNN report detailing the meeting in which he told her he did not believe a woman could beat Republican President Donald Trump. "I thought a woman could win; he disagreed," Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, said in a statement released late on Monday describing the two-hour meeting in December 2018. In its report on the meeting, CNN cited four people with knowledge of it, including two with whom Warren spoke about it soon after and another two who were familiar with what happened at the meeting. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, told CNN it was "ludicrous" that he would tell Warren a woman could not win. "What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could," he added. Sanders' campaign did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Warren's confirmation of the CNN account. "I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences in punditry," Warren said. The tussle between the two progressive senators is the second in as many days after Politico reported on Sunday that Sanders' campaign had distributed talking points for volunteers on what to say to voters who are thinking of supporting his main rivals. The guidance suggested that volunteers argue that Warren was supported by "highly-educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what." In response, Warren, while campaigning in Iowa, said she was "disappointed" in Sanders' campaign and hoped he reconsidered the approach. Story continues Sanders said he had not approved the negative talking points related to his Democratic rivals. Warren and Sanders are among the six candidates who will face off on Tuesday in the seventh Democratic presidential debate, and the last before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, which kick off the state nominating contests. There are 12 candidates currently vying for the party's nomination to take on Trump in November. National opinion polls show Warren in the top tier but trailing Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. (REUTERS) When it comes to choosing land to build your dream home, options abound but one of the finest choices you can possibly make for your future self is choosing to buy or build in an Abrego Development Company community. Founded in 2005, Abrego Development Company was formed specifically to develop single-family acreage homesite communities in the areas immediately surrounding San Antonio. Over the past 15 years, thats just what its done developing a reputation for beautiful and accessible communities with homesites starting at one acre. Today, the company serves buyers in two communities in northern Wilson County, Abrego Lake and Eden Crossing. A brand-new community in Wilson County called Chisum Trail is in the works and promises to be just as appealing to buyers as its predecessors. And if youre looking to buy from the best of the best know that the partners in Abrego Development Company are easy to trust, having been in the real estate industry since the mid-1980s. According to President Kevin D. Brown, one item that makes Abrego Development Company unique is how its mandatory property owners associations operate. Our reasonable covenants and reasonable enforcement of those covenants provide for maximum protection of property values, Brown said. The company has a network of strong long-term relationships with many local builders and lenders as well as in-house Realtor, which facilitates a streamlined home purchase or home building process. And, to further streamline the closing process, Abrego Development Company also uses Chicago Title for each and every lot sale transaction. Most importantly of all, the company does not place a time requirement or deadline for starting construction on your new home. Purchasers can buy a lot now and build when ready, Brown said. The three communities are as unique as they are close-knit. Abrego Lake, started in 2006, is located on Highway 181 about six miles north of Floresville, and offers 263 homesites with another 40 becoming available in early summer 2020. The community offers both a private community lake as well as a community park. In 2009, Eden Crossing was begun. Located near La Vernia, it currently has 220 homesites with 35 more planned for late 2020, and also features a community lake and gorgeous waterfront park. Chisum Trail, currently in the process of development near La Vernia, will feature 33 homesites with completion planned for early spring 2020. With countless benefits to building with Abrego Development Company, one of the more noteworthy is that the company does not require buyers to choose from an existing list of builders. However, it does reap the rewards of its intricate network of local homebuilders with which it enjoys long-term relationships. For more information on these builders, visit www.sanantoniocountry.com. Abrego Development Company also has a long-standing, positive relationship with SouthTrust Bank out of Floresville, which offers a helpful financing program with excellent terms and rates. SouthTrust also helps buyers by offering construction and mortgage financing. We also offer lot purchase incentives from time to time, said Brown. We promote these incentives mainly through our e-blast program. To sign up for this e-blast program, prospective buyers can email Abrego Development Company at info@sanantoniocountry.com or call 830-216-2300. Lots are a convenient size for families and go quickly, with most available lots ranging from 1 to 1.5 acres. Although a few have been developed as large as five acres, the most popular size continues to range from 1 to 1.5 acres. Chisum Trail will feature one exceptional lot consisting of 4.17 acres. All lots at Eden Crossing and Chisum Trail are heavily treed, Brown noted. Many of the Abrego Lake lots are also heavily treed. With our minimum lot size of one acre, buyers have lots of room for the home, outbuildings and swimming pools, (and) they are not right on top of their neighbors. Best of all, said Brown, all Abrego Development Company communities are outside city limits so there are no city taxes for buyers to pay. After your dream home is built, the company also provides a network of aftermarket contractors, including pool companies, fence companies and metal building contractors. This helps the new homeowner add the items they want to customize their homesite, said Brown. Dont delay -- act now to secure a lot in some of the San Antonio areas most vibrant and flourishing homebuilding communities. For more information on Abrego Development Company or a list of the network of builders, visit sanantoniocountry.com or call 830-216-2300. The companys real estate brokerage is Falkin Realty, and Stuart Falkin of Falkin Realty serves as a partner in Abrego Development Company. Instagram will finally let users chat on the desktop. The company is bringing direct messages to the web, allowing people to talk on their computer rather than just on their phone. It marks a major change for the Facebook-owned app, which has traditionally avoided bringing functionality to the desktop at all. The new feature is in public testing now, and has been confirmed by Instagram. As such, not all users will have access to it, but it is very likely that it will arrive in full very soon. The DM feature will work largely the same as it does on the phone, letting friends open up a new conversation, share posts and like messages. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty It will also allow people to get notifications on their computer, using the systems that allows browsers to alert their users to news. Instagram has suggested that there may be changes or additions to how the features works as it is tested. Recommended Some users unable to login to Instagram as strange errors appear Historically, Instagram has always been resistant to the idea of using the desktop at all. It does not provide an app for PCs or Mac, and the web version of the social network is lacking in a wide range of features that are available in the app. But in recent weeks it has been reported that its website will be replaced with a web app on desktop, which will give some of that functionality to users on their computer. It also comes as its parent company Facebook makes a wide variety of changes to how direct messages work across its various apps. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said that it is working towards bringing all the various messaging tools together, so that people will be able to talk between DMs in Instagram, WhatsApp and the main Facebook Messenger. CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aptus Exchange, a leading healthcare brokerage and advisory firm in Chicago, announced today that the company will be exhibiting at the Chicago Dental Society 2020 Midwinter Meeting, an annual event for the dental industry, at booth number 721. AE is a network of professional advisors dedicated to partnering practice owners and guiding them through growing their business, managing maturity, and ultimately shepherding the doctor through a successful practice exit. AE provides integrated suite of service offerings, including comprehensive management consulting, marketing, strategic planning and transition services. "The Midwinter Meeting is among the top three dental meetings in the United States," said AE CEO Michael Errin Rios. "This conference gives us a chance to have conversations with dental professionals about how AE's services can help them stay ahead the curve." Booth visitors will have the opportunity to win a red mountain bike during the course of the three-day show. The 2020 Midwinter Meeting will take place from Thursday, February 20 through Saturday, February 22 at McCormick Place, located at 2301 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, IL 60616. For more information on the conference, visit: https://www.cds.org/meetings-events/midwinter-meeting About Aptus Exchange Aptus Exchange ("AE") is the new standard of ease and access for modern health care practice brokerage. Based in the global city of Chicago, AE serves as an advisory services firm specializing in marketing, management consulting, practice succession planning and business brokerage. AE leverages the broad and deep expertise of its team to elevate firms in the Dental, Health Care, and Professional Service Industries. SOURCE Aptus Exchange, LLC Related Links https://www.cds.org A serious young businesswoman sits with colleagues and reaches forward to shake hands with an unseen new client. When I was a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, I was taught that when you greet someone, you greet them with a kiss on the cheek. It didn't matter if it was someone I knew - in that case, the kiss came with a hug most of the time - or someone whom I was just being introduced to. The polite way was to always give a kiss. I grew accustomed to that notion and carried it with me, assuming each culture had a similar way of greeting (Spain, France, and Italy give two kisses, and there are other European countries that greet with three!). I knew that people in the US didn't really kiss upon meeting, and handshakes were the norm, but I never understood how that would change me. When I moved to the US at 21, it took some rewiring my brain to really get used to the handshake. At first, some people would give me a weird look when I'd lean in for a kiss, and others would assume I was being flirtatious. In my head, I was just being polite - how I was taught. I didn't think too much about it, as I'm sure happens with many Dominicans. Everyone in DR is all about getting as up close and personal as possible. We don't see it as something that might be triggering for some, because we're just bombarded with a lot of physical contact from the moment we're born. Hugs, kisses, shoulder taps, even grabbing someone's hand while you're talking to them are a few of the things that Dominicans - and a lot of Latinx - just do. When I first moved here, I could've told you that we do that because we like to create a more personal connection with the person we're interacting with, make them feel like they matter to us, like we're there for them, that we're really paying attention, and because we want them to feel comfortable. Now, eight years later, I can say that getting so close with someone I've just met actually feels like a violation of my personal space. People back home can say that NYC has changed me and made me a bitter person, because now I automatically extend my hand upon meeting someone before they even have a chance to lean in for the kiss. But I've realized that by giving that kiss, I'm inviting that person I still don't know into my life and giving them access to get close to me. And one thing I've learned in these eight years living abroad is that it's OK to set boundaries. You do not owe anyone a kiss - especially if you don't know them - and you don't have to let anyone into your life unless you want to. I personally prefer to first extend a handshake, then take it from there. I think about how I feel around that person and if that person is someone who I would keep around in my circle or if it's a one-time meeting. I do, however, greet my friends and family with a kiss and sometimes even a hug, too, because those are the people who make me feel comfortable, with whom I have a relationship, and the people I like to keep close. So if I meet you and greet you with a handshake, don't be offended! I'm just getting to know you, and I need boundaries. Integrity Insurance, a property and casualty carrier headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, has added Jake Huber as territory sales manager for Minnesota. Based in Minnesota, Huber will be responsible for developing and implementing sales action plans with agency partners to drive new business while supporting retention and profitability, as well as, increase Integritys presence in that state. Prior to joining Integrity, Huber was a field sales specialist with CNA Insurance in Minneapolis. Huber has more than 10 years of experience in the insurance industry from both the carrier and agent aspect. Source: Integrity Insurance Topics Minnesota This question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and its time for us to attack it head-on, she said. And I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at peoples winning record . . . Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women, Amy and me. Workers are seen at a construction site of the Tangshan-Hohhot railway in Ulanqab, north China's Inner Mongolia region, March 19, 2019. China has drastically increased infrastructure spending in 2019. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) China Issues 1 Trillion Yuan in Bonds to Stabilize Slowing Economy Chinese officials are rolling out 1 trillion yuan ($145.6 billion) in local government special bonds to stimulate the economy and avert mass layoffs. Local governments are expected to spend the money on infrastructure. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Finance in November 2019. The special bonds come from the 2020 quota and was released earlier this yearahead of schedule, as these bonds typically are issued in March. In the first two weeks of January, provincial and municipal governments in Henan, Sichuan, and Hebei provinces received approximately 187.5 billion yuan ($27.3 billion) of the special bonds. Its expected that total special bonds granted to local governments across the country will exceed 600 billion yuan ($87.4 billion) in January, and these funds are dedicated to major local projects, Yicai Global, a Chinese financial publication, reported on Jan. 12. Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, announced Jan. 11 that a number of major projects funded by the special bonds, including those in the service, industrial, social welfare, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors, have recently begun. Breaking it down, these projects included 40 industrial projects investing 29.24 billion yuan ($4.26 billion); 31 modern service industry projects investing 99.29 billion yuan ($14.5 billion); 18 infrastructure projects investing 116.23 billion yuan ($16.9 billion); 16 ecological and environmental improvement projects investing 14.55 billion yuan ($2.12 billion); and 11 social welfare projects investing 11.94 billion yuan ($1.74 billion). The aggregated investment for all projects reached 271.25 billion yuan ($39.5 billion). Infrastructure projects account for 43 percent of the total investment. Jiangsu Province also announced an intensive kick-off of 1,473 major projects in January. Henan Province named its 2020 project making up our shortcomings, and announced a plan to inject 2 trillion yuan ($291.3 billion). Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, initiated a series of major projects in January, with a total investment of 30.9 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), according to Yicai Global. Chinese authorities are trying to avoid a sharp economic downturn by investing in infrastructure, Chinese commentator Wen Xiaogang told The Epoch Times. Traditionally, China relies on international trade, domestic spending, and investment to drive its economy. Now, only one option is leftinvestment. Chinese authorities are forced to go back to heavily investing in infrastructure, Wen said. Although it will indeed help to improve GDP [gross domestic product], the new debt on Chinas already high debt levels will eventually lead to a debt explosion. This is especially true for the infrastructure projects, where the return on investment is low. Borrowers will have to keep borrowing money to repay the old debt, which, in turn, will one day burst a big bubble, he added. Wen also pointed out that with unemployment rising, the Chinese regime worries about social stability and that some insiders in Chinas construction industry revealed that 60 percent of construction workers are presently unemployed. Investing in infrastructure can not only drive GDP growth, but also help ease the unemployment problem, he said. The witness reportedly described how Richardson had been beat up, had his chest stomped on and finally was stabbed to death by Simpson and Jabaica and Tommy Tecumseh. Richardsons body was put in the trunk of his own vehicle and disposed of in an undisclosed location, according to a probable cause affidavit. In July, after Richardsons killing, the witness reportedly met with Simpson at the Broken Arrow residence, and during that discussion Simpson mocked and re-enacted the murder of the victim. On Dec. 9, detectives served a search warrant at Simpsons home and found trace evidence of probable human blood in the bedroom, but it appeared that the room had been cleaned, according to the affidavit. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper pulled over Richardsons car Dec. 11 as it was leaving Jabaica Tecumsehs residence in Morris with Jabaica behind the wheel. The car was impounded because of insurance, and human remains-detection dogs alerted on the vehicle, indicating that human remains had been inside long enough to leave behind an odor, according to the affidavit. MAUMEE, Ohio, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) will release its 2019 fourth-quarter and year-end financial results on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. A press release will be issued at approximately 7 a.m. EST, followed by a conference call and webcast at 10:30 a.m. EST. Members of the company's senior management team will be available at that time to discuss the results and answer related questions. Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through audio streaming online or by telephone. Slide viewing is available online via a link provided on the Dana investor website: www.dana.com/investors. U.S. and Canadian locations should dial 1-888-311-4590 and international locations should call 1-706-758-0054. Please enter conference I.D. 4099809 ask for the "Dana Incorporated's Financial Webcast and Conference Call." Phone registration will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST. An audio recording of the webcast will be available after 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 13 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (U.S. or Canada) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) and entering conference I.D. 4099809. A webcast replay will also be available after 5 p.m. EST and may be accessed via Dana's investor website. About Dana Incorporated Dana is a world leader in providing power-conveyance and energy-management solutions that are engineered to improve the efficiency, performance, and sustainability of light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and off-highway equipment. Enabling the propulsion of conventional, hybrid, and electric-powered vehicles, Dana equips its customers with critical drive and motion systems; electrodynamic and power technologies; and thermal, sealing, and digital solutions. Founded in 1904, Dana employs more than 36,000 people who are committed to delivering long-term value to their customers, which include nearly every vehicle manufacturer in the world. Based in Maumee, Ohio, USA, and with locations in 33 countries across six continents, the company reported sales of $8.1 billion in 2018. Having established a high-performance culture that focuses on its people, the company has earned recognition around the world as a top employer. Learn more at dana.com. SOURCE Dana Incorporated Related Links http://www.dana.com A woman charged with killing a former Arkansas state lawmaker faced new charges Tuesday alleging that she asked fellow inmates to kill the victims ex-husband. Rebecca Lynn ODonnell, who has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the killing of former state Sen. Linda Collins, was charged with two counts of criminal solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of criminal solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. Four inmates told State Police that ODonnell had talked with them about killing Collins ex-husband, Phil Smith, and arranging to have the death look like suicide, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday. ODonnell also talked with inmates about blowing up her vehicle, which is being held at the Randolph County jail, to destroy any evidence that may be in the vehicle, the affidavit states. Two inmates said ODonnell also sought the killing of the prosecutor who had been handling her case, while another said she wanted Smiths current wife killed. That prosecutor unexpectedly recused himself from the case late last year. ODonnells lawyer, Lee Short, didnt immediately reply to a phone message seeking comment. Collins, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature, was found dead June 4 outside her home in Pocahontas, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock. His remarks come amid tensions between the US and Iran over the killing of Iranian general Maj Gen Qasem Soleimani. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. "India can play a role in de-escalating tensions ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The driver of a luxury SUV that crashed onto a walkway at Bondi Beach has been revealed as a friend of Real Housewives of Sydney cast member Victoria Rees. Ms Rees posted to Instagram that her friend - Edyta Kalbarczyk - was the driver of the Range Rover that smashed through a safety barrier and flipped onto the walkway near Bondi Icebergs club. 'When your friend visits and drives over the edge,' Ms Rees posted to her 32,000 followers. Victoria Rees of Real Housewives of Sydney posted online that her friend was the driver Matty Samaei (left) and Victoria Rees (right) attend a red carpet on November 25, 2017 in Sydney, Australia (neither of the woman pictured were involved in the crash) It is understood Ms Kalbarczyk was involved in a minor traffic accident and had exited the car to exchange information when the SUV began to roll away at about 10.45am. Emergency services were called to the scene on Wednesday morning after receiving reports a vehicle had ploughed through the guardrail and landed on a footpath below Notts Ave. Photos of the accident show the Range Rover Velar, believed to be worth between $70,000 and $176,000, flipped upside down outside the public toilets. The car's handbrake is believed to have failed after Ms Kalbarczyk exited - causing it to veer towards the edge of the road. No one was inside the vehicle at the time and no pedestrians were injured. A small Range Rover SUV landed on a footpath near the public toilets in Bondi Beach after rolling off the road and smashing through the guard rail The vehicle, which was empty at the time, rolled off the road after the handbrake failed, according to reports A female resident who did not wish to be named said she was angry with the driver. 'She could have bloody killed someone,' she told The Daily Telegraph. Another Bondi resident Craig Andrews, 47, told the publication he was relieved noone was injured. 'It's a miracle nobody was hurt. This is such a busy area, I'm just shocked,' he said. Police cordoned off the scene on Wednesday afternoon and urged people to avoid the area as a recovery operation was completed. At about 12:30pm a tow truck winched the car back up to the road. It is understood the car veered off the road after the driver had exited the vehicle to exchange details with another motorist after they were involved in a minor accident earlier The presidents plan for payment parity goes against what patients want 307 Shares Share Listen to your patient; he is telling you the diagnosis. This quote from famous physician William Osler is as true today as it was 100 years ago. And yet the latest version of President Trumps executive order on Medicare threatens what patients overwhelmingly want: a physician involved in their care. Section 5-C of the Presidents order focuses on payment parity and supervision of mid-level providers. Changes to either issue would create unintended consequences for the care of older Americans. Regarding payment parity, the Trump Administration proposes that physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) be reimbursed equally for time spent with patients, despite significant differences in training. Current Medicare rules reimburse NP and PA services at 85 percent of what it reimburses for physician services. In theory, the Trump administration is doing this to incentivize more people to become PAs and NPs and increase patient access to care. In reality, its financially incentivizing large hospitals and health systems to replace physicians with mid-level providers who can be paid less. While NPs and PAs do good work within the health care team model and are greatly appreciated by many patients, polls recently conducted in Pennsylvania show the vast majority of patients still want physicians involved in their care. Of the 3,300 Pennsylvanians who participated, 90 percent cited physicians as the most trusted health care professional to deal with chronic illnesses; 73 percent said physicians and NPs should continue to work together through collaborative agreements. The results were similar in both urban and rural settings. For example: 90 percent of participants in Potter County, one of Pennsylvanias smallest and most rural counties, said they trusted physicians more than NPs and PAs to treat chronic illness. 86 percent of participants in Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh and the states second-largest population base, said they also trusted physicians the most to treat chronic illness. Medicare figures to play an even larger role in health care delivery during the next few decades. One out of five Americans will be over the age of 65 by 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As we age, the complexity of illness requires health care professionals who possess the clinical acumen to appropriately and effectively treat patients who often present multiple and complex conditions. Physicians are the most capable professionals to meet the needs of patients with complex conditions. Their training is both longer and more in-depth than NPs or PAs. President Trumps executive order originally called to remove or weaken supervision or collaborative agreements between physicians and PAs/NPs. Thanks to advocacy from physicians and organizations representing physicians, the order was changed to revert back to state laws on supervision and collaboration. Thats good news at the moment for the majority of states (26) that still require NPs to hold a collaborative agreement with physicians. Unfortunately, lawmakers in several of those states including my home state of Pennsylvania continue to push to remove collaborative agreements between NPs and physicians. Today, thousands of young high school students are dreaming of becoming physicians. Some may want to become pediatric neurosurgeons because of a friend who succumbed to a glioblastoma, while others are interested in family medicine after witnessing the healing touch of a physicians hand on the shoulder of an ill grandparent. Espousing a policy that fails to recognize the duration and intensity of medical education, as compared to training of non-physicians, and the significant differences in their clinical acumen, will send the wrong message to these students and may dissuade them from one day becoming physicians. That is why I implore the Trump Administration to reconsider Section 5-C. That is why, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calls for comments on this executive order through January 17, 2020, I implore the Trump Administration to reconsider Section 5-C. Lawrence John is a family physician and president, Pennsylvania Medical Society. Image credit: Shutterstock.com On Monday, January 13th, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIe TE392 took the skies for the first time in some years, making two successful test flights from Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Queensland following a short period of refurbishment. This Spitfire has an itinerant history, rarely staying in one place for long during her time with the Royal Air Force. She rolled off the Vickers-Armstrong production line at their massive facility in Castle Bromwich at wars end during the spring of 1945. The Royal Air Force took delivery of TE392 at RAF Cosford with No.9 Maintenance Unit on June 15th, 1945. She remained here in storage until February, 1946, when she emerged to undergo preparations for service with an active squadron. The Spitfire joined No.126 Squadron at Hethel, Norfolk on March 8th, but oddly enough, 126 stood down just two days later, so TE392 moved on to No.65 Squadron two weeks later. However, this squadron was transitioning to the de Havilland Hornet, so the Spitfire joined No.164 Squadron at RAF Middle Wallop on August 29th, 1946. But just two days after having joined 164 Squadron, the RAF re-numbered the unit to No.63 Squadron! TE392s next home was with an Army co-operation unit, No.595 Squadron at RAF Pembrey in Wales, where she moved on May 13th, 1948. Continuing the fighters gypsy-like lifestyle, 595 Squadron moved to RAF Horsham St Faith in Norfolk, East Anglia just two weeks later. This unit was also re-numbered, becoming No.34 Squadron on Valentines Day, 1949, but TE392 stayed with them until August 31, 1951, when she moved to Little Snoring to take up duties with Marshalls of Cambridge, a civilian organization under contract for Army cooperation duties. She formally retired from her military flying career in September, 1952 when the RAF relegated the airframe to ground instruction duties at RAF Church Lawford. After serving in this role at various locations for the next few years, the fighter went on display atop a pole at RAF Kemble, in September, 1967. The RAF then moved the aircraft to RAF Hereford in February, 1970, again for pole-mounted display. Here she stayed until 1984, when the British Ministry of Defence traded her to well-known warbird collector, Doug Arnold in exchange for North American B-25J Mitchell 44-29366 which the RAF Museum acquired for display at their Hendon campus. Doug Arnold was well known for his penchant for Supermarine Spitfires, with several dozen having passed through his hands over the years. He sent TE392 for restoration with Aerofab in Thruxton, Wiltshire, and had the aircraft converted from her original low-back configuration, with its bubble top-cockpit canopy, into a high-back variant more traditionally associated with the type. This work took a long time, and was incomplete by the time of Doug Arnolds death in 1992. As with many of the other aircraft in his possession at the time of his death, TE392 was shipped to the USA for storage. Following its sale in 1995, the Spitfires restoration recommenced at Harry Stengers shop in Bartow, Florida. While the aircraft changed hands a couple of times in the interim, the restoration work continued in Bartow, and by the time of its first flight on December 24th, 1999, with Eliot Cross at the controls, TE392 now belonged to the Lone Star Flight Museum (LSFM), then in Galveston, Texas. Interestingly, considering yesterdays story about the Pima Air & Space Museums recently refurbished Hawker Hurricane, LSFM restored the Spitfire to represent one which the Texas-born RAF Ace Wing Commander Lance Wade flew with No.145 Squadron in Italy during WWII. The aircraft flew on the U.S. air show circuit for the next few years, but then Hurricane Ike blasted through the Texas coast in September, 2008. While many of Lone Stars airworthy aircraft were able to escape to safer locations, sadly TE392 was still inside the museums hangar when the sea water flooded in, dousing the Spitfire in salt water, and pushing it into other airframes. Lone Star sent the bedraggled fighter to Ezell Aviation for some TLC following the deluge, and she regained her certificate of airworthiness in January 2010. The museum sold the fighter in December, 2017, and she moved to her new home Australia. Bishopp Aviation Pty. placed TE392 on the Australian civil registry as VH-XWE on December 2nd, 2019. They have repainted her to represent a Spitfire flown by the legendary Australian ace, Frederick Anthony Own Gaze, who is credited with shooting down 13.5 enemy aircraft over Europe including both a Messerschmitt Me 262 and Arado Ar 234! The Spitfire is expected to take part in flying activities with Fighter Pilot, an organization which operates a small fleet of vintage warbirds out of Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Queensland. Long may she fly! Many thanks to our regular Antipodean correspondent Phil Buckley for brining us this story, and to Aaron Turvey for the photographs! Housing Requirements and Exemptions Most first-time freshmen live on campus, but there are some exceptions. Housing Rates Housing and dining rates vary based on your residence hall and meal plan. NEW YORK - A changing climate means dramatic risks for the world and for investments too, the chief of the worlds largest investment manager said Tuesday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this March 26, 2014 file photo, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence Fink is interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network's "Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo," in New York. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is making climate change central to its investment decisions going forward. Fink, who oversees the management of about $7 trillion in funds, said in his influential annual letter to CEOs Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, that he believes we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance because of a warming planet. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) NEW YORK - A changing climate means dramatic risks for the world and for investments too, the chief of the worlds largest investment manager said Tuesday. To prepare for and protect against those risks, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said in his influential annual letter to CEOs that his firm, which manages roughly $7 trillion for investors, will make a series of moves putting climate change and sustainability at the centre of its investing approach. Among them, BlackRock will cut out investments in some coal producers from some of its portfolios, sharply increase the number of sustainability-focused funds that it offers, and vote against companies at shareholder meetings when theyre too slow in disclosing and mitigating their impact on the environment. Climate change has become a defining factor in companies long-term prospects, Fink wrote in his letter, adding that he believes we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance because of it. Fink predicted that the changes in how capital is deployed will come "more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself, and sooner than most anticipate. In fact, the shift is already underway. Investors poured a net $20.6 billion into sustainable funds across the industry last year, nearly quadruple the record set a year earlier, according to Morningstar. Investors, particularly younger ones, increasingly say they want their money invested with an eye toward sustainability. The total dollars are still small relative to the entire industry investors plugged a total of $413.9 billion into all taxable bond funds last year, while yanking $41.3 billion out of all U.S. stock funds but the trend is clear and accelerating. Fearful of losing out on those dollars and the fees that they produce investment companies are rushing to meet the surging demand. BlackRock and other huge asset managers are generally behind smaller competitors when it comes to sustainability, said Danielle Fugere, president of shareholder-advocacy group As You Sow. BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard and others have been criticized for not doing more about the environment. Besides protests outside its Manhattan headquarters, BlackRock has also heard criticism from members of Congress who believe it could better address climate change. Because of its size and reach, any shift in focus by BlackRock could alter the industry. It is a major shareholder in thousands of companies through its popular exchange-traded funds that track various indexes, as well as its funds run by stock-picking managers. But Fugere said Tuesday's announcement is only a first step. The words are significant, and the words show leadership," Fugere said. But that's not enough. We have to see on the ground action, and we need to see it quickly. There is no time. Australia is burning up. California is burning up. The wildfires in parts of Australia and California and other recent disasters have shown big institutional investors that climate change is just as much a threat to their returns in the near term as over the coming decades. The physical risks have become so immediately clear and stark, said Amy Borrus, deputy director of the Council for Institutional Investors, whose members include pension funds, endowments and other U.S.-based asset owners investing more than $4 trillion. Many institutional investors will welcome these steps by BlackRock," she said. More and more public funds are coming around to the view that sound environmental, social and governance practices are not just about making the world better but about fundamentally creating and preserving shareholder value." This approach to investing comes after a yearslong evolution for the industry, which began with simple funds that bluntly excluded stocks deemed as harmful, such as gun makers or tobacco stocks. Now, fund managers say they they look at environmental, social and governance issues broadly as part of their analysis of any investment. It's known as ESG investing, and proponents say it aids investors returns, not just their consciences, because it helps them avoid risky stocks and big potential losses. Companies with poor records on environmental issues are more likely to face big fines, for example. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. For all the noise made by Fink's announcement, the reaction in the stock market was muted on Tuesday. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 were down, but not as much as some other corners of the market. Coal stocks were mixed. In his letter, Fink said companies and investors have a role to play in the transition to a low-carbon world, but governments will ultimately need to lead the way. Some movement has begun. The European Union on Tuesday unveiled a plan to dedicate a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change and to help shift 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in investment towards making the economy more environmentally friendly over the next 10 years. The Europe Investment Plan will be funded by the EU budget and the private sector. It aims to deliver on European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's Green Deal to make the bloc the world's first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. It will be interesting to see whether BlackRock's high profile move will have any impact on policy, Borrus said. Government can do much more in the long run on climate change than investment flows. ____ AP Reporter Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report from Brussels. A driver and passenger are lucky to be alive after a violent crash Wednesday morning in southwest Houston. The pair were in a white pickup truck northbound on Hillcroft Avenue just past the Southwest Freeway when the driver crashed into a utility pole at an apparently high rate of speed, recoiling the truck back about 20 feet from the pole, according to the Houston Fire Department. Ulrika Jonsson presented the weather on 'Good Morning Britain' (Credit: ITV) Ulrika Jonsson was back presenting the weather on Good Morning Britain today, 30 years on from her ITV debut. The 52-year-old TV presenter began her career broadcasting the weather for TV-am show, also called Good Morning Britain, on ITV in 1989. Read more: Ulrika Jonsson reveals 'crippling anxiety' It feels like yesterday The fabulous Ulrika Jonsson is back doing the weather after 30 years! pic.twitter.com/30WALVW4o6 Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 15, 2020 Jonsson appeared on breakfast show GMB today and was thrown in at the deep end by host Piers Morgan when he asked her to present the weather forecast at the end of the show. As she approached the digital screen she said: Oh my gosh! Im a proper ludite as well. In my day we had bits of felt symbols and a little man behind to turn the actual screen. But as you can see its very windy. Weve got some - are they southerly or northerly? Northely winds probably! Ulrika Jonsson and Lorraine Kelly worked together on TV-am's Good Morning Britain in the 90s (Credit: Getty Images) Nine degrees, thats 48 degrees fahrenheit for those of you who are still talking in old money. Little bits of blue bits which is probably turning drier later this afternoon. She then handed over to her former TV-am colleague Lorraine Kelly, saying: I hope you have a marvelous day, now its time for the marvelous, wonderful Lorraine Kelly. Jonsson - who has been very open about her search for love since splitting from her third husband in April last year - revealed she has been on a few dates since becoming the face of over-Fifties dating app Lumen. Read more: Ulrika Jonsson 'signs up' for 'First Dates' after marriage split She said: That I guess is how people meet each other nowadays. Ive always slightly been resistent to any technology in that because in our day we used to meet people in the pub or whatever and you knew you liked somebody and then you went on a date. But the idea of looking at a picture of someone and going, Yeah, I could probably... Jonssson added: Not through the app but I have been on a couple of dates yes. India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region as New Delhi is an important player, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday New Delhi: India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region as New Delhi is an important player, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday. Addressing the gathering at the Raisina Dialogue here, Zarif also said his country was interested in diplomacy, but not in negotiating with the US, remarks that come amid spiralling tensions between the two countries over the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Hitting out at the US, he said Soleimani was the single biggest threat to Islamic State and his killing was now being celebrated by the terror group and US president Donald Trump. "Who is celebrating Soleimani's killing? President Trump, (US Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and Daesh (Islamic State). You wonder about strange bedfellows? Not really," he said, adding that Soleimani's killing had showed ignorance and arrogance on the part of the US. The Iranian foreign minister claimed that 430 Indian cities saw protests and commemorative meetings after Soleimani's killing. India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region as New Delhi is an important player, Zarif told PTI. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. Zarif, in his address, also said that European powers have violated the 2015 international nuclear deal Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was signed between Iran and the P5+1 (China France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). His remarks came a day after Britain, France and Germany launched a complaint against Iran for non-compliance. "The future of the nuclear deal depends on Europe. JCPOA was one of the best deals... one of the best multilateral agreements. None of the 11 commitments given to Iran were fulfilled. Not only the US, but also the EU failed to keep those commitments," Zarif said. The EU is in violation of JCPOA commitments independent of American violations, he said. "You (EU countries) are independent countries. Why do you let the US bully you? So we triggered the dispute resolution mechanism. Nothing happened. They did not even respond," he said. "We have said that once Europe reverses, we will reverse too. We have lost hundreds of billions of dollars. If they pay us those hundreds of billions we will reverse our decisions," Zarif said. Referring to the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week killing all 176 aboard, Zarif said shooting down of the civilian plane was a mistake. "Why did it happen? Because there was a crisis. People make mistakes, unforgivable mistakes, but it happened in the time of the crisis," Zarif said. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian aircraft. "We need to create hope in the region. We have to get rid of despair," he said. Zarif's remarks come amid the global focus being on Iran and the US over the confrontation between them following Soleimani's killing. Maj Gen Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force, was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces are stationed in Iraq. Iran responded in self-defence, Zarif asserted. The US accused Soleimani of threatening to attack US embassies, but now it is known there was no such threat, he said. The US wants to get rid of international law and that is why it talks of an international rules-based system, Zarif said. The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region, he said. "The US is now negotiating with the Taliban. To do what? To get out of Afghanistan. What has the US brought to Iraq? Stability? For Afghanistan and Iraq, it is their choice. But to use Iraq to mount an attack on an official guest of Iraq? It was an unprovoked attack," Zarif said. Secretary Pompeo says if Iran wants its people to eat, then it will have to listen to the US and this amounts to a war crime, Zarif said. "We now need a new coalition against Daesh. We knew where Daesh was standing. We now know where the US is standing," he said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: A resolution entitled "Annual report on the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy" was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes during the plenary meeting of the European Parliament held on January 15 in Strasbourg, Trend reports on Jan. 15 referring to Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry. In accordance with item 36 of this resolution, the EU has once again confirmed its commitments to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all Eastern Partnership countries. The issue of territorial integrity is mentioned in the resolution along with the expression "internationally recognized borders". The document calls on to demonstrate a unified approach to all conflicts in the territory of the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as to support the efforts to resolve them within the norms and principles of international law and provide support to those suffering from these conflicts, including refugees and internally displaced people. The document also refers to 'A Global Strategy for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy' published in 2016 and the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels in 2017. In the strategy for the EU's foreign and security policy, the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the countries were recognized as the most important elements of European security. The Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels also explicitly expresses support for the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of the Eastern Partnership countries. The resolutions adopted by the European Parliament annually are binding documents that may influence the activity of the European Commission during the year. About a decade ago, Jason Butler spent a month in jail years ago for driving after his license was suspended because he failed to pay court fees related to a minor infraction. On Tuesday, Butler, 36, stood beside Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, D, as Frosh called for an end to the practice of suspending licenses for unpaid court fines and fees. Such suspensions are commonplace and affect tens of thousands of Marylanders, Frosh said. Noting that some lawmakers have told him that they, too, had temporarily lost their licenses for unpaid fines. "What happens to just plain folks is that they get sucked into a vortex of punishment and poverty," Frosh said. "They can't afford to pay the fine or fee; they lose their driver's license, they end up driving on a suspended license sometimes just to get to work." Maryland would join a handful of states that have taken action over the last two years to address what advocates call the "criminalization of poverty" by tackling debt-based suspensions. A 2018 Washington Post analysis found that more than 7 million people across the country may have had their licenses suspended for failure to pay court debt. Last year, Virginia enacted a temporary ban of debt-based driver's license suspensions, and reinstated driving privileges for hundreds of thousands of residents. Gov. Ralph Northam, D, is pushing for a permanent ban of the practice this year, part of a larger package of bills intended to address racial disparities and eliminate practices that disproportionately impact minority communities. The Post study found that at least 41 states and the District of Columbia suspend or revoke licenses to drivers who fail to pay traffic tickets or appear in court to respond to traffic tickets. Advocates for the poor have called for ending such suspensions and revocations since a 2015 federal investigation revealed that law enforcement in Ferguson, Missouri, used license reinstatement fines to raise revenue for state and local governments. Butler said he wrote Frosh's office about a year ago to tell him how he lost his job and his apartment while he sat in jail for a month for driving on a suspended license. He had been given a ticket for failing to signal, and had not paid the penalty or court fees because he was "struggling to pay bills" to support his family. "These laws that exist, they unfairly punish people for their inability to pay," said Butler, who lives in Baltimore. Frosh was joined by Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, Judicial Proceedings Chairman Will Smith, D-Montgomery, and Del. Brooke Lierman, D-Baltimore City, who introduced the legislation last year, when it failed to move out of committee. With new, more liberal leadership in both chambers, the legislation likely stands a better chance this year. Sen. Chris West, R-Baltimore County, who is co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate, called it long overdue and said drivers will not "get off scot free." They would still have to pay their court fines, possibly through a civil judgement, he noted, but they would not be subject to losing their licenses.The bill does not expunge offenses from ex-offenders' records, but Ferguson said it may be worth looking at that option as well. "The Maryland General Assembly needs to do as much as we can to stop making incarceration a scarlet letter that prevents people from getting a job, from going to work, from taking care of their kids," Ferguson said. "We have got to be more thoughtful." Earnhardt Honda helps car buyers in the Phoenix, Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert areas find the dealership with directions via the Loop 202 Extension. The Phoenix Metropolitan Area known as the Valley of the Sun is home to more than 1.6 million residents. With that many people, travel can be difficult at times and it can be tough for drivers to get where they want to go without a long commute. The opening of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway Extension will help alleviate traffic and will make it simpler for interested car shoppers in the Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler area to find dealerships like Earnhardt Honda in Avondale. Earnhardt Honda located at 10151 W. Papago Freeway Avondale, AZ 85323 wants to help potential customers find the dealership. The Loop 202 Extension will make travel in the Phoenix area easier and faster with a 22-mile stretch of freeway that connects Interstate 10 and the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in the East Valley to Interstate 10 and 59th Avenue in the West Valley. The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway Extension is the last piece in the Loop 101 and Loop 202 system and is expected to see more than 117,000 vehicles a day for the first year. Drivers who live in the Phoenix and Tempe area will have better access to Interstate 10 with a more direct route to communities like Avondale. Residents in the Chandler and Gilbert areas may benefit the most with access to AZ-Loop 202 West which will connect to Interstate 10 and the Papago Freeway in the Avondale area. With the Loop 202 Extension now open, drivers who wish to visit Earnhardt Honda will have a more direct route. Car buyers who live in the Phoenix Metropolitan area and are interested in a Honda vehicle or service may find that Earnhardt Honda fits the bill. To learn more about how to get to Earnhardt Honda via the Loop 202 Extension, individuals can find directions online at http://www.earnhardthonda.com. Individuals who prefer a more personal interaction can call the dealership directly at 623-934-5211. Air India's Washington-Delhi flight, which was to depart from the US capital on Sunday at 10.25 am, faced a 57 hour-delay as the B787-8 aircraft developed a glitch in its braking system, a senior official of the airline said. "AI104 Washington-Delhi flight was able to leave on Wednesday morning (IST) only after getting the required spare part. The plane would be landing in Delhi soon," the official said. The plane had 133 passengers on board when it developed the glitch, the official said. The official said around half of the passengers were taken to Newark by road on Tuesday and they departed by the Air India flight to Delhi from there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A French tourist claims he didn't know he was urinating on a war memorial when he relieved himself in Sydney's Hyde Park. Brice Blanchard, 22, had just arrived in Australia and was drinking in the park with friends from his hostel on the night of December 10. He was caught in the act on CCTV about 9.50pm and security guards jogged over just as he was zipping up his fly, and called police. French tourist Brice Blanchard, 22, claims he didn't know he was urinating on a war memorial when he relieved himself in Sydney's Hyde Park Blanchard waited with security and was 'apologetic' when officers took him to the station and explained what he'd done, court documents stated. 'I was walking along and urinated on the wall, I didn't know what the building was. I just got to Australia two days ago, I'm from France,' he told police. The backpacker, in Australia on a two-year work visa, pleaded guilty to committing an offensive act on a war memorial in Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday. Looking disheveled in faded blue jeans and a creased denim shirt and clutching a small orange bag, he apologised to the court through an interpreter. He was allowed to walk free on a nine-month conditional release order with no fine or conviction recorded. The magistrate accepted that Blanchard 'had no idea what he was doing' and said the offence caused by urinating on it would be similar to if it was the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 'Like the French, we respect the fallen and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the past,' he said. 'That's why war memorials are sacred to Australians. If you are still here in April you will see just how sacred they are on Anzac Day.' He was caught urinating on the eastern wall of the shrine on CCTV and security guards jogged over just as he was zipping up his fly, and called police Blanchard was allowed to walk free on a nine-month conditional release order with no fine or conviction recorded Blanchard explained to Daily Mail Australia outside court that he was drinking with friends from the Mad Monkey Hostel in Kings Cross Feeling the need to relieve himself, he walked over to the eastern wall of the memorial and urinated. 'It was the first building I saw, I had no idea it was a war memorial as I only just arrived in Australia,' he said. 'I'm very sorry and didn't mean to offend soldiers or anyone else in Australia. If I'd known it was a war memorial I'd never have done it. I feel very guilty.' Blanchard admitted he couldn't even blame intoxication for his mistake as he'd only had two beers, and was merely ignorant. He said he was not aware of much of Australia's contribution to World War I and had learned a lot in the past few weeks. More than 46,000 Australian soldiers died fighting on the Western Front in trenches running through Blanchard's country, and another 124,000 were wounded. The young tourist said he planned to stay in Australia for a year and the legal run-in wouldn't affect his trip - though he would be far more careful where he peed in future. From the Depths of Our Hearts, a new book by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah coming from Ignatius Press next month, has stirred controversy following its publication in France on January 15. Featuring a co-authored introduction, a chapter by Benedict XVIwho retired from his papacy in 2013 and was succeeded by Pope Francisand a conclusion coauthored by Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah, the new book defends priestly celibacya hotly contested issue on which Pope Francis has commented several times in the past. Critics of From the Depths of Our Hearts say the book opposes Pope Franciss agenda, and that Benedicts name and photo is inappropriately featured on the cover. Also, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who works closely with Benedict, indicated Benedicts wish to be removed from the cover of the book, according to Reuters. Now, the French publisher Fayard is changing the cover of future editions of From the Depths of Our Hearts to introduce Cardinal Sarah as the sole author, with contributions from Benedict XVI, the New York Times reports. Nevertheless, Ignatius Press is planning on releasing the book as a co-authored project on February 20 with a cover featuring both Benedict and Sarah. Ignatius Press published the text as we received it from the French publisher Fayard, Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius, said in a statement obtained by PW on Wednesday. Fayard is the publisher with whom we have collaborated on three other Cardinal Sarah titles. The text we received indicates the two authors are Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah. The publisher calls the book a serious and unflinching look at the crisis in the Catholic Church as well as sex abuse scandals, questions over celibacy, and declining interest in priestly ministry. Ignatius Press founder and editor Father Joseph Fessio added: Their book is not just about priestly celibacy, important as that is in itself. It is about, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI describes it in his first paragraph: the lasting crisis that the priesthood has been going through for many years. Meanwhile, Cardinal Sarah released a statement affirming both his friendship with Benedict and his obedience to Pope Francis. He also shared documentation of the agreement made with Benedict in order to prove the book was a joint publishing venture. Britain reaches deal to rescue regional airline Flybe Passengers board a Thomas Cook airplane at the Heraklion airport on the island of Crete (Reuters) - Flybe is the latest European airline fighting for survival following a string of collapses over the past few years that have left thousands of passengers stranded in airports and had a knock-on effect on related industries such as hospitality. Here is a summary of European airlines that have gone bankrupt since 2017 (in chronological order): AIR BERLIN Germany's second-largest airline filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 15, 2017, after shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. The German government granted a bridging loan of 150 million euros ($163.3 million) to allow Air Berlin to keep its planes in the air for three months and secure the jobs of its 7,200 workers in Germany. In October, Lufthansa agreed to buy parts of the insolvent company. MONARCH Britain's Monarch Airlines collapsed on Oct. 2, 2017, affecting around 900,000 passengers. Hurt partly by a weakened pound, its finances deteriorated in 2016 after security concerns deterred travel to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt and brought increased capacity on routes to Iberia. The company, based at Luton Airport north of London, had been in business since 1968. PRIMERA AIR The Danish airline ceased operations on Oct. 1, 2018. Forced to cancel flights earlier that year, citing delays in receiving aircraft from Airbus, it later faced complaints about poor service and late refunds. GERMANIA Germany's Germania declared bankruptcy on Feb. 4, 2019, after it failed to secure financing to navigate a short-term cash squeeze. Founded in Berlin in 1986, it mainly flew German tourists to more than 60 destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. FLYBMI The UK regional airline ceased operation on Feb. 16, 2019, blaming Brexit uncertainty as one of the reason for its collapse. It said its prospects had "been seriously affected by the uncertainty created by the Brexit process, which has led to our inability to secure valuable flying contracts in Europe and a lack of confidence around bmi's ability to continue flying between destinations in Europe." Story continues WOW AIR Iceland's WOW air became another budget airline casualty on March 28, 2019, after failed efforts to raise funds, which included merger talks with rival Icelandair. WOW controlled a quarter of the fast-growing low-cost, long-haul transatlantic market in 2018. The airline's collapse negatively affected Iceland's economy, which was largely dependent on tourism. THOMAS COOK The worlds oldest travel company, Thomas Cook, collapsed on Sept. 23, 2019, sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, with about 600,000 people including 150,000 Britons abroad at the time of the collapse. The company, which failed to secure a deal with creditors or a government bailout, ran hotels, resorts and airlines for 19 million people a year. AIGLE AZUR The French airline ceased all activities on Sep. 27, 2019, after a commercial court rejected financial rescue offers. Aigle Azur was put under bankruptcy protection on Sept. 2 and halted operations days later, leaving 19,000 passengers stranded. ADRIA AIRWAYS Slovenian airline Adria Airways filed for bankruptcy and cancelled all flights on Sept. 30, 2019, after grounding most of its flights in the previous week. Government officials have said European Union rules on state aid prevented the government helping Adria. They added it would also not have helped the company under its current ownership, which they called "irresponsible". XL Airways French airline XL Airways was ordered on Oct. 4, 2019, to go into liquidation after a last-minute rescue bid was rejected by a French court. XL Airways operated four Airbus A330 aircraft and provided mainly long-haul flights to the Caribbean, the United States and France's Reunion island. FLYBE British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Jan. 14 the government would do what it could to help struggling regional airline Flybe because of its importance for transport links. The government could cut air passenger taxes on all domestic flights to help the airline following media reports that it urgently needed new funds to survive through the winter when demand for travel dips. (Reporting by Tommy Lund and Jagoda Darlak; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter) Photo: Marcela Laskoski/Unsplash Looking to mix things up this week? From a seminar on professional voice acting to live musical performances, here's a roundup of options to help you get out and about in the days ahead. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Getting Paid to Talk: An Intro to Professional Voice Overs From the event description: This seminar is fun, realistic, and a great first step for anyone interested in Voice Over. While it started as a small community with limited opportunities, today the world of Voice Over has expanded into what might best be described as a Universe of Opportunity. Whether you've been told you have a great voice, use effective communication in a current profession, or perhaps youre eager to start down an exciting road with developing possibilities...this workshop is a great first step for anyone interested in learning about the growing field of voice over. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 7-9:30 p.m. Where: CoWorkTampa, 3104 N. Armenia Ave., Suite 2 Admission: $40 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Second Annual RTB Foundation Game Night Versus Pros From the event description: RTB's Second Annual Game Night versus Pro Athletes is an event to raise funding to benefit the Children's Dream Fund and the Empire League. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 6-9 p.m. Where: Park & Rec TPA, 290 S. Meridian Ave. Admission: $15-$30 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets C.W. Stoneking, Little Shiba and The Shamans From the event description: C.W. Stoneking is an artist for whom "unexpected" is probably the default setting. How else to describe such a fine purveyor of American roots music who also happens to be a towering, youthful-faced white Australian man? He surprises first-time listeners, throws curveballs at long-time fans, and everything he does contains at least some background level of bafflement for all involved. Story continues When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 8-11 p.m. Where: Hooch and Hive, 1001 W. Cass St. Admission: $12 (General Admission - Advance); $15 (General Admission - At Door) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Radkey From the event description: RADKET at HOOCH & HIVE - Friday Jan 17! RIYL: Nirvana, Misfits, Wolfmother When: Friday, Jan. 17, 9 p.m.-Saturday, Jan. 18, 12 a.m. Where: Hooch & Hive, 1001 W. Cass St. Admission: $10 (General Admission - Advance); $12 (General Admission - At Door) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. She's the sizzling supermodel who rarely puts a foot out of line when it comes to fashion. And Jessica Gomes certainly didn't disappoint on Tuesday, oozing style and sophistication during a casual breakfast trip in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. The 34-year-old brunette cut an edgy figure in an oversized checkered trench coat, which she draped over her incredibly svelte frame. So stunning! Model Jessica Gomes (pictured) oozed style during a casual breakfast trip in Los Angeles on Tuesday She complimented her coat with a pair of baggy beige trousers, tucking an oversized white T-shirt into them and teaming the look with some mint sneakers. Jessica left her brunette locks to gently cascade down her shoulders, and donned an unusual pair of oversized shades to protect her eyes from the glaring winter sun. The natural beauty went completely makeup free for the outing, where she was seen carrying an orange juice and a pastry box from popular bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien. Style icon! Jessica complimented her look with a pair of baggy beige trousers, which she tucked an oversized white T-shirt into The Perth-born model's sassy outing comes after it was revealed Jess wasn't always the 'model student', according to her mother, Pay Yuen. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph last year, she revealed she had been 'having a problem' with her daughter at school. 'I would often get phone calls from the teachers saying, 'Jess is disrespectful and is always talking',' Pay admitted. 'I remember once when she was in high school I got a phone call from the teacher complaining about her, and I said, "this is Jess, what do you want me to do? I know my daughter, I live with her".' Picture perfect: Jessica let her natural beauty shine through by going completely makeup free The model has always been open about her admiration for her mother, who graduated as a registered nurse at 63. And back in 2016, Jessica claimed her mother's unrelenting drive inspired her to pursue a career in movies. 'My mum has always been my biggest supporter,' she said. 'Even when I said I am going to focus more on film, she said "yes, you could win an Oscar and really be a trailblazer for Asian actors out there".' The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. in the 9300 block of South Princeton Avenue, when the 49-year-old man ran from police, authorities said. But as police were setting up a security perimeter outside the home and were calling in SWAT officers, officers on the scene heard a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot, Chicago police Sgt. Rocco Alioto said. Disney darling Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame made headlines for her five-year romance with co-star Zac Efron. Splitting with Efron in 2010, Hudgens moved on to find love with love with actor Austin Butler, whom she started dating in 2011. Their relationship seemed on solid ground, yet reports just surfaced that the two have parted ways after over eight years together. High School Musicals Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron Vanessa Hudgens, Kenny Ortega, and Corbin Bleu | FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images Former flame Hudgens high-profile romance with Efron began almost immediately after being cast for the now-famous Disney trilogy. We created a bond right from the start, Hudgens told People in April of Efron. We were like, Were doing this, its us or nothing. With the sudden fame that High School Musical brought to the cast, Hudgens was thankful to have Efron help her through the adjustment to stardom. We kinda blew up. It was this massive phenomenon all of a sudden and [all] eyes were on me, she said. And its just a really weird foreign thing to go through, and by being in a relationship, I feel like it kind of kept me stabilized and grounded, and I had someone to lean on who was going through it as well. Though she was enjoying her new-found fame and her relationship with the heartthrob, Hudgens wasnt a fan of the female attention Efron often received. I went through a phase when I was really mean because I was so fed up, Hudgens told The New York Times in 2015, according to People. Girls were running after him, and I was giving them death stares. Then I realized thats not what thats about. The two reportedly parted as friends, though Hudgens says she hasnt seen him or spoken to him in years. Recent raves on romance In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan UK, the High School Musical alum sounded completely committed to her relationship with Butler. FaceTime, good communication, respect and trust [are what keep us going], Hudgens said. The longest weve been apart was four months. It sucks! You start hating hearing yourself say I miss you. But if its your person, you make it work. The actress also sang Butlers praises in a Womens Health interview in 2018.He inspires me more than anyone. We both respect, trust, and admire each other, Hudgens shared. Its so solid now because I feel strong as an independent woman. I am very self-reliant, but its nice to have a best friend you can share victories with as well as losses. Rumored split According to Us Weekly, a source confirmed that Hudgens and Butler have parted ways. Vanessa and Austin are officially broken up, and Vanessa has been telling those close to her about their breakup, the insider shared. Neither have confirmed the news on their social media accounts. Butler recently played the role of Charles Tex Watson in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and is set to play Elvis Presley alongside Tom Hanks in Baz Luhrmanns upcoming biopic on the music icon. I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, Luhrmann said, according to Variety. Through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the worlds most iconic musical figures. Hudgens appears in the film Bad Boys For Life, hitting theaters this week. She is also working on the Netflix sequel The Princess Switch: Switched Again, set to be released later this year. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States Wed, January 15, 2020 12:01 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32235684 2 Entertainment Billie-Eilish,James-Bond,theme-song,music Free Pop iconoclast Billie Eilish will perform the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film "No Time To Die," its producers announced Tuesday. The 18-year-old Grammy nominee is the youngest artist ever to write and record a James Bond title song. The film -- starring Daniel Craig as the British super spy, and Oscar winner Rami Malek as the villain -- is set for an April 2 release in Britain and April 10 in the United States. "To be able to score the theme song to a film that is part of such a legendary series is a huge honor," Eilish said in a statement. "James Bond is the coolest film franchise ever to exist. I'm still in shock." Read also: Billie Eilish dominates 2019 on Apple Music The goth-leaning artist wrote the title song for the 25th James Bond film with her 22-year-old brother Finneas O'Connell, her primary creative partner, who is also a Grammy nominee. With six chances at Grammys gold, Eilish is one of the top-nominated artists at this year's awards gala, set for January 26. The Californian is the youngest person ever to snag nominations in all the top four categories, including the prestigious Album of the Year prize. Eilish released her album "when we all fall asleep, where do we go?" last year to critical and commercial acclaim, after winning a fervent online following for her bold, often haunting pop sound featuring heavy bass and tinges of trap and electronic dance music. A new species of feathered dinosaur has been discovered in China, and described by American and Chinese authors and published today in the journal, The Anatomical Record. The one-of-a-kind specimen offers a window into what the earth was like 120 million years ago. The fossil preserves feathers and bones that provide new information about how dinosaurs grew and how they differed from birds. "The new dinosaur fits in with an incredible radiation of feathered, winged animals that are closely related to the origin of birds," said Dr. Ashley Poust, who analyzed the specimens while he was a student at Montana State University and during his time as a Ph.D. student at University of California, Berkeley. Poust is now postdoctoral researcher at the San Diego Natural History Museum. "Studying specimens like this not only shows us the sometimes-surprising paths that ancient life has taken, but also allows us to test ideas about how important bird characteristics, including flight, arose in the distant past." Scientists named the dinosaur Wulong bohaiensis. Wulong is Chinese for "the dancing dragon" and references the position of the beautifully articulated specimen. About the Discovery The specimen was found more than a decade ago by a farmer in China, in the fossil-rich Jehol Province, and since then has been housed in the collection of The Dalian Natural History Museum in Liaoning, a northeastern Chinese province bordering North Korea and the Yellow Sea. The skeletal bones were analyzed by Poust alongside his advisor Dr. David Varricchio from Montana State University while Poust was a student there. advertisement Larger than a common crow and smaller than a raven, but with a long, bony tail which would have doubled its length, Wulong bohaiensis had a narrow face filled with sharp teeth. Its bones were thin and small, and the animal was covered with feathers, including a wing-like array on both its arms and legs and two long plumes at the end of its tail. This animal is one of the earliest relatives of Velociraptor, the famous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 million years ago. Wulong's closest well-known relative would have been Microraptor, a genus of small, four-winged paravian dinosaurs. The discovery is significant not only because it describes a dinosaur that is new to science, but also because it shows connection between birds and dinosaurs. "The specimen has feathers on its limbs and tail that we associate with adult birds, but it had other features that made us think it was a juvenile," said Poust. To understand this contradiction, the scientists cut up several bones of the new dinosaur to examine under a microscope. This technique, called bone histology, is becoming a regular part of the paleontology toolbox, but it's still sometimes difficult to convince museums to let a researcher remove part of a nice skeleton. "Thankfully, our coauthors at the Dalian Natural History Museum were really forward thinking and allowed us to apply these techniques, not only to Wulong, but also to another dinosaur, a close relative that looked more adult called Sinornithosaurus." The bones showed that the new dinosaur was a juvenile. This means that at least some dinosaurs were getting very mature looking feathers well before they were done growing. Birds grow up very fast and often don't get their adult plumage until well after they are full sized. Showy feathers, especially those used for mating, are particularly delayed. And yet here was an immature dinosaur with two long feathers extending beyond the tip of the tail. advertisement "Either the young dinosaurs needed these tail feathers for some function we don't know about, or they were growing their feathers really differently from most living birds," explained Poust. An additional surprise came from the second dinosaur the scientists sampled; Sinornithosaurus wasn't done growing either. The bone tissue was that of an actively growing animal and it lacked an External Fundamental System: a structure on the outside of the bone that vertebrates form when they're full size. "Here was an animal that was large and had adult looking bones: we thought it was going to be mature, but histology proved that idea wrong. It was older than Wulong, but seems to have been still growing. Researchers need to be really careful about determining whether a specimen is adult or not. Until we learn a lot more, histology is really the most dependable way." In spite of these cautions, Poust says there is a lot more to learn about dinosaurs. "We're talking about animals that lived twice as long ago as T. rex, so it's pretty amazing how well preserved they are. It's really very exciting to see inside these animals for the first time." About the Jehol Biota The area in which the specimen was found is one of the richest fossil deposits in the world. The Jehol biota is known for the incredible variety of animals that were alive at the time. It is also one of the earliest bird-rich environments, where birds, bird-like dinosaurs, and pterosaurs all shared the same habitat. "There was a lot of flying, gliding, and flapping around these ancient lakes," says Poust. "As we continue to discover more about the diversity of these small animals it becomes interesting how they all might have fit into the ecosystem." Other important changes were happening at the same time in the Early Cretaceous, including the spread of flowering plants. "It was an alien world, but with some of the earliest feathers and earliest flowers, it would have been a pretty one." 15.01.2020 LISTEN This is a followup on Francisca Asamoahs article in the Daily Graphic on 12th January 2020 at 16:46 about Offertory, tithe goes digital as churches introduce e-payments. On Sunday evening, I received a link to the story via WhatsApp from a Professor friend specialised in Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship Dr. Adumza. After reading, I realised I had to contribute to this discussion and throw more light on the topic as it touched right on what my team and I have been doing for the past five (5) years. In Franciscas lovely and good submission, she summarily documented that most churches are using MoMo (MTN Mobile Money) to collect offertory and tithes. I will describe this as partially true since it does not cover the breadth, length and advancements made by churches in going digital with their offertory, tithes and other donations. The purpose of this article is to enhance her work and expand the topic for readers especially the church community to understand the advancement. Before I give you the full picture, let introduce myself and define my relationship with the topic and the church community. Im a serial tech entrepreneur and a pastor who has spent the last six (6) years of my life building technology for churches and businesses. I mostly focus on online and offline payment/transactions innovations and Church Management Software design, development and sales. I co-founded Asoriba and MyChurchPay in 2015. Together with my co-founders, we have processed transactions worth a few million for churches and businesses. The work my team in Asoriba and MyChurchPay have executed on has been featured on CNN, BBC and many other local channels. We have been able to drive financial inclusion in Ghana through the church community. For this work, I was inducted into Forbes 30 under 30 2016 list and voted the most influential Ghanaian in Science and Technology by Avance Media also in 2016. With that said, lets explore the topic of churches digitizing donations. First, we need to distinguish the following digital payment channels to understand the topic: Cards, Mobile Money, Bank Transfers/Wire transactions. Card transactions that are done through the debit or credit card given to you by your bank. Its often called ATM cards by most people. Your card could be a Visa, MasterCard or Amex Card, just to mention a few. Transactions done through mobile money wallets constitutes mobile money transactions. It can be MTN Mobile Money, AirtelTigo Cash or Vodafone Cash. Bank to bank transfers or wires constitute transactions done directly from one bank account to another bank account. Other forms exist, however, we will pay attention to these three(3). It is important to note that churches have already been using all these three mediums for payments aggressively and not just mobile money. There are currently three dominant Mobile Money platforms on the market. They are MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Tigo Cash and Vodafone Cash, however, a new entrant GMoney has just begun and will be going to market soon if not already on the market. The term MoMo is primarily used for MTN Mobile money, which has the majority of 11.6 million registered mobile money wallets which currently represents 93.9% of the mobile float. However, this number does not reflect active users. Active users across each wallet show how people are actually using the different Mobile Money channels but that information is very difficult to get. That said, it is important to note that, churches are using all the mobile money channels not just MTN Mobile Money. However, over ninety percent of all mobile money transactions are initiated from MTN Mobile Money. Most churches will display all three numbers on screens for members, followed by a bank account. Members typically have to dial either *170# MTN or *100# AirtelTigo or *110# Vodafone and follow a lengthy process to donate. Our company www.MyChurchPay.com saw this as a problem, hence we developed a single USSD code service that enabled members to make donations/payments directly into the churchs bank accounts irrespective of the mobile money wallet they have. Some of our free USSD codes, *714*25# for smaller churches and *773# for a larger church like ICGC are being actively used. With a code such as *713*25#, a church member needs to enter a church ID once and can subsequently give without knowing the churchs wallet numbers or bank account. For example, a demo church ID is 500. Hence after dialling *713*25#, you enter 500 as ID and bammm youre good to go for the rest of your donation life in Church via USSD. Churches no longer need to show different mobile money wallets numbers on a screen to drive mobile money donations, just a single USSD code will do. Secondly, some members sign cheques or make banks transfer into a churchs bank account displayed on a screen. We realised many members saw that process as cumbersome and rarely remembered the numbers or the right name to sign the cheque to. Most of these members also actually had debit or credit cards from Visa or MasterCard and in some cases AMEX . To make life easier for members, we developed a single card and mobile money payment portal that could be sent via WhatsApp, SMS, email or embedded in the churchs website or social media page/feed. This innovation of a single link eg. Demo Church or demochurch.mychurchpay.com has made it easy for anyone, anywhere in the world, to give any amount to the church at any time. No need to ask for change if the only notes you have are too large to give as it happens sometimes. Churches are actively using multiple digital channels to make giving convenient for church members here and abroad, not just Mobile Money as Francisca articulated in her article. Digitizing Offertory and Tithes for churches started with the inception of money transfer from Ghanaian Christians in the diaspora. Those living abroad who had very deep connections with their local churches back here in Ghana sent their tithes through Western Union or MoneyGram in the past. That was the first digital means of giving offertory and tithes. With the launch of MTN Mobile Money in 2009, Airtel Money and Tigo Cash 2010, Churches saw the need for creating options for digital payments. However since most members were not actively using their wallets, the adoption was not aggressive by churches. Then followed the birth of aggregators like Mpower Payment System somewhere in 2015. A lot of churches signed up to one of Ghanas first online payment solution primarily for online mobile money and card payments. Around 2016, Expresspay and SlydePay began to gain solid momentum and quite a number of churches listed on Expresspay as a payment alternative. Around the same time, our company, Asoriba had just begun providing a suite of solutions for churches including payments by aggregating aggregators such as ExpressPay and SlydePay to serve the church. It was in this period that we got a clear picture of what the need of the church really was. Churches needed a digital payment solution which had online and offline capabilities. It had to cut across three disconnected payment channels, namely, mobile money wallets, card payments and bank transfers. With this realization, we built a singular affordable and user-friendly payment solutions called MyChurchPay. The solution we developed addresses the needs of the different demographics/kinds of people in a typical church. Some individuals do not use smartphones but still want to give digitally, while others love to use smartphones. MyChurchPay covers both USSD (Offline) and Web Links, Widgets and Popups (Online) payments. To learn more about how USSD is used in a church, check out my article on A Modern Digital Church. Our solution handles transactions anywhere in the world and updates all the needed accounting ledgers in a web finance tool we provide for the church accountant. The finance tool enable church accountants to record offline transactions like cash, cheques and bank transfers in a single tool. This makes it easy to pull reports and have a 360 degree understanding of what channels are being mostly used, where people feel most comfortable and what things people are giving for. In summary, churches have adopted more than just Mobile Money as alluded by Francisca, they have adopted the entire spectrum of online payments. The only one left to be adopted is bitcoin, which will soon become the main payment channel with companies like Sesacash growing rapidly. The countdown is well and truly on to Ireland's newest music, performing arts and adventure festival, Wild Roots, which will take place in August on the shores of Lough Gill. The first of the performers for the Wild Roots festival was announced recently when it was confirmed that James Morrisson will be among the special guests at the festival. This festival feast is taking place from August 14-16 against the idyllic backdrop of the Wild Atlantic Way surrounded by beautiful forests along the shores of Lough Gill in Co. Sligo. For festival-goers, nature lovers and adventure seekers alike, this festival has something for everyone to enjoy. Over the three days of celebration, people can expect a whole host of concerts, yoga workshops, live art installations, artisan food, as well as stand up paddleboarding, boating, kayaking and more. Local companies Sligo Kayak Tours, North West Adventure Tours and the Rose of Innisfree Tourboat have all partnered with the Wild Roots Festival with the aim of creating "a balm for the ears, a carnival for the eyes, opening for the heart and awakening for the soul." The festival will provide attendees with fairy-lit and fully serviced camping and glamping sites for guests to reside in comfort and tranquillity. Wild Roots will feature many world-class performers alongside a wealth of local and national talent including a range of genres that embody the festival spirit from classical to indie rock, folk, jazz, pop, and world music. Adventure activities will be available across the festival site and on Lough Gill as well workshops in circus dance and drama, pop-up shows and full theatre productions. Wild Roots is about creating a festival that reflects a culture of green living, community, celebrates art and is full of adventure, says Wild Roots organiser, Neil OConnell. Sligo is the perfect location, as its a place deeply rooted in history, art and culture and it has so much to offer in terms of nature and adventure activities, which is a great element to have at any gathering, and we cannot wait to share this with everyone. People can watch this historic location come to life with the help of musicians, performers, festival innovators, and atmospheric designers. Fans are encouraged to sign up for regular updates online at www.wildroots.ie. Its hoped the annual event will be the highlight of everyones summer, so its time to put down your roots down and go wild! Vadym Prystaiko is expected to meet with his counterparts from four states whose citizens died in the tragic PS 752 flight Ukraines Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko is scheduled to visit the United Kingdom on January 15-16, where he will meet with the heads of four foreign ministries of countries whose citizens were killed in a UIA plane crash in Iran. This was reported by the press service of Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Vadym Prystaiko, will pay a working visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on January 15-16," the statement reads. As part of the visit, the diplomat will participate in a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Afghanistan, which is set to coordinate efforts in order to ensure a proper investigation into the circumstances of the UIA plane crash (PS 752 flight) in Tehran. As we reported earlier, the Ukrainian Parliament placed the entire responsibility for the PS752 tragedy on Iran. 368 Ukrainian MPs voted for the respective decision, with 226 necessary to pass. The plenary day took place on January 14. The Parliament demands that Iran conduct a transparent investigation, urging foreign governments to develop regulations that would help prevent such tragedies in the future. The material released on Tuesday contains several handwritten notes, emails, encrypted messages. The House Intelligence Committee released new evidence on Tuesday related to the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, including information turned over by Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. The release, which reflects the unfinished nature of the House's impeachment inquiry, comes ahead of an expected House vote on Wednesday to formally send the impeachment articles to the Senate for a trial, POLITICO reported. "Despite unprecedented obstruction by the president, the committee continues to receive and review potentially relevant evidence and will make supplemental transmittals," Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote Tuesday to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose panel is responsible for compiling the complete record of the investigation ahead of the Senate's trial. Read alsoU.S. House Intel Committee gets video, audio recordings from Giuliani associate Parnas The material released on Tuesday contains several handwritten notes, emails, encrypted messages, and other documents that underscore the close relationship between Parnas and Giuliani, who was actively pursuing an effort last year to push the Ukrainian government to announce investigations targeting Trump's political rivals. The documents also complicate one of Trump's oft-stated defenses of his actions toward Ukraine. A previously undisclosed May 2019 letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is among the tranche of documents the Democrat-led committee made public on Tuesday. In the letter, which was obtained from Parnas' cell phone that was turned over the Intelligence Committee on Sunday, Giuliani asked for a half-hour meeting with Zelensky as the former New York City mayor was pursuing investigations targeting former Vice President Joe Biden and Giuliani made clear that he was acting with Trump's "knowledge and consent" and in his capacity as a "personal" attorney for the president. Trump, though, has stated that he was acting on behalf of the U.S. government when he allegedly pushed for the investigations. "In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you on this upcoming Monday, May 13th or Tuesday, May 14th," Giuliani wrote in the letter, which was obtained from a screenshot contained on Parnas' phone. One of the documents included in the disclosure is a handwritten note by Parnas that states: "Get Zelensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated." Another refers to Lanny Davis, the attorney representing Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen: "Get rid of Lanny Davis (nicely!)" Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was also a frequent target in text messages between Parnas and his allies. In some texts, it appeared that Yovanovitch's very movements were being tracked amid a rising frustration that she was not already ousted. Both Giuliani and Parnas were subpoenaed as part of the House's impeachment inquiry. Giuliani has refused to comply, while Parnas was granted permission from a federal judge earlier this month to release the contents of his devices, which were seized by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York when he was arrested, to the Intelligence Committee in compliance with the subpoena. Parnas was arrested on October 9 at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. He was charged with campaign finance violations involving the steering of foreign dollars into American elections. Parnas has pleaded not guilty to the charges. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The U.S. wine industry is currently faced with declining consumer demand and, as a result, excess supply, according to a report. And this shift can be on Staten Island, as business owners have said they are seeing lower sales of vino. The reality is that we have never seen these market conditions. Weve never experienced excess inventory because of declining consumer demand. Prior periods of excess have always been due to over-planting, noted the State of the U.S. Wine Industry 2020, an annual report published by renowned wine analyst Rob McMillan. And according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, changing demographics have slowed wine sales. Americans drank less wine last year, the first such drop in a quarter of a century, as millennials opt for alternatives like hard seltzers, cocktails and nonalcoholic beer," the report stated. From Arrochar to Annadale, that assessment can be seen in consumer trends locally. Joe Labriola, the chef and co-owner of Marina Cafe in Great Kills, said his drink sales are strong from the bar to table-side orders. But he credited a new generation of cocktail-loving patrons to such a shift in consumption. He said younger patrons are drinking vodka-based drinks instead of wine to be more health conscious" as wine is perceived as more fattening than vodka. . Edward Gomez, of DaNoi restaurants in Fort Wadsworth and Travis plus Cargo Cafe in St. George, said the decrease in wine consumption started a long time ago. At least I noticed it in all my restaurants. I attributed it to stricter driving laws and the wine gets you tired theory, he said. He also surmised that its pure economics at work: As his older patrons move away and the restaurants see a younger generation dining out theyre not so much into spending. That observation locally has been a growing pattern for the past few years, a fact reflected in a report by IWSR, a source for beverage industry research. Adam Rogers, IWSRs research director for North America, wrote for the organization: "Coupled with a preference for less but better, consumers are more discerning about how they spend their disposable income, increasingly preferring premium spirits and cocktails over red or white wine. Franco Ortega, chef and owner of Italianissimo in South Beach, said he sees a decrease in the number of bottles hes selling. But he added that patrons still enjoy ordering wines by the glass. You cant have a meal without a glass of wine in fine dining, said the proprietor. Wine racks at Taverna on the Bay, Stapleton(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Si The folks at Flagship Brewing Co. said the wine is a necessary component to its taproom, and expanded its menu with the product. Recently, the Tompkinsville brewery added New York State wines to the inventory. Co-owner Jay Sykes called the addition a great experience" with a broader picture. Our commitment to New York State Agriculture has given us the ability to offer our customers great, locally made wine that is directly correlated to an industry that is creating jobs and sustaining small business," said Sykes. While the wine product is a handy menu addition for non-beer drinkers, the facilitys craft styles represents the lions share of its sales. As a wine rep for major New York distributor Southern Wines and as a winemaker for his Vino Divino Wines, Charleston, Rob Rispoli said he sees both the spirit store owners and producers perspectives. He said retailers are experiencing lower wine sales, but his barrel production is up. He said he believes that consumers are more price-conscious than ever. I think people are more educated wine drinkers, buying better wine for the house. I think theyre tired of paying too much in the restaurants, said Rispoli, adding that, in his realm, the dining-out crowd has a drink at home beforehand to save money. According to a wine industry reports wine sales are down in the United States. Local proprietors and business owners say that consumers have switched over to cocktails and spiked seltzers. Willowbrook Beverage owner Steve Magnavita said he thinks the slump in wines just means a shift over to other beverages. He said he has observed this trend with spiked seltzers vs. beer. Even though it has been more of a summer drink, said Magnavita, White Claw is still holding its own. Competition for the line will be a new product, Budweisers Bud Lite Seltzer. This is a fresh product in what Magnavita described as a stagnant suds field at the moment. And its is a sentiment expressed by other beer-centric markets in the borough. I think the beer business is a little stale. I couldnt tell you if thats trending into liquor sales," said Magnavita. Consumers switch back and forth sometimes, he explained. So, will that mean consumers will gravitate into the vino-centric beverages in the store? Over the years, Ive always noticed its like a pendulum, said Magnavita, adding, For instance as Im speaking to you, someone is just buying a case of White Claw. Four weeks after the US House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday named managers for the Senate trial which is likely to begin next week. Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has been named as the lead manager. The other managers who would be part of the argument on behalf of the House as the Senate holds its trial, which is likely to begin on January 21, are Congressman Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee; Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, chairwoman of the House Committee on House Administration; Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Chairman of the House Democratic and Congresswoman Val Demings, a member of both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Judiciary Committee. "This is about the Constitution of the United States, and it's important the president to know, and Putin to know, the American voter, voters in America should decide who our president is, not that of a Putin -- in Russia," Pelosi told reporters at a conference here. "So today I'm very proud to present the managers who will bring the case, which we have great confidence in in terms of impeaching the president and his removal. "But this further evidence insists that -- and we wouldn't be in this situation had we not waited -- there be witnesses and that we see documentation. And now you see some of that change happening on the Senate side. I hope it does, for the good of our country and to honour our Constitution," she said. Earlier, Pelosi said the House will pass a resolution naming the managers, appropriating the funds for the trial and transmitting the articles of impeachment of the president of the United States for trying to influence a foreign government for his own personal and political benefit. The White House immediately slammed Pelosi and the Democratic Party. "The only thing Speaker Pelosi has achieved with this sham, illegitimate impeachment process, is to prove she is focused on instead of the American people," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said. "The Speaker lied when she claimed this was urgent and vital to national security because when the articles passed, she held them for an entire month in an egregious effort to garner political support. She failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing," she said. Asserting that Trump has done nothing wrong, Grisham said he looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated. "In the meantime, after President Trump signs the historic China trade deal greatly benefiting the people of this country, he will continue working and winning for all Americans, while the Democrats will continue only working against the president," Grisham added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As people age, health declines in a number of ways, causing disabilities like impaired vision, hearing loss, cognitive decline, and loss of muscle strength. Chronic illnesses like arthritis, diabetes, and heart failure are also far more common among those aged over 65. Eighty percent of the over-65s live with one chronic condition, and 50% have two. According to a recent Pew report , 49.8% of Americans aged over 75, and 25.4% of those aged 65-74, live with a disability. This stands in contrast to just 6% of 18-34-year-olds, and 13% of 35-64-year-olds. This inevitable decline in health and ability makes them more likely to need medical assistance and advice on a regular basis. Distance healthcare is a blessing for elderly Americans, who find it difficult to travel to even a nearby medical center to pick up a repeat prescription or get initial advice about their recent symptoms. Most of their interactions with physicians, pharmacists, insurance, physical therapists, and healthcare providers in general occur online. However, just when people are the most reliant on healthcare sites, health apps, and patient portals, those very tools shut them out. Non-accessible websites are a growing issue for the 61 million Americans who live with a disability of some kind. An AFB study discovered that not one healthcare website is fully accessible for blind users. Recent ADA lawsuits, like the famous Dominos Pizza accessibility case , have emphasized that every business is legally obligated to make their website accessible to users with disabilities according to WCAG guidelines . However, as many as 98% of all websites still fail to offer accessible menus. Healthcare websites are failing elderly Americans, just when they need them the most. Major pain points of healthcare websites for elderly users A quick visit to any healthcare website or patient portal throws up a number of obstacles for elderly users. Here are a few examples: Buttons that are so small, its hard for weak hands to aim the cursor in the right place. Menus that can only be navigated by mouse, which is painful for anyone with arthritis and impossible for those with motor disabilities. Poor contrast, texts in pale colors, and fonts that are small or cramped, making it next to impossible for the visually-impaired to read them. Hyperlinked text that isnt clearly marked, making it hard for elderly users to work out where to click. Screens which cant be magnified for weak and tired eyes, because text and menu options get pushed off the display. Confusing wording, web structure, and navigation that leaves anyone with cognitive decline bewildered and lost. Popups which cover the entire screen, without showing an easy way to close them. Thats without even mentioning websites that arent compatible with screen readers used by the blind, and dont support keyboard-only navigation. All of these websites fail to meet WCAG guidelines on any level, let alone level AA which ADA requires. Most virtual healthcare tools, including those aimed at the elderly, remain inaccessible to older Americans. The serious impact of non-accessible healthcare sites You might think that anyone who cant use a healthcare site could use some other way to access healthcare, like calling the medical center, asking someone else to help them find information, or coming in person for appointments. Although thats true in theory, in reality the lack of virtual healthcare services affects the elderly in a number of ways: If you cant book an appointment online, youll have to wait for opening hours to call up and book one. Chances are good that by that point, your preferred doctor is booked up, or the only appointments left are at inconvenient times. You cant access your medical records alone, leaving you dependent on carers or family members to access them with you or on your behalf. This robs you of privacy and autonomy. You cant research your condition, diagnosis, and treatment options in your own time, leaving you forced to make decisions in the doctors office after an explanation that you might not have fully understood. You cant use electronic diagnostic services, or access health portals that help you to self-diagnose issues like a new rash or a hacking cough. Instead, you travel to a clinic or hospital, when youd do better to stay in bed and avoid germ-ridden places like a doctors waiting room. You cant order repeat prescriptions online, increasing the risk that youll run out of vital medication. Looking on the bright side: How accessible websites help everyone Fortunately, the tide is turning. WCAG guidelines detail what needs to be done to make websites fully accessible to all users. ADA title III provides the teeth for enforcing web accessibility on those who might be reluctant to apply it. And healthcare providers like VIPAmerica, LB Homes and others are embracing accessible web design, creating websites and portals that can be used easily by their target audience of elderly Americans. Accessible design benefits the entire population, not only those with disabilities. Americans are gradually getting older. By 2035, its expected that more Americans will be aged over 65 than under 18 . That means that each of us will need accessible websites to reach healthcare services. Opening up online healthcare services for the elderly eases the strain on the entire system. Older individuals and those with disabilities use up fewer resources and occupy less doctor time overall when they can access faster online diagnostic and repeat prescription services. With all the information they need about their symptoms at their fingertips, they can make informed decisions about when to go to the ER or book a doctors appointment. People can be temporarily disabled and need accessible websites for short periods at any age. This includes the athlete who broke their wrist and cant use a mouse; someone with a scratched eye who has an eyepatch on; anyone who is panicking and/or in serious pain, and finding it hard to calm down enough to navigate the healthcare site. It even includes the businessman whos using their iPad on a jerky train. Healthcare websites need to stop overlooking elderly users In todays culture of accessibility and open doors, its not acceptable for healthcare websites to shut out elderly users who make up the majority of their consumer base. The new tide of accessible websites helps individuals with disabilities, those in older age, and all of us to access vital healthcare services, and keeps the healthcare system running smoothly. Russia prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and his government submitted their resignations to President Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Putin thanked Medvedev for his service but noted that the prime minister's cabinet had 'failed to fulfill all the objectives set for it,' The Associated Press reported, quoting the Tass news agency. Russia prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and his government submitted their resignations to President Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Putin thanked Medvedev for his service but noted that the prime minister's cabinet had "failed to fulfil all the objectives set for it", The Associated Press reported, quoting the Tass news agency. Reports also said that Putin had asked Medvedev and his ministers to function as a caretaker government till a new one is formed and that Medvedev had a meeting with Putin before submitting his resignation. Russian media said Putin plans to name Medvedev as deputy of the presidential Security Council, AP reported. Medvedev, a longtime close associate of Putin's, has served as Russia's prime minister since 2012. He spent four years before that as president in 2008-2012. Putin asked the members of Medvedev's cabinet to keep working until a new government is formed. Medvedev's resignation followed Putin's annual state of the nation address earlier on Wednesday. During his speech, Putin proposed amending the Russian constitution to increase the powers of prime ministers and Cabinet members. The proposed move is seen as part of Putin's efforts to carve out a new position of power for himself to stay at the helm after his current term as president ends in 2024. Putin's suggestion to tweak the constitution in the state of the nation address earlier on Wednesday is a move that could herald his intention to take a political position that would let him stay at the helm after his presidency ends. During the speech, Putin suggested amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The authority to make those appointments currently belongs to Russia's president. "It will increase the role of the parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all Cabinet members, Putin told an audience of top officials and lawmakers. At the same time, Putin argued that Russia would not remain stable if it were governed under a parliamentary system. The president should retain the right to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet ministers, to name top defence and security officials, and to be in charge of the Russian military and law enforcement agencies, he said. Putin emphasised that the constitutional changes must be put to a nationwide vote. Putin's current term expires in 2024, and Russia's political elites have been abuzz with speculation about his future plans. The 67-year-old Putin has remained at the helm for more than 20 years, which is longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin. He will have to step down after his term ends under the current law, which limits the president to two consecutive terms. Political analyst Kirill Rogov said that Putin's proposals indicate his intention to remain in charge while re-distributing powers between various branches of government. "Such a model resembling the Chinese one would allow Putin to stay at the helm indefinitely while encouraging rivalry between potential successors, Rogov said on Facebook. Alexei Navalny, the most prominent Russian opposition leader, tweeted that the president's speech signalled Putin's desire to continue calling the shots after his term ends. The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends, Navalny alleged. Putin served two presidential terms in 2000-2008 before shifting into the prime minister's seat for four years to observe the term limit. His placeholder as president, Dmitry Medvedev, stepped down after just one term to allow his mentor to reclaim the top job in 2012. While in office, Medvedev raised the presidential term from four to six years. While Putin continued calling the shots during Medvedev's presidency, he wasn't quite happy with his performance. He was particularly critical of Medvedev's decision to give the green light to the Western air campaign over Libya in 2011 that led to the ouster and the killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Medvedev's decision to step down after one term to let Putin return to the presidency also sparked massive protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 in a major challenge to the Kremlin. Observers speculated that Putin may stay in charge after 2024 by shifting into the prime minister's seat after increasing the powers of the Russian parliament and the Cabinet and trimming presidential authority. Other potential options include a merger with neighbouring Belarus that would create a new position of the head of a new unified state a prospect rejected by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. In his address, Putin said the constitution must also specify the authority of the State Council consisting of regional governors and top federal officials. Some analysts have theorised that Putin may try to continue pulling the strings as head of the council after stepping down as president in 2024. Putin also emphasised the need to amend the constitution to give it a clear priority over international law. The requirements of international law and treaties and decisions of international organs can only be valid on the territory of Russia as long as they don't restrict human rights and freedoms and don't contradict the constitution, he said. He also said that the constitution must be tweaked to say that top government officials aren't allowed to have foreign citizenship or residence permits. Putin focused his state of the nation address on the need to encourage population growth and create new incentives for economic growth. He said that the authorities need to do more to encourage new births and support young families. He promised that the government would offer additional subsidies to families that have children. Putin emphasised that low incomes remain a key obstacle to population increase. Russia's population currently stands at about 14.7 crores. Putin promised to encourage high-tech industries and to ease excessive business regulations. The Russian leader also said that Russia would remain open for cooperation with all countries while maintaining a strong defence capability to fend off potential threats. He added that new weapons systems would protect Russia's security for decades ahead". "For the first time in history, we aren't trying to catch up with anyone," Putin said. On the contrary, other leading nations are yet to develop the weapons that Russia already has. With inputs from agencies A major operation was under way today to repair damage caused when Storm Brendan lashed the South-East with 40mph winds and heavy rain overnight. Parts of the Piccadilly and District lines were suspended after a piece of the roof canopy at Ravenscourt Park station crashed down onto tracks. Engineers were dispatched to repair the roof in time for this mornings rush hour. A landslide that blocked tracks between Horsham and Dorking caused delays and cancellations for rail commuters this morning. And specialist teams were called in to remove a tree from a line between Motspur Park and Chessington. Forecasters expected a lull in conditions today before Britain braces for more wind and rain tomorrow night. Engineers were dispatched to fix the roof at Ravenscourt Park this morning / @plasticscouser_ The Environment Agency said three flood alerts were in place along an eight-mile stretch of the Thames between Brentford and East Molesey. Meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said: Skies will bright this afternoon and Londoners will see sunshine for the first time in a few days, with light winds expected. Storm Brendan: Slough clear-up - In pictures 1 /9 Storm Brendan: Slough clear-up - In pictures PA PA PA PA PA PA PA Thursday will have a bright start but will see rain returning in the evening but it will not be as heavy as we have seen this week. Hazardous conditions caused chaos across the South-East last night. Four people were injured when a bus carrying 50 passengers collided with a car and crashed into a ditch on the A3100 between Guildford and Godalming. Paramedics, police and fire crews were called at about 5.45pm and the car driver was cut from the wreckage. There were no serious injuries. The roof collapsed at Ravenscourt Park station / @plasticscouser_ A road was closed in Orpington after a 10-storey section of scaffolding became dislodged from a tower block, felling trees as it toppled into the street. A section of Kensington High Street was also cordoned off after gales blew roof tiles onto the pavement. She was announced as Lancome's new global ambassador in October. And Amanda Seyfried's new role with the French cosmetics brand took her to Tokyo on Wednesday as she attended a press conference in the Japanese capital. The actress, 34, looked stunning in a demure powder pink dress, tastefully cut above the knee as she arrived for the special event. On duty: Amanda Seyfried's new role with French cosmetics brand Lancome took her to Tokyo on Wednesday as she attended a press conference in the Japanese capital With a delicately cinched waist, the understated outfit ensured Amanda commanded attention from waiting guests as she made her way inside. The American star added to her look with a pair of nude stiletto heels, while minimal gold jewelry rounded things off. Drawing further attention to her delicately proportioned features, she opted for for deft touches of make-up selected from a subdued colour palette. Elegant: The actress looked stunning in a demure powder pink dress, tastefully cut above the knee as she arrived fir the special event Tasteful: With a delicately cinched waist, the understated outfit ensured Amanda commanded attention from waiting guests as she made her way inside Finishing touches: The American star added to her look with a pair of nude stiletto heels, while minimal gold jewelry rounded things off Warmly welcomed during her latest commitment for Lancome, Amanda accepted a large bouquet of pink, white and lilac flowers upon a her arrival. Shortly after arriving in Japan, the actress admitted the French brand were planning something big, telling Instagram followers: 'In Tokyo for an exciting moment with @lancombeofficial.' Ahead of her public appearance she posted a shot of herself standing in front of a high-rise window, through which downtown Tokyo and its sprawl of skyscrapers stretched off into the distance. Subtle: Drawing further attention to her delicately proportioned features, Amanda opted for for deft touches of make-up selected from a subdued colour palette Centre of attention: The actress took a seat onstage as the press conference got underway in Tokyo on Wednesday Stunning: Ahead of her public appearance she posted a shot of herself standing in front of a high-rise window, through which downtown Tokyo and its sprawl of skyscrapers stretched off into the distance Amanda was confirmed as Lancome's newest global ambassador in October, joining a stellar celebrity line-up that also includes Penelope Cruz,Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Zendaya and Isabella Rossellini. Announcing her appointment, Lancome described the actress - who has also been used as the face of Givenchy's Very Irresistible fragrance - as "a role model for young women everywhere." Discussing her new role in a statement, Amanda said: 'Its hugely exciting to be welcomed to this incredible family of women ambassadors, all so different and yet all so united in their mission to represent Lancome while also embodying the positive virtues and values that empower and bring happiness and self-fulfilment to women around the world.' New Delhi: Fuel Rates Today: After witnessing a downward trend for two consecutive day petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Wednesday, January 15. According to the Indian Oil website, the petrol rates are Rs 75.70 per litre in Delhi, Rs 81.29 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 78.29 per litre in Kolkata, and Rs 78.65 per litre in Chennai, respectively. On the other hand, the diesel prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai remained at Rs 69.06, Rs 72.42, Rs 71.43, and Rs 72.98 per litre, respectively. In Noida, petrol is retailing at Rs 76.80 a litre, while diesel price is Rs 69.34 a litre. The price of petrol in Gurugram is Rs 75.00 a litre while diesel was selling at Rs 67.89 a litre. India is 84 per cent dependant on imports to meet its oil needs and any spike in global prices has a direct bearing on its economy. Not just imports but even domestic crude oilwhich forms the raw material for making petrol, diesel and other petroleum productsis priced according to international benchmarks. Middle East accounts for more than two-thirds of the countrys oil imports, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia being the top suppliers. Why Petrol, Diesel Prices Change Every Day? The fuel prices are in India are revised daily. Petrol and diesel prices are revised every day at 06:00 am to sync it with the variation in global oil prices. Oil marketing companies (OMC) review the global fuel prices and decide petrol and diesel daily. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum release the new rates at 6 am every morning. Generally, when international crude oil prices gain, prices in India move higher. Other factors also impact the price of fuel like rupee to US dollar exchange rate, cost of crude oil, global cues, demand for fuel, and so on. Why Fuel Prices Differ In Every City? The price of fuel includes excise duty, value-added tax (VAT), and dealer commission. As VAT varies from state to state, the price of fuel is different in every city. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The privately-owned business community in Vietnam has made great strides with investment expansion, which has contributed to improvements in the domestic business climate throughout the past year. THACO is set to reach much greater heights in 2020 with its export dealings in neighbouring nations In the final days of 2019, Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO), one of Vietnams largest multi-sectorial groups, exported 15 buses to the Philippines and auto parts to South Korea and Japan, increasing the number of exported buses to 21. Although the number of automobile exports is not so big, it has constituted a major event in the Vietnamese automobile industry, as Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh put it. THACOs export of these vehicles to the Philippines and auto parts to other countries is very meaningful, taking Vietnam onto the regional and global auto industry map and restructuring the countrys import-export picture, he stated. Outstanding stories in 2019 At the meeting, THACO has been highlighted as one of the success stories of Vietnamese businesses in 2019, which have managed to weather difficulties to materialise their investment and business plans. Along with THACO, many others such as Vingroup, Vietjet, Sun Group, TH, and Thanh Thanh Cong are writing new stories in the Vietnamese economy, with their own imprints, stated Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. As the investor of a range of resorts, tourist destinations, and the first private airport in Vietnam, Sun Group has recently received many different Oscar-like awards in tourism at the World Travel Awards and World Luxury Hotel Awards 2019, including Asias leading new airport 2019 for Van Don International Airport. Being honoured by the World Travel Awards as the Asias leading new airport 2019, Van Don International Airport has affirmed its prestige, position, and service quality as well as the vision of Sun Group, airport director Pham Ngoc Sau said. With the total investment of VND7.46 trillion ($324 million), this airport was completed in a record two years. Being able to receive most modern types of aircraft such as Boeing 787, the airport currently has seven parking positions. The terminal capacity today stands at 2.5 million passengers per year, and it is expected to reach five million passengers per year by 2030. Vingroup, the countrys largest privately-owned group, also saw a rosy year. It received nine prestigious awards, including Asias Leading Family & Beach Resort and Asias Leading Riverfront Hotel. Meanwhile, the new player in aviation field, Bamboo Airways, was honoured as best all-round service. The airline announced its profit before tax in 2019 of VND303 billion ($13 million) and expects to gain VND1 trillion ($43.47 million) profit before tax in 2020. In 2019, Bamboo Airways carried out nearly 20,000 safe flights, serving nearly three million passengers with an on-time rate of 94 per cent, the highest in Vietnams aviation sector. This is also Vietnams first private airline using the wide-body Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 and receiving the Operational Safety Audit from the International Aviation Transport Association within less than a year in operation. In 2019, Vietnams tourism witnessed the strongest growth ever. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Vietnam is in the top 10 of countries and territories receiving the most tourists in Asia Pacific. As per the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in 2019 the total of foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam was over 18 million. Vietnams position has thus been upgraded on the worlds tourism map, removing the previous image of simply being a cheap destination. Vietnamese brands are also leaving an impression on the world in areas that used to be the domain of developed countries such as automobile and phone manufacturing. Bloomberg News, for example, last year commented that Vingroup is a testament that Vietnamese manufacturers can create products with high value. Names like THACO, Sun Group, Vingroup, and Bamboo Airways are proving their capability of competitiveness, while also planting solid footprints of the private sector in Vietnams economy. Good direction for private groups Addressing the Private Economic Forum 2019 in May, PM Phuc stated, After two years of implementing the resolution of the fifth plenum of the Party Central Committee on the development of the private economy, although there has not been a full review of the achieved results, we have witnessed the growth, innovative spirit, and rising aspirations of the private sector. Meanwhile, Phan Ngoc Mai Phuong, deputy director of the Development Strategy Institute under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, used the words beyond imagination when talking about the growth of the domestic private sector over the last few years. The private economy has increased sharply in size, quantity, and quality. There is still a lot of room for this sector to develop, becoming a main driver for the whole economy in the near future, Phuong said. However, senior economist Nguyen Mai said that during the development process, the private sector needs a suitable legal corridor so that they can follow the Partys policy while still becoming major players on a regional and global basis. The state should have policies to support businesses in building and developing brands, especially creating a foothold in the world market so that they can both increase trade and investment relations, as well as participate in the international bidding for large-scale projects, he said. Speaking at the meeting between the prime minister and the business community, Duong of THACO mentioned the barriers in borrowing bank loans serving for agricultural projects. Enterprises need loans to manufacture on a global scale. For instance, if bananas are planted on 50-100 hectares, production is not stable enough for export. So banks should relieve barriers and facilitate agricultural enterprises, he said. Meanwhile, Sun Group CEO Dang Minh Truong said, We need more support so that the private sector can do even more for the country, and contribute in areas that used to be the realm of state-owned and foreign-invested enterprises. VIR WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club and its Journalism Institute strongly object to restrictions on press coverage during the Senate trial of President Donald Trump. The proposed limitations are onerous, unnecessary and serve only to limit the news media's ability to properly report on this historic event to the American public. We fully support the position taken by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which tried to negotiate rules of coverage only to see its suggestions ignored. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted that the Senate follow the same rules the Senate set for itself during the trial of President Bill Clinton 20 years ago. But when it comes to press coverage, the restrictions on news coverage planned by the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police far exceed the access limits imposed during the Clinton trial. Indeed, the constraints are more restrictive than they are for State of the Union messages or Inauguration ceremonies. "These constraints and security obstacles only impede the press from doing its job," said National Press Club President Michael Freedman. "When the conduct of our elected officials is under the highest scrutiny, the government should not be restricting the ability of journalists to be eyes and ears for the American public." As spelled out by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, the proposed restrictions on the press for the upcoming trial include: Security sweeps with magnetometer inside the Senate press gallery Penning in reporters outside the Senate chamber to prohibit them from freely getting access to Senators as they enter or leave the chamber A single pool camera to record the transmission of Articles of Impeachment from the House to the Senate Restrictions on reporters' ability to walk and interview Senators from the Senate subway to the Capitol elevators "These restrictions set a horrible precedent and reinforce the lie that the news media is dangerous and the 'enemy of the people," said Angela Greiling Keane, the president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. "Congress should be the most accessible institution in government. As the branch closest to the people, it is ironic that these limits only isolate those who are elected to serve." While penning reporters has become commonplace over the years to improve traffic flow outside the Senate chamber, reporters have had free access to approach senators to question them about issues of the day. Sweeping reporters with a magnetometer as they enter the Senate gallery is simply unnecessary overkill as they would have already gone through security entering the Capitol. We especially fear that these restrictions will become the new standard for congressional coverage, a slippery slope that will reduce accountability and further erode an essential tenet of our democracy -- the need for an informed electorate. The National Press Club, the world's leading professional organization for journalists, represents more than 3,000 reporters, editors and professional communicators worldwide. The Club's nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement. SOURCE National Press Club The House on Wednesday voted to send the articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, approving both the release of the articles to the Senate and the establishment of funding mechanisms for the impeachment process. All Republican Representatives voted against the resolution, while all Democrats except for Colin Peterson of Minnesota voted in favor. Earlier on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) announced seven impeachment managers for the upcoming Senate trial, who will function essentially as prosecutors presenting Houses case. The lead manager will be Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a major player in the Houses impeachment inquiry. President Trump has already appointed his defense team for the trial, which includes White House counsel Pat Cipillone and Trumps personal attorney Jay Sekulow. Sekulow has been handling various court cases involving the release of Trumps financial records, which will be considered in the upcoming months by the Supreme Court. Trump faces two articles of impeachment, one for obstruction of Congress and the other for abuse of power. Democrats charge that Trump improperly withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to conduct investigations that would damage political rival Joe Biden. The President has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, calling the impeachment inquiry a witch hunt and a hoax. President Trump has done nothing wrong, read a statement from the White House released after Pelosi named impeachment managers. aHe looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated. More from National Review The five biggest long-term risks facing the world today are environmental in nature, while the immediate risks that are expected to increase in 2020 are economic and political polarisation, a new survey showed on Wednesday. Forecasting a year of increased domestic and international divisions and economic slowdown, the annual Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) said, "geopolitical turbulence is propelling us towards an 'unsettled' unilateral world of great power rivalries at a time when business and government leaders must focus urgently on working together to tackle shared risks." For the first time in the report's 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood are all environmental -- extreme weather events, human-made environmental disasters, major biodiversity loss, natural disasters, and failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In comparison, the top global risks a decade ago were dominated by threats to the global economy and financial system. For the short-term, the top risks that are likely to rise in 2020 are economic confrontations, domestic political polarization, extreme heat waves, destruction of natural resource ecosystems and cyber attacks. Releasing the survey in London, Geneva-based WEF said a collaboration between global leaders, businesses and policy-makers is needed more than ever to stop severe threats to the world's shared well-being. The annual global risks report often sets the the agenda in Davos during WEF's annual meeting and sounds the alarm on both short- and long-term risks. The 50th annual meeting of Davos is scheduled for January 20-24 and will be attended by more than 3,000 world leaders including heads of state and government, CEOs, civil society members, artists and academia. "Economic and political polarization will rise this year, as collaboration between world leaders, businesses and policy-makers is needed more than ever to stop severe threats to our climate, environment, public health and technology systems," said WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation. The survey asked over 750 global experts and decision-makers to rank their biggest concerns in terms of likelihood as well as impact and 78 per cent said they expect 'economic confrontations' and 'domestic political polarization' to rise in 2020. "This would prove catastrophic, particularly for addressing urgent challenges like the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and record species decline," the WEF said. The report, produced in partnership with Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, pointed to a need for policy-makers to match targets for protecting the Earth with ones for boosting economies and for companies to avoid the risks of potentially disastrous future losses by adjusting to science-based targets. The topmost risks flagged in terms of likelihood included extreme weather events with major damage to property, infrastructure and loss of human life; failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation by governments and businesses; human-made environmental damage and disasters, including environmental crime, such as oil spills, and radioactive contamination. It also flagged major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse (terrestrial or marine) with irreversible consequences for the environment, resulting in severely depleted resources for humankind and industries; as well as major natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms. The report said unless stakeholders adapt to "today's epochal power-shift" and geopolitical turbulence while still preparing for the future time will run out to address some of the most pressing economic, environmental and technological challenges. "The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning. This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks," WEF President Borge Brende said. To younger generations, the state of the planet is even more alarming. On how risks are seen by those born after 1980, the report said these people ranked environmental risks higher than other respondents, in the short and long terms. Almost 90 per cent of these respondents believe 'extreme heat waves', 'destruction of ecosystems' and 'health impacted by pollution' will be aggravated in 2020; compared to 77 per cent, 76 per cent and 67 per cent respectively for other generations. They also believe that the impact from environmental risks by 2030 will be more catastrophic and more likely. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Supreme Court for its courage and perseverance in the decision to return a well-deserved victory to the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in Imo State gubernatorial contest, Hope Uzidinma. A seven-member panel of the apex court led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad-led on Tuesday cancelled the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as governor of the state and declared the APC candidate who came fourth in the March 9 governorship poll as the winner. The court also ignored Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance (AA) who polled a total of 190,364 to clinched the second position because it said he was invalid candidate for the election. The case between Mr Uzodinma and Mr Ihedioha was among five governorship election appeals the apex court had proposed to decide on , but that of Kano and Bauchi states were adjourned to Monday while the date for Bauchi, Benue and Plateau state will be communicated later. Buhari elated A statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu quoted Mr Buhari as saying: The road to justice may be long and tortuous, but it is the best path for anyone aggrieved. Under the new administration, a new journey to build a new Imo with new energy is about to begin. In this outcome, it is the people of Imo State who have emerged victorious, he said. In congratulating the new governor, President Buhari urged Mr Uzodinma to promote the ideals of the APC and unite the state by running an inclusive administration. EDWARDSVILLE Madison County court programming is serving as a framework to be emulated nationally, thanks to a long-standing partnership with Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Jeremy Jewell, PhD, and his published research now appearing on IllinoisCourts.gov. For nearly two decades, Jewell, a professor of psychology in the SIUE School of Education, Health and Human Behavior, has shared his expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy, clinical child psychology, juvenile delinquency, risk assessment, and program evaluation with the Madison County Probation and Court Services Department. Through this active partnership, Jewell has offered research-driven service to Madison County by creating and implementing programs aimed at helping probation clients improve their ability to manage anger and increase compassion for others. Other endeavors have included the measurement of program effectiveness in the Adult Drug Court and Veterans Court. Jewells published analyses and outcomes from this work have now been shared online by the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts, as academically-sound resources for individuals and courts nationwide. Dr. Jewell has been instrumental in the implementation of evidence-based practices throughout the Madison County Probation and Court Services Department, noted Department Director Jackie Wiesehan. Our goal is to provide effective programming to our clients that will change criminal behavior and reduce recidivism. Dr. Jewell has been able to evaluate what we do to ensure our actions are effective. The Department has been awarded numerous federal and state grants with Dr. Jewells assistance. Because of the research he provides, we have been able to expand both our Drug Court and Veterans Court to better serve those in need of drug treatment in our community. My collaborative role has expanded over time, Jewell explained. For the last 10 years, we have expanded the implementation of our Compassion Approach to Learning Meditation (CALM) program for detained youth to five days a week. Ive also helped assess and improve the effectiveness of the Adult Drug Court and am now working with the Veterans Court. Our programs aim to improve anger management and increase compassion, so that clients will be less likely to commit crimes in the future, he added. The court-involved population, especially juveniles as well as substance abusing adults, is interesting to me because although they have all committed crimes, they also usually have been victims of abuse and trauma themselves. So, while they may have broken the law, theyve also been victims and deserve good treatment. Programs that help these individuals also benefit others by decreasing future crime in our community. According to Madison County Juvenile Detention Center Program Coordinator Scott Elliff, Jewells programs have provided rewarding, enriching and educational experiences for area youth, center staff and the SIUE undergraduate students who he mentors and involves in program implementation. We cant thank Dr. Jewell enough for providing our facility with such an array of beneficial programs, including individual client counseling, outcome measures, psychological assessments and staff trainings, Elliff said. He freely offers his time and resources to improve the quality and therapeutic effectiveness of the services we provide. The CALM program, in particular, he added, continues to afford our youth effective methods to manage stress, anxiety and anger while detained, as well as coping skills to take with them wherever they may go. Regarding individual counseling, it is encouraging to see how his graduate students easily develop rapport and express concern for their respective clients in the Juvenile Detention Center. Center youth look forward to and benefit from these sessions. The sharing of published research on the Illinois Courts website is highly valuable for users. We are trying to understand which trends that occur in national research studies might also occur locally, Jewell explained. For example, we know that drug court is an effective program nationally, but we have also confirmed its effectiveness in Madison County. In addition, we are trying to understand if there is anything happening locally that may be different than national trends. For example, our research on Madison County drug court clients found that those who are older and have more serious charges are more likely to graduate from drug court, which is different than other studies from across the U.S. To view Jewells research and other court-involved publications, visit probation.illinoiscourts.gov/data/illinois-publications. The SIUE School of Education, Health and Human Behavior prepares students in a wide range of fields including community and public health, exercise science, nutrition, instructional technology, psychology, speech-language pathology and audiology, educational administration, and teaching. Faculty members engage in leading-edge research, which enhances teaching and enriches the educational experience. The School supports the community through on-campus clinics, outreach to children and families, and a focused commitment to enhancing individual lives across the region. An orphaned baby Koala seeks solace on a vet's shoulder at a makeshift field hospital at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park (AFP or licensors) Australias Catholic Bishops support a proposed Climate Change Bill that aims to provide a national framework for action in response to climate change emergencies. By Linda Bordoni The Catholic Bishops of Australia say they will support a proposed Bill on a National Framework for Adaptation and Action on climate change. A statement by Catholic Earthcare Australia, an ecological agency established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference on Tuesday indicated that the bishops give their support in principle to the Private members Bill that is to be submitted to parliament to galvanise action around Climate Change. Months of devastating bushfires in Australia have taken 28 lives so far, destroyed over 2,500 homes and razed forests and farmland the size of Bulgaria. Over a billion animals are estimated to have been killed and some of the nations unique flora and ecosystems have been burnt to cinders. Catholic Earthcare director, Bernard Holland, noted that the successful passage of similar Bills in other nations has provided indications for the way forward in difficult times. The Bill, which is currently being drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, will set out a framework for national plans to be put in place and updated by the Australian government, and for progress to be monitored and reported. Bishop Vincent Long of the Australian Bishops Commission for Justice Ecology and Development described the proposed framework as very timely. Call for solidarity and prayers Earlier this month, the bishops conference released a statement in which they asked for solidarity and prayers for those affected by the fires. They also pointed out that while the bishops typically respond to challenges at a parish or diocesan level, the scale of this crisis requires a national response from the whole Church to complement and coordinate what is happening locally. They put their support behind a donation campaign launched by the St. Vincent de Paul Society and said they would collaborate with national health and social services agencies to ensure an effective a response as possible from the wider Catholic community. With broad and deep roots across the nation, the Church stands ready to walk alongside people throughout their journey of recovery, the bishops said, renewing their call for insistent prayer for those stricken by drought and fire, for those who have lost their lives in the fires and their families, for rain to quench the parched land and extinguish the fires, and for urgent action to care for our common home in order to prevent such calamities in the future. January 14, 2020 News By David Vergun Defense.gov Strength, Innovation Essential to National Defense Strategy The National Defense Strategy describes how the Defense Department will be postured to be successful in the great power competition with Russia and China, the Army chief of staff said. In two words, the National Defense Strategy is to be strong and innovative in order to deter conflict or to win if diplomacy and deterrence fail, Army Gen. James C. McConville said. McConville spoke about the great power competition today at the Atlantic Council in Washington. Allies and partners, personnel and innovation were the general's discussed themes. Allies and Partners DOD relies heavily on allies and partners, McConville said, noting that he has personally met with 75 chiefs of staff from nations around the world over the course of the last year. There aren't enough U.S. soldiers to be in all places in the world at one time where they're needed, he said. In order to have well-trained partners who can provide their own security, the Army has recently stood up security force assistance brigades, he said. They train and advise partner nations. When they are all stood up there will be five active security force assistance brigades and one in the Army National Guard, he said. In the area of communications, a future integrated command and control network will not only link sensor to shooters across the DOD, but will also be integrated with systems allies and partners use, he said. The soldier is the Army's most important and potent weapon, McConville said. Having the right person in the right job is paramount. In order to do this, the Army is finalizing a new personnel system that looks at more than just two variables which the current system uses: rank and job. This new system will consider 25 variables that include a range of knowledge, skills and even soldier preference. Perhaps the most important and influential persons in the Army are battalion commanders, he said. A good commander not only knows how to command well, but also influences whether or not soldiers reenlist due to the command climate that commander brings. Therefore, the Army has developed a new command assessment program for these commanders to ensure only the best are selected. He said physical fitness, leadership, peer and subordinate reviews are some of the selection variables. Also, noncommissioned officers are no longer selected based solely on time in grade. Now, only the most qualified get promoted, he said. Innovation will require a lot of experimentation and testing of leap-ahead technology systems, McConville said. Among two of the Army's priorities are long-range precision fires, and air and missile defense, he said. A near-peer competitor like Russia or China could make it difficult to enter an area through their advanced standoff weaponry, he said. In order to overcome that obstacle, the Army is experimenting with advanced weapons that use directed energy and microwaves, he said, adding that in two to three years, he expects the Army to begin fielding new precision strike missiles and extended-range cannons. Another way to penetrate an enemy's defenses, he said, is with aircraft that have much greater range and speed than the current fleet. Some of those aircraft could even be unmanned, he said. Unmanned ground vehicles are also being developed. It would make sense to have them take the lead in areas that are heavily mined or full of improvised explosive devices, he said. Also, future tanks might just have one person in the vehicle instead of four. Artificial intelligence and robotics could take the place of some of the crew. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rochester Public Schools hasnt ruled out accepting a proposed land donation in Northwest Rochester. "If somebody wants to give us land and its maybe, in this case, something we can turn into an elementary school, we would accept that," RPS Superintendent Michael Munoz said Tuesday. However, he said the proposed donation wont work for the creation of a new middle school. The potential donation was made public last week, when Rochester City Administrator Steve Rymer sent Munoz a letter, which included encouragement to consider the offer. This week, Mark Kramer, an Iowa-based developer who has tackled various Rochester projects, revealed that he had offered the district up to 40 acres on approximately 500 acres he owns north of Valleyhigh Drive Northwest, between 50th and 60th avenues. ADVERTISEMENT The land appears to be largely farmland sitting within city boundaries. "The portion of ground that is offered to the Rochester Public Schools is the land most readily available with utilities for sewer and water, with the goal in mind that they would be able to start building the school as soon as possible," Kramers Chief Operating Officer Diane Hoey stated in the announcement of the proposed donation location, which was reportedly made on Oct. 3. Hoey said the land would need to be appraised before a value of the potential donation could be determined. The amount of land offered is also twice as large as what Munoz identified in a response letter of Rymer last week. On Tuesday, the school superintendent said his conversation with Kramer was brief, and it wasnt confirmed until this week that the donation could include a full 40 acres. "No formal offer was given," he said. "It was a quick phone conversation." City Council member Michael Wojcik said he questions whether enough review has been done, regarding the proposed donation. He posted on his blog Tuesday that he wants city staff to conduct further evaluation of the proposed northwest site, asking for information on utility availability, transportation infrastructure and how it meets state requirements for a school site. "I also have a question in to our team, as it appears that the joint analysis had recommended this site as the top site for consideration," he wrote. ADVERTISEMENT Kevin Holm, an architect with Duluth-based LHB Inc., said his company has looked at options related to the land offered by Kramer, but none would work for a middle school, largely based on location. He said sites outlined in different maps pose varying concerns related to anticipated road construction costs, topography and wetlands, but all were ultimately too close to the school districts western boundary, which is located approximately a half-mile east of 60th Avenue Northwest at Valleyhigh Drive. "It is possible to live in the city of Rochester and be in the Byron School District," Holm said of existing boundaries. He said being close to the school district boundary would limit the number of middle school students who would be able to walk to the school, even after the area is developed. However, Holm said the same concerns might not deter the school district from building an elementary school at the proposed northwest site, since it would have fewer students and anticipated walking distances are shorter for younger students. "Its still not an ideal site for an elementary school, but we are still trying to assess whether or not it makes sense to look at it from that perspective," he said. Hoey said Kramers offer is intended for a middle school to address the school districts immediate needs. "If they have a different plan, we would be willing to discuss it with the district," she said. While the districts planned southwest site sits outside existing city boundaries, it is deeper into the school district, offering greater potential for future walkability. ADVERTISEMENT Holm, however, said the district's support of the site isnt based on future development. "The building being built is for growth that has already happened," he said, noting that information comes from city and county development data. Rymer and other city officials have raised concerns regarding the request to annex the southwest site into the city, noting it could spur development that would tax limited infrastructure and alter the citys plans for future sewer needs. Holm said that doesnt need to be the case, since the city has the opportunity to deny future development in the area based on the citys updated comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan has already altered the districts proposal. The district has a $2.9 million purchase agreement for 150 acres of land commonly known as Hart Farms, which is along 40th Street Southwest, west of 18th Avenue. Instead of seeking to annex the entire parcel, the district is asking the city to accept 80 acres, which are within boundaries considered for expansion by 2040 under the comprehensive plan. The proposed purchase would be funded through the recently approved $180.9 million voter-approved bond referendum. The proposed annexation of the southwest 80 acres is slated to be reviewed by the citys Planning and Zoning Commission on March 11 and the City Council on April 6. Putin's recent trip to Damascus has highlighted the strain in the relationship between the two presidents and the differing views of the two men writes Al-Modon. The Russian president will not leave Moscow soonor at least not until 2024, when his current, fourth presidential term ends. But the Syrian president will definitely not obtain a fourth seven-year presidential term, starting in 2021 and ending in 2028. The most probable issue is that he may reside in the Russian capitalspecifically in a luxurious apartment in a residential tower owned by the Assad family and a number of relatives or in an official political refuge villa in one of Moscows suburbs. Instead of his first visit to Damascus seeing a large official gathering at the airport, with all the protocols of the official relationship between the two countries and with the two presidents walking together on the red carpet toward the Syrian presidential palace to carry out official talks in the presence of two high-level delegations, followed by a closed session between the two and a joint press conferenceor at least a statement agreed upon in the name of the two countries and kept in their official documentsinstead of that, Putin was keen to take a visit with the appearance of a military and religious tourist visit to the capital, overseen and managed and protected by Russian forces, who do not acknowledge the sovereignty or legitimacy of the Syrian state or even the presence of its president. It was a settling of old Russian scores with Bashar al-Assad, who has dealt since the first day with the Russian military intervention in the fall of 2015 as if it was a gift to the Russians, who were looking for a global role, Mediterranean influence and a Middle East presencenot as a life raft thrown by Russia to his regime. On this basis, Iran has remained his first and best choice. Iranians have received more rewards in terms of the volume of his offerings and sacrifices, many more than those obtained by the Russians. Assad and his partners in Tehran have also long told an inexact story about how the Russian intervention would not have happened without the urgent message from the Iranian command carried by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to Moscow, which responded immediately and the next day mobilized its air, naval and ground forces. Perhaps this reading has changed since the assassination of Soleimani and what has been said about Putin coming to Damascus to demand that Assad be very careful in dealing with this key event in the American-Iranian dispute and to not risk exposing himself or his country or Russian forces to any threat, and subsequently to get ready for a new situation to be imposed by hard American pressure on Iran, which could force it to leave Syria, and increase the Syrian regimes need for Russian cover, militarily and politically. The meeting in Damascus was not between the two presidents nor between two commanders of their armed forces. There was no talk of politics, which in form at least requires the presence of the two foreign ministers (despite the marginalization of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Syrian affairs to the benefit of the Defense Ministry and its officers). The presentation given by the Russian minister of defense and major Russian commanders in the former headquarters of the Syrian General Staff was given to Putin, with only Assad and his defense minster listening. It looked more like an invitation to the Syrian president to fully discipline the mechanisms of military action. Damascus and Moscow share many doubts about the intentions of the two presidents, brought together by chance and who will not be united by the plans being prepared for the Syrian presidential elections in the spring of 2021. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Priyanka Chopra Jonas is set to star opposite British actor Richard Madden in Amazon Studios' upcoming thriller series "Citadel". The studio plans to start a multi-series franchise with "Citadel" and local productions will be simultaneously made in Italy and India. It has announced another production in Mexico. Priyanka, 37, and Richard, 33, will headline the US version which is being called the "mothership" of the project, Deadline reported. Described as an "action-packed spy series with a compelling emotional centre", "Citadel" will be executive produced by "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo along with former ABC Studios president Patrick Moran and Mike Larocca. Priyanka shared the on Instagram, saying she looks forward to working with The Russo Brothers and the "Bodyguard" star. "Cannot wait to work alongside the super talented @maddenrichard and incredible @therussobrothers on this new series. "Get ready! 'CITADEL' will be a multi-layered global franchise with interconnected local language productions from India, Italy and Mexico. It will truly be global content. More details soon. @amazonstudios @agbofilms #CITADEL" she wrote. Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio will serve as writers and executive producers. The show is expected to start production soon. Priyanka, who started her Hollywood career with ABC series "Quantico", has featured in films such as "Baywatch" and "Isn't It Romantic". She will next be seen in Netflix's "We Can Be Heroes" and "The White Tiger" adaptation, opposite Rajkummar Rao. In December, it was announced that the actor and her husband Nick Jonas were producing an unscripted sangeet series at Amazon. Madden, who broke out after starring as Robb Stark in HBO's "Game of Thrones", found further fame with the award-winning BBC and Netflix series "Bodyguard". The actor is currently shooting for Marvel tentpole "Eternals". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Analysis banner Business Insider Democratic debates AP Photo/Patrick Semansky The seventh Democratic primary debate barely made a ripple Tuesday night. The candidates onstage in Des Moines, Iowa, largely failed to set themselves apart from the pack and spent most of the evening squabbling over technicalities and rehashing their campaigns' talking points. That said, there were some breakthrough moments. Overall, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts won the debate. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York also made a splash, even though he wasn't on the stage. Former Vice President Joe Biden; former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; and the businessman Tom Steyer lost the debate. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont didn't win or lose and instead had a lukewarm night. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The seventh Democratic primary debate barely made a ripple Tuesday night. The six candidates onstage former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; and the businessman Tom Steyer squabbled over technicalities and rehashed their campaigns' main talking points. There were few breakthrough moments, and few stood out from the pack. That said, there were barely some standouts. Here are the winners of Tuesday's Democratic debate Warren The progressive firebrand had a big night and cemented her place as a frontrunner by taking on her competitors including Sanders, with whom she's long had a close relationship. The two reportedly made a pact before the 2020 campaign season that they would not claw at each other during the race. But that truce seemed to fall apart onstage Tuesday as they contradicted each other on whether Sanders had told her during a private conversation that a woman could not win the 2020 presidency. Sanders said he never made such a comment. Warren disagreed and drew loud applause when she noted that the only people onstage who had won every election they'd run in her and Klobuchar were women. Warren also used the rest of the debate to nail down her biggest policy proposals on issues like childcare, healthcare costs, prescription-drug costs, foreign policy, and military spending. She also drew widespread praise for focusing on LGBT issues and specifically mentioning transgender women of color. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York Bloomberg wasn't onstage Tuesday night, but his campaign instead embarked on a Twitter blitz and dominated the conversation on social media. Throughout the debate and leading up to it the Bloomberg campaign tweeted about meatballs, tattoos, setting wild animals loose on the Democratic debate stage, which Secret Service code name he should choose, singing with Lady Gaga, Tostitos, Vicks VapoRub, and more. We would try to explain the context behind some of those tweets, but it would get complicated, so check them out here. Story continues Here are the losers of Tuesday's Democratic debate Everyone onstage who wasn't Warren had a rough night. Here's a breakdown of some of the worst moments: Buttigieg , who has minimal support from black voters, drew some criticism when he said, "The black voters who know me best are supporting me." The remark was seen as somewhat flippant and tone-deaf specifically because the former mayor has almost no support from the demographic, which has historically been one of the Democratic Party's most significant voting blocs. Buttigieg also struggled to stand out during the rest of the debate and didn't add much to the conversation. When other candidates criticized his plans as shortsighted or inadequate, Buttigieg repeatedly attacked what he described as a "Washington mentality" without going into specifics or describing how his proposals were better than those of his opponents. Biden had a disappointing night, too. The former vice president hasn't had a strong debate performance since the 2020 campaign kicked off, and Tuesday night was no different. He stumbled over his words, failed to build momentum, and continually relied on the legacy of President Barack Obama when asked to discuss his own achievements. That said, Biden still commands a strong lead in national polling. Though he's fallen behind in Iowa in recent weeks, his support among minorities and black voters indicates Biden could still be the frontrunner even if he loses in the largely white Iowa and New Hampshire. Steyer didn't break ground or set himself apart. He spent most of the debate criticizing President Donald Trump while speaking directly into the camera. Asked what experience he could bring to the field, Steyer said he had traveled a lot. And despite saying he cared more about climate change than any other candidate onstage, the businessman failed to outline any specific plans he had to combat the crisis. Klobuchar didn't have a particularly bad night, but her performance was significantly worse than in the past few debates, when her presence stood out more. The Minnesota senator did make a more direct case for Iowa voters than any other candidate onstage, but she struggled to gain momentum and instead spent most of the night repeating herself and taking shots at Trump. Foreign policy With Iran and Ukraine dominating news cycles, one might have thought foreign policy would take center stage this week. Instead, the candidates spent most of their speaking time peddling through tired talking points and making vague commitments about withdrawing troops from some regions but leaving them stationed in others. As The Washington Post's Aaron Blake put it, Tuesday's foreign-policy debate "was a lot of Goldilocks-ing of troop numbers each one assuring that he or she would keep just the right amount in the Middle East." Toss-up Sanders had a lukewarm night. When the debate moderators brought up recent reports about his private conversation with Warren, during which he was said to have told her a woman would not win the presidency in 2020, the Vermont senator deflected and drilled down on his support for female candidates. He also reiterated his belief that a woman could win the presidency and pointed to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's popular-vote victory over Trump in the 2016 election. That said, Sanders, like many other candidates, struggled to set himself apart from the pack and spent most of Tuesday night's debate going over talking points the public is likely to be familiar with, such as ways the wealthy are taking advantage of the middle class and poor people, sky-high healthcare costs, and the national security threat he believes Trump poses. Read the original article on Business Insider January 14, 2020 News By Jim Garamone Defense.gov Milley Attends NATO Military Committee Meeting in Brussels NATO will build on a proud history to forge peace in the future, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee said in Brussels. British Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach spoke today at the committee's chiefs of defense session. Army Gen. Mark A, Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represented the United States in his first NATO Military Committee meeting the highest military council in the alliance. The chiefs paused to remember those killed on NATO duty since the last committee meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last year. All of those killed were members of the U.S. Army. Over the past year, the alliance "strengthened our partnerships in Europe and beyond, deepening political dialogue, extending support and engagement with partner countries and international organizations, including our friends in the European Union and the United Nations," Peach said. "For the first time in 60 years, the NATO military strategy was agreed by the chiefs of defense and updated to reflect the current threats we face. This strategy is the handrail that guides us to deliver safety and security to almost 1 billion people." NATO continues to adapt to the changing security environment, the air chief marshal said. "We've taken additional steps to remain capable to fulfill our core tasks in the years to come," Peach said. "We continue to strengthen defense and deterrence, raising the readiness of our forces, increasing our ability to move them across the Atlantic and within Europe, and modernizing our military command structure and headquarters." Since the Russian annexation of Crimea and continuing battles in Ukraine, NATO has reinforced collective defense. "We strengthened our military posture from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea," the air chief marshal said. "We have combat-ready troops in the eastern part of our alliance. We have declared initial operating capabilities for the Joint Support and Enabling Command which will help us coordinate and safeguard the movement of allied forces across Europe and the North Atlantic." The alliance is directly confronting Russia's hybrid warfare effort with the deployment of a counter-hybrid warfare support team to Montenegro to help strengthen the country's capabilities and deterring hybrid challenges, he said. "Defense spending has continued to increase," Peach said. NATO figures show an increase of 4.6% in 2019, the fifth year in a row of such growth. "By the end of this year, allies will have invested more than $130 billion extra," Peach said. "By 2024, we expect that number to be $400 billion." The NATO military chiefs will discuss the NATO missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the alliance's ongoing efforts in the Balkans, how NATO will operate in space, and how to defend the cyber domain. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Robert Spalding on Taiwan Election and Soleimani Simone Gao: General, so good to see you. I saw you posting a picture of you in one of the posts in Taiwan. Tell me what you saw and what was the atmosphere like? Robert Spalding: Well, I went to both the KMT last campaign rally and the DPP last campaign rally I went to opposite sides of the rally, so I couldnt compare the two crowds. So they both seem to be very packed. And it was really a festive atmosphere and everybody was very excited for the candidates. And of course both sides. KMT and DPP both thought that their candidate was going to win from the numerous people that I talked to. Of course we now know that Tsai Ing-wen won in a landslide. And so it was, it was very exciting. I also got to go to a polling place and watch the counting of the ballots, which in Taiwan is very open and transparent process. They show the ballot and then I calculate the ballot. And anybody, any citizen of Taiwan can challenge any ballot right there while its being counted. So it was very inspiring to see in action. And it was a very, just you know, exciting time and I think everybody was proud and, and excited to be executing their right to vote. Ms. Gao: So what are the Taiwanese people saying after the result came out? Are the, is that the number they expected? Mr. Spalding: Well, I think so first of all president Tsai one with more votes in any any Taiwanese president has ever won. So she got over, make 8 million votes. No, no president have ever gotten that many votes. By the same token she actually won by more votes last time. But nevertheless, I think all all of the Taiwanese that I spoke to really believed that this was an overwhelming victory for president Tsai. And it was an overwhelming repudiation of essentially the Chinese communist partys aggressive actions both in terms of Xi Jinpings rhetoric, but also the the harsh the way that theyve dealt with Hong Kong. So I think it was a vote against the CCP that being said on the party line vote. That one actually saw the KMT get more votes than they did last time. And the, the, the distance between the DPP and the KMT and the party line vote was much closer than before. And so the, the belief is that it was a vote for Tsai, a vote against the China and the CCP, but also not necessarily a vote for the DPP itself. So very interesting split results with regard to the presidential vote and the party line vote. Ms. Gao: So this election is clearly a referendum on the CCP. Mr. Spalding: Clearly. Yes. Ms. Gao: Okay. what do you think will happen to the US-Taiwan relations after this one? Mr. Spalding: I think, I think we are in a period of strengthening relations. I think were in a period of weakening relations with China, mainland China, and and in particular were essentially moving away from the Chinese communist party. So I think as we do that, were going to move closer to Taiwan. Certainly, especially if Taiwan chooses to move closer to the United States financially, economically and trade wise. Ms. Gao: Okay. And what do you think China will do to Taiwan? Mr. Spalding: Well, I think theyre going to continue with their rhetoric, which is really aggressive in nature and, and more than likely will continue to essentially do the things that theyve done, like you know, sail their carrier in the Taiwan Strait and send their airplanes to fly around the Island of Taiwan, essentially being very provocative militarily. I think that will continue, but at the same time you know, I dont, I dont expect any type of military conflict. Ms. Gao: Some people are saying if reunification is not done by 2035, the chances of China taking military actions against Taiwan is gonna be very high. Whats your thoughts? Mr. Spalding: Well I think its still its still tough to say because essentially they run the risk of having a military confrontation with the United States and that also brings with it the risk of the use of nuclear weapons. So I think it is something that the, they will have to judge. At the time, I dont think necessarily that it would make a lot of sense, but its hard to say what what what the Chinese communist party might do. I would say that the United States will stand ready to defend and deter aggressive actions by the CCP. But, you know, I guess well have to wait and see. Ms. Gao: Overall, do you think president Trump made the right move by killing Soleimani? Mr. Spalding: I do. I think it clearly important that you provide a level of deterrence to the Iranian regime for all the activity that they have been conducting in the middle East or you knew almost two decades now. And what, what Soleimani was doing was essentially pursuing a strategy in the Middle East where Iran was acting through proxies to undermine stability all throughout the middle East in order to form a block that was essentially beholden to the, to Iran. And so Amani was moving around the Middle East really with impunity and in a lot of these actions that he was taking were damaging strategically for the United States and for its partners and allies in the region. And so I think it was clearly justified not just because of that, but also because of the 600 or so Americans that hes personally responsible for in terms of their death. So he has been targeting Americans for quite some time and quite frankly, I personally had given up hope that we were actually going to do the right thing with regard to him. So I think its, its not only long overdue, it actually helps the United States strategically because it provides a level of deterrence for the leaders of Iran, the Iranian regime, and it makes them stop and think about what are the repercussions of any further activities that they may take in the region in terms of the, the personal threat that it brings to them. Ms. Gao: Right. Media has been criticizing president Trump that hes likely dragging us to another regional war by killing Soleimani. Well, he promised that he will get us out of the middle East. So what do you think will really happen? Mr. Spalding: So I, I personally agree that we need to get out of the Middle East. In terms of being in places like Afghanistan and and around the rest of the areas where theres a lot of violence, I dont think that we need to continue to spend a lot of resources and personnel in those, in those regions because quite frankly, we have a bigger challenge in the Pacific and out of allies that can essentially handle, handle themselves or or partners in the region that can handle their, their own challenges. And I think weve spent far too much money and time in that region. That being said the so Amani as long as we have personnel in the middle East was Not only providing more instability that they had to deal with, but also, you know, creating personal threat to those troops. And so I think the all of the criticism with regard to that that strike is really misplaced and I, I actually think its more domestic politics and less about really talking about what is the right thing to do with regard to us national security DePaul. Ms. Gao: So by killing Soleimani, do you think America will allocate too much resources to the middle East that they wont have enough resources to deal with the Pacific challenges by China? Mr. Spalding: I actually think its gonna allow us to move out of the middle East faster because its going to help reset deterrence in the region and, and likely result in less activity by the Iranians, at least in the short term as they try to reassess where the line is being drawn in terms of what what they will, what they face retaliation for. So I actually think its going to enable us to draw down faster. Whereas allowing Soleimani to operate with impunity, you know, was really forcing us to continue to add forces to maintain a level. So stability so that we can move out. You know, I, again, I believe that we ought to draw down as soon as we can and I think the, the bat action in particular will probably enable that to actually happen. Ms. Gao: What do you think is the difference between president Trump and president Bush in terms of the Middle East strategy? I mean, will America ever get itself into the regime change and nation building mode that president Bush got us into? Mr. Spalding: I would say the difference between the two is that president Trump is far less likely to want to get entangled in a long conflicts or even to want to use military force. He could have used military force when the Saudis were there or oil fields were bombed by the Iranians. He could have used military force when shipping was attacked in the Persian Gulf by the Iranians. So theres been several times, or even when theU.S. Drone was shot down over international waters in the Persian Gulf, any of those times he would have been justified in using military force you know, to retaliate against Iran. Nevertheless, he chose not to and has been quite measured in his response in terms of using military force as opposed to president Bush, which was obviously, of course he had to deal with nine 11, but also was very willing to use military force and actually quite heavily. Ms. Gao: Just the scale of the military force, to me the Trump administration is not in the mood to get into, you know, regime change and nation building, that kind of stuff. Is that right? Mr. Spalding: No, I think thats right. I think theyre far more interested in creating deterrence. And so using military force as a means for preventing conflict rather than using military force to to create conflict. And I think thats a fundamental difference. You know, the other the other administration that focused on using the military as a deterrent was the Eisenhower administration. And I think a lot of the ways that the president of the current president reacts to international. Geopolitics and national security policy is very consistent with what the Eisenhower administration used. Ms. Gao: What do you think is Irans calculation? According to president Trump, Solemani might be planning up to four embassy attacks as well as other attacks. And this would amount to act of war again, America from how they responded to Soleimanis death and very controlled attack on the American base. I think that shows they dont really want a real war with America. So what, what do you think is their calculation? Mr. Spalding: Well, if they actually wanted a war with the United States they wouldnt have gone after an Iraqi base that had a very small contingent of Americans. And they could have gone after any of the American bases in the region that had a lot of Americans on them. And so I think both the, the, the choice of the base and and certainly how, where are the weapons. And the fact that there were no casualties indicates that I believe that the Iranians were acting to essentially justify to their, to their own people that they were not going to, you know, not retaliate for Soleimani, at the same time, they were very concerned about making sure that the United States didnt go after them any further. So it was really more just for show for their own people than it was actually wanting escalate to cause further conflict with the United States. Ms. Gao: And what influence do you think Russia and China have on Iran? Mr. Spalding: Well, clearly China has influence in terms of financial influence in the same I think with the Russians. That being said, the Iranian regime acts according to their own interests. And when push comes to shove, you know, I think they would not be able to, essentially neither Russia nor China, to push the leadership regime in Iran to any situation where they didnt really already have an interest in going there. And so I think their relationship is one of financial and economic support, technological support, but not necessarily of a kind where the leadership in Iran feels like they must do what they say. Ms. Gao: China gets a lot of, its all oil from Iran, but on the other hand, China is Americas rival. Do you think China wants US and Iran to get into a war? Mr. Spalding: Well, no they dont because they do buy a lot of Iranian oil. And if there is a war, then the price of oil goes up, something that harms the Chinese economy. So they absolutely do not want to. And I think they would try to stabilize the situation if they could. Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVWMVBg1RPrDlakdmbyTKBA?sub_confirmation=1 Official website: https://www.ntd.com/zooming-in Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ZoomingInShow/ Twitter: @ZoomingIn_NTD We still dont know who the legislator in Porters report is, but we do know that career politician, municipal bond attorney and House Republican leader Jim Durkin, who has been in Springfield since 1995, is refusing to tell the public what he knows about the buried report. I have requested multiple times that he publicly call on the two Republican House members of the Legislative Ethics Commission, both of whom are part of his leadership team, to support the release of the report. My requests have been met with silence. Cod, herring and whelks could be forced out of British waters by 2050 as climate change continues to warm the seas, according to a damning new report. The Government-backed Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) assessed how British waters, and the animals that live there, will respond to rising temperatures in the next 30 years. The landmark report says many stalwarts of British fishermen will struggle to survive, while exotic newcomers may find a permanent home in our seas. There are no existing guidelines or legislation for dealing with many of these new species, including the invading bluefin tuna, and experts predict rapidly changing conditions will flip the fishing industry on its head. In the report, the authors say a dramatic decrease in shellfish production - particularly whelks and cockles in Wales - will cause 'significant economic losses'. They also found with 'medium confidence' that the continued struggles of cod, herring, whiting and sprat fisheries will likely continue. In contrast, more tropical species such as anchovies, hake and sole will thrive. However, fish will also become smaller in size as they have to spend large amounts of energy travelling further to find prey. Scroll down for video In the report, authors say a dramatic decrease in shellfish production - particularly whelks and cockles - will cause 'significant economic losses'. It also found with 'medium confidence' that the continued struggles of cod, herring, whiting and sprat fisheries will continue HOW WARMING BRITISH SEAS AFFECTS BIRDS AND MARINE MAMMALS? The Government-backed Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) offers a view of how the British fauna will respond to rising water temperatures. It found, with 'medium confidence' that 'Leach's storm petrel, great skua and Arctic skua, may become extinct in the UK by 2100'. It also claims black-legged kittiwake, Arctic tern and auks will have a significantly smaller range and be forced northwards. Breeding population declines in some wader species is related to warmer, drier summers. Warming winter temperatures have also been associated with changes in the spring departure of wintering waterbird species to their breeding grounds. Warm-water species marine mammals, such as striped dolphin, shortbeaked common dolphin, and Cuvier's beaked whale are moving northwards as the waters experience change. And the ranges of cold-water species, such as white-beaked dolphin, are contracting. The main influences of climate change, according to the report, on marine mammals are likely to be from prey distribution and availability. Marine mammal species that make long-distance seasonal migrations (e.g. most baleen whales) will likely arrive earlier or remain in high latitudes for longer, increasing breeding opportunities. Report found that Leach's storm petrel, great skua and Arctic skua (pictured), may become extinct in the UK by 2100 due to climate change Advertisement The report is broken down into several categories to explore the potential impact of global warming on seas around the United Kingdom. As well as fish populations and their mortality rates, it investigates the potential impact on seabirds, water birds, marine mammals and plankton. The comprehensive report's scope reached as far as looking at how sea ice, coastal habitat and weather patterns would be affected. Its final section of analysis involved how it would affect humans directly, with rising sea levels, threats to coastal heritage sites and increased flood risk. Previous data reveals warming has been most pronounced to the north of Scotland and in the North Sea, with sea-surface temperature increasing by up to 0.24C (0.43F) per decade. The report then predicts that UK seas will increase in temperature by up to 0.4C (0.72F) per decade if emissions continue unabated. Going forward, the report expects the English Channel and North Sea to be affected more significantly than other aquatic regions. These warming temperatures have been instrumental in melting sea ice, which has contributed to sea level rise. At least half of Arctic sea-ice loss since the mid-20th Century has been caused by climate change caused by humans. Warmer waters and other factors have also contributed. By 2050, if emissions remain high, the report warns the Arctic will become seasonally ice-free before 2050. The impact this will have on sea levels will be catastrophic. Already, since 1900, mean sea level around the UK has risen by about 5 - 6 inches (1216 cm). Sea level rise has been slightly higher in the south of England and slightly lower in the north of Scotland. By the end of the century, if the Arctic sea ice is gone, predictions of sea-level rise in London could be as much as 31 inches (0.78 m). As well as warming up and rising, the British seas are expected to become more acidic, less oxygenated and less salty, all significant factors for marine life. Coldwater fish such as the eelpout have already been disappearing while warm-water fish such as anchovies have been blossoming recently, the report claims. It is thought the main issue for many species is how the fluctuating temperatures affect the timing of species spawning. Warming has led to earlier spawning for sole, but for Raitt's sandeel, warming delays reproductive development The authors write: 'Warming and associated oxygen solubility appears to be affecting the age at maturation, growth rates, and the maximum size fish can attain.' A tentative 'low confidence' prediction also adds more concern for the staple that is cod. As well as whales, warm-water fish species popular with sea-anglers, such as the Atlantic bonito (pictured), will frequent English seas The landmark report says many stalwarts of British fishermen - such as whelks (right)will struggle to survive where as exotic newcomers may find a permanent home in our seas, including the warm-water loving Atlantic Bonito It says that experiments have found Atlantic cod larvae may experience higher mortality rates due to ocean acidification. In contrast, over the last 30 years, mackerel has been flourishing off the west of Scotland. The report states that, by 2040, warming marine temperatures are likely to result in the invasive Pacific oyster thriving in south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 'By 2050 climate-driven changes in suitable available habitat could become a major constraint on some commercial species' distributions in the North Sea,' the report claims. If emissions continue at the high-rate of today, this impact could be as severe as a 10 per cent loss. Human health also looks set to take a knock as a result of the rising temperatures, according to the report. Changes induced by warmer waters and rising sea levels will trigger changes in how excess water is dealt with, potentially overburdening existing sewage infrastructure. As a result, waters used for 'recreation and shellfish harvesting' may be subject to increased norovirus exposure. 'Increasing sea temperature, more heatwaves and reduced salinity are likely to increase the risk of human infection from Vibrio species,' the authors add. Warming has led to earlier spawning for sole, but for Raitt's sandeel (pictured), warming delays reproductive development The report states that, by 2040, warming marine temperatures are likely to result in the invasive Pacific oyster (pictured) thriving in south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland But while many of the marine species face threats, the warming weathers will also see baleen whales - including the fin and grey whale - spend more time in British waters, leading to potential tourist excursions. As well as whales, warm-water fish species popular with sea-anglers, such as the Atlantic bonito, will frequent English seas. Environment Minister Rebecca Pow told The Telegraph: 'Tackling climate change and the impact on our environment is both a national and international priority, and the UK is already leading the fight against it by delivering on our world-leading target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 'We will be increasing that momentum at this year's COP26 talks in Glasgow and we are calling on more countries to join us in pledging to protect at least 30% of the ocean under marine protected areas by 2030. 'We are also investing 2.6 billion over six years to better protect our communities from flooding and erosion. The Federal Aviation Administration said planes were supposed to release fuel over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground. The agency said it was investigating the dump. Adrian Gee, the spokeswoman for Delta, said the flight had dropped the fuel to reach a safe landing weight. She said airline officials share concerns regarding reported minor injuries to adults and children. Many jetliners, especially those used on long flights, carry so much fuel when fully loaded that they take off weighing more than their maximum safe landing weight. Ordinarily, they consume enough fuel along the way to be well below the maximum threshold by the time they land. However, if a flight is cut short soon after takeoff, the plane may still be significantly overweight. In that situation, pilots have three choices. They can circle for a while to burn off fuel, but in an emergency there may not be time. They can land overweight, which risks damaging the aircraft. Or they can jettison fuel in flight, generally by spraying it out through nozzles on the planes wings, if the plane is equipped. By Hallie Gu and Tom Westbrook BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Commodity traders and analysts are struggling to map out how China will reach the eye-popping amounts it is committing to buy from the United States under Phase 1 of their trade deal. By Hallie Gu and Tom Westbrook BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Commodity traders and analysts are struggling to map out how China will reach the eye-popping amounts it is committing to buy from the United States under Phase 1 of their trade deal. China has pledged to buy $50 billion more in U.S. energy supplies, and will raise U.S. agriculture purchases by some $32 billion over two years above 2017's $24 billion baseline, according to a source briefed on the deal to be signed on Wednesday. The deal also stipulates purchases of an additional $80 billion in manufactured goods. Those totals would certainly trim the roughly $300 billion annual trade gap between the countries. However, analysts who study Chinese commodity flows remain sceptical that Beijing can absorb such quantities of U.S. goods without threatening trade ties with other suppliers, hurting its own domestic producers, and making substantial changes to import standards and quotas. Either China massively increases imports and reduces current account surplus from the current 1.5% of GDP, or it engages in trade diversion away from current providers of goods which compete with the U.S." said Alicia Garcia Herrero, Chief Economist Asia Pacific at Natixis in Hong Kong. "I see this second scenario as much more likely." ENERGY China will have to include U.S. crude, liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and imports of petrochemical raw materials such as ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to meet the target, Chinese trade sources and analysts said. But it would still struggle unless new supply deals are signed that displace other exporters, they said. The $50 billion target is "too aggressive and unlikely to achieve", said Seng Yick Tee, an analyst at SIA Energy in Beijing, adding that energy product exports from the United States to China were about $8 billion in 2017 and 2018. "To achieve $25 billion a year, all the imports need to be tripled." Gavin Thompson, Vice Chair for Asia Pacific at Wood Mackenzie, was surprised by the energy figure since it would mean tariffs on U.S. crude and LNG imports would have to be removed, particularly for LNG to be competitive. Quality, rather than quantity, may be another hurdle. "Most of the Chinese refineries were designed to process medium-sour crude, but U.S. oil is mostly light, sweet," SIA's Tee said, referring to the density and the sulphur amounts in crude, which dictate the types of fuels that can be refined from an oil. AGRICULTURE TARGET "SHOCKING" The pledge to boost U.S. farm imports by over $30 billion over two years is "shocking" since that increment is more than the value of farm products it has purchased from the U.S. in a single year, said a China-based grains trader. "It would make (more) sense if the $32 billion is the total number, not the increased number." Such a large fixed dollar-figure from one producer would also risk supply disruptions and distort international crop prices, said Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING in Hong Kong. "Prices of agri (commodities) from the rest of the world could be cheaper, especially after China cut import tariffs (in January). So even after retaliatory tariffs are removed, the U.S. will not have a competitive advantage over other economies," she said. Traders also questioned what products China could buy from the United States since African swine fever has dented demand for soybeans for animal feed and quotas to protect domestic farmers limit grain imports. "China will, for sure, buy more soybeans, let's say, 30 to 40 million tonnes. (For) wheat, maybe we can increase purchases within the import quota," said a trader with a Chinese grain importer. A third grains trader said: "If such volume (of products) come to China, it will be a disaster for us (in the domestic market)." (Additional reporting by Xu Muyu in BEIJING, Sam Shen in SHANGHAI, Chen Aizhu, Tom Westbrook and Florence Tan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committees Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong made the remarks at a reception in Hanoi on January 14 for a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Director of the CPC Central Committees International Liaison Department Song Tao. Vuong told the guests that amid profound and unpredictable changes in the world and the region as well as continued reforms in both Vietnam and China, besides advantages, the two nations have been facing a lot of challenges. He suggested ministries, sectors and localities of Vietnam and China step up practical and effective cooperation in all spheres as the two nations are celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties this year. Regarding differences, Vuong stressed that, based on the common perceptions of high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States, the two sides should join hands to find out satisfactory solutions, properly settle disagreements through peaceful measures, and comply with international law. For his part, Song affirmed that the Party, Government and people of China always attach importance to developing the traditional and friendly neighbourliness with Vietnam and stand ready to join hands with their Vietnamese counterparts to implement the common perceptions of senior leaders of the two Parties and States and signed documents, thus developing the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership both intensively and extensively and bringing practical benefits to the people of the two nations. He voiced his hope that the two sides would continue deploying exchange activities through Party, State and people channels in 2020, thereby strengthening the firm foundation for relations between the two Parties, States and people of China and Vietnam. The same day, Chairman of the CPV Central Committees Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh Quan held talks with Song Tao, during which the two sides exchanged views on relations between the two Parties, States and cooperation activities in the recent past. They also discussed plans to boost cooperative ties and exchanges between the CPV and CPC, between the CPV Central Committees Commission for External Relations and the CPC Central Committees International Liaison Department and between public organisations in 2020. T he long Brexit dip in the London property market appears to have have bottomed out ahead of a possible spring revival. Although the average price of a home in the capital fell 0.5 per cent in November to 475,458, they rose year on year for the second time in the last three months, latest Land Registry figure showed today. The slight autumn upturn followed 18 consecutive months of annual falls as buyers and sellers stayed away from the market during three years of Brexit turmoil. Boroughs with hefty annual rises included Camden (up 6.8 per cent), Barking & Dagenham (4.9 per cent), Haringey (4.5 per cent) and Tower Hamlets (4.4 per cent). Loading.... The biggest falls were in the most expensive boroughs, led by Kensington & Chelsea, where there was a 12.6 per cent decline, and Westminster, where the average price fell 8.8 per cent to below the 1 million mark. David Westgate, Group Chief Executive at estate agents Andrews Property Group, said: Arguably the dominant narrative in the property market during the closing months of 2019 was a growing indifference to Brexit and this shows through quite decisively in November. A lot of people were fed up with the noise of Brexit and politics in general and decided to get on with their lives. There will naturally be a number of caveats surrounding the November data in light of the General Election but overall the market put in a strong performance in what was a highly uncertain environment. Also contributing to the uplift was the fact that a lot of people wanted to get the wheels in motion before the General Election result, just in case it delivered a curveball. The fact that this growth came before Boris Johnsons landslide win bodes well for the year ahead. There is a huge amount of pent-up demand in the market and we are already seeing it start to come through. Crucially, even aspirational movers are coming back to the market, which underlines how sentiment has improved. Nick Leeming, Chairman of agents Jackson-Stops, said: Post-election, a degree of certainty has now been welcomed back to the market and the property industry is set to be entering a new phase of growth. Photo: Ben Kucinski/Flickr Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Los Angeles. 60 people treated after Delta plane dumps fuel near schools while approaching LAX Fire crews treated 60 people, including elementary school students, after a plane dumped jet fuel near Cudahy and South Los Angeles schools, according to fire officials Tuesday. Read the full story on ABC7. Highlander actor Stan Kirsch dies by suicide at age 51 Actor Stan Kirsch, who played Richie Ryan in more than a hundred episodes of the original Highlander TV series, died by suicide over the weekend, officials said. Read the full story on New York Daily News. Off-duty officer fatally run over while helping 'old lady' cross the street, police say Det. Amber Leist, 41, was fatally struck by a car Sunday morning after helping a woman who stumbled to the ground as she was crossing the street. Read the full story on USA TODAY. Dodger fan says he and his friends want to file class-action lawsuit against Astros One of the many Los Angeles Dodgers fans outraged by the Houston Astros' actions in the 2017 season, which ended in a World Series loss for the L.A. team, said he and his friends were considering filing a class-action lawsuit. Read the full story on KTLA 5 News. Former LA high school teacher jailed for sexual assault of student A two-year prison sentence was handed down Tuesday for a former Los Angeles high school teacher who sexually assaulted one of her students. Read the full story on NBC LA. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. A suspect in the 2005 murder of a police officer has been arrested in Pakistan. PC Sharon Beshenivsky was killed in Bradford while responding to an armed robbery call, becoming the second female police officer to be fatally shot on duty in the UK, after Yvonne Fletcher. Six people had been convicted for crimes in connection with the incident, but one, Piran Ditta Khan, remained at large. The 71-year-old was arrested in Pakistan on Tuesday and has appeared in court in Islamabad. Matters relating to his extradition were discussed in the hearing, West Yorkshire Police said. He has been remanded in custody to return to court on 29 January. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque PA UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelseas Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge Liverpool FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Years Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London EPA UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year PA UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London PA UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services PA UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste' PA UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke PA The persistence to capture and bring to justice all those involved in the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky has to be applauded, said West Yorkshire Police Federation chair, Brian Booth, adding his colleagues were delighted ... and will now be watching closely the wheels of justice turning in this case and how this plays out. The murder sent a shockwave not only through West Yorkshire but throughout the world, Mr Booth said. We still mourn the loss of Sharon and I wish to pass on my thanks, on behalf of my West Yorkshire colleagues, to the National Crime Agency in Pakistan for making this arrest possible. Detective Superintendent Mark Swift added: We are continuing to liaise with partners in Pakistan to process Khans extradition with the intention of returning him to the UK to face court proceedings. Mr Khan was a former doorman and allegedly masterminded the robbery. In 2009, authorities issued a 20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Three involved in the fatal robbery have since been convicted of murder, two for manslaughter, and one for robbery alone. Beshenivsky had been a constable for just nine months. Her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, was also seriously wounded in the attack. It breaks my heart to think that I will never hear her infectious laugh again, to think she wont be here to see our children grow, her husband, Paul, said after her death. The people who did this to Sharon and to Teresa and to our families are cowards. They took away my wife, but they also took away a wonderful mum, and the world is a darker place without her. India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region as New Delhi is an important player, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday. Addressing the gathering at the Raisina Dialogue here, Zarif also said his country was interested in diplomacy, but not in negotiating with the US, remarks that come amid spiralling tensions between the two countries over the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Hitting out at the US, he said Soleimani was the single biggest threat to ISIS and his killing was now being celebrated by the terror group and US President Donald Trump. "Who is celebrating Soleimani's killing? President Trump, (US Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and Daesh (ISIS). You wonder about strange bedfellows? Not really," he said, adding that Soleimani's killing had showed ignorance and arrogance on the part of the US. The Iranian foreign minister claimed that 430 Indian cities saw protests and commemorative meetings after Soleimani's killing. India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region as New Delhi is an important player, Zarif told PTI. India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. Zarif, in his address, also said that European powers have violated the 2015 international nuclear deal -- Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was signed between Iran and the P5+1 (China France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). His remarks came a day after after Britain, France and Germany launched a complaint against Iran for non-compliance. "The future of the nuclear deal depends on Europe. JCPOA was one of the best deals... one of the best multilateral agreements. None of the 11 commitments given to Iran were fulfilled. Not only the US, but also EU failed to keep those commitments," Zarif said. The EU is in violation of JCPOA commitments independent of American violations, he said. "You (EU countries) are independent countries. Why do you let US bully you? So we triggered the dispute resolution mechanism. Nothing happened. They did not even respond," he said. "We have said that once Europe reverses, we will reverse too. We have lost hundreds of billions of dollars. If they pay us those hundreds of billions we will reverse our decisions," Zarif said. Referring to the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week killing all 176 aboard, Zarif said shooting down of the civilian plane was a mistake. "Why did it happen? Because there was a crisis. People make mistakes, unforgivable mistakes, but it happened in the time of the crisis," Zarif said. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian aircraft. "We need to create hope in the region. We have to get rid of despair," he said. Zarif's remarks come amid the global focus being on Iran and the US over the confrontation between them following Soleimani's killing. Maj Gen Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force, was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces are stationed in Iraq. Iran responded in self-defence, Zarif asserted. The US accused Soleimani of threatening to attack US embassies, but now it is known there was no such threat, he said. The US wants to get rid of international law and that is why it talks of international rules based system, Zarif said. The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region, he said. "The US is now negotiating with Taliban. To do what? To get out of Afghanistan. What has US brought to Iraq? Stability? For Afghanistan and Iraq, it is their choice. But to use Iraq to mount an attack on an official guest of Iraq? It was an unprovoked attack," Zarif said. Secretary Pompeo says if Iran wants its people to eat, then it will have to listen to US and this amounts to war crime, Zarif said. "We now need a new coalition against Daesh. We knew where Daesh was standing. We now know where US is standing," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At the invitation of Myanmars President U Win Myint, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Myanmar from Jan. 17 to 18. It is Xi's first overseas trip this year, and the first visit to Myanmar by a Chinese president in 19 years. The journey will start a new phase in China-Myanmar relations as this year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. China and Myanmar, two neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, enjoy a time-honored friendship. People of the two countries have regarded each other as "Paukphaw", meaning brothers, and people of Myanmar describe the friendly relations between the two countries as the "gold and silver road". Despite different social systems, Myanmar took the lead in recognizing the People's Republic of China. The then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Myanmar nine times. The relationship between the two countries has evolved from their joint implementation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence they initially advocated to the addressing of boundary issues left over by history through friendly negotiations, leaving behind a trail of widely told stories. In recent years, the China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership has enjoyed sustained development with the strategic guidance of leaders of the two countries. Both countries have witnessed frequent high-level mutual visits, enhanced political mutual trust, close economic ties, more personnel exchanges, in-depth cultural exchanges, solid progress in practical cooperation in various areas, and benefits deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples. China and Myanmar are now working together to pave a "gold and silver road" in the new era. The "gold and silver road" in the new era is a road of mutual trust and cooperation. President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi several times in bilateral and multilateral settings, and outlined the blueprint for the development of China-Myanmar ties. The two countries enjoy close exchanges in various fields such as legislation, administration, justice, political parties, military, and people-to-people engagement, laying a solid foundation for bilateral relations. China supports Myanmar in safeguarding its sovereign independence and territorial integrity, respects its independent choice of development path, and backs its national reconciliation and peace process. Myanmar gives firm support on issues related to China's core interests such as Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang. The two sides maintain close communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, further cooperation in mechanisms including China-ASEAN cooperation and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, and make positive contributions to promoting the development of each other and maintaining regional peace and stability. The "gold and silver road" in the new era is a road of prosperity and development. China is Myanmar's largest trading partner and the most important investment partner. Focusing on the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), the two countries have seen deepening practical cooperation in recent years. They set up a joint committee for the CMEC, and Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi serves as Myanmar's chairperson of the Belt and Road guiding committee. With the joint efforts of both sides, China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines and other projects have greatly benefited people's livelihood. At the same time, progress has been made in pillar projects such as the Kyaukpyu special economic zone and the China-Myanmar border economic cooperation zone. The "gold and silver road" in the new era is also a road of closer people-to-people ties. China and Myanmar have maintained increasingly active people-to-people exchanges with the further development of bilateral relations. Now, over 150 flights shuttle between the two countries every week, and more and more Chinese tourists have visited the Southeast Asian country attracted by its distinct natural scenery, history and cultural heritage. Chinese films or TV series have captivated more and more viewers in Myanmar, including The Dream of Red Mansions, Journey to the West and Struggle, rousing the wave of "China fever" again in the country in recent years. The two nations have also conducted extensive exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, art and archeology. Supporting Bagan's successful bid for the UNESCO World Heritage List, China is now restoring the Thatbyinnyu Temple, a famous temple located in Bagan. China has also conducted extensive cooperation on livelihood projects with Myanmar. A large number of projects, such as China-Myanmar friendship schools and friendship hospitals and villages demonstrating poverty reduction progress, have brought tangible benefits to the local people. China's experience has also helped people in Myanmar get rid of poverty and create a better life. All circles in Myanmar attach great importance to and warmly welcome Xi's visit, which will become a new milestone in the history of China-Myanmar relations. The two countries will take Xis visit as an opportunity to further consolidate their traditional friendship, advance comprehensive strategic cooperation, build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, and jointly create a better future for bilateral relations. It is believed that with the joint efforts of both sides, the "gold and silver road" for bilateral friendly cooperation in the new era will surely become broader as it goes. (The author is Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar.) WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Trucking Cares Foundationthe charitable arm of American Trucking Associationstoday recognized eight members of Congress for their outstanding efforts to combat human trafficking. The Foundation presented a bipartisan group of four senators and four representatives with the 2020 Hero Award following a briefing in the United States Capitol Building entitled, "Advancing Legislative Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking." The following eight members of Congress were recognized for their leadership on this issue, through a combination of sponsoring key legislation, raising national awareness, and chairing legislative caucuses committed to the issue of trafficking: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) (D-MN) Sen. John Thune (R-SD) (R-SD) Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) (D-NV) Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) (R-ME) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (D-NY) Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) (R-TX) Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) (D-CA) Rep. John Katko (R-NY) As the eyes and ears of our nation's highways, America's trucking industry plays a vital role in closing the loopholes in our transportation system that human traffickers exploit for their illicit enterprises. Traffickers exploit the transportation sector in all phases of human trafficking: recruitment, moving and controlling victims, and for delivering victims to buyers for commercial sex or forced labor. ATA, along with its affiliated 50 state trucking associations, are working closely with industry partners, NGOs and government officials together to educate and train the 7.4 million people in the trucking industry to identify and report situations where tracking could be occurring. "Eradicating human trafficking is one of the major pillars of focus for the Trucking Cares Foundation," said the foundation's Chairman Phil Byrd, President and CEO of Bulldog HiWay Express. "Beyond serving on the front lines, our industry can help raise awareness by recognizing those partners in government who provide the tools and resources we need to fight the good fight. The 2020 Hero Award does just that, and we thank these members of Congress for their commitment to this important cause." ATA First Vice Chair Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, President and CEO of Garner Transportation Group, was one of 15 stakeholders on the U.S. Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking, which presented its final report to Secretary Chao in July 2019. "The legislators being recognized today truly embody the recommendations that the Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking outlined in our report," said Garner Brumbaugh. "From providing top-level leadership, to raising national awareness, to advancing critical legislation, their tireless effortscombined with the efforts of the trucking industry and other NGOsare what's needed to eradicate trafficking and save countless lives from unspeakable evil." In recent years, the industry has made nearly 2,500 calls to the national hotline to report possible instances of trafficking. Those calls generated almost 700 active cases in which more than 1,240 victims were identified and rescued. While the exact scope of human trafficking is difficult to ascertain, globally it is estimated that as many as 24.9 million men, women, and children are exploited in various forms of contemporary slave-like practices. The federal government estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 persons are trafficked into the United States every year. Indicators of human trafficking within the United States include 5,147 reports made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2018, and over 10,000 reports related to child sex trafficking made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2017. American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook . Trucking Moves America Forward . The purpose of the Trucking Cares Foundation is to improve the safety of the trucking industry and the safety, security, and sustainability of America's highways and communities we serve by supporting and promoting research, education and leadership development, volunteerism, and a broad range of charitable activities towards those ends. SOURCE American Trucking Associations Related Links http://www.trucking.org The blue wave that washed over Harris County in 2018 began as a ripple two years before when Democrat Kim Ogg ousted Republican district attorney Devon Anderson and GOP tax assessor-collector Mike Sullivan lost to Democrat Ann Harris Bennett. Four years later, Ogg and Bennett are up for re-election. Their stiffest test, however, may be not in the November general election, but in the fast-approaching Democratic primary, where each of the countywide incumbents has drawn multiple challengers. The crowded Harris County Democratic primary field reflects a new reality in Houston politics: With the county turning an even darker shade of blue in 2018, many consider the real battle for countywide seats to be the Democratic primaries, leading more candidates to take on incumbent officeholders. This is the new political landscape of Harris County. Countywide offices are won and lost in the Democratic Primary, said Ogg campaign spokesperson Jaime Mercado, who argued that Oggs 2016 win signaled a monumental shift in county politics and created renewed emphasis on criminal justice reform now championed by other Democratic officials and Oggs opponents. In the March 3 primaries, Ogg, Bennett, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and County Attorney Vince Ryan all Democrats face at least two intra-party opponents each, while Democratic Commissioner Rodney Ellis has a primary challenger in former state district judge Maria Jackson. Excluding state district and county courts, 10 of 14 Harris County Democratic incumbents have at least one primary foe. In comparison, three of the seven county GOP incumbents Justice of the Peace Russ Ridgway, Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman and education department trustee Don Sumners have drawn primary challengers. At the state level, Republicans from the Harris County delegation largely have evaded primary opponents better than Democrats. All but three GOP state representatives Dan Huberty, Briscoe Cain and Dennis Paul are unopposed. On the Democratic side, state Sen. Borris Miles and state Reps. Alma Allen, Jarvis Johnson, Senfronia Thompson, Harold Dutton, Shawn Thierry and Garnet Coleman each have primary opponents. Overall, the 34 Democratic incumbents seeking re-election to federal, state and county seats that cover at least a portion of Harris County not including state district and county courts face 43 primary opponents. The 22 Republican incumbents have 10 intra-party challengers. GOP civil war over? In prior election cycles, Republican primaries played host to explosive and at times internecine clashes between moderate and more hardline conservatives. State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, in 2018 fended off businesswoman Susanna Dokupil, who was backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and conservative activists who viewed Davis as insufficiently conservative. This time, no such battles involving incumbents appear to be unfolding in Harris County. The Republican civil war is no longer being fought on the primary battlefield the way it was in 2018, '16, '14, '12 and '10, said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones. For instance, (conservative advocacy group) Empower Texans isn't out there actively recruiting people to run against incumbents, nor do you see the (former House Speaker) Joe Straus wing of the party actively recruiting people to run against more conservative incumbents. The trend, which largely extends statewide, may reflect Republicans concern about the 2020 election and their desire to take aim at Democrats instead of each other, Jones said. Despite the dearth of candidates challenging GOP incumbents, Harris County Republican Party Chairman Paul Simpson said the local GOP has attracted a large field of candidates and precinct chairs from a range of diverse backgrounds, ages, communities, professions, and experience. Locally, he said, there is a high level of enthusiasm and energy among Republicans. Simpson also disputed Democrats contention that their crowded primaries are a product of countywide races being effectively settled in Democratic primaries. He argued that the elimination of straight-ticket voting would help Republicans, and that the Democratic Partys radical, socialist policies would repel voters. Lillie Schechter, chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, said the partys efforts to engage voters and lay the foundation for November are aided by their competitive primaries. The primary is where candidates and voters test ideas, she said. However, we all know whats at stake this November and believe our voters will come together ready to enthusiastically support our nominees up and down the ballot against Donald Trump and Texas Republicans. Simpson said the party legally cannot and does not dissuade challengers, adding that it does just the opposite because being on the campaign trail helps candidates develop and meet more voters to build enthusiasm for November. Not all the Republican primaries lack intrigue. Former Republican state representative Mike Schofield is seeking to reclaim the seat he narrowly lost to Rep. Gina Calanni, D-Katy, in 2018. Abbott, however, has endorsed Schofields opponent, Katy businesswoman Angelica Garcia, in the Republican primary. And in House District 128, Cains primary opponent, Baytown City Councilmember Robert Hoskins, is backed by a host of local officials, including the mayors of Baytown, Deer Park, La Porte and Pasadena. Still, that primary has not attracted a significant amount of attention, perhaps because Cain by some measures the most conservative Texas House member is drawing support from more moderate colleagues who supported Straus, some of whom attended a fundraiser for him earlier this month. In Briscoe Cain's case, that's something that maybe in another time you would have seen the Republican civil war play out there, Jones said. But the establishment types who in the past would have backed Hoskins are now backing Cain. Incumbents difficult to beat Despite the influx of Democratic challengers, it remains unclear how many of the incumbents re-elections are seriously imperiled by their intra-party foes. Historically, even well-funded and experienced candidates have struggled to mount successful primary challenges. Perhaps the most vulnerable Democratic official is state Rep. Harold Dutton, who first was elected in 1984, and faces his toughest challenge in years from Houston City Councilman Jerry Davis. Term-limited out of his council seat, Davis was scheduled to leave office earlier this month but temporarily is holding the seat while the election is delayed by a legal dispute. Richard Bonton, Duttons 2018 primary opponent, also is running. At the county level, incumbents have proven especially tough to unseat. In the district attorney primary, former prosecutors Carvana Cloud, Audia Jones and Todd Overstreet are seeking to take down Ogg, who Cloud and Jones argue has not delivered on the criminal justice reforms she promised to enact in 2016. Mercado said Ogg is treating her re-election challenge seriously. DA Ogg's campaign takes any election seriously because we owe it to the voters to never take their vote for granted, Mercado said. jasper.scherer@chron.com New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar has approached the Delhi High Court, challenging his conviction by the trial court in connection with the Unnao rape case. Sengar has also challenged the trial court's judgment which awarded him life imprisonment in connection with the case. On December 16 last year, Sengar was found guilty by a Delhi court for raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district two years ago. The court convicted him under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5 (c) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which pertains to penetrative sexual assault committed against a child by a public servant. A day-to-day hearing was conducted into the case after it was transferred from Uttar Pradesh to the national capital on the directions of the Supreme Court after the rape survivor's car met with an accident in which two of her aunts were killed. The rape survivor and her lawyer had also sustained grievous injuries in the accident. The family had alleged foul play. The girl was airlifted to Delhi's All Indian Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) following the car crash. Sengar, a four-time BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Bangarmau, had raped the girl at his residence in Unnao in June 2017, where she had gone seeking a job. Later he was arrested and is currently lodged in Tihar jail. (ANI) BANKING GROWTH FORUM is for retail bankers and lenders who recognize that achieving ongoing value creation in todays challenging environment requires an intelligent, customer-centric approach. Weve assembled some of the industrys brightest minds to lead conversations on how to drive sustainable, customer-centric growth in a dynamic market. On April 29 to May 1, 2020, executives from the worlds top retail banks and emerging fintech companies, along with some of the industrys leading experts, will convene at the Banking Growth Forum 2020. Nomis Solutions has just announced the line-up of industry luminaries who will challenge banking executives to outperform in 2020. Over the course of three days at the stylish Langham Hotel in Chicago, attendees and faculty will analyze the trends shaping the financial services sector and learn how to apply the latest data-driven techniques to better understand and predict their customers needs. The retail financial services industry is experiencing an unprecedented level of disruption, said Frank Rohde, president and CEO of Nomis Solutions. To chart a course through these shifts, weve assembled some of the industrys brightest minds to lead conversations on how to drive sustainable, customer-centric growth in a dynamic market. Data-driven customers require data-driven banks For more than a decade, financial services professionals have attended Banking Growth Forum for actionable advice on growing their portfolios through advanced analytics. This annual event has welcomed bankers, lenders and influential industry experts from around the world as both attendees and presenters, making it one of the most valuable opportunities for networking with industry peers while learning the latest techniques in data-driven pricing from experts that include include: Steven Levitt economist and co-author of the best-selling book Freakonomics and its sequels. The Wall Street Journal famously said, If Indiana Jones were an economist, hed be Steven Levitt. Bob Phillips founder of Nomis Solutions and director of pricing research at Amazon. For the latest speaker line-up, visit the event website. Make the move from average to agile BGF2020 will equip attendees to outperform in spite of todays restrictive environment by exploring topics that include: Beyond optimization Once your price is set, now what? How can you more holistically evaluate pricing to ensure you are taking advantage of all available levers to optimize your results. Identifying the growth pockets Steps you need to take to become more customer centric and ultimately recession proof. The new normal of lending Find opportunity for on-going value creation in todays hyper-competitive lending market. Owning your deposits growth in 2020 How to negotiate tradeoffs between balance growth or maintenance, net interest margin, and the interactions between financial products in a falling rate environment. Harnessing greater insights to find your edge How leveraging precise and timely insights into deposit/lending demand, competition, and price elasticity allows you to reduce interest expense while maximizing balance acquisition and retention. Its time to re-examine our business models Hint: its not always about rates! Impact of regulatory reform How will recent regulatory changes shape the home financing landscape? Next-generation pricing analytics Learn how to apply advanced analytics to determine optimum in-market pricing that best positions your products. To learn more about the 2020 Banking Growth Forum and register to attend, visit the event website. About Nomis Solutions Nomis is a fast-growing fintech and price optimization pioneer that is enabling the worlds smartest financial institutions to drive sustained, profitable growth through end-to-end customer-centric pricing capabilities. We do so through our market-leading, cloud-native Nomis Platform and team of experts, bringing together cutting-edge big data, machine learning, AI and mission-critical software with deep expertise in consumer behavior, pricing and the financial services industry. The Nomis Platform manages over $2.5 trillion in transaction volume, quotes a price every 60 milliseconds, empowers 14,000+ bankers, and generates nearly $800 million in value annually. To learn more, visit nomissolutions.com. Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan today hosted creator and main organizer of STARMUS (Stars and Music) Festival, Armenian astrophysicist Garik Israelian, reports the news department of Yerevan Municipality. STARMUS Festival gathers world famous scientists, cosmonauts, musicians and recipients of the Nobel Prize, and this year, Armenai will host the 6th STARMUS Festival. During the meeting, the parties particularly touched upon the organizing of the 6th STARMUS Festival. Hayk Marutyan stated that the municipality will do everything it can to make sure the international festival is held properly in Yerevan. The board members of the STARMUS Festival are cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, member of the rock band Queen Bryan May, world famous researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier, astrophysicists Jill Tarter and Robert Williams, musician Peter Gabriel, as well as other reputable representatives of the fields of science and the arts. The festival will be held in Armenia at the initiative of President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian. A new law passed by China mandating ethnic unity in state and social institutions in Tibet is raising concerns among Tibetans and outside observers, who say the law is aimed at destroying the Tibetan peoples national identity in their historic homeland. Passed on Saturday by the regional legislature of Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and set to take effect on May 1, the law drew immediate criticism from Tibetan activists, as well as from U.S. officials and politicians, who noted that Tibetans already struggle against immense pressure to Sinicize their culture and faith, an ever more narrow scope for them to practice their Buddhist religion and deteriorating human rights conditions. Marco Respintidirector of the online Bitter Winter magazine, which monitors religious freedom in Chinatold RFA's Tibetan Service that China is now trying to homogenize Tibetans into Chinas dominant ethnic Han culture, adding, They call this sinicization. At the international level, all governmentsand especially the United Statesmust raise their voice against this cultural genocide and highlight the Tibetan issue in their public remarks, he said. The new law, titled Regulations on the Establishment of a Model Area for Ethnic Unity and Progress in the Tibet Autonomous Region, requires equal participation by non-Tibetan ethnic groups at all levels of government and in schools, private business companies, religious centers, and the military, according to state media reports. Tibet has been an inalienable part of the great [Chinese] motherland since ancient times, the new law says, in language that rankles Tibetans, who largely few Chinese rule as an occupation impose when Communist Chinese troops invaded in 195o. It adds that all of Chinas ethnic groups are important members of the Chinese family and must work together to uphold national unity and combat separatism. Meanwhile, village committees and local communities shall strengthen the establishment of a model of national unity and progress, Article 23 of the new law states, adding that village rules and covenants should be reorganized to support neighborly relationships of mutual respect, harmonious coexistence, solidarity and mutual assistance. In every case, ethnic minority culture should be seen as an inseparable part of a larger revolutionary and socialist Chinese culture, though, Article 11 of the new law says, adding, Chinese culture is always the emotional support, spiritual destination and spiritual homeland of all ethnic groups in Tibet. Western Chinese provinces with large Tibetan populations like Qinghai and Yunnan approved similar laws last year, the South China Morning Post said in a Jan. 13 report. Identity further undermined Tibets new law will further undermine Tibetan national and cultural identityalready weakened by decades of ethnic Han Chinese migration into the regionobservers told RFAs Tibetan Service in interviews this week. Speaking to RFA on Tuesday, Kunga TashiChinese Communication and Outreach Officer for the New York-based Tibet Fundsaid he fears that Chinas new law masks what he called the ruling Chinese Communist Partys hidden agenda to completely wipe out Tibetan culture and ethnicity. In a written statement Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said it remains deeply concerned by the lack of meaningful autonomy for Tibetans and the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibetan areas in China, including severe restrictions on Tibetans religious freedoms and cultural practices. We continue to urge the Government of China to respect the religious, cultural, and linguistic identity of Tibetans, including by enabling Tibetans to study the Tibetan language in schools at all levels, the State Department said. Meanwhile, in a written statement, U.S. Senator from Florida Marco Rubio slammed Chinas new ethnic unity law as an explicit statement of the Chinese Communist Partys remaking of Tibetan culture, adding, Ultimately, the CCP is enforcing a party-approved mold in order to reinforce the partys control of Tibetan society. We must voice our concerns and ensure that human rights are an integral part of our policy towards China, Rubio said. A formerly independent nation, Tibet was taken over and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, following which Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India. Chinese authorities now maintain a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans to imprisonment, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Reported and translated for RFAs Tibetan Service by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney. Ambassador Armen Baibourtian, Consul General of Armenia, met with Hon. Zhang Ping, Consul General of the Peoples Republic of China in Los Angeles, MassisPost reports. Ambassador Baibourtian presented activities of the Consulate General in the past year, including high level visit of the Prime Minister of Armenia to California, as well as some plans for 2020. Ambassador Baibourtian outlined the opportunities for cooperation of the two Consulates Generals through joint business, cultural, and academic functions. They discussed the prospect of organizing Armenia-China business symposium in Los Angeles with participation of Armenian and Chinese businessmen. Consul General Zhang Ping welcomed the initiative of Ambassador Baibourtian and suggested to involve Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles which includes more than seven hundred Chinese companies. He also proposed to enhance bilateral cooperation in Southern California through planning and implementing joint cultural and academic activities. Both sides expressed willingness to forge a partnership between two diplomatic missions. Counselor Varazdat Pahlavuni also took part in the meeting. (Natural News) Climate change activists love to insist that carbon dioxide is behind global warming, and theyve made a sport out of refuting claims to the contrary. However, its getting harder to defend their delusional stance as more than 100 different scientific papers and counting show that carbon dioxides effect on the climate is actually quite small. The papers use terms such as negligible to describe the effects of CO2 on the climate. For example, a paper from last year said there was not a consistent warming with gradual increase (in CO2) in low to high latitudes in both hemispheres, as it should be from the global warming theory. After pointing out the complexity of climate predictions, the researchers said it is simply not possible to support the notion that global warming stems from human-caused greenhouse effect. Last fall, a group of 500 scientists and other professionals in the climate science space penned a letter to the United Nations sharing their view that there isnt a climate crisis and that they consider spending so much money on the issue to be cruel and imprudent. In the letter, they encouraged the UN to follow a climate policy that is based on sound science, realistic economics and genuine concern for those harmed by costly but unnecessary attempts at mitigation. The fact remains that the so-called global warming science that many adherents love to quote is based on a biased interpretation of questionable science that keeps getting repeated as though it were fact. MIT Professor Richard Lindzen, an atmospheric sciences emeritus professor behind more than 200 different scientific papers, said that climate alarmists voices seem to get louder and louder as the climate changes less. He also noted that in a 2007 paper, the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) admitted that its not possible to predict future climate states. Less than 48 hours remaining at the Health Ranger Store's New Year's Resolution Sale. Last chance to get amazing deals on over 60 lab-verified supplements, superfoods, essential oils and more... enjoy up to 40% OFF selected items. This limited-time sale ends Jan. 6 at NOON CST, or while supplies last. Learn more here. Lying to get what they want He believes that those sounding the alarm bell about climate change are using it as a way of getting what they want. Activists are seeking supporters and funding, while politicians are using it to gain power and money. The media, he says, uses it to grab headlines because Doomsday scenarios sell. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was caught publishing fake data on global warming in a failed attempt to debunk a UN reports assertion that global warming was slowing down. Meanwhile, data compiled by NASA showed that carbon dioxide was cooling the atmosphere instead of warming it up as commonly claimed. Thats not surprising when you consider the fact that 95 percent of climate software models have actually turned out to be wrong. Carbon dioxide has been demonized, but the truth is that its what is sustaining life on our planet. If we got rid of it the way many climate change alarmists are pushing for, life on our planet would collapse. Plants wouldnt be able to breathe and would essentially suffocate. Wed have no food to eat and it would spell the end of mankind. So why are some people on a mission to get rid of it? Sources for this article include: WND.com NaturalNews.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:05:21|Editor: Wang Yamei Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai port maintained the top position in the world in terms of container throughput in 2019, according to Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong on Wednesday. The container throughput of Shanghai port totaled 43.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units last year, ranking the first in the world for 10 consecutive years, Ying said when delivering his government work report at the ongoing annual session of the municipal people's congress. "Shanghai will serve as a crucial port for international container transportation and an aviation hub in the Asia Pacific region," said Ying, noting that shipping freight index futures will be launched this year to facilitate the establishment of a modern shipping service system. The city aims to build itself into an international shipping center capable of allocating global shipping resources in 2020. Efforts will be made to speed up the development of smart and green ports, facilitate sea-rail intermodal transportation and waterway transshipment, as well as build up an entire industrial chain of the cruise economy, the mayor said. The Harris County Housing Authority board voted unanimously Wednesday to buy embattled CEO Guy Rankin IV out of his contract for $137,000, resolving a weeks-long dispute over his continued employment at the agency and the amount of severance he would receive. Rankin's contract, due to expire in August 2013, entitled him to $242,000 in severance - equal to one year's salary - if he was fired without cause, and nothing if he was fired with cause. The agreement saw Rankin relinquish his job as CEO on Wednesday. "I'm not elated by this, but, in my opinion, it is a move that in the long term saves the agency resources and is fiscally prudent," said board chairman Beto Cardenas, who was elected to his post at Wednesday's meeting. The buyout amount, he said, split the difference between the two sides' positions after three hours of closed-door negotiations. The deal also prevents Rankin from suing the authority, Cardenas said. The vote ends Rankin's eight years as CEO, and comes amid revelations in recent months by the Houston Chronicle that HCHA executives' salaries increased sharply under Rankin, and that the agency poured millions into a defunct waterfront development, spent hundreds of thousands on questionable items, including statues and grand opening parties, and hired the friends and relatives of employees, including two convicted criminals with dubious qualifications. He also came under fire from county officials for the authority's handling of open records requests, including its decision to send more than 110 boxes of records to the Chronicle last fall. The documents included dozens of employees' and contractors' home addresses and many Social Security numbers. Vote shocked Morman Rankin said after the vote that he has no regrets, adding he cannot worry about things in the past. "I was just honored that I was able to serve ," he said. "I give all the credit to the previous board and to the staff. Some of the best individuals in America work there. I want to let them know I appreciate all they've done for the citizens of Harris County. They've got a great new board, a great new energy and I want them to be as successful as in the past, and even more." The authority grew during Rankin's tenure, building eight affordable housing developments and tripling the size of its core rental voucher program. The agency also won praise for its response to Gulf Coast hurricanes, particularly its efforts to find housing for thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The HCHA board chairman and vice-chair were replaced by Harris County Commissioners Court in the last month. Retired Marine Maj. Joe Ellis and real estate businessman Gerald Womack were sworn in Wednesday. Commissioners Court appoints the board, but the authority is not a county department and receives federal funds, not local tax dollars. Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman said he had hoped for a much smaller payout and was "shell-shocked" and "disappointed" in the vote. Still, Morman said the situation could serve to ensure the authority would be able to fire a future chief executive for cause over the types of decisions Rankin made. 'It's a clean break' County Judge Ed Emmett said he was most concerned that there be no ongoing relationship between HCHA and Rankin. "People can quibble over the amount, but the fact that it's a clean break and it's immediate, that there's a new day for the Harris County Housing Authority tomorrow, is a good thing," Emmett declared. Emmett said he hopes the agency's woes will be a lesson to all public boards to be more open in their dealings and not "circle the wagons" as HCHA did. The board named Tom McCasland, 39, as interim CEO. McCasland, an attorney who worked with Cardenas at Vinson & Elkins, most recently served as a consultant to the Houston Parks Board and was director of research for Bill White's 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Board members Peggy Kruckemeyer and Womack abstained from the vote to hire McCasland. He will be paid $144,000. Rankin said he is unsure of his next career move. "There have been a lot of opportunities and a lot of people calling and asking all over the country," he said. "I'm going to take some time and relax and think about it and reflect on the good things and see what the future holds. Hopefully, it involves helping people." mike.morris@chron.com Military strongman Khalifa Haftar's reluctance to sign up to a Turkish-Russian orchestrated ceasefire accord underlines the complexity of Libya's conflict and pressures exerted by key foreign players, analysts say. He left Moscow on Tuesday without signing a permanent truce aimed at ending nine months of fighting against the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj. His abrupt departure was a setback for an international diplomatic push, after Sarraj had signed up to halting Haftar's offensive to seize Tripoli from the GNA. For Emad Badi of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, there are two plausible explanations for Haftar walking away. "Either he didn't sign because he personally decided not regardless of the consequences, or... one of his backers guaranteed him support even if he did not sign". Abdelqader el-Rehebi, a Libyan political analyst, said the motivation for Haftar to hold off on signing a definitive ceasefire deal was clear. "Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cairo and Paris, the direct or indirect supporters of his military campaign... were not agreed" on the deal. "This makes his refusal logical." Rehebi said Haftar's foreign backers had pressed him to keep up the Tripoli offensive "and, in return, (they pledged) to keep up their political and military support". Egypt, for example, a regional rival of Turkey which opposes Ankara's support for the GNA, "rejects any consensus or reconciliation between the two camps that would permit a Turkish presence on the Libyan scene", Rehebi said. Peter Millett, a former British ambassador to Libya, tweeted that Haftar's stand was a signal that the general and his backers "still think he can win militarily". - 'Very expensive price' - But Mohamed Eljarh, another Libyan analyst, tweeted that Haftar had come under "enormous pressure" to sign. "Once again, Haftar proves he is not bound by the wishes of his backers & those that sympathize with him. Not #Cairo, not #AbuDhabi, and not #Moscow. #Libya," Eljarh wrote. A former US special envoy to Libya, Jonathan M. Winer, said the strongman's actions were true to form. "That has been what I have both observed & been told by senior foreign officials of states that supported him in the past. A dictator is beholden to no one," he tweeted. Critics accuse Haftar of aiming to install a new dictatorship in Libya, which has been in chaos ever since the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted with fury to Haftar's walkout. "We will not hesitate to teach a deserved lesson to the putschist Haftar if he continues his attacks on the country's legitimate administration and our brothers in Libya," he said. The general, who supports an administration based in eastern Libya, set his sights on Tripoli last April after conquering much of the south, in part by rallying powerful local tribes. For Federica Saini Fasanotti of the Brookings Institution, "the price of this siege (of Tripoli) is also very expensive for Haftar." He "sees himself indebted to foreign countries that have supported him, but above all to the inhabitants" of eastern Libya. "Families who lost their children in this war operation await a clear response from Haftar that can only end with victory, at least on paper. Without that, it will be very difficult" for him, she said. Other analysts speculated that a secret annex to the ceasefire accord between Moscow and Ankara could explain Haftar's opposition. "Possibly, the two countries might have some 'under the table' deal for a possible new political lineup in Libya," Claudia Gazzini of the International Crisis Group told AFP. Search Keywords: Short link: The Labour Party leader says he will not consider any coalition options that include Sinn Fein. Brendan Howlin says he believes the IRA still has influence over the Sinn Fein leadership. After two years of negotiations the agreement now heads to the World trade Organization. The United States, the European Union and Japan on Tuesday proposed new global trade rules to curb subsidies they say are distorting the worldwide economy, with China their clear target. A day before Chinese officials are due to sign the first phase of a trade deal with the US in Washington, Beijing is again the focus of criticism from its main trading partners. The phase one US-China deal will lead to China buying more US products, but will not tackle hard issues such as subsidies. After meeting in Washington, Japanese Economy Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and new EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said in a joint statement that existing World Trade Organization (WTO) rules were insufficient to tackle market distortions from subsidies. The proposed rules are the outcome of two years of trilateral discussions, but are only a precursor to the hard work of convincing other WTO members, including China. They also mark a note of harmony in US-EU relations, which have been strained by US tariffs and disputes over aircraft subsidies and EU auto exports. During his first visit to Washington in his new role, Hogan will meet separately with Lighthizer, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, US lawmakers, and officials from the International Monetary Fund, the EU delegation said. The three partners intend to bring their proposals to the Geneva-based WTO, with as many countries involved as possible, even if not all the WTOs 164 members are included. This would only make sense if the big subsidisers were on board, an EU source said. The EU last year hailed a breakthrough in talks with China on industrial subsidies, and it believes Beijings desire to keep the WTO afloat may make it more flexible. Beijing has said it would be more ready to discuss industrial subsidies if talks also extended to agricultural subsidies prevalent in the west. The WTO already bans any subsidies that are used to boost exports or to give an advantage to local goods over imported ones. The three partners want to add four banned subsidy types: unlimited guarantees, subsidies to ailing enterprises without a restructuring plan, subsidies to firms unable to obtain long-term financing, and certain forms of debt forgiveness. They would also seek to ban other large subsidies, such as those that create overcapacity, that prop up money-losing firms (called zombie enterprises), or subsidies that lower input prices unless the subsidising country can prove there are no negative effects. The partners are also seeking to devise rules to end forced technology transfer and current WTO rules that allow countries such as China, South Korea, and Singapore to designate themselves as developing countries, which enjoy economic advantages. (CNN) Six tourists have been arrested at Machu Picchu after fecal matter was found at a sacred location on the famed Inca citadel in Peru. Four men and two women entered an area within the Temple of the Sun, a temple built by Incas to host ceremonies, authorities at the site said. The tourists damaged a wall at the site and feces were found inside the temple on Sunday, the Ministry of Culture told CNN affiliate TV Peru. Darwin Baca Leon, mayor of the Machupicchu district, which contains the iconic Machu Picchu site, told reporters after the arrests were made that the group had "attacked" the local heritage. He added that the incident is under investigation. Three Argentines, a Brazilian, a Chilean, and a French woman make up the group. Local media reported that all the tourists were aged between 20 and 32. The popular Peruvian tourist destination is believed to have been constructed in the 15th century. In 2014, authorities denounced a trend that saw tourists getting naked at the sacred location. Four American tourists were detained in March of that year for removing their clothes and posing for photos at the site. In a pair of separate incidents earlier in the same week, two Canadians and two Australians were detained for stripping down for pictures there. LONDON The county of Rutland, Englands smallest by some measures, has for years had varied gastronomic options: pub food, Indian cuisine, tapas and even a restaurant with a Michelin star. But it was the only English county not to have a McDonalds until now. The local council on Tuesday approved an application by McDonalds for a new restaurant in the county, a decision that many in the area viewed as a surrender of Englands last fortress to fast-foods signature golden arches, despite a promise by the company that the outlet would provide at least 65 jobs. Among residents objections to the McDonalds, which is planned near the town of Oakham, were worries over litter, noise, obesity and crime. Rutland, a rural county with a population of about 37,000 according to the most recent census, has been noted for its serenity and beauty. Hailed as Britains best rural area for quality of life by Halifax bank in 2015, it includes the historic towns of Oakham and Uppingham. NEW YORK - CNN is drawing fire from Bernie Sanders supporters for a debate moderators question that appeared to dismiss his denial of a story that he had told rival Elizabeth Warren that a woman couldnt win the presidential election. The issue, first raised in a story reported by CNN earlier this week, became a part of CNNs coverage Tuesday of a debate between Democratic presidential candidates co-sponsored with the Des Moines Register. Sanders was pressed by CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip, one of the debate moderators, who asked him: I want to be clear here. Youre saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election? That is correct, he replied. She then turned to Warren and asked, What did you think when Senator Sanders told you that a woman could not win an election? There was some laughter from the audience, and Sanders shook his head. It was an odd moment: Phillip, a veteran of the Washington Post, ABC News and Politico, was appearing to dismiss Sanders denial or imply that it was not believable. The fact that CNN broke the initial story about the alleged conversation between the candidates, first based on anonymous sourcing but then confirmed by Warren, added another layer of intrigue. It provoked anger among Sanders supporters on Twitter, one of whom wrote that fellow fans of the Vermont senator should tweet to CNN and let them know just how bad and unreasonable its work on the debate had been. The Poynter Institute, a journalism think-tank , wrote Wednesday that it was a stunning moment stunning it its ineptness, and stunning in its unprofessionalism. Phillips question to Warren was tantamount to calling Sanders a liar, and that certainly should not be a moderators job, especially when Philip had the opportunity to ask Warren directly if Sanders ever told her that, Poynter said. If Warren said yes, then and only then should Phillip have asked what Warren thought. CNN on Wednesday would not comment publicly on the question. Warren went on to make one of her most-quoted statements of the night, noting that she and fellow candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar had won all of their elections while the men on stage hadnt. COLUMBIA As some S.C. legislators are pushing to give all state employees their first substantial pay raise in years, Gov. Henry McMaster wants agency bosses to choose who gets rewarded. The Republican governor said he recognizes all state agencies are having trouble recruiting and retaining workers "with very valuable, experienced talent" because "they can be paid more elsewhere." But, rather than approve a cost-of-living raise for more than 60,000 state employees, legislators should split a $33 million pool among all state agencies and let department heads dole out the money "based on performance, merit, success and longevity," McMaster said in releasing his executive budget this week. "Agency directors who know their personnel should be empowered to incentivize their own personnel," he said, likening it to how raises work in private businesses. State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who has fought for state employee pay hikes for years, scoffed at the suggestion. For starters, she said, the amount McMaster suggests setting aside for raises is not nearly enough for tens of thousands of employees who have seen just three, incremental cost-of-living increases over the past decade. The Orangeburg Democrat argues that, in a year when legislators have an additional $1.8 billion to spend, a good chunk of that should go to employees who keep state government rolling. According to state fiscal experts, a 1 percent across-the-board raise would cost $21 million. McMaster's office contends the $33 million proposal is equivalent to a 2 percent raise, without covering accompanying rising costs in benefits. Cobb-Hunter also argues lawmakers need to stop pitting public employees against each other in the budget. McMaster proposes giving every K-12 public school teacher a $3,000 boost costing $213 million as the second year toward fulfilling legislators' promise to push teachers' pay to the national average within five years. Last year, legislators put $159 million toward giving every teacher at least a 4 percent raise, while spending $20 million to give a $600 one-time bonus to state agency employees who make less than $70,000. And, as legislators have done in previous years, McMaster's budget separately provides money to state law enforcement agencies to raise their officers' pay. His latest plan would collectively send $38 million to seven departments, with the biggest chunk of that nearly 40 percent going to state prisons, which are chronically short-staffed. "Im troubled by the results of our pay raises in the past," Cobb-Hunter said. "Im all for teachers. Im all for law enforcement. But Im also all for the average state employee who is not a teacher or first responder or law enforcement. Weve continued to kick the can down the road, and the problem gets worse." Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! State law already allows agency directors to give raises at their discretion, if money is available usually due to vacancies and salaries fall within a set range for job descriptions. Ending across-the-board raises "would be all well and good if this state had a history of providing raises on a consistent level, because the raises have been so subjective and at the whim of managers who they like and dont like, who theyre related to, what church they go to," Cobb-Hunter said. Giving no cost-of-living raise as McMaster suggests would only exacerbate unfairness in the system, she said. Legislative leaders in both chambers have said all state employees will get raises this year. Cobb-Hunter introduced a bill Tuesday that would require legislators to follow the recommendations of a salary study they commissioned in 2015, which found that state workers are underpaid compared with their counterparts in other states and even local governments within South Carolina, even as they give up more of their paycheck for benefits. That would require overhauling a salary structure unchanged since 1995, when the minimum wage was still $4.25 an hour. The revamp would include redefining outdated job duties and what it takes to get a promotion. "We're not competitive anymore. There are openings but no one wants them," said Carolee Dunn, of Summerville, supervisor of a state Vocational Rehabilitation training center. "I love my job. I help people with disabilities. That's why I stay, but it's getting to a point I can't support myself." Because of the outdated job structure, she can't get promoted, she said. And she's unsure how a merit system would work when expectations aren't defined. "It's irritating" that state employees who aren't teachers are left out of the discussion, said Dunn, who works in Walterboro. McMaster defended the $3,000 across-the-board raises to teachers as necessary to encourage young people to enter and stay in the profession. His proposal would boost minimum starting salaries for first-year teachers to $38,000, representing a 26 percent hike over the last three years for new teachers out of college. "We're having teachers leave because there are brighter pastures elsewhere. We dont have enough of them. That is the best way to deliver that message that we value their excellence and we want them to be part of this great prosperity we have in South Carolina," he said. "But across-the-board raises for state employees is an old way of doing things," he continued. "Its been demonstrated in private business when you have a director who knows the talents and performance of employees, thats the best way. Merit-based works every time." The Shakur Basti assembly constituency in Delhi, home to slum clusters and a diverse demography, becomes significant in this assembly election as the area has elected AAP's twice and if elected again, he will make a hat-trick, a feat no MLA has achieved so far. While Jain, the Delhi Health Minister, has been praised worldwide for reforms in the health sector, back home, his constituency still needs a lot of attention from him. Jain is also the Delhi Cabinet minister for Industries, Power, Public Works, Home and Urban Development. According to the people here, the MLA had been missing mostly from the Constituency. "We understand that he is a minister, so we expected more from him. But we hardly saw him in the last five years," said 35-year-old Pankaj from the constituency. While people praised the government for the work, they did not seem very pleased with Jain. "He has been mostly missing. Now you can see him as elections are approaching," said 25-year-old Ankit Yadav, who runs a grocery shop. According to 58-year-old Mohan, lack of proper road, piped water and sewer had been the main concerns of the area. "While few pockets have seen improvement, most of the area is still in bad shape. The work of pipeline and sewer too are incomplete. If they (AAP) are saying elections will be on the basis of the work they have done, they should have at least seen the ground reality," said Mohan. The constituency is part of Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, bagged by the BJP in the 2019 general elections. The Assembly constituency includes old and new Multan Nagar, Paschim Puri, Paschim Vihar, Peera Garhi, Pitampura, Saraswati Vihar, Rani Bagh, Rishi Nagar and Saraswati Vihar. In 1993, during the first assembly elections, Gauri Shankar Bhardwaj was elected on BJP ticket. In the next election, when the Congress came to power for the first time in Delhi in 1998, the seat was bagged by S.C. Vats. He was re-elected in 2003. However, BJP's Shyam Lal Garg defeated him in 2008. In 2012, the political landscape of Delhi changed when AAP was formed and that affected the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections in Shakur Basti also. Jain won the seat both in 2013 and 2015. While in 2013, he got 42.30 per cent votes, his vote share increased to 48.67 per cent in 2015. For the 2020 assembly elections to be held on February 8, the AAP has re-launched Jain as the candidate from Shakur Basti. The Congress and the BJP are yet to announce their candidates from here. A densely populated area, the constituency has over 1.45 lakh votes with over 70,000 females. The constituency has a sex ratio of 943 - above the state's gender ratio of 824. A Delta jet on its way to Los Angeles Airport for emergency landing has dumped fuel on the school playground of Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy on Tuesday, causing skin and eye irritation to at least 44 students and staff, according to an article by Los Angeles Times. Fire engines, hazardous materials trucks and ambulances, responded immediately to the scene. According to Los Angeles Fire Department, none of the injuries were considered serious to require transport to a hospital. In addition, there were others at nearby schools Tweedy, Graham, San Gabriel and Jordan High School who received medical care after complaining about experiencing the same symptoms. Josue Burgos, Park Avenue Elementary School sixth grader, was one of the students participating in physical education outside when he was surprised to feel the sensation of rain. When he looked up, he saw a plane barreling down on his campus with dread. "We came out and we were playing, and the airplane was outside and we thought it was rain, but then we knew it was throwing gas on us, and everybody started to run," Josue said. "We went to the auditorium and we knew what happened. We went back to class. We stayed for one hour and then we went home." Josue said fuel landed on his sweater, shirt and shorts, and the odor was immediately noticeable. "Yeah, it smelled bad," he said. "It wasn't water." Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sky Cornell told KTLA-TV at Park Avenue Elementary, "Everyone is going through decon," referring to decontamination. "We do have constant monitoring going on right now." According to Delta spokesperson Adrian Gee, Delta Flight 89, a Boeing 777, took off from LAX with 149 passengers on board and was en route to Shanghai when it experienced an engine issue, prompting the aircraft to turn around and head back to the L.A. airport. "The aircraft landed safely after an emergency fuel release to reduce landing weight," said Gee. The spokesperson added that a fuel dump is normal procedure before emergency landings shortly after takeoffs in order to reduce the aircraft's weight. Delta has been coordinating with officials about the reported injuries caused by the fuel dumping. Ross Aimer, the chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts, said fuel dumping is very rare and is only used in case of emergencies or if pilots have to reach a safe landing weight. "Most pilots choose not to dump fuel unless the emergency really dictates it," Aimer said. The non-functioning landing gear would have been the reason the pilot experienced difficulty controlling the plane. According to Los Angeles Times, when pilots dump fuel, they typically try to do it at above 10,000 feet and over water away from populated areas, but ideally it should be dumped when the plane reaches a higher altitude because fuel turns into mist when ejected. Aimer said that without clear knowledge what Flight 89's emergency was, the pilot may have been in the final stage of dumping fuel as the plane was heading toward the airport. He concluded the pilot could have made an error. The Federal Aviation Administration is already investigating the matter. Los Angeles Airport executives said they, too, are monitoring the situation. "We are concerned about impacts on the ground from the fuel release, and are in close communication with Delta and first responders as their investigations continue," Los Angeles Airport said in a statement. Lehigh University thinks it could make its Asa Packer campus safer and boost South Bethlehem businesses if Packer Avenue went car-free. Thats why Lehigh is temporarily closing Packer Avenue between Vine and Webster streets for 45 days this spring to test the impact on traffic patterns, parking and pedestrian usage. The university expects limiting cars will make the campus more friendly to pedestrians and funnel more foot traffic off the mountain into the Southside business district. Lehigh is hosting a community meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, in the Broughal Middle School auditorium to discuss its plans to pilot closing Packer Avenue from March 9 until April 30. University representatives, city officials and outside consultants will be on hand to take questions and feedback. Neither Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez nor city council have made any decision on permanently closing the street. A 2018 traffic study found that roughly 1,200 members of the Lehigh campus and surrounding community crossed Packer Avenue each day. Lehigh University officials say that limiting traffic on that section of Packer Avenue will also help connect the areas of campus that are divided by the street, and represents one more step in a years-long effort to make the Lehigh campus more pedestrian-friendly and environmentally sustainable," the university said in a news release. At the Jan. 23 meeting, Lehigh will outline the pilot closure, which limits vehicle traffic to service and emergency vehicles only. At the end of the study, the data collected will be shared at a future public meeting. Lehighs made a major push to replace cars on its campus with more feet on the street in recent years. This school year, the university instituted paid permit parking spots for employees and established a new commuter lot for employees who do not want to pay to park. The initial efforts can be traced back to the schools 2012 Campus Master Plan, which included sustainability goals of fewer cars on campus and expansion of Lehighs mass transit options. In the fall of 2018, the university revealed a Connections plan outlining a series of proposed changes to Lehighs parking and transportation systems. Broughal Middle School is located at 111 W. Morton St. in Bethlehem. Questions and comments about the trial closing of Packer Avenue can be directed to communityaffairs@lehigh.edu. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A total watering ban is now in place in Waihi and Waikino "River levels in Waihi and Waikino are low and we need to save water now," says a spokesperson for the Hauraki District Council. "The ban includes all use of water outside the house such as watering lawns and gardens, washing cars, houses and decks, filling paddling pools or playing under sprinklers. "All other parts of the district are asked to please continue to save water where they can." For water saving tips go to www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/smartwateruse "We appreciate everyones help to conserve water as this dry weather continues." Meanwhile, there is now a total watering ban in place for Coromandel Town. At the same time, Whitianga and Hahei remain on a Total Watering Ban. This means all use of water outside the house is banned. This includes watering lawns and gardens, washing cars, boats, houses, and decks, filling paddling pools and playing under sprinklers. The small amount of rain is not enough to alter the restrictions. All other water use restrictions remain unchanged across the district, as outlined below: Matarangi - Sprinkler Ban: This means a total ban on the use of all sprinkler, unattended hoses and irrigation systems. Hand-held hoses can be used on alternate days: If your address is an even number you can use your hose on even numbered days, and vice versa for odd numbered houses. Whangamata, Onemana, Tairua, Pauanui - Alternate Days: This means hoses, sprinklers and garden irrigation systems can only be used on alternate days. If your address is an even number you can use your hose on even numbered days, and vice versa for odd numbered houses. Thames - No Restrictions. Water demand remains strong in all our communities and we ask that residents and visitors continue to comply with the restrictions and use water with restraint. A reminder that Thames Valley has a permanent Total Watering Ban restriction. Please report water wastage and water leaks to our Customer Services team on 07 868 0200. CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. ("Peyto") (TSX: PEY) declares the following dividends, payable to shareholders of its common shares at the close of business on the record dates indicated. Dividend Amount per Common Share Record Date Ex-Dividend Date Payment Date $0.02 January 31, 2020 January 30, 2020 February 14, 2020 $0.02 February 29, 2020 February 27, 2020 March 13, 2020 (*) $0.02 March 31, 2020 March 30, 2020 April 15, 2020 (*) (*) Dividends are at the discretion of the Board of Directors and subject to change. Dividends paid by Peyto to Canadian residents are eligible dividends for Canadian income tax purposes. Shareholders and interested investors are encouraged to visit the Peyto website at www.peyto.com to learn more about what makes Peyto one of North Americas most exciting energy companies. The website also includes the Presidents monthly report, which discusses various topics chosen by the President and includes estimates of monthly capital expenditures and production. For further information please contact: Darren Gee President and Chief Executive Officer Phone: (403) 261-6081 Fax: (403) 451-4100 Certain information set forth in this document, including management's assessment of Peyto's future plans and operations, contains forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond these parties' control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, competition from other industry participants, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market volatility and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Peyto's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that Peyto will derive therefrom. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. Regrettably, a person has lost his life and a person has been missing in the south of the province until now. Experts highlight officials imprudence about opening the Zirdan dams gates as the reason for the floods. Similar actions last April caused flash floods in Golestan and Khuzestan provinces, in the north and southwest of the country. Aprils flash floods resulted in the death of dozens of people in many areas of Iran. Some 292 villages in the province need relief services Many of the people in these villages are still surrounded by water and require aid, the Mizan news agency quoted Deputy Director of Red Crescent Organization Hamed Sajjadi as saying on January 13. Failure to implement the planning required is one of the reasons for significant casualties and damages of floods in Iran. For instance, despite the country recently experienced floods in Golestan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, and Fars provinces, we left necessary prevention actions. We started several projects in dredging sectors, but we didnt get them to the end and left in the middle, the head of the Specialized Flood Assessment Committee Mostafa Fadaeifar said in talks with the reporter of Mehr news agency on January 13. The media outlets also acknowledged that communication routes between 500 cities and towns are still cut off. Also, it is said that the airway is the sole route for relief for the needy people, however, there is no availability for such air transport. In fact, while the residents of these areas deal with many troubles, officials arent present in the flood-stricken regions. Authorities negligence is harming the people more than the damage caused by the floods. On the other hand, Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament [Majles], criticized the functions of the Red Crescent organization. There is a shortage of rescue equipment and manpower of the Red Crescent Organization in Sistan and Baluchestan, ISNA news agency quoted Salimi as saying. He added, Mr. President [Hassan Rouhani], Sistan and Baluchestan is mired in water and people face problems; the Red Crescent should help the people. Did they inform you that the Red Crescent [Organization] has no chief? The real disaster in this province is the lack of relief and assistance to the affected people after the passing of 72 hours, Aziz Sarani, MP from Sistan and Baluchestan said. Officials imprudence factually is a small part of the horrible conditions that Iran is facing. It is the direct outcome of 40-year systematic corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, in addition to squandering of the national resources in irresponsible and costly foreign policies. In this context, the people of Iran, as they have shown in the protests last November and in recent days, are absolutely desperate about their rulers. They intensively look for a democratic government that is able to guarantee the basic livelihood and welfare for the people. They seek a government that would pay more attention to their own people rather than extremist groups that spread fear and destruction in the region. In this respect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, urged youths in the south of the country to assist flood-stricken people. I ask patriotic youth in the south to assist our flood-stricken compatriots in Hormuzgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Kerman. Tens of thousands are besieged by flood or have lost their homes. Basic equipment to get aid to those areas is lacking in Iran. By destroying the environment, the mullahs have worsened the floods, doing nothing to help the victims. They squandered the nations wealth to pursue nuclear and missile projects and warmongering, leaving our compatriots defenseless in the face of natural disasters, Mrs. Rajavi tweeted on January 13. I ask patriotic youth in the south to assist our flood-stricken compatriots in Hormuzgan, Sistan & Baluchestan, & Kerman. Tens of thousands are besieged by flood or have lost their homes. Basic equipment to get aid to those areas are lacking #Iran Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 13, 2020 By destroying the environment, the mullahs have worsened the floods, doing nothing to help the victims. They squandered the nations wealth to pursue nuclear & missile projects & warmongering, leaving our compatriots defenseless in the face of natural disasters #Iran pic.twitter.com/pRcPukObTm Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 13, 2020 Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Bogota, January 13, 2020 Colombian authorities must undertake an in-depth and transparent investigation into allegations that the military illegally spied on journalists, and ensure those responsible are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 11, the Colombian newsweekly Semana published a report entitled Wiretaps without quarter: The prosecution of Semana, which claimed that the countrys military had, without obtaining legal warrants, surveilled the publications journalists and their sources throughout 2019 in retaliation for the magazines investigations into alleged wrongdoing by military officers. The piece, based on confidential documents obtained by Semana and interviews with military sources, alleges that army intelligence and counterintelligence agents illegally monitored the Bogota offices of Semana, including by parking a car near the office equipped with devices to intercept phone calls and text messages. It also alleges that agents followed journalists, including editor-in-chief Alejandro Santos, while they conducted interviews. The piece quotes an anonymous source who claimed to have been offered more than $15,000 by an army colonel to introduce malware into the computers of Semana journalists, and also describes an instance of an army officer mailing a tombstone to a Semana reporter as a threat. As if journalists in Colombia did not already face enough danger from other armed actors, it is clear that the military poses a serious threat to reporters and their sources, CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick said from New York. Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate the armys alleged illegal spying operation and ensure that its architects face justice. In another report published on January 11, citing military sources and leaked documents, Semana alleged that the surveillance was part of a broad program that monitored journalists, politicians, and Supreme Court magistrates, with the goal of protecting army officers from judicial and media investigations into alleged homicides, spying, corruption, and other illegal acts. President Ivan Duque said he had ordered an investigation into the allegations, saying there was zero tolerance for illegal behavior, and suggesting that a few bad apples in the military were responsible, according to news reports. CPJ emailed the Colombian Defense Ministry for comment but did not receive a response. In a statement released on January 11, the ministry said it had called for an immediate investigation and would fully cooperate. According to the Semana report, growing concerns within the government about the spying prompted Duque to replace army commander Nicasio Martinez on December 27; at the time, the commander said he was resigning for personal reasons. In 2009, Semana published a report revealing that the Department of Administrative Security, Colombias domestic investigative agency, which has since been dissolved, was spying on politicians, human rights workers, judges, and reporters. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has expanded a list of energy sector enterprises that are not subject to partial privatization and approved a list of facilities which will be banned from being privatized. The government plans to consider the relevant bill on the list of state-owned enterprises (SOE) that are not subject to privatization at its meeting on Wednesday. According to the revised bill, the text of which is available to Interfax-Ukraine, it is planned that the state retains at least 50% of the shares of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, JSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (MGU), JSC Ukrtransgaz, PJSC Ukrnafta, JSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia, JSC Ukrtransnafta, and JSC Chornomornaftogaz. A list of facilities that are not fully subject to privatization is also proposed. It included National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom, PJSC Ukrhydroenergo and PJSC national energy company Ukrenergo, as well as SOE Market Operator and the SOE Guaranteed Buyer. According to the bill, if a decision is made to reduce the state's share in the share capital of a joint-stock company or if state unitary enterprises are transformed into joint-stock companies, a minimum of 50% is left to the state. For comparison, according to the original version of the bill, which was considered at a government meeting on December 27, 2019, the list of facilities that are not subject to privatization did not include Ukrtransgaz, Ukrnafta, Ukrgazvydobuvannia, Ukrtransnafta, Chornomornaftogaz, and also it was not supposed to secure 100% of its corporate rights for the state. According to this bill, the state was supposed to secure at least 50% of Naftogaz, Ukrhydroenergo, Ukrenergo and MGU, as well as at least 50% of Energoatom, Market Operator and Guaranteed Buyer in case of their conversion in joint-stock companies. According to the explanatory note to the document, after the first consideration of the bill at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on December 27, a conciliation meeting and a meeting of the government committee took place, as a result of which the lists underwent significant changes. Iran announced on January 14 that it will file a lawsuit against the United States for assassinating its top military leader Qassem Soleimani. Tehrans Judiciary spokesperson Gholam Hossein Esmaeili reportedly said that they will file the case in Iran, Iraq, and at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague. He said that the killing of Soleimani by the US was clearly a terrorist action. Earlier, the Iranian parliament had approved a motion to designate the US Military and Pentagon as terrorist organisations. Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Esmaeili also called for the expulsion of the British ambassador to Tehran, claiming that the envoy did not respect the laws of Iran. Meanwhile, Iran has announced its first arrests over the downing of the Ukranian airliner that killed all the 176 people on board. Tehran was denying the claims of shooting down the jetliner but later acknowledged it after Irans Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh admitted that a missile operator mistook the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire. Read: Iraq Considers Purchasing Russian S-300 Defence System Amid Escalation Rouhani calls for expedited hearing Iran came under enormous pressure from around the world for an independent and transparent investigation. President Hassan Rouhani urged the Judiciary to hold a special hearing, headed by a senior judge, to investigate the issue. Speaking at a conference on January 14, Rouhani said that the authorities must explain the entire development, from the day the aircraft was hit by a missile until the Supreme National Security Council was convened. Read: European Union Calls For 'independent' Probe Into Ukrainian Plane Crash "From the moment I thought the crash of the Ukrainian plane was not normal, I tried to shorten the investigation period to know exactly how the plane crashed, said Rouhani during a press conference. The Iranian President said that the armed forces cooperated well with the investigation and as soon as the actual reason was discovered, he told the authorities to inform the people. "The judiciary should hold a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts. This is not a normal case and the whole world will follow the case in our court, added Rouhani. Read: Iran Denies cover-up After It Confirms Ukranian Aircraft Hit By Missile Read: Iran Designates US Army As terrorist Organisation After Soleimani's Killing (With inputs from agencies) The United Methodist Church, careening toward a breakup over the issue of homosexuality, could undergo a more amicable separation under a new plan. But it would be a divorce nonetheless. And the breakup would be messy. The plan, hammered out by an ad hoc group of United Methodist bishops and other leaders, would preserve a smaller United Methodist Church, while traditional-minded congregations that oppose LGBT ordination and marriage would be free to form a new congregation. Many leaders see the schism as a disaster, but one that is nearly unavoidable at this stage. "It's a fence that is not going to be mended, as far as interpretation of Scripture," said The Rev. Elizabeth Macaulay, pastor of United Methodist Church in Rochester, which supports gay ordination and same-sex marriage. "We're at an impasse." ADVERTISEMENT Yet leaders have also been concerned at the unhealthy tensions unleashed as debate over LGBT issues have intensified within the 13 million-member global denomination. The break-up plan is seen by many leaders as being "softer" and more "gracious," because churches would be able to leave with their property and assets. The separating churches also would have access to $25 million in United Methodist funds. But some pastors see the plan as a recipe for creating more division within the church. Under the plan, annual conferences within the church would be free to leave and join the traditional group. Congregations within the breakaway conference could still choose to stay with the existing Methodist church. "It absolutely could be (divisive)," said the Rev. Mark Rader, pastor of the Evangel United Methodist Church in Rochester. "I think that's a real fear that every local pastor has." Rader said his church has held meetings to apprise members of the situation, but has yet to have the kind of conversations within the congregation that would clarify a collective attitude toward LGBT issues. "Most congregations are probably very mixed. I know that we are a mixed congregation," Rader said. Rader says media reports have given a false impression that the proposal is already a foregone conclusion, when in fact it is one of more than a dozen plans under consideration. And opposition to the new protocol is emerging from different quarters of the church. The more progressive, "liberationist" wing of the church in the U.S. opposes it. It is also important to remember that the United Methodist Church is a global body, he said. The proposal will likely be taken up at the church's General Conference this May in Minneapolis. ADVERTISEMENT "That's the reason that the United Methodist Church hasn't followed other mainline denominations in liberalizing the position on human sexuality already, because we have congregations around the world," Rader said. "At this point, I'm uncertain that the African delegates will support any plan for dissolution. The United Methodist brand means a great deal in Africa." Methodism is Minnesota's second-largest Protestant denomination, with about 60,000 members and 360 churches. There are about 7 million members nationally and 13 million globally. The UMC division over human sexuality mirrors schisms in other Protestant denominations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church lost traditional congregations after voting to allow churches to perform same-sex marriage and ordain gay clergy. The language at the heart of the dispute, introduced in 1972 when same sex marriage was illegal in the U.S., states that "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." Over time, as attitudes and laws over homosexuality have liberalized, UMC added more restrictions against allowing gay clergy and permitting same-sex marriage. At the UMC General Conference last year, a plan that would have given pastors and churches more freedom to perform same sex marriages was rejected. Instead, traditionalists voted to impose tighter sanctions on LGBT ordination and marriages. A minister who performed a marriage between two men could be suspended for a year without pay for one incident, and stripped of clergy status for performing two. The move was cheered by the traditionalist wing of the church, but it appalled the progressive Methodists, leading them to conclude that the differences were irreconcilable. "What this does is it provides a vision for how we can part in ways that maintain respect," Macaulay said. ADVERTISEMENT Bishop Bruce Ough, who oversees the Dakotas-Minnesota conference, said the result of the division, if it does happen, may mean fewer traditionalists in the continuing UMC church. But he does not believe all will leave, because the new rules will not force traditionalist pastors to perform same sex marriages. "I think it's really important that people understand that in the continuing United Methodist Church, everybody is going to be welcome," Ough said. "We've always been a big denomination, and that's not going to change." Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:53:28|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has seen more organized roadside parking since the city started the full implementation of an electric tolling reform last year, local authorities said Wednesday. A total of 61,000 roadside parking spots had been marked along 574 streets, according to Rong Jun, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, at a press conference held during the annual session of the municipal people's congress. Statistics from the commission show that the average coverage of video surveillance devices at these parking spaces was 77 percent. The first two batches of districts with e-tolled roadside parking spots received 14.2 million orders last year and collected 151 million yuan (about 22 million U.S. dollars) in parking fees. The city has 6.35 million registered motor vehicles at the end of November 2019. A 32-year-old patient died on Wednesday after he allegedly jumped off the fifth floor of a building at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital in front of doctors and nurses, police said. Giasuddin Mondal, admitted at the neuro medicine ward, jumped off the newly-constructed super speciality building of the hospital around 10.45 am when doctors were on a regular round, they said. "The man was admitted here last evening. He was suffering from suspected autoimmune encephalitis syndromes, causing altered mentality as well as memory decline. He was also having division of thoughts," CMCH superintendent Indranil Biswas said. "This morning he jumped off the fifth floor after opening a window pane in presence of doctors and nurses there. He tore a doctor's shirt and pushed him back before jumping off," he added. Mondal was severely injured and was declared dead when taken to the emergency ward, a senior officer of the Bowbazar Police Station said. An internal committee has been set up by the CMCH to look into the matter, Biswas said. A case has been lodged at the Bowbazar Police Station and Mondal's body has been sent for post-mortem examination, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dublin retail technology company Pointy has been acquired by tech giant Google. Pointy provides smaller retailers with an electronic box that connects to their barcode scanners that make their product listings appear in Google searches. It helps such stores get found by people who are doing searches for products in their location without having to make a large e-commerce investment. The company was founded in 2014 by Mark Cummins and Charles Bibby. Google or Pointy did not disclose the value of the deal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks. However, a venture capitalist in London, Rob Moffatt congratulated Pointy of their "$160m exit to Google". Pointy said they have developed a close relationship with Google in recent years. The last six years have been an incredible adventure, and today marks the start of a new chapter. From small beginnings, were very proud to serve local retailers in almost every city and every town in the US and throughout Ireland. "Many incredibly talented people have joined our team, weve received the backing of an amazing group of investors, and formed some fantastic partnerships. It is a great pleasure to work on something that helps local businesses in towns and cities everywhere. Pointy said that by joining forces, they will be able to help people discover local stores and products on a much larger scale. "We think this is the right way to accomplish what we set out to do to bring the worlds retailers online and give them the tools they need to thrive," they said in a blog post. In a statement, Google said they have long been committed to helping small businesses grow and thrive in the online world. "Since we introduced this functionality a few years ago, Pointy has been one of our key partners, helping thousands of local merchants display this data within Google. Were looking forward to working with Pointy to help even more local retailers bring their product inventory online." Tycoon Anand Mahindra has offered to set aside Rs 1 crore for helping micro-entrepreneurs. Taking to Twitter, the Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman shared a video, which features a Gujarat-based differently-abled man, Vishnu Patel, who makes vehicles using electronic waste and electronics parts. Calling his life's story "fabulous" and inspirational, Mahindra offered to help the differently-abled vehicle manufacturer by upgrading his workshop. @anandmahindra thought sharing this video with you. He's Divyang ever since he was 1yr, can't hear but his skills are powerful. He knows tricks that can make things work alternatively. He's impressing all of us since I was 1yr. I hope you like it. pic.twitter.com/y8oLUE6hqK - Nilesh Patel (@BusinessPiers) January 5, 2020 The Mahindra Group Chairman said he was "inspired" with Patel's life. Soon after Mahindra shared the tweet, it went viral and garnered over 3,000 likes and 15,000 shares. "In fact he's inspired me to personally set aside Rs 1 cr as an initial fund to invest in micro-entrepreneurs like him in the country. So much talent & innovation waiting for recognition," he tweeted. Fabulous story. I'll reach out to him to see if I can invest in upgradations for his workshop. In fact he's inspired me to personally set aside 1 cr as an initial fund to invest in micro entrepreneurs like him in the country. So much talent & innovation waiting for recognition https://t.co/hM46jv264o - anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) January 11, 2020 Vishnu Patel, who can't hear anything since his birth, intends to make three wheelers for 'divyangs', according to his conversation with the news agency ANI. The agency also quoted him saying if he got Rs 20 lakh, he could make vehicles that would make India proud. Also read: Budget Chatter: What Twitterati expects from Nirmala Sitharaman's second Budget Also read: Flipkart to expand its supply chain, will lead to creation of 5000 jobs in Haryana There is no question that, in the manner of their departure from full-time royal life, Harry and Meghan have behaved in the most appallingly childish fashion. They really couldnt have made more of a hash of it if they had tried. But for all that, there is one area in which, despite everything, they have been unfairly vilified. And that is the way the finger of blame for the couples decision has been pointed almost exclusively at Meghan. The reasons for this have nothing to do with racism thats a red herring pursued by individuals with a wider agenda. If anything, its just straightforward sexism. The notion of any woman with half an opinion being wicked and manipulative is a cliche as old as humanity itself. There is no question that, in the manner of their departure from full-time royal life, Harry and Meghan have behaved in the most appallingly childish fashion, writes SARAH VINE But the truth is that however pushy, precious or princessy Meghan may or may not be, however infuriating her realisation that, having cost us all a fortune in a big white wedding and the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, shed rather spend her days hob-nobbing with Elton John and Beyonce than holed up in the Home Counties, ultimately its Prince Harry who must take responsibility for this move, not her. After all, its he whos the Prince; shes just the showgirl. She may have lit the touchpaper for the firecracker thats just exploded in all our faces, but shes not the root cause. That, Im afraid, can be traced all the way back to 1997, to that sad day in September when a small boy was made to walk behind his mothers coffin in full view of the entire world. I love the Queen and I am a huge supporter of the Royal Family, but that was a big mistake; a cruel and selfish act of self-preservation on their behalf, done purely to dampen the publics anger at the way the Palace had reacted to Dianas death. She may have lit the touchpaper for the firecracker thats just exploded in all our faces, but shes not the root cause. That, Im afraid, can be traced all the way back to 1997, to that sad day in September when a small boy was made to walk behind his mothers coffin in full view of the entire world, writes SARAH VINE It was also emblematic of the way the Royal Family has, over the years, put protocol before people. The truth is, Harry has been very damaged by his upbringing. Even before Meghan came on the scene, it was clear there was a part of him that was very angry about what happened to his mother. When he and William released an HBO documentary about Diana back in 2017, on the 20th anniversary of her death, he in particular expressed very mixed emotions, not only towards his father but towards the institution of monarchy itself. Indeed, in an interview later that year, he admitted that during his 20s he had seriously considered turning his back on the privilege he was born into, to live an ordinary life. I felt I wanted out, but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself, he said. I love the Queen and I am a huge supporter of the Royal Family, but that was a big mistake; a cruel and selfish act of self-preservation on their behalf, done purely to dampen the publics anger at the way the Palace had reacted to Dianas death, writes SARAH VINE Tellingly, he recalled that during his happy years in the Army: I wasnt a Prince, I was just Harry. The timing of all this is important, because it was in July the year before that Harry had first met Meghan. It would have been around the same time he was re-living some very painful memories, and I cannot help but think that all this had a huge bearing on his choice of bride. To a man like Harry, the unhappy Prince trapped in a royal straitjacket, this beautiful, sassy, independent woman must have seemed like the personification of the freedom he so desired. Unlike most of the upper-class beauties he had dated, Meghan was very much her own woman. Here was someone who was never going to take to life as a royal show-pony, unveiling plaques and opening shopping centres. To a man like Harry, the unhappy Prince trapped in a royal straitjacket, this beautiful, sassy, independent woman must have seemed like the personification of the freedom he so desired, writes SARAH VINE She may have been attracted to him for his title, but I cannot help feeling that a large part of the appeal for him was the fact that she was so alien to his world, from such a wholly different background, that marrying her would open up a new range of possibilities. In other words, the perfect way out. No wonder he seems so determined to go through with this, regardless of the cost to him or his family: its not just what Meghan wants, its what he wants, too. Its what hes wanted for a very long time. But for Meghan, Harry might never have had the courage or the motivation to walk away. With her by his side, he finally has the strength to realise his dream of being, as he once put it himself, just Harry. Whether that dream turns into the kind of reality he hopes for, of course, remains to be seen. The grass is rarely as green on the other side as we imagine it to be. Lets just hope it doesnt turn out to be scorched earth. What blasphemy is this? James Bond sipping a non-alcoholic beer in an advert for Heineken. Offered his more traditional tipple, a martini, Daniel Craig shakes his head (even though 007 was once described as having a severe chronic alcohol problem) and says, by way of explanation: Im working. Ha. Shouldnt that be: Im woke-ing? Theres something straightforwardly joyful about this picture of Florence Pugh grinning with delight on discovering shes been nominated for an Oscar for her role in Little Women (right). In reality, its all a bit staged after all, she posted the picture on her Instagram account. But by modern standards its lovely to see a woman confident enough to appear make-up free, her hair dishevelled, with nothing but sheets to shield her modesty. Of course, it doesnt hurt that shes just 24 and cute as a button. A little woman whos going to be a big star. I'm going with the Flo Florence Pugh: A little woman whos going to be a big star, writes SARAH VINE Theres something straightforwardly joyful about this picture of Florence Pugh grinning with delight on discovering shes been nominated for an Oscar for her role in Little Women. In reality, its all a bit staged after all, she posted the picture on her Instagram account. But by modern standards its lovely to see a woman confident enough to appear make-up free, her hair dishevelled, with nothing but sheets to shield her modesty. Of course, it doesnt hurt that shes just 24 and cute as a button. A little woman whos going to be a big star. PS Is the only point of awards ceremonies now so that people can be offended that theyve not been nominated? Theres something straightforwardly joyful about this picture of Florence Pugh grinning with delight on discovering shes been nominated for an Oscar for her role in Little Women, writes SARAH VINE Advertisement It's our turn to rebel Theres no question Extinction Rebellion activists are often irritating, however well-meaning some of them may be, but actual terrorists? To put them on a list of extremists and bracket them alongside neo-Nazis and Islamists is a bit over the top. Not, however, as over the top as the militant greens attacking Channel 4 for allowing BP to sponsor its coverage of the 2020 Paralympic Games you know, where the brave endeavours of the disabled are given a vital platform. Interestingly, some of the protesters chose to voice their disapproval by wearing white plastic masks emblazoned with the BP logo. Plastic is, of course, a by-product of . . . petroleum. So not only disproportionate, but also dumb. A veteran restaurateur says its a mistake to order the second cheapest bottle of wine on the menu to avoid looking a skinflint theyre wise to this, so its marked up the most. In truth, Ive known this for a while, ever since my friend, Imogen Edwards-Jones, published her riotous book Restaurant Babylon, exposing all the sneaky tricks of the trade. Its also thanks to her that I always refuse the waiters impassioned entreaty to order a side dish: at a fiver a pop for a few glazed carrots or a bit of mash, theyre the ones that represent the biggest rip-off. Cheers! The news that John Lewis is to start selling guy-liner will not, I fear, restore the stores flagging fortunes. For years now, cosmetic companies have been launching men-only lines, but they never catch on for one simple reason. From a very young age, girls are made to feel insecure about the way they look, whereas boys are trained to think theyre Gods gift. And besides, who wants to look like Johnny Depp today? So three centuries ago. Hugh Grant tweets a survey commissioned by one of the few remaining news outlets he still condescends to read, claiming that its the latest in a series of mainstream polls stretching back more than two years which have found a consistent majority for Remain. Right. So why has the country just returned a stonking Tory majority on the slogan Get Brexit Done? Or as Ricky Gervais so brilliantly put it the other day: Youre in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. WASHINGTON The trade deal that President Trump will sign on Wednesday includes commitments by China to curtail practices that American firms complain put them at a disadvantage and force them to hand over valuable intellectual property to Chinese firms, according to several people with knowledge of the deal. Those concessions, along with Chinas agreement to buy $200 billion worth of American goods and to allow greater access to its markets, are expected to be announced at a White House ceremony for the signing of the long-awaited trade deal. As part of the agreement, China has promised to punish Chinese firms that infringe on or steal corporate trade secrets, satisfying a concern of American businesses. China will also refrain from directing Chinese companies to obtain delicate foreign technologies through acquisitions, including halting purchases by state-owned enterprises that harm American interests. American officials say Beijing has used the practice to leap to the forefront of advanced industries, like semiconductors. Another primary concern of American companies a requirement that they turn over technology as a condition of doing business in the country is also addressed in the deal. China has agreed not to force companies to transfer technology, which it has done by requiring joint ventures with Chinese firms and forcing companies to license their intellectual property at low prices. Jack Vernon won the Open Trot at Dover Downs on Tuesday (Jan. 14). Trainer Dylan Davis called upon the services of Tim Tetrick, who sent the trotting gelding to the front before yielding the lead to Home N Dry. Tetrick soon angled Jack Vernon back outside to retake the lead at the quarter pole. He posted splits of :27.4, :57.2 and 1:25.2 in progress to a 1:53.2 win. In Secret pulled first up before the half and challenged Jack Vernon through a :28 third quarter, but failed to menace. Jack Vernon, the 1-2 favourite, won by three quarters of a length in hand. Jack Vernon is owned by Lazzaro and Casalino Jr. Dylan Davis is his trainer. Home N Dry stayed on the pylons to finish second and Majestic Marvel finished third. Wiggle It Jiggleit and Slick Tony will square off in the Preferred Handicap on Thursday. The clash has been carded as Race 12 on the program. Post Time Thursday (Jan. 16) will be at 4:30 p.m. (Dover Downs) Vehicles within the traffic-restricted area Madrid Central. Julian Rojas The low-emissions zone Madrid Central produced a significant drop in nitrogen dioxide pollution at 22 of the 24 air-quality monitoring stations in Madrid against the average of the previous nine years, according to a report presented last week by the environmental group Ecologists in Action. Madrid has failed to meet the European Unions limit on nitrogen dioxide emissions since 2010. Whats more, the Spanish capital was threatened with EU sanctions for breaching these norms. Madrid City Hall continues to deny the effectiveness of the low-emissions zone The new report argues that the drop in nitrogen dioxide emissions is due to the ripple effect of the restricted-traffic zone, given that last years weather conditions, which are also a factor in pollution, would have increased emissions in the city. But despite the data, Madrid City Hall, which is governed by the conservative Popular Party (PP) and center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens), with the support of far-right Vox, continues to deny the effectiveness of Madrid Central and is working to ease restrictions in the low-emissions zone to allow more polluting vehicles to drive through the city center, and to reduce the area that is off-limits to traffic. In June 2019, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, of the PP, suspended fines on cars that entered the low-emissions zone without the proper permissions. This decision was later overturned by the courts in response to a lawsuit filed by a body known as Platform in Defense of Madrid Central, which is made up of more than 80 organizations, including Ecologists in Action and Greenpeace. The evidence is that Madrid Central works and reduces pollution, said Ecologists in Action spokesperson Pablo Segura. That is why we consider it necessary to expand it, applying some of its measures to the rest of the city. In 2019, only two air-quality control stations in Madrid breached the legal limit of 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter (g/m3) as an annual average: Plaza Eliptica and Escuelas de Aguirre. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of stations that violated the limit ranged between 18 in 2010 and six in 2014, with an average off 11 stations per year failing to keep within the limit. Madrid continued to violate the legislation on nitrogen dioxide, but in far fewer stations than has been the case in the past, said Juan Barcena, the head of air quality for Ecologists in Action. Nitrogen dioxide emissions in Madrid fell 10% on the average from the last decade If we look at the map of the stations, Madrid Central is the epicenter of the drop in pollution, and there is also a significant reduction in the stations surrounding the area, added Barcena. On the other hand, stations monitoring outlying areas, such as El Pardo, Villaverde and Barajas, have seen a far less significant reduction. The data clearly shows that there is been no border effect, as claimed by the PP and Ciudadanos, but instead a ripple effect with positive repercussions throughout the city, he added, in reference to the argument that the low-emissions zone would increase pollution around its perimeter. Levels of nitrogen dioxide in Madrid fell 10% on the average from the last decade, and 22% in the Plaza del Carmen air-monitoring station, the only one located within the Madrid Central low-emission zone. For months, the station recorded readings below the annual nitrogen dioxide limit, and for six months it had the lowest readings since records began in 2010. According to Segura, the fall in pollution was achieved despite the erratic policy of the new city council aimed at promoting car use, extending the use of polluting vehicles and allowing more cars into the center. Madrid Central was introduced by the former leftist administration of Mayor Manuela Carmena at the end of 2018. The pioneering initiative made 472 hectares of the city center off-limits to traffic, except for local residents and public transportation. But according to Ecologists in Action, Madrids new City Hall is undermining the effectiveness of Carmenas original plan. After Almeida suspended fines on vehicles that violated the Madrid Central zone, nitrogen dioxide emissions jumped by 50% at the Plaza del Carmen station, which had recorded its best data to date between March and June. This rise was not seen in other air-monitoring stations. The municipal governments team denies that Madrid Central works by manipulating the data. They green-washed themselves at the [United Nations] Climate Summit while getting rid of bike lanes and reducing the perimeter of the low-emission zone, which we believe is illegal. That is why we have now taken the matter to the administrative bench [of the Supreme Court], added Segura. When you ask people to leave their car at home, you cannot do a U-turn Ecologists in Action spokesperson Pablo Segura Moreover, Almeida and [Madrid deputy mayor Begona] Villacis presented the plan Madrid 360 as if the proposal had already been approved when it is just an ineffective, unapproved measure thereby generating a tremendous amount of confusion among the citizens who do not know which measures apply and which dont, said Segura. There is a lot at stake with these policies, that should be consistent and long term. When you ask people to leave their car at home, you cannot do a U-turn. However, Madrid City Council is still entrenched in climate denial, despite the scientific evidence. Last week, its councilor for environment and mobility, Borja Carabante, repeated the claim that Madrid Central is ineffective without providing any data or research to support the assertion. English version by Heather Galloway. The U.S. Labor Department awarded $866,675 for flood recovery in West Virginia, the states U.S. senators announced. The funding is through the Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant Program. Flooding in February 2018 destroyed homes, displaced residents from jobs and caused more than $22 million in public infrastructure damage, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said in a news release. While our communities are still recovering from these disasters, this funding will help workers find jobs and expand their experience so that they can get back to work and give back to their communities, the Democratic senator said. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said the grant will provide Workforce West Virginia with assistance to rebuild. An important part of making sure individuals and communities are able to fully recover from recent storms is making sure our workers have the tools necessary to get back on their feet, Capito, a Republican, said in the release. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics USA Flood Virginia Kanu Sarda By Express News Service NEW DELHI: With the Kerala government challenging the CAA in the Supreme Court, the biggest challenge before the Chief Justice of India is to constitute a larger bench to hear the case as there are contrasting previous judgments on Article 131. Article 131, allows a state to file a suit in the SC in case of any dispute that it may have with the Union government, invoking the courts original jurisdiction. Moreover, filing of the suit, as against a petition, essentially permits more rigorous examination of documents and witnesses by the top court, giving it a greater scope of inquiry. The other petitions filed in the SC challenging CAA have invoked the courts writ jurisdiction under Article 32, which allows enforcement of fundamental rights. In 1977, a five-judge SC bench held that when the states and the Centre differ on a question of interpreting the Constitution and if the result of such differences may affect the states, the dispute will fall under Article 131. The two judgments that interpreted Article 131 differently came in the last decade. In 2011, in a case of State of MP vs Union of India, the SC held that validity of central laws can be challenged under Article 32 and not under Article 131. But in 2015, a two-judge bench hearing the case of State of Jharkhand vs the State of Bihar held that Article 131 could be used to examine the constitutionality of a statute. The question was then referred to a three-judge bench and is still pending. As per legal experts, the Kerala government has invoked Article 131 by asserting that the dispute involves enforcement of legal rights as a State as well as for the enforcement of fundamental, statutory, constitutional and legal rights of Keralas inhabitants. Currently, Article 32 cases are being heard by a three-judge bench led by CJI S A Bobde. If the SC wants to club Keralas suit with these petitions, it has to form a larger bench of at least five judges that will then also decide on the issue raised in 2015. According to legal experts, states have no recourse but to file suits under Article 131 if they have differences over a law passed in Parliament. The suit cant be dismissed without admission and examination of evidence has to be done in full. Experts point out that the three-member SC bench that is to hear over 60 writ petitions under Article 32 against the CAA on January 22, cannot bunch Keralas under Article 131 with them straight away because the latter filed a plaint. One option is to set up a separate bench for Keralas plaint, but it would mean two hearings on the same subject. The other way is to set up a five-member bench to club the plaint with the writs. The plaint said, The religious classification brought forth violates the twin test of classification under Article 14, the protection of which is not limited or restricted to citizens alone and extends to all persons. M ore than 60 firefighters have rushed to a basement flat fire in Paddington. Eight fire engines are currently at the scene of the blaze on Star Street, just off Edgware Road. London Fire Brigade are in attendance alongside the London Ambulance Service. The incident has partially blocked the A5 Edgware Road, causing tailbacks to Marble Arch. LFB have said the fire is affecting a basement flat in a three-storey building. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. A spokesperson for the fire service said: "The Brigade was called at 1719. Fire crews from Paddington, Euston, Kensington, North Kensington and surrounding fire stations are at the scene." The flat has been gutted by the fire but there are no injuries. One man is said to have left the flat and got himself to safety before the fire brigade arrived. New Delhi: In a recent development, advocates for Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, have approached Patiala House Court and moved an application on Wednesday (January 15) seeking a stay on the death warrant. This comes immediately after Delhi High Court disposed of a similar petition seeking to set aside the death warrant issued by this court. Delhi high court in its order has said that he is at liberty to approach the lower court. After which his application was moved in Patiala House court. A notice has been issued to the state government and Nirbhaya's parents seeking an answer. The hearing in the matter will be held tomorrow at 2 pm. Live TV Meanwhile, the Delhi government has recommended rejecting Singh's mercy plea. The Delhi High Court on January 15 refused to set aside the death warrant issued for the hanging of four Nirbhaya gangrape-murder convicts and said that convict Mukesh Singh could approach the trial court, which issued the death warrant. The HC, however, also said that it found nothing wrong in the death warrants issued by Delhi's Patiala House court for the hanging of four convicts on January 22 at 7 am. It is to be noted that Mukesh had approached the HC after the Supreme Court dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the Nirbhaya case on Tuesday. Delhi's Patiala House court had issued a death warrant for the four convicts -- Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur on January 7. Additional Session Judge Satish Kumar Arora issued the death warrant against them. The four convicts were awarded capital punishment for raping a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the national capital on the night of December 16, 2012. Targeting the BJP-led government at the Centre over the CAA, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take care of the country's minorities and Dalits rather than those of neighbouring countries. Speaking at a public meeting at Peddapalli near here, Owaisi claimed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was against the spirit of the Constitution authored by B R Ambedkar. "The people who voted for you (Modi) are Indians. People of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have not voted for you. But Modi cares about the minorities of Pakistan Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He is not worried about the minorities and dalits of India," the Hyderabad MP said. According to him, CAA is against not only Muslims but also dalits . He said he was not against the minorities of the neghbouring countries but dividing people on the lines of religion is not acceptable. "I am pained when they reportedly say that where they (non- muslim refugees ) would go if not India. Please call them here. But not on religious grounds. If there are laws made on the basis of religion then they may come out with schemes on the basis of religion in the coming days," the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief said. He claimed that there was a probability that under the National Population Register (NPR), people will be harassed to produce identity documents such as Aadhar , passport, driving license or electoral card and date of birth of parents. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy recently said it was not compulsory to produce any document for the NPR. A new therapy being developed by a group of researchers from across the globe aims to see if stem cells can be used to regenerate the brain damage caused by premature birth.This brain damage is called 'encephalopathy of prematurity' (EOP). To 'rebuild' the damaged areas of the brain, scientists will use human mesenchymal stem cells (H-MSC) - those taken from umbilical cord tissue and very different to human embryonic stem cells (hESC). The European research project, which is called PREMSTEM, has received 9M in funding from the European Union's prestigious Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. Professor Pierre Gressens, PREMSTEM Project Coordinator, said the five-year project will see a therapy ready for clinical trials to see if it will treat brain injury in premature born infants. "We'll be examining the best regiment, timing, dose and administration route for H-MSC as therapy for this specific type of brain injury," Gressens said. "We'll also develop new, inexpensive and easy-to-use imaging tools that will give clinicians, for the first time, the ability to readily identify premature born babies needing our treatment - those that have encephalopathy of prematurity." Once the research is complete, Gressens said the therapy will have an even broader application. "We anticipate that we'll be able to extend to other types of perinatal brain injury and disorders such as paediatric multiple sclerosis," he said. More than 15 million babies are born preterm every year - before 37 weeks of a typical 40 week pregnancy - and are at risk of long-term disability due to brain damage. The last weeks of pregnancy are a time of astounding growth and change for an unborn baby's brain - often referred to as the 'big bang' during neonatal development. Disturbances in the brain's growth, such as through premature birth, can result in cerebral palsy, severely impaired cognitive functions and disorders such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ### PREMSTEM, which officially started in January 2020, has fifteen partners from eight countries and involves world leading clinicians, researchers and healthcare organisations specialised in neonatology in both Europe and Australia. The academic and industry partners are the Institut National De La Sante et de La Recherche Medicale (Inserm) (France), Inserm Transfert (France), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University (Australia), RMIT Europe (Spain), Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht (Netherlands), Universiteit Maastricht (Netherlands), Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (Netherlands), Universitaetsklinikum Essen (Germany), Goteborg Universitet (Sweden), Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (Italy), Universite De Geneve (Switzerland), Iconeus (France) and CHIESI Farmaceutici SPA (Italy). Two major advocacy groups supporting premature born infants and their families are also central to the project - The European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI) (Germany) as well as the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Australia). Media contact Stephanie Le Naour stephanie.lenaour@inserm-transfert.fr Photo credit: Heritage Images - Getty Images From Popular Mechanics A new study asks a familiar question: was Christopher Columbus right about cannibalistic marauders in the New World? According to Columbus' journals, the Caniba, a group of murderous pillagers, terrorized the Arawak natives. Supposedly, the Caniba would kill and eat the men they captured and kidnap the women. While there is some evidence that Columbus' accounts could've been true, there is no definitive evidence so the the claims continue to remain a mystery. In 1492, when Columbus landed in the Bahamas, he recorded his experiences in journals, giving Europe one of its first accounts of the Western hemisphere. In these journals, Columbus refers to an indigenous group as Caniba, people who would pillage the Arawak villages, kidnap women, and, surprisingly, kill and eat the men. An entry dated November 4in which native peoples are communicating with one of Columbus' Admiralsreads: ... far from there, there were one-eyed men, and others, with snouts of dogs, who ate men, and that as soon as one was taken they cut his throat and drank his blood... In the 500 years since, researchers have been uncertain about this claim based on the possible confusion of Caribe and Caniba and the assumption that the Caribspeople from the Lesser Antilles islandsnever made it past the island of Guadeloupe. But a new study examining several skulls, dating between the 800 to 1542 A.D. from the Caribbean, Florida, and Panama, supports evidence that the Carib people were indeed present in the Bahamas as early as the year A.D. 1,000meaning Columbus descriptions of their raids could have been based in reality, according to Live Science . Researchers used facial recognition technology to study the skulls which uncovered relationships between people groups and upended longstanding hypotheses about who colonized what. Photo credit: Ann Ross / North Carolina State University There were Caribs in the northern Caribbean when he arrived, says William Keegan, one of the co-authors of the study and a curator of Caribbean archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. But Keegan also clarifies that while the accounts of cannibalism could be true, there is insufficient evidence to definitively confirm Columbus claims. Story continues According to the study, there is some archaeological evidence in the form of pottery that suggests the Carib moved within a thousand miles of the southern portion of the Bahamas. This evidence, however, is scant and may not be telling the full story, say the authors. The skull analyses coupled with archaeological artifactssuch as stone tools and additional potteryhelped the researchers identify three migrant groups: a group from the Yucatan Peninsula, the Arawaks, and the Caribs. Once the Caribs reached Hispaniola around 800 A.D., they made efforts to move toward the Bahamas where its possible that they engaged in violent conflict with the Arawaks, going so far as to cannibalize some of the men to prove how fearsome they were. Still, no conclusive evidence has been found to confirm Columbus cannibalism accounts. For now, those claims remain a mystery. You Might Also Like By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Stating that relocation of the capital from Amaravati defies logic and would have far-reaching legal and financial consequences, BJP MP YS Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) shot off a letter to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday. He cautioned that in the event of moving the executive capital to Visakhapatnam, the already-burdened State exchequer may have to pay Rs 4 lakh crore towards compensation and damages incurred by the stakeholders. Addressing the CM, he cautioned that the government would have to spend Rs 5.6 crore, as per the provisions of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2014, for every acre of land procured. This amounts to Rs 1.89 lakh crore excluding the 12 per cent of interest to be paid from the date of award till payment is completed, he cautioned. In addition to this, those who invested in Amaravati and bought lands may seek compensation which could be around Rs 2 lakh crore. Therefore, in the event of shifting of capital, the government may have to pay about Rs 4 lakh crore as compensation to stakeholders. The state economy, which is already fragile, will be destroyed beyond repair...This will clearly lead to a financial emergency and it will be impossible for the State to raise any loan as its credit rating will be in the negative based on perceived liabilities, he argued. He also found fault with the governments argument that the State cant afford to spend Rs 1 lakh crore on a greenfield capital. Amaravati, in its present shape, is a full-fledged functional capital and by spending Rs 3,000 crore the balance minor pending works can be completed, and hence shifting the capital at this juncture is clearly unwarranted, illogical and unjustified, he said. Richwood, TX (77531) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A few sprinkles possible. High around 60F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Overcast. A few sprinkles possible. Low 49F. Winds light and variable. The death toll in the massive avalanches and snow-related incidents in Pakistan and PoK rose to 111 on Wednesday as authorities deployed the Army to step up rescue efforts and to provide humanitarian aid to those hit by the harsh weather conditions in the country. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Neelum valley was worst hit as avalanches continued to damage hundreds of building in the area, killing 73 people, while 31 people died in Balochistan and at least 7 in Sialkot and other districts of Punjab over the past few days, Geo reported. According to preliminary assessments, 52 houses have been destroyed and 82 damaged in the Neelum Valley region, Neelum Deputy Commissioner Raja Mahmood Shahid was quoted as saying in the report. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority in Balochistan said that at least 31 people have been killed in weather-related incidents, the Express Tribune reported. Pakistani military has mobilised its troops and helicopters to help civil authorities evacuate stranded people, clear clogged roadways and airdrop relief items in the remote valleys ahead of a fresh spell of heavy snow expected on Friday, the paper reported. The rain-related incidents also led to closure of major roads and highways in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan, who expressed concern on Tuesday over the incident, visited the Combined Military Hospital in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday and met those injured in the avalanche, the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported. Khan during his visit received a briefing from the PoK's chief secretary Mathar Niaz Rana regarding the damages incurred due to snowfall and avalanches in the region as well as the relief efforts undertaken, the Dawn reported. According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the Pakistan Army, in collaboration with civil administration, is engaged in the rescue and relief efforts in Neelum Valley. The Met Office has issued a warning highlighting the risk of closure of inter-city roads due to heavy snowfall and rains in the districts of Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Murree, Galyat, Neelum, Bagh, Haveli, Rawalakot, Astore, Hunza and Skardu. Key highways connecting Pakistan and Afghanistan were also blocked due to heavy snow, forcing officials to suspend transportation of essential goods into Afghanistan, the Express Tribune reported. Pakistan's Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa condoled the lives lost due to the cold wave that has gripped the country and also directed authorities for continued assistance to the civil administration for rescue and relief operations, GeoTV reported. Army helicopters are undertaking operations in snow hit areas of Sharda, Sargan, Bakwal and Taobat, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan Army. ISPR said that the Pakistan Army Urban Search & Rescue teams are evacuating stranded people. Doctors, paramedics, tents, rations, blankets, and medicines are being provided to the affected families, it said. Balochistan was the first to suffer human losses on Sunday due to the extreme weather conditions when a westerly weather system hit the province on Saturday morning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him on Russia's position on key international and regional issues. Lavrov, who is in India to participate in the Raisina Dialogue, conveyed to the Prime Minister greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. He conveyed that President Putin looked forward to the visit of the Prime Minister to Russia in May 2020 to participate in the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Victory Day, and in July 2020 for the BRICS and SCO Summits. The Prime Minister reciprocated the greetings and conveyed his best wishes for the peace and prosperity of the Russian people in the New Year. A PMO release said that the Prime Minister referred to the wide-ranging conversation he had with President Putin over the telephone on January 13 and noted the progress in the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the previous year. He welcomed multiple occasions this year to meet President Putin and said that he also looked forward to hosting President Putin in India for the Annual Bilateral Summit later this year. The Prime Minister noted that several important decisions and outcomes were reached between the two countries in 2019. He suggested that the year 2020, which is also the 20th anniversary year of the establishment of the strategic partnership between India and the Russian Federation, should be the 'year of implementation of those decisions'. (ANI) Kameleon007/iStock(ATLANTA) -- A legal fight could be brewing in Georgia after a General Assembly member introduced a measure to restrict any potential "red-flag" gun laws from being enacted. The bill's sponsor, Republican state Rep. Ken Pullin, is calling the measure the "Anti-Red Flag -- Second Amendment Conservation Act." It comes as the state and Congress consider legislation allowing judges to empower law enforcement to remove guns from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. Pullin's bill, which has six co-sponsors, would make it illegal to enforce those laws in Georgia, establishing a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. "It is the responsibility of the General Assembly to protect the people of Georgia when unconstitutional legislation is passed and signed into law, or executive orders are issued by the United States Federal Government that infringes upon or interferes with people's preexisting rights and liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution," reads the text of the bill, which was introduced Monday. Georgia state Rep. Matthew Wilson, a Democrat, last year introduced a red-flag bill that would have allowed family members or law enforcement officers to petition a judge to remove guns from potentially dangerous individuals -- people who've made explicit threats, have mental health issues or have inflicted self harm. That bill also had six co-sponsors. Pullin's office didn't immediately return a request for comment from ABC News. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was unsure if his bill would pass, but he wanted to send a message and push back against red-flag proposals. Jonathan Lowy, chief legal counsel for the Brady Campaign, called Pullin's bill one of the most outrageous pieces of legislation he's ever seen. "It would put law enforcement officers in a position where they would either have to neglect to do the job they are sworn to do, or go into prison," he said. Lowy, who's led lawsuits against anti-gun control measures, said he would be keeping an eye on the Georgia bills and would not rule out legal action if Pullin's bill were enacted with its current language. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed red-flag laws amid growing calls to curb mass shootings. In Florida, authorities removed 2,227 guns from individuals from March 2018, when the state's red-flag law was enacted, to July 2019, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Legislation in Congress to enact nationwide red-flag laws has stalled recently, even with bipartisan support for such measures previously. In August, President Donald Trump expressed support for such laws. At the same time, several American towns, particularly in Virginia, declare themselves "Second Amendment sanctuaries," where they have declared to oppose state and federal laws that would limit the sale and ownership of guns. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. The Bismarck School Board has given district administrators the go-ahead to purchase a Cessna 150 airplane for the student aviation program at the Career Academy. It will be the first aircraft owned by a school district in North Dakota. The plane will cost between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on condition and other factors, said Darin Scherr, business and operations manager for the district. "We'll do all the due diligence to make sure that we're getting a good price," he said. The Cessna 150, one of the most-produced civilian aircraft, was developed in the 1950s for flight training and touring. It's a two-seater, single-engine propeller aircraft with tricycle landing gear that is easier for students to land. A search of an airplane sales website found the price of a used Cessna 150 running between $17,500 and $69,000, depending on the model. Scherr said the administration wasn't required to seek school board approval since the purchase falls under the $50,000 public bid threshold under North Dakota law, but it did so Monday "because it maybe could be construed as a sensitive issue." "Typically, let's say that we were buying a school bus or a van that was this amount. We would just make that happen as administration," he said. "We just didn't feel comfortable enough (in this case) to move forward without their approval." Owning a plane rather than renting one will save money for the district, as well as for the families of students in the program. Using a rental plane costs families $10,850 a year and the district $6,650. Ownership will drop that nearly in half, to $5,350 a year for families and $2,963 for the district, according to Scherr. That includes yearly costs, such as insurance and hangar rental, as well as costs for engine and propeller overhauls, which occur every four years. Career Academy Principal Dale Hoerauf said students won't have to compete with other clients for flight time if the district owns the plane. Ownership allows students to learn other aspects of aviation, as well. "You're looking at that landing gear, you're actually putting fuel in it, you're looking at oil, and you're doing all that type of maintenance that doesn't come when somebody else owns that airplane. That takes on a whole different aspect of learning," Hoerauf said. Bismarck will be the first school district in the state to own an airplane, said Mike McHugh, aviation education coordinator for the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. "There's not many school districts, if any, that own their own aircraft," he said. McHugh, a former flight instructor for Bismarck Public Schools, called the purchase "a great opportunity" for students. Bismarck Public Schools has offered an aviation program for the past 12 years at the Career Academy in which students can learn to fly an airplane. There are about 70 students enrolled in the program. Grand Forks, Fargo, Minot and Williston are the only other school districts in the state with a high school aviation program. There are more than 200 students taking high school aviation instruction throughout the state, which McHugh said is "huge for the industry" due to a nationwide shortage of pilots. "Aviation is ingrained in North Dakota culture, you could say. Between the University of North Dakota (flight school) and just the heritage of aviation around the state, I would say that we definitely have a higher percent of schools offering aviation than a lot of other states," McHugh said. Reach Bilal Suleiman at 701-250-8261 or Bilal.Suleiman@bismarcktribune.com Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 3 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ST. LOUIS - The president of a predominantly black St. Louis police union said Wednesday that the city prosecutors lawsuit is correct in pointing out racial concerns in St. Louis, including biases within the police department itself. Ethical Society of Police President Heather Taylor stopped short of endorsing Circuit Attorney Kim Gardners federal lawsuit, but questioned how anyone could ignore the departments long history of racial discrimination. Gardner, who became St. Louis first black circuit attorney in 2017, filed a lawsuit Monday accusing entrenched interests of impeding her efforts to reform racist practices, in part by seeking to force her from office. Defendants include the city and the St. Louis Police Officers Association, the much larger rival union to the Ethical Society of Police. While the ESOP has 310 members, 97% of whom are black, the SLPOA has 1,300 members, 30% of whom are black. Jacob Long, spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, called Gardners lawsuit meritless. Jeff Roorda, the SLPOA business manager who also is named in the suit, called Gardner the worst prosecutor in the United States, accusing her of lenient policies that have contributed to the citys worst-in-the-nation per capita murder rate. Taylor said in a statement that denying racial bias within the department is a slap in the face to minority and non-minority officers with whom we are proud to serve. She said the union has often cited racial disparities in discipline, promotions, and job placement. Taylor also cited issues mentioned in Gardners lawsuit, including a watchdog groups report last year that identified several officers accused of posting racist, violent or prejudiced messages on Facebook. The suit also cited a 2017 incident in which a black undercover officer was allegedly beaten by four white colleagues who mistook him for a protester, leading to their federal indictment. Gardners relationship with police has long been strained. She developed an exclusion list of more than two dozen police officers who were barred from serving as primary witnesses in criminal cases over what Gardner called credibility concerns, a move that angered Police Chief John Hayden, who is black. In 2018, she hired a private investigator, former FBI agent William Tisaby, rather than working with police to investigate claims that then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens took a compromising photo of a woman during an extra-marital affair. An invasion of privacy charge was eventually dropped, but Greitens, a Republican, resigned in June 2018. Fallout from the Greitens case continues and Roorda accused Gardner of filing the suit as a distraction. After weighing evidence presented by Special Prosecutor Gerard Carmody, a grand jury last year charged Tisaby with perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition. The indictment said Gardner failed to correct his inaccuracies or report them, and that she made incorrect statements to defence lawyers and a judge. She was not indicted but the investigation remains open. Gardners suit named Carmody and questioned why he was appointed given his long friendship with Edward L. Dowd Jr., one of Greitens attorneys. ___ This story was first published on Jan. 15. It was updated on Jan. 17 to correct that private investigator William Tisaby was indicted by a grand jury that weighed evidence presented by Special Prosecutor Gerard Carmody, and that Carmody didnt bring the charges himself. New Delhi: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday said India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Gulf region. Zarif, who was speaking at Indias flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, 'Raisina Dialogue', said India can play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Middle East as New Delhi is an important player. When asked if theres a diplomatic solution to the situation that emerged after US killed Iranian General Soleimani, Zarif added, "Iran is interested in diplomacy, not interested in negotiating with US." Zarifs remarks have come amid tensions between the US and Iran over the killing of Iranian general Maj Gen Qasem Soleimani. He also reiterated Iranians stand over shooting down of civilian plan, saying it was a mistake. The accident had claimed the lives of 176 people. Moreover, India has been maintaining that it would like the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible and the country has been in touch with key players, including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as it has important interests in the region. Also Read: US-Iran Tension: S Jaishankar Holds Telephonic Conversation With Pompeo, Voices India's Concerns Javad Zarif also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and briefed him about the situation prevailing in the Gulf region. Maj Gen Soleimani, the head of Irans elite al-Quds force, was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces are stationed in Iraq. Soleimanis killing has been the most dramatic escalation yet in the spiralling tensions between Iran and the US. Also Read: Amid tensions with US, Iran foreign minister in dramatic visit to G7 summit Later, the Iranian Foreign Minister met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and discussed the evolving situation in the Gulf. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:10:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian top prosecution announced on Wednesday formation of a new Egyptian investigation team for the mysterious murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in 2016. Regeni's half-naked, tortured body was found on a distant roadside in Cairo in February 2016, nine days after his disappearance on Jan. 25, which marked both the Egyptian national police day and an uprising anniversary. "The new team will study the case and arrange its papers and will work on taking all necessary investigative procedures to find the truth in complete neutrality and independence," said the office of Egypt's Public Prosecutor Hamada al-Sawy in a statement. The Egyptian team and a number of Italian detectives held meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Cairo, where they exchanged information and views on Regeni's case, according to the Egyptian top prosecutor's office. "The two sides agreed to continue fruitful judicial cooperation and each side confirmed carrying out all investigative measures requested by the other, amid respect of the laws of both countries," it said. Rome's prosecution has said it believes the young researcher was under Egyptian surveillance before his death because of his research into Egypt's independent labor unions. Egyptian security officials repeatedly denied any involvement in Regeni's murder. Regeni's case caused diplomatic tension between Egypt and Italy and led Rome to withdraw its ambassador from Cairo in 2016 before it sent another back the following year. The case was also part of Tuesday's talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Sisi repeatedly vowed to bring Regeni's murderers to justice, blaming "conspirators" for attempting to use the case in causing tension in Egypt's ties with Italy. West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday said her state will not take part in the meeting convened by the Centre on Population Register (NPR) in New Delhi on January 17. She also dared Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to "dismiss" the state government for not toeing the line of the Centre. Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of protests against the NPR, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Register of Citizens, said the had already stayed the process of NPR updation in the state. "On January 17, the Union government had convened a meeting on NPR. I won't be going, neither any representative of my government will attend that meeting," she said while addressing a rally here. "If I don't attend, there is a person here in Kolkata (Governor Dhankhar), who is the representative of the Union government. He might say that he is dismissing my government. He can very well do that, I don't care. But, I will not allow CAA-NPR-NRC," she asserted. Last week, during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata, Banerjee had urged him to rethink on the amended Citizenship Act and withdwaw the contentious legislation along with the NPR. "The Left and the Congress are spreading canards. They are saying NPR is underway in the state. It is absolutely false. We had stayed the process of NPR updation last month itself," she added. 1.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard President Trumps State Department cut and ran in the wake of the documents released that show President Trumps mob posse ran by Rudy Giuliani stalked US Ambassador Yovanovich, canceling a briefing on embassy security and their as yet unsubstantiated claims regarding their unauthorized strike of former Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The State Department abruptly canceled a classified congressional briefing Wednesday that was supposed to focus on embassy security, a House aide said, infuriating Capitol Hill staffers seeking answers on alleged Iranian threats to U.S. missions overseas, Politico reported on Wednesday. Staff are furious. This briefing is required by law every month, and todays was the most important weve had scheduled in a long time. The State Department has given us no explanation whatsoever, Politico reports this House aide told them. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has already said that he has not seen specific evidence of imminent threats, and indeed when pressed, Republicans cannot name any and instead recite a litany of past behavior by Soleimani, who was by all accounts a dangerous actor. After the Trump administration used imminent attacks as their excuse for avoiding congressional approval prior to striking, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CN) led Democrats in requesting a briefing from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Trump and State Department Secretary Pompeos claims that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on multiple U.S. embassies. On at least three separate occasions last Friday, President Trump alleged that former Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was involved in actively targeting multiple U.S. embassies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also stated on Friday that, We had specific information on an imminent threat and that threat stream included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop. There was no mention of any of this classified evidence during the All Senators Briefing last Wednesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman Mark Milley, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel. Furthermore, on Sunday Secretary Esper said President Trump didnt cite a specific piece of evidence regarding an imminent attack on four embassies and that Secretary Esper didnt see that evidence. According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. more Americans disapprove than approve of President Trumps handling of the situation with Iran. Yovanovitch has called for an investigation into whether or not Trump was having her surveilled in his efforts to further his Ukraine conspiracy plot against former Vice President Joe Biden. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Electrical appliances major V-Guard would increase its focus on in-house manufacturing and plans to move towards 100 per cent production of its products online in years to come and would also focus on economical manufacturing. Speaking to IANS, V-Guard's Chief Operating Officer, V. Ramachandran Asaid, said that currently around 45-50 per cent of its production is done in-house, which is likely to increase to 60-65 per cent in the next two years. "Three-four years back, 30-35 per cent of our business was in-house. In 12-24 months, it could grow to about 65 per cent. It will be about 45-50 per cent right now," he said. "We are moving more and more into manufacturing in-house, particularly post GST. This has gained a lot of traction so that with manufacturing and sourcing we are able to drive margins," he said. Ramachandran also said that the company would continue to expand its product portfolio and added that the company would add a new category every 12-18 months. "We are continuously strengthening our product portfolio to compete in the market place and are expanding our range," he told IANS. Talking about the company's emphasis on smart and connected products, the COO noted that it has been about three years since the company first came out with smart water heater, inverters and fans and now the the electronics major plans to make the manufacturing more economical which would also make them cheaper for the buyers. On the application of artificial intelligence (AI), he said along with the technological development in smart products, the company is also working with AI. Ramachandran noted that over the past 3-5 years, V-Guard has invested in strengthening its research and development (R&D) segment and the company also has an internal industrial design team along with electronics R&D team and R&D for individual product categories. The company would also focus on the geographical expansion of its operations, he said. Currently, 60 per cent of its revenue comes from the south while 40 per cent comes from rest of India. He said the company's business is growing at the rate of 2-3 times than that of the business in south India. "One of our focus is expanding our business from south to non-south, which is the journey we started 8-9 years back. Today our non-south business is about 40 per of the revenue, our non-south business is growing 2-3 times our south business." Moody's Analytics ImpairmentStudio Platform Completes 2019 SOC 1 Examination Moody's Analytics announced today that the ImpairmentStudio platform-the centerpiece of our Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) solution-has completed a System and Organization Controls (SOC 1) Type 2 examination under the attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005159/en/ The report examination encompasses policies, operating procedures, and controls related to financial reporting of user entities by an independent auditor to objectively validate that the service organization meets its declared control objectives. Built on the latest cloud-based technology, the ImpairmentStudio platform allows users to automate and simplify the complex processes required to meet the CECL accounting standard. This award-winning solution combines our rich credit isk data, best-in-class analytics, and impairment accounting expertise, and has been celebrated for its completeness and broad CECL automation capabilities. "We are committed to providing our clients with products that deliver exceptional operational compliance," said Eric Ebel, Managing Director at Moody's Analytics. "This SOC 1 Type 2 attestation demonstrates that our ImpairmentStudio solution has met these objectives." Click here to learn more about the ImpairmentStudio platform. Moody's Analytics, Moody's, and all other names, logos, and icons identifying Moody's Analytics and/or its products and services are trademarks of Moody's Analytics, Inc. or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. About Moody's Analytics Moody's Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moody's Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $4.4 billion in 2018, employs approximately 10,900 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 44 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005159/en/ The San Francisco district attorneys office declined to file murder charges against two suspects arrested this week in the killing of a woman during an early morning dispute in the Tenderloin. The suspects, a 17-year-old juvenile and 18-year-old Kevin Lopez-Figueroa, were charged with gun possession after being arrested last Friday on suspicion of killing 32-year-old Emma Hunt on Jan. 5. The juvenile, who was not identified, and Lopez-Figueroa remain in custody pending upcoming detention hearings. The case remains under investigation, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorneys office. The San Francisco Police Department announced the arrests Monday following a gathering by community activists and two city supervisors at Larkin and OFarrell streets, where Hunt was fatally shot. The supervisors, Shamann Walton and Matt Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin, were working to bring attention to Hunts slaying along with the recent killings of two other black women in the city that have left 11 children without mothers. Hunt got into an altercation shortly before 4 a.m. when a suspect pulled out a gun and shot her, officials said. Police told Hunts family that she had been swinging a crate before being shot. A source familiar with the investigation told The Chronicle she was also holding a knife. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The people have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant did not act in lawful self-defense, Bastian said. Hunt, a mother of two, grew up on the streets in Ethiopia before being adopted by a family in San Joaquin County. She recently struggled with drug addiction, her family said, and was planning to enter a residential treatment program. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky An imprisoned British-Australian woman has begged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help secure her release from an Iran jail. Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University, has been in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for more than a year, having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence. 'I beg you to act faster to bring this terrible trauma that myself and my family must live through day after day,' Dr Moore-Gilbert wrote in the June 2019 letter that was smuggled out of the prison and published by the Centre for Human Rights in Iran. Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert (left), who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Melbourne University, has been in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for more than a year, having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence Dr Moore-Gilbert also wrote that she had travelled to Iran on a university program and had been doing research interviews. 'Unfortunately, one of my academic colleagues on this program and one of my interview subjects flagged me as suspicious to the Revolutionary Guards,' she said. She wrote again on Christmas Eve to say she had been kept in solitary confinement for extended periods, had been allowed only one three-minute phone call with her family in nine months and had undertaken five hunger strikes. 'I beg of you, Prime Minister Morrison, to take immediate action, as my physical and mental health continues to deteriorate with every additional day that I remain imprisoned in these conditions,' she added. She wrote again on Christmas Eve to say she had been kept in solitary confinement for extended periods, had been allowed only one three-minute phone call with her family in nine months and had undertaken five hunger strikes The university lecturer has been detained in Evin prison (pictured in 2006) since last October When asked last month by reporters if he was concerned for Dr Moore-Gilbert's welfare, Mr Morrison said he was, adding: 'As I am for any Australian who finds themselves in these types of situations.' Around the same time Iran's foreign ministry said it would not 'give in to the political and smear campaigns' over the jailing. The Australian government secured the release of dual British-Australian citizen Jolie King and her Australian boyfriend, Mark Firkin, in early October, some three months after they were arrested in Iran. Adelkhah Fariba, 60, a well-known expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at the prestigious Sciences Po university. - Two French and Australian academics held in Iran over espionage charges have gone on a indefinite hunger strike as of Christmas Eve Other Britons imprisoned in Evin include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori who are serving five and 10 year sentences respectively on charges disputed by the British Government. On Christmas Eve, Dr Moore-Gilbert and her co-accused, French academic Fariba Adelkhah vowed to go on a hunger strike, protesting their treatment. The French Government have successfully negotiated Ms Adelkhah's reintergration into the prison's general population. Australia's foreign minister has reportedly had repeated meetings with her Iranian counterpart regarding Dr Moore-Gilbert. In December, an official statement from Tehran read it would not give into 'political smear campaigns' involving the Australian professor's case. The nation last month denied her appeal of her 10-year sentence. After the failed appeal, she smuggled an impassioned letter out of her cell bound for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a devout Christian, appealing to his religious beliefs. The Australian government secured the release of dual British-Australian citizen Jolie King and her Australian boyfriend, Mark Firkin (both pictured), in early October, some three months after they were arrested in Iran Pictured: Inside a corridor of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran as a guard monitors the halls 'Please I beg of you to do whatever it takes to get me out,' the letter read. 'I know that you're a religious man and I ask that until that much-longed for freedom arrives, you remember me and my family in your prayers.' Dr Moore-Gilbert had been in Iran as a guest speaker at a university conference when she was arrested at the airport after checking in for her flight home to Australia. She was reportedly researching Iran's relationship with the Shia community of Bahrain after a sectarian uprising in 2011. There are now concerns tensions between the US and Iran after America's attack on the nation's top commander, Qassem Soleimani, could have adverse repercussions on foreign prisoners, according to the publication. [January 15, 2020] iCoreRx Chosen as TDA Perks' Preferred ePrescribe Partner WINDERMERE, FL, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- iCoreConnect Inc. (OTC:ICCT) announces the Texas Dental Association Perks Program (TDA Perks) endorsement of iCoreRx, the dedicated, cloud-based, electronic prescribing tool from iCoreConnect. iCoreRx is specifically designed to save providers time and protect patients from opioid abuse. The ePrescription tool complies with state mandates, including electronic prescribing of controlled substances. This summer, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 2174, requiring electronic prescribing of all controlled substances (Schedule IIV) beginning January 1, 2021. TDA Perks leadership is proactively protecting its member dentists with an affordable, fully-compliant solution. iCoreRx immediately puts an accurate, low-cost, fully-compliant ePrescription resource into the hands of Texas dentists. We are thrilled to provide a trusted option for TDA members to use in their practices, shares TDA Perks General Manager Donovan Osio. As of January, Walmart and Sams Club now require ePrescriptions for controlled substances. It would be a disaster if dentists are unable to prescribe to those major pharmacies, iCoreConnect President and CEO Robert McDermott states. iCoreRx allows TDA member dentists to send ePrescriptions to the pharmacy of their patients choice with no disruption. iCoreRx is more than a quick, accurate, HIPAA-compliant ePrescription tool. McDermott elaborates, iCoreRx provides a digital copy and audit trail of every prescription sent. It also interfaces with many popular practice management systems, improving efficiency and saving time. iCoreRx has a built-in Lexicomp directory for quick and easy selection of the exact medication needed, as well as its available doses. And if a dentist prescribes certain drugs or sets of dugs frequently, iCoreRx can save them to Doctors Favorites for quick selection. Within iCoreRx, providers may choose to connect directly with any states Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMP). iCoreRx with the PMP function provides real-time access to the latest state data in one step. iCoreRx + PMP simplifies mandatory prescription checks through a single screen interface with a providers practice management system, eliminating manual data entry and showing patient information alongside the PMP data. iCoreRx is the fourth iCoreConnect software product endorsed by the TDA Perks program. Earlier this year, TDA Perks endorsed iCoreHuddle practice revenue optimizer. TDA Perks endorsed iCoreDental cloud-based practice management (Electronic Health Record) in 2015 and iCoreExchange (HIPAA-compliant email) in 2013. iCoreConnect builds and improves all of its software based on the feedback of currently-engaged healthcare providers, including approximately 2,000 dentists and physicians who helped design and develop iCoreDental (dental practice management system), iCoreMD (medical EHR) and iCoreExchange (HIPAA-compliant email). iCoreConnect recognitions include: - Top 25 IoT Solution Providers 2019 by CIO Applications Magazine - Top 10 Encryption Solution Providers 2018 by Enterprise Security Magazine - Top 10 Dental Solutions 2018 by Healthcare Tech Outlook - Top 50 Products of 2017 by Dental Products Report Magazine iCoreConnects unequivocal commitment to responding to the market has resulted in the following agreements and endorsements to date: - Colorado Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - Florida Dental Association Crown Services (iCoreExchange, iCoreDental) - Georgia Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - Louisiana Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - Maine Medical Association (iCoreExchange, iCoreMD) - Michigan Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - New Orleans Dental Association (iCoreDental) - New York State Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - North Carolina Dental Society (iCoreRx) - South Carolina Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - StartUp Health (iCoreExchange, iCoreMD, iCoreDental, iCoreCodeGenius, iCoreHuddle, iCoreFlex, iCoreRx) - Texas Dental Association Perks Program (TDA Perks) (iCoreExchange, iCoreDental, iCoreHuddle, iCoreRx) - Virginia Dental Association (iCoreExchange) - Wyoming Medical Society (iCoreExchange, iCoreMD, iCoreCodeGenius) About iCoreConnect iCoreConnect (OTC:ICCT) is a publicly-traded, cloud-based software and technology company providing secure communication and healthcare practice management. Approximately 2,000 physicians and dentists helped design and develop iCoreExchange HIPAA-compliant email, as well as iCoreMD and iCoreDental cloud-based practice management Electronic Health Records (EHR) software. All iCoreConnect healthcare industry software meets the federal governments strict laws for HIPAA-compliant communication. Its EHR software achieved certification by the federal governments Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Forward Looking Statements In this news release, the use of the words "believe," "could," "expect," "may," "positioned," "project," "projected," "should," "will," "would" or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent the Company's current judgment about possible future events. The Company believes these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. SOURCE iCoreConnect, Inc. PUB NO. 2000.031.011520 Cile Spelce [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HOUSTON - A grand jury has indicted two former Houston police officers including one who is facing murder counts for their roles in a deadly January 2019 drug raid that killed a couple, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The indictments follow similar charges that were filed in August by the Harris County District Attorneys Office. Ex-officer Gerald Goines was indicted on two counts of felony murder. The grand jury also indicted Goines and his former partner, Steven Bryant, on charges of tampering with a government record. The Jan. 28, 2019, raid came under scrutiny after police alleged Goines, 55, who was shot during the raid, lied in a search warrant that a confidential informant had bought heroin at the home. Goines later acknowledged there was no informant and that he bought the drugs himself, authorities said. Bryant, 46, is accused of providing false information in a report after the raid that supported Goines story about a confidential informant. Killed in the shooting were 58-year-old Rhogena Nicholas and 59-year-old Dennis Tuttle. Their family and friends have continuously dismissed allegations that the couple sold drugs. Police found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the home but no heroin. During the raid, four officers were shot and wounded, and a fifth injured his knee. Goines attorney, Nicole DeBorde, was critical of the prosecutions decision to file charges first without sending the case to a grand jury. Only the prosecutors who brought the charges are allowed to go in to the grand jury and it is not a surprise that the grand jury stamped off on the charges the DA originally brought. We look forward to our day in court, DeBorde said. Andy Drumheller, an attorney for Bryant, said grand jurors only heard from prosecutors and we have always believed this matter will be resolved in a courtroom where both sides to a dispute can be heard. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the indictments concluded the first phase of her offices investigation. Two other grand juries are expected to continue investigating over the next six months to determine if charges will be filed against any other officers involved in the raid, as well as possible additional charges against Goines and Bryant. Ogg said the actions of all 11 members of the narcotics squad involved in the raid are being reviewed, both in the drug raid and in prior cases. Since the raid, prosecutors have been reviewing about 14,000 cases handled by the Houston Police Departments narcotics division, including at least more than 2,000 tied to Goines and Bryant. Goines is also facing accusations that he provided false testimony that led to the wrongful conviction of a man in another drug case from 2008. Our charge is to find justice for these victims and all the people of Harris County whose trust has been betrayed by these officers, Ogg said. Our officers who are in uniform should not be besmirched, the good work that they do ... by corrupt police officers. Goines and Bryant are also facing federal charges in connection with the drug raid. Both men were relieved of duty after the shooting and later retired. Goines faces up to life in prison if convicted of felony murder, while Bryant faces up to two years in jail if convicted of tampering with a government record. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: The year 2019 was marked by important success both in Azerbaijans foreign policy and in all other areas, Azerbaijani MP Sevinj Fataliyeva told Trend. Speaking about the important events of the past year, the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-Speaking States should be especially noted, the MP said. By hosting this Summit at the highest level, Azerbaijan made significant contribution to the development of cooperation among Turkic-speaking states, Fataliyeva noted. On the other hand, the 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries, held in Baku on Oct. 25 and 26, became an important event not only for Azerbaijan, but for the whole world, the MP added. As part of the event, by unanimous decision of the member countries of the Movement, Azerbaijan was elected NAM chair country over the next three years. At the same time, last year a session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in Azerbaijan, as part of which Azerbaijans Historic Center of Sheki with the Khans Palace was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, Fataliyeva said. The MP emphasized that a lot of foreign visits also took place in Azerbaijan in 2019. During the year, the country was visited by heads of state and government of more than 40 countries, and the Azerbaijani president met with them formats, Fataliyeva added. In general, over the past year, Azerbaijan was developing in all directions, the foreign policy course has been successfully implemented, and state and national interests have been fully ensured, the MP said. Thanks to the far-sighted policy and the wise leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the year 2019 entered Azerbaijans history as a year of development and progress, Fataliyeva noted. As the state Legislature grapples with whether it should amend new bail reforms, a refrain among critics is that under the new rules, judges lack judicial discretion to determine if certain defendants should have bail set. But experts and those who support the reforms say the new bail law still gives them discretion to handle serious crimes and that increasing judges ability to make bail determinations for individual defendants would disproportionately harm minority defendants. We cannot go back to the tough-on-crime era, said VOCAL-NY Community Leader Roger Clark in a statement. We've already been there and it didn't work. We cannot give judges the permission to go back to discriminating against black and brown people. The new bail law went in to effect on Jan. 1 as part of a larger criminal justice reform package. The law eliminated cash bail for all misdemeanors, except sex offenses and criminal contempt charges for an order of protection violation in a domestic violence case, as well as most non-violent felonies in the states penal code. Law enforcement and Republican state legislators have pushed to repeal or amend the law, arguing that it allows dangerous defendants to go free or fails to punish defendants who repeatedly refuse to show up to court dates. State Sen. Jim Tedisco said judges should have the ability to set bail if they think the defendant is a threat to public safety. Makes a heck of a lot of sense. Have an assessment. I think there are eight or nine assessments where the judiciary can do what theyve always been given, have some discretion on the danger of the person, he said. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo initially had a public safety provision inserted in to the bail bill but it was removed before its final passage. New York is the only state in the country that does not have a public safety provision in its bail law, something that was true under the previous bail law as well. Tedisco, R-Glenville, introduced a bill with Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, that would allow judges to set bail or hold defendants if they had serious felony convictions, a history of failing to appear for court dates or committed another crime while other charges were pending. That doesnt do what Id like to do but I understand who Im dealing with here, Im dealing with progressive groups from one philosophy and theyre in full control right now, he said. At a press conference on Wednesday, Republican state legislators railed against the idea that judges had been stripped of their power under the previous bail laws and pushed for state Democrats to support repealing the legislation. Judges and prosecutors alike are being asked to do things outside the scope of normal legal procedure, said Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda. Judicial discretion is being assaulted by these laws and lawyers are being forced to conduct pre-trial discovery in ways that are unprecedented. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Bennett Gersham, a law professor at Pace University said judicial discretion just means a judge behaving reasonably. The judge is going to have to state a reason on the record why he believes bail might be in the public interest, he said. And those reasons are going to have to be weightier than perhaps reasons judges mightve given in the past. Under previous bail laws, judges were only supposed to set bail to ensure defendants showed up to future court dates. But criminal justice reform advocates made a case that in reality, bail was being imposed for other reasons, including whether judges thought there was a danger to the community, said Mary Lynch, a professor at Albany Law School. I dont hear judges saying they had that discretion, I do hear law enforcement thinking they had that discretion and I understand why they thought that because what they saw happening looked like thats how the decisions were being made, she said. When the bail legislation passed, Democratic leaders and criminal justice advocates touted it as a way for the state to make the criminal justice system more equitable, especially when it came to poor or minority defendants. The states previous bail system resulted in defendants not being able to assist in their defense because they couldnt afford bail and resulted in more minorities being held in jail while their cases moved forward, said Melanie Trimble, director of the New York Civil Liberties Unions Capital Region chapter. Weve seen the numbers, the data shows clearly that people of color are over-represented in the criminal justice system, she said. More people of color will have a higher bail set; more people of color will go to jail because judges have implicit bias and theres no question about it. The government will implement the recommendations of the Justice SN Dhingra-led special team that re-examined nearly 190 criminal cases connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that followed the assasination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Justice Dhingra, a retired high court judge, had handed over the special investigation team, or SITs findings to the Supreme Court in November last year. The special team had been set up in January 2018 by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by a riot victim. The special teams report, which has not been made public, is reported to have criticised the state machinery for its handling of the riots and the criminal cases that had been filed by victims. Justice Dhingra has shortlisted 10 FIRs where he felt the government should file an appeal against the trial courts verdict. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the government had accepted the recommendations and would take action. But it would not be an easy task. After the Centre conveyed its decision to the Supreme Court, Justice Dhingra told news channel Times Now that it would also depend on the court of appeal whether it would condone the long delay in filing appeals. Justice Dhingras report is also reported to be sharply critical of the police who didnt do their job. In one case, he told the news channel, the Station House Officer or police station incharge had aided the rioters. He disarmed Sikhs and encouraged the other side to attack, he said. Justice Dhingra also named SS Bal, the judge who was exclusively mandated to try all riots cases in Delhi from 1989 to 1995. He acquitted all accused in all the riots cases that he decided, he told the news channel. You can understand how many cases he must have tried, he said. Large-scale riots had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two Sikh security guards on the morning of October 31, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Allentown, PA (18103) Today Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens.. Tonight Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees. [January 15, 2020] FMLS and MGMLS Announce Partnership to Greatly Extend Listing Exposure, Software Capabilities and Training Offerings ATLANTA and MACON, Ga., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) and the Middle Georgia Multiple Listing Service (MGMLS) announced a new agreement today that benefits homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals throughout the state of Georgia. Under the partnership, property listings will be shared in the native MLS system throughout the expansive FMLS network as well as the middle Georgia network. This dramatically increases exposure throughout the state, which helps agents and brokers market and sell properties with more efficiency for potentially faster sales. "This expands the market opportunity for both MLS'," according to Jeremy Crawford, President and CEO of FMLS. "There's a lot of movement between markets, and this makes the process much easier." In addition, FMLS will extend new, state-of-the-art technology tools to MGMLS members, with products such as Cloud CMA, Showing Time, Down Payment Resource, and Remine Pro and Docs. "With nearly 46,000 members, we can purchase software much more affordably per user and extend that volume buying power to MGMLS's members," Crawford concludes. Suzanne Beers, MGMLS' Executive Director added, "We are very excited to have greater exposure to our listings in the greaer Atlanta area and new technology choices. We will also be able to access the FMLS Training Institute, which provides high-quality and accredited real estate training as a free MGMLS member-benefit." The FMLS Institute currently offers 33 of GREC's mandated 36 hours of continuing education necessary to maintain a real estate license. "As more consumers start their home buying and selling process online, this allows us to have better access to the latest real estate data in the most efficient technology and training tools. This opens the door to more referral business between brokers and agents, which helps everyone," Beers continues. The new agreement is effective today with many new products and services being rolled out in second quarter of 2020. About FMLS First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) was founded 62 years ago by four brokers who wanted to share real estate listings and connect buyers and sellers. Today, FMLS is one of the largest MLS' in North America, serving nearly 46,000 real estate professionals and Realtors in Georgia. Depending on the opportunity, FMLS may be willing to extend its software and real estate services to other like-minded organizations in Georgia and beyond. For more information, contact Steve Mapes at [email protected]. About MGMLS Originally called "Macon Multiple Listing Service", Mid Georgia MLS was founded in 1970 by five local brokers. Their goal was to make the listing of all member companies available to members and their agents. From this humble beginning MGMLS has grown to cover the middle Georgia area which includes 21 counties and is the premier MLS and data services provider for real estate professionals in central Georgia. MGMLS will celebrate 50 years in business this May. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fmls-and-mgmls-announce-partnership-to-greatly-extend-listing-exposure-software-capabilities-and-training-offerings-300987785.html SOURCE FMLS [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes, he said. How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States? But many dont. An Ipsos poll in June 2019 found that 74 percent of Democrats and independents would be comfortable with a woman president but only 33 percent believed their neighbors would be. And many Democratic voters, including women, have spent the past year expressing their doubts quietly in interviews. They would be thrilled to elect a woman, they say, but what about those swing voters in Wisconsin? Statistically, the idea that women are less electable is a myth. Studies have shown that when women run, they win at the same rates as men. In 2018, in fact, nonincumbent women did better than nonincumbent men in primary and general elections, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. In Michigan, one of the three states that swung the 2016 election to President Trump, Democratic women were elected governor, secretary of state and attorney general. But the continual debate over whether any given woman is electable places the burden on that woman to convince voters of what research has already shown. This is a burden men running for office dont have. Women often have to run dual campaigns: a campaign of belief to convince donors and elites they can win, in addition to the main campaign, said Amanda Hunter, research and communications director at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which supports women in politics. That is the challenge Senator Warren is facing now, the constant drumbeat of doubts and questions regarding her electability. In other words, the fact that popular beliefs about who can win are inaccurate is not quite the point, because those beliefs can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that is what Ms. Warren is trying to prevent. When voters who like a female candidate choose not to vote for her because they dont think enough other people will vote for her, she can become less electable simply by virtue of being perceived that way. And inasmuch as the dispute between Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders affects public opinion of womens electability, the very existence of the dispute poses a threat. Not a moment of comity. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images It was the non-handshake that reverberated around the world or at least around Twitter. I spoke with national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti, who attended the seventh Democratic debate in Iowa, to unpack the notably discordant post-debate moment between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The moment of apparent hostility capped more than a day of growing tension over differing accounts of whether Sanders had told Warren in a private conversation that he didnt think a woman candidate could beat Trump a matter that debate moderators asked about explicitly during the event. Ben: The most interesting moment at this debate by far happened just after everyone stopped talking, when Elizabeth Warren approached Bernie Sanders at the podium. Sanders extended his hand but Warren didnt take it, and the two had what looked to be a very tense exchange semi-interrupted by Tom Steyer, who says he didnt hear what they said to each other. Youre on the scene at the event in Iowa what are you hearing about what went down? Gabriel: We here in the press-filing center saw exactly what you did, but I can tell you that as soon as the spin room opened, reporters mobbed both Warren and Sanders surrogates to figure out what was said. No answers yet, obviously, or Twitter would be all over it. Warrens been represented in the spin room by Julian Castro, and Sanders by advisers like Jeff Weaver and Nina Turner. Ben: Have they called in the lip-readers yet? Gabriel: Ha, no, but CNN has been replaying the tape for a while now trying to figure out what was said. Talking to reporters here, Weaver reiterated that the two are friends but that obviously this hasnt been the high point of their friendship. Ben: This came after a moderately awkward exchange during the debate, though the two were mostly conciliatory about the story that blew up this week, in which Warren claimed that Sanders told her at a meeting that a woman couldnt win the presidency. It seemed that the storm had largely passed, until this post-debate moment. Regardless of what was said, is it bad news for either or both of their candidacies that this story will now be reignited as we approach the home stretch in Iowa? Gabriel: Of course neither of them want the story to be about their fight! Well see the extent to which this dominates local coverage tomorrow, but both sides did seem pretty happy to have this episode behind them and then this. Im not minimizing this drama it was pretty dramatic! but I do think were in the middle of a Twitter storm that may not translate in mainstream coverage. Ben: That is often a good bet. Do you expect both sides to now try to tamp this down again, even though those efforts may prove futile? Gabriel: Well definitely, since neither side has yet said a word about what was said, right? Both presumably could have, by now! CNN, though, might find a mic that caught the audio, and maybe some audience member heard? I mean, the speculation isnt going anywhere. But Ive been in a whole lotta post-debate spin rooms and I have to say I dont think Ive ever seen them so immediately dominated by something that happened onstage after the debate. Ben: Do you have any theories about what Warren might have been trying to communicate to Bernie? Gabriel: I dont want to guess, but it does seem clear that they are still not seeing eye-to-eye on what was actually said in their private meeting, so its not a stretch to think it could be about that. Without Warren being asked directly onstage about what was said, theres still this supremely uncomfortable disagreement hanging in the air. If we assume this disagreement was about something that happened onstage (fair assumption, probably?) its almost certainly about that, no? Not, like, the trade deal on which they have different philosophies. Ben: Ha, yes, somehow I doubt it. As you said, this all could be more of an internet tempest than one that real-life voters care about. But does any hint of division between Warren and Sanders count as good news for Joe Biden? Gabriel: Yeah, its been very very clear that Team Biden has been happy with the BernieWarren fighting (Buttigieg, too, btw) and with voters in Iowa so focused on beating Trump and questions of electability, a news cycle about wHaT WaS sAiD?!? doesnt really help either of them, especially while theyre still trying to win over each others voters. Dear Professor Jay 1. Thank you for inviting me to offer context on how I came to know former Bishop Peter Ball and on my dealings with him over the years, to assist your important Inquiry. I want to begin by applauding your work to ensure that the abuse of children is properly investigated and appropriate measures are taken to ensure they are fully protected. That is why I am pleased, on this occasion, to offer the following information, which I have set out to the best of my recollection after the passage of 25 years. 2. Over the years I have had, and continue to have, many interactions with the Clergy of the Church of England and of other Faiths, often on a daily basis. Set in that context, I first became aware of Peter Ball sometime during the 1980s, when I heard him preach. At that time, he came across as an interesting and engaging person. He was later appointed Bishop of Gloucester, in 1992. Since he had become my local Diocesan Bishop, near my home in Gloucestershire, I attended his Installation. He gave an impressive Address, which brought him to my attention again. At the same time I recall becoming aware of Michael Ball (Peter Ball's brother) who was later appointed Bishop of Truro, to which I am also closely connected through the Duchy of Cornwall. Over the whole of my life, I have met countless senior Clergy who have been invited to preach and, on various occasions, I have myself invited them to give Holy Communion at my home. I extended such invitations to Peter Ball from time to time, starting in 1993. 3. As is well known, I maintain correspondence relationships with a great number of individuals. Peter Ball occasionally wrote to me in respect of private, often spiritual, matters. On each occasion I naturally replied as I believe that to be the polite thing to do, although there was often a significant delay on my part given other priorities which demanded my attention. My recollection is that these exchanges were normally instigated and driven by Peter Ball, in addition to a handful of telephone calls during the decades of our correspondence. Having refreshed my memory of our correspondence to try to help your Inquiry, I note this is borne out by the contents and dates of the letters in question. 4. With the significant passage of time, I cannot now recall with sufficient certainty when the following exchange took place and whether there was one particular conversation that concerned the reflections I offer below or more than one. 5. Peter Ball told me that he had been involved in some form of 'indiscretion', which prompted his resignation as my local Bishop at Gloucester. He emphasised that one individual, who I now understand to be Mr Neil Todd, had made a complaint to the Police; that the Police had investigated the matter; and that the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to take no action. This sequence of events seemed to support Mr Ball's claim that the complaint emanated from a single individual; that the individual bore a grudge against him and was 'persecuting' him; that the complaint was false; but that the individual had nonetheless profited from the complaint by selling his story to the newspapers. The matter was described by him as 'closed'. Peter Ball added that various people within the Church did not like him and had themselves used the complaint to curtail his ministry and force his resignation. When this exchange took place, I did not know about the nature of the complaint. 6. The true context and details of this complaint, and I now understand many others, against Peter Ball did not come to my attention until the time of Mr Ball's trial and conviction in 2015. My main source of information before this was Mr Ball himself, though I should add that I was so fully occupied by my public role that Mr Ball's situation was rarely at the front of my mind. As context, it seems important to say that in the 1980's and 1990's there was a presumption that people such as Bishops could be taken at their word and, as a result of the high office they held, were worthy of trust and confidence. That has changed over the years, as evidence has caused us all to be more challenging of what we hear and what we are told. But, at the time, there was on my part a presumption of good faith. I believe I was far from alone in taking this view. 7. I was certainly not aware at the time of the significance or impact of the caution that Peter Ball has accepted, or indeed sure if I was even told about it. Whilst I note that Peter Ball mentioned the word in a letter to me in October 2009, I was not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt. I was aware that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to pursue a case against Mr Ball. This seemed to support Mr Ball's defence of his position set out in his letter. 8. I recall that Peter Ball told me that following his resignation as Bishop of Gloucester he would lose the house in which he lived and that, as a consequence, both he and his brother Michael would become homeless. He told me that their monastic vows meant they had very little money. In this context, I occasionally sent the brothers small gifts of money, as I do for many people in need, and Pete Ball's interest in becoming a tenant of a Duchy of Cornwall property then arose. A significant part of the Duchy's business is in arranging and managing leases for properties and I mentioned the situation of the Ball brothers to the Duchy, as I do for others from time to time. The details of the eventual rental were handled, as usual, by Duchy staff. I was aware of the transaction but did not assist with the selection of the house. Some time later, in 1997, Peter and Michael Ball became tenants of a Duchy property until early in 2011, when they moved on. Police investigations 9. At no stage did I ever seek to influence the outcome of either of the Police investigations into Peter Ball and nor did I instruct or encourage my staff to do so. 10. I understand from document ANG000021 that a member of Gloucestershire Police seems to recall that he 'came under pressure' in 1992 or 1993 which related in some way to some form of interest from myself and my staff in Peter Ball. This is untrue. Indeed, at the time of this Police investigation I had no knowledge of these particular matters. It follows, therefore, that I did not authorise - and could not have authorised - any such action. And nor would I have done. 11. Likewise, I have no recollection of any contact by one of my Personal Protection Officers or indeed any member of my staff with Gloucestershire Police. I was clear at the time, as I have remained clear, that the Police must be able to carry out their investigation in the proper manner without external pressure or influence. We have looked at our files and can find no record of any of these matters. It is always possible that my name was taken in vain, as can unfortunately happen from time to time. As I make clear elsewhere in this Statement, there is a gap between rumour and fact. 12. In a similar vein, I do not recall receiving a letter from Michael Ball in April 2013 as described by Detective Superintendent Carwyn Hughes (OHY000203). Having looked at our files we cannot find any record of such a letter. The occasional letters that I did receive from Michael Ball were of private and social nature and I am not aware of any interest from Sussex Police in this correspondence. Nevertheless, I have made available to you copies of the private correspondence received from Michael Ball, in case that could help your Inquiry in any way. I understand that a conversation took place between Sussex Police and the Metropolitan Police Royalty Protection team in 2013, and that Sussex Police informed the Metropolitan Police that they visited Peter Ball's home and removed items which included a letter sent from me. I believe the Metropolitan Police asked whether or not this letter was relevant to the inquiry. I further understand that the Metropolitan Police emphasised clearly that they were not enquiring about the investigation itself and specifically wished to avoid any appearance of influence over it. They wished only to establish the facts about the property that had been removed and its correct ownership. The Metropolitan Police were told that the letter in question was not relevant and that it was to be returned by Sussex Police to Peter Ball. The Church of England 13. Probably late in 1994 (although I cannot now be certain of the date) I recall seeing the then-Archbishop of Canterbury at an event and taking that opportunity to ask, among other issues, about Peter Ball as he had lately been my local Bishop. I remember the Archbishop was supportive of Peter Ball and thought him a good man and priest. I do not think we discussed any detail, though I recall that the Archbishop was perhaps thinking of 'trying to bring [Peter Ball] back to a public ministry' at some stage. I understood there were some complications, but these were not described. As this was clearly a matter for Church authorities, I took no personal position on it. 14. Other than this conversation with the then-Archbishop, I do not recall any specific conversations regarding Peter Ball, although I was aware that Mr Ball was himself keen to persuade the Church to 'restore [him] to some form of Ministry in the Church'. The general view of members of the Clergy who occasionally mentioned him to me was that he was a capable and well-liked priest. 15. The Inquiry has asked about a note made by Andrew Purkis, of Lambeth Palace, following a lunch he had with my then-Private Secretary, Richard Aylard, on 30th August 1994 (ACE003034). My Private Secretary meets regularly with members of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Office to discuss a range of matters. Having reviewed the document it is clear that the meeting took place in the normal course of business and was for the purpose of discussing matters other than Mr Ball. I cannot shed any light on what appears to be a brief mention of Mr Ball at the end of the meeting. I have no recollection of discussing the matter. I have also been shown a copy of my letter of 14th December 2001 addressed to Peter Ball. As far as I can recall, this letter conveyed that I could not assist Peter Ball in any approach he was thinking of making to the Archbishop to seek a return to public ministry. I recall Peter Ball repeating this request around this time and again some time later and my declining to assist. It follows therefore that I was not involved in 'any discussion with Lambeth Palace' on this matter. Contact with Institutions 16. You have asked about contact between myself and institutions in respect of Peter Ball between 1993 and 2015. To the best of my knowledge and belief I have dealt with these contacts in the information I have volunteered above, and I can only hope this will be of some assistance to you. 17. I have been shown an extract from an interview conducted by the Chair of the Church of England's Inquiry into Peter Ball last year, Dame Moira Gibb, with Elizabeth Hall of the Church of England, suggested there were some rumours of an interest from me in Peter Ball being given some alternative employment (INQ000682). I can confirm that this is untrue: not for the first time, and as the Gibb Inquiry concluded in respect of my contacts with Peter Ball over the years, there is a gap between rumour and fact. I did not seek any such roles for Mr Ball and did not ask others to do so on my behalf. 18. I regret that I am unable to shed any light on references made in a letter dated 23rd March 1997 to a 'horrid man' or a 'frightful and terrifying man'. This seems to be a manner of speaking in the midst of a long letter written more than twenty years ago. I do recall that Peter Ball felt that numerous individuals, including his critics in the media, were doing all in their power to disadvantage him unfairly. I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the reference is to this issue in some way. It of course needs to be read in the context of my understanding at the time, namely that Peter Ball had been falsely accused of a single offence (the nature of which was unknown to me) by an individual whom the relevant judicial authorities and many others had themselves not believed. Events later demonstrated beyond any doubt, to my deep regret, that I, along with many others, had been misled and the reverse was true. At the time, however, it would have followed that people seeking to disadvantage Peter Ball, including from gaining employment, were behaving unfairly. What I can say with certainty is that I did not express this view to anyone else or take any action associated with it. 19. In conclusion, I would like to state that, throughout my life, my position has occasionally brought me into contact with prominent people who have subsequently been accused of serious wrong-doing. Rather than rushing to private judgement, I have always taken the view that the judicial process should take its course. I am then able to ground my opinions in facts tested by law, rather than hearsay. In many cases, including two very prominent cases of false accusation last year, this has proved a sensible course. It follows that I ceased contact with Mr Ball once the judicial process had concluded and he was found guilty of serious offences against young people. My heart goes out to the victims of abuse and I applaud their courage as they rebuild their lives and, so often, offer invaluable support to others who have suffered. It remains a source of deep personal regret that I was one of many who were deceived over a long period of time about the true nature of Mr Ball's activities. That is why I wanted to volunteer the facts in this letter, which I believe to be true, in the hope that they might be able to help your important work. Yours sincerely DPA It turns out you can direct one of the most critically and commercially successful movies of 2019 and still not get an Academy Award nomination for checks notes directing. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It turns out you can direct one of the most critically and commercially successful movies of 2019 and still not get an Academy Award nomination for checks notes directing. Greta Gerwig helmed the gorgeous, innovative 2019 adaptation of Little Women, Louisa May Alcotts perennial coming-of-age classic about the March sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy growing up in Civil War-era Massachusetts. Her film earned six Oscar nods this week, including for best picture, best actress (Saoirse Ronan, for her turn as the headstrong Jo), best supporting actress (Florence Pugh, who played ambitious Amy), best original score (Alexandre Desplat) and best costume design (Jacqueline Durran). Gerwig herself got a well-deserved nomination for best adapted screenplay; she brought new life and timeliness to a 151-year-old story. Gerwig also pulled off the impossible: she wrote an Amy March redemption song. Greta Gerwig was shut out of the directing category, which, as usual, is completely populated by men. (Celeste Sloman / Washington Post files) And yet, the filmmaker was shut out of the directing category, which, as usual, is completely populated by men. "Congratulations to those men," comedian Issa Rae deadpanned after reading out the names of Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips, Sam Mendes, Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon-ho. In 2018, Gerwig defied the odds and earned the distinction of becoming the fifth woman ever nominated for best director, for her 2017 film Lady Bird. She followed Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2009), Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003), Jane Campion for The Piano (1993) and Lina Wertmuller for Seven Beauties (1976). Only Bigelow has ever taken home an Oscar. Thats five women in 92 years. In addition, a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Inititative found 10.6 per cent of the 100 top-grossing films in 2019 were directed by women a record. Compare that to 2018 a paltry 4.8 per cent. Lulu Wang, director of The Farewell, was also shut out of the directing category. (Jordan Strauss / Invision files) Gerwig was not the only major snub. Lulu Wang, director of The Farewell, was also shut out of the directing category. Jennifer Lopez was not acknowledged for her fiery performance as an entrepreneurial stripper in Hustlers. Awkwafina, who recently became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe Award for best actress in a comedy or musical for her performance in The Farewell, was notably absent from the Best Actress category, as was Lupita Nyongo, who starred in the Jordan Peele-directed horror movie Us. And thats just a handful. Apparently, members of the Academy didnt get out much in 2019. I shudder to think what would happen if the Oscars ever did away with gendered acting categories. Would women be nominated for anything ever again? In addition to being very male, this years Oscar nominations are also very white. Apparently little was learned from the #OscarsSoWhite campaign of five years ago. Bongs history-making nomination, at least, represents a significant break from the unbearable whiteness of the Oscars; that his film, Parasite, also landed a best picture nomination is a big deal, considering it is a South Korean film with English subtitles. But thats one director, of one film. Theres a scene in Gerwigs Little Women in which Jo bristles when Professor Bhaer (Louis Garrel) tells her he doesnt like her sensational stories of murder and mystery the very stories shes been able to sell to newspapers with success. Later, when she writes a manuscript based on her life with her sisters, she worries its too boring. Her publishers daughters, however, vehemently disagree. This years slate of Oscar nominations are Jo Marchs fear realized: that tales about the lives of women are too domestic, too boring or too niche to be recognized. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Stories about the lives of (white) men, meanwhile, dominate the major categories. Men at war (1917). Men in organized crime (The Irishman). Brooding men (Joker). Aging men (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood). Those films, those stories, are recognized as being "for everyone," while Little Women a story about ambition, family and duty is recognized as being "for women." I shudder to think what would happen if the Oscars ever did away with gendered acting categories. Would women be nominated for anything ever again? Its telling that Bigelow, the only woman to ever win a best director Oscar, did so for a movie about the Iraq War, starring mostly men. When were exposed to stories from a more diverse cross-section of filmmakers, writers and directors, were all richer for it. And its not like women and people of colour are not out there making important, entertaining, life-altering films. They are. And they deserve to be celebrated for it. jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more. Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project. The past decade has been the hottest on record, the UN said Wednesday, warning that the higher temperatures were expected to fuel numerous extreme weather events in 2020 and beyond. "Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Petteri Taalas, head of the UN's World Meteorological Organization, said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like? As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning. iStock(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) -- A bizarre twist has been uncovered in the case of a woman accused of killing her friend, Linda Collins-Smith, a former Arkansas state senator. Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, 49, once an aide to Collins-Smith and an employee at the former senator's business, was charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence after Collins-Smith was found dead at her home in Pocahontas, some 145 miles northeast of Little Rock, on June 4. Now, prosecutors allege O'Donnell wanted to hire someone to kill Collins-Smith's ex-husband and his new wife while in jail. New charges were filed Tuesday against O'Donnell based on testimony of jailhouse informants, including two felony counts of solicitation to commit capital murder and two misdemeanor counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence while in custody of the Jackson County Jail, according to court documents. O'Donnell allegedly told the women she tried to solicit that the murder of Phil Smith had to occur in his home and that the homicide needed to be staged as a suicide, according to the probable cause affidavit. The women also were told they would be paid with the stash of gold and silver that Smith, a former state judge, had in his home, authorities said. In addition, investigators have alleged O'Donnell wanted to have her former prosecutor, Henry Boyce, killed, as well as the former judge presiding in her homicide case, Harold Erwin. O'Donnell's attorney, Lee Short, told ABC News that jail inmates routinely offer questionable information on others in the jail to win privileges or sentence reductions. "It's not surprising at all -- inmates do it all the time," Short said soon after the new charges were filed. "In high-profile cases, especially homicides, people tend to seek opportunities to improve their situations by giving statements against people." On Oct. 24, inmate Shana Hembrey told Jackson County Det. Adam Zitzelberger that O'Donnell attempted to hire herself and fellow inmate Cassandra Geoffrion to kill Smith, according to the court documents. Hembrey is currently being held on charges of felony theft and identity fraud, and Geoffrion is being held on charges of possessing drugs and weapons. Hembrey also told Zitzelberger that O'Donnell wanted Hembrey and Geoffrion to blow up her vehicle in order to destroy any evidence that may be inside. During a follow-up interview Nov. 7, Hembrey told Arkansas State Police Special Agent Mike McNeill that O'Donnell also wanted them to kill Smith's new wife, Mary Smith. Hembrey said she was instructed to "shoot or hang" Smith and was "supposed to pack a bag so it looks like Mary was in the process of leaving him," according to O'Donnell's charging documents. Surveillance footage from inside the jail on Nov. 5 showed O'Donnell passing two pieces of paper into Geoffrion's cell. Geoffrion alleges the paper, since turned over to authorities, contained forged suicide notes for Philip Smith. Former inmate Rebecca Landrum, who was held on one count of felony theft, also told law enforcement that O'Donnell approached her multiple times while she was in jail, telling Landrum she wanted her to kill the original judge overseeing O'Donnell's capital murder trial, Erwin, and the first prosecutor, Boyce. Both Boyce and Erwin have since withdrawn from the case because of conflicts. Landrum alleged O'Donnell told her that she had been set up by Phil Smith for Linda Collins' murder, and that "police had planted stuff in her trunk." Landrum claimed O'Donnell told her to "make evidence disappear" by blowing up her 2005 Honda Civic in Randolph County. Landrum told investigators that gold and silver inside Smith's home that would serve as payment had been appraised by Collins-Smith to be worth anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 during the couple's divorce. The informants cooperating against O'Donnell all were prosecuted by Boyce in cases handled by Judge Erwin during November and December. The case has been strange from the start, with officials refusing to reveal even the most elementary information connected to it and slapping an unprecedented gag order and seal on the vast majority of records associated with the probe. ABC News is suing to have the seal and gag lifted or modified. O'Donnell is facing the death penalty if convicted of killing Collins-Smith. She is being held without bond on the original charges. An arraignment on the new charges has not been scheduled. Tim Loggains, O'Donnell's fiance, said in a statement on Tuesday: "My family's faith in Becky is unwavering. We cannot imagine the evidence will actually substantiate these allegations. The allegations defy believability. I won't even comment on the informant's extensive criminal history but instead will wait to see if the State produces credible evidence at trial." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors, to swear an oath to deliver "impartial justice." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the chief justice would open the trial this week, but that the significant proceedings would launch next Tuesday. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month on charges of abuse of power over pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden as the president withheld aid from the country, and obstructing Congress' ensuing probe. Republicans control the Senate, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Trump. Get all the background before Trump's impeachment trial AP White House scrambles to assemble Trump's impeachment defense President Donald Trump's lawyers are scrambling to assemble their legal team and draft opening statements for a Senate impeachment trial that could start within days and will determine whether to remove the president from office. AP Democrats want documents, not just witnesses, at Trump's impeachment trial The high-profile fight over potentially dramatic witness testimony at an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has overshadowed the Senate's possible demand for a different type of revealing cache of new evidence withheld documents. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 AP/AFP/Getty/The Independent Iran has rejected as strange a proposal from Boris Johnson that it should strike a new nuclear deal with the US, suggesting that president Donald Trumps administration was not trustworthy enough. Hassan Rouhani, Irans president, said the solution to the current sky-high tensions between Iran and the US was to return to a deal with world powers that was abandoned by Mr Trump in 2018. "This Mr Prime Minister in London, I dont know how he thinks. He says lets put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action," Mr Rouhani said in a televised speech. If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal," he said of the 2015 agreement, which was brokered by Mr Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. Mr Rouhani also issued a thinly veiled threat at US and European troops deployed in the Middle East if the current crisis was not resolved. "Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger," he said, without elaborating. Mr Johnson on Tuesday called on the US president to replace the deal, which was designed to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, with his own new agreement. "If we're going to get rid of it, let's replace it and let's replace it with the Trump deal," Mr Johnson said. "That would be a great way forward." Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also poured scorn on the suggestion. "I had a US deal and the US broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" he said at a security conference in New Delhi. New attention has been brought to Irans nuclear programme following weeks of tensions between Iran and the US, which spilled over into military confrontation with the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike on 3 January. Iran responded by firing a barrage of missiles at US military bases in Iraq, and promised to force American troops from the region. Story continues The current tensions have their roots in a decision by Mr Trump to walk away from the internationally-brokered nuclear deal and impose harsh sanctions on Tehran. Iran responded by also reducing its commitments to the agreement, and stepped away even further following Soleimanis killing, announcing it would ignore all limitations on enriching uranium set down in the pact. Mr Zarif insisted on Wednesday that the existing deal was not dead, a day after Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran of violating the terms of that agreement, a move that could eventually lead to the reimposing of United Nations sanctions. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, insisted in a statement to MPs that EU nations wanted to rescue the agreement, prompting criticism that No 10 and the Foreign Office were at odds. Mr Zarif also commented on the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet by his countrys military, killing 176 passengers and crew, on the same night that it fired missiles at US bases in Iraq. While blaming US "ignorance" and "arrogance" for "fueling mayhem" in the Middle East, he also acknowledged the anger Iranians felt over the plane shootdown. "In the last few nights, we've had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days," Mr Zarif said. He went on to praise Iran's military for being "brave enough to claim responsibility early on". VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Charting a Common Approach international conference is the first of its kind in Canada to facilitate a dialogue on geopolitical issues in the Indo-Pacific and will convene January 22-23, 2020 at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hosted by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, with the support of government and private sector partners, this invitation-only forum will serve as a venue for informed scholarship and policy discussion to develop a strategy and response to regional issues surrounding the Indo-Pacific, an emerging geopolitical construct that extends from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Speakers and Special Guests include: Admiral (Retired) Scott H. Swift Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow, MIT Center for International Studies; Former Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow, MIT Center for International Studies; Former Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Ambassador Yasuhisa Kawamura Ambassador, Embassy of Japan in Canada Ambassador, Embassy of Japan in Canada Elissa Golberg Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic Policy, Global Affairs Canada Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic Policy, Global Affairs Canada Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses Dr. Jeffrey Hornung Political Scientist, RAND Corporation Political Scientist, RAND Corporation Professor Yuichi Hosoya Professor, Keio University Professor, Keio University Ambassador Abdul Kadir Jailani Ambassador, Republic of Indonesia to Canada Ambassador, Republic of Indonesia to Canada David Welch University Research Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo University Research Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo Jonathan Berkshire Miller Senior Visiting Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs Senior Visiting Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs Elina Noor Visiting Fellow, Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia Visiting Fellow, Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia Dr. Joanne Wallis Associate Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University Associate Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University Deanna Horton Senior Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto Senior Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto Joe Armstrong Vice President, Global Business Operations, Products and Solutions, CAE Canada Vice President, Global Business Operations, Products and Solutions, CAE Canada Steve Dechka Co-Chair, Japan-Canada Chambers Council Co-Chair, Japan-Canada Chambers Council Dr. Kristi Govella Assistant Professor, Asian Studies Program at the University of Hawaii Assistant Professor, Asian Studies Program at the University of Hawaii Prof. Masahiro Kawai Representative Director and Director General, Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia Representative Director and Director General, Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia Jay Khosla Assistant Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada Assistant Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada Yuen Pau Woo Canadian Senator Canadian Senator Dr. Nong Hong Executive Director and Senior Fellow, Institute for China-America Studies Executive Director and Senior Fellow, Institute for China-America Studies Ambassador Tsuneo Nishida Honorary Director, The Center for Peace at Hiroshima University Honorary Director, The Center for Peace at Hiroshima University Dr. Eva Pejsova Associate Fellow, French Foundation for Strategic Research Associate Fellow, French Foundation for Strategic Research Natalie Sambhi Executive Director, Verve Research; PhD Candidate, Strategic Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University Media availability is limited and media representatives who wish to cover conference media opportunities must register by 1 pm PT (4 pm ET) on Friday, January 17, 2020 with valid media credentials. Media Opportunities: Event: Media availability; Luncheon Keynote Presentation featuring Admiral (Retired) Scott Swift, Former Commander, US Pacific Fleet. Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 Location: Crystal Pavilion B & C, Pan Pacific Hotel, 300999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC. Time: 11:30 a.m. PT Note: Media should arrive by 11:15 a.m. PT; lunch will be served to registered media only. Please be advised that space is limited. --- Event: Photo opportunity/media scrum; FOIP Conference Summary Statement with key conference stakeholders. Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020 Location: Atrium Boardroom, Pan Pacific Hotel, 300999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC. Time: 12:10 p.m. PT Note: Media should arrive by 12: p.m. PT. --- Event: Pre-conference telephone interviews and onsite one-on-one interviews with FOIP 2020 speakers and special guests from Asia or Canada; available by special request only. Date: January 17-21, 2020 Associated link The Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Charting a Common Approach conference agenda. https://www.asiapacific.ca/sites/default/files/foip_agenda_media.pdf #FOIP2020 | @AsiaPacificFdn Contact Michael Roberts Communications Manager Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada michael.roberts@asiapacfic.ca FOIP 2020 DAYTIME SESSIONS (CLOSED TO THE MEDIA) The World Bank warns us of a large wave of debt that has been building up since 2010. (Global Economic Prospects, 2020). Its driven by a rise in debt in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). The build-up has been faster and broader than in the three waves of debt in EMDEs that happened before in the past 50 years. Every one of the earlier three waves ended in a financial crisis. The report spells out the impact of these crises. It suggests ways in which EMDEs might reduce the probability of a debt-induced crisis and its impact. Its good to be warned and to ... In this modern age, where everything comes adulterated, medicines are also of no exception. It has become highly difficult to find genuine medicines and treatments for the common man. Alde Medi Impex Ltd. is one of the top pharma companies providing top-notch health care and medication facilities, which makes them unique from the rest. Their medicines are 100 per cent reliable and free from chemical toxins. Alde Medi is all set to launch its in the African Continent. With this venture, Alde aims at establishing itself in the booming pharmaceutical market of Africa. Alde is dedicated to improving healthcare at affordable costs. There are plenty of unexplored opportunities along with an increase in clinical trials in the region. With many countries still backward in healthcare, Alde sees enormous options to spread its wings in Africa. Rajesh Rastogi, the founder, started Alde with the retailing of pharma products in 1978. As he saw a continual success, he stepped into wholesale and then later to distributorship of 50 leading companies. With 20 years of experience in pharma supply and distribution, in 1997. Being in the industry from 1997, Alde Medi Impex Ltd. has made it to the top among the other medical suppliers and manufacturers of India by constant and rigorous efforts in providing trustworthy medicines. The strict adherence to the international rules and regulations in the manufacture and distribution of medical products has given an edge to Alde Medi from the rest of its competitors. In 2013, Manas Rastogi, son of Rajesh Rastogi, joined Alde Medi. Manas is a B.Tech (Biotechnology) graduate and has a Post-graduate degree in MBA (Marketing) from the United Kingdom. The biggest support to Manas has been from his younger brother Mehul Rastogi who handles the production and distribution. Together they have innovated in expansion strategies and implemented strong human resource planning which has led to a stronger, dedicated and positive attitude within the team, all in all leading to an enormous growth since then. Alde Medi has planned to launch few products in the near future in a joint venture with European manufacturers. It has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and has a wide range of healthcare and medical products such as Antibiotics, NSAIDs, Gastrointestinal, Anthelmintic, Cardiovascular, Diabetic, Nutraceuticals, Anti-diarrheal, and several other categories. Their products undergo quality screening multiple times by highly qualified quality assurance executives; and then, they finally make their way into the market. Alde Medi strives hard to provide highly effective medicines at competitive costs. They work towards achieving this goal relentlessly. Many testimonials from partners and customers act as proof that they are on the right track. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Read what is in the news today: Politics -- The first meeting of the ASEAN senior economic officials for the 51st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting concluded in Hanoi on Tuesday after three days of discussions on goods, services, investment, trade facilitation, quality standards, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and rules of origin. -- The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam-China Friendship Association on Tuesday co-hosted a reception to mark the 70th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic ties (January 18). Society -- Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has issued a dispatch to the municipal police department requesting an investigation into recent media reports of a suspected child sex ring in the capital city which offers virgin girls to customers. -- Roads in Ho Chi Minh City, especially those connected to airports and bus terminals, have been heavily congested since the start of this week as residents have begun a mass migration back to their hometown in other provinces for the Lunar New Year, which will fall on January 25. -- No state capital will be provided for the construction of the third (T3) terminal at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said in a document sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, asking the ministry to elaborate on capital sources for the building work. -- Tran Thi Hoai Thanh, director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs of Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, is being questioned by the local Party Committees inspectors for approving droves of promotions in the months before she is scheduled to retire on February 1. Business -- National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on Tuesday domestic passengers can now weigh their own check-in baggage and print luggage tags at self-service check-in kiosks installed at airports in Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City, before dropping them off at a reception counter to save time. -- The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers has said its five members, namely Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, SYM, and Yamaha, sold over 3.25 million motorbikes in 2019, a year-on-year decline of 3.87 percent. -- A representative of brewer Heineken Asia Pacific on Tuesday said it had initiated legal procedures pursuant to an agreement on avoiding double taxation between Vietnam and Singapore concerning an earlier request by tax authorities in Vietnam that Heineken Vietnam pay VND917 billion (US$39.58 million) in tax arrears and fines related to a capital transfer deal. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! If you have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and medication is not working, or the side effects are intolerable, you should ask your doctor about TMS. Sadness is a natural part of life. People may feel sad or depressed when someone they love passes away, or they experience one of lifes challenges, such as a serious illness or divorce. These feelings are normal and often short-lived. However, for some, the feeling of sadness can persist and intensify for extended periods. When that happens, they may have major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States and the most common diagnosis treated by AltaPointe clinicians. AltaPointes BayView Professional Associates is offering a new treatment option to help adults struggling with major depressive disorder, specifically for those who have tried and failed other treatment options and medications. We are excited to offer Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to adult patients at BayView, said Olivia Nettles, director of BayView Professional Associates. Treatment-resistant depression is a devastating condition associated with early death from suicide or poor physical health and an impaired ability to work. There is a population of patients who do not respond to antidepressant treatment, and this is another option available to help them live a better life. TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. When a nerve cell fires, an electrical impulse travels along its length. It communicates with other nerve cells by releasing neuro-transmitters, which create an electrical impulse in other cells. In depressed patients, electrical activity in some regions of the brain is reduced. TMS uses a focused electromagnetic coil to rapidly pulse a magnetic field to the targeted area of the brain. The magnetic pulses induce an electrical current in the brain, stimulating the nerve cells and increasing the brain activity to normal levels. John Conrad, assistant director of BayView Professional Associate and a licensed independent clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience, encourages people to learn all they can about the treatment. If you have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and medication is not working, or the side effects are intolerable, you should ask your doctor about TMS, Conrad said. Treatment-resistant depression is historically debilitating; this is a new option with fewer side effects than traditional medications, and offers a chance to live life anew. Some people living with major depressive disorder cannot remember life without depression. The National Institute of Health estimates 10 to 30 percent of people with depression do not respond to first-line treatments. Treatment-resistant depression is a clinical concern and can pose significant burdens to patients and their families. TMS is readily incorporated into the patients treatment plan and allows for minimal disruption during the day. Appointments run 35 minutes at the most. Research supports the use of TMS to treat major depressive disorder, as well as anecdotal experience, Sean Sinclair, M.D., said. This new option for patients adds immensely to our services here at BayView. To learn more about how TMS may help you, call BayView Professional Associates at (251) 450-2250. Wednesday, January 15th, 2020 (7:28 am) - Score 14,872 Cable broadband and TV operator Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global) has announced the appointment of Severina Pascu to become its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), which will become effective from 1st February 2020 and help to lead the ISP through an exciting new growth chapter. The move to appoint Ms. Pascu, who has been with the Liberty Global group since 2008 and was most recently CEO of UPC Switzerland, is unusual in that we cant recall Virgin Media UK having a Deputy CEO before. Meanwhile VMs existing CEO, Lutz Schuler, was only appointed to lead the company in April 2019. Ms. Pascu will also be replacing Bill Castell as Virgins acting CFO (hes only been in that position since August 2019). Suffice to say that Liberty Global has been busy restructuring Virgin Medias management for awhile and this is widely believed to be laying the ground work for a significant shift in the UK. Liberty has some money to throw around after selling off some of its operations in Europe (e.g. Germany) to Vodafone last year and theyve got some big ideas to play with. As we reported last year (here), a big part of this new growth chapter is expected to centre on their recently established Liberty Networks (formerly Liberty Fibre) company in the UK. The expectation is that Virgin Media may split their Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) and FTTP broadband network off into the new company and sell access to rival ISPs (e.g. Sky Broadband, TalkTalk) via wholesale, albeit with Virgin Media being given special access as the anchor tenant. Such a move would be likely to placate some of Ofcoms likely regulatory concerns, thus allowing the network coverage to continue growing and enabling them to bid on future broadband contracts, while also establishing Liberty Networks as a major national rival to Openreach (BT). This would be a truly seismic shift in the UK broadband market. Mike Fries, CEO Liberty Global, said: This is an exciting moment for Virgin Media. Severina is a world class operator and finance executive. Shes done extraordinary work executing our turnaround plan in Switzerland and will be a critical partner to Lutz at Virgin Media. They will be a powerhouse team. Severina has a fantastic track record in telecoms markets across Europe and has extensive operational and strategic experience which will be invaluable to us at Virgin Media. Im looking forward to Severina joining the team next month as we continue to transform our business and embark on an exciting new growth chapter to help us realize our ambition to become the most recommended brand in our sector for our people and customers. Severina Pascu said: I am delighted to join Virgin Media at such an exciting time for the company and the industry. Virgin Media is an incredible brand and I am looking forward to working with such an amazing team. I leave a strong team in Switzerland with a solid plan to bring UPC back to growth and I am confident that Baptiest will provide strong and stable leadership there. Liberty Global has also long been rumoured to be eyeing the possible acquisition of a mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with Vodafone, O2 and Three UK often being in the frame. However Virgin Medias recent decision to swap their Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement from EE to Vodafone may indicate that they dont need to rush (here) and will probably try to sort out Liberty Networks first. The acquisition of a mobile network would enable them to better tackle BTs increasing march toward a true all-IP based network convergence of fixed and mobile platforms, which is not possible via an MVNO agreement. On the other hand it remains to be seen whether this is a truly attractive proposition for consumers (personally I dont like having my mobile contract tied to a bundle). Millburn High School junior Eli Nadell has been selected as a semifinalist in NASAs Mars 2020 Name the Rover contest. Nadell, one of 155 semifinalists from across the country, will advance to the next round of consideration to name the 2020 Mars Rover. Knowing that I have advanced to the semifinalist stage in the competition is a tremendous honor, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be considered," Nadell said. "The prospect of being a part of this historic event is exciting, and would surely be an experience I will never forget, he added. Nadell, who suggested the name Novus, included the following essay with his submission: As we scan the universe for forms of life other than our own, we are fulfilling mans most primitive desire to experience new things. Whether it be new knowledge, technology, or food, we are constantly striving to discover what is new. Throughout NASAs long and decorated history, this quest for new knowledge has brought us off the ground and into the vastness of outer space. Novus, translated from Latin, means something that is new or previously unseen. As we embark on a mission to the Red Planet, we begin our search in a new sector, a new frontier. A planet that holds new information that could unlock answers to questions that we cannot answer here on Earth. Our mission to Mars will look to uncover the prospect stated on our dollar bill: novus ordo seclorum, a New World Order. When it lands, what new information will the Novus Rover uncover? The naming contest is part of a Space Act Agreement in educational and public outreach efforts between NASA, Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, and Future Engineers of Burbank, California. According to Battelle, The Mars 2020 Rover has entered the final stages of preparation for launch. The currently unnamed Mars 2020 Rover is a robotic scientist weighing more than 2,300 pounds. It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planets climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. The spacecraft is targeted for a July 2020 launch and is expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021. This rover is the first leg of a round-trip mission to Mars that will advance understanding in key science fields like astrobiology, said Lori Glaze, director of NASAs Planetary Science Division. This contest is a cool way to engage the next generation and encourage careers in all STEM fields. The chosen name will help define this rovers unique personality among our fleet of Martian spacecraft. With more than 28,000 essay submissions received from K to 12 students, NASA recruited volunteer contest judges from every U.S. state and territory. Nearly 4,700 eligible judge volunteers were selected from a diverse pool of educators, professionals and space enthusiasts and were instrumental in selecting the semifinalists. The next phase of judging will reduce the competition to nine finalists, and the public will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite name online late this month. The results of the poll will be a consideration in the final naming selection. The finalists will talk with a panel of experts, including Glaze, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory rover driver Nick Wiltsie and Clara Ma, who proposed the name for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, as a sixth-grade student in 2009. The grand prize winner will be announced in early March. The winner will not only have the honor of naming the rover, but also will be invited to see the spacecraft launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Nadell, in explaining how he conceived the name Novus, said: After hearing about the Curiosity Rover naming challenge and reading Clara Mas essay, I knew I wanted to pick a name that encapsulates what the Mars 2020 mission is all about. The search for life on a planet where no human has ever set foot was, to say the least, new. And as an homage to NASAs use of Latin throughout its history, I figured that novus, Latin for new, would suit the Mars rover well and represent what NASA is trying to accomplish with this mission. Nadell said he learned about the contest from teacher, John Yi. I found out about this challenge from my Space Exploration teacher, Mr. Yi, whose passion and enthusiasm for all-things-space inspired me to enter the challenge. While he is not able to enter the contest himself, I know it would be a true testament to his impact on me as a student for him to see the name Novus on the Mars 2020 Rover. Yes Bank on Tuesday said it has acquired around 30 percent stake in a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power pursuant to invocation of pledged shares New Delhi: Yes Bank on Tuesday said it has acquired around 30 percent stake in a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power pursuant to invocation of pledged shares. The bank has acquired 12,73,21,500 equity shares having a nominal value of Rs 10 each per share constituting around 29.97 percent of the post-issue paid-up share capital of Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd (RPSCL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power Ltd, Yes Bank said in a regulatory filing. "Shares have been acquired pursuant to invocation of the pledge of shares to RPSCL subsequent to default/breach of terms of credit facilities sanctioned by YES Bank to Reliance Power Ltd," it added. Incorporated on 1 September, 1994, RPSCL is engaged in the business of power generation. The Rosa Thermal plant (1,200 MW) at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, owned by the RPSCL generated 4,341 million units for the year ended 31 March, 2019 EU fishing disaster' attacked as MEP and warns of super trawlers plundering oceans by NAOMI ADEDOKUN January 15,2020 | Source: Express June Mummery delivered a rousing speech in the EU Parliament about the operation of super trawlers in British waters. The Brexit Party attacked the EU for allowing the operation of these boats, which pose a significant threat to wildlife species. Ms Mummery slammed the controversial Common Fisheries Policy as an economic and environmental disaster. She said: Can somebody please tell me why the EU is allowing super trawlers to operate in the English Channel and the Irish Sea? Ductch-owned super trawlers, which are up to 14 times the size of an average fishing boat, have already caused controversy in South America, been thrown out of Australian waters and contributed to massive over-fishing in west Africa. The fact is when it comes to managing our seas, its not just what you catch but what you kill. In the English Channel alone, super trawler by-catch threatens John Dory and blue fish tuna stock. Ms Mummery continued: It also poses a significant threat to dolphins. But incredibly, these vessels have also been allowed to work within the English Channel sea bass hatcheries. Sea bass is a species under so much pressure. British fishermen are banned from catching it. The Brexit Party MEP added: It is precisely this type of mismanagement that has made the EUs Common Fisheries Policy an economic and environmental disaster. Its time to learn the lessons of the past and ban the operation of super trawlers. The Africans dont want them, the Australians dont want them and neither do we. 2020 Express Newspapers Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Advertisement In life, underworld enforcer Nabil Maghnie was known as 'The Mad Leb'. In death, it was Baba. Hundreds of mourners endured blazing heat and acrid smoke as they gathered at a grave site at Northern Memorial Park, in Melbourne's north, to farewell the feared gangster. Maghnie was gunned down last Thursday night in Epping amid claims he had been trying to stand over someone at a property on Dalton Rd. Mourners gather to pay their respects to fallen gangster Nabil Maghnie, who was gunned down in Melbourne last week Nabil Maghnie was shot dead after an incident in Epping in northern Melbourne Burly men stand over the coffin of slain gangster Nabil Maghnie Two other men, one of them his son Abbas, were wounded in the incident. Daily Mail Australia has been told Maghnie may have confronted the occupant of the property over a dispute about a damaged vehicle. It is understood a family member of Maghnie was involved in a minor bingle, which prompted the notorious stand over man to intervene. Maghnie is then believed to have attacked the householder before someone else pulled out a gun and shot him dead. Those that knew Maghnie claimed he had been living the high life on borrowed time in the years before his bloody demise. None-the-less, mourners dressed in black gathered to pay their respects to the fiercely loyal father and friend. With a floral tribute spelling out the word 'BABA', Maghnie's casket was placed on the searing bitumen of the car park as friends and family prayed over his body. Among the mourners was Peter Melasecca - the son of Maghnie's barrister Rob, who offered a touching tribute to his client on Facebook upon learning of his client's death. Hundreds of mourners endured intense heat to farewell Nabil Maghnie in Melbourne on Wednesday Mourners pray over the body of Nabil Maghnie, which was placed in the car park On Tuesday, Magnie's sister paid tribute to him on Facebook by posting a video of him singing 'Ride Like the Wind' by Christopher Cross in the passenger seat of a car. The 44-year-old is seen screaming the lyrics while using an arm rest as a microphone and dancing in his seat as the car travels through the countryside. Maghnie became legendary in Melbourne's criminal underworld when he infamously drove himself to hospital after being shot in the head in 2016. In 2011, the married father was the victim of another non-fatal shooting at Broadmeadows. He was being investigated by police over a double shooting at the Love Machine nightclub in Prahan in April last year and was prime suspect in an attempted hit on notorious Mongol's bikie Toby Mitchell. Maghnie was also on bail for serious driving offences at the time of his death after crashing his Range Rover at more than 200km/h while high on booze and cocaine last year. Ironically, had Maghnie not been granted bail, he might well still be alive today. The charismatic criminal seemed to have a knack at convincing judges and magistrates' that his risk to the community could be contained. ' He had received bail time and time again over his long criminal career. But in the weeks before his death, anyone unlucky enough to be in Maghnie's company had began to feel uncomfortable. Mourners gathered to pay their respects to dead gangster Nabil Maghnie. He was killed in a hail of bullets in Melbourne last week Nabil Maghnie wanted people to know he was a suspect in the shooting of feared bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell Killer Gavin Preston took Nabil Maghnie under his wing and showed him the criminal ropes that ultimately led to his demise Born in the 70s, Maghnie came from a broken family and was institutionalised as a child. Living under the eye of the state in those days was particularly tough, and Maghnie found positive male influences in the darkest of places. It was under state care he met his mentor, his best mate and a bloke he would later revere as a father figure. Gavin Preston has been in and out of prison most of his adult life and has convictions for shocking violence offences stretching back to 1991. In 2015, Preston beat a murder charge and a possible life sentence by pleading guilty to the lesser offence of defensive homicide over the 2012 killing of drug dealer Adam Khoury. Preston was also once best mates with feared Prisoner of War 'general' Matthew Johnson, who murdered Melbourne gangster Carl Williams inside jail in 2010, until they fell out over a jail house spat. Women embrace at the funeral of Nabil Maghnie. He died in a hail of bullets in Melbourne last week Maghnie (pictured) was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds Forensic police attend the scene of Maghnie's shooting death in Epping in northern Melbourne At the time of his death, Maghnie's rap sheet spanned three computer screens and contained 34 entries. His first stint in an adult prison dated back to 1995 when he was jailed for four months over a wild brawl that saw him convicted of a swag of charges including assault, behaving in a riotous manner and driving dangerously. Maghnie leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court in July after being granted bail following a dramatic car crash while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in 2019 Nabil Maghnie had close links to feared prison gang Prisoners Of War, which is headed by Carl Williams' killer Matthew Johnson (pictured) Carl Williams reads a copy of the newspaper in jail as Matthew Johnson prepares to beat his brains in Sources have told Daily Mail Australia that in his later years, drugs had consumed Maghnie and that he was high most days. In 2016, he was convicted of drug offences, but walked with a fine. He spent most of 2018 behind bars after being convicted of a nasty car crash, which saw him assault a police officer. He had been free on bail, was unlicensed, carrying drugs and a weapon. By May last year, his life was out of control. Juiced-up to his eyeballs on cocaine, he hit a roundabout north of Melbourne, became airborne, struck another car and then careened into a paddock. Maghnie collapsed at the scene and was taken to hospital, where a cocktail of drugs was found in his system. In September he was granted bail after indicating to the court that he planned to plead guilty to the charges. He was cut loose so he could attend drug rehab. Victoria Police detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the shooting. Chinese health authorities, for the first time, have said it is possible that the new coronavirus which has sparked fears of an outbreak as hundreds of millions begin travelling in China and outside for the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays could be passed through human contact but the risk of person-to-person transmission is low. At least one person has been killed and dozens infected by the new virus, which can cause respiratory illness and has influenza-type symptoms. The announcement from the health authorities from Wuhan city in central Chinas Hubei province came after it was confirmed that an infected person who travelled to Thailand was from Wuhan and undergoing treatment in a Thai hospital near Bangkok. At least three other Chinese travellers from Wuhan were diagnosed with fever in Thailand but they were found not to have been infected with the new coronavirus. On Tuesday, the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) also said that there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus in China within families and that the possibility of a wider outbreak could not be ruled out. Wuhans health commission told Chinese state media that people in close contact with the traveller were under medical observation but no symptom of the disease had been found in them yet. The commission said that they found no evidence that the new coronavirus can be passed on via people, but they cannot completely rule out the possibility. However, such risk is low, and further research is underway, a state media report said. Of the 41 people infected with the virus, one is a married couple. A married couple was among the confirmed cases. The husband had been working at the seafood market where the virus was first detected, while the wife wasnt exposed to it in the market, said the Wuhan health commission official. The initial big clue to this outbreak, detected in December, that most patients had exposure to a single seafood and live animal market in Wuhan. Reports said all the infected fell ill between December 8 and January 2. The Wuhan health commission also that among the 41 cases, most were men and the majority had been exposed to the seafood market. Their preliminary symptoms included fever and coughing. Elderly people with other health issues were likely to have more serious effects if they became infected. Close contacts of the confirmed infected people will be put under close observation for 14 days; and if they show any symptoms, they will be sent to hospital for further examination, said the commission. The death of a patient on January 11 coincided with the beginning of Chinas annual travel rush on Friday for the CNY holidays comprising some three billion trips in 2020. Over the next 40 days, more than half-billion people will pack into trains, buses and passenger aircraft to travel home and elsewhere amid the lurking fear of the pneumonia outbreak - and whether the passengers will become vectors for the disease. According to WHO, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). By Express News Service BENGALURU: With various organisations carrying out protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), a different kind of protest was carried out on Tuesday morning. The shutters of Srinagar Shopping Complex on Church Street were spray painted with slogans such as No CAA, No NRC, Free Kashmir, Fascist Modi Resign, RSS is Terrorist, I will not show my papers, BJP is Cancer, kill it before it kills you and Vomit Shah. Some of these words were painted on the walls of other establishments on the street as well. Those who own these establishments were amazed to see the graffiti. In the morning, many people had surrounded the complex. When I went there, I was surprised to see what was spray painted. I was not alone in my surprise, said a store owner, on condition of anonymity. However, after police learnt about the incident, they came to the spot and started inspecting the graffiti. In the afternoon, a group of people from pro-Hindu organisations came forward and painted over the graffiti. This is the work of cowards. They need to come forward and confess it was their doing, rather than doing it when no one is around. How can a statement like Free Kashmir be here? It is just not right, said a member of the group. However, when Cubbon Park police investigated, they found out through CCTV cameras that two people arrived at 3am and painted the walls. They are yet to be identified and investigations are on. We have filed a case under the Karnataka State Disfigurement Act, said an investigating officer. Chetan Singh Rathore, DCP Central, said, We are investigating and have deployed police to patrol the area at night to make sure this does not happen again. Srishti School closed till Saturday Just like the graffiti on Church Street, a wall near Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology had a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with writing underneath, saying, Sab Changa Si. Some of the students alleged that on seeing this, some BJP workers came to the college to interrogate them. One of the students said the traffic police towed away their bikes. The college administration held a meeting with the students and said that locals had been complaining about female students wearing short clothes and smoking in public places and parking in the wrong places. The college has released a notice that the college will be closed till Saturday. The police are investigating the graffiti. 1K placards against CAA, NRC More than 1,000 people from the organisation Saviors of Democracy gathered at Russel Market held 1,000 placards and 1,000 candles in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens on Tuesday. The placards had slogans including NO CAA, No NRC, We stand with JNU students, We are all indians, We stand united, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai, sab hain aapis mein bhai, The organisation had staged protests in HMT layout, Town Hall, Benson Town and KR Puram earlier. "The I-SPY 2 TRIAL is designed to evaluate agents with the goal of accelerating the pace of promising effective and potentially less toxic treatments to patients who are most likely to benefit quickly. We are excited to include trilaciclib in I-SPY 2, with the goal of determining whether adding trilaciclib to neoadjuvant chemotherapy-based treatment, either with or without an immune checkpoint inhibitor, increases the probability that the tumor will disappear prior to surgery, signaling a much better outcome and survival. The study will also measure how much chemotherapy lowers red and white blood cell levels (myelosuppression) to assess whether trilaciclib reduces any of these negative side effects, which have a significant impact on patient care and quality of life," stated Dr. Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, Principal Investigator of I-SPY 2 and Director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. "As with other arms, the I-SPY 2 TRIAL, has the ability to evaluate the drug across an array of biomarker signatures to learn the chance of how it will benefit patients and predict success in a confirmatory phase 3 trial." "The I-SPY 2 program is recognized as a leading breast cancer research initiative, and we are excited about the opportunity to evaluate the potential of trilaciclib to improve outcomes for a range of breast cancer subtypes. In our Phase 2 trial of women with triple negative breast cancer, patients who received trilaciclib plus chemotherapy showed significant improvement in overall survival, and reductions in the rate of red blood cell transfusions versus patients treated with chemotherapy alone," said Raj Malik, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, R&D at G1. "The I-SPY 2 study will allow us to evaluate trilaciclib for the first time in combination with several broadly-used chemotherapy classes. It will provide important data regarding which patients may benefit from treatment with trilaciclib and inform our future development plans." The I-SPY 2 TRIAL, sponsored by Quantum Leap, is a standing Phase 2 randomized, controlled, multicenter platform with an innovative Bayesian adaptive randomization design aimed to rapidly screen and identify promising new treatments in specific subgroups of adults with newly-diagnosed, high-risk (high likelihood of recurrence), locally-advanced breast cancer (Stage II/III). G1 Therapeutics will provide funding and trilaciclib and Quantum Leap will be responsible for running the trial. Trilaciclib will be evaluated across all high-risk, early stage breast cancer subtypes (including HR+, HER2+ and triple negative breast cancer). All patients will receive standard neoadjuvant treatment, including chemotherapy (and anti-HER2 Mab for HER2+ disease) prior to surgical resection of breast tissue. Patients in two arms of the study will also receive an anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in combination with paclitaxel prior to surgery. Biomarker data to evaluate the impact of trilaciclib on the tumor immune microenvironment, as well as pre-specified endpoints to evaluate anti-tumor efficacy and myelopreservation will be collected. About Trilaciclib Trilaciclib is a first-in-class investigational therapy designed to improve outcomes for people with cancer treated with chemotherapy. Based on results from three randomized trials in patients with small cell lung cancer, trilaciclib has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation, and G1 Therapeutics expects to submit marketing applications in the U.S. and Europe for myelopreservation in small cell lung cancer in 2020. In a randomized trial of women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, trilaciclib improved overall survival when administered in combination with chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone. In 2020, the company plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial in colorectal cancer and begin a neoadjuvant trial in breast cancer as part of the I-SPY 2 TRIAL. About the I-SPY TRIALs The I-SPY 2 TRIAL (Investigation of Serial studies to Predict Your Therapeutic Response with Imaging And moLecular analysis) was designed to rapidly screen promising experimental treatments and identify those most effective in specific patient subgroups based on molecular characteristics (biomarker signatures). The trial is a unique collaborative effort by a consortium that includes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry, patient advocates, philanthropic sponsors, and clinicians from more than 20 major U.S. cancer research centers. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative is the trial sponsor and manages all study operations. For more information, visit www.ispytrials.org. About G1 Therapeutics G1 Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and delivery of innovative therapies that improve the lives of those affected by cancer. The company is advancing three clinical-stage programs. Trilaciclib is a first-in-class therapy designed to improve outcomes for patients being treated with chemotherapy. Trilaciclib has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA; a rolling NDA submission for small cell lung cancer is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020. Rintodestrant (formerly G1T48) is a potential best-in-class oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) for the treatment of ER+ breast cancer. Lerociclib is a differentiated oral CDK4/6 inhibitor designed to enable more effective combination treatment strategies. G1 Therapeutics is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. For additional information, please visit www.g1therapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter @G1Therapeutics. Company Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend" and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, those relating to lerociclib's differentiated safety and tolerability profile over other marketed CDK4/6 inhibitors, the therapeutic potential of trilaciclib and the timing of marketing applications in the U.S. and Europe for trilaciclib in SCLC, whether adding trilaciclib to neoadjuvant chemotherapy-based treatment, either with or without a checkpoint inhibitor, will increase the probability of pathologic complete response, and whether the I-SPY 2 TRIAL will provide important data regarding which patients may benefit from treatment with trilaciclib and inform future development plans, and are based on the company's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" sections contained therein and include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to complete clinical trials for, obtain approvals for and commercialize any of its product candidates; the company's initial success in ongoing clinical trials may not be indicative of results obtained when these trials are completed or in later stage trials; the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies and operating as a development-stage company; and market conditions. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available. About Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative is a 501C(3) charitable organization established in 2005 as a collaboration between medical researchers at University of California, San Francisco and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Our mission is to integrate high-impact research with clinical processes and systems technology, resulting in improved data management and information systems, greater access to clinical trial matching and sponsorship, and greater benefit to providers, patients and researchers. Our goal is to improve and save lives. Quantum Leap provides operational, financial, and regulatory oversight to I-SPY. For more information, visit https://www.quantumleaphealth.org/. SOURCE Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative Related Links http://www.quantumleaphealth.org A World Bank delegation is currently visiting Egypt to discuss national economic priorities along with legislative and structural reforms that the government will adopt The World Banks global director for Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, Sameh Wahba, has said the institution is eager to upgrade cooperation programmes with the Egyptian government for the sake of pushing forward the economic reform process and attracting more domestic and foreign investment. Wahba's statements came during a meeting held Wednesday between a WB delegation and Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Niven Gamee. Wahba added that Egypt will host another WB delegation next week to discuss the latest updates of local development programmes in Upper Egypt, which are partially financed by the WB. For her part, Gamee said that the ministry's current priority is to ease procedures for investors, local and foreign alike, adding that there are significant cooperation opportunities to be tapped in the future through cooperation with the WB in upgrading Egypts business climate, small and medium-sized enterprise support, infrastructure development in industrial zones, and enhancing Egypt's economic competitiveness. A WB delegation is currently visiting Egypt to discuss national economic priorities in the coming phase, along with legislative and structural reforms that the government will adopt to empower the private sector and create job opportunities for young people. Search Keywords: Short link: T he parents of an innocent young man shot dead in a case of mistaken identity pleaded today for an end to the circle of violence on Londons streets. Joseph Williams-Torres, 20, was killed by members of the same gang that murdered 14-year-old Jaden Moodie. The former college student was blasted in the chest at close range by three hooded men as he sat in a van listening to music with a friend in Walthamstow in March 2018. The Mali Boys had been out to avenge the murder of one of their own the previous year, the Old Bailey heard, and Mr Williams-Torres bore an uncanny resemblance to the intended target from the Priory Court gang, even wearing the same beanie hat. Gang leader Hamza Ul-Haq, 21, of Manor Park, Loic Nengese, 19, and a 16-year-old who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were found guilty of murder last month . Ul-Haq signalled to gang members in the public gallery on Friday as he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years. Mali Boys drug dealer Ayoub Majdouline, 19, was jailed for life last month for murdering rival gang member Jaden, who was rammed off his moped with a stolen Mercedes in Leyton and stabbed in January last year. Mr Williams-Torress mother Esther, 55, of Walthamstow, said her son was a very friendly, outgoing boy and called for the tit-for-tat killings to end right now. She said: We dont want any other parent in our position. The manager for William Hill added: On the morning of his death, Joseph left home really happy. We had just come back from Paris and he talked about meeting his friends. I went to work and when I returned home his friend turned up on a motorbike and said: Joseph has been shot. It was like the worst possible dream. Her husband Tony, 57, who works for a logistics firm, said: When the truth about Josephs killing came out, it was a source of relief. For many months, people assumed that because he had been shot by a gang, he was part of it. He added: Joseph didnt deserve to die and we will never be able to forgive those responsible. Improved speed of memory Significant increase in EEG power in the Gamma band related to cognitive activity Similar profile with respect to other pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and tolerance endpoints Lyon, 15 January, 2020 - Theranexus, a biopharmaceutical company innovating in the treatment of neurological diseases and pioneer in the development of drug candidates modulating the interaction between neurons and glial cells, has announced the results of its Phase Ib study in healthy subjects establishing the pharmacological profile of its drug candidate THN201 compared to the standard-of-care treatment in Alzheimer's disease-related neurocognitive disorders. THN201 is a proprietary combination of donepezil (the first-line treatment for managing Alzheimer's disease-related neurocognitive disorders) and mefloquine, an approved drug that has been repositioned at a low dose as an agent for modulating the neuron-glia interface. The results revealed an extension of the pharmacological profile of THN201 compared to donepezil monotherapy. This extension is consistently reflected in greater speed of memory as measured by the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerized assessment[1] and a greater power in the gamma band reported by quantitative EEG analyses related to cognitive activity[2] Data regarding the other measured pharmacological endpoints reveal that the profiles of THN201 and donepezil are similar. Pharmacodynamic endpoints Speed of memory measured by the cognitive drug research (CDR) computerized assessment Power in the gamma band measured by quantitative EEG related to cognitive activity Focused analysis 1 hour after administering scopolamine (greatest impact in terms of cognitive function) Significant increase of speed of memory by THN201 versus placebo (p=0.04) / (not significant for donepezil versus placebo) Significant increase in EEG power in the gamma band by THN201 versus donepezil (p=0.05) Moreover, data on safety endpoints demonstrate that THN201 displays excellent tolerability similar to that of donepezil. "I would like to thank the participants and the other investigators for the commitment they have shown working alongside me to ensure that this phase Ib clinical study was conducted according to best practice. The positive effects of THN201 on high-level cognitive functions such as executive processes suggest a potential for differentiation compared to donepezil. This would be worth further exploration in patients suffering from neurocognitive disorders," comments Professor Regis Bordet, principal investigator for the study (University of Lille, Lille Teaching Hospital, Inserm). "We would like to thank Professor Regis Bordet as principal investigator of the study, as well as the 9 other investigators in Europe. We would also like to thank the subjects who took part in the study. These positive results confirm the potential of the Theranexus platform and the benefit of modulating the neuron-glia interface as a new therapeutic approach that we are pioneering. The extended pharmacological profile that emerges from this phase Ib study provides an opportunity to continue developing THN201 and will allow us to pursue discussions with industrial partners," concludes Franck Mouthon, CEO of Theranexus. About the Phase Ib trial of THN 201 in Alzheimer's disease-related cognitive disorders This multicenter study was conducted at 10 sites in Europe (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03698695). It included 152 healthy subjects. A total of 147 subjects completed the trial which was conducted as a double-blind, randomized, three parallel-group study (THN201, donepezil alone or placebo). Subjects were randomized to one of two treatment arms (or the placebo arm) and treated for 15 days. On day 1, participants received a 50 mg oral dose of mefloquine in the THN201 arm or a corresponding placebo in the placebo and donepezil arms. THN201 repeated-dose treatments - mefloquine (10 mg) and donepezil (5 mg) or donepezil (5 mg) and placebo mefloquine, or placebo donepezil and placebo mefloquine - were administered orally once daily in the morning from D-1 to D-15. The tolerance and pharmacokinetics of THN201, compared with donepezil alone and the placebo, were evaluated repeatedly over the 15 days of treatment. On D-15, pharmacodynamic activity (analysis of cognitive activity measured by neuropsychological test batteries and of electrophysiological activity with quantitative EEG and event-related potentials) was assessed after measurable and reversible cognitive deficits were induced with scopolamine, a reference model for evaluating the pro-cognitive activities of drug candidates in healthy volunteers. Scopolamine is an inhibitor of the neurotransmission pathway stimulated by donepezil. It enables direct exploration of the pharmacological effect of donepezil and its possible modulation through the addition of mefloquine. The results demonstrate that the approach is methodologically robust, since the overall profile of donepezil after inducing reversible cognitive deficits with scopolamine is consistent with data from the literature in this field1. A summary of results is available in a presentation that can be downloaded from the company website (lien). The data will be presented at an international conference in this field. As a reminder, the Phase Ib trial is an integral part of the CX-COG project. It is conducted in partnership with Lille Teaching Hospital and Synerlab Developpement, funded by the Single Inter-Ministry Fund (FUI), FUI AAP22, and approved by the Lyonbiopole and Atlanpole Biotherapies competitive clusters. ABOUT THERANEXUS Theranexus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that emerged from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 2013. It develops drug candidates for the treatment of nervous system diseases. Theranexus identified the key role played by non-neuronal cells (also known as "glial cells") in the body's response to psychotropic drugs (which target the neurons). The company is a pioneer in the design and development of drug candidates affecting the interaction between neurons and glial cells. The unique, patented technology used by Theranexus is designed to improve the efficacy of psychotropic drugs already approved and on the market, by combining them with a glial cell modulator. This strategy of combining its innovations with registered drugs means Theranexus can significantly reduce development time and costs and considerably increase the chance of its drugs reaching the market. The proprietary, adaptable Theranexus platform can generate different proprietary drug candidates offering high added-value for multiple indications. Theranexus is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris (FR0013286259- ALTHX). More information at: www.theranexus.com Contacts THERANEXUS Thierry LAMBERT Directeur Administratif et Financier investisseurs@theranexus.fr ACTUS Finance & communication Caroline LESAGE / Theo MARTIN Relations Investisseurs +33 (0)1 53 67 36 79 / +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75 theranexus@actus.fr FP2COM Florence PORTEJOIE Relations Medias + 33 (0)6 07 76 82 83 fportejoie@fp2com.fr [1] (Lenz et al 2012) [2] (Herrmann et al 2005, Palop et al 2016) ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: lWmak8hmlZmclZ1sl8aYZ2dpm5dql5adZmKYlGGalJedZ22TmmtnbZSZZm9inGls - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-61746-theranexus_pr_results_thn201_final-uk.pdf Islamabad, Jan 15 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi embarked on a three-day visit to the US on Wednesday for talks on the tension in the Middle East that poses a danger to the regional security, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry announced. The Foreign Minister will visit New York on Wednesday where he will meet the United Nations leadership including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a statement said here. While in Washington, Qureshi will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and other senior administration officials, Xinhua news agency reported. Qureshi will also have meetings on the Capitol Hill, besides engagements with the media and think tank community. "In the official talks, the Foreign Minister will focus on Pakistan's diplomatic outreach, which has been undertaken on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the wake of the recent tensions in the Middle East/Gulf region," the statement said. "The objective is to support efforts for de-escalation and resolution of differences and disputes through political and diplomatic means. The Foreign Minister's visit to the United States is part of these endeavours," it said. "The foreign minister, while reviewing full spectrum of bilateral relationship, will underscore the value Pakistan attaches to a broad-based, long-term and enduring partnership with the United States in line with the vision of the leaders of the two countries," the statement said. Qureshi will also highlight Pakistan's role and continued resolve to support the Afghan peace and reconciliation process. The Foreign Minister has also visited Iran and Saudi Arabia as part of Pakistan's efforts to reduce tension in the region. BAD AXE The Huron County Board of Commissioners has withdrawn a resolution giving money to an under development senior center due to inaccurate information in the resolution. The commissioners were originally going to pass a resolution donating $750,000 from the Older Citizens Fund for this project at their last meeting, but voted to defer the proposal, as they did not have enough money in that fund. ISTANBUL - Wikipedia returned online in Turkey on Wednesday after nearly three years of being blocked in the country. The move came following a decision by the Constitutional Court published in the country's Official Gazette on Wednesday that explained the reasons for its ruling in December that banning the online encyclopedia was a violation of freedom of expression. The Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) had said it would wait for the official publication of the ruling before eliminating the block. The ban went into effect on April 29, 2017 after Wikipedia didn't comply with the request to remove contents that the Turkish government deemed offensive, such as some pages in which the Turkish government was accused of supporting terrorist groups in Syria. The measure was strongly condemned in recent years by groups defending freedom of expression. Turkey censors thousands of websites accused of spreading illegal material, including alleged terrorist propaganda. Even social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have in the past been temporarily blocked. Britain's budget airline easyJet said it will resume flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh this summer for the first time in over four years. Flights on easyJet will resume on 7 June from Manchester, and on 30 September from Gatwick, the airline said in a statement on Wednesday. Flights on both routes will be operated twice a week and will go on sale on Wednesday 15 January. The move comes following the lifting by the UK government of a four-year ban on direct flights to the popular winter sun destination in October, citing "improvements in security procedures at the airport." British flights were suspended in November 2015 over security concerns after a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai minutes after take-off from Sharm El-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board. Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada are both fantastic destinations for both summer and winter sun," said Ali Gayward, UK Country Manager of easyJet. "We know they will once again be a popular choice for our customers. Commercial Director at Manchester Airport Stephen Turner said the return of easyJets route to Sharm El-Sheikh is "very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sun seekers all year round. The first British flight after the ban was lifted arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh from London last month. Some 415,000 Britons visited Egypt in 2018 according to British government estimates, making the UK one of the leading sources of tourists to the country. The resumption of British flights is expected to contribute to boosting the country's tourism industry, a pillar of the economy and a key source of hard currency. Search Keywords: Short link: Navein Darshan By Express News Service In this weeks column, writer Pon Parthiban talks about co-writing the high octane climax of Kaithi. "I came aboard Kaithi only a few days before the film went on floors. So, the base was already set and I had to only improve upon it and help director Lokesh Kanagaraj translate his vision better. Right from the first draft, the plan was for the climax to end with the shootout scene. The weapon used isnt the normal gun used by the constables which has a knife attached to it. So using a gatling gun out of nowhere would have been a very foolish idea, but, Lokesh had wisely planted a scene to foreshadow the final showdown. Writer Pon Parthiban I believe this is the most fitting climax for the film as Karthis Dilli is already wounded. Making him do a fistfight would have been illogical and the gun became a clever tactic for him to take on Anbus mob. Some had shared concerns that the sequence felt a bit too long. But what we intended to show on screen was an effect similar to the rampage of a hurricane. Only when the sequence is so strong and loud, would the audience feel a sense of satisfaction towards the end. I believe the effect would have been lessened if the editing had been rushed. The technique we have used in the climax is called Chekhovs Gun, which says that when an object or a plot point is focused on in the initial scenes, it must influence the story later. Director Mahendran had used a similar technique in his Nenjathai Killathe. Suhaasinis character is established as a runner in the first few scenes and he later used that to make the audience believe that this girl can run with ease in the climax, where she rushes to meet her man. Building tension constantly is essential to keeping the audience hooked. Since the life of the college students and the innocent cop was at stake, the audience wanted the hero to win against all odds. This is the reason why a lot of romances have their climax set in railway stations and airports. I believe theatre moments like Kaithis climax happen organically. Theatre moments are of three types audience laughing their hearts out, cheering for the characters, or shedding tears for them. Writing a scene which leads to these moments is a big challenge for writers like me. We introduce Karthis Dilli as a nobody without a backstory, and slowly, we reveal his nature to the audience. When he finally says, Naan ulla irundhen nu theriyum, edhuku irundhen nu theriyuma? or when we see a rugged illiterate guy like him wield a machine gun, it makes the audience excited and it becomes a proper theatre moment. But this must happen organically. If we work around one scene specifically like the interval or the intro, only that will stand out while the rest of the film collapses. It would never become a complete film. As you know, the script was written keeping Mansoor Ali Khan in mind. If he had done the scene, the massive gatling gun would have looked like a baby in his hands. We credited Virumandi for inspiring Dillis character. We also did some research on long-term prisoners to understand how they get transformed over the period of their imprisonment. Invariably, most of them become calmer and embrace spirituality. Thats the reason for the viboodhi pattai on Karthis forehead. Some people wonder about the workflow when many writers come together to pen a single script. No matter how many people work on a story, the final call will be taken by the director as the rest of us are working together for his vision. Since I worked as an assistant to Hari sir, it is easier for me to take into consideration the pros and cons of shooting a scene. Directors are expected to make their identity felt with every film, but its the opposite for writers. We must merge within the film and lose ourselves within its story. If a writer tries hard to make his presence felt, it would seem odd. Writer oda saayal theriyama ezhudhuradhu dhaana periya saadhanai. Like a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without revenue, let alone profit. And in their study titled Who Falls Prey to the Wolf of Wall Street?' Leuz et. al. found that it is 'quite common' for investors to lose money by buying into 'pump and dump' schemes. In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like Augros Cosmetic Packaging (EPA:AUGR). While profit is not necessarily a social good, it's easy to admire a business that can consistently produce it. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, but time is often a friend of the profitable company, especially if it is growing. View our latest analysis for Augros Cosmetic Packaging How Fast Is Augros Cosmetic Packaging Growing? The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so share price follows earnings per share (EPS) eventually. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. As a tree reaches steadily for the sky, Augros Cosmetic Packaging's EPS has grown 22% each year, compound, over three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away winners. One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. Not all of Augros Cosmetic Packaging's revenue last year was revenue from operations, so keep in mind the revenue and margin numbers I've used might not be the best representation of the underlying business. It seems Augros Cosmetic Packaging is pretty stable, since revenue and EBIT margins are pretty flat year on year. That's not a major concern but nor does it point to the long term growth we like to see. In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings, and revenue, over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers. Story continues ENXTPA:AUGR Income Statement, January 15th 2020 Augros Cosmetic Packaging isn't a huge company, given its market capitalization of 9.2m. That makes it extra important to check on its balance sheet strength. Are Augros Cosmetic Packaging Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? As a general rule, I think it worth considering how much the CEO is paid, since unreasonably high rates could be considered against the interests of shareholders. For companies with market capitalizations under 179m, like Augros Cosmetic Packaging, the median CEO pay is around 281k. Augros Cosmetic Packaging offered total compensation worth 169k to its CEO in the year to December 2018. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given its below the median for similar sized companies. While the level of CEO compensation isn't a huge factor in my view of the company, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally. Should You Add Augros Cosmetic Packaging To Your Watchlist? You can't deny that Augros Cosmetic Packaging has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. The fast growth bodes well while the very reasonable CEO pay assists builds some confidence in the board. So I'd argue this is the kind of stock worth watching, even if it isn't great value today. If you think Augros Cosmetic Packaging might suit your style as an investor, you could go straight to its annual report, or you could first check our discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation for the company. Although Augros Cosmetic Packaging certainly looks good to me, I would like it more if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, too, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. China and Pakistan tried, for the third time, to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations, in part to embarrass India on the international stage and, in part, to stoke fires in Kashmir Valley, according to officials aware of the development who said the efforts were thwarted by Indias diplomatic allies who left Beijing isolated. China got a stinging response when it raised Kashmir at a closed-door informal consultation of the UN Security Council (UNSC), Syed Akbaruddin, the Indian envoy to the UN, said in a late-night tweet. Today @UN..our flag is flying high. Those that launched a False Flag effort got a stinging response from our many friends..., he posted. Today @UN...our flag is flying high. Those that launched a "False Flag" effort got a stinging response from our many friends... pic.twitter.com/X0jJgassn2 Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) January 15, 2020 According to people familiar with the discussions, none of the other 14 members of the body took the bait, leaving China isolated in its continued efforts to raise an issue that all others have resolved to treat as bilateral for India and Pakistan to resolve between themselves. The attempts to raise the issue were through a fresh letter by Islamabad to Vietnam (which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council for this month) and an attempt by Beijing to put Kashmir as a topic of discussion during the informal meeting on Wednesday night. The efforts were meant to revive the failed December 2019 bid to raise Kashmir at the UNSC. The UNSC did not take up a Pakistani letter last month after India pushed back strongly with the help of its friends in the council, particularly France and the US. According to South Block officials, the Chinese-Pakistani plan was meant to set the stage for Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshis visit to the US starting Wednesday. Instead, hours before Qureshis arrival, the plan unravelled, with Indias allies saying they will stick to their stance that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between Delhi and Islamabad. France has noted the request of a UNSC member to raise the Kashmir issue once again in the powerful body and it is going to oppose it like it did on a previous occasion, a French diplomat told HT earlier in the day. Under the garb of peace in West Asia, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tasked Qureshi to visit the US while army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa is seeking support from West Asian friends such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The latest move, according to Kashmir watchers in New Delhi, is an attempt to disrupt recent Indian successes in Kashmir, including the visit of 17 foreign envoys including the US last week. The release of some detainees, visit of European Parliament MPs, the successful conduct of football matches, and the restoration of internet in Kargil and hospitals in the Valley point to a gradual improvement in the situation, they added. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a candid discussion during the October 11-12, 2019, Mamallapuram informal summit, Beijing has not yielded on any of its core interests and continues to side with Islamabad from the UNSC stage. Chinese diplomacy seems to be increasingly emboldened in its collective efforts against India in concert with Rawalpindi GHQ. This is the third attempt in the past six months by the China-Pakistan combine [to raise the issue at UN] even as they continue to push the 1267 sanction committee against Indian nationals on the basis of cooked up evidence of deep state of both the countries, said a senior Indian government official. He was referring to efforts in a committee, set up in the wake of 9/11 attacks to name and sanction international terrorists, to label Indian professionals working in reconstruction projects in West Asia, especially Afghanistan, as terrorists. New Delhi has noted that this is the second attempt by Beijing to raise Kashmir after the Mamallapuram summit. Indian officials said they have also noticed that China, especially, has worked to spread disinformation on the Citizenship Amendment Act while keeping silent on Uighur unrest in the Xinjiang province. Foreign policy took center stage early in Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate. It's not much of a surprise considering the tensions that have been bubbling between the United States and Iran following President Trump's decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made it clear that he disapproved of the move, warning that a war in Iran could be "even worse" than the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, which Sanders considers "the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes." The one major thing the two conflicts had in common in Sanders' mind? They were both "based on lies." And he's worried Trump's lying his way to a round three. Bernie Sanders: "The 2 great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes were the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies...Right now what I fear is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse..." pic.twitter.com/g0xQFExfVp Axios (@axios) January 15, 2020 During the foreign policy-heavy opening stretch, Sanders and other candidates gave a shout out to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) for being the lone voice to oppose the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan in 2002, hinting that its repeal is a priority. More stories from theweek.com Wisconsin pastor worries some congregation members worship Trump more than Jesus Trump reportedly doesn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas says Trump 'knew exactly what was going on' Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Fearing possible heckling and uncomfortable questions, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has decided not to invite college and university students to an event that will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering pep talk on examinations next week. Pariksha Pe Charcha, mainly targeted at students appearing in board examinations and their parents, is scheduled for January 20, but only 2,000 school students from Classes IX to XII are being allowed to participate in the mega event at Talkatora Stadium in the national capital. In the last two editions of the event organised by an event management company about 500 university students, apart from schoolchildren, had been called. The participants had even been allowed to ask questions related to examinations, studies and life. However, in view of the current unrest in many universities across the country, the school education and literacy department of the HRD Ministry has decided to keep adult students out of the event in its third year. ALSO READ | Cops enter Gujarat Vidyapith campus holding anti-CAA kite-flying event Due to the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act in various campuses, we did not want to take a chance this time as college students can be difficult to manage and aggressive and may ask uncomfortable questions, said an official. School students, on the other hand, are disciplined and listen to teachers accompanying them, he added. Another official said the last two years, the college students who were brought to the event belonged to public institutions of higher education in Delhi and many of them were affiliated with the ABVP, the student wing of BJP. But even they can get unruly, like it happened last time when one student started shouting as he wanted to ask a question, said the official. He was not allowed to ask the question but it was quite embarrassing. Of the total school students selected to attend the event, 1,050 will come from States and Union Territories while the rest will be from Delhi. Hillsong raises over $1 million for Australian bushfires relief efforts Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Best known for their worship songs sung around the globe, Hillsong Church is spearheading a relief effort for the bushfires that have besieged the nation and has announced they have raised over $1 million. The blazes, which began last fall, has resulted in the death of 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes, the church noted on their website Friday in an update about their relief efforts; it is estimated that approximately 12 million hectacres have burned thus far. "The outpouring of love, care and concern and generosity from people from all walks of life both here and overseas, has been staggering and humbling," Hillsong Church explained. "As a church community we have come together over the past few weeks and extended generosity to those suffering and the emergency service workers who are giving up their holidays to work tirelessly to protect homes, land and families in the path of the fires." The church raised funds at a men's event in November to send to the Salvation Army and volunteer fire brigades and has through various ministries dispatched aid and teams. Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston reported on his Instagram page Thursday that the church had raised $1,003,988.52 for the Global Bushfires, firefighters, food banks and others assisting on the ground. "Please continue to pray for our nation, our leaders, firefighters and communities affected and for rain that will end the drought in our scorched land," the church said. The bushfires have captured the attention of the world as reports have emerged showing the devastating impact the blazes have had on residents who have had to flee to the beaches for safety, and on animals unique to Australia, such as koala bears and kangaroos. Without using any special camera lenses, photos have been snapped in recent weeks showing red skies and smoke-filled atmospheres in Australian cities. The fires have most adversely affected the nation's eastern coast, especially in the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Recent reports indicate that a pair of fires merged this week, creating a "megafire," three times the size of any documented blaze in California. NASA released Thursday an animated video showing how the smoke from the bushfires reached the lower stratosphere and had traveled across the Pacific Ocean, reaching Chile. Hillsong Church is a charismatic Christian megachurch and Christian denomination originating from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was originally established in 1983 and was called Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales. The church now has locations all over the world, including in Europe and North America. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A Marin County accountant and former Boy Scouts volunteer leader was sentenced in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday to two years and nine months in prison for possession of child pornography. John Blecka, 65, of San Rafael, a certified public accountant, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Alsup. He pleaded guilty before Alsup in October to one count of possessing child pornography. Blecka admitted during his guilty plea to possessing more than 150 child pornography images and videos at the time he was arrested in May, according to a prosecution brief. His former volunteer positions with his local Boy Scouts organization included assistant wolf den leader, Cub Scout bear den leader, troop scoutmaster and troop committee chairman, according to the brief. Alsup ordered him to begin serving his sentence on April 30. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Cardston, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Affinity Metals Corp. (TSXV: AFF) ("Affinity") ("the Corporation") is pleased to release over-limit assays for samples from the fall 2019 exploration on the Regal property located in the northern end of the prolific Kootenay Arc approximately 35 km northeast of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. As previously reported, the Corporation received assay results for all 22 rock samples collected from surface outcrops in September 2019 from the Black Jacket and ALLCO areas of the property. Of the 22 grab samples collected, the majority contained bonanza grade silver, zinc, and lead with many samples reaching assay over-limits. The over-limit results for zinc and lead are reported in the table below (italicized) beside the original assay values. Assay values for tin, including high grade samples 11, 14 and 20 which were over-limit in the original assay report, are also presented in the last column of the table. Sample Number Sample Type Silver g/t Copper % Zinc % Lead % Gold g/t Tin ppm ALC19CR01 grab 0 .035 0 0 0 0.4 ALC19CR02 grab 1300 .415 18.20 >20.0 (35.69) 0.70 46.1 ALC19CR03 grab 120 .232 .034 .984 0.02 2.4 ALC19CR04 grab 131 .089 .026 .102 2.66 1.1 ALC10CR05 grab 16.7 .295 .060 .013 0.09 0.4 ALC19CR06 grab 74.9 .144 >30.00 (34.97) .059 0.28 2.6 ALC19CR07 grab 10.05 .310 .086 .029 0.04 0.5 ALC19CR08 grab 1870 .495 24.5 >20.0 (31.90) 1.85 189.5 ALC19CR09 grab 88.1 .077 >30.00 (39.98) 1.88 0.08 32 ALC19CR10 grab 1545 .178 26.7 >20.0 (28.67) 0.68 373 ALC19CR11 grab 2360 .366 16.80 >20.0 (43.67) 0.11 900 ALC19CR12 grab 3700 .624 1.645 >20.0 (71.14) 3.14 273 ALC19CR13 grab 964 .716 17.30 17.5 0.11 386 ALC19CR14 grab 3530 .350 1.945 >20.0 (59.54) 1.57 1600 ALC19CR15 grab 3670 .026 1.895 >20.0 (77.01) 0.33 205 ALC19CR16 grab 1790 .107 5.28 >20.0 (52.77) 0.37 146.5 ALC19CR17 grab 751 .069 6.45 18.05 0.45 107 ALC19CR18 grab 1065 .718 .178 .514 0.10 7.6 ALC19CR19 grab 2510 .299 5.58 >20.0 (70.63) 0.06 167 ALC19CR20 grab 4410 2.27 26.40 >20.0 (21.56) 5.68 4500 ALC19CR21 grab 47.5 .177 .048 .092 1.78 8.8 ALC19CR22 grab 87.7 .095 .011 .047 4.79 2.9 As part of the fall 2019 program, a total of 1,846.35 meters of diamond drilling was completed with 21 holes being drilled. The drilling was divided over two target areas with 10 holes allocated to testing one of the phyllite/limestone contacts in the ALLCO area and 11 preliminary confirmation holes designed to begin testing the historic 1971 resource (pre NI43-101 and therefore not compliant) reported for the Regal/Snowflake mines. The core samples have been submitted to MSA Laboratories in Langley, BC and assay results are pending and will be reported once received. Property History & Background The Regal Project hosts several past producing small-scale historic mines including the Regal Silver. The property also hosts numerous promising mineral occurrences. From the historic records it appears that most, and perhaps all, of the known mineralized showings/zones have not been previously drilled using modern diamond drilling methods. Snowflake and Regal Silver (Stannex/Woolsey) Mines The Snowflake and Regal Silver mines were two former producing mines that operated intermittently during the period 1936-1953. The last significant work on the property took place from 1967-1970, when Stannex Minerals completed 2,450 meters of underground development work and a feasibility study but did not restart mining operations. In 1982, reported reserves were 590,703 tonnes grading 71.6 grams per tonne silver, 2.66 per cent lead, 1.26 per cent zinc, 1.1 per cent copper, 0.13 per cent tin and 0.015 per cent tungsten (Minfile No. 082N 004 - Prospectus, Gunsteel Resources Inc., April 29, 1986). It should be noted that the above resource and grades, although believed to be reliable, were prepared prior to the adoption of NI43-101 and are not compliant with current standards set out therein for calculating mineral resources or reserves. ALLCO Silver Mine The ALLCO Silver Mine is situated 6.35 Kilometers northwest of the above described Snowflake/Regal Mine(s). The ALLCO Silver Mine operated from 1936-1937 and produced 213 tonnes of concentrates containing 11 troy ounces of gold (1.55 g/t), 11,211 troy ounces of silver (1,637 g/t) and 173,159 lbs of lead (36.9%). Airborne Geophysics to Guide Future Exploration An extensive airborne geophysics survey conducted by Geotech Ltd of Aurora, Ontario, for Northaven Resources Corp. in 2011, identified four well defined high potential linear targets correlating with the same structural orientation as the Allco, Snowflake and Regal Silver mines. Northaven also reported that the mineralogy and structural orientation of the Allco, Snowflake and Regal Silver appeared to be similar to that of Huakan's J&L gold project located to the north, and on a similar geophysical trend line. The J&L is reportedly now one of western Canada's largest undeveloped gold deposits. After completing the airborne survey, Northaven failed in financing their company and conducting further exploration on the property and subsequently forfeited the claims without any of the follow up work ever being completed. Affinity Metals is in the fortunate position of benefitting from this significant and promising geophysics data and associated targets. The aforementioned Northaven airborne geophysical survey conducted at a cost of $319,458.95 in August of 2011 is described in The BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Assessment Report #33054. The results of the survey are competently explained and illustrated by professionals on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX431eBY_t0 Condor Consulting, Inc. who compiled the survey data and produced the original geophysics report was recently retained by Affinity in order to provide more detailed interpretations and potential drill target locations with the aim of testing two of the four target areas in the future. Earth Sciences Services Corp. (ESSCO) has also provided acoustical geophysics data for portions of the Regal property. The Corporation is in the process of correlating and interpreting all of the historic and new geophysical data with the objective of further advancing exploration plans and associated drill targets. Affinity Metals has been granted a 5 Year Multi-Year-Area-Based (MYAB) exploration permit which includes approval for 51 drill sites. Qualified Person The qualified person for the Regal Project for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 is Frank O'Grady, P.Eng. He has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this news release. About Affinity Metals Affinity Metals is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of strategic metal deposits within North America. The Corporation's flagship project and present focus is the Regal. On behalf of the Board of Directors Robert Edwards, CEO and Director of Affinity Metals Corp. The Corporation can be contacted at: info@affinity-metals.com Information relating to the Corporation is available at: www.affinity-metals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the Corporation's management discussion and analysis filed with applicable Canadian securities regulators, which can be found under the Corporation's profile on www.sedar.com. The Corporation does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51490 With more than 14 million acres in Australia blackened by bushfires, climate change is a glaring threat to Australians and to the standing of their prime minister, Scott Morrison. Distressed residents in fire-ravaged towns have rebuffed his handshakes and heckled his entourage. The nations capital, Canberra, rang in 2020 with the worlds worst air quality. Beach evacuations of stranded residents cornered between flames and sea now rank as Australias largest-ever peacetime maritime rescue operation. U.S. firefighters feel kinship with their Australian brothers and sisters, and more than 100 have been dispatched to battle the blazes Down Under. While Americans are no strangers to wildfires, Washington would do well to note how Australias climate policies are entwined with this current crisis. A decade of climate science confirmed what we already knew If there's any controversy now among scientists, it's over whether they were too reluctant to sound the alarm about extreme events in the past. In 2000, an Australian parliamentary committee report acknowledged the countrys per capita carbon emissions were the highest in the world and highlighted the countrys acute climatic vulnerability. A 2013 report by the Climate Council, an independent Australian nonprofit, pointed to the increasing likelihood of high fire danger weather due to spiking temperatures, drought conditions and longer and more frequent heat waves. And in a November poll, 60% of Australians said they believed the country should be doing more to combat climate change. But Australias reigning politicians have been deaf to these signals. Greg Mullins, a former fire commissioner in the Australian state of New South Wales, recently told National Public Radio that the national government has been missing in action in terms of leadership and that Morrison does not have his finger on the pulse of the nation. Morrison gleefully wielded a fist-sized chunk of coal on the floor of Parliament in 2017. A year and a half later, his right-wing party incensed over proposed legislation that would have instituted energy sector emissions targets ousted his predecessor and made fossil-fuel-friendly Morrison head of state. Australian journalist Hugh Riminton has lamented the coal lobbys grip on Canberra, calling his country a burning nation led by cowards. Tasmanian novelist Richard Flanagan compared the rabid bushfires to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster another environmental catastrophe that foretold the demise of the existing, untenable political order and likened Morrison and his criminal course of inaction to the decadent and disconnected Roman emperor Nero, who is famously said to have played a fiddle while flames leveled most of ancient Rome. These domestic denunciations square with the persistent criticism of Australia from its regional neighbors. Pacific island countries are markedly vulnerable to climate change on account of sea level rise, ecosystem collapse due to ocean acidification and coral bleaching, and saltwater contamination of freshwater wells. Enele Sopoaga, former prime minister of Tuvalu in Polynesia, scoffed at Canberras highly publicized Pacific Step-Up diplomatic initiative, which offers generous infrastructure financing, a work-visa program and new undersea communications cables while you keep pouring your coal emissions into the atmosphere ... and drowning my people into the water. An official in Palau, 600 miles east of the Philippines, called Australia an abusive spouse that provides aid for climate mitigation projects while refusing to adopt meaningful emissions reductions. Prior to the annual conclave of leaders at last years Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, Rev. James Bhagwan pointedly reminded Australias prime minister that he is setting foot in a country that could soon be under water. The headline on his Sydney Morning Herald commentary said it all: A climate plea to Scott Morrison from a churchman of the Pacifics sinking nations. No leader who claims Christian morality can allow this conduct on their watch, Bhagwan wrote. Present U.S. policy could benefit from such soul-searching. The White Houses abandonment of emissions targets and combative legal action against states such as California that pursue their own fuel efficiency requirements or carbon cap-and-trade programs demonstrate either complete obliviousness or categorical insensitivity to those affected by climate change. For Morrison, the wrath of a traumatized Australian electorate may become evident at the ballot box. In the United States, legislators who acquiesce to how the Trump administration is undermining the 2015 Paris climate agreement and discouraging state-level climate initiatives could find themselves indicted during campaign season and punished at the polls for their dereliction and inaction. Climate policy negligence will also undermine U.S. relations with Pacific island states. How Californias pension fund is confronting climate change CalPERS is using its voice, shareowner votes, and investment dollars to minimize climate risk to our portfolio and investments while teaming up with others to ensure we see action, not just words. Morrisons utterly tone deaf defense of robust coal exports during the most recent Pacific Islands Forum meant Australia upset its friends, opened the door further to China, and trashed its global reputation, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wrote last fall. American climate policy requires a course correction, or its only a matter of time until the U.S. is pilloried in the strategically essential Pacific, leaving an influence vacuum for opportunistic Beijing. China is all too happy to tout itself as one of the first countries to sign the Paris agreement and to reiterate its pledge of stabilizing its carbon emissions over the next decade. A heart-wrenching image of a charred juvenile kangaroo trapped against barbed wire captured the devastation of Australias bushfires and the bitterness of climate inaction. Distraught onlookers around the world took note. We can only hope that U.S. leaders did too. Evan Karlik is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and an affiliate at Georgetown Universitys Center for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Studies. In 2018 he served as a defense fellow in the House of Representatives. He wrote this for The Los Angeles Times. In the Bay Area, Airbnb has seen a rash of bad actors renting houses and throwing parties. In some cases, guests have been shot. Five people were killed at an Orinda "party house" late last year. Hayward logged its first fatal shooting of 2020 at an Airbnb that neighbors said was frequently used for parties. Incidents like these are rare, but a growing concern for the home-sharing giant. Shortly after the Orinda shooting, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted that the company was cracking down, writing: "We are banning 'party houses' and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct..." One tool in the company's arsenal to combat problems such as these is artificial intelligence (AI). In 2017, Airbnb acquired a small Los Altos AI company called Trooly, which conducts background checks on potential clients by scanning social media, search engines, blogs and other publicly available information to determine their likelihood to be troublemakers. This month, London's Evening Standard uncovered a European patent application for a trait analyzer that could deploy its software to scan the internet and screen potential renters for signs of "neuroticism and involvement in crimes, narcissism, Machiavellianism, or psychopathy" and other traits which are "perceived as untrustworthy." UPDATE: The European Patent Office contacted SFGATE with the following statement: "A patent application did go to an international UN body, the World International Property Organization, which is in charge of a treaty that also covers Europe. For this reason, the patent application also appears in the European Patent Register kept by the EPO. Nevertheless, the application was never properly filed with the EPO and consequently there is no European patent for this invention. The patent as its stands today is only valid for the United States." Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email alerts Trooly's U.S. patent application (an interesting read!) which was granted in the U.S. last year, states that it can identify someone who could be "involved with drugs or alcohol, is involved with hate websites or organizations, is involved in sex work, perpetrated a crime, is involved in civil litigation, is a known fraudster or scammer, is involved in pornography..." So does this mean that a porn star will have a problem renting from Airbnb? Not yet, according to Airbnb spokesperson Charlie Urbancic, who told SFGATE the patent referred to in the Evening Standard article "was not developed and has not been implemented by Airbnb at this time." That means a porn star with good credit and a clean background check can likely still rent a pad from Airbnb for vacation. But if he or she decides to shoot a movie in the rented house, they could be kicked out because commercial activity violates Airbnb's terms, which every renter agrees to. So what does Airbnb currently do to screen out renters harboring potentially bad behavior? In a statement, the Airbnb spokesperson said, "While no background check system is infallible, we screen all hosts and guests globally against regulatory, terrorist, and sanctions watch lists. For United States residents, we also run background checks looking for prior felony convictions, sex offender registrations, and significant misdemeanors. We are working with additional governments around the world to identify where we can do more background checks." But there's no word on if or when Airbnb will deploy the crafty AI it bought from Trooly for more than just assistance with background checks. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE biweekly email updates! Oyo is likely to ask more employees to leave in the coming weeks, as the hotel and hospitality aggregator looks to streamline its operations and focus on profitability. Employees between 100 and 150 are likely to be affected in this round of job cuts. The bulk of this fresh round of layoffs will be from its cloud kitchen business, which has about 200-300 employees in India. Last year, Oyo had dabbled cloud kitchens, or cooking only to fulfil orders placed through food ordering portals like Swiggy and Zomato. It launched four cloud kitchen brands Adraq, O Biriyani, Paratha ... As a fan of The Editors podcast, my ears perked up in the last episodes tussle between Rich Lowry and Charlie Cooke over the U.S. strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. I had argued on NRO last week that President Trump had authority, under the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations to Use Military Force, to kill Soleimani, who not only was responsible for a series of attacks on American forces but was in the middle of planning more to come. Even if a critic, such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, believed that killing fell outside those past acts, I argued that the Constitution gave the president the power as commander in chief and chief executive to use force without the need for congressional permission beforehand in the event that a foreign nation had already attacked U.S. forces. Rich, I was pleased to hear, shared that view. It is the same understanding held by Republican presidents, such as Ronald Reagan and the two George Bushes, as well as Democrats until Obama. But Charlie, to my shock and dismay, disagreed. He argued that Congresss power to declare war required that it authorize any uses of force abroad. Rich appealed to Charlies English respect for tradition by citing Thomas Jeffersons attacks on the Barbary pirates as a precedent. Charlie responded that the Jefferson example did not support the Trump strike. As someone who started his career as a law professor writing on war powers, and followed with a book on presidential power, I cant resist the opportunity to come in on Richs side on the Barbary pirates question. While the precedent does not stand as clearly as other examples for the presidents commander-in-chief authority to use force without a congressional declaration of war, it comes very close. And when examined closely, it easily would support President Trumps strike on General Soleimani with or without the AUMF. Although history remembers them as outlaws, the Barbary pirates were in fact autonomous regions Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis within the Ottoman Empire, joined by an independent nation, Morocco. Their leaders attacked the shipping of other nations, seized cargos and ships, and sold captured sailors into slavery. Since the days of the Continental Congress, the United States had essentially paid bribes, in the form of tribute (amounting to $10 million under Washington and Adams), to the Barbary nations to allow American shipping to proceed unhindered. Jeffersons accession to the presidency coincided with demands for higher payments and the impressment of a U.S. Navy frigate, the USS George Washington, by the Dey of Algiers as a courier vessel. Story continues Jefferson had long disliked the policy of paying tribute. In a meeting on May 15, 1801, the cabinet unanimously agreed that Jefferson should send a squadron to the Mediterranean as a show of force. No one in the cabinet, including Secretary of State James Madison, believed that Jefferson had to seek congressional permission. The only legislative authority, if it could be called that, was a statute enacted on the last day of the Adams Administration requiring that at least six existing frigates (American frigates at this time were the best in the world) be kept in constant service an effort to prevent Jefferson from reducing the Navy to zero. Jefferson and his cabinet thought the statute could be read to allow the president to send a training mission to the Mediterranean. It is impossible to conclude that this statute amounts to an authorization to use force against the Barbary pirates, and it doesnt even come close to the AUMFs of 2001 and 2002. The cabinet also agreed that the president had constitutional authority to order offensive military operations, should a state of war already be in existence because of the acts of the Barbary powers. The [executive] cannot put us in a state of war, Treasury Secretary Gallatin said, but if we be put into that state either by the decree of Congress or of the other nation, the command & direction of the public force then belongs to the [executive]. Jefferson and his advisers clearly believed that the Constitution only required Congress to declare war to undertake purely offensive operations against a nation with which the United States was at peace. As Abraham Sofaer has observed, Jefferson and his advisers assumed they had the authority for the expedition simply by virtue of Congresss creation of the naval forces a position no different from that taken by President Washington in the Indian wars. Jefferson was clear on this in his orders to the naval commanders. The Secretary of the Navy ordered Captain Richard Dale to proceed to the Mediterranean, where, if he found that any of the Barbary States had declared war on the United States, he was to chastise their insolence by sinking, burning or destroying their ships & Vessels wherever you shall find them. Dale could impose a blockade, which he did at Tripoli, and take prisoners. His orders went well beyond simply protecting American shipping from attack. Upon arriving in Tripoli and discovering that the Bashaw of Tripoli had declared war, Dale issued orders to his squadron to attack any and all Tripolitan vessels. On a resupply mission to Malta in August 1801, the twelve-gun schooner Enterprise under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett encountered a 14-gun Tripolitan corsair. The Enterprise fought for three hours, killed half the enemys crew, and after capturing the enemy vessel, cut down its masts, threw its guns overboard, and set it adrift. Steretts action produced broad approval in the United States and a joint resolution from Congress applauding the crew. Jefferson chose to portray his orders differently in his first message to Congress in December 1801. He claimed he had not authorized offensive operations, that Sterett had acted in self-defense, and that the Enterprise had released the corsair because Congress had not authorized offensive operations. Unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defence, the vessel, being disabled from committing further hostilities, was liberated with its crew. While some scholars have viewed Jeffersons words as presidential acceptance of Congresss control over war, Jefferson did not accurately represent Steretts offensive attack or the nature of the orders to Captain Dale, nor did he reveal his thinking or that of his cabinet when those orders were cut. Jefferson then asked Congress to authorize offensive operations, which were already in operation anyway. During the subsequent congressional debates, no one questioned the constitutionality of Jeffersons orders to the Mediterranean squadron, and several congressmen argued that the president had the power to begin offensive operations because of the existing state of war. Congress ultimately chose to delegate broad powers to Jefferson to take whatever military measures he thought necessary as long as war continued with Tripoli. Jeffersons message to Congress presents an example of a presidents rhetoric not matching his actions, since he admitted a constitutional limitation on presidential power that neither he nor his cabinet had previously thought important or had obeyed. On the other hand, Jefferson did not act as aggressively as presidents do today. His orders to attack Tripoli responded to a declaration of war by the enemy. Nevertheless, Jefferson had sent American forces into a hostile area, ordered them to undertake offensive actions, and had no plausible congressional authorization at the time. He could justify his orders on the ground that Congress had created the forces and that a state of war already existed between the United States and Tripoli. In a published criticism of Jeffersons message, Alexander Hamilton agreed with the logic of Jeffersons cabinet. According to Hamilton, no congressional permission to use force was necessary once a state of war already existed: When a foreign nation declares, or openly and avowedly makes war upon the United States, they are then by the very fact, already at war, and any declaration on the part of Congress is nugatory: it is at least unnecessary. Hamilton had things right as a matter of international law at the time, and most agree that he was correct on the Constitution. Presidents should not have to wait to seek authorization from Congress when another nation has already attacked or declared war upon the United States. Rich is surely right that the Barbary-pirates example supports the Soleimani strike. Congress had authorized U.S. military forces to use force in Iraq in 2002. It has never repealed that AUMF, and it has in fact continued to fund the stationing of forces there to fight ISIS and to train Iraqi troops (and perhaps to also play the role of stabilizing Iraq in the face of Iranian expansionism). But even if Congress had repealed the AUMF, or even cut funding and drawn down troops (the real constitutional tools to check the executive), Trump still had constitutional authority under the Barbary-pirates precedent to target Soleimani. Iran had already initiated a state of war with the United States by shooting down U.S. drones, threatening U.S. naval vessels, and shelling a U.S. base resulting in U.S. military and civilian casualties. President Trump need not wait for congressional approval to use force once attacked, just as Jefferson did not need a declaration of war against the Barbary pirates once they had harassed U.S. shipping. While Trump and Jefferson may be very different presidents, using different forces to fight different enemies (though in the same places, it seems), they both drew on the deep reservoirs of constitutional authority to protect American forces and interests abroad. More from National Review Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., better known by his stage name Shatta Wale needs no introduction. He is one of the most talented Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artists. He has been consistent in releasing music to his fans, which has made him a favourite amongst most music lovers. Which Shatta Wale songs is your favourite? Image: facebook.com, @Shatta wale(shatta movement) Source: UGC If you have not watched or listened to any of these top Shatta Wale songs, then you are missing out. They are bangers that you will have on repeat every time. Top Shatta Wale songs Here are his top songs: 1. Shatta Wale Taking Over READ ALSO: Shatta Wale gets nominated for 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival Taking Over was one of the biggest bangers released in 2017. The track by Shatta features other iconic artists such as Joint 77, Addi Self, and Captan. Fast forward to 2020 and the track is still rocking the airwaves like it was released yesterday. It has acquired so much love from fans worldwide, and here is what some music lovers who listened to the tune had to say about it: Story Time: I love this song so much and we are taking over we dey show Ghana Love from Nigeria Adjei Alfred: South Africa...and we loving the rythym of this track ..big ups 2. Shatta Wale Bulletproof One of the mega tunes of Wale in the 2018 album entitled Bulletproof was the tune also entitled Bulletproof. It has one of the smoothest melodies, phenomenal lyrics, and most breathtaking video scenes. It highly explains the numerous views the hit has received since it was published on YouTube. Here is what fans of this artist had to say after watching and listening to the tune: Sam DSilva: I really love this song... The tune is superb, the wordings are great and the girl in this video is super hot... Lots of love from India... :-) Annabelle Scottt: love this video, for once these musicians are showing the beauty of their motherland! 3. Shatta Wale Baby The banger Baby was released in 2016. One exciting thing most people might not know about the official video of Baby by Shatta Wale is the fact it features his wife, Shatta Michy. Most fans were impressed by this song, and especially the video due to its creative aspect and superb quality. Here are some comments left by fans who watched and listened to the track: Bella Fontes: Straight from Cape Verde, this song is #ffaayyyyaaaaaa !!!! Out here, we are not too familiar with dancehall but this got me baaaadddd #OnRepeat Fresh KwameTV: Nice video. it's fun at the same time and love the fact that his wife was in it. Smf 4. Melissa by Shatta Wale Melissa was one of the most listened to and watched romantic songs of 2019. The video quality is superb, the scenes are gorgeous, and the model is drop-dead gorgeous. The video, which was directed by PKMI Directed, has left most people putting this video on the repeat button. You cannot get enough of it. Here is what people had to say about the tune: Michael Brown: Is this guy even a human, I don't even know how to describe this talent, only the sky is our limit....SM 4lyf till eternity paaah paaah paaah Manenzhe Tshilidzi: I have just played this song to my girlfriend for her birthday she cried 5. Medikal ft Shatta Wale-Omo Ada Omo Ada was a phenomenal song released by Medikal. It features the reggae dancehall artiste Shatta Wale and also the talented Fela Makafui. What caught the attention of most people in this song, making it be a favourite track for most people was the dancing moves of the artist. Take a look at how fans reacted to the video of this hit: WIS & LOVE: Am I the only person who saw shatta's dancing moves ? Omoa da do all Pious Kafui: Am here for Shatta SM For Life, Medikal is doing great 6. Beyonce ft Shatta Wale - Already Another mega-hit of Shatta in 2019 was the track Already which featured the female mogul Beyonce and the talented artist Major Lazer. It was one of the most listened to songs last year. The official audio of Already had people curious to see the video. Here is how fans reacted after listening to the audio of Already: Rare Angie: Damn my knee really dislocated dancing to this song thats how u know this song is too lit J Bru: Beyonce we still want a video for this Vera Arkhurst: Boyfriend: Babe, you've listened to this song for more than 200 times..... Me: and I'm not done yet 7. Shatta Wale Only One Man Only One Man is a reggae song that was released by this Ghanaian reggae dancehall artist in 2019. It is one of the lead songs of the 2019 album also entitled Only One Man. It was produced by the talented producer known as MOG. The lyrics of the song are straightforward to master, which makes it easier for people to learn and sing to it. You will enjoy the rhythm and flow of this 2019 banger. READ ALSO: Sarkodie beats Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy to become the most mentioned Ghanaian celebrity on Twitter 8. Shatta Wale Am Ok The reggae dancehall artist of the SM4lyf movement made music headlines after he released the track Am Ok in 2016. It is a very appealing song to listen to due to its smooth flow. It was produced by the skilled producer known as Pee Gh. Am Ok by Shatta Wale is part of his 2016 album also entitled Am Ok. The length and quality of the banger are quite appealing, which makes the song even more worth listening to. 9. Freedom by Shatta Wale Freedom is one of the 2018 songs that were released by this talented Ghanaian reggae dancehall artist. The song, which has a pretty fantastic dancehall vibe is very catchy. It has been booming in most airwaves for the last two years, and fans have released so many dance videos of them moving their bodies to the beat of this track. This banger is a production of the talented Willisbeatz. 10. Sarkodie ft Shatta Wale MVP In 2018, Michael Owusu Addo, better known as Sarkodie collaborated with Shatta Wale to release a banger called MVP. These two artists are known for making hits, regardless of whether they collaborate or release music together. MVP was a very successful collaborative project of these two artists. It was produced by MOG Beatz and mixed by the talented possigee. Top Shatta Wale songs as of 2020 range from tracks such as Melissa, Already, Only One Man, Baby, to Bulletproof. These jams are not only entertaining but also informative in terms of their message. READ ALSO: Shatta Wale's Militants drop new song titled Mandela Source: YEN.com.gh When I was younger, I would love to spend time with my grandfather, while he would regale me with his "war tales". I would be absolutely mesmerised to say the least, and imagine him bravely fight our enemies, in wars that are only studied in history books now. The brave sons of our soils have fought horrifying wars and when we hear their tragic yet heroic stories, we can't help but have immense pride for our soldiers who risk their lives everyday just so we can sleep soundly. Twitter On Army Day today, I would love to pay an ode to all the martyred, brave soldiers who have led some daring missions to protect Indian borders, rescue people and fight terrorists and keep us all safe. Here are some outstanding military operations carried out by the Indian Army in the past decade. (1) Operation Surya Hope (2013) Operation Surya Hope was the Indian Army's Central Command response to the June 2013, North Indian floods in Uttrakhand. If you remember the floods that happened in Uttrakhand in 2013, they were devastating, and affected millions. The floods left over 100,000 pilgrims and tourists stranded and killed thousands of people. The operation was commanded by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, the General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC in C) of Central Command. He was succeeded by General Rajan Bakshi, on July 1, 2013, who said the army would continue with the relief operations. The Indian Army managed to rescue a number of civilians caught in the dreaded floods. Twitter (2) Operation Maitri (2015) Operation Maitri was a rescue and relief operation in Nepal by the Indian armed forces and the Government of India, in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. India responded to disaster relief within 15 minutes of the earthquake occurring. The armed forces helped rescue a number of people stuck under debris and also assisted them with medical aid. Over 43,000 Indians and 785 foreigners were successfully evacuated. Twitter (3) India Counter-Insurgency Operation In Myanmar (2015) In June 2015, India announced that it had conducted a cross-border operation against insurgents belonging to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCS-K). The operation took place in Myanmar and it took place in response to the ambush of the Indian Army convoy of 6 Dogra regiment in Manipur. India destroyed insurgent camps and a large number of insurgents were killed during the cross border operation in Myanmar, according to India. Twitter (4) Indian Line Of Control Strike (2016) In September 2016, India announced that it conducted 'surgical strikes' against Pakistan-based militants, across the Line of Control in Pakistan administered Kashmir. The surgical strike was successful as the terrorist bases were neutralised. A documented partial footage of the strike was released for the Indian media, in June 2018, as proof for the strike conducted. Twitter (5) Operation Calm Down (2016) Operation Calm down was started by the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir, in the wake of the death of Burhan Wani in July 2016, which led to unrest in Kashnir because of which more than 90 civilians and two security personnel were killed and many got injured. The operation was started in September 2016 and it was initiated to bring the region back in order, while using minimal force. Connectivity was lost over some regions and schools and shops were shut down for three months and the Army aimed to undo the unrest and try and bring back normalcy in the region. Twitter (6) Operation Sahyog (2018) Indian Army launched operation Sahyog to rescue people in flood-hit Kerala in 2018. The Army deployed its men and machinery into disaster relief and rescue operations at Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Idduki after incessant rain and landslides hit various northern districts of the state. The Army was deployed to rescue people stranded in heavy rain and water. They constructed temporary bridges for the evacuation of the stranded people from the isolated villages. Twitter Mostly this decade, the Indian Army has focused on a lot of rescue and relief operations in flood hit areas in India and Nepal and maintaining peace in certain areas experiencing unrest in the country. Our Army has shown absolute determination and extreme dedication towards serving the country with their bravery and tenacity, so we can get a good night's rest. These stories and missions mentioned above should be written, spoken and regaled as often as possible to uphold the honour these soldiers truly deserve. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI A description of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run that seriously injured a Reeths-Puffer student Tuesday morning has been released by police. Tajen Pannell, a 14-year-old middle school student, suffered two broken legs and possibly other injuries after being hit at his bus stop on Russell Road, according to Reeths-Puffer Superintendent Steven Edwards. The vehicle suspected of striking him was a dark-colored SUV and likely has damage to the drivers side mirror area, according to a press release from the Michigan State Police Rockford Post. Reeths-Puffer student seriously injured in hit-and-run at bus stop The vehicle disregarded the buss caution lights, passed the bus on the left and struck two students waiting on the side of the road south of Tyler Road, the press release states. The second student, a 14-year-old female sibling of the 14-year-old boy, suffered minor injuries, according to police. The bus was stopping when the passenger vehicle passed it, police said. Police are seeking the publics assistance in identifying the suspect vehicle and ask that anyone with information contact the Rockford Post at 616-866-4411, Muskegon County Central Dispatch at 231-722-3524 or Silent Observer at 231-722-7463. Read more: Convicted drunk driver arrested in hit-and-run death allegedly tried to flee country Hit-and-run driver who seriously hurt pedestrian still sought in Muskegon Willie Walsh, head of the Aer Lingus parent company, IAG, has attacked a government-backed rescue of regional UK airline Flybe, calling it a misuse of public funds. Flybe was kept afloat on Tuesday after its shareholders agreed to invest more money while the government provided support, reported to involve the deferral of a tax bill. Walsh criticized the government help for a privately-held company, saying the taxpayer was picking up the tab for mismanagement of the airline. "This is a blatant misuse of public funds," he said in an emailed statement. IAG also owns British Airways which competes against Flybe on some routes and Flybe is owned by a group which includes Virgin Atlantic, a long-term BA rival. Under pressure to deliver on an election promise to help improve transport links outside London, the government agreed to help Flybe, in contrast to a similar test last September when it took no action to help save the much larger travel company Thomas Cook. Flybe connects smaller UK cities such as Southampton and Newcastle and its network of routes includes more than half of UK domestic flights outside London. Walsh has also written a letter to Transport Minister Grant Shapps, said the BBC, outlining his concerns about the Flybe deal. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Former Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Wednesday said he can take the blame for the death of only 5,000 people out of the over 17,000 killed during the decade-long armed insurgency in the country. The Nepalese civil war known popularly as the Maoist Conflict or Maoist Insurgency was a ten-year armed conflict between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) and the government of Nepal, fought from 1996 to 2006. The rebellion was launched by the CPN-M on February 13, 1996 with the main aim of overthrowing the Nepali monarchy and establishing a People's Republic. Over 17,000 people were killed during the entire conflict. The civil war ended with the comprehensive peace accord signed on November 21, 2006. Speaking at a programme organised by the Tharu ethnic community at Tundikhel Open Ground here on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, Prachanda, 65, said that blaming him for the loss of all 17,000 lives would be unfair. "Many things have been aired pin pointing on me. It is not true that I came here after killing 17,000 people," Prachanda said, defending himself against the blame of being responsible for the 17,000 deaths by the previous speakers during the programme. Prachanda, who is also the chairman of ruling Neoal Communist Party, said it was the state force which killed the rest of the 12,000 people. "What is true is that the state forces killed 12,000 people. I take responsibility for only 5,000 deaths and the 'kings' of yesterday should take that for 12,000 others. To say that even those killed by the state were killed by me would not be fair," he said. "I will not take responsibility for what I did not do," Prachanda added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even in ordinary times, Australian summers are prone to provoke a higher than usual level of introspection. Coinciding, as they do, with the end of one year and the beginning of another, its commonplace to find oneself lazing poolside, or at the beach, lost in a reverie about the meaning of life. Splice this traditional period of soul-searching with the acrid smell of pervasive bushfire smoke, and its an emotionally combustible mix. Whats it all about? What are we here for? How are we doing, really? Credit:Illustration: Matt Davidson Economists have always had a rather simple answer to that conundrum: were here to squeeze the pip to enjoy the greatest amount of happiness we can before we shuffle off. In the lingo, were here to maximise our own utility, and being social animals the utility of those around us. Indeed, for centuries, philosophers and economists, including Adam Smith, agreed that happiness, or wellbeing, is at the very heart of human pursuit. Asia Cambodia to Open Treason Trial of Opposition Leader Kem Sokha Kem Sokha addresses the media outside his home in Phnom Penh in November 2019. / Reuters PHNOM PENHCambodian opposition party leader Kem Sokha is set to go on trial on treason charges on Wednesday in a closely watched case as the European Union mulls suspending trade benefits over the Southeast Asian nations human rights record. It could take up to three months to deliver a verdict, defense lawyers said on Tuesday, meaning the case could still be ongoing by the time the European Union (EU) makes a final decision on its trade policy next month. Kem Sokha was arrested in 2017 and his opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party was banned ahead of a 2018 election in which the party of longtime leader Hun Sen won all the parliamentary seats. He was freed from house arrest in November but a ban on his engaging in political activity was kept in place. The treason charges stem from accusations that Kem Sokha was conspiring with the United States to overthrow Hun Sen. He denies the charges, saying they are politically motivated. Many other opposition figures have fled into exile and have accused Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for 35 years, of establishing a one-party state. One of Kem Sokhas attorneys, Chan Chen, said a court official had informed him that the trial may take up to three months. The EU, which accounts for nearly half of Cambodias exports, will decide in February whether or not to remove Cambodia from its Everything But Arms trade scheme over its crackdown on political expression. The only evidence presented against Kem Sokha in public so far is a comment he made at a public meeting in which he said he was getting advice from unspecified Americans on election strategy ahead of a 2013 ballot. Kem Sokhas daughter Monovithya Kem called the trial against her father a farce as rights groups urged the case to be dismissed. We hope that he will be acquitted if the court has any interest at all in starting to demonstrate its independence, his daughter said. Amnesty International called the charges bogus, saying authorities have not presented a shred of credible evidence to support them. Ministry of Justice spokesperson Chin Malin declined to comment and Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Y Rin couldnt be reached for comment on Tuesday. You may also like these stories: Detained Cambodian Opposition Leader Calls for Free and Fair Vote Cambodian Judge Orders Reinvestigation of Spying Case Against Reporters Cambodias Hun Sen Vows to Stay in Power for at Least Another 10 Years Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that the Pentagon will back the Trump administration's plan to take another $7.2 billion from the military's budget to pay for the border wall. "The first priority of the [Defense Department] is the protection of the homeland," Esper said. "The southwestern border is a security issue." He said the DoD is committed to backing up the Department of Homeland Security in protecting the border, adding that the diversion of funds for that mission is in the nation's interests. "If that's what it takes" to fulfill the mission, the Pentagon is prepared to support the diversion of military funding for the wall, Esper said at a joint Pentagon press briefing with Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono. Related: Border Wall Construction Will Move Forward with Diverted Military Funds On Capitol Hill, House Democrats began lining up Tuesday to oppose the plan. In a joint statement, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-New York, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and committee members Pete Visclosky, D-Indiana, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, denounced the plan, first reported by The Washington Post, which would redirect $3.7 billion from military construction and $3.5 billion in counter-narcotics programs overseen by the military. The money would pay for 885 miles of new border wall, according to the Post. The three Democrats charged that President Donald Trump is "once again forcing service members and their families to pay for his wall by canceling even more vital military construction projects." The latest debate on funding the wall comes amid continuing court battles over land rights and authorizations for construction stemming from the administration's declaration of a national emergency at the border last year to take $3.6 billion in money appropriated by Congress for military construction. The $3.6 billion in 2019 came from 127 military construction projects in 23 states, 19 countries and three U.S. territories and included funding for schools, firing ranges and hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico, according to the DoD. It is still unclear whether Congress will move to restore funding for the projects that were suspended last year in the next National Defense Authorization Act, scheduled for Oct. 1. In a joint statement, the three Democrats renewed arguments they used against the diversion of military funds last year, calling the border wall "a wasteful political stunt, not a meaningful way to secure our nation." "Moreover, at a time when the opioid epidemic continues to rage across the country, President Trump is stealing funding that was intended for meaningful counterdrug priorities to pay for his wall," they said. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, overseeing all government spending, also expressed doubts about diverting more military funding for the wall. Shelby told the Washington Post that he supported building the border wall but "I wish they'd get the money somewhere else, instead of defense." Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who opposed the diversion last year as an abuse of Congress' traditional "power of the purse," called move to channel more funds from military construction "outrageous." Reed, a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger, said in a statement that "what President Trump is doing here is shortchanging our troops and taking resources from real, effective operational priorities and diverting them to build a wasteful political prop." The position of Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, on wall funding has not changed, according to a Republican aide. Thornberry backs increased border security but believes the resources should come from the Department of Homeland Security and not the Defense Department, the aide said. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Read more: New Army Program Will Ensure Prospective Battalion Commanders Fit to Lead Architecture students from the Central University in Accra say they have started the new year with a clearer career focus following their participation in the Green Building Council of South Africas annual conference in Cape Town. The students, Cheryl Omani-Baah, Olufemi Abodunrin and David Gifat Ampiaw, have a new perspective after the conference, placing a larger value on the importance of sustainable design. Bringing their experience home to Ghana, the students aim to be change agents, inspiring their colleagues to design green and help the Ghanaian government enforce their new green building code. The students told News Ghana in an interview that they were pleasantly surprised to see that people in Cape Town were so conscious of the environment. The property sector in Cape Town has gone far in making the city sustainable, said Cheryl Omani Baah. The materials that we normally throw away in Ghana are being reused in Cape Town and not as much waste is being produced. I hope that one day our building sector gets to the level where we are equally enthusiastic about saving the environment. Olufemi Abodunrin agreed. What I gathered from the conference is that Cape Town is advanced in terms of green buildings and people are very conscious of protecting the environment. The students continued with how the experience in South Africa has helped to influence their interest in sustainable design. Since returning from the conference, Ive been more focused on how to reduce carbon emissions, said David Gifat Ampiaw. Ive also been sharing the knowledge I acquired at the conference with my peers to influence them to think of the environment as they design their projects. Cheryl Omani-Baah agreed. Since we came back, Ive been able to influence my mates to design in a new way. When we leave the classroom, were going to influence other architects, our friends and families to also go green. It really starts with one person spreading the concept. The students concluded their conversation with News Ghana with advice for architects to be more conscious of the environmental impacts of buildings when executing projects. In Ghana, we tend to design to fit what the client wants, Cheryl Omani-Baah said. Were not thinking of how we may end up destroying the environment. In the design stage, we should inform the client of the environmental impact of the building and suggest a greener way. If we do that, we will help the entire economy of Ghana. David Gifat Ampiaw, Olufemi Abodunrin and Cheryl Omani-Baah are winners of the Architectural Design Competition organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and its partners in July 2019. The competition challenged students to design a cutting-edge, single-family home intended for a young family on the outskirts of Accra, using locally-available materials and IFCs EDGE software. Homes had to reach the EDGE standard of a minimum savings of 20 percent less energy, water, and embodied energy in materials. Winners of the competition travelled to Cape Town to attend the Green Building Council of South Africas conference in early October last year. Slows Bar BQ | Photo: Ya Y./Yelp In search of a new favorite traditional American spot? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top traditional American spots around Detroit, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to achieve your dreams. Winter is the top season of the year for consumer spending at restaurants across the Detroit area, according to data on local business transactions from Womply, a small business CRM software provider. The average amount spent per customer transaction at Detroit-area restaurants grew to $25 for the metro area in the winter of last year, 3% higher than the average for the rest of the year. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1. Boostan Cafe Photo: syaih a./Yelp First on the list is Boostan Cafe. Located at 3470 Holbrook Ave., the traditional American and Middle Eastern spot is the highest-rated traditional American restaurant in Detroit, boasting five stars out of 175 reviews on Yelp. 2. Slows Bar BQ Photo: jeff c./Yelp Next up is Millenium Village's Slows Bar BQ, situated at 2138 Michigan Ave. With four stars out of 2,036 reviews on Yelp, the beer bar and traditional American and barbecue spot has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Joe Muer Seafood PHOTO: ELINA D./YELP Downtown's Joe Muer Seafood, located at 400 Renaissance Center, Suite 1404, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the sushi bar and traditional American spot four stars out of 588 reviews. 4. Detroit 75 Kitchen PHOTO: ALINA A./YELP Finally, Detroit 75 Kitchen, a traditional American food truck that offers sandwiches and more, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 150 Yelp reviews. Head over to 4800 W. Fort St. to see for yourself. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Over 300 owners in shock after four lake-front apartment complexes were demolished for violating environmental rules. Kochi, India A shocked Maya Prem Mohan watched on television as her building was imploded and came crashing down within seconds in a controlled demolition. She is one of more than 300 apartment owners in Kochi, Kerala, whose properties were demolished on Saturday and Sunday on the orders of the Supreme Court for violating environmental norms. Maya had sold her deceased husbands property in Trivandrum, the state capital, to buy an apartment in H2O Holy Faith one of two complexes overlooking Vembanad lake that were destroyed on Saturday. The other two were destroyed the following day. What did they gain by demolishing our house? said the 60-year-old, who blamed the state chief minister for not saving her home. Our fault is that we paid our hard-earned money and bought this property. Maya, flat owner Millions of people from Kerala work in the Gulf countries, sending back billions of dollars in remittances each year, fuelling a construction boom. But builders have been accused of ignoring safety and other regulations, often in collusion with local officials. Our fault is that we paid our hard-earned money and bought this property. How can anyone believe the property registration documents here anymore? she remarked as she wiped tears of anger and frustration from her eyes. About 340 apartments valued at close to $47m Maya claims to have checked the property documents and ran it by lawyers before buying the apartment. I loved that house, she said claiming that she had no clue about any of the violations when she bought it. Dust rises after the high-rise imploded [Leena Reghunath/Al Jazeera] The buildings demolished in the upscale Maradu municipality on Saturday and Sunday overlooked Vembanad Lake the largest freshwater lake in India. The shores of Vembanad Lake are also home to the largest Ramasar site (a wetland area designated to be of international importance) in India, with 2,114sq km (816sq miles) of mangroves. The four building complexes comprised about 340 apartments, valued at close to $47m, and housed more than 300 families, including well-known film stars and directors, famous doctors, and many influential Kochi residents. The demolitions were carried out on the orders of the top court for violating the Coastal Zone Regulation rules, which were framed to protect the ecologically sensitive areas. Last year, apartment owners in Maradu went on a hunger strike, many of them saying they spent their life savings to buy the houses. But that did not stop the demolition. Now they face a lengthy legal battle and bureaucratic hurdles to recover their money. Compensation The Supreme Court verdict was the result of a drawn-out legal battle between builders and the coastal zone regulatory authority. No one expected the court to come down so hard on the violation. Sadly, all the petitions by the residents, to hear us, were rejected by the Supreme Court, said Shamsudeen Karunagappally, a lawyer and resident of H2O Apartments. The top court has ordered an interim relief of $35,000 for each apartment owner, to be paid by the state government. It has also asked the state government to recover compensation from developers. So far, most families have collected the initial amount. But most owners may not be able to recover full costs as properties are hugely undervalued in registration papers in order to avoid hefty taxes. Building regulations in India are frequently flouted by developers and courts have often been called into action after the apartments have been built and occupied. In 2014, the Kerala High Court had to intervene in one such construction by prominent builder, DLF. The court spared the demolition but imposed a hefty fine on the developer. Waterfront residential properties have been the highlight of Keralas real estate. Blessed with a huge coastline and inland rivers and backwaters, the state has been cashing in on selling and developing this prime real estate during the economic boom of the 1990s and 2000s as expat money flowed in. Unchecked development and housing projects But unchecked development and housing projects have harmed the ecologically sensitive areas. Experts have blamed construction projects for the extensive flooding in 2018 that killed more than 400 people. The flood disaster the worst in a century also triggered the Supreme Court verdict. As part of governments crackdown on illegal projects, more than 600 construction projects from Kochi and neighbouring districts been served notice for demolition. This is a figure from the preliminary study from the government. Now the government will look into these cases and decide on how to proceed with them, said Sub Collector Kochi Snehil Kumar Singh, who asserted that not all would be demolished. Last October, New Jersey-based Climate Central published its findings projecting that much of the ecologically sensitive area in the Kochi-Alappuzha belt would be underwater by 2050, another area of concern for builders and prospective buyers. I am now so scared. I tell my kids to not to invest in Kerala any more, said a distraught Maya, whose two daughters live abroad. Its our hard-earned money that they demolished so happily, she lamented, saying that the governments only concern was to protect its corrupt officials. This would have set an example if the government accommodated all the residents somewhere and punished the real wrongdoers of this violation its own officials. Without that, how is this setting an example? asked Maya. Maradu Municipal Secretary Muhammad Arif Khan said the Crime Branch has registered a case in this matter and the investigations are ongoing. The chief ministers office declined to comment on the issue. Firefighters fight a flare up on a containment line at the Three Mile Fire in the suburb of Kulnura on 10 December, 2019 on the Central Coast, Australia. Photo: Sam Mooy/Getty Images The climate crisis is the biggest threat to global stability, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned. WEF on Wednesday published its annual global risk report, highlighting what its members see as the biggest threats to economic and political stability. For the first time in the reports history, the top five longterm risks were all linked to the environment. The planet is heating, the ice is melting, and we see that the library of species are on fire, Borge Brende, president of WEF, said at a press conference in London to launch the report. Its really, really serious. The biggest risk over the next ten years is extreme weather events, which WEF warned could damage property and threaten human life. The predication comes as unprecedented wild fires, caused by hot weather, ravage Australia. Other top risks include: a failure of climate change mitigation; human-made environmental disaster such as oil spills; the irreversible loss of biodiversity; and an increasing frequency of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. The last 5 years have been the hottest ever on our planet and we are seeing that climate change and environmental risks long-term are increasing in this survey, Brende said. The only way to really mitigate the risk is to come together. READ MORE: BlackRock vows to address climate change: 'Climate risk is investment risk' Worryingly, WEFs survey of 750 members found most expect political polarisation to rise in 2020, meaning coordinated international action to address the climate crisis could be difficult. Brende said the world was facing global geopolitical and economic turmoil and fracturing at the top. We are faced with a synchronised slowdown with the global economy and we are faced with the fact that the ammunition we have to fight a global financial crisis is limited. However, he urged world leaders to put differences aside and come up with a plan for the environment. Story continues The cost of inaction today far exceeds the cost of action, he told journalists. WEF released the global risk report ahead of its annual meeting of members in Switzerland next week. The event, more commonly known as Davos, attracts top politicians and business leaders from around the world. US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden, and UK Chancellor Sajid Javid are all expected to attend, alongside the likes of Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs CEO David Soloman, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Climate change activist Greta Thunberg. Photo: Susana Vera/Reuters One of this years most high-profile guests is Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old climate activist from Sweden, who is returning for the second year in a row. TIMEs Person of the year 2019 will be use the conference to pressure global elites to take rapid action to address climate change. We demand that at this years forum, participants from all companies, banks, institutions and governments immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels, Thunberg wrote in an article published by the Guardian. Senior private sector figures are also raising the alarm on climate change ahead of Davos. BlackRock, the worlds biggest investment company, this week vowed to tackle climate change and put sustainability at the heart of his company. Chairman and founder Larry Fink said in a letter to chief executives he would vote against management teams who fail to address environmental issues. 21 of the planet's hottest years on record have been seen over the last 23 years, Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote in a discussion paper last week, published to coincide with Davos. Many scientists believe that weve passed a tipping point in terms of permanent environmental damage. It also seems that a tipping point has recently been reached in the public awareness of the impact humans are having on the environment, and action is increasingly being sought. Reid warned that the action needed to combat climate change may shock citizens and be difficult to administer in democracies. READ MORE: Sadiq Khan-backed renewable energy company London Power launches President Hassan Rouhani appealed Wednesday for "unity" and flagged the need for radical changes to the way Iran is run, after a wave of angry protests over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner. The Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was shot down in a catastrophic error shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard. One week on from the disaster, Rouhani called for "national unity" in remarks broadcast live on state television. "If there was a delay" by the armed forces to release information about what happened, "let them apologise," he said. The blunder and its handling by authorities sparked four consecutive nights of protests in Tehran calling for those responsible to resign or be prosecuted, leading to at least 30 arrests. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said people were demonstrating because they were deceived for days. "In Iran... people can state their views. Sometimes they state their views in excessive ways, sometimes the reaction is excessive," he said in New Delhi. "But the fact of the matter is, (over the) last few nights we've had people in the streets of Tehran, demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days." Amnesty International said Wednesday it had evidence security personnel used "unlawful force" by targeting protesters with rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and airgun pellets. The London-based rights group said that "in many cases the actions by the security forces violated the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under international law". A student association's call to protest in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon was cancelled ahead of any gathering taking place. - Khamenei to lead prayers - State news agency IRNA said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would lead Friday prayers in Tehran this week. It would be the first time he has done so in nearly eight years. The latest protests have been much smaller than nationwide demonstrations against fuel price hikes in November that Amnesty International said left more than 300 dead in a crackdown by security forces. The Ukraine International Airlines plane was downed with Iran on high alert hours after it fired a volley of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq. Iran launched the attack on Iraqi bases in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm. Rouhani also on Wednesday said Iranians wanted "diversity" as he urged electoral authorities to refrain from disqualifying would-be candidates from a February 21 parliamentary election. That would mark a major shift in a country where candidates are vetted for their loyalty by constitutional watchdog the Guardian Council. "The people are our masters and we are its servants," Rouhani said. "Allow all parties and groups to run for office," he said. "The country cannot be governed by one political wing alone." - Crisis after crisis - Iran has been rocked by crisis after crisis since 2018. In May that year, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 agreement that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Since then, the United States has slapped waves of sanctions on Iran as part of a "maximum pressure" campaign. Washington says it seeks to rein in Tehran's missile programme as well as its "destabilising behaviour" in the region. Iran has hit back by progressively reducing its nuclear commitments. On Tuesday, as tensions mounted over the downed airliner, European parties to the deal launched an arbitration process charging Iran with failing to observe its commitments to the accord. Iran warned Britain, France and Germany they must "be prepared to accept the consequences" of their move. - 'American soldier not safe' - Rouhani blamed the Americans and their allies for causing "insecurity" across the Middle East. Their "mistakes", he said, included Soleimani's killing, interventions in Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and the US decision to pull out of the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iranian oil. "Security in this sensitive and important region will come at the expense of the entire world," said Rouhani. "Today the American soldier is not safe, tomorrow it could be the turn of the European soldier," he added, warning the US and its allies to leave the region. The downing of the plane came after a spate of disasters for Iran. On January 7, at least 59 mourners were trampled to death at a funeral procession for Soleimani. Iran has also been hit by flooding since Friday that has claimed at least three lives. Rouhani said the disasters should lead to a "big decision" about Iran's political system. "And that major decision," he said, "is national reconciliation." "These elections must be the first step." In 2017, Khamenei rejected the possibility of "national reconciliation". The idea, which called for more pluralism, had been presented at the time by reformists as a way to heal wounds left over from the disputed 2009 re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signs a book of condolences for passengers on a Ukrainian airliner shot down in a catastrophic error Iranian students gather for a demonstration over the downing of a Ukrainian airliner at Tehran University on Tuesday, in a fourth day of protests in the capital Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set to lead Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time in nearly eight years Iran initially denied that the airliner had been downed by a missile but later admitted to a catastrophic error Khandwa: BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has come up with a unique idea to make Rupee stronger- inscribing the image of Goddess Lakshmi on the Indian currency notes. Swamy said that he was in favour of inscribing the image of Goddess Lakshmi on banknotes adding it could "improve the condition of the Indian currency". Responding to a question about the picture of Lord Ganesha printed on the Indonesian currency, Swamy said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi can answer this question. I am in favour (of this). Lord Ganesha removes obstacles. I rather say that a picture of Goddess Lakshmi (on currency notes) may improve the condition of Indian currency. Nobody should feel bad about this." Swamy was speaking to reporters on Tuesday night after addressing a lecture series titled 'Swami Vivekananda Vyakhyanmala' in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district. Swamy said there was nothing objectionable in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. "The Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had requested this (CAA). Manmohan Singh had also requested in Parliament in 2003. We did it. Now they are not accepting it saying that we did injustice to Pakistan's Muslims. What injustice was done? Pakistan's Muslims don't want to come, we can't force them," Swamy said. Earlier, while delivering the lectures, Swamy said DNA of Muslims and Hindus is same like that of Brahmins and Dalits. Swamy also claimed the BJP would soon introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which he said had been repeatedly directed by the supreme court in the past 70 years and by Article 44 of the Constitution. PEARL HARBOR (Jan. 8, 2020) The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) passes the USS Arizona Memorial as it arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as part of an around-the-world deployment that includes a homeport shift to San Diego. Abraham Lincoln has been underway in support of maritime security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th, 6th, and 7th Fleet areas of operation since April 1, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cole C. Pielop) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: Jacksonville now has a cannabis zone for any future businesses that deal in the lucrative recreational and medicinal marijuana industry. The council voted 8-2, with aldermen Lori Large-Oldenettel and Don Cook casting Mondays two dissenting votes. Alderman Jeff Hopkins voted yes to the second reading, despite voting no to the first reading in December. The ordinance would allow for dispensaries in Jacksonville upon approval from the city council as a special-use zoned business. Setbacks would prevent any retail facilities within residential areas and within 150 feet of a school, church or daycare facility; and any cultivation plants within 1,500 feet of those locations. Mayor Andy Ezard said this will open Jacksonville up to cannabis-based businesses. There are some business folks out there that have an interest in opening some of these businesses, Ezard said. Alderman Brandon Adams presented several petitions with at least 40 signatures asking that the ordinance pass to allow for medical-use, adult recreational-use and lounge businesses. This is a great opportunity for Jacksonville, Adams said. With sales upwards of $19 million across the state since cannabis for adult recreational use became legal Jan. 1, the ordinance provides opportunities for the city to benefit from that revenue should cannabis-based businesses open in the community, Adams said. Large-Oldenettel said her vote was based on feedback from her constituents. Its very rare that I get phone calls, but on this topic I had several people call and ask that I vote against it, so I did for the first reading, she said. After the first reading, I received one call asking that I vote for it, but I had numerous calls saying they appreciated that I voted against it. It was driven by my constituents reaching out to me. The city previously passed an ordinance allowing the municipality to implement a 3% sales tax on any cannabis sales within city limits. Adams is hopeful that this could lead to other business growth, such as transportation, which he believes could see a boost if a cannabis producer were to come to town, he said. Though the ordinance passed Monday specifies where these types of businesses can set up shop, any business applications would have to go through the zoning board and plans commission before being voted on by the council as a special-use zoned business, Ezard said. The council will still have a say in any business that comes to Jacksonville, Ezard said. This just potentially sets things in motion for businesses looking for opportunities in Jacksonville. Other issues surrounding cannabis sales still are being discussed. Jacksonvilles special studies committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when members will be discussing cannabis equity and seeking community input. Adams, who is a member of the committee, said they will be discussing how sales tax income from cannabis sales should be divided and used within the budget. The ED said that in the coming days it will question the chartered accountants who helped Raju in siphoning off the money. New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has arrested G.S.C. Raju, promoter of Leo Meridian Infrastructure Projects and Hotels Limited (LMIPHL) and his close associate A.V. Prasad in connection with its probe into a money laundering case worth Rs 1,768 crore. The ED said that the accused were arrested after the central financial probe agency filed three cases on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report for fraudulently availing loans by the accused in connivance with others from a consortium of banks and then defaulting on the same totalling to Rs 1,768 crore. The CBI has already filed a chargesheet in the case against the accused. According to the ED officials, the group cheated Bank of Baroda to the tune of RS 700 crore as well as HDFC Bank. The ED said that Raju was arrested under the charges of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The official said that the arrested accused were produced before a court which sent them to seven-day ED custody. On December 30 last year, the ED had attached assets to the tune of Rs 250.39 crore belonging to accused LMIPHL, Raju, his family, his 'benamis' and directors of LMIPHL, under the provisions of PMLA. During investigation it was revealed that a well planned conspiracy was executed by Raju along with his associates at LMIPHL to defraud the banks by creating an illegal layout and selling plots to 315 persons. "He further mortgaged parts of the already sold lands to the banks to obtain loan for a resort project. Even approach roads were also fraudulently mortgaged to the banks and revenue records were manipulated to cheat the banks and plot owners," an ED official said. He claimed that the loans sanctioned by the banks were siphoned off using shell vendors or contractor firms opened in the names of petty employees of LMIPHL. The ED official further said that part of the diverted funds were diverted back into LMIPHL as investments using Kolkata-based 'jama-kharch' companies. The official said that during probe it was found that more than 33 shell companies and bogus share capital and share premium book entries in the balance sheets of LMIPHL were created by Raju with complicity of certain chartered accountants and they used bogus equity to fraudulently show margin money and to improve the debt-equity ratio of LMIPHL to cheat the banks for giving huge loans for which the company was otherwise not eligible. The ED office further said that Raju had also created large number of fake vendor or contractor firms to siphon off the sanctioned loans, under the guise of bogus invoices and bogus provision of material and services. "As part of the conspiracy, a large portion of diverted loan funds were cyclically rotated back into LMIPHL to create bogus exaggerated capital works in progress and in turn bogus fixed assets." The official said that it was done to cheat the banks into giving more loans and to match the asset side of balance sheets with the liability side. "By using bogus capital equity, bonus shares taken on fake balance sheets, Raju and his family became owner of 95 per cent of the company without any investment," the ED official said. The ED also said that Raju created another front company and siphoned off the cash revenue of the resort with no intention to pay back to the banks. The ED official said that the banks could not enforce the mortgaged securities due to multiple title defects and fabrication of documents by Raju in the loan applications. During probe, besides the 33 shell companies, the ED has also identified 40 shell vendors or contractors and attached 3.43 crore shares of the promoters, 76 lakh 'benami' shares, 11 immovable properties of Raju and his family members, 38 immovable properties in the names of 'benamis' and the assets of LMIPHL upto a total extent of Rs 250.39 crore. aks/kr They welcomed a baby girl into the world nearly one year ago. And Million Dollar Listing New York stars Emilia Bechrakis and Ryan Serhant will reveal the trials and tribulations with her journey to conceive via in vitro fertilization in a new YouTube series. The 34-year-old reality star admitted that it was difficult for her to 'let people into our private life' with a short clip shared on Instagram. Baby on board: Million Dollar Listing New York stars Emilia Bechrakis and Ryan Serhant will reveal the trials and tribulations with her journey to conceive via in vitro fertilization in a new YouTube series 'Dear future eggs, we're counting on you to drop like champs,' Ryan said at the beginning of the clip as Emilia attempted an injection. In vitro fertilization is a process involving a combination of procedures which may provide an option for family's struggling to conceive. Emotions were running high in the next scene when Emilia revealed that she was pregnant with their first child as she cried while holding a pregnancy test that confirmed a positive result. 'Dear future eggs, we're counting on you to drop like champs,' Ryan said at the beginning of the clip as Emilia attempted an injection Tough: In vitro fertilization is a process involving a combination of procedures which may provide an option for family's struggling to conceive A moment: Emotions were running high in the next scene when Emilia revealed that she was pregnant with their first child as she cried while holding a pregnancy test that confirmed a positive result 'IVF is definitely not my first choice ... definitely not something I thought I would ever have to do,' she said 'IVF is definitely not my first choice ... definitely not something I thought I would ever have to do,' she said. The short video showed all the steps in her pregnancy journey beginning with their first ultrasound. Emilia was more than a week over-due with her daughter when she went into the hospital for one last time before welcoming her little girl. Little one: The short video showed all the steps in her pregnancy journey beginning with their first ultrasound Go time: Emilia was more than a week over-due with her daughter when she went into the hospital for one last time before welcoming her little girl Angel baby: The happy couple welcomed their daughter, Zena, into the world on Feb. 26, 2019 after three years of trying to start their family The day everything changed: The happy couple welcomed their daughter, Zena, into the world on Feb. 26, 2019 after three years of trying to start their family Goals: Their wedding was featured in a Bravo spin-off, Million Dollar Listing New York: Ryan's Wedding after his Times Square proposal on Sept. 14, 2015; seen in September The happy couple welcomed their daughter, Zena, into the world on Feb. 26, 2019 after three years of trying to start their family. 'Over the years Ive been very nervous to let people into our private life. I still get nervous even appearing on MDLNY,' she wrote on Instagram. 'But since becoming a mother and having talked to so many of you, I have felt such immense support and encouragement to share a little more. 'About the road to becoming a wife, a Mom, a lawyer, an author, my big Greek family, the causes I support and so much more... Ill be sharing all my stories on my new YouTube channel.' Ryan and Emilia met in 2011 before becoming engaged in September 2015 and tying the knot in grand fashion in Greece on July 7, 2016. Their wedding was featured in a Bravo spin-off, Million Dollar Listing New York: Ryan's Wedding after his Times Square proposal on Sept. 14. A young mother-of-two ended her first night out 'in four years' assaulting a man and trying to punch her former best friend in a club. Tiffany Jean Bouveng, 23, ran into her two victims at a nightclub in her home town of Gympie. She pleaded guilty at Gympie Magistrates Court to assaulting one person and attempting to assault another on November 30. The court heard Queensland mum Ms Bouveng used to be best friends with the woman she tried to assault, but they had become estranged. Tiffany Jean Bouveng (pictured) said she wanted to do the right thing and take responsibility for her crime This was blamed on a secret the friend had told Ms Bouveng's partner, with the young mother seeing that as a betrayal, the court heard. Ms Bouveng ran across a nightclub in the Gympie CBD and tried to hit the former friend. The male victim then tried to intervene, taking the force of a punch and falling over. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Bouveng admitted she knew what she did was wrong, and accepted the consequences of her actions. 'I pleaded guilty because I was aware I had done the crime, and I had to take responsibility for my actions,' she said. 'I know what I did was wrong. I'm now looking forward to moving past this.' The court heard nightclub bouncers had asked her to leave and she was later found in a car park by police. Her lawyer told the court it had been her first night out in 'about four years' as she was a single mother-of-two. Magistrate Chris Callaghan fined her $400 with no conviction recorded. The Trump administration on Wednesday will announce the authorization of a roughly 3,000-acre solar farm near Palm Springs, California, after developers scaled back its size to help avoid threatened desert tortoises and cultural artifacts. First Solar Inc.'s 450-megawatt Desert Quartzite project in eastern Riverside County has been praised by some environmentalists for its careful design on lands teeming with protected species and relics. "It's a big project, over 2,700 acres. That's no small chunk of land, and they're going to squeeze 450 megawatts out of that," said Casey Hammond, the Interior Department's acting assistant secretary of land and minerals management. "If you look at how they scaled it down from where they first were -- it's 1,000 acres less -- and what they're going to crank out of there, utility payers should get a good value." The project, being developed by Desert Quartzite, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Solar, is expected to be in operation by 2022. The Interior Department said it would produce enough electricity to power about 117,000 homes while providing about $2.7 million in annual rent and fees to the U.S. Treasury. No utility has yet signed an agreement to purchase power generated at the site. The Interior Department's approval comes despite President Donald Trump's criticism of renewable energy, including disparaging solar power as "very, very expensive" last spring. Even so, his administration has moved methodically to advance several solar projects on federal lands. For instance, in November, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management approved EDF Renewable Energy's 500-megawatt Palen Solar Project, which is slated to include 3,140 acres in Riverside County. A month later, the agency issued a final environmental analysis, setting the stage to soon approve the 690-megawatt Gemini solar project advanced in Nevada by Warren Buffett's NV Energy Inc. The projects are being propelled by California's ambitious renewable energy goals, including a commitment for zero-emission electricity by 2045. Small, rooftop solar installations aren't enough to help make a huge shift and satisfy that pledge, said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-Scale Solar Association, which advocates for bigger, utility-scale projects. "I would love to be able to say, sure, let's do it all on rooftops and we don't need it anywhere else, but it's not going to be enough energy," Eddy said in a telephone interview. "We need all the rooftop we can get, we need all the utility scale we can get, and we need it soon." First Solar's shares fell 4.9% in early trading Wednesday to $55.90 after an analyst at Barclays cut the recommendation to underweight from overweight and set a price target of $49. The sun-drenched Southwest U.S. is prime territory for solar farms. The California desert is rivaled only by northern Africa in its solar radiance -- a measure of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, Eddy said. Still, some conservationists have raised concerns about the planned solar construction, arguing the projects would ravage pristine desert lands and imperil desert tortoises, lizards and protected plants. Native Americans also have also fought the projects, with tribal leaders arguing that Desert Quartzite and other ventures planned along the Interstate 10 corridor in eastern Riverside County could destroy sacred sites. Interior's Hammond stressed that state and federal regulators had worked with developers to minimize environmental impacts. Where oil drilling and other projects on public lands might have a relatively small -- and temporary -- footprint, solar projects endure longer, keeping ATV riders, hikers and other people from using the territory. "That's a big consideration," Hammond said in an interview. "Are we willing to take a big chunk of public land from the public but say this is still the highest and best use of it? In this case, we were able to make that determination; this is the highest and best use, at this time, for this land." - - - Bloomberg's Brian Eckhouse contributed to this report. Kathmandu, January 15 Nepal has requested India to conduct a feasibility study about the proposed Siliguri-Jhapa cross-country petroleum pipeline. India is yet to give a final response to the request. The request comes five months after the two governments inaugurated the first cross-country petroleum pipeline. During a meeting of a joint working group on petroleum and gas held in New Delhi last week, Nepali officials made the proposal, according to Dhruva Ghimire, a joint-secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Ghimire had led the Nepali delegation to the meeting. Though a concrete decision was yet to be made, the two governments have agreed that the Indian Oil Corporation would assess the feasibility based on a proposal to be submitted by the Nepal Oil Corporation. The NOC officials say they floated the alternative transport route as the cost of transporting fuel from Biratnagar to Barauni is excessive. A rare northern white rhino embryo has been created by scientists in a bid to keep the species from going extinct after centuries of poaching. There are only two members of the species left alive and they are both female, so researchers have implanted their eggs with frozen sperm from dead males. This is the third embryo created by scientists and they are all being stored in liquid nitrogen ready to be transferred to a surrogate mother in the coming months. The ultimate goal is to create a herd of at least five animals that could be returned to their natural habitat in Africa, researchers say. Scroll down for video Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) said in its statement that their mission is to examine evolutionary adaptations of wildlife to global change and develop new concepts and measures for the conservation of biodiversity. #northernwhiterhino pic.twitter.com/yioqoRN7fv Ministry of Tourism & Wildlife-Kenya (@Min_TourismKE) January 15, 2020 Najin, 30, and daughter Fatu, 19, are the last of the subspecies of white rhino, and live under 24-hour armed guard. In August 2019 they underwent a highly risky procedure carried out by a team of international vets, which saw them anaesthetised for almost two hours. While asleep their eggs were extracted using techniques that have taken years of research and development. The eggs used to create all three embryos were harvested from Fatu. 'Now the team will make every effort to achieve the same result for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her,' said Thomas Hildebrandt with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research in Germany. The procedure has proven to be safe and can be performed regularly before the animals become too old, the team said. 'Five years ago, it seemed like the production of a northern white rhino embryo was an almost unachievable goal - and today we have them,' said Jan Stejskal, communications director at the Dvur Kralove Zoo, where Najin and Fatu were born. WHY ARE WHITE RHINOS AT RISK? Historically, uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era caused the major decline of white rhinos. Today, poaching for their horn is the main threat. The white rhino is particularly vulnerable to poaching because it is relatively unaggressive and lives in herds. SOURCE: WWF Advertisement The next step is to select female southern white rhinos among those at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy to serve as a surrogate mother, Kenya's wildlife minister said. There are five rhino species remaining on earth, of which black and white rhinos are found in Africa. The northern white rhino is generally considered a subspecies of white rhino although some scientists believe it to be a sixth species. Rhinos have few predators in the wild due to their size but have been devastated by poaching for their horns - used in traditional Chinese medicine. The last male northern white rhino was a 45-year-old named Sudan, who gained fame in 2017 when he was listed as The Most Eligible Bachelor In The World on the Tinder dating app as part of a fundraising effort. Sudan, named for the country where he was born in the wild, was euthanised in 2018 because of age-related ills. Female northern white rhinos Fatu, 19, right, and Najin, 30, left, the last two northern white rhinos on the planet (Ben Curtis/PA) Modern rhinos have plodded the earth for 26 million years. As recently as the mid-19th century there were more than one million in Africa. The western black rhino was declared extinct in 2011. The northern white rhino once roamed Uganda, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Chad. It is hoped a revived population - which could take up to 70 years - could eventually be re-introduced into secure habitats in these areas. A high-level committee, set up by the home ministry to suggest ways for providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of Assam, has been given one-month extension to submit its report, said senior MHA officials who did not want to be named. According to the terms and conditions, the committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people. Assam has been witnessing continuous protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, which gives citizenship to religious persecuted minorities from nearby countries such as Pakistan , Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but omits Muslims. There has been a growing concern among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will damage their culture and economy. Earlier, a four-member delegation of the committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma, met home minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the progress of its work. It had also sought a 15-day extension to submit its report. The committee was set up in mid-July last year. The committee, with more than a dozen members, was set up according to Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord. Last week, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had met the home minister last week and discussed with him various aspects of the Assam Accords Clause 6, under which the central government had promised to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people. The rape and murder of a 92-year-old woman in Queens became a flash point in the broader debate over immigration on Tuesday when federal authorities contended that the suspect should not have been in the country. The officials said the suspect, Reeaz Khan, 21, had beaten up his father during an altercation in November that had resulted in his arrest, leading federal authorities at the time to ask New York City to hand him over for possible deportation. Instead, he was arrested again on Friday and charged with the murder of the woman, Maria Fuertes. In a statement issued by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday, officials said Mr. Khan was an unlawfully present Guyanese national who had been released due to New York Citys sanctuary policies. The statement has pitted immigration officials from the Trump administration against local authorities in New York City, one of a number of so-called sanctuary cities around the country, where officials have resisted deputizing law enforcement to help federal immigration authorities detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Thought Leadership Why Teachers Need to Incorporate Physical Computing into Computer Science Lessons Computer Science Education Week (CS Ed Week) is a time where educators around the world will host an Hour of Code to get their students learning the important engineering, coding and computer science skills we all know are needed for the jobs of the future. Many of the lesson plans taught in computer science courses and during CS Ed Week have students coding and programming via computer games and online, which means they are only interacting with a computer screen. Although an important part of the computer science learning experience, theres even more opportunity when you add in the physical elements. You read and hear about how we live in a digital world, but, in fact, technology is changing not only how we interact with software and mobile apps, but also how we interact with everyday objects in the physical world. Today we use touch technology, cloud computing and voice commands to turn on lights, unlock doors and keep an eye on our homes from anywhere. Technology shapes how we live and work and is continuing to change at a rapid pace. That means students today need to understand not only how to code online, but also how computer science and coding connect to the tangible objects in the world around them. Along with those hard skills of coding and engineering, students need to build soft skills that will help them compete in an ever-changing job market. By getting hands-on with an object, interacting with it and coding it to move, students are able to learn by doing and develop resilience and confidence in the process. According to a recent poll from Harris Interactive, three out of four educators say anxiety and lack of confidence hinders learning among their students. However, teachers, parents and students all agree that hands-on learning experiences help build confidence, and 87 percent of students say they tend to remember topics for longer when they learn via hands-on projects. Including physical computing in the classroom adds real-world experiences through building models, prototyping and investigating concepts. And because the objects are programmed, students also develop skills and knowledge in computational thinking like decomposing, generalizing, evaluating, abstracting and thinking algorithmically. The Benefits Beyond the Screen With physical computing, students can experience computing in a hands-on way that allows them to design and create interactive objects. By using digital programming to control a tangible object, the learning process is enhanced through a constructionist approach. Constructionism emphasizes learning as an active process, in which people build ideas or knowledge structures, both physically and mentally. These design projects are often interdisciplinary, encourage pluralistic thinking, encourage empathy and engage students as active participants. Constructionist environments can also help students develop autonomy of their learning through the creation of personally meaningful projects. These types of experiences lead to students who are better prepared for the future world. According to recent polls, the most in demand jobs over the next few years are in the areas of application software development, medical services and nursing. All fields that require computing skills in different ways. Students preparing for these fields benefit from experiencing computing and computer science in their education in both an online and physical way to ensure they are ready as they enter the workforce. This is furthered by the top skills employers are looking for according to the World Economic Forum, which focuses on innovation, creativity and hands-on learning specifically. Ways to Include Physical Computing in Your Classroom Tackling real-world problems is an engaging way to bring physical computing into the classroom. Sensors, motors and output displays allow interaction with the real world. Using sensors and an open source microcontroller, students can create an automatic watering system for household plants or use sensors and conductive thread working together to create wearable clothing that reacts to the environment. Adding the physical aspect to computing opens many new learning possibilities for students. In another example, a free lesson plan for LEGO Education SPIKE Prime challenges students to design a prosthetic arm using sensors, motors and LEGO bricks. This pushes students to combine their design engineering skills and computational thinking skills to create a physical object that solves a challenge for someone. As students iterate to find the best solution, they push their ability by understanding how hardware and software interact and can have a practical application in the medical industry. Utilizing physical computing in the classroom allows students to explore new careers they might not experience or think require STEAM skills. Use this years Computer Science Education Week to think about how to incorporate physical computing into your lesson plans and help students go beyond the computer screen and get hands-on. The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass a resolution sending articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for a trial on whether to convict him and remove him from office. The resolution passed the House nearly along party lines in a 228-193 vote. No Republicans voted for the resolution. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is scheduled to sign a copy of the resolution later Wednesday during a so-called engrossment ceremony with the newly announced team of Democratic House impeachment managers. The two articles of impeachment will then be marched over to the Senate, where they will be officially transmitted to Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams. The House started voting on the resolution shortly after Trump signed a "phase one" trade deal with China. House Democrats voted Dec. 18 to impeach Trump on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both related to his efforts to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announce probes involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate is expected to begin Tuesday, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi unveiled the seven House Democrats who will serve as impeachment managers in the trial in the Senate. House managers will essentially act as prosecutors in the Senate trial, laying out the evidence that House investigators have collected and making their case that the senators should vote Trump out of office, while Trump's team of lawyers defends him. The 100 senators, in turn, will act as jurors as they consider how they will vote on the two articles of impeachment against Trump that the House passed last month. It is highly unlikely that two-thirds of the GOP-majority Senate will vote to convict a Republican president and remove him from office. No Senate Republicans have said they will vote to convict. Trump is just the third U.S. president ever to be impeached. He has denied any wrongdoing. The vote to pass the resolution came after Pelosi withheld the articles for weeks in a gambit to get assurances about how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's chamber will conduct the trial. But McConnell, R-Ky., made no concessions to the Democrats, and rejected their requests to approve witnesses before the trial was set to start. "This was a sham impeachment from the beginning and never anything more than Democrats trying to interfere in an election that is now less than ten months away," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. Three fishermen were rescued by a local fire department after their boat capsized near the Port of Coos Bay bar on Tuesday evening. #BreakingNews local fire department have rescued the fishermen from inside the capsized fishing vessel Pacific Miner. Fishermen all reported to be okay but were cold. USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) January 15, 2020 The U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release that the 38-foot fishing vessel Pacific Miner had three men on board. Crews began searching after finding a capsized boat Tuesday evening on the jetty. #breakingnews #USCG crews searching for 3 fishermen near entrance to Coos Bay after USCG aircrew finds capsized fishing vessel at jetty tips. Fishing vessel is 38-ft Pacific Miner. Coos Bay bar conditions are 8-10 foot breaking waves. pic.twitter.com/61948bkgqK USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) January 15, 2020 An air crew and two boat crews searched for the men, and pulled them out of the water around 8:30 p.m., according to the Coast Guard. The men were safe, but were cold. The conditions when the boat capsized were 8-to-10-foot breaking waves and about 4 miles of visibility, the Coast Guard said. The boat also had about 300 crab on board. A local fishing shop, Basin Tackle Charleston, posted video of the rescue. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Eritrean native, Founder and Executive Director Almaz Negash hosts this event annually at the Computer History Museum, and this years symposium is themed, Defining an Investment Framework for Africa. In addition to her work with ADN, Negash, from 2017-19, served as a member of the United Nations Economic Council for Africa High Level Panel on Immigration and Migration, and was the director of the Global Leadership and Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Presenting as this years keynote speakers are the Honorable Joseph Mucheru, current Kenyan Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ms. Mimi Alemayehou, recent board member appointee of ONE Campaign group and Managing Director of Black Rhino Group, Ms Thelma Ekiyor, Managing Partner, SME.NG, and Luam Luam Keflezgy is a celebrity choreographer & creative director. Furthermore, more than 11 African entrepreneurs from 6 different countries in Africa will be awarded with the selective Builders of Africas Future fellowship. ADNs annual flagship symposium convenes entrepreneurially-minded, Africa-focused, high-level leaders and professionals from across the world for insightful dialogue around investment and innovation in Africa as well as partnership and mentorship opportunities. Over 50 African entrepreneurs from organizations like Harambeans, Stanford Seed, Segal Family Foundation and MIT D-Lab will attend. This years symposium has attracted the attention of large companies like VMware, Facebook, Genentech, Johnson and Johnson, creating an invaluable opportunity for these entrepreneurs across Africa to engage with investors and tech giants alike, in Silicon Valley. ADIS2020 seeks to define an investment framework for Africa through workshops, panel discussions, fireside chats, and participant-driven design labs focused on designing streamlined and sustainable systems across the continent. With a key emphasis on harnessing the power of digitization, major themes include Designing Streamlined and Sustainable Systems Across the Continent and Investment and Entrepreneurship to Build Thriving Communities in Africa. This years event is being sponsored by The County of Santa Clara, Segal Family Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, eBay, Johnson & Johnson, Conrad N. Hilton, Hugh Stuart Center Charitable, United States African Development Foundation, SAP, The Africa-America Institute, King Baudouin Foundation United States, Stanford Seed, Atlas Network, EY, IDP Foundation Inc., Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Facebook, Harambeans, William H Cilker Family Foundation, Twum Djin, Dawit Habtezghi, Hugh Molotsi, Abbey Omokhodion, Joshua Ghaim, Charlie Adams, David Wilde, Mr. Terry Gannon & Mrs. Carolyn Gannon, Duncan Goldie-Scot, and Regga Tekeste. ADIS 2020 partners include, USAID, State Department, Frugal Innovation Hub, Miller Center, Lofty Inc. Allied Partners Ltd., Ashesi University Foundation, and American Homebuilders. The event will be held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite. For more information about speakers, sponsors and agenda, please see http://www.adis20.com About African Diaspora Network: African Diaspora Network is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization. Our mission to harness and engage the intellectual, financial, philanthropic and entrepreneurial capacity of Africans and friends of Africa in support of economic and social development across Africa. Since 2010, the African Diaspora Network (ADN) has energized collaboration among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, philanthropists and African diasporans to uplift its local community towards the benefit of Africa. ADN is dedicated to providing virtual and physical forums to accelerate access to resources that foster partnership, knowledge sharing, and advance investment opportunities. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:57:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (Front) speaks during peace talk agreement to implement all the remaining outstanding issues within the 100-day extension period, in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Daniel Majak) South Sudan has agreed to a ceasefire after peace talks with various opposition groups in Rome. JUBA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan has agreed to a ceasefire after peace talks in Rome with various opposition groups that refused to sign the 2018 revitalized peace deal between the government and the main opposition group in Ethiopia. The government inked the deal with the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA), a coalition of opposition groups that did not sign the 2018 peace agreement. The revitalized peace was inked in Ethiopia in September 2018 between the government and the main opposition, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)-In-Opposition led by Riek Machar. Under the ten-point statement dubbed the Rome declaration, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to cease hostilities and continue to dialogue under auspices of the Saint Egidio Catholic community which mediated the talks in Italy. "We have reaffirmed our will to foster dialogue in order to facilitate further reconciliation and stabilization by addressing the root causes of the conflict in South Sudan," said a joint statement issued in Juba. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, presidential political advisor who led the government delegation, noted that the parties are aware of the suffering of the people caused by the devastating five years conflict and the urgent need to cease hostilities. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (L, front) shakes hands with Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu, Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Dec. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Denis Elamu) The parties also agreed on the comprehensive political engagement and further dialogue to continue under the mediation of Saint Egidio. "We vow to continue with further dialogue under auspices of Saint Egidio," it said. The opposition groups also requested the Catholic organization to reach out to the regional body, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which mediated the 2018 revitalized peace deal signed by President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar of the SPLM-IO. The parties agreed to allow unhindered humanitarian access in their controlled areas. South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar leading soldiers loyal to the respective leader to fight. Under the 2018 peace deal, Machar will return to take up one of the five vice presidency positions in the transitional unity government expected to be formed in February. In order to safeguard interests of bank account holders, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to clip some features while issuing new cards. These features will have to be enabled by the user, depending upon their spending habits. These include using card online both for domestic and international transactions, using them at international touch points and for contactless transactions. In short, if you get a new card, it will not originally come with these features, unless you opt for it. "At the time of issue/re-issue, all cards (physical and virtual) shall be enabled for use only at contact based points of usage (ATMs and Point of Sale devices) within India," RBI said in a press release. Earlier norms allowed banks to issue cards with all in-built features so that customers could use them in multiple ways. In case of existing cards, RBI said that banks may take a decision based on their risk perception. Also, in case an existing card has never been used online or for contactless transactions, these features stand mandatorily disabled, the central bank said. Moreover, card users will be able to switch on/off and set or modify transaction limits for all types of transactions, online or at a touch point, domestically or internationally. RBI said that card users should be allowed to modify these features on a 24/7 basis through multiple channels. Banks will have to notify customers through SMS/e-mail, whenever there is a change in the status of the card. This does not apply to other cards like prepaid gift cards and those used at mass transit systems, RBI said. The owner of British Airways IAG has filed a complaint to the EU about the UK Government's 106million plan to rescue struggling airline Flybe. The airline group has asked the European Union's Directorate-General for Competition to look into whether UK support for Flybe constitutes a breach of EU rules over providing state aid. Outgoing BA boss Willie Walsh today branded the move a 'blatant misuse of public funds'. Mr Walsh says the regional airline's owners, Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic and US-giant Delta, who both turn huge profits each year, should have put their hands in their deep pockets. He has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and demanded to know why Britain's taxpayers must pick up the bill when the airline has been mismanaged by its wealthy bosses. And he says Flybe already has an unfair advantage over rivals, including BA, who are blocked from routes from London to smaller regional airports such as Newquay in Cornwall. The chief executive of IAG, BA's parent company, said: 'Prior to the acquisition of Flybe by the consortium which includes Virgin/Delta, Flybe argued for taxpayers to fund its operations by subsidising regional routes. 'Virgin/Delta now want the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their mismanagement of the airline. This is a blatant misuse of public funds. Outgoing BA boss Willie Walsh is unhappy about the bailout of Flybe because of its rich owners Flybe shareholders have struck a deal with the British government to keep the regional airline operating, business minister Andrea Leadsom said on Tuesday 'Flybe's precarious situation makes a mockery of the promises the airline, its shareholders and Heathrow have made about the expansion of regional flights if a third runway is built.' Irish ex-pilot Mr Walsh, 58, will leave the chief executive role and board of IAG on March 26 and retire on June 30, before being succeeded by Iberia chief executive Luis Gallego. Mr Walsh, chief executive of British Airways between 2005 and 2011, was known for orchestrating the successful creation of International Airlines Group (IAG) through the merger of BA and Spanish carrier Iberia. The executive has never been far from controversy and was dubbed 'The Slasher' for his reign at Aer Lingus which he turned round by slashing 2,500 jobs, he has presided over several BA disasters and customers complaining about a sharp decline in levels of The future of Britain's biggest regional airline had been hanging in the balance, with backers including Virgin Atlantic preparing to call in administrators. But ministers said they had secured a commitment from Flybe's owners to continue operating after promising to review air passenger duty on domestic flights. Plans to cut the levy currently 26 for a return flight in the UK could be announced in the Budget in March. The Government has also promised to review regional transport links which will look at subsidising more flights to remote parts of the UK. Flybe had also been trying to persuade ministers to defer a 106million air passenger duty bill until 2023. But there are concerns that it could breach EU state aid rules. Business minister Andrea Leadsom said last night she was 'delighted' to have reached an agreement with the embattled airline - as ministers reportedly discussed whether the regional carrier could defer paying an estimated 106 million air passenger duty bill. Ms Leadsom said: 'Delighted that we have reached agreement with Flybe's shareholders to keep the company operating, ensuring that U.K. regions remain connected. 'This will be welcome news for Flybe's staff, customers and creditors and we will continue the hard work to ensure a sustainable future.' Boris Johnson previously revealed the Government had been asked to bail-out the business with 150million of taxpayers' money but they had refused. He said: 'Clearly that's a lot of taxpayers' money and sets up, as people will appreciate, a moral hazard in the case of future such commercial difficulties that companies face.' Ms Leadsom said: 'Delighted that we have reached agreement with Flybe's shareholders to keep the company operating, ensuring that U.K. regions remain connected' A senior Whitehall source last night claimed Flybe was not set to run out of money. However, bosses were not prepared to continue racking up big losses unless they extracted commitments from the Government. The emergency agreement seeks to prevent Flybe becoming the second UK carrier to fail in four months after Thomas Cook went bust in September. Based in Exeter, the airline employs about 2,000 people and is owned by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic. It carries around eight million passengers annually and flies to 170 destinations around Europe from its British hubs. The deal was announced after 48 hours of fraught negotiations. It will come as a relief to Flybe's workers and tens of thousands of people who have booked flights with the airline. Chancellor Sajid Javid said: 'I welcome Flybe's confirmation that they will continue to operate as normal, safeguarding jobs and ensuring flights continue to serve communities across the whole of the UK.' The Government previously refused to step in to help Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook, which collapsed in September. But allowing an airline which operates two in five UK domestic flights outside London to go under would have undermined its manifesto pledge to boost regional economies and improve connectivity outside the capital. Airports which depend heavily on Flybe include Anglesey, Southampton, Belfast, Exeter and Newquay. Air passenger duty is set to raise 3.9billion this year. Flybe was bought by investors, including Virgin Atlantic, for 2.8million in 2019. It comes after Boris Johnson said ministers would not 'step in and save' Flybe amid claims air passenger duty could be cut They promised to invest 100million in a turnaround plan, but losses have since escalated. Airlines claim APD restricts connectivity and passenger growth. Passengers on domestic flights pay 26 in APD for a return trip, with higher rates for longer flights and premium cabins. The tax is expected to be worth 3.7 billion to the Treasury in 2019/20. Flybe is the main carrier operating in several smaller British cities, including Exeter and Southampton in the southwest and south. Lawmaker Stephen Farry, who serves a constituency in Northern Ireland, said he feared that if Flybe disappears it would hit connectivity between the province and Britain and he would be taking the matter up with the UK's Department for Business. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also welcomed today's agreement. He said: 'Delighted we've been able to work closely with Flybe to ensure Europe's largest regional airline is able to continue connecting communities across Britain. @transportgovuk will undertake an urgent review into how we can level up the country by strengthening regional connectivity.' Boris Johnson had said ministers would not 'step in and save' Flybe amid claims air passenger duty could be cut on all domestic flights in Britain - saving travellers 13 a trip. Flybe has long claimed that APD is unfair by disproportionately affecting domestic customers who must pay it every time they take off from a UK airport. ALEX BRUMMER: Plight of Flybe is the first big test for Tories' plan to help regions soar By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail As a passionate believer in the free market system, I have long opposed wholesale interventions to rescue badly-run companies. But, given the state of Britain's left-behind regions and the high expectations of their citizens after turning out to vote for Boris Johnson in such numbers, now was the right time to change tack. The plight of the regional airline Flybe presented an early test of the Government's commitment to the provinces. It has managed to secure the future of the company with promises to review the tax burden which almost brought its collapse and to look at the whole vexed question of transport connections to and from and within Britain's depressed regions. No10's claim to be ready to extend a helping hand to spread prosperity across the country has been borne out by yesterday's events. The most likely outcome is that Flybe and other UK domestic carriers will be relieved of paying some or all of the onerous Airline Passenger Duty (APD). While passengers making return journeys to continental destinations pay a flat fee of 13, domestic flyers are charged APD on each leg there and back adding up to a total of 26. This oppressive tax has damaged the expansion of regional travel in the UK and has put major British-based global carriers at a disadvantage compared with their overseas rivals. It arose from pledges by successive British governments not to increase income taxes and VAT a stance that shifted the burden of fundraising to stealth taxes. As a result, just as the high street has been vandalised by iniquitous business rates so the airlines have been damaged by passenger duty. However, the Government's involvement in propping up Flybe, which operates half of all domestic flights out of London and carried 8.6million passengers last year, will not be popular with everyone. The biggest and most potent argument against a bail-out is that it will set a precedent for rescuing every failing company which comes knocking on the Government's door. Past supplicants include outsourcing-to-construction giant Carillion and emblematic travel group Thomas Cook, both of which were abruptly and painfully turned down by the Government. Supporting an airline in these days of climate change awareness will also put Johnson's Government on the back foot with eco-activists. Sharpest criticism of all will come from free-market fundamentalists who recall only too well Labour's efforts to bail out the car industry in the 1970s. The goal is to rename the regional carrier Virgin Connect, imbuing it with the brand power of Branson (Richard Branson, pictured above) The truth is that, had the Government not intervened then, the revival of British motor manufacturing including marques such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini, all now under private ownership might never have taken place. And Britain's world class aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce would be out of business. But the numbers are eye-watering. A change in airline passenger taxes to keep Flybe in the sky could cost the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds, especially if it is applied to other carriers too. Which begs the question as to why Flybe's wealthy owners led by Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic (owned partly by Delta and Air France) were so quick to pull the rug from under the company. They look to have been engaged in brinkmanship designed to force a tax change and a renewed focus on regional connectivity. It is less than a year since Flybe was bought for a knockdown price of 2.8million. Tory ministers needed iron-clad assurances from the owners that they would continue to keep the carrier in the skies in exchange for the tax review. The goal is to rename the regional carrier Virgin Connect, imbuing it with the brand power of Branson, and to feed its routes into the broader Virgin Atlantic network. But ministers must be acutely aware that by engaging so actively with Flybe and its shareholders they will come under pressure to prop up struggling firms in other sectors. The British Steel complex at Scunthorpe, for example, is teetering on the brink. Following yesterday's move, the Government is in danger of sending out a signal that state intervention is acceptable once again. Yes, it's a massive doctrinal shift, but it may be the price to pay for healing the regional divide. Shannon Airport is confident of a return to passenger growth this year after taking a significant hit from the grounding of Boeing's 737-Max aircraft and a Brexit-related downturn in UK visitors to Ireland during 2019. "The global grounding of the Boeing 737-Max, for safety reasons, saw us lose 120,000 seats, which affected our Norwegian Airlines and Air Canada services to North America," said Mary Considine, chief executive of Shannon Group, the entity which owns the airport as well as Shannon Heritage, the Shannon Free Zone and Shannon Commercial Properties. "This was a disproportionate hit for Shannon compared to other Irish airports. Last year also saw the ending of Kuwait Airways' transit flights through Shannon to New York, which we secured in June 2016 as a temporary service until the airline received approval for direct flights into the US," Ms Considine said. However, she said the airport closed 2019 on a strong footing with the announcement of three new services in the form of a Vienna route with Ryanair subsidiary Lauda; and Aer Lingus adding routes to Paris and Barcelona. "The development of high quality international air connectivity for the people of our region will continue to be a critical focus for us," Ms Considine said. "To this end, we will continue to explore opportunities and ensure our catchment, from the north-west down to the south, is aware of and takes full advantage of the exciting schedule we have across the UK, Europe and the US in 2020. The more our services are used, the more services we get," she said. Elsewhere, a year after the grounding of Boeing's 737-Max sent shockwaves across the aviation sector, its likely return this year promises more upheaval, consultant IBA has warned. The industry faces market turbulence as the release of some 800 grounded jets reverses a surge in narrowbody aircraft values, with the glut of planes potentially weighing on fares, IBA said. Since the Max grounding last March, after two deadly crashes, airline customers have secured alternative planes or extended existing leases, driving up contract rates and second-hand values of Boeing and Airbus single-aisle jets. Airlines and lessors face a whiplash effect from the jets return to service and resulting capacity glut, IBA said, compounded by uncertainty over the timing of its recertification by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Through the International Aviation Services Centre, or IASC, the Shannon Group supports the development of a cluster of over 80 aviation companies based in the Shannon Free Zone. -additional reporting Reuters Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) According to the US Embassy in Vietnam, during his recent working visit to Vietnam, Dhillon met with Minister of Public Security General To Lam and Lieutenant-General Pham Van Cac, General Director of the Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes. Dhillon recognised the importance of the strategic relationship between the DEA and Vietnams Ministry of Public Security. He reaffirmed that the DEA will continue to collaborate with its partners in Vietnam to strengthen the ministrys efforts in combating transnational drug trafficking organisations. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned the United States to end its military intervention in the region, saying such a withdrawal will both help restore regional security and serve Washingtons own interests, reports PressTV. The intolerable insecurity currently afflicting the region menaces Asia, Europe, and even America itself as it can lead to all sorts of incidents, Rouhani told the cabinet session on Wednesday. Restore this security. We want you to leave the region not by means of war, but by taking the wise move [to do so], he said. You [yourself] will stand to benefit from this. Go down the path that benefits the region and the entire world, the president added. He also touched on the Islamic Republics recent strikes against US bases in western and northern Iraq, which came in retaliation for the US assassination of revered Iranian commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, among others, in Baghdad on January 3. General Soleimanis martyrdom will not go unanswered. The military response was given, he said, noting that the strikes that hit the USs Ain al-Assad Airbase in Iraqs Anbar Province showed that we do not back down in the face of the US and will surely respond to their crime. Appointment 15 January 2020 The IHG Owners Association, which represents IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) franchise hotel owners worldwide, announced that Wayne West III has assumed chairmanship of its Global Board of Directors for 2020. West is President and Partner of Newport Hospitality Group, based in Williamsburg, Va., and brings an extensive background as a hotelier and operator. With more than 40 years in the industry, he has helped hotels maximize guest loyalty and team engagement while ensuring exceptional revenue performance and profitability. He succeeds 2019 chair Kurt Furlong, Chief Revenue Officer and Partner with Genuine Hospitality, LLC. West joined the company in 2013 as Chief Operating Officer and quickly advanced to his current position as President. Previously, he was with Lane Hospitality (now Spire Hospitality) for 12 years, serving as Chief Operating Officer for the last three. West has also held executive positions with several other lead-ing hospitality companies. West has been an active member of the Association for many years having served as Chair of the Holiday Inn Committee and several other Association working groups, including the Strategic Planning and Standards Committees and the Holiday Inn Food & Beverage Council. West attended East Carolina University and earned his Certified Hotel Administrator designation from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He resides with his wife, Marianne, in a small lakeside town in North Carolina. A mother whose son murdered her four-year-old daughter when he was 13 has revealed how he has admitted to sexually assaulting her before the gruesome attack, in shocking new detail. Charity Lee, from Abilene, Texas, was at her waitressing job on February 5, 2007, when police arrived to tell her her four-year-old daughter Ella was dead. The young girl had been stabbed 17 times by her brother, Paris Bennett, who was just 13 at the time. Paris picked up the knife and attacked his half-sister as she slept in her bed, after convincing their babysitter to go home. He then called 911 and admitted to the killing, later claiming he wanted to 'punish his mother'. And in Charity's new memoir, 'How Now, Butterfly?: A Memoir Of Murder, Survival, and Transformation', which was released on Tuesday, the heartbroken mother reveals how he went on to confess to watching 'hours of violent porn', before sexually molesting his sister and stabbing her to death. Charity Lee, left, whose son murdered her four-year-old daughter when he was 13 has revealed how he admitted to sexually assaulting her before the killing. He is seen right before the attack A newly released extract from a September 2010 diary entry, published by the New York Post, reveals how she confronted him after finding porn entries on their internet history, and hearing how there was semen found on the bed and on Ella's body. It later emerged he murdered his sister to cover up the sexual abuse that took place that evening. 'He sexually abused her that night, and he admitted the more violent he became, the more excited he became, ending in death for her and climax for him,' Charity wrote in the disturbing extract. Another chilling entry from Charity, who has forgiven her son and regularly visits him, reads: 'his stabs were slow and methodical, not frenzied, not an uncontrollable rage. Paris attacked his half-sister (seen together as children) with a knife as she slept in her bed. He then called 911 and admitted to the killing, later claiming he wanted to 'punish' his mother' In Charity's memoir the heartbroken mother reveals her son Paris (seen during a Piers Morgan interview last year) later confessed to watching 'hours of violent porn' before the attack 'Not all were deep. Most were shallow jabs and punctures. He told the detectives he stabbed her and pulled the knife out slowly; that it felt like stabbing a mattress or a marshmallow.' Charity, whose mother was charged but later aquitted of killing her father when she was six, also revealed that this formed part of the reason he didn't complete his plan to kill his mother, as it was 'harder than he thought to kill someone'. On the night of February 5, 2007, Paris, who has an IQ of 141, convinced his and Ella's babysitter to go home. Anything above 140 is considered genius. He then went into his sister's bedroom and attacked her. Afterwards, he called a school friend on the phone then he phoned 911. Paris killed his half-sister Ella in 2007 at their home in Abilene, Texas. He stabbed her 17 times as she slept while their mother Charity was at work. He is seen as a child with his mother His harrowing phone call to emergency workers is included in the trailer for the documentary. A newly released extract from a September 2010 diary entry, published by the New York Post , reveals Charity confronted him after finding porn entries on their internet history, and learning there was semen found on the bed and on Ella's body 'I accidentally killed somebody,' he wailed. The operator responded: 'You think you killed somebody?' Paris, through sobs, cried back: 'No I KNOW I did. 'My sister...I feel so messed up.' He was taken into custody before authorities alerted Charity to what had happened. During his first confession he claimed he was angry with his mother, after she briefly relapsed into drug use years earlier after getting herself clean. Charity overcame heroin addiction not long before she became pregnant with Paris. When she relapsed, it was with cocaine. Paris is 26 now and remains behind bars in Texas where his mother, who has since had another son, visits him. He was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment, the maximum for juvenile murder, in 2007. All living organisms need energy for their survival, and this energy indirectly comes from the sun. Some organisms, such as plants, cyanobacteria, and algae, are capable of directly converting this light energy into chemical energy via a process called "photosynthesis". These photosynthetic organisms contain special structures to mediate photosynthesis, called "photosystems". There are two photosystems that carry out light-energy conversion reactions, each of which is composed of a number of proteins and pigments. Among photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll is the most crucial one, which not only captures light energy from the sun but also participates in the "electron transfer chain", a molecular pathway through which photons (from the sunlight) are converted into electrons (which are used as an energy source). There are different types of chlorophyll molecules, each having a specific function ranging from absorbing light and converting it into energy. Moreover, each chlorophyll molecule absorbs light in different regions. Recently, a new type of chlorophyll called Chl f was discovered, but details like exactly where it is located and how it functions have remained a mystery until now. In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by Prof. Tatsuya Tomo at the Tokyo University of Science, Japan, and including collaborating researchers from Okayama University, Tsukuba University, Kobe University, and RIKEN, revealed new details about the location and functions of Chl f. They wanted to gain insight into the complex process of photosynthesis, as an in-depth understanding of this process could have various future applications, such as the development of solar cells. Talking about the study, Prof. Tomo says, "The initial course of photosynthesis begins when the photosynthetic pigment bound to this photochemical complex absorbs light. We analyzed the structure of a newly discovered photochemical complex, photosystem I with Chl f that has an absorption maximum on the lower energy side of light (far-red light). Moreover, we analyzed the function of Chl f." What the scientists knew so far was that Chl f is "far-red shifted," which means that this molecule absorbs far-red light from the lower end of the light spectrum. Prof. Tomo and his team wanted to dig deeper, and for this, they studied the alga in which Chl f was first discovered. By using techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy, they analyzed the high-resolution structure of the photosystem in this alga in detail and found that Chl f is located at the periphery of photosystem I (one of the two types of photosystems) but is not present in the electron transfer chain. They also found that far-red light causes structural changes in the photosystem, which are accompanied by the synthesis of Chl f in the algae, leading them to conclude that Chl f causes these structural changes in photosystem I. This was exciting, as this finding is the first to explain how exactly Chl f works. Prof Tomo says, "Our findings revealed that the appearance of Chl f is well correlated with the expression of photosystem I genes induced under far-red light. This indicates that Chl f functions to harvest the far-red light and enhance up-hill energy transfer. We also found that the amino acid sequence of photosystem I was altered so as to accommodate the structure of Chl f." Understanding the intricacies of photosynthesis has several important applications. For example, mimicking the process of photosynthesis in an artificial system is an elegant method of capturing solar energy and converting it into electricity. Prof Tomo elaborates, "About half of the solar energy that falls on the earth is visible light, and the other half is infrared light. Our research puts forth a mechanism that can use light on the lower energy spectrum, which has never been seen before. Our findings show how to improve the efficiency of energy transfer in photosynthesis and, by extension, also provide important insights into artificial photosynthesis." ### About The Tokyo University of Science Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan's development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators. With a mission of "Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society", TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today's most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field. Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/ Media contacts Tsutomu Shimizu Public Relations Divisions Tokyo University of Science Email: mediaoffice@admin.tus.ac.jp Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/ Okayama University Email: www-adm@adm.okayama-u.ac.jp Website: http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html University of Tsukuba Email: kohositu@un.tsukuba.ac.jp RIKEN Email: ex-press@riken.jp Kobe University General Affairs Department Communications Division E-mail: ppr-kouhoushitsu@office.kobe-u.ac.jp Funding information This study was supported by the Platform Project for Supporting Drug Discovery and Life Science Research (Basis for Supporting Innovative Drug Discovery and Life Science Research [BINDS]) from AMED, PRESTO from JST Grant no. JPMJPR16P1, JSPS KAKENHI no. JP17K07442, JP19H04726, JP17H06434, no. 17726220801, 17K07453, 18H05177, JP19K22396, along with the JSPS-RFBR grant (no. 19-54-50002). NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Bakery Processing Equipment Market size is expected to reach $17.9 billion by 2025, rising at a market growth of 6.17% CAGR during the forecast period. The bakery processing industry has been extensively adopting a wide range of processing equipment. These include mixers & blenders, dividers & rounder, molders & sheeters, oven & proofers, and many more. Mixers are a key tool in every bakery application. Bakery mixers are used for mixing cake batter with whipped cream, dough, icing and filling. Planetary and spiral are the two kinds of bakery mixers. A planetary mixer comprises universal attachments that may be used to produce several bakery specialties. On the other hand, a spiral mixer can only be used for kneading and mixing dough for use in crusts of bread, bagels, and pizza. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05838691/?utm_source=PRN The increased demand for bakery products, such as bread, pizza crust, and cakes and pastries, is expected to fuel the market. Rising demand for upgraded equipment would further accelerate developments in the industry. Manufacturers concentrate on technological advances in bakery manufacturing equipment in order to maintain high competition. They use advanced technologies to create new and effective machinery to attain market share. North America and Europe dominate the overall market, while bakery processing machines are primarily imported from China, India and other Asian countries due to the proliferation of both skilled labor and cost-effective manufacturing operations in the region. China is expected to remain a major market due to the growing popularity of processed food, rapid industrialization, and consumer goods demand. The report highlights the adoption of Bakery Processing Equipment globally. Based on Product, the market is segmented into Oven & Proofers, Molders & Sheeters, Mixer & Blenders, Dividers & Rounder and Other Products. Based on Application, the market is segmented into Bread, Cakes & Pastries, Cookies & Biscuits, Pizza Crusts and Other Applications. Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. The major strategies followed by the market participants are Product launches and Partnerships & Collaborations. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix, MiddleBy Corporation and Buhler Group are some of the forerunners in the Bakery Processing Equipment Market. The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include GEA Group AG, Buhler Group, MiddleBy Corporation, Ali Group, Baker Perkins Ltd., Heat and Control, Inc., Rheon Automatic Machinery Co. Ltd., Gemini Bakery Equipment Company, Allied Bakery Equipment & Machine Co., Inc., and Global Bakery Solutions Ltd. Recent strategies deployed in Bakery Processing Equipment Market Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: Aug-2018: Heat and Control Pty Ltd. signed partnership with Key Technology, Inc., a member of Duravant Family of operating companies for supporting the customers in Australia, India, and New Zealand. Under the partnership, Heat and Control supplies and services Key's high performance vibratory conveyors, digital sorters, and other automation systems in the defined regions. Apr-2018: Heat and Control collaborated with Ishida, a designer and manufacturer of multihead weighers and wide range of sealing, bagging, grading, inspection, and quality control equipment. The collaboration is aimed at delivering the food industry' customers with full 'end-to-end' processing and packaging solutions. Acquisition and Mergers: Apr-2019: MiddleBy announced the acquisition of Standex Cooking Solutions Group. Through acquisition, a number of new brands such as Bakers Pride, Bakers Pride, Ultrafryer, and BKI brands, will operates under MiddleBy Commercial Foodservice Group. Feb-2018: MiddleBy completed the acquisition of Hinds-Bock Corporation, a manufacturer of filling and depositing bakery and food products and solutions. The acquisition complements the existing bakery and processing systems of MiddleBy's current portfolio. Dec-2017: GEA completed the acquisition of Pavan Group, a leading supplier of milling and extrusion technology for the processing of all kinds of dried and fresh pasta, breakfast cereals, and pelleted snack products. The acquisition extends the technology portfolio of GEA. Sep-2017: Buhler acquired Haas Group, the Austrian manufacturer of biscuits, wafer, and confectionary production systems. The acquisition helps Buhler in expanding its Consumer Food Product Portfolio and it offers Haas the access to the resources of Buhler organization including its innovation networks and 100 service stations. Jun-2017: MiddleBy acquired Sveba Dahlen Group, a developer and manufacturer of bakery equipment for industrial baking industries and commercial foodservice industries. The acquisition adds a number of leading and highly respected brads to its portfolio and strengthens its position in the bakery category. Product Launches and Product Expansions: Aug-2018: Baker Perkins launched TruClean Series3 rotary moulder in order to fulfill the industry's highest standards of hygiene, low maintenance, and cleaning costs. This moulder has been launched for soft dough biscuits and sandwich cookies. The machine incorporates the full complement of process control techniques. Jul-2018: Baker Perkins extended its product portfolio with the launch of an equipment for creating crunchy granola bars. This expansion has been focused on meeting the demand of accurately guillotining the baked granola bars into bars. Geographical Expansions: Dec-2018: Buhler opened a new Food Application Center in Plymouth and the next phase of this project includes installation of equipment and commissioning. This center includes the innovative technologies for processing pulses, corn, ancient grains, and many other food ingredients. Scope of the Study Market Segmentation: By Product Oven & Proofers Molders & Sheeters Mixer & Blenders Dividers & Rounder and Other Products By Application Bread Cakes & Pastries Cookies & Biscuits Pizza Crusts and Other Applications By Geography North America o US o Canada o Mexico o Rest of North America Europe o Germany o UK o France o Russia o Spain o Italy o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o China o Japan o India o South Korea o Singapore o Australia o Rest of Asia Pacific LAMEA o Brazil o Argentina o UAE o Saudi Arabia o South Africa o Nigeria o Rest of LAMEA Companies Profiled GEA Group AG Buhler Group MiddleBy Corporation Ali Group Baker Perkins Ltd. Heat and Control, Inc. Rheon Automatic Machinery Co. Ltd. Gemini Bakery Equipment Company Allied Bakery Equipment & Machine Co., Inc. Global Bakery Solutions Ltd. Unique Offerings Exhaustive coverage Highest number of market tables and figures Subscription based model available Guaranteed best price Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05838691/?utm_source=PRN 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. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com 'It isn't too late to vaccinate,' health director says, urging flu shots Saying it isnt too late to vaccinate," Henderson County's public health director urged residents to get a flu shot. We strongly encourage people to protect themselves by getting a flu shot this season if they havent already," Health Director Steve Smith said Tuesday. "Even healthy people can get the flu. Flu is widespread across Henderson County and the state, he said, which is why residents should take actions to prevent infection. While recent reporting indicates that this years flu vaccine might not be a good match to the strain that is dominating flu activity this season, it is still important to receive a flu shot. While flu vaccine can vary in how well it works, it remains the best way to prevent flu illness and serious flu complications, including those that can result in hospitalization. Flu vaccine is not perfect, and some people who get vaccinated may still get the flu, but data suggests that flu vaccination may make illness milder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vaccination protects people who are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from flu, like older adults, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions, babies and young children, Smith said. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services latest influenza summary report for the week ending January 4, 2020 announced 9 flu-related deaths for the week and a total of 21 flu-related deaths this season in our state. Flu infections are usually most common from late fall to early spring in North Carolina, with peak activity usually occurring in January or February. The CDC recommends yearly vaccination against the flu for everyone 6 months and older. Smith stated that in addition to the flu vaccine, there are other actions to take to limit the spread of flu. Cover your mouth and nose with the inside of your elbow or tissue when coughing or sneezing, wash your hands especially after coughing or sneezing, and most importantly, stay home if you are sick. Flu usually comes on suddenly and symptoms include some, or all, of the following: fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and fatigue (tiredness). Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults. If you are at risk for complications, your doctor may recommend antiviral medicine to prevent or to treat Influenza infection. Those at risk of pneumonia or hospitalization from the flu include children under age 2 years or those 65 and older, pregnant women, and those with chronic conditions such as lung diseases (Asthma or COPD) or diabetes. This medicine should be started within 48 hours of getting sick or exposed to the flu, so talk to your doctor if you are at risk of complications from the flu. Flu shots are available in our community at the health department, private medical offices, hospitals and pharmacies. For more information on influenza and the vaccine, visit HendersonCountyFlu.org or call the Immunization Clinic at 828-694-6015. The N.C. Division of Public Health posts updates on flu surveillance data every Thursday during flu season at http://flu.nc.gov. Hedeby was a key Danish settlement during the Viking Age that was established in the 8th century and destroyed in 1066. The settlement was located near the southernmost end of the Jutland Peninsula, within what is now the district of Schleswig-Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Hedeby was established as a trading center at the head of the Schlei, which is a navigable inlet of the Baltic Sea, and was considered a favorable location since it was only a 9 mi portage to the Treene River, which flows into Eider. It was the second-largest Nordic city during the Viking Age, after Uppakra. The trading settlement was rediscovered during the late-nineteenth century, and excavation began in 1900. It is considered the most important archaeological site in the German state, and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. History The earliest mention of Hedeby occurred in the 804 Frankish chronicles of Einhard, although the settlement was likely established in 770. The Danish king Godfred destroyed the Slav trading center Reric in 808, and subsequently moved the traders to Hedeby. Godfred strengthened the earthen wall that extended across the southern part of the Jutland Peninsula, and then merged it with Hedebys defensive walls to form an east-west barrier across the peninsula. Hedeby was bordered to the east by the bay of Haddebyer Noor and the Schlei inlet. The settlement became the leading marketplace in the region due to its strategic position along the main trading routes between the Frankish Empire and Scandinavia (north-south), and between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea (east-west). In response to the growing power of the Vikings between 800 and 1000, Hedeby became an important trading center in the region. Hedeby, together with Schleswig and Birka, were the foundation of the powerful Hanseatic League that emerged during the twelfth century. Hedeby was ruled by a Swedish dynasty established by Olof-the-Brash from the late ninth century to the first part of the tenth century. Life in Hedeby Life in Hedeby was described as crowded and short, as people rarely reached the age of 40. Archaeological research confirmed that the later years were usually painful given the prevalence of diseases like tuberculosis. The houses in Hedeby were clustered together and the east-west streets lead to the harbor. Al-Tartushi, a Hispano-Arabic, Sephardi-Jewish traveler from al-Andalus who visited Hedeby, was not impressed by the lifestyle in the settlement. Al-Tartushi claimed that Hedeby was poor in riches and goods, reported that people ate fish, which were abundant, and that most of the population worshiped Sirius. Destruction of Hedeby King Harald Hardrada of Norway sacked Hedeby in 1050 during his conflict with the King Sweyn II of Denmark. Harald set Hedeby on fire by sending numerous burning ships into its harbor, and the charred remains of these boats were discovered in Schlei during recent excavations. The town was later sacked and burned in 1066 by West Slavs, after which Hedeby was abandoned. The residents of Hedeby migrated across the Schlei inlet and established the town of Schleswig. Excavations After Hedeby was abandoned, rising waters destroyed all visible structures in the settlement. Excavations of the site began in 1900 after the settlement was rediscovered. The initial excavations lasted 15 years, and further excavations occurred between 1930 and 1939. The excavations were very productive because the site's waterlogged grounds had preserved perishable goods and wood. The most significant findings from the site are displayed in Haithabu Museum. The daughter of one of Melbourne's most infamous gangsters was allegedly assaulted in a road-rage incident just weeks before her father was shot dead. Underworld figure Nabil Maghnie was killed at Epping in Melbourne's northern suburbs at 8.30pm last Thursday night. An image of his 20-year-old daughter, Sabrine Maghnie, taken in the weeks before his death, shows her with a bruise on her eye. The daughter of one of Nabil Maghnie, Sabrine Maghnie (pictured) was allegedly assaulted in a road-rage incident just weeks before her father was shot dead An image of his 20-year-old daughter, Sabrine Maghnie, taken in the weeks before his death, shows her with a bruise on her eye Nabil Maghnie was shot dead after an incident in Epping in northern Melbourne last week Supporters of the family told the Herald Sun she was assaulted following a minor car crash in Melbourne's northern suburbs. A fight allegedly broke out after the crash and police were notified of the incident, with Maghnie, famously protective of his daughter, believed to be furious. The 44-year-old last Thursday night travelled to a home on Dalton Road at Lalor, where he reportedly demanded money from one of the men at the property. Maghnie is believed to have attacked the householder before someone else pulled out a gun and shot him dead. Forensic police attend the scene of Maghnie's shooting death in Epping in northern Melbourne Maghnie (pictured) was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds Mourners gather to pay their respects to fallen gangster Nabil Maghnie, who was gunned down in Melbourne last week He was seen lying dead next to his Mercedes utility vehicle after he was gunned down while two others, including his son, were wounded. A crowd of around 30 people gathered at the scene, where blood stains were visible on the footpath. Those that knew Maghnie claimed he had been living the high life on borrowed time in the years before his bloody demise. None-the-less, mourners dressed in black gathered to pay their respects to the fiercely loyal father and friend on Wednesday. With a floral tribute spelling out the word 'BABA', Maghnie's casket was placed on the searing bitumen of the car park as friends and family prayed over his body. Maghnie infamously drove himself to hospital after being shot in the head in 2016 (crime scene pictured) Maghnie leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court in July after being granted bail following a dramatic car crash while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in 2019 Burly men stand over the coffin of slain gangster Nabil Maghnie On Tuesday, Maghnie's sister paid tribute to him on Facebook by posting a video of him singing 'Ride Like the Wind' by Christopher Cross in the passenger seat of a car. The 44-year-old is seen screaming the lyrics while using an arm rest as a microphone and dancing in his seat as the car travels through the countryside. Maghnie became legendary in Melbourne's criminal underworld when he infamously drove himself to hospital after being shot in the head in 2016. In 2011, the married father was the victim of another non-fatal shooting at Broadmeadows. He was being investigated by police over a double shooting at the Love Machine nightclub in Prahan in April last year and was prime suspect in an attempted hit on notorious Mongol's bikie Toby Mitchell. Maghnie was also on bail for serious driving offences at the time of his death after crashing his Range Rover at more than 200km/h while high on booze and cocaine last year. The South China Morning Post has reported that 33-year-old Singaporean businessman Mark Cheng was captured and held for ransom during a recent business trip to Thailand. The young cryptocurrency consultant was allegedly abducted by a Thai actor who was known to him. The individual blindfolded Cheng and took him away to a deserted place. Cheng was allegedly assaulted and his captors threatened to execute him, even after the ransom had been paid. Local police have apprehended the unknown actor, who according to other sources was the owner of the vehicle used in the kidnapping. The actor is currently being questioned, but Cheng states at least three more assailants remain at large. Cheng claims he was tortured by his captors and ordered to pay his ransom in Bitcoin. The kidnappers allegedly forced him to transfer $742,000 in BTC before he managed to escape on Friday night. However, Singaporean news outlet The New Post has reported that he paid just $60,000 to his captors. Cheng told the news outlet that his captors had firearms and began digging a grave for him. Allegedly, he used his knowledge of martial arts to fend off and flee his attackers. He managed to attract the attention of a passerby who took him to a local police station in the Nakhon Nayok Ongkharak district. With Chengs history of fraud, it is not being ruled out by authorities that the event may have been orchestrated for some unknown reason by Cheng or his close associates. Business disputes and fraud Thai police have speculated that the kidnapping may have been the result of an ongoing business dispute between the two men. Cheng is being investigated for misappropriating funds worth $300,000 from a group of investors he worked with in 2014, and at the time of his kidnapping was on bail for his role in the fraud. More recently, Cheng has been working as an advisor to Singaporean blockchain start-up X Infinity, which lists the young businessman as having nine years experience in venture capital and commercialisation. Story continues The New Post says that Cheng is facing cheating charges in Singapore, and its currently unknown whether he will be forced to return to Singapore for his court hearing on February 3. Its unclear how much of Chengs story is true or accurate given his extraordinary circumstances and pending charges. Cheng will give evidence against his captors once the trial date is set. The post Crypto consultant Mark Cheng claims he was kidnapped in Thailand appeared first on Coin Rivet. A formal blessing for the Space Force "official" Bible resulted in a squeal of outrage from a man who has dedicated his life to making sure that America's troops, who are mostly Christian, have no easy access to God. When the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, 85% of the American population did not belong to the Church of England. Were they in England, they would have had to pay to support the Anglican church and would have been barred from universities or government employment. Things were easier in the colonies, with the hold the Church of England had over the population varying from one colony to the next. It was in this context that the Founders included in the First Amendment the language stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion[.]" The Founders were not banning religion from America or even from government. They were saying only that Congress could not set up a state church and demand that people belong to it or suffer the consequences. This mandate did not affect the Founders' belief that God and morality were inextricably intertwined with a free, functioning country. After all, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, to the extent that all people have inherent rights, they are inherent because a divine Creator endowed us with those rights. John Adams believed that "our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." And then there's Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. He is a fanatically anti-Christian atheist who has been on a crusade for years now to purge religion entirely from the United States military. To Mikey, Christians in the military are "well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation's armed forces." In the same article linked above, Mikey states his determination to destroy (tolerantly, of course) "evil, fundamentalist Christian creatures" who are "bandits" who "coagulate their stenchful substances" in religiously based organizations that support marriage and oppose abortion. In fact, says Mikey, "[t]he basis of their ruinous unity is the bane of human existence and progress: horrific hatred and blinding bigotry." Perhaps you won't be surprised to learn that, back in 2013, after Major Nidal Hasan committed an Islamic-inspired terrorist mass murder at Fort Hood, the Obama administration invited Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation to work with the military to clamp down on...Christian fundamentalism. Although we haven't heard much from Mikey of late, he hasn't gone away. Indeed, he just popped up again, sputtering with outrage over the fact that the Washington National Cathedral blessed an official Bible on which the new Space Force can swear in its commanders: Today @WNCathedral blessed the official Bible for the new @SpaceForceDoD, which will be used to swear in all commanders of America's newest military branch. pic.twitter.com/Bg9KVzrp8W Washington National Cathedral (@WNCathedral) January 12, 2020 We who are sane understand that today's military does not force anyone to swear anything on a Bible anymore. It's simply that, should those who are willing to lay down their lives for this country wish to use a Bible, a blessed one will be conveniently handy. Mikey predictably went off like a rocket: "The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) condemns, in as full-throated a manner as is humanly possible, the shocking and repulsive display of only the most vile, exclusivist, fundamentalist Christian supremacy," MRFF founder and president MikeyWeinstein wrote in a statement denouncing the Bible blessing. "The utilization of a Christian bible to 'swear in' commanders of the new Space Force or any other [Department of Defense] branch at ANY level is completely violative of the bedrock separation of church and state mandate of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." Mikey wasn't the only American offended. A Twitter user who identified himself as Pastor Seth Wispelwey of the United Church of Christ in Tucson, Arizona, thought the blessing was "gross." Others were equally offended. It's possible that, as far as NPR is concerned and it wrote the article quoted above the real sin might just be that no one insulted Trump: The blessing of the Bible also features flattering words for President Trump, who strongly advocated for creating the Space Force, from the Episcopal Church's bishop suffragan for the armed forces. Mikey, meanwhile, is going to lodge a formal complaint. It will be interesting to see if Trump's Pentagon is made of stronger stuff than Obama's was. Xiaomi is talking up a big game for India these days, the company is launching Mi Mix Alpha concept phone which will probably not launch in India. Its executives say that 2020 will be the year that the Mi brand will come to India in a big way with it pushing to launch more cutting edge products in the country. Xiaomi is talking up a big game for India these days. Its executives say that 2020 will be the year that the Mi brand will come to India in a big way with it pushing to launch more cutting edge products in the country. With that backdrop, the company showed off its Mi Mix Alpha smartphone which it will launch in China in the next couple of weeks. Xiaomi Indias Raghu Reddy and Sumit Sonal both admit that the phone will probably not launch in India as it needs to be imported from China and it will be very expensive upwards of Rs 2,00,000. That being said, this phone is the embodiment of wild imagination which is what makes it cool. A gadget out of Minority Report The Mix Alpha is in many ways Xiaomis take on the foldable screen phenomenon. But it does this in many different ways firstly, you cant open the phone and convert its form factor. The phone itself is all screen folding up 180 degrees with the core components sandwiched inside. This means the side edges of the phone is also a screen which touch-based volume buttons having pressure-sensitive haptics and a ceramic bar on the backside acting like a bridge between the two edges of the screen as it incorporates antennas for 5G connectivity and the audacious cameras. Xiaomis executives repeatedly said that this phone reminded them of the gadgetry that Tom Cruise used in the Spielberg sci-fi odyssey Minority Report, and Id grudgingly admit, they arent too far off in their assessment. The highest resolution camera sensor ever put on a smartphone, 108-megapixels. Yes, for a large part of my life writing about gadgets, I like most tech journalists have emphasised that the megapixels dont matter, but when you have 108-megapixels to play with Id eat my words. Xiaomi collaborated with Samsung to develop this special image sensor which is also amongst the largest to be installed on a smartphone which works in tandem with two more cameras for the sake of zoom and wide-angle shots. This 108-megapixel sensor uses some unique Xiaomi algorithms which make sure it can take some audacious shots and also double as the best possible selfie camera youll ever see on a phone. Cutting edge specs Apart from the wild crazy of science-fiction being realised in a real-world gadget, this phone has the best of whats there currently. By that I mean is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor which has been seen in phones like the OnePlus 7T Pro, 5G connectivity thanks to Qualcomms X55 modem, a high capacity battery that supports 40-watt fast charging, UFS 3.0 storage and just insane amounts of RAM. You have the modern equivalent of a speed racer. Sure, it may get outdated in a couple of months thanks to Qualcomms new chip, but isnt that the case for every second phone. Why you still cant get it? The problem with this phone is that Xiaomi has had to reinvent the way manufacturing works. So in China, they have only one manufacturing line that can make this phone which means they have to import. Since this is a phone thats already so expensive this would mean that it would cost more than Rs 2,00,000 which would make this phone dead on arrival in India since soon there will be phones coming in based on the new Snapdragon 865 processor. Its 5G capabilities also make this phone redundant for India as the 5G auctions havent only happened. For all the latest Gadgets News, download NewsX App American accused of killing hotel worker in Anguilla sues resort company originally appeared on abcnews.go.com An American man accused of killing a hotel employee who he claims attacked his family in Anguilla is suing the resort company that operates the hotel for negligence. Scott Hapgood, 44, and his family, who all reside in Darien, Connecticut, filed the lawsuit against Auberge Resorts on Monday in the superior court of California's Marin County, where the company is based. The complaint alleges negligence in the hiring and supervision of Kenny Mitchel, 27, a former maintenance worker at the upscale Malliouhana Resort in Anguilla, a British Caribbean territory. The Hapgood family is seeking undisclosed damages. "Auberge Resorts failed to ensure the safety and protection of its hotel guests, the Hapgood family," their attorney Juliya Arbisman said in a statement. "As a result, Auberge Resorts should be held responsible for the harm that the Hapgood family has suffered." Auberge Resorts, which operates the Malliouhana Resort in Anguilla, did not respond to ABC News' request for comment Wednesday. MORE: Anguilla files for international arrest warrant for American charged in hotel employee's death The lawsuit alleges that Hapgood was with his two daughters in a room at the Malliouhana Resort in Anguilla on April 13 during a family vacation when a man dressed in a hotel uniform knocked on the door "just a few minutes" after the girls walked back to the hotel room on their own. The man, later identified by Anguilla police as Mitchel, allegedly stated that he was there to fix a broken sink. "In fact, there was no broken sink, and no one had called about one," the complaint states, "but since Mitchel was wearing the uniform of the luxury resort, Scott allowed him to go in to check on the sink." PHOTO: In this file photo taken on Aug. 20, 2019, Scott Hapgood, right, a U.S. citizen charged with killing a hotel worker while on vacation in Anguilla, and his lawyer Juliya Arbisman, left, hold a media conference in New York. (Bebeto Matthews/AP) After pretending to inspect the sink, Mitchel allegedly brandished a utility knife and demanded money from Hapgood, who "feared for his life and the lives of his daughters," according to the complaint. A "violent" scuffle ensued between the two men as Mitchel allegedly stabbed Hapgood with the knife and bit him repeatedly. Hapgood told his daughters to get help, so they ran to the resort's front desk screaming and crying, according to the complaint. Story continues Hapgood managed to knock the knife out of Mitchel's hands and pin him down, according to the lawsuit. Other hotel employees eventually arrived, responding to the girls' calls for help. "These hotel employees did not respond with any urgency or act particularly surprised at the event," the complaint states. "They even referred to the attacker by his first name, causing Scott to fear that these other hotel employees were in league with Mitchel as part of an orchestrated robbery. Scott told them that the attacker needed to be put into handcuffs." MORE: Man accused of manslaughter in Anguilla hotel worker's death was defending himself during robbery attempt, family says Hapgood's wife had also returned to the room by this point and she, too, allegedly urged the hotel staff to place Mitchell in handcuffs and call police. "Inexplicably, the hotel staff did not want to call the police or an ambulance and delayed in doing so," the complaint states. Ultimately, the hotel security guard got there and restrained Mitchel until an ambulance arrived. Mitchel died in medical custody about an hour later, according to the complaint. PHOTO: Kenny Mitchel is seen here in this undated file photo. (Mylez Mitchel via Facebook) Hapgood was taken to a local hospital for his injuries and later escorted to the local police station. He was "shocked and surprised" to learn of Mitchel's death as he was giving his witness statement, according to the complaint. Hapgood was arrested by Anguillan police and charged with manslaughter. He was ultimately released on $74,000 bond. Hapgood, who works as a banker in New York City and was put on leave due to the criminal charge, has since returned home to Connecticut. The lawsuit states that Hapgood has gone back to Anguilla three times but decided against returning for additional court proceedings, due to concerns for his safety and doubts of the fairness of the island's judicial process. He is now considered a fugitive there. Anguilla's governor and attorney general have both called Hapgood's reasons for not returning "groundless." MORE: American describes his life as 'a living nightmare' ever since manslaughter charge in Anguilla An autopsy report showed Mitchel died of positional asphyxia and received blunt force injuries to his torso and other areas, according to The Associated Press. However, the Hapgood family's attorneys claim that a toxicology report showed Mitchel had alcohol and drugs in his system, and that he died from a cocaine overdose. ABC News has reached out to the Attorney General's Chambers of Anguilla to request a copy of the autopsy and toxicology reports. Mitchels estate has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hapgood in the U.S. federal district court in Connecticut. They are seeking monetary damages of more than $75,000. The lawsuit against Auberge Resorts alleges that Mitchel, a native of the neighboring island nation of Dominica, had been arrested and charged with rape less than three weeks before the alleged attack on Hapgood. Mitchel had also violated his bail conditions and spent additional time in police custody, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that the pending criminal charge should have rendered Mitchel ineligible to work in Anguilla, and thus would have prevented the "nightmare" that the Hapgood family endured. "Yet Auberge continued to allow him to work for the hotel and have access to its guests, including children," the complaint states. "The attack and harm to Scott and his family were foreseeable." The threatening letter that BJP MP Pragya Thakur received was sent by some unknown person who accused her of insulting Mahatma Gandhi and the former Mumbais Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, said a police official familiar with the investigation. The letter written in Urdu states that it was being sent by an Islamic organization from Pune and that its members had links in Syria, Dubai and Pakistan but no one would be able to trace them. The officer who didnt want to be named as he was not authorised to talk to media said, Through the letter, the MP has been threatened with dire consequences and it has two different addresses over the envelope and in the letter raising suspicion that several names and the addresses mentioned were to mislead police in its investigation. He said, The organisations name mentioned resembles that of an Islamic organisation based in Gujarat but it is involved in social welfare work. However, since the name has been mentioned the police will have to check the credentials of the organisation and question the office-bearers to know if they have any link with the letter. Similar is the case with the names mentioned. Police will make efforts to track these people if they really exist. Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Bhopal Irshad Wali said, The letter has been sent for a forensic examination. The contents cant be disclosed to the media for the sake of confidentiality of the investigation. We are trying to track the person or organization that sent it. The security arrangements for the MP have been beefed up. Pragya Thakur filed a complaint with Kamla Nagar police station in Bhopal on Monday saying the threatening letter was sent to her in October but it was opened on Monday night. The envelope had a harmful chemical in it which caused a skin infection to her in her hands, she alleged. State Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said, Those behind the letter must be booked and punished but at the same time its also a pertinent question that does the MP being a public representative looks into peoples letters four months after receiving it? LONDON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Manjal, winner of the "Outstanding Indian Restaurant of the Year 2019" at the first ever London Asian Food Awards, is hosting a charity event to support efforts against the bushfires in Australia, in partnership with Cobra Beer. The restaurant is inviting local businesses and residents to join them for a special three-course, bespoke set menu, to raise money for the Australian Red Cross. The Australian Red Cross is working tirelessly help alleviate the impact of this disaster and will use the donations to continue their efforts and facilitate restoration afterwards. The charity menu will be available on the 17th and 18th of January, during Manjal's regular opening hours of 11:00 and 23:00 GMT for local businesses and corporate diners. The special three-course set menu, including a vegetarian alternative, is priced at 15 per person, from which a 10 donation will be made to the Red Cross. Diners are however invited to pay as much as they wish, with all additional money being donated directly to the Red Cross. Diners will enjoy a selection of classic Indian appetisers, a Chettinad curry, or paneer Jalfrezi, with slow cooked spinach dal, mixed pulao and specialty breads. The meal also includes one complementary pint of Cobra or a non-alcoholic drink. Alirajah Subaskaran, Founder and Chairman of Lyca Group and owner of Manjal, said of the event: "The truly devastating impact of these fires is deeply saddening. Having seen the inspirational work of the Australian Red Cross and emergency services, we felt an obligation to support their efforts and the Australian people. In such difficult times, events like this are a way to unite people to help make a difference." To find out more about the great work being undertaken by the Australian Red Cross or to donate to them directly, click here. To book a table for the charity event at the Manjal Loughton, please click here or call 020 7132 2777. About Manjal Manjal opened in Canary Wharf in 2013. The name Manjal comes from the Tamil word for turmeric, a spice flavourful spice widely used in Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. The restaurant is owned by Alirajah Subaskaran, Founder and Chairman of the Lyca Group. His aim is to deliver a truly authentic and high-quality Indian and Sri Lankan dining experience. Following the opening of the Loughton restaurant in 2018, Manjal now has two locations without compromising on the authenticity and quality of its food - so diners can expect lots of heat and flavours that will take them to South India and Sri Lanka! Manjal is part of the Lyca Group. For more information click here. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): In a massive outreach by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir, two months after it formally became a Union territory, about 36 union ministers will visit it from January 18-25 to meet people and exchange ideas on the possibilities in the region. According to information available with ANI, among the 36 ministers are - Gajender Singh Shekhawat will visit for two days on January 20-21; Anurag Thakur on January 18, 20 (half) and 21, Jitendra Singh on January 18, 19; Hardeep Singh Puri on January 20-21; Piyush Goyal on January 19; Santosh Kumar Gangwar on January 21; Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank on January 24; Giriraj Singh on January 23; Kiren Rijiju on January 21; Shripad Yesso Naik on January 23. While the Citizenship Amendment Act remains on the agenda, the ministers would hold meetings with people to share their views on bifurcation of the state into two union territories after the abrogation of Article 370. These ministers are set to hold 51 meetings in Jammu and eight in Kashmir. The ministers would share the vision and plans of their ministries for the development of the region. A senior leader said the outreach is aimed at strengthening the integration of people of Jammu and Kashmir with the country. The outreach will take place days after 15 envoys of various nations visited Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI) FutureX Podcast Network As we face one of the most important problems of our time, climate change, were generating conversations to combat anxiety and feelings of overwhelm, arming listeners with actionable steps they can take daily to be part of the solution and improve their quality of life in the process. FutureX Podcast Network is launching two new podcast events. In January, Future of Food, a podcast about eating better for yourself and for the planet, will launch season two with a new host, Ivy Joeva. Edu Futures, a weekly podcast about forecasts, frontiers, and futures in education, will premiere in February with host Dr. Bernard Bull. Dr. Bernard Bull has been helping to co-create the future of education for more than twenty years. He is a writer, designer, futurist, professor, educational entrepreneur, and President of Goddard College who has traveled throughout the United States and other parts of the world to speak, consult, research, and explore promising practices and emerging possibilities in education. At this very moment, there are education innovators, dreamers, and difference-makers who are planting seeds that will grow into the future of education, and those are the people whom listeners get to meet on this show. Im looking forward to inviting listeners to engage with some of the leading futurists and educational innovators around the world, said Bernard Bull. Forty episodes of Edu Futures are planned for season one. In January, Lee Schneider will produce the premiere of season two of Future of Food with a new host Ivy Joeva. Ms. Joeva is a nutritionist, womens health expert and journalist, with a passion for personal wellness and protecting planet Earth for future generations. She anchored alongside Lisa Ling, Gotham Chopra and Tracy Smith for Channel One News, where she covered the historic Peace Accords from Belfast in Northern Ireland. Ivy went on to host How We Love for Current TV, based on the Emmy nominated documentary Song of Songs. As we face one of the most important problems of our time, climate change, were generating conversations to combat anxiety and feelings of overwhelm, arming listeners with actionable steps they can take daily to be part of the solution and improve their quality of life in the process, she said. Future of Food guests will include climate change activists, restaurant visionaries, and nutrition experts who will discuss what we can do every day to address the climate crisis by choosing what we eat, cook, and buy. ABOUT FUTUREX FutureX is a network of futurist podcasts and a proud sponsor of the Outlier Podcast Festival. The next Outlier Festival is in Salt Lake City. January 24 - 25. Register here. UPDATE: Tom Steyer dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on Feb. 29, 2020. Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer is running in the Democratic primary for president. Steyer is a hedge fund manager and philanthropist who formally announced his candidacy in July 2019. Steyer is also known to television audiences for his impeachment campaign commercials against President Donald Trump. He says he is running for president to change a political system that he believes has failed the American people. Here are some fast facts about Tom Steyer: Birth date: June 27, 1957 Hometown: San Francisco, California Education: Yale University (B.A.) Stanford University (M.B.A.) Career: Hedge fund manager, philanthropist and environmental and liberal activist Family: Wife (Kat Taylor) and four children: Sam, Charles, Evelyn and Henry 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 What hes saying about: Health care: Steyer believes quality affordable and secure healthcare is a fundamental right for all Americans. He supports universal health care coverage with a strong public option that can aggressively compete with private insurers. Climate Change: On my first day in office, I will declare a climate emergency so that all of the federal agencies and every part of the executive branch is focusing its energy on immediately addressing the climate crisis, he told WMUR. My Justice-Centered Climate Plan will eliminate fossil fuel pollution from all sectors to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero global warming pollution by no later than 2045. Opioid Crisis: We have to look at who is culpable: corporations helped get America hooked and pushed pills into communities from the Central Valley to Appalachia. It is time we hold corporations accountable to patients by pursuing criminal charges, he said to WMUR. We need to rebuild communities beset by these losses by giving Americans access to healthcare with diverse, comprehensive and preventative treatment options for addiction. National Security: When asked his national security plan by WMUR Steyer had a two-word response: Climate Change. Gun Laws: Steyer supports national licensing for guns, a national registry for all assault weapons, universal background checks, extreme risk laws, banning new assault weapons, and restricting high-capacity magazines. College Tuition: Steyer says he will tackle the student debt crisis head-on by forgiving certain types of student loan debt, reforming the public service student loan forgiveness program, making the refinancing of student loans easier, cracking down on predatory student loan servicers, and expanding access to educational benefits through his New National Public Service Plan. Immigration: Immigrants have been a source of hard work and innovation for America over the centuries, and we need to continue to attract people to live out their American dream. We need to secure our Southern border while providing protection for DREAMers and more resources to ensure that our asylum courts are able to handle the massive influx of immigrants who are looking for a better life in America, he told WMUR. We also need to provide a pathway to citizenship to get immigrants who are undocumented out of the shadows and into the formal economy. Presidential candidate comparisons: -- On the issues -- Fun facts -- Watch Steyer answer New Hampshire voter questions face to face in an installment of "Conversation with the Candidate." PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 15:15:38 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 506 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / V GlobeX Data Ltd. ("GlobeX" or the "Company") (CSE:SWIS, SWIS.WT) is pleased to announce that its CEO, Alain Ghiai has been featured and interviewed by Proactiveinvestors.com and tells Proactive it is launching its suite of secure data management and secure communication with Rockland Group, the preferred cybersecurity partner covering Ethiopia and other regions of Africa.You can view the interview following this link:About GlobeX Data Ltd.GlobeX Data Ltd. distributes, designs and develops Swiss hosted cyber security and Internet privacy solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, document management and collaboration, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through approved distributors and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.For more information please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@ globexdatagroup.com or visit us at: https://www.globexdatagroup.com Forward Looking InformationThis news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com . Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.On behalf of the Board of DirectorsAlain GhiaiCEO+1.604.558.5164corporate@ globexdatagroup.com SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. Russia's government resigned in a shock announcement on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin proposed a series of constitutional reforms. In a televised meeting with the Russian president, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the proposals would make significant changes to the country's balance of power and so "the government in its current form has resigned". "We should provide the president of our country with the possibility to take all the necessary measures" to carry out the changes, Medvedev said. "All further decisions will be taken by the president." Putin asked Medvedev, his longtime ally, to continue as head of government until a new government has been appointed. "I want to thank you for everything that has been done, to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved," Putin said. "Not everything worked out, but everything never works out." He also proposed creating the post of deputy head of the Security Council, suggesting that Medvedev take on the position. Earlier Wednesday Putin proposed a referendum on a package of reforms to Russia's constitution that would strengthen the role of parliament. The changes would include giving parliament the power to choose the prime minister and senior cabinet members, instead of the president as in the current system. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) KYODO NEWS - Jan 15, 2020 - 20:22 | All, Japan, World The Defense Ministry said Wednesday it has sent two transport planes and 70 personnel of the Self-Defense Forces to join efforts to fight the devastating bushfires in Australia. Two Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport planes and the personnel left Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture to join eight SDF members already in Australia. Their main operations will be to carry personnel and supplies. (Fire and Rescue personal run to move their truck as a bushfire burns next to a major road and homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin on Dec. 19, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.) [Getty/Kyodo] Ryota Takeda, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, ordered the mission on behalf of Defense Minister Taro Kono, who is currently visiting the United States. In a meeting at the ministry, Takeda called for the SDF to make "utmost efforts" for the relief efforts. "We will send (the SDF), taking into consideration the humanitarian point of view, and our friendly and cooperative relationship with Australia, which is a special strategic partner," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. (Thick smoke from the East Gippsland bushfires still covers areas of the region on Jan. 13, 2020 near Sarsfield, Australia.) [Getty/Kyodo] At least 28 people have died in the bushfires that have been burning across the country since September. The bushfires have affected more than 10 million hectares of land, an area larger than South Korea, with over a billion animals estimated to have perished in the blazes in multiple states in southeast Australia. Related coverage: Fears raised Aussie koala populations may never recover after bushfires Hundreds of koalas feared dead in severe Australian bushfire Detained Omar Abdullah to be shifted from Hari Nivas India pti-PTI Srinagar, Jan 15: Former chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah will be shifted to a house near his official residence, 163 days after he was taken into preventive custody following abrogation of Article 370 provisions, officials said here on Wednesday. Omar, presently kept in detention at Hari Nivas, is likely to be shifted on Thursday as the Jammu and Kashmir administration plans to use the Hari Nivas to accommodate a ministerial delegation from the Centre visiting the Valley soon, they said. A team of Union ministers including Railway minister Piyush Goyal, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State G Kishan Reddy are scheduled to travel soon to the Valley to educate the people about the developmental activities that have taken place after the abrogation of the state's special status and its division into two union territories. The house where Omar will be shifted is very near to his official residence and is being readied as he is a Special Services Group (SSG) protectee, the officials said. Along with his father Farooq Abdullah and another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Omar was among hundreds of political, social activists, lawyers and businessmen detained after the centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5 and divided Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Omar, Mehbooba and other politicians were detained under section 107 of Code of Criminal Procedure which allows authorities and an executive magistrate to put any person under preventive custody for a period of six months if he receives information that the person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity. Farooq Abdullah is the only mainstream politician against whom the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was slapped on September 17 for a period of three months, which was renewed on December 16 last year. After three years of sitting on the sidelines, our new Executive ministers are learning quickly that actually taking control of events is a difficult task. The optics yesterday were good, with the Health Minister announcing that nurses will get pay parity with colleagues in England and Wales and the Education Minister pledging 45million for school capital projects. But it does not take much examination to see that these feelgood announcements are the tip of a much more uncertain public services iceberg. The money to pay for the nurses' enhanced pay has been borrowed out of next year's health budget, with no indication of where further funding for additional nurses, cutting waiting lists or implementation of the Bengoa report will come from, or how much will be available. Public expectation has been built up in the wake of the return of devolved administration, but the politicians know that unless the Treasury comes up with large additional sums of money - both initially and over the next few years - people's optimism will soon dissipate. Our interview with new Justice Minister Naomi Long demonstrates what realpolitik at Stormont will look like in the coming months. She candidly admits she cannot commit to increasing police numbers by 600, as frequently mooted. Nor can she guarantee officers will get the 2.5% pay rise their peers in England and Wales got last September because she does not yet know what funding will be available. Devolved government was restored on an understanding that funding to meet the needs of health, education and infrastructure would follow. However, anyone who takes the assurances of this Prime Minister at face value is not a student of recent history. Admittedly, former finance minister Sammy Wilson is realistic when he says that the man currently in that hot seat, Conor Murphy, should not expect the Treasury to foot all the bill. Funding negotiations don't work like that. But Northern Ireland's situation is now so perilous economically - due in large part to the prolonged absence of political leadership - that these are exceptional times needing exceptional solutions. All this will be a test of the cohesion and leadership of the new Executive and there will be many heated discussions as ministers vie for their share of whatever cake is available. There will be no hiding places. Flash Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hit back at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday after he rejected paving the way for a new independence referendum for Scotland. Prime Minister Johnson has written to the Scottish National Party l(SNP) leader saying that she and her predecessor Alex Salmond had made a personal promise that the first referendum in 2014 would be a once-in-a-generation vote. Scottish voters backed remaining as part of the UK by 55 to 45 in the 2014 referendum. "I cannot agree to any request for a transfer of power that would lead to further independence referendums," Johnson said. He said a further independence referendum would continue the political stagnation that Scotland has seen for the last decade. "It is time we all worked together to bring the whole of the United Kingdom together and unleash the potential of this great country," Johnson told Sturgeon. In Edinburgh, Sturgeon said Johnson's formal refusal of her request for a referendum to be held later this year was predictable but also unsustainable and self-defeating. She insisted that Scotland will have the right to choose. Responding to Johnson's letter, Sturgeon said: "They know that given the choice the overwhelming likelihood is that people will choose the positive option of independence." "It is not politically sustainable for any Westminster Government to stand in the way of the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future and to seek to block the clear democratic mandate for an independence referendum," she added. Sturgeon said she would set out the SNP administration's next move later this month and it would also ask the Scottish Parliament to endorse Scotland's right to choose. Sturgeon's renewed demand for a fresh independence referendum was given a boost when the SNP made significant gains in last month's general election. The party won 48 of Scotland's 59 seats at Westminster. Last month an opinion poll published in The Times showed support for Scottish independence had fallen. The new YouGov poll suggested 56 percent of respondents would say no to Scotland breaking away from the UK, with 44 percent wanting the split. A previous YouGov poll carried out for The Times last September showed 49 percent in favor of independence and 51 percent against. The latest figure shows more people are opposed to Scotland going it alone than in the 2014 referendum. CARACAS, Venezuela - Government security forces and armed motorcycle groups loyal to Venezuelas president forcefully blocked opposition lawmakers from entering the National Assembly building Wednesday, prompting them to hold their session on the outskirts of the crisis-torn nations capital. Its the second time this month that lawmakers have been barred from the building that houses the only branch of government that remains out of control of President Nicolas Maduros socialist government. Attempting to reach the legislative chamber, the caravan of cars carrying the deputies dodged through downtown streets, but ultimately failed. Gunshots could be heard near the cars, but no injuries were reported. Two SUVs carrying the lawmakers came under attack by people on the street dressed in civilian clothes. They struck the rear window of one, shattering it. Guaido called it an ambush carried out by the military and paramilitary groups armed by a brutal and wild dictatorship. Guaido was not in the caravan that attempted to enter the legislative building, but later emerged with other lawmakers at a theatre in the Caracas suburb of El Hatillo. Today, we clearly reject before the world this attack, this ambush against the Federal Palace, Guaido said, referring to the legislative building. The dictatorship has clearly exposed itself to the world. The incident was part of a struggle for control of the opposition-dominated National Assembly and Venezuela as a whole, a nation suffering economic and social collapse thats led an estimated 4.5 million to emigrate. A once oil-wealthy nation, Venezuela has been locked in a political, economic and social collapse for the last five years. Basic medicines, food and gasoline are scarce, despite the fact Venezuela sits atop the worlds largest oil reserves. The 36-year-old Guaido leaped onto Venezuelas political stage a year ago when he declared himself acting president under the constitution and vowed to end Maduros rule. The United States and more than 50 other nations quickly backed him, saying Maduros reelection in 2018 was illegitimate. Guaido was also blocked from the National Assembly building early this month in a failed government attempt to prevent him from being reelected as the bodys leader. Increasing tension, the rival National Constituent Assembly, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, held its session in a chamber within the same complex of government buildings in downtown Caracas, across from where the National Assembly traditionally meets. Leading the session, socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello, who is considered Venezuelas most powerful man after Maduro, alluded to events playing out on the surrounding streets. The centre of Caracas is territory free of violence, Cabello said. Its liberated territory. Critics say the Constituent Assembly was created to rubber stamp socialist party policies as a way to circumvent the opposition-led National Assembly. Opposition lawmaker Delsa Solorzano said she was riding in a car with at least three other lawmakers that came under attack by men wielding rocks and sticks. She also reported hearing gunfire. Evidently, they tried to kill us, Solorzano said. Today, our parliament is practically kidnapped. ___ Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda contributed to this report. Pundits say Amy Klobuchar and Donald Trump came out on top of the first Democratic debate of 2020 - an event one reviewer branded 'the night of the living dead'. Six candidates took the stage on Tuesday night in Des Moines to face off for the final time before the Iowa caucuses on February 3. Analysts are largely in agreement that none of the candidates pulled off a runaway win, although Klobuchar took a commanding lead in a Drudge poll with 25 percent of the vote. The Minnesota senator was widely praised for her pragmatic presence on stage. Her strongest moment came when she sounded off on Medicare-for-all, pointing to growing concern among voters the Democratic nominee will need a more widely-supported alternative. 'This debate isn't real,' Klobuchar said. 'I was in Vegas the other day, and someone said don't put your chips on a number on the wheel that isn't even on the wheel. That's the problem. Over two thirds of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate are not on the bill that [Sanders] and Senator Warren are on.' She went on to reference her list of 137 things she will accomplish in her first 100 days in office without going through Congress. CNN's Chris Cillizza listed Klobuchar among his winners for the night, writing that she accomplished her goal of casting herself as a 'pragmatic alternative to voters looking for someone other than Biden (or, to a lesser extent, Buttigieg) to vote for'. Trump was also branded a winner after escaping the debate largely unscathed compared to his would-be opponents, despite early attacks over last week's assassination of a top Iranian general. CNN's Van Jones remarked that he was dispirited by the debate because none of the candidates showed signs that they were strong enough to beat Trump. Pundits say Amy Klobuchar and Donald Trump came out on top of the first Democratic debate of 2020 - a night one reviewer branded 'the night of the living dead' Six Democratic presidential contenders took the stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night. Pictured left to right: Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar Perhaps one of the reasons the debate felt dull to some viewers was the lack of an anticipated clash between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The pair had been engaged in a heated back-and-forth ahead of the debate over a report that Sanders told Warren in a private 2018 meeting at her Washington D.C. apartment that a female candidate couldn't beat Donald Trump. Warren confirmed that report while Sanders insisted that he never said anything of the sort. The pair calmly addressed the issue on stage but failed to come to an agreement over what Sanders said. Perhaps one of the reasons the debate felt dull to some viewers was the lack of an anticipated clash between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders Vox analyst Anna North concluded that the discussion benefited both candidates as they used it to focus attention back on their on their strengths. 'Warren made the point that when it comes to winning elections, she and Sen Amy Klobuchar actually have a better record than some of their male opponents: "The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women: Amy and me,"' North wrote. 'Later, she noted the importance of female candidates and voters in delivering the House and state legislatures around the country for Democrats in 2018. HOW LONG EACH CANDIDATE SPOKE Elizabeth Warren - 19 minutes, 11 seconds Bernie Sanders - 18 minutes, 26 seconds Amy Klobuchar - 16 minutes, 59 seconds Pete Buttigieg - 16 minutes, 48 seconds Joe Biden - 16 minutes, 17 seconds Tom Steyer - 12 minutes, 24 seconds Source: NBC News Advertisement 'And she offered a clear and concise argument for herself as the woman and person to beat Trump in 2020: "We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic Party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. That's my plan, and that is why I'm going to win."' North praised Sanders for how he handled the discussion, which put him in the difficult position of defending himself against sexism allegations while simultaneously arguing that he, a man, should be the nominee. 'Anybody who knows me knows it is incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States,' the Vermont senator said. 'Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes. How could anybody in a million years think a woman could become president of the United States? 'And let me be very clear, if any of the women on this stage, or any of the men on this stage, win the nomination - I hope that's not the case, I hope it's me - but if they do, I will do everything in my power to ensure they are elected in order to defeat the most president in the history of our country,' he added to applause from the audience. Elizabeth Warren refused to shake Bernie Sanders hand at the end of debate Pundits were also split over former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg's performance Some pundits disagreed over how successful Sanders and Warren were throughout the entirety of the debate. Another Vox analyst, Dylan Matthews, chose Sanders as one of his winners, writing: 'He solidly owned discussions of health care and climate change, and he solidified his status, recently regained from Warren, as the leading voice of the party's left.' Meanwhile, Cillizza put Sanders in his 'losers' column, writing: 'Sanders' dismissiveness about Warren's statement that he had told her a woman couldn't win the White House in 2020 -- "I didn't say it," he claimed -- bothered me. 'Sanders tried to portray the issue as immaterial -- hatched by Republicans and the media to distract voters. But it's not. Warren herself said -- on the record! -- that when she told Sanders she thought a woman could win, "he disagreed," (Warren reiterated that stance in the debate.) 'Sanders did effectively contrast his record on the war in Iraq and on trade with Biden. But he was somehow on the outside looking in when the subject turned to 'Medicare for All' - it was mostly Warren vs. Buttigieg - and never had any sort of even decent answer to the question of the actual costs of his programs.' Warren, however, made it into Cillizza's "winners" column. 'The Massachusetts senator delivered the line of the night, noting that the four men on the stage had lost 10 races while the two women on stage -- she and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar -- had never lost a race. 'And wasn't just a zinger that will be quickly forgotten, either; it's an effective pushback against the idea that she is too liberal to beat Trump.' Pundits were also split over former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg's performance. Cillizza and Matthews both ranked Buttigieg among the winners - noting that he is currently leading many polls in Iowa. Cillizza wrote that Buttigieg 'proved Tuesday night that he is the best debater in this field. But he also did something more important than that, too: In the first 30 minutes of the debate, Buttigieg showed a competency, steadiness and depth of knowledge coupled with personal experience that should help him pass the commander-in-chief test in the eyes of voters.' Matthews praised Buttigieg for how he handled an early discussion of foreign policy, arguably his weakest area. The analyst wrote: 'Buttigieg more than held his own, deftly reframing his lack of experience with a more forward-looking response: "The next president is going to be confronted with national security challenges different in scope and in kind from anything we've seen before. Not just conventional military challenges, not just stateless terrorism, but cybersecurity challenges, climate security challenges, foreign interference in our elections." 'Translation: Your experience is not relevant, or at least not more relevant than mine,' Matthews added. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post, however, was unimpressed by Buttigieg's performance. 'For arguably the first time on one of these debate stages, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., was something of a bystander who didn't really add much,' Blake wrote. 'He hit many of the same notes he has in previous debates, including by criticizing Medicare-for-all as being unrealistic and knocking a "Washington mentality." He at one point emphasized the national debt and deficit one wonders whether these are huge priorities for Democratic voters right now. 'Iowa is so important for Buttigieg, because it's such a good constituency for him. He wasn't bad Tuesday, but it may not help him address some of his arrested momentum.' Former Vice President Joe Biden didn't fare well with analysts, who placed him either in the middle or on the bottom There was little doubt among analysts or Drudge poll voters over the night's biggest loser: billionaire Tom Steyer Former Vice President Joe Biden didn't fare well with analysts, who placed him either in the middle or on the bottom. Cillizza was in the latter category, writing: 'If Buttigieg is the best of the debaters among the top six, then the former vice president is the worst. 'On Tuesday night he consistently seemed to forget or misstate a point, forcing him to go back and restate it to make sure he got it right. It made for a halting performance, in which he came across as less forceful and sure of himself than others on the stage.' Blake called Biden's performance 'just okay', emphasizing the fact that the front-runner wasn't in desperate need of a big night given his strong poll numbers in Iowa. There was little doubt among analysts or Drudge poll voters over the night's biggest loser: billionaire Tom Steyer. CNN's Cillizza summed up Steyer's performance by writing: 'Simply put, the billionaire businessman looked badly out of his depth. 'He struggled badly to make the case that he was better equipped than his rivals to manage the country's foreign policy - his answer amounted to the fact that he has traveled a lot internationally (and, no, I am not kidding) -- and things didn't get much better for him from there. Cillizza added: 'For most of the debate, it felt like the Top 5 were involved in one conversation and Steyer was just, well, there.' Vox analyst German Lopez agreed, writing: 'There is one question surrounding Tom Steyer's presence at Tuesday's debate: Why?' Lopez continued: 'Steyer isn't going to win the nomination. He's polling in the single digits nationally, and there isn't a single state, based on the RealClearPolitics polling average, where he breaks the top three. 'He only clinched the polls he needed to qualify for this debate in the past week. After multiple debates most of them with Steyer participating his poor support has shown few signs of changing.' A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has opposed the stance of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, that a security outfit set up by South-west states was illegal. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian government, through the AGF, declared the regional security outfit, Amotekun, formed by states in the South-west geopolitical zone as illegal. Governors in the region announced the formation of the regional paramilitary outfit last week to complement the work of the police. A launch of the outfit was held in Ibadan at an event attended by political and traditional leaders across party lines from the South-west. A Tuesday statement from Mr Malami said setting up of the organisation runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law. In his statement on Wednesday, Mr Falana said: Mr Malamis purported proscription of Amotekun is hypocritical and discriminatory on the grounds that the Civilian JTF operating in Yobe and Borno states is constituted by 26,000 well-armed volunteers who have been assisting the armed forces to combat terrorism in the north east region. Read Mr Falanas full statement below. Before the official launch of Amotekun at Ibadan, Oyo State, last week, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim held a meeting with the south-west governors represented by Gov Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State. At the end of the meeting the Police endorsed the security initiative. By virtue of section 318 of the Constitution the word government is said to include the Government of the Federation, or any State, or of a local government council or any person who exercises power or authority on its behalf. Thus, through the Inspector-General of Police the federal government has ratified the establishment of Amotekun.Therefore, the statement of the Attorney-General of the Federal Government that he was not consulted before the establishment of Amotekun is totally uncalled for and ought to be ignored by the south-west governors. With respect, Mr Malamis purported proscription of Amotekun is hypocritical and discriminatory on the grounds that the Civilian JTF operating in Yobe and Borno states is constituted by 26,000 well-armed volunteers who have been assisting the armed forces to combat terrorism in the north east region. Similarly, the governments of Kano and Zamfara states have established the Hisbar Commission. It is common knowledge that the Hisbar operatives in Zamfara state recently arrested a policeman who was alleged to have been caught in the company of three women. The Lagos State government has equally established the Neighbourhood Watch to assist the Police and other security agencies in protecting the life and property of every person living in Lagos. No doubt, section 214 of the Constitution stipulates that there shall be only one police force in Nigeria. But the federal government has breached the Constitution by setting up other police forces. For instance, the Nigerian Security and Defence Corps is another police force established by law. The State Security Service is also a police force established by law. Its operatives are well-armed. They wear masks even in broad daylight. The federal government has also authorised the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Offences Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service and other paramilitary agencies to bear arms. To that extent, the federal government cannot stop any state from setting a security outfit. In fact, having lost control of the monopoly of violence to armed gangs in the various parts of the country the federal government lacks the legal, political and moral right to challenge security outfits set up by state governments and individuals to protect the lives and property of the people of Nigeria. It is pertinent to point out that as chief security officers in the respective states, governors have the power to adopt measures deemed fit within the ambit of the law to ensure the maintenance of law and order. In Attorney-General of Anambra State v Attorney-General of the Federation (2005) 9 NWLR (Pt 931) 572 the Supreme Court held that, The Constitution in section 215 subsection (1) clearly gives the Governor of Anambra State the power to issue lawful direction to the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State in connection with securing public safety and order in the State. In Inspector-General of Police v ANPP (2008) 12 WRN 65 it was held by the federal high court that police permit for rallies was illegal and unconstitutional and that the governor is the appropriate authority who may delegate powers under the Public Order Act to a Commissioner of Police for the purpose of convening any meeting or rally. It was further held that the Inspector-General of Police cannot exercise any power under the Act. The decision was upheld by the Court of in All Nigeria Peoples Party & Ors. v. Inspector General of Police (2008) 12 WRN 65. As tribunal of enquiry is not provided for in either the Exclusive or Concurrent Legislative List it is a residuary matter. Hence, in Chief Gani Fawehinmi v. Ibrahim Babangida (2003) 12 WRN 1 the Supreme Court held that the power to set a Tribunal of Inquiry is vested in state governors and that the power of the President to institute a commission of enquiry under the Tribunal of Enquiry Act is limited to the Federal Capital Territory. In view of the aforesaid decided cases of our courts the Federal Government does not have exclusive control over law and order in any of the 36 states of the Federation. No doubt, Mr. Malami has anchored his controversial legal opinion on section 227 of the Constitution which provides that No association shall retain, organise, train or equip any person or group of persons for the purpose of enabling them to be employed for the use or display of physical force or coercion in promoting any political objective or interest or in such manner as to arouse reasonable apprehension that they are organised and trained or equipped for that purpose. Since Amotekun is not an outfit set up by south west governors to harass or intimidate political opponents it cannot be prohibited under section 227 or any other provision of the Constitution. In other words, the Constitution has not prohibited the establishment of security outfits for the defence of the people of Nigeria. However, if Mr. Malami is convinced that his position is backed by law he should approach the Supreme Court to test the constitutional validity of Amotekun. Meanwhile, the governments of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states are advised to ignore Mr. Malamis purported proscription and proceed to enact the necessary laws similar to the Neighbourhood Watch Law of Lagos State. A Central American migrant remains at El Buen Samaritano shelter while waiting to apply for asylum in the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on Dec. 17, 2019. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images) House Democrats Demand Documents for Investigation Into Trumps Remain in Mexico Policy House Democrats demanded documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a probe into a policy from President Donald Trumps administration that requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as they wait for their cases to go through U.S. immigration courts. The policy is known as Remain in Mexico, or the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The House Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday that it was probing the policy, claiming it has led to refugees and asylum seekers being kept in Mexico indefinitely and without due process or access to counsel. Committee members sent a letter (pdf) on Tuesday to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. We strongly believe that MPP is a dangerously flawed policy that threatens the health and safety of legitimate asylum seekersincluding women, children, and familiesand should be abandoned, they wrote. MPP is inconsistent with [the departments] statutory authority, while exposing thousands of people to threats of murder, sexual violence, and kidnapping as they are forced to wait in extremely dangerous conditions before their asylum claims may be heard, they added. The Department of Homeland Security didnt immediately return a request for comment. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checks immigration documents as a Honduran asylum seeker arrives to the international bridge from Mexico to the United States next to the border town of Matamoros, Mexico, on Dec. 9, 2019. (John Moore/Getty Images) The letter was signed only by Democrats, including Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Reps. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Luis Correa (D-Calif.), and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). The lawmakers asked for documents and communications from Dec. 20, 2018, to Jan. 2, 2020, relating to the implementation of the Remain in Mexico policy as well as statistics including the total number of individuals impacted by the policy. DHS announced the policy in January 2019. The program allows the U.S. government to send illegal aliens back to Mexico to await their immigration court proceedings, instead of being given an ankle bracelet and released into the United States. If their claims are deemed meritorious by an immigration judge, they will be granted legal status and benefits to live and work in the United States. If not, theyll be sent back home, which, under the new agreements with Central American countries, has become easier. The MPP effectively stopped catch and release and DHS recently said the policy has been successful since being implemented. In a statement announcing the expansion of the program to the Nogales Port of Entry south of Tucson, Arizona, Wolf said, MPP has been an extremely effective tool as the United States, under the leadership of President Trump, continues to address the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis at the border. The Department is fully committed to the program and will continually work with the Government of Mexico to expand and strengthen it. I am confident in the programs continued success in adjudicating meritorious cases quickly and preventing fraudulent claims, he said. So far, DHS said, the program has led to more than 56,000 migrants being returned to Mexico to await immigration hearings. Jack Phillips and Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report. Despite vows not to change legislation to run for the third term, Putin may stay in power by taking the helm of the newly-created State Council. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, January 15, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the entire government is resigning, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia. Medvedev made the move after Putin delivered his address to the Federal Assembly with a proposal to amend the Russian Constitution. "Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], dear colleagues, you all witnessed the address of the President of the Russian Federation. Vladimir Vladimirovich as president outlined not only the priorities of work in our country for the coming year, but also a number of fundamental changes to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. These changes, once adopted, which in all likelihood, will be done following discussion, as was said, will bring significant changes not only to a number of articles of the Constitution, but also to the balance of power as a whole - executive, legislative, and judicial. In this context, it is obvious that we, as the government of the Russian Federation, must provide president of our country with the opportunity to take all the necessary decisions. And in these conditions, I believe that it would be right for the Russian government to resign in accordance with Article 117 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said. In turn, Putin proposed introducing a new post of deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council and appointing Medvedev to take it up. In 2024 Putin's presidential powers expire. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, he can no longer run for the post of head of the Russian state. At the same time, Putin offered to consolidate in the Constitution the powers and role of the newly-created State Council. If the new body receives wide powers, Putin could prolong his actual rule by becoming its head. Crazy day in Moscow politics. Basically, Putin has removed Medvedev as PM & will take all the decisions DM wld normally have taken; he's asked ministers to stay in place until there's a new cabinet. Medvedev will be deputy of the Security Council - out of the way? But why? Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) January 15, 2020 The outgoing government will remain in situ until the new one is appointed, according to BBC. Correspondents say possible candidates to succeed Mr Medvedev as prime minister include Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin, Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin and Energy Minister Alexander Novak. The transfers, which were due, came at a time when India has been in international news for a slew of major decisions the Modi government took since its reelection for a second term. Sandhu is currently High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Ashraf is High Commissioner of Singapore and Kumar is spokesperson of the Ministry in New Delhi. The government has drawn flak from the Western media over reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir state, suspension of mobile internet and detention of politicians in Kashmir. Lately, the BJP government has been facing stiff opposition and widespread protests over its Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that grants citizenship to the persecuted religious minorities of three Islamic nations in the neighbourhood -- Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. India's economic slowdown has also been a major concern among its major trading partners in the West. Official sources said Sandhu will take over as the US Ambassador from Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who just returned to New Delhi. Shringla will take over as Foreign Secretary from Vijay Gokhale, who is retiring later this month. Sandhu has previously served as deputy chief at the Indian embassy in Washington DC. The government is sending Gopal Baglay, currently in PMO in New Delhi, to Colombo, as a replacement of Sandhu. Sources said Ashraf will replace ambassador Vinay Kwatra, who is being transferred to Nepal. Kwatra is taking over from Manjeev Singh Puri who has just retired. A career diplomat, Ashraf has been instrumental in India's strong partnership with Singapore for key development projects at home like smart cities and skill development. He has earlier served in US, Germany and Nepal. Kumar, who has been the youngest and one of the most effective and popular spokespersons of the Ministry, will take over from Renu Pall, who recently returned to New Delhi. Pall was transferred after an impending investigation against her over allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement at the mission in Vienna. Phoebe Thompson rose to fame on the 2019 season of Love Island Australia. The 28-year-old asked her Instagram fans on Wednesday to recommend a tattoo studio in Bali where she wouldn't get 'Hep C'. Currently on holiday in Indonesia with her former co-star and love interest Cassie Lansdell, the brunette wanted to commemorate her trip with a permanent souvenir. Online: Love Island's Phoebe Thompson (pictured) asked her Instagram fans on Wednesday to recommend a tattoo studio in Bali, Indonesia where she won't get 'Hep C'. The 28-year-old is currently on vacation with former co-star and love interest Cassie Lansdell Help! 'If anyone knows any awesome tattoo studios in Bali where you don't get Hep C, please DM myself or Cassie,' she wrote on Instagram Stories 'If anyone knows any awesome tattoo studios in Bali where you don't get Hep C, please direct message myself or Cassie,' she wrote on Instagram Stories. Cassie, 26, also took to Instagram Stories, asking her fans to help. 'Me and Phoebe are looking for tattoo shops in Bali (Canggu/Seminyak), please send through recommendations,' she wrote. Recommendations: Cassie, 26, also asked her Instagram fans for help Reality TV history: Phoebe and Cassie were the first same-sex couple on Love Island Australia, only to split just a day later The pair made Love Island Australia history by becoming the first same-sex couple, only to split just a day later. Phoebe suggested they take a 'step back' after Cassie wanted to explore her options with intruder Luke Packham. 'I honestly feel like I should take a step back and let you see what can happen,' Phoebe said during a heart-to-heart on air. Cassie and Luke's romance was short-lived, with the pair being voted off the island shortly after. Second thoughts: Phoebe suggested they take a 'step back' after Cassie wanted to explore her options with intruder Luke Packham In November, Luke confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that while he tried to pursue a romance with Cassie outside of Love Island, they're better off as platonic friends. 'We tried to see how things would work in the real world, but ultimately decided that we're better off as friends without benefits,' the 26-year-old said. 'Cassie's a great girl and instead of complicating things, we think it's better to just let it go now while we're still good friends,' Luke continued. 'We really gave it our best shot inside the villa and out in the real world so there's no regrets.' Authorities are closing in on the finances of the family of the 11-year-old boy who shot his teacher dead and injured six others before killing himself at a private school in northeastern Mexico last week. Mexico's Financial Intelligence Agency on Tuesday announced it froze bank accounts totaling over $6million in deposits that belonged to the grandparents of Jose Angel Ramos, who have been identified as Rebecca Jimenez and Jose Angel Ramos Saucedo, 58. An account belonging to the school killer's father, Jose Angel Ramos Jimenez, was also seized by the Mexican government. None of the three had filed taxes in recent years. Authorities discovered that the guns that were used by an 11-year-old last Friday at a school in Torreon, Mexico, to shoot a teacher dead and wound six children and another teacher before killing himself were actually illegally obtained by his grandfather, who was arrested Monday. An follow up investigation helped Mexican officials discovery irregularities with the family's financial records, which showed more than $6million deposited into several accounts in Mexico as well as the purchase of nine cars, including six in the last two years. Pictured above is one of the two guns used in the attack Maria Medina, a teacher at private school in Mexico, was killed by one of her students Friday morning. She confronted Jose Angel Ramos, who was holding two guns, after the boy had asked her for permission to go to the bathroom to change his pants Ramos shot dead Maria Medina, a 50-year-old English teacher, last Friday at Miguel Cervantes School in Torreon, Coahuila. The sixth-grader then shot five students and 40-year-old gym teacher Aldo Omar Saldivar, all of whom survived. The government locked bank accounts after investigators discovered a series of irregularities centered around the family's spending habits following the arrest of the boy's grandfather Monday. Ramos Saucedo was apprehended on charges of criminal negligence. The Coahuila State Attorney General's office found that two guns that his grandson used were illegally purchased. One of the weapons was of exclusive use to the military. If convicted he could face a prison sentence of up to 35 years if convicted. Santiago Nieto Castillo, the Financial Intelligence Agency director, said Ramos Saucedo had purchased three BMW and three Jeep Cherokee during the last two years. Jimenez also bought three luxury trucks and processed several wire transfers to banks in the United States. 'Some type of irregular activity was found regarding the cash flow to their bank accounts and companies linked to it, as well as international transfers to the United States,' Nieto Castillo said. 'This has motivated the need to verify the illicit origin of the resources.' The Financial Intelligence Agency did not mention how much money was in the account registered under Ramos Jimenez account. The Drug Enforcement Agency was arrested him on methamphetamine trafficking charges in 2016. Pictured is the Miguel Cervantes School in Torreon, Coahuila, where a student killed a teacher and himself last Friday. Five students and a teacher were also wounded in the shooting Paramedics carry one of the injured victims out of the school in Torreon, Mexico Jose Angel Ramos (pictured), the 11-year-old boy who shot dead a teacher and then killed himself at a school in Mexico on last Friday Ramos Jimenez was released October 28 after serving a 46-month sentence in a Texas jail and was returned to Mexico that same day. The grandparents had custody of Ramos, who was described by Mexican government officials and school parents as a good student who did not present any problems. The boy's mother was assassinated about five years ago. Authorities said last Friday that Ramos was possibly under the influence of a violent video game linked to the Columbine massacre. The schoolboy appeared to be dressed in the same clothes one of the teen killers wore during the massacre. Before the shooting, Ramos asked Medina for permission to go to the bathroom to change his pants. Worried that he was taking too long to do so, she stepped out of the classroom and encountered him in the hallway. He was holding two guns and opened fired. Ramos was wearing a pair of black jeans, suspenders and a white t-shirt bearing the name of the first-person shooter video game 'Natural Selection' on the chest. Columbine killer Eric Harris wore the same t-shirt when he and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher on April 20, 1999. The House has passed H.Res.798, a resolution appointing and authorizing managers for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, president of the United States. Good morning, everyone. Today is an important day, because today is the day that we name the managers who go to the floor to pass the resolution to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate. And later in the day when we have our engrossment, that we march those articles of impeachment to the United States Senate. I believe that they bring to this case and the United States Senate: great patriotism, great respect for the Constitution of the United States, great comfort level in a courtroom. This trial is necessary because President Trump gravely abused the power of his office. Back when this national nightmare began, Speaker Pelosi laid bare her intentions and purely partisan agenda. President Trump put his own personal interests above the national interests, above our national security. And if not stopped, he will do it again. This has nothing to do with the facts. The only real emergency here is that theres a 2020 election in which the Democrats cant stand to see the fact, this president is going to win again. Yeas are 228; the nays are 193. The resolution is adopted, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Today, we will make history. For the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, president of the United States. The message will be received. The Senate is ready to receive the managers appointed by the House for the purpose of exhibiting articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, president of the United States. At the hour of 12 noon on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, the Senate will receive the managers on the part of the House of Representatives. This is a difficult time for our country. But this is precisely the kind of time for which the framers created the Senate. Im confident this body can rise above short-termism and factional fever, and serve the long-term best interest of our nation. We can do this, and we must. QAIM, Iraq Danish forces played an essential role in training Iraqis from western Anbar in the run-up to liberating their land from the Islamic State. They then advised local fighters and commanders that have been key to intelligence gathering and combat. Denmark also knew that the Iranian Jan. 8 attack on the Iraqi Ain al-Assad airbase would happen six full hours before it occurred, the national media reported. Iran fired some 22 missiles at Ain al-Assad in western Anbar and a base near Erbil where US troops are also stationed, triumphantly claiming to have killed dozens. Although the western Anbar base incurred considerable damage, there were no casualties. The United States was also notified that the attack was imminent. Its soldiers at the same base took shelter two and a half hours prior to the attack but were uncertain exactly where it would happen. The evening prior to the Jan. 8 attack, Al-Monitor spoke to the head of a local Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) faction called the Aaly al-Furat Brigade (AFB or AAF), which received training by elite Danish forces in the lead-up to operations to liberate western Anbar from IS. Qaim was retaken from IS in November 2017. The Danish unit also supported the PMU during the operation and afterward as part of stabilization efforts prior to leaving in late 2018. Some 133 other Danish military members serving as trainers and advisers had been present at the base at the time of the attack to train Iraqi forces. After the attack, Denmark announced it would be pulling most out and transferring them to Kuwait. It said it would leave a few dozen in the country as part of its anti-IS efforts. The interview with the commander, Col. Moussa al-Karbouly, took place in the Karabla area of Qaim, the heartland of his tribe. Al-Monitor was present in the town the following day when the news of the attack came in and as Iraq was debating whether to demand all foreign forces leave. In Anbar, we cannot ask the US forces to leave. Anbar is the largest province in Iraq. Most of Anbar is desert. We as Iraqis do not have sufficient means to control and protect it, he told Al-Monitor, noting that the province had greatly benefited from US and coalition military technology, surveillance and airstrikes targeting insurgent hideouts in the provinces vast desert. Karboulys father was killed by relatives who had joined al-Qaeda in Iraq. The commander had in years prior to the IS takeover captured several al-Qaeda operatives in his role within the security forces, including members of his tribe such as Omar al-Karbouly. The latter was later released and joined IS prior to being rearrested in the Iraqi-Syrian border area in early 2018 as part of a major operation. The Ain al-Asad airbase in western Anbar next to the town of Baghdadi, which lies along the snaking bright blue Euphrates River, several hours along the only main road away from Qaim on the border with Syria. Karbouly stressed, "Syria is next to us and what happened in Syria is the reason why IS happened in Iraq." He said he had information on specific IS supporters originally from Qaim now in the western Iraq desert and across the border. One of the most wanted men he had spoken about in previous interviews with Al-Monitor, Tariq al-Karbouly, has since been killed after local intelligence gathering was conducted by members of his brigade. IS will be the only winner in the end of the increased tensions between Iran and the United States and any pullout of US or all foreign military, he said. Al-Monitor was told by a member of the AFB that for over a year the local forces trained and advised by coalition forces had been prohibited from having any direct contact with the coalition and that thus any information or tip-offs on the location of IS figures needed to be sent to the Iraqi army and then be sent to the coalition as part of a request for airstrikes. This, they noted, takes too long. A US attack on PMU brigades of the Iran-linked Kataib Hezbollah near Qaim killed at least 25 men and injured dozens of others on Dec. 29. This was followed by an attack on the US Embassy on Dec. 31 by supporters of the group and then on Jan. 3 by a US drone strike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The AFB commander told Al-Monitor, The PMU are part of government forces but in the eyes of the US government, they are outlaws. If the Iraqi government were strong, it could hold anyone accountable from among [the PMU] that does anything wrong." However, the problems with the PMU and any specific factions that are more loyal to Iran than Iraq or that violate other Iraqi laws "cannot be solved by violence," he said. "It must be solved through political means but this is up to the Shiite" majority in the parliament. Karbouly noted, Two days prior to the attack on Kataib Hezbollah in Qaim, a car bomb exploded in the T1 area" near the city and two soldiers and an intelligence officer from the Armys 8th Division were killed." There have been problems in the past between the Shiite-led PMU commander for the area, Qassim Musleh, and the Danish forces, who he claimed had fired rockets at the non-local Shiite-led PMU in 2018. The commander of the highly secretive elite unit that trained AFB, Kaare Jakobsen from the Jaeger Corps, denied those accusations to this reporter in an exclusive interview at the Ain al-Asad base in October 2018, the day before the unit transferred out. The Kataib Hezbollah brigades hit in Dec. 29 attack by the United States are at least nominally under Muslehs command. Denmark is scheduled to lead the NATO training mission in Iraq from the end of 2020 but it is unclear what will happen if all foreign forces are asked to leave. An officer who asked for anonymity as he had not been authorized to speak to the media from the Armys 8th Division, which is stationed near the city, told Al-Monitor that if coalition forces were to leave it "would be a huge problem" due to the key training they give, enabling the Iraqi forces to operate near the border and in the desert and mountainous areas. The misogyny really jumped out from Bernie fans this week! Im so tired of it. Im tired of sexism from the right and the left. Reply Thread Link Ive been trolled by conservatives, called a feminazi by Rush Limbaugh, screamed at by Trump supporters but @ewarren stans are the WORST harassment Ive ever seen. On top of the barrage of hate mail, Ive had ppl call my work, find my cell phone #. Its scary. https://t.co/q0B3y3upvJ Rebecca Nagle (@rebeccanagle) January 5, 2020 Also, Warren leaking smears to the press to consolidate a Biden run? secondary too! we're gonna keep playing dumb and pretending as if she and her campaign couldn't literally be the only source for the history while we preach ~unity~ the anti-semitism and racism from Warren supporters is also quite disturbing but I guess we're not allowed to talk about that. also, her stupid supporters appropriating language meant for sexual abuse survivors and applying to a political catfight? no biggie either!Also, Warren leaking smears to the press to consolidate a Biden run? secondary too! we're gonna keep playing dumb and pretending as if she and her campaign couldn't literally be the only source for the history while we preach ~unity~ Reply Parent Thread Link i also find it interesting how people are using the #metoo and "believe all women" movements for warren. warren supporters who were once clinton supporters... who stayed silent when hilary smeared her husband's rape victims. Reply Parent Thread Link i was so disturbed/frustrated/annoyed reading the last political debate post it is SO easy for me to believe that bernie bluntly and inelegantly stated that trump would weaponize sexism and misogyny against a female candidate making it very difficult for her to win (pundits have been making the same case all season long), and warren interpreted his words as meaning a woman couldnt win. (i would add her that in her statement she said they had differences on PUNDITRY, not differences in FEMINISM.) the fact that bernie supporters have immediately accused her of lying and being a snake is so dispiriting. they did this when she said she was fired for being pregnant too and everyone no actuallyed her. were just never going to believe women, are we? Edited at 2020-01-15 11:13 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The hashtags trending, all Russian bot generated, started before regular folks were even awake. Liberals. Have. Brain. Worms. Edited at 2020-01-15 10:29 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link The fact that liberals are running with these hashtags started by Russian disrupters without critically thinking about them first. Reply Parent Thread Link Liberals blame every American political inconvenience on dastardly Putin and it's getting tedious. Reply Parent Thread Link this show desperately needs a leftist POV on the panel Reply Thread Link They do bc sometimes they talk a lot of nonsense on that table. It would get even more heated then it does now. Reply Parent Thread Link Who would you nominate? Reply Parent Thread Link there's a reason they have none though. that's not accidental: the view wants us to think the most left-wing you can get is chelsea clinton. Reply Parent Thread Link A leftist doesn't deserve that torture. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm sure all the people who trashed the original story, now confirmed, will say they got it wrong.https://t.co/UDalgZ3bn0 Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) January 15, 2020 Reply Thread Link Tbh Bernie should release a statement reaffirming his long time friendship and working relationship with Elizabeth and how they have the same goals. And maybe say something that stops his supporters from calling her a liar (so great to have a bunch of men tell me about how women make up experiences of sexism!). Like we had an hours long conversation over dinner and I dont recall that specific statement and its possible I worded something poorly that was misunderstood. Lets not let a misunderstanding between friends divide this progressive movement. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link how to handle this largely media-created feud are we gonna keep playing dumb and pretending as if Warren and her campaign didn't purposely leak the story and started this whole news cycle? it was a private conversation. there were 2 people in the room: Bernie and Warren. therefore, the source can only be Warren. also, it's pretty obvious *four* people from within Warren's orbit wouldn't confirm a story for CNN unless they wanted it out there. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link You know they wont! Theyve just moved their talking point on to how Elizabeth leaked the dinner conversation to the press to play dirty politics. And also shes a liar and a snake and therefore its definitely not a sign of hatred towards women to spam a woman speaking out about sexism with a bunch of snake emojis! Kill me. Reply Parent Thread Link I finally read this script that was supposedly an unfair negative attack on her and the others and??? it's literally citing their very real differences in terms of volunteers, donors, and policy? That's...literally just doing your job and a candidate separating yourself from the other candidates. Did people forget 2008 and what an actual negative campaign looks like, when we had honorary black woman Hillary Clinton leaking shit left and right trying to imply Obama was like a secret Muslim and that she needed to be the nominee in case racist whites don't vote for him? Like, if they were really coming for her head, they could just remind everyone that she pretended to be Native American for half her life, tried to use racist science to justify her false claims of ancestry and then didn't even have the decency to support the Standing Rock Sioux's protests of DAPL until after they'd already won that fight. Edited at 2020-01-15 11:45 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Also from new @EmersonPolling national poll: Avg % of each of the top 4 candidates' supporters who'll back Trump against one of the other 3 Buttigieg supporters 12% Warren supporters 10% Biden supporters 9% Sanders supporters 4% Source: https://t.co/8B2bV4O5m2 Eldon Katz (@eldon_katz) December 19, 2019 Also from new @EmersonPolling national poll: Trump's approval rating among the top 4 candidates' supporters: Buttigieg supporters 16% Warren supporters 7% Biden supporters 6% Sanders supporters 1% Source: https://t.co/8B2bV55GKC Eldon Katz (@eldon_katz) December 19, 2019 Edited at 2020-01-15 10:47 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link loll Bernie beats trump every damn time you love to see it Reply Parent Thread Link i'd love to see it. shame Warren's campaign is working in tandem with the media to make sure Biden's the nominee. but ya know, let's pretend as if this isn't happening and focus instead on the sexist Bernie Bros! the fact the Bros are working class and much, much more diverse than the Warren Bots? Irrelevant! Remember: stating Warren's supporters are overwhelmingly white and affluent is a hate crime against her and her campaign. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link how can this be true, when very, very smart moderates are telling me that Bernie = Trump??? Reply Parent Thread Link warren being higher than biden (even by 1 pt) is just... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg those dam Bernie Bros though! Reply Parent Thread Link all the narratives the media has pushed about bernie's supporters have been untrue lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The table of that data is very telling. In head to head Trump always wins with the men while women go Democratic. The logical conclusion is men should not be allowed to vote. Either way I dont like to take the word of 1222 people out of millions as gospel to how the voting people will go. Reply Parent Thread Link Whats really interesting to me is that everyone except Bernie falls within the expected 8-12% range of sour grapes voters. People switching party vote after not getting their first pick in the primary isnt new and we expect it to happen. Bernie at 4% is super low. Reply Parent Thread Link corp dems ignored Bernie too long this go around. hes continuing to surge and had the best one-day funding last night. I guess thats one thing you can really count on dems for is dropping the ball lol overall all this did was help Biden so its weird that Warrens campaign thought this would be a good idea. if she was smart she would have stayed pals with Bernie until Biden became completely crushed so the two progressives could be at the top. oh well. Reply Thread Link Warren is not dumb though. She just realized she lost and probably was promised a VP position in case of Bidens win Reply Parent Thread Link yeah thats the only thing that makes sense Reply Parent Thread Link The #NeverWarren hashtag today was interesting lol Reply Thread Link Warren is a fraud. To fracture the "left" just weeks before Iowa helps no one but Biden. If this was meant to siphon support from Bernie it backfired, but I have a hard time believing she didn't see this coming. I don't think she can expect to recover from this when she was already slipping in the polls. Edited at 2020-01-15 11:22 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link idk, i think it might actually help her. she has no path to a nomination, of course, but i can imagine her getting the support of some liberal white women that were thinking of voting on Mayor Pete/Klobuchar on the back of this and gaining a few points in Iowa. remember: this whole framing her campaign is pushing alongside the media works perfectly with the Hillary Clinton boomers/white feminist crowd and that's not an insignificant demo. Reply Parent Thread Link Warren is a fraud. But we knew that when she lied about being a woman of color. Sorry to harp on this, but it's just like...how does this not give every one of these alleged "progressives" serious pause? Literally got a job off of being seen as a diversity hire and her name and presence were used by Harvard to claim they didn't need to hire more minorities at a time when they were being sued over this very issue. I mean, I know that none of them actually cares about the dignity of Native Americans generally enough to even pretend to be worried by the fact that she blatantly lied about being Cherokee for years, but even just from a strategy standpoint, it is so easy to use this fact to make her out to be a really terrible person? In fact, Trump already did! And her response was more racism and she ended up looking like a buffoon. This is who folks wanna hang their hats on? What's the plan for moving past this disaster-in-waiting? What's the strat in the general when he calls her Pocahontas again? To pretend to be offended at his racism while continuing to ignore native folks who've been calling her out for the longest for directly contributing to their suffering? Reply Parent Thread Link I agree. I'm not sure how you could so easily brush that off while disqualifying her opponent for writing a satirical essay 50 years ago. Edited at 2020-01-16 12:22 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Everything you're saying is correct and it should have prevented Warren from being a contender in the first place if liberals' primary goal is getting Trump out of office. Warren vs Trump is going to be a disaster. Reply Parent Thread Link FLORIDA Sanders 53% (+6) Trump 47% . Biden 51% (+2) Trump 49% . Warren 51% (+2) Trump 49% . Buttigieg 50% Trump 50% Florida Atlantic University 1/9-12https://t.co/CA6mHo0VOL Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) January 15, 2020 Reply Thread Link Lol Oh, Florida... I'll believe it when I see it. Reply Parent Thread Link Tbh I'm happy the fake allegiance/coalition has been undone between Warren and Sanders, because for entirely too long, we've allowed liberals with only slightly less regressive financial, foreign and social policies than their rightwing counterparts behave as if they occupy the same space as socialists. They don't. There are real, meaningful differences between what these two groups want to achieve and claims of "infighting", "factionalism" and "purity tests" are designed to obscure this fact. We saw it in 2016 and we're gonna see it again this year when people refuse to settle for half-measures and get told by rich white pundits and their various token surrogates that they're entitled. Reply Thread Link VIRGINIA VOTED RATIFY THE ERA Reply Thread Link This is probably going to be a really stupid question, but I see a lot of progressive thinking and open minded people on here talk shit about those who identify as liberals. What, then, do you identify as? Reply Thread Link leftists Reply Parent Thread Link I call myself a progressive. I used to say liberal or left but i feel like those words dont really capture what progressivism is to me. they seem outdated and divisive Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah, leftist or hard left. I don't mind being associated as the other spectrum of hard right because that is where I feel I belong. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link progressive is the most common term Reply Parent Thread Link I call myself progressive but Im liking the term leftist more right now (its a personal thing but sometimes I think of the car insurance company progressive when I use it lol) Reply Parent Thread Link Back to being called a Bernie Bro for criticizing anything Warren does despite her campaign being the first I contributed to. Reply Thread Link Whew. All the drama going on really hit all the nerves. Ugh so stressful lol... Edit: lol the mic is out. Shouldve waited if they were going to leak the audio transcript. At least I almost got that one right. Well that was quite something Edited at 2020-01-16 04:12 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link A man searches for his relatives' names on a monument with the names of some 20,000 victims of communist rule, in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria, in a file photo. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images) Beware Embracing Socialism or Communism, Says Expert An increased admiration for communism among millennials is a concern given that they dont really understand what the ideology is or what it entails, says political scientist and author Mark Milke. Claimants are mistaking the welfare state (or earlier forms of government) for socialism and communism, Milke said in response to questions from The Epoch Times, which he also posted on his website. Milke was referring to the 2019 annual survey conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), which showed that 70 percent of millennials in the United States said they would be extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidatea number that has doubled from 2018. The survey also found that only 57 percent of millennials now believe that the American Declaration of Independence better guarantees freedom and equality than Marxs Communist Manifesto, compared to 94 percent of the Silent Generationthe generation that precedes the Baby Boomer generation. In addition, it revealed that 36 percent of millennials now view communism favourably, an increase compared to 2018, while favourable opinions of capitalism have seen a steep decline between 2018 and 2019. When we dont educate our youngest generations about the historical truth of 100 million victims murdered at the hands of communist regimes over the past century, we shouldnt be surprised at their willingness to embrace Marxist ideas, said VOC executive director Marion Smith in his assessment of the survey. We need to redouble our efforts to re-educate Americas youth about the history of communist regimes and the dangers of socialism today. Although the survey was conducted in the United States, the results have some parity with Canada. In August 2019, Forum Research conducted a survey of 1,733 Canadian voters that yielded similar results. Fifty-eight percent said they held a positive opinion of socialism, with 18 percent saying they held a very positive opinion. Milke, whose grandmother escaped Soviet Ukraine before the 1930s and whose grandfather left Poland for Canada in 1929, thinks those who are attracted to such ideologies base their opinion on false assumptions. One he has heard frequently is that more public funding of roads or public libraries that make them free to use is a socialist idea. Building more paved roads or a library from taxes is not socialism or communism. Its merely a continuance of how people collectively paid for some goods delivered through government since Sumer (a reference to the first tax imposed on populations in what is now modern-day Iraq, or when Romans imposed taxes to build roads), he said. Socialism and communism, properly understood, are assertions and arguments that government should own the commanding heights of the economythe mines, farms, factories, railways, airlinesand also control other economic activity overmuch. The Marxist theory is that this is both efficient (no profit) and fair. In practice, however, this approach invariably becomes tyrannical due to the concentrated power that is required, he said. When governments, which already have a monopoly on the use of force and necessary institutions, add economic power as another pillar of control, civil society and individuals are crowded out from any practical role. Milke also takes issue with the idea of democratic socialism to rehabilitate Marxism, as the examples many cite, such as Sweden, are not wholly socialist and rely on markets, some state-owned enterprises, and a strong welfare state. If they were fully socialist, the Swedish state would own all major enterprises a la the Soviet Union in 1950. But Sweden doesnt. It is a combination of capitalism, socialism, and a larger welfare state than, lets say, the U.S., he said. Using the example of former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Milke explains that even if one comes to power through legitimately democratic means, they can still easily corrupt a once-free society by usurping too much control over the economy and other institutions. [Chavez] continually aggregated more power to the state in part by further nationalization, he said. That led to further erosion of free enterprise, which also constricted other freedoms because ever-more power was concentrated in politicians. Although many view socialism and communism as being separate, according to Marxist-Leninist theory, socialism is simply communisms preliminary stage. The Epoch Times special series How the Spectre of Communism Is Ruling Our World states that communist regimes force the general population into obedience by killing their victims openly and deliberately. In just one century, since the rise of the first communist regime in Russia, the evil spectre of communism has murdered more people in the nations under its rule than the combined death toll of both world wars, the series states. According to The Black Book of Communism, communist regimes have been responsible for close to 100 million deaths. A mother who is fed up with seeing women in G-string bikinis at a local swimming spot where she often takes her kids has been ridiculed online for her 'prudish' views. Kayla Edwards reached out to her social media network to suggest a sign at Spa Thermal Park in Taupo, New Zealand to ban 'inappropriate swimwear'. The mother-of-three said she and her family felt uncomfortable swimming there now because of a spike in women wearing barely-there bikinis. Another woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, agreed with Ms Edwards complaints. She said the experience often made her children uncomfortable, and that her husband 'hated' seeing it. 'I've seen men in mankinis, women walking around in G-string bikinis and even the odd naked person getting changed in public. It's disgusting and it has to stop,' she said. G-string swimwear have gained popularity in recent years primarily due to social media influencers Ms Edwards was hoping her post would garner support from other women who were sick of seeing the swimwear Despite the support from other mothers, Ms Edwards faced harsh criticism online for her views, an outcome she told NZME was unexpected. 'I actually expected that most people would agree and maybe we could actually get a sign?' she said. 'I don't have to prove I'm hot by prancing around in public wearing a G-string. I have enough self-love to do that clothed respectfully.' Most people seemed to agree that Ms Edwards post came across as 'jealousy'. G-string bikinis have gained popularity in recent years primarily due to social media influencers, like Tammy Hembrow (pictured) 'I think a sign saying if you're easily offended by butt cheeks, tits and occasionally manboobs, buy a $20 shell from warehouse and swim at your house,' one person said. 'Jealous thing. Jealous as. Teach kids body confidence and to love themselves. If you've got it, flaunt it. If you're jealous and a prude stay home and be 'clothed'.' Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort claim they have not felt the need to put a G-string policy in place. 'We are a family-orientated business but to my knowledge, we haven't had anyone raise concerns,' a statement read. G-string bikinis have gained popularity in recent years primarily due to social media influencers, like Tammy Hembrow. Donald Trump has signed a phase one trade deal with China at the White House as part of an apparent easing of tensions between Washington and Beijing after the two exchanged retaliatory tariffs last year. The president signed the agreement with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He during a ceremony on Wednesday, describing it as a landmark deal that would benefit American farmers. The phase one deal comes as Mr Trumps administration has reportedly agreed to suspend new tariffs against Beijing in exchange for China purchasing $200bn (153.5bn) worth of goods and services from the country over the next two years. Beijing has meanwhile agreed to increase its purchasing of soybeans from US farmers after the industry was severely hampered by the trade dispute. Mr Trump described Chinas intellectual property theft and trade issues with Beijing on Wednesday as huge problems that undermined the US, its economy and Americas agriculture industry. These products may become more costly in the trade war Show all 9 1 /9 These products may become more costly in the trade war These products may become more costly in the trade war Orange Juice, which Florida is known for, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war The EU lists 'footwear with outer soles of rubber or of plastics and uppers of plastics' amongst the goods that may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Cosmetic products, such as US brands Maybelline, MAC and Avon, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images for Rebekka Ruetz These products may become more costly in the trade war Jeans, the all-American trousers, are on the EU's list of goods that may be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Bourbon whiskey is on the EU's list of over 100 US products that may be subject to import tariffs Getty These products may become more costly in the trade war US peanut butter products are on the EU's list of goods that may soon be subject to tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war US motorcycles, such as the Harley-Davidson, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Cranberry products, a major US crop export, may soon become more expensive Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war All tobacco products are on the EU's list of US goods that may be subject to import tarifs AFP/Getty Images "Now our efforts have yielded a transformative deal", the president said. "The agreement we signed today includes groundbreaking provisions of profound importance to the United States: protecting intellectual property." He also said the "guarded" deal has been subject to unfair criticism from Democrats, who he claimed were conducting a "hoax" of an impeachment process and were unaware of the specifics of the agreement his administration made with Beijing. Recommended US stops listing China as a currency manipulator The agreement was celebrated by Republicans like Deb Fischer, a Nebraska senator who said the deal was positive news for her states farmers and ranchers. Still, the deal has been subject to widespread criticism from analysts who say it does little to curtail Chinas subsidies to its own manufacturers. Former Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement that China is the big winner in the phase one agreement, according to a statement his presidential campaign released on Wednesday. True to form, Trump is getting precious little in return for the significant pain and uncertainty he has imposed on our economy, farmers, and workers, the 2020 hopeful told Bloomberg News in the statement. Its no wonder Trump doesnt want the American people to see the text of the deal until after its signed, he added. No one should be fooled by Trumps empty promises to deliver a meaningful 'phase two' deal." Mr Trump said he looked forward to working on phase two of the deal, saying its going to lead to an even greater world peace. The president also said he expected the second phase of the agreement to complete US-China trade negotiations, and said it could lead to an unprecedented future relationship between both countries. A member of China's negotiating team then read a letter from Chinese President Xi JinPing, in which he described the phase one deal as good for China, good for the US and good for the world. In the next step, the two sides need to implement the agreement in real earnest, the letter read. To maintain healthy and steady growth of China-US relations requires effort from both sides. The letter continued: In that spirit, I hope the US side will treat fairly Chinese companies China is prepared to work with the US in that direction and I will stay in close touch with you personally. Jeopardy! sparks controversy after naming Jesus birthplace site as Israel Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An answer on "Jeopardy!" has sparked protest from viewers after a contestant was told she was wrong for identifying the location of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as Palestine. Host Alex Trebek read the $200 clue from the category "Where's that church?" which read, "Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity." Contestant Katie Needle responded: "What is Palestine?" but the answer was rejected. Contestant Jack McGuire then hit his buzzer and answered, "What is Israel?" which was ruled correct. The Church of the Nativity is located in Bethlehem, which is part of the West Bank. The popular church is said to be the location of Jesus birth. The region has been a site of conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians for some time. Some Jeopardy! viewers immediately took to Twitter in protest and demanded that Trebek and the popular U.S. show apologize. Political analyst on U.S./Middle East Omar Baddar tweeted a clip of the question and wrote, Unacceptable!! Bethlehem is in the Palestinian territories which Israel illegally occupies (Katie Needle got the correct answer & was robbed). @Jeopardy owes an apology for endorsing Israel's universally-condemned illegal takeover of Palestinian lands. Unacceptable!! Bethlehem is in the Palestinian territories which Israel illegally occupies (Katie Needle got the correct answer & was robbed). @Jeopardy owes an apology for endorsing Israel's universally-condemned illegal takeover of Palestinian lands.pic.twitter.com/Ym99YziM4k Omar Baddar (@OmarBaddar) January 11, 2020 The clip has since gone viral with many arguing on both sides. People noted that after the commercial break, however, Needles score increased as she may have been credited for the Palestine answer, although no explanation was given to viewers. "Jeopardy!" has not responded to the controversy. (Alliance News) - Gamma Communications PLC said Wednesday it expects to report about 16% revenue growth in 2019, thanks to continued good performance in the UK and the Netherlands businesses. For 2019, the communications services provider said revenue is in line with market consensus expectations of GBP329.8 million. Revenue in 2018 was GBP284.9 million. Gamma said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization expected to be "slightly ahead" of GBP62.3 million consensus, up at least 29% compared to GBP48.3 million a year before. The company said it continued to experience strong growth in key products within the UK, while its business in the Netherlands continued to increase volumes in its Cloud PBX and Mobile offerings at rates ahead of market growth. In November, the company acquired Telsis Ltd, a developer of unified communications as a service solutions for small to medium size enterprises. "This brought a combination of specialist development skills and engineering expertise to Gamma which will enable Gamma to expand its unified communications as a service offering," the company said. The closing net cash balance for the year was GBP53.8 million compared to GBP35.5 million a year before, Gamma noted. Gamma said it expects to report 2019 results on March 17. Andrew Taylor, chief executive officer, said: "We are pleased that Gamma has continued to grow strongly in both the UK and the Netherlands." "We are excited about the possibilities that the acquisition of the Telsis development capability affords for future product development," Taylor added. Gamma shares were up 3.8% in London at 1,385.00 pence each on Wednesday. By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Being referred to as Vicky Kaushals brother is a proud thing for him says Sunny Kaushal, even though the actor admits having a strong urge to create his own identity. One should have a very strong urge to create their own identity in the society. It doesnt emerge from the fact that I am called Vickys brother. Its a proud thing for me because this shows how well Vicky has made his mark. But I do have a strong urge to be my own person irrespective of that. It is something you should always have no matter who you are or which field you are in, Sunny told IANS. The actor also expressed how proud he feels of his brother who has achieved a lot in a short time, including the National Award as Best Actor. It feels great. It was a proud moment for all of us. Both of us started our journey almost together and he has made this mark so quickly. As a family, we feel really proud of him, said Sunny. On the work front, Sunny Kaushal is gearing up for the release of his web series The Forgotten Army: Azaadi Ke Liye, which is based on the story of soldiers of Netaji Subhash Chandra Boses Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army (INA), which played a crucial role in Indias struggle for Independence. The actor threw some light on his character in the series, which is an amalgamation of three real-life characters of Azad Hind Fauj-- Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Shah Nawaz Khan. Also read: Deepika Padukone loves Alia Bhatts Gangubai Kathiawadi look, Ranveer Singh calls her Lulu The Gangster Sunny shared: The name of my character is Surender Sodhi. He is a soldier in the British Indian Army. After the British Indian Army gets captured by the Japanese in Singapore, he becomes a prisoner of war. They were given two choices -- either be in prison camp or be a part of Azad Hind Fauj and fight for the country. He chooses to be a soldier with Azad Hind Fauj. It was not an easy choice for him because both his father and grandfather served in the British Indian Army. He chooses for survival and initially goes through a lot of dilemma but gradually realises (the need to fight for his country). The actor expressed that even though Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is mentioned in our school history books, Indian National Army or INA isnt talked about in details. We all have read a lot about Bose babu in our history textbooks but very little about INA. I knew about its role in our history of freedom struggle but never took an interest to learn about it in depth. This series has been an eye opener for me, he said. Directed by Kabir Khan, The Forgotten Army: Azaadi Ke Liye stars Sunny Kaushal alongside TJ Bhanu, Rohit Chaudhary and debutant actress Sharvari. The web series airs on Amazon Prime videos from January 24. Follow @htshowbiz for more WASHINGTON A top House Democrat demanded an investigation Wednesday into new evidence suggesting that former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was under surveillance by associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. The evidence emerged Tuesday when House Democrats released text messages and other documents gathered as part of the impeachment probe into Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine for an investigation into a political rival. The text messages reveal that an associate of Giuliani's, Lev Parnas, was in contact with Robert Hyde, a pro-Trump congressional candidate in Connecticut who claimed to have Yovanovitch under surveillance. Parnas worked with Giuliani to execute Trump's Ukraine pressure campaign. In March, Parnas sent Hyde articles critical of Yovanovitch, to which Hyde responded, "Wow. can't believe Trumo [sic] hasn't fired this b****." Marie Yovanovitch, former ambassador to Ukraine, testifies on Nov. 15, 2019, on Capitol Hill. Hyde sent Parnas a series of messages suggesting he had hired people in Ukraine to surveil the ambassador and was getting updates about her whereabouts and activities. Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off, Hyde wrote in one message. In another: They will let me know when shes on the move." Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the messages "profoundly alarming" and said he would demand documents and a briefing from State Department officials to find out what they knew, if anything, about the threats against Yovanovitch. "The messages suggest a possible risk to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitchs security in Kiev before she was recalled from her post last year," Engel said. Trump yanked her from the ambassador post early after Giuliani complained that she was obstructing efforts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. "This unprecedented threat to our diplomats must be thoroughly investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Engel said. Story continues More: Pelosi names 7 'managers' to prosecute Trump in Senate impeachment trial During her public testimony, Yovanovitch told lawmakers leading the impeachment investigation that she received an unexpected phone call last April from a top State Department official, who told her she needed to leave Ukraine on the next flight home. "This is about your security. You need to come home immediately. You need to come home on the next plane, Yovanovitch said she was told by Carol Perez, director general of the State Department's foreign service. Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy during a phone call July 25 that Yovanovitch was "bad news," adding that she was going to "go through some things." The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Giuliani also did not immediately respond to a message. Giuliani accused Yovanovitch of being disloyal to Trump. Others said Giuliani wanted her out because her anti-corruption work in Ukraine was an impediment to Trump's efforts to pressure that country's leader to investigate Democratic presidential rival Biden and his son Hunter, who worked for the energy company Burisma Holdings. "There was no basis for her removal," Fiona Hill, the Trump administration's former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia, told the House impeachment investigators during a deposition last fall. "The accusations against her had no merit whatsoever." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top Democrat demands probe of threats against Marie Yovanovitch Helping reduce childrens fears and anxieties during an emergency room stay is so important for their wellbeing and their families. The Child Life Program is such an important part of Sutters mission to provide quality and caring healthcare to our community. SAFE Credit Union provided a $20,000 grant to Sutter Medical Center Foundation to support the Pediatric Emergency Room and Child Life Program at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. The funds will be used for equipment used in the program to benefit children and their families, as well as for environmental enhancements in the Pediatric Emergency Room to provide a cheerful environment and visual consistency with the pediatric unit in the Anderson Lucchetti Womens & Childrens Center. The Child Life Program at Sutter is staffed by professionals with undergraduate and graduate degrees in child growth and development, specifically focusing on how hospitalization affects children. Child Life specialists work directly with patients and their families to create a warm, friendly environment for young patients and support their coping with their medical experiences. Sutter introduced the long-time program into its Pediatric Emergency Room about two years ago after finding it successful in the pediatric inpatient areas. Patients are distraught, little, scared, and dont know whats happening to them, says Sheri Burns, Emergency Department nursing director at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento. This grant will go in part to purchase bright, cheerful decorations because its important for children to focus on other things since the hospital can be a scary environment. The funds will also be used for equipment like iPads, iPods, and videos to help entertain children and provide distractions for medical procedures that may be painful or scary. We also provide toys they use during their stay that they can take home with them as a memento of their treatment and that the hospital is not such a scary place to go. The Child Life Program is part of Sutters mission to provide compassionate and excellent care, according to Reese Olander, development officer for the Sutter Medical Center Foundation. Those are the things that make this hospital a place people want in their community. We provide care above and beyond what they are expecting. Grant funds went toward colorful sea-theme decorations that liven up the Pediatric Emergency Room and its private waiting room. The Child Life Program offers a variety of services at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento to help children better cope with their stay. These include a classroom staffed by a teacher as well as Sophies Place, a music room complete with recording studio, instruments, and stage lighting that provides music therapy to pediatric patients. SAFE Credit Union will provide $400,000 in philanthropic giving in 2020 to organizations that support health, education, and military personnel in the Greater Sacramento Area. SAFE is proud to support the Child Life Program at Sutter Medical Center, says Amanda Merz, community and advocacy engagement manager at SAFE Credit Union. Helping reduce childrens fears and anxieties during an emergency room stay is so important for their wellbeing and their families. The Child Life Program is such an important part of Sutters mission to provide quality and caring healthcare to our community. About SAFE SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with nearly $3 billion in assets and about 235,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person care for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region and a mortgage lending office serving Contra Costa and Alameda counties. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA. http://www.safecu.org This admission was raised while during the previous three days, Irans authorities including political officials, head and spokesperson of the civil aviation organization, commanders of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), etc. firmly rejected any speculation over the regimes involvement in this national catastrophe. However, undeniable evidence like eyewitness footage and reports resulted in official confession to this crime by Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGCs Aerospace Force. In this context, different officials became deeply worried about raising public anger because of their concealment. Of course, the protests that followed proved they were right to be concerned. What have our people done wrong that they have to endure us as officials? The people graciously passed by the incidents of November [a reference to the recent protests], the state-run website Etemad Online quoted a member of the parliament [Majles] . on January 11. Bahar, a state-run newspaper, also criticized the systematic lying to escape its superiors from the consequences of the Ukrainian airliner crash. This newspaper issued a piece titled, Lying and insisting on secrecy is unforgivable. Systems that are so secretive and opaque, what else did they hide or were able to conceal? Bahar wrote in the piece. The fact is the same entity that targeted the civil jetliner and killed all 176 innocent passengers abroad who also previously murdered more than 1,500 protesters in Irans streets during nationwide protests last November. In the issue of the Ukrainian airliner crash, international pressure forced the regime to admit and express apologies to the victims families. However, Irans oppressive apparatus still denies announcing the real death toll of Novembers protests and providing any information over thousands of disappeared protesters. In this context, there are many cases that are yet unanswered. For instance, two years ago, in February 2018, more than 65 passengers were killed after a plane struck the Dena mountain during a domestic flight between Tehran and Yasouj. Authorities promised to launch an investigation to deter more possible tragedies. However, not only no investigation was conducted, but another tragedy took place. Another relevant example is the collapse of the Plasco building, the 17-story high-rise landmark building in Tehran after it caught on January 19, 2017. Iranian authorities do not hold any responsibility for social and environmental disasters like flash floods in the northern and southern parts of the country the last April. Notably, the international environmental organizations recognized IRGCs role in the disaster through nonstandard dam-building, but this terrorist organization was never held accountable inside the country. Clearly, a regime that has killed more than 120,000 of freedom-loving people wont be able to prosecute its own agents. Therefore, it is necessary that the international community stands alongside the Iranian people as the first victims of the major state-sponsor of terrorism in the world. The world should hear Iranians cries and recognize their struggle that is led by an organized resistance toward freedom and justice. The fact is the Iranian people and their Resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its main pillar the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) are the best allies for the civilized world to get rid of governmental fundamentalism forever. Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy Photo credit: Getty From Popular Mechanics On Christmas Eve 1972, while families throughout the world prepared for a day of celebration, the crew of the B-52D Bomber Diamond Lil were preparing for something entirely different. They had been tasked with the dangerous mission of bombing North Vietnamese railroad yards at Thai Nguyen. Their mission was part of a broader campaign known as Operation Linebacker II. At the time, the nearly 20-year-old B-52 was accustomed to flying bombing missions without a fighter escort, instead relying on tail gunners operating quad .50-caliber machine guns to protect the massive planes from Vietnamese fighters. As the mission started, Airman 1st Class Albert Moore took his position in the bombers tail and scanned the skies for enemy aircraft, then he spotted an inbound MiG-21 as it raced to intercept their bomber. "I observed a target in my radar scope 8:30 o'clock, low at 8 miles," he wrote six days later. "I immediately notified the crew, and the bogie started closing rapidly. It stabilized at 4,000 yards 6:30 o'clock. I called the pilot for evasive action and the EWO (electronic warfare officer) for chaff and flares. Photo credit: Ian Abbott - Flickr The Vietnamese MiG-21 was about as old as the Diamond Lil, but it was more than twice as fast, extremely maneuverable, and armed with a single 23mm autocannon and as much as 2,000 pounds of ordnance underwing. More than 30 B-52 Stratofortresses were lost in combat throughout the Vietnam War, and as the Vietnamese MiG continued to close with the Diamond Lil, chances were high that it would be added to the list. "When the target got to 2,000 yards, I notified the crew that I was firing, Moore recounted. "I expended 800 rounds in three bursts." Moores kill was confirmed by Tech. Sgt. Clarence Chute, a gunner aboard another B-52 aircraft. "I went visual and saw the bandit on fire and falling away," Chute wrote. "Several pieces of the aircraft exploded, and the fireball disappeared in the under-cast at my 6:30 position." Story continues Moore would go down in history as not only the second B-52 tail gunner to earn a MiG kill, but also as the last tail gunner in American history to take down an enemy fighter. But this story is only one moment in the operational history of the mighty B-52, an aircraft that's lifespan will likely stretch a full centuryand beyond. Born in a Dayton Weekend Photo credit: AF GlobalStrike - Wikimedia Commons Like many of Americas most legendary military aircraft, the B-52s development was spurred directly by the need to offset the looming Soviet threat that characterized the Cold War. America needed a bomber that could reach far-flung Soviet targets, defeat their air defenses, and carry a massive atomic payload to shore up the new military doctrine known as "mutually assured destruction." So it makes sense that the first design iteration of what would become the B-52 bore a striking resemblance to the Soviets long-range bomber, the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. Boeings initial designs for the bomber included swept wings and four massive turboprop engines, which was a logical choice at the time. While jet engines had already existed for over a decade when Boeing made their first pitch in 1948, they were still seen as too fuel-hungry to be feasible for a long-range, high-altitude bomber. Photo credit: Interim Archives However, Boeings pitch was received by the then-32-year-old Colonel Pete Warden, and he was an enthusiastic fan of turbojet technology. The MIT-educated engineer and Army officer was already aware of Pratt & Whitneys work on the J57 turbojet engine, which would prove to be far more efficient than other jets of the day. Get rid of those props or your proposal will be rejected, Warden reportedly told the Boeing team as a result. He didnt technically have the authority to send Boeing back to the drawing board, but they conceded nonetheless. It was a Friday, and the Boeing team told Warden theyd have a new design ready for him by Monday. Photo credit: Popular Mechanics In order to pull it off, six of Boeings aeronautical designers, George Schairer, Vaughn Blumenthal, Maynard Pennell, Ed Wells, Art Carlson, and Bob Whittington, locked themselves in a hotel suite in nearby Dayton, Ohio, and set to work. Wells led the effort to produce what would become a 33-page B-52 proposal, while Schairer sat by himself working with materials hed purchased from a local hobby store. We didnt know what George was up to, one of the engineers was later quoted as saying. While we were running the numbers all weekend, George was off in a corner whittling away on his damn model. When it was over, the team returned to Warden with a design for an all-new eight-engine jet bomber that retained the name B-52. Their proposal included hand sketches of the new aircraft, and thanks to Schairer, a scale model of the new B-52 made out of balsa wood and painted silver. Essentially, they discovered the perfect form of the subsonic jet, Michael Lombardi, Boeings corporate historian, said . Airbus, Boeing, any other company, its the basic form they follow. Warden was obviously pleased with the new design, and the B-52 moved toward production. Around the World Without Refueling Photo credit: Museum of Flight Foundation - Getty Images The first B-52 Stratofortress took to the sky just four years later, on April 15, 1952, three years after the Soviet Union developed their first atomic weapon. It would take three more years before the nearly 160-foot long B-52 would enter service, and once it did, the U.S. was eager to demonstrate their newfound bombing capabilities. The B-52 was built for long-range bombing missions, but it was the addition of recently purchased looped-hose in-flight refueling technology that made the heavy bomber a truly global threat. In January of 1957, the U.S. Air Force set about pushing the limits of their new mid-air refueling capabilities with a B-52 mission they dubbed "Operation Power Flite." At the time, the U.S. Air Force characterized the mission as by far the most colorful and perhaps the most important of all peacetime operations ever undertaken by the United States Air Force, but Lieutenant Colonel James H. Morris, the man who commanded the three-bomber mission, had already set records at the stick of a B-52, including leading an eight-bomber mission around the perimeter of North America without stopping to refuel. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons Operation Power Flite wanted to prove three things: Americas ability to mount global bomber operations, the B-52s ability to deploy nuclear weapons at long ranges (think Soviet Union), and the plane's ability to safely complete missions, assuaging concerns about the B-52s continued operation. Of the five B-52s that took off on January 16, 1957 for Operation Power Flite, two would be forced to divert due to mechanical issues. The remaining three, however, conducted a simulated bombing run over Malaya, a British territory on the island of Singapore, before heading across the Pacific toward California. On January 18, 1957, all three of the remaining B-52s landed at March Air Force Base. Their globe-circling mission had taken less than half the time of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that had made the first non-stop flight around the world eight years prior. The B-52 had secured its place in the history books, and in the Air Forces budget. Changing With the Times Photo credit: U.S. Air Force Unlike a number of more modern bombers, the B-52s massive airframe allowed for weapons and electronics that hadnt even been invented yet. Even so, theres no way the Dayton Weekend team could have ever imagined that their balsa-wood bomber would remain an essential part of Americas nuclear triad decades into the 21st century. Much of the B-52s lifespan could be credited to Colonel Wardens insistence on jet propulsion, which helped propel the mighty BUFF, or Big Ugly Fat Fella, through decades of shifting combat strategies and mission parameters. For a time, the B-52s role was seen as a low-altitude penetration bomber, coming in for bombing runs at just 400 feet above the ground to avoid rapidly developing air defense systems. Eventually the B-52s subsonic top speed made it too slow for highly contested airspace, but the advent of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles meant Americas longstanding nuclear bomber could retain its spot in the airborne portion of Americas nuclear triad. Throughout the 1960s, B-52s carrying nuclear weapons under the banner of Americas Strategic Air Command were airborne 24 hours a day, circling just outside of Soviet airspace to provide an immediate nuclear response to a Soviet attack. Although these bombers were never called upon to deploy their nukes, an accident during refueling in 1966 caused a B-52 go down with four Mk 28 nuclear weapons on board. Three of the damaged bombs were recovered near the Spanish village of Palomares, but it took 11 weeks for a massive Navy search effort to find the fourth on the seafloor. Today, the B-52 is the only jet in active service to run eight powerful Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines, which allow the mighty BUFF to carry 70,000 pounds of ordnance an astonishing 8,800 miles without refueling. Its also found use outside the nuclear realm thanks to its payload and loitering capabilities. B-52s are used not only in nuclear missions, but for precision bombing and close air support missions thanks to its deep weapons magazine and upgraded flight systems. B-52s have participated in combat operations throughout the Global War on Terror, including bombing runs over Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and air support missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A B-52A, named The High and Mighty One, and a B-52B, named Balls 8, served NASA as a test platform for its X-15 experimental hypersonic aircraft. In recent years, upgrades to the B-52s internal weapons bays now allow it to carry advanced Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles internally as well as on external pylons, alongside a bevy of other munition options. All told, recent upgrades have produced a 66 percent increase in the B-52s payload capabilities, helping to ensure the aircraft remains a workhorse for decades to come. A Century of Service Photo credit: MARTIN BERNETTI - Getty Images In 2015, the Pentagon awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to develop Americas next long-range, heavy payload bomber. The B-21 Raider, as it would later be dubbed, is expected to enter service sometime in the mid-2020s and borrows elements of its stealth design from its predecessor, the B-2 Spirit. Americas only supersonic heavy payload bomber, the B-1B Lancer, is also expected to be put out to pasture in favor of the forthcoming B-21but the longstanding nuclear workhorse B-52 is notably absent from the Air Forces pending retirement list. In fact, two B-52s have actually been pulled back into service years after they were retiredonce in 2015, and again last May. It now appears the the venerable B-52 will remain flying years after the last B-2 Spirit or B-1B Lancer have flown off into the sunset. Thanks to continued upgrades, the Air Force now expects their fleet of 76 B-52Hs to remain in service until at least 2050, with a few expected to last into the early portions of the 2060s. In order to sustain combat operations as it approaches the century mark, the B-52 will need a slew of new technologies and upgrades, and the Air Force has already set about installing new cockpit displays, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar that allows it spot targets on the ground, and secure data links that make the mighty BUFF a bomber and a valuable aerial reconnaissance asset. In the coming years, the B-52 is expected to carry some of Americas most advanced weapons systems, including some of the first operational hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic weapons are capable of traveling at sustained speeds in excess of Mach 5, making them all but indefensible with the most modern of air defense systems. The B-52 Stratosaurus, as some have taken to calling it, may lack modern stealth capabilities, but its reliability, payload capabilities, and flexibility have ensured its continued service. Stealthy platforms like the B-21 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may clear the path, but once air defenses are down, the mighty B-52 will bring the heat. Photo credit: Richard Baker - Getty Images You Might Also Like Less than 100 farmers and their tractors have blocked Dublin city centre today as part of a two-day protest. The protest, which is not being supported by the main farming organisations, is the second time individual farmers have brought the capital's streets to a standstill in recent weeks. The farmers say, in a message circulated via Whatsapp, that their protest isn't all about beef prices but is "a fight for the survival of rural Ireland. Agriculture is the lifeblood of the rural economy". They say carbon tax is a major threat to their way of life and they need sustainable prices for beef, milk, sheep and grain. The farmers say rural Ireland has been forgotten about by the government, including the local shop, pub, farming contractor, garage and farmers. The Beef Plan Movement, which was behind protests outside factory gates last autumn, has encouraged its members to support the individual farmers' protest. The European Union's top official said Wednesday the bloc was ready to work "day and night" to reach a post- trade deal with Britain by the year-end deadline. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, on a visit to Ireland, said that formal talks would begin at the end of February or early March and simultaneously cover a range of issues. "We are in a very good spirit to go as fast possible, to work as hard as possible day and night to move forward quickly," she said before heading into talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. "We will go in parallel. It's not only trade. A lot of topics need to be (covered)," she added. Von der Leyen warned in London last week that it was "basically impossible" to get a comprehensive free trade agreement negotiated in less than a year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has until July 1 to ask for more time but has vowed not to prolong a process that began when Britons backed in a June 2016 referendum. The first big clash will revolve around the sequence in which the various issues are discussed after day on January 31. The EU primarily exports goods to Britain and imports UK services. Both sides would like their concerns addressed first in the limited timeframe. Von der Leyen said negotiators would only really have eight months because an agreement takes time to be ratified by all 28 countries. The talks formally begin after a period of consultations in Brussels and the approval of an EU negotiating mandate. The overarching theme of the talks will be how closely Britain remains aligned to EU rules and regulations after Brexit. Von der Leyen insists that Britain cannot expect preferential trade terms without accepting "a level playing field". Britain would like to set its own rules after Brexit that give it more leeway to strike trade agreements with the United States and other economic powers. Brussels will keep the interests of EU member Ireland closely in mind because of its border with Britain and heavy dependence on the UK market. Ireland "will be absolutely on team EU in these negotiations," said Varadkar. "Getting that agreement is crucial for businesses, for jobs for exports and for the agri-food sector. Oji Group to Supply Paper to Replace Plastic Wrapping for Nestle Kit Kat Bars in Japan The switch to paper could make a substantial reduction on plastic waste, as Japanese consumers buy roughly 4 million KitKat Mini bars daily. Nestle expects to save 380 tons of plastic each year with the change. Jan. 15, 2020 - Oji Holdings announced that Nestle will use paper produced by Oji Group for the wrapper of its popular KitKat chocolate bars in Japan. Oji Group's paper replaces plastic wrapping that was used to package bars. The switch from plastic to paper is in line with Nestle commitment to achieve a waste-free future and make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, with a particular focus on avoiding plastic-waste. As part of that effort, Nestle Japan in 2019 announced that its line of KitKat bars (original, dark chocolate, and matcha) will come wrapped in origami paper. According to Nestle, the miniature version of the bars will come individually wrapped in matte stock paper instead of plastic, making it possible to fold the wrappers into different shapes. The wrappers will come printed with instructions for folding them into an origami crane, which symbolizes hope and healing. In a written statement, Oji Group said, "We highly appreciate Nestle Group's considerate commitment towards creation of sustainable society. At the same time we will maintain supporting Nestle's action as a packaging material supplier." The switch to paper could make a substantial reduction on plastic waste, as Japanese consumers buy roughly 4 million KitKat Mini bars daily. Nestle expects to save 380 tons of plastic each year with the change. Oji concluded, "As environmental statements were made at G20 summit which was held in Osaka in June 2019, the need to replace plastic with paper for the purpose of environment protection is increasing all over the world. Oji Group would like to engage in SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) by supply of environmental friendly products together with our clients' actions. We are expecting expansion of the market followed by Thailand and Japan." Oji Holdings Corporation is involved in a wide range of industrial markets. The group of companies produce containerboard and corrugated containers, boxboard and folding cartons, packaging papers, tissue papers, specialty papers, newsprint and communication papers, along with pulp, energy, and lumber processing. To learn more, visit: www.ojiholdings.co.jp . SOURCE: Oji Holdings Corporation Syria's air defences confronted an aerial "aggression" from Israel that targeted an air base in the country's centre late Tuesday, state media reported quoting a military official. The official quoted by the state news agency SANA said the attack targeted the T-4 air base in Homs province shortly after 10 pm local time. The official said the attack only caused material damage to the base, saying most rockets were intercepted while only four landed in the targeted area. There was no immediate Israeli comment. Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Syria over the past years but it rarely comments on what it targets. Israel is widely believed to have been behind airstrikes mainly targeting Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria that have joined the country's war fighting alongside the government. The attack on Tuesday comes during heightened tension after the recent escalation between the US and Iran, Damascus' main ally in the region. A US airstrike in Baghdad killed Iran's top general earlier in January. General Qassim Soleimani was the main architect of Iran's policy in Syria, where thousands of allied fighters fought alongside President Bashar Assad's forces in the country's civil war. Russia announced late last year that it had delivered the S-300 air defence system to Syria. Russia, too, is a key ally of Assad, and its intervention in the civil war, beginning in 2015, turned the tide in his favour. Harry Dunn's family lawyer has slammed Boris Johnson over 'kick in the stomach' claims that the chances of extraditing alleged killer Anne Sacoolas are 'very low'. Radd Seiger said the Prime Minister's comments made on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday were 'a very powerful blow' which have 'done real damage' to his bid to bring the wife of an American intelligence officer back to Britain to face justice. 'I was watching the BBC Breakfast interview in disbelief - my jaw hit the floor,' he told MailOnline. 'We are incandescent with rage,' he said. Mr Dunn died after his motorbike crashed into a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year. Mrs Sacoolas, 42, claimed diplomatic immunity after the collision and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy. Anne Sacoolas (left) was able to flee the UK after claiming diplomatic immunity despite allegedly killing 19-year-old Harry Dunn (right) in a crash The parents of Harry Dunn, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn (left and centre) along with their family lawyer and representative Radd Seiger (right) pictured together on Good Morning Britain in December Demanding a greater show of support from the PM, Mr Seiger questioned whether the Mr Johnson is more interested in currying favour with President Trump than supporting the grieving parents of a British citizen. 'Boris Johnson's comments have made my job ten times harder. We were beginning to make real progress,' he said. 'We felt that although we weren't supported by authorities initially, through hard work and dialogue, we were building bridges. 'Home Secretary Priti Patel reached out - along with our MP Andrea Leadsom - and we were bringing the government and Harry's family together. 'When he [Boris Johnson] spoke on BBC Breakfast I was in disbelief. It wasn't the public line we agreed on.' Mr Seiger added: 'It's not just about Harry anymore, its about the ability to allow a sovereign nation to apply the laws of the land to the foreign visitors. 'Everyone right up to the Home Secretary agrees with this - all except for Boris who is off in La La Land.' Mr Seiger also revealed that Harry's mother Charlotte had begun therapy to begin to process his son's death, adding: 'It was especially difficult over the holiday season.' The PM (pictured on BBC Breakfast yesterday) played down expectations of a legal breakthrough despite the Home Office submitting a request for Anne Sacoolas Radd Seiger said the PM's comments made on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday were 'a very powerful blow' which have 'done real damage' to his bid to bring the wife of an American spy to Britain to face justice Despite the blow, Harry's family received a boost elsewhere after Northamptonshire Police announced they would take part in their legal claim contesting the diplomatic immunity granted to his alleged killer. Chief Constable Nick Adderley said he supported a request for his force to join the judicial review of the immunity that was granted to Anne Sacoolas after she allegedly killed the 19-year-old in a crash in August last year. The case will be brought against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which is set to claim they did not advise police that Ms Sacoolas had immunity, under which she fled the UK after the incident. Mr Adderley said the force would not seek to retrieve its costs from the family even if the legal claim was unsuccessful despite the FCO looking to 'seek costs'. Chief Constable Nick Adderley said he supported a request for his force to join the judicial review of the immunity that was granted to Ms Sacoolas after the incident Mr Seiger previously said the case could cost the family upwards of 50,000 if it is appealed by the FCO and ends up in the Supreme Court. Mr Seiger welcomed the police chief's move today, saying: 'They rightly recognise major public interest issues are at stake.' In documents, the FCO have claimed that 'the Secretary of State did not purport to advise the police as to the legal position in relation to Mrs Sacoolas' immunity.' In their challenge of the judicial review launched by the Dunn family, the FCO have also said that: 'It was and is for the police, as the independent criminal investigator, to make their own decisions on matters affecting their investigation.' The FCO allege that any statement provided to the Northamptonshire force would have been an 'informal expression of opinion'. The claim against the FCO issued on behalf of Mr Dunn's parents Mr Dunn and Charlotte Charles alleged the granting of diplomatic immunity to Mrs Sacoolas was 'wrong in law'. They requested the Foreign Office withdraw advice provided to Northamptonshire Police surrounding the granting of diplomatic immunity to the suspect. The family have said they are concerned Mr Raab was 'pressured by the United States to interpret the law in a way which allowed her to escape justice', a claim the FCO said was 'entirely without foundation'. The Home Office submitted an extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas on Friday after she was charged with causing the 19-year-old's death by dangerous driving. The US State Department has said the extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas is highly inappropriate and would be an abuse. Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was 'right that we made the appeal for extradition' but also told BBC Breakfast that sending Mrs Sacoolas back to face justice was 'not what (the US) do'. Reacting to Mr Johnson's comments from Denver in the US, the spokesman for the Dunn family, Radd Seiger, said: 'I do not know what is in the Prime Minister's mind in making those comments because the parents and I have not yet had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him but we expect to do so within the next few days. 'Certainly, if he is basing those comments on what is currently emanating from Washington he may well be right. 'However, the extradition request has now been delivered and therefore the legal process has commenced Mr Johnson's officials have been working extremely hard over the last few months to prepare a thorough and diligent case.' , Cookies . cookies. The widower of a police officer who was murdered while on duty 15 years ago has said he hopes the arrest of an ex-bouncer accused of masterminding her death will bring some closure. Paul Beshenivsky said he welcomed the arrest of Piran Ditta Khan, 71, on January 14 over the death of his wife Sharon who was shot dead in 2005 in an armed robbery. Khan appeared at court in Islamabad, Pakistan, today where matters relating to his extradition were discussed. West Yorkshire Police officer PC Beshenivsky was shot dead while responding to an armed robbery at a travel agent's in Bradford on November 18, in 2005 and became the seventh serving female officer ever to be killed in the line of duty in Britain. West Yorkshire Police officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead at a travel agent's in Bradford on November 18, in 2005 The police officer's widower Paul Beshenivsky said he welcomed the arrest of the ex-bouncer accused of masterminding her death She had only been a police officer for nine months when she was blasted in the chest on what was her youngest daughter Lydia's fourth birthday. The bullet tore through her stab-proof vest, hit a rib, punctured her aorta artery and damaged her spine - causing her chest to fill with blood. Her partner, PC Teresa Milburn, was also shot but survived. Khan, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the 2005 robbery, was remanded in custody to next appear in court on January 29. Six men have been jailed in connection with her murder but Khan left the country for Pakistan. A 20,000 reward for information leading to his capture was issued by West Yorkshire Police, who confirmed today that Khan had been arrested. Mr Beshenivsky, who has since re-married, said: 'At last they've got him. It's 2005 to now to get him. From my view, it will give me a bit of closure. 'When something is still happening in your mind and periodically you get told from police that they're still looking for him, which is great, but you've not forgotten about it. Piran Ditta Khan, 71, who was wanted by police in connection with the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky has been arrested in Pakistan Three men - Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah (right), Mustaf Jama (left) and his younger brother Yusuf Jama (right) - were all given minimum 35-year jail sentences for her murder 'I heard about it yesterday and I was told it was 90 per cent that it was him. 'This morning they confirmed that it is him and he's being held in custody in Pakistan.' Mr Beshenivsky said an upcoming court case will cause him and his family to re-live the pain all over again. He added: 'There will be a court case and it will all be coming to light again. That brings it all back to light, especially with the kids. 'My daughter just rang me about it and she told me about it. Obviously it's not very nice, you try to get on with your life. 'It doesn't give you total closure, like now it just goes through your mind and the kids are going to be suffering. Mr Beshenivsky, who heard about the arrest yesterday, said the arrest of Khan had given him a bit of closure Forensic investigators are pictured at the scene of PC Beshenivsky's murder in Bradford in 2005 Officers are pictured patrolling floral tributes laid where PC Sharon Beshenivsky was gunned down in Bradford in 2005 'I'm having to deal with it. I've remarried, but you're never going to forget. 'It's a bit like Groundhog Day.' West Yorkshire Police Detective Superintendent Mark Swift said: 'I would like to thank the National Crime Agency officers in Pakistan and partners who have made this arrest possible. 'This is a major development in this long running investigation and their assistance in this matter cannot be understated. 'We are continuing to liaise with partners in Pakistan to process Khan's extradition with the intention of returning him to the UK to face court proceedings.' Three men - Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, Mustaf Jama and his younger brother Yusuf Jama - were all given minimum 35-year jail sentences for her murder. This 'spray and pray' MAC-10 sub-machine gun was used at the scene of PC Beshenivsky's murder But police spent years hunting for Khan, who they claimed was the architect of the robbery and travelled to Pakistan after the mother-of-five was killed. PC Beshenivsky was with her colleague PC Teresa Milburn when they were called to Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford, when she was gunned down. PC Milburn was seriously injured but survived. The 38-year-old was mother to three children and two stepchildren and wife to her husband Paul. On the day of her death, the Beshenivsky family were due to hold a birthday party for their youngest daughter Lydia at their home near Haworth, West Yorkshire. A headstone dedicated to PC Beshenivsky is emblazoned with the West Yorkshire Police logo PC Beshenivsky had wrapped the presents and even baked a cake for the occasion. But as she neared the end of her shift that afternoon, she was called out to a robbery by a seven-strong gang at the travel agency. She had only been an officer for nine months. The crime shocked the nation and left Mr Beshenivsky and their five children totally devastated. On the 10th anniversary of her death in 2015, her daughter Lydia pulled at the nation's heartstrings when she claimed she couldn't remember her mother. She said: 'Nothing, I've no memories. I've been cheated, haven't I? Her murderers were heartless. 'I only know what I'm told about mum. I look at photos of her and think she looks pretty. I would have loved to have known her.' Her son Paul Junior added: 'Our mum was very brave. 'She went into the shop first, she wasn't scared. 'Dad says we are like her in that - we have a strong sense of right and wrong.' Sharon Beshenivsky is pictured smiling in a black dress (left) while her colleague PC Theresa Milburn is seen (right) looking emotional on the day of her funeral after she survived the attack that killed her colleague Sharon Beshenivsky's widower Paul is pictured with their two children Paul Junior and Lydia Sharon's daughter Lydia is pictured wearing a police hat at an event in 2007, two years after her mother's death Her husband Paul said after the tragedy: 'It took me two days to tell the kids. 'I struggled to find the words but I saw them looking down and thought I'd be truthful in as simple a way as possible. Police officers killed in their line of duty in Britain PC Yvonne Fletcher, 25, was shot dead outside the Libyan Embassy in London on 17 April 1984. PC Keith Blakelock, 40, was attacked with machetes during the Broadwater Farm riots in London in October 1985. PC Ian Broadhurst, 34, shot dead in Leeds by David Bieber, wanted by FBI in American for two killings in the USA, on December 26 2003 PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38,was shot dead by a gang during an armed robbery in Bradford on 18 November 2005. PC Nicola Hughes, 23, and PC Fiona Bone, 32, were killed in a gun and grenade attack carried out by Dale Cregan during an armed robbery in Mottram on September 18 2012. PC Phillippa Reynolds, 27, died in the passenger seat of her police car in Londonderry, when it was crashed into by a stolen car driven by two men on 9 February 2013. PC David Phillips, 34, died after being run over by a stolen pick-up truck in Wallasey on 5 October 2015 PC Keith Palmer, 48, was stabbed to death by terrorist Khalid Masood while he was on-duty outside the Palace of Westminster on March 22 2017. PC Andrew Harper, 28, was run over after he was called to a burglary in Berkshire on August 15 2019. Advertisement 'I said, 'Mummy has died and she won't be coming home. 'It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Then a friend took them away for a fortnight to escape the publicity.' The West Yorkshire Police officer was left without a headstone for more than five years after her death, after her widower Paul claimed he was unable to decide on the right words for it. The family row saw her mother and stepfather, Jenny and Tony Booth, begging her widower to erect their headstone. But instead a simple wooden cross bearing her name marked her final resting place at Nab Wood Cemetery in Shipley, West Yorkshire for years. A West Yorkshire Police headstone was put up in 2006. Today the force thanked the National Crime Agency who they claim have been working tirelessly in Pakistan to find Khan. The force's Detective Superintendent Mark Swift said: 'I would like to thank the National Crime Agency officers in Pakistan and partners who have made this arrest possible. 'This is a major development in this long running investigation and their assistance in this matter cannot be understated. 'We are continuing to liaise with partners in Pakistan to process Khan's extradition with the intention of returning him to the UK to face court proceedings.' WPC Theresa Milburn, who was shot in the attack that killed her colleague Sharon, leads the funeral procession in 2005 The funeral cortege of PC Sharon Beshenivsky is pictured as her colleagues salute the vehicle Overall, the security situation in South Asia is getting worse, which does not bode well for the region's economic development. by Liu Zongyi In 2019, there were major changes in the traditional and non-traditional security situation of South Asia. First, tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir continued and the possibility of an armed clash remained quite high. In February 2019, following a terror attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama, the Indian Air Force conducted surgical strikes across the border with Pakistan. For political reasons, India is likely to resort to air strikes in similar situations in the future, or it might adopt even more lethal measures. Attacks like Pulwama and the following air strikes by India could easily trigger misunderstanding and even a military conflict. In August 2019, India unilaterally revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, making Jammu and Ladakh two separate union territories. Thus, the possibility of India's further infiltration into Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir cannot be ruled out. This move by India violated the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 and the Simla Agreement signed by India and Pakistan and worsened bilateral relations. After India's revocation of Article 370 of its constitution that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan did not react much. However, its patience could be limited. Especially after India recently passed its Citizenship Amendment Bill, which is largely seen to be anti-Muslim, conflict between the two countries may be imminent. Besides, the geostrategic confrontations in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region are intensifying, which can be reflected in US Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among Australia, India, Japan and the US (the Quad). Not only have the quadrilateral and trilateral cooperation levels been upgraded, but the mechanism of 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial meeting between India and Japan has also been established. India even set up a new Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office. Although India claimed that its Indo-Pacific vision is different from the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, they are essentially the same. In early December 2019, a Chinese research vessel was expelled by India near Andaman. Also, India has harmed China's interest by unilaterally changing the status of Kashmir, as it has gradually acquired a more aggressive posture toward its border issues with China as well. For example, it provoked a confrontation with Chinese military near Pangong Lake. Since President Xi Jinping had two unofficial meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2018 and in October 2019 respectively, China-India relations are still under control. However, there is a possibility of future confrontations near the border or in the Indian Ocean. The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating. The US is considering its troops withdrawal from Afghanistan. Right now, the Trump administration is busy negotiating with the Taliban. In such a situation, terrorism has been surging. The Islamic State is now aiming to establish a presence in the area. In April 2019, a mass terror attack took place in Sri Lanka, causing heavy casualties. Also in November 2018, the Chinese consulate in Karachi was attacked by terrorists. The Balochistan Liberation Army, supported by some countries, targeted Chinese people and China's projects in Pakistan. Overall, the security situation in South Asia is getting worse, which does not bode well for the region's economic development. There are mainly three possible solutions to improve the situation. First, since every country is the victim of terrorism, international cooperation needs to be strengthened. Currently, most counter-terrorism cooperation is bilateral. Without cross-border systems and platforms, even the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) cannot effectively deal with such issues. One of the problems the SCO faces is that India and Pakistan will hardly reach consensus in certain aspects after they joined in. Thus, new ideas and experiments are needed, especially in regard to the Afghan peace process. Second, it is urgent to set up a democratic, egalitarian and inclusive regional security architecture to deal with geopolitical issues. The US, Japan, Australia and India intend to form their military alliance, which excludes China and Russia. But the future security architecture in this region should be equal and inclusive, including all the countries involved, such as China, Russia and ASEAN member states. Third, major forces in relevant areas ought to take responsibility to maintain regional security and stability. Political agendas which can trigger cultural and religious conflicts should not be implemented. Many policies adopted by some dominant forces within and outside the region are mostly based on their long-term strategic opportunistic calculations, and are not immediate responses to the situation. Such countries should have a clear understanding of the situation and respond to it collectively. The author is a senior fellow of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, a visiting fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China and a distinguished fellow of the China (Kunming) South Asia & Southeast Asia Institute. The cornerstone of Artsakhs foreign policy is the expansion of its international recognition, said Artsakh Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian at a press conference summing up the results of 2019. The Foreign Minister noted that the cornerstone of Artsakh's foreign policy is expanding the scope of Artsakh's international recognition and international cooperation, strengthening interaction and friendship between Artsakh and other states, and expanding the Republic's involvement in the peace process, emphasizing that the main efforts of the Foreign Ministry have been focused on ensuring success in these processes. Referring to the realization of the goals, Masis Mayilian noted that the year was quite effective. Not only have efforts continued to strengthen Artsakh's international relations, but steps have been taken to expand the geography of Artsakh's international cooperation. Thus, the working visits of the Artsakh delegation to Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, the United States, Russia, France and Egypt were held, within the framework of which the NKR Foreign Minister met with representatives of the political, public and scientific circles of the respective states. As a result of these meetings arrangements on cooperation were reached. Within the framework of the visits traditional meetings with Armenian Diaspora organizations took place. The Foreign Minister of Artsakh stressed the importance of continuing the efforts on expanding the frameworks of the decentralized cooperation between the administrative units of Artsakh and different countries. In this regard, Masis Mayilian noted, in particular, the adoption of the resolution on establishing friendly relations between Stepanakert and the Australian city of Ryde in the run-up to the working visit of the Artsakh delegation to Australia. A Circle of Friendship with Artsakh was established in Australia, involving MPs and Senators of the Federal Parliament, Ministers, as well as the Prime Minister of the State of New South Wales, the Speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses of the State Parliament, scientists, clergy and culture representatives. The Declaration of Friendship signed between Hadrut region of Artsakh and Isere Department of France in September 2019, as well as the joint Declaration signed by Artsakhs Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian and President of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes of the French Republic Laurent Wauquiez in October 2019 also testify to the continued strengthening of the friendly relations. The Foreign Minister of Artsakh stressed the importance of the key political event of the year held in Stepanakert - the Friends of Artsakh Forum Cooperation for the Sake of Justice and Peace - organized jointly by the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun. Representatives of parliamentary Friendship Groups and Circles, twin cities, as well as the administrative-territorial units, which had recognized the independence of Artsakh or cooperate with Artsakh, in general, over 150 representatives from about 30 states, participated in the Forum. Following the Forum, the participants adopted a Declaration, in which they called on the international community to take all necessary steps to remove the obstacles to the full-fledged participation of Artsakh in the international cooperation aimed at promoting democracy, as well as strengthening peace and stability in the region. Within the frameworks of the Forum, a decision was also made to create an international network of friends of Artsakh - ProArtsakh - with the aim of raising awareness of Artsakh in the international arena, protecting the legitimate interests of its people and promoting the involvement of Artsakh in international processes. Masis Mayilian informed that the activity of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh in international structures was reaching a new level; in particular, the Artsakh side had started a process of submitting national reports on the implementation of the provisions of international conventions, primarily in the sphere of human rights. Thus, for the first time, Artsakh disseminated in the UN a periodic report on fulfilling the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Works on the report on implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were launched. Within the frameworks of this process, the Republic of Artsakh plans to accede to the core international human rights instruments. The Republic is also expanding its involvement in the process of discussing global issues and trends. Just in this context should be considered the adoption by Artsakh of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, within the frameworks of which the National Council for Sustainable Development was established and the Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was prepared and submitted to the UN. [January 15, 2020] Gartner Says Global IT Spending to Reach $3.9 Trillion in 2020 Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.9 trillion in 2020, an increase of 3.4% from 2019, according to the latest forecast by Gartner (News - Alert), Inc. Global IT spending is expected to cross into $4 trillion territory next year. "Although political uncertainties pushed the global economy closer to recession, it did not occur in 2019 and is still not the most likely scenario for 2020 and beyond," said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. "With the waning of global uncertainties, businesses are redoubling investments in IT as they anticipate revenue growth, but their spending patterns are continually shifting." Software will be the fastest-growing major market this year, reaching double-digit growth at 10.5% (see Table 1). "Almost all of the market segments with enterprise software are being driven by the adoption of software as a service (SaaS (News - Alert))," said Mr. Lovelock. "We even expect spending on forms of software that are not cloud to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate. SaaS is gaining more of the new spending, although licensed-based software will still be purchased and its use expanded through 2023." Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars) 2019 Spending 2019 Growth (%) 2020 Spending 2020 Growth (%) 2021 Spending 2021 Growth (%) Data Center Systems 205 -2.7 208 1.9 212 1.5 Enterprise Software 456 8.5 503 10.5 556 10.5 Devices 682 -4.3 688 0.8 685 -0.3 IT Services 1,030 3.6 1,081 5.0 1,140 5.5 Communications Services 1,364 -1.1 1,384 1.5 1,413 2.1 Overall IT 3,737 0.5 3,865 3.4 4,007 3.7 Source (News - Alert): Gartner (January 2020) Growth in enterprise IT spending for cloud-based offerings will be faster than growth in traditional (noncloud) IT offerings through 2022. Organizations with a high percentage of IT spending dedicated to cloud adoption is indicative of where the next-generation, disruptive business models will emerge. "Last quarter, we introduced the 'and' dilemma where enterprises are challenged with cutting costs and investing for growth simultaneously. Maturing cloud environments is an example of how this dilemma is alleviated: Organizations can expect a greater return on their cloud investments through cost savings, improved agility and innovation, and better security. This spending trend isn't going away anytime soon." The headwind coming from a strong U.S. dollar has become a deterrent to IT spending on devices and data center equipment in effected countries. "For example, mobile phone spending in Japan will decline this year due to local average selling prices going up as a result of the U.S. dollar increasing. The U.K.'s spending on PCs, printers, servers and even external storage systems is expected to decline by 3%, too," said Mr. Lovelock. Despite last quarter showing the sharpest decline within the device market among all segments, it will return to overall growth in 2020 due to the adoption of new, less-expensive phone options from emerging countries. "The almost $10 billion increase in device spending in Greater China and Emerging Asia/Pacific is more than enough to offset the expected declines in Western Europe and Latin America," said Mr. Lovelock. More detailed analysis on the outlook for the IT industry is available in the complementary webinar "IT Spending Forecast, 4Q19 Update: Emerging Technologies in 2020." Gartner's IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast. The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across the hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in "Gartner Market Databook, 4Q19 Update." This quarterly IT spending forecast page includes links to the latest IT spending reports, webinars, blog posts and press releases. Mr. Lovelock will provide further analysis on the key drivers of the IT market at the Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference taking place May 11-13 in San Diego, CA and May 18-19 in London. Follow news and updates from the conference on Twitter (News - Alert) using #GartnerTGI. About Gartner Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the successful organizations of tomorrow. Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource for more than 15,000 organizations in more than 100 countries - across all major functions, in every industry and organization size. To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business, visit www.gartner.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005140/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Iran's president warned Wednesday that European soldiers in the Mideast could be in danger after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking the limits of its nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat meanwhile acknowledged that Iranians were lied to for days following the Islamic Republic's accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people. President Hassan Rouhani's remarks in a televised Cabinet meeting represent the first direct threat he's made to Europe as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington over President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the deal in May 2018. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's admission, which came at a summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, represents the first time an Iranian official referred to earlier claims from Tehran that a technical malfunction downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight as a lie. The shootdown and subsequent days of denials that a missile had downed it sparked days of angry protests in the country. The current tensions between Iran and the U.S. reached fever-pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blame for deadly roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces early last Wednesday, just before an anti-aircraft battery shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Amid all of this, Britain, France and Germany launched the so-called dispute mechanism pertaining to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Speaking before his Cabinet, Rouhani showed a rarely seen level of anger in his wide-ranging remarks Wednesday. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Rouhani said. We want you to leave this region but not with war. We want you to go wisely. It is to your own benefit. Rouhani did not elaborate. European forces have been deployed alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. France also maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Britian has opened a base in the island nation of Bahrain. Rouhani separately criticized Europe's baseless words regarding the nuclear deal. Iran had been holding out for Europe to offer a means by which Tehran could sell its oil abroad despite U.S. sanctions. However, a hoped-for trading mechanism for other goods hasn't taken hold and a French-pitched line of credit also hasn't materialized. After Soleimani's killing, Iran announced it would no longer abide by any of the nuclear deal's limits, which had been designed to keep Tehran from having enough material to be able to build an atomic bomb if it chose. However, Iran has said it will continue to allow the United Nations' nuclear watchdog access to its nuclear sites. Rouhani on Wednesday also reiterated a longtime Iranian pledge that Tehran doesn't seek the bomb. The European nations reluctantly triggered the accords dispute mechanism on Tuesday to force Iran into discussions, starting the clock on a process that could result in the snapback of U.N. and EU sanctions on Iran. The Europeans felt compelled to act, despite objections from Russia and China, because every violation of the deal reduces the so-called breakout time Iran needs to produce a nuclear bomb, Britains Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament. Under the deal's limits, experts believed Iran needed a year to be able to have enough material for a weapon. Zarif, speaking in New Delhi at the Raisina Dialogue, blamed U.S. ignorance and arrogance for fueling mayhem in the Middle East. However, he also acknowledged the anger Iranians felt over the plane shootdown. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Zarif said. 8 Protests in Iran Zarif went onto praise Iran's military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on." However, he said that he and Rouhani only learned that a missile had down the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Iran's civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which shot down the aircraft, knew immediately afterward its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. But there was a sense that the chance for immediate further retaliation by Iran against the U.S. may have lifted. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, said in a speech that Iran's war project was closed since the people stood against American pressure. Now, we are moving toward peace, Salami said. That contradicted Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guard's aerospace program, who blamed the U.S. in part for the shootdown and vowed further revenge. Certainly these consecutive blows will continue and we will avenge the blood of these martyrs on them, said Hajizadeh, who only days earlier apologized and said I wish I were dead. Later Wednesday, Iranian state media said the British ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, had left the country. Macaire left after being given what the state-run IRNA news agency described as prior notice, without elaborating. Britain's Foreign Office insisted Macaire's trip to London was "routine, business as usual" and was planned before his arrest in Tehran. It said he planned return to Iran. Macaire had been held after attending a candlelight vigil Saturday in Tehran over Iran shooting down the Ukrainian jetliner. The vigil quickly turned into an anti-government protests and Macaire left shortly after, only to be arrested by police. In Ukraine, forensic analysts expect to start decoding next week the flight data recorders recovered from the downed plane. The recorders, known as black boxes, have yet to be transported to Ukraine. City Councilman Bobby Henon called on government agencies to stop awarding contracts to companies with questionable safety records just because theyve submitted the lowest bids. Read more A Center City lawyer and a member of Philadelphia City Council on Tuesday called on government agencies to stop awarding contracts to companies with questionable safety records just because they submitted the lowest bids. Brian E. Fritz joined City Councilmember Bobby Henon in saying safety should be a factor in weighing to whom to give construction work. Henon, a longtime member of Electricians Local 98 and its former political director, said recent changes in how the city awards construction contracts were a step in the right direction. But he said inconsistencies in state code need to be ironed out and more needs to be done to educate workers and employers about federal safety requirements. Since a 2017 voter-approved charter change that was proposed by the Kenney administration, Philadelphia has used a system called Best Value procurement, which allows the city to consider things beyond the lowest bid when awarding contracts. These factors include quality of work and past performance. In addition, vendors bidding on city contracts must go through a prequalification process, and the city Procurement Department meets with all public works departments quarterly to review and rate all completed projects from the previous quarter. That review helps guide the city in evaluating the awarding of future contracts, officials said. I think weve put a number of mechanisms in place to ensure that we are getting the best value, the best quality, on our construction projects, said Stephanie Tipton, the citys chief administrative officer. I do feel confidant that we are, a), taking it very seriously, and, b), taking proactive steps to address any issues that vendors may have had with performance or having a record of, perhaps, poor safety. Fritz and Henon said agencies beyond city government should be more vigilant in evaluating firms seeking public construction projects. Fritz cited the case of John Jay Johnson, a member of Laborers Local 57, who drowned in January 2016 after he fell through a man-made opening on Pier 78 into the Delaware River in South Philadelphia. At the time, he said, Agate Construction Co. of Clermont, N.J., was renovating the pier for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. When Agate bid the project, they werent asked their history. They werent asked their safety record. They were merely asked to be the lowest bidder to get the project," Fritz said during a news conference at the Notary Hotel near City Hall. His firm last week secured a $10.5 million settlement for Johnsons family from Agate. Henon, who represents the 6th District, called Johnsons death preventable. Johnsons widow, Kimberly, attended the news conference but did not speak. Fritz and Henon said there had been other injuries and at least one other death at Agate Construction projects. Efforts to reach Agate and its attorney, John T. Donovan, were unsuccessful. Ayanna Williams, spokesperson for the port authority, declined to discuss the concerns raised at Tuesdays news conference or the process it uses for awarding contracts. The knife Maninder Singh, 31, used to kill Sarabjit Kaur, 27, was bought from Big Bazaar in Elante Mall around 20 days before the murder as part of a well-thought-out plan, the police said on Wednesday. Having realised that Sarabjit was not going to marry him after dating him for eight months, and was now interested in marrying the brother of her sister-in-law, Manindar had hatched the conspiracy to murder her, investigators said. Sarabjit, a nurse, had to quit her job at Grecian Hospital, Sector 69, Mohali, after her contract was not renewed, and left for her native in Kakra village, Sangrur district, for her brothers wedding on December 8. According to her family, she was planning to apply for a job at All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, and was going to stay at her village till she found a new job. HACKED INTO WOMANS FB ACCOUNT Police said while Sarabjit was away at her village, Maninder got suspicious about her involvement with Kulwinder, the brother of her sister- in-law. So, he hacked into her Facebook account, and found her conversation with Kulwinder, confirming his suspicion. Enraged, he made up his mind to kill her. In his plan to bring her to Chandigarh, Maninder made a fake email ID by the name PGI Recruitment Cell and wrote to Sarabjit at her Gmail account on December 24 that she had been selected for training at PGIMER, Chandigarh, starting December 26. Believing the email from PGIMER to be genuine, Sarabjits brother Tarsem and his wife dropped her at PGIMER on December 26. Maninder met her there and picked her up to find a rented accommodation. PROPOSED TO VICTIM IN JALANDHAR On December 28, the couple left for Amritsar to visit Golden Temple, and on their way back stayed at Grand Hotel in Jalandhar. There, Maninder brought up their marriage, but Sarabjit evaded the topic while sharing that her brothers had arranged her marriage with Kulwinder. As Kulwinder was to leave for Kuwait, he sent her a message to meet him. On this, Sarabjit insisted that they return to Chandigarh, leading to an altercation between her and Maninder. Eventually, on December 30, Maninder booked a room at Hotel Sky in Industrial Area, Phase 2, Chandigarh, for two days. After reaching the hotel, Maninder again tried to convince her to marry him. This angered Sarabjit, who refused to marry him and tried to leave the room. But Maninder pulled her and threw her on the bed. He then strangled her with his hands, and took out the knife from his bag and slit her throat to ensure she died. After wrapping the body in a quilt, he walked out of the hotel, with 30,000 cash in his possession. DROVE TO ZIRAKPUR FOR BURGER AFTER MURDER Having fled from the hotel, Maninder drove in his Hyundai i20 to Burger King, a fast food outlet, on the Zirakpur-Dera Bassi highway. After having a burger, he drove to Sector 69 and parked his car in the parking lot opposite Grecian hospital. He had planned to spend the night in the parking area, but changed his mind and parked on the PGIMER campus to avoid his car being traced. Feeling restless, he moved again, this time to a parking lot in Sector 35, where he spent the night. DUMPED PHONES IN GURDWARA SAROVAR Leaving Sector 35 on December 31, Maninder drove to Sirhind. After paying obeisance at Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup, he threw his and Sarabjits phone in the gurdwaras sarovar. After staying the night in Sirhind he moved to Patiala, where he left his car at Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahibs parking, and left for Ludhiana by bus. On Wednesday, when he was produced in a district court, Maninder confessed that he wrapped the knife used in the murder and hotel room keys in a cloth and threw them out of the moving bus, while going to Ludhiana. For years, Montreal resident Brent George bought replacement water filters for his refrigerator from a local appliance store. Then one time he turned to Amazon, where he often shopped for other products. Besides being more convenient, the online filters he selected sold by a third party and not by manufacturer Whirlpool were also cheaper. Ultimately, George got more than he expected: an introduction to the hidden and potentially harmful world of counterfeit refrigerator water filters. Many consumers may be unaware of the risk of buying fake filters online, but sources in law enforcement and the appliance industry say its significant and likely growing. Want more stories like this? Sign up here to get news alerts. Refrigerator filters are an attractive target for unscrupulous sellers looking to make a quick buck. Theyre pricey (typically up to $50), purchased every six months at the behest of large corporations, and often difficult for consumers to evaluate. By slapping some labels, packaging and fake certifications on lookalike filters with little functionality, then selling them online at discounted prices directly to consumers or via intermediaries who may not always be in on the act counterfeiters can undercut legitimate manufacturers and still turn a profit. Fake filters in the millions They may also be putting consumers at risk by selling filters that are not merely ineffective, but unsafe. Along with failing to do what they claim, counterfeits can introduce chemicals such as arsenic, a carcinogen, and octane, a petroleum-derived solvent, into users drinking water, according to a May 2018 report from the industry group Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. The organization representing more than 100 appliance brands and suppliers has argued for better protections against fake filters in meetings with Amazon, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and the White House, said Jill Notini, the groups spokeswoman. Its efforts have stirred interest in the issue, she said, but not much action. Neither the association nor three major filter manufacturers could tell FairWarning how much counterfeiting costs the companies in lost revenue. But Notini said the group estimates the number of fake water filters to be in the millions. And the threat appears to be increasing. Between 2016 and 2018, seizures of fake refrigerator water filters at U.S. ports grew considerably. In all, Customs and Border Protection seized more than 150,000 such products or related parts in dozens of cases nationwide, according to the agencys most recent data, provided to FairWarning. In July, customs officers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, which accounts for 43 percent of all cargo entering the United States, seized 5,200 counterfeit filters from a shipment of various products sent from China to an address in Washington state. Notini said she understood that the filters, which mimicked the brands Brita, GE, Frigidaire and PUR, were headed to a known Amazon seller. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jaime Ruiz confirmed only that the products were intended to be sold in an online store. Packaging can be tip-off Soon after George received his two new filters in the mail, he began to suspect that something was wrong. When they showed up, they were suspiciously wrapped, he said in an interview with FairWarning. The hard plastic shell and softer plastic wrap looked sloppy and bore water spots, almost as if they or the filters had previously been used. And I distinctly remembered holographic stickers on the ones I bought before, and suddenly I noticed that was missing, he said. George said he reached out to Whirlpool to ask if there was any chance a legitimate replacement filter would lack a holographic sticker. He was told no. After reporting the alleged fraud, he received a refund from Amazon and a contrite note from the seller. He discarded the filters before they ever reached his fridge. Many other consumers may not be so lucky, though it is difficult to say how many. Counterfeits by their very nature are difficult to track, especially when theyre not expected as is often the case with replacement water filters. Most probably go undetected, Notini said. Buyers who suspect theyve been duped may reach out to the seller, the marketplace, the manufacturer of the copied product or various government agencies. What happens next varies from criminal prosecution to a slap on the wrist. Amazon spokeswoman Cecilia Fan said the company investigates any claim of counterfeiting thoroughly, including removing the item, permanently removing the bad actor, pursuing legal action or working with law enforcement as appropriate. In the case of the July seizure in Los Angeles, the importer was not prosecuted but likely lost a lot of money, said Ruiz. We believe that this would deter the importer to try to smuggle filters again. Ferreting out fakes at the nations ports is a complex and daunting process with the arrival every year of 11 million containers at sea ports, 10 million coming in on trucks, and another 3 million by rail, he explained. Federal agents target lookalikes Last year, Customs and Border Protection seized nearly 34,000 shipments containing counterfeit goods, or nearly 100 per day. Officers track every container and its contents electronically. They use sophisticated targeting systems to call attention to new businesses and changed addresses or product types, Ruiz said. Anything in the system that could create an anomaly raises a red flag. If counterfeits are found, they are seized and destroyed. Our goal is to facilitate and expedite trade, but we also want to make sure products are in compliance with U.S. law, Ruiz said. But the agency isnt keeping pace with online counterfeiters and needs to coordinate better with the private sector, according to a 2018 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Sharing additional information about seized items with rights-holding companies and e-commerce websites could improve enforcement, the report stated. Theoretically, a single faulty refrigerator filter could taint thousands of glasses of drinking water, Notini said. For her organizations 2018 report, three independent laboratories assessed different aspects of fake filters performance. Known counterfeits were purchased online by appliance manufacturers including LG, Electrolux, Samsung, Whirlpool, GE Appliances and Sub-Zero. According to the report, one lab found that all 32 counterfeits it tested failed to meet advertised standards for lead removal. Another lab tested eight filters for removal of the microscopic parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, a common cause of waterborne disease in the United States, and again none passed. The third lab soaked 46 filters in clean water to see if theyd leach new chemicals. Some, but not all, contaminated the water with a total of ten different compounds including, in one case, arsenic at levels approaching federal drinking-water limits. Unlike food grade materials used in certified filters that are tested and approved, the report reads, these counterfeits likely used cheaper, non-food grade materials, which are known to leach these kinds of chemicals. Counterfeiters roost on Amazon Amazon largely relies on two programs called Brand Registry and Project Zero to keep counterfeits off its site, whether that means water filters or handbags, said spokeswoman Fan. Both require manufacturers and brand owners to be proactive by providing detailed product information and reporting suspected fakes for immediate removal. We absolutely dont want counterfeit products, and so theres a lot that we do, but ultimately, brands are going to know their products better than anybody else, she said. Port officials snagged counterfeits of popular water filter brands in a July seizure at the LA/Long Beach Seaport. (Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) A separate system scans product reviews for claims of inauthenticity, which can then be investigated, Fan added. Amazons policy for sellers requires that all water filters be certified to current standards by one of a handful of reputable outfits. But that doesnt stop sophisticated counterfeiters from faking that, too, reproducing the National Sanitation Foundations widely trusted NSF logo, said Notini. The e-commerce and auction site eBay where a recent search for refrigerator water filter turned up more than 25,000 listings, representing untold numbers of individual filters doesnt have any special policies for filters at all. According to a spokeswoman, the company primarily depends upon customers and brands to report suspected fakes. Counterfeiters are also finding customers through independent, often generic-sounding websites that specialize in selling water filters at reduced prices, said GE Appliances spokeswoman Julie Wood. Our company is seeing an increased trend in direct shipment of counterfeits, from foreign sellers to U.S. addresses, Wood said. We have seen several discount websites that we believe advertise, perhaps unwittingly, counterfeit or deceptive knock-off water filters. In the last year alone, officers have seized almost 14,000 counterfeit GE-branded refrigerator water filters at the nations ports, she added. Jillian Hillard, director of ownership marketing for Sweden-based appliance manufacturer Electrolux, said that in addition to buying straight from the company, customers seeking a sure thing can use a search function on its website to locate authorized retailers, many of which also sell filters online. Industry aims to educate public Counterfeits and knockoffs are a concern for all industries, Hillard said. Manufacturers like us want to protect our product, we want to protect our brand, and we want to protect the consumer. In hopes of slowing counterfeitings spread, Electrolux and its U.S. subsidiary Frigidaire are both working to raise its profile. Newly released educational videos and other materials are designed to let consumers know that they have to be aware of counterfeits and knockoffs, and what the key criteria for spotting them are, Hillard said. In addition to costing less, fake filters often weigh less and come in similar, but poorer-quality packaging. The product, packaging or online listing may also contain misspellings or other typographical errors. Notini, who leads the appliance-manufacturers associations anti-counterfeit efforts from Washington, D.C., is prepared for a protracted battle. The counterfeiters try to stay one step ahead, she said. Were trying to beat the drum because its not an issue thats going to go away. Did you like this story? Your support means a lot! Your tax-deductible donation in any amount will advance our mission of delivering strong watchdog reporting. A 12-year-old girl was found alive by rescue officials on Wednesday after being buried under snow for 18 hours in an avalanche in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) that engulfed her family house. Samina Bibi recalled screaming and shouting for help as she lay trapped in a room under the snow, according to Al Jazeera. "I thought I would die there," she said from a hospital bed in Muzaffarabad, where dozens of injured, including her, were receiving treatment after being airlifted out of the avalanche area. A combination of heavy snowfall and bitterly cold temperatures since Sunday left at least 76 people dead in the region. The worst affected area was Neelum Valley, where the 21 bodies were retrieved, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, a minister for disaster management. Meanwhile, Samina's mother, Shahnaz Bibi, who lost a son and another daughter, the rescue was nothing short of a miracle. After being pulled out of the snow earlier, Shahnaz said she and her brother, Irshad Ahmad, had given up hope of finding Samina alive. Samina said she could not sleep while she waited to be rescued. Her leg was fractured and blood was oozing from her mouth. "We didn't hear a rumble," Shahnaz said, recalling the moments before the avalanche buried the three-floor house where she and her family were sheltering with others from the village. At least 18 of them died. Samina and her family were huddled around a fire when the avalanche hit. "It happened in the blink of an eye," Shahnaz said. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said the total number of deaths in snow-hit areas across the country over the past couple of days was now 100. More heavy snowfall is expected in the region from Friday. In neighbouring Afghanistan, the situation was returning to normal on Wednesday, following days-long heavy snowfall, rains and flash floods that killed 39 people and damaged about 300 homes since Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ukraine determines another three disengagement sections in Donbas Zelensky says in phone call with Merkel President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has had a phone conversation with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel to discuss the situation in Donbas, the presidential press service reported. "Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian side has determined the list of another three sections for disengagement of forces and equipment," reads a statement on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine. "It is very important for us that these are humanitarian areas. This is important for people," the president said. As reported, on December 10, 2019, Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Zahorodniuk said that the new sections for the disengagement of forces and hardware in eastern Ukraine, agreed by the participants of the Normandy Summit on December 9, would be humanitarian areas where new border crossing points will be organized. "We've agreed on three new disengagement sites until March. There will be no disengagement along the entire line, as Russia wanted," Zahorodniuk wrote on his Facebook page. "An important thing: these three sections should become humanitarian zones, which will make it possible to arrange transitions and crossings and improve the lives of people in the disengagement zone. We must now determine the best options. And we will have time to prepare," the minister said. Advertisement NASA satellites have revealed that smoke from Australian bushfires will take months to fully disperse into the atmosphere. The US space agency used its satellite fleet and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology to track the height of an enormous smoke cloud, which also revealed how long it would take for it to dissipate. While low-lying smoke takes a short time to disperse, smoke that is higher up in the atmosphere takes much longer to scatter. On Wednesday, it was revealed that smoke has been detected as high as 20 kilometres in the atmosphere, meaning that it will take months to clear up. The particular smoke cloud that was tracked by NASA was caused by bushfires that burnt between late December and early January. Currently, the huge plume of smoke is doing a loop of the Southern Hemisphere and is travelling back to Australia after passing New Zealand and South America. On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) shared a NASA video to its Facebook page, showing the height of smoke from December 31 to January 5. During a six-day period, smoke peaked in height on January 1 while it was hanging over New Zealand (pictured) at 17.7 kilometres (11 miles) above the ground. Pictured: The height of the smoke cloud on New Years Day The lowest-lying smoke was 15.9 kilometres (9.9 miles) above the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand on New Years Eve. Pictured: The height of the smoke cloud on December 31 During the six-day period, smoke peaked in height on January 1 while it was hanging over New Zealand at 17.7 kilometres (11 miles) above the ground. Meanwhile, the lowest-lying smoke was 15.9 kilometres (9.9 miles) above the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand on New Years Eve. In the caption, the BOM explained that it could be some time before smoke gives way to clear skies, not just in Australia but other parts of the Southern Hemisphere where plumes will travel. 'Much of the smoke is close to the ground and will dissipate from the atmosphere relatively quicklywith some of the smoke sitting as high as 20 km in the atmosphere and will slowly disperse over a few months,' the caption read. The lowest lying smoke occurred on December 31, the same day that bushfires were at their peak ferocity. Pictured: A European Space Agency image of bushfires burning on New Years Eve On Tuesday, it was first revealed by NASA that plumes of smoke from Australia's bushfires will circle the entire globe and make it back to the nation's skies. Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra have been blanketed with thick smoke since the bushfire season began in October last year. The smoke from hundreds of blazes drifted over the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, coating parts of New Zealand and South America, nearly 11,000km away. Scientists have predicted the smoke will make the 40,075km journey around the globe and return to the bushfire-ravaged country. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven impeachment managers Wednesday, shortly before a draft resolution appointing them will be introduced to the House of Representatives. "It is their responsibility to present the very strong case for the presidents impeachment and removal," Pelosi said. "The impeachment managers represent the patriotism, pluralism and vibrancy of America." The managers, all members of the House, will serve in a role similar to prosecutors once the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump begins in the Senate on Tuesday. They are tasked with presenting House Democrats' case in the trial, which will determine whether Trump should be convicted and removed from office. Removal requires a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes in the GOP-majority Senate. Unlike the group of 13 Republicans who managed their case against President Bill Clinton, who were all white men, this group of seven managers consists of three women and four men. Two are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and one is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democrats say Trump abused his power by pressuring the government of Ukraine to open politically motivated investigations and obstructed Congress during its investigation by withholding witnesses and documents. Senate: Trump impeachment focus to shift to Senate as House prepares to send articles New impeachment evidence: Lev Parnas, associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, pressed for Ukraine investigation into Joe Biden The articles: Read the full text of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump Here are the managers for Trump's impeachment trial: Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. Nadler, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, ushered the articles of impeachment through his committee and onto the House floor for the historic vote. All of the managers for Clinton's impeachment were members of the Judiciary Committee, but Pelosi opted for a different approach for Trump. Story continues Nadler said there was a "mountain of evidence" that Trump had "betrayed his country by trying to extort Ukraine." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York has said there is a "mountain of evidence" to support the Democrats' case. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, played a key role during the House's impeachment inquiry into Trump's actions in Ukraine. His panel led the inquiry, conducting closed-door depositions and public testimonies with more than a dozen people involved in the Ukraine controversy. Schiff, who Pelosi named as lead manager of the impeachment trial, has experience as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, where he worked as a federal prosecutor for six years. Schiff called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday to permit witnesses and documents to be admitted during the Senate trial, especially in light of the documents released Tuesday by congressional investigators. "Additional evidence continues to come to light that not only bolsters an overwhelming case but has put additional pressure on the Senate to conduct a fair trial," Schiff said. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California has been named the Democrats' lead manager of the impeachment trial. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. Crow, a first-term lawmaker from an Aurora, Colo.-area district, is an Army veteran and lawyer. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee. Crow was part of a group of seven House Democrats with national security backgrounds who said in a Washington Post op-ed in September 2019 that they would support an impeachment inquiry if the allegations about Trump's conduct on Ukraine were true. Crow was a litigator in private practice before he ran for office. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a first-term lawmaker, is an Army veteran and lawyer and sits on the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas Garcia, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, played a public role during the committee's impeachment hearings. She represents a Houston-area district and became one of the first Latinas to represent a Texas district when she was elected in 2018. Garcia was a judge in the Houston Municipal System before her tenure in Congress. Texas Rep. Rep. Sylvia Garcia is a former municipal judge and one of the first Latinas to represent a Texas district. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla. Demings, who is a member of the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, played a public role during both committees impeachment hearings. Demings is also a former law enforcement officer, serving as the first female Orlando chief of police, and could bring her police experience to the proceedings. As a Floridian, she could help counter Republican criticism of impeachment as being led by members of Congress from only blue areas. Florida Rep. Val Demings is a member of the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees and was the first woman to be chief of police in Orlando. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Jeffries, who was a litigator in private practice before he ran for office, sits on the Judiciary Committee and chairs the House Democratic Caucus, which has helped shape Democrats' messaging on impeachment. His position in House Democratic leadership makes him the highest-ranking lawmaker in the group who will prosecute the case against Trump. Jeffries said Wednesday that his role was to "present the truth to the American people." Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Lofgren, who is on the Judiciary Committee, offers a unique perspective as a member who served in Congress during Clinton's impeachment and as a staff member of the Judiciary Committee during the impeachment investigation of President Richard Nixon. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren served in Congress during President Bill Clinton's impeachment and as a Judiciary Committee staffer in the investigation of President Richard Nixon. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump impeachment: Who are the managers for the Senate trial? Once that complaint came out, alleging a scheme by the president to enlist Ukraine to help him in the 2020 election, Mr. Schiff led the investigation that resulted in the presidents impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. Strait-laced and slightly nerdy, Mr. Schiff tightly controlled the divisive process. When Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, muscled his way into a closed-door hearing without invitation, Mr. Schiff calmly told him to absent yourself. When two dozen Republicans stormed the secure hearing room, accusing Mr. Schiff of running a secret Soviet-style process, he suspended the session rather than create the spectacle of having his colleagues removed by Capitol Police. Hes a full package, Ms. Pelosi said in an interview last fall, adding: He knows his purpose. He knows his subject. He always thinks strategically, and he respectfully connects with people. HOUSTON The second all-female spacewalk in history continued the work of the first, as the same two NASA astronauts upgraded batteries outside the International Space Station. Jessica Meir and Christina Koch completed a 7-hour and 29-minute extravehicular activity (EVA, or spacewalk) on Wednesday (Jan. 15), replacing the batteries that store power for one pair of the space station's electricity-generating solar arrays. The excursion resumed the work that the two Expedition 61 flight engineers performed in October, which made headlines as the first spacewalk by two women. "It was truly amazing for Christina and me to be back out here today," Meir said during a live broadcast of the spacewalk. "We have been talking about it a lot and it was really something we were looking forward to." Related: The amazing spacewalks of Expedition 61 in photos The spacewalk began at 6:35 a.m. EST (1135 GMT), when both Koch and Meir switched their spacesuits over to internal power. "It's a beautiful view out here," said Meir, soon after exiting the Quest airlock. The two spacewalkers removed three degraded nickel-hydrogen batteries and installed two more powerful lithium-ion batteries for the space station's port, or left side, outboard solar arrays. Meir and Koch stowed the older batteries, which had been in place for the past decade, on an external pallet for their later disposal and installed adapter plates to enable the new batteries to work with the orbiting laboratory's power system. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (in foreground, in spacesuit with red stripes) and Christina Koch (in background, in spacesuit with no stripes) perform the the second all-female spacewalk in history, upgrading batteries outside of the International Space Station on Wednesday (Jan. 15, 2020). (Image credit: NASA TV) "Awesome job," radioed astronaut Stephanie Wilson from inside Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, from where she was helping to guide Meir and Koch through the spacewalk's tasks. "We made great progress toward upgrading the batteries on the 4B side. You're both awesome, nice work!" Each battery measures about half the size of a refrigerator, or 40 inches long by 37 inches wide by 19 inches high (101 by 94 by 48 centimeters). The old nickel-hydrogen batteries weigh 365 lbs. (165 kilograms) each. The lithium-ion replacements weigh 428 lbs. (194 kg). The work contributed to a larger, ongoing effort to replace all 48 of the station's degraded nickel-hydrogen batteries with the more capable lithium-ion units. One lithium-ion battery and one adapter plate can replace two nickel-hydrogen batteries. The work began with a series of spacewalks in January 2017 and has continued as Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicles (HTVs) have delivered the new batteries to the station. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (left) holds a replacement lithium-ion battery to be installed on the International Space Station's port-side truss during her and Christina Koch's spacewalk on Wednesday (Jan. 15, 2020). (Image credit: NASA TV) Meir and Koch's spacewalk on Wednesday proceeded mostly to plan, with the exception of a minor issue with Koch's spacesuit early in the EVA. "Christina's helmet lights are not attached," radioed Meir to Mission Control, as the assembly normally attached to the top of Koch's spacesuit helmet dangled from its power cable. "The cable is still attached, of course, but the camera and the helmet lights have been detached from her helmet." Meir attempted to reattach the light assembly, but it would not lock into place. The two lights are used as an aid when the space station passes into Earth's shadow and is not lit by the sun. "We think with the light locks installed you are not going to be able to get the helmet light seated onto the grooves. So instead, we would like to de-mate the power cable and completely remove the assembly," Wilson told the two spacewalkers. NASA astronaut Christina Koch (left) looks on as Jessica Meir uses a pistol-grip tool to secure a battery outside of the International Space Station on Wednesday (Jan. 15, 2020), in this view from Meir's helmet-mounted camera. (Image credit: NASA TV) The spacewalk continued with Koch staying close to Meir so that she was aided by the lights still attached to Meir's helmet. Wednesday's EVA, which ended at 2:04 p.m. EST (1904 GMT), marked Koch's fifth and Meir's second career spacewalks. Meir, who served as EV1 (or lead spacewalker) and wore the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit with red stripes, has logged a total of 14 hours and 46 minutes on her two EVAs. Koch, who as EV2 wore the suit with no identifiers, has a total of 35 hours and 17 minutes spanning her five spacewalks. This was the 225th EVA devoted to the International Space Station since assembly of the orbiting outpost began in 1998. Meir and Koch are scheduled to again venture outside together on Monday (Jan. 20) to complete the replacement of the batteries on the port P6 truss. Robert Pearlman is a Space.com contributing writer and the editor of collectSPACE.com, a Space.com partner site and the leading space history news publication. Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. With Delhi to go to the polls in less than a month, the BJP continues to grapple with the problem of former bigwigs leaving the party. Former Delhi minister Rajkumar Chauhan, who had joined the BJP last year, is set to rejoin the Chauhan, a prominent Dalit face of who had joined the BJP in May last year, told ANI that he will rejoin Congress. Chauhan had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi last week and said he had gone to meet her on her instructions. He also said he had told BJP not to consider him for party ticket. "I have contested so many elections and was made a minister by Sonia Gandhi. I owe my political career to her. I cannot say no to her. Before I went to meet her, I told BJP to not consider me for a ticket in the upcoming poll. I will join Congress as directed by Soniaji," Chauhan told ANI. Chauhan was made co-incharge of the BJP's manifesto committee for the crucial Delhi elections. Prior to Chauhan, former Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and former union minister Krishna Tirath had returned to Congress. Both Chauhan and Lovely were ministers in the Sheila Dikshit government and were considered Congress heavyweights in Delhi politics. The leaders had joined BJP apparently after "due vetting" by the top BJP leadership. Sources stated that the BJP was willing to let such leaders go and had not made any promise of party tickets. Asked about prominent 'outsiders' leaving the party said, a senior party leader said, "our culture is different". "Sangh holds control over affairs in Delhi. Things work differently in our party. They were not given any crucial task and they must be feeling out of place," he said. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos faced furious protests during a visit to India today by street traders who claim the e-commerce giant is destroying their livelihoods. The billionaire, who is facing an investigation by the country's competition commission, announced a $1billion investment programme when he spoke at a business conference in New Delhi. But his visit sparked angry protests by traders who want Amazon and other online shopping platforms banned and waved placards outside saying,'Jeff Bezos, Go back.' They claim Bezos, worth an estimated 85billion, is killing off India's traditional street vendors. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos visits the Raj Ghat Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, but his visit to India has been hit with controversy and protests Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos (left) faced furious protests in India today by street traders Traders claim Amazon and other online shopping platforms are destroying their livelihoods Sumit Agarwal, national secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders, said: 'We are not against e-commerce. 'We just want the commission and the government to set up a fair and equitable playing field where the Amazons and Flipkarts cannot abuse the system with unfair subsidies and their favoured traders.' The Competition Commission of India announced Monday that it was investigating both companies over accusations they undermine traditional traders by favouring 'preferred sellers' on their platforms. Bezos, who is on a three-day visit, said he wanted to help small and medium sized businesses in India to digitalise. Bezos, who is on a three-day visit, said he wanted to help small and medium sized businesses in India to digitalise. Pictured: Protests in New Delhi today Bezos, who is on a three-day visit, said he wanted to help small and medium sized businesses in India to digitalise Bezos announced a $1billion investment programme when he spoke at a business conference in New Delhi. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos spoke at a conference in New Delhi as street traders protested 'We will use our global footprint to export $10 billion worth of "Made in India" products across the world by 2025, he said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign to boost national production. Bezos highlighted India's growing importance, saying 'the 21st century will be the Indian century' and that the US-India alliance will be the most important. Amazon and Flipkart - founded in India but taken over by Walmart in 2018 for $16 billion - face increasing scrutiny and resentment despite their popularity among customers. Media reports said Bezos has sought a meeting with Modi, but neither the government nor Amazon would confirm if talks would be held. Amazon has said it will cooperate with the competition commission investigation and was 'confident' it was operating legally. Street traders in India protesting against the visit of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos in New Delhi The commission, which last year fined Google 16million, for abusing its dominant position, said it will report in 60 days, but its inquiries normally take a lot longer. The Hindu nationalist government is to announce a new e-commerce policy by March, and is under pressure to help small businesses because of a slowdown in the economy and high unemployment. The merchants accuse Amazon and Flipkart of flouting India's tough foreign investment rules and pouring billions of dollars into discounts that harm traditional traders. Agarwal highlighted special deals with mobile phone makers under which they are sold online, often at discount, before they reach high street shops. He said 55,000 of the 100,000 small traders who have gone out of business in the past six months - when Amazon and Flipkart have fought a merciless price cutting war - were mobile phone sellers. After arriving Tuesday, Bezos paid tribute to India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, dressing in an Indian kurta to lay flowers at a memorial in Delhi. Bezos will also visit India's financial capital Mumbai, where he will reportedly attend a party with Bollywood celebrities on Thursday. Donald Trump ran for president as a welfare chauvinist. He backed benefits for white natives and social exclusion for Muslim refugees and Hispanic immigrants. He trumpeted Social Security and Medicare programs associated with whiteness and white recipients and slammed Obamacare, which disproportionately benefited black and Hispanic Americans. Trump sensed the deep anxiety of some white Americans their inextricable fear of racial and economic decline and promised a government for them and against others. In office, of course, this government hasnt really worked for them. It has worked for the wealthy and their heirs; for industry and concentrated capital. Trump cut taxes for corporations and slashed regulations on polluters. But his supporters could relish in the anti-immigrant hostility of his administration, as if travel bans and detention camps could actually restore the lost wages of racial advantage rather than build a worse, more precarious world for everyone. There is, however, at least one place where Trumps welfare chauvinism has taken hold his multibillion-dollar payments to farmers harmed by the presidents trade war with China. In the context of his larger attack on the social safety net, those payments, a direct subsidy to a narrow group of favored Americans, are the closest thing to the kind of help Trump promised during the campaign. In early 2018, Trump announced tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods. China responded in kind with large tariffs on American-grown agricultural products. The brunt of those penalties hit soybean growers in the United States, who sell roughly $14 billion worth of their product to Chinese buyers. As the trade war continued, farmers incomes plummeted. In response, the Trump administration announced an assistance plan. Using a New Deal-era law allowing limited agricultural support for struggling farmers, the Department of Agriculture would make direct payments to growers affected by the trade conflict. So far, the administration has distributed roughly $19 billion out of a total package of $28 billion. These payments, notes one analysis, are large enough to constitute the single largest source of subsidies for farmers. Trump bragged about these payments at a recent rally in Toledo, Ohio, and promised even more for the nations farmers. Were signing a monster, he said. A big, beautiful monster. Forty to 50 billion dollars to our farmers. But our farmers isnt inclusive of the whole. The vast majority of payments have gone to white farmers, with large landowners the greatest beneficiaries. Its true that most American farmers are white. But disparities exist nonetheless. In Mississippi, for example, 14 percent of farms are run by black operators, but those farmers have received 1.4 percent of the aid that has been distributed in the state. This is welfare chauvinism, albeit modest in scope. The payments will strengthen Trumps political position generous compensation to a vocal constituency will buy votes and keep negative stories about his tariffs out of view as well as signal his commitment to one group of Americans over another. Contrast the presidents enthusiasm for his farm payments with his disdain for traditional assistance. In December, the Trump administration announced tighter work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, commonly known as food stamps. Under the new rules, states will have a harder time waiving work requirements for able-bodied adults in high unemployment areas. We need to encourage people by giving them a helping hand, but not allowing it to become an indefinitely giving hand, Sonny Perdue, the Agriculture secretary, said in a news release. Now, in the midst of the strongest economy in a generation, we need everyone who can work, to work. The change is projected to end SNAP benefits for nearly 700,000 adults, saving $5 billion or less than a third of the $19 billion the government has spent so far on farmers affected by the trade war. Theres a real constituency for the white welfare state Trump gestured at during his campaign. Its not a majority, but our election rules (starting with the Electoral College) and the structure of our government (like equal representation of states in the Senate) make it large enough to claim and maintain real political power. And the Trump phenomenon also shows that you dont have to deliver the benefits to hold those voters in your camp. All you have to do is deliver pain to disfavored groups, to target them and make a show of it. Trump has been too erratic and undisciplined to take welfare chauvinism as far as it could probably go. But it is almost certainly true that somewhere in American politics, theres someone who has paid attention to what Trump has discovered and is planning accordingly. @jbouie The question has been dominating headlines, so it was no surprise that it came up during the Democratic presidential debate. Did Sen. Bernie Sanders tell Sen. Elizabeth Warren that a woman cant win the presidency? According to Sanders, no. According to Warren, yes. During the debate Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa, Warren was asked what she thought about Sanders alleged comment. I disagreed, she said. Bernie is my friend and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie." Can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on the #DemDebate stage tonight. Collectively, they have lost ten elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women: @AmyKlobuchar and me. #DemDebate Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 15, 2020 The senator from Massachusetts elaborated on her thoughts about the potential of women candidates in the 2020 election. Can a woman beat Donald Trump? Warren said. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women, Amy and me," Warren said, referring to Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. "The only people [on this stage] who have won every single election they've been in are the women." @ewarren catches the idea that a woman can't win the 2020 election, smacks it down, and grinds her heel into it. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/IjRPxzCbV6 Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) January 15, 2020 So true, Klobuchar said. So true. The group on the debate stage in Iowa also included former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Warren recently confirmed a CNN story that cited four sources who recounted the details of a private meeting between Sanders and Warren in 2018. They said the Vermont senator told her he didnt believe a woman could win the 2020 election. (Two of the sources were people Warren spoke with after the meeting and two were familiar with the meeting.) Sanders denied the claim in a statement to CNN. Do I believe a woman can win in 2020?" he said as part of the statement. Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016. Warren garnered praise for the debate moment on social media. Those answers from Elizabeth Warren on women running for office are going to be played in classrooms for decades to come. Phenomenal. #DemDebate Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) January 15, 2020 Look at the men on this stage. They have lost 10 elections. The only people on the stage to have won every election are the women. HOT DAMN. Let em know, Liz. #DemDebate Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) January 15, 2020 Collectively they have lost 10 elections, @SenWarren says of the men on the debate stage Kasie Hunt (@kasie) January 15, 2020 KILLER answer from @ewarren on women winning elections: The women on the stage have never lost a race, while the men have lost 10. @amyklobuchar doing the same. #DemocraticDebate Sher Watts Spooner (@SherSpooner) January 15, 2020 Warren notes that the men on stage have lost 10 elections among them; she and Klobuchar have won all their races. She could add in Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand as well, for the record. Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) January 15, 2020 "Can a Woman beat Donald trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they haveve lost 10 elections. The only people who have won every election they've been in are the Women, Amy and me." President Elizabeth Warren, y'all. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/uAIa7PBGpX BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) January 15, 2020 Credit to @ewarren for the best line of the night: The men on this state collectively have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who havent lost a race are the women. #demdebate Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) January 15, 2020 Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Students who do well in any year 12 maths subject, even low-level maths, are more likely to perform better in their first year of university. A large study by the Australian Council for Educational Research found that studying maths through to year 12 has a "statistically significant influence" on a student's performance in science and maths subjects at university. The study found students who were strong performers in general mathematics achieved higher first-year pass rates than students who performed poorly in the more challenging maths subjects. Credit:Cathryn Tremain University students who studied the higher-level maths at school were more likely to pass first-year maths and science subjects, the study found. But students who were strong performers in general mathematics (referred to as further mathematics in Victoria, standard maths in NSW, and maths A in Queensland) achieved higher first-year pass rates than students who performed poorly in the more challenging maths methods or specialist maths subjects. A newborn baby has been mauled to death by a pack of dogs in India, police say, after a stray entered the operating theatre through an open window. The incident at a small private hospital in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, has sparked public outrage and led to the closure of the facility by state authorities. The babys family and staff at the Akash Ganga Hospital disagree over precisely what happened at around 8.30am on Monday, with the administration saying the child was stillborn. But neither party disputes the fact that a dog was able to enter the hospital and inflict brutal injuries to the babys body before it could be chased away by horrified onlookers. Initial charges of causing death by negligence have been brought against the hospital, investigating officer Ved Prakash Panday told the AFP news agency. The family alleged the baby was left unattended inside the theatre with windows open, leading to the attack, he said, adding that police awaited a postmortem report before any arrests would be made. 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 childs father, Ravi Kumar, had come to hospital with his pregnant wife Kanchan going into labour. He told the Times of India the nursing staff told him his wife would need a caesarean, and that she was taken to the operating theatre. He says hospital staff informed him the procedure had been successful, and that his wife had been moved to rest in a ward while the child was still inside the operating theatre. It was then, with the father waiting outside, that the attack allegedly took place. Hearing a commotion, Kumar says he rushed back to the theatre. I saw my child lying on the floor in a pool of blood, he said. He had bite marks on his chest and left eye. He was lying still with no movement. The dog [then] again tried to enter the theatre while I screamed for help. Kumar said he confronted hospital staff, who instead of feeling guilty, offered me money and asked me to remain silent over the incident. Staff claimed, both in comments to the family at the time and later in a statement from the hospital administration, that the baby was stillborn and therefore already dead at the time the dog inflicted the injuries. But local officials said an initial investigation pointed to the fact that the child was alive after the birth. A full report, including the results of a post-mortem, was to be produced within three days, said district magistrate Manvendra Singh. The state health ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, but the Press Trust of India reported that the districts Chief Medical Officer, Dr Chandra Shekhar, visited the premises on Monday night and sealed it until further notice. CCTV camera recordings were also seized from the hospital, police said. In the meantime, an initial charge sheet - known in India as a First Incident Report (FIR) - has been filed against one doctor and the hospital administration, based on Kumars formal complaint. Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar Misra said a probe was underway and "action will be taken on the basis of the investigation report". Borussia Dortmund president Reinhard Rauball has said that Erling Haaland should be given a chance to develop as he is just 19 years. "Point one - we did not make the hype. Point two - he is 19 years old. Do me a favour and give him a chance to develop," Goal.com quoted Rauball as saying. Haaland may make his Dortmund debut when they travel to Augsburg on Saturday. Rauball said that the management need to keep the Norwegian striker away from any 'negative noise' coming from outside the club. "We already trust him to help the team make a remarkable leap in performance. He is positioned in such a way that we need to keep him from any negative noise coming from outside the club," he said. "I am firmly convinced that he will settle at the club," Rauball added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 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: 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: 28:
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Khokhar's life sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018, while it had reversed the acquittal of Kumar by the trial court in 2013, in a case related to the killings of five Sikhs in the Raj Nagar Part-I area in Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. The anti-Sikh riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant directed that appellant (Balwan Khokhar) be released from jail on parole to attend the last rites of his deceased father. "In the circumstances of the case, we consider it appropriate to grant parole to the appellant. Accordingly, we direct that appellant Balwan Khokhar be released on parole for a period of four weeks from today to the satisfaction of the Trial Court," the bench said. At the outset, counsel appearing for Khokhar said that his client be released from jail to attend the last rites of his deceased father for four weeks. The bench said he can be release on parole but not on bail for a period of four weeks for attending the last rites. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave and H S Phoolka, appearing for a complainant in the case, said that top court has listed the bail plea of Sajjan Kumar in summer vacation and the application of Khokhar for bail, should not be entertained. However, the bench said that in the circumstances (of his father's demise), there should not be any objection on Khokhar's application. It disposed of the plea of Khokhar, with the direction of parole. The high court, in its verdict of December 17, 2018, had also upheld the conviction and varying sentences awarded by the trial court to the other five -- Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former MLAs Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. It had also convicted them for criminal conspiracy to burn down residences of Sikh families and a gurdwara in the area during the riots. The trial court in 2013 had awarded life term to Balwan Khokhar, Bhagmal and Lal, and a three-year jail term to Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. Following the high court verdict, life term of Balwan Khokhar, Bhagmal and Lal has been upheld and the sentence of Yadav and Kishan Khokar has been enhanced to 10 years in jail. The high court, in its judgement, had said that the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage" and aided by an "indifferent" law enforcement agency. The top court on November 6, last year had directed that Kumar be examined by a panel of AIIMS doctors, after he sought urgent listing of his bail plea on health grounds. The top court had refused to urgently hear Kumar's bail plea and said that it would hear the bail application in the summer vacation. The former Congress leader had then claimed to have lost eight to 10 kg weight in the 11 months he has spent in jail and said that he has been suffering from various other ailments. On August 5, last year, the top court had said it would hear Kumar's bail plea in May 2020 as it was not an "ordinary case" and required detailed hearing before any order is passed. Kumar resigned from the Congress after he was convicted by the high court. Kumar has also challenged in the apex court the Delhi High Court's verdict of December 17 last year that awarded him life imprisonment for the "remainder of his natural life" in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The high court had convicted him for the offences of criminal conspiracy and abetment in commission of crimes of murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of communal harmony and defiling and destruction of a gurdwara. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thai Nguyen is the countrys second largest tea producer after the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. (Photo: VNA) The festival will feature a wide range of activities, including an opening ceremony, closing ceremony, a tea culture festival, a beauty contest, and conference on improving Thai Nguyen tea value and brand. Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Duong Van Luong said that the festival offers a good opportunity for tea producers and traders to exchange experience, as well as set up relations with domestic and foreign partners, helping local tea reach out to the world. Thai Nguyen, located 75 kilometres to the north of Hanoi, is the countrys second largest tea producer after the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Thai Nguyen is well-known for its green, aromatic and black teas. Tea plants have been grown in the province for around 100 years. Currently, Thai Nguyen province is home to more than 22,000 hectares of tea, with average output of 220,000 tonnes of fresh tea leaves each year. More than 80 percent of the local tea area is grown into VietGAP standard. Local tea has been sold in Chinas Taiwan, China, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, and several fastidious markets like the EU and North America. Under the project on increasing added value and sustainably developing Thai Nguyen tea brand during 2017-2020, the province is striving to have 30 percent of its tea planting area certified with VietGAP standard, and develop at least one high-tech tea production zone in each district, town and city. Besides, the province targets 30 percent of its tea output labeled with domestic trademark protection and joining in the global value chain, and 20 percent of its high-quality exported to international markets. UPDATE: This event has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances VTOS is to host a party in Ryston Social Club this Friday night, January 17, to mark its 30 years of education in Kildare. An open invitation is extended to all the students who have attended VTOS courses over the past three decades. All are welcome to the event, which starts at 7.30pm and RSVPs can be made to 087 1889291 or via the VTOS Newbridge Facebook page. It promises to be a night of celebration with music, refreshments, fun and the opportunity to catch up with friends, according to the organisers. VTOS (Vocational Training and Opportunities Scheme) was established in 1989, through a European initiative supported by the Department of Education and Skills. It was to provide early school leavers, and the long-term unemployed, with the general education, academic, training and vocational skills needed to gain employment, or progress to further and/or higher education and training leading to employment. VTOS was set up in Georges Street, Newbridge, supported by Kildare VEC, latterly KWETB. It has worked with a maximum of 125 students a year. A warren of classrooms, computer labs and art and drama rooms developed at the Georges Street premises to cater for the needs of the students. Some rooms did not even have daylight but the work that happened there, and the atmosphere, was fantastic, according to Mairead OHalloran of VTOS Newbridge, who has taught there for 18 years. Everyone that joins VTOS wants some form of change: whether change of job, career, education, social skills, practical skills, confidence etc. This collective bond, together with the support of VTOS person-centred programmes and staff, has allowed huge growth and success for students in achieving their goals. VTOS Newbridge moved from its first location to a brand new building on Station Road in the town. There are lovely light filled rooms with great views over the town of Newbridge. Its a very different premises but the students learning, development and successes are continuing and flourishing. As previously, VTOS is adapting to student and employer demands and is in the process of developing a state-of-the-art Digital Hub, added Mairead. All VTOS programmes are designed to meet the needs of individual students, and are closely linked to market and employer requirements. Over the 30 years since it was set up, it has successfully run programmes in: Business Studies, Computer Studies, Third Level Foundation, General Education, Community Care, Community and Health Services, Child Care, Art, Craft and Design, Computer Networking Systems, Digital Media, Leaving Certificate, ECDL, Youthwork, Theatre Studies, Catering, Tourism, Health Service Skills, Employment Skills, Digital Media and NUIM Certificates in Psychology and Sociology. These programmes have been accredited by QQI, formerly FETAC, Levels 4, 5 and 6, NUIM and the Dept. of Education and Skills. At present VTOS offers full time educational programmes with Quality Qualifications Ireland (QQI) accreditation at levels 4, 5 and Level 6. All VTOS programmes are free of charge and you are eligible if: you are 21 years of age or over and in receipt of unemployment payment for 156 days (six months) or if you are a dependent of a social welfare recipient. VTOS is full-time with classes from Monday to Friday. You will maintain your Social Welfare Benefits while studying. It may also be possible to qualify for free childcare for children under the Childcare Employment and Training Support (CETS). For more information on programmes, contact VTOS, Aras Slainte, Station Road, Newbridge, Co. Kildare or 087 2188291. The next time you cancel an air ticket or e-commerce order, you can get a refund within a few minutes, instead of waiting for 5-7 business days, thanks to fintech firm Razorpay. The Bengaluru-based company has created a technology to make this possible at a time when at least 30 per cent of the orders have to get refunded on an average. These span industries such as e-commerce, travel and foodtech due to various reasons, including the return of orders, cancellation of flights and issues related to quality. To help merchants improve the online payment experience for consumers, ... By Cynthia Howe Jan. 15, 2020 | 03:34 AM | PADUCAH At Tuesdays Paducah City Commission meeting, Commissioner Richard Abraham suggested that money slated for a new recreation and aquatic center might be better spent on improving the stormwater infrastructure in Paducah. Commissioner Abraham addressed the other members of the commission Tuesday night, asking them to reconsider how to use a $22 million bond which has been slated for development of a recreation and aquatic center. Abraham would like the Commission to consider using the funds to improve stormwater infrastructure in Paducah. I am concerned about the integrity and the stability of the stormwater infrastructure that supports our city, said Abraham. I am concerned about the promise made to our citizens that we would address and attend to this flooding danger that has not been properly tended to. The City of Paducah contracted with Strand Associates, Inc in March 2017 to study the flooding issues in Paducah. Using information from a storm event in 2015, their initial research identified 10 priority areas at a cost of approximately $40 million in flood mitigation projects. Abraham said that his understanding was that two of those projects would provide the most benefit at a cost of around $30 million. At this point, I'm thinking of the price tag of $30 million for the two capital projects that would help stop some of the flooding," said Abraham. "And then my mind goes directly to a secure $22 million that are currently available to us as a municipal." Abraham wants commissioners to discuss the issue at their upcoming planning retreat on January 25. We're going to go into our retreat and we're going to talk about a lot of stuff, said Abraham. Now keep in mind, if you look at our strategic plan, and you look what's tagged over stormwater, it's words like 'vital', words like 'essential', right? Well, I don't think we're treating it like that. We're not treating it like it's very important at all. Now, we talk about it, but we're not putting any funds behind it. But we just floated a $22 million dollar bond for a gym and a swimming pool. Last year, the city proposed a stormwater infrastructure fee which would have generated $2.7 million dollars per year. The proposed fee failed to gain momentum due to concerns over the cost, especially to businesses. The fee would have cost $6.13 for residential owners and even more for businesses. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened President Trump's lingo to that used by mobsters during her closing House impeachment floor speech, quoting the new mafia flick 'The Irishman.' 'Do me a favor?' Pelosi said, quoting - with a significant change of word - the president in his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 'Do you paint houses too? What is this? Do me a favor?' she asked. The president in fact said: 'I want you to do us a favor, though.' He has claimed the 'us' referred to the United States, not to him. In the Martin Scorsese film, Al Pacino's Jimmy Hoffa asked the question to Robert De Niro's character Frank Sheeran, using it as code to ask whether he killed people. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened President Trump's lingo to that of the mobsters in the Netflix hit 'The Irishman' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quoted a scene from 'The Irishman' in which Robert De Niro's (picture) character is asked 'I heard you paint houses' The question was asked by Al Pacino's (pictured) Jimmy Hoffa, who wanted to know if De Niro would act as a contract killer Trump had asked for a 'favor' during his infamous July 25 call with the Ukrainian leader that sparked the whistleblower complaint that eventually led to the president's impeachment. Pelosi showed off her pop culture prowess during a floor speech directly before the House voted on approving impeachment managers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi showed her pop culture prowess Wednesday by quoting 'The Irishman' on the House floor Wednesday morning she had announced that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff would lead the effort, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler. The other impeachment managers included four other members of the Judiciary Committee: Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Zoe Lofgren, Val Demings and Sylvia Garcia. She also picked Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The House then voted 228 to 193 to affirm those positions, the last procedural step before turning the two articles over to the Senate. Later Wednesday, Pelosi and her seven managers will hold an Engrossment Ceremony. The two articles of impeachment werethen physically walked across the Capitol Building to the Senate side. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he expected Trump's Senate impeachment trial to begin Tuesday, after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Throughout the impeachment inquiry, Trump and his allies have excused the president's request for a 'favor.' In December the president tweeted, 'When I said, in my phone call to the President of Ukraine, "I would like you to do US a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it." With the word "us" I am referring to the United States, our Country.' Democrats believe the directive was for Trump's own political gain, as he was encouraging Zelensky to announce an investigation into Joe Biden - a top 2020 rival - and his son Hunter, while holding up $400 million in military aid Congress approved to go to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. READ THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP In 1,414 words, the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives Wednesday lay out two charges against President Donald Trump. Article I: Abuse of Power Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. Accused: Donald Trump has two articles of impeachment against him He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations. President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit. In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.' Article II: Obstruction of Congress As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials. In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the 'sole Power of Impeachment' vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives. In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' This abuse of office served to cover up the President's own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment -- and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives. Advertisement A lawsuit filed in federal court sought to overturn the lease of nearly 2 million acres of public land to the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and four other states since 2016. The WildEarth Guardians, Western Environmental Law Center and Physicians for Social Responsibility filed the suit on Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The acreage was leased in New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. The groups cited the federal Bureau of Land Managements alleged failure to address the environmental impacts of oil and gas developments on the land in approving the leases. Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director at WildEarth Guardians said the federal government and administration of President Donald Trump denied the effects of oil and gas on climate change in its efforts to increase extraction on public land. The Trump administration is selling out Americas public lands to the oil and gas industry and fueling the climate crisis, he said. With this lawsuit, were taking a stand against this administrations exploitation of public lands and abject climate denial. Derrick Henry, spokesman for the BLM said the agency follows all federal laws when leasing land, and works to ensure public lands remain in good condition even after oil and gas activities. The BLMs leasing decisions are lawful and fully compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act, despite the claims made in the lawsuit. In fact, these leasing decisions were informed by public input, as required by law, which was considered before issuing a final decision, Henry said. The BLM is helping America meets its growing energy needs while making sure the public lands remain in good shape, before and after leasing activities, consistent with its multiple use mandate. Greenhouse gases must be considered In New Mexico, the groups looked to vacate two lease sales on Sept. 1, 2016 and Dec. 5, 2018 which saw 95 parcels leases on 55,205 acres, mostly in southeast New Mexico in Eddy and Lea counties. They also opposed seven sales in Colorado for 126 parcels on 82,976 acres between 2016 and 2019 and four in Montana for 199 parcels on 94,632 also between 2016 and 2019. The suit also challenged one sale in Utah for 8 parcels on 7,478 acres in June 2017, and nine sales in Wyoming for 1,639 parcels on about 1.7 million acres. The BLM failed to consider the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by oil and gas activities on the leased land, read the suit, arguing that federal public lands used for fossil fuel extraction contribute 24 percent such emissions in the U.S. Such omissions also violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the suit argued, which requires federal agencies to analyze climate impacts when approving of oil and gas operations on public land. BLM, however, continues to recklessly lease large swaths of the American West to oil and gas development without comprehensively estimating the cumulative GHG emissions from this development and analyzing the severity of resulting climate impacts from the addition of thousands of tons of GHG emissions into the atmosphere, as NEPA requires, the lawsuit read. Leases were approved despite the BLM failing to properly quantify direct and indirect, or downstream, and cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from leased parcels and analyze the resulting climate impacts, read the lawsuit. Fracking leaks huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere, heating the climate and fueling massive health threats: deadly wildfires, flooding, damage to agriculture, and more, said Barbara Gottlieb, environment and health director at Physicians for Social Responsibility. We need to move beyond fossil fuels, and that means we need to stop leasing public lands for oil and gas extraction. We simply cant let this continue The groups won a court decision in March 2019 in a 2016 lawsuit that challenged more than 450,000 acres leased for oil and gas in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Shiloh Hernandez, staff attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center said the federal government continued to ignore the environmental impacts of oil and gas, despite the recent decision, in continuing to lease public land to the industry. We won in court once and well win again, Hernandez said. The Trump administration is completely flouting the law and the courts. We simply cant let this continue. The suit also pointed to the acceleration of oil and gas leasing of federal land, as part of the Trump administrations agenda to make America energy independent, while denying climate change. The Trump administration is denying reality to appease its friends in the oil and gas industry, said Becca Fischer, Climate and Energy Program attorney for WildEarth Guardians. The thing is, climate denial is illegal. Under federal law, this administration cant ignore or downplay science and facts. In a news release from WildEarth Guardians, the organization also suggested the BLM cease selling public lands to the industry for extraction operations, pointing to benefits to public health and safety in addition to protecting the environment. A June 2019 report from the Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York suggested oil and gas production could lead to health impacts such as asthma, cancer and pre-term birth. This case isnt just about defending our climate and public lands, said Daniel Timmons, staff attorney for WildEarth Guardians. Its about defending the law, which requires the federal government to account for and address the full environmental impacts of its actions, and that includes climate impacts. Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said any threat to increases oil and gas operations would cut funding for public services and education in New Mexico. He challenged the claims made in the lawsuit, pointing to industry data that showed methane intensity, or the emissions rate by facilities, had declined in recent years as production grew. Activist groups will stop at nothing to derail the success story thats putting New Mexico on the map and creating unprecedented opportunities for our state, even it means eliminating thousands of jobs from our economy, cutting vital funding for public schools, or shifting oil and gas production to other parts of the world, McEntyre said. When we produce oil and gas in the southeast New Mexico and the United States, were producing it cleaner and safer than anywhere else on the world. Rather than protesting that fact, it should be celebrated and prioritized. Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter. 2020 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) Visit the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) at www.currentargus.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy raised concerns Wednesday over the speed with which the services' clinics and hospitals are transitioning to the Defense Health Agency's management. The timeline to consolidate the services' medical treatment facilities under the Tricare managing agency was shortened last year from four years to three. McCarthy told reporters in a Defense Writers Group that this change, meant to let the services focus on delivering care and maintaining military readiness, might be happening too quickly. "It's about pacing. You are bringing thousands of people and functions to one organization," he said. "Like all mergers and acquisitions, there are cultural dynamics, there are synergies you are trying to achieve and, if you do it too fast, you can make a mess." Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, the DHA director, said earlier this year that the timeline was shortened to avoid problems caused by a prolonged transition, which would reduce staff in the services' headquarters. Related: Military Patients Will 'Absolutely Positively' See Better Care After Merger, DHA Head Says McCarthy referred to his experience while working for former Defense Secretary Robert Gates during the Walter Reed Medical Center's consolidation with the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda in 2011. "You were merging Walter Reed with Bethesda during the height of violence in the Iraq campaign, and they made some terrible mistakes that affected the health care of wounded personnel," he said. McCarthy said it's "incredibly important" to understand the DHA's operating model and how responsibilities will transfer. "It's not altogether clear how that is coming together," he said. "We still are a nation at war. We have 1.2 million people in uniform, and this is just too important to get it wrong." -- Dorothy Mills-Gregg can be reached at dorothy.mills-gregg@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DMillsGregg. -- Matthew Cox contributed to this report. Read More: Pensacola Heroes: How 2 Marines and an Injured Sailor Saved Lives During Mass Shooting Coles and Woolworths have revealed a shortfall in the nation's supply of broccoli Coles and Woolworths have revealed a shortfall in the nation's supply of broccoli after fire and extreme weather conditions ravaged growing fields across the country. At least 19,000 farmers have been impacted by the devastating bushfires across the country since November. Extreme heat, smoke and drought has ravaged the nation for months and has affected the broccoli growing fields. While Woolworths and Coles told Daily Mail Australia they are working with growers to improve the supply, some social media users were ecstatic. 'Kids will be jumping for joy,' said one user. 'Children all over Australia celebrate,' someone else commented. One posted a gif of a superhero screaming 'Yes!'. A Coles spokesman told Daily Mail Australia many of its suppliers have been directly impacted by the fires and drought. 'Some products, particularly in fresh produce, may be unavailable or in limited supply in the short term,' they said. At least 19,000 farmers have been impacted by the devastating bushfires across the country since November. Pictured: Cows in a burnt out field in Rappville, NSW A Woolworths spokesperson said: 'There is a shorter supply of broccoli than usual due to extreme weather patterns in the key growing regions.' The news comes the supermarket giants raise their prices to help industries get back on their feet after the fires. The cost of vegetables is expected to rise by as much as 50 per cent with meat and milk prices also predicted to soar. At least one billion animals have been wiped out by the catastrophic fires, including thousands of sheep and cattle. Fresh produce is also in limited supply after thousands of crops were destroyed in the blazes. Queenslanders are expected to pay the highest for fresh produce as much of it comes from or through Victoria and New South Wales, according to peak vegetable body AUSVEG. Federal Minister for Agriculture Bridget McKenzie confirmed prices of fresh produce, milk and meat will go up (stock image) 'A lot of those products where growers in Queensland have been sourcing out of southern states, which they typically do at this time of year, have been severely impacted,' chief executive James Whiteside told the ABC. Federal Minister for Agriculture Bridget McKenzie confirmed prices will go up while announcing $100 million in relief for affected farmers. 'Supermarkets are letting the Australian public know that they'll have to pay more for their red meat - yes, you will,' she told reporters on Tuesday. 'That they'll have to pay more for their fruit and vegetables ... (and) milk.' (Newser) Four people were arrested Tuesday when Alameda County Sheriff's deputies showed up to evict a group of homeless mothers who'd taken up residence in a vacant home in Oakland, Calif. NBC News and the Mercury News report that members of Moms 4 Housing, an activist group trying to call attention to the homelessness and affordable housing problem in the area, moved in November into the empty home owned by development company Wedgewood Properties and had been embroiled in a legal battle since. Wedgewood had previously served the women with an eviction notice, which they fought in court. On Friday, however, an Alameda County judge ruled the women had to leave the home, giving the sheriff's office five days to help vacate them. And that eviction process Tuesday, with hundreds of supporters present, was a "tense and dramatic scene," per the Mercury News. story continues below The raid included dozens of deputies with assault rifles and riot gear who broke down the door with a battering ram. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was "shocked" at the raid's tactics, calling the activists' move "a courageous act of civil disobedience to really highlight our housing crisis," per KTVU. The four arrestedtwo Moms 4 Housing members and two supporterswere hit with misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing the eviction. "The sad fact is when you steal someone's house, this is what happens," a Wedgewood rep tells NBC. Moms 4 Housing, however, calls it an "act of war." "This isn't over, and it won't be over until everyone in the Oakland community has a safe and dignified place to live," one of the evicted moms says in a statement, adding to CNN the moms had offered to buy the home for the original price from Wedgewood (which flips houses), but were rebuffed. (Read more homeless stories.) - The fifth annual Best Countries report reveals a general consensus around climate change, anxiety about big tech, and shifting perceptions of the U.S. - WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Switzerland, Canada and Japan maintain their dominance in the overall 2020 Best Countries Report, a ranking and analysis project by U.S. News & World Report, BAV Group and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This year, the project evaluated the perceptions of 73 nations across a range of categories, from economic influence and military might to education and quality of life, to determine which countries wield the most influence on a global scale. "The Best Countries analysis taps into U.S. News' decades-long expertise in supplementing data with in-depth journalism," said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. "By collaborating with leaders in data and academia, we're able to help thought leaders, business decision makers, policy makers and citizens understand how perceptions impact their country's standing in the world." Key themes from the 2020 Best Countries report include: Switzerland stays on top overall. Canada moves up to No. 2, and Japan is No. 3. Rounding out the top 5 are Germany and Australia . The U.K. comes in at No. 6, and the U.S. rose one spot to No. 7. moves up to No. 2, and is No. 3. Rounding out the top 5 are and . The U.K. comes in at No. 6, and the U.S. rose one spot to No. 7. Respondents paint a bleak picture when asked about nations' trustworthiness. While the U.S. is perceived as the most powerful country in the world, data shows it is not perceived as very trustworthy. Canada is perceived as the most trustworthy country, and has been since the first Best Countries report in 2016. During that same time, perceptions of the U.S. as being trustworthy have steadily dropped to a record-low of 16.3 on a 100-point scale. The U.K. also fell in this attribute, while Greece , South Korea and Spain improved. While the U.S. is perceived as the most powerful country in the world, data shows it is not perceived as very trustworthy. is perceived as the most trustworthy country, and has been since the first Best Countries report in 2016. During that same time, perceptions of the U.S. as being trustworthy have steadily dropped to a record-low of 16.3 on a 100-point scale. The U.K. also fell in this attribute, while , and improved. There is a global consensus about the effect of climate change. Most respondents (87%) agree that climate change is real. Of the 36 countries surveyed, people in Russia agreed about climate change the least (71%), and Indonesia agreed the most (97%) along with African nations including Nigeria , Kenya and South Africa . But only 60% of respondents agree their country is effectively addressing its effects. Most respondents (87%) agree that climate change is real. Of the 36 countries surveyed, people in agreed about climate change the least (71%), and agreed the most (97%) along with African nations including , and . But only 60% of respondents agree their country is effectively addressing its effects. Global anxiety about technology persists . Nearly three out of four people (74%) think large technology companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon should be limited, and about the same number agree that technology is displacing jobs. The UK, Canada and Australia agree most with limiting large technology corporations. In Japan , which is perceived as a technology powerhouse, just 31.5% agree that technology is displacing jobs and 55% agree that big tech should be limited. . Nearly three out of four people (74%) think large technology companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon should be limited, and about the same number agree that technology is displacing jobs. The UK, and agree most with limiting large technology corporations. In , which is perceived as a technology powerhouse, just 31.5% agree that technology is displacing jobs and 55% agree that big tech should be limited. Gender equality is viewed favorably, but there is a gap between perception and reality. Ninety percent of respondents agree that women should be entitled to the same rights as men. However, when asked whether women actually do have the same economic opportunities as men in their countries, only 64% of respondents agreed. A little more than two out of three people (69%) said they view traditional gender roles as important to a functioning society, and that perception is similar between men (73%) and women (66%). "This year's Best Countries rankings continue to show us human rights, diversity, sustainability and free trade are all top of mind for many worldwide, connecting us together. These fundamental topics are vital to a nation's brand strength and reflect how the quality of life can have a dramatic influence on global perception," said Michael Sussman, CEO, BAV Group. In addition to the overall rankings, the report also includes: 23 subrankings and "best of" lists The second-annual Origin Index, in which respondents were asked to pick the countries they would prefer to buy goods from as a measure of each country's brand power. Articles examining gender and wage inequality, how technology is stirring anxieties over privacy and job loss, and concerns about the impact of climate change and how governments are seen to be responding. The 2020 Best Countries rankings methodology uses data gathered from a proprietary survey of more than 20,000 business leaders; college educated individuals that are middle class or higher; and general citizens who are nationally representative of their country. "The goal of the Best Countries report is to understand how global perceptions are related to investment, foreign trade and tourism of a nation," said David Reibstein, professor of marketing at the Wharton School. The Best Countries project includes in-depth news articles, an interactive data explorer, video, photos and commentary from global experts in government, business and academia. It is part of U.S. News' Government Rankings initiative, which measures government performance at the international, state and local levels and includes the Best States, Healthiest Communities and Cities projects. To view the full rankings and search country profiles, visit https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries and follow coverage on Facebook and Twitter using BestCountries. 2020 Best Countries rankings *See the full rankings here. Overall Switzerland Canada Japan Germany Australia United Kingdom United States Sweden Netherlands Norway Most Powerful United States Russia China To Start a Business Thailand Malaysia China For Quality of Life Canada Denmark Sweden For Women Denmark Sweden Netherlands For Education United States United Kingdom Canada For Green-Living Sweden Switzerland Finland About U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and Civic, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C. About BAV Group BAV Group is a global consultancy with expertise in consumer insights and brand marketing strategy. Using BrandAsset Valuator, a proprietary brand management tool and global database of consumer perceptions of brands, BAV informs strategic and creative solutions that drive business results. Over 25 years, BAV has captured data and consumer insights on more than 60,000 brands in 50 countries around the world, evaluating 75 brand image and equity dimensions that matter. BAV Group is a unit of VMLY&R, a WPP company. Visit bavgroup.com to learn more. About the Wharton School Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually and a powerful alumni network of 94,000 graduates. For more information, visit http://seicenter.wharton.upenn.edu. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1011591/US_News_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/811007/BAV_Group_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/323580/the_wharton_school_Logo.jpg The National Security Agency announced that it had found a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.s Windows operating systems that could enable cyber intrusions. The NSA recognized the severity of the vulnerability and disclosed it to Microsoft to expedite the process of fixing it, according to Anne Neuberger, the NSAs director of cybersecurity, speaking to reporters on Tuesday. Microsoft released a patch the same day. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, released an emergency directive on Tuesday, saying that it strongly recommends organizations install these critical patches as soon as possible. DHS is urging federal civilian agencies to take a series of immediate actions to mitigate this risk and to minimize the exposure to associated threats to our federal information systems, said Bryan Ware, an assistant secretary in the department. The NSA chose to publicly share that it had found the flaw a break from past protocol when information about how vulnerabilities were discovered wasnt made public in order to build trust and encourage patching, Neuberger said. We wanted to take a new approach to sharing and also really work to build trust with the cybersecurity community, she said. Microsoft hasnt seen the flaw used in active attacks, the company said in announcing the patch. The flaw lies in a part of Windows software known as Crypt32.dll. That file is used by Windows 10 and the last two versions of the Windows Server operating systems to implement many of the Certificate and Cryptographic Messaging functions in the CryptoAPI, such as CryptSignMessage according to Microsoft. This means that the flaw could affect a broad range of users. The disclosure appears to represent an improvement in relations between Microsoft and the NSA, which previously secretly collected security exploits of Microsofts Windows in order to use the tools for its own hacks. Details of the practice became public in 2017 when a group known as the Shadow Brokers obtained and published the NSAs tools, leading to an emergency for Microsoft as the company rushed to patch the zero day exploits. One month later, Microsoft blamed the NSA exploits for the global spread of malicious software called WannaCrypt. Microsoft has a policy of regularly releasing security updates on the second Tuesday of each month, and this update aligns with that schedule, according to a Monday statement by Jeff Jones, a senior director at the company. We follow the principles of coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) as the industry best practice to protect our customers from reported security vulnerabilities, Jones said in the statement. To prevent unnecessary risk to customers, security researchers and vendors do not discuss the details of reported vulnerabilities before an update is available. News of the NSAs discovery was previously reported by The Washington Post and Krebs on Security, a cybersecurity blog. The release of the patch draws attention to the flaw and creates an urgency for organizations to fix it before bad actors use it for malicious purposes, according to government officials. Sophisticated cyber actors will understand the underlying flaw very quickly and, if exploited, would render the previously mentioned platforms as fundamentally vulnerable, the NSA said in a Tuesday advisory about the vulnerability. Because patches have been publicly released, the underlying vulnerabilities can be reverse-engineered to create exploits to target unpatched systems, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Chandigarh Police arrested a man from a news channels office, minutes after he confessed on live television on Tuesday that he had killed his girlfriend at a city hotel on 31 December, 2019 The Chandigarh Police arrested a man from a news channels office, minutes after he confessed on live television on Tuesday that he had killed his girlfriend Sarabjit Kaur at a city hotel on 31 December, 2019. 31-year-old Maninder Singh, who was absconding since committing the crime, was arrested from the News18 office in Chandigarhs Industrial Area, Phase 2 while the programme on which he was confessing to committing the crime was being telecast. While confessing to the crime, Maninder said that Sarabjits family was against the couples marriage as they two were from different castes and because she wanted to do a government job, while he was unemployed for three to four months. They also refused to support a court marriage. Later, Maninder suspected that Sarabjit, with whom he was in a relationship with since two years, was having an affair with her sister-in-laws brother, he told News18. Maninder said the man in question had sent her a message on her mobile phone, stating that he was leaving for Kuwait and she should meet him. During an altercation at the hotel room over the matter, he strangled her and then slit her throat. Sarabjit, 27, was found dead in room number 301 of Chandigarhs Hotel Sky on the afternoon of 1 January. She and Maninder had checked into the hotel on 30 December. CCTV footage showed Maninder exiting the hotel on the same night. The two were in a relationship and had visited the hotel a number of times, the police had told The Indian Express. The murder came to light on the afternoon of 1 January, when the hotel staff tried to contact Sarabjit to inquire about checkout timings, but got no response. Sarabjit, who belonged to Sangrur and had worked at a private hospital in Mohali, had got selected as a nurse at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda. Maninder used to work as a driver at a factory in the Industrial Area, Phase 1. Maninder said that even though the police questioned his parents, they did not know about his whereabouts. He told News18 that before leaving his parents house, he said he was going to Ludhiana for a job. After killing Sarabjit, he stayed in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Sangrur and Jalandhar. He reached the channel office around 6 pm on Tuesday, approached a camerperson and sought his help in confession of the crime. He then gave a 23-minute interview, before being arrested by the Sector-31 Police. Maninder was out on bail after being convicted for committing the murder of a girl in 2010. He had stabbed the girl he was in a relationship with at Karnals Karna Lake. He was released on bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court since his appeal is pending in the court. Iran, IAEA discuss JCPOA ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Tue / 14 January 2020 / 12:46 Tehran (ISNA) Ambassador and permanent representative of Iran to the International Organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharib-Abadi met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi. The two officials discussed the latest developments regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as well as relations and cooperation between Iran and IAEA in 2020. The meeting came as Iran left all the operational limitations within JCPOA in its final step of reducing nuclear commitments, but still maintains IAEA inspections within comprehensive safeguard and nuclear proliferation. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced result for the 2019 governorship election in Imo, Hope Uzodinma, ca... When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced result for the 2019 governorship election in Imo, Hope Uzodinma, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came a distant fourth while Emeka Ihedioha, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged winner. The turn of events came as a surprise on Tuesday as the supreme court sacked Ihedioha and asked INEC to return Uzodinma as the duly elected governor of the state. It has not been a smooth ride for Uzodinma, a ranking senator, since he joined the 2019 governorship race as pre and post election events appeared not to favour him. THE APC INTERNAL CRISIS Oshiomhole: He accused Okorocha of plotting to turn Imo into his dynasty The APC crisis in Imo began when Rochas Okorocha, then incumbent governor, wanted Uche Nwosu, his son in-law to succeed him. This led to the party splitting into two factions. While one presented Nwosu as the partys candidate, the other had Uzodinma. The national working committee of the party, however, recognised Uzodinma as its candidate. This didnt come without its attending controversy. Ahmed Gulak, the much pressured chairman of the APC primary election in the state, reportedly ran away from his hotel room in the midnight, and would declare Uzodinma the partys candidate later in the morning. There were reports that some persons who were against the governorship bid of Uzodinma wanted to abduct Gulak. When in November 2018, an Imo high court validated Uzodinmas candidacy, Okorocha advised his son in-law to defect to the Action Alliance (AA), and at the time he stood a stronger competitor to Ihedioha. By the time President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned in Imo, he found it difficult to publicly endorse the APC candidate. Although he raised the hand of the governor-elect and handed over the APC flag to him, the president asked Imo people to vote candidate of their choice. The matter also led to a rift between Okorocha and Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the party who had backed Uzodinma. The crisis, pundits argued, gave PDP more chances in the state. UZODINMA CANT WIN Okorocha, former governor of Imo Were Uzodinma and Okorocha to be on the same page, things perhaps may have been tougher for Ihedioha. Okorocha, who was APC senatorial candidate, literally dumped his partys governorship candidate and had mobilised resources and support for his in-law who was running under another platform. As the election drew nearer, the contest was clearly between Nwosu and Ihedioha, while Uzondinma was struggling. Earlier, in 2018, Okorocha had dismissed the chances of Uzodinma. APC members in Imo see Chief Uzodinma as still a staunch member of PDP and that was the reason behind the dead silence in Imo over the announcement of his name as the governorship candidate of the party. If Chief Uzodinma was to be a known member of the party, there would have been celebration in Imo. The chieftains of the party in Abuja backing him are elite politicians who have no relationship with the grassroots, he had said. Chief Uzodinma can never win election in Imo in a fee and fair election. And that is why the PDP and APGA members are those celebrating his K leg governorship Candidature for Imo APC. ARRESTED OVER BREACH OF CONTRACT While other aspirants had settled in well on their campaign, Uzodinma yet had another case to sort with the special presidential investigation panel for recovery of public property panel. The panel, in November 2018, announced that it had arrested Uzodinma. He was accused of not executing a $12m contract awarded his company by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the dredging of Calabar channel. Okoi Obono-Obla, the now suspended chairman of the panel, however, had maintained that Uzodinmas arrest had nothing to do with the crisis rocking the state chapter of the APC. But Okorocha wont allow Uzodinma rest yet. He said Uzodinma was desperate to become governor so that he would evade trials. His ideas is that once he becomes governor, he would be leveraging the immunity provision to evade these trials, the former governor had said. CLASH WITH NWOSU AT APC RALLY APC rally in Imo Even when he had defected to the AA, Nwosu still held onto the APC. His supporters mounted billboards of him with Buhari, APC presidential candidate, across the state. Against warnings, Nwosu broke into an APC rally in January 2019, and his presence led to a clash. His supporters were seen with his posters and were chanting songs of victory that was almost humiliating to Uzodinma who primarily should be the beneficiary of the rally. Scores were injured and Okorocha would later blame this on Uzodinma whom he accused of hiring thugs to disrupt the event. He went ahead saying the alliance between AA and APC is a perfect one. We are working to deliver President Buhari and Uche Nwosu in the state. EXPELLED FROM THE APC Barely two months to the election, the state chapter of the APC expelled Uzodinma over alleged anti party activities. He was accused of working with Osita Izunaso, the Imo west senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). The party had wanted him to be on the side of Okorocha, its candidate for the senatorial seat. This is to inform you that the All Progressives Congress, Omuma Ward of Oru East Local Government Area in Imo State, has expelled Senator Hope Uzodinma from the party due to certain inordinate and anti-party activities perpetrated by him and his cohorts, the party had written in a statement. LOSING AT THE TRIBUNAL, APPEAL COURT After losing at the election petition tribunal, the court of appeal in Abuja in November again dismissed Uzodinmas and other several appeals challenging the victory of Ihedioha in the March 9 election. The first appeal was filed by Nwosu, Uzodinma and Ifeanyi Ararume, candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) who had come third in the election. They asked the appellate court to upturn the judgment of the Imo state tribunal which affirmed the victory of Ihedioha. The appellants claimed that the governor did not obtain the constitutional one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with section 179 of the constitution. They also claimed that the election was marred by irregularities and failure to comply with the electoral act. The five-member panel of the appeal court, however, dismissed the appeals on grounds that they lacked merit. Tuesdays judgment favouring Uzodinma would make it the first time the apex court would nullify election based on election petition. culled: TheCable They prepared soup, white pudding, sausages, brawn and cabbage with meat. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Traditional pig-slaughtering is a New Years tradition at Svidniks open-air folk museum. People in this region often follow the Julian calendar, so New Years Eve is celebrated on January 13 and New Year's Day on January 14. This year, they recalled the traditions of their ancestors and allowed visitors a taste of traditional pig-slaughtering food. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, so two weeks later, said director of Slovak National Museum Museum of Ukrainian Culture in Svidnik, Jaroslav Dzoganik, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The event was a replica of what it used to look like at a traditional village pig-slaughtering. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) federal minister for water resources Faisal Vadwa on Wednesday, January 15, appeared on a Pakistani television show with a military boot on the table. According to Vadwa, he was "showing his loyalty to the Pakistani army." According to reports, the PTI minister was trolling his rivals -- the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PLMN) leaders. He said that "those who compromise, never strike a chord," and put the military boot on the table. Further reports stated that with his remarks, the other two participants who belonged to the PPP and PLMN left the show. Faisal Vadwa trolled In no time, the clipping of the show went viral on social media and Netizens heavily trolled the PTI Minister. I am a big supporter of PTI but i strongly condemm this kind of behaviour on national tv. Faisal wavda should apologise.. Other wise @ImranKhanPTI must take action.. They are damaging party cause. #PTIDisrespectsArmy Zoya (@zoya_libra) January 15, 2020 Imagine a political life where you struggle for 22 years and people like faisal wavda, firdous aashiq awan fawad chaudhry zartaj gul are member of your cabinet sigh (@Mz_gujjar) January 14, 2020 Faisal wavda brings boot in live show pic.twitter.com/NHWCcoyqYA Fizza Haideri (@Fizzahaideri) January 14, 2020 Read: Pakistan urges "maximum restraint", as it maintains balancing act in Iran-US relations Today is the darkest day of Pakistan's democratic history. Federal Minister Faisal Wavda placed a Military boot on the table , during a talk show. pic.twitter.com/NQoAuSuF1S rubina balouch (@burbashee) January 14, 2020 Read: After Pakistan Army's criticism, relief for Musharraf as Lahore HC quashes death sentence Faisal wavda is my daily reminder of why "they" should not be in power, because they install such jokers for their expediency. Imperfectionist (@Behrulkahil) January 14, 2020 Read: Congress absolves Pak of Pulwama attack, jumps to give religious spin on J&K DySP's arrest Pak army reviews security situation along LoC Meanwhile, three days after India's Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane made a massive statement about regaining Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the Pakistan Army held a meeting to review the security situation along the LoC. According to the spokesperson of the Pakistan Army, the Corps Commanders on Tuesday discussed the geostrategic, regional and national security environment in the border areas. Read: In London for treatment, former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's pic at restaurant goes viral FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served more than 70.5 million passengers in 2019 achieving a new all-time record by exceeding the 70-million mark for the first time in a calendar year. Compared to the previous year, this represents a passenger increase of 1.5 percent. Following a positive trend in the first half of 2019 (up 3.0 percent), passenger volumes largely stagnated in the second half of the year (up 0.2 percent). In the months of November and December 2019, passenger numbers declined for the first time since November 2016. The relatively weaker growth in full-year passenger numbers can be mainly attributed to domestic traffic (down 3.4 percent) and European traffic (up 1.2 percent). In contrast, intercontinental traffic to and from FRA increased by 3.4 percent in 2019. Fraport AG's executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, commented: "The reduction of airline flight services for the current winter schedule had a noticeable impact on passenger volumes at Frankfurt. After a long and extraordinarily strong growth phase during which we gained almost 10 million passengers in the last three years we can now see that the aviation industry is entering a consolidation phase. Broader economic and geopolitical uncertainties have worsened, while unilateral national measures such as raising the local air traffic tax are placing an additional burden on the German aviation industry in 2020." The number of aircraft movements at FRA rose by 0.4 percent to 513,912 takeoffs and landings in 2019. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) were up 0.8 percent to about 31.9 million metric tons. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) contracted by 3.9 percent to 2.1 million metric tons, reflecting the ongoing slowdown of the global economy. In December 2019, FRA's passenger traffic declined by 1.2 percent year-on-year to 4.9 million passengers. With 36,635 takeoffs and landings, aircraft movements shrank by 4.4 percent. MTOWs slipped by 2.9 percent to just under 2.4 million metric tons. Cargo volumes decreased by 7.2 percent to 170,384 metric tons. The airports in Fraport AG's international portfolio continued to show largely positive performance during 2019. Affected by the bankruptcy of home-carrier Adria Airways and other factors, Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia recorded a 5.0 percent traffic decline in the reporting year (December 2019: down 21.6 percent). In contrast, Fraport's two Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) posted combined traffic growth of 3.9 percent to 15.5 million passengers (December 2019: up 0.3 percent). Peru's Lima Airport (LIM) continued the strong performance of previous years, with traffic rising by 6.6 percent (December 2019: up 5.4 percent). Traffic at the 14 Greek regional airports expanded slightly by 0.9 percent to nearly 30.2 million passengers in 2019 (December 2019: down 2.2 percent). Following years of dynamic growth, traffic at Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) airports in Bulgaria declined by 10.7 percent, due to airlines consolidating their flight offerings (December 2019: up 23.3 percent). In 2019, traffic at Turkey's Antalya Airport (AYT) once again advanced rapidly by 10.0 percent to almost 35.5 million passengers (December 2019: up 2.8 percent). Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, saw traffic climb by 8.1 percent to some 19.6 million passengers (December 2019: up 5.7 percent). At Xi'an Airport (XIY) in China, traffic jumped by 5.7 percent to more than 47.2 million passengers (December 2019: up 4.7 percent). Print-quality photos of Fraport AG and Frankfurt Airport are available for free downloading via the photo library on the Fraport Web site. For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading. If you wish to meet a member of our Media Relations team when at Frankfurt Airport, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our contact details are available here. Fraport Traffic Figures December 2019 Fr8aport Group Airports1 December 2019 Year to Date (YTD) 2019 Fraport Passengers Cargo* Movements Passengers Cargo Movements Fully-consolidated airports share (%) Month % Month % Month % YTD % YTD % YTD % FRA Frankfurt Germany 100.00 4,868,298 -1.2 167,692 -7.4 36,635 -4.4 70,556,072 1.5 2,091,174 -3.9 513,912 0.4 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 100.00 85,513 -21.6 1,030 -2.5 1,776 -27.1 1,721,355 -5.0 11,365 -8.2 31,489 -11.3 Fraport Brasil 100.00 1,454,258 0.3 8,157 11.4 12,887 3.7 15,516,902 3.9 85,586 -0.5 137,403 -1.3 FOR Fortaleza Brazil 100.00 692,101 -1.3 5,166 23.9 5,608 -2.4 7,218,697 8.9 48,355 5.1 59,694 2.4 POA Porto Alegre Brazil 100.00 762,157 1.8 2,991 -5.1 7,279 8.9 8,298,205 -0.1 37,231 -6.8 77,709 -4.0 LIM Lima Peru 80.01 1,961,228 5.4 25,721 -4.3 16,995 6.2 23,578,600 6.6 271,326 -5.0 197,857 2.7 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece A+B 73.40 697,028 -2.2 670 -1.6 6,930 -5.3 30,152,728 0.9 7,599 -7.0 245,569 0.6 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece A 73.40 540,501 -0.8 554 1.8 4,659 -6.1 16,690,193 0.4 5,809 -6.1 131,160 0.1 CFU Kerkyra (Corfu) Greece 73.40 22,521 -4.5 9 -44.7 317 -19.1 3,275,897 -2.6 180 -1.9 25,312 -3.8 CHQ Chania (Crete) Greece 73.40 55,796 -3.3 17 -48.9 502 -9.4 2,983,542 -0.8 381 -16.1 20,502 4.6 EFL Kefalonia Greece 73.40 3,538 4.2 0 n.a. 110 -6.8 774,170 1.6 0 -38.0 7,355 2.6 KVA Kavala Greece 73.40 5,392 -22.9 10 3.3 118 3.5 323,310 -20.6 99 3.9 3,465 -16.5 PVK Aktion/Preveza Greece 73.40 367 19.2 0 n.a. 56 0.0 625,790 7.2 0 n.a. 5,592 3.7 SKG Thessaloniki Greece 73.40 449,698 -0.2 519 7.0 3,456 -4.7 6,897,057 3.1 5,145 -5.5 55,738 0.9 ZTH Zakynthos Greece 73.40 3,189 21.6 0 -100.0 100 -2.9 1,810,427 0.5 4 -48.5 13,196 0.3 Fraport Regional Airports of Greece B 73.40 156,527 -6.7 116 -15.5 2,271 -3.5 13,462,535 1.5 1,790 -10.0 114,409 1.1 JMK Mykonos Greece 73.40 7,224 -4.0 3 23.5 141 -5.4 1,520,145 8.9 89 -4.5 18,801 8.8 JSI Skiathos Greece 73.40 1,088 0.5 0 n.a. 44 -20.0 446,219 1.9 0 n.a. 4,179 0.5 JTR Santorini (Thira) Greece 73.40 31,750 -22.3 7 -39.9 444 13.0 2,300,408 2.0 170 -5.0 21,319 4.7 KGS Kos Greece 73.40 18,962 -3.8 24 25.6 344 -13.4 2,676,644 0.4 325 11.4 19,797 -2.6 MJT Mytilene (Lesvos) Greece 73.40 28,212 0.3 25 -17.3 458 -11.1 496,577 4.1 349 -9.2 6,571 6.7 RHO Rhodes Greece 73.40 56,711 -1.6 39 -29.7 542 2.5 5,542,567 -0.5 626 -19.1 37,468 -3.1 SMI Samos Greece 73.40 12,580 -2.2 19 -2.7 298 -5.7 479,975 3.7 232 -13.6 6,274 1.1 Fraport Twin Star 60.00 92,334 23.3 281 -70.1 832 -2.1 4,970,095 -10.7 4,871 -43.1 35,422 -13.7 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 60.00 12,325 -5.2 275 -70.4 155 -30.5 2,885,776 -12.0 4,747 -43.7 19,954 -14.3 VAR Varna Bulgaria 60.00 80,009 29.3 6 -39.6 677 8.0 2,084,319 -8.7 123 -9.3 15,468 -13.0 At equity consolidated airports AYT Antalya Turkey 51.00 871,457 2.8 n.a. n.a. 6,382 -3.3 35,483,190 10.0 n.a. n.a. 206,599 9.6 LED St. Petersburg Russia 25.00 1,345,769 5.7 n.a. n.a. 12,662 -0.5 19,581,262 8.1 n.a. n.a. 168,572 1.9 XIY Xi'an China 24.50 3,769,520 4.7 42,387 30.4 28,612 3.4 47,220,745 5.7 381,869 22.2 345,106 4.6 Frankfurt Airport2 December 2019 Month % YTD 2019 % Passengers 4,868,689 -1.2 70,560,987 1.5 Cargo (freight & mail) 170,384 -7.2 2,128,476 -3.9 Aircraft movements 36,635 -4.4 513,912 0.4 MTOW (in metric tons)3 2,370,398 -2.9 31,872,251 0.8 PAX/PAX-flight4 142.4 3.5 146.8 1.2 Seat load factor (%) 76.2 79.6 Punctuality rate (%) 75.0 72.6 Frankfurt Airport PAX share %5 PAX share %5 Regional Split Month YTD Continental 58.8 -4.3 63.7 0.4 Germany 11.0 -3.0 10.5 -3.4 Europe (excl. GER) 47.9 -4.5 53.2 1.2 Western Europe 39.1 -5.2 44.0 0.9 Eastern Europe 8.7 -1.4 9.2 2.8 Intercontinental 41.2 3.7 36.3 3.4 Africa 5.3 1.6 4.7 8.8 Middle East 6.1 1.5 5.2 2.0 North America 14.0 10.9 12.8 3.9 Central & South Amer. 4.8 2.4 3.4 3.7 Far East 11.1 -1.8 10.1 1.2 Australia 0.0 n.a. 0.0 n.a. Definitions: 1 According to ACI definition: Passengers: commercial traffic only (arr+dep+transit counted once), Cargo: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep excluding transit, in metric tons), Movements: commerical and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep), preliminary figures; 2 Commercial and non-commercial traffic: Passengers (arr+dep+transit counted once, incl. general aviation), Cargo (arr+dep+transit counted once, in metric tons), Movements (arr+dep); 3 Inbound traffic only; 4 Scheduled and charter traffic; 5 absolute change vs. previous year in % ; *Cargo = Freight + mail Contact Fraport AG Torben Beckmann Corporate Communications Media Relations 60547 Frankfurt, Germany Telephone: +49 69 690 70553 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.fraport.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport For further information about Fraport AG please click here. SOURCE Fraport AG Related Links https://www.fraport.com Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has pledged not to use the Government jet to fly between his home in Cork and Leinster House if elected Taoiseach. Mr Martin clocked up a massive 30,000 bill on commercial flights flying between Cork and Dublin when he was Minister for Health. Speaking at Fianna Fails campaign launch, Mr Martin said it was a much different world when he was Health Minister between 2000 and 2004. Asked if he regretted clocking up so many air miles while in office, he said: Im not going to go into the details of that in terms of getting around the country and so on, before adding: I was a very active minister. Mr Martin said he would obviously not use the Government jet to fly to and from Cork if he running the next government. He said he supported Fine Gaels plan to pay carbon offset charges on government flights. Im not going to pretend they (ministers) dont have to get to meetings, they do and they have to do it in an efficient way and an effective way on behalf of the country, he added. He also said environmental issues would be to the fore of Fianna Fails election campaign. Read More Previously released figures showed Mr Martin travelled by commercial flights between his native Cork and Dublin on 226 occasions during his five year tenure in the Department of Health. At the time, Mr Martin had a State car and a Garda driver. The total bill came to 30,530.67, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he has no plans for the Government jet if elected to Government. Mr Ryan laughed off suggestions that his party would have policy on the use of the Government jet despite his entire campaign being based on environment issues. Have I got plans for the government jet? he laughed. He was also unable to say if he was hoping to get rid of it or keep it. No, I havent [got plans], he said. However, Mr Ryan said the Green Party would only go into a coalition with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael if the two parties took climate change seriously. This is the issue of our time, he said. Its a turning point election, the last ten years weve had the status quo, get the economy back to its old ways. This election is a turning point where its actually, Where do we go from here in the next ten years?" Read More He said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael need to be asked if they are committed to going "green". At some stage in this election, the other parties will and should be asked the question, Are you really going to go green? Weve been 40 years thinking about this and we want to apply that thinking as best as we can. The TD added that when it comes to election posters, he is re-using his for the third time in a bid to be environmentally friendly. They look a bit like my confirmation photos, or what do you call it, holy communion photos, I look so young in them, he joked. I used them in the European election back in 2014 and in that way we try and re-use and try and also reduce. Its madness, last night, the way I describe it is that it is a bit like Halloween for politicians - everyone is out at night on the side of the road. He said that the party is in favour of having special areas for candidates to put up their posters. The best way we think it is managed is in certain European countries where you have designated places for posters, he added. In October last year, a piece of news broke out that swung the personnel of Delhi Police into action instantly. It was a high-profile case involving the niece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As it happened, PM Modi's niece Damyanti Ben Modis purse containing cash of Rs 56,000 and two mobile phones were wrenched from her grasp by two persons when she was alighting from an auto-rickshaw. The incident prompted a massive police response as around 700 personnel of the Police were employed in the probe to identify and trace the two men who snatched Damayanti Ben's purse. The policemen combed through around 200 recordings from CCTV cameras in the area. The Delhi Police identified the robbers who were riding a two-wheeler. The men were not wearing helmets and the CCTV footage showed them going to Sultanpuri. Further inquiries led the police to Haryana's Sonipat from where one of the two men involved in the snatching was arrested while the second man was arrested from Sultanpuri. Cut to the present and we have been witness to a much more gruesome incident but the inaction by the members of the same Delhi Police has come in the forefront. It has been 10 days since the brutal assault on the students of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in the heart of the national capital but the Delhi Police has been unable to make a single arrest so far, though it has registered a total of four FIRs, two of which are against the JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, who was herself attacked in the most brutal manner possible and left with as many as 16 stitches. Yesterday, Delhi Police said that three suspects in the JNU violence case - Komal Sharma, Rohit Shah, and Akshat Awasthi - were absconding. The word absconding highlighted that the police were unable to nab her, whatever the reasons may be. It should also be noted that several members of Delhi Police were accused of inaction when the violence was playing out on live television and SOS calls from the university students flooded social media, prompting concerned citizens and activists to arrive at the scene of mayhem. Bloodstains, lathis and stones used by the assaulters live to narrate the horrors of the night. Notably, the same police force was able to catch the culprits involved in robbing PMs niece within a matter of three-four days and even though pieces of evidence are more pressing in this case, they have been unable to arrest a single person after as many as 10 days since the brutal assault took place. Long before the police actually spilt out these names, several television and news outlets clearly presented a slew of evidence to point to the assaulters of the dreadful night. The action, dubbed by critics as inaction, has come under the scanner and even the judiciary has taken an increasing note of it following the mayhem. It is also a reminder of how the police have been detaining peaceful protesters across the country. In Delhi, several people including Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad were detained previously. In Bangalore, reputed historian Ramachandra Guha was detained while he was staging a peaceful protest. At the same time, we have seen several episodes when Indian police have swung into action over some silly matters. For example: several policemen, including 8 sub-Inspectors and 16 constables, were reportedly deployed to One Anne Marg (Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's residence) especially to guard hundreds of trees of mangoes and litchi fruits. Similarly, seven buffaloes robbed from powerful Uttar Pradesh politician Azam Khan's home, had scores of policemen on their toes. All of these bear uncanny contrast to the action taken by Delhi Police in JNU mayhem. While we still await arrests by the police, we are also hoping that they show some restraint in dealing with peaceful protests. Even the judiciary has now had to say it on record that people have a right to protest and that the police should respect it. The world's richest person and Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos is currently in India. And as soon as he landed in India, he went to pay his respects to "someone who truly changed the world" - Mahatma Gandhi. He visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial in Delhi and folded his hands to pray and pay his homage. He took to social media and wrote, "Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi." He was even flying kites with kids in Delhi. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/xDXAT9cBgf Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 14, 2020 Isn't this an emotional moment? What can possibly go wrong with the world's richest man paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi? Turns out, everything. Looks like, people either really hate Jeff Bezos a lot or just love to troll him no matter what he does. Recently, he got trolled for donating money to Australia bushfires. Why? Because people had problems with the fact that he donated money equivalent of what he earns in 3 minutes. Now, people are attacking him on social media after he posted the video. While some had complaints about him not paying enough to his employees and how he should treat his employees well, others were busy criticising Amazon for selling products with gods' pictures on them. Wo sab theek hai pehle ye bata Mirzapur ka season 2 kab aa raha hai Sagar (@sagarcasm) January 14, 2020 Hey @JeffBezos Nice jacket..but when it arrived did it look the same as shown on the @amazonIN app? - An unsatisfied amazon customer Omkar Shetty (@omkar_shettyg) January 14, 2020 Jeff, My deliveries take 3 days despife being a prime customer. Halwa-e-Hind (@e_halwa) January 14, 2020 Pahle ye bata, Amazon Prime Android TV par install kyu nahi hota (@AndColorPockeT) January 14, 2020 Mera parcel kab tak aayega? Godman Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) January 15, 2020 But, amidst all these mixed comments, there were some desi people who had the most valid and practical questions to ask from Jeff Bezos - "Apna Parcel Kab Aayega?" There were a few who even wanted to know "Mirzapur season 2 Kab Aayega?" There was one who wanted to know where Bezos got his jacket from and whether the quality was as good as it showed on Amazon. Well, you know we desi people don't beat around the bush, we are quite good at asking questions that have absolutely no connection with the topic, but still make sense. Bezos is reportedly on a three-day visit to India and will attend an event in Delhi and is also expected to meet senior government officials and later some prominent Bollywood celebrities. Govt officials raise concerns about some health cost-sharing ministries Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Officials in Washington have ordered Trinity Healthshare, which advertises itself as a Christian health cost-sharing ministry, to permanently stop insuring people in that state and pay a $150,000 fine for failing to meet the legal definition of a healthcare sharing ministry under state law. Many consumers here and in other parts of the country thought they were buying a health insurance plan, only to find out that pre-existing and chronic conditions werent covered," Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in a recent statement. "That resulted in many people facing thousands of dollars of debt for medical expenses they believed would be covered. The Christian Post reached out to Trinity Healthshare for comment multiple times for this report but was repeatedly directed to an automated messaging service by representatives. Kreidler ordered Trinity Healthshare and its unlicensed insurance producer Aliera to immediately stop selling health insurance and end deceptive business practices after receiving dozens of complaints from consumers who were denied coverage when filing medical claims, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner said. Aliera and Trinity sold 3,058 policies to Washington consumers and collected $3.8 million in premiums as of June 2019. Trinity HealthShare, known formerly as Aliera Healthcare, describes itself as an administrator for one of the six companies that were accredited as Health Sharing entities under the Affordable Care Act. The other companies are: Liberty Healthshare, Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries, Altrua Healthshare and Christian Healthcare Ministries. According to Kreidlers office, a legal healthcare sharing ministry is a nonprofit organization whose members have a common set of ethical or religious beliefs and share medical expenses consistent with those beliefs. Federal and state laws require that healthcare sharing ministries be formed before Dec. 31, 1999, and their members to have been actively sharing medical costs. Trinity, however, was formed in June 2018 with no members. More than one million Americans struggling to cope with the rising cost of health insurance have joined healthcare sharing ministries, The New York Times reports, due to premiums far lower than those charged by traditional insurance policies, which must meet strict requirements, like guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions, established by the ACA. The driver behind the lower premiums, however, is due to the fact that these organizations are not classified as insurance and are not legally obligated to pay medical claims. They are allowed to decline coverage to people with pre-existing illnesses and can reject treatments for specialties like mental healthcare. Nothing is guaranteed, Dr. Carolyn McClanahan, a physician who is also a financial planner in Jacksonville, Florida, told The New York Times. You have to depend on the largess of the program. The main requirement for membership is adherence to a Christian lifestyle, which comes with various requirements to prove adherence. Samaritans Ministries, based in Peoria, Illinois, requires a priest or pastor to cosign a new applicants paperwork, vouching the applicant regularly attends church, PBS reported. That form must be re-submitted annually. Christian Care Ministry, based in Melbourne, Florida, and Liberty HealthShare, headquartered in Canton, Ohio, also ask potential members to sign a statement of faith that commits the applicant to adhere to a Christian lifestyle and avoid food, behaviors or habits that produce sickness or disease. Members of Altrua HealthShare, based in Austin, Texas, are also required to abide by the biblical definition of marriage and flee fornication. In a statement to CP, Medi-Share argued that healthcare sharing ministries were never designed to act as insurance. As with any industry, there will be an occasional bad actor that reflects negatively on the whole. HCSMs were started by Christians whose motivation was to create a community of faith modeled on the early church described in Acts 2," the ministry said. "HCSMs arent designed to imitate health insurance companies; theyre designed to imitate the early church. Our community is strong and vibrant, offering an affordable option for the more than 400k Americans enrolled in Medi-Share. Since 1993, Medi-Share members have shared every eligible medical bill submitted, totaling more than $3B," the ministry continued. "While a Healthcare Sharing Ministry may not be the best fit for every individual and family, for those participating, Medi-Share is a vital, affordable and reasonable alternative with common sense limitations on pre-existing conditions and prescriptions, and considerable savings that can be used not only to pay for preventive care, but to support other endeavors that are important to them, like giving back to their community. Still, officials in other states are also ringing the alarm on Christian health cost-sharing ministries. Nevada insurance regulators warned consumers in December to beware of these plans. Open Enrollment is coming to an end on Sunday, and some consumers may find themselves pressured to enroll in health insurance before the deadline, making it easy to fall for misleading marketing practices from entities mimicking health insurance, such as plans offered by health care sharing programs or ministries, Nevada officials warned in a Dec. 13 statement. Consumers should be careful of purchasing plans from HCSMs; they may seem enticing because they may be cheap, look and sound like they are in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when in reality these plans are not even insurance products. The Texas attorney general also brought a lawsuit last summer against Aliera Healthcare, which marketed Trinitys ministry program, to stop it from offering unregulated insurance products to the public. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 11:04:36|Editor: ZD Video Player Close BANGKOK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China has to win their last AFC U-23 group game against Iran on Wednesday for the sake of their dignity, said Chinese side captain Chen Binbin. China lost their first two group games to South Korea (1-0) and Uzbekistan (2-0) successively to have missed out on the chance to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympic Games. "It is a shame that we could not make it, but now we can do nothing about it," Chen said. "We will try our best to win the last match against Iran, it is about our dignity. We are determined to win it," added the 21 year old. Chen rued his team's underperformance as well as well as the injury forced absence of their ace striker Zhang Yuning. "I found nothing special about our opponents in the matches, it is mainly due to our underperformance. We did not bring out our best," he said. He said China had to change their tactics after Zhang was stretchered off for a fifth metatarsal fracture in their first group match against South Korea. "His injury was a blow to us. What a regret. We had to change the way of our play because of that," said the Chinese skipper. Zhang has been flown back to China to receive treatment. A Muslim women's group named "Girls Islamic Organisation of India" here on Wednesday protested against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Register of Citizens (NRC) and Population Register (NPR). State president of Girls Islamic Organization of India, Afeeda Ahmed said, "The movement against CAA started as a student protest in Delhi. A large number of Muslim students were also present during the protest there. Here we are holding a three-day protest.'' The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Meet PaTrice Frazier, a 34-year-old master welder and instructor. On being a black female welder: Its like Im a Loch Ness [monster] right now, or Bigfoot. Whats alive but you dont see all the time? Like a baby pigeon. ... Whens the last time you seen a baby pigeon? From toe shoes to tungsten: As a kid growing up, I thought I would be a ballerina. Straight up. PaTrice Frazier saw a monopoly and wanted in. It was 2008, and Frazier, then 22, was reading the newspaper with her gram in Gouldtown, N.J., when she saw a story about how the United States would face a shortage of welders in two years. Further research showed Frazier that few welders were black, and even fewer were women. She couldnt find stats on how many black female welders there were in the U.S. because the numbers were so small nobody kept track. They still dont. I was like, Whoa. Its a monopoly. I got to get into this monopoly, Frazier said. There wasnt no females, there wasnt no brown people. I was like, Oh yeah. I got to be a part of this." And within two years, Frazier became a certified welder. Six more years passed before she ever encountered another woman on the job. Although women have been welding since the days of Rosie the Riveter, just 5% of all welders in the country are women and only 8% are black, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. My first few years I was intimidated, very much so," Frazier said of working in the male-dominated industry. And then I realized they was intimidated, and then it changed my whole perspective on everything. Raised in South Jersey by her grandmothers, Frazier, now 34, is as fiery as the sparks she throws off while welding. Quick-witted and honest, she wears gauged earrings and has tattoos covering her arms, including a shark on her bicep. She wears large, Lennon-esque circle glasses and fully embraces her androgynous appearance (let them guess for a while). A graduate of Cumberland Regional High School, Frazier tried college for a while but found she was better with her hands. Inspired by the stats she read in that newspaper article (I like numbers. I move off of numbers"), Frazier enrolled in the Cumberland County Technology Education Center. She was the only woman in her welding classes. MORE WE THE PEOPLE: Philly forensic scientists busts crimes and stereotypes After graduation, Frazier had a few local welding gigs but found it difficult to land jobs as an independent welder in the Philly area a longtime labor union stronghold. So she moved to Atlanta, Ga., where she helped build everything from bridges to frames for digital touchscreen displays. Her favorite job was working on the hand rails for Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Super Bowl was held last year. Seeing the Super Bowl and people playing there and being safe and actually seeing my work, ... its amazing, she said. Frazier became specialized in TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding a precise and detailed form of welding often used on engines, artwork, and thin metals and at holding her own on job sites. You got to be good at sh talking," she said of working with mostly men. Man, you got to be top. In 2017, Frazier moved back to Sicklerville, N.J., to pursue her dream of owning her own welding business. In the interim, she was hired by Mark Cavo of Cavo Design-Build to help with a renovation at the Independence Seaport Museum. Cavo, who hired Frazier for her TIG welding skills, said he doesnt often get female applicants. Its a rare thing to come across, he said. But she got that steady hand. Last year, as she worked on developing her business plan for her company, Weld Jointed, Frazier who dreams of opening her own welding academy took a job teaching welding at the Philadelphia Technician Training Institute. I confirmed to myself that I could do it," she said. "Not only do I have the skill, but I can relay the skill. MORE WE THE PEOPLE: This Philly attorney rides his penny-farthing around the city Dominique Morgan, 24, was the only female student in Fraziers class. When she walked through the door, I was like, Theres somebody like me! Morgan said. Frazier believes if there are more female welders and instructors, more women will view it as a viable career. She thinks women make the best welders because our hand-eye coordination is so sharp. If I can do it Im 120 pounds, straight up you can do it, she said. Frazier is hoping to organize a welding seminar in West Philly this spring for those who might be interested in the career and for established welders looking to connect with each other. Because of all the things shes built, what Frazier is most proud of making are her relationships with other welders. Its the connections Ive made, thats what matters, she said. Its such a small community, and were all, like, kind of rebels, man. Want more We the People? Pro-skateboarder-turned painter Damian Smith, plein air painted Lincoln Financial Field. Gabe Nathan and his Herbie the Love Bug are driving out suicide stigma. Check out the full We the People archive here. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held a series of bilateral meetings with several foreign dignitaries, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Bangladesh Information Minister Hasan Mahmud. In his meeting with Lavrov, Jaishankar held a detailed exchange of views on key regional and international issues, including the situation relating to Iran, Syria and Libya. Lavrov briefed Jaishankar on priorities for Russia as current chair of BRICS and the SCO whose summit meetings would be held in Russia in July. Jaishankar accepted Lavrov's invitation to participate in the next RIC meeting to be hosted by Russia, the MEA said in a statement. The ministers also reviewed key issues in various areas of India-Russia bilateral cooperation, including implementation of decisions taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Vladivostok in September last year. Jaishankar also met Mahmud and held discussions on furthering connectivity between India and Bangladesh. "Pleased to meet Bangladesh Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud. Good to note that our initiatives on media are being taken forward. A good discussion on furthering connectivity," Jaishankar said in a tweet. Jaishankar also met Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu and held discussions on digital cooperation and global issues. "Warmly welcomed FM @UrmasReinsalu of Estonia. A very productive conversation on digital cooperation and global issues. Look forward to our working together," he said in another tweet. He also met a delegation from the US and spoke about opportunities for further cooperation. "Received the US delegates at #Raisina2020: Deputy NSA Matthew Pottinger, @LisaCurtisHF, @State_SCA Alice Wells. Spoke about our shared agenda and opportunities for further cooperation," he said. Jaishankar also met National Security Advisor of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib and discussed the current situation and bilateral relations. "Met Afghan NSA @hmohib. Discussed the current situation and our bilateral relations," he said in another tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ebuka Mama restaurant in Istanbuls cosmopolitan neighborhood of Kumkapi has a Nigerian flag in its window and a smell of spiced roasted fish wafting through the open door. Its customers eat large plates of jollof rice as Afrobeat plays in the background. A man asks the waiter to play Congolese music and introduces himself to Al-Monitor as William, a businessman from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like many entrepreneurial and middle-class Africans coming to Turkey, William is in Istanbul to buy wholesale textile and manufactured Turkish products. Cargo links between Turkey and many sub-Saharan African countries make the process easy and affordable for small business owners to keep their stores stocked from Istanbul. This is in part a consequence of the consumer explosion in many West and Central African countries as the increase in their disposable income feeds a taste for foreign-produced products. The total volume of trade between the African continent and Turkey reached $20.6 billion in 2017 a rapid growth from the $3.68 billion in 2003, according to Turkeys official Anatolia News Agency. Turkish Statistical Institutes figures list 5,045 Nigerians, 1,357 Senegalese and 1,001 Ghanaians living with work and residence permits in Turkey. However, there are also tens of thousands of West and Central Africans living on long-term tourist visas not included in these state statistics. They are, however, making a life for themselves in Istanbul. The Nigerian employees of a nightclub, who asked for anonymity, said that they have come from Dubai to Turkey. Turkey is a beautiful country. It is more modern than Dubai but there are no jobs here, he told Al-Monitor. Given that Turkeys unemployment rate looms around 14% meaning 4.5 million people of working age are unemployed it is hardly a surprise that Africans find it difficult to find a job. The employees also said that employers are reluctant to hire Africans even if they have work permits. We are making offers to companies to employ Africans here in Istanbul, Gulten Tosunoglu, co-founder of the Istanbul African Education, Culture and Solidarity Association (ISAFDER), told Al-Monitor. But their offers are often rejected by the Turkish companies. They would like to work with Afghans, not Africans, she added. So many people have to choose between unemployment or jobs in the black market that offer no security, little pay and long hours. I have lived here for three years and I have no social life, Blessing, a Nigerian woman, told Al-Monitor. She works 11 hours a day in a Nigerian restaurant, and when she leaves work, she is too tired to do anything else. But others do as much for recreation as for survival. Nightlife and cultural spaces help the communities maintain social bonds as well as share experience and survival tips. A club in the European neighborhood of Mecidiyekoy, where many Africans live, rap along to Afrobeat artists like Wizkid, Zlatan and Burna Boy until the small hours of the morning. One group of middle-aged African men and women celebrate a birthday in bowties and evening dresses, while another group of men in their 20s dances to the music in tracksuits or black button-up shirts. It is rare to see West Africans and Turks mix together in the same spaces. Afro clubs and restaurants throughout the city are mainly visited by the communitys own members. When Al-Monitor visited this Mecidiyekoy club all of the guests were from West or Central Africa. The same is true for the hairdressers. Tucked behind and between the financial districts of Levent and Mecidiyekoy is the sleepy neighborhood of Gulbag, the location of the bustling hairdresser's salon Ecem Afro with its West and Central African patrons. A man steps out with a freshly trimmed beard and his hair in twisted curls. Inside, Prescilla and her friends Edith and Nadia drink tea and after a bit of giggling, agree to talk about themselves. Prescilla lives in Istanbul in order to supply her store and business in Lagos, Nigeria, with clothes produced in Turkey. But recent constraints on tourist residence permits mean that life for people like her is becoming increasingly difficult in Turkey. Many Africans were recently denied permission to extend their tourist residence permits, until recently a way to stay in Turkey relatively easily and almost indefinitely. I personally know 50 people in a similar position who had no choice but to leave Turkey and look for other countries to conduct their business in, Prescilla told Al-Monitor. The Directorate General of Migration Management website concurs with Prescillas remark. An announcement on Dec. 2, 2019, stated that starting Jan. 1, foreigners with one year or longer short-term residence permits with tourism as their designated reason for being in the country will be refused an extension of their residence permits. There is some debate over how this new visa change will affect the lives of West Africans living in Istanbul. Tosunoglu from ISAFDER didnt seem too distressed about the new visa arrangements. This is not a visa barricade but a difficulty. Africans in Turkey are aware of whats happening. There are many examples of these kinds of procedures between the countries, she said. Adil Kilic, president of the African Turkish Businessmen Union, said that the difficulties would have a negative impact on the economy. This visa difficulty will have a large impact on Turkeys exports, it is an unwise decision that will only undermine the process of trade between African countries and Turkey, he told Al-Monitor. Across Istanbul, cargo businesses and phone shops reveal diverse and cosmopolitan migrant communities. In different neighborhoods, plastered onto windows are flags representing the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Senegal, Ghana, and a host of other national flags offering vital communication links with a vast portion of the African continent. While the West and Central African communities are alive and thriving in Istanbul, the nature of many peoples existence here remains at the mercy of poor job opportunities and visa rules. But many of the people interviewed said they want to stay in Turkey despite the hardship. As John, an English teacher from Nigeria, said, The citizens here in Turkey are nicer to us, unlike in many other Asian countries and other parts of Europe. Tugce Ozbicer contributed to this report. Segal Has Acquired Public Sector Consulting Industry Leader LRWL Segal has acquired LRWL Inc., a leader in public sector retirement systems implementation services. For over 25 years LRWL has focused exclusively on supporting the public pension industry - both retirement and benefits administration. The LRWL team has become part of Segal's Administration, Technology and Consulting (ATC) practice. By adding LRWL's business process, technology, and pension system implementation experience to Segal's array of consulting services, it enables the company to better support current and future public sector clients. "In acquiring LRWL, we are building on Segal's strong core competencies and enhancing our ability to support public sector retirement systems," said David Blumenstein, President and CEO of Segal. "Our strengths complement each other and this acquisition reaffirms Segal's continued commitment to providing public sector entities with the highest level of consulting services." "We look forward to offering clients access to Segal's robust consulting capabilities," said Leon echsler, President of LRWL, who has joined Segal as Vice President and Senior Consultant. "Both of our companies are known for assisting clients through a personalized approach rather than providing the one-size-fits-all approach. We will soon be able to offer even more personalized options to meet client needs." For more information about this news, contact Amira Rubin at [email protected]. Segal provides trusted advice that improves lives. Segal is a privately-owned benefits, human capital, communications, technology, insurance brokerage and investment consulting firm with more than 1,000 employees throughout the U.S. and Canada. Segal, Segal Marco Advisors and Segal Benz are all members of the Segal family. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005784/en/ The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to send articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate, setting the stage for just the third impeachment trial in U.S. history. The vote was 228-193. Democrats accuse Trump of extorting the Ukrainian government to boost his re-election effort by besmirching a potential political foe, former Vice President Joe Biden. The House impeached Trump on abuse of power and obstructing Congress, alleging he held up a White House meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and almost $400 million in military aid unless Ukraine announced investigations into Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump used the funds, which were approved by Congress and concerned many federal government officials when they were withheld, as a private ATM" to help his personal political interests over national security. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee chairman who will lead the managers making the case to the Senate, noted money and a critical White House meeting were kept from Ukraine despite the country being a close ally at war with Russia. Trump put his own personal interests ahead of our national interests and our national security, Schiff said. If not stopped, he will do it again. Trump, who has called the impeachment campaign against him a witch hunt and a hoax, dismissed Democrats on Twitter Wednesday morning. Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats," he tweeted. "All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate! Trump and Republican lawmakers say the president, who campaigned on pulling the U.S. away from such a heavy military aid burden, applied no pressure to Ukraine. No investigations of Biden or Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company whose board included his son, Hunter Biden, were ever announced or conducted. And the Trump administration eventually released aid to Ukraine. But Democrats point out the aid was only released after a whistleblower filed a complaint on the presidents interactions with Ukraine. Pelosi, who waited almost a month to call for a House vote to send impeachment articles to the Senate, said Wednesday that she didnt want to hear about her timing. Frankly, this president wasnt worth it, Pelosi said on the House floor Wednesday, referencing her efforts to resist early Democratic calls to launch an impeachment inquiry against the president. But Pelosi said Trumps interactions with Ukraine crossed a threshold" that warranted a House vote paving the way for a Senate trial. Still to be determined is whether the Senate will hear from several key witnesses blocked by the Trump administration. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing for a fair trial with added witnesses and thousands of documents that have been kept from public view by the Trump administration. A 34-year-oldman was apprehended by CISF personnel at a Delhi metro station for allegedly carrying ten live bullets in his baggage, officials said on Wednesday. Pradeep Mishra had kept the bullets in his bag, and they were detected during X-ray screening of his luggage at the Nawada station on Tuesday, they said. The conmuter was handed over by the Central Industrial Security Force to the Delhi Police for further investigation, the officials added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gogglebox Australia star Symon Lovett has unleashed a blistering attack on STA Travel after he was forced to cancel his American holiday due to visa issues. Taking to Instagram stories on Wednesday, he updated fans on his travel nightmare, while throwing shade at the travel agency. The frustrated TV star, 32, claimed in one post: 'What is the point of booking through a company if the company doesn't alert you to the travel restrictions?' Scroll down for video 'What is the point of booking through a company?' Gogglebox Australia star Symon Lovett has unleashed a blistering attack on STA Travel after he was forced to cancel his American holiday due to visa issues Symon was begging airlines and hotels to refund him on Monday, after discovering he was not illegible for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) visa, and did not have enough time left before his flight to apply for the correct visa. The former Channel Ten personality was shocked to discover, one week before his flight, that he couldn't legally enter the U.S. on an ESTA visa due to visiting Iran two years ago. His 2017 trip meant he was supposed to obtain a special visa to enter America, but he claimed he wasn't aware of the rule that was implemented in 2015. 'If I wanted to book holidays I couldn't go on, I could do that on my own': Symon was frustrated by how difficult it was to change his holiday plans Providing an update on the saga, Symon said Freehand Hotel agreed to refund his booking, despite it being sold to him on a non-refundable sale-price deal. But he was not happy with how STA Travel had dealt with his complaints and requests to find an alternative travel solution. 'If I wanted to book holidays I couldn't go on, I could do that easily on my own,' he said, after insisting the travel agent should have made him aware of the visa restrictions. Blindsided: Symon was shocked to discover he couldn't legally enter the U.S. because he'd visited Iran on holiday two years ago. His 2017 trip means he must obtain a special visa to enter America and can't simply apply through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) PICTURED: Symon on holidays in Iran in 2017 He went on to say that he was offered the chance to 'change tickets to any flights in next 12 months', but was disappointed that flights in January next year were not available for purchase. 'Both Freehand Hotels and Booking.com altered their policies due to extenuating circumstances... just saying STA Travel,' Symon wrote. However, Symon later confirmed he had picked a new destination for a holiday at the final hour of being illegible to transfer the flights. Not happy! He said he was offered the chance to 'change tickets to any flights in next 12 months', but was disappointed that flights in January next year were not available for purchase Devastated: Symon managed to get his money back from The Freehand Hotel, but was told by STA Travel that his airline tickets were non-refundable 'Deadline has now been reached, after much thought and plenty of road blocks, we can't wait for out summer vacation to... Fiji.' It wasn't all excitement and cheer though, as Symon said he didn't agree and wasn't sure why it cost the pair [Symon and his girlfriend Gabriella] $500 each to change the flights, which he then claimed of which $350 went directly to STA Travel. Daily Mail Australia has contacted STA Travel for comment. Symon rose to fame on Gogglebox Australia alongside his best friend and housemate, Adam Densten. In 2019, the duo confirmed they would be leaving the show after five years. Then Rep.-elect Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., arrives for New Member Orientation at the Courtyard Marriott in SE, on November 13, 2018. Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is taking time off from her role in Congress to treat alcoholism, she said in a written statement on Wednesday. The Arizona representative has been absent from Congress since last week after a fall that resulted in an injury, for which she said she will attend physical therapy. The fall, she said, was the result of her addiction to alcohol. "I sincerely thank the many people who have reached out in support after my accident last week. The fall was serious, but with physical therapy I will fully recover," Kirkpatrick said in the statement. "I do, however, have another challenge I must face, which was the underlying cause of my fall. Beginning next week, I will receive treatment that I have struggled to ask for, to treat my alcohol dependence," she added. A spokesperson for her office told CNBC she will be "out of the office for a few weeks." But the congresswoman noted in the statement that it will be business as usual for her staff. "During my absence, my congressional offices in Washington and Arizona will be fully operational, processing all constituent requests, meetings, activities and correspondence," she said. "My positions on all recorded votes will be submitted to the Congressional Record and made publicly available," she added. Kirkpatrick won re-election to Arizona's 2nd Congressional District in 2018, defeating Republican challenger Lea Marquez Peterson with 54.7% of the vote. Kirkpatrick, like every House member, is up for re-election in 2020. Every day, 8 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith. Every week, 182 churches or Christian buildings are attacked. And every month, 309 Christians are imprisoned unjustly. So reports the 2020 World Watch List (WWL), the latest annual accounting from Open Doors of the top 50 countries where Christians are the most persecuted for their faith. We cannot let this stand, said David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, during the 2020 lists unveiling in Washington, DC, this morning. People are speaking out and we have an obligation to hear their cry. The listed nations comprise 260 million Christians suffering high to severe levels of persecution, up from 245 million in last years list. Where Its Hardest to Follow Jesus: 1. North Korea 2. Afghanistan 3. Somalia 4. Libya 5. Pakistan 6. Eritrea 7. Sudan 8. Yemen 9. Iran 10. India Another 50 million could be added from the 23 nations that fall just outside the top 50such as Mexico, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of the Congofor a ratio of 1 in 8 Christians worldwide facing persecution. Last year, 40 nations scored high enough to register very high persecution levels. This year, it reached 45. Open Doors has monitored Christian persecution worldwide since 1992. North Korea has ranked No. 1 since 2002, when the watch list began. The 2020 version tracks the time period from November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019, and is compiled from reports by Open Doors workers in more than 60 countries. The list provides the most comprehensive grassroots data on Christian persecution, said Curry. But it is much more than that. It is sounding an alarm. Last year, CT noted Asia Rising as India entered the top 10 for the first time while China rose from No. 43 to No. 27. That trend continues, as 2 in 5 Asian Christians now face high levels of persecution, up from 1 in 3 the previous reporting period. Chinas crackdown on both state-sanctioned and underground churches and its growing surveillance network added 16 million to Open Doorss tally of Christians facing persecution. The Chinese government is committing unparalleled human rights crimes against Christian citizens and seeking to wipe religious sentiment from its country, stated Curry in a press release ahead of todays event. Yet, as the Chinese Christians who will join me will testify, the persecution Christians faceincluding extensive surveillance, raids on churches, and imprisonmenthave not succeeded in eliminating Christianity. Instead, the underground Christian community has banded together and is actively working to call the worlds attention to the plight of the Chinese people. We will join them in that call. At the DC rollout, Curry was joined by Chinese pastor Jian Zhu. The persecution of Christians is the worst I have seen since 1979, he said. Christians have a worldwide brotherhood, and the government sees this as a threat. It is time for religious persecution to stop once and for all, said Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State in the US State Departments Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, at todays rollout. But as we all know, that is a long-term proposition. The point of the annual WWL rankingswhich have chronicled how North Korea now has competition as persecution only gets worse and worse, is to aim for more effective anger while showing persecuted believers that they are not forgotten. This year the top 10 is relatively unchanged. After North Korea is Afghanistan (No. 2), followed by Somalia (No. 3), Libya (No. 4), Pakistan (No. 5), Eritrea (No. 6), Sudan (No. 7), Yemen (No. 8), Iran (No. 9), and India (No. 10). Article continues below Image: Open Door USA Open Doors tracks persecution across six categoriesincluding both social and governmental pressure on individuals, families, and congregationsand has a special focus on women. But when violence is isolated as a category, the top 10 persecutors shifts dramaticallyonly Pakistan and India remain. Top 10 Countries Where Christians Face the Most Violence: 1. Pakistan 2. Nigeria 3. Egypt 4. Central African Republic 5. Burkina Faso 6. Colombia 7. Cameroon 8. India 9. Mali 10. Sri Lanka Open Doors reporting period: November 2018 to October 2019 Five of the most violent countries for Christians are located in the Sahel, a horizontal belt of semi-arid grazing areas and farmland located between the Sahara Desert and the African savannah. Militant Islamist rebel groups and terrorists have proliferated in the Sahel in recent years. Conflict between Muslim herders and Christian farmers has also resulted in violence. And weakened government structures leave the population vulnerable. Nigeria, where Africas largest Christian population has no cheeks left to turn, ranked No. 12 overall but is second behind only Pakistan in terms of violence, and ranks No. 1 in the number of Christians killed for reasons related to their faith. Open Doors tallied 1,350 Nigerian martyrs in its 2020 list. Where the Most Christians Were Martyred: 1. Nigeria: 1,350 2. Central African Republic: 924 3. Sri Lanka: 200 4. Democratic Republic of Congo: 152 5. South Sudan: 100 6. Burkina Faso: 50 7. Egypt: 23 8. Pakistan: 20 9. [name withheld]: 20 10. Colombia: 16 Open Doors reporting period: November 2018 to October 2019 The Central African Republic (ranked No. 25 overall) ranks fourth in violence against Christians. Burkina Faso (No. 28) ranks fifth. Cameroon (No. 48, its first time on the list) and Mali (No. 29) join Egypt (No. 16), Colombia (No. 41), and Sri Lanka (No. 30) in rounding out the top 10. (Another Sahel country, Niger (No. 50), rejoined the list for the first time in five years.) Sri Lanka rose 16 spots from No. 46 last year, primarily due to the Easter suicide bombings which killed over 250 people at Catholic and Protestant churches, and hotels. But the years largest and most dramatic jump was in Burkina Faso, which jumped 33 slots after not even qualifying for the top 50 last year (it would have been No. 61). Dozens of Burkinabe priests and pastors have been kidnapped or killed. Over 200 churches have been forced to close. The United Nations estimates 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes. The African Center for Strategic Studies calculates that extremist attacks have quadrupled since 2017, and deaths from violence increased 60 percent in 2019. Open Doors counted 50 Christians among that number. Meanwhile, a transition in Nigeria from village raids to kidnapping by militant Muslim Fulani herdsmenwhose attacks were six times as deadly as Boko Harams, according to the International Crisis Groupresulted in an overall decrease in Christians killed in the Sahel, as well as worldwide. Due to this shift in tactics, worldwide martyrdoms fell to 2,983 in the 2020 report, down from 4,305 the year before. (Open Doors is known for favoring a more conservative estimate than other groups, who often tally martyrdoms at 100,000 a year.) Abduction of Christians is a new category tracked by Open Doors in this years report, with 1,052 tallied worldwide. Nigeria tops the list, with 224. Nigeria also leads the newly tracked categories of forced marriages (accounting for 130 out of 630 worldwide), attacked Christian homes (1,500 out of 3,315), and looted Christian shops (1,000 out of 1,979). Article continues below Other new categories return the focus to Asia. Of the top 7 nations where Christians are raped or sexually harassed, 4 are recipients of migrant workers in the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia (No. 13), Qatar (No. 27), Kuwait (No. 43), and the United Arab Emirates (No. 47). Nigeria is eighth. Worldwide there were 8,537 recorded cases, but Open Doors warns this tally is just the tip of the iceberg, as many assaults occur in private and are not reported. India ranks first in the new category of physical or mental abuse, which includes beatings and death threats. The continuing rise in the subcontinent of a militant Hindu nationalism contributed to 1,445 of the reported 14,645 cases worldwide. China is the chief violator in Open Doorss other two previously tracked categories. Beijing has jailed or detained without charge 1,147 Christians for faith-related reasons, out of a total of 3,711 worldwide. This number rose from 3,150 last year. Where the Most Churches Were Attacked or Closed: 1. China: 5,576 2. Angola: 2,000 3. Rwanda: 700 4. Myanmar: 204 5. Nigeria: 150 6. Ethiopia: 124 7. Burundi: 100 8. Mali: 100 9. Pakistan: 58 10. Burkina Faso: 50 Open Doors reporting period: November 2018 to October 2019 But attacks and forced closures of churches have skyrocketed from 1,847 to 9,488, with China accounting for 5,576. Angola was second with 2,000 and Rwanda was third with 700. (Neither ranks among the top 50 persecution countries; Angola would be No. 68, Rwanda No. 71.) Open Doors cautioned that in several nations, the above violations are very difficult to document precisely. In these cases, round numbers are presented, always leaning towards conservative estimates. Its research is certified and audited by the International Institute for Religious Freedom, a World Evangelical Alliance-backed network based in Germany. In the Middle East, Open Doors noted little change, with 4 of 5 Christians experiencing high levels of persecution. The main and continuing trend is the dwindling number of Christians from Syria (No. 11) and Iraq (No. 15). Syria has lost 75 percent of its Christian population since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, down to 744,000 last year from an estimated 2.2 million. Iraq has lost 87 percent of its Christian population since the Gulf war in 2003, down to 202,000 last year from an estimated 1.5 million. Open Doors believes it is reasonable to call Christianity the worlds most severely persecuted religion. At the same time, it notes there is no comparable documentation for the worlds Muslim population. All nations of the world are monitored by its researchers and field staff, but in-depth attention is given to 100 nations and special focus on the 73 which record high levels of persecution (scores of more than 40 on Open Doorss 100-point scale). The only good news in the 2020 watch list comes from Ethiopia (No. 39), where recent reforms removed 2.5 million from Open Doorss global total of Christians facing high levels of persecution. Despite increasing sectarian strife as its Nobel Prize-winning evangelical president makes peace and attempts reforms, the Horn of Africa nation declined in rank from No. 28 to No. 39. Open Doors also noted the positive case of Pakistans Asia Bibi. In May 2019, the Christian mother of five was allowed to emigrate to Canada after the Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned her death penalty conviction for blasphemy. She had been in prison for nine years. The suffering of persecuted Christians cannot be recorded in statistics, stated Open Doors. Millions of people are found behind the numbers. Each one of them has their own story. This often includes deep suffering, but also courage and strong faith. TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX:AGI; NYSE:AGI) (Alamos or the Company) today reported new results from surface and underground exploration drilling at the Island Gold mine, further extending high-grade gold mineralization beyond existing Mineral Resources in all three areas of focus. All reported drill widths are true width of the mineralized zones, unless otherwise stated. Main Extension Down-Plunge: high-grade mineralization extended 80 metres (m) east of existing Mineral Resources (MH17-12) and 50 m below the nearest previously reported intersection (MH17-07). High-grade mineralization has been extended over 1,000 m east of current mine workings and remains open along strike to the east, and both up- and down-plunge. New highlights include: 121.32 g/t Au (96.47 g/t cut) over 3.81 m (MH20-01); 108.17 g/t Au (94.56 g/t cut) over 2.57 m (MH17-11); and 36.45 g/t Au (13.23 g/t cut) over 8.04 m (MH17-12). High-grade mineralization has been extended over 1,000 m east of current mine workings and remains open along strike to the east, and both up- and down-plunge. New highlights include: Eastern Extension: high-grade mineralization intersected 170 m east of the nearest Indicated Mineral Resource (620-610-07). This area is located 225 m above the high-grade intersections in the new area of focus. New highlights include: 32.19 g/t Au (25.48 g/t cut) over 4.68 m (620-610-01); and 20.18 g/t Au (20.18 g/t cut) over 3.24 m (620-610-07). New highlights include: Gap between Main and Eastern Extensions: extended high-grade mineralization 50 m to the west in the new area of focus to now cover a lateral extent of 350 m, and confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization at a drill density that will support the declaration of an initial Inferred Mineral Resource. All 17 holes drilled to date in this area have intersected the E1E Zone including 12 intersecting ore grade gold mineralization. This has confirmed the E1E Zone extends vertically over 1.2 kilometres (km), between a depth of 300 m and 1,500 m in the eastern part of the deposit. New highlights include: 21.28 g/t Au (21.28 g/t cut) over 9.01 m (MH18-09); and 28.50 g/t Au (23.13 g/t cut) over 4.38 m (MH18-10). All 17 holes drilled to date in this area have intersected the E1E Zone including 12 intersecting ore grade gold mineralization. This has confirmed the E1E Zone extends vertically over 1.2 kilometres (km), between a depth of 300 m and 1,500 m in the eastern part of the deposit. New highlights include: Note: Drillhole composite intervals reported as cut may include higher grade samples which have been cut to 225 g/t Au for Main and Extension 1 areas, and 160 g/t Au for Extension 2 Area. We had another exceptional year at Island Gold operationally, financially and through the drill bit. The operation produced 150,400 ounces of gold in 2019, achieving a new record for the fifth consecutive year, and set a new record for free cash flow. With the ongoing exploration success, we expect further growth in Island Golds Mineral Reserves and Resources with our year-end update. This growth will be incorporated into the Phase III expansion study which we plan to complete during the second quarter of 2020. We expect this study will showcase a larger, extremely profitable, long-life operation, said John A. McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer. 2019 Exploration Drilling Program Island Gold Mine The 2019 exploration drilling program was focused on further expanding the down-plunge and lateral extensions of the Island Gold deposit with the objective of adding new near mine Mineral Resources across the two-kilometre long Island Gold Main Zone (Figure 1). The program has been successful in extending high-grade gold mineralization across all three areas of focus, the Main, Western, and Eastern Extensions. This is expected to drive further growth in Mineral Reserves and Resources in the 2019 year-end update to be completed in February 2020. This is a continuation of the significant growth in Mineral Reserves and Resources already realized since the November 2017 acquisition of Island Gold. A total of 47,608 m of surface directional and 24,462 m of underground exploration drilling was completed in 2019. New highlight intercepts since August 31, 2019 can be found in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; and Tables 1 and 2 at the end of this news release. 2020 Exploration Drilling Program Island Gold Mine A total of $21 million has been budgeted in 2020 for surface and underground exploration at Island Gold, an increase from the 2019 budget of $19 million. The focus remains on continuing to define new near mine Mineral Resources. The 2020 budget includes 46,000 m of surface directional drilling, 30,000 m of underground exploration drilling, and 900 m of underground exploration development to extend drill platforms on the 340, 620, 790, and 840 levels. A regional exploration program which includes 10,000 m of drilling is also planned in 2020, focused on evaluating and advancing exploration targets outside the main Island Gold Mine area on the 9,750-hectare Island Gold Property. Main Extension Surface directional drilling continues to extend gold mineralization with drill hole spacing ranging from 50 to 100 m (Figure 2). New highlights from the surface drilling program include (E1E-Zone) (Table 1): 121.32 g/t Au (96.47 g/t cut) over 3.81 m (MH20-01); 108.17 g/t Au (94.56 g/t cut) over 2.57 m (MH17-11); 36.45 g/t Au (13.23 g/t cut) over 8.04 m (MH17-12); 9.96 g/t Au (9.96 g/t cut) over 7.79 m (MH21-02); 12.56 g/t Au (10.16 g/t cut) over 6.85 m (MH14-8); 10.69 g/t Au (10.69 g/t cut) over 6.08 m (MH20-02); 8.27 g/t Au (8.27 g/t cut) over 7.16 m (MH21-03); and 9.95 g/t Au (9.95 g/t cut) over 3.60 m (MH20-03). Gold mineralization continues to be expanded above, below and east as far as 200 m from existing Inferred Mineral Resources, and over one kilometre from existing mine workings. This includes new drillholes MH17-12 (36.45 g/t Au (13.23 g/t cut) over 8.04 m) and MH17-11 (108.17 g/t Au (94.56 g/t cut) over 2.57 m) which extended high-grade gold mineralization 80 m east of existing Mineral Resources and 50 m below the previously reported drill hole MH17-07 (16.61 g/t Au (14.48 g/t cut) over 7.27 m). Drillhole MH20-02 (10.69 g/t Au (10.69 g/t cut) over 6.08 m) extended high-grade mineralization 145 m above and east of the nearest Inferred Mineral Resources. Drillhole MH21-03 (8.27 g/t Au (8.27 g/t cut) over 7.16 m) also expanded high-grade mineralization 120 m above existing Mineral Resources. Importantly, this also closed the gap to within 145 m of the nearest intercept in the new area of focus (new drillhole MH18-09 (21.28 g/t Au (21.28 g/t cut) over 9.01 m)). This east plunging high-grade ore shoot remains open laterally, and up- and down-plunge. Underground exploration drilling is being conducted from the 620 and 840 level exploration drifts in the Main Extension area to test the continuity of known Mineral Resource and Reserve blocks. New highlights from the underground exploration drilling program in the E1E Zone include (Figure 3, Table 2): 8.98 g/t Au (8.98 g/t cut) over 7.65 m (840-560-04); 8.64 g/t Au (8.64 g/t cut) over 6.38 m (840-560-09); 9.48 g/t Au (9.48 g/t cut) over 4.36 m (840-554-04); and 11.66 g/t Au (11.66 g/t cut) over 2.76 m (840-560-11). Three surface and two underground diamond drill rigs remain active in the Main Extension target area, focused on further extending high-grade mineralization and defining additional Mineral Resources. Drilling completed in 2019 in the eastern part of the Island Gold mine (Main Extension area, new area of focus and Eastern Extension area) has confirmed the continuity of the E1E gold zone at depth. This zone now extends from 300 m to a vertical depth of more than 1,500 m. Eastern Extension Underground exploration drilling is being conducted from the 340 and 620 level exploration drifts. Drilling from the two levels is testing an area to the east of the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource blocks in the Eastern Extension, between 300 m and 1,100 m vertical depths, and above Inferred Mineral Resources in the Main Extension. New highlights from the underground exploration drilling program in the E1E Zone include (Figure 3, Table 2): 32.19 g/t Au (25.48 g/t cut) over 4.68 m (620-610-01); 20.18 g/t Au (20.18 g/t cut) over 3.24 m (620-610-07); 11.90 g/t Au (11.90 g/t cut) over 4.03 m (620-604-17); 10.26 g/t (10.26 g/t cut) over 3.28 m (620-610-06); and 75.79 g/t Au (12.06 g/t cut) over 2.62 m (620-604-16). New drillholes 620-610-01 (32.19 g/t Au (25.48 g/t cut) over 4.68 m) and 620-610-07 (20.18 g/t Au (20.18 g/t cut) over 3.24 m) intersected high-grade mineralization 100 m and 170 m, respectively, east of existing Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources in the Eastern Extension. Two underground rigs remain active in the area focused on defining new near mine Mineral Resources. New Area of Focus between the Eastern and Main Extensions Surface directional drilling remains focused on testing the new area of high-grade gold mineralization within the E1E Zone discovered in May 2019. This area is located between 850 m and 1,150 m vertical depths, 180 m down-plunge from known Inferred Mineral Resource blocks in the Eastern Extension, and 200 m vertically above Inferred Mineral Resources in the eastern down-plunge extent of the Main Extension (Figure 2). New highlights from the surface drilling program include (E1E-Zone) (Table 1): 21.28 g/t Au (21.28 g/t cut) over 9.01 m (MH18-09); 28.50 g/t Au (23.13 g/t cut) over 4.38 m (MH18-10); and 9.32 g/t Au (9.32 g/t cut) over 3.81 m (MH19-04). All 17 holes drilled to date in this area have intersected the E1E Zone with 12 of the holes presenting ore grade gold mineralization (see Figure 4). New drill holes MH18-10 (28.50 g/t Au (23.13 g/t cut) over 4.38 m) and MH18-09 (21.28 g/t Au (21.28 g/t cut) over 9.01 m) have confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization at a drill density which will support the declaration of an initial Inferred Mineral Resource in this new area with the year-end update. Additionally, drill hole MH19-04 ( 9.32 g/t Au (9.32 g/t cut) over 3.81 m) extended high-grade mineralization 50 m to the west to now cover a lateral extent of 350 m. Testing the extent and continuity of high-grade mineralization between the Eastern and Main Extensions will be an ongoing focus of the exploration drilling program in 2020. Two surface directional diamond drill rigs are active in this area and will continue with 75 to 100 m spaced step-out drilling. The 840 level exploration drift has been extended above the western extent of this area. This will provide underground access for infill drilling in 2020 and exploration drilling for extending high-grade mineralization. Other Zones The Island Gold Deposit consists of a number of subparallel mineralized zones, with the majority of Mineral Reserves and Resources being defined in the C Zone and E1E Zone which constitute the main production horizons at the Island Gold mine. Highlights of new intersections from underground exploration drilling of parallel zones and zones in which the lateral continuity is not yet established (Unknown Zone) include (reported composite intervals are core lengths) (Table 2): 22.26 g/t Au (18.98 g/t cut) over 7.58 m (840-554-03); 14.27 g/t Au (14.27 g/t cut) over 9.50 m (840-560-08); 16.66 g/t Au (16.66 g/t cut) over 3.50 m (340-602-24); 4.99 g/t Au (4.99 g/t cut) over 10.80 m (620-610-04); 5.75 g/t Au (5.75 g/t cut) over 8.00 m (840-554-01); 3.83 g/t Au (3.83 g/t cut) over 11.94 m (840-560-06); 10.42 g/t Au (10.42 g/t cut) over 4.30 m (840-560-02); and 4.16 g/t Au (4.16 g/t cut) over 7.63 m (340-602-37). Qualified Persons Chris Bostwick, FAusIMM, Alamos Golds Vice President, Technical Services, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Chris Bostwick is a Qualified Person within the meaning of Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Exploration programs at the Island Gold Mine are directed by Raynald Vincent, P.Eng., M.G.P., Chief Geologist at the Island Gold Mine and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Quality Control Assays for the surface exploration drilling program were completed at LabExpert in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The Corporation inserts at regular intervals quality control (QC) samples (blanks and reference materials) to monitor laboratory performance. Cross check assays are done on a regular basis in a second accredited laboratory. The Quality Assurance / Quality Control procedures are more completely described in the Technical Report filed on SEDAR by Richmont Mines, July 13, 2017. About Alamos Alamos is a Canadian-based intermediate gold producer with diversified production from three operating mines in North America. This includes the Young-Davidson and Island Gold mines in northern Ontario, Canada and the Mulatos mine in Sonora State, Mexico. Additionally, the Company has a significant portfolio of development stage projects in Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States. Alamos employs more than 1,700 people and is committed to the highest standards of sustainable development. The Companys shares are traded on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol AGI. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Scott K. Parsons Vice President, Investor Relations (416) 368-9932 x 5439 All amounts are in United States dollars, unless otherwise stated. The TSX and NYSE have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note This news release includes certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes or developments that Alamos expects to occur are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as continue, "expect", believe", "anticipate", "plan", forecast, "estimate", "intend", budget or potential or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation of such terms. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements with respect to planned exploration programs, the estimation of Mineral Resources, exploration results, potential mineralization, changes in Mineral Resources and Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves,and other information that is based on forecasts and projections of future operational, geological or financial results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Exploration results that include geophysics, sampling, and drill results on wide spacings may not be indicative of the occurrence of a mineral deposit. Such results do not provide assurance that further work will establish sufficient grade, continuity, metallurgical characteristics and economic potential to be classed as a category of Mineral Resource. A Mineral Resource that is classified as "Inferred" or "Indicated" has a great amount of uncertainty as to its existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that any or part of an "Indicated Mineral Resource" or "Inferred Mineral Resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category of Mineral Resource. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves. Alamos cautions readers not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements which are not guarantees of future events as a number of factors could cause results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, outlooks, expectations, goals, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks related to obtaining and maintaining necessary permits, licenses and authorizations required to carry out planned exploration or development work, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic and geological evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, employee and community relations,the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, contests over title to properties, changes in national and local government legislation, control and regulations and and fluctuations of the price of gold and foreign exchange rates as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Alamos' latest Annual Information Form and MD&A, each under the heading Risk Factors, available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The foregoing should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, or whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimates All Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates included in this news release or documents referenced in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") - CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Standards"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators, which established standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. The terms "Mineral Reserve", "Proven Mineral Reserve" and "Probable Mineral Reserve" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards. These definitions differ materially from the definitions in the Securities Exchange Commission (the SEC) Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. In addition, the terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource" and "Inferred Mineral Resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves. "Inferred Mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in very limited circumstances. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a Mineral Resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Table 1: Island Gold Previously Unreleased Select Composite Intervals from Surface Exploration Drilling Composite intervals greater than 3 g/t Au weighted average, capping values: Western and Main Extension areas @ 225 g/t Au; Eastern Extension area @ 160 g/t Au. Hole ID Zone Target Area From (m) To (m) Core Length (m) True Width (m) Au Uncut (g/t) Au Cut (g/t) Vertical Depth (m) MH16-08 C Western Ext 1395.00 1400.00 5.00 4.82 5.37 5.37 1160 MH16-09 C Western Ext 1471.90 1475.47 3.57 3.06 5.01 5.01 1307 MH22-01 C Main Ext 1452.80 1455.75 2.95 2.52 7.08 7.08 1276 MH14-8 D Main Ext 1613.70 1616.60 2.90 2.39 8.98 8.98 1527 MH17-12 D1 Main Ext 1532.00 1535.00 3.00 2.77 7.38 7.38 1313 MH21-02 D1 Main Ext 1387.10 1390.40 3.30 2.89 15.54 14.27 1254 MH14-8 E1E Main Ext 1547.40 1555.30 7.90 6.85 12.56 10.16 1468 MH17-08A E1E Main Ext 1510.00 1512.40 2.40 2.39 4.45 4.45 1172 MH17-11 E1E Main Ext 1542.90 1545.60 2.70 2.57 108.17 94.56 1290 MH17-12 E1E Main Ext 1514.80 1523.50 8.70 8.04 36.45 13.23 1301 MH18-08 E1E Eastern Ext 1163.00 1168.30 5.30 3.40 3.40 3.40 1076 MH18-09 E1E Eastern Ext 1130.00 1142.00 12.00 9.01 21.28 21.28 1043 MH18-10 E1E Eastern Ext 1172.10 1177.80 5.70 4.38 28.50 23.13 1070 MH19-04 E1E Eastern Ext 1172.45 1176.75 4.30 3.81 9.32 9.32 1070 MH19-071 E1E Eastern Ext 1155.90 1161.40 5.50 3.65 4.75 4.75 1034 MH20-01 E1E Main Ext 1262.30 1266.90 4.60 3.81 121.32 96.47 1210 MH20-02 E1E Main Ext 1194.50 1202.00 7.50 6.08 10.69 10.69 1135 MH20-03 E1E Main Ext 1241.80 1246.70 4.90 3.60 9.95 9.95 1189 MH21-02 E1E Main Ext 1368.70 1377.60 8.90 7.79 9.96 9.96 1240 MH21-031 E1E Main Ext 1334.20 1342.40 8.20 7.16 8.27 8.27 1186 MH21-031 Unknown Main Ext 1319.80 1327.20 7.40 6.46 7.04 7.04 1173 1 Results not included in the year end 2019 Mineral Resource calculation Table 2: Island Gold Previously Unreleased Select Composite Intervals from Underground Exploration Drilling Composite intervals greater than 3 g/t Au weighted average, capping values: Western and Main Extension areas @ 225 g/t Au; Eastern Extension area @ 160 g/t Au. Hole ID Zone Target Area From (m) To (m) Core Length (m) True Width (m) Au Uncut (g/t) Au Cut (g/t) Vertical Depth (m) 340-602-27 E1E Eastern Ext 128.00 131.20 3.20 2.44 6.06 6.06 364 620-604-16 E1E Eastern Ext 303.00 313.10 10.10 2.62 75.79 12.06 794 620-604-17 E1E Eastern Ext 266.10 276.80 10.70 4.03 11.90 11.90 764 620-610-01 E1E Eastern Ext 272.65 282.80 10.15 4.68 32.19 25.48 765 620-610-05 E1E Eastern Ext 251.40 260.80 9.40 4.61 5.86 5.86 742 620-610-06 E1E Eastern Ext 213.05 219.80 6.75 3.28 10.26 10.26 702 620-610-07 E1E Eastern Ext 146.40 151.60 5.20 3.24 20.18 20.18 642 840-542-67 E1E Main Ext 263.80 269.60 5.80 3.34 4.71 4.71 1036 840-554-01 E1E Main Ext 155.80 159.40 3.60 3.06 3.89 3.89 861 840-554-03 E1E Main Ext 218.10 221.30 3.20 2.34 5.19 5.19 944 840-554-04 E1E Main Ext 241.00 246.50 5.50 4.36 9.48 9.48 988 840-554-05 E1E Main Ext 326.60 333.10 6.50 3.35 6.99 6.99 1090 840-554-06 E1E Main Ext 250.50 255.75 5.25 4.03 5.10 5.10 1003 840-560-04 E1E Main Ext 292.40 309.55 17.15 7.65 8.98 8.98 1052 840-560-05 E1E Main Ext 249.00 252.20 3.20 2.48 3.37 3.37 983 840-560-09 E1E Main Ext 298.70 313.50 14.80 6.38 8.64 8.64 1047 840-560-11 E1E Main Ext 245.30 249.00 3.70 2.76 11.66 11.66 975 340-602-24 Unknown Eastern Ext 63.50 67.00 3.50 16.66 16.66 336 340-602-26 Unknown Eastern Ext 62.65 66.60 3.95 3.41 3.41 325 340-602-37 Unknown Eastern Ext 109.85 117.48 7.63 4.16 4.16 394 620-610-04 Unknown Eastern Ext 228.50 239.30 10.80 4.99 4.99 753 840-554-01 Unknown Main Ext 59.00 67.00 8.00 5.75 5.75 852 840-554-03 Unknown Main Ext 141.92 149.50 7.58 22.26 18.98 910 840-560-02 Unknown Main Ext 90.00 94.30 4.30 10.42 10.42 871 840-560-06 Unknown Main Ext 112.46 124.40 11.94 3.83 3.83 864 840-560-08 Unknown Main Ext 95.50 105.00 9.50 14.27 14.27 887 Note: Unknown zone corresponds to gold intercepts outside known ore zones and for which continuity is not yet established and therefore true width has not been calculated. Table 3: Surface exploration drill holes; azimuth, dip, drilled length, and collar location at surface (UTM NAD83). Hole ID Azimuth () Dip () Drilled Length (m) UTM Easting (m) UTM Northing (m) UTM Elevation (m) Comments MH14-8 338 -85 1040 691522 5351123 394 Cut from MH14-6 at 606m MH16-08 337 -73 806 691003 5350848 390 Cut from MH16-06 at 747m MH16-09 337 -73 787 691003 5350848 390 Cut from MH16-08 at 834m MH17-08A 334 -73 1163 692320 5351076 395 Cut from MH17-01 at 753m MH17-09 334 -73 71 692320 5351076 395 Abandoned MH17-10 334 -73 560 692320 5351076 395 Cut from MH17-08A at 1054m MH17-11 334 -73 797 692320 5351076 395 Cut from MH17-08A at 864m MH17-12 334 -73 851 692320 5351076 395 Cut from MH17-11 at 925m MH18-08 339 -75 579 691892 5351446 395 Cut from MH18-07 at 713m MH18-09 339 -75 685 691892 5351446 395 Cut from MH18-07 at 586m MH18-10 339 -75 834 691892 5351446 395 Cut from MH18-05 at 493m MH18-11 339 -75 790 691892 5351446 395 Cut from MH18-07 at 586 m MH19-03 336 -79 626 691646 5351376 399 Cut from MH19-02 at 760m MH19-04 336 -79 1027 691646 5351376 399 Cut from MH19-01 at 421m MH19-05 336 -79 631 691646 5351376 399 Cut from MH19-04 at 757m MH19-06 336 -79 860 691646 5351376 399 Cut from MH19-04 at 444m MH19-07 336 -79 599 691646 5351376 399 Cut from MH19-06 at 657 m MH20-01 337 -77 1355 692063 5351541 394 MH20-02 337 -77 1024 692063 5351541 394 Cut from MH20-01 at 422m MH20-03 337 -77 509 692063 5351541 394 Cut from MH20-02 at 876m MH21-01 321 -61 1496 692072 5351272 395 MH21-02 321 -61 563 692072 5351272 395 Cut from MH21-01 at 938m MH21-03 321 -61 897 692072 5351272 395 Cut from MH21-01 at 555 m MH22-01 342 -75 1617 691000 5350855 393 Note: UTM mine surface elevation 382 m Table 4: Underground exploration drill holes; azimuth, dip, drilled length, and collar location at surface (UTM NAD83). Hole ID Azimuth () Dip () Drilled Length (m) UTM Easting (m) UTM Northing (m) UTM Elevation (m) 340-602-24 160 -15 132 691455 5352213 61 340-602-25 159 -30 168 691455 5352213 61 340-602-26 147 -5 123 691456 5352213 61 340-602-27 148 -22 156 691455 5352213 61 340-602-37 144 -41 291 691455 5352213 61 620-550-46 133 -11 249 691021 5351907 -224 620-550-47 145 -24 261 691021 5351907 -224 620-604-14 170 -23 225 691530 5352086 -212 620-604-16 166 -41 342 691530 5352086 -213 620-604-17 166 -38 312 691530 5352086 -213 620-610-01 162 -39 312 691586 5352112 -211 620-610-04 146 -43 360 691586 5352112 -211 620-610-05 146 -38 321 691585 5352112 -211 620-610-06 146 -32 270 691586 5352112 -211 620-610-07 146 -21 204 691586 5352112 -211 620-610-08 143 -8 150 691586 5352112 -210 620-610-09 141 -26 243 691586 5352112 -211 620-610-10 139 16 117 691586 5352112 -209 620-610-11A 131 48 117 691587 5352112 -207 620-610-12 120 67 144 691585 5352113 -207 840-542-67 163 -45 294 690972 5351831 -466 840-554-01 159 -6 216 691083 5351880 -464 840-554-02A 159 -17 234 691082 5351879 -463 840-554-03 159 -27 258 691082 5351879 -463 840-554-04 159 -35 288 691082 5351879 -463 840-554-05 159 -48 378 691082 5351880 -464 840-554-06 156 -39 300 691082 5351879 -464 840-560-02 159 -18 222 691137 5351902 -461 840-560-03 159 -5 210 691137 5351902 -461 840-560-04 155 -44 351 691138 5351902 -462 840-560-05 155 -34 270 691138 5351902 -462 840-560-06 149 -10 210 691138 5351902 -461 840-560-07 149 3 210 691138 5351902 -461 840-560-08 147 -26 252 691137 5351902 -461 840-560-09 145 -42 333 691138 5351903 -462 840-560-10 143 -45 390 691138 5351903 -462 840-560-11 143 -33 276 691138 5351903 -462 Note: UTM mine surface elevation 382 m Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d8d15e7b-3d9b-4643-9e20-d45ab7711afe https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f6a206a5-8f08-489a-8508-6b0374ec61bb https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eb6e7e66-714b-43c6-b69b-683bfc7baf7f https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a5f77ebe-bf58-4e5c-9a38-552da9a71ee4 The second international trailer for the upcoming superhero action film Bloodshot dropped on Tuesday. Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a Marine recently killed in action who's brought back to life to join an army of improved and enhanced soldiers. Guy Pearce, Eiza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell, Lamorne Morris and Talulah Riley also star in the film that's based on the bestselling comic books of the same name. Scroll down to videos Another taste: Sony Pictures dropped the second international trailer for the upcoming superhero film Bloodshot that stars Vin Diesel After he and his wife are assassinated, Garrison is reborn by a team of scientists at the RST corporation. 'We are leading the way.. and the greatest human advancement of all-time,' the teaser begins. 'He's unlike anything we've seen before. And he's entirely in our control.' The plot: Diesel plays Ray Garrison, a Marine who was killed in action and brought back to life The quest: Garrison is reborn by a team of scientists at the RST corporation to be apart of a group of super-soldiers Their mantra: 'He's unlike anything we've seen before. And he's entirely in our control,' Garrison's makers declare Eventually Diesel's character is told that he 'got himself killed' and that he's 'been given a second chance' thanks to nanotechnology in his veins, which made him faster, stronger, and the ability to heal instantly. As more enhanced soldiers join the ranks and memories from his past life resurface, Garrison confesses to a colleague: 'Something doesn't feel right.' It's at this point that he stars to question what's real and what's not but still he heads out on a mission to find out. His maker: Guy Pearce (right) plays the doctor behind the re-creation of Garrison Enhanced: Garrison is given second chance thanks to nanotechnology in his veins, which made him faster, stronger, and the ability to heal instantly Plot thickens: As more enhanced soldiers join the ranks and memories from his past life resurface, Garrison confesses to a colleague: 'Something does feel right' After a series of high-octane clips of Bloodshot in action, Pearce's character, Dr. Emil Harting, can be heard saying: 'You are my weapon.' 'You made me but you can't control me forever,' he shoots back as he stares into the eyes of his maker. By the end of the teaser, Gonzalez can be seen pulling off some impressive martial arts moves during an intense fight scene. The fast-paced piece ends with Garrison/Bloodshot pushing one of his victims out an opening from a high-rise building, and the two battle it out as they plummet towards the ground. Bloodshot is slated to hit theaters on March 13, 2020. Tense promise: 'You made me but you can't control me forever,' Garrison tells his maker By the end of the teaser, Eiza Gonzalez makes an appearance and is seen pulling off some impressive martial arts moves during an intense fight scene Last September, choir manager Germaine Carlos had a major heart operation during which her chest had to be sawn open and her sternum broken. The objective: to replace her aortic valve. The 63-year-old, who manages Dublins famous Palestrina boys choir, was told by doctors that it could take up to six months to fully recover from the gruelling surgery. But within a mere seven weeks, Germaine was back to normal, something she attributes to the years of choral singing which left her lungs extremely strong and well developed, and to her own positive outlook on life; she is well aware, she declares, not just of the physical, but of the mental health benefits of choral singing. There were a number of contributing factors to my recovery, but one of the biggest was my years in the choir of choral singing. They told me that it could take three to six months, but I think it was my positive outlook and the choral singing that helped with my recovery, says the mother of two adult daughters, adding that she regularly witnesses the mental health benefits of choral singing: I watch the boys coming in three times a week to practise, and while they can come in feeling grumpy and hungry, their parents say to me that they always come out very happy. A choir is a great place for children to make friends, adds Carlos, adding that there are many positive aspects to choir membership for youngsters. They learn to lead and to help one other, she says, adding that it keeps them off the screens! Carlos cardiologist, Professor Declan Sugrue is also a big fan of choirs his four sons were all head choristers with the Palestrina Choir and he strongly believes that participating in a choir is good for the lungs and good for the head. Its good for the mind, the spirit, the mood and the social element of life. Its a stress-buster! he says. Even 10 or 20 years ago, any talk of choirs would have brought Sunday morning hymns to mind, but things have changed. Theres a growing appreciation of the mental health and social benefits of joining the local choir. A study published by the University of Oxford in 2015 showed that singing in a choir is beneficial in a number of different ways. Expand Close Choir manager Germaine Carlos had a major heart operation during which her chest had to be sawn open and her sternum broken - she says singing helped her recovery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Choir manager Germaine Carlos had a major heart operation during which her chest had to be sawn open and her sternum broken - she says singing helped her recovery Group singing, says the research, not only helps to forge strong social bonds, but it does so rapidly and can act as an excellent social ice-breaker. Researchers also found that community singing was very effective in terms of bonding large groups, something which is very important in todays tech-obsessed and often solitary world, where many social interactions are conducted remotely through social media platforms rather than face-to-face. This is something that Kevin OShanahan, a nurse specialist in mental health, the arts and recovery with the Cork Mental Health Services has noticed since he helped set up a community choir in West Cork six years ago (see panel). In the years since the choir was established, he reported, he has noticed a range of beneficial outcomes for members, in terms of physical, psychological, emotional and social well-being. In an age of rapid technological advances and decreasing opportunities for social connection and interaction, something as simple as being part of a choir can literally be a lifeline for a person, he declares. The psychological benefits of choral singing for adults as well as children are manifold, says Dr Eddie Murphy, clinical psychologist, author and mental health advocate. Choir singing strengthens feelings of togetherness, helps to reduce stress levels and depression and improves ones feeling of social well-being, he says. Essentially group singing is a joyful activity that promotes wellbeing and is life-enhancing for those involved. Choir singing is all good and the psychological benefits of choir has been well established. Dr Murphy believes that there is a significant role for choirs in stressed workplaces and to enhance the wellbeing of marginalised groups; those with physical (chronic pain), mental health and intellectual disabilities. Choir singing presents an opportunity for meaningful activity and social connectedness. In addition, it creates personal growth through finding a voice, positive emotions and emotional regulation. For me community, social, church and work choirs fundamentally create harmony inside and out. Retired school principal Helen Burke has sung in choirs since the age of 13. Now aged 64, she says choral singing has been an important part of her life since her childhood in Ballydesmond, in the Sliabh Luachra area of North Cork. My first experience of choir occurred when I went to secondary school at the age of 13, she recalls; she later joined the student choir in college, and since then had been involved in numerous choirs, both church and secular- mixed and ladies. I love the happiness, the camaraderie, the creativity and the discipline which choir membership brings to my life. There is a sense of satisfaction and a sense of achievement. Youre working with a group of like-minded people who have similar interests and you can see yourself improving; its a learning process so its good for your confidence. She adds that performing in public and learning to control your nerves also boosts self-confidence. I also found that choir singing was great for dealing with stress, because you learn how to control your breathing. It also keeps the brain active, she believes: You sing better when you know the words. Its very good for the brain to have to learn new songs because you have to concentrate on the music, the timing and the lyrics which is all very good for your cognition. Psychotherapist Bernadette Ryan has several acquaintances who sing in choirs, and says that for some, they can provide a sense of community and support, particularly during difficult periods: It seems that when some people come to a certain stage in their lives, for example, the empty nest stage, they join a choir. It gives a great sense of community to people; its a terrific way to bring the community together. The sense of community you can get from a choir can help reduce the sense of loneliness or isolation that may result from marriage breakdown. It reduces loneliness and isolation, and its very good for cognition because you have to learn new songs and concentrate. Research shows that singing, particularly choir singing, connects us with our ancestral roots. Having to work with a group also requires people to deal with challenges like conflict: There is a part about learning to work together for the benefit of the whole group, which is a good thing for all of us psychologically. *The Palestrina Choirs annual concert will take place on Saturday, December 7 in the National Concert Hall. The two addresses told to the top officials at the Crime Branch are: 6A, Khayaban Tanzim Phase-5, Defence Housing Area, Karachi and D-13, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi. The fugitive gangster, Lakdawala, arrested by the Mumbai Police from Patna on January 8, also disclosed two specific addresses of Dawood Ibrahim in Karachi during his police remand. One address is of Khayaban Tanzim phase, in Defence Housing Area while the other is of his Clifton-based bungalow in Karachi. He has also confirmed addresses of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel, who also live in Defence Housing Area of Karachi. "Officials of other agencies are also questioning Lakdawala. We can only add at this stage that he is a prize catch, who has crucial information about the D-Company's FICN and drug racket," a senior official of the Mumbai Police told IANS over phone. Once hiding in Canada, Lakdawala was also involved in peddling drugs into Europe through Rotterdam port in Netherlands. The gangster revealed that the D-Company's drug racket was first operated by late Iqbal Mirchi and of late by Chhota Shakeel, who is looking after the lucrative contraband business. Lakdawala said that much of the drugs are smuggled out of Afghanistan and later pushed through the Karachi port to South East Asia, as well as to destinations in Europe. The D-Company has significant hold in Thailand and Bangladesh from where drugs are further smuggled to other destinations including India. Sources said that Ejaz Lakdawala, who along with Chhota Rajan parted ways with Dawood Ibrahim post the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, had attempted to eliminate the D-Company boss, during the funeral of Dawood's daughter Maria, in Karachi a decade ago. The operation was led by Chhota Rajan's sharp shooter Vicky Malhotra. However Dawood did not turn up at the funeral procession, and the mission had to be aborted. Later, Lakdawala had a dispute over payments with Rajan and established his own gang, somewhere in Cambodia. Uttar Pradesh-based gangster Babloo Srivastava, presently lodged in Bareilly Central Jail, also had close links with Lakdawala. Both were involved in several cases of extortion across India. Underworld don Ejaz Lakdawala's daughter Soniya Lakdawala was also looking after the gangs monetary operations, sources said. A fake passport, used by Soniya to flee from India, was instrumental in the nabbing of Ejaz Lakdawala. To hide Lakdawala's identity, Soniya deliberately used a different name. Sources said that Soniya changed her name to Shifa Shaikh, after her wedding to one Shahid Shaikh from Mumbai. Her name before her wedding, as per her passport, was Soniya Advani. The father's name mentioned in the same passport was Manish Advani while her mother's name was mentioned as Rekha Advani. Mumbai Police said that at a later stage, to verify certain information, daughter and father would be confronted during interrogation. The Intelligence reports suggest that D-Company is planning to kill Ejaz Lakdawala once he is lodged in the jail. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Protesters from Punjab, including members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) on Wednesday joined the ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh where people, largely women from the minority community, are demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Protesters including senior citizens, men, women and children joined the protest here and raised slogans against CAA and NRC. Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar joined the protest in Shaheen Bagh here and attacked the BJP-led central government saying that they fought elections on the promise of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', but they did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash'. "They got majority in election because they said we will do 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (Together for everyone's progress). But what they did? They did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash (destruction)'," Aiyar said. Meanwhile, due to the protesters occupying a major portion of the road, traffic movement in the area has been affected for about a month now. The Kalindi Kunj stretch, a crucial route that connects Delhi with Faridabad and Noida has been closed since December 15 last year due to demonstrations against CAA and NRC. Several commuters using this road have been forced to use alternative routes such as Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Expressway and Ashram. "Road No. 13A between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj is closed for traffic movement. People coming from Noida are advised to take DND or Akshardham to reach Delhi," Delhi Traffic Police tweeted earlier today. The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (ANI) Precise.ly, a precision health startup led by 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey and Aneil Mallavarapu, Ph.D., today announced its partnership with Narayana Health, Indias leading specialty hospital network with 24 hospitals serving 2.5 million patients a year. Precise.ly is focusing its genomics services initially in India, delivering next-generation sequencing (NGS) data through a consumer sales channel and creating a path to personalized and preventive healthcare in collaboration with its hospital partners. The company is also announcing its initial seed funding, and it will be expanding its India-based team in Bangalore. Precise.lys mission is to deliver validated genetic insights to the billions of people living outside the western world. Were initially focused on India where there are urgent health issues readily addressable through access to personal genomic data, said Avey, CEO of Precise.ly. Our partnership with Narayana is vital to delivering on the promise of precise, data-driven health. CTO Aneil Mallavarapu added, To date, most human genetics research has focused on European populations. But genetic insights need to be tuned to the rest of the world. Weve assembled a team of experts who are pioneering advances in genetic analysis and its application to the huge populations of people in south Asia and beyond. Narayana Health is led by Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, who founded the hospital in 2000 with the goal of delivering affordable, high-quality healthcare to the citizens of India. Dr. Shetty is interested in working with Precise.ly on building a large stem cell donor registry, serving hundreds of thousands of Indians in need of transplants. This insight, that a consumer genetics model could function as an immune system matching service, has become a central feature of Precise.lys data collection. Personal genetic testing is recognized by the U.S. FDA to test genetic risk for Parkinsonism, late onset Alzheimers disease and celiac disease. It is only a matter of time before most diseases get added to the list. Because of the simplicity of genetic testing from saliva samples, its possible to conduct large-scale population screening at a reasonable cost. We are working with Precise.lys team of researchers to add HLA typing, which has the potential to transform cancer and other disease treatments in India, said Dr. Shetty. Precise.lys team includes world-renowned scientists working at the forefront of genomics and medical advisors focusing on South Asian health, including: Raj Dash, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Stanford South Asian Translational Heart Initiative (SSATHI) and founder of HealthPals Alicia Martin, Ph.D., Associate Scientist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, studying the role of global genetic diversity in predisposing people to complex disease Jonathan Pritchard, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics and Biology at Stanford University, known for his foundational work on population genetic structure Marcelo Fernandez-Vina, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and director of Stanfords Histocompatibility, Immunogenetics and Disease Profiling Laboratory Spencer Wells, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Texas at Austin, widely recognized for his pioneering research in population genetics and groundbreaking work in consumer genetics at the Genographic Project, a collaboration with National Geographic and IBM Investors in the companys seed round include Rock Health, the first fund committed to digital health, and a roster of U.S.-based angels. Further details of the round are not disclosed at this time. About Precise.ly Precise.ly, Inc. is a San Franciscobased precision health startup dedicated to providing personal genomic insights to the billions of people living outside the U.S. and Europe. The companys science team and advisors, having backgrounds in bioinformatics, population genetics, biostatistics, and medical care, are focused on delivering validated ancestry and health reports to the Indian population. By partnering with the countrys leading hospital networks, clinical care can be tailored to the individual based on genetic risk assessments provided by the Precise.ly service, ushering in more targeted and preventive health outcomes. About Narayana Health (NH) Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, NH operates a network of hospitals across the country. The first facility was established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds and has since grown to 23 hospitals, 7 heart centers, 19 primary care facilities across India, and an international hospital in the Cayman Islands. The group now features over 6,000 operational beds through a combination of greenfield projects and acquisitions. The Narayana Health brand is strongly associated with its mission to deliver high-quality, affordable healthcare services to the broader population by leveraging economies of scale, skilled doctors, and an efficient business model. Goa Forward Party (GFP) leader Ashma Sayed said on Wednesday that she had resigned as vice- chairman of the State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The GFP was part of the BJP-led Goa government till July 2019 when its ministers were dropped from the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet. The party is still part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Sayed, who heads the GFP's women wing, announced her decision on Twitter. "I have resigned as vice chairman, Goa State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation as a mark of protest against #CAA," she tweeted. I have resigned as Vice Chairman, Goa State Minorities Finance & Development Corporation as mark of protest against #CAA. Ashma Sayed (@AshmaSayed) January 15, 2020 The CAA, which came into effect on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 on account of religious persecution. Massive protests have erupted against the CAA since its passage by Parliament in December last year. The GFP has been opposed to the amended Act. Ukraine is planning to join in the services and partnerships of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in order to get full access to the alliance's procurement system, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba has said. "Ukraine has intensified its efforts to join in the services and partnerships of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Thus, Ukraine will receive full access to the procurement system of the alliance," the press service quoted Kuleba as saying in a statement posted on the government's website Wednesday. Kuleba compared the procurement system of the NSPA with Ukraine's ProZorro e-procurement system. "We believe that Ukraine's participation in the system will make both Ukraine and NATO stronger. This fits the logic of the government's actions aimed at creating new opportunities for Ukrainian exporters. In fact, we are speaking about Euro-Atlantic integration of the defense industry of Ukraine," he said. Kuleba also said that in such a way Ukraine would be able to fully integrate into the procurement system of the alliance. Moreover, Ukrainian producers will have an opportunity to bid for NATO's tenders, sell their products to foreign customers and streamline their work with NATO's standards. "Deputy Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Minister Svitlana Panaiotidi has addressed NATO with a request to send its experts to Ukraine for consultations on the use of the NSPA's procurement system," reads the statement. RICHMOND (BCN) Despite threats of lawsuits from a waterfront coal storage business, the Richmond City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday night to phase out storage of coal and petroleum coke in that city. The ordinance gives businesses three years to wind down coal and coke storage operations. In practice, the ordinance will directly affect only one Richmond business, Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation on the Santa Fe Channel east of Point Richmond and south of the Iron Triangle neighborhood. The terminal stores coal shipped from Utah mines before export to Japan. Levin also stores petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining, from the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo before it is shipped. The proposed "coal ordinance," as Mayor Tom Butt called it, was created following complaints from the public about increased coal dust in the air in parts of Richmond. It would govern only the storage of coal in Richmond; it will not have any effect on transportation of coal through the city by rail. Levin's waterfront site could transition to storing other materials, according to a Richmond city staff report. At the Richmond council's Dec. 3 meeting, dozens of speakers addressed the council about the coal ordinance. Many were Levin employees or their union leaders who fear Levin's 62 jobs would be lost because of the ordinance. A number of others were community activists, health professionals or other residents concerned about high asthma rates in the city, and coal dust's possible role in that. At that meeting, Levin officials told council members the company would sue the city if this ordinance was approved. Several people spoke Tuesday night in general terms about the need for good-paying, middle-class jobs in Richmond, without mentioning Levin or the coal ordinance. "I am only one voice, but that voice echoes a thousand times over," said Michael Dilorenzo, a Levin employee who also spoke Dec. 3. "And for every voice, there's a vote." Butt let about a half dozen people address the Levin issue -- indirectly -- before asking them to stop. "I have to admire the creativity you're using to talk about coal," Butt said. The council had virtually no discussion Tuesday night before voting. Butt, along with council members Eduardo Martinez and Jael Myrick voted "yes" on the ordinance; Councilman Nat Bates, who voted "yes" initially, changed his vote to "no" a short time later. Councilmembers Demnlus Johnson III and Melvin Willis were absent from the meeting. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. LHC directed govt to submit written response for removal of Maryam Nawaz name from ECL LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the federal government on Wednesday to submit a written response to PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz's request for the removal of her name from the no-fly list. A two-member bench was hearing a petition filed by Maryam on December 21, in which she has asked the LHC to return her passport and to order the government to take her name off the Exit Control List (ECL). During the hearing, the court was told by Maryam's lawyer that his client had received a letter by the government on Tuesday night, denying to take her name off the ECL. The bench was told that on December 9, the court had directed the federal government to decide upon Maryam's request within a week but it took more than a month to decide and inform her of the final decision. The federal government's counsel informed the court that the cabinet had decided not to remove Maryam's name from the ECL. The bench noted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is yet to submit a response on the matter as well. The court told the government to explain why it took so long to issue a decision and adjourned the hearing until January 21. Maryam's name was placed on the ECL in the Al Azizia Steel Mills reference filed against her father Nawaz Sharif and her by NAB. The government allowed Nawaz to travel abroad on medical grounds in November last year but Maryam could not accompany him as her name was on the no-fly list. The LHC, in November last year, granted Maryam bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, in which she is a suspect, on the condition that she surrenders her passport to the court. On December 9, she moved the court for the removal of her name from the ECL but her petition was dismissed after the LHC ordered the government to decide on the matter in a week. After the government failed to comply, she filed another petition on December 21, requesting that she be granted a one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure. According to Maryam, she needs to travel abroad in order to take care of her ailing father. Police are investigating the death of an unidentified man whose body was found in a trash can in Philadelphias Olney section. Officials of a nearby school alerted police after a teen girl told them on Tuesday afternoon that a homicide had happened over Christmas break, police said. Police followed the girls tip and found the mans body in a trash can at North Sixth and West Rockland Streets shortly after 1:30 p.m.. Acting Police Commissioner Christine Coulter told 6ABC that the girl said the homicide happened in late December, and that she witnessed it. On Wednesday morning, Coulter told reporters at Police Headquarters that investigators were awaiting a cause of death and believe the victim knew his assailants. She said the case would be easily solvable after the cause of death was determined. She said police were fortunate the student had come forward because I dont know how much longer it would have been to discover the person body and made the attempts to identify and notify the family. Police declined to provide any identifying information on the girl or the school, and no other details were released. About six months after he was controversially sacked as Executive Secretary of Nigerias Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf used expletives to respond to a fresh indictment of fraudulent activities against the scheme during his stay in office. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the recently released Annual Audit from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF) indicted the staff and management of NHIS of squandering over N6.8 billion in illegal allowances, between 2016 and 2017. Mr Yusuf was appointed in July 2016 and was sacked in June last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, after a probe panel indicted him of fraud and gross misconduct. When reached by phone on Monday evening for his reaction on the 2017 audit report, which is the latest from the OAGF, Mr Yusuf launched into a stream of expletives. F**k PREMIUM TIMES. F**k the Auditor General, he said, urging the reporter to go ahead and write that. Not A First Timer It would not be the first time, Mr Yusuf, who is allegedly reputed for disrespecting laid rules and constituted authorities, would use inappropriate languages while responding to an official enquiry. A professor of Haematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Mr Yusufs three-year stint at the NHIS was characterized by crisis as he allegedly flouted laws, broke protocols and financial regulations. Accused of insubordination and continuous infighting with staff and management of the scheme, the controversial official was sent on suspension twice within a year. The first was in July 2017 when the then Health Minister, Isaac Adewole, sent the official on an indefinite suspension over alleged gross misconduct and fraud. He defied the minister, by refusing to comply. When questioned by a Punch Newspaper reporter over the matter, he responded with f**k you and f**k the minister. The governing board of the scheme handed him another indefinite suspension in October 2018, over similar allegations. Rather than obey, Mr Yusuf stormed the NHIS head office with a contingent of about 50 police officers, broke a barricade mounted by angry workers and forced his way into his office. Activities remained grounded at the agency, with workers and management pitted against each other until Mr Buhari sent the controversial official on leave and eventually dismissed him last June. The 2017 Audit report also exhumed a welter of financial misconduct, which has added a new layer to the barrage of fraudulent activities that tainted the leadership of Mr Yusuf. By now, news of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs desire to step down from their positions as senior royals has traveled all around the world. While they arent the first to step back from their positions as royals, they are the first to want to keep one foot in the door. Harry and Meghan dont want to renounce or give up their titles, rather they want to be more financially independent. They want to earn their own money and then be paid when they work for the Queen. As this is unprecedented, Queen Elizabeth II held a meeting with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry to discuss the Sussexes role in the future. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images Meghan, who was in Canada, at the time of the meeting, was invited to call into the discussion, but Katherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and her mother-in-law, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were not invited. Prince Harry and Meghan Markles announcement Harry and Meghan announced their change in positions on Instagram. After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution, the pair wrote. We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. In addition to changing their roles, the pair also announced that they plan on splitting their time between North America and the U.K. The result of the meeting The Queen met with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry for two and a half hours at her home in Sandringham, Norfolk. Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family, the Queen said in a statement. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghans desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family. Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK. These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days. Why werent Kate Middleton and Camilla Parker-Bowles invited? The meeting was limited to the heads of each family, the ones who are actually in line to take the throne. So, there was no need for Kate or Camilla to be there. Meghan was invited to phone in because the decision directly affected her. She ultimately did not join the meeting, though. Rogue has signed director Joe Connor to its roster. Connors commercials for Land Rover, Volvo, Nike and Puma have been shortlisted at Cannes Lions, D&ADs and British Arrows. His music videos for Paul Weller, Coldplay, Sam Smith and Placebo have picked up several best music video nominations at the UK MVAs. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the visual theatre company Parrot in the Tank, has directed fashion films for Paul Smith and with Hollywood luminaries Tom Hiddleston, Lily James and Stanly Tucci and shot still portraits of Ed Sheeran, Anthony Joshua and Kylie Minogue. His short is currently doing the rounds at Edmonton and Manchester film festivals and he is writing his second albumin his spare time. Connor said Im here to surprise myself. Its all about the future, its about finding the scripts to match my visual ambition and the creatives that eat that work for breakfast. Kate Taylor, MD/EP of Rogue describes Joe as a rare talent with immense promise. Hes young but experienced, single minded in his quest to direct but also a creative polymath; director, recording artist, photographer, mime artist, clown! When he talks reverently of film-making, he talks in terms of making magic and that, for me, is gold. Charlie Crompton, co-founder of Rogue says: Directors like Joe are very rare if you look at that reel, it feels like its been directed by five different people whove also done the stills and the music. It honestly feels like he can turn his hand to anything and add massive value to any script. Coming up through music videos has meant that hes endlessly adaptable and is always there with a creative solutionHes also a really nice guy. Which is annoying, frankly. Share this story One fisherman was killed and two others are missing after their fishing boat collided with a chemical tanker Tuesday off the coast of Galveston, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The collision happened when the 81-foot fishing vessel Pappys Pride ran into the 600-foot chemical tanker Bow Fortune in foggy conditions near the Galveston jetties around 3:35 p.m. The fishing vessel capsized, sending four of its crew overboard. 'We are at $2.7 trillion and 2024 is not far away.' 'The country will need to grow by 9% every year for 5 years continuously and raise the aggregate investment rate to 38% of GDP to achieve the government's target of turning India into a $5 trillion economy.' 'Given the fact that we are only growing at about 5% and our investment rates are only about 30%, it may take a number of years before we can reach that targeted level.' "We should not be unnecessarily bothered about the total size of the economy. We should be bothered more about per capita income, and not the overall size of the economy," Professor Sunil Mani, Director, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com in our series of interviews with economists and business people on what urgently needs to be done to boost the economy. Is GDP growth falling below 5% and all the sectors registering negative growth a temporary phenomenon and cyclical in any economy? I don't agree with the cyclical versus structural argument at all. I hold the view that the rate of growth of India's economy has been much below what was shown earlier. This has been pointed out by many economists. That's because all of us feel there has been a certain amount of over-estimation of GDP and this overestimation in its measurement does not appear to have been corrected at all. My feeling is that after the 2008 global crisis, though we argued at that time that we were not affected by it, we were, and we appeared to have not recovered well enough. If you look at all the macro economic variables, like GDP growth, savings and investment rates rate of growth of exports, etc, all these fell immediately after the global financial crisis and have been fluctuating thereafter. According to various analysts, a slowdown in consumption demand, decline in manufacturing, inability of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve cases in a time-bound manner, and rising global trade tension and its adverse impact on exports are some of the factors affecting India's growth. Are we in recession right now? The economy has been slowing down for six consecutive quarters despite the government announcing a slew of measures to arrest the slide of GDP growth rate. The growth rate of the economy has been declining, but still positive. So it is not a recession in the strict sense of the term as GDP has not contracted. Nevertheless, this slowdown is worrisome as there is evidence of rising unemployment and reductions in consumption demand which will further slow down the economy. The recent numbers on the GDP growth rate confirm this. Is refusal to accept the reality the reason why the government cannot find a remedy to stop the downward trend in the economy? No, the government announced a slew of measures. But they seem to be addressing more of the supply side than the demand side. There is now a fair amount of consensus among a wide range of economists, of different persuasions, that a fall in aggregate demand is the cause of this slowdown. Maybe the government will announce some measures to reverse the slowdown in the forthcoming Budget. What should the government be doing other than being in denial? First of all, the government should accept that there is a problem with the Indian economy. There is nothing wrong in accepting that there is a problem. Many economies including China are experiencing a slowdown in GDP growth. It is like you are down with a disease, but do not want to accept the truth and take any medicine. This approach will not help you to recover. So, the government should first accept that there is a problem. Also, the problem is on the demand side and not so much the supply side. Once you accept that the problem is on the demand side, you can come out with policies that would improve demand in the economy. This can be done by helping farmers, creating more employment through MNERGA, etc so that people can have more disposable income to spend. The unemployment rate is going up. Has this also affected the demand side? First of all, overall domestic investment sentiments are very low. The Gross Fixed Capital Formation as a per cent of GDP has been declining. Second, Net Foreign Direct Investment is only about $30 billion and it has been stagnating at that level in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 according to the RBI's latest annual report. Net portfolio investment in 2018-2019 has been negative at $618 million. Because of these two reasons, opportunities for employment are also very low. Since opportunities for employment have been low, demand has been low. Because the demand is low, investment goes further down. So, it is a vicious circle. Yes, it is a kind of a vicious circle. There is a fair amount of consensus among economists regarding this kind of phenomenon. What started with the NPA (non performing assets) problem in public sector banks continues despite the government infusing money in these banks as recapitalisation. Do you see a change in the NPA problem in the near future? I do not see a change in the NPA problem as some of the banks have been camouflaging. This is a very important issue that is affecting the economy. In fact, I have argued right from 2008 that Indian banks were in a bad shape. There was an asset-liability mismatch, and this happened in 2008. But at that time, we were quick to say that Indian banks were very safe and their exposure to toxic assets was limited to one bank. But the asset-liability mismatch has been a problem right from 2008. So, once again the government in power was in denial mode. The NPA problem was accepted openly much, much later in 2015, when Raghuram Rajan asked the banks to declare NPAs... Exactly. If you look at Economist magazine, they have been talking about the rot in the Indian banking system for quite some time. It has been referring to the mounting dud loans in the State-run commercial banking sector. So, this has affected private investment sentiment badly. With no bank credit going into industry due to the NPA problem, private investments have not been happening. With low investment, there are fewer employment opportunities and also low demand, which reduces the rate of growth. This has been going on for some time now. What we need to do urgently is to fix the banking system, have policies that can increase domestic demand. When confidence of the private sector is low, shouldn't the government increase public spending by starting, for example, infrastructure projects so that there would be economic activity? Yes, that is one way of increasing domestic demand. When you invest in massive infrastructure projects, it can lead to fresh manufacturing investments coming in. Although quite a bit of improvement has been done in the previous years, we are not still there when you compare ourselves to countries like China. On a number of infrastructure areas like, for instance roads, quality and quantity of electricity, ports, wagon turnaround in railways and even in the distribution of water, we do have a long way to go compared to other fast-growing large countries like China. So, once you start investing in infrastructure, I have a feeling that it will improve private investment sentiments too. The positive co-relation between infrastructure investment and private industrial investment is very well established. For the last few years, many economists are talking about the need for the government to invest in infrastructure projects to kickstart the economy, but nothing has been happening on the ground. Why is it so? I think the government is interested in satisfying certain international norms in fiscal deficit. They want to keep a certain percentage of the GDP as fiscal deficit. So, they have been relentlessly cutting down on government expenditure, essentially to meet those targets. There is a fair amount of consensus in India that one of the ways in which the government can increase demand is by increasing government expenditure. This way, they can put money into the hands of people. For example, the MNREGA programme should be expanded. It is the largest employment programme seen anywhere in the world. Despite all its limitations, it had a major role in providing employment especially in the rural areas. This programme can increase rural income and rural demand which can lead to increased manufacturing activities. These kinds of policies can increase domestic demand. The government wants to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024, but with the economy growing at less than 5%, has it not become an unattainable target? I think we should not get into this $5 trillion debate. We are right now at $2.7 trillion and 2024 is not too far away. We are not talking about a distant future; it is just 4 years away. The country will need to grow by 9% every year for five years continuously and raise the aggregate investment rate to 38% of GDP to achieve the government's target of turning India into a $5 trillion economy. Given the fact that we are only growing at about 5% and our investment rates are only about 30%, it may take a number of years before we can reach that targeted level. We should not be unnecessarily bothered about the total size of the economy. We should be bothered more about per capita income, and not the overall size of the economy. Some experts I spoke to said that the economy would be able to sustain fluctuations as we were fundamentally strong. Do you agree? If you are looking at the fundamentals, I will look at the savings rate and also investment rate, and these are not going up. The quality of our infrastructure has to be improved in a number of areas. Our banking system is in a bad shape. Employment is a major issue. Agricultural demand is a major issue. Consumption is going down. There has been a rising repatriation of FDI. NPAs in the banking sector has reached 10% to 12%. Now, how can anyone say the fundamentals are in good shape? In my view, the fundamentals of the economy need improvement, otherwise we won't be able to maintain continuous growth. In which direction do you see the economy going in 2020? I do not want to be pessimistic. But it is very difficult to predict the future especially with the Middle East issue escalating into a war-like situation. Petroleum prices have already started increasing and this is not good news for us. It can change the whole scenario any time. This is not going to be very helpful for India or the rest of the world. Since we are already in a difficult situation, it may affect our growth prospects adversely. I think the government must give more importance to dealing with the economy. The cringe-inducing segment saw Reid, 49, take the former governor of Alaska, 55, to task over a series of allegedly false statements made during her political career. The presenter, 49, asked the former governor of Alaska to verify some claims she had previously made, after Palin said she would be interested to see any examples of her past remarks that have since been fact-checked. As Reid listed statistics which Palin previously cited, the politician hit back with Keep going on Susanna, keep them going, before claiming that people who disagree with her dont know the facts. In another bizarre twist, Palin went on to claim that President Trump is not a typical politician with his finger to the wind as he is instead directing the wind. Viewers shared their thoughts on the interview on social media, with Twitter users describing it as bonkers and delusional. Some joked that Palins interview resembled Tina Feys famous Saturday Night Live impression of the former vice-presidential candidate, while others suggested that they would rather listen to Morgan than his guest for once. Morgan courted controversy earlier this week when he continued his criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with a new rant about the royal couple on Good Morning Britain. Piers Morgan launches into furious Meghan Markle and Prince Harry rant He labelled the Sussexes spoilt brats and claimed that they are holding [the Queen] to ransom about the entire way the monarchy works after they revealed that they intend to step down as senior royals. On Tuesday (January 14), Good Morning Britain guest Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu accused Morgan of having a personal vendetta against the Duchess of Sussex. Scammers have taken advantage of mourning Victorians after a veteran firefighter was killed by a falling tree while he helped contain a fire. Wonthaggi father Bill Slade, 60, is survived by his wife Carol, daughter Steph and son Ethan after dying near Omeo on Saturday. Bill Slade with his daughter Steph Slade. Credit:Steph Slade The broader community has rallied together during this summer's bushfire crisis. But Mr Slade's daughter Steph said a Donorbox page set up in his honour was actually a scam. "I find it disgusting that a person would do something like this considering the circumstances," Steph said. Allaying concerns over reports of its weakening financial health, Yes Bank on Wednesday said the lender's capital adequacy is at a comfortable level and efforts are being made to further strengthen it. The bank has asked its customers not to pay heed to rumours about its financial health. "The bank's overall Capital Adequacy Ratio is comfortably above regulatory requirements and all efforts are being made to financially strengthen the bank even further. Kindly, therefore, pay no heed to these unfounded reports," Yes Bank said in a statement. The bank plans to convene an extraordinary general meeting on February 7 to get shareholders' nod for raising Rs 10,000 crore and to increase authorised capital from existing Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,100 crore, already cleared by the board. Last week, Uttam Prakash Agarwal, an independent director of Yes Bank resigned from the board and stepped down as head of its audit committee citing major corporate governance concerns. The capital-starved bank also reported setbacks in its USD 2-billion fundraising plans. Canadian investor Erwin Singh Braich's USD 1.2 billion offer will not be pursued further, the bank had said. It had further said a USD 500-million offer from Citax Holdings and Citax Investment Group, which was being favourably considered, is also facing headwinds. The bank, which was waiting for regulatory approvals as Citax's offer entailed over 10 per cent ownership, has not been able to get a clearance yet on the "conditions precedent". Without specifying timelines, it said the Citax offer will be taken up "during the next round". The troubled bank has been forced to shrink its book due to capital paucity and was hoping to close the fundraising by December. Need for capital has been necessitated as under new CEO Ravneet Gill, the lender has had to provide for sour loan bets taken under his predecessor Rana Kapoor whose term was cut short by the RBI in 2018 over concerns on corporate governance. The central bank has also appointed former deputy governor R Gandhi to the board. The Claremont serial killings trial will continue to hear evidence from police who attended the crime scenes, with the discovery of Ciara Glennon's body the focus of day 25. Bradley Robert Edwards, 51, has been on trial in the WA Supreme Court since late last year accused of murdering Sarah Spiers, 18, Jane Rimmer, 23, and Ms Glennon, 27, in 1996 and 1997. Ms Rimmer was the focus on day 24 on Tuesday, with current and former police questioned in detail about the recovery of her naked and substantially decomposed body from bushland in Wellard and the two post mortems that followed. Scroll down for video Former Telstra technician and confessed rapist Bradley Robert Edwards, 51, is fighting allegations he killed three women Edawrds is accused of murdering secretary Sarah Spiers (left), 18, childcare worker Jane Rimmer (centre), 23, and solicitor Ciara Glennon (right), 27, in 1996 and 1997. Former homicide squad detective Vicky Young performed the role of continuity, taking note of proceedings from a short distance, and insisted she did not enter the crime scene and abided by protocols at the post mortems. However, after the forensic pathologist handed her a clump of Ms Rimmer's hair, she took it home, shampooed it, tied it with an elastic band and placed in a gift box to give to the childcare worker's family 'out of an act of kindness and compassion'. Defence counsel did not ask about the lock of hair during cross-examination. Former sergeant Barry Mott testified DNA science was 'very much in its infancy' in the 1990s and police did not consider they could potentially contaminate a crime scene - even without touching anything. But he wore disposable forensic overalls and gloves in Wellard. Sergeant Mark Harbridge attended Ms Rimmer's two post mortems when he was a senior constable, but said he did not get closer than 40cm to her body. Other police officers have also been grilled about how close they came to the bodies, with the defence arguing evidence could be contaminated. On Wednesday, the trial is expected to hear lengthy evidence from Sergeant Gary Hyde, who attended the Eglinton crime scene were Ms Glennon's body was found. P olice are hunting a gunman who broke into McDonald's through a drive-thru window. CCTV footage shows a car pulling up to the takeout booth at the fast-food joint in Houston, Texas. A man suddenly leaps from the rear seat, armed with a gun, and climbs headfirst through the hatch. Shocked employees run for cover as the intruder chases them around the kitchen pointing a gun at them. He approaches a staff member who points towards a camera glaring at him, prompting him to jump back into the car, which is still parked by the drive-thru booth. The vehicle then makes a quick escape across the forecourt. Houston police said they are searching for the armed suspect and the driver of the dark green Nissan Xterra. Iran's FM Zarif Admits People Are Angry For Being Lied To About Plane Crash 01/15/20 Source: Radio Farda Iran's Foreign Minister on Wednesday a dmitted that Iranians are angry because they were lied to regarding regarding the real cause of a plane crash January 8, that killed 176 passengers and crew. While the Iranian military knew it had shot down the plane, authorities kept denying they fired an anti-aircraft missile, for three days. "We did not lie" (Source: Iranian daily Kaenat) "We've had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days," Mohammad-Javad Zarif said at the Raisina Dialogue, an annual foreign policy conference in New Delhi. He added: "But people are angry even with those two days. That is the expectation that people have with the government that the government should have disclosed the information". Commenting on the reason for the tragedy Zarif blamed it on the crisis following the targeted killing of the Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States on January 3 and said: "People make mistakes, unforgivable mistakes. But it happened in the times of a crisis. We need to make sure that this crisis will be prevented". The Iranian Foreign Minister also called the military forces "brave enough to claim responsibility early on" but made it clear that the government had been kept in the dark about the Revolutionary Guard's responsibility for the missile or missiles launched at the plane. "I, as a foreign minister, and the president, we didn't know until Friday afternoon," he said. Iranian President Hassan Rohani: "Explain to People" (Source: Iran daily) In a cabinet meeting on Wednesday President Hassn Rouhani who had also called the downing of the plane an "unforgivable mistake" and called for a special court to probe the matter said compensating for the mistake should not result in weakening the armed forces because the country needs them to defend itself. Goldman Sachs is really bullish on Shake Shack, sees 80% rally because of exclusive Grubhub deal Published Wed, Jan 15 2020 9:10 AM EST Updated Wed, Jan 15 2020 4:01 PM EST Apple Inc and other technology companies should cooperate with U.S. investigators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday as law enforcement officials continued probing last months fatal shooting at a U.S. naval base in Florida. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump lashed out at Apple in a tweet for refusing to unlock phones in criminal investigations while the company benefited from the federal governments help on trade issues. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking to unlock two iPhones involved in the case regarding the shooting of three Americans by a Saudi Air Force officer at the U.S. Naval Station in Pensacola, Florida. Attorney General William Barr this week called on Apple to help. Their request has renewed attention to privacy issues in the digital age, with Apple and its rivals arguing strong encryption protects users while law enforcement officials counter it allows criminals to evade justice. I understand the presidents view, and it is absolutely critical for our technology companies to cooperate with law enforcement, Mnuchin told CNBC in an interview. Mnuchin later told reporters at the White House that he had not discussed the issue with Apple and did not know the specifics at hand. I know Apple has cooperated in the past on law enforcement issues, and I expect they would continue ... to cooperate. Apple has said that it has helped investigators in the Pensacola case by providing other data, but that it cannot access encrypted data stored on the actual devices without building a so-called back door. If the Duchesss case against the Mail on Sunday goes to trial, it is likely Mr Markle will testify against his daughter and the Duchess will be forced to give evidence against him. Submitted by the Mail on Sundays parent company, Associated Newspapers, the 44-page defence accuses the self-promoting Duchess of knowingly making public the contents of the letter to paint her in a more flattering light. The documents, seemingly written with Mr Markles co-operation, justify publication of excerpts from the letter and his response to it last February, insisting it was necessary for the sake of truth, fairness, and Mr Markles reputation, and so that the public should not be misled. It adds: The claimants privacy rights do not extend to silencing her father. Last October, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, said he and his wife had been forced to take action against relentless propaganda from Associated Newspapers publications in an emotive attack on what he described as a ruthless campaign against his wife. Accusing the tabloid media of bullying behaviour that destroys people and destroys lives, he evoked memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, saying his deepest fear is history repeating itself. The Mail on Sunday published the excerpts, along with an interview with Mr Markle, four days after the American magazine, People, ran articles said to have been based on anonymous interviews with five of the Duchesss closest friends standing up against the global bullying she had faced. The title page of the court document seen by The Telegraph, London. Credit:The Telegraph, London As well as confirming the existence of the letter, the unnamed sisterhood told People that Mr Markle had never contacted his daughter, claiming that the Duchess was calling, texting, even up to the night before the wedding on May 19, 2018 after he had to pull out following an emergency heart procedure. But according to the court documents, the last message Mr Markle received was a text allegedly sent on May 17 admonishing him for talking to the press, telling him to stop and accusing him of causing hurt to his daughter. It was purportedly signed: Love M and H. The defence also claims the couple did not ask how he was or how the surgery had gone. The document includes details as to how Mr Markle felt hung out to dry and that no one came to see him ahead of the wedding, whereas the Duchesss mother, Doria Ragland, had been personally informed of the royal engagement by two British embassy officials who visited her Los Angeles home. Prince Harry compared the media's invasion of his wife's privacy with the experiences of his mother, Diana. Credit:AP Questioning claims that the Duchess called him 20 times when he was in hospital, the defence alleges Mr Markle did not receive any cards or well wishes and even contradicts the Duchesss claim that she funded herself through university, saying: Mr Markle had supported the claimant throughout her childhood and youth. He had paid her private school fees. He had paid all her college tuition, and after she left Northwestern University he continued to pay off her student loans, even after she had landed a well-paid role in Suits. Loading The court papers state: Following the publication of the People interview and reports of the People interview, neither the existence nor the contents of the letter were confidential. Mr Markle was also entitled publicly to correct the false and damaging (to him) information that had been given about his conduct in the People interview, and to have as much of the Letter and its contents published as was necessary for that purpose. The defence also alleges that Mr Markle has not heard from his daughter since August 2018, when she sent the immaculately copied out and self-congratulatory letter. This gap puts off the more critical vote on the resolution governing the trial until Tuesday, but its a delay that both sides favor. Four Senate Democrats are running for their partys presidential nomination, and the coming weekend will be their last burst of activity over several days in Iowa and possibly New Hampshire, before those states critical first caucus and first primary, respectively. New Delhi: Five months before 26/11, a nondescript Srinagar auto-rickshaw driver travelled to Kolkata on one of the most critical missions the Lashkar-e-Taibas assault plans involved. His task was to purchase 22 prepaid SIM cards, which the attackers would use to coordinate with each other and the Lashkar commanders in Pakistan when they landed on the beach off Badhwar Park, in Mumbai. Then, he was to hand the cards over to the Lashkar operative who would secret them across the Line of Control. Except, Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh wasnt a Lashkar operative: he was an Indian spy, working for the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Inside the Intelligence Bureaus elegant, colonial-era counterterrorism centre in Delhi, computers hummed alive as the cards went active on 26/11 giving officials graphic, real-time information on the terrorists as they communicated with their handlers in Pakistan. Police investigators, though, didnt know of Sheikhs real job and couldnt be told, for fear of compromising other intelligence operations. Instead of being given a medal, he spent three months in a Kolkata prison, treated as a terrorist, before he was quietly bailed out. For Indians struggling to understand the strange story of Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, theres an important lesson in this story: in the sometimes surreal world of counter-terrorism, things arent always as they appear. Is Davinder Singh a traitor; or part of an intelligence-led effort to infiltrate the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen; or, again, a cog in a dark government plot to stage terrorist attacks for political profit? Theres likely more than meets the eye to this story but probably much less than the grand conspiracy some are seeing. The Davinder Singh story is enmeshed with the great tide of anti-India rage which swept over Kashmir in 2016, following the killing of jihadist Burhan Wani. In large swathes of rural Kashmir, the Indian state was simply swept away. In some villages, Pakistani flags were hoisted in public functions held on that countrys independence day, August 14, while jihadist groups held parades. Police armouries were sacked; government offices ceased to function. In the summer of 2017, police constable Syed Naveed Mushtaq Naveed Babu to his friends fled his post at a Food Corporation of India warehouse in Budgam, along with four rifles. A few days later, his photograph appeared on Facebook, proclaiming his loyalty to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Even as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen hailed Mushtaqs desertion as an act of heroism, there were some within the terrorist group suspicious of his real intentions and possible links to the police. For its part, police in Shopian made unsuccessful efforts to persuade Mushtaq to surrender, working through his family. In 2019, though, with other key Hizb-ul-Mujahideen operatives killed among them Burhan Wanis one-time associate Lateef Dar Mushtaq influence on the terrorism landscape in Shopian increased. Last autumn, police put up posters naming him, and associate Rahil Magray for the murder of a truck driver from Rajasthan and fruit trader from Punjab part of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideens efforts to cripple Kashmirs apple trade. And then, according to police, a bizarre relationship with Davinder Singh developed leaving a long trial of questions that arent resolved yet. It isnt clear, for one, why Mushtaq reached out to the police officer for help with securing safe-houses and storing weapons in the first place. The Hizb-ul-Mujahideens network of supporters have long demonstrated competence with tasks like these. Irfan Shafi Mir, a Shopian lawyer arrested along with Singh and Mushtaq, is listed in Jammu and Kashmir police records as a long-standing Hizb-ul-Mujahideen logistics provider. Nor is there an explanation for where Mushtaq a small cog in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen apparatus might have secured the 1.5 million hes alleged to have paid Davinder Singh for his services. Local Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commanders have never once been found in possession of that kind of money, police records show. Forty-eight hours before Davinder Singhs arrest, moreover, a Delhi Police counter-terrorism unit arrested alleged Mushtaq operatives Kifayatullah Bukhari and a juvenile who News18 is not naming, in compliance with law near the village of Narwaw in Shopian. The leads for that operation, police say, were provided by an informant who said Bukhari was attempting to procure locally-made firearms from western Uttar Pradesh, on Mushtaqs behalf. Leaving aside the more peculiar elements of the story home-made guns in Uttar Pradesh arent known to be effective combat weapons the arrests would have raised fears that Mushtaqs network had been penetrated. The rational course of action would have been to terminate his contacts with Davinder Singh, not place himself at the officers mercy. Finally, it remains unclear why Davinder Singh would have decided to personally drive Mushtaq and his associates to Jammu, with plans to go on to New Delhi. Police at checkpoints along Srinagar-Jammu highway arent trained to recognise terrorists meaning there was no real chance of the officers help being needed. The terrorists, moreover, discussed their plans using telephones which enabled Shopian officers tracking Mushtaq to close in on the car. For Davinder Singh to have allowed this, knowing the high levels of intelligence surveillance of telephone networks, suggests bewildering incompetence, or hubris. Police sources involved in Davinder Singhs interrogation have said hes made the obvious claim that addresses all these questions: that he was acting at the behest of intelligence services, to cultivate Mushtaq, and use him to infiltrate the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. No intelligence service has, however, endorsed that claim, the sources said and Davinder Singh hasnt so far been able to name names. Inside the Kashmir polices investigation team, few believe Davinder Singhs story. Davinder Singh, they believe, simply succumbed to greed. There is compelling evidence, police sources say, that Davinder Singh reached out to Mushtaq, blackmailing him to pay up or face certain elimination. Were pretty certain this wasnt the first time Singh had run a scam like this, one officer involved in case said. This story may well be the truth: the Jammu and Kashmir Police has, after all, arrested several corrupt personnel over the years for colluding with terrorists. Across India, police officers, bureaucrats and military personnel have been prosecuted on similar charges. As the National Investigations Agency interrogates the officer, good answers to the remaining questions might well emerge. But the story of 26/11 spy Sheikh teaches us not to be too quick to make up our minds which version we believe until the full facts are known. From Sheikhs story, we also know this: the failure to answer questions has often bred conspiracy theories that hurt the credibility of Indias counter-terrorism efforts. Given that Sheikh was, formally, an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, rumours proliferated that the government had a hidden role in the 26/11 plot. No official stepped up to explain what had actually happened. In the end, Pakistani claims that 26/11 was engineered by India gathered momentum. In the imagination of some in the Indian National Congress and many more on social media Singh has, likewise, been cast as a key actor in a dark, secret machine, used by the Indian state to engineer terrorist attacks from Parliament House to Pulwama. These claims rest on dubious logical firmament: had Singh, in fact, been a key intelligence operator with first-hand knowledge of false-flag terrorist attacks, its hard to see how the State would profit by having police hold him and then hand over the case to the NIA, so he could reveal all in the course of the near-inevitable criminal trial. In reality, Singh was a bit-player in the Jammu and Kashmirs Special Operations Group. Following several years of not-especially distinguished service in the polices Special Operations Group, he was moved to traffic duties, and side-lined by successive Directors-General of Police on suspicion of corruption. His one medal was granted by the state government not the President of India for his role in fighting-off a 2018 attack on the Police Lines in Pulwama. That, in turn, led then-Director General of Police SP Vaid to post him at Srinagar airport. Parliament House attacker Afzal Guru claimed he had been instructed to carry out the plot by Davinder Singh. Gurus supporters argue the police officer was never investigated. Prosecutors, however, say there was nothing in the evidence they found which, after all, stood Supreme Court scrutiny on an allegation they believe was intended to mislead. In one covert-camera interview secretly recorded by Srinagar-based journalist Parvaiz Bukhari, Singh admitted he had arrested, and even tortured, Guru, long before the attack but denied any subsequent crimes. There is no obvious reason why the officer would have confessed to one serious criminal offence during what he believed to be a private conversation with a friend, and not the other. Theres even less foundation to claims that Singh might have had something to do with Pulwama, bar the fact he was posted in the town as were many other officers at the time the attack occurred. Building arguments around the propositions that anything is possible leads to a logical cul-de-sac: many of us, after all, could conceivably be the real masterminds of the Pulwama attack, or serial killers, or bank-robbers. That conspiratorialism flourishes, even among institutions which should know better, like the Indian National Congress, tells us something deeply worrying about the credibility of government. The damage is self-inflicted: for decades, politicians and bureaucrats have undermined themselves by habitually evade and elide over the truth, even when telling it would serve their own interests. In Kashmir, this has engendered a toxic culture of denial: even jihadist atrocities will be met with assertions that Delhi was in fact the puppet-master which pulled the strings. Thats why its important that the story of Davinder Singh be told transparently and credibly. In early May, Bumble, the women-first social network, announced its plan to hire two Global Connector Bees to travel the world and make new friends. Now, the time has come for those two new hires, Brigette Muller and Juliana Broste, to start their adventure. According to Bumble, Muller and Broste will be jetting off to Singapore with the help of the Singapore Tourism Board to kick off the program on Friday, January 17. We are excited to welcome Bumbles Global Connector Bees as they start their worldwide journey in Singapore, and invite them to discover all the possibilities Singapore has to offer from our rich culture, vibrant culinary and nightlife scene, and warm hospitality of our people, Rachel Loh, regional director, Americas for the Singapore Tourism Board, shared in a statement. As a destination that offers a woman-friendly leisure and business environment, we are also proud to partner with Bumble for the launch of Bumble Bizz in Singapore. We thus encourage visitors to connect with like-minded Singaporeans across different fields be it business, tech, hospitality, and more and share deep stories and authentic experiences. According to Bumble, the duo will remain on their global journey throughout 2020. Bumble explained the women will travel the world and learn to navigate the nuances of dating, friend-finding, and networking across the world. All of their adventures will be documented and shared across Bumbles social media channels. The response weve received following the Global Connector Bee announcement has been tremendous, Chelsea Maclin, vice president of marketing at Bumble, said in the statement. We received thousands of applications for this position. We initially wanted to hire one person for the job, but after meeting Brigette and Juliana, we knew that we had to extend offers to both of them. As a company that prioritizes healthy, safe, and equitable relationships, we know that we are the most powerful when two people are making a connection. We felt that it was important to have two people who can speak to their individual experiences of making connections and cultivating their own relationships across cultures, all while traveling together. Im so excited to see how their experiences differ from country to country. Story continues Ive declared that my word for the year is expansion, so Im really looking to do just that in all senses of the word, Muller, a New York City resident who has been creating content for almost 10 years, told Travel + Leisure about what she hopes to gain from the global trip. I want to expand my mind, my views, my palette, my comfort zone and, perhaps most importantly, my love for human connection. Meanwhile, Broste, an award-winning video journalist, is just excited to meet new friends. One of the best things about traveling is the people, she shared. You never know who youre going to meet. Through Bumble, Im excited to get to know people around the globe who I never would have met otherwise. It just makes this big world feel a whole lot smaller. As often as we look at people from other cultures as different, Im excited to see just how much we are all the same. Both women will spend about two weeks in a designated location, where they will showcase their lives while using Bumble as their guide. After Singapore, both Global Connector Bees will travel to Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and more, according to Bumble. Muller said she cant wait to hit Indonesia and explore Bali, as she feels an innate pull to lush, balmy places. She added, People often tease me about my love for humidity, but the heart wants what it wants. Ive also been told that Bali is a very spiritual land. As an empath, the energy of a place is really important to me, so Im very excited to feel everything while Im there. And Broste, well, shes just excited to see it all. Im really excited to visit such a wide range of places in a relatively short span of time over a dozen countries in just nine months, she said. Theres a great mix of places that Ive been to before and places Ive always wanted to go. Want to follow their entire trip? Subscribe to Bumbles YouTube channel and follow @BumbleGCB on Instagram. Who knows, you may just match with one of the women on your travels, too. Home Just In Nepal Airlines also becomes official airline of Visit Nepal Year 2020 Kathmandu, January 15 The Visit Nepal Year 2020 Secretariat under the government has signed an agreement with the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines, recognising the airline company as an official airline for the governments mega campaign. Earlier, the secretariat had picked Turkish Airlines as the official carrier, and the NAC officials had expressed dissatisfaction. Now, retaining the Turkish companys status, the government also chose the national flag carrier as another official airline. NACs Institutional Department director Archana Khadka and the secretariats member-secretary Bachchu Narayan Shrestha signed an agreement in this regard on Wednesday. As per the understanding, both the sides will promote each other in their products, events and services. Likewise, homepages of the websites of both parties will be interlinked. The secretariat will print the NAC logo on its brochures and magazines whereas a video promoting the NAC will be shown during the events. I recently finished reading the biography of Elisabeth Elliot. Elisabeth, or Betty, as she was more fondly called was the wife of Jim Elliot. He is well known as one of five missionaries killed while trying to make contact with the Auca, a tribe from Ecuador. While the book was captivating from beginning to the end, there was one part that caught my attention. Bettys calling was to translate the Bible into new languages. This was no easy task. It took a whole lot of people to make this happen - from finding dependable people to learn the new language to writing and printing the language. Groundwork On one her first missions, Betty sought to learn the language of the Colorado Indians. Whilst she had tried to approach many Colarado Indian to help her, no one was really bothered or committed to it. God sent help in the form of a man who was not a Colorado Indian but spoke the language fluently. Don Macario was a middle-aged Ecuadorian man He told Betty that he had been raised on a hacienda (a large plantation) right alongside Colorado children. He had played with them, and in the process he had learn to speak and learnt the language fluentlyhe explained that he would be happy to serve as Bettys informant. Betty was ecstaticGod had answered her prayers and sent her possibly the only person in the world who was fluent in both language of the Colorados and Spanish, which she could speak and understand, making the whole process of communication so much easier for her. I marveled at the fact that even when Don was a child, God had started preparing him for a time in his life when he will serve God in his own special way. Who would think that playing with your friends as a child would be the groundwork for Bible translation years later. But that is exactly the case with Don. And then God steps in It is no surprise that this is the case with many people in the Bible. People that are busy in their routine and attentive to their work at hand. And then God steps in. Think of Rebekah who was going about her chores to draw water from the well. And then God stepped in. She met Abraham's servant and eventually married Isaac. (Genesis chapter 24). Think of the little boy with the five loaves of bread and two fishes who was simply going about with his lunch. And then God stepped in. Jesus used those very bread to feed thousands of men, with plenty leftover. (John chapter 6). Think of David - just a young boy tending to his sheep. And then God stepped in. God used him to defeat Goliath and made him a king. (1 Samuel chapter 16 & 17). Do not despisethe ordinary and routine It is always exciting to read and hear how God steps in and we get an amazing story of what He is doing.But we tend to forget what all the people were doing when He stepped in. They were doing what was ordinary and what was required of them. Although the routine can become mundane, do not despise it. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people. (Colossians chapter 3, verse 23). More often than not, this is where we do a lot of growing spiritually. This is where God will break,mouldand build us. He uses this time to prepare us to accomplish the things He has prepared for us to do during our short time here on Earth. Mussita Ng is a follower of Jesus Christ from Wellington, New Zealand. Her previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mussita-ng.html KALAMAZOO, MI For the second time, Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Deputy Thomas Swafford is throwing his hat in the ring, hoping to ultimately be elected the next Kalamazoo County sheriff. Swafford, 57, who unsuccessfully ran for sheriff in 2016 as a Democrat, has since switched party allegiance and will give it another go, this time running as a Republican. Prior to 2016, I didnt really have a lot of political knowledge and in 2016, when I decided to run, I wanted to, for lack of a better word, remove (Sheriff Richard) Fuller. And I thought the best way to go about that was as a Democrat, Swafford said. Swafford said since that time, he began studying the two party platforms on a deeper level and discovered Republican positions and the way in which the party respects law enforcement aligns more closely with his beliefs. A recent guest of Vice President Mike Pences at a rally on Jan. 9 in Toledo, Ohio, Swafford praised the job President Donald Trump is doing in office, highlighting economic gains and Trumps high regard for law enforcement officials. I really like what Trump has done for our country," Swafford said. I believe that he has saved our country. We were headed, in my view, downhill, so he really saved us and we are coming back now to where we were. For me, it always comes back to law enforcement, because there was a time over the last eight years prior to him that law enforcement officials were looked down upon and there was a lot of anti-law enforcement rhetoric going around the country. And I feel like Trump is building us back up." Swafford, who is yet to officially file his campaign affidavit but does have an active finance committee according to Kalamazoo County Clerk Tim Snow, said he sees shortcomings in local leadership and believes he can help build the county up. When asked why he was the right person for the job in Kalamazoo, Swafford who began working as a volunteer reserve deputy at the sheriffs office in 2002 and as a full-time deputy in 2010 said he knows what happens there on a daily basis and knows the people who work there and their respective needs. I know what to do to make things better, Swafford said. I know the programs that we have that work and I know the programs that we have that need to be discarded. Cooperation, finance and morale Calling himself an expert in jail administration, Swafford said his top two goals if elected are to develop stronger working partnerships with local law enforcement agencies and to restructure the sheriffs office budget. He has served as a deputy in the jail but not in a command position. The biggest No. 1 issue for me is cooperation between different agencies, Swafford said. Cooperation is severely lacking in this county and I want to work on that. When a major event happens within the county and our deputies are tied up with that, we need to be able to utilize other agencies to help out with patrol during that time. No. 2, our budget is not always where it should be, and Id like to work on that, he said. We routinely dont have money to pay overtime and some of our expenditures are simply not what they should be. Swafford did not get into specifics about what he would change in regard to the budget, but blamed lack of current leadership for the problems that he sees at the Kalamazoo County Sheriffs office. The morale at our department is very low and, in my view, its due to a lack of leadership, and I can provide that leadership for our deputies, Swafford said. Swafford ran on a similar platform in 2016, losing to Fuller in the Democratic primary with the incumbent sheriff picking up 76% of the vote. Fuller was elected to his third term that November, defeating Republican challenger Jeff Heppler and garnering 62% of the vote in the general election. When asked about current morale at the sheriffs office, Fuller, who has been with the department for 31 years and served as sheriff since 2008, said morale at the sheriffs office is not the problem Swafford claims. Employees want their voices heard. They expect to be heard. They want to be recognized for their accomplishments and they want a fair and equitable evaluation and reward system put in place, Fuller said. Over the last 11 years, those are things that we have worked diligently toward achieving." Fuller said departments across the country are understaffed and that is a challenge everyone faces, but he believes his department works collaboratively to accomplish what needs to be done. I think every organization will have a percentage of people that are constantly in flux as to how they feel about their work and thats why we do what we can to make sure that they are recognized and that they are listened to," he said. "All the command staff here, myself included, have open doors, and we want to make sure every single staff member is given the opportunity to offer ideas, to sit down with command staff to discuss those ideas. Three candidates Swafford, a deputy who has been with the sheriffs department since beginning as a reserve deputy in 2002, is one of two Republicans who has announced plans to run in 2020. Once he officially files, he will join fellow Republican candidate and retired Kalamazoo Public Safety Capt. Shannon Bagley on the partys August primary ballot. Fuller, who has also not officially filed for the 2020 election, according to Snow, confirmed with MLive that he is running for reelection. He is the only Democrat who has announced plans to run. Swafford made headlines after his last run for office in 2016, when Fuller opted to not swear him back in as a deputy in January 2017. Swafford was allowed to continue to work in the jail, and did not take a pay cut. Swafford and his campaign committee, in turn, sued Fuller for allegedly violating his constitutional rights under the First and 14th Amendments. Swafford alleged Fuller abused his power to retaliate against Swafford for running against him. In court testimony, Fuller said that Swaffords candidacy in 2016 was likely to undermine the department and promote disharmony among co-workers, impair discipline by supervisors and have a detrimental impact on close working relationships for which personal loyalty and confidence are necessary. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff rejected a motion from the county to rule in its favor. A week later, Swafford agreed to a $70,000 settlement with the county and was sworn back in as deputy in December 2018. Americas Sheriff endorses Swafford is hosting a campaign fundraiser with retired Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke from 5:30-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at Michelles Restaurant, 4010 Gull Road. The VIP reception costs $50. A general reception begins at 6:15 p.m. and costs $20. Clarke, sometimes referred to as Americas Sheriff, was a former regular on Fox News. The retired sheriff from Wisconsin is a registered Democrat, who claims on his website there is no Democrat or Republican way to be a sheriff. The enemy is not the opposing party; the enemy is the criminal. Clarke, who confirmed he is endorsing Swafford in the Kalamazoo County race, told MLive he is impressed with the candidates sincerity, his commitment to the Constitution and his wide range of professional experience both in and out of law enforcement. I dont take endorsements very lightly but I have a good feeling here, Clarke said. I did my own independent research, and when Tom relayed the story about what happened when he lost the last election and I read a story about how the sheriff retaliated against him, I was turned off by that. It really turned my stomach. Its truly against our American ideals as it relates to democracies and elections, and it was just flat out wrong. Clarke said he has never spoken to either Fuller or Bagley and would not call either candidate a bad person. Running for political office is very difficult and I respect anyone who puts themselves out there, he said. Ultimately the decision will be up to the good people of Kalamazoo. While in town, Clarke will also appear as one of the keynote speakers in Saturdays 2020 Michigan Conservative Minority Summit, which will take place from 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at The Cathedral at Valley Family Church, 2500 Vincent Ave. in Portage. Tickets for the event cost $10. Among a long list of other speakers includes Chicago Cubs co-owner and Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Todd Ricketts, author and Black Voices For Trump advisory board member Dr. Linda Lee Tarver, Ethnic Vice Chair of the Michigan GOP Terris Todd and Detroit radio personality and co-chair of the 2016 Trump-Pence campaign team John Akouri. Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine say the immune system might contribute to the tumor heterogeneity seen in liver cancer that can affect the rate of cancer growth. Image Credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock.com Liver tumors are often complex in their make-up, containing a highly diverse or heterogenous set of cells that can influence the rate at which cancer grows. Mount Sinai researchers report that this heterogeneity, whether it is within the same tumor or between different regions of the same tumor nodule, occurs in about one-third of patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) - the most prevalent form of liver cancer - and that some of these tumors hijack various gene networks to aid their rapid growth. The molecular heterogeneity of tumors presents a challenge to improving outcomes for liver cancer patients, since it contributes to drug resistance and tumor relapse following therapy. There is, therefore, an urgent need to understand the composition and function of tumor heterogeneity. Mount Sinai researchers collaborated with other medical centers worldwide To elucidate the mechanisms that promote tumor progression in individual patients, the team collaborated with other medical facilities around the world to conduct an integrated molecular analysis of gene expression, immune system activities, and DNA mutations from multiple different regions of the same tumor nodule among 14 liver cancer patients. This is the first time that researchers have used single-cell RNA sequencing in multiple regions of the same tumor nodule, and the study is among the first to examine how the immune system contributes to the evolution of liver cancer. Tumors are a complex ecosystem, and we're developing for the first time a blueprint of the different ways they can evolve in patients with liver cancer by interacting with the immune system," Augusto Villanueva, Assistant Professor in the Liver Cancer Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai. "By better understanding how tumors progress, we're learning more about how they adapt to pharmacological pressures, and how they can develop mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapies. This greater awareness will hopefully lead to the identification of biomarkers that can predict which patients will be responsive to treatment." Clinical implications associated with tumor heterogeneity The researchers identified various clinical implications associated with the tumor heterogeneity, one of which was that a liver tumor can potentially be mischaracterized with the use of just a single biopsy. Although some tumors are homogeneous in their genetic makeup and immune cell infiltration, others are highly heterogeneous: "This means that a biopsy from the same tumor could yield different information depending on where it was taken, and could thus affect clinical decision-making for the patient, explains Villanueva. Therefore the teams efforts to learn how tumors evolve and the different trajectories they can take, is so important to future cancer research, as well as to effectively treating the disease, he adds. Developments in liver cancer research As immunotherapy approaches continue to revolutionize cancer research, one particularly promising area is liver cancer, the incidence of which is quickly increasing in the US and is now reaching 33,000 new cases annually. Two-phase 2 clinical trials testing the effects of PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (which help the immune system recognize and target cancerous cells) have achieved such promising treatment responses that the FDA has granted accelerated approval status for the inhibitors as a second-line treatment for advanced HCC. Furthermore, a more recent phase 3 clinical trial combining a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor with an antiangiogenic, improved patient survival more than the current first-line standard of care. "Our work is particularly relevant However, only an estimated one-third of patients with HCC are thought to have a favorable treatment response to this type of treatment, which is not an uncommon outcome when immunotherapies are used. "The immune system imposes significant constraints on liver cancer evolution, and by investigating the interaction of immune cells and cancer cells at the molecular level we're trying to predict or anticipate mechanisms of tumor resistance," explains lead author Bojan Losic. "Our work is particularly relevant considering the remarkable success of immune checkpoint inhibitors in some heterogeneous solid tumors." Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg participates during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Buttigieg Pushes Plan To Make College Free for MostBut Not the Rich South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg stood by his plan to make some colleges free for most Americans, but not the richest ones. Asked why hed block out rich people from free college when they can access public libraries and other public services, Buttigieg said during the debate on Tuesday night: Its simple. We expect and hope for everyone to get through 12th grade. Its not the same for college. I dont want cost ever to be a barrier to somebody seeking to attend college, and under my plan, it wont be. Matter of fact, for the first 80 percent of Americans by income, it is freeat public colleges. But if youre in that top income bracket, dont get me wrong, I still wish you well, I hope you succeed when you go to collegeI just need you to go ahead and pay that tuition, he added. There is a real choice about what we do with every single tax dollar that we raise. And we need to be using that to support everybody, whether you go to college or not. He added later: We gotta be making sure that we target the tax dollars where they will make the biggest difference, he said. And I dont think subsidizing the children of millionaires and billionaires to pay absolutely zero in tuition at public colleges is the best use of scarce taxpayer dollars. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke next and called for a tax on the rich. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), left, speaks as former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) We need a wealth tax in America. We need to ask people with fortunes above $50 million to pay more, she said. What we really need to talk about is the bigger economic picture here, she said. Warrens plans include universal childcare and Medicare for All, partially funded by a broad wealth tax. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer also said he supports a wealth tax. Buttigiegs plan (pdf) that includes college, An Economic Agenda for American Families: Empowering Working and Middle-Class Americans to Thrive, calls for about $1 trillion in new federal spending in housing and child care, as well as spending $500 billion on lowering costs for college. College costs squeeze families and stifle our futureputting the brakes on new industries, businesses, or scientific discoveries that could accelerate economic growth. Pete will invest $500 billion to make college affordable for working and middle-class families so that 80 percent of families of public college students that earn up to $100,000 will not pay any public college tuition, the plan summary states. Larger Pell Grants for students at public colleges will help students from low-income backgrounds graduate completely debt-free. A Buttigieg administration will also make $50 billion in new investments in HBCUs and MSIs to help students of color thrive. The plan calls for giving reduced tuition fees to the next 10 percent of families, who earn $100,000 to $150,000. Other contenders have called for a college education to be fee-free, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Warren, whose plan includes eliminating tuition and fees at all two-year and four-year public universities. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running for re-election. A Democrat, Shapiro said Wednesday morning he is seeking a second four-year term. He announced his bid for re-election via social media. Four years ago, I asked for your support when I announced my decision to run for Attorney General, Shapiro wrote. I said wed take on the big fights, defend the rule of law, and stand up to special interests trying to take advantage of Pennsylvanians. And together, weve done just that. Shapiro, a former Montgomery County commissioner and state lawmaker, was elected in 2016, defeating Republican John Rafferty. Shapiro gained nationwide attention for the investigation of clergy sexual abuse of children in Pennsylvania dioceses. A scathing grand jury investigation found 300 members of the clergy sexually abused more than 1,000 children. After much debate in Harrisburg, lawmakers approved changes to state law eliminating the statute of limitations for criminal cases of child sexual abuse and raising the age for civil suits. The Pennsylvania investigation spurred criminal charges and new laws in other states. In addition, Shapiro cited his work addressing the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania. Shapiro has sued drug manufacturers, accusing them of making enormous profits of addictions. He also has touted his work to fight public corruption and has charged several elected officials with breaking the law. Last month, his office charged then-Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Philadelphia Democrat, with theft and perjury. She resigned her office last month. Shapiro has filed several suits against the Trump administration, including actions over family separations at the border and reproductive rights. Shapiro sued the Trump administration over rules that allow more employers to opt out of providing women with birth control under their insurance plans. A federal judge blocked the administration from enforcing the rule. In his message announcing his run for a second term, Shapiro wrote, My guiding principles havent changed: as the peoples AG, Ill take on anyone who infringes on the rights or well-being of the people of our Commonwealth, without fear or favor. Pittsburgh lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general. She announced her run in November. Shapiros bid for a second term isnt a surprise. Political analysts have speculated Shapiro may run for governor at some point. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who began his second term last year, cant seek re-election. Pennsylvania governors are limited to two terms. Shapiro lives in Montgomery County with his wife and their four children. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. A Los Angeles police detective said that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow officer and that her supervisors ignored her reports of physical abuse and blackmail threats, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Det. Ysabel Villegas, who has been with the LAPD for 30 years, first described allegations of a violent relationship with Officer Daniel Reedy when she sought a restraining order against him in January. Villegas had previously accused Reedy of beating her on multiple occasions and threatening to distribute sexually explicit images of her if she tried to end their relationship, court records show. In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Villegas alleges that Reedy assaulted, abused and blackmailed her, creating a hostile work environment, and that the LAPD failed to protect her from his actions. The lawsuit also directly accuses Reedy of sexually assaulting Villegas in a Pomona motel room in July 2017. Advertisement Detective Villegas told Officer Reedy at the motel that she did not want to have sex with him, the lawsuit says. Nevertheless, Officer Reedy proceeded to rape her. Villegas alleged Wednesday that she had been coerced into engaging in a sexual act because of Reedys threat to reveal the explicit photos publicly. Reedy is the subject of an investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office and has been placed on administrative leave by the LAPD. In January, a judge granted Villegas request for a restraining order that barred Reedy from contacting her or owning firearms. The order will remain in effect for five years. Calls to Reedys home and the offices of his last known attorney were not returned Wednesday. A spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorneys office declined to comment. In a statement, LAPD spokesman Josh Rubenstein said the department immediately initiated an administrative investigation into this matter after Villegas first applied for a restraining order in November 2018. Villegas and Reedy, who was last assigned to the Los Angeles Police Departments Central Division, began dating in 2013, according to the lawsuit. The relationship turned bitter in 2016, when Reedy became jealous and abusive, Villegas alleges. At some point, Reedy took explicit photos of Villegas without her consent, according to the lawsuit and a separate application for a restraining order. With these photos, he emotionally terrorized me. He controlled and manipulated me, she said during a Wednesday news conference. Villegas reported Reedys behavior to several senior LAPD officers including her supervisor in the Robbery-Homicide Division as well as her husband, former Assistant Chief Jorge Villegas who then violated the law and LAPD policy by failing to report Officer Reedy, the lawsuit says. Ysabel Villegas said Wednesday that she felt her LAPD family has turned its back on me. Jorge Villegas resigned in late 2018, not long after an undercover surveillance unit caught him engaging in sexual activity with a subordinate female officer in a parking lot, sources previously told The Times. He has declined repeated requests for comment. The couple had filed for divorce in 2009 but ultimately decided to stay together due to family obligations, though both agreed they were free to pursue other relationships, according to the lawsuit. Ysabel Villegas accused Reedy of physically assaulting her at least three times from 2016 to 2018, according to court documents. In the most recent incident, she accused Reedy of punching her at the Continental diner in Glendora. The Glendora Police Department presented a case involving Reedy to the district attorneys office, a spokeswoman told The Times this year. When Villegas attempted to end the relationship in 2017, Reedy began threatening to show the explicit photographs to her children and husband, according to the lawsuit. He also sent her profanity-laced text messages that included demands for sex. Jorge Villegas eventually received the images in a text message from Reedy, and the photos later circulated throughout the LAPD, the lawsuit said. An LAPD spokesman declined to comment on an internal investigation into the spread of the photos because it was a personnel matter. It remains unclear how many officers received or transmitted the images. A spokesman for the district attorneys office said Wednesday that Reedys case remained under review. A law enforcement official, who requested anonymity to discuss the case candidly, told The Times that a search warrant for Reedys home and electronic devices was served in January. Ysabel Villegas attorney, Lisa Bloom, has said that Reedys alleged distribution of the photos could violate Californias revenge porn law. Under the 2013 law, it is a crime for someone to intentionally disseminate explicit photos without the other persons consent while knowing that the images will cause emotional distress. Villegas lawsuit is the latest in a series of recent legal actions involving sexual harassment allegations within the states largest police agency. Capt. Lillian Carranza filed a sexual harassment lawsuit this year alleging that some officers shared the explicit images of Villegas but falsely claimed that Carranza was the woman in the photographs. In the lawsuit, Carranza said Deputy Chief Debra McCarthy, who oversees internal affairs, knew of the situation since at least November 2018 but failed to do anything about it. McCarthy has not responded to requests for comment. The city also had to pay out $1.8 million last year to settle a lawsuit stemming from allegations that an internal affairs lieutenant ordered officers to conduct surveillance on a female subordinate who refused his sexual advances. How can we expect the LAPD to stand up for women victims when they cant stand up for one of their own? Bloom said Wednesday. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California. Deborah James, the BBC podcast presenter who revealed this week that she has been decared free of her incurable stage four bowel cancer, has shared how deeply every scan affected her and her family. The mother-of-two, 38, from London, who was diagnosed at the age of 35 in 2016, took to Instagram to thank her 91,000 followers for their support and to talk about how she dealt with the turmoil of her regular scan results. On Tuesday the former deputy head, who presents the Radio 5 Live podcast 'You, me and the Big C' and recently returned from a holiday in Mauritius, said her most recent scans showed 'no evidence of cancer in my body'. Speaking about her cancer-free diagnosis today, Deborah admitted she was now 'in a place she never thought she would be'. Scroll down for video Deborah James, the BBC podcast presenter who revealed this week that she has been decared free of her incurable stage four bowel cancer, has shared how deeply every scan affected her and her family And sharing a picture from the Royal Marsden hospital in Chelsea today, she wrote: 'Thank you! I'm blown away and humbled by your support and your messages. I feel truly thankful to be able to share the highs and the lows of 'living with cancer' with you.' She continued: 'Today this is what being 'NED' having (No EVIDENCE of Disease) looks like!'. Ploughing on. Business at usual! Back on treatment - no rest for the wicked and all that. 'On paper I'm in a great place. In reality I'm scared, waiting for the floor to be whipped, wondering how long it will last. Not wanting to let anyone down. 'Knowing it will rear it's ugly head again one day? Surely it will. Statistically it will. I'm using every ounce of will power to get me to treatment (cue panic attack again today!). But I'm hopeful. And grateful. So onwards and upwards, giving thanks.' The mother-of-two, 38, who was diagnosed at the age of 35 in 2016, took to Instagram to thank her 91,000 followers for their support and to talk about how she dealt with the turmoil of her regular scan results Speaking about her cancer-free diagnosis today, Deborah admitted she was now 'in a place she never thought she would be' Her post came after she told The Sun how every scan over the past three years left her a 'quivering mess'. Describing 'scanxiety' as an 'all-consuming fear that comes in four stages', she wrote: 'It's enough to turn even the strongest of person into a quivering mess. ''Scanxiety' reverberates through my family - my husband, kids, parents, siblings and friends are all affected too.' 'After escaping the real world for a holiday over New Year, I arrived home this week and almost immediately 'scanxiety' hit.' Describing her cancer-free diagnosis this week, she continued: 'It came as a shock, it's a place I never thought I would get to and one that I hope gives others hope.' Presenter of BBC Radio 5 Live podcast 'You, me and the Big C' Deborah James revealed yesterday that there is currently 'no evidence of cancer' in her body. It's three years since she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer at the age of 35 The emotional Instagram post made by James to her 90,000 followers earlier this week The star vowed to take her continued treatment 'one day at a time' On Tuesday, in an emotional post to her 90,000 Instagram followers, she said that after '10 operations, too many scans, a lot of chemo, some fancy drugs, lots of tears' she was 'still standing'. Posting a defiant photo of herself on a beach on the Indian Ocean island, Deborah, who writes under the name 'bowel babe', wrote a long post detailing her journey with the disease and calling the recent news 'bonkers' but vowing to be 'realistic', saying she would be back to treatment tomorrow. She wrote: 'Ok Cancer - you chose the wrong girl. 3 Years on, 10 operations, too many scans, a lot of chemo, some fancy drugs, lots of tears...I'm still standing - and you (according to my most recent scans!) are still sleeping!' She added: 'In fact, we have cut you out, burnt you, zapped you, ablated you, used radiotherapy, used targeted therapy, used every tool in the book and right now in fact according to my team we are 'rewriting the text book!''. The former deputy headteacher was training to be a headteacher when she was first diagnosed with the condition after feeling lethargic and passing blood in her stools. Deborah presented Radio Five Live podcast 'You, me and the Big C' - with late co-presenter Racheal Bland, who passed away in September 2018, and Lauren Mahon. James pictured with her husband and two children, Hugo, centre left, and Eloise, centre right The mother-of-two pictured with her two children, Eloise, far left, and Hugo, right, on the steps of the Royal Marsden hospital THE SYMPTOMS OF BOWEL CANCER, WHICH DEVELOPS FROM POLYPS IN THE COLON AND RECTUM Bowel, or colorectal, cancer affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum. Such tumours usually develop from pre-cancerous growths, called polyps. Symptoms include: Bleeding from the bottom Blood in stools A change in bowel habits lasting at least three weeks Unexplained weight loss Extreme, unexplained tiredness Abdominal pain Most cases have no clear cause, however, people are more at risk if they: Are over 50 Have a family history of the condition Have a personal history of polyps in their bowel Suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease Lead an unhealthy lifestyle Treatment usually involves surgery, and chemo- and radiotherapy. More than nine out of 10 people with stage one bowel cancer survive five years or more after their diagnosis. This drops significantly if it is diagnosed in later stages. According to Bowel Cancer UK figures, more than 41,200 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK. It affects around 40 per 100,000 adults per year in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute. Advertisement London: When accomplished, glamorous American actor Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, she was hailed as a breath of fresh air for Britain's fusty royal family. That honeymoon didn't last. Now the couple wants independence, saying the pressure of life as full-time royals is unbearable. And a debate is raging: Did racism drive Meghan away? Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, leave after visiting Canada House in London. Credit:AP When Prince Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne, began dating the Suits actor daughter of a white father and African-American mother the media called it a sign that Britain had entered a "post-racial" era in which skin colour and background no longer mattered, even to the royal family. UK Labour Party lawmaker Clive Lewis, who like Meghan has biracial heritage, says the royal rift shows that Britain still has a problem with "structural racism". A Delhi court Wednesday fixed January 18 for pronouncing judgement in the sensational 2013 case of gang rape of a five-year-old girl in east Delhi. Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra deferred the verdict which was likely to be pronounced today. On April 15, 2013, a five year old was allegedly raped in east Delhi and some objects were shoved in her private parts. Accused Manoj Shah and Pradeep, both lodged in judicial custody, had allegedly fled after raping the minor, believing her to be dead. Both were later arrested by Delhi police from Bihar in 2013. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As he is about the face an impeachment trial, US President Donald Trump will be able to tout a trade deal with China AFP/Nicholas Kamm Although tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of two-way trade will remain in place, likely at least until after President Donald Trump faces reelection in November, some of the uncertainty will go away. And just as he is about to face an impeachment trial in the US Senate, Trump will be able to crow about a victory with his "phase one" agreement that includes pledges from China to beef up purchases of American crops and products, at least in the short term. That has boosted stock markets worldwide in recent days, as it takes the threat of new tariffs off the table for now. "He's delivering on all his promises, and he is building a great economy for American companies and American workers," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late Tuesday on the eve of the signing. "I think phase one is an enormous step in the right direction," he said in an interview on the Fox Business network. Timeline of US-China trade war AFP/Maryam EL HAMOUCHI However, the most difficult issues remain to be dealt with in "phase two" negotiations, including massive subsidies for state industry and forced technology transfer. And even the achievements in the deal take the relationship back to where it was before Trump took office, restoring elements he scrapped. WHITHER TARIFFS? "The US-China phase-one deal is essentially a trade truce, with large state-directed purchases attached," economist Mary Lovely said in an analysis. "The truce is good news for the US and the world economy." Still, the trade expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, cautioned that "we will continue to see the impact of this in slower investment and higher business costs". US officials have said they will release details of the agreement set to be signed at a White House ceremony on Wednesday. Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are slated to sign the agreement at 11.30am EST (12.30am on Thursday in Singapore). After announcing the deal Dec 13, the US canceled a damaging round of new tariffs that were due to kick in Dec 15, and promised to slash in half the 15 per cent tariffs on US$120 billion imposed Sep 1, on consumer goods like clothing. Mnuchin dismissed a Bloomberg report that the initial agreement could include provisions to roll back more tariffs on China after the election. "The tariffs will stay in place until there is a phase two. If the president gets phase two quickly, he will consider releasing tariffs. If not, there won't be any tariff relief," Mnuchin said on Bloomberg TV. "It has nothing to do with the election or anything else." WHAT'S IN A DEAL? Washington said Beijing agreed to import, over two years, US$200 billion of US products above the levels in 2017, before Trump launched his offensive. Trump has repeatedly touted the trade pact as a boon for American farmers, saying China will buy US$40 to US$50 billion in agricultural goods. US farmers were hit hard by the tariff war - notably on soybeans which saw exports to China plunge to just US$3 billion from more than US$12 billion in 2017. The Trump administration paid out US$28 billion in aid to farmers in the last two years. But many economists question whether they have the capacity to meet that demand. And Lovely raised a question about the wisdom on relying so heavily on the Chinese market. "It also means Chinese retaliation could be reinstated, dampening farmers' willingness to invest to meet the very hard export targets in the deal." US and Chinese officials say the agreement includes protections for intellectual property, and addresses financial services and foreign exchange while including a provision for dispute resolution, which Mnuchin said will be binding for the first time. Trump in August formally accused China of manipulating its currency to gain an advantage in trade and offset the impact of the tariffs. The label was removed earlier this week. The deal also restores a twice-yearly dialogue process that previous administrations conducted regularly but that Trump scrapped. "My understanding is that the meeting -- if it happens -- the meeting was requested by the Pakistan mission and the Secretary General is always happy to meet visiting foreign ministers," Dujarric said on Tuesday. He plans to first stop in New York and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said a meeting between them was likely. Guterres, who was in Portugal for the Lisbon Green Capital initiative and other meetings, is travelling back to New York and the visit will depend on him and Qureshi synchronising their schedules. A neighbour of Iran, Pakistan is trying to insert itself Teheran-Washington confrontation and take on a mediating role. Qureshi had met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran on Sunday and Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud on Monday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said in September after a meeting with US President Donald Trump that he had been asked to mediate to bring down the tension. However, there was no confirmation of the request by the US. Tensions between Washington and Teheran neared a flashpoint this month after Iranian Major General Qassim Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, was killed in a US missile strike in Iraq and Iran retaliated with rocket attacks on bases in Iraq where US troops are stationed. However, both sides drew back from the brink and have indicated that there would be no further escalation for the time being. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) She plays an aspiring fashion stylist on her Black-ish spin-off, Grown-ish. And it looks like Yara Shahidi is just as interested in style off screen as she stepped out in New York City on Wednesday evening in a striped dress and slacks. The 19-year-old actress paired the look with a warm white overcoat. Winning look: Yara Shahidi, 19, stunned in stripes as she headed to her Daily Show appearance Wednesday evening in New York City Yara's striking look featured a gray Adeam dress with thin blue and white stripes. Her collar and sleeves contrasted with gray and white stripes, and she had a belt cinched around her waist to highlight her hourglass figure. The Sun Is Also A Star actress had on a matching pair of gray striped slacks, and she added some flair with a pair of pointy silver Brian Atwood heels. She stayed warm on the chilly evening with a thick white quilted coat that she wore draped over her shoulders. Business style: Yara's striking look featured a gray Adeam dress with thin blue and white stripes Mix and match: Her collar and sleeves contrasted with gray and white stripes, and she had a belt cinched around her waist to highlight her hourglass figure Shining shoes: The Sun Is Also A Star actress had on a matching pair of gray striped slacks, and she added some flair with a pair of pointy silver Brian Atwood heels Chilly: She stayed warm on the chilly evening with a thick white quilted coat that she wore draped over her shoulders The business-ready look was a far cry from the more vibrant floral jacket she rocked earlier in the day. Her bold oversize floral-print coat had a prominent collar and was covered in large daisies. Yara, who is to promoting the third season of Grown-ish, kept her insulated coat button-up as she braved the freezing cold temperatures. She teamed the look with a white top and a pair of jeans underneath her statement piece. The actress matched the color of the pollen in the flower's center with a pair of yellow $620 Malone Souliers heels to complete her look. Flower power! Yara was all about flower power when she stepped out for her press day in a bold insulated flower printed coat Warm and cozy! Yara kept her insulated coat button-up as she braved the freezing cold temperatures Casual underneath: She teamed the look with a white top and a pair of jeans underneath her statement piece Earlier in the day Yara was spotted in an equally stylish look for her appearance on Good Morning America. The teenager opted for a baby blue ensemble. Yara opted for a thick structured shirt with a pair of long matching shorts that reached to just above her knees. Stellar look! Yara stunned in a baby blue combo for her appearance on Good Morning American on Wednesday morning Matching matching! Yara opted for a thick structured shirt with a pair of long matching shorts that reached to just above her knees She added some extra warmth with an overcoat of the same color draped over her shoulders. The actress accessorized with a tie that was tucked into her shorts. Yara completed her look with knee-high boots of a grey color and styled her dark hair out naturally. Unique style: The actress accessorized with a tie that was tucked into her shorts Braving the cold: She added some extra warmth with an overcoat of the same color draped over her shoulders The model sported a glowing complexion with blushed cheeks, simple eye and nude glossy lip. Yara first gained recognition for her starring role as the oldest daughter Zoey Johnson on the sitcom Black-ish (2014-present). That led to the spin-off series Grown-ish, which follows her character as she goes to college and begins her adult life. Stellar look: Yara completed her look with knee-high boots of a grey color and styled her dark hair out naturally Keeping warm: Yara walked around with her hands in her pockets She's glowing! The model sported a glowing complexion with blushed cheeks, simple eye and nude glossy lip She's back! Season three will premiere on Thursday night with her character, Zoey, returning back from London following a fashion internship Season three will premiere on Thursday night with her character, Zoey, returning back from London following a fashion internship. And along with filming the hit ABC show, Yara herself is a real life college student. The teen is currently enrolled at Harvard University and is completing a double major degree in sociology and African-American studies. Fourth look of the day: Yara later emerged in a quirky blue suit complete with asymmetrical skirt and long train OROVILLE, Calif. - The Oroville branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will host an International Dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19 at the First Congregational Church, corner of Bird and Oak streets. Guest speaker, Nahid Chopan will be in attendance to share what it was like Growing Up in Afghanistan: Its Culture, History, and Food. Membership in AAUW is open to individuals who hold an associates or equivalent, a bachelors, or a higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university. The Oroville branch focuses on providing educational experiences for middle school girls. The public is invited to attend, with a cost of $20 per person. Those looking to attend, or learn more, must RSVP by Jan. 16 to Merrily Stover at ml_stover@msn.com or 533-1413. FONDA - An Amsterdam man was arrested for allegedly stealing from Target yet again, State Police said. Lisandro Garcia, 37, allegedly entered the Amsterdam department store on seven occasions to steal vacuum cleaners that have a total value of more than $5,500, police said. He was charged with felony burglary, police said. Four rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, and it responded with air strikes against facilities belonging to the enclaves ruling Hamas militant group, Trend reports citing Reuters. No casualties were reported on either side of the Israel-Gaza border. Two of the projectiles launched from Gaza were shot down by Israels Iron Dome air defence system, the military said in a statement. Israels Channel 13 television said the other two struck uninhabited areas. Sirens warning of rocket fire sounded in several Israeli communities near the Gaza frontier. Israels Magen David Adom ambulance service said no injuries or damage were reported in the first such attack in three weeks. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Gaza Strip, which Israel keeps under blockade citing security concerns over Hamas, the dominant armed movement in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military said that in response to the rocket attack, its warplanes struck several Hamas terror targets in the northern Gaza Strip, including a weapons manufacturing facility and an armed compound. Hamass armed wing usually evacuates its facilities in anticipation of Israeli retaliation after cross-border rocket strikes. A statement by the Israeli military did not accuse Hamas of launching the rockets but said that it holds the group responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip. Last month, a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon as it hosted a rally with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prompting him to seek shelter briefly before returning to the venue. No one was hurt. But simmering tensions have mostly remained calm since a two-day surge of violence in November between Israel and the armed Gaza-based faction Islamic Jihad that left 34 Palestinians dead and dozens of Israelis injured. Giuliani and Parnas having coffee Reuters The House Intelligence Committee released a slew of explosive documents on Tuesday that were related to Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas' role in President Donald Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine. One document, a handwritten note from Parnas, reads, "get [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated." Parnas' text messages with associates also indicate a shocking level of surveillance on former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. And a previously unseen letter from Giuliani to Zelensky throws a wrench into all of Trump's defenses in the impeachment inquiry. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The House Intelligence Committee released a slew of explosive documents, related to Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas' role in President Donald Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine. The documents included letters, handwritten notes, and text messages written by Parnas detailing his duties in Ukraine. Specifically, one hand-written note says, get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "to announce that the Biden case will be investigated." lev parnas note 1 House Intelligence Committee Parnas' text messages revealed constant surveillance of former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch The former ambassador testified during Trump's impeachment trial that she was abruptly recalled from her position in May, following a smear campaign. A text exchange between Parnas and former prosecutor general of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko revealed the nature of the surveillance on Yovanovitch. Lutsenko has been accused of engaging in corrupt practices and was sharply criticized by Yovanovitch, who is a world renowned anticorruption activist, for his activities. In one exchange with Parnas, he wrote, referring to Yovanovitch: "And here you can't even get rid of one [female] fool." Parnas replied: "She's not a simple fool, trust me. But she's not getting away." Story continues parnas/lutsenko texts House Intelligence Committee In another March 2019 text exchange, Parnas communicated with his associate, Robert F. Hyde, about tweets and videos accusing Yovanovitch of being anti-Trump. Hyde wrote: "Wow. Can't believe Trumo [sic] hasn't fired this bitch. I'll get right in that." Hyde later sent several texts suggesting he was surveilling Yovanovitch in Ukraine, adding, "They are willing to help if we/you would like a price." Afterward, Hyde wrote, "Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money." parnas texts House Intelligence Committee In another text message, Hyde told Parnas on March 27, 2019, "It's confirmed we have a person inside." lev parnas texts House Intelligence Committee Giuliani reached out to Zelensky as Trump's personal lawyer to discuss a private matter One particularly damning document was a letter from Giuliani to Zelensky dated May 10, 2019. In it, the former New York mayor told Zelensky, then Ukraine's president-elect, that he wanted to meet in person on May 13 and May 14. "Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States," Giuliani wrote. "This is quite common under American law because the duties and privileges of a President and a private citizen are not the same." One day before Giuliani wrote the letter, The New York Times reported that he wanted to meet with Ukrainian officials to discuss former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Specifically, he wanted the Ukrainian government to investigate Hunter Biden's involvement as a board member of the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings. "We're not meddling in an election, we're meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do," Giuliani told The Times when asked whether by going to Ukraine and pressing for the inquiry, he was inviting foreign interference in the 2020 election. Trump and Giuliani's efforts to pressure Ukraine into delivering dirt on the Bidens and Burisma make up the center of Congress' impeachment proceedings against Trump, which charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The president has said that his request for Ukraine to investigate the Bidens was linked to an interest in rooting out corruption, which is in the US's national interest. But Giuliani's newly revealed letter directly undercuts that as it specifies that he was acting in his capacity as Trump's private attorney; in other words, he was representing the president's personal political interests, and not the country's interests. Rudy Giuliani letter to Zelensky House Intelligence Committee Read the original article on Business Insider The schedule for admissions under the 25 per cent quota of the Right to Education (RTE) in the state has not been declared till now by the state education department. The schedule is usually declared in December for the next academic year. Last year as well, the declaration of the schedule was delayed till March due to which the admission process was extended till September and had four rounds. So, to avoid the delay this year, educational organisations and experts have demanded for the early announcement of the admission schedule. Since the last two years, the admission schedule is being declared in March and the process goes on till September. Parents face many difficulties in the admission process and have to wait till September and if they dont get admission through RTE, their childs entire academic year has been wasted. We have written to the state education department to immediately declare the RTE admission schedule for the academic year 2020-21, said Mukund Kirdat, education activist. Director of primary education Dinkar Temkar, who looks after RTE admissions, said, We have received a letter from some of the organisations demanding the RTE admission schedule to be declared soon. We are trying to announce the schedule by the first week of February. Last year, out of a total 1,24,530 students who were allotted seats, 76,909 completed their admission procedure after verification of documents in 9,195 schools. At least 47,621 students were unable to complete the admission and parents and education activists blamed the administration for the mismanagement. Another education expert, Ashok Ghatpande, who works in the city slum areas to help children from underprivileged families get admission through RTE, levelled allegations against elite schools. Elite schools do not want their RTE seats to be filled and they are also supported by the education department officials. From filling up forms to getting all the documents and going through the verification process, parents have to face many hurdles. Most of the applications are rejected due to simple reasons and if the schedule is declared early, the process will start early and before the schools starts in June, the admissions would be completed. Then, if someone doesnt get admission through the RTE quota, they can apply through the normal process and the childs academic year will not be wasted, Ghatpande said. The Afghan government is ready to engage in peace talks, but if that call is not answered by those fighting to subvert democracy then they will have to face the full force of the country, Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib said on Wednesday. His remarks come amid talks between the Taliban and the US-appointed peace negotiator. A direct dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban is yet to begin. Addressing the gathering at the Raisina Dialogue here, Mohib said a ceasefire is necessary to create a conducive environment for talks. Violence and terrorism have no constituencies in Afghanistan, he asserted. "Let the progress of our security forces be a call to those fighting to subvert our democracy and undermine our institutions," Mohib said. "The Afghan people and the government stand ready to engage in peace talks. But if you refuse to answer this call, prepare to face the full force of the Afghan nation," he said. His remarks come a day after former Afghan President Hamid Karzai hoped for intra-Afghan dialogue between the government and the Taliban. Describing India as a key partner, the Afghan NSA also said New Delhi has been able to recognize and share his government's vision for a secure, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. "The assistance extended by India to train our officers, provide needed military equipment, educate our youth at quality universities has been essential," he said, adding that bilateral trade has tripled since 2015. "India has assisted in helping build critical water, health and governance infrastructure. This type of creative assistance in what Afghanistan needs to move forward is not only for our benefit but for the benefit of India and the region," Mohib said. Afghanistan has learnt a lot as a nation over the past four decades in how much there is to lose from disorder, he said. "We are determined to create opportunity in the midst of uncertainty. We are now seeing the fruits of labour, particularly in areas of peace, security and regional cooperation. Peace in Afghanistan is long overdue," Mohib said. As the frontline state on war on terror, Afghanistan's success is for the global common good, he said. "Let there be no confusion about one thing, there is also a steely resolve against violence," he asserted. "Over the past few months, our brave security forces cleared many districts under the enemy, obliterated ISIS. More than 600 ISIS fighters surrendered. Communities are now returning to their former way of life," Mohib said. Talking about climate change, the Afghan NSA said it is forcing "us in how to protect and maximise our resources". In the midst of conflict, Afghanistan continues to think positively and creatively. "We continue to passionately and practically pursue peace. We continue to strengthen our democracy. We look to this year with hope," he said in his address. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US to Continue Defence Exercises with Japan, South Korea Pentagon Sputnik News 04:48 15.01.2020 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The United States will continue military exercises with Japan and South Korea as it sees the trilateral alliance vital for the stability in the Pacific challenged by North and China, US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper told reporters. "Another American priority is the complete denuclearization of North Korea. The relationship among the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea remains vital to addressing this challenge," Esper said on Tuesday, speaking at the Pentagon along with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono. "We will continue trilateral defense exercises and information sharing to bolster regional security and achieve that objective." He added that the United States sought to balance "constructive engagement" with China with the protection of American interests. "We continue to counter China's destabilizing behavior in the region, especially in the South and East Chinese Seas, and we remain opposed to unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of the Senkaku islands," Esper said. The uninhabited archipelago, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands and Japan refers to as the Senkaku Islands, has a strategic importance for its location on shipping routes, fishing grounds, and and gas fields. Last June, both China and Japan deployed military vessels to patrol near the islands. Meanwhile, in California US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met on Tuesday with his Korean and Japanese counterparts Kang Kyung-wha and Toshimitsu Motegi. According to the State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, they emphasized the importance of the US-South Korea and US-Japan alliances to security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and stressed that trilateral cooperation is essential for the future of peace in the region. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Newsfrom Japan Muscat, Oman, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq Al Said, Omani deputy prime minister and special representative for the sultan, agreed on Tuesday that their countries will cooperate to ease tensions in the Middle East. At their meeting in the Omani capital of Muscat, Abe stressed that Japan will "continue its tenacious diplomatic efforts to avoid the escalation of the situation" in the region. Asaad replied that his country appreciates the Japanese diplomatic efforts. Abe explained to the Omani official that a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force mission in the Middle East is aimed at ensuring safe navigation of vessels related to Japan. Oman highly evaluates the mission and wants to cooperate, Asaad said. Tokyo is considering establishing a supply base in Oman for the mission. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Few days before the announcement by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of 'stepping back' as 'senior members', reports have suggested that Meghan's lifestyle blog was incorporated in Delaware. According to Delaware's media outlet, state documents indicate Frim Fram Inc. which ran Duchess' website 'The Tig' was registered as a new corporation in Delaware on December 30. The former actor had founded the company in 2014 but it was shut down in 2017 before marrying Prince Harry. Read - Queen Elizabeth Wanted Harry And Meghan To Remain Full-time Royal Family Members The company was previously California-based but reportedly started to incorporated in Delaware this fall. Furthermore, international reports also state that documents have listed Meghan's business manager, Andrew Meyer as the secretary on the certificate of merger. However, the relationship of the Royal couple with Shannyn Yates remains unclear who is reportedly listed as the incorporator on the certificate of incorporation. The companies in Delaware are not required to reveal the names of their owners which is reportedly the reason why many prefer to incorporate there. The company can hire a lawyer or an agent to sign as the authorized person which allows the identities of the owners to remain a secret. Read - Queen Elizabeth II 'entirely Supportive' Of Harry, Meghan's Decision Duke and Duchess of Sussex's announcement Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced on January 9 through a post on Instagram that they want to 'step back' as 'senior members' of the royal family and work to be financially independent. The also said that they will split time between the UK and North America while 'continuing to honour' their duty to Queen Elizabeth II, the Commonwealth, and patronages. The Queen also gave a nod and brokered a deal with the couple on January 13. The decision of the Queen agreeing to the 'transition' came after the summit at Sandringham where the family had 'constructive discussions'. The Queen said in a statement said that she and the royal family are 'entirely supportive' of Prince Harry and Meghan's decision. The statement released by Buckingham Palace further states that the Queen and the family members had 'very constructive discussions', however, 'final decisions' will be reached in coming days. Read - Queen Elizabeth's Statement On Harry, Meghan's Royal Split Leaves Netizens Disappointed Read - Queen Elizabeth Wanted Harry And Meghan To Remain Full-time Royal Family Members Researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed an integrated genomic approach that potentially could help physicians predict which patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer will respond to therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are transforming the field of cancer therapeutics. However, these successes are limited by the lack of biomarkers that identify patients most likely to respond. Tumor mutational burden (TMB), which is a measure of the number of mutations carried by tumor cells, is considered an emerging biomarker of response, but TMB values are confounded by the tumor purity -- the amount of tumor versus normal cells -- of the sample analyzed. The research team, led by Valsamo Anagnostou, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of oncology, developed a novel computational approach that more accurately computes TMB. The researchers also developed an integrated model of response that combined corrected TMB with nuanced genomic features and each patient's antigen presentation ability. A description of the patent pending work is published in the inaugural issue of the journal Nature Cancer. The method also could be used to accurately estimate TMB and optimize prediction of response to immunotherapy among patients with lung cancer, colon cancer, melanoma and other solid tumors, says Anagnostou, the lead study author. "Immunotherapy is an exciting treatment modality for many tumors, but what we don't truly know is who will respond to immunotherapy and why, and if there are specific molecular features that can help predict response," Anagnostou says. Current biomarkers used to assess a patient's response to immunotherapy include a test to measure the amount of the protein PD-L1 on cancer cells and TMB. "There are more and more studies coming out that show TMB is actually not as predictive as we thought it would be," says Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology and the study's senior author. "Some tumors with a high TMB do not respond to immunotherapy, and some tumors with low TMB benefit from immunotherapy. There is an urgent need to develop integrated biomarkers that explain the nuances of the tumor-immune system crosstalk that can better inform us in terms of the clinical course of the patient." Anagnostou and colleagues initially evaluated 3,788 tumor samples (from bladder, breast, colon, head and neck, kidney and nonsmall cell lung cancers and melanomas) from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Genome Atlas database, and 1,661 tumor samples from a previously published cohort of immunotherapy-treated patients. They investigated the complexities of observed TMB estimates derived from whole exome sequencing (a technique that sequences the entire protein-coding region of genes in a genome) and targeted next-generation sequencing (a technique that sequences target regions of interest in a genome). They found a significant correlation between TMB and tumor purity -- the higher the tumor purity, the closer it is to the true TMB of the tumor, whereas the lower the tumor purity, the more likely the TMB estimate will be inaccurate. "Observed TMB is strongly affected by low tumor purity, and this simple concept is completely underestimated in the clinical setting," says Noushin Niknafs, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow and co-first author of the study. To overcome this limitation, the team developed a computational approach to estimate corrected TMB values for each tumor based on tumor purity. They simulated 20,000 tumors with various levels of TMB and sequencing coverage using information from the Cancer Genome Atlas and generated a correction factor for each simulated tumor based on its purity. "The correction factors can be summarized in a user-friendly look up table," says Anagnostou. "For example, if a tumor sample had a purity of 20% to 30%, a clinician could look at the table and see a coefficient to multiply the sample by to better achieve true TMB." The team also developed an approach to correct TMB derived from targeted sequence data, and in a reanalysis of 1,661 tumor samples treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, the researchers found that using corrected TMB estimates improved prediction of overall survival. Next, the team worked to understand additional molecular features that can play a role in patient response to immunotherapy. They performed whole exome sequencing for 104 lung tumors treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Through comprehensive analyses of sequence and structural alterations, they discovered more activating mutations in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes (receptors that are key regulators of cell processes including cell proliferation, survival and metabolism) among tumors that did not respond to immunotherapy in several cohorts of patients. In addition, they identified a predominance of smoking related mutations in patients that respond to therapy. Together, corrected TMB, RTK mutations, the mutation smoking signature and the number of germline variants of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) -- cell-surface proteins responsible for the presentation of foreign antigens -- provided the team with a much more accurate prediction of patient response to immunotherapy compared to TMB alone, even the corrected TMB. The team is continuing studies of this model with more patients who have received immunotherapy and for whom they are generating tumor sequencing data. "We expect this approach is going to be incorporated into clinical practice, and it can change the way providers make decisions about their patients," Anagnostou says. "For example, if a clinician can know with certainty that the tumor has a high tumor mutation burden, they may choose to give immunotherapy as stand-alone therapy, whereas if the tumor has a low tumor mutation burden, they may choose to give chemotherapy plus immunotherapy." ### Study coauthors are Kristen Marrone, Daniel Bruhm, James White, Jarushka Naidoo, Mara Lanis, Samuel Rosner, Joshua Reuss, Kellie Smith, Vilmos Adleff, Kristen Rodgers, Zineb Belcaid, Lamia Rhymee, Benjamin Levy, Josephine Feliciano, Christine Hann, David Ettinger, Christos Georgiades, Franco Verde, Peter Illei, Qing Kay Li, Alexander Baras, Edward Gabrielson, Malcolm Brock, Rachel Karchin, Drew Pardoll, Stephen Baylin, Julie Brahmer, Robert Scharpf and Patrick Forde of Johns Hopkins; and Karlijn Hummelink, Kim Monkhorst and Ferry Lalezari of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants CA121113, CA006973 and CA180950), the Commonwealth Foundation, the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group -- American College of Radiology Imaging Network, the MacMillan Foundation, the V Foundation, Swim Across America, the William R. Brody Faculty Scholarship, the SU2C-ACS Lung Cancer Dream Team, prIME Oncology, the SU2C-DCS International Translational Cancer Research Dream Team grant, the SU2C-LUNGevity -- American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team, the VARI-SU2C Epigenetics Dream Team grant, the Allegheny Health Network -- Johns Hopkins Research Fund, the LUNGevity Foundation, the Jim Toth Foundation, the Rising Tide Foundation and the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. Anagnostou receives research funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Velculescu is a founder of Personal Genome Diagnostics, he is a member of its scientific advisory board and board of directors, he owns Personal Genome Diagnostics stock and he has been an adviser to Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen Diagnostics and Ignyta. Other co-authors reported relationships with AstraZeneca/MedImmune, Kyowa, Corvus, Novartis, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, EMD Serono, Inivata, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Personal Genome Diagnostics, Respherea Biosciences, Calithera, Takeda, Genentech, Merrimack, GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech-Roche, Cepheid, LumaCyte, Compugen, Potenza, Aduro Biotech, Amgen, Bayer, DNAtrix, Five Prime Therapeutics, ImmuneXcite, Jounce Therapeutics, Neximmune, Pfizer, Rock Springs Capital, Sanofi and Vesuvius -- Tizona. The terms of these arrangements are managed by The Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. The 300-plus mile trip between Cleveland and Chicago could take as little as 32 minutes by Hyperloop, according to a US$1.2 million feasibility study released earlier this week. Hyperloop is the only form of high-speed transportation that is profitable and makes economic sense in the United States, maintains the 160-page study, a joint effort of Transportation Economics and Management Systems, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. TEMS has performed over 40 feasibility studies for high-speed rail in the United States, and Hyperloop is the first system to be shown as profitable from a financial standpoint, meaning it does not require government subsidies, said Alex Metcalf, president of Frederick, Maryland-based Transportation Economics and Management Systems, a consulting firm specializing in inter-city transportation. The Great Lakes corridor, through Cleveland, will need to meet the growing transportation demands heading into the coming decades, said Grace Gallucci, executive director of the Northeast Ohio agency. Hyperloop is proving to be the best choice to expand our infrastructure from an economic standpoint, she continued. Hyperloop meets the regions capacity needs and does so faster, cheaper, and more sustainably than other options currently available. High-Speed Capsules Hyperloop technology, still in the testing stages, uses a passive magnetic system and linear electric motor to propel capsules containing passengers or freight in reduced pressure tubes. Since most of the air has been removed from the tubes, aerodynamic drag is reduced dramatically. Friction is reduced further by the magnetic levitation system, which lifts the capsule above its guideway. Low air resistance and friction allow the capsules to gain very high speeds of more than 700 miles per hour on straightaways in the system. An added bonus of the technology is that much of the energy spent launching capsules can be recovered electrically as the vehicle slows down. Need for Gumption In the feasibility study, researchers describe three possible routes the Cleveland to Chicago Hyperloop line could take. Theres an optimal straight line route thats the shortest between the two cities and travels from Youngstown, Ohio, and through Toledo and South Bend, Indiana. That trip would take 32 minutes. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The planners also identified an alternative toll road route. Because its following the path of the old Ohio and Indiana turnpikes, there are more curves in that route than in the others the researchers devised. That adds time to the trip. From Youngstown to Chicago would be 68 minutes. A third hybrid route is designed to make the greatest use of existing straight rail and highway alignments to reduce the need for easements. The Youngstown to Chicago trip using the hybrid route would be 50 minutes. The biggest challenge in doing a new transportation facility of any kind is acquiring the right of way, said Rick Harnish, executive director of the High Speed Rail Alliance, a high-speed train advocacy group in Chicago. Youve got to have some real gumption to get that right-of-way, he told TechNewsWorld. When we built the interstate highway system, we decided as a nation it was worth destroying some neighborhoods and carrying guys out of their houses with shotguns in their hands because it was good for the public, Harnish continued. Just changing the technology doesnt change that. New Tech Kinks One major challenge Hyperloop proponents will face is proving the technology does what they say it will do. Any new technology is going to have kinks, said Joseph P. Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University in Chicago. Having a good demonstration of the technologys workability is an important priority, he told TechNewsWorld. This project could serve as a test case for investors, since it covers flat terrain and has an enthusiastic partner in Cleveland to see it through to completion, Schwieterman said. Getting regulatory approval to enable the system to handle passengers also could face roadblocks. A D V E R T I S E M E N T That could happen quickly, or it could drag out, Schwieterman said. Its simply impossible to predict. Safer Than Trains In a number of ways, Hyperloop systems are safer than existing transportation systems, the researchers pointed out in their feasibility study. For example, the system will be highly automated, which will remove the possibility of human error. The system also will be fully enclosed, which will eliminate highway crossings, weather, and trespassers wandering in front of trains all major causes of deaths and injuries on rail lines. However, the researchers acknowledged there are some safety issues that will need to be addressed. For instance, the system must comply with fire codes that allow for the evacuation of passengers and safe access to the system by firefighters, police and other first responders. Theres also the unsettling possibility of capsules crashing into each other at hundreds of miles per hour. Hyperloop proponents are going to have to explain and demonstrate how such events can be prevented or at least mitigated if they occur. Point-to-Point Solution Although the study envisions the Hyperloop stopping at cities along its route and having a terminal in Chicago, Carlo Ratti, director of the Senseable City Lab at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, sees the system as, at best, a point-to-point transportation solution. Its going to be much more difficult for Hyperloop to get into the center of cities because you need to build a new exchange, while if you use a high-speed train, you can use existing stations, he told TechNewsWorld. Those exchanges are usually quite huge, and the cost to build one in the center of Chicago could be prohibitive, Ratti added. Hyperloop is similar to air travel, he said. You leave the city, go to a Hyperloop exchange, get in a capsule, travel to another Hyperloop terminus, then proceed by another transportation mode car, bus, subway to your destination city. Is difficult to scale the technology because to scale a network you need switches, Ratti said, and its super difficult to have switches with Hyperloop. Embarrassing Train Trip The trip between Chicago and Cleveland is painful, whether youre flying or driving. The train trip is an embarrassment, observed High Speed Rail Alliances Harnish. Travel is incredibly important to a modern economy. Modern economies have cites tied together like this in two hours or less, with very frequent service, he continued. If we want to maintain competitiveness worldwide, its urgent that we figure this out. Burma Myanmar Invites Citizens Abroad to Participate in Nation-Building Members of the Myanmar diaspora outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Dec. 11, 2019. / Kyaw Phyo Tha / The Irrawaddy YANGONThe Myanmar government has officially invited citizens and former citizens abroad to participate in state-building affairs including development, the creation of a federal Union and peacebuilding, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry said on Monday that efficient management of the states human resources, both domestically and abroad, is central to achieving peace and development. The ministry has distributed forms to citizens and former citizens abroad and invited them to indicate which areas of state-building they would be interested in supporting, if any. State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also invited citizens and former citizens abroad to use their skills to support state-building. During her trips overseas, Myanmar citizens abroad also proposed to participate in the state-building process, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During and after the 1988 democratic uprising in Myanmar, several thousand people fled to areas controlled by ethnic armed groups, as well as to Thailand, while thousands of others were imprisoned for years. Many who fled Myanmar in the 1988 uprising later became citizens of Western countries, some graduating from universities abroad. But the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raises questions, according to human rights advocate Aung Myo Min, Executive director of Equality Myanmar, as there are no policies to guarantee that returnees would be accepted as citizens. Aung Myo Min left Myanmar after the 88 uprising and stayed in Thailand for 22 years before moving to the Czech Republic and becoming a citizen. He returned to Myanmar in 2013. In returning and participating in nation-building, there are many difficulties regarding visas and regaining citizenship, Aung Myo Min told The Irrawaddy. He said that he had to wait for about six years for the Myanmar government to re-grant him citizenship. He also said he worries about whether officials in the government with military backgrounds will be willing to accept returnees who have a history of political activity and allow them to participate in state-building efforts. Daw Nyein Nyein Myint, deputy director of the Consular Division of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the department will wait to receive the responses of citizens abroad and then plan for their involvement, despite the lack of proper policies for returnees. If they come back to Myanmar voluntarily, we willingly remove limitations on affairs such as visas and citizenship, said Daw Nyein Nyein Myint. After the 2010 election, then-President U Thein Sein invited many political exiles abroad to return and allowed them to do so by removing their names from blacklists and granting amnesty to many, including many would-be political prisoners. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Agrees to UN Security Council Visit; Where, When to be Decided Myanmar Govt Faces Accusations of Whitewashing Army War Crimes Myanmar Signs Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons Gettyimagesbank By Anna J. Park Individual investors should place their money in fixed-income securities, such as high-yield bonds and high dividend yield stocks to become a winner in the volatile 2020 financial market, analysts said Wednesday. They expect that a few key words, such as income and growth, will set the tone in both global and domestic financial markets this year. Samsung Securities has chosen "income and growth" as the core of their investment strategies for 2020 in order to overcome the current low-growth, low interest-rates phase of the global economy. "'Income' refers to an asset that creates regular cash flow just by owning it like high interest-rate bonds, alternative investment products or stocks with high dividend yields, as opposed to assets like low-interest savings," Samsung Securities researcher Kim Seong-bong explained to The Korea Times. "'Growth' means an asset that can log a systemic growth over time, in spite of a low-growth environment," he added. In particular, when it comes to the second keyword 'growth,' the securities firm stressed that only a well-selected list of assets reflecting the current service-oriented economy could yield growing returns to investors. Samsung Securities suggests that investors stick to the U.S. and Chinese markets as the two essential markets that can continue to grow this year, recommending stocks from the markets like Amazon, Nike, Google, Tesla, Hengrui Medicine and Citic. "We are now standing at a phase where low interest-rates will be sustained for a long time, along with continuous low growth. As any sort of growth will be rarer in the market, investors' preference over assets that can systemically grow is expected to be even greater," Kim said. He advised individual investors to proactively secure assets with fixed-income flows and high growth potential. Shin Hwan-jong, head of the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) Research Center at NH Investment & Securities, said that investors should closely watch and follow the ongoing events from the perspective of a "political economy" in 2020. "These past few years could only be understood with an extended perspective of merging both politics and the economy, rather than simply focusing on the economic side," Shin told The Korea Times. "There are many events now that cannot be explained solely by economic tools. Current events like the U.S. presidential election to be held later this year, ongoing trade tensions with China and crisis in the Middle East need the tool of political economy for a deeper understanding. Thus we are required to expand our analysis tools to come up with a more accurate yearly outlook," he explained. Shin said that individual investors need to deepen their understanding of a so-called "comparative political economy" politics, humanities, international relations on top of economic analysis to fully grasp what's going on out there, and to devise more careful investment strategies. It seems Felicity Huffman's daughters won't be punished for their parents' mistakes. Huffman's 19-year-old daughter, Sophia Macy, has nabbed a leading role in an upcoming episode of Jordan Peele's "Twilight Zone" series on CBS. The episode, "Among the Untrodden," will air during the show's second season, but the specific release date has not yet been announced. The news comes just shy of three months after her mom was released from prison after pleading guilty in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme. Sophia graduated from high school in June, a few months after the initial story broke but before her mom's trial and sentencing. It has not been confirmed whether she's currently enrolled in any university program. Above: Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy and their daughters in January 2019. Credit: Getty The fraud at the center of the criminal allegations was related to Sophia's SAT test: Huffman admitted in court that she paid $15,000 in order to boost Sophia's score by an estimated 400 points. "Shameless" actor William H. Macy, her husband and Sophia's father, was not charged as there was no clear evidence of illicit activity on his end. It's unclear how acutely aware he was of the plan, but Sophia allegedly had no idea about the scheme. Sophia also has a younger sister, 17-year-old Georgia, who plans to attend Vassar College next year, according to her Instagram bio. Back in August, Georgia posted a photo tribute to her sister for her birthday, writing that her older sibling is a "kind and generous" person: "You forgive and you love without expectation," she wrote. "No matter what I always know that you have my back." A last-ditch plea to the Queensland government to stop Clive Palmer building a coal mine at a nature reserve is likely to go unanswered. Mr Palmer's Waratah Coal company has federal and state government approval to extract 40 million tonnes of thermal coal each year from a nature reserve in central Queensland. Clive Palmer unveiled plans for the mine more than a decade ago. Credit:AAP More than 2600 people have signed a petition asking the Palaszczuk government to step in and grant "one of the last few remaining forests in western Queensland" state-protected status. In 2002, the Queensland government recognised the area as a nature refuge to protect birds, including the endangered black-throated finch, reptiles and other animals. Before Donald Trumps fixer Michael Cohen paid off AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels to silence her over a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, the National Enquirer engaged in intense negotiations to buy the rights to Daniels story in what would likely have been a catch and kill operation. But American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker refused to pay a $120,000 asking price for Daniels account, according to an excerpt from a new book, published Tuesday By the Daily Beast. The tabloids editor, Dylan Howard, was well aware that the attempt to suppress Daniels story on Trumps behalf was illegal, according to the excerpt from The Fixers: The Bottom-Feeders, Crooked Lawyers, Gossipmongers, and Porn Stars Who Created the 45th President, written by investigative reporters Joe Palazzolo and Michael Rothfeld. In a previously unrevealed text message sent on election night in 2016, when it became apparent that Trump was performing much better than predicted and appeared to be on his way to victory, the Enquirers then-editor Dylan Howard wrote to a family member, At least if he wins, Ill be pardoned for electoral fraud. According to the book, the urgency of suppressing Daniels story of sex with Trump spiked after release of the Access Hollywood Tape on October 7, 2016. On the tape, Trump was heard bragging about his sexual pursuit of a married woman, and boasting that he would often grab women by the pussy without their consent, because, When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. The media frenzy (around the tape) breathed oxygen into Danielss flagging efforts to sell the story of her own Trump tryst, wrote Palazzolo and Rothfeld. Extramarital sex with a porn star, even one whod slept with Trump willingly, would still damage his fading chances. Howard negotiated with Daniels agent at the time, Gina Rodriguez, who demanded $250,000 for Daniels storyfabricating claims that Daniels had other potential purchasers lined up. Howard also talked at length with lawyer Keith Davidson, who negotiated a catch and kill with the Enquirer for former Playboy centerfold model Karen McDougal, who also said she had an affair with Trump. Eventually, Daniels price was hammered down to $120,000but when Howard ran the figure by Pecker, the AMI chief simply said that the company could not pay that amountthough AMI had paid $150,000 to acquire and suppress McDougals story at Trumps personal request, as AVN.com reported. Howard realized that Daniels would be Cohen and Trumps problem now, Palazzolo and Rothfeld write in their book. Cohen arranged to pay $130,000 for Daniels to sign a hush money agreement that prohibited her from discussing the affair with Trump. The story was suppressed through the electionuntil 2018, when Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump and Cohen to void the hush deal. Cohen was eventually charged with campaign finance violations for the Daniels payoff, and is now serving a three-year sentence in federal prison. Photo by Michael Dorausch / Wikimedia Commons Samsung and Huawei are back in the fight for the top spot, this time in the 5G market. Earlier this month Samsung announced it shipped 6.7 million phones with the next-gen connectivity, and today we received a press release that Huawei managed to surpass the milestone, reaching 6.9 million shipments of 5G smartphones in 2019. Currently, Huawei sells 6 devices with 5G under its own brand - Mate 20 X 5G, Mate 30 5G, Mate 30 Pro 5G, Mate 30 RS Porsche Design, nova 6 5G, the foldable Mate X. There are two more under the subsidiary brand Honor - the V30 and the V30 Pro. The Weibo post also claimed the latter two managed to win the title for Best Selling Phone on JD.com and Tmall in its price category. While Samsung achieved its sales across the world, including the United States, most sales Huawei accomplished in 2019 were in its domestic market where its Korean competitor is practically absent. There are some countries with 5G networks that sell phones by the Chinese company, like the United Arab Emirates, but their contribution to the milestone is minuscule, given the size of the market. Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) ("PSH") today announced that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's Public Shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"): Trading Venue: London Stock Exchange Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 15 January 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 40,126 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,554 pence 20.24 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,540 pence 20.06 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,548 pence 20.17 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 15 January 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 46,305 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 20.20 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 20.10 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 20.15 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 15 January 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 32,362 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 20.25 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 20.00 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 20.15 USD PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 27.09 USD 20.81 GBP which was calculated as of 14 January 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 205,396,557 Public Shares outstanding, or 211,060,965 Public Shares calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming that all Management Shares had been converted into Public Shares at the Relevant NAV). Excluded from the shares outstanding are 5,560,193 Public Shares held in Treasury. The prices per Public Share were calculated by Jefferies. The number of PSH Management Shares and the one special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) have not been affected. PSH also announces that it has published to its website, in accordance with the EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052, details of transactions in its own shares for the past week. Information is available at https://pershingsquareholdings.com/company-reports/other-materials/. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005872/en/ Contacts: Media Contact Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk After talks, analysts say French military strategy extension will not end violence, stress political goals must be met. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his counterparts from five Sahelian countries Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger for a critical summit to review military intervention in the region and the fight against armed groups amid a worsening security situation. Macron had called for the meeting in the southwestern city of Pau in December, complaining of a lack of clear political condemnation of anti-French feelings among the countries comprising the G5 Sahel organisation and threatening a withdrawal of 4,500 French troops stationed in the region in the wake of a series of anti-France protests. At the summit, France committed an extra 220 troops to Barkhane, its military force countering armed groups in the region. Paris also pledged to implement an intelligence-sharing agreement and integrated military command structure with the G5 nations and said it would ramp up intervention in the tri-borders region of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, where much of the violence that began plaguing the area in 2012 has taken place. But although Macron promised more support and the G5 nations expressed a desire for continued French military involvement, analysts suggest the leaders failed to address political solutions to a crisis which killed more than 4,000 people in 2019. Macron got what he wanted [in Pau], which is a clear and strong reaffirmation by the G5 Sahel countries for French military engagement in the region, said Flore Berger, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. While Macron implied [in December] that he could withdraw troops this was never a realistic option. The tendency is towards closer cooperation and more involvement. France cannot afford to leave Mali now that the situation is sharply deteriorating. Barkhane has so far produced scant results in stemming the security crisis, with attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso currently occurring on a near-daily basis. Meanwhile, in recent weeks Niger has experienced a string of big attacks on army posts, including one in Inates on December 10 that killed 71 soldiers and another in Changodar on January 9 that left 89 troops dead. Paul Melly, an analyst at Chatham House, pointed out the leaders in Pau publicly stated, for the first time, that the priority focus will be the campaign against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), an ISIL affiliate that has staged a wave of deadly attacks in recent months. But many analysts appear to agree that a continuation of Frances military strategy will not bring a swift end to the violence, stressing that political goals need to be met for a return to peace. The announcements made seem to further entrench a military strategy led by France that has been failing to provide security and stability in the region for years now, said Joe Penney, a journalist and co-founder of Sahelien.com, a news site focused on the region. Where are the efforts beyond sending more troops and giving more control to the French military? Why havent key elements of the Algiers peace agreement been implemented, almost six years later? he asked. The Algiers peace agreement, signed in the Malian capital of Bamako in 2015, was designed to reduce violence in Mali and the wider region. Alongside military intervention undertaken by France, the United Nations and G5 countries, it outlined targets for development which have not been met. Many areas of the Sahel that have seen the most fighting are severely underdeveloped. Armed groups are exploiting poverty as well as religious and ethnic divisions to recruit fighters and stoke more violence. Many analysts see this as the root cause of the crisis and were disappointed to see it is not being properly addressed in Pau. Few think what was agreed at the summit will mean anything other than maintaining the status-quo of current military intervention in the Sahel. France needed to raise the stakes and stage a spectacle to show that its troops are deployed at the request of the African governments, said Judd Devermont, director of the Africa programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Most of the other announcements a modest troop increase and a unified command structure are unlikely to change the strategic picture. Egypt arrested four employees of Turkish state agency Anadolu on Wednesday after a raid on its Cairo office at a time of rising tensions between the regional rivals, the agency said. Following the raid on Tuesday, Egyptian police searched the Cairo office through the night before formally arresting four employees: one Turk and three Egyptians. The Turk, Hilmi Balci, was in charge of finance and administrative duties for the office. Turkey summoned Egypt's charge d'affaires on Wednesday to protest the raid. "This is an act of harassment and intimidation against the Turkish press and we strongly condemn it," Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement. "We expect Egyptian authorities to immediately release (Anadolu's) employees," it added. The Turkish and Egyptian governments are fierce rivals, since Ankara strongly supported Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood administration that was overthrown by a military coup in 2013. They are on opposing sides of the Libyan conflict, where Turkey supports the government in Tripoli, which is under siege from military general Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Anadolu said police stormed its office on Tuesday evening, turning off surveillance cameras and cutting the internet. It said its arrested employees were refused access to their lawyer. "This hostile step taken by the putschist Egyptian authorities against Anadolu Agency staff members is a sign of their helplessness," said Fahrettin Altun, spokesman for the Turkish presidency. The United States, an ally of both countries, said it had seen reports of the episode. "If true, we call on the Egyptian government to release the detained journalists and allow for a free and open press in Egypt," a State Department spokesperson said. The United States has strong ties with Egypt's general turned president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, seeing him as an ally against political Islam, despite concern on his human rights record. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven shepherds from Deir ez-Zor were killed on Monday night and the Iranian militias are the main suspects writes DeirEzzor 24. A massacre that killed seven people was committed on Monday night. The victims came from Aiyash village in the western Deir ez-Zor countryside (al-Shamiyah), a Deir Ezzor 24 network correspondent said. According to local sources, the finger of blame is being pointed at the Shiite militias in the area, as the method of killing is similar to the massacre that occurred in Raqqa countryside a few days ago, but this time, the victims were subjected to a mass execution by firing squad. Assads forces are trying to pin the blame on the Islamic State and shift suspicion away from the Iranian militias. It was reported that the victims are sheep breeders, who were temporarily living in tents near to where the sheep graze. The massacre started on Monday evening when 10 masked men riding in two pick-up vehicles, dressed in military uniform, ordered the men at gunpoint to fill the two vehicles with sheep before they put them in the vehicles, took them away from the tents, and killed them. The horrific crime has left the region feeling tense and people are demanding that Assads forces find the perpetrators and hold them accountable, or leave the people to take revenge on the perpetrators, who killed the seven men. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Nowadays Irans Cybersecurity capabilities are under the microscope, experts warn about a possible infiltration of the Iranian government. Nowadays Irans Cybersecurity capabilities are under microscope, many news sites, gov. agencies and security experts warn about a possible cybersecurity infiltration from Iranian government and alert to increase cybersecurity defensive levels. Today I want to share a quick and short study based on cross correlation between MITRE ATT&CK and Malpedia about some of the main threat actors attributed to Iran. The Following sections describe the TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) used by some of the most influential Iranian APT groups. Each section comes with a main graph which is built by scripting and which comes without legend, so please keep in mind while reading that: the red circles represent the analyzed threat actors, the green circles represent threat actors used techniques, the blue circles represent the threat actors used Malware and the black circles represent the threat actors used tool sets. OilRig According to Malpedia: OilRig is an Iranian threat group operating primarily in the Middle East by targeting organizations in this region that are in a variety of different industries; however, this group has occasionally targeted organizations outside of the Middle East as well. It also appears OilRig carries out supply chain attacks, where the threat group leverages the trust relationship between organizations to attack their primary targets. The threat actor uses opensource tools such as Mimikatz and laZagne, common sysadmin toolset available on Microsoft distribution or sysinternals such as: PsExec, CertUtil, Netstat, SystemInfo, ipconfig and tasklist. Bonupdater, Helminth, Quadangent and PowRuner are some of the most sophisticated Malware attributed to OilRig and analyzed over the past few years. Techniques (green) are mainly focused in the lateral movements and in getting persistence on the victim infrastructure; few of them involved exploiting or 0days initiatives. OilRig TTP Those observations would suggest a powerful group mostly focused on staying hidden rather than getting access through advanced techniques. Indeed no 0days or usage of advanced exploits is found over the target infrastructure. If so we are facing a state-sponsored group with high capabilities in developing persistence and hidden communication channels (for example over DNS) but without a deep interest in exploiting services. This topic would rise a question: OilRig does not need advanced exploiting capabilities because it is such a simple way to get into a victim infrastructure ? For example by using: user credential leaks, social engineering toolkits, targeted phishing, and so on and so forth or is more on there to be discovered ? MuddyWater According to MITRE: MuddyWater is an Iranian threat group that has primarily targeted Middle Eastern nations, and has also targeted European and North American nations. The groups victims are mainly in the telecommunications, government (IT services), and oil sectors. Currently we have few artifacts related to MuddyWater (Muddy), indeed only Powerstats backdoor is actually attributed to it. Their attack are typically hands driven, which means they do not use automation lateral movement but they prefer to use opensource tools or sysinternal ones to deliberately move between target network rather than running massively exploits or scanners. MuddyWater TTP Once landed inside a victim machine Muddy looks for local credentials and then moves back and forward by using such a credentials directly on the network/domain controllers. According to MITRE techniques (green) MuddyWater to take an entire target-network might take few months but the accesses are quite silent and well obfuscated. Again it looks like we are facing a group which doesnt need advanced exploitation activities but rather than advanced IT knowledge in order to move between network segments and eventual proxies/nat. APT33 According to MITRE: APT33 is a suspected Iranian threat group that has carried out operations since at least 2013. The group has targeted organizations across multiple industries in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, with a particular interest in the aviation and energy sectors. Analyzing the observed TTPs we might agree that this threat actor looks very close to MuddyWater. If you take a closer look to the Muddy Graph (in the previous dedicated section) and APT33 graph (following) you will see many similarities: many tools are shared, many techniques are shared and even artifacts Powerstats (Muddy) and Powertron (APT33) share functions and a small subset of code (even if they have different code bases and differ in functionalities). We have more information about APT33 if compared to MuddyWatter, but similarities on TTPs could induce an avid reader to think that we might consider APT33 as the main threat actor while MuddyWater a specific operation of the APT33 actor. APT33 TTP But if you wonder why I decided to keep them separated on such personal and preliminary analysis you could find the answer in the reason in why they do attack. APT33 showed destruction intents by using Malware such as shamoon and stoneDrill, while Muddy mostly wants to backdooring the victims. CopyKittens According to MITRE: CopyKittens is an Iranian cyber espionage group that has been operating since at least 2013. It has targeted countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the U.S., Jordan, and Germany. The group is responsible for the campaign known as Operation Wilted Tulip. CopyKittens threat actor actually differ from the previous ones. First of all we see the usage of CobaltStrike, which is an autonomous exploiting system (well actually is much more, but let me simplify it). Cobalt and Empire (a post exploitation framework) taken together would allow the attacker to automate lateral movement. Which is a damn different behavior respect to previous actors. CopyKittens would make much more noise inside an attacked network and would be easier to detect if using such automation tools, but on the other hand they would be much more quick in reaching their targets and run away. CopyKittens TTP One more characteristic is the code signing. While in OilRig, MuddyWater and APT33 we mostly observed scripting capabilities, in CopyKittens we are observing most advanced code capabilities. Indeed code signing is used on Microsoft Windows and IOS to guarantee that the software comes from known developer and that it has not been tampered with. While a script (node, python, AutoIt) could be attribute to IT guys as well as developers, developing more robust and complex software ( such as: java, .net, c++, etc) is a skill typically attributed to developers. This difference could be significant in suspecting a small set of different people working on CopyKittens. Cleaver According to MITRE: Cleaver is a threat group that has been attributed to Iranian actors and is responsible for activity tracked as Operation Cleaver. [1] Strong circumstantial evidence suggests Cleaver is linked to Threat Group 2889 (TG-2889). We have a few information about this group, and as you might see there are few similarities. The usage of Mimikatz could be easily adopted for credential dumping, while TinyZBot is a quite interesting tool since it mostly implements spying capabilities without strong architectural design or code execution or data exfiltration. Cleaver TTP Just like Charming Kitten (which is not included into this report since it is a quite ongoing mistery even if a great report from Clear Sky is available), Cleaver is a threat group that is responsible of one of the first most advanced and silent cyber attack attributed to Iran known until now (OpCleaver, by Cylance). Cleaver attack capabilities are evolved over time very quickly and, according to Cylance, active since 2012. They look like to have infiltrated some of the world economic powers (ref: here) such as: Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. In the very first page of the OpCleaver report, the author writes that Cleaver is one of the most advanced threat actors ever. Even if I might agree with Cylance, I personally do not have such evidences so far, so I personally cannot compare Cleaver threat actor to the previus ones. Threat Actors Comparison Here comes the fun ! How about taking all these graphs and compare them ? Common references would highlight similarities, scopes and common TTPs and fortunately we might appreciate them in the following unique network diagram. You might spend over 20 minutes to check details on the following graph and I might decide to write an essay over it, but I will not do it :D, Id like focus on few but important thoughts. The iper-connection between the analyzed groups (take a look to the following graph) could prove that those teams are really linked together. They share Techniques, Procedures, Tools and Infection Artifacts and everything we might observe looks like belonging with a unique meta-actor. We might agree that the meta-actor would be linked to the sponsorship nation and we might decide to consider some of those groups as operations. In other words we might consider an unique group of people that teams up depending of the ongoing operation adopting similar capabilities and tool sets. Threat Actor Comparison OilRig and APT33 are the most known groups attributed to Iran, they share many tools but they clearly have two different intent and two different code bases (writing about Malware). CopyKittens, for example, have been clustered more closed to APT33 while Muddywater looks like clustered straight at the middle of them. But if we closely analyze the purposes and the used Malware we might agree in aggregating Muddy close to APT33, actually the weight of shared code should be heavier compared to common tools or common techniques, but I did not represent such a detail into graphs. However two different code experience are observed. The first one mostly focused on scriptting (node, python, autoIT) which could underline a group of people evolving from IT department and later-on acquiring cyersecurity skills, while the second observed behavior is mostly oriented on deep development skills such as for example: Java, .NET and C++. On MuddyWater and APT33 side, the usage of scripting engines, the usage of powershell, and the usage of Empire framework tighten together, plus the lack of exploiting capabilities or the lack in developing sophisticated Malware could bring the analyst to think that those threat actors hit their target without the need of strong development capabilities. On the other hand OilRig, Cleaver and CopyKitten looks like to have more software developing skills and looks to be mostly focused on stealth operations. Conclusion In this post I wrote a preliminary and personal analysis of threat actors attributed by the community to Iran, comparing TTPs coming from MITRE and relations extracted from Malpedia. The outcome is a proposal to consider the numerous groups (OilRig, APT33, MuddyWater, Cleaver, etc..) as a primary meta-threat-actor and dividing them by operations rather real group. Original Post published on Ramillis blog: About the author: Marco Ramilli, Founder of Yoroi I am a computer security scientist with an intensive hacking background. I do have a MD in computer engineering and a PhD on computer security from University of Bologna. During my PhD program I worked for US Government (@ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Security Division) where I did intensive researches in Malware evasion techniques and penetration testing of electronic voting systems. I do have experience on security testing since I have been performing penetration testing on several US electronic voting systems. Ive also been encharged of testing uVote voting system from the Italian Minister of homeland security. I met Palantir Technologies where I was introduced to the Intelligence Ecosystem. I decided to amplify my cybersecurity experiences by diving into SCADA security issues with some of the biggest industrial aglomerates in Italy. I finally decided to found Yoroi: an innovative Managed Cyber Security Service Provider developing some of the most amazing cybersecurity defence center Ive ever experienced! Now I technically lead Yoroi defending our customers strongly believing in: Defence Belongs To Humans Pierluigi Paganini 19432020 Lawrence Angelo Servente, forever known as Larry, passed away on January 8, 2020, at his home, in Napa, where he lived for the past 26 years. Larry was born on April 4,1943, in Vallejo, to Norma Josephine Maffei and Angelo Francis Servente. He was a fourth generation Vallejoan and a twin to his brother, David, who shockingly passed away nine days before him. Larry grew up in Vallejo, attending St. Basils Elementary School, St. Vincent Ferrer High School (Class of 61), and Solano College. His life was fundamentally shaped by his Catholic faith, education, and values. As the Senior Class President of the Class of 61, Larry never doubted that every 5 years for the rest of his life it was his bound duty to summon his classmates for their class reunions. At these reunions, Larry would take the mic and introduce every classmate, their spouse, from where they had traveled, and update their stories. Affectionately referred to as the glue that held the class together, he loyally affirmed that this class was the finest and most successful that the city of Vallejo had ever produced. In 1967-68, Larry was drafted into the army for service in Vietnam, and although this was not what he would have chosen, he went and upon his return home remained steadfastly proud of his status as a veteran. It was soon after his deployment, that his loving Aunt Lina, asked a young college student if she would write to her nephew who tragically had just lost the mother for whom he had been caring to breast cancer and subsequently been sent to Vietnam; thus began the love story that Larry would forevermore repeat to new friends and acquaintances. Of course, for those who knew Larrys story, they are aware this is how he met his future wife, Frances Marie Malta, of San Mateo. They corresponded for a year and a half and shortly after Larrys return home, met for their first date in San Francisco. Married in 1970, they made their home in Vallejo, and mostly, until their move to Napa, lived their lives there. This is where their two children, Jeff and Sally would grow up as the fifth generation. Larry enjoyed involvement in his communities and brought passion and enthusiasm to his roles as a Vallejo City Planning Commissioner, President of SPSV Parents Club, President of the Solano County Unit of the American Cancer Society, and as a member of the 2014 Napa Grand Jury. His working career was in sales and management, mostly in the trucking industry. In semi-retirement, he had fun driving a limo in the Napa Valley for a few years. Likely, there are many visitors to Napa that recall a certain, gregarious limo driver. Larry is survived by Frances, his adored wife of 49 years, and their children Jeff (Karina) Servente of American Canyon, CA and Sally (Carlos) Zuniga of Orangevale, CA. A loving, doting and proud grandfather, he leaves behind his three grandsons: Lorenzo Servente, Tristan Zuniga, and Gabriel Zuniga. Larry is also survived by his beloved brother, Stephen Servente of Rohnert Park, CA; and numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews. He is pre-deceased by his parents, Norma and Angelo, and his twin brother, David Joseph Servente. Family and friends are invited to attend the funeral mass on Saturday, January 18, at 10:00 am, at St. Apollinaris Catholic Church, 3700 Lassen Street, Napa. Reception will follow in the parish hall. Burial will take place on Monday, January 20, at 12:30 pm, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Road, Dixon. All friends and family are welcome at the burial. If you are considering donations in Larrys honor, veterans organizations and his faith were closest to his heart. He was especially touched by Father Fred and his commitment to building the Holy Family Catholic Church for American Canyon. Donations may be made to the construction fund online: www.gofundme.com/holy-family-new-church-building Condolences and words of sympathy may be sent to the family online at www.tulocaycemetery.org There will be a new chief of police in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County next year. Tim Barkell, who has been a police officer in Anaconda for more than three decades and has overseen the department the past 10 years, says he is not seeking re-election to a third, four-year term. Thirty-one years is enough, Barkell said Tuesday. Assistant Police Chief Bill Sather and police Sgt. Kyle Staley have filed for the post, an election county voters will decide in November. Barkell, 57, was appointed chief in 2010 to fill the unexpired term of John Sullivan, who resigned to take a job with the state. Barkell was elected later that year to officially finish out the term and was elected to four-year terms in 2012 and 2016. In other filings in southwest Montana, Ben Krakowka has filed for re-election as Anaconda-Deer Lodges county attorney. Kevin Hart is running for a third term as commissioner in District 3 and as of Tuesday morning, Bill Everett was still the only who has filed for chief executive, a post he won in 2016. In Butte-Silver Bow, only one other person has filed for local office since 13 did so on Thursday, the first day of filing. The new one to the mix was Norma Duffy, who filed for the District 8 council seat held by Brendan McDonough, who is challenging incumbent Chief Executive Dave Palmer this year. Palmer and McDonough both filed Thursday. District 6 Commissioner Jim Fisher, whose council seat is one of six on the ballot, has been considering a run for chief executive but says he hasnt decided yet. The filing period closes March 9. On the legislative front in southwest Montana, two Democratic incumbent House members Gordon Pierson Jr. and Mark Sweeney are running for the District 39 Senate seat held by Democrat Gene Vuckovich of Anaconda, who cannot seek a third straight term because of term limits. Pierson, of Deer Lodge, cannot seek a fifth term in House District 78 and is now running for the open seat in Senate District 39. The district covers Granite County and parts of Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Butte-Silver Bow and Powell counties. Mark Sweeney of Philipsburg, who was elected to his first term in House District 77 two years ago, is also running for the Senate seat. Sara Novak, a Democrat from Anaconda, has filed to replace Sweeney in the House. As of late Tuesday afternoon, nobody was a candidate for Piersons House seat. In Madison County, Republicans Kenneth Walsh of Twin Bridges and Cindy Younkin of McAllister have filed for the House District 71 seat currently held by Republican Ray Shaw of Sheridan, who cant seek a fifth straight term. Jeff Welborn, a Republican from Dillon who won his first term in Senate District 36 four years ago, is seeking re-election this year. The district covers a huge area that includes Beaverhead and Madison counties and parts of Jefferson and Butte-Silver Bow counties. Tom Welch, a Republican from Dillon, is seeking a third term in House District 72. In House District 75, which covers Jefferson County, first-term incumbent Republican Greg DeVries is seeking a second term and is being challenged by fellow Republican Ken Stuker. Both are from Jefferson City. In Butte-Silver Bow, Clerk and Recorder Sally Hollis expected many people to file on the first day Thursday, which they did. They were all included in a story that was posted on The Montana Standard that night and in print editions Friday. https://mtstandard.com/news/local/everett-seeks-second-term-in-anaconda-palmer-mcdonough-file-in/article_c7ac466a-8fb9-5a1b-bf2f-1fae4cbcaa97.html Like previous presidential election years, which also include numerous county offices on the ballot here, Hollis expected some additional candidates to sign up the next day. But nobody else had filed for any office until Duffy did for the District 8 council seat Tuesday. Filing doesnt close until March 9 and sometimes people wait until the last day. Regardless, with elections for president and governor on the ballot, among other factors, Hollis expects it to be the busiest election her office has seen during her 12 years in office. There are now about 23,000 people registered to vote in Butte-Silver Bow, more than 12,000 by absentee ballot, and more will sign up in the coming weeks and months. The numbers always go up in presidential years, Hollis say. Hollis and her staff have been getting ready for this year since January a year ago, but theres more to do before the June 5 primary and then the Nov. 2 general election. Its going to be a big election year, she said. I hope its going to be a record-breaking turnout. We will be very well prepared. I feel so proud when people show up to vote. It makes all the work worthwhile. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 3 1 of 3 Images Courtesy Killen's Steakhouse / Images Courtesy Killen's Steakhouse, Photograph by Kimberly Park Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Images Courtesy Killen's Steakhouse / Images Courtesy Killen's Steakhouse Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Barebecue lovers can enjoy a special day of cue on Jan. 18 as Killens Steakhouse in Shenandoah is hosting a barbecue pop-up from 11 a.m. until everything is sold out while introducing a new pitmaster who will be joining the expanding team of Killens restaurants across the Houston region. Ashlee Hellman, assistant manager of Killens Steakhouse The Woodlands, said the pop-up is one of many that iconic Texas Chef Ronnie Killen has planned for the region as the franchise continues to grow. A new location of Killens is currently under construction in the Heights area of downtown Houston and the Shenandoah location of the popular Pearland steakhouse has been open less than a year after Killen saw a desire for his exquisite smoked meats and steaks in The Woodlands. Any other symptoms? the doctor asked. Fever? Pain? Trauma? No, none of those. Just a numb, blue finger. No Pain, but Strange The doctor examined the patients finger closely. The timeline seemed too fast, if the womans finger had somehow been bruised and was now healing. Normally it takes days for the displaced blood to clear up. But the pictures showed that the finger started off with a blotch of dark blue and turned a kind of dusky purple as it spread and moved up the digit. And yet now that finger was the same color as her others. There was no swelling or tenderness. The pulses at her wrists were normal. When Van Meter pressed on the fingertip, the skin blanched as expected. And as soon as she released the pressure, the normal pink color was quickly restored, indicating that her circulatory system there was intact. A Memory Offers a Clue Certainly the bruised appearance in the photographs suggested a vascular cause a blockage, or even a leak, in one of the tiny arteries that bring blood to the fingertip but it didnt look like that. Upon exam, the circulation seemed fine. The numbness suggested a nerve issue. But when she tested the strength and sensation of the finger, it, too, seemed normal. And it looked as if whatever it was was getting better. Thinking about this patient, Van Meter remembered another she had seen maybe a year and a half before with a similar story. That patient, a woman in her 40s or 50s, also had a black-and-blue finger but hers was painful. That woman had gone to her doctor, who was worried and sent her to the emergency room where Van Meter saw her. Like this woman, she had had no other symptoms, and she couldnt recall any trauma. Van Meter had been worried, and after examining that woman she hurried back to the doc box, as they called the clot of computers where the doctors worked when they werent in a patients room. She quickly looked through some online resources to help her figure it out. In PubMed she found many reports of a single blue digit. In most reports it was called paroxysmal finger hematoma, or Achenbachs syndrome, named after the German physician who first described it, in 1958. The cause isnt clear. It seems to be most common in middle-aged women and most frequently affects the index or middle finger. The bruised appearance comes on rapidly and usually resolves within a few days. It hasnt been shown to be a sign of some hidden disease process. Its frequently described as benign. No treatment is needed. In most medical reports its characterized as a rare disorder, but based on the number of pictures and stories that Van Meter saw on websites, she wondered if it was actually rare, or just rarely reported to doctors. Still, one thing bothered Van Meter, and kept her from mentioning this diagnosis to the patient. In most cases, Achenbachs is described as painful, like a bruise. The patient shed seen at the hospital more than a year before complained of tenderness. This woman just had numbness. Could it really be the same thing? Could Achenbachs cause numbness instead of pain? Naming the Ailment Van Meter walked back to the doc box. She asked a colleague there if she had heard of Achenbachs syndrome. She had, but her case hadnt presented with numbness. She went back to the literature. Yes. Pain was more common, but numbness had also been reported. The doctor went back to the patient and quickly pulled up the pictures she had found in her search. The patient was amazed. They looked just like her finger. No further testing was needed, Van Meter told her. And no treatment. Her finger would get better on its own. The patient was relieved. Just having a name for it was somehow enough. She was grateful to learn it didnt indicate something terrible. The patient could hardly wait to see her two doctor friends in church the next Sunday to tell them what she had. AN INVESTIGATION is underway into identifying hospital sources who may have released information to the media, following the shocking story of a patient who was found dead with a suspected broken neck in University Hospital Limericks emergency department. Last week, the Leader revealed that a probe was launched into the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident which occurred just before Christmas. The news also came just days after UHL broke a new national record for most number of patients on trolleys in a single day, when 92 were left waiting for a bed. And in the email circulated to staff on Friday, the UL Hospitals Group CEO, Prof Colette Cowan, said that it will be reporting a data breach after an unauthorised disclosure of confidential patient information. The CEO also noted derogatory staff Facebook posts in the correspondence. Seen by the Leader, the email said that it was of grave concern to her and the Groups executive management team surrounding breaches of confidential information related to the business of the health services and, in particular, on patient and public records. She said that staff are bound to confidentiality as part of the contract of employment, adding that breaches of the services code of standards and behaviour will result in disciplinary action. Prof Cowan said that misuse of social media was equally of concern. She said that the communications department and members of the executive council regularly review social media content for accuracy and context. It is concerning that in recent days my attention has been drawn to derogatory staff Facebook posts. There is also evidence of media attending UHL and photographing in corridors, taking sound bites from staff without prior consent to enter patient areas while ignoring restrictions and infection control standards. These will all be investigated and actions taken, she wrote. Prof Cowan said that, as a consequence of unauthorised disclosure of confidential patient information, the UL Hospitals is unable to ensure GDPR compliance. Therefore we will be reporting this as a data breach. Alongside this, I have sought an investigation of the issues listed to identify persons who have breached their contract and the code of standards and behaviour. She said the UL Hospitals Group pride ourselves on high standards with many exemplar staff providing a professional high integrity value driven service. Unfortunately any slip of standards by a small number of employees does reputational damage to UL Hospitals, but most importantly it hurts the people we serve, our patients and our colleagues. The Limerick Leader sent a number of questions to the UL Hospitals Group in relation to this email on Monday. A spokesperson issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon. Last Friday January 10, the CEO issued an internal communication to all staff reminding them of the importance of adhering to HSE policy on data protection and on social media use. The communication is self-explanatory and no further comment is required, the spokesperson concluded. Sunbelt Lighting, a Mississippi company that sells lights, fans and chandeliers, has sold its showroom and warehouses to a Harahan investor and plans to lease the space until it can find a new location. Sunbelt, located at 1698 Wooddale Blvd., sold its space to 1698 Wooddale Blvd. LLC for $900,000 in a deal that was filed Tuesday with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Courts office. Sunbelt, which is headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has seven locations in Louisiana and Mississippi. Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi president on Wednesday said that is not a brand in Delhi, rather he is, and this has been proven by the and Kejriwal himself through their campaigns. Tiwari said that the party has not declared the Chief Minister candidate and this will be decided after the party wins the Assembly elections. While talking to IANS, Tiwari said: "Using brand in its electoral campaign, the AAP has shown that is a brand not Kejriwal. I am working as BJP President in Delhi. I earn money by singing, acting, dancing etc. I have a brand value. So, if Kejriwal will have to pay Rs 500 crore for using my face in their campaign, I have claimed this amount under Intellectual Property Rights Act. He will have to pay this money from party fund not from the treasury of the Delhi government." The AAP said that the BJP doesn't has a CM face in Delhi, to which Tiwari replied: "Does AAP have its own face? None of their party's candidate is seen in their campaign. They are using my face in it." When asked whether he is ready to take the responsibility of being a Chief Minister as he was made party President in 2016, he said: "I am party's president in Delhi. Whenever Prime Minister comes here, I sit with him even when Union Minister Harshvardhan is senior. If the Congress and the AAP don't understand anything after this then nothing can be explained to them?" On the party's strong points Tiwari said: "Is there any leader who can compete against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Party's national president Amit Shah is also running the operations efficiently. J.P. Nadda has the ability to empower the party workers. Every BJP MP has done development in Delhi. Who will contest against all these?" Tiwari said that the AAP is a party full of liars. He said: "When you can use forged photograph of Manoj Tiwari then all your claims are false. The whole party and their thinking is fake. The posters of schools and colleges which they use claiming that education system has improved in Delhi is fake. This has made work easier for us. We don't have to expose Kejriwal. We only have to show a vision to the people of Delhi." Agitating students and teachers of JNU do not want "any kind of discipline" said JNU Chancellor V K Saraswat on Wednesday as he attributed the ongoing problems in the varsity to a free run enjoyed by students and faculty for the last 50-60 years. Saraswat, who is also a member of Niti Aayog regretted that successive vice chancellors of the JNU had given a free hand to the students and teachers. "The JNU students who are agitating do not want any type of discipline in the system. And even the teachers who are supporting them, they do not want any kind of discipline," he told PTI. Saraswat said that the ongoing protest by some JNU students and teachers is "unwarranted" as the university administration has already accepted most of their demands. "See, JNU had a free run for the last 50-60 years. Successive Vice Chancellors have always allowed this freedom," he asserted. On demand of JNU student's union to remove the Vice Chancellor, Saraswat said: "JNUSU is changing the goalpost everyday. These (demand of JNUSU to remove the Vice Chancellor) are pressurising tactics," he said. Noting that debate and discussion in the university campus are good, Saraswat, who was also former DRDO chief said,"but debate and discussion should happen within certain limits." "If those limits are crossed then it becomes a major issue. Now discipline is what we are trying to bring in terms of action," he said. Saraswat pointed out that under the garb of the freedom of expression they JNU students and teachers are crossing the limits. "That's why any national issue which happens, they have their opinions and those opinions are sometimes ideologically different...It has happened in the past," he said. On economist Amit Bhaduri giving up emeritus professorship at Jawaharlal Nehru University, alleging mishandling of the current situation by the university administration, Saraswat said Bhaduri is an eminent personality who is "going by the information which is made available to him by the media". "He wants to resign, it is his wish, nobody can stop him. But what message is he giving," Saraswat wondered. Eminent economist and JNU professor C P Chandrasekhar too has withdrawn from the newly-constituted 28-member Standing Committee on Statistics (SCES), chaired by former chief statistician Pranob Sen, citing the situation in the university. On allegation that JNU VC Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar is rigid and not keen to have dialogue with the protesting students, Saraswat said when students go and gherao VCs house then how can he have dialogue with them. "Dialogue between vice chancellor and students should take place in a disciplined manner," he noted. Asked about allegations that the JNU VC is appointing faculty close to the RSS, Saraswat said it was absolutely untrue. "The VC of JNU is one of the finest, eminent engineers from our country. He is academician of a high order. His honesty and integrity is 1000 times better than a large number of Indians. So to say that he is biased while hiring new faculty is wrong," he said. In fact, earlier the appointments were made on the basis of ideological affiliations, he claimed. "This accusation can be levelled against the previous appointments which have happened in JNU. There were recruitment of teachers and students of certain ideologies only. That was more correct for the last fifty years," he asserted. Violence broke out at the university earlier this month as a mob of masked men, armed with sticks, attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in the police. Many sustained injuries and were admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre here. JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh had suffered a head injury in the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alberta Innovates is launching a major new clean technology initiative called the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge , a $15-million international competition to accelerate development of carbon fibre from bitumen in Alberta. This is part of a broader Alberta Innovates initiative called Bitumen Beyond Combustion to advance the development of non-combustion products and production technologies derived from bitumen contained in Albertas oil sands. The oil sands are among the worlds largest hydrocarbon resources with proven reserves of approximately 170 billion barrels. The Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge is directed toward funding technologies and projects that can convert bitumen or asphaltenes into carbon fibre. The high strength and stiffness of carbon fibre make composites functionally superior to many conventional materials used in the transportation, infrastructure, construction and consumer product sectors. Asphaltenes are organic molecules found in bitumen that are commonly used in asphalt. Bitumen Beyond Combustion and the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge aim to produce large-volume, high-value, non-combustion products from bitumen. It has the potential to shift the oil sands industry toward value creation and significantly enhance sustainability in a low-carbon emission economy. John Zhou, Vice President, Clean Resources, Alberta Innovates Applications are expected from Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. The challenge will consist of three phases which will wrap up at the end of 2024. Three grand prizes of $3 million will be awarded to the winners who will be required to produce more than 10 kg of carbon fibre per day, with a line of sight to scale production to more than 250 tonnes per day. Eventually, this production process could result in more than 100,000 barrels of Alberta bitumen being used daily to produce carbon fibre. Asphaltene derived from Alberta bitumen will be provided to competitors through an asphaltene sample bank operated by InnoTech Alberta, an applied research subsidiary of Alberta Innovates. The competition opens Wednesday, Jan. 15. The deadline for Phase 1 applications is April 7. Alberta Innovates invests in research, innovation and entrepreneurship to drive provincial economic growth and diversity. We ignite the power of innovation through our work with researchers, industry and entrepreneurs to move Alberta to a lower-carbon future, promote the responsible use of land and water, and contribute to the improved health and well-being of Albertans. Alberta Innovates provides technical expertise, entrepreneurial advice and support, opportunities for partnerships, and funding to advance the best ideas. We support a broad range of research and innovation activity from discovery to use. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do bringing together bright minds and great ideas. Find out more at albertainnovates.ca Tamil film star and aspiring politician Rajinikanth took on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the principal Opposition party in Tamil Nadu, by commenting on its patriarch M Karunanidhi and Periyar EV Ramasamy, who is considered father of the Dravidian movement. Periyar was a pungent critic of Hindu gods. But no one had criticised Periyar then. It was only Cho (Ramaswamy) who took on Periyar, which was not to the liking of Karunanidhi. Cho invited the wrath of Karunanidhi who opposed him so much that he said the DMK patriarch had given him free publicity, making him popular across the country. Cho was a strong critic of the government then, said Rajinikanth. The actor was speaking at the 50th anniversary celebration of Thuglak, a Tamil language weekly news magazine started by policial commentator Cho Ramaswamy. Rajinikanth said that this platform was not the appropriate place for him to talk about his politics and that he would open up when the time comes. He also flayed DMK mouthpiece Murasoli. Readers of Murasoli are DMK workers but those who read Thuglak are intellectuals, he said at the event which was also attended by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. Cho was a virulent critic of Indira Gandhi. When Emergency was promulgated, he brought out a dark cover to register his protest. She was another one who made Cho popular all over the country, the actor further said. While Cho was known for his sharp repartee and wit, Thuglak was considered a conservative right wing magazine with a saffron tilt. Now, RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy is its editor. He took over after Chos death in 2016. In its heydays, Cho used to organise the anniversary of the magazine on the Marina beach. However, the venue was shifted indoors in the later years, indicating its shrinking readership. On the other hand, Murasoli, under Karunanidhi had a far wider readership particularly for Thambikku (to brother), the epistle that Karunanidhi used to pen for the cadre. It used to explain the current politics from a Dravidian perspective in his inimitable style. Rajinikanth who also made a veiled attack on media falling prey to fake news, said journalists should emulate Cho. Once people realise what is true and false, the fakes would vanish, he said. Rajinikanth is expected to make a foray into politics ahead of State Assembly elections scheduled to be held next year. He had first made his political ambitions clear on December 31, 2017, while interacting with fans. He said he would launch a political party that would practice spiritual politics and contest Tamil Nadus all 234 constituencies in 2021 Assembly elections. Thuglak editor Gurumurthy said Rajinikanth has a huge responsibility and that the actor too was not oblivious to that. Earlier, the vice president released the golden jubilee souvenir and Rajinikanth received the first copy. 15.01.2020 LISTEN London. Another slot of judicial history, another notch to be added to the woeful record of legal proceedings being undertaken against Julian Assange. The ailing WikiLeaks founder was coping as well as he could, showing the resourcefulness of the desperate at his Monday hearing. At the Westminster Magistrates Court, Assange faced a 12-minute process, an ordinary affair in which he was asked to confirm his name, an ongoing ludicrous state of affairs, and seek clarification about an aspect of the proceedings. Of immediate concern to the lawyers, specifically seasoned human rights advocate Gareth Peirce, was the issue that prison officers at Belmarsh have been obstructing and preventing the legal team from spending sufficient time with their client, despite the availability of empty rooms. We have pushed Belmarsh in every way it is a breach of a defendants rights. Three substantial sets of documents and evidence required signing off by Assange before being submitted to the prosecution, a state of affairs distinctly impossible given the time constraints. A compounding problem was also cited by Peirce: the shift from moving the hearing a day forward resulted in a loss of time. This slippage in the timetable is extremely worrying. Whether this shows indifference to protocol or malice on the part of prosecuting authorities is hard to say, but either way, justice is being given a good flaying. The argument carried sufficient weight with District Judge Vanessa Baraitser to result in an adjournment till 2 pm in the afternoon, but this had more to do with logistics than any broader principle of conviction. As Baraitser reasoned, 47 people were currently in custody at court; a mere eight rooms were available for interviewing, leaving an additional hour to the day. In her view, if Assange was sinned against, so was everybody else, given that others in custody should not be prevented from access to counsel. (This judge has a nose for justice, albeit using it selectively.) As things stand, Peirce is aiming to finalise the exhibits for submission to the prosecution by January 18. The government deadline for responding to those documents will be February 7. The case proceeding itself was adjourned till January 23, and Assange will have the choice, limited as it is, of having the hearing at the Westminster Magistrates Court or Belmarsh. Supporters outside the court were also of same mind regarding the paltry amount of time awarded Assange. The rapper M.I.A, showing how support for the publisher can at times be sketchy, managed to have a dig at the state while also acknowledging thanks from it. (An announcement had just been made that she would be receiving an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours List.) I think it is important to follow this case. I am off to get a medal at Buckingham Palace tomorrow and I think today is just as important. To give somebody an hour to put their case together is not quite right. Assange supporters would agree with her view that, for a case of this scale, having only access to two hours to prepare, is illegal in itself. The atmosphere around the proceedings has thickened of late, and the WikiLeaks argument here about CIA interference and surveillance conducted by the Spanish firm Undercover Global S.L. while Assange was in the Ecuadorean embassy in London is biting. Prior to Christmas he gave testimony to Spanish judge Jose de la Mata claiming he was not aware that cameras installed by the company in the Ecuadorean embassy were also capturing audio details. Leaving aside the broader issues of free speech, an argument has been made that CIA meddling might well be the fly in the ointment that impairs the prosecutions case. This might be wishful thinking, but this is a line of inquiry worth pursuing. The WikiLeaks legal team is keen to press the matter in February during the extradition hearing. In the well-considered view of James C. Goodale, former Vice Chairman and General Counsel for The New York Times, After reading El Paiss series, you would have to be a dunce not to believe the CIA didnt monitor Assanges every move at the Ecuadorean embassy, including trips to the bathroom. Goodale cites the Pentagon Papers case as an example that the defence may well draw upon. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked classified Pentagon reports to The Washington Post and The New York Times, had the office of his psychiatrist broken into by President Richard Nixons notorious plumbers, led by former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt. The conscience-stricken analyst was also facing charges under the Espionage Act of 1917. When it came to the trial judges attention that government misconduct, including the FBIs interception of Ellsbergs telephone conversations with a government official had characterised the entire effort against the whistleblower, the case was dismissed with prejudice. Ellsbergs treatment had offended a sense of justice and incurably infected the prosecution. As with Assange, the footprint of the CIA in Ellsbergs case was far from negligible. It assisted in the muddled break-in. It penned a clumsy psychiatric profile of Ellsberg and assembled a full identification ensemble for the plumbers: Social Security cards, disguises, drivers licenses, speech alternation devices. As Goodale rhetorically poses, Can anything be more offensive to a sense of justice than an unlimited surveillance, particularly of lawyer-client conversations, livestreamed to the opposing party in a criminal case? It remains for the British courts to consider whether that degree of offensiveness has been achieved in this case. Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected] Recent reports suggest that Xiaomi-backed Black Shark is coming with its fifth phone soon. According to leaks, this new device from Black Shark is expected to come with 16GB RAM and the second to sport a 120Hz display. As of now, the highest RAM configuration offered in smartphones is 12GB. Presently, select flagship smartphones such as Black Shark 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, Asus ROG Phone 2 support 12GB RAM. According to a post on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo, the Black Shark 3 will be the second phone after OnePlus 8 Pro to feature a 120 Hz refresh rate display. However, unlike the OnePlus 8 Pro, users will be able to select the refresh rates at 60, 90 and 120 Hz for Black Shark 3 while the resolution will be between FHD and QHD. The Black Shark 3 will not only comprise of a massive 16GB RAM, it will also offer 5G connectivity, reports suggest. Other than the RAM configuration and display specs, there is not much known about this upcoming Black Shark smartphone. It can be expected that this phone will have a really high battery backup in keeping with its 120 Hz display and 5G connectivity. Also read: iPhone SE 2 specs leaked; here's what we know so far Also read: From smartphones, wearables, speakers to lighting - best consumer tech of 2019 Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, and have submitted their applications for 5G trials, industry sources said. Airtel has joined hands with Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia for 5G trials in the country, while Jio has partnered Samsung, sources said. has also filed its application for 5G trials and the company has partnered Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia for the same, the sources added. E-mails sent to Bharti Airtel, and remained unanswered. Last month, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the government will allocate airwaves to all telecom service providers for conducting trials of super-fast speed India will not bar any equipment suppliers in the upcoming trials for 5G. The stance had spelt relief for Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei, which rivals western equipment makers such as Ericsson and is facing curbs in the US. Many countries, however, have allowed telecom service providers to use Chinese gears. Now, India has also indicated its unwillingness to keep any company out of 5G trials. Huawei India CEO Jay Chen had earlier stated the company firmly believes that only technology innovations and high-quality networks will be the key to rejuvenating Indian telecom industry. "We have our full confidence in the Modi government to drive We have our full confidence in Indian government and industry to partner with best technology for India's own long-term benefit and also for cross-industry development," Chen had recently said. The 5G trials are widely-expected to begin between January and March. When contacted, Rajan Mathews, Director General of industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said, "We are pleased that Department of Telecom (DoT) is progressing ahead with the 5G trials to ensure the implementation of National Digital Communications Policy. GUILTY: MICHAEL FLYNN Pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017. Awaiting sentence Flynn was President Trump's former National Security Advisor and Robert Mueller's most senior scalp to date. He previously served when he was a three star general as President Obama's director of the Defense Intelligence Agency but was fired. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about his conversations with a Russian ambassador in December 2016. He has agreed to cooperate with the special counsel investigation. GUILTY AND JAILED: MICHAEL COHEN Pleaded guilty to eight counts including fraud and two campaign finance violations in August 2018. Pleaded guilty to further count of lying to Congress in November 2018. Sentenced to three years in prison and $2 million in fines and forfeitures in December 2018 Cohen was investigated by Mueller but the case was handed off to the Southern District of New York,leaving Manhattan's ferocious and fiercely independent federal prosecutors to run his case. Cohen was Trump's longtime personal attorney, starting working for him and the Trump Organization in 2007. He is the longest-serving member of Trump's inner circle to be implicated by Mueller. Cohen professed unswerving devotion to Trump - and organized payments to silence two women who alleged they had sex with the-then candidate: porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. He admitted that payments to both women were felony campaign finance violations - and admitted that he acted at the 'direction' of 'Candidate-1': Donald Trump. He also admitted tax fraud by lying about his income from loans he made, money from taxi medallions he owned, and other sources of income, at a cost to the Treasury of $1.3 million. And he admitted lying to Congress in a rare use of the offense. The judge in his case let him report for prison on March 6 and recommended he serve it in a medium-security facility close to New York City. GUILTY AND JAILED: PAUL MANAFORT Found guilty of eight charges of bank and tax fraud in August 2018. Sentenced to 47 months in March 2019. Pleaded guilty to two further charges - witness tampering and conspiracy against the United States. Jailed for total of seven and a half years in two separate sentences. Additionally indicted for mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney, using evidence previously presented by Mueller Manafort worked for Trump's campaign from March 2016 and chaired it from June to August 2016, overseeing Trump being adopted as Republican candidate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He is the most senior campaign official to be implicated by Mueller. Manafort was one of Washington D.C.'s longest-term and most influential lobbyists but in 2015, his money dried up and the next year he turned to Trump for help, offering to be his campaign chairman for free - in the hope of making more money afterwards. But Mueller unwound his previous finances and discovered years of tax and bank fraud as he coined in cash from pro-Russia political parties and oligarchs in Ukraine. Manafort pleaded not guilty to 18 charges of tax and bank fraud but was convicted of eight counts in August 2018. The jury was deadlocked on the other 10 charges. A second trial on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent due in September did not happen when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and witness tampering in a plea bargain. He was supposed to co-operate with Mueller but failed to. Minutes after his second sentencing hearing in March 2019, he was indicted on 16 counts of fraud and conspiracy by the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., using evidence which included documents previously presented at his first federal trial. The president has no pardon power over charges by district and state attorneys. GUILTY AND GOING TO WEEKEND JAIL: RICK GATES Pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and making false statements in February 2018. Sentenced to 45 days weekend jail and three years probation, December 17, 2018 Gates was Manafort's former deputy at political consulting firm DMP International. He admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government on financial activity, and to lying to investigators about a meeting Manafort had with a member of congress in 2013. As a result of his guilty plea and promise of cooperation, prosecutors vacated charges against Gates on bank fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, failure to disclose foreign bank accounts, filing false tax returns, helping prepare false tax filings, and falsely amending tax returns. GUILTY AND JAILED: GEORGE PAPADOPOLOUS Pleaded guilty to making false statements in October 2017. Sentenced to 14 days in September 2018, and reported to prison in November. Served 12 days and released on December 7, 2018 Papadopoulos was a member of Donald Trump's campaign foreign policy advisory committee. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about his contacts with London professor Josef Mifsud and Ivan Timofeev, the director of a Russian government-funded think tank. GUILTY AND JAILED: RICHARD PINEDO Pleaded guilty to identity fraud in February 2018. Sentenced to a year in prison Pinedo is a 28-year-old computer specialist from Santa Paula, California. He admitted to selling bank account numbers to Russian nationals over the internet that he had obtained using stolen identities. GUILTY AND JAILED: ALEX VAN DER ZWAAN Pleaded guilty to making false statements in February 2018. He served a 30-day prison sentence and was deported to the Netherlands on his release Van der Zwaan was a Dutch attorney for Skadden Arps who worked on a Ukrainian political analysis report for Paul Manafort in 2012. He admitted to lying to special counsel investigators about when he last spoke with Rick Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik. His law firm say he was fired. GUILTY: W. SAMUEL PATTEN Pleaded guilty in August 2018 to failing to register as a lobbyist while doing work for a Ukrainian political party. Sentenced to three years probation April 2019 Patten, a long-time D.C. lobbyist was a business partner of Paul Manafort. He pleaded guilty to admitting to arranging an illegal $50,000 donation to Trump's inauguration. He arranged for an American 'straw donor' to pay $50,000 to the inaugural committee, knowing that it was actually for a Ukrainian businessman. Neither the American or the Ukrainian have been named. CHARGED: KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK Indicted for obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. At large, probably in Russia Kilimnik is a former employee of Manafort's political consulting firm and helped him with lobbying work in Ukraine. He is accused of witness tampering, after he allegedly contacted individuals who had worked with Manafort to remind them that Manafort only performed lobbying work for them outside of the U.S. He has been linked to Russian intelligence and is currently thought to be in Russia - effectively beyond the reach of extradition by Mueller's team. INDICTED: THE RUSSIANS Twenty-five Russian nationals and three Russian entities have been indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States. They remain at large in Russia Two of these Russian nationals were also indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 11 were indicted for conspiracy to launder money. Fifteen of them were also indicted for identity fraud. Vladimir Putin has ridiculed the charges. Russia effectively bars extradition of its nationals. The only prospect Mueller has of bringing any in front of a U.S. jury is if Interpol has their names on an international stop list - which is not made public - and they set foot in a territory which extradites to the U.S. INDICTED: MICHAEL FLYNN'S BUSINESS PARTNERS Bijan Kian (left), number two in now disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn's lobbying company, and the two's business partner Ekim Alptekin (right) were indicted for conspiracy to lobby illegally. Kian, an Iranian-American was arrested and appeared in court charged with a conspiracy to illegally lobby the U.S government without registering as a foreign agent. Their co-conspirator was Flynn, who is called 'Person A' in the indictment and is not charged, offering some insight into what charges he escaped with his plea deal. Kian, vice-president of Flynn's former lobbying firm, is alleged to have plotted with Alptekin to try to change U.S. policy on an exiled Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and who is accused by Turkey's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of trying to depose him. Erdogan's government wanted him extradited from the U.S. and paid Flynn's firm through Alptekin for lobbying, including an op-ed in The Hill calling for Gulen to be ejected. Flynn and Kian both lied that the op-ed was not paid for by the Turkish government. The indictment is a sign of how Mueller is taking an interest in more than just Russian involvement in the 2016 election. GUILTY AND AWAITING SENTENCE: ROGER STONE Roger Stone, a former Trump campaign official and longtime informal advisor to Trump, was indited on seven counts including obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks in January 2019. Convicted on all counts November 15, 2019, awaiting sentence Stone was a person of interest to Mueller's investigators long before his January indictment, thanks in part due to his public pronouncements as well as internal emails about his contacts with WikiLeks. In campaign texts and emails, many of which had already been publicly revealed before showing up in Mueller's indictment, Stone communicated with associates about WikiLeaks following reports the organization had obtained a cache of Clinton-related emails. Stone, a former Nixon campaign adviser who has the disgraced former president's face permanently tattooed on his back, has long been portrayed as a central figure in the election interference scandal. 'They got nothing,' he said of the special counsel's investigation. Stone gave 'false and misleading' testimony about his requests for information from WikiLeaks. He then pressured a witness, comedian Randy Credico, to take the Fifth Amendment rather than testify, and pressured him in a series of emails. Following a prolonged dispute over testimony, he called him a 'rat' and threatened to 'take that dog away from you', in reference to Credico's pet, Bianca. Stone warned him: 'Let's get it on. Prepare to die.' CLEARED: GREG CRAIG Greg Craig, President Barack Obama's White House counsel, was indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent. Mueller's investigators uncovered Craig's work on behalf the government of Ukraine while probing Manafort, who did business with Craig. Prosecutors released a grand jury indictment of Craig in April 2019, after Craig's law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP agreed to pay more than $4.6 million as part of a settlement. The prominent firm also acknowledged it had failed to register, and placed much of the blame on Craig, a senior partner there. Craig's lawyer blasted the decision as an abuse of prosecutorial discretion, and prepared to argue that omission of information during an interview is not tantamount to making false statements. The charges stem from a 2012 report Craig and the firm produced on behalf of the Ukrainian government on opposition figure and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She was an opponent of Manafort's client , former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Craig was cleared on September 9 2019. Libya: Ready to rejig Italy op says Defence Minister Guerini 'No direct threat to Italian soldiers' (ANSAmed) - Rome, January 15 - Italy is ready to rejig its military presence in Libya in the light of recent developments, Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said Wednesday. The recent developments including a likely ceasefire "impose on us a reflection on a possible remodulation of our military effort", he told the parliamentary defence committees. "We could hypothesise an international intervention to give solidity to the security framework, respecting an eventual request for support made by the international community". There have been no direct threats to Italian soldiers, Guerini said, despite General Khalia Haftar's moves against Misrata. Eastern Libyan strongman Haftar has been attacking Tripoli since April. Haftar has said he will attend peace talks in Berlin on Sunday, where the US has also said it will attend. Guerini said ", despite the acquisition of the control of Sirte by (Haftar's) Libyan National Army, and the greater exposure of Misrata to General Haftar's aims, there don't appear to be direct threats towards our contingent in loco". Gureini added that ships of the EU's Sophia operation could be used to stop arms flowing into Libya. "Every effort must be made so that the ships of Operation Sophia can return to carrying out the essential task of putting a brake on the continuous flow of arms to the factions fighting in Libya". On the mission, which is currently 'frozen', he said "a decision will have to be taken at the end of March". On Iraq, Guerini said that in future the international intervention could pass over to NATO. "I think that NATO may represent the future dimension of the international intervention in Iraq, progressively replacing the Coalition, replicating the model implemented in Afghanistan," he said. Boulder City, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2020) - George Sharp, President of Forwardly, Inc. (OTC Pink: GRDO) announced today that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has agreed to process the company's requested corporate actions, including the execution of a one for 8 reverse split, the changing of the corporation's recorded name from Guard Dog, Inc. to Forwardly, Inc. and a change in CUSIP number. The reverse split will be effective at the opening of trading on January 15, 2020, at which time the company's trading symbol will be "GRDOD" for 20 days. Effective on February 12, 2020, Forwardly's new symbol is expected to be "FORW". The corporate actions are the result of many months' worth of effort and patience required to systematically, and at great expense, unwind previous corporate actions which were executed improperly with the Nevada Secretary of State and subsequently file proper documents. Forwardly thanks FINRA and its own securities counsel for their diligence and assistance in rectifying the situation. The management of Forwardly, Inc. wishes to make clear that FINRA does not approve corporate actions such as the ones undertaken by Forwardly. FINRA's role is simply to process these actions once it receives the appropriate documentation and the corporation's records appear to be in order. Indeed, FINRA admonishes all companies seeking to process corporate actions that: "FINRA has neither approved nor disapproved this action. FINRA's processing of the stated corporate action does not constitute FINRA approval and should not be construed or represented as such. Furthermore, in processing this action pursuant to FINRA Rule 6490, it should not be assumed that FINRA has considered your company's compliance with any federal, state, or other self-regulatory requirements". In recognition of the above admonishment, Mr. Sharp, a well-known advocate for truth in the microcap markets, advises investors to be wary of those who claim that FINRA has "approved" certain corporate actions, in an attempt to advance or justify the ill-intended acts so often seen in the microcap markets. This is often a tactic undertaken by many unscrupulous parties, including certain attorneys who aid and abet these often fraudulent acts. Forwardly will always endeavor to be aboveboard in its activities, act in the best interest of its shareholders, and comply with all laws, rules and regulations. Story continues About Forwardly, Inc. Forwardly is an opportunity investor seeking to finance fresh ideas. The company is headed by George Sharp, a longtime whistleblower and advocate against microcap fraud. In addition to consulting to public companies, attorneys and those associated with the financial markets, Mr. Sharp is a former consultant to OTC Markets Group, Inc. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimates," "projects," "intends," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully execute its expanded business strategy, including by entering into definitive agreements with suppliers, commercial partners and customers; general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technical advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, regulatory requirements and the ability to meet them, government agency rules and changes, and various other factors beyond the Company's control. CONTACT: Forwardly, Inc. 1022 Nevada Highway Boulder City, NV 89005 702-840-4433 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51449 Apple may be forced to abandon its current iPhone charging cable and adopt the USB-C alternative favoured by Android handsets under a new EU ruling. Apple has bucked the trend and resisted the temptation to adopt and integrate USB-C charging since it was released in 2014. It released its 'Lightning' charger in 2012, and all of its iPhones are charged this way. But the EU parliament is now debating making it mandatory for all new phones to have a 'common charger', with USB-C the likely choice. If the EU forces iPhones sold in Europe to have a new charging method, it is unlikely the company would manufacture two cables and may adopt the USB-C globally. Scroll down for video The EU parliament is now debating making it mandatory for all new phones to have a 'common charger'. with the USB-C (pictured) the obvious option If the move goes ahead it would allow the same charger cable to be used for both Apple and Android devices. The EU is set to vote on the matter in a later session, which is as yet unscheduled. 'To reduce electronic waste and make consumers' life easier, MEPs want binding measures for chargers to fit all mobile phones and other portable devices,' the EU explained in a briefing. Apple chargers sell for roughly 20 ($25) for an official cable and replica versions are also available for far less. USB-C is the latest charger for many laptops and android phones and is currently used by the Oppo Reno3, Huawei P30 and OnePlus7Pro. Apple moved away from its original 30-pin connector in 2012 when the lightning cable emerged with the release of the iPhone 4. Lightning cables are now on the verge of extinction (stock) The latest iPad Pro also has this new socket and Apple already sells a Lightning port to USB-C charging cable. The iPad, the iPad Air and the iPad mini use the Lightning cable, but the iPad Pro is powered by USB-C. USB-C was launched in 2014 and has become the go-to cable for many emerging gadgets. Apple moved away from its original 30-pin connector in 2012 when the Lightning cable emerged with the release of the iPhone 5. The EU adds in its briefing: 'A common charger should fit all mobile phones, tablets, e-book readers and other portable devices, MEPs will insist. 'According to estimates, old chargers generate more than 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste per year.' One-year results support positive 28-day findings and suggest further benefits for ARDS patients CLEVELAND, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athersys, Inc. (ATHX) announced today the one-year follow-up summary results from its exploratory clinical study of the intravenous administration of MultiStem cell therapy to treat patients who are suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Participants in the MUST-ARDS study were evaluated through 28 days for the primary clinical assessment and further assessed through a one-year follow-up period. The one-year results were consistent with the positive day-28 results announced last year, and an evaluation of quality-of-life over the one-year period suggests further potential benefits from MultiStem treatment. Highlights from the new and previously disclosed data include: Previously observed lower mortality for MultiStem-treated subjects compared to placebo (particularly among the prospectively defined subset of more severe ARDS patients) persisted out to one-year of follow-up; Day-365 Quality of Life (QoL) outcomes, assessed by the EQ-5D, were meaningfully better among all survivors who received MultiStem treatment compared to those who received placebo; Within the prospectively defined group of patients with more severe ARDS, MultiStem treatment was associated with a markedly greater rate of survival and progression to functional independence at one year (i.e., self-care); As measured at day-28, MultiStem treatment was associated with a higher mean ventilator-free day (VFD) score of 12.9 vs. 9.2 in the placebo group, and a higher mean intensive care unit (ICU)-free day score of 10.3 vs. 8.1 in the placebo group; As measured at day-28, among more severe ARDS patients, mean VFD in the MultiStem subgroup was 14.6 vs. 8.0 in placebo subgroup. Mean ICU-free days were 11.4 vs. 5.9 for MultiStem and placebo recipients, respectively; Lower inflammatory cytokine levels at day-7 in the MultiStem group relative to the placebo group, including IFNg, IL-6 and IL-1b among others, suggest the potential for MultiStem treatment to abate the severe inflammatory response associated with ARDS; and MultiStem treatment was well tolerated in this very sick ARDS patient population, with no serious adverse events related to administration through one year of follow-up. Story continues We believe that the more favorable outcomes, as reflected in the patient reported self-assessments, particularly among patients recovering from more severe ARDS, suggest that administration of MultiStem has the potential to meaningfully enhance the ability of these patients to reestablish functional independence and restore quality of life, noted Dr. Anthony Ting, Vice President of Regenerative Medicine and Head of Cardiopulmonary Programs at Athersys. Frequently, ARDS patients have a very challenging road to recovery, suffering depression or decreased physical abilities. Many are unable to return to work or engage in other activities. The prospect of being able to help many patients overcome these difficulties is very exciting, and we look forward to publishing these results. The MUST-ARDS study was designed to evaluate the impact of MultiStem treatment in subjects with acute onset of moderate to severe ARDS and was conducted at sites in the United States and United Kingdom. Treatment was required to begin within four days of ARDS diagnosis with an average treatment time of approximately two days from the diagnosis. In the Phase 2a portion of the study, 20 subjects were treated with an intravenous administration of 900 million MultiStem cells and 10 subjects received placebo; the study was not powered for the efficacy outcomes. Based on the study results, the Company is planning further development in this area and intends to submit for publication the detailed study data. About ARDS ARDS is a serious immunological and inflammatory condition characterized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. ARDS can be triggered by pneumonia, sepsis, trauma or other events and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the critical care setting. ARDS is associated with a high mortality rate and significant sequelae among survivors. The condition prolongs ICU and hospital stays and often requires extended convalescence in the hospital and rehabilitation care settings. There are limited interventions and no effective drug treatments for ARDS. There is a large unmet need for a safe treatment that can reduced mortality and improve quality of life for those suffering with ARDS. Additionally, given the high treatment costs associated with ARDS, a successful therapy could be expected to generate significant savings for the healthcare system by reducing days on a ventilator and in the ICU. About MultiStem MultiStem cell therapy is a patented regenerative medicine product in clinical development that has shown the ability to promote tissue repair and healing in a variety of ways, such as through the production of therapeutic factors in response to signals of inflammation and tissue damage. MultiStem therapys potential for multidimensional therapeutic impact distinguishes it from traditional biopharmaceutical therapies focused on a single mechanism of benefit. The therapy represents a unique "off-the-shelf" stem cell product that can be manufactured in a scalable manner, may be stored for years in frozen form, and is administered without tissue matching or the need for immune suppression. Based upon its efficacy profile, its novel mechanisms of action, and a favorable and consistent safety profile demonstrated in clinical studies, MultiStem therapy could provide a meaningful benefit to patients, including those suffering from serious diseases and conditions with unmet medical need. About Athersys Athersys is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutic product candidates designed to extend and enhance the quality of human life. The Company is developing its MultiStem cell therapy product, a patented, adult-derived "off-the-shelf" stem cell product, initially for disease indications in the neurological, inflammatory and immune, cardiovascular and other critical care indications and has several ongoing clinical trials evaluating this potential regenerative medicine product. Athersys has forged strategic partnerships and a broad network of collaborations to further advance the MultiStem cell therapy toward commercialization. More information is available at www.athersys.com. Follow Athersys on Twitter at www.twitter.com/athersys. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the expected timetable for development of our product candidates, our growth strategy, and our future financial performance, including our operations, economic performance, financial condition, prospects, and other future events. We have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by using such words as anticipates, believes, can, continue, could, estimates, expects, intends, may, plans, potential, should, suggest, will, or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are largely based on our current expectations. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could affect the accuracy of these statements. Some of the more significant known risks that we face that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by forward-looking statements are the risks and uncertainties inherent in the process of discovering, developing, and commercializing products that are safe and effective for use as therapeutics, including the uncertainty regarding market acceptance of our product candidates and our ability to generate revenues. These risks may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Other important factors to consider in evaluating our forward-looking statements include: our ability to raise capital to fund our operations; the timing and nature of results from our MultiStem clinical trials, including the MASTERS-2 Phase 3 clinical trial and Healios TREASURE and ONE-BRIDGE clinical trials in Japan; the possibility of delays in, adverse results of, and excessive costs of the development process; our ability to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials of our product candidates; the possibility of delays, work stoppages or interruptions in manufacturing by third parties to us, such as due to material supply constraints, contaminations, or regulatory issues, which could negatively impact our trials and the trials of our collaborators; uncertainty regarding market acceptance of our product candidates and our ability to generate revenues, including MultiStem cell therapy for the treatment of stroke, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute myocardial infarction and trauma, and the prevention of graft-versus-host disease and other disease indications; changes in external market factors; changes in our industry's overall performance; changes in our business strategy; our ability to protect and defend our intellectual property and related business operations, including the successful prosecution of our patent applications and enforcement of our patent rights, and operate our business in an environment of rapid technology and intellectual property development; our possible inability to realize commercially valuable discoveries in our collaborations with pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies; our ability to meet milestones and earn royalties under our collaboration agreements, including the success of our collaboration with Healios; our collaborators ability to continue to fulfill their obligations under the terms of our collaboration agreements and generate sales related to our technologies; the success of our efforts to enter into new strategic partnerships and advance our programs, including, without limitation, in North America, Europe and Japan; our possible inability to execute our strategy due to changes in our industry or the economy generally; changes in productivity and reliability of suppliers; and the success of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: William (B.J.) Lehmann President and Chief Operating Officer Tel: (216) 431-9900 bjlehmann@athersys.com Karen Hunady Director of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Tel: (216) 431-9900 khunady@athersys.com David Schull Russo Partners, LLC Tel: (212) 845-4271 or (858) 717-2310 David.schull@russopartnersllc.com A High Court judge has made orders permitting emergency surgery on an intellectually disabled man who is seriously ill. The surgery may have to include amputation of a severely deformed foot which the man "venomously" opposes. An orthopaedic surgeon described the man's condition as life threatening with a 100% chance of septicaemia, gangrene and death within a year unless the surgery was performed. Today, Mr Justice Peter Kelly granted an application by the HSE for orders permitting the surgery on an emergency basis. He said the risk of not doing the surgery, aimed at saving the man's foot, severely deformed due to diabetes complications, "could be fatal". The surgery was also worth doing if it would lead, even in the medium term, to avoidance of the amputation which the man was "very much against". Aged in his 50s and a ward of court, the man lives at home alone with care supports. His case came before the court via an urgent application by Patricia Hill BL, for the HSE, for orders permitting the surgery. Solicitor Aileen Curry, representing Patricia Hickey, general solicitor for wards of court, supported the surgery. The court heard the man has had several hospital admissions and has been under orthopaedic care for more than a year. An orthopaedic surgeon, following a recent review of his condition, wanted to perform the surgery urgently as she considered, unless it was done, the man's condition would shortly become life threatening. Ms Hill said the surgery poses risks, including a 20% risk of infection and gangrene. There was also a risk during surgery, if the surgery was not successful, the surgeon might have to proceed with a below-the-knee amputation and the surgeon wanted orders permitting that, if necessary. Ms Curry, for Ms Hickey, previously appointed by the court as the committee to represent the interests of the man in wardship, said the man was made a ward of court in autumn 2017. He lived alone and, while he had received very good care from a service provider in his home, was difficult to deal with. A more structured nursing home placement had not worked out. The man was "venomously" opposed to amputation but the committee supported the surgery because there was a high risk to his life and this was an emergency situation, she said. If amputation was considered necessary during the surgery, the committee also felt it must support that. In his ruling, Mr Justice Kelly said the man is "grossly overweight" with a Body Mass Index over 50 and conditions including diabetes and hypertension. He has a serious medical condition and, as a result of complications of diabetes, his foot was severely deformed and he is effectively walking on bone, leaving him vulnerable to infections. As a result of diabetes, he has no pain sensation and more damage was being done to tissues that he was unaware of. He had experienced infections and sepsis over the past year and the doctor's concern was these were life threatening. The evidence was surgeons would usually recommend below-the-knee amputation in such situations but the man opposed that. This proposed surgery was aimed at saving the foot and straightening it so he would be walking on the sole of the foot again but there were risks, including amputation might ultimately be necessary during surgery. On the evidence, the surgery was in the man's best interests, the judge ruled. The judge also noted the man's home situation was "quite undesirable" and directed a post-surgery care plan be prepared. I n September 1993, I attended what seemed like one of the least auspicious political meetings of my lifetime. It was held in Manhattans Mad Hatter bar and was for Friends of Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani was aiming to be the first Republican mayor of New York City in 30 years. Not many others came because nobody gave Giuliani a chance. But thanks to his relentless focus on crime and the perception that the incumbent had lost control of the situation, he went on to secure victory, winning by 51 per cent to 48 per cent that November. He held the job for eight years. Giuliani is now a controversial figure in US politics but as mayor he revolutionised not only the city, but the whole way counterparts across the United States and beyond did their jobs, and how politicians could show decisive leadership and focus on a major issue. His was crime. London needs this kind of decisive leadership right now from City Hall. With our citys murder rate hitting successive 11-year highs, we need can-do leadership right now, otherwise we are risking Londons position as the best city in the world at a delicate time for its future. I was absolutely delighted when my great friend Shaun Bailey asked me to chair his campaign to be Mayor of London. The work has already started. Rudy Giuliani / AP I have known Bailey since his earliest days in London politics, and I know that most of all, he wants to lead this great city, where he was born, grew up, and which he now represents as a London Assembly member. In my view, he is the only candidate who actually wants to do the job, not seeing it as a vehicle for future ambitions. We need a Mayor who will secure Londons position as an economic powerhouse. Our city is the engine of the national economy London accounts for almost a quarter of national GDP. We must be proud of this, yet conscious of our unique situation. As we leave the EU, the Government must strive to protect the City of London, our invaluable services sector, and cultural and creative marvels. Greg Hands (Alex Lentati ) / Alex Lentati The only person who can juggle all of this is Bailey. He has a strong working relationship with the Government, which will allow him to secure the best deals for the capital. London is rightfully recognised as the best city in the world, however we are currently mired in violent crime. There were 149 homicides recorded by the Met in London last year. Every single type of offence was up on the year before. Under the current Mayor, crime is spiralling and every day of inaction puts lives at risk. Bailey wants to make London safe again. Our citys progress and status are on the line we must take action and he has the focus and determination that this city needs right now. The Verkhovna Rada demands that Iran conduct a transparent investigation, urging foreign governments to develop rules that would help prevent such tragedies in the future Open source Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada placed the entire responsibility for PS752 tragedy on Iran. 368 Ukrainian MPs voted for the respective decision, with 226 necessary to pass. The plenary day took place on January 14. The Parliament demands that Iran conduct a transparent investigation, urging foreign governments to develop regulations that would help prevent such tragedies in the future. The MPs' position is supposed to reinforce the negotiation stance of President Zelensky and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry regarding the demands of full recognition of judicial responsibility by Iran. Tehran also should provide compensation to the families of victims. Previously, the parliamentary committee recommended that the MPs vote for placing the responsibility for the plane crash on the Iranian government. Amid buzz that two Connecticut restaurants closed less than a year after appearing on Gordon Ramsay's "24 Hours to Hell and Back," the owner of Vasi's Taverna in Waterbury is setting the record straight: There was no correlation between appearing on the show and closing down the restaurant. "Because of the show...there were rumors that we had a failed business," Owner Vasilios Kaloidis said. "We were not a failing business; we were open for 18 years." Kaloidis said he decided to close his restaurant/banquet hall after receiving an offer to be bought. That deal ended up falling through, but by that time, he had already told staff the restaurant was shutting down and had returned deposits to customers who booked it for events, he said. At this point he "just didn't have the heart to reopen." The space is currently up for sale. The announcement of Vasi's closure was posted on Facebook on January 11, just days short of the one-year anniversary of the restaurant's "24 Hours to Hell and Back" episode, which aired January 16, 2019. Kaloidis noted the coincidence of Stone's Throw in Seymour also closing less than a year short of appearing on the very same show. Stone's Throw was not available for comment. But Kaloidis said the two events are mutually exclusive. "We had the best holiday season we had had in years, and we wanted to end on a high note," he said. As for the effect of the show on business, Kaloidis said business spiked for a couple months after the show aired but then went back to normal. Business also went back to normal in the sense that Kaloidis and his team reversed the changes Ramsay made. Whereas the show introduced a more Greek concept with fresh fish and Greek platters, Kaloidis found his customers wanted more Italian food, burgers and fries and wings. Basically, business concept given to us for the show was not the right concept for Waterbury. Waterbury is a working-class town with many good people in it," he said. "We did all the things [Ramsay said], but figured it out, and went back to the way it was before. And it was the customers who made that decision." For now, Kaloidis said he will be focusing on family and his other restaurant, Spartan in Waterbury, which he co-owns with his mother. In a "year or two" he may consider opening another restaurant. Kaloidis calls filming "24 Hours to Hell and Back" a learning experience. In 2019, ahead of the show's airing, Kaloidis noted that the atmosphere was tense when Ramsay appeared. "That's when the staff was ready to quit and everything you see on TV started to happen. I had to do damage control and say 'it's one day,' and we all decided to do it," he said. At the time of filming, Kaloidis was thinking about becoming a strictly event-based banquet hall. He saw the show as a chance to boost business on the restaurant side. His advice to any restaurant owner thinking about appearing on a reality show is to do the research before committing. And "if they have any questions, they can call me." CHEYENNE, WY, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Federal Credit Union has announced the acquisition of two Liberty Savings Bank branch locations. The transaction, in the works for over a year, was approved by Regulators in November and includes acquiring nearly $100 million in deposits and two physical branch locations in Denver and Granby Colorado. Matt Kluding, Liberty Savings Bank President supports the move, We want to thank our Granby and Monaco branch customers. Blue Federal will be a good fit for them. The transaction is expected to close in February of 2020. We are excited to have the opportunity to welcome the 2,149 Liberty Savings Bank customers as member/owners of Blue, while providing great convenience for our existing members in this area, said Stephanie Teubner, President/CEO. The mission of Blue Federal Credit Union is to work hard, have fun and win for our members. Blue prides themselves on doing good in the communities they serve, and their commitment continues as they begin serving these new member/owners and their communities. Chartered in 1951, Blue Federal Credit Union serves over 90,000 member/owners worldwide and will be expanding on their 17 existing branch locations throughout Wyoming and Colorado. In addition, Blue participates in the shared branching network that provides over 30,000 Surcharge-Free ATMs and 5,000 branch locations across the United States. Blue Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial institution serving communities in Wyoming and Colorado, along with robust digital services to serve member/owners worldwide. Our purpose is to create a true cooperative, connected to, and inspired by the communities we serve, committed to building lifelong relationships with our members, and guided by the belief that their success is ours. Blue Federal Credit Union For You. For Life. Please visit www.bluefcu.com for more information. Founded in 1889, Liberty Savings Bank is a Federal Savings Bank headquartered in Wilmington, Ohio. After this transaction Liberty will have five branches serving the Florida communities of Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice. In addition to our retail locations, Liberty has a nationwide Health Savings Account and Wholesale Mortgage business. For more information go to www.libertysavingsbank.com. Michele Bolkovatz Blue Federal Credit Union 307-432-5402 mbolkovatz@bluefcu.com In a bid to express solidarity with protesting students and the courageous women of Shaheen Bagh, a group of nearly 400 farmers from Punjab, arrived in Delhi in the morning today. Twitter The group that includes men as well as a large number of women said they were from two districts of Punjab, and they are here to support the women-led protest in Shaheen Bagh. a large group of farmers (approx 500-600) from punjab have come to shaheen bagh supporting the protesters here. more are expected to join. pic.twitter.com/C2enNQaKYF Surekha (@surekhapillai) January 15, 2020 In an online statement, farmers' Union (Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee) leaders Joginder Ugraha and Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that, The passage of CAA, the fascist agenda of BJP has acquired a new height. With this new Act, the BJP government at the Center has launched an attack on the people of India by imposing new principles of citizenship and through the NPR they are paving the steps to implement a nationwide divisive NRC. "Modi wants to rule by making people fight with each other. He is not giving jobs to farmers, instead, he is making the Muslims and Sikhs fight," NDTV quoted a farmer from Punjab as saying. According to reports, the leaders of the farmers union went to meet JNU students and teachers, and thereafter marched from Shaheen Bagh to Jamia on January 15. As of 5:30 pm today, they are marching back to Shaheen Bagh. "They are not associated with any political party, they are progressive people, and committed to social justice," a person present at march led by the Farmers was quoted as saying. Indiatimes The defining moment of these farmers offering support was when they selflessly set up a Langar (community kitchen) for those at the protest site. According to NDTV, they travelled with cooking gas and stove, huge utensils and made sure to cook up a hearty meal for those protesting at Shaheen Bagh. The Shaheen Bagh protest, on now for more than a month, and has hit international headlines as women are spearheading the protests. The protests is an ongoing 24 X 7 sit-in peaceful protest that began with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in both houses of Parliament on, December 11, 2019. Investors indifference about high-tech parks has been partly blamed on legal obstacles, as well as a lack of social infrastructure Completed infrastructure surrounded with trees and spacious buildings and accompanied with favourable transport links are the first notable changes at Hanois Hoa Lac High-tech Park (HHTP) this year. Located about 30km from the citys centre, the facility has marked a year of mass production of aero engines for South Koreas Hanwha Group at the first foreign-invested aircraft engine parts factory, worth $200 million. We made revenues of $35 million in 2019, and are expected to increase this to $52 million this year. We are making a good performance there, said general director Kam Sang Kyun of Hanwha Aero Engines, a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group. Hanwha Areo Engines is one of very few major foreign-invested projects that HHTP has attracted in recent years, despite the effects of Decree No.74/2017/ND-CP which came into effect in 2017, governing the special mechanisms and policies for HHTP. Why less attractive? According to the HHTP Management Board, the park lured in just four domestically-invested projects in 2019, registered at VND7.46 trillion ($324.3 million), thus increasing its accumulative registered total capital to VND86.37 trillion ($3.76 billion) in 91 projects. The park had no foreign-invested project during the year, despite having meetings with around 70 delegations of international investors, and 30 other domestic equivalents. With the sum, we met the whole-year investment attraction target of $300 million, but have yet to meet expectations of attracting investment in social infrastructure such as workers housing, hospitals, trade centres, and other services, Tran Dac Trung, director of HHTPs Co-operation and Investment Division, told VIR. HHTP attracted 11 projects in 2018 registered with VND17 trillion ($739 million), a record high over the past 20 years. Notable names involved included Nidec, Mitsubishi, and Hanwha Group. Currently, the filling rate of the park is 30 per cent of its 1,500 hectares, while foreign direct investment (FDI) accounts for 30 per cent of total investment. The figures show wavering attraction of the park, which was founded in 1998 and boasts the longest history among the countrys three high-tech parks. HHTP has more lucrative advantages than the other parks thanks to Decree 74, which includes unique incentives such as the 10 per cent corporate income tax (CIT) within the first 30 years for a new investment project of at least VND4 trillion ($174 million). Thus far, only Hanwha Areo Engines is enjoying the special incentive. Japans Nidec is likely to follow, but can only access the incentive after this year when it completes investment disbursement and procedures with tax agencies. The HHTP Management Board partly blamed legal barriers for the situation, especially regulations on refund of site clearance cost that investors use pocket money in advance. The other is a lack of social infrastructure looking around HHTP, it can be seen that the necessary facilities for this area are still absent. Similarly, the performance of Saigon High-tech Park (SHTP) and Danang High-tech Park (DHTP) has not been as high as expected. In particular, SHTP saw just one big foreign-invested project last year the $650 million from Hong Kongs Techtronic Industries, licensed towards the end of the year. Although that project helps SHTP surpass the whole-year FDI attraction target and contributed 8 per cent to the citys total, FDI at the park itself was modest in the first 11 months, with the biggest such project licensed being worth $5 million. Located in Ho Chi Minh City, SHTP is the most successful attractor of international investment among the countrys three national high-tech parks. In 2018 it was estimated to have lured in $150 million worth of FDI. Le Bich Loan, deputy director of the SHTP Management Board, told VIR previously that the park missed many options because of limited land funds. It is seeking to expand the park by 200ha to seize opportunities. Meanwhile, DHTP lured in $178 million in total in 2019, thus increasing the total accumulative registered capital of $337 million in FDI. The projects in operation are the aerospace manufacturing factory of the US-based Universal Alloy Corporation, Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology, Japans NIWA Foundry, ESTEC, and ICT VINA medical device factory for South Korea. DHTP also has special incentives for investors such as land lease fees, refund of site clearance cost, CIT, import duty, and credit, among others. Industry insiders said that the three high-tech parks now have the advantage in attracting investors thanks to completed infrastructure, favourable transportation, and incentive policies. The problem here is how to implement more effective promotion campaigns to lure in investors. Moreover, the high-tech parks in Vietnam are operating like an industrial park rather than a sci-tech hub. To increase their attractiveness, together with effective special incentives, the high-tech parks should have a dynamic working environment, as well as modern and synchronous infrastructure, said one expert. Future solutions In an effort to improve FDI attraction, HHTP is working with relevant governmental agencies on the amendments to laws on investment, enterprises, land, and personal income tax, along with relevant decrees. The park also plans to co-operate with the Ministry of Finance in revising Decree No.35/2017/ND-CP issued in 2017 on collection of land leasing fee in economic zones and high-tech parks to facilitate refund of site clearance cost. This year, HHTP will intensify co-operation with international organisations such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japan External Trade Organization, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and others to promote investment opportunities at home and abroad. The park aims to call for investment and complete procedures. Currently it is processing procedures to grant investment certificates to 10 projects, including housing and social services. It also plans to develop workshops for lease. In similar moves, Danang will organise investment promotion programmes abroad, including Europe, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, India, Taiwan, and Singapore, for DHTP and industrial parks. Notably, DHTP has signed an MoU with Ai20X Silicon Valley on co-operation in the promotion of American investment in DHTP, and in developing DHTP into an innovation and incubation centre. Also, experts of Ai20X Silicon Valley will give advice to schemes related to high-tech industrial sectors, innovations, and startups in Danang. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, sci-tech is one of the four most attractive sectors to foreign investors, with total registered investment of $1.57 billionin 2019. With the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement being set to go live this year, and the governments supporting programme to come out in line with Industry 4.0, the FDI picture at the three high-tech parks may be brighter as technology firms from Japan, the US, South Korea, and Europe are making business and investment plans in Vietnam, on the back of their countries new policies. Thus far, the US has announced the US-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership, South Koreas President Moon Jae-in announced the New Southern Policy, and Japan piloted the Nurturing New Industries scheme within the ASEAN. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Masel and Staff Sgt. Samuel Mullins weren't carrying any weapons when they heard gunfire inside a building on their Florida base last month. Still, they ran inside, planning to confront the shooter. As they charged toward the sound of gunfire, the Marines pulled a fire extinguisher off the wall and prepared to fight. Navy Airman Ryan Blackwell was inside the building when the Dec. 6 attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola started. The gunman, a Saudi officer who was training at the base, shot him five times through an office window. Despite his injuries, Blackwell jumped on top of another sailor to shield her from the gunfire. He then helped lead the other sailors to safety -- all while continuing to take fire. Related: Pensacola Shooter Visited 9/11 Memorial Before Rampage, US Attorney General Says The troops' courageous acts were highlighted by U.S. Attorney General William Barr this week. In his press conference, Barr said the FBI determined the shooting, which killed three sailors and injured several others, was a terrorist attack. "Ryan Blackwell's heroic acts saved countless lives that day, and we're grateful to the bravery of the base personnel and the local law enforcement responders who initially arrived at the scene and engage the shooter," Barr said. The Marines and sailor declined requests for interviews. Their commands, citing ongoing investigations, won't say whether their actions have led to nominations for heroism awards. "No award information will be released for any service member or civilian prior to official announcement," said Cmdr. James Stockman, a spokesman for Naval Education and Training Command. Blackwell, who's from South Carolina, enlisted in the Navy in 2017. According to his service records, he has never deployed. He was in an office with two other sailors when the shooting began. He told the Pensacola News Journal the day after the attack that the gunman didn't open the office door but shot at them through a window. All three troops were hurt, but Blackwell tied his belt around his arm as a tourniquet and helped usher his colleagues out. "I wasn't worried about being shot," he told the paper. "I was just worried about getting us to safety and getting us out of there. We could have been three more casualties if we didn't escape." Masel and Mullins never faced off against the shooter, but Barr said they helped "save many lives by giving CPR and other urgent medical aid to the victims." Masel and Mullins, both combat veterans, serve as instructors with Marine Aviation Training Support Group 23 at Pensacola. The training group works with entry-level aviation logistics Marines. Masel, a 34-year-old UH-1Y crew chief from Livonia, Michigan, deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. Mullins, a 36-year-old CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crew chief from Joplin, Missouri, deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005 and Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. Both earned Combat Aircrew Wings during those deployments. Mullins also earned a Combat Action Ribbon. The attack has led to a review of the military's international exchange program, which allows foreign troops to train on U.S. military bases. It has also reignited debate over whether service members should be allowed to carry firearms on base. The 2015 terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, another shooting rampage at a recruiting office and naval Reserve center, also prompted lawmakers and military leaders to assess whether troops should be permitted to carry firearms on bases. Last month, the Marine Corps authorized about 3,200 law enforcement personnel to carry firearms on its installations -- even if they're not on duty. In the wake of the Pensacola shooting investigation, the U.S. booted 21 Saudi cadets from training programs after some were found to have anti-American or jihadi materials on their computers. Others were found to have child pornography materials, Barr said. Editor's note: This story was updated to correct information provided by the U.S. military regarding service members' backgrounds. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read more: Some Marines Get OK to Carry Concealed Firearms After Deadly Shootings The deal also contains commitments, at least on paper, to halt the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese competitors. Companies have long complained that in order to do business in China, they had to hand over valuable technology and trade secrets. China has pledged not to require such transfers, including when companies apply for certain licenses or government approvals. China also pledged not to support or direct acquisitions and investment by Chinese companies of foreign technology in industries targeted by its industrial plans that create distortion. The provision is vaguely worded, but American officials say it is targeted at addressing the issues created by industrial plans like Made in China 2025. Getting China to comply with the deal could be hard PAGE 7-1 To ensure prompt and effective implementation of this Agreement, the Parties establish the following Bilateral Evaluation and Dispute Resolution Arrangement (the Arrangement). Among the biggest questions going in to the negotiations with China was how any agreement would be enforced. Having watched previous agreements with China fail to live up to their promise, many American experts and business executives were skeptical that the Trump administration could get China to keep the commitments it makes. Unlike other trade deals, which typically refer disputes to a neutral third party, the United States and China have decided to work out any issues on their own. The deal creates something called the Bilateral Evaluation and Dispute Resolution Offices to receive and evaluate complaints. The deal also includes an appeals process where issues can be elevated from midlevel officials all the way up to the offices of the United States trade representative and the vice premier of China. If those talks cant resolve the dispute, more tariffs will go into effect. Under such a scenario, the other party promises not to retaliate with tariffs of its own. If they do, either country can give written notice and withdraw from the deal quickly returning the two countries to a trade war scenario. Wall Streets gains appear incremental and it is unclear if the deal will be a boon for all financial firms PAGE 4-1 The Parties shall work constructively to provide fair, effective, and nondiscriminatory market access for each others services and services suppliers. To that end, the Parties shall take specific actions beginning with the actions set forth in this Chapter with respect to the financial services sector. The agreement gives the United States some gains in financial services, including in electronic payments, securities, fund management and insurance, but many of these changes were already in the works. In an attempt to defuse tension with the Trump administration, China had already moved in 2017 to give foreign firms more sway in its financial sector, and American banks and other firms have been taking majority stakes in Chinese ventures. For years, credit card companies Visa, Mastercard and American Express sought entry into China. In the deal, China agreed to accept license applications by these companies, but it did not automatically grant them access to its market. Even if China does approve their applications, it is not clear that those businesses would make many inroads in the countrys advanced electronic payment system, which is dominated by domestic companies. No sane person would be enjoying whats going on in the area of the Persian Gulf where tensions are escalating" Visiting Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday extended the Russian Governments support to Sri Lanka to identify and hold accountable the masterminds of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks last year. Addressing a joint press conference with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena at the Foreign Relations Ministry in Colombo, the minister said Russia was willing to support Sri Lanka in its counterterrorism efforts. He added that Russia would continue to provide arms and ammunition to the Sri Lanka Army. Responding to a question on enhancing security and anti-terror co-operation with Sri Lanka, Lavrov said, As far as security is concerned, we have supplied and continue to supply arms and equipment that the Sri Lankan Army needs to effectively fight off its enemies and to improve its defence capacity. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena expressed his satisfaction over these measures. Lavrov said that Russia was keen on increasing bilateral trade with Sri Lanka from USD 400 million to USD 700 million. Noting that he is aware that Sri Lanka needs investment in hydrocarbon exploration and building the tourism infrastructure, he said direct contact between business communities would be promoted to meet this end. We are glad over the increased intensity of the Sri Lankan-Russian political dialogue. We are thankful for the Sri Lankan partners of their support for the initiatives we promote in the UN General Assembly in themes such as No glorification of Nazism, prevention of an arms race in outer space, information security and prevention of cybercrimes, and arms control and non-proliferation. The Delegations of the two countries are in close coordination in forums such as the UNESCO, UNHRC and OPCW. We also agreed to coordinate our efforts in the preparations of celebrations to mark the 75th Anniversary of World War II, he remarked. One other thing that makes Sri Lanka and Russia similar is that we push for greater democratization of inter-state relations with respect to civilization and cultural diversity of the world. In this context, associations as BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization have an important role to play. Russia presides over both this year, he added. My colleague briefed me extensively on the efforts that were put together by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to bring the situation in the country back to normal and the plans with regard to the Constitution and reaching a national accord. We fully support those measures, he concluded inviting his counterpart to visit Russia. Responding to a question by a journalist on tensions building between the US and Iran, Lavrov said, No sane person would be enjoying whats going on in the area of the Persian Gulf where tensions are escalating. A couple of years ago the US claimed that Iran was the root of all evil in the region and that it was the main terrorist in the region though no evidence was ever provided. The culmination was the killing of General Qassem Suleimani which goes beyond any norms of international behaviour. We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in what goes on between the US and Iran. Instead, we urge all the parties to show restrain and address the issues through dialogue. However, the US while inviting Iran for dialogue puts pressure of sanctions on them. We fully understand your concerns of the possible impact of the events in Gulf on Sri Lanka. Indeed if the situation escalades, the traditional exports goods would be hit, but not only Sri Lanka would suffer. The Middle East is the region where the transport routes of strategic importance and intersects. Responding to another question Lavrov said that no final results on the settlement in Libya have been achieved at the talks in Moscow, but efforts would continue. All efforts now taken by Europeans including Germans, the French, Italians, the efforts by Libyan neighbours - Algeria, Egypt - as well as the UAE, Turkey, Qatar and Russia, we want to piece them all together so that everyone acts in one direction and urges all Libyan parties to reach agreements rather than sort things out militarily, he said. Foreign Relations, Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena addressing the press conference said, the two sides recognized the threats posed by terrorism, violent extremism, illicit drugs trafficking and other transnational organized crimes to national, regional and international security, and agreed to continue our cooperation to pursue shared solutions and exchange best Practices. Sri Lanka and Russia will further expand counter-terrorism cooperation through strengthened linkages between the relevant authorities in the respective countries. He added Defence cooperation between the two countries is active and robust under the bilateral Military Cooperation Agreement that was signed in September 2018 in Moscow. Sri Lanka-Russia bilateral ties entered a new and dynamic phase under the leadership of President Putin. This official visit to Sri Lanka by Foreign Minister Lavrov after ten years since 2009, has served to further revitalize our bilateral engagement. Today, we had an excellent meeting, where we renewed our commitment to further consolidate and transform our bilateral cooperation into a viable, results oriented and mutually beneficial partnership. Our discussions focused on continuing the political dialogue, and advancing bilateral economic and technical cooperation within the Russia-Sri Lanka Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. The agreed areas of cooperation include agriculture and the food economy, fisheries, water management, education, including technical and vocational education, trade and investment, tourism, security and defence, including counter-terrorism, science & technology, renewable energy and oil exploration, he remarked. Minister Gunawardena noted that the potential for greater Russian investments in the hospitality sector was also discussed, adding that direct air connectivity facilitated by Aeroflot has led to an increase of Russian tourists in Sri Lanka. He said there were 86, 549 Russian arrivals in 2019 compared to 64,497 arrivals in 2018. I informed Foreign Minister Lavrov that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was keen to expand University level technical education in Sri Lanka in order to increase the employability and productivity of Sri Lankan youth. President Rajapaksa is also keen to upgrade the quality of Sri Lankas vocational and technical training programmes. Therefore, we agreed to explore new educational opportunities at the Russian universities and technical schools for advanced science and technical education for Sri Lankan students, he said. Presenting the Central Banks Road Map 2020 and Beyond on January 6, its governor Professor Weligamage Don Lakshman declared that the Sri Lankan economy is at a crossroads. He said tough challenges remain and economic reform was essential. The recently-formed government of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse installed Lakshman as the banks chief on December 24. His statements indicate that the government is preparing to further impose the burden of the countrys economic crisis on the back of the working people, in line with the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The central bank chief highlighted the sluggish growth of the economylast years growth is estimated to be just 2.8 percentand insisted that inability to address structural issues had caused this persistent slowdown. Lakshman said the government was engaging with the IMF, which was likely to be instrumental in supporting external sector stability. In other words, the IMFs requirements must be imposed in order to appease the global financial markets. Addressing the structural issues means implementing the IMFs austerity measures, including privatising and commercialising state-owned enterprises, increasing charges for utility services such as water and electricity, and slashing subsidies on essential goods. These were the main conditions attached to the $US1.5 billion bailout loan approved by IMF in 2016. The IMF set the target of reducing the budget deficit from 7 percent to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). As it began implementing those conditions, the previous government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faced increasing opposition in the working class and poor, marked by a series of strikes and protests. Lakshman pointed to numerous global processes affecting the Sri Lankan economy, such as increased geopolitical and trade tensions and widespread slowdown in the global economy. After coming to power with false promises to ease the economic burden on workers and the poor, Rajapakses government immediately handed tax reductions to corporations in order to boost profits, claiming this would help the ailing economy. In a policy speech on January 3, Rajapakse urged companies to pass some percentage of the benefits of the tax concessions recently provided to them to the public as well. However, there has been no significant reduction in the prices of essentials. In fact, many prices, including for ricea staple food for Sri Lankan peoplehave been gone up. Lakshman said the drop in tax revenue as a result of the corporate concessions would be covered by eliminating unproductive current expenditure. The cash-strapped Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government already has instructed all departments and state corporations to cut spending and stop new projects. This will affect public education, health and public sector projects. The bank governor also said government revenues would be enhanced through essential reforms of state-owned enterprises. In plain language, this means privatising and downsizing state ventures. Lakshman claimed that policy uncertainty was leading to weak investor confidence and low levels of investment. This is a thinly-veiled call for a government that will impose the policies needed to attract investors, which is also Rajapakses aim. In another article on the economic crisis, titled Gotas Economic War, former Central Bank deputy governor W. A. Wijewardena recently urged Gotabhaya Rajapakse to conduct a war on the economy. He wrote that the falling growth rate, a fragile external sector and external debts were serious problems for the country. Citing the Central Bank, Wijewardena pointed out that the government and private sector must pay loan instalments and interest amounting to $US6 billion in the next 12 months, but the countrys liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at just $6.5 billion. Hence, using foreign reserves to pay back debt would reduce them to a critically low level. The countrys external debt overhang is looming frighteningly over Gotas administration, Wijewardena wrote. He voiced concern that Rajapakse was concentrating on winning the forthcoming parliamentary election at the expense of sound economic policies, that is, austerity measures. He referred to the economic challenges as having the ferocity of the enemy. While the economic war has to be temporarily kept aside until the conclusion of the scheduled parliamentary elections, Wijewardena declared, Gota[bhaya] should wake up and fight his economic war to a conclusion as he did in the case of his other wars. Rajapakses primary other war was as the defence secretary when the government headed by his brother, President Mahinda Rajapakse, directed the bloody communal onslaught against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. During the final stage of the war alone, in 2009, at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed, according to United Nations estimates. As defence secretary, Rajapakse also used the military and police to forcibly evict hundreds of Colombo slum dwellers and to crush the struggles of workers and poor. As signaled by Lakshman and Wijewardena, the representatives and advisors of the ruling class are demanding a similar war now to crush the resistance of workers and the poor, and implement the agenda of big business and international finance capital. President Rajapakse is currently preparing for such a war by appointing generals to key posts and bidding for a big majority in a parliamentary election in order to rewrite the constitution to boost his presidential powers and establish authoritarian rule. You know Chloe x Halle as the unstoppable, overwhelmingly talented sister duo whose resume includes opening for not one but two of Beyonce's tours, and starring as Jazz and Sky Forster on Freeform's Grown-ish. With an even bigger year ahead for the sisters, both separately and together - Halle will begin filming the upcoming live-action Little Mermaid, Chloe will star in supernatural horror film The Georgetown Project, and the duo will release a new album - we are beyond excited to feature them as our latest POPSUGAR digital cover story! In between shots, we sat down with the girls on set to see just how well they know each other. Chloe and Halle quizzed each other on everything from their backstage rituals . . . . . . to the things they love doing most. Check it out in the video above, and catch Chloe and Halle Bailey on Grown-ish when season three airs Thursday, Jan. 16, on Freeform! STEM Funding Fiat Grant Funds STEM Programs for Regional Schools Michigan's Cranbrook Institute of Science is using a grant for producing a STEM program in state schools that includes real-world application and "resource efficiency." The donation came from the FCA Foundation, the charitable division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The Foundation gave out $1.65 million in grants to numerous Detroit-area educational programs. The Institute, which serves as Michigan's Museum of Natural History, is applying its funding to a STEM program it has delivered to K-12 students at Detroit Enterprise Academy. It will be delivering that same programming to learners in central and southeast Michigan, reaching an estimated 4,500 students in total. Cranbrook has developed a "Science on the Go" program, with a catalog that educators can choose programming from. "Cranbrook Institute of Science is committed to transforming students, families and communities through STEM and environmental education programs of the highest quality and impact," said Michael Stafford, Cranbrook's director, in a statement. Among 17 recipients, FCA funding also went to the Girls in Engineering Academy, FIRST robotics competitions and Math Corps, which provides academic and mentoring programs to students in grades 6-12 in Detroit public schools. A Family of Services The Northeast Florida MLS, Inc. (NEFMLS) previously operating as RealtyWEB.Net, unveils a revitalized identity and introduces a new brand, realMLS. With nearly 10,000 members, realMLS is the largest MLS in Northeast Florida. Ron Stephan, CEO of realMLS commented, Our new brand symbolizes the same philosophy that weve upheld for over 26 years. Maintain real connections with our members and third-party vendors, continue to provide a real human touch in our technical support and membership services, and be the trusted source for real data and innovative products and services which empower our members for real success. Along with the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Inc. (NEFAR), realMLS and Metro Market Trends, Inc., we recently expanded our headquarters, including office space, educational facilities, and technology to accommodate our growing customer base, added Stephan. Kimberly Wiggins, COO of realMLS said Our mission remains the same and our vision is clear as we enter a new decade. We strive to be the best in our industry by providing accurate, complete, and timely data and we will continue to be a service-centric, innovative MLS offering expanded member benefits. Having established a new brand and logo, realMLS has updated its website with streamlined features allowing members easy access to a variety of educational opportunities, online support and quick links to the Flexmls application. Additionally, realMLS members have access to a comprehensive property record database, MMT SearchNet, through Metro Market Trends, Inc. This product enhances the services that our members can provide to their clients. CMAs are more thorough because they can include off-market properties. Property history is readily available through MMTs user-friendly interface. The property record database also provides realMLS members with customized prospecting tools. Data sharing allows realMLS members access to Daytona Beach Association of Realtors, Flagler County Association of Realtors, Hernando County Association of Realtors, and Space Coast Association of Realtors MLS data, giving realMLS members and their sellers more exposure for their listings and more choices for their buyers. There are many MLS organizations throughout the country but the leadership and staff that make up realMLS are the key components of what defines the value of our realMLS, said Mario Gonzalez, 2020 MLS President. About Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service, Inc. The Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (NEFMLS) now operating as realMLS is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEFAR providing innovative programs and services to nearly 10,000 real estate professionals. RealMLS partners with many exceptional service providers giving members a wide array of choices to fit their individual business model. Members have access to statistical data products that are customizable, along with extensive property record data through their integration with Metro Market Trends, Inc., which provides detailed and accurate property information to its customers throughout the state of Florida and parts of Alabama. The realMLS staff is comprised of a professional team of dedicated and caring employees who continually provide outstanding customer service, extensive hands-on training, and proficient technical support. SOUDERTON It may end up as a banner year for Souderton, but its not starting that way. In recent years, banners for community events have been hung between two utility poles across Main Street near the traffic light at Reliance Road, but high winds whip the banners around, cause the poles to flex and have even knocked out the electricity to some neighboring properties, borough officials said at the Jan. 13 Souderton Borough Council work session. Long story short, PP&L is less than delighted with the banner situation on that, so we are very much hard pressed to go back and put another banner at that location, Borough Manager Mike Coll said. Requests to be allowed to hang a banner come to the police department, Souderton Borough Police Chief James Leary said, and for the first time, hes had to deny those. After looking at the slant of the poles, having watched the banners actually move the poles, and having suffered the power outage, Im to the point now where I think it would be irresponsible for me to approve a banner, Leary said. Im not going to approve them until we find something a little bit safer. I really think that were creating liability for the municipality, for motorists, for pedestrians and certainly for PP&L. There has been discussion in the past about possibly putting in poles specifically for the banners, which is now again being considered. The area where weve been hanging it was the easiest way to do it because two poles existed already, council President Brian Goshow said. The location is also a gateway to the borough and an area where the most traffic passes through and sees the banners, he said. There was previous discussion of having banners hang across the Main Street hollow, but that raised concerns that people looking up to read the banners in an area with a lot of pedestrians and other activity could potentially be dangerous, Goshow said. Another suggested banner location was on E. Broad Street near School Lane, he said. Poles for the banners would be similar to traffic light poles, Coll said. When the borough previously looked into getting poles specifically for the banners, the cost was about $15,000, Goshow said. Wed have to install them, too, he said. The borough would also have to get permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the banner poles, Coll said. The banners have been used for things including publicizing the boroughs 125th anniversary activities in 2012, Goshow said. For a community event, I think its one of the best things, he said. During discussion of the banners in 2015, Coll described the way the banners were hung as essentially lassoing a banner to two electric poles. If the new poles for the banners were installed, he said at the 2020 meeting, a steel cable would be run between the poles and the banners could be slid across the road, then fastened. That makes it much easier to put up the banners, Goshow said. Council agreed to look into possibly getting poles for banners at both the current location and on Broad Street near School Lane and to see if the Business Improvement District wants to contribute to the purchase. In another matter at the meeting, Coll said economic redevelopment grants are available from the county and the boroughs planning commission had discussed possible projects in Souderton. One of the possibilities is for improvements to the municipal parking lot off Chestnut Street that is used by people going to Main Street businesses, he said. Its such a steep lot, Coll said. The trees are dying, he said. Its really getting rough looking. The borough engineer has done preliminary sketches for possible improvements, he said. If work is done at the parking lot, the possibility of adding handicapped parking would also have to be addressed, although that would be difficult because of the steep slope, he said. There is a tight schedule for applying for the new round of grants, so council would likely have to act in February to authorize an application, Coll said. A Hawkes Bay based horticulture employer, who breached labour laws in 2015, has again been penalised by the Employment Relations Authority, this time for breaches against migrant employees in the Bay of Plenty. Gautam Rajan Kapur has been ordered by the ERA to pay more than $25,000 for employment breaches committed against four migrant workers. In 2015, the ERA penalised three Hawkes Bay businesses, associated to Kapur, $22,500 for failure to provide employment records to the Labour Inspector. Last year, the Labour Inspectorate took action against Kapur after receiving a complaint from four Singaporean women hired by Kapur for pruning work while they were visiting the Bay of Plenty on a working holiday. The women worked for five days on a kiwifruit orchard in Pukehina operated by Joba Orchard Limited, but were never paid for their work. The employees were young and vulnerable. It was their first time in New Zealand, and Mr Kapurs actions not only undermined the workers rights, but also New Zealands international reputation, says Labour Inspectorate Regional Manager, Natalie Gardiner. Furthermore, Kapur had set up a sham business, Sunrise Hort Limited, in another persons name to try and avoid personal responsibility for the exploitation. When approached by the Labour Inspector, Mr Kapur claimed that he was merely an employee at Sunrise Hort, and not responsible for the breaches. Evidence provided by the employees, who had since returned to Singapore, proved this was not the case, says Natalie. The ERA found Mr Kapur personally responsible for the breaches and ordered him to pay $18,000 in penalties ($12,000 of which will go to the workers) and $5,451 in costs incurred by the Labour Inspectorate during the investigation. Kapur has also been ordered by the ERA to pay $2,143 to the four workers in outstanding wages and holiday pay. Individuals cannot hide behind company names to get away with exploitation, nor can they blatantly lie about an employment relationship, as was the case with Kapur. In the past year, the Inspectorate took 20 cases to the ERA or the Employment Court seeking personal liability against directors responsible for employment law breaches. This is a significant increase on previous years. Kapur is well known in the Bay of Plenty and associated with at least 16 horticulture companies. He has previously been investigated by government authorities and banned from managing companies. While the kiwifruit industry has checks in place, more should be done by the industry to make sure this type of behaviour is detected and eradicated if they are to protect workers, their brand and New Zealands reputation here and overseas. This should include businesses such as Joba Orchard taking ownership of their supply chains and conducting due diligence to ensure their contractors are compliant with legislative requirements. The Labour Inspectorate has been discussing these issues with the kiwifruit industry bodies and urges them to continue their efforts to combat non-compliance with the labour laws from the top down. The ERA heard that Mohinder Singh, the director of Joba Orchard, had never heard of Sunrise Hort Limited but was acquainted with Kapur. Kapur introduced him to Dinesh Sharma who was the director of Danish Horticulture Limited, whom Joba Orchard contracted for pruning work. The ERA also heard that Kapur and Sharma coerced another vulnerable individual into setting up the sham Sunrise Hort business, to avoid legal responsibility for the exploited workers. MBIE encourages anyone concerned about the employment situation of themselves or someone they know to contact Employment New Zealand where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment. Migrant workers and those new to the workforce are also encouraged to assess their employment rights knowledge with this online tool on the Employment New Zealand website. Read about the MBIE-led temporary migrant worker exploitation review here. On January 8, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 caught fire in the sky above Tehran. All 176 people on board the flight died in the incident, the cause of which was not immediately known. The next day, the New York Times published a 20-second video clip which showed the explosion was caused by an Iranian missile. The video refuted statements by Iranian officials that such a cause was scientifically impossible. We first learned that it was a missile that took down a Ukrainian airliner over Iran because of this video showing the moment of impact, a Times staffer explained in subsequent coverage. (On Tuesday night, the Times team updated its reporting based on new video evidence, from which they concluded that two missiles had been fired at the plane.) Related: A guide to navigating the Trump-Iran story Verifying the video fell to a team of Times reporters that included Malachy Browne, a senior story producer on the Visual Investigations desk. Browne applies investigative techniques to visual evidence, in order to present what his team calls a definitive account of the news. Previous reporting by Brownes teamwhich currently includes six reporters as well as experts in video editing and motion graphics used to manipulate footage revealed efforts by Syria and Russia to spin the April 2017 chemical-weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, and implicated security officers working for Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a May 2017 attack on protestors in Washington, DC, among other stories. Browne spoke with CJR about how his team sourced and verified video of the missile strike against Flight 752. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Sign up for CJR 's daily email How did you obtain the missile video? There are several Telegram channels that were set up to try to figure out what was going on. Its basically like a WhatsApp group: people can join to share information. This was actually on one of the channels for Parand, which is the town near Tehrans airport where the airplane lost its signal. And people on Twitter and on Telegram reported hearing a loud explosion near Parand. Christiaan Triebert, who sits two desks down from me, saw this video pop up. It was a day-and-a-half after the plane had been shot down, and it purported to show a missile hitting. You dismiss a lot, but we were able to find the person who posted this. It was filmed by somebody else, and we verified with him. There were pictures circulating on social media, unverified, of rocket remains people said were found in Parand. We didnt run with that because we couldnt verify it. We couldnt find where those photographs were taken. And the source seemed a little bit dodgy. How did you verify the video? We had already been collecting a lot of videos. We had mapped out where the plane came down, where the debris was, all on Google Earth. We had a flight path, its altitude, and all the rest of it from FlightRadar24. We were mapping out potential missile-launch sites in the area. For the geolocation: in the video, you can see a person standing beside what looks like a small cabin. And theres a little metal tower with sort of cross sections, almost like a ladder, with a light on top. It looks like a security light illuminating the area. And theres very distinctive rows of buildings that are all identical in the distance. It was the shadow from that lamp post that gave it away. You couldnt see the lamp post in the satellite imagery, but you could see the shadow right beside that small cabin, and the buildings in the distance. So, we were able to very quickly verify that that video was taken there in Parand. And we are able to identify the corner on which the camera was located very quickly, within minutes. Not only was it filmed there, but we can see that the plane is flying from the right of the screen, across to the left, and matched up with the path of the plane, basically. But, because this was such a contentious issue, we still wanted to see if theres any way that could have been faked. We got our video editors and we slowed it down. We went frame by frame through it. We also looked at the glow of the missile and the moment of the explosion to see if all of that stood up. Also, theres the sound. There was a delay from seeing the explosion to the sound reaching the camera. We knew the approximate altitude that the plane was flying at from the flight information. We knew the location from the flight path. So we were able to calculate the distance and the altitudeand, therefore, the hypotenuse between them and the cameraand calculate how long the sound of an explosion would take to travel that distance. And it was roughly what we were seeing and hearing in the video, about 10 or 10.5 seconds. ICYMI: NPR parts ways with freelancer after Tucker Carlson targets her What other tools does a visual investigative reporter use? A lot of this comes down to traditional source cultivation. Our team has been putting out a series of investigations on Syria, on the bombings of hospitals and other civic sites in Syria, primarily by Russian pilots. We have a trove of thousands of pilot recordings, and theyre time-coded. By doing similar types of geolocation, temporal location, establishing the minute that a strike happened or a video was recorded, were able to see what pilots are doing in the skies at that time. In a conflict where its been very difficult to apportion blame for specific attacks, were able to definitively say that this pilot, in this minute, bombed that hospital. Sometimes they are even sharing the coordinates of the hospitals. We published one in June about an airstrike on a family home in Taliban country in Afghanistan. This poor fellow was working out of the country and got a call from his wife that there was a raid going on. And he says, Okay, Im coming home right now. He arrives back there and his family is killed and buried. The US was denying they carried it out, and the Afghans were denying they carried it out as well. We worked with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London to get sources in the village who had filmed the aftermath of the attack. My colleagues Christiaan Triebert and John Ismay analyzed the weapons remains that were there. Through our correspondents in DC and our Kabul bureau, we were able to identify that this was a weapon that was only used by the American Air Force in Afghanistan. Its just an example of forcing the US military to admit that they had carried out this airstrike. They did not admit to civilian casualties. Is this kind of reporting attainable for a freelance reporter who is not attached to a news outlet like the Times? Yes, it is. Theres a terrific collective called Bellingcat, and its essentially freelance investigators who do online, open-source investigations, just like we do. One of our team, Christiaan Triebert, worked at Bellingcat before he joined us. Theres also Storyful, where I used to work. There are other groups like the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley. They have a lot of students who do similar investigative work or open-source investigations using satellite imagery, found footage, weapons analysis, and so on. And theres a really strong online community of people who are sharing skills and information. A lot of them tend to gravitate towards conflict reportage. ICYMI: While on air, authorities grab journalist and violently drag her on the ground several feet Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Amanda Darrach is a contributor to CJR and a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews School of International Relations. Follow her on Twitter @thedarrach. A screen shows Mr Putin's address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow - REUTERS The entire Russian government abruptly resigned on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin proposed constitutional changes in the clearest to date indication that he intends to stay in power beyond 2024 in a different role. The resignation of the government of the unpopular Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev shocked observers who were gearing up for a slow public campaign to implement the sweeping amendments that Mr Putin proposed just hours earlier. In a surprise development, Mr Putin said he wanted Mikhail Mishustin, head of the tax service, to be the next prime minister. Mr Mishustin, whose candidacy will be examined by parliament on Thursday, has a relatively low profile and had not been spoken of as a possible candidate. Mr Mishustin, 53, has played ice hockey with Putin and will inevitably be viewed as a possible presidential successor, as will members of the new government, many of whom are expected to be new. A screen shows Mr Putin's address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow Credit: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina Mr Putin has been at the helm since 2000,and he is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election in 2024. The Russian leader is widely believed to be planning to hold on to power, and speculation has been rife that he was looking to amend the Russian constitution to stay in another capacity, possibly as a prime minister or as chairman of parliament or of the State Council, an important advisory body. Capping his annual state of the nation address to lawmakers, governors, top officials and judges, Mr Putin on Wednesday voiced proposals to amend the Constitution that would cut the presidents power in favour of parliament. He did not say if that affected his personal plans but insisted that those changes would serve all Russians. Several hours later, Russian state TV televised a meeting of the Russian government, attended by Mr Putin, when Prime Minister Medvedev said that the entire cabinet was stepping down. The resignation of the government is necessary to let the president of our country to make all the necessary decisions to see through the proposed amendments, Mr Medvedev, who has served as prime minister for eight years, said. Story continues The decision apparently came as a surprise even for some cabinet ministers. Most of them looked sombre if not shocked as they listened to Mr Medvedevs announcement compared to the light mood that many were in when they talked to reporters after Mr Putins address. The respected website The Bell later quoted two unnamed ministers saying that no one in the cabinet knew about the impending resignation. Its all very unclear and unexpected, Moscow-based political analyst Masha Lipman told The Telegraph. Its definitely part of the (succession) plan but we dont know right now what this plan is. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Wednesday Credit: ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP Tatyana Stanovaya, nonresident scholar at the Moscow Carnegie Centre and head of the R.Politik political analysis firm, wrote on Wednesday that the resignation of the government likely aims for Mr Putin to groom a new successor, whoever that might be: It looks very much like Putin is preparing to leave the presidency and is currently trying to create a safety mechanism for his successor in case of conflict. Mr Medvedev and his government have been tainted by allegations of large-scale corruption, and his unpopularity was reportedly dragging down Mr Putins approval ratings. Mr Medvedev has been Mr Putins loyal ally since he willingly assumed Russian presidency in 2008 and then put aside his own political ambitions and supported Mr Putins decision to run again in 2012. On Wednesday, President Putin offered Mr Medvedev to work as his deputy at Russias Security Council, an important advisory body. It was not unclear, however, if Mr Putin had any other senior positions for the outgoing prime minister in mind. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Putin suggested vesting the State Duma, lower chamber of Russian parliament, with powers to nominate and endorse the countrys prime minister and the cabinet after that. The president, according to Mr Putin, will not be able to veto those nominations. Succession to Mr Putin has been a serious problem for the regime that has one uncontested leader who has to step down in 2024 because his term expires, and its been obvious for some time now that solving the problem of 2024 would reshuffling the system of power, according to Ms Lipman, the analyst. Mr Putin announced changes to the constitution in his annual state of the nation address on Wednesday Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP The announcement of the constitutional amendments came as the clearest indication yet of where Mr Putin sees himself after 2024 but it did not offer clarity about a specific position that he is supposed to take next. We can say now with more certainly that Putin does intend to step down as president in 2024, Ms Lipman said, adding that the president chose not to reveal his future role at this point. Alexei Kudrin, Mr Putins long-time ally and head of Russias Audit Chamber, in comments on Russian state TV said on Wednesday that it was too early to say if the president would move to a new senior post after 2024. Mr Putins proposals left enough room for speculation which top job he would be aiming for. Along with advocating more powers for the lower chamber of power, he also offered to leave it up to the upper chamber to name top law enforcement officials, and he spoke for elevating the role of the Constitutional Court to review all legislation before it goes to the president for final approval. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state-owned news agency Tass on Wednesday that the amendments will not be coming up at a referendum but some kind of vote that he would not immediately specify. Sir David Attenborough has warned that human beings have overrun the world, in a trailer for his new film. The feature-length documentary, titled David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, looks back on the defining moments of his life and the environmental devastation that has taken place during that time. As well as highlighting some of the issues that climate change poses, he also explores some of the potential solutions. In the trailer, the veteran broadcaster, 93, said: Ive had the most extraordinary life. It is only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. The veteran broadcasters film is titled David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (David Parry/PA) The living world is a unique and spectacular marvel, yet the way we humans live on earth is sending it into a decline. Human beings have overrun the world. Were replacing the wild with the tame. This film is my witness statement and my vision of the future. The film will also be available to view on Netflix (Jonathan Brady/PA) Sir David added: Our planet is headed for disaster. We need to learn how to work with nature rather than against it and Im going to tell you how. The WWF conservation organisation helped to produce the film. Colin Butfield, WWFs executive producer for the film, said: For decades, David has brought the natural world to the homes of audiences worldwide, but there has never been a more significant moment for him to share his own story and reflections. This film coincides with a monumental year for environmental action as world leaders make critical decisions on nature and climate. It sends a powerful message from the most inspiring and celebrated naturalist of our time. In the trailer, Sir David wants that humans have overrun the world (Kirsty OConnor/PA) David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet will be shown in cinemas on April 16 live from the premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where Sir David will discuss the film on stage before the viewing. The film will be broadcast in the UK, the Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. It will then be released on Netflix. The four people killed in an airplane crash about 25 miles north of Billings, Montana, over the weekend were identified Monday by the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office. The victims included David Healow 69; Rusty Jungels, 36; Mikel Peterson, 35; Raymond Rumbold 32. All four were from Billings. Healow was listed as the pilot, said Sheriff Mike Linder in a press release issued early Monday night. As autopsies were performed Monday, officials pressed on with their investigation into the crash believed to have occurred Saturday evening. The wreckage and the victims were discovered Sunday morning in a remote area among coulees between Billings and Roundup. Linder said Sunday the plane appeared to have hit a guy wire connected to a roughly 200-foot radio tower on Dunn Mountain and then tumbled to the base of the mountains west-facing slope. Monday afternoon an FAA spokesperson said its believed the plane left Hardin at about 5:40 p.m. with Billings as its destination. The estimated time of the plane crash is 6 p.m. That time is determined by last contact with FAA Flight Services, either through radar or voice communications, FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said by email. The lead agency on the investigation is the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB works with the FAA, the engine manufacturer and the airplane manufacturer during its investigations, according to NTSB public information officer Terry Williams. An NTSB investigator has been in Billings since Sunday night, he said. Monday morning the sheriffs office transported NTSB and FAA investigators to the scene of the crash, according to Linder. They spent most of the day at the crash site before returning to Billings at about 4:30 p.m. During its investigation, the NTSB will look into a variety of factors including the crash site, the aircraft, the engine, the pilots history, the maintenance of the aircraft and the environment, including the weather, said Williams, the NTSB information officer. Investigators typically visit the crash site and at some point the airplane will be moved to a more secure location for a more thorough examination, Williams said. A preliminary NTSB report is generally issued seven to 10 days after a crash, but that report wont include a determination of cause or analysis, according to Williams. Among limited information about the crash on the FAAs website is the planes tail number: N736YU. That tail number comes back on the FAAs online aircraft registry to a 1978 Cessna TR182, a fixed-wing single-engine plane. The planes status is listed online as valid, with a certification issued in March 2018 set to expire in March 2021. Cessna 182 airplanes typically seat up to four people. Of the four crash victims, Healow is the only one whose name turned up on the FAAs online Airmen database. According to FAA records Healow was certified as an airline transport pilot, flight instructor and ground instructor. An initial alert notice for a search for a missing aircraft was issued at about 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the FAA. The sheriffs office then began working to locate the plane. A radar track was used to find a rough location of the crash site, after which its exact location was discovered by flying over the area in a helicopter piloted by Al Blain of Billings Flying Service. The Montana Highway Patrol, Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department and Musselshell County Sheriffs Office all assisted in the recovery effort Sunday. 25 years later: In December 1992, a plane crashed into a Billings school warehouse, killing 8 people Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 US President Donald Trump has again used a supporter rally to defend his decision to kill a top Iranian general while criticising Democrats as weak on national security. In front of a crowd of thousands in Milwaukee, Mr Trump took on the leading Democratic candidates including Vermont senator Bernie Sanders who were engaged in their final debate before primary voting commenced. Bernie and the radical left cannot protect your family, nor can they protect our country, the president told supporters at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Yet Mr Trump also defended Mr Sanders as he weighed in on the ongoing he-said, she-said spat between Mr Sanders and fellow Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren. Ms Warren claims Mr Sanders told her during a private meeting that he does not believe a woman can win the White House a charge Mr Sanders vehemently denies. I dont believe that Bernie said that. I really dont its not the kind of thing hed say, Mr Trump said. He also criticised former vice president Joe Bidens tendency to mix up locations, including recently confusing Iran with Iraq. When you do that you cant really recover, Mr Trump said. Winning back Wisconsin is a key part of the Democrats 2020 strategy and one of the reasons the party chose Milwaukee to host its national convention in July. Mr Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and he is expected to make frequent visits in the coming months as he works to maintain his edge. The president spent much of the rally defending his record, including his decision to order the strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, whom he labelled the worlds number one terrorist. Mr Trumps decision came under intense criticism from Democrats and raised questions about whether it really prevented an imminent attack, as some Trump administration officials have claimed. The Democrats are outraged that we killed this terrorist monster, even though this monster was behind hundreds and hundreds of deaths, Mr Trump told the crowd, adding that thousands of people do not have legs and arms right now because of this son of a bitch. Democrats, the president said, should be angry about his crimes, not the decision to end his wretched life. Ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919, which set the stage for Prohibitions launch a year later, culminated a century of advocacy by the temperance movement. Leading forces included the Womens Christian Temperance Union, the Anti-Saloon League and many Protestant denominations. President Donald Trump will likely be questioned on his climate change beliefs when he visits Switzerland for the World Economic Forum on Tuesday next week. That's the opinion of WEF President Borge Brende who told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick Wednesday that Trump appreciated candid conversation about any topic. The Norwegian politician added he was "pretty sure" that when Trump was in Davos, surrounded by 2,000 world CEOs and environmental leaders that climate change and a loss of biodiversity would be on the agenda. "On climate change, that will be a topic that will be raised with him I am sure when he is in Davos We like frank conversations to move the world forward," said Brende. Trump has previously stated that the U.S. has one of "the cleanest climates there are." He rolled back a slew of Obama-era environmental regulations that attempt to protect from environmental accidents or climate change impacts and his administration is keen to remove impediments to U.S. energy production and independence. In June 2017, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, a UN agreement which was signed by 195 countries at the COP21 climate conference in 2015. "This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries obtaining a financial advantage over the United States," Trump said at the time of withdrawal. COP21 is the world's first legally-binding climate deal. Its key aim was to keep the average global temperature from rising by 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world is now about 1 degrees Celsius warmer than before the industrial revolution. Flash Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced on Tuesday that the country will hold general elections on Feb. 8. In a statement issued by the Irish Government Press Office, Varadkar said that he had informed his cabinet about his election date decision on Tuesday morning and would ask President Michael D. Higgins to dissolve the Dail (lower house of the Irish parliament) in order to pave the way for the election. Later on Tuesday, President Higgins signed the proclamation for the dissolution of the 32nd Dail after a brief meeting with Varadkar. "I have always said the election should happen at the best time for the country. Now is that time," Varadkar said in the statement. "We have a deal on Brexit in Northern Ireland. ... The next step is to negotiate a free trade agreement between the EU, including Ireland, and the United Kingdom. ... There exists now a window of opportunity to hold a general election to have a new government in place ... with a strong mandate to focus on these negotiations into the summer and autumn," he explained. In the statement, Varadkar also summarized the major achievements of his government and pledged to do more for his country if re-elected as prime minister in the coming election. Varadkar had said on previous occasions that he would prefer a general election to be held around May 2020 as his government needed to focus on dealing with the Brexit issue. His change of mind regarding the election date was partially due to the fact that Fianna Fail, the largest opposition party in the Dail, has recently refused to support Varadkar's government in a proposed no-confidence vote in Health Minister Simon Harris in the coming sessions of the Dail, according to local media reports. The current Irish cabinet is a minority government whose survival largely depends on a confidence-and-supply agreement between Fianna Fail and the ruling party Fine Gael led by Varadkar. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has criticized the government for its failure in tackling the housing and health issues in the country. He said that the Irish people are facing enormous challenges, particularly in terms of housing. "The inability of people to afford houses, housing prices and housing rents are simply far too high and there is a deep, deep crisis of homelessness right across every level of housing," he said, adding that "In health, again, we have a very serious crisis in terms of emergency departments and in terms of people waiting far too long for operations and procedures and for out-patient departments." While the current Irish government led by Varadkar is vulnerable to the opposition parties' attacks on housing and health issues, it has indeed achieved something that will help it in the coming election, said local observers. "We have a deal on Brexit and on Northern Ireland. Our economy has been stronger. There are more people at work than ever before, incomes are rising, poverty is falling and public finances are back in order. As a nation, we have every reason to be hopeful about the future. We've modernized our society, marriage equality, women's rights, real progress in education, welfare and childcare," said Varadkar while announcing the election date in the statement. Varadkar promised in his statement that his government would "do much more" to address the housing and health issues in future. Carrie Lam pledges HK$10 billion in new relief measures Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/1/15 8:51:14 Chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the SAR government will allocate 10 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.29 billion U.S. dollars) in new relief measures. Announcing a package of 10 new livelihood initiatives, the chief executive said the new measures will benefit grassroots and underprivileged people including the elderly, workers, low-income households not living in public housing and not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) as well as the unemployed or underemployed, and people who are inadequately housed, according to a statement issued by the SAR government. On the housing problem, Lam said it "takes time to increase the housing supply" although the government has been implementing a number of new initiatives to address people's aspirations for home ownership. "Therefore, we need to provide further assistance to the inadequately housed," noted Lam. Speaking on reforming the Old Age Living Allowance Scheme (OALA), Lam said that the Normal OALA and Higher OALA will be combined with a standard monthly payment rate of 3,585 Hong Kong dollars. Furthermore, the government will pay the 5 percent contributions for employees whose monthly income is less than 7,100 Hong Kong dollars under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes. The new proposals for "helping our grassroots people" are consistent with Lam's vision stated in the 2017 Policy Address to alleviate poverty and support the disadvantaged in order to build a caring and inclusive society, read the statement. The Financial Secretary is consulting the public on the 2020-21 Budget, and will propose measures to "support enterprises, safeguard jobs, stimulate the economy and improve people's livelihoods" to further address the needs of the community, added Lam. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice S.N. Dhingra, which has probed 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, has raised critical and unsettling observations on the acquittal of accused and conduct of trial in the cases. In 7 FIRs tried by Additional Sessions Judge S.S. Bal, all accused were acquitted, and trial in one FIR by another judge also resulted in the same. In the recommendation, the report said, "After careful study of the judgements given by the trial courts, the Committee recommends exploring the possibility of filing appeal along with application for condonation of delay against the orders of acquittal in file numbers 90, 179, 193, 194 and 196 (which contain the list of FIRs)." According to Justice Dhingra, Bal was the special judge to conduct the trial on the riot cases, but he acquitted the accused in the cases connected with seven 7 FIRs. Therefore, the Committee recommended a re-look in these cases. "None of the judgements on record show that judges were alive to the situation of 1984 riots and to the fact that for delay in lodging FIRs and statement of witnesses, the victims were not responsible", said the report. Also, the affidavit of many victims stated that they went to the police, as they were not able to get FIRs recorded, "and the police only recorded statements of loss of property by looting and burning." The report made scathing remarks on the conduct of the trial. "The judge conducting the trial, having ample powers under section 165 of the Evidence Act to ask questions to the witnesses, did not bother to ask the witness as to who out of the accused persons present in the court were involved in the riots," said the report. Citing the acquittals in cases tried by judge Bal, the report said after careful scrutiny of these cases, the SIT "is of the opinion that the state should have preferred appeals against the judgements in these cases. However, the state should now explore the possibility of filing appeal." The SIT also brought on record a hard reality, though it prefers appeal on the acquittal, but in the backdrop of 25-year delay in acquittals, it seems a remote possibility. Bal used to sit at Kakardooma court and Patiala court to conduct trials in these cases. In an FIR 425/84 registered at Delhi Cantonment police station, appeal is recommended against the order of acquittal in the judgement delivered on August 8, 1986 by Additional Sessions Judge S.P. Chaudhari. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) The kind intervention of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has brought a welcome relief for an elderly accident victim from Bihar, who was allegedly left unattended at a government hospital in Koderma for two days. After being shifted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here on Tuesday from Koderma on the CM's order, the 60-year-old Shatrughan Sao is properly attended by the doctors and is likely to undergo an operation for his fractured leg on Saturday, an official said on Wednesday. Sao faced apathy of the Koderma Sadar hospital which kept him waiting for two days till his relatives were traced by the police and brought to the hospital from Bihar. The CM had taken a strong exception to the conduct of the hospital managementr, where the patient was admitted nearly a fortnight back. Instead of giving him priority treatment, the hospital waited for his relatives to reach there, the chief minister had said after receiving a complaint from the patient's family. "This attitude has been there for last few years. Instead of taking the responsibility to solve the problem - every officer wants to shift it. This is really sad, but the situation will change now. This attitude will no longer be tolerated," Soren said in a tweet. The CM directed the management of all (government) hospitals to treat patients with sensitivity. "The police has the responsibility to locate relatives of unknown while the doctors should focus on the treatment of the patients," Soren said in his tweet. The chief minister instructed the RIMS management to treat Sao and asked Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray to arrange for sending him to his home at Ekangar Sarai in Bihar's Nalanda district after the treatment. Ray informed the CM on Wednesday, "Sir, the patient suffering from fracture of Left femur is undergoing investigations and is stable. If all is confirmed normal, operation (internal immobilisation like nailing or platting) is expected on Saturday. Dr. L. B. Manjhi unit Civil Surgeon is monitoring the case closely." Sources in the Koderma hospital said, after the police took Sao to the facility 14 days ago, the elderly man could not properly tell anything about himself. The police found a nephew of his after two days and he started staying with him, they said. The sources also claimed that the Koderma hospital does not have the specialist orthopaedic required to treat Sao. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 14.01.2020 LISTEN The recent actions of Governor Nyesom Wike against traditional stools in Rivers State have been described as "demeaning, unbecoming, irresponsible, despicable, unacceptable and unbefitting" for someone who occupies such a dignified office. Prominent son of Rivers State, Dr Dakuku Peterside stated while reacting to the way and manner Governor Wike addressed traditional rulers in the state during their quarterly meeting in Port Harcourt. Governor Wike was seen lambasting the traditional rulers and threatening to depose them over very flimsy reasons, in addition to the governor humiliating one of them by calling the monarch a trouble maker. Peterside stated the utterances of Wike represents an all-time low in the history of the state, where a governor can "insult, disgrace, humiliate and depose traditional rulers at will." "Wike's penchant for embarrassing traditional rulers is becoming irresponsible and shameful. Never in our history have we had such a disrespectful governor. "Since 2015, Wike has sacked, deposed and withdrawn recognition from several royal fathers without any recourse to history, tradition and culture. "Not too long ago, Wike threatened to depose the Amanyanabo of Kalabari, King Theophilus Princewill, just as he has severally lambasted traditional rulers as if they were his servants. "Wike must be called to order. Well meaning Rivers people must call him to order. He is turning himself into a feudal lord and an emperor at the same time. History is replete with his likes who ended up badly after turning themselves to tiny gods," he stated. Peterside appealed to the traditional rulers to overlook the "shame and disrespect" meted on them, pointing out that as fathers, they should regard the governor's utterances as that of a "child who lacks home training." "Wike should know that history is watching. Rivers people typically respect traditional rulers and traditional institutions. The governor must stop desecrating our traditional rulers and traditional institutions," he summed up. Dakuku Peterside Media Team 14/1/2020 Councilmember-elect Kendra Brooks (with megaphone) speaks as Parents, staff, and community members from McClure Elementary protest outside, then attend a meeting with Philadelphia School District environmental officials at Roberto Clemente Middle School Jan. 2, 2020. Their students are temporarily at Clemente while their school is closed because of asbestos. Read more At 8:30 a.m., one week before Christmas, nearly 660 students excitedly hurried up the steps to Alexander McClure Elementary School. The next day, they would have needed a hazmat suit to enter. On Dec. 19, Alexander McClure Elementary, the Philadelphia public school Ive worked in for the last three years, was temporarily shut down because McClure staff and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers environmental science director identified 10 areas of damaged asbestos. The quality of our public schools is an equity issue. The night and day difference between a public school and a private school should make everyone scream with frustration. No child no, not even your child deserves a better education than anybody else. Asbestos is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects: reduced immune system function, kidney failure, chest cavity abnormalities, and mesothelioma, which is an aggressive form of lung cancer that a longtime Philadelphia teacher was recently diagnosed with. No number of paint jobs or colorful bulletin boards can mask the fact that we send the most marginalized students in the city to our most dilapidated schools. Anyone who has been in a Philadelphia public school built in the early 1900s knows that even without asbestos, many of our schools are unwelcoming. From dreary basements to mice infestations, our schools often feel uninhabitable. In the summer, the lack of air-conditioning means sweat-drenched teachers and exhausted students. In the winter, if the boiler is turned on too late, the whole school is an icebox until 1 p.m. To be clear, I love McClure Elementary. I love the school because of the friendly faces of staff, students, and families that greet me every day, the administrations persistent focus on shared leadership, and everyones unwavering commitment to student success. McClure is a stellar community fixture with dozens of partnerships and a recent designation as a Community School, meaning it has a designated person who collects input on community concerns. READ MORE: Asbestos in Philly schools demands action from district plus the city and state | Editorial READ MORE: 'Cry when you get home: Teachers need therapy to process the trauma of urban classrooms | Opinion Staff have already created a petition to the School District of Philadelphia demanding immediate action, transparency, and community involvement. But McClure Elementary and the District cant make our schools safe without state funding and citizen support. Imagine the outrage if asbestos had been found in the fancy private Friends school I recently visited, with its modernized wood floors, central air, and exposed brick. Hundreds of perfectly manicured parents sat in the airy, skylighted gymnasium as the principal thanked everyone for fund-raising over $1 million this year. $1 million. And that, mind you, is on top of the tens of thousands of dollars per pupil for tuition. Where is the collective action right now, when the lives of hundreds of children are already endangered and likely have been for years? We are constantly trying to come up with creative ways to improve curriculum and better train teachers and principals, but were not willing to invest in the infrastructure changes that would immediately transform students learning experience. A Band-Aid will not close this gap. We are playing whack-a-mole with a life-threatening issue when we need a complete overhaul. This is not a time for slow, gradual change its a time for immediate, massive action. The School District of Philadelphia needs billions of dollars to address outstanding repairs, but does not have the money to pay for them. Meanwhile, families and corporations make tax-deductible donations to private schools and the state government fails to properly invest in the neediest schools. Governor Tom Wolfs Restore Pennsylvania program aims to invest $4.5 billion into infrastructure, including remediating unsafe school buildings. We must move forward with this plan and then significantly increase our financial commitment to saving our schools before Philadelphia has a Flint water crisis-scale disaster. We cannot have equitable education for our children without equitable spaces. Everyone is responsible for demanding that all schools are safe, welcoming environments so that our children only worry about whats most important: learning. Andrew Knips is a teacher leadership coach in Philadelphia with over a decade of serving Philadelphia students and school leaders. But the resettlement agencies argued in court that the consent requirement has caused chaos and confusion and that it threatens to dismantle a support network that connects refugees to housing, jobs and English classes needed to start their new lives in the United States. And critics argued that nothing in Trumps order prevents refugees from ultimately relocating to states, counties and cities that have said they do not want new refugees. YEREVAN. A special court session will be convened on the initiative of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia to discuss the expediency of commuting former MP Manvel Grigoryan's precautionary measure of custody due to his deteriorating health. Arevik Khachatryan, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am. The said court hearing will take place today at 6pm. Grigoryan has been in a Yerevan hospital since yesterday. According to his legal defenders, he is in critical condition and hooked up to an artificial respirator. Manvel Grigoryan, who is in custody, is charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, embezzlement of property, tax evasion, misuse of state funds, and setting up theft of property. Earlier, his attorneys had appealed the ruling of the Yerevan court of first instance which had denied the motion to release him on bail, but the Court of Appeal had denied this appeal. just the ticket: Neil Basnett, left, and Philip Mannion in Holiday Destinations new Guild Street base. Photos: Mark Williamson Based in a chic and welcoming office in Stratford-upon-Avon, travel consultancy Holiday Inspirations devise tailor-made holidays using their incredible knowledge and expertise built up over many years. Here Neil Basnett tells Gill Sutherland about the business and shares some tips on dream destinations. Spending time in Holiday Inspirations new Guild Street office is an absolute treat. The travel consultancy is run by partners Neil Basnett and Philip Mannion, who between them have nearly 80 years experience of putting holidays together. The couple have been together 32 years, having met while working at Thomas Cook in the 1980s. The businesss new base at number 10 is testament to their undoubted good taste in all things. Its artfully decorated, comfortable and with a groaning drinks trolley ready to quench thirsts and warm the cockles of visitors. Both Neil and Philip talk with such knowledge and enthusiasm about amazing-sounding destinations, my only regret during my visit is that they arent planning my next holiday! Neil is a great raconteur, and regales photographer Mark and myself with stories of his many years in the travel business over coffee. Meanwhile Philip is also super friendly and funny, and offers his own sage observations from the sidelines but its Neil that mainly answers our questions. Tell us how you got started in the business.Like a lot of people I first started at Thomas Cook, and worked at Berkeley Street in London, the head office before the company moved to Peterborough. In those days people joined Thomas Cook because the training was so good. I had three months sitting with a consultant watching how it was done, then a two-month intensive training course, followed by an interview with the regional manager, lastly a six-month probation period so it was nearly a year before I was considered a fully qualified travel consultant and ready to work with clients. Holiday Destinations Guild Street base You must have met a lot of interesting people.One of the places I worked was the House of Commons. I loved that, it was one of the best placements I ever had. Officially, in the Palace of Westminster, it was known as the Transport Office and staffed by Thomas Cook. We booked for all the MPs and all the lords. There were some very awkward customers! The worst I had was Sir John Nott, the defence secretary during the Falklands; another fiery character was Gwyneth Dunwoody. In the main people were lovely Harold Wilson and Betty Boothroyd were both adorable. In those days Concorde was flying to Washington and New York, and the tickets were 8,000 each in 1979. The biggest booking I ever made was to fly the Northern Ireland secretary and 40 staff to New York. It was such a fascinating place to work. On the rare occasion we were quiet I would go up to the chamber and watch them scream and shout at each other! But when they came in to see you in the office they were all best buddies see you in the Strangers Bar that sort of thing. It was the best club in London. I was there for three years. I was there when poor old Airey Neave was blown up in the underground car park, and when Margaret Thatcher was first elected. Aitutaki, Cook Islands What came next?I became assistant manager at the branch in Kensington, then Bayswater my first managers job. Id been working in London 13 years and realised I was wasting three hours a day commuting. So we moved down to Newbury in Berkshire to open a new Thomas Cook branch there. That was a real success and I was approached to manage a new branch on Corporation Street, Birmingham. My last branch was Norwich, it was huge with 32 staff. By then I was getting restless, and sadly Thomas Cook had changed from travel agent to holiday shop. It became about selling holidays, getting customers in and out the door as quickly as possible. A job came up at Tana Travel in Stratford, which specialised in tailor-made holidays to Africa, and I took that. My father had worked for the Bank of England and in my teens he got a posting out to Kenya so I carried on at school here and at the end of term I was on the lollipop special, as the flight was known as it was full of expat kids a whole load of rampant teenagers, heading off to Nairobi. During my fathers three years there I developed a love for Africa. So when the Tana job came up I jumped at that and came here, that was in 1989. I was there 23 years and when it closed in 2012 it broke my heart. And thats when Holiday Inspirations emerged?Yes, I maintained the client database, and so took that with me. Ive been booking some clients holidays for 25 years and as far as they are concerned they are not dealing with Tana or Holiday Destinations, but Neil or Phil. I was also running the Elite Travel Group, a consortium of independent travel agents, as chief executive. Last year I decided to resign from Elite because I realised what I actually love doing is meeting clients and designing holidays. So we decided to create our base at Guild Street, previously wed seen clients at their homes or meet at a wine bar or coffee shop. Now they book an appointment, and we only see one set of clients at a time, where they are not hurried and we can carefully go through what their requirements are. Tell us about the service you offer.We are a travel consultancy our market is not what have you got cheap this weekend because to be honest with the internet you dont need an agent for that. Its bespoke tailor-made holidays that we are known for. If I do a holiday to India, for example, I work with local ground handlers so if people have got any problems, no matter what time of day, they can phone a local company. Once booked via me, I want to guarantee that someone will meet them off the train, say, escort them to the hotel, and ensure the hotel are expecting them even if its 3am in the morning. And yes you could possibly do all that on the internet but youve got no security and its also the financial side everything we do has 100 per cent protection. Were covered by all the appropriate travel bodies: ABTA, IATA and CAA/ATOL. And what kind of clients come and see you?There is a perception that its the younger market that are the ones that book everything on the internet, whereas actually I find its the so-called silver or grey market that book a lot online because they have the time to do it. Weve had younger clients wanting to book a villa, and theyve looked at so many they get in a muddle, and theyll just want us to sort that out for them. In a way its the cash rich, time poor clients that we suit. Is the internet your enemy?!A lot of my older clients like me to put together an itinerary for them whether its Australia, New Zealand or South Africa or wherever. They will check out all the hotels Ive chosen online themselves. Wretched Tripadvisor has a lot to answer for, one bad review can put people off! But we work with the internet and will make changes. Were aware people can just check prices on the internet so we do have to make sure our prices are competitive. But I say to clients dont look at what youre paying but what youre getting you may see a seemingly better price for a hotel room but have you got the full sea view or are you overlooking a car park? Your expert knowledge must make all the difference.Yes, we booked a holiday for a young couple yesterday she wanted to treat him for a birthday trip. So I put together an itinerary for a trip to Porto, which included a tour and trip to the wine estates, then a lovely river trip up the Douro River, and staying at a wonderful vineyard. The lady said oh it's so much better than I had found so its things like that, where our knowledge kicks in. Theres no way as a travel agent you can know everywhere in the world, but you need to know which operators to turn to for a lot of destinations I do work with my own ground handlers. Where have you travelled to recently thats impressed you?In September I went to Kazakhstan which I had never been to before. I didnt know it was the ninth biggest country in the world, and its got the worlds second deepest river canyon after the Grand Canyon; its also got national parks, wildlife and all these ancient historical monuments. I made lots of new contacts so now I can say to clients would you consider going to Central Asia, which I wouldnt have been able to confidently suggest before. You must have travelled to some amazing places, are there any on your bucket list that youve not been to?Theres still a few gaps! My number one on the bucket list for many years was Machu Picchu in Peru, and I was lucky enough to go on an agents trip five years ago and that was absolutely stunning. On the way back from Cusco we went on Belmonds Hiram Bingham train, which is like the Orient Express, and that was lovely. Next on the bucket list is Angkor Wat, the temple in Cambodia. Where are your favourite places in the world?I love India Ive been there six or seven times for my two weeks of detox. I love Kerala right down on the southern tip. A lot of people go to Goa but the beaches can get crowded, but Kerala has empty beaches populated by the odd fisherman its a best kept secret. Philip knows a lot about the Caribbean and the Middle East, more than I do he loves Dubai, Im not so keen so Phillip would deal with those destinations. Wheres the best beach youve ever seen?Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. I was lucky enough to go there ten years ago. You take a little plane from the largest island Rarotonga and fly over the pacific ocean for an hour, then you realise the plane is coming down and you think hang on theres no land, what has the pilot seen that we haven't?! Then suddenly through the clouds you see this coral atoll with these islands inside it and absolutely beautiful turquoise water. Ive never seen anything like it, that to me was paradise on Earth. Mauritius has got beautiful beaches, and so does the Caribbean, dare I say it, the beaches in Benidorm are also stunning but that is the best beach destination I have ever been to. Usually people go there as a stopover to New Zealand. Where else would you recommend?One place that people dont tend to think of is Costa Rica. Its a fairly small country in Central America and one of the safest countries in the world theyve never had an army, and theyre very proud of that. It allows for so many different types of holiday. On the Caribbean side you get all the turtles that come in, and there are crocodiles, sloths and the biggest, most amazing butterflies. Theres everything from beautiful beaches to volcanoes. I designed a holiday recently to Costa Rica for a couple who had run out of ideas of where to go. When they came back they said: Neil, weve just returned from paradise, and we would have never thought of it. That must be great when you get that feedback.Were selling dreams. You need to get it right, and so we get to know our clients, and ask them the right questions. Sometimes if its a tailor-made itinerary we will get it right first time and they will book other times we will make tweaks to make sure its perfect for them. We get virtually 100 per cent happy feedback. I still get a buzz out of finding a perfect holiday its an interesting job and I love it. Find out more at www.holidayinspirations.org.uk or call 01789 293737 EBRD and EU support Novuss investments in energy efficient technologies Novuss branding is recognisable to customers in Ukraine from afar. The supermarket chains corporate colour is bright green and with good reason. It really sums up well our company ethos, since we care a lot about the environment, said Mark Petkevich, CEO of Novus. We want to offer the best and freshest products to our customers, while also ensuring that we have a low carbon footprint. Every day about 140,000 customers tick off their shopping lists and pick up food, drinks and other products in more than 40 Novus supermarkets across Ukraine. The chain specialises in local produce: fresh blueberries and other seasonal fruit are on display and traditional pastries fill the bakery shelves, while crayfish scuttle across a large aquarium. Less energy to preserve the environment A modern supermarket requires various lines of fridges and freezers, industrial heaters and air-conditioning to offer what customers expect, explained Mr Petkevich. Its a challenge but also an enormous opportunity for us, since innovative equipment can offer huge potential to cut energy use and help protect the environment. Novus saw this opportunity and invested 23 million in total to make the necessary changes. The EBRD loan was part of its Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC), supported by funds from the European Union and the Global Environment Facility. The Bank provides finance for companies to invest in energy, water and material-efficient technologies, while its partners complement it with funding for incentive payments and to identify and verify the best equipment and practices. The activities aim to promote these innovative technologies to help mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. They are also expected to act as a catalyst to transfer the relevant knowledge and technology to different business sectors and regions. Building green, competitive businesses At Novus, the new equipment and improvements to its logistics systems have had a significant impact. Its LED lighting uses 40 per cent less energy. In addition, new fridges and freezers have cut consumption by 10 per cent. On average, the supermarket chain now uses 20 per cent less energy than retailers in the EU. Novus is a Lithuanian-owned business, explained Mr Petkevich. We try to bring best practices from the European retail market to Ukraine and, where possible, even exceed them. In Ukraine, green investments are urgently needed. Local businesses still use three times more energy compared to those in the EU. The inefficient use of energy, water and other precious resources comes at an extra cost to companies, as it makes them less competitive than their foreign counterparts. In the case of Novus, the investment is one into the future, and one that benefits everyone: the planet, the company and the economy. The supermarket chain has now established itself among Ukraines top 10 retailers, which, in turn, has created new employment opportunities. Currently, more than 5,000 employees work for the company in Ukraine. Building a sustainable, green economy is among our top priorities in Ukraine, said Lesya Kuzmenko, Deputy Head of the EBRDs Kyiv office. Together with our partners, we have helped a wide range of businesses to use innovative energy efficient technologies, including furniture producers, agribusinesses, retailers and many more. The EU is co-funding FINTECC in order to help Ukrainian companies modernise and have access to state-of-the art technologies that limit greenhouse gas emissions. We are supporting Ukraine and its economy to become less energy-intensive and more climate-friendly, said Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. Across Ukraine, it isnt only Novus shoppers, but also companies and the general public, who increasingly recognise: green is the colour to go for! Winnipeg's paramedics and firefighters responded to 41 incidents involving cannabis edibles in 2019, nearly double the number from the year before. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg's paramedics and firefighters responded to 41 incidents involving cannabis edibles in 2019, nearly double the number from the year before. According to data shared by the city, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service recorded 22 incidents in which cannabis edibles were a patient's chief complaint in 2018. Almost all incidents in both years involved just one patient, but a single incident in each year involved two patients. "While we are unable to confirm the reason for the increase from 2018 to 2019, one potential reason may be the patients' willingness to disclose using the drug now that it is legal," wrote a city spokesperson in an emailed statement. True incident numbers might actually be higher because a patient's chief complaint may be reported as a symptom of what they're feeling (shortness of breath, chest tightness, dizziness, etc.), noted the spokesperson. Government-regulated cannabis edibles started arriving at licensed Manitoba cannabis stores in December, although they've been widely available on the illicit market for years. In 2020, the WFPS had responded to two edibles-related incidents as of Jan. 10. The data provided by WFPS does not reveal the ages of the patients nor the outcomes of their cases. Dr. Joss Reimer, medical director for population and public health with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, warned against inferring a trend from two years of data. "Is it just a one-year spike that will come back down again? Is it by chance or is there truly an increase that's related to the legalization (of cannabis)?" she said. "I would question whether it reflects a true increase, or does it reflect more peoples' willingness to disclose that they used a legal substance, compared to when it was illegal." Even if the rate of emergency incidents related to cannabis edibles in Winnipeg is truly on the rise, Reimer said it wouldn't be surprising. "Because that's what we saw in Colorado and Washington after they legalized (non-medical cannabis). An increased use in emergency services was something that we were hoping wouldn't occur, but certainly recognizing might." Edibles officially became legal to seel in licensed stores last month. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Although the increase in emergency calls related to cannabis edibles might seem alarming, "It's still fairly small numbers for the population of Winnipeg," said Lynda Balneaves, associate professor of nursing with the University of Manitoba and deputy director of the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids research group. Like Reimer and the city spokesperson, Balneaves said the increase could be related to increased disclosure of cannabis use following legalization. She said it's also possible it was driven by increased interest in cannabis surrounding legalization in October 2018. "We saw blogs on how to cook with cannabis, how to bake with cannabis, and so we may have seen more individuals that were aware of these products and were interested in trying them," she said. Regardless of the cause, Balneaves said the numbers demonstrate the importance of public education around safely consuming cannabis-infused food. "I think for people that are naive to them, they often don't understand how cannabis impacts us when it's ingested, it's different than when we consume it through an inhaled route," she said. "So, for example, people don't realize that you should wait between 60 to 90 minutes between (doses) of edibles to see what the effect is." The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba, which regulates retail cannabis stores, has been running a campaign since November about cannabis edibles, advising people who use them to choose small doses, wait up to two hours to feel the effects, and avoid mixing ingested cannabis with alcohol. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Balneaves points out the number of emergency calls related to other controlled substances might put the edibles figure into context. According to a 2019 report from Global News, the WFPS received 5,894 calls for service in 2018 related to alcohol, and 1,166 calls related to methamphetamine. Going forward, Balneaves said it's worth tracking whether the year-over-year increase in emergency calls related to cannabis edibles holds steady. "I guess my question would be, is this a blip statistically following legalization, and will we see a trend in the future where it goes back to a baseline," she said. "We see that in certain jurisdictions in the United States... We need to follow this over time, and if we continue to see this rising, then we need to better address our education campaigns." solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @sol_israel President Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's attorney claimed he is a 'victim of atrocity after atrocity' at the hands of the government as he tried to withdraw his guilty plea for lying to the FBI. The attorney, author Sidney Powell, talked to Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity Tuesday night, added that 'the recent sentencing note is full of lies.' Powell's comments come after Flynn filed court papers Tuesday to withdraw his guilty plea, saying federal prosecutors had acted in 'bad faith' and broken their end of the bargain when they sought prison time for him. President Trump's disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn is trying to withdraw his guilty play, accusing federal prosecutors of acting in 'bad faith' Michael Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell appeared on Fox News host Sean Hannity's show Tuesday and claimed that he was a 'victim of atrocity after actocity' The request came one week after the Justice Department changed its position on Flynn's punishment by recommending he serve up to six months behind bars for lying to the FBI during its investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Prosecutors had earlier said Flynn was entitled to avoid prison time because of his extensive cooperation, but the relationship with the retired Army lieutenant general grew increasingly contentious in recent months, particularly after he hired a new set of lawyers. Those attorneys have raised repeated misconduct allegations against the government - which a judge has since rejected. The judge, Emmet Sullivan, in a 92-page ruling handed down in December, accused Flynn's lawyers of plagiarism, saying the national security official's legal team 'lifted verbatim portions from a source without attribution.' Prrosecutors have responded by calling into question whether Flynn truly accepts guilt. It was not immediately clear how the judge handling the case, Emmet Sullivan, would respond to the motion or whether he would actually permit Flynn to withdraw the plea - an extraordinary step that would presumably enable the government to bring additional charges if merited. In the court document, filed two weeks before Flynn's scheduled sentencing date, defense lawyers said the Justice Department was attempting to 'rewrite history' by withdrawing its recommendation that he receive probation and by suggesting he had not been forthcoming or cooperative. They asked to withdraw the plea because 'of the governments bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement.' 'Michael T. Flynn is innocent. Mr. Flynn has cooperated with the government in good faith for two years. He gave the prosecution his full cooperation,' the lawyers wrote. 'He endured massive, unnecessary, and frankly counterproductive demands on his time, his family, his scarce resources, and his life,' they added. 'The same cannot be said for the prosecution which has operated in bad faith from the inception of the `investigation' and continues relentlessly through this specious prosecution.' The case has taken a tortured path since Flynn's guilty plea in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations during Trump's transition period with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He cooperated extensively with the government over the next year. But his December 2018 sentencing hearing was abruptly postponed midway through it at Flynns request after scathing criticism from Sullivan raised the prospect that he might send him to prison, even though prosecutors hadnt recommended that hearing. Flynn asked that the hearing be put off so that he could continue cooperating with prosecutors in hopes of avoiding any prison time. But the Justice Department opted not to have Flynn testify in the Virginia trial of a former business associate, saying that shortly before trial, he changed his account and contradicted his own past statements - making him unreliable as a witness. Flynn's lawyers rejected the government's characterization in their new filing. A spokeswoman for the United States Attorney's office in Washington did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Work over lists for next release of detainees in Donbas is underway President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone conversation has thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for an active participation in the Normandy format summit on December 9, due to which agreements to return part of detainees kept in the occupied Donbas have been achieved. "Unfortunately, we did not manage to free all, but we returned 76 people. And we are very grateful for your participation in this process," Zelensky said as a president's press service reported on Wednesday. Zelensky emphasized that work on the formation of the lists for the next release of detainees was underway. In addition, President of Ukraine expressed concern about the non-admission of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to illegally detained persons in the territories beyond the control of Ukraine. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:10:28|Editor: zyl Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed ties and regional issues Tuesday with visiting Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers in the state of California, said the U.S. State Department. Pompeo talked with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in a trilateral meeting held in Silicon Valley, stressing cooperation, said the department in a statement released Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Pompeo held separate talks with the two foreign ministers. In his meeting with Motegi, they discussed an array of security concerns in the region including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the department said in a separate statement. The meetings came amid stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, disputes over the sharing of the upkeep cost for the U.S. Forces Korea between the United States and South Korea, and souring Japan-South Korea ties over trade. A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in connection with the Daryaganj violence case. The court has ordered him not to hold any protest in Delhi till February 16th. While hearing the case, the Judge had asked Azad's counsel to read out some of his social media posts. Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing Azad, had on Tuesday said that the petitioner was sent to jail without any evidence in connection with anti-CAA protests in Delhi's Darya Ganj area last year. "I think the court's comments should become a precedent for the country. The Public Prosecutor at the behest of police tried to make this a communal issue. We told the court that the government has a problem with Azad because he made the CAA-NPR-NRC an issue for everyone. The Court also sought evidence," Pracha told ANI after Delhi's Tis Hazari court deferred the bail plea of Azad till today. On Wednesday, the court pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to show any evidence against Azad. Azad was arrested on December 21 last year after he led a march from Jama Masjid against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was sent to judicial custody till January 18 at Tihar jail. The Bhim Army chief was charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and inciting the mob to indulge in violence after vandalism in Delhi's Daryaganj area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK tenanted farming sector has urged the government to ensure the new Agriculture Bill listens to tenant farmers' concerns. The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has written to Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers in advance of the publication of the new bill. The group stressed the new legislation must not lack provisions and ensure the full participation of the tenanted sector of agriculture. The previous Agriculture Bill, which stalled after the House of Commons Committee Stage, was 'deficient' for tenant farmers, it added. TFA chief executive, George Dunn, said: With many tenant farmers restricted by their agreements to use their holdings for agricultural purposes only, they will need the consent of their landlords before entering schemes for the provision of public goods. Our experience is that whilst many landlords will engage positively with their tenants, there will be a significant number who will seek to frustrate tenants access to new arrangements. We will need legislative provisions to give tenant farmers the ability to participate in schemes where their landlords objections are unreasonable. The TFA is also calling for provisions that will ensure that all new support arrangements are targeted at active farmers. These are the individuals who are in occupation of land, taking the entrepreneurial risk for the farming activities taking place on that land and who are in day-to-day management control. Mr Dunn said: In the past, landlords have had access to agri-environment funding by claiming management control through tenancy agreements. This denies essential support to the tenant farmers of those landlords who are carrying out the work to meet scheme requirements. This must not be allowed to continue. Only active farmers should be eligible for funding through any new public goods schemes, he said. Alongside these specific requirements to ensure the inclusivity of the new financial support arrangements, the TFA is also pressing the government to use the bill to progress wider agricultural tenancy reform. This follows the recommendations made by the Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) which advised the government on the legislative changes needed to allow the tenant farm sector to thrive post Brexit. It would be a major missed opportunity if the Bill did not address the recommendations for tenancy reform endorsed by TRIG, added Mr Dunn. If we do not see these recommendations becoming law as part of the Agriculture Bill, it may be some years before we can expect to see new legislation in this area. It is essential that the tenanted sector can hit the ground running after the Brexit implementation period by having the right legislative framework in place from day one. (Newser) A slimmed-down field of six Democratic contenders debated in Des Moines on Tuesday nightbut despite the high stakes in the final debate before the Feb. 3 caucuses, the candidates largely refrained from attacking each other and focused on the issues, especially foreign policy and health care. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, and Elizabeth Warren took part in the CNN/Des Moines Register debate and analysts say there wasn't a great deal to sway floating voters, making it a good night for the four frontrunners, but not for Klobuchar and Steyer, who failed to score any breakout moments. Some takeaways: Warren, Sanders defuse tensions . Warren and Sanders dealt with the controversy over his alleged remark about a woman being unable to win in 2020 in a way that landed them both in the winners' column at the Washington Post. Warren said she wasn't there to "fight with Bernie," but made a strong case for choosing a female nominee. "The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women: Amy and me," she said. Sanders noted that he said decades ago that a woman could win the presidency, and said conflict between him and Warren "is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want." Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight, who considers Warren the winner of a debate that "wasn't a game-changer," says she "probably got the better of Sanders on the exchange." . Warren and Sanders dealt with the controversy over his alleged remark about a woman being unable to win in 2020 in a way that landed them both in the winners' column at the Washington Post. Warren said she wasn't there to "fight with Bernie," but made a strong case for choosing a female nominee. "The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women: Amy and me," she said. Sanders noted that he said decades ago that a woman could win the presidency, and said conflict between him and Warren "is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want." Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight, who considers Warren the winner of a debate that "wasn't a game-changer," says she "probably got the better of Sanders on the exchange." Big night for Bernie. Most analysts say Sanders had a strong nightpossibly strong enough to propel him to an Iowa win. "Sanders had a great night," according to Vox. "He solidly owned discussions of health care and climate change, and he solidified his status, recently regained from Warren, as the leading voice of the partys left." story continues below Mixed reviews for Buttigieg . Buttigieg had a reasonably good night, with strong answers on health care and foreign policybut analysts say it might not be enough for him to regain momentum. "One problem for Buttigieg is that he was marginal for much of Tuesdays debate, with the spotlight being grabbed by the three other big-name candidates," writes Niall Stanage at the Hill. "He also did himself no favors by his penchant for rather vague or platitudinous answers." Stanage also notes that Klobuchar was "steady" but "also unspectacular." . Buttigieg had a reasonably good night, with strong answers on health care and foreign policybut analysts say it might not be enough for him to regain momentum. "One problem for Buttigieg is that he was marginal for much of Tuesdays debate, with the spotlight being grabbed by the three other big-name candidates," writes Niall Stanage at the Hill. "He also did himself no favors by his penchant for rather vague or platitudinous answers." Stanage also notes that Klobuchar was "steady" but "also unspectacular." No knockout blows for Biden . This wasn't the strongest debate performance from Biden, the frontrunner in most national polls, but "he left the debate unbruised," making him the winner by default, according to David Siders at Politico. Biden "often stayed in his comfort zonesdiscussing foreign policy and health careand he was not the center of the kind of memorable exchanges that had dealt his campaign blows earlier in the race," Reid Epstein and Katie Glueck write at the New York Times. . This wasn't the strongest debate performance from Biden, the frontrunner in most national polls, but "he left the debate unbruised," making him the winner by default, according to David Siders at Politico. Biden "often stayed in his comfort zonesdiscussing foreign policy and health careand he was not the center of the kind of memorable exchanges that had dealt his campaign blows earlier in the race," Reid Epstein and Katie Glueck write at the New York Times. Foreign policy at the forefront. This was the "first debate to start with foreign affairs, and as is true on a lot of other issues quickly became a progressive-versus-moderate tussle," with Warren and Sanders opposing Biden and Buttigieg, writes Domenico Montanaro at NPR. Warren said that as commander-in-chief, she would fight the "revolving door" between defense industry contractors and the Pentagon. (Read more Democratic debate stories.) Cordyceps sinensis, commonly known as "caterpillar fungus", belongs to Clavicipitaceae, a family of fungi. It grows inside the larvae of ghost moths and is the dry insect-fungi complex of the larval carcass. As a precious Chinese herbal medicine, Cordyceps sinensis is rich in chemical ingredients which can be used in disease prevention, the treatment of cancers, and as an anti-ageing agent and booster for the immune system. Adulteration of Cordyceps sinensis is common in the market. Traditional authenticity checks of Cordyceps sinensis mainly rely on experts to identify its shape and colour. Genetic and microscopic identification techniques can also be used. However, genetic identification is expensive, whereas microscopic identification requires strict professional training. Furthermore, some chemical methods cannot effectively distinguish Cordyceps sinensis from other adulterants. Polysaccharide marker identified for sample authentication A Chinese medicine research team led by Dr Han Quanbin, Associate Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine at HKBU, conducted a study to compare the polysaccharides that exist in Cordyceps sinensis with those found in fake adulterants. A unique polysaccharide marker, which is classified as 1,4--glucan, was found only in the caterpillar part of Cordyceps sinensis, and not in the samples of fake adulterants. Having identified the polysaccharide marker, the team used it to develop a novel rapid testing method based on the commonly used HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) instrument. The new method can identify the quantity of the unique polysaccharide marker in Cordyceps sinensis, which is associated with the quality grade of Cordyceps samples. Costs and time for authentication significantly reduced The average testing time for each Cordyceps sinensis sample could be shortened to less than one hour when testing more than five samples, and additional samples can further reduce the average testing time. No special reagent is needed, and the amount of sample used for the test could be as little as 10 mg. Compared to other means of authentication, this novel method shows a significant cost advantage. The team also used traditional genetic identification techniques to verify the results of this novel polysaccharide marker authentication method. A total of 300 samples were tested. Among them, 42 failed to show the polysaccharide marker, and they were also identified as fake samples by the DNA test. The other samples which contained the polysaccharide were all identified as authentic by the DNA test. The results demonstrate that the accuracy of the polysaccharide marker authentication method is comparable to the traditional genetic identification method. The polysaccharide marker authentication method developed by HKBU researchers was granted a US patent in July 2019. It has been licensed to a local technology-based start-up company for commercial application. Media enquiries: Christina Wu, Communication and Public Relations Office (Tel: +852-3411-7828 or Email: [email protected] SOURCE Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 3, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) US Army Plans to Transform Cyber Operations to Counter China, Russia: Report The U.S. Army will be converting its cyber operations into an information warfare command in an effort to counter opponents such as Russia and China, a top U.S. general said. The Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville appeared to confirm that proposals to transform the Cyber Command into the Army Information Warfare Command will be going ahead, dropping the information into a wide-ranging talk hosted by the Atlantic Council on Jan. 14 about the challenges of army modernization. McConville said the Army now recognizes the importance of information operations and plans to combat great power opponents. Our Cyber Command is going to become an information warfare command, McConville said, adding that the service will create cyber ranges and digital operations to help soldiers with their training. Were going to use virtual reality, augmented reality, so our soldiers can train on missions before they actually have to go, McConville said. By 2028, McConville said he hopes the U.S. Army will move away from an industrial-age army to a digital-age army. However, by spring it is expected that information-related operations will shift to Fort Gordon, Georgia, from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Soldiers will be made to figure out their opponents deceptive tactics by analyzing vast amounts of information in cyberspace. Theres that old adage, generals are always trying to fight the last war, McConville said. Well, were not. We want to win the next war. A Pentagon official also said on Jan. 10 that over the next two years, the Army plans to deploy two specialized task forces to the Pacific capable of conducting information, electronic, cyber, and missile operations against Beijing. U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said at an event in Washington on Friday: The Army is reinvigorating our presence and disposition in the Pacific. China will emerge as Americas strategic threat. The units, called Multi-Domain Task Forces, would help neutralize some capabilities China and Russia already possess. The units would potentially be equipped with long-range precision weapons, hypersonic missiles, precision strike missiles, electronic warfare, and cyber capabilities, McCarthy said, without citing any locations. Having the U.S. Army, with modernized weaponry in the region changes the calculus and creates dilemmas for potential adversaries, McCarthy said. China has been miniaturizing the global commons, he said, referring to Chinas fortification of small islands in the South China Sea. Nothing comes close to the effects of boots on the ground, standing shoulder to shoulder with our counterparts, huddled over plans, or walking through jungles together, he added. Reuters contributed to this report. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- A condolence-memorial book will be open to the public in connection with the passing of Vice-Chair of the Council of Advice the late M.C.C. Mavis Brooks-Salmon LL.M, MA. The condolence-memorial book will be open at the Government Administration Building on Pond Island as of Wednesday, January 15 from 2.00pm to 6.00pm and Thursday/Friday, January 16 and 17 from 8.30 am to 6.00 pm. Civil servants can sign the condolence book anytime throughout the day. The late Mrs. Brooks-Salmon joined the High Council of State in October 2010 as Sint Maarten attained country status. Mrs. Brooks-Salmon had a distinguished career in education whereby teaching was her passion. She taught on Curacao and Sint Maarten for close to 10 years before becoming Principal of the Sister Borgia School in Philipsburg, a position she held for 10-years. Furthermore, Mrs. Brooks-Salmon was a public servant holding a number of positions including serving as Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary for the Netherlands Antilles (former) Government in The Hague, the Netherlands. She held a law degree and received a Royal distinction as a Member of the Order of Oranje Nassau. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkey's car exports to Georgia increased by 58.43 percent in 2019, compared to 2018, and exceeded $92.7 million, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish Trade Ministry. Turkey's car exports to Georgia exceeded $11.9 million in December 2019, having increased by 145 percent compared to December 2018. Turkey's car exports decreased by 3.1 percent in 2019, compared to 2018, having exceeded $30.5 billion. Car exports accounted for 17 percent of Turkey's total exports in 2019. Turkey's car exports increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019, compared to December 2018, and amounted to over $2.5 billion. Car exports accounted for 16.5 percent of Turkey's total exports in December 2019. Turkey's foreign trade turnover amounted to over $33.2 billion in November 2019. Turkish exports grew by 0.1 percent in November 2019, compared to November 2018, amounting to just over $15.5 billion. Turkey's imports increased by 9.7 percent in November 2019, compared to the same month of 2018, and exceeded $17.7 billion. Turkey's foreign trade turnover exceeded $340.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe in car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures local brands of buses such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu As Fiji prepares for a cyclone that could hit this week, cruise lines have canceled their itineraries around the country. If the storm develops into a tropical cyclone later this week, which is expected Wednesday or Thursday, it will be called Tino, according to Accuweather. The storm could hit Fiji on Thursday and batter the country with heavy rain and winds over 60 miles per hour. If the storm rapidly strengthens as it approaches Fiji, conditions could be much worse. %image1 The storm is likely to create flooding and mudslides. By Saturday, the storm will likely move out of Fiji and towards Tonga, according to Weather Watch New Zealand. Travel is likely to be disrupted throughout the region as it could bring dangerous conditions to New Zealand by the beginning of next week. Captain Cook Cruises Fiji announced that its four-night cruise aboard the Reef Endeavor will not take off on January 14 because of the storms potential, according to Cruise Critic. Day cruise operators like South Sea Cruises and Awesome Adventures have advised travelers to expect disruptions to service later in the week as the storm potentially develops into a cyclone. Blue Lagoon Cruises is monitoring the storm and will update passengers after they receive an official update from authorities. Passengers who expected to set sail this week can make alternate arrangements with their cruise lines. This could be the second tropical cyclone to hit Fiji in just the past few weeks. On December 28, 2019, the Category 2 Tropical Storm Sarai passed just 60 miles south of Fiji. It damaged land and caused thousands of people to seek emergency shelter. Newsfrom Japan Washington, Jan. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan, the United States and the European Union on Tuesday proposed expanding a ban on market-distorting subsidies under World Trade Organization rules, a measure apparently targeted at China. The three economies hope to win support for the proposal from a wide range of WTO members toward a ministerial meeting of the global trade governing body in June, officials said. The proposal was agreed at a meeting of Japanese trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan. "We've adjusted our views and agreed that we'll make something sturdy, not a product of compromise," Kajiyama told reporters after the meeting. In a joint statement released after the session, the three economies said without mentioning China that the existing WTO rules are "insufficient" to tackle market-distorting industrial subsidies in some economies. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] A grief-stricken grandfather of three boys who were orphaned in a highway crash says he will raise them in Australia instead of returning to Brazil, because 'that's what their parents wanted'. Mauro Rodrigues, 70, and his wife Eunice were inside the silver seven-seater Nissan Pathfinder when it flipped multiple times on the Forest Highway at Binningup, south of Perth, on Sunday. The crash killed their son Eduardo Rodrigues, 41, and his wife Danielle, 37. The grandparents and the three children miraculously survived. Mauro, who was released from hospital with minor injuries, said he and Eunice want to raise the boys, aged two months, three and six, in Australia. Mauro Rodrigues, 70, and his wife Eunice inside the silver seven-seater Nissan Pathfinder while visiting from Brazil when it flipped and killed their son's family 'My son and my daughter-in-law, it was their wish to have their kids here and raise their kids here, so hopefully we can get through this,' Mauro told 9 News through a translator (pictured) 'My son and my daughter-in-law, it was their wish to have their kids here and raise their kids here, so hopefully we can get through this,' he told 9 News through a translator. He also thanked the Australian community for its support. 'In 70 years of my life I gave up believing in people, now I can believe again. I trust in humanity that we can help each other,' he said. 'Everything now is about the kids, I want their kids to be here with good people which I now believe that they will.' Eduardo Rodrigues, 41, and his wife Danielle, 37, were killed when their car rolled on a highway A Go Fund Me page has generated more than $90,000 in donations for funeral expenses. Coles also donated $500 in vouchers to pay for baby formula, nappies and other essentials. The children are still in Perth Children's Hospital. Mauro hopes he will be able to afford to raise his grandsons in Australia. The couple were driving back from a day trip to Margaret River when they veered off the road. Pictured: the site of the crash The couple were driving back from a day trip to Margaret River when they veered off the road. Western Australian police told Daily Mail Australia Ms Rodrigues was sitting in the rear passenger seat when she died. Mr and Mr Rodrigues moved to Perth from Brazil ten years ago. 4.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard During Tuesday nights Democratic debate in Iowa, former Vice President Joe Biden tore into Donald Trumps failed record as commander-in-chief, particularly in recent weeks as America became frighteningly close to a war with Iran. Were now isolated. Were in a situation where our allies in Europe are making a comparison between the United States and Iran, saying both ought to stand down, making a moral equivalence, Biden said. We have lost our standing in the region. We have lost the support of our allies. Biden said the unraveling situation in the Middle East was set in motion by Trumps reckless decision to pull out of the Iran deal. Video: Biden defends the Iran deal as something that was working and says it was predictable what would happen when Trump pulled out of the agreement. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/k8R5tqSgnR PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 15, 2020 Biden said: I was part of that deal to get the nuclear agreement with Iran, bringing together the rest of the world, including some of the folks who arent friendly to us and it was working. It was working, it was being held tightly, there was no movement on the part of the Iranian government to get closer to a nuclear weapon. And look whats happened. He went ahead, and it was predictable from the day he pulled out of the agreement, Trump, what exactly would happen. Were now isolated. Were in a situation where our allies in Europe are making a comparison between the United States and Iran, saying both ought to stand down, making a moral equivalence. We have lost our standing in the region. We have lost the support of our allies. The next president has to be able to pull those folks back together, re-establish our alliances and insist that Iran go back into the agreement, which I believe with the pressure applied as we put on before, we can get done. Biden says Trump is flat out lying about his Iran strike Not only did Biden say that Trump has left Americas reputation in tatters, but he said he believes the president is flat out lying about his rationale for taking military action against Iran. Quite frankly, I think hes flat out lied about saying the reason he made the strike was because our embassies were about to be bombed, the former VP said. Biden says Trump flat out lied about Iran threat to US embassies. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/jiZ1MKKqQ6 PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 15, 2020 As Donald Trump continues to destroy American credibility on the world stage and push America into needless military conflict, Joe Biden is hoping his experience in foreign affairs will give him a boost ahead of the looming Iowa caucus. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter This bizarre footage shows a band of North Korean female soldiers singing and dancing for strongman Kim Jong-un. Armed with an accordion, a guitar and a set of drums, the uniformed women put on a show for the despot as he sits behind a desk. Kim initially looks unimpressed by the performance, but later stands up to applaud the women and even poses for a picture with them. However, the team photo turns into acrimony for one woman who was furious when a colleague appeared to knock her hat askew. It is not clear where or when the footage was taken, but it was shared online yesterday by US-based publication NK News. Performance: A troupe of North Korean women in military uniform dances for Kim Jong-un while some of the performers play a guitar, drum kit and accordion On display: One of the women gives an emotional performance while wearing a military uniform with a hat and medals Spectator: North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un sits behind a desk and watches the performance by women in military uniform In the first of three clips, Kim is sitting with other North Korean officials behind a desk in a small room which looks almost like a school classroom. The women at the front of the troupe appear emotional, even tearful, as they address the supreme leader from the other side of the room. The female soldiers are seen dancing in unison and playing what appear to be harmonicas, while one women is singing - although the clip has no sound. After initially looking underwhelmed, Kim is seen on his feet applauding after one part of the performance in which the women were playing a guitar and drums. Doubtful: Kim and an aide who was sitting next to him initially looked skeptical of the performance in a classroom-sized space Applause: Kim and his aides later gave the performers a warm reception after a display including songs, dance and musical instruments Later, some of the women are seen waving much more cheerfully outside what could be the same building. In a second clip, Kim is at the centre of a crowd of the female soldiers as they pose for a picture with the strongman. Kim is smiling, but a woman immediately behind him reacts angrily after her hat is knocked out of place, turning around to lecture a colleague. Many of the other troops, their hats in place, look delighted to be included in a photo with the supreme leader. The women at the front of the troupe appear emotional, even tearful, as they address the supreme leader from the other side of the room Later, some of the women are seen waving much more cheerfully outside what could be the same building Kim is also seen in a third clip, refusing a cushion from one of the women, who looks disappointed that her offer was rebuffed. There is also a very brief segment in which some of the uniformed women appear to be playing volleyball. Kim has been little seen so far this year, with nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington at an impasse. North Korea has warned it will resume intercontinental ballistic missile tests if the US does not show more flexibility. US officials say North Korea must take more concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs before sanctions are eased. WASHINGTON - State and local officials cannot block refugees from being resettled in their jurisdictions, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding the Trump administration's new refugee policy is likely to be "unlawful" and "does not appear to serve the overall public interest." U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte of Maryland temporarily halted President Donald Trump's executive order requiring governors and local officials nationwide to agree in writing to welcome refugees. "Giving states and local governments the power to consent to the resettlement of refugees - which is to say veto power to determine whether refugees will be received in their midst - flies in the face of clear Congressional intent," Messitte wrote in a 31-page decision. The judge said the administration's grant of a veto power is "arbitrary and capricious as well as inherently susceptible to hidden bias." "One is left to wonder exactly what the rationale is for doing away entirely with a process that has worked so successfully for so long," he wrote. "And why now?" The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by three refugee resettlement agencies that work with the State Department to welcome adults and children into the United States who fled war and persecution in other countries. Trump issued the order in September to give locals a voice in the federal resettlement process for the first time and promised to resettle refugees only in areas "that are eager and equipped" to receive them. But the resettlement agencies argued in court that the consent requirement has caused chaos and confusion, and threatens to dismantle a support network that connects refugees to housing, jobs and English classes needed to start their new lives in the United States. And, critics argued that nothing in Trump's order prevents refugees from ultimately relocating to states, counties and cities that have said they do not want new refugees. The resettlement agencies had asked Messitte, a Clinton nominee, to rule swiftly because approval letters are due beginning Jan. 21 if refugees are to start arriving in June. Resettlement workers have been in a "frenzy" seeking approval from state and local governments, the judge wrote, distracting from their main mission. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration Refugee Service, one of the agencies that filed the lawsuit, said the injunction "provides critical relief." "Those who have been waiting for years to reunite with their families and friends will no longer have to choose between their loved ones and the resettlement services that are so critical in their first months as new Americans," she said. The Justice Department declined to comment on the ruling, which the government can appeal. So far, 42 governors and more than 100 local governments have signed letters of acceptance, indicating they would be willing to accept refugees, according to the Lutheran refugee agency. Seven states have not said whether they would accept refugees: Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and Wyoming. Texas last week became the first state to publicly refuse to resettle new refugees, with Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, saying the state has "carried more than its share." Texas received more than 2,400 refugees during the past fiscal year, the most of any state. Abbott's office did not respond to requests for comments Wednesday after the court ruling. Trump issued the order after he set the annual national refugee cap for this fiscal year at a historic low of 18,000, down from 110,000 in 2016. Trump administration lawyers defended the policy, calling it a "common-sense requirement" that encourages local input. Justice Department lawyer Bradley Humphreys said Trump's order does not give local officials "veto" power because the U.S. Secretary of State could overrule their decisions. Resettlement groups said the rule could prevent refugees from being reunited with U.S.-based friends and relatives, who can support them. Kathleen Jones, vice chair of the Burleigh County commission in North Dakota, which voted narrowly in December to accept refugees, cheered the ruling. "In one word, it's 'Hallelujah,' " Jones said. "I really feel that the Trump administration had no business sticking their nose into this." But Brian Bitner, another Burleigh County commissioner, said he was disappointed that the ruling stripped locals of their newfound influence over refugee resettlement. Burleigh County had debated the issue publicly for hours and likely would have debated it again next year, as Trump's order requires annual consideration of refugee resettlement. "I would feel disappointed if we went through all this trouble, time, and effort for nothing," said Bitner, who voted against resettling refugees because of questions about the cost. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it could cost 50,000 per bong (Jonathan Brady/PA) Boris Johnsons bung a bob for a Big Ben bong proposal to get the bell to ring on Brexit night is attracting muted support on crowdfunding websites. Leave campaigners calls for churches to chime across the nation when the UK leaves the EU at 11pm on January 31 were also being met with opposition. Bell-ringing representatives released a statement to say they do not endorse the act to be carried out in churches for political reasons such as Brexit. Big Ben has been silenced since 2017 with renovations under way, but ardent Brexiteers have called for the work to be paused so the bell can ring in the new relationship at an estimated cost of 500,000. The Prime Minister said on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday that the Government was working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong and looking at whether the public can fund it. His official spokesman insisted Brexit day would be properly marked, but said there was not a specific Government fund. On Tuesday night, there were around 18 active pages on crowdfunding website GoFundMe attempting to raise cash for bongs. But the majority had received no donations at all, and the most successful page so far had only attracted 205. Restoring the bell was discussed at a meeting of the House of Commons Commission on Monday, but it was ultimately ruled out after it was revealed that it could cost 500,000. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who is chairman of the Commission, said they believed it is important to weigh up the costs. We also have to bear in mind that the only people who will hear it will be those who live near or are visiting Westminster, he added. Expand Close Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it could cost 50,000 per bong (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it could cost 50,000 per bong (Jonathan Brady/PA) Meanwhile, the Leave.EU campaign has called for churches across the nation to echo their reaction to the Allies victory against the Nazis in the Second World War. Whichever way you look at it, February 1 will be the most momentous morning in British history since the glorious day in 1945 when our country celebrated victory over the Nazi regime in Germany, the group said. But the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers declined to give its backing. There are historical moments for which bells have been rung end of world wars for example. In 2018 the Central Council worked with the Government on a recruitment and awareness campaign to recognise 100 years since WW1 Armistice, a spokeswoman said. However the Central Council, as a principle, does not endorse bell ringing for political reasons. Individual towers have discretion to ring for such occasions but is on a case-by-case basis and typically needs permission from the incumbent. The Democrats talk foreign policy and trade in the final debate before the Iowa caucuses. President Donald Trump heads to Milwaukee to keep his re-election campaign rolling. And the U.S. Senate moves closer to ratifying the USMCA. Check-in Stage left: Six Democratic presidential hopefuls were on stage at Drake University in Des Moines on Tuesday night for the final debate before the Iowa caucuses. So, what happened? Foreign policy was the main focus early, with the Democrats questioning Republican President Donald Trumps decision and motive to order a fatal drone strike on Iranian Maj. General Qassem Soleimani, per my recap for cleveland.com. And we got a fairly substantive discussion on the USMCA trade deal. You can find a full transcript here, courtesy of the Des Moines Register, which hosted and was all over debate coverage. With friends like these: The biggest talker from the debate was the developing rift between Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, per MLives Malachi Barrett. Warren claims Sanders said a woman couldnt get elected president. Sanders vehemently denies saying that. The exchange has created quite the rift between the two standard-bearers of the liberal wing of the party just 19 days until the caucus. Let it flow: While Democrats were on stage in Des Moines, Trump headed to Milwaukee for a re-election rally, where he touched on similar subjects to his rally in Toledo last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Molly Beck and Mary Spicuzza report. That included defending his decision on Soleimani and promising the crowd he wouldnt mandate low-flow dishwashers and faucets. As Beck and Spicuzzas piece aptly points out, the Milwaukee visit was meant as a statement the same night as the debate and in the same city as the 2020 Democratic National Convention but he failed to touch on Wisconsin-specific issues, such as the rapid loss of small dairy farms in the state. Split decision: Michiganders are split over their support for Trumps decision to kill an Iranian general via drone strike, though they are generally OK with using military force to protect American interests, the Detroit Free Press Todd Spangler reports. Trade-in value: The U.S. Senate is planning to vote on the USMCA trade deal a proposed tweak to NAFTA after delays in Trumps impeachment trial, the Associated Press Andrew Taylor reports. Its passage is a potentially significant victory for Trump, who arguably won Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania campaigning on replacing the widely loathed NAFTA. Trumps supporters certainly saw it that way during his recent Toledo rally, per the New York Times Alan Rappaport. U-turn: One day after a Wisconsin judge held elections officials in contempt of court for not beginning to purge more than 200,000 people from the voter rolls, an appeals court put a potential purge and the contempt of court ruling on hold, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Patrick Marley reports. A conservative group is currently suing the state to remove the voters from the rolls before the 2020 election, which would adversely affect Democrats more than Republicans in a state Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes. No postage required: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, wants the state to cover the cost of postage for mail-in absentee ballots, cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton reports. LaRose said having the state foot the bill for the ballots would cut down on voter confusion, such as how many stamps to put on their ballot. The price is wrong: Health care activists in Pennsylvania are pushing a Democratic-backed bill that would create a public commission overseeing pharmaceutical prices in the state, PennLives Jan Murphy reports. It seems unlikely that the bill would receive consideration from the Republican-backed legislature, but in an election year with health care top of mind, theres a possibility it receives some play. Lesson learned: Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, made it clear during his state of the state address that teachers in the state will have to wait until at least 2021 for a pay raise, the Indianapolis Stars Chris Sikich and Arika Herron report. More than 15,000 teachers rallied at the statehouse in November, protesting for higher pay and more resources. Providing sanctuary: Commissioners in Clermont County, Ohio, unanimously voted to declare the county a Second Amendment sanctuary, the Cincinnati Enquirers Scott Wartman reports. What does that mean, exactly? Legally, nothing. But it does show the divide in the state on the debate over guns. The county is just more than an hour away from Dayton, the site of a mass shooting in August. And the movement is spreading. A Michigan group is already promoting the idea, per the Detroit News Beth LeBlanc. Ch-ch-changes: A Michigan criminal justice reform task force recommended that state lawmakers reduce fine amounts, cut back on suspending drivers licenses and speed up trials to within 18 months of an arrest, the Detroit News Craig Mauger and James David Dickson report. The state is looking to make changes after the number of people in Michigan jails tripled in less than 40 years. Arrivals/Departures U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was in Columbus on Tuesday, per cleveland.com. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang was in Ames, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the Des Moines Register. White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, was in Milwaukee on Tuesday, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland was in Humeston, Liberty and Osceola, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the campaign. Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be in Newton, Tama, Cedar Falls and Mason City, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the campaign. Buttigieg will be in Algona, Emmetsburg, Arnolds Park, Orange City and Sioux City, Iowa, on Thursday, per the campaign. President Donald Trump will hold a re-election rally in Des Moines on Jan. 30, per the Des Moines Register. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota will be on top of the Illinois primary ballot, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Actor Alec Baldwin is pressing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to intervene and save a bear from continuous mistreatment by the Union County Sportsmens Club and Wildlife Sanctuary, per PennLive. Griff the bulldog was the real star of the Democratic debate, per the Des Moines Register. This Is Your Captain Speaking The boys mostly like Trump. Theres an attention side of it. Its just like a way to get people upset, to rile up the girls, the whole masculine group loves Trump. -Mia Chiaro, a high school senior in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the political dividing lines at Dunmore High School outside Scranton. As is the case in other presidential years, high schoolers who will be able to vote for the first time are becoming more politically active, such as hosting voter registration drives. Enjoying The Flyover? Be sure and subscribe here. Email Seth at SRichardson@cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson. Protesters from Punjab, including members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) on Wednesday joined the ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh where people, largely women from the minority community, are demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Register of Citizens (NRC). Protesters including senior citizens, men, women and children joined the protest here and raised slogans against CAA and NRC. Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar joined the protest in Shaheen Bagh here and attacked the BJP-led central government saying that they fought elections on the promise of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', but they did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash'. "They got majority in election because they said we will do 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (Together for everyone's progress). But what they did? They did 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vinash (destruction)'," Aiyar said. Meanwhile, due to the protesters occupying a major portion of the road, traffic movement in the area has been affected for about a month now. The Kalindi Kunj stretch, a crucial route that connects Delhi with Faridabad and Noida has been closed since December 15 last year due to demonstrations against CAA and NRC. Several commuters using this road have been forced to use alternative routes such as Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Expressway and Ashram. "Road No. 13A between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj is closed for traffic movement. People coming from Noida are advised to take DND or Akshardham to reach Delhi," Delhi Traffic Police tweeted earlier today. The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I try to keep up with some social science, partly for the amusement value, and partly because social science is sometimes useful for proving the obvious (which is also amusing). But Ive been falling behind in posting highlights, so it is time to catch up. First up, do you think it is really necessary to prove that good looking people enjoy a lot of advantages in life? Apparently this proposition requires empirical proof, and here it is, courtesy of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility (yeahI didnt know this journal existed either): Exploring the Impact of Male and Female Attractiveness on Occupational Prestige Emanuela Sala, Marco Terraneo, Mario Lucchini, Gundi Knies Abstract Traditionally, social scientists have studied socio-economic inequalities mainly by looking at the impact of individuals economic, cultural and social capital. Some scholars have recently argued that other types of resources, such as genetic and erotic capital, may also play a role in the processes that lead to the formation of social inequalities. Using a unique longitudinal dataset, the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, this paper explores the impact of facial attractiveness on peoples socio-economic standing over the life course. Methodologically, we employ a set of multilevel Growth Curve Models. Two findings clearly stand out from our analysis. Firstly, facial attractiveness does matter, both for men and women, and secondly, its impact is constant over the employment history. Golly, I never would have guessed this without social science. On a more serious level, Ive been saying for a while now that Ill be curious to see in the coming years what the social science data may tell us about the new world of same-sex marriageif social scientists dare or are allowed to look into the subject, because you can count on the subject being nearly as taboo and underground as group IQ research. (Some early attempts to study same-sex unions in the U.S. have been met with the usual ideological denunciation.) Anyway, Demography has just published a study of same-sex unions in Sweden, where same sex marriage has been legal for almost 25 years. Heres the study and abstract, with the interesting parts highlighted: Two Decades of Same-Sex Marriage in Sweden: A Demographic Account of Developments in Marriage, Childbearing, and Divorce Martin Kolk & Gunnar Andersson In this study, we provide demographic insight into the still relatively new family form of same-sex marriage. We focus on period trends in same-sex marriage formation and divorce during 19952012 in Sweden and the role of childbearing in same-sex unions. The period begins with the introduction of registered partnership for same-sex couples and also covers the introduction of formal same-sex marriage in 2009. We use register data for the complete population of Sweden to contrast patterns in male and female same-sex marriage formation and divorce. We show that female same-sex union formation increased rapidly over the period, while trends for male same-sex unions increased less. The introduction of same-sex marriage legislation in 2009 appears to have had little effect on the pace of formation of same-sex unions. In contrast, legal changes supporting parental rights in same-sex unions may have fueled the formation of female same-sex marriages as well as parenthood in such unions. Further, we show that divorce risks in the marital unions of two women are much higher than in other types of marriages. We find some convergence of divorce risks across union types at the end of our study period: male same-sex unions have the same divorce risk levels as opposite-sex marriages, and the elevated risks of divorce in female same-sex unions appear to have stabilized at somewhat lower levels than those observed in the late 1990s. Readers can supply their own interpretations and extrapolations from these findings. I found this chart especially interesting, and wonder if this will be the experience here: On Saturday, Jan. 4, at 11 p.m. Balinese artist I Wayan Sika lay down upon his bed at his home above his gallery, the Sika Contemporary Art Gallery in Sanggingan, Ubud. He closed his eyes and sometime after he drew his final breath. His sudden and unexpected death sent immediate shock waves throughout the Balinese community, the Indonesian art world and beyond. A friend and inspiration to many, Sika was a true maverick. Visionary, painter, woodcarver, community leader, art provocateur, gallerist, curator, writer, teacher, husband, father, mentor, along with being an ambassador of Balinese art and culture he was driven by a kind, yet potent inner force. Wayan Sika was born on Sep. 24, 1949, and raised in the family compound in Silakarang, Gianyar. His father, I Nyoman Narsa, was a renowned woodcarver. Many students came to his studio to study under his guidance, providing an inspiring learning environment for the young Sika. Sikas formal art education began at the Indonesian School of Fine Art (SSRI) in Denpasar, followed by four years studying painting at the Academy of Indonesian Fine Art (ASRI) in Yogyakarta. In 1970, aged 21, Sika along with pioneering Balinese modernist Nyoman Gunarsa (1944-2017), Made Wianta and other students at the ASRI, founded the Sanggar Dewata Indonesia (SDI) artists foundation. Young and dynamic, the artists loved to experiment with new techniques and aesthetic concepts. A turning point and a radical new era in Balinese art, an original genre of contemporary art evolved through SDI that was recognized within world art for its aesthetic and philosophical distinctions. Sika was, along with Nyoman Erawan, one of the principal proponents of 'Hindu' abstraction, a type of painting that structured space, and to a certain extent color, in such a way as to express basic principles of the Balinese Hindu cosmology, said Bali historian and art critic Jean Couteau. It was an important moment of the 'rationalization' endeavor undertaken by the Balinese elites of the 70s and 80s to 'universalize' both their art and their beliefs. After finishing his studies in Yogyakarta in 1973, Sika returned to Bali, married Dwi Atmi, and began a family, fathered three children: Ni Putu Krishnawati, I Made Aji Aswino and Ni Komang Astri Krisnandi. He began a furniture business specializing in pieces carved in the Renaissance Rococo style. The company grew to employ more than 100 carvers, while ministers from the Soeharto era acquired this furniture for their homes and offices. In 1982 Sika was summoned by the government to go to New Zealand to produce furniture for the Indonesian Embassy. Europe was his next international destination and in 1986, Sika was in Switzerland making expressive carvings and bronze statues for twelve months. He received an order in 1989 from a Museum in Basel, Switzerland, to make a Balinese Barong for their collection. It was during this period that the head of the Christof Merian Foundation saw his paintings and invited him to join their program of International Exchange Artists. Sika held his debut solo exhibition in Basel in 1989. The show sold out and this success provided the self-belief he required to devote more energy to his paintings. Building community was one of Sikas life intentions. During an interview I conducted with him in 2010, he said it was consistently challenging for the SDI artists to find a location to exhibit their work in Bali. He founded the Sika Contemporary Art Gallery in 1996 in Campuhan, Ubud as an exhibition venue in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SDI. The non-sales orientated gallery specialized in providing space to support regular exhibitions by talented young artists from Indonesia and around the world. International contemporary art star Nyoman Masriadi exhibited at the gallery as an emerging artist while still living nearby in Sakah, Gianyar. Sikas commitment to the community also extended to education and his actions were relevant in the development of new schools and kindergartens. He was instrumental in the revival in 1987 of the High School of Visual Arts (SMSR) Ubud, which later changed its name to Ubud Vocational High School. On Oct. 1, 2010, after a 34-year association, Sika retired as a part-time lecturer at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) in Denpasar. In 1996 Sika was asked by the Christof Merian Foundation to select Indonesian artists to travel to Basel. Made Wianta, Nyoman Erawan, Made Djirna, Made Budhiana, Edi Hara, Ketut Pandi Taman and Putu Sutawijaya all gained vital exposure to galleries from London, Holland and Germany. Their works are considered today among some of Indonesias finest contemporary art. In 2001, Sika chose to step aside from the Christof Merian Foundation and reassess his focus, dedicating himself to his spiritual journey. As an artist this was to have a profound effect upon his work. He continued to organize group and community exhibitions as well as curating, writing in books, catalogs, magazines and newspapers. Sika experienced a series of health problems that saw him unconscious on three occasions, in 2003, 2006 and 2009, when he hovered close to death for many days. On this occasion, he received visions that inspired his final artistic journey a series of spiritual-religious paintings. Over the next 10 years, Sika painted when "called", often early in the morning after meditating. He created a distinct body of works within the framework of Balinese contemporary painting, pictures that channeled high-frequency symbols and texts - messages from the "other" world. And while such artworks are a renowned facet of the Balinese way of life, Sikas paintings were distinctly noteworthy rare and valuable. I lived near Sika for 10 years and I would often visit and we discussed an array of subjects, as well as art. A frequent topic was sekala/nisakla (the seen and unseen elements of life according to the Balinese), and about the complexities of his culture. He disclosed his preparations for moksa and his then-current series of paintings that he displays in his gallery. Sika recalled how they had impacted upon visitors to the gallery. While each composition was slightly different, all resonated with an invisible force that could be felt. Read also: 'Balinese Masters' exhibition presents significant insights into development of Balinese painting Sika shared with me that on more than a few occasions he would venture downstairs from his living abode above the gallery to where his paintings hung and find a visitor, mostly foreign tourists, engaging with his works. Some expressed strong emotions of grief and sadness, he said, while others sat peacefully in meditation. He often had long conversations with these people about his paintings. I too had my personal experiences. The beautiful mixed media compositions often featured glowing golden hues. Consent (2009) depicts an enormous lotus flower with a five-tiered triangular structure positioned on top of the petals. Upon each level was Sanskrit text revealing a narrative relevant to his process of spiritual evolution. Krishna Narayana (2009) features a figure cloaked in a green fabric veil, a complex system of chakras define energy centres upon the physical form, other sacred symbols and mantras complete the composition along with a depiction of Hyang Sang Widhi, the Balinese supreme being. The paintings pulsate silent messages that resonate with the soul. To many these works are mysterious, and cannot be explained. According to Balinese traditions and the creation of the sacred classical, religious paintings, and the amulet diagrams on cloth, rerajahan are one of the distinct functions of an artist. They act as an intermediary between the heavenly realms and Earth to translate esoteric information into decipherable and practical codes. Sikas mission was similar while defining important steps within his journey, and contributing to the development of Balinese contemporary painting. When I met Wayan Sika in 1980 he regularly talked about spirituality and how it related to contemporary visual art, said renowned Balinese contemporary artist, academic and lecturer at ISI Denpasar, Wayan Karja. He often shared about Rwabhineda, the Balinese Hindu concept of dualism and his ideas about the polarity of black and white which inspired me to see the world in a different way - in many colors." Sika was one of my inspirations and helped me to create a broader picture of the Balinese religious cosmology within the concept of contemporary art, he added. A special moment for Sika was April 12, 2019, at the recently commissioned exhibition facility ABBC Building, Nusa Dua. He and his son Aswino Aji, cofounder of ArtBali, the annual Indonesian contemporary art exhibition at the ABBC Building, helped officiate the opening ceremony of Balinese Masters: Aesthetic DNA Trajectories of Balinese Visual Art, a showcasing of installations, paintings, sculptures, drawings and objects by 34 Balinese artists and communities. Sika was also one of the invited artist; his installation of nine paintings. The Essence of the Void (2019), measuring 360 cm by 360 cm, was one of the highlights of the show. There is much that can and should be written about I Wayan Sika, not only about his art, yet also about his generous character. Many have tales of this important change-maker who willingly supported individual and community development (creative, human and spiritual). The Sika Contemporary Gallery has played a distinct and important role in the development of Indonesian art. His renegade anti-establishment attitude was an inspiration and vital essence in the pursuit of Balinese contemporary art. Sikas artworks are accessible to the public and continually on display in his gallery. Sika has now crossed over to the other side, yet the veil between the two worlds here in Bali is very thin. The Balinese are renowned for their rich oral tradition of storytelling, and now Sikas memory will live on through this cultural expression. When we talk about Sika, we will have good cause for celebration knowing that he is close by and his spirit is alive in each and every word. Selamat jalan Pak Sika, and thank you. (dev/kes) $23 Million Project Aims to Demonstrate Integrated DNA Data Storage and Retrieval DNA Script today announced that the company and its Molecular Encoding Consortium partners have been awarded a multi-phase contract worth up to $23 million from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity's (IARPA) Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program. The goal of the project is to develop sequence-controlled polymers as the basis for deployable storage technologies that can eventually scale into the exabyte regime and beyond with reduced physical footprint, power and cost requirements relative to conventional storage technologies. The Molecular Encoding Consortium is led by the Laboratory of Dr. Robert Nicol at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and includes DNA Script and Professor Donhee Ham's Research Group at Harvard University. The consortium will explore the possibility of integrating a novel enzymatic DNA synthesis technology and next-generation sequencing into a single instrument over the 4-year duration of the program. The consortium plans to collaborate with Illumina to leverage its sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) technologies for accurate, low cost decoding. Massive amounts of digital data are generated every day, and emerging technologies such as autonomous cars and artificial intelligence will further increase the need for data storage at unprecedented scales. This causes major challenges to private and public organizations, which currently rely on exabyte-scale data centers that have large footprints, consume megawatts of power and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build, operate and maintain over their lifetimes. It is expected that the anticipated growth in data storage requirements cannot be addressed by current resource-intensive technologies. Nucleic acid-based systems hold promise to store this information with radically reduced physical footprints, power and cost requirements. This technology is not mature yet and will require extensive development to be ready to use. IARPA has therefore launched the MIST program to fund initiatives that could turn molecular-based data storage into reality. The Molecular Encoding Consortium is one of these funded projects. "This contract with IARPA, which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in partnership with prestigious partners such as the Broad Institute and Harvard University is a strong recognition of DNA Script's results and leadership in developing enzymatic template-free nucleic acid synthesis," said Dr. Thomas Ybert, CEO of DNA Script. "However, it is only the beginning of this ambitious project, which will require us to push current technological limits to bring to life our cutting-edge technology while also delivering an operational solution to one of the most important challenges of our time." "This project at the intersection of molecular biology, physics, chemistry, information theory and electrical engineering leverages the multi-disciplinary capabilities of our laboratory, our exceptional consortium partners and the collaborative nature of our Institute," said Dr. Robert Nicol, Senior Director of Technology Development at the Broad Institute and the consortium's Principal Investigator. "The objectives set out by IARPA for this four-year program are ambitious and will require scientific innovations, as well as robust and scalable technologies." "The Molecular Encoding Consortium integrates the different experiences and expertise of these leading institutions," said Dr. Donhee Ham, the Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics at Harvard University. "My research group will bring expertise in the interface of solid-state electronic chips and biological systems. I am looking forward to working with the consortium team in combining silicon integrated circuit technology with molecular biology and electrochemistry to tackle this very interesting problem." "DNA is the ideal way to store information for long periods of time," said Dr. Mostafa Ronaghi, Chief Technology Officer of Illumina. "We are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the early pioneers involved in this project and having our SBS chemistry and instruments used to decode the digital information." About IARPA IARPA invests in high-risk, high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the agencies and disciplines in the Intelligence Community. Additional information on IARPA and its research may be found on www.iarpa.gov. About DNA Script Founded in 2014 in Paris, DNA Script is the world's leading company in manufacturing de novo synthetic nucleic acids using an enzymatic technology. The company aims at accelerating innovation in life sciences and technology through rapid, affordable, and high-quality DNA synthesis. DNA Script's approach leverages nature's billions of years of evolution in synthesizing DNA to enable genome scale synthesis. The Company's technology has the potential to greatly accelerate the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics, sustainable chemicals production, improved crops and data storage solutions. www.dnascript.co About the Dr. Donhee Ham Research Group Established in 2002, one of the major intellectual focuses of Donhee Ham's research group has been on directly interfacing silicon integrated circuits with biological systems for applications in neuroscience, neurotechnology, and biomolecular spectroscopy. Notably, his group at Harvard Applied Physics in collaboration with Dr. Hongkun Park's group at Harvard Chemistry has recently developed a silicon electronic chip with a surface nanoelectrode array that can copy the synaptic connectivity of thousands of connected mammalian neurons. http://ham.seas.harvard.edu About Illumina Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005627/en/ Contacts: Press contact in the US for DNA Script Seismic Eric Schubert 415-939-4366 eric@teamseismic.com Press contact in Europe for DNA Script ALIZE RP Caroline Carmagnol 06 64 18 99 59 caroline@alizerp.com DNA Script Contact publicrelations@dnascript.com Illumina Contact Jen Carroll jcarroll@illumina.com Canadian gold miner Endeavour said it had received 'insufficient' information about Centamin's books before a deadline last night Canadian gold miner Endeavour has abandoned plans for a 1.5billion merger with FTSE 250-listed Centamin. Endeavour said it had received 'insufficient' information about Centamin's books before a deadline last night. Endeavour had been hoping Centamin would extend the deadline which meant it had to put in a firm offer or walk away but when this was rejected it decided to abandon the tie-up. The two companies began talks in December to strike a better deal after Centamin rebuffed an initial 1.5billion bid, which would have seen its investors receive Endeavour shares. Centamin, which is now hoping to bolster production in Egypt at its main mine, insists there were 'comprehensive' negotiations but its board was not convinced the deal would pay off for shareholders. It tried to sweeten the collapse by paying out 89million to shareholders in a dividend, but its share price dropped by 7 per cent, or 8.85p, to 118.35p. Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday. Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers. The cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the arid northwest of South Australia ended on Sunday, said APY general manager Richard King. We appreciate the concerns of animal rights activists, but there is significant misinformation about the realities of life for non-native feral animals, in what is among the most arid and remote places on Earth, King said in a statement on Tuesday.- As custodians of the land, we need to deal with an introduced pest in a way that protects valuable water supplies for communities and puts the lives of everyone, including our young children, the elderly, and native flora and fauna first. King said weakened camels frequently became stuck and died in water holes, contaminating water sources needed by locals and native animals and birds. The prolonged dry period, while not difficult for native wildlife, leads to extreme distress for feral camels, he said. APY officials said the operation had removed more than 5,000 camels. The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires that have devastated the countrys southeast. Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to aid in the exploration of the continents vast interior, with up to 20,000 imported from India in the six decades that followed. Australia is now thought to have the largest wild camel population in the world, with official estimates suggesting more than one million are roaming the countrys inland deserts. The animals are considered a pest, as they foul water sources and trample native flora while foraging for food over vast distances each day. Traditional owners in the APY Lands have for years mustered and sold off feral camels. But more recently they have been unable to manage the scale and number of camels that congregate in dry conditions, according to the environment department. SOURCE: AFP | PHOTO: AFP Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:49:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chen Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, attends a graduation ceremony for the 2019 autumn class of the school in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Wednesday held a graduation ceremony for the 2019 autumn class. Chen Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and president of the school, presented certificates to 1,311 graduates at the ceremony. Ten graduates made speeches at the ceremony, saying the program armed them with theories, strengthened their ideals and convictions and enhanced their competence to perform duties. They pledged to turn what they have learned into action to advance the cause of the Party and the country, step up institution building and improve capacity for governance. Large hailstones and heavy rain are lashing Melbourne causing flash flooding, although the wild weather has cleared the smoke haze that has blanketed the city for days. Choking smoke was replaced by fierce thunderstorms that hit the Melbourne area from 4pm, as the city's strange weather changed gears making for a horror commute home. The deluge dumped hailstones the size of 20-cent coins in the city's west, where some suburbs received a month's worth of rain in an hour. Key train lines were suspended, with the storms causing peak-hour delays across the network. Trains on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines came to a standstill and commuters were left stranded for an hour, waiting for 26 replacement buses to arrive. The successes achieved in the issue of international recognition of Artsakh will not only soften the uncompromising negotiating positions of Azerbaijan, but also increase the level of security of Artsakh and regional stability, said Artsakh Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian at a press conference summing up the results of 2019. Masis Mayilian noted that in order to ensure real progress in the peace process and achieve a final settlement of the conflict, it is necessary to restore a full-fledged trilateral format of the negotiation process with the full participation of official Stepanakert. The Foreign Minister also noted that in 2019, the peace process on the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict was largely aimed at maintaining stability in the region. It was noted that in general, the ceasefire regime was maintained at the state border between Artsakh and Azerbaijan. Emphasizing the importance of excluding the prospects of war and ensuring stability in the conflict zone, Masis Mayilian emphasized that the Artsakh authorities continued to support the OSCE mission's regular monitoring of the ceasefire. The Foreign Minister also noted that during the year a number of confidence-building measures were agreed and implemented between the parties to the conflict aimed at creating favorable conditions for the promotion of the peace process. Masis Mayilian also underlined the importance of the meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, during which the NKR Foreign Minister presented the Republic's position on the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement. With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head of the Artsakh Union of Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan Sarasar Saryan had an opportunity to present to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office the situation regarding the refugees in Artsakh. The Minister also noted that during the year the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs visited Stepanakert twice, met with the President of Artsakh, the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Defense. Masis Mayilian noted that the year of 2019 had marked the 25th anniversary of the most important document in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement process - the Agreement on the full cessation of fire and hostilities, signed by Artsakh, the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had allowed to transfer the conflict settlement to the diplomatic realm. In this regard, on May 10, a conference was organized in Stepanakert at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh, with the participation of political and public figures from Artsakh, Armenia and Russia. Former Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov participated in the conference as an honorable guest. During the press conference, Masis Mayilian also noted the high level of cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Artsakh and Armenia, which allows Stepanakert to present to the counterparts in Yerevan the position of Artsakh on different key aspects of the Pan-Armenian agenda, as well as issues related to the peace process. In this context, Masis Mayilian stressed the importance of signing on July 5 the Plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia for 2019-2020, which allows the two Foreign Ministries to intensify the cooperation at the institutional level Some prisoners with a disability feel they are "punished" simply for their condition, while others report they are bullied by fellow inmates. The findings are among a number made in a new report published by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) which argued that changes need to be made regarding how prisons assist inmates who have a disability. Some 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted for the report, including with 16 prisoners with disabilities, as well as representative organisations of persons with disabilities, prison officers, civil servants and public officials. The prisoners interviewed included people with physical and/or mobility impairments, some with mental health disabilities, acquired brain injuries, deaf people, and the visually impaired. It found that isolation in cells, limited availability of accessibility aids, lack of appropriate information on prison services, and limited opportunities to communicate with peers and family members are just some of the barriers and human rights issues facing prisoners with disabilities in the prison system. Among the general trends that emerged in the report is that prisoners with disabilities face significant difficulties navigating prison and prison services. "Some prisoners were effectively confined to their cells due to the inaccessibility of the prison environment, and had services brought to them," it said. Others said they were denied specific accessibility aids, including a white cane used by the visually impaired, while access to sign language interpretation for deaf prisoners was extremely limited. It also said there was limited understanding of disability rights and concern regarding the right to health for people with disabilities in prison. "The issues raised included the removal of medication and management of medication upon entry to prison, during prison stay and in the transition out of prison," it said. "Forced treatment and transfer of prisoners to forensic psychiatric settings were reported by both prisoners and other stakeholders in this small-scale study." It found that informal peer support from other prisoners was likely to be the main form of support for people with disabilities in prison, but some participants reported instances where prisoners bullied disabled prisoners. Concerns were also raised over the incentivised regime which operates within prisons. "Some prisoners reported being punished for disability-related behaviour (often perceived as challenging behaviour, without exploring how the behaviour resulted from the inaccessibility of the prison environment) or losing out on the rewards for not taking part in programmes that were not accessible to them, including education programmes," it added. The report makes a range of recommendations, including that accessible information on rights, regimes and complaint systems in prison is provided, access to single-cell accommodation, continuity and equivalence of care between community and prison, and banning solitary confinement. IPRT Executive Director Fiona Ni Chinneide said: "Even at the most basic level, people with disabilities in prison must have access to the entire physical prison environment on an equal basis with other prisoners." Majella Barkley (second left), centre director at the Innovation Factory, with TriMedikas international sales manager Judith Kee, CEO Dr Roisin Molloy and COO Julie Brien A Belfast company that invented a ground-breaking new non-contact thermometer for use in hospitals is set to create five new jobs after securing major export partners in 11 new countries. Medical technology experts TriMedika, located at the Innovation Factory in west Belfast, has created a new hi-tech, non-contact infrared thermometer. The device is said to drastically reduce the potential for infection and eliminates the use of millions of plastic disposable probe covers every year. The company said it's now creating the new jobs after the device received a positive reception and is also moving ahead with plans to expand their operations into the Republic. Chief operating officer Julie Brien said: "We are moving ahead with plans to open another operation across the border. "There was reluctance with distributors due to the uncertainty of Brexit so we needed an authorised representative in Europe so we will set up an office across the border." Ms Brien said this new operation will not be too far across the border and will be opening this year. The new thermometer, called the Tritemp, is already being used in 16 countries and following attendance at international trade show Medica in Dusseldorf, the company has identified additional channel partners in new territories including Brazil, Mexico, all four Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Croatia. Ms Brien and Dr Roisin Molloy formed TriMedika in 2016 after carrying out extensive research into new equipment to meet the changing requirements of medical staff and organisations. Dr Molloy said: "The main aim of the National Health Service is to reduce infection, save costs and reduce waste. "A 900-bed hospital takes around one to two million temperature readings per year, which means one to two million plastic caps for disposal and one to two million unnecessary contact points with patients. "In Tritemp we have created something that does away with this, reducing the potential for infection and eliminating tons of plastic waste." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday morning announced seven impeachment managers, several with experience as prosecutors, to make the case in a Senate trial against President Donald Trump, who Democrats accuse of extorting a foreign government for his own political gain. Trump, in a July phone call with the Ukrainian president, pushed for an investigation into gas company Burisma and the business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who sat on Burismas board. The presidents request for a favor came as the Trump administration held up a White House meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and almost $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. The House in December impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, with Democrats accusing Trump of blocking witnesses and public records and arguing Republican allies in the Senate were preventing a fair trial. Documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity bolster arguments that Trump led an illicit pressure campaign on Ukraine, Democrats said Wednesday. They also argue the documents show its critical for senators to hear from key witnesses such as former National Security Adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Pelosi added that Russia had hacked into Burisma, according to recent reports, in an effort to assist Trump much the way Democrats say Kremlin-backed agents did in 2016. This is about the constitution of the United States, Pelosi said in a news conference. Its important for president to know, and (Vladimir) Putin to know, that American voters should decide who our president is." Managing the trial for the Democrats will be Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee chairman who ran a series of public impeachment hearings and who Pelosi named as lead manager; Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, chair of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who was a Judiciary Committee staffer during the impeachment effort against President Richard Nixon before sitting on the committee during President Bill Clintons impeachment; Rep. Hakeem Jeffires of New York, chair of the House Democratic caucus and member of the Judiciary Committee; Rep. Val Demings of Florida, who sits on the Intelligence and Judiciary committees and was a police chief in Orlando; Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a war veteran and litigator on the House Armed Services Committee; and Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas, a Judiciary Committee member and former judge and city controller in Houston. The president, who has maintained that the case against him is a political hoax, responded to the news conference on Twitter. Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate! Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2020 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has argued the Senate should not have to hear witnesses that Democrats wish to call for the upcoming trial. He argues the impeachment case is mere partisan rage against Trump. Schiff said the framers had in mind a real trial with witnesses and evidence. If (McConnell) makes it the first trial without witnesses, it will be exposed for what it is ... a cover up for the president. On Tuesday, Trump responded to calls for a fair trial from Cryin Chuck Schumer by arguing that Nervous Nancy and Shifty Schiff didnt give us a fair trial in the House. It was the most lopsided and unfair basement hearing in the history of Congress! The House expects to vote on sending the impeachment articles to the Senate on Wednesday afternoon. McConnell has said the trial could begin as early as next week. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko will visit the United Kingdom on January 15-16, where he intends to meet with the foreign ministers of five countries whose citizens died as a result of the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane in Iran. "On January 15-16, 2020, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko will pay a working visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," the Foreign Ministry's press service said on Wednesday. It is noted that during the visit, Prystaiko will take part in the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden and Afghanistan in order to coordinate efforts to ensure a proper investigation of the circumstances of the UIA plane crash of PS 752 flight in Tehran. More With the festival of Makar Sankranti being celebrated across the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also marked the day at the revered Gorakhnath temple by offering prayers and extending his wishes to the citizens of the country. The festival is celebrated with great joy and fervor at the temple dedicated to Guru Gorakhnath and thousands of people throng the religious place to offer prayers. "Makar Sankranti is a festival of the divine father of the world, Sun. Every living thing in this world is because of God Sun. As it is festival of Sun I wish everybody an exciting beginning of their day," Yogi Adityanath said. "Makar Sankranti has an important place among all the cultural festival, it is celebrated in many places with different names like, in East as Bihu, in West in the name of Lohri, in North as Khichdi and Tilwa Sankranti and in South as Pongal," he added. Large number of devotees from Gorakhpur and nearby areas thronged the Gorakhnath temple to offer prayers to mark the festival. "People from Nepal, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Haryana have visited the temple to offer prayers to Guru Gorakhnath on this occasion, it is said that after offering prayers here wish of the devotee are fulfilled," Durgesh Bajaj, a devotee said. Makara Sankranti or Maghi, is a holy day in the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya. The day marks the first day of the Sun's transit into the Makara, marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Erdogan Says Turkey Will 'Teach Haftar a Lesson' in Libya if He Doesn't Stop Offensive Sputnik News 12:46 14.01.2020(updated 13:32 14.01.2020) This comes after the Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Haftar left Moscow without signing a ceasefire agreement with the head of the UN-backed Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country will "teach a lesson" to the leader of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar if his forces continue the offensive against Libya's internationally recognised government. Commenting on the outcome of the Moscow talks on the Libyan ceasefire on Monday, Mr Erdogan said that "the putschist Haftar ran away" after the negotiations between him and the head of the GNA Fayez al-Sarraj had failed to result in an indefinite ceasefire. Haftar and al-Sarraj arrived in Moscow on Monday to discuss a ceasefire with Russia and Turkey mediating. The negotiations lasted for more than six hours. After the talks, the GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala said that Mr Sarraj had signed the agreement while Mr Haftar had asked for additional time before possibly signing it on Tuesday. According to Mr Siala, Moscow has informed the GNA about its intentions to continue attempts to organise another round of talks on the crisis in Libya. Meanwhile, the next round is scheduled to take place in Germany on 19 January. Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday night that clashes had resumed near Libya's Tripoli. "Renewed clashes in the Saladin area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli," the broadcaster tweeted. No casualties or damage have been reported. Last Sunday, the LNA and the GNA announced a ceasefire, bringing the months-long LNA offensive against Tripoli to a halt. However, since then the sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire several times. Libya has been in a state of a civil war since 2011 when its then-leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed. The control over the country has been divided between Haftar's LNA and the UN-backed GNA. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address - First stage clinical efficacy endpoint met for the Phase II trial cohort evaluating selective AXL inhibitor bemcentinib in combination with Keytruda in patients with advanced NSCLC who have failed checkpoint inhibitor therapy - Criteria were met for expansion of this cohort to a second stage BERGEN, Norway, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BerGenBio ASA (OSE: BGBIO) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL kinase inhibitors for multiple cancer indications, announces meeting the clinical efficacy endpoint of stage 1 of Cohort B in the phase II trial (BGBC008) evaluating bemcentinib in combination with MSD's Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in previously treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with confirmed progression on prior immune checkpoint therapy. The trial will advance into the second stage. The company reports that the Cohort B, stage 1 efficacy analysis has met the confirmed response of one or more patients therefore continuation to stage two evaluation is planned. The second stage will enroll a further 16 patients to confirm the safety and clinical efficacy of the combination in NSCLC patients that have confirmed progression on prior immune checkpoint therapy. Comprehensive exploratory biomarker studies of tumor and blood samples are ongoing to measure of AXL expression and immune modulation. Further results from the trial are expected during 2020 and will be presented at appropriate scientific conferences. The BGBC008 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03184571) is being sponsored by BerGenBio. MSD, a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA, will continue to supply Keytruda for use in the study under a collaboration agreement signed in March 2017. Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, said: "Reversing resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients who have relapsed on immunotherapy is a highly desirable alternative to the second-line chemotherapy standard-of-care. We are very excited with these early results in this challenging setting and look forward to expanding the study to confirm these findings and reporting comprehensive translational insight. Furthermore, Cohort C in NSCLC patients having failed 1L chemo-checkpoint inhibitor combination is now recruiting, and top line data should be available in the coming months." About AXL AXL kinase is a cell membrane receptor and an essential mediator of the biological mechanisms underlying life-threatening diseases. In cancer, AXL suppresses the body's immune response to tumours and drives cancer treatment failure across many indications. AXL inhibitors, therefore, have potential high value at the centre of cancer combination therapy, addressing significant unmet medical needs and multiple high-value market opportunities. Research has also shown that AXL mediates other aggressive diseases. About Bemcentinib Bemcentinib (formerly known as BGB324), is a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in a broad phase II clinical development programme. Ongoing clinical trials are investigating bemcentinib in multiple solid and haematological tumours, in combination with current and emerging therapies (including immunotherapies, targeted therapies and chemotherapy), and as a single agent. Bemcentinib targets and binds to the intracellular catalytic kinase domain of AXL receptor tyrosine kinase and inhibits its activity. Increase in AXL function has been linked to key mechanisms of drug resistance and immune escape by tumour cells, leading to aggressive metastatic cancers. About BerGenBio ASA BerGenBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative drugs targeting AXL as a potential cornerstone of therapy for aggressive diseases, including immune-evasive, drug resistant cancers. The company's proprietary lead candidate, bemcentinib, is a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in a broad Phase II oncology clinical development programme focused on combination and single agent therapy in lung cancer and leukaemia. A first-in-class functional blocking anti-AXL antibody is undergoing Phase I clinical testing. In parallel, BerGenBio is developing a companion diagnostic test to identify those patient populations most likely to benefit from bemcentinib: this is expected to facilitate more efficient registration trials supporting a precision medicine-based commercialisation strategy. BerGenBio is based in Bergen, Norway with a subsidiary in Oxford, UK. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: BGBIO). For more information, visit www.bergenbio.com Contacts Richard Godfrey CEO, BerGenBio ASA +47-917-86-304 Rune Skeie, CFO, BerGenBio ASA rune.skeie@bergenbio.com +47-917-86-513 International Media Relations Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Welsh, Nicholas Brown, Lucy Featherstone, Carina Jurs Consilium Strategic Communications bergenbio@consilium-comms.com +44-20-3709-5700 Media Relations in Norway Jan Petter Stiff, Crux Advisers stiff@crux.no +47-995-13-891 Forward looking statements This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which as such are not historical facts, but are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. These assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/bergenbio-asa/r/bergenbio-meets-efficacy-endpoint-for-first-stage-of-phase-ii-trial-with-axl-inhibitor-bemcentinib-i,c3008864 The following files are available for download: WASHINGTON President Trumps former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn moved late on Tuesday to withdraw his guilty plea on charges of lying to investigators in the Russia inquiry, accusing prosecutors of bad faith and vindictiveness after they asked a judge to sentence him to prison for backing out of a deal to cooperate with them. The last-ditch request means that more than two years after first pleading guilty and after spending dozens of hours answering the questions of investigators for the special counsel, Mr. Flynn would take his chances at trial if a judge agrees to grant his motion. That would set up a collision course with prosecutors who could decide to bring additional charges against him. Mr. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency whose case marked a striking downfall, has already pleaded guilty twice to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential transition in late 2016. As part of his agreement with the government, Mr. Flynn also admitted that he violated foreign lobbying laws when he failed to disclose work he had done for Turkey. Servant the People faction leader says parliament may start considering farmland bill in mid-February 11:32, 15.01.20 3149 The bill designed to launch the farmland market in Ukraine from October 1, 2020, passed its first reading on November 13. Colorado Springs firefighters battled flames at a vacant building on a windy Tuesday afternoon near downtown, prompting West Bijou Street to be closed west of Interstate 25. The former Denny's at 315 W. Bijou St. caught fire about 4 p.m. and flames could be seen from the interstate. Flames were put out about 4:15 p.m., according to crews, and Bijou reopened at about 5:20 p.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation. #ColoradoSpringsFire on scene of a 2 alarm working structure fire at 315 W BIJOU ST: DENNY'S RESTAURANT pic.twitter.com/mjXikpHluu CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) January 14, 2020 Fire is knocked down at 315 W. Bijou St. #ColoradoSpringsFire will remain on scene for a few more hours to search for hotspots. Bijou will remain closed pic.twitter.com/oxxsUFMdHn CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) January 14, 2020 More local news: LifeStyle The best Lifestyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel Lifestyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Shaynna Blaze and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. Once touted as Walt Disney Worlds Utopian town, Celebration was rocked when a father was arrested and charged with murdering his wife and three small children. Their bodies lay undiscovered in the home for weeks, deputies said. The family of the couple, Anthony and Megan Todt, and their three children, 13-year-old Alek, 11-year-old Tyler and 4-year-old Zoe, were getting worried at the end of December as they hadnt heard from them. Anthony Todt surrounded by his children Alek Todt, Tyler Todt, Zoe Todt and dog Breezy. On Dec. 29, a family member called the Osceola County Sheriffs Office to see if they could send a deputy to check on the Todts because they heard they had the flu. When a deputy went to the home, no one answered and the blinds were closed, deputies said. Nothing looked unusual, so the deputy left. If there is nothing suspicious, there wouldnt be a reason to go back to the house to check on someone who had the flu or they hadnt heard from in a few days, Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said in a press conference Wednesday. Family members then started a Facebook page, Looking For The Todt Family. Anthony Todt, Alek Todt, Tyler Todt and Zoe Todt On Jan. 9, Osceola deputies received a call from Connecticut federal authorities about an investigation involving Anthony Todt. The Todts used to live in Colchester, Connecticut, but sold their home in 2017 for $348,000, reported The Day. The couple, who were physical therapists, had received an eviction notice on their Celebration home on Dec. 22, Florida court records show. Deputies went back to the home. No one answered and nothing looked suspicious, so they left. On Monday, federal authorities issued a warrant for Anthonys arrest. The sheriff did not indicate the reasons behind the warrant. Osceola deputies helped federal agents from the Florida Department of Health arrest him at his home. When deputies checked the rest of the home, they found four bodies. While the identities of the bodies have not been confirmed by the Osceola County Medical Examiners Office, deputies strongly believe they are Megan, Alek, Tyler and Zoe, along with Breezy, the family dog, the sheriff said. Story continues Alek Todt, Tyler Todt and Zoe Todt Deputies say Anthony, 44, confessed to them that he killed his family, including the dog, at the end of December. Anthony was charged with four counts of premeditated murder and one count of felony animal cruelty. He is in jail in Osceola County. DENVER, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- If there was a theme for 2019, it was the year cloud-based ERP finally arrived. No longer a novelty, cloud ERP is the new normal, the "big deal" the baseline paradigm. But if 2019 was big, 2020 will be small and medium. For the ERP Advisors Group Annual Report on the State of ERP, Shawn Windle sat down for a video interview to reflect on ERP trends from the past year and discuss why 2020 is the year the SMBs invade ERP. ERP Advisors Group Founder Shawn Windle interviewed on ERP Trends for 2020 Watch the video: https://youtu.be/32caKOj6o5c "With robotic process automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, all of these factors are converging to make investing in technology make a ton of sense," said Windle. "In 2020, you're going to have a ton of great options for software. It's going to be the year where, if you've been on the fence, waiting to see if the cloud is for real it's for real." Windle noted that advances in ERP systems are allowing vendors to be more agile with industry-specific solutions. "Large vendors that focus on bigger companies like Workday or Oracle are moving downmarket," he said. "And the companies that have traditionally focused on smaller businesses are going upmarket. Your options for software are going to be awesome in 2020." "There are several organizations that build apps on top of their platform so that, almost overnight, they can come in with an industry-specific solution for a micro-vertical," said Windle. For the full video transcript, visit https://erpadvisorsgroup.com/post/2020-annual-report-on-erp/. Here are the three biggest ERP trends for 2020: 1. Companies and organizations of all kinds are investing in software. And that includes everyone from gigantic government agencies to emerging startups. 2. Industry-specific solutions are dominating their respective fields. The deployment cost of bringing new applications to market is lower than ever, meeting the needs of the most demanding micro-verticals. 3. ERP implementation partners are coming of age. They are meeting the challenge of understanding your business, the product, the technology, the configuration, and the customization you need. The biggest prediction for ERP in 2020: 2020 will be the year of SMBs the year that ERP for small and midsize businesses will finally become a cost-effective reality. For SMBs with an annual revenue between $50 million and $500 million, the number of ERP software options available in 2020 will be astounding. ERP Advisors Group has helped over a thousand organizations become successful with their enterprise software initiatives. Because they remain technology-independent at all costs, ERP Advisors Group is becoming known as the world's most trusted enterprise software advisory firm. Media Contact: Shaun Orthmann Phone: 720.542.7801 Email: [email protected] Related Images shawn-windle-erp-advisors-group.jpg Shawn Windle - ERP Advisors Group ERP Advisors Group Founder Shawn Windle interviewed on ERP Trends for 2020 Related Links Website LinkedIn Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32caKOj6o5c SOURCE ERP Advisors Group Related Links https://erpadvisorsgroup.com IT Trends 5G to Drive Pickup for Smartphones in 2020 Personal computing device (PCD) shipments are looking stronger than expected for 2019, and smartphone deliveries are expected to bump up in 2020, according to two separate analyses by International Data Corp. According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, the outlook for PCDs is stronger than expected for the rest of the year, the IT analysis firm reported, driven in large part by organizations upgrading their hardware in response to Microsoft's end of support decree for Windows 7, occurring in January 2020. The PCD segment includes traditional desktops and notebooks, as well as newer form factors, such as 2-in-1s and "thin and light" notebooks. At the same time, however, 2020 isn't expected to have quite as strong PCD demand, noted Research Manager Jitesh Ubrani, in a statement. The company is predicting a seven percent decline in shipments for the new year, driven by "upcoming tariffs combined with expected chip shortages." Two areas where the outlook for desktops and notebooks will remain durable are in markets for "creator PCs" and gaming PCs. Slate tablets are expected to continue their "downward trajectory" as customers hold onto them longer and as players in the market -- including Apple, Samsung and Huawei -- "slowly shift their product portfolio toward detachable tablets." Another area to monitor: cellular-enabled PCs, which will see deals between telecommunications companies and mobile chip makers (Intel, Qualcomm and MediaTek among them) working to introduce 4G-enabled devices "in the short term" and 5G-enabled devices "in the long term." Simultaneously, after three years of "contraction" for smartphone shipments worldwide, that segment of the device market is expected to grow in 2020, driven by "ambitious 5G plans," particularly in China, but also in the United States, Korea, the United Kingdom and Canada. In its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, IDC predicted that the global smartphone market would grow 1.5 percent year over year in 2020, shipping just over 1.4 billion units, including some 190 million 5G smartphones -- about 14 percent of the total. Even as some smartphones have crossed the thousand-dollar threshold, Android vendors will help drive down the cost for 5G models, "starting with an abundance of first quarter announcements" at both CES (in Las Vegas in January) and Mobile World Congress (in Barcelona in February). Android's hold on the market was expected to rise from 85.1 percent in 2018 to 86.6 percent in 2019. However, 2019 has proven a challenging year for Apple, with the volume of shipments expected to drop by 11.4 percent this year over last year, "mostly due to stressed market headwinds as well as a lack of 5G devices," IDC reported. The company said that Apple was expected to make a 5G announcement in its annual September event, "with a real focus around pricing and market availability." "Accelerated 5G adoption globally will depend a lot on factors like the arrival of 5G networks, operator support, as well as substantial price reductions to offer more affordable 5G devices," explained Sangeetika Srivastava, senior research analyst. The Dublin retail technology startup Pointy is to be acquired by Google in a deal reported to be worth in the region of 150m. It represents a windfall for co-founders Mark Cummins and Charles Bibby, as well as a healthy return for Dublin-based Frontline Ventures and investor Noel Ruane, among others. Google said it is committed to helping small businesses. Photo: Bloomberg It is also the second startup that Mr Cummins has sold to the search giant, having seen a previous firm, Plink, snapped up by Google in 2010. Spokespeople for both Google and Pointy declined to say how much the acquisition figure will be. However, the startup has raised $19m (17m) from financial backers to date, making it likely it is a multiple of this figure. The US tech news service TechCrunch reported that the acquisition would be completed for 147m, citing "a source close to the deal". It is the fourth Irish startup that Google has acquired, having bought TCD campus companies Thrive in 2015 and Green Parrot Pictures in 2011. Pointy makes technology that connects the inventory of local shops to online e-commerce channels. It makes a 'Pointy Box' that connects to a shop's barcode scanner and automatically lists the shop's products online, optimising them for search engines. The idea is that when people search for products, they find results from local stores, instead of simply on Amazon or other giant online specialists. In 2018, Pointy raised 10.2m in a Series B funding round. At that time, the main investor was Mr Ruane's Polaris Partners, with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen also investing through his Vulcan Capital firm. In total, Pointy has raised 16.2m in funding. Its early investors included Frontline Ventures, as well as the founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Bebo, Michael Birch, and the co-founder of Transferwise, Taavet Hinrikus. Google swooped when it saw that Pointy was starting to gain traction with US retailers. Pointy now has 15,000 points of presence in the US, up from 10,000 in 2018, when it raised its last funding round. "For all the hype around e-commerce and the media narrative of 'retail apocalypse', people still make the vast majority of their purchases in local stores," Mr Cummins said when describing Pointy. "But local retailers have lost out in not having their products visible online and we solve that problem for them. "We help stores to be more visible online. "It seemed crazy to us that people had to wait two days for Amazon to deliver a product that could be 100 yards away in a local store." Mr Cummins said that the deal was subject to customary closing conditions, and was expected to close in the coming weeks. A spokeswoman for Google said: "Google has long been committed to helping small businesses grow and thrive in the online world. "One of the challenges small merchants face is getting their in-store inventory information online in a way that is easy to manage and reliably up to date. Since organising the world's information is core to what we do, we've been working to make it easier for local merchants to better showcase their products to interested shoppers on Google." Frontline Ventures partner Will Prendergast said: "Pointy's vision is to make the world's offline products searchable for consumers and empower merchants to become smart retailers. "Post-acquisition, Google will continue rolling out the Pointy technology, to further enhance the local consumer experience and empower local retailers to be more efficient, and more profitable." Taylor Wimpey boss Peter Redfern said the market had remained stable in 2019 Taylor Wimpey cheered 'increased political stability' in the UK following last month's General Election as it posted a rise in sales. The housebuilder said the market had remained stable in 2019 despite Brexit uncertainty, with the number of homes the company sold rising 5 per cent to 15,719. The average selling price rose 1 per cent to 305,000 during the year, and it ended 2019 with a record order book worth 2.2billion. Boss Peter Redfern said: 'The environment is more positive at this point than we have seen for the past couple of years. 'There is a bit of pent-up demand there.' Analyst had predicted a 2 per cent rise in sales, so the 5 per cent surge helped Taylor Wimpey shares rise 3.9 per cent, or 7.9p, to 209.9p. However, the firm said conditions were still 'challenging' in London and the South East and vowed to ramp up efforts to slash costs, which have squeezed profits. The firm paid 600million in dividends last year and said it planned to pay another 610million in 2020. The protests began in Tehran on Saturday evening, after a memorial at Amir Kabir University for those killed, and were led by students, which is not surprising considering that many of those who died were students. The rallies soon spread to other universities and other sectors of society to become an uprising calling for the total and complete overthrow of the regime, specifically targeting supreme leader Ali Khamenei who is commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces. Again, this is not surprising given how quickly the November 2019 protests over increased fuel prices spread and morphed into an uprising for regime change. The Iranian peoples protests over the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane continued on Sunday with angry protesters calling the regimes officials liars for spending three days denying responsibility for the incident, blaming it on mechanical failure, and refusing to hand over the black box. In Tehran, the Iranian people and students marched to Azadi Square, chanting slogans like, The stupid leader is our disgrace and The IRGC commits crimes and the leader supports them!. They continued even as the authorities blocked off their pathways and even as riot police and security forces shot rubber bullets and tear gas at them, with several video clips posted online showing women being wounded by security forces. There were vigils and protests to commemorate the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash held in Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Ahvaz, Shadegan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Karaj, Sari, Babol, Amol, Lahijan, Semnan, Shahroud, Tabriz, Qazvin, Zanjan, Shiraz, Urmia, Gorgan, Hamedan, and Arak. There were also several held at universities, including Tehran Universitys School of Management Khajeh Nassir University the University of Science and Industry in Tehran Bou Ali University of Hamedan the University of Damghan Noshirvani University of Babol Paris University of Karaj On Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned Iran against killing protesters, warning them that the world and more importantly, the USA is watching. To the leaders of Iran DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS, He tweeted. To the leaders of Iran DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020 Add to Phrasebook No word lists for English (USA) -> Persian Create a new word list Copy With temperatures well below freezing early Wednesday and forecasts calling for a brief period of snow, morning commuters should be prepared. Icy conditions were reported by 5 a.m. in Washington and Clark counties. Road crews from Washington County Roads reported that de-icer was applied Tuesday, but conditions may still be slick. Regular slick spots include overpasses, shaded roadways, bridges and on and off ramps. Remember it takes longer to stop in icy conditions and slamming on the brakes can cause spinouts and loss of control. #WashCoLUT road crews put down anti-icer, but roads may still be slippery in some areas. Please travel with care tonight, tomorrow. #pdxtraffic pic.twitter.com/UwpkXpbVt1 Washco Oregon Roads (@washcoroads) January 15, 2020 *** OLD CORNELIUS PASS ROAD 10:30 a.m.: Northwest Old Cornelius Pass Road is closed between Skyline Boulevard and Phillips Road due to logging truck crash that lost its load on the roadway. Multnomah County said no injuries were reported. The clean-up is expected to last for several hours. Drivers should use Northwest Cornelius Pass Road as the alternate route. MCSO is on scene of a log truck crash on NW Old Cornelius Pass Road. Both directions closed between Phillips Rd and Skyline. Driver reports brake failure. #pdxtraffic pic.twitter.com/rQ9rKn9u9e Multnomah Co Sheriff (@MultCoSO) January 15, 2020 *** DUNIWAY 8:52 a.m.: Crash on Southwest Fourth Avenue and Sheridan Street. *** NORTHWEST PORTLAND 8:26 a.m.: Hit-and-run crash reported on Northwest 18th Avenue at Hoyt Street. *** BEAVERTON 8:08 a.m.: Crash on Southwest Canyon Road at 96th Avenue. Update 8:25 a.m.: Cleared. *** VISTA RIDGE TUNNEL 7:54 a.m.: Crash on U.S. 26 westbound just west of the tunnel. Left lane blocked. Update 8:16 a.m.: Cleared. *** GRESHAM 7:22 a.m.: Injury crash on U.S. 26 westbound blocking a lane near Palmquist Road. Update 8:06 a.m.: Cleared. *** SOUTHWEST PORTLAND 7:15 a.m. Car fire on I-5 northbound just north of the Capitol Highway overpass. The car is on the right shoulder. Responders are blocking the right lane. Update 7:43 a.m.: Cleared. #pdxtraffic Car Fire on I-5 NB at the Taylors Ferry Rd off ramp. On the shoulder, but traffic is slowing. pic.twitter.com/0SYP25izut PDX Traffic Alerts (@TrafficPortland) January 15, 2020 *** ALOHA 7:13 a.m.: Crash on Southwest Jenkins Road just west of 185th Avenue. *** TriMet ran MAX trains overnight to help keep ice from building up on the overhead lines. Most buses are on schedule and on regular routes. Check your line if you travel in hilly areas. Most buses are now equipped with drop-down chains. Remember that if chains are necessary, those lines will need to slow to 25 mph, delaying schedules. The City of Tigard reports a bit of snowfall: Ice, snow and strong winds are all likely on I-84 through the gorge Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. Oregonian file photo The National Weather Service warns of snow and possible ice accumulation in the Columbia River Gorge from 2 p.m. Wednesday through 4 p.m. Thursday. Drivers should be ready for 2-5 inches of snow on the interstate and highways and ice accumulating on surfaces. It will also be windy with gusts of up to 60 mph expected at times. Travel could be extremely hazardous at times. Check tripcheck.com before heading out and carry emergency supplies. Many school districts with higher elevation bus routes are on delay or snow routes. Check your schools information here: Oregonlive.com/weather Oregon highways 230 and 62 around Crater Lake are still closed for falling trees and hazardous driving conditions. A break in the weather today may give crews more opportunity to assess the situation, but more snow is forecast for the area through Friday. Be ready for these closures to be long-term. Update 7:30 a.m.: Oregon 62 (Crater Lake Highway) is now open between Prospect and Union Creek . Highway remain closed to the north, mileposts 56-65. Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland Hong Kong: Unlocking HKs business potential Financial Secretary Paul Chan To counter our adverse economic conditions, I have unveiled four sets of relief measures since last August. Totalling some $25 billion, the funds are focused on supporting businesses and lightening the burden weighing on the people of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, we will continue to reach out to the community. Through wide-ranging dialogue communication and the pursuit of policies that address the deep-seated issues at the heart of our divide, I am hopeful that together we will find a path to peace and prosperity. From an economic perspective, there is reason for optimism. I am heartened by the confidence private equity investors have shown in us. In the third quarter of 2019, some 560 private equity companies here managed US$153 billion. We have nearly 50 more private equity (PE) firms based here when compared with the previous quarter. Among the world's top 10 PE fund managers, nine have a presence here in Hong Kong. That, ladies and gentlemen, underlines Hong Kong's formidable strengths in the Asian PE market. In that we trail only Mainland. By channelling capital into corporations and startups in the innovation and technology field, PE and VC (venture capital) funds may well become as important as banks and IPO markets one day. This Government is determined to help unlock the vast potential of the asset and wealth management business, because we believe you are critical to ensuring Hong Kong's status as one of the world's leading financial centres. Fund-service centre That is why we have been stepping up efforts to sharpen Hong Kong's competitive edge on asset and wealth management through a multi-pronged approach including: (a) diversifying our fund structures and streamlining the licensing process to encourage fund formation; (b) adopting a more user-friendly approach to attract family offices; (c) providing a more facilitative tax environment for funds; and (d) expanding our fund distribution network through deepening our mutual access arrangements with other major financial markets. On fund structure, the long-awaited, limited-partnership fund regime is close to reality, thanks in part to your favourable feedback. Indeed, we are now developing the necessary legislation. Because of the current filibustering at the Legislative Council, the tabling of the legislation got a little delayed, but it remains our top policy priority for the rest of this year to put this forward. We are confident that the new regime will attract PE and VC funds, and we count on your support for that. With the new regime in place, we aim to bring in as many offshore funds as possible onshore to Hong Kong. We are well positioned to capture the opportunity arising from what happened on the international front over tax base erosion. This is mutually beneficial to Hong Kong as a fund hub and also the PE industry at large as you search for a new home for the funds you manage. PE and VC funds, whether onshore or offshore, have enjoyed a profits tax exemption since last April. A tax-exempt fund can invest in local and overseas private companies. Hong Kong, by now, has a tax regime at fund level that is competitive and caters to the needs of the PE industry. I fully understand that resolving the tax issues at fund level is not enough in itself. It is of even greater importance to tackle head-on the tax arrangement for investment managers. This is a hard nut to crack, but one that I am determined to look into and come up with solutions that will strengthen Hong Kong's position as a leading fund hub with one of the most competitive tax arrangements for investment managers in the PE industry. The significance of the limited partnership fund regime in completing Hong Kong's fund manufacturing infrastructure is underpinned by its precursor - the open-ended fund company regime. Since its operation in July 2018, a number of open-ended fund companies have sprouted. The SFC (Securities & Futures Commission) is also looking into how to make the regime more business-friendly to facilitate the take-up. In short, the Government and our regulators are committed to developing Hong Kong into a full-fledged fund-service centre. We are equally intent on expanding our fund-distribution network. We continue to expand our Mutual Recognition of Funds arrangements. Last year, Luxembourg and the Netherlands joined existing partners, the Mainland, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom. More international partnerships will follow. Family offices Hong Kong is also an ideal location for the establishment of family offices, and we are boosting our promotional efforts in this regard. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and InvestHK will provide comprehensive services to attract family offices to Hong Kong. The SFC has also recently issued licensing guidance for PE firms and family offices. This will enhance clarity and would help address the industry's concerns. Without a steady flow of talented professionals, of course, we will not be able to cash in on all the opportunities there for us. That is why the Government's Pilot Programme to Enhance Talent Training for the Asset & Wealth Management Sector has been supporting the industry since 2016. I encourage you to offer exposure, opportunity and jobs for our youth. To give them a stake in the society through the programme. Business bridge Zooming out a bit, the Government will continue to boost Hong Kong's singular advantage as the business and financial bridge between international markets and investors and their counterparts on the Mainland. To that end, we continue to emphasise the established channels - our Stock Connects, Bond Connect and the Mutual Recognition of Funds arrangements. We will also strengthen our position as the global offshore Renminbi business hub. Then there is the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development, and the extraordinary opportunity that it presents to Hong Kong. With a GDP in excess of US$1.6 trillion and more than 70 million prosperous consumers, the Greater Bay Area presents vast potential for the asset and wealth management sector. For each and every one of you. The establishment of a Greater Bay Area wealth-management connect scheme, which was, as you know, recently announced, will go a long way towards realising that promise. Our regulators are working out the details with their counterparts on the Mainland, and we will keep you posted and we are determined to push that forward as soon as possible. Financial Secretary Paul Chan gave these remarks at the Asia Private Equity Forum 2020 on January 15. This story has been published on: 2020-01-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. In their desperate attempts to secure visas and access consular services, some Ghanaian applicants continue to indulge in the forgery of documents. The compilation of fake documents continue to be a major factor in the denial of applicants' visas. It is against this background that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has expressed concerns over the increasing number of Ghanaians submitting forged documents to access consular services and other assistance from foreign missions in Ghana or their national authorities outside Ghana. The Ministry in a statement complained that these forged documents are issued by agencies of the Government of Ghana, adding that such activities have a negative impact on Ghanas image and undermine the credibility of public institutions. It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana that an increasing number of Ghanaian nationals seeking to access consular services and other assistance from foreign missions in Ghana or their national authorities outside Ghana have been submitting forged documents, supposedly issued by agencies of the Government of Ghana. The Ministry wishes to remind the general public that such activities are criminal. They tarnish the good name of Ghana and undermine the credibility of our public institutions while hampering their ability to render services to those with genuine needs, the statement said. The Ministry asked persons who require attestation or other forms of legal validation of documents for submission to foreign missions to other authorities to obtain such services or documents directly from the relevant issuing agency. This is not the first time the Ministry is issuing such a caution. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayokor Botchwey earlier asked Ghanaians to desist from every fraudulent activity that will undermine the integrity of the Ghanaian passport. The Minister gave this caution while raising concerns about the use of the forged document for application, adding that, persons found engaging in such an activity will be dealt with in accordance with the law. She made this notice at the official opening of the Koforidua passport office in 2019. During the launch, she stated that the action taken is in line with President Akufo-Addo's promise of extending passport services to Ghanaians in all parts of the country. ---CitinewsRoom KILLINGWORTH The pervasive scent of coffee and fresh baked goods greet customers who venture into newly opened Andies Cookies. But unlike other bakeries, the business incorporates artwork from local artists, sustainable packaging, board games, and even a giant statue of a knight in a suit of armor named Monte whose helmet grazes the ceiling. If Im going to have a cup of coffee outside of the house, Ill drive through town and Ill just come here, said customer Lisa Keiser of Killingworth. I know Ill come in and Im going to see friends. Keiser has been friends with co-owner Andrea Freibauer for the past 10 years, and has watched Freibauers hobby turn into the business it is today. After six years of selling her cookies from a website, Freibauer and her husband, Larry, opened the storefront in September. We knew it would be a lot of work and we were fine with that, Andrea Freibauer said. It took six years, but we finally got it together, and we found the right opportunity. We found the right place: Its our hometown. At holiday cookie swaps and parties, Andrea Freibauers cookies always were a fan favorite, according to her husband. Right after Thanksgiving, she would just bake cookies, and everyone always commented, Your cookies at the cookie swap were always the best and they said, Could you bake an extra tray for us and wed pay you? Larry Freibauer explained. I said, Hon, you got to jump on this. Youve got something going on here people really love your stuff, and I said Im with you 100 percent. Running the business from a storefront has proven easier for the couple than selling their goods through the website. Previously, they rented a commercial kitchen in Clinton, and did the baking there, then would bring the cookies to vendors and markets. Keiser said that eventually became overwhelming for Andrea Freibauer, who also works a full-time job. Shed bake in all of her spare time, and then bust her butt building up her name, networking, doing fairs, vending to get their brand out all throughout Connecticut, Keiser said. While the website is still operating, Larry Freibauer explained that having the shop has changed their business strategy. Instead of going to customers, they are working to bring customers to them. And coming to the store is often the most important part of the experience, he said. People have come in and just played board games for an hour and drank coffee, and talked about events and whats going on in the town and thats exactly what we wanted, Larry Freibauer said. Andies Cookies are distinct from other bakery products because the owners insist on all-natural ingredients sourced locally. Cookies available at the counter vary from day to day and none are typical flavors. Even the chocolate chip cookies are infused with sea salt for a touch of uniqueness. Additionally, all varieties are packaged in eco-friendly packaging. The store also sells breads, bars and, most recently, empanadas. Andrea Freibauer said cookies will remain her focus. Jerry Volpe, a friend of the Freibauers and a regular at the store, said the treats are worth the drive from his home in Meriden. If youre going to get something, and you know the quality is there, and the price point is phenomenal its worth the drive, Volpe said. Theres something very different theyre not a Dunkin Donuts, theyre not a Mrs. Fields. So to make the drive to pick it up, its worth it. Its exciting. You make the time for it. The store also sells coffee from Perkatory Coffee Roasters in Middletown and goods from local vendors. Keisers paintings hang on the walls of the shop, and she said one already has been sold since the stores launch. They opened this place as a place for the community, and the fact that they help out other community members, giving them a space for their artwork, for their creations and stuff like that, it promotes that feel of community, Keiser said. The couple said opening the shop would not have been possible without the help of residents and friends like Volpe. Because of that assistance, they were able to convert an old insurance office into the vibrant bakery. The front counter is made of pieces of the old floorboards. Customers can nibble cookies and sip coffee while perched on pieces of furniture donated or purchased at the Salvation Army. We have a very eclectic sense of design, Larry Freibauer said. If it looks cool, we put it up. Volpe and Keiser emphasized its the people who make the Andies Cookies experience complete. When it comes to how they run the business, its not for show, Volpe said. How they are in the store is how they are when you talk to them. Its very down to earth, its very cheerful. Which makes it very homey. For information, visit andiescookies.com, check out the Andies Cookies Facebook page or call 860-452-4401. The Delhi Government has recommended rejecting the mercy petition filed by Mukesh Singh, one of the four men sentenced to death for the 2012 gangrape, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Wednesday. The Delhi governments recommendation to the Home Ministry comes less than 24 hours after Mukesh Singh appealed to Rashtrapati Bhavan to spare him from the gallows. Sisodia said the government had worked at lightning speed to make sure there was no delay by the city government. There was a fresh mercy petition filed. Delhi government worked at lightning speed and has sent back this file too to the L-G. It has been rejected from our end. This fresh mercy plea has been sent to the President already, Sisodia told reporters. Also Watch: 2012 Delhi gangrape: SC rejects curative petitions of two death row convicts The deputy chief ministers assertion comes hours after a Tihar jail official told the two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court that the four death-row convicts will not be hanged on January 22 if their mercy petition is still pending. Mukesh Singh, who had filed the mercy petition yesterday, had approached the bench of justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal to stay the order to execute them since their mercy petition was pending before President Ram Nath Kovind. Simultaneously, Mukesh Singh had also moved the Delhi High Court challenging a lower courts decision to issue a death warrant for the execution of the four men in Tihar on January 22. This petition has also been rejected with the direction to approach the subordinate court to seek a stay on the death warrant. In his plea before the high court, Mukesh said since his mercy plea is pending before the President and that he should be given a minimum of 14 days notice, if the petition is rejected by the President. Citing a judgment of the Supreme Court, the plea further said that the Apex court had held that there must be a minimum of 14 days notice between the communication of rejection of mercy plea and the scheduled date of execution so that a convict can avail his judicial remedies and make all final preparations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to meet the victims hit by avalanches and assess the damage caused by the natural calamity, which so far has claimed the lives of 100 people across Pakistan. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Neelum valley is reported to be the worst hit as avalanches continued to damage hundreds of building in the area, killing 73 people, the Geo reported. The snow-related incidents have also claimed the lives of twenty people in Balochistan and at least seven in Sialkot and other districts of Punjab over the past few days, according to officials. Prime Minister Khan visited the Combined Military Hospital in Muzaffarabad and met those injured in the avalanches, the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported. Khan during his visit received a briefing from the PoK's chief secretary Mathar Niaz Rana regarding the damages incurred due to snowfall and avalanches in the region as well as the relief efforts undertaken, the Dawn reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new paper quantifying small stages of iodine in Earth's stratosphere could assist explain why a number of the planet's shielding ozone layer isn't healing as rapid as expected. The paper, published in PNAS, says a fixed of connections that link air pollutants close to Earth's surface to ozone destruction much higher within the atmosphere. That better-degree ozone protects the planet's surface from radiation that can motive pores and skin cancer and harm crops. Lead author Theodore Koenig, a postdoctoral researcher at CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder, said the ozone layer might decrease by 1.5 to 2 percent around Earth's tropics and temperate zones. It might sound small, but Koenig said it's essential as a slightly thinner ozone layer indicates a higher UVB radiation can get thru to Earth's floor. ALSO READ: Humans Already Slowed The Climate Crisis Once, New Research Shows Chemicals as soon as used widely in refrigerators, spray cans, and solvents can eat away at Earth's ozone layer. Nations signed the international Montreal Protocol agreement to protect the ozone layer, limiting the emission of ozone-depleting chemicals after scientists found the stratospheric "ozone hole" in the 1980s. Rainer Volkamer, a CIRES Fellow, CU Boulder professor of chemistry and co-writer of the new evaluation, said the ozone layer is starting to expose early signs of recovery inside the upper stratosphere. However, ozone in the decrease stratosphere continues to say no for uncertain reasons. "Our measurements show there may be additionally a chemical explanation, due to iodine from oceans. What I locate exciting is that iodine modifications ozone by just sufficient to provide a plausible cause of why ozone inside the decrease stratosphere continues to say no." It's been tricky to get information from this part of the atmosphere, Koenig stated. "We knew there were a few iodines there, but we could not pin numbers on it till now... This is an end result of technological advancement: Our gadgets just stored getting a touch bit higher, and eventually, it was sufficient to make measurements." ALSO READ: This Year's Antarctic Ozone Hole was the Smallest on Record The amount of iodine they picked up inside the decrease stratosphere is tiny, similar to adding some bottles of water to the Great Salt Lake. But iodine is extremely powerful at destroying ozone, and, commonly speaking, the amount the scientists measured is sufficient to explain the level of ozone destruction in the decrease stratosphere. So wherein did the iodine come from? Strangely it appears to be a result of air pollution down right here at the surface of the planet, the brand new assessment reports. Ozone at Earth's surface is a pollutant, one this is regulated inside the United States and someplace else because it is able to harm people's lungs. And while ozone pollutants interact chemically with the surface of oceans, it is able to "pull" naturally going on iodine up into the atmosphere. Other research has shown that inside the lower atmosphere, iodine stages have roughly tripled in concentration since 1950. Some of that iodine is apparently making it up into the stratosphere, in which it could cause ozone depletion, Koenig stated. "This ought to now not decrease the achievement story of the Montreal Protocol, however still, it is crucial. The lower stratosphere must have advanced already, no longer gotten worse." "There's something occurring, resulting in deterioration. Our speculation is that ozone at the floor is destroying ozone within the stratosphere," Koenig added. It will be important to study the hypothesis in more detail, Koenig and his co-authors stated. If ozone pollution at Earth's floor increases, for example, could it trigger even more lower-stratosphere ozone layer destruction? Co-author Pedro Campuzano-Jost, a CIRES studies associate, stated the fulfillment of the research undertaking is partly due to the specific scope of NASA's ATom (Atmospheric Tomography) challenge, which flew a studies aircraft across the globe; and NSF's CONTRAST (Convective Transport of Active Species within the Tropics) undertaking, which detected iodine oxide radicals in the stratosphere. "Half of the locations we went had never been sampled earlier than for aerosols," Campuzano-Jost stated, and that is the sort of possibility that leads to new discoveries. Volkamer and his colleagues desire to efficiently pitch a new challenge to examine iodine chemistry in more detail to better understand the future of Earth's defensive ozone layer. BRIDGEPORT Despite a finding of abuse and neglect by one of its social workers, the state Department of Social Services took no action in the case of an 87-year-old Stratford woman who was recently evicted from the home she has lived in for more than 50 years. There was no credible evidence as to an ongoing abuse situation, said DSS Spokesman David Dearborn. Earlier this month following a trial, Superior Court Judge Walter Spader Jr. ordered Maria Michaels evicted from the Rosebrook Drive home she built with her husband after her family testified she has become a burden to them after injuring her ankle. The judge gave Michaels until April to vacate the home. In the meantime, the judge scheduled a hearing for Feb. 5 on whether Michaels should start paying rent to her nephew who now owns the house. While the defendant once had a right to occupy the premises, that right was terminated by both the notice to quit and the plaintiffs testified credibly that the defendant has become a burden to them, Spader ruled. This finding sounds harsh, but the evidence demonstrates that certainly, the relationship between the parties has soured. During the trial, Martha Marchelli, social worker for the state Elderly Protective Services, a division of DSS, testified that she determined Michaels was the victim of emotional abuse and neglect by her nephew and his wife. Marchelli said she visited the house regularly. But Marchelli admitted she took no other action based on her finding. Dearborn cited the judges ruling that they (DSS) notably did not take action on the claim and there is no credible evidence as to an ongoing abuse situation. Michaels lawyer, Charles Kurmay, has filed an appeal with the state Appellate Court on Spaders ruling. Michaels and her husband owned and operated a small gift shop on Wilcoxson Avenue in Stratford, called Exclusively Yours, until her husbands death in the 1990s. In 1965, they purchased a lot on Rosewood Drive and built their dream house. According to court records, in 1989, Michaels and her husband agreed to sponsor her nephew Jan Hlinka to come to this country from the Czech Republic. When Hlinka arrived here, the couple took him into their home and gave him a job. Three years later, Hlinkas wife, Beata, arrived on the couples doorstep and the Michaels took her in, too. The Hlinkas raised a family in the Michaels home and have four daughters, according to court records. Their lawyer, Kevin Curseaden, did not return calls for comment. In May 1999, without the benefit of a lawyer, Michaels, her husband now dead, agreed to sell her Rosebrook Drive home to the Hlinkas for $165,000 with the written agreement that she would reside there as long as she does not become a burden to her nephew and niece. At the time the house was appraised by the town for more than $220,000. But last February, the Hlinkas said they had enough and filed court papers to evict Michaels. WASHINGTON - House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine's president to investigate the Biden case. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2019, file photo, Lev Parnas arrives at court in New York. Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has provided a trove of text messages and photos to the House committee leading the impeachment inquiry. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) WASHINGTON - House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine's president to investigate "the Biden case." The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cellphone use, raising questions about possible surveillance. Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump's trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. Parnas was in frequent communication with Giuliani and with Ukrainian officials, the messages show. He appeared to be pushing unsubstantiated allegations that Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were somehow engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelenskiy took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy "as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent." In the letter, Giuliani said he would be accompanied at the meeting by Victoria Toensing, a Washington attorney and Trump ally. One of the documents is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says "get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated." Trump asked Zelenskiy in a July call to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine. Democrats said that Parnas' attorney confirmed that Parnas wrote the notes. The documents including phone records, texts and flash drives turned over by Parnas were sent to the House Judiciary Committee by three other House panels "to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment," according to a statement. Some of the materials were made public while others were marked as sensitive. Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet bloc, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records. Prosecutors allege they made outsize campaign donations to Republican causes after receiving millions of dollars originating from Russia. The men have pleaded not guilty. In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassador's ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the centre of the Democrats impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a "smear campaign." Trump on a July 25 call had promised Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was "going to go through some things." Roughly two months earlier, she was recalled from her diplomatic post. On April 23, just before Yovanovitch was directed to return to the United States, Giuliani texted Parnas, "He fired her again." Parnas texted back, "I pray it happens this time I'll call you tomorrow my brother." Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a "bitch." Hyde is now running for a U.S. House seat in Connecticut. After texting about the ambassador, Hyde gave Parnas detailed updates that suggested he was watching her. In one text, Hyde wrote: "Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off." He said she was under heavy security and "we have a person inside." Hyde at one point texted Parnas that ''they are willing to help if we/you would like a price," and "guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money ... is what I was told." Parnas texted back: "lol." Lawrence Robbins, an attorney for Yovanovitch, called for an investigation in to the messages. "Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened." On Twitter, Hyde dismissed the claims as "laughable" and appeared to try to distance himself from Parnas. He said he would "welcome" an investigation. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The text messages show that Parnas consulted Giuliani in Jan. 2019 after the U.S. denied a visa for former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Giuliani replied: "I can revive it." The following day, Giuliani told Parnas: "Its going to work I have no 1 in it." Giuliani then predicted "he will get one" before giving Parnas the phone number for Jay Sekulow, the leader of the president's personal legal team. Sekulow is expected to be part of Trump's legal team during the impeachment trial. A federal judge earlier this month ruled that Parnas could provide the materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. Democrats voted in December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller contributed to this report. Debt collector Peh Chong Wee who harassed a debtor at his office. (SCREENSHOT: Chinese Page /Facebook) SINGAPORE A licensed debt collector who wore a Chinese funeral outfit and carried a banner of the debtors face to harass him at his workplace was sentenced to five weeks jail on Wednesday (15 January). While Peh Chong Wee was outside the victims office at Block 4008 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, he had blown a whistle and shouted loudly. His actions were captured on video. Peh, 59, pleaded guilty to charges of causing harassment, using threatening behaviour, and using criminal force on an auxiliary police officer. Other charges, involving Peh harassing the victim at the latters Geylang condominium by riding a bicycle carrying a sign of the victims face, incense paper and messages, and walking by the condominium with a funeral lantern and blowing a whistle on two separate occasions were considered for sentencing. The Singaporean was the sole proprietor of Guarantee Debts Collection Service. In April last year, he was engaged by a client to collect a debt at the premises of a company called PSP Solutions Engineering. Peh harassed the victim, who was the companys director, at both his house and the office on seven occasions from 27 May to 21 June last year. On 27 May, at about 1.30pm, Peh and a friend, Koh Yew Ghee, went to PSPs office to collect the debt. At that time, the companys human resource manager was working at the front desk. She heard shouting along the corridor outside the premises and opened the door. Peh and Koh entered the office shouting loudly, asking for the victim. After they were informed that the victim was not in, Peh banged on the table of the front desk forcefully. The HR manager asked the pair to leave, but they refused. Peh then lay down on the floor. At about 2.09pm, the HR manager called the police, who arrived at the scene while Koh and Peh were still there. The two left shortly after. However, the duo returned four days later, this time with Peh dressed in a traditional Chinese funeral outfit, carrying a banner showing the victims face. The HR manager heard a whistling sound and witnessed their antics. Story continues The banner also had words that demanded that the victim return hard-earned money. Peh blew a whistle and shouting loudly while walking along the corridor, with Koh videoing the scene. The HR manager called the police again but the duo left before the police arrived. Peh was arrested on the same day. While in lockup the next day, Peh insisted that a paper cup be given to him, even after an officer told him a new one would be issued to him. Peh then rushed out of his cell and struggled with an auxiliary police officer, who was holding onto Peh's handcuff. Video footage captured Peh pushing the officer against the wall. Two officers managed to pin him down after a while. Peh was subsequently released on station bail. On 14 June, the District Court issued an Order of Court barring Peh from loitering near the victims residence or office. However, Peh ignored the order and repeated his antics a week later. On 21 June, Peh and another friend, Tan Lee Hwa, headed to PSP to collect the debt. Peh carried banners showing the victims face and messages demanding the loan be repaid. He had also pasted paper on the front and back of his shirt which depicted the victims face with similar messages. He paraded around the corridor for about 30 seconds. The HR manager went to check out the commotion and filmed the scene. She called the police again, stating One guy came to cause trouble. This is not the first time. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En noted that Peh had repeated the harassment over several days. Pehs lawyer Wee Hong Shern said that his client, who is a licensed debt collector, had been forthcoming during investigations. During Pehs attempt to make arrangements with the victim to collect the debt, he encountered great difficulty. His attempts to meet the victim were blocked and he was turned away from the victims office. Peh had never encountered such a difficult client before, said the lawyer. As his reputation depended on his efficacy at collecting debts, Peh got creative. His business was his sole source of income which he needed to provide for two young daughters and an ailing mother. Under these desperate contexts, he sought to be a little bit more creative and took it too far. He undertakes to not commit the offences again, said Wee. The other accused Koh is set to plead guilty to his charges on 30 January. Other Singapore stories Peeping Tom who repeatedly offended since 2014 jailed Pasir Ris 'road rage': Lorry driver jailed 7 weeks, fined $500 55% of Singapore firms want tax rate cut and rebates in Budget 2020: SBF survey Paris, Jan 16 : French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday called on all citizens who plan to fly to Iraq and Iran to postpone their travels due to high risk of violence and instability in the region. Speaking at a hearing of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, France's top diplomat warned that "the situation remains extremely volatile", Xinhua news agency reported. "We are not witnessing a de-escalation but an interruption of the escalation. It only takes an event... provocation to find ourselves again in a context of escalation," he said. Given the risk of insecurity in the region, Le Drian called on French nationals to "exercise the utmost vigilance" and asked them to "postpone their non-essential travel in Iran and Iraq". After its unilateral exit in 2018 from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Washington has been mounting pressure on Tehran through a series of sanctions. Tehran has maintained a tough stance and scaled back its nuclear commitments in response. Tension between the US and Iran flared further after the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimali in a US airstrike in Baghdad early this month, putting the region's stability, already weakened by year-long war with fighters of the Islamic State, on edge. In many ways, buying life insurance online is no different from buying a policy in a more traditional way. The same types of options exist. On the other hand, buying online adds an extra dimension of choices and costs that you may not have experienced purchasing a life insurance policy with the help of an agent a few decades ago. It can be easy to start feeling overwhelmed with information and decisions as you plug numbers into comparison engines and your choices seem to expand rather than narrowing down. It may help to ask yourself a few questions. What Is Your Budget? Term is cheaper than whole-life, and depending on your budget, that may be the deciding factor for you. Both types offer a fixed premium for the life of the plan, but the difference is that term expires after a certain number of years. At that time, your premiums might go up if you choose to purchase it again. What Do You Need to Cover? There are general guides that say you should buy a policy that will cover a certain number of years of income, but it is really better to think specifically about your needs and those of your family. If you have no dependents, you may want a plan that will primarily cover funeral expenses. If you have a family but are a stay-at-home parent, you might want to think about how much your spouse would have to pay someone for child care, housekeeping and other tasks you perform. People who are the primary income earners for their families may want enough to provide five, 10 or more years of income as well as money for extras, such as education. Is It Possible You Will Want a Viatical Settlement? A viatical settlement is the term for selling a life insurance policy for less than the death benefit it would pay out but more than its value as a cash surrender. The third party who purchases the policy would then take over the premiums and get the full payout on death. While it means beneficiaries will not receive benefits, the money can be used to significantly improve a person's quality of life. It can be difficult to anticipate the possibility of a viatical settlement since it is generally something people do when they are terminally ill and need a lump sum of cash, but when looking at plans online, it is worth considering the possibility. The policy needs to have a minimum value, so it cannot be a term policy. A viatical settlement broker can help facilitate this process. What Is the Purpose of Your Life Insurance Plan? While the primary purpose of life insurance is to provide a payout on a person's death, it can have other uses as well. It is possible to take money out of a whole-life policy, which increases in value over time, but not a term plan. Some people may use this as an emergency fund, for retirement planning or for some other purpose. This is our little consulting firms New Years letter to the world Friends, Clients, and Colleagues, A New Years Letter is supposed to wish you all the best while talking about all our own wonderful news. We have some news, and Ill share it below. But I also want to think with you about how to face a decade that could be the most challenging of our lives. As we do transit plans in many cities, were hearing a lot of hope and a lot of anger, but were also hearing a word that I didnt hear much a decade ago: emergency. We have the climate emergency, an endlessly blaring alarm that unites all natural disasters into one. My Australian friends spent New Years Eve fleeing from 50-foot walls of flame. Young people come to our meetings asking what this thing were discussing will do for the climate, by which they mean: Am I going to have a world to live in? But problems of social justice and inequality also look more like emergencies now. I spent much of November in Chile, watching the most stable country in Latin America explode in rage and chaos about an economic system that had been considered perfectly normal the week before. Social inequality, however you define it, is a potential emergency every bit as much as climate is. Emergency is a frightening word. It says: Do everything differently now, or else, but people who just try to do something often do the wrong thing. Our challenge as a profession is to figure out how all these ringing alarms should affect how we do our jobs, and how we talk about them. Most of us work in big organizations with complex webs of bureaucratic requirements and processes. We all spend time complying with rules, rather than solving problems or creating opportunities. Most of those rules have purposes, and I am not calling for open rebellion against them. But to people outside our profession, it can look like were performing slow and mysterious rituals while the house is on fire. So here are some new year resolutions were taking on as a firm. Maybe theyre useful to you. PR-Inside.com: 2020-01-15 14:30:34 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 841 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) Dismisses All Remaining Inter Partes Review Proceedings Brought Against Worlds, Inc. by Bungie, Inc.All Patent Claims Returned to Worlds, Inc.BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Worlds, Inc. (OTCQB:WDDD) ("Worlds" or the "Company"), a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds, is pleased to announce that on January 14, 2020, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a Notice that it has dismissed three remaining Petitions for inter partes review, filed by Bungie, Inc., against patents owned by Worlds Inc. in IPR Case Nos. 2015-01264, -01319, and -01321. The Board also vacated its prior Decisions to Institute in these cases, and terminated the inter partes review proceedings initiated by Bungie without issuing final written decisions.Thom Kidrin, Worlds' Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased with the PTAB's decision to dismiss Bungie's remaining Petitions for inter partes review against Worlds' patents, thereby reinstating all of our claims in these cases. Worlds has had to endure the legal and financial gauntlet at the PTAB and Federal Circuit for over 4 years while combating the challenges brought by Bungie, but we have ultimately prevailed with important claims intact in each challenged patent, and will return to the District Court in our case against Activision. The PTAB in the end agreed with Worlds' argument that the evidence revealed a relationship between Bungie and Activision, and that relationship prohibited Bungie from challenging Worlds' patents many years after the Activision litigation began. With Bungie's remaining petitions now dismissed, we will move forward and assert our patents against all parties that are infringing upon them." This Notice followed from the September 7, 2018 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who previously vacated the Board's previous final written decisions in these three cases, and remanded the cases to the Board with instructions to:consider whether Worlds is estopped from arguing the issue of Real Party in Interest ("RPI") in these proceedings, andreevaluate the merits of Worlds' argument that Bungie is time-barred from filing petitions for inter partes review based on its relationship with Activision, who has been in litigation with Worlds on the subject patents since 2012.The relevant statute, 35 U.S.C. 315(b), prohibits a party from filing a petition for inter partes review more than one year after itself or an RPI was served with a complaint on the subject patent(s). Worlds argued to the Board that if Activision was an RPI to Bungie's petitions, then Bungie was not permitted to file its original petitions in 2015. As of February 22, 2019, this briefing on remand before the Board had been complete, with Worlds awaiting the Board's decision on these questions. Further, Worlds' infringement claims against Activision on these patents have been stayed pending completion of the Board's review.The Board's Notice states that it has completed its review of the questions posed by the Federal Circuit, and determined both questions in Worlds' favor. The Board determined first that Worlds is not estopped from arguing the RPI on remand, and second that Bungie's Petitions were time-barred and must be dismissed.The Board's Notice also states that the detailed Termination findings are currently under seal pending the identification of any confidential materials by the parties. However, a public version of the Termination document will be released no later than ten (10) business days from its issue date.Worlds, Inc.Worlds, Inc. (OTCQB: WDDD), is a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds. The Company has a portfolio of 10 US patents for multi-server technology for 3D applications. The earliest of these patents issued on an application filed November 12, 1996. A provisional patent application, serial number 60/020,296, was filed on November 13, 1995. These patents are related to each other and disclose and claim systems and methods for enabling users to interact in a virtual space.For additional information about Worlds, Inc., please visit: www.Worlds.com Forward-Looking StatementsThis release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to Worlds Inc. that are based on the beliefs of Worlds' management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as "hoped," "anticipated," "believed," "estimated," "should," "preparing," "expected" or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.Contacts:Accentuate PRJulie Shepherd847-275-3643Julie@ accentuatepr.com Corporate617-725-8900info@ worlds.com SOURCE: Worlds Inc. Melbourne Stars thrashed Perth Scorchers by eight wickets in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) here on Wednesday. Chasing a small target of 87 runs, Stars started off well as openers Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis put on 47 runs stand for the first wicket. Ben Dunk then joined Stoinis at the crease but his stay was brief as Fawad Ahmed dismissed him. Dunk made 8 runs and Stars were reduced to 56-2 in nine overs. With just 21 runs remaining to be chased, Seb Gotch arrived at the pitch. Both Stoinis and Gotch chase down the rest of the runs to secure a comfortable victory over Scorchers. After opting to bat first, Scorchers had a disastrous start as the side lost opener Liam Livingstone (4) in the second over. Nathan Coulter-Nile gave another blow to the Scorchers after he dismissed Cameron Green (4) in the fourth over. Josh Inglis who was batting well and looked settled got out in the fifth over, reducing Scorchers to 48-3. Inglis made 37 runs in 19 balls, was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell. The side faced middle-order collapse as they lost a flurry of wickets and were reduced to 68-6 in 10 overs. Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, and Jaron Morgan were dismissed on 10, 3 and 1 respectively. The misery continued for the Perth Scorchers as they continued to lose wickets and got all out on 86-10. Scorcher did not play their full quota of 20 overs and were bowled out in 13.5. Only Josh Inglis and Mitchell Marsh reached a two-digit score from the Scorchers side. Melbourne Stars' Jackson Coleman, who returned with figures of 16-3 in three over, was adjudged the player of the match. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Teenager Harry Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire (Family handout/PA) The family of Harry Dunn have received a boost after the Northamptonshire Police chief said the force would take part in their legal claim contesting the diplomatic immunity granted to his alleged killer. The PA news agency understands the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are set to claim they did not advise police that Anne Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity. Chief Constable Nick Adderley told the PA news agency he supported a request for his force to join the judicial review of the immunity that was granted to the suspect in the 19-year-olds road crash death in August last year. He added that the force would not seek to retrieve its costs from the family even if the legal claim was unsuccessful despite the FCO looking to seek costs. The familys spokesman Radd Seiger previously said the case could cost the family upwards of 50,000 if it is appealed by the FCO and ends up in the Supreme Court. Mr Seiger welcomed the police chiefs move on Tuesday, saying: They rightly recognise major public interest issues are at stake. In documents seen by PA, the FCO have claimed that the Secretary of State did not purport to advise the police as to the legal position in relation to Mrs Sacoolas immunity. In their challenge of the judicial review launched by the Dunn family, the FCO have also said that: It was and is for the police, as the independent criminal investigator, to make their own decisions on matters affecting their investigation. PA understands the FCO allege that any statement provided to the Northamptonshire force would have been an informal expression of opinion. Im v grateful to @NorthantsPolices legal team and @NorthantsChief for agreeing to join in the Judicial Review proceedings against @foreignoffice and to not seek costs against the parents. They rightly recognise major public interest issues r at stake. Ball now in FCOs court! Radd Seiger (@RaddSeiger) January 14, 2020 Mr Dunn died after his motorbike crashed into a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year. Mrs Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence official, claimed diplomatic immunity after the collision and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy. The claim against the FCO issued on behalf of Mr Dunns parents Mr Dunn and Charlotte Charles alleged the granting of diplomatic immunity to Mrs Sacoolas was wrong in law. They requested the Foreign Office withdraw advice provided to Northamptonshire Police surrounding the granting of diplomatic immunity to the suspect. Expand Close Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, Nick Adderley (Jacob King/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, Nick Adderley (Jacob King/PA) The family have said they are concerned Mr Raab was pressured by the United States to interpret the law in a way which allowed her to escape justice, a claim the FCO said was entirely without foundation. The Home Office submitted an extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas on Friday after she was charged with causing the 19-year-olds death by dangerous driving. The US State Department has said the extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas is highly inappropriate and would be an abuse. Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was right that we made the appeal for extradition but also told BBC Breakfast that sending Mrs Sacoolas back to face justice was not what (the US) do. Reacting to Mr Johnsons comments from Denver in the US, the spokesman for the Dunn family, Radd Seiger, told PA: I do not know what is in the Prime Ministers mind in making those comments because the parents and I have not yet had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him but we expect to do so within the next few days. Certainly, if he is basing those comments on what is currently emanating from Washington he may well be right. However, the extradition request has now been delivered and therefore the legal process has commenced Mr Johnsons officials have been working extremely hard over the last few months to prepare a thorough and diligent case. Summary The Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector is forecast to grow from US$128,459. 2 million in 2018 to US$167,675. 4 million in 2023, registering a CAGR of 5. 5%. Milk was the largest category in the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector, followed by drinkable yogurt and cheese. New York, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Opportunities in the Asia-Pacific Dairy & Soy Food Sector" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05830825/?utm_source=GNW Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Industry Co Ltd, Yili Group, Want Want China Holdings Limited, Meiji Holdings Co Ltd and GCMMF are the leading companies, accounting for 24.1% value share in 2018. Private Label products accounted for a value share of 4.1% in the same year. Hypermarkets & supermarkets is the largest distribution channel in the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector followed by convenience stores and food & drinks specialists. Flexible packaging was the most commonly used pack material in the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector, accounting for 36.8% of the overall sales in 2018. This report brings together multiple data sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector. It includes market overview, high growth country analysis, top companies, key distribution channels, packaging formats and case studies. Scope This report brings together multiple data sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector, analyzing data from 19 countries in the region. It includes analysis on the following - - Market overview: Includes sector size, market size, and growth analysis by markets . - Change in consumption: Provides a shift in the consumption of dairy & soy foods by categories across different countries in the Asia-Pacific region. - Country analysis: Provides risk-reward analysis of four countries in the Asia-Pacific region based on market assessment, economic development, socio-demographic, governance indicators, and technological infrastructure. - Health & Wellness analysis*: Provides insights on the health & wellness products in terms of value and percentage share in the overall dairy & soy food sector during 2013-2023. The analysis includes key health & wellness attributes and consumer benefits driving the sales of dairy & soy foods in 2018. It also covers the market share of leading companies offering dairy & soy foods with health and wellness attributes in the same year. - Company Analysis: Provides an overview of leading companies in the Asia-Pacific region, besides analyzing the growth of private label in the region. - Key distribution channels: Provides analysis on the leading distribution channels in the Asia-Pacific dairy & soy food sector in 2018. It covers five distribution channels - hypermarkets & supermarkets, convenience stores, food & drinks specialists, e-retailers, department stores and others, which include Dollar stores, variety stores & general merchandise retailers, cash & carries and warehouse clubs, vending machines, drug stores & pharmacies, and others. and others - Preferred packaging formats*: The report provides percentage share (in 2018) and growth analysis (during 2013-2023) for various pack materials, pack type, closure, and primary outer type based on the volume sales (by pack units) of dairy & soy food. Reasons to buy - Manufacturing and retailers seek latest information on how the market is evolving to formulate their sales and marketing strategies. There is also demand for authentic market data with a high level of detail. This report has been created to provide its readers with up-to-date information and analysis to uncover emerging opportunities of growth within the sector in the region. - The report provides a detailed analysis of the countries in the region, covering the key challenges, competitive landscape and demographic analysis , that can help companies gain insight into the country specific nuances - The analysts have also placed a significant emphasis on the key trends that drive consumer choice and the future opportunities that can be explored in the region, than can help companies in revenue expansion - To gain competitive intelligence about leading companies in the sector in the region with information about their market share and growth rates Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05830825/?utm_source=GNW 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. __________________________ Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 Q: My sister is thinking about changing her name back to her maiden name, even though it has been over 20 years since her divorce. Her current married name is used in our moms will. If she changes her name, does my mom need to update her will to match? A: There is no need for your mother to change her will. Women change their names all the time, typically at when they get married or divorced. All the people who have documents identifying people by their maiden name or former married name dont need to change anything. Q: My father died in 2017. His will gave $100,000 to each of his grandchildren, and $50,000 to each of his great-grandchildren, with the rest of his estate passing to his four children. When he died, his only assets were a brokerage account with $1.6 million payable on death to his four children, and two checking accounts that were payable on death to my brother. Since there was no money in my fathers estate to pay the bequests to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, acting on the advice of an attorney, we all signed a family settlement agreement. Each of us agreed to pay some of our inheritance to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The problem is the brother who got the two checking accounts wont tell any of us how much was in those accounts or how he spent that money. He refuses to communicate with any of us. What can we do? A: It is unclear from your question what the family settlement agreement required each of the four children to do. In order to tell you what to do, it would be very important to read this document. Importantly, the $400,000 you inherited was your money, and you were under no obligation to share any of it with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Similarly, the money your brother received from the two checking accounts was all his. Clearly, the agreement should have included provisions regarding the checking accounts, thus forcing your brother to disclose how much was in the accounts. The agreement should also have obligated him to disclose how he had spent that money and maybe to share some of it with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. At this point, you and your other two siblings should confront the brother who received the checking accounts and demand he disclose how much was in the checking accounts as well as all of his expenditures from those accounts. If he refuses, you have only one option, and that is to hire an attorney to get answers. But keep in mind, if you have all already agreed to a resolution of all disputes regarding the estate, and the two checking accounts were excluded from the negotiations, then there is probably nothing you can do. The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Shares of the world's premier infrastructure firm AECOM (ACM) hit a new 52 week high of $50.32 on January 14, and closed Tuesday's trade at $49.74, up $2.66 or 5.65%. The company designs, builds, finances, and operates infrastructure assets worldwide. It operates through four segments: Design and Consulting Services (DCS), Construction Services (CS), Management Services (MS), and AECOM Capital (ACAP). As recently as January 8, AECOM's Management Services business secured a $192 million Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Services contract. The contract directly supports the effort to deliver a unified tactical network for the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command, headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. On January 2, the company's Management Services segment was awarded a US$520 million task order under the TACOM Strategic Services Solutions contract to support maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification and upgrade of military vehicles and other equipment at the following U.S. Army locations: Red River Army Depot, Anniston Army Depot, Sierra Army Depot and Rock Island Arsenal. This task order consists of a base year and two one-year options. In October, AECOM announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its Management Services (MS) business to affiliates of American Securities LLC and Lindsay Goldberg for a purchase price of $2.405 billion. The sale transaction is expected to close in the first half of fiscal 2020. Last month, AECOM reiterated its financial targets for fiscal 2020, including a plan to achieve 12% adjusted EBITDA growth in its pro forma Professional Services business. The company also initiated 2021 guidance for pro forma Professional Services adjusted EBITDA of $825 million - $865 million, which would reflect 14% year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth at the mid-point of the range. On Nov. 12, 2019, the company reported a Q4 net loss of $474.1 million or $3.01 per share versus $83.9 million or $0.52 per share last year. Revenue decreased to $5.11 billion from $5.30 billion generated a year ago. Total debt declined by $413 million compared to the third quarter, resulting in a net leverage ratio of 2.2. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de MICHIGAN Work that Michigan Senator Gary Peters did in 2019 may lead to lower prescription drug prices in 2020. Two of the acts Peters co-sponsored in 2019, the Affordable Insulin Approvals Now Act and the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act, tackle the pharmaceuticals industry and the high prices they charge for prescription drugs. When drug companies manipulate prices and availability of medicine to boost the bottom lines, it can force hardworking Michiganders to have to choose between securing the medication they need or paying their bills, Peters said in a statement. That must change. I am encouraged that the bipartisan measures I cosponsored are now law and will help lower prescription drug costs including for insulin and increase market competition. Peters co-sponsored the Affordable Insulin Approvals Now Act, which will create a faster path for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in order to promote competition and bring lower-cost generics to market faster. Insulin prices have gone up over 600% over the past two decades, causing unaffordable insulin to impact nearly 7.5 million Americans who depend on it for healthy lives. Peters also co-sponsored the CREATES Act, which combats anticompetitive practices by some pharmaceutical and biologic companies that block lower cost generic drugs from entering the marketplace. The two main strategies of the CREATES Act are to stop brand-name drug companies from withholding samples from potential biosimilar and generic competitors and to prevent brand-name drug companies from manipulating Food and Drug Administration safety protocols to block generics. The U.S. Senate passed the CREATES Act on Dec. 19, with President Donald Trump signing it into law on Dec. 20. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the CREATES Act will save taxpayers nearly $4 billion over the next decade. Peters had released a report in December titled A Price Too High: Cost, Supply, and Security Threats to Affordable Prescription Drugs, that goes into drug pricing and make recommendations on how to address the cost, supply and security threats to affordable prescription drugs. Key Findings in that report include brand name drug prices in the U.S. increasing 68% since 2012. There were 282 drug shortages in the second quarter of 2019, and more than 80% of pharmaceutical ingredients for U.S. prescription drugs come from overseas, mainly China and India. Recommendations from the report include prohibiting unjustified price increases by pharmaceutical companies, leveling the playing field for generics, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, allowing for personal use importation where safe and viable, increasing the supply of safe and affordable drugs, and helping bring pharmaceutical manufacturing for critical drugs back to the United States. Handout photo issued by Press Eye of Robin Swann, Minister of Health, at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as the power sharing assembly in Northern Ireland is restored. PA Photo. Issue date: Saturday January 11, 2020. See PA story ULSTER Politics. Photo credit should read: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. Minister for Health Robin Swann: "With a sustainable financial package in place and support across the Executive, Northern Ireland's health service can begin a new era. "We've made a good start, restoring pay parity for health and social care staff. We have a lot more to do, not least in tackling waiting lists and improving mental health services. "More funding for health is vital, but that alone won't make things right. "Demand for services is growing, with many more of us living longer lives and needing more care as a result. "We need to reshape and modernise services to meet the changing needs in our society." Minister for Education Peter Weir: "Every child deserves the best start in life and to be nurtured and supported to help them reach their full potential. "My key priorities will include the delivery of frontline resources for our schools and our teachers, special educational needs and tackling educational disadvantage. "There are challenges ahead. My focus will be on transforming the system to ensure high-quality, sustainable education for the 21st century. "The future success of our society and economy depends on a high-quality education system. We must all work together to make this happen." Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon: "Having a modern and sustainable water, drainage and transport infrastructure is essential if we are to grow our economy and improve the lives of everyone. "I am also committed to working to deliver the infrastructure needed to improve connectivity, grow the all-island economy and play our part in tackling the climate emergency. "Over the next weeks and months I am particularly looking forward to meeting many of the 3,000 staff who work in my department on the front line, delivering services that have such a great impact on so many of us every day, whether that's resurfacing and salting our roads, cleaning gullies or ensuring our vehicle is safe and roadworthy." Minister for Justice Naomi Long: "I will develop a programme of work for the Department of Justice which will tackle the root causes of crime, to ensure fewer people become victims of crime, as well as speeding up and modernising our courts to deliver quicker results for victims. "None of this can be done in isolation and I want to harness the skills and inputs of a wide range of people to deliver better outcomes for people here. "I appreciate that the lack of a functioning Assembly has meant legislative changes around stalking and domestic abuse have not been able to be progressed and important decisions now need to be made." Minister for Finance Conor Murphy: "My immediate priority is to secure the additional funding promised by both governments. An advance on that funding has been used to pay health workers, but much more is required to deliver the New Decade, New Approach document. "I will reform the rates system, which helps fund public services, to ensure it is fair to households and businesses. My department will fully implement same-sex marriage legislation, which represents a milestone for equality. "Other priorities include enhancing fiscal powers and delivering a social value act that recognises the contribution of social enterprises when awarding government contracts." Minister for Economy Diane Dodds: "I will put my energy into building our economy to keep it competitive. "Promoting innovation, attracting foreign investment, expanding broadband and creating jobs are vital to achieving this. "I will play a central role in defining, promoting and protecting our economic interests as the UK leaves the European Union. "I want to focus on skills and education so we can support tens of thousands of people in preparing for working life through university, further education, apprenticeships, assured skills academies and careers guidance. "This department will remain at the very forefront on moving us towards net zero-carbon emissions. "Furthermore, we will capitalise on our growing reputation globally to bring more tourists to our shores." Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Edwin Poots: "I am looking forward to getting to grips with what is a very diverse, wide-ranging and interesting department. My previous experience as Minister for the Environment and of course, my life outside politics as a farmer, gives me a unique perspective on the remit of the department. "There can be no doubt of the challenges facing us, particularly in the next 12 months. I intend to focus my efforts towards mitigating against the potential impacts of Brexit on our agri-food, fishing and farming sectors while maximising the benefits of leaving the EU and ensuring our industry is on a level playing field regarding trade deals. "I will also prioritise the strengthening of our rural communities to make them sustainable in the long term, finally dealing with the issue of TB and protecting our environment and green lands." Minister for Communities Deirdre Hargey: "One of my priorities will be to bring forward legislation as soon as I can to reverse the decision to reclassify housing associations to ensure that the sector can continue to build new social housing. "In addition, in line with what was agreed under New Decade, New Approach, I want to reassure people in receipt of welfare mitigations that I will extend this package beyond March 31. "The completion of Casement Park is a key priority for me. "I will work to challenge austerity and welfare reform and will provide a reaffirmed commitment to protect the most vulnerable and embed human rights standards in all that we do." Two Ukrainian servicemen wounded amid 10 enemy attacks in Donbas in past 24 hours Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 10 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported. "The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 10 times on January 14. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in enemy shelling," the JFO staff said in its update on Facebook on Wednesday morning. The enemy opened fire from proscribed 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Novotroyitske, Nevelske, Shyrokyne, Luhanske, Orikhove, Krymske, and Novoluhanske came under attacks. Attorneys for General Michael Flynn filed on Tuesday night to withdraw Flynns 2017 guilty plea, after prosecutors reversed course last week and recommended jail time for the former national security adviser. The prosecutor seeks to rewrite history and send Mr. Flynn to prison, Flynns motion reads. This about-face places the government in breach of the plea agreement. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 of lying to the FBI regarding his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and the DOJ initially recommended no jail time in recognition of his cooperation. But in October, Flynns defense team shifted gears and alleged that the FBI had tampered with notes from Flynns original FBI interview and deliberately withheld exculpatory information from Flynn in what amounted to a set-up. In November, the Department of Justice admitted that it had incorrectly attributed notes to former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who was one of two agents to conduct the interview, but Judge Emmett Sullivan threw out the argument that Flynn had been coerced into a guilty plea. The sworn statements of Mr. Flynn and his former counsel belie his new claims of innocence and his new assertions that he was pressured into pleading guilty to making materially false statements to the FBI, Sullivan wrote. Ahead of Flynns sentencing, the DOJ reversed course from a 2018 agreement and recommended that Flynn face up to six months in prison, in accordance with applicable sentencing guidelines. The sentence should adequately deter the defendant from violating the law, and to promote respect for the law, a sentencing memo read. It is clear that the defendant has not learned his lesson. He has behaved as though the law does not apply to him, and as if there are no consequences for his actions. Flynns defense maintains his innocence and, in defending the late guilty plea withdrawal, the attorneys cite a 2009 Supreme Court decision, Puckett v. United States, in which the defense counsel sought to withdraw its guilty plea after the trial. Story continues It would constitute ineffective assistance of counsel to fail to move to withdraw his plea now in light of the governments breach and change in sentencing recommendation, Flynns motion to withdraw reads. Mr. Flynn has cooperated with the government in good faith for two years. He gave the prosecution his full cooperation. He held nothing back. He endured massive, unnecessary, and frankly counterproductive demands on his time, his family, his scarce resources, and his life. The same cannot be said for the prosecution which has operated in bad faith from the inception of the investigation and continues relentlessly through this specious prosecution. More from National Review It was alleged the weapons were found beside Mr O'Gorman when he was arrested.. (stock photo) A guest at a gathering in a house armed himself with two knives and stabbed another man in the neck when a row broke out after they had been drinking, it has been alleged. Peter O'Gorman (51) is all-eged to have inflicted a serious injury on the man, who flagged down a passing ambulance. The accused was refused bail and remanded in custody at Dublin District Court. Mr O'Gorman, of no fixed address, is charged with assault causing harm to the man (53). Det Gda Mark Melbourne objected to bail, citing the nat- ure and seriousness of the allegations. He told Judge Bryan Smyth that gardai received information from Dublin Fire Brigade that a man and woman had flagged down a passing ambulance on Emmet Road, Inchicore, at 3.36pm on January 9. The man had a cut to his neck and said he had been stabbed by the accused. Det Melbourne said he arr- ested Mr O'Gorman on suspicion of assault at Bulfin Court, Inchicore, at 3.45pm. A woman told gardai she had been in the house with friends including the alleged victim and the defendant. Threatening They were all drinking alcohol and a row broke out between Mr O'Gorman and the alleged victim, the woman had said. It was alleged that Mr O'Gorman "armed himself with two knives" and stabbed the man in the neck while threatening him. It was further alleged that the man held shut an internal door to keep the accused from further stabbing him. He left the house with the woman and they intended to get a taxi to hospital but saw an ambulance and stopped it. Det Melbourne said the all- eged victim suffered serious injuries, but they were not life-threatening and he was discharged from hospital after treatment. He received a "substantial laceration to the neck". It was alleged the weapons were found beside Mr O'Gorman when he was arrested. Blood was found on one of the knives and both had been sent for technical examination. It was alleged the accused stated after caution: "Why did she bring him here? He des- erved it. He shouldn't be here." Det Melbourne said Mr O'Gorman stated he had been drinking alcohol and could not remember the incident. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Anyone in the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport at 10 a.m. today can expect a text from LAX officials. But it's not about the jet fuel that was emergency dumped onto a playground yesterday. It's not about anything. It's a test. The text will read: "This is a test of the LAX Wireless Emergency Alert system. No action is required." The mass message marks the launch of an airport-wide test of LAX's newest tool to alert passengers and workers of an emergency. Think of it as a smaller scale Amber Alert, an extreme weather warning, or the recently-revamped ShakeAlertLA. Keith Wilschetz, the Deputy Executive Director of Operations and Emergency Management at Los Angeles World Airports, told KPCC/LAist that the system will increase communication with those who need it immediately. "It gives us one more opportunity to make sure that people are informed and particularly, in the case of an extreme emergency, which is what this will be used for, it is very important that we reach people as quickly as possible," he said. Part of what officials hope to learn from today's test text is exactly how far the message will go. Wilschetv said that people as far as El Segundo, Westchester or Inglewood might receive the alert. "That's one of the reasons we're doing the test, is to find out how far away from the airport boundaries the test might go," he said. "Don't be alarmed. It's just something that we're doing to find out how good the test is... if you have a chance, let us know what your experience was with it." Sonora, CA Pacific Gas & Electric says a winter storm system is heading toward the region, and the company is urging customers to be prepared for the possibility of power outages. PG&E Meteorologist Evan Duffey says, An impactful winter storm is on the way and were asking customers to have a plan to keep themselves and their families safe. Our team of meteorologists is closely tracking the weather system and working with our employees in the field to stage resources and ensure were prepared to restore power safely and quickly. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Sierra Nevada and the Mother Lode. Click here to view the latest information. PG&E reports that it has a Storm Outage Prediction Model that incorporates real-time forecasts, and historical data, to determine where to pre-stage crews and equipment to enable quick response to outages. Storm Safety Tips From PG&E: Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move itand keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 911 and by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, pets and small children. Do not leave candles unattended. Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Have fresh drinking water, ice: Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer during an outage to prevent foods from spoiling. Blue Ice from your picnic cooler also works well in the freezer. Secure outdoor furniture: Deck furniture, lightweight yard structures and decorative lawn items should be secured as they can be blown by high winds and damage overhead power lines or property. Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric generators should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on power lines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area. Turn off appliances: If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal. Photo: The Canadian Press A dozen individuals have been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in damages for defamatory statements they made in an internet chat forum, even though the plaintiffs don't know who they are and collecting will likely prove difficult. The judgment in Ontario Superior Court of Justice comes despite difficulties in suing people who post inflammatory comments anonymously, and who then fail to respond to legal proceedings against them. What it does make clear, however, is that anonymity and failure to respond do not necessarily preclude a case from proceeding, or a court from awarding damages. "If people want to make hurtful statements about others and then try to hide from the responsibility to prove the truth or other justification for doing so ... their cowardice is reprehensible," Justice Frederick Myers said. The defamatory comments were posted in 2014 and 2015 on the investor-oriented Bullboard message forum on the website stockhouse.com. They were directed at Toronto-based Theralase Technologies Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, and its principal investors, Roger Dumoulin-White and spouse, Kristina Hachey. Essentially, the posts criticize them both professionally and personally, accusing them among other things of lying and illegal behaviour. "Roger is like a pest diseased dog spreading his filthy rabbies (sic)," the user Nastynasta wrote. "A mangy dog that won't go away until he's put down." "The management team are liars!!!" TrueNorthStrong wrote. "Been lying for 21 years!!" Hachey was also the object of at least one "disgusting" misogynistic post that had nothing to do with investor complaints, the judge found. Stockhouse.com said it was unable to give the real identities of the posters to the plaintiffs. However it did provide email addresses, allowing the plaintiffs to serve the lawsuit. The court ruled the service by email and, in some cases, by private messages via stockhouse.com was good enough to assume the posters were aware of the proceedings, and allow the case to go ahead. Only one defendant responded; the case against him is ongoing. The other defendants including one person who has since been identified as a former disgruntled Theralase employee were noted in default. Ultimately, Myers ruled that Dumoulin-White and Hachey had proven their claims. He awarded general damages ranging from $7,500 to $35,000 against each defendant in favour of each plaintiff. Myers also assessed aggravated or punitive damages against some defendants worth thousands of dollars more. Myers also ordered the defendants to pay $55,000 in legal costs, saying their failure to take part in the lawsuit made their conduct all the more abusive. In a bid to raise awareness among farmers on Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Health Authority has signed an MoU with ITC e-Choupal to enable farmers across the country to avail benefits under Ayushman Bharat- PMJAY. Through this collaboration, NHA and ITC e-Choupal will spread awareness about AB PM-JAY scheme and conduct outreach and training activities. Speaking about the collaboration, Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO, Health Authority said, "This partnership between Health Authority and ITC e-Choupal, will empower millions of citizens in rural India and Indian farmers with digital interventions." "The collaboration focuses on providing secondary and tertiary treatment for a range of serious illnesses such as cancer, heart ailments, etc to farmers and their families in rural areas. It will also demonstrate how such innovative models can reach the remotest corners of the country," he added. As part of the MoU, ITC will conduct awareness camps through 400 Village Health Champions (VHCs) covering nearly more than 800 villages across 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Prashar (MP) on a pilot basis. These VHCs will make women and adolescents aware of the programme through group meetings and door-to-door connect. ITC will also promote AB-PMJAY through 23 Choupal Saagars and 18 fuel stations. NHA will provide training modules and kit to train VHCs and Choupal Sanchalaks who will sensitise farmers about the scheme said the official. Anil K Rajput, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at ITC said, "The partnership with the NHA will help to improve the health scenario in rural India. E-chaupal will empower farmers in the hinterland by providing necessary information through an integrated network. The signing of MoU will help pave the way for quality curative care for farmers and all citizens outside urban centres." Through this partnership, millions of farmers would be able to access the information via 6,000 e-choupals, he added. E-choupal meaning "village meeting place" will constitute a network of rural kiosks, providing the number of information and communication-related services for the rural population. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China must rethink its hardline stance towards Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday, as she warned the island was already independent and that any invasion would be "very costly" for Beijing. Tsai won a second term over the weekend with a record 8.2 million votes, an outcome that was seen as a forceful rebuke of China's ongoing campaign to isolate the self-ruled island. China's leadership had made no secret of its desire to see Tsai turfed out because she and her party refuse to acknowledge their view that the island is part of a "one China". Beijing regards Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary -- especially if it declares independence. But in her first interview since Saturday's re-election, Tsai told the BBC there was no need to formally announce independence because the island already runs itself. "We don't have a need to declare ourselves an independent state," she said in the interview, which aired on Wednesday. "We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan." Modern Taiwan has been run separately from the mainland for the last 70 years. For decades, it was a dictatorship under Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists following their 1949 defeat to the communists in China's civil war. But since the 1980s, it has morphed into one of Asia's most progressive democracies, although it is only diplomatically recognised by a dwindling handful of countries. Polls show growing numbers of Taiwanese reject the idea that the island should be part of the Chinese mainland. "We have a separate identity and we're a country of our own," Tsai said. "We deserve respect from China". China has greeted Tsai's re-election with anger, warning against any move to push the island closer towards independence. "Splitting the country is doomed to leave a name that will stink for eternity," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this week. Chinese state media also accused Tsai of winning the election through cheating, without providing evidence. On Wednesday, Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office said there were no plans to change policy towards the island after the landslide election. "Taiwan's future lies in the unification of the country," spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said, adding its future must be decided by "all Chinese people". But Tsai said China should respect the wishes of Taiwan's electorate. "I hope the Chinese side can understand in-depth the opinion and will expressed by Taiwanese people in this election and can review some of their current policies," she told reporters on Wednesday. Tsai was speaking as she announced a new "anti-infiltration law" had been signed into effect making it illegal to launch political activities that are backed or funded by "hostile external forces". Supporters say the bill is aimed at clamping down on China's infiltration of Taiwan's while opponents called it anti-democratic. In her BBC interview -- which came as Taiwan held annual military drills on the south of the island -- Tsai warned Beijing against sending in troops. "Invading Taiwan is something that is going to be very costly for China," she said. Critics accuse Tsai of being needlessly antagonistic towards Beijing. But Tsai said she had resisted pressure from within her own party to be more forceful on the issue of independence. "There are so many pressures, so much pressure here that we should go further," she said. "Maintaining a status quo remains our policy... I think that is a very friendly gesture to China." Tsai has repeatedly said she is willing to talk to Beijing as long as there are no pre-conditions. But Beijing has refused, cutting off official communication with her administration. Over the last four years, it has also has ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure, hoping it would scare voters into supporting the opposition. But the strong-arm tactics backfired with voters resoundingly backing Tsai for another four more years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Earning a place on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 is an honor, and we're thrilled to once again receive recognition as one of the top franchises in North America. What a great way to start off the new year after being recognized 12 times in 2019 as a best-in-class franchise," said Brightway President and CEO, Michael Miller, who co-founded Brightway with his brother, David, in 2008. He added, "Producing winning outcomes for our franchisees, our customers and our employees is our top priority. This alignment in all that we do is the key ingredient to our success." Backed by hundreds of insurance professionals who support each aspect necessary to run a high-producing independent agency and armed with partnerships with the most insurance brands, Brightway franchisees become the insurance experts in their communities who offer the most choice. Brightway's corporate office provides expertise in areas including Customer Service, Accounting, Marketing, Distribution, Business Analytics, Carrier Appointments, Licensing, Onboarding, Training, Hiring and Retaining personnel. The company's signature after-the-sale service empowers franchisees to focus on new business sales and provides their customers the personalized service they deserve. Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 Placement on Entrepreneur's 2020 Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry, as evidenced by the fact that Entrepreneur received more than 1,100 applications this year, making it the magazine's most competitive ranking ever. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks Brightway for its outstanding performance in areas including unit support, growth, brand strength, financial strength and cost. This is the seventh time Brightway has made the list since 2013. See Brightway's profile on Entrepreneur.com. Results also can be seen in the January/February print issue of Entrepreneur. Those interested in learning more about Brightway as a business opportunity should visit BrightwayDifference.com to learn more. About Brightway Insurance Brightway Insurance is a national property/casualty insurance distribution company with more than $637 million in annualized written premium, making it one of the largest Personal Lines agencies in the U.S. Brightway's focus is on producing Win, Win, Win outcomes for consumers by offering customized insurance solutions and for people wishing to sell insurance by providing business opportunities that span from single Agent to multi-unit enterprises. Regardless of the path taken, Brightway provides the support necessary to consistently outsell other insurance agents. Brightway got its start in 2008 and has since grown to more than 900 people in 203 offices across 22 states serving customers in all 50 states. Consumers seeking a better insurance buying experience may visit Brightway.com, and people wishing to learn more about franchise ownership with Brightway may visit BrightwayDifference.com. About Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 During its 41 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for potential franchisees. The key factors that go into Entrepreneur's evaluation include costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength and financial strength and stability. Learn more at Entrepreneur.com/Franchise500. SOURCE Brightway Insurance Related Links http://brightway.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) contacted the country's travel agencies due to a new type of coronavirus observed in Chinas Wuhan city, Head of Press Service of Azerbaijans State Tourism Agency Kenan Guluzade told Trend on Jan. 15. In this regard, travel agencies were instructed to warn tourists traveling to Wuhan city to be attentive, Guluzade said. Due to the new type of coronavirus 40 people are sick in the city, more than 100 people are under control, several hundred people, including medical staff who had close contact with the sick, were taken under control. Some 41 cases of infection were initially diagnosed, of which two were discharged, seven cases were severe and one died. The remaining patients were in stable condition, Wuhan health authorities said in a report. Wednesday, January 15th, 2020 (8:27 am) - Score 3,036 UK ISP Vodafone has today finally confirmed our report from last month (here), which revealed that their new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network with Cityfibre had gone live in the city of Cambridge. The deployment is costing 20m and will ultimately cover around 60,000 local premises. The new network, which is due to complete by the end of 2021, reflects a huge expansion beyond Cityfibres existing 44km long metro Dark Fibre platform in the city that was previously only used to serve local businesses and public sector sites in limited areas. By comparison the new FTTH extension has now officially started to go live for customers in the Chesterton and Kings Hedges areas of the city. Subscribers can of course take a service via Vodafones related Gigafast Broadband packages (these cost from just 28 per month for 200Mbps and speeds go up to 900Mbps). In terms of build progress, Cityfibre expects to have made their new network available to around 4,500 local homes by the end of Q1 2020. Max Taylor, Vodafone UKs Consumer Director, said: The introduction of full fibre broadband to Cambridge provides residents, students and the growing number of technology start-ups with ultra-fast and reliable digital connectivity. We are working with our infrastructure partner, CityFibre, to connect up homes across the city with the aim to offer more than 4,500 households access to the service within the first three months of 2020. The development means that Cambridge can now join Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Coventry, Huddersfield, Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Stirling as some of the first Phase One cities where Cityfibres new FTTH network has gone live for customers. All of this forms part of their wider 2.5bn plan to reach 1 million premises across the UK by the end of 2021 (Phase One) and then 5 million by the end of 2025 (here). Cityfibres biggest rival in the city will be Virgin Media, which can already cover nearly 90% of premises (a similar coverage level to Cityfibres target) and is due to start offering 1Gbps speeds by 2021 (here). Meanwhile Openreachs FTTP network reaches about 6% of local premises and their 330Mbps capable hybrid fibre G.fast technology covers a third of premises. The city is also home to another full fibre ISP called Cambridge Fibre but we dont know much about their build progress or forward plans. Schaumburg, Illinois, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RealManage would like to announce the hiring of Anne Hoffman, CMCA, as Director of Association Management for its Illinois market. Anne states: "I am excited to bring my experience in training and technology to support my team, Association Board members and RealManage staff." Anne joined RealManage, Illinois in November of 2019. She comes to us with over ten years of community association management and twenty-five years of business leadership experience. She brings expertise in improving client relations while maximizing facility efficiencies. "I am very excited to have Anne join the RealManage family. Her leadership and industry experience will help strengthen our manager's ability to provide top-level service to our clients," states Kimberly Sutherland, Vice President of Operations for the Illinois Market. About RealManage RealManage is an HOA management company that for over 30 years has helped community associations thrive. RealManage manages hundreds of community associations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington, including homeowner associations (HOAs), condominium associations, cooperatives, municipal utility districts, luxury high-rises, and large master-planned communities. For more information or to request a quote for HOA management or condominium management, visit http://www.realmanage.com. TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infrastructure spending is not an effective policy for stimulating the economy during a recession, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. Infrastructure projects have very long timelines, and by the time shovels hit the ground on a new bridge, highway or subway tunnel, the recession is usually over and the economic recovery has already begun, said Finn Poschmann, resident scholar at the Fraser Institute and author of Fiscal Policy and Recessions: The Role of Public Infrastructure Spending . Canadas economy shows signs of weakness, raising the spectre of a potential looming recession. When the next recession hits, its likely that both the federal and provincial governments will consider infrastructure spending to stimulate the economyas successive governments have done in the past. Its important, however, to recognize the practical limitations of such spending to combat recessions. First, the government must write and pass stimulus legislation, then work with the provinces and municipalities to identify projects, which require permit and zoning approvals. And depending on the size of the infrastructure project, it may also require an environmental assessment before contractors are selected and materials sourced. Crucially, by the time actual construction starts, the recession will be over and the economic recovery will likely be underway. This means the infrastructure meant to stimulate the economy will now compete with private sector investment, and potentially slow the recovery. For example, as noted in the study, the 2016 federal budget allocated $10.2 billion for infrastructure over two years, but by the first quarter of 2018, only about half of the expected money had been earmarked for specific projects. Moreover, there is an additional practical problem of federal money simply substituting for planned provincial or local spending. Specifically, as the federal government increases infrastructure spending, it may simply replace spending by provinces and municipalities, meaning the level of overall government spending remains the same, except with a larger share from Ottawa. Such substitution between different levels of government has been observed in both Canada and internationally. The evidence is clearpublic infrastructure spending doesnt work effectively to stimulate the economy during a recession, and policymakers should be aware of that reality when the next recession hits, Poschmann said. MEDIA CONTACT: Finn Poschmann, Resident Scholar Fraser Institute To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Bryn Weese, Fraser Institute 604-688-0221 ext. 589 bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook A man who called off a marijuana sale and then walked away was fatally shot moments later when the buyer opened fire on him along a street in the Crescent Park Village area in west Houston, a Harris County prosecutor said in a court hearing Monday. The accused gunman, 20-year-old Nicholas Taylor Parker, is being held in Harris County Jail on a murder charge in the Jan. 8 death of David Mosqueda. Parkers bail was set at $80,000. At a probable cause hearing for Parker, a prosecutor said Mosqueda and his brother arranged via social media a marijuana sale, and the parties met up about 4:40 p.m. near the 7500 block of Cook Road. The buyers were seated in a car. Mosqueda called off the deal, his brother told investigators, after noticing that the men did not present enough money for the value of the marijuana he was selling and that one of the men had a gun, the prosecutor said. The brothers then walked away. The man who was driving the car told investigators that Parker asked him to turn around and follow the brothers along the sidewalk. When they got close to the brothers, Parker got out of the vehicle with a black handgun and fired multiple times, striking Mosqueda twice, the prosecutor said. Mosquedas brother returned fire, using his brothers gun. The driver was later stopped for a moving violation and he and his vehicle were identified as being linked to the shooting, based on witness accounts, the prosecutor said. Parker was arrested early Monday at his home in Fort Bend County, where he lives with his mother and two sisters, after an hourlong standoff with police. olivia.tallet@chron.com Twitter.com/oliviaptallet A man who vandalised a traffic guard rail has told a court he had nowhere else to scribble down his girlfriend's bank account details. Justin William Michael Brand, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of wilful damage when he appeared in Holland Park Magistrates Court on Tuesday via videolink from prison, where he has been in custody since December 20. The bizarre graffiti offence occurred last September in Holland Park West in Brisbane's south. A man vandalised a traffic guard with his girlfriend's private information in Brisbane because he 'had nowhere to write it', a court has heard (stock photo) Brand represented himself in court, where he claimed he had nowhere else to write down his girlfriend's private information after he received a call from her to transfer funds, Quest Newspapers reported. 'She gave me her BSB and account number, I had nowhere to write it, so I grabbed a pen and wrote it down there (on the guard rail),' the Mount Gravatt man told the court. 'I live on the street, it's hard for me to remember dates and times.' The strange vandalism case was heard in Holland Park Magistrates Court this week Magistrate Simon Young expressed grave concerns about Brand's girlfriend's personal information being 'splashed' out. 'I just thought that was a bit strange,' he said. When police suggested to Brand he could have written on his arm or get a piece of paper, he replied that he 'did not think of that at the time'. Brand was convicted of the charge without further punishment. Pastor, members leave church amid refusal to build memorial wall for slave graves Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A pastor and some churchgoers have left a United Methodist Church in Virginia over what they say was the congregations refusal to build a memorial wall for a predominantly African-American gravesite found on church property. Pastor Mark Jagoe, formerly of the Hillsboro United Methodist Church in Loudoun County, retired last October. According to LoudounNow, the pastors retirement came as a result of a disagreement over the commemoration of 72 graves of predominantly slaves and freedmen found on the churchs east lawn a few years ago. Jagoe told the news outlet that upon discovering the graves, he had an expert mark each grave. The pastor desired to use the churchs memorial funds to build a memorial wall for the gravesite. However, Jagoe was unable to get approval from the congregation. The church is also home to an all-white cemetery on the other side of the property. Jagoe and others who left were troubled by an effort to place confederate markers such as iron crosses and battle flags on the graves of confederate soldiers in the churchs white cemetery. According to the news website, the effort was led by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy. Jagoe told the local newspaper that the effort was evidence of structural racism. The church would not vote to spend a single penny to recognize the 72 brothers and sisters in Christ that are buried on the east end of the property because of their skin color, Jagoe claimed. It broke my heart. Along with Jagoe, some African American congregants and others who disagreed with the churchs decision left the church. One former African American churchgoer who refused to be named told NBC Washington that she didnt feel like she belonged at the church anymore. It is just a repeat of history, she said. Being a person of color, it makes you feel like you are not important, that your past history or your ancestors dont really mean anything. However, Interim Pastor Larry Thompson told LoudounNow that efforts to commemorate the gravesite are underway and he hopes for concrete plans to be in place by next month. Thompson added that the gravesite also contains the graves of white church members, not just African Americans. Ive not found the people here to be involved in or have any intent at any systemic racism, the interim pastor said. I have found the people to be just delightful people and Im very happy to be journeying with them through this process that were in and look forward to bringing it to an appropriate ending with the recognition. Thompson further explained that there was concern about spending too much of the churchs reserve funding on one project. He said congregants wanted to ensure the church would have funds for future projects and building repairs. Theyre going to be fiscally conservative, period, Thompson was quoted as saying. Jagoe also filed a complaint with the local sheriffs office, claiming that the grave markers had been moved at some point from their corresponding graves, LoudounNow reports. However, a spokesperson for the Commonwealths Attorneys Office said there were no plans to pursue charges related to the complaint. Patty Caruthers, a former churchgoer, took issue with the confederate markers that were placed on the graves in the churchs all-white cemetery. These symbols are not inclusive of all and not welcoming to all, she told NBC Washington. The superintendent of the United Methodist Churchs Winchester District, Steven Summers, told LoudounNow that he is confident that Thompson will rectify the issue with the gravesite. Summers added that UMC deplores racism in every form. According to NBC Washington, Hillsboro Mayor Roger Vance is working on ways to help fund the cemetery. I am hopeful that we will make some progress here and we can have a really positive outcome, Vance said. This could be a wonderful story. In December 2017, a Mumbai-based businessman named Vikas Sachdev was accused of molesting a popular teen Bollywood actress on board a Delhi-Mumbai flight. The actor had later narrated her ordeal in an Instagram video. On Wednesday, a special court in Mumbai held Sachdev guilty and convicted him to three years in jail, as per a report in Hindustan Times. Special Judge AD Deo said in his verdict, "I am holding you guilty for section 354 (Molestation) of Indian Penal Code and Section 8 (sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Sachdev faces a minimum jail term of three years under POCSO. The report further revealed that the prosecution had examined seven witnesses including the ex-actor, a passenger and two cabin crew members. The award-winning young actor had tearfully shared her ordeal in an Instagram video in December 2017, where she accused the man on the Air Vistara flight of rubbing his foot against her back and neck while she was half asleep. In her post, the teen actor said, "So, I was in a flight travelling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miserable. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it..." "The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck," she further said in her video. On the other hand, Sachdev and his wife had countered the actor's complaint, insisting that Sachdev was returning from a funeral, was mentally disturbed and asleep when the incident took place. His wife claimed that it was 'unintentional'. Meanwhile, the young actor stirred up a controversy last year when she announced her 'disassociation' from acting. Bigg Boss 13: Arti Reveals Attempt To Rape Was Made On Her; Madhurima Says She Was Molested E-commerce giant Amazon has pumped in over Rs 1,700 crore into its payments and wholesale business units in India, as per regulatory documents. Amazon Pay India has received Rs 1,355 crore from Amazon Corporate Holdings Pvt Ltd and amazon.com.incs.Limited, regulatory documents filed with the corporate affairs ministry showed. The digital payment unit allotted shares to the said units on December 31, 2019, the documents sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler, said. Amazon Wholesale (India) Pvt Ltd allotted shares worth about Rs 360 crore on December 30 to Amazon Corporate Holdings Pvt Ltd and Amazon.com.incs.Limited, a separate filing showed. Emails sent to Amazon India on the fund infusion did not elicit a response. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is visiting India this week, meeting top government functionaries, business leaders and SMBs. Thousands of small-scale traders' union under Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) are planning to hold protests around the country during Bezos' stay in India. Also, India's anti-trust body Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday ordered an investigation into alleged violations of competition laws by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. Amazon and rival Flipkart have been pumping in millions of dollars across various operations like marketplace, infrastructure and supply chain management as well as marketing and promotion as they look to strengthen their position in the fledgling Indian e-commerce market. In October last year, Amazon had infused over Rs 4,400 crore (more than $600 million) in its various units in India including marketplace and food retail. Amazon, which is locked in a bruising battle against Flipkart, had registered cumulative losses of over Rs 7,000 crore across various units in 2018-19. The continued flow of fresh investments, however, is indicative of Amazon's confidence in the Indian market. "In the last 24 months, Amazon has poured in more than half a billion dollars into its Indian payment business alone. That's stunning and an indication of how competitive, the payment space has become in India," Vivek Durai, founder, paper.vc, a business signals platform. Also read: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos invokes Mahatma on his India visit Also read: CCI orders antitrust probe against Amazon, Flipkart MORRICE, MI Its the type of town you would need a reason to stop in. Just a few businesses a country diner, pizza place, hardware store, two hair salons and a party store line the one-block downtown area in the Michigan village of Morrice (pronounced Morris). The Shiawassee County community with a population of about 900 isnt used to getting much attention. That changed a few weeks ago when a 25-year-old Swartz Creek man was found dead in the basement of a nearby Bennington Township home. Kevin Bacon was stabbed in the back, his body hung from his ankles, his throat cut and parts of him were eaten, say police who searched the house of the man accused of killing him, possibly on Christmas Eve or early Christmas Day. Mark D. Latunski, 50, was charged with open murder and mutilation of a body in the case. On Jan. 8, his attorney submitted an insanity defense and a judge granted a request to test Latunski for mental competency. Latunski will be moved from the Shiawassee County Jail to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry near Saline for the evaluations. The process may take from 60-90 days. The story has become a sensation, appearing in national and international media outlets. Morrice is the town closest to Latunskis home and where the 50-year-old went to high school. Its just a sad situation and I feel for all the people out here that are involved with it, said Harold Dickerson, the villages long-standing president. Small town spirit Morrice is 35 miles southwest of Flint, 25 miles northeast of Lansing and about 85 miles northwest of Detroit. Its named after William Morrice, a local landowner in the 19th century. The villages industry has fluctuated over the years, from lumber to rail and specialized clothing shops where people did business face-to-face. Jeff Harris has owned the Morrice Hardware Center since 1989. (Its) a quaint little community," he said. Everybody knows each other, he said. Its that spirit that has kept Jeni Oliver as the head librarian at the villages downtown facility for 15 years. They are so friendly. Its a good community, said Oliver, of neighboring Bancroft, known by the children as Miss Jeni." They work together, just very helpful, very kind people. Very family-oriented ... a welcoming atmosphere. Over the years, Harris said the population has fluctuated, in part with the migration from agricultural to the automotive industry. Were a bedroom community. A lot of people worked at the auto parts (plants), whether they work in Flint, Lansing, or ... on the I-96 corridor, Dickerson noted. Its a rural community, according to Dickerson, who said that a homecoming parade takes place every year that includes farmers as part of the festivities. Killing and cannibalism Latunskis suspected involvement in Bacons grisly death has sent ripples through the small community. Thats not something we really want to talk about, said Harris. Latunski grew up in the area, attending Morrice High School in the mid-1980s, prior to attending Central Michigan University from 1987-1991. Shiawassee County Sheriff Brian BeGole, who attended Morrice High School at the same time as Latunski, said the familys name is well-known in the area. Property records show the Latunski family owns nearly 100 acres primarily consisting of farm fields near the home off West Tyrrell Road in Bennington Township roughly three miles north of Morrice where Bacons body was found inside a secret room in the basement. The Howard Cemetery located across the road from the home includes headstones for multiple members of the Latunski family. There were warning signs at the house before Bacons body was found. A month before prosecutors say Latunski killed Bacon, police responded to the house after another man was seen fleeing from it wearing only a leather kilt. The younger man told police he had been chained in Latunskis basement, police said. He did not want to press criminal charges, however. Records obtained by The Flint Journal-MLive reveal deputies were also called out to the house a dozen times in a decade. The reasons ranged from a custody dispute Latunski was going through with his ex-wife over their four children to an episode in which Latunski claimed he was someone else who killed Mark Latunski. The 50-year-old has a documented history of mental illness. But folks in town only knew what they heard. Michelle Edington, one of the employees at the H & M Salon in Morrice, said the chatter about the incident has just kind of been hearsay or I heard this, I heard that. Nothing other than whats been going on in the news that people hear, she said. Another crazy person. You never know where they are or how theyre going to come out. You just never know what people are thinking or whats going on in their brains. Pub banter and joked with colleagues can amount to sexual harrassment even if unintended and businesses must train staff to be aware of risks at after-work events, the equality watchdog has warned. Unwanted jokes and even facial expressions can also amount to unacceptable behaviour even if 'that is not how it was intended', warns Rebecca Hilsenrath, who chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She outlined the concerns in a letter to 400 major firms which called for stringent anti-harassment policies in light of the 'Me Too' scandal. The 'unwanted conduct' highlighted also includes pranks, social media contact and mimicry, the letter said. Rebecca Hilsenrath, who chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission, outlined sexual harassment concerns in a letter to 400 major firms which called for stringent anti-harassment policies in light of the 'Me Too' scandal (stock photo) Companies are advised to follow a series of steps and technical guidance which the EHRC hopes will eventually 'become statutory guidance enforceable by law'. Sexual harassment offences can include 'suggestive looks, staring or leering' as well as intrusive questions about a person's sex life. There were also warnings against spreading sexual rumours and unwelcome hugging, massaging, kissing and touching. Mrs Hilsenrath said employers are responsible for any action which falls 'within the course of employment', including after-work drinks in the pub or leaving dos. In the letter, seen by the Daily Telegraph, employers were advised to take seven steps that could be used as evidence in tribunals. They include creating an anti-harrassment policy, engaging staff, cutting risks and giving training. Other steps included making it simple to report incidents, acting immediately upon a complaint and drawing up guidance to protect staff from harrassment by other parties, including customers. The government is currently carrying out a consultation into existing harassment laws. She said pub banter can also count as harassment and warned firms to train their staff for after-work events (stock photo) Mrs Hilsenrath's letter said firms must 'step up action against bad behaviour'. Under new guidelines employers will be expected to provide definitions and clear examples of harassment, along with warnings that violating the policy could lead to them being fired. Research reportedly showed three-quarters of workers have experienced sexual harassment, with the watchdog claiming it 'is pervasive in contexts as diverse as Hollywood and Westminster'. Mrs Hilsenrath said that the burden to challenge harassment had been on the victim, rather than the employer, for too long. She wrote: 'Recent high-profile cases have shone an important light on the continued harassment many women face in the workplace and showed that we still need to do more to modernise working cultures.' The letter added: 'It's been two years since #MeToo forced sexual harassment to the top of the agenda. 'We've seen some employers wake up, take this on board and start to make the difference... But we need others to follow suit. 'The issue is not going to go away and if we are going to create working environments where no one is ever made to feel unsafe or threatened, then we need a dramatic shift in workplace cultures.' Former Ipswich councillors seeking to be considered employees in a compensation bid after being swept out of the council when it was dissolved amid corruption and poor governance allegations have had their fight thrown out of a Queensland court. The seven sacked councillors, Paul Tully, Wayne Wendt, Cheryl Bromage, David Pahlke, David Morrison, Charles Pisasale and Sheila Ireland, had sought to be reinstated under the Industrial Relations Act, maintaining their 2018 dismissal was unjust and unreasonable. Then Ipswich councillor Paul Tully (centre) at the council's final meeting in August 2018. Credit:AAP The council argued the seven would need to be considered employees in order to be reinstated, which it claimed they could not be under the Local Government Act as elected representatives. The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission ruled it lacked the authority to hear the councillors' applications in a decision delivered by Commissioner Minna Knight this week. The area under the Veterans Memorial Bridge was cleaned up and the 'canvas' for 'Harmonic Bridge' repainted gray in 2017, covering murals made by an after-school program. North Adams City Council Seeking Legal Opinion on Pillar Art The opening of the Marshall Street murals in 2012. Two councilors have submitted a request for the city to determine if they can be restored. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The City Council wants a legal opinion before it makes any decision regarding the so-called "pillar art." Councilors voted unanimously to send a request from Councilors Jason LaForest and Marie T. Harpin to test the viability of the overpainted mural s to the General Government Committee with the amendment it would formulate questions for the city solicitor. LaForest introduced the amendment seeking a "determination of precedence." "The 'Harmonic Bridge' was there, thus the paint or lack of paint that was on the pillars at the time has become the intellectual property of the artist even though the pillars themselves belong to the city," he said. "The counter argument is that when Mass MoCA painted over those murals, that Mass MoCA was defacing and vandalizing the art that the children you know, put in place. "And so there has been this circular argument with no determination for the past several years." The controversy dates back to 2017, when Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art "restored" artists Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger's "Harmonic Bridge" under the overpass by repainting the pillars gray which covered over a set of murals done by an after-school program with local artists Christina King and William Oberst four or five years before. Neither group of artists had more than verbal affirmation with the city as far as can be determined but "Harmonic Bridge" purportedly has a contract with Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Councilor Keith Bona agreed that a legal opinion would be in the city's best interest, ticking off a number of questions he'd like answered. "Maybe General Government should work on questions to go the solicitor and those maybe should be answered first before we get to the next step," he said, adding, "we don't own the art, MoCA doesn't own the art, we own sort of the canvas under it, but we can't touch that. There have been lawsuits about that and they could sue us." Councilor Benjamin Lamb said he was aware of five lawsuits related to similar situations, two of which have resulted in wins for the artists. He didn't give any examples but one of the major cases involved a vacant building that was used as a canvas by 21 artists with the verbal permission of the owner. When the building was razed to make way for an apartment building, the artists sued and won a $6.75 million judgment. In Memphis, Tenn., several artists are suing the city after it started painting over their public works commissioned by a nonprofit. The Public Arts Commission, which did not exist when either works were created, has rejected sampling the pillars to see if the anti-graffiti gray paint could be removed and the artwork underneath restored. Though the composition of the commission has changed, it has also stated that it did not feel ordering a sample test was within its purview. Commissioner Bryan Sapienza reiterated that point although when he spoke at hearing of visitors he said he was there as a citizen not as a representative of the commission. "As much as I would like to see the artwork restored on the pillars, we felt that restoring the art on the pillars could also possibly damage it, and it could also be very costly to do it properly," he said. "And I'm just wondering where the council thinks that they will pull the money from because the Public Arts Commission does not have a budget." Councilor Wayne Wilkinson raised the same issue: where would the money come from for a study to see if the art could be restored? Harpin thought it could come from the city's engineering budget line but Wilkinson noted that it would have to go through the mayor's office. Several residents spoke in favor of the murals that had depicted pillow patterns made at Arnold Print Works and children who had worked in the mills, including Edward Morandi and former City Councilor Frances Buckley. Also rising to speak twice in favor of the murals was Joseph Smith, who with Vincent Melito has been the main voices urging their restoration over the past couple years. Smith noted the mural artists had agreed to a short-term restoration, giving "time for the community to enjoy the art again, if it can be restored." "Another matter is that the sound installation artists have never directly been asked their position by any city entity the public is aware of," he said. "Instead, the city seems to have taken the word with third party throughout which is clearly improper." In contrast, Robert Smith, his father, chastised the council for revisiting the issue when there were more important things to do. "Here we are a new year, a first council meeting ... and we wasted so much time discussing something that didn't need to be discussed any longer," he said. "We have to work on things for our city that will benefits most of the citizens ... we can't waste time with stuff like this." Bona said it was unfortunate that it had been characterized as the museum against children. "I don't think it matters who did the art, they still would have wanted it gray," he said. In other business, the council heard a presentation on parking spaces, approved a $71,000 transfer from stabilization for an analysis of inflow into the sewer system, and was updated on the actions being taken with the roofing contractor who has so far failed to complete public safety building roof. Rapper Jay-Z is suing two Mississippi prison officials on behalf of 29 inmates who say authorities did nothing to stop violence that has killed five prisoners in the last two weeks. The lawsuit, filed by Jay-Z's lawyer Alex Spiro in the U.S. District Court in Greenville, Mississippi on Tuesday, says 'these deaths are a direct result of Mississippi's utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated and their constitutional rights.' Spiro, on behalf of Jay-Z and hip-hop artist Yo Gotti, wrote a letter to Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant and DOC Commissoner Pelicia Hall dated January 9 saying that they were 'prepared to pursue all potential avenues to obtain relief for the people living in Mississippi's prisons and their families.' Rapper Jay-Z (pictured) is suing two Mississippi prison officials on behalf of 29 inmates who say authorities did nothing to stop violence that has killed five prisoners in the last two weeks Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, where three inmates have died over the past two weeks The letter added that the deaths were as a result of years of severe understaffing and neglect at Mississippi's prisons, according to NBC News. 'As Mississippi has incarcerated increasing numbers of people, it has dramatically reduced its funding of prisons. As a result, prison conditions fail to meet even the most basic human rights,' NBC reported, citing the contents of the letter. The lawsuit, filed against the head of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the warden of the state penitentiary in Parchman, seeks damages for the prisoners and an order forcing the department to address the issues, mainly by increasing staff and cleaning up sewage, celebrity website TMZ reported. Denorris Howell, 36, was the latest prisoner to be killed in Mississipi, after he was found before 3 am in his cell oat Parchman Farm on January 3, covered in blood with a neck wound. Inmates Walter Gates, 25 and Roosevelt Holliman, 32, were also killed at Parchman. Holliman was found fatally stabbed on Thursday, December 26. Gates suffered multiple stab wounds, possibly from a shank. Roosevelt Holliman, 32, (left) was found fatally stabbed at Parchman on Thursday, December 26. Denorris Howell, 36, (right) was killed at the same prison on January 3, with a fatal neck wound Parchman inmate Walter Gates, 25,suffered multiple stab wounds, possibly from a shank Terrandance Dobbins, 40, (left) was killed at South Mississippi jail on Sunday, December 29 and Gregory Emary, 26, (right) was killed at the Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility on December 26 Terrandance Dobbins, 40, was killed at South Mississippi jail on Sunday, December 29 and Gregory Emary, 26, was killed at the Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility on December 26. The most recent incidents to cast a shadow over Mississippi's prison system include widespread rioting and five deaths at three facilities in 10 days. Three inmates were killed at Parchman Farm amid the spike in violence, which has prompted prisoner advocates to call for a federal inquiry. The Mississippi Department of Corrections and Spiro's law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jay-Z has been a vocal supporter of African-American communities and has previously rejected Donald Trump's claims that his presidency has been beneficial for African Americans. Jay-Z (pictured) has been a vocal supporter of African-American communities and has previously rejected Donald Trump's claims that his presidency has been beneficial for African Americans Following reports that Trump had referred to African countries as 'shitholes', Jay Z said: 'Yes, it's disappointing and hurtful. Everyone feels anger. After the anger, it's really hurtful because he's like looking down on a whole population of people.' He is not the first popular celebrity to have tried their hand at influencing politics, with reality TV star Kim Kardashian meeting with the President at the White House in May 2018, which led to the release of Tennessee grandmother Alice Marie Johnson, 63. Kim joined attorney Brittany K Barnett and has secretly funded the Buried Alive Project, which has helped free 17 inmates who were handed huge jail sentences for low-level drug offences as part of its 90 Days of Freedom project. In June 2019, Kim spoke about a second chance hiring and re-entry initiative alongside Trump at the White House, to promote efforts to help those leaving prison get jobs and stay on track. Kim Kardashian visited US President Donald Trump in May 2018 to discuss prison reform and sentencing Kim Kardashian speaks about a second chance hiring and re-entry initiative alongside US President Donald Trump at the White House in June 2019 Last year, Kim visited the notorious San Quentin prison where a convicted murderer she is trying to free is being held. Kevin Cooper has been on death row for 33 years and will face the lethal injection for the murders of four people, including two ten-year-old children. It has been claimed an advanced DNA test could exonerate him with suggestions he might have been framed for the heinous crime. They star together in Just Mercy, the real-life story of an African-American man wrongly sent to death row in Alabama in 1988. And Jamie Foxx, who starred as Walter McMillian, was joined by his co-star Michael B. Jordan at an evening in the House Of Lords on Tuesday. The Hollywood actor, 52, donned a navy dotted suit over a black roll neck jumper for the prestigious event. Suave: Jamie Foxx, who starred as Walter McMillian, was joined by his co-star Michael B. Jordan at an evening in the House Of Lords on Tuesday Meanwhile Michael, 32, stood out in a coral red suit with matching brogues and a crisp white shirt. The acting legends were joined by Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael), the defence lawyer whose life's work and memoir of the same name the film is based on. Also at the event was Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen - a black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in South London in 1993. Stars: Jamie Foxx, who starred as Walter McMillian, was joined by his co-star Michael B. Jordan at an evening in the House Of Lords on Tuesday Dapper: The acting legends were joined by Bryan Stevenson (left, played by Michael), the defence lawyer whose life's work and memoir of the same name the film is based on Speech: The Hollywood actor, 52, donned a navy dotted suit over a black roll neck jumper for the prestigious event (pictured with Lord Michael Hastings) Just Mercy tells the true story of Bryan, a renowned civil rights attorney who sets out to free death row inmate Walter. Walter was a pulpwood worker from Alabama, who was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death despite being at a fish fry 11 miles away at the time a young woman was shot to death. His conviction was founded on police coercion and perjury before the judge used a doctrine unique to the state called Judge Override to sentence him to death. Style: Michael, 32, stood out in a coral red suit with matching brogues and a crisp white shirt Support: Also at the event was Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen - a black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in South London in 1993 Memoir: Just Mercy tells the true story of Bryan, a renowned civil rights attorney who sets out to free death row inmate Walter (pictured with Ozwald Boateng) This meant that despite a jury imposing a sentence of life imprisonment, the judge sent him to death row, where he had already spent 15 months pre-trial. In November 1988 Bryan, then 28 and a Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Government graduate, took on the task of appealing Walter's case. After serving six years, in 1993, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the lower court decision and ruled he had been wrongfully convicted. Unlawful: Walter was a pulpwood worker from Alabama, who was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death (Baroness Floella Benjamin and Michael at the event) Perjury: His conviction was founded on police coercion (Pictured, Lord Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick, Baroness Floella, Michael, Marsha De Cordova MP, Jamie, Lord Simon Woolley and Baroness Doreen) Harsh: The judge's use of the Override meant that despite a jury imposing a sentence of life imprisonment, the judge sent him to death row, where he had already spent 15 months pre-trial Appeal: In November 1988 Bryan, then 28 and a Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Government graduate, took on the task of appealing Walter's case (Dayo Okewale, right) At Tuesday's event Jamie and Michael were joined by Lord Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick and Dayo Okewale, the House of Lords' Chief Of Staff. Baroness Floella Benjamin and Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Lord Simon Woolley and Kate Osamor MP all cosied up at the event to celebrate the release of the blockbuster. After Francis McDormand's iconic Oscar speech that made 'inclusion rider' a hot-button term, Michael was the first actor to adopt it with all of his projects through his company Outlier Society. Success: After serving six years, in 1993, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the lower court decision and ruled he had been wrongfully convicted (pictured, JB Gill) His new film Just Mercy, which he executively produced, will become the first major studio film to adopt the inclusion rider. It mandates that women, people of colour, LGBTQ people and others from underrepresented groups be considered for cast and crew jobs. In a wide-ranging interview with Variety, Jordan spoke about what drove him to adopt the inclusion rider. 'We're always coming from a place of not having power,' says Jordan. 'I was like, man, I want my environment to be a reflection of the world I'm living in.' Guests: At Tuesday's event Jamie and Michael were joined by Marsha De Cordova MP, Lord Simon Woolley and Kate Osamor MP 'We started figuring out a way to do this, so now if you want to do this project with me, you've got to accept these terms,' he added. Jordan's company Outlier Society has a first look deal with Warner Bros., the studio producing Just Mercy, and he also helped the studio and its parent company WarnerMedia to adopt the inclusion rider across all divisions of the company. Director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle) said that the inclusion rider allowed crew members who had worked in the industry for years to finally be the head of their own department. Group shot: Baroness Floella Benjamin and Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Lord Simon Woolley and Kate Osamor MP all cosied up at the event to celebrate the release 'Inclusion rider': Michael was the first actor to adopt the 'inclusion rider' with all of his projects (pictured Baroness Floella and Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws) 'They did a kicka*s job,' says Cretton. 'That's the thing. These aren't favours that we're giving out. This is us getting to a point where we're finally giving people what they deserve.' Larson, who plays Stevenson's colleague Eva Ansley, said the more inclusive set lead to a much better environment. 'What I remember most is sitting as a group cast, filmmakers, crew and having these incredibly open, vulnerable conversations when the cameras werent rolling, Larson said. Represented: An Inclusion Rider mandates that underrepresented groups be considered for cast and crew jobs (pictured: Ozwald Boateng and Lord Simon Woolley) 'Conversations that ultimately shaped the course of the filmmaking process in a powerful way. It wouldnt have been possible in a less inclusive environment,' she added. Foxx previously revealed he drew on his Texas background for the role. 'It allowed me to understand that when theyre saying "n****s," its sort of like very matter of fact,' says Foxx. 'Its just another Tuesday. You have to have that sensibility to understand who this character is,' he added. Just Mercy debuted Christmas Day in limited release to qualify for awards season, before expanding US-wide on January 10. It will be released in the UK on January 24. The Chinese governments use of the social credit system, repression of Uighur Muslims and crackdown on Hong Kong protesters presents an existential threat to the world, the US-based Human Rights Watch organisation has warned, as it heaps pressure on the United Nations to publicly condemn Beijing. In a 652-page global report heavily focused on the Chinese government, the advocacy group said, if not challenged, Beijings actions portend a dystopian future in which no one is beyond the reach of Chinese censors and an international human rights system so weakened that it no longer serves as a check on government repression. The Chinese mission to the UN interrupted the press conference in New York on Wednesday morning to condemn the findings. The report is full of prejudices and fabrications and ignores the factual information provided by my government, spokesman Ji Shing told the media briefing. The Chinese flag flutters in the breeze outside China's liaison office building in Hong Kong. Credit:AP Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth had originally planned to present the report in Hong Kong but was barred from entering by authorities on Sunday. In a tense exchange, Mr Roth was told by Mr Ji, the report made it clear why he was denied entry. / -- Saankhya Labs today announced that it has appointed Prof. Abhay Karandikar to the Board of Advisors. Saankhya had earlier announced formation of new Board of Advisors with Kiran Deshpande and Amar Maletira. Saankhya Labs formed the board of advisors to provide insights, advice, and non-binding recommendations to its Board and Executive leadership team. Parag Naik, CEO of Saankhya Labs said, "I would like to welcome Prof. Karandikar to our Board of Advisors. As we continue to grow in the wireless solutions domain, our advisory board members bring an incredible variety of experience and insight to the table to help take the company to the next level of growth." Prof. Abhay Karandikar is currently the Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Prof. Karandikar is also a Member (Part-Time) of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Before joining IIT Kanpur as the Director in April 2018, he served as Institute Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. He also served as the Dean (Faculty Affairs) and Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at IIT Bombay. He spearheaded a national effort in setting up Telecom Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI), was the founding member and former Chairman of TSDSI. He was a member of High-Level Forum on 5G setup by the Government of India and Chaired the 5G Spectrum Policy Task Force. Prof. Karandikar has several patents issued and pending, contributions to IEEE, 3GPP standards, contributed chapters in books and large number of papers in international journals and conferences to his credit. Prof. Karandikar was awarded with IEEE SA's Standards Medallion in December 2016 in New Jersey. Prof. Abhay Karandikar said, "Saankhya Labs is working on some really innovative solutions in wireless communications area, and I am happy to be part of their advisory board to guide them in their endeavour to build path breaking products and solutions to solve some of the current problems in the communications industry." Saankhya Labs had formed a new Board of Advisors in December 2019 comprising of seasoned leaders from the industry, which included - Kiran Deshpande, who is an accomplished leader and Angel investor with 3 decades of industry experience which included roles as CEO of Mahindra British Telecom (MBT), Co-Founder and President of Mojo Networks. And, Amar Maletira, who is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of broad leadership experience in business, sales, finance and corporate development in the technology industry. Currently, he serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of VIAVI (formerly JDS Uniphase). With the addition of Prof. Karandikar, Saankhya has expanded the board of advisors to include accomplished thought leader with strong credentials in academia and research, to bring all round expertise which it can rely on for its continued growth. About Saankhya Labs Saankhya Labs is a wireless communication solutions company that provides products, based on its award winning, patented Software Defined Radio SoC platform. Saankhya offers a wide range of communication products for broadband, satellite and broadcast applications. With several International technology patents and unique 'chips-to-systems' expertise, Saankhya's solutions include systems for rural broadband connectivity, Satellite communications modems for IoT applications and multi-standard DTV modulators and demodulators. Saankhya is building transformative solutions for convergence of broadcast and broadband networks. It's Next-Gen product portfolio comprises of 5G Broadcast Radio Heads, Mobile DTV receiver chipsets, Video off-load solutions for telecom and an alternate delivery mechanism for OTT service providers. Saankhya Labs in is Headquartered in Bangalore, India. www.saankhyalabs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A director who was arrested in relation to the London Capital & Finance (LCF) scandal has been accused by a judge of manipulating his company's accounts. LCF, which offered so-called mini-bonds to investors, collapsed in 2019 amid a probe from the Financial Conduct Authority. It owes 237million to 11,500 bondholders. Elten Barker was a director of London Oil & Gas (LOG), which received 129million from LCF in loans which it was supposed to invest. London Capital & Finance, which offered so-called mini-bonds to investors, collapsed in 2019 amid a probe from the Financial Conduct Authority. It owes 237m to 11,500 bondholders LOG went bust in the wake of the LCF collapse, and administrators Smith & Williamson have tried to claw back the money it borrowed in order to return it to savers. But in a High Court judgment yesterday, in a case brought by Barker to have Smith & Williamson fired as administrators, Judge Jones said LOG's balance sheet could not be trusted. Barker, who was not charged following his arrest last year and denies any wrongdoing, had been seeking to claim that LOG was solvent and would have been able to repay its debt to LCF. But the judge added: 'The evidence leads to the conclusion that the balance sheet is unreliable because assets have been over-valued.' Photo taken on Jan. 14, 2020 shows the visiting vessel of China Coast Guard (CCG) 5204 at Pier 15 in Manila, the Philippines, Jan. 14, 2020. The vessel of the CCG is paying an official visit to the Philippines for the first time, aiming to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on maritime law enforcement of the two countries. Coded 5204, the visiting CCG ship arrived at the port in Manila on Tuesday morning to begin its four-day friendly visit. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) MANILA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A vessel of the China Coast Guard (CCG) is paying an official visit to the Philippines for the first time, aiming to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on maritime law enforcement of the two countries. Coded 5204, the visiting CCG ship arrived at the port in Manila on Tuesday morning to begin its four-day friendly visit. At the ceremony held at the port, the CCG vessel received warm welcome. The CCG delegation donated its on-board supplies such as rice, flour, oil and food packs at the ceremony to evacuees affected by recent Taal's volcanic eruption to help them cope with the disaster. The third meeting of the Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC) between the CCG and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) would be held here from Tuesday to Thursday, the CCG said, adding that at the meeting, the two sides will exchange views on issues of maritime law enforcement and other common concerns. During the visit, the coast guards from both sides will complete a series of scheduled tasks, including a joint patrol, maritime search and rescue exercise, the PCG added. Moreover, the two sides will also jointly organize a series of activities such as sport games and deck reception. The newly appointed lead recovery co-ordinator for the states devastating bushfires, Mick Willing, says the NSW government has put him in the job to "turbocharge" the response to what has been an "unprecedented" event. "This is totally out of the norm, what has happened", he told the Herald in his first interview in the role. "It was clear that the existing structures and committees that were in place for recovery were [fundamentally] the right structures, but they needed to be supercharged, they needed to be turbocharged in terms of timeliness." NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Willing has been appointed to be in charge of the bushfire recovery process. Credit:Wolter Peeters Mr Willings appointment came hard on the heels of Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing a compulsory call-out of 3000 army reservists to help with the bushfire response on January 4. "A few days ago I didnt dream of being where I am right now," Mr Willing said. "Its a bit daunting, to be honest. But being given this challenge and it really is a challenge to do what is assigned to me the government needed someone used to dealing with the Australian Defence Force and used to fast-tracking operations around recovery." Getting the Message to Oregon Coast Storm Watchers: Why It's Not Working Published 01/14/2020 at 5:45 AM PDT By Andre' Hagestedt, Editor (Portland, Oregon) This season's run of awful videos showing disregard for beach safety messages on the Oregon coast was gut wrenching and frustrating. Still, it started me thinking more about that behavior. While the most recent tragedy where two children were lost to waves was not a result of willful disregard (it was more likely a freak wave), there were an unbelievable array of storm vids showing a complete recklessness. Yet every year, the media stories, bulletins from authorities and social media posts are clear and abundant: stay away from this or that situation and heed the warnings issued. So why do people ignore the obvious? How and why do they put themselves (and others) in harm's way? This season's host of videos showing not just spectacular waves but people ignoring the clear dangers brings on these questions. The Internet's first reaction is to go caustic and crusty: insults hurled (like the word idiot) at the victim are numerous and spiteful. It's a reaction that's not helpful. With those viral near-misses it's understandable, although not completely constructive. Well, a little derision may not be a bad idea. As editor of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, you want to filter out the crummy and misleading info on your social media, but I admit I find it hard to delete even those harsher comments on this subject, including the ones that seem more at home on the Swearnet network. Perhaps they could help warn others in the future? Yet what can we do in the tourism biz and the media to truly drill this message of stay away from the dangerous into visitors' heads? After decades of deaths and injuries due to heavy logs rolling onto people, the state of Oregon seemed to have made an impact on that issue with its high-profile campaigns. What will work with this issue? All this is very complex, and no one-size-fits-all answer will be found. First, we need to get into that mindset of why they ignore warnings in the first place. We need to star there. One of the most enraging examples was the video taken by Rock Your World rock shop in Lincoln City, that showed a host of people beyond the barriers the city had put up closing off the area. One of my crazier memories as a news writer 20 years ago for a Portland radio station was the access at Garibaldi that was clearly closed off, but a lot of people wandered in and a few cars parked there anyway. All the cars were inundated and ruined by a massive surge that actually floated the vehicles for a time. Part of the issue is that some scoff at suggestions of beach safety, and they even argue back. The video above showing people walking in dangerous conditions at Oceanside has had some alarming responses. One person on Oregon Coast Beach Connection's Facebook page actually called it absurd. Another gentleman once argued with me over how that beach didn't look dangerous to him. I've had other similar reactions to other dangerous surf videos. We need to somehow find out why they do this. It's a recipe for future disaster. Then we can work on changing their minds. I did some asking around of Oregon coast residents to find out if others had similar experiences. Seaside Aquarium's Keith Chandler said when they hand out warning pamphlets about surf dangers people are thankful. That's not the norm, it seems. Asking around the town of Yachats, where Thor's Well and its hazards have become a hot button issue, residents there told me they get ignored and even flipped off when they try to tell a visitor to stay off a dangerous stretch. Some reported the warnings working about a quarter of the time; most reported little to no impact. Another reader of Oregon Coast Beach Connection admitted he didn't know about sneaker waves until he lived here for a few years. Originally from another country where the ocean is rather calm, these dangers hadn't crossed his mind. Chandler and others chimed in with one similar sentiment: it's human nature to be curious about these things and sometimes think you're invincible. Now we have a tiny sampliing of data, though admittedly largely anecdotal. Perhaps some coastal entity could conduct a survey about people's attitudes? Then we can talk about memorials, barriers and more education programs as solutions. We can look to what Rockaway Beach had done: they created committees and even a beach education program to help cut down on visitor tragedies. One thing is for sure: the messages are not sinking in, even with state residents. I watched our own articles get passed around on Facebook (which were essentially just warnings to stay off the beaches) and I could see people's sketchy reactions at times, with talk about going out there into dangerous places. I face-planted so many times my head hurt. I knew someone was getting hurt with this storm. I'm just surprised it's someone who was trying to obey the warnings. In the end, simply calling people idiots for being idiotic isn't going to help. More education, more warning signs, etc., can't hurt, but it will wind up more like throwing darts at the problem. Someone out there with decent resources needs to find out why the warnings are getting ignored. One thing that seemed to help with the information programs on rolling beach logs were testimonies from families this happened to. Perhaps some of the victims from recent years can come forward and tell their tales as well? Oregon Coast Hotels in this area - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted NEW HAVEN For half a century, marchers have spent the birthday of civil rights crusader Martin Luther King Jr. marching along the main roads of East Rock, gently but assertively singing We Shall Overcome. On Wednesday, for the 50th year, dozens of marchers joined Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church for its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Love March. Middle school students who dont remember a time before the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, Mo., walked alongside veterans who were at the very first march. Some marchers carried signs with slogans popularized during Kings lifetime, such as I Am A Man, and others wore shirts bearing the name of the Black Lives Matter movement, a response to police violence and the slaying of unarmed black people in the last decade. Although 50 years later the slogans and movements still assert the basic humanity of black people, some marchers said the sustained energy around remembering the history the Civil Rights movement is evidence of Kings influence. I believe Dr. Martin Luther King fought for equality for everybody. He fought so we could be where we are as far as African Americans are concerned, said Clifford Pettway, a Bridgeport native who has joined the march for nine years. He paid the ultimate price, Pettway said. We have freedom now that we didnt before, like the freedom to vote. George Hampton III, grandson of the late founder of the march, the Rev. George Hampton, has lived his entire life in Virginia where his father moved from New Haven. However, he attended Wednesdays march for the milestone and to be with family. Its a beautiful experience considering the history behind the march, Hampton said. Im proud to get together with family to celebrate such a monumental achievement that you cant describe in words. Nothing of the sort exists where he lives in Alexandria, Va., he said. At 50 years, the Love March predates the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1986. The senior George Hampton initially established the march in the name of love and unity, elements of Kings message he said were particularly resonant, his sons have said at recent marches. The march began when, in 1970, George Hampton Sr. said he felt moved by the Spirit of the Lord to have a love march in remembrance of King because all people loved him. In 1999, U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, inducted the Love March into the Library of Congress. Some of those present recall meeting King in person in New Haven. As a child, Probate Court Judge Clifton Graves said he shook hands with King after seeing him speak at Bethel AME Church. Strive to be the best at what you are, he told the children in the march, something he said he picked up from King. Lets continue to fight for social justice. Marcus Wearing, grandson of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church pastor the Rev. Kennedy Hampton, carried the marchs banner with congregant Wanda Faison. Its an inspiration to know people care about what Martin Luther King did for everyone, he said. Wearing, 10, has not missed a single march in his life. Saron Yassin, a Barnard School fifth-grader who sang with her schools choir at the service following the march, said she had never been part of a march before. Its nice and Id like to see it in my neighborhood, he said. Following the march, the church was filled with joyous singing, as per tradition. However, when the Rev. Kennedy Hampton introduced the events keynote speaker, he was clear in his critique of how far Kings dream of a racially and economically just society had come. Is the dream fulfilled? I think it has become a nightmare, he said. The reason, he said, could be elucidated by a 1967 King speech on the three evils of society, hence why he selected the audio of the 16-minute speech as the events keynote address. What good is he if we dont recognize him for the prophet he was? Kennedy said. In the speech, King decried the militarism and racism of capitalist society, with bipartisan support for the subjugation of the poor. Before the keynote, Mayor Justin Elicker delivered his first address to the congregation since being inaugurated on Jan. 1. We have, in our nation, a lot of hate right now, he said. Its days like today that remind us that we need to work together, and the thing that brings us together is love. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Sharjah on the sidelines of his working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Presidential Office told Armenpress. After a prayer the President laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial paying a tribute to the memory of innocent victims. Thereafter, President Sarkissian watched the performance of kids of Ohannessian Armenian college, and then met with the representatives of the Armenian community. I am one of you, and you all are part of Armenia. These are not just words of gratitude and appraisal. This is reality, he said. Armenia is not only about our buildings, history, lands, mountains and churches. Armenia are we all together. You are part of Armenia regardless of holding an Armenian passport or not. I am sure that every Armenian child, no matter where he is born, if he is born in an Armenian family, Armenia is born in him with his birthday. In other words, you dont need to be born in Armenia for having Armenia inside you. I dream that one day all Armenians will return to homeland, but want to believe that each of you today has already returned to homeland. He/she has returned because of having an Armenian passport, relatives in Armenia, loving Yerevan and being ready to serve for the homeland, he said, adding that only the strong and powerful homeland makes all Armenians together, firm and reliable. The President urged them to visit Armenia, Artsakh, to get acquainted with the homeland and introduced their homeland to their children because they are the future citizens of Armenia. Armenia is the country of all of us, is the homeland and home of all of us, he said. Armen Sarkissian in his remarks said the world is changing quite rapidly in the 21st century, adding that all those nations who have some qualities, have preserved their national culture, identity, church, religion, language, are connected with the homeland and can succeed. Today the power of Armenia are also you. You can connect Armenia with the world, the Armenian President said. All those nations who have an opportunity to develop new technologies and are stable, self-confident in this rapidly changing world, will be able to succeed. Talking about his visits to the UAE, the Armenian President said great success was registered in the relations of the two countries in this past one year in the form of intensification of ties and numerous programs. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan Brexit campaigners will today launch an appeal for 500,000 so Big Ben can 'bong' when Britain leaves the EU on January 31. The Bong For Brexit appeal is organised by Eurosceptic group StandUp4Brexit and is backed by Tory MPs including ex-minister Mark Francois. Yesterday he called for donations to cover the cost of making the bell chime at 11pm on January 31, saying it was 'inconceivable' that any other clock than 'the world's most iconic timepiece' would mark the UK leaving the EU. But last night there were growing doubts that the campaign would succeed even if the money is raised in time. The Bong For Brexit appeal hopes to raise 500,000 so that Big Ben can 'bong' at 11pm on January 31 when Britain leaves the EU. Ex-minister Mark Francois has called for donations to cover the cost of making the bell chime Campaigners have until Monday to raise the cash but even then it could be refused by Commons officials. As a back-up, plans are being drawn up by Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage who is hosting an event in Parliament Square that night to play a recording of bongs on loudspeaker. The House of Commons Commission, which is responsible for Big Ben, has indicated it might not be lawful or proper to accept the cash. A Downing Street source suggested the bongs were 'dead', adding: 'It's a huge amount of money for something I'm not sure that many people want.' Earlier this week, Boris Johnson said he was 'working up a plan' to allow Big Ben to chime as the UK leaves the EU, calling it 'Bung A Bob For A Big Ben bong'. It emerged the cost could be as high as 500,000 because of the ongoing refurbishment of the 315ft Elizabeth Tower which houses the Big Ben Great Bell. Mr Francois has personally pledged 1,000. He told Sky News: 'However you voted in the referendum, this is undeniably a historic moment. 'Those who wish to celebrate it because we leave at a specific time will need to look to a clock. It seems inconceivable...that it should be any other clock than the most iconic timepiece in the world, Big Ben. 'We will launch a national crowdfunding campaign...that Big Ben will bong for Brexit.' Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage, who is hosting an event in Parliament Square that night, will prepare a backup plan to play a recording of bongs if the campaign fails He claimed the cost estimate had been 'inflated' by people who 'didn't want to do it in the first place'. The price tag is more than four times the original estimate of 120,000. The tower and famous 14-ton bell, which dates from 1859, are undergoing long-term repairs. Big Ben has not chimed regularly since 2017. Commons officials said the 500,000 estimate reflected delays to repair work, the cost of installing the chiming mechanism and a temporary floor around the bell. The Bong For Brexit appeal is being hosted by GoFundMe. Rebecca Ryan, of StandUp4Brexit said: 'It's unthinkable that this moment won't be celebrated by the chimes of the most famous clock in the world.' MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), only 27% of retirees feel that they have done a good job of preparing for retirement. To help improve this statistic and educate Cleveland-area residents, Fidato Wealth, an independently owned and operated fiduciary financial advisory firm located in Middleburg Heights, announced a continuing education course, scheduled to begin later this month. The two-session course, titled Retirement Planning Today, will be held at Highland High School and offered through Highland Community Education in late January and early February. Fidato Wealth founder and CEO Tony D'Amico, CFP, will lead the course. "Retirement planning has taken on a much greater importance as life expectancies have increased, people are retiring earlier, and many view retirement as a new and fulfilling chapter to their life," D'Amico said. "During this two-session course, you will learn how to define retirement goals and return from the class with practical information you can apply immediately in your personal lives." The Retirement Planning Today sessions blend retirement education with life planning to help participants build wealth, align their money with their values and achieve their retirement lifestyle goals. This class has been designed for those ages 50 to 65 who wish to educate themselves about planning for a successful retirement. Each year, the course is updated with current information and best practices in retirement planning. This educational course covers the complete planning process, including: Tax planning strategies Strategies to manage investment risks Estate planning How to invest in and take money out of a company retirement plan Retirement lifestyle planning, including how to determine the savings needed to retire today or in the future The course will be held over two evenings, either Wednesday, Jan. 22, and Wednesday, Jan. 29, or Tuesday, Jan. 28, and Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. All sessions will start at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 9:30 p.m. View the Retirement Planning Today brochure here. "Education can help people make informed decisions about their finances and take proactive steps to promote their financial well-being and live the retirement they have envisioned," said D'Amico. "In straightforward language, I will explain time-tested retirement planning strategies. Whether their objective is to build a nest egg, protect their assets or preserve their lifestyle throughout retirement, this course will help them plan their future with confidence," added D'Amico. The mission of Highland Community Education is to provide lifelong learning opportunities and personal enrichment, addressing the unique interest of individuals and meeting community needs. "My wife, Amy, and I live in the Highland Local School District community. As residents, we appreciate the need for a continuing education program that addresses financial planning for individuals and families. We are happy to offer this course to serve the community in which we live," D'Amico concluded. Class sizes are limited. Registration is $49 and includes one 235-page workbook. Students may bring a spouse or a guest at no additional charge. To register for the course, call 330-232-9101 or register online at http://fidatowealth.com/upcoming-classes/. ABOUT FIDATO WEALTH Fidato Wealth is a financial advisory firm headquartered in Middleburg Heights, OH, that provides retirement planning, family wealth management, and business advisory services. As an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, the firm is legally bound to act as a fiduciary, which means that the clients' needs always come first. Tony D'Amico, CFP, CEO and Senior Wealth Advisor, has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Barron's and other national publications. Fidato Wealth was named to Financial Advisor magazine's Top RIA Ranking list in 2017, 2018 and 2019. For more information, visit www.fidatowealth.com. Fidato Wealth LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Fidato Wealth LLC and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Fidato Wealth LLC unless a client service agreement is in place. Contact: Leesy Palmer Impact Communications, Inc. 913-649-5009 [email protected] Related Images fidato-wealth-announces-two-night.png Fidato Wealth Announces Two-Night Retirement Planning Course CFP Tony D'Amico to Teach Proven Financial Planning Strategies Through Highland Community Education SOURCE Fidato Wealth Related Links http://www.fidatowealth.com Business chiefs headed Wednesday into their first global gathering of 2020 insisting they are not waiting on bickering governments to fight climate change, after Wall Street titan BlackRock joined a campaign pressuring companies to do more. Ahead of next week's annual conclave in Davos, the World Economic Forum released a survey that it portrayed as a call to arms after devastating wildfires in Australia and an inconclusive climate summit in Madrid last month. The window to agree on decisive cuts to carbon emissions risks closing over the new decade and if the world fails to act, "we will be faced with a situation where we are moving the deckchairs around on the Titanic", WEF president Borge Brende told a conference. In recent years, climate change and its likely consequences have emerged as top concerns shadowing the high-powered meeting of government and business leaders in the Swiss Alps, along with economic risks. This time, the WEF's "Global Risks Perception Survey" found the top five categories of concern for the next 10 years were all environmental -- topped by extreme weather events and failure of governments and businesses to forestall climate change. For 2020 alone, economic confrontations and domestic political polarization were among the shorter-term drivers of anxiety among the more than 750 executives and industry experts surveyed. US President Donald Trump will attend Davos, after agreeing a deal to defuse a trade war he started with China. Also returning to Davos will be 17-year-old Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, who called in British newspaper The Guardian for an end to the "madness" of investing in fossil fuels. BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager with nearly USD 7 trillion invested, said it was divesting holdings in companies that earn more than a quarter of their sales from production of electricity-generating coal. In his annual letter to US company leaders, BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink said markets had been slow to reflect the risk of climate change to business models. "But awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance," he wrote. John Drzik, chairman of the business consultancy Marsh and McLennan Insights, said as a result of BlackRock's action, money managers holding more than USD 40 trillion now back a corporate initiative called Climate Action 100+. While stressing the need for a unified political response by governments, the campaign says its member companies account for two-thirds of annual global industrial emissions. "Others will now have to respond to what BlackRock did," Drzik told AFP at the WEF report's launch. "USD 7 trillion alone is meaningful but I think the scale and visibility and reputation of BlackRock just adds to the money." German industrial group Siemens has bucked the corporate trend by pressing ahead with its involvement in a vast coal mine in Australia. And for Extinction Rebellion, BlackRock itself "remains waist-deep in fossil fuel investments". Nevertheless, the needle appears to be shifting in boardrooms as CEOs are forced to factor in the likely impact of climate change on their bottom lines. "You don't want to be stuck with technologies and industries that are obsolete. You want to find the winners of the new economy," Peter Giger, chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Group, said at the WEF event. "That's just good business practice if you run a sustainable business with a long-term perspective," he said. Despite the warm words on climate action, the WEF remains dogged by allegations of hypocrisy given that many of the Davos elite prefer to jet to Switzerland aboard private planes. The organisation said among measures it was taking were carbon offsets, encouraging the use of biofuels for planes, and offering discounted train tickets for those heading to Davos. "It is something we take really seriously. There's nothing worse than an organisation identifying a risk and failing to do anything about it," WEF managing director Adrian Monck said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Villages in the capital region wore a deserted look on Tuesday as the locals decided to distance themselves from Sankranti celebrations this year in protest against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys three-capital proposal. The protesters have been agitating for the last 28 days, demanding that the Chief Minister retain Amaravati as the State capital. They are also upset over the CMs silence on the issue despite protests from women and farmers in huge numbers. The future of thousands, who gave land for the cause of the capital, is uncertain. In times like these, how can we celebrate the festival? P Seshagiri Rao, a farmer from Mandadam, said. The same kind of situation prevailed in all the 29 villages of the capital region. Farmers have asked their relatives to avoid visiting them during Sankranti. We have asked our family members and relatives not to visit us for Sankranti this year as police have imposed prohibitory orders in the name of law and order, said Thullur ZPTC member Bezawada Narendra Babu. Meanwhile, locals in Mandadam, Velagapudi, Rayapudi, Uddandarayunipalem and Thullur staged sit-ins even on the first day of Sankranti. They said they would stage a hunger strike on Wednesday. Telugu Desam leader Vangaveeti Radha Krishna, who was visiting Mandadam, empathised with them and lambasted CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for deceiving farmers who donated their lands for capital construction. Accusing him of inciting violence, Vangaveeti asked, Is this called Rajanna Rajyam? TDP leader Nandamuri Suhasini came down heavily on the YSRC government and dared the CM to prove the allegations of insider trading in the capital region. If there is any irregularity in the capital, he must take action against the accused. He must answer for committing atrocities against farmers and women, she demanded. Farmers meet DGP Farmers from the capital villages met DGP D Gautam Sawang and took the prevailing conditions in the villages to his notice. They complained that the police attacked the farmers who were staging peaceful protests BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: Identities of 123 people that were killed in the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crash near Parand city in Irans Tehran province Jan. 8 have been established, Trend reports referring to Iranian Medical Examination Organization. Work on identification by analyzing DNA samples of the victims is underway in the medical examination laboratories in Tehran, according to the report. Out of 176 people killed in the plane crash, 147 were Iranian citizens and the rest were foreign nationals, the report said. On Jan. 14, 30 bodies were handed over to their families. The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed in Tehran province on Jan. 8, killing all 176 people on board. Iran's Armed Forces General Staff issued a statement on Jan. 11 saying that the aircraft was shot down by the Iranian Air Defense System. ANN ARBOR, MI Regulating just seven types of PFAS wont be enough. That was the message residents and environmental leaders shared with Michigan officials Tuesday night, Jan. 14, calling for broader state regulations for harmful fluorochemicals in drinking water supplies. More than 150 people attended a public hearing on the states draft PFAS rules at Washtenaw Community College, a stones throw from the PFAS-polluted Huron River, from which Ann Arbor draws most of its drinking water. Over the course of two hours, state officials heard from nearly 40 different speakers, some sharing personal stories of PFAS exposure or fear of being exposed. Rebecca Meuninck, deputy director of the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, said shes worked nearly 20 years to protect Michigan residents from toxic chemicals. Despite all of my efforts and all of my knowledge my family and I have been drinking PFAS-contaminated water here in Ann Arbor for several years at least, she said, arguing the proposed standards are not strong enough. Anthony Spaniola, a southeast Michigan resident, said his second home in Oscoda is at ground zero, near where PFAS was discovered at an old Air Force base in 2010. Weve been advised that we cant drink our water, he said, calling the state regulations a long time coming. The proposed rules are an important first step, many speakers said, thanking state officials for their work. But considering there are several thousand PFAS types still unregulated, setting individual limits for seven wont be fully protective of public health and the environment, they argued, encouraging the state to take a class-based approach and consider the cumulative effects of PFAS exposure. My concern is 10 years from now, or 15 years down the road, were going to be playing whack-a-mole and were going to be back here talking about more types of PFAS that we didnt regulate the first time around, said Nathan Murphy, state director for grassroots group Environment Michigan. Its like building a roof over a house and leaving a large section of it unroofed, he said. Christy McGillivray, the Michigan Sierra Clubs political and legislative director, encouraged state officials to look to other states like Vermont and Massachusetts that are considering additive exposure for multiple types of PFAS. Vermont, for example, has a combined 20-ppt health advisory level for five types. Michigans proposed limits for seven types of PFAS in drinking water are: PFNA 6 ppt PFOA 8 ppt PFOS 16 ppt PFHxS 51 ppt GenX 370 ppt PFBS 420 ppt PFHxA 400,000 ppt Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy officials facilitated Tuesdays hearing. Eric Oswald, director of EGLEs drinking water and environmental health division, said PFAS chemicals have been used everywhere, including in the aerospace and oil/gas industries, pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, construction, hospitals, car washes and firefighting foam. Theyve been in use for over 70 years, including in consumer products such as cookware, clothing, shoes, carpeting, dental floss, food packaging and herbicides/pesticides, Oswald said, mentioning their water-resistant properties. They have these strong carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest bonds known in chemistry. These things dont break down over time, he said. And this is a situation where exposure at the parts-per-trillion level can lead to blood levels at parts per billion, where we know they can have adverse health effects. The so-called forever chemicals have been found in about 10% of the public drinking water supplies the state has tested, affecting at least 1.9 million Michigan residents. According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS may: affect growth, learning and behavior of infants and older children lower a womans chance of getting pregnant interfere with the bodys natural hormones increase cholesterol levels affect the immune system increase the risk of cancer Laboratory animals exposed to high doses have shown changes in liver, thyroid and pancreatic function. EGLE officials joined public speakers in saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hasnt done enough to address the threats. One of the reasons that were establishing these maximum contaminant levels in Michigan is because the EPA hasnt acted fast enough to protect public health, Oswald said. Compliance with the states rules would be based on annual averages, so one test result that exceeds a limit wouldnt necessarily put a system out of compliance, Oswald said. The rules also wont apply to all 10,700 public water systems in the state, Oswald said. They would apply to 2,700, including municipal water systems and those serving schools and other places where people are regularly drinking the water, but not individual private drinking water wells. There may be, for example, a gas station that serves water to the public thats not regulated, Oswald said. But we may require them to test for PFAS if we have a concern, he said. The Michigan Environmental Council urged state officials to stay abreast of evolving science on the risk and toxicity of PFAS and require a health review in two years. And instead of letting some water systems shift to testing for PFAS only once a year, the council wants the state to require at least three years of quarterly testing. The state has considered the financial costs of the regulations, estimating it could require $6.4 million for water testing, $11 million for treatment system upgrades and $326,000 annually for treatment operations and maintenance. Some speakers said they hope the state will do more to get polluters to pay, instead of taxpayers and water customers, and stop PFAS from getting into the environment. I actually think its time in this country, and frankly in the world, that we have a zero-tolerance policy for contaminants in our most vital resources like water, said Andrea Wotan, a resident who said she can live without PFAS-laden products, but not without clean water. The state sued 17 chemical companies Tuesday, alleging they deliberately concealed the dangers of PFAS. Ann Arbor released its latest PFAS test results Tuesday, showing 19.6 ppt in the citys drinking water in December: PFBA 4.7 ppt (no regulations proposed) PFPeA 5.6 ppt (no regulations proposed) PFBS 1.2 ppt (compared to 420-ppt proposed limit) PFHxA 2.9 ppt (compared to 400,000-ppt proposed limit) PFHpA 2.7 ppt (no regulations proposed) 6:2 FTS 2.5 ppt (no regulations proposed) The city has been testing monthly for a couple dozen types of PFAS and using carbon filters to reduce levels. Some speakers raised concerns Tuesday the states proposed rules may not adequately protect vulnerable populations. The Sierra Club supports the use of models that take into account exposure for fetuses, infants and children, McGillivray said, but the modeling used for GenX deviated from exposure models used for the other six types and used adult assumptions regarding liver toxicity. There should be a significantly more protective standard for GenX until enough information becomes available to assess the threat, McGillivray said. Chemicals like GenX should not be treated as innocent until proven guilty and we must put the burden of proof on the manufacturers that profit from the sale of these chemicals, instead of waiting for Michigan citizens to get sick, she said. McGillivray and others also urged the state to do more to account for mammary gland development impacts. The state is accepting written comments on the rules through Jan. 31 at EGLE-PFAS-RuleMaking@Michigan.gov. EGLE will then potentially revise and submit the latest draft to the Environmental Rules Review Committee for a vote, which could happen either Feb. 27 or March 26. If allowed to proceed, the rules head next to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for approval. JCAR is given 15 legislative session days to act and EGLE is hoping the rules take effect by April or May. American soldiers say luck and preparedness helped to avoid casualties when Irans IRGC launched the missiles. Iraqi and US-led coalition troops have been attacked by rockets and missiles in at least six attacks since the assassination of Qassem Soleimani. The biggest attack came from Iran when ballistic missiles hit bases being used by the coalition forces. Al Jazeera was given rare access to the strategically important Ain al-Assad base. Osama Bin Javaid reports from Anbar province. The first charitable event PLM has planned for the year is a giveaway the company is providing its employees with $125 each for them to donate to the charity of their choosing. PLM said in a release that more details on this event and other donation efforts will be made available throughout the year. We are grateful to be a part of the rich history of the wood industry serving our customers, producers, and industry partners continuously for 125 years, said PLM president John Smith. As a mutual insurance company, we wake up every day with only one objective, and that is to serve our policyholders. On behalf of those who came before us, our employees, and myself, we thank our customers and producers for placing their trust in us. Smith also noted that while PLM will be celebrating its anniversary through a year of volunteering and charity work, he is inviting fellow industry members to also join in helping the community. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, January 15. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to Bank of America's Q4 earnings report. Earnings and Revenue Analysts covering Bank of America modeled for quarterly EPS of 68 cents on revenue of $22.35 billion. Bank of America reported a profit of 70 cents when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $22.89 billion. The Wall Street estimate would represent a 2.86% decline in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 2.36% from the year-ago period. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this: View more earnings on BAC Quarter Q3 2019 Q2 2019 Q1 2019 Q4 2018 EPS Estimate 0.510 0.710 0.68 0.63 EPS Actual 0.750 0.740 0.700 0.7 Stock Performance Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 34.69%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement. Analyst estimates are adjusted lower for EPS and revenues over the past 90 days. The popular rating by analysts on Bank of America stock is a Neutral. The strength of this rating has maintained conviction over the past 90 days. Conference Call Bank of America is scheduled to hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET and can be accessed here: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/t6k38kns 0 See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Two Iranian missiles struck down a Ukrainian passenger jet, the New York Times reported Tuesday, posting verified security camera footage showing double projectiles gliding through the sky before hitting their target. The missiles were fired 30 seconds apart and help explain a mystery as to why the plane's transponder was not working -- it was disabled by the first strike, before being hit by a second, the Times said. The Ukraine International Airlines plane was brought down shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. Tehran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence that the Boeing 737 had been downed by a missile. It came clean on Saturday when Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire independently. The blurry footage shows the plane on fire and circling back to Tehran's airport, the Times said. Minutes later, it exploded and crashed. The footage was shot from a rooftop in Bidkaneh, a village four miles from an Iranian military site, the Times said. Hundreds of angry protesters, most of them student, have taken to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, chanting slogans against the Islamic republic. Iran announced its first arrests over the accidental shooting on Tuesday, without naming who or how many people had been detained. People analyze the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines plane that crashed outside Tehran More than two years ago, Hurricane Maria revealed that Puerto Rico was utterly unprepared for a powerful hurricane despite its location in one of the worlds most storm-vulnerable regions. Now, a flurry of earthquakes topped by a magnitude 6.4 temblor that killed one person and damaged hundreds of buildings has many accusing the government of being caught unready again. It proved that Puerto Rico is not prepared for a seismic movement, said Nazario Lugo, president of the islands Association of Emergency Managers. The government has to be proactive, and we saw that was not the case until they were up to their neck in water. Lugo, a former emergency management director for Puerto Rico, told The Associated Press that the government didnt activate its emergency command center until the day after the largest quake hit, breaking with protocol. This drew comparisons to Hurricane Maria of 2017, which devastated the island and caused thousands of deaths. Critics said it caught the local and federal governments with limited supplies on an island with poorly maintained infrastructure and led to a delayed response stemming from a lack of communication and organization. Three Kings Day A flurry of hundreds of small quakes began hitting Puerto Rico on Dec. 28, and a magnitude 5.8 jolt that toppled a famed rock formation landmark struck on Jan. 6, Three Kings Day, a major holiday on the island. The first day, when toys were being handed out, they should have started a process to activate the emergency plan, he said. That didnt happen until Tuesdays 6.4 earthquake hit before dawn. It knocked out power to the entire island, collapsed several homes and schools and cracked bridges. Many living along the southern coastline were left without water service and more than 4,900 people sought refuge in government shelters. While many Puerto Ricans were surprised, scientists were not, including Christa von Hillebrandt, former director of the islands Seismic Network and manager of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Caribbean tsunami warning program. For decades, scientists and people like me have been informing and alerting communities and the government of Puerto Rico of the physical threat, she said. In the past 30 years, seismic conscience definitely improved in Puerto Rico, but not much action was taken. You would see some improvements, but some critical areas did not receive sufficient attention. Unfinished Protocol Just days after the natural disaster, emergency management Director Carlos Acevedo acknowledged to reporters that the government had yet to complete a plan that dictates protocol for when an earthquake hits the island. Juan Alicea, president of Puerto Ricos Society of Professional Engineers, told the AP that he received a draft of the plan only on Jan. 5. I see that as a failure, he said. We all have to assume our responsibilities. Acevedo did not return messages for comment and has insisted that Puerto Rico is prepared in case another big quake strikes. Von Hillebrandt partially agreed with that assessment, noting that local officials had identified all tsunami risk zones by 2003 and completed evacuation maps in 2015. By 2016, all coastal communities in Puerto Rico were certified as being ready for a tsunami. In October 1918, a magnitude 7.3 quake struck near Puerto Ricos northwest coast, unleashing a tsunami and killing 116 people. Post-Quake Response While concerns remain about Puerto Ricos preparedness, federal authorities have praised the local governments response. Jeff Byard, with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he is extremely pleased with the post-quake operation. I cannot commend the commonwealth enough for the proactive nature that theyve taken providing the initial resources, the initial support, he said. More than 1,280 earthquakes have hit Puerto Ricos southern region since Dec. 28, more than two dozen of them magnitude 4.5 or greater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Given that activity, Alicea said its extremely worrisome that some 200,000 homes across Puerto Rico are not built to code, as evidenced by the damage caused in recent days. If we dont take action, this is going to cost us a lot of money and a lot of lives, he said. Also of concern is that some 500 public schools across Puerto Rico were built before 1987 and dont adhere to new construction codes, placing students at risk, according to Alicea. He said the government has invested money to bring many other schools up to date, but the remaining ones are not built to withstand earthquakes. Tuesdays quake flattened several schools and damaged an estimated two dozen overall, forcing education officials to postpone the start of classes by two weeks and only open schools that have passed inspection. Government officials have said they are identifying the most vulnerable schools and creating a plan to strengthen them, a process that could take months and cost between $1 million and $5 million per school. By early Monday afternoon, 45% of schools had been inspected. Meanwhile, people like Nancy Torres, 58, vow they will not return home until the shaking stops. She was sleeping in a small, four-door compact car with her husband in the front and their 21-year-old son crammed in the back. Her father-in-law had built the house where they were sleeping when the earthquake hit, and she doesnt trust it. I couldnt even get up from my bed, she said of the day the big quake struck, adding that if she goes into the home, its for very brief periods. I cant even take a proper shower. Photo: Homes are damaged after an earthquake struck Guanica, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, killing one man, injuring others and collapsing buildings in the southern part of the island. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Earthquake 2019 Impact Awards Engaging Students with Streamlined Support Australia's University of Canberra is simplifying students' higher education journeys with a holistic approach to constituent relationship management. Category: Administration Institution: University of Canberra Project: UC Student 360 Project lead: Rebecca Armstrong, deputy director, AI, projects and innovation Tech lineup: Click Dimensions, Comm100, KingswaySoft, Microsoft, Twilio If students truly can be considered the customers in the higher education equation, then it makes sense for colleges and universities to adopt the same software being used by corporations to manage their clientele. And yet academics typically insist on referring to CRMs as "constituent relationship management" applications, which can when you think about it mean anybody from a member of the public who has attended a campus event to a trustee helping set institutional policy. Too often, these programs are used by only a handful of people who understand their inner workings, particularly for use in student recruitment and outreach. But what if the CRM were to be picked up by numerous departments on campus and applied (as they are in a multitude of industries) to delivering a better overall experience for the student? That's the idea behind UC Student 360 and AskUC, an initiative at the University of Canberra in Australia. The basic goal is to simplify the higher ed journey for students by taking a holistic view of them as individuals and providing a single source of student information through a central online hub. AskUC Take one example offered by Rebecca Armstrong, deputy director for AI, projects and innovation. The Student Center staff, populated by students themselves, includes one woman who wanted to get credit for previous study. To achieve that, she had to print out a particular form and get some help filling it out by somebody in the Student Center, where she happened to work. From there, she had to take it to a whole bunch of faculty members the "unit conveners" to have that form approved. Next, she had to bring the "fairly dog-eared form" back to the Student Center, which took responsibility for sending it to another department with other such forms for final processing. The total effect: a huge hassle, involving "lots of walking around." "It can take about two weeks for students to find all the unit conveners and have those forms signed off," explained Armstrong. After all, she noted, the conveners "could be teaching, doing research, off campus in engagement activities, or traveling on overseas work." With UC Student 360 and AskUC, it's a 15-minute process. The student goes to a form online and fills it out. Then behind the scenes, the CRM "workflows it to all the academic staff members," Armstrong explained. "If they're not entirely sure if a unit qualifies for another unit or they'd like a credit applied to an unspecified credit, they can add notes about that." From there the work flows into a "processing pane," so anybody dealing with that specific event can review the notes and form and make the required changes to the student's record. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Sultan of Oman His Majesty Haitham bin Tariq Al Said. I wish to cordially congratulate you on the occasion of your proclamation as the new Sultan of Oman, the president said. The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Sultanate of Oman are bound with traditional ties of friendship, President Aliyev added. I believe that our relations, based on a solid foundation, will continue to successfully develop further. I wish you strong health and happiness, and success in your supreme state activity for the sake of prosperity of the friendly people of Oman, the president said. This is the Impeachment Briefing, The Timess newsletter about the impeachment investigation. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every weeknight. What happened today The House will vote Wednesday to send the two impeachment articles to the Senate, allowing a trial of President Trump to start in the coming days. Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with House Democrats privately Tuesday to outline plans. Ms. Pelosi said that before the House votes, she would appoint a team of impeachment managers at 10 a.m. House Democratic leaders have also been working behind the scenes with Republicans in the Senate and Chief Justice John Roberts, who will preside over the trial, to determine the timing. Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said that he would put off considering the terms of the trial until early next week, when the Senate will vote on an organizing resolution setting up the procedures. He said the Senate would complete impeachment housekeeping this week ahead of the formal start of the trial. What to expect from a highly ritualized trial Wednesday begins a fast-moving series of customs that formally initiate an impeachment trial. My colleague Nick Fandos wrote a helpful preview of those procedures. Heres a look at some of whats to come in the next week. THE CHARACTERS House managers: As we wrote Monday, the managers will function as prosecutors would in a normal trial, arguing for why Mr. Trump should be removed from office for high crimes and misdemeanors. Trump lawyers: Mr. Trumps defense team will most likely be led by Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Jay Sekulow, one of the presidents personal lawyers. Two of Mr. Cipollones deputies will assist them. The justice: Chief Justice Roberts will preside over the trial in a largely ceremonial role. (Read more about that here.) No State capital will be provided for the construction of the Tan Son Nhat Airports T3 Terminal, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has announced. Tan Son Nhat International Airport would be expanded to be able to receive 50 million passengers per year. (Photo: vietnambiz.vn) In a document recently sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Dung asked the ministry to clarify capital sources for the construction of the Tan Son Nhat Airports T3 terminal. He stressed that the government would not provide capital for the terminals construction. In addition, Dung urged the ministry to verify the legality of the project to submit it to the Prime Minister for approval. Previously, the Ministry of Planning and Investment asked Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) be the projects investor. Under the ministrys initial proposal, the T3 Terminal would be designed with a capacity of receiving 20 million passengers per year, would cover 16.05 hectares and have estimated total capital of 10.99 trillion VND (474 million USD), 440 billion VND lower than the ACVs proposal. The ACV would still need to calculate the capital sum for the project carefully to ensure investment efficiency, the ministry said. The ministry also said the goal of completing the project within 37 months was not feasible. The ministry said that as the Tan Son Nhat International Airport was severely overloaded, it was necessary to build the T3 Terminal to bring the total capacity of the airport to 50 million passengers per year. VNA HCMC to kick off projects to ease traffic congestion around airport Work on five projects to reduce traffic congestion in the Tan Son Nhat International Airport area in HCMC will begin soon. Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images On Tuesday night, the newly thinned Democratic primary field took the stage for their final debate before the Iowa Caucuses. Here are five takeaways from the Rumble in Des Moines: 1) Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrens friendship has seen better days. The collapse of the nonaggression pact between the races two progressive candidates provided the bulk of the dramatic tension in CNNs broadcast Tuesday night. Over the weekend, Politico reported on a Sanders campaign call script, which instructed phone-bankers to suggest that Warren had a relatively limited demographic appeal. Warren responded to this revelation by expressing her dismay that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me, a characterization that many in the Sanders camp found hyperbolic. Then, on Monday, CNN reported that, in 2018, Sanders had told Warren that he did not think a woman could beat Donald Trump in 2020. Sanders derided that story as absurd, and insisted that he had merely observed that Trump would be likely to weaponize sexism in the 2020 race. But Warren released a statement asserting that Sanders had, in fact, told her that he did not believe a woman could win the 2020 election. All this took a toll on activist morale in both camps. And it was difficult to discern how either candidate stood to benefit from the fracas. Sure, painting Bernie as a dispenser of arguably sexist private punditry might move a few voters out of his corner and into Warrens. But then, increasing the salience of can a woman beat Trump? concerns in a manner that simultaneously invites the enmity of Sanderss most engaged supporters would still seem wildly counterproductive from Warrens point-of-view. And, by Mondays end, it ostensibly did seem that way to Warrens campaign, which informed its supporters in a group chat that its aim was to deescalate its conflict with the Vermont senator, and shift focus to the two campaigns shared goals. But CNNs debate moderators had other aims. At first, Sanders and Warrens exchange on the inevitable he-said, she-said question appeared to go about as well as anyone could have hoped. The Vermont senator delivered a thorough case for why he could not possibly have said what Warren had alleged noting that, in 2015, he had deferred to Warren, declining to launch his own progressive challenge to Clinton until the Massachusetts senator turned down that opportunity. WATCH: Bernie Sanders responds to reports that he told Elizabeth Warren that a woman couldn't win the election: "Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't say it." pic.twitter.com/ZxwDqiQhfC Axios (@axios) January 15, 2020 Warren did not need to contradict Sanders because CNNs Abby Phillip did so for her, asking, What did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? Warren then simply said that she disagreed, before describing Sanders as her friend and pivoting to a broader, affirmative argument for why women are every bit as electable as men. Given the circumstances, the awkward back-and-forth was mercifully brief and benign. CNN: "Sen. Sanders, you're saying that you never told Sen. Warren that a woman could not win the election?" SANDERS: "That is correct." CNN: "Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election." pic.twitter.com/zdXOfIpdOY Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) January 15, 2020 But then things re-escalated quickly. As part of her own electability spiel, Warren had claimed that the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me, referring to her 2012 victory over (first-term) Republican Senator Scott Brown in (deep blue) Massachusetts. Alas, Sanders had defeated a Republican incumbent to win election to the House in November 1990 which was, technically, within the past 30 years. And Sanders felt compelled to register this somewhat pedantic objection, leading to several painfully awkward moments of the Vermont senator and Warren sparring over the precise meaning of the phrase in the past 30 years. Watch the moment Sanders defended himself after Warren said she was the only person on this stage who's beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years. Not sure squabbling over the details accomplishes what he's hoping, says @davidsiders https://t.co/NXzYles8FG pic.twitter.com/QoeXBT1s9x POLITICO (@politico) January 15, 2020 By all appearances, this exchange did not sit well with either candidate both of whom failed to keep up appearances long enough after the debates conclusion to execute a performative handshake and avoid providing every news outlet with new fodder for coverage of the BernieWarren feud (or Tom Steyer, with a few cringe-inducing seconds of social awkwardness). 2) In hindsight, Joe Biden probably shouldnt have voted for the Iraq War. There are many reasons why it was probably a bad idea for Joe Biden to support the Iraq War. For example, the conflict got hundreds of thousands of people killed, was launched on the basis of phony intelligence, birthed ISIS, and last but also definitely least made it very difficult for Joe Biden to explain why his experience on foreign policy is a feature, not a bug. Asked to defend his judgement as commander-in-chief, in light of his position on Iraq, Biden argued that while he had been wrong to support the war at the time the man who also argued against that war, Barack Obama, picked me to be his vice-president. And once we were elected president and vice-president, he turned to me and asked me to end that war. To the extent that this answer has a discernible logic, it is that, if someone wise enough to oppose the Iraq War felt Biden had good judgement, then surely that must be the case. Which is not a very convincing argument for why Biden has better foreign-policy judgement than Bernie Sanders. Whoa@BernieSanders just went off on Biden for his support of the Iraq War pic.twitter.com/DZhzJbJ1hS jordan (@JordanUhl) January 15, 2020 3) Tom Steyer wants you to know that he will put his childrens future above marginal improvements for working people. In explaining why he opposes the United StatesMexico-Canada trade agreement, Steyer argued that the deals improvements to labor conditions did not compensate for its failure to address the climate crisis. But the specific way he chose to phrase this point was less than politically optimal. The hedge-fund billionaire explained that he had a moral duty to oppose the agreement even if its marginally better for working people, because Ive got four kids between the ages of 26 and 31. I cannot allow this country to go down the path of climate destruction. Arguing that climate must take precedence over improving working peoples lives is inadvisable for any environmentalist. But it seems especially impolitic when the environmentalist in question is a plutocrat whose great fortune was built, in part, on investments in fossil fuels. 4) Amy Klobuchar made one-half of a very good point. For most of the past three decades, centrist Democrats have posited higher education as a panacea for middle-class decline. In their account, inequality was not driven by policy decisions that weakened workers bargaining power, but rather, by the growing productivity gap between high and low skill workers in our modern knowledge economy. Thus, the key to achieving a more equitable distribution of income was to foster a more equitable distribution of college diplomas. This was wrong for a wide variety of reasons. But one of the most fundamental was that it was premised on the notion that the U.S. economy had an inexhaustible demand for college-educated workers, and ever-shrinking use for non-college-educated ones. As Amy Klobuchar noted Tuesday night, this is quite far from the truth. We are going to have over a million openings for home health-care workers that we dont know how to fill in the next ten years, Klobuchar said. We are going to have open 100,000 jobs for nursing assistants. We as my union friends know were going to have over 70,000 openings for electricians. Were not going to have a shortage of MBAs. This is dead on, and refreshing to hear from one of the races consummate centrists. Unfortunately, Klobuchar did not make this observation as part of an argument for the urgent necessity of increasing workers bargaining power since nothing else can plausibly deliver middle-class wages to our nations growing legions of home health-care aides but rather, as part of an argument against tuition-free public college. 5) Iowans fetishization of politeness (and/or, the Democratic fields political cowardice) is a huge gift to Biden. Over the past week, Joe Biden pulled into first place in Iowa, according to RealClearPolitics polling average. He boasts a nearly double-digit lead in national surveys. Historically, the winner of the Iowa Caucuses tends to see an approximately seven-point polling bounce. Which is to say: If Biden wins Iowa (and history is any guide), this race could be more or less over by February 4. For Uncle Joes rivals, tonight was the last opportunity to hit the Democratic front-runner with their best punch before Iowans get caucusing. And they barely laid a finger on him. Sure, Bernie got in a couple jabs on Iraq and trade. But these were mere reruns of past attacks, not anything resembling a major escalation. Meanwhile, Warren declined to bring up Bidens support for bankruptcy reforms that put the interests of credit-card companies and other lenders above those of cash-strapped working people and student debtors. Buttigieg neglected to distinguish himself from Biden by haranguing the old man about his past support for Social Security cuts. Anita Hills name went unmentioned. After the debate, Klobuchar attributed the relatively polite tone of the discussion to the Iowa setting, where voters appreciate civility. An alternative possibility is that most of the candidates feel that Biden is too popular with Democratic voters to be profitably attacked. But at a certain point, that strategy becomes self-fulfilling. The longer Biden maintains his lead, the more probable his nomination becomes and thus, the more hostile Democratic voters may be to attacks that risk compromising their partys likely standard-bearer. The longer Bidens rivals bide their time, the more unrivaled his candidacy is likely to be. Finance Minister Conor Murphy has raised doubts over whether money secured in the DUP confidence and supply deal with the Conservative party will be fully paid out. The DUP secured a 1billion funding package for Northern Ireland for areas such as health, infrastructure and education from the then Prime Minister Theresa May in order to support her minority government. Mr Murphy said he was attempting to "rescue" the promised money. "That arrangement between the DUP and the Conservative party collapsed before the money was spent and the British Government is now refusing to guarantee the outstanding sums, including the money for broadband," he said. Around 150million was secured from the deal for ultra-fast broadband to be rolled out in rural areas. The DUP, however said the money had been delivered. The party said the money for broadband was held back at the request of local civil servants and another 150m for deprivation measures and mental health programmes was to be spread over five years. A spokesman added: "The 1bn for Northern Ireland from Confidence and Supply Agreement was delivered by the last government. "We are not precious about how the money is badged, the important matter is that it is delivered and utilised. Already the new Stormont administration is locked in negotiations to secure funding for commitments made in the New Decade, New Approach deal. Officials are compiling a costing of the pledges made by the British and Irish Governments. There has been speculation the government has offered 2billion but with half of that coming from money that should make its way to Northern Ireland under financial rules. The influential economist Esmond Birnie has estimated the cost of getting Northern Ireland back on its feet with enough resources to tackle the mountain of issues facing the public sector at around 5bn. Sammy Wilson, speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, said there was no point in "moaning" about the money offered as the parties held no leverage with London with Stormont back up and running. Finance Minister Murphy said the offer from London fell "way short" of what was needed. The New Decade, New Approach document was drawn up by the two governments and presented on a take-it-or-leave it basis," he added. "Rather than prolonging the three-year collapse of the institutions the parties rightly restored the power-sharing Executive and begun negotiations on additional funding." In parliament the DUP MP Gregory Campbell has asked for the government to provide a statement on the financial settlement to the Commons. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was surprised there had not been a statement of any kind on "something as important" as the restoration of Stormont. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the week to mark the restoration of devolution. Mr Johnson said it was an "historic occasion". First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill have written to the Prime Minister. Conor Murphy said they had told Mr Johnson work was ongoing over the cost of the new deal pledges. "We want to provide accurate costs for that," he said. "We intend on the back of that work to engage with Treasury, to engage with the Prime Minister's office and to engage with the Northern Ireland Office because that is where the blockage is in terms of that commitment. "The Executive is united in terms of its approach to this. "Once that work is complete, we will pick that up next week and we may well be over in London talking to people in the Treasury and in Downing Street." The Prime Minister's office was approached for comment. GPs are in revolt over targets that require them to visit care homes once a fortnight and spot cancer much earlier. The measures are part of a five-year contract agreed with NHS officials to encourage surgeries to work together to improve care. But family doctors say the terms are excessive given intense staffing pressures and the demands of a growing and ageing population. GPs are in revolt over targets that require them to visit care homes once a fortnight and spot cancer much earlier (file photo) They are particularly worried about a requirement to carry out 'home rounds' of the care homes in their catchment area at least once a fortnight, from September. Doctors say this would be far too time consuming because detailed checks on just one home of 30 residents would take one GP a whole day. They are also worried about more form-filling, with surgeries asked to record 50 new 'metrics', including the number of patients on low-carbon asthma inhalers and the percentage of care home residents who have had a 'delirium' review. Another target requires them to ensure three quarters of cancer patients are diagnosed early by 2028. GPs are being asked to increase the numbers of patients undergoing screening for lung, cervical, breast and bowel cancer. The targets also instruct them to carry out regular medication reviews on patients with long-term conditions to check they are not taking too many drugs. Professor Martin Marshall, who is chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'We are very concerned that the amount of extra work required to meet these specifications, combined with the short timescales, makes delivery almost impossible.' Dr Nicholas Grundy, who practises in central London, said: 'This level of work is not something which can be taken on by primary care GPs. 'This is a full-time role for thousands of doctors nationally, delivering an entirely new service on a trial basis to see if it works and being paid to do so. The measures are part of a five-year contract agreed with NHS officials to encourage surgeries to work together to improve care (file photo) 'As it stands, it would be disastrous for patient care, workforce retention and recruitment, and for the day-to-day operation of primary care.' But Caroline Abrahams of the charity Age UK said: 'We are hugely supportive of the NHS's drive to improve healthcare available for care home residents because at the moment they often get a worse service than if they lived in their own homes.' By yesterday afternoon, 1,355 people mostly GPs had signed a petition by the campaign group GP Survival calling for the measures to be redrawn. A survey by Pulse magazine of 477 senior doctors who run surgeries found that 82 per cent would refuse to sign the voluntary contract. The five-year deal was agreed by NHS England and the British Medical Association last January but the full details of the new targets were unveiled only last month. The consultation on the measures closes today and a spokesman from NHS England insisted it was listening to GPs' concerns. Another spokesman said: 'Patients are keen to see further improvements in their highly valued local GP services, and taxpayers are backing these with extra funding in line with the contract GPs agreed in January 2019.' n A major teaching hospital is considering sending patients home early despite admitting that they might 'come to harm'. Managers at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have drawn up the proposal to ease the pressures in A&E and because there is very little bed space for incoming patients. Doctors' leaders said the idea was 'morally repugnant' and 'short-sighted'. They said patients who are sent home too soon are at risk of developing infections, malnutrition or suffering a serious fall, especially if they are elderly. An internal memo sent last week explained that managers were considering 'a number of possible mitigations' to ease pressure, including looking 'at the level of risk that clinicians are taking when discharging patients'. Labour Leader Brendan Howlin said Fine Gael's promise to spend an extra 11bn out to 2025 lacks ambition, saying the country can afford to spend an extra 17.5bn. Speaking at the defunct Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend in Dublin alongside candidate Kevin Humphries, Mr Howlin said tax cuts should be set aside in order to deliver quality public services. Responding to questions from the Irish Examiner, Mr Howlin said: Fine Gael are saying that they would spend somewhere between 1.5bn and 2.5bn between taxes, tax cuts and expenditure per year. We believe that you can be much more ambitious than that. We will be saying that we can afford to spend somewhere between 2.9 and 3.4bn a year. "That's transformative, he said. We can actually solve the problems that beset ordinary working people right now, with that sort of investment. We can't afford tax cuts as Fine Gael are promising. People want a health service that they can depend on, he said. The most recent Department of Finance figures indicates that even in the most conservative terms, there is expected growth of between 2.5% and 3% for the next five years. Mr Howlin said the Labour Party in Government would seek to deliver 80,000 social and affordable homes at a cost of 16bn over the lifetime of a Government. We will have the resources to solve those problems. we have the determination as well, he said. First full day of the #GE20 campaign well underway. Spent the morning in Dublin Bay South in Sandymount with @KHumphreysDBS. Great recognition for the hard work Kevin is doing. Now onto Wexford. #GE20 pic.twitter.com/8gPaO68FeX BrendanHowlin (@BrendanHowlin) January 15, 2020 He reiterated his concern about entering government with Sinn Fein but said Mary Lou McDonald's party have robbed their policies. I have real difficulties about going into government with Sinn Fein. "And it's not because of their policies, but it's because I genuinely am concerned, that the real leadership, it is not the visible leadership that we see. But there are still people pulling the strings that we don't see. "That's become evident in many of the utterances of recent time so that would be a worry for me in any arrangement, he said. The all new 2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI is unveiled during the 2019 Chicago Auto Show Media Preview at McCormick Place in Chicago, the United States, on Feb. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Joel Lerner) In Volkswagen's largest single market China, deliveries increased by 1.7 percent to 3,163,200 vehicles, despite a declining overall market, according to the German car manufacturer. BERLIN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Volkswagen brand delivered 6,278,300 vehicles worldwide in 2019, an increase of 0.5 percent compared with the previous year, the German car manufacturer announced on Monday. In Volkswagen's largest single market China, deliveries increased by 1.7 percent to 3,163,200 vehicles, despite a declining overall market, according to Volkswagen. "In 2019, we significantly strengthened our global market position with considerable gains in market shares," said Volkswagen Sales Board Member Juergen Stackmann. A Jetta car with a brandnew Volkswagen logo is on display during the 18th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, east China, April 16, 2019.(Xinhua/Fang Zhe) In China, the new sub-brand JETTA had delivered 43,000 vehicles to customers since its launch in September 2019, making it the "most successful new brand in China in recent years", according to Volkswagen. In the last month of the year, Volkswagen brand had even achieved an increase of 22.2 percent in China and sold 354,200 vehicles, which was more than half of all vehicles delivered worldwide in December. Globally, Volkswagen brand recorded a significant growth in sales of electrically powered vehicles. The number of electrified vehicles delivered in 2019 rose by around 60 percent to more than 80,000 units, according to the German car manufacturer. In Europe, the Volkswagen brand delivered a total of 1,763,800 vehicles in 2019, an increase of 0.9 percent, according to Volkswagen. In the domestic market of Germany, where 569,900 vehicles were handed over to customers, growth was "even more pronounced" at 5.3 percent, Volkswagen announced. Supreme Court on Wednesday granted four weeks parole to Balwan Khokhar, a co-convict of Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, to perform his father's last rites. Sajjan Kumar, the other convict in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, is at present undergoing life imprisonment in Tihar jail. Kumar had moved the Apex Court seeking bail on the health ground. The Supreme Court, after hearing his bail application, ordered for setting up a medical board to access his health condition. The Delhi High Court had convicted Kumar and Khokhar in connection with the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in capital in 1984. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fans, followers and friends of the beauty community including James Charles and Jeffree Star showed an outpour of support yesterday for blogger and YouTuber Nikkie de Jager, aka NikkieTutorials, who came out as transgender in a video posted to her channel. Related | NikkieTutorials Comes Out as Trans Well, all of the community it seems except for Dani California, sister of Too Faced Cosmetics co-founder Jerrod Blandino. A screenshot circulating across Twitter shows California, who goes by the handle @makeupprincess, had briefly changed her Instagram bio to: "Transgender huh? That's not the only thing she's been LYING about," pointedly taking a dig at the YouTuber's hours-old announcement. The screenshot originally posted by Tea Spill and Here for the Tea was quickly picked up and users began calling California out for the seemingly transphobic statement. Soon after, she changed the top of her account to say: "Lets be clear, I love trans people & dislike anyone who lies to hurt others! Period!" This isn't the first time tensions have arisen between de Jager and Too Faced. In 2017, it was revealed that during a 2016 collaboration with the brand for a line of makeup products that netted close to $10 million, de Jager was only paid $50,000. However, in a statement to Insider, Blandino wants to make it clear that he and his company do not condone his sister's behvior. Apologizing for California's hateful speech, he writes: "I would like to make sure it is understood that although I love my sister very much, the things she says or does have absolutely nothing to do with me and do not in any way reflect me, my opinions, thoughts, or feelings nor speak for me or Too Faced in any way shape or form," adding that he is "sorry for the hurt she has caused." The Too Faced co-founder then went on to explain that he's proud of Nikkie and is inspired by the strength and beauty her truth has displayed: "I am sending all my love to her." UPDATE: Blandino has now fired his sister from the brand, following her transphobic remarks. "I do not tolerate this behavior, and she is no longer an employee of Too Faced," he said in a statement. "I would like to say how proud I am of Nikkie Tutorials, and how inspired I am for her strength and sharing her beautiful truth with the world. I am sending all my love to her." PAPER has reached out to both California for a comment. Watch this space. Chris Woodgate (pictured) died on a flight to Brisbane on Saturday A shattered wife has shared a moving tribute to her 'wonderful' husband who died on a long-haul flight. Tanya Woodgate's 38-year-old husband Chris died suddenly on an Air Canada plane from Vancouver to Brisbane on Saturday. The cause of his death is not clear. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Ms Woodgate wrote that their three children, who were on the flight, have lost an 'amazing' dad. She wrote: 'It is with complete heartbreak which I write this tragic news. Chris passed away suddenly on our flight home from Canada yesterday. We are all in a state of disbelief and shock. 'I have lost a wonderful husband and Liam, Callum and Mia have lost their amazing dad. Our world will never be the same.' Explaining what happened to flight AC035, she added: 'Our flight was diverted to Honolulu and I am working to bring him home as soon as we can. 'I will post details of when a memorial will be held for him. Thank you for your support and respect of our privacy at this difficult time.' Air Canada said the flight was diverted to Hawaii due to a 'medical emergency' but Mr Woodgate could not be saved. Tanya Woodgate's 38-year-old husband Chris died suddenly on an Air Canada plane from Vancouver to Brisbane on Saturday (pictured: Tanya Woodgate with her husband Chris and their three children) Spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick would not disclose the circumstances of Mr Woodgate's death. 'Out of respect for the privacy of our customers, Air Canada cannot confirm the details about the medical emergency,' he said. Jessica Lani Rich, from the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, told Honolulu Star-Advertiser Mr Woodgate was sick before the flight left Vancouver. There were 257 passengers and 13 crew members on board the flight who were required to disembark and stay overnight in Hawaii. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Ms Woodgate wrote that their three children, who were on the flight, have lost an 'amazing' dad The flight was diverted to Hawaii due to a 'medical emergency' (stock image) 'Air Canada did an excellent job taking care of their passengers,' Ms Rich said. Her organisation acquired a nurse to care for an 11-year-old who was flying on their own. The passengers, who were given accommodation and food vouchers, were put on a different flight on Sunday. An autopsy will be conducted. In a weekend in a yurt at Mount Madonna County Park, those new to camping and the outdoors can acquire a gentle and fun introduction to the outdoor experience. According to Supervising Ranger Scott Christopher, yurt camping provides a gateway to the outdoors for many new residents to the Bay Area, who often arrive with few outdoor skills, many attracted here by tech industries or those who havent figured out how to attain comfort when trying to sleep on the ground. A yurt is a high-domed, circular shelter with canvas walls. At Mount Madonna, yurts include wood bunk beds with mattresses, a locking door, a camping couch and wood table, plus windows. The ceiling is 10 feet high. Come nightfall at Mount Madonna, instead of sleeping in a tent or a bivy on the ground, you roll out your sleeping bag on a firm mattress. They are cozy and pretty. Outside, a deck circles the yurt, set in redwood forest. A raccoon-proof locker is available for your food, plus a barbecue, and within short walking distance, running water and a restroom with flush toilets. A restroom with showers is available nearby. You awake refreshed, free of city traffic and all cares, ready to hike, bike, horseback ride or explore the area and its lookouts and forests. Mount Madonna is a big park, 4,605 acres, located on the ridge between Watsonville to the west and Morgan Hill to the east. Along this crest, gorgeous redwood forests provide a refuge for three campground loops and a small settlement of yurts. The park has an extensive trail system for hiking plus several picnic areas. A nearby stable provides rentals for horseback rides. On the parks eastern slopes, the redwoods give way to oak woodlands, with sweeping views across the southern Santa Clara Valley. On the parks west slopes, you get glimpses of Monterey Bay. Template for all parks Its the yurts that make Mount Madonna County Park unique in the Bay Area. They provide a camping alternative that could be a template to solve the camping crush at state and national parks. Despite the demand for camping across California, virtually no campgrounds have been constructed for years at major parks. This is because of the environmental studies required through CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, which can take years and cost money that is not available to state and national parks. With a yurt, no CEQA document is required, because yurts are provisional structures built on decks and can be added to existing campgrounds. The idea originally was floated in 2007. In 2009, a pilot project with five yurts was started at Mount Madonna, more of a test than anything, said Tamara Clark at Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation. If you want to go Where: Mount Madonna County Park Location: On the ridge in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains between Watsonville and Morgan Hill Cost: $6 per vehicle Trail map: Map/brochure available at park entrance, PDF at website Yurts: 16-foot diameter, $66 per night, 20-foot diameter, $81 per night, 24-foot diameter, $96 per night; 25% offseason discounts through February. Two-night minimum on weekends. Includes entry fees for two vehicles; for additional vehicles, $10 per extra vehicle per night. Reserve ($6 reservation fee) at 408-355-2201 or https://gooutsideandplay.org. Key required to gain entry. Camping: 118 drive-in car campsites and walk-in sites, $34 per night; 17 RV sites with electricity and water, $44 (includes dump fee); Reserve ($6 reservation fee) at 408-355-2201 or https://gooutsideandplay.org. Peace & quiet: No radios, musical instruments, shouting or any other noise annoying to other campers is permitted at any time. Quiet time is 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Showers: A restroom with showers is available (not at the restroom adjacent to the yurts) Trail rides: Mount Madonna Stables, 1-hour trail ride, $60 per person; reservations required at 408-663-1665; info at www.mtmadonnastables.com. Dogs: Leashed dogs permitted in park and on most trails. Dogs are permitted in Yurt 125 and 128 and cannot be left unattended. Mountain bikes: No mountain bikes on trails; permitted on roads. White deer: The last two of a former herd of 20 white deer are now kept in a large pen across from the park ranger's office. Trail closure: A section of the Blackhawk Trail, from Contour to Ridge Trail, is closed for repairs from storm damage. Contacts: Mount Madonna County Park, 408-842-2341; Santa Clara County Parks, www.sccgov.org. How to get there GPS: 7850 Pole Line Road, Watsonville Inland route: Drive to San Jose and continue south to the merge of U.S. 101 and Highway 85, then continue on U.S. 101 south for 11 miles to Morgan Hill and the exit for Tennant Avenue. Take that exit 0.4 of a mile to Tennant. Turn right on Tennant and go 0.2 of a mile to Butterfield Road. Turn left on Butterfield and drive 0.8 of a mile, and continue onto Watsonville Road and then drive 7.1 miles to Highway 152. Turn right and drive 5 miles to Pole Line Road. Turn right and drive 1.5 miles to park entrance. 38 miles. Coast route: From Half Moon Bay, drive south on Highway 1 for 48 miles to Santa Cruz and junction with Highway 1. Turn left to stay on 1 and drive 15 miles to Watsonville and Exit 427 for Airport Boulevard/Freedom. Take that exit 0.2 of a mile to Ranport Road. Turn left and go a short distance to West Airport Blvd. Turn left and drive 2.1 miles to Holohan Road, continue ahead on Holohan for 1.5 miles to East Lake Road/Highway 152. Continue on 152 for 4.6 miles to Pole Line Road. Turn left and go 1.5 miles to park entrance. 75 miles. See More Collapse During the same time period, Oregons Parks and Recreation Department, with budget difficulties similar to that at Californias State Parks Department, added 192 yurts in more than 20 parks. Most are booked year-round and many credit the program for helping keep Oregon State Parks afloat. At Mount Madonna, the yurts come in three sizes, 16-, 20- and 24-foot-diameter, and sleep from six to 10, depending on size and configuration. They cost from $66 to $96 per night, with a 25% offseason discount through February. A two-night minimum is required on weekends, Fridays-Saturdays. When you arrive To start, youll get a key to your yurt. Your reservation sticker will be clipped on a post at the entry parking. To make your trip work, a minimum of camping gear is needed: Start with a sleeping bag, pillow and cooler with food and drink. For cooking, bring a camp stove (and cook outside) or use the standard camp-ring barbecue, along with paper plates and utensils. Bring a flashlight and a battery-powered lantern that can hang inside the yurt at night. No gas lanterns or cooking is permitted inside. Just outside, a picnic table, fire ring/barbecue and raccoon-proof food locker are available. This is a dog-friendly park. Leashed dogs are permitted on most trails and are allowed in Yurts 125 and 128. If left unattended, rangers said they could kick you out of the park. The park has many excellent trails through redwoods and to oak woodlands with views. The best easy walk for newcomers is the Redwood Trail, easy and pretty, less than a mile. At the loop at the end of the Valley View campground road, theres a lookout bench with a view of the south Santa Clara Valley. More ambitious hikes include the Bayview Trail (with views to the west) and the Merry-Go-Round Trail (with views to the east), a 4.6-mile loop. Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicles outdoors writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom The exchanges were all the more notable because until Tuesday night, foreign policy had been a side show in the 2020 campaign. But the targeted killing of the Iranian commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani this month ended the moment when the six Democratic candidates could avoid addressing some of the most complex and intractable conflicts that they would inherit if elected. Most seemed to be hoping the subject would soon return to more familiar ground, like universal health insurance or universal background checks for gun sales. It should have been the moment for Mr. Biden to shine: A former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was among the most experienced in the Obama Situation Room during debates over increasing troop levels in Afghanistan and secretly carrying out cyberattacks on Irans nuclear facilities. He had a moment to look decisive, especially in contrast to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was the most vociferous about extracting the United States from what he called endless wars. Again, it echoed a phrase that Mr. Trump has often used or at least did until his decision to kill General Suleimani all but assured a greater American troop presence in the Middle East for years to come. Mr. Biden was clearly the one with the best grasp of the global situation, but he seemed unsteady at moments, even when describing events in which he was deeply involved. He argued that he was the one who led the effort against surging tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan, without noting that Mr. Obama ignored his advice and ordered a surge anyway. On Iraq, he claimed he was the one who engineered the withdrawal of 156,000 troops from Iraq without noting that it was Mr. Bush, just before leaving office, who ordered a troop withdrawal. But it was on North Korea a nation that, unlike Iran, is already believed to have nuclear weapons, with American intelligence agencies putting the number at 30 to 60 that the candidates seemed softer. Curiously, none vowed that the North would have to give up its weapons, a statement that just a decade ago was a staple of any foreign policy discussion by leading presidential candidates, even if it seemed like a pipe dream. Instead, the candidates seemed to silently acknowledge that disarming the North was all but a lost cause. Instead, they focused on negotiating tactics, without ever quite saying what the goal would be. Mr. Biden vowed he wouldnt meet Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, without any preconditions, but never described what those might be. What was most striking about the discussion was that the candidates talked about the use of diplomacy and military coercion as if they were alternatives, rather than mutually reinforcing tactics to accomplish a strategic end. Julia Mejias first order as city councilor calls for creating sanctuary" schools, libraries and other spaces for children that would restrict what information federal immigration agents can obtain about students. Mejia, a Dominican-born Dorchester resident and Bostons first Afro-Latina city councilor, filed an order requesting a public hearing on sanctuary schools, citing concerns about racial profiling and federal immigration policies. She introduced the order at Wednesdays Boston City Council meeting, expanding the order to include other potential sanctuary spaces. Using my lived experiences as the child of a woman who was undocumented and as somebody who has worked with people my entire life who have lived in fear of deportation, I am submitting as my very first action as Boston city councilor at-large an Order For a Hearing Addressing Civil Rights in the Creation of Sanctuary Safe Spaces in Boston. The proposal follows an announcement from Lawyers for Civil Rights that Boston Public Schools made 135 student incident reports available to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Boston Public Schools did not directly send the incident reports to ICE Boston, but it shared the reports with the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, a network to which ICE agents have access. Access to education is a fundamental civil right and it is incumbent upon the City Council to listen to those most impacted in order to ameliorate the above circumstances," the order states. The modern sanctuary movement dates back to the 1980s when undocumented immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala fleeing civil war and killings took refuge in U.S. religious institutions. At the same time, cities across the country started passing ordinances restricting how local agencies cooperate with federal immigration agencies, including Somerville in 1987. Yet the policies and level of restrictions differ from one city to the next. Boston passed the Trust Act in 2014 to dictate how local police and ICE interact. The law was updated in December in response to reports of a Boston police officer helping ICE agents arrest an undocumented construction worker who filed a workplace injury claim. Boston City Hall. Marcos Charles, acting field office director for ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations, told MassLive in December he believes that sanctuary laws make a community less safe" and make ICE agents jobs more difficult. This is a public safety issue, not a political issue. Its only common sense that ICE be able to take custody of criminal aliens in a secure environment such as a jail, instead of sending officers out to attempt the often dangerous task of arresting criminal aliens in residential communities, Charles wrote. An ICE Boston spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the school incident reports and the BRIC. An East Boston High School student was arrested by ICE in March 2018 after a school resource officer shared a report about a lunchroom argument with the BRIC. The student, who has been identified by his middle name Orlando, was accused of being a gang member. His attorney at the time, Sarah Sherman-Stokes, said the allegations were nothing more than a rumor started by another student. Still, Orlando was deported to El Salvador. A Boston Public Schools representative said the district updated its policy on how school police officers share school safety reports with other law enforcement agencies, including BRIC. The district directs school officers not to share School Safety Reports with any outside agencies, including BRIC, except when the Boston Police Department School Unit investigates possible criminal activity. Officials would need approval from the Boston School Police chief to share any other school safety report with another agency. The school district said it continued to review its policies this year, including developing new protocols for approving report sharing. The 135 incident reports are heavily redacted, but they range from a resident complaining to police about a group of students at a dog park in East Boston to a school employee finding a gun in a plastic bag on the windowsill of a girls bathroom at Community Academy in Jamaica Plain. Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is suing the school district, said the reports show that BPS has collaborated with ICE. Students need to feel safe in school, and when there is any possibility that ICE will be involved, that violates that principle, Lawyers for Civil Rights attorney Janelle Dempsey told MassLive earlier this month. Related Content: The Barnis base is the largest in the Red Sea Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened on Wednesday the largest military base in the Red Sea as training drills that began last week concluded, a presidential spokesman said. Located on the Red Sea coast near the country's southern frontier, the advanced Barnis base is aimed at "securing the country's southern coasts, protecting economic investments and natural resources and facing security threats in the Red Sea," spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. The base, home to land, air and naval forces, is also designed to secure global navigation extending from the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and associated economic areas, the statement continued. President El-Sisi attended the conclusion of the Northern Military Region's Kader manoeuvres which involved air and naval forces in a ceremony attended by Arab and foreign leaders, including Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Saudi Vice Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. The 155-acre base houses naval and air bases, a military hospital and a number of combat and administrative units as well as shooting and training fields for all kind of weapons. It also includes an international airport, a seawater desalination plant and container storage yards. "The Barnis base was established in a record time within a few months to be one of the Egyptian military fortresses on the strategic south with a striking military force striking in the land, sea and air to tackle regional and international developments, which strengthens the global classification of the Egyptian Armed Forces among world armies," the statement added. In 2017, El-Sisi inaugurated the Mohamed Naguib Military Base, located in Al-Hammam area, west of Alexandria, which is the largest in the Middle East and Africa. Search Keywords: Short link: For the first time in more than two decades, all of the provinces teacher unions are involved in job action ranging from work-to-rule to rotating one-day strikes. This is extremely unusual and I dont remember another time since 1997 that there has been an occurrence like this, said Harvey Bischof, president of the 60,000-member Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. Bischof recalled that in 1997, members of the then-five teacher unions held a political protest, staying off the job for two weeks despite the fact they were not in a legal strike position after the Conservative government under Mike Harris made major changes in education, including removing principals and vice-principals from unions and taking taxing powers away from school boards. All five affiliates were out for two weeks, Bischof added. His members who include teachers as well as support and professional staff will be off the job in more than 20 boards on Wednesday, the unions fifth day-long job action. While Education Minister Stephen Lecce tries to point fingers at everybody but his own government Bischof said given there have been 22 years of no province-wide action among the now four teacher unions that tells us a common denominator in this unrest is this governments policies. Lecce said Thursday that labour unrest in education happens every few years, and again urged the unions to stop escalating job action and keep kids in class. The only teacher union with bargaining dates scheduled is the AEFO, which represents 12,000 teachers and school staff in the provinces French language boards. That union will begin a largely administrative work-to-rule on Thursday, though talks continue this week. The other three teacher unions are also engaging in work-to-rules. At the bargaining table, student learning is a crucial issue for which Franco-Ontarian teachers are willing to strike, said Remi Sabourin, president of AEFO (Association des enseignantes et enseignants franco-ontariens). The teacher unions oppose larger class sizes and the loss of thousands of teaching positions as well as two mandatory online courses for teens. The government has also passed legislation limiting wage increases to one per cent a year. Ontarios English Catholic elementary and secondary teachers will hold a province-wide strike next Tuesday so as not to interfere with upcoming high school exams and the provinces public elementary teachers will begin rotating strikes next week if no deal is reached, announcing the impacted boards as early as Wednesday. It is incredible that as of (Tuesday), no dates for contract talks have been scheduled by Minister Lecce with ETFO, said Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. Should no dates be set, it will be crystal clear that this governments only mandate is to continue with its damaging cuts to public education. NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles said of the four unions engaging in job action: The minister tries to spin this as something we see every few years, but this is historic. Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association said trustees would like to be back at the table negotiating to come to an agreement. Liberal MPP and former education minister Mitzie Hunter said the state of negotiations with our education unions has completely collapsed and these unions see no value in remaining at the table with a government that refuses to show up and bargain in good faith. A settlement can only happen if both sides are serious about getting a deal, said Hunter. Otherwise there is no point in sitting down. Where this is all leading, is it to a full blown strike and what is the government doing to avoid that? Lecce said Monday that the unions need to be reasonable at the bargaining table, adding they have made no movement at all on any of their top matters. They have only made ultimatums on the government. That is not really constructive. Iran's President Wants Special Court To Probe Ukrainian Plane Downing By RFE/RL's Radio Farda January 14, 2020 Iranian President Hassan Rohani, in the face of intense protests, has called for a special court to be set up to investigate the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner by the country's air defenses that killed all 176 people on board. All those responsible for the "unforgivable error" must be "punished," Rohani said in a televised speech on January 14, amid continued outrage in Iran over the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737-800. Daily protests have been held in Iranian cities since January 11, after the country's military said UIA Flight PS752 was shot down "unintentionally" by an antiaircraft missile shortly after it took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport three days earlier. Most of those killed in the disaster were Iranian and Canadian nationals. The tragedy occurred with Iran's air-defense forces on high alert following an Iranian ballistic-missile attack a few hours earlier against U.S. forces in Iraq. "The judiciary should form a special court with a ranking judge and dozens of experts," Rohani said in his speech, adding that the Iranian armed forces' admission in the incident was "a good first step." "For our people it is very important in this incident that whoever was at fault or negligent at any level" faces justice, he said. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said that "extensive investigations have taken place and some individuals have been arrested" for their role in the crash. He did not give further details. Protests Continue, Gunfire Reported Separately, Esmaili said that around 30 people had been arrested for taking part in "illegal gatherings" over three days, as thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tehran and several other cities to vent their anger with the clerical establishment over the incident. The protests continued for a fourth day on January 14, with videos posted on social media showing demonstrators gathered at two universities in the capital -- the Shahid Beheshti University and University of Tehran. Similar student rallies were held the previous day in Tehran and Isfahan. Meanwhile, authorities in Tehran denied using live ammunition on demonstrators, after videos posted online purported to show police and security forces opening fire and using tear gas to disperse protesters near Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square on the night of January 12. Reuters said videos showed blood on the ground and images of people who appeared to be security personnel in the vicinity of protests carrying rifles. Other posts showed police in riot gear hitting protesters with batons on the street, the agency reported. The U.S. State Department has warned Iranian authorities that Washington was not going to "tolerate" violence against the protesters. "We want the regime to know that the United States is watching, that the world is watching, and that we are going to shine a very, very big light on any abuse by the regime to their own people," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told RFE/RL on January 13. The Ukrainian airliner was carrying 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 10 Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons. Iran has invited Canada and Ukraine to take part in the investigation into the plane disaster. Aviation officials from Iran, Ukraine, and Canada held a meeting in Tehran on January 14 over the investigation of the crash, Iranian state TV reported in an online post. No additional details were provided. Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was glad Tehran had identified the downing of the plane as an "appalling mistake" and added that it was important the bodies of the British victims are now repatriated. Asked whether Iran should face consequences, Johnson told the BBC, "They're clearly guilty of an appalling error, I don't think we are currently envisaging any further escalation of the tensions." Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said on January 11 that his unit accepted "full responsibility" for the tragedy. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his "deep sympathy" to the families of the 176 victims on January 12 and called on the armed forces to "pursue probable shortcomings and guilt in the painful incident." With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and BBC Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-rohani- wants-special-court-to-probe-ukrainian -plane-downing/30376150.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the Iranian foreign minister that India has strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region. He made these remarks when Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on him here. "The Foreign Minister shared his perspectives on the recent developments in the region. The Prime Minister mentioned India's strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. The meeting comes on the back of tensions in the Gulf region, days after the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani in a US strike. Iran later launched ballistic missile strikes on two US military bases in Iraq, in retaliation against the January 3 killing of Soleimani. Zarif is in Delhi to participate in the 'Raisina Dialogue'. The prime minister also thanked Iranian leadership for the progress in Chabahar project, including designating it as Special Economic Zone. Welcoming Zarif to India, Modi recalled his warm and cordial discussions with President Rouhani in September 2019 on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York. The prime minister reiterated India's continued commitment to developing strong and friendly relations with Iran. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers. A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you. 1. Verification and registrar choice After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files. In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days. BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars: GoDaddy Namesilo Uniregistry NameCheap Google Domains Network Solutions Name.com Dynadot Amazon Route 53 123 Reg Gandi 2. We request the name from the seller. Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process. 3. Transfer the name into your account As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process. 4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller. Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has condemned the federal governments declaration of Amotekun, a South- West security outfit, as illegal. Mr Soyinka, a professor of comparative literature, spoke at a press briefing in Lagos Wednesday. He said a serious government who cares for its citizens would not object to such initiative. The initiative is quite legal and constitutional and in any case, the federal government should go to court, he said. The federal government on Tuesday declared the security outfit, launched by the six states within the south-west, as illegal. According to Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Justice, setting up the organisation runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law. No other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence, he said. Mr Soyinka said it was disappointing to see the reaction to a very simple operation taken by South-West governors, in which some people in high places speaking perhaps for the government objected the initiative. He added that the Amotekun operation was not only appropriately required, but long overdue. Mr Soyinka said it is the fundamental right of the people to defend themselves from killers and other unscrupulous forces that threaten their existence. Ive always believed passionately in self-policing. If it is possible to eliminate any kind of formal policing, I will be forward. But there is a need for an organised security. To say that the people do not have a right to defend their lives, secure a livelihood and flush out the evil elements and pick up the slack that existing securities are unable to fulfil is an enemy action and inhumane. Mr Soyinka said having some people who have been sleeping all this while, taking belated actions, who watched all the security threats that citizens suffer saying the initiative is illegal and unconstitutional is unacceptable. He said a determined community policing unit can be very effective in taming criminals, and the necessary legal complications of the operation were considered by the governors before its launch. Solomon Asemota, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the south-western states are not out of order and have the right to protect their people. The federal government itself can go to court, both parties put up arguments and thereafter decide what the majority of Nigerians want, he said. New Delhi: The year 2019 was the second hottest on record for the planets surface while the past decade was the hottest yet in 150 years of measurements, according to latest research. The past five years have been the hottest in 150 years. The data, released by a United Nations agency, also warned that the higher temperatures were expected to fuel numerous extreme weather events in 2020 and beyond. The forecast for global average temperature for 2020 suggests this year could well set another record and is very likely to be among the top three hottest. The World Meteorological Organisation, which based its findings on analysis of leading international datasets, said it also confirmed data released by the European Union's climate monitor last week showing that last year was the second hottest on record, after 2016. The UN agency said that average global temperatures during both the past five-year (2015-2019) and 10-year (2010-2019) periods were the highest ever recorded. Since the 1980s each decade has been warmer than the previous one, it said warning that "this trend is expected to continue". "The year 2020 has started out where 2019 left off -- with high-impact weather and climate-related events," WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement, pointing in particular to the devastating bushfires in Australia. "Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," he said. The previous hottest year was in 2016, the year that a natural El Nino event boosted temperatures. In another alarming data, scientists had revealed 2019 as the warmest yet recorded in the seas, calling it dire news. More than 90% of the heat trapped by human greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed by the oceans. Taalas said that since modern records began in 1850, the average global temperature had risen by around 1.1 degrees Celsius, and warned of significant warming in the future. "On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, we are heading towards a temperature increase of three to five degrees Celsius by the end of the century," he warned. The worlds scientists have warned that global heating beyond 1.5C will significantly worsen extreme weather and suffering for hundreds of millions of people. The United Nations said last year that man-made greenhouse gas emissions needed to tumble 7.6 per cent each year to 2030 in order to limit temperature rises to 1.5C - the more ambitious cap nations signed up to in the landmark Paris climate deal. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. More than 2,000 bulls will participate in Jallikattu, which will be held till January 31 in the state. 730 bulls in Avaniyapuram, 700 bulls in Alanganallur and 650 bulls in Palamedu are participating in Jallikattu competitions this year. : With start of the Pongal festival, the sport of Jallikattu also kicked off at Avaniyapuram in Madurai on Wednesday. Retired Principal District Judge C Manickam, who has been appointed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, visited the venue in Madurai where the Jallikattu event was to be held to examine the arrangements made ahead of the start of the competition. "We have divided the players into a batch of 75 each, 60 bulls will be released. Top police officials are present at the spot to deal with any situation," Manickam told reporters here. Regarding the facilities on the spot, he added, "District Collector, along with a local minister, has examined the arrangements. Twenty-one 108 ambulance are ready to provide medical facility to the injured players." Reuters Alphabet Inc's Google within two years plans to block a common way businesses track online surfers in its Chrome browser, endorsing costly changes to how the Web operates as it tries to satisfy increased privacy demands from users. Google's plan is to restrict advertising software companies and other organizations from connecting their browser cookies to websites they do not operate, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Apple made a similar move in 2017 in its Safari browser, but Chrome's global market share is more than three times greater at about 64 percent, according to tracking company Statcounter. Though the two-year goal is new, Google's announcement had been expected within the industry for months. Financial analysts expect minimal effect on Google's own ad business because it gathers data on users in many other ways. But shares of some rival advertising software companies fell on Tuesday, including Criteo SA by 8 percent and Trade Desk Inc by 1.4 percent. For nearly three decades, cookies placed by relatively unknown companies on nearly every website have fuelled advertising on the internet. Cookies are a tool within browsers that allow website operators to save data about users, so that for example, they can keep a particular user logged into a website over multiple days. But cookies also have given obscure software vendors, whose technology is used by website operators, a broad window into which webpages a user is visiting. When shared with advertisers, the data enable predictions about which ads the individual would find relevant. Users and regulators have questioned how businesses with access to the browsing data store and share them since the advent of the cookie. But over the last three years, data breaches and new privacy laws in California and Europe have prompted major changes at internet businesses. Google said its new restriction would not go into effect until alternatives that Google considers more privacy-preserving are viable. Any major transition in Web technology requires significant investment by website operators, and it remains unclear whether more limited data on users would depress online ad prices. Justin Schuh, a director for Chrome engineering at Google, said initial feedback to proposals it announced in August "gives us confidence that solutions in this space can work. CHANG W. LEE, STF / NYT Three-quarters of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity expected to come online this year will come from wind and solar energy with Texas adding the most renewable power than any other state. The U.S. will add 42 gigawatts of new generation capacity this year, and wind and solar producers will supply nearly 32 gigawatts, representing 76 percent of the total, the Department of Energy reported. One gigawatt provides enough power for about 700,000 homes. Six Democratic presidential hopefuls face off in last debate before voting begins. Here are the key takeaways. Six US Democratic presidential hopefuls took the stage on Tuesday in the last debate before Iowa voters kick off the Democratic nominating race on February 3. The debate saw clashes over foreign policy, trade and other issues. On stage in Des Moines, Iowa, were US Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and businessman Tom Steyer. Six other candidates failed to qualify for the debate. For those on stage, the debate offered the candidates a final high-stakes chance to make their case to voters. Heres what was said on some of the top issues: Foreign Policy The evening began with the candidates clashing over Iraq, war and foreign policy, although they were largely united against President Donald Trumps leadership on such issues. Sanders, a longtime antiwar advocate who voted against the 2002 authorisation of war in Iraq, criticised Biden for supporting the war and said they heard the same arguments from officials in former President George W Bushs administration before coming to different conclusions. I thought they were lying, I did not believe them for a moment, Sanders said. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw things differently. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden smiles as Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters] Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who touts his security credentials, acknowledged the vote was a big, big mistake and said that as President Barack Obamas vice president, he worked to bring the troops home. It was a mistake to trust that they werent going to go to war, Biden said of the Bush administration. It was a mistaken vote, but I think my record overall on everything we have done, Im prepared to compare it to anybodys on this stage. Several candidates condemned Trumps recent decision to order the killing of Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, and his decision to keep US troops in the region. We have to get combat troops out, declared Warren, who also called for reducing the military budget. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar participate in the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters] Others, including Buttigieg, Biden and Klobuchar, said they favoured maintaining a small military presence in the Middle East. I bring a different perspective, said Buttigieg, who was a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan. We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment to ground troops. Fundamental difference on trade The night also saw clashes on trade. Sanders said he and Biden had a fundamental difference on the worth of regional free trade agreements like Trumps new agreement with Mexico and Canada, called the USMCA, which Sanders opposes and Biden backs. I dont know that theres any trade agreement that the senator would ever think made any sense, Biden said. Sanders said the agreements were written for one reason alone, and that is to increase the profits of large multinational corporations. Klobuchar and Warren said they planned to vote in favour of the USMCA. A female president Warren made a vigorous case for a female president following a pre-debate feud with progressive rival Sanders. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections, Warren exclaimed, The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women. Sanders vehemently denied Warrens accusation that he said in 2018 a woman could not beat Trump. Does anybody in their right mind think a woman cant be elected president? Sanders asked. Of course a woman can win. He added: I dont know that thats the major issue of the day. Democratic 2020 United States presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks as former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders listen during the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters] The feud came as Democrats try to navigate broader debates over how to reflect and embrace the crucial role female and minority voters will play in 2020. For the first time, not a single candidate of colour appeared on stage. All six candidates who met the partys polling and donor thresholds were white, and four were men. To defeat Trump at the end of this year, Democrats need to ensure black, Latino and suburban voters are excited to vote against the Republican president. The biggest mistake we can make is take black votes for granted. I never will, Buttigieg said when questioned about his lack of support among African Americans. Candidates also discussed climate change, healthcare and what kind of candidate they would be against Trump. This is the moment a couple staying at a Hilton hotel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, were left baffled after discovering they couldn't close their bathroom door. Footage filmed by the couple shows their 'huge' bedroom with a view of the city below. But one of the guests then walks over to the bathroom and is unable to close the door past the toilet. At the start of the video, taken in April 2018, the guest walks around the room saying: 'We're at the Hilton, okay check out this room. 'Huge room, beautiful right? It's beautiful.' The guest points towards a view from their window of the city below, saying: 'Look at that view.' She then walks towards the bathroom, continuing: 'Anyways, so we come over here, I'd like to use the bathroom right, here's the door.' She then demonstrates how the door hits the toilet when she tries to close it, bursting into laughter and saying: 'What are you supposed to do with that? This is the moment a couple staying at a Hilton hotel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, were left baffled after discovering they couldn't close their bathroom door 'So, yeah, that's our great room.' According to Rumble, the guest who filmed the video explained: 'We went to a hotel in Fort Wayne Indiana and my boyfriend discovered the bathroom door wouldn't shut because the new toilets they installed during a recent renovation were too oval and stuck out. 'So no pooping privacy at this hotel.' Other guests at the Hilton Fort Wayne have similarly complained in the past on TripAdvisor about struggling to close their bathroom door. In March 2018, one guest wrote on TripAdvisor: 'Although the hotel is attractive and clean, I can't get past the fact that it has the most ridiculous bathroom ever. 'When closing the door it almost brushes the toilet it is so tight.' Other guests at the Hilton Fort Wayne have similarly complained in the past on TripAdvisor about being unable to close their bathroom door In May 2017, another wrote on TripAdvisor: 'We had to lift the lid of the toilet to close the bathroom door!' In the same month, another said there was 'only two inches clearance between the toilet and door'. Hilton Fort Wayne's general manager, Mark Luttik, said: 'The Hilton Fort Wayne at the Grand Wayne Convention Center places priority on our guest experience. 'The situation referenced in the video was isolated to a single guestroom, occurred in 2018, and has been remedied. 'We have confirmed all our rooms have proper clearance between the toilet and the bathroom door.' 24 Hours in A&E viewers were left fuming last night after a mother brought her daughter to hospital with a tummy ache for emergency medical attention. In last night's episode of the Channel 4 show, a mother named Chanelle, 30, rushed her daughter, Amber, nine to the A&E of St George's NHS Foundation Trust in South London, for fear that she had appendicitis after Amber complained of a tummy ache and started vomiting. But it turned out that the little patient was completely fine, and was sent home after her blood tests came back 'absolutely normal' and being told she would be fine in a matter of days. The mother-daughter duo's relaxed attitude in the waiting room, where they joked with one another, did not impress viewers, since the department was so busy that patients were left waiting in ambulances. Representatives for St George have since then explained on Twitter that the mother was rightly referred to the A&E, saying it was 'absolutely the right place' for Amber. 24h in A&E viewers were annoyed at a mother who brought her daughter to the emergency room because she suffered of acute tummy pains on last night's episode Mother Chanelle, viewers felt, wasted the tine of the already stretched NHS staff by going to the A&E for something that was not an emergency Some viewers suggested consultations like Amber's tummy pain were the reason why NHS staff were struggling under their workload When mother and daughter first arrived at A&E, viewers learned that Amber had suffered a stomach ache the night before and had vomited several times. Anguished mother Chanelle was convinced her daughter was suffering from appendicitis, which was 'very bad timing,' due to Amber's upcoming birthday. Amber was disheartened that she might spend her 10th birthday in hospital after Chanelle told her it might take her a few days to recover. 'I really hope it's not your appendix, it's such bad timing, why do things happen with such bad timing?' she said. Mother Chanelle started by saying she was afraid Amber suffered from acute appendicitis, but later joked it was trapped wind Chanelle and Amber were seen by Dr Martin (pictured), who took them to an exam room after their wait But, as their wait dragged on because the department was so busy, the mother relaxed and joked that Amber might just be suffering from 'trapped wind,' which horrified her daughter. After some time waiting and joking in the waiting room, the mother-daughter duo were eventually called into an exam room by Dr Martin, who proceeding to look into Amber's symptoms. He asked her where the pain came from, and patted her tummy after she complained her right side hurt. Dr Martin went on to do a short physical examination of Amber's tummy to determine whether she needed treatment and concluded she needed blood tests After the short examination, Chanelle and her daughter were sent back to the waiting room after Dr Martin recommended the child undertook blood test. Chanelle and Amber spent their wait watching a movie on the waiting room's telly, joking about their lack of house pets, which further angered fans of the show. After about an hour-wait, they were called back to the exam room by Dr Martin, who had received Amber's test results. 'Your blood tests are back and they're all normal so I had a quick chat with the surgical team anyways, and they're happy that we let you on your away home,' he said. 'It's unlikely to be acute appendicitis but that's not 100 percent ruled out,' he went on. In the pediatric waiting room, Chanelle and Amber looked relaxed and joked around, which did not impress viewers 'So if your symptoms get worse or if you get a fever, pop back and see us and hopefully it will settle down in a few days and you'll be absolutely fine, I have every faith.' Reassured Chanelle and Amber were sent on their way, skipping hand-in-hand in the street, but viewers felt the visit had been a waste of time, especially for the overworked staff. When the episode started, fans of 24h in A&E were told it would be a busy day because the A&E phone kept ringing with incoming traumas. Later on in the episode, Chris, an emergency care nurse, had to ask an incoming ambulance to 'hold for five minutes,' because the busy A&E department could not facilitate the patient they were bringing in. When the ambulance staff asked if they could be diverted to another hospital, Chris explained: 'We have to get all the traumas, and we'd still have to get all the walk-ins so the only thing we would actually divert, for a small amount of time, would be the ambulances,' St George's hospital has since explained on Twitter that Channelle was right to bring Amber to the A&E after being referred by her GP Angered viewers felt Chanelle bringing Amber to the A&E was a strain on the already busy NHS staff 'And collectively, that's actually not a big proportions of people that we see everyday, so it actually makes little difference. 'We get patients from everywhere, they can arrive from the streets, they can arrive from triage, they can arrive from other areas of the hospital 'In these cases you have less time to prepare and it can be very difficult to plan, but these patients are sick and they need help The mother's behaviour did not fly with viewers of the show, who felt she was wasting the staff's time with a non-emergency. 'Did Amber really need to go to A&E for a tummy ache? No wonder our resources are so stretched! Looks like mum is enjoying this time in front of the camera,' an angered fan asked. 'Amber and her mum demonstrating part of the reason A&Es are struggling. That was a GP appointment at best,' said another. 'Amber's mum has been hanging round St George's A&E for days with the kids and various trumped-up symptoms hoping to get on TV,' claimed another. 'People being referred to A&E when it really isn't necessary, when there's people lying on trolleys in corridors with serious health problems is such a waste of resources,' said one. However, a representative for St George explained the mother was rightly referred to their A&E and said the mother and daughter duo had come to the right place, in a bid to silence critics. NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventy-five years ago, dentists convinced government officials to experiment on every Grand Rapids, Michigan, resident without individual informed-consent to prove that (not if) dosing the municipal water supply with untested sodium-fluoride chemicals would decay-proof children's developing teeth. Planned to last 15 years, the 1945 study ended prematurely after 6 years. Teeth of most children born into the experiment hadn't even erupted yet. Muskegon, the planned non-fluoridated comparison city began fluoridating its water in 1951; thereby, negating the experiment. And, cavities declined in both cities, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF). American Dental Association (ADA) news release says, "many communities did not wait for the studies to be completed before starting their own fluoridation efforts. By 1950, [fluoridation] had the full support of the ADA." This support came without safety evidence. Grand Rapids citizens' health was untested. But Newburgh NY's healthy schoolchildren were examined in another 1945 human experiment, also cut short prematurely. Newburgh kids suffered more bone defects, anemia and earlier female menstruation after 10 years (Journal of the American Dental Association, 1956). These findings were dismissed. In 1951, dentists strategized ("Proceedings 4th annual conference of state dental directors") on how to sell fluoridation using misinformation and misdirection e.g. "We have told the public it works, so we can't go back on that." And "those research people, they can't get over their feeling that you have to have test tube and animal research before you start applying it to human beings." Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, promoted fluoridation, consulting on strategy for the National Institute of Dental Research. "Selling fluoride was child's play," Bernays told the author of The Fluoride Deception. Bernays said citizens trust medical authority. Bernays convinced doctors who passed on their his fluoridation beliefs. Modern fluoridation PR flacks do the same. Chemical & Engineering News reported: "Rational voices of opposition were suppressed from the start. Science justified those fears. Fluoride isn't a nutrient or required for healthy teeth and has serious side effects, rendering fluoridation unnecessary and harmful. Attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President says, "The ADA celebrates fluoridation, ignoring strong fluoride/brain links,100 years of damning fluoride/kidney & thyroid research and that cavity experience and inequities increased in the last 20 years despite widespread fluoridation contributing to US children's fluoride-damaged teeth (fluorosis)," says Beeber. More info: http://FluorideAlert.org Contact: Paul Beeber, JD, 516-433-8882 [email protected] Twitter @nyscof SOURCE New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. Related Links http://FluorideAlert.org I don't know what the perfect life looks like, but I know it includes a yearly trip to London. This is an espresso of a city; a shot in the arm. I love parachuting into its pace and energy, seeing the diversity of faces on the Tube, travelling in black cabs and red buses, eating myself into a stupor. There's always something old to swing by and something new to discover. But - and there is a but - you need to leave the party early. Before you're drained; before you get real about the haemorrhaging cash. When London calls, a good base is essential. Ireland's Doyle Collection has three hotels in the city: The Kensington, Bloomsbury and Marylebone. Anyone who has stayed at their Irish hotels knows what to expect: an eye for detail, smart takes on local food, intuitive service, elegant design and regular refreshes. These are confident, thought-out hotels that seduce rather than chase. For this stay, mine was the Marylebone. The Rating: 8/10 Arrival & Location When my wheelie case hits the ramp, two doormen in dapper waistcoats take my bag, ask my name, and lead me to reception (where I'm handed a refresher towel). The Wellbeck Street entrance and small, low-ceilinged lobby, laid out around a mosaic-tiled column, are not the hotel's strongest points, but glimpses of the classy bar and lounge, and its punchy artworks, soon thread you through into a surprisingly deep building. Carry on through to the Marylebone Lane end, and you'll find a slightly clubbier feel, with bar and brasserie facing right into the neighbourhood. In summer, or shoulder season under the heaters, a streetside table is a treat. Set between Hyde and Regent's parks, Marylebone itself is chic, residential and eclectic - one moment you'll catch the whiff of a Lebanese takeaway; the next wonder at a Bentley paused outside a boutique. The hotel is a short, five-minute walk from Oxford Circus and Bond Street stations - perfect for big hits and little trysts. 8/10 Service & Style Design is a Doyle Collection strong point, and the devil is in the detail, particularly in the nooks of The Marylebone's cocktail bar. Nestling in here, a mix of private-club and compact London luxury is broken up by pops of colour in the cushions or soft, tactile fabrics like mohair and crushed velvet - it's a jewel-box space to sink (or slink) into. I order a boulevardier cocktail (15) for the heck of it, and the bearded hipster barman is instantly into it - suggesting a little Cognac and rye whiskey for balance. It arrives in a chilled glass with no ice ("It will grow too diluted in three or four minutes"), with a black cherry on skewer. I leave feeling squiffy, but also having learned something. A big surprise is The Marylebone's Third Space gym and pool, laid out over several floors. If fitness is a thing when you travel, this is a far cry from afterthoughts boxed away in the basement - with a spa, fitness centre, classes, and 18m pool all to hand. Pack the togs. 8.5/10 The Rooms 250 rooms start with 16sq m 'Cosy' spaces that feel tiny - suitable for singles on business, perhaps. 'Classic' is a step up - elegant and compact, though don't plan on taking a long bath - and 'Deluxe' is more generously sized. The hotel is refurbing rooms throughout 2020, so ask for one that's been freshly revamped, you'll thank yourself when your toes sink into the new carpets. Muted, natural tones are the order of the day, marble bathrooms stock Malin+Goetz products and Irish touches might include Butlers Chocolates at turndown, or a Yeats quote on the Do Not Disturb sign ("Tread softly..."). Suites are worth a splash, especially those with corner bay windows; you'll enjoy bigger bathrooms and bijou lounging areas. 7.5/10 Insider tip The best Deluxe rooms overlook Marylebone Lane; they catch a lovely blast of sunlight in the evening. A small, residents-only lift zips you down to ground floor and health area, but ask for a room that isn't directly opposite, as it pings a little loudly on arrival. Food & Drink The 108 Brasserie serves "modern global" cuisine in an urbane, Marylebone Lane room where red leather chairs add blushes of colour - though a mix of chatter and the DJ next door makes it a loud-ish space. I started with summer asparagus (8.50), cooked with perfect bite and give, before splurging on a pillowy half-lobster (29) with Bearnaise, though its accompanying cos and cucumber salad was a little salty for my taste. There's an Irish nod in a lovely, hand-churned Abernethy butter from Co Down (available again at breakfast, along with Clonakilty pudding), service is confident and unstuffy, and I finish with a super-creamy vanilla creme brulee sweetly blowtorched in a skillet. Costs add up, but... London, baby. 8/10 Local 101 Skip Madame Tussauds for the smaller pleasure of the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street (sherlock-holmes.co.uk) or a bibliophile's dream at Daunt Books. The bottom line Downsides? Some of The Marylebone's bedroom corridors feel uncomfortably dark and narrow to me, and I'd love to see creative alternatives to single-use plastic in products like mini-toiletries or slipper wrappings. The Marylebone lacks a standout space like The Bloomsbury's Coral Room, but it has one of the city's best hotel gyms, a peachy location and Bernie Gallagher's design nous makes a large hotel feel like your London living-room. Perfect for your annual layover - just remember to leave before the party ends. Rates 'Cosy' rooms start from 306 B&B; 'Deluxe' from 366 and suites from 486 per night. Contact +44 20 7486 6600 or doylecollection.com. Pol was a guest of the Doyle Collection. Russias President proposes to bolster Constitutional Courts role RAPSI 17:19 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) In his address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday Russias President Vladimir Putin proposed to enhance the role played by the Constitutional Court in order to improve the quality of the national legislation and to secure the interests of the countrys citizens. For this, the President said, the Court needs to be empowered to verify, on Presidential requests, the constitutionality of legislation approved by the Federal Assembly before it is signed by the Head of the State. At the same time, Vladimir Putin noted, it might be contemplated if the Constitutional Courts powers should be extended as to the verification of constitutionality of not only laws, but also of other statutory instruments adopted by the state authorities at both the federal and the regional levels. According to the President, the judiciary, the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, play the key role in ensuring the legitimacy and civil rights. He stressed that professional competence as well as faith in the judiciary must be undisputable. Fairness and the moral right to take decisions affecting human lives had always been of priority in Russia, Vladimir Putin said. The Constitution must guarantee and protect the independence of the judiciary, as well as the principle that judges were to be subordinated only to the Constitution and the federal legislation, the President stressed. The estranged father of Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle may be among the witnesses brought in by a UK newspaper fighting legal action launched by the former television star for alleged breach of privacy and copyright infringement. The case, launched by Markle's legal team in October last year, centres around the publication in the 'Mail on Sunday' of extracts of a personal letter which she sent to her father in August 2018, three months after she married Prince Harry. Her lawyers allege misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. "We have initiated legal proceedings against the 'Mail on Sunday', and its parent company Associated Newspapers, over the intrusive and unlawful publication of a private letter written by the Duchess of Sussex, which is part of a campaign by this media group to publish false and deliberately derogatory stories about her, as well as her husband," law firm Schillings said in its statement. "Given the refusal of Associated Newspapers to resolve this issue satisfactorily, we have issued proceedings to redress this breach of privacy, infringement of copyright and the aforementioned media agenda," the statement said. As part of the official documents filed with the High Court in London on Tuesday, Associated Newspapers Ltd has defended the publication of the excerpts and includes evidence from Thomas Markle who could also be called in to testify if the case goes on to trial. "The claimant's (Meghan) privacy rights do not extend to silencing her father," the documents note. Markle's father, a former Hollywood lighting director, was at the centre of controversy in the lead up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding in May 2018. The court documents also include some text messages sent from Thomas to his daughter ahead of the wedding as part of the defence, which claim that he "did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy that the contents of the letter were private and would remain so". It remains to be seen if the case will go on to trial or be settled before that. The developments in the legal case come as Prince Harry and Markle work through a transition period agreed with Queen Elizabeth II after they declared their intention to step back as senior Royals and divide their time between the UK and Canada. Markle, who has been in Canada since last week, was pictured at her first public appearance there as she paid a visit to a women's centre in Vancouver on Tuesday. The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre posted a photograph of a beaming 38-year-old Markle with staff and visitors on Facebook, with the caption "Look who we had tea with today". Her visit was "to discuss issues affecting women in the community", the group said. Prince Harry, 35, is expected to join Markle and their eight-month-old son Archie in Canada in the coming days after an official event he is scheduled to host at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, January 15, 2020 President Trump has been talking about fake news since he took office in 2017. Now Yury Mosha, who runs a consultancy in New York for Russians wanting to emigrate to the U.S., says hes a real-life example. Mosha claims that posts on the Russian search engine Yandex.ru and the U.S. search engine Google in Russian unjustly defame him and his nine-year old immigration company. The posts began four years ago. He has since tried to have the defamatory content removed, with some success, after filing and winning a lawsuit against Yandex in Russia, as well as writing to Google, U.S. congressmen and senators to get the laws changed. The next step is to fight with the registrars of the websites to save his reputation, which he says is being tarnished by competitors. Search Marketing Daily has seen several documents that detail this path. Mosha says he spoke with a lawyer at Google who is very aware of these challenges, but nothing has been changed. advertisement advertisement A complaint made in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 2017, by Mosha to Google, states that the action of not removing the websites or content from search queries is "causing damage to Plaintiff and wounding his reputation in the business community by negligence and ignorance of defamatory, false and humiliating information." Search Marketing Daily reached out to Google, but a spokesperson did not respond. Unfortunately, Google, with the largest search engine market share worldwide, holds more power than many would like to admit. It hurts my business, Mosha said, pointing to his competition as the source from which the content came. My competitors paid to have the fake news posted on these publisher sites. Mosha, who is fighting to change U.S. laws, estimates that yearly losses from disinformation about him online costs his company about 50% in revenue daily, about $1 million annually. With the 230 Communications Act, the government is letting Google get away with posting inaccurate information online, he said. Theyre not on the side of the people. His goal is to bring attention to the challenges of inaccurate information on the internet, so people can understand the bigger problem of not always taking the content online as the complete truth without researching the topic themselves. Fake news isnt some far-off idea and businesses arent doing enough to stop it, he said. Mosha spends at least $5,000 monthly -- sometimes $10,000 -- on Google to advertise his business, but feels as if he is fighting an uphill battle, taking two steps forward and one step back. No amount of paid-search advertising to promote his business on Google or Yandex has managed to turn the tides as long as the defamatory content remains online. I spend money on advertisements on these engines and its been useless based on the fake news, Mosha said through a Russian interpreter. Why should I spend money on advertising when someone just needs to Google my name to find these fake news sites? It just cancels it out. Hes also spent more than $100,000 in various lawyer fees to get the defamatory posts removed. I sued Yandex and they ended up removing the content about me, he said. More than 500 articles were delisted. Mosha said it was a very long battle with Yandex. The search engine didnt want to take down the content, but did based on a court order. MUZAFFARABAD, KASHMIRAt least 55 people have been killed and dozens injured as avalanches swept away homes in the mountainous region of the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir. The powerful avalanches have also affected Indian-controlled areas of the disputed region, with at least 10 people killed on Tuesday, officials said. At least three dozen children were struck by an avalanche as they made their way to school on Monday in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, officials said. One child was killed and three others injured. Most of the casualties took place in the Neelum Valley, which abuts a river that divides the Pakistani and Indian portions of Kashmir. Heavy rain and snowfall on Saturday triggered the avalanches, which rolled over villages perched on the steep mountains, burying roads out of the valley. Many were left with a stark choice: burying their dead or taking injured relatives to the hospital, making the long trek through the snow on foot. Abdul Rahman Sheikh, 62, said an avalanche had buried his home and seven others in his village on Monday. He dug through the snow until midnight to rescue his family, recovering his daughter-in-law who survived with injuries and the frozen bodies of eight other family members. He decided to bury the dead first. I have eight dead bodies lying in the open. If I send her to the hospital, who will look after her there? And if I go along with her, who will bury the eight bodies? Sheikh asked mournfully. Asif Iqbal, a 25-year-old teacher, said he heard a rumble and a crash Monday afternoon and looked outside to see rooftops of nearby houses barely peeking up from the snow. People were screaming and calling for help, Iqbal said. A schoolgirl from my school was buried alive under one avalanche, and we could only hear her calling for us to save her. We had no tools to rescue her and were waiting for a miracle, he continued. Someone brought a shovel, and we dug a hole in the broken roof of her home and rescued her after three hours. Its nothing but a miracle. The accounting was grim: At least 41 bodies were recovered from two villages, according to Syed Yasir Bukhari, a local government revenue officer. Casualties are expected to rise once rescue crews arrive by helicopter, the only way to reach affected areas. The Pakistani military is spearheading rescue operations. Police officers and local volunteers are walking, sometimes for miles, to areas covered by as much as two meters of snow, braving freezing temperatures and the threat of more avalanches. At least 10 people are missing, officials said, and rescue efforts are underway for those buried in the snow. Helicopters are circling avalanche sites in hopes of spotting survivors; tents and emergency food rations are being sent to affected areas. Some volunteers who rushed to help their neighbours soon became victims themselves. Abdul Rahman, 29, an imam from Bakwali Bala, said he and several others had gathered their families at a house that they thought was a safe distance from avalanche-prone areas. Rahman said the women and children in their families were told to stay at the house while the men went to neighbouring villages to help. Suddenly a strong wind blew, and we heard the familiar roar of the avalanche, he said. But we could not see anything as it was dark, and the village was covered with fog. I tried to run toward our home but could hardly walk; I was sinking in about 8 feet of snow. At some distance I heard women and children crying and calling for help. When we reached our village, we saw piles of snow and mud where we had left our families 18 people in all. Heavy rains and landslides in other parts of Pakistan were blamed for at least a dozen other deaths since Sunday, officials said, with the provinces of Punjab and Balochistan hit hardest. Read more about: Imagine all your tax documentation could be examined by officials from any government merely on suspicion. Thats the future some governments are pushing for when they demand that Apple put security backdoors into its products. Making no one safe Think about the nature of security backdoors: They represent deliberate security flaws in operating systems and devices at a core level, designed to break encryption on these devices. Those flaws may require some form of "key" to access. Once you have a vulnerability, its only a matter of time before people figure out where it is hackers are smart. Once you build the lock, its only a matter of time until someone manages to pick it does anyone else remember the Enigma Code? But the keys will be kept with secure government agencies, some say. So what? It only takes one disaffected government employee, one deeply inserted spy in government or a tech company, or one sophisticated criminal attack to successfully extract that key. Locks are easily picked After that, its only a matter of time before such keys end up in the hands of security agencies from every government, including those who cannot be trusted. As these keys are deliberately designed, the operating system vendor will not be in position to patch them. Those keys wont just reach other governments; they will also reach the hands of various criminal entities who will see a huge opportunity for theft, profit and blackmail that comes with gaining access to every smartphone owners digital life. Things leak. Think back just a year ago when police-grade iPhone hacking tools suddenly appeared for sale on eBay, for example. Or ponder the fate of the GrayKey box. Thats even before you consider how such access threatens connected systems of every kind, from enterprise relationship management software to letting unknowns gain access to the log in codes for your local power station. Follow the money In fact, it seems to me that criminals and hostile governments have the most to gain from any move to make mobile devices less secure. I imagine they are already thinking about the money they will make and chaos they can create as mobile security is deliberately broken. Thats even before discussing how this undermines privacy. These are just some of the many reasons Apples statement in response to the born-again move to force it to break security in its devices should be supported. It isnt as if Apple is not prepared to help law enforcement it says it has provided a huge amount of information, including iCloud backups and more. It is also true that other entities (including carriers) are providing evidence. Not just for the good guys In a statement on the current furor, Apple said: We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. Today, law enforcement has access to more data than ever before in history, so Americans do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations. We feel strongly encryption is vital to protecting our country and our users data. Apple has made similar arguments before. In a letter to its customers following the San Bernardino case, it said: For years, cryptologists and national security experts have been warning against weakening encryption. Doing so would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data. Criminals and bad actors will still encrypt, using tools that are readily available to them. One ring to ruin them all Theres another problem. After all, if one government demands such security backdoors, then every government will do the same. This may have a chilling effect on religious minorities, for example. There is no tech company that can realistically deny some governments and not others. If Apple weakens encryption for one nation, it will be forced to do so in others. And mobile device security will weaken one encryption backdoor at a time. The effect? We will all be poorer and less secure. Those security keys will inevitably end up in the hands of criminals and hostile actors. Bank accounts will be robbed, data stolen and digital terrorism (including attacks on critical infrastructure) enabled on an international scale. The end result will not be more security, but far less. Or, as you might put it in 130 characters or less: Security backdoors and broken encryption will enable more criminal and terrorist activity than they prevent. Consider the consequences rather than being seduced by the soundbite. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe. MMA champion and pro-boxer Conor McGregor continues his Las Vegas residency with Wynn Nightlife as he hosts his official post-fight party Saturday, January 18, 2020. Following his match against Donald Cerrone, McGregor will join fans at the luxurious nightlife venue, Encore Beach Club at Night, for the ultimate fight weekend event. We welcome Conor McGregor back to host an incredible post fight event. We take pride in the variety of events and programs we offer our guests and look forward to providing his fans with an elevated experience to celebrate the evening, says Pauly Freedman, Vice President of Wynn Nightlife. Throughout the action-packed evening, guests will be able to toast with McGregors very own Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey in Encore Beach Clubs 55,000 square feet of tropical oasis. Tickets are on-sale now For table reservations and additional information, please visit www.WynnNightlife.com. Standard nightclub dress code applies. Chinese guided-missile destroyer Yinchuan (Hull 175, L) and guided-missile frigate Yuncheng (Hull 571, R) dock at the Karachi military port after completing the drills at 6 p.m. on January 13, local time. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Dong Zhaohui) KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan. 14 -- As the last cleat hitch of Chinas guided-missile frigate Yuncheng (Hull 571) was tied to the dock at 3 p.m. on January 13, all naval ships of the Chinese fleet participating in the PN-PLAN Bilateral Exercise, code-named Sea Guardians-2020, have returned to Karachi Port, Pakistan, marking the successful completion of the maritime phase of the bilateral exercise. From leaving the port early in the morning on January 10, to their berthing at the dock on the afternoon of January 13, 11 naval ships from China and Pakistan have carried out over 10 drill subjects as the vessels breaching three meters of high wave in waters of the northern Arabian Sea. The drill subjects include anti-pirate speedboat attack, maritime interception and temporary inspection, helicopter cross-deck landing, anti-missile drill, search and rescue drill, change of guard formation, ship-aircraft coordinated anti-submarine drill, underway replenishment control, submarine rescue and lifesaving. Senior Captain Ye Dan, commander of the Chinese naval fleet, said after returning to Karachi Port: The joint exercise promoted the deep integration of the technologies and tactics of the two navies and deepened the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. The first actual-troop submarine rescue exercise at sea greatly improved the underwater emergency rescue capabilities of the two navies, and also tested and improved the actual combat training level of the formation. The entire formation completed the scheduled subjects and related training plans and laid a good foundation for our new mission, he added. The Chinese and Pakistani naval ships steam in formation in waters of the northern Arabian Sea.(eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Mu Ruilin) The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Sunday, Jan. 12 11:37 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a vehicle sliding off the roadway in Jerome Township. 10:06 p.m. -- Deputies were sent to a Jerome Township home for a report of a 9-1-1 hang up. Upon arrival, contact was made with a 50-year-old woman who said she cut herself with a razor blade. The woman made comments that were suicidal in nature, and was transported to the ER for treatment and a mental health petition. 9:43 p.m. -- Officers responded to a report of domestic assault and strangulation in the 6100 block of Jefferson Avenue. 9:27 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Edenville Township. 9:23 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a single-vehicle crash in the area of South Greendale Road and West Isabella Road in Greendale Township. 6:18 p.m. -- Officers responded to an animal bite in the 3000 block of Pomranky Road. 3:49 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a single-vehicle traffic crash in Homer Township. 1:43 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a two-vehicle traffic crash in Larkin Township. 1:22 p.m. -- Officers responded to a domestic assault in the 4300 block of Jefferson Avenue. 11:44 a.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 5300 block of Siebert Street. 9:08 a.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 800 block of Joe Mann Boulevard. 8:40 a.m. -- A deputy responded to a Lincoln Township roadway for a truck that struck a tire. The driver driving the truck that lost the tire was cited for operating while license expired. 6:05 a.m. -- Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Lee Township. 3:26 a.m. -- A deputy made contact with the Bay City Police Department in reference to a prisoner transport. A 48-year-old Bay City man was arrested on an outstanding Midland County warrant for failure to appear for court. Saturday, Jan. 11 10:34 p.m. -- A 16-year-old Lee Township man was found intentionally driving through the grass at the Sanford Village Park. The man had done a small amount of damage when he became stuck, and was issued a citation for malicious destruction of property. 8:35 p.m. -- A deputy was sent to a Larkin Township home and met with a 55-year-old woman who was the victim of a fraud. The victim received an email from a subject claiming to be her pastor at her church. The email was asking for money on gift cards. The victim purchased five $50 gift cards and provided the "pastor" with the numbers on the cards. The victim later learned it was a scam and called the police. There are no suspects at this time. 8:02 p.m. -- A 63-year-old Warren Township man reported his 56-year-old roommate missing. It was determined that the 56-year-old man was at the MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland ER from a traffic stop handled by Midland Police earlier that morning. 6:46 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash causing injuries in the area of Isabella Street and Vance Road. 6:04 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of East U.S.-10 and the Jefferson Avenue overpass. 1:57 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and West Sugnet Road. 12:18 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Isabella Street and Currie Parkway. 6:52 a.m. -- Deputies responded to a traffic crash in Larkin Township. 2:27 a.m. -- A 32-year-old Midland man was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for unpaid child support in Mississippi. In northwest Burma, Rakhine state is turning into a war zone. Army efforts to suppress the tribal resistance have not only failed but the fighting has spread to most of the state. Soldiers have been fighting the AA (Arakan Army) rebels in the area since mid-2019 and periods of active combat have been more common in the last few months. Not a lot of casualties but enough armed men shooting at each other to make life miserable and the economy weaker. The traditional (for decades) army tactics are not working in Rakhine and neighboring Shan states. The usual approach was to use a combination of artillery fire and advancing infantry to push AA rebels away from roads or other areas the army wants to control, at least temporarily. The rebels have adapted to that and taken advantage of growing anger throughout Rakhine state at the army. This is the result of several years of increased violence that is largely the fault of the army. Part of this is due to the army campaign to drive hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Moslems into Bangladesh. Nearly a million Rohingya were pushed out of Rakhine in the past five years and the government is not cooperating with Bangladesh and the UN to allow the Rohingya to return. That means Rakhine state has lost about 30 percent of its population and nearly all its Moslems. Before all the anti-Rohingya violence started in 2011 Rakhine state had long been the poorest state in Burma. The economic situation got worse and worse through 2018 as the economy of Rakhine state was hurt badly by the population losses and disruption of economic activity in general. While the rest of the country saw an improved economy since democracy returned in 2011, its been quite the opposite in Rakhine and the remaining tribal militias have shown a preference for fighting the army rather than just submitting to the growing poverty and chaos. The violence in Rakhine never escalates into what might consider heavy combat. It is a war of skirmishes. There have been a lot more skirmishes over a wider area in the last year. In that time over 100,000 civilians, mostly rural villagers, have been driven away by the fighting and the army reliance on lots of firepower. Rakhine state only has about two million people so that many refugees is a heavy burden. The escalation began in mid-2018 as the army increased its efforts to impose control on territory along the west coast (Rakhine and Chin states). A major reason for all this army effort is the army attempts to control (tax) illegal enterprises established by tribesmen. The tribes have been mistreated by the military for so long it is difficult to generate a lot of trust and put an end to the armed resistance. So the army decided to try more emphasis on brute force. This posed some special problems in Rakhine state because of the AA rebels Unlike most tribal militias in the north, the AA was never given official recognition, in large part because the AA was more of a gangster operation than just tribal rebels. All this police activity was unpopular but at least it was less arbitrary and lawless than what the army does. Soldiers tend to torture and kill people they pick up or kidnap. That sort of behavior has always been illegal but now some violators are prosecuted. AA leaders believe they are winning and have established a base camp and headquarters in Rakhine state. The AA and their ally the KIA (Kachin Independence Army) have joined forces to recruit and train local men to resist the army. Together the two rebel groups have over 10,000 armed men. This force is expensive to maintain and the rebels pay for it with all manner of legitimate, and/or mostly illegal money-raising schemes. January 12, 2020: In the northwest, across the Indian border in Assam about fifty Indian tribal rebels of the NDFB-S (Bodoland) entered India from Burma and surrendered. These rebels had refused to take part in an earlier peace agreement between Assam tribal rebels and the Indian government and were apparently persuaded to return to India because of the years of cooperation between India and Burma to eliminate rebels and outlaws from both sides of the border. In 2016 Indian and Burmese troops began joint patrols along with parts of their mutual border. This was one result of a mid-2015 agreement to cooperate with India to prevent Indian rebel groups from establishing bases inside Burma. In mid-2015 the Burmese army sent several thousand additional troops to the 1,643 kilometer long Indian border. Burma admits it is responsible for detecting and expelling these illegal visitors but most of the border area is thinly populated forests and mountains and it is very difficult to get troops into the area and very expensive to support them as they seek out and deal with any intruders. India believed it was a matter of priorities. The cooperation with India went beyond sharing intelligence and coordinating security operations on both sides of the border. To help with this India also sent a few more battalions to areas the rebels seem to prefer to cross at and increased patrols on the Indian side of the border. This makes it more difficult for the rebels to move to their Burma sanctuaries but does not stop them. This intense interest in border security began with a June 4th 2015 ambush inside India where Indian rebels operating from Burmese bases inflicted heavy casualties on Indian troops. This led to an Indian cross-border commando raid a few days later that destroyed the rebel camp Burma insisted did not exist. This was clear evidence that despite Burmese promises in 2014 to shut down such camps the rebels were still there. In mid-2015 India believed there were at least 25 such camps in northern Burma, with precise locations given for 17 camps. Some are as close as six kilometers from the border while others are up to 40 kilometers away. The rebels got the message and most packed up and moved back to Assam on the Indian side of the border. January 11, 2020: In the northwest (Rakhine state), an AA roadside bomb damaged two police vehicles but did not injure any of the police in them. January 10, 2020: Burma and Bangladesh worked out a joint border security agreement for their mutual border. This is similar to the 2015 agreement between Burma and India. On the Bangladesh border the main problem drug or people smugglers. The agreement specifies how suspects arrested on either side of the border will be treated and which ones will be returned to the other side for prosecution. Without this agreement the problem of who to send where was complicated by the many Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh working for the smugglers and getting caught by security forces on either side of the border. Bangladesh considers these Rohingya refugees Burmese citizens and Burma disagrees. January 9, 2020: China revealed that its leader would make a state visit to Myanmar on January 17-18 and discuss matters of mutual interest with Burmese leaders. There a lot of things to discuss, including the Rohingya refugees, tribal rebel violence on the Chinese border and Chinese investments in Burma. China has been protecting Burma in the UN, where there are calls for punishing Burma over the Rohingya mess. The tribal rebels are largely an internal Burmese matters. Burmese negotiations with the tribal rebels have been heavily influenced by China. That is because China is part of the problem. Before the military gave up power in 2011 Burmese officers had made a lot of money allowing China to do business in the tribal north, often at the expense of local civilians, most of them tribal people. This continues to cause problems as China tries to maintain many of these economic projects by including them in the new CMEC (China-Myanmar Economic Corridor) agreement China and Burma signed in late 2018. That agreement called for both countries to begin detailed negotiations on where a 1,700 kilometer long transportation corridor from southern China (Yunan province) to central Burma (Mandalay) and then west to the coast at the Kyaukpyu SEZ (Special Economic Zone) will be built and what it will consist of. The corridor would improve roads, railroads and build, as needed, pipelines and electrical transmission lines. This would be financed by China and built mainly by Chinese construction firms. CMEC paid special attention to the risk of a debt trap where Burma might find itself with debt it could not repay unless it turned over new facilities to Chinese ownership or control. This has happened in other nations, most recently in Sri Lanka. Burma needs the investment and since 1988 China has been the major foreign investor in Burma with projects totaling $20 billion so far. Burma told China it was working on special debt trap provisions and the main one is for China to allow foreign nations to provide some of the loans needed for the CMEC work. Details of this deal are still being negotiated. This explains why only nine of the 38 projects that comprise CMEC have so far been approved by Burma. Reaching agreement on the rest of those projects gives Burma some leverage over China. CMEC is the Burma component of the massive Chinese Obor (One Belt, One Road) effort. Also called BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), Obor is all about China building roads, railroads, pipelines and ports to make it easier for Chinese imports and exports to move around, from East Asia to Europe, Africa and more. Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand Sri Lanka and Burma are all BRI participants that are seeing billions of dollars in construction Chinese projects taking place and the terms of these deal tend to favor China, not the country where the construction takes place. Not surprisingly many people in these BRI countries see the Chinese investments as another form of colonialism. China prefers not to call it colonialism but rather seeking to expand its commercial activities. The Burmese tribes have long depended on Chinese cash and diplomatic influence to survive. China is working that angle as much as it can to get their costly development projects operational and want long-term peace with the tribes to keep the Chinese investments safe and profitable. Many of the tribal people are more willing to trust the Chinese than their own government which puts it all on China to make this work. While these Chinese projects often displace tribal people, usually without any compensation, the Chinese are more willing to make long-terms deals with the locals. For the Chinese it is just business while the Burmese see the tribes as potential rebels and long-term antagonists. All the disagreements over border security and CMEC have not slowed down the growth in trade with China. In 2019 that trade increased 38.5 percent over 2018 to $17.7 billion. That is huge considering that the Burmese GDP is $67 billion. January 8, 2020: In the north (Shan state), the army attacked a KIA (Kachin Independence Army) training base and were repulsed. The AA and the KIA are long-time allies and have joined forces to recruit and train local men to resist the army. Together the two rebel groups have over 10,000 armed men. This force is expensive to maintain and the rebels pay for it with all manner of legitimate, and mostly illegal money-raising schemes. The two groups also maintain a number of rural training bases that are well defended and the army has yet to try a major operation to shut down these bases. January 2, 2020: In the southeast (Karen State), soldiers moved into territory controlled by Karen tribal rebels and were fired on. That led to the use of artillery and two nearby civilians were wounded. One soldier died and the troops halted their advance. The rebels involved belong to the KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army). Unlike many other tribal rebels, the troops were up against the 5th Brigade of the KNLA and its 3,000 armed men and strong enough to handle most anything the army can throw at them. The army says it is merely trying to build new roads to improve the economy. The KNLA believes the army wants better access to KNLA controlled areas in order to carry out more attacks against the KNLA. The Karen have a peace deal with the government and accuse the army of regularly violating that agreement. JERUSALEM - Israels military said Wednesday that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired four rockets at southern Israel. Two were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, it said, and there were no reports of injuries or damage. Hours later, Israeli airstrikes targeted several Hamas military sites in the northern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported. The rocket attacks from the Palestinian enclave were the first in nearly a month and came amid quiet, international efforts to bolster an informal truce between Israel and Gazas ruling Hamas militant group. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire. In November, Israel and the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad fought the worst round of violence in months after the Israeli military killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and dozens of smaller flareups since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The bitter enemies have been conducting indirect negotiations through Egyptian, U.N. and Qatari mediators aimed at easing an Israeli blockade of the territory in exchange for quiet and a halt to rocket fire. Persimmon has revealed completions are down 4% as it focuses on putting quality over quantity (Andrew Milligan/PA) Housebuilder Persimmon saw the number of homes it completed fall by 4% in the last year, as the company attempts to improve the quality of its building work following a scathing report into its work practices. Bosses were told that they were focusing too much on building as many houses as possible but failing to ensure the homes were habitable for the long term. The fall means full-year revenues hit 3.65 billion in the 12 months to December 31, down 2.4% compared with a year earlier. The average selling price was just 137 more than a year ago, at 215,700, the company added. Dave Jenkinson, chief executive, said: Delivering the maximum benefit to our customers from our quality and service improvement initiatives will continue to be my top priority for 2020. I am pleased with the progress we have made in 2019 and there is more to do. Action taken to maintain our increased levels of work in progress investment, the increase in quality assurance and customer service resources, and our plans for the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Independent Review, will all add to our momentum. Published in December and led by Stephanie Barwise QC, the report found Persimmon did not properly install fire barriers in homes. The company was criticised for a series of failures and accused of focusing on achieving a five-star rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF), rather than building high-quality and safe homes. Persimmon is moving away from focusing on the HBF rating, which is based on customer reviews shortly after the house is completed, and is not a measure of the true quality and safety of the build. Although Mr Jenkinson said: While our plans for delivering a sustained improvement in quality go far beyond a focus on the criteria of the HBF customer satisfaction survey, our current rating, which is trending strongly ahead of the four star threshold, is tangible evidence of the improvement we are making. He added that more details and a fuller response to the independent report and an update on the UK housing market would follow in the next few months. The company said: Looking ahead to the 2020 spring season, Persimmon is in a strong market position. The group has a nationwide outlet network and a range of attractive house types available at affordable prices across the UK regions, supported by high quality land holdings and a conservative balance sheet. Persimmon also announced non-executive director Claire Thomas, who joined the board in August last year, has decided to quit. She said: I have valued being part of the Persimmon board and the experience it presented but it has also made clear to me my preference for working in a large-scale complex global business environment. In my time on the board I have seen clear and determined efforts to transform the business and I wish Persimmon the best in their ongoing efforts. Australian Defence Force Advised To Walk Away From Costly Future French Submarine Project Australias Defence Force was advised to walk away from its A$80 billion French submarine deal during tense contract negotiations, according to a report by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) released Tuesday. The submarines are being designed and constructed by Frances Naval Group at the Osborne Shipyard on the Lefevre Peninsula in South Australia. The Commonwealth and Naval Group, chosen to build Australias future submarines, appeared to be at loggerheads over the Strategic Partnering Agreement, a key agreement which was signed by Defence and Naval Group on Feb. 11, 2019, and would provide a framework for the complex and costly project. The agreement included a provision for Australia to break the contract if the subs were delayed or failed to deliver promised capability. According to the ANAO report, The Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board warned that Defence should consider alternatives to the current plan in the context of determining if there was a best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) in the event contract negotiations were not successful. Defence began examining whether it could extend the service life of the existing Collins-class submarines and the time this would allow to develop a new acquisition strategy for the Future Submarine if necessary. Concerns grew so much that the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board commented that Defense should assess whether program risks outweighed the benefits of proceeding and consider if proceeding is in the national interest. The ANAO report confirmed that the program is running nine months behind deadline and that the Defence cannot demonstrate that its expenditure of $396m has been fully effective in achieving key milestones. The program is currently experiencing a nine-month delay in the design phase against Defences pre-design contract estimates, and two major contracted milestones were extended, the report read. As a result, Defence cannot demonstrate that its expenditure of $396 million on design of the Future Submarine has been fully effective in achieving the programs two major design milestones to date. Defence expenditure on design represents some 47 percent of all program expenditure to 30 September 2019. The design and construction of the Future Submarine fleet represent the largest Defence procurement in Australias history, which the ANAO described as a megaproject by all international standards and the most challenging acquisition program it has undertaken. According to the report, the acquisition was placed at a higher risk due to the militarys decision not to acquire a militaryoffthe-shelf submarine platform, and instead engage a strategic partner to design and deliver the submarines with significant Australian industry input. The report also revealed that Defence had identified that the fabrication of complex hull parts, requiring skilled personnel and sophisticated machinery, presented a risk to the program and have therefore approved the fabrication of the parts for the first future submarine to be undertaken in France, rather than Australia, in an effort to avoid delays. However, fabrication for the remaining 11 submarine hulls is to be undertaken in Australia. The Department of Defence added that it is in the process of acquiring 12 new submarines to replace the six Collins-class submarines currently operated by the Royal Australian Navy. A Royal Australian Navy diesel and electric-powered Collins Class submarine sits in Sydney Harbour, on Oct. 12, 2016. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images) Despite the persistent problems, Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said there has been no change to the delivery timeframe of 2032. I welcome the important ANAO [Australian National Audit Office] findings that the Federal Government has established a fit-for-purpose strategic partnering agreement with Naval Group, and that there are appropriate risk management strategies in place to deliver the Future Submarine Program, Senator Reynolds said in a statement. The first Attack Class submarine is scheduled for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy in 2032. The ANAO report confirmed there has been no change to this delivery timeframe or budget. The program is highly complex and requires a long-term focus. Whilst the Future Submarine Program is still in the early design phase and there have been some delays, it is essential to get the design right, she added. Wildwood is used to handling massive crowds at the Jersey Shore town but usually not in the dead of winter. The resort community is preparing for whats expected to be thousands of people descending upon the town midweek to witness President Donald Trumps rally at the Wildwood Convention Center on Jan. 28. While the convention center holds about 7,000 people, some county officials said theyve heard at least double that amount of tickets have been issued for the event, in which Trump will endorse newly-minted Republican Jeff Van Drew for his re-election bid in the 2nd Congressional District. In the summer, Wildwood has about 150,000 people on any given day in July and August, Cape May County spokeswoman Diane Wieland said. With fewer businesses open, it makes that more challenging, but it is Wildwood, and I have no doubt they can do this. Wieland said she had heard various estimates for the number of requested tickets for the rally, one as high as 19,000. Wieland said that while plans have still not been finalized, there could be the possibility that the overflow crowds may be able to watch the speech outside at either nearby Fox Park or the boardwalk itself. Since the news of Trumps visit was announced, there has been a buzz going on amongst businesses and Trump supporters in Cape May County. The announcement of the rally sent the demand for hotels in the area up. Some resorts were listing prices as high as $1,000 a night earlier this month. Director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority Ben Rose said some of the room rates in the city are high because properties that have closed for the season keep one room online to keep their account active for the next season. The price is set high with the expectation that no one will book it. Management of one Wildwood hotel, The Bolero Resort, went on Facebook to address the claims that numerous hotels were hiking prices. There have been several rumors about the prices that hotels have been charging for the Trump Rally later this month and we feel the need to clarify our position, the resort wrote in the Facebook statement. While we could have easily raised our rates for the event, we felt that it would have been in bad taste. We are very grateful to be a part of this historic occasion and are looking forward to hosting all of our valued customers. The Bolero said it sold out within 12 hours of the rally announcement at its normal rates of between $103 and $133 a night. As of Tuesday, most hotels in Wildwood city limits were sold out although there was at least one hotel with availability for a queen bed that would cost $525 a night plus taxes. With many locations sold out, the requests for rooms have reached up to places as far away as Atlantic City, all the way down to Cape May. Wieland said many groups across the county are putting together information to let visitors know what businesses and restaurants will be open, and a few will be opening early to try to take advantage of the large crowds. It is a nice bump in tourism for us, Wieland said. It certainly is nothing we could ever have planned for or could have counted on. Our business community is excited and hopefully will lead to some more business during the winter months. As for the expected large crowds, the convention center and its support staff will be ready, according to Rose. Our regular staff is very experienced in handling crowds at the convention center. We are certainly being prepared to feed everybody by opening concession stands and offering food and beverage. I know there will be outdoor port-a-potties, everything to make the people here comfortable. As for the estimated amount of tickets being mentioned, Trump Victory Campaign Spokeswoman Ellie Hockenbury said it was common to see a high demand for tickets to see Trump. President Trump always packs the house at his rallies, and we expect no different in New Jersey, Hockenbury said. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. BANGKOK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Europ Assistance today announced the opening of their new office in Bangkok, Thailand to provide its world-renowned travel and medical networks to the region and complete the presence of the Generali Group in Thailand. This is part of their overall plan to accelerate their presence in the region after operating in both China and India over the past thirty years. Additionally, by having experienced teams on the ground with deep knowledge of the Thai market, Europ Assistance will be able to provide a higher level of client support in local languages. This will allow Europ Assistance to expand its partnerships with local airlines, travel agents, insurance providers, and banks. While the initial focus will be on growing its local travel and medical network, Europ Assistance plans to offer its full suite of services in Thailand. There are also future plans to strengthen the local team's capabilities in order to continue offering premium services to current customers and potential partners in the region. Philippe Demangeat, CEO Southeast Asia at Europ Assistance: "Thailand has a vibrant, bustling economy and we are excited to solidify our presence in the region. We are establishing this new foothold to support the increase of local demand for our services. We are confident that Thailand will remain a long-term strategic hub for Europ Assistance, allowing us to continue our commitment to better serve both customers and businesses across the region." ABOUT EUROP ASSISTANCE GROUP Founded in 1963, Europ Assistance, the inventor of assistance, supports customers in over 200 countries and territories thanks to our network of 750.000 approved providers and 39 assistance centres. Our mission is to bring people or corporates from distress to relief anytime, anywhere. We provide roadside assistance, travel assistance and insurance, as well as personal assistance services such as the protection of the elderly, the protection of digital identity, telemedicine and the Conciergerie. The vision of our 7.765 employees is to be the most reliable care company in the world. Europ Assistance is part of the Generali Group, one of the world's leading insurers. Media Relations Jonathan Heywood T + 33.6.12.29.78.39 [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropAssistance/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/europ-assistance/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ea_group?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/europassistancegroup SOURCE Europ Assistance Group Related Links http://www.europ-assistance.com Six candidates, the smallest field to date, took the stage Tuesday for the seventh Democratic presidential debate.The debate was the first one of 2020 and the last one before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, which will boost the fortunes of those who do well and perhaps fatally cripple the candidacies of those who finish far behind the leaders. Going into the debate, polls showed a four-way race for first place, with Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren separated by less than five percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average. They were the only candidates in double figures. The other two participants were Amy Klobuchar, in fifth place in polling, and Tom Steyer, who is spending millions from his own pocket on advertisements and qualified for the debate at the last minute due to strong polling numbers in Nevada and South Carolina. So who do you think won the debate? Vote in the informal, unscientific poll below. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. LAS VEGAS - Prosecutors deliberately scuttled the 2017 trial of a Nevada rancher and several others involving an armed standoff against U.S. officials, so the government shouldnt be allowed to revive the case, an attorney told an appeals court set to hear arguments in coming weeks. Attorney Alyssa Bell, representing co-defendant Ryan Bundy, said Wednesday that prosecutors misdeeds forced defendants attorneys to ask the judge to dismiss the case midway through proceedings. A retrial would violate the Fifth Amendment ban against being tried twice for the same offence, she said. Retrying the case would only advantage the government by allowing them to strengthen their witnesses testimony based on the knowledge gained from information ... revealed thus far, Bell said in an Aug. 21 court filing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich in Las Vegas declined to comment outside court. A March 23 hearing was set in Las Vegas. Larry Klayman, an attorney for co-defendant Cliven Bundy, said Tuesday he expects appellate judges will uphold Navarros dismissal of the case that the lawyer called an unjust and political prosecution fatally infected with extreme prosecutorial misconduct. In his court filing, Klayman branded the government appeal as a Hail-Mary effort to shield the U.S. attorneys who handled the Bundy case from career-ending sanctions, if not ... criminal prosecutions. Ammon Bundy and Montana civilian militia leader Ryan Payne also are named in the appeal. Cliven Bundy is the father of Ammon and Ryan Bundy. Navarro pulled the plug on the trial in December 2017, ripping prosecutors and governmental agents for intentional abdication of ... responsibility, flagrant misconduct and deliberate attempts to mislead and distort the truth. Navarro said the government purposely failed to disclose to defence lawyers evidence that federal agents had snipers and cameras around the Bundy home ahead of the April 2014 standoff in rural Bunkerville. Hundreds of protesters and armed Bundy family supporters forced federal Bureau of Land Management officials, FBI agents and contract cowboys to give up enforcing court orders to round up Bundy cattle. Cliven Bundy, four sons and 14 other people were indicted in 2016 on charges including conspiracy and assaulting federal officers that could have gotten them life in prison. Bundy, 73, maintains the federal government has no authority over state lands. He refused for decades to pay government grazing fees for his cows in what is now Gold Butte National Monument, about 80 miles (129 kilometres) northeast of Las Vegas. ____ This story has been corrected to say Cliven Bundy, four sons and 14 other people were indicted in the case, not 15 others. Deepak Nitrite rose 0.68% to Rs 392 after the company said it acquired a 125-acre industrial land in Gujarat for Rs 99.25 crore. Deepak Nitrite has acquired industrial land admeasuring around 125 acres situated at Dahej in Gujarat for Rs 99.25 crore. The company will utilise the land for the future growth plans. The disclosure was made during trading hours today, 15 January 2020. The stock surged 80.35% in the past one year. On a consolidated basis, Deepak Nitrite's net profit surged 532.8% to Rs 150.41 crore on 117.6% jump in net sales to Rs 1,003.33 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Deepak Nitrite offers sodium nitrite, 2 ethyl hexyl nitrate and optical brightening agent (OBA). The firm's segments include bulk chemicals and commodities (BCC), fine and speciality chemicals (FSC), and fluorescent whitening agent (FWA). The BCC segment offers nitro tolunes, fuel additives and sodium nitrite/nitrate. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Fewer physicians are pursuing careers in obstetrics, in part because of the intense, round-the-clock demands of the job and a high burnout rate. An unusually large number of practicing obstetricians are expected to retire within the next decade, which will add to an already acute physician shortage. One solution to this staffing challenge is a collaborative care model used at Mayo Clinic Health System ? Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse, where certified nurse-midwives lead the care team. Certified nurse-midwives provide care for obstetric patients who are at low to moderate risk as part of a team model described in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes. Patients choose whether to use the care model, which ensures that a certified nurse-midwife is in the hospital around the clock, with generalist obstetricians on call, when needed. The nurse-midwife cares for obstetric patients only, and admits labor induction, pre-labor and active labor patients. The report says the model could be used by similar hospitals that do not employ obstetricians dedicated to labor and delivery. "Across the country, hospital delivery units are facing a shortage of obstetricians due to a change in the workforce and increasing demands," says Gokhan Anil, M.D., an OB-GYN at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Minnesota, and first author of the report. "Innovative approaches to staffing are needed to serve the needs of the patient, increase collaboration and improve patient safety." The collaborative care model has had several positive outcomes since it was implemented in July 2014. The primary cesarean section birth rate has declined, as have vaginal operative deliveries. And the rate of vaginal births after C-section has increased. Admissions to the neonatal ICU decreased from 14.9% in 2012 ? before the care model was offered ? to 10.9% in 2017. "This approach also has resulted in a shorter length of stay in the hospital for our patients, which always is a good thing for patients, especially a new mother and child," says Dr. Anil, who previously was on staff at Franciscan Healthcare. The model has won high marks from patients and helped address staffing challenges. "Based on previous research and our experience, women who receive midwife-led continuity of care are less likely to need an intervention and are more likely to be satisfied with their care," says Costa Sousou, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Franciscan Healthcare. "This team approach allows us to continue to provide high-quality care with a more sustainable and cost-effective staffing model. We think it's a model that other institutions may find worth exploring." ### About Mayo Clinic Health System Mayo Clinic Health System consists of clinics, hospitals and other facilities that serve the health care needs of people in more than 60 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The community-based providers, paired with the resources and expertise of Mayo Clinic, enable patients in the region to receive the highest-quality physical and virtual health care close to home. JACKSON, Mississippi -- A 54-year-old Moss Point man will spend the next 16 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine. Lowery Sanders of Moss Point was sentenced last Friday in U.S. District Court in Jackson. Judge Henry T. Wingate levied the sentence, which also includes five years of post-release supervision, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Sanders was also ordered to pay a $1,500 fine. In June 2018, Biloxi police were tipped off that Sanders would be involved in drug activity at a local hotel. A day later, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) learned Sanders would be traveling to Jackson to purchase three ounces of meth for $1,300. Further investigation confirmed that Sanders obtained the meth in Jackson. Later that same day, Biloxi investigators saw Sanders exit his vehicle and enter a Biloxi hotel. Officers approached Sanders, advised him of complaints about drug activity and asked for and received permission to search Sanders room. During the search, three ounces of methamphetamine, along with other drugs, were found. The meth was tested and confirmed to be 72 grams in net weight. An indictment against Sanders was issued on Feb. 6, 2019, and he entered a guilty plea on July 24. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the case was the result of an extensive investigation, dubbed Drama Queen, which targets illegal methamphetamine distribution in central Mississippi. The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service, Hinds County Sheriffs Office, Jones County Sheriffs Office, Jackson Police Department, Pearl Police Department, Biloxi Police Department and the Richland Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wansley prosecuted the case. EDEN, N.C. Miguel Bahena walked through fire for his family. Literally. The 30-year-old beloved father, who suffered major burns rescuing his family from a house fire just two years ago, died Saturday in a single car accident that left his three small children injured but recovering well. The specialty baker and playful dad had a passion for music and had celebrated his landmark birthday only three days prior to the accident that sent his southbound SUV off N.C. 87 near Crumpton Road around 4:45 p.m. Saturday. North Carolina State Troopers said Bahenas car went off the roadway to the right, then across to the left. When Bahena overcorrected, officials say he went off the road again and collided with a tree. He died at the scene. Investigators reported Bahena was not impaired or speeding at the time of the crash. Children Mason, 6, Anna, 3, and Madison, 3 weeks, were safely buckled in car seats, but sustained injuries, according to a news release from the Highway Patrol. Their grandfather Jeff Margensey of Eden was at Brenners Childrens Hospital in Winston-Salem on Monday, visiting Mason and Madison, who were undergoing treated for a broken arm and skull fracture, respectively. Mason suffered a fracture to his upper left arm, while the infant, born Dec. 20, was said to be recovering well and had just completed her third bottle Monday morning, said Margensey, who expected the children to be released early this week. Middle child Anna, originally transported to Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro on Saturday with her siblings, was released the same day with only scrapes and bruises, Margensey said. Cone transferred Mason and Madison to Brenners on Saturday. The son-in-law any father would wish for I was very proud of him because he was a great dad and a great husband to my daughter, Margensey said, noting his daughter Hannah married Bahena eight years ago. With his marriage and his children, he was just a wonderful son-in-law and he will be sorely missed. Reflecting on the May 2018 grease fire that consumed the Bahenas Eden home, Margensey described his son-in-laws courage. He went through the fire to get Mason. And he got burned. He carried Mason out around his waist, and Mason had some burns, but they got out. It was like a miracle. Mason was treated for third-degree burns at Brenners in 2018 and has healed well, as did his dad, whose face was significantly seared in the tragedy. He (Miguel) said all he could think about was to get everybody out of the house, said Bahenas friend and employer Chris Cusato, owner of Kalo Foods bakery in Stokesdale. He ran upstairs and told his wife and little girl (Anna) to get out. And the fire spread so fast. He went in to get Mason and Miguel was able to get him out. The blaze destroyed all of the young familys belongings and they lived with Margensey until they could reestablish a new household in Eden. Kindness was a hallmark of gentle dad Bahenas personality Miguel loved his family and his kids and was always showing pictures of them, Cusato said through tears. Hes been with us for six years and he has got a wonderful personality charming with a very sharp wit and extremely funny and talented, she said. I felt like he was one of my kids. We got really close. Sometimes it was just me and him baking, and we talked about lots of things. Endowed with a multitude of talents, Bahena performed quick mathematical calculations in the bakery and swiftly developed refined piping skills for icing cupcakes with rosettes and the like, his boss said. The musical Bahena was also known for his ability to play several instruments, Cusato said. The gentle dad, who did not believe in spanking, sported a beard and mustache and a teddy bear countenance. Dozens of photographs on his familys social media sites are windows to happy times for the Bahena family. Snapshots chronicle fun times with the young family at The Polar Express theme park in the Great Smoky Mountains, days at the arcade, swimming practice, jolly Christmas mornings, Halloween exploits, and most recently photos of the entire family embracing their newest member, baby Madison. We are going to miss him terribly, just terribly, Margensey said. A celebration of life service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany with the Rev. Linda Nye officiating. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday at Boone & Cooke, Inc. Funeral Home. Bahena was the son of Hugo Bahena and Anita Davis. In addition to his aforementioned immediate family, Bahena is also survived by Scott Mateo Lindemann of Florida; and his siblings, Monica Sanchez Natalia Bahena and Tony Bahena, both of Reidsville. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Friends of the Eden Animal Rescue, 1027 Rhodes Road, Eden, NC 27288. Susie C. Spear is a staff writer for RockinghamNow. She can be reached at 743-333-4101 and on Twitter @SusieSpear_RCN. The five candidates who have made it to the second round of the contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader have all signed the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) 10 Pledges to end the anti-Semitism crisis. The most enthusiastic signatory to a document which means a stepped up witch-hunt of anti-Zionist party members, putting right-wing scoundrels Sir Keir Starmer, Emily Thornberry, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips to shame, is Rebecca Long-Bailey, the supposed continuity candidate favoured by the Corbyn left. In an unprecedented intervention by an unelected and unrepresentative body in the leadership election of a political party, the pro-Zionist BoD declared, We believe Labour needs to sign up to [the pledges] in order to begin healing its relationship with the Jewish community. It demanded, We would expect candidates for Labour Leader or Deputy Leader to publicly & unequivocally endorse these in full. Rebecca Long-Bailey (Source: Wikipedia) The BoDs move was backed by right-wing newspapers including a backer of the pro-Netanyahu government in Israel, the Jewish Chronicle. Every single pledge reeks of authoritarianism in pursuit of a filthy witch-hunt. Point 1 demands, All outstanding and future cases [regarding anti-Semitism] should be brought to a swift conclusion under a fixed timescale. Point 2 demands, Make the Partys disciplinary process independent: An independent provider should be used to process all complaints, to eradicate any risk of partisanship and factionalism. Point 3 insists that Labour should turn over confidential information about its members to Key affected parties to complaints, including Jewish representative bodies, [i.e the BoD and other Zionist groups who] should be given the right to regular, detailed case updates, on the understanding of confidentiality. The BoD then makes the demand that those already thrown out of the party based on trumped-up accusations of anti-Semitism should never be allowed back in. Point 4 declares prominent offenders who have left or been expelled from the party, such as Ken Livingstone or Jackie Walker, will never be readmitted to membership. Point 5 has the most sinister implications, stating that Any MPs, Peers, councillors, members or CLPs who support, campaign or provide a platform for people who have been suspended or expelled in the wake of antisemitic incidents should themselves be suspended from membership. This lays the ground for further investigations into the backgrounds and social media accounts of Labour membersfrom rank and file members to MPsto find any evidence of them supporting or sympathising with those already fraudulently deemed anti-Semites. Constituency branches and other organisations who have organised protest meetings could face derecognition. This is a path to mass expulsions and blacklisting. There are thousands of rank and file members who are revolted by years of witch-hunting by the right, who have expressed support for those forced out, including Marc Wadsworth, Jackie Walker, former MP and London Mayor Ken Livingstone (50 years membership) and MP Chris Williamson (44 years membership). Point 6 is also aimed at escalating the witch-hunt and defining the terms on which Labour members are to be railroaded in the future, demanding: Adopt the international definition of antisemitism without qualification: The IHRA definition of antisemitism, with all its examples and clauses, and without any caveats, will be fully adopted by the party and used as the basis for considering antisemitism disciplinary cases. The IHRA s definition of anti-Semitism is a mechanism for censoring, silencing and even criminalising individuals and organisations that oppose Israels brutal subjugation of the Palestinians, while slandering the entire left as anti-Semitic. Point 9 demands that individual members are publicly named and shamed. Bland, generic statements should give way to condemnation of specific harmful behavioursand, where appropriate, condemnation of specific individuals. Long-Bailey responded by penning an article in the Jewish News, I will sign up to all of Boards asks in antisemitism fight, that appeared online just five hours after the BoD tweeted its pledges. She promised to enact all of the Board of Deputies recommendations and backed the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) [who] are investigating our processes. We now have a duty to respond to any recommendations they make by enacting them swiftly and in full. The EHRC investigation is being conducted at the behest of the Labour right and Zionist groups. Long-Bailey called for an immediate upscaling of the witch-hunt, writing, That is why the party is right to be excluding any prominent members who tour the country and the TV studios denying and diminishing the problem of antisemitism. But even this is not enough, with Long-Bailey declaring, My advice to Labour Party members is that it is never OK to respond to allegations of racism by being defensive. The only acceptable response to any accusation of racist prejudice is self-scrutiny, self-criticism and self-improvement. Such a statement, insisting that the only acceptable response to unproven accusations is to abase yourself before your accusers, could have been issued by prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky, during the Stalinist frame-ups and murder of revolutionists during the 1936-38 Moscow Trials. Her rush to embrace the witch-hunters also requires that she denounces her mentor Corbyn, with claims that she was a lone voice in the wilderness on Labours leading bodies over the last four yearsraising concerns that members accused of anti-Semitism were not being thrown out fast enough, etc. Speaking on Sky News Ridge on Sunday, Long Bailey claimed, I wasnt happy with the way our process was being run, Ill be honest, I dont think we were dealing with complaints quickly enough and I think thats quite clear, Ive been quite vocal about that. Asked if Corbyn bore personal responsibility, she said: He does and hes apologised. I think any Labour politician that leads the Labour Party should apologise again for what has happened because it has been unacceptable. Long-Baileys endorsement of the BoDs pledges is her own pledge to the Blairites that she would be even more subservient to their dictates than was Corbyn, a man whose name is synonymous with political cowardice and capitulation. It is unlikely to convince those she is seeking to woo. The Jewish Chronicle reported Senior Labour figures who have challenged leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Baileys claim to have lobbied Jeremy Corbyn behind the scenes to act over antisemitism. Alun Davies, a former Welsh government minister and member of Labours National Executive Committee said of her claim to have been quite vocal on the issue with various members of the partys leadership, tweeted, I dont remember you saying anything on this at NEC meetings or supporting those of us who raised these issues The JC also spoke to a second source familiar with NEC meetings that Ms Long-Bailey attended, who had no recollection of her challenging anyone in the leadership over antisemitism. Details of how the anti-Semitism witch-hunt was organised by the Blairites, in league with the Tory Party and intelligence agencies of the UK, US and Israel, continue to emerge. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) had its submission accepted by the EHRC in furtherance of the witch-hunt. On December 25, Joe Glasman, the head of its political investigations unit, posted a video online in which he commented, The beast is slain. Corbyn had been slaughtered in the election. We defeated him, he gloated. Glasman comments that the CAA was able to achieve its aims via a coordinated campaign that included utilising our spies and intel. Hundreds of Labour members and supporters responded angrily to the BoDs 10 pledges. One stated, We should all fight against antisemitism until it finally disappears from our society, but lets be blunt your actions are party political, you are Tories. Your support for Boris Johnson despite his history [of making racist statements] clearly shows this. Many others declared they could not remain in a party that accepted the BoDs terms. Among their comments were: I dont think I can carry on being a Labour member. If we are kow towing to the right wing BoD then its game over Find this abhorrent. Will be cancelling my membership this week Anyone left [in the leadership contest] who isnt backing this crap? Wont be possible to vote at this rate. Will probably have to leave the party, Socialists will have to leave Labour if it complies with BOD. Such hostility from rank and file membersmany among the hundreds of thousands who joined Labour due to Corbyns promise to represent a break with the Blairitesis a devastating indictment of their supposed leaders record of political capitulation. It is he who bears political responsibility for the renewed witch-hunt now on the agendawhether conducted by the Blairites he protected from expulsion or by equally wretched individuals such as Long-Bailey. A day after posting the 10 points, the BoD tweeted that pro-Corbyn deputy leadership candidates Richard Burgon and Dawn Butler were absent from the list of those who have signed the #TenPledges to tackle antisemitism in Labour. Just prior to the BoD issuing its pledges, Blairite leadership candidate Jess Phillips suspended her own constituency office manager, Salma Hamid, after the pro-Tory Daily Mail showed her tweets posted by Hamid between 2014 and 2016 that included We must show the world that Israel is the murderer! and Israel IS inflicting Holocaust conditions on Palestinians! Oppressive, racist and violent! Another tweet stated that Israel and Judaism were two totally different thingsone is an apartheid nation and the other is a faith based on peace and love. These tweets were denounced by Phillips as completely unacceptable. - A group has commiserated with the government of Niger Republic over the killing of its soldiers by Boko Haram members - The group also urged the United Nations to sanction all financiers of terrorism in Africa - The group made the call during a candle night procession at the Unity Fountain in Abuja - Also, Senator Rochas Okorocha and former Senate president Bukola Saraki commiserated with families of Nigeria's fallen heroes A group has grieved with the government and people of Niger Republic over the death of its troops by members of the terrorists' group. The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) also called for sanctions against sponsors of terrorism in Africa. At a candlelight procession held at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, on Tuesday, January 14, night in honour of the slain Nigerien soldiers across Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the CALSER further raised the alarm about foreign entities backing Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists on the continent. The Niger government declared a three-day of national mourning after 89 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base on Thursday. Heavily armed militants invaded an army outpost in Chinagodrar in the country's west, near the border of Mali, prompting the country's president Mahamadou Issoufou to axe its Army Chief. CALSERs convener Princess Ajibola, in her statement, blamed the United Nations for seemingly not doing enough to stop the subversive activities of countries that are sponsoring terrorists to destabilize Nigeria and the rest of Africa. Ajobola singled out France, which routinely have been fingered to be behind terrorism in Africa, especially owing to the Lake Chad resources. The group, therefore, called on the European nation and others eager to drown West Africa in the blood to heed lest they take the larger ember of the fire they are stoking to their bosom. In a situation where the UN doesn't take any action, CALSER advised authorities in Niger to bring the harshest repercussions yet upon the terrorists. "The Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) may think they have done their worst through the attack on the troops leading to such casualty on the government side, but one is reassured that the soldiers inflicted an equally high casualty on the terrorists by killing 77 of them," Ajibola said. She said: "CALSER appeals to the Nigerian Military to prepare a befitting reception for the terrorists that will soon be attempting to escape the consequences of their indiscretion in killing the Nigerien troops." She also urged that any terrorist attempting to escape from Niger should be made to realize the mistake of their way as such murderers should arrive into hails of bullets. "We must not allow them to have one hour of rest before being dispatched to the great beyond to answer for the sins they have committed against humanity," Ajibola said. Also, in commemoration of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Nigeria, Senator Rochas Okorocha and former Senate president, Bukola Saraki has celebrated with family and soldiers across the Nigerian Military. Saraki said: "Today, I honour the memory and sacrifice of the men and women of the Nigerian Armed forces who have given their lives in embodiment of the words of the Nigerian National Pledge - "...to defend her unity, and uphold her honour and glory." #ArmedForcesRemembranceDay Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Boko Haram terrorists abducted four soldiers and two policemen along Damaturu-Maiduguri Road. The terrorists who were said to have been dressed in military uniforms attacked the security officers in an ambush near Auno village on Damaturu-Maiduguri Road. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) - Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV Source: Legit.ng In this April 1, 2019 file photo, attorney Michael Avenatti arrives at federal court in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Michael Avenatti Arrested During California State Bar Hearing California attorney Michael Avenatti, known for representing Stormy Daniels against President Donald Trump, has been rearrested Tuesday evening during a disciplinary hearing in Los Angeles. The disciplinary hearing centered on allegations that Avenatti misappropriated $840,000 in settlement money owed to his former client, Gregory Barela. Avenatti allegedly kept the cash for himself for personal use despite Barela making continued inquiries about the funds. After the disciplinary hearing break, where the State Bar of California has initiated proceedings against Avenatti, he did not return back to the court, Fox News reported. Thomas Warren, the attorneys lead counsel in the disciplinary case, told the court that in relation to a criminal matter in Santa Ana, Avenatti was unable to return. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents reportedly arrested Avenatti outside the State Bar Court at 6 p.m. Avenattis lawyer, Dean Steward, confirmed the arrest. I can confirm that he was arrested by federal agents. I anticipate a bail hearing at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Magistrates Court in Santa Ana. I havent seen the details of the warrant, but should have it later this evening, Steward told Fox news. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles, Thom Mrozek, told The Washington Post that Avenatti was arrested on the allegation of violating the terms of his pretrial release, adding that he is expected to appear in Santa Ana federal court on Wednesday. His arrest was also notified to U.S. District Judge Paul G.Gardephe by New York prosecutors in a one-page letter. New York prosecutors wrote in the letter that Los Angeles prosecutors notified them that Avenatti was arrested in California for alleged violations. Walking out of the courthouse, the Daily Beast reported that Avenatti simply said, Completely innocent. Avenatti was scheduled for trial next week in a Manhattan federal court over his alleged plot to extort $25 million from Nike, according to USA Today, to which he has pleaded not guilty. He also faces another trial in May in Los Angeles on charges that he defrauded clients of millions of dollars for more than four years. Steven E. Bledsoe, a Los Angeles lawyer representing Gregory Barela, told The Post that Avenatti was digging himself an even bigger hole on the witness stand in the State Bar proceeding before his arrest. It is unfortunate that Mr. Avenattis arrest will delay the State Bar disciplinary proceedings, but it appears that losing his law license will be among the least of his worries, he said. From NTD News LAKE CHARLES A loud boom heard in southwest Louisiana Monday came from a chemical plant. There was an explosion and fire Monday around 1:30 p.m. at the Sasol plant in Lake Charles, news outlets reported. The plant's emergency response team put out the fire, spokeswoman Kim Cusimano told KPLC-TV. No injuries were reported and all employees and contractors were safe and accounted for, Cusimano said. The explosion came from the facility's low-density polyethylene unit, according to the American Press. The unit was in its final stages of commissioning and startup when the explosion happened. It has been shut down while the company investigates the cause. +3 Greenhouse gases released by oil, gas-related industry on the rise in Louisiana and nation: report An environmental watchdog group warns that emissions of greenhouse gases from three key industries linked to oil and gas are rising nationwide [January 15, 2020] Apartment Market Growth in 2019 Apartments.com - the most visited apartment-listing site - and CoStar Group - the data/analytics leader of the commercial real estate industry - looked at rental markets in the United States with more than 50,000 units and have compiled the hottest markets of 2019 according to number of new units, highest rent levels and rent growths, and decreases in vacancies. Highest Number of New Units With 19,522 apartment units built in 2019, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas leads the nation with the highest number of new units. For renters looking for a new home in Dallas, there are nearly 28,000 places to live available on Apartments.com currently, waiting for the perfect renter. It's only gotten more expensive for renters, as the average market rent was $1,191/month, growing about 2.3% last year. According to Apartments.com, the average apartment rent in Dallas is $969 for a studio, $961 for one bedroom, $1,436 for two bedrooms, and $1,652 for three bedrooms. Going into 2020, there should be plenty of affordable options for those looking to rent. Following behind Dallas-Fort Worth is New York City with 17,075 new units, Washington, D.C. with 12,852, Chicago with 10,012, and Denver with 9,547. Highest Rent Level To no surprise, San Francisco had the highest recorded market rent level of 2019 in the nation. In the past year, apartment rent in San Francisco increased by 1.8%, with the market rent level now averaging at $3,110. There are more than 4,000 apartments available on Apartments.com for renters searching for a new home in San Francisco. Renters should be prepared to pay an average rent of $2,381 for a studio, $3,018 for one bedroom, $4,128 for two bedrooms, and $4,893 for three bedrooms. In a competitive rental market such as San Francisco, renters should monitor Apartments.com often for new listings. After San Francisco, New York, NY has the next highest rent level of $2,833, followed by $2,770 in San Jose, CA (News - Alert), $2,525 in San Rafael, CA, and $2,314 in Boston, MA. Biggest Market Rent Growth In 2019, Phoenix, Arizona saw a 6.8% increase in market rent growth - the largest increase in the nation. With the market rent level averaging at just over $1,150, Phoenix still remains a fairly affordable market for renters. Phoenix apartment rents average $828 for a studio, $975 for one bedroom, $1,139 for two bedrooms, and $1,457 for three bedrooms. Apartments.com currently lists more than 12,000 availabe rentals in Phoenix. Other markets that saw great market rent growth in 2019 include Tucson, AZ with a 5.7% increase, Albuquerque, NM with a 5.1% increase, Las Vegas, NV with a 4.6% increase, and Raleigh, NC with a 4.6% increase. Largest Vacancy Percentage Decrease Charleston, SC saw the largest vacancy decrease of 300 basis points in 2019. The vacancy rate moved from 12.2% at the end of 2018 to 9.1% at the end of 2019. Renters looking for a new home in South Carolina's oldest and largest city can choose from over 3,500 available rentals on Apartments.com with average rent level of $1,223. The top five markets that saw the largest vacancy percentage decreases include Charleston, SC, Baton Rouge, LA, El Paso, TX, Madison, WI, and Grand Rapids, MI. Baton Rouge saw a 290 basis point decrease in vacancy and moved from 14.8% to 11.9%. El Paso saw a 211 basis point decrease, as the vacancy rate moved from 8.2% to 6%. Madison saw a 180 basis point decrease in vacancy as the rate moved from 5.2% to 3.4%. And Grand Rapids' vacancy rate moved from 7.2% to 5.4%, a decrease of 175 basis points. Renters searching in the hottest markets for a new apartment to call home can visit Apartments.com for more information. *Data as of 1/14/2020 About Apartments.com Apartments.com is the leading online apartment listing website, offering renters access to information on more than 1,000,000 available units for rent. Powered by CoStar, the Apartments.com network of sites includes Apartments.com, ApartmentFinder.com, ApartmentHomeLiving.com, Apartamentos.com, WestsideRentals.com, ForRent.com, ForRentUniversity.com, After55.com and CorporateHousing.com. Apartments.com is supported by the industry's largest professional research team, which has visited and photographed over 400,000 properties nationwide. The team makes over one million calls each month to apartment owners and property managers, collecting and verifying current availabilities, rental rates, pet policies, fees, leasing incentives, concessions, and more. Apartments.com offers more rental listings than any other apartments website, and innovative features including a Polygon tool that allows users to define their own search areas on a map, and a "Plan Commute" feature that lets users search for rentals in proximity to a specific address. Apartments.com creates easy access to its listings through a responsive website and iOS and Android (News - Alert) apps, and provides unmatched exposure for its advertisers through an intuitive name, strategic search engine placements and innovative emerging media. The Apartments.com network reaches millions of renters nationwide, driving both qualified traffic and highly engaged renters to leasing offices. For more information: www.Apartments.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005485/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto in an exclusive interview with Republic TV on Tuesday spoke about the issues faced by Hungary after proposing to back out from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Szijjartoin also stated that Hungary values Indian investors in their country as they contribute to change of the dimension of Hungary's national economy. He also said that Hungary aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of nationalism. Hungary's economy amid a battle with the IMF Speaking on the issues faced by Hungary amid their battle with the IMF, Peter Szijjartoin said, "We entered office in 2010 when Hungary was really at the edge of the cliff even under the IMF programme. Then we have put together an action plan on how to get out of the crisis and how to make Hungary strong but the IMF did not want to approve that economic policy strategy of ours so rather we concluded the corporation with IMF and we have regained back the freedom to act. Then we followed and completed a very brave economy policy. The economy policy basis of which was the elimination of the progressive tax system and the introduction of the flat tax, both for personal as well as corporate income." "Currently, we offer a lower tax rate in entire Europe. We are the only country which offers a single-digit of 9% corporate income tax rate and 15% personal income tax rate. We are continuously cutting the labour tax rate and the conclusion of which is currently we have the highest growth rate in the European Union that is 5.1%. Our unemployment rate has come down to 3% from 12.5%. So we have boosted the economy by increasing the GDP as well. All this is the result of the introduction of the Flat tax system. Out of 10 million of our total population 4.5 million are our taxpayers today. In 2010, only more than a million people paid taxes. Basically our employment rate has surpassed 70%," he added. READ | Hungary Rule On NGOs' Financing Seen In Conflict With EU Law Indian Investment in Hungary Talking about the Indian Investment in Hungary he said, "First of all, the lowest tax rates are very attractive. We also apply the one-stop-shop system which means that whoever comes to invest in Hungary can do it directly by the investment agencies, there are project managers for the company and they will help with the investment process. We also have, many cash incentives for our investors up to 50% of the value of an investment in cash. He added, "We really respect Indian investors as they are very diligent and also they bring the latest technology lastly they contribute to change of the dimension of our national economy. The biggest investors from India in Hungary is SMR Automotive, they operate more factories and automotive components. The TATA group has a big presence in Hungary. TCS employee over 2000 people in Hungary. Altogether, around 40 big Indian investments in the country. The Indian firms are employing over 10,000 Hungarians. We have also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the SMR and TATA group." When asked about how the current government manage the economic crisis, Szijarrto said, "The key is you need to be extremely disciplined on budgetary issues. On the other hand, we have a principle is that the state does not pay anything for nothing. We only pay something for something, which means that the vast subsidies are given to citizens in the form of tax exemption. It basically means that in order for the State to take care of you, you have to work. If you fail to find a job for three months the State offers a job. If a person rejects the State-offered job, he is out of the social system. So everybody has to work to bring the country forward," he added. READ | Hungary Offers Free Fertility Treatments In The Face Of A Declining Population 'Strict Anti-migration policy' Further talking about illegal immigrants entering Hungary, he said, "We have a strong Anti-migration policy. Our policy is that we stick to our right to decide whom we allow into our country. This decision must be made by us Hungarians only. So in order to achieve that we have sealed the borders and also built a fence which does not allow anybody to enter the country illegally. The only way to enter Hungary is the legal way. Entering the country illegally is against our sovereignty and so we push it back. We have zero illegal immigrants in our country." When asked about border fences, the Foreign Affairs minister said, "Building the fence cost us a lot of money. There were 400 thousand illegal immigrants showing no respect for law and attacking the police who were marching into the Hungarian territory. Our obligation to the State was to protect it and ensure a safe State for the people. So we began to build a fence. Those people who have violated our borders have crossed six safe countries to enter Hungary. What is the reason for someone to violate so many borders of safe countries? There is no right no international regulation to violate safe borders. So by definition who violate the borders, they cannot be a refugee but they are economic migrants," he stated. 'Fed up with the criticism on Boris' Talking about Brexit and European Union, he said, "We regret the decision of the British but we respect it as well. We never judge or criticise the decision of others. Leaving EU will cause some damage to the European economy and we would prefer if they stay. Boris Johnson is the only Prime Minister in the recent history of the UK to fulfil the will of the people. We are fed up with the criticism on Boris Johnson. It is very hypocritical." READ | Hungary Foreign Minister Praises PM Modi, Says, 'We Respect Patriotic Politicians' 'We respect PM Modi a lot' The Hungarian Foreign Minister also remarked that Hungary respects politicians who are patriotic and we look at patriotism as not something that is dangerous. Peter Szijjarto said, "Actually we respect PM Modi very much because we respect politicians who are patriotic and we look at patriotism as not something that is dangerous. You know, liberals, international media, tend to pose something bad and dangerous. We think totally in the other direction. Patriotism is good because of we patriots, we respect each other. We respect President Trump a lot when he says America first because what else should he say? These are all so hypocritical and politically correct statements. We respect Prime Minister Modi a lot. Hopefully, we the foreign ministers joining the rising dialogue will be received by him, that's going to be a great honour." Furthermore, he added, "We have also discovered these similar kinds of approaches to major dialogue between the economies but we have to put into consideration that India is a superpower and we are a small European country. So the dimensions are different but still, the direction of the approach is pretty similar." Szijjarto also reflected upon the term 'Nationalist' and how it is being misused. He said, "Expression of a nationalist is being misused. What nationalism means is to like your nation and put it first. That's why we are careful as well because you know we are living in a world where media has a strong impact. But we always respect those ideas, those persons, those elect governments who consider their nation as number one because what else should they consider number one, right?" READ | Russia Govt Resigns: Why Vladimir Putin May Stay In Power For Years, President Or Not Head of Libyan Parliament in Tobruk Says Ceasefire Over, War Will Continue - Reports Sputnik News 00:21 15.01.2020(updated 00:58 15.01.2020) Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander Khalifa Haftar and the head of the rival Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Sarraj, took part in peace talks mediated by Russia and Turkey in Moscow. At the end of the talks, the GNA delegation signed a ceasefire agreement, while the LNA commander left the Russian capital without inking the deal. According to multiple reports, Akile Salih, who is the president of the House of Representatives and is allied with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced that the ceasefire - announced by rival forces on Sunday - had ended and that war would continue. After the Moscow talks mediated by Russia and Turkey failed to yield an official ceasefire agreement, GNA-LNA skirmishes near Tripoli have reportedly resumed. The east-based Libyan army reported that fighting was underway in the Libyan capital's southern suburbs. The LNA reaffirmed its readiness to continue its offensive to 'liberate' Tripoli. Libya is being torn apart by the two rival administrations, beginning in 2011 when long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed, with the LNA controlling the east and the Tripoli-based GNA occupying in the country's west. The situation in Libya escalated over the past several weeks as LNA commander Haftar ordered his troops to advance on the Libyan capital of Tripoli, controlled by the UN-recognized GNA. The city has experienced being a battleground of similar attacks in April when hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured. A special conference in Berlin this Sunday will seek to restart the political process in Libya, under UN auspices. The GNA has confirmed it will attend. A response from Haftar and the LNA is pending. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ten U.S. senators increased public pressure on the Trump administration Wednesday to protect tenants in public housing from radioactive gas in response to a yearlong investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive. The bipartisan effort intensified after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ignored a request from Oregon Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to explain by Jan. 6 what the agency would do to safeguard residents from radon exposure. In a letter Wednesday, lawmakers requested a meeting with Ben Carson, the housing secretary, to understand why HUD has failed to act and to find a solution. Its unclear if Carson will honor the request or when a meeting might occur. To have 10 percent of the United States Senate weighing in on an issue like this, I think, sends a significant message, said Wyden, Oregons senior senator who is leading the coalition. In all, 14 U.S. senators or representatives have now called for radon protections in public housing. Joining Wyden and Merkley on Wednesdays letter are five senators who previously spoke publicly in response to the newsroom investigation, plus three additions: Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Angus King, I-Maine. This is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed, King told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The newsrooms Cancer Cloud investigation found that HUD and local housing authorities nationwide have failed for three decades to prevent radon exposure in public housing. The gas is estimated to kill 21,000 Americans annually and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. HUD does not require radon testing by housing authorities despite a mandate from Congress in 1988 for federal officials to protect tenants from hazardous levels of exposure. HUD in 2013 began strongly encouraging housing authorities to test but has failed to monitor progress. The newsroom surveyed 64 agencies nationwide, collectively responsible for nearly 125,000 units of public housing, and found that fewer than one in three could produce records showing they looked for radon. Wyden and Merkley were the first federal lawmakers to respond to the November investigation. In a sharply worded letter to Carson, they expressed serious concern that HUD had neglected its legal responsibility to protect tenants from radon. They pressed for answers to six questions, including whether HUD would push for mandatory testing and mitigation. HUD chose not to respond to the senators query by a Jan. 6 deadline. HUD on Tuesday didnt respond to questions from the newsroom about why the agency stayed silent. Wyden countered by building a bipartisan coalition of 10 senators to force the issue. I said, Lets up the ante, Wyden recalled. The senators on Wednesday continued to call out HUDs inaction, writing that the agency has not proactively ensured that low-income and vulnerable tenants are safe from radon. But the letter was also more conciliatory in tone than the initial December dispatch from Wyden and Merkley, seeking ways we can work together to solve this issue once and for all. The letter encouraged HUD to request in its upcoming budget enough money to pay for testing and mitigation in public housing. The senators said they were eager to work with HUD and urged swift action to address this problem. HUDs only response to date came hours after The Oregonian/OregonLive published its story. The agency emailed a reminder to housing authorities nationwide, encouraging testing. That response has been largely dismissed as meaningless. The impact of the HUD notice is only as good as the availability of resources for inspections and mitigation, Adrianne Todman, chief executive officer of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, said in a statement Tuesday. Also signing onto Wednesdays letter for HUD action were Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois. Durbin is the second-ranking Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate. With an impeachment trial looming, Wyden said he hopes to quickly set an agenda for a sit-down with Carson. But an actual meeting, he said, would not happen until after the trial to remove Trump from the presidency. HUD needs to step up, Wyden said, and pull together an actual game plan. -- Brad Schmidt bschmidt@oregonian.com 503-294-7628 @_brad_schmidt Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Hitting out at the Congress, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that those who did little to solve the problem of unemployment and took the economy only to a $2 trillion mark despite ruling for decades were questioning the Modi government which had steered India to the $3 trillion mark in five years. Claiming that turning India into a $5 trillion economy in the next five years was an achievable goal, Shah said the government was taking elaborate steps to ensure that the youth got the required skills, employment opportunities and were future ready. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Indian Institute of Skills (IISs) in Gandhinagar, Shah said, Those raising questions about the economy at a time of global slowdown, I want to remind them that its not like they got little time to rule the country. Opposition parties, especially the Congress, have been critical of the governments handling of the economy and blame it for not creating enough jobs. Shah, however, did not name any party in his speech. Hitting out at the opposition which has been raising the issue of unemployment, Shah said there were some who viewed things through a negative prism. When they talk about unemployment, a question comes to my mind, you ruled this country for 50-60 years, what measures did you take? I want to ask them all, Did you find a new solution during your 50-60 years of rule to provide employment to the youth of this country with 130 crore population? Is it possible that you ruled for 50 years, didnt do anything new and are today seeking answers from us? he said. Shah said the government had drawn elaborate plans to skill the youth which would turn the countrys young population into a major strength. It can be viewed as a weakness, but I think 70 crore youth are a strength, he said. Industrialist Ratan Tata, whose group is partnering the government in setting up the institute, said many visionary initiatives were being taken by the government. I wish I was 20 years younger so that I could contribute more, Tata said. Union minister for skill development Mahendra Nath Pandey also emphasised on skill development. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, senior state minister Nitin Patel, Union minister R K Singh, and L&T chairman A M Naik were among those present. The 20-acre institute here is among the three institutes being set up, the other two being set up in Kanpur and Mumbai. The IISs are for students opting for ITI/diploma courses right after class 10/12. In September, YouTube said it would require all video producers on its platform to designate their videos as made for children or not made for children. In November, it introduced a new setting to help producers flag childrens content, a designation that signals YouTube to limit data collection on those videos. The video service said that it was also using artificial intelligence to help identify childrens content and that it could override a video producers categorization if its system detected a mistake. Saudi Arabia's supreme court has ordered the retrial of Egyptian engineer Ali Abul-Qasim, who has been sentenced to death for smuggling and trafficking drugs in the kingdom. Abul-Qasim, who had worked in Saudi Arabia since 2007, was sentenced to death in 2017 in a first degree decision, after being convicted on charges of smuggling and trafficking drugs. Abul-Qasim's wife Ibtesam Salama has said in a video clip posted on Facebook that her husband was arrested after Saudi authorities discovered drugs hidden inside equipment sent to Abul-Qasim from Egypt. She said that her husband had no knowledge that the shipment of engineering equipment he received was concealing drugs, and that Egypt has arrested the members of the gang responsible. The Egyptian general prosecution has sent to authorities in Saudi Arabia all the documents detailing the case against the alleged drug smugglers who sent a shipment of narcotic pills from Egypt to the Egyptian engineer. In a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawy praised the efforts exerted by the general prosecution in the kingdom. Both sides asserted the importance of continuing cooperation to achieve justice in issues of common concern. Search Keywords: Short link: AP Distorts: Bethlehem 'Almost Completely Surrounded' | Main | NY Times Shows How Framing Slants Coverage January 07, 2020 Seattle Media Oblivious To Imams Hateful Indoctrination Condemning Jews The Masjid Ar-Rahmah mosque teaching that Allah transformed Jews into apes and pigs for disobeying him delivered by Imam (prayer leader) Mohamad Joban was posted online by mosque personnel. This December 2019 indoctrination at the Seattle, Washington area mosque was mainly in English. This inflammatory anti-Semitic rhetoric is an Islamist trope used to attack Jews and the Jewish state. Note that the apes and pigs teaching has long been a staple of Palestinian anti-Israel propaganda. Here is an example from Palestine Today (Palestinian news agency) via Palestinian Media Watch (PMW): Headline: The will of Martyr Omar Al-Abd who carried out the stabbing operation next to Ramallah You [Israeli Jews], the sons of apes and pigs, if you do not open the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, I am certain that after me will come a man who will strike [you] with an iron hand, I warn you! I know that Im going there and Ill never come back here; rather Ill come back to Paradise, in the embrace of Allahs mercies. How good and pleasant is death and Martyrdom (Shahada) The Joban video clip was posted to the Free Speech Video Platform site (3speak). P L A Y: Excerpts from the nearly hour-long presentation [] The question now Is whether they [the Jews who turned into apes] continued to have generations [of apes] after their death. The scholars have two opinions. He [one] said that after a while, all of them died. Because Allah made them monkeys as a punishment, they died already. But some say: No, they have generations [] Allah just wanted to tell us what Allah told you a long time ago that people turned into monkeys and that this is true. It is religion, look at them, some of them stayed apes and pigs Media covering Jobans teaching The only Washington media entity, that could be found, reporting the event is little-known MyNorthwest which nevertheless extracted an apology from the mosque but the apology appears nowhere else (yet). The question is why didnt leading local or state media outlets report about such anti-Semitic incitement in the form of a publicized sermon by a local mosque? Why didnt these outlets such as the Seattle Times, Spokane Spokesman-Review, The Herald, News Tribune or Seattle TV stations KING (NBC), KIRO (CBS), KOMO (ABC), KCPQ (Fox), KCTS (PBS) consider this matter to be newsworthy? Its disturbing that during the current period of greatly increased violence victimizing Jews, local and state media outlets failed to inform the public of this instance of incitement to such violence. Posted by MK at January 7, 2020 01:07 PM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment By Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire U.S. presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg has vastly expanded his campaign staff, which now boasts a battalion of over 1,000 workers, his campaign said on Tuesday, giving him significant force as he tries to unseat Republican President Donald Trump. The media mogul is using his personal fortune to quickly build a national campaign since joining the presidential race in November, months after several Democratic rivals started campaigning. He has also vowed to keep campaign offices open in battleground states even if he is not the Democratic nominee. His decision to skip the earliest nominating contests and not to accept outside money means Bloomberg did not qualify to be on the debate stage with Democrats on Tuesday ahead of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucus. He will still be a major force as that contest hits the 14 states that hold Super Tuesday primary contests on March 3. Bloomberg has built an army of over 700 employees in 33 states, plus 300 more working in his Manhattan headquarters, according to a statement from the campaign. He is also blitzing the country with television and digital advertisements. Just over a week ago the Bloomberg campaign said it had 800 total staff members. According to a Reuters analysis of federal campaign finance filings through the third quarter of 2019, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren had about 600 campaign workers; U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders had 550; and ex-Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had about 450 each. On Saturday, Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, told Reuters he was ready to spend much of his fortune, estimated by the publication Forbes to be nearly $60 billion, to oust Trump from the White House in November 2020. Democratic rivals have complained that Bloomberg is trying to buy the election. Bloomberg will not be the only big spender trying to cut Trump down. Priorities USA, a Democratic political action committee, announced on Tuesday it would expand its budget from $100 million to $150 million through July to run ads against Trump in the key battleground states of Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Story continues All this points to the likelihood of an historically expensive U.S. presidential election. More than $446 million has already been spent by candidates in both parties, including $90 million by Trump, a partial figure according to the Federal Election Commission that does not include spending by outside groups. Trump's re-election campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Grant Smith and Jason Lange; Editing by David Gregorio) Theres a travel app startup on the market, and its the first one that lets you choose experiences and hotels with a child-free filter. (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - January 15th, 2020 - empted is the new cutting edge travel startup launched this summer in San Francisco, by the sassy Parisian entrepreneur, Mariam Bulin-Diarra. The startup is shaking the travel industry as the first platform for children-free vacations: hotels, resorts, restaurants, cruises, tours, and activities for adult-only! The Tempted concept originated after its founder hosted an Airbnb couple from Canada, proud parents of three boys and celebrating their 10 years wedding anniversary. Mariam said "because of the family obligations and demanding jobs they didn't have the opportunity to have quality time together. They waited until the children were old enough to stay with their grandparents and have a well-deserved vacation to rekindle the flame. All they wanted was to have fun and not to be mom and dad for 10 days." Tempted was born! If parents love the concept, it also appeals to travelers looking for adventurous trips, people who are looking for all-inclusive resorts, and to those who want to have a peaceful dinner at a restaurant free off misbehaving children. Tempted's French savoir vivre, is already a success in Europe, especially in Italy, after a sensational article in the Italian Vanity Fair. Other A-list media such as Lonely Planet, and The Telegraph, consider Tempted as a trendsetting travel company. And because of its growing popularity, its Founder and CEO, Mariam Bulin-Diarra, was invited to present, for the very first time, its provocative "no-kids allowed vacation" concept on stage at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, last November, where, more than 70, 000 visitors attended the event. Tempted offers thousands of curated travel experiences and hotels around the world dedicated to adults from business partners Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Get Your Guide and Viator. By this summer, the startup aims to triple its inventory, grow its partner network and will allow vetted Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway hosts to list their accommodations and activities. Regarding competitors, the CEO, says, "We don't see them as competitors but more like future partners." She added, "because of nondiscrimination policies, most tour operators do not have no-children or adult-only categories; therefore, we are a complementary solution to help them." In the coming months, the Tempted team's goal is to develop a mobile application for Android and IOS devices and online booking solutions for small tour operators and hotels in emerging countries. The team is also exploring integrating with an artificial intelligence solution to provide personalized recommendations to users based on emotional intelligence, interests, buying behavior, and geolocalization. In a nutshell, this audacious startup will be a significant player in the tech and travel industries. So, are you tempted? If Yes, visit www.temptedyou.com. ### Army Chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi has said Iran will not let the enemy take advantage of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian plane, Tehran Times reported citing Mehr. We wont let the enemy take advantage of the recent aerial accident, which was bitter and regrettable for everyone, and disrupt the tranquility and security of the country and the people by its disinformation campaign, Mousavi said on Tuesday. Today, Irans aerospace is more secure than before for all flights and is ready to provide different flights with its services, he added. All 176 crew members and passengers, 147 of whom were Iranians, died in the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) crash which came a few minutes after take-off from Tehran to Kiev on Wednesday. The General Staff of the Armed Forces issued a statement on Saturday saying that the Ukrainian plane crash was caused by a human error. The Ukrainian passenger plane was hit unintentionally and due to human error, which unfortunately led to the martyrdom of a number of our people and also a number of foreign nationals, the statement read. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. PM Nikol Pashinyan was questioned today by investigators as a witness in the criminal investigation into the 2018 wiretapping of his phone conversation with then-NSS Director Artur Vanetsyan as well as the latters phone conversation with SIS Director Sasun Khachatryan. The conversations were leaked online earlier in 2018. The PM was questioned as part of the probe into alleged misconduct by all parties involved. The investigation is also determining whether or not there was any obstruction of justice against the judges who examined the arrest motions of former President Robert Kocharyan and former military official Yuri Khachaturov. PM Pashinyan has been questioned at the Investigations Committee as a witness in the criminal case to determine the circumstances of possible in interferences on courts, Investigations Committee spokesperson Naira Harutyunyan said. A separate investigation on the illegal wiretapping and leak of the phone calls is also in process. Pashinyan has been questioned for this case also, but as a victim. The two questioning sessions lasted 2 hours and 35 minutes. Edited and translated Stepan Kocharyan (CNN) The National Security Agency recently alerted Microsoft to a major flaw in its Windows operating system that could let hackers pose as legitimate software companies, agency officials said on Tuesday. Microsoft issued a software update on Tuesday to fix the vulnerability, as part of its normal schedule for releasing software patches. News of the vulnerability and patch were first reported by independent journalist Brian Krebs, who said Microsoft provided its software fix to the military and key infrastructure companies ahead of Tuesday's public release. Microsoft said in a statement Monday night that it provides advance versions of its updates to some users under a special testing program. Jeff Jones, a senior director at Microsoft, declined to discuss specifics of the flaw "to prevent unnecessary risk to customers." The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. The NSA's rare announcement of the flaw, along with its decision to warn Microsoft rather than exploit the bug for intelligence purposes, underscores the magnitude of the threat it could pose to businesses, consumers and government agencies worldwide. The NSA said that, while it has shared vulnerability information with the private sector in the past, this marks the first time that it has come forward publicly to do so. The agency said the decision reflects an effort to build trust with cybersecurity researchers. "Part of building trust is showing the data," Anne Neuberger, the NSA's director of cybersecurity, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. Because the NSA has never allowed itself to be linked to a vulnerability disclosure, she said, "it's hard for entities to trust that we take this seriously. And ensuring vulnerabilities can be mitigated is an absolute priority." The NSA did not use the vulnerability to exploit adversaries, and the bug was turned over to Microsoft as soon as it was discovered, Neuberger added. She said the NSA has not detected any other entities using the bug. The Department of Homeland Security said on the call that it would issue a bulletin to federal agencies advising them to install the Microsoft patches immediately. The flaw concerns a core Windows function that verifies the legitimacy of apps and programs, a feature known as CryptoAPI. "It's the equivalent of a building security desk checking IDs before permitting a contractor to come up and install new equipment," said Ashkan Soltani, a security expert and former chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission. By compromising that validation feature, hackers could easily impersonate "good" software companies to install bad software, Soltani said, potentially allowing them to spy on computer users or hold their devices hostage for ransom. This story was first published on CNN.com, "NSA alerted Microsoft to major Windows security flaw." French English ROHM Group Company SiCrystal and STMicroelectronics Announce Multi-Year Silicon Carbide Wafer Supply Agreement Agreement will boost industrial flexibility and support commercial expansion of SiC products in automotive and industrial applications Kyoto, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland, January 15, 2020 ROHM (TSE: 6963) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, today announced it signed a multi-year silicon carbide (SiC) wafers supply agreement with SiCrystal, a ROHM group company having a top share of SiC wafers in Europe. The agreement governs the supply of over 120 million dollars of advanced 150mm silicon carbide wafers by SiCrystal to STMicroelectronics during this period of demand ramp-up for silicon carbide power devices. This additional long-term SiC substrate supply agreement comes on top of the external capacity we have already secured and the internal capacity we are ramping. It will enable ST to increase the volume and balance of the wafers we will need to meet the strong demand ramp-up from customers for automotive and industrial programs over the next years, said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. SiCrystal is a group company of ROHM, a leading company of SiC, and has been manufacturing SiC wafers for many years. We are very pleased to enter into this supply agreement with our longstanding customer ST. We will continue to support our partner to expand silicon carbide business by ramping up wafer quantities continuously and by providing reliable quality at all times, said Dr. Robert Eckstein, President and CEO of SiCrystal, a ROHM group company. The adoption of power solutions with SiCs is accelerating in both the automotive and industrial markets. With this agreement, the two companies will contribute to the widespread use of SiC in these markets. About STMicroelectronics ST is a global semiconductor leader delivering intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions that power the electronics at the heart of everyday life. STs products are found everywhere today, and together with our customers, we are enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things devices. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented. In 2018, the Companys net revenues were $9.66 billion, serving more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com . About ROHM Founded in 1958, ROHM provides LSI and discrete semiconductors characterized by outstanding quality and reliability for a broad range of markets, including automotive, industrial and consumer market via its global development and sales network. In the analog power field, ROHM proposes the suitable solution for each application with power devices such as SiC, driver ICs to maximize their performance, and peripheral components such as transistors, diodes and resistors. Further information on ROHM can be found at www.rohm.com About SiCrystal SiCrystal, a ROHM group company, is one of the global market leaders for monocrystalline silicon carbide wafers. SiCrystals advanced semiconductor substrates provide the basis for the high efficient use of electrical energy in electric vehicles, fast charging stations, renewable energies and in various fields of industrial applications. Further information on SiCrystal can be found at www.sicrystal.de For further information, please contact: STMicroelectronics INVESTOR RELATIONS: Celine Berthier Group VP, Investor Relations Tel : +41.22.929.58.12 celine.berthier@st.com MEDIA RELATIONS: Alexis Breton Corporate External Communications Tel: + 33 6 59 16 79 08 alexis.breton@st.com ROHM/SiCrystal Tatsuhide Goto Corporate Communication Division press@rohm.co.jp Attachment Subscriber content preview SHORELINE The Village Vista and Village East apartments, at 20060 Whitman Ave. N. in Shoreline, sold for about $5.7 million, according to King County records. The seller was the estate of a family that had owned the property for decades. . . . The Xiaomi Mi 10 flagship series is expected to launch next month, and one of the devices just surfaced. The alleged Xiaomi Mi 10 appeared in a real-life image. The provided image shows the phone from both the front, and the back. If this leak is accurate, the Mi 10 basically follows todays design trends. The device will be made out of metal and glass, it seems. Its back will be curved, and so will its front side. The phone will include a curved display, along with a display camera hole. Advertisement The Xiaomi Mi 10 flagship will include really thin bezels & display camera hole That hole will be placed in the top-left corner of the display. The phones bezels will be extremely thin, while the bottom one will be the thickest. It will be only a little bit thicker than the rest. The phones corners will be rounded, and the same goes for display corners. There are four cameras included on the back of this phone, along with Xiaomis branding. Those four cameras are all a part of the same camera module, and they do protrude a bit. An LED flash sits next to the first camera. Advertisement All the physical keys are placed on the right-hand side of this phone. The volume up and down buttons sit above the power / lock button. The Xiaomi Mi 10 flagship will allegedly launch alongside the Mi 10 Pro. Xiaomis president already confirmed the existence of the Pro model, by the way, so well get at least two Mi 10 phones. The Mi 10 series will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865 Xiaomi also confirmed that the Mi 10 will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865. The device (maybe both of them) will arrive in a 5G variant as well. We do not know which one, or anything of the sort, well have to wait until they get announced. Advertisement According to some spec info that surfaced in December, the Mi 10 Pro will offer faster charging, and a better camera setup. The phone will offer 66W wired charging, while the Mi10 will cap out at 40W. Both phones are rumored to include a 6.5-inch display, with high refresh rate. You can also expect to see plenty of RAM on these two phones, and several storage variants. The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro may even arrive during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 in Barcelona. Xiaomi still hasnt confirmed anything, but its quite possible. In any case, theyre expected to arrive in the first quarter of the year. All of this new evidence confirms what we already know: the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically, the chairs of the House Intelligence, Oversight, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees said in a joint statement. There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress. ST. LOUIS, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST), a consumer packaged goods holding company, today announced it will hold a conference call on Friday, February 7, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. EST to discuss financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2020 outlook and to respond to questions. Robert V. Vitale, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff A. Zadoks, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will participate in the call. Post also announced it plans to release its financial results for the first quarter after market close on Thursday, February 6, 2020. Interested parties may join the conference call by dialing (877) 540-0891 in the United States and (678) 408-4007 from outside of the United States. The conference identification number is 1371013. Interested parties are invited to listen to the webcast of the conference call, which can be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations section of Posts website at www.postholdings.com. A replay of the conference call will be available through Friday, February 21, 2020 by dialing (800) 585-8367 in the United States and (404) 537-3406 from outside of the United States and using the conference identification number 1371013. A webcast replay also will be available for a limited period on Posts website in the Investor Relations section. About Post Holdings, Inc. Post Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient and convenient nutrition food categories. Through its Post Consumer Brands business, Post is a leader in the North American ready-to-eat cereal category offering a broad portfolio including recognized brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Great Grains and Malt-O-Meal bag cereal. Post also is a leader in the United Kingdom ready-to-eat cereal category with the iconic Weetabix brand. As a leader in refrigerated foods, Post delivers innovative, value-added egg and refrigerated potato products to the foodservice channel and the retail refrigerated side dish category, offering side dishes and egg, sausage and cheese products through the Bob Evans, Simply Potatoes, Bettern Eggs and Crystal Farms brands. Posts publicly-traded subsidiary BellRing Brands business is a holding company operating in the global convenient nutrition category through its primary brands of Premier Protein, Dymatize and PowerBar. Post participates in the private brand food category through its investment with Thomas H. Lee Partners in 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, a leading, private brand centric, consumer products holding company. For more information, visit www.postholdings.com. Contact: Investor Relations Matt Mainer matt.mainer@postholdings.com (314) 644-7618 He's set to portray screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz in new Netflix film Mank. And following a day's filming for the upcoming release, Gary Oldman was seen walking arm-in-arm with his wife Gisele Schmit in Los Angeles on Monday. The Darkest Hour actor, 61, appeared to still be in period dress from the 1940s biopic as he donned a tweed waistcoat and a pair of matching suit trousers. Married life: Gary Oldman was seen walking arm-in-arm with his wife Gisele Schmit in Los Angeles on Monday Gary was also sporting a pale grey shirt with a patterned brown tie, along with a pair of brown brogues and rounded sunglasses during their outing. His wife Gisele, who is a photographer and art curator, opted to wear a black polo neck jumper with a pair of blue jeans and chunky black boots. She wore her silver-streaked hair swept back off her face into a half up half down do, while sporting a pair of cat-eye style shades for their stroll. Casual: The Darkest Hour actor, 61, appeared to still be in period dress from the 1940s biopic as he donned a tweed waistcoat and a pair of matching suit trousers Gisele wore a brown leather bag slung over her arm carrying all of her belongings, as well as carrying a chunky cable knit jumper in her hand. Gisele is Oldman's fifth wife, having married her in 2017. He has three biological children: Alfie, 31, from his first marriage to Lesley Manville and Gulliver, 21, and Charlie, 20, from his third marriage to Donya Fiorentino. Gunning for the gold: Citizen Kane's script, written by screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, was the only part of the film that won an Oscar (pictured in the 1940's) He was also married to Uma Thurman from 1990-1992 and Alexandra Edenborough from 2008-2015. Oldman won a number of best actor accolades for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour last year, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Screen Actors Guild award. Gary's new film follows Herman as he battles with film director Orson Welles for screenwriting credit for Citizen Kane (1941). Classic: Citizen Kane would go on to be considered one of the best films of all time, although its script was the only part of the picture that won an Academy Award Citizen Kane would go on to be considered one of the best films of all time, although its script was the only part of the picture that won an Academy Award. Mank is directed by David Fincher, his first feature film since Gone Girl in 2014 and is based on a script by David's father Jack who penned it before his death in 2003. The film, like Citizen Kane, will be shot in black and white and also stars Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins and Tuppence Middleton. Cean Chaffin is set to produce the picture with Douglas J. Urbanski, Gary's work partner who was Academy Award-nominated for producing Darkest Hour. COLUMBUS, OhioDemocratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden picked up endorsements Tuesday from nine more Ohio House members, padding his endorsement lead among Democratic officials in the state. The nine lawmakers, all women, include three freshmen who unseated Republicans in suburban districts: Columbus-area state Reps. Mary Lightbody and Allison Russo, as well as state Rep. Jessica Miranda from suburban Cincinnati. The others include Assistant Minority Leader Kristin Boggs of Columbus, Rep. Lisa Sobecki of suburban Toledo, and four Northeast Ohio representatives Randi Clites of Ravenna, Tavia Galonski of Akron, Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown, and Bride Rose Sweeney of Cleveland, . Russo, in an interview, said the former vice president not only has the best chance of beating President Donald Trump in November, but would elevate support for other Democratic candidates at a time when Ohio House Democrats are trying to net two more seats to break the GOPs 60-vote supermajority. I think that he is talking about the issues that voters in my district care about, Russo said, mentioning health care and public education in particular. Endorsements often arent a reliable indicator of how the election will go, and many Ohio Democrats still have yet to publicly back a presidential candidate. But winning endorsements can build credibility among donors, and public officials can help their favored candidate with voter lists and tasks like booking venues. Bidens list of Buckeye State backers shows he has at least some support in different areas of the state, particularly in some working-class areas. He already landed the support of Youngstown-area U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan after Ryan ended his own presidential campaign, as well as ex-Gov. Ted Strickland, state Sen. Hearcel Craig of Columbus, and a majority of elected officials from Parma, among others. Among other Democratic presidential hopefuls, only South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a comparable list of Ohio endorsers, which includes Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, former Ohio Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, state Rep. Casey Weinstein, and 2018 congressional nominee Ken Harbaugh. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been endorsed by Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, while businessman Andrew Yang was backed Tuesday by Dave Chappelle (an Ohio celebrity if not an elected official). Former state Sen. Nina Turner of Cleveland is a national co-chair for the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Cincinnati City Councilman PG Sittenfeld has endorsed U.S. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, while ex-U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is supporting U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii for the White House. Many people suggest that Croatias strongman act on the border is a game designed to show to the European Union that it is good at security. Police officers in Croatia are being accused of attacking refugees and migrants on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. People say they have been assaulted and robbed by border guards and illegally ejected. Croatia has recently taken on the presidency of the European Union and critics say it is trying to show it can protect the borders of the EU. Al Jazeeras Laurence Lee reports from the Bosnia-Croatia border. by Tony Jarvis , Op-Ed Contributor, January 15, 2020 John Grono & Donna Andrews home in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia was completely destroyed in the raging fires affecting much of the southeastern regions, which is heart-wrenching. As John wryly told me in reference to the recent MRC Cross Media Audience Measurement Standards, which included a recommendation on "duration weighting: "In looking at the months ahead THIS will be 'duration waiting'!" Through this ordeal, somehow John has not lost his sense of humor. Those of you seeking insights into key issues regarding data's relevance to advertising or media effectiveness based on optimal research approaches and methodologies may have often read Johns comments in MediaPost publications. advertisement advertisement The frequent interplay between John's positions on fundamental ad and media research principles or databases with those of Ed Papazian consistently offer insights to help build optimum media investments, notably in our ever more complex digital arenas within the media mix. His comments including, "eyes-on" (i.e. viewing rather than presence) should apply to TV, digital and OOH among the multiple responses to Joe Mandese's stimulating article of Dec. 2, 2019, Why The Ad Industry's Attention Finally Is Shifting To, Well, Attention," added another dimension to its attention measurement premise. John has spent many years consulting to the Media Federation of Australia, MFA -- an alliance of media agencies -- which involved him with many Industry Technical Committees in OZ and ultimately earned him induction to the Media Federation of Australia's Hall of Fame. His prior career included long stints with Nielsen and Clemenger BBDO (Omnicom). His philosophy of My sole objective is always to get more detailed, accurate and usable metrics that grease the wheels of business ensures that his comments always offer a dose of pragmatism to observations on how best to address fundamental ad or media data puzzles of the day. Donna Andrews' prominent career in TV and film production encouraged a work colleague of hers to set up a Go Fund Me to help get them back on their feet. Insurance never covers everything, and many of John and Donnas mementos and prized possessions are gone forever. One stroke of luck is that they are already house sitting while they put the puzzle of their life back together. So do not imagine that John will not be commenting on the next big media data issue raised in MediaPost! A New York Times headline on a piece by Paul Krugman, Jan. 10th, read: "Australia Shows US the Road to Hell." The Media Research community has always come together to support our peers. I sincerely and respectfully hope that once again we can all come together to make John and Donna's road out of hell just a little easier and the duration of their waiting a little shorter. Jun Ichihara, Chief Advisor of the project Support Planning and Implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions speaks about the Japan International Cooperation Agencys work to help Vietnam reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Jun Ichihara, Chief Advisor of Project to Support the Planning and Implementation of NAMAs in a MRV MannerSPI-NAMA Vietnam aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent by 2030, and even achieve a 25 per cent cut as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) has committed to help Vietnam reach these goals. How is JICA supporting Vietnam? JICA has supported the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as well as relevant agencies, including HCM City, in compiling greenhouse gas reduction policies. Specifically, JICAs project Support Planning and Implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, which kicked off in 2015 and wrapped up on Thursday (January 9), has assisted the Vietnamese Government to improve its climate change policies. We also help in improving technical capacity, such as measurement, reporting and verification and greenhouse gas inventory, and raising public awareness on climate change among ministries and non-state actors. The project has supported the environment ministry to enhance the domestic policy framework, including the Government decree on roadmaps and measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We conducted many background and technical assessments to compile the decree and other climate mitigation regulations. We also worked to organise stakeholder consultations on mitigation policies and provide the ministry opportunities to discuss with international experts to enhance ideas on the decree, such as a study trip to Japan and events at the Conference of the Parties (COP). Based on this technical assistance, the ministry drafted the decree and went through the Government process. The decree is expected to be a key policy to provide a mandatory legal basis for implementing the Paris Agreement in Vietnam. The project already conducted a low carbon technology assessment. Through the assessment, the ministry was able to consider how to materialise their own climate actions, by selecting prioritised technologies to be applied. For the transportation sector, the project supplied technical input to help the Ministry of Transport build green sea ports in the future. What are JICAs recommendations to help Vietnam fix difficulties in reducing greenhouse gas emissions? To implement the Paris Agreement, the environment ministry has strong made commitments to the roadmap and measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Together with the decree, the implementation of other related regulations is believed to be the crucial issue by 2030. Additionally, engagement of stakeholders, especially the private sector, for climate change mitigation will be a key challenge for nationally determined contributions (NDC) implementation in Vietnam until 2030. Providing incentives and removing policy barriers for the private sector are important measures in order to enhance private involvement. Further mainstreaming of climate mitigation actions into the practices of relevant ministries, local governments and the private sector is important as well. Securing resources such as budget/financing, human resources and continuous capacity development are also crucial for implementation of the decree and other relevant climate mitigation policies in the future. - VNS Shirakawa Yasuki Shirakawa Yasuki, JICA expert, talks to Viet Nam News on how to curb air pollution in the future. JICA had conducted a survey to estimate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be reduced at three urban railway lines in Hanoi and HCM City. What is the importance of the survey to Vietnam in developing urban railways and reducing traffic congestion as well as air pollution in big cities? Urban railways play important roles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through shifting away from private cars, motorcycles and buses, as well as through alleviating traffic congestion. Air pollutant emissions, such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrous oxide (NO) can be reduced around cities, as urban railways do not directly cause these emissions. In Vietnam, around 18 per cent of total energy sector emissions are attributed to road transport, and the ratio is higher in big cities. Therefore, it is important to reduce road transport emissions in cities through urban railways and this can contribute to achieving national targets on greenhouse gas emissions. In Japan, the government, as well as local governments and the private sector, have made efforts to reduce air pollution through a set of policies on vehicle emissions, standards and monitoring of pollutants. Urban railways have also contributed to reducing pollutants. In the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the total length of urban railways is more than 2,500km, and total number of passengers is 44 million every day. We can imagine what would happen without urban railways. VNS JICA studies greenhouse gas emission reductions in Vietnam The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is conducting a survey to estimate the volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be reduced by the development of the local metro sector. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has completed an induction course into the mission for 22 AMISOM Police Officers from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda as part of a mandatory training to help them understand Somali culture and operating environment. The seven-day course also acquainted the officers with the AMISOM mandate, concept of operations, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) awareness, gender awareness and code of conduct. Speaking to the newly deployed officers at the closing ceremony of the course in Mogadishu on Monday, AMISOM Police Commissioner, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Augustine Kailie thanked the inductees for their patience and discipline during the course. He urged them to respect the laws of the country and be sensitive to the Somali culture. Stories Continues after ad You have to be kind and friendly with the Somali Police and understand their situation, Commissioner Magnus told the officers. Its not easy for a country to be at war and expect all things to be rosy. So you have to communicate with them, encourage them and tell them that in the future, they will also be on peacekeeping missions in other countries. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isatu Kargbo, from Sierra Leone said the induction course was timely and beneficial. We are ready to work, that is why we are here to help bring peace together with my colleagues from other countries. We will impart knowledge that is being given to us to our counterparts from the Somali Police Force, she noted. On his part, Superintendent of Police (SP) Stephen Yeje of Nigeria noted that the induction course has broadened his knowledge about Somalia and he will be better placed to execute his mentoring and advising duties. We see the Somali Police Force as partners. They will lead and we will give them support. We are here to help restore order in regards to peace and security and the SPF will be in the forefront while we give them support, Stephen said. The officers from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda replaced another group of Individual Police Officers (IPOs) who recently returned home after completing a years tour of duty in Somalia. 2020 is a crucial year for Somalia and the deployment of these officers will boost the number of IPOs at both federal and regional levels. Prince Harry and Prince William - AFP If you want to receive twice-daily briefings like this by email, sign up to the Front Page newsletter here. For two-minute audio updates, try The Briefing - on podcasts, smart speakers and WhatsApp. William did not bully Harry, says Buckingham Palace The Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex have joined forces to deny reports that Prince William "bullied" Prince Harry. Buckingham Palace strongly refuted a claim in a newspaper today that the Duke of Sussex felt "pushed away by what he saw as a bullying attitude from the Duke of Cambridge". A rare statement issued on behalf of both brothers, just hours before a crunch family summit at Sandringham, cited their many campaigns on mental health. Prince Harry has now arrived at the Queen's private estate to face the monarch, Prince Charles and Prince William over his decision with his wife to "step back" as senior royals. The historic meeting at Sandringham will be the first time the four have met since the bombshell announcement. With the crisis coming to a head, here is how the royal drama unfolded. One of the Army's most senior former officers said he would not raise a toast to Prince Harry if he pursued commercial ventures. And a video has emerged apparently showing the Duke touting his wife Meghan for a voiceover job to Disney chairman Robert Iger at the Lion King premiere last summer. Thornberry secures votes for Labour race - just in time Clive Lewis has pulled out of the Labour leadership race in what has been seen as a move to lend Emily Thornberry his votes. The MP for Norwich South, who this morning was languishing in last place with just four nominations, said he had decided to step aside "in the spirit of pluralism, diversity and generosity". Shortly after he announced he was out of the race the shadow foreign secretary managed to secure the 22 votes needed to run, 12 minutes before the deadline. Click here for the full list of candidates for the leadership and deputy leadership. Story continues Oscar nominations spark new lack-of-diversity storm Joker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917 are leading this year's Oscar nominations, with only men nominated in the directing category and a lack of diversity elsewhere. The nominations echo those titles recognised by the Golden Globes and Bafta nominations last week, along with the criticism aimed at the latter's jury after no people of colour were nominated across all four Bafta acting categories and no women directors received recognition. Click here for the full list of nominations. Film critic Robbie Collin predicts we could be in for the craziest ceremony in years. And you can vote for who you think should win here. News digest Video: Rare volcanic lightning in Philippines eruption The Philippines is preparing to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people out of the path of an active volcano amid warnings of an "explosive eruption" that could also trigger a deadly tsunami. The eruption began with an explosion of superheated steam and rock last night, illuminated by stunning lightning shows, in a little-understood phenomenon that has been attributed to static electricity. Comment World news: The one story you must read today... Iran ambassador's arrest | The diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Iran continued today as Iranian police released a video of the UK ambassador in Tehran shortly before his arrest and the Foreign Office summoned Iran's ambassador to protest. The short video shows Rob Macaire on the campus of the Amir Kabir university as students began to chant slogans against the Iranian regime. Read on for details. Editor's choice Business and money briefing Aston Martin | Analysts believe luxury car maker Aston Martin needs a 500m cash injection within weeks to stabilise its books amid falling sales and profits, along with a huge debt pile. Read on for details. Sport briefing Man Utd target | Bruno Fernandes has informed Sporting Lisbon he would like to move to Old Trafford this month if a deal can be struck between the clubs for the midfielder. Read on for details. Tonight's TV Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret, BBC Two, 9pm | Sometimes the monsters hide in plain sight. Thats the central message behind this two-part documentary about the crimes of Bishop Peter Ball. Read on for more. And finally... Population crisis | Croatia joined the EU in 2013 with the promise its people could live, work and study anywhere in the bloc. But James Crisp reveals the country, the newest member of the EU, has been plunged into a population crisis because of freedom of movement rules. But Croatia's prime minister is not worried. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:50:47|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The fifth International Taoist Forum will be held in early May in a famous Taoist mountain in east China's Jiangsu Province, the organizer said Wednesday. Jointly hosted by the Chinese Taoist Association and the China Religious Culture Communication Association, this year's forum will focus on how Taoism can keep up with the times and contribute to social progress. By introducing the development of Taoism in China and facilitating communication on the subject, the forum is expected to better explain religious affairs in China to the world, according to the organizer. Taoism is a 2,000-year-old religion that originated from Lao Tze's philosophy. Previous forums were held in 2007, 2011, 2014 and 2017 in different locations. Roughly a decade after a Mobile housing project was shut down and left to crumble, city leaders gathered Tuesday to celebrate the imminent start of demolition work on the Josephine Allen complex. This is a happy day, a very happy day for many people, said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson. He said the demolition, which could clear the way for future redevelopment, finally had come about thanks to an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Mobile Housing Authority. City Council President Levon Manzie, whose District 1 includes the site north of downtown Mobile near the citys border with Prichard, said hed attended countless community meetings in the Plateau-Africatown area where the top question had been the timetable for clearing the Josephine Allen property. He was thrilled that nearby residents finally were getting relief. Let me be clear: No citizen, no citizen in our community should have had to live with this day in and day out for the number of years that you all have had to live with it, Manzie said to onlookers at a press conference held in front of one of the derelict housing units. Nobody should have. Stimpson said that Phase 1 of the demolition project will take out 29 of the complexs 55 buildings, at a cost of about $475,000. That work is to be done by March 1, the mayor said. Jamey Roberts, senior director of neighborhood development for the city, said the money comes from community development block grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The cost to the city was zero, Roberts said. Stimpson said that contracts for Phase 2 of the demolition work should be bid out by April 1, with work to be completed in June. The whole site will be graded and seeded with grass, he said. The Housing Authority has struggled for years to push forward with a plan to tear down and redevelop housing sites it considers obsolete. At times that goal has put it at odds with HUD, which has criticized it for having too many vacant units on its books. Former Mobile Housing Board Executive Director Dwayne Vaughn said in 2016 that it was a fundamental disagreement, and that the board did not feel renovations could make the obsolete units fit for use. Since then, there has been progress: The Roger Williams complex along St. Stephens Road near Mobile Infirmary has been torn down. However, the housing board also has been plagued by leadership turnover and other setbacks. A lawsuit by Akinola Popoola, whom it fired as executive director after less than a year on job; is scheduled for trial in March, pending the outcome of mediation. In what appeared to be a positive sign, a HUD official was on hand Tuesday to express support for the demolition. Kenneth Free, director of field operations for HUDs Birmingham office, said the agency had been waiting since 2011 to move forward with progress here. Under the intragovernmental agreement, the Housing Authority pays the city for support work. Roberts department has been surveying Housing Board properties to help determine what parts of its inventory are suitable for restoration, and which are better replaced. The Josephine Allen project, often referred to by the neighborhood name Happy Hills, was built in 1965. Since being left vacant it has generated complaints about blight and related issues such as illegal dumping. Manzie, whose District 1 includes the area, has been among those whove said that the projects decline and closure robbed the Plateau-Africatown area of vitality. Its residents once supported local economic activity. When they went away, so did the schools and businesses, he said. While it was a housing development, it was a real community, Manzie said in June, as the council considered a public nuisance declaration that would enable the start of demolition. It fed into a grocery store and cleaners and things of that nature. He said, When it was shut down, and those families were sent all over the place, it was a jolt. We want to move as quickly as possible to bring back some residential density so those things that used to exist and were a part of the community in Happy Hills and Africatown can exist again, Manzie said at the time, and help to repopulate the area. According to the city, the Housing Board retains ownership of the Josephine Allen property and will make the final decision on any future redevelopment. Michael Pierce, director of the Mobile Housing Board, said Tuesday that demolition is just the first step in a long process to determine what comes next. We know that well ultimately end up with something that is very beneficial to the community, he said. He added that any plan the Housing Authority comes up with will have to be co-signed by HUD before being implemented. Democratic presidential hopeful Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speak after the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on January 14, 2020. Things got testy between Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday night. First, Sanders denied during the Democratic debate that he told that a woman could not be president, pointing to his record and a video on YouTube as evidence. Warren, in turn, pointed out that the women on stage had done better in elections than their male rivals. The exchange came after a day of controversy over Warren's claim that Sanders had told her in a private meeting before she announced her White House bid that a woman couldn't win the presidency. Sanders denied that he said it. That tension appear to spill past the end of the debate. As the candidates shuffled off the stage to mingle with supporters, Warren approached Sanders but declined to shake his outstretched hand. She spoke a few words, causing Sanders to furrow his brow and appear to say "what?" before raising his hands and responding. Sanders then raised both his hands higher and turned away from Warren to shake hands with Tom Steyer, another candidate who was standing close by. The exchange between Warren and Sanders was inaudible and lasted just a few seconds, but it was captured on video. TWEET According to NBC News, Steyer said he didn't know what the two said and that he "was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible." NBC TWEET Spokesmen for Warren, Sanders and Steyer's campaigns did not immediately respond to CNBC's inquiries about the exchange. On Wednesday, Sanders gave his first reaction to questions about his brief post-debate conversation with Warren. When asked about what they talked about, Sanders told reporters their conversation was "about the weather." Tweet At the debate, Sanders denied having told Warren that a woman couldn't run for president. "Anybody who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be the president of the United States," Sanders said. The Vermont senator, who identifies as a democratic socialist, added that in 2015 he chose to hold off on announcing his candidacy for president, until Warren told him she would not run in the 2016 election. "Warren decided not to run and I did. I ran afterwards," he said. Sanders said that if any of the men or women on Tuesday's debate stage Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar were the only women there, as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard didn't qualify win the nomination, "I will do everything in my power to make sure they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country." Warren, in her response to Sanders, pivoted away from her private conversation with Sanders, instead choosing to focus on the records of the women on stage. "Look at the men on this stage," Warren said. "Collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. Amy and me." The Massachusetts senator also said that she's "the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years." "We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a democrat to believe in," she said. Sanders disputed her claim by saying he had indeed defeated an incumbent Republican in a congressional race 30 years ago. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Grammy award-winner Thomas Conlin will conduct a full symphony orchestra featuring three young tenors, who are garnering wide-spread acclaim on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Empress Theater in Vallejo. Three Tenors The Next Generation features Pene Pati, Alex Boyer and Christopher Oglesby in a performance of Italian opera arias by Verdi, Ponchielli, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Donizetti, including the popular Nessun Dorma from Puccinis Turandot. They have all performed on international stages including the San Francisco Opera House, Opera National de Bordeaux and Moscows Bolshoi Theatre. Samoan native Pene Pati recently debuted with San Francisco Opera in Gounods Romeo et Juliette. Tenor Alex Boyer is gaining recognition for his large, potent sound and dramatic portrayals. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that his Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci lacked nothing in the way of grit and vocal power. Christopher Oglesby was praised by the Washington Post for his beautifully sensitive singing. Conlin, a resident of Napa, has led performances at American and international opera and ballet companies and symphony orchestras on five continents. Recent seasons have included performances in Germany with the Philharmonisches Orchester Augsburg and the Baden-Badener Philharmonic, in Italy with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliania, with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janerio, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in Egypt, the Calgary Philharmonic in Canada, the Toyko Chamber Orchestra, Flemish Chamber Orchestra in Belgium, and with Irelands RTE Symphony Orchestra in Dublin. Built in 1911 the Empress Theatre is a beautiful Beaux Arts style building. The 400 seat venue was upgraded in early 2019 with state of the art LED lighting and a new sound system was installed with large format flat-panel loudspeakers that ensures the sound is spread up to a six-octave range evenly throughout the theater. Reserved seating is $70-$200 at empresstheatre.org/events/2020-02-01-three-tenors or call 707-552-2400. Empress Theater is at 330 Virginia St., Vallejo. A clip of Meghan Markle's kindhearted act for one of her biggest fans during a March 2016 taping of the BUILD Series in New York City is going viral once again, with many lauding the former "Suits" actress for her caring nature. The nearly 4-year-old interview began receiving renewed attention on Jan. 12 when a user named Michelle shared a 54-second clip of Markle's appearance on Twitter. While discussing social media with host Donna Freydkin, which Markle said she views as a "great way to connect with people," she calls out a fan of hers in the audience named Emily Sorrells, who was in high school at the time. "I only know (Emily) through Twitter and I knew she was coming because I saw it on social media," Markle explains to the host. "She's going on a trip soon to Costa Rica to do some aid work because she said that my U.N. stuff inspired her." "I wrote you a letter, I brought it!" Markle says holding up a small parcel, as the young fan looks on in utter disbelief. The star then walks into the audience to give Emily the letter and the two share an embrace. dont forget meghan did this. this is the kind of person she is pic.twitter.com/Izqgp9Z95T michelle (@ddarveyy) January 12, 2020 "dont forget meghan did this, this is the kind of person she is," Michelle captioned the heartwarming clip, an obvious retort to the negative press coverage Markle has received as a member of the royal family, particularly by British tabloids, which some blame for her and Prince Harry's shocking exit announcement last week. The video has since racked up 7.5M views and over 415K likes. The next day, Emily Sorrells herself took to TikTok with an explainer video about her relationship with Markle, calling her "genuinely the most inspiring human Ive met" and slamming the "hate" against her as "garbage." Story continues "I was one of her biggest fans and she noticed me from following her for a long time," Sorrells explained. "There's actually a whole group of girls around the world that she was always really grateful for and posted about," she continued, sharing a handful of screenshots showing Markle's interactions with her and a few other users. "Basically, she had an interview, I told her I was coming, and then she did this," Emily said before showing a clip of the pair's interaction at BUILD. A video of me meeting Meghan Markle just went viral. Allow me to explain. She is genuinely the most inspiring human Ive met. Through her social media & blog she taught me to be a more confident and passionate version of myself. The hate against her is garbage pic.twitter.com/euHjKkxp7D emily (@dinosorrells) January 14, 2020 "I'm posting this because, although there's a lot of hate going around, I know (Markle) as the most genuine, passionate and caring human being who really had an impact on my life," she ended her video, which has now been viewed over 131K times on Twitter alone. Meghan Markle was a women's advocate and a champion for equality long before she became the Duchess of Sussex. In 2015, three years before she and Prince Harry tied the knot, Markle became the United Nations Women's Advocate for Women's Political Participation and Leadership, which saw her embark on a learning mission to Rwanda, where she met female parliamentarian leaders and visited a refugee camp in Gihembe. That year, she also gave a speech on the importance of gender equality on International Womens Day for U.N., where she declared she was "proud to be a woman and a feminist." Watch Meghan Markle's full 2016 BUILD Series interview below: Disclaimer: BUILD Series and In The Know are both Verizon Media brands. Alejandro Giammattei has not stated his position on contentious deal that allows US to send asylum seekers to Guatemala. Guatemala City Guatemalas new president was sworn in on Tuesday amid protests against the outgoing leader and uncertainty over the future of an asylum deal with the United States. Alejandro Giammattei, a doctor and former prison system director from the right-wing Vamos party, was sworn in for a four-year term on Tuesday night. This is the moment to rescue Guatemala from the absurd. It is the moment to combat corruption and malnutrition, Giammattei said in his first speech as president. We will govern with decency, with honourability, and with ethical values, he said. Giammattei apologised for keeping guests waiting at the inauguration, which began five hours late largely due to complications and delays in the congressional transition earlier in the day. He also reiterated several key campaign pledges. His promised presidential anti-corruption commission would be established at the outset of his presidency and his administration would soon present several legislative proposals, including reforms to designate street gangs as terrorist groups. Giammattei takes over from the tumultuous presidency of Jimmy Morales, who kicked out a popular UN-backed anti-corruption commission after he and his party were accused of illegal campaign financing. He has denied any wrongdoing. US asylum deal The Morales administration also came under fire for signing an asylum cooperation agreement with the US last July. The deal allows the US to send asylum seekers from third countries to Guatemala, forcing them to request asylum there or return home. The deal has been widely criticised in Central America and the US. Guatemala is now the top country of origin for migrants and asylum seekers apprehended at the US southern border. Tens of thousands flee violence, poverty and persecution in Guatemala every year. If they send us to Guatemala, they are sending us back to potential death, Edwin*, a 37-year-old Honduran asylum seeker currently in Mexico with his family after fleeing extortion and death threats last year told Al Jazeera. The US has sent more than 120 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers to Guatemala since the implementation of the controversial agreement began last November. US officials have claimed they may also send Mexican asylum seekers to Guatemala, but Morales claimed he had not agreed to that. Giammattei does not yet have a clear position on the asylum cooperation deal. He initially criticised the way in which it came about and stated he would consider reforms. But during the entire five-month transition period, he called on Morales to share the agreement and annexe documents with him. On Monday, a day before he took office, Giammattei said he still had not been given the documents. As soon as his team received and analysed them, he would announce his position, he added. Giammattei met on Tuesday morning with US officials in Guatemala who were there to attend his inauguration. The small delegation included Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency behind the asylum deal and similar agreements in the works with Honduras and El Salvador. The United States remains committed to working with President [Giammattei] and his cabinet to continue progress on security and stability in the region, Wolf tweeted on Tuesday. International attention remains focused on Giammattei, but for many Guatemalans, the importance of the inauguration was that it ended Morales term, and with it, his immunity from prosecution. There is profound indignation for the actions of his government, longtime social movement activist Brenda Hernandez told Al Jazeera. Hernandez and other protesters rallied all day outside the Central American Parliament headquarters to call for Morales immediate arrest for corruption before he could regain immunity upon induction into the regional body. *The individuals name has been changed to protect their identity. Le Dinh Cong, a son of the deceased Le Dinh Kinh, appears in a Vietnam Television news broadcast on January 13 PHOTO: VTV Director of the HCMC Police Department Doan Duy Khuong was quoted by Thanh Nien newspaper as saying on Monday that city investigators have detained the 22 protesters. Of the accused, 20 have been charged with murder and two others have been charged with resisting arrest. They include Le Dinh Chuc, Le Dinh Cong, Le Dinh Uy, Le Dinh Doanh, Le Dinh Quan, Le Dinh Quang, Le Dinh Hien, Nguyen Van Tuyen, Bui Van Tien, Bui Van Nien, Tran Thi La and Nguyen Quoc Tien. Aside from the 22 individuals, four others are also being held in police custody. They are Nguyen Thi Dung, who allegedly resisted arrest, and Nguyen Xuan Dieu, Tran Thi Phuong and Dao Thi Kim, being held on suspicion of murder. Many of these individuals are relatives of the deceased protester, Le Dinh Kinh, aged 84. This de facto community leader was found to have been holding a grenade when his body was examined, according to authorities. Some of the accused told investigators that Kinh was the mastermind behind the civil disturbance, according to the local media. His son, Le Dinh Cong, who is among those arrested for murder, has confessed to spending VND33 million (US$1,400) on gasoline and weapons, as well as leading the protest by throwing rocks, firebombs and grenades, according to national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV). Lengthy preparations for terrorism Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang speaks at a press briefing on a deadly disturbance, held in Hanoi on January 14 PHOTO: TNO Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang was quoted by Thanh Nien newspaper at a press briefing in Hanoi today, January 14, noting that investigators had seized eight grenades, six explosive balls, 38 firebombs and three cans of gasoline, together with steel sticks, knives, sickles and nunchakus. Quang added that investigators had also collected evidence on the collection and spending activities of the riot group, called Dong Thuan, from Kinhs house. Several pieces of evidence suggest the group tried to drum up support from foreign reactionary organizations. All of the arrested individuals have confessed their violations. VTV broadcast information on several of the rioters on Monday evening, according to the deputy minister. The conspiracy and intention to commit acts of terrorism, sabotage and aggression by the rioters in Dong Tam Commune had, in fact, been the result of careful preparation, he said, adding that plans had been made since 2017. Last Thursday, the rioters tried to prevent officers, authorized by the Ministry of National Defense, from building a fence around the Mieu Mon Military Airport area. The village is roughly a kilometer away from the airfield. Construction of the fence to protect the airport premises began on December 31. On the same day, three police officers lost their lives: Colonel Nguyen Huy Thinh, 48; Senior Lieutenant Duong Duc Hoang Quan, 28; and Senior Lieutenant Pham Cong Huy, 27. Their funeral will be held on Thursday at the National Funeral House at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street in Hanoi. A clash over the same land resulted in villagers holding more than 30 police officers hostage for a week in 2017. SGT As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. When Barack Obama couldn't push his economic plans through Congress, he was unfazed: We're not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we're providing Americans the kind of help they need. I've got a pen and I've got a phone. Elizabeth Warren likes that idea. She's therefore announced that, on her first day in the White House, she will take unilateral action to cancel student loan debt: The worrisome thing is that Warren is probably correct that she can indeed use Department of Education powers to achieve that outcome. So let's see what she's promising: The cost of higher education soared when the federal government got into the business of student loans. For colleges and universities, this was free money. Whenever there's free money available, prices increase. Higher fees did not lead to more faculty members who made education available to more students. Instead, it went to new departments for Queer, Race, Gender, and Womyn's Studies. Academia also increased the number of administrative jobs, creating new, high-paying positions, while actual academic positions lagged in pay and number. Those young people who got degrees in those new fields, especially during the sludgy economic years of the Obama administration, discovered to their surprise that they were job market poison: According to the Fed, college graduates defined as ages 22 to 27 years old, holding a bachelor's degree or higher are more likely to be unemployed and underemployed compared to overall workers. This is the first time it's happened in almost 30 years. Statistics show that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates has been steadily moving upward, while the general unemployment rate for all other workers has been rapidly declining over the last 10 years. The underemployment rate, which reflects the amount of people accepting jobs lower than their academic or experience level, is at an all-time high. These people are stuck in gig economy roles, temporary work or lower-end positions. It's bizarre how obsessing over victim status isn't a job-getter, but there you have it. Still, from the Democrat point of view, college is valuable because it offers four years in which to marinate young people in Leftist ideology, everything from hardcore Marxism to softcore trigger warnings and cancel culture. You can't put a price tag on that. Remember that students voluntarily agreed to take on this debt. A minute's research could have told them that studying Transgender Prejudice among Pre-Columbian Spanish Invaders wouldn't lead to jobs to pay those loans. But they said "yes" anyway, and he took classes about cultural appropriation, systemic racism, and toxic masculinity. Now, Elizabeth Warren is promising to bypass Congress the keeper of the American purse to say to those same self-centered young ones, "Never mind. The hardworking American taxpayers, most of whom never had the chance to party through four years of college but, instead, worked and raised families, will pay for you." For this proposal alone, Warren's candidacy ought to be kicked to the curb where it belongs. Iran on Wednesday said that US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Islamic State (ISIS) are "celebrating" the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a Pentagon-ordered strike in Iraq earlier this month, and asserted that Washington's "ignorance" and "arrogance" was fuelling mayhem in the region. "The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against killing of Soleimani," he said at the Raisina Dialogue 2020 here. Zarif said that Soleimani was the "single most effective force" against the ISIS and hence, the US is celebrating as they "did not like" Soleimani. "The US did not like General Soleimani. Although, he was the single most effective force against Daesh. If you do not believe me see they are celebrating. Who are celebrating the death of Soleimani, not the ordinary people, but Trump, Pompeo and Daesh," the Iranian foreign minister said while referring to ISIS's Arabic name. Talking about Iran's airstrikes at two military bases in Iraq, Zarif maintained that Tehran retailiated in "self-defence" and rebuffed Washington's claims that Soleimani was planning to attack US embassies. "Iran responded in self-defence. US accused Soleimani of threatening to attack US embassies. But now we know there was no such threat...US wants to get rid of international law and that is why it talks of international rules based system," he said. Zarif said that 10 million people turned out on streets of not only Tehran but various cities in Iran, Iraq, India and Russia, to "commemorate" Soleimani. "So, the US needs to think again about our region. They are making a mistake," he added. The Iranian foreign minister called for creating hope in the region. "We need hope in the region to end the despair that is making an entire generation in the region lose hope as they face an uncertain future. We need to create hope in the region," Zarif further said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kenyan Judiciary has come out to dismiss reports it awarded sole custody to the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was captured on video wailing and clinging to her father when her mother attempted to take her at the Mwingi Law Courts last Thursday, January 9. In a statement via Twitter Tuesday, Judiciary said the court granted equal custody for both parents on September 12, 2019. It was established that the mother would stay with the girl as she attends school, whereas the father would have custody during the school holidays. Since it was September, the arrangement was to take effect from December 1, 2019. However, on the said date, the father refused to hand over the child prompting the mother to return to court on December 15, 2019, seeking orders that he be compelled to do so. More push and pull followed, but on Jan 8 the couple re-appeared in court.The father was to bring the child the following day, January 9, 2020, and the childrens officer was to oversee the handover and ensure the girl had the necessary counselling and preparation. It was on the material day that the video was taken, and uploaded on social media with a view of painting the Judiciary in bad light, and as an attempt to reverse the decision of a court unprocedurally, said Judiciarys deputy director in charge of public affairs and communication, Catherine Wambui. The statement follows media reports that the girls mother abandoned her when she was one-and-a-half years old, but resurfaced when the child was 9 years old to claim custody. In this particular case, the social media narrative seems to suggest the mother was away for many years, and, therefore, should not have been given custody. It is noted that all matters and angles of the case were canvassed before a competent court. Moreover, a notable aspect is that the child actually lives with her paternal grandparents, since her father works over 70Kms away, yet her mother is alive, able and willing to stay with her, added the Judiciary. Read the Judiciarys full statement below. BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A skills mismatch that affects 1.3 billion people worldwide is imposing a 6% annual tax on the global economy in the form of lost labor productivity. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) explores this and other findings in its report titled Fixing the Global Skills Mismatch, which is being released today. According to the report, the skills mismatch is the key barrier to human capital development. Affecting two out of five employees in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, the skills mismatch is, for employers, essentially a hidden tax. And because uneven economic growth and global divisions of labor can lead to greater disparities among the world's economies, the mismatch creates risks for governments. The report points to the need for a more human-centric approach to education and employment that will treat an individual not just as an element of the workforce or a passive consumer of education and training services but as an equal partner in the creation of a future-ready society and economy. "The system for building human capital needs to be updated," says Dr. Leila Hoteit, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the report. "Not only does the future economy demand a human-centric approach, education systems need to adapt to new and more sophisticated market requirements." Transforming Education and Labor Markets Skills are becoming obsolete at an increasingly fast ratetechnical skills, for example, are outdated in two to five years, and it is expected that by 2022, 27% of available jobs will be in roles that do not yet existheightening the need for reskilling and upskilling. At a time of high uncertainty, people need the cognitive and noncognitive skills and knowledge necessary for adapting to employers' changing requirements. At the same time, people must take responsibility for their own professional development to be able to choose a career path and to fully unlock their potential. The report highlights that to address the skills mismatch, the 20th-century social contractwith its standardized forms of education, nontransparent labor markets, and job-for-life expectationsneeds to be transformed into a fundamentally new pact that involves employees, employers, the government, and the education system. To realize the full potential of human capital and fix the global skills mismatch will require the following: Workers must learn continuously in order to remain in demand, maintain their performance throughout ongoing technological change, and train for activities that do not yet exist. Individual employees need to take responsibility for their own professional development. Government and employers should provide support and ensure the broadest possible access to opportunities. Limits on access to opportunities in the labor market must be removed. Avoiding the productivity tax is not an issue that can be easily addressed: only 28% of respondents to a BCG survey reported that they consider using self-service content for learning, and about 41% of job seekers find jobs through online platforms while 3 billion people lack access to the internet. "Countries must rethink the way education and training are funded, designed, and delivered; change mindsets accordingly; and implement a more collaborative approach through which best practices can be shared and labor markets can become more open," sums up Sergey Perapechka, a BCG partner and coauthor of the report. "Collaboration will be needed not only within countries but also across borders. Countries that have open labor markets and are prepared to share best practices with their peers will be far better equipped to resolve labor market mismatches." A copy of the report can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or [email protected]. About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformationinspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact. To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital venturesand business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive. Boston Consulting Group Eric Gregoire Global Media Relations Senior Manager Tel +1 617 850 3783 [email protected] SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Related Links http://www.bcg.com/ YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. In September 1918, 23 thousand Armenians fell victim of thoroughly planned pogroms against the ethnic Armenian population of Baku. Stores, houses and oil factories owned by Armenians were razed to ground or looted. The Armenian community of Baku suffered not only human but also financial losses. The pogroms started in mid-September when the city was seized by Turkish army and went on till November of the same year. There is incontrovertible evidence related to the pogroms kept in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany. The evidence includes records and reports of the German soldiers who, at the time, were in Baku or in other places adjacent to the city. The most detailed calculation of human losses of the Armenian population was conducted by Bakhshi Ishkhanyan who, at that period, was the head of the Statistical Commission of the Armenian National Council of Baku. Bakhshi Ishkhanyan presented the results of those surveys in his book Great Horrors of the city of Baku: Statistical research of the events of September 1918, weighing them up with other sources as well, which was published in 1919. As of September 1918 more than 100 000 Armenians, including refugees from different regions of Azerbaijan that escaped to Baku because of the Turkish offensive, were living in Baku. Although until the citys surrender to Turkish forces in September, 1918, of the Armenian population was able to evacuate the city by the sea, the majority of Armenians remained in their homes falling victim to Turkish-Tartar attacks. From the research of the Statistical Commission under the Baku Armenian National Council. The list does not include the number of refugees from other regions and labor migrants, who had no relatives in Baku. Armenian pogroms were deliberate in nature and coordinated not only by the Turkish forces but also by the authorities of the newly-formed Azerbaijan Democratic Republic which then was settled in Elizavetpol (Gandzak, nowadays Gyanja). It is noteworthy that there was a secret order by the Minister of Interior Affairs of ADR, Behbud Khan-Jevanshir, addressed to the mayors of Nukhi, Shemakhi and Baku, stating: It is necessary to knock the Armenians down and step over their bodies in order to achieve our goals. Do not feel sorry for anyone and follow the orders given to you. According to the reports of the Statistical Commission presided by Bakhshi Ishkhanyan in just 3 days approximately 9 thousand people were murdered. The death toll consists of 5248 names to which were also added the numbers of the victims among Armenian refugees from Shemakhi and Goycha. The committee also took into consideration the fact that there were many Armenian workers in the citys oil factories who, unfortunately, had no relatives left in the city to clarify their fate. Murdered during the pogroms of 15-17 September (only according to the death toll) - 5248 Men - 3763 Women - 1485 Children aged 1-15 Missing - 3572 Of which 3215 were killed (according to the surveys) Prisoners - 4246 Of which 2972 were killed in the result of slave labour Killed in 3 months - 8139 (of illnesses and epidemics - includes the number of refugees leaving for Persia, South Caucasus and Central Asia) According to the surveys and reports, the number of people who were killed or died during the pogroms as well as afterwards, as a result of the pogroms, in the period of Bakus Turkish-Azerbaijani governance up to the entry of British forces, and also considering the number of missing people and dead in captivity from hard labor, and Armenians who lost their lives because of diseases and epidemics as a result of deportation from the city, brings the total number of victims to 23 314 people. During that time, the Chief of Staff of the Turkish Armys East group, German Lt. Colonel Paraken noted in a report dated 26.09.1918 to Lt. General Von Seeckt: Atrocities generally happened inside the houses. Thats the reason why there were comparatively less corpses in the streets. In general, they [the corpses], were at the corners thus we often could feel them in smell. I saw 7 corpses piled together, among them children as wellAlmost all of the corpses were covered with bruises. The basements had putrid smell... At the presence of other witnesses a German told me that together with the Nuri Pashas adjutant they had entered a home where 13 Georgians were indiscriminately killed. When he drew the attention on the fact that the victims are Georgian, i.e. people under the auspices of Germans, the adjutant of Nuri shrugged and said: They were simply mistaken for Armenians. These genocidal acts against Armenians were left unpunished which naturally led to their repetition in the late 80's, when a heinous crime against the Armenian community was committed in Baku again, for the third time in the history of the city. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is likely to be shifted from its current location as part of the Modi government's ambitious project to redevelop Central Vista - the nation's power corridor - in the Lutyens' Delhi, sources said on Wednesday. The IGNCA, established in the memory of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, may be shifted near Jamnagar House, where around 15 acre land currently being used by hutments are likely to be removed. According to the proposed plan, the IGNCA building and other nine buildings including Udyog Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, Shashtri Bhawan, vice president residence and are likely to be demolished to pave the way for the construction of a common Central Secretariat to house various ministries. The IGNCA is currently located on the Man Singh Road. The plan to shift the IGNCA, however, is yet to be finalised by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which is the nodal ministry for the mega project, the sources said. The redevelopment project of Central Vista envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath -- from Rashtrapati Bhavan till India Gate. The sources said that all cultural institutions will be relocated near Jamnagar House, adding that government has also planned to set up a state of the art National Centre for Performing Arts there. The common Central Secretariat will comprise eight buildings, four on each side of Central Vista. Each building will have eight floors, which will house various ministries. There are currently around 25,000 to 32,000 employees working in various ministries situated in different locations in the Lutyens' Delhi. The common Central Secretariat will accommodate more employees at one place. According to an estimate, the government is currently paying Rs 1,000 crore as rent annually for its offices spread across the national capital. Under the project, several subways will be constructed to ensure movement of pedestrians around common Central Secretariat, which will also be connected through Yellow and Violet line of the Delhi Metro. "There will be transit oriented development under the Central Vista project," the sources said. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has estimated that redevelopment of Central Vista will cost around Rs 12,879 crore. The new triangular Parliament building with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs is targeted to be constructed by August 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024. In October last year, Gujarat-based architecture firm HCP Designs won the consultancy bid for architectural and engineering planning of the Centre''s ambitious project. The firm, which will be paid Rs 229.75 crore for consultancy services, will prepare the master plan for the project, including designs, cost estimation, landscape and traffic integration plans, and parking facilities among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pongal, the winter harvest festival, was celebrated across Tamil Nadu with pomp and show. The celebrations, associated with the sun, was celebrated by making colourful Kolams and preparing traditional food in Chennai and Rameshwaram. "Pongal festival is the festival of farmers, the festival of Tamilians which everybody celebrates in the state. We make special dishes on this day and distribute it to the poor and amongst our families," Netaji, a resident of Rameshwaram, told ANI. "We pray to the Sun God for the wellbeing of our family," he added. The word 'Pongal' in Tamil means to 'to boil', it is also the name of a sweet dish made out of boiled rice, moong dal, milk and jaggery, which is prepared specially to mark the harvest festival Another resident, Poomagal, said, "Today is Pongal festival. We are celebrating it in the traditional way by praying for the wellbeing of ourselves and our family." The glimpse of the Pongal celebration was also seen in the Chennai-based church where they offered prayers and prepared Pongal. The festival celebrates the harvesting of crops including sugarcane, rice and turmeric and falls around the same time as Lohri and Makar Sankranti in mid-January each year. It is essentially a thanksgiving festival, wherein farmers thank the nature, the Sun God and the farm animals for helping in the productions of crops, while other people thank the farmers for producing the crops. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Gerard Chiara One of the critical functions of our legislature is to protect the welfare of the citizens they represent. Laws are passed to protect the public from harm caused by other people, corporations, organizations and the government itself. Any law that mandates public health issues, including vaccines, clearly falls within their purview. But those who compel us to give these vaccinations to our children must be certain that the laws they enact primarily inform and protect their constituents. Shouldnt we mandate that these products be held to a standard at least equal to other products we consume? Buyer beware! cannot apply when you have no choice but to consume that product, and the amount of that product increases continually. The CDC currently recommends 16 vaccines totaling 66 doses by the age of 18. With continuing research and development, the recommended vaccine schedule will surely expand further. Successes such as the eradication of Polio and Smallpox have instilled a sense of confidence in politicians and the public regarding the development and use of vaccines. Parents expect the safest and most effective method available to be employed when treating their children. In 1986, Congress passed the National Children Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), which eliminated vaccine manufacturers civil product liability for vaccine-related injury or death, or failure to provide direct warning regarding their products, and transferred their liability to a federal agency, The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). As of the most recent available information, a federal vaccine injury compensation fund has paid over $4 billion in settlements to injured vaccine recipients since its inception. These payments were funded by consumers, by an excise tax on these same vaccines. The Department of Health and Human Services was to oversee vaccine research and development regarding improvements in both their efficacy and safety. Another important ruling regarding consumers and vaccines occurred in 2011. In that year, in the case of Bruesewitz vs Wyeth LLC, the Supreme Court ruled that despite evidence that a safer vaccine existed than the one used in this case, the 1986 Child Vaccine Act did not require vaccine manufactures to make or distribute better of safer vaccines. Both Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented, saying it was not the intent of the NCVIA to allow vaccines to be designed or dispensed without regard for scientific and technological advances. Dr. Christine Stabell Benn, a renowned vaccine advocate and researcher from Denmark discusses how her 25 years of research demonstrate that live vaccines not only provide protection from specific infections but also provide additional non-specific health benefits. She also documents that non-live vaccines, which are becoming more prevalent, provide protection from specific infection but at a cost. That cost is increasing non-specific adverse and life altering effects, especially among females. This information demonstrates how complex our immune system is and the need for an improved understanding of our immunity and how vaccines interact with it. In 2015, researchers from the Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, a world-renowned medical center, details how varied populations react adversely to the ingredients in vaccines, specifically multiple types of autoimmune diseases. Their research points to the fact that presently there is no screening process to determine who might be vulnerable to an autoimmune response, especially in light of what the author describes as the current aggressive vaccination schedule. Why should such a disparate number of reactions to the same substance be surprising? Penicillin saves lives, peanuts are nutritious legumes but both, in some instances, can cause severe adverse and even fatal reactions. In this time of increased public awareness, people want clean air and water. We carefully read the ingredients of the foods we eat and serve to our children. If consumers were informed of the aforementioned information by our government, namely this system of mandating the purchasing and consuming of a product, which is insured by the federal government and not required by that same government to design and manufacture a better or safer product, then the rights of the consumer would be served. Dr. Gerard Thomas Chiara is a chiropractor and consumer advocate in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The government may consider incentives for companies engaged in solid and liquid waste management activities in the upcoming Budget with a view to promote growth of the sector and push Swachh Bharat initiatives, sources said. They said there is demand for extension of income tax benefits and up to 100 per cent depreciation on machines used for solid and liquid waste management activities is under consideration. To promote cleanliness in the country, the government has launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). This flagship programme is one of the largest cleanliness drive as well as an attempt to effect behavioural change in the world. According to last year's Economic Survey, solid and liquid waste management is one of the major components of this mission. Many states have undertaken activities such as construction of waste collection centres, installation of bi-gas plants, construction of compost pits, installation of dustbins, system for collection, segregation and disposal of garbage, and construction of drainage facilities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks with Senator Bernie Sanders as billionaire activist Tom Steyer listens after the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., January 14, 2020. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders disagreed in a Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday over whether he once told her a woman could not win the White House in 2020, underlining an emerging rift between the progressive contenders as the first voting nears. After days of tensions between the two US senators, friends and liberal standard-bearers, who agreed early in the campaign not to attack each other, Sanders emphatically denied he ever made the remark, saying it was "incomprehensible" he could have said such a thing in a private 2018 meeting with her. Warren confirmed the comment and said she disagreed with Sanders, but quickly pivoted to the broader question of whether a woman could be elected president. "Bernie is my friend and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head-on," Warren said. Expand Close Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) billionaire activist Tom Steyer, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar participate in the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) billionaire activist Tom Steyer, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar participate in the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton The dispute brought questions about gender, sexism and electability back into the spotlight in the campaign, almost four years after Democrat Hillary Clinton failed in her bid to become the first woman president, in an upset loss to Republican Donald Trump. With only three weeks until the crucial, first-in-the-nation Feb. 3 nominating contest in Iowa, the sprawling field of 12 Democratic candidates is still struggling to convince voters desperate to oust Trump in November's election which one of them is best positioned to do so. The race remains fluid, with opinion polls showing the top four contenders former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders, Warren, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in an extremely tight race. Warren pointed out the men on the stage had collectively lost 10 elections, while the two women on the stage she and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar had won each election they had contested. "I have won every race, every place, every time, I have won in the reddest of districts, I have won in the suburban areas, in the rural areas," Klobuchar said, pointing to the 2018 election of women governors in conservative states as further evidence a woman can win the White House this year. After the debate, Warren appeared to refuse to shake hands with Sanders when he extended his hand as the candidates mingled on the stage. The two had a brief discussion that appeared tense until it was interrupted by candidate Tom Steyer. Asked on CNN about the moment, Steyer said: "I felt like, OK, there's something going on here. Good night, I'm out of here. It was one of those awkward moments where I felt like, OK, I need to move on as fast as possible." The flap between the two progressives allowed the front-running Biden, who has shown new signs of competitiveness in the two early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire, to stay largely above the fray. Sanders came under the most fire during the party's seventh debate after rising to the top of some polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. In addition to his exchange with Warren, he was peppered with criticism for his opposition to free-trade pacts and on how he would pay for his costly Medicare for All plan, which would all but eliminate private health insurance in exchange for a single-payer government program. I dont know that theres any trade agreement that the senator would ever think made any sense." Biden said. In the discussion on healthcare, US Senator Amy Klobuchar noted that over two-thirds of Senate Democrats had not signed on to Sanders' Medicare for All legislation. "The debate isn't real," she said. In the first debate since a US air strike killed an Iranian military commander, elevating foreign policy concerns, Sanders also sparred with Biden over US military interventions in the Middle East. Sanders, a longtime antiwar advocate who voted against the 2002 authorization of war in Iraq, criticized Biden for supporting that conflict and said they both heard the same arguments from officials in former President George W. Bush's administration before coming to different conclusions. "I thought they were lying, I did not believe them for a moment," Sanders said. "I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw things differently." Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who touts his security credentials, acknowledged the vote "was a big, big mistake" and said that as President Barack Obama's vice president, he worked to bring the troops home. "It was a mistake to trust that they weren't going to go to war," Biden said of the Bush administration. "It was a mistaken vote, but I think my record overall on everything we have done, Im prepared to compare it to anybodys on this stage. The Iowa debate came just days before the expected start of a US Senate trial to determine if Trump should be removed from office on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his request that Ukraine investigate Biden. Three of the Democrats in the debate who serve in the Senate - Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar - will sit as jurors in the impeachment trial, taking them off the campaign trail at a critical time. They said they did not mind. "Some things are more important than politics," Warren said, adding the trial would show the "corruption of this administration." Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Wednesday rejected the provision of supervised injection sites, facilities where people can inject themselves with illegal drugs under medical supervision, as a response to the opioid crisis, citing safety concerns. Im not bashing any particular person or group, Adams said at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., But the truth is, I have looked at the data, and I have seen little to no data suggesting they are overall more effective than expanding syringe services programs. Safer doesnt mean safe, the surgeon general added about the so-called safe injection sites. People can still leave and fall or drive away and crash. The syringe exchange services Adams referenced provide drug users with clean needles with the goal of preventing the spread of HIV and hepatitis, which the Trump administration has promised to halt over the next decade. The two are different, and we want to optimize the things that we know work before we start having conversations about more controversial interventions, Adams said, adding that he encourages providing drug users with the overdose reversal drug naloxone, which needle exchange sites distribute. However, needle exchange programs are only legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia and remain illegal in the rest of the country as critics worry that they enable or endorse drug addiction. Deaths from opioids increased about 8 percent from 1999 to 2013, and then spiked 70 percent from 2013 to 2017 as the crisis spun out of control. Opioids caused 47,600 deaths in 2017, at which point the White House declared the opioid epidemic a public-health crisis. In October, a report from the Justice Departments inspector general showed that the Drug Enforcement Administration permitted painkiller manufacturers to exponentially increase production of opioids even in the face of data showing overdose deaths were spiking, Almost every state along with thousands of local governments and other entities have sued the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid crisis. More from National Review Theres always a time when the race for the presidency becomes awkward, and last nights debate proved we have reached that time. Anyone paying attention to the news might have suspected it already, considering the story which began circulating earlier this week about Bernie Sanders allegedly telling Elizabeth Warren a woman would never be able to be president. It got so much worse onstage in Des Moines, Iowa. So, Senator Sanders, youre saying you didnt say to Senator Warren that a woman couldnt be president? CNN moderator Abby Phillip asked in the second hour of the debate. That is correct, Sanders answered. Without missing a beat, Phillips then turned to Elizabeth Warren and asked: Senator Warren, what did you say when Senator Sanders told you a woman couldnt be president? It was excellent comic timing, and it raised a big laugh from the audience. It also started off a toe-curlingly awkward exchange that began with Warren insisting, Im not here to fight with Bernie and ended with her and Bernie arguing for two difficult-to-watch minutes about how long ago 1990 was. Warren is stuck between a rock and a hard place: that much is clear. She and Bernie Sanders have spent their time onstage thus far refusing to attack each other. They are old friends, they insist. They have worked on legislation together, they believe in the same things, and they dont think the debates should be the place where Donald Trump gets his bright ideas about how to take down his Democratic opponent in the 2020 race proper. Even their fans have a lot of crossover, with Warren supporters in particular known for cheering Bernie at events as loudly and enthusiastically as they cheer their own first-choice candidate. But now the field is thinning, and Pete Buttigieg has emerged as an unexpected frontrunner in a race where electability comes up again and again. Buttigieg, the millennial mayor who loves to bandy about how young he is while also talking up his military and business experience (Pete has three years [in business] and I have 30, Tom Steyer pointed out onstage last night, before adding that he cares about climate change because of his children, who are around the same age as Buttigieg), is trying to style himself as the young, hip Joe Biden and its working. Democrats want to tempt lifelong Republicans away from Trump, to convince them that their party isnt their party while the controversial president is at the helm. They want to hit back at the Trump administrations claims that only crazy lefties would vote for a do-nothing Democrat. Mike Pence said just before the debate to a rally of Trump supporters that the Democrats stage would probably tip over because all the candidates were positioned so far on the left. Hes made the Republican 2020 strategy clear: position the Democrats as deranged, pie-in-the-sky radicals. Take a look at what they say about Trumps erratic tendencies and his untrustworthiness and say: Im rubber, youre glue. So where does Warren fit into all of this? As Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden fight for the center-ground (Id like to bring us back to reality here, Klobuchar said sardonically when Sanders and Warren had just answered the same question by robustly attacking the evils of corporate America) and Sanders doubles down on his usual shtick, Warren has to work out a strategy. She is savvier than Sanders at doing so; as anyone who hates her will remind you, she used to be a Republican. She doesnt want to lose the support of those who back Bernie and like her by association, but she also wants to convince the DNC that shes as sensible, as experienced and as electable as a Buttigieg or a Biden. And for a woman especially, thats going to be an uphill struggle. Pete Buttigieg is who we all thought Beto ORourke was going to be: the credible threat, the New Labour of America, the photogenic young white man from a state outside of the usual coastal elite blocs who doesnt want to shake things up too much. Warren doesnt want to attack what hes selling; thats not to her advantage. Instead, she needs to carefully step away from the shadow of Bernie Sanders and make sure shes seen in the same way to enough voters that she can get herself over the line. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty An odd factor that helped her out last night was the addition of billionaire Tom Steyer, who stands accused of buying his way onto the debate stage. Despite having used his wealth to involve himself in the Democratic process, Steyer performed as an unexpected cheerleader for Sanders and Warren; even while stressing that the economy would be the biggest issue in the 2020 election and that an entrepreneur like him, who inherited none of his massive wealth, could go toe-to-toe with Trump in a way that others cant, he also spoke passionately about the corporates which have a stranglehold over America. He nodded along with Sanders and Warren, even once pointing at Sanders while he was talking and mouthing: Yes! He made the case that he is a wealthy, financially discerning American who has been inside the belly of the beast and still thinks proposals like Medicare-for-All make the most sense and, surprisingly enough, he made it well. Many Warren supporters may resent his presence in the race, but I expect she will have been watching his performance closely. If she wants to make a case for her ideas which doesnt feel like it was borrowed from Bernie, shell have to start talking about how and why billionaires end up nodding along with left-leaning proposals and bringing everyone in America who thinks of themselves as a potential Tom Steyer to the church of Elizabeth Warren. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:22:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Wednesday blamed Lebanese officials for the country's chaos. "Another day of confusion around the cabinet formation, amidst the increasingly angry protests and free-falling economy. Politicians, don't blame the people, blame yourselves for this dangerous chaos," Kubis tweeted. The UN senior official also blamed Lebanese officials for watching the economy collapsing without taking any serious actions to prevent further deterioration. Kubis has on many occasions urged officials to accelerate cabinet formation and deal with the current economic crisis. Newly appointed Prime Minister Hassan Diab failed to form a new cabinet so far, prompting large-scale protests on Tuesday evening. Protests turned violent as demonstrators attacked banks and destroyed their ATM machines while clashing with the Lebanese army. By ANI NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who is basking on the success of her widely-talked about movie 'Chhappak', on Wednesday shared the video of a social experiment undertaken by her team to see how acid is easily available at stores despite its sale being outlawed. The team of 'Chhapaak' has not only been going strong at the box-office but also in their tireless efforts to make the general public aware of the trauma and of consequences of acid attacks. The 34-year-old actor shared the IGTV video along with a caption that read, "Won't Buy Won't Sell - A Chhapaak Social Experiment. Acid has corroded many lives, crushed many dreams, dashed many hopes and scarred many futures." Clocking in at five-minutes and twenty-seven seconds, the video shared saw a bunch of actors hired by Deepika's team to go undercover and buy acid from shops around the city. Deepika herself monitored the whole sequence from a car and looked shocked to see how easily people are manipulating the shopkeepers to get acid and how retailers are ready to sell it. Although shop owners briefly doubted the customers, there was only one who demanded a valid ID proof and refused to sell acid when the ID was not provided. The results of the experiment brought a frown on the actor's face as she explained how unbelievable it was to easily get 24 bottles of acid in one single day. The pitch towards such an unpleasant situation remains the same from the actor and the team as that of Laxmi Agarwal who went all the way to ban its sale. 'Chhapaak' is based on the life of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor. The lead character is named Malti in the flick, played by Deepika. The movie showed the struggle of Malti, her ultimate victory in banning the sale of acid after being attacked by a man she refused to marry. 'Chhapaak' hit the screens on January 10, 2020, and also stars Vikrant Massey. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here The German government is resisting a plea by Brussels to provide more funding to get the EU's flagship climate change policy off the ground in a blow the continent's decarbonisation hopes. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday unveiled details of the bloc's ambitious 1 trillion Green Deal, alongside a call for additional funds for the EU budget to make it happen. But Germany's finance ministry has already started the year by rejecting calls for more funding, stating that the current EU budget is sufficient to meet the continent's climate goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. The ministry also dismissed the idea of increasing the capital limit on the European Investment Bank, which Ms von der Leyen had suggested could also help close the funding gap. A response to an MPs' written question provided by German ministers last week said the federal government sees "sufficient leeway to provide the necessary funds to achieve the climate protection goals by setting priorities" rather than increasing funding. Recommended EU to dedicate a quarter of its budget fighting climate change Finance minister Bettina Hagedorn was writing to Green MP Franziska Brantner, who had asked the question. Ms Brantner accused her country's government of having "torpedoed" climate goals behind the scenes despite supporting them in public. The 1 trillion Von der Leyen investment plan includes a new "Just Transition Mechanism" to compensate and regenerate areas that currently depend on carbon-intensive industries like coal mining. Ms von der Leyen, who leads the EU's executive arm, has made the "green deal" the centrepiece of her mandate, but needs to convince fossil-fuel dependent countries like Poland that it is worth their while. But on the other side, her Commission is also up against a spendthrift German government that revels in running budget surpluses and wants to limit what it gives away in upcoming EU budget negotiations. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (AP) Ms von der Leyen says that under the broader investment plan, half of the cash would come from the EU budget. National governments would also contribute 100 billion, with 300 billion from the private sector. Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Show all 50 1 /50 Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Another 7.5 billion would be come from the EU's own 2021-2027 budget to act as seed funding to leverage a further 100 billion in investment. The IPCC, the global authority on climate change, says limiting warming to 1.5C widely regarded as a tipping point will require carbon emissions from 2017 levels to be cut in half by 2030, with full carbon neutrality by 2050. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying that the party has forgotten anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and has deviated from its ideology. Speaking at a press conference here, Javadekar said, "Anna Hazare was betrayed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. They (AAP) forgot Hazare after getting power. In the past five years, the AAP had worked in a way that you feel what had happened with the party. The party got separated from the values of Hazare." Javadekar also accused AAP of spreading lies and rumours regarding the CAA. "Delhi Chief Minister recently said due to CAA, crores of Hindus, Muslim and people from other religions will have to leave the country. I say at least read the CAA before commenting on it. The law does not take away citizenship it gives citizenship to those who suffer from religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan." "Those who face religious persecution in Pakistan they came to India and for over two decades failed to get Indian citizenship as there was no law. The CAA is the law to give them citizenship. Now the people understand this point," the Union Minister said in presence of senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel. Praising the BJP government at the Centre, the Union Minister said, "Article 370 was abrogated from Jammu and Kashmir, and it helped in drastically reducing terror activities there. People of J-K want development, stability and peace. The removal of Article 370 helped in that." "The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Ram Temple issue was accepted by both Hindus and Muslims. The Lok Pal bill was passed by the Modi government while the AAP only did speeches on it," Javadekar said while praising the Prime Minister Modi-led NDA government. "They (AAP) had said that they will not take residence or car. But when they came to power they took multiple residences and cars. So the people of Delhi will decide wisely in the assembly polls. "The slogan for Delhi is "Dekgh Badla Hai Ab Delhi Dadlo" (Country has changed now change Delhi)," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Varun Dhawan Opens Up About Street Dancer 3D, Prepping For Coolie No. 1 And Doing An Action Film New Delhi: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is in India on a three-day visit to attend the fifth edition of the Raisina Dialogue, on Wednesday warned that the current geo-political situation in the region is ''very dangerous.'' Zarif said this while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, which kicked off in Delhi on Tuesday. The Iranian FM will pay a courtesy call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2020. He is also slated to visit Mumbai wherein he will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Live TV The visit by the Iranian Foreign Minister comes at a time when the global attention is focused on the simmering tensions in the Middle East post the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by a Pentagon-ordered drone attack in Baghdad earlier this month. Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force was killed when a US drone fired missiles on his convoy in Iraq on January 3. Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces' are stationed in Iraq. Soleimani's killing was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the US. India has strategic interests in the Gulf region which is a key source of the country's energy security. Zero Plastic Waste Cities are being developed by the Grameen Creative Lab, an organization founded and led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus. This project will develop and implement social businesses tackling one or more social problems in a financially self-sustaining way to enable improved municipal waste management systems. Starting in 2020, projects will be launched in two separate cities in India and Vietnam. "The Alliance to End Plastic Waste and the Grameen Creative Lab share the goal of helping to end plastic waste in the environment and creating new opportunities for individuals and communities while doing so," said Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste. "Our critical work together in India and Vietnam will enable meaningful, sustainable improvement in the protection of our environment and in the quality of life for all those who live, work and play in Zero Plastic Waste Cities." "We need to build a circular economy in order to achieve zero plastic waste pollution. Entrepreneurship and social business will go a long way in achieving this goal. Grameen Creative Lab wants to create new opportunities for waste pickers and we are delighted to partner with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste for this initiative," said Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Harnessing the potential of the informal sector is important to increase waste collection and provide economic opportunity. The social businesses aim is to empower different players in the formal and informal waste value chain to increase conversion of collected waste into recycled material, supporting greater circularity and economic empowerment. Grameen Creative Lab is identifying local partners for implementing the projects and conducting pilot assessments in the two countries. The two cities will be announced in early 2020 and Grameen Creative Lab will also explore approaches to scale these social businesses to additional cities in 2021. The projects are being carried out by the team of Yunus Environment Hub, Grameen Creative Lab's initiative to address environmental issues through social business creation. About the Alliance to End Plastic Waste Established in 2019, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste is a not-for-profit organization that includes companies that make, use, sell, process, collect and recycle plastics, including chemical and plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, converters, and waste management companies. The Alliance is the foremost CEO-driven international organization focused on bringing together industry, government, communities, and civil society in the fight to end plastic waste. The Alliance is working to promote programs and partnerships that focus on solutions in four core areas: infrastructure, innovation, education, and clean up. The Alliance membership represents global companies and organizations located throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Arabian Gulf. The Alliance is located in Singapore. Member companies are: BASF, Berry Global, Braskem, Charter NEX Films, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, Clariant, Covestro, Dow, EQUATE Petrochemical Company, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics Corporation USA, Gemini Corporation, Geocycle, Grupo Phoenix, Henkel, LyondellBasell, Milliken & Company, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Mitsui Chemicals, NOVA Chemicals, Novolex, OxyChem, PepsiCo, PolyOne, Pregis, Procter & Gamble, Reliance Industries, SABIC, Sasol, SCG Chemicals, Sealed Air Corporation, Shell, Sinopec, SKC co., ltd., Storopack, SUEZ, Sumitomo Chemical, TOMRA, Total, Veolia, Versalis (Eni), Westlake Chemical Corporation. For more information, visit: www.endplasticwaste.org About Grameen Creative Lab Founded in 2009 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus together with his creative advisor Hans Reitz, The Grameen Creative Lab's mission is to spread the idea of social business, delivering on its vision to serve society's most pressing needs, and thus contributing to a world of three zeros: zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emission. In particular, the "Yunus Environment Hub" aims at accelerating this vision by tackling environmental problems through social business. GCL is designed to accelerate a global social business movement and spread the Yunus spirit of social business through awareness creation, incubation and consulting. GCL organizes the Global Social Business Summit, the world's leading social business forum, offers social business incubation programs and consults other organizations to engage in social business. For more information, visit: www.grameencreativelab.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1077217/GCL.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/808866/alliance_plastic_waste_logo_Logo.jpg SOURCE Alliance to End Plastic Waste Eleven days after a retired naval officers charred body was found in his house at Badlapur, around 50 kilometres from Mumbai, his wife was brought to the city from Pune on Wednesday morning. She had been missing since the incident. Sunita Yadav suffered 15 per cent burn injuries and is admitted in Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar. She will be arrested after the doctor gives a go-ahead. The police claimed that the woman, who stays in Allahabad with her family, keeps changing her statement. Her family, including her two daughters (aged 16 and 18) too has reached Badlapur, and informed the police that there were regular fights between their parents. Though the wife confessed to committing the murder, police are still clueless about the motive. The deceased Guddu Singh, 50, and his wife Sunita, 38, came to Badlapur from Delhi on January 2 to sell their flat. On January 5, the police found Singhs charred body inside the flat. On further investigation and checking the CCTV footage, they booked his wife for the murder. The woman got herself admitted to Sassoon Hospital in Pune as she too suffered burn injuries in the fire that claimed her husband. We brought her to Badlapur to record her statement. She has changed her statement several times now. She allegedly poured kerosene on Singhs body and torched him. Singh woke up, so she held him down and was injured in the process. She has burn injuries on her left and right leg, said Senior police inspector LM Sariputre. He added that neighbours heard the cries of help from Singh, but Sunita vanished before anyone could see her. We are investigating further as there are several flaws in her statement. She got admitted in the hospital on January 8, but she is not revealing where she was before that. We have taken her phone for analysing her movements. Her family members too have come here from Allahabad. They informed that she was not on good terms with her husband. The exact motive of murder however is still not known, said the inspector. The woman had separated from her husband and was staying with her two daughters in Allahabad. The deceased, who stayed in Delhi, used to visit the family once a week. Singh joined Income Tax office in Delhi after retiring from the Navy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Orthodontic Partners (COP) team has created many reasons to smile in 2020: a complete brand unification, a growing national partner network, and a continued commitment to give back to the communities they serve, to name a few. In late 2018 and 2019, COP affiliated with 20 new independent partners across Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. In 2020, the 50+ clinics within COP's national network will be unified under the singular, industry-leading brand, docbraces . COP is strategically focused on the provision of the best support and education to meet the individual needs of each team member, especially as it relates to their care for patients. "2019 was an exciting year for us in terms of growth. Our Vision is to become the icon of orthodontic excellence in Canada through our national network. We have always been deliberate about finding the right partners; those who provide a positive patient experience, get involved in their respective communities, and go the extra mile," said Anthony Milonas, President & CEO of Canadian Orthodontic Partners. "We are unifying our partner clinics under one brand to establish a network that becomes synonymous with our value proposition and with the high quality of care experienced within each of our local communities. The growth of our network will help us continue to strengthen our ability to deliver quality treatment to our patients as we share information and build internal infrastructure that helps us align on best practices and evolve to deliver a consistent patient experience across the country. These exciting partnerships represent the next step in providing an enhanced level of patient care and service experience in our clinics," said Dr. John McManaman, Founder and Chief Orthodontic Officer. In 2019, the team at Canadian Orthodontic Partners welcomed the following partners to their network: Metaxas Orthodontics - January - ON Embrace Orthodontics - April - BC Glasgow Orthodontics - June - ON Red Deer Orthodontics - June - AB Smilz Orthodontics - June - AB Cityplace Orthodontics - June - MB Brandon Orthodontics - June - MB Portage Orthodontic Centre - June - MB Clarity Orthodontics - June - AB Sherman Orthodontics - September - ON Bayview Hill Orthodontics - September - ON Cranbrook Orthodontics - November - BC Hibberd Orthodontics - December - ON Canadian Orthodontic Partners ended 2019 on a high note with its Annual Doctors Conference, held in Toronto. COP's orthodontists from across Canada joined together for a three-day opportunity to participate in continuing education, collaboration, and connection with its orthodontic community leaders for the betterment of their patients. "In partnership with our network of doctors, COP is focused on the advancement of orthodontics in Canada, and orthodontic education is key to our ability to play a significant and instrumental role," said McManaman. COP's core values of trust, learning, confidence, and community remain at the centre of the company's internal and external operations. Patient trust is a cornerstone for COP, with its clinics united under the shared belief that patients always come first. "Collectively, these values define who we are and drive our purpose of building confidence in our patients, one beautiful smile at a time. Our primary objective is to learn from one another so we can consistently deliver high-quality care in the communities we serve," added Milonas. About Canadian Orthodontic Partners Imagine what life would be like with a trusted business partner by your side. COP helps its national network of community-based clinics to deliver personalized orthodontic treatmentone beautiful smile at a time. By supporting the day-to-day administrative functions of each practice, COP empowers and encourages its clinic teams and doctors to focus their efforts on elevating patient care. COP provides each clinic with tools for growth, opportunities for professional development, and access to a network of highly skilled colleagues. Orthodontist-founded and led, COP's values are rooted in providing superior patient care and treatment outcomes. Through a national network that shares, collaborates, and learns together, the COP Vision is to become the icon of orthodontic excellence in Canada. SOURCE The Canadian Orthodontic Partners For further information: Christina Hale, Senior Manager, Communications | Canadian Orthodontic Partners, [email protected], 647-598-2421; Rohini Mukherji, VP | APEX PR, [email protected], 416-934-2101 Russian President Vladimir Putin set himself up to rule for life today after announcing sweeping reforms with his entire government resigning to clear his path. In an address to the nation, the former KGB agent - whose term ends in 2024 - described how power was being shifted from the presidency to parliament. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said his resignation was necessary for Putin 'to make all decisions' and was installed in the mysterious position of deputy head of the presidential Security Council. Putin's murky reforms are expected to be a straight swap, turning the presidency into the ceremonial role so that he can become the newly-empowered prime minister. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny called the reforms 'fraudulent crap' that would end with Putin being 'sole leader for life'. Dmitry Medvedev (centre) resigned as Russia's Prime Minister on Wednesday, saying it was necessary while President Putin reforms the country's constitution Analysts believe that Putin wants to transform the presidency into a ceremonial role before stepping in as newly-empowered prime minister when his term ends in 2024 - a move that would allow him to rule for life As Medvedev's successor, Putin nominated the little-known head of Russia's tax service, Mikhail Mishustin (pictured) British government sources have suggested that Putin's hand has been forced by a rising populist movement across the globe and increased opposition among his own people. His economy has also taken a blow from US and European sanctions so a firm grip is needed to face down any potential insurrection by the masses. Putin said any constitutional changes would have to be put to the people in a referendum, the first that Russia will have held since 1993. Medvedev served as president from 2008 until 2012 when Putin was forced to step down due to term limits. When Putin returned as president in 2012, Medvedev was appointed prime minister, a position he had held ever since. He will remain in power despite Wednesday's resignation, as Putin appointed him to the newly-created position of deputy leader of the presidential security cabinet. In Medvedev's place, Putin nominated the little-known head of the Russian tax service Mikhail Mishusti. Medvedev announced his resignation on state TV sitting next to Putin, his mentor. Putin, who has been governing in tandem with Medvedev since 2008, thanked his former protege for his efforts but said the cabinet had 'failed to fulfill all the objectives set for it'. 'I want to thank you for everything that has been done, to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved,' Putin said. 'Not everything worked out, but everything never works out.' Putin has asked for the outgoing government to remain at work until a new government was appointed. Medvedev said the government was resigning to 'provide the president of our country with the possibility to take all the necessary measures'. 'All further decisions will be taken by the president,' he said. Medvedev announced his resignation following a speech in which Putin announced he would be making changes to the constitution to empower parliament Mikhail Mishustin: hockey-loving taxman picked by Putin as Russian PM Regular ice hockey player Mikhail Mishustin is likely to be Russia's next Prime Minister after Vladmir Putin put his name forward today. The 53-year-old had headed Russia's tax service for a decade and also has a PhD in economics. His career started in the 1990s where he headed up an organisation set up to promote international cooperation in computing. In 1998 he became deputy head of the tax service. He was soon appointed deputy tax minister, which he held until 2004. Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) meets head of Russia's Federal Tax Service Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, Russia on January 15 For the next four years he headed up federal agencies and in 2008 he became president of an asset management firm. In 2010 he was appointed the head of the tax service after he was proposed by the finance minister at the time, Alexei Kudrin. In 2015 he was listed as Forbes' 54th best-paid state official in 2015 with earnings of 183.31 million rubles (2.6 million). Following Putin's proposal, state TV claimed he had 'created the best tax collection system in the world.' It is thought that he was picked to create a 'more competent leadership'. He is seen as a 'neutral figure' and has previously proposed that Russia needs to adapt its economy in order to include new and developing technology. Mishustin told the Kommersant newspaper last year that Russia needs to adapt to the era of digital technology and artificial intelligence or fall behind. 'This is already a digital world,' he said. 'If we don't understand how this world is developing and what its rules are, if we insist our country is part of the old order, this new world will make us its victim.' He is also a member of the supervisory council of CSKA hockey club, along with Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and other powerful figures. The RBK business newspaper reported in 2010 that Mishustin has 'good contacts in the law enforcement structures. He has often been seen at hockey matches with senior officials from the FSB (security service) and the interior ministry.' Advertisement Putin said Medvedev would take on a new job as deputy head of Russia's Security Council, which Putin chairs. The 67-year-old Putin is due to step down as president in 2024 and the Russian constitution prevents him from running for a third consecutive term. The Russian political world is already abuzz with speculation about how Putin might stay in power, although he himself has said almost nothing on the subject. At his annual address to lawmakers today, he announced plans for package of reforms which could allow him to carve out a new role as a powerful PM. Under the reforms, Putin's successor as president would be stripped of the power to choose the prime minister. Russia's parliament - the State Duma - would select a prime minister and the president would not have the power to reject them, Putin said. The changes would also give parliament the power to choose senior cabinet members, further weakening a future president's authority. However, the president would still be able to fire the PM - although Putin's high approval ratings might make that politically infeasible. Other changes would see the role of regional governors enhanced and residency requirements tightened for presidential candidates. 'Of course these are very serious changes to the political system,' Putin said in a speech today as he promised a referendum on the plans. 'It would increase the role and significance of the country's parliament ... of parliamentary parties, and the independence and responsibility of the prime minister.' Putin has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999, longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin. A former KGB officer, first took power as acting president when Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned on the last day of the millennium. After his first two terms as president ended in 2008, Putin circumvented the term limit by shifting into the prime minister's seat while Medvedev served as president. Putin was widely seen as pulling the strings under Medvedev, although they clashed over intervention in Libya in 2011. In 2012 Putin returned to the top job and appointed the loyal Medvedev as prime minister. The switch of jobs was widely seen as a cynical ploy and sparked massive protests in 2011-12 in a major challenge to the Kremlin. Re-elected to a six-year term in 2018, Putin has seen his approval ratings fall to some of their lowest levels, though still far above those of most Western leaders. Recent polls put Putin's rating at 68-70 per cent, up a few points from a year ago but down from a high of more than 80 per cent at the time of his last election. His loyalists in the United Russia party have also suffered dismal ratings and suffered badly in Moscow local elections last year. Another option for Putin would be to merge Russia with Belarus - a process which has long been the subject of speculation - and become head of a new unified state. Putin previously served as prime minister for four years while Medvedev was president (they are pictured together in Moscow in 2008) Medvedev will stay on in government in the newly-created post of deputy of the presidential security cabinet (Putin and Medvedev talk in Moscow on Wednesday) Russia is Belarus's closest ally and the two have formed a nominal 'union' with close trade and military cooperation. Putin played down such speculation last year, saying there were no plans for a merger with Belarus. Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko has been more blunt, saying last year that unification 'was not on the agenda.' MARK ALMOND: Like Stalin, he'll rule to the death He likes to take the world and Russians by surprise. Vladimir Putin's lengthy State of Russia speech yesterday was expected to be the usual tedious outline of statistics and policy developments. No doubt the Kremlin audience of veteran apparatchiks planned to do their 'sleeping-with-the-eyes-open' trick. Then Mr Putin pulled his rabbits out of the hat. Russia needed more democracy. Parliament should have a bigger say in choosing the government. The position of the president all-powerful until now should be cut down to size. And so on... a raft of sweeping, bold constitutional change that seemed whisper it to be preparing Russia for life after Vladimir Putin. He even complained about how time-consuming being president of Russia is. He's 67 after all and has been at it 24/7 for 20 years. Russian President Vladimir Putin walks along St.George's Hall to take part in an inauguaration ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, May 7, 2004 Shortly afterwards, Putin's longtime political ally, the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, stood down he made the announcement on TV with Putin next to him and the entire government resigned to help 'facilitate' the proposed changes. It was only when Medvedev's successor, an anonymous tax-collector, Mikhail Mishustin, was appointed, that it all started to become clear. Anyone starting to hope Putin might be relinquishing his grip on the levers of power, in favour of spending more time at his dacha and enjoying the manly pursuits he's famous for, was to be disappointed. Indeed, this was an audaciously disguised power grab for the future. By choosing as prime minister a person with no political standing or base in parliament, Putin was indicating that he does not intend to give up the top job. What his proposed changes suggest is that Putin is weary of the day-to-day business of running Russia and making all the decisions great and small. He wants to devolve administrative tasks to a new president and prime minister. By the time his current term ends in 2024, with him in his early 70s, Putin will then in all likelihood take up the role of the grand old man perhaps the godfather is a more fitting title of Russian politics. An electronic screen, installed on the facade of a hotel, shows an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a quote from his annual address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow, Russia January 15, 2020 But make no mistake, he will still be all-powerful, the ultimate back seat driver. There are precedents for rulers being seen to step back, but continuing to pull strings from behind the scenes. In China in the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping stepped back and left day-to-day decisions to his chosen successor, Zhao Ziyang. But when Zhao made the wrong decision in the Tiananmen crisis of 1989 and talked to the student protesters, Deng deposed and replaced him. And remember, for much of his rule, Stalin was a private citizen, neither prime minister nor president, but as general secretary of the only party in the country he ruled with an iron hand over the institutions of the Soviet Union. Putin looks through the scope as he shoots a Chukavin sniper rifle (SVC-380) during a visit to the military Patriot Park in Kubinka, outside Moscow, on September 19, 2018 Last year Nursultan Nazarbayev, Putin's close ally in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, retired after holding the presidency since 1990. He became head of a 'guiding' security council and, to emphasise he was still in charge, the capital was renamed Nursultan in his honour. I doubt Moscow will become Putingrad, but Vladimir Putin's influence will be felt by whoever sits in the Kremlin long after 2024. Foreign policy and defence will almost certainly depend on his experience and say-so. Putin knows that once out of power his former toadies could turn on him and discredit him by revealing dark secrets. He will want to stop that from happening for as long as he can. So all was not what it seemed yesterday. As long as there is life in him, Vladimir Putin sees Russia's fate intertwined with his own. Mark Almond is director of the Crisis Research Centre, Oxford Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Babul Supriyo said Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone meeting a specific group of students on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus and "ignoring" others in the midst of promotion of her film "Chhapaak", has "not gone down well" with some people. Supriyo said the names of some members of the group the actor had met with, have now surfaced as accused (in connection with the violence in the varsity). Addressing reporters, the BJP leader also slammed trolls for making derogatory remarks against the actor over her visit. Ahead of the release of her film "Chhapaak", Padukone visited the JNU on January 7 to express solidarity with students who were attacked by masked assailants two days earlier. The visit triggered a backlash from many netizens. Addressing a press conference in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, Supriyo also accused the Opposition of spreading a "false propaganda" about the new law. Responding to a query on Padukone getting trolled on social media, the MoS for Forest and Environment said, "I am a big admirer of Deepika Padukone. Even I have named my younger daughter as 'Naina' after Padukone's character in her film 'Yeh Jawani hai Deewani'. "Nowadays people write and speak anything even if it is abusive on social media Deepika's visit to JNU and meeting those, whose names are now being surfaced as accused (in connection with the violence in the university), and not meeting the other groups did not go down well with some people," he said. The BJP MP from West Bengal also said that people did not like Padukone meeting only a specific group in the JNU in the midst of promotion of her film. "Despite that if anyone abuses or uses harsh words (against her on the issue), I condemned them. Use of any kind of abusive word at any forum should not be done," he said. Reiterating the party line on the new citizenship law, Supriyo said the legislation is not aimed at snatching away citizenship of people in the country. He said opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress, the Congress and the Left are spreading "falsehood" over the CAA for political reasons. Earlier, addressing a pro-CAA rally of the BJP in Durg, Supriyo said, "An Italian translation of the new citizenship law will be sent to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Chinese one to leaders of the Left parties, if they have not understand its provisions properly". He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had clarified all doubts of all parties on the CAA in Parliament before it was passed. He would be facing jail time and potentially losing his career, which ultimately would [result] in losing his income, she said. And if we were to finish going through with the divorce, [he could lose] custody of his son because he would have to go to jail for two DUIs. I think that was running through his mind. Childress said she had no questions or concerns about the police traffic stop. Ultimately, I dont believe he would have [shot himself] if he wouldnt have gotten pulled over, but no one is to blame here, she said. Thornton said the officer was attempting to initiate a field sobriety test investigation when the man suddenly produced a gun and shot himself. There was very limited conversation, Thornton said. He was still inside his car when he pulled the trigger, Thornton said. We do find ourselves, as an agency, very fortunate that thats all that happened, the captain said. Of course we never know what people are thinking, or what theyre doing or what theyve been involved with when [officers] pull them over. The special prize went to writer Ho Duy Le for his essay titled Tru lai (Staying). The annual awards were given to writer Nguyen Hai Yen for her short story collection Quan thuy than (House of water-nymphs) as well as poets Tran Quang Dao and Tran Quang Quy for their works Bay trong mo (Flying in the dream) and Nguon (Source), respectively. Three critical theory works, by Phan Trong Thuong, Ly Hoai Thu and Tran Dang Suyen, were also honoured at the ceremony. The poem collection Nostalgic Kiem Ho, episode 2, which was translated from Han (Chinese script) by Nguyen Huu Thang, received the award in the field of translations. On the occasion, 59 new members in the fields of poem, prose, critical theory, literary translation and childrens literature were added to the association. Web Toolbar by Wibiya Once again, all eyes will be on Toronto as preparations are in top gear for the Book Expo 2020. Many authors are eagerly looking forward to the maiden event for a number of reasons. A major centre of arts and culture, Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities on the planet. If there is any place an author can get maximum exposure, then Toronto is it. Exposure to a vast and appreciative audience is the first reason why any author or even publisher will be excited. The potential for media coverage at such an event in Toronto is so huge that no one can ignore it. For any author who wants maximum exposure, Toronto Book Expo 2020 is an ideal platform for that. Anytime there are events where local and foreign authors gather, national and international media outlets pay attention. Any prominent media agency within and outside Toronto will focus on the event and give it proper coverage. When this is done, the books written by the authors are also given prominence and that is a major plus for the authors and publishing firms. Considering the importance of the literary arts and appreciation from the audience, media agencies are always more than willing to do the coverage. Journalists and reporters are often present at literary events and the Toronto Book Expo 2020 will not be an exception. However, exposure is not the only reason the authors are looking forward to the event. The ability to meet and network with other authors is another reason. As authors from within and outside Toronto will be attending the event, it is the perfect place for literary colleagues from all over Canada and different countries to meet. Such meetings are ideal for comparing works, sharing ideas, planning for future collaborations or even joint literary promotions. An important observation is that an expo is the only opportunity for some authors to get to meet their colleagues from far and wide. In addition to exposure, the ability to get inspired is also an extra cause for excitement. For those who have attended book expos before in the past, merely staying in the community of authors alone is enough motivation and a trigger for inspiration. Seeing different writers and learning from different literary styles often spark ideas in the minds of other authors. This is one major reason professional, amateur and aspiring writers are looking forward to the event. Apart from the reasons outlined above, there is one very crucial reason authors cannot wait to be at the event. This is nothing other than the chance of a very good income. With the promotion of books at any literary expo comes the opportunity to also sell them. There are actually many attendees who visit expos with the sole aim of checking out good books they want to buy. For this reason, authors are advised to always have an enchanting table display. They will be able to sell their books at the expo and make immediate financial gains which are not bad at all. Its nearly tax season. And one man is wasting no time in making his pitch for tax prep services. That man is Ja Rule. Yes, Holla Holla Ja Rule. R.U.L.E. Ja Rule. Livin it Up Ja Rule. Its Murda Ja Rule. Always on Time Ja Rule. Fyre Fest Ja Rule. On Tuesday, the Grammy-nominated rapper, born Jeffrey Atkins, tweeted an advertisement for a New Jersey business called Value Tax, saying he is part owner of the venture. ITS TAX SEASON!!! Rule, 43, posted in a since-deleted tweet. Its simple walk in let us do your taxes, walk out with cash in hand... we also do credit repair!!! #Valuetax" Calm down yall Rule wont be doing your taxes... Value tax does Im just an Owner!!! pic.twitter.com/FkLsTefV5Y Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Get $100 cash now with tax prep, $100 cash for referral and up to $7,500 total same day advance, read a promotional flyer for the business, located on Clinton Avenue in Newark. Use your tax refund to fix your credit and change your lifestyle. New car, new house, travel. We got it all! One stop shop. The flyer was illustrated with a photo of money, a credit rating, a plane, a home, a family and a car. Right off the bat, people wanted to know was the rapper, who rose to fame in the 90s, now a tax guy? Everything thats funny aint a joke value tax over 40 locations Ja Rule BEEN DOING YALL TAXES FOR YEARS!!! #Valuetax Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Rule, who said Value Tax has 40 locations, answered skeptical and critical tweets, telling one person that if they owned a Value Tax they could make more than their annual salary in just 2 months!!! Look into opening one... tweeted Rule, who served two years in prison for gun possession and tax evasion and was released in 2013. See while you hating Im putting you up on game. In 2011, Rule was sentenced to 28 months in prison after failing to file taxes on more than $3 million from 2004 to 2006. The rapper was required to pay $1.1 million. Calm down yall Rule wont be doing your taxes, tweeted the rapper, who has a home in Saddle River featured on his former MTV reality series Follow the Rules." All yall thinking yall gonna be stars better go learn how to diversify your portfolio... #Valuetax Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Value tax does Im just an Owner!!! he explained. Rule, along with imprisoned Short Hills Fyre Festival co-founder Billy McFarland, co-founded Fyre Media, a talent booking firm. Their planned Bahamas music festival, which Rule promoted on social media, was an infamous failure. Its 2017 collapse spawned two documentaries. In November, Rule avoided a $100 million class-action Fyre Festival lawsuit when he was dismissed from the legal action, filed by attendees of the festival. The first doomed festival has apparently not deterred him from speaking about his thoughts on possibly organizing another such festival. On Twitter, Rule hit back against those who mocked or questioned him on social media for the tax tweets. Thats fine we do the same thing!!! https://t.co/Xj9PrfMyM5 Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Everything thats funny aint a joke value tax over 40 locations, he tweeted. Ja Rule BEEN DOING YALL TAXES FOR YEARS!!! The big response to Rules tax promotion got him trending on Twitter. Social Media is for clowns, he tweeted in reply to his detractors. "If all the celebs left social media there would be no more social media!!! "Everyone gets on social media to follow celebs to get a glimpse of the lives you so desperately want but will probably NEVER live, he continued. Yall been hating on me since 03, Rule said. I aint stop getting money yet lol Im good!!! Rule thanked people for all the promo. This (expletive) easy yall are very predictable lmao, he said, using the hashtag #Thepuppetmaster. Haters are funny... Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Social Media is for clowns... if all the celebs left social media there would be no more social media!!! Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Everyone gets on social media to follow celebs to get a glimpse of the lives you so desperately want but will probably NEVER live... Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 We got you love... lol https://t.co/jYahSiNCNu Ja Rule (@jarule) January 14, 2020 Yall been hating on me since 03... I aint stop getting money yet lol Im good!!! Ja Rule (@jarule) January 15, 2020 Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. With a deadline of next Tuesday looming, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger still has not signed a refugee consent letter for the county. County Mayor Coppinger, after hearing a lengthy plea on Wednesday for him to sign, said he is still mulling over the decision. County Commissioner Warren Mackey asked the commission to voice its support, saying it would "provide cover" for the county mayor. The measure did not pass. Voting in support of the motion were Commissioners Mackey, Katherlyn Geter, David Sharpe and Chester Bankston. Commissioners Randy Fairbanks, Sabrena Smedley and Greg Martin said they were sympathetic, but did not have enough information. They abstained. Commissioners Tim Boyd and Chip Baker had left by the time the vote was taken. Commissioner Boyd had also indicated he wanted to "hear from both sides" before voting, but he said over 50 Bosnian refugees live in East Ridge and he said he has not received a single complaint about them. The commissioners heard pleas for the county mayor to sign from Jim Frierson as well as Marty Lester and Peshterianu of the local Bridge resettlement group. They said this is the first year approval from state governors and the leader of each locality was needed, and that came from an executive order issued by the Trump administration. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke signed the letter earlier, but the group said it still needed the approval of the county mayor. They said the signing also carried with it federal funds and other help to aid in the resettlement. Mr. Frierson said the refugees in the program have been thoroughly vetted by the Trump administration, and he said Chattanoogan Dave Worland, who heads the governor's faith-based initiative, is closely involved in the program. County Mayor Coppinger asked if the program could go into effect in Chattanooga since the mayor signed. Mr. Frierson said, "Sir, this issue is in front of you and you alone." The county mayor said there has been considerable "misinformation on the issue on social media." County mayors in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis have signed. Chattanooga received 86 refugees last year, including 42 children. The group emphasized "these are not illegal immigrants." The Trump administration's order allows 18,000 refugees across the U.S. UNSC to meet on Ksahmir issue at China request NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday (today) will meet on the issue of Occupied Kashmir at Chinas request, after the same approach was canceled due to France on December 17, 2019. The meeting was first scheduled on December 17 but in the meantime, faced a snub from France, which considered the issue of Occupied Kashmir as a mutual issue amid Pakistan and India. Meanwhile, this will be the second of such gathering by the UNSC after the Indian government revoked the special status of Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in India. The last sitting of the UNSC got on August 16, which though remained unsuccessful. That France, called it any other business, and Russia had argued to hold such meeting behind closed doors. The UNSC comprises five permanent members, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France. Thus, any proposal of the UNSC could be put down, if any of these members stand against the proposal. Be that as it may, the current development comes after the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi composed a letter to the Security Council on December 12, last year and communicated worry about a potential further acceleration of pressures in the Kashmir region. Consequently, Chinas U.N mission wrote a note to council members by appraising Pakistans request. In view of the seriousness of the situation and the risk of further escalation, China would like to echo the request of Pakistan, and request a briefing of the Council on the situation of Jammu and Kashmir, Chinas U.N mission wrote, quoted from the Reuters. Nevertheless, on August 16 meeting the UN Secretary-General reminded the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, known as the Shimla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, under the UN Charter. For the time being, the Security Council adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in the 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan over the region One of the resolutions called both nations to refrain from making any statements and from doing or causing to be done or permitting any acts which might aggravate the situation. By Azernews By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijans electricity exports increased by 26.7 percent year-on-year in 2019, the State Customs Committee told local media on January 14. The country exported 1.77 billion kW / h of electricity worth $76.8 million in 2019 versus 1.397 billion kW / h in the amount of $65.6 million in 2018. Thus, in 2019, export of electricity from Azerbaijan also increased in value - by 17.1 percent. In recent years, Azerbaijan has turned from an electricity importing country into an electricity exporter. Azerbaijan, which has been exporting electricity to neighboring countries for a long time, has already begun exporting energy to European countries. Over the past 15 years, Azerbaijan has created about 3,000 MW of new generating capacities. Numerous power plants have been built, and thus, Azerbaijan has become one of the leading countries in the world in this direction. In 2019, Shimal-2 power station with a capacity of 400 MW was commissioned, which also significantly strengthened the countrys energy potential. Last year, the country made $60 million from electricity exports. Azerbaijan exports electricity to Georgia, Turkey, Russia and Iran. The Davos World Economic Forum highly assessed the work done in this area and awarded Azerbaijan first place in the CIS in terms of access to electricity. Besides, the country ranks second in the world by this indicator. Azerenergy is the main exporter of electric energy in Azerbaijan with over 30 power plants on its balance. The total power generation capacity of these stations exceeds 6,000 MW, which allows generating about 24 billion kWh of electricity annually. [January 15, 2020] Annual AJMC Health IT Issue Covers Machine Learning, Telehealth, Portable Licensure There are opportunities for savings and better care delivery if the health system takes advantage of machine learning, telehealth and portable licensure, according to research and commentary appearing in the annual health information technology (IT) issue of The American Journal of Managed Care. Now in its ninth year, the annual health IT issue features an essay from special guest editor Ilana Graetz, PhD, who is an associate professor in the Department Policy & Management at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Graetz discusses how a decade after passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, electronic health records (EHRs) and predictive tools have arrived that can help target interventions to those patients most likely to drive up healthcare costs. Unfortunately, she writes, technical, legal and institutional hurdles prevent them from being used to their full potential. Also, she writes, "it is clear that EHR systems are not silver bullets that will automatically result in better coordination of care and quality." "Now that the nation's healthcare providers have achieved widespread adoption of EHRs, the next phase of research, highlighted in this year's annual health IT issue, explores innovative methods for using data to improve population health, the role of trust and provider relationships, and enduring barriers to interoperability," says Graetz. Highlights of this year's issue include: A commentary by Pooja Chandrashekar, AB, and Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, on the need to move away from state-based medical licensure, which would allow physicians to reach patients in underserved areas through telemedicine; this would enable better distribution of specialists and mental health professionals. A study by researchers at Penn State and the RAND Corp. found that while adoption of a certified EHR is rising, only 38 percent of clinics reported having all 16 health IT functionalities in 2016, with patient-facing features among those less likely to be in place. Two different studies on machine learning had different results: A study of the use of machine learning in predicting reliance on primary care in the Veterans' Administration Medicare system found that it brought only modest improvements. However, researchers from Jvion found their algorithm could predict which patients were likely to visit the emergency room or be readmitted to the hospital within 90 days, based on capturing simple data points: age, gender, race and a person's address. Finally, this month's issue features an interview with cardiologist and digital medicine researcher Eric Topol, MD; this is the first of a series that will appear in the journal to mark its 25th anniversary. Topol discusses the cultural barriers to using more technology and eliminating the number of people involved in healthcare. About?The American Journal of Managed Care The American Journal of Managed Care?(AJMC) is a multimedia peer-reviewed, MEDLINE-indexed journal that keeps industry leaders on the forefront of health policy by sharing digital research relevant to industry decision-makers. Other brands in the?AJMC?family include?The American Journal of Accountable Care,?Evidence-Based Oncology and?Evidence-Based Diabetes Management. These comprehensive multimedia brands bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policymakers and other industry leaders in managed care. AJMC is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005798/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Welp, he tried it. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images Justin Biebers new single YUMMY seemed to go down a little more like medicine, with many criticizing its simplicity and, lets be honest, sorta gross lyrics. So last weekend, to a bit of surprise, he posted instructions to fans for how to increase streams and iTunes purchases of the song. (The Instagram post has since been deleted.) The suggestions included to put the song on repeat on Spotify, but make sure not to mute it, and to buy the song multiple times through a link on Biebers website. It didnt quite work Compton rap newcomer Roddy Ricch instead got his first No. 1, a viral hit in its own way but it reignited conversations about the lengths artists go through for a hit. Since Bieber certainly isnt the first, or most outlandish, artist to attempt to scheme his way to a No. 1, lets revisit nine other artists he could take notes from. (And remember: Under Billboard chart rules, it takes 1,250 paid streams or 3,750 free streams to equal an album purchase; before July 2018, it just took 1,500 streams.) Lil Nas Xs Old Town Road remixes The scheme: A remix got Old Town Road to the top of the Hot 100 in the first place, with Billy Ray Cyrus hopping on the song after Billboard took the genre-bender off the country charts. Three weeks into its run, a newly yeehaw Diplo remixed the track; three months later, when the record for longest-running No. 1 became in reach, Lil Nas enlisted yodeling kid Mason Ramsey and Young Thug for another remix. Did it work? Billie Eilish fought back with her own Bieber-featuring remix of then-No. 2 song bad guy, but Lil Nas won out and after a fourth remix from BTS RM, made history. Dont forget that another long-running Billboard No. 1 got its status in part from a remix: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankees Despacito, which added Bieber to get the song onto Top 40 radio. DJ Khaleds Father of Asahd energy drink bundles The scheme: Artists have sometimes-controversially used merch bundles to game the charts for over a decade now, since Prince bundled Musicology CDs with tour tickets in 2004. But DJ Khaled took bundling to a new level last year, when he gave away Father of Asahd downloads with energy drink purchases. Did it work? Billboard ended up not counting the bundles, prompting Khaled to threaten a lawsuit after it cost him the No. 1 spot. Instead, Tyler, the Creator topped the chart that week for the first time with Igor thanks in part to album bundles with everything from T-shirts to lawn signs. Billboard has since tweaked its rules for album bundling: All items bundled with the album must now also be available for purchase separately; the bundle that includes the album needs to cost at least $3.49 more than the merch would on its own, since thats the minimum price an album needs to cost on its own to chart; and the album actually needs to be claimed downloaded, if its digital, or shipped, if its physical. Bon Jovis This House Is Not for Sale tour bundles The scheme: Speaking of Prince and Musicology, lets talk about a more contemporary example: When Bon Jovi bundled its 2016 album This House Is Not for Sale, which had debuted at No. 1 at the time, with a new spring 2018 leg of the bands arena tour. The album included two new songs, if that counts for anything, but it was largely the record that Bon Jovi fans already moved to the top of the charts once before. Did it work? Impressively, the week after the tour went on sale, Bon Jovi topped the Hot 200 once more with 120,000 units, nearly all of which were pure album sales, thanks to the bundle. Not only that, but nearly every stop of the tour sold out as well. Rae Sremmurds #MannequinChallenge The scheme: Viral dance challenges date back further than the Mannequin Challenge remember the Harlem Shake? but this one represented an already thirsty artist, Rae Sremmurd (with Gucci Mane), mobilizing fans and bandwagoners alike to join the challenge, in which youd freeze in whatever pose you were doing, like a mannequin, while Black Beatles plays in the background. Did it work? Everyone from Michelle Obama to a Beatle himself took part, helping the song make a huge jump from No. 9 to the top spot in just one week. And while the Mannequin Challenge may have been reverse-engineered to include Black Beatles thanks to one tasteful California high school student, future dance crazes like Drakes In My Feelings challenge became more manufactured. BTS collectible LOVE YOURSELF: Answer deluxe editions The scheme: This is one of the simpler and more blatant tricks in the book: Market an album to a hungry fan base featuring some collectible part of a physical copy, prompting the stans to buy multiple copies of the same album. Did it work?: Not like BTS needed the boost, but you can be sure the ARMY went out to collect all four physical editions (S, E, L and F) of the boy bands 2018 compilation LOVE YOURSELF: Answer, the first Korean-language album to go gold in the U.S.A. year later, Taylor Swift would pull a similar stunt with Lover, packaging deluxe editions with four separate excerpts from her journal only available at her go-to retail partner, Target. The scheme: Billboard recently updated all of its chart policies to account for YouTube streaming; before, video plays of songs were lesser than streaming spins. Post Malone exploited this years before thanks to a clever, if gimmicky, video of his future No. 1 hit Rockstar, featuring 21 Savage. The video featured the hook on loop for three minutes and 38 seconds which, however catchy, leaves a little bit to be desired. Did it work? Listeners searching for the full song could follow a link from the video to streaming services, where their play would count toward chart position and later pushed the song to become Malones first of many No. 1 hits. (Sources told The Fader at the time that plays from the looped YouTube video also counted, possibly giving Posty two plays for one.) Drakes bloated Scorpion tracklist The scheme: When Drake released Scorpion in June 2018, the album broke the record for most American release-week streams with 435 million in just three days, setting a near-double record of 745.92 million by the end of the week. (Worldwide, it was the first album to top 1 billion release-week steams.) The double albums stuffed 25-song tracklist certainly didnt hurt. Did it work? Listening to Scorpion once-through would net 25 percent more streams than Drakes last proper album, 2016s Views (which had previously used the trick of tacking on his hit Hotline Bling to boost the albums overall streams), thanks to the stuffed tracklist. Even the previous record-holder, Post Malones beerbongs & bentleys, clocks in at a heavy 18 tracks. Futures back-to-back No. 1 albums The scheme: Want to become the first artist to get Billboard No. 1s for separate albums back to back? It helps to be generally prolific, have a strong fan base, and be at the the peak of your career. Thats how Future became the first artist to replace himself at No. 1 with FUTURE and HNDRXX in March 2017, taking a risk that, quite simply, few to no artists had thought to do before. Did it work? Releasing both projects as major-label efforts paid off, with both not only reaching No. 1, but topping their respective weeks in sales. Lizzos Good As Hell rerelease The scheme? Lizzo first released Good As Hell as the lead single off her first major-label release, the Coconut Oil EP, in 2016. It became a fan favorite, but didnt make too big of a splash. A little over three years later, thanks to a savvy late-2019 (and post-Truth Hurts) rerelease, its back on the charts. This isnt a new trick it often happens to early projects after an artist signs to a major label but it was hard not to notice with Lizzo. Count that Ariana Grande remix a month later as the cherry on top. Did it work? So far, Good as Hell has risen to No. 3, following Truth Hurts and its seven-week reign at No. 1. Justin Biebers Yummy streaming mobilization The scheme: Lets recap: Justin Bieber (or should we say, Scooter Braun) made an Instagram post with instructions for how to increase plays of his songs on Spotify and YouTube, along with purchases on iTunes. It read more like something an avid stan account wouldve posted, telling fans outside the U.S. to use a VPN to count their Spotify streams or fans on YouTube to log out and refresh each time they played the song to count as a new viewer. Speaking of YouTube, this also happened to coincide with the first week the Billboard albums charts started counting YouTube music video streams although artists like Selena Gomez were prepared too, with multiple video versions of new singles Lose You to Love Me and Look at Her Now popping up. IM SCREAMING!!!! And his fans have time making full threads about Selena yet they should feed him. Pathetic pic.twitter.com/q7utjr1eBU Karl is RARE (@VHOSSKE) January 10, 2020 stream yummy by justin bieber Roddy Ricch (@RoddyRicch) January 11, 2020 Thanks everyone. So thankful. #yummy. @RoddyRicch You had to go and make a banger smh! Haha ur the man!! Love the song!! congrats on your first #1!! Everyone go stream #thebox https://t.co/sut7ZA5A0d Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) January 13, 2020 Did it work? Not quite, seeing as Roddy Ricch blocked Biebs from that coveted No. 1 debut. However, his post pulled back the curtain on the mechanics of getting a No. 1 like we havent quite seen before, so expect thirsty artists to be a lot clearer in the future on how their fans can help their plights. A man poured diesel inside a church causing around 100,000 in damage because he felt upset by an offer of compensation over clerical child sex abuse. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that in 2018 Ian Kidd (53) settled a High Court case against the Catholic Church. On July 26, 2017, he got a letter from solicitors for the Church with a "final offer" of 30,000 for the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest. Kidd, with an address at Daytona, Brittas, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage at St Agnes Church, St Agnes Road, Crumlin, on July 26, 2017. Judge Elma Sheahan placed Kidd on a probation bond for 12 months and adjourned the case to January 18, 2021. She said that during that time Kidd must engage with the Probation Service and attend any addiction or mental health service his probation officer recommended. His lawyers told the court that Kidd found the offer from the Church derisory and became upset. He filled a can with 5 worth of diesel and went to St Agnes Church. He walked up to the altar and began pouring the fuel on the floor while shouting at "terrified" parishioners in the church to "get out, get out". "He had a cigarette and may have had the wherewithal to ignite the diesel but he did not," Kieran Kelly BL, prosecuting, told the court. The court heard that the bulk of the damage was caused when diesel was spilled on the altar, which is made of Carrara marble. A monstrance - which holds the communion host - a crucifix and a Paschal candle were also damaged. A garda negotiating team arrived at the church and Kidd spoke to one garda about the historic abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest, now deceased. The court was told gardai received multiple complaints of abuse allegedly committed by this priest. A High Court case, in which Kidd said he was repeatedly abused, resulted in a financial offer. In a victim impact statement, St Agnes parish priest Fr Paul Tyrell said parishioners had been terrified by the incident. He added: "St Agnes has no desire to compound previous suffering [the accused] may have suffered in this parish in previous years." The CEO and president was not doing interviews Wednesday about his planned departure, according to a spokeswoman, but said in a museum statement that he was proud of what he and his staff had achieved and called leading the MSI the honor of a lifetime. BOSTON - Refugees will continue to be placed in a Massachusetts city where the mayor is strongly opposed to the newcomers after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that local governments cant be granted veto power over the resettlement process, a refugee resettlement agency said Wednesday. Maxine Stein, president of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, one of the states largest refugee service providers, said her agency will also continue to seek an audience with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno to try and address his concerns. The Democrat, a longtime critic of refugee resettlement, publicly declared that his city of roughly 155,000 residents located near the Connecticut state line would no longer accept refugees as part of President Donald Trumps executive order giving state and local governments a say in whether refugees could be resettled in their communities. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland temporarily blocked the order, which required resettlement agencies get written consent from officials in any jurisdiction where they want to resettle refugees beyond June 2020. Were looking at this as an opportunity to re-establish relations and find a way to work better together, Stein said. We dont know how this story will end, so were taking this time to educate people. We dont think it hurts to do that. Sarnos office didnt respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. His rejection of refugees sparked outcry from local faith leaders and other city officials in recent weeks. It also came in contrast to Republican Governor Charlie Baker, who said in a letter to federal officials last month that Massachusetts would continue to welcome refugees. Sarno argued in a letter to the editor last month that Springfield has done its fair share supporting refugees over the years, and suggested the newcomers are straining the citys resources. Sarno wrote in his letter that this issue taxes our city and school services. Its time for other much more affluent communities to take on their fair share, the letter reads. Springfield has a long history of immigration and is now majority Latino and black. More than 20 refugees have been placed there in the current federal fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, according to Stein. About 90 refugees were placed in the city last fiscal year, up from 66 the prior fiscal year but down from more than 150 in fiscal 2017, she said. Irish police have discovered partial body remains in a burnt out car in Dublin which are believed to be linked to human limbs found in a bag earlier this week. Fire services were alerted to a car on fire around 1.30am on Wednesday morning in Drumcondra, north Dublin, and the human remains were discovered in the boot. According to local reports, there are fears the body parts found over the course of the week may have belonged to a teenager who was missing since Sunday. The 17-year-old from Drogheda, Co Louth, has been linked to one of two drug gangs involved in a feud in Drogheda, reported the Irish Times. A plastic bag of human limbs, believed to contain arms and legs, and part of a torso was found on Monday night in the suburban area of Coolock. Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Show all 5 1 /5 Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS The grim discovery was made just hours after the teenagers family reportedly began posting on social media seeking information on his whereabouts. Irish police, also known as Gardai, said: Gardai is currently at the scene of a burnt out vehicle that was located on Trinity Terrace, off Clonliffe Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin 3 in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday 15th January 2020. Partial body remains have been located in this burnt out vehicle and due to the nature of the incident it will be some time before proper identification can be confirmed. The Garda Technical Bureau have been notified and the Office of the State Pathologist and the Coroner have been notified. The assistance of Forensic Science Ireland will also be sought. Investigations ongoing and no further comment will be made at this time. The remains, which are believed to be the rest of the body, will be tested for DNA to determine if it matches the limbs. The vehicle was found in the constituency of Paschal Donohoe, Northern Irelands Minister for Finance. He said during an interview with RTEs Morning Ireland radio show: Theres a family now dealing with intense grief. In my own constituency of Dublin Central, weve seen the ability of [measures introduced by the Fine Gael government] to deal with that kind of terror. VANCOUVER - A police investigation has been ordered into the arrest of an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter at a Vancouver branch of the Bank of Montreal. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. VANCOUVER - A police investigation has been ordered into the arrest of an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter at a Vancouver branch of the Bank of Montreal. The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner said it has requested information from the Vancouver Police Department to determine if the actions of officers who made the arrests on Dec. 20 amount to misconduct. The investigation to be conducted by the Delta Police Department will also consider any policies, procedures or training from the department or the Vancouver Police Board that may be a factor in officers handcuffing the girl and her grandfather, it said. Andrea Spindler, the deputy police complaint commissioner, said it's important that a thorough and independent investigation be done. "The investigation will carefully examine and assess the circumstances of this incident including the legal authority to detain, arrest and use restraining devices such as handcuffs as well as any relevant questions of policy or training," she said in a news release. The bank customer could not be reached for comment. The head of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs called on institutions to beware of racial profiling. "They made the outrageous decision to handcuff the 12-year-old girl as well as the grandfather and take them into custody, publicly," said Chief Stewart Phillip. "In terms of making it right, we must go far beyond the public relations efforts on the part of the bank as well as the Vancouver Police Department." Phillip said the investigation by the police complaint commissioner is a step in the right direction. Paul Gammal, a spokesman for the Bank of Montreal, said it would not comment on the arrests and referred to two tweets from last week. On Thursday, the bank tweeted that the incident "does not reflect us at our best." "We deeply regret this and unequivocally apologize to all. We are reviewing what took place, how it was handled, and will use this as a learning opportunity. We understand the importance and the seriousness of this situation at the highest levels at the bank." In a tweet the following day, Cameron Fowler, president of North American personal and business banking, again apologized for the bank's actions, calling the situation "unacceptable." Fowler said the bank is working to improve its policies and would establish an Indigenous advisory council in partnership with several chiefs across Canada to support further education and awareness. "We have developed strong relationships with Indigenous communities over a long period of time, supported Indigenous initiatives, and are committed to doing more," the statement said. Chief Adam Palmer was not be available to comment. The bank called police to report a fraud in progress, the police department said in a statement last week. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Both individuals who were identified by the bank as suspects were initially handcuffed while officers investigated the claim. Officers confirmed the identity of the two individuals and confirmed that no criminal activity had occurred," it said, adding the pair was then released. "We recognize that this entire situation has been upsetting and distressing for the two individuals. Based on the initial call, our officers conducted an investigation and cleared the individuals of any wrongdoing." The department said its officers receive ongoing "cultural competency training" as it looks at better ways to deal with sensitive issues including cultural differences. Kat Norris, a member of the Lyackson First Nation, said she has spoken to the grandfather and organized a rally for Tuesday evening in support of him and his granddaughter as well as people of colour who deal with systemic discrimination. "We all, people of colour, deal with some form of discrimination, however subtle, every day, but nothing to that extreme," she said. "What happened to him happens to all of us because we feel the pain and we feel the shame and it's embarrassing as well." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2020. The UN aviation watchdog will join the investigation into the crash of the Ukrainian airliner in Iran that killed all the 176 people on board. Minutes after the Ukrainian flight PS752 took off from Tehran last week, it came crashing down killing all the passengers and crew. Among those killed were dozens of Iranians and Canadians. The flight was headed for Kiev, the Ukraine capital. Iran on Saturday admitted that it had accidently shot down the plane shortly after striking American air bases in Iraq in response to the US drone killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Tehran launched an investigation into Ukrainian plane crash and on Tuesday announced to have made the first arrests in connection with the incident. Iran had invited the UN for support in its probe into the Ukrainian plane crash. In a statement, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said that the invitation from Iran was accepted on Tuesday. The ICAO has appointed senior and expert technical staff, who will now serve as advisors and observers in the probe, it said. Few details of the investigation have been released by the Iranian authorities, but Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address that it will be overseen by several experts, and that the judiciary will create a special court. Initially, Iran denied responsibility for the crash, reportedly blaming it on a technical failure but eventually admitted that the operator of a missile defence system had mistaken the plane for a missile and shot it down. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the country's judiciary reportedly said at a press conference that the investigation will look into the causes and direct impact of the incident. A specialised agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It is based in Montreal, Canada. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The ICAO serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 Member States. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Patna (Bihar) [India], Jan 15 (ANI): The Bihar Cabinet has approved the construction of pucca houses for eligible candidates under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural (PMAY-R) in five regions of the Muzaffarpur district, which bore the brunt of the acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) outbreak last year. Apart from the construction of pucca houses, 13 other agendas were also approved in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday. They included the renovation of more than 7,000 wells in the state and upgradation of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna, among others. Earlier in July 2019, AES had claimed 142 lives in Muzaffarpur district. As per official data, 121 deaths were reported at the government-run Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), which handled the largest number of patients in the district, while 21 deaths were confirmed at the Kejriwal Hospital. AES is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms such as high fever, vomiting and in extreme cases, brain dysfunction, seizure, and inflammation of the heart and kidney. (ANI) [January 15, 2020] Immersive Experiences by Falcon's Creative Group Brings Jane Goodall's Story to Life at National Geographic Exhibition ORLANDO, Florida, Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a variety of innovative multi-media storytelling techniques and technologies, "Becoming Jane" delves into the iconic scientist's remarkable journey and how she became one of the world's leading conservationists. Learn more: https://falconscreativegroup.com/selected-work/becoming-jane-the-evolution-of-dr-jane-goodall Photo-realistic computer-generated imagery (CGI), 3D projection mapping, holographic displays, virtual character interactives, and augmented reality (AR) headsets were produced and developed by Falcon's Creative Group, an Orlando-based experience design company. Exhibition highlights: A projected picture gallery that transforms into an introductory film, with an unexpected visit from a curious chimpanzee appearing to leap out of the screens and move around the room. A life-size hologram-like projection of Jane sharing her most memorable recollections. An immersive 3D 10K theater experience that recreates Jane's point-of-view during her first encounters with chimpanzees. The film seamlessly incorporates photo-realistic computer animation with 3D virtual reality camera footage of Gombe Stream National Park. that recreates Jane's point-of-view during her first encounters with chimpanzees. The film seamlessly incorporates photo-realistic computer animation with camera footage of Gombe Stream National Park. A Falcon's Vision augmented reality binocular experience with personalized engagement and interaction with virtual chimpanzees. augmented reality binocular experience with personalized engagement and interaction with virtual chimpanzees. A "Chimp Chat" interactive installation where visitors can vocalize and communicate with a virual chimpanzee. Jane Goodall , exploring her early years, her fascinating studies in Gombe, and her current environmental advocacy through the Jane Goodall Institute. With Falcon's Creative Group, we have created engaging multimedia and interactive, hands-on experiences that will enhance the storytelling," says Alan Parente , Vice President of Creative at National Geographic. This is the third such collaboration between the National Geographic Museum and Falcon's Creative Group, previously joining forces on "Tomb of Christ" and "Queens of Egypt." Falcon's was also the lead designer and media contributor for "National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey" in Times Square. The "Becoming Jane" exhibition is organized in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute and is now open at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. through September 7, 2020. Then, it will travel to Los Angeles in late 2020 and more cities over the next five years. About the National Geographic Society: The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of the world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas. To learn more, visit www.nationalgeographic.org About the Jane Goodall Institute: The Jane Goodall Institute is a global community-centered conservation organization that advances the vision and work of Dr. Jane Goodall. By protecting chimpanzees and other great apes through collaboration with local communities, best in class animal welfare standards and the innovative use of science and technology, we improve the lives of people, other animals and the natural world we all share. Founded in 1977 by Dr. Goodall, JGI inspires hope through collective action, and is growing the next generation of compassionate changemakers through our Roots & Shoots youth program, now active in over 50 countries around the world. About Falcon's Creative Group: Falcon's Creative Group, an entertainment design company, delivers innovative, powerful experiences that challenge the limits of reality and fire the imagination. Our passionate, award-winning team transforms everyday reality, every day. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1075786/Falcons_Creative_Group_Logo.jpg SOURCE Falcon's Creative Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Jeff Miller Former Florida Congressman Jeff Miller has joined Omnicoms Mercury PA unit as co-chairman. Republican Miller spent 15 years in Congress, where he chaired the House veterans affairs committee and served on the intelligence and armed services committees. He succeeded Joe Scarborough, now co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, to represent the Sunshine States 1st district, one of the Republican districts in the South. Prior to his Washington service, Miller was in the Florida House from 1998 to 2001 and chair of its utilities & telecommunications committee. He joins Mercury from the senior legislative advisor slot at McDermott Will & Emery, where he counseled clients on veterans affairs, healthcare and defense matters. Miller will work out of Mercurys Tampa and DC offices. Industry body Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) on Wednesday said there was no discussion on 'uniform code for pharmaceutical marketing practice' in the meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the healthcare industry on January 1. The meeting was called to discuss future road map for growth of the healthcare industry, the IPA said in a statement. The focus of the discussion was to promote research and development, build innovation ecosystem, improve access to high-quality medicine and strengthen global competitiveness of the industry, it added. The purpose was to take the industry to the next level and leverage opportunities going forward in the pharmaceutical sector besides discussing growth opportunities in the Medtech and hospital sector, IPA said. "There was no discussion on uniform code for pharmaceutical marketing practice in the meeting," it added. The industry body was reacting to media reports that said the prime minister had warned India's top pharmaceutical companies to strictly adhere to marketing ethics, and not to bribe doctors with women, foreign trips and gadgets. The meeting was attended by leading figures such as Satish Reddy from Dr Reddy's, Ajay Piramal from Piramal Group, Pankaj Patel from Cadila Healthcare, Dilip Shanghvi from Sun Pharma, Dr Habil Khorakiwala from Wockhardt and Shobana Kamineni from Apollo Hospitals Group, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) German prosecutors on Wednesday said they were investigating three people who allegedly spied for China, with media reporting that a German former EU diplomat was among the suspects. "We can confirm an investigation into suspected espionage" for Chinese state security bodies, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office told AFP. Der Spiegel weekly said one of the suspects was a German diplomat who worked at the European Commission in Brussels before serving several stints as ambassador for the European Union in foreign countries. The other two are reportedly lobbyists employed by a "well-known Germany lobby firm". Prosecutors refused to provide details about the suspects and said no arrests have been made. But they confirmed Spiegel's information that police were on Wednesday raiding homes and offices linked to the trio in Berlin, Brussels and the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg. According to Spiegel, prosecutors accuse the former diplomat and one of the lobbyists of "sharing private and commercial information with the Chinese ministry for state security". The third suspect apparently only indicated "a willingness to do so". The diplomat at the centre of the probe reportedly ended his EU career in 2017 and switched to working for a lobbying firm, where he then recruited the two other suspects. The spying is alleged to have started that same year. If the allegations are confirmed, it would be a rare case of Chinese spies being uncovered. "Although there is always much talk about large-scale Chinese spying operations in Germany and Europe, investigators are rarely successful against Beijing's secret services," Spiegel wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A chemical needed by all living things on Earth may have come from comet strikes, astronomers say. A new study suggests phosphorus, which is present in DNA and cell membranes of all living organisms, may have struck Earth billions of years ago. Scientists found evidence of phosphorous monoxide in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a comet belonging to the Jupiter family. Phosphorus is considered one of the key ingredients of life alongside, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, but how it arrived on the early Earth has remained a mystery. Amazing NASA Space Images - In pictures 1 /80 Amazing NASA Space Images - In pictures Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 NASA This 1969 photograph of the eclipse of the sun was taken with a 16mm motion picture camera from the Apollo 12 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home from the moon. The fascinating view was created when the Earth moved directly between the sun and the Apollo 12 spacecraft NASA Astronaut Bruce McCandless II photographed 320 ft from the Space Shuttle Challenger during the first untethered EVA, made possible by his nitrogen jet propelled backpack (Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU) in 1984 NASA The brilliant tapestry of young stars flaring to life resemble a glittering fireworks display in the 25th anniversary NASA Hubble Space Telescope image NASA Space shuttle Atlantis blasts off from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2011. This lift off is the last in the 30-year-old shuttle program Getty Images The first teklevision image of Earth from a weather satellite taken by the TIROS-1 satellite in 1960 NASA The Echo 2 satellite in 1960. Once the balloon was launched into orbit, a prerecorded message from President Dwight Eisenhower was transmitted from California and heard with clarity in New Jersey NASA The original seven Mercury astronauts and pioneers in human space exsploration pose in their silver spacesuits in 1961 NASA President John F. Kennedy calls for a moon landing in 1961 durning Congress NASA Astronaut John Glenn climbs into his Friendship 7 space capsule in the Atlas rocket in 1962. Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth NASA A close-up view of an astronaut's bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the moon in 1969 NASA Man's first landing on the Moon. Lunar Module, "Eagle," touched down gently on the Sea of Tranquility on the east side of the Moon. Astronauts Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong wre the first men to walk on the Moon in 1969 NASA After an 8 month voyage to Mars, Mariner 4 makes the first flyby of the Mars (the red planet) in 1965 and became the first spacecraft to take close-up photographs of another planet NASA Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan 4 spaceflight, is shown during his egress from the spacecraft. His face is covered by a shaded visor to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. He remained outside the spacecraft for 21 minutes during the third revolution of the Gemini-4 mission in 1965 NASA The X-15 completed 199 flights to the edge of space from 1959-1968. Neil Armstrong was one of it's budding young pilots NASA Earthrise over the moon from Apollo 8 in 1968 NASA American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the mammoth-sized Saturn V rocket on their way to the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. saluting the US flag on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission in 1969 NASA Home View of Moon limb with Earth on the horizon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission NASA Apollo XI astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin laugh with President Richard Nixon aboard the USS Hornet in 1969 Richard Nixon Foundation via Getty Images Lunar mission Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA) in 1972 NASA First image of Viking 1's foot plantid on martian soil foot in 1976 NASA The first ever long distance image of the Earth and Moon together. The image photograph was taken by Voyager 1 in 1977 NASA A dramatic view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings in 1979 NASA The first space shuttle launch Columbia lifts off in 1981 NASA Astronaut Sally Ride on the flight deck of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. She became the first American woman in space NASA One of the most celebrated images taken by the Hubble called 'Pillars of Creation' NASA Space shuttle Challenger destructs after lift off in 1973 NASA NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope aboard ESA's SOHO spacecraft took this image of a huge, handle-shaped prominence in 1999. Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun's hot, thin corona NASA Trailing a column of flame and smoke that dwarfs it, Space Shuttle Endeavour leaps into the clear blue Florida sky on mission STS-99 in 2000 Space Shuttle Atlantis clears the tower as it roars into space on mission STS-106 after a perfect on-time launch in 2000 NASA 2004 The deepest view of 10,000 galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope called the Hubble Ultra Field Deep (2004) NASA 2005 A new view of the Eagle Nebula, one of the two largest and sharpest images Hubble Space Telescope has ever taken (2005) NASA International Space Station pictured by the crew of Atlantis in 2008 NASA The rim of Gale Crater is visible in the distance, through the dusty haze, in this view of NASA's Curiosity rover of a sloping hillside on Mount Sharp NASA Taken on June 03, 2008 and released by NASA on June 4, 2008 shows US space shuttle Discovery Mission Specialist Michael Fossum being photographed by US Mission Specialist Ronald Garan (reflected in Fossum's face shield) as they work outside The International Space Station during the first of three planned space walks. AFP/Getty Images In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, NASA's Great Observatories -- Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory -- have produced a matched trio of images of the central region of our Milky Way NASA A striking black and white image showing the detail of the planet Saturn NASA This majestic false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows 'mountains' where stars are born. These towering pillars of cool gas and dust are illuminated at their tips with light from warm embryonic stars NASA The space shuttle Atlantis is seen over the Bahamas in 2011 prior to a perfect docking with the International Space Station NASA Aurora Australis, seen from a point over the southeast Tasman Sea near southern New Zealand. in 2011 NASA NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer, appears to touch the bright sun during the mission's third session of extravehicular activity (EVA). During the six-hour, 28-minute spacewalk in 2012 NASA Behold one of the more stunningly detailed images of the Earth yet created. This Blue Marble Earth montage, created from photographs taken by the VIIRS instrument in 2012 on board the Suomi NPP satellite, shows many stunning details of our home planet NASA Numerous recognizable features appear in this detailed view of London, photographed by an Expedition 10 crew member on the International Space Station (ISS). The most striking visual features are green open spaces such as Regent's Park, Hyde Park and St. James's Park east of Buckingham Palace NASA International Space Station image of London at night NASA This image of Tropical Storm Anna taken from the International Space Station in 2015 NASA Pluto's haze layer and its blue colour, taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) in 2015 NASA NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, dark, narrow streaks on the slopes of Hale Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on surface of present-day Mars. These dark features on the slopes are called "recurring slope lineae" or RSL NASA Earth observation taken during a night pass by the Expedition 49 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 NASA The moon rises in low Earth orbit by NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik from the International Space Station in 2017 NASA Hurricane Harvey is pictured off the coast of Texas in 2017 NASA The International Space Station continues its orbit around the Earth as Expedition 50 astronauts captured this night image of sparkling cities and a sliver of daylight framing the northern hemisphere in 2017 This composite image made from a series of 2018 photos shows a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in the Gale Crater NASA US. National Parks From Space. Mt Saint Helen's looking spectacular from above NASA SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft as it lifts off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in 2018 NASA NASA's Juno spacecraft captures Jupiter's southern hemisphere, as the spacecraft performed its 13th close flyby of Jupiter in 2018 NASA The stunning iamge was shared on social media by astronaut Paolo Nespoli NASA The Bailey's Beads effect is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total solar eclipse NASA The Moon is seen passing in front of the Sun during a solar eclipse from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington NASA Swirling cloud belts and tumultuous vortices within Jupiter's northern hemisphere picture taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft as it performed it's 13th flypast. Juno was about 9,600 miles (15,500 kilometers) from the planet's cloud tops. NASA Victor Rivilla, of the National Institute for Astrophysics's Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Italy and the lead author on the study, said: "Life appeared on Earth about four billion years ago but we still do not know the processes that made it possible." An international team used telescopes in Chile to study a region in the constellation of Auriga known as AFGL 5142, where stars are being formed. Observations showed that when massive stars are formed they open up cavities in the surrounding interstellar clouds of gas and dust where phosphorus-based compounds, such as phosphorous monoxide, are created. Evidence of phosphorous monoxide was found when astronomers looked at data from the European Space Agency's probe Rosetta. The findings allowed them to trace the journey of phosphorus from star-forming regions to comets. It was discovered that phosphorus monoxide can get trapped in the icy dust grains after when cavity walls in the interstellar clouds collapse to form a star. The dust grains eventually form pebbles, rocks and ultimately comets, which become transporters of phosphorus monoxide. Kathrin Altwegg, of the University of Bern in Switzerland and one of the study authors, said: "Phosphorus is essential for life as we know it. "As comets most probably delivered large amounts of organic compounds to the Earth, the phosphorus monoxide found in comet 67P may strengthen the link between comets and life on Earth." Internal emails from Boeing employees could strengthen the legal case for families claiming the company's push to minimise the training needed for new 737 MAX aircraft contributed to two crashes that killed 346 people. Employees bragged about fooling the Federal Aviation Administration into thinking pilots who'd flown older 737 models would need only computer training to fly the new version, emails released by the company show. Those comments support lawsuits claiming Boeing compromised safety to sell jets -- and may increase its liability, said Justin Green, an attorney representing 32 families of people who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash last year. Family members of crash victims holding up photographs of their loved ones at a US Senate hearing last year. Credit:Bloomberg "The lack of training is essential to our case," Green said. "These documents show that Boeing led the FAA around by the nose and they confirm everything the families have alleged." Boeing is accused in the lawsuits of seeking to bring a new airplane to market as quickly as possible to compete with Airbus SE's A320 neo. Part of the purported sales pitch was that pilots who already were qualified to fly the older 737 models wouldn't need costly and time-consuming new training for the MAX. India has not closed the door on a China-led regional economic pact, even though Asia's third-largest country pulled out of the deal last November, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Wednesday. In November, China joined 14 countries in agreeing terms for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with India pulling out at the last minute saying the deal would hurt its farmers, businesses, workers and consumers. RCEP brings together the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. "Where RCEP is concerned, we have to look at cost and benefit. We will evaluate RCEP on its economic and trade merit. We have not closed our mind to it," Jaishankar said. Also read: Amazon will export $10 billion worth of Make In India goods by 2025, says Jeff Bezos Also read: RBI may put rate cuts on hold after spike in retail inflation Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The hedge funds industry gained 10.70%, the largest annual return since 2013 when the Barclay Hedge Fund Index gained 11.12%. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index posted a 31.49% return in 2019. BarclayHedge reported that hedge funds finished 2019 on a high note in December, posting an industrywide 1.73% return for the month. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index was up 3.02% in December. As per the report, all but one hedge fund index was in the black in December as several positive economic developments offset the impact of negative indicators. Equity markets finished the year strong, with U.S. stocks enjoying their best year since 2013 when the S&P 500 Total Return Index gained 32.4%, it said. Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge said: "Good news on the trade front came in the form of an apparent 'phase one' agreement between China and the U.S., as well as U.S. House passage of a revised trade pact with Canada and Mexico. Elsewhere in the world, Japan announced plans for a fiscal stimulus while reports of increased exports from Germany raised hopes of an economic uptick there." Emerging Markets Latin American Equities Index leads December gains Among December's gainers, the Emerging Markets Latin American Equities Index led the way with a 13.68% return. Other sectors posting solid monthly gains included the Healthcare and Biotechnology Index with a 6.10% return, the Emerging Markets Global Fixe...................... To view our full article Click here Following are the top business stories at 1824 hours: DEL65 BIZ-LD AMAZON-BEZOS Amazon founder Jeff Bezos commits USD 1 bn investment to digitise small businesses in India New Delhi: Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos on Wednesday announced USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online and committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025. DCM25 BIZ-EDELWEISS-ED FEMA violation case: Edelweiss Group Chairman appears before ED Mumbai: Financial services company Edelwesiss Group Chairman Rashesh Shah on Wednesday appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials for questioning with regard to a case of FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) violation. DCM44 BIZ-GST-FAKE Over 1,200 exporters untraceable; govt saves Rs 350 cr fake IGST refund New Delhi: Revenue Department using its data analytics has discovered a fraud in GST refunds with as many as 1,200 exporters, who have have claimed Rs 350 crore refunds, are now untraceable. DCM43 BIZ-BANK-STRIKE Employees of govt-owned banks threaten two-day strike from Jan 31 New Delhi: Bank unions have threatened to go on a two-day nationwide strike beginning January 31 to press for early wage revision. DEL86 BIZ-LD STOCKS Market pauses after four-day winning run; banking stocks slide on NPA woes Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty took a pause after a four-session record run on Wednesday, as higher bank NPAs in ongoing quarterly results weighed on banking stocks coupled with a caution ahead of US-China trade deal. DCM28 BIZ-LD BHARTI AIRTEL Airtel raises USD 3 billion dollars via QIP, FCCB offering New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has raised USD 3 billion through QIP and FCCB route, completing a massive fund raising exercise for the firm, which has to pay billions of dollars in statutory dues. DEL85 BIZ-RUPEE-CLOSE Rupee pares losses; settles 5 paise higher at 70.82 against US dollar Mumbai: The rupee pared its early losses to settle 5 paise higher at 70.82 against the US dollar on Wednesday, ahead of the signing of phase 1 trade agreement between the US and China. DCM39 BIZ-IMPORTS RESTRICTIONS Govt will put restrictions on imports of products under 'others' category: Goyal New Delhi: Concerned over rise in imports in the 'others' category, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked those importers to seek HSN or tariff code within 30 days from the foreign trade office, failing which the government would impose strong restrictions on their inbound shipments. DCM41 BIZ-CCI-ASIAN PAINTS CCI orders probe against Asian Paints New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India has ordered a probe against Asian Paints for allegedly hindering the entry of JSW Paints by virtue of its dominance in the market for manufacture and sale of decorative paints. DEL70 BIZ-GOLD-PRICE Gold rises Rs 256 on strong global trend New Delhi: Gold prices rallied Rs 256 to Rs 40,441 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday, led by strong buying in global markets, according to HDFC Securities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As founder and senior counsel at The Law Offices of Gerald L. Marcus, Attorney Gerald Marcus has been honored with many awards and accolades over the years, including the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list by National Trial Lawyers and "The Nation's Top One Percent" by The National Association of Distinguished Counsel. Most recently, he was selected to the California Super Lawyers list for 2020, making this his 7th consecutive year on the list. Using a rigorous multi-phase selection process, the Super Lawyers team fields thousands of peer, partner, and third-party nominations for attorneys each year. After reviewing every candidate on 12 metrics of professional achievement, the independent research team at Super Lawyers assigns each candidate a score. Those with the highest scores comprise the Blue Ribbon Panel, which makes the final selections to the Super Lawyers lists in each state. Fewer than 5% of all attorneys in California will be selected to the 2020 Super Lawyers list this year. With seven years on the list, Attorney Gerald Marcus has consistently shown a high level of client satisfaction and professional success in the field of personal injury law. At this time, the team at The Law Offices of Gerald L. Marcus would like to congratulate him on his continued advocacy for their injured clients. For more information or press inquiries, contact The Law Offices of Gerald L. Marcus at https://www.geraldmarcuslaw.com/ SOURCE The Law Offices of Gerald L. Marcus Related Links https://www.geraldmarcuslaw.com Gardai have recovered further human remains, believed to be a decapitated head, in a burnt-out car found overnight. It follows the discovery of four limbs in a sports bag that was dumped on a footpath in a north Dublin suburb on Monday night. Detectives suspect the remains are linked and are those of a 17-year-old boy from Drogheda, Co Louth, who has been missing since Sunday and against whom a grisly death threat was made previously. Senior sources said they are still awaiting the results of DNA tests, taken from the limbs, until they can confirm the identity of the victim. That is expected to emerge later today. It is understood the teenager was involved in the violent gang feud in Drogheda and may have been targeted by one of the sides, although the reason why is not yet clear. Searches in five areas in Drogheda were conducted overnight, including in Moneymore and Rathmullen Park estates, both heavily affected by the feud. Experienced officers said that whatever the reason, the murder and dismemberment of a juvenile would mark a new low and an escalation in violence meeted out by drug gangs. This type of violence is not completely unusual, but what is different, if the DNA tests confirm it is him, is the age of the victim, said one garda source. Gardai have said the decision to leave the initial remains in public, in an estate in Coolock, was "Mafia-style" in its bid to intimidate not just rivals, but communities. A garda on the scene. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire At 1.30am on Wednesday, gardai recovered a car on fire on a laneway off Clonliffe Avenue in Drumcondra, on the northside of the city. A statement issued this morning by Garda HQ said: Partial body remains have been located in this burnt-out vehicle and, due to the nature of the incident, it will be some time before proper identification can be confirmed. The Garda Technical Bureau have been notified and the Office of the State Pathologist and the Coroner have been notified. The assistance of Forensic Science Ireland will also be sought. Gardai will be eager to locate the scenes where the murder and dismemberment took place. A Garda statement or press conference is likely to follow the formal identification. Earlier: 'Cycle of terror' running through Dublin after human remains found in burnt out car By Vivienne Clarke Minister for Finance and Fine Gaels director of elections, Paschal Donohoe has told of how he has experienced the cycle of terror in his own constituency. Minister Paschal Donohoe: There's a family now dealing with intense grief, and the most profound anxiety regarding a member of their own family. He was commenting on the finding of human remains in a burnt out car in Drumcondra in Dublin at 1.30am on Wednesday. Gardai believe the discovery is linked to the disappearance of a 17-year-old boy in Co Louth on Sunday night. The teenager was reported missing by his family who are concerned for his welfare. The partial human remains were found after Dublin Fire Brigade extinguished a burning car on a laneway at Trinity Terrace off Clonliffe Road. There's a family now dealing with intense grief, and the most profound anxiety regarding a member of their own family, Mr Donohoe told RTE Radios Morning Ireland, Where the remains were discovered this morning is in my own constituency, many families and many communities are concerned about potentially their own safety. Within my own constituency I do have experience of the cycle of terror, of the cycle of fear that organised crime can bring and this is the reason why Minister Charlie Flanagan has ensured we are recruiting 700 gardai per year and it's the reason we've resourced the armed emergency unit within the Garda Siochana. Fianna Fails justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan, speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, said the depravity was reaching new levels. He said there was a need to recognise that the areas most affected by drug and gangland crimes are deprived areas. That is where resources need to be concentrated, he said. Drugs are at the heart of this problem. People need to disown drugs and say that they are not prepared to accept that level of depravity in society. Human remains found in burnt car in Dublin By Digital Desk staff File photo Human remains have been found in a burnt out car in Drumcondra in Dublin. Gardai are currently at the scene on Trinity Terrace, off Clonliffe Avenue in the capital. "Partial body remains have been located in this burnt out vehicle and due to the nature of the incident it will be some time before proper identification can be confirmed," a garda spokesperson said. The Garda Technical Bureau have been notified and the Office of the State Pathologist and the Coroner have been notified and the assistance of Forensic Science Ireland will also be sought, the spokesperson added. A forensic examination of the scene is to take place. RTE are reporting that gardai believe the discovery is linked to a missing teenager from Co Louth. Additional reporting Digital Desk [January 15, 2020] Gaidar Forum 2020: A Platform to Find Answers to the Main Challenges of the New Decade MOSCOW, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 11th Gaidar Forum, Russia and the World: Challenges of the New Decade, is held at the Presidential Academy on January 15-16, 2020 and it brings together the leading international academics, politicians, financiers and representatives of the global business elite once again. More than 14,700 participants have registered for the forum, including 600 speakers from more than 30 countries. The Gaidar Forum is held at the Presidential Academy under the auspices of the Government of the Russian Federation. This year, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will work in the framework of the Gaidar Forum in a new format. On January 17, he will meet with experts who took part in the 11th Gaidar Forum. It is planned to discuss the issues raised during the discussions at the forum. Over 11 years, the Gaidar Forum has become one of the most respected expert platforms that traditionally determines the vector for public and academic discussion. This year's forum will focus on how to answer the main challenges facing Russia and the world in the new decade. The agenda of the event includes Russia's development strategy, national development goals and economic growth, science and technology breakthroughs and digitalization, the transformation of public administration systems and geopolitical trends, education and social elevators for young people, tax myths and the transformation of the banking system, and businesses' social responsibility. The Message from the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly becomes the leitmotif of the forum's business program. The session What Hinders Economic Growth? will be attended by First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin, and Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina. The participants in he discussion will specifically focus on the need for additional structural reforms, non-economic factors of economic dynamics and institutional measures that are necessary to launch growth mechanisms. During the session on Horizons of Economic Policy, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin will deliver a keynote report on the effectiveness of various economic policy tools. Global climate change will be discussed at the session on Climate Agenda: What Is Going to Change Everything? The participants will explore the potential the modern world has for responding to the climate crisis, as well as the possibilities of a technological response to this challenge. The session will be attended by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Mikhail Rasstrigin, President of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves, and representatives of major Russian companies. The participants in the session on National Technology Policy and Regional Specifics will try to answer the question of how to effectively incorporate regional specifics when forming a national technology policy. Head of Rusnano state corporation Anatoly Chubais and President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov will take part in the discussion of mechanisms for synchronizing support for technology companies at the regional and federal levels, the possibilities of forming interregional mechanisms for supporting technology initiatives and major businesses' role in regional technology policy. During the international session Greater Europe: Is It Still in The Making? experts will analyze the causes and prerequisites of the existing Russian-European relations and outline a comprehensive basis for their further development. The participants will include former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giulio Tremonti (19941995, 20012006, 20082011), Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel (20002007), Ambassador of the European Union to the Russian Federation Markus Ederer. One of the most interesting events at the forum will be the open dialogue Global Agenda: Challenges, Opportunities, Risks, where RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau and former President of France (2007-2012) Nicolas Sarkozy will discuss the likelihood of a new global crisis, the outlook and risks for the European Union in the new decade, as well as the political and socioeconomic consequences of digitalization at the global level. 11th Gaidar Forum Organizers: The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA); The Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy (Gaidar Institute); The Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR). Forum partners: General partners: Gazprom, Gazprombank. Strategic partners: Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Russian Railways, Pharmstandard group, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Novartis Group, MSD, ACIG Group, EF Education First. Partners: Prosveshcheniye Group, EY, Huawei, RVC, Russian Agricultural Bank. General information partners: Rossiya 24 TV Chanel, TASS, RBC, Business FM; strategic information partners: Kommersant Publishing House, Interfax, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Invest Foresight online business magazine, RIA FederalPress; main information partners: Anews.com, Gazeta.ru, Lenta.ru, News.ru, Profile; international partners: RT, Thomson Reuters, Sputnik, EFE, Cision, Pan Pacific Agency; information partners: Snob media project, PRIME economic news agency, RNS, Expert magazine, Parlamentskaya Gazeta, Polit.ru, Radio Ekho Moskvy, PRO Business TV channel, FINAM.RU agency, Davydov.Index, Strategia magazine, Ekonomika i Zhizn newspaper, ECONS.ONLINE website, Gosudarstvennaya Sluzhba magazine, TV BRICS. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Seven members of a drugs gang who supplied at least a tonne of high-purity cocaine worth up to 70 million to dealers around the M25 have been jailed for a total of 111 years. The sentence marks the end of a three-year police investigation during which detectives believe 20 drug distribution networks were smashed, with around 100 people arrested and charged, resulting in custodial sentences totalling more than 800 years. A stolen 1 million Sir Stanley Spencer painting, titled Cookham From Englefield, was discovered in jailed drug dealer Harry Fishers home as part of the inquiry. Expand Close Dean Beeton, who led the gang, was jailed for 27 years (Metropolitan Police/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dean Beeton, who led the gang, was jailed for 27 years (Metropolitan Police/PA) And the investigation was dubbed Operation Louboutin after the boxes of designer shoes discovered alongside the work, taken from the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Berkshire in 2012. Judge Elaine Coello sentenced seven members of the gang to a total of 111 years imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between December 2016 and January 2018. Lead by Dean Beeton, 37, they made around 2.7 million a week, as Giovanni Luciano, 33, arranged sales from his prison cell using a smuggled encrypted mobile phone. Wholesale quantities of the Class A drug, with a 90% purity, were transported from the West Midlands to safe houses around London, from where runners would sell cocaine across London and beyond. Expand Close Giovanni Luciano arranged sales from his prison cell (Metropolitan Police/PA) PA Media / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Giovanni Luciano arranged sales from his prison cell (Metropolitan Police/PA) People who are caught engaging in the wholesale distribution of cocaine can expect severe sentences and you are at the top of the criminal drug supply network, the judge said. You cause the most damage because you are the main source of supply to the wholesalers, drug dealers and ultimately individuals. Judge Coello said a metric tonne was a conservative estimate of the drugs supplied by the men during the period worth around 30 million wholesale and with a street value of 70 million. It is a scourge on society, the criminal organisations like the one you engaged in are the worst of the worst, she told the men. By dismantling numerous networks responsible for the supply of drugs, this operation has undoubtedly prevented incidents of violence and potentially saved livesMetropolitan Police Beeton, from Watford, was jailed for 27 years, while Luciano, who is serving a previous sentence for supplying cocaine, was handed a 17-year jail term. Perry Davis, 33, from South Oxhey, Watford, got 16 years; Gary Piper, 38, also from South Oxhey, 15 years; Jason Holland, 48, from Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, 12 years; Mark Oldfield, 42, of no fixed address, 10 years; and Callum Doherty, 29, from Fulham, 14 years. The sentencing brought to an end a much wider operation which saw police seize more than 280kg of cocaine, 8.5kg of heroin, 15,000 MDMA tablets and 45kg of cannabis. A dozen viable firearms were also recovered, including a Scorpion submachine gun with ammunition. Expand Close The Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham where the painting, found in jailed drug dealer Harry Fishers home, was taken from in 2012 (Steve Parsons/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham where the painting, found in jailed drug dealer Harry Fishers home, was taken from in 2012 (Steve Parsons/PA) Temporary Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling from the Mets Specialist Crime Command said: The sentencing of these seven men marks the end of this investigation, and the end of a long-running, complex and sophisticated operation which has resulted in the conviction of more than 100 individuals for being involved in the supply of drugs. There is an inextricable link between the supply of drugs and the violence we have seen unfolding on the streets of London. By dismantling numerous networks responsible for the supply of drugs, this operation has undoubtedly prevented incidents of violence and potentially saved lives. The individuals in this case attempted to prevent us from detecting their criminality and used a range of physical and digital means to do so. But with the collaboration of specialist crime officers, forensic teams, analysts, we have been able to prove unquestionably their involvement. Fisher was jailed for eight years and eight months at Kingston Crown Court in 2017 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, acquiring criminal property and handling stolen goods. File image Former chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah will be shifted to a house near his official residence, 163 days after he was taken into preventive custody following abrogation of Article 370 provisions, officials said here on Wednesday. Omar, presently kept in detention at Hari Nivas, is likely to be shifted on Thursday as the Jammu and Kashmir administration plans to use the Hari Nivas to accommodate a ministerial delegation from the Centre visiting the Valley soon, they said. A team of Union ministers including Railway minister Piyush Goyal, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State G Kishan Reddy are scheduled to travel soon to the Valley to educate the people about the developmental activities that have taken place after the abrogation of the state's special status and its division into two union territories. The house where Omar will be shifted is very near to his official residence and is being readied as he is a Special Services Group (SSG) protectee, the officials said. Along with his father Farooq Abdullah and another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Omar was among hundreds of political, social activists, lawyers and businessmen detained after the centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5 and divided Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Omar, Mehbooba and other politicians were detained under section 107 of Code of Criminal Procedure which allows authorities and an executive magistrate to put any person under preventive custody for a period of six months if he receives information that the person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity. Farooq Abdullah is the only mainstream politician against whom the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was slapped on September 17 for a period of three months, which was renewed on December 16 last year. WARRENSBURG Rural schools face declining enrollment, a lack of opportunity for graduates and little clout in Albany to address their issues, according to David Little, executive director of the Rural Schools Association. Little said one issue is that a lot of people have moved out of the upstate region in the last decade. New York City has gained residents. Long Island and the states largest cities have stayed stable. But upstate has lost people. We had this Grapes of Wrath exodus, he said at a rural school issues forum held on Tuesday at Warrensburg Elementary School. Little said Gov. Andrew Cuomo has attributed the population loss to people leaving for a sunnier climate, but not everyone is leaving for warmer weather. People are leaving because of a lack of jobs in rural areas, according to Little. That is harming the communities and leading to societal problems, including increases in alcohol and drug abuse, rising teen pregnancy and an increase in transients. Students have more needs than ever before. There is a lot of anxiety and societal pressures. Lawmakers in Albany fail to recognize the crisis in rural schools, because they see high graduation rates in rural areas of the state, according to Little. Our crisis is the two years after we graduate all those kids, they havent done anything. Theyre back from community college. Theyre back from a four-year college, he said. Little said 75% of students who graduate from rural school districts never complete even a two-year degree program. They have to take remedial classes to learn skills they did not acquire in high school despite earning a diploma. Eventually, they get frustrated with having to take classes that do not count to a degree and wash out of college, leaving them saddled with debt and no marketable skills. Little said that is why rural broadband is as important because it will link students to the rest of the world and help improve their level of education. Existing companies have done a horrible job. Sprint and T-Mobile are merging and are committed to rural broadband. However, little said the state has sued to block the merger because they believe it will decrease competition among wireless carriers. How many generations of kids have to lose because you want to address competition that doesnt exist? he said. Former Warrensburg Board of Education member Elaine Cowin said she worried about the brain drain. Our graduates seem to leave and never come back, she said. New York state loses about a quarter-million college educated students every year, according to Little. In other states, they eventually come home. In New York state, they dont come (home), because theres no employment in your home community to come back to, he said. The economic development strategy needs to be something more original than putting a casino in every county, according to Little. Little said it is a two-sided coin whether to educate children so they have the most opportunities available to them or to you focus on retaining them here and rebuilding the community. Funding education Another issue is how the state funds education. Little said the funding formula is politically driven. Its 76 pages of the most godforsaken gobbledygook youve seen in your life, he said. Little said the state has never really implemented the funding formula that was created as the result of a lawsuit that said schools were underfunded and students were being deprived of a basic education. However, Little said if the formula were implemented, it would hurt rural schools because it awards aid on a per-pupil basis. We lose in a big way. Statistically, weve lost about a quarter of our kids, he said. Little said he does not believe the money is the issue as the average amount spent to educate a child in New York is twice the national average. The state spends $70 billion $10 billion more than the federal government and more than some countrys gross domestic product. It is the most heavily taxed and heavily indebted state in the nation to pay for education. However, he said the issue is that school districts in other states get two-thirds of their funding from the state and one-third from local taxpayers. The state provides funding for the basic level of education and communities can supplement with additional programs. In New York, that is reversed with one-third coming from the state and the rest falls to the local taxpayers, according to Little. Less clout Because of the population loss, upstate has less clout in Albany. Some veteran Republican senators are retiring including Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury. They perhaps are frustrated being in the minority and not being able to direct policy. Another issue is that with so many people who have left upstate, the legislative districts will probably get redrawn after the next census. So, rural districts will get even bigger and meaning that residents will have fewer people representing them. Weve already have a lack of state leadership north of the Tappan Zee Bridge, he said. The governor, comptroller, attorney general and leader of both chambers are from New York City. Mandates, health insurance Another complaint was increasing state mandates imposed on school districts. New York state simply doesnt relieve them, Little said. They give you a little more money and they give you more to do. There is never any relief because each one of the mandates came from a piece of legislation that had somebodys name attached to it and nobody wants to let go of anything. Another concern of the school officials in the audience is the cost of health insurance for small districts. The Affordable Care Act changed the definition of what constitutes a small group for health insurance from between 1 and 50 employees to between 51 and 100 employees. These small groups are not allowed to participate in an experience-rated plan, which takes into account the health of the members, but are required to go to a community-rated plan. The Legislature has postponed it from going into effect, but school officials are looking for a permanent fix. This will hit us at about $310,000 a year as an increase in our health insurance if were pulled out of that small group health consortium, said Indian Lake Superintendent David Snide. This was the eighth and final forum the Rural Schools Association held around the state. The organization is taking comments for review by a statewide task force of experts. They will be included in a policy platform to be presented to national and state leaders. Reach Michael Goot at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com and follow his blog poststar.com/blogs/michael_goot/. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 6 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The new Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of 7.5 per cent took effect immediately the new Finance Act 2019 was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, has said. Mr Idris, who spoke with journalists in his office in Abuja, said with the coming into effect of the new law, all payments from government treasury, whether approved before the assent of the bill into law or not, will attract the new tax rate. In government, you dont take an action unless there is an approval or legal instrument. No one can jump the gun. There must be a policy in place to back all actions. The budget cannot be implemented unless the National Assembly passes the Appropriation Bill and the President signs it into law. For instance, there was a decision (in the 2020 Budget) to increase VAT rate (from 5 to 7.5 per cent). The National Assembly debated on it. Members of the public were sensitized and informed about it. But, nobody could start deducting the 7.5 per cent until the National Assembly approved it and the President signed the Bill into law. On Monday the President signed the Finance Bill into law. And just yesterday (Tuesday), I saw a payment, which was prepared in December last year. When I checked the payment was on the VAT rate of 5 per cent. I said no. If I am to finalize the payment now, then the VAT rate must be 7.5 per cent. I stopped the payment and asked them to go and recharge the new VAT rate of 7.5 per cent. The payment for 5 per cent VAT has now been overtaken by event. That is that persons luck. The law has to be obeyed. Otherwise, I can be queried for disobeying the law, the accountant-general said. Reminded that the payment was prepared since last year and should be based on 5 per cent VAT rate, Mr Idris disagreed, insisting the actual payment is this year. Every payment, which for one reason or another could not be made before the coming into effect of the Finance Act, will now suffer 7.5 per cent charge for VAT, because that is the law as at today, he clarified. The Finance Bill 2019 was presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on October the 14, 2019 along with the 2020 Executive Budget Proposals and 2020 Appropriation Bill. During the presentation, Mr Buhari said the bill, when passed into law, will fulfil five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to our fiscal laws. The major highlight of the bill was the review of the VAT rate from 5 per cent to 7.5; the reform of domestic tax laws to align with global best practices (such as taxes of digital business and e-commerce) and introduction of tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets. On Monday, the president gave his assent to the bill to kick off a new tax regime in the country. Maple Leaf Foods CEO slams narcissist in Washington after employee loses family in Iran crash, Jan. 13 Kudos to Michael McCain! All Canadians should be as angry as he is. Finally an appropriate response to the behaviour of the narcissist in Washington. How can Canadians accept the snubbing by our supposed ally with no discussion or warning about the damage resulting from irresponsible actions? Its about time we stood up to this person. We supposedly did Washington a favour by detaining Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. I say, make the deal with China to bring our citizens home and give them back their executive without consulting Washington. It wont bring back the loved ones lost by Canadian families, but it may just make a point with the narcissist. Elected representatives in the U.S. need to take control of the circus. J. Hutson, Toronto Read more about: Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Moscow is still committed to OPEC+ meeting in March to decide on future production policies. "No one approached us officially or unofficially... Were assuming, that there are agreements, that we meet in March," Reuters cited Novak as saying, An unnamed source from the OPEC earlier said that OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) have started consultations on extending the current output-cutting deal until June without holding a meeting in March. The energy minister of de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, also said on Monday that OPEC+ will meet in March and it was too early to say what decision it would take. It also challenged the Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules 2016 and Foreigners (Amendment) Order 2016 being unconstitutional. New Delhi: The Kerala government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, describing it as a colou-rable legislation violative of the basic structure principle of secularism in the Constitution. Kerala, which has beco-me the first state to challenge the CAA in court, has sought a declaration that the CAA is ultra vires of the Constitution, being violative of Article 14 (equality for before the law), Article 21 (right to life) and Article 25 (right to freedom of religion) as well as violative of the basic structure. Besides challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA, Kerala has also challenged the amendment to the Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules 2015 and Foreigners (Amend-ment) Order 2015, contending that they too are in the teeth of Article 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. It also challenged the Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules 2016 and Foreigners (Amendment) Order 2016 being unconstitutional. Kerala has joined more than 60 petitioners who are already before the court challenging the CAA and the 2015 and 2016 amendments to the Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules, and Foreigners (Amendment) Order. The CAA and amendments to the Passport (Entry to India) Amend-ment Rules and Foreig-ners (Amendment) Order, Kerala has contended, is a colourable legislation and the grant of citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Budd-hists and Jains facing persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh is not founded on any rationale principle justifying special treatment. There is no rationale in not extending the rights conferred to a class of minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangla-desh to religious minorities belonging to... Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, says the petition by the Kerala government. Saying the classification of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh was without any rationale or any standard principles, Kerala has claimed that the entire exercise was manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court had on December 18 sought the response of the Centre on a batch of petitions that challenged the constitutional validity of the CAA that provides for the grant of Indian citizenship to illegal migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian faiths, barring only Muslims. The court will hold a further hearing on January 22, when it would also consider the plea for a stay on the citizenship law, which was described by the petitioner as contrary to the provisions of the Constitution. The Centre has opposed any stay on the controversial law contending the statute under challenge cannot be stalled as there was an assumption of constitutionality in favour of the statute passed by Parliament. Broadly, the petitioners opposed to the CAA have contended that it was contrary to secularism, which is a part of the Preamble of the Constitution, violative of fundamental rights guaranteeing equality before the law (Article 14), prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste, language, colour (Article 15) and the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. TOKYO, Jan 15, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Isuzu Motors Limited and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., today signed an agreement to undertake joint research on heavy-duty trucks, utilizing fuel cells (FC) as the powertrain.Today, the automobile industry is facing a demand to reduce exhaust gas/carbon emissions from mobility products in order to address the on-going global challenge of reducing humanity's environmental footprint. Moreover, from the perspective of energy security, the industry is required to take initiatives to promote the utilization of renewable energy.Under these circumstances, as a commercial vehicle manufacturer committed to supporting transportation, Isuzu has been striving to promote the utilization of low-carbon and sustainable energy. To that end, Isuzu has been researching and developing various powertrains including clean diesel engine, engines for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and electric vehicle (EV) powertrains, which accommodate a broad range of customer needs and how vehicles are used. In parallel, Honda has been working toward the realization of a carbon-free society and, to this end, in addition to hybrid and battery electric vehicles, Honda has been researching and developing fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), the ultimate environmental technology, for more than 30 years.There are still some issues that need to be addressed to popularize the use of FC and hydrogen energy, including issues related to cost and infrastructure. These issues need to be tackled not only by individual companies but more expansively through industry-wide initiatives. Against this backdrop, Isuzu was striving to expand its lineup of next-generation powertrains for heavy-duty trucks, and Honda was striving to expand the application of its FC technologies beyond use for passenger vehicles, which will represent progress toward the realization of a hydrogen society. Sharing the same technological research goals, the two companies reached an agreement to conduct joint research on heavy-duty FC trucks.Taking advantage of the respective strengths each company has amassed over a long period of time, that is, Isuzu's strengths in the development of heavy-duty trucks and Honda's strengths in the development of FC, the two companies will strive to establish the foundation for basic technologies such as FC powertrain and vehicle control technologies. Moreover, through this joint research, Isuzu and Honda will not only realize clean, low-noise, low-vibration heavy-duty trucks customers are waiting for, but also promote expansive discussions by the industry so that the use of FC trucks and hydrogen energy can contribute to the future prosperity of the logistics industry and all other industries in our society and to the early realization of hydrogen society.About Isuzu Motors LimitedHead office address: 6-26-1 Minami-Oi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-8722 JapanBusiness: Production and sales of commercial vehicles, pick-up trucks, diesel/natural gas engines, parts and components.About Honda Motor Co., Ltd.Head office address: 2-1-1 Minamiaoyama , Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8556, JapanBusiness: Production and sales of mobility products (motorcycles, automobiles, power products, etc.)Source: HondaCopyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Large number of devotees thronged Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Wednesday. Devotees offered prayers at the temple this morning. Sankranti also marks the final day of 56-day-long Murajapam rituals which will end with Lakshadeepam. Earlier today, the representatives of the tribal community visited Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple on Makar Sankranti and offered vegetables and fruits cultivated by them, to the deity. "I am coming from Kottoor Agastyarkoodam valley. I belong to the Arayan community and it is our tradition to visit here on this auspicious day with offerings," said Mathen Kaani, a tribal community representative. Meanwhile, the Tamil community in Thiruvananthapuram is also celebrating Pongal festival today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rouhani: Special court should investigate Ukrainian plane crash in Tehran IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 14, IRNA -- President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the Judiciary Branch should form a special court to look into the case of the Ukrainian airliner that was downed mistakenly. Speaking in the ceremony to commemorate the bests in national agriculture, President Rouhani said that from the very moment he thought the crash was not a normal one, he tried hard to shorten the investigation time and understand well that how it happened. He said that as soon as he found out the facts, he wanted the officials to inform the people, adding that even if the plane had crashed in a normal way due to a technical difficulty, it would still be painful; but now that it became clear that a human error has caused it, it becomes more painful and unforgivable. He promised the bereaved families to pursue the case with all his ability. He added that it was a good step that the military forces accepted their mistake and apologized for that, but other steps should be taken as well. Rouhani said that more than one person is definitely responsible for shooting down the passenger plane. He said that everyone knows that a mistake has been the root of the tragedy, but under what condition was the mistake made? It is not just the issue of the 176 people on board because Iran's air security is important too so those responsible for the incident must be punished, he said. The President noted that the government feels equally responsible towards both Iranian and non-Iranians who perished aboard the flight. What is most important is that people and the public opinion should make sure that such events will not happen again. 9417**1416**1424 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Married At First Sight 2020 bride Hayley Vernon has officially surrendered her Instagram account to Channel Nine ahead of the show's premiere. The 32-year-old bodybuilder, who has previously used her profile to criticise the network, made the announcement via Instagram Stories on Wednesday. 'Guys my account will now be taken out of my hands by Nine and the powers that be. Here we go!' she wrote alongside a screenshot of a recent MAFS trailer. 'Out of my hands': Married At First Sight 2020 bride Hayley Vernon has officially surrendered her Instagram account to Channel Nine ahead of the show's premiere It's not uncommon for MAFS participants to hand over their social media accounts to producers and publicists while the show is airing. When contacted for comment, a Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday:'This is a process that happens with all participants on seasons past and present and will continue as part of our process to support and protect participants from the damage that can happen in an online environment while the show is broadcast.' It comes days after Hayley publicly criticised Nine for releasing a promotional image of her that she claimed had been doctored. 'Whoever did these pics should be fired': It comes two days after Hayley publicly criticised Channel Nine for releasing this promotional image of her that she claimed had been doctored The finance broker shared a post-gym selfie to Instagram on Monday, which she compared to Nine's official photo of her in her wedding dress. 'Me after training tonight vs MAFS edited pics... whoever did these pics should be fired,' she wrote. 'Apparently I have light brown hair too?' Too much Photoshop? The tattooed finance broker shared a post-gym selfie to Instagram on Monday, which she compared to Nine's official photo of her in her wedding dress In recovery: It comes after Hayley's drug addiction past was laid bare in promotional material for the seventh season of MAFS, which airs next month Bad times: As a recovered drug addict, Hayley has been through a tougher life than many It comes after Hayley's drug addiction past was laid bare in promotional material for the seventh season of MAFS, which airs next month. 'As a recovered drug addict, Hayley has been through a tougher life than many,' 9Now reported. 'But it was health and fitness that pulled her out of the darkness, and she has never looked back.' Hot stuff! Meanwhile, Hayley isn't shy when it comes to showing off the results of her hard work at the gym Indeed, Hayley isn't shy when it comes to showing off the results of her hard work at the gym. Her Instagram account is filled with racy photos of herself posing in G-string bikinis. In addition to her daily workouts, Hayley has also transformed her physique by getting breast implants in 2018. Married At First Sight premieres Monday, February 3 on Channel Nine Curves: Her Instagram account is filled with racy photos of herself posing in her bedroom (ANSA) - Rome, January 15 - Italy has stigmatised outside interference in Libya, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Wednesday. There are no military shortcuts in the Mediterranean region, Di Maio said. "The broader Mediterranean is seeing a particularly turbulent phase above all in Libya, Iran and Iraq," Di Maio told the Senate. "Widespread instability closely touches national interests. "The more Italy can be united and compact the more it will succeed in fielding an effective political action. "In the Mediterranean there are no military shortcuts, they do not produce sustainable solutions. Di Maio added that Italy had "stigmatized" outside interference in Libya, which had turned into a proxy war. He called for a European mission against this interference. Di Maio said Sunday's Libya conference in Berlin had been set up "also thanks to us". The foreign minister also said Italy's priority was military security in Iraq. He said Italy was asking for a compromise between Iran and the United States. Di Maio said Italy had been informed by the US after its drone strike killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Di Maio added: "may a farsighted and shared vision prevail over short-sighted polemics, there are no simple solutions to complex problems in foreign policy. "Italy has balance in its DNA". Italy is ready to rejig its military presence in Libya in the light of recent developments, Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said Wednesday. The recent developments including a likely ceasefire "impose on us a reflection on a possible remodulation of our military effort", he told the parliamentary defence committees. "We could hypothesise an international intervention to give solidity to the security framework, respecting an eventual request for support made by the international community". There have been no direct threats to Italian soldiers, Guerini said, despite General Khalia Haftar's moves against Misrata. Eastern Libyan strongman Haftar has been attacking Tripoli since April. Haftar has said he will attend peace talks in Berlin on Sunday, where the US has also said it will attend. Guerini said ", despite the acquisition of the control of Sirte by (Haftar's) Libyan National Army, and the greater exposure of Misrata to General Haftar's aims, there don't appear to be direct threats towards our contingent in loco". Gureini added that ships of the EU's Sophia operation could be used to stop arms flowing into Libya. "Every effort must be made so that the ships of Operation Sophia can return to carrying out the essential task of putting a brake on the continuous flow of arms to the factions fighting in Libya". On the mission, which is currently 'frozen', he said "a decision will have to be taken at the end of March". On Iraq, Guerini said that in future the international intervention could pass over to NATO. "I think that NATO may represent the future dimension of the international intervention in Iraq, progressively replacing the Coalition, replicating the model implemented in Afghanistan," he said. The distinction between liability in tort and for contractual breach can have various implications, depending upon the jurisdiction. For example, the statute of limitations, the available remedies, the procedural rules or the calculation of the financial compensation, may all differ as between these two heads of liability. Navigating the Enforcement Directive case C-666/18). The question, referred to the CJEU by the Paris Court of Appeal was, in short, whether the Enforcement Directive (2004/47) and the Software Directive (2009/24) are applicable to those cases in which the infringement of IP rights (the unauthorized alteration of a computer program) also constitutes a breach of contract (typically a licence agreement) between the parties. A week before Christmas, the Court of Justice of the EU handed down its judgment in IT Development SAS v. Free Mobile SAS (). The question, referred to the CJEU by the Paris Court of Appeal was, in short, whether theand theare applicable to those cases in which the infringement of IP rights (the unauthorized alteration of a computer program) also constitutes a breach of contract (typically a licence agreement) between the parties. In the case, the plaintiff, IT Development, granted a licence to the respondent, Free Mobile, for use of a software package. The plaintiff alleged that the respondent had modified the software in breach of the licence agreement and, accordingly, it sued for "contrefacon" (a non-contractual type of IP infringement action under French law). The Tribunal de Grande Instance dismissed the suit, arguing that there was no case of liability in tort, given that the respondent "was clearly alleged to have failed to perform its contractual obligations, providing a basis for an action for contractual liability, and not for the tortious act of infringement of software copyright". On appeal by the plaintiff, the Paris Court of Appeal asked the CJEU-- whether Directives 2004/48 [Enforcement Directive] and 2009/24 [Software Directive] must be interpreted as meaning that the breach of a clause in a licence agreement for a computer program relating to the intellectual property rights of the owner of the copyright of that program falls within the concept of infringement of intellectual property rights, within the meaning of Directive 2004/48, and that, therefore, that owner must be able to benefit from the guarantees provided for by that directive, regardless of the liability regime applicable under national law. The Decision Under French law (as explained by the Court of Justice), liability in tort and for contractual breach are mutually exclusive. In addition, contractual liability excludes tortious liability where the damage results from non-performance of a contractual obligation. Under Art. 4 of the Software Directive, the exclusive rights of the right holder include, inter alia, the right to authorize the translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration of a computer program. Thus, the Software Directive does not make the protection of the rights of the copyright owner dependent on whether the alleged infringer is also in breach of a licence agreement. Therefore, it is applicable irrespective of a licence agreement between the parties. Art. 2(1) of the Enforcement Directive sets forth that the Directive applies to "any infringement of intellectual property rights". The Court of Justice stresses that the word "any" must be interpreted as also covering infringements that result from a breach of contract. It is the objective of the Enforcement Directive to ensure a "high, equivalent and homogeneous level of protection of IP in the internal market". As such, the scope of the directive is very broad. As a result, the Court ruled-- the breach of a clause in a licence agreement for a computer program relating to the intellectual property rights of the owner of the copyright of that program falls within the concept of infringement of intellectual property rights, within the meaning of Directive 2004/48, and that, therefore, that owner must be able to benefit from the guarantees provided for by that directive, regardless of the liability regime applicable under national law. Thus, the Court of Justice confirms that the infringement of a clause in a licence agreement for use of a computer program falls within the ambit of "infringement of intellectual property rights" within the meaning of the Enforcement Directive. Enforcement of software protection Nevertheless, the CJEU underscores that neither the Enforcement Directive nor the Software Directive lays down the "exact means of implementation of those guarantees and does not lay down the application of a specific liability regime in the event of infringement of those rights". It is for the law of each member state to set out all "specific practical arrangement for protecting those rights", as long as the requirements of both Directives are complied with. Even though the determination of the liability regime applicable for copyright infringement is a competence of the member states, the application of any regime must not be an obstacle to the effective protection of IP as laid out in both Directives. National courts are required to interpret national law in conformity with the requirements of EU law and must apply national law "so as not to produce a result contrary to that sought by EU law". In the case at hand, the CJEU finds that an interpretation of national law in conformity with the requirements of the Enforcement Directive and the Software Directive is possible, "subject to verification by the referring court". Comment The outcome of the case is hardly surprising, given the facts of the case: the alteration of copyrighted works without authorization of the right holder amounts to copyright infringement, whether or not the act (also) amounts to a breach of an agreement between the parties. For the same reason, however, it is still worth underscoring that the rule set out by the Court of Justice seems to be worded too broadly. In the case at hand, the breach of the licence agreement also amounted to a violation of IP. But this may not always be so: for instance, the breach of certain ancillary obligations of the licensee (such as the duty to disclose certain commercial information or the duty of co-operation) does not amount to an IP violation. Thus, instead of the broad rule that "[] the breach of a clause in a licence agreement [] falls within the concept of 'infringement of intellectual property rights' []", perhaps the better way to view the decision is that it merely establishes that the infringement of intellectual property rights can also amount to the breach of a licence. It is then still an infringement of an intellectual property right within the meaning of the Enforcement Directive. Foreign and military policy, mostly absent from the Democratic debates so far, were on the minds of the moderators and candidates Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa. Six candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination spent the first 30 minutes of the debate defending their positions on foreign policy and explaining to voters why they are best qualified to be the next commander in chief. Mostly, they sought to differentiate themselves from President Trump. Sen. Bernie Sanders began by highlighting his 2002 vote against the war in Iraq which former Vice President Joe Biden, then a senator, supported. The Vermont senator called it the worst foreign policy blunder in modern U.S. history. As Joe well knows, we lost 4,500 brave troops. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died, Sanders said. We have spent trillions on this endless war money that shouldve gone into health care and education. Biden acknowledged that his vote was a mistake, but also said he led the effort to end the war as vice president. I know what it's like to send a son or daughter to war, like our colleague on this stage, Biden said, nodding to South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve in Afghanistan. Joe Biden, left, listens as Sen. Bernie Sanders answers a question during Tuesday's debate in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP) Sanders and Biden both attacked President Trump over his decision to authorize the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The White House initially said that there was an imminent threat to American lives, but the administration has not publicly disclosed intelligence supporting that assertion. Over the weekend, Trump claimed that Soleimani was planning to attack four U.S. embassies, but Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday that he had not seen such evidence. Biden said that Trump flat-out lied about the threat to U.S. embassies. Sanders compared it to the events that led to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies, Sanders said. Right now, what I fear very much, is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse. Story continues Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she believes the United States should pull its troops out of the Middle East. We have to stop this mindset that we can do everything with combat troops, she said. Related: 'I didn't say it': Sanders denies saying a woman couldn't win the presidency Buttigieg criticized Trump, who campaigned on ending "endless wars," over his decision to send nearly 3,000 more troops to the Middle East in the wake of Soleimani's killing. And he put it in personal terms. Whenever I see that happen, I think about the day we shipped out and the time that was set aside to say goodbye to family members, Buttigieg said. I remember walking with a friend of mine, another lieutenant I trained with, as we walked away and his 1-and-a-half-year-old boy was toddling after him, not understanding why his father wasnt turning back to scoop him up. And it took all the strength he had not to turn around and look at his boy one more time." Sen. Amy Klobuchar pointed to her experience in Congress. Ive been in the U.S. Senate for over 12 years, Klobuchar said. And I think what you want in a president is someone who has dealt with these life-and-death issues and who has made decisions. Tom Steyer, the billionaire activist and long-shot presidential candidate, was asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, one of the co-moderators, under what circumstances a President Steyer would take military action. I would take military action to protect the lives and safety of American citizens, Steyer said. "But what we can see in the Middle East and what this conversation shows is that there is no real strategy in what were trying to accomplish in the Middle East. Obviously Mr. Trump has no strategy. In the same answer, Steyer pivoted from the conflict in the Middle East to wildfires in Australia. Were confronted by this issue everyones talking about, Steyer said. But at the same time theres the gigantic climate issue in Australia, which also requires the same kind of value-driven coalition building that we actually should be using in the Middle East. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday indicated that the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) may start functioning from a temporary campus. Rupani was speaking in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah who lay the foundation stone for the IIS' Ahmedabad campus at Nasmed village in Gandhinagar district's Kalol taluka on Wednesday. During the event, Rupani accepted the suggestion made by Union skill development minister Mahendra Nath Pandey to allot a temporary campus till the main structure is being constructed. "As suggested by the Union minister, my government is also keen to see that the institute starts functioning from a temporary campus till the construction work is completed," Rupani said. "We also want IIS Ahmedabad to be the first among the three such institutes coming up in the country," he added. The other two institutes are coming up in Mumbai and Kanpur. The IIS is being set up by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship. The institute aims to develop skilled technical manpower to meet the demands of industries such as defence, aerospace, oil and gas and other emerging businesses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new virus linked to SARS has the possibility of spreading between humans, though the risk of transmission appears to be low at the moment, Chinese officials said. The outbreak of a new coronavirus in central China has killed one man and infected 41 people in the city of Wuhan. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said in a public notice that one woman may have contracted the virus from her husband, who fell ill after working at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Most of the patients who received preliminary diagnoses of the new coronavirus had worked at or visited the seafood market. But the woman in this case said she had no exposure to the market at all. China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers Show all 12 1 /12 China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers Glowing blooms of blue tears in Chinas sea may dazzle tourists with their sparkle but as their numbers grow, so too do fears about their toxic potential. Yu-Xian Yang / Lienchiang County Government China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers Blue tears, or "sea sparkles", are plankton found in coastal areas that can light up the coast due to a unique trait that causes them to turn luminous blue when disturbed. Muto Lisp China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers This visual treat has led to beaches where the plankton are found becoming popular tourist destinations in recent years but despite their enchanting appearance, the plankton could prove detrimental in the long term. Muto Lisp China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers Though they pose no direct threat to humans, the concern with "blue tears" is that they secrete ammonia, which can prove harmful to ocean life in high levels as it depletes oxygen levels in the surrounding water. Sheng-Fang Tsai / National Taiwan Ocean University China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers Scientists have been tracking the plankton off the coast of China and a new report finds that they have been blooming in greater numbers in recent years, in turn posing a greater threat. Muto Lisp China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers The report suggests that the growth could be put down to many factors including warmer temperatures and an excess of nutrients entering the sea due to increased use of fertiliser. Sander van der Wel China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers If this is the case, then the blooms may continue to grow in coming years. Muto Lisp China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers This series of images shows how the 'blue tears' emit a luminescence when distrurbed (1 of 3) Sheng-Fang Tsai / National Taiwan Ocean University China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers This series of images shows how the 'blue tears' emit a luminescence when distrurbed (2 of 3) Sheng-Fang Tsai / National Taiwan Ocean University China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers This series of images shows how the 'blue tears' emit a luminescence when distrurbed (3 of 3) Sheng-Fang Tsai / National Taiwan Ocean University China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers In great numbers, "Blue tears" are a form of red tide, a bloom of algae that becomes so dense as to pose a threat to its surrounding environment Bruce Anderson China's toxic "blue tears" bloom in greater numbers They are found all over the ocean but the "blue tears" off the east coast of China have been the focus of scientists in recent years Muto Lisp Hong Kong health official Chuang Shuk-kwan told local media it is possible the husband brought food from the market home that then infected her. But it is also possible that he infected her because the wife did not exhibit symptoms until days after her husband. Mr Chuang added the threat of human-to-human transmission remains low as hundreds of people, including medical professionals, have been in close contact with infected individuals and have not been infected themselves. The outbreak has sparked panic and vigilance around Asia, with airports ramping up temperature screening at airports ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday which begins on 25 January. But a woman has been quarantined in Thailand after she was found to be carrying a mysterious strain of a virus linked to the outbreak. She had travelled from Wuhan to Thailand as a tourist and was identified and hospitalised by Thai officials on 8 January. It is the first instance of the new virus being detected outside China. The World Health Organisation has issued guidance on how to detect and treat anyone with symptoms of the new virus. WHO reiterates that it is essential that investigations continue in China to identify the source of this outbreak and any animal reservoirs or intermediate hosts, it said. The possibility of cases being identified in other countries was not unexpected and reinforces why WHO calls for on-going active monitoring and preparedness in other countries. Coronavirus belongs to a family of viruses that can cause both a common cold and more serious infections including the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Tom Steyer (L-R), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) listen as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (3rd R) speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Democratic Candidates Say They Wouldnt Let Iran Get a Nuclear Weapon Pressed on what theyd do with Iran if elected president, Democratic candidates said on Tuesday night that they wouldnt let the Middle Eastern country get a nuclear weapon. Republican President Donald Trump told America recently following strikes against Iraqi bases by Iran that he would pursue peace. But he also said: As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said during the Democratic presidential debate in Iowa that she would work on negotiating a new agreement or a reworked agreement following Trumps exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iranalso commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal. I would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. You have to have a president that sees this as a number one goal, she said. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) She said she would like to see changes to the deal, which still exists as other countries involved, such as France and China, havent exited it. Some changes include a better sunsetparts of the deal are slated to end in the coming yearsand better enforcement, Klobuchar said. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg also said he wouldnt let Iran get a nuclear weapon. Our security depends on ensuring Iran does not become nuclear, Buttigieg said. Ensuring that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons will, of course, be a priority, because its such an important part of keeping America safe, he said. Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg participates during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Former Vice President Joe Biden noted that he was in office when the nuclear deal was reached, adding: It was working. And look whats happened. Were now isolated. Were in a situation where our allies in Europe are making a comparison between the United States and Iran, saying both have to stand down. The next president has to be able to pull those folks back together, re-establish our alliances, and insist that Iran go back into the agreement, he added. The stances of Democrats on Iran garnered some criticism from debate watchers, including Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary during President George W. Bushs administration. Its crystal clear the D [democrat] policy on Iran is to do nothing. They dont support sanctions or pressure. They want to go back to acquiescence and the Iran deal, which means giving Iran billions of dollars, he said, referring to the JCPOA. Democratic candidates later said they wouldnt meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without preconditions. This is a classic situation where the United States idea of going it alone makes no sense, billionaire Tom Steyer said. He added: Iran is under great pressure economically. What worked with President Obama was an alliance to put economic pressure on them to give up their military tactic. January 15, 2020 - Black patients undergoing lumbar (lower) spinal fusion surgery have worse outcomes - including higher complication rates, more hospital days, and higher costs - compared to white patients, suggests a study in Spine. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "Our study reaffirms the concern than black race remains a social determinant of health impacting equity in surgical outcomes," according to the new research by Robert S. White, MD, MS, of New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, and colleagues. The authors propose some steps that may help to promote equity in the outcomes of spinal fusion and other surgical procedures. Large-Scale Study Looks at Impact of Race on Spinal Fusion Surgery The researchers analyzed patient discharge records from five states (California, Florida, New York, Maryland, and Kentucky) from 2007 through 2014. The study included data on nearly 268,000 patients hospitalized for this common spinal surgical procedure. Overall, 77.7 percent of patients were white and 6.5 percent were black. Patient characteristics, complication rates, and other outcomes of spinal fusion surgery were compared between these two racial/ethnic groups. Black patients were younger and more likely to be women. They had more health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Black patients were also more likely to have low-income, to be treated at hospitals that served more "safety net" patients and did a lower volume of spinal fusion surgeries, and to have surgery on an emergency or urgent basis. Even after adjustment for these differences, black patients had significantly worse outcomes of lumbar spinal fusion, compared to white patients. Black patients were eight percent more likely to experience complications specific to spinal surgery, and 14 percent more likely to have general postoperative complications. Black race/ethnicity was associated with increased odds of hospital readmission at both 30 and 90 days. Black patients were also more likely to have a longer hospital stay and higher total charges. The racial differences in outcomes remained significant after adjustment for patient demographic factors, co-existing medical conditions, hospital characteristics, and surgical techniques. There are well-documented disparities in healthcare across a wide range of surgical procedures, including lumbar spinal fusion surgery. "Previous research has identified race as a social determinant of health that impacts outcomes after lumbar spinal fusion surgery," according to the authors. Their study examines these associations in a large multistate sample of patients, including a full range of spinal surgery outcomes. "We showed that black patients, as compared to white patients, are more likely to have postoperative complications, be readmitted, have longer lengths of stay, and have higher total hospital charges," Dr. White and coauthors write. "Our results reaffirm the concern that black race remains a social determinant of health impacting equity in surgical outcomes." The racial differences in outcomes might be related to differences in the characteristics of black patients (such as higher rates of diabetes and obesity) or where they are treated (for example, at hospitals that perform a lower volume of spinal fusion procedures). The authors discuss some approaches that may help to address these inequities. Dr. White and colleagues conclude: "Hospital systems and providers should adopt methods to promote equity in care, including employee educational programs focusing on healthcare disparities and the impact of unequal care, and through the utilization of standardized protocol based care, such as Enhanced Recovery After Surgery programs, that can reduce the impact of implicit bias on post-surgical outcomes." ### Click here to read "Black Race As A Social Determinant of Health and Outcomes After Lumbar Spinal Fusion Surgery: A Multistate Analysis, 2007-2014." DOI: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000003367 About Spine Recognized internationally as the leading journal in its field, Spine (http://www.spinejournal.com) is an international, peer-reviewed, bi-weekly periodical that considers for publication original articles in the field of spine. It is the leading subspecialty journal for the treatment of spinal disorders. Only original papers are considered for publication with the understanding that they are contributed solely to Spine. According to the latest ISI Science Citation Impact Factor, Spine is the most frequently cited spinal deformity journal among general orthopaedic journals and subspecialty titles. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2018 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 18,600 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit http://healthclarity.wolterskluwer.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth. For more information, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The first day of Kem Sokhas trial hearing ended Wednesday evening, with the former opposition leader facing questions about his early political career, the founding of a human rights group and its funding by international donors, especially USAID. The long-awaited trial commenced Wednesday morning, more than two years after Kem Sokha was arrested for alleged treason. The opposition leader attended both sessions of the hearing and will return to court on Thursday, rounding up this weeks hearings. The trial is expected to take three months, with two hearings every week. After the morning session focused on a video clip that, according to the government, supports the treason charge, the presiding judges considered a proposal from government lawyers to use Khmer letters as monikers to refer to foreign governments, organizations, and individuals during the trial, to ensure that Cambodia does not damage its foreign and diplomatic relations. These monikers, the government lawyers said, would apply to countries linked to the case, such as the U.S., Canada, the EU, Indonesia, India, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Australia, and Taiwan. International organizations and groups that would also receive these labels are USAID, National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, American Center for International Labor Solidarity, Peace Corps, Dan Church Aid, and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, among others. Individuals that would get a moniker included U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian journalist James Ricketson, who was found guilty of espionage in August 2018. The presiding judges ruled that the theses names would be used during the hearing and will be entered in the trial records, which is a confidential document, but the monikers will be used for the verdict which is a public document. They first decided to agree with our proposal to use the coding with [Khmer] letters in both trial record and verdict, said government lawyer Ky Tech. But after [further deliberation], the judges decided to accept only one of our proposals permitting the use of the code in the verdict. The presiding judges, prosecution and government lawyers then proceeded to question Kem Sokha about his activities as a politician and human rights activist. The court decided to divide the questioning into two timelines, the first round of questions from 1993 to 2007, and the second will cover his activities until he was arrested in 2017. Meng Sopheary, Kem Sokhas lawyer, said the opposition leader was asked his early political career in parliament and his decision to start the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), which he headed from 2002 to 2007. He said he set up CCHR and got funding from USAID, she said. This is normal in Cambodia because [many] NGOs get foreign funding. She added that receiving funding from foreign donors was legal and that there was nothing to show that any of the CCHR funding was from nefarious means. They did not get funds from rebels or any illegal organizations, she said. The trial will resume on Thursday when the defense is expected to continue questioning Sokha about his activities from 1993 to 2007, after which the court will look into his work till 2017. DALLAS, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Employees' Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas ("ERF") investment portfolio generated a double digit return of 17.51% (net of fees) for calendar year 2019. The total assets under management increased to $3.65 billion from $3.3 billion in 2018. Dallas ERF has a funded ratio (actuarial assets/liabilities) of 80% which makes it the third highest ranked municipal fund in the state of Texas according to the Texas Pension Review Board. In the longer-term Dallas ERF has a 10-year return of 8.56% which exceeds its actuarial rate of return of 7.75%. Since 1985, Dallas ERF investments has generated a return of 9.09% The Dallas ERF Board consists of seven dedicated trustees with over 75 years of investment and benefit experience. "I want to thank the Board trustees for their discipline, patience, and investment expertise as the markets continue to evolve," said Cheryl Alston, ERF's Executive Director. "As fiduciaries for more than 16,000 current and retired city employees, we must continue to focus on the long-term investment horizon." "I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the ERF staff for their diligence and commitment to excellent service to employees and pensioners," said Alston. "The customer service rating from members in 2019 is 97.3% approval." ERF Investments Dallas ERF has a global, diversified conservative investment program. The best performing asset class in 2019 was Domestic Equity. Dallas ERF's Domestic Equity portfolio earned 29.06%. Both Global Equity and International Equity had a return of 22.83% and 22.46%, respectively for 2019. Global Low Volatility Equity returned 21.54% exceeding the benchmark MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility Index of 21.05%. The Fund's Real Estate investments generated 14.75% for the year. The Real Estate investments consist of publicly traded real estate called Real Estate Investment Trusts ("REITs") as of 12/31/2019 and national private core real estate funds as of 9/30/2019. Public Real Assets consists of energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The MLPs earned 11.84% outperforming the Alerian MLP benchmark of 6.56%. The Private Equity returns always lag a quarter behind, so the last reported quarter is 9/30/2019. As of 9/30/2019, the investments in Private Equity returned 11.69%. Fixed Income is 30% of the ERF investment portfolio. Our investment in Global Fixed Income returned 9.02% and exceeded the Bloomberg Aggregate benchmark of 8.72% in 2019. Our High Yield investments posted a return of 14.14% and the Credit Opportunities posted a return of 11.45%. SOURCE Employees Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested the head of Federal Tax Service as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister after the government resigned earlier today, RT reports. Putin has met with Mishustin and offered him the PM's position which he accepted, the Kremlin said. Mishustin went to the State Duma straight from the Kremlin for an extraordinary meeting of the Parliaments Council, which includes the speaker and the heads of the factions. During the meeting, it was agreed that the MPs will decide on the nominee for prime minister on Thursday. Mikhail Mishustin, 53, holds Ph.D. in economics and had a long career as a government official with some breaks for running his own business a decade ago. He was heading Russia's Tax Service since 2010. Mishustins work as tax boss has been praised not only at home, but also in the West. Last year, the Financial Times said that he created the future of tax administration in Russia by introducing a real-time digitalized system, which enabled them to expose errors and fraud while also significantly raising revenues for the state. Outgoing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev offered his resignation after Putins annual state of the nation address, in which the President suggested several key amendments to the Russian Constitution. The changes included expanding the powers of parliament, so that it could not only approve but nominate the prime minister, with the president being unable to reject the MPs choice. The Duma also vote on other key government officials, selected by the PM for his cabinet. The amendments will bring significant change to the balance of power in Russia after they go into force, Medvedev said, explaining his decision. In view of this, the government should resign to provide the president with a capability to make all decisions, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 12:51 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c322362a2 1 World #SouthKorea,South-Korea,mikta,#Indonesia,Indonesia Free South Korea is inviting Indonesia to collaborate in shaping a global and regional agenda, one of which will be through the MIKTA forum chaired by the former this year. Formed in 2013 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, MIKTA is an informal consultation forum that grouped five middle-power countries Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey and Australia and is led by their foreign ministers. The idea to establish MIKTA was first discussed in an informal meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2012. Since its establishment, MIKTAs five members have taken turns being the group's coordinators every year. The foreign ministers-led meetings were usually conducted on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), all MIKTA members are among the worlds 20 largest economies and altogether, they account for a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$6.1 trillion, or about 7 percent of the world's total GDP in 2019. All are like-minded countries, South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Chang-beom told a press briefing on Tuesday. The participating countries, Kim said, tried to cooperate in issuing common positions on a global and regional agenda through international forums. South Korea, as chair country for 2020, will work on some priority areas, which will be duly decided next month. He added that some issues often put forward in MIKTA were efforts to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the start-up and creative industry, as well as policy coordination. MIKTA current chair Mexico is expected to hand over its chairmanship to South Korea in early February in Mexico, according to the Foreign Ministrys director-general for multilateral affairs, Febrian Ruddyard. Kim said South Korea was envisioning to elevate MIKTA from a ministerial-led forum to a summit. Indonesia has warmed to the idea and is ready to support Seouls initiative. However, we need to examine what kind of deliverables we could put forward for summit-level talks, Febrian told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. This year, Seoul is also planning to host a MIKTA speakers meeting that gathers House of Representatives speakers from the five member countries in South Korea. (ipa) Banks might soon accept a letter from the National Population Register (NPR) as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. A letter from the NPR is now included under the list of Officially Valid Documents (OVDs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Master Direction on KYC norms. "OVDs include passport, driving licence, proof of possession of Aadhaar number, Voter's Identity Card issued by the Election Commission of India, job card issued by NREGA duly signed by an officer of the state government and letter issued by the NPR containing details of name and address," the Master Direction states. The Master Direction was last updated on January 9, 2020, as per the banking regulators website. The move is significant given that there have been protests against the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). RBI has issued a directive on the matter to banks, the BusinessLine reported. Some banks have been preparing to accept NPR data, the report said. The Central Bank of India has in a notification asked its customers to submit KYC details by January 31, the report added. A senior State Bank of India (SBI) official told the publication that updating the KYC norms is a routine and regular process, and that banks will have to comply with the norms. In a separate report by The Times of India (TOI), Central Bank of India clarified that the NPR letter is not mandatory and other specified documents are also valid. T he 2010s was the hottest decade on record, climate scientists have confirmed. Temperatures from the past 10 years were compared to data stretching back to the 19th century. Analysts found 2019 was the second hottest year since records began - only beaten out by 2016 and its El Nino weather system. According to the numbers, the past five years were the warmest in 170 years. The news comes as wildfires ravage Australia, killing more than a billion animals. Australia fires - In pictures 1 /78 Australia fires - In pictures A firefighter hosing down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales in December AFP via Getty Images An aerial view of bushfires burning south of Canberra Getty Images Adelaide wildlife rescuer Simon Adamczyk is seen with a koala rescued at a burning forest on Kangaroo Island in January Reuters German tourists Julia Wasmiller and Jessica Pryor pose for a photo at Mrs Macquarie's chair, wearing face masks due to heavy smoke in December Getty Images A small aircraft dumps fire retardant behind houses at the foot of Mount Tennant as the fire front of the Orroral Valley fire creeps through the Namadgi National Park on January 30, 2020 in Canberra, Australia Getty Images A pyrocumulonimbus cloud is generated by the intense Orroral Valley bushfire buring to the south of Canberra. Getty Images Eugenie Bouchard of Canada takes a moment to catch her breath during her qualifying match against Xiaodi You of China during 2020 Australian Open Qualifying at Melbourne Park Getty Images Bernard Tomic of Australia receives medical attention in his match against Denis Kudla of the USA during 2020 Australian Open Qualifying at Melbourne Park Getty Images Massive smoke rising from wildfires burning in East Gippsland, Victoria in January AP Smoke looms over Sydney A kangaroo jumps in a field amidst smoke from a bushfire at Snowy Valley, Australia in January AFP via Getty Images Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits a resident's property in an area devastated by bushfires in Sarsfield, Victoria state in January POOL/AFP via Getty Images An injured koala rests in a washing basket at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park in January Getty Images A pedestrian wears a mask as smoke shrouds the Australian capital of Canberra, Australia in January AP A large smoke plume is seen over a sheep property in the Parndana region in January Getty Images NSW's National Parks and Wildlife Service staff prepare to air-drop carrots for animals in bushfire-stricken areas, in Newnes, Wollemi National Park, New South Wales in January via Reuters A wallaby eats a carrot after NSW's National Parks and Wildlife Service staff air-dropped them in bushfire-stricken areas around Wollemi and Yengo National Parks, New South Wales in January via Reuters Nurses feed an injured male koala at Adelaide Koala Rescue in January Getty Images A woodchip mill burnt by bushfires is seen as smoke rises in Eden in Australia's New South Wales in January AFP via Getty Images Kylie Minogue donates to the cause @kylieminogue Cars line up to leave the town of Batemans Bay in New South Wales to head north in January AFP via Getty Images HMAS Choules off the coast of Victoria, Australia in January Reuters The property of Lyle Stewart is razed to the ground at Nerrigundah, Australia in January AP Rural Fire Service firefighter Trevor Stewart views a flank of in Tumburumba, Australia Getty Images A plane flies in the tobacco-coloured skies over Auckland, New Zealand, as smoke from the wildfires traveled from Australia in January Getty Images An orange glow darkens the sky in Auckland city from the wildfires in Australia Getty Images Kiahan Bellchambers and her brother Jesse Bellchambers looking for belongings amongst the ruins of their house destroyed during bushfires in Batlow, in Australia's New South Wales state in January AFP via Getty Images Lieutenant Kynan Lang from the 10th/27th Battalion visits the scene where his uncle and cousin died in a bushfire to place a memorial on Kangaroo Island, Australia in January via Reuters A firefighters backs away from the flames after lighting a controlled burn near Tomerong, Australia AP Black ash and fire debris is washed up on Boydtown Beach and the banks of the Nullica River in Eden, Australia REUTERS Barb Copus holds a rescued baby brushtail possum at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park in the Parndana region on Kangaroo Island, Australia Getty Images A burnt car is seen after bushfire in Batlow, in Australia's New South Wales state in January AFP via Getty Images A burning gum tree is felled to stop it from falling on a car in Corbago, as bushfires continue in New South Wales, Australia in January Reuters General view of the Dunn Road fire in January Getty Images Australian Army CH-47 Chinooks from the 5th Aviation Regiment deliver hay bales to remote bushfire-affected farms on Kangaroo Island, Australia via Reuters Volunteer and carer Tracy Dodd holds a kangaroo with burnt feet pads after being rescued from bushfires in Australia's Blue Mountains area in December Reuters Thick smoke from wildfires shroud the Sydney Opera House in December AP A property burns from bushfires in Balmoral, 150km southwest of Sydney in December AFP via Getty Images A fireman fights a bushfire to protect a property in Balmoral, 150km southwest of Sydney in December AFP via Getty Images Helicopters dump water on bushfires as they approach homes located on the outskirts of the town of Bargo in December Getty Images Australian wildfires turn sky red in December brendanh_au/Twitter Firemen inspect a house recently destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo in December Getty Images Firemen prepare as a bushfire approaches homes on the outskirts of the town of Bargo in December Getty Images Monitoring the Tianjara fire from a helicopter in the Moreton and Jerrawangala National Park in December Getty Images People wear face masks to protect from the pollution over Sydney Harbour in December Getty Images A fire approaches the village of Nerrigundah, Australia in December AP An old car burns from bushfires in Balmoral AFP via Getty Images The remains of burnt out buildings are seen along main street in the New South Wales town of Cobargo in December AFP via Getty Images Wildfires rage under plumes of smoke in Bairnsdale, Australia in December AP A horse trying to move away from nearby bushfires at a residential property near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales in December AFP via Getty Images Fire and thick smoke remains the village of Nerrigundah, Australia in December AP Gary Hinton stands amongst rubble after fires devastated the New South Wales town of Cobargo in December AFP via Getty Images A helicopter drops fire retardent to protect a property in Balmoral in December AFP via Getty Images The sky glows red as bushfires continue to rage in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia in December via Reuters A fire and rescue team inspect the damage around Torrington in Glen Innes, Australia in November Getty Images Flames from an out of control bushfire seen from a nearby residential area in Harrington, Australia in November AFP via Getty Images Bushfires taken from a plane in over north eastern New South Wales in November AFP via Getty Images An Air-crane water bombing helicopter drops water on a bushfire in Harrington, Australia in November Reuters Haze blanketing Manly Beach, Sydney in November Sydney Coaches via Reuters Scientists at the Met Office Hadley Centre, the University of East Anglias Climatic Research Unit and the UK National Centre for Atmospheric Science produce one of the global data sets, known as HadCRUT4. It is compiled from millions of air and sea surface temperature measurements taken across the globe from land on all continents and from all oceans. The data shows that temperatures were 1.05 degrees above pre-industrial levels, making 2019 the third warmest year in the series stretching back to 1850, behind 2016 and 2015. Scientists from US agencies Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) also produce data sets for global temperature, each dating back to 1880, and find that 2019 is the second warmest on record. The differences are largely down to how the scientists account for the polar regions, where data is sparse, the Met Office said. But taking the evidence from the three records, together with other estimates from reanalyses, suggests that 2019 was most likely the second warmest year. TIME person of the year Greta Thunberg has led a campaign to raise the profile of the climate crisis / Johnannes Eiselle/AFP via Getty Images All three records agree that the last five years have been the warmest five years since each global data set began. Dr Colin Morice, from the Met Office Hadley Centre, said: Our collective global temperature figures agree that 2019 joins the other years from 2015 as the five warmest years on record. Each decade from the 1980s has been successively warmer than all the decades that came before. 2019 concludes the warmest cardinal decade, those spanning years ending 0-9, in records that stretch back to the mid-19th century. He added: While we expect global mean temperatures to continue to rise in general, we dont expect to see year-on-year increases because of the influence of natural variability in the climate system. Climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has sprung to prominence in the past 18 months / AFP via Getty Images Professor Tim Osborn, director of research at the Climatic Research Unit, said: We are confident that the world has warmed by about 1 degree since the late 19th century because different methods of working out the global temperature give very similar results. Met Office figures have also revealed that for the UK, the 2010s have been the second warmest of the cardinal decades over the last 100 years of weather records. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia where wildfires have been raging amid record temperatures also recently confirmed that 2019 was the warmest and driest year on record for the country. World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general Petteri Taalas said global temperatures had risen by about 1.1 degrees since pre-industrial times, ocean heat was at record levels and, on the current emissions path, the world was heading for 3 to 5 degrees of warming by 2100. He said 2020 had started out where 2019 had left off, with high-impact weather and climate-related events such as the massive wildfires in Australia. WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court may be about to limit federal fraud prosecutions involving politically motivated schemes, particularly when the alleged government corruption involves no exchange of money or property. The justices on Tuesday heard an appeal from Bridget Anne Kelly, a top aide to Chris Christie when he was New Jersey governor. She was fired in 2013 and later prosecuted for her role in a scheme to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee by shutting down two reserved lanes across the George Washington Bridge, creating a massive traffic jam. The scandal became known as Bridgegate. Mayor Mark Sokolich had refused to endorse Christie's reelection, and the governor's staff decided to retaliate by closing two of three lanes that funneled drivers from Fort Lee onto the 12-lane bridge into Manhattan. The predictable result was a huge traffic backup during the first week of school in September, followed by a political furor when the scheme was revealed. At first, Christie's appointees claimed the lane changes were part of a traffic study, not retaliation against a political foe. Kelly and Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, lost their jobs, and they were then prosecuted and convicted of fraud under federal law. A judge sentenced Kelly to 13 months in prison and Baroni to 18 months, but neither is in prison pending the appeal. ADVERTISEMENT During Tuesday's argument, most of the justices questioned whether this scheme amounted to a federal crime. For many years, the high court has been skeptical of using federal fraud charges as an all-purpose weapon against politically motivated schemes. The anti-fraud law says it is a crime "to devise any scheme ... for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises." Lawyers for Kelly and Baroni argued their clients did not "obtain property" from the government by rearranging the lanes on the bridge. "The object of this scheme was not to obtain property," Justice Elena Kagan told a government lawyer. Government prosecutors did not allege that Kelly or Baroni received any money or property. Rather, they alleged the Port Authority was forced to spend an extra $3,696 in overtime pay for toll takers overseeing the realigned traffic lanes. In appealing to the high court, lawyers for Kelly called this approach to fraud "a playbook for how to prosecute political adversaries ... . It would allow any federal, state, or local official to be indicted based on nothing more than the allegation that she lied in claiming to act in the public interest." They cited many examples of how a mayor could be prosecuted for sending the city's snowplows to the neighborhoods that supported him, while denying any political motive. They also cited a situation quite familiar to the justices - of "a Commerce secretary" who may have had an undisclosed "partisan basis for adding a census question." They were suggesting that if political schemes could be prosecuted as crimes, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in theory, could have been charged with fraud over his attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The court blocked that move, concluding Ross had lied about his reasoning for the addition. Trump administration lawyers defended the convictions of Kelly and Baroni. They "lied about the existence of a traffic study to hijack Port Authority resources for a lane realignment that they could not otherwise have ordered," the government lawyers said. ADVERTISEMENT --- (c)2020 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Jan. 2 front-page article Major hole in initial U.S.-China trade deal documented the failure of phase one to tackle Chinas enormous subsidies to industry. But there is a glimmer of light in this gloomy landscape. Recent developments in regional trade agreements and joint reform efforts of the United States, the European Union and Japan suggest a changing trade policy environment on subsidies. This has not escaped Chinas notice, and it may be willing to consider first steps to phase in changes to subsidy rules. The Law School of Tanzania is a public institution of higher learning established in 2007. It is a training institution that offers practical legal programmes to students that have completed a Bachelor of Laws Degree. Since 2007, the school has been providing and promoting opportunities for students to study and train in the field of law. As a centre of excellence, the school is at the forefront of improving the legal practice in Tanzania through the provision of research and training. It has also been sponsoring and arranging for consultations, meetings, and conferences on matters relating to the practice of law. Image: lst.ac.tz Source: UGC As a student, you can join the Law School of Tanzania to gain practical knowledge and training in the legal practice. The institution has various academic programmes suitable for students that want to advance their knowledge of the law. If you would like to join a graduate school, it is important to get more information about the institution, including their programmes, admission, application forms, and fee structure. Academic programmes Unlike other institutions of higher learning, the Law School of Tanzania only offers a one-year training programme in the field of law. It is a compulsory programme for all law graduate students who want to be registered formally as advocates of the High Court of Tanzania. When you enrol for the course, you will complete it in two semesters. Semester one is 12 weeks long. It covers classroom instructions. Semester two covers clinical law. It is a period in which the institution places you in a field to get first-hand knowledge of how things work During the second semester, you will do oral and written examinations. That will be the final stage of education at the institution. As a successful candidate, the Law School will award you with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. READ ALSO: Top universities for studying law in Kenya Admission requirements Currently, the Law School of Tanzania is not inviting applications for admission into the practical legal training programme. The 2019/2020 intake is already closed. The first semester of the institutions 30th cohort began on 16th December 2019 and will end on 19th June 2020. The second semester of the 30th Cohort will begin on 22nd June and end on 12th December 2020. For Law School of Tanzania admission, you will probably have to wait until the first semester of the 31st Cohort, which will begin on 29th June 2020. Or, you may have to wait until the 2021/2022 academic year to enrol. Visit www.the Law School of Tanzania almanac section on the institutions website to get more information on the academic year 2020/2021. Image: lst.ac.tz Source: UGC School departments Unlike other institutions, the Law School of Tanzania has few departments. The most notable one is the Research and Publication Department. It has many functions that include: Conducting research activities on areas that are relevant to the practical legal training Facilitating the publication of materials in both print and electronic form for the practical legal training Maintaining a database of training materials for the study of law Availing all relevant legal materials to students Accounting for all funds collected through research and publication activities Performing other duties as assigned by the school management The Research and Publication Department plays a crucial role in the practical legal training of students. A Principal Research Officer leads the department. READ ALSO: List of the most popular law firms in Nairobi Fee structure The Law School of Tanzania fee structure is very comprehensive. As a student, you will have to pay the following fees once you enrol at the institution. Tuition Fee TZS 1,300,000 Examinations TZS 50,000 Library TZS 50,000 Stationery and Photocopy Services TZS 50,000 Attachment Fee TZS 50,000 Admission Ceremony Fee TZS 20,000 Application Fee TZS 20,000 Registration TZS 20,000 Caution Money TZS 10,000 Student ID Card TZS 10,000 Students Organization Fee TZS 10,000 As a student of the institution, you will assume all fees or costs related to your training at the Law School of Tanzania. The fees may either be direct or indirect. They may involve such things as field allowance, accommodation, health insurance, and meals, among others. There is more information provided on fee structure and the recommended direct student expenses and allowance. Potential students can also contact the administration in case of any enquiries regarding the same. You can only pay school fees by depositing the money to the designated Law School of Tanzania bank account. The institution does not accept cash. Application form You can only obtain the Law School of Tanzania application form by downloading it from the institution's website. It is a downloadable file that you must fill before submitting to the relevant department. Before applying, you will need the following information: Two recent passport size photographs The intake you would like the institution to consider you. In this case, you will have to wait until June 2020. Personal Particulars that includes your names, citizenship, telephone numbers, emails, etc. Birth certificate Citizen or National identity card Education background and employment information Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (for Tanzanians) or equivalent for non-citizens Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education (for Tanzanians) or equivalent for non-citizens Qualifications in Law (Bachelor of Laws Degree or its equivalent) and the highest award achieved Copy of a duly issued, signed, and sealed academic transcript Core courses you studied in law (criminal law, constitutional law, civil procedure etc.) You will also have to provide an application fee of TZS 20,000 during your application. The fee is non-refundable. Note that you will have to show evidence of payment at this stage. Otherwise, the institution will not process your application. Ensure that you provide the correct information when applying. Any non-disclosure of details or providing false information will render your registration with the institution cancelled. READ ALSO: Contact details of the Law Society of Kenya After downloading and filling in the application form, you should address it to the Principal, Law School of Tanzania, PO Box 9422, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But you will have to wait until the institution announces the next intake or welcomes the invitation for applications for admission for June 2020. You also have the option of applying online. The online application process is simple and straightforward. It will show you all the details you need and how to apply. Their online portal has more information on the application process. Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC Library The Law School of Tanzania has a library that plays an integral part in all the institutions programmes. It facilitates legal practical training and research. Also, it gives access to reading materials in the form of both reference books and online services. As a student, you will have to pay a library fee of TZS 50,000 to use the facility. The institutions library has collections and stocks materials of both professional and legal knowledge. It has a collection of over 10,000 titles of different volumes in the form of print and electronic copies. LST organises the facility by subject area within different stages of the legal training. These include: Legal Writing and Drafting Trial Advocacy Civil Litigation Criminal Litigation Professional Ethics Conveyancing Commercial Transactions Legal Practice Management Probate and Administration Once enrolled, you can use the facility to borrow different materials. That includes documents, electronic and reference books. Student portal The Law School of Tanzania has a student portal known as the LST Student Admission & Registration Information System (LAWSARIS). It is a Student Records Information where scholars can get all the information they need under one system. It is through the portal that students can view their academic information, receive personalised communication, and use the institutions self-service tools. READ ALSO: What documents will you need to become a law student? You will have to log in using your provided username and password to access the portal. Once you sign in, you will view the Law School of Tanzania prospectus, courses, timetables, etc. Only successful applicants can access the system. News and events You will find all the Law School of Tanzania event and news on the institutions website. Students can also get the information by logging in to the LST Student Admission & Registration Information System (LAWSARIS). The news mostly covers supplementary examination results, cohort results, and other announcements. You can also download documents and get to know the selected applicants for the intake of the current academic year. Location and contacts You will find the Law School of Tanzania located off Sam Nujoma Road about 650 metres behind Mawasiliano Towers in Dar es Salaam. The plot number is 2005/2/1. To contact the institution: Address: P.O Box 9422, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania P.O Box 9422, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Telephone: +255-22-292-7634 +255-22-292-7634 Fax: +255-22-292-7635 +255-22-292-7635 Email: info@lst.ac.tz info@lst.ac.tz Website: lst.ac.tz The Law School of Tanzania is a public learning institution that offers, conducts, manages, and imparts practical legal training. It is a graduate school that awards Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Training to all students that have completed a Bachelors of Laws Degree or equivalent. Established in 2007, LST provides a one-year training programme in the field of law and divides its courses into two semesters. You can enrol to join LST when they announce the intake for 2021/2022. READ ALSO: Top universities to enrol in for law studies in Kenya Source: TUKO.co.ke The script for Colin Trevorrows Star Wars film, which was scrapped in favour of JJ Abrams The Rise of Skywalker, has allegedly leaked online. Jurassic World director Trevorrow stepped down from the project in September 2017 after reportedly clashing with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy. Fans have been perusing the leaked script, which AV Club claims is legitimate, to see which direction the Star Wars franchise would have gone in had Trevorrow stayed on as director. It turns out that, if the script is real (Disney is yet to comment on the reports), Trevorrows ideas were wildly different to Abrams spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker below. Firstly, the script reveals the films original title and opening crawl, which you can find here. Star Wars films ranked worst to best Show all 11 1 /11 Star Wars films ranked worst to best Star Wars films ranked worst to best 11. Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002) The prequel trilogy has lived on in infamy, but the true low point of this low point in the Star Wars franchise must be Attack of the Clones, the dry, crusted middle of the cinematic sandwich. While Revenge of the Sith has some sense of completion and The Phantom Menace has some sense of wonder, all Attack of the Clones has is a CGI Yoda bopping about the screen like an unswattable fly while battling Christopher Lees Count Dooku. Its a film driven by unnecessary desires: from the space politics, to Boba Fetts backstory, to Padme and Anakins romance. The latter is the most insufferable, since George Lucas never had much of an ear for dialogue, as notoriously pointed out by Harrison Ford when he declared on set: George, you can type this s***, but you sure as hell cant say it. Which leads us to one of the worst line readings in cinematic history, when Hayden Christensens Anakin laments: I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 10. Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005) Hollywood has increasingly made the assumption that darker means better when it comes to cinema it explains why the Harry Potter films look like they were made while someone gradually turned down the dimmer switch on the studio lights. Of course, audiences know that darker sometimes means that your protagonist-turned-villain becomes a youngling-murdering, amateur street magician-looking sourpuss. Anakins arc here comes to a whimper of an ending, underlined by the much-derided decision to have Darth Vaders first moments onscreen involve him howling Noooooo! up to the sky like a mournful hound. That said, Ewan McGregor confirms here that he managed to escape the franchise largely unscathed, as this instalment sees him have the most fun with the clunky dialogue (see: Hello there! and I have the high ground!). Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 9. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999) The Phantom Menace escapes slightly ahead of the rest of the prequel trilogy, if only for the fact it remembers these films are meant to be fun once in a while. The pod race its a good scene! Darth Maul is all looks, zero follow through its embarrassing to act like youve won, only to be cut in half and sent hurtling down an exhaust pipe but his inclusion in the film did introduce one of the best musical themes in Star Wars history, John Williamss Duel of the Fates. However, the space politics are a particular drag here, with all the talk of trade disputes, and, of course, it's obligatory to mention the terror that is Jar Jar Binks. Rex Star Wars films ranked worst to best 8. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Although its the weakest of the new generation of Star Wars films, Solo still holds up as a fun romp worthy of Han Solos rascal reputation. Alden Ehrenreich picks up on enough of Harrison Fords mannerisms to sell the character without sliding into imitation, while Donald Glover is a scene stealer from the very moment he walks on screen as Lando Calrissian. Its a lost opportunity, then, that the film is otherwise slowed down by an impulse to offer backstory to as many aspects of Hans character as possible. Did we really need to know how we got the name Solo? Really? Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 7. Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker Director JJ Abrams, like the hero of an ancient prophecy, was destined to make both enemies and allies with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There will be arguments. And there will be arguments about the arguments. There will be obsessive deconstructions and over-interpretations of each frame and intake of breath. But, at the end of the day, this is still a Star Wars film in its very bones, muscle, and sinew. Whatever controversy Abrams might have brewed up with his artistic choices, he still captures magnificently the soul of this series: that unwavering hope that the powerless can win, despite the odds. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Star Wars films ranked worst to best 6. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Theres a lot to wrap up in the concluding chapter of the original trilogy. The result is a few odd turns for the sake of plot convenience. What does one do with a character as enigmatic as Boba Fett? Why, have him topple into the Sarlacc pit within the first 20 minutes! How does one put to rest the love triangle hinted at in A New Hope? Why, insert a revelation that Luke and Leia are, in fact, brother and sister! Even the second Death Star oddly feels sillier than The Force Awakens and its third attempt at a giant ball in space, since The First Order at least had the excuse that their obsessive admiration of the Empire may have clouded their judgement. That said, theres still plenty of charm to be found here and the Ewoks arent all that bad. Before you dismiss them as irritating merchandise opportunities, its worth remembering that they have absolutely no qualms about killing and eating people. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) If Rogue One is any indication of Disneys plans for the franchise and its future, then theres no cause for concern. The first of the A Star Wars Story spin-offs, it shifts into gear with ease, soothing audiences by not straying too far from the familiar timeline while introducing a full set of new characters and a grittier tone. Stylistically, it feels more like a Vietnam War movie and is proof of how far a gifted director like Gareth Edwards can stray from the franchises usual formula and still feel grounded in the same world. Plus, you have to admire the guts it takes to deliver an ending like that Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 4. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) Disney made a very smart move with The Force Awakens. As the first Star Wars film of a new generation, it not only had to make its own mark, but feel familiar enough that it welcomed fans back with open arms. The balance is hit perfectly here. Thats largely due to the films new trio of central heroes, who radiate the same kind of warmth, bravery, and spirit that carved a special place in peoples hearts when they were first introduced to the franchises original stars. Daisy Ridleys Rey, John Boyegas Finn, and Oscar Isaacs Poe honour Star Wars's past while striding into its unknown future. It also helps that the film has landed on a villain like Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whose drive and complexity may see him surpass even Darth Vader by the end of his story in Episode IX. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 3. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) Any divisiveness the film attracted certainly proved one thing: heres a Star Wars film that actually took a creative risk. And what a bold, ambitious, and ultimately beautiful risk that was. Director Rian Johnson took the cinematic legacy presented before him and added a new richness to its textures. He allowed heroism to go beyond the clean divide between good and evil; through Luke and Rey, we were taught not to be ashamed of our doubts but to grow stronger because of them. We were taught not to use destiny as a crutch, but to know when to forge our own paths. The Last Jedi is a soulful film told through some of the most striking cinematography of the entire franchise. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Its the place where it all began. The Star Wars franchise has only become the success it is today because of how purely revolutionary the first instalment was as a piece of Hollywood filmmaking. It is, to this day, one of the most successful examples of the modern epic, endlessly imitated but so rarely with the same heart or ambition. George Lucas tapped into one of the most timeless qualities of storytelling: its ability to let us see and understand our own world through the eyes of another. Star Wars has become so iconic because, even on such a grand scale, we know and relate to the emotions at hand fear, love, or a desire to do whats right. Rex Features Star Wars films ranked worst to best 1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) The Empire Strikes Back is remarkable in its ability to pursue real emotional stakes. Its closing moments, the final note to its symphony of sacrifice and tragedy, leaves us with the single, delicate emotion that is hope, blooming in the darkness as our heroes set out to save Han and restore the Rebel Alliance. What A New Hope built up by making us fall in love with these characters, The Empire Strikes Back recouped in sharing with us their pain and their fears. Darth Vaders reveal that hes Lukes father has, of course, found its place in history, but theres an equal sense of emotional resonance in the moment Leia and Han depart, moments before hes trapped in carbonite. When Leias I love you is returned by Hans I know a line written by Harrison Ford himself were reminded of how magical Star Warss sense of storytelling can be, condensing everything that these two characters feel for each other into five simple words. Rex Features The most interesting aspect from the screenplay, which is said to have been co-written by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, is the absence of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who, save for a mention in the breakdown, doesnt appear to feature in the film. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) would have had a far darker arc than he had in The Rise of Skywalker. According to the leak, he would have spent the film haunted by the ghost of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Darth Vaders old castle. There, he would have found a Sith device that put him on the path to Palpatines Sith teacher, Tor Valum. Trevorrow is also claimed to have wrote it so that its revealed Ren killed Reys parents who were, in fact, nobody important to the franchise after all. After the Force Ghosts of Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda return to help Rey in her attempts to bring Ren to the good side, he is extinguished. Just like Abrams, Trevorrow didnt envision that Rey and Kylo kiss, either. According to recent reports, Abrams was left unsatisfied by several orders made by Disney in relation to his finished film. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Other things that would have undoubtedly scored praise from fans include: a heist story arc for BB-8 and Rose Tico (meaning Kelly Marie Tran, who received just 76 seconds of screen-time in The Rise of Skywalker, would have had a far bigger role to play), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) piloting an X-Wing and Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) stealing a Star Destroyer. Since the release of Abrams The Rise of Skywalker last month, it has divided critics and audiences, with some highlighting the movies sense of adventure and others criticising it for its moments of fan service. Consequently, the film has a critical score of 54 per cent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes one of the lowest for any movie in the long-running Star Wars franchise. Its audience score sits at 86 per cent, though, which is 43 per cent higher than the score amassed by Rian Johnsons previous Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. The 65 best movie insults of all time Show all 49 1 /49 The 65 best movie insults of all time The 65 best movie insults of all time Avengers Assemble (2012) "This is my bargain, you mewling quim." Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) "Hey, where'd you get those clothes, the toilet store?" DreamWorks Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Bad Moms (2016) "Well, you look like a bag of d***s" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Blade: Trinity (2004) "You c*ck-juggling thunderc***!" New Line Cinema The 65 best movie insults of all time The Breakfast Club (1985) "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?" Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) "If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Bull Durham (1988) "From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f***ing boat." Orion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Campaign (2012) "You know what the difference between your momma and a washing machine is? When I dump a load in a machine, the machine doesn't follow me around for three weeks." Warner Bros Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Casino (1995) "You horse manure smelling motherf***er, you." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Closer (2004) "Go f*** yourself, you WRITER!" Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Con Air (1997) "You're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty." Buena Vista Pictures Distribution The 65 best movie insults of all time The Death of Stalin (2017) "You smell like rendered horse, you burning a**hole." eOne Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Donnie Darko (2001) "You can go suck a f***." Pandora Cinema The 65 best movie insults of all time Duck Soup (1933) "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you he really is an idiot." Paramount Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Erin Brockovich (2000) "That's all you got, lady - two wrong feet and f***ing ugly shoes." Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Favourite (2018) "You look like a badger." Fox Searchlight Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time A Fish Called Wanda (1988) "To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people." The 65 best movie insults of all time Gangs of New York (2002) I dont give a tuppeny f*** about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed s*** sack. Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time The Hangover (2009) "You are literally too stupid to insult." Warner Bros. Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time His Girl Friday (1940) "Listen, you insignificant, square-toed, pimple-headed spy!" Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Home Alone (1990) "You're what the French call: 'les incompetents'." DON SMETZER/20TH CENTURY FOX/The Kobal Collection/WireImage.com The 65 best movie insults of all time In Bruges (2008) "YOU'RE AN INANIMATE F***ING OBJECT!" Universal Studios/Focus Features The 65 best movie insults of all time Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Perry: "Look up 'idiot' in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?" : "Look up 'idiot' in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?" Harry: "A picture of me?" Perry: "No! The definition of the word idiot, which you f***ing are." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Knocked Up "Your face looks like Robin Williams' knuckles. The 65 best movie insults of all time The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) "Were you always this stupid or did you take lessons?" The 65 best movie insults of all time The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) "My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days, she looked better than you do now." Warner Bros. The 65 best movie insults of all time Matilda (1996) "Your mummy is a TWIT." TriStar Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Mist (2007) Ill tell you what. The day I need a friend like you, Ill just have myself a little squat and s*** one out. REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries." EMI Films The 65 best movie insults of all time National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, d***less, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey s*** he is." The 65 best movie insults of all time Parenthood (1989) "I wouldn't live with you if the world were flooded with piss and you lived in a tree." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Phantom Thread (2018) "Are you a special agent sent here to ruin my evening and possibly my entire life?" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Point Break (1991) "You're a real blue flame special, aren't you, son? Young, dumb and full of cum. What I don't know is how you got assigned here. Guess we must just have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh?" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time The Princess Bride (1987) "I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon." Vestron Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Say Anything (1989) "I got a question: if you guys know so much about women, how come you're here on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?" The 65 best movie insults of all time Scarface (1983) "Even if I were blind, desperate, starved and begging for it on a desert island, you'd be the last thing I'd ever f***." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time School of Rock (2004) "You're tacky and I hate you" The 65 best movie insults of all time Sexy Beast (2000) "You're the f***ing problem you f***ing Dr White honkin' jam-rag f***ing spunk-bubble!" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time She's All That (1999) "To everyone here who matters, you're spam. You're vapour. A waste of perfectly good yearbook space." Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Shrek (2000) "You dense, irritating, miniature beast of a burden." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) "Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder." 20th Century Fox The 65 best movie insults of all time Step Brothers (2008) "You're not a doctor. You're a big fat curly headed f***." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time There Will Be Blood (2007) "You're just the afterbirth, Eli, slithered out on your mother's filth. They should have put you in glass jar on a mantelpiece." Paramount Vantage/Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Three Amigos (1986) "You dirt-eating piece of slime. You scum-sucking pig. You son of a motherless goat." Orion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Toy Story (1995) "You are a sad strange little man, and you have my pity." Buena Vista Pictures Distribution The 65 best movie insults of all time Wayne's World (1992) "Benjamin is nobody's friend. If Benjamin were an ice cream flavour, he'd be pralines and d***." Paramount Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Withnail & I (1987) "Monty, you terrible c***." HandMade Films The 65 best movie insults of all time The Wizard of Oz (1939) "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!" Loew's, Inc. The 65 best movie insults of all time The Women (1939) "You wanna see a bad facelift? Helen Danvers, two o'clock. She looks like she's re-entering the Earth's atmosphere." REX A full breakdown of Trevorrows alleged leaked script can be found on Reddit. Abrams recently revealed what he believes to be the answer to one of The Rise of Skywalkers biggest mysteries: what Finn was about to say to Rey before getting sucked into the quicksand in Pasaana. Find a list of every unexpected cameo in the film here. [January 15, 2020] Cloud IT Infrastructure Revenues Declined for Second Consecutive Quarter in Q3 2019 But Exceeded Spending on Non-Cloud IT Infrastructure for the Second Time Ever, According to IDC According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud environments, including public and private cloud, declined in the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19) as the overall IT infrastructure market continues to experience weakening sales following strong growth in 2018. The decline of 1.8% year over year was much softer than in 2Q19 as the overall spend on IT infrastructure for cloud environments reached $16.8 billion. IDC (News - Alert) slightly increased its forecast for total spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2019 to $65.4 billion, which represents flat performance compared to 2018. The decline in cloud IT infrastructure spending was driven by the public cloud segment, which was down 3.7% year over year, reaching $11.9 billion; sequentially from 2Q19, this represents a 24.4% increase. As the overall segment is generally trending up, it tends to be more volatile quarterly as a significant part of the public cloud IT segment is represented by a few hyperscale service providers. This softness of the public cloud IT segment is aligned with IDC's expectation of a slowdown in this segment in 2019 after a strong performance in 2018. It is expected to reach $44 billion in sales for the full year 2019, a decline of 3.3% from 2018. Despite softness, public cloud continues to account for most of the spending on cloud IT environments. However, as demand for private cloud IT infrastructure is increasing, the share of public cloud IT infrastructure continued to decline in 2019 and will be declining slightly throughout the forecast period. Spending on private cloud IT infrastructure has shown more stable growth since IDC started tracking sales of IT infrastructure products in various deployment environments. In 3Q19, vendor revenues from private cloud environments increased 3.2% year over year, reaching nearly $5 billion. IDC expects spending in this segment to grow 7.2% year over year in 2019 to $21.4 billion. As investments in cloud IT infrastructure continue to increase, with some swings up and down in the quarterly intervals, the IT infrastructure industry is approaching the point where spending on cloud IT infrastructure consistently surpasses spending on non-cloud IT infrastructure. Until 3Q19, it happened only once, in 3Q18, and in 3Q19 it crossed the 50% mark for the second time since IDC started tracking IT infrastructure deployments. In 3Q19, cloud IT environments accounted for 53.4% of vendor revenues. However, for the full year 2019, spending on cloud IT infrastructure is expected to stay just below the 50% mark at 49.8%. This year (2020) is expected to become the tipping point with spending on cloud IT infrastructure staying in the 50+% range. Across the three IT infrastructure domains, Ethernet switches is the only segment expected to deliver visible year-over-year growth in 2019, up 11.2%, while spending on compute platforms will decline 3.1% and spending on storage will grow just 0.8%. Compute will remain the largest category of cloud IT infrastructure spending at $34.1 billion. Sales of IT infrastructure products into traditional (non-cloud) IT environments declined 7.7% from a year ago in 3Q19. For the full year 2019, worldwide spending on traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure is expected to decline by 5.3%. By 2023, IDC expects that traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure will only represent 41.9% of total worldwide IT infrastructure spending (down from 51.6% in 2018). This share loss and the growing share of cloud environments in overall spending on IT infrastructure is common across all regions. While the industry overall is moving toward greater use of cloud, there are certain types of workloads and business practices, and sometimes end user inertia, which keep demand for traditional dedicated IT infrastructure afloat. Geographically, the cloud IT Infrastructure segment had a mixed performance in 3Q19. Declines in the U.S., Western Europe, and Latin America were driven by overall market weakness; in these and some other regions 3Q19 softness in cloud IT infrastructure spending was also affected by comparisons to a strong 3Q18. In Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), the second largest geography after the U.S., spending on cloud IT infrastructure increased 1.2% year over year, which is low for this region. However, it is in comparison with strong double-digit growth in 2018. Other growing regions in 3Q19 included Canada (4.9%), Central & Eastern Europe (4.6%), and Middle East & Africa (18.1%). Top Companies, Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Vendor Revenue, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q3 2019 (Revenues are in Millions) Company 3Q19 Revenue (US$M) 3Q19 Market Share 3Q18 Revenue (US$M) 3Q18 Market Share 3Q19/3Q18 Revenue Growth 1. Dell (News - Alert) Technologies $2,616 15.5% $2,684 15.7% -2.6% 2. HPE/New H3C Group** $1,846 11.0% $1,708 10.0% 8.0% 3. Inspur/Inspur Power Systems* *** $1,215 7.2% $1,058 6.2% 14.8% 3. Cisco (News - Alert)* $1,133 6.7% $1,079 6.3% 5.0% 5. Lenovo (News - Alert) $723 4.3% $906 5.3% -20.2% ODM Direct $5,687 33.8% $6,087 35.5% -6.6% Others $3,607 21.4% $3,607 21.1% 0.0% Total $16,827 100.0% $17,129 100.0% -1.8% IDC's Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, Q3 2019 Notes: * IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide cloud IT infrastructure market when there is a difference of one percent or less in the vendor revenue shares among two or more vendors. ** Due to the existing joint venture between HPE and the New H3C Group, IDC reports external market share on a global level for HPE as "HPE/New H3C Group" starting from Q2 2016 and going forward. *** Due to the existing joint venture between IBM and Inspur, IDC will be reporting external market share on a global level for Inspur and Inspur Power Systems as "Inspur/Inspur Power Systems" starting from 3Q 2018. In addition to the table above, a graphic illustrating the worldwide market share of the top 5 cloud IT infrastructure companies in 3Q19 and 3Q18 is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com. Long-term, IDC expects spending on cloud IT infrastructure to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%, reaching $92 billion in 2023 and accounting for 58.1% of total IT infrastructure spend. Public cloud datacenters will account for 66.3% of this amount, growing at a 6% CAGR. Spending on private cloud infrastructure will grow at a CAGR of 9.2%. A graphic illustrating IDC's 2017-2023 forecast for the worldwide cloud IT infrastructure market by deployment type is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker is designed to provide clients with a better understanding of what portion of the server, disk storage systems, and networking hardware markets are being deployed in cloud environments. This tracker breaks out each vendors' revenue by the hardware technology market into public and private cloud environments for historical data and provides a five-year forecast by the technology market. Taxonomy Notes IDC defines cloud services more formally through a checklist of key attributes that an offering must manifest to end users of the service. Public cloud services are shared among unrelated enterprises and consumers; open to a largely unrestricted universe of potential users; and designed for a market, not a single enterprise. The public cloud market includes variety of services designed to extend or, in some cases, replace IT infrastructure deployed in corporate datacenters. It also includes content services delivered by a group of suppliers IDC calls Value Added Content Providers (VACP). Private cloud services are shared within a single enterprise or an extended enterprise with restrictions on access and level of resource dedication and defined/controlled by the enterprise (and beyond the control available in public cloud offerings); can be onsite or offsite; and can be managed by a third-party or in-house staff. In private cloud that is managed by in-house staff, "vendors (cloud service providers)" are equivalent to the IT departments/shared service departments within enterprises/groups. In this utilization model, where standardized services are jointly used within the enterprise/group, business departments, offices, and employees are the "service users." IDC defines Compute Platforms as compute intensive servers. Storage Platforms includes storage intensive servers as well as external storage and storage expansion (JBOD) systems. Storage intensive servers are defined based on high storage media density. Servers with low storage density are defined as compute intensive systems. Storage Platforms does not include internal storage media from compute intensive servers. There is no overlap in revenue between Compute Platforms and Storage Platforms, in contrast with IDC's Server Tracker and Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker, which include overlaps in portions of revenue associated with server-based storage. For more information about IDC's Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, please contact Lidice Fernandez at [email protected]. About IDC Trackers IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. Click here to learn about IDC's full suite of data products and how you can leverage them to grow your business. About IDC International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe. All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005815/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] When she looked him up, she came upon a website about Farmer created by students he had taught at UMW. Flowers was so inspired by Farmer and by the students that she wanted to become part of the UMW community. That project really changed the trajectory of my life, she said. The second student speaker, Student Government Association President Jason Ford, was part of a UMW delegation who visited Lewis in Washington, D.C., last month to reminisce about Farmer and discuss the upcoming legacy celebration. Ford, who also went on this falls social justice trip following the path of the 1961 Freedom Riders, said these two experiences were life-changing and gave him a better understanding of the bravery of Farmer, Lewis and others. [The experiences] really helped me understand the sacrifices that were laid before me to help me get to where I am today, Ford said. He recalled that he asked Lewis what the current generation of students can do to continue the work of the earlier civil rights activists. Lewis answer was, You cannot forget the fight that has been fought so far. There are no coincidences in songwriting or are there? Whatever the case, pop star Selena Gomez is talking about a new track, Boyfriend, which is also the title of a Justin Bieber song. Are the two connected? Heres what we know. Selena Gomezs album Rare is here Gomez has been in the industry for quite some time. She got her start on the Disney Channel, putting out albums with her band Selena Gomez and the Scene before leaving Hollywood Records in 2014. However, her 2015 album, Revival, was the last wed heard of her for years until now. The artist revealed that she was returning to music in a big way. After a few singles and collaborations here and there, Gomez teased her second solo album, Rare, beginning in late 2018. The album was released on Jan. 10, 2020, to rave reviews. She revealed an unreleased track titled Boyfriend Since its release, Gomez has remained in the public eye, promoting both Rare and her voice role in the new film Dolittle. Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she spoke about the reception to her album, as well as opening up a little about an unreleased track. Theres a few other songs that I couldnt help but want to exist, Gomez said of what shes worked on thats not on the album. I cant really tell when, but one of my favorite tracks is called Boyfriend. So I cant wait for people to hear that one. Gomezs ex, Justin Bieber, had a song of the same name Justin Bieber and his girlfriend Selena Gomez are seen on the set of his music video Boyfriend on April 21, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. | Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Many of Gomezs song titles on just one or two words, and typically are fairly to-the-point. So Boyfriend isnt that surprising of a title. And obviously, its one thats been used before. Ariana Grande released a song with that title in 2019, and artists like Ashlee Simpson and the group Big Time Rush have also released tracks under the name before. However, one of the most well-known songs titled Boyfriend belongs to Gomezs own ex-boyfriend: Justin Bieber. His 2012 hit was the lead single off his third album, Believe. And, at the time it was released, he and Gomez were together. In fact, they were caught on camera embracing at the music video shoot. When will Boyfriend come out? This isnt the first time Gomez has mentioned this song. In her Wall Street Journal cover story, released just ahead of Rare, her co-writers Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter spoke about a song titled I Want A Boyfriend, which is, in part, about a fine line between a want and a need. Yes, she wants a boyfriend, but its not a need. Shes OK on her own, and we all should be too. We can assume that this is the same song, so whether the title is Boyfriend or I Want A Boyfriend isnt necessarily important. There doesnt appear to be any real connection between Gomezs track and the aforementioned Bieber hit. Unfortunately, we now have to wait around until she releases it to know more. Industrial real estate prices across southern localities rose by 12.2 percent in 2019 due to increasing foreign business demand. The average industrial land price surged 12.2 percent year-on-year to $101 per square meter per term in Q4 because no new industrial parks were launched in the last quarter, according to a recent report by real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Landlords have become more confident in raising prices with the lack of available land as a result of difficulties in compensation and site clearance in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring Dong Nai Province, it said. Demand for industrial land last year rose because U.S.-China trade tension had urged some global companies to shift manufacturing from China to Vietnam, insiders confirmed. Due to land shortage, there is increasing demand among small businesses for ready-built factories priced at $3.5-5 per square meter per month in HCMC and southern Binh Duong and Long An provinces, JLL stated. Supply of industrial land is expected to improve in the second and third quarter this year as existing industrial parks make new land available, it added. About 1,890 hectares of new industrial parks and expansions from existing ones are set to be made available this year, mostly in Binh Duong, which is running out of supply, it noted. Vietnam had 251 industrial parks as of the first half of 2019, and 75 more are under construction or acquiring lands. Teachers and students of Mizoram university on Wednesday staged peaceful demonstration against the assault of JNU students and teachers by masked persons. Lalnilawma, the president of Mizoram University Teachers Association (MIZUTA), which was among the organsiers of the protest, said the demonstrators strongly condemend the attack by masked goons at JNU campus on January 5 and the assault of its teachers and students. We fervently appeal to all citizens concerned not to unleash terror in places of higher learning and brutality against teachers and students, he said. The demonstration, in which 200 people took part, was organised also by Mizoram University Non-Teaching Employees Association (MUNTSA) and Mizoram University Students Council (MZUSC). The alumni associations of Mizoram University and JNU Mizoram chapter also joined it, Lalnilawma said. The organisers demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. In a statement they urged the people not to use universities and institutes of higher learning for violence and intellectual disintegration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the third time in the last decade the U.S. Army is trying out another small UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) to carry supplies or casualties or whatever for infantry in a combat zone. The latest effort is called MUTT (Multi-Utility Tactical Transport) and can carry up to 454 kg (1,000 pounds). MUTT is able to travel 100 kilometers (60 miles) in a 72 hour period without refueling. MUTT is actually an all-electric vehicle that carries on an onboard generator that is silenced sufficiently to satisfy user noise complaints. MUTT is led, like a live mule, by a soldier using a wireless controller that has the MULE following the soldier at a walking pace. Actually one MUTT can electronically follow another so that a soldier can lead a small convoy of them if needed. The MUTT has sensors and control software that enables it to move over most terrain that a human can handle. The basic MUTT design has three variations; 6x6 and 8x8 wheeled versions and a tracked version. The army found the one ton 8x8 design worked best in the field. MUTT can also recharge battery-operated equipment at the rate of 3 KW while stationary and 1 KW while moving. What the MUTT carries is most of the load a nine-man infantry squad would normally carry on their backs. By putting about half of that on the MUTT, plus extra ammo (including missiles) and other equipment the troops carry on them, MUTT leaves the troops, still carrying their weapons, protective vests and some ammo, which alone adds up to about 20 kg (44 pounds) each, better able to fight. Troops are more effective in combat when not loaded down by the extra weight they would normally carry on them. MUTT was part of a five year competitive effort in which three designs were evaluated and MUTT was selected as the winning design. Now MUTT is ready for testing with troops in the field and then in a combat zone. These tests will be quite extensive and 624 MUTTs are being purchased, for $260,000 each, in order to get a large, and wide range of troop responses. After all, the army based the spec for the MUTT on all the responses it had received about earlier infantry UGV designs. If MUTT is successful the army plans to buy 5,000 or more. Initially, a dozen or so will be given to each infantry battalion and they can be assigned to subordinate units as needed. A battalion has three infantry companies, nine infantry platoons and 27 squads, as well as more than a dozen other small specialist units in the battalion that can use a MUTT on occasion. If battalions find they need more the army is ready to provide them. A larger order would considerably reduce the price per vehicle. In 2012 the U.S. Army's previous design of, well, a mechanical mule for the infantry, spent three months being tested in Afghanistan. Four of these vehicles were sent there to operate with the troops. This SMSS (Squad Mission Support System) was a six wheeled, 1.7 ton vehicle that could carry 544 kg (1,200 pounds) of cargo and follow whoever is carrying its controller. SMSS could operate by itself for short distances. The SMSS had passed most of its tests in the United States and was then used by some troops with combat experience. There it was discovered that the vehicle was too noisy for patrol work or anywhere close to the enemy. Patrols are what infantry spends most of their time doing out in the bush. The noise issue had been noted earlier and the manufacturer reduced it somewhat and added the capability to run very quietly for a short while. This was not enough because troops in the field reported that even with no engine noise, the sound of the vehicle moving and breaking branches as it moved was enough to alert any nearby enemy. The manufacturer insists they could solve this problem, the grunts were not so sure. Silence is very important in a place like Afghanistan. The SMSS vehicles sent to Afghanistan were quieter but troops found them still too noisy for many patrol situations. But the idea of having a vehicle to haul a lot of the stuff usually carried on the backs of soldiers had a huge appeal in Afghanistan. So the troops improvised and the SMSS was found to be useful under some conditions. But that was not useful enough to order more SMSS vehicles. SMSS was built as an independent research project by Lockheed Martin to step in after the previous official effort in this area was canceled in 2010. That was the U.S. Army MULE (Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment). This was a UGV that was part of the (now canceled) FCS (Future Combat Systems) program. While maligned by the media, many politicians, and even people in the army, as an expensive boondoggle, FCS provided the money to create some revolutionary and effective combat technology. MULE was one of these futuristic vehicles, a robotic vehicle for carrying stuff on the battlefield. In practice, it did not work out. Close but not close enough. MULE was a one ton, six-wheeled vehicle that was 4.8 meters (15 feet) long, two meters (six feet) wide, and carried half a ton of equipment or weapons. Yes, it is very similar to SMSS, which built on what MULE had accomplished. Note that a pack animal, like a mule, can carry 200 kg (440 pounds), is silent and runs on biofuel (grass). The U.S. Army Special Forces still use mules and horses but that's because the Special Forces have traditionally been left alone to get the job done any way they can. The MULE operator, which can be any infantryman with an hour or so of training, used a handheld controller to tell the MULE to go from Point A to Point B. The MULE had enough computing power to get over obstacles it could handle and go around those it couldn't. The MULE was to be used to do a lot of dangerous jobs normally handled by the troops. Like bringing supplies (ammo, water, weapons, or medical items) that last few hundred meters to where the fighting was going on. Currently, that means troops hauling this stuff themselves and exposing themselves to enemy fire. Troops in Afghanistan mentioned this as a useful task for SMSS, as well as hauling supplies from drop zones, landing zones, or from trucks to harder to reach (intentionally) FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). The MULE or SMSS could take casualties far enough away so a medevac helicopter can take over. MULE could also be equipped with mine-clearing equipment to perform another dangerous job. MULE was also to be equipped with heavy weapons (12.7mm/.50 caliber machine-gun, small-caliber cannon, or missiles) to be fired under human control. The troops were really eager to have something like the MULE around, if only because it made their life in the combat zone so much easier and safer. The MULE was designed to take a lot of damage and keep going. However, only after actually using it in combat were unforeseen problems revealed. This indicated what modifications had to be made or if MULE was a failure. But before that happened field tests in the United States were held and the results were disappointing. So MULE was canceled. The idea was still popular and Son of MULE, in the form of SMSS, showed up for testing a year after MULE was put down. Another contender, which did less well in stateside testing, was Camel (from Northrop Grumman). This one was smaller than MULE and proved less stable on rough terrain. All this began in 2006 when the army put UGV development into high gear in an attempt to get more UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles) into the hands of the troops. After 2003 thousands of smaller UGVs were used by American troops for checking out caves and buildings. Some of these lightweight (under 45 kg/hundred pounds) robots were even equipped with weapons but not used much when armed. Based on the positive experience with the little robots the army hoped that the next class of UGVs would be heavier, weighing 1-3 tons. That's where the much anticipated MULE came in. There was a need for something like the MULE to deal with a growing problem. As more gadgets are invented for the troops the weight they have to carry keeps increasing. One solution was believed to be a UGV that can accompany troops, carrying a lot of this load, otherwise each soldier is going to be carrying about 50 kg (over a hundred pounds) of gear, which is hardly fighting weight. There was one known problem, a major one, and that was the building of a sensor/software system that would allow the mule UGV to move along the ground without a human driver. Initially, this proved to be a major obstacle. But even as engineers develop technology that solves this problem, the tests of Mule and SMSS revealed a more intractable one: noise. It was thought that the only way around this was a six-legged vehicle. These have been in development for years and the technology is there. But these vehicles require a lot more power and there's always an acute shortage of that in the combat zone. Many believe that MULE, and its descendants, will be relegated to logistics work, as they are simply too noisy to sneak around with the infantry. Despite that attitude, each mule design has been quieter. When SMSS was canceled the army concluded that they were close and drew up a new specification that took into account all of the infantry complaints and who those complaints had to be addressed. That led to MUTT, which is not only built to deal with past experience but is a vehicle designed to be quickly and easily reconfigured to deal with user suggestions and complaints. This one might work and the users will decide. WASHINGTON When it comes to impeachment, Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, is arguably the institutional memory for Congress. She was a member of the House Judiciary Committee in 1998 when it approved articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton for lying about an affair with a White House intern. And as a young law student in 1974, she helped the committee draft its Watergate charges against President Richard M. Nixon. Now 46 years after the Nixon case the 72-year-old lawmaker will take a high-profile role in the nations third impeachment trial, serving as one of the managers who will prosecute the Houses case against President Trump in the Senate. All I was trying to say was to both Senator Warren and Senator Sanders was its great to see you, thank you for participating in this. And whatever they were going on with each other, I was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible, said Steyer, a billionaire environmentalist. Palestinian Authority says it will file complaints over Israels dangerous announcement at UN, international courts. Israels defence minister has announced the creation of seven nature reserves in the occupied West Bank as part of efforts to maintain Israeli control of the area, saying the move would strengthen Israel and further develop Jewish settlements. The sites are all located in what is known as Area C of the West Bank that includes the strategic Jordan Valley, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in September he planned to annex. Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett, whose right-wing New Right party draws much of its support from Jewish settlers, said last week that the territory belonged to Israel and his goal was to annex it within a short time. In his latest move, Bennett said the Israeli-run reserves would be under the responsibility of Israels Nature and Parks Authority. He also announced the expansion of 12 existing West Bank sites managed by the Israeli authority, including Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in caves between 1947 and 1956. According to the Ministry of Defense, it would be the first time the reserves have expanded since the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s. Bennett is seeking re-election in the March 2 elections, as part of a far-right alliance. The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the move, accusing Bennett of erecting a new colonial umbrella to fight the Palestinian presence in those areas. Area C makes up 60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control. The Palestinian foreign ministry said it would lodge complaints about the dangerous announcement at the United Nations and in international courts. The reserves will speed up his appearance before the ICC as a war criminal, the ministry said in a statement, referring to Bennett. Easier to evict Palestinians According to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, the designated reserves total about 5,300 hectares (13,096 acres), some 40 percent of it under private Palestinian ownership. Under Israel laws regulating nature reserves, Palestinians would be forbidden to cultivate their own land, the Peace Nows Hagit Ofran said. If its a nature reserve, then you can uproot their trees and tell them they need a special permit for any agricultural activity, she told AFP news agency. It will be easier now to evict Palestinians from there. Most of the international community consider settlements on occupied Palestinian land to be illegal. In 2016, the UN Security Council demanded a complete stop to the building of settlements and passed a resolution designating them a violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Washington, however, bucked the consensus in November when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said settlements were not, per se, inconsistent with international law. Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, part of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem . Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:44:12|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A severe Desert Locust outbreak has threatened food security across East Africa amid greater need to exert concerted efforts to swiftly contend the pervasive outbreak, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, said on Wednesday. "A serious and widespread Desert Locust outbreak is destroying crops and pasture across eastern Ethiopia and neighbouring areas of Somalia, parts of Sudan, Eritrea and northern Kenya with a high risk of further spread in the absence of immediate and significant scale up in control activities," the Djibouti-based regional bloc said in a statement issued on Wednesday. IGAD's Executive Secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, who noted the severity of the ongoing Desert Locust outbreak in the region, also called on all IGAD member states, the East African Community and partners "to pull resources together to prevent, control and possibly eradicate the Desert Locust threat to the food security of the region." "Prevention and control measures must be scaled up to contain further spread of the Desert Locust," the statement quoted Gebeyehu as saying, adding "countries must act urgently to avoid a food security crisis in the region." According to IGAD, the Desert Locust "is a serious threat to the food security of the East Africa region, which is currently threatening rural livelihoods especially in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya, and the risk of spread to South Sudan and Uganda is very high given the currently limited control activities, and the high mobility and reproductive potential of the Locust." Earlier this week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stressed that the ongoing Desert Locust outbreak in East Africa is the worst situation in 25 years and unusual weather and climate conditions have contributed to the spread of the invasive pest that include heavy and widespread rains since October 2019. According to FAO, a further increase in locust swarms is likely to continue until about June 2020 due to the continuation of favourable ecological conditions for locust breeding. State authorities will have to keep a closer eye on how much money and property New Jersey police departments are seizing from people in the course of their duties and why. Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday requiring comprehensive disclosure and and transparency for the states system of civil asset forfeiture, a common but controversial practice through which prosecutors can use the civil courts to go after property they believe is connected to criminal activity. Under the bill (S1963), county prosecutors would submit quarterly reports to the Attorney General detailing seizure and forfeiture activities by law enforcement agencies within their county. A previous version was vetoed by former Gov. Chris Christie in 2017. Civil forfeiture has long been controversial by criminal justice reform advocates and civil libertarians alike. Law enforcement leaders and some elected officials have defended asset forfeiture as a way to fund community programs and equipment upgrades using the proceeds of criminal activity, but state law allows prosecutors to go after property even if its owner is never convicted of a crime. For example, if police find $1,000 in cash in your car when youre pulled over, they might suspect you obtained the money through drug trafficking. To convict you of such a crime, theyd have to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, but civil courts have a lower standard, known as a preponderance of the evidence. A 2018 report from the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union found the practice lacked due process and especially hurt low-income communities and communities of color. Of the 10 cities with the highest number of seizures in New Jersey, eight were among the poorest in the state. The state Attorney Generals Office produces annual reports on forfeiture activity, but those records dont delve deeply into which agencies are seizing assets and from whom. As of right now, New Jersey has no reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies regarding property seizures, which has resulted in lacking transparency and protections for property owners, said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, one of the measures main sponsors. With this law the people of New Jersey and our state officials will finally have access to much needed data concerning which agencies are profiting from property seizures, what is being taken, and how the proceeds are being used. Under the new law, prosecutors are now required to specify the law enforcement agency involved in a confiscation, details of what was seized, the underlying crime associated with the seizure and whether the person was ultimately convicted of the crime, among other information. In 2018, ACLU-NJ found, through public records requests, that cops had seized $5.5 million between January and May 2016; roughly $37,000 per day, along with 234 cars and, in one case, a house. The libertarian-leaning Institute for Justice separately found through public records requests that at the county level, prosecutors brought in approximately $72.6 million between 2009 and 2013 nearly 80% of which came from cash forfeitures. The majority of these cases are also not challenged in court. An NJ Advance Media analysis of data from ACLU found that, between January and May 2016, only 2.68% of cases were contested. Hiring a lawyer often costs more than the amount seized and, because theyre civil cases, defendants do not automatically have the right to an attorney. Another separate bill (S3441) requiring criminal convictions for seized assets passed both houses of the Legislature on Monday and is now on Murphys desk. If approved, New Jersey will be the sixteenth state to require a conviction in criminal court to forfeit most or all types of property, according to the Institute for Justice. States like North Carolina, New Mexico and Nebraska have abolished civil forfeiture and only use criminal law to forfeit property or cash. Civil forfeiture has an extremely high potential for abuse, and its nearly impossible to challenge and yet it remains one of the most opaque practices in law enforcement. This law moves our state closer to curtailing and ultimately ending the use of civil forfeiture and the racially disparate over-policing it encourages, disproportionately occurring in communities that are already some of New Jerseys most vulnerable, said Sarah Fajardo, Policy Director at ACLU-NJ. Disha Raychaudhuri may be reached at disha@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Disha_RC. Photo: Glacier Media As Vancouver continues to shiver through a cold snap, organizations say people experiencing homelessness are telling them theyre scared of getting sick or dying. The City of Vancouver has opened extra shelters and warming centres at Powell Street Getaway, Overdose Prevention Society, Britannia Community Centre and Vancouver Aquatic Centre, and welcomed about 600 people in total over the past two nights. The centres offer hot drinks and a safe space for anyone who needs it, including people who have pets and carts. Organizations in Downtown Vancouver are doing everything they can to ensure people are staying dry and warm exceeding capacity at their shelters and handing out as many warm clothing items as possible to people in need. Rachael Allen, from Union Gospel Mission, said extreme cold, means extreme need and more donations of warm weather clothing were needed to keep up with demand. Weve heard from people who are homeless right now that they are really scared of getting sick or dying, Allen said. For them, staying warm and dry can be nearly impossible but also staying healthy is even harder, and weve seen health dangers ranging from getting hyperthermia to a risk of pneumonia as temperatures are plummeting below freezing. This kind of extreme weather that weve had, its really the worst of the worst that we get in Vancouver. It can be a life or death emergency. In the citys latest homeless count in March last year, 2,223 people identified as homeless. Up to 614 people were living on the street and 1,609 people were in sheltered locations, including emergency shelters, detox centres, safe houses and hospitals, with no fixed address. Poorly constructed wells and inadequate monitoring of private water supplies is putting the health of up to one-fifth of the population at risk, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned. An EPA report on the quality of private water supplies found the quality of drinking water in private supplies, which are mostly sourced from wells, is poorer than that in publicly-sourced supplies, putting huge numbers at risk of consuming contaminated water. It determined that approximately 20% of Ireland's population is supplied by private water supplies and that the risk of contaminated supplies is much higher in private supplies than public. No testing was done on 16% of registered private supplies. Smaller schemes - those serving fewer than 50 people - are not covered by drinking water regulations and it is estimated that between 15% and 30% of these are contaminated, with two-thirds at risk of contamination. Dr Tom Ryan, director of the EPA's office of environmental enforcement, warned that many creches, nursing homes and hotels are being served by private supplies. In fact, there are 1,700 public and commercial premises and 172,000 homes which get their water from wells. "Where this water comes from poorly constructed wells, there is a high risk of contamination during heavy rain," Dr Ryan said. It is worrying that many of these supplies are not being monitored, as consuming contaminated water poses a serious health risk to consumers, particularly vulnerable people such as the young or elderly. Monitoring carried out in 2018 showed that commercial businesses and public buildings that get their water from a well or other private source are at greater risk of being contaminated than public water supplies. More than 60 of these private supplies were found to be contaminated with human or animal waste at least once during 2018. Cases of VTEC infection a dangerous form of E. coli, which can be contracted due to consuming water contaminated by animal waste continued to rise with over 1,000 reported cases in 2018. Ireland continues to have the highest incidence of VTEC infection in Europe at 10 times the European average. Andy Fanning, Programme Manager of the EPAs Office of Environmental Enforcement warned that greater care is needed for private water supplies. He said regular testing is needed. "With this number of reported cases of VTEC in Ireland, it is more important than ever that business owners and homeowners who use a well for their water supply, get their supply tested regularly, especially after rainfall," Mr Fanning said. "Local authorities must ensure that supplies are registered, monitored and that action is taken by water suppliers to remedy any issues identified to make sure that public health is not being put at risk. Extreme weather in 2018, including the snow during Storm Emma and the summer heatwave, caused issues for those using private wells, too. Heavy rainfall is also an issue as it can wash contamination into wells which are not properly protected. It is estimated that two-thirds of private wells are not sufficiently protected to prevent contamination. The EPA has also criticised the monitoring of private supplies by local authorities. Just 15 local authorities carried out audits of private supplies in 2018. The 91 audits carried out represent 3.5% of registered private regulated supplies. There are counties where boil water notices were issued where no audits were undertaken. There's a fine tradition of military personnel and veterans being hard-chargers, but few go as hard as Dr. Jonny Kim. Kim, 35, just finished training for NASA's Artemis program that will see him, 11 other Americans and two Canadians in orbit around the Earth. They will also be eligible for missions to the moon and perhaps even Mars in the future. Kim will be the first Korean-American to join a NASA mission in space. He has also served as a U.S. Navy SEAL and a Harvard-trained physician. It all started with his enlistment in the Navy, where he started his career as a seaman recruit after graduating from high school in 2002. He was the child of poor South Korean immigrants who arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, where he was born. It's from this upbringing Kim learned the one thing he would now want to tell his younger self: "All things that are worthwhile are very difficult to obtain," he told CNN. (Jonny Kim/Twitter) After completing basic training and the Corpsman school, he went to the Navy's Basic Underwater Demolition-SEAL course in Coronado, California. As a special operator with SEAL Team 3, Charlie Platoon, Kim served in a number of roles, including combat medic, sniper and navigator. During more than 100 combat missions, he earned a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with Combat "V." It was his time helping his comrades that turned him to becoming a doctor. He recalled the story of trying to save a wounded friend to the Harvard Gazette. "He had a pretty grave wound to the face," Kim told the Gazette. "It was one of the worst feelings of helplessness. There wasn't much I could do, just make sure his bleeding wasn't obstructing his airway, making sure he was positioned well. He needed a surgeon. He needed a physician, and I did eventually get him to one, but ... that feeling of helplessness was very profound for me." Eventually, he sought a commission from the Navy's Seaman to Admiral-21 program after earning a degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego. From there, he attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 2016. When he was selected for NASA's Artemis program, he was a resident physician in emergency medicine with Partners Healthcare at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is still on active duty, as a lieutenant stationed with NASA. His training with the space agency took two years, and now he can add International Space Station systems, Extravehicular Activities (EVA) Operations, T-38 flight training, robotics, physiological training, expeditionary training, field geology, water and wilderness survival training, and Russian language proficiency to his list of accomplishments. It's an incredible story for a kid who joined the Navy to handle self-confidence issues. "I needed to find myself and my identity, Kim told the Harvard Gazette. And for me, getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from the people I grew up with, and finding adventure, that was my odyssey, and it was the best decision I ever made." -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. Want to Know More About Post-Military Careers? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. YEREVAN, 15 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 15 January, USD exchange rate stood at 479.39 drams. EUR exchange rate stood at 533.61 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 7.81 drams. GBP exchange rate stood at 621.82 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price stood at 23888.21 drams. Silver price stood at 277.2 drams. Platinum price stood at 15058.25 drams. Its short-hand religion without a deeper theology, he said. If you dont have a theology of empathy, there is no Jesus there. Even if you look at someone who is gay and you believe thats not what God wants for people, Jesus encountered people throughout his ministry that would be doing things God wouldnt want for them. And he always leaves them with more dignity than he found them. A homeless man is in serious condition in hospital after being injured when a tent he was sleeping him was removed by an industrial vehicle in Dublin. Dublin City Council have confirmed that the man was injured during an attempt to remove tents from the banks of the citys Grand Canal amid an ongoing homelessness crisis in Irelands capital. Figures released by the Department of Housing earlier this month showed more than 4,500 people are homeless in the city. The incident is currently being investigated by the Gardai, Irelands police service, who said the man had been taken to St Vincents Hospital in Dublin, where he is a serious condition but stable. He has reportedly undergone surgery for his injuries, which have been described as life-changing by local media. 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 News of the accident has been met with outrage from Irish politicians and homelessness charities, who have called for a full investigation into the incident. Leo Varadkar, Irelands prime minister, said he did not want to comment fully on the case at this stage but noted that the man was known to homelessness services. He is well-known to homeless services and has been offered emergency accommodation in the past and will be offered it again in the future but obviously our thoughts are with him and we hope he makes a speedy recovery, Mr Varadkar said. Recommended Homeless child pictured eating dinner off cardboard on Dublin street My understanding is the city council and Waterways Ireland did check the tents before removing them but obviously something went wrong here. Brendan Howlin, leader of the Irish Labour Party, has said the incident is beyond shocking. We need to obviously have a full investigation into what happened to him, how that could have happened, he said. But we also need a clear direction now to ensure that nobody else is left in tents in vulnerable places like that or any place else. Joan Collins, an independent member of parliament in Dublin, described the situation as horrendous and said serious questions needed to be asked about what city council workers were instructed to do. Dublin City Council has said the tents were being removed from the banks of the canal because they were in a precarious and dangerous location and insisted its actions were taken in the interest of health and safety of people who are homeless. Both the city council and the government body Waterways Ireland have said they will not comment any further while an investigation is ongoing. Inner City Helping Homeless, a charity that works to help homeless people in Dublin, has strongly criticised the response by Waterways. We have heard of tents being removed with peoples worldly belongings taken and now we have a man seriously injured because no one checked the tent before taking it? the charity said. Absolutely disgusting to treat human beings like this. Anthony Flynn, the charitys CEO and an independent councillor for Dublin Central, told RTE Radio that the incident was not the first time Waterways Ireland had tried to move people sleeping in tents near the canal. - Sadio Mane was recently crowned CAF player of the year award - The Senegalese star beat Mo Salah and Man City's Riyad Mahrez to the award - Surprising, Mane rejected the ''king'' tag adorned him by journalist, showing his humility level Sadio Mane has brought his sheer humility to a more daring spotlight after the Senegalese star rejected the "king" tag he was adorned following his victory at the recently concluded CAF award events. Mane clinched the prestigious CAF player of the year award, opening what seems to be a prosperous year by beating off stiff competition from Man City's Riyad Mahrez and Liverpool's Mo Salah. At the event held in Egypt on January 8, the sensational Liverpool star walked into the podium like a king, knowing well the stage was made for him and won the individual to the delight of his people in Bambali Senegal. After the award, Mane sat on a big sofa with noble poses befitting of his majesty, taking pictures with his award when a journalist addressed him "the king." But Mane in his usual humbleness rejected the tag. He instead raised his finger up to the sky, meaning the tag only belongs to God. "The king," the journalist jokingly called Mane. "No no no, I am not the king," the 27 year-old star replied, raising his finger up. The lovely scene ended with both capping it with jokes. Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh had reported that less than a year after he was spotted helping the bus assistants offload packs of bottled water from the national team bus, more revelations have now emerged shedding lights on how the Senegalese star helped clean the toilets of Liverpool mosque. In an interview with BBC in 2018, Liverpool Imam Al-Thabi disclosed that despite his high influence and obvious command of opulence, the 27-year-old Senegalese star came to mosque just like individuals. Source: YEN.com.gh Anne Bovaird Nevins has been named president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., a nonprofit partnership between the city government and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. Read more Anne Bovaird Nevins, who currently is the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.'s chief of strategy and communication, has been chosen to lead the nonprofit development agency. Nevins, who will be the first woman to serve as president in the PIDCs 60-year-history, will assume the role Jan. 27 when current president John Grady steps down from, Mayor Jim Kenneys office said in a release Wednesday. During her 13-year tenure at PIDC, Anne Nevins successfully built the partnerships that deliver resources to diverse businesses, nonprofits, and development projects, Kenney said in the release. She brings focus and attention to connecting growth to the people and places in our city that need it the most." Nevins joined the PIDC, a partnership between the city government and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, in 2007 to develop new business and manage relations with recipients of financial support from the agency. More recently, she served on the group impaneled by Kenney to recommend future uses for the bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex, which shut down following a catastrophic fire and explosion in June. She also co-managed Philadelphias Amazon HQ2 bid. I am thrilled to have been selected by the PIDC Board of Directors to lead this organization at this exciting time in Philadelphia, Nevins said in the release. Our challenge is to accelerate and sustain economic growth and, at the same time, to ensure that the benefits of that growth, including job opportunities and wealth creation, are shared more broadly across our city." Kenneys office announced in November that Grady planned to leave the post this month to join developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC as a regional executive. Christian Allard, pictured with first minister Nicola Sturgeon, said that Scotland would one day rejoin the EU (PA) With less than three weeks to go until Brexit, the SNP are already looking ahead to rejoining the EU. During the European Parliament plenary session on Wednesday morning, outgoing SNP MEP Christian Allard declared that his country would not be out of the bloc forever. He said in his speech: When the people of Scotland voted to remain in Europe we meant it. Trust us to continue to promote outward-looking, internationalist European values. Those values are firmly at the heart of our vision for Scotland. The SNP MEP Christian Allard said Scotland would rejoin the EU after #Brexit. More from the debate here https://t.co/CreWM0ywrO pic.twitter.com/N8VjGY3sF9 BBC Parliament (@BBCParliament) January 15, 2020 This confidence is needed because we are under a populist attack. Politics doesn't stand still, we either go forward or we go backwards. This confidence is the way forward for all member states, including future member states. Scotland is a future member state. Read more from Yahoo News UK: The rabbi warning that antisemitism has become dire in Britain Teenage boy hauled before court for slamming his bedroom door Thomas Markle could testify against Meghan in Mail on Sunday legal battle The SNP are fighting to hold a second independence referendum in the wake of Brexit, but Boris Johnson has rejected Nicola Sturgeons plea. Scotland's first minister wrote to the Tory leader days after his victory in last month's general election claiming there was a "democratic case" for a fresh vote on the constitution. But her call for the powers to hold such a vote to be transferred to Holyrood was flatly rejected by Mr Johnson, who claimed a second ballot on independence would lead to continued "political stagnation" in Scotland. Story continues Scotland voted to remain in the EU and the SNP have campaigned to stop Brexit (AP) Ms Sturgeon, who has previously refused to rule out legal action in a bid to force a second independence vote, said the Scottish Government would set out the next steps it will take before the end of January. Scots voted by 55% to 45% to stay in the UK in a referendum in 2014, while 62% voted to remain in 2016s EU referendum. Ms Sturgeon said the PM's stance was "not surprising" as she claimed the Tories were "terrified of Scotland having the right to choose our own future. Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the pro-independence Scottish Green Party, said: "It is absolutely appalling that we are to be ripped from the EU against our will and utterly undemocratic that we are being denied a say on our future. Watch more from Yahoo UK Prince Harry's wife Meghan has visited a women's shelter in Vancouver, her first public appearance since the couple's sensational decision to pursue greater independence from the British monarchy by living part-time in Canada. Images of a smiling Meghan visiting on Tuesday with eight staffers at the Downtown Eastside Women's Center was posted on the center's Facebook page. "Look who we had tea with today! The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community," said a caption. The shelter in an impoverished Vancouver neighbourhood provides counselling, hot meals, and basic needs for marginalized and vulnerable women and children. It serves about 500 women each day, according to its website. The Daily Mail quoted staff as saying Meghan "asked what the women would need in terms of support. It was a nice meeting" and a boost to staff's spirits. "She was just casual and lovely," the center's acting director, Kate Gibson, told Canadian public broadcaster CBC. "I thought she was really down to earth," she said. "She's very good at sort of picking up something from the conversation and expanding that a bit, and asking questions and (she was) empathetic. She was really great." Gibson added that Meghan seemingly "just wants to get to know the community. We know she's going to come to Canada and I think possibly the West Coast. "I think that she just doesn't want to be sort of a stranger in the midst. She just wants to get to know people." Prince Harry, sixth in line to the throne, and Meghan last week announced they intend to step back as senior royals and become financially independent, splitting their time between Britain and Canada where they spent six weeks over Christmas with baby son Archie. They are now in talks with senior royals about how their wished-for new roles within the monarchy could work. The Daily Mail also published photos of Meghan in a parka, boarding a seaplane from Victoria, British Columbia, where she's currently staying, to Vancouver for the shelter visit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Army's top brass has dismissed Indian Army chief Gen M M Naravane's "provocative" statements against the country as "irresponsible rhetoric" which could undermine regional peace and stability. The statements made by Gen Naravane were discussed at a meeting of the corps commanders at the General Headquarters on Tuesday. Taking account of repeated provocative statements of Indian military leadership regarding aggression against Pakistan, the forum termed it as an irresponsible rhetoric with implications on regional peace and stability, the military's media division, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said in a statement after the meeting. Army chief Gen Naravane, at a press conference in New Delhi on January 11, said his force can take control of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir if it gets orders from political authority. He was replying to a question on whether the Army was ready to reclaim Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The Army chief also said that the Army will remain very vigilant at the Siachen glacier as there was a possibility of collusion between China and Pakistan against India in the strategically sensitive area. Earlier after taking charge of the 1.3-million strong force, Army Chief Gen Naravane said India reserves the right to "preemptively strike" at sources of terror. He asserted that a "new normal" in the country's response mechanism to acts of cross-border terrorism has already been "emphatically" displayed. Pakistan Army had earlier dismissed as routine rhetoric Gen Naravane's statements. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 last year. A review of the recent Middle East crisis, which began with the assassination of Iranian commander Gen Qassem Soleimani in a US air strike in Baghdad, was also on the agenda of the corps commanders meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Welcome to Opinions commentary for the Jan. 14 Democratic presidential candidate debate in Des Moines. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rank the candidates on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 means the candidate probably didnt belong on the stage and should probably drop out; 10 means its on, President Trump. Heres what our columnists and contributors thought about the debate. Read what our columnists and contributors thought of the December debate. Elizabeth Warren Jorge Castaneda (7.5/10) A substantive candidate, even if her position on the trade agreement between the United States and Mexico is not very credible. On Iran and troops abroad she was categorical and honest. Gail Collins (8/10) It does sound as if she really has a plan for everything, and no one could really take that on. Shes the one the debaters need to focus on the next time around. Ross Douthat (6/10) The moderators basically took her side in the he said/she said with Sanders and she got to deliver what was no doubt a prepared speech. So a good-enough night, but hard to see a momentum swing for her. Maureen Dowd (4/10) Her slide continues. Sanders has gotten back the progressive high ground on health care and soaking the rich, even after the Warren forces tried to submarine him this week. She didnt want to push it too hard and that let him off the hook. Michelle Goldberg (9/10) One of her best debates. She had the most memorable line of the night: The only people on this stage who have won every single election they have been in are the women. Nicole Hemmer (9/10) Barbara Lee was the clear winner of the debate, repeatedly cheered for her lone vote against authorizing the use of force after 9/11. But Warren was a close second, turning a challenging conflict with Sanders into a forceful case for her candidacy. Robert Leonard (9/10) Best line of the night on whether a woman can win the presidency the women in the debate were undefeated. Liz Mair (5/10) Shes lucky no one pressed her on whether Sanders said what her campaign is alleging if she said he had, Im not sure many people would have believed her. Daniel McCarthy (6/10) Shes especially cogent on trade when defending the new NAFTA against Sanders. Made the case she can threaten Trumps Rust Belt support. Melanye Price (9/10) She gave an amazing answer to the question about electability and it was her best moment of the entire debate. Mimi Swartz (7/10) She maneuvered the gender issues handily, kept her cool and didnt take the bait to go to war on Sanders. But we know her brothers were in the military and that shes determined to fight corruption. She needs to refresh her talking points. Hector Tobar (8/10) I saw flashes of the conviction that briefly propelled her to the top of the Democratic field. Of the progressive candidates left standing, shes the most credible and presidential. Pete Wehner (6/10) What she said on policy during the debate wont matter much. Her refusal to shake Sanderss hand after the debate will. My bet is this now intensely personal confrontation shes essentially accusing Sanders of being sexist, hes essentially accusing her of being a liar wont help Warren or Sanders. Will Wilkinson (8/10) She needed a strong night and delivered. She made a fiery, galvanizing case on womens electability that made Sanders seem less than honest. Shes a fighter and still very much in the hunt. Bernie Sanders Jorge Castaneda (8.5/10) His best performance yet: authentic, eloquent and on-message. But will Americans elect a socialist? Gail Collins (7/10) He isnt the most appealing, but he did have a whole lot of the most rousing moments. Ross Douthat (6/10) Himself, himself, himself: The most consistent candidate from debate to debate was consistent once again. The Biden-Bernie debates after Super Tuesday will be deliciously grumpy. Maureen Dowd (8/10) Waving his arms with the flair of a maestro, Sanders dominated the stage, didnt give any ground on his give-away programs and stared down Warren over her claim that he had told her that a woman couldnt win. He said he totally believes a woman could win. He obviously doesnt want one to win this year. Michelle Goldberg (8/10) Bernie is more or less always the same, which is one thing his fans love about him. Nicole Hemmer (7/10) He is debate-stage comfort food: You always know exactly what youre going to get. Robert Leonard (7/10) Bernie is Bernie. But if Elizabeth Warren looked over the top of her glasses at me like she did at him, Id confess. He had different math teachers than I did he needs to show his work on Medicare for All. Liz Mair (5/10) Let me keep telling you how Im totally not sexist and make you think Im totally sexist. Daniel McCarthy (7/10) I dont share his faith in multilateralism, but hes the alternative to the foreign-policy status quo and clearest contrast to the G.O.P. all around. Melanye Price (9/10) He looked like the nominee. His supporters should be ecstatic. Mimi Swartz (8/10) The Cassandra of the campaign, but circumstances are conspiring to make him look ever more rational. Hector Tobar (7/10) He was cornered on health care. What will happen when the G.O.P. cannons are aimed at his campaign? Pete Wehner (5/10) He was Bernie: curmudgeonly, loud, deeply ideological, a rock star to his base but unattractive to pretty much everyone else. The exchange with Warren that was leaked by her campaign wasnt one he was going to win, and he didnt. Will Wilkinson (7/10) He burnished his anti-war cred and deftly defused Warrens a woman cant get elected allegation. Despite some shakiness in his hair-splitting opposition to NAFTA 2.0, which is good for Iowa, hes heading toward the caucus with his mojo intact. Amy Klobuchar Jorge Castaneda (6.5/10) She was substantive on health care. Yet even by a politicians standard, she talks too much about herself. Gail Collins (6/10) Since her strong points have been so much about her performance in the debates, this wasnt a help or at least not a step up. Still waiting for the moment where she goes beyond likeability and really rouses the audience. Ross Douthat (7/10) She forgot the governor of Kansas name, and she sometimes gets lost in Senate procedure, but another solid, personable performance that probably isnt going to be quite enough to lap Buttigieg in Iowa. Maureen Dowd (6/10) She mined her ore-mining Midwestern roots and whacked Sanders and Warren for their pipe-dream math, their grand ideological sketches that will never see the light of day. But no breakthrough moment to get better traction in Iowa. Michelle Goldberg (7/10) She was sharp, empathetic and charming. If I were looking for a pragmatic moderate, she might have won me over. Nicole Hemmer (7/10) She should be the moderates choice, but she sounds senatorial, not presidential shes good on the ins and outs of legislation but often fails to tell a bigger story. Robert Leonard (9/10) The women won the night. Klobuchar was pragmatic and tough but if you are going to name-drop the Kansas governor, you should remember her name. Liz Mair (4/10) A weak debate. She often stumbled and sounded uncomfortable. She must be all in on Nevada with all the casino and gambling references. Daniel McCarthy (4/10) She was the second-tier, standard-issue politician this time and came off as a foreign-policy lightweight. Melanye Price (6/10) Someone should tell her the center is disappearing and the party has moved to the left. Mimi Swartz (8/10) Once again, the queen of competence. Good idea to limit the one-liners. Biden-Klobuchar? Hector Tobar (8/10) The new centrist hope. Her reasonableness, competency and empathy could carry her to an upset in Iowa, and maybe in New Hampshire, too. Pete Wehner (8/10) She needed an outstanding debate, and she got it. Shes authentic, informed and persuasive, is able to criticize other candidates without being nasty and (in an increasingly radical Democratic Party) she comes across as fairly moderate. Will Wilkinson (6/10) She dominated the contest to name-check Iowa municipalities and built on her impressive electability bona fides. Yet every note she hit, like this entire debate, felt like a rerun. Joe Biden Jorge Castaneda (7.5/10) Uninspiring but solid on Iraq, Iran and womens issues. This may well be all he has to do to win the nomination. Gail Collins (5/10) He didnt screw up! But I cant really celebrate the fact that he seemed functional but flat. Fair to mention the many things he did in previous administrations, but you still need a new thought to grab onto. Ross Douthat (5/10) A very Biden performance he rambled, evaded and courted disaster in multiple answers but somehow always stumbled through. Nobody really attacked him; nothing happened to hurt his lead. Maureen Dowd (5/10) Bidin his time til South Carolina; as he reminded his competitors, hes strongest among African-American voters. No gaffes but no heat, even though he had more breathing room because the candidates who used to attack him are gone. Michelle Goldberg (6/10) He seemed sleepy and tripped over his words, at least until his riff on the economy. But none of his fellow candidates hurt him. Nicole Hemmer (6/10) Biden debated like a candidate whose biggest goal was not to say anything dumb. (He gets an extra point for succeeding). Robert Leonard (8/10) At times presidential, others a scold, and occasionally forgetful, he nailed it on paying farmers to sequester carbon to help fight global warming and stabilize a crumbling rural economy. Liz Mair (8/10) Not a great debate, but at least he made people laugh once when the debate otherwise made people cry and tear their hair out. Daniel McCarthy (5/10) Stumbles havent hurt him before hes almost Trump-like in his resilience. Hes not getting sharper, though. Melanye Price (7/10) He has done a lot, but not enough to avoid a dumpster fire of political division and bigotry. Mimi Swartz (7.5/10) He flogged his record during the Obama administration like crazy and held his own for 120 minutes, which was all he had to do. Hector Tobar (5/10) Ugh. Hes a shadow of the man who we knew just four or eight years ago. At the most pointed moments of the debate, he seemed to disappear. Pete Wehner (6/10) He wasnt dominant or terribly impressive, but he didnt make any damaging errors. No one went after him. He used Trumps attacks against him to his advantage. Will Wilkinson (7/10) Biden hasnt won a single debate, but it clearly doesnt matter. Hes ahead in the race and he capped off the night with energetic authority. The nomination is still his to lose. Pete Buttigieg Jorge Castaneda (7/10) Hes strong on education and articulate, but he comes across as scripted at times. He acknowledged that the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada was not perfect, though it seems he half-heartedly supports it. Gail Collins (7/10) He had some of the best arguments, but worried that he still sounded like a really, really smart high school debater. He knows how to do those As a war veteran ... moments, which would be terrific in a debate with Trump. Ross Douthat (4/10) Every answer was equally smooth, and at this point thats the problem. Maureen Dowd (4/10) He continued to emphasize his veteran cred and how he would take down Cadet Bone Spurs. But he still seems canned and comes across as the star of the high school debate team. Hes straining to come up with the Vision Thing. Michelle Goldberg (6/10) He was, as usual, poised and agile, but in a night with no fireworks, none of his answers stood out. Nicole Hemmer (6/10) Last debate, everyone attacked him. This debate, they mostly ignored him and his overly rehearsed answers felt less relevant to the actual debate raging around him. Robert Leonard (8/10) While Biden and Sanders bickered over old wars, Mayor Pete looked to future wars climate, cybersecurity and election security. He was the only one to mention the Poor Peoples March that took place at the debate site. Liz Mair (7/10) Mayor Pete was one of two people who managed to not mangle the English language. Thank goodness. Daniel McCarthy (5/10) Hes right that millionaires and billionaires kids shouldnt get free college from taxpayers. So why not means-test all entitlements? Melanye Price (6/10) He will have to work to get some energy back. But no matter how he performs, pundits will say he was excellent. Mimi Swartz (6/10) Hes starting to sound over-rehearsed. Nice try answering the question about his lack of black support, but the numbers speak louder. Hector Tobar (6/10) Hes the most polished and telegenic guy up there, but his ideas dont inspire me. Pete Wehner (7/10) Strong but not outstanding. He told some humanizing stories, hes future-oriented and hes the only Democrat who isnt afraid to talk about his faith. Will Wilkinson (6/10) Mayor Pete felt too much on auto-pilot to extract himself from the depths of the wine cave and reverse his slumping Iowa numbers. Tom Steyer Jorge Castaneda (6/10) Decisive on issues like impeaching Trump and climate change. He was unable to break through on other issues. Gail Collins (2/10) We have a better billionaire. Ross Douthat (5/10) His best night dont roll your eyes. Maureen Dowd (3/10) Steyer pressed his case that he is the one to take on corporate America, given that he has already wrung a billion dollars out of the economy. But if we have to listen to a rich guy, lets hear what Mike Bloomberg has to say. Michelle Goldberg (7/10) He was fine, but why is he there? Nicole Hemmer (3/10) The guy pointed to his globe-trotting as evidence that hes qualified to be commander in chief. Yes, hes got good answers on climate, but cmon. Robert Leonard (5/10) Getting stronger, but Cory Booker and Andrew Yang should have been on this debate stage. Liz Mair (6/10) He also managed to not engage in rampant word salad yet still came off as someone just running a massive vanity exercise. Daniel McCarthy (2/10) If nothing else, this minor-league candidate shows Democrats that money does have a role in facilitating discussion of big issues. Melanye Price (5/10) He is paying a ton of money to become the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Mimi Swartz (7/10) Hes growing into his candidacy, but I dont see him breaking out of the pack to become the nominee. Secretary of climate? Hector Tobar (4/10) Its shameful that a man can buy his way into the semi-finals of the Democratic primary. Hes a marketing phenomenon, and not a political one. Pete Wehner (2/10) He spoke less than any candidate and he still spoke too much. For future debates can we trade Steyer for Andrew Yang? Will Wilkinson (7/10) He delivered a clear, impassioned case for a progressive agenda, especially on climate change. His billions undercut the credibility of his left message, but they bolster his claim to be able to rattle Trump. After a stock takes a tumble, wait just a minute before you count it out. While falling share prices could be a sign that a company is under duress, it doesnt always mean that its growth story has come to an end. After all, a tried and true strategy to turn a profit in the market is to buy low and sell high. Wall Street pros remind investors to take this into consideration when gauging the strength of investments in the healthcare space. As these names rely on only a few key catalysts, all it takes is a single piece of bad news to send shares spiraling downwards. However, the opposite is also true, so one favorable outcome can put a stock right back on track. With this in mind, we used TipRanks Stock Screener tool to pinpoint 3 Buy-rated healthcare names that the analysts believe are on the mend after recent nose dives. Heres the scoop straight from the analysts. BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) BioMarin has established itself as a key player in the biopharma space, with seven therapies already on the market and several other candidates in development. Despite falling 21% in the first nine months of 2019, SunTrust Robinson analyst Robyn Karnauskas believes that important upcoming catalysts could drive a rebound. The four-star analyst points out that the drop came largely as a result of declining investor confidence in the market potential of its Hemophilia therapy. ValRox, its Hemophilia A candidate progressing through Phase 2, has seen factor levels drop since the first year. However, Karnauskas remains convinced that BMRN can deliver. After conducting a survey to determine if the concerns related to commercialization were valid, the analyst concluded that ValRox could drive significant growth. Our survey indicates high level of confidence in approval of ValRox, with 100% of doctors expecting approval and steady uptake in severe Hemophilia A patients Our survey also indicated that doctors are likely to prescribe based on label and do not expect all severe patients to qualify, she commented. Story continues As a result, the analyst believes, At current values, the stock is trading with little credit to late stage pipeline assets with potential launches in late 2020/2021. At the peak, Karnauskas estimates the Hemophilia A opportunity to be $1.48 billion. On top of this, its vosoritide therapy for achondroplasia could be a major component of the companys next leg of growth, with it reporting positive Phase 3 data in December. Based on all of the above, Karnauskas tells investors that shes siding with the bulls, reiterating a Buy rating on BMRN alongside a $110 price target. Should the target be met, shares will be in for a 24% twelve-month gain. (To watch Karnauskas track record, click here) Turning now to the rest of the Street, it appears that other analysts are generally on the same page. With 13 Buys and 3 Holds assigned in the last three months, the consensus rating comes in as a Strong Buy. In addition, the $111.71 average price target puts the upside potential just above Karnauskas forecast at 25%. (See BioMarin stock analysis on TipRanks) Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) Fighting rare diseases like generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and ALS, Alexion Pharmaceuticals wants to meet the large unmet medical needs of patients globally. Even though the company took a beating in 2019, the Street isnt giving up on ALXN just yet. While recent data for its candidate to treat PNH, a severe and ultra-rare blood disorder, raised some questions, Wedbush analyst Laura Chico believes its growth prospects are still strong. According to its most recent 8-K filing, total revenue growth is expected to beat the consensus estimate, and Ultomiris is poised to meet its conversion goals. As a result, Chico commented, we continue to see ALXN as holding a strong competitive position in the complement markets. It also doesnt hurt that its neurology franchise is continuing to grow at a steady rate. Over the previous quarter, neurology patients on treatment (gMG/NMOSD) increased 23% to 1,885 patients. Despite the fact that growth slowed by about 5% compared to September/June, management told investors that they are hoping to quadruple their US neurology patient volume by FY25. All of this prompted Chico to conclude, Overall, we see multiple encouraging updates from ALXN in their upcoming presentation not only on the commercial front, but with several pipeline updates as well. We continue to hold a positive bias on ALXN shares. To this end, Chico decided to leave the Outperform rating and $149 price target unchanged. At this target, a 32% gain could be in the cards for ALXN over the next twelve months. (To watch Chicos track record, click here) Like Chico, a majority of the analysts covering ALXN take a bullish approach. With 12 Buys and 3 Holds, the word on the Street is that ALXN is a Strong Buy. The healthcare stock boasts 29% upside potential based on the $145 average price target. (See Alexion stock analysis on TipRanks) Mylan N.V. (MYL) Mylan, one of the largest generic drug makers, has had a rough going, to say the least. Back in May, shares shed 24% of their value in a single day after the company failed to provide an update on the strategic review that had already lasted ten months. More recently, the stock has been range-bound thanks to investor concern regarding a possible cut to Viatris, the combination of Mylan and Pfizers Upjohn, as well as its proforma numbers. That being said, some members of the Street still have high hopes for MYL. RBC Capitals Randall Stanicky thinks that several key factors suggest that MYL has more fuel left in the tank. We believe buyside expectations are already low with Street proforma models stale while synergies provide support into 2022 stabilization; even on our lowered EBITDA, Newco trades at only 6.6x 2021E EBITDA (<7x even if further cutting EBITDA to $7 billion) while able to support a new dividend yielding about 4%, he explained. Additionally, the analyst highlights improving corporate governance as well as argues that Viatris U.S. generic revenue and limited opioid exposure could help the company de-couple from generic peers. He added, The announced combination of MYL and PFEs Upjohn off-patent business will further grow and diversify MYLs revenue base beyond US generics. Given that it still boasts one of the best generic/ biosimilar pipelines in the industry, Stanickys bullish thesis remains firmly intact. With this in mind, the analyst maintained an Outperform call. Not to mention, he bumped up the price target from $25 to $27. The price target conveys the analysts confidence in MYLs ability to surge 27% in the next twelve months. (To watch Stanickys track record, click here) Looking at the consensus breakdown, we have an almost even split. 4 Buys and 5 Holds received in the last three months add up to a Moderate Buy consensus rating. With a $24.50 average price target, the upside potential is 16%. (See Mylan price targets and analyst ratings on TipRanks) A cardboard cutout of the UKs ambassador to Iran has been set on fire by protesters following a row over his arrest in his host country. A life-size effigy of Rob Macaire burned alongside a Union Jack outside the University of Tehran after the diplomat was accused of taking part in an anti-government protest. Tensions between Iran and the UK escalated when authorities briefly detained Mr Macaire over the weekend and the foreign ministry called him to explain his illegal and inappropriate presence at a demonstration on his release. Irans judiciary said they consider Mr Macaire a persona non grata for not respecting the nations laws, according to local media reports. Spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaeili said: The public expect the person to be expelled and that is also what international law calls for. Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Show all 23 1 /23 Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police dispersed students chanting "radical" slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University - People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic's initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster ISNA/AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University A protester confronts an Iranian police officer AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians light candles for victims EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran Chanting "Death to Britain", up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran AFP via Getty Images Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. AP Dozens of hardliners chanted death to Britain outside the UK embassy in Tehran following the allegations the envoy took part in an anti-government protest. Mr Macaire claimed he was at vigil for the 176 victims of a plane crash over Iran which the country said it accidently shot down when demonstrations broke out. The ambassador tweeted: Normal to want to pay respects some of victims were British. I left after five mins, when some started chanting. He added: Detained half an hour after leaving the area. Arresting diplomats is of course illegal, in all countries. The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, called the ambassadors detention during which he was held for around three hours a flagrant violation of international law. The rising diplomatic tensions came as the UK, France and Germany accused Tehran of breaching the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, which the US pulled out of last year. Protesters outside the university in the capital also burned the American flag amid friction between the two countries following the assassination of Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, in a US airstrike . Iran retaliated with missile strikes on a military base in Iraq housing US troops and with threats of harsher revenge. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said Wednesday morning that Democrats are ready for Senate Republicans to call former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter as an impeachment witness. 'We are prepared,' Nadler told reporters, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scooted away from the podium, asking one of her just-named impeachment managers to answer the question instead. 'In any trial, you call witnesses who have information about the allegations, about the charges.' The New York Democrat reminded reporters that Trump is accused of holding up $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country's president to announce an investigation into a 'domestic political opponent,' meaning 2020 hopeful Joe Biden. 'Any witness who has information about whether that is true or not true is a relevant witness,' Nadler said. 'Anybody like Hunter Biden who has no information about any of that, is not a relevant witness.' 'Any trial judge in this country would rule such a witness as irrelevant and inadmissible,' Nadler added, a comment that could mean Democrats will ask Chief Justice John Roberts to rule out the younger Biden as a witness. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (center) answered a question about whether Democrats were prepared to have former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter testify as part of President Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate Hunter Biden has become a central character in Trump's impeachment, having served on a board of a Ukrainian energy company. The president is accused of holding up military aid to pressure Ukraine's president to announce an investigation into this arrangement Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, threatened to call Hunter Biden as an impeachment witness during a Monday evening tweet Nadler also offered an analogy to make his point. 'If someone is accused of robbing a bank, witnesses who say "We saw him run into the bank, we saw him some place else," are relevant,' he said. 'A witness who says, "He committed forgery on some other document" is not relevant to the bank robbery charge. Thats the distinction.' Hunter Biden became a central character in Trump's impeachment because he served on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. This arrangement had the president and his allies claiming corruption, suggesting Hunter Biden had no experience in the sector, except having a vice president father. President Trump has continued this line of attack, even since being impeached in the House of Representatives on December 18. And his Republican allies have maintained that Hunter Biden should testify during the president's Senate trial. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who's not always a consistent vote, taunted Democrats on Twitter Monday night saying he would call Hunter Biden as a witness. 'My colleagues can't have it both ways. Calling for some, while blocking others,' Paul said in the tweet. 'If we are going to give a platform to witnesses the Dems demand, I look forward to forcing votes to call Hunter Biden and many more!' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi justified holding on to the two articles of impeachment for weeks by saying she wanted Senate leadership to extend her the 'courtesy' and reveal what the 'process would be.' Democrats want to expand on the case the House made during the Senate trial, while Trump's allies would like the trial to be short-and-sweet. It's due to start Tuesday, McConnell said this week. The former vice president, on the Democratic debate stage Tuesday night, spoke of how Republicans have dragged he and his son through the mud for months as impeachment was front-and-center. 'This Republican Party, they've gone after - savaged my surviving son - gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won't even carry on television because they're flat-out lies,' Biden said. 'And I did my job, the question is whether he did his job. And he hasn't done his job,' the ex-veep said of Trump. Press release January 8, 2020 Edenred strengthens its leadership position in the United Arab Emirates payroll cards market Edenred is acquiring the payroll card portfolio of Mint, the second-largest operator specializing in pay distribution and management for under- or unbanked workers in the United Arab Emirates. The transaction will strengthen Edenreds leadership position in the UAE market, where its C3 solution already boasts more than a million users. The Group will facilitate the daily lives of nearly 600,000 employees currently holding Mint payroll cards by giving them simple and secure access to the range of value-added services offered via the C3 card and its myC3card mobile application. In the United Arab Emirates, where nearly 60% of the working population is outside the current financial system, Edenred offers an innovative solution that facilitates the financial inclusion of countless workers, while allowing companies to comply with local regulations that require that wages be traceable. For companies, Edenreds C3 digital solution is an easy way to manage the payment of wages for all or part of their employees via a secure online portal, especially in sectors that need large workforces, such as construction and facility management. The C3 card is a guarantee that employees will receive their pay regularly and securely. They can then make withdrawals from ATMs, or make physical and online payments. The myC3card mobile app linked to the C3 card also gives access to an extensive suite of value-added services that facilitate employees daily lives, including mobile phone top-ups, secure international money transfers at favorable rates and real-time consultation of their account balance and transaction history. These differentiating services, constantly improving, generate new sources of revenue for the Group. Mints payroll card activity, which mostly serves clients based in Abu Dhabi, recorded strong revenue growth in 2019. The acquisition will enable Edenred, until now mainly present in Dubai, to round out its geographic footprint and significantly increase its visibility in this market. With a combined total of more than 1.6 million users, Edenred will benefit from substantial scale effects linked to its B2B2C intermediation platform model and its global technology assets. Story continues The deal will increase the Groups EBIT from 2020. Arnaud Erulin, Chief Operating Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: Edenred is improving the daily lives of under- and unbanked workers residing in the United Arab Emirates via a mobile app that each year adds new functionalities to closely match their needs. Edenreds commercial and technological know-how currently allows over 1 million employees to benefit from this unique suite of services in the United Arab Emirates, up from 400,000 five years ago. And we are now delighted to be extending access to nearly 600,000 Mint card holders. Edenred is the everyday companion for people at work. Its leading intermediation platform connects 50 million employees and 2 million partner merchants via 830,000 corporate clients, across 46 countries. Thanks to its global technology assets, the Group managed 2.5 billion specific purpose payment transactions in 2018, primarily carried out via mobile applications, online platforms and cards, and representing nearly 30 billion in business volume. Edenreds 10,000 staff are driven by a commitment to improving employees quality of life, increasing companies efficiency and boosting merchants revenues. They achieve this through three business lines: Employee Benefits (food, meals, well-being, leisure, culture and human services) Fleet & Mobility Solutions (fuel, tolls, maintenance and business travel) Complementary Solutions, including Corporate Payment Services (virtual payment cards, identified wire transfers and supplier payments), Incentive & Rewards (gift cards and platforms, and incentive programs), and Public Social Programs. For more information: www.edenred.com The logos and other trademarks mentioned and featured in this press release are registered trademarks of Edenred S.A., its subsidiaries or third parties. They may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written consent from their owners. CONTACTS Communications Department Marie-Laurence Bouchon +33 (0)1 86 67 20 08 marie-laurence.bouchon@edenred.com Media Relations Matthieu Santalucia +33 (0)1 86 67 22 63 matthieu.santalucia@edenred.com Investor Relations Solene Zammito +33 (0)1 86 67 23 13 solene.zammito@edenred.com Loic Da Silva +33 (0)1 86 67 20 67 loic.dasilva@edenred.com Attachment A teenager has been charged with the murder of a 43-year-old Irish man and the poisoning of a 40-year-old man in two separate incidents. Diana Cristea, 18, was arrested on Tuesday and charged in connection with the death of Adrian Murphy, originally from Co Kilkenny, months after his body was found in a block of flats in Battersea, London on June 4, 2019. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / MOTA VENTURES CORP. (CSE:MOTA)(FSE:1WZ:GR)(OTC:PEMTF) (the "Company" or "Mota Ventures") an emerging vertically integrated global CBD brand, is pleased to announce it will be hosting an investor conference call. Due to the significant number of inquiries from investors, Mota will be discussing recent announcements. The conference call will be held on Monday, January 20, 2020 at 1:15PM PST/4:15PM EST. Participants may dial in using the numbers below (no access code is needed). Toll free Canada/US: 1-800-319-4610 International: +1-604-638-5340 Germany: +0800-180-1954 Investor questions can be submitted by email to IR@motaventuresco.com prior to the conference call. Callers should dial in five to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and simply request to join the Mota Ventures investor call. The conference call will be available for playback until February 20, 2020 by dialing 1-800-319-6413 (toll free Canada/US) or +1-604-638-9010- (international), quoting access code 4011. Joel Shacker, President and CEO of Mota, commented: "Mota has made significant steps to further our business objectives and we welcome the opportunity to provide additional details about our progress to our investors. In order for investors to properly understand how to value our company, I believe its important to share this information with them. I also am looking forward to sharing details of our 2020 plans and how we plan to continue to execute on our long term goals of being a vertically integrated global CBD brand." About Mota Ventures Corp. Mota Ventures is seeking to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand. Its plan is to cultivate and extract CBD into high-quality value added products from its Latin American operations and distribute it both domestically and internationally. Its existing operations in Colombia consist of a 2.5-hectare site that has optimal year round growing conditions and access to all necessary infrastructure. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MOTA VENTURES CORP. Joel Shacker Chief Executive Officer For further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, Chief Executive Officer at +604.423.4733 or by email at IR@motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statement All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including with respect to its plans to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand, its plans to cultivate and extract cannabis to produce CBD and high-quality value added CBD products in Latin America for distribution domestically and internationally and its plans to acquire revenue-producing CBD brands and operations in Europe and North America. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. SOURCE: Mota Ventures Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573126/Mota-Schedules-Investor-Call-Due-to-Volume-of-Inquiries Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi is all set to sworn in for a second and final term on Wednesday after five turbulent years in office amid two armed insurgencies. Nyusi won re-election in October with 73 per cent of the vote, while the opposition alleged irregularities. Several African heads of state and the president of Portugal, the former colonial power, are expected to attend the inauguration in the southern African country of 30 million people. The crowning achievement of Nyusi's first term was meant to be the peace agreement signed in August with the armed opposition Renamo. Instead, it triggered fresh violence in central Mozambique by dissidents unhappy with the terms of the accord. More than 15 armed attacks on vehicles in central Mozambique have been reported in recent months, killing 21 people. Nyusi's government is also battling to contain deadly attacks in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado by extremists reportedly linked to the Islamic State group. An estimated 300 people have been killed, including by beheading, since the attacks began in 2017. Cabo Delgado, Nyusi's home province, is home to two giant natural gas projects worth billions of dollars that Mozambique hopes will transform it into a middle-income country. Work has begun on one of the projects, which changed ownership last year from US-based Anadarko to French oil major Total, with the aim to start producing liquified natural gas before Nyusi's mandate ends in late 2024. The second project, led by ExxonMobil, is set to reach a final investment decision this year. Nyusi is expected to announce his cabinet in the coming days. International investors will be watching closely to see if the finance minister, Adriano Maleiane, will be replaced. Maleiane has guided the economy through exceptional difficulties following the discovery of USD 2 billion in debt taken on by three state-linked security companies, with government guarantees whose validity has been contested. Maleiane's predecessor as finance minister, Manuel Chang, has been in a South African prison for more than a year contesting extradition to the United States to face charges in connection with the deals. Last year Mozambique had to restructure its first-ever sovereign eurobond after it failed to make the first payment. The inauguration comes as the rainy season again brings flooding to parts of Mozambique, which was hit last year by two major cyclones in less than two months, causing hundreds of deaths and major destruction. Recovery continues and widespread hunger has been a concern in the hard-hit rural areas. Last week, the UN migration agency said the latest flooding destroyed the temporary shelters of almost 200 households that had been resettled in the central provinces of Tete and Zambezia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PIGGS PEAK When it comes to win-a-car raffle draws, it is safe to say emaSwati never learn. Once again, members of the public, just like in the past, participated in a win-a-car competition never materialised on the stated date. Members of the public who participated in a Piggs Peak car raffle draw competition are furious that despite that the draw should have taken place on December 21, 2019, this has not happened. The competition is said to have been conducted by a company known as Biazo Car Dealers. The company is said to have engaged certain individuals to sell the tickets to members of the public. According to information obtained from the participants, who are now furious, the draw was supposed to have taken place on December 21, 2019. Advertising A poster advertising the raffle draw read, Biazo Car Dealers presents Piggs Peak Car Raffle Draw set for December 2019. The keys could be yours!!! the poster read. Each raffle ticket was sold at E25. On the poster was a photo of a Mazda Demeo hatchback model. The address of the company, according to the post was Office No. 14 Water Services Complex. Just like any competition, the poster also stated the terms and conditions, such as that one needed to fill in a form stating their identity number (ID), phone number, number of the ticket and making sure they did not lose their tickets. Purchased For this reason, participants such as Mphumelelo Maziya held on to their tickets which they had purchased. Maziya is one of the participants who were not pleased with the outcome as he claimed to have purchased 53 tickets. This meant that he spent E1 325. Maziya said he was bitter that the draw was supposed to have taken place in December but the date had come and gone and nothing positive has been communicated to them. Maziya said since he was advised that he had the most tickets, he felt that he stood a better chance to win the car. He said no one else bought more tickets than him, according to his knowledge. Maziya is a barber. I could have used this money to buy shoes and uniforms for my children. Instead, I decided to take a chance and enter the competition, he said. He said it was unfair that he was forced to wait long for the raffle draw to be conducted. Maziya also said he was now beginning to doubt if the raffle draw would really take place. He also expressed concern that he was no longer able to locate the physical address of the company. Claimed I have been to the Water Services Complex where they claimed to be based but they are not there, he claimed. He further said he was now being told that they were based in Mbabane as well as Manzini, but he did not believe this. More participants complained about the raffle draw but they did not want to speak on record. Another, who claimed to have bought only one ticket, said he did not mind losing the money but said as a matter of principle, he wanted to know what was going on. They should tell us whether the raffle draw will go ahead or not, said the participant. However, no draw was ever conducted. United States President Donald Trump is likely to make a state visit to India towards the end of February, a senior Indian official said. The official said that the dates of the visit are being worked out. The source further added that Indian diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu's appointment as the new Ambassador of India to the US will be announced 'soon' in light of the possibility that Trump is likely to be visiting India in February-end. Earlier on January 7, Modi told Trump in a telephonic conversation that ties between India and the US have grown from strength to strength. The prime minister also expressed his desire to continue to work with the US President for enhancing cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. During the talks, Modi highlighted the significant progress made towards deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries in the previous year, the prime minister's office said in a statement. Trump expressed satisfaction at the achievements in the relationship between the two countries in the last few years and reiterated his readiness for further deepening bilateral cooperation, according to the PMO. The prime minister also extended New Year greetings to Trump, his family and the people of the US. On the other hand, Trump reciprocated the gesture and wished the people of India prosperity and progress in the New Year. During the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in last September, Modi, who shared the dais with Trump, invited the latter and his family to visit India, saying it will give a new height to the shared dreams of the two countries. The Indian invitation to Trump was reiterated last month by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar when they called on Trump at the White House after meeting with their American counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue. We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Yeah, let's just call it now: We're not really going anywhere fast at this point. But someday, we'll be able to roam freely about the world, and it will be just READ THE REST Shanna Peeples was a veteran teacher with a long list of accolades, association memberships, and strong relationships with students and colleagues. But it wasnt until she received national recognition as the 2015 Teacher of the Yearan honor that brought her to the White House and across the country as a spokesperson for the teaching professionthat she finally felt secure in her job. Thats because Peeples is a lesbian and taught in Texas, one of nearly 30 states with no explicit employment-discrimination protections for LGBTQ workers, including teachers. You can legally be married to the person you love, but you cant do the work that you love, she said. I think thats really not only short-sighted, but has long-term and lasting damage for the profession overall. Now, LGBTQ teachers are waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the federal civil rights law guarantees them nationwide protection from workplace discrimination. While some individual school districts and cities have workplace protections for LGBTQ employees, many teachers in more than half of states are left unsure about how much of their personal livesand identitythey can share publicly without fear of repercussion. After all, 32 percent of non-LGBTQ Americans said they would be very or somewhat uncomfortable if their child had an LGBTQ teacher, according to a 2018 survey by GLAAD and the Harris Poll. That percentage has ticked up slightly over the past few yearsin 2016, 28 percent of Americans expressed discomfort with that scenario. You certainly see tremendous pressure on LGBTQ teachers to remain closeted for fear of losing their jobs, said Eliza Byard, the executive director of GLSEN, formerly the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Everyone knows what a huge impact it has on people to have to hide some aspect of who they are in their day-to-day lives. ... When people are free to be themselves, ... they do better work, and this is true for teachers. A History of Discrimination Throughout much of the 20th century, LGBTQ teachers in most places across the country would have been fired if they were found out, said Karen Graves, a professor and the chair of educational studies at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In Florida, the state legislature established an investigation committee that tried, from 1957 to 1965, to weed out gay and lesbian teachers and professors from public schools and universities. Nearly 200 educators lost their jobs, said Graves, who wrote about the investigation in the book And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Floridas Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers. Sometimes, investigators from the committee pulled teachers directly out of the classroom and interrogated them, Graves said. The state teachers union supported the investigations, which it considered a way to safeguard the profession. For gay teachers in the 1950s and 1960s, there was no recourse, Graves said. No one as a group would stand up and protect them. In the 1970s, cities began passing anti-discrimination laws. But opponents to those laws tended to attack gay teachers in their campaigns, saying that protecting them would endanger children. In fact, in 1978, California state Sen. John Briggs sponsored a ballot referendum that tried to ban lesbian and gay people from working in the states public schools. The bill would have also allowed the dismissal of teachers who supported LGBTQ rights, regardless of their own sexual orientation. What I am after is to remove those homosexual teachers who through word, thought, or deed want to be a public homosexual, to entice young impressionable children into their lifestyle, Briggs said in an interview during the campaign. California voters struck the referendum down, with 58.4 percent voting against it. But in several other places during this time period, including Miami and St. Paul, Minn., voters rejected ordinances that would have protected gay and lesbian workers from discrimination, with teachers at the forefront of the debate. In Oklahoma, a state law enacted in 1978 authorized schools to fire teachers who engaged in public homosexual activity, as well as teachers who advocated for LGBTQ rights. The National Gay Task Force challenged the law, and the federal appellate court struck down the part of the statute that prohibited advocating for LGBTQ conduct, saying that it infringed on free speech rights. It upheld the part of the statute that prohibited public homosexual activity. The case then made it to the Supreme Court, which in 1985 affirmed the appellate courts decision in a 4-4 tie. That same year, the Supreme Court declined to review a federal appeals courts decision permitting an Ohio school district to dismiss a bisexual high school guidance counselor. The court had ruled that the district did not violate the constitutional rights of the counselor, Marjorie H. Rowland. In a dissent, Justice William J. Brennan Jr., joined by Justice Thurgood Marshall, argued that the court should have accepted the case for review, since it presents issues that continue to puzzle lower courts. The case starkly presents issues of individual constitutional rights that have ... swirled nationwide for many years, Brennan wrote. Discrimination against homosexuals or bisexuals based solely on their sexual preference raises significant constitutional questions. A Really Close Case Now, the Supreme Court justices are deliberating over three cases that ask whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ employees. The law bans discrimination because of ... sex, and the argument at stake is whether the term sex encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity. These casesR.G & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which covers rights for transgender employees, and Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, which address the question of sexual orientationare the first major LGBTQ issues to be taken up by the court since the addition of President Donald Trumps nominees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. While Kavanaugh was nearly silent during the oral arguments in October and didnt tip his hand, Gorsuch, an avowed textualist who believes the words of the law should speak for themselves regardless of lawmakers original intent, seemed conflicted in his questioning, saying that this case was really close. Last summer, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the National School Boards Association, and AASA, the School Superintendents Association all filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of LGBTQ school employees. These groups are united in seeking to ensure that the educational mission of our schools is fulfilled, the brief says. That result is best achieved when employment decisions for teachers and school staff focus on merittheir ability to educate childrenrather than irrelevant characteristics. Afraid to Come Out In the past couple years, multiple LGBTQ teachers have said they were pushed out of the classroom, with some filing lawsuits against their districts. For example, a lesbian elementary art teacher in Texas was suspended in 2017 after she told her students about her wife. In a statement, the Mansfield Independent school district said conversations about sexual orientation are not age-appropriate for elementary students, and parents have the right to control the conversation with their children. The teacher, Stacy Bailey, has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the district. The district has since moved Bailey to a high school and renewed her contract, but the lawsuit is still pending. Baileys lawyer told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he believes the district moved her to a different grade level, with a greater workload, in order to frustrate her into resigning. When Victoria Thompson taught middle school math and science in South Carolina, an employment-at-will state with no employment protections for LGBTQ workers, she was reluctant to come out. While she didnt think her administrators would fire her for being gay, she was worried about parents reactions. And she knew that as long as she stayed in South Carolina, she would never have job security. If I wanted to move to a different school, I never knew what the administration was going to be like, I never knew what the culture and climate was going to be like, she said. Thompson moved to Tacoma, Wash., for her now-wifes job. There, she is protected by the states anti-discrimination law and is publicly out in her high school math classroom. I know that me being gay will never be a reason why Im dropped, she said. Its just a very different environment, and it makes me more comfortable being myself. Similarly, Josh Thompson, a high school English teacher (of no relation to Victoria), first taught in a rural area of central Virginia, a state with no employment-discrimination protections for LGBTQ workers on the books. He felt like he couldnt talk openly about his identity. Now, he teaches in Blacksburg, home to Virginia Tech, and feels comfortable being out at school. He hangs a pride flag in his classroom, has plenty of LGBTQ books in his class library, and shares personal details with his students. I will talk about how my gay identity affects my understanding of the texts and my world and my place in it, Thompson said. The very fact that I as a teacher am talking about [my identity] also legitimizes it, normalizes it. Its actually a big deal when you think about it, in terms of those power dynamics. Indeed, LGBTQ educators say that part of the reason why they want to be out at work is to be a role model or a supportive adult for LGBTQ youth. Thompson said his presence lets LGBTQ students know theyre not alone, and gives them a safe place to ask questions or get advice. Peeples, the 2015 Teacher of the Year, who is no longer teaching, said one of her greatest professional regrets is not coming out to her students. But she says she was scared of losing her job and being unable to support her children. In 2018, when she was a teaching fellow at Harvard University, she identified herself as a lesbian for the first time in a classroom. Then, one gay student told her, When youre trying to determine how out to be yourself or if this is going to be a hopeful thing for you, you look to the adults you interact with the most when youre a kid, and thats teachers, Peeples recounted. When you see them being out and proud, ... they show you the possible worlds that you can inhabit, and that youll be OK, and youll be happy and well-adjusted. Conversely, theres something pretty crushing for an LGBTQ student when they see an adult who might be a role model acting out of fear, hiding who they are, GLSENs Byard said. Now, LGBTQ teachers are waiting to see whether the Supreme Court justices will rule in their favor. Advocates say its critical: A federal bill for nationwide non-discrimination protections passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year, but has stalled in the U.S. Senate. It [would be] powerful protection, but its also like, ... Can we please stop talking about this now? Josh Thompson said. The fact that my humanity and the humanity of many other Americans is still up for debate is pretty awful. The royal disgrace goes on this year, as Prince Charles is reportedly also connected with a notorious pedophile just like his brother Prince Andrew. In the past few months, the royal family got shaken after Prince Andrew agreed to do a tell-all interview with BBC to clear his name about his friendship with controversial billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual allegations made against him by her alleged victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre. After the interview, Prince Andrew received public condemnation for failing to sympathize with Epstein's victims, as well as failing to show regret befriending him. He eventually stepped down from his position as a member of the royal family. When everything about Prince Andrew and his case with a pedophile appeared to have calmed down a bit, another issue rose again -- this time involving the heir to the throne. Prince Charles, Another Royal Disgrace? In another catastrophic BBC documentary, a victim of pedophile and former bishop Peter Ball unveiled one of the most kept secrets of the next King of Britain. Cliff James came into the limelight to tell the public how the former bishop made himself invulnerable after he befriended Prince Charles. The Prince of Wales reportedly supported the pedophile when the authorities charged him for multiple sexual crimes. "He kept mentioning his friendship with Prince Charles in a flippant way, [as] anyone would talk about a friend - but he's talking about Prince Charles," James divulged. The former bishop underwent investigations in the 1990s and convicted of sexual offenses against 17 teenagers and young men, including James. Peter was sent behind bars for 32 months and eventually released in February 2017. Prior to the statement made in the recent BBC documentary, the family of Neil Todd bravely spoke up about the abuse in 1993. Todd, who commited suicide in 2012, was accused of being a "mischief-maker" by the former bishop's higher connections. Prince Charles's Ties With The Pedophile? Meanwhile, the representative of the survivors, William Chapman, described the case as the "establishment at work" in the current times. "It is the story of how the establishment minimized the nature of Peter Ball's misdeeds ... and silenced and harassed those who tried to complain," he went on. At a hearing last year in connection with Peter's case, it was revealed how Prince Charles' name got included on the list of people who rallied to support Peter and his mischiefs. In Feb. 1995, just a few years after Peter rested under police custody, the heir to the throne reportedly wrote a letter to Peter and said he hopes "he could do more" for the convicted sex trafficker. "I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated," a part of the letter read. To help his friend, Prince Charles ordered Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to purchase a house to be rented out by the former bishop and his twin, Michael. However, the Prince of Wales eventually released a six-page statement and said he had been deceived "about the true nature" of Peter's crimes. He also denied that he helped him by influencing the result of every police investigation. An Italian appeals judge was arrested on Wednesday after investigations revealed that he accepted money, gifts and sexual favours to issue favourable verdicts for defendants. The judge, Marco Petrini, served in Catanzaro, a town in the southern Calabria region from where the fearsome Ndrangheta Mafia hails. According to prosecutors, he repeatedly received considerable sums of money, precious objects, other goods and services including sexual favours. In return, he acquitted or issued reduced sentences for defendants in civil, criminal and Inland Revenue cases. The judge was also a member of a tax litigation court. When officers searched his home, they found an envelope with 7,000 euros (7,800 dollars) in cash, and investigations revealed that the man was heavily in debt. Prosecutors said seven other people were placed in pre-trial detention, and an eighth suspect is under house arrest adding that they have started investigating the case in 2018. (dpa/NAN) Russia hosts Libya talks ahead of Germany summit Russian Foreign Minister said that the Moscow conference on Libya as a preparatory meeting for the Berlin conference. On Monday, the sides in the Libyan conflict gathered in the Russian capital to discuss a cease-fire meant to end the hostilities in Libya and start a political dialogue. After more than eight hours of talks, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj signed the deal, but Khalifa Haftar, the eastern Libya-based commander, left for Libya early Tuesday without signing the agreement. ALL LIBYAN PARTIES ARE INVITED THE SUMMIT "We never pretended that the talks in Moscow should be a final meeting that would resolve all issues [of the Libyan conflict] without exception. We promoted this meeting as a step and a contribution to the preparation for the upcoming international conference on Libya in Berlin, which will be held this Sunday, where all Libyan parties will be invited as we recommended to the German side," Lavrov said. The minister, speaking at the annual Raisina Dialogue -- flagship conference of New Delhi on global issues -- added that he saw "no drama" in Haftar's move to leave without signing the document on cease-fire drafted in Moscow during a time of tension in Libya. "This has happened before when the meetings on the settlement in Libya were held in Paris, Palermo, and Abu Dhabi. When such a meeting was held in France, even the date of the elections was named, but it took place two years ago. It is a pity that the agreements in Abu Dhabi were not implemented, because they dealt with key political issues -- the separation of powers and a territorial arrangement that would suit everyone," Lavrov added. He stressed that both sides adhere to the cease-fire announced following the call of the Turkish and Russian presidents on Jan.12. The Labour Party has said it will tackle wasteful public spending as it said voters want responsible management of public money. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travelled to Aras an Uachtarain on Tuesday afternoon to seek the dissolution of the Dail after calling a General Election on February 8. Labour Party party leader Brendan Howlin said he hopes to deliver a critical mass of TDs to the next Dail. Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins following his request to dissolve the 32nd Dail (Damien Eagers/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins following his request to dissolve the 32nd Dail (Damien Eagers/PA) Speaking at the partys first election press conference in Dublin on Tuesday, he said the party is running 31 candidates and hopes to return a significant cohort of Labour TDs. Mr Howlin said the party will seek to tackle wasteful government spending if it is elected. It follows controversy over the rising cost of building a new national childrens hospital in Dublin and the roll-out of a national broadband plan which have both gone hundreds of millions of euro over budget. He said: We need to channel public money to where it makes a difference and to stop waste. I think people are really annoyed when they see billions of euro being wasted on a broadband plan that seems seems to be a blank cheque of three billion euro, when you can do it in Northern Ireland for half that price. We desperately need a childrens hospital but do we we need the most expensive hospital on the planet? I think people want responsible management, but they want quality public services and they know Labour has traditionally done that. While Sinn Fein returned to powersharing government in Northern Ireland this week, Mr Howlin echoed pledges from other political parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael that they would not do business with Sinn Fein if it is elected to Government. He said: I have said in the past that I worked with Sinn Fein on policy platforms throughout this Dail. There are very good people working with very good policy platforms on a variety of issues and we worked with them on the housing alliance and elsewhere. I dont think that the democratic leadership that we see in the Dail is actually the final arbiter of Sinn Fein. I think that there are other controlling forces that would cause problems to a party in government. That would cause me anxiety to be honest with you. Mr Howlin refused to be drawn on whether he would step aside as leader if Labour is not successful in this election. He said: Of course (there) should be generational change, but we also need experience. I think one of the things people look at with some of the newer ministers is that their lack of experience screams out. We have a team of 31 candidates and we will combine youth and vitality with experience and proven competence. I think you need all those things to make a real difference. New Delhi: Ace comedian-actor Kapil Sharma and wife Ginni Chatrath welcomed their bundle of joy, baby girl Anayra on December 10, 2019. After sharing the news on social media, congratulatory messages flooded Kapils's timeline. Likewise, the star comedian recently took to his Twitter and Instagram handles to share the first pictures of the baby. Kapil posted: Meet our piece of heart Anayra Sharma #gratitude The couple has introduced their little angel as Anayra Sharma to the world. Earlier, pictures of Kapil holding the baby girl had gone viral on the internet and a video too had surfaced where the whole family and friends were celebrating together. Kapil Sharma and Ginni celebrated their first wedding anniversary on December 12, 2019. On the work front, he is seen hosting 'The Kapil Sharma Show' and it is doing great at present. The popular comedy show is produced by Salman Khan and Kapil Sharma along with Deepak Dhar respectively. In one moment, it seemed it was all over for him, and then, suddenly, he is the one with the last laugh. That is the story of Hope Uzodinma, who has just been declared the validly elected governor of Imo State, South-East Nigeria, by the nations Supreme Court, thereby making Emeka Ihedioha, become the first Nigerian governor to be sacked from office after the 2019 general elections. Mr Uzodinma, 61, would have probably had an easy ride to victory in the last year governorship election if his fellow party man and the then governor, Rochas Okorocha, were to have exhibited the spirit of sportsmanship and remained loyal to their party the All Progressives Congress (APC). Because, he desperately wanted his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him as the governor of Imo, Mr Okorocha withdrew his support for the APC, after the former failed to win the party governorship primary. Mr Okorocha threw his weight behind a relatively unknown Action Alliance (AA) where his son-in-law defected to and contested the election as its flagbearer. It would require God talking from heaven and telling Imo people, Chief Hope Uzodinma is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased before Imo people could consider changing their minds. If not, Imo people know those who cannot be their governor. Chief Uzodinma knows this fact and he should stop using the governor to deceive his sponsors, Mr Okorocha was quoted to have said in December 2018 through his spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in March, declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr Ihedioha, winner of the Imo governorship election with 273,404 votes. Mr Rochas son-in-law, Mr Nwosu, came second with 190,364 votes. The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Ararume, scored 114,676, while Mr Uzodinma of the APC came a distant fourth, with 96,458 votes. In their post-election squabble, Mr Okorocha said Mr Uzodinma was a mole in APC. He accused Mr Uzodinma of working for the victory of the PDP candidate, Mr Ihedioha, in the election. Mr Okorocha was instructively suspended from the APC for engaging in anti-party activities. The Supreme Court, in its judgment on Tuesday, said results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in the state. The court said that Mr Uzodinma, with the added results from those 388 polling units polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election by the INEC. It accordingly, voided the INECs declaration of Mr Ihedioha as the winner and ordered that Mr Uzodinma be sworn-in as governor. The PDP and its supporters have expressed shock over the Supreme Court decision. The Party finds it difficult to understand how Senator Hope Uzodinma/APC, who came 4th in the March 9, 2019 governorship election, with just 96,458 votes, will suddenly, by the token of the judgment of the Supreme Court, defeat Gov Emeka Ihedioha/PDP that scored 276,404 votes, the PDP national spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement Tuesday. It is lamentable that the destiny of the people of Imo state is being taken from the governor they chose and voted for and handed over to individuals and a political party that do not have their blessing and mandate and which they rejected at the election. The people of Imo state are now confronted with the challenge of having a government that they cannot identify with and which cannot connect with them, having not emanated from them, the party said. READ ALSO: Some Nigerians, stunned by the judgment, are also asking the same question like the PDP how could Mr Uzodinma, from a the fourth position he previously occupied as per the result announced by INEC, suddenly emerged the winner? And the explanation from the Supreme Court, as stated earlier in this piece, is that Mr Uzodinmas votes in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during final collation! A lawyer, Kenneth Ikonne, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has tried to explain to Nigerians how the apex court arrived at the judgment. What happened was this: during the governorship election in Imo State, apparently concocted results, perhaps not having any basis whatsoever in reality, but signed by INEC presiding officers, were turned in from more than 350 polling units, giving Hope Uzodinma of the APC an incredibly unassailable lead, Mr Ikonne said in an article which is circulating on the Facebook. When those results were transmitted to the wards collation centres, the collation officers, who had no power in law to cancel or reject them, rejected the said polling units results, and refused to collate them, thereby effectively excluding them from the total tally of the governorship result that was eventually declared by the Returning Officer. In the aftermath of the said exclusion, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Governor Ihedioha the winner of the election. The exclusion of the results of those polling units was the fulcrum of the petition presented at the Tribunal by Hope Uzodinma. Ever since David Mark V. Abubakar Usman, and Doma V. INEC, the law has been settled that neither collation officers nor a returning officer, has the power in law to exclude a polling unit result duly signed by the presiding officer at the polling unit; only the election tribunal possesses the power to cancel or exclude such a result. So, at the point of its presentation, Senator Uzodinmas petition was potentially viable, in spite of the apparent dubiousness of the polling units results on which it was anchored, there being a rebuttable presumption of regularity and correctness, by virtue of both the Electoral Act and Evidence Act, ensuring in favour of any result declared by a presiding officer. Advertisements The lawyer said it was backbreaking and fatal error on the part of Mr Ihediohas legal team for them not to have filed a cross petition fiercely challenging the integrity of the suspect polling units results upon which Uzodinma was relying, and praying the election tribunal to formally nullify the said results. As Mr Uzodinma prepares for his swearing-in, Mr Ihedioha and his supporters are obviously feeling sad right now. Mr Okorocha, the senator representing Imo West District, despite their pre-election and post-election squabble, Tuesday congratulated Mr Uzodinma and assured him of his support. Mr Uzodinmas ultimate victory is yet another interesting chapter in the unenviable history of Imo politics. Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu on Wednesday said that normal communication channels will be opened in the region after a review. "We are reviewing continuously, and accordingly we are relaxing everything. In the coming days, normal communication technology and communications channels will be opened," Murmu told reporters here after the administration issued orders for partial restoration of internet services in the Union Territory from Wednesday. When asked whether he is satisfied with normalcy returning to Jammu and Kashmir, the Lieutenant Governor said: "Definitely, the situation is normal in Jammu and other parts. People are now participating in development." Earlier on Tuesday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration issued orders to partially allow 2G mobile connectivity on postpaid mobiles for accessing white-listed sites in five districts of Jammu region-- Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi from January 15. The administration also allowed broadband internet services in hotels, educational institutions and travel establishments in the Union Territory. According to the order issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department, the Kashmir division will establish an additional 400 internet kiosks. The order came days after the Supreme Court, on January 10, directed to review all orders suspending internet services in Jammu and Kashmir and stated that the "right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the constitution". The Central government had suspended the internet in the region following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Photo: The Canadian Press Lev Parnas House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine's president to investigate the Biden case. The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cellphone use, raising questions about possible surveillance. Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump's trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. Parnas was in frequent communication with Giuliani and with Ukrainian officials, the messages show. He appeared to be pushing unsubstantiated allegations that Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were somehow engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelenskiy took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. In the letter, Giuliani said he would be accompanied at the meeting by Victoria Toensing, a Washington attorney and Trump ally. One of the documents is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated." Trump asked Zelenskiy in a July call to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine. Democrats said that Parnas' attorney confirmed that Parnas wrote the notes. The documents including phone records, texts and flash drives turned over by Parnas were sent to the House Judiciary Committee by three other House panels to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment, according to a statement. Some of the materials were made public while others were marked as sensitive. Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet bloc, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records. Prosecutors allege they made outsize campaign donations to Republican causes after receiving millions of dollars originating from Russia. The men have pleaded not guilty. In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassador's ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the centre of the Democrats impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a smear campaign. Trump on a July 25 call had promised Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was going to go through some things. Roughly two months earlier, she was recalled from her diplomatic post. On April 23, just before Yovanovitch was directed to return to the United States, Giuliani texted Parnas, "He fired her again." Parnas texted back, "I pray it happens this time I'll call you tomorrow my brother." Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a "bitch. Hyde is now running for a U.S. House seat in Connecticut. After texting about the ambassador, Hyde gave Parnas detailed updates that suggested he was watching her. In one text, Hyde wrote: Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off. He said she was under heavy security and we have a person inside. Hyde at one point texted Parnas that ''they are willing to help if we/you would like a price, and guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money ... is what I was told. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Teachers in San Francisco could soon get housing provided by the city after the San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to approve affordable educator housing. Under the resolution, the school district would establish procedures for potentially developing as many as 550 units of affordable housing for teachers by 2030. "The passing of this educator housing resolution will increase our ability to retain the best educators in California and benefit our students for decades to come," said Commissioner Faauuga Moliga, who authored the resolution. RELATED: California housing crisis: Oakland moms evicted by deputies The resolution calls for Superintendent Vincent Matthews to work with staff and the Educator Housing Working Group to look into creative financing models along with the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and use all benefits provided by initiatives approved by voters. Back in November, San Francisco voters approved Proposition A, which dedicated $20 million in funding for future affordable teacher housing projects. Voters also approved Proposition E, which reduces zoning and approval requirements for affordable housing and educator housing projects. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. 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In a televised speech, Rouhani called for a special court to be set up, and said, "the whole world will be watching." Also Tuesday, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said some people had been arrested for their role in shooting down the plane, but did not specify how many or how they were connected. The developments come as the government faces protests after first insisting mechanical problems caused the plane to go down before admitting Saturday that Iranian military personnel shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board. Hundreds of students at a prestigious Iranian university openly denounced their Islamist rulers in a third day of protests Monday. In several video clips vetted by VOA, the students at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology, a top engineering school, appeared to be gathered in an outdoor location on campus, chanting slogans and listening to several speakers criticize the government. VOA could not independently verify the authenticity of the clips. In one video, the students chanted, "They killed our elites and replaced them with mullahs." The reference to "elites" was a tribute to the dozens of Iranian students who had been on the Ukraine International Airlines plane that was downed by a missile shortly after taking off from Tehran on a flight to Kyiv last Wednesday. The pre-dawn crash happened hours after Iran fired missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq and was bracing for a U.S. counterstrike that never came. Iran's missile attacks, which caused no casualties, were in retaliation for what the United States called a self-defensive strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3. Iranian leaders' belated acknowledgment of Western intelligence that Iran was responsible for the crash angered many Iranians, including students at a Tehran university whose Saturday night vigil for the crash victims turned into an anti-government rally. Protests spread from Tehran to at least 18 other cities on Sunday, according to photos and video clips sent to VOA Persian and reports by other Persian-language media. A video widely shared on social media showed demonstrators in Tehran fleeing tear gas fired by police late Sunday. Other online footage showed a woman on the ground with blood nearby as bystanders said she had been shot and tried to pick her up. Iranian state media quoted Tehran's police chief Gen. Hossein Rahimi as saying his officers had not opened fire on protesters and had acted with restraint. Police maintained a strong presence in Tehran on Monday, according to a video clip vetted by VOA. It appeared to show officers in riot gear, some on horseback, along the city's Azadi Street. "You can see the Iranian people are in the streets -- in astounding numbers in spite of enormous personal risk to themselves," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Monday speech at the Hoover Institution. "They're burning posters and billboards with Soleimani's face on them, and chanting 'Soleimani is a murderer.' They know he was one of the key architects of their oppression," Pompeo added, referring to other widely shared video clips of Sunday's protests. Pompeo said the Trump administration has called on U.S. allies in the region and around the world to repeat U.S. President Donald Trump's tweeted demands for Iran not to harm the protesters. The United States has said Iranian security forces killed at least 1,500 people, mostly with gunfire, in a crackdown on nationwide protests last November. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, told journalists that reports of people being shot during the Iran protests were "clearly worrying." "It's important, as with any demonstration, that reports of the lethal use of force be fully investigated," Dujarric said. A second clip from Monday's protest at Sharif University appeared to show a student shouting an angry message to the gathered crowd: "Our elites have left the country for good, and they (Iran's leaders) blew them up. If it was not an international flight, we would never have been informed of the truth." In a third clip, another protester can be heard telling the students through a megaphone: "We want clarity. This country has been suffering from a lack of transparency for years. They lied to us through all these years. Excuse my language; they treat us like donkeys." There were no reports of arrests or clashes at Sharif University. But London-based Internet monitoring group Netblocks tweeted that it recorded a drop in connectivity at the university on Monday as the students staged their protest. It said Iran's national connectivity rate was stable, despite what it said were sporadic disruptions on the third day of protests. Iranian authorities imposed a near-total Internet shutdown on the country within days of the outbreak of the November protests and only lifted it after a week. In his latest tweet in support of the protests, Trump on Monday praised Iranians who were seen in other online footage walking around a giant U.S. flag painted on the ground. Iranian authorities have placed such images around the country to encourage people to walk over the U.S. flag as a sign of disrespect. Trump had tweeted several other supportive messages in Farsi on Saturday and Sunday, marking the first time he had tweeted in the Persian language. In an interview with VOA Persian on Monday, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said there had been an "explosion" of re-tweets and likes of the president's Farsi posts. "By the president tweeting in Farsi over this weekend, not just in English, and by Secretary Pompeo tweeting as well, we want to make sure that we are using our platform here in the U.S. government to shine a light on these protests," Ortagus said. "If (Iran's rulers) decide to try to kill innocent protesters again, to imprison thousands of people peacefully protesting, to cut off the Internet -- we want them to know that they're not going to get a free pass, that we are watching, the world is watching, and we will bring it to light when that happens," she said. In a briefing with reporters Monday, a senior State Department official also talked about the message the Trump administration was sending with the Soleimani strike and ongoing concerns about Iranian proxy groups in the Middle East. "We would hope based on the president's demonstration, the administration's demonstration of how it is going to respond -- that is, that the United States has made clear that we plan on being disproportional in our response to Iranian aggression -- that hopefully this will result in the deterrence that we're looking for," the official said. "The ball is in Iran's court." VOA Persian's Guita Aryan contributed to this report from the State Department and Margaret Besheer contributed from the United Nations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Just three weeks away from the first votes being cast in the 2020 presidential cycle, the top election threats coordinator in the U.S. intelligence community warned local administrators and elected officials from around the country of the myriad threats they face. Shelby Pierson, the election threats executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, gave prominent, solo remarks Tuesday at the 2020 Election Summit, organized by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The event was one of the last times election leaders from across the country will gather before presidential caucuses and primaries begin, starting with Iowas voting on Feb. 3. Pierson, appointed to the new role created by former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, spoke for 20 minutes in somewhat vague terms about the precise threats facing leaders in thousands of precincts across the country, but was clear about the sharpened nature of the cyber and disinformation tools expected to be used by foreign actors this year. "This is not a Russia-only problem, she said. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, non-state hacktivists, all have opportunity, means, and potential motive to come after the United States in the 2020 election." In a gaggle with reporters afterward, Pierson stressed her desire for as much transparency with the public and media as possible on developing threats. To that end, she said she had recently met with several U.S. senators and intends to have a briefing with state leaders in the coming days. Election Security Coordination Improves As the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit first reported in 2018 and again in 2019, key election leaders did not have permanent federal security clearances to see top election threats. They do now. Christy McCormick, chairwoman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission the only federal agency focused full-time on election administration credited the National Investigative Units sustained reporting as one factor in getting the long-delayed clearances resolved. "Thanks to I think some impact from your reporting, yes, we all do now have security - permanent security clearances at the secret level, Chair McCormick said in an interview at the summit. Her agency, the E.A.C., is also sending out financial help approved last month by Congress. State-by-State Funding State Federal Share State Share 20% Total Alabama $6,901,560 $1,380,312 $8,281,872 Alaska $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 American Samoa $600,000 N/A $600,000 Arizona $8,362,741 $1,672,548 $10,035,289 Arkansas $5,011,991 $1,002,398 $6,014,389 California $38,740,655 $7,748,131 $46,488,786 Colorado $7,106,267 $1,421,253 $8,527,521 Connecticut $5,735,740 $1,147,148 $6,882,887 DC $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 Delaware $3,031,481 $606,296 $3,637,777 Florida $21,506,406 $4,301,281 $25,807,687 Georgia $11,549,183 $2,309,837 $13,859,020 Guam $600,000 N/A $600,000 Hawaii $3,508,595 $701,719 $4,210,314 Idaho $3,616,020 $723,204 $4,339,223 Illinois $14,830,251 $2,966,050 $17,796,302 Indiana $8,510,075 $1,702,015 $10,212,090 Iowa $5,161,182 $1,032,236 $6,193,418 Kansas $4,909,494 $981,899 $5,891,393 Kentucky $6,467,707 $1,293,541 $7,761,248 Louisiana $6,597,832 $1,319,566 $7,917,398 Maine $3,505,118 $701,024 $4,206,142 Maryland $7,914,306 $1,582,861 $9,497,167 Massachusetts $8,841,674 $1,768,335 $10,610,009 Michigan $11,999,001 $2,399,800 $14,398,801 Minnesota $7,389,506 $1,477,901 $8,867,407 Mississippi $5,021,549 $1,004,310 $6,025,859 Missouri $8,101,455 $1,620,291 $9,721,746 Montana $3,127,978 $625,596 $3,753,573 Nebraska $3,915,413 $783,083 $4,698,495 Nevada $4,790,795 $958,159 $5,748,954 New Hampshire $3,472,912 $694,582 $4,167,494 New Jersey $10,934,419 $2,186,884 $13,121,302 New Mexico $4,142,484 $828,497 $4,970,981 New York $21,838,990 $4,367,798 $26,206,788 North Carolina $11,624,810 $2,324,962 $13,949,772 North Dakota $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 Northern Marianas $600,000 N/A $600,000 Ohio $13,657,222 $2,731,444 $16,388,666 Oklahoma $5,820,345 $1,164,069 $6,984,414 Oregon $6,007,538 $1,201,508 $7,209,045 Pennsylvania $15,103,663 $3,020,733 $18,124,395 Puerto Rico $5,821,405 $1,164,281 $6,985,686 Rhode Island $3,210,168 $642,034 $3,852,202 South Carolina $6,767,471 $1,353,494 $8,120,966 South Dakota $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 Tennessee $8,476,810 $1,695,362 $10,172,173 Texas $26,064,574 $5,212,915 $31,277,489 Utah $4,603,931 $920,786 $5,524,718 Vermont $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 Virgin Islands $600,000 N/A $600,000 Virginia $10,175,711 $2,035,142 $12,210,853 Washington $8,860,638 $1,772,128 $10,632,765 West Virginia $4,044,353 $808,871 $4,853,223 Wisconsin $7,818,581 $1,563,716 $9,382,297 Wyoming $3,000,000 $600,000 $3,600,000 Totals $425,000,000 $84,520,000 $509,520,000 Congress approved, and President Trump signed, legislation allocating $425 million in election security money in December. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is in charge with dispersing the funds to each state within 45 days of the laws Dec. 21, 2019, passage and tracking the usage of the money. These figures, provided by the E.A.C., list how much each state can apply for and the 20 percent match amount required of any state accepting the grants. All 50 states can get new election security money within weeks, totaling $425 million dollars. But the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice estimates more than $2.1 billion is actually needed to secure America's elections. Nearly a dozen secretaries of state from across the country pleaded for more money when interviewed at their annual conference last summer. On Tuesday, Chair McCormick said the need is still there even after the additional nearly half-billion dollar assistance from Congress, signed by President Donald Trump. I think the states will tell you more money is needed, she said. Congress Presses Voting Equipment Manufacturers Some of that money will likely be used to buy more secure voting equipment, including machines that keep paper records of all votes cast, which can then be used in a post-election audit to ensure the integrity of the count. Last week, Congress pressed the CEOs of America's three biggest voting equipment manufacturers Omaha-based Election Systems & Software, Austin-based Hart InterCivic, and Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems on the security in their devices, used in elections coast to coast. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., asked the company executives during a hearing of the Committee on House Administration, Is there any method of voting that's 100 percent secure? All three answered no. Davis then asked, To your knowledge, has a foreign state successfully breached, or hacked, any of your vote tallying election machines? Again, each indicated no. When using the $425 million allocated by Congress to purchase new equipment, expand cyber training, or strengthen the security of voter registration systems, states must put up a 20 percent match for the amount they receive up from five percent match required in the 2018 tranche of $380 million in election security funds given by Congress. While states can start accepting the money within 45 days of its Dec. 21, 2019 passage, there is no requirement they spend it by the 2020 elections. Congress, instead, set a five-year deadline after yet another presidential election in 2024. Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. Travis Sherwin and April Chunko contributed to this report. Know of election security concerns or wasteful spending? Send investigative tips, information, and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com. Drinking too much alcohol may be caused by a gene which makes a pint of beer or glass more pleasurable than it should be, scientists claim. Tens of thousands of people had their genome analysed to investigate whether their DNA affects how much alcohol they consume. Researchers found those who drink a lot at least five bottles of wine a week for men, and three-and-a-half for women shared six specific genetic variants. These twists in DNA may disrupt pathways involved in reward and pleasure, causing them to enjoy a tipple more than the next person. Drinking habits are known to be rooted somewhat in a person's genetic makeup. Pinpointing the specific locations could lead to better treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD), which is when drinking is so extreme it causes harm. Drinking too much alcohol may be cause by a gene which makes a pint of beer or glass more pleasurable than it should be, scientists claim AUD has shown to be half the fault of genetics, while the other half is dependent on environmental factors, such as the age someone had their first drink. The disorder has been implicated in the development of more than 60 diseases, including liver disease, heart disease and cancer. Around 14million adult Americans battle AUD, and 1.6million adultsin the UK have some level of dependence, figures show. The study, in the journal Science Advances, was led by Dr Andrew Thompson and Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed from the University of Liverpool. Some 125,000 British people aged 40 to 69 were involved in the analysis. Their lifestyle data and blood samples were given to the UK Biobank. All participants had been asked to quantify how much alcohol they consumed per week or per month for example, how many glasses of red wine per week. The researchers calculated the number of units each person drank per week using UK guidelines. Heavy drinkers were defined as men who drank more than 50 units a week and women who drank more than 35 units per week. A bottle of wine contains around 10 units, while a can of lager with five per cent alcohol contains two units. Each person's genome was scanned in search for small DNA variations called SNPs. There are millions of SNPs, but if a particular SNP occurs more frequently in people with a particular condition than in people without the condition, it can suggest the underlying reason for the difference. Results showed altered levels of six SNPs in heavy drinkers, some of which have been identified in research before. One gene, DRD2, is implicated in the feeling of pleasure and reward. Another, KLB, may also make alcohol and sugary foods more enjoyable. Low levels of ADH1B was also linked to heavy drinkers, and is one of the most robustly studied genes in this area. ADH1B encodes for enzymes which break alcohol down. As alcohol is metabolised, it causes unpleasant side effects, like nausea and a high heart rate. HOW MUCH ALCOHOL IS ADVISED PER WEEK? Men and women in the UK are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis. One unit equals 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is around the amount of alcohol the average adult can process in an hour. A pint of strong lager contains 3 units of alcohol, whereas the same volume of low-strength lager has just over 2 units. Some measurements include: Single small shot of spirits (25ml, ABV 40 per cent) - one unit Small glass of red/white/rose wine (125ml, ABV 12 per cent)- 1.5 units Bottle of lager/beer/cider (330ml, ABV five per cent) - 1.7 units Can of lager/beer/cider (440ml, ABV 5.5 per cent) - two units Pint of higher-strength lager/beer/cider (ABV 5.2 per cent) - three units Large glass of red/white/rose wine (250ml, ABV 12 per cent) - three units Use Alcohol Concern's unit calculator to measure units. Source: NHS Advertisement People with low levels of ADH1B metabolise slower, therefore don't get that nauseating drunk feeling as quick. They may be able to consume more alcohol over longer periods of time. The risk for high alcohol consumption may share genetic links with risk for gout, a form of arthritis, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes. To test the researchers' findings, worms were genetically engineered to carry some of the identified genes. Worms are considered 'excellent' models for investigating the effects of alcohol because they behave in a similar way when intoxicated. The genetically engineered worms had a significantly different response to alcohol compared to wild worms, based on the co-ordination of their movements. The scientists said these findings reinforce the link between genetic predisposition and heavy drinking tendencies in humans. However, the effects were reduced if the genes were switched off. Dr Thompson, said: 'Our study offers insight into genes, pathways, and relationships for disease risk associated with high alcohol consumption. 'This improved understanding regarding genetic risk of alcohol consumption will lead to further study and hopefully opportunities to develop new treatments for people with alcohol use disorders.' Professor Pirmohamed, said: 'This is a really important area because of the morbidity and mortality, and societal effects, of heavy alcohol consumption.' Ian Hamilton, a senior lecturer in addiction at York University, who was not involved in the research, said identifying genes related to alcohol use is challenging. He told MailOnline: 'We have known for some time that there is a link between genes and problem drinking but identifying specific genes has proved to be difficult. 'This research is another step in understanding which genes play a part and how this relationship works at a biological level. 'Although these findings won't have an impact on treatment today they could be used in the development of new treatments in the future.' The researchers acknowledged that the study relied on self-reported data about alcohol use, which may be wrong. The Syrian army said on Tuesday Israeli jets attacked the main T4 air base in Homs province, saying its air defences downed several missiles in strikes that caused only material damage. An army spokesman told state media that four Israeli missiles did reach the base, but said air defences intercepted several others. State television earlier did not say who was behind the attack on the major air base, which Israel accuses of hosting an Iranian military presence and has attacked several times in recent years. The Israeli airforce conducted new aerial aggression and immediately our air defences confronted the enemy missiles, an army statement said. The Syrian army statement said the Israeli war jets flew from Tanf, to the southeast, where the United States has set up a base near the Iraqi-Jordanian border. Tanf lies on the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, a major supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria. This makes the base a bulwark against Iran and part of a larger U.S. campaign against Iranian influence in Iraq and Syria. Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian backed militia targets in Syria, saying its goal was to end Tehrans military presence which Western intelligence sources say has expanded in recent years in the war-torn country. The Israel Defence Force did not immediately comment on the attack. Tuesdays strikes are the first which Syria accused Israel of undertaking since the United States killed Irans most powerful military commander in a drone strike on Jan. 3, sparking one of the biggest escalations between Tehran and Washington since 1979. Irans proxy militias led by Lebanons Hezbollah now hold sway in vast areas in eastern and southern Syria and northwest as well as several suburbs around the capital. They have also entrenched themselves in the strategically located border town of AlbuKamal on the Euphrates river in Deir Zor district in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq where Iraqi Shiite paramilitary groups have a strong foothold. Western intelligence sources say Israel has been behind several strikes against Iranian assets in the border area in recent weeks. The Iraqi side of the border had seen the deployment in large numbers of Iran-allied Iraqi Shiite militias who now de facto control large stretches of the frontier, with posts not far from military bases housing U.S. troops. The U.S. military struck Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group in areas in Iraq and Syria along the border area at the end of last month in what U.S. officials said was a response to escalating provocations from Iran. Israel in the past has said Iran uses the T4 base to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia group with which it fought a deadly month-long war in 2006. Western intelligence sources say it has also been used as a base for Irans Revolutionary Guards. Israel, which previously has rarely acknowledged strikes in Syria, has become more vocal in pledging it will do what is needed to thwart the entrenchment of Iranian forces or arms transfers to Hezbollah. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 23:46:12|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The year 2019 set the strategic course for the steady growth of the relations between China and the Philippines, the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said on Wednesday. "The year 2019 witnessed the sustained betterment and growth of China-Philippines relations," Huang said in a speech at the reception to celebrate the Chinese lunar new year. He said China is now the Philippines' top trading partner, the second-largest source of tourists and one of the largest investors. Last year more than 1.5 million Chinese nationals visited the Philippines, the Chinese ambassador said. "We have been actively synergizing (China's) Belt and Road Initiative and the 'Build, Build, Build' Plan (of the Philippines) and supporting the development of the Philippines. I am sure as more and more Chinese projects are launched and completed, they will bring more tangible benefits to the Philippine people." According to Huang, important bilateral mechanisms including the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea (BCM) "are working well." The consultation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea with the Philippines which serves as the country coordinator of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, has been steadily moving forward, contributing to the peace and stability of the region and beyond, he added. For the first time in history, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel is paying a port call in the Philippines,conveying the message of friendship, cooperation and goodwill, the Chinese ambassador said. A CCG ship, coded 5204, arrived in Manila on Tuesday for a four-day port call aimed at enhancing maritime cooperation between the two neighboring countries. All the progress could not be achieved without the support and contribution made by the Philippine friends and the Chinese community in the Philippines, Huang said. "Let's seize the day and live it to the full to work for the greater development of both countries as well as the sustained growth of our bilateral ties," he concluded. Unlike his notoriously violent life and brutal death, the funeral of feared underworld figure Nabil Maghnie was a subdued and respectful affair. Hundreds gathered around a simple plot in Northern Memorial Park in Glenroy on Wednesday to mourn the 44-year-old, who was gunned down on an Epping street last week. Nabil Maghnie's sons stand over his coffin. Maghnies coffin was greeted by the huge crowd many young men dressed almost uniformly in black T-shirts and black pants after his body arrived from a traditional Muslim ceremony held privately at a nearby mosque. The coffin was set down on the edge of the car park for the Sugar Gum precinct, where, facing towards Mecca, Muslim attendees were led in prayer before Maghnies body was carried to the gravesite. Puerto Ricans standing on faith amid fear of deadly aftershocks Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Puerto Ricans have been praying under a massive cloud of uncertainty about the future since suffering yet another 5.9-magnitude tremor after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the island last Tuesday, leaving one person dead and significant damage to buildings. A prayer circle in Ponce, Puerto Rico with a rainbow above at a time when earthquakes aftershocks are causing damage & fear - here, there's a refusal to be mentally defeated, and for many people, a faith fueled belief that things will be better, CBS This Morning lead correspondent, David Begnaud shared in a tweet from Puerto Rico Sunday amid reports of thousands sleeping outdoors to escape calamity. A prayer circle in Ponce, Puerto Rico with a rainbow above at a time when earthquakes aftershocks are causing damage & fear - here, there's a refusal to be mentally defeated, and for many people, a faith fueled belief that things will be better pic.twitter.com/fQrCDMuyyM David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) January 13, 2020 The tremor on Saturday was about 8 miles south of Indios in the Caribbean Sea, the US Geological Survey said, at a depth of 6.2 miles. On Sunday, the USGS also highlighted three likely scenarios that could play out for the earthquake-battered island over the next 30 days, including a 3% chance of an earthquake significantly larger than the M6.4 that occurred on the 7 January. A much less likely scenario than the previous two scenarios is that recent earthquakes could trigger an earthquake significantly larger than the M6.4 that occurred on the 7 January (i.e., M7.0 and above). While this is a very small probability, if such an earthquake were to occur, it would have serious impacts on communities nearby. This size earthquake would also trigger its own aftershock sequence, so the rate of small and moderate earthquakes would increase again, the agency stated. The USGS noted that the most likely scenario they expect to unfold based on the current seismic activity is that aftershocks will continue to decrease in frequency and will be significantly lower in magnitude than the M6.4 that occurred on the 7 January. It was also noted that an earthquake occurring of similar size as the magnitude 6.4 tremor last Tuesday could also occur in an event called a doublet. A doublet emerges when two large earthquakes of similar size occur closely in time and location. If this happens, additional damage as well as increased aftershocks is likely. Only one of these scenarios will occur within the next month. These scenarios will change over time, like our forecast. The earthquakes in these scenarios would occur in the areas where aftershocks are happening now. Earthquakes in this sequence will continue to occur for days, months, or potentially years to come. It is very unlikely the aftershocks will cease completely within the next month, the USGS said. Too much, Israel Velez Irizarry, 49, told The New York Times as he sought shelter in his car outside his aunts house. He, his wife and their three children have already spent several nights outdoors waiting for the tremors to end. Puerto Ricos largest newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, reported 73-year-old Nelson Martinez Guillen as the first casualty of last Tuesdays earthquake. A wall from his home in Ponce collapsed on him as he slept. Many Puerto Ricans are trying to avoid a similar fate by staying outdoors. We havent been able to shower or anything, Velez told The New York Times. It shakes and it shakes and it looks like it wants to keep going. He and his wife, Desiree Rodriguez, 33, along with their children planned to fly on Sunday to Kentucky to stay with his oldest son. More than 50 members of the Church of the Immaculate Conception that was destroyed in Guayanilla during last Tuesdays quake gathered on Sunday under white tents by the side of the church for their first mass since the tremor. We are fine physically, but emotionally, we are not, Luz Torres, 52, told the Times ahead of the Mass. This has changed our lives. Daniel Amici who witnessed the damage caused by the tremors in Puerto Rico first hand said his prayers are with the residents after returning from the island on Saturday. We lose power, we lose it for a maximum of a week. You know, over there, they lost power for months at a time. Its not really done around here so just prayers out to them, Amici of Waterbury, Connecticut, told Fox61. Noonday Association, a diverse network of 125 churches in Greater Atlanta, said three of their churches in Puerto Rico are now being used as shelters by about 1,500 people. PUERTO RICO NEEDS YOUR HELP! 3 of our churches have now become emergency shelters housing about 500 people at each. Our partners are serving 3 meals a day & are helping people/families all across the affected region (Southwest PR). So many families have been displaced. So many are sleeping outdoors because they are understandably fearful of their homes collapsing, the network said in a statement on Instagram. Earthquakes/tremors are happening almost hourly. Even those who are physically okay are emotionally and mentally distraught. The ministry noted that several pastors will be going to Puerto Rico on Thursday to assist with relief work. Last Tuesdays earthquake alone wreaked an estimated $110 million in damage. The islands Gov. Wanda Vazquez asked the federal government on Saturday to approve a major disaster declaration to clear the way for additional federal assistance, including funds for temporary housing, the Times reported. An initial emergency declaration was approved by President Donald Trump last week. Fla. church with newly opened coffee shop run by autistic adults experiences fire, burglary Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A church in Florida with a recently opened coffee shop that was staffed by adults with autism spectrum disorder was the victim of a fire and burglary. GraceWay Church in Leesburg experienced a fire last Friday that impacted their youth and childrens building, which also damaged the GraceWay Grounds coffee shop. Alice Dickson, a spokesperson for GraceWay, reached out to The Christian Post via email on Sunday, explaining that the church was also burglarized. Friday night the Youth Center of GraceWay Church was set on fire and the church was burglarized. The Youth Center was gutted and GraceWay Grounds coffee shop and cafe was seriously damaged by smoke, explained Dickson. An investigation into the fire and burglary is ongoing, with the Daily Commercial reporting Saturday that police were talking with a person of interest about the crime. Sheriffs Sgt. Fred Jones said that the unnamed individual was found passed out on his mothers porch near the church, with drugs and a cut on his leg, reported the Commercial. In a statement posted to their Facebook page on Friday, GraceWay Grounds explained that no one had been harmed in the fire, adding Pray for us! Stay tuned for more info. #gracewaystrong. The organizers of the annual Autism Family Fun Day joined in on the call for prayers for the church coffee shop, posting a statement to Facebook on Friday. So many families have used this church for support long before so many new churches have also picked up the mantle of our special needs community, they stated. No one was there they are reporting. Let's send support to them and hopefully all will be well. Last October, the church opened the GraceWay Grounds Coffee & Cafe outreach ministry, which was aimed in part to help give autistic individuals employment training. Roberta Kellan, director of Operations for GraceWay Grounds Coffee & Cafe, told CP in an earlier interview that she has a son who is on the autism spectrum. I chose specifically the coffee shop because my son trained at a coffee shop while in Michigan, and it was one of his favorite places of employment. It offers an opportunity to be easily trained and interact with the public, said Kellan to CP last year. My son was able to receive on-the-job training via a work study program created by the public school system. They act as a liaison between the young people and participating employers. My son has flourished. At its opening, the cafe had six volunteer workers and its primary income stemming from donations. Any profits went back into the coffee shop and towards employment training. WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Switzerland, Canada and Japan maintain their dominance in the overall 2020 Best Countries Report , a ranking and analysis project by U.S. News & World Report, BAV Group and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This year, the project evaluated the perceptions of 73 nations across a range of categories, from economic influence and military might to education and quality of life, to determine which countries wield the most influence on a global scale. "The Best Countries analysis taps into U.S. News' decades-long expertise in supplementing data with in-depth journalism," said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. "By collaborating with leaders in data and academia, we're able to help thought leaders, business decision makers, policy makers and citizens understand how perceptions impact their country's standing in the world." Key themes from the 2020 Best Countries report include: Switzerland stays on top overall. Canada moves up to No. 2, and Japan is No. 3. Rounding out the top 5 are Germany and Australia . The U.K. comes in at No. 6, and the U.S. rose one spot to No. 7. moves up to No. 2, and is No. 3. Rounding out the top 5 are and . The U.K. comes in at No. 6, and the U.S. rose one spot to No. 7. Respondents paint a bleak picture when asked about nations' trustworthiness. While the U.S. is perceived as the most powerful country in the world, data shows it is not perceived as very trustworthy. Canada is perceived as the most trustworthy country, and has been since the first Best Countries report in 2016. During that same time, perceptions of the U.S. as being trustworthy have steadily dropped to a record-low of 16.3 on a 100-point scale. The U.K. also fell in this attribute, while Greece , South Korea and Spain improved. While the U.S. is perceived as the most powerful country in the world, data shows it is not perceived as very trustworthy. is perceived as the most trustworthy country, and has been since the first Best Countries report in 2016. During that same time, perceptions of the U.S. as being trustworthy have steadily dropped to a record-low of 16.3 on a 100-point scale. The U.K. also fell in this attribute, while , and improved. There is a global consensus about the effect of climate change. Most respondents (87%) agree that climate change is real. Of the 36 countries surveyed, people in Russia agreed about climate change the least (71%), and Indonesia agreed the most (97%) along with African nations including Nigeria , Kenya and South Africa . But only 60% of respondents agree their country is effectively addressing its effects. Most respondents (87%) agree that climate change is real. Of the 36 countries surveyed, people in agreed about climate change the least (71%), and agreed the most (97%) along with African nations including , and . But only 60% of respondents agree their country is effectively addressing its effects. Global anxiety about technology persists . Nearly three out of four people (74%) think large technology companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon should be limited, and about the same number agree that technology is displacing jobs. The UK, Canada and Australia agree most with limiting large technology corporations. In Japan , which is perceived as a technology powerhouse, just 31.5% agree that technology is displacing jobs and 55% agree that big tech should be limited. . Nearly three out of four people (74%) think large technology companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon should be limited, and about the same number agree that technology is displacing jobs. The UK, and agree most with limiting large technology corporations. In , which is perceived as a technology powerhouse, just 31.5% agree that technology is displacing jobs and 55% agree that big tech should be limited. Gender equality is viewed favorably, but there is a gap between perception and reality. Ninety percent of respondents agree that women should be entitled to the same rights as men. However, when asked whether women actually do have the same economic opportunities as men in their countries, only 64% of respondents agreed. A little more than two out of three people (69%) said they view traditional gender roles as important to a functioning society, and that perception is similar between men (73%) and women (66%). "This year's Best Countries rankings continue to show us human rights, diversity, sustainability and free trade are all top of mind for many worldwide, connecting us together. These fundamental topics are vital to a nation's brand strength and reflect how the quality of life can have a dramatic influence on global perception," said Michael Sussman, CEO, BAV Group. In addition to the overall rankings, the report also includes: The 2020 Best Countries rankings methodology uses data gathered from a proprietary survey of more than 20,000 business leaders; college educated individuals that are middle class or higher; and general citizens who are nationally representative of their country. "The goal of the Best Countries report is to understand how global perceptions are related to investment, foreign trade and tourism of a nation," said David Reibstein, professor of marketing at the Wharton School. The Best Countries project includes in-depth news articles, an interactive data explorer, video, photos and commentary from global experts in government, business and academia. It is part of U.S. News' Government Rankings initiative, which measures government performance at the international, state and local levels and includes the Best States, Healthiest Communities and Cities projects. To view the full rankings and search country profiles, visit https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries and follow coverage on Facebook and Twitter using #BestCountries. 2020 Best Countries rankings *See the full rankings here. Overall Switzerland Canada Japan Germany Australia United Kingdom United States Sweden Netherlands Norway Most Powerful United States Russia China To Start a Business Thailand Malaysia China For Quality of Life Canada Denmark Sweden For Women Denmark Sweden Netherlands For Education United States United Kingdom Canada For Green-Living Sweden Switzerland Finland About U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and Civic, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C. About BAV Group BAV Group is a global consultancy with expertise in consumer insights and brand marketing strategy. Using BrandAsset Valuator, a proprietary brand management tool and global database of consumer perceptions of brands, BAV informs strategic and creative solutions that drive business results. Over 25 years, BAV has captured data and consumer insights on more than 60,000 brands in 50 countries around the world, evaluating 75 brand image and equity dimensions that matter. BAV Group is a unit of VMLY&R, a WPP company. Visit bavgroup.com to learn more. About the Wharton School Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually and a powerful alumni network of 94,000 graduates. For more information, visit http://seicenter.wharton.upenn.edu. SOURCE U.S. News & World Report Related Links https://www.usnews.com Forty-three minutes into Tuesday nights Democratic presidential debate from Iowa, after an unsettlingly civilized discussion about foreign policy, the CNN debate moderators couldnt take it anymore and arrived at the hot gossip of the week: Whether Bernie Sandersas Elizabeth Warren has claimed and Sanders has deniedtold her in a 2018 meeting that a woman couldnt beat Donald Trump. Only two participants were in that room, there are no recordings of the meeting, and the two participants have starkly different recollections of the conversation. After a long span of cordial campaigning between the left-most candidates, here was a dispute worth getting to the bottom of. Advertisement Here, though, is how the question was raised to Sanders. CNN reported yesterday, and Sen. Warren confirmed in a statement, that in 2018, you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election, CNN moderator Abby Phillip said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Why did you say that? Sanders denied that he said that, recalled how he tried to draft Warren for 2016 before entering the race himself, and cited Hillary Clintons win in the popular vote last cycle. He promised to do everything in his power to ensure the eventual nominee was elected. So Sen. Sanders, Phillip followed up, I want to be very clear here: Youre saying that you never told Sen. Warren that a woman could not win the election? Advertisement That is correct, Sanders said. There was the point of contention, in black and white. Then Phillip asked Warren about it: What did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? Sanders chuckled along with the audience. Warren seemed almost surprised, at first, that she hadnt been asked to litigate the essential truth of the claim, as CNN had granted her the assumption that her version was correct. She quickly transitioned, though, to an effective monologue about how the men on the stage had collectively lost 10 elections, and she was the only candidate on stage who had beaten an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years. That was the slightly unreal tenor of the night. There was no particular candidate on stage earning most of the scorn and scrutiny from their fellow candidates, as Joe Biden earned in the first couple of debates, Warren earned during the October debate, and Pete Buttigieg earned in December. That reflects the tight, fluid race in Iowa a few weeks out from the caucuses, where the four candidates are within a few points with each other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The moderators, however, had a clear focus, and it was Sanders. Their treatment of him reflected his dual status in the race: As a plausible front-runner in a narrowing field, he was due to receive sustained scrutiny; as the candidate furthest past the left edge of establishment politics, he faced questions that framed his positions as facially unrealistic, or dangerously in league with the Ayatollah Khamenei. The Sanders campaign has complainednot unreasonablyfor much of the past year that the media has erased or ignored the candidate, even as hes run a strong and steady race. Tuesdays debate showed that they dont have to worry about the press refusing to pay attention to him anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the opening segment about foreign policy, after Sanders had called out Bidens vote for the Iraq war, Biden agreed with Sanders that his vote had been a mistake. Its a key point for Sanders: Back then, he took a stand outside the mainstream of political opinion, and it has since been vindicated. Rather than leaving it there, though, CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer immediately brought up how Sanders had recently expressed regret for his vote for the war in Afghanistan (or, more specifically, for the 2001 AUMF against al-Qaida). So you both acknowledged mistakes, Blitzer asked Sanders. Why should the American people trust your judgment more? (Sanders answer, in a nutshell, was: Because I didnt vote for the Iraq war, dummy.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later in the segment, Blitzer introduced a question to Sanders about removing troops from Iraq the following way: Sen. Sanders, in the wake of the Iran crisis, Irans Ayatollah Khamenei has again called for all U.S. troops to be pulled out of the Middle East, something youve called for, as well. Following a segment on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, during which Elizabeth Warren was asked why is Sen. Sanders wrong to oppose the deal, and the discussion of the 2018 meeting in which it was treated as established fact that Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren, verbatim, that he doesnt think a woman can beat Trump, the debate moved to well-trod territory of how dang expensive his signature proposal, Medicare for All, would be. Sanders was asked, first, Dont voters deserve to see the price tag before you send them a bill that could cost tens of trillions of dollars? Advertisement Its a fair topic. Sanders has not yet released a full funding plan, as Warren has. Candidates show up for the debates expecting to be put on the spot. But it was odd to see the next question, in which Biden was also invited to put Sanders on the spot: Does Sen. Sanders owe voters a price tag on his health care plan? Biden, startlingly, suggested that he did and said that Sanders plan would amount to doubling the entire federal budget per year. Advertisement Advertisement A few minutes later, Phillip deployed Bidens talking point: Sen. Sanders, your campaign proposals would double federal spending over the next decade, an unprecedented level of spending not seen since World War II. How would you keep your plans from bankrupting the country? she asked. Advertisement Sanders was later asked about how his health care plan would eliminate insurance industry jobs in Iowa. All of it built up to the Ur-question, asked near the end of the debate: More than two-thirds of voters say they are not enthusiastic about voting for a socialist. Doesnt that put your chances of beating Donald Trump at risk? Bernie Sanders is a big boy. If hes the nomineeor even if he just wins Iowa, in the ensuing Democratic freakouthe should, and presumably does, expect to field not just extreme scrutiny, but extreme scrutiny that assumes the absurdity of his positions or electability, every minute of his life. In that respect, Tuesdays debate was good preparation for the second half of the cycle. The only surprise is that it took debate moderators this long to recognize he was worth the time. A man in America asked a judge for a trial by combat to settle a dispute with his ex-wife. David Omstrom, of Kansas, asked Iowa District Court for permission to fight Bridgette Ostrom, 38, and her legal team on the field of battle where [he] will rend their souls from their corporal bodies. In court documents, the 40-year-old argues combat has never been explicitly banned or restricted as a right in the United States, adding that trial by combat was used as recently as 1818 in British Court. Mr Omstrom has also requested 12 weeks of lead time ahead of any duel to gather katana and wakizashi swords, the Carroll Times Herald reports. He reportedly said in the court filing that Matthew Hudson, his former wifes lawyer, can be her champion in battle. I think Ive met Mr. Hudsons absurdity with my own absurdity, he said. "If Mr Hudson is willing to do it, I will meet him. I don't think he has the guts to do it. But Mr Hudson pointed out this trial could prove fatal and such ramifications likely outweigh the fractured couples row over tax, urging the request to be rejected. Judge Craig Dreismeier said on Monday that no decisions will be made soon, citing confusion with each sides motions and responses. VANCOUVERThey dont get a free pass to Crown land. Theyll have to put in effort if they want to keep their baby from speaking Canadian. And, theyll have to go through the proper procedures if they want to get permanent residency. Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle received the green light from the Queento live, at least part time, in Canada, there have been questions aplenty about what their decision to step back from full-time royal duties will mean for the U.K. But in Canada, some more practical and some, well, entirely less practical questions must be considered. Here are the essentials. What kind of accent will baby Archie develop? Could baby Archie end up sounding like a Canadian? Under normal circumstances, a child tends to grow up speaking like their friends, even when their parents have a different accent. So say linguistic experts, and teenagers everywhere. But eight-month-old Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and seventh in line for the British throne, may eventuallly have some other expectations thrust upon him, in terms of his pronunciation. While Harry and Meghan have made it clear they intend to split their time between Canada and the United Kingdom, it remains to be seen how much time the couple will spend in each country and where their infant son will be educated. I have a feeling that the Royal Family would have an interest to have an heir, however far removed, who speaks with an English accent, said Stefan Dollinger, associate professor in the University of British Columbias sociolinguistics department. If Archie is sent to a British boarding school, he would conceivably develop an accent similar to his fathers upper class Received Pronunciation English. But education in Canada would likely mean the child would speak with a standard Canadian accent. What is most likely, Dollinger said, is that Archie will develop a mixed accent as a result of spending time in both Canada and the U.K., or be trained to speak with several accents, using the most appropriate one for each occasion. Itll be very likely when hes a teenager and you drag him into the lab and you record his speech there will likely be some fudged forms, some intermediate forms (of speech), Dollinger predicted. How is it that Harry and Meghan get to stay here? Contrary to what some may think, Harry and Meghan are not entitled to any special privileges immigrating to Canada just because theyre royalty. But dont expect them to encounter any big hurdles getting their papers in order, either. Based on her previous TV work in Canada, Markle likely qualifies for permanent resident status under the cultural activities component of the Self-Employed Persons Program. If thats the case, her husband and child could simply apply as accompanying dependants. I think she has an excellent chance, said Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland. She applies, gets the ticket, they all come in. If granted, Harry would then be entitled to an open spousal work permit which means no constraints on where he works. Kurland, however, cautions Markle about one thing: her pending application for U.K. citizenship. If she applies for Canadian permanent residency before the disposition of her U.K. citizenship application, that could create complications and come back to bite her, Kurland said. Thats why Id be honoured to take on (their file), he said, adding hed be willing to do the work pro bono. How much will it cost taxpayers to keep them safe? Security is a question thats loomed large in discussions of the Royals move. The answer is: It depends. Will they reside in a bustling city such as Toronto, or in a secluded bungalow on the West Coast? Retired RCMP deputy commissioner Pierre-Yves Bourduas says anytime theres an official royal visit to Canada, the RCMP works with the branch of Londons Metropolitan Police responsible for protecting the Royal Family to assign security roles. But Harry and Meghans move to Canada is unprecedented and presents a whole different dynamic. Bourduas says he cant see a scenario where Mounties would provide long-term protection to the young family, beyond providing advice. (The RCMP) have other priorities than to manage this Royal couples transition into a more personal life. Just look at our ex-prime ministers, he said. They're pretty much on their own after leaving office. Some private VIP security firms appear to be trying to woo the couple. Going private offers more personal control of the family needs and requirements, said a blog post this week on the website of Toronto-based Sentinel Security Plus, which conveniently listed how much high-profile business leaders pay for their security, such as Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg ($4 million) and Apples Tim Cook ($210,000). Even though Harry and Meghan are trying to distance themselves from the Royal Family and could lose their status as Internationally Protected Persons, defined in the Criminal Code as a heads of state, state representatives and their family members theyd be foolish not to take some precautions, said Joe Balz, the firms director of executive protection. They will have to have some security just because of the people they are, he said. Neither the RCMP, nor the office of the federal public safety minister, would comment on their security plans for the couple. Do Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get diplomatic immunity? Sure, it seems highly unlikely, but should the bizarre arise and Harry or Meghan somehow run afoul of the law here in Canada, theres no guarantee theyd be afforded any special protections. It depends entirely on their as yet somewhat hazy role, says David Mulroney, a distinguished fellow at the University of Torontos Munk School of Global Affairs and former Canadian ambassador. People sent officially by the British government, and who are granted diplomatic status, have immunity in Canada. Harry and Meghan dont appear to be coming to Canada in that capacity. Even if they came representing the Crown (or Queen), as the Governor General and lieutenants governor, do, that doesnt necessarily afford them immunity either. If they were to come in some sort of vice-regal capacity, I would advise them to pay their parking tickets," Mulroney said. At most, maybe Harry and Meghan will get some courtesy travel document that spares them the lineup at Pearson International Airport, he said. We have a lot of Crown land. Can the couple take some? Canada is a very large country. And in B.C. all but about six per cent of the land belongs to the Crown, a.k.a. Prince Harrys grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. But spokespeople from B.C.s Ministry of Natural Resources said Tuesday that doesnt mean she, or Prince Harry, have any special privileges when it comes to using it, the administration of which is governed by the provincial Land Act. In other words, therell be no calling up and reserving an unused portion of land to build a family home for the happy (part-time) royal defectors. That said, nothing is stopping the couple from making an application to use Crown land for residential purposes, if they wanted. It happens all the time through the provinces Residential Program for Crown land. The province has a policy on when it approves and disapproves applications for residential uses of Crown land, and the first requirement is that residential use must be the highest and best use of that particular piece of land. Will U.K. tabloids dog them wherever they go? One of the reasons the Duke and Duchess are looking to back off from royal life is to escape the scrutiny of the British press particularly the tabloid papers that have dragged the Duchess for everything from the way she held her baby bump to whether or not she was in contact with her father. But if a quiet life is what the couple is after, theyre unlikely to find it in Canada at least not at first. Its true that Canada doesnt have the same competitive, national gossip media that exists in the U.K., said Alfred Hermida, former British Broadcasting Corp. journalist and professor at the University of British Columbia school of journalism. But its hard to see how the (British) tabloids are not going to be hiring freelancers or paparazzi to try to figure out where they are in Canada, he said. Plus, the couples move to Canada makes them arguably more newsworthy. While participating as full-time members of the Royal Family, they captured the publics curiosity and attention because of their royal status a public preoccupation made obvious by the popularity of television shows such as The Crown. Taking a step back from royal duties changes the stakes. Theres now a public interest in figuring out: How do royals carve out a new role for them that goes beyond the traditional roles of the past? Hermida said. Read more about: A 'lovely and happy' girl has been scarred for life after her eyelid was torn off when she fell and smashed her face on a clothes rack in Kmart. Cecilia Chen, six, was almost blinded while shopping with her grandmother at the Chatswood Chase shopping centre on Sydney's Lower North Shore last week. The youngster, who celebrated her birthday only three days before, wanted to buy a pink t-shirt and her grandmother was helping her look for one. Horrific injury: This picture, which Daily Mail has pixelated because it is so graphic, shows Cecilia in hospital with her eyelid hanging off Surgery: Cecilia had a four-hour operation to restore her eyelid - but her mother says she will never look the same again. Pictured: Cecilia after the operation Tragic accident: This is the clothes hook where Cecilia smashed her face at Chatswood Chase shopping centre on Sydney's Lower North Shore As Cecilia's grandmother looked through the shirts on a high rack, the six-year-old spotted a pink one and jumped up to try to reach it. She lost her balance and crashed landed, smashing her right eye into a metal clothes hook on the rack below. Cecilia's top eyelid - including her eyelashes - was sliced off and she was left wailing in agony. Her mother Jill Huang rushed from work before an ambulance took them to Randwick Children's Hospital. Recovery: Cecilia's top eyelid - including her eyelashes - was sliced off and she was left wailing in agony. Pictured: Cecilia in hospital after the fall In happier times: Cecilia (pictured before the accident) is described as 'lovely and happy' After a seven-hour wait, Cecilia had a four-hour operation that night to restore her eyelid - but her mother says she will never look the same again. Recalling the accident which happened on January 8, Ms Huang told Daily Mail Australia: 'Cecilia wanted to buy a pink t-shirt and her grandma was helping her find the sizes. 'Cecilia saw a pink one on the high racks and tried to help and grab it - but it was too high for her and she lost her balance, landing on the low rack hook. 'Everything happened so suddenly. Grandma could do nothing to prevent it.' Ms Huang, who described Cecilia as 'lovely and happy', said her daughter had plastic surgery to repair her eyelid muscle and lacrimal gland. 'Luckily her eye ball was not damaged, but it will take a long time for Cecilia's sight to return to normal,' she said. 'Her right eye lid will be lower and smaller and never look the same. She is very sad and scared.' Cecilia (pictured before the accident) lost her balance and crashed landed, smashing her right eye into a metal clothes hook in Kmart Cecilia's mother Ms Huang is now campaigning for Kmart to make clothes racks safer for children. Pictured: Cecilia before the accident Ms Huang is now campaigning for Kmart to make clothes racks safer for children. Kmart is investigating the accident. A spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'At Kmart Australia the safety of our customers and their families is our highest priority. 'We have processes in place to review any injury sustained by customers or team members in our stores, and were currently looking at safety options to reduce the chance of this type of injury occurring in the future. 'We are in contact with the customer's family directly in relation to this incident and our thoughts are with the family and Cecilia as she recovers.' Last year a five-year-old boy almost lost his eye when he accidentally impaled a metal hook through his face after colliding with a clothes rack at Target. Saad Shahzad was shopping with his mother and sister in Parramatta, west Sydney in May when he saw a shirt on the floor and bent down abruptly to pick it up. Injured: Saad Shahzad (pictured) was shopping with his mother and sister in Parramatta, west Sydney last month when he saw a shirt on the floor and bent down abruptly to pick it up His face smashed into the metal clothes rack (pictured is the rack where the incident happened) and the hook got lodged in his eye socket as he wailed in agony His face smashed into the metal clothes rack and the hook got lodged in his eye socket as screamed. Saad's mother screamed in horror and tried to pull her son's face off the hook. When she eventually freed him, blood poured from his open wound before she vomited and fainted in shock. Saad, who was temporarily blinded in one eye, was rushed to hospital where he had emergency surgery for a torn eye duct. He is now recovering well and has no lasting injuries. A Target spokesman said at the time: 'At Target Australia the safety of our customers and their families is our highest priority. We are sorry to hear of what occurred with the customer in our store.' (TNS) The Cambridge, Massachusetts, City Council voted to Monday night to ban the municipal use of facial recognition technology, becoming the fourth community in the state to do so, the ACLU of Massachusetts announced.Brookline, Northampton and Somerville have already passed similar bans, and the Springfield City Council took its first steps Monday night to restrict the use of the software as well.A bill before the State House would also establish a statewide moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology and other forms of biometric surveillance, including the analysis of a persons gait or voice, until the legislature regulates the software.Cambridge joins a small but growing number of cities who are stepping up to protect residents from intrusive and undemocratic technology, Cambridge City Councilor Marc McGovern, former mayor of the city, said in a tweet.Proponents of legislation banning the use of facial recognition technology at the state or municipal level argue privacy laws have not caught up with the software, as regulation at the state and federal level of biometric surveillance is nonexistent.They also say the software is inaccurate and biased when it comes to factors of age, gender and race. In the proposed statewide moratorium, legislators wrote that many of the databases that use facial recognition technology are plagued by racial disparities and other biases.Face recognition technology has a history of being far less accurate in identifying the faces of women, young people, and dark skinned people, the bill states. Such inaccuracies lead to harmful 'false positive identifications.The ACLU of Massachusetts launched a campaign in June called Press Pause on Face Surveillance that aims to make the public more aware of the alleged dangers of face surveillance and the need for a statewide moratorium on its use, according to the organizations statement.A poll conducted by the Beacon Research and released by the ACLU in June showed nearly eight in 10 Massachusetts residents support a moratorium on government use of the technology, the statement said.Privacy laws have not kept pace with advancements of digital technology," said Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts. But Massachusetts cities and towns are stepping up to ensure that face surveillance technology doesnt get out ahead of our basic rights. Close Donald Trump renews attack on lightbulbs and goes after toilets and showers House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named her seven impeachment managers to prosecute the case against Donald Trump during his upcoming Senate trial. Congress voted 228-193 to send the two articles of impeachment against the president to the Senate with Ms Pelosi's chosen House prosecutors. The vote was predictably along party lines, with 192 of the "no" votes coming from Republicans, joined by only one Democrat. Ms Pelosi's appointment of the case managers followed the release a trove of damning new evidence detailing the Trump administrations efforts to extort a political favour from Ukraine obtained from Lev Parnas, a business associate of Rudy Giuliani, which has already prompted ex-US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch to call for a new investigation as it appeared Mr Giuliani's cronies had spied on her in Kiev. Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, who joins Adam Schiff and five other Democrats as part of the prosecution team headed to the Senate, said that if the Senate doesn't permit the introduction of all relevant witnesses and of all documents the House wants to introduce, "then the Senate is engaging in an unconstitutional and disgusting cover-up." Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says a trial will likely begin on 21 January. The Senate might consider witnesses after opening statements are made, Mr McConnell has said. As the House debated before a vote, the president signed a "phase one" trade deal with China as part of an apparent easing of tensions between Washington and Beijing after the two exchanged retaliatory tariffs last year. His "landmark" deal followed last night's address to fans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he advocated the looting of Syrias oilfields (a war crime), suggested 36th president Lyndon Johnson is in hell and raved about the problem of inadequate water pressure in American dishwashers, sinks and showers on another eccentric night at the podium. Follow live coverage as it happened: Burma Reform of Myanmar Human Rights Commission Lacks Transparency, Critics Say The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Office in Yangon in 2016. / The Irrawaddy The Myanmar government replaced its entire National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) on Tuesday, replacing all previous members with new commissioners. But according to some observers, the re-formation comes without any changes to relevant legislation or transparency in the selection process. The 11-member MNHRC will be led by chairman U Hla Myint, the Myanmar representative to the ASEAN intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and vice chair Dr. Nanda Hmun, the retired permanent secretary of the Ministry of Religion and Culture. All commissioners are retired civil servantsdirectors, directors general, deputy directors general, permanent secretariesfrom ministries and government bodies such as the Bureau of Special Investigation, the Union Attorney General Office, the Union Auditor General Office, the General Administration Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and government medical offices. One commission member is a retired official from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), another is a professor from the Department of Law at Yangon University and a third is a former ambassador. Looking at the list, U Aung Myo Min, director of human rights advocacy group Equality Myanmar, said it was unclear whether this is a rights commission or a club for former civil servants. The MNHRC was first formed by presidential decree in September 2011 and re-formed three years later in September 2014 after the first MNHRC law was enacted. The MNHRC law mandates that the rights commission be re-formed every five years, though the current re-formation has come three months after the September deadline. Civil society groups have been calling for more diverse representation in the MNHRC throughout the years. The commission lacked representatives who have specialized expertise in human rights affairs and who come from diverse backgrounds, said U Aung Myo Min. This re-formation also falls short in both regards and the president showed no consideration, so it makes the situation worse. Civil society organizations (CSOs) have been calling for the government to re-form the commission to include CSO representatives who have the experience in human rights affairs necessary to more effectively protect and promote human rights in Myanmar. In an open letter to the President on Dec. 10, 2019, 20 CSOs called for the president to consider including CSO representatives on the Candidates Selection Board for new MNHRC members. The day before, they held a press conference highlighting the need for change. The open letter followed a report from the groups, titled Myanmar: A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action Please, which analyzed the performance of the MNHRC on cases from 2018 and 2019 and determined that the rights body failed to address human rights violations, especially those committed by the Myanmar military. In August, human rights advocates from 24 CSOs also met with parliamentarians from the Civil Rights Committee and the Bill Committee and urged them to amend the MNHRC law, which was enacted in March 2014, to amend the criteria of the Candidates Selection Board. The Candidates Selection Board now consists of the union attorney general, a representative from the Myanmar Bar Council, two Union parliamentarians, one representative from the Myanmar Women Affairs Association, two members of CSOs officially registered under Myanmar law, the chief justice, the minister of home affairs and the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement. Rights advocates have called to amend the law to remove the minister of home affairs and the representative from the Myanmar Women Affairs Association from the board and replace them with representatives from groups working for the advancement of women, those with disabilities and the LGBTQ community. It is like spitting in the faces of CSOs, said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, coordinator of the Action Committee for Democracy Development. She said that the list of new MNHRC members shows the lack of political will regarding human rights by the Myanmar government. She added that she and her fellow advocates were deeply concerned and upset because, in addition to Parliaments failure to amend the legislation, the selection of new commissioners was not transparent, not inclusive and not rights-based. She also pointed out that the Myanmar government has missed the opportunity to build a stronger domestic rights protection mechanism, just as Myanmar is facing the genocide case filed by the Gambia at the International Court of Justice [ICJ] and that the missed opportunity also contradicts what the State Counselor said at the ICJ. Maung Saung Kha, the director of Athan, an organization promoting the right to freedom of expression, said that he also does not expect much from the new re-formed commission. He added that the previous MNHRC members also covered up human rights violations by the government or the Tatmadaw, as the military is known, giving only the pretense that they were intervening in rights abuse cases. It looks like the government re-formed the commission not to protect human rights but to more easily control administrative matters, said Maung Saung Kha. The re-formation of the MNHRC came a day after the government invited Myanmar nationals who are living outside the country to contribute their expertise to the national development of Myanmar. If we look at this commission as an example, it raises concerns about whether the government would really accept those who have expertise [that the country needs], said U Aung Myo Min. He added that the government needs to change its mindset that only retired civil servants can serve the country. It will be difficult for those people who want to come back and contribute to Myanmars development, because [the governments] gestures and words are in contradiction, he said. The outgoing MNHRC members faced criticism for not intervening in numerous high-profile human rights abuses cases. The MNHRC failed to properly investigate the arrests of 275 civilians and the killings of six civilians by the Myanmar military in Rakhine State in April and May 2019. It also failed to investigate the murders of two ethnic Kachin villagers in 2018 despite the presence of eyewitnesses, instead agreeing with the Myanmar militarys claim that the two victims were members of the Kachin Independence Army. Civil society groups also said that the MNHRC has failed to protect human rights in the cases of the performers in the Daungdohmyoset (Peacock Generation) traditional thangyat performance troupe. The performers have been sued several times by the military in different jurisdictions for criticizing the military in their satirical performances in 2019. In October 2016, four members of the MNHRC resigned following a public outcry over their negotiation of a financial settlement in a high-profile abuse case in which the owners of Ava Tailor shop in downtown Yangon beat and cut two teenage maids, forcing them to work for five years with little or no pay. The MNHRC was then restructured in April 2018 but most members were still public servants or those affiliated with the Tatmadaw. The MNHRCs intervention into cases of abuse against workers on offshore fishing rafts in Ayeyarwady Region and Mon State in November is ongoing. You may also like these stories: Lost Idol: New Wave of Myanmar Youth Activists Look Beyond Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar Ambassador Meets with 2 Migrant Workers on Death Row in Thailand There has been increasing Chinese involvement in the Indian Ocean and the Indian Navy is watching carefully, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said on Wednesday. Speaking at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue here, he also said that there have been instances when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) ships have entered India's exclusive economic zones and the Navy has told them that it impinges on Indian interests. "We have placed our ships in mission-based deployments so that we get an idea what are the activities, not only of China but of all other countries, so that if there is anything that impinges on our national interest or sovereignty, we will have to act," he said. "China's Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor impinge on our sovereignty," the Navy Chief said. Besides Admiral Singh, Japan's Joint Staff of Self-Defense Forces Gen. Koji Yamazaki, Australia's Vice Chief of the Defence Force Adm. David Johnston, France's Deputy Director General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry of Armed Forces Gen. Luc de Rancourt, and the UK's Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Tony Radakin, took part in the panel discussion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) London: Meghan Markle did not "dial in" to the Sandringham summit with the Queen as had been expected, it emerged on Tuesday. The Duchess and Duke of Sussex dropped a bombshell when they announced their intent to step back from royal roles. Credit:Getty Images Instead, family talks about the Sussexes' future were left to her husband, Prince Harry, 35, to thrash out with his grandmother, his father and his brother. A royal aide said before the crunch meeting that, time differences permitting, the Duchess hoped to join in via conference call from Vancouver Island in Canada. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Sanders Doesnt Support USMCA Because It Doesnt Address Climate Change Top Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he doesnt support the U.S.MexicoCanada trade agreement because it doesnt address climate change. We could do much better than a Trumpled trade deal. This deal, and I think the proponents of it would acknowledge, will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs as a result of outsourcing, he said during the Democratic presidential debate in Iowa on Jan. 14. He said that workers lost jobs because they were forced to compete with workers in Mexico, China, and other countries. Second of all, every major environmental organization has said no to this new trade agreement because it does not even have the phrase climate change in it, he said. And given the fact that climate change is, right now, the greatest threat facing this planet, I will not vote for a trade agreement that does not incorporate very, very strong principles to significantly lower fossil fuel emissions in the world. When a moderator noted that the AFL-CIO, one of the biggest unions in the country, supports the deal, Sanders said that the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers does not. It is not so easy to put together new trade legislation. If [the USMCA] is passed, it will set us back a number of years, Sanders said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks while flanked by fellow members during a news conference announcing their support for the USMCA trade agreement, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 10, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The machinists union said in a Dec. 12 statement that USMCA does not fulfill the promise that was made to United States workers to negotiate an agreement that dramatically replaces the current trade template that continues to cost United States workers hundreds of thousands of jobs. The House of Representatives passed the trade deal last month shortly after House Democrats gave the green light, saying theyd hammered out a better agreement than the one that was originally proposed with the help of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. House Democrats claimed that they made transformative changes to the revised NAFTA deal in the areas of enforcement, workers, environment, and prescription drugs. Sanders comments came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said there would be a vote on USMCA this week before the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which is expected to start next week. We are, it looks like, going to be able to process the USMCA here in the Senate this week, McConnell told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. That will be good news for the Senate and for the country, and something I think we have broad bipartisan agreement on. Other 2020 Democrat signaled support for the deal during the debate. We need a policy that actually helps our workers and our farmers. The USMCA is a modest improvement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said. I believe we should accept that relief, try to help the people who need help, and then we get up the next day and fight for a better trade deal. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg added: Yes, it has been improved, it is not perfect, but when you sit down with the people who are most impacted, they know just how much harm has been done to them. Letters to the Editor: Take advantage of the new cannabis energy; Sorry to see Baskets in Bloom go Statistics on deaths in this regard are grim. Last year, two-wheelers were involved in as many as 21,594 accidents in the state, leading to 6,806 deaths and injuries to 22,265 riders. Hyderabad: In a move to prevent fatalities among pillion riders in road accidents, Rachakonda police, on a pilot basis, have started penalising two-wheeler owners if those on their pillion are not wearing a helmet. Statistics on deaths in this regard are grim. Last year, two-wheelers were involved in as many as 21,594 accidents in the state, leading to 6,806 deaths and injuries to 22,265 riders. Cyberabad topped the list in the state with 851 fatalities, followed by 735 deaths in Rachakonda. Hydera-bad recorded 277 fatalities. In 2018, the number of road accidents was 6,051 and fatalities 6,603. Among those killed in Cyberabad area, 114 were travelling as pillion riders. In Rachakonda, the number of pillion riders dying was 36. In all these accidents, pillion riders suffered critical head injuries. As a result, the road safety model that the Tamil Nadu government is implementing came under discussion during the first week of January at a high-level meeting on Road Safety in Telangana. Senior officials from municipal administration, urban development, transport, education and police departments attended the meeting. The meeting became necessary, as the state government has declared 2020 as the year of women safety and road safety. Following the meeting, Rachakonda police started penalising riders if their pillion riders are not found wearing safety headgear. Police are legally empowered in this regard, as Section 129 of Motor Vehicles Act says a person driving or pillion riding on a two-wheeler must wear protective headgear conforming to standards of the Bureau of Indian Standards. From January 7 onwards, Rachakonda police conducted a weeklong drive on a pilot basis, during which they booked 260 cases. e-Challans of `100 were generated based on registration numbers of the bikes and sent to owners of the vehicles. However, the drive was stopped from Tuesday for creating additional awareness within public on measures to be taken for safe road travel. A police official from Rachakonda said, We will take up this drive once again after creating more awareness on use of headgear by pillion riders. Cyberabad police of the city are also planning to implement this rule after a publicity campaign. Cyberabad DCP (traffic) S.M. Vijay Kumar said, During analyses of accidents, it has been found that deaths of pillion riders are due to head injuries, which result because they do not wear helmets. US Air Force Drops Nuclear Bombs From B-52H Bomber's Nuke Inventory - Report Sputnik News 19:34 14.01.2020(updated 19:41 14.01.2020) Introduced into service back in the 1950s, the B-52 Stratofortress and its upgraded B-52H variant have served as the backbone of the US Air Force's strategic bomber fleet, and have been used in virtually all of the major wars fought by the US since Vietnam. The US's fleet of B-52H bomber no longer carries traditional gravity-powered nuclear bombs, with their strategic nuclear capacity now limited to the AGM-86B nuclear-tipped cruise missile, The Drive's The War Zone has reported, citing a recently updated Air Force manual. The latest version of the Air Force document, entitled 'Safety Rules for US Strategic Bomber Aircraft', was released in September 2019, and indicates that the B61-7 and B83-1 nuclear gravity bombs were removed from "B-52H approved weapons configuration." The bombs remain the only authorized nuclear weapons deployable by the B-2A bomber, however. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project for the Federation of American Scientists, first reported on the probable exclusion of the B-52H's nuclear gravity bomb capability in 2017, and tweeted a screenshot of the publicly available Air Force document on Monday. The War Zone explained that the dropped capacity was not necessarily surprising, since only countries without any sort of air defences would be vulnerable to the bomber and its traditional gravity-dependent nukes. Concerns about the bomber's capacity to carry out its strategic mission go back all the way to its original deployment in the 1950s, and helped lead to the development of long-range stand-off weapons and cruise missiles meant to fire their payload from outside enemy airspace. The US lost 31 B-52s in Vietnam during the intense conventional bombing of that country between 1965 and 1973. The United States Air Force has 76 B-52Hs remaining in its inventory, and they are expected to continue their operations until at least 2050 after receiving upgrades to their bomb bay, radar array and engines. The B-52H is also a candidate for new hypersonic missile systems presently being developed by US arms manufacturers. In 2017, Air Force General John Hyten observed that without the Long-Range Standoff Weapon capability, "you don't have the B-52 as a viable platform." Despite their age, the bombers continue to be deployed to various hotspots, with a squadron of the bombers sent to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean last week amid tensions between the US and Iran over the US assassination of a senior Iranian military commander in Baghdad on January 3. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A screengrab from an aerial video shows the drought in the Mekong river in Thailands Nong Khai province, Oct. 28, 2019. Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods. Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailands Office of Natural Water Resources (ONWR), told BenarNews he had documented complaints from villagers who had suffered economic hardship as a result of the rivers erratic flow. We compiled from and studied those concerns of the people along the Mekong River, Somkiat told BenarNews. During the next meeting of the Mekong River Commission, expectedly in February, we will address the issues and make it a top priority. The commission, known by its acronym MRC, an inter-government agency that works with regional governments to manage the Mekongs resources, warned Sunday that water outflows could potentially drop by half along the river that stretches through China and five other nations. The MRCs dire forecast which says that water levels could fall by up 70 centimeters (28 inches) in Thailand and about 25 centimeters (10 inches) in Cambodia this week came as Beijing said it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams on the upper Mekong River. In October, amid protests from villagers in Thailand, the first hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River in Laos one of Southeast Asias poorest countries began its commercial operations. Protesters said the 1,285-megawatt, multibillion-dollar Xayaburi Dam, which was aiming to sell 95 percent of its generated power to Thailand, could further disrupt the river flow that was already drying out even at the end of the rainy season. Thai farmers say fish stocks have collapsed along the Mekong River after Beijing revealed it was testing equipment at one of its dams in the waterways upper reaches. The Mekong, the worlds 12th-longest river, stretches 4,350 km (2,703 miles) from China in the north to Vietnam in the south, and hosts at least 270 species of fish, experts say. In a development plan bearing the slogan Shared River, Shared Future, Beijing hopes to carve a link from its Yunnan province through Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. China says this could bring about a trade boom that could benefit up to 240 million residents in neighboring countries. Somkiat said China had periodically notified Thailands office of water resources about its activities at the last minute. In his view, however, this does not provide Thai authorities enough time to warn local residents. In late December, Chinas Jing Hong Dam tested its equipment, lowering water release from 1,200 to 1,400 cubic meters per seconds to only 500-800 cubic meters, according to Thailands water resources office. That move lowered water levels in the Mekong between Thailand and Laos to critical points until the test was ended on Jan. 4, it said. Somkiat said Thailand would prepare to address the issues with the four MRC members during their meeting in Vientiane. We will study with other countries about a lack of sediment, or even drought. It is too early to presume that they are caused by water harnessing in dam reservoirs or the production of electricity, Somkiat said. China and Laos also want to study the causes to solve the problems. China and Laos currently share information on water management as a short -term solution, Somkiat said, but he was expecting a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed to formalize the exchange of information between the affected nations. Those countries have shared with Thailand information on water release and on water levels in certain areas as a short-term solution, but in the next phase there will be an MoU on official information exchanges a proper way, he said. While it remained unclear what kind of tests China was conducting on dam equipment, water levels on the Mekong in Chiang Rai where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet have been reduced by about 40 percent, from three meters to less than one, Brian Eyler, director of the Stimson Centers Southeast Asia program, told Al Jazeera. Such sudden drops and rises, Eyler said, confuse fish in their natural movements in the river, leading to a drop in fish stocks. For a river to be healthy it needs regular flow and not to be shocked with unnatural ups and downs, he said. Thai Farmers Complain of Hardships The Electricity-Generating Authority of Thailand is the main buyer of the Lao governments generated power, paying an estimated 12 billion baht (U.S. $4 billion) a year for combined outputs of 1,545 megawatts from the Xayaburi Dam and Don Sahong Dam, experts told BenarNews, But activists and locals said the dams had affected the environment and peoples livelihood. The drought that has been lasting since last year is, besides lower rainfall, caused by water control by dams in China and Laos, creating unnatural tides, Montree Chanthavong, an environmentalist with the Mekong Butterfly group, told BenarNews. Montree also said the Mekong water turned into aquamarine blue last November due to a lack of sediment, which is a sign of a degrading ecological system. The lack of sediment causes fish to migrate in the wrong time and resulting in less breeding, he said. Another farmer said the drastic change of Mekong appeared after Xayaburi began operating. When Xayaburi Dam operated in July 2019, the Mekong turned dry while usually the period from June to August should have had high tide, Saman Kaewpuang, a farmer in northeastern province of Nong Khai, told BenarNews. Fishes that are supposed to lay eggs in tributaries died. Water levels abruptly changed up and down. Fishermen cannot catch enough because the water turned blue, Saman said. No more fish, he said. [January 15, 2020] Devoted Health Recognized in Built In Boston's Best Places to Work List in 2020 Devoted Health today announced it was included on Built In Boston's list of Best Places to Work in 2020. Devoted Health is a health care startup serving older Americans with a next generation health plan. Winning companies are evaluated on questions to employees related to compensation and employer benefits. Currently offering plans in Florida and Texas, Devoted Health is one of the fastest growing Medicare Advantage companies and cares for over 16,000 members. Devoted Health was founded in 2017 and has grown to nearly 400 employees across multiple geographies. This recognition showcases their steadfast commitment to creating and supporting a culture that supports high engagement across a distributed and evolving workforce in a high-growth company. "We're empowering a team of collaborative, talented, and mission-focused leaders who want to work on a big problem in America. Our employees know that their work really matters and will have a lasting impact," said Leslie Brunner, Chief People Officer at Devoted Health. "Building a company from the bottoms-up with technology and service can improve the health care that most Americans receive. Our mission is to create a health plan that we would want caring for our own families. " Maria Christopoulos Katris, CEO and Co-Founder of Built In, said: "We extend our heartfelt congratulations to our 2020 honorees. Built In aims to change lives by connecting talented tech professionals with jobs they were born to do. These companies have become part of that mission because they stand for more than just the work they're doing. They stand for their people and purpose." In addition to being able to contribute to a mission that matters, employees at Devoted Health enjoy a robust set of benefits. Every employee is given equity in the company, an employer-funded health plan hat covers the employee and their family at no cost, paid family leave, kitchens stocked with free healthy snacks, and more. Plus, the company has frequent town halls and company lunches to encourage employees to step away from their desks and connect with each other. Devoted Health is currently hiring for roles across Clinical Operations, Data and Engineering, Infrastructure, Marketing, Finance, Network Management, Operations, Product and Sales. To learn more about Devoted Health, visit their website. ABOUT DEVOTED HEALTH Devoted Health is a next-generation Medicare Advantage plan guided by a deep belief that every member should be treated like we would treat our own family: with loving care, a profound commitment to their health and well-being, and respect for them and their time. As a "payvidor" that integrates being both a payor and provider of health care services, Devoted Health partners with top doctors and hospitals, uses industry-leading technology, and supports members with dedicated guides and tech-enabled care services in order to help Medicare beneficiaries get the highest-quality health care - the right care in the right place at the right time. Led by co-founders Ed and Todd Park, Devoted Health is powered by a proven, world-class health care and technology team. For more information, go to www.devoted.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @DevotedHealth. ABOUT BUILT IN Working in tech is a way of life. Built In helps people live it with purpose. Across the most vibrant tech hubs in the US, Built In helps tech professionals stay on top of tech news and trends, expand their networks and carve out futures at companies they believe in. Built In attracts a niche audience of 1 million tech professionals every month and, in 2019, the company hit a milestone, serving 1,100 companies annually. Built In recently launched BuiltIn.com, a national hub for tech trend coverage and resources to help professionals grow in their careers. National Site: BuiltIn.com Local Sites: BuiltInChicago.com | BuiltInLA.com | BuiltInColorado.com | BuiltInAustin.com | BuiltInNYC.com | BuiltInBoston.com | BuiltInSeattle.com | BuiltInSF.com BEST PLACES TO WORK: METHODOLOGY Built In's list rates companies algorithmically based on compensation data and employer benefits. Rank is determined by combining a company's score in each of these categories. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005472/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] PITTSBURGH, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Federated Investors, Inc. today announced that monthly fund composition and performance data for Federated Premier Municipal Income Fund (NYSE: FMN) as of Dec. 31, 2019, is now available in the Products section of FederatedInvestors.com. To order hard copies of this data or to be placed on a mailing list, call 800-245-0242 x5587538, email [email protected] or write to Federated Investors, 1001 Liberty Avenue, Floor 23, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) is a leading global investment manager with $527.2 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, 2019. Our investment solutions span 131 equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity management strategies and a range of separately managed account strategies. Providing comprehensive investment management to more than 11,000 institutions and intermediaries, our clients include corporations, government entities, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, banks and broker/dealers. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Federated's nearly 1,900 employees include those in London, New York, Boston and several other offices worldwide. In 2018, Federated acquired a majority interest in Hermes Investment Management, which provides world-class active management and stewardship services. For more information, visit FederatedInvestors.com. ### SOURCE Federated Investors, Inc. Related Links http://FederatedInvestors.com The festival's 4th edition will take place between 10 and 16 February Andrew Mohsen, critic and artistic director of the Aswan International Film Festival, has revealed that Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby will be among the jury of the festival's main competition for feature films. In its fourth round this year, the jury will also include renowned names from the international film scene: Dutch filmmaker Mijke de Jong, Tunisian actress Souhir Bin Amara, Romanian producer Alex Theodorsko and Filipino filmmaker Khavn de la Cruz. Commenting on the choice of Shalaby, Mohsen said that the actress is one of the leading stars of her generation. She won dozens of awards at numerous international festivals. He added that Shalaby has a portfolio of being among the jury members of a few renowned film festivals including Carthage Film Days and the Malmo Arab Film Festival. Shalaby began her career in 2001 with the television series 'Morning and Evening Talk,' based on a story by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Her silver screen debut was also in 2001 when she got a role in the late Radwan Al-Kashefs 'The Magician.' Ever since, Shalaby has worked with many renowned Egyptian directors and alongside many other stars. Her filmography includes I Love Cinema (2004 dir. Osama Fawzi), The Best of Times (2004, dir. Hala Khalil), Downtown Girls (2005, dir. Mohamed Khan), About Love and Passion (2006, dir. Kamla Abouzekry), Chaos (2007, dir. Youssef Chahine), and Microphone (2010, dir. Ahmad Abdalla). She collaborated with Youssry Nasrallah on 'After the Battle' (2012), which brought Egyptian cinema back to Cannes after a 15-year absence, and 'Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces' (2016), which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival before it was released in France and Switzerland. Among Shalaby's most significant appearances was in the film 'Nawara' directed by Hala Khalil, which brought her a record of 10 best actress awards. Shalaby described her role in Nawara as the role of her lifetime and one of the most important artistic endeavours she had taken in her career. Nawara is set in the wake of the 2011 revolution, centering on a woman in her twenties who works as a housemaid at a villa in a luxury compound. Shalaby's most recent works include 'The Originals' (2017, dir. Marawan Hamed) and 'Diamond Dust' (2018). For her score of achievements, Shalaby was honoured with the Faten Hamama Excellence Award at the last 41st Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which took place in November 2019. Mohsen has also underscored that all the jury members of the upcoming 4th Aswan International Film Festival represent the cream of the crop in the international film scene. "Mijke de Jong participated in several festivals such as Berlin, Toronto and London, and won the Crystal Bear Award at the Berlinale," Mohsen said. Tunisian actress Souhir Ben Amara played roles in cinema and television during her artistic career, and she worked with many important Tunisian directors," Mohsen stated. "Alex Teodorescu is a well-known Romanian producer. His most notable works include '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' (2007), which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (2007)" Mohsen also pointed to the Filipino filmmaker Khavn de la Cruz, who is behind 50 feature films and 100 short films, many of which were screened at the biggest international film festivals. "De La Cruz was also among jury members for those festivals." The 4th Aswan International Women Film Festival will take place between 10 and 16 February 2020. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:54:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Speaker of the Libyan east-based parliament Agila Saleh called here on Wednesday on the Arab Parliament (AP) to withdraw its recognition of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) presidential council, state-run TV reported. In an aired speech to the AP session, Salah accused "the GNA, headed by Fayez al-Serraj, of violating the constitutional declaration and the political agreement of Skhirat." He called on the AP "to support efforts of the Libyan people for defending their land, combating terrorism and standing against the Turkish invasion of his country." He reiterated that the Libyan parliament is the legitimate body in Libya, and "any agreements signed without its approval will be treated as null," in reference to the two memorandums of understanding on military, security and maritime cooperation signed by Serraj with Turkey in November last year. Egypt, France and Cyprus announced the two deals are "null and void." Libya has been locked in a civil war since the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Libyan conflict escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments: the UN-backed, Tripoli-based GNA, and a Tobruk-based government allied with self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar, who seeks to take over Tripoli. Tony Blair has joined a committee overseeing the $31billion plan to move Indonesia's waterlogged capital Jakarta to the jungle of Borneo. The former British Prime Minister will be among several high profile figures sitting on a board of advisers headed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, the founder and chief executive of SoftBank, will also join the project. Indonesia announced last August that it planned to move all the administrative functions of its government to a new city to be built 800 miles east of Jakarta by 2024. Tony Blair will sit on a committee of high profile advisers overseeing the 26billion plan to relocate the Indonesian capital Jakarta to the jungle of Borneo Indonesia plans to move its capital to a place in Borneo 800 miles east of Jakarta by 2024 Mr Blair, 66, currently runs the Institute for Global Change, a non-profit organisation, which he launched using more than 9million from selling his advisory business in 2016. The business earned him millions round the world after he left office in 2007 but also drew criticism over some of its work for foreign clients, including the government of Kazakhstan. Mr Blair's office declined to comment on the Indonesia project and it is thought discussions about his level of involvement are at an early stage. The move has been prompted by chronic traffic, overcrowding and severe flooding in Jakarta which has a population of 10million and a further 20million in its greater metropolitan area. The city's water supplies and rivers are highly contaminated and congestion is estimated to cost the economy 5 billion a year. Jakarta was built on a swamp and parts of it are subsiding and earlier this month flash floods killed more than 50 and displaced hundreds of thousands. The committee will be headed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (right) and will include Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son (left) as an adviser The move has been prompted by chronic traffic, overcrowding and severe flooding in the capital Jakarta (pictured) which has a population of 10million The new capital will be built on a 445,000-acre site in East Kalimantan, Borneo, almost triple the size of Jakarta and less likely to be hit by natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes. However, much of the area is prone to forest fires caused by illegal deforestation. Construction of the new capital is due to begin next year ready for 1.5 million civil servants to relocate there in 2024, at a cost of 26 billion. Just under one fifth of that is intended to come directly from state funds and the rest from partnerships as well as direct investment from the private sector and state-owned companies. Luhut Pandjaitan, the Indonesian chief investment minister, said attracting advisers such as Mr Blair would boost investment in the new city. He said: 'We expected their presence would provide a confidence boost for prospective investors in the new capital.' Jakarta was this month hit by flash floods that killed more than 50 people and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes and businesses Around one-fifth of the cost is to come from the state budget and the rest from businesses, both state-run companies and the private sector. The equatorial island of Borneo is divided between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia and is known for its tropical rain forests and orangutans. It has large reserves of coal and offshore oil and natural gas and is an important producer of timber and palm oil. Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Sheikh Mohammed during a two-day trip to Abu Dhabi that ended on Monday. Indonesia is archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, but currently 54% of the country's nearly 270 million people live on Java, the country's most densely populated area. A mother-of-three caught with 20,000 of cannabis under her stairs told gardai she was under financial pressure ahead of her child's confirmation, a court has heard. Sonia Collins (38) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possessing cannabis for sale or supply at her home in Kilcronan Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin, on March 4 last year. She told gardai she had run up a drug debt of 200 after buying some cocaine for social use and was then unable to repay it as her child's confirmation was coming up. She told gardai she felt "stupid" for agreeing to hold the drugs, claiming she did not know the value of the cannabis. She will be sentenced on March 31. Garda Vincent Jaffray told the court yesterday that gardai searched Collins's home after receiving a tip-off that she was holding drugs. After opening the door to officers, she immediately showed them the drugs under the stairs. A small child was present in the house and gardai chose not to immediately arrest Collins. She presented at Tallaght Garda Station a couple of days later and was charged. Collins declined to give gardai the name of the person who had given her the drugs to hold, saying she was fearful for her safety. She said she had agreed to hold the drugs for "half an hour" but they were never collected. Defence barrister James Dwyer SC, said his client was a single mother of three children aged between five and 12. He said she struggled with heroin addiction up until she became pregnant with her first child. Slipped The court heard Collins had been methadone-free for years but she "slipped" and bought cocaine for social use shortly before the offence. She had one minor conviction. Mr Dwyer said there were a number of mitigating factors that would allow Judge Melanie Greally not to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, including Collins's early guilty plea, co-operation with gardai and lack of criminal history. Judge Greally adjourned the case for a probation report. [January 15, 2020] 2020 HITEC 50 Award Nominations Are Now Open CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HITEC is currently accepting nominations for its prestigious HITEC 50 Awards. HITEC is a premier global executive leadership organization of Hispanic senior business and technology executives who have built outstanding careers in technology. Nominations will be accepted until March 10, 2020. Since 2011, every year HITEC has recognized the 50 most influential global Hispanic executives in the technology industry. The purpose of the HITEC 50 is to recognize outstanding executives in Ibero-America (Latin America, Spain, and Portugal) who excel in the business of technology. We're proud to celebrate the accomplishments of top-level Hispanic leaders in technology that are successfully experimenting with cutting-edge ideas and emerging technologies to push boundaries and ultimately, deliver great business value," shared Juan Carlos Gutierrez, HITEC Board Member and Chair of the HITEC Awards Committee. ITEC 50 Objectives: Recognize talented individuals and highlight their achievements. Foster business and professional growth for our members. Build and develop strategic business relationships that will encourage growth within the industry globally. View the HITEC 50 Criteria Here View Past HITEC 50 Award Winners: Nominate your candidate today! The nomination DEADLINE is March 10, 2020. About HITEC Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. PERTH, Western Australia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (Perseus or the Company) (TSX & ASX: PRU) reports on its activities for the three month period ended December 31, 2019 (the Quarter). An executive summary is provided below. However, full details of activities in the December Quarter, including reconciled production and all-in site cash costs, are included in the Companys December 2019 Quarterly Activity Report released to the market on January 16, 2020. The full report is available for download from www.perseusmining.com, www.asx.com.au and www.sedar.com. Strong operating performance achieves market guidance Strong operating performance at Perseuss Edikan and Sissingue gold mines continued during the quarter, resulting in: Parameter Unit Edikan Sissingue Perseus Group Gold production Ounces 48,250 20,905 69,155 Production Cost US$/ounce 908 694 843 All-In Site Cost (AISC) US$/ounce 1,035 793 962 Gold sales Ounces 40,732 20,444 61,176 Average sales price US$/ounce 1,413 1,419 1,415 Notional Cashflow US$ million 18.2 13.1 31.3 Gold production of 134,980 ounces for the December Half Year compared favourably to the guided production range of 120-140,000 ounces. AISC of US$942 per ounce were also within the guided cost range of US$850-1,000 per ounce for the Half Year, coming in slightly above the midpoint; In comparison to the prior half year period, gold production improved by 2.8%, production costs were flat and AISC, including increased royalties due largely to higher gold prices, were up by 2.6% over the same period; Guidance for the June 2020 Half Year remains unchanged at: Parameter Unit December Half Year Actual June Half Year Guidance 2020 Fiscal Year Guidance Gold production 000 Ounces 135 140-160 275-295 All-In Site Cost (AISC) US$/ounce 942 750-950 850-950 Yaoure development project on schedule and budget By December 31, 2019, US$165.5 million or 62% of the budgeted project cost of US$265 million had been committed, and US$99.3 million or 37% of the budgeted capital cost paid in cash to suppliers of goods and services; Offsite procurement and development works remain largely on schedule to achieve the stretch target of first gold pour in December 2020; A Mining Convention guaranteeing fiscal stability for the life of the Yaoure mine was signed by the Ivorian government in the December 2019 quarter; Balance Sheet strength maintained by strong cash flows US$31.3 million of notional cashflow generated by operations during the quarter bringing the total for the 2019 calendar year to US$109.4 million; Cash and bullion of US$80.6 million after Yaoure capital expenditure during the quarter of US$72.4 million. Outstanding corporate debt of US$50 million with US$10 million drawn during the quarter. PROGRAM FOR THE MATCH 2020 QUARTER Edikan Produce gold at a total all-in site cost in line with June 2020 Half Year guidance; Continue planning and implementing Continuous Improvement initiatives aimed at increasing gold production and reducing AISC; Complete an Optimisation Study for the Edikan pits using a range of gold prices and incorporating the improved operating parameters; Complete an assessment of the feasibility of developing the Esuajah South orebody, either as an open pit operation, an underground operation or a combination of open pit and underground; Complete update of Mineral Resources, Ore Reserves and Life of Mine Plan; Subject to Board approval of a development plan for Esuajah South, prepare and file submissions required for permitting of the development of the orebody; Continue assessing stranded near mine resources for acquisition to provide additional mill feed; Continue assessment of the results of the CGSG exploration targeting review and plan follow-up programs; and Commence exploration on the recently optioned Agyakusu permit. Sissingue Produce gold at a total all-in site cost in line within June 2020 Half Year guidance; Continue planning and implementing Continuous Improvement initiatives aimed at increasing gold production and reducing AISC; Complete an initial Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimate for Zanikan and apply for permits required to mine the deposit; Complete an update of Mineral Resources, Ore Reserves and Life of Mine Plan for Sissingue; Continue drilling at the various prospects in the Zanikan area and other prospects within trucking distance of Sissingue, with the aim of identifying the potential for additional Mineral Resources that can be processed at the Sissingue processing facility; and Complete infill drilling over the Fimbiasso West prospect at Mahale. Yaoure Continue full scale construction of Yaoure in line with approved schedule and budget; Complete land compensation payments to affected land holders; Complete auger sampling over the Sayikro soil anomaly on the Yaoure permit; Commence AC testing of auger anomalies at Sayikro and Allekran (Yaoure West); Complete the last of the three deep diamond holes into the CMA structure to confirm continuity and geometry at depth; Complete 3D seismic survey over the CMA zone and environs; and Complete VTEM survey over the Yaoure concessions. Jeff Quartermaine Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer January 16, 2020 To discuss any aspect of this announcement, please contact: Managing Director: Jeff Quartermaine at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email jeff.quartermaine@perseusmining.com General Manager BD & IR: Andrew Grove at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email andrew.grove@perseusmining.com Media Relations: Nathan Ryan at telephone +61 4 2058 2887 or email nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au (Melbourne) Competent Person Statement: All production targets for Edikan, Sissingue and Yaoure referred to in this report are underpinned by estimated Ore Reserves which have been prepared by competent persons in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code. The information in this report that relates to the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the Esuajah North deposit at the EGM was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 28 August 2019. The information in this report that relates to the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the other EGM deposits was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 29 August 2018 and was updated for depletion until 30 June 2019 in a market announcement released on 28 August 2019. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in those market releases and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report Central Ashanti Gold Project, Ghana dated 30 May 2011 continue to apply. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves for Sissingue was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 20 October 2018 and was updated for depletion as at 30 June 2019 in a market announcement released on 28 August 2019. In respect of the Fimbiasso East and West deposits, previously Bele East and West respectively, the Company confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves described in market announcements dated 20 February 2017 and 31 March 2017 respectively continue to apply with the exception that the reported resources are now constrained to a US$1,800/oz pit shell as advised in a market announcement dated 29 August 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in these market releases and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report Sissingue Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 29 May 2015 continue to apply. The information in this report in relation to Yaoure Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement on 28 August 2019. The Company confirms that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, in that market release continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report Yaoure Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 18 December 2017 continue to apply. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Yaoure, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves 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 anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. CLEVELAND - A union representing the white Cleveland police officer who shot and killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black child playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation centre, will ask an Ohio appeals court to overturn the officers firing. Timothy Loehmann and his training officer were cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Tamir in November 2014. But Loehmann was fired in May 2017 from the Cleveland Police Department after it was discovered he did not disclose on his job application that he had previously been dismissed from a suburban police department. Last month, a Cuyahoga County judge upheld an arbitrators decision that Loehmann should have been fired for failing to disclose that information. The Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association has argued that Cleveland violated Loehmanns due-process rights because the city waited so long to begin the disciplinary process against him. We think our appeal has merit and look forward to having a review by the Court of Appeals, union attorney Henry Hilow told cleveland.com. Loehmann shot Tamir within seconds of a cruiser driven by Patrolman Frank Garmback skidding to a stop near the boy. The shooting was recorded in a grainy surveillance video that drew international attention and led to Tamir becoming a symbol for the Black Lives Matter protest movement over police treatment of blacks and minorities. FILE PHOTO SINGAPORE A man who took a runaway girl in and ended up molesting her was sentenced to eight years preventive detention on Wednesday (15 January). Ng Beng Kiong, who is divorced with two children, was also sentenced to six strokes of the cane. The girl, then 13, would stay at Ngs flat whenever she skipped school or ran away from home. She treated Ng as her godfather. Ng, a 48-year-old cook, would send her to school and give her food, cigarettes and, at times, pocket money. But on two occasions when the girl sought solace at his one-room flat, Ng sexually assaulted her. Preventive detention seeks to protect the public from recalcitrant offenders, who usually serve prison terms of between seven and 20 years without early release for good behaviour. In an earlier hearing, the court heard that Ngs criminal history spanned three decades, with offences including the possession of offensive weapons, theft, armed robbery, possession of obscene films, causing hurt, and criminal intimidation. Ng first met the victim in 2017 while she was hanging out with some friends along Bedok North Street 3 after running away from home. He approached the group and introduced himself as Papa before giving them cigarettes. The girl later saw him each time she visited the area. She also befriended Ngs son. The girl began to regard Ng as her godfather. The man would send her daily text messages as well as ferry her to and from school. The girl later introduced a female schoolmate to Ng and the trio spent time at Ngs flat, with both girls treating the home as a safe haven. Ng would provide them food, cigarettes and, occasionally, pocket money. Giving massages to victim A few months into this arrangement, Ng began giving unsolicited massages to the girls. Sometime between August and September 2017, while the victim was alone with Ng in his flat, the man sat close to her and began massaging her legs over her jeans. He then pulled down her jeans and panties. Story continues Even though the victim told Ng that she was uncomfortable, Ng sexually assaulted her. The girl later asked him to stop, and Ng complied. However months later, Ng preyed on the girl again while she was asleep. The girl woke to find that Ng had pulled down her jeans and panties while she was asleep. She hurriedly dressed herself and Ng apologised for his actions. The girls mother later found out about the incidents and a police report was lodged on 25 January last year. Ng then went on the run after the girl told him about the police report. He scolded the girl through Instagram for her alleged betrayal and reminded her of the times he had helped her. He also asked the girl, now 15, about what she had told the police so that he could tailor the evidence that he would give. On 26 February last year, Ng eventually surrendered to the police, claiming in court that he had wanted to surrender after the Chinese New Year. Ngs previous conviction in 2006 was for a similar offence when Ng preyed on a 16-year-old girl who had moderate mental retardation. He had molested and raped the victim in a flat, and was given seven years corrective training. Other Singapore stories Debt collector who carried banner of debtors face and wore Chinese funeral outfit jailed Ikea Singapore recalls India-made Troligtvis travel mugs Law enforcement in Oakland, California, on Tuesday forcibly evicted a group of homeless mothers battling to stay in an otherwise vacant home that they had been occupying since November. Two of the women were arrested. The women were members of a group called Moms 4 Housing, which had occupied the property to send a message about the lack of affordable housing in Oakland. The group argues that there are many more vacant homes than homeless people. No one should be homeless when homes are sitting empty, the group says on its website. The Moms for Housing are uniting mothers, neighbors and friends to reclaim housing for the Oakland community from the big banks and real estate speculators. Advertisement The mothers have complained that as rising housing prices pushed them out of their homes, speculators are buying properties in the Bay Area and leaving them empty. The house at the center of the protest belongs to Wedgewood Inc., which began the eviction process soon after Dominique Walker and another homeless mother moved in. Walker filed a claim of right to possession in December, arguing that the house had been vacant for years, but on Friday the court denied her claim and gave law enforcement officials five days to evict them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of people in Oakland, where homelessness has been on the rise, gathered outside the property on Monday to join Moms 4 Housing in protesting gentrification and rising housing costs. Advertisement Around 5:15 Tuesday morning, dozens of Alameda County Sheriffs deputies, equipped with riot gear and assault rifles, arrived to force open the door and evict the women. There were no children in the house at the time, as they had been moved in preparation for the eviction. Two mothers, Tolani King, 46, and Misty Cross, 38, were arrested. According to NBC Bay Area, two supporters were also arrested. They were all charged with resisting and obstructing the eviction process. What the Alameda County Sheriff Department did today was an act of war on the Oakland community. A tank and military grade weapons to take out mothers and babies. #WeStandWithTheMoms Moms 4 Housing (@moms4housing) January 14, 2020 After the eviction, about 100 people gathered again to protest. Welcome back to Tech Chronicle. If you want a newsletter that bolsters your bank account, do make sure to subscribe. Ive been fascinated by the intersection of finance and technology for more than two decades. At the turn of the millennium, banks were trying to figure out what to do with the internet, starting e-banks and online payment services and digital divisions with abandon, desperately trying to figure out what to do about Generation X and its disdain for branches and tellers. Fast-forward to the roaring 20s, and banks are still fumbling around trying to figure out the digital consumer, though theyve forgotten about Gen X and moved on to a daft courtship of Millennials. Meanwhile, the real money to be made is behind the scenes. Visa, though it advertises heavily and has its name stamped on billions of cards, isnt really a consumer company; it serves banks, largely by processing transactions. And if you look at its stock chart, which shows the companys shares tripling over the past couple of years, youll see something that looks a lot like a technology company. Worth more than $420 billion, its around the same size as JPMorgan Chase and worth twice as much as Wells Fargo. Big tech companies can easily splash around money on acquisitions, and Visa is doing the same, agreeing Monday to pay $5.3 billion for Plaid, a San Francisco startup. If you havent heard of Plaid, thats by design: Its products are chunks of code used by other software developers to build financial apps. But you have them to thank for the fact that you can tap a bank account number into an app and easily link it for payment, rather than having to fax a copy of a canceled check. Venmo and Coinbase are among Plaids customers. Its software verifies bank accounts and customers identities, retrieves balances and transactions, and performs a host of other tricky-to-code functions. Visa wants to make sure that its money-processing network is as readily available on mobile phones as on plastic cards. It has its own set of tools for building apps, Visa Direct, but developers are a suspicious lot, and they tend not to gravitate to offerings from big, old companies. Plaids just a few lines of code pitch which is similar to what we hear from Stripe, another richly valued San Francisco financial-software startup speaks to them. Visas interest in Plaid the two companies were already working together on open banking standards suggests it recognized that. Chris Ramirez / Wirepix / Feature Photo Service 1999 One of the reasons why Citi f/i, WingspanBank, Yahoo PayDirect, Billpoint and a host of other online experiments backed by big banks arent around is that back in the ancient days of the internet, everyone had to roll their own financial software. The importance of companies like Plaid is that they allow others to build on top of them. As Visa can attest, working for banks may be more lucrative than actually running one. Owen Thomas, othomas@sfchronicle.com Quote of the week Ill always remember where I was the first moment it dawned on me we might really be onto something big, when I overheard strangers talking about Uber, showing each other this cool new app they had found. Top Uber executive Rachel Holt, on leaving the company after eight and a half years Coming up Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Netflix reports earnings Jan. 21, which will give us the first real glimpse at how the Los Gatos streaming company is faring against the Disney Plus marketing blitz. What Im reading Wired editor Nicholas Thompson interviews Twitters product chief, Kayvon Beykpour. (Wired) Carolyn Said asks whether Ubers plan to keep drivers as contractors could mean freeing them to discriminate against passengers. (San Francisco Chronicle) Former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky explains how to look at the big CES gadget show: the primordial soup of innovation, not a shopping mall. (Learning By Shipping) Tech Chronicle is a thrice-weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicles business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicle A photograph taken in April 1968 by the British photojournalist Don McCullin shows a young Biafran soldier carrying a wounded comrade from an encounter with the federal Nigeran army during the Biafran war. He looks at the camera. Hardly acknowledging McCullins presence, he is intent on what he has to do; there is no particular emotion on his face perhaps recognition, though even that is passing. But this is a child, maybe 13 or 14 years old, his wounded comrade even younger. Possibly one of the earliest images of a phenomenon that has come to haunt African conflicts and the continent itself, the photograph indicates that this is a war into which the entire population was drawn men, women and children a war, some have said, for existence. The Biafran war, which formally ended 50 years ago today, came to define post-colonial Africa for many in the west. Images of determined young Biafran soldiers eager to fight the might of the federal Nigerian army with woefully inadequate supplies of arms mingle with pictures of starving children stick-like limbs, protruding bellies, sad, soulful eyes and emaciated mothers clinging to dead or dying babies. They were the victims of a concerted effort to starve the population of Biafra into submission or extinction. It was a tragedy on so many levels. She isnt one to shy away from taking up roles which are out of her comfort zone. Actor Divya Dutta, be it in Delhi 6 (2009), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), or Badlapur (2015), has always managed to leave an impact on the audience, the length of the role irrespective. Ask her however, if initially she had plans to become a commercial, mainstream film actor which people aspire, complete with drama and dance, she quips, Yes!... I realised however, after Veer-Zara (2004), that the significance of a role is not just about being glamorous. What you give to a role is whats integral to the story. Now everything is so story and character oriented in fact, one of my directors was saying you know that big heroine? She wants to do your role. She goes on to add that she has seen actor turn down roles because they were small. Earlier, we used to say chhota role nahi karenge. I never said that, but I have seen girls say it. Now they say chhota hai, koi baat nahi, impactful hai na? As we talk about the length of the role not mattering, we mention to her the debates that arise around casting, such as Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu playing older characters on screen (instead of old actors being cast), Bhumi being made to change her skins colour for Bala. Also read: Tanhaji vs Chhapaak box office collection day 4: Ajay Devgns film crosses Rs 75 cr, Deepika Padukone-starrer struggles at Rs 21.37 cr Divya herself had to colour her skin for Delhi 6. You had Anupam Kher play an old man in Saraansh, Nargis ji played Mother India at the peak of her career its not about who is playing it, its how you play it. The film you mentioned, if something was questionable, it was makeup and VFX. I once lost a role because I was told I am fair. They were looking for a village woman who is darker. They told me you suit the role completely. I asked then why am I not doing it? They replied you are too fair for the role. I felt a little cheated at not being able to do something because of skin colour. But I am an actor. I was darkened for Delhi 6. I used to go to set at 4 in the morning, mera mazaak udta tha for the call time. I used to take so long to get ready. But here was a director (Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra) who interested me with a role. I saw Saand Ki Aankh, I thought the girls were young, they did a good job. Thodi der ke baad main bhool gayi (they are younger actors playing older characters), says Divya. Follow @htshowbiz for more CALIFORNIA - Governor Newsom wants a billion dollars to combat homelessness, and he's taking the proposal to the streets on a week-long tour. The governor was in Riverside on Tuesday to meet with homeless people and organizations that help them. He's traveling all over the state to see first hand the impact of the crisis on the state. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 151,000 people are living on California streets and in shelters. "This is the year we want to see results," Newsom said. "This is the year we want to see people moving off streets into supportive housing, into navigation centers, which are shelters with enriched services. This is the year we are holding all of us accountable." RELATED: Highlights of California governor's second annual budget Newsom wants $750 million to find temporary housing for the homeless. On top of that, he wants state lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment to end homelessness on the November ballot, which would require local governments to find a solution to the problem in a year. However, he hasn't provided any details about how exactly they would do that. Burnt trees are seen in Mallacoota on January 15, 2020 , Australia. The Princes Highway between Mallacoota and Orbost remains closed to public due to the risk of falling trees following the devastating bushfires that have swept through East Gippsland in recent weeks. Economic and political polarization will rise in 2020, according to the World Economic Forum's latest Global Risks report, but severe threats to the climate account for all of the top five long-term risks. The report published Wednesday, just days before the annual WEF event kicks off in Davos, Switzerland, forecasted a year of increased domestic and international divisions as well as economic slowdown. Respondents were asked to assess both the likelihood of a global risk occurring over the course of the next 10 years, and the severity of its impact at a global level if it were to occur. For the first time in the survey's 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood were all environmental, with extreme weather events, human-made environmental damage and disasters and major biodiversity loss and natural disasters from earthquakes to tsunamis all the likeliest risks in 2020. In terms of the severity of impact over the next 10 years, the top risk was deemed to be the failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation. "Geopolitical turbulence is propelling us towards an 'unsettled' unilateral world of great power rivalries at a time when business and government leaders must focus urgently on working together to tackle shared risks," the report stated. WEF said that collaboration between world leaders, businesses and policy-makers was needed to stop severe threats to the climate, environment, public health and technology systems. "The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning. This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks," Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, said. A Pennsylvania man who lured a 17-year-old girl into prostitution at two West Shore motels has failed to convince a federal court that he wasnt given an adequate chance to defend himself. Instead, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit upheld the 15-year prison term William M. Tyson is serving for prompting underage prostitution and making child pornography. Judge L. Felipe Restrepo noted in the circuit courts opinion that Tyson contacted the girl via Facebook in August 2017, convinced her to become a prostitute and then brought her to Pennsylvania from New York. He first had the girl provide sex for cash at a Motel 6 in New Cumberland. After about a week the FBI rescued the girl from a nearby Quality Inn motel during a sting operation. The girls cell phone was seized and found to contain a video of the teen performing oral sex on Tyson, Restrepo wrote. Tyson received his prison term under a plea agreement. On appeal, Tyson challenged a U.S. Middle District judges ruling that prevented him from arguing to a jury that he didnt know the girl was underage. A mistake of age claim isnt an allowed defense in such cases where a pimp has recruited someone for prostitution, Restrepo found. Women who have a healthy sex life will stave off menopause longer than the less sexually active, say scientists. Researchers found that middle-aged women who engaged in sexual activity weekly were 28pc less likely to have gone through the menopause during the 10-year follow-up than those who had sex less than once a month. Scientists at University College London even found that sexual activity did not have to include a partner - and in fact there was no link between later menopause and marriage, or the presence of a man. Previous theories suggested that intercourse, marriage, or being in contact with male pheromones helped push back the menopause, as the body assumed there was still an opportunity to have children. Ovulation is costly for the body, so the menopause appears to kick in early if there is no chance of conception. In evolutionary terms, it means that a woman freed from caring for her own children could then help look after their grandchildren, ensuring the survival of family genes. Although the research appears to back that theory, it shows for the first time that it is not intercourse that drives the effect. Doctoral candidate Megan Arnot, of the university's department of anthropology, said: "The findings suggest if a woman is not having sex and there is no chance of pregnancy then the body 'chooses' not to invest in ovulation, as it would be pointless. There may be a biological energetic trade-off between investing energy into ovulation and investing elsewhere, such as keeping active by looking after grandchildren." Scientists collected data from the 2,936 women, whose average age was 45, who took part in a US study of women's health in 1996-97. The most frequent pattern of any sexual activity was weekly, with 64pc saying they had engaged in some form. None had yet entered the menopause but 10 years later, 45pc had gone through the change, at an average age of 52. Those who had sex weekly were 28pc less likely to have entered menopause. The study also tested whether living with a man and exposure to pheromones affected menopause, but no correlation was found. Lead author Professor Ruth Mace, of UCL, said: "The menopause is, of course, an inevitability. Nonetheless, these results indicate that menopause timing may adapt in response to the likelihood of becoming pregnant." The research was published in Royal Society Open Science. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Yes Bank jumped 5.84% to Rs 40.80 on bargain hunting after a steep selling in the past three sessions. Shares of Yes Bank tumbled 18.50% in three sessions to Rs 38.55 on 14 January 2020, from its closing high of Rs 47.30 on 9 January 2020. Yes Bank announced post trading hours on Tuesday, 14 January 2020, that it will hold extraordinary general meeting on 7 February to seek shareholders' nod to raise Rs 10,000 crore via combination of equity and debt. The bank will seek shareholders' nod to raise the amount through one or more instruments such as a qualified institutional placement (QIP), American depositary receipts (ADR) and global depositary receipts (GDR), foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) or any other methods on private placement basis, according to a regulatory filing. Further, Yes Bank will also seek shareholder's nod to increase the authorized share capital from Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,100 crore. Last week the bank's board approved raising upto Rs 10,000 crore, in one or more tranches, through QIP/GDRs/ADRs/FCCBs/or any other methods on private placement basis. The board also decided to not proceed with the proposed investment offer of Erwin Singh Braich/SPGP Holdings, while it is open to considering the $500 million offer from Citax Holdings and Citax Investment Group. The final decision will be taken in the next board meeting. In November 2019, the bank said that various investors have expressed willingness to subscribe to equity shares of the bank. Among the institutional investors, a top-tier US Fund House, Discovery Capital and Ward Ferry expressed interest in acquiring fresh stake in the bank. Aditya Birla Family Office, Citax Holdings & Citax Investment Group, GMR Group and Associates, Erwin Singh Braich I SPGP Holdings and Rekha Jhunjhunwala are the five family offices that have expressed interest in subscribing to the equity of the bank. None of the investors will be allotted equity shares such that their holding exceeds 25% of the share capital of the bank. Meanwhile, Yes Bank after market hours on Tuesday, 14 January 2020, said that it acquired 12,73,21,500 equity shares, or 29.97% equity, of Rosa Power Supply Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, pursuant to invocation of pledge of shares. The Rosa thermal plant (1,200 MW) at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, owned by the Rosa Power Supply Company generated 4341 million units in the year ended 31 March 2019. On a standalone basis, Yes Bank reported a net loss of Rs 600.08 crore in Q2 September 2019 as compared to net profit of Rs 964.70 crore in Q2 September 2018. Total income fell 4.3% to Rs 8,332.21 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Yes Bank has pan-India presence covering 53 metro, 29 states and 7 Union Territories. The bank with 1120 branches, 1456 ATMs across the nation has an employee head count of 21,136 as of 31 March 2019. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 32.176. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock was trading below its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at Rs 55.61 and its 200-day moving average (DMA) placed at Rs 104.53, both of which would serve as a resistance levels in the upcoming trading sessions. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five decades since the end of Biafran war, the scars are yet to heal for many as some still agitate for breakaway state. Abuja, Nigeria Fifty years ago, a devastating civil war that killed more than one million people in Nigeria came to an end. Most of those who lost their lives in what became known as the Biafran war died from fighting, disease and starvation during the two-and-a-half-year conflict. In 1967, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the military governor of Nigerias then-Eastern Region inhabited mainly by Igbo people, accused the federal government of marginalising and killing thousands of ethnic Igbos living in the north. On May 30 of that year, Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared the former Eastern Region a sovereign and independent republic under the name of Biafra a unilateral move rejected by the federal authorities. A bloody civil war ensued, with federal troops deployed to stop the secessionist movement. The Nigerian forces cut off aid and access to the area throughout the war, which ended with the surrender of Biafra in January 1970. The Republic of Biafra ceased to exist and General Yakubu Gowon, the leader of the federal government, famously declared that there was no victor, no vanquished in the war. A supporter of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) holds a Biafra flag during a rally [File: Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde] Fifty years on, the scars are yet to heal for many, including former fighters who suffered injuries and others who lost their loved ones and suffered huge economic losses. On Monday, at a Never Again conference held in Nigerias commercial capital of Lagos, Igbo leaders from the southeast urged the government to step up development efforts in the region and called for increased political inclusion and economic support to end fresh calls for a breakaway Biafra state. In 2017, a regional court ordered the Nigerian government to pay 50 billion nairas ($138m, todays prices) in damages to civil war victims. The Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice also ruled that 38 billion nairas ($105m, todays prices) should be put towards evacuating abandoned lethal weapons which deprived southeast communities of farmland since the civil war ended. But for Canada-based Igbo leader Benjamin Allison, financial reparation is not enough. You cannot compensate anyone for past injuries without an acknowledgement that a damage or harm had been done to them. Nonetheless, the only true compensation the Igbos seek from Nigeria at this point is a government based on fairness, equity and justice, Allison said. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017 approved the payment of pensions of former police officers who served in Biafra during the civil war. The officers were granted a presidential pardon in 2000 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The Nigerian government has repeatedly said it is committed to developing the region and recently undertook a series of road projects. IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu is not backing down from his call for a breakaway Republic of Biafra [Chika Oduah/Al Jazeera] But Vincent Nnanna, who was barely 10 years old when the civil war broke out and was recruited to assist the Biafran soldiers with clerical work in Abia state, is not convinced by the governments efforts so far. The clamour for equity and respect for fundamental human rights by the Igbos in particular and the southeast at large has continued to fall on deaf ears, he said. Continued agitation Separatist sentiment has not been wished away, and in recent years the pro-Biafra movement has seen some resurgence. The red, black and green flag of Biafra with a rising golden sun still dots the frontage of some commercial buildings and houses in the southeast region. Rights group Amnesty International accused the countrys security forces of killing at least 150 Biafra separatists at peaceful rallies between August 2015 and August 2016 and detaining hundreds demonstrating in support of a breakaway state. The military and police denied the allegations. Nnamdi Kanu, a leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group, is the most visible face of the movement. He was held for nearly two years for treasonable felony charges before being granted bail on health grounds in April 2017. Kanu fled Nigeria under controversial circumstances in 2018 but still coordinates the groups activities from his base in the United Kingdom. In 2017, following a number of IPOB-organised protests across Nigeria over a period of years, the government banned the group and declared it a terrorist organisation. They masquerade as a separatist movement, yet they endanger the very people they claim to represent, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said in a 2017 statement about the governments move to outlaw the group. In reality, IPOB cares about IPOB and nothing more. The governments pronouncement, however, has not stopped the groups activities especially overseas where it enjoys the support of millions of Igbos in the diaspora. Continued agitation for Biafra is impelled and spurred by state-sponsored or supported injustice which left most Igbo youth with a sense of hopelessness and lack of outlets to express their talents, potentials and ambitions, Allison said. He alleged that no real effort has been made to develop the region, support business, create jobs and ensure adequate security. Nnanna, however, said he is not happy with the approach of those leading the calls for a new Biafra. The regrets I have over Biafra is that since after the death of the forebears, some mercenaries have emerged on the scene purporting to have the spiritual mandate to champion the Biafran cause to a positive conclusion only for them to herd the crowd onto a blind alley, leaving the agitators confused and almost disillusioned, Nnanna said. Meanwhile, Mohammed Sarki, a public affairs analyst, called for more efforts towards reconciliation. The continued discussions about the Biafra war wont help the country to move forward. Our leaders already declared that no side won the war. We need to forget the past and focus on how to fix Nigeria, Sarki said. The civil war was not a pleasant experience for many people, not just Igbos. We are better as a united country. Flash Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met separately with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday, with both sides pledging to further promote relations between the two countries. Sri Lanka has attached utmost importance to developing ties with China as it is a trustworthy and long-term cooperative partner of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan president said, expressing gratitude to China for its support for Sri Lanka's socio-economic development. Gotabaya Rajapaksa said Sri Lank is ready to enhance Sri Lanka-China ties, strengthen bilateral win-win cooperation in various fields and actively promote the joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative to build regional shipping and logistic hubs. The Sri Lankan government fully supports the development of major projects such as the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said, noting that these projects will not only help develop the country's economy and improve people's livelihood, but also become a major driving force for the friendly cooperation between the two countries. The prime minister said Sri Lanka welcomes more Chinese tourists as well as more Chinese investments. He also called for closer coordination and cooperation between the two countries in international affairs. For his part, Wang said China and Sri Lanka are good friends and partners who always support and help each other. China will continue to firmly support Sri Lanka in safeguarding its sovereignty and national dignity. China is willing to further consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen high-level exchanges and deepen practical cooperation between the two countries, so as to push for further promotion of their strategic cooperative partnership. The senior Chinese official called for discussion on jointly forging the China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future which features sharing opportunities and outcomes and enjoying common development and prosperity. China and Sri Lanka should speed up the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, develop the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port into two major engines for the fast development of the Sri Lankan economy, Wang said. Wang also called on the two sides to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, technology, education and tourism. He said China will encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Sri Lanka and help the country build shipping and logistic hubs as well as industrial and financial centers in the region. China-Sri Lanka cooperation has never targeted at any third party and also it should not be affected by any third party, Wang said, stressing that deepening cooperation between China and Sri Lanka will surely be conducive to the peace and development of the region. The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday sued the estate of late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, alleging the wealthy investor raped and otherwise sexually abused young women and girls as young as 12 years old at his secluded private island getaways in that territory. Epstein's criminal enterprise from 2001 through 2018 "facilitated ... the sexual molestation and exploitation of numerous girls" on his two private islands, claims the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Denise George in Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. The lawsuit seeks forfeit of those two islands, which are worth an estimated $86 million, as well as unspecified monetary damages and the breakup of corporate entities that Epstein allegedly used to provide him with girls who sexually serviced him three times each day. The girls, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years old, were "deceptively lured" and recruited "with money and promises of employment, career opportunities and school assistance" to the Virgin Islands, where Epstein and other abusers "participated in sexual acts of rape and abuse of minors," the suit claims. While on the island, the girls sometimes had their passports taken away, barred from communicating with people not on the islands and were threatened with violence, according to the suit. Abuse victims then were forced "to recruit others to perform services and engage in sexual acts a trafficking pyramid scheme," according to the suit, which was filed five months after Epstein fatally hung himself while in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial on federal child sex trafficking charges. Some of the victims were paid through Epstein's charitable foundations, the suit says. "The conduct of Epstein and his associates shocks the conscience and betrays the deepest principles and laws of the Virgin Islands," said George. "The Virgin Islands is not, and will not be, a safe haven for human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We will hold accountable those who break our laws regardless of political, social or economic status." In addition to Epsteins' estate, defendants in the case include several Epstein-controlled companies, and unidentified "John and Jane Does" who allegedly facilitated and participated in sexual abuse of underage girls. Two of those entities, Nautilus Inc., and Poplar Inc., have as officers two men, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, who are executors of Epstein's estate, the suit says. The suit's claims include aggravated rape, human trafficking involving sexual servitude, forced labor, patronizing minors, as well as child abuse and neglect, unlawful sexual contact, prostitution and conspiracy. The attorney general's suit claims that Epstein's estate, which is valued at more than $575 million, is continuing to engage in conduct geared to concealing his criminal conduct by proposing the creation of a voluntary claims resolution program that would settle claims of sexual abuse by Epstein. The suit said that the program would impose "confidentiality requirements and requires any claimant accepting an award under the program to sacrifice any other claims against 'any other person or entity arising from or related to Mr. Epstein's conduct.' " But Daniel Weiner, a lawyer for the estate's executors, said the attorney general's lawsuit incorrectly describes the victims' compensation program, which has yet to be approved by a Virgin Islands court. Weiner said that people who participate in the program would have "absolutely no obligation to keep confidential any aspects of their claim." "The suggestion that the Program was intended to conceal any information or to shield anyone from liability or accountability is unfounded, directly contrary to the details of the proposed Program, and false," Weiner said in an emailed statement. "We urge the Attorney General to contact the Program Administrator directly to confirm that the Co-Executors' description of the Program is accurate, and to then correct the pleading filed today by her office." Weiner said the executors of Epstein's estate would have no other comment on the lawsuit. Epstein owned two private islands, Little St. James and Great St. James, located almost two miles away from the larger island of St. Thomas, which is home to thousands of people, businesses and government offices. The suit says Epstein bought Little St. James in 1998 "as the perfect hideaway for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault." Epstein used a "straw purchaser" to buy Great St. James Island in 2016 for more than $20 million to avoid having someone else live there and be able to view his misdeeds or visitors, according to the suit. In one instance cited in the suit, "a 15-year-old victim was forced into sexual acts with Epstein and others and then attempted to escape by swimming off Little St. James Island." "Epstein and others organized a search party that located her and kept her captive by, among other things, confiscating her passport," the suit said. Another girl, after being forced to perform sex acts also tried to escape, and after Epstein found her "suggested physical restraint or harm if she failed to cooperate," the suit says. In 2018, according to the court filing, Epstein refused to allowed Virgin Island Department of Justice investigators, accompanied by U.S. Marshals, to enter Little St. James beyond its dock, "claiming the dock was his 'front door' as they tried to conduct an address verification in connection with his registration as a convicted sex offender. The suit says that planning and environmental officials repeatedly issued citations and assessed fines of thousands of dollars for Epstein violating construction and environmental codes in work on his islands. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Secretary of State Mike Pompeos briefing to legislators last week went so badly that it may have galvanized Republican support to restrain President Trump from war with Iran, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. Kaine, who will soon introduce a resolution to require Congress approval before any such escalation of hostilities, now believes there are as many as a dozen potential GOP votes in the Senatefar more than expected, and also far more Republicans than were willing to vote on a similar initiative to get the U.S. out of the Saudi-led war in Yemen in 2018. I wish I could say that the getting sponsors has been because I'm so persuasive, Kaine told The Daily Beast. At last Wednesdays briefing to senators, the senator said there was an air of dismissiveness about the role of Congress from Pompeo and the other briefers. Trump, Iran, and Where The Forever War Was Always Headed There were a couple of other problems I thought about that briefing, Kaine added. Without getting into classified information, many of us were underwhelmed by the evidence of imminence. Not everybody was, some thought it was fine, but many of us were underwhelmed by that. Several legislators left that briefing last week infuriated with what they considered evasive or dismissive answers on a question of war and peace. Memorably, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a close ally of the president, laced into the briefersPompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguirefor telling us that we need to be good little boys and girls and run along and not debate this in public. Several others predicted to The Daily Beast that it would cost the administration congressional support over Iran ahead of the upcoming war-powers votes. Since last week, Kaine has been in talks with GOP senatorsincluding Lee, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Todd Young (R-IN)about shaping the text of his resolution in hopes of it garnering as much Republican support as possible.Those negotiations, Kaine said, have yielded compromiseincluding mutual support of striking text from the resolution that specifically mentions President Donald Trump. Were trying to make it as palatable as we can for everybody, he said. Story continues Such efforts have proven fruitful so far. Young told reporters on Tuesday that hed be backing Kaines resolutionand with Lee and Paul already supportive, only one more GOP senator is needed to support the measure in order for it to pass the Senate. Kaine said he wasnt sure how large the pool of possible GOP yes votes is. Probably a dozen, but I could be surprised, he said. Lee, meanwhile, predicted to reporters that it would probably be close to the bloc of seven who voted with Democrats on the Yemen resolution. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a similar Iran war powers resolution by a 224 to 194 margin. That resolution, led by Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin, is unlikely to receive a Senate vote, however. It is whats known as a concurrent resolutionwhich, owing to obscure parliamentary procedure, doesnt provide an obvious mechanism for senators to get it onto the floor for a vote. Slotkins measure, as a concurrent resolution, also doesnt require a presidential signature to pass. House Democratic leadership considered that a strength, since it avoids a presidential vetosomething Trump exercised when Congress voted to get the U.S. out of the Yemen war. But avoiding a veto has an upside for Trump, argued Matt Duss, the chief foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT). If Trump wants to veto the second War Powers Resolution of his presidency and assert a unilateral right to escalate conflicts as hes sending thousands more troops to the Middle East, he can do that, but it will just further reveal that hes lying when he says he wants to end our countrys endless wars, Duss told The Daily Beast. A representative for Slotkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In response, some Senate Democrats advocate passing the Kaine resolution and sending that back to the House, where the Democratic-controlled chamber can procure passage of a counterpart to send to the White House. Kaine said he was optimistic his bill would pass the House. In order to override a likely Trump veto, however, two-thirds support will be required from both chambers of Congressa bar that the Senate will likely fail to meet. I think it's a good thing to get this bill on the president's desk, you know, veto or not. We do our job, he does his, Kaine said. This is about Congressit's about Congress, because Congress has been the one that's kind of been willing to be a backbencher on this. It's time for us to stop. Hours after this story went to press, Joe Gould of Defense News tweeted that Kaine says he has four Republican votesfrom Lee, Rand Paul, Todd Young and Susan Collinsthat put support for his resolution at 51 senators. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Wind River Indian Reservation Startup Challenge Launched by UW The University of Wyoming launched the Wind River Startup Challenge this month, giving tribal member entrepreneurs the opportunity to receive funding to start businesses. In collaboration with the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, Central Wyoming College, and the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, two new ventures will be eligible to receive startup funding from a $25,000 seed fund. No business experience is required to apply to the challenge. Tribal members can submit their innovative and sustainable business ideas by Sunday, Feb. 16. Applications will be assessed based on potential to benefit the Wind River Indian Reservation community. Business concepts designed to benefit the environment, health and well-being of the tribal communities will receive preference; however, all concepts will be considered. Reservation community members interested in entrepreneurship are encouraged to participate in the first of three workshops, titled Business Model Creation. The workshop will be at the Wind River Tribal College Thursday, Jan. 23, from 6-8 p.m. Community members are invited to attend the event, which provides information about the challenge and gives applicants guidance to develop their business concepts and apply. Dates for the other two workshops will be announced at a later date. Workshops are designed to support entrepreneurs in the Wind River community in building viable business concepts. Interested parties are encouraged to attend, even if they are not participating in the challenge. The Wind River Startup Challenge is modeled after other regional entrepreneurship opportunities in Wyoming where applicants work closely with experienced business counselors from the Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC). Located in Laramie, Sheridan and Casper, the WTBC supports innovative Wyoming startups through business incubation programs and regional startup challenges. Local workshops will be taught in conjunction with Central Wyoming College and the Wyoming SBDC Network. UWs Office of Research and Economic Development administers the WTBC. Economic development must occur at the grassroots level in order to be successful, says James Trosper, director of UWs High Plains American Indian Research Institute. With this startup challenge, community members will lead the change rather than wait for government to lead us. The startup challenge is a way for tribal members to return to their traditional roots of entrepreneurship and move beyond the economic dependence caused by federal policies of the reservation era, Trosper says. Both Arapahos and Shoshones can draw inspiration from a long history of traditional commerce and innovation, he adds. Shoshones were largely responsible for the spread of the horse to the northern Rockies through trade in the 1700s. Shoshone annual summer gatherings became the basis for the famous 1830s fur trapper rendezvous in the Green River Basin. The Arapaho people were a significant player in the 1800s trade on the Great Plains, exchanging goods and horses from New Mexico with the Mandan villages on the Missouri River. Small businesses and natural resource development were at the core of Wind River tribal economies in the 20th century. Kyle Trumble, a business instructor at Central Wyoming College, says there is a growing momentum and interest around the country in Nation Building and Sustainable Tribal Economies, which is a guide to restoring energy and food sovereignty in Native America. It is an exciting time to be a business/entrepreneurial instructor in this county and to be a part of this project, Trumble says. Resources are available to help build, launch and grow Native-owned enterprises, while collaborative and capacity-building efforts among area organizations will play a vital role in laying the groundwork for economic development. More information about the Wind River Startup Challenge, including a link to the application, can be found at www.windriverstartupchallenge.com. National Tyre & Wheel Limited (ASX:NTD), which is in the retail distributors business, and is based in Australia, saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the ASX over the last few months. As a small cap stock, hardly covered by any analysts, there is generally more of an opportunity for mispricing as there is less activity to push the stock closer to fair value. Is there still an opportunity here to buy? Today I will analyse the most recent data on National Tyre & Wheels outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. See our latest analysis for National Tyre & Wheel What's the opportunity in National Tyre & Wheel? Good news, investors! National Tyre & Wheel is still a bargain right now. Ive used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because theres not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stocks ratio of 7.23x is currently well-below the industry average of 16.43x, meaning that it is trading at a cheaper price relative to its peers. Another thing to keep in mind is that National Tyre & Wheels share price is quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards its intrinsic value over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once its there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range again. Can we expect growth from National Tyre & Wheel? ASX:NTD Past and Future Earnings, January 15th 2020 Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. Though in the case of National Tyre & Wheel, it is expected to deliver a negative earnings growth of -9.2%, which doesnt help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term. Story continues What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? Although NTD is currently undervalued, the negative outlook does bring on some uncertainty, which equates to higher risk. I recommend you think about whether you want to increase your portfolio exposure to NTD, or whether diversifying into another stock may be a better move for your total risk and return. Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on NTD for a while, but hesitant on making the leap, I recommend you research further into the stock. Given its current undervaluation, now is a great time to make a decision. But keep in mind the risks that come with negative growth prospects in the future. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on National Tyre & Wheel. You can find everything you need to know about National Tyre & Wheel in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in National Tyre & Wheel, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. As Chabad events gained popularity, the Kaminetzkys rented apartment began to shrink. It was time to move forward. But with a weak economy and a community that struggles to get by, the prospects were dim. It didnt help that Rabbi Kaminetzky felt that Chabad needed a space in the heart of the city. As poor as this country is, real estate in the center of the city is exorbitantly expensive, he says. We knew it was not a practical option. Acting on a hunch, the rabbi reached out to a foreign philanthropist whom he had never met: I hoped that he would appreciate Chabads transformative work in Belgrade. I thought that what we were doing might appeal to this man. Kaminetzky held his breath. After some time, with assistance from Chabad Headquarters through the good offices of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, he got a reply. Over the course of two years, the rabbi corresponded with the philanthropist about the various properties they were looking at. We were ecstatic when he gave us the go-ahead on a property in downtown Belgrade, the rabbi says. It was in serious disrepair, but ideally situated on one of the major traffic arteries of the city, alongside some of the most important national institutions and embassies. Miris imagination went into overdrive, and her flair for design came to good use. At first, the place was so gray and gloomy, she recalls. But I pictured it filled with people sitting around a Shabbat table. I thought of our friends bringing their little ones to our afterschool and Hebrew school programs. A vision began to form. Ultimately, the donor did more than buy the building. He underwrote the architectural plans, building permits, renovations, interior design and all the decor down to the last detail, the rabbi says. Working with the architects and designers, Miri translated her vision with exquisite attention to detail, designing an inviting space, sunlit and alive with warmth and color. The results elicit a wow reaction from every first-time visitor to the Chabad House. More importantly, locals and travelers, the adults and the children are never in a hurry to leave. The Belgrade Chabad House is a miracle, says Rabbi Kaminetzky. Theres no other way to explain how the blessing came to us. We cannot properly thank the donor because he insists on anonymity. But hes been a dream partner with us in the Rebbes work. And we think of him and are grateful to him at every event that transpires in this beautiful Chabad House. Alia Bhatt shared the first look in and as Gangubai Kathiawadi on social media on Wednesday. The actor plays the woman often called the madam of Kamathipura in Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. The two photos show Alias transition from a young girl into a hardened brothel owner. She introduced two posters of the film on Instagram, with the caption, Here she is, Gangubai Kathiawadi. While one poster is a monochrome closeup of her face with a big red bindi on her forehead, another is a long shot of her as she sits in a blouse and skirt, a bindi on her forehead, hair plaits with a pistol placed on a table besides her. Alia Bhatts look from Gangubai Kathiawadi. Also Watch: Alia Bhatt gets emotional at sister Shaheen Bhatts book launch Bhansali Productions unveiled her look on social media with the caption, Strength. Power. Fear! One look, a thousand emotions. Presenting the first look of #GangubaiKathiawadi. In cinemas 11 September 2020. @aliaa08 #SanjayLeelaBhansali @prerna982 @jayantilalgada @PenMovies. Ahead of its first look release, Alia Bhatt on Tuesday shared a glimpse of her upcoming biopic. The 26-year-old actor shared a glimpse of the films title and wrote Gangubai in the caption along with a heart emoji. In the short video, one can see a red dot along with the title Gangubai Kathiawadi. Earlier, Alia shared the news of getting the lead role in the film on her Twitter handle and wrote, A name youve heard a story you havent. #GangubaiKathiawadi This ones going to be special!! Directed by #SanjayLeelaBhansali, releasing 11 September 2020. This project will see Bhansali Productions collaborating with Jayantilal Gadas Pen India Ltd. The film is based on Hussain Zaidis book Mafia Queens of Mumbai. The story revolves around Gangubai Kothewali, a brothel owner and matriarch. Also read: Tanhaji vs Chhapaak box office day 5: Ajay Devgn film heads towards 100 cr club, Deepika Padukones movie collects 23 cr Earlier, a report in Mid-Day had quoted a source as saying, Alias paternal grandfather Nanabhai Bhatt was a Gujarati Brahmin who hailed from Kathiawad. But Alia is not familiar with the dialect as it is rarely used outside of the pocket in Gujarat. Since the filmmaker is meticulous in his prep, he wants a tutor who is fluent in the dialect. Bhansali has reached out to some of Mumbais famous Gujarati theatre personalities, including actors Manoj Joshi and Supriya Pathak, to help him in his search. The film will be shot simultaneously as she undertakes the month-long diction class. The dialect has a strong Sindh influence as the region was inhabited by the Kathis and Rajputs from present-day Rajasthan and Sindh. Who was Gangubai Kathiwadi? Called Gangubai Kathewali, the matriarch of Kamathipura in the 60s, a young woman betrayed into prostitution who turned into one of its biggest champions and wealthiest benefactors but retained a soft spot for young women forced into the trade. According to S Hussain Zaidis book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Ganga Harjivandas Kathiwadia eloped with her fathers accountant at the age of 16 and settled in Mumbai. However, the wedding was a fraud and her husband sold her into prostitution. She was raped by a member of don Karim Lalas gang; she fought back and got to meet the don. Impressed by her spirit, the don made her his sister. She went on to run a brothel in Kamathipura Follow @htshowbiz for more 15.01.2020 LISTEN Anytime I listen to communicators of both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on radio and television programmes, I ask one rhetorical question: Who is telling Ghanaians the truth? Whilst NPP communicators make it seem as though the Akufo-Addo government has performed excellently so far, NDC communicators, on the other hand, paint a gloomy picture as though the ruling government has done virtually nothing since it assumed the reins of power in January 2017. Undoubtedly, their partisan politics on almost every national issue could potentially throw many a Ghanaian into a state of confusion. In principle, politics is not bad. However, when politics assumes partisan dimensions, it becomes dirty, stinky and unattractive, as it is fraught with hypocrisy, lies, slander, greed, propaganda, populism, envy, mischief, sabotage, destructive criticisms, equalisation, empty rhetoric, double standard, unfulfilled promises, among other repulsive tendencies that are inimical to nation building and the growth of democracy. Placing Partisanship above Nationalism Partisan politics or partisanship drives me up the wall, in that sincerity, objectivity, rationality and credibility have been hurled to the dogs in the country. Indeed, the disposition of many Ghanaian politicians leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and it vividly betrays their real intentions of entering politics. Judging by their unenviable actions and inaction, one can easily conclude that they are unmitigated self-seekers who don't have the interests of Ghana at heart. They place personal interests and partisanship above nationalism. Obviously, partisan politics has a greater influence on politicians than nationalism. As a result, they allow partisanship to blind their sincerity, objectivity, credibility and rationality. They view almost every national issue with a 'political lens'. Some even resort to tribal politics to win votes by inciting their political opponents against certain tribes. Lack of Sincerity They see eye to eye with every decision or policy of the ruling government of the day when their party is in power. However, when their party is in opposition, they criticise and kick against every policy of government, whether good or bad. Thus, in opposition, they become pessimists by default. Their pessimism becomes evident when they mischievously spew out discouraging statements such as 'it can't be done', 'it is not possible', 'it will surely fail', 'Ghana is not ready for it now', etc. against every policy of the ruling government. And they hardly give credit to their political opponents where it is due. For instance, since Ghana transitioned to multi-party democracy in 1992, when has a member of an opposition party lauded a ruling party's annual budget statement? On the other hand, when has a member of a ruling government criticised the annual budget statement of his or her government? Food for thought! Sabotage, Destructive Criticisms and Slander When their party is in opposition, they have one major agenda to discredit the ruling government in order to make it unpopular so that their party can gain electoral advantage. As a result, their actions clearly show that they do not wish the country well at all in terms of development. Every success story of the ruling government is bad news and a big blow to them in that it impedes their selfish desires to come back to power. They, therefore, resort to sabotage and destructive criticisms with the aim of gaining electoral advantage. When their party assumes the reins of power, politicians justify policies, decisions and programmes they criticised when in opposition. They invariably take a keen interest in politics of convenience and equalisation. They hardly take the flak when things go wrong, and they disseminate propaganda as a political strategy. Due to partisan politics, important uncompleted projects initiated by previous governments are often abandoned by ruling governments who think their political opponents would take the credit after the completion of the projects. But continuity in governance is crucial to development. More seriously, some politicians resort to slanderous allegations due to partisan politics. They allow envy and propaganda to influence them to deliberately concoct stories to run down and tarnish the reputation of their political opponents. Deception Besides, they pull the wool over the eyes of the ordinary Ghanaian electorate with phantom promises they can't fulfil. They pretend to be loving, caring and empathetic only during election years when they badly need votes to win power. Interestingly, when they are in opposition, they pretend to be patriotic. They pretend to have all the knowledge and prudent ideas that can potentially push this country forward in terms of development. However, when they win power, their so-called knowledge and prudent ideas seem to vanish into thin air. As a result, they employ politics of equalisation and convenience to justify their incompetence and failure. Machiavellian Tactics Instead of focusing on national development to improve the living standards of the ordinary Ghanaian, all that a typical Ghanaian politician thinks about is how his party can win Election 2020. Of course, winning the next elections is the major priority of majority of Ghanaian politicians. To them, it is a do-or-die affair. Some of them are power-conscious to the extent that they don't even care if they can ascend to power through Machiavellian tactics. Sadly, politics without principle has become the order of the day! I strongly concur with John Calvin Thomas, an American syndicated columnist, when he once said, One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are. The Reality The reality is that partisanship cannot profit the poor in rural Ghana who lack potable water, electricity, good shelter and yet continue to exercise their franchise in the name of democracy. Partisanship cannot change the destiny of Ghana when politicians have refused to be patriotic and nationalistic in the discharge of their responsibilities. And partisanship cannot benefit Ghana when politicians have become corrupt, egocentric, greedy, mendacious and insincere. The Way Forward Albeit democracy has offered the country some relative peace, it is noteworthy that partisan politics could potentially derail national development. Therefore, it is about time Ghanaian politicians went against party lines and ideological underpinnings in the interest of national development. As Ghanaians, we must be discerning enough in order not to identify with insincere, greedy, self-centred and corrupt politicians, for they don't have anything good to offer Mother-Ghana. Ghana needs sincere politicians who are not blinded by partisan politics. The writer is a proofreader Writer's email address: [email protected] By Anthony Kwadwo Kyei Taranjit Singh Sandhu will take charge as the new Indian Ambassador to the United States, a senior Indian official told ANI. He will succeed Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the new Foreign Secretary-designate, who recently left for New Delhi to take charge later this month. Official sources said that the file relating to the Ambassador's appointment has been cleared by the competent authority but the government is yet to make an official announcement about it. Sandhu is the current High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka since January 24, 2017. He has previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of India in Washington DC from 2013 to 2017. The Ambassador had also previously served in the Indian mission in DC between 1997 to 2000 and is generally believed to be a familiar face in the Washington DC circle. Official sources also told ANI that Sandhu's appointment will be announced 'soon' in light of the possibility that US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India on a standalone visit towards the end of February. The official also said that the procedures of the new appointee are also underway in Washington DC. WASHINGTON - With 20 days left before Iowa voters kick off the 2020 presidential nomination race, stakes would already by high for the six Democrats who made the cut for Tuesday night's debate in Des Moines. But with a thrice-in-the-nation's history impeachment trial set to open next week, three of those contenders face the prospect of having their campaigns frozen in amber. For them - Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar - the need to leave a lasting impression was paramount, and they arrived in Des Moines with dramatically different fortunes. Sanders has surged into first place in Iowa. Warren has slipped, and tempers have flared between the two leading progressives in recent days. Klobuchar remains far back in the pack but still hanging on as a centrist alternative to Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former vice president and former South Bend, Ind., mayor. Biden comes to Dallas on Wednesday night. He, Buttigieg and billionaire Tom Steyer will have the luxury of jetting around the country even when the Senate is in session on impeachment, one of many key backdrops for the debate. Some highlights of the debate: ADVERTISEMENT ELECTABILITY ARGUMENT Biden has led the field for a year, even before he jumped into the race, thanks to his unmatched experience - eight years as vice president - and the perception that he's the most electable. Rivals have tried to chip away at that perception, or refocus attention to other criteria. Biden isn't giving ground on that point and ahead of the debate, he released an ad that explicitly appeals on that basis. It shows Trump uttering his name over and over, and cites polls showing Biden topping the president in battlegrounds that swung the 2016 election: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. "I've taken all the hits he can deliver and I'm going up in the polls," Biden said during the debate. The problem with an electability argument is that it hinges on perceptions, and those can be fragile. Rivals goaded Biden in previous debates, hoping to trigger one of his signature gaffes or expose him as insufficiently progressive. This time, he didn't rattle. With fewer competitors to worry about, he seemed more poised and sharper than in previous debates. Biden's fluency on national security served him well, as usual, and this time he even managed not to trip over tongue twisters. ADVERTISEMENT "I was part of the coalition to put together 68 countries to deal with stateless terror, as well as failed states," he said at one point. "Not us alone; 68 other countries. That how we were able to defeat ... ISIS." WARREN VS. SANDERS In the days leading up to the debate, Sanders wrestled with allegations that he'd privately told Warren that a woman couldn't win the White House, an accusation that she and allies stoked, and revelations that Sanders staffers were depicting her to voters as the favorite of better-educated, wealthier Democrats. Moderators made sure to raise the woman issue. "Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes. How could anybody in a million years, not believe that a woman could become president," Sanders said, defending himself. "Bernie is my friend and I'm not here to try to fight with Bernie," Warren said. But collectively, she noted, the men on stage had lost 10 races, and the only undefeated candidates were herself and Klobuchar. The audience hooted. An eruption of the Warren-Sanders feud was inevitable even without instigation. ADVERTISEMENT The two darlings of the left have butted heads on how aggressively to tax corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and how fast the country should move toward universal, government-run health care. A clash on trade was low octane. Sanders distanced himself from the pending NAFTA update, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, complaining that the USMCA lacks sufficient protections for the environment and workers. "I'm sick and tired of trade agreements negotiated by the CEOs of large corporations," he said. Warren acknowledged flaws but called it a "modest improvement," good enough to accept and keep fighting for better. "We have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting, and they are hurting because of Donald Trump's initiated trade wars," she said. Other interactions exposed an irritable streak in both septuagenarian senators. Warren, making the case for her own electability, boasted that she was the only person on stage who'd beaten an incumbent Republican in 30 years. Sanders broke in. He'd ousted a Republican congressman in 1990 - that is, 30 years ago - and wanted his due. Warren looked incredulous. She'd carefully crafted her boast and wasn't about to concede an inaccuracy: "I said, I was the only one who's beaten an incumbent Republican in 30 years." Sanders was also put off. "I don't know that that's the major issue of the day," he said. KNIVES OUT A Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released last Friday showed Sanders in the lead with 20% support, up 5 points since November. Warren came in second with 17%, with Buttigieg and Biden just behind. The same foursome is clustered atop the polls in New Hampshire, with Buttigieg in first with 20%, just a tad ahead of Biden. With such a tight race, the incentive to snipe is high, particularly for a candidate like Klobuchar. The Minnesota senator has regularly questioned Buttigieg's readiness for the presidency after rising no higher than the mayor of a city of 100,000 in elective politics. And without a strong finish in Iowa, Klobuchar may be forced to join the exodus from a field that at one point topped two dozen candidates. The fact the former mayor has slipped invites even more attacks. Biden, too, would benefit from marginalizing the younger rival. In fact the former vice president, poked first at Sanders, standing to his left. With the focus on trade, he teased his rival, "I don't know that there's any trade agreement that the senator would ever think made any sense. But the problem is that 95% of the customers are out there. So we better figure out how we begin to write the rules of the road" so China doesn't, Biden said. IRAN AND OTHER THREATS Seven candidates qualified for the last debate, Dec. 19 in Los Angeles - the six who convened again Tuesday night, plus entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who fell short for the Iowa debate. Since then, the world has changed dramatically. In particular, tensions with Iran have flared. Trump ordered a Jan. 3 drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iran's top general, spymaster Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Democrats readily agreed that Soleimani was a dangerous adversary. But few considered the attack wise. Fears of massive retaliation so far haven't come to fruition but watch for Biden and others to position themselves as cooler heads and more strategic, less impulsive commanders in chief. They'll also have the chance to provide a vision of presidential war powers going forward. That's a raging debate in the aftermath of an attack ordered without consulting with Congress, under legal authority granted to cope with terrorism and threats in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Donald Trump is taking us pell-mell toward another war," Klobuchar warned. Biden accused Trump of lying about an impending threat to U.S. embassies as a pretext for the attack. And he boasted that he had been part of the Obama administration's efforts to stall Iran's nuclear weapons program, only to see Trump scrap that deal, with "predictable" consequences. "We're now isolated," he said. Allies now see a moral equivalence between the U.S. and Iran, he said, and "we have lost our standing in the region. ... The next president needs to be able to pull those folks back together, reestablish our alliances, and insist that Iran go back into the agreement." Steyer pointed to the disastrous wildfires in Australia as a "gigantic" climate crisis that requires "the same kind of value-driven coalition building that we actually should be using in the Middle East." Warren noted that everyone on stage opposed "endless war." The question, she said, is how to extricate U.S. troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot zones. "We've turned the corner so many times we're going in circles in these regions. This has got to stop. It's not enough to say someday we're going to get out. ... It's time to get our combat troops out," she said. TRUMP FACTOR, AGAIN The House had impeached the president just a day before the last Democratic debate. Trump's behavior and policies have provided the touchstone for Democrats throughout the campaign. But with the impeachment trial starting in a week, contrasts with Trump are at a premium, along with ideas for weaning some of his supporters and undoing his policies on taxes, the Middle East and immigration. Klobuchar boasted that she'd been prescient by warning in the first Democratic debate, back in June in Miami, that Iran was the biggest security threat to the United States. "I said, because of Donald Trump, because I feared exactly what happened would happen: enrichment of uranium, escalation of tensions, leaving frayed relations with our allies. We can bring them back, understanding this is a terrorist regime that we cannot allow to have a nuclear weapon." --- (c)2020 The Dallas Morning News Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Italian police said on Wednesday they had dismantled a massive Mafia operation in Sicily which had been defrauding the European Union of millions of pounds in funds destined to farmers. Officers from Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri and financial police fanned out across Sicily at dawn today to execute arrest warrants for 94 mobsters. Those arrested included the heads of two Mafia families, a notary, entrepreneurs and public administrators tasked with helping farmers access funds. Since 2013, the so-called Tortorici Mafia - named after a town within the Nebrodi mountainous area in the island's northeast - had defrauded about 8.5 million from the EU, Rai24 reported. This undated thermal imaging camera image grabbed from a video handout on January 15, 2020 by the Italian law enforcement agency Guardia di Finanza (GdF), shows a helicopter view showing suspects (centre) during a track as part of an anti-Mafia operation in Sicily National anti-Mafia Prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho said thousands of hectares (acres) of farmland in eastern Sicily fraudulently qualified for aid. The clan falsely claimed they owned plots of land that in reality were owned by the region and local councils, thereby tapping EU funding. Some of the land in the alleged fraud scheme is within the Nebrodi public parkland, a hilly region popular for grazing. Key to the plot were employees of a public agency for agricultural payments, which distributes EU funds to farmers, and those working for assistance centres set up to help farmers tap available funding. A 2015 file photo shows Nebrodi National Park in Sicily, where plots of land owned by the region were listed as requiring EU funding by the mobsters A 2017 file photo shows a member of Italy's elite Carabinieri paramilitary. Officers from Italy's Carabinieri and financial police fanned out across Sicily at dawn Wednesday to execute the arrest warrants People take part in a demonstration against the mafia in the city of Foggia, Apulia region, southern Italy, 10 January 2020 In past years, farmers who refused to be involved with fraudulent practices reported threats from Cosa Nostra. In a charge sheet, Judge Sergio Matroeni said the swindle relied on the 'unprincipled support' of white-collar workers with the 'necessary know-how to infiltrate the Mafia into the nerve centre of public funding' and knew how to exploit lax controls. Of those arrested, 48 were sent to jail while the others were placed under house arrest, police said. Suspects were arrested for investigation of belonging to the Mafia or aiding it, extortion and fraud involving public funds, among other accusations. Flash A think tank dialogue event exploring relationships and cooperation between China and Myanmar was held on Tuesday in Yangon, Myanmar. The "Contemporary China and the World China-Myanmar Think Tank Dialogue" event was co-sponsored by the State Council Information Office of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), and Chinese Embassy to Myanmar, and organized by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Myanmar. More than 240 dignitaries, experts and scholars from China and Myanmar attended the event, the theme of which was "Empowering China-Myanmar Relations in the New Era." Xu Lin, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the State Council Information Office of China, said that China and Myanmar are closely connected in terms of geography, peoples and cultures. He stated: "This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar. President Xi Jinping's forthcoming state visit to Myanmar is of great significance to further consolidating the friendship between China and Myanmar and promoting the in-depth development of our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership." Xu also pointed out that think tanks in the two countries should be proactive, focus on enhancing strategic mutual trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, underline the promotion of people-to-people communication and further deepen exchanges and cooperation, while carrying out basic, strategic and innovative research. He added that they should also give increased momentum to China-Myanmar relations in the new era, deepen the relationship between the two countries, and support the development and continual steady progression of relations. He added that in the 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has created a miracle of rapid economic development and long-term social stability that is rare throughout the world. The reason for its success lies in five key elements: a development path in line with national conditions, a strong ruling party, a people-oriented development concept, an effective system that works well, and the basic national policy of reform and opening-up. U Kyaw Tin, union minister for international cooperation of Myanmar, said that there is a long history of friendship between Myanmar and China, and that the two countries will work together to strengthen cooperation, to co-exist peacefully and to further develop friendly relations. "The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping is a great idea," he said. "If both Myanmar and China adhere to the principles of consultation, contribution and shared benefits, the governments' actions will definitely benefit the people of both countries." He stressed that Myanmar and China must strengthen exchanges and cooperation not only between governments, but also at all levels and in all areas. Among them, experts, scholars and research institutions can provide good suggestions through research and surveys, and play an important role in enhancing understanding between the two peoples. "The dialogue was a good start. Scholars summarized and reviewed historical experience and provided recommendations for the vigorous development of Myanmar-China relations in the new era," U Kyaw Tin said. It is his belief that through joint efforts and strengthening exchanges between the two peoples, the deep foundation of friendship between the two countries will be consolidated. Du Zhanyuan, president of CIPG, also pointed out that the world today is undergoing major changes not seen in a century, and the international situation is becoming increasingly complex and changeable. "In the new situation, China and Myanmar, as friendly neighbors, must enhance their strategic determination, trust each other, strengthen cooperation, and achieve mutual benefits," he stated. Du also called for think tanks in the two countries to play a positive role as "opinion leaders," deepen exchanges and cooperation, conduct joint research around issues of common concern, produce more targeted research, and provide important decision-making references for the leaders of the two countries. This will better serve the overall situation of friendly relations between China and Myanmar, better serve the cause of cooperation and development between the two countries, and better serve world peace and the common progress of mankind. Later, senior Chinese and Myanmar officials, as well as experts and scholars from the two countries took part in discussions at a seminar. They spoke about and exchanged ideas on topics including how to enhance mutual political trust and deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries, as well as poverty reduction experiences, jointly building Belt and Road projects, and deepening cultural exchanges. Participants agreed that it is necessary to promote the exchange and mutual learning of the governance experience of China and Myanmar, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields and at all levels, and thus promote development and common prosperity. EDITORS NOTE: On Jan. 15, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a newsmakers networking event in Red Bank, featuring a legislator and business leaders in the hemp and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited. WASHINGTON Legislation to remove the federal ban on cannabis and to expand research into its potential medical benefits gets a hearing Wednesday before a subcommittee of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Among the bills up for discussion is the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement, or MORE Act, which passed the House Judiciary Committee in November and awaits a floor vote. Five other bills to discussed would increase research, while some also would address marijuanas federal classification as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin. The hearing will be held by the health subcommittee. This hearing is one more sign that Congress is moving toward more sensible cannabis policy at the federal level, said Neal Levine, chief executive of the Cannabis Trade Federation. It cannot come soon enough. The Energy and Commerce Committee is getting involved because it has jurisdiction over the Controlled Substances Act. But dozens of states have ignored the federal ban and allowed cannabis use within their own borders. Its a changing landscape and we want to look at whats going on and see whether we would move some of the bills, the full committee chairman, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist., told NJ Advance Media. Some of those changes are occurring in Pallones home state of New Jersey, where the Legislature will ask the voters in November whether to allow marijuana for recreational use. Another change occurred in January when Democrats took control of the House and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., became House Rules Committee chairman. McGovern comes from a state that has legalized cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes, and said he wanted to bring marijuana-related bills to the House floor. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. NJ Cannabis Insider is produced by NJ Advance Media, which also provides content for NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers. Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Photo: Alan Cleaver/Flickr It's time for another look at notable crimes reported in the Castro since our last roundup. All details are from official SFPD reports, unless otherwise noted. Failed gunpoint robbery Early on December 24 at 1:29 a.m., a 25-year-old man attempted to rob a store at gunpoint on 18th Street (between Sanchez and Noe streets). Upon entering, the suspect pointed his gun at a 49-year-old man inside, threatening to kill him if he didn't comply. The victim refused, and the suspect fled on foot without any stolen items. No injury was reported. Market Street robbery On December 21 at 12:49 a.m., a 21-year-old man was on Market Street near Noe and 16th streets when a woman, 20-30, punched him multiple times and stole his cell phone. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Dolores robbery at gunpoint On December 14 at 8:30 p.m., two men, 21 and 25, were near Dolores and 19th streets when two male suspects, 20-25, robbed them at gunpoint. The suspects stole the victims' money and phones before fleeing on foot. No injuries were reported. Robbery with stun gun Early on November 28 at 2:48 a.m., a 33-year-old man was at Diamond Heights and Gold Mine Drive when a male suspect, 20-30, pointed a stun gun at him. The suspect then punched the victim and stole his phone. The victim suffered a head injury, but refused medical assistance. Market Street robbery On November 24 at 7:13 a.m., a 39-year-old woman and 40-year-old man were on Market Street near Dolores when a man, 28, approached and asked to see the woman's watch. She handed it over, and he then took her backpack as well, fleeing on a bicycle. The male suspect then went to the older man's tent and stole a pipe, before fleeing again. The suspect was later arrested, and all items were returned to the victims. No injuries were reported. Collingwood home invasion with gun On November 18 at 11:54 p.m., a 46-year-old man heard a knock at his door near Collingwood and 19th streets. When the man answered, two male suspects pointed a gun at him, then pushed him down. The suspects then stole his phone and safe before fleeing the scene. The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Story continues Five suspects burglarize Ford Street residence On November 14th between 4:30-5:30 a.m., five suspects broke into a car on Ford Street between Noe and Sanchez streets. After finding a garage-door opener in the car, they then used it to open a garage belonging to the car's owner, a 31-year-old woman. As the victim slept, the suspects stole construction tools, sporting equipment, and other items. An arrest was later made in the case. Anyone who has information about any of these incidents is encouraged to contact SFPD via the department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444, or text TIP411 with "SFPD" at the start of the message. Heres why we usually dont include suspect descriptions in crime reports. Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg addresses a news conference after launching his presidential bid in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., November 25, 2019. Joshua Roberts | Reuters Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seen as the Democrat most likely to defeat President Donald Trump if nominated, according to an analysis of online betting market data by researchers at Standard Chartered Bank. But Bloomberg, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his nascent bid for the presidency, still only has a 10% chance of winning the primary, according to researchers Steve Englander and Geoff Kendrick, who published their findings in a note on Tuesday. Bloomberg is far from the front of the Democratic primary field in national and state polling, though he has ascended rapidly in recent weeks in large part as a result of his unprecedented spending. Bloomberg has spent more than $200 million on his campaign so far and has said he may spend up to $1 billion to defeat Trump even if he is not the nominee. The research note from U.K.-based Standard Chartered attempts to explain the strength of the stock market despite polling that shows that Democrats are likely to defeat Trump in November's election. Analysts have speculated that financial markets could plunge if one of the race's progressives is elected, though the major U.S. indexes have continued to set records. Englander, in an interview, said that the standard answer for why the stock market isn't reacting to much of the volatility of the 2020 race is that the election is "too far away and too hard to hedge." "But this is an alternative answer: That the candidates that are most electable are seen as the least unfriendly to asset markets," he said. Englander and Kendrick wrote in the note that it's possible that investors believe it is likely that Trump or a moderate Democrat who is "sympathetic to asset markets" notably Bloomberg or former Vice President Joe Biden will ultimately prevail. "Among investors, Bloomberg and Biden are probably viewed as the most asset-market friendly among the Democratic candidates, so their greater implied electability may be why US assets are not showing more stress," the researchers wrote. The researchers suggested it could also be too early for markets to be affected by the 2020 race and that investors may believe that candidates could face trouble enacting their agendas if elected. Englander and Kendrick wrote that the decline in the past few weeks of one of the leading progressives in the race, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., may have neutralized the impact of the other, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the eyes of investors. "Sanders' nomination probability has risen in online markets, but Warren's decline may have matched or exceeded his move," they wrote. Pope Francis has asked an Italian lawyer to be the first woman to hold a management position in the Vaticans most important office, the Secretariat of State. Francis on Wednesday named Francesca Di Giovanni, a 27-year veteran of the Vatican, as undersecretary for multilateral affairs. In that role, she will be responsible for running a division that coordinates the Holy Sees relations with the United Nations and other intergovernmental organisations. Francis has called for women to be given greater decision-making roles in the Vatican and the Catholic Church at large, though no women head a Vatican congregation or other important office. I hope that my being a woman might reflect itself positively in this task, even if they are gifts that I certainly find in my male colleagues as wellFrancesca Di Giovanni Such leadership positions are reserved for priests, bishops or cardinals, and Francis has upheld church teaching prohibiting the ordination of women. Ms Di Giovanni, 66, told the Vaticans in-house media that Francis appointment showed his attention to women, and she agreed with the popes often-stated assertion that women have certain aptitudes as peacemakers, mediators and healers. I hope that my being a woman might reflect itself positively in this task, even if they are gifts that I certainly find in my male colleagues as well, she said. A few other women hold a similar rank in other Vatican offices, including the undersecretary at the Vaticans congregation for religious orders and two undersecretaries in the Vatican office for laity. But the Secretariat of State is the most powerful Vatican office, coordinating the internal work of the Holy See bureaucracy as well as the Vaticans diplomatic relations with other countries. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / California Gold Mining Inc. ("California Gold" or "CGM" or the "Company") (CSE:CGM)(OTCQX:CFGMF) is pleased to announce the execution of an agreement with a California-based hemp-CBD brokerage firm to arrange for the sale of Zero-THC Distillate produced from the Company's wholly-owned, high-CBD hemp biomass (the "Agreement"). Details of the terms of the Agreement, effective as of January 14, 2020, are as follows: The Agreement relates to the sale of Zero-THC Distillate which is defined as an oil derived from hemp plants that contains zero percent tetrahydrocannabinol (or "THC") and greater than 80% cannabidiol (or "CBD") by weight; Purchase price has been set at US$4,300 per litre of Zero-THC Distillate; CGM's Cost of Goods Sold ("COGS") associated with the production of Zero-THC Distillate is approximately US$2,400 per litre; The term of the Agreement is one year, and the parties may complete additional sales of Zero-THC Distillate on a monthly basis during this term. An initial batch of up to 500 litres of Zero-THC Distillate is expected to be transacted upon within 30 days. California Gold's President and CEO, Mr. Vishal Gupta stated, "We are delighted to be in a position to deliver on our promise to shareholders of realizing CGM's first revenues and achieving a healthy operating profit in Q1 2020. CGM's management team is currently negotiating additional sale agreements with several interested parties for its bulk, refined, hemp-CBD products generated from the initial batch of hemp biomass purchased from farmers in Virginia and North Carolina, along with hemp biomass harvested from the Company's wholly-owned Grove Road Farm in Illinois." As a result of higher operating margins and increased buy-side demand associated with refined products such as Zero-THC Distillate and CBD Isolate, CGM's management team has decided to focus its efforts on the sale of these refined products instead of basic Crude Oil extracted from hemp biomass. The Company's Board of Directors is investigating the economics of purchasing additional batches of hemp biomass in order to produce and eventually sell additional refined products once the sale of the current inventory of refined products is complete. About California Gold Mining Inc. California Gold Mining Inc. is focused on continued development of a high-quality gold resource on its 100%-owned Fremont property in Mariposa County, California. The Fremont property consists of an entirely private and patented land package totaling 3,351 acres of historically producing gold mines, with a state highway, PG&E electric substation and abundant water present on the property itself. The Fremont property lies within California's prolific Mother Lode Gold Belt that has produced over 50 million ounces of gold. The Company purchased the Fremont property in March 2013. The Company also has an outdoor, high-CBD industrial hemp biomass cultivation operation on its Grove Road Farm property in Kendall County, Illinois. The Company plans to use a portion of cash flow from its hemp biomass and hemp seed operations to continue development of its gold business, with minimal dilution for shareholders. The Company's technical report in respect of the Fremont Property prepared pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.caligold.ca. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release of California Gold contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause California Gold's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such 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. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding (i) potential sales of Zero-THC Distillate and timing of such sales and (ii) the Company's plans to acquire additional hemp biomass from third-party farmers. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated by such statements and could materially affect the Company's results of operations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements in this press release. California Gold does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change, unless otherwise required by law. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information contact: Vishal Gupta, President & CEO Tel.: 647-977-9267 x333 | Website: www.caligold.ca SOURCE: California Gold Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573137/California-Gold-Announces-Execution-of-Sale-Agreement-for-Zero-THC-Distillate-Produced-from-Its-Wholly-Owned-Hemp-Biomass Cant find the perfect basic or classic shoe? Then make it yourself thats what these women did... Primrose Hill dress, 265, justinetabak.co.uk As anyone who has ever shopped for a specific occasion knows, its a stone cold fact that you will never find the thing youre after first time. Or second. Or maybe even third. But if occasion-shopping is a fraught affair, so too is tracking down basics: the perfect shirt, work trouser or catch-all dress. Every woman knows its the trusty wardrobe staples you turn to when all else fails that are the hardest to nail. Its why most of us have a drawerful of 43 white T-shirts, all of which we secretly hate because theyre not The One. What if we took matters into our own hands? What if, instead of spending the rest of our lives in shopping purgatory, we decided to solve the problem by designing our own? Hmm, thats unlikely. The last pair of trousers we sketched was in Year 8 (and were ridiculed for looking like a donkey). That said, a lack of design experience didnt stop some of the women featured here. Faced with the conundrum of trying to find their ideal piece off the peg, they decided to create their own collections The timeless dress Dresses are at the heart of Justine Tabak's label, and the items for which she is most loved and known Justine Tabak, founder of the eponymous fashion label Dressmaking is in Justine Tabaks blood: her grandfather was an East End tailor and she studied fashion and textiles at Londons Royal College of Art. Yet it took her more than 20 years to launch her label in 2016, a decision she arrived at three years ago after becoming increasingly frustrated by the sameness of the high street. So many brands were looking alike, and I found it hard to find things that combined my love of vintage and modern, she says. I also wanted to explore what is left in terms of British manufacturing, and Im passionate about making locally and sustainably. After working for decades as a fashion consultant for larger brands, to be taking on the roles of founder, designer, PR, marketer, accountant and post girl was a shock. Thankfully, as weve grown over the past three years, Ive accrued a loyal team, from pattern-makers to manufacturers, who believed in me and have grown with me. She is particularly grateful to her family, who watched her work painfully long hours. Especially my mum, who taught me everything about sewing, and my 94-year-old dad, who still has boundless energy and creativity. Dresses are at the heart of Justines label, and the items for which she is most loved and known. From prairie styles to loose tiered pieces, each has a vintage feel. A favourite classic is her Mill Town design, a simple three-tiered style that is available in corduroy and linen. A customer recently said it was ahead of the curve with its romantic simplicity, Justine says. Indeed, similar designs appear to be everywhere, not least at Zara. Its a dress shape I will keep updating, whatever trends occur. Were all about slow fashion and timeless styles. Ladbroke Grove dress, 265, justinetabak.co.uk Thanks to her sustainable business practice of batch-making to demand, almost all of Justines dresses sell out, although her bestseller is currently the Primrose Hill, a tiered style with frilled sleeves. Its a good one to wear loose during the day, and comes with a waist-cinching sash for more fancy occasions. Its been immensely rewarding to see so many happy wearers. Like all small business-owners, Justine is aware of the dangers of growing too fast. I didnt set out to build an empire, and its important that we keep the community spirit within the company. As we grow, it will be harder to find good UK-based manufacturers: we dont have the grass-roots sewing skills any more. That said, there are some great supporters of British manufacturing who are beginning to invest here. Shop at justinetabak.co.uk Mill Town dress, 165, Mill Town dress, justinetabak.co.uk, Ladbroke Grove dress, 265, justinetabak.co.uk The heritage jumper Tessa Weale: The perfect navy sweater just didnt seem to exist, so I decided to design and make one myself, Tessa Weale, co-founder of British-made clothing company Archie Foal Which of us hasnt wasted hours, days and even weeks searching for the ideal navy jumper? Quite why said garment has to be navy, its hard to say. But for so many women, this unassuming item has become a benchmark of easy everyday dressing. Certainly it was for Tessa Weale, whose lifelong quest eventually prompted her to launch Archie Foal, a proudly British knitwear and outerwear label, with her business partner Julian Turner in 2010. The perfect navy sweater just didnt seem to exist, so I decided to design and make one myself, Tessa explains. After studying fashion design at Central St Martins, she spent several summers working with Julian at a London distribution company. We became increasingly disillusioned with the quality of so-called luxury brands and thought we could start a company producing British-made clothing that would last for years by using expert craftsmanship and quality fabrics. Built around the ethos buy better, buy less, Archie Foal chimes perfectly with the current consumer mood, thanks to its focus on sustainability. Garments are built to last, with minimal carbon footprint, and 90 per cent of its clothing is made in the UK by craftspeople who have honed their skills over generations. True luxury unfolds over time, with every wear and wash, notes Tessa. Customer favourites include the unisex Lukas sweater and the supersoft Tove rollneck. Tessa is too discreet to namecheck the brands celebrity fans. Members of the royal family shop with us, as well as pop stars, she says demurely. One especially famous actress told us that at a recent party at Soho Farmhouse she spotted six people wearing garments from Archie Foal. That gave us a real thrill. Lukas jumper, 195, archiefoal.com Given how rapidly the brand has grown since its inception a decade ago (although for several years, it only sold cashmere socks on market stalls), its unsurprising that Tessa cites finding new investment as one of the biggest challenges currently facing the business. Managing the production and supply chain from 12 different British manufacturers has become increasingly complex, especially as we need to ensure that they are quality controlled and practice ethical sourcing, and that they deliver on time. Cash flow is the other area that keeps me awake at night. Tessa is only half-joking when she says her breakthrough moment was one day in November 2018, when they made enough to pay ourselves to eat properly. She says that she and Julian owe a huge debt of gratitude to their families. Theyve been a great support to me, as have my fantastic circle of friends, many of whom have worked for love at some point, especially in the early days. Archie Foal is certainly the sum of its friends and family. Shop at archiefoal.com Tove jumper, 235, and Kennan cardigan, 235,archiefoal.com The classic sandals Emily Amelia Inglis: 'I am a self-funded, one-woman band working in my spare room...' Emily Amelia Inglis, founder and creative director of Studio Amelia As a woman of taller stature, Emily had always struggled to find footwear that worked for her, but it was only when she moved from London to Sydney in 2018, and found herself living in sandals, that she was inspired to launch her own range. Nothing ticked all the boxes of contemporary but classic, elegant but practical and at a workable price point, she explains. Emily initially started exploring manufacturers and prototyping concepts as a side business that would sit alongside her full-time job as a brand consultant. But that all changed when I posted a photo of the prototypes on Instagram. The reaction was mind-blowing. Within hours she was messaged by a buyer at Net-a-Porter and by May 2019 Studio Amelia was being stocked on the site as well as at Browns and Farfetch UK. While Emily says she owes a lot to her partner Lenny and her mum Jill (without their support Id never have had the confidence to take the steps Ive taken), her hardest challenge is going it alone. I am a self-funded, one-woman band working in my spare room. Navigating wholesale and production in a very new business is a lot of pressure, plus theres the challenge to create something new, which is certainly bolstered by the fast-paced Instagram mindset. Its very easy to chastise yourself, but I try to get a grip and remember to be grateful for all that I have. That, or I step away from my desk, have a glass of wine and just chill the hell out once in a while. The item she is most proud of having created is the 1.2 sandal, a pared-down design with a crossover strap a bestseller variations of which comprise her collection of sleek, simple styles, including the perfect kitten heels. As a small start-up brand, Emily says that the traditional retail calendar, geared to designing two main collections a year, can be a particular challenge. As I focus heavily on data to drive design and production, the calendar doesnt necessarily support this. You are required to present collections so far in advance that its a struggle to necessarily have enough data from the previous collection to inform the next. But retailers such as Net-A-Porter which has a truly global reach are happy to work with us in a more fluid way so that we can work a little more slowly. As for whether there was a breakthrough moment when she realised she was going to succeed, Emily says: With every day there is a new challenge or learning curve, so you never quite feel as though the finish line of success is that close. Succeeding still feels like a ship far off in the distance. But I cant believe how lucky I am to be working on my own brand. Shop at studioamelia.co The go-to Trousers Stacey Bendet, CEO and creative director of clothing company Alice & Olivia Stacey Bendet, CEO and creative director of clothing company Alice & Olivia New York-based Stacey launched her label in 2002, when the market for contemporary aka fashion-conscious but competitively priced wardrobe staples was just taking off. At that time, the category was a business of items, she explains. Ralph Lauren started with ties, Donna Karan with bodysuits and James Perse with T-shirts. I didnt start my company thinking Id build an empire. I began it as a collection of trousers and it grew from there. Unable to find trousers that fitted to her satisfaction, Stacey started making her own, refashioning the shape of her favourite jeans in upholstery fabrics. Her friends loved them and she realised that she was on to a winner. Cult New York department store Barneys was her first stockist, but it was only when she opened her first shop that she realised she was going to succeed. When a woman walked into my store, I was able to see what I really wanted to do for her, which wasnt just about dressing her but about how I could make her feel. Female empowerment became a big part of our culture. Fans of the label include Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Dakota Fanning. In a fast-changing world, one of the biggest challenges is keeping up to speed. When I first started, I was a designer, then I was a manufacturer, a retailer, a global retailer and then a direct-to-consumer retailer. Nowadays, every brand is like a media company. Its not just about making clothes, but about having this amazing ability to market directly to your customers, followers and fans. Its exciting and allows for so much opportunity, but its also tough. For creative and design people, the speed at which things move can become overwhelming. Trends are so fleeting. A large reason for Staceys success is her relentlessly can-do attitude. You could sit here and tell me the reasons why we cant do something, or give me one reason why we can, she says. Alice & Olivia currently has 35 boutiques and more than 800 stockists worldwide. It has expanded to include shoes, tech accessories, handbags and eyewear, but for Stacey nothing is more important than the fit of a garment. I still fit all our clothing, and when I get trousers completely right Im proud. When a woman puts on a great-fitting pair of trousers theres such a sense of gratitude and power because everything else transforms. The perfect trousers really are the hardest items to nail. A dress is a moment: trousers are a lifetime. Shop at aliceandolivia.com We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. (Natural News) Gastrointestinal (GI) problems have always been a common occurrence in many patients with autism, yet the mechanisms behind this phenomenon are not fully understood. Studies have shown that around 70 percent of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a variant of gastrointestinal disorder, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastritis. If left untreated, these conditions could lead to chronic pain and certain behavioral manifestations like aggressive behavior and the tendency to self-injure. Now, recent research suggests that gene mutations found in both the gut and brain could be the main culprit for the GI woes of patients with ASD. A study published in the journal Autism Research confirms the existence of a gut-brain nervous system link in autism, opening a new path in the search for potential effective treatments that target behavioral issues associated with autism. The researchers claim that this is the first study to confirm that the gut and brain share autism-related gene mutations. Our findings suggest these gastrointestinal problems may stem from the same mutations in genes that are responsible for brain and behavioral issues in autism, said corresponding author Elisa Hill-Yardin. Its a whole new way of thinking about it for clinicians, families and researchers and it broadens our horizons in the search for treatments to improve the quality of life for people with autism. The relationship between the gut and the brain Researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in Australia assessed the role of a synaptic adhesion network a group of four postsynaptic adhesion molecules called neuroligins in autism-associated GI dysfunction. They focused on studying a well-characterized mutation in neuroligin-3 called R451C. This particular mutation was first discovered by previous researchers in a landmark study in 2003 within two siblings diagnosed with autism. This mutation affects communication by altering the velcro between neurons that keep them in close contact with each other. Discover how to prevent and reverse heart disease (and other cardio related events) with this free ebook: Written by popular Natural News writer Vicki Batt, this book includes everything you need to know about preventing heart disease, reversing hypertension, and nurturing your cardiac health without medication. Learn More. The researchers of the current study have built on the clinical work done in the 2003 study through an analysis of the function and structure of the gut in mice that have the same velcro gene mutation. From their analysis, the researchers found that the mutation affects multiple factors, including gut contractions, the number of neurons in the small intestine, the responses to a critical neurotransmitter important in autism, and the speed with which food moves through the small intestine. (Related: Autism linked to deficiency in healthy gut bacteria: Research.) In addition, the researchers found significant differences in the gut microbes of mice with the mutation compared to those without it, even though both groups of mice were kept in identical environments. While this velcro mutation is considered rare in most cases, it is one of more than 150 different autism-related gene mutations that could alter neuronal connections. This suggests that there is a broader mechanism indicating that these mutations are the culprit behind the gut problems of many patients with ASD. Hill-Yardin said that their research reveals a new target for the development of effective therapies designed to work on neurotransmitters to the gut. She also said that there is a need to better understand how existing medications for autism that target neurotransmitters in the brain are affecting the gut of patients with ASD. Future research should focus on investigating how gene mutations in the nervous system relate to the microbes found in the gut. We know these microbes interact with the brain via the gut-brain axis, so could tweaking them improve mood and behavior? said Hill-Yardin. While this wouldnt reverse the gene mutation, we might be able to tone down its effects, and make a real difference in the quality of life for people with autism and their families. Sources include: ScienceDaily.com OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com FocusForHealth.org The idea is that someone engaged in white hat search engine optimization has certain ethics they will not violate. Terry Cane, Chief Operations Officer of SEOHost.net, a leading domain registration, SSL service, and SEO hosting provider, has responded to a recent media account that discusses the death of white hat search engine optimization. Originally published in SEO publication Search Engine Journal, the articles author, SEO expert Roger Montti, said that the division between white hat and black hat SEO is little more than a marketing tactic. White hat SEO, he explains, is a concept that exists solely for promotional purposes. At worst, black hats are those who violate Googles guidelines. If they violate the law, Montti said, they arent black hats, theyre just criminals. I agree that a lot of the prevailing terminology around SEO is overly promotional, said Cane. Just like search engines have evolved, so have these two different breeds of SEO. Montti is right that Googles guidelines are not immutable, just as hes correct in his assertion that, by Googles definition of SEO, black hat and white hat do not exist. At the same time, he said, I would argue that the idea of black hat and white hat are still useful in the SEO space. The idea is that someone engaged in white hat search engine optimization has certain ethics they will not violate. That they wont try to use any shortcuts or underhanded tactics that would harm either their users or their competition. Cane said such ethics should be the norm, but in any industry, there are people who are willing to go to any lengths to gain an advantage. Its similar to the line that exists between black hat hackers and white hat hackers, he said. A black hat SEO professional will use any tactic in the book, not just for ranking purposes but with the intent of turning a profit. That includes manipulation, scamming, or a disregard for the law. About SEOHost.net: Located in Orlando, Florida with locations all around the world, SEOHost.Net provides a wide range of services in both the U.S. and the E.U., including domain registration, SSL Hosting for SEO, and VPS, dedicated, and A Class IP hosting The company offers exceptional service with a strong service level agreement, multiple geographic locations, and free migration. For more information, visit https://www.seohost.net At home, the Chinese media environment is dominated by state-run organizations that laud Xi and put Beijings spin on the news. Such narratives typically present the internment of more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps in western China as a deradicalization initiative, or the view that anti-China sentiment in Hong Kong and Taiwan is the work of shadowy forces from the United States rather than an organic response to Beijings illiberalism. Unwelcome news such as criticism of Xi or the party is omitted from conventional media or deleted from the Internet. Huh Tae-soo, the chairman of GS Group talks with Larry Leifer, the director of Stanford Design Center, at Stanford Design Thinking Symposium 2020 held at D.Camp located in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of GS By Jung Hae-myoung GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo is working to accelerate the group's progress in digital and open innovation. On Tuesday, the chairman took a lecture session run by Larry Leifer, the director of the design thinking research program at Stanford University, under the subject of "Dancing with Ambiguity." The two-day event, part of Stanford Design Thinking Symposium 2020, was organized by Stanford University to introduce Silicon Valley's innovative methods of problem-solving. Leifer has been introducing innovative methods to generate outcomes using sensitive and intuitive ways of thinking. He shared his knowledge and case studies with 100 chief executives of GS Group affiliates on this day. With the investment corporation that will be established during the first half of this year in America, GS will interact consistently with Stanford University in order to make it a bridgehead for innovative culture and a driving force for new growth. "In order to make corporations and society sustainable, it is important to share healthy influences with various business partners including start-up companies," chairman Huh said to Leifer before entering the lecture. "GS will actively introduce some open innovation methods by collaborating with other corporations and those certified by advanced companies in Silicon Valley to make it the driving force for innovation in the company," he said. Huh has also emphasized changes focusing on digital technology at the New Year's gathering. His statement seems to be another signal of his desire to motivate the executives and staff members to adopt an innovative mindset. According to GS, this also implies that the current business administration environment is getting tougher, and his statement reflects the sense of crisis that it might fail to adapt to changes or fall behind global competition. This also insinuates an urgent need for GS to act as the "first mover" to turn uncertainties and ambiguities into opportunities. During his time as the chief executive of GS Home Shopping, Huh has been pursuing for "corporations that lead the flow." He has been investing in mobile businesses after selling cable television companies GS Gangnam and GS Ulsan. Since 2011 he has invested in 500 different startup companies in and out of the country in order to find a new growth factor for the industry. Leaders of Qatar and Canada discuss ways of enhancing stability in the region, as well as way to boost bilateral ties. Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have held a phone conversation during which the two leaders agreed on the need for de-escalation in the region. The call on Tuesday evening came days after Iran admitted to mistakenly downing a Ukrainian commercial plane, killing all 176 people on board including 57 Canadians, saying air defences were fired in error while on alert after attacks against US targets in Iraq. Wednesdays crash happened just hours after Iran fired missiles at two Iraqi bases hosting US troops in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3. US President Donald Trump had previously threatened to strike 52 targets within Iran if Tehran targeted US citizens or assets following Soleimanis killing and Iran has said the US bears some of the blame for the unintentional downing of the plane amid the heightened tensions. During their phone conversation, Sheikh Tamim offered his condolences to Trudeau and expressed the need for a credible and transparent investigation into the incident, adding that it was important to respond to the needs and wishes of the families of the victims. The two leaders further discussed ways of stabilising the region, as well as bilateral relations and possible ways of enhancing them. Trudeau, who has been careful not to blame US President Donald Trump for the deaths of the Canadians on board the Kyiv-bound airliner, has said the plane crash would never have taken place if tensions in the region had not escalated. If there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families, Trudeau told Canadian broadcaster Global News on Monday. This is something that happens when you have a conflict and the war. Innocents bear the brunt of it. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had talks on Wednesday (15 January 2020) with Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Dmytro Kuleba. They discussed the strength of the NATO-Ukraine partnership and the continuing political and practical support that the Alliance provides Ukraine. Following their meeting, Mr. Stoltenberg and Mr. Kuleba participated in a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. [January 15, 2020] First Responders Children's Foundation to Receive $25,000 Donation from Cradlepoint FirstConnect Program Cradlepoint, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE (News - Alert) and 5G Ready wireless edge solutions, today announced that First Responders Children's Foundation (FRCF) is a recipient of a $25,000 donation as part of Cradlepoint's FirstConnect Program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005694/en/ Cradlepoint CEO George Mulhern presents a check of $25,000 to the First Responders Children's Foundation on January 15, 2020. (Photo: Business Wire) Based in New York, FRCF is an organization committed to ensuring that the children of first responders receive the resources necessary to help them thrive. It provides financial support to both children who have lost a parent in the line of duty, as well as families enduring significant financial hardships due to tragic circumstances. FRCF also supports, promotes, and facilitates educational activities and programs created and operated by law enforcement and firefighting organizations whose purpose is to benefit children or the community. The donation is part of Cradlepoint's commitment to "Connect & Serve" those who protect and serve and is one of two first responder charities that were selected for contributions in 2019. The presentation event took place at NYFD Ladder 7 station following an executive breakfast in New York on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Cradlepoint FirstConnect Program Cradlepoint's FirstConnect program eases the challenges often faced by first responder organizations in purchasing, deploying and supporting the company's edge routing solutions that take advantage of FirstNet and other nationwide public safety broadband networks. These challenges include finding and applying for grant monies to help fund purchases and referrals to logistical and technical resources for installation of in-vehicle routers, training of IT and operational staff, and priority access to knowledgeable support resources around the clock at a moment's notice. "On behalf of First Responders Children's Foundation, I would like to thank Cradlepoint for their generous donation in support of our organization. I would also like to thank Cradlepoint's public safety customers who recognized the work of FRCF and nominated us to be considered for this award," said Jillian Crane, President, First Responders Children's Foundation. "Initiatives such as the Cradlepoint FirstConnect program allow FRCF to serve first responders and their families when they need us most. This donation will help support our 2020 programs, including scholarships and grants that we award on a rolling basis throughout the year." "We are humbled to make this presentation to FRCF, which plays a vital role in the lives of many first responder families," explained George Mulhern, CEO, Cradlepoint. "Donations made under the FirstConnect program are in honor of our 3,000+ first responder agencies' customers, and it reflects Cradlepoint's ongoing commitment to support the public safety community while serving the interests of customers who nominated this charity." About First Responders Children's Foundation First Responders Children's Foundation (FRCF) is committed to ensuring that the children of first responders receive the resources necessary to help them thrive. Understanding the sacrifice first responder families make to ensure our safety, FRCF provides strategic support through scholarships and grants while hosting family-friendly events to help establish support networks for first responder families nationwide. More information about FRCF can be found at www.1strcf.org. Follow FRCF on Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) and Instagram @1strcf. About Cradlepoint Cradlepoint is the global leader in cloud-delivered wireless edge solutions for branch, mobile, and IoT networks. Cradlepoint's Elastic Edge vision - powered by NetCloud services - provides a blueprint for agile, pervasive and software-driven wireless WANs that leverage 4G and 5G services to connect people, places and things everywhere with reliability, security, and control. More than 27,000 enterprise and government organizations around the world, including 75 percent of the world's top retailers, 50 percent of the Fortune 100, and first responders in 25 of the largest U.S. cities, rely on Cradlepoint to keep critical branches, points of commerce, field forces, vehicles, and IoT devices always connected and protected. Major service providers use Cradlepoint wireless solutions as the foundation for innovative managed network services. Founded in 2006, Cradlepoint is a privately held company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with a development center in Silicon Valley and international offices across EMEA and Australia. Learn more at cradlepoint.com or follow us on Twitter @cradlepoint. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005694/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] He likes to take the world and Russians by surprise. Vladimir Putins lengthy State of Russia speech yesterday was expected to be the usual tedious outline of statistics and policy developments. No doubt the Kremlin audience of veteran apparatchiks planned to do their sleeping-with-the-eyes-open trick. Then Mr Putin pulled his rabbits out of the hat. Russia needed more democracy. Parliament should have a bigger say in choosing the government. The position of the president all-powerful until now should be cut down to size. And so on... a raft of sweeping, bold constitutional change that seemed whisper it to be preparing Russia for life after Vladimir Putin. He even complained about how time-consuming being president of Russia is. Hes 67 after all and has been at it 24/7 for 20 years. Russia's President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Mikhail Mishustin, head of the Russian Federal Tax Service, at Moscow's Kremlin Russian Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin, left, listens to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, during their meeting in Moscow Shortly afterwards, Putins longtime political ally, the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, stood down he made the announcement on TV with Putin next to him and the entire government resigned to help facilitate the proposed changes. It was only when Medvedevs successor, an anonymous tax-collector, Mikhail Mishustin, was appointed, that it all started to become clear. Anyone starting to hope Putin might be relinquishing his grip on the levers of power, in favour of spending more time at his dacha and enjoying the manly pursuits hes famous for, was to be disappointed. Indeed, this was an audaciously disguised power grab for the future. By choosing as prime minister a person with no political standing or base in parliament, Putin was indicating that he does not intend to give up the top job. What his proposed changes suggest is that Putin is weary of the day-to-day business of running Russia and making all the decisions great and small. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on January 15 He wants to devolve administrative tasks to a new president and prime minister. By the time his current term ends in 2024, with him in his early 70s, Putin will then in all likelihood take up the role of the grand old man perhaps the godfather is a more fitting title of Russian politics. But make no mistake, he will still be all-powerful, the ultimate back seat driver. There are precedents for rulers being seen to step back, but continuing to pull strings from behind the scenes. In China in the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping stepped back and left day-to-day decisions to his chosen successor, Zhao Ziyang. But when Zhao made the wrong decision in the Tiananmen crisis of 1989 and talked to the student protesters, Deng deposed and replaced him. And remember, for much of his rule, Stalin was a private citizen, neither prime minister nor president, but as general secretary of the only party in the country he ruled with an iron fist over the institutions of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev speak before a meeting with members of the government in Moscow, January 15 Last year Nursultan Nazarbayev, Putins close ally in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, retired after holding the presidency since 1990. He became head of a guiding security council and, to emphasise he was still in charge, the capital was renamed Nursultan in his honour. I doubt Moscow will become Putingrad, but Vladimir Putins influence will be felt by whoever sits in the Kremlin long after 2024. Foreign policy and defence will almost certainly depend on his experience and say-so. Putin knows that once out of power his former toadies could turn on him and discredit him by revealing dark secrets. He will want to stop that from happening for as long as he can. So all was not what it seemed yesterday. As long as there is life in him, Vladimir Putin sees Russias fate intertwined with his own. Mark Almond is director of the Crisis Research Centre, Oxford A growing number of investors from tier-II cities are now taking to investing through online platforms. Groww, a leading investment platform, stated that 60% of registered users registered with them hail from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. In light of this, Groww has launched one of its kind, financial education initiative Ab India Karega Invest, to bridge investors knowledge gap. As per the initiative, the Groww team will tour 52 select cities in 52 weeks and conduct conferences to explain the nuances of investing. The city meets are focussed towards creating a knowledge-sharing platform for industry players and aspiring investors as well as to foster local investor communities. As a pilot campaign, Groww previously held meets in Lucknow, Jaipur, and Patna, and the overwhelming reception led to the extension of the campaign PAN India. On the occasion of the launch, Lalit Keshre, Co-founder and CEO, Groww said The penetration of financial services in India is really low beyond metros. Groww is making investing accessible to millions of people in India with a sharp focus on customer experience. For us, there are no boundaries. This program helps us in multiple ways, but the biggest one is to closely engage with aspiring investors spread across these cities in India. Groww has rapidly established itself as one of Indias most promising online investment platforms through a brand culture that focuses on customer convenience at every stage of the investment ladder. As of now, the company operates on an entirely paperless, end-to-end transaction model in more than 800 cities across India, catering to 40 Lac plus users. Currently, it offers zero-commission direct mutual funds without charging a subscription, or any other additional fees. The Groww app has a 4.6 rating on Google Play Store, thanks to the seamless and intuitive user experience. Groww is planning to venture into stocks and other investments products in 2020 P rince Harry has broken his cover for the first time since the Sandringham summit as it emerged he has delayed flying back to see Meghan and Archie in Canada. The Duke of Sussex shared a video on the Sussex Royal Instagram account on Wednesday evening to announce the 2022 Invictus Games would be held in Dusseldorf, Germany. The post was shared just days after he and Meghan announced they would be leaving their roles as senior royals and after crisis talks at Sandringham on Monday. It read: "Here we come Dusseldorf! The new home for the 2022 and sixth Invictus Games. "Having previously been held in London, Orlando, Toronto, Sydney, and upcoming The Hague this year in May - Dusseldorf will welcome over 500 competitors as they showcase their talents, determination and camaraderie to the world!" Prince Harry broke his cover for the first time since the Sandringham summit (Sussex Royal / Instagram ) / Sussex Royal / Instagram It comes as sources said Harry will not be flying to Canada to be reunited with his wife and baby straight away as he continues discussions about the couple's future plans. The Sussexes announced last week that they would be stepping back as senior royals and would be splitting their time between the UK and Canada. The duchess flew to Canada a few days ago where the family spent an extended festive break in the province of British Columbia. Prince Harry will not fly back to Meghan and Archie straight away (PA ) / PA Sources have now said the Duke, who was expected to fly to rejoin Meghan and Archie after an engagement at the palace on Thursday, will remain in the UK. It is understood he has a number of scheduled meetings that he will attend next week. It comes as Prince William appeared to offer an olive branch to his brother on Wednesday. Meeting community neighbours in Bradford, William spoke of the benefits of coming together. Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge meet with Amir Khan / REUTERS He said: Its sometimes trying to get people to understand thats its ok to have these challenges, we just need to deal with them and we need to move forward rather than just be stuck in paralysis and pretend they dont happen, which is no good. Earlier in the afternoon at the Khidmat Centre in Bradford, William and Kate met a number of community groups. William seemed very taken with different groups coming together to talk through their differences. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle 1 /106 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Freedom Gala AP Christmas 2021 Alexi Lubomirski Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend The Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House Samir Hussein/WireImage Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex PA Media Misan Harriman Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chapel PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex holding their son Archie during a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mrs Tutu at their legacy foundation in cape Town, on day three of their tour of Africa PA Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle embrace following the polo at Coworth Park on 7 May 2017 Rex Features Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace EPA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet Pony Major Mark Wilkinson and regimental mascot Cruachan IV during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Reuters Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto PA Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square on 25 September 2017 in Toronto, Canada Getty Images Prince Harry with girlfriend Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Getty Images Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Toronto Karwai Tang/WireImage Prince Harry arrives with girlfriend actress Meghan Markle at the wheelchair tennis event during the Invictus Games in Toronto, Ontario Reuters Meghan Markle attends the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Invictus Games at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada PA Meghan Markle on the cover of Vanity Fair Peter Lindbergh exclusively for Vanity Fair Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle announce their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace Jeremy Selwyn Larking around: Harry and Meghan pull faces in footage not shown in the BBC engagement interview BBC Meghan Markle visits Nottingham for her first official public engagement with fiancee Prince Harry Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Nottingham Contemporary in Nottingham, to attend a Terrence Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair on their first official engagement together PA Meghan Markle arrives at the Terrance Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair at Nottingham Contemporary Getty Images The royal brothers and their partners on Christmas Day. AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle listen to a broadcast through headphones during a visit to youth-orientated radio station, Reprezent FM, in Brixton PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Brixton EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle visit Reprezent 107.3FM in Brixton Getty Images Loved up: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Cardiff Castle EPA Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub in during their visit to Star Hub on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit the people of Edinburgh Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception for young people at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images rince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle meet a Shetland Pony as they arrive at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Frank Augstein/AP Meghan Markle during a walkabout on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle speak with patrons at the Social Bite in Edinburgh AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Meghan Markle arrives for a visit in Birmingham on International Women's Day PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham Splash News Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet members of the public on a walkabout during a visit to Millennium Point in Birmingham PA The Reverend Canon David Stanton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave after attending a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbet AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an Ascot Landau along the Long Walk after their wedding PA Meghan Markle walks down the aisle in St George's Chapel PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Harry and Meghan leaving Windsor Castle for the glamorous evening reception PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex head back down the Mall to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour on June 9, 2018 Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex talk to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex are seen during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia, 27 October 2018 EPA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the 'Together: Our Community' Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Britain's Prince Harry unveil a plaque to officially open Number 7, a 'Feeding Birkenhead' citizens supermarket and community cafe, at Pyramids Shopping Centre, as part of a visit to Birkenhead, northwest England, Monday Jan. 14, 2019 AP Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits the National theatre in central London on January 30, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Bristol Old Vic theatre, which is undergoing a multimillion-pound restoration PA Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, reacts as they visit Bristol Old Vic theatre in Bristol, south-west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R) and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (C) help volunteers in the kitchen as they pack food parcels to go in the charity outreach van during a visit to One25 charity in Bristol, south west England on February 1, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Drapers Hall in London on February 7, 2019 AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex try some food during a cooking school demonstration at Villa des Ambassadors in Rabat on the third day of their tour of Morocco PA Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duke & Duchess of Sussex, pet a horse at the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports in Rabat on February 25, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle wearing a short Reiss dress on International Women's Day AFP/Getty Images Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House, where they meet young people who demonstrate a Canadian spring tradition of making maple taffy (maple syrup cooled on snow to make sweets) on March 11, 2019 in London Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave following a Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, London PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London WireImage Members of Britain's Royal family leave after attending the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey AP The Duchess of Cambridge (left) talks with the Duchess of Sussex (right) as they attend the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex hold their baby son in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Berkshire on 8 May 2019 REUTERS Archbishop Desmond Tutu kisses the forehead of baby Archie as his mother smiles on warmly Reuters The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a visit to the Auwal Mosque, the oldest mosque in South Africa, on day two of their tour of Africa. PA Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle Jeremy Selwyn Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex at The Fields of Remembrance in Westminster Abbey Jeremy Selwyn pixel8000 He said: Thats why these sort of things and events where everyone can get together and get to meet each other and understand the barriers start coming down and you realise that theres so much in common. We get to see it we get to meet so many people from all different backgrounds we can see the commonality between each and everyone and its trying to tell everyone its ok you know, they are ok, they are just the same as you. Advocates for people with disabilities long have called for a ban on seclusion and dangerous types of restraints. We believe that the Department of Education needs to be more vocal against these harmful and unnecessary practices, said Annie Acosta of The Arc, a national group that works on behalf of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We hear from parents from across the country about the lasting effects on their children, such as anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping and a fear of school. This does not need to happen. Rudy Giuliani claimed he was working with Donald Trumps consent when he and a now-indicted associate were pushing for Ukraines president to announce an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden, newly-released evidence suggests. The documents, which the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees released approximately a day after receiving them from Mr Giulianis associate Lev Parnas, include a letter purportedly from Mr Giuliani to Volodymyr Zelensky, then Ukraines president-elect, and a handwritten note which reads: Get Zalensky [sic] to announce that the Biden case will be investigated. The note, written on stationery from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Vienna, Austria, also mentions that the author should start [communicating] with [Zelensky]. According to House investigators, an attorney for Mr Parnas confirmed that the note was written by his client, a Florida-based businessman who was born in the former Soviet Union in what is now Ukraine. After he was arrested for campaign finance violations in October, his then attorney John Dowd said in a statement to Congress that Mr Parnas and business partner Igor Fruman had been assisting Mr Giuliani in his work on Mr Trumps behalf. Mr Dowd previously represented Mr Trump during the investigation conducted by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. While legal ethics rules would ordinarily have prevent him from representing Mr Parnas, an email to Mr Dowd from current Trump attorney Jay Sekulow (included in the tranche released by House investigators) dated 2 October states that Mr Trump consents to allowing your representation of Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman. Mr Trump would deny even knowing Mr Parnas just eight days later when federal agents arrested him and his business partner at Washingtons Dulles International Airport as the pair prepared to leave the country on one-way tickets to Vienna. The letter, dated 10 May 2019, is printed on stationery belonging to Mr Giulani and undermines the defence offered by Trump allies who say the president was using him as a back channel to advance legitimate foreign policy interests. It says: I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump. Just to be precise, I represent him as a private citizen, not as President of the United States. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS The message adds that such an arrangement was not unusual in American law because the duties and privileges of a President and a private citizen are not the same. It goes on to request that Mr Zelensky meet in [his] capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent on 13 or 14 May 2019, when he had planned to be in Kyiv as part of his push to have Ukrainian authorities open an investigation into Mr Biden. Were not meddling in an election, were meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do, Mr Giuliani told the New York Times on 9 May, the day before the letter was set to be delivered to Mr Zelensky. He later cancelled the trip amid criticism that he was helping the president enlist foreign help in his re-election campaign. In a joint statement, House Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, Intelligence and Oversight Committee Chairs Eliot Engel, Jerrold Nadler, Adam Schiff and Carolyn Maloney said the newly released documents demonstrate that there is more evidence relevant to the presidents scheme that has been concealed by the president himself. All of this new evidence confirms what we already know the president and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the president politically, they wrote, adding that there cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress. The evidence Mr Parnas provided to the committee may also shed light on the circumstances under which the top US diplomat in Kyiv, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, was spirited out of Kyiv after being removed following a pressure campaign orchestrated by Mr Giuliani. Approximately one month before Mr Trump ordered Ms Yovanovitchs recall, Mr Parnas was using the secure messaging application WhatsApp to communicate with Robert Hyde, a Connecticut businessman with ties to Mr Trump who is currently a congressional candidate. After Mr Parnas sent Mr Hyde a series of negative articles about Ms Yovanovitch, the documents suggest Mr Hyde responded: F*ck that b*tch, adding later that he cant believe [Trump] hasnt fired this b*tch. The messages alleged to have been sent to Mr Parnas by Mr Hyde strongly imply that he had Ms Yovanovitch under surveillance. At one point, he noted that the veteran diplomat was under heavy protection outside Kyiv, telling Mr Parnas that she was to be moved the next day. Mr Hyde also appeared to be monitoring Ms Yovanovitchs electronic devices. In one text message, he tells Mr Parnas that her phone and computer were off, and that she had spoken with three people that day. The documents suggest he later told Mr Parnas that unnamed sources would let [him] know when she is on the move and added that they were willing to help if we/you would like a price, though he did not explicitly say what that help would consist of. Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money, one message said, adding later that if Mr Parnas want[ed] her out, he would have to make contact with security forces. During Mr Trumps phone call with Mr Zelensky on 25 July, he told the Ukrainian president that Ms Yovanovitch was going to go through some things. Houston is the worst city in America for human trafficking, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. A broader look reveals that Texas is only behind California in the U.S. under the same data. In response to this unfortunate data, the Texas Restaurant Association on Tuesday launched a program to help combat human trafficking in the state. Its initiative vows to provide training for employees to recognize the signs of trafficking and to know how to alert officials. ABC News(ST. LOUIS) -- Black elected prosecutors from across the country have come to the defense of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, saying her federal lawsuit against the city and its police union alleging a coordinated, racist conspiracy to drive her from office reflects a national trend. Prosecutors from California to Baltimore said that, similar to Gardner, they've endured smear campaigns by police unions and experienced a status-quo mindset pervasive in local courts and government when attempts were made to push through criminal justice reforms. Gardner told ABC News in an interview on Tuesday that the lawsuit isn't about her -- it's about constituents who want to see criminal justice reform in St. Louis that could level the playing field for minorities disproportionately affected by the current system. "It's about the people, and that's why we have to fight. Enough is enough," Gardner said in an interview for "Nightline." "It's about being the first African American prosecutor in the city of St. Louis, running on a platform about bringing criminal justice reform, bringing equality to the criminal justice system." Gardner, a registered nurse and a former funeral director, has managed to implement a diversion program for non-violent defendants caught up in the justice system due to drug addiction. Her office has also stopped prosecuting people for low-level marijuana possession. But other reforms she proposed have been stymied, including wanting independent investigations of police-involved shootings. "This is not about Kim Gardner," she added. "This is about certain individuals within these organizations that have gone beyond unprecedented amounts of coordination to stop the will of the people. I had no choice but to act for the will of the people because they want me to fight for what's right." On Monday, Gardner, the first black woman elected as chief prosecutor in St. Louis, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and its police union alleging she's endured racist and illegal efforts from opponents to block reforms meant to benefit minorities. The suit accuses the city and police union of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, designed to combat white supremacy organizations. The suit also appears to mark the first time an elected local prosecutor has brought a federal case against the police union for racially motivated civil rights violations. The suit, filed in the Eastern District of Missouri, claims to take aim at "entrenched interests" that Gardner said have tried to prevent her reforms through a "broad range of collusive conduct," including the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate her office. The group of six black female prosecutors who went to St. Louis on Tuesday to rally support for Gardner said they can relate to her struggles to buck the tide in implementing criminal justice reforms. "Quite candidly, Kim, like the others who stand before you today, has challenged the status quo and the keepers of the status quo don't like that, which is why she is being personally and professionally attacked," Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a news conference in St. Louis. "Every prosecutor here has had similar experiences to Kim." Mosby said she endured death threats and protests when her office prosecuted six Baltimore police officers after the 2015 death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury while in custody. "We've lived through the personal, professional, ethical attacks on our competency and our leadership abilities, and, in many cases, still living through these attacks," she added. "Yet we are here to tell Kim and everyone else, we shall not only overcome but, collectively, we shall prevail in reforming the criminal justice system." Mosby was joined by black female elected prosecutors from California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Florida, and Virginia standing in solidarity with Gardner. Other prosecutors from Washington, New York, Alabama, North Carolina and Illinois could not attend but sent words of support for Gardner. "These conspired and concerted attacks are part of a national trend of a federal administration to silence and intimidate progressive prosecutors all across the country," Mosby said. She and the other prosecutors cited a denouncement by U.S. Attorney General William Barr that prosecutors like Gardner are crusaders backed by liberal billionaire Geoge Soros and represent a danger to law enforcement. Rachel Rollins, the Suffolk County district attorney in Massachusetts, whose jurisdiction includes Boston, said Gardner's reputation is being besmirched because she "dares to try and build a system that is just for everyone not just those with wealth, power and privilege." "I know that one person can make a difference and change the system, but I also know that we can do it faster when we do it together," Rollins said. Aramis Ayala, state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties in Florida, said she and the other elected prosecutors supporting Gardner in her legal fight "represent diversity in the profession and we represent diversity of thought that is new to our criminal justice system." "Despite unprecedented attacks, we press on," Ayala said. Gardner's lawsuit cites data from the state attorney general showing African Americans in Missouri are subjected to nearly twice as many traffic stops and arrests as whites. Several racist social media posts allegedly made by Missouri police officers are also listed in the complaint. In one, a former police division officer allegedly "posted a photograph on Facebook of an African American police officer standing with two African American demonstrators, calling the officer 'Captain 'Hug a Thug' and a disgrace to the uniform.'" In another, a lieutenant is accused of posting, "I'm not sure what the hell is going on in our country these days. I just drove by an authentic Mexican restaurant in town; and there were white guys putting on a new roof, cutting the grass and doing landscaping." In another Facebook post, a Missouri officer wrote, according to the lawsuit, "Offered to sell a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, 'Black Lives Splatter, because Blue lives matter.'" The lawsuit also alleges that the St. Louis Police Officers Association "has gone out of its way to support white officers accused of perpetrating acts of violence and excessive force against African American citizens," including the August 2014 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Darren Wilson. Additionally, the SLPOA paid the bail of Jason Stockley, a white officer who shot and killed African American motorist Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011, according to the lawsuit. Gardner, who sought to launch several police reforms, including improving investigations of police misconduct in St. Louis, received threatening letters sent to her office that were "filled with racial invective," the lawsuit alleges. In some of the letters, Gardner was called racial slurs and various sexist expletives. While Gardner's lawsuit portrays her as a victim of a racist police force and an entrenched power structure, she also has faced substantive accusations of incompetence after her office's indictment of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was dropped. Gardner's former investigator, William Don Tisaby, also African American, has been charged with perjury and evidence tampering for his role in the Greitens' investigation. Gardner is scheduled to give a deposition in the Tisaby case on Wednesday. The police union issued a statement calling Gardner's lawsuit "frivolous and without merit." "The union believes this is a grand distraction meant to misdirect the attention that Gardner's deposition is sure to generate," said the statement from the union, which has renewed calls for Gardner, elected in 2016, to step down or "to be removed from office through any means available." Jeff Roorda, the business manager of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, who's named as a defendant in Gardner's lawsuit and whom she described as a "divisive" individual, held a news conference on Tuesday to refute the prosecutor's allegations. "Gardner essentially claims that her critics have conspired together to prevent her from doing her job as a prosecutor. Nothing could be further from the truth," Roorda said. "My police officers and I want her to do her job. "We desperately want her to stand up for innocent victims, put dangerous criminals behind bars and respect the rule of law. She has not done her job, and this lawsuit demonstrates that she has no intention of doing her job, of doing the important work of defending the most vulnerable citizens in America's deadliest city." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved Bahraini citizens stranded in Iraq are struggling to come back, according to parliamentarians. The lawmakers said that there were many Bahrainis caught in unsafe places in Iraq and are unable to return to the Kingdom. They urged the government to speed up efforts to send all Bahrainis home as Iraq is moving to more instability. The MPs who submitted the proposal include Ahmed Al Damistani, Zainab Amir, Fadhel Al Sawad, Ahmed Al Saloom and Hamad Al Kooheji. The MPs stated that they have been contacted by families who said that their relatives are in Iraq, struggling to come back. Last week, Bahrain Embassy in Iraq said that it has been receiving calls from citizens, who wanted to return to the Kingdom following escalation of clashes in the country. The embassy stated that it is working with an airlines to ensure their safe return to the Kingdom as soon as possible. All Bahraini citizens in Iraq will receive required attention and support, the embassy stated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned citizens against travelling to Iraq amidst the recent developments. The Kingdom of Bahrain is following the development of events in the brotherly Republic of Iraq that came as a result of the condemned terrorist acts which the Kingdom previously denounced, stressing the need to de-escalate in order to overcome this period, and to address all forms of violence, extremism and terrorism, the ministry stated. The Kingdom also stresses the importance of immediate action to be taken by the international community, affirming the need to take all necessary measures to ensure security and stability in the region because of its vital and strategic importance for the whole world, it added. Iraqs parliament has already urged the government to remove thousands of American troops from the country, stepping up pressure over the US killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad. US installations were also facing new military stresses, with missiles slamming into the Baghdad enclave where the US embassy is located and an air base north of the capital housing American troops. Ties have deteriorated after an American precision drone strike on the Baghdad international airport that killed Irans Major General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi military figure Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis. Iraqs foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador, while caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi attended an extraordinary parliamentary session to slam the strike as a political assassination. He joined 168 lawmakers just enough for quorum in Iraqs 329- seat parliament to discuss the removal of US troops. Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed across Iraqi bases to support local troops preventing a resurgence of Daesh. They are deployed as part of the broader international coalition, invited by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help fight Daesh. The parliament has voted to commit the Iraqi government to cancel its request to the international coalition for help to fight IS, speaker Mohammed Halbusi announced, using another acronym for Daesh. The Cabinet would have to approve any decision but the premier had earlier indicated support for a removal. Four years later, and with the help of two consultants and $200,000 in federal grant funding, the NTRAC pegged the cost to complete a commuter rail system at nearly $84 million, and estimated the system could serve as many as 345,000 annual riders by 2030. The plan, which also explored the possibility for railways connecting Omaha to Fremont and Blair, is still available on the NDOT website, never came to fruition, however. As the states population has shifted eastward, I-80 has also been expanded to accommodate more cars making the daily trip. Morfeld said his bill would authorize the department to complete a feasibility study by Dec. 1. Among other bills introduced Tuesday: Reimbursement for inmates: Counties would be reimbursed by the state if they hold inmates who, while in the custody of the Department of Correctional Services, commit a crime or escape and are later apprehended, under a bill (LB978) from Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil. Change in procurement: Constitutional officers or their designees would be required to follow Nebraskas competitive-bidding laws, under a bill (LB981) by Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt. Spearheaded by local authorities, the new residential area stretches five hectares along the Pom Ngo hillside, about a kilometer from where 51 families lost their previous homes to flooding. In early August last year, heavy rains inundated Sa Na Village in Na Meo Commune, Quan Son District, claiming 10 lives, wiping away 20 homes and destroying many others while residents slept. The village was home to more than 300 people, most from the Thai minority group. A confidential memo sent to school boards from the education ministry asks them to think of ways to support reducing red tape and administrative burden as the province looks to set funding levels for the next school year. The Jan. 13 missive, obtained by the Star, says the ministry is currently undertaking budget planning for the upcoming school year and an integral part of this process is soliciting feedback from our valued education partners to improve and refine the education funding formula. It says the ministry is welcoming feedback on all areas pertaining to education funding, with a particular interest in receiving comments on initiatives that could support reducing red tape and administrative burden for the education sector. A source in the ministry said we are always open to input on how to optimize the funding formula. The red tape element focuses on how ministry requirements can be streamlined to make administrative operations more efficient and seamless for school boards. While the memo is routinely sent out to boards before the government decides on the annual grants for student needs, or GSNs, the focus on red tape has raised eyebrows. I think this government should be more concerned right now about what the impact is of their cuts to education in classrooms and how boards are trying to make do with so much less, said NDP education critic Marit Stiles. While the government has increased education funding overall, that figure includes the impact of growing enrolment as well as the provinces new child care rebate. Per pupil funding is down, and some grant money has also been called back. Even just in the Toronto District School Board, it was a $67 million cut this school year, added Stiles, a former trustee. Its already been a devastating blow and so I think that this government should be looking at how we invest, rather than cut further. Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, said the funding memo asking for suggestions is standard though it would typically be issued prior to the Christmas holidays. What we have been saying for a number of years ... we are always talking about refining the funding formula, Abraham said. Even as much as theyve done over the years piecemeal fixing of this or that nobody has done a complete review of the funding formula and how it works, and if it works for everybody. She said the question about red tape is unusual, but that school boards staff are really good about finding efficiencies ... there isnt a board in the province that hasnt looked at how we can get more efficient in our administrative line. Some boards move administrative spending to cover special education funding shortfalls, she added, so theres not a lot of wiggle room there. Our boards are really good at being efficient for things that are not in the classroom. Liberal MPP and former education minister Mitzie Hunter said while working with boards to identify administrative streamlining or savings is worthwhile, that should not be the sole focus. Premier Doug Ford and his minister dont understand that investing in education is an economic plan, Hunter said. Classroom spending is really what we want to focus on how to make improvements to the classroom. Hunter, who is seeking the Liberal leadership, said her platform includes a full funding formula review, in particular to make sure there is enough funding for special needs students and those in rural and Northern boards. Annie Kidder, of research and advocacy group People for Education, said I worry a little that in its request for input, the ministry points particularly to administrative costs. She said there is a tendency to think that spending money on administration is somehow wasteful, but if we want an education system that works for all of the two million students in it, we need co-ordination at the school board level, we need people working in offices, and school superintendents, and we need the people who co-ordinate things like special education. Advertisement These are the first designs of the planned, new 337million Museum of London, which is set to be one the capital's top tourist attractions if its bid is successful. Currently based one mile away at the Barbican, the Museum would move down the road into largely derelict buildings by the old Smithfield Market in Farringdon, London. If the bid to construct a new museum in West Smithfield is accepted, museum bosses hope the massive new exhibit will be open to the public by 2024. These are the first designs of the new Museum of London which is set to be one the capital's top tourist attractions. It is set to move into derelict buildings next to the Smithfield Meat Market, in Farringdon The Museum is currently based at the Barbican, and the new one would move down the road into largely derelict buildings by the old Smithfield Market in Farringdon, London Proposals to move the Museum over to Farringdon were submitted last month, revealing its floor space would double from its current 12,500sqm at the Barbican to 26,000sqm. With seven million exhibits detailing thousands of years of history, the hopefully-new and improved Museum of London is expected to be a major tourist attraction. The Museum of London, which already attracts 700,000 people annually, hopes to double the number of visitors - up to 1,500,000 per year - by moving down the road. The new museum, should it plans to move one mile down the road be accepted, hopes to be 26,000sqm - double the size of the existing Museum at the Barbican - at just 12,500sqm The museum - which has seven million exhibits - is expected to be the top-10 in London and will be open 24 hours a day. It documents the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times attracting 700,000 people annually The City of London Corporation contributed 197million to deliver the scheme along with 70million by the Mayor of London. It replaces The Smithfield Market which can be traced back as early as the 10th century on the same site Over the past five years the cost of the prestigious project has ballooned and the timescale has been pushed back significantly. The Museum of London attributes this to an increase in floor space, a change in layout when adjacent buildings became available and the historic market buildings being in a worse state than was first thought The Annexe buildings, currently with a 1960s infill, would be renovated, while the sheer scale of the plot would allow museum planners to stage a series of street festivals. Visitors could enjoy perusing object stories dating back thousands of years, split between the two main buildings on the site - the Poultry Market, home to Smithfield, and the General Market, currently unoccupied. Whereas the General Market would be home to vaults, galleries, a huge central display, a restaurant, and a cafe and shop, museum goers could slip through a new build joining both market halls to observe learning and exhibition workshops, as well as miscellaneous learning centres. Sharon Ament, director of the Museum, said: 'This is an important milestone for the project, as we formally set out our plans to transform the West Smithfield site and in doing so transform the idea of what a museum can be. 'It has been [more than] four years of hard work by a dedicated and talented project team in order to get here and, while we still have a while to go and money to raise before we open the doors to the new museum, this is nevertheless a significant step forward to turning our vision into reality.' Paul Williams OBE, principal director at the Stanton Williams, lead project architect, added: 'The opportunity to help reinvent, reimagine and transform a group of existing market buildings into a 21st century museum is an extraordinary opportunity - especially in an area of London so rich in history.' Over the past five years the cost of the project has ballooned, pushing the schedule back significantly. The Museum of London attributes this to an increase in floor space, a change in layout when adjacent buildings become available, and the historic market buildings being in a worse state than was first thought. The competition had an indicative price tag of 150million but when the scheme went out to consultation in the summer it had grown again to 332million. The City of London Corporation contributed 197million to the scheme, along with 70million by the Mayor of London. Fleet Market (above) was set up to the west of Smithfield, after the River Fleet was covered over in 1736 It would replace derelict buildings in West Smithfield, next to Smithfield Meat Market, the origins of which can be traced back as far as the 10th century on the same site. Smithfield was described by clerk William Fitzstephen in 1174 as a 'smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be traded, and in another quarter are placed vendibles of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk.' The market supplies inner City butchers, shops and restaurants with quality fresh meat, with trading starting as early as 2am with most of the trade completed by 8am. One butcher can be seen auctioning meat to the public during the Christmas Eve Auction at Smithfield, December 2015 January 15 : The Bollywood film Street Dancer 3D is all set our hearts into a party frenzy mood, as they had just released their latest party number Lagdi Lahore Di. The song features the stars Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and also the superb dance performer Nora Fatehi. If you would love to tease your emotions and see how to get the groove right in a flirtatious mode- then this track is one that should be seen! The song has taken this song from a 2017 groove number from the Punjabi song Lahore. It was sung by Guru Randhawa. So, as expected the song is exuding romance in true Punjabi hip- hop style. In the dance sequence, you can get to see Varun Dhawan practice the dance with his dance partner Nora Fatehi. They both shake a leg on an airstrip, and Nora Fatehi sizzles on the open road so flawlessly. She attempts some of the most enviable steps that every dance would love to try out. Image Source: https://www.instagram.com/shraddhakapoor/ Varun and Shraddha from Street Dancer 3D Moving on, Varun Dhawan can also be seen trying to make out with his love interest and rival in the film- Shraddha Kapoor. The pair can be seen teasing each other on a rooftop with Punjabi romantic quotes, and subtle moves to ignite ones emotions. More than difficult steps here, the duo get the moods right here. After the while song, the pair calls the song to a close with one tight smooch. The dance sequence has a smooth end but would leave the viewers wanting some more. In a recent interview, Nora had mentioned that she really felt grateful and elated that she was given this opportunity to dance for the film. Being a dance pro, she naturally gels in well with the role, but she admits that the dance moves are different from whatever she had done before. Image Source: https://www.instagram.com/norafatehi/ Street Dancer Nora Fatehi Along with the trio, the star cast includes Aparshakti Khurana, Prabhu Deva and it is based on a dance competition between dancers from India and Pakistan, Keeping personal ego aside, these groups have come to fulfill a common cause. The film Street Dancer 3D will release on Jan 24, 2020, ahead of Republic Day and is bound to clash with Kangana Ranauts film Panga. The number of Michigan students enrolled in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes have grown significantly since 2014, the Michigan Department of Education said this week. Between 2014-15 and 2018-19, theres been an 18% increase in the number of students in AP courses, from 67,285 to 79,546, MDE said. That includes a 63% increase in the number of Hispanic students taking AP; a 39% increase in those who qualify for subsidized lunch, and a 14% increase among African-American and mixed-race students. Meanwhile, the number of IB students has grown 78%, from 7,185 in 2014-15 to 12,822 in 2018-19. This is very good news that more of our students are taking advantage of the opportunity to tackle challenging coursework and qualify for college credit, said State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a press release. Students scoring well on end-of-course AP and IB exams are eligible to earn college credit, and Michigan is seeing an increase in those numbers, too. Over the past four years, Michigan had an 11% increase in students qualifying for college credit based on AP assessments, and a 21% increase in those qualifying for credit via IB. According to the College Boards latest AP report on Michigan: There were 110,149 AP exams administered in spring 2019, up from 98,135 in 2015. 70,939 exams, or 64.4%, in 2019 scored high enough to qualify for college credit. That compares that compares to 63,635, or 64.8%, in spring 2015. 78% of AP exams administered in Michigan last spring were taken by public-school students, who had about the same passage rate as private-school students. The most popular AP courses in Michigan are AP writing, AP literature, AP government and AP history. 55% of AP exams were taken by girls, but boys had a higher passage rate -- 68% compared to 61%. 670 Michigan schools participated in AP exams and 97 colleges accepted AP exam credits from Michigan students. Below is a chart showing the number of Michigan students taking AP exams as well as the total number of exams administrated between 1982 and 2020. The data shows that many more students are taking AP courses, and more students are taking multiple AP classes. Source: College Board AP is a program run by the College Board, the New Jersey-based firm that administers the SAT. The College Board has developed curricula for more than 30 college-level courses, and those curricula are used by high schools nationwide. In May, the College Board administers Advanced Placement exams for each course. At many schools, the test is voluntary, but students who score high enough (typically a score of 3 on a 5-point scale) are eligible for college credit at most colleges. IB is similar, but more structured. While students can take IB classes in the same way that they take AP classes, they also can get an IB diploma. It was originally created as an international curriculum for use in embassy schools, so that those children would have a standardized curriculum as their families moved around the world. As with AP, IB students take exams in May that can qualify them for college credit. In both cases, the exams also serve as quality control for schools, encouraging them to teach the course at the level intended versus dumbing down the material. While the quality of, for instance, an honors English course can vary wildly from school to school, or even teacher to teacher, using the AP or IB program offers at least an assurance of rigor. And even students who dont qualify for college credit can benefit from taking AP or IB coursework. The College Board points to research that says AP students are more likely to graduate from college in four years, and AP helps students get into more selective colleges and earn merit scholarships. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Air Resources Board say the city of Moreno Valley disregarded state environmental regulations when it approved the massive World Logistics Center warehouse project in 2015. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Jan. 10 with the Fourth District Court of Appeals, the attorney general said the city "improperly" concluded the 40 million-square-foot center would fall under the Air Resources Board's Cap-and-Trade emissions regulation program. The program limits the pollution companies can generate and allows companies below that limit to sell credits to companies that do not meet the targets. But according to the brief, while the program applies to major polluters like oil companies and electricity generators it does not include development projects including warehouses and logistics centers. Those entities fall under the purview of local governments like Moreno Valley. The city "used the cap and trade program, which does not impose any regulatory requirements on this Project," as "an excuse not to analyze and mitigate the Project's climate change impacts," the filing states. That approach "mischaracterizes the way state climate policies work," and violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Quoting the state law, the filing notes that CEQA directs local governments to take "all action necessary" to protect the environment, recognizing the importance of local action driven through "meaningful" consideration of environmental impacts." Tim McGillivray, public information officer for Moreno Valley, declined to discuss the filing, saying the city does not comment on pending litigation. Council members approved the World Logistics Center project on a 3-2 vote in August 2015. Located at the intersection of two major transportation corridors (SR-60 and I-215), within overnight delivery range to 11 Western states, the 2,610-acre Center is part of a larger boom in Southern California warehouse development, as e-commerce and the promise of two-day shipping compel retailers and manufacturers to get product as close to customers as possible. Story continues Moreno Valley is also part of the South Coast Air Basin a region that has some of the worst air pollution in the country. The center is projected to add nearly 70,000 daily vehicle trips in the region and to cause the release of more than 385,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year, nearly 40 times the South Coast Air Quality Management District's CEQA threshold of significance for GHG emissions. Among the complaints cited in the brief, which comments on two different lawsuits against the city and the developer, Highland Fairview, is that the city's environmental analysis did not take into account the center's emissions beyond the year 2030, "despite the fact that the project's full operation will not start until five years later, in 2035." Highland Fairview did not immediately respond to FreightWaves' request for comment. But according to the project website, the center will be a model of sustainable design, featuring state-of-the-art water conservation and clean diesel technology strategies. The center is also expected to create 20,000 permanent jobs. Those features are unlikely to placate California regulatory and enforcement agencies. CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols said in a statement that large distribution centers with heavy truck traffic "must take responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions and smog-forming exhaust they generate." "They cannot hide behind legal fictions to ignore the need to protect public health and the environment. The message for this developer and others contemplating this illegal ploy is clear: Distribution centers need to move towards zero-emission trucks and cargo equipment. They can't duck their responsibility to the community where they are located, or pass on the costs of their pollution in the form of unhealthy air and poor health." Image by icondigital from Pixabay 0 See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. The U.S. allegedly isn't protecting people who come to the southern border seeking asylum, and the ACLU wants that to change. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union launched the first nationwide legal challenge against the Trump administration's "safe third country" agreement with Guatemala. The agreement lets the U.S. send asylum seekers back to the Central American country even if the person isn't from there, and as the ACLU argues in a Wednesday court filing, it's effectively attempting to "end asylum at the southern border, plain and simple." The Trump administration has enacted several safe third country agreements, including with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. These agreements let the U.S. ship asylum seekers who arrive at the southern border back to those countries even if that's not where they're from because, as the government sees it, they should've pursued asylum in one of those countries while passing through. There's just one problem with that: Many Central American countries such as Guatemala are filled with violence and poverty, and are frequently where people are seeking asylum from. That's why the ACLU is seeking an end to the Guatemala deal, saying it and the other agreements "unlawfully slam our nation's doors on people fleeing horrific violence and other forms of persecution." "There is virtually no chance they will find refuge" in these other countries, the ACLU continues. And without offering a safe chance at asylum, the ACLU argues the U.S. is "in violation of U.S. and international law." The U.S. government meanwhile argues its rule does follow the international mandate to provide a "full and fair" asylum process to all who ask. More stories from theweek.com Ukraine gives Trump the corruption investigation he asked for DOJ reportedly eyeing James Comey as it investigates old leak of classified information Mitch McConnell should recuse himself A Catholic school in Virginia is investigating after an image appearing to show a student in blackface alongside the N-word was posted on social media. The racially offensive photo is believed to have been posted by a high school student in Richmond and showed a white female student in uniform. Administrators at all girls St. Gertrude High School are probing allegations that the image posted showed a blackface mask with the 'N****' written underneath. The girl in the image, which has been circulated on social media after initially being posted on Snapchat, appeared to be wearing school uniform. Sister Cecilia Dwyer, the head administrator at St. Gertrude's Catholic School, said authorities were trying to work out the sequence of events that led up to the image being posted. The image of a white female student appearing to pose with a blackface mask alongside the word 'N****' was initially posed on Snapchat One former student alleged she was threatened with racist hate mail in a separate incident that was not investigate She told NBC 12: 'It was a huge indiscretion on the part of a couple of students but it's one that we deeply regret and one we can't tolerate as part of our culture. It doesn't represent who we are. 'We're trying to untangle the knot of who did what and when and there will be consequences.' On the day she learned about the post, the school sent a letter to parents saying: 'This morning we became aware of some deeply troubling and racially insensitive imagery making its way through our community.' Students have said they know both the person who appeared in the image and another student who was also involved. Former students have said they think the student involved should face being expelled form the all girl's school. St. Gertrude High School, a Catholic all girl's school in Richmond, Virginia, is investigating the incident that saw a racially offensive image posted online One ex-pupil said she received threatening and racist hate mail when she was a student at St. Gertrude that was not investigated. Former student Taylor Moore told WTVR: 'It just shocks me that that was never my experience there and it's happening now is really disheartening. 'I think there's a valuable lesson that serious actions have serious consequences. I'm praying for the school and the administrator make the right decisions.' JJ Minor with the Richmond NAACP said he had received more than 30 calls about the incident. He said: 'I received over 30 phone calls about this incident, especially from some of the parents. 'Blackface has an evil history of mocking African-Americans. Whether they're children or not, they did it plain and simple. Someone taught them how to do it and folks know what Blackface means and it is offensive.' New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Congress on Wednesday questioned the Modi government on the move of sending 36 Union Ministers to Jammu and Kashmir while opposition leaders barred from visiting the Union Territory. "... Ostensibly 36 Union Ministers have been instructed to blitzkrieg Jammu and Kashmir btwn Jan 18 th -23 rd 2020.51 visits in Jammu,8 planned forSrinagar.If this is correct why should opposition be debarred from J&K?," party leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet. This will be the first of kind visit by so many Union Ministers since the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and was bifurcated into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Union Home Ministry is coordinating the visit of the Council of Ministers. The group of Central ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir, including sensitive areas in the Valley, starting January 18. The ministers will visit different districts in both the UTs between January 18 and January 24. Minister of State for Home G. Kishen Reddy, has written a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, informing him about the scheduled visits. The initial petition was filed in 2004. For Mgr Sarat Chandra Nayak, The issue of Dalit Christians is organically connected to the mission of Catholic Church which exists to continue the very mission of Christ who was anointed to preach good news to the poor. New Delhi (AsiaNews) Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak, president of the Office for Scheduled Castes/Backward Classes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of India to hear an appeal by Dalit Christians. He rejoices at the good news that the countrys highest court accepted the petition, presented in 2004, asking that Christian Dalits benefit from the governments affirmative action programmes in civil service jobs and in education. We have used all democratic and non-violent means in this continuous struggle, said Bishop Nayak, this despite the fact that at times we suffered the brutal violence of State power. At present, all our hopes hung on the Supreme Court. In the meantime, we continue to pray for the honourable judges of the Bench [. . .] and ourselves. For years, Church authorities have been calling for changes to a 1950 presidential order that excludes members of scheduled castes who converted to Christianity from public jobs available to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits. For Mgr Sarat, the Order is first of all unconstitutional because it violates the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 16 (2), 29, 338 and 341 of the constitution, which proclaims equality before the law and of opportunity in the public sector, protects minority interests, and bans discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Secondly, the presidential decree "is discriminatory because it excludes Christian Dalits on the basis of religion. Thirdly, it is unjust because he treats equals (Dalits of all religions) unequally. [. . .] Fourthly, it is against the secular nature of the Constitution because it favours Dalit Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, and indirectly promotes Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Indias Christians represent 2.3 per cent of the population, or 27.8 million out of a total of almost 1.3 billion inhabitants. Christian Dalits number 18 million or two thirds of the community. According to the prelate, Dalits have suffered injustice for too long a time and should be given justice without any further delay. They have been deprived of the equal opportunity in education, job opportunity, economy and politics. They also dont get the legal protection under the Prevention of Atrocity Against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act 1989. Thousands of educated Dalit Christian youth do not get government jobs and depend only on private companies for their employment. Ultimately, they can neither participate in the country's development process nor benefit from government development plans." Now, not only I but also two million Dalit Christians and those who work for equality and justice, most eagerly wait for the positive judgment of the Supreme Court. I expect that the mind of the honourable judges are without any fear, their knowledge is free from any prejudices, they keep their heads high above the fragments and divisions of society, their reasons are clear and the words of their judgment come out of the depth of truth that leads to the freedom of Gods Kingdom. For Bishop Sarat, "The issue of Dalit Christians is organically connected to the mission of Catholic Church in India and apart from it, she will certainly miss her mission, lose her Catholicity and forfeit her reason and right to exist as a Church if she did not act. Ultimately, the latter does not stem from the fact that Dalit Christians constitute two thirds of Christians in India and all Dalits constitute 17 per cent of total Indian population, but because the Church exists to continue the very mission of Christ who was anointed to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lords favour (Lk. 4: 18). Given the Church's mission, the bishop notes that the Office he heads takes a lead role in the struggles of Dalits, both for their rights as citizens of India and for their equality and equal opportunity in the Church as her members. With this in mind, the Church adopted an action plan in 2016 and set up the Office. The CBCI Policy of Dalit Empowerment in the Catholic Church in India is aimed at realising the equal dignity of all as children of God, equal call to holiness and equal mission to make Christ known. (A.C.F.) She has just touched down following her romantic trip to Dubai. And following her return to the UK, Jacqueline Jossa appeared keen to kick start a new fitness regime as she revealed she has turned her garage into a home gym. Taking to her Instagram Stories, the Queen of the Jungle, 27, posted a before and after picture of her garage-turned-gym following its transformation. She's back! Following her return to the UK, Jacqueline Jossa appeared keen to kick start a new fitness regime as she revealed she has turned her garage into a home gym Jacqueline admitted that she wants to 'stop being such a lazy sloth' and 'sort her life out', after dropping a stone during her time on I'm A Celebrity last year. Revealing having a gym at home makes it easier to juggle family life, she said: 'I'd rather do it at home. I don't love the gym. I'd rather just put the kids to bed or wake up in the morning and get stuff done at home.' Jacqueline said that part of the renovation involved having a new floor laid with the words 'Osborne's gym' printed onto one of the black and grey tiles. Jacqueline and her husband Dan Osborne, 28, who she shares daughters Ella, four, and Mia, 19 months, have just returned from a holiday together. New look: Taking to her Instagram Stories, the Queen of the Jungle, 27, posted a before and after picture of her garage-turned-gym following its transformation It's clear to see that Dan and Jacqueline are giving their romance a fresh start after Dan apologised for doing things he wasn't proud of in the relationship. The former TOWIE star has been accused of multiple infidelities throughout his short marriage but appears to have turned over a new leaf. The pair have shared lots of loving pictures from their trip on social media and looked like a new couple in love. Back in love: Jacqueline and her husband Dan Osborne, 28 have just returned from a holiday together Romantic getaway: The reality star couple took to social media to share their latest antics on board a boat, with one beautiful snap showing them snuggled up with the city's rising skyline in the background Family: Jacqueline married Dan in 2017 and the couple welcomed their four-year-old daughter Ella in 2015, and their 18-month-old daughter Mia in 2018 The reality star shared pictures from on board a boat, with one beautiful snap showing them snuggled up with the city's rising skyline in the background. The holiday came after Dan lamented his past behaviour in a candid post reflecting on the last decade and seemingly referencing his recent cheating scandal. Dan was rocked by cheating claims after it was alleged he engaged in a threesome with his Celebrity Big Brother co-stars Natalie Nunn and Chloe Ayling last year. My love: Posting the photos, Dan wrote: 'Sorry been quiet on here.. Just been enjoying a long weekend away with my wife in Dubai' Snug: Jacqueline shared a snap of herself in a fluffy white bathrobe, perfect for a bit of pampering After endless denials, Dan finally admitted last month he had been unfaithful and then referenced his misgivings in a post showing him in 2010 and now while surrounded by his three children. Dan is father to six-year-old son Teddy from a previous relationship. During Jacqueline's recent victorious stint on I'm A Celeb, news arose surrounding the threesome and things were fractious. With his thumbs in his pockets, Wilson Gavin stood at the front of the crowd, leading a videotaped chant that would quickly go viral: "Drag queens are not for kids." As the president of a conservative group at his Australian university, the 21-year-old had steered protesters into a public library in Brisbane, where they barged into a room full of families attending "Drag Queen Story Time." Inside, the group faced off with a sequined, costumed performer who had been reading from a children's book. Kids in the audience asked what was happening. Parents called the police, and a handful filmed the confrontation. As their videos spread across social media, politicians chimed in - most of them condemning the protest as a hateful act. The next day, Gavin, who was openly gay, took his own life. Sky News Australia That rapid succession of events has turned a young man's death into an emotional and political controversy in Australia's third-largest city and across the country: Some have pointed to an overwhelming "social media mob" that came after Gavin. Others have talked about disproportionately high rates of suicide among LGBTQ youth, or a culture they say lacks acceptance. Others still have insisted that it is inappropriate to make any kind of political statements at all. "To me, this incident transcends politics. It is about humanity, and about recognizing that everybody has it," Johnny Valkyrie, one of the drag queens at the library event, said in an interview with The Washington Post. "I only wish I could tell him I love and support him." In recent years, Gavin had emerged as a young voice for conservatism in Australian politics. Despite his sexual orientation, he opposed same-sex marriage and actively campaigned against the issue in 2017, when it went up for a national referendum. In 2018, he defended the role of the British monarchy on "Outsiders," a political talk show whose hosts have described themselves as "Trump's Aussie mates." "I'm a lover of all things traditional. I'm a lover of all things beautiful," he said on the show. "And there's nothing more traditional in this country than the monarchy." Satyajeet Marrar, a fellow member of the Australian Monarchist League, said Gavin was an "outspoken young man with a good heart." "Despite holding opinions that some people disagree with strongly, he would defend them with conviction," Marrar wrote on Facebook. "Brave and admirable traits while most of us in this generation spend years obsessing over what others think of us." At the University of Queensland, Gavin became president of the school's Liberal National Club, which branded itself as the local chapter of Australia's right-wing political party. Although the national organization disaffiliated itself from the university club in December, members maintained ties with at least one member of Parliament and sought out opportunities for political action. On Sunday, their venue was the local public library, and their target was a drag queen reading a children's book. Much like in the United States, the queens' family-friendly recitations - meant to foster free expression and tolerance toward LGBTQ people - have emerged as a cultural point of tension. In Brisbane, however, the city council had voted to sponsor a drag queen story time. So Gavin and the UQ Liberal National Club organized a protest to "defend LNP values against a corrosive gender ideology," the club wrote on its Facebook page, according to ABC Australia. "This event is designed to indoctrinate and sexualise young children. Our kids deserve better than this! Why is this moral filth being paid for by the taxpayer?" the post stated. (As of early Tuesday, the group's page appeared to have been deleted, and the club did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.) One mother at the event, Jenny Griffin, said one of her children, who are 6 and 8, started to cry out of fear and confusion in response to the "harassing and kind of threatening" protesters, she told ABC. Many elected officials and commentators seemed to agree with her. As videos of the confrontation spread across social media, politicians on the left and right criticized the fiery protest, calling the students "bigots," "homophobes" and "bullies." Trevor Evans, an openly gay lawmaker from Brisbane, condemned them as "ratbags." Online, Gavin defended himself and the action, saying it was part of the LNP's fight against "politically correct rubbish." But even LNP politicians distanced themselves from the demonstration. On Monday, less than a day later, police told Australian media that Gavin had taken his own life. Various corners of Australian society, which had already fiercely debated the protest, interpreted his death as radically different kinds of tragedies. George Christensen, a conservative member of Parliament, used it as an opportunity to attack "broken" social media networks and announce he would be deleting his Twitter account. He said "Twitter keyboard warriors [had piled] on an individual for a political protest." Mark Robinson, another right-wing politician and the sponsor of the UQ club, said Gavin was "treated terribly for "taking a principled stand to protect children from inappropriate sexualisation." For other Australians, however, Gavin's death was instead a sign of the mental health issues affecting LGBTQ youth - and the homophobia some of them said was instilled and spread by those on the Australian right. Drew Pavlou, a friend of Gavin's at UQ, remembered him as a "very decent and kind person" who may have also been coping with such issues. "He had his struggles and made mistakes, and it is a tragedy for us all that he ultimately succumbed to his suffering and pain," Pavlou wrote on Twitter. "Today is a reminder of all we must do to affirm to young marginalized Australians the intrinsic worth and value of their lives." Valkyrie, the 23-year-old drag queen, told The Post that while Gavin's death should transcend politics, the influence of certain political views - namely, those like Christensen's - had left a noticeable mark on the situation. The drag queen and activist said he himself had attempted suicide 13 times during his adolescence while coming out and coming to terms with his identity: He is both transgender and gay, he said. "Wilson may have contributed to the incident, which harmed myself and others, but I forgive him," Valkyrie said, tearing up on the phone, "and I understand that he was troubled. . . . I only wish I could tell him I love and support him." On social media, he offered him up a message anyway. "What you did on Sunday was unacceptable," Valkyrie wrote. "Who you were was not." Open source The total sum of financial assistance that Ukraine is expected to receive from the United States in 2020 amounts to 698 million dollars. This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukrinform reports. "Yes, in 2020, total US financial assistance will amount to 698 million dollars," the ambassador said. He said that the Pentagon would provide 250 million dollars. U.S. Department of State is expected to allocate 448 million dollars of economic assistance, 115 million dollars of which will go to security. Another 50 million dollars will be allocated under certain conditions. According to Yelchenko, military assistance is expected to begin arriving in February. As we reported earlier, the United States of America froze military aid to Ukraine 90 minutes after Donald Trumps July 25th conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky. It was reported by BBC News, citing the governmental email. According to the agency, after the telephone negotiations between the Presidents ended, Mike Duffey, the White House official, contacted the select OMB and Pentagon officials in order to pause the aid to Ukraine. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golden Predator Mining Corp. (TSX.V:GPY, OTCQX:NTGSF) (the Company) today announced the results of an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Brewery Creek project in Canadas Yukon. Prepared by Gustavson & Associates, the report estimates that, at a gold price of $1325/oz, Indicated oxide gold resources have increased 55% while Inferred oxide gold resources have increased 78% since the previous resource estimate (2014 PEA). Indicated tonnage rose 89% and Inferred tonnage rose 85% while the Indicated resource grade declined 18% and Inferred oxide grade fell 3%, reflecting the benefit of a higher gold price assumption compared to 2014. The updated estimate incorporates data from drilling through to the end of 2015. The Company completed a subsequent 200 exploration drill holes from 2016 to 2019. A total of 177 of those holes were drilled from August 2019 to November 2019 and assays are still being received and evaluated for a significant number of those holes. The Company has engaged Gustavson & Associates to consider the data from the 2019 drill program as it becomes available, and thereafter update the resource estimate to include those holes. The updated mineral resource estimate was conducted by a single author using a consistent methodology whereas the 2014 mineral resource estimate included the work of three different estimators using three different estimation methods. The new resource model uses a single conceptual pit shell. The material on the heap leach pad is not considered in the technical report and a study is underway to separately assess the economics of reprocessing the heap leach pad material. RESOURCE REPORT SUMMARY - The updated mineral resource estimate reports an Indicated oxide resource of 21,140,00 Tonnes at 1.125 g/t Gold containing 765,000 ounces, plus an Inferred oxide resource of 14,120,000 Tonnes at 0.967 g/t Gold containing 440,000 ounces. The report also estimates an additional 8,570,000 Tonnes of Inferred sulfide resource at 0.985 g/t Gold containing 270,000 ounces. The estimate utilized cutoff grades calculated separately for each deposit, ranging from 0.42 to 0.53 gpt Au at a gold price of $1325/oz reported within a pit shell calculated at $1,600/oz. - Material on the heap leach pad is not included in the Mineral Resource. January 2020 Brewery Creek Mineral Resource* Estimate Oxide Tonnes g/t Gold Oz Indicated 21,140,000 1.125 765,000 Inferred 14,120,000 0.967 440,000 Sulfide Tonnes g/t Gold Oz Indicated - - - Inferred 8,570,000 0.985 270,000 *Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability. Janet Lee-Sheriff, Golden Predators Chief Executive Officer, commented: We are delighted by the substantial increase in oxide resources which offer a significant impact on the longevity and economics of the Brewery Creek Mine. Although a higher gold price certainly contributed to the increase, we are also very encouraged by the favorable impact of a more systematic application of geological constraints on the deposits. We look forward to the next updated Resource which will incorporate the results from our 2016, 2018 and 2019 programs and look forward to the study on the reprocessing of the heap leach pad material. To view Brewery Creek property and location maps: http://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/news/Maps-GPY-NR-Jan-14-20.pdf PROJECT OVERVIEW Heap Leach Reprocessing Study: Phase 1 Kappes Cassiday is currently conducting a feasibility level study to determine the parameters for the phase 1 plan to reprocess the material on the heap leach pad. The study will include detailed analysis of all the key parameters involved in reconstructing necessary infrastructure including the ADR plant, assay lab and all projected capital and operating costs, production levels and the projected economic return. The study is focusing solely on remediating and reprocessing the heap leach pad as a means of fast-tracking revenue and re-development of the site. The study will include a project implementation schedule, sourcing, and economic cash flow model sufficiently detailed to move directly into procurement, development and operations if economically warranted. Any production decisions would be based on the outcome of this feasibility level study demonstrating technical and economic viability. Brewery Creek Mine: Production History The Brewery Creek Mine is a licensed brownfields heap leach gold mine that was operated by Viceroy Minerals Corporation from 1996 to 2002. Brewery Creek was put into Temporary Closure in 2002 following a collapse of the gold price below $300 US per troy ounce. Golden Predators team commenced work on the project starting in 2009. Brewery Creek is now authorized to restart mining activities as defined in their Quartz Mining License and Water License. The Company intends to resume mining and processing of licensed deposits when supported by an independent economic study. In 2020 the Company will begin work with Trondek Hwechin and Yukon Government to expand the licensed mining to include new discoveries made since the existing license was granted. The 180 km2 property is located 55 km east of Dawson City and is accessible year-round by paved and improved gravel roads. Significant infrastructure remains in place, allowing for a timely restart schedule under existing licenses. Brewery Creek Mine: Resources The Company conducted exploration drilling on the Brewery Creek project from 2010 to 2013 which increased the resource significantly. The project has a 43-101 Indicated oxide resource of 21,140,00 Tonnes at 1.125 g/t Gold containing 765,000 ounces, plus an Inferred oxide resource of 14,120,000 Tonnes at 0.967 g/t Gold containing 440,000 ounces with 8,570,000 additional Tonnes of Inferred sulfide resource at 0.985 g/t Gold containing 270,000 ounces. Material on the heap leach pad is not included in the resource. The resource does not include the results of 200 exploration drill holes, 177 of which are from 2019; most are pending complete assays and/or evaluation. The January 13, 2020 NI 43-101 Technical Report will be made available on SEDAR and the Companys website within the time prescribed by NI 43-101. The updated report replaces the prior technical report dated November 19, 2014, including the economic analysis therein, which is no longer considered current by the Company. Brewery Creek Mine: Licenses, Permits and NI 43-101 Disclosure The Company has a Socio Economic Accord with Trondek Hwechin for the Brewery Creek Mine and is licensed to resume mining activities under the current Water License and Quartz Mining Licenses. The project also has a Class IV Mining Land Use Permit to conduct additional exploration. Resource estimates included herein were prepared by Gustavson and Associates under the direction of Donald E. Hulse, who is independent of Golden Predator and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Hulse has reviewed and approved this news release. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jeff Cary, CPG a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is employed by the Company as its Senior Project Geologist. Golden Predator Mining Corp. Golden Predator is advancing the past-producing Brewery Creek Mine towards a timely resumption of mining activities, under its valid Quartz Mining and Water Licenses, in Canadas Yukon. With established resources grading over 1.0 g/t Gold and a study currently underway by Kappes Cassidy considering the economics of a restart of heap leach operations at the Brewery Creek Mine, 2020 proves to be a pivotal year for the Company. Drilling continues to expand the open-ended resources and untested targets across the 180 km2 brownfield property located 55 km by road from Dawson City, Yukon. The Company has a Socio Economic Accord with the Trondek Hwechin First Nation. At the 3 Aces project, Golden Predator continues to expand on discoveries of native gold in quartz veins while ongoing bulk sampling and processing at the 50 tpd Company-owned processing plant has demonstrated gold recoveries of over 85% using a combination of a gravity and water process and a mobile batch cyanide-free process. This green gold provides the content for the mintage of .9999 gold coins from the Yukon Mint, a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden Predator. For additional information: Janet Lee-Sheriff Chief Executive Officer (604) 260-8435 info@goldenpredator.com www.goldenpredator.com 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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This press release contains forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations that the private placement will complete as described herein, that the Project will advance through permitting and feasibility. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. You can climb and slide on the sand hills in rarely visited Cadiz Dunes Wilderness. The dunes are pure, untouched and perfectly sculpted, Gerber said. Wander through the underground caves in the spectacular Mitchell Caverns. (Tours require paid reservations and guides.) Hike to the center of Amboy Crater an extinct cinder cone volcano atop black lava. Walk around volcanic rocks perforated with holes caused by uneven cooling and erosion. Best of all, gaze at the sky and count the stars. Theres little light pollution and the white-dotted black sky is incredible, Gerber said. BURLINGTON, Mass., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CIMCON , the leading global provider of smart city technologies , announced today that it closed its 2019 fiscal year with a record number of city-wide agreements for its lighting management system, significant international sales growth, and record-setting sales for the company's NearSky smart city platform. In addition, the company continued to lead the market with its smart city and lighting management technology, winning all of the industry's major innovation awards, receiving a US patent for NearSky's ability to deliver a distributed "data center" via a city's streetlight infrastructure, and extending the company's technology lead by introducing third generation of its NearSky platform that provides cities even more capabilities and flexibility to improve city services through sensors, cameras and other smart city IoT devices. LED Light Fixture with CIMCON Intelligent Lighting Controller and NearSky Edge Data Processor The year 2019 was marked by the following specific achievements: The company experienced strong growth internationally for its lighting management and smart city platforms. This included the company's first projects for its NearSky platform outside of the US and record-breaking sales in Latin America , where the company was involved in large-scale strategic projects, including projects in La Reina, Chile and Belo Horizonte, Brazil . , where the company was involved in large-scale strategic projects, including projects in La Reina, and . The company continued to expand its technology leadership by introducing products and product enhancements with a common theme to simplify every aspect of delivering outcomes. The lighting management system was enhanced with mobile applications that accelerate installations and reduce lighting management costs. In addition, the lighting management system expanded its lead in interoperability and network support by being certified to be compatible with the Wi-SUN standard for IoT devices and by expanding its support to include narrow band IoT (NB-IoT) networks. The company also extended its technology lead by introducing the next generation of the NearSky platform which offers more edge processing capability and dynamic lifecycle management capabilities. The NearSky platform received unanimous, global recognition for its innovative capabilities to help cities create an outdoor internet of things to improve city services. The platform won all of industry's most prestigious awards for innovation, including the Gold Edison Award for innovation in the IoT category, the LightFair Innovation Award in the controls category, and the Lux Award for "Connected Lighting Innovation of the Year". In addition, the company received recognition as one of Boston's most innovative companies. These awards reflect the transformational value of the NearSky platform for turning an existing, passive light pole into a dynamic asset through which the city can sense what is happening on city streets and respond appropriately to improve city services and quality of life. most innovative companies. These awards reflect the transformational value of the NearSky platform for turning an existing, passive light pole into a dynamic asset through which the city can sense what is happening on city streets and respond appropriately to improve city services and quality of life. The company expanded its distribution and technology partnerships, including the NearSky Connect partnership program, which enabled CIMCON to launch a suite of ready-to-deploy, pre-packaged applications for the NearSky platform and dramatically simplify the deployment of smart city solutions, including solutions to monitor road conditions, count vehicles and pedestrians, detect and respond to unexpected sounds, improve public safety, and check air quality. The company closed its Series C funding round of $33 M at a significantly higher valuation. The new funding includes an innovative revenue-sharing funding model that will empower cities with greater fiscal flexibility so they can readily invest in smart city improvements. at a significantly higher valuation. The new funding includes an innovative revenue-sharing funding model that will empower cities with greater fiscal flexibility so they can readily invest in smart city improvements. CIMCON also relocated its corporate headquarters to Burlington, Mass. in order to accommodate current staffing and in anticipation of future growth. The company expanded its workforce globally to more than 150 employees. "I am very excited by what we have achieved in 2019. We have made significant investments in people, technology, partnerships and processes that should serve us well into 2020 and beyond," said Anil Agrawal, CEO of CIMCON Lighting. "We are well equipped to continue to innovate and simplify consumption of outcomes that our customers want and expect with a financial model that is right for them." Cities and utilities can initiate a customized pilot of the NearSky smart city platform by visiting https://www.cimconlighting.com/streetvantage-smart-city-pilot-program. About CIMCON Lighting, Inc. With a heritage of over 25 years of innovation and experience in industrial automation and outdoor wireless applications, CIMCON provides the most proven and most complete smart city solutions to global cities and utilities. The company is the world's leading provider of scalable, intelligent wireless outdoor lighting management solutions for traditional, LED and solar-based streetlights, and the company's smart city platform provides an easy way to deploy, manage and maintain smart city devices and applications. Focused on offering solutions that provide the lowest "Lifecycle Cost of Ownership," CIMCON provides hardware and software technologies that allow cities and utilities to monitor, maintain and in many cases, monetize their assets and other devices on or near the light pole. CIMCON's "Just in Time Lighting," reduces energy, maintenance and repair costs while improving the quality of lighting services and enabling the path to a smart city. For more information, please visit www.cimconlighting.com. Follow CIMCON on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook , and YouTube . Media Contact: John Joseph, VP of Marketing, Tel: +1 978-320-4002 x433, Email: [email protected] SOURCE CIMCON Lighting Press Release 15 January 2020 Atlanta, Georgia - The IHG Owners Association, which represents IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) franchise hotel owners worldwide, announced that Wayne West III has assumed chairmanship of its Global Board of Directors for 2020. West is President and Partner of Newport Hospitality Group, based in Williamsburg, Va., and brings an extensive background as a hotelier and operator. With more than 40 years in the industry, he has helped hotels maximize guest loyalty and team engagement while ensuring exceptional revenue performance and profitability. He succeeds 2019 chair Kurt Furlong, Chief Revenue Officer and Partner with Genuine Hospitality, LLC. Wayne West III Photo: IHG Owners Association Newport is a hotel management company that operates more than 50 select, full-service and independent hotels under various brands, primarily on the Eastern Seaboard. West joined the company in 2013 as Chief Operating Officer and quickly advanced to his current position as President. Previously, he was with Lane Hospitality (now Spire Hospitality) for 12 years, serving as Chief Operating Officer for the last three. West has also held executive positions with several other lead-ing hospitality companies. "I've been proud to serve on the IHG Owners Association Global Board for the past year as Treasurer, and I've enjoyed my leadership responsibilities as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Americas Regional Council (ARC)," says West. "I am very honored to now assume the role of Chair of the Association. I look forward to representing the interests of our members around the world and connecting with IHG leadership on their behalf." West has been an active member of the Association for many years having served as Chair of the Holiday Inn Committee and several other Association working groups, including the Strategic Planning and Standards Committees and the Holiday Inn Food & Beverage Council. Don Berg, CEO of the IHG Owners Association, notes, "Wayne's deep, first-hand knowledge and experience in all areas of hotel operation will certainly benefit the work of the Association on many levels. His profound hotel management acumen will provide authentic and intelligent thought leadership to our members." West attended East Carolina University and earned his Certified Hotel Administrator designation from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He resides with his wife, Marianne, in a small lakeside town in North Carolina. The IHG Owners Association is also pleased to announce its 2020 Global Board of Directors: It's a feeling anyone might share, at any age which may account for the ongoing fame of Hugh Lofting's series of children's books about an eccentric vet who learns the languages of animals and comes to prefer them to his own kind. To my eyes at least, there was something promisingly sardonic about the poster for Dolittle, with a typically bedraggled Robert Downey Jr staring drolly out at us, flanked by an entourage including a giraffe, a polar bear, an ostrich and a gorilla. "I may not fit in with this lot," said his expression, "but it beats being part of the human race." Past efforts to bring the good doctor's adventures to the screen have met with mixed success. The 1967 musical with Rex Harrison was a famous flop, though more imaginative and truer to Lofting's intentions than is sometimes acknowledged; the 1990s update with Eddie Murphy was at least energetically vulgar. There ought to be scope for a 21st-century Dolittle, perhaps infused with a new kind of environmental consciousness. Downey's involvement is enough to spark interest, along with that of writer-director Stephen Gaghan best-known for the global oil industry expose Syriana. But the film is an awful disappointment on all fronts: the dullest version of the material yet. Downey remains a precise enough physical comedian to remind you why he was once cast as Charlie Chaplin, but over-exposure has drained his jittery, manic-depressive persona of any power to surprise. His Dolittle is almost identical to his Sherlock Holmes, or indeed any other character he's played in the last decade and a half, except for a puzzling Scottish accent (we're told that he studied at the University of Edinburgh) and less warmth. As in Angelina Jolie's most recent Maleficent film, there's the sense of a star being handled with so much care they've been cordoned off from their own movie. Mourning the death of his wife (not in the books), Dolittle, like Maleficent, is a hermit as well as a misanthrope. Just to get him out of the house requires an elaborate yet routine treasure hunt plot, involving an effort to save the life of the young Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) who is being poisoned by Dolittle's wicked rival (Michael Sheen, aiming to fill his limited screen time with a maximum of smirking). [January 15, 2020] Lynchburg, Virginia Nonprofits and K-12 Schools to Receive $500,000 from Pacific Life Foundation The Pacific Life Foundation announced today it will provide $500,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations and K-12 schools in the greater Lynchburg, Virginia area during 2020. Since 2016, Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation has donated more than $800,000 to the Lynchburg community. The Pacific Life Foundation's initial 2020 grants were presented to 28 nonprofit agencies on January 14 at the inaugural Grants Reception Breakfast held at Pacific Life's Lynchburg office. Grants totaling $225,000 have been awarded to nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture; civic, community and economic development; education; and health and human services. The 2020 recipients include: Academy Center of the Arts Adult Care Center of Central Virginia Alzheimer's Association Amazement Square American Heart Association, Western Virginia American Red Cross of Blue Ridge Virginia Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Virginia Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Bower Center for the Arts Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg CASA of Central Virginia Central Virginia Alliance for Community Living Central Virginia Community College Educational Foundation CHAP Girls on the Run of Central Virginia Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity HumanKind IRON Lives Jubilee Family Development Center Lynchburg Beacon of Hope Lynchburg Community Action Group Lynchburg Daily Bread Miriam's House Opera on the James Randolph College/Science Festival and Science + Art Saturdays Virginia Council on Economic Education Virginia Legal Aid Society YMCA of Central irginia The Pacific Life Foundation 3Ts of Education program will award a total of $49,500 in grants to local K-12 schools where concentrations of children and grandchildren of Pacific Life employees attend. The educational grants are designed in one of the following areas: teacher training, textbooks or technology. The 13 Lynchburg-area schools include: Amherst High School Appomattox County High School Appomattox Elementary School Brookville High School Brookville Middle School Forest Elementary School Forest Middle School Jefferson Forest High School Leesville Road Elementary School Linkhorne Elementary School Madison Heights Elementary School Perrymont Elementary School Tomahawk Elementary School As part of Pacific Life's annual United Way Campaign, the Pacific Life Foundation matches every dollar donated by employees. Planned giving in 2020 to the United Way of Central Virginia is expected to be approximately $34,000. The Pacific Life Foundation will also match employee gifts to local-area nonprofits, provide service opportunities for employees to give back to the Lynchburg community, and provide a team leadership grant in support of Pacific Life's volunteer program, the Good Guys. Supporting communities where Pacific Life employees work and live, the Pacific Life Foundation plans to give a total of $7.25 million in charitable grants in 2020. About Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation For more than 150 years, Pacific Life has helped millions of individuals and families with their financial needs through a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients and has been named one of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.PacificLife.com. The Pacific Life Foundation (the Foundation) was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed more than $116 million to community and national nonprofit organizations. Grants are made to organizations that address a broad spectrum of social needs. Additional information about the Foundation can be found at www.PacificLifeFoundation.com. Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of June 2019 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2019 FORTUNE 500 list. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005182/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 15, 2020] GSTS awarded contract for transformational maritime shipping solution and announces the OCIANA Consortium to further the development and commercialization of OCIANA GSTS will leverage innovative capabilities of leading maritime and space-based data providers OCIANA Consortium to develop safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible maritime transportation solution using artificial intelligence HALIFAX, Jan. 15, 2020 /CNW/ - Global Spatial Technology Solutions ("GSTS" or "the Company") an Artificial Intelligence company focused on the Maritime Domain, today announced that it has been selected by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to develop and demonstrate an advanced maritime vessel management solution that incorporates artificial intelligence in support of environmentally sustainable maritime operations. The total contract award is valued at CA$2.94 Million. SDTC helps Canadian entrepreneurs accelerate the development and deployment of globally competitive clean technology solutions. This powerful solution will be based on OCIANA, an AI based system being developed by GSTS that rapidly processes satellite data with other data sets harvested from ocean, weather and port activity to provide decision-making information in near real-time. GSTS has selected exactEarth, a leading provider of satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, as the system vessel data provider. AIS is a satellite-based automated tracking system that displays vessel locations, and by using exactEarth data, the OCIANA platform will have access to the highest quality satellite AIS data available. The Company also announced that it has signed a consortium agreement to pursue the development and commercialization of the OCIANA Vessel Management solution. Led by GSTS, the OCIANA Consortium is a cross-industry team representing world-class companies focused on developing innovative solutions to enhance global maritime operations, safety and security. The OCIANA Consortium includes Canada Steamship Lines, the National Research Council of Canada, Port of Montreal and Resolute Forest Products, along with other partners. OCIANA will provide enhanced vessel management capability resulting in lower fuel costs, improved port and terminal utilization, reduced emissions, and improved efficiency in the maritime sector. OCIANA will enable a fundamental change in dynamic global vessel anagement which will support a path to safer, cleaner vessel operations as well as enhanced maritime risk assessment and management. Following a highly rigorous process, SDTC selected GSTS based on its expertise in developing artificial intelligence algorithms for the maritime domain, its significant background in extracting actionable intelligence from multiple platforms, and the OCIANA Consortium's combined expertise in addressing all elements of maritime vessel operations. These companies will work together to transform maritime shipping by offering an unsurpassed combination of digital and artificial intelligence and shipping capabilities on a global scale. Quotes: GSTS "This contract will enable GSTS to demonstrate the capability to satisfy many of the world's most challenging maritime issues pertaining to emission reductions, environmental protection and port resource utilization. It is the first step in the roll-out of a game-changing global vessel management system." Richard Kolacz, CEO of GSTS SDTC "Canadian cleantech entrepreneurs are tackling problems across Canada and in every sector. I have never been more positive about the future. The AI GSTS is developing provides "Air Traffic Control" for ships on a global scale, with the potential to reduce C02 emissions equivalent to taking 50 million cars off the road!" Leah Lawrence, President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada Canada Steamship Lines "Data and artificial intelligence have the potential to significantly improve scheduling and voyage management in shipping. We are excited to be part of the consortium that will support GSTS to develop and commercialize OCIANA." Louis-Simon Lippens, Senior Director, Continuous Improvement and Fleet Projects, CSL Group The National Research Council of Canada "The National Research Council of Canada is pleased to help develop innovative and intelligent clean tech solutions for marine vessel risk management through the OCIANA system. In addition, we look forward to helping GSTS connect with Canadian and European ports, as we explore the ways OCIANA's capabilities can best meet the needs of maritime shipping companies in a more efficient and environmentally responsible way." Iain Stewart, President of the National Research Council of Canada Port of Montreal "The Port of Montreal has become a frontrunner in deploying AI-driven solutions to improve its maritime supply chain. By supporting the OCIANA initiative, the Montreal Port Authority continues to explore AI solutions in the field of vessel management and predictability. Upstream vessel predictability is of strategic importance for ports in synchronizing oceanside and landside supply chains to achieve fluid and optimized operations." Serge Auclair, Vice President, Strategy, Human Resources & Digitalization, Montreal Port Authority Resolute Forest Products "Reinforcing our environmental credentials by taking appropriate steps to responsibly manage climate change is a primary area of focus of Resolute's sustainability strategy. We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and are proud to be a part of the OCIANA Consortium to find ways of lowering greenhouse gas emissions in our supply chain." Pascale Lagace, Vice President, Environment, Energy and Innovation, Resolute Forest Products About GSTS GSTS is a leader in Artificial Intelligence solutions for the maritime domain. Our solutions are designed to save lives, energy and the environment on a global scale through the use of innovative applications based on emerging data sets and analytics. Our solutions enable enhanced decision-based operations for civil, commercial and security agencies and industries. For more information, visit www.gsts.ca. About Sustainable Development Technology Canada Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is a foundation created by the Government of Canada to advance clean technology innovation in Canada by funding and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises developing and demonstrating clean technology solutions. About Canada Steamship Lines Canada Steamship Lines is a division of the CSL Group, a leading provider of marine dry bulk cargo handling and delivery services, and the world's largest owner and operator of self-unloading vessels. Headquartered in Montreal with regional operations in the Americas, Australia, Europe and Asia, CSL delivers millions of tonnes of cargo annually for customers in the construction, steel, energy and agri-food sectors. About the National Research Council of Canada As the Government of Canada's largest research organization, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) partners with Canadian industry to take research impacts from the lab to the marketplace. This market-driven focus delivers innovation faster, enhancing Canadian's lives while addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges. About Port of Montreal Operated by the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), the Port of Montreal is the second largest port in Canada and a diversified transshipment centre that handles all types of goods: containerized and non-containerized cargo, liquid bulk and dry bulk. The only container port in Quebec, it is a destination port served by the largest shipping lines in the world. It is also an intermodal hub with a service offering that is unique in North America, featuring its own rail network directly dockside connected to Canada's two national rail networks. The MPA also operates a Cruise Terminal and a Port Centre. The MPA factors economic, social and environmental components into its corporate initiatives. This commitment is governed by a sustainable development policy whose guiding principles focus on involvement, cooperation and accountability. Port activity supports 19,000 jobs and generates $2.6 billion in economic benefits annually. About Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products, newsprint and specialty papers, which are marketed in close to 70 countries. The company owns or operates some 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets, in the United States and Canada. Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards. Resolute has received regional, North American and global recognition for its leadership in corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, as well as for its business practices. Visit www.resolutefp.com for more information. SOURCE GLOBAL SPATIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS INC. (GSTS) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] All you need to know about Railways' Shri Ramayana Express launching today Arrows of Arjuna had atomic power says West Bengal Governor India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Kolkatta, Jan 15: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar claimed flying objects existed during the period of Ramayana and the arrows of Arjuna of Mahabharata had atomic power. "It is not in the 20th century, but it was during the period of Ramayana, we had flying objects (Uran Khatola). Sanjay narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it," Dhankhar said while addressing a programme here. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News In Mahabharata, it is said that Sanjay, even after staying away from the battle had narrated what was happening in the battlefield to Dhritarashtra, who was blind. The move sees new leadership in sales, marketing, service delivery and operations CYFIRMA, a predictive cyber-threat visibility and intelligence analytics platform company backed by Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital, today announced key management appointments as part of its market expansion plan. CYFIRMA has appointed Gosuke Nakae as President of Alliance Strategy and Administration, Shuhei Igarashi as President of Business Development, Koichi Saito as Vice President of Business Development, Saurabh Lal as President of Delivery and Operations, Anna Koh as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Enablement, and Vinod KM as Assistant Vice President of Product Engineering. "We are delighted to have Nakae-san, Igarashi-san, Saito-san, Saurabh, Anna, and Vinod join the CYFIRMA family. Each leader is armed with a unique set of experience and expertise, and collectively, we now have a top-notch team to take CYFIRMA to the next level of growth," said Kumar Ritesh, CYFIRMA'S Chairman and CEO. "As a digital business enabler, we have a mission to help organizations rethink cybersecurity strategy and reinvent cyber-risk management. We want to equip governments and businesses with advance threat intelligence to strengthen their organizational resilience so they can deliver successful innovation and growth. With the new leaders on-board, we are now ready to scale the business and be the cybersecurity partner of choice for every forward-thinking organization." These six new senior appointments, under the leadership of Kumar Ritesh, will chart new growth in the areas of sales, marketing, service delivery, and operations. Their combined experience will see the company accelerating the development of its flagship product, Cyber Intelligence Analytics Platform (CAP v2.0), bringing innovative solutions to clients across multiple geographies, amplifying its brand and opening new markets. Gosuke Nakae will lead the company's alliance and channel strategy to build a strong partner ecosystem as well as overseeing corporate development efforts. Nakae comes with over 30 years' experience managing global businesses across the ICT industry. In his prior role as President and CEO of Mitsubishi France S.A., he built successful alliances with cross-cultural businesses and put the company on a growth trajectory. Today, Nakae brings his executive expertise in the satellite and space, national security, and cybersecurity domains to CYFIRMA international clients. Shuhei Igarashi is a sales and business development veteran with over two decades of solution selling experience in the IT industry. Igarashi was previously leading sales with technology giants IBM, McAfee, and Splunk. He has helped companies shape their cybersecurity strategies with his consulting expertise and will oversee client acquisition and account management in Japan. Koichi Saito is a proven sales leader in the cybersecurity and threat intelligence domain. He brings with him over 20 years' experience in the IT industry, holding various responsibilities across the business. Before joining CYFIRMA, Saito was the sales leader for FireEye K.K. with the remit to manage and grow large enterprise accounts in the high-tech and manufacturing industries. A proven sales maverick, Saito has held sales and business development positions with MessageLabs Japan, Symantec K.K., AMD, MCI Japan, and Nippon Information and Communication. As President of Delivery and Operations, Saurabh Lal will oversee all service delivery and technical operations of CAP v2.0. He has over two decades of global industry experience in helping businesses improve IT operations and service delivery with extensive accolades for running Cybersecurity Operations Delivery. He had held leadership roles with Prudential, BHP, and Nokia. Anna Koh has been appointed Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Enablement overseeing CYFIRMA's branding and marketing strategy. She has helped IBM and Acclivis Technologies and Solutions define their brand and chart their digitization journeys. In a prior role, she oversaw the company's branding and marketing efforts, contributing towards the increased valuation of the company and the ensuing merger with a global telco. Heading Product Engineering is Vinod KM. Vinod is a senior technology and software development leader across technical management, product development, and software architecture. He brings with him 21 years' experience helping organizations realize their business strategies by developing innovative products across banking, finance, procurement, field force automation and retail cybersecurity. All appointments take immediate effect. About CYFIRMA Headquartered in Singapore and Tokyo, CYFIRMA is a leading Predictive Cyber Threat Visibility Intelligence Platform company. Its cloud-based AI and ML powered Cyber Intelligence Analytics Platform (CAP) v2.0 helps organizations proactively identify potential threats at the planning stage of cyberattacks, offers deep insights into their cyber landscape, and amplifies preparedness by keeping the organization's cybersecurity posture up-to-date, resilient, and ready against upcoming attacks. CYFIRMA works with many Fortune 500 companies. The company has offices and teams located in Singapore, Tokyo, and India. Official websites: https://www.cyfirma.com/ https://www.cyfirma.jp/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005900/en/ Contacts: CYFIRMA Communications Contact Anna Koh Tel: +65 94892177 Anna.koh@cyfirma.com BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday urged the Centre to withdraw the amended citizenship law and seek consensus to bring in a new one, even as she lashed out at both BJP and Congress for being two sides of the same coin. She accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre of not taking others into confidence before bringing in the Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB). That's why, there is an in outcry the country," Mayawati told reporters at a press conference here on her 64th birthday. The BSP had been repeatedly urging the Centre to first send the CAB to the Standing Committee, so that it becomes an absolutely correct law," she said. Accusing the Centre of stubbornness, she said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at first glance appears to be divisive and unconstitutional. Mayawati accused the BJP and the opposition Congress of playing dirty "For the past some time, political parties are accusing each other of spreading lies and indulging in dirty politics, in which the BJP and the Congress are ahead of the others, she said. Our party does not indulge in dirty on the basis of lies. I am saying this today as on the foundation day of the Congress last month, it was said that barring the Congress, other opposition parties in UP are not raising their voice against the NRC and the CAA," Mayawati said, also referring to the criticism of the National Register of Citizens. "This is a baseless allegation as, when the Union Cabinet approved the CAB, I was the first to register a protest. At that time, the Congress and most other parties were silent on it. Their silence was broken when the Bill was tabled in Parliament, she said. Our party opposed it in both Houses of Parliament," she added. The amended law allows an easier route to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who entered India from three neighbouring countries before 2015 after facing religious persecution. Muslims don't figure in the list. "It is not that Muslims in neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, are not oppressed by their governments. Crime and atrocities can happen against anyone. Hence, the Centre should reconsider the CAA, withdraw it, and bring a new law after consensus, Mayawati said. She called the BSP a disciplined party which holds peaceful protests only after taking permission from the authorities. It does not indulge in dirty like other political parties. Strong action is initiated on anyone going against the party line on this issue," she said, in an apparent distancing from the street protests in Uttar Pradesh over the CAA. The BSP leader claimed there is an atmosphere of fear and tension, adding that the country faced a similar situation during the Congress rule. The current BJP government, like the Congress, is misusing its power for its personal and political interest, and it seems that the country's democracy and the constitutional system are under pressure," she said. Today our country is in the headlines for wrong and negative reasons. This is an issue of national concern," she said. "The Congress party and Company are trying to derive political mileage by taking advantage of the failure of the BJP government, she said. When the central government does not function by the values enshrined in the Constitution, then the most sorrow is faced by the Dalits, tribals, backward classes, Muslims and other religious minorities, she added. "Our party considers the BJP and Congress as two sides of the same coin," she said. "In the current regime of the BJP-led central government, poverty, unemployment, anarchy, violence and tension have exceeded that during the Congress party, she said. The Congress does not have the moral right to criticise the BJP," she added. The people of the country have punished the Congress for its wrongdoing, and it is for this reason that the BJP came to power. But if BJP's central government follows the pattern of the Congress government, its condition will be worse," she said. The BSP chief released the English and Hindi editions of her memoirs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Retired Pope Benedict XVI will reportedly be removed as co-author of From the Depths of Our Hearts, as he is said to have requested, after excerpts of the book defending priestly celibacy were published in a French newspaper to much controversy over the weekend. The book, scheduled for publication today in France and in English by Ignatius Press Feb. 20, has been seen as a challenge to Pope Francis who has been considering allowing the ordination to the priesthood of married deacons to address a priest shortage in a remote region of the Amazon. Cardinal Robert Sarah, the books main author and Vatican prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, reportedly tweeted Jan. 14, Considering the polemics provoked by the publication of the book, From the Depths of Our Hearts, it has been decided that the author of the book for future editions will be Cardinal Sarah, with the contribution of Benedict XVI. He said in the tweet that the full text remains absolutely unchanged. Reuters reported that Archbishop George Ganswein, Benedicts personal secretary, told the news agency Jan. 14 that Benedict wanted his name removed as co-author and that Ganswein had asked Sarah to contact the publishers. The introduction and conclusion of the book, whose subtitle is Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church, are attributed jointly to Benedict and to Sarah with the remaining two chapters attributed to one each. Sarah was also defending himself on Twitter over questions as to how much Benedict had contributed. Ganswein reportedly confirmed the first chapter as the work of the retired pope. FOOD and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 7.6 per cent between October 2020 and October 2021, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) reported yesterday. In a memorandum on the Index of Retail Prices (RPI) published for general information yesterday, attributed to the acting director of statistics, Andre Blanchard, the CSO noted that the All Items Index of Retail Prices increased by 3.9 per cent between October 2020 and last October. New York, US (PANA) - Implementation of the 2015 peace agreement in Mali provides the only pathway for stabilization there, the head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Wednesday WASHINGTON - Canada's hard-won continental trade deal with the United States and Mexico could be up for a vote in the U.S. Senate before the end of the week, thanks to the emerging timelines for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accompanied by Sen. Joni Ernst R-Iowa, and other senators, speaks outside of the Senate chamber, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) WASHINGTON - Canada's hard-won continental trade deal with the United States and Mexico could be up for a vote in the U.S. Senate before the end of the week, thanks to the emerging timelines for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Republicans controlling the Senate say they expect the implementation bill for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to be voted on as early as Thursday as they clear the decks of legislative business before next week's impeachment trial gets underway. And they anticipate sweeping bipartisan support in replacing the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump and many lawmakers have long blamed for shipping U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced the vote at his weekly news conference Tuesday. "We are, it looks like, going to be able to process the USMCA here in the Senate this week," McConnell said. "That will be good news for the Senate and for the country. And something I think we have broad bipartisan agreement on." The Senate vote would follow a sweeping vote in the Democratic-controlled House last month and would send the legislation to Trump for his signature. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi played a central role in modifying the pact further to assuage allies in organized labour, such as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. A final vote in the Senate would also clear the way for the federal Liberal government in Ottawa, which has long insisted it would wait for U.S. approval before proceeding, to introduce implementation legislation of its own. The agreement is projected to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy. But it gives lawmakers from both parties the chance to support an agreement sought by farmers, ranchers and business owners anxious to move past the months of trade tensions that have complicated spending and hiring decisions. Trump made tearing up NAFTA a hallmark of his presidential run in 2016 as he tried to win over working-class voters in states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The new pact contains provisions designed to nudge manufacturing back to the United States. For example, it requires that 40 to 45 per cent of cars eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 an hour that is, in the United States and Canada and not in Mexico. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2020. With files from The Associated Press by Ken Klein , Op-Ed Contributor, January 13, 2020 Missouri broadcasters won a First Amendment challenge to state alcohol-advertising restrictions. On Jan. 8, a federal appeals court ruled that Missouri's complicated alcohol-ad rules violate free speech protections (Missouri Broadcasters Association v. Eric S. Schmitt, Attorney General of State of Missouri). The Missouri alcohol-ad case and a separate court ruling in Washington State against cannabis advertising rules show the difficulty of restricting advertising while also respecting free speech. Missouri Alcohol Case Missouri has a three-tiered system to control alcohol (producers, distributors, and retailers) intended to maintain an orderly marketplace and combat abuse. The state prohibits producers and wholesalers from retail advertising, which restricts speech based on content and speaker identify, ruled the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. advertisement advertisement The Statute imposes content-based restrictions by limiting what producers and distributors can say in their advertisements, the appeals court said. Under the Statute, a producer or distributor may not have an advertisement that says Drink Coors Light, now available at Joes Bar, because the advertisement mentions a retailer. Alcohol regulations in Missouri prohibit retailers from advertising discounts or below-cost prices outside their establishments. These rules do not make sense, the court said: State regulations would prohibit a retailer from placing a media ad for $5 Margarita Mondays or Free Drinks for Ladies but allow ads for sales, promotions, and discounts inside a retail establishment. Furthermore, the federal court said the state failed to show that its alcohol-ad rules advanced the government's interest and were not more restrictive (on free speech) than necessary. The Missouri broadcasters' lawsuit was heavily briefed, and free-speech advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri supporting the broadcasters. Washington State Cannabis Case As more states legalize marijuana, advertising restrictions will be tested. Unlike alcohol, cannabis is illegal at the federal level. Therefore, does promotion of cannabis in a jurisdiction where it is legal warrant First Amendment protection? A judge in Seattle said yes. ". . the commercial speech at issue here (signage for a cannabis dispensary) is entitled to constitutional protection, wrote King County Superior Court Judge David Keenan in November (Plausible Products v. Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board). During the 2017 holiday season, a cannabis dispensary called Hashtag spelled out POT with a string of Christmas light in a window. The dispensary challenged Washington States sign code on constitutional grounds after the store was cited for violations. Ruling for the dispensary, the judge in Seattle referred to First Amendment cases on alcohol and tobacco: - Rubin v Coors Brewing Co. (1995); the Supreme Court invalidated a federal prohibition on displaying alcohol content on beer labels (as a First Amendment violation that failed to advance the governments interest in a direct, material way). - Lorillard Tobacco Co. v Reilly (2001); the Supreme Court said Massachusetts' point-of-sale and outdoor advertising regulations on smokeless tobacco and cigars violated the First Amendment. A DAIRY co-op is suing a cold store operator for nearly 9m over damage to its butter products when racking in a refrigerated warehouse collapsed. Ornua Co-operative Ltd, which sells products on behalf of dairy processors and farmers, is suing VF Cold Stores, which stored 3,360 pallets of frozen butter when the racking collapsed on July 25, 2018, in its Jamestown Road premises in Finglas, Dublin. Ornua is also suing Capendu Ltd, of Dunboyne, Co Meath, which VF Cold Stores says installed and maintained the racking system. In a separate but related case, four other companies in the Kepak meat processing group are suing the defendants in relation to damage to their products as a result of the collapsed racking. Kepak Group Ltd, Kepak Convenience Foods, Kepak Longford and McCarren Meats of Cavan claim 850 pallets of meat products were damaged. The case was admitted to the Commercial Court list by Mr Justice David Barniville who was told the defendants were neutral in relation to the application to admit the case. In its proceedings, Ornu says that following the incident, a difficult and complex process of sorting and segregating some 41,000 cases of product of different customers was undertaken. This included staff having to work in temperatures of minus 18 degrees celcius and ensuring traceability requirements of the product as required by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine were complied with. Colin Kelly, Ornua's head of strategy planning and risk management, said in an affidavit the final figure of losses has still not been quantified but the company considers the claim to be in the region of 8.95m and may exceed 9m. Kepak director Robert Grogan said in an affidavit while its assessment was ongoing, it was estimated the total value of the loss to Kepak and McCarren exceeds 1m. Kepak's insurer has agreed to indemnify and the proceedings are being prosecuted as a subrogated claim by the insurer. Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield will be among those attending this mornings signing of the Phase 1 trade deal between the United States and China at the White House. President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign the 86-page agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at 10:30 a.m. CST. The deal, approved in December, includes a commitment by China to make at least $200 billion in additional purchases of U.S. goods and services over the next two years. The ceremony is hoped to mark a truce in the trade war between the two superpowers that has rattled markets for more than two years. Canfield is among several invited guests, and said he believes the trade pact is a positive step." It begins a process to establish a framework from which to create a pathway to more normalized trade on a fair basis between these two nations, Canfield said. China has historically been a Top 3 destination for Alabama exports, so this represents an important step for many companies in our state that do business on a global scale. Just looking at a few Alabama exports shows the effects of the trade war. Alabama exports of soybeans and peanuts to China in 2016 totaled nearly $285 million, according to data from the Alabama Department of Commerce. Two years later those shipments dropped to $20 million. Last November, they were at zero. Overall, through the first 11 months of 2019, Alabamas exports to China dropped more than 30 percent compared to same period in the previous year. Shipments of Alabama-made vehicles to China fell by nearly 32 percent in the 11-month period. The trade deal encompasses economic and trade policies in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange. The deal also includes a commitment by China to increase its buying of U.S. agricultural products to $40 billion to $50 billion in each of the next two years. According to MarketWatch, the deal leaves in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports, and tables other issues, such as China reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies, for future talks. MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Almost two years ago, a Minnesota federal court sentenced Brandon Bjerknes, the former assistant principal of Bemidji Middle School, to twenty-five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. The criminal complaint alleged that Bjerknes deceived and sexually exploited and pressured more than fifty-five children online for yearsmany of whom were students at the school where he worked. Bjerknes is currently appealing his conviction. As he fights to get out of prison, some of his victims are still fighting to put back the pieces of their lives. On January 13, 2020, two such minor victims and their parents filed a civil rights lawsuit against Bemidji Area Schools, Independent School District 31, challenging the school's consistent failures to discover and address Bjerknes's criminal behavior, as well as the school's failure to support the victims in the aftermath. This civil complaint alleges that the former assistant principal targeted his victims based on information he learned through his position at the middle school and his former work as an elementary school teacher. Bjerknes socialized with minor girls daily, often behind closed doors. He charged and fixed their cell phones, which gave him the opportunity to obtain their social media handles, which he later targeted while posing as an underage boy. This is not the first time Bemidji faculty has sexually abused students. Former gym teacher John Wangberg committed suicide after he was accused of sexually abusing a student at Central Elementary School and after law enforcement discovered child pornography on his work computer. According to the newly-filed complaint, Bemidji Middle School should have discovered Bjerknes's illegal behavior because he used his school-issued devices and often engaged in these online interactions during school hours. Bemidji District policies represent that the school will monitor online activity and school computers to protect against unacceptable behavior by faculty or students. The complaint alleges that the school failed to effectuate the district's own policies. The school further ignored and failed to investigate concerns expressed by one plaintiff's parents when they informed the school that they discovered their daughter was being preyed upon online. Information from these same parents ultimately led to the criminal investigation into, and eventual incarceration, of Bjerknes. Had the school acted on their warnings, the complaint alleges, many more children could have been spared the abuse. Following Bjerknes's arrest, the plaintiffs and other victims continued to suffer at the hands of the administration and their peers. The district did not offer appropriate support, and it failed to adequately address the situation with the families or the community. Gossip and misinformation spread, and the victims were blamed by their peers for the abuse and Bjerknes's arrest. They withdrew further from social life, experienced severe absenteeism and tardiness, and their grades and mental health suffered. The complaint alleges the District did not properly accommodate victims during this time. The District also, the complaint alleges, failed to implement the types of policies, practices, and training needed to ensure that history does not repeat itself. "Children have the right to a safe and healthy learning environment at school, and parents have the right to expect that schools will protect their children against sexual assault perpetrated by administrators using school devices during school hours," said the plaintiffs' attorney Rebekah L. Bailey from Nichols Kaster, PLLP. "In bringing this lawsuit, these families seek to cause real structural change in Bemidji schools so that no more children must endure what theirs have." The complaint alleges three counts of negligence, violations of the plaintiffs' right to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Sex Discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The plaintiffs are represented by Rebekah L. Bailey, Matthew H. Morgan, and Nicole J. Schladt of Nichols Kaster, PLLP. The case is Jane Doe 1, et al. v. Independent School District 31, case number 04-CV-151 and is filed in Minnesota's Ninth Judicial District Court. Contact: Rebekah L. Bailey, Nichols Kaster, PLLP (612) 256-3287 SOURCE Nichols Kaster Related Links www.nka.com Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in India and began his day today by flying kites with children in the national capital. Bezos is in India for a two-day summit for small and medium businesses scheduled to be held in Delhi today. He has been sharing posts on Instagram to detail his visit. Any day is a good day when you get to fly a kite. #ThankYouIndia, he says in his latest post. It shows a video of him, dressed in a kurta, flying a kite with children and interacting with them. He even tells children about flying kites as a kid. Watch: The clip, since being shared about an hour ago, has collected over 84,000 views and more than 25,000 likes. Interestingly, Makar Sankranti, one of the most widely celebrated Hindu festivals of India, is also celebrated today. Kite flying is an important aspect of the celebrations of this festival. Bezos landed in India yesterday. He began his trip by paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial. He was accompanied by Amazons India head Amit Agarwal. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Mahatma Gandhi, he wrote on Instagram. The video, since being shared about 15 hours ago, has collected over 4 lakh views and more than 88,000 likes. The comments on the post are flooded with people welcoming the Amazon founder to India. Bezos last visited India in 2014. Donald Trump today hailed Boris Johnson's backing for a 'Trump deal' to replace the Iran nuclear pact - despite the UK, Germany and France saying they still hope to save the old agreement. The US president cited the PM's idea approvingly amid frantic efforts to find a way to cool tensions with Tehran. The European powers stepped up pressure on Iran yesterday by formally accusing Iran of breaching the terms of the agreement. Despite stressing they still wanted to maintain the pact, they said Iran was 'not meeting its commitments' and triggered the dispute resolution mechanism. Donald Trump (right)) has hailed Boris Johnson's (left) backing for a 'Trump deal' to replace the Iran nuclear pact US president cited the PM's words approvingly amid frantic efforts to find a way to cool tensions with Tehran In an interview, Mr Johnson said a new 'Trump deal' could be a way out of the current crisis. Under Mr Trump, the US pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which eased sanctions in return for Iran agreeing to restrictions on its activity in an effort to ensure Tehran did not acquire a nuclear weapon. Mr Johnson told BBC Breakfast: 'If we are going to get rid of it then we need a replacement. 'The problem with the JCPOA - this is the crucial thing, it's why there is this tension - the problem with the agreement is that from the American perspective it's a flawed agreement, it expires, plus it was negotiated by President Obama. 'From their point of view it has many, many faults. 'If we are going to get rid of it, let's replace it and let's replace it with the Trump deal. That's what we need to see. 'I think that would be a great way forward. 'President Trump is a great deal-maker - by his own account and many others. 'Let's work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead.' Mr Trump replied on Twitter this morning: 'Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, @BorisJohnson, stated, 'We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal.' I agree!' However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the idea as 'strange'' and accused Mr Trump of breaking promises. In a televised speech, Mr Rouhani insisted Washington should return to the 2015 pact. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (pictured yesterday) dismissed the idea of a 'Trump deal' as 'strange'' and accused Mr Trump of breaking promises In a joint statement yesterday, the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany - known as the E3 - issued a joint statement confirming they were beginning the dispute resolution process. However, they insisted they were not joining Mr Trump's policy of 'maximum pressure' on Tehran. The statement from the E3 said they had 'no choice' but to act, given Iran's actions which include ignoring restrictions on enrichment of uranium. The E3 said: 'We do this in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework. 'In doing so, our three countries are not joining a campaign to implement maximum pressure against Iran. 'Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA.' Two women whose rape kits lay dormant for years are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their class action against the city of Houston and former city officials, saying its unfair to expect sexual assault victims to keep tabs on the timely processing of evidence. Beverly Flores and DeJenay Beckwith say in their federal civil rights appeal that the national rape-kit backlog was a unique phenomenon and that U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore erred when she placed the burden on victims to know that the Houston crime lab was not processing thousands of evidence kits. An appeals court upheld a ruling dismissing the case because the victims failed to file their complaint in a timely fashion. The lower courts have put the burden on these lower-income minority victims to know that [Houston police] took the DNA evidence from thousands of rape victims and did nothing with them, said civil rights lawyer Randall L. Kallinen. This is too high a burden and affects too many rape victims to stand. Under Texas law, the rape kits have a 30-day turnaround, which police and medical professionals would have disclosed at the time of testing. The women claim it was unfair for the city to expect them to follow up and monitor news for results of rape exams taken years prior. The appeal says its onerous and unreasonable to ask victims of traumatic sexual assault to assume the officers arent doing their job and to put the onus on them to reach out to law enforcement. A spokesman for the city declined to comment on the appeal. Ramit Plushnick-Masti, of the Houston Forensic Science Center, said she could not comment on the legal developments since the city litigated the case. However, a statement from the labs director, Dr. Peter Stout, noted that the lab has operated since April 2014 with the stated mission of providing stakeholders with timely, scientific, accurate results to ensure justice is served, including reliable and prompt testing of all submitted sexual assault evidence kits and the express goal of eliminating backlogs. In coordination with Houston police, the lab tackled about 6,600 sexual assault evidence kits resulting in 1,000 hits to profiles in the national DNA database. The lab aims to meet the 30-day processing deadline although its current average for testing kits is longer than that due to a recent facility move, according to Plushnick-Masti. Each day our staff carry the weight and importance of the work they do on their shoulders, knowing it impacts peoples lives, Stout said. Kallinen filed the case on behalf of the two women and all other women and children whose kits were untested in 2017. He contends it was timely under the states two-year statute of limitations, given when they became aware of the delayed testing. Although Flores and Beckwith had rape evidence extracted in 2011, it wasnt until 2016 that they heard from the Harris County District Attorneys Office or police that their genetic material was involved in the backlog, according to the appeal. The city argued in court documents that the clock started ticking at the time of their exams in 2011, and they sued well beyond those time limits. Kallinen wants a chance to pursue discovery, so he can explore whether the city carried the burden of informing the victims through press releases, billboards and a hotline with information about the delayed testing and whether the information campaign was sufficient. The lawsuit claims the city deliberately discriminated against people whod taken the exams when it failed to test them. If the city had addressed the backlog the plaintiffs would not have been raped, the lawsuit says. Beckwith initially sued former mayors and police chiefs for failing to investigate a backlog of more than 6,000 untested rape kits, and not identifying her attacker as a man who had been in a national police database for decades. The class action claims city officials discriminated in failing to pursue a serial offender in her case, and investigate rape kits for other victims, because they didnt take women or child victims seriously. The city violated her rights to due process and equal protection, and officials illegally took her property and violated her personal privacy and dignity under the Fourth Amendment, the action claims. Beckwiths kit went untested for five years, according to Kallinen. During that time, she got one phone call from a detective who wanted to know what she had been doing wandering on Bissonnet an area known for street trafficking when she met her assailant, implying she was a prostitute and saying, These things happen. The detective discouraged her from filing a report, telling her it was unlikely the suspect would be caught, according to the lawsuit. She next heard from Houston police in 2016 when they contacted her to say they had tested the DNA and they had a suspect. She later learned the mans name was David Lee Cooper. Cooper had prior sexual assault convictions, including one from 2002 involving minor child. His genetic profile had been in the FBIs DNA index since 1991. gabrielle.banks@chron.com Paris, January 15, 2020 - Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life Services, is proud to announce its membership in The Valuable 500, an international initiative striving to put disability on the leadership agenda. Sodexo supports the campaign dedicated to unlocking the business, social and economic value of people living with disabilities around the world. Denis Machuel, Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo, said: "We are convinced that by mobilizing our employees towards a more inclusive growth, we can eliminate misconceptions and biases that hold people with mental or physical disabilities back to make sure everyone can reach their full potential. We hope many other companies will join the Valuable 500 initiative to make our collective efforts part of the usual way of doing business going forward." With this announcement, Sodexo affirms its ongoing commitment that by 2025, 100% of its workforce will have access to initiatives supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities. Concretely this means that each country where Sodexo operates will have: A non-discrimination policy about people with disabilities Communications to support the inclusion of people with disabilities A disability champion amongst our employees to pursue our disability commitment Sodexo has partnered with the International Labor Organizations Global Business and Disability Network. This partnership supports Sodexo's disability inclusion efforts by facilitating the opportunity to learn from and share experiences with other global leaders and providing access to country specific information. According to The World Bank, more than 1.3 billion people around the world live with some form of disability. To address this, The Valuable 500 was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2019. Their goal has been to sign 500 national and multinational, private sector corporations and unite them to serve as role models for change on this vital issue. To date, more than 200 global businesses have signed up. "It is extremely promising to see global companies like Sodexo, from all four corners of the globe and across a vast array of sectors, continuing to pledge to join our disability inclusion movement nearly twelve months on from its launch. As The Valuable 500's historic return to Davos fast approaches, it throws into sharp relief our progress in tackling 'diversish' attitudes in the workplace over the past year. We gladly welcome these new members - I am certain they will be instrumental in ensuring disability inclusion becomes the norm in working life globally." Said Caroline Casey, Founder, The Valuable 500. About The Valuable 500 Launched by Binc, valuable is a campaign working to ensure businesses globally recognise the value of the one billion people around the world living with a disability. We believe that building a global society that recognises the value of the 1 billion people living with a disability starts with business. We're on a mission to make sure businesses across the world recognise the value of the one billion people living with a disability. Binc was founded by social entrepreneur and activist Caroline Casey in 2015, with a mission to ignite a historic global movement for a new age of business inclusion. Binc is capitalising on Caroline Casey's 18-year track record of success engaging over 450 organisations and working with 500,000 business leaders. Binc fundamentally believes that inclusive business creates inclusive societies and is initiating a new approach to business that genuinely includes the 1 billion people living in the world with a disability. Binc is the founding team behind valuable, an ambitious global campaign to put inclusivity on top of the business agenda around the world in 2019. About Sodexo Founded in Marseille in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, Sodexo is the global leader in services that improve Quality of Life, an essential factor in individual and organizational performance. Operating in 67 countries, Sodexo serves 100 million consumers each day through its unique combination of On-site Services, Benefits & Rewards Services and Personal and Home Services. Sodexo provides clients an integrated offering developed over more than 50 years of experience: from foodservices, reception, maintenance and cleaning, to facilities and equipment management; from services and programs fostering employees' engagement to solutions that simplify and optimize their mobility and expenses management, to in-home assistance, child care centers and concierge services. Sodexo's success and performance are founded on its independence, its sustainable business model and its ability to continuously develop and engage its 470,000 employees throughout the world. Sodexo is included in the CAC 40, FTSE 4 Good and DJSI indices. Key figures (as of August 31, 2019) 22 billion euro in consolidated revenues 470,000 employees 19th largest private employer worldwide 67 countries 100 million consumers served daily 15.8 billion euro in market capitalization (as of January 8, 2020) Contacts Media Dalila Elluin Tel: +33 1 57 75 80 28 dalila.elluin@sodexo.com (mailto:dalila.elluin@sodexo.com) Attachment [January 15, 2020] Esri Announces StoryMapper of the Year Contest Winners Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced the winners of the 2019 ArcGIS StoryMapper of the Year Contest, in which contestants were invited to submit their best and most innovative story maps for a chance to win various prizes, including a cash donation for their chosen cause, school, or nonprofit organization. Guest judges for the 2019 contest included Alex Tait, geographer at National Geographic; Michael Goodchild, emeritus professor of geography at University of California, Santa Barbara; and James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic and former presidential speechwriter. The winners were announced January 15, 2020, on Esri's website. "The quality of the maps recognized in this competition is obvious and impressive," said Fallows. "But even more encouraging is the range of uses that individuals and groups around the world have found for story maps. Bringing history to life; highlighting current and emerging problems; protecting endangered resources; empowering communities for a better future-in these and many other ways, the mapmakers we are honoring today all illustrate mapping-technology's power and benefits." The first place winner is Stanford University, which will use the $5,000 grand prize to equip its map library space with enhanced physical and digital exhibit methods, a 3D printer, and materials to communicate the endless possibilities created by maps for learning and exploration. Runners-up include the Open Spaces Institute, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Clean Air Carolina'sCitizen Science program, and the University of Delaware. These runners-up will each receive $1,000 toward the cause, school, or nonprofit of their choice. In addition to cash prizes to the cause of their choice, the grand prize winner and runners-up will also each receive an Esri Technical Certification exam voucher, valued at $250, and one ArcGIS for Personal Use license, valued at $100. "We started this competition in 2014 to showcase the innovative work and creativity of the GIS community," said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. "I was so impressed by the diversity, dedication, and passion of this year's contestants, who are using the latest digital storytelling techniques and technologies to make a difference where it matters most." Over 400 geographers, GIS specialists, and users competed in this event, with entries focused on conservation, sustainability, government, education, and more. Entries were judged on the map's effectiveness in making the subject understandable and engaging, the experience that the map provided the viewer, and the overall design and impact of the map. Each contestant submitted not only an ArcGIS StoryMaps story but also a description of how they would use a $5,000 donation from Esri to make a positive impact on their communities. To learn more about the 2019 ArcGIS StoryMapper of the Year entries and winners, visit go.esri.com/contestwinners. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, offers the most powerful geospatial cloud available, to help customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, all 50 state governments, more than half of all counties (large and small), and 87 of the Forbes Top 100 Colleges in the U.S., as well as all 15 Executive Departments of the U.S. Government and dozens of independent agencies. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com. Copyright 2020 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005853/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has suspended the principal of a government-run school at Malwasa in Ratlam district over the distribution of notebooks carrying the picture of Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar on the cover. Principal R N Kerawat was suspended on Tuesday night, over two months after the notebooks were distributed to the students of his school by an organisation, an official said on Wednesday. The move triggered a war of words between the opposition BJP and the Congress, with the saffron party accusing the Kamal Nath government of playing "petty politics", while the ruling party maintaining that the action was a part of "discipline". "The divisional commissioner (Ujjain division) suspended R N Kerawat, principal of Malwasa's government high school, on Tuesday on the basis of an inquiry report," Ratlam district education officer K C Sharma said. "An organisation named Veer Savarkar Manch had distributed free long notebooks to the students of the government high school on November 4 last year. These notebooks carried picture of Veer Savarkar on the cover," he said. "Based on a complaint, a notice was issued to Kerawat. On the basis of his reply to the notice, an inquiry report was submitted to the divisional commissioner, who then took action against him," Sharma added. BJP national vice president and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, however, strongly objected to the action against Kerawat. Taking to Twitter, he said, "I am disturbed after hearing the of suspension of a principal (Kerawat), who was honoured with the President's Award and ensured hundred per cent result in the examinations. It is very sad and condemnable. I strongly condemn this petty and demand his reinstatement." The tweet carried the clipping of about Kerawat's suspension. In another tweet, Chouhan said, "Kamal Nath ji, you have been completely blinded by your hatred towards Veer Savarkar. You are insulting the great personalities of your own country because of the Congress thoughts. The state is embarrassed by your act." However, the state Congress hit back saying there was nothing political in this action. "Suspension of Malwasa's high school principal has nothing to do with It is a matter of discipline and government rules," Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja said. He asked the BJP whether it was appropriate to distribute the notebooks carrying Savarkar's image without prior permission. "After all, what did Veer Savarkar do in the interest of the country which merits that his literature should be distributed in schools?" he asked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aer Lingus has revealed its new look uniform which will be worn by cabin and ground crew. The Louise Kennedy design, which will be worn by over 4000 staff from February 10, is the final stage of the airline's Read More: Changes to the uniform include the addition of trouser and dress options, new jacket and coat designs for the male crew, and easy-care shirts and blouses for all. Aer Lingus has said that for added comfort, garment materials have "a level of stretch and are designed to fit and flatter all body shapes and sizes". Speaking about the collaboration, Irish fashion designer Louise Kennedy said she was "honoured" to design Aer Lingus' new uniform. She said: "The brief from the airline was very clear and we were confident we could deliver a modern and stylish capsule collection which would endure for several years. "The results reflect extensive engagement and inputs from the ground and cabin crew members. She added: "Importantly, over the past two years, we had constant support from Aer Lingus to remain true to our designs that allowed for more uniform options and the use of innovative fabrics. MONTREAL, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DIOS EXPLORATION plans drilling wholly-owned K2 gold project in 2020, directly bordering Azimut Elmer gold property to the west-southwest, along same trend of Opinaca River deformation Zone, an underexplored part of Lower Eastmain Greenstone belt, James Bay Eeyou-Istchee, Quebec. K2 surrounding KALI intrusive was never drilled. It was enlarged in 2019 (84 sq. km) to protect specific high priority targets defined by DIOS high expertise geological team. K2 geology is favourable for VMS (Volcanic Massive Sulfides) and Windfall-type gold mineralization. K2 hosts an Archean volcanic sequence injected by felsic porphyry plugs and dykes wrapped around synvolcanic tonalite pluton. In 2019, effort was put on dozen of electromagnetic anomalies for low sulfide content and extents in mixed volcanics. DIOS 2019 exploration work investigated northwestern claims and confirmed non-outcropping WI-Target as project best target, a possible gold-silver-copper VMS mineralized system. (telescoped Doyon/Westwood +/-Bousquet-type). Good gold-in-soil anomalies (up to 283 ppb Au in B-horizon) coupled with cm-m sericite & silicified dacite floats with 2-10% sulfide & quartz stringers (up to 6.72 g/t gold) are hosted in glacial drumlins directly adjacent to 3 km-long input electromagnetic airborne IP conductor. Negative 2019 up-ice soil sampling eliminated other sources for this gold-in-soil anomaly cluster. About 200 m SE of WI-Target, Kali Tonalite yielded 10 g/t gold, 1.81, 0.68, 0.62, 0.47 g/t Au in a shear structure (same orientation as WI-Target) confirming strong potential of adjacent underexplored western intrusion-volcanic contact. Another strong drill target is Attila gold-copper showing hosted in fractured rhyodacite dome overlying Kali quartz-diorite/tonalite Porphyry to the south, 7 km east of WI-Target. It consists in chalcopyrite-rich stringer/ stockwork extending over 75 m long and about 5-15 m wide that yielded up to 8.08 g/t gold, 96.7 g/t Ag, 2.43% Cu & 0.17% Zn. The Attila Zone averaged grades of 1.07 g/t Au, 38.8 g/t Ag, 1.25% Cu & 0.01% Bi from 13 grab samples (see 2017 releases). Approximately 100 m north, a plurimetric sub-parallel horizon (Attila-N) extending over 50 m long with narrow quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins returned five samples greater than 1.0 g/t Au (up to 3.64 g/t Au & 26.7 g/t Ag). Previous gold (9-21, 114 ppb Au)-copper (over 75 ppm Cu)-zinc (over 70 ppm Zn) soil anomalies are coincidental with Attila mineralized area. Drilling at depth is warranted. This press release was prepared by M.J. Girard, M.Sc. Geo and 43-101 QP. Grab samples are selected samples, not necessarily representative of mineralization hosted on the property. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Marie-Jose Girard, President & CEO mjgirard@diosexplo.com Tel. : (514) 923-9123 www.diosexplo.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae89723f-5407-4a84-8087-9d8ed977874d Yemeni army, allies forces shoot down Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Jizan Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 6:35 PM Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition as it was flying in the skies over the kingdom's southern border region of Jizan. The media bureau of Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement announced in a statement that Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down the drone with a surface-to-air missile over Jabal al-Amoud mountainous area on Tuesday evening. Last week, Yemeni air defense units intercepted and targeted a Saudi-led CH-4 drone while flying in the skies over Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf. On January 1, Ansarullah announced in a statement that Yemeni air defense forces and their allies had shot down a Saudi-led unmanned aerial vehicle as it was on a reconnaissance mission over al-Dayer area of Saudi Arabia's southern border region of Jizan, situated 966 kilometers (600 miles) south of the capital Riyadh. The development came a day after Saree said Yemeni forces and their allies had shot down a Saudi-led spy drone as it was flying in the skies over al-Tina area of the Hayran district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah. The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces identified the downed aircraft as a Chinese-made Phantom unmanned aerial vehicle. Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down a Turkish-built Vestel Karayel drone with a precision missile on December 30 last year. Saree said at the time the aircraft was struck as it was on a surveillance mission over al-Salif coastal village in Yemen's western province of Hudaydah. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing Ansarullah movement. The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past four and a half years. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trinity University classmates Gavin Buchanan and Andrew Aertker were brainstorming for a class assignment in 2017, trying to develop solutions to the opioid crisis that had swept the nation. They originally wanted to make pill bottles harder to open but eventually hit on the idea of a smart pill-bottle cap that would remind people to take their medications. While taking full course loads, the pair toiled for hundreds of hours in a Trinity library basement printing designs using 3-D print software and machines that they taught themselves to use. In 2018, they developed the initial version of the cap known as PATCH short for Pill-Administering Technology for Compliance Healthcare. Buchanan and Aertkers company, named Patch Technologies Inc., then hired San Antonio engineering firm BJN Technologies LLC to help develop the product. Instead, the students allege, BJN swiped Patchs trade secrets and their ideas to develop a competing product. In a federal lawsuit filed this week in San Antonio, Patch calls BJN a predatory company that apparently believed it could take advantage of Buchanans and Aertkers youth and relative inexperience in the business world in the hopes it could obtain a windfall off the backs of full-time college students. BJN even filed a patent application claiming ownership of Patchs technology, the lawsuit says. On ExpressNews.com: Bexar Countys opioid lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies set to go to trial in October 2020 The complaint, with various claims including misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract, seeks unspecified financial damages. Patch also seeks injunctions preventing BJN from manufacturing any products derived from Patchs technology. BJN partner Doug Conyers said in an emailed response that Patch is claiming ownership of intellectual property invented by BJN outside of its relationship with Patch. BJN also is owed $25,000 in consulting expenses, he added. BJN is saddened by PATCHs course of action, but unfortunately this seems to be a developing pattern for this young business as they are actively in a contractual dispute with another local business partner as well, Conyers said. Conyers is a 1997 Trinity graduate whom Buchanan and Aertker say they placed particular trust in. Conyers has served on the Trinity Alumni Association Board and was responsible for the schools senior software project that ultimately would provide software to Patch, the suit says. Patch says its been pushed into a precarious financial situation as a result of BJNs actions. The dispute has made it difficult for Patch to raise money because investors are reluctant to invest, the suit says. Patch had raised an undisclosed amount from investors and had a corporate valuation of $10 million, the suit adds. Portions of the lawsuit were redacted to conceal classified trade secrets, said R. Laurence Macon, a San Antonio lawyer who represents Patch. Buchanan, 20, is majoring in mathematical finance and economics and is slated to graduate this year. Aertker, 21, is majoring in computer science and philosophy, and expects to graduate in December. The two were taking an entrepreneurship class when they started thinking about prescription drugs and people following dosage directions. The pair spent months working on a smart pill-bottle cap, Aertker said. The cap dispenses medication one at a time, which helps those who have trouble opening the bottle caps. The cap also lights up and a notification is sent to the consumers phone to alert them its time to take the medication. So it provides you a lot of different reminders and data to help you remember to take your medication and to know if you did properly, Aertker said. This also helps the doctors and physicians, whether its in clinical trials or whether its in the retail pharmacy space it helps everyone kind of know if people are being adherent to their medication. Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox Patch had been working with BJN for about 18 months when Conyers let the students know BJN was working on a smart bottle cap of its own. Aertker initially wasnt alarmed by Conyers disclosure. Our initial reaction was, hey, this might help accelerate our ability to help people, and thats really the goal, Aertker said. Jacob Kring, a Dallas attorney who also represents Patch, also said BJN officials made assurances they would not market Patchs technology. Its unfathomable, Kring said of BJN saying it developed IP unrelated to Patchs cap. The idea that they could somehow take their chair and do a 360 and create something independent of what we were already paying them to do is just not believable. Patch has submitted BJNs work to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and failed to follow the agencys policies acknowledging BJNs role as inventors, Conyer said. Patch filed a patent application in late 2018. Its pending and has not been published yet, Aertker said. BJN indicated to Patch that it also had filed a patent application last month, but Kring said they hadnt been able to verify it. Patch now is trying to get its stuff back including computer code, software and electrical schematics so it can it start working with another engineering firm. But Kring said BJN is holding all of of that property hostage. BJN has delivered 100 percent of all work-product (including the unpaid portion) to these young men as a sign of good faith and in attempts to move forward, Conyers countered. This article has been updated to include comments from BJN partner Doug Conyers. Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD The book is to let all readers get a deeper understanding of who God is, supernaturally, and that He hears our prayers, sees and understands our circumstances Author Marva A. Bledsoe shares her autobiography in Who Wouldnt Serve a God Like You? Her Testimony of a Supernatural God($11.49, paperback, 9781630501075; $19.99, hardcover, 9781630501082; $5.99, e-book, 9781630501099). Bledsoe encourages readers to seek an intimate relationship with God, and to see Him in His fullness. Through her story, she hopes to demonstrate that Jehovah is still a miracle-working God. The book is to let all readers get a deeper understanding of who God is, supernaturally, and that He hears our prayers, sees and understands our circumstances, said Bledsoe. Marva A. Bledsoe is an ordained minister who has served in public ministry for over twenty years. She is a graduate of Spelman College and owner of Prophetic Designs, a hand-designed greeting card business. A Georgia native, she enjoys spending time with her son, Hamilton, his wife Robyn and their daughter, Harper. ### Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Who Wouldnt Serve a God Like You? is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. North Korea is launching phishing attacks against individuals and companies disguised as messages from the presidential office here, cybersecurity firm ESTsecurity said Tuesday. The attacks have been traced to a North Korean hacker group, dubbed Kimsuky. They take the form of a virus-ridden file with a caustic reference to special presidential adviser Moon Chung-in's remarks at the Center for the National Interest in Washington on Jan. 6. If users open the file, a security alert pops up and an English message prompts the user to click on a button to read the document. If they do, malware is implanted in their computer that can pilfer information and the PC stands by for further orders from the attacker. Moon Jong-hyun at ESTsecurity said the attack resembles earlier hacking campaigns by Kimsuky. The group also attempted to launch phishing attacks in October last year with a malware program disguised as a request to help North Korean refugees. A Redding pizza shop owner who got a helped a local man escape from his car as it was crushed by a moving train was honored by the Boston Celtics and Massachusetts State Lottery Monday. Tom Costanzo, owner of Tomasinos Pizza N Pasta on Long Ridge Road, was given the Celtics Heroes Among Us award during a game Monday. Storyful An affable deer created somewhat of a buzz in a neighborhood near Salt Lake City, Utah, he regularly visited over the holiday period.The deer, nicknamed Cooper by local residents, has been playing with children in the neighborhood of Herriman and was even spotted posing for photos, reports said.Herriman resident Angelica Lujan recorded footage of the tame deer interacting with her children outside of her home on South Rowell Drive.Speaking to KSTU, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources representative said despite the deers friendly attitude, the best thing for the animal is for people to leave him alone.People dont realize these beautiful, cute deer can be aggressive as they get older. Weve had times in the past where these friendly deer, they do get aggressive, said Scott Root, Conservation Outreach Manager, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.Weve had kids hurt at bus stops. Bad things happen when we feed deer in a residential area, Root added. Credit: Angelica Lujan via Storyful One of the reasons why this is so important is because we did House Bill 1006 several years ago, and in doing that, we pushed a lot of lower-level people who would be in prison back in the county jail. This would allow us to alleviate some of that jail overcrowding that we as a legislator pushed on to the locals, Pryor said. OPW Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran told colleagues he quit the Independent Alliance because he could no longer work with Transport Minister Shane Ross. Mr Moran made the remarks to colleagues in the Alliance in recent days as he plans to run for the Dail as an Independent candidate and seek to be part of future governments. "The perception that Ross was anti-rural did not help matters," said a source close to the Longford-Westmeath TD. Mr Moran said: "I will be running as an Independent in the forthcoming election and I will be open to taking part in a future government." The Independent Alliance, which entered government with Fine Gael four years ago, has effectively collapsed with Mr Moran's departure and the retirement of ministers Finian McGrath and John Halligan. Mr McGrath said he was stepping down as a TD for Dublin Bay North after "careful consideration". He described his decision as the right one for himself and his family. Mr Halligan is expected to confirm he is stepping down as a TD in Waterford in the next 24 hours. However, Mr Ross, who is standing for re-election, appeared to confirm the news yesterday. "I'm very, very sorry that Finian McGrath and John Halligan are not standing," he said. "Come the polling day I think the Independents will be very strong." An adviser later said Mr Ross had mis-spoke and the remarks had been an error. Mr Halligan did not respond to calls last night. Meanwhile, the announcement of the General Election yesterday saw several high-profile Independent candidates enter the race, including former Fine Gael by-election candidate and Irish Road Haulage Association president Verona Murphy, who is running in Wexford. Former Independent MEP and TD Marian Harkin announced plans to run for the Dail in Sligo-Leitrim. In Waterford, Independent councillor Matt Shanahan, who has campaigned for cardiac services in the constituency, declared he is also running. Elsewhere, Senator Michael McDowell, a former tanaiste who was widely expected to run in Dublin Bay South, ruled out a Dail bid, saying that he would seek re-election to the Seanad. Children's Minister Katherine Zappone, an Independent TD, said she wanted to return to government. "I have achieved a number of things on the inside and would be happy to talk to anyone who wishes to speak with me," she said. Eva M.: Its always best to buy fresh produce as you need it. However, if you want to store potatoes and onions, put them someplace dry, cool and preferably dark, but not the refrigerator. Cabbage and lettuce go in the refrigerator; uncooked cabbage should be placed in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator. Cooked cabbage keeps about three to four days. Iran says it will take Donald Trump to the Hague over the US drone strike which killed top general Qassem Soleimani. Tehran wants to file a war crimes lawsuit at the International Court of Justice after the Quds Force commander was killed in Iraq on January 3. The US does not accept the court's jurisdiction but the case could become an embarrassment for Washington if judges find in favour of Iran, which they have done in the past. UN investigator Agnes Callamard - who wrote a damning report into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year - has said that Soleimani's killing 'most likely violates international law'. The case could also help the Iranian regime to turn public anger back against Washington after a wave of domestic fury over the plane crash which killed 176 last week. Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet in error last Wednesday and only admitted their mistake after three days of falsehoods. The Guards have since arrested a person accused of sharing footage of the missile strike. In an eye-catching effort to turn public anger back at America, Iran said yesterday it would attempt to take Donald Trump (pictured with wife Melania) to the Hague CCTV footage has revealed the moment two Iranian missiles were fired at a Ukrainian passenger jet killing all 176 aboard shortly after it took off from Tehran last Wednesday Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said the US had committed a 'terrorist act' by eliminating Soleimani, according to Iranian media. 'We intend to file lawsuits in the Islamic Republic, Iraq and the Hague Court [the International Court of Justice],' he said. Callamard, the UN investigator, said at the time of Soleimani's death that it was 'hard to imagine' how it could be justified under international law. 'The targeted killings of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis most likely violate international law [including] human rights law,' she said. 'Lawful justifications for such killings are very narrowly defined and it is hard to imagine how any of these can apply to these killings.' The court in the Hague has previously found in Iran's favour by ordering the US to ensure that sanctions on Tehran did not affect humanitarian aid. The US does not accept the ICJ's compulsory jurisdiction. Today Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the drone strike against Soleimani was an 'unprovoked attack', although Washington says the general posed an 'imminent' threat to Americans. Iran fired back with missile strikes on US bases in Iraq in what Zarif today called an act of 'self-defence'. Hours later, a plane came down near Tehran in what the regime now admits was an erroneous missile strike. Iran initially spent three days claiming that the plane had suffered a technical failure and dismissed claims of a shoot-down as 'psychological warfare'. The regime finally abandoned its pretence on Saturday, sparking a fresh wave of protests against the government. Dozens of protesters chanted slogans at a Tehran university and a vigil for the crash victims boiled over into demonstrations. 'We lost the lives of [176] people because of tensions created by the United States,' the foreign minister said today, referring to the plane crash. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (pictured on a visit to India today) has today blamed 'US arrogance' for fuelling 'mayhem' in the Middle East Wreckage from the Ukraine International Airlines flight which Iran now admits it shot down in error, killing 176 people including dozens of Iranian nationals Protests against the regime (pictured here at a Tehran university) have erupted since Tehran admitted wrongly stating the crash was caused by a technical failure Zarif said Iranian citizens had an 'expectation that the government should have disclosed information' on the downing of the Boeing 737 last Wednesday. 'In the last few nights, we've had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days,' Zarif said. Speaking on a visit to India, Zarif said the missile strike was an 'unforgivable mistake' amid fury at the regime after dozens of Iranians died in the air disaster. Several video clips have shown the moment the plane came down, and one Iranian who published footage has reportedly been arrested. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported the arrest of a person accused of sharing footage, but did not say which of the various clips was being investigated. A journalist who shared one piece of footage last week says the source who provided it is safe, raising fears that the wrong person could have been arrested. Zarif also blamed 'US arrogance' for fuelling the 'mayhem' in the Middle East which prompted Tehran to shoot down the jet by mistake. A vigil for the victims in Tehran sparked a diplomatic row when Iran arrested the British ambassador Rob Macaire, who said he had left when the memorial turned into protests. The UK government yesterday summoned Iran's ambassador in London to voice its anger over the breach of diplomatic protocol. Zarif went on to praise Iran's military for being 'brave enough to claim responsibility early on.' He also claimed that he and President Hassan Rouhani only learned that a missile had downed the flight on Friday, challenging claims of a cover-up. Mourners attend a vigil in British Columbia last night for the victims of the plane crash, who included dozens of Canadians An image from the flight tracker website Flightradar24 showing the path of the Ukranian International Airlines jet which crashed just over two minutes after taking off from Tehran Ukraine says the pilots were killed immediately when the Iranian missile struck the plane just below the cockpit (the wreckage is pictured at the crash site near Tehran) Dozens of protesters gathered and chanted slogans at a Tehran university amid a wave of public anger over the crash which killed 176 people after Iran shot down a plane Zarif also said the nuclear deal with Western powers and Russia was not dead, despite Tehran's near-abandonment of the pact. Iran has said it will no longer abide by any of the nuclear limits under the 2015 deal, which was intended to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Donald Trump pulled out of the deal last year but European powers say they want to keep it alive. Around 30 people have been arrested in the protests over the air disaster, according to judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili. In another sign of growing dissent, several artists have cancelled their involvement in the Fajr festival, held each year on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Recent protests have been much smaller than nationwide demonstrations against fuel price hikes that turned deadly in November. But one commentator said the latest rallies showed there was a 'real rift between the people and the authorities'. 'I hope that (police restraint) will continue and that no lives are lost, because this could be a catalyst for more protests,' said Mehdi Rahmanian, director of reformist daily Shargh. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (pictured) has today blamed the US 'escalation' in the Middle East for the Iranian shoot-down of a passenger jet Iran said yesterday that authorities have made several arrests after an 'extensive investigation', without saying how many. President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday Iran's judiciary 'must form a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts... The whole world will be watching.' 'Anyone who should be punished must be punished,' he said. Ukraine has today demanded access to the Boeing 737's two black boxes, which were recovered from the wreckage. Iranian officials have said the flight recorders are damaged and say it could take months to extract information from them. A top Ukraine security official said this week that a senior investigator from Iran was expected to visit Ukraine soon. He is certainly the emperor of Indian fashion, having set the fashion ball rolling along with his comrade-in-arms, the late Rohit Khosla with the launch of the countrys first serious fashion store, Ensemble in Mumbai, in the late eighties. (How well we recall that time: The Urshilla Kerkar-designed spacious store at Lions Gate which had changed the retail aesthetic quite definitely; and the countrys most exalted hostess, the late Sunita Pitamber, throwing a party in its honour at the now defunct Piano Bar, which had boasted not one or two, but three international socialites in attendance Shakira Caine, Princess Ira Von Furstenberg, and Princess Erza, the wife of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad). And yet, Tarun Tahiliani, the Doon School and Wharton-educated son of a highly decorated admiral of the Indian Navy, is so much more than just his fashion brand. A highly evolved aesthete and an astute observer of social mores, he remains one of fashions consummate commentators, someone who brings a cerebral quotient and a heightened sensibility to the business of making clothes. And next month, there will be a series of events in Delhi to celebrate Tahilianis 25th year in the business, starting with a tour of his design studio, which will feature an installation of the 25 looks that encapsulate his art, followed by a sunny winter lunch, followed by a drive-by visit at his flagship store at Mehrauli and an optional stroll through the neighbouring Qutub Minar area, followed by a joyous no-holds-barred celebration at his home, encapsulating Desi Modern fun, for his legion of industry friends and admirers. From starting out in Mumbai to moving up to Delhi in 1995, when we started the TT label, we have arrived, survived and are ambling along to self-discovery and evolution of our design fingerprint, says the man responsible for making fashion a respectable profession one that the sons and daughters of reputable families could enter. Hopefully, the best is yet to come as I now have shed all hats and focus only on design, says Tahiliani, about his upcoming milestone anniversary. To which we say: And heres to the next 25! WTSWTM: WTS: Legendary warrior Arjuns arrows had N-power Statement made by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at science fair yesterday. WTM: Come to think of it, perhaps thats what impressed Malaika. Its only words Pritish Nandy For long have they sparred, jousted and jabbed using the arsenal of their considerable wit to take swipes at each other, mainly about each others advancing age, and so yesterday, when producer, poet and erstwhile editor Pritish Nandy turned 69, no surprises that his long time punchingpartner, marketeer Suhel Seth, marked the occasion with a well-aimed tweet at his old friend from his Kolkata days. Suhel Seth Heres wishing the senior statesman@PritishNandy many many happy returns of the day...Bhalo Theko Saar... he posted. Nandy, who is not known to pull his punches, must have been too happy, having his cake and eating it too on the occasion, to indicate that hed even noticed the ageist jibe. Thank you Suhel. Lots of love, was his measured response, but knowing their past history, this seems just a harbinger of words to come Inclusive, Diverse and Colourful Panelists of the inclusivity and diversity discussion, along with Conde Nast India members. Word comes in that Conde Nast Indias panel discussion on inclusivity and diversity in the workplace, held on Tuesday evening at the Soho House, was riveting. Moderated by publisher Alex Kuruvilla, and featuring panelists such as Parmesh Shahani, head, Godrej India Culture Lab; Keshav Suri, executive director, the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group; Jerry Johnson, corporate communications, Reliance Industries Limited; Shobhna S Kumar, founder Queer Ink; and Zainab Patel, director, Diversity and Inclusion, KPMG, the topics discussed included the celebration and encouragement of individual identity in everyday life. While Shahani, Kumar and Suri are well-known advocates of the LGBTQIA+ community, who have been working on inclusion from various aspects for years, what was a pleasant surprise to witness was the articulate transwoman who shared an honest and thought-provoking story of her journey and her experiences in both professional and personal life, says a source. Patel is a dear friend who relocated from Bangkok to Mumbai and from the UN to KPMG, so that she could work in our country and help change the scene, said Shahani, about the discussion, adding, She shared how the Trans act, that has been passed recently is actually totally discriminatory. Shahanis address dealt with the subjects close to his heart, such as the young intersectional organisations coming up like the Dalit Queer and Queer Muslim Projects and how companies need to walk the talk and not just indulge in tokenism. We need to see companies actually hiring queer people and sensitising existing staff. Lots of actual work needs to be done on the ground, he said. And as expected, given that the subject under discussion was that of individual expression and acceptance of diversity, the panel was a colourful one, with the likes of Suri and Shahani, both known for their playful sartorial styles, dressed up in their flamboyant best for the occasion. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Resource World Magazine would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #637 at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West (1055 Canada Place, Vancouver) on Sunday January 19 - Monday January 20, 2020. The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the bellwether of the junior mining market for the last twenty-five years. It is the number one source of information for investment trends and ideas, covering all aspects of the natural resource industry. Each year, the VRIC hosts over 60 keynote speakers, 350 exhibiting companies and 9000 investors. Investment thought leaders and wealth influencers provide our audiences with valuable insights. C-suite company executives covering every corner of the mineral exploration sector as well as metals, oil & gas, renewable energy, media and financial services companies are available to speak one on one. This is a must-attend for investors and stakeholders in the global mining industry. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference. We look forward to seeing you there. For further information: Resource World Magazine Events Coordinator 604-484-3800 support@resourceworld.com www.resourceworld.com A High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State on Wednesday advised all parties in Ile-Arugbo demolition to explore all avenues of out-of-court settlement in the interest of peace and justice. Justice Abiodun Adebara gave the advice while addressing counsel and parties in the case. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ile-Arugbo building, demolished on January 2, belonged to ASA Investment Limited believed to be owned by the Second Republic Senate Leader, Olusola Saraki. Mr Adebara ordered that a notice of summons be pasted on the Police Headquarters board and state Commissioner of Police office for him to appear in court on the next hearing. He however adjourned the case until January 24, for hearing of pending applications and interim injunction. Earlier, Counsel to the claimant, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, SAN, made an attempt for the court to give an interim order for another injunction. Read Also: Mr Ibrahim argued that interim injunctions can be extended within seven days of making the order. We are ready for settlement as advised and would make some approach. We are a peace loving people so, we will explore all possible opportunities for settlement. he said. Also, counsel to the state government, Salman Jawando, SAN, said: we are ready if the parties involved show interest. Settlement will be in the interest of Kwara. (NAN) Iran announced Tuesday its first arrests over the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet, as protesters vented their anger over the catastrophic blunder for a fourth consecutive day. Nearly two weeks after the US killed a top Iranian commander in Iraq, tensions with the West increased further as EU countries on Tuesday launched an arbitration process charging Tehran with failing to observe commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal, prompting Iran to warn of unspecified "consequences". The Ukraine International Airlines plane was brought down by a missile shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. Iran has struggled to contain the fallout over its handling of the air disaster, after initially dismissing Western claims it was brought down by a missile before admitting it on Saturday. The tragedy has seen hundreds of angry protesters, most of them students, take to the streets, apparently chanting slogans against the Islamic republic. New videos circulating on social media purported to show fresh protests on Tuesday evening at universities in Tehran, along with clashes between students and Basij militia loyal to the establishment. It was not possible to immediately verify the videos. Earlier, AFP correspondents said around 200 mainly masked students gathered at Tehran University on Tuesday and were locked in a tense standoff with youths from the Basij. "Death to Britain," women clad in black chadours chanted as Basij members burned a cardboard cutout of the British ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, after his brief arrest for allegedly attending a demonstration Saturday. Kept apart by security forces, the groups eventually parted ways. AFP journalists said there appeared to be a lower police presence on Tuesday compared to preceding days. Internet connectivity was significantly lower than usual. - 'Real rift' - The protests have been much smaller than nationwide demonstrations against fuel price hikes that turned deadly in November. But one commentator said the latest rallies showed there was a "real rift between the people and the authorities". "I hope that (police restraint) will continue and that no lives are lost, because this could be a catalyst for more protests," Mehdi Rahmanian, director of reformist daily Shargh, told AFP. In another sign of growing dissent, a group of artists cancelled their participation in the Fajr festival, held each year on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to Hamshahri newspaper, which is owned by Tehran City Hall. Meanwhile, group of reformist journalists in Tehran published a statement denouncing the lack of freedom of the press and official media. "We are attending the burial of public trust", said the statement, which the official IRNA news agency reported on. Even a key state TV personality, Elmira Sharifi, hit out at authorities on Twitter. "At a time when you should come and give your apologies and explanations, you stay quiet! Why are you bringing us shame in front of the public?". Tehran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence that the Boeing 737 had been downed by a missile. It came clean on Saturday when Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire independently. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said the first arrests had been made over the air disaster, without naming them or specifying how many. "Extensive investigations have been carried out and some people have been arrested," he said. Esmaili also said around 30 people had been arrested in the protests over the air disaster. - 'World watching' - The announcement came shortly after President Hassan Rouhani said -- in relation to the air disaster -- "anyone who should be punished must be punished". "The judiciary must form a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts... The whole world will be watching," he said. "It cannot be that only the person who pressed the button is at fault. There are others." The Kiev-bound plane was shot down at a time when Iran's armed forces were on heightened alert after launching a volley of missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US troops. Iran fired the missiles in retaliation for a US drone strike on January 3 that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Guards' Quds Force foreign operations arm. Addressing that issue, Rouhani said while "the root of all sorrows goes back to America... this cannot be a reason for us not to look into all the root causes" of the air disaster. The president also demanded officials explain why it took so long for authorities to announce the real cause of the air disaster. But Rouhani said that for him it would be more important that Iranians are "assured that this incident will not be repeated". Iran has invited experts from Canada, France, Ukraine and the United States to take part in the probe. The office of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke to Canada's premier Justin Trudeau on Tuesday for a third time since the crash, with the latter asking for help from Kiev in liaising with Iranian authorities to help identify bodies of Canadian citizens. Also on the diplomatic front, Britain on Monday summoned Iran's ambassador to lodge its "strong objections" after its Tehran envoy, Macaire, was temporarily arrested for allegedly attending a demonstration on Sunday night. Iran's judiciary spokesman on Tuesday described Macaire as a "persona non grata" and said his "obligations under international treaties are clear". Burma Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Vows Probe Into Kayah Farmland Seizures by Myanmar Military State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meets Karenni representatives at Kayah State's guest house on Jan. 15. / Progressive Karenni People Force Yangon Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has promised to review the militarys confiscation of farmland and its lawsuits against 40 farmers in Kayah State. The State Counselor met seven Karenni representatives for 20 minutes at the state guest house after attending the 68th Kayah State Day celebration and delivering a speech. The Karenni representatives made three demands: intervention over the confiscated farmland; removal of a statue of her father General Aung San from a park in the state capital, Loikaw; and a review of youth policies, including the establishment of youth centers. Karenni representatives were given pledges from the State Counselor on just one of the issues: land disputes. The State Counselor failed to address the issue of the statue and reviewing youth policies, one of the Karenni leaders, Khun Thomas, told The Irrawaddy. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said her staff would urgently review the militarys lawsuits and discuss the issue with the Attorney Generals Office. The State Counselor promised to help with any subsequent problems between the military and farmers. We were not pleased with this meeting because of the limited time, said Khun Thomas, joint secretary of the Union of Karenni State Youth. He was jailed for six months together with five other Karenni activists who opposed the statue of the general and for calling the Kayah State chief minister and another minister political criminals, enemies of ethnic unity and traitors to the Karenni people. Our only hope from the meeting is that the State Counselor will help the farmers, said Khu Tu Reh, chairman of the Karenni State Farmer Union. He said he handed the State Counselor details about the cases of confiscated farmland and the military lawsuits against 40 farmers. The 40 farmers, including five women, are from two Kayah State townships and are accused of farming on military-owned land and breaking military fences around the land. Khu Tu Reh said the military seized and fenced off approximately 200 hectares of farmland in 2019, although farmers had been using the land for about 50 years and had Form 7 Land registration certificates. The farmers have been sued by the military under Articles 447 and 427 of the Penal Code for trespassing and damaging public property, and separately for breaking military fences under the Public Property Protection Act. Eleven of the farmers, including one woman, are being held in prison. You may also like these stories: Tensions High as Security Forces Deployed in Loikaw Myanmar Military Expands Trespassing Lawsuits to Target 41 Karenni Farmers The RCMP have blocked access to a First Nation's territory in northern B.C., heightening tensions as government officials and hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en continue to clash over the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The Mounties have increased their presence in the area, setting up a checkpoint and restricting access along a service road that leads to three sites where the Wet'suwet'en are maintaining a presence. Meanwhile, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs continue to assert their own laws saying they want Coastal GasLink and the RCMP off the territory. "Being restricted on your own territory is against our law. We've always had free access to our entire territory," hereditary chief Na'moks said. The pipeline by Calgary-based TC Energy is meant to move natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the coast, where a liquefied natural gas plant is scheduled for construction. On Monday, B.C. Premier John Horgan said the project will proceed, that Coastal GasLink has all the necessary permits to build its pipeline, and that "the rule of law needs to prevail" citing a B.C. Supreme Court decision that in December granted the company an injunction for unimpeded access to work sites. Any relationship where you're not looking down the barrel of a gun is a better relationship. Hereditary chief Na'moks Work in the area has been temporarily suspended with the exception, under an agreement with the chiefs, of some winterizing. On Tuesday, the company released a letter from president David Pfeiffer offering to meet Na'moks on Friday. But the chiefs have said they only want to talk government-to-government with Ottawa and the province. Among the outstanding issues for Coastal GasLink is that the Morice Forest Service Road, which is subject to the injunction, remains impassable. The RCMP said in a news release on Monday that the checkpoint is "to mitigate safety concerns [and] allow emergency service access to the area." Story continues It said the hereditary chiefs, elected government officials, journalists and people delivering supplies to the area will be allowed to travel through the checkpoint with permission from the operations commander. It said other people not listed may be allowed to move through the checkpoint, with approval. The chiefs say access is being restricted, and that the new checkpoint came as a surprise. Communication continues between the province and the chiefs through a separate process that started last year and isn't specific to any particular project. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Horgan said those discussions need to continue and described the Wet'suwet'en as "leaders in issues around self government and self determination and rights and title in Canada." Jason Franson/The Canadian Press The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were part of a landmark Indigenous rights and title case at the Supreme Court of Canada, along with their Gitxsan neighbours. The 1997 decision affirmed that the Wet'suwet'en never gave up title to their lands but the matter has never been fully resolved between governments. Horgan didn't say where the Coastal GasLink project fits into ongoing discussions with the chiefs, except to say: "This is a pipeline it's an industrial project and there's so much more at stake for the people of northern British Columbia than just this project." That includes the 20 First Nations that have signed agreements with Coastal GasLink and stand to benefit from the project. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press Na'moks said the hereditary chiefs listened to what Horgan said on Monday and saw a contradiction between his touting of the rule of law and the First Nation's leadership in the area of rights and title. Horgan's stance "weakens" the province's relationship with the Wet'suwet'en, he said. "Here we are trying to build a stronger relationship. We are a government, we'll remain a government, we are on our lands, we'll remain on our lands, and we will govern it as we see fit." Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press But Na'moks agreed with the premier's statement that the relationship has improved over the last year "It is better," he said. "This time last year we had guns pointed at us. So that relationship is better. Any relationship where you're not looking down the barrel of a gun is a better relationship." Vietnam has become the ninth largest importer of fresh fruit from the US. Sunkist orange will be sold widely in Viet Nam. Photo vietnamplus.vn The US' fresh fruit exports to Viet Nam reached US$97 million in 10 months of last year, as of October 30, a year-on-year increase of 46 per cent, reported the US Department of Agriculture. Agricultural trade between the two countries was one of the most important areas of the US-Viet Nam bilateral relationship during the past 25 years, said Benjamin Petlock, agricultural attache at the US Consulate General in Viet Nam at an event in HCM City last Sunday. The event is to introduce Sunkist's Navel orange brand from the US. This orange is succulent, sweet and seedless with a bright yellow colour and thick skin. Sunkist orange is a brand established in 1893 and grown in California, the US. Vietnamese consumers can buy Sunkists Navel oranges at a system of retail stores and fruit distributors, including Emart and Thu Duc food wholesale market. This orange will also be available at Vinmart, Aeon, Co.opmart and other supermarkets across the country in the near future. VNS Vietnam takes steps to improve fruit yield, reduce post-harvest losses Advanced farming techniques and value chains are needed to tap the potential of fruit cultivation in the southern region, which contains 60 per cent of the country's fruit-growing areas, experts have said. Gov. Pete Ricketts centered Wednesday on additional flood relief assistance for Nebraskans along with continued property tax relief as he unveiled his 2020 priorities in his annual State of the State address to the Legislature. His recommendations include $50 million to help share the costs of $400 million in disaster relief projects submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with an additional $9.2 million in aid to the counties most severely impacted by last year's unprecedented flooding. Ricketts also urged the Legislature to add $3 million to replenish the Governor's Emergency Fund. Property tax relief remains his top priority, the governor told the Legislature, and he recommended roughly $500 million in additional property tax relief over the next three years. While insisting on protection of the state's current property tax relief credit fund, Ricketts said he will work closely with Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairwoman of the Revenue Committee, along with committee members to provide additional relief "in a way that will make a difference in the local property tax bills Nebraskans pay." The committee has developed a new plan that would tie additional property tax relief directly to increased state aid to schools. "Property tax relief remains the top priority for the people of Nebraska, and it remains my No. 1 priority," Ricketts said. The State of the State event was relatively low-key, with a brief address that took not much more than 15 minutes to deliver in a legislative chamber darkened by a cloudy day. Five female senators escorted the governor into and out of the chamber. Family members of James Wilke, a Columbus farmer who lost his life when a bridge collapsed as he was driving his tractor to the rescue of a stranded motorist trapped by the flooding, received a sustained standing ovation when Ricketts introduced them as they watched from the balcony. New University of Nebraska President Ted Carter also was welcomed with standing applause when the governor pointed him out in the balcony. "As we work together," Ricketts told state senators, "I have three principles I am following: No tax increases, protect the property tax credit relief fund and encourage spending restraint in local governments just like we are doing at the state (level)." However, it was the state's record 2019 flooding and the response of Nebraskans to that disaster that emotionally dominated the governor's address. "Through it all, Nebraskans showed the world what it truly means to be Nebraska strong," he said. Read: Gov. Pete Ricketts' 2020 State of the State address President Foley, Speaker Scheer, Members of the Legislature, Distinguished Guests, Friends, Fellow Nebraskans good morning! "When we were faced with the most widespread and costliest natural disaster in state history, Nebraskans responded with heroic grit, determination, resilience and generosity," Ricketts said. For 318 days, he noted, from Feb. 4 to Dec. 19, Nebraskans had to deal with either a flood warning, watch or advisory in effect somewhere in the state. "Nebraskans not only rescued stranded neighbors, but they also sandbagged levees, donated hay and supplies, delivered hot meals and raised money for those who had lost everything," he said. Since the flood, the Nebraska Department of Transportation has helped rebuild the state by reopening and repairing 3,300 miles of state highways, along with 27 bridges, Ricketts said. Other legislative priorities on the governor's agenda included workforce development initiatives and support for legislation to provide a 50% state income tax exemption for military retirees. Ricketts urged support for pending legislation to enact a new business development tax-incentives package to replace the Nebraska Advantage Act, which expires at the end of the year. "It is critical that incentives are dealt with this legislative session so Nebraska can remain competitive nationally as we work to recruit and expand job opportunities," the governor said. In terms of workforce development, Ricketts proposed investment of $16 million in scholarships for students at community colleges, state colleges and the state's university system. Following his address, Ricketts was scheduled to begin a fly-around tour of the state that would take him to news conferences or town halls in nine communities. The governor will make stops in Grand Island, North Platte, Scottsbluff, McCook, Broken Bow, Ord, Hastings, Beatrice and Fremont over three days. Photos from Gov. Pete Ricketts' speech to senators: Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 R esidents in west London are campaigning to block the planned demolition of an outstanding modernist college building from the Seventies. They have asked for the Hammersmith & Fulham campus of the West London College group to be listed by Historic England to protect it from bulldozers. Opponents of the plans include comedian Marcus Brigstocke, actor David Ajala and columnist Sarah Vine, who all attended the college, as well as residents such as former Tory transport minister Lord Caithness. The original architect, Bob Giles, has also backed a petition for a Grade II listing for the building, next to the A4 Talgarth Road, which has more than 350 signatories. The college is run by the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London FE Corporation, which has been grappling with a financial crisis over recent years. Latest accounts show that it had a deficit of almost 2.5 million last year. Supporter Marcus Brigstocke / Dave Benett Principal Karen Redhead has been quoted saying: I could see the college was about to run out of money shortly after she took over in October 2018. The college has not put in a full planning application to the council but documents submitted to the authority and seen by the Standard suggest that it proposes to replace the building with a seven-level educational complex on part of the site. The rest will be used to construct up to 468 apartments in seven blocks, up to 12 storeys high. The petition says that the college is a wonderful example of modernist master planning. John Bridges, chairman of the West London College Action group, originally applied for the listing in autumn 2018 but the bid was rejected in March 2019. In its ruling, English Heritage said the building lacks the high degree of architectural and historic interest... to be listed owing to the somewhat derivative nature of its design and alterations to key components of it. Mr Bridges said demolition would represent a huge loss to our architectural heritage. The college has applied for a five-year immunity from listing that would allow it to commence its redevelopment plans. A consultation on the listing immunity application closes at the end of the week. Ms Redhead said: The existing building has not stood the test of time, with repair and maintenance costs that should not have been necessary for a building of its age. It is also much bigger than we need or use, with almost 50 per cent of space being surplus to requirements. "The release of excess space, to provide much needed affordable housing, will ensure that the new campus is right-sized and can be built to a high architectural standard without a requirement for borrowing. This planned redevelopment is fundamental to the Colleges vision to become the best provider of education and skills training in west London, and this is why we have applied for a certificate of immunity from listing. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Foreign Minister of Guyana Karen Cummings had an exchange of letters of congratulation on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Trend reports Jan. 15 referring to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. In his letter, Mammadyarov conveyed his congratulations to his counterpart Cummings on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Guyana. The minister noted that the cooperation based on the spirit of friendship and mutual understanding between the two nations opened new opportunities to further advance the bilateral relations. Mammadyarov expressed his appreciation for the valuable support of Guyana to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, cemented by the related UNSC resolutions. The Azerbaijani foreign minister expressed his confidence that both sides will continue joint efforts based on shared interests and common values towards the achievement of the full potential of multifaceted cooperation. From her side, Foreign Minister of Guyana Karen Cummings congratulated the government and the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Guyana and Azerbaijan. In her letter, Cummings mentioned the cordial relations between the two nations that rooted in common values and shared vision for the pursuit of the prosperity of the Azerbaijani people. Minister Cummings stressed the growth of friendship over 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Guyana and Azerbaijan on Jan. 9, 1995. The minister highlighted the deepening of bilateral collaboration between the two nations for the issues of mutual interest to be addressed by the international system, including climate change and UN reform issues. In the end, Foreign Minister Cummings reiterated her interest in further growth of bilateral relations in the years ahead. Electric scooter companies are rolling out new three-wheeled or seated models intended for people with disabilities in San Francisco as technology plays catch-up in an effort to make new forms of transportation accessible a recurring problem, advocates say. Transportation in general ... theres been this accumulation effect where people with disabilities have been left off discussions about alternative transportation. Everyone elses transportation modes have increased, and ours have decreased, said Bonnie Lewkowicz, program manager of Access Northern California at the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program, who uses a wheelchair. Thirty years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, companies should not be putting out products that arent universally designed and working for a broad spectrum of people, Lewkowicz said. San Francisco reined in an initial unregulated scooter rollout in 2018 and later granted permits to only a few companies: In October, it let Lime, Jump (owned by Uber), Scoot (owned by Bird), and Spin (owned by Ford) take to the streets. As part of their permits, the city required companies to introduce more accessible scooter models by Jan. 15, though there is debate over how much demand exists for the modified scooters. The four companies consulted with disability groups and are trying out different models, with less than 15 each in an initial pilot program. Some added seats on original two-wheeled scooters; others added another wheel, a wider seat, and handlebars with a basket. Lime, the first to introduce its model last week in Oakland, is the only one to offer door-to-door service, meaning offering pickup and delivery wherever the rider wants such as a home. (Other companies models can be rented off the street or in a designated spot.) Spins and Scoots vehicles are free. Lewkowicz helped design adaptive bike programs in the Bay Area and worked with Jump on its new scooter model. She and other advocates appreciated the chance to give feedback: Disabilities are diverse, and designing a modified vehicle for all needs is challenging, if not impossible, they acknowledged. While some said proposed models would meet a demand, others said they missed the mark not providing balance support, making handlebars too hard to hold onto, and not offering options like tandem scooters for the visually impaired. Maureen Decoste, marketing and development director at Ability Now in Oakland, which consulted with Lime, had the company test modified vehicles with staff and community members who have cerebral palsy last week. She could see a need for people to rent the scooters for a day when their wheelchairs were unavailable. But some people who tried them had trouble balancing on the two wheels and gripping the handlebars, she said. I think the only way you can get our population represented is for any tech company to come and test with our participants, so they can see for themselves all the variables, Decoste said. Even with that, not everybody is going to be able to use it. Thats huge because oftentimes our population gets completely dismissed when it comes to any new technology. Scooters for disabled riders Lime What: Adjustable bicycle-style seat on platform of two-wheeled scooter with widened handlebars How to get it: Lime will drop the reserved two-wheeler off at a designated location and pick it up 24 hours later How much does it cost: $32 a day or $16 if you're low-income How many are there: 10 Jump What: Two models - one with an additional wheel in front, the other a three-wheeled tricycle with foot platforms, a wider seat and handlebars with a basket How to get it: Pick it up at San Francisco Bicycle Rental shops either at 370 Linden St. in Hayes Valley or 425 Jefferson St. at Fisherman's Wharf from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week How much does it cost: $.33 per minute, low-income discount available How many are there: 4 Spin What: a three-wheeled tricycle with foot platforms, a wider seat and handlebars with a basket How to get it: Rent at least two hours in advance and pick up at 1144 Howard St. in San Francisco between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Must be dropped off at the same location or 50 Mission St. in San Francisco by 5:30 p.m. Riders can also drop scooters off at 588 Brannan St., 530 Broadway and 1537 Mission St. How much does it cost: Free How many are there: 10-15 Scoot What: Adjustable bicycle-style seat on two-wheeled scooter How to get it: On the app, exclusively to people with adaptive needs, wherever the scooters are available; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for first five days then 24/7 after that How much does it cost: Free How many are there: 10 See More Collapse With scooters, thats been the visually impaired population, said Bryan Bashin, executive director of Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, who got involved when scooters hit the streets in spring 2018. For 40,000 blind and visually impaired people, none of us can enjoy the benefits, only the hazards: We cant ride them, we cant enjoy them, Bashin said. A couple of years ago, he suggested creating a tandem version of scooters, like bikes, and was disappointed to see new models didnt take that into account. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Can you imagine a taxi company that excluded the blind? Can you imagine a bus company that excluded the blind? he said. Theres some equity issue and a social justice issue. The technology seems to be lagging behind. Others said the new models might not be widely used by people with developmental disabilities. I dont see a high use, said Jacy Cohen, director of strategic partnerships with the Arc San Francisco. She appreciated Spins outreach she met with the company three times and may bring in a representative to speak with clients next week but said some of them have mobility issues or would have difficulty operating a scooter. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokeswoman Erica Kato said the agency believes in making a system accessible to all. Scooter companies are expected to actively solicit feedback during the pilot program and change initial vehicle and program designs to best meet community needs. SFMTA is also conducting a survey of disabled San Franciscans in partnership with Maddy Ruvolo, a UCLA masters student. While new mobility services have grown dramatically over the past few years, Ruvolo said in an email, people with disabilities have mostly been excluded from these modes and sometimes face additional accessibility barriers because of them. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench Bloomberg Says He Watched Debate, Didnt Learn Anything From It Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that he watched the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night but didnt learn anything from it. Bloomberg, 77, is a presidential contender but didnt qualify for the debate stage because hes largely self-funding his campaign; one of the two thresholds set by the Democratic National Committee was the number of donors. Asked during a Wednesday morning appearance on ABCs The View if he watched the debate, Bloomberg said I did. Asked for his thoughts, he quipped: Best debate in 2020. I didnt learn anything, he said she said. I suppose its good theater, but it didnt address the issues of the country and what they would do. Theyre not really debates, its precanned soundbites: everybody wants to say something that doesnt get them in trouble, or does start a controversy thats been pre-scripted and they think is good, Bloomberg added. We should think about another format where they really, somebody picks a subject and you have to talk about that subject. That to me would make more sense than just free-wheeling, because you go from subject to subject to subject and never get two sides. When a View host said she wanted to see Bloomberg at the debate, Bloomberg said he wished he could have qualified. Noting billionaire Tom Steyer qualified for the debate, a host asked if Bloomberg was trying to take the easy way out. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, left, speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) listens, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP viaGetty Images) No, because its harder to get the message out if youre not in the debates. That gives you a lot of television exposure, Bloomberg responded. He said lobbyists werent interested in him when he was mayor of New York City because he claimed his immense wealth makes him impervious to that sort of influence. I do think that even if you took one dollar, its the look of it. I want people to talk about it: This guy is incorruptible. And people say, Oh well hes just taking $2 million, its in one-dollar bills but its still $2 million, Bloomberg said. And you sort of imply to people that youre going to do something and later on if you want to change your views, youve already taken their money. I just think if you can afford to be self-funding, you should. Bloomberg, who has a net worth of $58 billion and has spent over $200 million on his campaign in just a few months, has faced criticism from rivals who have accused him of buying the election. I dont believe that elections ought to be for sale, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said last month. And I dont think as a Democratic Party that we should say that the only way youre going to get elected, the only way youre going to be our nominee, is either if you are a billionaire or if youre sucking up to billionaires. Bloomberg dismissed the concerns, using an argument he used when running for mayor. Im doing exactly the same thing theyre doing, except that I am using my own money, theyre using somebody elses money, and those other people expect something from them, he said. Nobody gives you money if they dont expect something. And I dont want to be bought. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday strongly criticised the US-led Indo-Pacific initiative, calling it a "divisive approach" to disrupt existing regional structures and contain China's influence in the region. In an address at the Raisina Dialogue, Lavrov also strongly backed India and Brazil's bid for a permanent membership in the UN Security Council, and asserted that New Delhi was among the new centres of global influence. The Russian minister also slammed the US for what he called disregarding international rules and norms while selectively talking about rules-based global order for its self interests. Delving into key global issues, Lavrov referred to the US-backed Indo-Pacific strategy and said it was an attempt to "reconfigure the existing structures" and to move away from the ASEAN-centric concensus for the region. "It is an attempt to seek forms of interactions to something which would be divisive", he said in the presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and foreign ministers as well as diplomats from around 40 countries. "A new concept was created called Indo-Pacific strategy, initiated firstly by the US, Australia, Japan...when we asked the initiators about the difference between Indo-Pacific strategies and ASEAN-pacific regional cooperation, they said Indo-Pacific is more open, more democratic," Lavrov said. "If you look at it closely, it is not at all the case," he added. In November 2017, India, the US, Australia and Japan gave shape to the long-pending "Quad" Coalition to develop a new strategy with an aim to contain China's growing influence and develop a new strategy for keeping the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. In his address, Jaishankar said India's approach is not to be disruptive. Though Jaishankar did not elaborate, the remark is seen in the context of the Indo-pacific debate. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the Indo-Pacific region. China has been fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering concern in various countries in the region and beyond. "We appreciate the position of ASEAN and India. The Indo-Pacific strategy should not be discussed in a way which would imply somebody should be contained by this cooperation," the Russian Foreign Minister said. "Why call it Indo-Pacific --- the answer is to contain China. The Indian friends are smart enough to understand the trap. We should not be divisive," he said. Lavrov further said: "We have to be careful with the terminology which looks benign but might be something else. Talking about special privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India, Lavrov said Moscow wants to develop such relationship with all countries of the region and hoped New Delhi would also promote the same principle. He also said Russia was "very concerned" over what is happening in Persian Gulf and that it was pushing for collective security in the region. Lavrov said Iran has proposed a "non-aggression pact" for the Gulf countries, and Russia feels that P5 countries as well as European Union should participate in it. Taking potshots at western powers, the Russian leader said these countries often talk about rules-based world order but "do not follow it". "We believe that the equitable and democratic world order should be based not only on balance of brutal force rather should be built as a concept of development," he said. On the Eurasian economic project, Lavrov said it was all about harmonising various regional groups in the Eurasian Economic Union. On India, he said it is one of the centres of economic might and financial powers. "It is important to note that no serious matter with global dimension is considered without these new centres of influence" he said and asserted that formation of blocs like G-20 has sent a signal that a handful of countries cannot decide the world's power matrix. "We must appropriately handle global issues which are transnational such as terrorism, drug trafficking, food security, border security, danger of weaponising outer space, cyber space," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:41:03|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Jan.15 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday marked the first anniversary since the terrorist attack at Nairobi's DusitD2 business complex that claimed 21 lives amid heightened vigilance occasioned by new threats. Security officers intensified patrols in Nairobi as the country paid tribute to victims of a terrorist attack on Jan. 15, 2019 on the business complex that houses a five-star hotel and prime office blocks. The first anniversary of the Dusit business complex terrorist attack was marked amid heightened concern over escalating attacks by Somalia based al-Shabab militants in northern Kenya and the coast region. Fred Matiang'i, Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government, admitted that al-Shabab poses an existential threat to Kenya's security, peace and stability. "It is true that our country is grappling with a mounting security challenge posed by al-Shabab and other terror groups. This calls for heightened vigilance at community level to root al-Shabab sympathizers," said Matiang'i. He spoke during a meeting with police commanders in the coastal city of Mombasa where new strategies were released to revitalize the war against terrorism. Kenya has lost at least 25 people since December last year as a result of attacks by al-Shabab militants in the northeastern and coastal counties neighboring Somalia. The militants have targeted communication masts, schools and residential houses rented by communities that are not native to the volatile northeastern Kenyan counties of Garissa, Mandera and Wajir. Matiang'i said the government will deploy additional elite police units to terrorism hotspots to guard critical government installations, homes and public service vehicles that have become the targets for attack by al-Shabab militants. He said that security personnel were on heightened alert to avert further al-Shabab attacks as the country marked the first anniversary of the Dusit terrorist attack. "Our security officers have intensified surveillance along the border with Somalia to prevent any infiltration by al-Shabab militants into the northeastern and coastal regions that have borne the brunt of latest terror attacks," said Matiang'i. The militants have carried out more than ten attacks in the northeastern and coastal regions while their Jan. 5 raid on Manda airstrip that neighbors a joint Kenya-United States military base, broke new ground. Analysts say the attack at the airstrip that is located in the Indian Ocean island of Lamu, which claimed the lives of one American serviceman and two contractors, reaffirmed the al-Shabab's prowess in asymmetric warfare despite years of military offensive in their strongholds inside Somalia. Security experts said that Kenya should inject vitality in counter-terrorism strategies in the face of the ever-evolving threats from home-grown and foreign militants. Robert Musamali, a Kenyan security analyst said that Kenya should employ a combination of lethal force and preemptive tools that include intelligence sharing and community policing to minimize terrorist attacks. "We must be prepared for a long-haul war with al-Shabab as the militants keep on reinventing themselves despite loss of territory and death of countless fighters during airstrikes and ground offensive," said Musamali. "Our surveillance and intelligence sharing capabilities must be strengthened to preempt future attacks even as we carry out targeted military offensive against the terrorist network," he added. By PTI YANGON: The UN's top court will deliver its decision next week on whether emergency measures should be imposed on Myanmar over alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslims, the Gambian government tweeted Wednesday. In a shock move, Myanmar's civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to The Hague last month to defend the bloody 2017 crackdown by her nation's army against the Rohingya. Some 740,000 fled over the border into Bangladesh, carrying accounts of widespread rape, arson and mass killings, in violence UN investigators said amounted to genocide. ALSO READ: Aung San Suu Kyis army defence blasted in Myanmar genocide case The Gambian Ministry of Justice announced on Twitter early Wednesday the ICJ would deliver its decision on emergency measures on Thursday 23 January. The International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ will on Thursday 23rd January be delivering its decision on the Provisional Measures requested by The Gambia in its #Genocide case against Myanmar. pic.twitter.com/qbaK3lK74N Ministry of Justice (@Gambia_MOJ) January 14, 2020 The West African nation had brought a case against Buddhist-majority Myanmar to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with the backing of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, Canada and the Netherlands. At the December hearing, the Gambia alleged Myanmar had breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. It also said there was a "serious and imminent risk of genocide recurring" and called for emergency measures to prevent Myanmar from committing any further atrocities or erasing any evidence. It is not clear how specific the emergency measures would be, but enforcing them would likely prove difficult. If the court rules in the Gambia's favour, this would be just the first step in a case likely to take years. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya still live in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in what Amnesty International has branded "apartheid" conditions. Suu Kyi admitted the army may have used excessive force against the Rohingya, but said the case was based on "misleading and incomplete" claims, calling for it to be dropped. The 74-year-old, once regarded as a rights icon in the West, also said the case risked reigniting the crisis. ICJ judges have only once before ruled that genocide was committed, in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. Suu Kyi's defence of the generals was widely condemned in the West but proved popular at home with a public largely unsympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya. Myanmar insists its own investigations will ensure accountability for any human rights violations but critics deride the domestic panels as toothless and partial. Myanmar also faces other legal challenges over the Rohingya, including a probe by the International Criminal Court -- a separate war crimes tribunal -- and a lawsuit in Argentina which notably alleges Suu Kyi's complicity. Europe, particularly France, is criticizing the United States for its plans to withdraw some or perhaps all of its 6,000 to 7,000 troops from West Africa. The U.S. is doing this as part of an effort to shift its military assets around the world to re-orienting them to better face possible challenges by the Great Powers, especially China. In doing so, defense secretary Mark Esper and his team question the value of the efforts in West Africa and want to scale them back, as those African militants lack the ability and intent to attack the U.S. homeland. The same cannot be said of France. Islamic terrorism in West Africa is centered in former French colonies. The French worry that if the militants aren't countered in Africa, they could spread murder and mayhem to France itself. And then there's the immigration concern. If backward countries like Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania become failed states, a surge of African refugees could be bound for France and then throughout Europe. For those reasons, France currently has about 4,500 troops fighting in West Africa. The French fear that the U.S. withdrawal will leave them exposed. An aide to France's President Emmanuel Macron is quoted in the news agency Agence France-Presse as saying, "American contribution to fight against Islamic extremist groups in West Africa were irreplaceable [emphasis mine]." No doubt. For among other things, the French rely on U.S. intelligence, logistical support, and aerial refueling at a cost to the U.S. of about $45 million a year. Obviously, France, and by extension Europe, has a dog in this fight. America does not. Interestingly, although it is in their interest, no other European country, aside from France, has seen fit to place any of its troops on the line in West Africa. Yet wealthy Western Europe seems to expect the U.S. to spend its resources and fight in an area where there's no direct American interest at stake while at the same time adamantly refusing to pay anything close to a fair share for NATO. There are three other points need to be made to put this situation in context. First, under President Donald Trump, the U.S. is actively addressing the number-one terrorist country in the world: Iran. In this effort, Europe is not just standing on the sideline, but has been actively trying to thwart American efforts by working around U.S. sanctions and giving moral support to the mullahs. Second, the fact that the U.S. is re-orienting its military to address communist China does not faze the Europeans in the slightest. If push came to shove with the Chinese, would Europe then be there in any meaningful way to help defend the values of liberal democracy? Finally, there's trade. Europe holds fast to the antiquated and unfair trade agreements with the U.S. that date back to the Marshall Plan era. The very idea of fair and reciprocal trade with America is anathema to Europeans. Europe feels it's entitled to rack up trade surpluses with the U.S. indefinitely. Based on the facts, the prevailing view throughout Europe must be that the U.S. is so rich and powerful that it can and should do it all. After all, Europe is semi-socialist, and that is socialist-type thinking. When it comes to America, Europe sings Karl Marx's slogan: "from each according to his ability; to each according to his needs." What makes this especially pathetic is that Europe is not impoverished. It's wealthy Europe is mistaking President Trump for his predecessors. European complaints are falling on deaf ears at the Pentagon, and the withdrawal from West Africa is proceeding as planned. There's a Yiddish word that best sums up the European attitude. It's chutzpah, which means unmitigated effrontery, gall, brazen nerve. This fits Europe to a tee. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr. NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Sensors market worldwide is projected to grow by US$1.2 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 8.9%. Ambient Light Sensor, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 10.2%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$1 Billion by the year 2025, Ambient Light Sensor will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05799002/?utm_source=PRN - Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 7.4% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$40.6 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$34.4 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Ambient Light Sensor will reach a market size of US$40.6 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 13.4% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$344.4 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. - Competitors identified in this market include, among others, ams AG; Apple, Inc.; Broadcom Ltd.; Elan Microelectronics Corporation; Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd; Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.; ROHM Co., Ltd.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sitronix Technology Corporation; STMicroelectronics NV; Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05799002/?utm_source=PRN I. METHODOLOGY II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW Global Competitor Market Shares Light Sensors Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in (in %): 2019 & 2025 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 1: Light Sensors Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 2: Light Sensors Global Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 3: Light Sensors Market Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 4: Ambient Light Sensor (Function) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 5: Ambient Light Sensor (Function) Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 6: Ambient Light Sensor (Function) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 7: Proximity Sensor (Function) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 8: Proximity Sensor (Function) Historic Market Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 9: Proximity Sensor (Function) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 10: RGB Color Sensor (Function) Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 11: RGB Color Sensor (Function) Region Wise Breakdown of Global Historic Demand in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 12: RGB Color Sensor (Function) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 13: Other Functions (Function) World Market Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 14: Other Functions (Function) Market Historic Review by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 15: Other Functions (Function) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 16: Automotive (Application) Worldwide Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 17: Automotive (Application) Global Historic Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 18: Automotive (Application) Distribution of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 19: Consumer Electronics (Application) Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2018 through 2025 Table 20: Consumer Electronics (Application) Analysis of Historic Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to 2017 Table 21: Consumer Electronics (Application) Global Market Share Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 22: Industrial (Application) Global Opportunity Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 23: Industrial (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 24: Industrial (Application) Percentage Share Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 25: Healthcare (Application) Worldwide Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 26: Healthcare (Application) Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 27: Healthcare (Application) Market Share Shift across Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 28: Other Applications (Application) Global Market Estimates & Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 29: Other Applications (Application) Retrospective Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 30: Other Applications (Application) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS UNITED STATES Market Facts & Figures US Light Sensors Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025 Table 31: United States Light Sensors Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 32: Light Sensors Market in the United States by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 33: United States Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 34: United States Light Sensors Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 35: Light Sensors Historic Demand Patterns in the United States by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 36: Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown in the United States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CANADA Table 37: Canadian Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 38: Canadian Light Sensors Historic Market Review by Function in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 39: Light Sensors Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 40: Canadian Light Sensors Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 41: Light Sensors Market in Canada: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 42: Canadian Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 JAPAN Table 43: Japanese Market for Light Sensors: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 44: Light Sensors Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2009-2017 Table 45: Japanese Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 46: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 47: Japanese Light Sensors Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 48: Light Sensors Market Share Shift in Japan by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CHINA Table 49: Chinese Light Sensors Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 50: Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in China in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 51: Chinese Light Sensors Market by Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 52: Chinese Demand for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 53: Light Sensors Market Review in China in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 54: Chinese Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 EUROPE Market Facts & Figures European Light Sensors Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025 Table 55: European Light Sensors Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 56: Light Sensors Market in Europe: A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 57: European Light Sensors Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 58: European Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018-2025 Table 59: Light Sensors Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 60: European Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 61: European Light Sensors Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 62: Light Sensors Market in Europe: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 63: European Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 FRANCE Table 64: Light Sensors Market in France by Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 65: French Light Sensors Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 66: French Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 67: Light Sensors Quantitative Demand Analysis in France in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 68: French Light Sensors Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 69: French Light Sensors Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 GERMANY Table 70: Light Sensors Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 71: German Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 72: German Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 73: Light Sensors Market in Germany: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 74: German Light Sensors Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 75: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in Germany by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ITALY Table 76: Italian Light Sensors Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 77: Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 78: Italian Light Sensors Market by Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 79: Italian Demand for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 80: Light Sensors Market Review in Italy in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 81: Italian Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 UNITED KINGDOM Table 82: United Kingdom Market for Light Sensors: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 83: Light Sensors Market in the United Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2009-2017 Table 84: United Kingdom Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 85: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 86: United Kingdom Light Sensors Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 87: Light Sensors Market Share Shift in the United Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SPAIN Table 88: Spanish Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 89: Spanish Light Sensors Historic Market Review by Function in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 90: Light Sensors Market in Spain: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 91: Spanish Light Sensors Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 92: Light Sensors Market in Spain: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 93: Spanish Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 RUSSIA Table 94: Russian Light Sensors Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 95: Light Sensors Market in Russia by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 96: Russian Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 97: Russian Light Sensors Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 98: Light Sensors Historic Demand Patterns in Russia by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 99: Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown in Russia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF EUROPE Table 100: Rest of Europe Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018-2025 Table 101: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Thousand by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 102: Rest of Europe Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 103: Rest of Europe Light Sensors Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 104: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Europe: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 105: Rest of Europe Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ASIA-PACIFIC Table 106: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 107: Light Sensors Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 108: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 109: Light Sensors Market in Asia-Pacific by Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 110: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 111: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 112: Light Sensors Quantitative Demand Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 113: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 114: Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 AUSTRALIA Table 115: Light Sensors Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 116: Australian Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 117: Australian Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 118: Light Sensors Market in Australia: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 119: Australian Light Sensors Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 120: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 INDIA Table 121: Indian Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 122: Indian Light Sensors Historic Market Review by Function in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 123: Light Sensors Market in India: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 124: Indian Light Sensors Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 125: Light Sensors Market in India: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 126: Indian Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SOUTH KOREA Table 127: Light Sensors Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 128: South Korean Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 129: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 130: Light Sensors Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 131: South Korean Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 132: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC Table 133: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Light Sensors: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 134: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2009-2017 Table 135: Rest of Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 136: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 137: Rest of Asia-Pacific Light Sensors Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 138: Light Sensors Market Share Shift in Rest of Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 LATIN AMERICA Table 139: Latin American Light Sensors Market Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 140: Light Sensors Market in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period 2009-2017 Table 141: Latin American Light Sensors Market Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 142: Latin American Light Sensors Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 143: Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 144: Latin American Light Sensors Market by Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 145: Latin American Demand for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 146: Light Sensors Market Review in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 147: Latin American Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ARGENTINA Table 148: Argentinean Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018-2025 Table 149: Light Sensors Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 150: Argentinean Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 151: Argentinean Light Sensors Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 152: Light Sensors Market in Argentina: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 153: Argentinean Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 BRAZIL Table 154: Light Sensors Market in Brazil by Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 155: Brazilian Light Sensors Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 156: Brazilian Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 157: Light Sensors Quantitative Demand Analysis in Brazil in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 158: Brazilian Light Sensors Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 159: Brazilian Light Sensors Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 MEXICO Table 160: Light Sensors Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 161: Mexican Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 162: Mexican Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 163: Light Sensors Market in Mexico: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 164: Mexican Light Sensors Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 165: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in Mexico by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF LATIN AMERICA Table 166: Rest of Latin America Light Sensors Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 167: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Latin America by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 168: Rest of Latin America Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 169: Rest of Latin America Light Sensors Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 170: Light Sensors Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of Latin America by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 171: Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown in Rest of Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 MIDDLE EAST Table 172: The Middle East Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 173: Light Sensors Market in the Middle East by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 174: The Middle East Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 175: The Middle East Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 176: The Middle East Light Sensors Historic Market by Function in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 177: Light Sensors Market in the Middle East: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 178: The Middle East Light Sensors Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 179: Light Sensors Market in the Middle East: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 180: The Middle East Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 IRAN Table 181: Iranian Market for Light Sensors: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 182: Light Sensors Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2009-2017 Table 183: Iranian Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 184: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 185: Iranian Light Sensors Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 186: Light Sensors Market Share Shift in Iran by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ISRAEL Table 187: Israeli Light Sensors Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018-2025 Table 188: Light Sensors Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 189: Israeli Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 190: Israeli Light Sensors Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 191: Light Sensors Market in Israel: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 192: Israeli Light Sensors Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SAUDI ARABIA Table 193: Saudi Arabian Light Sensors Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 194: Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 195: Saudi Arabian Light Sensors Market by Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 196: Saudi Arabian Demand for Light Sensors in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 197: Light Sensors Market Review in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 198: Saudi Arabian Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Table 199: Light Sensors Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 200: United Arab Emirates Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 201: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 202: Light Sensors Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 203: United Arab Emirates Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 204: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF MIDDLE EAST Table 205: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function for the Period 2018-2025 Table 206: Rest of Middle East Light Sensors Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Function: 2009-2017 Table 207: Rest of Middle East Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 208: Light Sensors Market in Rest of Middle East: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 209: Rest of Middle East Light Sensors Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 210: Light Sensors Market Share Distribution in Rest of Middle East by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 AFRICA Table 211: African Light Sensors Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Function: 2018 to 2025 Table 212: Light Sensors Market in Africa by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 213: African Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 214: African Light Sensors Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 215: Light Sensors Historic Demand Patterns in Africa by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 216: Light Sensors Market Share Breakdown in Africa by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 IV. COMPETITION APPLE ELAN MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS MAXIM INTEGRATED ROHM STMICROELECTRONICS NV SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. SHARP CORPORATION SITRONIX TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY AMS AG V. CURATED RESEARCH Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05799002/?utm_source=PRN 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. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com "If death strikes before I prove my blood, I swear I'll kill death", said Capt. Manoj Kumar Pandey, PVC, and a Kargil war hero. The sheer courage, determination, and confidence is what make Indian Army the fourth strongest army in the world (Global Fire Power Index, 2017), a feat which in itself calls for a celebration. With the country and its army ready to celebrate the 72nd Army Day, let us take a look as to what does this day means for our nation and what makes this year's celebrations different from the rest. Why do we celebrate? While the Indian Army was founded by the British on 1st April 1895, its command was handed over to an Indian for the first time, post-independence, on 15th January 1949, to Field Marshal K. M. Kariappa, who got the honour to become the first Army Chief of Independent India. Kariappa, or Kipper as people fondly called him, was just 49 when he took charge of the mighty Indian Army and played a key role in the separation of the Army between India and Pakistan during the partition. Thus, 15th January, since then, signifies the transfer of power of the Indian Army to the hands of an Indian citizen and since then, the tradition of celebration continues What makes this year's celebrations special? The country has recently seen the appointment of the First Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat. While the Army chief takes a salute along with the chiefs of other divisions of the Armed Forces, namely the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, this year would see a fourth person, Rawat, taking a salute with the other three. This would also make Rawat the first person to take the salute and inspect the Army Day Parade with two different designations, formerly as the Army Chief and now, as the Chief of Defense Staff. Captain Taniya Shergil, who was commissioned into the Corps of Signals two years ago, would be the Parade Adjutant of this year's parade, making her the first lady officer to become one in the history of the parade. Apart from such specials, this year's celebration would see the usual display of military hardware, the distribution of gallantry awards and unit citations and the traditional reception ('At Home' as the Army calls it) hoisted by the current COAS, General Manoj Mukund Navrane, which will be attended by the President, the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and current and former top officers of the Armed Forces. Photo - Jeremy Dover with Waverley Christian College writing winners Teresa Che Ferry and Esther Sarvananthan The next generation of Christian writers was acknowledged at the Press Services International 2019 annual young writer's conference held last Saturday at the Craigieburn Salvation Army. These emerging young Christian writers were acknowledged for submissions they made to a PSI competition aimed at encouraging the next generation. Three writers from Waverley Christian College, Melbourne, were awarded for their submissions. Arielle Munyard, Esther Sarvananthan and Teresa Che Ferry won awards for articles that explored Christian worldviews within a cultural context. Arielle Munyard (year 12) wrote an award winning piece on Freedom of Speech: Does the current social and political climate affect a Christians freedom of speech? The case study Arielle used was the current Israel Folau court case. Second place, Esther Sarvananthan (year 8) wrote a piece titled, The PreachersnSneakers Instagram: Should Church leaders be conscious of what they wear? It looked at current social media conversations about profile preachers and the expensive clothing they wear. Third place getter, Teresa Che Ferry (year 9) wrote, Being an influential Christian doesnt require a celebrity status. She explored the power of influence from a Christians perspective. These emerging writers from Waverley Christian College received mentoring through the Colleges English Faculty and journalism program. Their award includes publication of their articles in Christian Today Australia and a regular writing position with PSIs Young Writers Program when they turn 18. The Conference gave these students an opportunity to meet members of the Christian Media and hear from various speakers in these ministry. Photo Waverley Christian College writer winner Arielle Munyard Jeremy Dover is a former sports scientist and Pastor Jeremy Dover's previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover1.html And https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jeremy-dover.html MUSKEGON, MI The man who killed a young father in his Muskegon home nearly two years ago will spend at least 17 years in prison. Following an emotional statement by murder victim Melvin Lamar Totten Jr.s mother, Romelo Austin received his sentence Wednesday from Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks. Austin, 22, pleaded no contest in November 2019 to second-degree murder for the February 2018 homicide at Trinity Village apartments. Totten was 29 years old. Hicks stuck to an agreement that led to Austins plea. He ordered Austin to serve at least 17 years and a maximum of 54 years in prison, with credit for the 699 days he was in the Muskegon County Jail. Austin had gone to Tottens home that evening to purchase drugs, said Matt Roberts, chief trial attorney for the Muskegon County Prosecutors Office. At some point, Totten brandished a firearm and Austin shot him, Roberts said. There had been some indication that Austin would be pursuing a self-defense claim prior to his plea, he said. Investigators initially thought the shooting was the result of an attempt by Austin to rob Totten, but further investigation discounted that theory, Roberts said. Its alleged that Theretius Adrain Greenberry, 19, accompanied Austin to the Tottens home, but he has never cooperated with the investigation, Roberts said. Greenberry was sentenced to two years in prison on a felony firearm charge connected to the events of that night. Austin is currently serving a prison sentence of 16 months to eight years for lying to police investigating the homicide. He remained silent during his sentencing. But Tottens mother, Karene Totten, had plenty to say about the events of Feb. 18, 2018. She tearfully spoke about learning of the shooting and racing to the hospital to see her son. I prayed to Jesus that it was a just a flesh wound, she said. She described her son as playful and fun and lamented the fact his son would grow up without his father. There is an emptiness inside of me since Melvins murder that is going to haunt me the rest of my life, she said. Read more: Suspect pleads to 2-year-old homicide in Muskegon Two convicted of charges related to Muskegon homicide Police ID victim of homicide in Muskegon Monday night Credit: Jen RosensteinKISS has unveiled the initial list of artists that will be joining the band on the 10th annual edition of their KISS Kruise, which runs from October 30 to November 4. Queensryche, Ratt and Fozzy -- the hard-rock group fronted by pro wrestler Chris Jericho -- will set sail with the costumed Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, while additional performers will be announced later this year. The KISS Kruise X will set from Miami and will stop in Harvest Caye, Belize, and Roatan, Honduras before returning to port. Visit Sixthman.net to register for a cruise pre-sale. The on-sale date for the general public is February 7. The cruise will take place after KISS wraps up the 2020 leg of their End of the Road farewell tour, which is scheduled through an October 2 concert in Fort Worth, Texas. The trek gets underway on February 1 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and will feature David Lee Roth opening all of the North American dates. During last year's KISS Kruise, the band announced that the very last show of the End of the Road tour will take place in July 2021, at an as-yet-unknown venue in the group's hometown of New York City. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus on Wednesday's trading session based on recent and latest news developments. Investors are also awaiting December quarter earnings that are scheduled to be released today. Companies set to announce their earnings are Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd, Sterlite Technologies Ltd among others. Wipro: IT giant Wipro's Q3 consolidated profit dropped 3.2% YoY to Rs 2,462.90 crore, while its revenue rose 2.73% to Rs 15,470.50 crore, down from Rs 15,059.5 crore in the same period last year. The company's revenue from IT services also rose 2.97% to Rs 15,100.6 crore. IT services operating margin for the quarter was at 18.4%, recording an increase of 0.3% QoQ, the company said. Mindtree: IT major Mindtree Q3 net profit grew 3.1% YoY to Rs 197 crore, while its revenue rose 10.0% to Rs 1,965 crore. Mindtree's Digital business grew by 13.5% year-on-year. The company's revenue from Hi-Tech and Media grew 15.2%, while BFSI segment grew 7.7% on a yearly basis. Company's EBITDA margin was improved by 260bps on a quarterly basis. Indiabulls Housing Finance: Company has made timely payment of interest in respect of the Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) issued on private placement basis. Canara Bank: The lender informed the stock exchanges that it has decided to call-off the divestment process of its entire stake in M/s Can Fin Homes Ltd, which was under progress. Axis Bank Limited: The lender informed that the record date for payment of interest on Unsecured Redeemable Non-Convertible Subordinated Debentures (Basel Ill Compliant Tier II Debentures Series) due on l2 February 2020 for the period 1l-12 February 2020, will be 28 January 2020. CSB Bank: The lender said that the regulatory restrictions imposed by Reserve Bank of India on the opening of new branches due to delayed IPO have been lifted by RBI, with effect from January 10, 2020. Corporation Bank: The bank has revised Tenor based Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR), for all new rupee loans and advances including renewals with effect from 15 January 2020. Saksoft Limited: Company has informed the exchanges that Credit Analysis and Research Ltd has assigned an upward rating to the long term facilities of the company from Care B+, positive to Care A-, stable. Shivam Autotech: In an intimation release for the disruption at workplace, company informed the exchanges that workmen union have disrupted the production in one of its plants situated at Binola, Gurugram. The management is taking necessary steps to resolve the problem amicably. Transwarranty Finance Limited: Company's Debenture Issue Committee has approved the issue and allotment of Secured and Unsecured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) under the fifth tranche amounting to Rs 27 lakhs on private placement basis. The unsecured NCDs are in the nature of the Subordinated Debt. Bharat Wire Ropes: Company in its filing said that its total financial indebtedness including short-term and long-term debt stood at Rs 570 crore. Q3 Earnings: Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd, Sterlite Technologies Ltd, Tinplate Company of India, Plastiblends India, Den Networks are among the companies that are scheduled to post their December quarterly earnings today. Dr. Diep By affiliating with Smile Brands, we improve our purchasing power, gain access to needed administrative support and become part of a community of affiliates with whom we can learn and grow. Smile Brands Inc., one of the nations leading dental support organizations (DSO) providing business support services to more than 440 affiliated offices across 18 states, is pleased to announce the addition of two new practices in Walnut and Placentia, CA. Dr. Michael P. Diep and his team provide full service preventative, restorative and cosmetic dental care from their modern facilities in Walnut and Placentia, CA, including; same-day crowns, dental implants, root canal therapy, extractions, orthodontics, whitening and more. To better serve their multicultural community and put patients at ease, they are one of the only area dental practices with staff who can speak English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. Smile Brands will provide full-service administrative support to the practice, including; purchasing, payroll, accounting, IT, billing, facilities management and marketing. The existing staff will remain in place and the offices will continue to operate under the Walnut Family Dental and Placentia Dental Studio names. Dr. Diep and the team are looking forward to a strong partnership with Smile Brands. This is an exciting new era for our practices, explains Diep. By affiliating with Smile Brands, we improve our purchasing power, gain access to needed administrative support and become part of a community of affiliates with whom we can learn and grow. Smile Brands co-founder and CEO, Steve Bilt is thrilled to welcome Walnut Family Dental and Placentia Dental Studios to the Smile Brands family. Dr. Diep and his team share our vision for expanding patient access to convenient, affordable dental care, says Bilt. We look forward to helping them achieve their practice growth goals. About Smile Brands Inc. Based in Irvine California, Smile Brands Inc. is one of the largest providers of support services to dental groups in the United States. The organizations award-winning culture has made it the only dental support organization on Glassdoors Best Places to Work for the past three years. Smile Brands affiliated dentists benefit from industry-leading business support services, so they can spend more time caring for patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental practice. The organization supports over 440 affiliated practices and 60 brands across 18 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit http://www.smilebrands.com. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) investor group is now no longer a major shareholder of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), after selling more than 55.7 million shares of the bank. Transactions at VietinBank (Photo VietinBank) According to a filing on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the IFC last week sold more than 18.9 million shares while the IFC Capitalization Equity Fund offloaded 36.8 million shares in VietinBank, reducing their ownership from 6.486 percent to 4.99 percent. The IFC now owns 60.9 million VietinBank shares, or 1.63 percent stake, while the IFC Capitalization Equity Fund holds 124.9 million shares, or 3.35 percent stake. In November last year, the IFC investor group also sold nearly 57.4 million shares of VietinBank, reducing their ownership from 8.027 percent to 6.486 percent. Currently, the State Bank of Vietnam is the biggest shareholder in VietinBank with a 64.46 percent stake. Japans MUFG Bank is next with 19.73 percent ownership. The rest are held by other shareholders. VietinBank, Vietnam's third largest bank by assets, reported an 83 percent increase in pre-tax profits to almost 11.5 trillion VND (495 million USD) in 2019. The banks assets rose 6.5 percent to 1.24 quadrillion VND (53.29 billion USD). Its bad debt ratio was under 1.2 percent, down from 1.59 percent in 2018. The bank targets 6-8 percent growth in assets this year, 8-10 percent credit growth and an increase in pre-tax profits of 10 percent. It seeks to keep bad debts under 2 percent. VNA Government backs capital hike plans for four State-owned banks The Government supports the policy of allowing four State-owned banks to raise charter capital, said Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) Le Minh Hung. Former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn will give some of his 82m bonus to charity, it has emerged Former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn has set up a US-style fund to give money to charity, it has emerged. In 2018, amid an outcry over his 82million bonus from the housebuilder, the 53-year-old pledged to give away a substantial portion of his windfall. But Fairburn has faced questions over the promise, after the Charity Commission said nothing had been registered in his name. Yesterday he revealed he is using a so-called donor advised fund, a type of philanthropic fund common in the US, whose activities can be kept private. They also allow donors to claim certain tax reliefs. TORONTO, January 14, 2020 Thomson Reuters (NYSE, TSX: TRI) announced today that its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 earnings will be issued via news release on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. Jim Smith, president and chief executive officer, and Stephane Bello, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast that morning at 8:30 a.m. EST. Discussions may include forward-looking information. You can access the webcast by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Thomson Reuters website. Registration for the webcast is now open. Additionally, an archive of the webcast will be available following the presentation. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the worlds most global news service Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com. CONTACTS MEDIA Andrew Green Senior Director, Corporate Affairs +1 646 223 4228 andrew.green@tr.com INVESTORS Frank J. Golden Senior Vice President, Investor Relations +1 646 223 5288 frank.golden@tr.com A tourist has been slammed for enjoying her time in Australia while there are bushfires around the country. Journalist and blogger Deni Kirkova - who lives in Melbourne - has fired back after she was called 'smug' and 'self-absorbed' by people online for posting a picture of herself spending time in the Yarra Valley in Victoria on Instagram. 'When I posted the snap of me at a vineyard in the Yarra Valley, people started asking if I had been hacked and saying I should "think about what I was doing",' Deni, 29, said. 'Someone even said: "Oh look, another self-absorbed fatuous flog #AustralianBushfiresDisaster #GetALife"'. Scroll down for video A tourist has been slammed for enjoying her time in Australia while there are bushfires around the country (Deni Kirkova pictured) Deni Kirkova (pictured) - who is currently based in Melbourne - has fired back after she was called 'smug' and 'self-absorbed' by people online for posting a picture of herself While the 29-year-old admitted that she reported any severe abuse she received, Deni said it got her thinking about how we can 'stay normal' while bushfires ravage the country and the air quality is one of the worst in the world. 'Just yesterday, I was out at the beach, and it was super eerie,' she posted online. 'Should we not leave the house?! Not sure how to exist here at the moment, my heart breaks looking out onto thick smoke from my window in the mornings.' While the 29-year-old admitted that she reported any severe abuse she received, Deni (pictured) said it got her thinking about how we can 'stay normal' while bushfires ravage the country and the air quality is one of the worst in the world Deni (pictured) said she realises that it is hard to continue life as normal while there are bushfires, but she believes it is vital Deni said she realises that it is hard to continue life as normal while there are bushfires, but she believes it is vital. 'Trying to stay normal - to support local tourism and business - is important too,' she said. 'The economy is already suffering, and what people really don't need is to struggle financially after seeing their neighbourhoods burn down.' Deni said while people are often coming from the right place in feeling sorry for Australia, what they don't realise is 'large parts of it are actually okay' (pictured on the beach) She recommends you stay at a family-owned dwelling, whether that's a campsite, hotel or hostel and come without food so you can stock up at local shops Deni said while people are often coming from the right place in feeling sorry for Australia and its inhabitants, what they don't realise is 'large parts of the country are actually okay'. 'It's okay to be a tourist and enjoy what you can,' Deni told Daily Mail Australia. 'You can help by donating to some frontline and bushfire relief services, but another way we can help is to buy from small Australian brands when possible, and visit the areas near those affected. 'We should see the beauty of this country and spend money on local businesses,' she said. 'When the smoke clears, go and stay in a family-owned dwelling, whether it's a campsite, hotel or hostel. 'Come with no food and an empty esky and stock up at the local shops. Eat at the cafes and restaurants, and yes, go and taste some incredible Australian wine.' Deni concluded: 'Australia is suffering and there are so many ways we can chip in and help. 'Life has to go on.' The 29-year-old's (pictured) message resonated, who said they agreed that the communities are 'struggling enough without people refusing to go and spend their money there' 'We should see the beauty of this country and spend money on local businesses,' Deni (pictured) said The 29-year-old's updated message resonated with her followers, who said that they agreed that the communities are 'struggling enough without people refusing to go and spend their money there'. 'We need to help re-build these places and one of those ways is to visit, spend money and donate!' one person posted. Evacuations are currently underway and emergency alerts are in place in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia as authorities predict the devastating bushfires will continue burning until at least March. At least 28 people have been killed in blazes across the country since the bushfire season began in October. To read more from Deni Kirkova, please visit her website here. The Thames river is the centrepiece of the EastEnders credits (Credit: BBC) EastEnders bosses have revealed a plan to kill off a character in the Thames as part of the shows 35th anniversary episode. The BBC soap - which launched on February 19th 1985 - is planning a dramatic death to mark the anniversary, which will see one character lose their life in the London river when the residents of Albert Square embark on a boat party. Danny Dyers character Mick Carter this week announced he is organising the Thames riverboat party with wife Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) to celebrate The Queen Vic winning London pub of the year. The Carter family will be on board, along with Ian Beale and members of the Mitchell and Branning families. Read more: Cheryl Fergison has 'EastEnders' comeback all worked out Jon Sen, EastEnders Executive Producer said: For the 35th anniversary we wanted to entertain the EastEnders audience on the iconic river which has heralded the start of the show for 35 years. This unmissable week of episodes is destined to be exciting, gripping and heart-breaking it will be a week that will go down in EastEnders history. The Thames river features in the aerial shot of London that has made up the soaps opening credits since the show began. Ian Beale - played by Adam Woodyatt since 1985 - is set for a shock when his eldest son Peter returns, leaving his family questioning why he has come back. With Sharon Mitchell (Letitia Dean) going into labour during the episodes, the anniversary will see new life enter Albert Square at the same time as one character meets a grizzly end. Sharon Mitchell is due to give birth next month on EastEnders (Credit: BBC) A spokesperson revealed: As we journey out of Walford to the banks of the Thames, the weeks episodes will be set over 24 hours, with each episode telling the days events from a different perspective. As the party sets sail, tensions escalate for one family, causing an incident onboard and leading to disastrous consequences. Story continues Read more: Tamzin Outhwaite is proud of EastEnders death Following their win in the Best Pub competition, Mick, Linda, The Queen Vic and its punters will celebrate in style with a boat party on the Thames. However, it wont be plain sailing, as past actions and deadly secrets surface and wreak havoc. Mick and Linda are primed to lead the party and, as they struggle to keep their marriage afloat, the Carters will be faced with the toughest decisions theyll ever have to make. Ian Beale boards the boat still challenged by his familybut as Bobby finds himself struggling with life in Walford, Ians eldest son, Peter, returns. But why has he come back? It isnt just on the River Thames where the drama unfolds, as back in Albert Square the action continues. With the Truemans, Fowlers and Whitney Dean also set to take centre stage, Walford is anything but still-waters, as dark secrets are set to be exposed, feuds are set to be ignited and battle lines drawn for many families. More than one person will be left with blood on their hands this February and as one life ends, another begins EastEnders airs on Monday, Tuesdays, Thursday and Friday evening on BBC One. After week two of The Bachelor, it seems clear who the two front-runners are for Peter Webers heart. However, many viewers are worried about the women lying to Weber. Is Victoria Fuller that insecure, or is she acting the part to get Webers attention? Lets take a look. [Warning: The Bachelor Season 24 spoilers ahead] Victoria Fuller | Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images What happened on week 2 of The Bachelor that had Victoria F. in tears? Eight contestants were invited to a group date with the note, Let your personality shine. Alexa, McKenna, Natasha, Deandra, Lexi, Victoria F., Kelsey, and Hannah Ann all arrive at their date to find out it is at Revolve, a designer clothing company. The contestants meet with Carson Kressley, Janice Dickinson, and Revolves chief brand officer, Raissa Gerona. They inform the ladies that they are to choose two outfits to model on the runway. The winner will take home over $20,000 of Revolves clothing. Dickinson tells the ladies they will be judged on style, technique, and personality. Viewers thought the drama would unfold between Hannah Ann and Kelsey, first. However, Victoria F. took us by surprise with her anxiety and break-down over her insecurities before she takes the stage. Then she comes in as runner-up to Hannah Ann in the runway show and runs off crying, again. Today was really rough, Victoria F. tells the cameras later that evening. I dont know if Im self-sabotaging, but Im never gonna be the girl whos the center of attention. She cried on this episode of The Bachelor more than even Kelsey did with her champagne crisis. Not well, I dont know if Im made out for this, she tells Weber when he asks how she is doing. I like this, but I dont know if its worth my mental health. I see you making connections with people who are so different than me. Victoria F. explains her feelings to Weber, but viewers are not sure whether to believe it or not. Why do fans believe that Victoria F. is putting on a show for Peter with her insecurities? The bounce from one emotion to another during the runway show is clear manipulation and a chess move, wrote one Reddit user. I love it! Im totally here for VF. Viewers think that the Medical Sales Rep is playing up her insecurities for the cameras, and making herself more vulnerable in Webers eyes. I believe she has insecurities, but I dont buy that shes as insecure and unconfident as she wants us to believe, explained another Redditor. If she was as shy as she claims, she would not be saying it over and over again to the camera, just drawing even more attention to herself. She knows shes beautiful, but I think she uses the timid and insecure act to get Peters attention, and also to make herself more endearing to the audience. During the runway show, the 25-year-old from Virginia Beach went from crying backstage to working the runway like a pro in what seemed like seconds. Im so nervous, Victoria F. told Glamour during the competition. Im beet red, and my face is so hot. Im definitely freaking out. To viewers at home, it looks like she flips the switch rather quickly. It is also interesting to see how she is saying she is insecure, but then she almost wins the entire competition. Does Weber believe that Victoria F.s insecurities are real? Later on that evening, Weber has a heart-to-heart with Victoria F. She is hiding her face and acting very shy. He proceeds to take her someplace away from the cameras where the contestant can have more privacy. From his body language, it looks like he believes she is genuinely having a hard time. Shes a bit more shy and reserved, Weber tells Glamour before the competition, but hes excited to push her with this and get her out of her comfort zone. She could trip and fall on her face, but if shes trying her best, I dont care. Well, we know that she is giving it her all, were not sure how much of her all is real and how much is fake. We will have to wait and see when The Bachelor returns next week, Jan. 20, 2020, at 8 p.m. ET to ABC. BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ConsumerMedical, a clinical advocacy, decision support and expert second opinion company, announced this week at a company-wide meeting the addition of 43 new clients and the expansion of programs with some 25 percent of new annual recurring revenue from its current customer base for 2020. The milestone marks the best growth year in the 24-year history of ConsumerMedical. The company is one of the leading providers in the $3.6 billion and growing patient advocacy industry. New clients added include Mattress Firm, Teacher's Health Trust, and Farm Credit Foundation. In total the new clients, as well as growth from existing customers, will bring on more than 793,000 covered lives, for a total of more than 4 million-plus lives covered in 2020. Additionally, the company reported a customer retention rate of 95 percent. "Our product and service suites continue to grow, driven by the voices of our customers and partners in the marketplace," says Kevin Kickhaefer, President of ConsumerMedical. "Finding ways to help employees and plan members better understand their healthcare benefit and making it convenient and easy for them to get the help needed, while optimizing their healthcare outcomes, is important to our clients. We will continue to invest in technology as well as people to ensure we provide the solutions and services today's consumers need." Factors driving growth include greater interest in virtual services, such as second opinions, and clinical consulting via telehealth technologies. High member satisfaction rates as well as benefit navigation that makes it easier for consumers to access information, optimize their network of physicians and facilities, track status and communicate directly with ConsumerMedical providers were also noted as factors. "As an employer in a competitive marketplace, it's important for us to have a robust benefit program," says Cindy Rippel, Director of Benefits and Wellbeing for Mattress Firm. "Plus, we want our healthcare benefit program to offer real value to our associates and their families when they need it most. ConsumerMedical's approach to providing high-tech yet high-touch care, designed to meet Mattress Firm's unique needs, assures us that we are going to make a real difference for our associates and their families while also helping to manage our costs." Plan sponsors also report they chose ConsumerMedical because of the highly personalized approach to care programs offered to people with complex and often frightening diagnoses like cancer or heart disease. ConsumerMedical's Ally Total Support program provides guidance from a compassionate clinical team to bring peace of mind and address any healthcare questions at any point in the healthcare journey. ConsumerMedical's focus is on bringing deep clinical expertise and the latest evidence-based information to ensure a highly personalized and satisfying member experience. The company's objectives include providing independent support that improves clinical outcomes and quality of care, increases member satisfaction and reduces overall medical expenditures. More than 80 percent of consumers experience better clinical outcomes after using the company's market-leading services. Independent research also consistently shows that ConsumerMedical offerings deliver customers with an average return of $4 saved for every $1 invested in the program. Note: Click here to see the personal story of an employee helped by ConsumerMedical's second opinion program and people. About ConsumerMedical ConsumerMedical is a leading clinical advocacy, decision support and expert second opinion company serving more than 4 individuals and growing through some of the nation's largest employers, health plans and private exchanges. The company has been serving patients and payers for more than 24 years. As a Medical Ally, ConsumerMedical guides participants throughout their healthcare journey with compassionate, high-touch support and deep clinical expertise. ConsumerMedical offers a fully integrated suite of solutions including Medical Decision Support, Surgery Decision Support, Expert Medical Opinion, Claims Advocacy and more, helping individuals and families navigate the healthcare system while improving outcomes and reducing costs. ConsumerMedical's results have been validated continuously by independent actuaries. www.consumermedical.com SOURCE ConsumerMedical Related Links http://www.consumermedical.com Mike Paradise said flexibility is needed to create affordable housing. "The community has to welcome it and want it," the president of Bigelow Homes said during a meeting with In the City for Good housing advocates Monday. Too often, he said, new ideas meet with community opposition at planning and zoning meetings. "You go to those meetings and everyone there, who is there to speak, is on the negative side," he said. "Theres no positive support for any of the new ideas. Rochester City Council Member Shaun Palmer, who spent 25 years as a city building inspector, agreed that efforts to diversify the citys housing stock by adding density or experimenting with new ideas often comes with neighborhood pushback. ADVERTISEMENT He cited a proposed development in Northeast Rochester that proposed smaller lots, which generated calls to the City Council from potential neighbors. "Not in my backyard is a huge issue for us," he said. Palmer pointed to recently passed zoning changes that will allow more housing density along corridors heading into downtown Rochester. Despite some neighborhood pushback, he said the council moved forward. Paradise, who served on former Gov. Mark Daytons affordable housing task force, said he understands why city council members are often reluctant to take chances with new ideas that might need zoning flexibility. "If they vote to change the norm, they probably arent going to stay in office," he said. To help offer cover on such decisions, he encouraged the housing advocates to speak up when efforts to create different housing types seek city approval. Helen Laack, coordinator of Mondays discussion, suggested the group keep an eye out for projects and issues to support. Steve Borchardt, housing coalition director for the Rochester Area Foundation, said such efforts will still take time. ADVERTISEMENT "We have to have patience, because this is about changing a culture," he said, noting that many neighbors with existing homes dont understand the pressure on the current market. Since 2004, the number of annual building permits for single-family homes has dropped from 962 to 209 last year. Paradise said builders continue to feel the sting of the national recession and are hesitant to take risks. "Its incredibly risky," he said. "If we go out and start a 20-unit project say its a different concept we develop the land and get it ready to go. Thats millions of dollars, and we have to have or borrow millions of dollars to get the idea off the ground." He said partnerships can help reduce some of the risks. "One of biggest and most forgotten partners is the community," he said. "The biggest obstacle is the community." He said community support for new housing concepts and potential local policy changes could go a long way to address the growing housing need on all levels. "As soon as it becomes profitable to build the housing we need, it all goes away," he said of resistance to risk and hesitancy to experiment with housing options. ADVERTISEMENT Before the articles were sent across the U.S. Capitol to the Senate chamber, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signed a resolution that allowed her to designate the House members who will serve as managers of the impeachment trial . Articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump that the House of Representatives passed in December were officially transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday, paving the way for a trial to begin as early as next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is surrounded by the House impeachment managers and committee chairs as she signs the two articles of impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump before sending them over to the U.S. Senate during an engrossment ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, January 15, 2020. The resolution also allowed the House to appropriate funds for the trial. Let it be "very clear," Pelosi said before signing the document, "that this president will be held accountable." The resolution passed the House nearly along party lines in a 228-193 vote earlier Wednesday. No Republicans voted for it. House Democrats voted Dec. 18 to impeach Trump on the two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Both articles stem from Trump's efforts to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well as a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he thinks the impeachment trial could begin as soon as Tuesday. He and other Republicans received the articles in the Senate chamber. "I'm confident that this body can rise above short term-ism and factional fever, and serve the long-term best interests of our nation," McConnell said on the Senate floor after the articles were brought over. Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi named the seven House Democrats who will serve as impeachment managers in the trial in the Senate. Former National Assembly Secretary-General Park Heong-joon, center, leader of a newly launched committee for the renovation and unification of conservatives, speaks during the second meeting of the committee at the National Assembly, Wednesday. The committee includes members from the Liberty Korea Party, the New Conservative Party and several independent lawmakers. Yonhap Merger committee launched; friction already surfacing among parties By Jung Da-min Conservative parties are gearing up for a merger to form a "big tent" to win the April 15 general election, but questions are whether the move will succeed when signs of fragmentation among the members have already emerged. A committee for the renovation and unification of the conservatives held its first meeting, Tuesday. With former National Assembly Secretary-General Park Heong-joon being the head, the committee is comprised of members from conservative parties including the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP); the minor New Conservative Party, a breakaway group from the minor Bareunmirae Party; and some other independent lawmakers who had left the LKP or the Bareumirae. A day before the meeting, the LKP and the New Conservative Party agreed to participate in the move, saying they agreed on six principles announced by the unification committee. The principles include that the unity should be made across the groups against the Moon Jae-in administration, including the conservative-centrist groups; the merger should be made in a way that would receive support from young voters; and no one should be blamed for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. In a meeting Wednesday, the participants again confirmed their goal: To set up a party consolidating the centrist and conservative groups in order to hold the Moon administration accountable for its "totalitarian" policies and form an alternative group that can give hope to the people. But questions are already rising over whether the unification of the parties will be possible. The New Conservative Party and independent lawmakers split off from the predecessors of the LKP in recent years due to different political stances or factional conflicts. They have only two things in common: they strongly oppose the Moon administration, and want to win the general election. Complaints and fragmentation among the committee participants have already emerged. Microsofts new Edge browser is now built upon Chromium, which gives it access to the vast array of extensions available to Chrome. While its a sold contender, it has few must have features. Microsofts new Edge browser is coming, ready or not. Starting Wednesday, Microsoft will begin pushing it out to Windows 10 PCs, a complete revamp built on the Chromium technology of Google Chrome. This review, based on a late beta version available via the Windows Insider program, is a solid, mainstream browser with a few tempting features. But its facing a real uphill battle. By any estimate, Microsofts Edgenew or oldwont make a splash. Thats because, at least where market share is concerned, its Google Chromes world, and were just living in it. As of December, Chrome commanded over 67 percent of the browser market, as measured by NetMarketShare. Firefox, currently the second most popular browser, captured just 9 percent. Microsoft When you see this new Microsoft Edge logo in your taskbar, youll have the new Edge browser. Edges thin market share is an opportunity for Microsoft to switch horses midstream. Because the new Edge is built upon the Chromium open-source engine (earning it informal monikers such as Edgium and Chredge), Edge is now closer to Chrome than ever before, and can tap into Chromes vast library of extensions. Microsoft may have painstakingly gathered around 100 productivity extensions for Edge, with more for ad blockers and other utilities, but it still cant hold a candle to the hundreds (thousands?) of extensions available via the Chrome Web Store. Beginning January 15, Microsoft will begin replacing the old Edge with the new Edge on consumer PCs with Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, though Release Preview Insiders will be the first to get it. Businesses will have a choice of whether to accept the new Edge, but consumers wont. Like the old Edge, the new Edge is integrated into Windows 10, though versions will be available for Windows 8/8.1 and even Apples macOS. Mark Hachman / IDG Out with the old, in with the new. When you see the new logo to the right in your taskbar, youll have the new Edge (but without the CAN badge, which designates the Canary Windows 10 build on the PC we used for this screenshot). Setup: Quick and easy Virtually every browser available minimizes the setup and installation process as much as possible. The new Edge is no different. Until Microsoft actually begins replacing the old Edge with the new Edge, we dont know exactly how the process will work. But simply downloading the nightly Canary build, as we did, and installing it showed that Microsoft was more interested in migrating users from Chrome rather than shifting from the old Edge to the new. Mark Hachman / IDG The new Microsoft Edge assumes you use Chrome (or did on my machine), and offers to import your data by default as part of the setup process. Setup, in fact, proceeds extremely quickly. Your choices essentially entail whether youd like the new Edge to import Favorites, passwords and the like from Chrome or another browser; how youd like to set up your new tab screens; and whether to accept targeted advertising to improve your browsing experience. Rest assured that last choice is optional. Mark Hachman / IDG The brief setup process for the new Edge asks you to pick a new tab setup In selecting a new tab layout, youll have a choice between layouts defined as focused, inspirational, and informational. The former choice offers little more than a search bar and a few shortcuts to your most frequented webpages. Inspirational is essentially the same, but with the addition of Bings nature photography. The informational option is the most crowded of all them, with a dozen or so headlines from Microsofts news service cramming the page. (Both the inspirational and focused options also allow you to explore those news headlines; theyre just hidden below the fold of the page.) Mark Hachman / IDG I prefer the informational layout within the new Edge, but Im a bit of a news junkie. In all, the setup process took about 30 seconds, though youre free to explore drop-down menus and other options that explain your setup choices in more details. What you wont see in the setup process, however, is the ability to select a search engine. Like virtually every browser on the market, the URL bar doubles as a search box. Queries go to Microsofts own Bing search engine by default. If youd like to change the search engine to Google or DuckDuckGo, you can go to the Settings menu andclick through menu after menu. Seriously, if the option to change the search engine is there, its nearly impossible to find without a targeted search. Mark Hachman / IDG Microsoft makes it quite difficult to figure out how to use any search engine besides Bing. Only after I typed search into the Settings search box could I find the option to change the search engineand only by clicking though a related link. (I later found it under the Privacy and Services tab, at the very bottom.) I couldnt help but think that if this were 15 or 20 years ago, when Microsofts Internet Explorer reigned, the company might be receiving a pointed letter from the DOJ right about now. Using the new Edge In practice, the new Edge looksfine? With other browsers, such as Firefox, the page layout is visually distinctive, with sidebars and other other ways of rearranging the content that identify that browser. Mark Hachman / IDG Heres what the PCWorld homepage looks like with the new Edge. With the new Edge, theres little to distinguish visually between the new Edge and a browser like Chrome. It has much the same back, forward, home, and page refresh controls, plus a star at the end of the URL bar to set the current page as a favorite. Edge saw that I had a favorites toolbar enabled from within Chrome, and added it to my Edge browsing experience. The new Edge also allows you access to both Microsofts curated Edge extensions as well as the Google Chrome Web Store, though youll have to enable content from other web stores to access and load them. Mark Hachman / IDG If you import data from Google Chrome, extensions carry over as well. One plus in my book: Edge keeps what it calls the immersive reader mode. A small book with a speaker icon superimposed over it may appear in then URL bar when youre viewing a webpage. That opens the page on a paper-like background, eliminating all superfluous content like ads. Unfortunately, that also currently includes embedded images, which can be helpful to illustrate a story. Whats different, though, is the ability to add a webpage to a Collectiona collection of bookmarks, yes, but with a powerful enhancement. Collections, introduced last year as part of the old Edge, allow you to gather a number of webpages into a group of links that can live in your sidebar. (Youll find the Collections icon just to the right of the URL bar.) Mark Hachman / IDG Collections live in the right rail of the Edge browser Though you can collect just about any webpage, Collections is most effective as a shopping tool for comparing products, using data that Edge scrapes from the page. When you export the Collection to Excel (via the small ellipsis tool within the Collections sidebar), Edge creates an Excel spreadsheet on a new webpage, then populates it with a summary of the metadata it collects: the price, the products rating, the store, and a link, among others. Although its a little late for the holidays, Collections is still a powerful shopping research tool. Mark Hachman / IDG and can be used to scrape pages on Amazon, Best Buy, and other sites for pricing data, ratings, and more. This happens automatically when you export a Collection to Excel. Edge also supports Progressive Web Apps, though chances are youll miss them entirely. If you visit a site like Google News using Edge, a wispy + sign will appear in the URL bar. Clicking it will download the Google News site as an HTML-based web app, allowing you to bookmark it in your Start menu as an actual app. In reality, this probably wont make a lick of difference to your everyday browsing habits, but the option is there. Otherwise, the new Edge still has some tasks left on the to-do listor at least it did on the beta versions we used just two days before launch. While the old Edge allows you to set per-site media permissions, allowing you to block autoplaying videos and sound, the new Edge doesntor, at least, I couldnt easily find the option among the laundry list of permissions Edge threw up when I right-clicked the padlock option next to the URL bar. I finally found the feature after scrolling all the way down to the end of Edges Settings > Site permissionsbut for now theres only the ability to either universally allow or limit media playback. In the latter case, the new Edge will try to determine intelligently what media should or should not be played, based on your behavior in the past. The new Edge also benefits from Chromes ability to cast a tab to a device like a Chromecast, via the ellipsis menu in the upper right-hand corner, then dropping down to More Tools > Cast Media to Device. Edge didnt seem to want to do that, however, reporting that the source wasnt supported. We tried it with an ordinary webpage as well as a YouTube stream. The new Edge also supposedly supports Internet Explorer mode, though were told that its an enterprise feature, and one that has to be turned on via a group policy. Edges development is more evolved where security is concerned. JavaScript is allowed, but Flash is off by default, and will ask for your permission only when necessary. Privacy and syncing While other browsers require you to sign in to ensure that favorites, passwords, and your browser history are saved across various devices, Microsofts new Edge benefits from knowing your Microsoft account password, and syncing that information with other Windows devices youre signed into. Microsoft already had saved information like my address from prior browser sessions, so it can store that information, as well as any debit/credit cards or other payment information you enter into a field. You can also turn off syncing. Mark Hachman / IDG Part of the new Microsoft Edges setup process asks if you want to sync content, in the same way Google asks you to sign in to Chrome. This is optional, but encouraged. Unfortunately, it appears that Edge isnt quite ready to save all your information from device to device. Using the test Canary build we downloaded Monday, Edge said that syncing your browser history, open tabs, and extensions were coming soon. And although the Edge browser for Android now uses the swirling Edge logo of the desktop version, it doesnt seem to pick up where you left off or sync the history of pages you accessed on the mobile browser. Thats a feature thats undoubtedly in the works. Performance: solid, not exceptional Against Chromes dominance, competing browsers take what small advantage they can. Opera has its free, unlimited VPN, and Brave, its searing focus on privacy and its BAT token for paying creators with virtual currency. Microsofts new Edge doesnt really seem to offer any particularly compelling angleCollections, maybe? Convenience? Speed? The latter two may be the attributes that lure users over time, though its a difficult topic to sell to a friend over coffee. Still, heres what we can say about Microsofts new Edge: Its as fast or faster than the current version of Chrome, and among the leaders in terms of overall speed. Obviously, the new Edge remains a work in progress, and will see fluctuations in performance over time. We tested using the Canary build downloaded on Jan. 13technically a beta, but close to what should be the final version. (On the graphs below, the Canary build is erroneously labeled as version 84, when it should be version 81. The stable version that will be pushed to your PC is version 79.) Its enough to characterize the new Edge as a solid effort. We used the recent Surface Laptop 3 as a test platform, downloading the most recent versions of the Brave browser; Google Chrome; what well call the old Microsoft Edge; the new, Chromium-based Edge; Mozilla Firefox; Opera; and Vivaldi. (Youll see more on the pros and cons of each in our roundup of the best browsers.) We carved out our testing into a number of different browser tests. The first group, which encompasses JetStream, MotionMark, and Speedometer, are published by Browserbench.org. JetStream 2 uses a variety of JavaScript and WebAssembly tests focused on advanced Web applications. MotionMark tests the browsers ability to render graphics. Speedometer runs tests over and over to determine how responsive a browser will be in Web apps. Mark Hachman / IDG Microsofts new Edge delivers solidly middle-of-the-road performance. Note that the old Edge failed to run a test, and received a 0 as a result. Were not highlighting any one test in this group, but you can see that the new Edge performs on par with the competition. We used a separate test, Basemark Web 3.0, to measure how well the browser performs using JavaScript and WebGL graphic content. Weve also included the results of HTML5test, which measures how well the browser conforms to the HTML5 specification. In the latter, the test reports that the new Edge doesnt yet support Web Authentication/FIDO 2, as well as some web elements (custom elements, HTML imports) that other browsers do. Mark Hachman / IDG The Basemark Web 3.0 test indicates that Microsofts new Edge performs on a par with its competition. Finally, we took a real-world look at how well each browser did in terms of memory usage and CPU utilization. Because this is a real-world test, its not repeatable. We used 30 tabs of media-rich sites, including our own, loaded each, then waited for 60 seconds to let the system settle down and measured the results. Ads will vary, the content will varywhat we hoped to achieve was to load the sites within the same window to hopefully minimize variation, but this is a very subjective, content-dependent test. We ran the tests without any extensions or plug-ins enabled, and turned off the Shields Up ad-blocker within Brave. Mark Hachman / IDG CPU usage is highlighted in blue, with memory usage represented by the secondary orange line. The new Edges memory usage is just fine, but its still a bit of a CPU hog. What we saw here was that while memory usage was on a par with that of other browsers, theres still room for improvement as far as CPU utilization was concerned. In this case, its probably fair to allow Edge a little leeway as Microsofts developers fine-tune it. Conclusion: The new Edge holds its own Although Edge hadnt quite been finalized by the time of our review, our impression can be summed up by one word: Okay. Over time, I suspect Edge will be defined by its convenience, and how well it worms its way into the desktop and smartphones as well. Features like Collections, which encourage you to use Edge as a shopping tool, may motivate some users to give up on other browsers entirely. For now, Edge has one big advantage. For all of the praise weve lauded on Firefox, Opera, or Brave, none come anywhere close to Chromes market share. Each also requires users to seek them out, download, and install them. The new Edge will land on your home PC whether you like it or not. That hasnt stopped the old Edge from being passed over, of course, but maybe the second times the charm. Convenience, ubiquity, and moderate power make the new Edge a solid if somewhat uninspiring browser right now. If nothing else, the new Edge will be worth checking out, as it stares at you from your PCs taskbar. 'Just Mercy' review: Film reflects biblical values, Jesus' 'unmerited grace' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In 1987, Alabaman logger Walter Johnny D. McMillian was arrested for a murder he didnt commit. Due to incompetencies and racism within the justice system in Alabama, McMillian was sentenced to death a few years later though his entire case was based on a single, coerced testimony. Enter Bryan Stevenson, a brilliant, Harvard-educated attorney who moves from Delaware to the deep South to defend death row inmates and exonerate the wrongly accused. Facing politically-motivated maneuverings and structural racism himself, Stevenson takes on the seemingly impossible challenge of securing freedom for McMillian. Opening over the weekend, "Just Mercy" (PG-13) stars Jamie Foxx as McMillian and Michael B. Jordan as Stevenson. Directed and co-written by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film is a powerful, sobering reminder that as Stevenson so eloquently states we all need some measure of unmerited grace. In addition to McMillian, "Just Mercy" highlights several real-life cases of men wrongly sentenced to death and raises wider questions about the U.S. justice system, mass incarceration, and excessive punishment. The Equal Justice Institute, the organization started by Stevenson, claims that for every nine people who are executed, one person on death row has been exonerated. At first, McMillian refuses Stevensons help, believing the racism rooted deeply within the Alabama justice system will ensure he remains on death row. His family reveals to Stevenson that other lawyers, under the guise of helping, have taken money from Johnny Ds wife, Minnie (Karan Kendrick), without actually fighting for his freedom. With little support, Stevenson and his colleagues, including Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), work to establish Johnny Ds alibi he was at a church fish fry that day along with several witnesses and challenge the testimony of a shifty witness (Tim Blake Nelson). But Stevenson also faces larger, more imposing giants, including sheriff (Michael Harding) who led the investigation, and the complacent new district attorney (Rafe Spall), who cares more about his reputation than finding the truth. Hes not just fighting for McMillian; hes challenging a system deeply rooted in slavery and Jim Crow. At times, "Just Mercy" is difficult to watch: The film includes a discussion of various crimes and scenes of troubling racism. In one scene, Stevenson is pulled from a car while a police officer points a gun at him. In another, he is stripped down and searched before entering the prison purely to humor a particularly contemptuous guard. The movies most troubling scene, however, involves a man being placed in an electric chair, although his actual death isnt shown. Its made known in the film that McMillian was targeted by authorities because of an affair he had with a white woman, an act that is clearly painful for Minnie and their children. Additionally, the phrase sexually abused is mentioned. There are several coarse words littered throughout the film, as well. Yet, religious and spiritual themes are widely sprinkled throughout "Just Mercy." Inmates cling to their faith on death row and sing hymns. Stevenson who previously told CP his advocacy work is rooted in his faith is shown praying with an inmate, and several characters attend church. Additionally, the biblical themes of mercy, grace, and redemption drive the true story, reflected in Stevensons dedication to Micah 6: And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. With strong performances and powerful visuals, "Just Mercy" is a beautifully-constructed film that calls on the viewer to reckon with their own presupposed ideas about justice, grace, and who, exactly, is deserving of mercy. And although difficult at times, familiarizing ourselves with stories like McMillians is necessary and reckoning with our own prejudices will ultimately motivate us to find a way forward at least, thats Stevensons prayer. Its important for us to get closer to people who have been excluded, oppressed, or marginalized because too often we try to create solutions to problems from a distance, and the solutions don't work because they haven't been shaped by what you learn when you're up close, he told CP. We can't be indifferent to the suffering of other people. We can't become blind to the needs of other people. The film runs 137 minutes and is now showing at theaters nationwide. It's rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including some racial epithets. DeKalb County to honor Emorys president during MLK Celebration Emory President Claire E. Sterk will be honored during DeKalb Countys 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Sterk and Eugene Walker, a former state senator and former DeKalb school board chair, will receive the Nathaniel Mosby Humanitarian Award, which celebrates the recipients commitment to tireless community service and outstanding dedication to being an agent for positive change. Sterk is the first woman to serve as Emory Universitys president. Additionally, she is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health at Emory and has been recognized internationally for her work on addiction and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Walker served in the Georgia Senate and was the first African-American to serve as majority whip. He also served as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and on the DeKalb County Board of Education. The celebration, Kings 2020 Vision: The Beloved Community The Fierce Urgency of Now, will be held Friday, Jan. 17, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. The event is free and open to the public. The Emory community will honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s life and work with numerous activities in January. King Week will feature lectures, discussions and community service opportunities that reflect his vision for civil rights and social justice. Campus events begin Monday, Jan. 20 the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with an invitation for students on Emorys Atlanta and Oxford College campuses to join in a day of volunteer service. The Day On event is organized through Volunteer Emory, a centralized hub for student service opportunities and social justice work. Atlanta campus participants will kick off the day at 11 a.m. in the Student Center, then travel in teams to help community organizations throughout Atlanta. Transportation to the community sites will be provided Registration for Atlanta-based projects opens a week in advance. This years community partners include the Atlanta Rescue Dog Cafe, Little Creek Farm, Lost-n-Found Youth and the Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House. In total we will have 12 sites and are anticipating to engage around 200 Emory students, says Johannes Kleiner, associate director of civic and community engagement for the Division of Campus Life. Oxford College participants will meet in the new Oxford Student Center at 10 a.m. on Jan. 20. Their service opportunities will focus on three areas related to environmental sustainability: the Newton County trail system, the Oxford College organic farm and Best Friends Farm (a local animal rescue farm). Registration for Oxford Colleges Day On is open. Emory alumni also can get involved through service opportunities on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Caucus of Emory Black Alumni has partnered with two Atlanta organizations for the CEBA-Atlanta MLK Day of Service: the Hands On Atlanta Discovery Program and Books for Africa. On Emorys Day On, we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s commitment to creating a more just, inclusive and caring world and aim to honor his legacy through our own service, Kleiner says. We join the millions of people around the U.S. who commit to A day on, not a day off and come together as a community at the beginning of the new semester to remind ourselves of the larger purpose of an Emory education. Here is the current schedule of other King Week activities, which are all free and open to the public. Several will include a pop-up exhibit featuring archival materials from Emorys Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library. Tuesday, Jan. 21 King Week Keynote 4 p.m., Jones Room, Robert W. Woodruff Library A lecture by Nikole Hannah-Jones, award-winning journalist and a MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow for her reporting on education reform and racial re-segregation in schools, will be a highlight of Emorys King Week events. She covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and is creator of the landmark 1619 Project commemorating the 400th year of slavery in what would become the United States. She has written extensively on the history of racism, school re-segregation and the disarray of hundreds of desegregation orders. The lecture is presented by Emorys Department of African American Studies. MLK Jr. Celebration at Oxford College 7:30 p.m., Old Church, Oxford The celebration on the Oxford campus will include readings, music from a variety of choirs and a keynote address by Sonya Tinsley-Hook, Oxfords first Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar and founder of the All Our Strengths project. This event will honor 30 years of MLK Scholars at Oxford College and also kick off a semesters worth of activities marking the 50th anniversary of African American graduates from Oxford College. Wednesday, Jan. 22 Voter Rights Lecture 4:30 p.m., Jones Room, Robert W. Woodruff Library Carol Anderson, chair of African American studies and Charles Howard Candler Professor African American Studies at Emory, will speak on Voter Rights/Voter Suppression. Thursday, Jan. 23 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards 4:30 p.m., Claudia Nance Rollins Auditorium, Rollins School of Public Health For more than 20 years, Emorys Rollins School of Public Health and Goizueta Business School have honored Kings legacy through the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards. This year, Emorys School of Medicine joins the partnership. The program theme is Mobilizing for Justice, Advocating for Change and the event features a fireside chat with DeKalb County Chief Superior Court Judge Asha F. Jackson. The program also recognizes members of the greater metro Atlanta community who envision solutions to inadequacies and have the courage to mobilize others to work for justice and to advocate for change during challenging times. Carol E. Henderson, Emorys chief diversity officer and vice provost for diversity and inclusion, will moderate. Emory Conversations Project: Kings Riverside Church Speech 5:30 p.m., Cox Ballroom On April 4, 1967, King delivered a speech at the Riverside Church in New York critiquing the Vietnam War and the policies that created it: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. Join the Emory Conversation Project for a reading of the speech and conversations about how it can inform our understanding of and response to more recent policies. MLK Celebration Lecture 6 p.m., Tull Auditorium, Emory University School of Law Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology and Raymond Pace & Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, will speak on Dr. Martin Luther Kings Vision of Health and Justice. Roberts is founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science and Society and is an internationally recognized scholar, public intellectual and social justice advocate. Friday, Jan. 24 Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence 10 a.m., Emory Student Center South, Recreation Lounge Listen and reflect with community members throughout the day on Kings Riverside Church speech. Sunday, Jan. 26 Beloved Community: Christian Worship at Emory 11 a.m., Cannon Chapel The worship service will feature singing from Voices of Inner Strength Gospel Choir and preaching by the Rev. Kim Jackson. She is a 2009 graduate of Candler School of Theology and currently serves as interim vicar at Church of the Common Ground in Atlanta. She is the first black LGBTQ+ priest ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and is running for Georgia State Senate. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps impeachment trial in the Senate promises to be one of the most heavily scrutinized events in American political history. But the journalists covering the trial are warning that restrictions on media access will cripple their ability to do their job. The proposed restrictions exceed those put in place during the State of the Union, Inauguration Day or even during the Clinton impeachment trial 20 years ago, Sarah Wire, a Los Angeles Times reporter who heads the Standing Committee of Correspondents, wrote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. A preliminary security plan would greatly limit the movement of credentialed media members. Journalists would be restricted to a designated area and could only speak to senators who approached them. Under normal conditions, credentialed journalists can informally approach lawmakers in the hallways or on the way to the elevator or the Senate subway. Thats the bread and butter of what we do here. Thats where you get that extra nugget of information, Wire said in an interview with The Associated Press. Members of the press corps are also asking for a waiver of the traditional ban on laptops and cellphones, which would enable them to file breaking news updates from gallery seats inside the Senate chamber, but that request has apparently been rejected. The security plan would also place a magnetometer at the door of the gallery seats to scan journalists as they enter and prevent them from bringing in electronics. Between the magnetometer and the constant need for journalists to leave and reenter the chamber in order to file stories, Wire wrote on Twitter that the Senate trial will have a soundtrack of beep, beep, beep as 90+ reporters walk in and out all day. Members of the press corps met last week with representatives from the office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms, seeking clarification on how the proposed restrictions would actually enhance security. Wire said the meeting ended inconclusively and that the journalists' requests have been largely ignored. Story continues Right now we're just getting silence, she said. Sen. Roy Blunt, the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said the changes are necessary to keep the emotional and intense impeachment proceedings running smoothly. Blunt, R-Mo., told reporters on Tuesday that keeping senators from being mobbed in the hallways was a legitimate concern and that legislators need to be able to handle their historic duties without having to fight their way onto an elevator. But the plan has also drawn criticism from senators from both parties. Im a staunch believer in the First Amendment and I think this is wrong, said Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the Senate rules committee, in an interview with CBS News after participating in Tuesday's presidential debate. I dont know why, at this very important moment where you would want to allow the people to see it, theyre deciding to pull back access. I have my own theories, of course, and theyre not good ones. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called the restrictions a huge mistake and said they seemed designed to shield senators from having to deal with crowds of journalists in the hallways. There is an effort to limit the press, Kennedy told The Associated Press. "Senators are grown women and grown men. If they dont want to make a comment they know how to say, No comment. Efforts to contact the Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms for comment were unsuccessful. ___ Associated Press reporter Andrew Taylor contributed to this report. The Ontario Liberals have vaulted ahead of the governing Progressive Conservatives even though the party will not elect a new leader for another seven weeks, a new poll suggests. According to the Pollara Strategic Insights survey, the Liberals are at 33 per cent, the Tories at 29 per cent, the New Democrats at 27 per cent, and the Greens at nine per cent. Despite the pretty definitive loss that they received in 2018, the Liberal brand is strong, Pollara president Craig Worden said Wednesday. It does say something about the job that interim leader John Fraser has done, said Worden, noting the Liberals will elect a new chief at a March 7 delegated convention in Mississauga. MPPs Michael Coteau and Mitzie Hunter, former minister Steven Del Duca, past candidates Kate Graham and Alvin Tedjo, and lawyer Brenda Hollingsworth are competing in the contest. The Liberals have returned to first place for the first time in many, many years, the pollster said, pointing out the Grits trailed in most surveys in their final years in office. He said there could be a halo effect from Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals who won 79 of Ontarios 121 federal seats in the October election. Two years ago, Premier Doug Fords Tories ended a provincial Liberal dynasty that dated back to 2003 under former premier Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne, with a landslide victory. Using an online panel, Pollara surveyed 2,198 Ontarians between Jan. 6 and Jan. 11. Online samples arent randomly selected and cannot be assigned a margin of error. But a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of within 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The Ford government reached a low point in the spring of 2019 and theyve attempted a reset and theyve been successful at stopping the bleeding, he said, referring to Fords June cabinet shuffle and subsequent staff changes after a cronyism scandal. But the reset hasnt taken hold. They havent reconnected with voters, but they have held steady since the spring. Now its a question of whether they can rebound in the polls. Worden said it remains unclear whether the current turmoil in Ontario schools is having an impact on the polling results. To this point the education file has been a simmering issue with flashpoints, but it will likely reach more of a boil this month and become more of a high-profile issue for the public, he said. Thats because all four teachers unions are in a legal strike position at the same time something that last happened in 1997. The governments changes to education and the related teacher job action certainly have a potential to be an obstacle to a Ford government rebound. It all depends on how parents feel (this) is affecting their kids. In Pollaras May 2019 survey, Andrea Horwaths New Democrats led with 31 per cent, the Tories were at 30 per cent, the Liberals at 26 per cent, and Mike Schreiners Greens at 11 per cent. The NDP have dropped since the spring. These are not great numbers for the NDP especially with a Liberal party thats going to elect a new leader in a few weeks time, said Worden. These must be disappointing numbers for the NDP. They were successful in getting a large segment of the left-of-centre vote in the election and holding onto them for a year after the election, he said. But they havent capitalized on that and the voters have been looking for where they should be throwing their support in the next election. They have been starting to turn back toward the Liberals. The next Ontario election will be in spring 2022. In the 2018 vote, the Tories won 40.5 per cent, the NDP 33.6 per cent, the Liberals 19.6 per cent, and the Greens 4.6 per cent. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: Markets regulator Sebi has rejected Axis Bank's plea to allow the lender to invoke the pledge on shares in the Karvy Stock Broking Ltd (KSBL) matter. The order comes after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on December 20 had asked Sebi to pass an order by January 15, 2020 in the case. The tribunal had modified its earlier directive passed on December 17, wherein it had asked the markets watchdog to pass an order within 15 days in the case. Axis Bank had moved SAT seeking the shares pledged by KSBL to the lender be unfrozen, so that it can invoke the pledges. The move had come following a Sebi directive to the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) in November that prevented Axis Bank from accessing the securities pledged with the lender by KSBL. KSBL owed Rs 81 crore to the bank which was given in the form of overdraft against shares. As per the data provided by NSE, securities pledged by KSBL in favour of Axis Bank belonged to its fully paid as well as partly or unpaid clients. The value of securities belonging to fully paid client is Rs 171.74 crore and the value of securities of other than fully paid clients is Rs 13.69 crore. Regarding pledging of securities of fully paid clients, Sebi said a stock broker has no authority to pledge the securities of its fully paid clients. If a broker pledges securities of its fully paid clients, it amounts to misappropriation of clients' securities. "Even if securities belonging to fully paid clients are pledged by the stock broker, such pledge does not pass any title to the pledgee, as the stock broker in such case himself/itself does not possess any title/right over such securities. Thus, pledge of securities, belonging to fully paid client, is not treated as valid pledge in law," Sebi noted. "Pledging of securities of unpaid clients required taking of 'explicit authorization' by the stock broker from each such client and in respect of each such pledging. The Representor (Axis Bank) has submitted that the PoA (power of attorney) given by the client was sufficient authorization to create such a pledge. However, I do not agree with such interpretation given to the scope of PoA," Sebi Whole Time Member Anant Barua said in an order on Tuesday. He further said PoA given by the client to the broker can be used for the purpose of pledging in favour of the stock broker, only for the purposes of meeting the margin requirements. The bank in its representation to Sebi also said in respect of partly or unpaid clients, KSBL be directed to issue five days notice to the clients or the bank be allowed to issue five days notice to clients to enable the clients redeem the pledged shares by making payment of the corresponding outstanding indebtedness, failing which the lender be permitted to invoke the pledge on shares. If the bank is able to show proof of authorisation in respect of securities having value of Rs 13.69 crore belong to unpaid clients, such securities can be released to it after following the procedure under supervision of NSE, Axis Bank said in its submission. The regulator has rejected Axis Bank's plea in the matter. Sebi, through an interim order passed on November 22, barred KSBL from taking new brokerage clients and also prevented it from using the PoAs given by its clients after the brokerage was found to have allegedly misused clients' securities to the tune of over Rs 2,000 crore. Securities held by KSBL were used by the brokerage for borrowing from the lenders courtesy the PoA. The securities held by over 83,000 clients were given back to them after Sebi asked NSDL to do so, forcing lenders -- Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank -- to move SAT and secure an interim relief on further transfers. However, SAT on December 4 refused any immediate relief to top lenders and directed them to approach Sebi by December 6 and that Sebi pass an order. NSDL's move helped 90 per cent of KSBL's demat account holders get back their securities. Later, Sebi refused to provide any relief to the four lenders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside the central bank on Tuesday night, facing off with dozens of people who pelted them with stones and fireworks. Security forces also fired live rounds into the air, a Reuters witness and two local broadcasters said BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside the central bank on Tuesday night, facing off with dozens of people who pelted them with stones and fireworks. Security forces also fired live rounds into the air, a Reuters witness and two local broadcasters said. Protesters set garbage dumpsters on fire and threw tear gas canisters back at riot police as ambulance sirens rang out. Young men, their faces covered, smashed bank storefronts and ATMs, another Reuters witness said. A wave of protests erupted last October against a ruling elite accused of steering Lebanon towards its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Since Saad al-Hariri resigned as prime minister in late October, politicians have failed to agree on new government or a rescue plan. The Lebanese pound has weakened on the parallel market, a hard currency squeeze has driven up prices and confidence in the banking system has been battered. "Everything we're suffering from is because of the banks and the central bank's policies," Ali, a 21-year-old college student, said at the protest in Beirut's Hamra commercial district. "This is why there's no longer any money, and prices are rising." He said tight controls that banks have imposed, limiting dollar withdrawals and blocking most transfers abroad, have also fuelled outrage. "They won't give people their own money." The head of the banking association told Reuters this week that the curbs sought to "preserve the wealth of Lebanon, and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh says deposits are safe. The civil defence said it treated some protesters and police who suffered injuries on Tuesday, without giving a toll. Lebanon's internal security forces called on protesters to leave Hamra street "for their safety or else they will be deemed rioters and will be chased." (Reporting by Ellen Francis and Issam Abdallah, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Dan Grebler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. RAVENNA, Ohio -- A Portage County judge has ordered the early termination of former Macedonia Mayor Joseph Migliorinis two-year probation, court records show. Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman on Monday issued the order to end Migliorinis probation after about nine months. Pittman had previously set two years of probation to end in April 2021. The former mayor pleaded guilty in March 2019 to a first-degree misdemeanor of attempting to violate a protection order by entering a home that a former girlfriend was visiting. Migliorini, 67, served as mayor from 1988 to 2001 and was re-elected in 2015, but resigned in July 2018 citing an incident outside a Palm Beach, Florida restaurant in which police say he pulled his girlfriends hair and slapped her. He was charged with misdemeanor battery, but the case was dismissed in November, Palm Beach County court records show. As a result of the incident, the state of Florida ordered Migliorini to have no contact with his former girlfriend. Migliorini attempted to violate that protection order in August 2018, when he broke into a home on the 9800 block of Creekside Way in Streetsboro, where his former girlfriend was visiting a friend, according to police. As part of a plea agreement in that case, prosecutors dropped felony charges of violating a protection order and burglary, court records show. Migliorinis attorney, Kenneth Martin, told cleveland.com on Wednesday that he filed a motion last month to terminate the probation, citing that Migliorini had paid all his fines and restitution, and had followed the rules of his probation, including attending counseling. Martin also said the Portage County Adult Probation Department had no objection to the termination of Migliorinis probation. To comment on this story, visit Wednesdays crime and courts comment section. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Politicians and academics love to argue about how to save the world, but they can stop their fighting now, because Kirby Clark has the answer: skateboarding. A skateboard art workshop in a Rosebud park might seem a humble event, but participating children were making a real difference for disadvantaged kids elsewhere in the world. Kirby Clark and Emma at the Decks For Change workshop, which helps fund skateboard parks in countries such as Iraq and Nepal. Credit:Eddie Jim Proceeds from the $35-a-head workshop on Wednesday, run by Ms Clarks charity Decks For Change, will help build a skateboard park in Dili, East Timor, later this year. In five years, Decks for Change has raised $30,000 through exhibitions and workshops to fund skateboard parks and lessons in Pokhara, Nepal, and in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Imran Khan arrived in Muzaffarabad MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday, a day after the region witnessed extreme weather conditions resulting in the deaths of over 60 people in Neelum Valley alone. According to the Prime Minister's Office, the premier received a briefing from the chief secretary of AJK regarding the damages incurred due to snowfall and avalanches in the region as well as the relief efforts undertaken. The prime minister also visited the injured at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Muzaffarabad. The hospital was cordoned off and media personnel were not allowed entry while the prime minister conducts his tour. The death toll in avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents during the current spell of a westerly wave weather system across the country has surged to 93, with most of the cases being reported from AJK. Officials said the figure could further go up as some areas in the valley were still inaccessible due to heavy snowfall, while weather pundits forecast another spell of snowfall beginning on Friday. Earlier today, AJK Chief Secretary Mathar Niaz Rana had confirmed the prime minister will visit the area and will receive a briefing on the situation in the valley in the aftermath of the weather disasters. Taking notice of the deteriorating situation in Neelum Valley on Tuesday, the prime minister had taken to Twitter to assure citizens that the government had taken notice of the situation and was working on an "emergency footing" to provide relief and assistance. He said: "The severe snowfalls and landslides in AJK have caused misery and deaths. I have asked the NDMA [National Disaster Management Authority], the military and all our federal ministers to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on an emergency footing to the affected people in AJK." In PicMonkey Announces "Shero" Contest Winners PicMonkey, a leading image editing and design platform, today announced the top ten and grand prize winners of its "Who's Your Shero?" contest, celebrating women entrepreneurs for their accomplishments and positive contributions to their communities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005248/en/ PicMonkey announces winner and finalists of its 2020 "Who's Your Shero" contest (Photo: Business Wire) Out of hundreds of nominations, the grand prize was awarded to Hannah Kay Herdlinger, founder of Thread Talk, an online shop offering high-end blankets. A portion of all the sales support domestic violence shelters nationwide. Hannah Kay will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to Los Angeles, to attend the Create + Cultivate conference in February. "We salute our customers - not just for the amazing visuals they create using PicMonkey - but also for how they inspire their colleagues and their communities," said Frits Habermann, CEO of PicMonkey. "Congratulations to Hannah Kay and all the other finalists; we are proud to support women who are impactful business leaders and sheroes to everyone they meet." Domestic violence survivor Hannah Kay's personal passion to end domestic violence and to change the world by speaking out led to the ounding of Thread Talk. "I had no idea if it was going to work, if people were going to respond to our mission the way I hoped," says Hannah Kay. "But they did - because money follows purpose. If you follow your passion - as cheesy as it sounds - the money will come." The peer-nominated finalists for PicMonkey's Shero contest were selected based on a variety of criteria that included: the innovative quality of their business idea, their positive influence on customers / partners / peers, and their business performance. Each Shero finalist will receive a PicMonkey Pro annual subscription, as well as special recognition within PicMonkey's community. From retail to health care to foodservice - this is a diverse group of women from coast-to-coast who started their own businesses and, along the way, have inspired others with their courage, commitment and chutzpah - enough to be considered a "Shero." The top ten Shero finalists are: For more information about PicMonkey's 2020 Shero winners, visit PicMonkey.com . About PicMonkey PicMonkey is built for people and businesses to create stunning visuals for social media, digital marketing, advertising, and beyond. PicMonkey's continually-updated effects, graphics, templates, and fonts, plus a resource center with tips and tutorials, make visual content creation easy and inspiring. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, privately held PicMonkey is backed by Spectrum (News - Alert) Equity. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005248/en/ As families wait for a Navy aircraft carrier to arrive at its new California homeport after nearly 10 months at sea, the service's top officer simply said: That's sometimes how it goes. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday gave a glimpse on Tuesday into some of the decisions that led the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to face multiple deployment extensions while operating in the Middle East. "She was only supposed to be out there for seven months," Gilday said of the Lincoln. "There were a number of decisions that were made to extend her or to not extend her. ... I couldn't get another carrier behind her very quickly. I couldn't accelerate other carriers." Ultimately though, "that's sometimes how it goes," Gilday added from the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium. "I don't make any apologies for that," the CNO said. "... I had a better solution, I would've offered it." The carrier deployed in April 2019. Last week, the ship arrived in Hawaii before making its final trek to San Diego. During the deployment, some Navy families told Military.com the multiple extensions caused them to lose faith in the Navy. It wasn't just tensions in the Middle East that kept the Lincoln deployed, but maintenance problems with the flattop that was supposed to replace it. Related: Carrier Lincoln Is Finally Headed Home. But Families Say the Navy Broke Trust The Navy's maintenance backlogs have caught the attention of lawmakers and a government watchdog agency. In 2018, a member of the Government Accountability Office told lawmakers the Navy maintenance delays had cost the service more than 27,000 days of ship and submarine availability over a six-year period. When the Lincoln was extended in part because the Navy was struggling to fix a maintenance problem on the carrier Truman, one Navy family member said it appeared as though the service was "scrambling." Adding to the stress for many was a cross-country move for families while the Lincoln was deployed, since its homeport was moving from Virginia to San Diego. Gilday said the Navy continues to look at how the services maintains and trains to spot and fix any inefficiencies. "We may find ways to be in maybe more creatively employ our forces," he said. "But at the same time, I need to make sure that we have a predictable model for families and sailors." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read More: After Extended Deployment, the USS Abraham Lincoln Turns Toward Home Travelex is restoring some online services 2 weeks after being hit by a major cyber attack Foreign currency giant Travelex is restoring some online services two weeks after being hit by a major cyber attack. A ransomware virus on New Year's Eve led to the shut-down of the firm's systems. Although some services are returning, banks that use Travelex to run their foreign exchange services are still unable to sell travel money. The Sodinokibi gang is demanding the firm pay 4.6 million to unlock its systems. The hackers claim to have spent six months collecting data, including credit card details, but Travelex says no customer data has been breached. Chief executive Tony D'Souza says: 'We are now at the point where we are able to start restoring functionality in our partner and customer services.' m.dilworth@dailymail.co.uk Is the Himalayan border heating up, beyond Indias visual range? An idea, if not the complete answer, could be had from the October 2019 visits by Chinese President Xi Jinping to India and Nepal, followed by the Beijing-New Delhi boundary talks on December 21, 2019. President Xi had an informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11-12 at Mamallapuram, followed by an October 12-13 official meeting in Kathmandu with the President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, thereby becoming the first Chinese President to visit the Himalayan state in 23 years. Nepal was understandably happy as Beijing announced 3.5 billion-yuan support (Nepalese Rs 56 billion) over the next two years for development programmes. On his arrival in Nepal, however, Mr Xi thundered: Any attempt to split China will be crushed. One isnt quite sure what prompted Mr Xi use such words of dire warning. Is Nepal attempting to split China? Unlikely. The Nepalese are honourable, self-respecting people. Assuming that Nepal does have the ability to do such daredevilry; the reality of the capability mismatch between 1.4 billion Chinese and 30 million Nepalese, ensconced between Delhi and Beijing, in a landlocked terrain, makes such a thought a hallucination. Strangely though, no sooner did Mr Xi leave Kathmandu October 13, strange things began to occur. Indias internal matter pertaining to two Union territories was dragged into Nepal. The official release of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh maps, though completely unconnected, not contiguous to Nepal, without a common border, was raised and linked with the disputed territory of Kalapani on November 6. What appeared bewildering was the sudden shrill tone, tenor and language of Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli: The government will take an initiative to vacate Indian troops from the disputed Kalapani region... it will not allow anyone to encroach on even an inch of Nepalese territory. Was the Nepal PM taking his cue from Beijing? Mr Olis language was directed towards an India that has an open border with Nepal since the dawn of civilisation; and Indian and Nepalese cross-border-movements have never been questioned. Hence, there has never been any big discord between the two neighbours, where blood relations on both sides exist in millions, transcending barriers. Is this enduring, unshakeable India-Nepal bond an eyesore to the Chinese, across the Himalayan heights? Beijing is always apprehensive and fearful about the traditional Tibet-Nepal-India axis, constituting unique civilisational ties through the high hills, in which China stands in complete disconnect and as a misfit owing to uncommon language, complex culture, indifferent thoughts, strange beliefs, intolerant ideology and remote geography? In fact, had China been in close proximity to Nepal, it would have gone the Tibet way long ago. Like Lhasa today, Kathmandu would be the serfs of the Chinese. The high priest of the Pashupatinath Temple would be chosen and dismissed at will by mandarins and czars of the Communist Party of China. Nepal would have been another Chinese province, with ruthless suppression of rights, privileges, language, culture and religion. The truth didnt take long to surface. On November 13, 2019, angry Nepalese protesters burnt effigies of Chinese President Xi Jinping over border encroachment, as in early November 209 the Nepal survey department released data showing Beijings attempts to encroach land for road-building in at least four districts Sankhuwasabha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Humla which have a border with Tibet. The official Nepalese data showed Kathmandu would lose several hundreds of hectares of land to the Chinese encroachment. The official survey data also revealed some places near Arun Khola, Kamu Khola and Samjung are now parts of Tibets Tingisuyan area. Contextually, do Indians remember a similar Chinese modus operandi to (first) encroach, and finally usurp, Ladakhs Aksai Chin tract in the mid-1950s, and penetration through J&K for the Kashgarh-Gwadar road as part of China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor in the 21st century? Is Beijings road-building enterprise an alibi? A convenient and easy route to capture terrain and expand territory? Is China President-for-life Xi Jinpings signature foreign (or conquest) policy operating with the same motto in mind? What makes things truly extraordinary is that Nepals Supreme Court has sought within 15 days the countrys original map exchanged with India during signing of the Sigauli Treaty in 1816 after a petition sought the courts intervention to secure Nepali territory. No doubt, the Nepal Supreme Court order is its internal matter. Nevertheless, from Indias point of view, the border being a bilateral issue, India has to remain alert and act to make matters clear, should the need arise. What is striking is that a hitherto hot (north) Sino-Nepalese border dispute suddenly turns around into a (south) India-Nepal border issue requiring judicial intervention by Nepals top court, thereby making it a charged and emotive issue, pregnant with disruptive thoughts and hostile acts on both sides of the tranquil border. Coincidentally, Kathmandus determined search for an India-Nepal border map also comes soon after a New Delhi visit by Chinese state councillor Wang Yi for border talks with India last month. Is it divine intervention? Good news? Or a prelude to an unrelenting, and unending, problem? A fresh front on the Himalayan border? Though hardly anything substantive appeared in the public domain after the China-India border talks, except words like reached consensus on cooperation and trust and Beijing put forward a practical framework for solving border issues; nevertheless, if the vernacular media is to be believed, then its a matter of concern for India that China suggested that the priority of the border talks be the Sikkim sector. Understandably, and quite rightly, India hasnt given its assent. But why bring Sikkim out of the blue into the border talks? Is it another Chinese ploy to shift the goalposts? Sikkim was hardly a point of dispute in the overall Sino-Indian boundary issue. It is therefore clear that China wants to broaden the border canvas, trying to draw multi-organic entities and ethnicities to make things difficult and complicated for India on the diplomatic high table. This may put India on a constant backfoot. Showing this country in poor light, as the creator of all problems. Remember Doklam 2017? Thats a stones throw distance from Sikkim. Across Bhutan. Where India, Bhutan and Tibet meet. Remember the weakest spot where China attacked India on October 20, 1962? Namka Chu rivulet and Dhola post. Where India, Bhutan and Tibet meet. Another tri-junction. Today, Kathmandu is keen on India-Nepal border scrutiny, with special reference to Kalapani! Indian pilgrims on their way to Kailash-Masarovar is yet another tri-junction where India, Nepal and Tibet meet. Is the plan to make the entire Himalayan border hot? Why are the Chinese trying to convert bilaterals into trilaterals? Is it to force India to divert precious resources towards Sino-India divergence, and pressuring New Delhi to leave the convergence Indias trade, commerce, industrial and banking sectors to China. There is an urgent need to check the long-term strategy of the Chinese in India. New Delhi simply cannot accept the brazen multi-pronged, multi-fanged juggernaut of the dragon. WASHINGTON New impeachment evidence released by House Democrats on Tuesday included texts sent between Connecticut congressional candidate Robert Hyde and Soviet-born businessman Lev Parnas in 2019. It appears Hyde worked with Parnas to monitor the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitchs movements in Ukraine, as a campaign unfolded to remove her from her post. The text suggest that Hyde worked with a Ukrainian team to track Yovanovitch, possibly with the goal of interfering with her work in some fashion. If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces, Hyde wrote to Parnas on March 26, 2019. They are willing to help if we/you would like a price, Hyde wrote in one chilling message. Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money... what I was told. Hyde did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Early in the text exchange, Hyde and Parnas shared many links to news articles about growing calls for Yovanovitchs removal in March 2019. Hyde wrote to Parnas, Wow. Cant believe Trumo [sic] hasnt fired this bitch. Ill get right in [sic] that. Hyde and Parnas exchanged numerous messages about Yovanovitchs precise whereabouts. She under heavy protection outside Kiev, Hyde wrote to Parnas. Two days later, he wrote to Parnas: They are moving her tomorrow. Hyde followed up, The guys over there asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them. Then he provided more details about Yovanovitchs movements, noting her computer was off and she was outside the embassy. They will let me know when she is on the move, Hyde wrote. Parnas responded, Perfect. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, claims Jeffrey Epstein used his two private islands to engage in a nearly two-decade conspiracy to traffic and abuse girls as young as 11 or 12 Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused and trafficked hundreds of girls and young women on his private Caribbean island as recently as 2018 and had a database to keep track of their availability, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands. The lawsuit, filed against the millionaire pedophile's estate on Wednesday, claims Epstein used his two private islands in the U.S. territory to engage in a nearly two-decade conspiracy to traffic and abuse girls as young as 11 or 12. Many of the victims were allegedly aspiring models from South America and he used fake modelling visas to fly them across international borders to his two islands - known as Little Saint James and Great Saint James - the lawsuit claims. Epstein used associates to rotate the victims and he allegedly had a computerised database that he used to track the availability of the girls and women. At one point, the suit alleges, Epstein and his associates organised a search party to catch a 15-year-old victim trying to swim away after she was forced to engage in sex acts with him. The girl's passport was confiscated by Epstein in order to hold her captive, the lawsuit claims. Air traffic controllers in the region also spotted Epstein exiting a private plane with young girls as recently as 2018, according to the lawsuit. Many of the victims were allegedly aspiring models from South America and he used fake modeling visas to fly them across international borders to his two islands - known as Little Saint James (above)and Great Saint James - the lawsuit claims Court documents claim that Epstein refused to allow an investigator to step foot on his Little Saint James island in July 2018, claiming that the dock (above) was his front door Court documents claim that Epstein refused to allow an investigator to step foot on his Little Saint James island in July 2018, claiming that the dock was his front door. The investigator, who worked for the Virgin Island's Department of Justice, was carrying out a routine check of Epstein given he was on the sex offender registry. The latest lawsuit expands the scope of abuse and misconduct allegations leveled against Epstein who killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell in August while awaiting trial. Epstein had pleaded not guilty to charges of abusing women and girls between 2002 and 2005 in New York and Florida. But federal prosecutors in the Virgin Islands claims that Epstein's misconduct was much more more extensive and continued to as recently 2018. They claim Epstein, with the help of alleged accomplices, 'trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive' underage girls and young women at his Virgin Islands properties. The lawsuit seeks to confiscate hundreds of millions of dollars from Epstein's estimated $577.7 million estate in the Virgin Islands. A lawyer for the estate and its executors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ukraine to demand Iran to pay extra compensations to families of killed in UIA plane crash President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with the relatives of the Ukrainians, who have been killed in Ukrainian International Airlines' (UIA) plane crash in Iran, reported that several bodies have been already identified and promised to provide all necessary aid for burial. As Office of President reported on Wednesday, Zelensky has said that now ten Ukrainian specialists remain in Iran to deal with identification and repatriation of killed people to Ukraine. "Now several of our citizens are identified," Zelensky said. The head of state also informed that he set the task to repatriate the bodies of the killed persons to Ukraine as soon as possible. "We hope that this should happen on January 19. Perhaps, plus or minus two days. But we have set such a task for both our and Iranian specialists," he said. In addition, according to the president, Ukraine will demand additional compensation from Iran. WASHINGTON - The Democratic presidential field is united in lambasting President Donald Trumps handling of Americas military presence in the Middle East, but the candidates are sharply divided on how to do it better. Their solutions range from pulling out to cutting back. Aside from relying more heavily on allies and diplomacy, the Democrats are imprecise about ending Americas endless wars. They spoke in unusual detail about their Mideast policy views in Tuesday nights debate in Des Moines, Iowa. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont took the more aggressive stances on reducing the U.S. military role in the Mideast. Former Vice-President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota called for a continued though curtailed presence. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, broadly spoke of remaining engaged without having an endless commitment of ground troops. Warren says its time to stop asking the military to solve problems that require political solutions, including in Afghanistan, where about 13,000 U.S. troops are performing two main missions: training and advising Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban and conducting direct combat against an affiliate of the Islamic State group. The war in Afghanistan, which the U.S. started by invading in 2001, has lasted longer than any in American history. We need to get our combat troops out, Warren said twice during the debate. In one case she was referring to Afghanistan; in the other, the broader Middle East. In neither instance did she define what she meant by combat troops, though she seemed to refer to those in war zones in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Our keeping combat troops there is not helping, she said. We need to work with our allies. We need to use our economic tools. We need to use our diplomatic tools. Diplomats have tried, with some recent signs of potential success, to bring the Taliban and the Afghan government to the table to negotiate a peace deal. The U.S. militarys prevailing view is that a sudden U.S. pullout would embolden the Taliban, leave the Afghan government vulnerable and undermine near-term chances of ending the war. Three presidents have struggled with the Afghanistan problem, starting with George W. Bush, who ordered the invasion in October 2001 in response to the 9-11 attacks by al-Qaida, which the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan had been harbouring at the time. President Barack Obama campaigned on ending the Iraq War, which Bush started in 2003, but Obama saw Afghanistan as the good war, and he vastly increased the U.S. troop commitment there in 2009. Biden, who as vice-president had unsuccessfully urged Obama to narrow the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan to countering terrorism rather than building up the Afghan army and police, did not directly address Afghanistan during Tuesdays debate. But speaking of the Mideast more broadly, he countered Warren by arguing that small numbers of U.S. troops are needed to patrol the strategic Persian Gulf and to deal with the Islamic State group, which has lost its territorial hold in Syria and Iraq but is still present in both countries and seeking a comeback. Biden said Trump is erring by calling for a pullout from Syria. ISIS is going to reconstitute itself, Biden said, referring to the Islamic State group, which emerged during the Obama years, generating combat power inside Syria and then sweeping across the border into Iraq in 2014 to grab large swaths of territory. Asked at Tuesdays debate how he would prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group, Sanders pointed to allies. What we need to do is have an international coalition, he said without noting that there already is a coalition of several dozen countries that are allied with Washington in countering the Islamic State group. We cannot keep acting unilaterally. Trump has said repeatedly that he is getting the U.S. out of Middle East wars, but in fact he has sent about 20,000 additional troops to the region this year. In response to what his administration has called threatening behaviour by Iran, Trump has added Navy ships in the Gulf and Arabian Sea, and warplanes to bases in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. In recent days he sent about 4,000 combat troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, plus Marines, to Kuwait and other places in the Middle East to counter what he has called provocations by Iran and threats to U.S. embassies. U.S. forces, including air and naval forces, have been based in the Middle East for decades, in part to ensure a free flow of oil from countries such as Saudi Arabia that have long been an energy lifeline. Military bases in the region host tens of thousands of American troops, including in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. No Democratic candidate is calling for a total U.S. withdrawal from that region, but some of their prescriptions for improving on the Trump approach are less than clear. Klobuchar, for example, said she would leave some troops in the Middle East, but fewer than Trump. She would leave the roughly 6,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, despite the mess that has been created by Donald Trump. Klobuchar said she would bring our troops home from Afghanistan, while adding incongruously, Some would remain for counterterrorism and training. Those are the only two U.S. military missions of significance in Afghanistan; nearly every other American troop there is in support of the counterterrorism force or the training and advising mission. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game. Hitting out at BSP chief Mayawati for saying both BJP and Congress are "two sides of the same coin", the saffron party on Wednesday said she had supported the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre. Mayawati at a press conference on her 64th birthday accused the BJP and the Congress of playing "dirty politics" and alleged that the BJP-led central government follows the pattern of the previous Congress dispensation, which was punished for its wrongdoing. Terming both parties "two sides of the same coin", the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said the Congress does not have the moral right to criticise the BJP. "You (Mayawati) had extended support to the Manmohan Singh government for 10 years. In the state, you had taken the support of the Congress," BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Minister Shrikant Sharma said. The basic difference between the BJP and the Congress is that "our government bothers about pro-poor welfare schemes reaching the poor. The government of which you had been a part...instead of reaching the poor, reached the homes of those in power, especially the Congress, through the back door", he said. Mayawati told reporters that under the current regime, poverty, unemployment, anarchy, violence and tension have exceeded that during the tenure of the Congress at the Centre. She also alleged that the amendments to the citizenship law were brought without taking others into confidence. "The allegations levelled by Mayawati on our government are devoid of any fact and are politically-motivated. We dismiss them," Sharma said. The earlier governments were "anti-poor", he said, adding that "our government works for welfare of the poor". "Misuse of power has been done by the BSP, and the BSP-supported Congress government, which was at the Centre (earlier). "Even today you are 'pichhlaggoo' (hangers-on) of the Congress. Whenever the opportunity comes behenji (as Mayawati is popularly known) you stand behind the Congress," Sharma said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MUKONO The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda the Most Rt Rev Stanley Ntagali has expressed his disappointment in some of the church leaders of the church of Uganda who defy provincial assembly resolutions by pocketing offertory money collected on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Sunday meant for the university. The Rt Rev Ntagali made the remarks on Tuesday, January 14, during the community worship at the institution where they had gathered to bid him farewell as Chancellor of the University. The UCU Sunday is a day on the Church of Uganda calendar held every last Sunday of September at UCU which is a fundraising day where all the offertory collected on that day is to be given to the University. This is a resolution of the provincial assembly as a solution to the institutions limited funds as a result of high taxes by the government. The Vice-Chancellor Dr Rev Canon John Senyonyi said that the institution can not survive on the students tuition because it is too little to run the universitys activities. UCU can not be run on students tuition because the money is too little as most of it is taken by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to pay taxes. Dr Rev Senyonyi said The Most Rev Ntagali noted that when the theology college was turned into a university about 23 years ago there was an agreement that 1% of the offertory from each diocese be sent to the institution which was never implemented. We, therefore, came up with the UCU Sunday to find raise money for the university. On this day, all the offertory collected in all parishes of the church of Uganda is to be sent to UCU. He said However, he was disappointed as he retires that no even his own diocese Kampala with well off people has been able to collect the money as it was resolved by the provincial assembly. The resolution of the assembly should be followed up to dot. He noted Related WASHINGTON - The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, expected to open in the Senate on Thursday, is shining an intense spotlight on a handful of Senate Republicans who hold the power to decide how the trial will proceed. For weeks, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have been questioned about the twists and turns of the House impeachment proceedings, but they have largely declined to comment, waiting until the issue surfaced in their chamber. But they will now become central characters in the highly anticipated impeachment trial of Trump, where many of the partisan lines have already been drawn and Democrats have vowed to exert pressure on the group to break with their party on key questions such as obtaining documents and calling witnesses. Whether Trump's trial uncovers new information through fresh witnesses and documents or ultimately becomes a largely preordained exercise will likely come down to these Republican senators - who, at least publicly, are shrugging off the scrutiny. "People can express their own view if they'd like," Romney said Tuesday. "I intend to be as impartial as the oath requires." Despite their role as potential swing GOP votes in a narrowly divided Senate, they have yet to defect in any significant fashion from party leaders, who in turn have been willing to accommodate the group's requests as Republicans finalize a measure that will set the parameters of the trial. After a formal start set tentatively for Thursday, the bulk of the trial is set to begin in earnest next week. In one nod to the group, there is expected to be a provision guaranteeing a vote on whether the Senate could consider subpoenaing witnesses, according to two GOP officials familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the resolution has not been made public. Collins had indicated last week that she wanted to ensure that senators will get to vote on the ability to call witnesses. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and a number of other senators, including members of his leadership team, has made it clear that he would prefer no witnesses be called during the trial but has not foreclosed the possibility. Both Democrats and even some Republicans, however, have vowed to force votes on witnesses - potentially sending the Senate into chaos. McConnell noted Tuesday that both parties would get a say on witnesses, telling reporters: "I can't imagine that only the witnesses that our Democratic colleagues would want to call would be called." GOP leaders are confident that once voting begins to set the scope of the trial - called an organizing resolution - that no Republicans will defect, with the moderates placated by a guaranteed decision on witnesses later. That calculus could change once the Senate goes through the grind of opening arguments and a litany of questions, and if key GOP senators become dissatisfied that they hadn't gotten enough information from the trial proceedings. Though the likes of Romney, Collins, Murkowski and Alexander have been the most closely watched, other endangered Republicans on the ballot this year - such as Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona - are also being scrutinized. For weeks, Democrats have pushed for four current and former administration officials to testify, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton. Bolton, who could shed more light on whether Trump withheld military aid and a White House visit from Ukraine to force its president to investigate his political rivals, said last week that he would be willing to testify before the Senate if subpoenaed. Romney said this week that he presumes he will vote in favor of hearing from Bolton, though he added that his view could change depending on what he hears from the trial. He also said Tuesday that he doesn't "plan to put a list together" of desired witnesses. Last week, Murkowski said she would be "curious" as to what Bolton would have to say, but she had not made a commitment on whether she wants to hear from the former White House official. "I won't know until we get there," Murkowski said this week. "I need to hear first from both sides. I'll only be able to formulate my questions [while listening] to the questions and responses from members. We'll all have the opportunity to weigh in. That's what we're trying to do is make sure that we all have a guaranteed opportunity [to weigh in]." Others, such as Collins and Alexander, have declined to specify which witnesses, if any, they would like to hear from and likely will not until after the first phase of the trial is over. "We have a constitutional responsibility here. Just because the House was a circus doesn't mean the Senate needs to be," Alexander said Tuesday. "So we should hear the case, not dismiss it. We should hear the arguments, we should ask our questions, and then we should vote on whether we need additional evidence. And I think that's a fair and impartial way to go about it." White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland on Tuesday declined to say whether the administration was paying special attention to the requests of the four senators and other potential swing votes, suggesting that officials were watching all Republicans as the trial progresses. "We are very cognizant of all 53 members and their priorities, needs, objectives," he said. "And we are continuing to engage in robust work and robust conversations and partnership with a lot of Senate and House GOP members up here, as we have for the last several months." Collins, who is up for reelection this year, is poised to join three other Republicans in voting for a resolution curbing Trump's military authority in Iran. The impeachment trial is also reminiscent of other high-stakes votes in which Collins and Murkowski, in particular, have wielded considerable power. In fall 2018, Collins and Murkowski were the final undecided swing votes during the confirmation battle over then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual misconduct during his teenage and young adult years. (He denied the allegations.) Collins ultimately fell in line, while Murkowski - in a dramatic 11th-hour announcement - said she could not support the nominee. Kavanaugh was confirmed on a near party-line vote of 50 to 48 on Oct. 6. That day, Trump told The Washington Post that Murkowski would "never recover from this." In July 2017, both Collins and Murkowski defied their party on health care, dooming Republican efforts to fully undo the Affordable Care Act. They were joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; together, the three sunk a measure that would have killed key funding and protections provided by the law. Five months earlier, Collins and Murkowski voted in concert against Trump's education secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos, whom they deemed unqualified. Vice President Mike Pence was summoned to the Capitol to break a 50-50 tie on the nomination, a first. The two senators have already shown a willingness to buck their party on impeachment, refusing in October to sign on to a resolution that condemned the House inquiry. Romney joined them in declining to support the measure. Romney has maintained his own independent streak since he joined the Senate early last year, criticizing Trump on trade, opposing a judicial nominee who called former president Barack Obama an "un-American impostor" and leading the charge against Herman Cain as a potential member of the Federal Reserve Board. As of mid-2019, Romney had voted against Trump more than any other Senate Republican, while Collins holds that distinction now, according to a ranking by FiveThirtyEight. More recently, Romney has been one of the loudest Republican critics of Trump calling on Ukraine and China to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, the issue at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. Meanwhile, Alexander, a close McConnell ally, is a veteran of the chamber and one of its remaining institutionalists who also has bucked the president, including to reject Trump's emergency declaration issued last year to redirect federal funding for a border barrier. He is retiring after this term. "Any four people could be powerful," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., an ardent Trump ally. "I respect them all." The Taal volcano in the Philippines woke from a 43 year long slumber last week and a satellite captured the entire event from space. The eruption was recorded by Japan's Himawari-8 satellite, which was animated an released by that shows the plume spread over the course of January 12 and 13. The massive volcano sent ash nine miles into the air, which was followed by a gushing lava fountain that forced thousands to flee their homes. Clouds of ash blew more than 60 miles north of the volcano, reaching Manila and shutting down the country's main airport with hundreds of flights cancelled. There were no early reports of casualties but authorities were today scrambling to evacuate more than 6,000 villagers from the volcanic island in the middle of a lake which is usually a popular tourist spot. Scroll down for video The Taal volcano in the Philippines woke from a 43 year long slumber last week and a satellite captured the entire event from space. The eruption was recorded by Japan's Himawari-8 satellite, which was animated an released by that shows the plume spread over the course of January 12 and 13 The eruption began with an explosion of superheated steam and rock, but by early Monday 'fountains' of lava had been spotted on Taal, the volcano monitoring agency said. 'The plume is probably comprised mostly of water droplets,' said Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech. 'There may be some volcanic ash but in such 'wet' plumes volcanic ash can be difficult to detect as the ash particles are often covered by liquid water.' The crater of the volcano, which lies in the middle of a picturesque lake, blasted into life with towering clouds of ash and jets of red-hot lava on Sunday, forcing those living around the mountain south of Manila to rush to safety. There were no early reports of casualties but authorities were today scrambling to evacuate more than 6,000 villagers from the volcanic island in the middle of a lake which is usually a popular tourist spot. The Taal volcano is located in the Philippines just outside Manila The crater of the volcano, which lies in the middle of a picturesque lake, blasted into life with towering clouds of ash and jets of red-hot lava on Sunday, forcing those living around the mountain south of Manila to rush to safety Clouds of volcanic ash blowing over Manila, 40 miles to the north, closed the country's main airport Sunday and part of Monday until the ash fall eased. The alert level since the eruption began Sunday has been 4, indicating a hazardous eruption is possible in hours to days. Many people abandoned livestock and pets as well as homes full of belongings after authorities sounded an alert warning that an 'explosive eruption' could come imminently. Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said urged people to obey evacuation orders, saying the possibility of an explosive eruption was 'high'. The alert level since the eruption began Sunday has been 4, indicating a hazardous eruption is possible in hours to days The Taal eruption has been putting on a stunning and terrifying display, with lightning crackling through its ash cloud in a poorly understood phenomenon that has been attributed to static electricity 'We urge people living in the danger zone to evacuate and follow evacuation orders issued by the authorities, he said. 'Bring your animals and livestock to evacuation centres if you must. The Philippine Red Cross is working round the clock to assess and meet the needs of affected communities.' Taal is one of the most active volcanoes in a nation hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' - a zone of intense seismic activity. The Taal eruption has been putting on a stunning and terrifying display, with lightning crackling through its ash cloud in a poorly understood phenomenon that has been attributed to static electricity. Many people abandoned livestock and pets as well as homes full of belongings after authorities sounded an alert warning that an 'explosive eruption' could come imminently Rumour says, Samsung wont allow the users to set 120Hz refresh rate mode while the display resolution is set to QHD+. Samsung Galaxy S20+ could use 2.5D glass instead of Samsungs usual curved glass. Samsung Galaxy S20 series is all set to launch on February 11 and the leaks keep piling on. Each day, new information regarding the Galaxy S20 devices is making the rounds in the rumour mill. Now, a new leak has revealed that Samsung wont allow users to set the 120Hz refresh rate mode while the display resolution is set to QHD+. The only available options could be FHD at 60Hz, QHD+ at 60Hz and FHD at 120Hz. The latest development comes from tipster Ice Universe, who took Twitter to reveal that Samsung will not let users set 120 Hz mode at WQHD, leaving only FHD 60Hz, FHD 120Hz, WQHD 60Hz. Having 120 Hz at WQHD would certainly take a toll on the battery life of the handsets. Hence, Samsung may cap the high refresh rate to the lower resolution. However, take this news with a pinch of salt as it is all speculation, at this point. Further, a report from XDA-Developers claims that Samsung Galaxy S20 series may feature an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. While there were rumours of Samsung ditching the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in favour of an optical fingerprint scanner. It may not be true. Moreover, it says Samsung Galaxy S20+ will be the first S-series flagship without a headphone jack. Galaxy S20+ is also rumoured to support 25W fast charging with the same system as the Note10. Earlier reports have claimed that Samsung Galaxy S20+ could use 2.5D glass instead of Samsungs usual curved glass. Samsung is rumoured to use a custom 108MP primary lens on the most premium Galaxy S20 device. The Galaxy S20 trio is expected to come in 6.2/6.4 inches, 6.7 inches, 6.9 inches display sizes. Samsung may also launch its next foldable device, the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S20 series on February 11. We have nothing. We dont have that kind of money they are asking for. Those were the words of one of the nephews of couple Narine Maraj, 62, and Mattie Maraj, 52, who were kidnapped on Saturday evening after leaving their Madras, St Helena, home to tend to their animals at a family-owned farm in Piarco. Lawrence Fraley is a former high school teacher of mathematics and physics who went on to a thirty-two-year career as a university professor doing research and teaching at the graduate level, during which he contributed to the emergence of the new and independent field of basic science called behaviorology. He has completed his new book About Science, Life, and Reality: a compelling argument for a new perspective on reality and experience. Fraley writes, Applying the objectivity of science, this rework of some long-standing fundamental ideas examines the traditional but invalid concept of reality. To attain a more valid concept of reality one must comprehend certain general limitations on the formation of that conceptlimitations imposed by ones fundamental nature. This book begins with a review of some relevant characteristics of science. Next comes an exploration of the natural foundations of life. Critical limitations that the processes of life impose on a valid reality concept are subsequently revealed. This sequence of events results in a more valid concept of a concept per se. One comes to understand how the fundamental and long-held concept of reality could never have been established logically in the first place. The newly emergent concept of reality is thus intriguingly different from the notion of reality that traditionally has been entertained. Published by Page Publishing, Lawrence Fraleys engrossing book is a must-read for academics and natural science buffs alike. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase About Science, Life, and Reality at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Im thirty (not for much longer, actually). Im not really flirty (read; no idea how-to-basic-flirt, dont know who I would flirt with, Im pretty awkward around men/in generaland what even is flirting?). And thriving? Well, it dependshow do you define thriving? 30 things you should accomplish before youre 30 I just went and did a good old-fashioned Google search for things a 30-year-old should have accomplished in their lifetime. What a silly thing to Google, right? As I hit the Enter key, I vaguely hoped nobody had the audacity to actually lay out where I should be at in life. But what do you know, the search page promptly presented me with a bus load of blog posts and articles on 30 things one should accomplish by the time youre 30. Well goodness me, whatever have I been doing with my life all these years?! ITS ALL BEEN A WASTE! Now sure, some of these articles held some palatable wisdom. But most of them werehow can I say this nicelyrubbish. Even one of the better articles had a tagline reading, A simple checklist for moving into adulthood. Wow! Who knew successful adulthood was as easy as 1,2,3?! The road less travelled My life choices have taken me down quite a winding and wandering path. Its been rather unpredictable. Not only do others never quite know what Ill do next neither do I most of the time! Theres never been any consistency or upward trajectory in terms of career or savings. Its been listening to Gods leading, taking big risks, learning who I am, following my heart and investing in relationships. Its been beautiful and wild and terrifying, and sometimes really lonely. When I look around and see everyone with their houses and careers and families, its easy to feel like Im all alone on my path, and tempting to want to hop on over to theirs. Yet still, the draw into the unknown remains strong. The cost I recently made a very intentional decision to pursue things which bring me joy and are in line with my natural giftings. So far this has resulted in registering 3 business names, doing a short floristry course, enrolling in a business course and starting an internship. While beginning these new ventures has certainly added joy and fulfilment to my life, and my creativity is doing a happy dance, my finances have taken a spin around the metaphorical plug-hole. I think I can even hear that awful sucking sound as they disappear into oblivion. Although I chuckle as I write, most days it doesnt feel very fun. Many days I question the meaning of life. Send despairing text messages to a trusted friend. Lie on the floor. Cry. Sob. Complain. Ask, Whyyy God?. Lose sleep trying to come up with solutions. Feel like a mega failure. Try my hardest to be thankful for my beaten-up old car but really just cringe with embarrassment when it painfully chugs up a hill, unsure whether it has the strength or will to carry its faithful driver to the top, dreaming of having a nice car one day that doesnt leak water onto my feet when it rains. That ol imaginary timeline Its not just the lack of finances thats uncomfortable. I think an almost greater battle I face comes from holding myself to an imaginary timeline and beating myself up for missing every milestone. House? Nope, still living with my parents. Boyfriend/husband/children? Nope, just a collection of heart-breaking/maddening/frustrating/comically tragic relationship/dating stories. Money in the bank? Ha. Career? Double ha ha! Whenever I do the imaginary timeline checklist game, it opens the door for insecurity to barge on in. Whenever I look around and see what everyone else is up to, in comparison with my own life, I question the direction Im going in and the choices Im making. Shame tells me Im not doing enough, and that everybody knows it. But when I stop, when I quiet my heart and mind, when I dig beneath the anxiety of working hard but living week-to-week not quite sure if money will stretch, I know Im where Im meant to be. Theres no timeline I need to stick to. Society might expect certain things from me, but thankfully Im not bound to peoples expectations. I get to go on an adventure with God. I get to listen to and be guided by his voice, knowing hell lead me in his perfect way, in his perfect time. Knowing where hes taking me is a tailor-made adventure full of purpose and destiny that only I can fulfil. Leaning in Through this wilderness, where it seems I could run out of provision at any moment, Im learning to fully trust, to fully rely on God to sustain me. I have no other choice. I guess thats why God so often seems to have us in such uncomfortable placesto teach us trust! By societys standards I dont think anyone would say Im thriving. Especially given my fairly regular and honest outbursts on how Im REALLY doing. But as a daughter of God? I reckon he thinks Im doing okay. I think hed say hes proud of me. So, I lean into Him. I lean into trust. I lean into the path God has me on, knowing hell get me where he wants me, knowing if I fail Hes still with me, knowing that as long as Hes close, Ill thrive. Bonnie loves all things old-fashioned, travelling, beautiful things (especially flowers), coffee with friends and being with her family. She is passionate about broken hearts and relationships being restored through the power of vulnerability and honesty with God and others. Bonnie Dowies previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/bonnie-dowie.html A San Francisco company is trying to convince office workers to start lying down on the job with an enormous reclining desk. Created by Altwork, the Signature Station desk was first released in 2016 for $5,500, and the company recently demonstrated an updated $7,600 model that includes built-in plugs and an optional 40-pound spring housing to keep heavier computer displays in place. According to Altwork, working from your back improves circulation, which can contribute both to minimize physical ailments and improve productivity. Altwork's updated Signature Station desk costs $7,600 and will let users switch between a sitting position and lying on their back at a customizable angle they choose for themselves In a new report on Altworks updated chair, Mashables Chris Taylor says the experience of working while lying down isnt just more comfortable but more productive. Freed of the distracting discomfort brought on by endless sitting or standing the restless legs, the never-straight-enough spine your brain suddenly finds itself more able to get on with the business of putting its best thoughts on the screen, Taylor writes. Once you get over the panicky sensation that the monitor is about to drop on your face, that is. The demo left Taylor imagining 'hours of productivity in comfort so complete it almost seems illegal.' To help prevent all the keyboard and mouse in place, Altwork uses a set of magnets on the underside of its desk to keep everything securely in place. While research on the exact effects of this position are scarce, some preliminary studies have shown substantial improvements in cognitive performance. According to Altwork, working from a standard seated position with your torso and legs at a 90-degree angle, impedes blood flow as your hips fold in on themselves. While lying back with your legs and torso opening to at least a 135-degree angle, blood can move more freely through your body. One experiment, organized by Australian National University psychologist Darren Lipnicki, suggested there are real biochemical benefits to working from your back. To test the idea, he gave subjects a set of 32 anagrams--a scrambled combination of letters that could be recombined to form a word. While comprehensive research is still lacking, Altwork argues that people experience better circulation on their backs, which can improve health and productivity alike In theory, there may be greater release of a chemical, noradrenaline, in the brain when standing up than when lying down, Lipnicki told Phys.org. Its suspected that noradrenaline inhibits the abilities to solve anagrams and to think creatively so we decided to test the idea that lying down would actually help solve anagrams more quickly. Altwork uses specially designed magnets to keep one's keyboard and mouse in place on the metal desk, even when it's perpendicular to the ground Some subjects were asked to solve the anagrams while standing, and others worked on them while lying down. He found the average completion time for the anagrams was almost 20 percent faster when the subjects were lying down, 26.3 seconds compared to 30 seconds. Altwork's CEO Che Voight has said many of his company's clients use the desk to help with medical conditions, including spinal problems, though many leave those details out of their public testimonial about the company's product. One person who experienced a demo of Altwork's desk described 'hours of productivity in comfort so complete it almost seems illegal.' Researchers have long known that spending significant amounts of time in an upright seated position comes along with serious longterm consequences. In 2019, a survey of 1,000 office workers in the United Kingdom found that almost half reported regular headaches, sore backs, while 30 percent regularly had sore wrists, and 15 percent had sore legs. The team also created a composite model of what an office worker in the future might look like, based on the complaints of the office workers they interviewed. The composite was nicknamed Emma, and was afflicted with irritated eyes, varicose veins, swollen wrists and ankles from poor circulation, a swollen nose from low quality office air, and a permanently bent back. Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch arrives to testify during an impeachment inquiry hearing: EPA The former US ambassador to Ukraine, who testified in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, has called for an investigation into whether she was spied on before she was ousted by the president. Text exchanges released by Congress on Tuesday suggest Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador, had been placed under surveillance by Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate and Trump donor. Mr Hyde told Lev Parnas, an associate of Mr Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, he had unnamed sources who could let [him] know when she is on the move and suggested he knew when Ms Yovanovitchs phone and computer were turned off. In response to the documents, Ms Yovanovitchs lawyer said an investigation should be launched into Mr Hydes comments. The notion that American citizens and others were monitoring ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing, a statement from the lawyer said. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation. Ms Yovanovitch became involved in the impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump after she was removed from her position in May 2019 following a smear campaign against her by the presidents allies. In a July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, Mr Trump said the former ambassador was going to go through some things. Democrats have suggested she was removed from her position to allow the Trump administration to pressure Mr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into 2020 candidate Joe Biden. In the newly-released text messages, Mr Hyde is shown referring to Ms Yovanovitch as that b**** and appearing to discuss how to remove her from her position. If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces, the congressional candidate told Mr Parnas, according to the documents. He also sent messages giving Mr Parnas detailed updates that implied he was watching the former ambassador. She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off, he wrote, adding that she was under heavy security and we have a person inside. Story continues Mr Hyde later wrote on Twitter that the release of the document was laughable and suggested that his comments had been made in jest. For them [the House Intelligence Committee] to take some texts my buddys and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable, he said. He added that he would welcome an investigation and claimed he was willing to provide his email password and phone to investigators. Read more Giuliani acted on Trumps consent while pushing for Ukraine meeting A 2018 Tinder survey shows 72% of young millennials, ages 18 to 25, have "made a conscious decision" to stay single at one time or another. But while young people seem to be embracing the single life, there could be financial implications for remaining unmarried for the average American at least in the workplace. In the U.S., 90% of companies offer additional benefits to married employees and families over single staffers, according to "The Cost of Being Single Revealed," a 2019 report from employee benefits provider Thomsons Online Benefits, which surveyed 300 human resources decision makers in the U.S. This benefits gap is a problem, says Matthew Jackson, vice president of client solutions at Thomsons Online Benefits. Single people shouldn't be shorted on their benefits "simply because of family structure," he tells CNBC Make It. "In 2017, the U.S. Census reported over 110 million Americans over the age of 18 are currently unmarried," Jackson says. "That's 45% of the U.S. population." Where the disparity lies Benefits disparities between single and married employees vary in type and scope, the data shows. On average, married employees receive 3.6 more days of paid time off (PTO) per year than single workers. Often, this is due to PTO that's offered for wedding-related occasions, such as weddings and honeymoons. But this gap encompasses more than PTO. Here are five other areas where Thomsons found disparities: Health care: In the U.S., employers contribute an average of $462 per month to a married person's health care plan. That's $118 more than the average $344 contributed to single employees' plans per month. Here, the gap has a lot to do with the actual costs of health care. "The premium for a family is obviously more than the premium for a single person, hence the value discrepancy," Jackson says. It also has to do with the potential that a person's spouse may fall sick, meaning there's now double the likelihood that someone in a household may experience health-related issues. In the U.S., employers contribute an average of $462 per month to a married person's health care plan. That's $118 more than the average $344 contributed to single employees' plans per month. Here, the gap has a lot to do with the actual costs of health care. "The premium for a family is obviously more than the premium for a single person, hence the value discrepancy," Jackson says. It also has to do with the potential that a person's spouse may fall sick, meaning there's now double the likelihood that someone in a household may experience health-related issues. Family leave: Nearly 40 million Americans provide care to adults with a disability or illness, yet 70% of companies will only allow paid family leave to staffers who are parents, according to the report. Nearly 40 million Americans provide care to adults with a disability or illness, yet 70% of companies will only allow paid family leave to staffers who are parents, according to the report. Pensions: Of the HR decision makers Thomsons surveyed, 34% said that they offer "additional pension contributions" to employees who are legally married. Of the HR decision makers Thomsons surveyed, 34% said that they offer "additional pension contributions" to employees who are legally married. Bereavement leave: Just 29% of companies allow time off for a friend's funeral and only about a quarter (25%) will offer bereavement leave for the funeral of a boyfriend or girlfriend. In comparison, more than half (65%) of companies would offer additional PTO for the death of a spouse. Just 29% of companies allow time off for a friend's funeral and only about a quarter (25%) will offer bereavement leave for the funeral of a boyfriend or girlfriend. In comparison, more than half (65%) of companies would offer additional PTO for the death of a spouse. Flexible working: More than half (56%) of U.S. companies will allow employees with children to work four days per week. However, the option to work a four-day week isn't not as common for staffers without kids; just 36% of employers offer it to employees without kids. How to improve your circumstances at work even if you're single Getting married introduces "a whole host of tangible benefits" both at work and through federal tax breaks, Jackson says. But even if you are single, there are ways to optimize your benefits. Unmarried employees can start by understanding all of the benefits offered by their company. It may seem simple, but in 2018 just half of U.S. employees said they understood their benefits packages, according to data from employee benefits news site BenefitsPro. That's a 27% drop from 2015 when 77% said they understood them. Why is this a problem? Say a family member dies and you don't know if your employer offers bereavement leave. Or if you are unaware that your workplace offers an employer-sponsored retirement savings fund, such as a 401(k), with a match, you could be missing out on part of your compensation. To ensure you comprehend all of your benefits and are aware of what's offered, you can reach out to your benefits advisor or human resources manager at work. Additionally, you can let your employer know that they may be adding to this benefits gap. "In this tight labor market, employees have more power," Jackson says. "Employers want to offer competitive benefits in order to hire and retain top talent." Speaking up may alert unaware employers to the gap in their benefits program for unmarried employers. If your employer offers a feedback survey, that could be a good way to bring up the issue. At many companies, "there are growth 'check-in' employee sentiment solutions, like quick pulse surveys, that employees should take full advantage of with offering their thoughts on benefits," Jackson says. It all starts with getting your company's attention and making leadership and human resources cognizant of the issues. "A lot of companies may not even be aware of the benefits disparities within their system because it's just always how it's been done," Jackson says. "Unmarried employees can start by raising awareness of the issue." What can companies do to tighten the gap? Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Id.) should abandon efforts to address wide marijuana policy questions and instead concentrate on the financial services implications, the American Bankers Association said. While we appreciate that there is a wide universe of cannabis-related public policy concerns that require the attention of Congress, we strongly urge the Committee to maintain the narrow focus of the SAFE Banking Act on enabling the provision of basic financial services to state-sanctioned businesses, James Ballentine, ABAs executive vice president of congressional relations and political affairs wrote in a letter to Crapo. The SAFE Banking Act is the House-passed legislation that calls for a safe harbor for financial institutions wishing to provide services to marijuana-related businesses. The ABA and CUNA have endorsed the legislation, but Crapo said he is opposed to it because it does not address the broader implications of cannabis legalization. NAFCU has not taken a position on the legislation. The Hanoi administration has ordered the local police to promptly verify reports of a local child sex ring allegedly grooming virgin young girls for sex. Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has issued a dispatch to the citys Department of Police, asking the agency to launch an investigation into the alleged crime. A series of investigative reports aired on Sunday and Monday by national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) exposed an illegal sex ring in Ba Vi District that has allegedly manipulated teenage girls into selling their virginity. In video interviews, the victims, who are mostly 14 and 15 year olds, claimed they had been tricked into doing easy jobs for up to VND500,000 (US$21.5) each time. The girls said they were not aware their virginity was being offered for sale or that the job was prostitution. Once a price on the girls virginity had been agreed upon by a client, they would be taken to a location for sex with the payer, often against their will. Ring members were careful to switch vehicles multiple times along the way to avoid being tracked. Nguyen Duc Binh, principal of Khanh Thuong Middle School in Ba Vi District, said he spotted a suspicious taxi and motorbike on his way to work on the afternoon of December 9, 2019. The two vehicles were parked in front of an alley, Binh stated, adding that there were two women on the motorcycle, which did not have a license plate. As Binh came closer, the women on the motorbike zoomed away and he saw N.T.T.H. and N.P.T., who are ninth graders at his school, walked out of the alley and headed toward the cab. The principal stopped them and took them to his office, before calling their parents for a working session. H. and T. later admitted they were about to meet with their customers following the arrangement of two women named Anh and Yen. The Hanoi administration has asked that police officers submit the result of their investigation into the suspected child sex ring by no later than January 30. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Former UK Consulate Employee Details Nightmare of Being Detained, Tortured in China Former British consulate employee Simon Cheng couldnt have imagined that his participation in the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests would land him in a prison in China and labeled an enemy of the state. Last August, the Hongkongers short business trip to the Chinese border city of Shenzhen turned into a nightmare: For 15 days, Cheng was held incommunicado, accused by Chinese authorities of being a British spy, and tortured to extract intelligence about protesters in his home city. Since June 2019, demonstrators had taken to Hong Kongs streets en masse in opposition to the Chinese regimes growing interference in the citys affairs. Cheng was only released after making a televised appearance on a state-run broadcaster confessing his crime of soliciting prostitution, a violation of Chinese law. Cheng has repudiated this confession, saying he was forced to admit the charge, which he described as politically motivated. He has since resigned from his post at the UK consulate in Hong Kong and spoken out about his experience, insisting that he will not be silenced. However, this has come at a cost. Cheng has cut off ties with his relatives in Hong Kong and mainland China in the hopes they can live in tranquility and peace, without external harassment and threat, he wrote in a Jan. 9 Facebook post. We once loved and nurtured each other, now we better forget it, as we will take no more agony and worry, Cheng added. Activists gather outside the British Consulate-General building in Hong Kong on Aug. 21, 2019, following reports that Simon Cheng, a Hong Kong consulate employee had been detained by mainland Chinese authorities on his way back to the city. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) A Nightmare Over the summer, the then 28-year-old was at the forefront of several protests in Hong Kong. Sometimes, he would try to negotiate with local police who had surrounded demonstrators and blocked their way. In early August, however, an encounter with mainland authorities turned his life upside down. While on the way back from his business trip, he was arrested at a mainland Chinese checkpoint at Hong Kongs West Kowloon Station, steps away from Hong Kong territory. Mainland customs officers seized his backpack and phone, and put him in custody. Late that night, he was escorted onto a high-speed train to Shenzhen and handed over to Chinese police officers on the high-speed train to Shenzhen. Cheng tried to ask the escorting police what they would do to him. Dont be so insolent, brat! he recalled a burly plain-clothes officer saying, in a Dec. 31 interview with The Epoch Times in London. At this, Cheng immediately threw his hands up. The officers took him to a police station in the district of Futian, Shenzhen. Once the car got into the police station, you had nowhere to turn for help, because you are basically left to their mercy, you are in their domain, he said. It marked the beginning of what Cheng would remember as a 15-day nightmare. No Human Rights The interrogation began shortly after his arrival at the station. Cheng was made to sit inside a steel cage, with his hands cuffed and body shackled to an iron stool, while interrogators grilled him for seven to eight hours. They pressed Cheng on his as well as the UK governments role in the Hong Kong riots, and asked him to give names of mainlanders who joined in the protests. Suppose what you do is legal in Hong Kong, but where are you right now? Once you are in mainland China, you are subject to the mainlands judicial standard, they told him. It was a blatant contradiction of the one country, two systems policy, but I couldnt retort back under the circumstances. I could only express my sense of remorse, Cheng said, referring to the framework governing the city under which the Chinese regime pledged to maintain the citys autonomy and freedoms. Cheng was transferred to two detention facilities throughout his ordeal. At each of these facilities, he was taken to a secret location for interrogation almost on a daily basis. The guards would put a hood over his head, shackle and blindfold him before taking him to the interrogation location by van. He was also ordered to wear his prison uniformwhich contained his name and where he was frombackward so as not to reveal his identity. The interrogation sessions lasted about seven to eight hours each time. During some sessions, he was blindfolded with his hands and feet bound into the spread-eagle positiona pose he had to hold for hours. At other times, he was made to squat while raising his hands up high. If he made a slight move or if his pose was not perfect, the interrogators beat him and hit his vulnerable areasankle and knee jointswith what seemed to be sharpened baton. He had to say master whenever he wanted to speak, or get a slap on the face. The interrogators said it was a training to keep him healthy. They are the ones who make the call, this is their stage they dont care if you talk or not, and they only let you talk when they feel like it, Cheng said. An interrogator speaking flawless Cantonese said Cheng was no better than human waste, while a mandarin-speaker told him there were no human rights to speak of. As he approached a mental breakdown and burst into sobs, they would release Cheng for a while and feed him, while still prodding him for intelligence. They also labeled him a state enemy. The torture stopped in the second week as police waited for directives from higher-ups, he said. Officers applied drugs and ointment to his wounds in an effort to erase traces of abuse. For a period of time, Cheng could not move his legs due to the prolonged torture. He has since recovered. Pro-democracy demonstrators, seen wearing masks depicting former British consulate worker Simon Cheng, gather outside the British Consulate-General building in Hong Kong on Nov. 29, 2019. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Inmates From Hong Kong During the second week of interrogation while at Luohu Detention Center, Cheng walked by a group of around 10 young prisoners held inside glass cells. Donning orange prison uniforms, they all looked down at their handcuffs, looking dejected. He suspected them to be Hong Kong protesters. Cheng then heard a Cantonese voice from a guard while walking through the hallway: Raise your hands higher, didnt you raise flags very high during the protests? He also brushed past a young girl of around 15 or 16. An officer said she was arrested for protesting in Hong Kong, and asked if they were acquaintances. He shook his head. Then thats the best, the officer said. Interrogators also handed him photos of around 1,000 protesters, with some appearing like images pulled from social media, and asked him to provide information about those he knew. He was to fold one corner of the photo if he recognized the face and stamp it with his fingerprint. He had no choice but to comply and gave information about protesters he recognized. Simon Cheng with Benedict Rogers in London on Dec. 20, 2019. (Courtesy of Simon Cheng) New Start In late August, Cheng was released to Hong Kong. Soon after, he booked a flight to Taiwan where he stayed for three months and shared about his experience with local media. Three days after going public, he found a man following him on the street. The man had no reaction when Cheng took a photo of him. About an hour later, he saw the same person checking his phone near himbut in a different outfit. After reporting the incident to Taiwanese police, officers told him that the man was not a local. Alarmed by the occurrence, Cheng soon left for England, where he stays on a business visa. His experience in Chinese prisons, Cheng said, provided him with a glimpse of the plight of persecuted faith groups in China, such as practitioners of spiritual practice Falun Gong, who refused to yield to the state persecution engine or renounce their beliefs. Before in Hong Kong, Cheng had passed by stalls run by local Falun Gong practitioners where they displayed images of torture in China, and wondered if they were being dramatic. But he has since begun to see things differently. I already appeared cooperative, but still I got punches and kicks, and went through torture. Its even harder to imagine what they might face, he said. Cheng cut off communication with his relatives in the mainland and Hong Kong because he fears that the Chinese regime will retaliate by harming or harassing his family members. He said that exposing such human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese regime is a moral obligation and what ensures his own safety. I dont want to be silenced by the CCPs [Chinese Communist Party] threats and blackmail otherwise I will regret for life. It has been a difficult choice a price I paid. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon take over the case of suspended Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh, who was caught in south Kashmir while ferrying two terrorists to Jammu last weekend, officials said in New Delhi on Wednesday. The necessary formalities were being completed in Jammu as well as in the national capital before the probe agency, which has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone-pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, takes over the case, they added. Some of the NIA members, posted in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, were present during the preliminary questioning of Singh and three others -- Naveed Babu, a self-styled district commander of banned outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, his associate Atif Ahmed and a lawyer, Irfan Ahmad Mir, who has been named as an active overground worker for terror groups by the police. The officials said in Jammu that all records would be handed over to the NIA after the case was registered by the probe agency. Singh, who was arrested along with the three on Saturday, had ferried Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Naveed Babu to Jammu last year and facilitated his return to Shopian after 'rest and recuperation'. He is believed to have taken Rs 12 lakh for smuggling the two militants to Chandigarh and arrange for their accommodation for a couple of months, officials said. Mir, who was driving the vehicle when they were caught by the police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged that he was carrying orders from Pakistan. He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport. Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh also said the force has recommended dismissal of Davinder Singh and handing over the case to the NIA. He said the police has also recommended for taking back the gallantry medal awarded to Singh by the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state on Independence Day in 2018, stressing that the police will act 'very ruthless' as it 'doesn't believe in sheltering or protecting people who have no loyalty towards the force, nation and their people'. "The DySP was suspended for his act and his sacking is also recommended and the government will take a call on that. We have already recommended for the transfer of the case to the NIA because some thing of wider level can come out of it with links here and there," the police chief told reporters in Jammu. Asked whether the police is going to seize his properties, the DGP said the law will take its own course and whatever is necessary as per law will be done. "These kind of activities are not going to deter us or make any impact on our morale which rather gets further strengthened. We don't believe in sheltering or protecting such type of people. "We are very strict with them and in the past we have also removed people from service. We are very ruthless and we will be very ruthless in this case also," Dilbag Singh said. He said the officer was not awarded any gallantry or meritorious medal by the Ministry of Home Affairs but a gallantry medal was awarded to him by the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state on Independence Day in 2018 for his participation in countering a suicide attack by terrorists at district police lines in Pulwama district in 2017. "We are recommending the government to take back his gallantry medal," he said, advising media persons to avoid 'speculative stories' not based on facts. On the progress of investigation in the case, Dilbag Singh said what he revealed during interrogation would be shared at the right time. "He was involved in a criminal act and is being treated like a terrorist," the DGP said, adding that the allegations about his involvement in Parliament attack as claimed by Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 9, 2013, and various other accusations would be looked into. Asked whether any other official was under scanner following the arrest of Davinder Singh, the DGP said, "There is no need for speculations and investigation in the case is ongoing. However, if anybody is found involved in this nexus, he will not be spared." In response to another question about any follow up arrests in the case, he said no arrests have been made so far. "We have carried out raids on the inputs provided by Naveed Baba. We carried out five operations and busted two hideouts but no terrorist was found. We carried out searches in the houses and seized incriminating material," he said. The DGP said the police has its own internal surveillance system and as soon as his involvement came to light, appropriate action was taken. Asked whether he was having any contact with terrorist handlers in Pakistan, he said, "Such a thing had not come to the fore during his interrogation so far." "As was said by advisor Farooq Khan that black sheep is present in any organisation. Two of our special police officers fled with weapons last year and joined terrorist ranks but both of them were killed along with two terrorists within 24 hours," he said. Two Army personnel, who had deserted the force and joined terrorist ranks, met the same fate. "Whatever the rank or organisation, we do not care for it. if somebody is doing any unlawful activity or such type of thing, strict action is being taken," he said. Dilbag Singh said this operation has taken place on the police input. "This was our own action and nobody else had any information what kind of operation we are undertaking. Police are very strict with those who can bring bad name and dent the image. "Anyone deserting any force, showing no loyalty towards his organisation, nation, own people and their interests, strict action has been taken," he said. Asked about the reaction of political parties after the arrest of the DySP for his involvement in terrorism, the DGP refused to comment on the remarks of the politicians and said, "We focus on our work and it is not my mandate." On Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's statement that had the officer been 'Davinder Khan', the reaction of the 'troll regiment of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh' would have been different, he said, "It is unfortunate that someone is making such type of statements." "I am not here to react to the political statements. My job is professional and my job is to take care of the morale of the force. We have carried out a number of successful operations and our action will go on (against terrorists)," the DGP added. 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What A Joke UK government secretly funded Reuters in 1960s, 1970s By Joe Concha January 14, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The British government secretly funded Reuters in the 1960s and 1970s at the direction of an anti-Soviet propaganda organization with links to MI-6, according to unclassified documents unveiled Monday. The government used the BBC to conceal funding in making payments to the international news group. "We are now in a position to conclude an agreement providing discreet Government support for Reuters services in the Middle East and Latin America," reads a 1969 redacted secret British government document entitled "Funding of Reuters by HMG," or Her Majesty's Government. The document was declassified last year. "HMG's interests should be well served by the new arrangement," it continues. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter A Reuters spokesperson said in a statement on Monday that it was common for news organizations to receive some form of state subsidy at the time. "Many news organisations received some form of state subsidy after World War Two," said Reuters spokesperson David Crundwell. "But the arrangement in 1969 was not in keeping with our Trust Principles and we would not do this today," he continued. Reuters Trust Principles, created in 1984, "is dedicated to upholding the Trust Principles and to preserving its independence, integrity, and freedom from bias in the gathering and dissemination of information and news," according to the company's web site. Reuters was founded in 1851. Its parent company, Thompson Reuters, employs more than 25,000 people worldwide. The BBC cited a similar charter regarding its editorial independence. "The BBC charter guarantees editorial independence irrespective of whether funding comes from the UK government, the licence fee or commercial sources," a BBC spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. 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!) DES MOINES, Iowa The leading Democratic presidential candidates clashed on Tuesday over Americas role in the Middle East and their credentials to be commander in chief, as the progressive candidates highlighted their dovish credentials and the moderates called for pragmatism in the last debate before the high-stakes Iowa caucuses next month. The six candidates also debated the fraught subject of whether a woman could win the presidency, an issue that had produced a breach in recent days between the two top liberal candidates, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Meeting onstage for the first time since President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani of Iran this month, and in a state known for its anti-interventionist tendencies, each of the six contenders urged restraint about projecting American power. OUT FRONT IN TEXAS: Joe Biden has commanding lead in the Lone Star State But Sanders and Warren were especially vocal in arguing that U.S. troops should not be committed to the Middle East. The American people are sick and tired of endless wars, Sanders declared. Warren invoked the parade of generals who claimed progress in Afghanistan as they testified before her at the Senate Armed Services Committee and said it is time to withdraw combat troops from the region. Weve turned the corner so many times, were going in circles in these regions, she said. This has got to stop. Its not enough to say, Someday, were going to get out. Joe Biden, however, was more cautious on troop commitments. While he boasted about his efforts as vice president to draw down U.S. forces from Iraq, he said there was a difference between deploying waves of combat troops and retaining the U.S. special operations forces he said had degraded the Islamic State. Theyll come back if we do not deal with them, Biden said of the group, also known as ISIS. At the same time, both Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, both said they were opposed to a conflict with Iran but vowed to stop the country from obtaining nuclear weapons. The debate over a womans chances to win the White House followed two days of acrimony between Sanders campaign and Warrens. On the eve of the debate, CNN reported that in December 2018, Sanders told Warren in a private meeting that he did not think a woman could win the presidency. Before the debate, Sanders denied he had said it; Warren said he had. ONE MORE GONE: Cory Booker drops out after weak fundraising, poll numbers to qualify for debate Sanders stood by his denial As a matter of fact, I didnt say it, he said onstage and said it was incomprehensible that I would think that a woman couldnt be president of the United States. Citing that Hillary Clinton won a plurality of votes in the 2016 general election, he went on, How could anyone in a million years not believe a woman could become president of the United States? Warren said she disagreed with Sanders version, but then tried to de-escalate the conflict, saying Bernie is my friend and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. She pivoted to address a question that has loomed over her candidacy: how she matches up against Trump, and said the women onstage Warren and Klobuchar had outperformed the men. Collectively they have lost 10 elections, Warren said. The only people on this stage who have won every single election they have been in are the women: Amy and me. And the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years is me. In a rare policy split, Sanders and Warren clashed on the new North American trade deal that Trump is trying to push through Congress. Sanders said it was not worth supporting even if it made a modest improvement. We can do much better than a Trump-led trade deal, he said. Warren, however, said that was the reason to support it. We have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting, she said. The exchange was an example of how Warren has sought to position herself as a progressive more willing to get things done than Sanders. The debate unfolded at an extraordinarily volatile moment in American politics even by the standards of an unusually fluid primary race. New polls in Iowa show that Democratic voters are roughly split between four top candidates, the long-standing nonaggression pact between Warren and Sanders was fraying and half the contenders onstage are about to leave the campaign trail in the crucial days before the caucuses to serve as jurors at Trumps impeachment trial. Sanders had the opportunity right from the start to stress his pacifist credentials as the debate opened with questions about the heightened tensions with Iran and who was best positioned to serve as commander in chief. Sanders immediately seized the opportunity to trumpet his past opposition to the war in Iraq. I not only voted against the war, I helped lead the effort against the war, he said. Sanders warned that both the Iraq and Vietnam wars had been based on lies. Right now, what I fear very much is that we have a president that is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in Iraq, he said. Sanders drew a distinction with Biden, who had supported the Iraq War resolution in the Senate. Joe and I listened to what Dick Cheney and George Bush and Rumsfeld had to say, Sanders said. I thought they were lying. Joe saw it differently. Biden said he regretted his vote for that war. It was a mistake and I acknowledge that, Biden said, while noting that as vice president he had brought thousands of troops home from the Middle East. A large part of the electorate remains up for grabs in a contest that many of the campaigns believe will produce record-setting turnout. A Des Moines Register-CNN poll last week indicated that 45% of caucusgoers said they could still be persuaded to support a different candidate. And Tuesdays debate was sure to reach more voters than any other event in the dwindling days before the Feb. 3 caucuses. The four leading candidates in Iowa Sanders, Biden, Warren and Buttigieg are knotted so tightly together that Biden was fourth in the poll last week, but first in another, from Monmouth University. Sanders topped the Des Moines Register/CNN poll for the first time, putting perhaps the biggest target on his back yet before a debate. The rift between Warren and Sanders had the ability to shake up the race if it divides the liberal camp and weakens either Sanders or Warren, or both of them, and produces a stronger moderate lane chiefly occupied by Biden. Progressive activists who have hoped that either Sanders or Warren would emerge from a scrambled primary race were hoping that the sudden left-on-left violence would abate. And there were signs that both the Sanders and Warren campaigns would try to de-escalate the tension. But in a sign that Sanders, whose most fervent online supporters have long faced claims of sexism, recognized the grave political risk of the accusations, his campaign began airing an ad in Iowa on Tuesday morning that highlighted his support of womens rights. Bernie Sanders is on our side and he always has been, a female narrator says in the commercial, trumpeting the senators support for abortion rights, support for family leave guarantees and equal pay legislation. Even if the two candidates attempt to put the contretemps behind them, Sanders and Warren, as well as Klobuchar and Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, are confronting another looming challenge: how to mount a successful Iowa campaign while their duties in Congress require them to be in Washington. With the senators likely to be in the Capitol up to six days a week for the impeachment trial of Trump, they will be unable to make their final appeals to Iowa voters in person as frequently as Biden and Buttigieg. That could make for a most unusual ending of the caucuses in their over-four-decade history: a split-screen between candidates hustling for votes in the states high school gyms and union halls and others seated at their desks in the Senate chamber, deliberating about whether to remove from office the president they are trying to defeat. For Biden, who has stepped up his efforts to win the caucuses outright and build a formidable head of steam, the prospect of additional attention offers opportunity and risk. Since Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani and Tehran responded with missile attacks on American bases in Iraq, the former vice president has repeatedly highlighted his national security credentials. A super PAC backing Biden released a new ad Tuesday in Iowa that flashed the word Iran on the screen and talked about the need for a leader who understands the gravity and the consequences of their decisions. The possibility of repeating that ready-on-Day-1 message around the state while his rivals are stuck in Washington delights his supporters. Yet his campaign aides always grow nervous at moments when he faces additional attention, fearing that Biden, prone to gaffes, will commit a self-inflicted error. Perhaps even more than Biden, Buttigieg, 37, is eager to take more of the spotlight in Iowa in the races final weeks. Having lost the lead there that he built late last year, Buttigieg is under immense pressure to claim the top spot in the caucuses and win the sort of momentum he will need to broaden a coalition that at the moment is heavily white and affluent. Iowa is even more critical for Klobuchar, a Minnesotan who has visited all 99 of the states counties and based her candidacy in large part on her Midwestern credentials. The debate here could represent her last best chance to lift her campaign past one of the top four contenders and give her a rationale to continue into New Hampshire. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The death toll has risen to nine in a road collapse accident in the city of Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai province. Authorities put the number of injured at 17, all of whom are in stable condition, according to the city government. The accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. Monday when a section of Nandajie Street collapsed and a public bus fell into the hole. The city government sent more than 1,000 rescue workers and more than 30 vehicles to the site, which is around 80 square meters. The bus had been lifted out of the hole by Tuesday morning. Rescuers have found the bodies of the nine victims. A plane returning to the Los Angeles Airport on Tuesday apparently dumped fuel on a school playground, and paramedics have treated more than a dozen children, said officials. (Google Maps) FAA Investigating: LAX-Bound Plane Dumps Fuel on Elementary School Children A plane returning to the Los Angeles Airport on Tuesday apparently dumped fuel on a school playground, and paramedics have treated more than a dozen children, said officials, which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to initiate an investigation. The Los Angeles County Fire Department said that 17 children and nine adults have minor injuries and none were taken to nearby hospitals. There are no evacuation orders for the immediate area, it wrote. Substance was confirmed JET FUEL. The fuel struck them at Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy, California, which is about 15 miles from the Los Angeles Airport. The department wrote that 70 firefighters and paramedics on-scene and committed to providing care for those insured. UPDATE*** 17 children and 6 adults (23 patients total) all complaining of minor injuries being triaged by LACoFD Paramedics and Firefighters. L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) January 14, 2020 Los Angeles Fire spokesperson Nicholas Prange told the Los Angeles Times that two classes were outside when the liquid rained on them at around noon. Students and staff were told to go inside and shelter in place. MCI | FS163 | 8000 Park Ave #Cudahy | BN 13 and 3 units on-scene elementary school assessing multiple patients after apparent fuel dump by aircraft on final approach to LAX hits playground. L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) January 14, 2020 The LA Times also reported that the jet landed safely at the airport soon after. Police could be seen behind the plane with sirens. Students and staff were on the playground at the time and may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes, the school district said in a statement to NBC Los Angeles. Schools immediately called paramedics, who are on the scene and are treating anyone who is complaining of skin irritation or breathing problems. The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement about the incident: Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency after departing from LAX, returned to the airport and landed without incident. The FAA is aware of and looking into reports that children at a school east of LAX are being treated for fuel exposure. The flight was operated by Delta Airlines, which issued a statement on why the plane was forced to dump fuel. Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return to LAX. The aircraft landed safely after an emergency fuel release to reduce landing weight, Delta said in a statement to ABC7. Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster (left) and Deputy First Minister Michelle O???Neill as they make their way to a press conference, to announce that nurses in Northern Ireland will receive a pay rise in a "breakthrough" bid to end strike action which has paralysed the health service in Northern Ireland. The new power-sharing Executive will rebuild the public's trust in local politics, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill have said. The First and Deputy First Minister made the pledge as their ministers met for the first time and details of the parties' plans for office emerged. After Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's whistle-stop tour of Stormont on Monday, the Executive got down to work to discuss funding after signing the New Decade, New Approach deal at the weekend. Speaking on Monday night, Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy said the funding offered by Mr Johnson's government fell "way short of what was needed". However, on a more positive note, UUP Health Minister Robin Swann yesterday announced a 110m funding package designed to avert further crippling strikes by healthcare workers. His announcement came as DUP Education Minister Peter Weir said 18 schools would be able to move ahead with building projects thanks to a 45million investment. Mr Weir said the money was part of the School Enhancement Programme, which supports refurbishment or extension projects valued between 500,000 and 4m. Alliance Party Justice Minister Naomi Long, meanwhile, said she planned to develop an approach that "tackles the root causes of crime". Elsewhere, SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said modern water, drainage and transport systems were "essential" components in growing Northern Ireland's economy. Speaking after a meeting of the new Executive, Mrs Foster and Mrs O'Neill said in joint statement it was essential that the political parties got to work on implementing the priorities set out in the New Decade, New Approach document. The DUP leader stressed that politicians from all parties were "energised and resolute" and wanted to move forward for the benefit of everyone. "There are significant challenges ahead of us, but equally we have a real opportunity," Mrs Foster said. "With strong leadership and collegiate working we will make sure that our public services are transformed. Through this new five-party Executive, based on mutual respect and trust, we can rebuild confidence in the Executive. "We will do this by delivering on the things that matter to people in Northern Ireland, together." Sinn Fein's northern leader Mrs O'Neill outlined the collective will among all parties to transform public services and deliver "desperately needed" improvements. "This won't happen overnight. It will need a coordinated, sustained approach to bring lasting, positive change for all the people of the North," she said. "Our immediate priorities will include dealing with the issues impacting the most vulnerable people. "The extension of welfare reform mitigations, a plan to tackle waiting lists and the urgent publication of a mental health action plan will be among those pressing actions. "Politics is never easy and being in a five-party Executive comes with its own set of unique challenges, but we have one shared purpose: to improve people's lives." The first animal study of a pig virus' potential to jump to another species shows that the virus, once introduced to a select group of birds, is easily transmitted to healthy chickens and turkeys. The researchers who led this work were part of a team that previously found in a lab setting that the virus could infect cells from multiple species, including chickens and humans. In this study, birds that were given the virus developed diarrhea by two days after infection. Healthy birds housed with infected chickens and turkeys also developed diarrhea two days after exposure. That rapid spread of disease surprised the Ohio State University scientists. "We weren't even sure the virus would transmit from bird to bird. That's a significant finding," said senior author Scott Kenney, assistant professor of veterinary preventive medicine based in Ohio State's Food Animal Health Research Program at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster. "It looks like it's pretty readily able to spread between birds. It's a little concerning because if the virus gets into one or two animals in a large layer or broiler house, it would probably permeate through the entire house pretty quickly," Kenney said. advertisement Susceptibility to a pig virus can't ethically be tested in humans -- but the previous work in cells showed the virus attaches itself to the same type of receptor in many different host species. "If the human cell culture model is as predictive as it was with the chickens, then humans are definitely susceptible to having virus-related disease," he said. The study is published in the online journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. This virus, porcine deltacoronavirus, was first detected in pigs in Asia in 2009 and caused a swine diarrhea outbreak in the United States -- involving Ohio pigs -- in 2014. It is part of the family of pathogens that cause respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in the species they infect. There are four types of coronaviruses. Two illnesses known for life-threatening regional outbreaks, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), were caused by betacoronaviruses. The current respiratory disease outbreak associated with a live animal market in China is also attributed to a betacoronavirus. Deltacoronaviruses historically have been linked to birds, and scientists suspect that this porcine virus originated in an avian species. advertisement In this study, researchers worked with 14-day-old chickens and turkeys. In each group, they directly gave 10 birds the virus obtained from an infected pig. Two days later, the researchers allowed uninfected "sentinel" chickens and turkeys to live among the infected birds. Most infected birds developed diarrhea at various time points, and the sentinels had mild to moderate diarrhea after joining the infected flock. Based on the length and severity of symptoms, the study showed that turkeys are more susceptible to the virus than chickens. Other signs of disease in the birds included distended intestinal tracts containing gas and yellow liquid, high levels of the virus RNA in swabs of their tracheas and digestive tracts, and increased antibody levels in the directly infected birds and some sentinels, said Patricia Boley, first author of the study and a research associate in Kenney's lab. "Both chickens and turkeys were still shedding the virus at 14 days, when the study ended. We don't know how long either species would continue shedding the virus," Boley said. Despite the presence of virus RNA in the trachea, the birds showed no signs of respiratory symptoms, which would make this virus more dangerous than enteric -- intestinal -- symptoms. The virus also did not kill the birds, but it can lead to death in piglets. "We want to figure out why the virus is enteric versus respiratory, and how the hosts respond differently," Kenney said. "With piglets we see mortality. We don't have chickens dying, but we have piglets dying from the virus, so what makes the chickens different in their response to the virus? Maybe we can learn something from chickens and apply it to the pigs so they get less sick from the virus." Though there is no screening in place to detect this deltacoronavirus in humans, Kenney said it is feasible that humans have been exposed and infected and even had symptoms. "People who get gastroenteritis may write it off as food poisoning. Deltacoronaviruses may be in some cases causing human disease, but we don't know that aspect of it yet," he said. The virus cannot be transmitted to humans by consumption if the meat is properly cooked, he noted. WASHINGTON The United States and China are taking a step toward trade peace after 18 months of economic skirmishing. President Donald Trump and Chinas chief trade negotiator, Liu He, planned to sign a modest agreement Wednesday that would ease some U.S. economic sanctions on China and have Beijing step up purchases of American farm products and other goods. The deal would lower tensions in a fight that has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy. But the Phase 1 agreement would do little to force China to make the major economic changes such as reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies that the Trump administration sought when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018. Details of the agreement were expected to be released Wednesday. Larry Kudlow, Trumps chief economic adviser, said the agreement vindicated the presidents strategy of using tariffs in trade negotiations, though not in every instance. I think with China he was exactly right, Kudlow said. I think the tough tariffs hurt their economy and made them much more amenable to a good deal. Most analysts say any meaningful resolution of the main U.S. allegation that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive to supplant Americas technological supremacy could require years of contentious talks. Skeptics say a satisfactory resolution may be next to impossible given Chinas ambitions to become the global leader in such advanced technologies as driverless cars and artificial intelligence. This first phase hardly addresses in any substantive way the fundamental sources of trade and economic tensions between the two sides, which will continue to fester, said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and and former head of the International Monetary Funds China division. The thornier issues are expected to be taken up in future rounds of negotiations. But its unclear when those talks might begin, and few observers expect much progress before the U.S. presidential election in November. Phase 2 I wouldnt wait by the phone, said John Veroneau, who was a U.S. trade official when George W. Bush was president and is now co-chair of the international trade practice at the law firm Covington & Burling. That is probably a 2021 issue. The U.S. has dropped plans to impose tariffs on an additional $160 billion in Chinese imports, and it cut in half, to 7.5%, existing tariffs on $110 billion of good from China. Beijing agreed to significantly increase its purchases of U.S. products. According to the Trump administration, China is to buy $40 billion a year in U.S. farm products an ambitious goal for a country that has never imported more than $26 billion a year in U.S. agricultural products. The deal may be most notable for what it doesnt do. It leaves in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports a level of protectionism that would have been unthinkable before Trump took office. Beijings retaliatory tariffs affect more than half of American exports to China. The average U.S. tariff on Chinese imports has risen from 3% in January 2018 to 21% now. The administration argues that the deal is a solid start that includes Chinese commitments to do more to protect intellectual property, curb the practice of forcing foreign companies to hand over sensitive technology and refrain from manipulating their currency lower to benefit Chinese exporters. In advance of Wednesdays signing, the Treasury Department on Monday dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator. By maintaining significant tariffs on Chinese imports, the administration retains leverage to force Beijing to abide by its commitments something the United States says Beijing has failed to do for decades. The administration contends that however narrow the first phase may be, it represents a significant breakthrough. Derek Scissors, China specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the trade war has already delivered a benefit for Trump, even if it hasnt forced Beijing to make major changes to its economic policy: Trumps tariffs have reduced Chinese exports to the United States and narrowed Americas trade deficit with China. The president has long lambasted the U.S. trade gap with Beijing as a sign of economic weakness, though many economists disagree. A wide trade deficit can actually reflect economic strength because it means that a nations consumers feel prosperous and confident enough to spend freely on imported goods as well as on home-grown goods. So far this year, the U.S. deficit with China in the trade of goods has declined by 16%, or $62 billion, to $321 billion compared with a year earlier. The deficit will narrow further if Beijing lives up to its pledges to buy dramatically more American imports. Trumps tariff increase have proved to be a headwind for Chinas economy, which was already slowing, though the damage has been less than some expected. Chinese global exports eked out a 0.5% increase in 2019 despite a plunge in sales to the United States, according to Chinese customs data. Chinese exporters responded to Trumps tariff hikes by shipping goods to the United States through other countries and by stepping up sales to Asia, Europe and Africa. The government reported double-digit gains in 2019 exports to France, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Economists said the tariff war slowed Chinese growth, which hit a multi-decade low of 6% in the quarter ending in September, by as little as 0.6 percentage point. Weak domestic demand and the cooling of a construction boom inflicted more damage. ___ AP Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing and Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report. The United States and China on Wednesday signed the 'Phase One' of trade deal. The deal was signed here between President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to end the trade war between the two economic giants, Sputnik reported. Liu, who is the head of the country's negotiation team in US-China trade talks, is leading a Chinese delegation to Washington DC. The trade war between the two countries began in 2018 after Washington DC slapped tariffs on USD 25 billion worth of Chinese goods, quickly escalating to include hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of products from both the countries. While signing the deal, Trump said he planned to visit China in the 'not too distant future'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 15, 2020] ActionIQ Raises $32M to Compete with Adobe and Salesforce on Customer Data ActionIQ, the leading customer data platform helping enterprises leverage their data for personalized experiences, today announced it has raised a $32M series C round led by March Capital Partners with participation from top investors including Sequoia Capital (News - Alert), Andreessen Horowitz, and FirstMark Capital. This brings the total capital raised by ActionIQ to $75M. With over 300% growth in the past year and an exclusive focus on large enterprise clients, ActionIQ has expanded its impressive client list to brands like The New York Times, Conde Nast, American Eagle Outfitters, Vera Bradley, and Pandora (News - Alert) Media. Each client evaluated a long list of alternatives, including the large marketing cloud vendors, before deciding that ActionIQ was the only product on the market that could deliver personalization at scale in the face of significant data and channel complexity. ActionIQ will use the funding to accelerate its expansion across sales, marketing, and product R&D, further cementing its leadership position in the enterprise CDP segment. "Today's consumers expect the brands they interact with to deliver personalized and relevant experiences across every brand interaction, both offline and online," says Tasso Argyros, Co-Founder and CEO of ActionIQ. "The only way to do this is with customer data, which enterprises have troves of but have traditionally been unable to leverage. ActionIQ is changing that, and letting enterprises tap into this valuable data asset to better engage their customers. We're bringing the level of personalization that consumers get from digital leaders like Amazon and Netflix to all brands, even ones that are based primarily in the offline world." "As a 150-year-old company, we had significant technical and organizational hurdles we needed to overcome as we tried to better leverage our customer data to deliver a more persoalized brand experience," says Nick Rockwell, CTO of The New York Times. "ActionIQ became an integral part of our migration to the cloud, and was able to seamlessly tap into customer data and leverage it to personalize experiences across 10+ channels, both online and offline." Meredith Finn, Partner at March Capital Partners, led the investment and will be joining ActionIQ's board. "From my professional experience at Salesforce and Twitter (News - Alert), when it comes to building a relationship with your customers, data is everything," says Finn. "ActionIQ took a data-first approach from day one in contrast to many vendors that are now scrambling to address their data gaps by duct taping data infrastructure to their existing point solutions. ActionIQ has built a truly unique platform that delivers the data, analytics, and orchestration capabilities needed at scale. The potential of such a platform is limitless, and spans well beyond traditional marketing channels to other areas of customer interactions including web and mobile app experiences, customer support, and sales." Scale is the operative word for ActionIQ, and will be the main area of investment for this funding. "In just the past 12 months, we've processed over 30 petabytes of customer data and powered over 1 trillion personalized interactions across our clients," says Argyros. "We were built for this scale from the beginning, and now we're investing in the marketing and sales to continue this accelerated growth. The CDP space is crowded, and there are a lot of companies that have pivoted from tangential categories, so it's up to us to cut through the noise and show how we consistently deliver our clients 10x returns on their investment. We expect that in the next 12-18 months, we'll see significant consolidation in the space, and we want to further advance our lead as the only CDP built for enterprise scale and complexity. 2020 is going to be an exciting year." For more information on ActionIQ, please check out our website. About ActionIQ ActionIQ empowers the world's leading brands to win in today's experience economy by building deeper, more valuable relationships with their customers. Our real-time orchestration and intelligence hub, powered by the fastest and most scalable customer data platform, enables marketers to quickly turn disconnected customer data into personalized experiences, orchestrated across all channels in real-time. The New York Times, Pandora, Gap Inc., WW, and more, trust ActionIQ to differentiate their brands, drive lasting customer loyalty, and significantly improve business performance - achieving up to a 20% increase in revenue in just a few months. To learn more, visit actioniq.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005519/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Google has been on a long-term mission to build inroads into the world of e-commerce by working more closely with brick-and-mortar retailers, and now it looks like it plans to extend that work a little further. The search giant is acquiring Pointy, a startup out of Dublin, Ireland, which has built hardware and software technology to help physical retailers -- specifically those that might not already have an extensive e-commerce storefront detailing in-store inventory -- get their products discoverable online without any extra work. The companies are not disclosing the financial terms of the deal, but a source tells us it is 147 million ($163 million). We're told that Google will be making a formal announcement in about an hour, but Pointy has already posted the news on its own site while we were digging around for details after getting pinged by a source. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks, pending "customary closing conditions." (Update: Google's post confirming the acquisition is now here.) Pointy is continuing to operate post-acquisition. "We look forward to building even better services in the future, with the backing of Googles resources and reach," the company writes. It's not clear yet who will stay on with that plan. A source notes that this was a "good outcome" because Pointy has a "one of a kind" product that didn't really have any comparables in the market. Pointy had also managed to pick up quite a lot of traction as a small startup, working with around 10% of all physical retailers in the U.S. in certain categories (pets and toys were two of those, I was told). Pointy is six years old and had raised just under $20 million from a variety of investors, including Frontline Ventures, Polaris, LocalGlobe and individuals like Lars Rasmussen (the former Google Maps supremo who went on to build search and enterprise products at Facebook). Pointy was co-founded by Mark Cummins (CEO) and Charles Bibby (CTO). Notably, this is Cummins' second exit to Google. His first company, the visual search startup Plink, was Google's first-ever acquisition out of the U.K. Story continues For Google, Pointy is a known quantity for more than the fact that it has transacted with a Cummins startup before: Pointy and Google have been working together since 2018, when the former was part of a bigger push that the search giant was making into building tools for brick-and-mortar merchants. At that time, Pointy's primary product was a piece of hardware that plugged a company's point of sale/barcode scanning units, so that every time a retailer scanned its products at the point of sale, it would upload the products online (including quantities of those items), and then keep stock numbers up to date with every subsequent purchase that was made and scanned in. Pointy doesn't track incoming inventory per se: it uses algorithms over time to figure out stock amounts to a very close degree of accuracy based just on purchasing patterns. Then, a user who might be searching for that product online might come across those details through Google's search results ("See What's In Store," which come up in Google's Knowledge Panels and on Google Maps), or via advertisements. The aim: These listings could potentially result in shoppers buying those products from the retailer in question, ideally getting them to come into the store, where they would buy even more. The hardware retails for around $700, but Pointy also has a free app that integrates with specific POS devices from Clover, Square, Lightspeed, Vend, Liberty, WooPOS, BestRx and CashRx POS, removing the need for the hardware. Google's initial partnership with Pointy in 2018 was part of a push to build out Google's search portal with more e-commerce tools, and it was coming not a moment too soon: Amazon was both ramping up its own efforts with physical retail, and becoming a bigger threat to Google as a first port-of-call for online shoppers. Two years on, those themes have only grown bigger with Amazon's rise, perhaps one reason why Google was keen to bring Pointy in-house. Now, it can more deeply integrate the tech, and build upon it. Pointy had also started to work a little closer with retailers, giving them insights into what was selling well, and what they might want to stock more of in the future, but it had never delved into the actual transaction aspect of products that it was listing online: that was left to the retailer and a shopper visiting a store to buy in person. All of that leaves a wide door open to how Pointy -- and Google's own retail commerce efforts -- might develop in the future. Updated with more detail on price, Pointy's technology and Google's confirmation. Aerial view of the Hong Kong Container Terminals and the Stonecutters Bridge with the back ground of the Hong Kong island. Geovien So | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images The port of Hong Kong, once the world's busiest, could get a boost after the phase one trade deal between the U.S. and China is signed, according to the managing director of Modern Terminals. The ambiguity brought on by the trade dispute between China and the U.S. in the last two years has created a lot of uncertainty for businesses, particularly for the port business, said Peter Levesque of Modern Terminals the second largest container terminal operator in Hong Kong. He added that he hopes both sides can get this initial deal implemented. "It's almost impossible to put a game plan together when the goal post is moving almost daily," Levesque told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. "So we hope that through phase one agreement that we'll be able to get a lot more certainty around what the future looks like. We'll be able to plan better and we'll be able to bring more volume back to Hong Kong." Shanghai overtakes Hong Kong as busiest port Levesque, who has been a resident of Hong Kong for 25 years, said he witnessed the the territory's handover to China in 1997, as well as China's rapid economic growth. The Port of Hong Kong was the world's busiest container port by volume in 2004, according to the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board. But it has since been overtaken by others in the region a worrying trend as the port business is one of the key drivers of Hong Kong's economy. According to the World Shipping Council, Hong Kong Port was the seventh largest in the world in 2018. Four mainland Chinese ports Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhousan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou were among the top 5 world container ports by volume in the world that year. Hopefully both sides can step back ... and hopefully we can get there without having any miscommunications and misunderstandings that set us back again. Peter Levesque managing director of Modern Terminals Hong Kong's port activities are mostly made up of transshipment businesses, and only about 14% to 15% of that business is trans-pacific to the United States, according to Levesque. "There is very little exported from here that is manufactured in Hong Kong. We're taking business, we're moving shipments through China, through Hong Kong to the rest of the world. And then in the opposite direction, through Hong Kong back into China," he said. Hong Kong's economy entered a technical recession in the third quarter of 2019, and contracted by 3.2% quarter-on-quarter in real terms, after declining by 0.5% in the preceding quarter. "When China and the United States aren't agreeing with each other, it actually affects all markets. And that's just something we hope to rebound with the implementation of phase one," Levesque added. Impact of phase one trade deal "China agreeing to buy another $200 billion worth of goods and services from the United States, and I think more importantly, addressing the issues around IP (intellectual property) protection and forced technology transfer and opening up markets more for financial industry and the insurance industry those are major positive steps. And the U.S. side then coming back and lowering tariffs," Levesque said. "Hopefully both sides can step back and take a deep breath and get this phase one into implementation and hopefully we can get there without having any miscommunications and misunderstandings that set us back again," he said. ELOY, Ariz. - A soldier was killed Tuesday in a routine freefall parachute training exercise in southern Arizona, Army officers said Wednesday. U.S. Army Special Forces officials identified the dead soldier as Master Sgt. Nathan Goodman, 36, of Hope Mills, North Carolina. Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, a spokesman at the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said no additional information would be released pending an investigation. Freefalling is when parachutists jump from an aircraft and delay opening their parachutes. Eloy is about 55 (90 kilometres) south of Phoenix. KALAMAZOO, MI Hundreds of people crowded into Kalamazoo City Hall, and officials voted along the lines many citizens urged them to, prioritizing protecting nature over commercial development on a plot of land that has drawn much attention. On the southeast corner of Stadium Drive and South Drake Road, the plot of land has sat with little activity for decades as developments have sprung up around it. The undeveloped land has provided a buffer between the Asylum Lake Preserve, a natural area surrounding a pond, and the busy commercial area nearby. The city of Kalamazoo Planning Commission considered a request from the developer to recommend the city commission rezone the property to allow for commercial development, and to recommend removing the Natural Features Protection (NFP) area designation from the land meant to place conditions on the developer to protect features of the land. After considering the request on Jan. 14, the planning commission voted against recommending the removal of Natural Features Protection to the Kalamazoo City Commission, which will make the final decision. The planning commission also voted against recommending the Kalamazoo City Commission rezone three residential parcels to commercial, which the developer said was vital for his plans for a commercial development there. Im very sorry you speculated and this isnt turning out how you wanted, Emily Greenman Wright said to Drive and Shine CEO and developer Haji Tehrani before she voted against his rezoning request. Before the vote, the developer and his attorney, Matthew Van Dyk, presented their arguments, and citizens also spoke out, during a discussion Tuesday. James Asher, 16, a student at Portage Northern High School, said he is in strong opposition to the proposed construction. You cannot put a price on this earth and no company, especially one from Indiana, has the right to hurt our local environment, Asher said. He was the first of about 55 people to comment on the proposed changes, with all except two people speaking against one or all of the developers requests. David Benac spoke in opposition of the rezoning and the removal of the NFP. He criticized the developer for talking about environmental impacts without putting out an environmental assessment and said crummy jobs wont help the area. The mindset of cancer cell is growth for sake of growth, Benac said. Development signs at the corner of South Drake Road and Stadium Drive, Wednesday, August 8, 2018. A developer has requested the Natural Features Protection Area overlay be removed from the site. Tehrani said he began planning the development based on one version of the NFP overlay area that showed only a portion of his land included, but said he was surprised to see the final NFP overlay included all of the land on the corner. City Planner Christina Anderson answered some questions about the steps to create the NFP overlay before the planning commission made its decision Tuesday. Tehrani said he believes his business plans have been mischaracterized, and the development would leave quite a bit of greenery by the lake. He pointed out that the proposed development is not on the Asylum Lake Preserve itself. You wont be able to see any buildings on this land if you were sitting on a boat in the lake," Tehrani said. The CEO said he was pleased to see the public response and the love for the community, and said he hasnt seen such a response in other communities. Sure, is it better to leave every place in the country undeveloped and natural for wildlife? Absolutely, Tehrani said, drawing outbursts from the packed meeting room. But is it feasible? he continued. Is it possible? What are we going to do for homes? There is a happy medium. Tehrani sat in the front row of the commission chambers listening as more than 50 people marched to the podium to give their reasons opposing the development and removal of the NFP. Two people, both employed by Drive and Shine, spoke in support of the company and its development plans. A document that shows the area where a developer requested a rezoning ad the removal of the Natural Features Protection Area overlay. The property in question is on the southeast corner of Stadium Drive and Drake Road. A Change.org petition opposing the developers requests gathered more than 8,200 digital signatures over five days. The agenda packet also included letters from citizens, and city staff gathered the letters that came in and forwarded them to members of the planning commission. The planning commissions role is to make a recommendation to the city commission regarding the proposed zoning changes and the request to remove the NFP designation. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Sanders Not Asked About Gulag-Supporting Staffer During Debate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was not asked about a paid staffer who expressed support for putting supporters of President Donald Trump in gulags, as well as promoting violent revolution, during the Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 14. The first debate in an early voting state featured six contenders, including Sanders. Despite over 9 hours elapsing between the release of the video showing Kyle Jurek, an Iowa field organizer for the Sanders campaign, espousing the radical views and the beginning of the debate, moderators didnt ask Sanders about the explosive footage. CNN didnt respond to a request for comment about why moderators didnt ask Sanders about Jureks statements. The video, released by undercover reporting group Project Veritas, showed Jurek saying that cities [will] burn if Trump is reelected. He also said that violence could erupt as early as mid-July, when the Democratic National Convention will take place in Milwaukee, if Sanders doesnt win the Democratic presidential nomination. If Bernie doesnt get the nomination or it goes to a second round at the DNC convention, [expletive] Milwaukee will burn, Jurek said, saying at one point that the senators supporters like him have nothing else left to lose if they [expletive] take Bernie from us. He also mused about throwing Trump supporters in gulagsforced labor campsfor reeducation and opined that Sanderss free education plans are a part of such a reeducation effort. A mugshot from the Polk County Jail shows Kyle Jurek, an Iowa field director for Sen. Bernie Sanderss presidential campaign. (Polk County Jail) Kyle Jurek, field organizer for presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Iowa. (Screenshot via Project Veritas Action) The Sanders campaign hasnt responded to requests for comment from The Epoch Times. The campaign has not released a statement on the footage released by Project Veritas. According to the group, the Sanders office in Ankeny, Iowa, was locked in the middle of the day Tuesday as reporters sought comment. Top Iowa officials for the campaign have locked their Twitter accounts in the wake of the release, including Iowa Co-Field Director Brooke Adams, who once described Jurek as a top tier organizer. According to Polk County, Iowa, jail records, Jurek, 38, was arrested on Sept. 27, 2019 for possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a prescription drug, and possession of drug paraphernalia. On Jan. 7, Jurek was arrested again. According to jail records, he was charged with operating while intoxicated, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to provide proof of financial liability (no accident), and violation of probation (1985). Petr Savb contributed to this report. OTTAWAThree federal political parties are facing a probe of their near unfettered collection and use of Canadians personal information. The Competition Bureau confirmed Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into how the Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats amass and use data on Canadian citizens. The probe is the result of complaints that parties are misleading Canadians about what information they collect and analyze on voters. Federal political parties have been collecting personal information on Canadian citizens for years, but they have not been subjected to the privacy laws that private interests and government agencies have to follow. There is almost no transparency into parties data operations an increasingly central part of how parties identify and target voters. A digital rights group founded by former BlackBerry CEO Jim Balsillie wants to change that. In their complaint to the Competition Bureau, the Centre for Digital Rights argued parties are violating competition laws by misleading Canadians about how their personal information is collected and used. Since May 2018, CDR has been raising serious and urgent concerns about the data protection policies and practices of Canadas three main federal parties in discussions (with) a number of Canadian law enforcement agencies, a statement from the organization read. If the Competition Bureau rules in favour of the complainants, the parties could face fines of up to $10 million, according to CDR lawyer Bill Hearn. But the goal isnt to bankrupt political parties, Hearn said. Its to try and encourage them to change their ways. And to admit that (federal parties) are subject to all the same laws that every other organization in the country are required to follow, Hearn said in an interview Wednesday. Political parties somehow feel, one way or another, that theyve got exemptions (from the law). And were coming back and saying, no, thats a dangerous misconception you need to comply. The Competition Bureau confirmed the active probe into allegations the three political parties have made misleading statements about the manner in which they collect, use and/or disclose the personal information of Canadians, a spokesperson for the regulator said. The bureau is currently gathering evidence to determine the facts. There is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time, wrote Marie-Christine Vezina in a statement. As the bureau is required by law to conduct its work confidentially, we cant provide any further details about the investigation. Data has become central to the work of federal political parties in Canada. The Conservatives Constituent Information Management System has been credited as an important part of the partys electoral successes between 2006 and 2015. The Liberals including close advisers of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are big believers in the power of data operations. The governing party is thought to have erased the Conservatives long-held advantage in data operations perhaps even surpassing their rivals. But recent years have shown a significant dark side to the misuse of big data as a political tool. Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which tens of millions of social media users had their personal information unknowingly collected and used in political campaigns, is only the most well-known example. An all-party House of Commons committee recently recommended political parties be explicitly included under Canadas private sector privacy laws, known as PIPEDA the kind of basic expectations and rules governing how private enterprises must protect Canadians personal information. The CDR is promoting that recommendation as the government considers changes to PIPEDA, although Liberals have shown little enthusiasm for extending privacy rules for political parties. In a statement, a Liberal spokesperson referred to the partys clear and stringent privacy policy. Protecting the information of the Canadians with whom we engage continues to be a foremost priority for the party in all our operations, organizing, and communications, wrote Braeden Caley in a statement. Jesse Strean Calvert, the deputy national director of the NDP, said the party will continue to push for change in applying privacy laws to Canadian federal parties. We continue to operate within the rules and regulations that apply to federally-regulated political parties. For years, New Democrats have been pushing for stronger privacy laws that would include federal political parties, Strean Calvert wrote in a statement. A spokesperson for the Conservative Party did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. (Natural News) The Teacher was right: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. This observation by King Solomon rings true and loudly in 2019 America. Arguably the most intense and divisive year in the abortion wars, 2019 reminds us all of the dangers of forgetting our history, which one political party seems committed to repeat. (Article by Seth Gruber republished from LifeSiteNews.com) Kicking off 2019 with New Yorks Reproductive Health Act, New York Democrats renewed their resolve to repeat the judicial tyranny of their partys history by treating some human beings as an inferior class of non-persons. This 2019 Act is disturbingly reminiscent of the 1857 Dred Scott vs. Sandford ruling, which denied personhood to African American Dred Scott. Seven Democrats on the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, while temporarily residing in American territory that declared African American men free persons, was not truly a person after returning to Missouri with his slave-owner, a Captain John Emerson. The court declared that Scott was the property of Emersons wife (Emerson having already passed), and as a non-citizen with no rights of personhood, Scott could be treated as any other form of property owned by Emersons wife, Eliza Sandford. Summarizing the case, Chief Justice Roger [racist] Taney, wrote: A black man has no rights a white man is bound to respect. What has been will be again. In January of 2019, New Yorks Reproductive Health Act, declared that while unborn human beings may have certain personhood rights in other territories of America, New Yorks unborn children have no rights of personhood and can be treated as property through the moment of birth. Denying the personhood of the unborn in the most extreme way, New York legislators even declared that murderers of pregnant women will only be charged with one count of homicide. Channeling the historical discrimination of his party, New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo sent the same message as Taney did so long ago: An unborn human has no rights a born human is bound to respect. Since then, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Vermont have passed similar, radical legislation. Shortly after the New York Reproductive Health Act passed, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam went on WTOP radio to publicly defend Virginia Delegate Kathy Trans bill that would legalize abortion to point of birth. Likely realizing that there is no meaningful difference between a full-term baby about to be born and that same baby just after birth, Northam went a step further by saying that mothers and physicians should be able to have conversations about whether born babies should be left to die or not. In response to Northams clinically cool demeanor describing infanticide, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse brought the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (BAASPA) for a vote in the Senate. The bill would have done three simple things: Require that babies born-alive during a failed abortion-attempt be immediately transferred to a hospital. Require that the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child is applied to babies born-alive during a failed abortion as would be granted to any other child born at the same gestational age. Require that any violation of these rules be reported by a health practitioner or employee of a hospital, physicians office, or abortion clinic. An abortionist who violates these rules and kills an infant born-alive will be punished for intentionally killing a human being. Lastly, the mother of a child born-alive may not be prosecuted. Each of these requirements is very important, because while the 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (which gained unanimous consent from Republican and Democrat senators) specifies that babies who survive abortions and are born are to be recognized as human beings with human rights, the bill did not define what types of care, if any, are to be rendered. Nor did it specify what punishments would be levied against physicians who failed to act to save the life of an abortion-survivor. Tragically and predictably, Senate Democrats took their cue from racist Democrats in the early 20th century who routinely filibustered every Republican effort to enact an antilynching law. Ideological consistency can be a dangerous thing. According to the reasoning of Democrats of that day, if blacks were truly not persons, then lynching them theyd claim would be no more morally problematic than killing an animal, as many racists described African Americans. Today we see the same ideology leading to the dehumanization and slaughter of the unborn. Both African Americans and unborn human persons have died on the altar of an evil ideology. And so, what has been done will be done again. In February of 2019, the United States Senate voted in majority favor (53-44) of the BAASPA. However, the bill didnt gain the 60 votes necessary to overcome the filibuster initiated by Democrat senators. Additionally, only 3 Democrat Senators crossed the aisle to vote for protecting newborns from abortionists. And all of the Democratic Senators running for President voted against the BAASPA! It seems filibustering bills that would prevent discrimination and violence against actual innocent human persons (while simultaneously denying that theyre persons) is a Democratic party trademark. As of December 2019, Senate Democrats have blocked a vote on the BAASPA over 80 times. By refusing to pass the BAASPA, Senate Democrats are enabling abortionists to kill born-alive infants that they failed to kill in the womb. But this pales in comparison to Senate Democrats support of abortion-on-demand, which takes the lives of nearly one-million babies every year in America. Lefts purging of apostates When abortion is treated as sacrosanct, politics becomes liturgy: a spiritual practice engaged in for the purpose of praising and protecting that which is sacred. Therefore, anyone who questions the Lefts political liturgy is an apostate and must be purged and exchanged for those sufficiently woke to the escalating political threat posed by those pro-lifers. In order to protect their liturgical purity, Planned Parenthood fired their new president, Dr. Leana Wen in July 2019. Buzzfeed News, who broke the story, reported that there were internal concerns over her [Wens] management style and a perceived shift away from the groups political work (emphasis own). A source familiar with the matter said that her removal was accelerated by the intensifying battle over abortion rights, saying that she was not the right leader in this climate. Wen herself confirmed all this in her Twitter statement saying, I believe that the best way to protect abortion care is to be clear that it is not a political issue but a health care one (emphasis own). Denying abortions political centrality to the leftist liturgy is tantamount to a Catholic priest denying the centrality of the eucharist to Catholic liturgy. Such an action would oust you from the Catholic Church. And Wen was quickly ousted. A movement based on the belief that human value is found in your wanted-ness, its unsurprising that Planned Parenthood, the political war hawk of the pro-choice movement, will quickly abort its own, whose apostasy renders them unwanted. Wen was quickly replaced by Alexis McGill Johnson, a lifelong political activist, and more of the Cecile Richards mold than Wen ever was. This is noteworthy because Planned Parenthood is publicly dropping its healthcare organizational facade and fully embracing its identity as a political machine. Ironically, removing this healthcare mask will likely further damage their reputation and cause more Americans to distance themselves from the organization. Americans are not interested in supporting a political hackery of a machine focused on enshrining abortion rights through the day of birth. According to a 2019 Gallup Poll, only 25% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances (the de facto position of Planned Parenthood). In fact, a 2007 Gallup Poll found that 72% of Americans think late-term abortions should be illegal, a procedure euphemistically described by the abortion juggernaut as reproductive health care. California chemical abortions Not to be outdone by East Coast radicals in New York, California Governor, Gavin Newsom moved to establish himself in the abortion hall of fame books by signing SB24, a move that makes pro-abortion, former Governor, Jerry Brown look pro-life. In fact, Brown vetoed the bill in 2018. Introduced under the guise of combatting abortion access problems, this bill will force California 4-year state universities (Cal State and UC) to provide the RU-486 abortion pill to students through university health centers. According to the bills sponsor, Connie Leyva, Students shouldnt have to travel off campus or miss class or work responsibilities in order to receive care that can easily be provided at a student health center. Ignoring for the moment that slaughtering unborn children is not care, Leyva blatantly ignores the fact that former Governor Jerry Brown rightly pointed out that the average distance to abortion providers in campus communities varies from five to seven miles, not an unreasonable distance. Despite easily accessible resources such as this Youtube video, many pro-choice advocates dont know or care how the abortion pill kills a baby. An RU-486 chemical abortion is offered through 10 weeks gestation. A pregnant woman first takes Mifepristone, which blocks the hormone progesterone, without which the lining of the uterus breaks down, cutting off blood and nourishment to the baby, who is starved to death. One or two days later, she takes misoprostol, forcing her uterus to have contractions, in order to dispel her dead baby in the toilet. Not only does the abortion pill kill a human being, but it also poses threats to the health and life of the women taking it. While the combatting abortion access problem is clearly a guise for Newsom and the bills defenders, it is a guise they must maintain, because the reality is too ghoulish for even the most ardent pro-choice advocates. According to the FDA, risk & effects include: Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, heavy bleeding, even maternal death. They further report that 24 women have died taking RU-486, average bleeding lasts 9-16 days and 8% of women will endure bleeding more than 30 days. It gets worse. According to a 2000 Oxford University Press study, the average failure rate of a medication abortion is eight percent. Live Action News points out that an eight percent failure rate means that about one in every 12 chemical abortion attempts will be unsuccessful, which means women will need to be subjected to a surgical abortion, which, of course, also has its own risks. Left undiagnosed and untreated, the eight percent of women whose babies were not properly dispelled will be walking around with a dead baby in their uterus, thus susceptible to sepsis and death. As such, the FDA has requirements for prescribers of the abortion pill, including that providers must also be able to provide any necessary surgical intervention and must be able to ensure that women have access to medical facilities for emergency care. Because university health centers are not equipped with surgical abortion instruments or staff qualified or licensed to perform surgical abortions, Newsom will endanger the health and lives of young women who show up to their health centers bleeding and in immense pain, only to be turned away or pointed toward Planned Parenthood. All this under the mantle of healthcare. Naturally, neither Newsom, Leyva or any of the other bills supporters, addressed these concerns. Ignoring reality and its consequences in favor of ideology is nothing new for the abortion juggernaut. In fact, in June of 2018, Cecile Richards, then President of Planned Parenthood, wrote an LA Times opinion editorial in which she claimed that non-invasive medication abortion is safe by all measures safer than Tylenol and Viagra, even. Heres a perfect example of the linguistic gymnastics that are required by abortion advocates who call a medication safe when its success is gauged on whether its target was murdered. The first legislation of its kind, SB24 will turn 4-year California state universities into abortion clinics, a far cry from the purpose for which the academy was designed. In a failed sleight of hand, the abortion industry and their cronies have shown their hand and it clearly has nothing to do with real choice. Failing to provide any type of funding for nurseries or daycares on college campuses and fully willing to endanger the actual health and lives of college-aged women in their pursuit of expanding abortion, it is clear that the only choice Newsom is interested in pushing is abortion. Most concerning of all, however, is Californias reputation as a political bellwether in the abortion wars. The moral decay that starts in the Golden State rarely stays in state. Abortion: destroyer of bi-partisan, national unity An unprecedented and tragic year for unborn babies and human equality, 2019 serves as a lesson that there can be no bi-partisan or national unity when one political party publicly commits itself to the slaughter of unborn children through the day of birth, even refusing to condemn infanticide and ensure better protections for infants who survive abortions. However, this is not the first time our two-party system has been divided over who is a person. There is nothing new under the sun. Woefully ignorant to reality, todays Democratic Party seems to have forgotten that the last time they fought against human equality it led to a war that they lost. This is because, invited or not, reality has an annoying tendency of reasserting itself in our lives. It was self-evidently true that African-Americans were human persons with the same human dignity as everyone else. It is similarly self-evidently true that unborn human beings conceived by human parents are little persons who also share the same dignity. We can either respond to that self-evident reality by aligning our beliefs, lives, and policies correctly, or we can stick our head in the ground and insist that 2 + 2 = 5. But in the end, reality will win out. Either historically describing the Democratic party during slavery, or prophesying the nature of that same party today, George Orwell, speaking through his character Winston said: In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. In other words, when you base your entire ideology on fantasy, your ideas, foolish though they may be, will merely be a reflection of your ideology. When your worldview leads you to label common sense observations, such as blacks and babies are persons, as heresy, you know youre on the wrong road. And as C.S. Lewis aptly pointed out, the true progressive is the one who, realizing he is on the wrong road, makes an about-turn and walks back to the right road. Will the abortion juggernaut and its strategic arm, the Democratic party, learn from the mistakes of history and prove their progressiveness by walking back to the right road? I desperately hope and pray so. But Im not holding my breath. Read more at: LifeSiteNews.com and Depopulation.news. In the past, there have been several times when we have stated that there were no grounds for the detention pre-trial measure for former president of the Yerkrapah Union of Volunteer Land Defenders of Armenia Manvel Grigoryan. This is what Manvel Grigoryans attorney Levon Baghdasaryan told reporters today. The court examined the case on the merits and came to the conclusion that there are no grounds for the detention pre-trial measure, and it obviously took into consideration the facts regarding his disease. We expect to see a fair trial. We dont want to see selective justice. For now, we want Mr. Grigoryan to be healthy, he said. However, the attorney stressed that its not like the decision on commuting the pre-trial measure is a timely decision, and it should have been made a long time ago. Baghdasaryan emphasized that Grigoryan has acquired more diseases during detention and that some doctors have said the detention impeded intensive treatment. Baghdasaryan also said he and the other attorneys wont appeal the signature to not leave the country as a pre-trial measure for the time being. By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijans electricity exports increased by 26.7 percent year-on-year in 2019, the State Customs Committee told local media on January 14. The country exported 1.77 billion kW / h of electricity worth $76.8 million in 2019 versus 1.397 billion kW / h in the amount of $65.6 million in 2018. Thus, in 2019, export of electricity from Azerbaijan also increased in value - by 17.1 percent. In recent years, Azerbaijan has turned from an electricity importing country into an electricity exporter. Azerbaijan, which has been exporting electricity to neighboring countries for a long time, has already begun exporting energy to European countries. Over the past 15 years, Azerbaijan has created about 3,000 MW of new generating capacities. Numerous power plants have been built, and thus, Azerbaijan has become one of the leading countries in the world in this direction. In 2019, Shimal-2 power station with a capacity of 400 MW was commissioned, which also significantly strengthened the countrys energy potential. Last year, the country made $60 million from electricity exports. Azerbaijan exports electricity to Georgia, Turkey, Russia and Iran. The Davos World Economic Forum highly assessed the work done in this area and awarded Azerbaijan first place in the CIS in terms of access to electricity. Besides, the country ranks second in the world by this indicator. Azerenergy is the main exporter of electric energy in Azerbaijan with over 30 power plants on its balance. The total power generation capacity of these stations exceeds 6,000 MW, which allows generating about 24 billion kWh of electricity annually. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz (CNN) Being awarded a Michelin star was once the ultimate culinary accolade -- a reward for the punishing hours and dedication to detail that helped usher chefs into the upper echelons of their industry and bring big-spending diners into their restaurants. But for some in the culinary world, those stars have begun to seem more of a burden than a blessing. In the past few years, several chefs have handed back their Michelin status, closed the doors on their upscale eateries and begun a new foodie life away from the confines of haute cuisine. The stars have begun to lose their luster. In 2017 French chef Sebastien Bras requested to be left out of the next edition of the Michelin Guide blaming the unrelenting pressure on maintaining a fine dining kitchen -- an issue that's increasingly becoming a concern in the wider restaurant industry. More recently, in December 2019, Swedish cook Magnus Nilsson shuttered his two-Michelin-starred eatery Faviken, citing tiredness and plans to dedicate more time to family. There have been cases of chefs suing Michelin when they lose a star, and chefs suing Michelin when they gain one, of restauranteurs closing shop on old ventures and opening intentionally low-key locales, instead of lofty fine-dining hotspots. And among chef graduates, there's a thirst for new gourmand adventures -- in 2020, supper clubs and street food trucks are as favored as the hallowed halls of established restaurants. Star surrender Michelin, in case you'd forgotten, is actually a tire company. The Michelin Guide launched at the beginning of the 20th century as a directory for French motorists, detailing hotels, petrol stations and other stopoff points. Stars were awarded to fine dining restaurants from 1926 onwards. A century later and the guide's got an indisputable power: gaining -- and, by default, losing -- a star has the ability to shape a restaurant's future. In 1994, a 32-year-old Marco Pierre White became the youngest chef to achieve three stars at his eponymous restaurant. By 1999, he'd renounced the stars, quitting the restaurant that had made him a culinary star. Pierre White kickstarted a trend that's slowly gathered steam over the last couple of decades, with Michelin-based headlines becoming ubiquitous over the last few years. Take South Korean chef Eo Yun-gwon, who sued Michelin for including his restaurant in the Guide, on the grounds that he'd told them not to. Eo told CNN Travel in 2019: "Michelin guide is a cruel system. It's the cruelest test in the world. It forces the chefs to work around a year waiting for a test [and] they don't know when it's coming." Meanwhile, French chef Marc Veyrat -- who lost a Michelin star and later lost a Michelin-based lawsuit objecting that decision -- echoed some of White's earlier comments when he called the inspectors "incompetent." The restauranteurs who've turned their back on the Michelin route have spoken of their desire to focus on a better work life balance. And with that doesn't necessarily mean losing your fanbase or curbing your profit -- particularly in the social media age, where visitors are perhaps as likely to head to an Instagram-famous eaterie as a restaurant recommended in the Michelin Guide. "I think more and more chefs are actually saying: 'Well hang on a minute, I can cook very nice food without being overstressed [...] without charging a fortune -- just be successful and enjoy life," says Emil Minev, culinary arts director at Le Cordon Bleu London, the British outpost of the world-famous cookery school. "When you have your three Michelin stars, you're basically fighting to keep the Michelin star. You cook for the three Michelin stars, you're not necessarily focused on your customer, because what matters is your Michelin star." Unhealthy work culture Some chefs are becoming more vocal about the pressures that characterize the profession -- and which are exacerbated by the quest to maintain Michelin status. Following the loss of his Michelin star, Veyrat says he suffered from depression. Stepping away from the more traditional restaurant route can be a way of dealing with the strain. A 2017 survey of London chefs by Unite, the British union, revealed than two-thirds of the city's chefs believe the industry's culture of long hours is harming their health. More than half -- 51% -- said they suffered from depression due to being overworked, while nearly a third said they drank alcohol to get through their shift. A more recent 2019 survey of British chefs commissioned by Swiss food giant Nestle suggested that 48% of chefs felt there was not enough done to support their mental well-being, pointing towards staff shortages, lack of time and limited budgets as the chief factors contributing to raised stress levels. The survey also suggested that 87% of chefs questioned felt "more freedom to be creative in the kitchen would significantly improve stress levels." Minev suggests there needs to be a shift in chef lifestyle. "We have to create altogether a better environment for the young chefs, because the number of young chefs who graduate from school, who go to great kitchens and then they burn out, and then they change careers, is just enormous," says Minev. "So it's our duty and responsibility to make sure that we retain these young chefs and they stay in the kitchens. It's very important and the only way to do it is to create a better work life balance for them." The Guide, for its part, stresses that it does not encourage Michelin-mania -- or overtly pressurized environments. "Running a successful restaurant is tough, and we absolutely appreciate that -- so we have never encouraged chefs or restaurateurs to obsess over gaining or retaining Michelin stars," Rebecca Burr, director of the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Northern Ireland, tells CNN Travel. "It's entirely up to them what sort of experience they want to give their customers and how they run their business." Burr concedes that a Michelin star carries the power to transform a restaurant's fortune, but adds "it's entirely possible to run an extremely profitable restaurant without having a Michelin Star." On the other side The team behind the acclaimed Michelin-starred Checkers Restaurant, nestled in the green landscapes of rural Wales in the UK, made the decision back in September 2018 to relaunch as a more low-key breakfast and lunch establishment, Checkers Pantry. "We thought long and hard about taking our business in a new direction, having a star is the ultimate benchmark of our trade and we have treasured ours for seven years," co-owner Kathryn Francis told CNN Travel at the time. "But it was time to take a new direction -- one that frees Stephane [Borie, head chef] up to do more freelance and private work and one that made having our own business a little more family friendly." Catching up with CNN over a year later, Francis says this was absolutely the right choice, and the team hasn't looked back. "The biggest change is how refreshing it is not to work during the evenings -- late nights and a young family are a tricky combination, getting a better work-life balance was a key motivator and I think we have achieved this on many levels," she says. "The transition has been relatively straight forward -- our core team remains an integral part of the business and we had our existing customer base as well as reaching a new audience." The team has benefited from their change in hours, but Francis points out that owning any restaurant, Michelin-starred or not, comes with its own set of tensions. In the case of Checkers Pantry, she refers specifically to the "unsettling impact of Brexit" and the recent UK election. "However, I'm hopeful that there will be a new era where we will see enterprise and small businesses encouraged and supported to flourish," she adds. Checkers Pantry is currently on the market (due to Francis' personal plans to relocate, it's nothing to do with the business, she says.) The team aren't looking into new ventures at the present time, says Francis, but she's still excited about the gear change in her industry. "The versatility and new operations we see in hospitality are an exciting progression for professionals and consumers alike," says Francis. Alternative career trajectories At the London outpost of Le Cordon Bleu, the renowned culinary school that instructs budding chefs in the nitty-gritty of French cuisine, trainees are getting a taste of the pressures to come. It's 8.30 a.m., and the students are already hard at work, meticulously preparing sweet treats in the spotless kitchens and classrooms for judgment at the annual Julia Child Scholarship finals. The winner earns a sponsored slot on Le Cordon Bleu's Diplome de Patisserie and Diploma in Culinary Management. It used to be that the Diplome de Patisserie, Cordon Bleu's pastry qualification that gives students a grounding in producing perfect croissants and other baked delights, or Cordon Bleu's Grand Diplome -- the creme-de-la-creme of culinary qualifications -- were the first steps to a career spent in the world's acclaimed kitchens. Cordon Bleu's Minev, who previously worked as executive chef at the Shangri-La Hotel in London, considers that there's been a change in dining habits. People don't necessarily always want to spent three or four hours in a restaurant, he says, and they may prefer a relaxed environment. "But the one thing that hasn't changed is people still look for quality food," he says. Whether they're going to an acclaimed Michelin-starred restaurant or heading to a food truck that serves the best burgers in the city, diners still expect a high standard. For Lynne Staartjes, her decision to enrol on the Diplome de Patisserie was never predicated by a desire to work in the Michelin-starred environment. She'd had that experience before, working as a pastry chef in Paris when she was 18, and was reluctant to return. In July 2017, shortly before graduating from Cordon Bleu, Staartjes established Sweet Tooth Tours, guiding tour groups to the best sweet treats in London and Paris. Staartjes thinks her in-depth understanding of how to prepare the perfect pastry elevates her tour experience, but she can't see herself working in a kitchen any time soon. "I hope fine dining restaurants will continue, absolutely," she tells CNN Travel. "But I made that conscious decision that I would rather do something a bit more creative, in a sense. "Working in a restaurant, you need a tremendous amount of creativity to put together dishes and it's an extremely competitive environment -- but creative, I think, in a different way," she says. Casual versus "cutthroat" Indian-born chef Dhruv Mittal trained in haute cuisine, graduating from Le Cordon Bleu with a Grand Diplome in 2014 and going on to work in Michelin-starred restuarants in the UK and India. But Mittal knew he wanted to break from that tradition, start a business that was personal and different. He experimented with a supper club at his London home, and later opened his casual Indian restaurant DUM Biryani House in 2016. It's since gone from strength to strength. Mittal tells CNN Travel that his aim was: "Good food and a friendly price point without it being something which is taken to a stuffy fine dining level, which often I found, in my past, removed a lot of the fun behind it." Conscious that working in a fine dining restaurant can entail "a disregard for your own mental health and physical health", Mittal was drawn to the more connected, personal feel of a casual eaterie. "You feel like people really care about how you feel day-to-day and how able you are to be able to do the job -- whereas in a fine dining setting, it is very much you either do the work or you get out, and I think it is very cutthroat," he says. But while Mittal consciously tried to echew the the high-pressure, high-octane restaurant environment, he says it's hard to avoid -- even when you're running the show. "I thought that when I started the restaurant, I could negate or ignore a lot of the formal structure around how an operation operates -- and I could create an environment which is fun and great for my employees and really take care of them," Mittal says. "But actually now, after a couple of years of working in the industry, and managing a couple of restaurants, there is a lot of perfection that we still demand from our employees. "There needs to be discipline in order for the business to work all the time, to get the numbers that you need to be successful." Supper clubs and street food stalls Increasingly, food trucks, supper clubs and market stalls are as much "on-the-map" as Michelin-starred eateries. Sometimes there's even an overlap: in Singapore, two street food stalls -- Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle and Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle earned Michelin stars in 2016 in recognition of their tasty food on the go. "The Michelin star recognizes the quality and consistency of the food on offer, regardless of how formal or informal a setting is," says UK-Michelin director Burr. "The situation becomes more complex with food trucks or supper clubs because of the mobile nature of the business and the potential for limited public access. Essentially, if our readers and the users of our apps can easily access an outlet, and the food on offer is consistently excellent, then it can be considered." Luiz Hara, a Japanese-Brazilian chef who lives in London, is an ex-banker who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu with Le Grand Diplome, the top qualification. He now runs the London Foodie Supper Club hosting supper clubs in his home. He started off catering for a max of 16 people, now it's up to 32 -- but Hara doesn't want it to be any more than that. It's easier, he says, because he doesn't have to pay rent on a restaurant building. He also enjoys greater creativity and a more flexible lifestyle. His work, he says, goes back to the crux of why he became a chef in the first place -- because he loves to cook. "I couldn't possibly do the kitchen work, day in and day out," Hara tells CNN Travel. "For me, it was more being able to have a balanced life, a balanced lifestyle. I didn't want to burn out either. So I felt like, if I'm going to do this, it's going to be something that I'm going to enjoy." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Why Michelin chefs are handing back their stars." Military exchange to stop selling 'Jesus' Scripture Candy after secular group complains Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Army & Air Force Exchange Service said it will stop selling Jesus-themed candy in response to a complaint filed by a secular legal organization warning that selling the treats at commissary and exchange stores is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation announced Friday that it received a response to a letter it sent recently to the AAFES objecting to the sale of Jesus Candy at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. AAFES is the retailor found on U.S. Army and Air Force installations worldwide. The package of candy comes in mini stockings that have the words Jesus Sweetest Name I Know written on the top. The product is produced by a company called Scripture Candy, which carries the motto: Reaching the World One Piece at a Time! The New Mexico-based MRFF accused the candy package of being more of a Christian proselytizing kit than a package of candy and argued that the sale of the product violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The clause prevents the establishment of a state religion. MRFF demanded that the product be removed from store shelves. In an op-ed Friday, MRFF senior research director Chris Rodda said MRFF attorneys received a response from the AAFES on Thursday. AAFES reportedly agreed to stop selling the candies, but did not say it agreed with MRFF's claim that selling the product was a violation of the Constitution. Instead, AAFES said it would stop selling the candies due to limited historical demand." Upon exhaustion of the very small quantity of inventory we have remaining in stock, AAFES will discontinue the stocking and sale of the products from this vendor due to limited historical demand, the AAFES letter reads, according to MRFF. Rodda wrote that MRFF assumes that the AAFES discontinuation of Scripture Candy products will apply to Scripture Candys products for other holidays as well. An AAFES spokesperson confirmed to The Christian Post that the service "discontinued the sale of Scripture Candy because of low demand." CP also reached out to the First Liberty Institute, a leading legal nonprofit organization that has experience litigating military religious freedom cases. In an emailed statement, Michael Berry, chief of staff for First Liberty, said, We commend AAFES for not giving in to the demands of a radical activist. As usual, the MRFFs claims are meritless. It goes without saying that selling candy canes is perfectly legal in America, no matter how badly the MRFF wishes to the contrary. In a previous interview with Fox News, Berry, a Marine Corps combat veteran, defended the candy company, adding, This is just the latest publicity stunt by a bunch of activists. A real constitutional expert or any first-year law student knows that selling candy canes at Christmas is perfectly legal. Berry also accused MRFF of having its own version of the Constitution. "Sadly, the MRFF has duped its so-called 'thousands' of alleged clients into believing its dubious legal fairy tales, Berry argued. In its complaint to AAFES, MRFF claimed that selling the candy is an illegal promotion of religion and offensive to people of other religions who shop at the exchanges stores. MRFF cited an Air Force code requiring leaders to ensure their actions cant reasonably be construed to be an endorsement or preferential treatment for any religion. MRFF regularly pressures military entities to end any perceived endorsement of religion. Late last year, the U.S. Armys licensing office banned a faith-based company called Shields of Strength from engraving Bible verses on Army-licensed dog tags. The decision came after MRFF sent a letter to all branches of the military objecting to Shields of Strength products. MRFF claimed that Shields of Strengths products violated a Department of Defense rule stating that DoD marks may not be licensed for any purposed intended to promote religious beliefs. In December, First Liberty Institutes Berry sent a letter to the director of the Army Trademark Licensing Program arguing that the action was unlawful. Your directive that SoS remove all biblical references from its products demonstrates precisely the type of government hostility toward religion that the Establishment Clause forbids, Berry wrote. The First Amendments Free Exercise Clause also protects private entities from impermissible government interference with religious exercise. This includes the prohibition against government censorship of religious expression by a private, for-profit corporation, such as SoS. LOS ANGELES The artist Ed Ruscha has been based in Los Angeles since 1956, and has spent the better part of the last 60 years exploring that citys iconography in a deadpan style that wavers between mundane and philosophical. He has documented sometimes in black and white photographs, but mostly in oil on canvas gas stations, parking lots, swimming pools, the apartment blocks of struggling actors, the Hollywood sign (which on clear days he used to be able to see from his old studio) and, in his large body of text-based paintings, the kind of transactional language one could imagine overhearing at a power lunch at any point in the last half-century, such as: That was then this is now, Honey, I twisted through more damn traffic today, Pay nothing until April and the iconic Oof. Aside from this city, its landmarks and their place in a kind of extreme version of Americana symbolism, the odd evolutions of contemporary vernacular have been the main through-line of his work. In person, Mr. Ruscha speaks with a vaguely unplaceable Western accent, a holdover from his upbringing he was born in Nebraska, but grew up mostly in Oklahoma which has softened into slight nonrecognition from his time on the West Coast. Perhaps other than John Wayne, no other postwar figure has been described as laconic quite as much as he has. Its a good word for him. Watching Mr. Ruscha enter a room feels like witnessing a cowboy suiting up for his last rodeo. His gait is stiff and slow, but also dramatically deliberate, and at 82, hes still as handsome as a movie star. Were proud to secure a spot for the second year in a row on Ad Ages esteemed Best Work Place list. Weve worked hard to create a strong internal culture and glad that it resonates with our team and we plan to ensure that endures for years to come, said Michael LeBeau, Managing Partner. Scrum50, the agile marketing agency, was recently awarded as one of the Top 25 Agencies for Ad Age's Best Places to Work List, within the size category of up to 200 employees. Based on actual employee and employer feedback compiled by a third party, the Ad Age list takes into account the happiness of employees along with key factors including benefits, inclusion and employee development to identify the companies that stand out ahead of the pack from their agency counterparts. Were proud to secure a spot for the second year in a row on Ad Ages esteemed Best Work Place list. Weve worked hard to create a strong internal culture and glad that it resonates with our team and we plan to ensure that endures for years to come, said Michael LeBeau, Managing Partner, co-founder of Scrum50. Were once again humbled by this honor and excited to see the success of our individual employees as we continue working with iconic, international brands like Benjamin Moore, Mondelez International, Subway and others. For its 2020 awards, Ad Age worked once again with partner, Latitude Research, looking at companies and agencies with just 10 employees up to 1,000+ deep. They identified a scoring system within six key satisfaction areas including: employee benefits, company culture, employee development, company environment, employee engagement and employee perks. Ad Age looks at the factors and best practices that go into making a business a great place to work and pulls out the data of what really matters to employees in work satisfaction. You can learn more about the full awards in this recent Ad Age article. For more information about Scrum50, visit: http://www.scrum50.com. About Scrum50 Founded in 2014, Scrum50 is the first born agile marketing agency, which turned the traditional advertising agency model on its head. Their mission is to be both a world-class strategic creative agency and an efficient one by embracing Agile Marketing approaches -- employing shorter production sprints managed by uniquely-talented hybrid teams (Scrum style!). Learn more about the company at http://www.scrum50.com. About Ad Age Ad Age is a global media brand focusing on curated creativity, data and analysis, people and culture, and innovation and forecasting. From vital print editions to must-attend events and innovative platform offerings, its industry-leading offerings include the coveted A-List & Creativity Awards, the Ad Age Next Conference, and proprietary data such as the Leading National Advertisers Report from the Ad Age Datacenter. http://www.adage.com NATO and Iraq discuss developments in the Middle East and continued cooperation NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 14 Jan. 2020 Today (14 January 2020), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Karim Hashim Aboualgus at NATO Headquarters. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, Abdul Karim Hashim Aboualgus They shared views on the recent developments in the Middle East and on NATO-Iraq cooperation. Mr. Stoltenberg underscored that NATO remains fully committed to working with Iraq, and that NATO is ready to resume training and capacity building efforts in Iraq, as soon as conditions on the ground allow, by continuing to support Iraq to build, train and educate the military it needs. A stable Iraq is crucial to regional stability and to euro-atlantic security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address It's the start of a new year and a new decadeperhaps you should kick it off with a brand-new address! And not just new to you. We're talking about a newly constructed, pristine place no one else has lived in before. Leaky pipes, crumbling foundations, and questionable wallpaper choices of all sorts be damned. You can forget about repairs, remodels, and renovations when you purchase one of these 10 brand-new properties available right now. Scattered across the country, all 10 of these homes feature fresh paint, green building materials, and all-new fixturesall designed to take on the future in style. Take a look, and raise a toast to an all-new residence in 2020! Price: $580,000 Green living in Cincinnati: Built with energy efficiency as a priority, this three-bedroom home comes with a 15-year tax abatement. The home features granite counters, a covered deck off the master suite, Jack-and-Jill bath, and partly finished basement. The modern house sits on a large lot in the Jameson in Sonoma Trails neighborhood. Cincinnati, OH realtor.com Price: $2,398,000 Urban utopia: This new community in a burgeoning San Francisco Bay Area city promises residences, restaurants, and retail for a convenient, vibrant urban living experience. Construction was completed in 2019 on this four-bedroom unit with just under 3,000 square feet of living space. The residence features vaulted ceilings, rooftop pavilion with outdoor fireplace, fenced backyard, and two-car garage. Santa Clara, CA realtor.com Price: $375,000 Terrific in Tucson: Just a few minutes from the University of Arizona, this three-bedroom house has 6-foot wood plank flooring; a kitchen with an island, Shaker cabinets, and quartz counters; a great room with gas fireplace; a covered patio; and an enclosed yard. Tucson, AZ realtor.com Price: $299,000 Beautiful bungalow: Sitting in the Seminole Heights neighborhood, this three-bedroom home welcomes visitors with its bright teal door. The home's open floor plan is designed for entertaining. The spacious backyard includes a deck for enjoying the warm weather, and there's even a private garage. It's all just minutes from downtown, the local mall, and the Tampa International Airport. Tampa., FL realtor.com Price: $453,200 Awesome in Austin: Modern and refined, this two-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot unit looks spacious for its size. There's a large kitchen and living area, extra storage outside, fenced yard, and carport. Commuters will appreciate the close proximity to the metro for a quick trip downtown. Austin, TX realtor.com Price: $379,900 Fort Wayne farmhouse: Construction is wrapping up on this modern farmhouse in the Canyon Bay neighborhood in Fort Wayne. Highlights of this nearly 2,500-square-foot home include an open layout, painted maple cabinetry, custom barn door in the den, children's retreat on the second floor, and full basement. Fort Wayne, IN realtor.com Price: $1,150,000 Seattle stunner: Elegant from almost any angle and filled with light, this modern four-bedroom residence has more than 3,000 square feet loaded with upgrades, including quartz kitchen counters, a bonus room, private patio, and rooftop deck. Seattle, WA realtor.com Price: $399,900 Philly-fantastic: State-of-the-art construction, fixtures, and finishes are the hallmarks of this three-bedroom home in South Kensington. The first floor features an open kitchen and living areas; the second holds the two smaller bedrooms; and the third is entirely dedicated to the luxe master suite. Head to the rooftop deck for stunning views of the city skyline and Ben Franklin Bridge. The location is close to public transit access, shops, and restaurants. Philadelphia, PA realtor.com Price: $375,000 Omaha opulence: The Villas at Pier 15 is a new community from Silverton Custom Homes. It includes this three-bedroom home on Flannagan Lake. The home features an open floor plan, including built-ins throughout and custom kitchen cabinetry. There's also a three-car garage. Neighborhood amenities include kayaking, canoeing, and trails for walking. Omaha, NE realtor.com Price: $1,845,000 Luxe living: Construction on this 5,300-square-foot modern farmhouse sitting on just under 2.5 acres is underway. The floor plan includes a chef's kitchen, wood-burning fireplace, and 10-foot coffered ceiling in the great room. The site has already been approved for a pool and is close to Chappaqua shops and schools. Mount Kisco, NY realtor.com The post New Year, New House: 10 Brand-New Properties on the Market Right Now appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Paris Wed, January 15, 2020 07:00 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c3222825f 2 People nazi,concentration-camps,Holocaust,photographer,Eric-Schwab Free Piles of skeletal bodies, the doors to a crematorium, emaciated faces -- an AFP photographer documents the full horror of the Nazi extermination camps in the spring of 1945, as he searches for his deported mother. One-time fashion photographer and having escaped as a prisoner from a train bound for Germany, later joining the Resistance, Eric Schwab was one of the first photographers to work for AFP after it was refounded in August 1944 in a liberated Paris. As a war correspondent, he follows the Allied troops as they advance, becoming a witness to the horrors discovered as the forces progressively liberate the German death camps. Weak and ill survivors of the Nazi concentration camp in Buchenwald march April 1945 towards the infirmary, after the liberation of the camp by Allied troops. The construction of Buchenwald camp started 15 July 1937 and was liberated by US General Patton's army 11 April 1945. Between 239,000 and 250,000 people were imprisoned in this camp. About 56,000 died among which 11,000 Jews. On the 4th of April Patton's army liberated the Buchenwald sub-camp in Ohrdruf, where they only found about fifty corpses of prisonners. The 9000 Buchenwald commandos - hundreds of Polish, Russian, Yugoslavian, Italian and French, some Hungarian and Russian Jews, and gypsies - had been forced by the Nazis to march 80 km on April 2nd from Ohrdruf to the main camp Buchenwald. Most of them were evacuated again April the 7th to Dachau and Flossenburg. Much died during this ordeal. On the 11th of April the International Committee (created in August 194Depo3 by the prisoners), who managed to obtain and hide arms during previous shelling, gave the order for an insurrection which pave the way for the US army. (AFP/Eric Schwab) A painful quest to find his mother drives him. Elsbeth, a Jewish German, was deported in 1943. Since then, he has not heard anything. One of Schwab's first published photographs is of the entrance gate to Buchenwald, bearing the terrible inscription "Jedem das Seine" ("To each what he deserves"). A few days earlier, Heinrich Himmler has given the order to liquidate the camp. The braziers are still smoking, and the bodies of prisoners executed by a bullet to the head are strewn across the site. At Dachau, another concentration camp, Schwab takes portraits that lay bare the inhumanity suffered. He photographs the number tattooed on the bone-thin arm of a Jewish prisoner. Another shot shows a man in striped prison garb talking through barbed wire to a woman held in the camp's brothel. There are also captured moments of hope, as with a group of French prisoners listening to the Marseillaise national anthem. Or another of Polish, German and French priests celebrating mass for the camp's dead in the chapel. Schwab's journey takes him to the camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt), in what is today the Czech Republic. A few days from the end of the war, the region is in chaos as vast numbers flee advancing Soviet troops towards US-controlled territory. French prisoners raise the flag of Free France with the Lorraine cross while singing the national anthem, 'La Marseillaise', 29 April 1945 upon the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau, near Munich, by Allied troops. (AFP/Eric Schwab) Here, the photographer's dream comes true. In May 1945, he discovers a frail woman with white hair, wearing a nurse's cap: his mother. Then aged 56, Elsbeth has managed to escape death and has been looking after child survivors at the camp. It is, naturally, an intensely emotional reunion but it appears that, out of respect, he refrains from photographing his mother, or at least from publishing the images. After the war, Eric Schwab and his mother leave France, settling in New York in 1946. Photographic evidence of the concentration camp horrors was widely disseminated as early as 1945, but Schwab's work did not earn him the renown of some of the other photographers. As often happens with news agency photos, his images were printed in the media but not attributed to him by name. It would take several years for his talent to be fully recognised, particularly the powerful portraiture and composition found throughout his now iconic works. Schwab dies in 1977 aged 67. cannabis Cannabis companies are poised to see sales grow by nearly nine times through 2030 as legalisation gains popularity and distribution widens, according to Morningstars latest research. The US recreational, US medicinal, Canadian, and global medicinal export markets have penetrated just 8%, 21%, 11%, and 19% of their estimated markets respectively. We believe this large, underserved market will provide top-line growth and fixed-cost leverage for cannabis companies, supporting a green rush through at least the next decade. These findings are among the key takeaways detailed in our Basic Materials Observer on cannabis market growth. The full report provides a playbook for investors seeking exposure to different cannabis trends, as well as market-size forecasts and regulatory outlooks for major cannabis markets. Here we explore some of our findings about the current state and future expectations of the cannabis industry in the US, Canada, and international markets. US Cannabis Market Outlook: Massive Growth in Recreational and Medical Markets The recreational cannabis market is larger than the medical market both at its current size and long-term estimate. The current market estimate of the legal recreational market is about $5.4 billion, primarily dominated by the western US, where recreational legalisation is more common and distribution more developed. As shown on the chart below, we estimate the market will become nearly 13 times larger by 2030, at roughly $68 billion in constant dollars (representing about 25% average annual growth). cannabis Legalisation is expected to expand at both the state and federal levels. Laws differ greatly from state to state. As shown on the chart below, as of May 2019, 23 states have legalised medical cannabis, 12 states have legalised low-THC/high-CBD hemp or cannabis derivatives, and 11 states and Washington DC, have passed laws legalising both recreational and medical cannabis. cannabis 2 By 2030, we expect legalisation to take effect in nine more states. Six states are expected to legalise recreational cannabis (Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Rhode Island). Three states have already passed legalisation (Michigan, Vermont, and Illinois), and implementation is ongoing. Commercial operations are expected to expand in the next decade as these programs are applied. Story continues The federal government may be legally prevented from interfering in cannabis operations and consumers operating within a states laws. We contend that this is the most likely resolution to the federal and state legal discrepancy. This would mean states that legalise or have already legalised cannabis will not be inhibited from doing so. However, it would also mean states that have showed staunch opposition to legalisation would be able to continue to prohibit it. Robust recreational growth doesnt rely on significant participation expansion. Our forecast (shown on the chart below) implies that cannabis wont surpass alcohol in participation rates but may modestly exceed todays participation rates for tobacco. In other words, tremendous market growth doesnt need to come from converting nonconsumers, just from converting existing black-market customers to the legal market. cannabis 3 Canadian Cannabis Market Outlook: Forecasted to be 9 Times Larger By 2030 Unlike the confusing US cannabis laws, Canadas laws are very clear: Recreational cannabis was legalised in June 2018 when Canadas House of Commons and the Senate approved Bill C-45 (the Cannabis Act). The law took effect in October 2018, making Canada the second country after Uruguay to fully legalise cannabis for adult use. Canadas current market penetration is at just 12% of the market, shown below. This leaves a significant runway for growth and underpins our forecast that cannabis sales will grow nearly 20% per year on average. cannabis 4 International Cannabis Market Outlook: Medical growth expected, but Competitors Emerging Increasing interest in medical cannabis may create further demand. Internationally, a growing number of countries have recognized the benefits of medical cannabis and are expanding access. This widening legalisation is expected to create further demand. Still, the global market (excluding the US and Canada) remains severely underpenetrated, leaving room for it to expand to more than 11 times its current size. We forecast total-market potential of nearly $43 billion by 2030 with the addressable market at $20 billion. This forecast is a substantial increase from the current global medicinal cannabis market (excluding the US and Canada), which we size at roughly $3.7 billion based on estimates ranging from $3.5 billion to $11 billion from Coherent Market Insights and Research and Markets, as shown on the chart below. More than half of the market potential over the next decade lies in countries that will expand their own cannabis production, limiting the opportunity for exporters. cannabis 5 This article originally appeared on the Morningstar Blog Louth Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach, has refuted a claim made today by Fine Gael general election candidate, Cllr John McGahon, that "Fianna Fail are willing to risk a no deal Brexit" and that MEP Billy Kelleher will oppose the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Cllr McGahon said in a statement this morning that: it has emerged today that Fianna Fail MEP, Billy Kelleher, stated in a letter that he will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement when it reaches the European Parliament in the coming weeks. With just 16 days until the UK leaves the EU, Billy Kelleher has stated that he will vote against the Brexit agreement and, thus, in favour of a no-deal crashout that could see a border on the island of Ireland. What does Micheal Martin have to say about this position? It seems that it is the same old reckless Fianna Fail who simply cant be trusted to lead this country." After the election Fianna Fail could theoretically be representing Ireland in the next stage of the Brexit negotiations when focus turns to the future relationship how can we trust them when we see this type of reckless statement from a senior member of the party? The Fine Gael councillor continued: Led by Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Helen McEntee, Fine Gael has ensured that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland and that citizens rights are protected. However, the next half will be as challenging as the first.We must now negotiate a free trade agreement between the EU and UK and we must ensure that that agreement protects our jobs particularly in SMEs and the agri-food sector our economy and our rural and fishing communities. Crucial decisions on the Future Relationship with the UK will be made in the coming months. We need consistency and order. What Billy Kelleher is proposing will only create disorder." Is seems quite clear that this disorderly Fianna Fail are in favour of a disorderly Brexit, Cllr. McGahon concluded Deputy Breathnach refuted the claims made by Cllr McGahon. Speaking to the Democrat today, Deputy Breathnach said that: "Billy Kelleher will be voting in favour of this bill" and that "Fianna Fail collectively with the Dail have ensured stability over the past four years and have been instrumental through their support in securing a Brexit deal." The Fianna Fail TD added that: "I have been very vocal in the Dail and through my involvement with the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement on Brexit and securing the best possible deal particularly for the communities in the border region who will suffer most. "We will now be entering the second phase of negotiations and Fianna Fail will continue to strive for the best outcome possible for our economy." China would always respect Sri Lankas sovereignty and not allow any outside interference in its internal affairs, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday as he met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. Wang met the two leaders separately with both sides pledging to further promote relations between the two countries. As Sri Lankas strategic partner, China will continue to stand by Sri Lankas interests, the visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister was quoted as saying by Gotabayas office. China stands for the countrys sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. We will not allow any outside influences to interfere with matters that are essentially internal concerns of Sri Lanka, Wang said. The president told Wang that Sri Lanka was facing many political challenges and the only way to overcome them is to be economically strong. The economic independence will ensure political independence, Gotabaya said. The president said Sri Lanka is ready to enhance Sri Lanka-China ties, strengthen bilateral win-win cooperation in various fields and actively promote the joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative to build regional shipping and logistic hubs, Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency reported from Colombo. The Sri Lankan government fully supports the development of major projects such as the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port, Mahinda said, noting that these projects will not only help develop the countrys economy and improve peoples livelihood, but also become a major driving force for the friendly cooperation between the two countries, according to the report. In his response, Wang said China, as did in the past, would be Sri Lankas longtime partner in prosperity and growth. He noted that Chinas policy towards Colombo had always been consistent and would continue to be Sri Lankas reliable friend. China and Sri Lanka are strategic cooperative partners with sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship built upon a long tradition of friendly exchanges. Recent years has seen fruitful cooperation under the Belt and Road framework. China stands ready to work with Sri Lankas new administration to carry forward the traditional friendship, strengthen political mutual trust, dovetail development strategies and bring bilateral relations to new heights, Wang added. President Gotabayas postponed first visit to China will take place in February, his office said after the meeting. In December 2017, Sri Lanka handed over the control of the southern sea port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, triggering concern over Beijings efforts to expand influence in the region. Soon after his election last year as President, Gotabaya said that giving away the Hambantota Port to China on a 99-year lease was a mistake by the previous government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena. The deal has to be renegotiated. Giving a small loan for investment is a different thing but giving a strategically important economic harbour is not acceptable. That we should have controlled, the media had quoted him as saying. In response to Gotabayas comments on the Hambantota Port, China had said that all the projects with Sri Lanka were developed with a win-win spirit and equal-footed consultation with the host nation. Prime Minister Mahinda, who was known for taking pro-China stance during his previous tenure as the president, clarified to Chinas official news agency that the President did not mean there is any problem about the sovereignty. What the president meant was that our government, unlike the previous one, has a principle of not privatising assets. If Sri Lanka and China have any problems, we can easily discuss and resolve them as friends, he was quoted as saying by Xinhua. Wang is the first top Chinese official to visit Sri Lanka after the election of Gotabaya. His visit to Sri Lanka coincides with the visits of top Japanese and US officials. Japanese State Minister for Regional Revitalisation Kozo Yamamoto met President Gotabaya and evinced his countrys interest in investing in the island nation. Alice Wells, the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia who is also visiting Sri Lanka, met Gotabaya and Mahinda on Tuesday. US values its relationship with #SriLanka and looks forward to strengthening ties by expanding cooperation on econ and trade, counter-terrorism, security, transitional justice and human rights - both of our nations will benefit, she tweeted. At least 59 people were killed and many more were missing after avalanches in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir over the last 24 hours, senior government officials said on Tuesday. In neighbouring India, at least 10 people were killed after several avalanches hit the northern-part of Indian-administered Kashmir. Two Pakistani officials said many villagers were still stranded by the avalanches in the Neelum Valley area following heavy rain that also triggered landslides. Many people were reported missing and feared dead as rescue efforts got under way, one of the officials said. Rescuers had managed to extract more than 50 people from the snow and airlifted them out of the area for treatment. Authorities also scrambled to provide relief to local people with another spell of heavy snow expected on Friday. At least 53 houses had been completely destroyed by avalanches in the Pakistani administered region known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), officials said. "I have asked the National Disaster Management Authority, the military and all our federal ministers to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on an emergency footing to the affected people in AJK," Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted. A senior Indian police official said five soldiers were among the 10 killed near the border between India and Pakistan. The area is one of the world's most militarily tense frontiers, where the neighbouring armies have confronted each other over disputed territory for decades. Kashmir has been divided between Indian and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. In 2012, an avalanche engulfed a Pakistani army battalion headquarters near the Indian border, killing at least 124 soldiers and 11 civilians. Meanwhile in western Pakistan, heavy snowfall in southwestern Balochistan destroyed several houses in the mountainous region, killing 17 people. The disaster management authority declared an emergency in seven districts of the mineral-rich province and sought the army's help for relief and rescue operations. Key highways connecting Pakistan and Afghanistan were blocked due to heavy snow, forcing officials to suspend transportation of essential goods into Afghanistan. Severe cold and heavy snow led to the death of 39 people in six provinces of Afghanistan in the past two weeks said Tamim Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Natural Disaster Management Authority in Kabul. "We are distributing emergency assistance, including cash to families of the victims," said Azimi, adding that heavy rain and snow have hampered for rescuers. Also read: No Indian company in US top 100 patent list; China the rising star Also read: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos invokes Mahatma on his India visit On 16 January 1647, a fleet of three Dutch shipsthe Nieuwe Haerlem, the Olifant and the Schiedamleft Batavia, which is now Jakarta, for the return voyage to The Netherlands. The ships were richly loaded with cargo from the East. En route, the ships encountered a storm and got separated from each other. Now alone, the Nieuwe Haerlem reached Table Bay, on 25 March 1647, where it became stranded on the shallow water. Because the cargo was precious, mostly spices, textile, Chinese porcelain and indigo, the captain of the Nieuwe Haerlem ordered a junior merchant, Leendert Janszen, to remain behind with approximately 60 crewmen to look after the cargo until a larger fleet could give them and their cargo a lift back home. A 17th century oil painting by an unknown artist depicting a fleet belonging to the Dutch East India Company returning from Batavia. The stranded crew established a camp among the sand dunes on the shore, and using salvaged wood built a small fort which they named Zandenburch, or Sandcastle in English. The men lived off fish caught along the Diep River, and penguins, penguin eggs and cormorants caught on the nearby Robben Island. They bartered livestock and fresh meat from the indigenous KhoiKhoi. They also grew vegetables. Janszen and his men stayed on the Cape for about a year, before they were taken aboard by a homeward-bound fleet. Back in The Netherlands, Janszen wrote a feasibility report called Remonstrantie to VOC or the Dutch East India Company, in which he recommended that a supply station be founded on the Cape where ships could resupply before sailing onto India. In this report Janszen pointed out the Capes strategic location, the fertility of the land, the abundance of fish and livestock, the availability of timber necessary for repairs, and most importantly, the friendliness of the locals towards strangers. The Directorate of the Dutch East India Company approved the plan, and in 1652, sent Jan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck, who was on the fleet that repatriated Janszen and his crew, to establish the refreshment station at the Cape. On 6 April 1652, five ships sailed into what would later become Cape Town. A romanticized depiction of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Table Bay, by Charles Davidson Bell. In time, the Cape became home to a large population of Free Burghers, or free citizens. They were former company employees who received permission to retire in Dutch territories overseas as independent farmers. As their numbers swelled, the settlers ventured further and further inland. Farmland grew and hands became short, and the Dutch traders imported thousands of slaves to the fledgling colony from Indonesia, Madagascar, and parts of eastern Africa. The colonist gradually acquired all of the land belonging to the indigenous Khoikhoi people by raging war against them. Aside from warfare, many tribesmen died from epidemics brought by the Europeans. A few remaining tribes maintained their independence, but the majority of the Khoikhoi took jobs with the colonists as herdsmen. After the British invasion of Cape Colony at the turn of the 19th century, the Dutch settlers abandoned their land and migrated into the interior of South Africa where they established the Boer settlements. The discovery of diamonds and gold in the late 19th century intensified British efforts to gain control over the indigenous peoples, leading to a series of wars with the Boers. The immediate outcome of these wars was the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, a self-governing dominion of the British Empire and the predecessor to the present-day South Africa. However, it wasnt until 1961, that South Africa became full independent republic. View of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the distance. Photo: Andrea Willmore/Shutterstock.com The Shipwreck Dr. Bruno Werz, a Dutch marine archaeologist in the African Institute for Marine & Underwater Research, has been looking for the wreck of the Nieuwe Haerlem for the past three decades, since he moved to South Africa from his homeland. From the state archives, he found several documents, including Leendert Janszens journal which he kept during his stay at Cape Tow after the wreck. The journal provided Werz great detail about the hardships the men faced, as well as clues as to the exact location of the wreck. In 2016, Werz teamed up with geophysicist Billy Steenkamp and began searching the area he believes the wreck lies in. Excavations of the site yielded several objects belonging to more recent shipwrecks, as well as hand-forged nails of an older date. He also found a necklace made from copper, which Werz thinks was crafted by the KhoiKhoi people and possibly bartered with the Nieuw Haarlem survivors. Werz believes the ship lies underneath the intertidal beach, or in very shallow water at the foot of the beach close to Rietvlei. Although there are dozens of ships wrecked near Table Bay, Werz is positive that the Haerlem can be identified based on its location and by the fact that its hull was not fitted with copper sheeting. The ultimate proof will be the discovery of the 19 iron cannon and four iron anchors that were left behind in the hold, he beamed. References: # BBC, http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200113-the-shipwreck-that-forever-changed-south-africa # Searching for a symbolic shipwreck in Table Bay: Haarlem (1647), http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0038-23532017000600004 # South African History Online, https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/dutch-indiaman-nieuwe-haerlem-wrecked-storm-table-bay Scarlett Johansson, you are in very good company. Photo: Vulture, Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox With her twin Academy Award nominations in 2020s Best Actress (for Marriage Story) and Best Supporting Actress (for Jojo Rabbit) categories, Scarlett Johansson became the first performer in 12 years to be nominated for two performances at the same Oscars. Its a fortunate double to hit since it means double the spotlight and double the chances at winning. (It also means one fewer place setting at the Academys nominees luncheon.) In the 92-year history of the Oscars, double-nominees have happened 12 times in total. Three of those were pre-1945: at the 1938 Oscars, Fay Bainter was nominated in Lead for White Banners and supporting for the Best Picturenominated Jezebel; four years later, Teresa Wright was recognized in the Best Actress category for playing Mrs. Lou Gherig in The Pride of the Yankees and for Supporting Actress in the Best Picture winner Mrs. Minniver. At the 1944 Oscars, Barry Fitzgerald was nominated in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Going My Way, as there were not yet rules preventing someone from getting nominated twice for the same performance. All three of the above actors Bainter, Wright, and Fitzgerald would win the Oscar in the Supporting category in their respective double-nominee years. It would be almost 40 years until another performer was double-nominated, but since 1982, its happened nine times (including Johansson). Each instance offers a little window into what was going on that Oscar year and which performers were in the hunt: 1983: Jessica Lange Best Actress: Frances Best Supporting Actress: Tootsie There was a lot of positioning and politicking when it came to Jessica Langes Oscar prospects in 1983. Tootsie was a Best Picture nominee and while Dustin Hoffman was unquestionably at the films center, Lange was the female lead and love interest. But Lange had an even bigger performance that same year, playing troubled 1930s actress Frances Farmer in Frances. The performance drew wild acclaim, and shed have probably steamrolled to a Best Actress win if not for one person: Sophie Zawistowski, Meryl Streeps character in Sophies Choice. Streep managed to lay down the one performance that was more of a slam-dunk than Langes, and so Columbia Pictures pushed Lange for the Supporting Actress win for Tootsie, angering co-star and co-nominee Teri Garr in the process. Lange went on to win the Supporting Actress Oscar (then won in Lead Actress a dozen years later for a film Blue Sky hardly anybody saw). 1989: Sigourney Weaver Best Actress: Gorillas in the Mist Best Supporting Actress: Working Girl You really have to feel for Sigourney Weaver. Heading into the 1989 Oscars, there was every indication that shed be walking out of the Shrine Auditorium with a trophy in her hand. She was nominated for playing animal-researcher Diann Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist and the dragon-lady boss to Melanie Griffith in the Best Picture nominee Working Girl. Prior to this year, each time a performer had been double-nominated, theyd won for one of them (all supporting). At the Golden Globes in 1989, Weaver won TWICE: once for Supporting Actress and again in an incredible three-way tie for Best Actress with Jodie Foster (for The Accused) and Shirley MacLaine (for Madame Sousatzka). Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) hadnt even been nominated for a Globe! And yet, its Geena Davis who upset Weaver in Supporting, followed by Jodie Foster winning Lead Actress for The Accused, leaving Weaver Oscar-less, and proving that double nominees dont always win. 1993: Al Pacino Best Actor: Scent of a Woman Best Supporting Actor: Glengarry Glen Ross Pacino had famously never won an Oscar for his iconic 70s roles in movies like The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, or Serpico. By the time the 1993 Oscars came around, Pacino was 0-for-6 with the Academy. Scent of a Woman was his best shot to win an Oscar in over a decade, but his competition in Best Actor was stiff, with Denzel Washington having given a powerhouse performance in Malcolm X. Oscar observers wondered whether voters might opt to have their cake and eat it too, by voting for Washington in lead and for Pacinos brief but fiery turn in the David Mamet adaptation Glengarry Glen Ross. It would have been a risky gambit Gene Hackman had been steamrolling the supporting awards all season for his performance as the villain in Best Picture frontrunner Unforgiven. Ultimately, Hackman prevailed in Supporting, but Pacino pulled out the win in Best Actor. 1994: Emma Thompson and Holly Hunter Best Actress: The Remains of the Day Best Supporting Actress: In the Name of the Father Best Actress: The Piano Best Supporting Actress: The Firm Ahead of the 1994 Oscars, and for the first time ever, two performers received double-nominations meaning that a full 40 percent of the available actress nominations went to this pair of women. Thompson had just won Best Actress the year before for Howards End, and as fantastic as she is in The Remains of the Day, the chances that the Academy were going to award her for two Merchant-Ivory films in a row were pretty slim, especially not when Holly Hunter was sweeping the critics awards for her role as a mute woman sold into marriage in The Piano. (Hunter went on to win the field.) But the Supporting Actress category was much more volatile. The initial favorites appeared to be Golden Globewinner Winona Ryder for Scorseses The Age of Innocence and Rosie Perez for the Peter Weir film Fearless. Thompson, playing a crusading lawyer in In the Name of the Father, was considered a dark horse because there were still some lingering beliefs that a double nominee had to win somewhere (as Sigourney Weaver angrily drums her fingers somewhere). And then there was Holly Hunter, whose nomination for her role as a floozy secretary who gets mixed up on Tom Cruises legal thriller was one of the great impulse purchases in Oscar history. Ultimately, the Supporting winner wasnt Thompson or Hunter but Hunters Piano co-star Anna Paquin. 2003: Julianne Moore Best Actress: Far From Heaven Best Supporting Actress: The Hours The Hours giveth and The Hours taketh away. That was the story of Julianne Moores 20022003 awards campaign. From the moment Far From Heaven premiered at the fall festivals in Venice and Toronto, Moore was considered to be the frontrunner for Best Actress. The Hours, waiting down the road, hadnt even figured out which of its trio of lead actresses Moore, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman would get the big awards push. The Hours goes over like gangbusters, becomes a Best Picture nominee, and with Moore and Streep (who was a Supporting Actress contender also for Adaptation) campaigning for other movies, Nicole Kidman emerged as the Best Actress contender for her work under, yes, a prosthetic nose, as Virginia Woolf. All the ingredients were there for a Kidman triumph: physical transformation, playing a real-life character, a great personal narrative with her recent split from Tom Cruise now finally in her past. Moores note-perfect recreation of a Douglas Sirkesque heroine couldnt compete. Nor could Moores Platonic ideal of a desperate 1950s housewife compete with Catherine Zeta-Joness hot honey rag in Chicago. So Moore lost twice and waited a dozen more years to win her Oscar for Still Alice. 2005: Jamie Foxx Best Actor: Ray Best Supporting Actor: Collateral Heres how hot Jamie Foxxs star was in 2005: He was steamrolling his way so hard to an obvious Best Actor win for playing Ray Charles that the Academy happily nominated him in Best Supporting Actor for Collateral, a movie in which Jamie Foxx is 100 percent the lead character, even more so than top-billed Tom Cruise. He was never really in consideration to win Supporting, because Lead Actor was such a lock. But he did become the first performer since Jessica Lange to get double-nominated for his first two Oscar nominations. (They join Fay Bainter, Barry Fitzgerald, and now Scarlett Johansson as the only five actors to enjoy that distinction.) 2008: Cate Blanchett Best Actress: Elizabeth: The Golden Age Best Supporting Actress: Im Not There In between her first and second Oscar victories, Cate Blanchett picked up two more nominations in 2008. For her role as an androgynous version of a young Bob Dylan in Todd Hayness experimental biopic Im Not There, Blanchett was among a crowd of frontrunners to win that years Supporting Actress trophy. She won the Golden Globe that year (in that weird strike year where the Golden Globes werent held and the winners were announced on the set of Access Hollywood), while Ruby Dee (American Gangster) won the SAG, Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) won the BAFTA, and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) won the bulk of critics prizes. (The fifth nominee that year? Literal 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan, playing a girl who makes trouble for everyone in Atonement.) Swinton won the Oscar. Meanwhile, nobody really liked Elizabeth: The Golden Age all that much, but Blanchett blew the doors off the sets in her big moments, so the nomination was hers anyway. She became only the fourth performer to get Oscar-nominated twice for playing the same role in a movie and its sequel, after Bing Crosby (Going My Way and The Bells of St. Marys), Paul Newman (The Hustler and The Color of Money), and Al Pacino (The Godfather Parts I and II). Sylvester Stallone would later become the fifth for Rocky. (Dont come at me with Peter OToole he played Henry II in Becket and The Lion in Winter, but the latter was not a sequel.) Blanchett lost Best Actress to Marion Cotillard for La Vie en rose, but at least she gave us clips like this: A 'transgender' children's doll has caused outrage online after being spotted in a toy shop in Russia. The doll, dressed in women's clothes but with male genitalia, was seen at the Planeta Igrushek (Planet Of Toys) shop in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in south-central Russia. Photos shared online of the doll have sparked outrage in the country. One user asked: 'Is it ok to produce toys like that for children?' This doll, dressed in women's clothes but with male genitalia, was seen at a toy shop in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in south-central Russia Another said: 'All they have to do is buy a medical tool kit and the kid can learn how to amputate.' A third said: 'I think it is really terrible what is going on in this child's parent's head. Have you considered that it could simply be a manufacturing defect? Or they accidentally put a female head on a male body?' While a fourth commented: 'All you have to do is cut the doll's hair and change it into a pair of pants. It is not the first time a so-called transgender doll has sparked debate. In 2014, a fairy toy which appeared to have male genitalia was branded the world's first transgender doll. The toy, which was on sale in Argentina, caused shock among parents after a mother posted a picture of it on her Facebook account. The mother claimed her three-year-old daughter discovered what appeared to be male genitalia under the doll's skirt while playing. The toy was made in China and was purchased from Argentine wholesaler 'Once.' The doll caused shock and debate across Argentina, with one member of the public explaining: 'It's very difficult to give an opinion because I'm conscious that it's a taboo subject in society... but yes, obviously, it's shocking.' In September 2019, Mattel announced the debut of the first gender-neutral doll line. LGBTQIA rights activist Jazz Jennings had a doll made of her by the Tonner Doll Company in 2017 which did not feature any genitalia. The doll was welcomed by fellow activists at the time. Ginger Revercomb, senior manager of business development at Gilbane Building Company Gingers proven track record in critical, strategic sectors like commercial and healthcare will provide our existing clients with a knowledgeable resource and give Gilbane the opportunity to grow market share. Gilbane Building Company announced that Ginger Revercomb joined the company as senior manager of business development in Washington, DC. Ginger is a seasoned veteran with nearly 30 years of design and construction experience. In her role, Ginger will work with operations to enhance client relationships and gain market share in the commercial, healthcare and other strategic sectors. Before joining Gilbane, Ginger was a vice president of business development with Lendlease (US) Construction, Inc. Throughout her career, she has driven strategic, multifaceted business development programs across numerous, diverse market sectors. We are excited to welcome Ginger and her knowledge of the local market to Gilbane, said Clare Archer, vice president at Gilbane Building Company. Gingers proven track record in critical, strategic sectors like commercial and healthcare will provide our existing clients with a knowledgeable resource and give Gilbane the opportunity to grow market share. Based in the Arlington, VA office, Ginger will focus on expanding Gilbanes client base throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Ginger retains a B.S. in business from Virginia Tech. She is actively involved with ULI, NAIOP Northern Virginia and NAIOP DC/MD. About Gilbane Building Company Gilbane provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services from pre-construction planning and integrated consulting capabilities to comprehensive construction management, general contracting, design-build and facility management services for clients across various markets. Founded in 1870 and still a privately held, family-owned company, Gilbane has more than 45 office locations worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.gilbaneco.com. A woman has revealed how she was forced to dive into her pool with scuba diving gear to survive a deadly fire that tore through her property. Samantha Kneeshaw received a call from a neighbour at 10.30am on New Year's Eve from a neighbour saying a raging bushfire was travelling towards their Conjola homes. The mother-of-two quickly enacted her fire plan- watering down the property while 30m-tall eucalypts across the highway burst with flames. Samantha Kneeshaw (pictured with her husband David), survived the NYE bushfire in Conjola by jumping in her pool with scuba diving equipment When there was nothing more she could do to save her home, the 45-year-old strapped on scuba gear and jumped in her pool to anxiously hide from the turbulent inferno blasting overhead. Without googles or a mask to see, she spent ten minutes submerged in the shallow end of the water controlling her breathing as ash debris showered around her. 'I couldnt actually see it at that stage, Ms Kneeshaw, a marine biologist oceanographer, told Daily Mail Australia. 'The house was obscured by black smoke. All I could see was flames above the house and I reckon they must have been the trees on the other side of the (Princes) Highway. I just thought that was the house going. The bushfire blackened the immediate surrounds of Ms Kneeshaw's pool as she hid inside it Ash and debris showered into the pool as the marine biologist oceanographer sheltered below the water with an oxygen tank The mother-of-two sat for ten minutes below the pool's surface terrified for her home and for the wildlife in the surrounding bushland. 'There were a couple of explosions they were two trucks on my neighbours property I had to keep under because of all the embers and ash- there was just stuff everywhere,' she said. Her husband David and teenager daughters Darcy and Manny and the family's dogs were safe in nearby towns Ulladulla and Milton as they had left earlier in the day before the fire warning had been raised. The blaze killed seven of the family's eight chickens and a rooster, with the heat scorching the majority of the leaves on the four-hectare property. Grim photos reveal the burnt remains of the landscape after the deadly blaze swept through But as the smoke dwindled, Ms Kneeshaw realised the only damage to the family home was two cracked windows and melted bathroom vents. Miraculously, the firefighting pump and homemade roof sprinkler system she had installed had saved the house from destruction. She spent the afternoon putting out spot fires amid thick smoke and doubling back to the pool to get air from the oxygen tank. 'My poor husband went through hell. He thought I was dead the whole time,' she said. 'He was blocked off and we only had one piece of equipment. I'm glad he didn't make it back because I didn't have to risk my children losing one of their parents. Ms Kneeshaw said the loss of wildlife had devastated the community and the cries of injured animals was haunting. The inferno crushed a chicken coop and metal shed (pictured) further down the yard, killing eight of the family's chooks 'We would hear sugar gliders every night. There are no way they would have survived this. I haven't seen any wombats either. 'One of the people in Conjola west said one of the things he was prepared for [in the fire] was the dead birds dropping out of the sky from the heat.' Ms Kneeshaw added that taking refuge in her pool was part of her well-prepared fire-plan but said she did not want to encourage others to do the same. 'If my daughters had been here I would have left. I wouldn't have risked it,' she said. 'I believe the people who leave are the bravest lot. They make the decision to leave their house behind. It is such a hard decision one I couldn't make.' The mother-of-two soaked her house and set out sprinklers as the fire approached 'Other people have the guts to do that and you're always gonna have that ''what if?'' The teacher said she was frustrated with the government's inaction towards climate change and that the area had been getting noticeably drier for years. 'This fire has been burning for five weeks? I don't understand why the bombers aren't trying to bomb it out in the bush,' she said. 'And you wonder why we haven't been resourced to put them out rather than waiting for them to come out and take houses and people?' 'Winter was dry.. And it has been dry for years. I'm not a climatologist but I have I teach science and physics and I knew about it [climate change] in the 1990s.' Three people died in the NYE bushfire and almost 100 homes near Conjola were burnt. As of Wednesday, there more than 120 bushfires burning across NSW with 38 yet to be contained. Across the state, 1870 homes and more than 3774 outbuildings and 200 facilities have been razed. The fire-prepared family home left encircled by ash-soaked grounds offers a contrasting glimpse of the extent of the bushfire's destruction AUSTRALIA'S BUSHFIRE CRISIS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Evacuations are underway and emergency alerts are in place in NSW, Victoria and South Australia as authorities predict the devastating bushfires will continue burning until at least March. At least 28 people have been killed in blazes across the country since the bushfire season began in October. NEW SOUTH WALES/ACT Around 90 fires were burning in NSW on Thursday morning 20 people dead More than 5.2 million hectares burned - equal to the metro areas of the five mainland state capitals 1,870 homes confirmed destroyed, more than 3,774 outbuildings and 200 facilities razed VICTORIA 19 bushfires burning in the Gippsland, northeast and alpine regions as of Thursday morning Five people dead More than 1.5 million hectares burnt 387 homes have been damaged or destroyed 602 non-residential structures have also been damaged SOUTH AUSTRALIA Three people, including two from Kangaroo Island, are dead More than 274,000 hectares burnt 161 homes confirmed destroyed, along with 413 sheds and outhouses QUEENSLAND 2.5 million hectares burnt 48 homes confirmed destroyed WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1.5 million hectares burned One home confirmed destroyed TASMANIA 30,000 hectares burned Two homes confirmed destroyed NORTHERN TERRITORY Five homes confirmed destroyed Advertisement New Delhi: Underworld don Ejaz Lakdawala has once again confirmed what India has been saying since 1993. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Indias Most Wanted terrorist is living in Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan, Lakdawala told his interrogators. Confirming Dawoods presence in Pakistan, Lakdawala also shared two addresses of palatial houses that allegedly belong to the mastermind of 1993 blasts. The two addresses given by Lakdawala are - a) 6 A, Khayaban Tanzim Phase -5, Defence Housing Area, Karachi, Pakistan; b) D-13, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan. The gangster, who was arrested by the Mumbai Police, also said that Dawood is provided the best of the commandos for his security by the ISI. It is not possible without the knowledge of their Army Chief and the PM, Lakdawala told his interrogators. In fact, Anis and Chota Shakeel are in safe net of ISI, Lakdawala confirmed. ISI helps them in getting the fake passports made for each travel to different countries, he further said. Earlier, in one of the stunning revelations that exposes Pakistans brazen lie, Underworld don Ejaz Lakdawala had told his interrogators that not only does Dawood Ibrahim lives in Pakistan but that he is also suffering from Gangrene. The sensational claims were made by Lakdawala after he was arrested by the Mumbai Police in Patna on Thursday. Lakdawala, a close confidant and former member of D-Company, told the officials that he had met Dawood several times. He also said that Dawood also goes on sacred Haj trips regularly. The confessions that are part of the Mumbai Polices probe shows how comfortably Dawood Ibrahim has been staying in Pakistan. Needless to say, it proves that the officials in Pakistan have given sanctuary to Indias Most Wanted terrorist. Who is Ejaz Lakdawala? Ejaz Lakdawala, who has been on run for 21 years, was arrested in Patna recently. The police officials have said that the Underworld don was trying to flee India. He was nabbed right before he could execute his plan of slipping into Nepal via Raxaul. The success came after Lakdawalas daughter provided vital clues. "Our efforts gained momentum after the arrest of Lakdawala's daughter Shifa Shahid Shaikh at Mumbai Airport on December 28 when she was travelling to Nepal on a fake passport," said Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Saxena. Dawood Ibrahim and 1993 Blasts Right after 1993 serial blasts, Pakistan has been consistently denying Dawoods presence on its soil. With Narendra Modi returning to power and Ajit Doval becoming more powerful, there were reports that India may undertake an Osama-like operation to take out Dawood from Karachi. The son of a police constable, who became the boss of Mumbais underworld, exact details about Dawood have remained largely sketchy. From undergoing knife to change his facial features to ailing from a kidney disease, numerous reports have surfaced from time to time. But there has been no consistent dialogue between India and Pakistan regarding Dawood Ibrahim. It was only in 2014 that India had told Pakistan to hand over Dawood saying enough evidences have been shared with Islamabad. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Democratic presidential hopefuls Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), left, former Vice President Joe Biden,center and Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt.) participate of the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Sanders, Warren Dont Shake Hands After Contentious Debate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ignored Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) outstretched hand after the Democratic presidential debate on Jan. 14, instead confronting him. What? Sanders asked. What, exactly, the pair talked about wasnt clear. Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir told the Washington Post that she came to raise a concern, and he said lets talk about that later. Billionaire activist and philanthropist Tom Steyer approached shortly after Warren did and appeared surprised by the content of the discussion. The decision not to shake hands came after Sanders and Warren clashed again over their recollection of a 2018 meeting. Sanders was questioned whether hed told Warren that a woman cant win the presidency. Anybody who knows me knows it is incomprehensible that I wouldnt think that a woman could be president of the United States, he said, referencing a video circulating this week showing him saying decades ago that a woman should be president. Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) talk after he seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) But Abby Phillip, a CNN moderator, appeared to assume Sanders was lying. Youre saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election? Phillip asked. That is correct, Sanders said. Phillip then turned to Warren. Senator Warren, what did you think when Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? Phillip asked. The camera showed Sanders laughing in disbelief while Warren answered: I disagreed before calling Sanders her friend. CNN didnt respond to a request for comment. After the debate, during a CNN panel at the venue in Iowa, former Hillary Clinton communications director Jess McIntosh, a CNN contributor, weighed in on the issue. I think what Bernie forgot is that this *isnt* a he said she said story, this is a reported out story that CNN was part of breaking, she claimed. So to have him just flat-out say no wasnt enough for the women watching. L-R) Democratic presidential hopefuls billionaire-philanthropist Tom Steyer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), South Bend MayorPete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) stand on stage ahead of the seventh Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 14, 2020. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images) CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who was another debate moderator, pushed back against the claim. IT is essentially a he-said, she-said, I mean theres two people in a room, so we only know It started with reporters finding other sources, McIntosh interjected. It was people, from what I understand, it was four sources, two of them had been spoken to by Warren, anyways, it was only two in the room, Cooper added. Thats true, McIntosh admitted. The four sources CNN cited originally included two people who were familiar with the meeting and two people who Warren spoke with directly soon after the encounter. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Updated Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. Federal officials are investigating the circumstances that led an airplane making an emergency landing at LAX to dump jet fuel over a populated area. The fuel dump, which appeared to occur at a low altitude, left more than 60 people, including school children, with minor injuries. Delta Airlines Flight 89 was bound for Shanghai when it had to turn back due to mechanical issues. Federal Aviation Administration officials said on Wednesday that a review of communications with air traffic controllers found the airline crew "did not tell air traffic control that they needed to dump fuel." The FAA said "air crews will typically notify air traffic control of an emergency and indicate they need to dump fuel. Air traffic controllers will then direct the plane to the appropriate fuel-dumping area." Our friends at the L.A. Times took a graphical look at what happened on Tuesday: Our very own @stiles and @LoElebee flipped a quick altitude analysis on yesterday's fuel dump on an LA school.https://t.co/ssmcrjtnhO pic.twitter.com/rrGsN3cKlF Ben Welsh (@palewire) January 15, 2020 A nearby resident apparently caught the dump on video: THE CONTEXT Airplanes often take off with extra fuel that would put them over the maximum weight allowed for a safe landing, according to a recent explainer from USA Today. In rare cases in which not enough fuel has been consumed before landing, they can release excess to lower the plane's weight. Normally this is done at high enough altitudes that the fuel vaporizes. Here's a video from another 777 dumping fuel, in which you can see twin jets of fuel spraying from outlets on the outer edges of the two wings. ON THE GROUND Word spread quickly on Tuesday that jet fuel had landed on the playground at Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy. In all, 20 children and 11 adults who were outside at the time reported minor injuries. By the end of the day, it was clear the fuel dump covered a wider area east of the airport. In addition to the 31 patients at Park Avenue Elementary, L.A. County Fire and L.A. City Fire officials said they treated: Six people at Tweedy Elementary in South Gate in South Gate One person at Graham Elementary in the Florence-Firestone area in the Florence-Firestone area Six people at San Gabriel Elementary in South Gate in South Gate 16 people at Jordan High School & 93rd Street Elementary in South L.A. In addition, at a news conference Tuesday night Downey Fire Department officials said they treated seven children and adults, some at a preschool, some at a home. Authorities said they used soap and water to treat patients on the scene and no one was taken to a hospital. But parents of affected students said they have questions. "Why choose a small city, a residential area to dump those fuels? That's not OK," said Nadine Escobar, whose 10-year-old daughter attends Park Avenue Elementary. Escobar was also critical of school officials for not immediately communicating what had happened. She said her daughter seems fine, but is complaining of itching and she wonders who will take responsibility if other health issues arise. Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantor said LAUSD was cleaning school grounds and L.A. County Fire Battalion Chief Jason Robertson said all LAUSD schools will be open Wednesday. THE TIMELINE According to the FAA, Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency shortly after departing from LAX en route to Shanghai. LAX officials said the flight was experiencing mechanical issues when it turned back. The plane, a Boeing 777, made an emergency landing at 11:57 a.m. It's scheduled departure time on Tuesday was listed at 11:19 a.m. Delta Airlines officials said in a statement: "The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight. We are in touch with Los Angeles World Airports and the LA County Fire Department and share concerns regarding reported minor injuries to adults and children at a school in the area." HOW WE REPORTED ON THIS Reporter Robert Garrova was on site at Park Avenue Elementary. Reporter Elly Yu made calls from the Pasadena newsroom. Brian Frank and Jessica Ogilvie updated this post from our newsroom and news producers Megan Erwin and Lita Martinez provided additional reporting. Editing by Megan Garvey. LEARN MORE This story was updated as new information became available. Plans to curb legal challenges against the government are to be fast-tracked, despite widespread criticism that Boris Johnson is plotting revenge for court defeats over Brexit. The move will be the first act of a new constitution, democracy and rights commission, which ministers insist is needed to restore trust in our institutions and in how our democracy operates. A former Tory MP has already warned the plans signal a monstrous attack on the courts while constitutional experts alleged the motive is retribution for the setbacks inflicted by the Supreme Court on the last two prime ministers. Theresa May was humbled over invoking the Article 50 exit notice without MPs approval and Mr Johnson humiliated when judges ruled his summer shutdown of parliament was unlawful. Until now, Downing Street has refused to explain its intentions, but a government source has now revealed that restricting judicial review will be the first target. Recommended PM condemned by peers over plans to let courts overrule EU law They said the prime minister was determined to stamp on challenges mounted by people not directly affected by decisions purely with the aim of frustrating the government. There are huge numbers of judicial reviews going through every year, the source said. In some instances, they find the government doing something wrong, and thats entirely right, but in other cases they are clearly being brought for political motives. Plans would be drawn up within months, the source said, adding: If action can be taken in quick time that can protect taxpayers money, then we will do that. Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes Show all 8 1 /8 Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes Conservative party leader Boris Johnson drives a JCB through a fake wall POOL/AFP via Getty Images Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes PA Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes AFP via Getty Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes PA Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes REUTERS Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes PA Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes AFP via Getty Bizarre: Boris Johnson drives 'Brexit' digger through boxes AFP via Getty The Independent revealed the mounting concern over the plans in November, after they were included in the Conservative manifesto for the general election. Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative attorney general, said he feared a monstrous attack on the courts and its clear role in interpreting and upholding our constitution. Martha Spurrier, the director of human rights organisation Liberty, said: The executive lost a huge judicial review on prorogation. It would be a real concern to see anything which would water down peoples rights. And Gina Miller, the businesswoman who won the Article 50 case, highlighted a separate hint at expanding the use of the royal prerogative, asking: Is Boris Johnson intending to become a dictator? She expressed fears that the government would seek to ram through plans for the future relationship with the EU without proper scrutiny by MPs. At prime ministers questions, Mr Johnson defended his intentions after a Tory backbencher made what appeared to be a veiled swipe at the Supreme Courts actions. Asked, by Desmond Swayne, to let bygones be top priority, Mr Johnson replied: Our independent courts and legal system are admired around the world. We will continue to ensure that judicial review is available to protect the rights of individuals against an overbearing state while ensuring that it is not abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays. WASHINGTON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the resolution sending the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, and the lawmakers called managers who will prosecute the case carried the document Wednesday across the Capitol to the Senate. Today we will make history, said Pelosi, D-Calif. We will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the president of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House. Pelosi was flanked by the six chairmen who investigated Trump: Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engle, D-N.Y.; Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass. She was also flanked by the seven managers, who included Schiff and Nadler. The other managers are Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Val Demings, D-Fla.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Jason Crow, D-Colo.; and Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas. As the managers walked through the Rotunda at the center of the Capitol beneath the dome, the room typically cacophonous with tourists was silent. The Senate didnt technically receive the articles, but the secretary of the Senate told the lawmakers to come back Thursday. The managers are expected to read the articles aloud in the Senate at noon on Thursday. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will then be sworn in at 2 p.m. to preside over the trial, and the senators will be sworn in. "The trial will commence in earnest on Tuesday," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "We will pledge to rise above the petty factionalism and do justice for our institutions, for our states and for the nation." House votes to send impeachment to Senate The House voted Wednesday to send articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for a trial, and to name the seven lawmakers who will prosecute him. Story continues The House voted 228 to 193 largely along party lines to send the Senate the two articles accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Opening arguments in the trial are expected to begin Tuesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the impeachment wasn't political, personal or partisan, but patriotic. "This is as serious it gets for any of us," Pelosi said. "Only the vote to declare war would be something more serious than this." The managers seven lawmakers chosen by Pelosi will serve in a role similar to prosecutors in the trial by presenting the evidence against Trump. A two-thirds majority of the Senate would be required to convict and remove Trump, which is considered unlikely in the chamber where Republicans outnumber Democrats 53 to 47. One of the managers, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said the trial is necessary because Trump "gravely abused the power of his office when he strong-armed a foreign government to announce investigations" into his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. He jeopardized our national security," Nadler said. "He did it all for his personal, political gain. But Republicans blasted the impeachment and called it unjustified, unfair and entirely political. This was always an exercise in raw partisan politics, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who called the impeachment the fastest, weakest and thinnest in American history. Pelosi names 7 'managers' to prosecute case House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday named the lawmakers who will serve as managers in the Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump. Pelosi, D-Calif., named as managers Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Val Demings, D-Fla.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Jason Crow, D-Colo.; and Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas. Pelosi named Schiff the lead manager. All of the managers are lawyers except for Demings, who was Orlando's police chief. Jeffries, the Democratic Caucus chairman, is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House. Crow was the only manager who doesn't serve on one of the committees that investigated Trump, but he is a former Army Ranger who was a lawyer in private practice. "Today is an important day," Pelosi said. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our Constitution, to seek the truth for the American people. Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which participated in the impeachment inquiry, applauded the diversity of the managers and said a larger number would have been unwieldy. I think they're good people, said Engel, D-N.Y. I think this is a diverse group," noting the two first-term lawmakers of Garcia and Crow. Garcia, one of the first two Hispanic women elected to the House from Texas, said being chosen was a pleasant surprise. My role will be to present the case to the American people, said Garcia, a member of the Judiciary Committee. I know Ill have a lot of homework, she said with a smile. Trump: impeachment a 'hoax' Trump at the White House praised his Republican defenders while noting the looming House vote to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate They have a hoax going on over there. Lets take care of it," Trump said during a ceremony announcing a China trade agreement. He commended House Republicans for voting unanimously against his impeachment. What a job youve done," Trump said. "I want to thank you all. Really tough. I love that." US-China trade deal: Details released of 'Phase One' trade agreement, signaling pause in trade war White House: 'illegitimate impeachment' White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Pelosi revealed she is more focused on politics than the American people with "this sham, illegitimate impeachment." Grisham accused Pelosi of lying by calling the impeachment urgent and vital to national security because she held on to the articles for nearly a month after the House approved them Dec. 18. "President Trump has done nothing wrong," Grisham said. "He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated." House poised to move articles to Senate The House is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on a resolution to formally appoint managers, appropriating funds for the trial and sending articles of impeachment to the Senate, where opening arguments are expected Tuesday in only the third impeachment trial of a president in history. The articles accuse Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the vote would be in the afternoon, after 10 minutes of debate. Pelosi will sign the resolution at 5 p.m. and have the managers walk it across the Capitol to the Senate after that. Pelosi delayed sending the articles after the House approved them Dec. 18 to learn more about how the trial would work. Some senators voiced frustration with the delay. But Pelosi highlighted the amount of new information that has come out since last month when the House passed articles, including evidence released Tuesday from Lev Parnas, a Ukraine-born associate of Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Nadler said the question is whether the Senate will allow the House to introduce the witnesses and documents they say are crucial to prosecute the case. "This is a test of the Constitution," Nadler said of the accusations that Trump stonewalled the investigation by directing agencies and aides to defy subpoenas for testimony and documents. "The question is: Does the Senate conduct the trial according to Constitution to vindicate the republic or does the Senate participate in the presidents crimes by covering them up?" The House has sought testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn since last April, but the dispute remains tied up in court. Schiff said lawmakers couldn't wait for court rulings because the president could prevent his own impeachment by stonewalling. "The whole object of the president's scheme was to cheat in the election, which is the ordinary mechanism for dealing with a corrupt presidency," Schiff said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announces House managers for the impeachment of President Trump on Wednesday in Washington, alongside House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), left, and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-CA) on Jan. 15, 2020 in Washington DC. After receiving the articles, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate will complete "housekeeping" measures Thursday, including swearing in senators and bringing over Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to preside. McConnell said the trial would likely begin Tuesday. McConnell said Wednesday that House Democrats have "taken a dangerous road" by weaponizing impeachment because they wanted to remove Trump, not because of any dispute over Ukraine policy or military spending. McConnell said any future president could be threatened by impeachment for policy differences with Congress. "Presidential impeachment may be the gravest process our Constitution contemplates," McConnell said. "It undoes the peoples decision in a national election. Going about it in this subjective, unfair, and rushed way is corrosive to our institutions. It hurts national unity. And it virtually guarantees that future Houses of either party will feel free to impeach any future president they do not like." Trump impeachment: What is an impeachment manager and what do they do? House Democrats impeached Trump by accusing him of abusing the power of his office by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, while Trump withheld a White House meeting and $391 million in military aid from Ukraine. The House also accused Trump of obstructing Congress by directing aides and agencies to defy subpoenas for documents and testimony, although some officials did testify. Trump and congressional Republicans argued he had the authority to set foreign policy and was justified in fighting corruption in Ukraine. Trump has said he expects to be exonerated at the trial. Trump will become only the third president tried in the Senate, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Both were not convicted and removed from office. A two-thirds majority of the Senate would be required to convict Trump, which is considered unlikely because Republicans outnumber Democrats 53 to 47 in the Senate. But a simple majority will settle contentious issues such as whether to subpoena witnesses or documents for new information. Trump has called at various times for the Senate to either dismiss the charges before the arguments or hold a full trial with witnesses. But McConnell said "there is little to no sentiment" among Senate Republicans to simply dismiss the charges. Our members feel that we have an obligation to listen to the arguments," McConnell said. Pelosi doubled down on her insistence that witnesses be called after new documents were released Tuesday that show an associate of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a man named Lev Parnas, worked to get the Ukraine government to investigate Biden. "There can be no full & fair trial in the Senate if Leader McConnell blocks the Senate from hearing witnesses and obtaining documents President Trump is covering up," Pelosi said in a Wednesday morning tweet. There can be no full & fair trial in the Senate if Leader McConnell blocks the Senate from hearing witnesses and obtaining documents President Trump is covering up. #DefendOurDemocracy Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 15, 2020 The trial will open with statements from House managers and White House lawyers defending Trump. Then senators can submit written questions through Roberts to both sides. After those steps, Democrats and a handful of key Republicans have urged votes on whether to call witnesses. When is the trial?: Senate impeachment trial for Trump to begin Jan. 21, McConnell says Former national security adviser John Bolton, who declined an invitation to testify in the House inquiry, said he would be willing to testify under subpoena in the Senate trial. But Trump said he might block Bolton's testimony under executive privilege to protect the confidentiality of advice presidents get from top aides. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., urged testimony from four witnesses, including Bolton and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. But Democrats need at least four Republicans to join them, to reach a majority of 51 senators, to approve subpoenas. If Democrats win approval of their witnesses, Republicans such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky have suggested calling Hunter Biden. I think it's certainly appropriate to point out that both sides would want to call witnesses, McConnell said. So when you get to that issue, I can't imagine that only the witnesses that our Democratic colleagues would want to call would be called. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., noted that Trump's State of the Union speech on Feb. 4 would probably occur during the trial. Former President Bill Clinton delivered a State of the Union speech during his impeachment trial. I would expect no reason to believe that same thing wouldnt happen," Blunt said. Impeachment impact: Here's how partisan wrath over Trump's impeachment changed the future of 2 lawmakers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump impeachment: House sends Senate articles against Trump for trial The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison has refuted claims the collapse of both UT Bank and Capital Bank was a deliberate witch-hunt by the BoG. He says both banks were underperforming; hence the revocation of their licenses. According to the BoG boss, prior to the revocation, both parties showed an unwillingness to cooperate with the Central bank especially when they had received liquidity funds. We gave these banks the opportunity to correct their insolvency and we tried to exhaust all the options, the BoG boss said at the University of Ghana's annual New Year School. His comments come after the founder of UT Group, Prince Kofi Amoabeng was put before an Accra circuit court for his role in the collapse of his bank in 2017 . Mr. Amoabeng is facing charges of stealing and money laundering and was put before court together with the CEO of defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku. Provisional figures released by the central bank showed that the total liability of UT Bank stood at GH850 million while its total asset was pegged at GHs112 million. The receiver for UT Bank, Eric Nana Nipah of PriceWaterCoopers (PwC) told Citi News in an earlier interview that it had sued UT and related companies to retrieve some GHS100 million. Since the crisis in the financial sector, Dr Ernest Addisson assured that the BoG had put in pragmatic measures to safeguard the banking industry. We have most recently invested in a new state of the art surveillance software and its development is almost done. This new electronic surveillance system will not only help capture supervisory data from regulated institutions more accurately but help prevent the high incidence of misreporting which we witnessed with the failed institutions. The financial sector clean-up commenced by the Akufo-Addo administration in August 2017 led to the collapse of nine universal banks, 347 microfinance companies, 39 microcredit companies or money lenders, 15 savings and loans companies, eight finance house companies, and two non-bank financial institutions. Most recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the revocation of licenses of 53 Fund Management Companies . The total estimated cost of the state's fiscal intervention , excluding interest payments, from 2017 to 2019 is estimated at GHS16.4 billion. citinewsroom [January 15, 2020] NASA Pays Tribute, Says Goodbye to One of Agency's Great Observatories WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a live program at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 22, to celebrate the far-reaching legacy of the agency's Spitzer Space Telescope a mission that, after 16 years of amazing discoveries, soon will come to an end. The event will air live on NASA Television, Facebook Live, Ustream, YouTube, Twitter and the agency's website. Experts on the program will include NASA's Director of Astrophysics Paul Hertz and, from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),Spitzer Project Scientist Mike Werner, astrophysicist Farisa Morales, current Mission Manager Joseph Hunt, and former Mission Manager Suzanne Dodd. Members of the media who would like to ask questions during the event must provide their name and affiliation to Elena Mejia by email at [email protected] or by phone at 818-354-1712 by 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) Jan. 22. The public can ask questions on Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA or in the comment section of the NASA Facebook and YouTube pages. One of NASA's four Great Observatories, Spitzer launched on Aug. 25, 2003, and has studied the cosmos in infrared light. Its breathtaking images have revealed the beauty of the infrared universe. Spitzer made some of the first studies of exoplanet atmospheres (atmospheres of planets around stars other than our Sun). It confirmed two and discovered five of the seven Earth-size exoplanets around the star TRAPPIST-1 the largest batch of terrestrial planets ever found around a single star. On Thursday, Jan. 30, engineers will decommission the Spitzer spacecraft and bring this amazing mission to a close. JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Space operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at IPAC at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/spitzer http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-pays-tribute-says-goodbye-to-one-of-agencys-great-observatories-300987835.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Bhubaneswar, Jan 15 : Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday reiterated his request to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for reservations of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and educational institutions and for Socially Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in educational institutions in the state. In a letter, Pradhan said OBCs and SEBCs constitute a considerable portion of the total population in Odisha. There are more than 209 communities identified as SEBCs in the state which are traditionally deprived of resources- many of them suffering the twin curse of poverty and illiteracy, he added. "Central Government has provided 27% reservation to OBCs in government jobs as well as in educational institutions-a welfare measure upheld by the Honourable Supreme Court. However, even nearly thirty years of implementation of said reservations, it is difficult to decipher why Government of Odisha is not providing any such reservations to OBCs in public employment or in educational institutions and to SEBCs in educational institutions," said the Union Minister. He said most states have implemented the 27% reservation quota in their state services and educational institutions. Some states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bihar have raised the reservation quota to a much higher percentage in accordance with higher percentage of these special categories in their population, Pradhan informed. He also urged the Chief Minister to take immediate steps to mandate a Backward Classes Commission to undertake a scientific and quantifiable study of the SEBCs in Odisha and explore options for a higher percentage reservation in Odisha given its unique demography. HARLAN, Iowa A Kansas man embroiled in a contentious legal battle with his ex-wife recently filed a motion with an Iowa court requesting that the conflict be resolved through "trial by combat." David Zachary Ostrom filed the motion against his former wife, identified as Bridgette Marie Ostrom, on January 3. In it, the motion demands that the court sanction a trial by combat to resolve disputes over illegal telephone and electronic contact, as well as unpaid property taxes. "The Respondent, by and through her counsel of records, have indicated they have destroyed me legally," David Ostrom wrote to the court. "I now wish to give them the chance to meet me on the field of battle where I will REND THEIR SOULS from their corporal [sic] bodies." Ostrom argues that trial by combat was never explicitly banned in the U.S., and claims that any rights not specifically named in the Constitution are "still retained by the people" under the 9th Amendment. According to Ostrom's motion, New York State Supreme Court Justice Philip G. Minardo noted that the state court had the power to sanction trial by combat as recently as 2016. "Thus I submit this Iowa State Court also has such power to sanction Trial By Combat to allow the Respondent and I to resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally," Ostrom wrote. Were the judge to grant his motion, Ostrom asked for 12 weeks to prepare so that he could have traditional Japanese katana and wakizashi swords one of each "sourced or forged for use." Ostrom concluded with a concession that his ex-wife could name a champion as long as it was her lawyer, Matthew Hudson to "stand in her stead" in the proposed mortal combat. Hudson responded with an opposing filing, but began with a swipe at Ostrom's spelling. "Surely [Ostrom] meant 'corporeal' bodies which Merriam Webster defines as having, consisting of, or relating to, a physical material body," the attorney wrote. "Although [Ostrom] and potential combatant do have souls to be rended, they respectfully request that the court not order this done," Hudson continued. "It should be noted that just because the U.S. and Iowa constitutions do not specifically prohibit battling another person with a deadly katana sword, it does prohibit a court sitting in equity from ordering same." In an interview with reporters, Ostrom seemed at least somewhat aware that a judge would find the motion preposterous. "I think I've met Mr. Hudson's absurdity with my own absurdity," the Associated Press reported Ostrom as saying. In a court filing on Monday, Judge Craig Dreismeier said that he wouldn't be issuing a decision immediately, AP reported. His statement indicated that both sides had failed to follow proper procedures with recent filings. Buttigieg, like Warren, was in search of lost mojo. He seemed to find at least some of it, largely thanks to the fact that so much of the debate was fought on the policy-wonk terrain where he is most comfortable. He seemed a bit less so, however, when pressed to explain his lack of support from African American voters. Saying he had been endorsed by a member of the Congressional Black Caucus sounded . . . thin. The Jammu and Kashmir Police will investigate arrested officer Davinder Singhs links with 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, if required, said a senior official who did not wish to be identified, adding, but the current case is not directly connected to the 2001 Parliament attack case. It will have to be a decision of the investigating team. The JKP (Jammu and Kashmir Police) arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh after he was intercepted escorting two terrorists last Friday. They were caught by police on the national highway in Kulgam district on January 11. Along with Singh, Naveed Babu alias Babar Azam, a resident of Nazneenpora in south Kashmirs Shopian district, and his associate Asif Ahmad were arrested. Both are wanted Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists. Advocate Irfan Ahmad Mir, who was travelling with them, was arrested as well. Guru was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case and was hanged to death on February 3, 2013. In a letter to the court, Guru had alleged that he was following the instructions of Davinder Singh who was then posted in the crucial Special Operations Group (SOG) of JKP. Gurus allegations against Davinder Singh, however, did not receive much attention then. We have caught him in the company of terrorists, a high-level probe headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police of South Kashmir is underway, Director General of JKP Police Dilbag Singh said. The premises of Davinder Singh, the arrested officer, had been searched twice resulting in recoveries, he said. The JKP has recovered a Russian made AK-47, grenades and a huge amount of ammunition from his house in the posh Indra Nagar in Srinagar. The arrested officer has claimed that he was carrying out an operation. Unfortunately, the evidence gathered is not in his favour, the top cop of Jammu and Kashmir said The arrested officer was posted in the anti-hijacking unit positioned in the Srinagar Airport and therefore could not have been engaged in covert counterterror operations. Dilbag Singh also referred to the arrested officers stint with the special operations group of JKP and said that you develop sources in the opposite side as part of the job to prevent terror attacks. Refusing to divulge details of the findings of the probe, DGP Dilbag Singh said, Sources are essential to counterterror operations and they need to be handled and run very carefully as per the procedure. Using sources for personal gains is terrible. The initial investigation indicated that this was not the first time that Davinder escorted the two terrorists through the counter-insurgency grid in the valley. The JKP is looking at previous cases handled by the Davinder Singh and investigations against him carefully. This is not Davinders first brush with the law. In 1993, then a sub-inspector, Singh was posted at the Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station in Srinagar when he was investigated for extorting money from a drug cartel. Davinder and another officer allegedly allowed the suspects to go free after being paid off and later sold the seized narcotics. A JKP police probe then had recommended action against Davinder and his colleague which included dismissal. The recommendation, however, was ignored by the JKP. Davinder was moved to the crucial special operations group. Weigel and the Valparaiso woman had a brief relationship last year, according to court testimony. After the relationship soured, Weigel emailed the woman to say Browne had accessed his phone and downloaded compromising pictures the woman sent to him. Browne later allegedly sent them to the woman and threatened to send them to her childrens school. [January 14, 2020] Saankhya Labs Expands its Board of Advisors BENGALURU, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Saankhya Labs today announced that it has appointed Prof. Abhay Karandikar to the Board of Advisors. Saankhya had earlier announced formation of new Board of Advisors with Kiran Deshpande and Amar Maletira. Saankhya Labs formed the board of advisors to provide insights, advice, and non-binding recommendations to its Board and Executive leadership team. Parag Naik, CEO of Saankhya Labs said, "I would like to welcome Prof. Karandikar to our Board of Advisors. As we continue to grow in the wireless solutions domain, our advisory board members bring an incredible variety of experience and insight to the table to help take the company to the next level of growth." Prof. Abhay Karandikar is currently the Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Prof. Karandikar is also a Member (Part-Time) of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Before joining IIT Kanpur as the Director in April 2018, he served as Institute Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. He also served as the Dean (Faculty Affairs) and Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at IIT Bombay. He spearheaded a national effort in setting up Telecom Standards Development Society of Inda (TSDSI), was the founding member and former Chairman of TSDSI. He was a member of High-Level Forum on 5G setup by the Government of India and Chaired the 5G Spectrum Policy Task Force. Prof. Karandikar has several patents issued and pending, contributions to IEEE, 3GPP standards, contributed chapters in books and large number of papers in international journals and conferences to his credit. Prof. Karandikar was awarded with IEEE SA's Standards Medallion in December 2016 in New Jersey. Prof. Abhay Karandikar said, "Saankhya Labs is working on some really innovative solutions in wireless communications area, and I am happy to be part of their advisory board to guide them in their endeavour to build path breaking products and solutions to solve some of the current problems in the communications industry." Saankhya Labs had formed a new Board of Advisors in December 2019 comprising of seasoned leaders from the industry, which included - Kiran Deshpande, who is an accomplished leader and Angel investor with 3 decades of industry experience which included roles as CEO of Mahindra British Telecom (MBT), Co-Founder and President of Mojo Networks. And, Amar Maletira, who is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of broad leadership experience in business, sales, finance and corporate development in the technology industry. Currently, he serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of VIAVI (formerly JDS Uniphase). With the addition of Prof. Karandikar, Saankhya has expanded the board of advisors to include accomplished thought leader with strong credentials in academia and research, to bring all round expertise which it can rely on for its continued growth. About Saankhya Labs Saankhya Labs is a wireless communication solutions company that provides products, based on its award winning, patented Software Defined Radio SoC platform. Saankhya offers a wide range of communication products for broadband, satellite and broadcast applications. With several International technology patents and unique 'chips-to-systems' expertise, Saankhya's solutions include systems for rural broadband connectivity, Satellite communications modems for IoT applications and multi-standard DTV modulators and demodulators. Saankhya is building transformative solutions for convergence of broadcast and broadband networks. It's Next-Gen product portfolio comprises of 5G Broadcast Radio Heads, Mobile DTV receiver chipsets, Video off-load solutions for telecom and an alternate delivery mechanism for OTT service providers. Saankhya Labs in is Headquartered in Bangalore, India. www.saankhyalabs.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] India on Wednesday handed over to Sri Lanka five new buildings for schools in the country's north. A special event was held at St Henry's College, Ilavalai in Jaffna during which new school buildings constructed with the Indian assistance in the Northern Province were handed over to the people of Sri Lanka. Governor of the Northern Province P.S.M. Charles and the Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Vinod K. Jacob jointly inaugurated the new buildings. The event which coincided with Thai Pongal festival was attended by senior government officials, leaders from the region, students and teachers of the schools. These buildings are part of new classroom buildings being constructed in 27 schools in the Northern Province at a cost of 250 million Sri Lankan Rupees. Of these 20 school buildings have been completed and inaugurated including the buildings for five schools handed over today. The remaining seven school buildings are expected to be completed shortly. This project is part of Government of India's continued people-oriented development cooperation with Sri Lankan Government. India's overall commitment of development assistance to Sri Lanka stands at a total of around USD 3.5 billion and among these, USD 560 million is pure grant assistance. Out of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,500 houses have already been built. Besides, various projects are undertaken for rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government of India has constructed a total of 46000 houses in the region. Government of India has also assisted Faculty of Agriculture and Engineering in Kilinochchi campus of Jaffna University with equipments and skill components worth SLR 600 million. The ongoing development cooperation projects in the Northern Province under Government of India's grant assistance include the construction of Cultural Centre in Jaffna, construction of 3000 Rain Water Harvesting units, construction of 25 model villages consisting of 600 houses, establishing a Business/ICT Incubator Center in Jaffna among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is set to announce new dates for the onset and withdrawal of the south-west monsoon this year, a government official and the weather department said on Wednesday, in a move that could affect millions of farmers who depend on the rainy season for a bumper yield of kharif crops. The normal monsoon onset date over Kerala is June 1, and the withdrawal date is September 30, according to IMD. These dates are based on the monsoon pattern between 1901 and 1940, but India has recorded significant shifts in the pattern over the past decades, M Rajeevan, secretary in the ministry of earth sciences, said at IMDs 145th foundation day on Wednesday. Over Kerala, it [monsoon] has not changed much, but over many other places, it has changed. It is either arriving early or late in some regions. For example, over central India its arriving late. Withdrawal is almost 10 days late over north-west India now. Total period of monsoon is same, but its coming late and going late. This change will affect farmers. They will have to change their strategy, Rajeevan said. IMD director general, M Mohapatra, said the new dates will be announced in April, and will apply from this year. Rajeevan pointed out that the changed dates were recommended by meteorologists in the past as well, but they never got IMDs approval. IMD didnt want to possibly attribute it to climate change, though they knew things were changing. People accept climate change now. I insisted that dates should be changed. We cannot use the climatology of the 1940s to inform people, its a little awkward, he said. Rajeevan, however, said it was not possible to immediately link the changes in monsoon dates to the climate crisis; it could be a change in monsoon cycle also. The monsoon rains are critical because nearly half the population depends on a farm-based income and 60% of the countrys net sown area does not have any form of irrigation. Millions of farmers wait for the rains to begin summer sowing of major staples, such as rice, sugar, cotton, coarse cereals and oilseeds. Half of Indias farm output comes from summer crops, or kharif crops, dependent on the rains. According to IMD, the four-month monsoon season normally begins retreating on September 1, and withdraws from the north-west, central and eastern parts of the country by October 15. The peninsular region receives rains again when the northeast monsoon commences around mid-October. In 2019, according to IMD, the south-west monsoon started withdrawing on October 9. The weather department said it was the most delayed withdrawal in the past 58 years (since 1961). Last year, the onset happened on June 8. The month ended with a rain deficiency of 33%, while July, August and September received 105%, 115% and 152% rains of their Long Period Average (LPA) respectively. 2019 was a year of extremes. There was severe heat wave in the east... excess monsoon ending with 110% of LPA. The post-monsoon season saw some serious cyclonic activity... From December 15 to 31, we saw a very severe cold spell in north India, said Mohapatra. DS Pai, a senior scientist from IMD Pune, who recently submitted a report to the weather department on changes in monsoon pattern, said: Our dates were based on data from 1940s, and only from 149 weather stations. Now there is climate change. We want to document what has changed. Agricultural policies and practices are impacted by these dates. Krishna Achuta Rao, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said, My sense is that they are changing what is supposed to be normal. It is a recognition that normals have changed in the past decades because the data used to record onset and withdrawal is very old -- from the 40s. For the weather community, this is a very important development. IMD also announced that it will soon issue impact-based forecasts wherein the weather department will inform state governments about what to expect from an extreme weather event to help them prepare better. This system is being developed with help from the UK Meteorological Department. Tekashi 6ix9ine wants out of prison immediately. The 23-year-old rap artist, according to TMZ, has asked the judge in his case to let him finish out his two-year sentence under conditions of home arrest or at a community correctional facility. The Fefe artist, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, said he's in danger after giving testimony against his former peers in the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods street gang, his attorney Lance Lazzaro said in legal docs. The latest: Tekashi 6ix9ine, 23, has asked the judge in his case to let him finish out his two-year sentence under conditions of home arrest or at a community correctional facility. He was snapped in court in NYC in 2018 The Bushwick, New York native said the gang has a presence at the private jail he's serving his sentence at. The communication with the court comes less than a month after his two-year sentence was set in a New York court, of which he's served about 14 months. The rapper is slated to be released later this year. Tekashi 6ix9ine faced a minimum of 37 years in prison in connection with his case, but his cooperation led to the lessened sentence following his guilty plea in the gang case. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer chastised the rapper for deploying a gang as his 'personal hit squad' while praising him for cooperating with prosecutors and supplying ample information. Looking to the future: The rapper is slated to be released from prison later this year Way back when: The rapper was seen performing in Germany in 2018 'Your cooperation was impressive,' he said, according to the AP. 'It was game-changing. It was complete and it was brave.' In a letter he read in court, the rapper said, 'I made a lot of bad choices in life, but that does not make me a bad person.' In testimony he delivered last fall, Tekashi 6ix9ine said that he owed his career to his gang affiliation. 'I got the street credibility. The videos, the music, the protection - all of the above,' he told the jury in the case. He said that his contribution was to 'just keep making hits and be the financial support for the gang ... so they could buy guns and stuff like that.' Tekashi 6ix9ine's help was 'not only substantial, it was extraordinary,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Longyear told the AP. 'He was truthful. He was forthcoming. He was an open book.' Longyear noted that Tekashi 6ix9ine's testimony helped authorities identify and convict other gang members, putting his life in danger amid potential retribution. 'Forever, in the government's view, he will have to look over his shoulder,' Longyear said. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has obligated customs brokers under their licensing conditions to independently verifying the KYC of exporters. New Delhi: Revenue department using its data analytics has discovered fraud in GST refunds with as many as 1,200 exporters, who have claimed Rs 350 crore refunds, are now untraceable. The department has reasons to consider the nefarious elements among the customs broker community may be connected with these frauds, involving fictitious entities, existing only in virtual space through identity thefts with fake and morphed documents, according to sources. The detection of fraud has resulted in saving the exchequer over Rs 350 crore of refunds, they added. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has obligated customs brokers under their licensing conditions to independently verifying the KYC of exporters, the sources noted. However, going by the cases detected in recent months, at least 50 customs brokers have been found to have dealt by and large with such exporter entities which are untraceable at their registered addresses and such custom brokers are also under the lens, the sources said. As investigators probe deeper, newer modus operandi are surfacing, they said, adding that a company by the name of SSR Export was investigated and led to discovering a fraudulent refund claim of Rs 9.88 crore. As per the investigation, the firm was ostensibly exporting readymade garments to an special economic zone (SEZ). Now, with newer techniques of data analytics-based risk management being available to officers, the taxpayer was selected for physical scrutiny and found non-existent at his declared address, they noted. Using a web of fake invoicing of over Rs 847 crore, the firm created a fraudulent credit of Rs 195 crore and investigations led to discovering untraceable suppliers. The department of revenue is carrying out continuous risk evaluation of exporters with the help of predictive modelling, the sources said, adding regular strategy meetings are being held at a very high level by the revenue secretary himself with data analytic experts, state and central tax investigators. Over 800 entities have been interdicted during the last five months while exporting overvalued merchandise of Rs 1,500 crore to claim fake IGST refunds have been suspended in these cases. A day before a Spring woman pleaded guilty to bigamy in a Montgomery County courtroom, a Willis man was ordered to pay her spousal support following their five-month marriage where he later learned she was married to several other men. Charity Lenee Parchem, 43, was sentenced Tuesday by 359th District Judge Kathleen Hamilton to four years probation. Prosecutor Sheri Culbertson said this is only the second bigamy case she seen in her 19-year career. However, despite the bigamy charge, Mark Athans, 56, was ordered Monday to pay Parchem more than $100,000 in spousal support and attorneys fee by Montogmery County Court of Law 3 Judge Patrice McDonald. McDonald refused to hear and consider the bigamy evidence presented by Athans and his Houston-based attorney Sara Razavi Zand. I think our legal system is severely broken, Athans said following McDonalds decision. (Parchem) is a very bad predator. This is not an isolated incident. Its been done over and over. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your Inbox Athans claims he and Parchem were never legally married because, without his knowledge, she was married to several other men at the time he married her in South Dakota in August 2017. Court documents show Parchem was married to two other men when she married Athans. According to federal and state law, if a person is married to one person and then marries another, that additional marriage is not valid. Athans believes since his marriage to Parchem was never valid, he should not be forced to pay her any support. Zand, who has certified court documents from a South Dakota judge showing Athans marriage to Parchem was never valid, was shocked McDonald would not allow her to present the bigamy evidence. She put up every possible block to keep us from putting up evidence that (Parchem) is a bigamist, Zand said adding thousands of dollars where spent to prepare for the trail. Thats what we prepped for and the judge didnt allow it. In addition to documents, Zand had several witnesses that were also not allowed to testify. One witness, a current husband of Parchem was subpoenaed but did not appear in court Tuesday. When Zand asked to have a warrant issued for his failure to appear, McDonald declined to sign the warrant. Athans mother Barbara called McDonald unjust. She would not accept evidence to save my son from all this, she said. (Parchem) planned this from the beginning. You can see if all over her face. Zand said the case is far from over. RELATED: Willis man ordered to pay $73K to woman indicted on bigamy I dont think Mark should roll over, she said. The law is on our side. Culbertson, who is not involved with the case in McDonalds court, said Athans wanted Parchem to take responsibility for what she did hoping it will help with his case involving the spousal support. Athans and Parchem met online through mutual friends in April 2016, court records show. Parchem told Athans she was divorced and the two began dating and ultimately became engaged. We seem to hit it off. She told me she was a nurse practitioner and helped take care of elderly patients, Athans, who is also in the medical field, said in a previous article. The two were married in August 2017 in South Dakota. After the wedding, the two returned to Athans home in Willis. However, according to Athans, his son began to research Parchem and learned she had a criminal history. Some things just didnt add up, Athans said. He went and did a background check on her and found she had a criminal record. I never knew anything about that. I trusted someone I know I shouldnt have. After learning about her past and verifying the criminal record with Parchems parents, Athans filed for divorce just five months after the two were married. Since then, Athans has been living a nightmare. I feel totally betrayed, Athans said. Im up against a wall. cdominguez@hcnonline.com FILE PHOTO: Malaysia's Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng speaks during an interview with Reuters in Putrajaya KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will start a program on Wednesday to hand out a total of 450 million ringgit ($110 million) to nearly half of its citizens, the government said, in a drive to increase digital transactions that will be a big boost for e-wallet companies. The money will be distributed through Southeast Asian e-wallet operators Grab, backed by SoftBank Group <9984.T>; telecom company Axiata's Boost; and Touch n Go, which is backed by banking group CIMB and China's Ant Financial. Every Malaysian aged 18 years and above and earning less than 100,000 ringgit a year will be eligible to receive a one-time shopping handout of 30 ringgit through one of the e-wallets, the finance minister said in a statement. Up to 15 million Malaysians will benefit from the program, which was flagged in the country's 2020 budget in October. The 30 ringgit must be spent between Jan. 15 and March 14. The "initiative is designed to widen digital payments adoption among Malaysian consumers and merchants, particularly among small retail businesses," Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng said. Total digital payments in Malaysia are expected to grow 10.8% annually, reaching about $17 billion by 2023, according to data portal Statista. The handout may also help the government deflect concerns over the cost of living, which late last year led the ruling coalition to lose a by-election by a bigger than expected margin. "This is part of the governments commitment to fulfil the shared prosperity agenda by reducing barriers to digitalization and improving financial inclusivity in the country," Lim said. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Josph Sipalan; Editing by Mark Potter) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The entire province of Cavite is now under a state of calamity due to the eruption of Taal Volcano. Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla said Wednesday that the province was put under a state of calamity to aid evacuees. Para po 'to sa support sa mga evacuees kasi maraming evacuees na napunta sa'min. Para 'to sa pagpapakain sa kanila, et cetera, Remulla told CNN Philippines. [Translation: This is for the support for our evacuees because a lot of evacuees came to us. This is for their food and other needs.] The declaration will allow the local government of Cavite to tap into calamity funds. Cavite is the second province to declare a state of calamity, following Batangas, where Taal Volcano is located. As of 6 a.m. Thursday, 53,832 people are taking shelter in 244 evacuation centers in Batangas and Cavite according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The council also reported that 65,184 people have been affected by the volcanos eruption. Taal, which is still closely being monitored by state volcanologists for a possible hazardous eruption, has dealt more than half a billion pesos in agricultural damage. It has also hit tourism in areas near the volcano, particularly in resort town Tagaytay City. CNN Philippines Researcher Currie Cator contributed to this report. Viet Nam will control Ethoxyquin in feed products for the fishery industry. - Photo nongnghiep.vn Tran Dinh Luan, director of the MARDs Directorate of Fisheries, said according to an EU decision on controlling Ethoxyquin issued in 2017, the additive will be banned from feed and feed materials for all animals, including aquatic products, from April 1 this year. The ban was brought in due to fears the additive might cause a risk to human, animal health and the environment. Ethoxyquin as a feed additive is used in the preservation of fish meal. Most countries set maximum residue limits (MRL) of Ethoxyquin between 77 ppm and 150ppm (parts per million). The EU regulation is different from the regulations of Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US that have permissible limits of this substance in finished seafood products. Luan said from now until March 31, the directorate and localities would inspect the use of Ethoxyquin in feed production. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien has requested feed producers review the use of Ethoxyquin according to the requirements of export markets, especially the EU, one of Viet Nam's largest seafood export markets. According to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in 2019, the EU was the largest export market of Vietnamese shrimp with export value of about US$700 million, 21 per cent of national seafood export value. It was also the third largest export market of tra fish with export value of $227 million, accounting for 11.5 per cent. Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said the association had informed local fishery businesses and animal feed producers about the EU regulation. It had also evaluated Ethoxyquin control at seafood factories as well as difficulties in controlling residue of this additive in export products. To help local enterprises and supply chains control Ethoxyquin, the VASEP and fishery enterprises had proposed the MARD request feed production enterprises print accurate information about Ethoxyquin on labels. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Fisheries will inspect Ethoxyquin in feed products. The ministry should propose the EU consider the use of Ethoxyquin in feed materials within limits, the association said. VASEP has also taken 152 samples of raw shrimp for feed production to test for Ethoxyquin, including samples from a lot of large feed companies, such as CP, Thang Long, Grobest, Uni President and Tong Wei. These large enterprises make up about 70 per cent of the domestic animal feed market. The association found 83 of the samples did not meet the EU regulations on Ethoxyquin, or nearly 55 per cent of tested samples. Only raw shrimp of CP Viet Nam did not contain any Ethoxyquin. The companies said they had not added Ethoxyquin in the feed production process and this substance had been found in fish meal imported from Peru and Chile for domestic feed production. But the imports accounted for a small part of the total volume that those partners in Peru and Chile had exported globally. So, it was hard for them to ask fish meal suppliers to not mix Ethoxyquin in fish meal sent to Viet Nam, according to VASEP. According to a representative of CP Viet Nam, the company has requested its fish meal and fish oil suppliers not supply feed materials containing Ethoxyquin. It has also strictly controlled Ethoxyquin residue in raw materials before use in production. Therefore, CP Viet Nams feed products do not contain Ethoxyquin. In Viet Nam, the MRL of Ethoxyquin for seafood products is 150ppm while the permissible limits of this substance for Vietnamese export seafood products in the Republic of Korea and Japan are 0.01ppm and 0.2ppm, respectively. CORVALLIS, Ore. For the second day in a row, some Corvallis residents took to the streets to bring awareness to pedestrian safety after an 11-year-old girl was hit in a crosswalk a week ago. Rhiana Daniel died in the hospital after being critically injured in the crash. RELATED: RESIDENTS CALL FOR CHANGE AFTER DEATH OF GIRL HIT IN CROSSWALK Around 40 people walked along SE 3rd Street on Tuesday, crossing at crosswalks and trying to get drivers to be aware they're there. Organizers said they used umbrellas as a sign of solidarity and as a tool to make themselves noticed. Linda Johansen has lived along SE 3rd Street for nearly four decades and she said drivers do not abdide by the 25 mph speed limit these days. "I would like to see traffic slow down where there are neighborhoods like this," Johansen said. "Id like to see red flashing lights which means they have to stop, not yellow that they squeak through really quick. A similar walk-in was held in the area of the crash on Monday. Corvallis City Councilor Hyatt Lytle said the childs death is the third pedestrian death in that area in the last couple of years. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed another complaint against alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and 25 others for their involvement in illegal drug trade in Eastern Visayas According to the complaint filed before the Department of Justice, Espinosa, along with his cohorts and coddlers, conspired to run the trade in Eastern Visayas for three years. He moved his operation to Eastern Visayas in 2011. Kerwin was detained in Ormoc City Jail on 19 May 2011 to 31 July 2013 for illegal possession of firearms and frustrated murder, read the complaint. Despite of detention for almost two years, Kerwin drug trade flourished in Eastern Visayas region through his cohorts, private armed men and coddlers, it further read. Most of Espinosas coddlers were police officers. Espinosa is the son of the late Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa who was killed in an alleged shootout with the police at the Leyte sub-provincial jail in 2016. His father was in President Rodrigo Dutertes so-called narco list. The younger Espinosa was also known for linking then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to his drug business. He alleged that De Lima used the P8-million drug money he gave for her 2016 senatorial campaign. Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Wednesday demanded the State Election Commission to conduct Panchayat polls on time. The Rajasthan Deputy CM also lauded the Supreme Court for removing the stay by the High Court over the conduct of Panchayat polls in the state. "The 5-year term of the Panchayat Samitis is nearing completion. If the election is not held on time, there will be a crisis. Elections Commission has the entire responsibility for conducting the elections. Preparations of the state government are complete. There are no obstacles now. The government has no intention to appoint an administrator," he added while speaking to media in Jaipur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Images: Zachary Tang. This is the third in a series of stories told to us by Singaporeans from varying walks of life. The process was simple: meet someone on the street and spend time with them talking about life. Singaporeans often think other Singaporeans are boring, but everyone has a story to tell. Sometimes, you just have to ask. Madam Tan, 51. In her stall in Chinatown Complex. 3:28 PM Im sorry, can you say that again? Im hearing-impaired so I cant hear you well. Ohhh! My husband and I have been selling these second-hand goods and knickknacks for over thirty years already! We initially had a stall at Sungei Road but when the market closed in 2017, most of us were moved here. Im grateful to the Singapore government. Did you know that by right Im too young to have a unit here? You actually have to be at least 60 years old. Im only 51 but they gave me special permission because of my disability and even helped me apply for the license. Now I can continue earning money and looking after my family so Im very happy! There are not many jobs I can do otherwise. Thats why I got into this line in the first place, especially since my children were very young at the time. The first two years after everyone moved, the government also gave us a 50% subsidy. Only last September then we started paying the full amount. All in, rent is about $800 per month. A bit expensive la but business isnt bad so its still okay. It was slow initially but more people started coming when they knew we moved here through word of mouth. It can get very busy on the weekends. Youngsters, middle-aged people, the elderlyall of them come and my customers are all very nice. A lot of university students visit this area searching for old film cameras and theres this one boy who always comes on either Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. Confirm! He will always buy a packet of kopi for me too. Aiyo, hes really very good. Very filial even though were not related. Story continues I tell you, this job can be quite unpredictable. When its crowded, we can be on our feet the whole day. But then there are also times when theres nobody, not even a ghost! My two childrenwho are both in polydont have the patience to sit here on days like that. Like you see now, not many people around. Only me. Some of the other stall owners took today off also. Me ah? Tomorrow then I will take a break. 1 day only. Im here the rest of the week from 12 to 6 PM. I wont get bored la. I love my job. Okay, honestly speaking, when I first started helping my husband in this trade, I thought it was very dirty because youre always dealing with all these old, second-hand items. Over time, however, I came to understand what this job is really about. A lot of people think these items are rubbish or junk. Theyre wrong. These things are pieces of art; part of our culture and someones memories. In life, there are some things that you cant buy no matter how rich you are. Let me show you what I mean. Lets say you come across this book. Others might think its just an ordinary, tattered book someone used to read a long time ago. But to you, this was something your old loverwho is no longer on this earthtreasured very much. Now that you have it by your side again, youre brought back to 30 years ago. The memories are still fresh and its as if your lover is still around. Thats priceless, right? Also, some of these items cannot be found anymore. You see that piece of wood over there with the dragon and phoenix engravings? Have you ever seen anything like that? Do you know why when people got married last time, they had to have a dragon and phoenix hung up in the house? Its fascinating to think about how these traditions came about; about how someone once first thought of a dragon representing males and a phoenix representing females. This is what you call culture. You young people may not see these things as something valuable but the teachings our ancestors left behind are priceless. Like I said, they are remnants of our culture; proof that something or someone once existed. My biggest wish is to open many more stores. And no, not to make more money. There are a lot of seniors who have no children or familylike the Samsui women last time. They just spend their whole lives working and dont have anyone to look after them when theyre older. Money also not much. Thats why if I have the ability, I want to help them sell the things they dont use anymore so they have the money to lead a better life. It will be great if I can help them. In a way, I guess Im already doing so but my ability and reach are very limited. But never mind. One step at a time. I aim to slowly help more people, especially those that dont have anyone they can depend on. Living life like this is good. I never bluff you. I always help the elderly store owners set up and close shop because most of them are already 70 plus years old. They have difficulty carrying all the heavy items. Being able to help them while supporting my family makes me feel really good. In our lives, years will just pass in the blink of an eye but if you help people, they will be more willing to treat you with kindness. In the end, everybody will feel happy. This is something money cannot truly buy. Of course, if Im being realistic, you still need money to survive but as long as youre not greedy, everything will be okay. You will still be happy. Anyway, when youre free, next time come back again okay? We can chat anytime. In the meantime, dont miss me too much! Have something to say about this story? Tell us at community@ricemedia.co The post Hidden Values: One Womans Quest to Preserve Our Culture appeared first on RICE. The efforts by senior officials to calm the public are in stark contrast to the defiant tones struck by Tehran amid an outpouring of grief this month for Soleimani at his funeral procession, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of Iranians. The juxtaposition of these public displays of passion, less than a week apart, highlight the tensions and fissures in the body politic of Iran, a nation of some 80 million people whose attitudes at times clash and other times converge. Hundreds of Sikhs from Punjab on Wednesday joined the anti-citizenship law protestors at South East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, demanding withdrawal of the contentious legislation. The gathering of around 350 Sikhs from Moga, Barnala, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangroor districts came as farmers' body Kisan Union (Ekta) (Ugraha) extended its support to the protestors here. An indefinite protest at Shaheen Bagh had started on December 15 with people demanding that the government withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a possible pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC). Similar indefinite protests had simultaneously unfolded at Jamia Millia Islamia and Zakir Nagar also. "Now they (the government) will get envious seeing the solid unit of Sikhs with Muslims and Hindus here. And this is just one step outside our home, the full journey will be completed when the government repeals this law," Jagjeet Singh, who came from Moga, told PTI in a mix of Punjabi and Hindi. "Guru Gobind Singh ji taught us thay we must oppose oppression wherever we see it and that is our motivation to join this fight," he added. Asked how long would the Kisan Union members stay at the protest site, one of them said, "The decision will be taken by our elders. We can be here as long as required. CAA and NRC is just one issue. The government is answerable for many other issues including those of farmers." At 7.30 pm, an estimated five thousand protestors, including women and children, stayed put at Shaheen Bagh. Zainul Abidin, 44, of Ghaffar Manzil had started an indefinite hunger strike on December 16 to press the demand for repealing the CAA -- and after a fortnight was joined by Mehrunissa, 40, of Sarita Vihar. Besides them, three elderly women -- now popular as the 'Dabang Dadis' of Shaheen Bagh -- too have been a constant sight at the centre stage of the protest venue since day one. Shaheen Bagh local Nadeem, around 25, said though it has been a month and the government was yet to pay any heed but the support pouring in from various parts of the country and different faiths is helping the demonstration sustain. "It's energising and fills us with hope... Like Sikhs and Hindus who are not even from Delhi coming here to support the cause," Nadeem, who runs a glass shop, said. Another local, Mohammad Nafees, around 45, said the gathering continues at Shaheen Bagh round the clock and even working professionals also chipping in. "One hour, two hours or full day, whatever people can do to keep this movement going they are doing it. The time otherwise spent in other leisurely pleasures is now being consumed here," Nafees, who has an air conditioner repairing shop, told PTI. Besides Delhi, protests have unfolded in several parts of the country over the contentious law since it was passed on December 11 and have led to clashes at several places including Uttar Pradesh, where nearly 20 people have died. According to the amended law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. The law excludes Muslims. Those opposing the law contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA along withe the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in India. However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted people from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away citizenship from anyone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WILMINGTON, Delaware, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashland (NYSE: ASH) today said it plans to report financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closes Monday, January 27, 2020, and to host a webcast with securities analysts the following morning. Ashland plans to issue its first-quarter earnings release at approximately 5 p.m. ET on January 27. The live webcast with securities analysts, which will include an executive summary and detailed remarks, will take place at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. At the same time, the company will post a slide presentation in the Investor Relations section of its website at http://investor.ashland.com. Among those participating in the webcast presentation will be: Guillermo Novo, chairman and chief executive officer; Kevin Willis, senior vice president and chief financial officer; and Seth Mrozek, Ashlands director of investor relations. The webcast will be accessible through the Investor Relations section of Ashland's website at http://investor.ashland.com, along with supporting materials. Following the live event, an archived version of the webcast and supporting materials will be available on the Ashland website for 12 months. About Ashland Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a premier global specialty materials company serving customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care and pharmaceutical. At Ashland, we are approximately 4,700 passionate, tenacious solvers - from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators - who thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit ashland.com to learn more. The Human Rights Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issued a statement on the 30th anniversary of the Baku massacres of Armenians organized by Azerbaijan in January 1990. The text of the statement is given below. In January 1990, the Azerbaijani city of Baku again became a tramp for continuously executing massacres against Armenians (third time after 1905 and 1918 massive massacres of Armenians), where, unlike in other Azerbaijani settlements, a considerable number of Armenians were still living. After a crowded rally in Baku on January 13th, according to a predefined plan, a crowd of about 50,000, divided into groups, invaded the homes of Armenians in order to "clean" the city from them. During the period from 13th to 20th January, the Armenians of Baku were subjected to violence, massacres, looting and forcible expulsion for their nationality, massively violating their rights to life, not being tortured and discriminated against, liberty and security, property, fair trial, among others. The exact number of the killed people is not known yet, but according to our latest research, it is over 450 people. On the occasion of the massacres of Armenians in Baku and attacks on Getashen and other Armenian villages of Shahumyan region, on January 18th, the European Parliament adopted a resolution titled On the Situation in Armenia, which called upon the authorities of the USSR to guarantee real protection for the Armenian people living in Azerbaijan by sending forces to intervene. Only on the night of January 20th, the Soviet Army subdivisions were brought to the capital of the Azerbaijani SSR. Overcoming the fierce resistance of the Azerbaijani National Front troops, The Soviet army stopped the 7-days massacre of Armenians. On September 27th, 1990, an open letter addressed to the international community was published in the New York Review of Books. The letter was signed by 133 prominent scholars and human rights advocates from Europe, Canada and the USA, who voiced their complaint against the killings and pogroms of Armenians in Baku. It stated particularly that The crimes committed against Armenian minority have become a consistent practice in Soviet Azerbaijan, if not an official policy. That crime against humanity, organized by Azerbaijan in Baku, has accelerated and almost finished the full ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan. Within the framework of that ethnic cleansing, during 1988-1990, thousands of Armenians were killed and more than 400,000 Armenians were deported from Azerbaijani Sumgait, Kirovabad and other cities, as well as from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, with knowledge and permission of the USSR authorities. In subsequent years (including during the 1991-1994 Azerbaijan-Karabakh war), Azerbaijan continued the policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians, according to our analysis, which is in full compliance with the legal formulation of the genocide perpetrated under the UN 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Moreover, our research shows that apart from the depatriation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani Armenians, their rights to property and free movement, among others, have also been violated on a continuous basis. Many of these Armenians still bear the physical, psychological and material consequences of that policy. Those committed crimes have not received relevant legal assessment and have remained unpunished, which led to the implementation of the official anti-Armenian hatred policy pursued by the Republic of Azerbaijan. The victims of that policy are not only Azerbaijani Armenians and the population of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), but also all Armenians worldwide, as well as foreigners visiting Artsakh. As a reminder, the Artsakh Republic Human Rights Ombudsman published a special report in 2018 on the Azerbaijani anti-Armenian hatred policy, presenting concrete examples of its manifestation and relevant international law analysis. An active stage of manifestation of Armenophobia in the Azerbaijani society wasalso recorded in April 2016 - during the large-scale attack on Artsakh by Azerbaijan. The Human Rights Ombudsman, within the framework of his fact-finding mission, presented a report in 2016 on killings, beheadings, tortures and other cases of war crimes and human rights violations against civilians and military servicemen of Artsakh. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijani servicemen, who have committed such crimes, were later rewarded and encouraged by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Ombudsman urges the international community to give a proper legal assessment to the 1990 January massacre in Baku, in accordance with the fundamental principles and norms of international law, as well as to take action to end the ongoing anti-Armenian hatred policy. This path of racial hatred not only contradicts the well-known principles of international law, but also takes the two peoples away from conflict resolution and lasting peace. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad will walk out of Tihar jail 25 days after his arrest on charges of inciting a mob but he cant stay in the national capital or hold any protests. A Delhi court on Wednesday granted Azad, 33, bail on the condition that he doesnt hold protests in the city, leaves the city and keeps the police posted whenever he has to return to the national capital for medical treatment. Azad agreed to abide by the conditions imposed in view of the Delhi elections on February 8 to secure his release. He is expected to later seek modifications to the order. Under the conditions imposed by Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, Chandrashekar Azad would be able to stay in Delhi for 24 hours after his release to visit Ravidas temple, Jor Bagh Hazrat Ali shrine and then Jama Masjid. Then hell be escorted out by cops to Uttar Pradesh. Azad, through his counsel Mahmood Pracha, told the court he would go to Saharanpur. Watch | CAA protests: Chandrashekhar Azad gets bail; barred from holding protests The judge, in course of the hearing, had indicated that she was inclined to release him on bail but had pointed out to what she had described as two hindrances. One, was Azads antecedents (involvement in similar offences in the past) and the possibility that he might indulge in the alleged offences again. The conditions imposed by the judge were designed to achieve the twin objectives. During the two-day hearing on Azads bail application, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau had underscored the right of people to protest, frowned at the practice of the police imposing restrictions under Section 144 of the criminal procedure code and come down heavily on the police for failing to produce any evidence against Azad. On Wednesday, she added a bit of advice for Chandrashekhar Azad too. The judge told Azad that a street protest should be a measure of last resort. Dialogue should be first, she said. The judge also pointed out that if someone leads a protest, they are liable to be made to pay for the damages by the people who join the protest. But the police also got a sharp rap on its knuckles after they could not produce evidence to back the charge that his supporters had damaged public property. WASHINGTON In one day, Robert F. Hyde, a fringe associate of President Trumps political circle and a marginal Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut, has become an international man of mystery. Tuesday night revelations of Hydes communications with operatives involved in the Ukraine investigation at the heart of Trumps impeachment, have thrust the former Simsbury landscaper into the national news cycle, after texts were released apparently linking him to the effort to oust the former U.S. ambassador there. The trail to contact Hyde, 40, leads from a basement office on West Main Street in Avon, to a tumbledown shack in the Weatogue section of Simsbury, from which he was evicted last year for nonpayment of $900-a-month rent for his lanscaping company. Finally, theres the house on Pheasant Lane near the Farmington River in Weatogue, a $420,000, five-bedroom raised ranch with warnings of a dog, and a Hummer sitting next to a late-1950s Cadillac, in the shadow of a flag pole upon which the Marines Corps flag flies under the stars and stripes. Two heavy-equipment trailers are in the front yard, as well as a snowplow blade. No one answered the door at the Pheasant Lane residence, but Hyde who according to the Federal Election Commission has raised no money in his effort to win the GOP nomination to challenge 5th District U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes appeared on the conservative television show America This Week Wednesday night. Hyde insisted that he was not surveilling the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, as his texts to Trump-connected businessman Lev Parnas suggested, when publishing by House Democrats. Hyde insisted that he and Parnas were just joking around. It was just colorful. We were playing, I thought we were playing, Hyde said. I didnt know he was so serious. The Pheasant Lane house in which Hyde resides and is registered to vote, is where local police last June, acting on a protective order, seized six firearms, including a military-style rifle and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition. In a rare step, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican party on Wednesday asked Hyde to end his campaign for Congress, after text messages revealed Hyde may have aided Parnas in spying on Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, in an attempt to help President Donald Trump. Hyde made no indication he would end his campaign Wednesday night. I dont think hes going to, said J.R. Romano, who as state GOP chair is usually required to stay neutral in primary races. Its unclear if the chilling text messages will result any criminal consequences or further political ramifications for Hyde. They raise more questions about the extent of Hydes connections with Parnas, his associate Igor Fruman and the presidents personal lawyer, which were first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media in November, after Hyde texted pictures of himself with the men to the reporter. Hydes cooperation with Parnas was revealed in text messages that Parnas handed over to Congress after lawmakers subpoenaed him. The messages were part of a larger document trove made public by House Democrats Tuesday night as part of their impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, denied that Parnas was involved in an effort to track or harm Yovanovitch. We completely categorically deny that Lev was involved in any activities with Hyde to surveil the ambassador and try to harm the ambassador, Bondy said. We believe Mr. Hydes activities to be a reflection on his dubious mental state." Lawrence S. Robbins, Yovanovitch's attorney, asked for an investigation into what happened. "Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing," he said in a statement. Hyde did not respond to requests for an interview on Tuesday or Wednesday. He is one of several Republicans seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5. I am working my way through all of the documents in real time, just as you are, Hayes said Wednesday morning. What I have seen so far is deeply disturbing, to say the least. I cannot believe this is coming from my own district. This does not represent who we are and is definitely not reflective of CT-05. Hyde already faced calls from top Connecticut Republican leaders to end his congressional campaign when he made a vulgar comment about U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Twitter. The State Republican party returned Hydes contribution to the party after his comments. His campaign is a distraction for the Democrats to raise money and falsely label all Republicans with his antics, Romano said Wednesday afternoon. In my view he is not helping other Republican candidates or @realDonaldTrump win. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-5, a member of the House Intelligence Committee that lead the House impeachment effort, said the documents published Tuesday show why its critical for lawmakers to get more documents and witness testimony from the administration. Can you imagine what we might learn if we werent dealing with clowns and fringy characters but actually seeing the emails that exist at State, that exist at the White House that give us a full picture? Himes said. Did the State Department know that Ambassador Yovanovitch was getting surveilled? Trump has denied that he was involved in a complex scheme to obtain investigations from Ukraine that would harm one of his 2020 political opponents. That scheme has been investigated by House Democrats since September as part of the impeachment inquiry. House Democrats approved two articles of impeachment against Trump. They voted to transmit those articles to the Senate on Wednesday. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., added Wednesday that the new evidence makes getting emails and documents from the White House more important than ever for a fair trial. What did Trump and/or his top advisors know about the surveillance and harassment of an American Ambassador? Murphy wrote on Twitter. And did they order or direct it? The White House and State Department have not responded to requests for comment. Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorneys offices in Manhattan and Connecticut declined to comment. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter @emiliemunson Neanderthals collected seashells by the seashore. They also may have swum underwater to retrieve live clams to later shape into sharp tools and scrapers, according to a new study. Our findings enlarge our knowledge of the range of capacities Neanderthals had, said Sylvain Soriano, an archaeologist from Paris Nanterre University and an author of the paper. Now we can say that they were able to dive in shallow water. The conclusion is based on more than 170 handmade shell tools found in an Italian cave. The finding provides insight into how Neanderthals, who hunted deer with flint-tipped spears and used fire to produce birch tar, took advantage of their aquatic resources to fit their needs and fill their utility belts. The paper was published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. Researchers uncovered Grotta dei Moscerini on the western coast of Italy at the base of a limestone cliff in the late 1930s. During an excavation in 1949, archaeologists using mesh sieves dug up dozens of seashells. The caves Neanderthal inhabitants had sharpened or modified many of the shells into thin cutting tools, similar to how they had chipped flint into stone blades. Some of the shell tools dated back to around 100,000 years ago. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday refused to comment on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act urging journalists not to ask him questions on the auspicious Makar Sankranti day on issues about which people may have different opinions that may lead to squabbles. Kumar, who also heads the Janata Dal (United), made this comment with a broad smile playing on his lips and both his hands joined together in response to frantic queries from scribes at a feast organised to mark the Makar Sankranti festival. "Do not rake up the issues on an auspicious day, about which people may have different opinions and expression which may lead to squabbles", the chief minister said while he was treating himself to curd, flattened rice, jaggery and 'tilkut' (a sweetmeat made of sesame). Requesting the journalists to enjoy the feast and write about the state-wide human chain scheduled on January 19 instead, he said, "I urge you to take part in it as well". The chief minister was flanked by top leaders of the NDA and seated next to him was his deputy and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. They were at the residence of state JD(U) president and Rajya Sabha member Vashishtha Narayan Singh, whose annual 'dahi-chura' feast has become a much-anticipated event since it had provided clues in the past few years about dissidents from other political groups willing to join the ruling party. All eyes were, therefore, on RJD MLA Faraz Fatami when he arrived at Singh's residence. Fatami said, "I have come here upon invitation as a matter of courtesy and no political meaning should be attached to it." On the CAA-NRC controversy, he said the Bihar chief minister has already made things very clear on the floor of the Assembly and after that there is no need for stretching things further. Kumar on Monday had said a country-wide implementation of National Register of Citizens was "needless" and had "no justification". Asked about RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's state-wide tour against the contentious measures from Thursday, Fatami said, "I think the honourable leader of the opposition should do a rethink". Fatami's father Mohd Ashraf Fatami, a former Union minister, had snapped his ties with the RJD ahead of the Lok Sabha polls last year when he took exception to Tejashwi Yadav ordering his suspension from the party after he filed his nomination papers from Madhubani after being denied ticket on his home turf of Darbhanga. As per the seat-sharing arrangements in the five-party Grand Alliance, Madhubani fell in the kitty of fledgeling Vikassheel Insaan Party, which lost the seat by a staggering margin of 4.5 lakh votes. Fatami withdrew his nomination papers after quitting the party saying he did not want to benefit the BJP by splitting the votes of rebel Congress candidate Shakil Ahmad. A few months after the elections in which the NDA won 39 out of 40 seats and the RJD drew a blank, Fatami joined the JD(U). In 2018, former state Congress chief and MLC Ashok Choudhary had similarly turned up at the JD(U) leader's dahi- chura feast and he ended up splitting the party and merging the splinter group comprising two fellow legislators - with the ruling party. Last year, another former Congress leader Ram Jatan Sinha was seen at the feast and he too joined the JD(U) a few months later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese scientists have recently shown how the tiny apex structure in plant leaves controls water drainage and confers an evolutionary advantage. The research was conducted by Prof. JIANG Lei's team at the Technical Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Results were published online in PNAS Jan. 13. The leaf is the basis of plant survival. Through evolution, leaves have developed means to help control the absorption of sunshine and rain. The apex, for example, is where water is shed from the leaf and thus affects how droplets are shed. In rainforests - which are characterized by high precipitation and humidity - understory plant leaves must drain water fast to avoid water-induced rot and damage. The most famous evolutionary advance in rainforest leaves is the drip tip. Although biologists have known since the 1980s that the drip tip facilitates fast drainage, they didn't understand the role the apex played in this process. According to Dr. DONG Zhichao, the study's corresponding author, the tapered shape of the apex causes reduced capillary resistance in droplets. At the same time, the steep orientation of the apex increases the effect of gravity. Together, the apex's shape and orientation increase instability, thus enhancing water drainage. For DONG, understanding this mechanism not only increases our appreciation of the role tiny structures play in plant survival, but also provides inspiration for upgrading drainage facilities and anticorrosion architecture. This is especially important since dripping modes characterized by high frequency, low retention and low volume help reduce soil erosion. Ancient architects intuitively understood the efficiency of drip tips, since drip tiles in oriental palace roofs and gargoyles in cathedrals exhibit excellent drainage and anticorrosion ability. ### This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation and the National Key R&D Program of China. Canada's transport minister said Wednesday his country is demanding official status in Iran's investigation of the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines jet in Tehran last week. Iran admits its air-defence forces shot the plane down, having not identified it as a commercial airliner. All 176 people aboard were killed, including 138 people who were headed for Canada and 57 Canadians. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said two Canadian investigators are in Iran as part of an international team and have been getting good co-operation, but he wants their participation in the probe formalized. He said the plane's "black boxes" are in Iranian hands, but another two investigators are ready to go wherever and whenever the recorders are examined. Canada is organizing a meeting in London on Thursday with representatives from several countries that lost citizens in the crash, to co-ordinate dealings with Iran. Universities across Canada, meanwhile, held a moment of silence Wednesday to honour the victims as many students, faculty and researchers from more than a dozen Canadian universities were among those who died. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images The majority of UK property investors support many of the new Conservative governments proposed reforms but lack in faith in their ability to deliver on their promises. An independent survey of more than 750 UK property investors, all of whom own three or more residential properties in the UK, by investment firm commissioned FJP Investment found 70% are in favour of the Conservative partys proposed plans to introduce a 3% stamp duty surcharge for non-UK property buyers. Almost seven in ten (68%) back the move to give residents more say in the style of new-builds in their local area, while 60% support banning the sale of new homes as leaseholds. READ MORE: Boris Johnson could end stamp duty on homes under 500,000 Of the other election promises, 59% would be happy to see income tax rates frozen for the next five years, and just over half (54%) are in favour of not raising capital gains tax between now and 2025. However, FJP Investments research also showed that many property investors have doubts over the new governments ability to follow through on the pledges made during the election campaign. Over two fifths (41%) believe Boris Johnson will fail to get Brexit done by 31 January 2020, 61% expect the government to miss its target of building one million new homes by 2025, and 43% do not think the government will bring stability to the UK economy. READ MORE: Public supports abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers Elsewhere, the majority (58%) said they were concerned the government is ignoring important domestic issues in favour of Brexit, while 36% are calling on Boris Johnson to soften the governments stance on property investors and buy-to-let landlords in terms of regulation and tax. Jamie Johnson, CEO of FJP Investment, said: The December 2019 general election might have been dominated by Brexit, but the Conservatives also promised many potential reforms during the campaign. Our research shows that when it comes to the property market, the majority of UK investors are in favour of their key policy ideas, including a stamp duty surcharge for overseas buyers and giving local residents greater say in new-build developments in their area. Story continues However, the question now is whether Boris Johnson and his team can deliver on their promises. And at present, a great many property investors in the UK doubt that they can particularly when it comes to getting Brexit done, building more new homes and stabilising the economy. READ MORE: Watch out for this stamp duty scam Evidently, in these opening weeks of 2020, the Government must instil greater confidence and start to act on its campaign promises. By Park Jae-hyuk Private equity firms (PEFs) will put their portfolio companies collectively worth trillions of won on the market this year, as the clock is ticking for them to realize their return on investments, according to market observers, Wednesday. The portfolio companies that are mentioned to be on the market are Doosan Machine Tools, Hanon Systems, Ssangyong Cement, Hollys F&B, Bodyfriend, Jeonju Paper and Kyobo Life. Each of the companies' prices is estimated at hundreds of billions of won to trillions of won. Among them, Hanon Systems is regarded as most attractive. According to industry sources, multiple investment banks have sought to become the adviser on the sale of Hanon Systems, by contacting Hahn & Company (Hahn & Co.) that acquired the manufacturer of air conditioning and heating systems for vehicles in 2015. The price of a 50 percent stake in Hanon Systems held by Hahn & Co. is estimated at 7 trillion won ($6 billion). Hahn & Co., however, has been deliberating on its exit from Hanon Systems, because the manufacturer is likely to enjoy improving profits over the next few years. The buyout fund operator is also considering unloading Ssangyong Cement which it took over in 2016. Its stake in the cement firm was initially expected to be sold for 2.5 trillion won in 2019, but the construction market downturn eventually led to failure in its exit. Against this backdrop, some observers said Hahn & Co. may sell Ssangyong Cement to multiple buyers after spinning off the company. Among MBK Partners' portfolio companies, Doosan Machine Tools is mentioned as attractive. The leading homegrown PEF that acquired the machine tool manufacturer in 2016 after spinning off the company from Doosan Infracore has sought for an exit since it hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the lead manager in May 2019. Since then, five investors from the United States, China and Japan have reportedly shown interest in buying the manufacturer. However, the deal was not made last year, because an approval from the government is needed when selling a company with key technologies to foreigners. The price of MBK's stake in Doosan Machine Tools is estimated at 3 trillion won. VIG Partners, which acquired Bodyfriend in 2015, has pushed ahead with various exit strategies. It tried to realize its return on investment through listing the massage chair maker on the KOSPI market, but its attempt ended in failure as the Korea Exchange did not give the green light. VIG said it would not pursue listing of Bodyfriend during the first half of this year, so observers expect the PEF specializing in mid-cap buyout will try to exit the massage chair maker through M&A. The enterprise value of Bodyfriend is estimated at 3 trillion won. The IMM Private Equity's (PE) attempt to sell Hollys F&B has also come under the spotlight, as sales of A Twosome Place and Gong Cha Korea last year were successful. Since it hired Deutsche Securities as the lead manager in the late 2019, IMM PE has been negotiating with potential buyers of the coffeehouse chain, according to industry sources. The enterprise value of Hollys is estimated at around 200 billion won. Regarding foreign PEFs, Morgan Stanley PE is expected to boost efforts for exit from Jeonju Paper as the National Pension Service, one of the most influential limited partners, has been urging the PEF to realize its return on investment. Affinity Equity Partners-led consortium, comprised of Standard Charted PE, IMM PE and Baring Private Equity Asia, are pressurizing Kyobo Life Chairman Shin Chang-jae to launch an initial public offering (IPO), to increase investment returns. Four Democratic primary candidates locked in a near tie in Iowa. Less than three weeks until the caucuses there. And the looming spectacle of a contentious impeachment trial against a president running for re-election. Seems like the perfect conditions for a stormy debate. Nope. Last nights Democratic debate was the biggest stage these candidates will have before the caucuses, their last major shot to improve their standing in the race. The stakes couldnt be higher: At least a few will emerge from Iowa lacking the momentum to continue their campaigns. Yet, when presented with the opportunity to undermine their rivals, all six of the candidates onstage decided the risk of an aggressive attack simply wasnt worth the possibility of a misfire or angering Democratic voters eager for party unity in the face of President Trump. It was the play-it-safe debate. There was very little friction on the stage. Old fights, about health care and the war in Iraq, were softly relitigated. The top four candidates in the race former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. largely shied away from prolonged exchanges. Israeli jets have attacked the main T4 airbase in Homs province, the Syrian army said, adding that its air defences downed several missiles in an attack that caused material damage. An army spokesman told state media on Tuesday that four Israeli missiles did reach the base but said air defences intercepted and destroyed several others. There were no casualties in the attack which occurred at about 10pm (20:00 GMT), according to state news agency SANA. The Israeli air force conducted new aerial aggression and immediately our air defences confronted the enemy missiles, an army statement said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Syrian state television initially did not say who was behind the attack on the major airbase, located some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the city of Palmyra. Israel accuses the base of hosting an Iranian military presence and has targeted it several times in recent years. Campaign against Iranian presence Tuesdays attack is the first which Syria accused Israel of undertaking since the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani, Irans most powerful military commander, in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, on January 3, sparking one of the biggest escalations between Tehran and Washington since 1979. The Syrian army statement said Israeli war jets flew from Tanf, to the southeast, where the US has set up a base near Syrias borders with Iraq and Jordan. The Tanf base is seen by the US as a bulwark against Iran and part of its campaign against Iranian influence in Iraq and Syria because it lies on the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, a major supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria. Israel has repeatedly bombed Iran-backed militia targets in Syria, saying its goal was to end Tehrans military presence in the war-torn country. Iran-backed armed groups, led by Lebanons Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern and southern Syria as well as several suburbs around the capital. They have also entrenched themselves in the strategically located border town of Albu Kamal on the Euphrates river in Deir Az Zor district in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq where Iraqi Shia paramilitary groups have a strong foothold. The Iraqi side of the border had seen the large deployment of Iran-linked Iraqi Shia militias who now de facto control large stretches of the frontier, with posts not far from military bases housing US troops. The US military struck the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in parts of the border area between Iraq and Syria at the end of last month in what US officials said was a response to escalating provocations from Iran. Israel in the past has said Iran uses the T4 base to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, with which it fought a month-long war in 2006. Western intelligence sources say it has also been used as a base for Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel, which previously has rarely acknowledged attacks in Syria, has become more vocal in pledging it would do what is needed to thwart the entrenchment of Iranian forces or arms transfers to Hezbollah. Boris Johnson has called on Donald Trump to come up with an alternative to the Iran nuclear accord as Britain, France and Germany formally accused the Islamic republic of non-compliance with the agreement. In a drastic step that could ultimately lead to the deal's collapse, European signatories said yesterday they had "no choice" but to trigger a dispute resolution mechanism after Iran said it would ignore limitations on uranium enrichment and centrifuge research. Under the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed with China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US to restrict its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Mr Trump pulled the US out and reimposed sanctions in 2018. Iran began a staged suspension of its own commitments in response last May, and last week announced it would no longer accept limits on its uranium enrichment. Britain, France and Germany have so far resisted US demands to also quit the deal, insisting it is the only way to stop Iran getting a bomb. But in a dramatic change of tack, British Prime Minister Mr Johnson suggested that the deal could be replaced with one negotiated by the US president. "The problem with the JCPOA is that from the American perspective, it's a flawed agreement, plus it was negotiated by President Obama," he told the BBC. He added that a replacement "Trump deal" would be a way out of the crisis. Iran has previously ruled out renegotiating the deal and it is unclear whether it would entertain talks on a fresh agreement with Mr Trump, who may not be in office after November's presidential elections. In a joint statement, Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, said the dispute mechanism had been triggered in an effort to buy time for the US and Iran to ease tensions. "We do this in good faith with the objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue," they said. Iran's foreign ministry accused the E3 of seeking to "abuse" the process, and threatened unspecified "consequences". Iran said it would return to full compliance with the deal if the US lifted all sanctions, and added that it was continuing to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor its programmes under the agreement. Meanwhile, Iran said yesterday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error. The downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, which killed all 176 people aboard, has created a new crisis for the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers. President Hassan Rouhani promised a thorough investigation into the "unforgivable error" in an address yesterday. It was the latest in a series of apologies by the leadership that has done little to quell public anger. Tehran has faced an escalating confrontation with the West and a wave of unrest since the US killed Iran's most powerful military commander in a drone strike on January 3. Iran shot down the plane last Wednesday when its military was on high alert, hours after firing missiles at US targets in Iraq. It admitted the mistake on Saturday after days of denials. New security camera footage shows two missiles, fired 30 seconds apart, hitting the plane after take-off, the 'New York Times' reported yesterday. A person who posted a video online last week of a missile striking the plane has been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the Fars news agency reported. Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said some of those accused of having a role in the plane disaster had been arrested, although he did not say how many or identify them. Since the official admission, protesters, many of them students, have held daily demonstrations, chanting "Clerics get lost!" Police have responded to some protests with a violent crackdown, video posts on social media showed, with police beating protesters with batons, wounded people being carried, pools of blood on the streets and the sound of gunfire. ( Daily Telegraph, London) The U.S. State Departments principal deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood that Iraq could face US sanctions if the former purchased S-400 air-defence systems from Russia. Replying to a question during an event at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, he said that a deal to buy the Russian missile systems would likely trigger sanctions and noted that the United States was advising its partners to refrain from the move. "A purchase would probably trigger sanctions, so we advise our partners not to make such purchases," the Wall Street Journal cited Hood as saying. Citing Iraqi parliament members, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the country had started consultations with Russia on the possible purchase of S-400 air defense systems. Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday called the nullification of Constitutions Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir, a historic step that would prove to be significant in integrating the region with the mainstream. In his address at the Army Day parade, Naravane said the revocation of the regions special status disrupted the plans of Indias western neighbour (Pakistan) and its proxies. We have zero-tolerance for terrorism. There are a lot of options to respond to the country that is encouraging terrorism and we will not hesitate to use these options, said General Naravane in his first Army Day address after taking over as the chief on December 31. On January 3, Naravane had said that peace was returning to the Kashmir Valley after the Centres move in August to revoke the regions special status even as Pakistan-backed terrorists were making infiltration attempts every day. January 15 is celebrated as Army Day since 1949, when General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) became the first Indian to take charge of the force as the commander-in-chief. Naravane said the country faced some security challenges last year. Not only it countered proxy war but other situations. Whether it is LoC (Line of Control) or LAC (Line of Actual Control), we have ensured security with activeness and strength, he said, adding the situation along northern borders with China is relatively peaceful. The situation along Indias de facto border with Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir -- the LoC -- is linked with the situation in the region, Naravane said. He referred to his visit to Siachen last week and said he was extremely happy to see all the ranks brimming with confidence. In his Army Day message on Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the courage and commitment of soldiers, describing the Indian Army as the countrys pride. In a separate tweet, Modi said the army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child. Modis tweet was in response to a tweet by the Srinagar-based 15 Corps detailing how soldiers helped an expecting mother, Shamima, who required urgent medical help and to reach a hospital, where she gave birth to her child. Apart from the three service chiefs, Indias first chief of defence staff, General Bipin Rawat, also attended the parade. A woman officer, Captain Tania Sher Gill, was the parade adjutant for the first time at the annual event. The parade adjutant plays an important role in directing and conducting the parade. A fourth-generation soldier, Captain Gill was commissioned into the Corps of Signals two years ago.She will also be in the same role at the Republic Day parade. The military hardware showcased at the Army Day parade included infantry combat vehicle BMP-2K, K9 Vajra-T artillery guns, locally built Dhanush towed guns, T-90 main battle tanks and the short span bridging system. Naravane also gave gallantry awards to soldiers and unit citations to different battalions for outstanding and sustained performance. The parade featured a combat display in which soldiers simulated action in enemy territory. It involved helicopters, tanks, artillery guns and a mock assault on an enemy base by the armys elite commandos from the Special Forces. 1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard In a stinging defeat for Donald Trump as he tries to campaign on military strength, the Senate reportedly has enough votes to pass a measure that will limit his ability to wage war with Iran. According to The New York Times, A measure that would force President Trump to win congressional authorization before taking further military action against Iran now has enough Republican support to pass the Senate, a key Democratic senator said Tuesday. More from the report: The senator, Tim Kaine of Virginia, said at least four Republicans would break ranks to pass a bill to curtail Mr. Trumps war-making powers, underscoring growing dissatisfaction with the presidents Iran strategy among members of his own party. It would be a rebuke to the president as his impeachment trial gets underway and will likely set up the seventh veto of his presidency. The Republican defectors were discouraged that the attitude that was being communicated to us was that Congress was an annoyance, Mr. Kaine said. After that, they came to me and we have been able to make some amendments. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the Republicans who will support the measure, said in a statement that Congress cannot be sidelined on these important decisions. She said that although the resolution would continue to allow Mr. Trump to repel an imminent attack, only the legislative branch may declare war or commit our armed forces to a sustained military conflict with Iran. Joining her in planning to vote with the Democrats were Senators Todd Young of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Trumps instability as commander-in-chief is bringing both parties together Donald Trump continues to brag about his attack that took out Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, but the Middle East has become more unstable as a result and the American people believe the decision has made the country and the world less safe. Not only that, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers appear to be increasingly concerned about this presidents reckless strategy in the Middle East. In a time when America is more polarized than ever, Donald Trumps instability as commander-in-chief is bringing both sides together in a crucial Senate vote. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter By Associated Press TEHRAN: Iran's president warned Wednesday that European soldiers in the Mideast could be in danger after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking the limits of its nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat meanwhile acknowledged that Iranians were lied to for days following the Islamic Republic's accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people. President Hassan Rouhani's remarks in a televised Cabinet meeting represent the first direct threat he's made to Europe as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington over President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the deal in May 2018. ALSO READ: New footage shows Iranian missiles hitting Ukraine plane Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's admission, which came at a summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, represents the first time an Iranian official referred to earlier claims from Tehran that a technical malfunction downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight as a lie. The shootdown has sparked days of angry protests in the country. The current tensions between Iran and the U.S. reached fever-pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blame for deadly roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces early last Wednesday, just before an anti-aircraft battery shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Amid all of this, Britain, France and Germany launched the so-called dispute mechanism pertaining to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Speaking before his Cabinet, Rouhani showed a rarely seen level of anger in his wide-ranging remarks Wednesday. "Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Rouhani said. He did not elaborate, though European forces have deployed alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. France also maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Britian has opened a base in the island nation of Bahrain. ALSO READ: Iran abandons limits in 2015 nuclear deal after US kills top army general Qassem Soleimani Rouhani separately criticized Europe's baseless words regarding the nuclear deal. Iran had been holding out for Europe to offer a means by which Tehran could sell its oil abroad despite U.S. sanctions. However, a hoped-for trading mechanism for other goods hasn't taken hold and a French-pitched line of credit also hasn't materialized. After Soleimani's killing, Iran announced it would no longer abide by any of the nuclear deal's limits, which had been designed to keep Tehran from having enough material to be able to build an atomic bomb if it chose. However, Iran has said it will continue to allow the United Nations' nuclear watchdog access to its nuclear sites. Rouhani on Wednesday also reiterated a longtime Iranian pledge that Tehran doesn't seek the bomb. The European nations reluctantly triggered the accords dispute mechanism on Tuesday to force Iran into discussions, starting the clock on a process that could result in the snapback of U.N. and EU sanctions on Iran. The Europeans felt compelled to act, despite objections from Russia and China, because every violation of the deal reduces the so-called breakout time Iran needs to produce a nuclear bomb, Britains Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament. Under the deal's limits, experts believed Iran needed a year to be able to have enough material for a weapon. Zarif, speaking in New Delhi at the Raisina Dialogue, blamed U.S. ignorance and arrogance for fueling mayhem in the Middle East. However, he also acknowledged the anger Iranians felt over the plane shootdown. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Zarif said. Zarif went onto praise Iran's military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on." However, he said that he and Rouhani only learned that a missile had down the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Iran's civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which shot down the aircraft, knew immediately afterwards its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. But there was a sense that the chance for immediate further retaliation by Iran against the U.S. may have lifted. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, said in a speech that Iran's war project was closed since the people stood against American pressure. Now, we are moving toward peace, Salami said. Later Wednesday, Iranian state media said the British ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, had left the country. Macaire left after being given what the state-run IRNA news agency described as prior notice, without elaborating. Britain's Foreign Office insisted Macaire's trip to London was "routine, business as usual" and was planned before his arrest in Tehran. It said he planned to return to Iran. Macaire had been held after attending a candlelight vigil Saturday in Tehran over Iran shooting down the Ukrainian jetliner. The vigil quickly turned into anti-government protests and Macaire left shortly after, only to be arrested by police. Hyderabad: BJP MLA from Goshamahal T. Raja Singh was reportedly placed under house arrest by the Hyderabad city police on Tuesday to prevent him from visiting Bhainsa in Nirmal district. On Monday, Mr Singh had stated on his Twitter handle that he would visit the houses of people of a community whose houses were set ablaze during the riots on Sunday night. On Tuesday morning, the police was deployed near his house in Mangalhat and prevented him from going to Bhainsa, keeping in view the prevailing sensitive law and order situation. Later, he posted a video through his official Twitter handle mentioning that he was stopped from leaving his house and was placed under house arrest by the police. Mangalhat inspector G. Ranaveer Reddy said, The MLA wanted to go to Bhainsa on Tuesday morning. He was asked not to leave the house and was informed that he would be arrested if he leaves the house. He went inside the house and posted the photos and videos. WASHINGTON When Representative Jerrold Nadler campaigned two years ago to be the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, he billed himself as the strongest member to lead a potential impeachment. Mr. Nadler got the job, and last December, he led the Judiciary Committee as it drafted and approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump. Now, it appears his work is only halfway done. Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose Mr. Nadler on Wednesday to serve on the team of lawmakers who will prosecute the case against Mr. Trump in the Senate. He will work alongside Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who oversaw the Houses Ukraine investigation, and five other managers. MUSKEGON, MI A controlled cull of deer by sharpshooters near Lake Michigan has been approved by the Muskegon City Commission following complaints by residents for more than a year. In a unanimous vote, commissioners approved a plan for sharpshooters to kill up to 30 white-tailed deer at Kruse and Beachwood parks. The vote followed comments from community members, many of them hunters, both in favor and against the culling, which will take place over the course of four or five nights, depending on its success, and will cost about $20,000. Derek Olsen, an avid hiker, said that the experience of seeing majestic deer is a highlight of engaging with wildlife. Its important to keep the natural resources we have protected, he said. Paul Sikkengo, who runs a group called DNR Watchdog, disagreed with the proposed methods of the cull, which involve setting out bait piles and having sharpshooters in stands, vehicles and on the ground. He suggested that administering a lottery for licensed hunters to hunt the deer would bring revenue in. His wife, Sharon Sikkengo, also a hunter said that it does my heart hoarse, thinking that pregnant does would be targeted. She asked that a different time of year and method of culling be considered. Others spoke in favor of the cull. Jeff Hopkins, grounds superintendent at the Muskegon Country Club where dozens of deer have been on its grounds at times, said he has been working in the area for seven years. The number of deer that have increased over that time has been unbelievable, he said, estimating deer-related damage costs his employers between $1,500 and $2,000 each year. Mike McFall said that he lives right in the heart of the deer problem, and said that those who do not support the cull do not live with the deer; they do not deal with them on a daily basis. He added that he supported the fact that the meat from the cull will be donated to local shelters. Over the last year, an estimated 50 to 100 white-tailed deer were repeatedly spotted around Muskegons Beachwood-Bluffton neighborhood. Residents have expressed concerns about damage to vegetation, as well as the spread of deer ticks and tick-borne illnesses. Muskegon Public Works Director Leo Evans said the city surveyed more than 450 neighborhood residents in April and found that between 60 percent and 70 percent of locals supporting some action to thin the herd. In October, Evans presented several options for herd management to the city, including opening a permitted hunting season and non-lethal methods. He said that culling would be the most effective option. At the commissions public work session on Monday, Commissioner Ken Johnson asked about the compensatory rebound effect, a phenomenon in which a sudden decrease in a species spawns a faster reproductive cycle. This is because a suddenly increased food supply can cause deer to have multiple births, such as twins or triplets, and to reproduce at younger ages. Evans responded that a cull will not drive down the deer population forever, but can be an effective short-term response. it definitely is not a permanent solution in any sense. It is a temporary solution, he said. Its just a question of is it a two-year solution or is it an eight- or 10-year solution? I dont want to be doing a cull every three years, he later added. Additional work can be undertaken by residents to make the area less habitable for deer, such as not feeding them, he said. Resident Marilyn Singleton Magnuson read a short statement at the work session against culling the deer population. She said she has hiked in Beachwood Park every morning for four years, and its the one trail I enjoy hiking because I am guaranteed to see the deer. She added that, as an innkeeper, she often sends her guests to the area for an easier hike with beach views. They come back and they are enchanted by the deer because they dont run away, she said. It will have an impact on my business if the deer are culled. In the past, Muskegons had a difficult time identifying its assets and preserving them, and I believe this is one of them. These deer have been called a nuisance, but I refer to them as an asset. The culls will take place at the citys Beachwood and Kruse parks. Sharpshooters will set up bait stations with no more than two gallons of bait, and target the deer from vehicles, ground blinds and elevated stands, according to the citys agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The shooters will use night vision goggles and suppressed weapons, Evans said. An initial observation setup will determine the best hours during which to target the animals. Kruse Parks gates would be closed, and Beachwood Parks bike path would be blocked off, to prevent people from wandering in, said Evans. Public works staff, and possibly police officers, would also be present to monitor the area. Safety is always their number one priority here, Evans said during his presentation to the commission at Mondays work session. The total cost of the setup and culling trips, as approved by USDA, is $12,906. Additional costs will include staff time for employees from the citys public works and police departments, and the transporting of animal carcasses to meat processing facilities. Once killed, the deer heads will be sent to USDA for analysis and disease testing. The bodies will be sent to a meat processor and returned for donation to Muskegon-area charities. The processing costs will be paid for by Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger, a nonprofit organization that facilitates meat processing and distribution by hunters to charities and homeless shelters. The cull is allowed through a damage and nuisance animal control permit through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Muskegon Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis, would also need to first issue an allowance for firearm use within the city. The work must finish by March 31, according to the permit. Deer culling has been a controversial annual practice in Ann Arbor for five years, where deer management had cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Working with a Connecticut-based contractor, sharpshooters there killed 386 deer and sterilized 78 others from 2016 to 2019 in city parks, nature areas, and certain properties owned by the University of Michigan. The program has been met with ongoing opposition from protesters, including a group called Friends of Ann Arbor Wildlife in Nature. The next cull in that city is taking place this month, until Jan. 26, with a goal of killing 150 deer. Wrapping up the commission meeting on Tuesday evening, Mayor Stephen Gawron acknowledged that Muskegons process would not be a permanent solution to the citys run-in with urban deer. Its an action, not an ultimate answer, we know that," he said. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] There has been a sharp decline in Islamic terrorist attacks in the West, especially Europe, between 2015, when there were 211, and 2019 when there were twenty. This was the result of worldwide alarm and action against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), the most violent and determined form of Islamic terrorism so far. All nations, especially Moslem ones, cooperated to defeat ISIL. This brought about unusually high levels of cooperation in identifying ISIL members or potential members as well as going after ISIL media efforts, recruiters and fundraisers. In the West, this exposed a pro-Islamic terrorist underground that was larger and more popular than anyone realized. Actually, there were police and military intelligence specialists who were not surprised. Until ISIL came along, few Western politicians believed so much support for Islamic terrorism existed inside their countries. Some of those politicians are still skeptical. But the problem is real and its been growing for several decades, along with support for Islamic terrorists in Moslem majority nations. After September 11, 2001, there was a growing realization in the West that many of their Moslem citizens, or recent migrants, supported Islamic terrorism, including attacks that killed a lot of civilians. While survey results varied from country to country, there were two constants. First, the majority of Moslems opposed Islamic terrorism under any circumstances. Second, there was always a minority that either supported or understood the need for such violence and worst of all there was a small percentage who thought such violence was necessary to defend Islam. Many in the last group were willing to actively participate in Islamic terrorist activity. For example, an opinion survey in 2006 showed that about three percent of German Moslems supported al Qaeda's objectives, which were mainly about Islam becoming the only religion on the planet, and using force to make it happen. Many of the Moslems who supported Islamic terrorism did not just support violence but would give aid to al Qaeda terrorists. More worrisome, the German intelligence experts believed that about 3,000 of their Moslem residents would commit terrorist acts to further the al Qaeda cause. The Germans also noted that there were 24 active Islamist groups in the country, with a combined membership of over 31,000. Many of those young al Qaeda enthusiasts lacked the leadership and technical knowledge to pull off a major attack. While these 3,000 men were all for terrorist actions, only a few are willing to kill themselves doing it. This shows the importance of the former al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan. There, al Qaeda could select and train men who could whip a bunch of local enthusiasts into a team capable of carrying out an act of mass murder. The camps also trained people to make bombs and deal with the more mundane problems of avoiding detection and arrest by the police. The problem in Europe was that radical Moslems sought, often with success, to establish religious schools (madrassas) where elementary and high-school age children could be indoctrinated in the conservative forms of Islam, as mandated in Saudi Arabia and many other Moslem nations, that insisted Islam was under constant attack or threat of attack by infidels (non-Moslems). These madrassas call on young Moslems to actively defend Islam using violence against infidels and Moslems who do not share these extremist beliefs. The madrassas teach that economic failure is not the fault of unemployed Moslems but a deliberate policy of the infidel societies they now live in. Cultivating this culture of resentment and justifying blaming personal problems on others rather than yourself also works in Moslem nations, where madrasa students often turn against their own government rather than infidel nations, who tend to be better off than Moslem majority countries. Most Moslems believe this sort of thing is nonsense but Islamic radicals can find a lot of support for these extremist attitudes in Islamic scripture. This is a unique aspect of Islam, for no other major religion gives this much encouragement for and religious justification of violence against infidels or Moslems who dont agree with you. European politicians, in particular, are still prone to downplay the severity of this situation. For example, German politicians are under growing pressure from their constituents to reduce the flow of Moslem migrants and more carefully screen those that are let in. Most elected (and unelected) officials have taken the position that allowing large numbers of Moslem refugees (from civil wars, rebellions and religious conflicts in Moslem majority nations) is the humanitarian thing to do. Their constituents point out that many of the politicians are delusional because these officials do not live near the new arrivals and experience the increasing crime and general hostility expressed by so many of the refugees towards non-Moslems (and often each other). Voters point out that their political leaders tend to live in well-protected neighborhoods and have access to taxpayer-supplied personal security. To make matters worse, there are a growing number of instances where local (or national) officials deliberately conceal data on criminal activity by Moslem migrants. Some data cannot be concealed and that is when there are deliberate terrorist attacks that kill or injure people in a public place. For example, in the four years after 2014 (through the end of 2017), there were 32 Islamic terror attacks in Europe. These involved 44 Moslem refugees or recent asylum seekers. These attacks caused 996 casualties (182 dead, 814 wounded). While these attacks occurred in twelve countries most of them took place in Germany, which had accepted the most (1.4 million) Moslem refugees. For the average European the most annoying thing about this is that the hostility and violence found among so many of these refugees is nothing new. Opinion polls and government data have detailed the problem for years. For example, in 2006 German counter-intelligence officials were openly dismayed at how passive German Moslems were towards the threat of Islamic terrorism. A tip line for Germans to call in information about suspected terrorist activity received little use by the 3.5 million Moslems living in Germany. The tip line had German, Arabic and Turkish speaking operators available. While there had not been any major al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Germany up to then, the police and intelligence agencies knew they had an Islamic terrorism problem. Even without tips from Moslem residents, the intelligence agencies had detected a growing number of suspected Islamic terrorists and many of these eventually proved those suspicions right, often in another country. That was because Germany was seen as something of a sanctuary for Islamic terrorists; a place where local Moslems would stay silent and local police might suspect your intentions, but unless you broke one of their laws, like displaying a flag with a swastika on it, you would not get arrested. German counter-terrorist forces knew of al Qaeda-trained Moslems living in Germany. But German law prohibits preventive detention, so the best the Germans can do is try and identify the most likely al Qaeda terrorists and keep an eye on them. Britain thought they had a similar situation and had it under control. The July 7, 2005 bombing made it clear that some British Moslems were actually very eager to act, and the government surveillance program had not detected, much less caught, them. After the 2005 attacks, an opinion survey found that some 18 percent of British Moslems felt little or no loyalty towards Britain. Worse yet, about six percent of British Moslems, largely males, especially younger ones, were in favor of the attacks. That's over 100,000 people. This percentage was similar to estimates in France and Germany. Tips from British Moslems did pick up after the 2005 attacks, but there was not much reaction in Germany or France. Meanwhile, the Europeans can only envy the American FBI, which has a very active tip line. Despite a large number of American Moslems who were not happy with the war on terror, they did report anything that appeared to be terrorist activity. This program was so successful that the number of terrorist prosecutions was declining. This was due to several factors. First, the pro-al Qaeda crowd, at least the ones not sharp enough to keep their heads down, tended to get caught. Second, you have to assume that there are pro-al Qaeda American Moslems still out there, and smart enough to avoid being detected, but are proceeding with extreme caution, and taking their time. Europeans tend to leave terrorism suspects under observation for a long time, while the FBI tends to pick up suspects as soon as there seems to be enough evidence to get a conviction. The European method is necessary because the Moslem community is not providing information. So the police have to observe the terrorists, see who they work with, and generate tips that way. By 2014 the situation in Europe had gotten worse. That year a poll in of European nations to discover support for ISIL resulted in some surprising results. In Germany, two percent of the adults supported ISIL, while in Britain it was seven percent and in France 15 percent. While many of these supporters are Moslems, only 4.6 percent of Germans, five percent of Britons and 7.5 percent of the French are Moslems. Thus there was support from non-Moslems and a closer look at the data shows that ISIL support is higher among the young and falls sharply among older people. Many of the ISIL supporters are actually angry at their own government for various reasons. Still, the ISIL support was part of the overall support (or tolerance) for Islamic radicalism in the West and the recent rapid growth of European anti-Semitism. There is more, but not much more, support for ISIL in countries with Moslem majority populations. Most Saudi Arabians oppose ISIL but among those that did back Islamic terrorism, there were many who were very active in their support. Saudi Arabia is the original source of nearly all current Islamic terrorism and is still the source of most recruits and financial support for these groups. Because of that, and growing foreign criticism over the issue, in early 2014 the Saudis made it illegal for Saudi citizens to join ISIL. In typical Saudi fashion, they waited a while before strictly enforcing the new law. The Saudis have a hard time punishing fellow Saudis for being Islamic radicals, in large part because Arabia was where modern Islamic radicalism was invented and is still highly respected and practiced despite all the Islamic terrorism. Despite what the United States and the West want, events in Arabia follow a different pattern. After ISIL became a major threat in mid-2014 widespread local support for ISIL in the Moslem world was just not there. But the Islamic radicalism that created centuries of Islamic terrorism outbreaks survives and will keep providing headlines for the rest of the world. Many Westerners dont appreciate the details of Middle Eastern history that cause Islamic terrorism to return again and again and simply see the fanatical Islamic terrorists as revolutionaries worthy of admiration or even emulation. In the two centuries European countries have had to deal with homegrown radicalism (republicanism, anarchism, radical socialism) and now, despite its alien origins, Islamic terrorism appeals to young Europeans who miss the communists, Nazis, anarchists and radical republicans of the past. By 2016 British media noted that more Moslem British men of military age were joining Islamic terrorist organizations than were joining the British military. The vast majority of the three million Moslems in Britain were either hostile or unsympathetic to Islamic terrorism. But a large fraction (at times over 20 percent) had some sympathy for the motives of the terrorists; Defending Islam and all that. As many as six percent believed the Islamic terrorist violence was justified. More troubling was that nearly a fifth of British Moslems felt little loyalty towards Britain and instead believed Islam was where their main loyalty was. Islam stresses this in its scripture. European leaders have been slow to accept the reality of what they are dealing with. Even by 2019, when ISIL was no longer a major threat, European nations were finding that local Moslem radicals they know about, and were trying to monitor, were increasingly carrying out attack despite the police knowing who they were. In several recent attacks, the perpetrators had been convicted of Islamic terrorism, sent to jail and once released went right back to their violent ways. Since European nations are democracies the rulers cannot continually ignore the complaints of voters who daily confront this culture clash and often live in constant fear of it. Actually, so do many of the Moslem refugees. These outbreaks of Islamic terrorism have, for centuries, only hurt other Moslems because the righteous rage of the Islamic purists was directed as fellow Moslems perceived to be heretics. There were often ethnic, nationalistic or political elements as well but the basic motivator was religious and the efforts to impose true Islam on other Moslems. In the West, it was difficult to deal with this problem even though it had been well documented in the West for centuries. But it had become fashionable in the West to ignore all that. Worse and to the astonishment of many in the Moslem world, Westerners often deliberately and disastrously misinterpret what was actually going on. Amol Agrawal In most countries, central banks are bankers to the government where the latter parks deposits and avails of loans. That apart, much of their monetary policy operations use bonds issued by the government. In the case of RBI, Section 20 and 21 of RBI Act (1934) specify the transactional relationship between the central bank and the Government. In this context, let us review the loans from the RBI to the Centre. The apex bank provides loans and advances to the government to meet the temporary gap between receipts and payments, which are also termed as ways and means advances (WMA). Both in consultation fix the WMA limits from time to time. These limits are set mainly for the first and second half of the financial year with a few exceptions (Figure 1). The RBI charges the WMA at repo rate and also allows an overdraft at an additional 2 percent. We are interested in WMA as of the week ended January 3, 2020. The government availed of WMA worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore, the highest since 2004, RBI data showed. The last time the figure shot up was on August 2, 2019, at Rs 1.16 lakh crore. We also see how WMA towers have been rising of late (Figure 2). To make the analysis more specific, we analysed how many weeks WMA was availed in a year. In 2011-12, it was availed in 38 weeks followed by 27 weeks in 2018-19 (Figure 3). If we look at whether the borrowing has been within or beyond limit, we see a mixed record. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, we see higher number of breaches due to the global financial crisis. In 2011-12, when WMA was availed 38 times, the limit was breached 18 times. Of the 40 weeks so far in 2019-20, we have had WMA in 19 weeks. And it has been higher than the limit in 8 of those weeks, mainly in July-August. In first week of December, we saw the advances at Rs 52,575 crore, higher than the limit of Rs 35,000 crore, which was paid back in the subsequent week. The WMA again went up sharply in the first week of January 2020. These sudden spikes show that the flow of funds has not been on expected lines. The agreement between the RBI and the government also specifies that the central bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilises 75 per cent of the WMA limit. Given the serious mismatches, the government issued Cash Management Bills (CMB) (of 76-day tenure) worth of Rs 30,000 crore on December 31, 2019. We now know that on January 3, 2020, the government availed of a record WMA, followed by another CMB issuance of Rs 30,000 crore (63 days) on December 13 last year. In recent months, there have been talks of the government under fiscal pressure. The pressure is mainly due to slowdown in the economy, which has led to less growth in tax revenues. Then, there are continued problems in GST filing and structure, which has compounded the matter. The constant use of WMA is one signal which shows that the government is indeed under fiscal pressure. In 2011-12 when WMA was picked for 38 weeks, this was the case. The government had projected a fiscal deficit of 4.6 percent for 2011-12, but the revised estimate put it at 5.9 percent. The final figure was 5.7 percent, but by then, damage was done. Likewise, in 2018-19 when WMA was used 27 times, there were expectations that the government will not be able to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent, but somehow it could contain the deficit at 3.4 percent. There are similar expectations that the government might not be able to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent for 2019-20. The job is tough as it requires the government to keep a tab on expenditure and ask ministries not to spend. But that would adversely impact GDP growth, which has been projected at a decade low of 5 percent. We will have to wait for the Union Budget to get the revised deficit numbers, but the WMA trend does give us some picture which is not very comforting. The above analysis also shows that the relationship between governments and central banks is far trickier than the usual talk of central bank independence. They are far closer than we are made to think of. This does not imply that central banks should not have autonomy. On the contrary, just like in any principal-agent relationship, an agent will achieve its objectives if it is given adequate autonomy by the principal. The same is the case with central banks, too. D onald Trump today seized on Boris Johnson backing a new Trump deal on Irans nuclear programme as Britain came under pressure to align its foreign policy with the US to get a good post-Brexit trade pact. The US President tweeted early this morning: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, @BorisJohnson, stated, We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal. I agree! He messaged after Mr Johnson backed replacing the current agreement to curb Tehrans nuclear ambitions, which the US pulled out of in 2018, with a new Trump deal and said it was time to dial down tensions in the Middle East. They spiralled after the US assassination of Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. Trump defends killing Soleimani at Wisconsin rally Sir Simon Fraser, former top mandarin at the Foreign Office, praised Mr Johnsons initiative as quite a smart move as the tragic downing of the Ukraine International Airlines plane last week had unexpectedly created a diplomatic opportunity. The UKs ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, is returning to London, it emerged this morning. It came a day after Irans judiciary branded him persona non grata and called for his expulsion after he was arrested on Saturday for attending a vigil for the 176 people, including four Britons, who were killed on the Ukrainian jet. Iran: Tehran Plane Crash - In pictures 1 /13 Iran: Tehran Plane Crash - In pictures via Reuters AP AFP via Getty Images People stand near the wreckage after a Ukrainian plane crashed near Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran ISNA/AFP via Getty Images AP AP via Reuters AP Rescuers check the debris following the plane crash via Reuters Part of the wreckage from Ukrainian plane that crashed in Tehran shortly after take-off via Reuters The Foreign Office said Mr Macaires visit to the UK had been planned for quite a while and he is expected to return to Tehran shortly. Mr Johnsons comments appeared to be an attempt to encourage Washington to step up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. Irans president Hassan Rouhani, though, branded the proposed new Trump deal as a strange offer. This Mr Prime Minister in London, I dont know how he thinks. He says lets... put the Trump plan in action, he said. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal. Britain, France and Germany were trying to keep the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal alive by triggering a dispute resolution mechanism after Tehran breached it. But at the same time the Prime Minister was reaching out to Mr Trump to rejoin a new diplomatic process. America and Iran both had an incentive to negotiate, Sir Simon added, with the Tehran regime under increasing strain and the US facing the threat of having to withdraw troops from Iraq. Mr Johnson was also coming under pressure to shift UK foreign policy closer to Americas. Ukraine began 2020 as a turbulent state. There have been six years of the Russian-Ukrainian war with no visible end. New challenges, questions and responses are radically different but equally turbulent for the different parts of Ukrainian society. Ukrainian events happen against a background of global instability. How can Ukrainian society deal with those problems and phobias? We decided to talk on this subject in Estonia with Oleg Pokalchuk, a Ukrainian Information Security expert, a Board Member at the Institute of Social and Economic Research/ISER in Kyiv, the author of scientific articles and methodological works on the topics of social fears, political leadership and political elite, a social and military psychologist. ON STABILITY IN UKRAINE, CIVIL SOCIETY AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLITICIANS Q: In spring 2019, in an interview with Ukrinform, you said that no politician was able to make Ukraine unstable. Do you think it is still so? A: Yes. First of all, it is necessary to determine who in Ukraine we are talking about. If you talk on behalf of bureaucrats, who sit in the Pechersk area, then, of course, they are constantly shaken by the realities and are very concerned about their own stability. Regarding the rest of the 40 million Ukrainian population, I would like to make the following comparison: there is a device called a gyroscope which is used, among others, in an aviation navigation. It balances any system due to the earth's gravity. A Ukrainian ethno-national gyroscope is embedded into the social fabric, it works and functions due to completely different principles than it seems to politicians, intellectuals and others, who do not make a serious influence on major developments. In Ukraine, I see a large resource of stability - it is such a tectonic and a meteorological factor. It does not mean that Ukrainians have worked somehow on it or have some special high resistance. Its roots are in history. What is instability? It is quite a subjective feeling, usually related to discomfort that a particular person is experiencing. I am not talking about a group of people, which does not feel any discomfort. A group has no sense organs but an individual has them. An individual always projects themselves onto a group, thus raising their self-esteem and, of course, empowering themselves with the groups energy and influence. This is a human nature. Therefore, talks about some kind of instability or possible threats related to one person's will are scientific nonsense. Not a single person, possessing charisma, empathy and everything else is able to change any processes. So stability is something much more than we imagine. Any society, not only Ukrainian, is a complex and multi-component system. Its destabilization, as with any ethnic group is, in principle, impossible. Look at a Jewish nation, what a long history of suffering and distress. And they, as a result, have Israel. Some other nations are similar to it. It is impossible by any political, military or mystical ways to destabilize a nation unless a time has come for it to be destabilized. Q: Our time has not come yet? A: No. We are a very young nation. The processes, which shook us, happened during our puberty, we had our own growth diseases, acne, for instance, literary and journalistic. We still behave as teenagers: we look in a mirror and sometimes seem to ourselves like a nasty duckling, another time we look like the most charming princess of the world... Q: What about the Donbas problem? Does an attitude of the Ukrainian society to it create instability? A: There is no attitude of our society to Donbas. There is an attitude of the different layers of our society to different parts of a Donbas problem. Q: Is it necessary to seek a national consensus on this issue? A: May I ask a counter-question: would you please give me an example from the most recent history when a certain opinion of a society was decisive in determining such issues? Q: (Pause) Never. A: It is clear why. Because in order to make such decisions, politicians try to find themselves indulgent, they try to cover themselves with an opinion of the society and find support for their decisions in such a multi-vector set of opinions. I did say at the very beginning of our conversation that there is no holistic and cohesive Ukrainian society, as there is no unified American or German nation. There are different social groups with different relationships. They are structured, but they are different. Politicians, asking publicly themselves and us a question, which you have just asked, later look for the most comfortable answer: Oh, you see, the Ukrainian society wants this or that Proportionally, maybe it is a lesser part of the society, but they are our best people It depends on a political situation, that's all. If the Ukrainian society would have some kind of influence on politics, roughly the same as the American society possessed at the end of the Civil War, all would be different. Americans were an armed society that said to their politicians: No guys, it won't be like that, otherwise wait for the second Boston Tea Party. What we call in Ukraine a monitoring opinion is a Facebook societys opinion. It's not even a society - it's a bubble... An answer you wish to receive depends on how you ask a question. People want to have a good life, to live in peace and have food and a roof over their heads. All over the world is so. An influence on the complex phenomena related to violence, death, destruction or conflict between different value systems is an unbearable task for a society. This is a difficult task for philosophers, politicians and a society. Therefore, I believe that in this matter, politicians use a society as an instrument to achieve their purposes in a dishonest way for completely different, even sometimes opposite, goals. Q: while they need to impose, form public opinion, for example, on the Donbas situation? A: Yes. Q: Do they have to take responsibility? A: No, if we talk about some protocol, then we can only appeal to a need to educate what we call a middle class, which in a developed society functions as a communicator and a skilled mediator between the masses, which tend to think little but understand a lot (the masses always have a good intuition). But in our situation the authorities have been doing everything to prevent the civil society from its influence on decision-making because it is in the authorities interests. Only the lazy did not write about feudalism. After all, it seems quite convenient to manage masses of people, praising them, rubbing their ears, occasionally throwing some bones to them: It is very tasty, eat, look how good it is This kind of positive patterning results in certain conditioned reflexes - people do not even understand that they are being fooled for three pennies all these decades with beautiful though senseless words. Q: You are trying to say that politicians do not need to take a public opinion into account? A: It is important to rely on a public opinion, because the society can be offended and rebel. For instance, Maidan was a normal reaction to what was happening in Ukraine. Ukrainian politicians think that it will not happen again, we will somehow cheat, outwit and outmaneuver. But these are dangerous games. It turns out that, and I kind of methodologically contradict myself, but these are different layers of communication. It is not necessary to do what the society says, because the society does not know itself what to do. However, it is necessary to listen to it. Q: The problem here is that the different segments of society want diametrically opposite things. A: Let's deal with the masses. I will repeat: in Ukraine for many years there has been a struggle for the formation of a fully functioning civil society - this stratum of population is very important and necessary. But, as soon as it starts to grow and be independent it suffers from attacks from all sides. It is considered by the authorities as a competition a threat and a potential for a change. It still happens and will happen in the future. The Ukrainian society without this stratum will always burn a landlord and to the Sich" - a classic Ukrainian problem. The Ukrainian state without a civil society will always follow a Leninist model of the state as an apparatus of violence: Go to work or to prison! It will always gravitate towards it. Therefore, our task is to develop and consolidate civil societys positions, but in terms and concepts of the 19th century, not the 20th. It is necessary to modernize those positions, because of time, changes and circumstances when information in the world doubles every 18 months. ON THE THIRD WORLD WAR, PUTIN, TRUMP AND THE TRUTH Q: You say that politicians are finding a crack in society and constantly target it. And not only politicians who are interested to maintain their power hit that target. Opponents, who are interested in overthrowing current power, our neighbors who want to occupy us, etc. How can we resist? A: We means who? Q: I mean Ukrainians A: I always urge you and our potential readers to speak accurately and precisely. Q: OK. My fears are the following: I am afraid that Putin will occupy us further or bring us back to the Kremlins sphere of influence. I am afraid that Ukraine will disappear... A: You have mentioned different things, different fears and they cannot be confused. I understand that an apocalyptic thinking is a peculiar Ukrainian feature, Ukrainians like it terribly, it is very colorful, however, superfluous. Ukraine might be occupied, but Ukraine will not disappear, because there are Ukrainian people and there is a nation. It had happened in history already: there was no Ukraine as a separate state, but there were Ukrainians. If Putin attacks or not- it does not depend on our own cracks. It depends on completely different configurations. Benefits or losses from the attack must be seen in a global context of the Russian imperial ambitions and in the context of those wars, secret and explicit, which already take place on the planet. Ukraine is just one of the theaters of this world war. I would like to give a following example as a comparison: a soldier during the first three days of war believes that all the bullets and shells are flying at him/her. Ukrainians are constantly going through those first three days. People, who were at war, came to their senses and began to really understand everything since the fourth day. Politicians keep civilians deliberately in a state of a groundhog day, like those soldiers, who have just come to war and everyone wants to kill and occupy them. Maybe not necessarily now, not necessarily personally them and maybe not occupying, but something else That is why people need to think, analyze, adequately assess the risks and respond adequately to challenges and threats. Q: Not long ago, Putin said, The Russian language is being deliberately destroyed all over the world. In this message I see a threat of saving a Russian-speaking population all over the world... A: It is Hitlers style. In the 1930s, Hitler also said that Germans are oppressed all over the world. I have already said that if the third world war is already happening, then Ukraine is currently one of the theaters of this war with the phases of its calmness and activation. Putin is a KGB officer, which means he thinks in terms of intrigues, threats, blackmail and risk, but not in terms of operating large battalions like Napoleon did. Putin is situational, but not strategic. No matter how much we talk about some Russian strategic intentions, Putin has no strategic thinking, he works and thinks in an operational-tactical mode and quickly makes situational decisions: if he sees a slack - yes, he could possibly get there; while he experiences a rebuff - right away: nothing has happened, it was not us, we were not there, green men? which green men? I do not know, I have no clue who they could be, it is not me." This is Putins modus operandi. We are all waiting for his imperial reaction: Putin will come to the Red Square, open his parchment and announce about a beginning of a large- scale, impressive war. There will never be one. Putin has a completely different mindset. He is good in intrigues, murders, bribery, espionage, sabotage groups, etc. So I urge everyone to see him (and whom we rightly criticize) as a person who can resolve a local conflict at any moment, but not exactly in terms and scope we fantasize about. I urge you not to think about this too much, because we have enough experts in Ukraine who care day and night on how to react to those threats. Our [Ukrainian] system of national security and defence is not bad, it is definitely better than it was in 2014. I can confirm that. Therefore, I believe that the civil society does not need to panic. Q: Another question is about the psychological aspect of war. Israel has been living in war for 50 years and the Israeli society is quite calm about it... A: Not quite so. First, the Israeli society lives in conditions of a constant possibility of war. Second, US assistance to Ukraine is $250 million, US assistance to Israel is $3.1 billion. With such aid, they can feel confident enough to build, for instance, a Dome missile system and successfully deal with Palestinian missile attacks. There were very serious military threats and fighting, a brilliant work of Israeli intelligence and counterintelligence all of that shaped a creation of a holistic national security system that has been built on the ideology of Zionism, which cares about national security. It is in their religious faith and it strengthens them. Talking about our system, Israel is a country that can serve as a model for motivation. We currently live in a state of war and in this matter we need to separate and clarify important things very precisely. For example, Americans or other NATO personnel take part in military missions abroad as instructors and advisors. But those missions are not war, a soldier comes to participate in a mission and leaves it due to rotation. This is different than our war. Its psychology is different. Injuries are the same, people might die in the same way, heroism is the same, all emotions are the same, but it is different. In America, the rest of the nation might have nothing to do with their overseas missions. Here, in Ukraine you deal with the current war even if you really do not want that. You must either deny it or accept it. Therefore, a comparison with Israel might be incorrect - they do not live in a state of war, they live in a state of a threat from the Muslim world and Islamic extremists. They are an outpost of the Western civilization in the region, successfully dealing with threats, but it is not a war... Q: What kind of help from the authorities is needed for a society to deal with those fears? How a state can influence people to keep stability: consultations? open lectures? A: The state and its representatives must tell the truth - this is the alpha and omega of everything. When they tell the truth, there are no additional questions. And if misunderstandings are not cleared immediately - then there are problems, speculations, and fears. The government needs to tell the truth: yes, it is a war, a Russian-Ukrainian war, it will be a long one, yes, people will die, it is bad, but we will do everything to make it less harmful for the nation. There won't be as many casualties as in 2014 or 2015, but they will happen. People have a contract job to defend their country, they get paid for it, they are not civilians who might be killed if somebody brakes into their home, they are soldiers and their function is to win or die ... That is honest. It is very unpleasant, but the government must have the courage to say it. And, moreover, if it was said, I believe, that a huge part of the Ukrainian society would have accepted it with dignity. Q: Regarding support to Ukraine from other countries. In the fall of 2019, at a press conference with President Zelensky, President Trump said, I hope you will solve your mutual problems with Putin. We understand that America is not President Trump only, but still, when the head of the country, which is our strategic partner, is represented by such person as Mr. Trump, can we count on any positive signals from their side? A: I am just looking for a politically correct answer ... Our habit of responding in a certain way to statements of the top politicians is a legacy of the 20th century. Probably, in early and mid-20th century, the politicians statements had every reason to be reliable and decisive and we are pleased to quote de Gaulle, Churchill and other prominent leaders. Now we see some devaluation of this discourse all over the world. This is due to the fact that a major decision-maker process has shifted to the 2nd echelon. For example, at the NATO headquarters, unlike in a European or American civic political system, majority do their best to understand a certain issue precisely, correctly see it, define it and work on it. The European Union and NATO, a system of a collective economic and military security, make joint decisions that determine a collective discourse, which does not depend on statements of certain politicians or individuals. All over the world so. I am quite sure of this, because all over the world, certain professional discourses, which deal with issues of war, peace and security, have a very high degree of responsibility, require professionalism and competence. The major task of politicians, however, is to simply engage in politics. It is impossible to separate Ukraine and the Ukrainian situation from current world events. When people tell me: What are they thinking over there? We have disgraced ourselves before the whole world! or What will the world think ?! I usually say that there are more than a billion Chinese, more than a billion Hindus in the world, and probably a billion of Muslims already - and those three-quarters of the world's population most probably are reluctant to consider Ukrainian problems as their priorities at the moment. They have enough challenges of their own and are preoccupied with their national troubles trying to solve them. Q: And how the Ukrainian authorities should respond to our current challenges in this global configuration? A: A threat is an obvious thing. For example, if we sit by the sea and suddenly the sea is rapidly retreating, we feel an obvious threat of a possible tsunamis approach. If we are talking about risks, there might be some actions towards minimizing the consequences, but not their prevention. There are challenges which could be a result of what has already happened and what we can still work on, instead of crying and saying, Well, it's all gone! Our foreign friends sometimes mention to us that you, Ukrainians, do not reserve for yourself a right to make a mistake. You believe that you are such an impeccable nation that if a mistake does happen, you hide it and react immediately: No, this is impossible, it wasn't us who made a mistake! You behave like a child, who smashed a cup and said: It's not me, it's a boy, who ran in, smashed a cup and ran back to the street. Therefore, a modern Ukrainian societys behaviour is quite a teenage type of behaviour. A lot is written and said about that. On the contrary, if our foreign colleagues happened to find a mistake in our joint project operations, they defined it, studied it, got rid of it and tried not to do the same mistake in the future. Threats, risks and challenges are three different concepts that need to be clearly distinguished. Categorization is very important and many of my acquaintances in general uniforms, as well as professional civilians, highlight a need to precisely define a conceptual vocabulary of major issues and concerns for politicians to deal with. It is because of nonsense that bloggers, journalists and people, who call themselves PR specialists, spread as an outrageous mix of concepts, sentiments, self-inventions and useless hysterics. Therefore, the first thing that is needed- right definitions, the second is what is called in English an assay- a careful analysis. Our friends explained to us: If you can't investigate and analyze the precise results of your impact, don't even start to plan it. So first we need to decide first and foremost: what we want our government do for us. Q: What then should the Ukrainian authorities do in the current circumstances? A: The Ukrainian authorities need to explain in simple words to people the following: we want to do this or that and what do you, Ukrainian people, think about it? There should be a sense of duty to ask Ukrainian people directly, without those complicated social surveys and spins. If an answer from people is received, the actions of the authorities should be in congruence with this answer. We, however, need to understand the current world context further. People think in a tactical dimension: here and now we want it to be in this way and now. People cannot predict or determine far-reaching consequences of their current choices and actions. It is a task of politicians to think strategically. They have to say to people: "Guys, if you do it now, then after a while it will be completely wrong, do you want it? It is necessary to act in a most productive and useful way for people to make their life better. It is a duty of politicians to take responsible risks. A society's opinion is a framework of decision-making, not mandatory though, but it must be taken into account. Such frameworks consist of the different intensities of pressures on society from its allies and enemies and this is a very complicated configuration. The higher the government rises in its strategic evaluation of different economic, political and social phenomena, the more erased become the concepts of ethics-enormous money is involved, a huge turnover of capital, means and instruments of influence, etc. It is a matter of high-profile and responsible specialists to evaluate the far-reaching consequences of any political action. ABOUT TRUST, COLLECTIVE HAPPINESS AND PSYCHOTYPE OF THE NATION Q: About trust. Now, in our society, there is a very low level of trust to all political institutions... A: And when was it high? Q: Maybe, when Kuchma was a President, it was higher... A: Trust of who to whom? Q: Trust of citizens to state authorities. Suppose someone does not trust our current government, someone did not trust the past government. At the same time, Estonians say that they do not question actions of their authorities, they have a high level of trust to them and delegate their decision-making mandate to their authorities. A: Do you really think that trust is a key factor for the effective functioning of a political mechanism? Q: There is an opinion that without trust to the authorities there will not be a unified society... A: This is an erroneous opinion. A unified society never exists anywhere other than in a totalitarian world. People are different. Yes, there is a message and a desire to trust the government, but it is a substitution of a rational component with moral and ethical categories, which should sacredly balance everything or to put it differently, a belief that miscalculations and errors, which the current government makes might be compensated by our trust when we finally say: Lets have a true confidence in our authorities! In a technocratic society, such categories are not taken into account. For example, when a plumber repairs something at your house, you assess a quality of the work, but not a plumbers beauty. If a job is properly done, you will pay money for it. This is a model of relationships between a society and a state. Q: And then what to ask from the public? What should the state be interested in and what to measure? A: It is written in the Ukrainian Constitution, there is no need to ask for anything. The majority of the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Constitution and constitutions in the whole world are written according to one principle: first- the nations basic needs, ambitions, dreams, fears, etc. are determined, then they are codified into a Basic Law. If something is missing there, there are by-laws to deal with it. I am categorically opposed to substituting laws with some moral imperatives which is present in current Ukrainian discourse. We do not want to follow laws and we do not want to implement them. They are boring, we have to work a lot on them and somehow all of that is not comfortable. As to our talks about morality and trust- here we are great, especially since it costs nothing and does not affect anything. Such tricky thinking is constantly encouraged and for some reason we accept it. Q: Maybe because we are not educated in this field enough? A: It also exists, but it is not a matter of education, I would rather call it experience, because we traditionally have a good education, we are a cultural and well-read nation. But we also are an artistic nation - we have wonderful songs, dances, fiction and poetry. It forms, as well, a certain kind of political thinking, which, in my opinion, is bad. It is the 21st century already and we only acquire some practical experience. Thanks, by the way, to visa-free travel. We already understand what Europe is, without extra explanations. We understand how the European Union works with its pluses and minuses. This is a practical experience and it cannot be learned in another way. If our humanitarian sufferings, which worth nothing, could be combined with the practical experience, then all that archaic construction might acquire new and important meanings. A new Ukrainian generation will grow up for whom all of this will be a natural thing, then everything will change for the better. Q: On the influence of journalists on a psychological state of society. In the last two years, probably, before the summer parliamentary elections, almost all media groups were talking about a terrible betrayal and corruption. But after the elections, the negative information on TV was minimal. At the same time, in September 2019, the number of citizens who were satisfied with what is happening in the country increased by 11 percent. Is this the influence of journalists? Can journalists change a mood of people or not? A: Yes and no. Journalists really affect changes in peoples emotions, but nothing more. It is very important to understand that a change in emotions does not result in a change of behavior. But for media professionals those changes are enough - they spoiled people's mood and got their money for it. They are happy and everyone is fine: here we are, all is well done, lets scare somebody else. Q: And if journalists purposefully uplifted and encouraged their readers/viewers with positive news, would that work? A: Consumers most probably will not buy that. All over the world, by the way. Q: Does it mean that this whole story with targeted information will not work? A: You can inform only those who have a request and desire to accept information. The journalist really affects the mood cumulatively, that is, the system of transmitting the emotional signal is distributed through hearing and through re-evaluation and a story-retelling: Have you seen what was on TV? I saw such a thing! Ah-ah-yah! This kind of information has the potential to be spread widely, but positive stuff is not, because positive is boring, does not stimulate an instinct of procreation and preservation of species. Q: Why? A: Because it is self-sufficient. After all, when you tell me that tomorrow will be the end of the world and everyone will die, I will immediately begin to think how I can effectively spend my night, the last one in my life. Maybe I will run somewhere or dig in a cave. My brain develops a scenario and I somehow will act according to it. That's how a threat works. A calm and positive version of the same scenario causes a yawn: all is well, tomorrow we will understand what is going on, tomorrow might be worse, though, but I will start to do something tomorrow Q: Let's get back to journalism. Can the authorities communicate with people directly without journalists? A: Of course, direct communication is always more effective. But only if a recipient clearly understands an outgoing signal. When we speak about marketing, that's where I think everything is fine in this matter. In politics - no, because politics works with imaginary values which are always false. Let's be frank: politics in any country is a fiction that relies on some professional politicians. That is in politics nature. It is important to understand that a one-sided communication is not communication. It is propaganda, it is something that does not require feedback. However, I think that: a) propaganda is needed, b) it should be always stupid, primitive and everyone should often laugh at it. If it is not there, it is bad too. Q: Now in developed countries they talk a lot about happiness - they even create ministries, trying to make a society happier... A: Happiness is not a collective thing. It is post-Soviet nonsense. Happiness is always a subjective and individual feeling. An index of happiness, which is talked about a lot, and which is in some indicators, is not quite a scientific approach, but, nevertheless, it reflects some societal tendencies. It does not relate to a current situation, it relates to some cognitive attitudes of people to perceive and evaluate a system of good and evil, bad and good. We know that the same phenomenon can be perceived differently by different nations and cultures. We, in fact, have not yet decided on how to assess the nations happiness. Our major assessments, as I said earlier, are shaped by the 19th-century classical Ukrainian literature which does not withstand any criticism from a current education curriculums foundations. Therefore, we are now in a state of a formation of some new scales to measure happiness. We look at Europeans - they have their own understanding of happiness. We look at Americans - they have another. But where are we between them? Where is real happiness there? We are a kurkul (a wealthy peasant) nation. We need more happiness, in our two full hands, so that we can tightly push it into our pockets and if it is Americans or someones else, it is not important, we will sort it out later. We will gather and divide it equally and democratically among all Ukrainian people and everyone will get its own piece of happiness. Like in Stalker by Strugatsky, where happiness is free to all and no one will go away offended not having it - this is a human dream. I repeat, happiness is an individual thing. Q: So, collective happiness is unachievable? A: Collectively happiness arises because of mutual encouragement. Such a phenomenon exists also. When you and I have a Thesaurus and a common vocabulary of social communications, where we understand not just about good and evil, but where there is some kind of quasi-religious system of explanations what is happening around us, we encourage and comfort each other through this system of communication. Together we are happy as a society, a community, a nation and people. And we are cool because we talk in similar terminology and explain each other how happy we are in the same way. This is probably the most important thing, because subjective happiness comes not only from some endorphins or hormones. In a social dimension, it comes from an explanation of your neighbour or a person you trust to you that you are happy. After all, many people who visit Ukraine say: You live here in a paradise, do you realize what is happening in the world at all?" And we answer: "Okay, we have here a betrayal and a catastrophe. And what do you understand about our unhappiness and misery? Relax with your happiness, keep it for yourself and do not disturb us in our suffering. Q: You know, it's true. My feeling after traveling around Europe is that Ukraine is the best country to live in. A: Yes, but national masochism has not been canceled yet. People want to suffer so much. Q: What kind of a psychotype do we have as a nation? Would you please identify? A: Well, most of the Ukrainian songs start with the word Oh. It means trouble, sadness, sorrow, mourning, regret and unhappiness. What other diagnosis do you need culturally? This has been historically defined. But at the same time, this Oh unites us. I believe that this is a get-together point for the Ukrainian nation and it is quite effective. Because, first of all, it is not a fiction, a lot of the Ukrainian sufferings were real and dramatic. It is codified in art, literature and culture and served as a formative element for the future behaviour. What does this mean? It means that Oh will last forever until our people get bored with it. Q: But someone should tell people that not everything is 'Oh,' that not everything is as bad as it seems? A: What for? If people want to moan, let them moan. We live in a free country. It is impossible to order them to do something else this will be totalitarianism, it was like that under communism. If people want to cry, let them cry... Q: As for me, you have quite a paradoxical view of life Why paradoxical? It just reflects what life is now. This is a pure social realism, I describe life in its own terms. Ukrainian reality is not bad or good. It is not a dead-end, it is a certain stage of a growth that we are at. It will pass, there is nothing dramatic here. Q: Is the role of a national language important for a state's development or not? A: A country and a state, a society and its people are like guinea pigs and the sea, which are absolutely different things. For a state, its administrative apparatus, for the administration, for the economy and issues of oil, gas, coal and other basic needs supply a question of a national language has no importance at all. But it is important for the efficiency of communication within a country because society needs to stay in a common language paradigm. In this sense, a national language, I think, is a very important and necessary topic, but for the country and its people, not for a state. A country needs a national language - because there must be a codification system of a verbal signal. Maryna Synhaivska, Tallinn-Kyiv Photos from Oleg Pokalchuk's archive FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Atlantia Group is seen outside their headquarters in Rome By Francesca Landini and Stephen Jewkes MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Benetton-led Atlantia is ready to reopen talks with the government on motorway toll cuts, two sources said, as Italy's biggest infrastructure group seeks to resolve a bitter dispute over its concessions. Atlantia, which controls highway operator Autostrade per l'Italia, is facing political pressure over a bridge collapse in 2018 that killed 43 people, and it remains to be seen if its offer will satisfy the government. Leading members of the ruling 5-Star Movement insist that Autostrade should be stripped of its concession, which generates a third of Atlantia's core profits and is a main pillar of its business. "Atlantia is ready to discuss the idea of cutting motorway tariffs," a financial source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding this was a signal to the government to end the year-and-a-half long dispute. Atlantia officials were not immediately available for comment. Autostrade will hold a board meeting on Thursday to discuss a new business plan to 2023, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. The company, which has already taken measures to improve safety controls on its more than 3,000 kms (1,864 miles) of network in Italy, is expected to announce more improvements when it unveils its business plan. Atlantia's own board is scheduled to meet on Friday and will discuss the motorway concessions, two other sources said. HOT TOPIC 5-Star's hand has been strengthened by prosecutors who have opened four investigations into Autostrade, saying there is evidence that it failed to carry out necessary maintenance on various tunnels and bridges. Autostrade per l'Italia has always denied any wrongdoing, saying the company has spent more than required on the network. 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio vowed in a television interview with public broadcaster RAI on Tuesday that the government would withdraw Austostrade's concession, adding that the ruling parties would meet on the matter "in the next few days." Story continues Some in the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which governs with 5-Star, have been more cautious, fearing a legal battle and potentially heavy compensation costs for the state. They have argued instead that the terms of the concession should be renegotiated, but Autostrade has so far shown no willingness to consider this. "There is still room for a solution to avoid revoking the licence," a PD junior minister told Reuters, asking not to be identified. "But we need a clear signal from the Benettons that they are willing to cut tariffs and discuss compensation" for the collapse of Genoa's Morandi bridge. Earlier this month Transport Minister Paola De Micheli, from the PD, called a reported offer by Autostrade to cut its toll fees by 700 million euros "insufficient". WAITING FOR PM CONTE Another prominent PD lawmaker told Reuters his party was waiting for Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to present a report on Autostrade, and if that showed the company's road upkeep had been inadequate, the PD would not oppose revoking its licence. A senior 5-Star official said compromise was impossible. "There's no more time for talking, we have to withdraw the concession," he told Reuters, asking not to be identified. Sources with knowledge of the matter say Autostrade and the government held private talks over tariffs and investments in maintenance until November, when they were broken off. Il Messaggero daily on Wednesday cited the chairman of the Benetton family holding company Edizione, controlling shareholder of Atlantia, as saying that Atlantia was willing to talk with government-backed infrastructure fund F2i about joining forces on infrastructure management. (Additional reporting by Gavin Jones, Giuseppe Fonte, Stefano Bernabei in Rome; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Peter Graff and Lisa Shumaker) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 07:47:17|Editor: ZD Video Player Close OTTAWA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa held a show of traditional Chinese culture and art on Tuesday, attracting about 100 people from diplomatic corps and representatives of culture and education fields in Canada. The event includes the performance of Chinese traditional musical instruments and Chinese martial art, as well as the exhibition of Chinese traditional healthy refreshments. The Spring Festival marks the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 25 this year, and the celebrations could last for 15 days till the Lantern Festival. The performers of traditional Chinese instruments pipa and guzheng, or Chinese zither, explained to the audience traditional cultural knowledge and demonstrated how to play the instruments. All the guests were deeply attracted by the Chinese culture and art. Sandy, a student from Ottawa University, said "the performance of pipa and guzheng are really spectacular." Following the show, guests were invited to enjoy winter-featured refreshments and interact with the artists to explore the charm of Chinese traditional culture. The army celebrates January 15 as Army Day every year as it was on this day that the first Indian general took charge of the Indian Army. General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) took charge to lead the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. Cariappa, fondly known as Kipper, was only 49 when he took charge of the army. He served as army chief for a full four years, retiring on January 16, 1953. Today, leaders cutting across political lines are celebrating the Army Day, saluting the bravery and valour of the soldiers. The hashtag #ArmyDay is the top trend on Twitter. On Army Day today, I salute all valiant Indian Army personnel and recall with pride their indomitable spirit, valour and sacrifices in making India a safer place, tweeted Defence minister Rajnath Singh. He added the hashtag #ArmyDay2020 to his tweet. On Army Day today, I salute all valiant Indian Army personnel and recall with pride their indomitable spirit, valour and sacrifices in making India a safer place. #ArmyDay2020 pic.twitter.com/cbdbdnc1VH Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 15, 2020 My best wishes on Army Day to the brave soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families who sacrifice everything to protect the country. Jai Hind! Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. , - !#ArmyDay2020 Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 15, 2020 Indian Army is the epitome of commitment, discipline and patriotism. My salute to the brave women and men of the Army on #ArmyDay, tweeted Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Indian Army is the epitome of commitment, discipline and patriotism. My salute to the brave women and men of the Army on #ArmyDay. pic.twitter.com/wjkN4P8h51 Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 15, 2020 We are proud of you Indian Army! I salute the brave soldiers of the Indian Army who are a symbol of indomitable courage and bravery, said Union minister Prakah Javadekar. We are proud of you Indian Army ! , #ArmyDay2020 #ArmyDay pic.twitter.com/kd0xwwasXI Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 15, 2020 Saluting the valour, courage & fortitude of all our soldiers on #ArmyDay. Let us come together and show our gratitude to the Indian Army for their selfless service to the nation and honour all those who sacrificed their lives for us, Railways minister Piyush Goyal said on Twitter. Saluting the valour, courage & fortitude of all our soldiers on #ArmyDay Let us come together and show our gratitude to the Indian Army for their selfless service to the nation and honour all those who sacrificed their lives for us. pic.twitter.com/YA1SfHX11Y Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 15, 2020 I salute the indomitable spirit & bravery of the Indian Army on the occasion of #ArmyDay. I am proud to have been a part of this great institution. Happy to share a picture of my interaction with the troops of 3rd Sikh in Tibri Cantt in 2017, said Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He also attached a picture of his interaction with the troops. I salute the indomitable spirit & bravery of the Indian Army on the occasion of #ArmyDay. I am proud to have been a part of this great institution. Happy to share a picture of my interaction with the troops of 3rd Sikh in Tibri Cantt in 2017. @adgpi pic.twitter.com/0550N2Ka77 Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) January 15, 2020 Today is the day for us to take pledge for serving the country with dedication, a day of gratitude towards soldiers who brave all the odds and still remain unwavering in their commitment, and its a day dedicated to those soldiers who were martyred. Jai Hind, Additional Directorate General of Public Information, the official Twitter handle of Indian Army, said in a tweet. On #ArmyDay in 1949 Field Marshal (then Lt Gen) KM Cariappa took over as the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army from the last British C-in-C of India. #ChinarCorps salutes the brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our great Nation, Chinar Corps of the Indian Army said on Twitter. It also posted a video along with the tweet highlighting the bravery of the soldiers. On #ArmyDay in 1949 Field Marshal (then Lt Gen) KM Cariappa took over as the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army from the last British C-in-C of India. #ChinarCorps salutes the brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our great Nation.@adgpi pic.twitter.com/qNdqhAJiqD Chinar Corps - Indian Army (@ChinarcorpsIA) January 15, 2020 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extends #ArmyDay Greetings to the personnel & veterans of Indian Army @adgpi. In his message, CM said that They defend us in times of peace, times of war, and times of crisis. We appreciate their selfless service above & beyond the call of duty, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans office tweeted. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extends #ArmyDay Greetings to the personnel & veterans of Indian Army @adgpi. In his message, CM said that "They defend us in times of peace, times of war, and times of crisis. We appreciate their selfless service above & beyond the call of duty." CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) January 15, 2020 The Army Day parade, held at the Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment, is one of the chief highlights of the celebrations. The army chief takes the salute and inspects the parade led by the General Officer Commanding, HQs Delhi Area. The other two service chiefs also attend the parade every year and take salute. This parade is also a part of the Republic Day parade. Since the dawn of anti-aircraft missiles, a sage warning has been passed down from combat aviator to combat aviator as they do mission planning: be alert it is often the unseen missile that will kill you. As the House forwards its BS non-case, no-solid-evidence impeachment charges against President Trump to the Senate, there is a serious blind spot in the process. There is metaphorically a significant "unseen missile," and that is Chief Justice John Roberts presiding. The Constitution is unambiguous that the chief justice presides over impeachment trials in the Senate. It is the specific behavior of lawyer and chief justice John Roberts with respect to his 100% ownership of the FISA court that should give all Americans concern as impeachment moves from the House to the Senate. Just like with President Trump as commander-in-chief, or Speaker Pelosi and Senate leader McConnell running their constitutional branch of the government, the chief justice fully owns everything to do with his FISA court. Preparing for the Senate to take up the impeachment of President Trump, there have been several shallow inoculation stories making comparisons between the late Chief Justice Rehnquist and President Clinton's Senate impeachment process and Roberts's potential role in Trump's. Readers have seen this quote in many stories about Chief Justice Rehnquist: "I did nothing in particular, and I did it very well." There is now a nice try by Ruth Marcus, deputy editorial page editor, venturing her opinion from Jeff Bezos's personal newspaper, the Washington Post: The chief justice is not going to arrive on a white steed to save the country from Trump. Indeed, a minimalist approach on Roberts's part is not only the all-but-certain outcome it is also the wiser course, better for the court and the country. What the writer misses is the obverse: the Chief Justice can actually be a subtle activist judge. I do agree with her point about hoping for a minimalist approach, but that is just our opinions. Evidence of the chief justice being partisan against President Trump is in the public record. So far, all current reporting fails the test of judging the chief justice on his total AWOL behavior overseeing the most corrupt use of the power of the state to destroy a presidential campaign. In my opinion, the Senate and the president have much to be concerned about, just by looking at Roberts's imperfect (being kind) stewardship of his FISA court. A Wall Street Journal editorial is very good, up to a point: The court did nothing about this deception for three years despite accumulating evidence presented to it. Once this is all publicly exposed, would your response be to hire a former Obama official and media apologist for the FBI to restore the court's credibility? Yet that is exactly what the FISA court has done in appointing David Kris to review changes proposed by the FBI to the court's surveillance application process. Federal Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee for the District of Columbia, became presiding FISA judge on Jan. 1. That he would act in such an obtuse fashion is another argument for the FISA court's abolition. Chief Justice Roberts has final hiring authority over David Kris. It also looks as if federal judge James Boasberg has a major conflict, because, after all, the Obama administration spied on President Trump and his team. Judge Boasberg and lawyer Kris working together brings to mind the famous quip in a Chicago courtroom: "Your Honor, Motion to Fix." Now one more time, please: All American's should know if the chief justice is just foolishly ignorant of such hiring behavior, or is it a horrible case of willful blindness on his part? Best to sort it all out quickly or have a new chief justice sworn in ASAP. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in a note submitted to the Supreme Court on January 15 has stated that it will take over the management of Unitech with certain stipulations required for effective working. The apex court will hear the Unitech matter on January 20. "The government has submitted a note in compliance with the court's proposal mentioned in the order dated 18.12.2019 whereby they will be appointing the managing director and the directors. The current management will be discharged," said Pawanshree Agarwal, amicus curiae in the Unitech case. Agarwal also said that the MCA also proposed certain riders for the revival to take place. It has sought for a moratorium for pending cases so that the revival plan of the company can proceed. The Supreme Court on Dec 18, 2019 had asked the government to look into the possibility of it taking over the Unitech Group and complete the pending housing projects to protect the interest of over 30,000 homebuyers. The courts direction followed the submission of the forensic auditors report that said that the embattled firm and its directors had siphoned off almost half of the homebuyers' money. Audit firm Grant Thorntons report on the Unitech group and its subsidiary firms had said that thousands of crores of rupees of homebuyers' money was diverted for purposes other than construction and some of the funds were parked in offshore tax havens like Cyprus. In an interim report, the audit firm had said that as many as 30,000 homebuyers had deposited around Rs 14,270 crore with the company while booking flats in 74 projects across the country but Rs 5,063 crore was not utilised for construction and another Rs 2,393 crore was not traceable. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah had then asked the Centre to suspend all directors of the group and replace them with independent directors to manage the affairs of the firm. It had asked attorney general K K Venugopal to inform the central authority concerned to take action. The bench had also directed the Centre to conduct an investigation into alleged financial fraud by the group and its promoters and file a report before it on January 17. At the December hearing, the Centre had proposed that the plea against the group be referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. But this was opposed by the homebuyers' lawyer M L Lahoty and advocate Pawanshree Agrawal, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae. Legal experts are of the view that a credible new board nominated by the government will be able to frame a resolution plan which can be approved by the Supreme Court under Article 142 of the Constitution. Under such plan a project by project solution can be found including sale of projects to other developers. Its a very positive move by the Government which will go a long way in unlocking stuck projects and restoring confidence of homebuyers in the real estate sector, they said. Speaking on the development, Shikha Sharma, a resident of The Residences in Sector 33 Gurgaon, said, "We welcome the Ministry of Corporate Affairs decision to take over Unitech. This is a respite for homebuyers who have been waiting for over 11 years for Unitech to deliver their homes. I hope that the MCA puts a Board of Directors which can deliver all stalled projects in a definite timeline." Last year, Unitech homebuyers had proposed a few options for resolving the crisis, including a Satyam-like resolution plan for the embattled firm but emphasized that the process should focus on disbursing delay penalty to homebuyers. It must be remembered that, NCLT on December 8, 2017, had suspended all the eight directors of the realty firm over allegations of mismanagement and siphoning of funds and had authorised the Centre to appoint its 10 nominees on the board. But in its petition filed under section 241 of the Companies Act, 2013, the government had requested the tribunal to remove the eight directors and said that the company has over Rs 6,000 crore debt and over 16,000 undelivered units from a total of nearly 70 projects. On May 9 last year, the apex court, irked over the non-cooperation of Unitech in the forensic audit, had withdrawn all the facilities given to its promoters, Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay Chandra who are lodged in Tihar jail for allegedly siphoning off homebuyers' money. The top court had said the Chandra brothers should be treated like ordinary prisoners as per the prison manual of Tihar jail here where they have been lodged since 2017. In 2017, the apex court had directed the jail authorities to facilitate the Chandras' meeting with their company officials and lawyers so that they are able to arrange the money for refunding homebuyers as well as for completing the ongoing housing projects. The court had earlier sought assistance of the attorney general while warning that it could order a CBI probe. The apex court had on January 23, 2019 refused to grant bail to the Chandra brothers. It said they had not complied with the October 30, 2017 order which asked them to deposit Rs 750 crore with the court registry by December 31, 2017. The court had directed the trial court which is seized of the criminal case against the Unitech promoters to proceed expeditiously in the trial. The Chandras sought bail on the ground that they were complying with the apex court order and had deposited around Rs 481 crore till now. On December 7, 2018, the apex court has directed a forensic audit of Unitech Ltd and its sister concerns and subsidiaries by Samir Paranjpe, Partner, Forensic and Investigation Services in M/s Grant Thornton India. The realty firm is facing the wrath of the court in a case related to alleged siphoning of homebuyers' money. The matter pertains to a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 home buyers of Unitech projects' -- 'Wild Flower Country' and 'Anthea Project' -- situated in Gurugram. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global molded pulp packaging market size is expected to reach USD 5.63 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period, according to a new report published by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising demand for low-cost, eco-friendly packaging by various end-use industries, including food, food service, electronics, healthcare, and industrial, is likely to fuel the growth. Key suggestions from the report: Food packaging end-use segment accounted for a market share of 50.8% in terms of revenue in 2018, owing to wide scale incorporation of the product for packaging fresh fruits, eggs and processed food products The non-wood pulp material segment is anticipated to expand at the fastest CAGR of 6.1% from 2019 to 2025. The material eliminates the need for virgin wood thereby offering complete sustainable packaging, which is expected to bode well for the growth of the segment Asia Pacific molded pulp packaging market is estimated to register a CAGR of 6.2% from 2019 to 2025 on account of rapid expansion of electronics, healthcare, and foodservice industries North America is projected to expand at a CAGR for 3.5% over the forecast period, owing to the rising ban on plastic packaging coupled with growing consumer preference for sustainable packaging solutions Market participants across the globe are expanding their manufacturing capability on account of growing popularity of molded pulp packaging products amongst end-use industries. Read 90 page research report with ToC on "Molded Pulp Packaging Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Source (Wood Pulp, Non-Wood Pulp), By Type (Thermoformed, Transfer), By Product, By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025'' at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/molded-pulp-packaging-market Molded pulp packaging products are majorly made up of recycled paper pulp. Other sources such as virgin wood and non-wood pulp sources, including cereal straws, sugarcane bagasse, bamboo, reeds, esparto, kenaf, and corn stalks, are also employed for manufacturing molded pulp packaging products. The wide availability of various pulp sources makes it a cost-effective packaging solution than plastic molded products. Molded pulp packaging products such as clamshell, bowls and cups, plates, and others exhibit similar packaging properties to that of plastic thermoform products. Molded products offer excellent bracing, blocking, and cushioning protection, and they are temperature, water, and oil resistant. A rise in the rules and regulations regarding the use of plastic packaging products, such as Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) thermoformed packaging products in the developed region, are expected to fuel the demand for molded pulp packaging in the forthcoming years. Molded pulp packaging products, such as tray and clamshells are primarily used for egg packaging due to their excellent vibration damping properties, essential for packaging fragile products. Increasing per capita consumption of eggs in developed countries coupled with the growing adoption of sustainable disposables by the foodservice industry is expected to benefit the market in the forthcoming years. Grand View Research has segmented the global molded pulp packaging market based on source, type, product, end use, and region: Molded Pulp Packaging Source Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Wood Pulp Non-wood Pulp Molded Pulp Packaging Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Thick Wall Transfer Thermoformed Processed Molded Pulp Packaging Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Trays End Caps Bowls & Cups Clamshells Plates Others Molded Pulp Packaging End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Food Packaging Food Service Electronics Healthcare Industrial Others Molded Pulp Packaging Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Asia Pacific Japan China India Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa & Saudi Arabia Find more research reports on Plastics, Polymers & Resins Industry, by Grand View Research: Blow Molded Plastics Market The global blow molded plastics market size was estimated at USD 75.28 billion in 2018 and is projected augment at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2019-2025. The global blow molded plastics market size was estimated at in 2018 and is projected augment at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2019-2025. Packaging Adhesives Market The global packaging adhesives market size was valued at USD 10.69 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2019 to 2025. The global packaging adhesives market size was valued at in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2019 to 2025. Paint Packaging Market The global paint packaging market size was worth USD 21.2 billion in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission) has launched its Fight Utility Scams website to equip utility consumers with information about individuals impersonating utility representatives over the phone, online or in-person. These scammers frequently threaten residents and business owners with disconnection of service if they don't pay them immediately. With the increase in reported scams, the Commission has created an online consumer resource guide that provides information on what to do if you are targeted by a scammer. The website is a one-stop shop for consumer tips, videos, and community resources. Being informed is the best way to protect yourself against utility scams, stated Willie L. Phillips, Chairman of the Public Service Commission. We want utility consumers to feel empowered by taking control of the conversation. This website raises awareness and educates customers about the warning signs of a utility scam, so consumers know what to do. Throughout the year, the Commission will continue to highlight the most common scams and tactics scammers use to steal money and personal information from utility customers. To learn how to avoid scams and to stay current on information, visit www.dcpsc.org/FightUtilityScams. The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia is an independent agency established by Congress in 1913 to regulate electric, natural gas, and telecommunications companies in the District of Columbia. HOLYOKE A 30-year-old man charged in the shooting death of a city resident was a validated member of the La Familia gang who had been sentenced to three years of probation in November after pleading guilty to selling crack cocaine, Police Chief Manuel Febo said. Jean Carlos Rivera, of Holyoke, is being held without the right to bail after his arraignment in Holyoke District Court on Tuesday. He was charged with murder in the death of Jesus Otero Marrero, 21, law enforcement officials said. After his hearing, the judge ordered all documents pertaining to Riveras arrest sealed from the public for 90 days. The January 9, 2020 homicide of 21-year-old Holyoke resident Jesus Otero-Marrero might have been prevented if a federal judge in Springfield had just imposed even the lower end of the minimum sentence time available within the federal sentencing guidelines, Febo said in a written statement released Tuesday night. Rivera, who is also known as Carlito, was taken into custody on Monday after a four-day investigation into the homicide, which Febo called a gangland slaying." The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by Holyoke Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gullunis Office. Marrero was found dead on Friday morning in an alleyway next to 593 South Bridge St. He had been shot multiple times at close range, Febo said. He is very well known to the Police Department and all of our law enforcement partners including the FBI and the state police, said Holyoke Police Lt. James Albert. We are very, very relieved he is in custody. When he was arrested, Rivera had served less than two months of a sentence of three years of supervised release. He was sentenced on Nov. 15 to the supervised release and 35 days of time served after pleading guilty to distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine, according to federal court records. He was arrested with two other Holyoke men, who were all accused of selling drugs in Holyoke between November 2017 and January 2018. The indictments are the result of a seven-month law enforcement investigation into cocaine and heroin trafficking in Holyoke by members of La Familia gang, U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said in writing after the June 20, 2018 arrest. Rivera could have faced a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release if convicted, Lelling said at the time of the arrest. We supported the United States Attorneys Office as they argued for a sentence within the guidelines of 33-41 months in prison. The presiding judge however sentenced Rivera, a validated La Familia street gang member, to one month of time served and a probation term without explanation and he was soon released back into the South Holyoke neighborhood. Case investigators were stunned at the time, Febo said in his statement. Rivera had been held without bail for slightly more than a month for several factors including his history of violence or use of weapons and a lack of a stable employment and residence, court records show. His lawyer successfully argued for his release on bail citing his significant family ties to the area, including his girlfriend and three children, and the fact he was offered a full-time job by a long-time family friend, court records show. When he was released on $5,000 bail he was ordered to live at 557 South Bridge St. and maintain a full-time job, court records said. Rivera is the second man to be arrested in the death of Marrero. On Monday Merkin Andrade, 30, of 534 South Bridge St., was arraigned on charges of misleading police and accessory to murder. Bail was set at $100,000 cash or $1 million surety for the accessory charge and $5,000 cash for misleading police. But he was out on bail on an open drug case at the time of his arrest and the judge revoked his bond in that case, so he is expected to remain in jail until his next hearing scheduled for Feb. 13. During that hearing, Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom and Andrades lawyer Neil N. Colicchio asked for measures to be taken to protect Andrade, who may be a target for retaliation. The court file was also sealed to the public until April 10. Everyone has concerns about the safety of my client, even the district attorney, Colicchio said about Andrade. I understand it involves the La Familia gang. Video and phone records show Andrade had personal and phone contact with Marrero and Rivera inside and outside the Almonte Market 2 at 129 Sargeant St. sometime before the shooting. The records show Andrade was in the store with Marrero when he received a call from Rivera and he then gave the phone to Marrero. Andrade was also recorded outside the store having a conversation with Rivera, Sandstrom said. Everyone has concerns about the safety of my client, even the district attorney, Colicchio said about Andrade. I understand it involves the La Familia gang. The arrests are the first made following an about 48-hour period of gun violence that left men dead and two others injured in shootings. Although most of the shootings were in close proximity to the others, they are not believed to be related, Albert said. We are working hard. It is five days of intensive investigations, said Albert adding that state police detectives from Gullunis office are working with Holyoke Police detectives on all four crimes. The spree of violence started Thursday night when a 22-year-old man was shot in the leg and injured at about 6:45 p.m., at the intersection of Main and Sargeant streets. The man, whose name has not been released, was driven to Baystate Medical Center by private car and is recovering, Albert said. On Saturday police responded to a call of shots fired at about 5:20 p.m. and found a 17-year-old had been shot in the leg on Gerard Way. The teenager, whose name has not been released, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield by ambulance and is recovering. Less than two hours later Racquese Wright, 21, of Springfield, was shot to death at about 7 p.m. near the intersection of Sargeant and Maple streets. Police patrolling the area heard gunshots and responded to find Wright suffering multiple gunshots. They administered first aid and he was taken to Holyoke Medical Center where he died, said James Leydon, spokesman for Gulluni. In reaction to the four shootings, Febo announced on Monday the Holyoke Police Narcotics Unit stepped up patrols with the assistance of the FBIs Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force which has agents from multiple law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and federal Homeland Security Agency. Almost immediately after the patrols began, law enforcement agents stopped a 27-year-old man driving erratically and found he was carrying an unlawful 9mm handgun that was fully loaded. He was arrested on multiple firearms charges and driving without a license. My hope is for increased federal judicial support for our community as we continue to improve the quality of life, having invested heavily in partnering with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to make Holyoke a safer place, Febo said. Green party leader Eamon Ryan (centre), deputy leader Catherine Martin (left) and candidate Pippa Hackett during the Green Partys General Election campaign launch at the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) The Green Party have said there is no room for complacency as they set out their campaign for the General Election. Pundits expect the party to make gains across the country as the Green wave continues to spread across Europe and on the back of their impressive performance in the European elections, in which they gained two MEPs. The Greens are fielding candidates in every constituency but have ruled out running more than one in any, despite some outside encouragement to do so. On John Paul Phelans remark that some of the Greens are nutters, Eamon Ryan said it says more about the person who issued the comment than them, and an outdated way of thinking as climate is the major issue of our time. pic.twitter.com/NwmvaexFEv aoife moore. (@aoifegracemoore) January 15, 2020 Party leader Eamon Ryan said they would be embarking on a positive campaign and the partys message on the doors would be: If you want Green, you have to vote Green. He also rejected the notion rural and farming communities would be reluctant to vote for his party. I dont think it starts with the politics of division, saying well its only young versus old or rural versus urban or left versus right, he said. If were to really do it, well do it together on a politics of being willing to work and talk to others, and thats where we come from. We always have but particularly now its relevant because of all the analysis from the people Ive worked over the years regarding the climate. If you go to Australia look at whats happened to Australian politics on this issue, its a disaster. We dont want to adopt that type in Ireland, we want to do it our way. He added: This nonsense that Irish farming communities and the Greens are at odds with each other, were not, weve common cause in paying farmers properly for looking after our land. This country can be good when we make a collective strategic decision were going a certain direction, we achieve it. Expand Close Greens leader Eamon Ryan (right) and candidate Joe OBrien reveal the partys election slogan (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Greens leader Eamon Ryan (right) and candidate Joe OBrien reveal the partys election slogan (Brian Lawless/PA) The party have been open about forming a Government with other parties and refused to be drawn on any red lines they would set down before entering a coalition. Concerns have been flagged by some voters that the partys green policies would be watered down in any such arrangement with one of the two major parties. Its the underlying principles that are the key, Mr Ryan said about entering government. Firstly, that Ireland is going to go green, were going to go for this, were going to show leadership, going to show ambition. Secondly, that its socially just, as well as ecologically sustainable. He added: I think were better working with other parties and working with the Irish public to say lets work out the best way of doing this for us as a people and learn by doing and be willing to change, and that approach is whats going to work best rather than us saying this is the only way, this is the only red line. Theres loads and loads of red lines but its the underlying principles that are key for where Ireland is going in the next 10 years. We deliver a different economy one that is less dependent on markets for everything, which has social justice in its vision of where the economy is going. Recognise that business has a central role but business which recognises each has a responsibility to society and to the environment. It won't be easy because we're changing everythingEamon Ryan on the choices Ireland will have to make The party also acknowledged there will be hard and unpopular choices that will have to be made in Ireland to tackle the climate emergency and hit environmental targets. It wont be easy because were changing everything, Mr Ryan said. The entire transport system, the entire food system, the entire energy system for the better, itll take a decade at least to even start properly so this election is about the decade ahead, not just the next four or five years. The Irish people are ready to do it, whats happened in the last year has changed everything. Mr Ryan said the millions of euros spent on motorways including the 200 million euro major road from Castlebar to Westport, which he dubbed the Michael Ring Road after the Minister for Rural and Community Development would be better spent on improved public transport systems. The party will be using election posters in this campaign but Mr Ryan said they try to reduce and recycle when they can. Mr Ryan added his posters almost look like my first communion photo at this stage as they have been reused so often. Realty firm Eros Group said it will invest Rs 250 crore to develop a new luxury housing project in Faridabad, Haryana. The company, which is also into the hospitality sector, will develop 76 units in the 2.7-acre project called 'Edenwood Towers', Eros Group said in a statement. The project cost will be met from internal accruals and advance payments from customers, it added. "We will invest around Rs 250 crore over the next 2-3 years on the development of this project," said Avneesh Sood, director, Eros Group. The project will be delivered in September 2023. Sood said the company will also invest an additional Rs 100 crore to develop commercial and clubs in their ongoing housing project Sampoornam I at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. Eros Group has two hotels -- Shangri-La's Eros in central Delhi and Eros Radisson Blu Hotel in Faridabad, Haryana. It also runs Vishal Cineplex in West Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trump wall Reuters/Kevin Lamarque The Trump administration is preparing to divert $7.2 billion from the Pentagon's budget to fund the president's US-Mexico border wall this year, according to a Washington Post report published Monday. The reported figure is five times greater than $1.4 billion Congress allotted for the project in the 2019 and 2020 federal budget. The new plan suggests the administration will increase the amount taken from military construction projects to $3.7 billion. According to the plan, the administration is also preparing to divert $3.5 billion from the military's counter-drug operations, which is $1 billion more than it took in 2019. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The Trump administration is preparing to divert $7.2 billion from the Pentagon's budget to fund the president's US-Mexico border wall this year, according to a Washington Post report published Monday. The reported figure is five times greater than $1.4 billion Congress allotted for the project in the 2019 and 2020 federal budget. The White House initially demanded $5 billion for the construction project in 2018, before it acquiesced to the lower figure from Democrats amid the longest-ever federal government shutdown. If the tentative plan follows through, it would mark the second time that the administration siphoned funds from the Defense Department to pay for the project. The funds will reportedly be used to pay for 885 miles of fencing by 2022, far more than the roughly 100 miles of new barriers on the southern border. Around $3.6 billion was redirected from military construction projects to pay for the border barrier last year, after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. Trump justified the construction of the wall after claiming the country was being flooded "with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs" across the southern border. The new plan suggests the administration will increase the amount taken from military construction projects to $3.7 billion this year. Story continues According to the plans, the administration is also preparing to divert $3.5 billion from the military's counter-drug operations, which is $1 billion more than it took in 2019. The Defense Department referred inquiries on the matter to the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on Monday evening. The report comes days after the White House scored a crucial victory on Thursday. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower-court's injunction that prevented the administration from spending the diverted $3.6 billion to pay for the border project. Read the original article on Business Insider A suo motu case has been registered against 150 unidentified people after Left students' activists "gheraoed" Chief Minister at an anti-CAA rally in Kolkata on January 11, sources said on Wednesday. The case includes non-bailable sections of causing damage, criminal intimidation, as well as assaulting a public servant from discharging duty, said a source at the Hare Street Police station where it was registered on Monday. Banerjee faced protests by Left students for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and allegedly "diluting the fight against the CAA". The top brass of the was tight-lipped about the matter. After meeting Modi, Banerjee had gone to the sit-in demonstration being held by the TMC's students' wing when scores of Left students' activists reached the spot and shouted slogans seeking an explanation from her over the meeting. Banerjee had termed the meeting a "courtesy visit" and said that she raised the issue of financial assistance that the state is yet to receive from the Centre. Modi was on a two-day visit to the city to participate in the 150 years celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust, amid massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide NRC. T he US House of Representatives is set to vote on sending articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, setting the stage for the beginning of the presidents trial. Democrats in the House said they would include new evidence when they send formal charges on Wednesday, seeking to expand the scope of the trial. Phone records and other documents are set to be included when they make their case that the US leader abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden. Mr Trump became only the third U.S. president to be impeached when the House last month approved charges that he abused the powers of his office and obstructed Congress in its investigation into his conduct. Nancy Pelosi has delayed sending the charges in a bid to get Republicans to agree to including new witness testimony / REUTERS The House will vote to send the impeachment charges to the Senate, kicking off a trial that could last through early February. It will also name the House lawmakers who will prosecute the case against Mr Trump. The Senate is expected to acquit Mr Trump, as none of its 53 Republicans have voiced support for ousting him - a step that would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had delayed sending the impeachment charges to the Senate in an unsuccessful effort to get Republicans who control the chamber to agree to include new witness testimony that could be damaging to the Republican president. Republicans mocked Ms Pelosi for the delay, saying it undercut her argument that Congress needed to impeach Trump because he was inviting foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats said the delay allowed new evidence to emerge through government records requests. One of the most contentious issues that has not yet been resolved is whether to have witnesses in the Senate trial. NEW HAVEN Samuel Galberth, killed in a June 2019 shootout with FBI agents in New York, allegedly was the head of a drug trafficking operation run by the Island Brothers street gang as well as a suspect in a city womans death, according to court records. The allegations were recorded in a prosecutors sentencing memorandum for Eric Burruss, who was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after supplying crack cocaine for distribution by the Island Brothers in New Haven. Burruss was one of 25 people arrested last year as part of Operation Fantasy Island, during which New Haven police and federal agents investigated drug trafficking and violence by alleged associates of the gang. According to the Burruss sentencing memorandum, law enforcement officials arranged for several controlled purchases of narcotics, including crack cocaine, from Galberth and his alleged second-in-commandin early 2019. Police then identified two phones used as part of the operation Galberths and a communal number and obtained permission to wiretap them, as well as associated phone numbers. In the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that Galberth and a series of co-conspirators were purchasing heroin and crack cocaine, then selling it in New Haven and Fitchburg, Mass., according to the sentencing memorandum. Galberth also was determined to be the prime suspect in the death of Tamika Jones, a New Haven woman found strangled in Fitchburg, officials said in the court document. Her remains were found in a vehicle that he had used in the past, officials said in the memorandum. Officials do not specifically state in the memo whether Galberth was expected to be charged with Jones slaying, but indicate the shootout that led to his death was connected to an attempt to arrest him. More News Massive New Haven drug bust results in 25 arrests Galberth and Jeffon Suggs disappeared and remained on the run for approximately three weeks, the court document says. Immediately after learning of the homicide, investigators obtained state and federal arrest warrants, as well as cell phone location warrants, which enabled them to track Galberth to a motel in Westchester, New York, officials said. When law enforcement attempted to execute the warrants, Galberth engaged the officers in a shootout, which ended in Galberths death and the wounding of two officers. Galberth had fled to the hotel with Jeffon Suggs, a New Haven woman reported missing in the days after Jones death, officials said in the memorandum. Suggs pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin in federal court in August, according to judicial records. She has not been sentenced. Burruss is the first of the individuals arrested in connection with Operation Fantasy Island to be sentenced, officials said in a release. Defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed that Burruss was responsible for supplying 112 to 196 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine to the drug trafficking effort, according to their respective sentencing memorandums, but was not a member of the Island Brothers. Defense attorneys in their memorandum argued that Burruss should receive a five-year sentence, as his role was limited to being one of many suppliers of crack cocaine to those higher-up in the conspiracy. During the course of the investigation, investigators intercepted some 59 pertinent calls and texts with Burruss over (Galberths phone) and (a second phone) discussing drug trafficking activity. These interceptions coupled with surveillance, fixed video surveillance and other evidence revealed Burruss to be a supplier of crack cocaine to the Galberth DTO or drug trafficking operation, the governments memo says. Burruss admitted his guilt, has begun attending meetings, and would like to continue his career installing wallboard, framing and roofing upon his release, defense attorneys said. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com The Ukrainian side is taking all measures to ensure proper decoding of the flight recorders. The Office of the Prosecutor General and the SBU Security Service of Ukraine have asked the Iranian authorities to hand over the black boxes of flight PS752 shot down over Tehran on January 8. Read alsoZelensky, Trudeau agree on further joint actions regarding PS752 crash "The Office of the Prosecutor General and the SBU Security Service of Ukraine have turned to the competent authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, asking for legal assistance related to the handover to the Ukrainian law enforcers of the flight recorders of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft which was carrying out the Tehran-Kyiv PS752 flight and was shot down by the Iranian military," the Office said on Telegram. The Ukrainian side is taking all measures to ensure proper decoding of the flight recorders and preserve evidence in the investigation into the circumstances of the plane crash. As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday, January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors. On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error." The head of Australia's peak fire management body has questioned the need for a royal commission into this summers devastating bushfires, saying they were adversarial procedures that functioned like a court. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he will take the proposal for a royal commission to his cabinet but there has been a lukewarm response from premiers in fire-affected states. Victoria has already pushed ahead with its own inquiry into the fires with the state government allocating $2.55 million to the review. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he will take the proposal for a royal commission into this summer's bushfires to his cabinet. Credit:Joe Armao Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council chief executive Stuart Ellis said royal commissions tended to be confrontational procedures that may unintentionally apply huge pressure to witnesses. Despite interim pact to be inked this week, many fundamental issues between Washington and Beijing are still unresolved. While the phase one trade deal between the United States and China aims to harmonise the worlds two largest economies, it will not resolve many of their deepest disagreements. And their possible decoupling poses significant political and economic risks for billions of people around the globe. The interim agreement to be signed on Wednesday keeps most of the existing tariffs through 2020, and puts off a possible attempt to narrow the profound gaps in several key areas. Myron Brilliant, an official at the US Chamber of Commerce, said the phase one deal stops the bleeding and represents a sigh of relief from both sides but leaves significant challenges intact. Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said the deal does not address the important areas of concern regarding Chinas rampant mercantilist, unfair trade and economic policy practices. It is essentially a time out from escalation, he told Al Jazeera. Certainty, confidence? Optimists hope that resolution of the central problems in the bilateral trade dispute will become easier down the road. However, trade experts are not so sure there will be a rush of businesses eager to navigate the intricacies of the trade deal. I dont think it builds a lot of certainty and confidence, said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The deal leaves many of the tariffs in place, and because the US government has been using a variety of other tools export controls, investment restrictions, technology restrictions that makes it difficult for companies to know whats permitted, and whats not, in their economic engagement with China, Alden told Al Jazeera. Two big things remain unresolved, said Alden. The biggest is Chinas subsidies of all sorts: the various forms of assistance that the Chinese state provides to industries to give them a competitive advantage. China is trying to subsidise its way into global leadership in critical industries, he added. This deal is silent on that issue. Citing national security risks, the United States has created a vast web of commercial rules against incursions by Chinese tech firms such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters] Alden said the other crucial question dependent on the specific language about intellectual property in the accord is whether China can effectively force foreign companies to share their technologies, as the price of entry into the Chinese market. He added that even a future phase two agreement likely would not address the core differences in structure between the US and Chinese economies. As the phase one agreements finalisation was announced last month, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that it does cover one of the main US concerns: enforcement. Yet doubts linger about whether the enforceability mechanism essentially the threat of additional tariffs is robust enough. Decoupling or detente? The deal hinges on the cancellation of 15 percent US tariffs that had been scheduled to take effect December 15 on $160bn in exports from China. However, the US will retain tariffs on $370bn in imports from China. The US has import taxes of 25 percent on $250bn in Chinese goods and tariffs of 7.5 percent on another $120bn of goods. Meanwhile, China has levied tariffs on $120bn in exports from the US. Eventual tariff relief in a subsequent deal could, in theory, see all of these nixed. But perhaps even more importantly, Beijings subsidies for government-owned firms and technology-transfer policies are next on the top of the US agenda. Experts also worry that China could face trouble trying to sustain the promised increase in agricultural imports from the US largely soya beans and pork as part of the phase one arrangement. Reuters reported on Tuesday that China committed to buying almost $80bn of additional manufactured goods mostly cars and aircraft as well as $50bn in energy supplies and $35bn in services over two years. The details of the 86-page pact, initially reached on December 13, were not released prior to the ceremony in Washington with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He. Because US-China interdependence runs so deep across trade, technology and finance, the countries realistically could not pull away from each other for many years even if they wanted to do so [File: Reuters] The modest deal is seen as a first step in ending the 18-month spat between the trade heavyweights. Even so, trade and investment flows continue to slow. At heart, both China and the US look to minimise the others influence and prevent economic or military sabotage. For the countries to forge new high-tech hardware supply chains would take massive investment, further disrupting the system of alliances that undergirds US geopolitical might and that buttresses Chinas export-centric economic model. A disengagement that forces dozens of countries to choose either one power or the other could have a tremendously destabilising effect. The cost of waging a trade war The bilateral price already paid is not cheap, with US farmers having lost billions in agricultural income, companies ailing from absorbing the cost of tariffs and consumers bearing the brunt of price increases. And while the mini-agreement does not completely smooth over those financial headaches, it reduces global-trade unpredictability at a time when no truce at all could have left markets teetering on the brink of major disruption. The trade war has few winners. But at the same time, incumbent US President Donald Trump can declare tactical victory in an election year, and China is able to buy time before making any drastic decisions one way or the other towards decoupling. Beyond the tariff-removal accomplishments, this victory rings hollow for both sides, said Weijian Shan, an economist based in Hong Kong. The deal from December does not mark a major breakthrough, nor does it come close to fixing the most contentious issues that separate the two countries, he told Al Jazeera. Shan added that both nations must seriously consider options for real compromise. China argues that the US with protectionist policies is simply trying to stifle its number-one trade rival [Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP] The US side has presented a few Chinese pledges as concessions to US complaints about Beijings trade practices, said Shan. But most of the announced measures are existing policies. China had initiated some reforms to currency-exchange policies, foreign ownership limits and intellectual property rules before the trade war started. But it could speed up change in its state-owned sector. The US strives to protect its values: the rule of law, open markets and free speech. Yet the conflict is over economic dominance for the industries of the future: artificial intelligence, robotics, biotech innovation and other sensitive scientific areas. Part of what sweetened the deal this week was Trumps decision to lift the designation of China as a currency manipulator. Yet doubts remain over a trade deficit that widens when cheap exports from China stay so attractive for Americans because of the strong US dollar. Meanwhile, the US simply has not managed to recreate the 3.7 million manufacturing jobs lost since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The US must decide what it wants: access to the Chinese market with better prices for its consumers or the containment of Chinas rise at all costs, said Shan. Washington simply cannot have it both ways. Eventually, the three enlist in the White Company, a cadre of bowmen and men-at-arms now led by the gallant Sir Nigel Loring. No Prince Valiant in looks, the 46-year-old Loring is short, stooped, bald and half blind from an eye injury. He nonetheless resolutely seeks occasions of hand-to-hand combat to advance himself in honor and worthy renown. After becoming the great knights squire, Alleyne goes off to war to earn his masters respect and the hand of his romantic, headstrong daughter, Maude. Obviously Alleyne will succeed at both, but which of the novels other characters will survive? Theres a lot of violent death in these pages, despite frequent slapstick humor. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's claim that the Centre had offered him safe passage to India in exchange for his support on the abrogation of Article 370. Bhopal/Indore: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's claim that the Centre had offered him safe passage to India in exchange for his support on the abrogation of Article 370. However, senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya hit back at Singh, accusing of him unnecessarily polluting the country's atmosphere by spreading rumours about Naik's claim. Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, has been wanted in India for money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches. He had left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency. The controversial preacher had recently made a claim that a representative of the Modi government had approached him in Malaysia in September last year, and offered him safe passage to India in return for his support for the Centre's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status. Tweeting a video of Naik's claim, Singh on Wednesday said, "The prime minister and the home minister should officially deny Dr Zakir Naik's allegations or else it will mean that "anti-national" Dr Zakir Naik's accusation was right." Talking to reporters in Indore hours later, Singh said, "Through a video, Naik has issued a statement saying that Modi and Amit Shah had sent an emissary to him in September 2019, who told him (Naik) that if he supports the government on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, cases against him would be scrapped and he will be able to return to India." "If Zakir Naik, who has been dubbed as anti-national by Modi and Shah, has given such a statement, then they should deny it," he said. "My question is why the prime minister and home minister have not refuted Naik's charge so far," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said. Speaking in Indore on Wednesday afternoon, BJP national general secretary Vijayvargiya said, "I am a member of the Modi-Shah team, but I do not have any knowledge about it (Naik' claim). Digvijay Singh is unnecessarily polluting country's atmosphere by by spreading rumours." However, hours before criticising Singh, Vijayvargiya met him during a road inspection visit in Indore, where the two leaders hugged each other and also indulged in banter. Members of the parliamentary standing committee on urban development, led by its chairman Jagdambika Pal, carried out the inspection of a road in Palasia area of Indore in the morning. Singh, who is one of the committee members, was also present during the exercise when Vijayvargiya came there and met the Congress leader and others. According to eyewitnesses, during their brief meeting, Singh and Vijayvargiya hugged each other and also indulged in a light-hearted banter. The pictures of the bonhomie between the two leaders went viral on social media. When asked about their meeting later, Vijayvargiya told reporters that it was just a courtesy meeting. "This is the specialty of Madhya Pradesh that despite the ideological differences between the leaders of rival parties, their personal relations remain very good. This Hubble Space Telescope photograph features spiral galaxy UGC 2885 (Rubin's galaxy), located 232 million light-years away in the northern constellation Perseus. The brightest star in this picture belongs to the Milky Way and is located much closer to Earth than UGC 2885. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)) Two cosmic love birds lit the way to the discovery of dark matter, and a new Hubble image features a behemoth galaxy that played a part in the groundbreaking finding. In 1968, astronomer Vera Rubin used an observatory in southern Arizona to view the Andromeda galaxy. It's a neighbor of the Milky Way and shares its moniker with the constellation around it. This collection of bright celestial points is named for the Ethiopian princess of Greek mythology, who loved the hero Perseus. Andromeda's beau also lends his name to a constellation, and rightfully so: The two constellations shine next to each other. The Andromeda galaxy and another behemoth galaxy located 232 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus helped Rubin cement the idea that invisible dark matter existed and was slowing down their rotation rates. Related: Messier's List: Hubble Telescope's Stunning Views of Deep-Sky Objects The arms and core of the Andromeda Galaxy glow among a sea of multicolored stars in this deep-space photo captured from the Cumeada Observatory at the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. (Image credit: Miguel Claro The galaxy within the Perseus constellation is featured in a new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy is known officially as UGC 2885 but is nicknamed Rubin's galaxy for the trailblazing astronomer, NASA officials said in an image description. The affectionate name for this massive spiral galaxy comes from Benne Holwerda, a researcher at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, who observed it with the Hubble Space Telescope. Holwerda recently investigated the source of the galaxy's enormous size and wanted to honor the person who studied Rubin's galaxy prior to his research. "My research was in large part inspired by Vera Rubin's work in 1980 on the size of this galaxy," Holwerda said in the photo description. "We consider this a commemorative image. This goal to cite Dr. Rubin in our observation was very much part of our original Hubble proposal." Dark matter is the invisible material that gave itself away when Rubin figured out something was exerting a gravitational influence on the galaxies' rotation rates. Hubble researchers called Rubin's galaxy a "gentle giant," according to the image description. It's 2.5 times wider than the Milky Way and has about 10 times as many stars as our home galaxy. It has about 1 trillion stars, Hubble officials wrote. It might be the largest known galaxy in the local universe. But the galaxy is a quiet place, slowly siphoning in the hydrogen floating between galaxies to make new stars. Rubin's galaxy doesn't appear to have gobbled up any neighboring galaxies in order to grow into its massive size. The calm halo around the galaxy and the "sleeping giant" supermassive black hole at the galactic center support the calm-natured claims, Hubble officials wrote. But its easygoing lifestyle also means Rubin's galaxy develops new stars at half the rate of the Milky Way, they added. Holwerda presented his new research about the galaxy's massive size at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu on Jan. 7. "How it got so big is something we don't quite know yet," Holwerda said in the Hubble statement. "It's as big as you can make a disk galaxy without hitting anything else in space." Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. A grocer was killed after a one-ton piece of metal was flung nearly two miles by an explosion at a Spanish chemical plant and landed on him. Sergio Millian, 59, died in Tarragona, 50 miles south of Barcelona, after the ceiling of his flat collapsed on top of him. Investigators believe the collapse was caused when a piece of metal from the reactor chamber at a nearby chemical plant flew through the window of the apartment above his. The weight of the metal then caused the ceiling to collapse, crushing him. Sergio Millian, 59, died in his flat in Tarragona, south of Barcelona, on Tuesday night when a piece of metal from a nearby chemical plant explosion flew through his upstairs neighbour's window and crushed him A one-ton chunk of reactor is thought to have flown two miles from the site of the blast before crushing Mr Millian to death Investigators believe a one-ton piece of metal found in Mr Millian's flat came from the reactor of the chemical plant, where the explosion originated Another piece of metal is seen laying in a field close to the factory after the explosion Mr Millian's death brings the total from yesterday's blast to two, after another casualty was reported at the flat itself. Eight people were hurt, including two who suffered serious burns and have been admitted to Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. Investigators believe the explosion occurred in a reactor producing ethylene oxide, which is used in products including detergents. It was initially thought that the force of the explosion had caused structural damage to Mr Millian's flat, prompting the collapse. But Tarragona mayor Pau Ricoma told Spanish media that experts have concluded the 'most likely' scenario is that he was crushed by the flying metal. He lived with his wife just under two miles from the plant in an area on the outskirts of Tarragona called Torreforta. Flames and smoke rise into the sky after a fire, most likely as result of a chemical accident, breaks out at factory in Tarragona province of northeast Spain After the explosion, which broke just after 6.40pm today local residents were told to stay inside their homes and the train service near the plant has been suspended The Tarragona mayor's explanation of the tragedy coincided with the claims made by firefighter chief Albert Ventosa. He confirmed initial inquiries pointed to the dead man being hit by a metal plate thrown clear of the explosion. The Spanish government sub-delegation in Tarragona also confirmed that a body found inside the IQOXE plant was that of a missing worker. A spokesman said in a tweet: 'Our worst fears have been confirmed. 'The missing person has been found dead. We deeply regret this loss of life and would like to transmit our condolences to the family and friends.' Around 300,000 people living in the area were initially urged to remain inside their homes after the 6.40pm blast yesterday/on Tuesday. Plumes of smoke were seen rising into the air following the chemical explosion at the industrial hub in northeastern Spain Large clouds of smoke rise into the the sky following a chemical explosion in Tarragona, Spain, at 6.40pm on January 14 The alert was lifted after firefighters confirmed the plume of smoke caused by the blasts and resulting fire was not toxic. The fire was brought under control overnight. Catalan president Quim Torra said on Tuesday night: 'I would like to send my condolences to the family of the person who died as a result of this accident. 'We would also like to send a message of tranquility to the population because no toxic agent has been detected in the air.' Tarragona Town Hall has announced two days of mourning. A friend of Sergio's said in a Facebook tribute: 'Today is a sad day, knowing that neighbour and friend Sergio Millan will no longer walk his dog through the streets of our neighbourhood. Rest in peace.' Leftwing US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders assailed frontrunner Joe Biden over his Iraq war vote as commander-in-chief credibility during spiking global tensions took centrestage on Tuesday at the latest Democratic debate. With Washington's conflict with Iran as the backdrop, the six candidates sought to make their best case against President Donald Trump, and tangled over who has the best judgment on foreign policy. Non-interventionist Senator Sanders drew a sharp contrast, saying that while he opposed an Iraq war that was "based on lies", former vice president Biden trumpeted the effort. "I thought they were lying," Sanders said of the Bush administration's justifications for it in 2002. "I didn't believe them for a moment. Joe saw it differently." Biden said he acknowledged years ago that it was a "mistake to go to war", but he largely declined to clash with Sanders over Iraq. Instead, he called for leaving special forces and some troops in the Middle East to patrol the Gulf, pushing back against Sanders's and Senator Elizabeth Warren's call to bring all American forces home. "I think we need to get our combat troops out," said Warren, who is battling Sanders for the right to wave the progressive flag in the 2020 Democratic race. With no clear frontrunner emerging yet in Iowa, the candidates took the stage with everything to play for just 20 days before Iowans cast the first ballots of the nomination battle. But the fireworks expected in the run up to the debate largely failed to materialize in the debate's first third. While Biden, the 77-year-old establishment candidate, is leading national polling, he and Sanders are in a dead heat in Iowa, followed closely by former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Warren. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and billionaire California activist Tom Steyer round out the field for the nationally televised debate in Iowa's capital Des Moines. Ahead of the Iowa vote, each candidate will be scrambling for a breakout moment that could translate into the first tangible victory in a tight contest. After avoiding open confrontation so far, the two leading liberals, Sanders and Warren, engaged in open sniping on Monday which carried over to the debate stage. CNN reported that Sanders told Warren in a private meeting in late 2018, as they both contemplated presidential runs, that he did not believe a woman could defeat Trump. The 78-year-old Sanders called the report "ludicrous", but Warren then released a statement saying that was indeed what Sanders told her. Sanders at the debate doubled down: "I didn't say it." Warren said she "disagreed." "Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head-on." Fortified by his showing in recent polls despite suffering a heart attack last November, Sanders has launched an offensive against Biden. On Tuesday Sanders released a blistering three-minute video attacking Biden for his Iraq vote, support for "disastrous" trade agreements, and calls from years ago to cut Social Security. "I just don't think that Biden's record is going to bring forth the energy that we need to defeat Trump," Sanders tweeted. The president meanwhile sought to thrust himself into the spotlight, hosting a campaign rally in neighboring Wisconsin, a key swing state, as Democrats took the stage. Trump accused Sanders of being "a nasty guy," and mocked Biden for occasional memory issues. "They haven't been doing great on the debates, I have to tell you," Trump told the faithful at his rally. The debate risks being overshadowed by a historic political drama: Trump's looming impeachment trial in the US Senate, which, if it begins next week, would force four presidential candidates to stay in Washington serving as jurors in the proceedings instead of winning over undecided Iowa voters. Polling is tight in Iowa, with Biden at 20.7 per cent support and Sanders, Buttigieg and Warren all less than five percentage points back, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls. Klobuchar, credited with a crisp performance in the previous debate, was well behind, at seven per cent. Steyer is at 2.7 per cent. But the race remains extremely fluid, with a recent Des Moines Register poll saying six in 10 likely caucus voters could still be persuaded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Malaysia's Mahathir Mulls Risks, Rewards of Postponed Power Transfer By Zsombor Peter January 14, 2020 Malaysia's government looks increasingly likely to miss a promised mid-2020 leadership transfer from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to coalition partner Anwar Ibrahim, raising fears of a succession scuffle that could split an already fragile alliance and cost it the next election. The former mentor and protege fell out in the late 1990s but joined forces again to hand the country's long-ruling and corruption-mired Barisan Nasional coalition a surprise national election defeat in May 2018 by promising to clean up government, lower living costs and bolster minority rights. Heading into the polls, Mahathir, now the world's oldest serving prime minister at 94, also vowed to step down to make way for Anwar after two years "at the most." However, Mahathir, enjoying his second spell as prime minister, after a 22-year run that ended in 2003, has dithered. In an interview with Reuters last month, he reaffirmed his vow to anoint Anwar his successor. Only days later, at the Doha Forum in Qatar, an annual high-level policy gathering, he would not commit to Anwar as heir apparent and said he would consider stepping down only after Malaysia finished hosting the next summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in November. Anwar has thus far faced Mahathir's equivocations with equanimity, insisting that his ally-turned-rival-turned-ally would make good on their deal in due time. However, prolonged doubts about when or even if that will happen could still split their coalition Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope said Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia Project at Australia's Lowy Institute. "There obviously is a risk that this very fragile coalition fractures because of a lack of clarity about the transition and the strength of these different personalities competing to secure the leadership, that they end up attacking each other and undermining their credibility and potentially damaging their prospects at the next election or even undermining their ability to even form a coalition at the next election," he told VOA. The latest pact between these grandees of Malaysian politics was bound to make for an awkward alliance. Anwar had looked poised to succeed Mahathir while serving as his finance minister through most of the 1990s. But by the end of the decade their differences on how to tackle the fallout from the Asian Financial Crisis morphed into a bitter power struggle. Anwar was removed from office in 1998 and soon arrested and convicted on a dubious sodomy charge, spending the next six years in jail, some of that time in solitary confinement. 'No normal relationship of trust' They put their differences aside to challenge a common enemy in Barisan in 2018 but "it's clear they still don't have a normal relationship of trust," Bland said. He added that many in the coalition remain to be convinced that Anwar wields the political capital to lead Pakatan to a second victory. Some analysts say Mahathir also fears turning into a lame duck once a date for his departure is set in stone. "As soon as he [says], OK, I'm handing over to Anwar on Tuesday the 15th of November, or whatever it is, then power ebbs away from him from that day onwards," Bland said, "but so long as the transition question is unresolved ... he's still really the focus, and he clearly is still enjoying that limelight and being in that position of ultimate authority." Having witnessed Mahathir waiver on his handover some also wonder whether the APEC summit is more an excuse to extend his latest run as prime minister, and whether more may follow. 'Cementing legacy' Others say the summit would make a fitting swan song for a man who has always cared deeply about his standing on the world stage. "I think he would like to cement his legacy before he leaves," Adib Zalkapli, the Malaysia-based director of Bower Group Asia a consulting firm, said. "Which is why," Zalkapli said, "I think APEC is important for him. I mean that is one way for him to cement his foreign policy legacy. He's going to be the only leader to chair APEC twice, so I think that's symbolically a very big win for him." As much as Mahathir and his allies may still mistrust Anwar, Zalkapli believes they have accepted that a handover must come and that his successor will need at least two years to cement his own position as prime minister before the next election, due by mid-2023. Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist and professor at Malaysia's Sunway University, said Mahathir was savvy enough to see that serving the full term would all but guarantee Pakatan's split and the parties' defeat to their arch-rival the United Malays National Organization party (UMNO), a heavyweight of the toppled Barisan coalition. Pakatan has already slipped precipitously in popularity polls since its 2018 win and lost a string of local elections to a resurgent UMNO and new ally the Malaysian Islamic Party. A drawn-out dustup for succession within Pakatan "would be deadly for everyone in the fight," said Wong. "And it would be bad for Mahathir as well, because he would want to show that he actually laid the groundwork for a new Malaysia, however you define it. But if his government is defined by an abrupt end, whether voluntary or involuntary, [and forced] into a fresh election and then replaced by all those people he vowed to kick out, it's clearly a failure of Mahathir as well. So I think for Mahathir and Anwar, and even for Azmin, they have some interest to work together." Azmin is Economic Affairs Minister Mohamad Azmin Ali, Anwar's deputy president in the PKR, Pakatan's largest party, and rumored rival to replace Mahathir. With shades of Anwar's past break with Mahathir, Anwar and Azmin's own relationship was tested last year by leaked video purporting to show Azmin having sex with another man, a crime in Malaysia. Azmin denied the allegation while Anwar rejected his deputy's claims that party insiders were behind the scandal. Police recently said they would not be filing any charges in the case because none of the men in the video could be identified. Wong's best guess is that Mahathir is genuine when he says he wants to see Anwar replace him. But the longer Anwar struggles to assert control of his own party, and to convince doubters around Mahathir that he is ready to lead, the harder that gets. "If Anwar is not strong, it makes the case for Mahathir to stay a bit longer," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The education sector is expecting the government to increase funding for the progress of the sector in Budget 2020. The funds is expected to be utilised to provide higher grants for research, 'Study in India' and teacher-training programmes among others. In this special Future Wise podcast ahead of Budget 2020, Moneycontrol's Keerthana Tiwari chats with M Saraswathy to find out the expectations that the education sector has from the Finance Ministry in Budget 2020, scheduled to held on February 1. Karl Stefanovic described the National Disability Insurance Scheme as a disgrace after learning more than 1,200 vulnerable people have died waiting for services. New data revealed 1,279 people died on waiting lists between July 2016 to September 2019, including 65 children. Of those 65, 35 were under six years old. 'Late last year the minister in charge, Stuart Robert, said waiting times categorically weren't a problem. If 65 children dying - if those figures are to be believed - isn't a problem, then you need help minister,' Stefanovic said on Wednesday morning. In a statement from Mr Robert's office, he insisted wait times for access to services was a government priority. He said: '[The government] is focusing on improving access decision times for the NDIS' and said as of December 31, wait times are on average about four days long. But Stefanovic insisted those facts 'aren't right for a lot of people across this country. 'Those figures are a national disgrace.' The most recent statistics indicate some people, particularly disabled people in South Australia, have waited upwards of 200 days for their supports to be approved and accessible. People with disabilities have died while waiting months to receive items they were funded for under the NDIS, like new beds or wheelchairs to support their needs (stock image) The national average wait time is currently 121 days for children under six and 152 days for people aged seven and above. Whereas in South Australia, children under six were left in the lurch for 214 days waiting for their services, and older people waited about 249 days, according to The Advertiser. Pictured: Stuart Robert, the Department of Social Services Minister and man appointed to making sure the NDIS runs smoothly There are more than 310,000 people with disabilities accessing the NDIS nationwide. The scheme is designed to give people living with disabilities more control over their funding to put their money toward tailored wants and needs. But it has been heavily criticised in the past for 'struggling to meet the needs' of many of its clientele. With more than four million people in Australia living with a disability, the privatisation of the disability sector has led some to argue complex clients could slip through the cracks. Intellectual Disability Association of South Australia chair David Holst previously said a lack of resources could be contributing to tragic outcomes. In 2019, he told ABC he knew of 'Some 30 or 40,000 plan requests under review under NDIA and those reviews can take anywhere from nine to 12 months under the new system.' 'When you're talking about life-changing or life-threatening issues around NDIS, nine or 12 months to vary a plan is absurd. 'The system is struggling, the NDIS needs a lot of work on it.' Karl Stefanovic described the National Disability Insurance Scheme as a disgrace after learning more than 1,200 vulnerable people have died waiting for services Photo: Levi Guzman/Unsplash From global warming forum to a live concert, there's plenty to enjoy in Kansas City this week. Read on for a rundown of ideas for how to fill your calendar. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Science Matters Forum: Reversing Global Warming From the event description: Bob Grove, President of the Climate Council of Greater Kansas City, will introduce the latest research on global warming and examine solutions that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and remove excess carbon from the atmosphere through sequestration. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 12-1 p.m. Where: Central Library - Kansas City Public Library, Helzberg Auditorium, 14th West 10th Street Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Earn your Missouri Teaching Certification Online Information Event From the event description: Interested in becoming a teacher? Meet with an American Board Representative to learn how you can become a certified teacher in Missouri without debt or downtime. The information session is free and open to the public. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 6-7 p.m. Where: Kansas City Public Library, Waldo Branch, Meeting Room A, 201 E. 75th St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Advocacy 101: Making a Difference in Cancer Research From the event description: Living with cancer can sometimes make someone feel helpless, but telling your story can make a big impact. Come learn about how to share your experience to advocate for cancer research. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 6-7:30 p.m. Where: Gilda's Club Kansas City, 21 43rd St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets The Hillbenders with Lily B Moonflower From the event description: Hillbenders are one of the most energetic and engaging progressive acoustic bands on the scene and they continue to wow audiences. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 8 p.m. Where: Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester Ave. Admission: $15 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Another woman was parked on Loomis for at least two hours, watching officers with her window rolled down. The 28-year-old, who declined to be identified, said she found out about the shooting while checking Twitter and stopped by out of what she said was both curiosity and concern. Tan Son Nhat International Airport would be expanded to be able to receive 50 million passengers per year. (Photo: vietnambiz.vn) In a document recently sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Dung asked the ministry to clarify capital sources for the construction of the Tan Son Nhat Airports T3 Terminal. He stressed that the government would not provide capital for the terminals construction. In addition, Dung urged the ministry to verify the legality of the project to submit it to the Prime Minister for approval. Previously, the Ministry of Planning and Investment asked Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) be the projects investor. Under the ministrys initial proposal, the T3 Terminal would be designed with a capacity of receiving 20 million passengers per year, would cover 16.05 hectares and have estimated total capital of 10.99 trillion VND (474 million USD), 440 billion VND lower than the ACVs proposal. The ACV would still need to calculate the capital sum for the project carefully to ensure investment efficiency, the ministry said. The ministry also said the goal of completing the project within 37 months was not feasible. The ministry said that as the Tan Son Nhat International Airport was severely overloaded, it was necessary to build the T3 Terminal to bring the total capacity of the airport to 50 million passengers per year. The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) has called for a focus on policy adaptation on national disasters to protect small business owners throughout the next decade. The next decade must be about policy adaptation on key national issues, said Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA, following the devastating impact of the bushfires and drought on small businesses since the end of 2019. Small business owners in rural and regional Australia experienced prolonged drought that heavily reduced sales, local economic output and household incomes. Businesses affected by bushfires along the NSW South Coast, reported revenue falls of up to 60 per cent over the Christmas and New Year period compared with the same time last year. Westpac has further estimated that the bushfire crisis will cost Australia $5 billion in direct losses and cut 0.2 to 0.5 per cent from its economic growth. The small business sector has called on the Morrison government to push ahead with a plan to reduce the risks from disasters such as bushfires. The National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework was published in 2018, following a summit of more than 100 participants that included representatives from all levels of government, business and the community sector. It was developed on the basis that natural hazards are more frequent and intense with long term, complex impacts that leave people and assets vulnerable. The framework estimates an annual economic cost from disasters of at least $39 billion by 2050, a figure that does not include the effects of a changing climate. But 18 months on from the initial framework, an implementation plan has not been published. We have a plan to adapt to climate change lets use it, chief executive of COSBOA, Peter Strong said. The Framework is under a review period from 2019 to 2023, with a 2030 goal for implementation. We need the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework implemented now, he said. COSBOA is currently working with the Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management, David Littleproud, on immediate and long-term responses to the crisis. They call for a better eligibility criterion for assistance to those affected by national disasters, a centralised information service that those affected can consult and greater financial support. They have further called for continual assistance to those affected post-disaster and a dedicated small business disaster support service. You can read more about how the bushfires have affected businesses here. Follow our socials for more business-related updates: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. iHeartMedia has laid off veteran radio staffers across the country as part of a company-wide reorganization. Billboard noted the bloodbath resulted in pink slips for dozens of veteran program directors and DJs in top markets nationwide. Among those reportedly impacted were Jackson Burnes, an executive producer at Classic Rock 100.7 WZLX in Boston; Deb Lawler, the morning anchor at WBZ; and Marylee Kelly, production director at Classic Rock Cool 102 WCIB in Cape Cod, according to Radio Insight and FYBush Media. Calls to iHeart Media officials in the Springfield market and corporate offices have not been returned. The company owns 18 stations in Massachusetts. There are 10 iHeart stations in Boston -- Kiss 108, Jamn 94.5, Evolution 101.7, Rumba 1430, Talk 1200, 101.7 The Bull, 100.7 WZLX, New 97.7, WBZ 1030 and WRKO 68 -- three on Cape Cod -- WXTK, 106 WCOD and Cool 102 -- and two in Worcester -- 96.1 SRS and WTAG News Radio 580/94.9. In Springfield, there are Mix 93.1, Kix 100.9 and WHYN NewsRadio 560. The changeup will likely mean more national, and less local, programming on the airwaves. In a statement announcing the reorganization, iHeart Media said it was modernizing the company to take advantage of the significant investments it has made in technology and artificial intelligence. iHeart is the rare example of a major traditional media company that has made the successful transformation into a 21st century media company one with unparalleled scale, reaching 91% of Americans each month with our broadcast assets alone, more than any other media company, said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. We are now using our considerable investments in technology to modernize our operations and infrastructure, further setting us apart from traditional media companies; improving our services to our consumers and advertising partners; and enhancing the work environment for our employees. In 2018, the company declared bankruptcy in hopes of eliminating $10 million in debt. The slogan: Ideal for covering up holiday excesses isnt exactly a description to excite the imagination. But from where Im standing or, rather, lounging, mince pie still in hand its got an awful lot going for it. Sensible Samantha Cameron knows as much. In shots for her new Cefinn collection, she models a loose-fitting prairie dress, using the above slogan to emphasise its forgiving nature. Oscar-nominated Little Women stoked our love for Western-frontier fashion further. But forget sepia-tinged nostalgia, perhaps Sam Cam has finally hit on the real reason for the appeal of the prairie dress: modern versions often have a pleasingly loose, waist-skimming cut. Jess Wood shared advice for embracing this season's trend for prairie dresses, pictured: Dress, 65, y-a-s.com; Boots, 49.99, zara.com; All jewellery orelia.co.uk Dress, 44, selected. com; Boots, 60, hm.com In fact, when it comes to dresses, the waist has rather fallen out of favour in recent seasons. London designer Molly Goddard (most famous for that pink frou-frou number worn in TV drama Killing Eve) has made a name for herself with tiered, empire-line dresses that fall away from the body. Never mind mince pies, you could hide a whole table under one of her frothy creations. Meanwhile, French designer Isabel Marant includes bohemian high-necked dresses in practically every one of her collections, and a host of new brands, such as Batsheva, have built businesses on the appeal of the folkloric frock. Dress, 46, riverisland. com; Boots, 59.99, zara.com The Samantha Cameron dress, 260, cefinn.com; Boots, 49.99, zara.com The Seventies mood filtering through fashion is also inspiring some flattering designs. My own fall-back when Im feeling a little, ahem, conscious of my midriff is a black, high-necked By Timo number with cream frills. It fits snugly across the shoulders and over the bust, before flaring out politely over my middle. Take note: if no element of the dress is fitted, sack of spuds will be the unfortunate overall effect. Styles with plenty going on up top are fabulous for drawing attention away from a holiday tummy. Ive got my eye on the denim Selected dress with ruffled neckline plenty of room to hide that last box of leftover chocolates . . . Dress, 40, Neon Rose at asos.com; Shoes, 59, kurtgeiger.com Dress, 199, whistles.com; Boots, 49.99, zara.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:58:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close COLOMBO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan experts have said that more work needs to be done to raise awareness about the tangible benefits from the "game-changing" Chinese investment like that in Colombo Port City. At a recent meeting between Sri Lankan experts and representatives of China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), the parent company of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), Sri Lankan experts commended the company's contributions to Sri Lanka's development while calling upon both Sri Lanka and China to counter irresponsible remarks made by global actors. Dinusha Panditharatne, former executive director of a foreign policy think-tank Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, noted that a social responsibility report recently published by Port City Colombo is important in countering the irresponsibility remarks made by global actors. These irresponsible remarks have been driven primarily by global actors and competitors who find it difficult to accept the rise of China, Pandithratne said. She said that local think-tanks and researchers would have to work to address these misconceptions and promote how exceptional Chinese investments can be. "When Colombo Port City is completed, it may have schools, museums, art galleries and sporting facilities. These will enrich the social and cultural life of Sri Lanka," she said. Luxman Siriwardena, the executive director of the think-tank Pathfinder Foundation, noted that successful completion of the Port City project would be a game-changer for the Sri Lankan economy and a boon to the future generations. The Port City will have a tremendous transformational impact on macro economy, and it is necessary to promote this project in detail to the youth, including school leavers and university students, Siriwardena said Samitha Hettige, an expert on the Belt and Road Initiative's impacts on Sri Lanka, said that historic ties between China and Sri Lanka should be revisited and studied. Colombo Port City is a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Once completed, it will be a world class city in South Asia. The first phase of the project was completed last year. Kristian Smith, 41, allegedly murdered 52-year-old Antoinette Donnegan (pictured) at a flat in Wandsworth, southwest London A lodger who lived with the rotting corpse of his landlady for more than a month told his girlfriend he was 'going down to the fires with old Lucifer' following the alleged murder, a court has heard. Kristian Smith, 42, strangled Antoinette Donnegan, 52, then stole her jewellery and money before making a series of 'rambling' confessions to his girlfriend and a support worker, jurors at the Old Bailey were told. Ms Donnegan was last seen on 1 February last year, but her body was not found at her home in Battersea, southwest London, until more than a month later. Smith made a series of 'rambling' confessions to his girlfriend and a support worker in the weeks before the victim was found, it was said. He messaged girlfriend Caroline French he was 'going down to the fires with old Lucifer' and had 'done something really bad,' the prosecution said. Reading the texts, prosecutor Louis Mably QC said: 'I've got a few weeks left. Don't wanna go down to the fires with old Lucifer without you sending me off.' The prosecutor went on: 'Something has prompted him to send this somewhat rambling, somewhat desperate text. 'He then said [to Mr Diafli] he was going to the Caribbean and wanted some methadone to take with him. 'He told Mr Diafli he had done something really bad and needed to leave the country, and he also said he felt like he was going to hurt someone. 'He had said something similar to Mr Diafli a couple of weeks before, on 30 January. Two days before Antoinette was last seen alive. He said to Mr Diafli he needed to surrender himself to police.' After his arrest Smith claimed Ms Donnegan had turned violent after a drugs binge and tried to stab him with a syringe. He said he hit Ms Donnegan with a mug in self-defence but claimed she was still alive when he fled from the flat. The mug was found smashed to pieces next to the body amid blood-spattered furniture and a pile of clothes shoved under the bedroom door outside to block the foul stench. The prosecutor went on: 'He said Antoinette Donnegan was a drug addict and would come violent and aggressive, that she had been taking drugs and had started to call him names and tried to stab him with a needle. 'He said he fought back and picked up a coffee cup and hit her once over the head and managed to leave the flat leaving her alive and well still shouting at him. 'Later he returned and found her dead on the floor and he said everything that resulted was out of panic. 'That's his account. Obviously it doesn't explain injuries to two sides of the head and the presence of broken ribs.' Mr Mably said it was difficult to know precisely how Ms Donnegan had died due to the state of decomposition. The prosecutor said: 'The body [was] lying face down, almost in a foetal position. 'A detailed post mortem examination was carried out on the body to try and identify the cause of death and the extent of her injuries. 'This was an exceptionally challenging task, because the fact was that the body had suffered significant decomposition. 'Indeed, it was so difficult, that the doctors have not been able to identify the precise cause of death. 'A jumper was looped around her neck and the skin was very, very tight to the jumper. The obvious signs of strangulation would not be present [because of decomposition]. 'Police found a smashed coffee cup and the injuries to her scalp were consistent with having been smashed over the head with a weapon of that kind. 'The medical evidence suggests she was beaten up severely which led her to collapse and die. 'It must have been the defendant who did this. He was her lodger, he concealed what he had done, he stole her money and he took her telephone and her jewellery.' Smith, of no fixed address, has admitted fraud and preventing a lawful burial but denies murder. The trial continues. Hilarious video shows a cartoon-loving dog desperately trying to protect the television remote so her owner cannot change the channel. Sidney, a six year-old Australian Shepherd from Florida, was sitting down to enjoy the Disney Channel on Monday when her owner came in the living room. Eager to stop the channel being changed from Mickey Mouse, video shows the pooch rush over to the remote and grab it with its mouth. Sidney, a six year-old Australian Shepherd from Florida, enjoys lounging on the sofa and watching the Disney channel In video filmed by her owner, Sidney then moves back to the sofa and settles down with the remote control nestled between her paws. Her owner said: 'This morning, while she was watching Mickey Mouse, I told her that I was going to turn it off and she took the remote and hid it so I couldn't change the channel. I let her watch it.' Sidney appears to be captivated by the show, and Mickey Mouse is a real favourite. 'She loves to play and in her downtime she loves watching TV,' her owner said. 'She usually watches the Disney Channel and some of her favorite shows are Mickey Mouse, Jessie, Austin and Ally. 'Sidney loved the Good Dinosaur. She has seen all of the Descendants movies and loved them all.' Author Timothy Lee is a Consultant with Pinnacle Advisory Group, a premier, national hotel consulting firm. In his current role, he specializes in conducting feasibility analyses and impact studies. Prior to joining Pinnacle Advisory Group, Timothy worked as a Market Manager for Expedia Group, Timothy is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and is a member of the New England Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society. Timothy is based in Pinnacles Boston office. Pinnacles knowledge and experience with OTAs is one way that it provides value to its asset management clients and those seeking improved performance through operational reviews. For more information on how Pinnacle might be able to assist you, please contact Tim Lee, or Rachel Roginsky, ISHC - Principal at 617-722-9916. www.pinnacle-advisory.com Putin proposes to extend State Duma powers in terms of naming Cabinet of Ministers RIA Novosti, Vladimir Astapkovich 15:15 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday proposed to extend the powers of the State Duma when it comes to the naming of government. He suggested that the amendments should be added to the Russian Constitution. In particular, Putin proposed to authorize the lower house of parliament to approve the appointment of a Prime Minister, his deputies and federal ministers. A head of the state will be obliged to appoint the approved candidates. This would increase the role and significance of both the parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers and improve their cooperation, according to the President. However, Putin stated that Russia must remain a powerful presidential republic with its head having the right to dismiss a Chair of the Government and ministers. Putin also proposed to authorize the Federation Council to push judges of the Supreme and the Constitutional Courts aside in certain cases on a submission from the President. Moreover, according to the proposed amendments, appointment of heads of all power departments by the President will be possible only after consultations with the upper house of parliament. Home Search ICH Iranian Flight Crash Facts Not Adding Up By Russell Bentley January 14, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - There remain a lot of unanswered questions and implausible explanations in the story of the Ukrainian airliner shot down near Tehran on January 8th, 2020. And while the Iranians have publicly and officially taken responsibility, there may be other reasons for them taking responsibility besides their actually having done it. I can think of several, and I will propose a few. But one thing I am certain of, with good reason the accident story is bullshit, no matter who is telling it, and no matter why. They may have a good reason for telling it, but its a lie. There may be a good reason for telling it, but theres no good reason for believing it, at all. The first thing to understand about the SA-15 system is that it DOES have an IFF interrogator built into its radar system. The interrogator sends out a pulse that detects and interprets the IFF civilian airliner transponder signal automatically, every few seconds. Boeing 737 aircraft are equipped with two IFF transponders, which are set and activated prior to take off. Planes can be allowed to take off with only one operational transponder, and it is possible that the single transponder can fail or a pilot (and co-pilot, and even ATC) can forget to make sure its on before take off. My friend, a professional airline pilot, explains that if the plane is preparing for take off and the ATC does not see the transponder on his radar screen, he will remind the pilot, who will turn it on before take off. My friend has also told me that it does happen that the pilot, co-pilot and ATC can and sometimes do all forget and/or fail to notice the transponder is not on before take off. So, it could be possible for a plane to take off without an IFF transponder operating. On a flight across several international borders, into combat skies, where the IFF would be THE most important single safety system on the plane on this flight. Even flight PS-752. Yes, it would be possible that they all overlooked it, except for one thing we KNOW that they did not. That the flight was recorded on FLIGHTRADAR24.COM, proves that the transponder was on and working. The transponder was on and working, and the SA-15 radar, would have seen the unique flight info code for the regularly scheduled civilian flight on the radar screen, as would all ADA radars and all other civilian and military radars within range. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter . even if there was no IFF signal, (though, again, we KNOW there was) just from the radar blip on the screen, the operator gets the above info, location, bearing, speed and size, stating the object is going 180 degrees away from Aria military airbase, 90 degrees away from Tehran, (PS-752 did not turn right until after the first missile hit) going about half the speed of a Tomahawk cruise missile (275 knots vs Even without an IFF transponder response, the SA-15/TOR M-1 radar provides the following data location, bearing, speed and size (amplitude). That means,just from the radar blip on the screen, the operator gets the above info, location, bearing, speed and size, stating the object is going 180 degrees away from Aria military airbase, 90 degrees away from Tehran, (PS-752 did not turn right until after the first missile hit) going about half the speed of a Tomahawk cruise missile (275 knots vs 480 knots ) and the amplitude of its return radar signal is exactly that of the profile of a Boeing 737, many times bigger and different from that of a cruise missile or enemy military aircraft of any kind. . Besides the integrated IFF interrogator, and the K-band Doppler radar, the SA-15 has another detection/ID/targeting system an automatic all weather day/night NV/IR Electro Optical Targeting System (EOTS) used for target engagement and fire control, with a range of 20 Km. The 9M330 series of rockets have a max range of 15 Km, so if they could hit it, they could see it. And what they see on an EOTS screen is something EXACTLY like this . Actually, this is all you need to see, in order to know that the accidental launch story is a lie.If the IFF interrogator didnt work, the radar return profile would have told 100% it was a 737 and nothing else. If the radar didnt work, the EOTS with a single glance, would have shown a 737 and not a cruise missile or F-35. . And if all the above did not work, it would not be possible to launch not one but two missiles, from the SA-15/TOR M-1 system and hit the plane. . It is standard operating procedure for 737 pilots to use the runway turn off, taxi, logo and landing lights during take off, and to leave them on until they are above 10,000 feet. So, PS-752 had 15 different lights, steady and strobe, some very high power, and all illuminated when it was hit at 8,000 feet. It could have been identified by the naked eye as a civilian plane, even from a dozen Km away. Even with the naked eye, from 12 Km, any competent person could tell PS-752 was a civilian flight, or at least, showing civilian running lights There are 7 lights illuminated at all times on the 737 when it is in flight, including 2 red and green navigation lights, 2 white strobe lights on the wingtips, and 2 orange anti-collision lights on the top and bottom of the fuselage. In addition, two white runway turn off lights, facing forward at 45 degrees from the nose of the plane, a white taxi light under the nose, and four forward facing wing mounted extremely bright and high powered landing lights. There are also 2 logo lights that illuminate the airlines logo on both sides of the vertical tail. NOTE So, PS-752 had 15 different lights, steady and strobe, some very high power, and all illuminated when it was hit at 8,000 feet. It could have been identified by the naked eye as a civilian plane, even from a dozen Km away. So, what am I saying here? I am saying this exactly whatever happened, and whoever is responsible, and for whatever reason, the accident story is a lie. And whoever tells it, whoever they may be, is lying. For whatever reason. And you know, I know, from long years of experience, that the most common reason you lie, or I lie, or anybody else lies, is because either we have done something wrong, or we are trying to trick somebody. Not always, but almost always. What other reason could there be? What could the righteous reasons be for telling a lie to your nation, and to the world? There may well be some. Or not. . ( Essence of Time ) comrade of mine. It was not what I wanted to hear or even contemplate, but it is possible, so must be considered before it can be dismissed. Consider this Iranian elites may have made a deal to submit to U.S. pressure and hegemony, and betray Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and above all, their own country. However Shaheed Soleimani and the IRGC would have never agreed to this. Thus the murder of Qasim, and the attack on the reputation and the honor of the IRGC, by framing them for incompetence. Is this the deal? I dont know. Man, I hope not. But we will see. I recently read a theory from a wise We will see. . On the other hand, it may be that US/NATO/MOSSAD/ISIS/UKROPS shot down the plane in a false flag op to further inflame world opinion against Iran. Expecting Iran to deny their involvement, a powerful, emotional and ongoing good guy/bad guy drama could be created and exploited. By Irans acceptance of responsibility, it shuts off the propaganda narrative before it gets started. Whether they actually did it or not, by taking responsibility, it becomes moot and the subject is closed. A smart move. . This is a classic example of gaslighting. How can you tell the truth if everybodys lying? That almost 200 people were mass murdered is a huge crime and a tragedy, but the attack on reality, and peoples ability to discern it, is far worse. The downing of PS-752 belongs in the same file as the JFK hit, Operation Northwoods, Gulf of Tonkin, October Surprise, Iran Contra, Kuwaiti incubators, Serb aggression, 9/11, Iraq WMDs, Libyan R2P, Maidan, Russian annexation of Crimea and occupation of Donbass. In other words, complete bullshit. We know it happened. Will we ever really know who did it and why? I doubt it. But we know it was no accident. . And it is possible for us to know what will happen next. Pay no attention to what they say. It is clear that everyone is lying. Just watch and see what they do. We have seen the death of Shaheed Quaseem Soleimani, we know thats real, and I felt it, and feel it, as much as I do the death of Alexander Zakharchenko. The Iraqi PMUs who lost Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis, the SAA and all Shia, and all good people around the world have yet to have their say about the murders of Brothers Mahdi and Quaseem and their companions. But Im sure they will, and when they do, I believe they will speak the truth. By their actions. As we all do, every day. Our actions speak the truth, regardless of what our words say. This article was originally published by "Fort-Russ" - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== How And Why Iran Shot Down Ukrainian Boeing The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. American mixed martial artist Donald Cerrone said that he will give a bloody battle against Irish professional mixed martial arts fighter and boxer Conor McGregor. He said that knocking Conor out would be the perfect ending. "Torn. Bloody. Battered. Know that I can go home to my wife, I wouldn't be a knight in shining armor, I'd be a knight in battle-tested armor, wouldn't I? To me that's a little bit better," ESPN cited Cerrone as saying. UFC 246 with Donald Cerrone vs Conor McGregor will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on January 18. The Congress on Tuesday released a post-mortem report on the AAP governments education model, accusing the dispensation of failing to utilise 46 per cent of the budget for the sector in five years. Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra said it was a matter of grave concern for the residents of the city that 46 per cent of the Delhi governments education budget has remained unspent. No immediate reaction on the report was available from the AAP. Chopra said, When the Congress came to power, the budget for education was Rs 866 crore which was raised to Rs 5,912 crore when the party demitted power. In the last five years, the education budget of the Kejriwal government went up to Rs 26,577 crore but out of this amount, only Rs 12,243.06 crore has been spent, he said at a press conference here. Chopra and former Delhi education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely alleged that the number of students leaving Delhi government schools was high during the AAPs five-year rule. If the Kejriwal governments education model was so good then why over 1,32,000 children left its schools in the last few years, Lovely asked. He also alleged that the number of economically weaker section (EWS) students has gone down in the past five years. Delhi Congress chief spokesperson said the outgoing government failed to fill 500 vacant posts of principals in its schools. Aviationscouts, a company specialising in buying and selling surplus aircraft seats, has formed a strategic alliance with aircraft cabin specialist, AeroChamp Aviation, to grow its presence in the India and the Middle East markets. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> The aviation industry has seen phenomenal growth in this region within the last 15 years commented Thomas Bulirsch, founder and CEO of Aviationscouts GmbH. Our target market is dominated by privately owned airlines and low-cost carriers, many of which are seeking to find ways to reduce capital expenditure while at the same time maintaining the high-quality standards of their aircraft cabin. With a large ready-to-ship inventory and all the services of a one-stop-shop, Aviationscouts brings an advantage to the region through this strategic alliance. With AeroChamps local presence in Mumbai and Dubai and our warehouses in Germany, we are able to provide streamlined logistics to support our customers operations on a global scale. Dr Praveen Srivastava, the founder of AeroChamp Aviation, believes the alliance will be beneficial to airlines in India and the Middle East. Srivastava claims to have sold the highest number of aircraft seats currently flying in the region over the past two decades. This level of expertise is extremely valuable in a region where airlines and operators are relatively young in comparison to the aviation industry in Europe and North America. Our alliance will contribute effectively to the alignment of airline costs with the maximisation of operational efficiency, he stated. The Oscars might have proven on Monday that they're woefully out of touch, but thankfully that doesn't mean the rest of the film industry has to follow suit. The Cannes Film Festival announced today that director Spike Lee will be the president of the jury for the festival's 73rd edition. Succeeding last year's committee president, director Alejandro G. Inarritu, Lee's appointment is a historic occasion for Cannes as he will be the first black filmmaker to head up the festival's selection committee. In a joint statement released by Cannes President Pierre Lescure and Festival Director Thierry Fremaux, the two explained the decision by saying "Spike Lee's perspective is more valuable than ever. Cannes is a natural homeland and a global sounding board for those who (re)awaken minds and question our stances and fixed ideas. Lee's flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up." From his first appearance in the festival with his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, which took home the Prix de la Jeunesse, all the way to his Grand Prix win for BlacKkKlansmen in 2018, Spike Lee and Cannes have shared a long, occasionally tumultuous, relationship. In 1989, Lee infamously came for then jury head Wim Wenders after Do the Right Thing failed to take home the prestigious Palm d'Or prize, saying "Wim Wenders had better watch out cause I'm waiting for his ass. Somewhere deep in my closet I have a Louisville Slugger bat with Wenders' name on it." A statement which Lee would later on describe as "immature" in retrospect while still maintaining that the film was robbed. On other occasions, Lee has used Cannes as a platform to call out Charlton Heston for his support of the NRA, Clint Eastwood for the lack of black soldiers depicted in Letters From Iwo Jima and Donald Trump for failing to disavow the white supremacists in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia protests. However, clearly all of that is water under the bridge now with Lee's new appointment. In his own lengthy statement, Lee said of the announcement, "To me the Cannes Film Festival (besides being the most important film festival in the world - no disrespect to anybody) has had a great impact on my film career. You could easily say Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema." Lee also described his reaction to the news as "shocked, happy, surprised and proud all at the same time." The rest of the jury and official selections are set to be announced some time in mid-April with the 73rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival taking place May 12th through the 23rd. M inisters clashed with an airline boss today who branded the Government rescue of Flybe a blatant misuse of public funds. Willie Walsh, the outspoken boss of British Airways owners, said Flybe owners Virgin and Delta should have kept the airline aloft without help. Virgin/Delta now want the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their mismanagement of the airline, he alleged. This is a blatant misuse of public funds. In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, he complained that BA had been barred from running a service from Heathrow to Newquay because Flybe had been granted special terms. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps / Getty Images A Government source brushed off Mr Walshs attack saying: It is widely known that British Airways has a long-standing rivalry with some of Flybes minority investors. Around 2,000 jobs were safeguarded by the bailout, which includes giving Flybe more time to pay a tax bill and agreeing to a review of Air Passenger Duty, which the industry claims is unfairly high on domestic flights. Officials say there is no special treatment for Flybe because it is normal for the Treasury to be flexible when firms have cash flow problems. Mr Shapps said: The actions we have taken will support and enhance regional connectivity across the UK... Changes implemented as a result of our reviews of air passenger duty and regional connectivity will apply to all airlines. Rob Griggs, of industry group Airlines UK, said Flybe was hugely important for regional connections and as a feeder to Heathrow. (New York, NY - January 15, 2020) - Many liver cancer tumors contain a highly diverse set of cells, a phenomenon known as intra-tumor heterogeneity that can significantly affect the rate at which the cancer grows, Mount Sinai researchers report. The immune system's contribution to this heterogeneity can have major clinical implications. In a study published in January in Nature Communications, the team reported that this heterogeneity--either within the same tumor or between different tumor regions in the same tumor nodule--appears in about 30 percent of patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, and that some of these tumors grow rapidly by hijacking different gene networks. "Tumors are a complex ecosystem, and we're developing for the first time a blueprint of the different ways they can evolve in patients with liver cancer by interacting with the immune system," says Augusto Villanueva, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Liver Cancer Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, and corresponding author of the study. "By better understanding how tumors progress, we're learning more about how they adapt to pharmacological pressures, and how they can develop mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapies. This greater awareness will hopefully lead to the identification of biomarkers that can predict which patients will be responsive to treatment." Among the clinical implications associated with intra-tumor heterogeneity identified by the research team was the discovery that a single liver cancer biopsy could potentially mischaracterize a liver tumor. "Some tumors are very homogeneous in terms of their genetic makeup and immune cell infiltration, while others are very heterogeneous," says Dr. Villanueva. "This means that a biopsy from the same tumor could yield different information depending on where it was taken, and could thus affect clinical decision-making for the patient. That's why our work aimed at learning how tumors evolve and the different trajectories they can take is so important to future cancer research, as well as to effectively treating the disease." As immunotherapy continues to transform cancer research and treatment, one of the most promising areas is liver cancer, which has become the fastest-rising malignancy in the United States in terms of incidence and mortality, responsible for 33,000 new cases annually. Two phase 2 clinical trials using PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, which help the body's immune system recognize and attack cancerous cells, have achieved unprecedented responses in humans, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to grant them accelerated approval status for second-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular cancer. More recently, a phase 3 clinical trial combining a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor with an antiangiogenic improved survival compared to the current first-line standard of care, sorafenib. Still, only about 30 percent of patients with HCC are believed to respond favorably to immune checkpoint inhibition--an outcome not uncommon with immunotherapies. "The immune system imposes significant constraints on liver cancer evolution, and by investigating the interaction of immune cells and cancer cells at the molecular level we're trying to predict or anticipate mechanisms of tumor resistance," explains Bojan Losic, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Cancer Immunology Program, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author of the study. "Our work is particularly relevant considering the remarkable success of immune checkpoint inhibitors in some heterogeneous solid tumors." To understand the mechanisms that drive tumor progression on a patient-by-patient basis, the research team from Mount Sinai and other medical centers around the world performed an integrated molecular analysis of gene expression, immune activities, and DNA mutations from multiple regions of the same tumor nodule in 14 liver cancer patients. The study was the first to use single-cell RNA sequencing in multiple regions of the same tumor nodule, and was among the first to assess the contribution of the immune system to liver cancer evolution. ### The Mount Sinai-led study consisted of researchers from the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in Brazil; the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany; Lausanne University Hospital CHUV in Switzerland; Universitat de Barcelona in Spain; Clinica Universidad de Navarra in Spain; Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and IBM Research. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics in the 2019-2020 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked 23rd nationally for Nephrology and 25th for Diabetes/Endocrinology, and Mount Sinai South Nassau is ranked 35th nationally for Urology. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and Mount Sinai South Nassau are ranked regionally. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Additional reporting Juno McEnroe, Digital Desk and Press Association The Taoisech Leo Varadkar has informed his Cabinet colleagues that General Election 2020 will take place on Saturday February 8. The President dissolved the 32nd Dail this afternoon, meaning the General Election campaign is officially underway. Mr Varadkar arrived at Aras an Uachtarain just before 2pm and signed the request for the dissolution. It was then over to President Michael D Higgins to sign the Proclamation of Dissolution and with a quick handshake and a smile for the cameras it was all over. The date of the election will be Saturday February 8, the Cabinet was told this morning. It has also been reported this morning that a "future to look forward to" will be the Fine Gael slogan for its campaign. This follows on from its previous slogan the party had in the 2016 election campaign, where the incumbent party told voters it wanted to "keep the recovery going". Election posters with Mr Varadkar's face were spotted being erected in his Dublin West constituency before the official commencement of the campaign. A Saturday vote has triggered some debate but initial signs are that the decision is welcomed as it may allow more voters to get to vote. Mr Varadkar cancelled this morning's meeting of Fine Gael ministers and brought Cabinet forward to 9am, fuelling fresh specuation the Dail could be dissolved today, which has since been confirmed. There was a sense among some Fine Gael ministers that Mr Varadkar would not wish to go into the Dail and take several hours of grief from opposition TDs, who can now numerically defeat the Government, even if Fianna Fail TDs abstain. The news of the cancellation of the meeting comes after Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the Taoiseach told him he cannot guarantee all of his own TDs will continue to vote for him. Mr Varadkar reportedly told Mr Martin that he wasnt confident of the vote of Maria Bailey, in the event of a vote of no confidence in Health Minister Simon Harris. The two men are due to meet again this week. The loss of three TDs in recent times had really put the Taoiseach in some difficulty Mr Martin said. He said to us that he wasnt sure of some of his own people, the Fianna Fail leader said. Mr Martin said that in the last four years Fianna Fail had honoured the Confidence and Supply Agreement and that no one can question Fianna Fails bona fides. Were Mr Varadkar not to dissolve the Dail today, there was a strong sense within Fine Gael he would go to Aras an Uachtarain on Thursday, following the State visit of new European Commission President Ursula Von den Leyen on Wednesday, paving the way for an election on Friday February 7 or one week later on St Valentine's Day. Should the election happen on either of those days, it emerged that thousands of voters face being excluded from the vote, as updates to the register only take effect from February 15. Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee Sean Fleming has said he wants the Dail to pass a measure this week to ensure all these voters are on the register in time for an election. Until that date, the register to which the thousands of people have added their names, is only a draft and not operable. Mr Fleming is calling for the Dail to address the matter before it is dissolved this week. This story was updated at 3.06pm. Earlier: Leo Varadkar set to ask President to dissolve the Dail There is growing speculation that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will ask the President to dissolve the Dail as early as today. The move to bring this morning's Cabinet meeting forward from its normal 10.30am start was last night seen as significant. Reports circulated say that Saturday, February 8 is expected to be the election day. Taoiseach expected to seek dissolution of Dail Eireann today and formally begin General Election 2020 #iestaff Daniel McConnell (@McConnellDaniel) January 14, 2020 There has been speculation that the election may take place on either February 7 or 14. However, people who registered to vote last September or October will not be registered to vote until February 15 and therefore will not have a vote if the general election is called for either February 7 or Valentine's Day unless the law around registration is changed, according to Fianna Fails Sean Fleming. There was a sense among some Fine Gael ministers that Mr Varadkar would not wish to go into the Dail and take several hours of grief from opposition TDs, who can now numerically defeat the Government, even if Fianna Fail TDs abstain. This morning, Verona Murphy, who lost in the recent by-election as a Fine Gael candidate, announced her intention to run as an Independent. How is the election date decided? Under Irish law, once the Dail is dissolved and the President has issued a proclamation confirming it, the Clerk of the Dail issues a writ to the returning officer in each constituency directing them to hold an election of the prescribed number of members. A general election must be held within 30 days of the dissolution of the Dail. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government appoints the polling day which must be between the 18th and 25th day (excluding Good Friday, Sundays and public holidays) after the issue of the writ issued by the Clerk of the Dail. The process of crystallization is central to drug development, petrochemical processing and other industrial actions, but scientists say they still are learning about the complex interactions involved in the building and dissolution of crystals. Researchers from the University of Houston and the Universite libre de Bruxelles reported in the journal Nature that they have for the first time demonstrated at the molecular level what happens when two compounds known to inhibit crystal growth - in this case, antimalarial drugs - were combined. The results were unexpected. "You would expect using two drugs that attacked crystallization in two different ways would be synergistic, or at the very least additive," said Jeffrey Rimer, Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UH and a co-author of the paper. "Instead, we found that they can work against each other." Working against each other, known as antagonistic cooperation, meant that the drugs were actually less effective in tandem than individually. Peter Vekilov, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry at UH and another co-author, said the work will allow the design of more effective treatments for malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that killed 435,000 people in 2017, most of them children in Africa. But more broadly, it suggests a new way to screen molecules for their potential in drug development, allowing new treatments to be developed more quickly. "When you are using modifiers, a small change in the molecule's structure can dramatically alter its performance," Rimer said. Malaria is caused by a parasite, which consumes hemoglobin and leaves behind a compound known as hematin, which the parasite sequesters inside a crystal. Antimalarial treatments work by inhibiting the crystal growth, freeing hematin to attack the parasite. For this work, the researchers studied the growth of hematin crystals in the presence of four antimalarial drugs - chloroquine, quinine, mefloquine and amodiaquine - which work in one of two distinct ways. Both computationally and experimentally, including through the use of atomic force microscopy, the researchers demonstrated how compounds which attack crystallization by two different mechanisms behave when combined. The resulting molecular-level understanding of that behavior suggests a new mechanism for materials science, Vekilov said. "This mechanism may provide guidance in the search for suitable inhibitor combinations to control crystallization of pathological, biomimetic, and synthetic materials," the researchers wrote. "In a broader context, our results highlight modifier interactions mediated by the dynamics and structures on the crystal interface as a prime element of the regulation of the shapes and patterns of crystalline structures in nature and industry." ### In addition to Vekilov and Rimer, researchers involved with the project include UH Ph.D. student Wenchuan Ma and collaborator Dr. James Lutsko of the Universite libre de Bruxelles. Emotional scenes were witnessed at the government-run media centre in the city on Wednesday as a group of Malaysian tourists, currently on a visit to Kashmir, accessed the internet for the first time since reaching here, due to the continued blockade of the services in the valley. Three tourists from Malaysia, out of a group of eight, dropped by at the media facilitation centre, housed at the Government's Information Department Complex here, to seek permission for accessing the internet. They were accompanied to the the media centre by a local tour operator who had heard of the facility. "I came to know about this facility so I brought them here," Geelani Mir, the operator said. He said the tourists were frantically looking for some place to access the internet. "They had been in touch with their families, but they wanted to see their faces. They did not know that the internet was not working in the valley," he said. After the tourists accessed the internet on their phones, they turned emotional as they saw the faces of their family members, including kids, for the first time since they reached the valley on January 11. "We have never been without internet in our lives. This is the first time that we have been without the facility. It has been a very difficult period for us," Ida, one of the tourists, said. Another tourist, Yousinda, thanked the journalists and the department for providing them access to the internet. "Our phones did not work here, but we contacted our families through the phone provided by the tour operator. However, we wanted to see them and that is why we came here and we are satisfied now thanks to the people who let us in," she said. The tourists were supposed to return on Wednesday, but bad weather forced cancellation of all flights. "We are stuck here as flights were cancelled. So, we wanted to tell our parents that we were here for few more days until we confirm our tickets once again and do not be worried about us," Ryna, their fellow traveller, said. Internet services have remained suspended in the Kashmir valley since August 5. The government-run Media Facilitation Centre is the sole facility for accessing the internet for the mediapersons in the valley. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farmer Jack Imperial woke to a picture of devastation after ash spewed from a volcano in the Philippines - his verdant green pineapple field had been transformed to a dirty dark grey. Mr Imperial said his chances of salvaging produce from his 1-hectare (2.5-acre) farm were small and, in any case, there was no one to sell them to with tourists avoiding the Tagaytay area on the archipelago's biggest island Luzon, 32 km (20 miles) from the Taal volcano. We just have to accept that we will incur a loss, said Mr Imperial, 49, who had never seen such a sight in 17 years of farming. Even if we are able to harvest some pineapples, if customers are scared to come because of the eruption, the pineapples would just end up rotting. The impact of the volcano on the $330bn (253bn) national economy has been a blip, despite cancelled flights and a day of work lost because of a heavy ashfall in the capital Manila, 70 km (45 miles) away, on Sunday. But for some of the farmers growing pineapples, bananas and coffee nearby it has been a disaster. 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 Brushing ash from a fruit, Mr Imperial said he feared that the hot ash had harmed his crop and made it inedible. He used to sell his pineapples, in slices, chunks and juice, at a small stall frequented by tourists beside his house. But the tourists have disappeared and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from a danger zone around the volcano named Taal. The alert level for the volcano stood at four on a five-point scale on Wednesday, indicating that an explosive eruption remained imminent. Recommended Tens of thousands flee Taal volcano danger zone as ash cloaks towns The volcanic ashfall has caused an estimated 578 million pesos ($11m or 8.5m) worth of damage to crops so far, according to agriculture authorities. Taal has erupted more than 30 times in the past five centuries, with the deadliest eruption killing more than 1,300 people in 1911. A 1754 eruption lasted for months. The last eruption was in 1977. The Philippines lies on the Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean that is also prone to earthquakes. Associated Press A lawyer who represented Bill Cosby in his sex assault case has been suspended indefinitely amid claims she misappropriated funds, as her former clients detail how she would demand upfront payment but then would cash the money and deposit the funds into personal accounts, according to legal papers obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. Monique Pressley became well-known for her appearances as a legal contributor across news networks where she launched a vigorous defense for Cosby when she represented him before quitting his legal team in 2016. Since then, the self-described Democratic strategist has frequently appeared as a legal analyst on Fox News. But in August, DailyMail.com can reveal that Pressley was suspended from practicing law in Washington D.C. 'based on disability' a month after an investigation from a disciplinary counsel said it had presented 'clear and convicting evidence' of her misconduct and recommended that she be disbarred. It is unclear if the order of suspension based on disability came as a result of the committee findings. Three former clients of Pressley's had accused her of taking retainers and quickly depleting the funds on personal expenditures without doing any significant work, then would ask for even more money. Instead of keeping the money in an escrow account as she was supposed to, Pressley is accused of cashing the checks, having money directly deposited into her husband's overdrawn business account and even driving a client to a bank to pay her in cash. And a $15,000 payment that did wind up into an escrow account was wiped from the account within a matter of days because Pressley either transferred the money elsewhere or took cash withdraws from it, legal papers state. Monique Pressley was suspended from practicing law in Washington D.C. in August, DailyMail.com can reveal. Three former clients of Pressley's accused her of taking retainers and quickly depleting the funds on personal expenditures without doing any significant work Pressley became well-known for her appearances as a legal contributor across news networks, where she launched a vigorous defense for Cosby when she represented him before quitting his legal team in 2016 Pressley declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com. In the hearing committee's report, Pressley was accused of showing 'a consistent disregard for the disciplinary process.' Despite being served with a 'specification of charges' in July of 2018 and again in October 2018, Pressley never filed 'an answer to charges brought against her despite being given several opportunities to do so.' She also never showed up to hearings. The report states: 'She engaged in a pattern of dilatory tactics at every step of the process.' First complaint: Pressley made fellow church member feel 'victimized' after taking $8k and having her husband work the case - despite him not being a lawyer The first complaint against Pressley came from Edwin and Paula Amaker, a couple Pressley and her husband Carlton knew from church where they both served as elder members. 'The Amakers knew the Pressleys as ''trusted'' members of the church community,' the papers state. 'They are not just regular church people. These are elders. These are people you go to when you got problems.' After her dealings with Pressley and her husband, Paula said she was 'blindsided' and felt 'victimized twice, by two people I utterly, utterly trusted.' In September 2013, Paula hired Pressley to represent her in a claim against her former business partner, agreeing to an advanced payment of $5,000 and an hourly rate of $425, legal papers state. Pressley told Paula she would put the $5,000 into an escrow account and withdraw the funds as she earned them. However, according to documents, Pressley did not have a trust account at this time. The day after receiving the $5,000 check, Pressley cashed it. After working on the matter for the next two months, Pressley told Paula in November the case would likely go to trial, and offered her the option to pay a flat fee of $3,000 to finish out the case, instead of working at an hourly rate. The papers state: '[Pressley] told Mrs. Amaker to make sure the funds were available in her bank account, so that [Pressley] could withdraw the money quickly and move forward with the case.' Pressley was suspended 'based on disability' a month after an investigation from a disciplinary counsel said it had presented 'clear and convicting evidence' of her misconduct and concluded that she should be disbarred According to Paula, Pressley told her: 'When you get the check [from your friend], cash it. Put cash in your account. So that the check that I gave her, she could cash immediately.' Pressley immediately cashed the check. Then in October 2014, more than a year after hiring Pressley, Paula felt 'more and more upset and desperate because she was not seeing any results or evidence of work being done,' legal papers state. Expressing her frustration to her husband, Edwin Amaker spoke to Pressley's husband Carlton about the matter. Carlton told the Amakers he would handle the case 'because Pressley was busy with other matters.' However, Carlton was not an attorney and didn't clarify that he wasn't to the Amakers, according to documents. Legal papers state: 'For almost two years, between October 2014 and September 2016, [Pressley] did not have any communication with Paula. 'After he ''took over'' the case, Mr. Pressley continued to lead Mrs. Amaker to believe that her case was progressing.' Things finally came to a head in October 2016, when the Amakers sat down with Pressley to discuss the drawn out case. Pressley told them if they wanted to proceed, they would need 'to pay several thousand dollars for additional expenses.' Paula filed a complaint against Pressley and asked her for a refund, which as of April 2019 has not received, according to legal papers. The first complaint against Pressley came from Edwin and Paula Amaker, a couple Pressley and her husband Carlton knew from church where they both served as elder members. 'The Amakers knew the Pressleys as ''trusted'' members of the church community,' legal papers state. Pictured: Pressley with her husband and two of her children In October 2014, more than a year after hiring Pressley, Paula felt 'upset and desperate because she was not seeing any results or evidence of work being done.' Expressing her frustration to her husband, Edwin Amaker spoke to Pressley's husband Carlton about the matter. Carlton (pictured) told the Amakers he would handle the case 'because Pressley was busy.' However, Carlton was not an attorney and didn't clarify that he wasn't to the Amakers Second complaint: Pressley drove client to the bank to have him pay her $2,400 in cash In February 2015, Pressley agreed to represent Billy Greer in his gender and age discrimination lawsuit, and 'estimated she would need eight hours to handle the first stage of the lawsuit, including filing an amended complaint,' legal papers state. According to documents, she charged Greer 'a rate of $350 per hour and asked that he pay $2,400 in advance to litigate the case through the motion to dismiss.' Initially, Greer tried to pay Pressley with a cashier's check but 'she insisted that he pay in cash' and then 'drove around the corner to a nearby bank,' making Greer go inside to cash the check. He then returned to her car and gave her $2,400. Pressley then deposited the funds into an overdrawn business account belonging to her husband, restoring the balance to $2,054.74, according to documents. But within two weeks, the account had plummeted down to $121, as the funds were spent on 'gas, food, cash withdrawals, and other day-to-day expenses', the papers continue. At that point, court papers state, Pressley 'had done no work on the case other than meeting with Mr. Greer and attending the five-minute status conference.' By April, Pressley claimed the $2,400 payment had been 'exhausted' and she would need an additional $7,500 flat fee to carry out the remainder of the case, otherwise she would quit representing Greer, according to legal papers. Feeling his 'back [was] against the wall', Greer reluctantly paid up, depositing the funds in three installments into Pressley's husband's business account, without Pressley telling Greer the account actually belonged to her husband, papers state. In August, when the court dismissed Greer's case, he learned that Pressley had fallen short in her representation, which led the court to its decision to dismiss his suit, according to the documents. Ultimately, 'Mr. Greer never got the chance to pursue his discrimination case against his employer because Respondent simply failed to follow the judge's direction ''telling her what she needed to do''.' In the hearing committee's report, Pressley was accused of showing 'a consistent disregard for the disciplinary process.' Pictured: Pressley (center) with Candace Owens appearing on Fox News star Laura Ingraham's show in July Third complaint: Pressley spent client's $15,000 from their son's suspicious death case in a matter of days Randal and Tara Landers hired Pressley in March 2017 to investigate the circumstances of their son's suspicious death and communicate their concerns to the U.S. Navy. They agreed to pay her $15,000 in advanced fees and set Pressley's hourly rate at $625, according to legal papers. After signing the papers, they wired the $15,000 payment into Pressley's escrow account, which had an overdrawn balance of $407.00, documents state. With the Landers' deposit, the account's balance was brought to $14,588.01 but less than a week later, Pressley had taken out nearly all of the funds by transfer or cash withdrawal. Within two weeks, the account had a negative ending balance of $549.99, according to legal papers. By June, just three months later, Pressley texted Randal asking to discuss his budget moving forward with the case. Randal grew concerned that Pressley had spent his $15,000 already without completing any of the tasks they had agreed upon in their meetings. He emailed her back: 'I got the impression you are saying the $15K retainer has been consumed or largely consumed by document review/limited legal analysis based upon the info presented, a phone call and the generation of a strategy update memo?' Instead of keeping the money in an escrow account, Pressley is accused of cashing checks and having money deposited into her husband's overdrawn business account. A former client also claimed she drove him to a bank so he could pay her $2,400 in cash. Pictured: Pressley with former President Trump aide Omarosa Manigault But Pressley said the money 'hasn't been consumed' and was set aside as an 'insurance policy for settling the account'. She added: 'If you do not anticipate being able to financially support completion of these objectives, please let me know. 'We feel confident we can accomplish the goals as agreed upon, but I get the impression the reality of legal expenses may not have been fully considered. 'If we have to revise or terminate the representation, I do understand, I just need to know where we stand as soon as possible so that we will not incur any more billable time on the matter.' Randal asked for Pressley to hand over an invoice of the hours she had worked, but when she didn't provide any documents, he terminated their relationship. He asked Pressley to ereturn the remainder of the $15,000 retainer because she only 'acknowledged 10 hours of work for June' and 'given how little she had accomplished on his case.' Randal ended up getting no refund from Pressley, according to legal papers. He said he 'felt that he got played', the papers state, adding: 'He received nothing of value for the $15,000, which he paid using part of his son's death benefit.' President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday attended the "At Home" Reception at Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane's residence on the occasion of Army Day. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a tweet said, "Attended the 'At Home' reception hosted by the Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Mukund Naravane on the occasion of Army Day." Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes to the Indian Army on the occasion of Army Day 2020 and said that our Army has risen to the occasion and has done everything possible to help people in need. Taking to Twitter, Modi shared a video posted by Chinar Corps of Indian Army, featuring Army persons and civilians carrying an expecting mother, Shamima on a stretcher through heavy snow. "Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible. Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child," Modi tweeted. President Ram Nath Kovind too extended greetings to veterans and their families on Army Day. "On Army Day, greetings to the valiant men and women of the Indian Army, to veterans and to their families. You are our nation's pride, the sentinels of our liberty. Your immense sacrifice has secured our sovereignty, brought glory to our nation and protected our people. Jai Hind!," he tweeted in the morning. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat along with Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh paid tributes at the War Memorial. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Regional airline Flybe was rescued on Tuesday after the British government promised to review taxation of the industry and shareholders pledged more money to prevent its collapse. The agreement comes a day after the emergence of reports suggesting it needed to raise new funds to survive through its quieter winter months. After crunch talks with shareholders, Britain's finance ministry said that it would review both air passenger duty (APD) and Britain's regional connectivity as part of the plan. "I welcome Flybe's confirmation that they will continue to operate as normal, safeguarding jobs in the UK and ensuring flights continue to serve communities across the whole of the UK," finance minister Sajid Javid said in a statement. "The reviews we are announcing today ... will ensure that regional connections not only continue but flourish in the years to come." Flights operated as normal on Tuesday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said earlier that Flybe was important for Britain's transport links and that the government would do what it could to help the carrier. Flybe said it was delighted with how the discussions had gone. "This is a positive outcome for the UK and will allow us to focus on delivering for our customers and planning for the future," Chief Executive Mark Anderson said. Under the agreement, the Flybe shareholders agreed to put in tens of millions of pounds to keep the airline running. Flybe, which has 68 aircraft and about 2,000 staff, was bought last year by Connect Airways, a consortium created by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and investment adviser Cyrus Capital. Lucien Farrell, Chairman of Connect Airways, said that it was "very encouraged" by the government's planned reviews and desire to strengthen regional connectivity. "As a result, the shareholder consortium has committed to keep Flybe flying with additional funding alongside government initiatives," he said in a statement. Last September travel company Thomas Cook entered liquidation after it failed to agree a rescue plan in last-ditch talks with its lenders and the government. Following the address, the Democratic leaders of the Indiana House and Senate said the governor's "wait until next year" approach is an insufficient response to the 15,000 teachers who rallied at the Statehouse in November. "I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the big surprise, which I thought for sure was going to be that he found a way to give teachers a pay increase this year. But no surprise, and they still have to wait," said state Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. State Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, likewise said he was "hoping for something a little bit more" from the governor. "We are here, we still have time to accomplish some things that I think need to be done for the good people of Indiana, and we need to get to work," he said. Even Jennifer McCormick, the Republican state superintendent of public instruction, said while she appreciated Holcomb including "the teacher compensation crisis" in his address, she was "disappointed Indiana continues to delay necessary action." A New Zealand startup that wants to eliminate desk phones in favour of mobile set-ups has set its sights on the Australian and US markets after closing a $6.7 million series A raise. Spoke Phone co-founder Jason Kerr said the company was born from the realisation that, while managing a range of businesses across his career, he rarely used a landline phone despite paying handsomely to have one. Spoke Phone founders Jason Kerr and Kieron Lawson are expanding abroad after raising $6.7m. "We'd spend all this money on this stupid thing that I'd never use," he said. Spoke Phone, which Mr Kerr co-founded with Kieron Lawson, offers businesses secure phone services, with built in caller menus and features like conferencing but without the need for any fixed-line desk units. Ven. Wonhaeng, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, speaks during a press conference to convey his New Year's message in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap By Park Ji-won Ven. Wonhaeng, president of Korea's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, pledged to launch inter-Korean cultural projects with North Korea to facilitate peace on the Korean Peninsula. He proposed that North Korea team up with the Buddhist sect to collaborate in cultural projects, including the restoration of cultural assets and forests in the North and the return of North Korean cultural assets that are currently in the possession of the religious group to the temples in the North. "To establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Jogye Order will actively seek a role to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges," Ven. Wonhaeng said during a press conference to mark the beginning of the year 2020 in Seoul, Tuesday, stating the current political situation surrounding the peninsula is going against what the Korean people want. Specifically, he suggested an inter-Korean project to restore Jangan Temple and Yujom Temple in the North, which were damaged during the Korean War, saying he is willing to sit down with the North Korean authorities to discuss ways to hand over North Korean Buddhist cultural assets his faction possesses to the North. He also said the Jogye Order is willing to work closely with the North on forest restoration. Ven. Wonhaeng and other senior ranking Buddhists, reportedly said the Jogye Order has been in talks with the North through behind-the-scenes channels, visiting Singye Temple. The sect is in possession of the North's Chilseongdo, (paintings with seven stars) and Buddhas which belonged to a temple in Pyongyang in the past. The assets were acquired in a 2018 auction held in Japan. The Jogye Order joined hands with the North and was able to restore Singye Temple at Mount Kumgang in North Korea in 2007 which was destroyed during the Korean War. The Buddhist leader's conciliatory remarks came amid icy inter-Korean relations. In recent years, Buddhist temples pushed ahead with seeking cultural exchanges with Pyongyang, suggesting a set of measures, including the establishment of a building to promote inter-Korean templestay programs in Singye Temple with the North. North Korea has not responded to their requests. Marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, Ven. Wonhaeng also said that Buddhists "will push for the holding of a ceremonial event with North and South Korean religious people at Panmunjeom to proceed with the declaration of the end of the Korean War and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula." In addition to inter-Korean projects, the Order is planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its "Bunhwang Temple" in Bodh Gaya, India, in March, the first such facility in the region. Also, it is in official talks with the Pakistan government over a self-mortification statue of Shakyamuni, planning to exhibit it in South Korea for the first time to promote cultural exchanges between South Korea and Pakistan. He also pledged that the Jogye Order will boost its templestay programs so that more foreigners can enjoy Korea's traditional cultural program while saying that it will invite more underprivileged people and families with multicultural backgrounds to participate in the program. Ven. Wonhaeng took the helm in September 2018 amid a feud between the mainstreamers and rebels, mostly grass-roots Buddhists and activists who called for resignations en mass of those who were in the leadership to take responsibility for a rift inside the Jogye Order. His predecessor Seoljeong stepped down amid rumors that he had child (now an adult) with a woman and reportedly was embroiled in corruption. Although he denied the allegations, he resigned in August, less than a year after he was elected leader of the Jogye Order's cutting short his tenure. Wonhaeng won the following election. The new leader of the Jogye Order stressed the need for stability and reconciliation inside the sect. He said he would overhaul the sect and to proceed this, all members need to be unified and reconciled. Wonhaeng said he would work closely with the government to move the memorial hall project forward to commemorate the victims of the military government's brutal crackdown on Buddhists in 1980 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the incident. The then military government hunted down and arrested over 1,800 people from 573 temples before interrogating and torturing them. A retired Dublin council worker has been jailed for six years for the repeated sexual abuse of his granddaughter. The 71-year-old man began abusing the child when she was aged around nine and continued to abuse her regularly for four years. The seriousness of the assaults escalated over that time with the man bringing the child to his bedroom to play cards and board games before molesting her. When the victim tried to get away her grandfather would become aggressive and threaten her to keep quiet or it will be a lot worse. He would forcefully strip her and pin her down while abusing her. During one attack he threw her across the bed and she hit her head on the headboard. After comforting her he turned aggressive and proceeded to sexually assault her. The attacks happened about once a week and Judge Martin Nolan estimated the man molested the child over 150 times. The abuse stopped after the victim's auntie walked into the man's bedroom and found him on top of the child. In a victim impact statement the girl, now aged 18, said she felt fearful of her grandfather. She didn't report it because she was concerned about how it would affect her grandmother. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of sexual assault committed on dates between June 2010 and May 2014. Judge Nolan said there was a huge breach of trust and that a child was entitled to trust her grandfather. He said his grossly reprehensible actions have left the victim greatly traumatised. Judge Nolan said he must be punished and he refused a defence application to suspend part of the sentence. Detective Garda Ronan O'Reilly told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that he began investigating the offending after receiving an official notification from Tusla in 2017. The four counts are sample charges from a total of 48 charges. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 16:30:08|Editor: Wang Yamei Video Player Close CANBERRA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ding Zhongli, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), called for cooperation and mutual understanding at the 28th annual summit of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in the Australian capital. He led a Chinese delegation to attend the forum which ran from Monday to Wednesday. In his speech, Ding noted that in the year 2020 China will achieve its first centenary goal of building a well-off society shared by all. China is willing to work with Asia-Pacific countries to promote peace through mutual understanding and trust, safeguard common security through unity and mutual assistance so as to advance coordinated economic, social and environmental development, and achieve sustained prosperity through mutually beneficial cooperation, he said. "We are opposed to protectionism and unilateralism, and will guide economic globalization toward a more open, inclusive, universally beneficial, balanced and win-win direction," said Ding. Participants had discussions over topics including politics and security, economy and trade, as well as regional cooperation. More than 20 delegations from Asia-Pacific countries attended the forum, where a joint communique was adopted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced seven impeachment managers Wednesday morning in advance of a House vote that will move the articles onto the Senate for a trial of President Trump. Pelosi made official that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff would lead the effort, along with Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler. In the House, Schiff and Nadler's committees handled impeachment, which Pelosi called Wednesday, 'an impeachment that would last forever.' The speaker also named the No. 5 Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, as a manager. Jeffries is a member of the Judiciary Committee. As are Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Val Demings and Sylvia Garcia, named Wednesday by the speaker. She also picked Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The managers will deliver the two articles of impeachment abuse of power and obstruction of Congress to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (center) announced impeachment managers Wednesday morning including House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (left) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (right) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (center) names the following impeachment managers: (from left) Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Sylvia Garcia, Jerry Nadler, Adam Schiff, Val Demings, Zoe Lofgren and Jason Crow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives on Capitol Hill Wednesday, in advance of announcing the House impeachment managers House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arriving on Capitol Hill Wedneseday, will move the two articles of impeachment against President Trump over to the Senate in the coming hours Both Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (left) and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (right) were named as impeachment managers Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is photograhed as she arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. Pelosi announces that seven Democrats would serve as impeachment managers President Trump objected to the Democrats' plea that the Senate include new evidence in the impeachment trial, sending out this tweet minutes after Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment managers House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) put House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (right) in charge When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) was asked about GOP threats to call Hunter Biden to testify during the Senate trial, she had House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (right) answer the question instead Pelosi chose all Democrats to serve as managers. There was a push by some to have her also select Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican-turned-independent who has sided with Democrats and supported Trump's impeachment. McConnell says the Republican-led upper chamber will begin opening arguments in the impeachment hearing Tuesday next week. Members of Congress will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. The House voted, almost entirely along party lines, last month to impeach Donald Trump. Pelosi then held the impeachment articles in the House, breaking with precedent in sending them immediately to the Senate following the vote. The California Democrat said she wanted to prove to the American people in that time that there was a need for witnesses in the Senate trial. She repeated that stance Wednesday morning during the brief press conference. 'On December 18, the House of Representatives impeached the President of the United States. An impeachment that will last forever,' Pelosi began. 'Since December 18 there have been comments about when are we going to send the articles over.' She said she had hoped the Senate would extend the 'courtesy' to tell the House 'what the process would be.' 'Short of that, that time has revealed many things since then,' Pelosi continued. 'Time has been our friend in all of this because as we've yielded incriminating evidence, more truth into the public domain.' President Trump and the White House disputed this. 'Here we go again, another Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats. All of this work was supposed to be done by the House, not the Senate!' Trump tweeted, moments after Pelosi announced the roster of managers. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham also slapped Pelosi in a statement. 'The Speaker lied when she claimed this was urgent and vital to national security because when the articles passed, she held them for an entire month in an egregious effort to garner political support,' Grisham said Wednesday morning. McConnell says there will be a vote after opening arguments to decide if the Senate should call witnesses to testify in the hearing that will decide if the president will be removed from office. The weeks-long trial in the Senate is expected to ultimately end in the president's acquittal. But it will focus attention on Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, as the 2020 presidential campaign begins in earnest. Biden is one of 12 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, and the trial might still be under way when Iowa and New Hampshire hold their first nominating contests in early February. None of the Senate's 53 Republicans have voiced support for ousting Trump, a step that would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member chamber. Though the ultimate outcome is not in doubt, the trial could deliver some moments of drama. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday. His chamber will take over President Trump's impeachment later in the day Democrats are pressing to call Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton as a witness, which could prove damaging to Trump. Other witnesses in the impeachment inquiry said Bolton was a vocal critic of the effort to pressure Ukraine. McConnell, however, has resisted the idea of calling witnesses at all. He claims his chamber should only consider evidence that has already been dug up by the House. But other Republicans and Trump himself have said they would like to call witnesses of their own including Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma from 2014-2019. Asked Wednesday about GOP plans to call Hunter Biden to testify, Pelosi backed away from the podium, letting Nadler address the question instead. 'We are prepared. But the relevant question is relevance is relevance,' Nadler said. 'In any trial, you call witnesses who have information about the allegations, about the charges.' The New York Democrat reminded reporters that the charges involved whether Trump held up $391 million in military aid to Ukraine 'in order to get Ukraine to announce an investigation of a domestic political opponent,' Nadler said. 'Any witness who has information about whether that is true or not true is a relevant witness. Anybody like Hunter Biden who has no information about any of that, is not a relevant witness,' Nadler explained. The night before the House vote, some indication of just how explosive the next few weeks could be came with the House Intelligence Committee releasing a new trove of information from Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born sidekick of Rudy Giuliani who is now indicted on felony charges. In more than 30 pages of messages and image retrieved from one of Parnas' devices, it revealed how Giuliani had written to Ukraine's newly-elected president, Voldomyr Zelensky, saying that with the president's 'consent and knowledge' he was requesting a meeting. It also showed Parnas writing down the apparent details of a 'deal' to secure an investigation of 'Biden'; Parnas pressing Giuliani to get a visa for an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor and the attorney saying he had 'No. 1 on it'; and Parnas and a fanatically pro-Trump Republican congressional candidate exchanging messages calling Marie Yovanovitch, then the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine a 'b***h' and suggesting her movements were being monitored. In one message the would-be Congressman, Robert Hyde, told Parnas he had men watching her and said: 'They are willing to help if we/you would like a price.' Hyde, who has posed repeatedly with the president and given more than $50,000 to pro-Trump campaign groups at the same time as owning child support, said on twitter: 'How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go? I was never in Kiev. For them to take some texts my buddy's and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable. Schiff is a desperate turd playing with this Lev guy.' The Parnas files may be the tip of an iceberg; the House Intelligence Committee has three of his devices. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-14 18:57:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close "We will continue efforts in this direction. So far, the final result has not been achieved," Lavrov said during a news conference broadcast directly from Colombo by the Russian Foreign Ministry. MOSCOW, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The latest on Intra-Libyan talks mediated by Russia and Turkey in Moscow on Tuesday: (all times local) -- 13:00 pm, Jan. 14 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Han Fang) Intra-Libyan talks mediated by Russia and Turkey reached no settlement on Monday, though efforts to reach a deal will be continued, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. "We will continue efforts in this direction. So far, the final result has not been achieved," Lavrov said during a news conference broadcast directly from Colombo by the Russian Foreign Ministry, following talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena. Earlier this month, the leaders of Turkey and Russia put forth a Libya ceasefire initiative, which the conflicting parties accepted while also agreeing to hold talks in Moscow. The hours-long talks ended late Monday without a ceasefire agreement being signed by both sides. Lavrov said the head of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Serraj, and its foreign minister Mohamed Taher Siala signed the draft, but Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, asked for an extra day and left Moscow without signing it. Russia is working to ensure that all parties involved in the Libya conflict show responsibility for the fate of their country, he added. -- 11:40 am, Jan. 14 Just in: Intra-Libyan talks mediated by Russia and Turkey have brought no settlement on Monday, but efforts to reach a deal will be continued, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. CANYONVILLE, Ore. On Tuesday, the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation announced 70 non-profit organizations across southwestern Oregon that will receive almost $500,000 split among them. All of the non-profits chosen operate in Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, and Lane counties, or serve multiple counties. A big thank you to the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation for supporting our arts-in-education work in Deschutes County! #artsed pic.twitter.com/VW5zB5FjIE YoungAudiences OR&WA (@YoungAudiences) December 25, 2019 With its emphasis upon meeting the basic needs of people, strengthening family, and assuring educational opportunity the CCUIF, one grant at a time, improves life in southwestern Oregon and beyond, said Foundation executive director Carma Mornarich. The CCUIF was founded in 1997 and began a program of charitable giving in 1998. Since then, the Foundation has awarded nearly $19 million to seven southwestern Oregon counties. Grants are awarded twice every year, in January and June. The Foundation focuses its efforts on youth education, strengthening youth and family, provide for positive youth development, and adding to the quality of life for people in southwestern Oregon. Increasingly, the organization has emphasized basic needs "so more hungry people get fed." Both the Foundation and the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe, which has a separate roster of charitable donations, have made recent contributions to Rogue Retreat's new year-round Kelly Shelter, Compassion Highway Project, and the Providence Festival of Trees. Below you can find a full list of local organizations that will receive funding this month: Jackson County - $69,000 to 10 non-profits ACCESS, Inc.: $12,000 to provide nutritious food to hungry people in need. Ashland Community Hospital Foundation: $7,500 to increase access to school nurses in the Ashland and Phoenix-Talent School Districts. Community Works: $7,500 to support youth moving from homelessness to finding permanent housing with rent assistance, direct case management services, and assistance with transportation, education, and other expenses. Hearts With a Mission: $7,500 to purchase a van to transport transitional living youth to necessary appointments and services. Medford School District Project Dove: $5,000 to provide Project Dove in-school support groups for youth who live in homes with domestic violence. OnTrack Rogue Valley: $3,000 to provide recreational activities for families in recovery. Peace House: $7,500 to provide operating support for Uncle Foods Diner that provides weekly hot meals and services every week in Ashland. Rogue Retreat: $8,000 to provide a year-round shelter and case management for homeless people in Medford. Rogue Valley Chorale Association: $3,500 to provide funding and transportation for Spring Sing that provides students with concerts presented by children for children. Rogue Valley Family YMCA: $7,500 to provide financial assistance for afterschool programs provided by the YMCA at ten elementary schools in Jackson County. Josephine County - $28,500 to four non-profits Grandmas2Go: $8,000 to provide support to struggling new parents in Josephine County. Grants Pass Sobering Center, Inc.: $8,000 to help support sobering services, referral, and staff training. Oregon Energy Fund: $7,500 to provide emergency energy assistance to Josephine County residents in financial crisis. Rogue Farm Corps: $5,000 to train interns and apprentices who are interested in becoming family farmers. Klamath County - $31,500 to five non-profits For a company named Single Estatewhich built its reputation on the belief that the best-tasting cup is one particular coffee cultivated from one particular farm or cooperative at a timeits founders were contrastingly relaxed about where to establish their own estate in the form of a flagship cafe. Co-owners Patrick Groenewold and Bas Burghoorn were surprisingly postcode-agnostic, giving their realtor a long lead to sniff around various big cities in the Netherlands. It took two years, but they finally found the two-story, 300-square-meter Jugendstijl-facaded corner shop in a central neighborhood in The Hague. Although the venue opened this past September, it is the fruit of labor by a business that began in 2007. That was when Groenewold, a chef-turned-coffee consultant, and Burghoorn, a business-schooled sales-and-marketer, partnered to launch Single Estate Coffee Roasters. Usually people start the other way around. They do a bar and then start to roast, but we focused on roasting, notes Groenewold. The roasterys location a 20-minute drive from The Hague in the village of Maasdijk, tucked away in an industrial area, led to their being a bit more invisible, he acknowledges, but did not prevent their becoming one of just a few successful medium-sized specialty roasters in the Netherlands. Still, Single Estate proves singular in several ways. The coffees are always single-originI totally understand the concept of blending but I dont like it. I think coffee should be good enough to stand on its own, says Groenewoldand 85% are considered direct trade. For Groenewold, that means traveling to origin himself and dealing one-on-one with the same producers year after year. And then there are the starsof two sorts. Included among the six-member roasting team are luminary baristas Wendelien van Bunnik-Verver and Jonatan Scheeper. Van Bunnik-Verver, who was doubly decorated in 2019 as Dutch Barista Champion and World AeroPress Champion, serves as Single Estates head of training. Head roaster Scheeper holds the distinction of Dutch AeroPress Champion 2017 and co-founder of the since defunct but memorably forward-thinking Amsterdam micro-roaster Headfirst. Plus, included among their couple hundred B2B clients are six Michelin-starred restaurants (FG Restaurants Modbar made Sprudge news in 2016). I know how they think, how they work, what they want, says Groenewold of the high-level restaurateurs. Nearly 20 years ago, before taking his first job in coffeerunning a student cafe at Utrecht UniversityGroenewold was a culinary school graduate who cheffed across various Michelin-starred restaurants in the Netherlands. He left the industry after realizing that the only aspiration left would be to open his own restaurant, but knew it would demand eight days a week of work. Open seven days a week, Single Estates flagship offers a changing selection of espressos and filter coffees, sweet and savory homemade croissants, and simple warm dishes, such as shakshuka and mushroom risotto. The plan is to focus on staying seasonal, but Groenewold foresees possible expansion in terms of the menu as well as accommodations. The current space for 40 guests could double if seating were extended to a back area currently used for food preparation. The massive counter, in a sober slate-toned terrazzo, shows off the glistening chrome taps of a Modbar Espresso AV and the ever-illuminated ring of a Marco Mix 3, ready for brewing filter coffees, via V60 or AeroPress, and teas from Kiona Malinkas Crusio line. The cafe has four full-time staff. The Belgian-trained pastry chef displays samples of her output du jour in a custom-made glass box. It would seem more likely to exhibit bijoux than baked goods, though immediately signals to customers that this is not the next bar with banana bread and muffinsbeen there done that. We have plenty of those already in the country, Groenewold says. He speaks in the same confidently opinionated yet gracious way about the venues interior. A super-clean Scandinavian look, I like it personally, but its not welcoming if you feel like youre sitting in the waiting chambers at the doctor, Groenewold admits. The Amsterdam-based architecture firm ninetynine (notably responsible for making over the Dutch chain Coffeecompanys Oosterdok flagship and other branches) thoroughly fulfilled Single Estates brief for well-designed but still comfortable. We wanted something warm, but it had to be true to us, so they based the colors on those seen at coffee origin, says Groenewold, whose sweater worn on the bright late fall morning we spoke matched perfectly with a moss-green accent wall. The architect-designed oak benches are softened by leather cushions in a city-roast brown for the lumbar support and a cascara red for the rump support. The in-built side tables, perhaps in a hue of still-ripening cherries, are cleverly modular, able to be lifted to standing height or removed altogether. Upstairs, the training center has floor-to-ceiling interior windows. Here visitors get the chance to practice shots on a La Marzocco Linea Classic as well as literally look over the shoulders of the baristas below. Bunnik-Verver and Scheeper also take a couple of weekly bar shifts. Overall, the places thoughtful layout simultaneously encourages intimacy and transparency. Groenewold describes recently experiencing that feeling during a call with producer Henrique Cambraia of Fazenda Samambaia estate. We launched the Brazilian anaerobic yesterday, he says, explaining how the physical space for both patrons and products let him share, in real-time, the reactions of two guests sitting at the counter. It was so rewarding, just to have such a close connection with the whole chain, he adds. The joy of modern times. But it is the joy, too, of Single Estates appreciation for coffees roots and routesfrom single estates to multiple homes, restaurants, and cafes everywhere. Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. The UK failed to tell the EU about 75,000 crimes committed by foreign criminals on British soil and then covered up the scandal amid fears of damaging its reputation abroad, it has emerged. The error went undetected for five years, during which one in three alerts on offenders which would have been sent from the police national computer to EU authorities were not delivered - potentially including rape and murder cases. This means dangerous foreign offenders once released from prison could return to their home countries without local authorities being aware of their presence. The blunder lead to an apparent cover up which was revealed in the minutes of an ACRO Criminal Records Office meeting obtained by the Guardian. The error went undetected for five years, during which one in three alerts on offenders - potentially including rapes and murders - which would have been sent from the police national computer to the EU, were not delivered (file image) It is understood that the process that flags and shares information following criminal convictions between Britain and the relevant EU nation failed due to a 'software glitch,' the Guardian reported. The Home Office initially tried to conceal the damning failure from EU partners minutes from the ACRO criminal records meeting last May revealed, 'There is a nervousness from Home Office around sending the historical notifications out dating back to 2012 due to the reputational impact this could have,' the minutes showed. A minute of a meeting held in June said: 'There is still uncertainty whether historical DAFs [daily activity file], received from the Home Office, are going to be sent out to counties (sic) as there is a reputational risk to the UK.' The historical backlog of 75,000 notifications has still not been sent to European law enforcement agencies, the Guardian reported The historical backlog of 75,000 notifications has still not been sent to European law enforcement agencies. Shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, has called for a 'full urgent investigation' demanding 'ministers come clean'. The damning revelations comes ahead of crunch EU negotiations over the future of the security relationship between Britain and Brussels. Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch MEP on the European parliament said she expected an urgent inquiry by a European parliament justice committee. Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has condemned the federal government over the declaration of the South-Western governors security initiative, Amotekun as an illegal act. Recall that on Tuesday, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami expressed that the establishment of the security outfit is against the constitution of Nigeria. Also Read: Amotekun: Soyinka Hails Governors For Listening To The People Reacting to this development, the former minister who was one of the people hailed the initiative by the governors, said he is not surprised alleging that the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is working for the bandits and terrorists. See his tweet below: Grace Du, Business Support Department Director of transcosmos China (the sixth from left) As a result of the rigorous evaluation process, transcosmos China was listed as one of the top 10 employers from 2,588 nominated companies in the Shanghai area. transcosmos inc. is delighted to announce that Shanghai transcosmos Marketing Services Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China; CEO: Eijiro Yamashita; transcosmos China), its wholly-owned subsidiary was selected as one of the top 10 Shanghai Most Aspiring Employers at the 2019 China Best Employer Award ceremony hosted by zhaopin.com, a leading recruitment website in China, on December 19, 2019. 2019 marked the 14th anniversary of the China Best Employer Award which was organized by zhaopin.com and co-held by Peking University Social Survey Research Center, the Chinese Labor and Economic Association and Harvard Business Review. Nominated companies were ranked after going through a comprehensive evaluation process including employee votes (30%), HR professional votes (30%), assessment by experts (30%) and evaluation of company qualification (10%). As a result of the rigorous evaluation process, transcosmos China was listed as one of the top 10 employers from 2,588 nominated companies in the Shanghai area. Employee voting results showed that transcosmos China is highly rated by its employees in terms of good working environment, friendly relation at the workplace, active atmosphere, excellent employee benefits package (pension insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, workers compensation insurance, maternity insurance and housing fund) and overwhelming brand equity. Here are the comments received from Eijiro Yamashita, CEO of transcosmos China: First of all, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation for allowing us to conduct business in China as a foreign-capital company. We are also grateful for all our employees working with us. We appreciate and respect every contribution made by our employees. As an IT services company, we put the highest priority on people among people, goods and money. That is why we advocate employee satisfaction as the first of our six core corporate values and always trying to create and offer better employee benefits package, educational programs and career paths to our employees. We thrive to become a company that our employees are proud to be part of, and can also share such pride with their families and friends. It is our great honor to be chosen as one of the top 10 best employers from many other companies. Thank you very much again. transcosmos China places great importance on growing together with employees. The company will continue to execute measures to further increase employee satisfaction whilst creating jobs through expanding its businesses and promoting innovation. Ultimately, transcosmos China aims to become the best company to work for. transcosmos history in China transcosmos entered the Chinese market and launched its offshore services business in 1995. In 2006, the company opened its first call center in Shanghai and started to provide call center services for the Chinese market. Today, transcosmos has its bases and subsidiaries across 20 cities in China including Shanghai, Beijing, Tenzin, Hefei, Xian, Changsha, Wuhan, Suzhou, Taipei and more. The company offers extensive services such as business process outsourcing (BPO) including contact centers, e-commerce one-stop, digital marketing and system development for both Chinese and global brands. As of September 2019, approximately 7,000 transcosmos employees work in China. *transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. In Japan and other countries. *Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies. About transcosmos inc. transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior people with up-to-date technology to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 168 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce services to deliver our clients excellent products and services in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the Global Digital Transformation Partner of our clients, supporting the clients transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/ More and more people are now touring places far from their countries than they did in the past, and currently, tourism is among the worlds fastest-growing industries. In 2015, there were more than 1.1 billion people who traveled internationally. According to the World Tourism Organization, there were 1.4 billion people who traveled internationally in 2018. The figures represent a 6% increase from the 2017 data. At the time, tourism was valued at $1.7 trillion, which was approximately 2% of the worlds GDP. Although tourism has numerous benefits, such as the creation of jobs and generating the countrys revenues, there are negative impacts that have affected different attraction sites. If proper measures are not taken, the preservation of some of the world-famous sites is in danger. Some cities in different parts around the world have introduced capping on the number of people who can visit those cities during the day. In certain areas, residents have held a protest against tourism. Some of the leading causes of destruction of the travel destinations include overpopulation and pollution. Machu Picchu, Peru Machu Picchu is a UNESCO world heritage site in Peru. It is a citadel located in the Andes Mountains that was built in the 15th century. The site attracts millions of tourists every year. It is believed that Machu Picchu was part of the estate of the Inca emperor that represents the Inca empire civilization. It was abandoned following the Spanish conquest, and during the colonial period, it was not known to the Spanish and remained unknown to the rest of the world. It was not until 1911 when it became known to the rest of the world. In 2017, the government of Peru issued new measures to limit the number of visitors to the site to only 2,500 people in a day. National Geographic in 2002 had reported overcrowding in Machu Picchu that could easily lead to landslides. It had also been warned that too many people could damage the Inca trail and could lead to increased littering. Roman Colosseum, Italy Colosseum is also referred to as Flavian amphitheater, located in the city of Rome in Italy. The oval-shaped amphitheater was the largest ever built at the time and had the capacity of 50,000 spectators. The construction of the Colosseum was completed in 80AD. Much of the structure has been ruined by thieves, earthquakes, and stone robbers. It is one of the Ancient 7 Wonders of the world and a UNESCO world heritage site. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions sites in the world. In 2018, about 7.4 million tourists visited the Colosseum. For almost 2000 years, the Colosseum has witnessed enormous wear and tear. On different occasions, tourists have been caught stealing or moving stones and drawing graffiti on the pillars of the structure. Many errant tourists have been stopped from vandalizing the structure. Others have been stopped taking home a piece from the ruins of the amphitheater. Recently, a 47-year-old Indian was caught attempting to steal a piece of brick. Similarly, a teenager from Britain was arrested trying to carve initials of her name on a wall. The ISI terror group has more than once issued threats to bomb the Colosseum. Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China once covered a distance of more than 5,000 miles. However, over the years, the wall has reduced by almost two-thirds, which has largely been destroyed. The destruction of the wall is a result of millions of tourists who vandalize the wall each year. On the other hand, environmental factors such as erosion have also contributed to the deterioration of the wall. Lack of government funding to maintain the wall means that these factors will continue to worsen the situation. Only a small portion of the wall in the north of Beijing near tourist centers have been preserved and renovated. Many other parts of the wall are mainly in a state of disrepair. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Galapagos Islands have a unique and diverse ecosystem. It was on this island that Charles Darwin formulated the theory of natural selection. However, the Galapagos Island ecosystem is fragile, particularly to the outside influence. In 2007, the location was placed on the danger list of World Heritage sites by UNESCO. Currently, several tourist restrictions have been adopted to preserve the wildlife and the land in Galapagos. Some of the measures include the requirement that all tourists be accompanied by tour guides when they are visiting the Galapagos National Park. The Great Pyramids, Egypt The pyramid of Giza is the only remaining structure of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. It was built in about 2560 BC, and initially, it was 481 feet tall. It held the record as the tallest human-made structure in the world for close to 3,800 years. Between January and September of 2017, about 5.9 million tourists visited Egypt, which was a significant increase from 3.8 million in 2016. World tourism organization ranked the country in 2017 as the second-fastest tourism destination in the world. In 2010, before the revolution, the country was receiving 14.7 million tourists annually, and the tourism industry employed more than 10% of the countrys labor force. Several years of mass tourism in the country have resulted in irreparable damage to the great pyramids. On the other hand, attempts to restore the damaged parts have led to further damage. Boracay, Philippines Boracay refers to an island in the Philippines, and in 2016, it was home to about 32,267 residents. The island is famous for its sandy beaches, and it has been declared as one of the top destinations in the world for relaxation. In 2012, the island was awarded by the Travel + Leisure magazine as the best island in the world. By 2013, the island was among the worlds top emerging destinations for nightlife and tranquility. In 2014, the island was ranked by Conde Nast Traveler international magazine at the top of the best islands in the world. By 2016, it was ranked as the leading top ten destinations to watch in the world. However, lately, the island has earned a dubious reputation, and it is one of the places that have been affected by tourism. It has been reported that raw sewage is being dumped into the water. In April 2018, the island was temporarily closed to carry out significant renovations works on the sewage system. It was reopened in October 2018, with new rules to address different issues. Phi Phi Islands, Thailand The Phi Phi islands in Thailand are among the leading tourist destinations in the world. The island has clear waters and pristine beaches. As a result, a massive influx of tourists has severely affected the island. For instance, there are numerous resort developers on the island. The government of Thailand has taken up measures to preserve the island. Recently Koh Tachai Island was closed indefinitely to give time to the environment to rehabilitate. Pig Beach, Bahamas Big Major cay is among the leading tourist attractions in the Bahamas. The island is inhabited by wild pigs that have learned to swim in the sea. This phenomenon has become a significant tourist attraction on the island. Recently, there was a substantial concern after several pigs died on the island, and tourists were blamed for the incident. The pigs were brought to the island in the late 1990s following the Y2K Millennium bug fears. The Farmers had believed food supplies would also crash along with the computers, and they brought pigs to rise on the island. According to the residents, the tourists are feeding pigs improperly by giving them all manner of stuff. Pigs have been given rum and beers, while others have been seen riding on pigs. Currently, the government of the Bahamas has banned any feeding of pigs by the tourists. Venice, Italy Italy has the highest number of World Heritage sites than any other country in the world, which attracts tourists in millions every year. The city of Venice has always been popular with tourists because of its stunning buildings, tasty food, and gondolas. However, a large number of tourists have caused frustrations among the locals. In 2017, about 2,000 local residents held a street protest against rising tourism. The protestors demanded better local services and housing in the city. They also voiced their concerns against pollution as a result of the large cruise ships. UNESCO has also noted the pressure on the city caused by high tourism. The high tourism has led to a functional transformation in the city. Residential houses have been converted into commercial activities. Antarctica In the past, Antarctica was one of the remote locations in the world. However, this has changed, particularly in the recent past. The increasing volume of cruise ships has accelerated the rate of water pollution. This has threatened Antarcticas coastline, including the species inhabiting the region. The Antarctic Treaty has set limits to the number of onshore people to only 100 people at a time. No ship carrying more than 500 people is allowed in any of the landing sites. On Tuesday, McConnell met with small group of Senate Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), who told the leader that as long as Democrats insisted on calling witnesses, Republicans should do the same, casting it as witness reciprocity, according to two Republican officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly. McConnell was receptive to Cruzs argument, according to the officials. Cruz spoke about his proposal, and the possibility of seeking Hunter Bidens testimony if Democrats push for Bolton to appear, with other Republican senators at the weekly GOP lunch. A t the beginning of the last decade, Instagram was invented and it changed the travel landscape forever. By the end of the 2010s cities, like Venice and Amsterdam, that had always enjoyed a healthy number of tourists began to impose restrictions and some even begged tourists to stay away due to the dramatic rise in tourist numbers. Overtourism when too many visitors visit a particular destination can lead to direct, physical effects like structural damage in places like Machu Picchu where millions of tourists visit each year. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, overtourism is also causing damaging effects that tourists cannot see like driving away locals, putting strain on infrastructure and threatening the citys culture and heritage. As we enter a new decade, one thing we can do to fight overtourism is embrace 2020s biggest travel trend: becoming a second city traveller. Second city travel is exploring a countrys lesser-known destinations in a bid to reduce overtourism and help to protect the environment. According to a report from Booking.com, 51 per cent of travellers would swap their original destination for a similar alternative if it meant making less of an environmental impact. We have seen a lot of interest in second cities, reflected by the number of low-cost airlines continually adding new routes to smaller destinations, Jack Sheldon, founder of flight deals site Jacks Flight Club, tells the Standard. He adds: Our members feedback is that they sometimes appreciate the chance to try out a more traditional and unique experience of the country they are visiting which is sometimes best found outside the most famous cities. The team at i-escape also credit budget airlines with the increased interest in smaller destinations. Sam Betts, Head of Marketing at i-escape says: With the prevalence of budget airlines opening up access to second cities we are seeing a generation of travellers who have already visited classics like Lisbon, Paris, Madrid or Rome. They are now looking for new destinations that work for short breaks with the convenience of direct flights from a regional UK airport. Porto saw a lot more interest in 2019 and the start of an increasing trend for Seville. Its likely that in the next few years this trend to expand to include more into central European destinations, with cultural cities like Antwerp or Salzburg starting to get more attention. People want to break trends, get off the beaten track and immerse themselves in the local culture. Millennials are a big driver of second city travel, wanting a more authentic travel experience. Tim Fryer, UK Country Manager of STA Travel, the worlds largest youth and student travel company, says the second city travel trend is down to people wanting to feel that they are doing and seeing new places, experiencing different cultures, local cuisine and traditions. He continues: Part of it may also be that people want to break trends, get off the beaten track and immerse themselves in the local culture. Many people are looking for the new Insta place or just simply want to go off radar. Nicky Kelvin, Head of Content at The Points Guy adds that visiting second cities is an easy way to go off the beaten path, experiencing places that many other tourists dont get to resulting in a better feel for local life. Below, we outline our top second city destinations to visit this year. Skip Barcelona visit Seville Seville / Unsplash The sunshine-kissed city of Seville is often outshone by its larger, louder counterpart of Barcelona. But Brits are cottoning on to the southern Spanish citys charm as i-escape says is saw a 71 per cent increase in bookings to Seville for 2019 compared to 2018. Perhaps its biggest drawcard is the year-round mild temperatures, but the city boasts plenty of stunning sites to visit. The capital of Spains Andalusia region is home to the Alcazar castle complex, built during the Moorish Almohad dynasty and the 18th-century Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza bullring. This region is also the birthplace of flamenco dancing and Easter is a great time to visit for the Easter processions. Skip Bruges visit Ghent Ghent / Unsplash As Bruges continues to crack down on tourist numbers it has climbed to 8.3 million per year, a 28 per cent increase since 2017 were looking towards the Flemish city of Ghent instead. Belgiums best kept secret, Ghent is going green; filled with zero waste cafes, an expansive weekend farmers market and its been listed as a finalist for the European Green Capital Award for the past two years in a row. The architecture here is gothic and gritty, perhaps best experienced in Ghents only luxury hotel 1898 The Post which is located within the upper floors of Ghents historic post office building. Skip Lisbon visit Porto Porto / Unsplash The team at i-escape say that bookings to Portugals second city of Porto rose by 31 per cent in 2019 compared to the year before, and its no wonder really. The compact city, famous for its colourful buildings and namesake Port wine, boasts stunning sunsets, delicious food and enviable architecture. Along the narrow cobbled streets youll discover tucked away restaurants and bars, colourful boutiques and cosy boltholes. A walk across 1886 Dom Luis iron bridge crossing the Douro River is a must as is a visit to the famous bookstore, Livraria Lello with its ornate art nouveau features. Skip New York City visit Nashville Nashville / Unsplash Nashville isnt just a destination for country music lovers. The capital of Tennessee is a haven for foodies, shoppers and history buffs, too. Fryer, from STA Travel says: Traditional hot spots such as New York will always be one of the number one destinations in the USA, but were also seeing an emergence of alternative cities such as New Orleans, Nashville, Austin and Seattle. After British Airways launched a direct route to the music city in 2018, its only grown in popularity for British visitors with Brits named as the second-highest group of international visitors to the state of Tennessee that same year. Skip Mexico City visit Oaxaca Oazaca / Unsplash With overtourism rife in hotspots like Cancun and Tulum, Mexicos Oaxaca region is the perfect antidote. Last March, foreign arrivals grew by 48 per cent to Oaxaca City and part of this growth has been attributed to the 15 new domestic flight routes and its connections to six US cities. The inland city in the southern part of the country wears its UNESCO World Heritage badge with pride, and tourists will discover colourful colonial buildings, stunning churches and charming local squares. Skip Auckland visit Wellington Wellington / Pixabay New Zealands capital city of Wellington, lovingly called windy Wellington by locals, saw a 13 per cent jump in international tourist spending in 2019 the largest percentage increase in the country. Wellington packs a punch. What it lacks in size it makes up for in culture, often drawing comparisons to Australias Melbourne for its cool coffee shops, cosy cafes and boutique stores. Its the home of New Zealands national museum, Te Papa and also the parliament housed in the Beehive. Skip Tokyo visit Osaka Osaka / Unsplash Fryer says STA Travel has seen a growth in visitors adding Osaka, Kyoto and Hakone to their Tokyo trip. He adds: Japan is increasing in popularity which we think has been driven by recent and upcoming international events and associated media coverage. Outside of Tokyo, we have seen growth in Osaka, Kyoto and Hakone, with increased accommodation bookings in all these areas. Rail passes have also grown, which also reflects increased travel around the country, rather than tourists simply staying in Tokyo. Osaka, just 15 minutes from Kyoto by bullet train is a popular hub for foodies. The Dotonburi district downtown is a brightly lit oasis serving Japanese delicacies like fried Octopus, the local specialty of Okonomiyaki and its even home to Japans original sushi train. Skip Marrakech visit Agadir Agadir / Unsplash With direct flights from London with both Ryanair and easyJet, Brits are flocking to Agadir for a coastal break British tourists accounted for 647,101 overnight stays in Agadir last year compared to 559,050 overnight stays during 2018. A coastal resort in the south of Morocco, Agadir is well known for its golden sands and beachfront promenade where you can stroll on one of the citys 300 days of sunshine per year. Head to the waterfront and take your pick of cafes, restaurants and boat trips for groups. The famous goat trees - where goats can be seen climbing Argan trees to reach the fruit can also be visited from here. Skip Berlin visit Hamburg Hamburg / Shutterstock While other German cities have a single identity Frankfurt a hub for finance, Munich is known for manufacturing and Berlin is where the cool kids live - Hamburg is a mix of identities. The city, where yearly arrivals have grown in surplus of five million since the turn of the century, offers a beachy hub come summertime and is a place where tourists can spend days perusing one of the renowned art institutions in the centre including the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Museum fur Kunst. When the sun sets, streets in the Reeperbahn district are full of fluorescent lights and its worth a walk down even just to see the sheer craziness of the bars if youre up for it, join the crowds partying into the small hours. Skip Toronto visit Halifax Halifax / Shutterstock A country so beautiful it's stolen the hearts of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex , this year skip past Canadas largest metropolises and visit the coastal city of Halifax instead. Listed as one of TripAdvisors top destinations on the rise in 2018, the city is set along the coast of the North Atlantic in the Nova Scotia region, where charming red brick buildings dot the coastline which you can view along the citys 4km waterfront boardwalk. Youll find fresh fish on almost every menu and you can top off the evening with a visit to a local craft brewery. Skip Buenos Aires visit Salta Salta / Unsplash Boulder, Colo., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brewers Associationthe not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewershas selected the recipients of its 2020 Research and Service Grants Program to help fund the development of a healthy and sustainable raw materials supply chain. This year, 13 grants totaling $389,370 were awarded to eight barley and four hops projects, and new for 2020, one draught quality project. Research and development projects that address public barley and hop variety development, the changing agricultural landscape, and draught quality are critical to the success and of our brewing community, said Bob Pease, president & CEO, Brewers Association. We are proud to continue our commitment to a sustainable and healthy supply chain by funding these outstanding projects. Since the inception of the grant program in 2015, the Brewers Association has invested more than $2 million in support of over 90 projects. Funding has supported public barley and hop variety development, hop disease and hop aroma research, as well as affiliated national and state-level grower organizations. The support of the Brewers Association is an essential element of our research portfolioit maximizes the likelihood of developing varieties meeting agronomic, quality, and flavor expectations of the craft industry while simultaneously addressing the challenges of dynamic growing conditions, said Dr. Patrick Hayes, professor, Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University. This funding will allow us to accelerate the development and release of winter and facultative two-row malting barley varieties. 2020 Grant Recipients See complete summary here. Barley Building a Winter Malting Barley Market for the Great Plains Partner(s): University of Nebraska-Lincoln Principal(s): Stephen Baenziger Impact of Storage on Malting Quality and Seed Dormancy in Pre-Harvest Sprouting Resistant Spring Barley Partner(s): Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics Principal(s): Mark Sorrells Interaction Between Barley Genetics and Malt Process Impact on Flavor Partner(s): Montana State University Principal(s): Jamie Sherman Winter and Spring Two-Row Malt for Conventional and Organic Systems Partner(s): Montana State University Principal(s): Jed Eberly Using Marker-Assisted Selection to Develop Malting Quality Barley Varieties for Conventional and Organic Agriculture Partner(s): University of California, Davis Principal(s): Alicia del Blanco Continued Support for the Development of Two- and Six-Rowed Winter Malt Barley Varieties for the Eastern U.S. Partner(s): Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Principal(s): Carl Griffey Deeper Explorations of Barley and Terroir Contributions to Beer Flavor Partner(s): Oregon State University Principal(s): Pat Hayes Identifying Spring Malting Barley Varieties for the Craft Brewing Industries Partner(s): North Dakota State University Principal(s): Richard Horsley Hops Multifaceted Impacts of Nitrogen and Sulfur Fertility on Hop Productivity, Quality, and Brewing Characteristics Partner(s): US Department of Agriculture; Oregon State University Principal(s): David Gent Mapping Novel Loci for Powdery Mildew Resistance in Hops Partner(s): University of Minnesota Principal(s): Gary Muehlbauer Controlling Hop Enzymatic Potential Hop Kilning and Brewery Treatments Partner(s): Oregon State University Principal(s): Thomas Shellhammer Analysis of Various Metabolites in Hops as Potential Key Parameter for Thiol and Ester Release by Yeast During Beer Fermentation Partner(s): Nyseos, Barth-Haas Group Principal(s): Laurent Dagan, Christina Schoenberger Draught Beer Quality Evaluation of Biofilm Growth in Chemically Treated Beer Draught Tubing Partner(s): Montana State University, Center for Biofilm Engineering Principal(s): Darla Goeres Proposals for 2021 calendar year funding will be accepted from March 1, 2020 until May 31, 2020, and can be submitted on the Brewers Association website. About the Brewers Association The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,000-plus U.S. breweries. The BAs independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America, SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week. The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine, and Brewers Publications is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BAs American Homebrewers Association and the free Brew Guru mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor. ### Attachment In December, when former President Gen Pervez Musharraf was handed a guilty verdict by a Special Court in a treason case and handed the death penalty, it seemed that Pakistans all-powerful military was being made accountable for its actions at last. That flicker of hope has been all but snuffed out by the Lahore High Court, which has overturned the Special Court verdict. In its decision on Monday, the Lahore High Court maintained that the filing of the complaint, the constitution of the Special Court, the selection of the prosecution team and the trial process were illegal. Hence, the Special Court verdict against Musharraf was unconstitutional, it said. Few in Pakistan expected the death penalty to be implemented or even the guilty verdict against Musharraf to be upheld by the higher judiciary. The military wields enormous power over all of Pakistans institutions and has never tolerated any challenge or criticism of the generals violation of the Constitution, their misuse of power or corruption. It has sought to project itself as the ultimate guardian of Pakistans interests and has even justified its coups and ill-advised adventurism against India by selling this argument. Hitherto, it was the military that decided who is a traitor. That changed with the Special Court verdict. A traitor verdict against one of their own was unacceptable to the military, a stain on the image it has sought to project of itself for decades. This had to be shot down immediately. It is likely that the military, with the active connivance of the Imran Khan government, forced the Lahore High Court to throw out the special court verdict against Musharraf. As expected, the military flexed its muscles and the Lahore Court fell in line. In its verdict, the court said that high treason and subversion of the Constitution - the crimes Musharraf was said to have committed while he was President in 2007 - were a joint offence that cannot be undertaken by a single person. It got Musharraf off the hook. By overturning the groundbreaking verdict of the special court, the Lahore High Court has thrown away an opportunity to make the Pakistani military accountable for its actions. Apparently, Musharraf can still be retried in another court. However, Pakistani analysts say that this is unlikely to happen as the present government, which includes many people who are military proteges and Musharraf loyalists, will not agree to reconstitute a special court for a new trial. This may extend the life of the Khan government and propel their rise in the political hierarchy but by empowering the military, Pakistans present government has immeasurably weakened the health of Pakistans democracy. Three young children, who suffered psychological injuries when their family car was rear ended, have been awarded almost 50,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court. Sarah Walsh, counsel for Brianne, Shannon and Mark Conlon, of Sweetbrier Lane, Kilmacud, Dublin 16, told Judge Francis Comerford that the accident had occurred close to the St John of Gods Hospital, Stillorgan, Dublin. Ms Walsh, who appeared with Breen Geary McCarthy & Shee Solicitors, said Brianne had been offered a settlement figure of 19,000 for head and psychological injuries she suffered in the October 24, 2017, accident. Counsel told the court that Brianne, now aged eight, had been hit on the head by a phone when the car was struck in what had been a significant collision. Her injuries had been compounded by the fact that she had been involved in an earlier road traffic accident in 2014 in which she had also suffered psychological injuries. Ms Walsh said the 2017 accident had reactivated symptoms of acute stress following the earlier collision in which she had been involved. The court heard that her sister Shannon, who is now aged 15, had also suffered psychological injuries as a result of the collision. She had not been involved in the earlier 2014 accident and an offer of 16,500 had been made by the defendant, Schorman Contract Cleaning Services, of Sallynoggin Road, Dunlaoghaire. Ms Walsh said Shannon had suffered a stress disorder but the effects on her had been comparatively milder. She had made a full recovery despite still showing some anxiety while in a car. Counsel said the girls brother Mark, 14, had suffered from recurring headaches and stress following the accident and was occasionally nervous while travelling in a car although his condition had returned to normal. He had been offered a settlement of 12,500. Judge Comerford said children responded differently to the effects of injuries. He approved of all three settlements totalling 48,000 with costs. The children had sued Schorman Contract Cleaning Services through their mother Pamela Byrne. CSB Bank rose 1.01% to Rs 195.10 after the Reserve Bank of India lifted the regulatory restriction on the bank with respect to opening new branches. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted a restriction it has imposed on CSB Bank on opening new branches in view of the delayed initial public offering (IPO). The bank, in a regulatory filing on Tuesday said that the regulatory restrictions by RBI on opening new branches, through their letter in 30 January 2015, has been lifted with effect from 10 January 2020. The general permission to open new branches was withdrawn in 2015 in view of the delayed IPO of shares of the bank, and it was not permitted to open any new branches without prior approval of RBI. "Accordingly, the bank can currently open branches under the general permission of RBI for all banks subject to the condition that the bank should ensure that atleast 25% of the total number of banking outlets opened during a financial year are opened in un-banked rural centres, which is applicable for all banks, as part of the general permission," CSB Bank said in a statement after trading hours on Tuesday. Shares of CSB Bank entered stock exchanges on 4 December 2019. The stock listed at Rs 275, a premium of 41.02% over the IPO price of Rs 195. It ended 53.90% higher at Rs 300.10 on the listing day. The stock has corrected 29.05% from its listing price of Rs 275. It is trading near its IPO price of Rs 195. CSB Bank reported a net profit of Rs 44.27 crore on a net interest income of Rs 279.52 crore for the six months ended on 30 September 2019. CSB Bank, formerly known as The Catholic Syrian Bank, is one of the oldest private sector banks in India with a history of over 98 years and a strong base in Kerala along with significant presence in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra with an overall customer base of 1.3 million end September 2019. The bank is primarily focused in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) University of Limerick student Lorna OSullivan studied at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands last year. PHOTO: Don Moloney The number of students studying or doing traineeships abroad is increasing as a growing number of undergraduates see the value of foreign experience. Figures from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) show that the number of students participating in the EU's Erasmus+ programme has doubled over the past decade. In 2009, just under 2,000 Irish students took part in the programme that offers EU subsidies for a period of study or traineeships abroad. According to Gerry O'Sullivan, Head of International Programmes at the HEA, the latest annual figures show more than 4,000 students travelling abroad on Erasmus. That is the highest number to date. With the initial deadline for CAO applications coming up on February 1, O'Sullivan says students hoping to study abroad for a period should consider whether their course has an Erasmus+ programme attached to it. "Every third level college is covered by Erasmus+, but not every course," says O'Sullivan. "If you are interested in a particular subject, Erasmus+ may be available in one institution, but not in another. "Before you choose a course, it is worth contacting the college to see what opportunities to study abroad are available." Partly conceived by the late Peter Sutherland when he was an EU Commissioner, Erasmus stands for European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. It is the EU's flagship education and training programme and funds students, staff, youth and voluntary workers from all walks of life to explore opportunities abroad. As well as being available at universities and institutes of technology, Erasmus+ programmes are also available at colleges of further education (FE). In FE colleges, the majority of placements are three to four weeks. In higher education, Erasmus+ supports students with a study period of one or two semesters or traineeship in one of 33 participating European countries as part of their degree. Students do not pay fees at their host institution, but pay fees as normal at home. While studying abroad, they receive a grant of between 250 and 300 per month and this is not means tested. The level of the grant depends on whether the host country has a high cost of living. Students who normally receive a maintenance grant while in college at home can still also continue to receive these payments when they are studying abroad. O'Sullivan says the whole experience of studying or doing traineeships abroad brings many benefits to students.According to O'Sullivan, the tens of thousands of students who have gone on the Erasmus+ programme have made a significant contribution to the labour pool. "These are students who worked for a business in another European country or have studied at a European university," he says. "They have not just augmented their language skills, but they have also had the experience of living and working in a foreign country and building an expanded network for themselves. "They are very valuable in employment because they have shown they are capable of taking on a challenge and have the aspiration to try something different." A survey of 77,000 higher education students who took part in an Erasmus+ programme found that 72pc felt that it had been beneficial or highly beneficial in helping them to find their first job. According to the impact study, Erasmus+ increased their technical, interpersonal and inter-cultural skills, as well as boosting self-confidence. Up to 40pc of participants who went on a traineeship were offered a job by their host company. The survey found that graduates who went on an Erasmus+ programme as students were much more likely to have a partner from a foreign country. Up to 23pc of Erasmus+ graduates have an international relationship, compared to 13pc of graduates who did not travel abroad on a programme. In 2018, the top three higher education colleges for sending students on Erasmus+ study placements were the University of Limerick, UCD and TCD, while the top three for sending students on traineeships were UL, NUI Galway and TU Dublin. The University of Limerick sends the most students abroad to study or for work placements every year. Josephine Page, Director of UL's International Education Division, said seven degree programmes at the university have Erasmus+ as a compulsory element. These include Arts, Applied Languages, International Business and Psychology. Page says there are two key benefits that students enjoy when they study or train abroad - personal development and employability. "Employers are looking for people who have worked in international settings because, increasingly, that is the nature of the modern workplace, and it helps if you have cross-cultural experience," says Page. France is the most popular destination for Irish students studying abroad, followed by Spain and Germany. The UK is the most popular destination for traineeships, and more than 100 students study there on Erasmus+ programmes every year, but there is now some uncertainly over British participation in the programme as a result of Brexit. A spokesperson for the UK Department of Education told The Guardian in recent days: "The government is committed to continuing the academic relationship between the UK and the EU, including through the next Erasmus programme if it is in our interests to do so." The effect of Brexit on Erasmus+ should become clearer by next Autumn. Having the right language proficiency may be a consideration for those travelling abroad to study. While language may be a barrier for many university courses, Dublin City University's International Director, Paul Smith, says a growing number of universities across Europe are offering their courses through English. Many Arts, Humanities and Business courses are available through English, but language students normally have to do their course through the language of the host country. The friend of a young conservative student who took his own life after protesting at a drag queen library event has revealed the late campaigner was still committed to the cause just hours before his death. University of Queensland Liberal National Club president Wilson Gavin, 21, was found dead at 7.07am at Chelmer train station in Brisbane's south on Monday. In the hours before, he had been on the receiving end of fierce social media backlash after interrupting a session on Sunday where drag queens were reading books to children at Brisbane Square Library. Wilson Gavin, the president of the University of Queensland's Liberal National Club, died about 7am on Monday in Chelmer, south of Brisbane's CBD One of his friends Drew Pavlou told The Project the news of Mr Gavin's death was a complete shock and he had regarded the young Liberal as 'bullet-proof'. 'I heard from other people as late as 7pm (on Sunday night) he was telling people 'it's all good, we're going to keep going, we're fine',' the friend said. 'And then suddenly in the morning we all woke to the terrible news. It just was a huge shock. It was the last thing you would ever expected.' Mr Gavin had led a group at the library of between 15 and 20 others chanting 'drag queens are not for kids' and online backlash included angered criticism from The Veronicas' Jessica Origliasso. She later shared a brief tribute to Mr Gavin and removed the video of his protest she had posted following his death. Mr Pavlou said he disagreed with the protest, but hoped the tragedy would stop social media users trolling people whose views they disagreed with. Friends Drew Pavlou (said) the news of Mr Gavin's death was a complete shock and he regarded the young Liberal as 'bullet-proof' 'The thing is though you are not a full person at the age of 20. You can make mistakes,' he said. 'You may think your individual contribution, or your individual small attack is meaningless, but really it all adds up and when there's that level of feeding frenzy, it all adds up and no 20-year-old can handle it.' It earlier emerged Mr Gavin was house sitting for a Coalition senator when he died. In an insight into his final hours, multiple sources told Daily Mail Australia Mr Gavin, 21, was minding the home of federal Liberal National Party Senator Paul Scarr over the weekend of the tragedy. Mr Gavin (pictured) had led a group of between 15 and 20 others chanting 'drag queens are not for kids' Friends have suggested the social media backlash likely played a role in the 'irreverent' and bold demonstrator's tragic death. Daily Mail Australia approached Mr Scarr, a former mining executive and lawyer, for comment, but calls and emails were not returned. Mr Gavin was understood to be family friends with the Scarrs. He followed the LNP senator on Instagram. Daily Mail Australia has been told Mr Gavin had been house sitting at the home of Liberal National Party senator Paul Scarr, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment Rumours have circulated he left a note of some kind but friends said, if that's the case, it was not believed to be left at the Scarr home. A Queensland Police representative said investigators are not treating Mr Gavin's death as suspicious, and a report is being prepared for the Coroner. He was genuinely irreplaceable ... we won't see the likes of him again'. Close friend Christopher Stewart Condolences have poured in from all quarters - including the drag queens involved in the library incident - and his closest mates are shell-shocked. Mr Pavlou spoke to Mr Gavin several times at the weekend, having dinner with the student politician on Saturday following a demonstration about China's treatment of the minority Uighur people. Mr Gavin did not mention his plan to crash the drag queen reading event during their catch-up. The next day, social media exploded after Mr Gavin and friends stormed the library chanting 'drag queens are not for kids' on Sunday. Twitter taunts against Mr Gavin reportedly included 'there is something about Young Liberals that makes me 'stabby'' and trolls calling him an 'oxygen thief'. Mr Pavlou said his mate was 'defiant' when he asked him what had happened on Sunday. 'Then I woke up to the news (that he had died on Monday). It's just surreal,' Mr Pavlou said. Wilson Gavin with friend Drew Pavlou Mr Pavlou described his friend as a 'glorious troublemaker' whose politics were hard to place as he was an 'outsider' to the Liberal National Party. Mr Gavin, from Kangaroo Point, was a devout Catholic who sometimes attended full Latin mass at a church in Annerley. He was a state chairperson for the Australian Catholic Students' Association and an out and comfortable gay man for many years. One devastated friend, Christopher Stewart, told Daily Mail Australia: 'He was genuinely irreplaceable ... we won't see the likes of him again'. A third mate, Satya Marar, met Mr Gavin through a monarchist group. Mr Marar said he saw the drag queen story break and thought 'oh god, Wilson, what have you gotten yourself into?' But he did not know the seemingly confident young man was grappling with demons. 'I expected he would turn up on Sky News tomorrow and tell the haters to go stuff themselves - and do what he does best. 'I didn't think this could happen'. As for Mr Pavlou, one of his fondest memories of his friend was a dramatic gesture he made at a protest against the Chinese communist party at university. During the protest, Mr Gavin apparently climbed up onto the roof of a uni building and hoisted up the Taiwanese flag - a controversial sign given tensions between the island and China. 'It was insane, and it was beautiful,' Mr Pavlou said. For 24/7 confidential crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 Kids' Helpline 1800 551 800 I always wanted to be a doctor, even from a young age, wrote Lovera Wolf Miller, MD. I was inspired by my father who was an anesthesiologist, and empowered by my artist mother, she said. After majoring in biology as an undergraduate at Andrews University in Michigan, Wolf Miller went to medical school at Loma Linda University in Southern California, and completed her specialty residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Los Angeles. Wolf Miller currently works as a physician for Adventist Health Physicians Network-Napa. She specializes in womens mid-life health, including menopause, perimenopause, gynecology, sexual health, weight management, reproductive health, medically supervised lifestyle programs and survivorship health. Wolf Miller is also a Certified Menopause Practitioner and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 1. Which three people would you most like to have dinner with? Ruth of Moab. Emily Dickinson. Amelia Earhart. 2. What job would you like to try/not try? Try: I absolutely love being a gynecologist and cant imagine doing anything else! Not try: PG&E representative? 3. What was your first job? OBGyn in a multispecialty group in Redlands, Calif. where I was the first woman physician working with 35 men. 4. Whats the worst job you ever had? I have worked as a housekeeper, a nurse-aide at a nursing home, a medical office gofer, a server at a pizza place, a college tutor, and many other thingsbut honestly, at the time I loved doing all of those things and all of them are important! 5. What is the biggest challenge the medical industry has faced? Medical care is in constant motion with many moving parts. New and innovative treatments are developed almost daily so keeping up with all the pertinent information requires a diligent commitment to study, reading, and attending national and international conferences. 6. Whats on your to-do list? We live in a big world with a lot of interesting people, and Id like to experience as much of it as I can. 7. What is one thing you hope to accomplish in your lifetime that you havent yet? I want to play the harp better (a lot better!) 8. If you could change one thing about the medical industry, what would it be? I would like doctors to be able to determine healthcare options for their patients, not an insurance executive. 9. Whats something people might be surprised to know about you? I am a terrible backseat driver. 10. If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be? My favorite place in the world (so far) is Bora Bora, and I am always ready to go there. Wolf Miller can be reached at 707-253-1135. Her office is located at 1100 Trancas St. Suite 250. Pop the cork on Napa Valley wine! Discover the hidden stories of Napa Valley wine and the people behind it -- plus expert analysis from our columnists and more with our weekly email newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. IT leaders across the public and private sector have been doing a great job educating the public on the latest cyber threats and preventative measures. Just as companies continue to equip consumers with the tools they need to help safeguard their personal data into 2020, it is important for government agencies to apply the same important thinking to their enterprise operations. Todays technology is creating connections in unexpected ways and places. The connected workplace means more touchpoints and more devices than ever before -- from laptops and printers to smartphones and scanners. That digital ecosystem provides many benefits, such as efficiencies in workflow and easier collaboration. However, each device touchpoint also represents a separate security vulnerability as data moves from place to place and person to person. Some devices can limit with these vulnerabilities by requiring authentication with an ID badge, username/password, PIN code or biometrics. Multi-factor authentication is among the many security measures that have made their way into offices. MFA grants access to a place, solution, device or other specified information only after a user successfully presents two or more pieces of evidence. Simply put, users must prove they are who they say they are. MFA has gained traction over the past few years and can be used as a preventative measure against phishing attacks, as it adds an extra layer of defense when a hacker has stolen credentials, like usernames and passwords. Also known as two-factor authentication, two-step verification or SBS verification, MFA grants access through a combination of factors: Knowledge factor, or information known only to the user. This could be as simple as a username and password, security question or PIN number. Possession factor, or an item only the user has, such as a smartphone that can receive a temporary code, a security token or app that generates six-digit codes for entry or a workplace badge. Inherence factor, or a biometric feature of the individual user, such as a fingerprint, face recognition or even an iris scan. Why is MFA an especially important consideration for the public sector? First, its a pragmatic cybersecurity measure; Microsoft recently estimated that accounts using MFA are 99.9% less likely to be compromised. And second, federal agencies -- both civilian and military -- must comply with the requirements of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, which requires enhanced user authentication, data security and information assurance. Additionally, MFA can serve as a useful safeguard against one of the potentially biggest cybersecurity liabilities: employees. Its true: even the most diligent employees arent perfect and can unknowingly contribute to security breaches. In fact, in Canons recent Office of the Future Survey, public- and private-sectors IT executives said malicious insiders and human error are the two biggest cybersecurity threats facing their organizations. Additionally, one-in-four respondents said employees have limited or no understanding of security threats or their role in prevention. The governments use of contractors adds an additional security consideration, as agencies may share information that is accessed by people working out of sight. These findings not only demonstrate the need for more robust and ongoing employee education, but they also emphasize the need for solutions and processes, like MFA, with built-in security features to help compensate for mistakes (or worst case scenario, deliberate actions) made by workers that may expose confidential information. As a company that works across the public and private sectors, weve seen the breakdowns caused by not offering more robust user identification processes -- specifically when it comes to device management. While most workers understand the risks associated with compromised laptops or smartphones, many overlook the amount of data that is shared and stored within devices such as printers and scanners. These must also be protected, but in ways that dont feel cumbersome for busy employees who have work to get done. Thats why its more critical than ever for IT managers to implement a MFA solution that prevents employees from accessing shared devices like multifunction printers and scanners without a common access card (CAC) or personal identity verification (PIV) card, for example. With such a solution in place, devices would be locked down until users insert their government-issued ID card (possession factor) and enter their pin (knowledge factor) to print, copy or scan. Its a simple example of how agencies can use solutions with user authentication to meet demand for heightened information confidentiality. While MFA can be an effective security measure, a recent study by LastPass estimates that just over half (57%) of organizations globally have deployed it, up from 45% in 2018. The remaining 43% may be reluctant to invest in new solutions or the time needed to configure such systems. User experience is also a consideration; while MFA is a fairly simple sequence of inputs, employees may bemoan the multiple steps. And its worthwhile to note that like any technology, MFA is not fool-proof. In fact, the FBI recently issued a warning about attacks that bypass MFA. However, attacks that target non-password authenticators are extremely uncommon, especially when compared to password attacks. Like any technology, MFA can only be effective so long as it continues to mature. Looking ahead, this could mean adding more steps to the process or emphasizing specific types of authentication factors. For example, while biometrics were once considered to be costly and inaccurate, the technology has come so far that its being used to unlock smartphones and check in at the airport. Considering how far weve come in such a short period of time, employees may be using iris recognition scans in the office sooner than we think. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has called on Fine Gael to stop the silly attacks on Brexit and confirmed that his party colleague, MEP Billy Kelleher, will be voting in favour of the Brexit Withdrawal agreement later this month. Mr Kelleher had said last week that he could not vote for the agreement as it currently stands unless guarantees regarding the status of EU citizens in Northern Ireland were delivered, describing the issue as a red line issue for me. That statement had led to a series of focused attacks from Fine Gael regarding Fianna Fails credibility on Brexit, with both Minister for European Affairs Helen McEntee and the Taoiseach taking aim over the issue today. Ms McEntee called on Fianna Fail to clarify Kellehers remarks, saying that he was tacitly endorsing a no-deal crashout just 16 days ahead of the crucial vote. It will be interesting to hear from leadership within Fianna Fail as to exactly what the people of Ireland can expect from them in relation to Brexit, she said, saying the issue represented yet another example of a Fianna Fail party with no coherent plans for the country. Mr Varadkar meanwhile, speaking at his partys campaign launch in Monaghan, said that Mr Kellehers statement proved that Fianna Fail cant be trusted on the big issue of Brexit. The Fianna Fail leader bit back this morning however, and said that in Europe, and in Ireland, there was an appreciation of the fact his party had given the Government space to negotiate. To then turn around after all of that and say youre not trustworthy on Brexit is just plain silly, he said. He described Mr Kelleher as a parliamentarian in the first instance, and anything going through parliament deserves scrutiny. He will be voting for the withdrawal treaty, but (EU Brexit negotiator) Guy Herhofstadt and his team will be going to London next week on that very specific point, and its an important point, Mr Martin said, adding that our bona fides on Brexit I dont think can be questioned. Regarding Mr Varadkars performance on Brexit, something Fine Gael is hoping to gain electoral capital from given the proximity of the vote date to the coming election, Mr Martin said that Boris Johnsons deal is a worse one for Ireland than that of his predecessor Theresa May. Thats probably not getting the degree of examination that it should, because (Mays) deal would have kept Britain in the Customs Union, he said. Boris Johnsons deal is a much harder Brexit but theres a long way to go on Brexit. Well be discussing Brexit for the next 10 years. But the bottom line is Ireland had a good strong national consensus on (Brexit). It stood us well as a country, and in our negotiations with Europe and Great Britain, he added. A teenager was shot and killed outside a Houston-area high school on Tuesday afternoon, and the authorities said that a suspect and another person were later arrested without incident. The encounter happened around 4 p.m., just as classes were ending at Bellaire High School, which is in southwestern Harris County and part of the Houston Independent School District. The authorities did not immediately release the name of the student who was killed, a 19-year-old senior at the high school. On Wednesday, the Bellaire Police Department said that the suspect was a 16 year old who had been charged with manslaughter. Its utterly shocking in a community like ours, Mayor Andrew S. Friedberg of Bellaire said on Tuesday night. We enjoy the safety that comes with living here. Were very family-oriented. In a sensational twist, Republic TV has accessed images on Wednesday which show that senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar shared the stage with a key aide of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan while on his latest visit to the country. In the Another Local Government Law? session of the Thinkfest in Lahore on January 11, Shehzad Arbab- the advisor to Imran Khan on Establishment participated along with Aiyar. Furthermore, making the entire affair even murkier, top sources have confirmed to Republic TV that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was in the know about Aiyar's activities, including about him holding an informal meeting with officials of the Pakistani government and Army on the sidelines of the event. The development comes a day after the Congress party absolved Pakistan of the Pulwama terror attack, seizing on the arrest of J&K Police DySP Davinder Singh while ferrying terrorists, and attempted to allege conspiracy in the dastardly act that caused the martyrdom of 40 CRPF Jawans. Read: Mani Shankar Aiyar Admits, 'Yes I Came From Pakistan On Jan 13', After Shaheen Bagh Attack This assumes significance in the wake of his badmouthing India during his Pakistan visit. He not only expressed great despair over the state of affairs in India but also gave a religious colour to the Citizenship Amendment Act by alleging that it was discriminatory to the Muslims. In a reference to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Aiyar said that this was a popular counter-revolution. Thereafter, the senior Congress leader opined that PM Modi was facing an ideological rebellion across the country. Read: Mani Shankar Aiyar's Latest Pakistan Tryst Lands Him In A Soup, And Not For The First Time Mani Shankar Aiyar joins Shaheen Bagh protests Earlier in the day, it was revealed that Aiyar had visited Lahore just before he joining the Shaheen Bagh protests against the CAA. In his speech, he levelled an indirect attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He appealed to the crowd that he was ready to make sacrifices for the larger cause. In his address at Shaheen Bagh, Aiyar remarked, "Whatever I can do personally for you, I am ready to do that. Jo bhi qurbaniyan deni hon, usme main bhi shaamil hone ko tayaar hun. Ab dekhein ki kiska hath mazboot hai, hamara ya uss (wo) kaatil ka? (Whatever sacrifices need to be given, I am ready for the same. Now let's see whose hand is strong, ours or that murderer's?)" Read: VP Naidu Takes A Dig At Oppn Over CAA, Says Some Are 'allergic' To The Word Hindu What is the CAA? The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants. Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities has been reduced to 5 years. Congress has been at the forefront of the protests against this legislation. It claims that the CAA goes against the basic tenets of the Indian Constitution. Read: SENSATIONAL: Mani Shankar Aiyar Went To Pakistan's Lahore Before Shaheen Bagh, Claims BJP Impeachment investigators at the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a trove of documents to a Congressional committee from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as potential new evidence in the pending Senate impeachment trial of Trump. The documents, including handwritten notes, e-mails, and phone records, were released on January 14 and provide fresh context on details about the prodding of Ukraine to pursue investigations into Trumps political rivals as the president withheld military aid to the country. They were sent by Representative Adam Schiff (Democrat-California), the House Intelligence Committee chairman, along with an enclosure that highlights the key aspects of the material as they relate to the impeachment proceedings. One note, written by Parnas, says get Zalensky to Annonce (sic) that the Biden case will be investigated. In July, Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate presidential front-runner Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm from 2014 until last year. Among the documents was a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Zelenskiy requesting a meeting in mid-May. In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you on this upcoming Monday, May 13th or Tuesday, May 14th, Giulianis letter said. Parnas, who has pleaded not guilty to federal campaign-finance violations in a separate criminal case after being arrested on October 9, 2019, also tried to arrange a meeting between Zelenskiy and Giuliani. On July 7, he texted Giuliani to say he was traveling to Vienna and trying to get us mr Z. Ukrainian Oligarch Firtash Giulianis letter stated he would be accompanied in the meeting by Victoria Toensing, an attorney. She and her husband, attorney Joseph diGenova, are loyal Trump allies whose clients have included Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash. Firtash is fighting extradition to the United States on bribery charges and federal prosecutors contend that Parnas tried to conceal $1 million he received from Firtash. Parnass undated handwritten notes were produced on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton in Vienna, Austria. The notes say Firtashs lawyer Lanny Davis should be fired and be replaced by Toensing and diGenova. Regarding the lawyer couple, the notes also say a deal should be sealed in one to three months, either "cut a deal or get dismissed. The same note says that "Firtash" is "toxic." On July 23, 2019, Davis filed a document with U.S. authorities saying he no longer represents Firtash. Tracking Of Yovanovitch The documents also show Connecticut congressional candidate Robert Hyde disparaging former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and mobile phone use, raising concerns about possible surveillance. In March, Mr. Hyde then sent a series of text messages suggesting that he had Ambassador Yovanovitch under physical surveillance," the attached enclosure to Schiffs letter stated. Using crude language, Hyde indicated to Parnas that Yovanovitch should be removed from her post. In a cryptic message, Hyde wrote Parnas: They are willing to help if we/you would like a price. He added: Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with moneywhat I was told. Yovanovitch, who was recalled a month later in April, called for an investigation into the messages through her lawyer Lawrence Robbins. Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing, her lawyer told U.S. media. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened." When asked by CNN if he had been offering to harm Yovanovitch, Hyde replied in a text message: "No effing way." A preliminary review ofa voluminous record of data extractedcorroborates the findings and evidence related to the presidents scheme, which was laid out in the Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report, released by the [House Intelligence] Committee on December 3, the attached enclosure to Schiffs letter said. The Democrat-led House of Representatives in December charged Trump with abusing the power of his office for personal gain and obstruction of Congress. Trump denies the charges and has called the impeachment proceedings a witch hunt. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that on January 15 the legislative chamber will vote on transmitting the articles of impeachment" to the Senate for a trial and name the impeachment managers. The managers from the House will act as prosecutors in the impeachment trial while the role of senators, the majority of whom are Republicans, is that of a jury. The presiding judge will be Chief Justice John Roberts who could have to rule on whether the new material is admissible if they appear in the trial. However, 51 senators could vote to overturn a chief justices decision, senators have said. Based on reporting by AP, CNN, Bloomberg, MSNBC, and ABC News The Delhi Police's Crime Branch on Wednesday questioned one more suspect in the January 5 violence on the JNU campus, while another suspect who was also summoned said he did not receive any communication asking him to appear. JNU student Dolan Samanta and alumnus Chunchun Kumar -- among nine suspects named by the police in connection with the violence that had left at least 35 people injured -- were called for questioning on Wednesday, the police said. While Samanta appeared before the police, Kumar claimed he did not receive any message or mail in this regard, otherwise he would have made himself available for questioning. He said he was in Delhi. Five suspects have already been questioned by the police. Samanta said she was quizzed for over two hours at the varsity's administration block, during which she also submitted a written statement to the police. "They asked me questions like -- where the video is from (a grab from which was shown in a police press conference last week). They showed me a video of Sabarmati Hostel where the attack happened and I helped them identify some of those who were involved. I was in Sabarmati when the attack happened and I was also injured," she told PTI. The Delhi Police had conducted a press conference on January 10 during which it released pictures of the nine suspects and claimed JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh was one of them. After her questioning, Samanta said she has submitted a two-page statement to the police which includes her complaint and her whereabouts on January 3,4 and 5. "They said I could be called again. I have agreed and I have signed a bond stating that I will come whenever I am called," she said. Besides Samanta, Kumar and Ghosh, Sucheta Talukdar, Priya Ranjan, Vhaskar Vijay Mech, and Pankaj Mishra have been named as suspects. Vikas Patel and Yogendra Bharadwaj -- from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) -- are also among the nine suspects. The police have already questioned Talukdar, Ranjan, Ghosh, Mishra and Mech. On Wednesday, a team of Forensic Science Laboratory also visited the campus to retrieve data from the server room, a senior police official said. He said efforts are being made to trace Akshat Awasthi, Rohit Shah and Komal Sharma, who are absconding. Awasthi and Shah, both first-year students of JNU, had featured in a sting operation conducted by a TV channel. The police had identified Komal Sharma, a student of Delhi University's Daulat Ram College, as the masked woman who was seen in several videos of violence shared on social media. She was wearing a chequered shirt, a light blue scarf and was carrying a stick. Her phone was switched off since Saturday night. When police had contacted Awasthi and Shah, they said they will join the probe but their phones were later switched off. Thirty-five people, including students and faculty, were injured on January 5 when a masked mob entered the campus and attacked them with rods and sledgehammers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Silver Traders Big Trend Analysis Part II This, the second part of our Silver research article suggesting Silver may be forming a massive price base in preparation for an explosive upside move, will continue from Part I of this research series. Our research team believes Silver is setting up in a price pattern that may already be ripe for an explosive upside move. Our researchers have poured over the data and believe the disparity between Gold and Silver is already at excessive levels. Historically, anytime the disparity between Gold prices and Silver prices (rationalized into comparative Gold price levels) breaches 30% to 60% and Gold begins an upside price advance, Silver typically begins to move higher with 4 to 8+ months. This setup pushes the Gold to Silver ratio back below 50 or 60 as Silver rallies substantially higher, and faster than the price of Gold. Comparatively, Silver continues to trade within a sideways price range after basing in early 2016. This price range has been fairly consistent between $14.50 and $21.0. With Gold recently starting to move higher because of the US/Iran military conflict, this raises an early warning flag for our research team because Silver has continued to trade below $18 and well below recent highs near $20. The price disparity between Gold and Silver is currently greater than 200% based on our proprietary modeling system. Remember, anytime this disparity level is greater than 30% to 60% and Gold breaks out in a rally, Silver will break to the upside within just a few months. The second stage rally in Silver, the real money-maker, will come when investors pile into Silver and Silver Miners as the breakout in Silver becomes explosive. The time to get into this trade is/was now or 4 months ago. Still, there is plenty of opportunity for skilled traders right now because the breakout move in Silver and Silver Miners has not really begun yet. The first big upside move in Silver and Miners will be to attempt to move higher and target recent resistance. Resistance in Silver is currently near $19.70 and $21.00. This means any move above $19.75 (or higher) where the price of Silver fails to move above $22 or $23 would constitute a Stage 1 Base Advancement. After this move is complete, a Breakout Stage price move will take place. This may be where Silver prices advance from the $21 to $23 level up towards the $28 to $32 price level. This upside price advance breaches the Stage 1 resistance and attempts to establish new support for a continued Stage 2 advance. Remember, the current disparity level is just over 200% between Gold and Silver. If Gold continues to rally higher and Silver attempts to break higher, attempting to narrow the disparity level, then Silver will (at some point) enter a near parabolic upside price move above $36 to $40. Our researchers believe this may happen before June or July 2020. This incredible opportunity is currently setting up for skilled traders. Believe it or not, while Silver continues to trade below $18 per ounce and global investors are focusing on US stocks, Emerging Markets, and Gold, Palladium and others, this setup in Silver may become the biggest investment opportunity of 2020. Sure, Gold may rally 80% to 140% over the next 12 to 24 months. Palladium may rally even higher. If Silver does what we expect it to do once this setup/trigger really breaks open, Silver could rally 500%+ over 12 to 24+ months on an incredible upside disparity reversion move. This last chart highlights why we believe this setup in Silver should not be ignored. In 2005, the rally in Silver as a result of this Disparity trigger resulted in Silver reaching a 38% higher peak than Gold. In 2009, the same Disparity trigger prompted Silver to rally to levels nearly 300% higher than the peak in Gold prices. If Gold rallies to levels above $2800 to $3100, which is our expectation, and this Disparity trigger prompts an upside move in Silver, we believe Silver could rally to levels 200% to 400% (or more) higher than Gold prices. By our estimates, that would put Silver prices above $90 to $95 per ounce possibly much higher. Take advantage of any opportunity you have to position your portfolio for this setup and be patient. The upside breakout in Silver happens like a train leaving the station. Slow and steady at first, then building momentum, then finally running at top speed. Each time this Disparity trigger sets up and executes, Silver starts a moderate move higher at first, then explodes to the upside as Gold continues to rally higher. That last explosive move is why Silver reaches peaks that are substantially higher (in percentage terms) than the peaks in Gold. Please pay attention to our research teams efforts to help you create greater success and find great trades. Take a minute to visit Technical Traders Ltd. to learn how we can assist you in 2020 and help you build wealth, attain greater success and stay ahead of these bigger market moves. As a technical analysis and trader since 1997 I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles, I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for both short-term swing trading and long-term investment capital. The opportunities are massive/life-changing if handled properly. I urge you visit my Wealth Building Newsletter and if you like what I offer, join me with the 1 or 2-year subscription to lock in the lowest rate possible and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own. Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Although Apple turned down a request by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to unlock two iPhones used by a terrorist suspect in a recent deadly shooting, the FBI appears to already have the tools needed to access the smartphones. Apple rejected a request from Barr to help unlock two iPhones used by the shooter, 21-year-old Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. He is believed to have acted alone when he shot and killed three service members and wounded several others at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. last month. Alshamrani, a member of the Saudi Air Force and an aviation student at the base, was shot dead on the scene by police. The back-and-forth between Apple and the Department of Justice is the latest scuffle involving the company's privacy stance and government efforts to get around that it. A search warrant, first discovered by Forbes, indicated the FBI already has the blackbox technology necessary to crack password-protected smart phones. According to that warrant, FBI investigators in Ohio last year used technology from Atlanta-based Grayshift to access a locked iPhone 11 Pro Max, which belonged to Baris Ali Koch. Koch was accused of helping his brother, who'd been convicted of a hate crime, flee the country. Atlanta-based Grayshift is one of two companies that claimed it could thwart Apple iPhone passcode security through brute-force attacks. The other is Israeli-based Cellebrite. Both companies claimed they could get around iPhone security through brute-force attacks and full file-system extraction, or a physical extraction or full file system (File-Based Encryption) extraction on many high-end Android device. Cellebrites UFED Cloud Analyzer tool can purportedly unlock, decrypt and extract phone data, including real-time mobile data call logs, contacts, calendar, SMS, MMS, media files, apps data, chats, passwords, according a document obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). Grayshifts GrayKey blackbox could apparently unlock an iPhone in about two hours if the owner used a four-digit passcode and in about three days or longer if a six-digit passcode was used. In 2018, Apple said it was able to resecure its iPhone against Grayshift's GrayKey blackbox through an iOS update. The FBI warrant, however, indicates that update may not have been as succesful as Apple hoped. Regardless, the government still appears to prefer that Apple simply put a backdoor in its platform for law enforcement to access during criminal investigations. If the government succeeds in forcing Apple to subvert iPhone security, corporate IT managers will be put in a sticky situation, said Alan Butler, general counsel for EPIC. That's because most employees either use smartphones under "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies or rely on company devices to conduct business and transfer sensitive information, whether its communications or data schematics. "That's a lot of sensitive information that may be privileged, that may be trade secrets or covered by [International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)] so [it's] things you have a legal obligation to protect," Butler said. "So companies also need assurances that the hardware theyre deploying is secure. If the government is ordering the company to introduce flaws into the security of the hardware or software ... it could compromise that corporate data." Apple disputed Barr's claim that it hadnt given substantative assistance in the investigation, noting it provided access to the cloud service used to back up data on Alshamranis phones. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing, Apple said. Within hours of the FBI's first request on December 6th, we produced a wide variety of information associated with the investigation. From December 7th through the 14th, we received six additional legal requests and in response provided information including iCloud backups, account information and transactional data for multiple accounts. In fact, Apple appears to have acquiesced to an FBI request that it kill plans to let iPhone owners fully encrypt data backups to its iCloud service. The proposed change to its data backup policy, now two years old, was reported this week. As for its stance against backdoors, Apple said: "We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. Today, law enforcement has access to more data than ever before in history, so Americans do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations. We feel strongly encryption is vital to protecting our country and our users' data." Kurt Opsahl, deputy executive director of the non-profit digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Apple is right to provide strong security to its users, requiring a passcode or biometrics to unlock their smartphones. The Attorney Generals request that Apple re-engineer its phones to break that security imperils millions of innocent Americans and others around the globe, and is a poor trade-off for security policy, Opsahl said. Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Russian forensic tech provider ElcomSoft, called Barr's request unrealistic because Apple cant technically unlock iPhones because of file-based encryption and secure enclave technology; it boots up separately from iOS and runs its own microkernel not directly accessible by the iPhone operating system. Of course, it is technically possible to add backdoors, implement escrow keys and things like that. But first, one cannot legally regulate the technology - secure communication channels and [secure data storage] will still remain and no government can force any person not to use the encryption, or use only a certified one, Katalov said via email. Second, such backdoors will be exploited by criminals now or later. The consequences may be catastrophic. By including a method to unlock smartphones at will, Apple would be opening up all of its smartphones to potential attacks by any bad actor, Katalov said. The latest request by the Justice Department is part of an ongoing struggle between law enforcement and Apple. In 2016, the Justice Department, backed by a federal court injunction, ordered Apple to unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, a suspect in the San Bernadino terrorist attack, in December of that year. At the time, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company couldnt give the FBI any more help, claimed that utilizing the law justifying the courts order was unprecedented and again refused to help unlock the iPhone. Tax policy is the key risk to U.S. stock prices arising from the 2020 U.S. election, according to Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street giant sees a durable profit cycle and continued economic expansion lifting the S&P 500 to 3,400 points by the end of 2020, but anticipates that policy uncertainty surrounding the election outcome will keep the index range-bound. Goldman Sachs Chief U.S. Equity Strategist David Kostin told CNBC Wednesday that the best way to think about the U.S. equity market relative to the election is "united we fall, divided we rise." Kostin hypothesized that should the Democratic Party unify control of the House, Senate and White House in November, the current corporate tax rate would likely be elevated back to levels seen prior to the Trump administration's sweeping tax cuts in 2017. "What happened in the tax cut is the effective tax rate for U.S. companies went from 27% to 19%, so all of that incremental income inured to the equity investor. That is the reason for stocks being worth more today, it's just more cash flow is coming to the investor," Kostin told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche at the Goldman Sachs Global Strategy Conference in London. "The proposals of the major Democratic candidates are to increase corporate tax rates and to take that incremental tax revenue and redirect it towards other social purposes." Scott Morrison has backed in the resources sector as a new survey shows a rise in the number of Australians concerned about climate change and the world's largest investment manager signalled it was pulling back from coal. BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, whose firm manages roughly $7 trillion for investors, is putting climate change and sustainability at the centre of its investing approach including cutting out investments in some coal producers from some of its portfolios. It would also sharply increase the number of sustainability-focused funds that it offers, and vote against companies at shareholder meetings when they're too slow in disclosing and mitigating their impact on the environment. Scott Morrison has backed in the resources sector as a new survey shows a rise in the number of Australians concerned about climate change and the world's largest investment manager signalled it was pulling back from coal Mr Fink, whose firm has also joined the Investor Group on Climate Change, says the world is on the edge of a 'fundamental reshaping of finance' due to climate change. Asked about the BlackRock decision, Mr Morrison said coal was worth $70 billion to the Australian economy. 'It is important to communities across the country,' he told reporters in Canberra. 'Our government's plan is to meet and beat emissions reductions targets, without putting taxes on people, putting up electricity prices and pulling out the rug from regional communities who depend on the sector for their livelihoods. 'We will continue to maintain a balanced approach to make sure it is in Australia's interest.' The investment decision came as a new survey by the Australia Institute on Wednesday found almost half of those surveyed are now 'very concerned' about climate change compared to less than 40 per cent six months ago. About 80 per cent of Australians are concerned about climate change, an increase of five points from July. The Australia Institute has proposed a national climate disaster fund, which would be created by a levy on pollution from coal, gas and oil production. Former Labor leader and now opposition frontbencher Bill Shorten said in the face of the bushfire crisis Australians were demanding more climate action from the government. 'One thing I have noticed travelling around Victoria - people don't stop me and ask: 'What is the cost of acting on climate change,' he told reporters in Melbourne. 'People now, right across Australia are saying: 'What is the cost of not acting on climate change.' The cost of Labor's climate policies were heavily criticised by the Morrison government during last year's election campaign, with the coalition labelling their ambitious targets as 'economy wrecking'. Science Minister Karen Andrews wants the debate to move on from whether or not climate change is real. 'Every second that we spend talking about whether the climate is changing is a second we are not spending on looking at adaptation, mitigation strategies,' she told ABC radio. However, a handful of coalition backbenchers remain outspoken about their denial of climate change. Labor leader Anthony Albanese says it's this group - including Craig Kelly and George Christensen - who have held the coalition's climate change policies back for more than a decade. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, January 14, 2020 Verizon Digital on Tuesday launched a search engine aimed at keeping the data and the person searching for information separate. OneSearch becomes the telecommunications companys privacy search engine through their media company. The new search engine gives consumers an alternative to Yahoo, which Verizon acquired for $4.48 billion in 2017. Both engines are powered by Microsoft Bing. Its a smart idea to go after a niche audience, people who dont want their searches tracked, said Matthew Mierzejewski, SVP, search capability lead at Merkle. I think they can gain share on desktop, but it will be difficult for them to crack into the mobile market because of existing habits. Safari and Google do a good enough job. Mierzejewski estimates OneSearch will consume less than 1% of searches. advertisement advertisement My guess this is someones pet project, he said. They had an idea and saw the growth of DuckDuckGo and decided they want a piece of that rebel search engine user whos tired of the big shops. Theyve become another option thats not Google, Yahoo or Bing. Similar to privacy search engines like DuckDuckGo and Startpage.com, Verizons OneSearch wont track cookies, retarget, or build personal profiles of people who conduct searches. One search marketing executive at an agency pondered on the reasons why, suggesting that Verizon wants nothing but the data. "This is a way for only them to monetize the data," turning it into a closed-loop network, the exec said. Advertising is not based on whats being searched, but rather search keywords. It's not clear if the search engine serves up ads based on artificial intelligence or deep learning, two technologies Microsoft supports. Verizon doesnt need to track searches. The telecommunication carrier owns its own network and tons of data, specifically from mobile devices. It also appears that businesses interested in providing a search engine can partner with Verizon Media to integrate OneSearch into their products. OneSearch is available in North America on desktop and mobile web, but will launch on a mobile app on Android and iOS systems later in January. DES MOINES, Iowa - A whittled-down field of Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday focused on their shared disdain for President Donald Trump and elaborated on a host of policy differences domestic and foreign in an Iowa presidential debate whose most animated moment turned on whether a woman could become president. With the Democratic voting beginning in less than three weeks - and knotted among a quartet of leading contenders - the candidates differed over the suddenly topical decision of whether to commit troops abroad or remove them from the Middle East, their disparate views on trade deals and their starkly different proposals to remake the country's health-care industry. Coming on the heels of President Trump's decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the debate opened up with a relitigation of the war in Iraq, and a renewed discussion over how and whether the candidates would commit troops in the Middle East. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., committed to bringing combat troops home, while former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg pointed to his own experience in the military. Former vice president Joe Biden cast his experience in that office as invaluable, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., suggested Biden's vote in favor of the Iraq War was disqualifying. "Joe and I listened to what Dick Cheney and George Bush and [Donald] Rumsfeld had to say," Sanders said, speaking of the debate after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to give Bush authority to strike overseas. "I thought they were lying. I didn't believe them for a moment. I took to the floor. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw it differently." Biden, while focusing on the work he did during the Obama administration to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq, did not defend the vote. "It was a mistake to trust that they weren't going to go to war," Biden said about the Bush administration's assurances in 2002. "They said they were not going to go to war." The candidates agreed on the need to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Iraq and Afghanistan, though they differed slightly on timetables and other details. "No one has a solution and an endpoint. We need to get our combat troops out," Warren said. "They are not helping." Biden and others struck a more nuanced note, arguing that Special Operations forces should remain in the region to guard against a resurgence of the Islamic State and to protect U.S. interests. The former vice president also said he would not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom Trump met, to much-orchestrated drama but with whom he has been unable to strike a deal on nuclear weapons. "No. Not now. I wouldn't meet with him without preconditions," he said, blaming Trump for giving the North Korean legitimacy by meeting with him. He also noted that the leader had called him "a rabid dog who should be beaten to death with a stick." "Other than that, you like him," Sanders joked. Gender politics, which subsumed the campaign in recent days, provided one of the sharpest exchanges of the night as Warren and Sanders clashed over whether Sanders said in a private 2018 meeting that a woman could not be elected against Trump in 2020. Sanders denied the claim outright. "Does anybody in their right mind believe that a woman can't be president?" Sanders said. "I don't think anybody believes that." But Warren, as part of an apparent pivot to embrace her role as the highest-polling woman in the race, stuck to the claim she first made the day before the debate. "I disagreed," she said of her conversation with Sanders in 2018. "Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head-on." She went on to divide the stage by gender, saying that she and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., were the only two candidates to have won all of their elections, while the men onstage had collectively lost 10 races. Klobuchar laughingly agreed, and later noted that she had an unbroken record of winning in areas similar to those in which Trump had defeated Clinton. As the debate ended, Warren could be seen approaching Sanders but declining his offer of a handshake. They both appeared to be testy, Warren wringing her hands and Sanders making frequent gestures. The extended confrontation was remarkable, coming four years after the party selected Hillary Clinton as its first female nominee. Her loss to President Trump amid what many felt were misogynistic attacks helped energize women who came out for massive marches the day after he was elected, helped fuel the election of record numbers of women to Congress and handed the House speaker's gavel back to Nancy Pelosi. But Democratic anxiety over Trump, and whether he could defeat another woman, has been one of the looming questions over the primary for the past year, asked everywhere from top party leaders to Democrats attending rallies in early states. Biden chimed into the discussion to argue that he alone had the longevity and the experience to knit together a coalition of the whole party. "I agree women can win," Biden said, touting the number of female candidates he helped in 2018 and calling it "the best group I've ever campaigned for in terms of competence." "But the real issue is who can bring the whole party together represents all elements of the party," he said. "I would argue that in terms of endorsements around the country, endorsements, wherever we go, I am the one who has the broadest coalition of anyone running up here in this race." The debate came just 20 days before the Iowa caucuses, the results of which are likely to be pivotal in the 2020 nomination fight. The major Democratic candidates have gone all-in on the state, and with polls showing a multicandidate tie, with about 1 in 5 voters favoring Biden, Sanders and Buttigieg. Warren is close on their heels with 16 percent support, according to an average of two Iowa polls over the past week. The two other candidates on the stage, Klobuchar and the billionaire activist Tom Steyer, have been ranking in the single digits, well below the 15 percent threshold required by party rules to acquire convention delegates. Steyer, who has gained ground in several new polls after a barrage of television ads, made one of his most aggressive arguments around the need to combat climate change. "We're going to come to the rescue of Americans who are in trouble. But this is why climate is my number one priority," he said. "And I'm still shocked that I'm the only person on this stage who will say this: I would declare a state of emergency on day one." For several of the candidates onstage, the debate marked the final highlighted moment before the Senate impeachment trial diverts the nation's attention and demands their presence in Washington. While Warren, Sanders and Klobuchar will have to serve as jurors, Biden too could be roped into the proceedings; some Senate Republicans are seeking to force his son Hunter to testify about his activities in Ukraine when his father was vice president. Biden said Tuesday night that he had no concern about his family being dragged into the Senate trail. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either Biden, but it has been a topic the campaign has generally tried to avoid. "It doesn't really matter whether he goes after me," Biden said. "I have got to be able not only to fight but also to heal, and as president of the United States that's what I will attempt to do." Some of the debate reprised earlier such gatherings. For the seventh straight faceoff, the candidates cast different visions on health care, with Sanders continuing to push for Medicare-for-all, which would abolish the private health care industry. "Again, I think it is much better to build on the Affordable Care Act," Klobuchar said. "And if you want to be practical and progressive at the same time and have a plan and not a pipe dream, you have to show how are you going to pay for it." Several of the candidates tried to address some of their shortcomings. Buttigieg responded to concerns in the party, shown in a recent Washington Post poll, that black voters do not support his campaign, even after they learn more about him. "The black voters who know me best are supporting me," Buttigieg said, before listing off several recent endorsements. "The biggest mistake we can make is to take black votes for granted. And I never will." In the opening minutes of the debate, Sanders also tried to address the concerns that he is too divisive and wouldn't have enough appeal to a general electorate. "I am able to work with Republicans," he said, citing unsuccessful legislation he co-sponsored with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. "I am able to bring people together to try to create a world where we solve conflicts over the negotiating table, not through military efforts." Youth will be served. In a Post op-ed last month, Zdenek Hrib, the 38-year-old mayor of Prague, noted that in 2019, China canceled its invitation to four Czech musical ensembles because Tibets flag flies over Pragues city hall. China is attempting to extinguish Tibets national identity. Hrib also wrote, Being a doctor, I have also publicly condemned the forced extraction of organs from members of the Muslim Uighur minority and other prisoners of the [Beijing] regime. Furthermore, Prague balked when Beijing insisted on Hribs predecessor as mayor had agreed to a clause in a sister city agreement that renounced the independence of Tibet and Taiwan. China canceled the agreement. So, on Monday, Prague signed a sister-city agreement with Taipei, Taiwans capital where Hrib spent two months as a medical student, and where he has been made an honorary citizen. I vowed during the campaign, Hrib says, that I would return to our hallowed post-communist traditions of honoring democracy and human rights. Mongolian scholars will have access to the Vatican Secret Archive. The Vatican will teach Latin to Mongolian scholars so that they can better understand the documents. In May, a photo exhibition will be held at the Holy See to mark 800 years of Mongolias ancient imperial capital. Rome (AsiaNews) The Vatican and Mongolia have decided to intensify their collaboration in the cultural domain. As part of this, Mongolian scholars will have access to the Vatican Secret Archive in order to learn more about their national history, this according to a report by Akipress, a Central Asian news agency. This agreement was signed yesterday by L Purevsuren, ambassador of Mongolia to the Holy See and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations, and Mgr Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States. "It's really good news, said Fr Giorgio Marengo, a Consolata missionary who has lived in the Mongolia since 2003, speaking to AsiaNews. For him, Mongolian scholars will be able to study the sources that cover Mongolian history preserved in the Vatican Archives and Library. Archbishop Gallagher said that the Vatican will teach Latin to Mongolian scholars so that they can study relevant documents. Together with Ambassador Purevsuren, he also announced a photo exhibition and a scientific conference at the Holy See, on 6-8 May, to further seal cultural collaboration between the two states. This year marks the 800th anniversary of the founding of the ancient capital of the Mongolian Empire, Karakorum, said Fr Marengo. The latter is located near modern day Kharkhorin where we Consolata missionaries opened a few years ago a small centre for interreligious dialogue and cultural research. With the latest initiatives, the Holy See shows its constant interest in the history and cultural heritage of this country and we are very happy about it. The scientific conference will focus on interfaith dialogue in Mongolia. Although Christianity was allowed back in the country only in 1992 after the demise of the communist regime, the ancient imperial capital represents one of the first examples of peaceful coexistence between different religions. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV sent Franciscan friar Giovanni di Pian del Carpine as ambassador to the court of the Khan. From his and other ancient stories we know that the imperial capital was cosmopolitan and multi-religious, with the presence of Nestorians, i.e., Syriac Christians. In order to highlight relations between the successor of Peter and Mongol emperors, copies of the letters exchanged in the 13th century between Pope Innocent IV and Emperor Guyuk Khan were sent between 2017 and 2018 to the Museum of Kharkhorin at the request of local authorities, with the valuable help of the Apostolic Nunciature and the Vatican Secret Archive. The originals are still kept in the latter. (A.C.F.) In 2019, the country sent a total of 152,530 labourers abroad, surpassing the years plan by 27.1%. Japan was the biggest recipient with 82,703 labourers, followed by Taiwan (China) 54,480, the Republic of Korea (RoK) 7,215, Romania 3,478, and Saudi Arabia 1,375, among others. 2019 was the fourth consecutive year that Vietnam sent more than 120,000 workers aboard a year, said Director of Overseas Labour Department Tong Hai Nam. To date, as many as 421 businesses have gained licences in providing overseas employment services. Nam added that some traditional markets still have high demand for workers, including Japan, Taiwan and the RoK, along with those in Europe like Russia, Romania, Germany, Poland, Latvia and Austria. As of the end of 2019, more than 1,000 Vietnamese nurses went to study and work in Germany. The Skilled Workers Immigration Act of Germany, which will take effect this March, allows local firms to receive non-EU workers in the fields of construction, electricity, mechanics, agriculture, health care and nursing. This year, the MoLISA expects to sign a cooperation deal with Germanys employment agency on the reception of Vietnamese skilled workers in spheres that the country has high demand for. Vietnam sets a target to send 130,000 guests workers in the year to markets promising high and stable income, said MoLISA Minister Dao Ngoc Dung. He has ordered the Overseas Labour Department to keep a close watch on situations in the Middle East and asked firms to take protective measures for labourers when needed. Christian school sues Oregon county over right to meet at church property Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian school that meets at a church has filed a lawsuit against an Oregon county after officials told the congregation that the school could not use the property. Skopos Christian School, which has around 30 students, began to hold classes at Faith on Hill Church in Milwaukie last year after they had to leave their former building. Skopos and Faith on Hill are both being represented by the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative law firm based in Sacramento, California. PJI explained in a statement released last week that they're filing the suit under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA for short. Essentially, the county has been fining the church for letting Skopos use its wing in a manner consistent with the terms of the churchs permit, explained PJI attorney Ray Hacke in the statement. Nothing in the permit limits the wings use to Sunday school classes and Wednesday night Bible studies. The wing is being used for what it was built for, and suing under RLUIPA was the only way to stop the county from misusing its power to suppress religious exercise. According to PJI, Clackamas has sent letters to the church telling them that having the Christian school operate on their property violates the terms of their permit. The Christian Post reached out to both the County of Clackamas and Skopos Christian School for this story, however neither returned comment by press time. Enacted in 2000, RLUIPA is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against religious institutions regarding landmark and zoning laws. RLUIPA prohibits zoning and landmarking laws that substantially burden the religious exercise of churches or other religious assemblies or institutions absent the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest, explained the United States Department of Justice. Last July, a Florida church successfully won a legal battle against a county that was fining them for opening a school for children with disabilities on their property. Crosspoint Church voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit against Sarasota County after reaching a settlement in which the county waived a daily $250 fine against the church. We commend Sarasota County for changing course, approving Crosspoints zoning request, and reimbursing the churchs hefty application fee, said Kyle McCutcheon of the Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Crosspoint. The county already allows the church to host a secular charter school on its property and has now correctly determined that Crosspoint has an equal right to host a private Christian school thats motivated by its convictions. AURORA, Colo., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aviva at Fitzsimons and Vivage Senior Living are pleased to announce that Colorado Pain Care will now being seeing patients at Aviva at Fitzsimons as a part of their "CPC Outreach" program. Colorado Pain Care offers an award-winning team of pain specialists that provide comprehensive treatment for chronic and acute pain using state-of-the-art techniques and diagnostic tools. This is an innovative approach to treating pain in patients who would not otherwise be able to go to a pain clinic and something about treating pain in the patients who need it the most. Colorado Pain Care treats each patient with an interdisciplinary approach, including physical therapy, that is critical to a patient's relief from pain. This includes an examination of physical, functional, emotional, and psychological needs of the patient, and creating an individualized treatment plan based on needs. Working with a variety of pain conditions such as herniated discs, joint pain, fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome, Colorado Pain Care offers effective and cutting-edge options. Aviva at Fitzsimons and Colorado Pain Care are committed to working together to provide innovative ways for patients to receive the best care for chronic and acute care pains needs. Colorado Pain Care treats each patient with the same care we would want for our own family. Founded on the promise of H.O.P.E., we provide honest, objective, personalized, and compassionate care from the area's top physicians and providers. Colorado Pain Care has locations in Denver, Golden and Lakewood. For more information about Colorado Pain Care or this news release, please contact Glen Campbell at 720-412-5911 or at [email protected]. www.coloradopaincare.com Aviva at Fitzsimons provides rehabilitation after an injury, surgery or health event. Aviva at Fitzsimons is a Vivage Senior Living managed community. Our skilled nurses, licensed specialists and healthcare professionals work directly with our patients and their physician to create a recovery plan driven by individual needs and goals. Our care program delivers rehabilitative therapists to restore function, specialty services for patients with complex needs, and skilled nursing services for those transitioning from hospitalization to home. Aviva at Fitzsimons is located at 13525 E. 23rd Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045. www.avivaatfitzsimons.com Vivage Senior Living is an independently owned, Colorado-based management company working with seniors and those with disabilities. Vivage Senior Living current operates and manages thirty-one (31) community in Colorado and Missouri. Wellage, the Senior Living arm of Vivage family of companies currently operates four (4) Senior Living communities. Vivage/Wellage is located at 12136 West Bayaud Avenue, Suite 200, Lakewood, Colorado 80228. For more information about Vivage Senior Living / Wellage Senior Communities or this news release, please contact Heather TerHark at 303-886-9968 or [email protected]. www.vivage.com Contact- Heather TerHark Glen Campbell Vivage Senior Living Colorado Pain Care 303-886-9968 720-412-5911 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Colorado Pain Care President Donald Trump announced this past week that his Council on Environmental Quality is streamlining the rules for major infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, pipelines and power transmission lines required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970, aiming to cut the approval time for such projects in half. The council published the changes in the Federal Register on Friday, setting in motion a 60-day comment period. The changes are widely expected to be challenged in the courts by the usual self-styled environmental groups. Businesses and labor unions hailed the proposal as long overdue, but environmental groups assailed it, saying the changes would contribute to climate change. In an opinion piece penned for The Hill Tom Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Sean McGarvey, president of North Americas Building Trades Unions argued that the changes would actually benefit the environment. Consistent with its environmental mission, modernizing NEPA will accelerate projects that improve the efficiency of our transportation and distribution systems, thereby reducing traffic congestion and associated emissions, Donohue and McGarvey write. It will also spur investment in renewable energy sources and transmission infrastructure, much of which is subject to delays by current NEPA procedures. And timelier implementation of conservation projects will help mitigate environmental impacts, such as damaging floods and wildfires. In recent years, major projects have taken an average of four-and-a-half years to be approved. The council aims to cut that to two years. A number of projects have taken far longer to be approved. An airport runway expansion in Taos, N.M., took 20 years. A highway and bridge project in Michigan to cut traffic congestion and, therefore, carbon emissions took 16 years. A Maryland public transit project stretched out for 14 years. We want to build new roads, bridges, tunnels, highways bigger, better, faster, Trump was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying at a White House press conference, where he was flanked by business and union leaders. These endless delays waste money, keep projects from breaking ground and deny jobs to our nations incredible workers. The Journal noted that business groups claim lengthy NEPA reviews are partly to blame for a nearly $1 trillion backlog in transportation projects alone. Democratic House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona said in a press release, Polluting industries need more public oversight, not less, and supporting this approach means ignoring real-world consequences in favor of Trump administration fairy tales. The courts have been crystal clear that NEPA requires considering climate impacts, so this is just another inevitably doomed effort by this administration to try to illegally rewrite the rules it doesnt like. Nevada Democratic Rep. Susie Lee sent out a Twitter comment saying, Weve seen what happens if these major projects dont have environmental impact reviews. Damaged ecosystems, increased pollution, and increased health risks. We cant go backwards on this. Nevada Republican Congressman Mark Amodei said Friday, Since were only about 24 hours out from the release of the proposed changes, well have more for you next week, but so far the concepts look good. Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus tweeted, While horrific fires create a crisis in Australia, President Trump still tries to deny climate change. It is inexcusable for the Trump Administration to put the Presidents corporate allies ahead of our health and safety. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the administration of blocking any federal efforts to confront climate change. These new guidelines undermine critical building requirements that ensure that our communities are able to withstand the growing threat posed by the climate crisis, she was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. Even the liberal Los Angeles Times editorial board, in an editorial condemning the NEPA rule changes, conceded, In truth, NEPA probably does need a tune-up. The current regulations date back to 1978 and have been amended only once since, in 1986. Its reasonable to assume that all those years of experience have exposed flaws and shortcomings that could be addressed to improve and expedite the environmental review process. But the Trump administration, with its open denial of climate change and its industry-friendly policies aimed at expanding the production of fossil fuels, is not to be trusted with such a task. The streamlining of the bureaucracy will both contribute to economic growth and add infrastructure that will actually cut pollution in most cases. The naysayers are basing their projections of climate crisis on speculation and models that have yet to predict anything accurately. Thomas Mitchell is a longtime Nevada newspaper columnist. You may email him at thomasmnv@yahoo.com. He also blogs at http://4thst8.wordpress.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Trump and Congress Double Down on Demonizing Iran Will the national security nightmare ever end? By Philip Giraldi January 14, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - If one seriously seeks to understand how delusional policymakers in Washington are it is only necessary to examine the responses by the president and Congress to the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. The first response came in the form of a Donald Trump largely incoherent nine-minute self-applauding speech explaining what he had done and why. It was followed by a House of Representatives War Powers non-binding resolution that was all theater and did nothing to limit the presidents unilateral ability to go to war with the Islamic Republic. It was reported that the Trump speech had been hurriedly written by aides the night before it was given and that it existed in several competing drafts. It was full of out-and-out lies and half truths and intended to reassure the American people that the president was keeping them safe. The opening line might well be regarded as some kind of joke: As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Trump has in fact done more to ensure that Iran will have a nuclear weapon than any other president through his abrupt withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) and his assassination of Soleimani, which together have convinced the Iranian leadership that there is no possibility of a reasonable negotiated solution when dealing with the American president, even when he claims he wants to talk. Trump then went on characteristically to eulogize our brave soldiers on far flung battlefields before lying again, saying For far too long all the way back to 1979, to be exact nations have tolerated Irans destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond. Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen. Lie one is that the destructive and destabilizing behavior actually has Made in U.S.A. stamped all over it. Lie two is leading sponsor of terrorism, an honor that belongs to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States, in that order. And lie three is that Iran pursued nuclear weapons. It has never done so. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Trump them boasted that Last week, we took decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist from threatening American lives. At my direction, the United States military eliminated the worlds top terrorist, Qasem Soleimani. As the head of the Quds Force, Soleimani was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities. Trumps preening was again wrong on every count: Soleimani is no terrorist by any reasonable definition, nor is there any evidence that he threatened American lives. And Trump and his chorus of neocons cannot name a single atrocity committed by the man The president claimed that Soleimani viciously wounded and murdered thousands of U.S. troops, including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their victims, a particularly absurd charge suggesting that Trump believes that any American soldier who died in Iraq or Afghanistan did so at the hands of the Iranian Major General. By the same logic, the musical chairs series of American generals that have served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have murdered hundreds of thousands of people. If Trump wants to start counting fatalities he should perhaps start with David Petraeus. Piling Ossa on Pelion, Trump declared that Soleimani orchestrated the violent assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. In recent days, he was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him. There is no evidence whatsoever to support either assertion and Trump then goes on to ascribe all the problems of the Middle East to Iran, ignoring the roles played by others, most notably Washington, Israel and the Saudis. He also roundly condemned the JCPOA before asserting falsely that Three months ago, after destroying 100 percent of ISIS and its territorial caliphate, we killed the savage leader of ISIS, al-Baghdadi In reality, ISIS was defeated by the Syrian Army and its allies Russia and Iran, the very countries that Trump has continued to vilify even as he struts his anti-terrorist credentials. Qassem Soleimani played a major role in the destruction of ISIS. The only good things in the Trump speech were that it was short and the president did not find it necessary to say a whole lot of good things about Israel. Interestingly, no one in the mainstream media or in the political chattering class made much effort to challenged Trump on the facts he cited, though there was some pushback from mostly Democratic congressmen who stated that they could not see any imminent threat in the evidence that the Administration produced during a classified briefing. The actual war powers concurrent resolution that passed in the House last Thursday was symptomatic of the unwillingness of the political opposition to take on the illegal and immoral wars in the Middle East themselves it had no teeth and will not change anything. The resolutions subject line Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran actually is misleading. And the first thing the text does do is slam Iran with the same dubious facts employed by Trump, including that The Government of Iran is a leading state sponsor of terrorism and engages in a range of destabilizing activities across the Middle East. Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was the lead architect of much of Irans destabilizing activities throughout the world. The resolution includes In matters of imminent armed attacks, the executive branch should indicate to Congress why military action was necessary within a certain window of opportunity, the possible harm that missing the window would cause, and why the action was likely to prevent future disastrous attacks against the United States. It then goes on to explain that When the United States uses military force, the American people and members of the United States Armed Forces deserve a credible explanation regarding such use of military force because The War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.) requires the President to consult with Congress in every possible instance before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities. It concludes with Congress has not authorized the President to use military force against Iran. It would seem to be a devastating critique of the Trump Art of War but then comes the wiggle room Congress hereby directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran or any part of its government or military, unless Congress has declared war or enacted specific statutory authorization for such use of the Armed Forces; or such use of the Armed Forces is necessary and appropriate to defend against an imminent armed attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its Armed Forces, consistent with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution. Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the President from using military force against al Qaeda or associated forces In other words, all Trump has to do is claim imminent threat or that he is attacking terrorist associated forces and he is home free no matter what he does, particularly as the resolution itself is non-binding. The sheer ignorance and arrogance of elites in Washington combined with a colonialist mentality that dismisses Asians and Africans as unthinking wogs who will do ones bidding if they are confronted with punishment is currently on display. It was inevitable that Iraq would demand the departure of U.S. troops after thirty-four Iraqi militiamen were killed by American drone and air strikes, but many in Washington just didnt get it. Trump threatened, in characteristic fashion, to respond with sanctions, but now Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has made it official in a phone call to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, demanding a plan and timetable for the removal of the American soldiers. The State Department has indicated that it is not prepared to discuss the matter. Some pundits who should know better have predicted that the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers will not take place because Iraq somehow needs the United States. And besides, there will be economic consequences if Iraq does go ahead to insist on an American withdrawal. But sometimes abstractions prove to be more powerful than material incentives. The United States violated Iraqi sovereignty not once but twice and murdered 34 Iraqis in the process. Pompeo can huff and puff all he wants and Trump can mouth his illiteracies, but nothing changes the fact that the United States did things it did not have to do based on a delusional view of the Middle East and will have to pay a price. Minus a presence in Iraq, Syria will be untenable and one might hope that once the U.S. loses its ability to directly confront Iran on the ground the whole house of cards just might collapse, leading to Washingtons gradual departure from the region. That would be good for the region and also for the United States even if Israel and the Saudis, who prefer to have Americans fight and die in their wars, might object. Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org. This article was originally published by " TheUnz Review " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== School districts across the country are offering students a broad array of target languages to learn in dual-language programs. Schools now offer dual-language education in 18 languages, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Education . The report from the office of English language acquisition lists the number of states that offered programs in each language during the 2016-17 school year. Spanish, by far the most common home or first language of the nations English-language-learner students, topped the list with 30 states. Federal data show that roughly 75 percent of the nations English-learners are Spanish-speaking. No other language accounts for more than 3 percent of school-age language-learners. Mandarin Chinese was next on the list, with programs in 13 states, followed by French in nine states, German in six states, and Vietnamese in four states. A desire to preserve native languages has driven demand for programs for decades. Economics play a role too, with a growing number of states seeing foreign language as the key to accessing the global economy. Theres also a growing recognition among educators that dual-language learning has shown great promise for increasing achievement for English-learner students . In dual classes, teachers split instruction time between English and the target language, though the balance of time spent teaching in each language can vary program to program. But the home languages of English-learners are not always the most popular choices for dual-language programs. The percentage of Arabic-speaking English-learners, the second-largest group in U.S. schools, has increased 75 percent over the past eight years to 122,000. Yet, only two states reported offering dual-language programs in Arabic. Two states also reported having dual-language programs in Hmong, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Somali. Like Arabic, Somali is also among the top five home languages for English-learners in U.S. schools yet it isnt broadly offered as a dual-language option. One state each reported having dual-language programs in Armenian, Cantonese, Haitian, Hebrew, Italian, and Korean. The report does not list which states have programs in those languages, but did report that California offers programs in 13 different languages. Fifteen reported that they do not have schools that offer dual-language programs. Heres a look at the fact sheet : Related Reading Dual-Language Learning: 6 Key Insights for Schools Dual-Language Programs Boost Student Achievement in English, Study Finds Bilingual Teachers are In Short Supply. How Can Schools Cultivate Their Own? Photo: Kindergarten teacher Priscilla Joseph works with students starting their second year enrolled in the Toussaint LOuverture Academy, a Haitian Creole dual-language program at Mattahunt Elementary School in Boston. --Gretchen Ertl for Education Week THE MASTER (2012) Stream on Netflix; rent on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu. Joaquin Phoenix is up for the best actor Oscar this year for his performance in Joker. If he wins, it will be the first time that hes landed the award. But hes been nominated twice before: Once for the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, and more recently for The Master, a hallucinatory drama from Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in 1950, the film stars Phoenix as Freddie Quell, a World War II veteran and alcoholic who falls under the spell of a California cult leader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The cast also includes Amy Adams and Laura Dern, who is herself up for a best supporting actress Oscar this year. In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott called the film a glorious and haunting symphony of color, emotion and sound. This is a movie, he wrote, that defies understanding even as it compels reverent, astonished belief. JAYDE ADAMS: SERIOUS BLACK JUMPER Stream on Amazon. I dont know if youve ever been to stand-up in this day and age, the British comedian Jayde Adams says in this new special, but basically, stand-up isnt stand-up unless you are trying to inflict change upon your audience. Other topics she addresses here include emoji, feminism and black turtlenecks. In this era of great power competition, China will emerge as America's strategic threat, a top Pentagon official has said, reiterating the need of ramping up US presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Having the US Army in the region strengthens America's position to conduct global commerce, build confidence with investors and compete economically, US Secretary of Army Ryan D McCarthy told a Washington audience on Tuesday. "In this era of great power competition, China will emerge as America's strategic threat. Over 60 per cent of the world's GDP flows through the Straits of Malacca, and China is militarising the global commons," he said in his address to the Brookings Institute think-tank. "In order to commoditise life for its 1.1 billion people, China is increasingly relying on its Belt and Road Initiative, having the US Army in the region with modernised weaponry, and this alongside our counterparts, changes the calculus and creates dilemmas for potential adversaries," he said. According to McCarthy, the Indo-Pacific region is strategically important to the US, which is an Indo-Pacific country. "The world's foremost populous countries and three largest economies are located in the region. Six of the 10 largest armies in the world are located there. The US maintains five bilateral treaties, all critical for our national security and prosperity. "Forces in the region reinforce the American narrative or alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative. And in order to be competitive and gain an advantage, we must have continuous presence. In order to maintain over-match and prevent conflict in the region, the US Army must be postured in the region for the intensifying competition, and if required, to win in conflict," McCarthy said. Observing that there is an ongoing fight for influence in the region, for which axis and presence are critical, McCarthy said that partners matter but the type of partner is paramount. "China uses coercive economics and many partner with them out of necessity and in this lies a great deal of vulnerability," he added. SANTA FE A Santa Fe homeowner said he will appeal a ruling by city government that he must remove pro-Palestinian art from the stucco walls surrounding his east side home on Camino Lejo. The photo-like posters, introduced by the words End military aid to Israel, can be seen from Old Pecos Trail near the intersection with San Mateo Road. On Tuesday, the city sent Guthrie Miller a letter informing him that he has 10 days to remove the multi-part mural because its material and colors do not conform to historic district standards. In a statement, city spokeswoman Lilia Chacon confirmed that Miller, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist, has the right to appeal. In an interview, Miller said he was originally approached about five years ago by a group called Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine about having his wall plastered with pro-Palestinian posters and that he agreed. The posters put up on July 12, 2015 lasted about one day, Guthrie said, and were reportedly torn down by a well-dressed man. This time was different, he said. No one asked his permission to put up the art, which he said was the work of indigenous activist and artist Remy, from Arizona. I woke on Sunday, Jan. 5 and the art was there, Guthrie said. But he said he is not opposed to Remys message that Palestinian women and children are being victimized by Israeli soldiers. The mural has provoked debate on Facebooks Santa Fe Bulletin Board, where reactions range from What (expletive), anyone who would support this has very little insight to the history of the region to So sad, so true so powerful! Rabbi Berel Levertov of Santa Fe Jewish Center Chabad took issue with calling the art pro-Palestinian. In a statement, he said, Lets not call it Pro Palestinian when it really is just anti Israel, and it does nothing to help the Palestinians who are suffering under their terrorist leaders. Much of the latest installation has been destroyed since it went up. But Guthrie said it originally included the juxtaposition of an image of a Native American woman being arrested by Santa Fe police during a 2017 demonstration against the now-defunct Entrada with a picture of a Palestinian woman being confronted by an Israeli soldier with a gun. The Entrada, part of the Fiesta de Santa Fe for decades before it was halted in 2017 following three years of Native protests, commemorated the re-occupation of Santa Fe by the Spanish 12 years after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Guthrie said Remy and activists in Red Nation, a Native group based in Albuquerque, are aligned with the Palestinian cause. Levertov said, For the Native American artist to equate the Israeli Jews (with) the white Europeans who conquered America and persecuted the indigenous people is simply a complete twist of the basic fact that the Jewish people are indigenous to the Land of Israel for at least 3,500 years. Guthrie said he plans to go through with the appeal process in order to bring more attention to human rights violations against Palestinians. I think it will be an interesting process, he said. The citys notice to Guthrie said that stuccoed exterior walls in the Historic Review District must be brown, tan, or local earth tones and that the rules do not provide for the application of artwork on paper with starch-paste glue. No military shortcuts in Med says Di Maio EU mission agst interference in Libya says FM (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 15 - There are no military shortcuts in the Mediterranean region, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Wednesday. "The broader Mediterranean is seeing a particularly turbulent phase above all in Libya, Iran and Iraq," Di Maio told the Senate. "Widespread instability closely touches national interests. "The more Italy can be united and compact the more it will succeed in fielding an effective political action. "In the Mediterranean there are no military shortcuts, they do not produce sustainable solutions. Di Maio added that Italy had "stigmatized" outside interference in Libya, which had turned into a proxy war. He called for a European mission against this interference. Di Maio said Sunday's Libya conference in Berlin had been set up "also thanks to us". The foreign minister also said Italy's priority was military security in Iraq. He said Italy was asking for a compromise between Iran and the United States. Di Maio said Italy had been informed by the US after its drone strike killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. (ANSAmed). Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:33:32|Editor: zyl Video Player Close SAO PAULO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Sao Paulo state on Tuesday made its first shipment of chicken meat to China as part of the country's new push to expand market in Asia. State Agriculture Secretary Gustavo Junqueira said "it's a historic moment" at an event in Boituva city marking the initial shipment of 27 tons of chicken, part of a contract for a total of 500 tons. The official credited the achievement to a trade mission sent to China and the decision to open a trade office in Shanghai in 2019. "Sao Paulo is no longer dedicating itself solely to (supplying) chicken for its significant internal market as it aims to explore international markets. That generates an incentive for jobs (creation) at meatpackers and also at rural producers," said Junqueira. Wilson Mello, president of the state's investment promotion agency InvestSP, highlighted the importance of Chinese market to Sao Paulo's meatpacking companies. Mello also lauded Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria's visit to China in August, when the state's first trade office abroad was opened in Shanghai to expand bilateral business opportunities. "We spoke with Chinese representatives during the tour and we strove to have our trade office attract Chinese investment in Sao Paulo state," said the chief of InvestSP. Brazil's chicken exports rose 2.8 percent in 2019. China, as a leading market, bought 34 percent more compared with 2018 and imported the largest amount since opening its market in 2009. China has been Brazil's leading trade partner since 2009. Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest and most populated state, accounts for a third of the country's gross domestic product. Astronomers from UCLA's Galactic Center Orbits Initiative have discovered a new class of bizarre objects at the center of our galaxy, not far from the supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. They published their research today in the journal Nature. "These objects look like gas and behave like stars," said co-author Andrea Ghez, UCLA's Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Astrophysics and director of the UCLA Galactic Center Group. The new objects look compact most of the time and stretch out when their orbits bring them closest to the black hole. Their orbits range from about 100 to 1,000 years, said lead author Anna Ciurlo, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher. Ghez's research group identified an unusual object at the center of our galaxy in 2005, which was later named G1. In 2012, astronomers in Germany made a puzzling discovery of a bizarre object named G2 in the center of the Milky Way that made a close approach to the supermassive black hole in 2014. Ghez and her research team believe that G2 is most likely two stars that had been orbiting the black hole in tandem and merged into an extremely large star, cloaked in unusually thick gas and dust. "At the time of closest approach, G2 had a really strange signature," Ghez said. "We had seen it before, but it didn't look too peculiar until it got close to the black hole and became elongated, and much of its gas was torn apart. It went from being a pretty innocuous object when it was far from the black hole to one that was really stretched out and distorted at its closest approach and lost its outer shell, and now it's getting more compact again." "One of the things that has gotten everyone excited about the G objects is that the stuff that gets pulled off of them by tidal forces as they sweep by the central black hole must inevitably fall into the black hole," said co-author Mark Morris, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy. "When that happens, it might be able to produce an impressive fireworks show since the material eaten by the black hole will heat up and emit copious radiation before it disappears across the event horizon." But are G2 and G1 outliers, or are they part of a larger class of objects? In answer to that question, Ghez's research group reports the existence of four more objects they are calling G3, G4, G5 and G6. The researchers have determined each of their orbits. While G1 and G2 have similar orbits, the four new objects have very different orbits. Ghez believes all six objects were binary stars -- a system of two stars orbiting each other -- that merged because of the strong gravitational force of the supermassive black hole. The merging of two stars takes more than 1 million years to complete, Ghez said. "Mergers of stars may be happening in the universe more often than we thought, and likely are quite common," Ghez said. "Black holes may be driving binary stars to merge. It's possible that many of the stars we've been watching and not understanding may be the end product of mergers that are calm now. We are learning how galaxies and black holes evolve. The way binary stars interact with each other and with the black hole is very different from how single stars interact with other single stars and with the black hole." Ciurlo noted that while the gas from G2's outer shell got stretched dramatically, its dust inside the gas did not get stretched much. "Something must have kept it compact and enabled it to survive its encounter with the black hole," Ciurlo said. "This is evidence for a stellar object inside G2." "The unique dataset that Professor Ghez's group has gathered during more than 20 years is what allowed us to make this discovery," Ciurlo said. "We now have a population of 'G' objects, so it is not a matter of explaining a 'one-time event' like G2." The researchers made observations from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and used a powerful technology that Ghez helped pioneer, called adaptive optics, which corrects the distorting effects of the Earth's atmosphere in real time. They conducted a new analysis of 13 years of their UCLA Galactic Center Orbits Initiative data. In September 2019, Ghez's team reported that the black hole is getting hungrier and it is unclear why. The stretching of G2 in 2014 appeared to pull off gas that may recently have been swallowed by the black hole, said co-author Tuan Do, a UCLA research scientist and deputy director of the Galactic Center Group. The mergers of stars could feed the black hole. The team has already identified a few other candidates that may be part of this new class of objects, and are continuing to analyze them. Ghez noted the center of the Milky Way galaxy is an extreme environment, unlike our less hectic corner of the universe. "The Earth is in the suburbs compared to the center of the galaxy, which is some 26,000 light-years away," Ghez said. "The center of our galaxy has a density of stars 1 billion times higher than our part of the galaxy. The gravitational pull is so much stronger. The magnetic fields are more extreme. The center of the galaxy is where extreme astrophysics occurs -- the X-sports of astrophysics." Ghez said this research will help to teach us what is happening in the majority of galaxies. Other co-authors include Randall Campbell, an astronomer with the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii; Aurelien Hees, a former UCLA postdoctoral scholar, now a researcher at the Paris Observatory in France; and Smadar Naoz, a UCLA assistant professor of physics and astronomy. The research is funded by the National Science Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation and Keck Visiting Scholars Program, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, Jim and Lori Keir, and Howard and Astrid Preston. In July 2019, Ghez's research team reported on the most comprehensive test of Einstein's iconic general theory of relativity near the black hole. They concluded that Einstein's theory passed the test and is correct, at least for now. ### The Fab 14 of TSMC at the Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The USA urges TSMC to build its own factory for the production of ICs for military use in the USA. For example, TSMC is currently producing chips for the US F-35 fighter jet, and is supplying American companies such as Apple, Google and Qualcomm as well as Chinese chip manufacturers such as Huawei. As the Nikkei Asian Review now claims to have found out, the USA is increasing the pressure on TSMC to build a factory in the USA for security reasons. Because chips used for military purposes should also be produced in the USA. The fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping recently did not want to rule out the possibility of using force to unite Taiwan with mainland China should help the USA to push TSMC in this direction. TSMC, however, shuns the high manufacturing costs in the USA. In China, TSMC maintains a factory in Nanjing, among other things to manufacture for Huawei. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, TSMC generates 10 percent of its total sales with Huawei, and Chinese companies account for 20 percent of TSMC's total sales. TSMC generates 60 percent of its total sales with US companies. Recently, TSMC announced that the company is able to comply with Pentagon security regulations at its Taiwanese plants. The northern mountains in McDowell and other western North Carolina counties will be under a wind advisory from 7 a.m. Thursday to midnight Friday. The advisory from the National Weather Service states there will be northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph expected, especially along the higher ridge tops. It will affect he northern mountains of western North Carolina, including Avery, Yancey and Mitchell counties, as well as mountain portions of Caldwell, Burke and McDowell. Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result, according to the advisory. Affected areas are the mountains of McDowell, Mitchell, Avery, Yancey, Caldwell and Burke. Residents are urged to use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. You should secure outdoor objects. When supervisors from The Bridge Food Center in Midland approached DuPont leaders about a product donation, they never expected the additional help and support that would follow from other local entities. The Bridge, which is a volunteer-run grocery store that serves families that make less than $56,000 a year, is celebrating its third-year anniversary this month. During the last few years, the organization has stored its extra inventory in a pole barn at the Messiah Lutheran Church, located on Poseyville Road. However, because the storage barn wasn't insulated, volunteers had to move some of the product into the church during the winter months, and then move it all back again in the spring. Marsha Stamas, supervisor at The Bridge, said it made things a little tricky for volunteers who had to pick up items and bring them to the store. "It was hard because the (volunteers) would come out and they'd have to look for things here (in the pole barn) and then have to look for things there (in the church) and it just took extra time as well throughout the winter," she said. Looking for a way to solve the issue, The Bridge volunteers reached out to DuPont asking for an insulation product donation, while also trying to raise money themselves. Kayley Lyons, community relations and internal communications manager at DuPont, said the company was eager to help and was able to secure Thermax insulation for the project. However, she said she knew more would be needed to see the project completed, including fasteners and volunteers. So, she and Greg Bergtold, DuPont PBS Global Advocacy leader, reached out to other local entities to get involved. Rodenhouse, a Michigan-based company, donated the fasteners and then Greater Michigan Construction Academy provided the labor. "At the trading academy we're always looking for projects that we can do within the community and so it was never a question as to whether or not we would participate, it was a matter of when we would be able to get started," said Stephanie Davis, Greater Michigan Construction Academy CEO. "So, kind of a no-brainer for us." Davis said about 10 students from one of the academy's carpentry class will be using their weekly night class time to complete the project. In addition, Three Rivers Corp. provided equipment to get the job done. "It's just really nice because you have this collaboration of all of these companies and organizations to help this one organization that's thriving and feeding our people who are in ALICE population," Lyons said. Since open, The Bridge has served more than 4,400 families, offering affordable food, personal care products and cleaning supplies, targeting the ALICE population. ALICE, which stands for "Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed," refers to people who live just above poverty level, making too much to receive state assistance. Stamas said she never expected all the community support for this project. "It's just overwhelming to me the support that we have seen between DuPont and Three Rivers and that coordination of the community," she said. "And, I think that's what it is - it is the community rallied around this to help the community. The impact is more than just The Bridge." The Bridge Food Center is located at 1539 Washington St. in the Midland Towne Center Plaza. Hours are from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The Bridge accepts cash, credit and debit as forms of payment. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing over $400,000 from an NYPD charity that supports families of slain police officers, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Tuesday. Lorraine Shanley, 69, a West Brighton resident, was sentenced for bank fraud and subscribing to false and fraudulent individual income tax returns, according to authorities. With every paycheck, thousands of New York City Police Department officers and employees donated to charity to support the surviving spouses and children of officers killed in the line of duty,'' said Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District. Yet for years, Lorraine Shanley exploited that generosity, using her position as the charitys volunteer treasurer to steal over $400,000 for herself and her family. Todays sentence sends a clear message that those who commit such fraud will face serious consequences, Berman said. From 2010 to 2017, Shanley served as a volunteer treasurer for Survivors of the Shield, a charity that almost exclusively receives donations from current NYPD employees to support the families of NYPD officers killed in the line of duty. During the time period Shanley volunteered at the charity, Survivors of the Shield received approximately $1.9 million in donations from an average of 5,500 NYPD employees per year, officials said. As an authorized signatory on Survivors of the Shields bank account and credit card, she was authorized to use the charitys funds. However, authorities said she used the money to benefit herself and her family, fraudulently obtaining nearly half a million dollars to pay for luxuries like event tickets, airfare, hotels and high-end shopping. In addition to her sentence, Shanley will be sentenced to three years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit $406,851 and to pay restitution of $406,851 to Survivors of the Shield, including $290,000 to be paid within 30 days of todays judgment, and $103,983 to the IRS. School Safety Technology CA District Turns to Drones for Campus Safety A California school system is using eyes in the sky for extra security. According to local reporting, the Delhi Unified School District, in the state's central valley, has added three drones to its safety operations. District safety officers have been trained on how to use them as well as their on-board high-resolution cameras, which can capture video and photography. One of the primary uses currently: to monitor students heading off campus or to "remote places" at Delhi High School, which maintains a closed-campus policy. Once students are on campus, they're not allowed to leave during the school day from 7:50 a.m. to 3 p.m. without the permission of administration. School District Safety Officer Ricardo Lemus operates a drone at Delhi Unified. Photo by Nate Gomes, courtesy of the Merced County Office of Education "The drones provided an ability for us to supervise large amounts of geographic areas absent of us having foot traffic or the need to have a specific person in remote places," Associate Principal Christian Miley told Reporter Shayla Giradin. "One of the really amazing things is the deterrent level that it has created just by virtue of hearing it." Now, noted District Safety Officer Ricardo Lemus, rather than hopping into their cars or walking off campus during the lunch hour, students are more likely to "stay inside." The flying devices have also been used to check the district's bus routes. The team of safety officers also anticipate alerting the Merced County Sheriffs Department about suspicious incidents; for example, earlier in the fall they alerted county emergency personnel about a house fire. The drones were financed by state Local Control and Accountability Plan funds. In a rare instance, the National Security Agency (NSA) discovered and reported a major bug in Microsoft Windows 10 that could have left millions of computers vulnerable to attack. According to Wired, the bug was in Microsoft's CryptoAPI service - a mechanism for confirming the legitimacy of the software or establishing secure web connections. Hackers could have exploited the loophole to remotely distribute malware or intercept sensitive data. Given that Microsoft officially ended support for its Windows 7 OS this week and there are more than 900 million Windows 10 PCs globally, the scale of a potential attack could have been significant. However, Microsoft has released a patch for Windows 10 and Server 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Labour Fund (Tamkeen) and Good Word Society have signed an agreement to hone the skills of Bahraini job-seekers and facilitating their entry into the entrepreneurship sector after their graduation. Tamkeen Chief Executive Officer Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Janahi signed the agreement with Good Word Society Chairman Hassan Mohammed Bouhazaa. A series of workshops will be held for the participants benefiting from the programme, who will also pay field visits to executive and consultancy authorities to be updated about successful entrepreneurs and hone their practical skills. Under the agreement, a batch of twenty young participants will be trained on the entrepreneurship, targeting particularly job-seekers who are registered with the Ministry of Labour and Social Development Ministry. Mr Humaidan recently held a meeting with Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Kamal Ahmed and discussed ways of benefiting from the opportunities in this sector to provide jobs for citizens. The meeting followed the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister to support the business environment in all productive sectors and integrate jobseekers in the private sector. Mr Humaidan stressed the importance of stepping all efforts to support different economic and development sectors and removing all obstacles hindering them so as to attract investments and woo more companies that generate jobs for citizens. Indian Army Day 2020: Every year on 15 January Army Day is celebrated to honour the Indian soldiers for their valour and sacrifice. This year, the Indian Army will celebrate 72nd Army Day. Indian Army Day 2020: Every year on 15 January Army Day is celebrated to honour the Indian soldiers for their valour and sacrifice. This year, the Indian Army has celebrated the 72nd Army Day. It is also observed because Field Marshal KM Cariappa took command of the Indian Army from General Francis Butcher on the same day in 1949. The event, which is organised at Parade Ground, Delhi, is also part of the Republic Day parade. History In 1949, the command of the Indian Army was handed over from General Sir Francis Butcher to Lieutenant General KM Cariappa. Therefore, 15 January marks the transfer of power from the British colonial rulers to Indians. Delhi: #ArmyDay celebrations is underway at the Army Parade ground, Delhi Cantt. Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane is now conferring medals upon the jawans. pic.twitter.com/22ASQgEtJB ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2020 Who was Field Marshal Cariappa? Cariappa, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, hailed from Karnataka. With a career spanning over three decades, Cariappa was a recipient of the title of Field Marshal of India, after Sam Manekshaw. Significance The Army Day is celebrated every year at all Army Command headquarters to honour our nation's soldiers who set the example of selfless service and brotherhood, and above all, love for the country. Competing with superpowers like the US, Russia and China, the Indian Army is one of the most powerful militaries of the world. How is Army Day celebrated? The day is marked by a showcase of military strength. Bravery awards such as unit credentials and Sena medals are distributed to deserving personnel on this day. The main event is organised at Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment. The Delhi Cantonment Parade Ground was renamed as Cariappa Parade Ground after Field Marshal KM Cariappa in 2016. DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Delaware late Tuesday night to visit with the families of two soldiers killed over the weekend by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Standing alongside the deputy secretary of defense, Mr. Pence also witnessed the solemn ritual of transferring the remains of Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin, 29, of Newport News, Va., and Pfc. Miguel A. Villalon, 21, of Joliet, Ill. The men were killed Saturday while on patrol for the American-led NATO mission known as Resolute Support, the Pentagon said in a statement. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. In a scene that was misty, quiet and somber compared with the raucous Trump campaign rally he had spoken at earlier Tuesday in Wisconsin, Mr. Pence stood with his hand on his heart as a white-gloved crew carried the flag-draped cases from the C-17 aircraft that brought them back to the United States. Let them be assured that America will never forget or fail to honor the service and sacrifice of the two soldiers, Mr. Pence had told the crowd in Milwaukee, which fell momentarily silent. Mayo GAA is introducing a series of financial reforms after months of controversy over governance issues. Its county board is also seeking to enter mediation with millionaire backer Tim O'Leary who issued High Court proceedings in December seeking the return of a 150,000 donation. The English-born options market trader wants the money back due to concerns he has over how it was spent. A foundation he chairs is also continuing to withhold 250,000 raised for GAA projects in the county "until appropriate governance structures are put in place". Details of the reforms were outlined at a meeting of the board on Monday, where a financial report was given by new treasurer Valerie Murphy. According to minutes seen by the Irish Independent, the state of the county's finances was described as "not very good". The meeting heard the board is faced with having to make a loan repayment and a payment to the Revenue Commissioners this month and is looking to draw down funds from Croke Park and a London-based fundraising arm. Among the reforms being introduced is the introduction of a purchase order system, where nothing can be bought without having a PO number. The board is also in the process of trying to get set up on Croke Park's accounting system. The changes come after Mayo GAA's latest accounts showed a 83,000 loss for the year ended October 2019, despite having income of 3.5m in that period. Much of its financial struggles are linked to the servicing of a sizeable debt linked to the redevelopment of MacHale Park in Castlebar. Repayments amounted to 409,572 last year. But Mr O'Leary has also been critical of the board in relation to sponsorship issues and has sought a commitment that future sponsorship deals be put through a competitive bid process. The meeting heard the board wanted to resolve outstanding issues and would make a full statement once mediation has been completed. The new bottomless brunch at Mott 32 in Las Vegas is truly dim sum and then some. The wild $58-per-person Sunday brunch, which started on January 12 at the high-end Chinese restaurant inside The Palazzo, begins with an assortment of rarefied dim sum, including excellent har gow made with king prawns and garlic chives. Deeply black bamboo-charcoal buns are sugar-coated and filled with barbecue Iberico pork, and there are South Australian scallop dumplings topped with caviar and gold leaf. Courtesy of Mott 32 Next comes your choice of unlimited signature items that include seafood, meat, soup, rice, noodles, vegetables, and desserts. Standout options include sesame prawn toast and an ultra-luxurious preparation of barbecue Iberico pork that features shaved black truffles along with scrambled eggs. So, yes, Vegas now has a restaurant with all-you-can-eat Iberico pork and truffles. Courtesy of Mott 32 This experience is a lot more civilized than a buffet. Theres no need to shove people who are asking too many questions and holding up the line at a carving station. You dont have to start running when you see a hotel pan filled with premium seafood. You order from your server. You have up to two hours to eat as much as you want. For $35, you can add a free-flow beverage package with specialty cocktails, Moet and Chandon Champagne, and a mocktail. Courtesy of Mott 32 To answer whats probably your primary question: Mott 32s famous applewood-roasted Peking duck isnt available at brunch. But at least you can enjoy rice-vermicelli soup with pickled mustard greens and shredded duck as part of your brunch feast. And Mott 32 has plenty of other great brunch options for aggressive carnivores: Theres beef tendon with a soft smoked tea egg; crispy roasted pork belly; fried mashed potatoes with short ribs; and cold free-range chicken with Sichuan peppercorns and chile sauce. Mott 32, by the way, is next to Majordomo Meat & Fish, where David Chang plans to turn his back room into a meat house that might offer a buffet. The Palazzo feels like it could really be the place for all-you-can-eat extravaganzas in 2020. Mott 32, 3325 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, 702-607-3232 A Mexican soap star accused of manslaughter after killing a man with a single punch during a road-rage incident in Miami last year has asked a judge to modify his bail conditions to allow him to return home. Pablo Lyle appeared before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marlene Fernandez on Wednesday and asked her to permit him to fly back to Mexico to see his family and allow him to return to work. Lawyers for the 33-year-old actor, who starred in Netflix's 'Yankee' series, said that Lyle would not be a risk to avoid any future court dates while he is away from Miami because of his celebrity status and his determination to go through the trial process. Lyle was hit with manslaughter charges after surveillance video showed him punching Juan Ricardo Hernandez in the middle of a busy Miami street the afternoon of April 2, 2019. Scroll down for video Pablo Lyle (center), who starred in Netflix's 'Yankee' series, has asked a Miami judge to modify his bail conditions. The actor wants to return to Mexico to visit his family and possibly work. In April 2019, Lyle was involved in a road-rage incident last year in Miami and knocked out 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernandez, who died a couple of days later in a hospital. Lyle's attorney's argue that he acted in self-defense because Hernandez wanted to attack his family Juan Ricardo Hernandez (pictured) suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding following the April 2019 road-rage incident with Mexican actor Pablo Lyle The blow sent Hernandez crashing to the pavement. He suffered a fracture to the right side of the skull and internal bleeding from the fall, and was declared dead April 4 after his family gave the order to have his life support turned off. In the video, Hernandez confronted Lucas Delfino, Lyle's brother-in-law, who was behind the wheels of the SUV that allegedly cut off Hernandez on a highway. Mexican soap opera star Pablo Lyle (pictured) allegedly punched 63-year old Juan Ricardo Hernandez during a April 2, 2019 in Miami. Still image from a surveillance camera shows the moment Juan Ricardo Hernandez (pictured in white t-shirt) confronts Lucas Delfino, the SUV driver, at a traffic light Lucas Delfino (left) goes back to his vehicle before Pablo Lyle (middle) rushes at Juan Ricardo Hernandez (right) Delfino then hopped out and then turned away from Hernandez when he noticed the car started to roll across the intersection. Lyle then came out of the car and rushed towards Hernandez, knocking him out. Lyle has argued in court that he acted in self defense because Hernandez threatened him and his family. Lyle is due back in court January 22 when Fernandez is expected to submit her ruling on the defendant's latest petition. Fernandez placed Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine, who in August shot down Lyle's request to have the case thrown out on under Floridas Stand Your Ground immunity law. Fine then ruled that the law did not apply to Lyle because he charged at Hernandez as he was walking away and the assaulted him. Lyle was once named on People en Espanol's '50 Most Beautiful' list in 2015. Lucas Delfino (left) confronts Juan Ricardo Hernandez (right), as his SUV starts to roll away Myles Andrew Lyster pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material and using a restricted computer without consent in the Southport District Court on Tuesday A former Movie World theme park worker who admitted to sending himself photos of women and girls taken from ride cameras has walked free from court. Myles Andrew Lyster pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material and using a restricted computer without consent in the Southport District Court on Tuesday. The pictures the 49-year-old emailed himself included upskirt pictures of his female victims who were on the rides at the Gold Coast theme park, Gold Coast Bulletin reported. Part of Lyster's job involved accessing the pictures taken on rides which theme park visitors could then purchase. Accidentally explicit images would not be sold. His Movie World bosses discovered the lewd emails and advised police, who searched his home on August 9, 2018. They found 260 images and videos at the property, Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy told the court. 'The images included adult women with shirts going up on rides and 13 depicted 'upskirt' images of children,' she said. Lyster suffered from bipolar disorder and had a history of depression, defence barrister Jason Buckland said. Lyster has been unemployed since he was fired from his role as a computer photo operator at Movie World. During the police search, Lyster advised officers they would find four explicit images of young girls on a USB drive, Ms Guy told the court. Lyster was sentenced to six months prison by Judge Katherine McGinness, which was wholly suspended. The 49-year-old emailed himself hundreds of pictures of his female victims which he accessed from cameras positioned near rides at the Gold Coast theme park (pictured) 'The thing that concerns me is that he has done nothing to get assistance since the time he has been charged,' Judge McGinness said. He is now required to undergo medical and psychological treatment. No conviction was recorded for the child exploitation material so Lyster will not be put on the sexual offenders register. Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said police were notified once staff learned of Lyster's emails. 'Movie World is saddened by this isolated incident and have worked closely with the on-ride photography provider to further strengthen our procedures and processes,' he said in a statement outside court. The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, yesterday said though he travelled to London for medical reasons, he was not on admittance in the hospital. The governor had on Monday sent a message to the people of Bauchi from London informing them that he was in the United Kingdom to seek medical care for an undisclosed condition. The governor, who sent the special message ahead of an expected Supreme Court ruling on last years governorship election in the state, expressed optimism of getting a favourable judgment at the apex court. He also expressed his grievance with some of his party men whom he said he would deal with upon his return for plotting to sabotage his administration. In a reaction to the governors message, a section of the public allegedly said on social media that the governor was critically ill and would be in London for a while. However, Governor Mohammeds spokesman, Muhospital Gidado, in a subsequent statement countered that insinuation. He said his boss is well and a medical trip to London was a mere routine checkup as prescribed by his doctors. Mr Gidados statement did not, however, reveal the medical condition that took the former minister to a London hospital. Read the full statement below. The Bauchi State Government has noted with concern, rumors being peddled by some mischief makers suggesting that His Excellency Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed is bed-ridden and cannot be back anytime soon to continue to perform his duties. Some members of the opposition have, in the wake of the on-going Supreme Court case, unfortunately, insinuated that His Excellency is in the United Kingdom for the long haul because of what they term to be his deteriorating Health condition. I wish to state that this dubious line of thought exists only in the wicked and diabolical world of the rumor merchants. Our Governor was away on a medical appointment with his doctor, had a minor procedure and returned to his temporary abode the same day. He even had a road walk barely 3 hours after the procedure. Those who are active on social media must have seen a picture His Excellency personally posted, looking rested and cheerful. I can confirm to the good people of Bauchi State that our Governor will be joining us soon as he personally indicated in a social media feed this morning. Finally, the Governor extends his appreciation for the endless prayers, phone calls and messages he has been receiving from the kind and loving people of our State in particular and other well-wishers across Nigeria. If you asked hiring managers to name the qualities they look for in candidates, most would say plays well with others. Team players support the kind of healthy, collaborative work environment that fosters creativity and engagement. Teamwork is especially important for fledgling business and startups where lean, tenacious teams are expected to burn the midnight oil, usually over takeout containers in their open office layouts. One for all, and all for one. Theres no doubt that being a successful entrepreneur requires working closely with others. But a less mythologized, equally crucial part of running a business involves being alone. Thats when we do the kind of valuable work that cant be automated or delegated the work product that requires being in a room with just ourselves and our thoughts. Being a loner usually has negative connotations, but psychologists have discovered that certain benefits flow from social withdrawal. Among these: Creativity, problem-solving and leadership. As any entrepreneur will tell you, innovation and problem-solving are requisites for maintaining a competitive edge. In fact, a global survey of more than 1,500 CEOs found that creativity was the most important leadership trait for success. So, you may wonder, why arent people rushing to shut their office doors and spend time with themselves? We cant stand being alone As it turns out, many of us have negative feelings towards solitude and I mean, really negative. When faced with a choice between solitude and physical pain, most people prefer actual, physical pain to isolation. In a 2014 study, when given a choice, more than two-thirds of men and a quarter of women participants chose electric shock rather over being alone with their thoughts. Timothy Wilson, the social psychologist who conducted the experiment, commented, I think [our] mind is built to engage in the world. So when we dont give it anything to focus on, its kind of hard to know what to do. That confusion leads to discomfort, and the result is that we feel unhappy when left with nothing but our thoughts. Today, our devices' endless stream of media make it all too easy to avoid solitude. Unfortunately, hyperconnectivity is the enemy of innovation and leadership. The benefits of some isolation 1. Creativity If you need to come up with a creative solution, getting off the grid is a time-honored method. Take it from Bill Gates, who does twice-annual Think Weeks, dedicated to secluded study and reflection, or Isaac Newton, whose breakthrough theory of gravity came after the Great Plague closed his university and he spent almost two years working alone at home. While collaborating with others can help to get our creative juices flowing, some time alone, with just ourselves and our thoughts, is necessary for creativity. One study from SUNY Buffalo found that people who were unsociable who sought out solitude scored higher on creativity tests. According to Ester Buchholz, a psychologist and the author of The Call of Solitude, lifes creative solutions require alone time. As she writes: Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out, to emerge with new discoveries, to unearth original answers. Our desire to stay connected constantly, both physically and virtually, can destroy our capacity for that very necessary individual contemplative work. 2. Self-knowledge On the entrance of Apollos temple at Delphi, the phrase Know Thyself was etched in stone. Ancient Greek philosophers extolled the process of self-examination. To them, it was ridiculous to try to learn other things without first knowing yourself. As an entrepreneur, its crucial to engage in self-discovery, too. We have to know our strengths and weaknesses; the areas where we can aim to improve and those which are better off being delegated. In the thirteen years since launching my company, Ive learned that if you arent willing to acknowledge your shortcomings, you cant grow your business. Thats why I believe that introspection and innovation go hand-in-hand. But to engage in introspection, we need time away. Staying connected hurts our ability to discover ourselves. 3. Leadership abilities Finally, as Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire write for Harvard Business Review: Great thinkers and leaders throughout history from Virginia Woolf to Marcel Proust to Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak have lauded the importance of having a metaphorical room of ones own. Strong leadership requires some isolation. Leaders have to make important, sometimes quick decisions based on their intuition. They have to guide with their visions and uphold their unique values. You cant fully grasp any of these insights without taking time for solitary reflection. Make time for being alone To ensure I have regular periods of introspection, I make a deliberate effort to build solo time into my schedule. If youre struggling to find solitude, you can start with a weekly digital detox: One full day with no devices and no checking email or social media. I also designate daily offline hours. For me, the beginning of the day works best, when I do my morning pages. Ive found that even an hour can make a big difference. Importantly, I let my colleagues know when Im offline. That way, Im setting expectations and letting them know its okay to do the same. Its also important to embrace what works for you. That way, youll stick with it. If for you, alone time means writing with an analog journal, do it. If your best ideas come during long walks, then take one. Its tempting to stay in our bubbles of hyperconnectivity, but at the end, your creativity and leadership depend on breaking out. Its up to you: valuable solitude is yours for the taking. Related: Why Alone Time Gives Your Business an Edge 3 Ways to Invest in Yourself and Your Business at the Same Time Adopting Mindfulness For Productivity Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Contrary to much of the speculation that had swirled ahead of the announcement, aside from Schiff, only one other manager is a member of the Intelligence Committee Demings, who belongs to both the Intelligence and Judiciary panels. And while many Democrats expected Pelosi to assemble a vast team to involve lawmakers across the divides of her caucus, she instead opted to keep the team limited to seven. The Vietnam Public Health Emergency Operation Centre said it was developing response plans and preparing for worst-case scenarios following an outbreak of pneumonia in China. International tourists have their temperatures checked before entering Vietnam at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City. Photo courtesy of the International Health Quarantine Centre of HCM City Although no cases of the virus have been detected in Vietnam so far, there was a high risk that the coronavirus would enter the country due to growing numbers of people travelling for the Lunar New Year, it said. The centre, which comes under the Ministry of Healths Preventive Medicine Department, said it would work closely with the World Health Organisation and international health organisations to monitor the development of the new strain of coronavirus. Inspections at border gates would be enhanced, including monitoring the health of all passengers travelling to and from Wuhan in central China. Le Tan Phung, deputy director of Khanh Hoa Provinces Department of Health, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the department, in co-operation with the Vietnam Public Health Emergency Operation Centre and Cam Ranh International Airport, had increased screenings of arrivals at the airport. Five remote body temperature scanners have been installed to monitor tourists, and a separate counter has been set up for those arriving from Wuhan. Khanh Hoa Province is a popular destination among Chinese tourists. It led the way by welcoming two million Chinese tourists in the first nine months of last year, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimated. The Ministry of Health on Sunday released advice for people on how to protect themselves from the virus by warning them to limit contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections. If necessary, people should wear a surgical mask and keep their distance. People were also advised to keep warm, maintain personal hygiene, wash their hands with soap and gargle with antiseptic mouthwash to prevent pneumonia, the ministry said. The ministry also recommended people cover their mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing, preferably with a cloth or handkerchief, to reduce the spread of respiratory secretions, as well as limit close contact with animals or wildlife. The move came after the ministry said that Wuhan the capital of Hubei Province had admitted 59 people to hospital with an unidentified form of pneumonia, including one fatality, as of January 10. One of Wuhans largest meat and seafood markets was pinpointed as the centre of the outbreak and was shut down on January 1. The man who died was a customer there. All cases have been recorded in Wuhan. There is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission so far and there have been no recorded cases of medical workers falling ill. The ministry also said that people who had returned from Wuhan, or had close contact with a person with pneumonia, in the city in the last 14 days should visit the nearest health centre for examination and treatment if they showed signs of fever, coughing or shortness of breath. VNS Ministry on alert as pneumonia virus arises in China The Ministry of Health has taken steps to protect local residents from a pneumonia virus called coronavirus, which has already claimed a life in China. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the Los Angeles area will be getting a quarter of a billion dollars from the state to put towards decreasing homelessness. He made the announcement during a stop in L.A. on his statewide homelessness tour, which kicked off earlier this week. Newsom visited a board and care home (also called a residential care facility or group home) in central L.A. Board and care homes house adults who need care, such as mental health issues, but don't need skilled nursing services. They can be a refuge for people on the verge of homelessness. But these homes are rapidly closing across the state, and especially in Los Angeles County. Why? Reimbursement rates from the state haven't kept up with costs. High demand for L.A. real estate can lure building owners toward higher-value uses. In the last three years, 39 board and care homes closed across the county, according to the California Community Care Licensing Division. In December, county lawmakers and advocates for the homeless asked Newsom for $500 million of the state's new budget to preserve board and care homes. Newsom appeared to have been listening. "We no longer can assume that a city, even as large as L.A., even as extraordinarily large as L.A. County can do this alone," Newsom said Tuesday. The governor's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year includes more than $1 billion to tackle homelessness. Of that, $750 million was put towards a new California Access to Housing and Service Fund, which will be used, in part, to stabilize board and cares. UPDATE: 6:35 p.m.: This article was updated to include information from Newsom's visit to L.A. This article was originally published at 2:15 p.m. Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously located the facility visited by Newsom in South L.A. LAist regrets the error. A $12,000 penalty against German Pellets for nuisance conditions that resulted from a fire that blanketed Port Arthur in smoke for months is another example of the Texas agency charged with regulating air quality trivializing nearby residents suffering, a local activist charges. But this time, the companys landlord has developed a process to keep it from happening again. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality board on Wednesday is expected to vote on accepting the penalty against German Pellets, down $3,000 from the original penalty assessed. A provision included in the companys bankruptcy proceedings shows the matter, which previously required the company to suspend operations and remove all wood pellets, had already been largely finalized, complete with a signature from representatives for both parties. It does not appear the board will require any additional protections for nearby residents. But an oversight process for other companies doing business at the Port of Port Arthur, where the silos were being leased by German Pellets, has been employed since the beginning of 2019, with no incident. In April 2017, a fire started at one of the ports five metal silos leased by German Pellets to store thousands of tons of sawdust pellets. The Port Arthur Fire Department spent a total of 102 days on scene, conducting regular air monitoring and continuously spraying water to control hot spots. The silo collapsed in early June of that year, and a second silo began heating up two weeks later. It was kept under control and didn't become a full blaze. As TCEQ is not a safety regulatory body, it doesnt regulate operations or management of plants. So the penalties assessed are in response to moderate, unpleasant burning wood and smoke odors coming from the silos on 22 days spread across three months. In previous proceedings, the regulatory body has said its hands are tied by the state legislature when it comes to assessing fines. Texas Pellets, part of German Pellets, already paid the city of Port Arthur more than $300,000 for overtime and equipment. Now, an open letter being circulated by Port Arthur Community Action Network CEO and founder John Beard to TCEQ regarding German Pellets calls the $12,000 penalty a slap in the face to people who suffered and continue to suffer from 102 days of smoke exposure. This proposed fine says to us that our initial and ongoing suffering is of no consequence, trivializing its effects on our lives, the letter said. But the Port of Port Arthur was watching. In an announcement last March, German Pellets said it had spent the last 18 months working with fire protection and safety engineering firm Jensen Hughes to rebuild at the port. While it was undergoing its own design process, the companys landlord was checking in on what it was doing. Larry Kelley, executive director and CEO of the Port of Port Arthur, said the incident changed the way the authority views and handles tenants. Without a doubt, there is no way you can go through one of those experiences without changing the way you do business, Kelley said. The port contracted its own forensics firm to oversee the design and construction work German Pellets initiated, and it still retains those services for its own inspections. A new company now runs the Port Arthur facility at the port, but Kelley said the port included the right to inspect and review the site at its convenience into the contracts. Even though the silos that were destroyed in the 2017 fire were only about four years old, Kelley said the new facility is much improved in terms of safety and efficiency. The estimated manufacturing capacity of the wood biomass pellet plant in Woodville is 450,000 metric tons of pellets per year. The Port Arthur terminal has a total storage capacity of 68,000 metric tons, and is capable of loading vessels up to approximately 60,000 metric tons. Kelley said there is still ongoing litigation between the company and the port. German Pellets filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and was still going through the proceedings during the fire and its aftermath. There was a sale hearing last March, but a company wasnt awarded a winning bid until October. Estonia-based Graanul Invest and its subsidiary, Woodville Pellets LLC, completed acquisition of the Woodville properties and Port Arthur assets in October, paying $63 million cash plus additional capital assets and assumed liabilities. Graanul Invest is one of the largest producers of wood pellets in Europe. Kelley said that the relationship with Graanul Invest has been amiable so far. I can say that the process that exists out there now is better than what weve had there before, Kelley said. The TCEQ meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Austin. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com John Leguizamo and seven more actors have been added to the cast of Amazons feminist sci-fi series The Power, head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Tuesday. Other cast members joining previously announced stars Leslie Mann and Aulii Cravalho on the 10-part global thriller series, which is based on Naomi Aldermans novel of the same name, include Toheeb Jimoh, Ria Zmitrowicz, Halle Bush, Heather Agyepong, Nico Hiraga and Daniela Vega. The Power, which goes into production in February, takes place in a world where all teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people and then find out they can awaken this ability in older women, according to Amazon. Also Read: 'Lord of the Rings' on Amazon Casts 13 Series Regulars Per Amazon, The world of The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, all teenage girls in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. Its hereditary, its inbuilt, and it cant be taken away from them. Coming alive to the thrill of pure power: the ability to hurt or even kill by releasing electrical jolts from their fingertips, they rapidly learn they can awaken the Power in older women. Soon enough nearly every woman in the world can do it. And then everything is different. Over the first season, the series will follow its cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Moldova, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world, according to the streaming service. The Day of the Girls has arrived but where will it end? The Power is adapted for the screen by Alderman, who is working alongside an all-female writers room, with every episode also to be directed by women, including Reed Morano (The Rhythm Section). The series is executive produced by Alderman, Morano, Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl), Naomi de Pear (Dont Forget the Driver) and Claire Wilson (Little Drummer Girl). Tim Bricknell is a producer. Story continues The series is produced for Amazon Studios by production company Sister and is the latest U.K.-produced Amazon original series. See the descriptions for the The Power characters below, each in Amazons own words. Also Read: Priyanka Chopra, Richard Madden to Star on Russo Brothers' Amazon Series 'Citadel' Leslie Mann is the charming and ambitious politician Margot Cleary-Lopez. Aulii Cravalho (Moana, The Little Mermaid Live, Rise) plays Jos Cleary-Lopez, daughter of Margot Cleary-Lopez. Shes curious, judicious and observant like her mother, but the two find themselves at odds. At first she is fearful of her Power, thinking there is something very wrong with her. But this fear soon gives way to dismay when she finds herself unable to control her Power in the same way everyone else seems able to. John Leguizamo (When They See Us, John Wick, Romeo + Juliet) plays Rob, Margots partner, a wonderful and supportive father, but he is struggling as a husband. Hes always been a point of stability and support to his wife and kids, quick to make them laugh, but recently his marriage has cooled. But when the seismic changes caused by The Power impacts the unity of the family he loves, Rob is fearful for their safety but surprised by its effect on his wife and marriage. Also Read: Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna Sign First-Look Deal at Amazon Toheeb Jimoh (French Dispatch, The Feed, Ted Lasso) plays Tunde, a young and charming Nigerian with big dreams. An aspiring video journalist, Tunde finds himself catapulted into the international spotlight when his video capturing the effects of the Power is posted to his YouTube channel and goes viral. Suddenly the world takes notice of the change thats happening, and Tunde determines to investigate the phenomenon, reporting from the heart of events as they spread across the globe. Ria Zmitrowicz (Three Girls, Mr Selfridge) plays Roxy Monke, illegitimate teenage daughter of feared London crime boss Bernie Monke. Her dad loves her, but wont let her join the family business, no matter how many times she asks. Frustrated by her lowly position in the predominately male family hierarchy, Roxy is determined to prove that she is far more capable than her brother. When she gets her Power, and as she slowly realises its new unbridled strength, she takes matters into her own hands sparking a chain of events which spiral quickly out of control. Newcomer Halle Bush plays Allie. Given up by her birth parents early in her life, shes been moved from home to group home to failed adoption to yet more fostering, never spending more than a year in one place. Shes only ever had herself to rely on, especially in her current abusive foster home. So when her Power awakens she takes the first opportunity to escape, embarking on a journey across the U.S. which leads to revelation and transformation. Nico Hiraga (Booksmart, Ballers, Moxie, North Hollywood) as Ryan, who provides comfort to Jos when she feels most isolated. Heather Agyepong (Noughts and Crosses, Girls both for theater) as Ndudi, Tundes close friend whose own first-hand experience of the Power on the Day of the Girls serves as catalyst for their investigations into the phenomenon Daniela Vega (A Fantastic Woman, Tales of the City) as Sister Maria, a support to Allie when she needs it most. Read original story Amazon Adds John Leguizamo, 6 More to Cast of Feminist Sci-Fi Series The Power At TheWrap Crime By Ls Cohen Published: January 15 2020 Geoffrey Girnun was indicted on charges in September and pled guilty in Federal court on Tuesday. A former Associate Professor at Stony Brook University (SBU) pled guilty in federal court in Central Islip on Tuesday to theft of government funds from cancer-related research grants issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty plea in a statement. Geoffrey Girnun, 49, of Woodmere, was charged in September with theft of state and federal government funds, wire fraud and money laundering. According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorneys Office, Girnun was arrested on September 12, 2019 and accused of submitting fraudulent invoices for research equipment to SBU from sham companies he created to conceal his theft of funds from cancer-related research grants issued by the NIH and SBU. Girnun formed shell companies Atlas Metabolomics, LLC and Empyrean Biosciences, LLC , which purportedly provided research items and equipment for the defendants cancer-related research projects. Girnun then submitted fraudulent electronic invoices to SBU for payment to the companies for equipment, goods and services that were never received or provided. SBU used NIH and SBU grant funds to pay the shell companies over $200,000. Girnun transferred the NIH and SBU grant funds into his personal bank accounts. He allegedly used those funds to pay for personal expenses, including paying his home mortgage. Scott J. Lampert, Special-Agent-in-Charge, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) said that Girnun will face the consequences of his actions. Taxpayers fund medical research with the hope that promising scientific breakthroughs will result in much-needed treatments and cures for patients," said Lampert. "Because the money for medical research is limited and the need for scientific advances is great, its incredibly important to clamp down on those who would steal such grant money for personal gain." Girnun formerly worked at the Renaissance School of Medicine at SBU. Girnun has a doctorate degree in cancer biology and while employed at SBU, served as a principal investigator for various research projects. According to an SBU webpage, Girnun research involved investigating the metabolic control of liver cancer and molecular co-activation in obesity and colon cancer. He is an expert in free radicals and cancer biology. He resigned from his position in December 2019. With todays guilty plea, Girnun has been held accountable for his unconscionable scheme to embezzle for his personal use hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funds that were intended to help find a cure for cancer, said Donoghue in a statement. At his guilty plea proceeding today, Girnun agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $225,000, which includes the NIH funds and approximately $147,000 from SBUs foundation and state-sponsored grants. Girnun could also face up to 10 years in prison and a fine to be determined later. Investigation Agency (NIA) Director-General on Wednesday met Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla pertaining to an investigation of a case related to Deputy SP Davinder Singh, who was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police while he was travelling with two Hizbul terrorists. The investigation of the case has been handed over to NIA, sources claimed. The sources further said that a team headed by IG level officer will go to Jammu and Kashmir for the investigation soon. The probe team will investigate Davinder's link with the terrorists. The NIA will also register a case after seeking details from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the source further added. Jammu and Kashmir police intercepted a vehicle on Sunday and arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh along with two top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists while they were travelling together. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) McLEAN, Va. No guns allowed at the gun rights rally. That's the word from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who announced Wednesday that he plans to declare an emergency and ban firearms around the state Capitol before a gun rights rally Monday that could draw thousands of armed people and militias from Virginia and out of state. Gun rights advocates organizing the event promised a "peaceful day to address our Legislature" in Richmond, but their efforts sparked a much larger, grassroots movement that has drawn interest from gun owners and militias around the country. Northam said at a news conference that intelligence from law enforcement agencies indicates that out-of-state militias and hate groups fueled by misinformation and conspiracy theories have "malicious plans" for the rally. "They're not coming to peacefully protest. They are coming to intimidate and cause harm," Northam said. Northam said he will declare a state of emergency in Richmond from Friday evening through Tuesday evening. Under the order, city, state and Capitol police will form a unified command, state employees are encouraged to stay home for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and all weapons will be banned in the Capitol Square. "It makes no sense to ban every other weapon but allow firearms," Northam said. After the emergency expires Tuesday, most firearms will be allowed on the grounds. Virginia is an open-carry state. Northam said the decision was a response to threats, some of them made online in forums hosted by hate groups and white nationalists. The governor called on rally organizers to dissuade out-of-state groups from coming to the rally and encouraged a "peaceful day" for Virginians. "Unfortunately, they have unleashed something much larger something that they may not be able to control," he said. "No one wants another incident like the one we saw at Charlottesville in 2017. We will not allow that mayhem and violence to happen here," Northam said, referring to a white nationalist rally where clashes broke out and a counterprotester was killed. Story continues Philip Van Cleave, who is organizing the Richmond rally as president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said the event is still on. He said his group will weigh how to respond to Northam's ban, depending on the specifics. "Hell no, he's not going to stop it with that little act," Van Cleave told USA TODAY, adding that his group could pursue legal action. Driving the momentum is opposition to a host of gun control proposals from Northam and Democrats, who won full control of the state's government in November for the first time since 1993. "The governor and leadership in the Democratic Party have declared war on law-abiding gun owners, and they're tired of it," Van Cleave said. "It's basically people saying we're fed up. We've had enough. "The governor has touched the third rail. He has motivated people to drive across the state and from other states to come protect our rights." Gun rights protesters rally before a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 13. The committee passed several bills that would tighten gun restrictions. Van Cleave promised upward of 100,000 armed gun owners in Richmond in hopes to dissuade enough Democrats to scrap or weaken the proposals. Stickers and posters displayed in meetings around the state declared, "Guns save lives" and "We will not comply." Pro-gun websites and social media spread messages against government "tyrants" coming to take people's guns and urged their audiences to travel to Virginia to support the effort. Van Cleave's group issued fiery warnings of what could happen to gun owners should the measures pass. "All these bills are basically steps in the direction of disarming people," he said. Northam has worked to dispel the idea that he intends to go "door-to-door" with authorities to take away people's guns. "We have no intention of calling out the National Guard. We're not going to cut off people's electricity. We're not going to go door-to-door and confiscate individual's weapons," Northam said Jan. 7 alongside Democratic lawmakers. "We are going to pass common-sense legislation that will keep guns out of dangerous hands and keep Virginia safer. It is just that simple." Among the proposals: Limiting handgun purchases to one per month, expanding background checks on gun sales, allowing localities to ban guns in some public areas and a "red flag" bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed dangerous to themselves or others. Those measures were advanced by Democrats in the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Others include rules about reporting lost or stolen firearms and a ban on "assault firearms," though some moderate Democrats expressed concerns over that bill. Virginia Democrats' proposals are no more extreme than many other states' gun control measures, said Ernest McGowen, a political science professor at the University of Richmond. "When you really drill down into it, it's definitively a swing to the left but not one of those things where Northam is saying, 'Take away everyone's guns,' " he said. Similar proposals have not been struck down as unconstitutional for violating the Second Amendment, but any legal battle that ensues could have ramifications for other states, McGowen said. "Virginia is the canary in the coal mine," Van Cleave said. Out-of-state groups and militias may attend the Richmond event because "they're looking down the road. If Virginia gets hit with this stuff, they're going to be next," he said. Though he said the Virginia Citizens Defense League has been in contact with police, militia groups from in and out of state "volunteered to provide security ... not to mention enough citizens armed with handguns to take over a modern mid-sized country," the group said in a publication. Van Cleave said the event is different from others that have drawn out-of-state rallygoers, such as the Unite the Right white nationalist demonstration that turned violent. A neo-Nazi killed counterprotester Heather Heyer and injured others when he rammed his car into a crowd. "Charlottesville was a protest. We're lobbying," Van Cleave said. Since November's election, more than 100 counties, cities and towns across the state have declared themselves "sanctuaries" for the Second Amendment, saying they will not enforce unconstitutional laws. Though the resolutions are largely symbolic, many sheriffs have come out in support of them. In some counties, thousands of people swarmed boards of supervisors meetings in support of the measures. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said last month that the resolutions have "no legal force" as localities "cannot nullify state laws." "Theyre just part of an effort by the gun lobby to stoke fear," he said in a statement. Groups supporting the gun control legislation backed by Democrats said the election in November showed that voters approve of the proposals. Among both Democrats and Republicans, gun laws were the most important voting issue before the election, according to a Washington Post-George Mason poll. Supporters of gun control hold up photos of gun violence victims during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary committee at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 13. "Virginians made their voices heard in November when they voted overwhelmingly for candidates who ran on promises to pass common-sense gun safety laws," said Michelle Sandler, a volunteer with Virginia Moms Demand Action. "The extremist armed militias heading to Richmond next Monday are not representative of the majority of Virginians." Though Virginia turned blue in the election, Democratic voters generally are not as far left as others in the party nationwide, McGowen said. Democratic lawmakers and Northam face the challenge of establishing gun control measures their entire base will support, McGowen said. "Just because they voted for Northam doesn't mean they are necessarily for every part of his agenda," McGowen said. If Democrats push forward with the gun proposals, Van Cleave said, his group's supporters will rally support to flip the state Legislature again in two years. "Look, they've woken up a base that's been sleeping. ... Purple areas will turn bright red," he said. "They're going to pay for this at the polls." Contributing: The Associated Press Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia gun laws: Northam to ban guns at Richmond rally, lobby day DES MOINES, Iowa After nearly an hour, the question that progressives had been fearing finally arrived. Sen. Bernie Sanders laughed. Sen. Elizabeth Warren did not. I didnt say it, Sanders insisted, with Warren turning his way, as he denied her explosive account that he told her privately in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. Bernie is my friend, Warren replied firmly, disputing his memory, and I am not here to try and fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head-on. All through this Democratic primary, voters have worried aloud about the thorny subject of electability, wondering if a woman even a woman they might support would be able to defeat President Donald Trump. In her exchange with Sanders on Tuesday, Warren hoped to turn the issue on its head, noting that of all those onstage, only the women, Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, had won all of their major elections and later observing that the partys success in the 2018 midterms was powered largely by female candidates and voters. She also made it known that no one else here had defeated a Republican incumbent in the past three decades, a statistic Sanders moved to rebut, citing his House victory in 1990. Wasnt that 30 years ago? she asked, turning to the crowd like an actor breaking the fourth wall in a sitcom. I beat an incumbent Republican congressman, Sanders repeated, emphasizing that 1990 was indeed 30 years ago. I dont know if thats the major issue of the day, he concluded. But the context was. In seeking to defuse any concerns about a potential female nominee, Warren appeared to see no option but to extend, if not expand, a feud her advisers claim she never wanted. Since the beginning of the primary campaign, Sanders and Warren have proceeded with a patina of comity, focusing on their mostly shared policy goals and reminding anyone who would listen about their ostensibly genuine mutual admiration. Bernie and I have been friends for a long, long time, Warren said last month in Ottumwa. Elizabeth Warren is a very good friend of mine, Sanders told reporters last weekend in Iowa City. But competitive campaigns tend to test the definition of the word. Perhaps this moment, or something like it, was always going to come the natural consequence of a contest with these stakes, of two candidates fighting for so many of the same voters. It was easy enough to project friendship and allegiance all last year as dual progressive dreamers, tag-teaming to make the case against the more incremental politics of a front-runner like former Vice President Joe Biden. It is quite another thing to see the current state of the primary with wide-open races in Iowa and New Hampshire and, in theory, room enough for only one liberal standard-bearer as the calendar turns and maintain a fully united front. Sunday was fraught: Warren said she was disappointed in Sanders amid reports that his campaign had distributed a script to volunteers instructing them to depict Warren as out of touch. Monday was worse: CNN reported that Sanders told Warren during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman could not win the presidency. Sanders forcefully denied having made the remarks. Warren said that Sanders had in fact raised doubts about a womans electoral viability. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed, she said in a statement Monday. I have no interest in discussing this private meeting any further because Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry. Entering Tuesdays debate, progressive groups had spent the preceding 48 hours in something approaching full-scale panic, alarmed that a skirmish between two largely like-minded candidates would serve only to benefit more moderate alternatives like Biden and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. The question of whether a woman can defeat Trump has been the long-whispered soundtrack of much of this Democratic primary, invoked constantly in voter interviews among even supporters of candidates like Warren and Klobuchar. Warren had not directly addressed gender as forcefully as she did Tuesday night, when she vowed, in her closing statement, to become the first woman president of the United States of America. She has more frequently talked about Aunt Bea a wonder woman in her life who made an appearance in an exchange about child care. It was a story she has told many times before, but the circumstances on the debate stage made it newly resonant. More for you Michael Bloomberg fires off bizarre tweets to get attention during Democratic debate If I hadnt been saved by my Aunt Bea, I was ready to quit my job, Warren said. And I think about how many women of my generation just got knocked off the track and never got back on. As late as last week, it seemed as if the debate was shaping up primarily as a clash between Sanders and Biden. Since a U.S. airstrike killed Irans top military commander, the two men have been sparring over foreign policy. Biden has seized on the escalating tension to highlight his experience while Sanders has used it as grounds to promote his longtime focus on international diplomacy. Sanders, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, has also repeatedly and aggressively hit Biden on his vote to authorize it. The sparring over foreign policy has delighted Sanders advisers, who have long ached for direct conflict with Biden: Not only is he a moderate foil to Sanders democratic socialism, but he also in many ways represents the establishment Washington that Sanders loathes. Biden was bracing for the fight. But when it came time for Sanders to go on offense, he settled occasionally for jokes. I would not meet with absent preconditions I would not meet with the, quote, supreme leader, who said Joe Biden is a rabid dog, he should be beaten to death with a stick, Biden said about the leader of North Korea. Sanders butted in: Other than that, you like him? Other than that, I like him, Biden confirmed. As ever on Tuesday, Biden presented himself as the candidate Trump fears most. Ive been the object of his affection now more than anybody else in this stage, he said. While Biden is not an enviable debater on his best day, he seemed to largely survive the evening without a significant misstep no small thing as he continues to lead most national polls and edges into contention in surveys of Iowa and New Hampshire, where he has long struggled. That no candidate has yet emerged as a decisive front-runner in Iowa has made voters decisions here all the more complicated as they strain to identify someone who can defeat Trump. Only 40% of likely Democratic caucusgoers have made up their minds, according to a Des Moines Register poll released last week; nearly half said they could be persuaded to support another candidate, and 13% said they did not have a first choice. Of course, the locals have also found excitement in the stress, making the proceedings on Tuesday the hottest ticket in a cold town. Leaving a restaurant Sunday, several Iowans asked a Buttigieg campaign official if he could help them get into the event hall. The official demurred. The debate Tuesday went forward against the relentless din of Washington news, from the Iran affair to a looming Senate impeachment trial that could sideline half of the candidates onstage. (The forum also excluded the Democrat most ubiquitous in television advertising: Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor who is not competing in the early-voting states.) The candidates and moderators did not wind toward Trumps congressional fate until nearly the end. There was talk of the Constitution. There was talk about duty. Some things, Warren said, are more important than politics. And some seemingly unimportant actions can appear politically meaningful. At the end of the evening, as the candidates wrapped up more than two hours of televised talking with several minutes of televised farewells, Sanders extended his hand to Warren. She did not reciprocate, beginning a brief conversation that ended without a handshake. Sanders raised two open palms as if to say: enough of this and walked off. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Phnom Penh: The trial of a top Cambodian opposition leader charged with treason began on Wednesday, more than two years after he was arrested in what is widely seen as a politically motivated prosecution. On trial: Cambodia National Rescue Party's President Kem Sokha. Credit:AP Kem Sokha was head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested in September 2017 on the basis of an old video showing him at a seminar where he spoke about receiving advice from US pro-democracy groups. He could be imprisoned for up to 30 years if found guilty. His party was dissolved by Cambodia's Supreme Court in November 2017 on the same basis. The actions were seen as intended to ensure victory by long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodia People's Party in the 2018 general election by eliminating the only credible opposition force. Cambodia's courts are considered to be heavily politicised and under government influence. A viev over the skyscrapers of the City of London and the River Themes in London, United Kingdom on 11 December, 2019. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Venture capital investment in UK tech companies surged by 44% in 2019, meaning that growth in the countrys technology sector continues to outpace that of the US, China, Germany, and France. New data prepared for the governments Digital Economy Council shows that around 10.1bn ($13.2bn) was invested in companies in the sector last year, which accounts for around a third of all technology investment in Europe. The data, compiled by Tech Nation and Dealroom.co, also shows that the UK produces twice as many unicorns companies with valuations in excess of 1bn than Germany, and three times as many as France. 2019 was the third year in a row that growth in venture capital investment exceeded 40%. Early stage investment rounds climbed by 20% in 2019, while investment in more mature companies doubled. READ MORE: International investors own record 1tn of UK stocks Five companies raised more than $250m in 2019, including Checkout.com, the London-based payments startup that is now worth more than $2bn. The data, the council said, also suggests the UK is now behind just the US and China in terms of total venture capital investment. Companies in London raised 7.4bn in 2019, meaning that the UK capital now sits alongside the San Francisco Bay Area, Beijing and New York on the list of the worlds most-funded locations. London is also the leading city for unicorns in the UK, and has produced 46 over the past three decades. In the same period, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Bristol produced a combined total of 20. Fintech was the best-performing sub-sector, according to the data. UK fintech firms raised 4.1bn last year, three times as much as those in Germany. These brilliant new numbers demonstrate the strength of the UK tech industry and how it is a sweet spot of our economy, said digital secretary Nick Morgan on Wednesday. Our tech companies are not only commanding the confidence of global investors but they are also creating new jobs and wealth across the country, Morgan said. Story continues Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that Londons tech sector was a global success story. Our city is the undisputed tech capital of Europe and the record $9.7bn of investment in this sector clearly shows London open to talent and investment from all over the world, he said. Londons successful digital economy is not only an important source of jobs for Londoners but is also bringing prosperity and growth to the rest of the UK. READ MORE: BlackRock vows to address climate change: 'Climate risk is investment risk' BALLSTON SPA At a proceeding in Saratoga County Court on Wednesday, First Assistant District Attorney Alan Poremba revealed more information on the death of 22-year-old restaurant worker Allyzibeth A. Lamont whose body was found dumped in a shallow grave at Northway Exit 13S in Malta a few days after she went missing in October. Poremba said that Lamont, who was allegedly bludgeoned to death by accused murderers Georgios Kakavelos and James Duffy, was killed at the restaurant where she worked Local No. 9 a Johnstown diner owned by Kakavelos and managed by Duffy. He also said Kakavelos, along with Duffy, allegedly tried to cover-up the crime by concealing Lamonts body in tall grass and returning the next day, after dark, to bury her in a shallow grave. In addition to concrete, branches and paving stones, she was covered with fertilizer in hopes her body would decompose quickly, Poremba said. He also said that Kakavelos had his Volkswagen Passat cleaned and detailed days later with special attention to the trunk area. Arguing in front of Saratoga County Judge James Murphy III, Poremba said that Kakavelos bail request should be denied. Murphy sided with Poremba, sending Kakavelos back to Saratoga County jail. Lamont was reported missing after her shift ended at the restaurant on Monday, Oct. 28. Her body was found three days later by police. Both men, 51-year-old Kakavelos of Ballston Spa and 34-year-old Duffy of Johnstown, were charged with the second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Attorney Kevin OBrien, who represents Kakavelos, said his client could face 25 years to life for Lamonts death. He also said Kakavelos has maintained his innocence and has no interest in taking a plea deal. He seems forthright with me, OBrien said. Most of what he has said to me has matched up with what I have learned about the case. So far, what he has said has made sense. OBrien said that he expects a not guilty verdict at a jury trial, which Kakavelos will request. OBrien also speculated on Wednesday that Duffy will get a plea deal and cooperate with the DA's office against Kakavelos. Im pretty confident that is going to happen, OBrien said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Poremba said he could not comment on plea deals. More for you Two face murder charges in death of missing Gloversville woman Details of the Kakavelos and Duffy indictment, first reported by the Daily Gazette, take the crime beyond Johnstown and Malta. The third charge, tampering with physical evidence, allegedly took place in the towns of Milton, Galway as well as Colonie and Glenmont. The dates for tampering run from Oct. 28, the night Lamont went missing, to Oct. 31, the day her body was discovered. In addition to Kakaveloss appearance in court in the morning, Duffy also went in front of Judge Murphy on Wednesday afternoon. The proceeding was the discovery, compliance and the readiness phase of the trial, in which Poremba handed over all the evidence to the defense and certified readiness for trial. Duffy's attorney did not ask for bail and he was returned to Saratoga County jail. Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges in the fall. Duffys attorney is public defender Andrew Blumenberg. The defendants will return to court on Friday, Jan. 31. Our Sri Lankan friends are interested in attracting investment from the Russian Federation, in part, in exploring and producing hydrocarbons and building tourist infrastructure. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs remarks and answers to questions at a joint news conference following talks with Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena, Colombo, January 14, 2020 First of all, I would like to thank my colleague from Sri Lanka, Dinesh Gunawardena, for the warm reception. Sri Lanka is a long-time partner of our country. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957, our ties have been developing by tradition on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual respect and consideration for each others interests. We were pleased to note the growing intensity of political dialogue, including contacts at the top level. Today we reviewed the progress in implementing the agreements reached during the visit of President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena to the Russian Federation in March 2017. We agreed to take additional measures to increase our trade from the current $400 million to $700 million per year. We will pay special attention to this issue during preparations for a regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation that will take place in Russia in the latter half of this year. Our cooperation is making steady progress in the military-technical area as well as in military and law-enforcement contacts. We have a contractual basis for all areas of our cooperation in this respect. We agreed to accelerate the drafting of new documents, including those on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and customs. We discussed in detail the development of tourism. As my colleague said, the number of Russian tourists is growing steadily and fairly quickly. We are grateful to our Sri Lankan friends for the measures they are taking to ensure the security of our citizens who spend their holidays on the island. The resumption of direct flights to Colombo by Aeroflot a little over a year ago is facilitating the growth of tourism from Russia. Our foreign ministries have been closely cooperating on the basis of the mechanism of regular consultations since 2000. We have similar or identical positions on key international issues, primarily, respect for international law, the UN Charter and its central role. We are grateful to our Sri Lankan friends for their traditional support of Russian initiatives at the UN General Assembly on the unacceptability of glorification of Nazism, prevention of the arms race in space, international information security, as well as measures to counter cybercrime and consolidate arms control and non-proliferation agreements. Our delegations are successfully coordinating their approaches in such international bodies as the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO and the OPCW. We agreed to coordinate our positions on the events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in WWII at the United Nations. Russia and Sri Lanka are also united by the task of further democratisation of interstate relations with due respect for the cultural and civilisation diversity of the modern world. A new type of associations, such as BRICS and the SCO, are designed to play a big role in this respect. Russia holds the presidency of these associations this year. Sri Lanka is a SCO dialogue partner. Today we confirmed our interest in a more active and broader participation of our friends in its activities. We will promote our cooperation in the Non-Aligned Movement where Russia is an observer and Sri Lanka is one of its founders. Today we paid special attention to making more efficient our fight against terrorism. We expressed full support for the efforts of Sri Lankan leaders to identify and bring to justice the organisers of last Aprils inhuman acts of terror. My colleague informed me in detail about the measures taken by President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the national government to normalise the situation in the country and ensure law and order and national accord in full conformity with the Constitution. We fully support these efforts. In conclusion, I invited Mr Gunawardena to visit Russia at his convenience. I hope that our cooperation will continue. Question: There is a flurry of analytical reports by experts and various news agencies suggesting that the Libya conflict, given the interference of foreign countries in it, might become another Syria. Do you share these fears? What is the difference in the approaches taken by Russian diplomacy to resolving the conflicts in Libya and Syria? Sergey Lavrov: If Libya could become another Syria, the Libyan people would only benefit from this. Unfortunately, at the moment, Libya does not have statehood. The statehood of Libya was destroyed by NATOs bombing in 2011, and all of us, primarily, the Libyan people, still have to deal with the consequences of this criminal unlawful venture. We would like to join the efforts by the Europeans, including the Germans, the French and the Italians, as well as Libyas neighbours Algeria and Egypt and the UAE, Turkey, Qatar and the Russian Federation to channel them in one direction in order to urge the Libyan parties to the conflict to reach an agreement through negotiations, rather than to continue to sort things out by using force. As you know, during Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Istanbul on January 8 of this year, Russia and Turkey came up with a ceasefire initiative for Libya. As a follow-up to this initiative, yesterday Moscow hosted a meeting between Libyan representatives, which was also attended by the Russian and Turkish defence and foreign ministers. We will continue to work on that. So far, no final agreement has been secured. As for Syria, since you have compared these two countries, thanks to Russias active support in response to the request from the countrys legitimate government, Syria managed to escape the fate that NATO intended for Libya. Some 90 percent of Syrian territory is controlled by the legitimate government. Areas of terrorist activity still remain, primarily Idlib, but the extremists there are gradually losing ground. Speaking of the connection between Syria and Libya, unfortunately, the extremists largely flee to Libya to continue wreaking havoc in that country. Of course, the problems plaguing the northeast of Syria are yet to be resolved. They have been caused, primarily, by the illegitimate presence of the US military in the area, who are vigorously encouraging separatism on the right bank of the Euphrates. We can confidently say that as these remaining issues are resolved, the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government over the territory of their country is steadily expanding. Another difference between the situation in Syria and Libya is and it is not to Libyas advantage the political process which began due to the responsible approach that had been taken to it by all Syrian parties to the conflict with support from external players. Currently, we are working to achieve precisely the same result, i.e., that all Libyan parties to the conflict exercise the same responsibility for the fate of their country. Question: Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Foreign Ministry to draft measures on ensuring the security of Russian citizens in the Middle East. Have these measures been drafted? What do they amount to? Sergey Lavrov: The Russian Foreign Ministry cannot resolve such issues single-handedly. We are cooperating with our colleagues from the special services and civil aviation security experts. Following a collective analysis based on the opinion of professionals, we inform our citizens about these measures via special applications. You may read these recommendations in the relevant application. Question: The media wrote that the Russian Foreign Ministry advised Aeroflot to limit its flights to Tehran at night. Is this true? Sergey Lavrov: Aeroflot itself decided to move flights to Iran to the daytime. This is no secret. Question: This is following from the issues between the US and Iran. There is a concern that if the situation escalates, it could affect the region, particularly in terms of things like tea, rubber and fuel prices in Sri Lanka. So if there is an escalation in tensions between Iran and the US, will Russia intervene and help this region, in particular Sri Lanka? And if I may ask a follow-up to that question, there is a concern that there is a proxy war in Iraq between the US and Iran. Could that happen here in Sri Lanka? Could there be a proxy war in Sri Lanka between the US and China, taking into consideration the focus on Sri Lanka right now from the international community? Sergey Lavrov: Needless to say, nobody can be satisfied with what is happening in the Gulf area, where nervous tensions are heightening and are already affecting actual actions that lead to the loss of human life. Of course, we cannot ignore the fact that everything started from the moment when the United States said unequivocally that all troubles of the region without exception are triggered by Iran, that Iran is the main terrorist (although nobody can prove this), and that Iran should stop exerting influence on anything that is happening around its borders In parallel, the United States walked out on its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear programme and began to impose sanctions on all those who conducted legitimate trade with Iran, which also escalated tensions. Washingtons illegal actions reached their peak with the murder of Qassem Soleimani, an official representative of the Iranian Government who was on a visit to neighbouring Iraq. This is beyond international law and humanism. We are against the escalation of tensions no matter where they emanate from. We are not going to intervene, as you said, in US-Iran relations, if you mean physical action by this word. We are calling on the United States and Iran to display restraint and resolve all problems through dialogue. As far as I understand, the US is saying it is ready for dialogue with Iran but without any preconditions, although what it calls suffocating sanctions against Iran are ramping up during proposals on such dialogue. It so happens that while inviting Iran to dialogue without preconditions, the United States itself lays them out by subjecting Iran to pressure via sanctions. Many politicians have been trying to facilitate the start of US-Iran contacts in order to reduce tensions. We have a positive attitude towards the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and the efforts of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and we are ready to help if the parties are really interested in this. We understand the concern of Sri Lanka over the negative consequences of the conflict in the Gulf area, which may affect exports of traditional goods. However, your producers will not be the only victim. The Gulf has many transport routes that are of strategic importance for the global trade of many goods, including energy sources. Therefore, it is in our common interests to build trust in the Gulf and beyond. This is the aim of the Russian proposal that we again presented at a special conference in Moscow last September. I am referring to the start of efforts to create a collective security system in the Gulf and around it. Lets hope that all interested parties will start discussing ways of reducing tensions and developing neighbourly relations. Question: What concrete steps will be taken to enhance security and anti-terror cooperation between Russia and Sri Lanka? Sergey Lavrov: Foreign Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Dinash Gunawardena and I expressed satisfaction with the development of our security cooperation. Russia supplied and is ready to continue supplying Sri Lanka with weapons that its army needs to ensure its defence capability and security. Question: What investments, if any, can Sri Lanka expect from Russia in the coming years? Sergey Lavrov: Our Sri Lankan friends are interested in attracting investment from the Russian Federation, in part, in exploring and producing hydrocarbons and building tourist infrastructure. I am sure that businesspeople from both countries should step up their direct contacts to discuss these ideas in practical terms. Many licenced producers have not released their full suite of new products to retailers. (GETTY) Clouds hanging over Canadas cannabis industry could begin to part in 2020 as pricier products and more stores in sparsely-served Ontario translate to stronger quarterly results, according to analysts at Stifel GMP Research. The optimistic take on the legal pot sector departs from the prevailing gloom after a rash of stumbles in 2019. Only a handful of companies managed to report a profit last year as illegal dealers proved a tough opponent armed with much cheaper prices. The unlicenced pot scandal at CannTrust (TRST.TO)(CTST) cast widespread suspicion over the industry. Ontario, Canadas largest province by population, ended the year with just 24 retail stores to serve more than 14 million residents. Meanwhile, legal producers grew enough cannabis to satisfy 81 per cent of total weed demand in Canada when their sales amounted to just 14 per cent of the market, according to one analysis. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ.TO) ended 2019 more than 37 per cent lower than it started the year. Steve Hawkins, president and CEO of Horizons ETFs, said its a survival of the fittest world for cannabis in a year-end release announcing the removal of seven companies from the HMMJ portfolio. Mackie Research analyst Greg McLeish said in a recent report that of the 52 publicly-traded cannabis companies the firm tracks, 13 of them have less than six months of cash left on their balance sheets. For Stifel GMP analyst Justin Keywood, the cannabis reckoning of 2019 was largely the result of transitory factors within the nascent industry. We believe licenced producers quarterly results should improve in 2020 (likely H1), which should bolster investor sentiment, he wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. The new wave of edible, vape, topical and beverage products beginning to trickle into the market underpin his optimism. So-called cannabis 2.0 items officially began to hit the market in mid-December, but the actual rollout has proven slow. Story continues Many licenced producers have not released their full suite of new products to retailers. Canopy Growth (WEED.TO)(CGC), for example, is staggering deliveries to provincial wholesalers, beginning with chocolate and vapes in January followed by its distilled cannabis beverages in February. Retail cannabis sales increased at a pace of about 10 per cent month-over-month, according to data up to September. Keywood expects that momentum to continue. He also anticipates cannabis companies will see four to six months of accelerating sales to provincial wholesalers as retailers stock their shelves with new products that sell for significantly more than dried flower, and appeal to a broader range of consumers. Cannabis 2.0 effectively opens access to 50 per cent of consumer demand, potentially doubling the addressable market, he wrote. We estimate that vapes could be priced about 3.5 times higher than dry flower... while edibles could be even more attractive with about nine times higher average pricing than 1.0 products. Keywood believes the gross margin boost from edibles and vapes will be about 10 and 25 per cent, respectively. ONTARIO RETAIL SLOWLY CATCHING UP Frustration over Ontarios lack of physical stores compared to other provinces has been a common refrain on quarterly earnings calls as executives attempt to explain weaker-than-expected results. At the risk of oversimplifying, the inability of the Ontario government to license retail stores right off the bat has resulted in half of the expected market in Canada simply not existing, Mark Zekulin, then-CEO of Canopy Growth, told analysts in November. Ontarios approach to cannabis has suffered major growing pains. The province changed course from plans for a fully-government operated system to a public-private hybrid model. It initially capped the number of stores at 25 due to supply concerns, before abandoning its cap and lottery-based licence system in December. Thats resulted in 24 stores open today, compared to roughly 300 in Alberta, a province with about one-third the population. The new open allocation system is expected to see 20 new stores opening per month beginning in April. We see the changes as late but necessary to take share from the illegal market, Keywood wrote. Fitting with the optimistic view on retail, Stifel GMP chose Fire & Flower Holdings (FAF.TO) as its top Canadian cannabis pick for 2020. The retail-focused company operates a network of about 30 cannabis stores, mainly clustered in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and plans to grow to 135 locations in 2021. Last July, convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD-B.TO) announced plans to invest nearly $26 million for a 9.9 per cent ownership stake in the pot retailer, with the option of purchasing 50.1 per cent. Fire & Flower CEO Trevor Fencott said the relationship will help fuel the companys aggressive growth. Keywood sees the company as an emerging player in Ontario, where it currently operates two stores. We expected a move to a more privatized model in Ontario and see FAF as being a large beneficiary with already 13 strategic lease locations in high traffic areas (mainly in Toronto) ready to go, he wrote. Fire & Flower could supply both its own stores and potentially many other retailers, leading to a very strategic position. We see the Ontario government favouring FAF for this functionality over other companies that do not have a similar operating history. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. [January 14, 2020] Weichai Power Signs Strategic Restructure Agreements with Germany's ARADEX and Austria's VDS to Accelerate Industrialization of New Business Landscape HONG KONG, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weichai Power Co., Ltd. ("Weichai Power" or "the Company", HKEX: 2338, SZSE: 000338) signed strategic cooperation agreements with Germany's ARADEX AG ("ARADEX") and Austria's VDS Holding GmbH ("VDS") in Jinan, Shandong Province. Mr. Ling Wen, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, members of Shandong provincial government and media representatives attended the signing ceremony. According to the agreements, Weichai Power has successfully completed the acquisition of an 80% stake of ARADEX and planned to acquire a 51% stake of VDS, making Weichai Power the controlling shareholder of both companies. The fast implementation and deep integration of the two strategic restructures will effectively improve China's key technical weaknesses in the electric motor control systems of the new energy powertrain and agricultural equipment CVT powertrain systems, and accelerate the industrialization process of Weichai Power's new business landscape. Acquiring core technologies of electric motors, Weichai strives for system integration synergies Since founded in 1989, ARADEX has been committed to the research and development of electric motors, control systems and energy storages for the industrial and transportation industry. The company has become a pioneer in high performance variable frequency and power supply equipment technology. ARADEX offers powerful design, development and system integration capabilities in terms of various CNC servo motors and servo drivers, new energy commercial vehicle motor controllers, electric motors, fuel cell DC/DC converters and other products. Its products have a design life of over 30,000 hours and are widely recognized for their excellent performance, with hundreds of successful applications. Following the strategic restructure in Canada's Ballard Power and UK's Ceres Power, Weichai Power's strategic restructure in ARADEX is another international strategic attempt in the field of new energy powertrain system. Through the effective integration of resoures, Weichai Power has not only mastered core technology in the field of traditional powertrains for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, but also acquired key technology in electronic control system and successfully built the synergetic advantage of an integrated "battery, electric motor and electronic control" system. With the collaborations, parties will work together to accelerate research and development and provide customers with integrated and optimal solutions for new energy powertrain systems. Mastering key technology of CVT, Weichai accelerates development of agricultural equipment market VDS is a technology development company specializing in the powertrain systems for vehicles. It has developed a wide range of products such as hydraulic and automatic transmissions which are widely used in tractors, loaders, municipal vehicles, new energy buses, etc. At the same time, the company has strong product design, R&D, and testing capabilities that can provide consulting services on the whole process from design scheme to prototype production. Through the strategic restructure, Weichai Power and VDS will complement each other's advantages to obtain a win-win accomplishment which could overcome China's weakness on hydraulic transmission technology, control the key and core technology of CVT powertrain system of agricultural equipment, break the grip of foreign monopoly and achieve breakthroughs in manufacturing CVT powertrain systems in China. It is another successfully attempt after Weichai built the hydraulic system of construction machineries. The scale production and commercialization will effectively help China's agricultural equipment transform to the high-end market. Integrate global technology resources with an open posture, support high-quality and sustainable development with core technology. In recent years, Weichai Power has focused on the "Urgent Company Needs, High-end Technology and breaking the Industry's Bottleneck". The company has successively strategic restructuring numbers of global high-tech enterprises around the world, to comprehensively improve the Group's strategic emerging businesses, overcome the technical weakness for both the enterprise and the industry to promote the industrialization and commercialization in China. According to the acquisitions of motor controlling system and agricultural CVT equipment, Weichai Power will strengthen its core competitive advantage on the new energy and CVT hydraulics powertrain system, which will vigorously promote the technological progress of China's high-end equipment manufacturing and new energy industry. About Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (HKEX: 2338, SZSE: 000338) Founded in 2002, Weichai Power Co., Ltd. ("Weichai Power" or "the Company") is a leading vehicle and equipment manufacturing conglomerate with comprehensive strengths in China. Its clusters include dozens of quality companies such as Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Co., Ltd., Shaanxi Fast Gear Co., Ltd., KION Group AG, Linde Hydraulics GmbH & Co. (KG) and Dematic. The Company's business covers three major segments: vehicles and machineries, powertrain and smart logistics, formulating the most complete and the most competitive industry chain in the automobile industry across China. Weichai Power was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on 11 March 2004 and on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on 30 April 2007. Important note : This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this announcement. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. The forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realized in future. Underlying the forward-looking statements are a large number of risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our other public disclosure documents. SOURCE Weichai Power [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos got a bitter reception during his India visit this week after the countrys antitrust regulator initiated a formal investigation hours before his arrival and infuriated small store owners demonstrated in the streets. Bezos is in New Delhi for the Smbhav summit, an Amazon India gathering for small and medium businesses, where he announced Amazon will invest a fresh $1 billion to help bring such companies online. He also committed the retail giant to exporting a total of $10 billion of made-in-India goods by 2025. The 21st century is going to be the Indian century, the Amazon founder said. This country has something special: its dynamism. I also predict that the most important alliance in the 21st century will be between India and the United States. Dressed in blue jeans and a vest echoing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis favorite garment, Bezos lit a ceremonial lamp to inaugurate the summit. A day earlier, he put out a rare tweet to publicize his visit to the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, where he wore a white tunic and a rust-colored Indian vest. Inside Jeff Bezoss $5 Billion Bet That Amazon Can Win India India is arguably Amazons most important overseas market and a key growth driver, however the small businesses that the CEO is hoping to endear himself to are organizing in opposition. The Confederation of All India Traders announced that members of its affiliate bodies across the country would stage sit-ins and public rallies in 300 cities to raise a war cry against the worlds largest online retailer. In a letter to Modi last week, the confederations Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal alleged that Amazon, much like Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart, was an economic terrorist who engaged in predatory pricing that deprived the government of tax revenue and compelled the closure of thousands of small traders. Priyadarshini Durairaj, digital marketing officer at Chennai-based Naga Ltd., said she was at Smbhav with an open mind. Brands like ours, she said of Naga, which makes and sells pasta on Amazon and other online and offline outlets, need to understand platforms plans and offerings for sellers like us. Story continues Indias e-commerce market is projected to grow to $150 billion by 2022, according to a 2018 report by software industry group Nasscom and consulting firm PwC India. Competition for this rapidly expanding sector is intensifying as Asias richest man, Mukesh Ambani, prepares to go live with JioMart, an online shopping platform challenging Amazon and Walmart directly. The latters Flipkart Online Services Pvt is also delving deeper into the countryside in its pursuit for more customers. Amazon, for its part, opened a huge office complex in the southern city of Hyderabad in September, underscoring its commitment to the country. India Opens Antitrust Probe Into Amazon, Flipkart Amid Protests The Competition Commission of India said it would probe the deep discounts, preferential listings and exclusionary tactics that Amazon and Flipkart are alleged to have used as anti-competitive levers. Indias trader bodies have long argued that both retail giants were flouting rules by promoting sales and discounts through their favored sellers, many of whom they have preexisting commercial arrangements with. The regulator has ordered for the investigation to be completed within two months. India needs to address the traders protests in a responsible manner, said Durairaj, They cannot counter deep discount models. Bezos last visited India in 2014 under starkly different circumstances. During that trip, the Amazon founder wore local festive garb, rode atop a festooned truck for a photo opp and presented Amazons Indian unit with a giant check for $2 billion. Since then, Amazon has pledged a further $3.5 billion to expand in the country before todays announcement of an additional $1 billion, taking the cumulative total to $6.5 billion. (Updates with details of new investment. A previous version of this story misstated the location of Amazons office complex, which has been corrected.) To contact the reporter on this story: Saritha Rai in Bangalore at srai33@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Vlad Savov, Peter Elstrom For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. New Delhi: Army chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday hailed the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 as a "historic step" and said the move has disrupted the proxy war by the "western neighbour". Tensions are rife in Kashmir after New Delhi on August 5 announced abrogation of provisions of Article 370 and decided to bifurcate the state into Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - hours after Kashmir was placed under a total clampdown. The armed forces have a "zero tolerance against terrorism", he said in his address at the 72nd Army Day function in the Cariappa Parade Ground here. "We have many options to counter those who promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to use them," Naravane said. Army Chief Naravane on PoK Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane made a big statement on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and said that it would belong to India if the government wants. "There is a parliamentary resolution that entire J-K is part of India. If Parliament wants it, then, that area (PoK) also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we'll take appropriate action," he said. On the need for re-balancing the force on both Pakistan and China border, the Army chief said that "re-balancing is required as there is a feeling that both northern and western borders require equal attention." Broadband internet partially restored in Kashmir The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday evening allowed mobile Internet in parts of Jammu region and broadband in hotels, travel establishments. In a three-page order, the home department said additional 400 internet kiosks will be established in Kashmir division. However, users will not be able to access any social media sites and messaging services, said the order issued by Principal Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra. Internet service providers will offer broadband facility (with Mac binding) to all institutions dealing with essential services, hospitals, banks as also government offices. Mac Binding means to enforce a client machine to work from a particular Internet Protocol address. The order also said that the 2G mobile connectivity on post-paid mobiles for accessing white-listed websites including e-banking will be allowed in districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasiall in the Jammu region. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A move by a Northern Ireland insurance firm to open an office in Co Dublin will mean the province loses out on around 70m (60m) in business, it's been claimed. The firm behind brands Its4women, 25Plus and BoxyMo said it had opened a Swords office to "Brexit-proof" its business. MCL InsureTech said it already has hired 24 of its planned 40 full-time positions in the Swords operation. It said the opening represented an investment in the Republic's economy of 3m and was a result of continued uncertainty around the UK's exit from the EU. However, the jobs of 102 remaining staff in Coleraine are unaffected by the expansion. The company had been servicing around 70m of gross written premium and 90,000 customers in the Republic from Coleraine for the last 10 years. But it said it is switching support for its customers over the border to the north Co Dublin town after receiving regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland. MCL's brands target specific sectors of the online insurance market. Its4women caters to female drivers and BoxyMo to younger drivers, while 25Plus offers a wider range of insurance products to older customers. MCL said the move would ensure ease of access to the single market. "It gives the company assurance that it can access 500 million potential customers in the single market and easily manage its Irish customer base without the restriction of any Brexit-induced regulations," the company explained. Managing director Gary McClarty said: "The threat of a hard Brexit has forced us to set a mechanism in place to protect our European Union business and in this case it has resulted in the launch of a new Irish entity based in Dublin, and unfortunately the loss of 70m worth of business to the Northern Ireland economy. "Although Brexit has created a lot of uncertainty in the insurance space, now that we are authorised by the Central Bank, there are exciting times ahead for our business. "We will be launching a range of new products and services that will hopefully benefit Swords and the wider area." MCL said increased investment in IT and contact centre staff is planned for the Coleraine office. The firm launched Its4women in the Republic more than a decade ago. VLogic Systems, Inc. We are thrilled that Duane has joined our team during this market expansion VLogic Systems, Inc., a leading integrated workspace management software SaaS provider, today announced that Duane Harris has joined VLogic Systems as its Chief Operating Officer. He will work closely with VLogic President/CEO George Koshy on the companys overall strategy and execution. Duane will have specific oversight of VLogics push to expand into new industries and market verticals. Duane brings over 20 years of C-Level experience to VLogics management team, spanning a spectrum of industries. Prior to VLogic, he was co-founder and CEO of VMS Software, Inc., an enterprise software company based in Bolton, Massachusetts. Duane scaled VMS revenues by 12x during his tenure. Before this, Duane was CEO of Nemonix Engineering, a manufacturer of custom engineering solutions; VP of Operations at BAP Global Solutions LTD, a London-based enterprise services company; and VP of Operations at Cambridge Publications, Inc., among other executive positions. VLogic is a leader in the US government healthcare market. Duanes appointment marks a turning point, as VLogic gears up its offerings to expand its commercial healthcare business and enter new industries beyond healthcare. This is an exciting time for VLogic, said George Koshy, President/CEO of VLogic Systems. We are thrilled that Duane has joined our team during this market expansion. He will be instrumental in helping us scale our business to new territories beyond our traditional stronghold in government healthcare. Prior to agreeing to take on the COO role here, I had the privilege of getting to know VLogics managers as part of the VLogic Advisory Board, said Duane Harris, COO. What a fantastic group of managers and engineers! I am excited to help George and the VLogic team significantly grow the companys markets and revenues. About VLogic Systems VLogic Systems, Inc., an integrated workspace management software (IWMS) pioneer, provides cloud-based SaaS solutions that maximize the value of enterprise physical facilities, assets and real estate portfoliosby dramatically simplifying workspace management using an intuitive, spatially-centered model that reduces management time and cost. VLogic Systems Inc. is headquartered in Concord, MA. For more information, go to http://www.vlogicsystems.com/ VLogic Systems, Inc. pr@vlogicsystems.com 978-341-9000 x404 Meitui.org scored 41 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 9 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the meitui homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the meitui homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the meitui homepage on Twitter + the total number of meitui followers (if meitui has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the meitui homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the meitui homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if meitui has a Facebook fan page). Basic Information PAGE TITLE -- DESCRIPTION ,,,,, KEYWORDS , , , , , OTHER KEYWORDS CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE GB2312 DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/6.0 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 The language of meitui.org as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for meitui.org by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND By Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region and it was time the world got rid of unilateral measures such as sanctions. "We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries to think about collective security mechanisms ... starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other to military exercises," Lavrov told a security conference in Delhi. Tensions in the Gulf have risen following the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory missile attack by Iran on U.S. forces in Iraq. "Since I mentioned about Persian Gulf, we are very much concerned about what is going in there," Lavrov said. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is also attending the conference in Delhi that comes just a day after Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran of violating the terms of its 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear program, which eventually could lead to the reimposing of U.N. sanctions. Iran's Fars news agency quoted Zarif as saying overnight that the use of the dispute mechanism was legally baseless and a strategic mistake. Lavrov said unilateral sanctions were a problem in today's world. "So the 21st century is the time when we must get rid of any methods of dealing in international relations which smack of colonial and neo-colonial times. And sanctions, unilaterally imposed sanctions, they are not going to work." After pulling out of the Iran deal, the United States slapped sanctions back on Iran and has gradually increased its "maximum pressure" campaign targeting the Islamic Republic's revenues from oil, mining and other industries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Tuesday for U.S. President Donald Trump to replace the Iranian nuclear deal with his own new pact to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get an atomic weapon. Story continues Trump said in a tweet he agreed with Johnson for a "Trump deal". U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger will also be addressing the Delhi meeting on Thursday. (Additional reporting by Neha Dasgupta and Nidhi Verma; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast.) Every year, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink releases a highly anticipated letter to CEOs and clients. In this year's letter, out yesterday, Fink announced that the asset management giant would change direction. Currently one of the world's largest investors in coal, oil, gas and climate-destabilizing deforestation, BlackRock will make sustainability its "new standard for investing," Fink promised. Fink pledged that the company's actively managed funds would divest from any company that makes more than 25% of its revenue from thermal coal. If the $7 trillion asset management company follows through on that promise, it will be one of the largest ever divestments from coal and an important step toward reshaping our economy away from fossil fuels and toward climate sanity. And it represents a significant change from just a year ago when Fink's annual letter didn't even mention climate change. But as we celebrate Fink's announcement, let's also keep in mind Greta Thunberg's words at this year's United Nations climate summit in Madrid. "The biggest danger is not inaction," she said. "The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening, when in fact almost nothing is being done, apart from clever accounting and creative PR." Instead of looking for hope from corporations, Thunberg advised, we should look for it from one another, like the millions of people who striked from school and work to demand climate action, including from BlackRock. Because that's what sparked Fink's announcement. The moral and economic case for divesting from coal was clear in 2019. The biggest thing that changed between now and then is that a diverse coalition of frontline youth activists, parents and even the Vatican ramped up the pressure. As fires burned in the Amazon, fueled by BlackRock's investments, we called for change at their offices. Yesterday we saw our impact. Prior to that, he was a prosecutor of the Law Observance Oversight Department at the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. Ukraine's government has appointed Oleksandr Novikov Chairman of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). The government made the relevant decision at a Wednesday meeting, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Speaking before his appointment, Novikov outlined the main tasks he plans to perform in his new position, including the development of a new anti-corruption strategy. Read alsoProsecutor Novikov wins competition for NACP chief's post "First of all, I see the NACP's role as a body that will make it impossible for people using corrupt practices in their public service and becoming enriched unlawfully to remain public servants. I am sure NACP is able to fulfill this function and create civil service that is immune to corrupt practices. My first task is to endorse an anti-corruption strategy since the previous one expired in 2017," he said. According to Novikov, the document should summarize all the actions of each state authority in the field of identifying anti-corruption risks, both in regulatory documents and in relation to the personnel of these bodies, as well as eliminate such risks. "The second task is the automation of comprehensive checks of assets declarations of persons holding a particularly responsible position. These are all judges, all prosecutors, all members of the government, heads of regional state administrations, district and regional councils," he added. In addition, Novikov expressed the hope that effective cooperation would be established with the National Anti-corruption Bureau and the State Bureau of Investigation. For his part, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk promised the NACP's new head support and interaction with the government. As UNIAN reported earlier, Novikov won a competition for the NACP chief's post. Prior to that, he served as a prosecutor for the Law Observance Oversight Department at the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. The National Industrial Court, on Tuesday, ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a senior officer, Abdulfatai Mohammed, having established that the military authorities broke the law in dismissing the officer in 2016. The compulsory retirement of the claimant is wrongful, unconstitutional, null and void, the judge, Rakiya Haastrup, said on Tuesday at the headquarters of the industrial court in Abuja, adding: the defendants failed to act with respect to the law. The judge ruled that Mr Mohammed, who was arbitrarily punished while holding the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel, be reinstated back to the to the army with his benefits and privileges restored. The judgement capped off nearly four years of efforts to get justice, including repeated appeals to President Muhammadu Buhari for redress. Last year, the court ordered the army to reinstate two officers, also illegally punished but no compliance yet. Arbitrary dismissal Mr Mohammed was one of the 38 officers dismissed by the army in June 2016. The mass sack affected nine major generals, 11 brigadier generals, seven colonels and 11 lieutenant colonels. In the June 9, 2016, letters, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, to the affected officers, their compulsory retirement was hinged on provisions of Paragraph 09.02c (4) of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers 2012 (Revised). The referenced section 09.02c (4) of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers 2012 (Revised), shows the officers were laid off on disciplinary grounds i.e. serious offence(s). Emphasizing service exigencies and that the military must remain apolitical and professional at all times, Sani Usman, spokesperson for the army then, had released a statement, disclosing what could have constituted the serious offences which warranted the dismissal of the 38 officers. It should be recalled that not too long ago some officers were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 general elections, Mr Usman said. Similarly, the investigation by the Presidential Committee investigating Defence Contracts revealed a lot. Some officers have already been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). However, investigations by PREMIUM TIMES, involving review of service rules and interviews with officials with direct knowledge of the matter, showed the army violated own law s by dismissing the majority of the officers. Contrary to the claim by the army, our investigations showed that only a few of the affected officers were queried, tried and indicted. Others had their careers abruptly cut short for reasons that smacked of high-level arbitrariness, pettiness, witch-hunting and partisanship by authorities of the army. While officers cleared by either arms procurement panel or election panel were retired, others who were not questioned at all were also sent away. Mr Mohammed was one such officers neither queried nor indicted for any offence before being forced out of service. The Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers whose paragraph 09.02c (4) was relied upon to remove the officers, originates from the Armed Forces Act. The section cited by the army provides that an officer may be compulsorily retired on disciplinary grounds i.e. serious offence(s) without defining what constitutes serious offences. But the principal law the Armed Forces Act establishes all actions that constitute offences in the Military. The Act prescribes steps to be taken in punishing offences, and a review shows no section empowers the Army Council to arbitrarily punish or compulsorily retire officers for any offence. In fact, the Army Council, in Section 11(a-f) of the Act, has no power to retire any officer on disciplinary ground without compliance with the steps prescribed by law. The judge, Ms Haastrup, affirmed this in her judgement. There was no fair trial before he was punished. Nothing presented by the defendants showed due process was followed, she said. Mr Mohammed was never involved in any election matter, neither did he ever hold any role in the armys procurement process. He was in fact in the northeast, involved in the long-running war against Boko Haram, during the election. Advertisements His compulsory retirement was a gross violation by the army council, Ms Haastrup held. Appeals to the commander-in-chief The judgement on Tuesday capped off nearly four years of efforts by Mr Mohammed to get justice, including repeated appeals for redress to Mr Buhari as the law provides. Paragraph 09.02(e) of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers, 2012 (revised) provides that any officer compulsorily retired or dismissed can appeal to the president through the Chief of Defence Staff within 30 days. Immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin Our investigation revealed that 22 of the affected officers exploited this window, and had their petitions conveyed to the president by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin, via a July 2016 letter referenced CDS/6/1/A. After that joint appeal, Mr Mohammed has four times written the presidency seeking justice and once in September 2018 challenged Mr Buhari to prove his integrity. President Muhammadu Buhari [Photo: Presidency] Mr President, you have put out a reputation of being a man of justice, dignity and integrity but you are yet to prove it to all Nigerians in the case of these 38 innocent Army officers, wrote Mr Mohammed through his lawyer Abdul Mohammed. In the past two years, grave injustice has been meted to (them), and in spite of repeated passionate letter(s) of redress to you as their Commander-in-Chief, you have been curiously silent. Mr Buhari has never responded, nor acknowledged any of the petitions to him. One of the affected officers, Ojebo Baba-Ochankpa, died while waiting for justice in January 2017. Two Earlier Judgements Against The Army Mr Mohammeds victory at the court today is the third of such development since the arbitrarily dismissed officers commenced efforts to get justice. Last year, Nwokoro Ijioma, Major General, and Danladi Hassan, Colonel and PhD holder, separately won their cases against the army. The industrial court ordered the army to reinstate them. However, about one year since the two verdicts, the army has not complied. It is not clear if the authorities have appealed the judgements. The spokesperson for the army, Sagir Musa, declined to comment when contacted on Tuesday. It is a legal matter, he said. Speaking after the judgement at the industrial court, Mr Mohammed said his main worry is how military chiefs violated the countrys rules and truncated peoples careers with impunity. KAMPALA Uganda Prisons are choking up on high population of inmates, a move that has left the Uganda Prisons Services grappling with inmates crowding to a tune of over 2000%. The details were unearthed on Wednesday, January 15 by Auditor General, John Muwanga while handing over the December 2019 audit report to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga at Parliament. Muwanga said that in the Uganda Prisons Services (UPS) Strategic Investment Plan 2016/2017-2019-2020, UPS made a commitment to build more prisons to decongest the existing ones that reduce occupancy capacity from the baseline of 293% to 286%. I undertook an assessment of the current population and occupancy at 12 prisons and noted that occupancy percentages were over 2,000% which is 10times the holding capacity and 9times above baseline capacity. This is majorly due to high prisoner population growth without a corresponding increase in prisons holding capacity, said the Auditor General. He warned that there is a risk of case backlogs escalating to unmanageable levels which negatively impacts on the objectives of reducing case backlogs in the JLOS sector. The report further painted a grim picture into case backlog in Uganda with Statistics from the last six years 2013-2018 relating to detection, prevention and investigations of crime by police show improvements in performance caseload per CID investigation of crimes at 1:45 against recommended caseload per CID years of 1:12 cases per year. Actual performance indicated that for the last five years, the total reported cases were 1,251,344 out of which 302,745 (24.2%) were successfully investigated 302,745 leaving a balance of 949,599 cases. The Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory (DGAL) exists to provide forensic examination of cases to guide investigations and prosecutions to the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) majorly the UPS. However, DGAL has also had challenges in analyzing received case requests. Although the backlog cases yet to be investigated have reduced by 37% over the past 4years, during the year, only 2247 out of 2573 applications received were analysed. The failure to handle all the reported cases was attributed to inadequate skilled manpower and resources within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and DGAL. Related Kevin C. Karnes has been appointed vice provost for the arts at Emory. He will work with faculty, students and staff to envision and realize a comprehensive strategy for creating a thriving arts culture on campus. Kevin C. Karnes, chair of the Department of Music in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed vice provost for the arts. In this new role, Karnes will work with faculty, students and staff to envision and realize a comprehensive strategy for creating a thriving arts culture across the university. Priorities for the vice provost for the arts include enabling cross-functional collaboration for existing university arts programs and venues; developing new and impactful curricula; attracting and retaining eminent faculty and students focused on the arts; and overseeing comprehensive communications and fundraising efforts for arts at Emory. Emory is home to a dynamic, creative community of faculty and students. As vice provost for the arts, Kevin Karnes is the ideal person to help the university build on this foundation, bolster our focus on the arts with an inclusive and interdisciplinary approach and become the preeminent destination for current and future arts leaders, while growing our engagement in Atlanta and beyond, says Interim Provost Jan Love. Karnes also will identify and advise university leadership on new partnerships with arts organizations and creative industry throughout the region and nationally. Were already working on a number of projects that will impact students across campus, Karnes says. For example, were piloting an Emory Arts Fellows program to bring local artists into the classroom, not only to teach their craft but also to help our students navigate artistic career paths after graduation. Were planning concerts in which Emory musicians will play side-by-side with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. And were talking with community partners about developing internship opportunities in creative industry, particularly film. Redefining the arts in Emorys future The vice provost for the arts role is strongly tied to the goals of the universitys strategic framework, One Emory: Engaged for Impact, and will support Emorys work to harness discovery and create a culture of innovation that enhances scholarship and creative expression. Karnes co-chaired Emorys Task Force on the Future of the Arts with alumnus Doug Shipman, president and chief executive officer of the Woodruff Arts Center. The task force, convened within the context of One Emory, identified priorities through 2025 to increase the impact of the arts across campus and to ensure Emorys recognition as a leading research institution offering world-class liberal arts programs. Focusing on four thematic areas, the task force advocated for: Creating new academic offerings, including a focus on career paths after graduation, graduate programs and artist-in-residence opportunities; Developing strategic institutional relationships outside Emory; Establishing spaces for artistic creation, presentation and public interaction; Providing creative support for faculty, students and staff. Now being reviewed by Emory leadership for further action, the task forces report defined interconnected initiatives that will make Emory a preeminent local, national and global destination for learning, collaborating and creating in and through the arts. Transforming Emorys music department A professor of music history, Karnes researches musical expressions of identity, difference and belonging in eastern and central Europe from the 19th century to the present. His work explores archives and ethnomusicological fields, engaging projects in such domains as sound studies, art history, anthropology, philosophy, Jewish studies and Baltic studies. Karnes served as chair of the Department of Music from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2017 to 2019. During his tenure, he oversaw the design and implementation of a new, three-track bachelor of arts curriculum that enables students to focus their studies on performance, research or composition. He also expanded possibilities for teaching and research by substantially increasing giving to the music department; led efforts to diversify music department programs and community through new faculty hires and the creation of Emorys first-ever course offerings in the music business and hip-hop studies; and partnered with donors and colleagues to develop a program supporting undergraduate research in music. Kevins appointment is an exciting and critical moment for the arts at Emory. His inclusive leadership and passion for the arts as a scholar, teacher and performer will serve Emory well as he works to increase our engagement with Atlanta, enhance the student experience and help campus leaders to plan for the future, says Michael A. Elliott, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. The department also built a prestigious undergraduate music studies program under Karnes leadership, providing the foundation for students to enter graduate music programs at Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Indiana University and Kings College London. Weve become more diverse and welcoming as a community and are more connected to Emory students, to Atlanta and to the world as a whole, Karnes says of the departments growth. A profound commitment to the arts runs across senior leadership at the university. It truly feels like a moment for the arts at Emory, which comes just as a number of Atlanta arts organizations are looking to partner with us on programming and student-centered endeavors. Karnes interest in music began in fifth grade, when the schools band director visited his class. He had a lot of instruments for us to try, Karnes says. The trombone looked so different from all the others that I thought, Thats the instrument I want to play. He worked as a professional trombonist for two years after college before attending graduate school. Karnes received his BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in mathematics and management science in 1995, his MMus from the University of Washington in 1996 and his PhD from Brandeis University in musicology in 2001. He has spent the last five years studying and writing about the Estonian composer Arvo Part, who has been the most widely performed living composer in the world during the past decade. Iran has rejected as strange a proposal from Boris Johnson that it should strike a new nuclear deal with the US, suggesting that Donald Trumps administration was not trustworthy enough. Hassan Rouhani, Irans president, said the solution to the current sky-high tensions between Iran and the US was to return to a deal with world powers that was abandoned by Mr Trump in 2018. This Mr Prime Minister in London, I dont know how he thinks. He says lets put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action, Mr Rouhani said in a televised speech. If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal, he said of the 2015 agreement, which was brokered by Mr Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. Mr Rouhani also issued a thinly veiled threat at US and European troops deployed in the Middle East if the current crisis was not resolved. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, he said, without elaborating. Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Show all 23 1 /23 Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police dispersed students chanting "radical" slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University - People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic's initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster ISNA/AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University A protester confronts an Iranian police officer AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University Iranians light candles for victims EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran Chanting "Death to Britain", up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire AFP via Getty Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran AFP via Getty Images Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west AP Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west British embassy protest in Tehran EPA Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the west Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. AP Mr Johnson on Tuesday called on the US president to replace the deal, which was designed to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, with his own new agreement. If were going to get rid of it, lets replace it and lets replace it with the Trump deal, Mr Johnson said. That would be a great way forward. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also poured scorn on the suggestion. I had a US deal and the US broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last? he said at a security conference in New Delhi. New attention has been brought to Irans nuclear programme following weeks of tensions between Iran and the US, which spilled over into military confrontation with the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike on 3 January. Iran responded by firing a barrage of missiles at US military bases in Iraq, and promised to force American troops from the region. The current tensions have their roots in a decision by Mr Trump to walk away from the internationally brokered nuclear deal and impose harsh sanctions on Tehran. Iran responded by also reducing its commitments to the agreement, and stepped away even further following Soleimanis killing, announcing it would ignore all limitations on enriching uranium set down in the pact. Mr Zarif insisted on Wednesday that the existing deal was not dead, a day after Britain, France and Germany formally accused Iran of violating the terms of that agreement, a move that could eventually lead to the reimposing of United Nations sanctions. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, insisted in a statement to MPs that EU nations wanted to rescue the agreement, prompting criticism that No 10 and the Foreign Office were at odds. Mr Zarif also commented on the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet by his countrys military, killing 176 passengers and crew, on the same night that it fired missiles at US bases in Iraq. While blaming US ignorance and arrogance for fuelling mayhem in the Middle East, he also acknowledged the anger Iranians felt over the shooting down of the plane. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Mr Zarif said. He went on to praise Irans military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on. A cheeky toddler who was left alone for less than five minutes gave his mum the shock of her life after smothering nappy cream all over her 1,600 television. Mum-of-four Sarah Wruck, 34, from Maryborough, Queensland, had left her two-year-old son Eli and his little brother Ben, one, alone in the living room while she quickly popped to the kitchen next door to start preparing dinner. But in less than five minutes, she heard a cheeky giggle coming from the next room - and when she asked what her boys were doing, little Eli replied that he was 'painting'. Mum-of-four Sarah Wruck had left her two-year-old son Eli and his little brother Ben, one, alone in the living room and he managed to cover the TV in Sudocrem (pictured) Sarah immediately went to see what was happening and was shocked to see that her and her partner James' $3,000 [1,600] television had been covered with a thick layer of Sudocrem nappy cream that had been left on top of a nearby change table. Horrified Sarah, who is also mum to Oliver, 13, and Noah, eight, said she felt a wave of emotions and was both on the verge of tears while also holding back laughter as her son stood there covered in nappy cream with a big smile on his face. The psychology and counselling student said: 'They were both happily together in the living room watching a movie when I got up to start making dinner. 'I could hear that they were really quiet, and I know that when they're quiet something is going on. The 34-year-old (right) from Queensland, Australia, heard a cheeky giggle coming from the next room - and when she asked what her boys were doing, Eli replied that he was 'painting' 'I asked them what they were doing, and I heard 'I'm painting!' and I just thought oh no. 'Their dad had left the nappy cream on the change table nearby, and Eli had gotten into it and smothered himself and the television with it. 'When I saw what happened, I screamed for my partner. He couldn't believe it. 'I was experiencing a combination of laughing and crying. 'I couldn't believe how much damage he'd done in such a little amount of time. I'd been gone less than five minutes. 'It was just too quiet, and then the TV went off and I realised something weird was happening. Sarah was on the verge of tears while also holding back laughter as her son stood there covered in nappy cream with a big smile on his face. He is pictured after the clean up operation 'He loves art. He scribbled on the walls before with markers, and to him this was 'painting' and he seemed very proud of what he'd done.' The thick and sticky nappy cream took over an hour remove - with Sarah using dry cloths, detergent and glass cleaner to finally get it all off. Thankfully, despite little Eli's painting session the expensive television still managed to turn on and work as normal - but Sarah said she will be hiding the nappy cream from now on. She said: 'Nappy cream seems to be one of those things that toddlers just love to get into, I have no idea why. Despite little Eli's painting session the expensive television still managed to turn on and work as normal - but Sarah said she will be hiding the nappy cream from now on 'My partner took Eli and started wiping him off with tissues and then gave him a bath. 'I cleaned the t.v, it wiped off with some dry cloth and then some dishwashing detergent followed by glass cleaner. 'It was over an hour of cleaning and I had no idea if it would work or not. 'Luckily, it turned on and everything was fine. But we'll put the cream up a bit higher from now on. 'You just never know with kids, and from what I've learned silence is the most dangerous thing!' The two leaders reached a consensus on a number of important issues, sharing a common view that only a political solution could resolve the current crises in the Middle East. The visit to Russia made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel took place amid complicated developments in the current global outlook, with the hot spots in the Middle East heating up. A series of international issues were discussed by the Russian and German leaders, ranging from the Syrian and the Libyan crises to the palpable US-Iran tensions. Speaking at a press conference after their talks in Moscow, German Chancellor Merkel and Russian President Putin raised their views on said issues, stating that the two sides achieved a common voice in strongly promoting dialogue to resolve disputes. The Libyan crisis was among the issues that was given special concern by the two leaders. Chancellor Merkel revealed that peace talks aimed at settling the conflict between factions in Libya will be held in the German capital of Berlin. According to her, the purpose of the talks are to create an opportunity for Libya to finally become a sovereign and peaceful nation. She expressed her hopes that the joint efforts of Russia and Turkey would lead to a success, although its worth bearing in mind that some pro-Russian forces supporting the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and Turkey supporting the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the escalating GNA-LNA conflict in the North African country. President Putin declared his support for Germanys initiative, saying that the situation in Libya was affecting regional stability and having a negative impact on Europe. In this regard, he asserted that, if mercenaries from Russia appear in Libya, these people do not represent Russias national interests and will not receive Moscows support. The Russian and German leaders also agreed on the need to maintain the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, emphasizing the importance of diplomatic measures. Saving the Iran nuclear agreement from the brink of collapse is also a joint effort of the European Union (EU). The leaders of the UK, France and Germany recently issued a joint statement calling on Iran to return to full compliance and refrain from further violating commitments in the JCPOA. European leaders in-turn affirmed their willingness to coordinate with Iran to protect regional stability. President Putin also spoke on the phone with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to reach a consensus on the continuous efforts to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, in which the two leaders urged the parties, who were directly involved in the incident leading to the latest escalation of tensions between Iran and the US, to show restraint. The above-mentioned diplomatic efforts were put forward after a recent urgent meeting of EU foreign ministers regarding the Middle East situation, in which the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had warned of a possible failure in the efforts to save the Iran nuclear deal. With Russia playing an important factor in finding a solution to the Syrian crisis, German Chancellor Merkel voiced her wish to listen to ideas from President Putin who recently returned from a visit to Syria and Turkey. The Russian President stressed the need to unify the efforts of all members of the international community to help state agencies and the entire people of Syria to restore electricity and water infrastructure facilities, hospitals and schools, which have been devastated after years of conflict. However, he noted that any support should be agreed with Syrias legal administration and allocated to all the affected areas without any prerequisites and the politicisaion of issues. Regarding the view, President Putin received the support of Chancellor Merkel, as the two leaders asserted the stance of terminating the war in Syria via political solutions in accordance with Resolution 2254 of the United Nations Security Council. President Putin also expressed his hopes that large-scale military actions would not occur in the Middle East, since it would be disastrous for the entire world. According to him, that scenario would result in a massive influx of migrants and refugees, not only to Europe but also to other regions, thus causing humanitarian and economic disasters. This is very close to the view of Germany, who also plays an important role in the efforts to establish peace and stability in the Middle East. Given Russias influence in currently addressing important international issues, it is understandable that Germany wants to seek Moscows cooperation in matters regarding the Middle East. The cooperation handshake between Russia and Germany shows that the international community is striving to promote dialogue to remove the detonator of the current conflict in the Middle East. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Jeyhun Alekperov Trend: Some 1,445 people have been returned from Europe to Azerbaijan since 2014, Chief of Azerbaijan's State Migration Service Vusal Huseynov said in a press conference dedicated to the results of 2019, Trend reports on Jan. 15. These are mainly Azerbaijanis who lived in Germany, Huseynov said. In addition, these are also persons who lived in Austria, France, Sweden, and Belgium, the chief said. As of today, inquiries were received regarding readmission of more 1,323 persons. These inquiries were positively responded, and the return of those persons is expected, Huseynov said. The Reintegration working group consisting of employees of various structures is functioning under the Migration Service. As a result of its activities, about 60 people received appropriate assistance, the chief of the migration service said. 'Climate clubs' offering membership for sub-national states, in addition to just countries, could speed up progress towards a globally-harmonised climate change policy, which in turn offers a way to achieve stronger climate policies in all countries. This is the key finding of a new study by researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), recently published in the open-access journal Environmental Research Letters. ICTA-UAB researcher and first author Nick Martin explained that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the default facilitator of global negotiations on climate issues. However, due to the logistic limitations of large groups and involvement being essentially voluntary in nature, progress has been slow. Its two most ambitious initiatives - the defunct Kyoto Protocol and the current Paris Agreement - both relied on voluntary actions and were not legally binding. As a result, such climate policies lack global harmonisation and therefore are bound to remain weak. They consider that it is important, therefore, to think about alternatives. A 'climate club' of countries has been suggested as a way to move towards a global agreement that enforces national climate policies through harmonisation. "We take this idea a step further in our study. Extending a club to comprise sub-national states or provinces that want to implement their own, more ambitious climate policies could allow the inclusion of considerable contributions from important emitters like the US. Given the US intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, this could have a significant impact on overall US emissions by allowing more motivated states to take part." The 'climate club' model is based on a uniform policy - most likely in the form of carbon pricing. The club would then offer exclusive trade benefits or club goods to members. It could also attract further membership by imposing penalties on imports from non-members, to limit competition from unregulated sources. The study used four measures to predict the likelihood of involvement for governments at multiple levels. These included the level of carbon independence, public opinion regarding climate change, current government policy, and level of membership in existing climate-related coalitions. Dr Jeroen van den Bergh, ICREA Research Professor at ICTA-UAB and second author, explained that, taken together, these measures provide a good indication of a government's level of ambition regarding climate policy, and therefore its potential willingness to join an international 'climate club'. "We initially identified a group of nine countries likely to be most receptive to club membership. Although the US and China were not among this group, our findings suggest that the EU (taken as a single country for these purposes) is the preferred initiator of the club, given its high emissions, high GDP and long history of leadership on climate change mitigation". What's more, they believe that China could well be convinced to join a club given its recent sharp rise in concern about local and global emissions. Considering the current climate policies of the Trump administration, the US would seem highly unlikely to take part in initiatives of this kind for the foreseeable future. However, as US states have quite high levels of decision making at the local level and many control significant economies in their own right, they also evaluated the likelihoods of individual states to consider joining a 'climate club'. They found that 10 of the 50 states were 'very likely' to consider club membership, with a further 13 'moderately likely' to do so. Jointly , these 23 states represent 36 per cent of the US's national emissions and 56.3 per cent of its GDP. Less motivated US states could still be persuaded to join through strong export dependencies with four key partners - the EU, Canada, Mexico and China. In fact, 10 of the remaining 'not likely' were found to have strong trade ties to these countries. So, a club containing these four trading partners could be capable of boosting club membership significantly via trade influences. In all, the analysis suggests that US states representing a total of 69.9 per cent of emissions and 77.7 per cent of total GDP may be amenable to club membership via either of these mechanisms." Dr van den Bergh concluded: "we recognise the political and legal hurdles climate clubs could face, but considering the limitations of the Paris Agreement and the urgency of implementing effective climate action, we believe the time is ripe for debating daring solutions." ### Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:23:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-five billion cigarettes were smoked -- and taxed -- in Germany in 2019, an increase of 0.3 percent compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday. In total, the taxes paid on tobacco products in Germany totaled 27.4 billion euros (30.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, four percent more than in 2018, according to Destatis. "While cigarette sales increased only slightly, the strong upward trend in sales of pipe tobacco continued," Destatis noted. The quantity of pipe tobacco taxed -- which included waterpipe tobacco and tobacco products for electric tobacco-heating devices -- increased by 24.5 percent year-on-year, according to Destatis. In December 2019, the German government agreed to further reduce tobacco products advertising after years of debate and is planning to ban most cinema and outdoor advertising of tobacco products. "Tobacco is harmful to health, thousands of people die every year as a result of smoking," said German Minister of Food and Agriculture Julia Kloeckner after the government's decision in December. "And yet, we are still the last state in the European Union (EU) to allow outdoor tobacco advertising." Tobacco advertising has been banned on radio and television in Germany since 1975. Further restrictions on tobacco advertising in cinemas as well as larger warnings on cigarette packages were added in 2003, and a ban on tobacco ads in newspapers and magazines as well as on the internet followed in 2007. Since 2016, the EU's Tobacco Products Directive requires that cigarette packages carry combined picture and text warnings in all member countries. The warnings should cover at least 65 percent of the front and back of packages. "Whether traditional or electronic cigarettes, products containing nicotine should not be allowed to be advertised, neither in cinemas nor on posters," Kloeckner said. With effect from 16 January 2020 Punjab & Sind Bank has reviewed the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rates for different tenors and the same will be effective from 16 January 2020. Overnight - 8.10% One month - 8.15% Three month - 8.20% Six month - 8.35%One year - 8.45%Three year - Henceforth, rates of 1 year MCLR will be applicable to advances falling under this category. Further, the existing Base Rate and BPLR remains unchanged at 9.70% and 14% respectively. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday told banks that any fresh card issued should be only for physical use within India, such as in automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale (PoS) devices. Internet and other facilities can be activated only when the customer specifically requests for the same. Customers will also have the option to cap the amount in any kind of transaction, for both physical and internet use, the central bank said. For existing cards, banks will exercise their own discretion whether to allow cards for internet usage or not. But those cards that ... Police are holding serious concerns for the welfare of a missing woman, who disappeared on Monday morning. Erlis Surjadi, 54, was last seen on Anzac Parade, Kingsford, about 10am on Monday. Erlis Surjadi was last seen on Monday. Credit:NSW Police Media Police are appealing for public assistance to locate her, or provide any information to her whereabouts. She was travelling towards Pacific Square shopping centre at Maroubra and has not made contact with family and friends since. Christian school expels girl over rainbow shirt and birthday cake, family says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A Christian school in Kentucky is accused of expelling a freshman student after seeing an image of her celebrating her 15th birthday with a rainbow cake and multi-colored sweater. Kimberly Alford said officials at Whitefield Academy in Louisville sent her an email last week with the image of her daughter, Kayla, and informed her that Kayla was no longer a student. Alford said she filed an appeal with the school, but it was denied. "When I called the head of the school to discuss it with him, I was quite emotional," Alford told ABC News in an interview Tuesday. "He told me, 'Kim, the sweater, the cake, it just kind of represents gay pride when you saw the cake you should have refused it.'" MORE: LGBT Americans look to Supreme Court after being fired, 'because of sex' Alford said she shared the image on her Facebook page and suspects that someone may have sent a copy of it to the school. She said the image was not intended to represent LGBTQ pride, although her daughter loves all people. PHOTO: Kimberly Alford said her daughter, Kayla, was expelled from Whitefield Academy in Louisville, Ky., over an image of her with a rainbow-colored birthday cake. (Courtesy Kimberly Alford) Whitefield Academy said in a statement to ABC News that Kayla was not expelled "solely for a social media post," and said that she had violated its student code of conduct "numerous times over the past two years." MORE: Taylor Swift to be honored as LGBTQ ally with GLAAD's 2020 Vanguard Award "Whitefield Academy is a Christian-based school with a 43-year history of educating students in a learning environment informed by our shared Christian values," the school said in a statement Tuesday. "All parents who enroll their children in our private school know up front that we ask the students to adhere to a lifestyle informed by our Christian beliefs." "There are numerous school options in our community for students who do not wish to attend a Christian-based school, and we wish our former student all the best as she finds a learning environment that is right for her," it added. Story continues Alford admitted that her daughter, who has been a student at Whitefield since the 6th grade, has had trouble following the school's strict rules. She once got in trouble for shaving the sides of her head and was ordered to wear her hair down to cover it up. She was also penalized for having an e-cig on campus, her mother said. When asked about her daughter's reaction to the dismissal, she said the teenager felt hurt. "She feels judged," Alford said. "It hurts me too because I don't want her to grow up thinking something wrong with her just because she marches to the beat of her own drum." BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: Azerbaijans expenses in connection with Formula 1 races are decreasing from year to year, Nigar Arpadarai, head of Marketing and Communications Department of Baku City Circuit Operations Company (BCC), said at a press conference in Baku dedicated to the results of Formula 1 races, Trend reports. Arpadarai reminded that in the first period of holding the races, there were expenses associated with the creation of infrastructure, as well as with advertising. Now these costs have been reduced, the infrastructure of the competitions has been created, not so much money is spent on advertising, because Azerbaijan is already well known in the world, the BCC department head noted. Arpadarai added that in 2018, the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was watched by 82.3 million viewers. This figure reached 90.2 million people in 2019, the BCC department head said. A woman and her daughter stunned residents of Siaya County after attempting to sell blood in a bid to raise school fees. The 14-year-old girl, identified as Agnes Akoth, scored 380 marks in last years Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). She was selected to join Ngiya Girls High School but her mother, Rose Akinyi Odhiambo, has been unable to raise the required school fees to secure her admission. On Monday, as other Form 1 students were reporting to school, Akoth and her mother were at the Siaya County Referral Hospital ready to sell their blood. According to Citizen Digital, the hospital informed them blood could not be donated for a fee. Speaking to reporters, Ms Akinyi said she sought help from countless offices after the KCPE results were released but nothing was forthcoming. She said only one well-wisher had promised to pay the girls fees for the first term. Akinyi added that even with the little help, she was struggling to raise money to shop for personal effects. Mr. Parnas, who is facing federal charges in Manhattan, recently turned the documents over to the House Intelligence Committee as part of its impeachment inquiry. One of the new documents shows Mr. Giuliani saying that he had Mr. Trumps blessing to seek a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president-elect, last spring, potential new evidence on the eve of the presidents impeachment trial. Mr. Giuliani has previously said he was acting at Mr. Trumps direction in his dealings with Ukrainian officials, but the letter released on Tuesday is the first public document that says he was doing so. In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you on this upcoming Monday, May 13th or Tuesday, May 14th, Mr. Giuliani wrote in the letter to Mr. Zelensky, who was sworn in as president soon after. Mr. Giuliani shared a copy of the letter with Mr. Parnas, who then texted it to a close aide to Mr. Zelensky. Opposition leader Kem Sokha arrived at Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning to attend the first day of his treason trial, which according to a court official is expected to take at least three months to complete. Kem Sokha entered around 7:35 am along with his legal team. Around 200 mixed security forces are stationed at the court and streets leading to the court. Two and half years after he was first arrested, Kem Sokha will face a panel of three judges on a treason charge, widely considered to be frivolous. Delegations from foreign embassies and other development organizations have been allowed to monitor the proceedings. Police officials have asked journalists, human rights NGOs and observers to stand across the street from the court, preventing them from getting near the entrance of the court. Little evidence has been made public to support the charge against Kem Sokha, except for a video showing Sokha giving a speech in 2013, where he said he had received foreign assistance to plan his political trajectory. The video was broadcast on pro-government media minutes after Kem Sokha was arrested in a midnight raid at his residence in September 2017. Cong accuses BJP of using Tek Fog app to propagate agenda on SM, seeks intervention by SC TMC's presence in Goa to help BJP in polls, claims Sanjay Raut BJP set to pull out all stops in UP, SP main contender UP Election 2022: BJP panel meet today to decide candidates for first phase BJP CEC likely to meet on Thursday to finalise candidates for Delhi assembly polls India oi-Mousumi Dash New Delhi, Jan 15: The Delhi assembly polls are scheduled for next month, the BJP's central election committee is likely to meet to finalise the party's candidates for Delhi assembly polls on Thursday. According to the reports, the committee including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the party will meet tomorrow ahead of the assembly polls in Delhi. On Tuesday, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had released its list of candidates for all 70 seats that is scheduled for February 8, fielding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the national capital. With thrust on technology, Delhi likely to witness higher voter turnout With this, it is the third time that Kejriwal would be fighting from the New Delhi seat. He fought for it in 2013 and 2015 polls as well. In the previous assembly polls BJP had won only three assembly seats while AAP won in 67. BSP President Mayawati has convened a meeting in the national capital on Wednesday to select party candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections. Delhi geos to polls on February 8 for which the nomination process began on Tuesday. The BSP has already announced to field candidates for all 70 seats in the Delhi elections. According to sources, the meeting will be attended by Delhi in-charge MPs, as well as the leaders of the Delhi Pradesh unit. The party leadership has given charge of completing the primary process of selection of candidates to BSP Rajya Sabha MPs Ashok Siddharth, Rajaram and Vir Singh. A party leader said the list of candidates will be released in the next two days after approval of the BSP President. In the last elections, the BSP could not open is account in Delhi, though the party had two MLAs in 2008. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jonathan Jenkyn spotted a lump while helping his daughter Alice revise (Caters) A father was diagnosed with cancer after helping his daughter study for her GCSEs. Jonathan Jenkyn, 43, was asked by daughter Alice, 17, where the lymph nodes are while revising for a biology exam in May last year. Pointing to his neck, Mr Jenkyn felt a grape-sized lump he had never noticed before. READ MORE: Mum had chemo and a double mastectomy after doctors misdiagnosed breast cancer After making an appointment with his GP, the father-of-five from Ipswich, Suffolk, was diagnosed with oropharyngeal carcinoma on 1 August. The disease occurs when cancer cells form in the oropharynx, part of the throat at the back of the mouth. Chemo and radiotherapy enabled Mr Jenkyn to beat the disease, with doctors warning he would not have made it to 2020 had the lump not been spotted when it was. Having been diagnosed with oropharyngeal carcinoma at the back of the mouth, he fed himself via a tube (Caters) Oropharyngeal carcinoma is a type of head and neck cancer, which affected around 11,945 new people between 2014 and 2016 in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK. About 53,260 people are expected to develop tumours of the oral cavity or pharynx this year in the US, figures from the American Cancer Society show. It was literally a luck of the draw that we picked the lymphatic system to cover that evening and Im extremely glad I helped her on that day with her schoolwork, Mr Jenkyn said. Alice struggles with science, which I did quite well in, but it was pure luck we happened to be studying something that would lead to discovering the lump. I was demonstrating for her where the lymph nodes are in a body and pointing to my own to show her. READ MORE: Less than 25 minutes of exercise a day could ward off cancer I just felt a grape-sized lump in my neck that I hadnt noticed before. We had a brief discussion as to what it could be at the time and I explained that the lymph nodes can get inflamed for non-urgent reasons but I promised her I would get it checked out and its lucky I did. Mr Jenkyn saw his GP soon afterwards, who told him to come back if the lump grew. Story continues I thought it was nothing, maybe just am inflamed lymph node, but thought it would be best to get it checked out, he said. I certainly wasnt expecting it to be cancer. With the mass bigger just a week later, doctors took a biopsy, which led to the diagnosis. Mr Jenkyn was put on a six-week course of weekly chemo and daily radiotherapy. He then spent four weeks recovering on a ward. Mr Jenkyn managed to celebrate Christmas with family and friends (Caters) After a tough ordeal, Mr Jenkyn learnt he is disease-free last week. It was really scary, but I was given a fairly clear route to getting better and tried to keep out of my head as much as possible, he said. I was told if I had not of spotted the lump I wouldnt have seen the new year. It really is quite crazy a bit of revision with my daughter became the reason I survived an illness as serious as cancer. READ MORE: Mother discovers cancer while breastfeeding In further good news, Alice passed her science GCSE. I didn't expect my revision to have such a huge effect on our lives and I feel guilty about not noticing the lump myself, but I'm so happy we found it, she said. We're just happy he's okay and of course that I passed the science exam. Mr Jenkyn is fundraising for Ipswich hospitals radiotherapy department, with more than 2,000 ($2,598) being collected so far. I cant believe how much has been raised but everyone has been amazing, weve raised an amazing amount already which continues to grow and will ultimately be given to the people who essentially saved my life, he said. You can donate here. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, visited Da Phuoc Solid Waste Treatment Complex VWS is ready to invest At the meeting, David Duong, president cum CEO of Vietnam Waste Solutions (VWS), shared about the project to convert waste treatment technology at the 12,83-hectare Da Phuoc complex with a daily treatment capacity of 3,000 tonnes of waste. The project aims to convert garbage into electricity and by-products such as liquid fertiliser, compressed natural gas (CNG), and compost, which will help reduce landfill waste as well as carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Once put into operation, the project will treat 1,000 tonnes of waste to generate 20MWh of electricity, 7MWh of biogas power, and 10,200 kilogrammes of CNG per day. The project also provides 410 tonnes of liquid fertiliser, 410 tonnes of compost per day and soil improvement products up to 900 tonnes per day. Thanks to the new technology, VWS can develop a self-contained process from waste receipt to handling to provide eco-friendly byproducts and reduce landfill waste. The self-contained system incorporates a biological filter to prevent unpleasant smells. The project has a total investment of more than $430 million. Waste will be treated at a price of $33.6 per tonne. It is estimated to take nearly 23 years to get return on investment. According to Nguyen Toan Thang, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, this project has the largest waste treatment capacity in the city in terms of burning and supplying by-products. Through the evaluation process, the treatment technologies are advanced and modern. Therefore, the appraisal working group has officially submitted the project to the Ho Chi Minh City leaders for consideration and approval so that VWS will soon implement the next steps. Phong urged the relevant departments and agencies to accelerate project approval The city to accelerate the project After the survey, Phong said, After exploring the technology at the complex, I think that David Duong and his team of experts have shown their determination to invest in the project and contribute to solving the city's environmental and waste treatment problems. Their remarkable efforts also show the enthusiasm of overseas Vietnamese investors to return to their homeland. Phong added, VWS has adopted the burial technology at the complex, which suits the citys conditions. VWS also uses modern technology for sewage and wastewater treatment plants. In particular, wastewater with many impurities can be converted into water for immediate use." Furthermore, VWS not only creates employment for locals but also carries out many corporate social responsibility activities. Therefore, I highly appreciate the companys efforts in the past years, he emphasised. Ho Chi Minh City aims to increase waste-to-energy efficiency to 50 per cent by 2020 and 75 per cent by 2025. Thus, landfill waste will be reduced to around 25 per cent by 2025. The city is attracting waste-to-energy investment projects in line with the targets. VWS plays an important role in this plan. Ho Chi Minh City is facing growing population pressure and economic development, which requires the city to apply new technologies in waste treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to convert old technology to modern alternatives. Another thing to keep in mind is when choosing a technology, one must understand and be knowledgeable about the citys waste composition so it would not affect the environment badly. Regarding VWS' proposal for technology conversion, the municipal chairman ordered the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to form a council to evaluate new technology. He also invited David Duong to present the project to the council for approval. I will also work with the vice chairman in charge to discuss other issues and solve difficulties for VWS to carry out the project soon. The relevant departments and agencies should find solutions to implement the projects soon. Among them, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment should take prompt action to accelerate the approval for this project, he stated. Scientists reported this week that the worlds oceans were warmer in 2019 than they had ever been before. The report comes at a time when studies have linked rising ocean water temperatures to manmade pollution. Researchers say the rate of warming is speeding up and may cause a planet-wide disaster. The oceans take in more than 90 percent of the extra heat created by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are a product of pollution from factories, driving motor vehicles and other human activities. Scientists are able to measure the rate of global warming when they compare current ocean water temperatures with those measured over the past few years. For a better understanding of ocean warmth, scientists from around the world studied records shared by Chinas Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP). They found that the latest water temperature was 0.075 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature from 1981 to 2010. Their findings were published in the scientific journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Effects of warmer oceans The scientists pointed to the many extreme weather events of 2019 as one effect of warmer oceans. They added that warmer water also endangers some sea creatures and causes higher sea levels. Lijing Cheng is with the International Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at the IAP. He also was the lead author of a paper on the study. He says the heat the oceans have taken in to make the temperature change amounts to 228 Zetta Joules (228 billion trillion Joules) of energy. "That's a lot of zeros indeed, he said. To make it easier to understand, I did a calculation The amount of heat we have put into the world's oceans in the past 25 years equals to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom-bomb explosions. One hundred hair dryers per person Michael Mann is director of the Earth System Sciences Center at Penn State University in the United States. He says the energy that caused the warming is equal to "everyone on the planet running a hundred hairdryers or a hundred microwaves continuously for the entire year. He spoke to the French news agency AFP. The past five years are the five hottest years for the ocean since scientists began keeping records, the study found. John Abraham is a co-author of the paper. He said it is important to understand how fast things are changing. The key to answering this question is in the oceans -- that's where the vast majority of heat ends up. If you want to understand global warming, you have to measure ocean warming." Abraham is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Target limit to global warming In 2015, world leaders signed the Paris Agreement as part of efforts to limit climate change. The agreement took effect the following year. It aims to limit global temperature increases to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, and to 1.5 degrees Celsius if at all possible. There has been about 1 degree Celsius of warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago. Yet the result of rising water temperatures is not evenly spread in the worlds oceans. The report says that warmer temperatures are partly to blame for heavy rainfall in Indonesia and the drying of Australia, leading to wildfires in Australia and the Amazon. Hope remains Mann explained that there is still hope for the climate to recover from this temperature increase. "If we stop warming the planet, heat will continue to diffuse down into the deep ocean for centuries until eventually stabilizing." Im Jill Robbins. Jill Robbins used reports from Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press as well as original documents to write this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story global adj. worldwide; relating to the whole world journal n. a magazine or other publication author n. a writer of a report or book joule v. a measurement of work or energy calculation n. a mathematical estimate of the size of something key n. a solution or answer; a thing that provides a way of understanding something diffuse v. spread out stabilize v. to stop quickly changing Are you doing anything to reduce the greenhouse gases you create? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday said that her party is a disciplined party and does not believe in violent protest. Her remarks comes days after the BSP skipped an Opposition meeting to take on government on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. BSP does not believe in organising violent protest. Its a disciplined party and follows democratic process to oppose anti-people policies of government, Mayawati said while addressing a press conference on her 64th birthday in Lucknow. The Congress had convened a meeting of the Opposition parties on Monday to discuss contentious issues, particularly the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and and the economic slowdown. The Bahujan Samaj Party boycotted the meeting, claiming the Congress was poaching its legislators in Rajasthan. Mayawati had said that if her party joins the meeting called by the Congress, it will hurt the morale of the party supporters in Rajasthan. At the press conference on Wednesday, she again took on Congress. The statement by Congress that other Opposition parties are not opposing CAA and NRC is a lie. I had opposed CAA on the floor of Parliament. Earlier BSP had opposed demonetisation and GST. BSP had filed petition against EVM in Supreme Court. The Congress was initially silent on the issue, Mayawati said. Reiterating that her party is against the CAA, Mayawati said, The CAA is divisive, unconstitutional, there is fear among a community. The central government should roll back CAA. BSP will continue to oppose the bill. She attacked the BJP-led central government also. Today due to wrong policies of central government Congress had managed to be in limelight. BSP considers BJP and Congress as two sides of the same coin. It is maintaing equal distance from both the parties. Accusing the BJP of not listening to people of the country, Mayawati warned that its fortunes will be worse that Congress. Today the people are facing several challenges. The economic slowdown has made their life miserable. Its due to wrong policies of the NDA government, said Mayawati. People brought BJP to power but BJP government is moving on path of Congress. If BJP continues to follow the same policy, its condition will become worse than Congress, she added. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stood alone during the January Democratic debate by declaring he would not support a renegotiated North American trade deal supported by union workers and Democrats in states like Michigan. Sanders said he cant support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement without any environmental protections, though he said it is an improvement to NAFTA, which has been credited with sucking manufacturing jobs from blue-collar towns across the Midwest. President Donald Trump campaigned on rewriting the trade deal -- his solution gathered bipartisan support in the U.S. House and is likely to pass the U.S. Senate this year. We can do much better than a Trump-led trade deal, said Sanders, who also voted against NAFTA at the time. The USMCA was signed by Trump and the leaders of Mexico and Canada in November 2018, but House Democrats spent much of the last year negotiating with the Trump administration to tweak the pact before agreeing to ratify it. Democrats were particularly focused on securing strong enforcement provisions to guarantee Mexico keeps its commitment to labor standards and environmental protection. Every other candidate on stage supported the USMCA. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the new agreement is a modest improvement over NAFTA. While she expressed a need to negotiate a better trade policy overall, she said its time to do something. It will give some relief to our farmers, it will give some relief to our workers, Warren said. I believe we accept that relief, we try to help the people who need help and we get up the next day and fight for a better trade deal. Sanders said the new trade deal was negotiated to increase the profits of large corporations instead of improve the conditions of workers. Former Vice President Joe Biden said there will be no trade agreements signed in his administration without environmentalists and labor at the table." Republicans and Democrats blamed NAFTA for encouraging manufacturers to take advantage of low-wage workers in Mexico. Labor groups condemned the deal for causing an exodus of facilities and jobs from Midwest states like Michigan. Trump made replacing the deal a major part of his pitch to Michigan voters on the campaign trail in 2016. Canada and Mexico purchase more manufactured goods from Michigan than the rest of the world combined, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The USMCA is expected to create 75,000 manufacturing jobs across the country. Labor groups opposed the original version of the USMCA presented by the Trump administration, calling it NAFTA 2.0. In Michigan earlier this year, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the deal would suck jobs from America if stronger enforcement language isnt included. Pelosi said there is no question that the USMCA is better than the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the latest version is infinitely better" than what was initially proposed by the administration. Trumpka agreed, saying working people can proudly support the revised agreement. He celebrated the inclusion of enforceable labor standards in a statement. "This Lent, I invite supporters to join Episcopal Relief & Development in focusing on the spiritual lessons we can learn from the children in our lives and around the world, said the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Episcopal Relief & Development celebrates the spiritual lives of children and how they inspire the spiritual lives of adults in the organizations 2020 Lenten Meditations, now available in both English and Spanish at http://www.episcopalrelief.org/lent. In September 2019, the organization embarked on a three-year fundraising campaign, ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE, in order to expand its global work with children. As we save children, we save ourselves, we save our world, said the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. This Lent, I invite supporters to join Episcopal Relief & Development in focusing on the spiritual lessons we can learn from the children in our lives and around the world. Through a partnership with Grow Christians, the 2020 Lenten Meditations focus on the gifts of children in the poignant and joyous recollections and reflections of educators, caregivers, parents and grandparents from around The Episcopal Church. More than a decade ago, General Convention asked Episcopalians to remember and support Episcopal Relief & Development during Lent. Since then, our annual observance of a holy Lent has been made more meaningful by remembering their lifesaving work around the globe, said the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president, House of Deputies for The Episcopal Church and contributor to the Lenten Meditations. Each year, I am grateful for the daily meditation booklet and online devotional that forms part of my Lenten discipline and for those across the church who contribute to it. Globally, 155 million children under the age of six are not able to reach their full potential because of inadequate nutrition, health care and other critical essentials. The first three years of life are critical to form a foundation for future learning, good health and well-being. Episcopal Relief & Development partners with communities to ensure children have access to food, clean water and quality health care. The 2020 Lenten Meditations support ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LOVE to expand the organizations programs that focus on children. The Lenten Meditations are available as printed booklets, daily email meditations and, new this year, as audio podcasts. To have printed copies of the Lenten Meditations by Ash Wednesday, March 6, orders must be received by Forward Movement by Friday, February 14. Orders may be placed by visiting http://www.ForwardMovement.org or calling 1.800.543.1813. Lenten booklets and other resources including hope chests, pew envelopes, bulletin inserts and special prayers are available. "Subscribers to our email meditations have been asking for podcasts for the past few years, said Sean McConnell, Senior Director of Engagement for Episcopal Relief & Development. We are excited this year we will be able to provide the option of listening to the meditations through podcasts available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play and SoundCloud. To learn more about ordering Lenten Meditations and other materials or planning an Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday, visit http://www.episcopalrelief.org/Lent. Supporters are also invited to sign up for daily email meditations in English and Spanish and to subscribe to the meditations as podcasts. About Episcopal Relief & Development: For over 75 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for more than 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate. Salinas, who the Lake County Coroner's office confirmed as the deceased, suffered a gunshot wound to the head area, two to the chest, one to the left thigh, one to the upper back and one in the buttocks, Rivera said. Salinas was 39 and lived in the 4000 block of Ivy, according to the coroner release. (Natural News) Turn down your lights at night, fellow humans ? it might be doing more harm than good to Kermit and his fellow amphibians, a recent research from State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton) suggests. In a study published in the journal Environmental Pollution, Jessica Hua, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at SUNY Binghamton, said that with the prevalence of light pollution today, they wanted to investigate its potential effect on amphibians, noting that as amphibians are sensitive to environmental changes, they make great models when it comes to studying how pollution of any type can impact other species. As detailed in the study, Hua, alongside fellow researchers Grascen Shidemantle and Dyllan May, conducted the investigation by exposing wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) to a control and two anthropogenic light conditions: intensified daylight illuminance and artificial light at night (ALAN). Huas research team found that both the intensified daylight illuminance and the ALAN treatments decreased hatching success in tadpoles. In addition, the tadpoles that were reared in the ALAN treatment, while distinctly larger, were less active, more sensitive to road salt pollution and had more parasites. (Related: Highly resistant diseases are wiping out the worlds amphibians: Massive die-off of frogs is leaving a gaping hole in the food chain.) Overall, I think the main thing we learned from this study is that exposure to light at night has the potential to make amphibians more susceptible to the effects of additional stressors, like road salt and parasites, Shidemantle said regarding the results. This is concerning since these are common stressors that many amphibians have to cope with. Get CLEAN FOOD and help support our mission to keep you informed: The Health Ranger Store lab verifies everything we sell with accredited testing for heavy metals, microbiology and food safety. Certified organic facility, ISO-accredited on-site laboratory, no GMOs or synthetic ingredients. The world's #1 source of lab-verified clean foods and superfoods for nutritional healing. 600+ products available. Explore now. Shidemantle noted that while having lights on at night might not have too much of a negative effect on wildlife by itself, it becomes a problem the moment other environmental stressors such as garbage, parasites and disease come into the picture. The combination of light pollution with additional stressors may have negative impacts on amphibian populations, Shidemantle added. According to Shidemantle, a graduate student at SUNY Binghamton, she is now considering looking at how light pollution impacts other organisms in wetland ecosystems that amphibians such as frogs, newts, toads and salamanders might possibly interact with, citing examples such as damselfly larvae, which are known to prey on tadpoles. Are amphibians dying out? The SUNY Binghamton research is the latest in a series of studies investigating the current decline in the number of amphibians and the factors contributing to it. According to a study published in the journal Current Biology, an estimated 2,000 amphibian species are in danger of extinction. This includes noted species such as the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus), the Santander poison frog (Andinobates virolinensis), the golden poison frog (Phyllobates terribilis) and the Alabama waterdog (Necturus alabamensis). The cause of the decline, according to experts, is a deadly cocktail of habitat destruction from urbanization and farming, deforestation, overcollection for the pet and wildlife trade and the spread of a deadly fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, which has been observed to corrode amphibian flesh. It is critical to understand how humans impact wildlife so that we can make more responsible decisions about how we proceed with activities such as urbanization and construction, Shidemantle said. Sources include: NewsWise.com ScienceDirect.com Cell.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 10:47:33|Editor: zyl Video Player Close SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Australian city of Sydney spent it's first night free of controversial lockout laws restricting the sale of alcohol and entry to licensed venues on Tuesday. While it will take some time to repair the city's damaged nightlife, crowds in a number of venues celebrated the end of what they consider to be a heavy handed government response and a stain on Sydney's international reputation. For the first time in five years, patrons could enter a pub or club in Sydney's central business district (CBD) after 1:30 a.m. and purchase a shot after midnight. Introduced in 2014, the lockout laws were a response to high rates of alcohol fuelled violence, including two widely publicized deaths. On New Year's Eve 2013, teenager Daniel Christie died after being hit once and fracturing his skull, near to where another teenager, Thomas Kelly died in a one punch attack in 2012. The periphery city-suburb of Kings Cross, where those attacks occurred, will retain the laws for at least another 12 months at which point they will be reviewed. Some Sydney residents have blamed the laws for stifling the city's nightlife and making it an uninviting destination for international visitors. A spokesperson for the City of Sydney told Xinhua that repealing the laws would "breathe oxygen into Sydney's cultural life and night-time economy." "We know the lockout laws were an overreaction when what we needed was 24-hour public transport and a stronger liquor licensing system to support well-run venues, penalize rogue ones, and spread venues out across the city," they said. However, the state government party responsible for introducing the laws maintains they were necessary in curbing alcohol fuelled violence at the time. A report by the New South Wales (NSW) Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR), released in August 2019 showed that assaults had decreased by 53 percent in the Kings Cross precinct and 4 percent in the broader CBD area. Meanwhile, assaults in suburbs surrounding the lockout zone increased by 18 percent, and assaults in a number of popular alternative nightlife areas accessible from the city, rose by 30 percent. However, overall, a net reduction in the number of assaults was estimated for the five year period during which the lockout laws were in place. "BOCSAR estimates the reforms delivered an overall reduction in non-domestic assaults over five years, with an estimated net benefit of 395 fewer non-domestic assault incidents," the report said. The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to raise the height of the proposed statue of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar at the Indu Mills compound in Mumbai by 100 feet. Addressing a press conference, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the height of the proposed statue will be raised to 350 feet, taking the collective height of the Ambedkar memorial, including the pedestal, to 450 feet. "The Cabinet has approved the proposal to increase the height of the bronze statue and pedestal from 350 feet to 450 feet," he said. Pawar, who holds the Finance portfolio, said the project will be completed in the next two years and there will be no dearth of funds. "The proposed structure includes an auditorium, a library and a research centre," he said, adding that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will be the nodal agency for the project. It can be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the memorial in October 2015. Pawar also said the Cabinet discussed the "Mumbai Eye" project on the lines of the London Eye, near the Bandra-Worli sea link if there are no CRZ issues. Mumbaikars could get a vantage view of the city from high in the sky through the Mumbai Eye. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Warm, cold, just right? Physicists at the University of California, Davis are taking the temperature of dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up about a quarter of our universe. We have very little idea of what dark matter is and physicists have yet to detect a dark matter particle. But we do know that the gravity of clumps of dark matter can distort light from distant objects. Chris Fassnacht, a physics professor at UC Davis and colleagues are using this distortion, called gravitational lensing, to learn more about the properties of dark matter. The standard model for dark matter is that it is 'cold,' meaning that the particles move slowly compared to the speed of light, Fassnacht said. This is also tied to the mass of dark matter particles. The lower the mass of the particle, the 'warmer' it is and the faster it will move. The model of cold (more massive) dark matter holds at very large scales, Fassnacht said, but doesn't work so well on the scale of individual galaxies. That's led to other models including 'warm' dark matter with lighter, faster-moving particles. 'Hot' dark matter with particles moving close to the speed of light has been ruled out by observations. Former UC Davis graduate student Jen-Wei Hsueh, Fassnacht and colleagues used gravitational lensing to put a limit on the warmth and therefore the mass of dark matter. They measured the brightness of seven distant gravitationally lensed quasars to look for changes caused by additional intervening blobs of dark matter and used these results to measure the size of these dark matter lenses. If dark matter particles are lighter, warmer and more rapidly-moving, then they will not form structures below a certain size, Fassnacht said. "Below a certain size, they would just get smeared out," he said. The results put a lower limit on the mass of a potential dark matter particle while not ruling out cold dark matter, he said. The team's results represent a major improvement over a previous analysis, from 2002, and are comparable to recent results from a team at UCLA. Fassnacht hopes to continue adding lensed objects to the survey to improve the statistical accuracy. "We need to look at about 50 objects to get a good constraint on how warm dark matter can be," he said. ### A paper describing the work is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Additional coauthors are: W. Enzi, S. Vegetti and G. Despali, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany; M. W. Auger, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, U.K.; L. V. E. Koopmans, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, The Netherlands and J. P. McKean, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Kenya Moore may have been crowned Miss USA but that doesnt mean shes Miss Congeniality. The RHOA star has been known to stir up drama but her most recent passive aggressive attack on friend to the show, Tanya Sam, has her in hot water with fans. Kenya Moore 2019 | John Lamparski/Getty Images Moore asked a general question to the group regarding infidelity in their marriages knowing specific information that could be hurtful to Sam. Though she refrained from revealing it, viewers believed Moore was being messy. With everything going on in Moores own marriage, fans are calling her out for the potentially harmful information. Kenya Moore alludes to infidelity in co-star Tanya Sams relationship While Moore and Sam appeared to be building a friendship, things began to shift after Moore initiated a conversation at a cast dinner in Toronto regarding cheating in relationships. She asked if her friends would want to know if their significant other was cheating (or even if they had exchanged numbers with another woman). All of the women agreed theyd like to be notified of the information. Source: YouTube It was soon revealed by both Cynthia Bailey and Kandi Burruss that Moore was referencing Sams long-time fiance Paul Judge. Just weeks before the ladies trip to Toronto, a woman known as the cookie lady, approached Moore and Bailey and alleged that Judge was flirty with her. Bailey later relayed the information to Buruss and the two sat awkwardly in hopes that Moore wouldnt spill specific details during the dinner. Fans slam Kenya Moore for remarks made about Tanya Sams relationship Sam was the most open about wanting a friend to tell her if it was her man that was being unfaithful. She also claimed that her and Judges relationship was close to perfect. Moore didnt reveal that it was Judge at the table and said in her confessional that the only relationship she was concerned with was her own. Fans were not happy with Moore and considered the question to be messy, specifically because she knew what happened with Judge. Whew this episode is messy & Kenya is truly miserable. #RHOA, wrote one viewer on Twitter. Whew this episode is messy & Kenya is truly miserable. #RHOA Flyy Girl (@DontCallMeShan) January 15, 2020 Source: Twitter Kenya is the WORST #RHOA, wrote another. Kenya is the WORST #RHOA Tamara (@tnfrances) January 14, 2020 Source: Twitter Kenya is so miserable, my word. Tanyas happiness is so upsetting for her. #RHOA, another declared. Kenya is so miserable, my word. Tanyas happiness is so upsetting for her. #RHOA kl$ (@kelsiwhitney) January 14, 2020 Source: Twitter Kenya Moore responds to backlash over spilling tea about Tanya Sams relationship Moore caught wind of fans being upset with her for the conversation. She took to Twitter to defend herself. I actually liked Tanya at that point in the show. IF I was going to tell her I would have. As I said in my interview, if someone is going to find out anything about their man, it wont be from me. #RHOA, she wrote. I actually liked Tanya at that point in the show. IF I was going to tell her I would have. As I said in my interview, if someone is going to find out anything about their man, it wont be from me. #RHOA KENYA MOORE (@KenyaMoore) January 13, 2020 Source: Twitter Moore also responded directly to a fans comment that she felt the housewife was miserable for starting the conversation in the first place. I didnt tell her or anyone sis or anyone else Ive heard things about. But were you entertained sis? Good, she replied. I didnt tell her or anyone sis or anyone else Ive heard things about. But were you entertained sis? Good. https://t.co/Xr9d6szuZs KENYA MOORE (@KenyaMoore) January 13, 2020 Source: Twitter Sam doesnt see it that way. The previews for upcoming episodes show that tensions will rise between Moore and Sam and things get ugly pretty quickly. Lindsay Lohan's mother Dina has been offered a plea deal in a DWI case that would see her jailed for six months after she was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run crash outside a New York steakhouse. Prosecutors offered the 57-year-old the deal during a brief hearing at the Nassau County Court in Long Island on Wednesday. Lohan was offered a six-month prison sentence and five months probation in exchange for pleading guilty to the DWI charge. Prosecutors offered Dina Lohan, 57, the plea deal in her DWI case during a brief appearance in a Long Island court on Wednesday The judge adjourned her case until later next month before Lohan could accept or refuse the plea deal. Lohan was arrested and charged after she allegedly hit a Honda outside an Outback Steakhouse in Long Island last Saturday night. She is accused of clipping the vehicle with her Mercedes before fleeing the scene without leaving any information. The driver of the car chased Lohan back to her Long Island home while on the phone to 911. Police said they found Lohan in the driver's seat of her car outside her home. Lohan was offered a six-month prison sentence and five months probation in exchange for pleading guilty to the DWI charge The judge adjourned her case until later next month before Lohan could accept or refuse the plea deal Lohan was arrested and charged after she allegedly hit a Honda outside an Outback Steakhouse in Long Island last Saturday night She was taken into custody after allegedly refusing to take a breathalyzer test and cursing at officers. The arresting officer noted that Lohan's breath smelled like alcohol and that her eyes appeared 'glassy and bloodshot'. Police said she was unsteady when she got out of the car and fell onto the ground face-first. It is Lohan's second DWI arrest. She was arrested in 2013 for drunk driving after police stopped her for speeding at 77mph in a 55mph zone. Her blood alcohol level at the time was found to be more than twice the legal limit. Her daughter, Lindsay, has also been arrested several times for drunk driving. Lohan was arrested and charged after she allegedly hit a Honda outside an Outback Steakhouse in Long Island last Saturday night WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)- There have been 22 flu-related deaths in Indiana so far this year, last year during this time there were only four. Health experts believe the increased number of deaths has to do with the type of Influenza that is circulating. However, they still recommend getting your flu shot. "In a typical Flu season about 75 percent of the flu cases presenting as type A Influenza and the remaining type B influenza, said Libby Richards an Associate Professor of Nursing at Purdue. However, this flu season is wonky in a way because we seeing more Type B cases." Type B cases arent what is normally seen during the flu season. The Type B strain has pros and cons. "It doesn't cause a pandemic or widespread rapid infection, added Richards. However, it does tend to infect children and young adults more frequently." According to the CDC this year there have been 32 pediatric deaths nationwide, and 21 of those were due to the type B virus. Last year during this time there were 16 pediatric deaths. The Indiana Department of Health released a report that shows Indiana's flu death numbers are up as well. So far there have been 22 deaths in the state due to Influenza. This time last year there were only four. However, Indiana has not seen any pediatric deaths yet. "It's likely that we haven't reached the peak of flu season yet, added Richards. So we are going to continue to see more flu cases." Even though Type B influenza is being seen more commonly, health experts say the flu shot can still help fight off the virus. "If you receive the flu vaccine your chance of severe complications from the flu is drastically reduced, added Richards. Professor Richards says the flu shot is still 58 percent effective in fighting Type B Influenza. She recommends getting a good night's rest and eating fresh fruits and vegetables to naturally boost your immune system. Flash At least 62 people were killed, 53 injured while 28 went missing in separate incidents of avalanches and rainfall in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, officials said Tuesday. A total of 58 houses were fully destroyed while 82 others got partially damaged in separate snow and rain triggered accidents in the territory, a handout by the disaster management authority of the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir said. The Neelum Valley area was the worst hit where 59 people were killed and 53 others injured when over 50 houses were buried by avalanches. While the rescue operation continues in the area, 28 people are still missing and the search continued during the day, but slowed down because of the darkness of the night, which created a major hurdle for the rescue teams to carry out their job, Ahmed Raza Qadri, a disaster management official of the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, told Xinhua. Qadri said that heavy rains and snow had been pounding Neelum Valley for the last few days, and the weather condition not only wreaked havoc on some of the residential colonies, but also blocked the main thoroughfares, making it hard for rescue teams to provide fast rescue and relief services to the trapped people. He said that Rescue 1122, a state-owned rescue agency, Pakistani military and other non-governmental organizations carried out the rescue and relief operations during the day. The military dispatched helicopters to the affected areas to recover bodies from the snow, and shifted the injured to the hospital. Food and medicine were also sent to the affected areas, Saeed ur Rehman Qureshi, another disaster management official in the region told Xinhua. He said that there had been raining in the area over the last two days, and the active weather cycle contributed to the multiple avalanches as rainwater made snowpack lose strength, triggering the avalanches. "The meteorological office told us about the situation in advance, and we also issued an advisory for the people, but avalanche is something which cannot be prevented, though villagers might have taken some measures," he added. Expressing sorrow over the calamity, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the severe snowfall and landslides had caused misery and deaths, and he had asked the military, the disaster management authority and all federal ministries to "immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on an emergency footing to the affected people." Qureshi blamed climate change as the major contributor to the unusual weather pattern in the area. "The effect of climate change is so rapid in the area that unexpected weather patterns including torrential rains, cloudburst, heavy snowfall and avalanches triggered by them are being witnessed in the region." In July last year, over 20 people were killed after being swept away by flashflood after days of heavy rain and sudden cloudburst in Neelum Valley. New Delhi: As a country that relies on harvest, days of festivities are singled out to thank the Sun god for their sanctifications such as Pongal in south India, Luira and Bihu in northeast India and Makar Sankranti in other parts of the country. The festivities go on for four days, Bhogi Pongal, Perum Pongal, Thai Pongal and Maattu Pongal. On this day people flying kites, bonfires, organising fairs, surya puja in river, feast, arts, dance, socialization and so on. Celebrated on the third day of the Tamil month Thai or the beginning of the Suns northward shift called Uttarayan, Pongal, which falls in mid-January every year dates back as old as the medieval Chola Empire days. How Pongal is celebrated: On Pongal day farmers prepare items like Pongal, Shakkara Pongal, sugarcane is offered. With the rising sun, the day is day is greeted with ringing bells, rhythmic beats of drums and the echoing sounds of conch shells. First day of the festival which is called Bhogi is when people discard old belongings and welcome new items. Farmers, for which this festival is highly significant, burn their old household materials in fire chanting Paraiyana kadiwalum, Pudiyana Pugudulam which translates to Let the old things go away and Let the new things come in. Significance of Pongal: Celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and countries with Tamil diaspora including Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Singapore and Malaysia, Pongal is one of the most important ones in the Tamil calendar and has been celebrated for over a thousand years. The period is referred to as Uttarayan Punyakalam in the Hindu mythology and is believed that it is the period when the Devas wake up after a half a year-long slumber hence marking a period of wealth and prosperity on earth. Heres how you can also celebrate Pongal by sending someone Happy Pongal wishes and messages: May good luck enter your home and success touch your feet. May happiness overflow on the auspicious occasion of Pongal. May this harvest festival reduce all your fears and failures from your life and fill your heart with calm and healthy thoughts. Happy Pongal! May the festival of Pongal fill your life with sweetness! May God bless you with peace, prosperity, and happiness in your life. Wish you a Happy Pongal. May the auspicious fire bring you joy and happiness and burn all your moments of sadness. Wishing you a very Happy Pongal. For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Others News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 21:03:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government reiterated on Wednesday that foreign organizations should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of the HKSAR. In response to a Hong Kong-related report issued by non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, a spokesman for the HKSAR government said that since its return to the motherland, Hong Kong has been exercising "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy in strict accordance with the HKSAR Basic Law. "The 'one country, two systems' principle has been fully and successfully implemented. The HKSAR government will continue to implement the 'one country, two systems' principle resolutely in accordance with the Basic Law," the spokesman said. Safeguarding human rights and freedoms is a constitutional duty of the HKSAR government. Article 4 of the Basic Law stipulates that the HKSAR shall safeguard the rights and freedoms of the residents of the HKSAR and of other persons in the HKSAR in accordance with law, the spokesman pointed out. "Human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong are fully protected by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and other legislation, in addition to the Basic Law. The HKSAR government attaches great importance to human rights and freedoms and is determined to safeguard them," he said. In respect of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, the spokesman said the HKSAR chief executive announced on Sept. 4, 2019 that the HKSAR government would formally withdraw the bill when the Legislative Council (LegCo) resumed session and the HKSAR government's secretary for security withdrew the bill at the LegCo meeting on Oct. 23, 2019. According to the spokesman, from June 2019 until now, there have been over 1,200 public demonstrations, processions and public meetings in Hong Kong. "Unfortunately, many ended in violent and illegal confrontations, seriously endangering personal safety, public order and public safety." "In fact, the report also mentioned various violent acts committed by protesters, such as throwing petrol bombs, setting roadblocks on fire and attacking other people. In response, the police have been carrying out enforcement actions in strict accordance with the law in order to protect life and property and restore order to society," he said. "If members of the public could express their views in a peaceful and rational manner, there would be no need for the police to use any force," he reiterated. As for constitutional development, universal suffrage of "one person, one vote" for selecting the chief executive and electing all members of the LegCo is enshrined as an ultimate aim in the Basic Law, the spokesman said, adding that "to achieve this aim, the community needs to engage in dialogues, premised on the legal basis and under a peaceful atmosphere with mutual trust, with a view to narrowing differences and attaining a consensus agreeable to all sides." "The HKSAR government will assess the situation carefully and take forward constitutional development in accordance with the Basic Law and the relevant Interpretation and Decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress," he said. "As a matter of fact, the HKSAR government took forward constitutional development in accordance with law between 2013 and 2015, and put forward a practicable proposal for selecting the chief executive by universal suffrage. However, the proposal was vetoed by Members of the Legislative Council who claimed to strive for democracy," he pointed out. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Samir Ali - Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev personally meets the appointed officials, and the public becomes an eyewitness to discussions held with them, comments and instructions given to them, political analyst Jeyhun Ahmadli told Trend within the "PREZIDENT. Mustaqillik. Tahlukasizlik. Rifah" video project. Ahmadli noted that the Azerbaijani president emphasizes at these meetings that officials should be close to the people. This gives reason to believe that the interests of Azerbaijani citizens are the fundamental basis considered priority by the state, said the analyst. Undoubtedly, successful implementation of the presidents instructions, the solution of the tasks set by him before the heads of local and central executive bodies will greatly contribute to strengthening the state, ensuring welfare and security of the Azerbaijani people. Ahmadli added that social policy is not only about raising pensions, benefits and salaries. Social policy has various directions, the analyst said. They include implementation of infrastructure projects, construction of schools and hospitals, the provision of the populations energy needs. Azerbaijan fully meets its energy needs. Ahmadli said that the fundamental principle of the domestic and foreign policy of independent Azerbaijan is to increase the social well-being of the population. Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, civil society and its interests constituted a priority area of both foreign and domestic policy of Azerbaijan. Measures aimed at raising salaries, developing social infrastructure, as well as improving the welfare of citizens from vulnerable groups over the past 15 years have significantly influenced the improvement of the standard of living of the Azerbaijani people, Ahmadli added. Two college students were arrested on Wednesday for the alleged abduction and rape of a 14-year-old school girl at a village in Odishas Ganjam district, police said. The incident took place five days ago and the arrests were made on the basis of the statement by the class seven student, which was recorded before a magistrate, the police said. A complaint had been lodged by a relative of the girl, Berhampur superintendent of police Pinak Mishra said adding, "We are verifying the complaint and the girls statement, the SP said. Medical examinations of the girl and the accused have been conducted and their clothes sent for test, the police said. According to the statement of the survivor, the accused duo had taken her to a nearby bush, tied her hands with her duptta and gave some laced drinks after which she became unconscious, police said adding that when she came to, the girl realized she had been sexually assaulted. The two college students have been arrested under different sections of the IPC and POCSO, the police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In August, Beijingas move was thwarted by France and other permanent members of the UNSC. (Photo Credit: File photo) New Delhi: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold a closed-door meeting on Kashmir on Wednesday, media reports said quoting sources. China has made a fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue in the UNSC, the sources added. This is Beijings third such attempt in the last 6 months to conduct discussion over Kashmir on behalf of its all-weather-ally, Pakistan. After India decided to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, a similar gathering was called by China in August last year. The meeting, however, had fallen flat failing to garner any support for Pakistan. The member nations agreed that scrapping up of Article 370 was Indias internal matter. In August, Beijings move was thwarted by France and other permanent members of the UNSC. Moreover, another UNSC meeting on Kashmir, scheduled in December, was not held. Also Read: Pakistan Epitomises 'Dark Arts', No Takers For Its 'Malware': India At UNSC French diplomatic sources have said that a UNSC member has again proposed to hold discussion over Kashmir. However, France once again looks set to oppose fresh request by member country for discussion on Kashmir in UNSC, said French diplomatic sources, reports news agency PTI. Also Read: Confident Of India Becoming Permanent Member Of UNSC: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar France's consistent position has been that Kashmir issue must be settled bilaterally between India and Pakistan, said French diplomatic sources. Earlier in phone call, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron held discussion over Kashmir. "In the spirit of trust and frankness that characterises their relations, the French President and the Indian Prime Minister discussed the situation in the region of Kashmir, which France continues to follow closely", the statement released by Elyse Palace had said. Apart from China, all the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council - France, Russia, the US and the UK -- have been backing New Delhi's position that disputes between India and Pakistan are bilateral matters. Pakistan has been pushing China to take up the Kashmir issue in the Security Council since India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 revoking priovisions of Article 370. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. As part of projects to mark this years Armed Forces Day, Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and the Defence Headquarters have released Soja, a feature film, which chronicles Nigerian militarys gallant fight against insurgency in the North-east. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the co-production was the first project under an MoU recently signed by the two organisations to produce films that would showcase the operations of the Nigerian military. The film released on Wednesday is produced by Explorer Studio, directed by ace filmmaker Peter Fada, and features veteran Nollywood actors, Segun Arinze, Ani Iyoho, Victor Emueje and Udeme Bassey among its cast. The plot of Soja follows a successful operation to rescue some schoolgirls from the hands of a terrorist group by a special unit of the Nigeria Armed Forces, led by a gallant officer, Sgt. Tanko (Ani Iyoho). Sgt. Tanko and his men get ambushed in a jungle that is better known to the terrorist and only Sgt. Tanko survives along with the rescued girls after their vehicle was hit by an RPG a Rocket Propelled Grenade. As the terrorists later discovered that there are survivors, Sgt. Tanko has to protect the girls from the attack of the terrorists in the jungle. The chance of survival becomes very slim for him and the only way to keep the girls alive is to pay the ultimate price. Its director, Peter Fada, told NAN that the story was inspired by the life and time of a Lt. Colonel, Mohammed Abu-Ali, who died in the battle against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east. Abu-Ali paid the ultimate price in defence of his men and love for the fatherland, and that inspired this story. Nigerians need to know and appreciate the sacrifices the Armed Forces make in ensuring that we have peace in our nation, Mr Fada said. The agreement signed at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, was for collaboration to present a platform where activities of the military in defence of fatherland would henceforth be showcased through the motion picture. The department of Civil-Military Cooperation is all about interface between civilians and the military so that the civilians will understand what we are doing. Being military documentaries and films, the military will supply the equipment and logistics they will require, while the filmmakers provide the expertise, Ngalabak said. The annual Armed Forces Remembrance Week is to honour gallant members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, who paid the ultimate price in the defence of their fatherland. It is also meant to generate funds via donations for the welfare of dependants of those who have suffered various setbacks as a result of their participation in wars. (NAN) President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed an economic and trade agreement that promises to increase the agricultural and other goods and services China will buy from the U.S. by $200 billion. For its part, the U.S. has agreed to slash tariffs on $120 billion in Chinese goods by half to 7.5% and to hold off on imposing any new tariffs. The pact also promises added protections for the intellectual property of U.S. businesses in China and lessens the pressure for U.S. firms to share their technologies with Chinese firms as a condition of doing business in China. On insurance, China has vowed to remove various barriers to entry by U.S. carriers and intermediaries and speed up licensing. The U.S. said it will move more quickly on requests by Chinese (re)insurers to operate in the U.S. Trump called the deal momentous and said he would schedule a visit to China now that this first phase of a two-part trade deal has been accomplished. This is a very important and remarkable occasion, Trump said. The second agreement is expected to address some difficult issues not addressed in this initial pact. This first phase does not require China to make any legal reforms or reduce subsidies the government gives to Chinese firms. As soon as this kicks in, were starting phase two, Trump said. [In his remarks, Trump thanked various business leaders including Starr Insurance Co. Chairman Maurice Hank Greenberg, the former chairman of American International Group and a pioneer in opening China and other foreign markets to U.S. insurers. Greenberg headed AIG for nearly four decades before being ousted in March 2005. If they had taken care of Hank, they wouldnt have had the problems that they had, Trump said.] Chapter 4 of the just-signed trade agreement covers financial services including banking, credit rating services, electronic payment services, insurance and securities and fund management. The following excerpts are from the section on insurance in which China promises to open up its markets to U.S. insurers: No later than April 1, 2020, China shall remove the foreign equity cap in the life, pension, and health insurance sectors and allow wholly U.S.-owned insurance companies to participate in these sectors. China affirms that there are no restrictions on the ability of U.S.-owned insurance companies established in China to wholly own insurance asset management companies in China. No later than April 1, 2020, China shall remove any business scope limitations, discriminatory regulatory processes and requirements, and overly burdensome licensing and operating requirements for all insurance sectors (including insurance intermediation), and shall thereafter review and approve expeditiously any application by U.S. financial services suppliers for licenses to supply insurance services. In accordance with this commitment, China affirms that it has eliminated the requirement of thirty-years of insurance business operations for establishment of new foreign insurance companies. The United States acknowledges current pending requests by Chinese institutions, including by China Reinsurance Group, and affirms that such requests will be considered expeditiously. Insurer Chubb, which in November increased its stake in Chinese insurer Huatai Insurance Group and has a partnership with Chinas largest property/casualty insurer PICC Property & Casualty Co., welcomed the news and expressed hope for more t come. Chubb welcomes and supports the successful completion of the Phase One trade agreement between the United States and China. We congratulate the governments of both nations for achieving this important confidence-building step, the companys statement said. We urge the U.S. and China to expeditiously move to the important Phase Two negotiations, taking into account the interests of both countries while reconciling important differences. At Chubb, we have confidence in the long-term potential of the Chinese insurance market, and this agreement should expand market access for American business in financial services, including insurance. Topics Carriers USA China This cover image released by Berkley shows "How Quickly She Disappears," a novel by Raymond Fleischmann. (Berkley via AP) How Quickly She Disappears, Berkley, by Raymond Fleischmann When Elizabeth Pfautz was a child in Pennsylvania, her twin sister was lured away by a stranger, never to be seen again. Years later, in 1941, Elizabeth is raising a daughter who bears a striking resemblance to the missing twin. They live with her husband, a schoolteacher, in a remote Native American village in Alaska. There, Elizabeth dreams of her missing sister every night. Although Elizabeth isnt a woman given to magical thinking, she cant shake the feeling that her sister is trying to make contact through those dreams. As Raymond Fleishmanns debut novel, How Quickly She Disappears, opens, a plane that delivers mail to the village has landed with a stranger in place of the usual pilot. And there is something wrong with the plane. Before the stranger figures out how to fix it, he gets into a dispute with Elizabeths best friend in the village, viciously bludgeons him to death and refuses to explain why. The only person he will speak with, he tells police, is Elizabeth. Reluctantly, Elizabeth agrees to see him, only to find that he has no interest in talking about the killing. He has a different agenda. Elizabeths twin is alive, he tells her. He knows who took her and where she is now. If she wants to know more, she will have to continue visiting him in jail, each time doing him a single, small favor. What follows is a high-stakes, cat-and-mouse game that will remind readers of the menacing dance between Hannibal Lecter and FBI agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. Fleischmann tells his story with such skill that it is hard to believe this is a debut novel. The characters are well-developed and memorable, the rural Alaska setting is vividly portrayed, the plot is loaded with unexpected turns and the unrelenting suspense creates a growing sense of dread. Best of all, the author tells the tale with the musical prose of a literary novelist at the top of his game. Story continues ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including The Dread Line. ___ Online: https://raymondfleischmann.com/ http://www.brucedesilva.com/ Calaveras County Seal View Photo San Andreas, CA Responses from elected officials and governing boards to the 2018-19 Calaveras County Grand Jury report are now all online, accessible with a few mouseclicks. Every year, a 19-member Grand Jury is impaneled consisting of county citizens, who effectively become officers of the court, functioning as an independent body under the guidance of a Superior Court Judge. The 2019-2020 Grand Jury recently announced that all the components of the 2018-19 Grand Jurys report and responses were posted on the countys website and accessible by clicking here. This gives the citizens of Calaveras County the opportunity to examine the responses that government entities gave to the recommendations, explained Foreman Larry Abernathy. While required under the state penal code to investigate the public prisons and jails, the body itself makes the decision what other county agencies or services to investigate in order that the best interests of all citizens are being adequately served. Along with Law and Justice, the 2018-19 report focused on the countys Animal Control Services, Audit and Finance, Code Compliance, College Districts, Education Support and Services for Homeless Students, and the Jenny Lind Veterans Memorial District. Among the Grand Jurys more controversial recommendations made in the report, was for the county to pull out of the San Joaquin Delta Community College District (SJDCCD) since it never built a Foothills campus or college learning center despite such a facility being listed among Measure L Bond authorized projects. The district, in its response, maintained that the measure also stated that in the event of an unexpected slowdown in development or student enrollment certain projects might be delayed or not completed. Calaveras County Office of Education (CCOE) officials and the Board of Supervisors disagreed with that course of action, citing a need to enhance higher education opportunities and partnerships to that end. CCOE specifically pointed out it and SJDCCD were exploring the establishment of virtual CTE and Workforce Development virtual education locations within the county. View all the report findings, recommendations and the responses from the various concerned agencies by clicking here. Bruce Springsteen beamed proudly as his son Sam with wife Patti Scialfa was sworn in Tuesday as a firefighter with the Jersey City Fire Department. The 70-year-old rocker and Patti, 66, sat in the front row as Sam, 26, was sworn into the newest class at City Hall during a ceremony with Mayor Steven Fulop. 'We're very proud,' Bruce told reporters at the ceremony. 'We're just excited for him today .' Proud father: Bruce Springsteen hugged his son Sam on Tuesday after he was sworn in as a Jersey City firefighter at City Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey Sam was sworn into the city fire department along with 15 others. Jersey City officials said it was the fire department's 10th class since Fulop, 42. took office. More than 200 firefighters have been hired since 2013. The department now has 666 members, its largest number ever. Standing ovation: The 70-year-old rocker and wife Patti Scialfa, 66, sat in the front row and applauded as Sam was sworn in as a firefighter Sam's older brother Evan, 29, also showed his support by attending the ceremony. New Jersey native Bruce and Patti also have daughter Jessica, 28, together. Patti and Bruce got married in June 1991 at their Los Angeles home in a ceremony attended by family and close friends. Famous father: Sam Springsteen saluted during the swearing in ceremony Shiny badge: Patti admired her son's new firefighter badge as Mayor Steven Fulop looked on The Boss has sold more than 135 million records worldwide and has won 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award and a Tony Award for Springsteen On Broadway. Bruce was inducted in 1999 into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 by President Barack Obama. Phan Thi Tu, a textile factory worker in Binh Tan District, HCM City, has welcomed Tet (Lunar New Year) far from home for three years, and 2020 will be no different. Bui Thi Ben, second from left, owner of rented house complex in HCM City's District 9, makes chung cake for migrant workers who can not afford to go back to their hometowns to welcome the new year. Photo tienphong.vn Since she had her second baby three years ago, Tu and her husband have barely been able to make ends meet. It would cost the four-member family about VND7 million (US$304) to pay for transportation to their hometown in central province of Nghe An, not to mention expenses on Tet (Lunar New Year) presents. We would have to spend several months of wages to go to our hometown. When Tet comes near, some of our relatives call and ask when we would go back. Due to financial difficulties, we can only say next year, Tu told Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper. This year is the first time young woman Nguyen Thi Thuy from the central province of Quang Binh will welcome Tet in a city more than 1,000 km from her hometown. Though she has worked for a footwear company in HCM Citys District 12 for more than a year, her small Tet bonus is not enough to go home. I gave all of my VND10 million ($435) savings to my parents to buy new clothes for my younger sisters and brothers, she said. Migrant workers who can't get home for the festivities like Tu and Thuy usually gather with their neighbours at the rented house complexes on New Year's Eve. Sympathising with migrant workers, Bui Thi Ben, owner of a rental house complex in District 9, makes chung cake and pickles, traditional Vietnamese New Year dishes, and gives them for free to the workers. I want to share and hope to make them feel warmth when they welcome Tet far from home, she said. Although Tet far from home is not as warm as in their hometowns, welcoming Tet with compatriots goes some way to softening the blow, Tu said. According to unofficial statistics from HCM City, the city has about 2.2 million labourers. A recent report at 11 foreign direct investment enterprises in Linh Trung I Industrial Park where 37,600 labourers work found the average monthly income per person is VND6.2 million ($270). Families with one child save only VND300,000 ($13) per month on average, while those with two children struggle to make ends meet. Wages owed According to the Labour Federation of the southern province of Binh Duong, which hosts the largest number of enterprises and industrial parks nationwide, about 100,000 internal migrant workers will not return to their hometowns for the upcoming holiday for various reasons. A number of labourers at industrial parks in Binh Duong feel desperate as their Tet bonus has been delayed until after Tet, Tien Phong reported. I will be paid the wages of the last month before the holiday and my Tet bonus after the holiday, said Truong Dan Huy, who works at Viet Huong Industrial Park. Tran Thanh Liem, chairman of Binh Duong Provinces Peoples Committee, said the province would allocate more than VND217 billion ($9.4 million) to support workers. While many migrant workers cannot return to their hometown for Tet holidays, some others find themselves lucky enough. As well as bonuses, enterprises in HCM City have offered supermarket vouchers and free train and bus tickets from the city back to Nghe An and Thanh Hoa on January 20 (December 26 in the lunar calendar), which enables many workers to return home for the holiday for the first time in years. Mai Thi Giang, working at Kenda Viet Nam Rubber Company in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province, will be reunited with her family after five years of separation. We can afford monthly living expenses. Going back to our hometown to reunite and welcome Tet is such a dream. The dream now has come true. VNS 1,000 return to work after victorious Tet bonus strike More than 1,000 workers from a foreign-invested Taiwanese company in the northern province of Ninh Binh have returned to work after three-day strike over low Tet bonuses. What do you get when your business community takes development into their own hands? For Bonnie Smith, CIO at Lear Corporation, the answer is not shadow IT. With technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) getting easier to deploy and maintain, Smith and her team are building a new self-service model that lets a business community of 160,000 people design their own productivity tools. Smith, who has been CIO of the $21 billion global automotive parts manufacturer since 2016, describes her thinking around the new model and how she seeks to strike the right balance between innovation and compliance. Martha Heller: How are you changing the IT delivery model at Lear? Bonnie Smith: With the advent of technologies that are relatively easy to deploy, we are empowering the business community to build their own digitally transformed processes. With RPA, for example, it is very easy for business people to program software robots for productivity improvement in their areas. Rather than ask IT to keep up with the demand, we are launching a major initiative to unleash the creativity of 160,000 employees to apply RPA where it will have the greatest impact. With this new model, IT becomes a facilitator and collaborative partner, not a roadblock. How did you come up with the citizen developer model? Last year, we had a business unit that was innocently creating shadow IT by investing in the development of some RPA tools. So, we built a couple of proofs of concept around their work. Those early initiatives were successful and gave us the confidence that we could build a more scalable self-service model. We grouped together a half a dozen technologies that we felt could work in a self-service model and formed a group within IT called Smart Office Solutions, or SOS. In other words, Business person: You need help? Start with SOS. SOSs initial work was around RPA, but we are now designing the same self-service model for workflow tools, data management and data visualization. In this citizen developer model, how do you maintain an enterprise view of the project queue? Lear has more than 260 plant locations around the world, so we expect to see some overlap in productivity improvement ideas. Thats where governance comes in. We help our business partners with training, getting their licenses, and installing RPA tools on their machines. Now, they are free to develop. But they have to check in at certain points, including before they build anything and when they believe that they are ready for production. Each business function must also create a Digitization Council because the functional leaders know where the waste is and where to best apply newer technologies once they understand what they can do. My team and I keep an inventory of what each plant and function is doing, so that we connect the dots and help the disparate business units collaborate. How will you measure the results of the model? Because business developers have to check their work in at the beginning and end of the development process, we are able to catalog their ideas. For each idea, we make sure our business partners define hard benefits, which weve expanded beyond cost savings, to include freed-up productivity. We also look at what we call our Best Practice connection points. How many new ideas have we referred to other plants and business units? How many are we able to deploy globally? Not every RPA use case will be applicable to every plant or function, so early in the process, the SOS team helps our business developers think through the broadest applicability of their idea. We also help to connect the dots. We can connect a business person in Europe who has an RPA need for bank reconciliation, for example, with a group in South America who is already working on that. We see connect points as a critical metric, because they are helping us to eliminate rework. What foundational elements did you put in place for SOS to be effective? We changed our prioritization criteria for the tool selection to increase the weight of user friendliness. If the tools arent easy to use, people will have to come back to IT. We upgraded our intake mechanism so that the method by which people submit new ideas is standardized and they can therefore see others suggestions. But the third piece, which was a major effort, was lining up our implementation partners. If a business person has a solid idea, with no similar tools already in production, they can ask a systems integrator to help them with the first project or two. Over time, the business person will most likely get comfortable with their own development work and do it on their own, but if they prefer, they can keep paying the integration partners. We manage the integration partners very closely. Our challenge was to find a systems integrator who was willing to forego a multi-year statement of work with a fixed minimum and agree to take calls from more than 260 locations around the world. It took a while to find partners who could wrap their minds around how to make the economics work for them. What we did not have to change was culture. Lear, by nature of the business we are in, is very diligent about compliance. Because of that, we knew that if we let business people run with development, we could trust them to respect the guardrails. If you have a culture that prioritizes freedom but not compliance, then this model wont work. How did you drive adoption of the SOS model? I was very cautious about waiting until we had lined up the system integrators and had the right guardrails in place. When we reached that point, I worked with our communications group to launch an announcement to all of the executives in the company. We currently have a dozen active groups. We will start promoting their successes and how much money theyve saved by doing their own development with the SOS toolkit. We have to plan it so that we dont let business interest get too far ahead of our ability to manage the intake properly. How do you think a self-service delivery model will change the role of the CIO in the future? CIOs who are deep technologists may be challenged by giving development tools to their business partners. They wont want to lose the control. But as CIO, if you think of yourself as a business enabler, this model will allow you to focus less on the pure technology and more on helping your business adopt more technology faster. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:15:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Philippine troops have rescued an Indonesian fisherman held hostage since September 2019 by the Abu Sayyaf fighters in the southern Philippine Sulu province, the country's military said on Wednesday. The military said the Indonesian hostage, Muhammad Farhan, was rescued in a remote village in Indanan, Sulu at 6:45 p.m.local time on Wednesday. The victim is now confined at a military hospital, the military said in a statement. Farhan is among the three Indonesian fishermen snatched by masked Abu Sayyaf gunmen in two pump boats that boarded two fishing vessels on Sept. 23 in the waters off Lahad Datu in Malaysia close to the sea border with the southern Philippines. The military said civilians tipped off the location of Farhan, leading to his rescue. Philippine troops rescued the other two Indonesian fishermen in December last year during a firefight in the mountainous hinterlands of Panamao, a town in Sulu province. Abu Sayyaf Group is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremist groups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400 fighters, is active in the impoverished island provinces of Sulu and Basilan. The group is responsible for series of kidnappings-for-ransom, deadly bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in the Mindanao region. The group, which has been terrorizing the southern region of the Philippines since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands. Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, took to Twitter to hail the valour and professionalism of a few Chinar Corps jawans of the Indian Army for their gesture towards a pregnant woman. The soldiers carried and escorted an expecting mother to the hospital amid heavy snowfall. Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit, PM Modi wrote while replying to a tweet by the Chinar Corps, Indian Army. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! he added. The Prime Minister further wrote that he is proud of the army. I pray for the good health of Shamima [mother] and her child, he added. In their tweet, the Chinar Corps of the Indian Army detailed the incident. During heavy snowfall, an expecting mother Mrs Shamima, required emergency hospitalisation. For 4 hours over 100 Army persons & 30 civilians walked with her on stretcher through heavy snow, they tweeted. Further adding, Baby born in hospital, both mother & child doing fine. Take a look at the video: Our Army is known for its valour and professionalism. It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child. https://t.co/Lvetnbe7fQ Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2020 People had a lot to say on both the posts. While many appreciated the jawans involved in particular incident, others tweeted about the bravery of the armed forces. Also, some pointed that this is a befitting tweet celebrating Indian Army Day. "Gerana mat dheere dheere chalna" Truly speechless. Deep respect & admiration to the kind bravehearts Blessed are mother & child NinjaWarrior (@NinjaWa49656320) January 14, 2020 Happy Indian Army Day Let us celebrate with pride the service rendered to the nation By Our Fearless and Selfless Warriors.#ArmyDay pic.twitter.com/i1f3VlGgyR Hasi Johari (@warriorhasi_iaf) January 15, 2020 Beautiful! Suhas Hardutt (@sharma_suhas) January 15, 2020 Great job by Respected Indian Army sir. We are very proud of you sir. Love you so much sir. Jai Hind Sir.#IndianArmy#NationFirst DIXIT (@ILOVEMYINDIASJ) January 14, 2020 Since being shared a few hours back on January 15, the video has garnered close to 75,000 views and the numbers are only increasing. Prime Minister Narendra Modis post also gathered over 15,000 likes and more than 3,800 retweets. Also Read | Indian Army Day 2020: Heres how Twitter is paying tribute to countrys bravehearts New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): President Ram Nath Kovind has summoned the Rajya Sabha to meet on January 31. "The President has summoned the Rajya Sabha to meet on Friday, 31 January 2020, at New Delhi. Subject to exigencies of business, the Session is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 3 April 2020," reads an official statement. The Budget Session of the Parliament will commence on January 31 and will conclude on April 3. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Union Budget on February 1. As per sources, the first phase of the session will be from January 31 to February 11 and the second one from March 2 to April 3. (ANI) When Donald Trump retweeted a selectively edited clip of rival Tom Steyer in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, he ended up dunking on his own opinion because of how a right-wing group presented the video. Trump will 'run on the economy' in a bid for re-election, Steyer said Tuesday night during a Democratic primary debate in Iowa. 'He's already told Americans last month in Florida, 'You don't like me and I don't like you, but you're all going to vote for me because the Democrats are going to destroy the economy in 15 minutes if they get in control',' Steyer said. Sarah Dolan Schneider, the executive director of America Rising, a conservative message machine known for its opposition research, clipped the final 15 words'The Democrats are going to destroy the economy in 15 minutes if they get in control'and tweeted it out of context. 'I agree with him on this, 100%,' the presdient tweeted, spreading the deceptive video clip that reflected his own words. President Donald Trump mocked Tom Steyer for quoting him, after a video emerged that was edited to make it seem like Steyer's opinion Steyer quoted Trump saying that if a Democrat won the White House the U.S. economy would tank in 15 minutes The leader of a conservative, pro-Trump PAC deceptively edited he video to make Steyer out to be an anti-Democrat economy skeptic Steyer fired back from Des Moines: 'Read the transcript. It's actually perfect.' That's a reference to Trump's frequent insistence that a now-famous phone call with Ukrain'e's president included nothing impeachable. 'I said you're a fraud and a failureand I'll expose you,' Steyer added. Now go to bed.' America Rising, the PAC responsible for the confusion, did not respond to a request for comment. Steyer, one of two billionaires running to replace Trump, argued Tuesady night that his outside-the-Beltway resume would be a plus in the Oval Office. Steyer fired back at Trump with language plucked from his own battles over a transcript of a now-famous phone call with Ukraine's president America Rising executive director Sarah Dolan Schneider posted the deceptive video Tuesday night, attracting Trump's attention 'What we are hearing is 20 years of mistakes by the American government in the Middle East,' Steyer said. 'Its time for someone from the outside having a strategic view on what were trying to do.' Steyer is near the top fo America's wealth scale but appears to own only a few plaid neckties. He has evolved from a cutthroat investor to a single-issue environmental activist. He has used his money to fund ads in early states that raised his profile enough to clear the debate's polling and donation thresholds. He has largely been a background presence in previous faceoffs, but Tuesday night he stood out by occupying an unusual nichethe anti-corporate tycoon. 'Corporations are having their way with the American people and the American people are suffering,' Steyer said at one point, endorsing the single-payer health care plan outlined by Sanders, an avowed socialist. Later, he said his children didn't deserve a free college education paid for by taxpayers. He also insisted that he has been advocating for a wealth tax longer than the other primary contenders, including the far-left Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has made it her keystone proposal. 'The redistribution of wealth to the richest Americans from everybody else has to end,' he said. NOVI, MI - Michigans biggest pop culture event has its first guest for 2020. Motor City Comic Con came out strong by announcing actor Kiefer Sutherland will be at the event this May. Motor City Comic Con is at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi from Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17. You know Sutherland from such movies as Stand By Me, Lost Boys and Young Guns. On the small screen he won an Emmy Award and Golden Globe for playing Jack Bauer on 24. Most recently he starred as President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor. Sutherland will be appearing at Motor City Comic Con on Saturday only where he will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. You can find his photo op and autograph information here. Motor City Comic Con is now in its 31st year. More than 70,000 people attended the 2019 event. Tickets are now on sale for the 2020 show. For over 30 years we have been making each year bigger and better, said Michael Goldman, Founder and Convention Promoter of Motor City Comic Con. Were thrilled to embark on our third decade and the greatness 2020 will bring. Motor City Comic Con 2019 from MLive: Our favorite celebrity encounters from the event The top 20 cosplayers we saw at the event Catching up with Stanley and Kevin from The Office Barry Williams talks Brady Bunch" reunion Talking with the real life Princess Jasmine New World, a 70-episode TV series set on the eve of the liberation of Beijing, has made a splash since it began its run on Beijing Satellite TV and streaming sites iQiyi and Tencent Video on Jan 13. Boasting a stellar cast, the drama gathers actors Sun Honglei, Zhang Luyi and Yin Fang to play three brothers a prison warden, a Kuomintang secret service agent and a local police officer, respectively. The story revolves around their choice, whether to stay in Beijing to strive for the Communist Party's New China or flee to the South with the defeated Kuomintang troops. During a sneak preview recently held in Beijing, writer and director Xu Bing, best known for the critically acclaimed espionage drama The Red, revealed the twisty-turny drama unfolds over the course of 22 days before the People's Liberation Army took Beijing on Jan 31, 1949. To recreate the city landscape of that time, the crew rented an area of around 270,000 square meters in the outskirts of Beijing to build replicas of Beijing hutong and courtyards, as well as a "prison" with an area of around 3,000 sq m. Unlike most revolutionary dramas, New World shakes off cliche depictions and employs a thriller-like narrative to develop its nerve-shattering storyline. A-list actress Zhou Dongyu, known for the runaway hit Better Days, is also in the cast. But her character, the girlfriend of Yin's police officer, is brutally murdered in the second episode. Depicted as the victim of a serial killer, Zhou's character has stirred discussion online, exemplified by a vote to guess the murderer has drawn many netizens on Douban, the country's top review aggregator for movies and TV series. Now ranked as the second-highest rated TV series in prime hours, some critics predict the drama may ascend to the top slot in a few weeks. Police have arrested a man who had allegedly staged a robbery with an intention to kill his wife as he was having an extra-marital affair with his sister-in-law, officials said here on Wednesday. The incident had taken place at a house near Mewati Chowk of Behta Hazipur under the Loni police station on the night intervening January 11 and 12. SSP Kalanidhi Naithani said Asif planned the robbery to kill his wife due to relations with his sister-in-law. During investigation, police monitored around 100 CCTV footage, the officer said. He said Asif had hired three people to eliminate his wife Samreen (35). "I had an extra-marital affair with the younger sister of my wife due to which I planned to kill my pregnant wife," Asif reportedly told police. According to police, Asif told them that he wanted to keep his sister-in-law with him on the pretext of looking after his one-year-old son Taimoor, daughter Nameera (7) and elder son Aatif (12). "I had contacted two quacks--Ravinder and Sandeep--and paid them Rs 30,000 to poison my wife but they failed," Asif reportedly told police. Later, both introduce Asif to Sunil, who was a hardcore criminal and was imprisoned several times for committing heinous crimes, police said. According to police, Asif confessed that Samreen was strangled to death. "I was held hostage as per planning at gunpoint due to which my brother-in-law Zunaid (14) and son Aatif took it as real," Asif told police. Police have arrested Asif under Sections 120-B and 302 of the IPC. The quacks have been arrested under Section 120-B of the IPC while Sunil and his two accomplices are still at large. They would also be nabbed soon, the SSP added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bruce Bursten, chemistry and biochemistry professor at WPI. We are very proud when our faculty are nationally recognized for their contributions, and grateful that the American Chemical Society saw fit to recognize our distinguished colleague.-Jean King, Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Sciences at WPI Bruce Bursten, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has been named by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to receive the 2020 ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. The annual award recognizes individuals who have advanced inorganic chemistry by significant service and outstanding research. The award cites Bursten for distinguished contributions to inorganic chemistry as an outstanding researcher in inorganic electronic structure and bonding, inspirational teacher and author, and forward-thinking leader. Bursten will receive the award in March at the ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia. The event will include a symposium in his honor. I am deeply humbled to receive this award from the American Chemical Society, Bursten said. To be selected to receive this award by peers within my discipline is a very special honor to me. I am grateful to my students and colleagues who have given me such a rich and satisfying career in chemistry. Burstens research centers on the correlation of theoretical and experimental electronic structural data with the bonding and reactivity patterns of metal-containing molecules. He is the author or co-author of more than 160 research papers, and he has presented more than 200 research seminars at universities other than WPI, national laboratories, and companies. He is also a co-author of one of the leading textbooks in college general chemistry, currently in its 14th edition. Bursten is a former provost of WPI. He has served as chairman of the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry, as president of ACS, and as chairman of the chemistry division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His honors include a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Teacher-Scholar Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Spiers Medal and Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom, and the Morley Medal of the Cleveland Section of the ACS. He has also received the Catalyst Award, a teaching honor, from the American Chemistry Council. He is a fellow of AAAS and ACS. Bursten received a bachelor of science in chemistry, with honors, from the University of Chicago in 1974, and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978. We congratulate Dr. Bursten for his tremendous contribution to the field of inorganic chemistry, said Jean King, Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Sciences at WPI. We are very proud when our faculty are nationally recognized for their contributions, and grateful that the American Chemical Society saw fit to recognize our distinguished colleague. About Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI, the global leader in project-based learning, is a distinctive, top-tier technological university founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems. Recognized by the National Academy of Engineering with the 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, WPIs pioneering project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. WPI offers more than 50 bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs across 14 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. Its faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research to meet ongoing challenges in health and biotechnology; robotics and the internet of things; advanced materials and manufacturing; cyber, data, and security systems; learning science; and more. http://www.wpi.edu Contact: Alison Duffy Director of Strategic Communications Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, Massachusetts 508-831-6656; 508-340-5040 (cell) amduffy@wpi.edu It would be a little unfair to describe Micheal Martins disposition as cocky at Fianna Fails campaign launch event. But he certainly seemed composed. Confident even. And that was even before tales of Fine Gaels electoral woes on the campaign trail began to drift in. Between a homeless man being assaulted in his tent on the Grand Canal and suffering serious injuries as a result, all under a poster of housing minister Eoghan Murphy, and Leo Varadkar facing the wrath of the marginalised childcare workers and VAT-payers of Co Cavan, day one of the 2020 General Election couldnt have gone much worse for the Government. Mr Martin was joined by Dara Calleary and Senator Catherine Ardagh for his opener. Ms Ardaghs presence was interesting - she missed out by just 40 votes last time out. Perhaps bigger things are expected of her in 2020. Members of the Gardai at the scene along the Grand Canal in Dublin today. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Not that either of his two companions said a word. This was the leaders show alone. Mr Martin was deliberately short on policy specifics at the event, however, perhaps understandably given the Fianna Fail manifesto isnt out yet. Pensions, gender quotas, budget plans. All were dealt with with a swift yes that is a point, something must be done. Still, you get the impression the partys strategy will be to go the ropes like Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa and let their old enemy punch itself out before hoovering up the spoils. It worked reasonably well in 2016 after all. Back then Fine Gael faced similar problems with its message of recovery. This time out it appears stymied by a combination of being in power for nine years, having at least three major domestic crises on its hands on the election date, and an inability to pin down what its campaign should be about. Mr Martin would do well to be wary of complacency. Fine Gael wants this vote to be predicated on the economy and Brexit, and, certainly in the latters case, a bounce may well come as we close in on Januarys end. And after all, all politics is local. Theres a long way to go, and therell be pitfalls aplenty, before this race is run. Still, the Fianna Fail leader appeared in high spirits and happy out with his softly softly approach. The closest he came toward opprobrium with the Government was an expression of disbelief that Leo Varadkar should call for a statement from Dublins Fianna Fail Lord Mayor Paul McAuliffe regarding the incident involving the homeless man. He called for what? he said when asked about it. Thats extraordinary. Thats not how I would do politics. First blood to Micheal, and he didnt even have to work particularly hard for it. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar being helped to put on a high visibility jacket ahead of a factory visit to the shop floor of Combilift in Annahagh, Co. Monaghan after launching the Fine Gael's general election campaign. (Liam McBurney/PA Wire) Regarding the suggestion that Fianna Fail is not to be trusted having led the country into a cataclysmic recession when in power, he was a little dismissive. They (Fine Gael) have been banging that drum for quite a while now, he said, before contending that the economic recovery seen since had been kickstarted by the late Brian Lenihans deeply unpopular austerity policies in the aftermath of the crash. Data courtesy of Irish Times The closest he came to a hiccup was the issue of the composition of any prospective Fianna Fail front bench. The presence of Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins in the frontlines in the wake of Votegate wasnt even close to being ruled out by Martin when asked, while Lisa Chambers, of course, was never removed in the first place. Instead he turned the matter back on Leo the Impatient, for calling the election and thereby nixing the Dail investigations into the Fianna Fail trio who were caught red-handed voting for each other in the Dail chamber. The Taoiseach did write to me last week saying that before there was a general election he wanted these issues resolved. We accepted that. The Taoiseach dissolved it, and thats where we are now. Then there is the other issue that could yet come back to bite Fianna Fail - its leaders doubling-down on his partys commitment that it wont go into Government with Sinn Fein. Ive outlined reasons why, in terms of how that party operates, he said. Time will tell if thats a promise hell be able to keep. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India had been largely successful in creating own platforms, organising discourses and shaping narratives. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2020, he said, Five years ago, Prime Minister, you gave us a challenge. It was your view that as a rising power, India should not just be participating in global conversations organised by others. Five years later, I can state with some confidence that we have delivered to a great measure on those expectations. Lest it encourage the organisers to rest on their laurels, let me also promise you that we will keep improving with each addition. The inaugural session of the meet was attended by PM Narendra Modi and seven former heads of State and government. This platform brings together representatives and individuals who you may not commonly find at the same location at the same time. The exchange of perspectives that this allows could possibly grow into something more with the passage of time, Jaishankar said. Speaking at a panel discussion at the event, former Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay said, Bhutan is the worlds only carbon neutral commons, this is unacceptable. We need a global commons on climate change. Bhutan can be the champion of environmental values, but we are tiny. Global leaders are failing mother earth. Strategic lynchpin in the Indo-Pacific Australian PM Scott Morrison, who was to deliver the inaugural address at the Raisina Dialogue but had to call off his visit due to the bushfire in his country, sent a video message saying India is and will remain the strategic lynchpin in the Indo-Pacific. The term Indo-Pacific reflects the recognition that Indias power and purpose will be vitally important to the region and to resolving and supporting shared security challenges, he said. The Chinese economy has come under international spotlight at the beginning of 2020. China will outperform expectations in 2020. Economists are optimistic on Chinas growth prospects. Eye-catching figures indicate Chinas economic achievements. It is commonly acknowledged by the international society that pressured by rising domestic and external risks and challenges, Chinas economy demonstrates bright prospects. Its universally recognized that the momentum of steady growth for Chinas economy has never changed and will be an underlying trend going forward. The recent Global Economic Prospects released by the World Bank indicated that Chinas economy maintained resilient under the support of the robust growth of disposal income, and the economic growth was one of the fastest in the world. Against the backdrop of a sluggish world economy, China will still be the leading engine of global economic growth, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported. U.S. media pointed out that strong survey data indicated that China's economic growth is better than expected, which has given hope to other export-oriented economies in the region. China's economic stability and progress remain unchanged, which could be attributed to the solid foundation laid by long-term development. The total retail sales of consumer goods in China in 2019 is expected to exceed 40 trillion yuan for the first time, and consumption will contribute more than 60 percent to economic growth, becoming the first driving force for economic growth for six consecutive years. The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector has firmed up, with manufacturing confidence continuing to rise. In 2019, China's GDP is expected to hit 100 trillion yuan. It has been generally noted that this means that China's per capita GDP will reach $10,000. The huge volume serves as the basis for China's economic development and the high-quality development shows the resilience of the Chinese economy. Foreign media praised that the Chinese economy is picking up in the headwind. Reform and opening-up has been further advanced, so that China's economy is full of new vitality. China's economy faces challenges, but these challenges can be overcome. As observed by the outside world, China faces up to the problem of imbalanced and inadequate development, thoroughly implements the new development concept, and constantly translates external pressure into the powerful motivation for deepening reform and expanding opening up. As a result, its economic structure has become more effective, sustainable and innovative. In the face of the uncertainty brought by protectionism, China continues to improve the business environment, continuously reduces the overall level of tariffs, and demonstrates its determination to share the huge dividends of its market with nearly 1.4 billion people with the world. "From the investment perspective, China has always been the most attractive place." The words by heads of transnational corporations manifested their confidence in the Chinese economy. Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club in the UK, believes that opening-up has done wonders for China and will create even greater wonders. From being optimistic about to relying more heavily on the Chinese economy, the world is under stronger influence of China's economy. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in the U.S. showed that people in many countries around the world have a positive view of China's economic growth. British scholar Martin Jacques pointed out that the main source of global economic growth in the past decade has been China. China has created the most unusual economic development story in human history and it will continue to do so in the next decade. Japanese media have observed that more and more graduates from the country consider China's rapid growth attractive and set their sights on job hunting in China. The positive energy injected into world development by China has attracted much attention, seen both from global macro-economic analysis and individual feelings of foreigners. 2020 is a year in which China will win the battle against extreme poverty, build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and achieve its first centenary goal. It is a landmark year in the history of China and the world. From whichever direction the winds leap, China remains strong. Faced with instability and uncertainty in the external environment, the Chinese economy has withstood the test and sharpened its strength and resilience. In 2020, China is a force that the world can rely on, said a scholar of international politics based in Berlin, Germany, expressing the world's confidence in and expectations for China's development. It is believed that the giant ship of the Chinese economy that sails along the tide of economic globalization is indestructible. Combining its own development in the great cause of global common development, China conforms to the trend of the times. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) leave after a caucus meeting with House Democrats on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 14, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Schiff, Nadler Among Those Chosen to Present Houses Impeachment Case to the Senate House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) were among those chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to present the House of Representatives case for impeaching President Donald Trump to the GOP-held Senate. The other managers are Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), a member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees; Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee; and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. The emphasis is on litigators, Pelosi said about the House managers at a press conference in Washington on Jan. 15. The emphasis is on comfort level in the court room. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protest and defend our Constitution, to seek the truth for the American people. She said she was proud and honored that the seven representatives agreed to be House managers. Pelosi called Wednesday an important day for us. As she withheld the impeachment articles from the Senate for over three weeks, Pelosi said new evidence has emerged bolstering the Houses case. In a statement before Pelosis announcement, Schiff said, Today, we take the next step to Defend Our Democracy, sending articles of impeachment to the Senate. McConnell will have a choice: stand with the Constitution, or with Trumps cover-up. Uphold the rule of law, or help Trump undermine it, he added, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrives for a closed meeting with fellow Republicans as he strategizes about the looming impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 7, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) The House was slated to send the articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate on Wednesday, over a month after voting to impeach the president. Pelosi said over the weekend that the delay produced postive results. McConnell said the delay achieved absolutely nothing. At the same time that House Democrats held a press conference, McConnell said on the Senate floor: If the Senate blesses this unprecedented and dangerous House process by agreeing that an incomplete case and a subjective basis are enough to impeach a president, we will almost guarantee the impeachment of every future president of either party when the house doesnt like that person. This process of last constitutional resort will be watered down into the kind of anti-democratic recall measure that the founding fathers explicitly, explicitly did not want. The Senate was designed to stabilize our institutions, to break partisan fevers, to stop short-term passions from destroying our long-term future. House Democrats may have descended into pure factionalism, but the United States Senate must not. This is the only body that can consider all factors presented by the House, decide what has or has not been proven, and choose what outcome best serves the nation, he added. The Senate will hear the case and decide whether to convict or acquit the president. An acquittal requires a simple majority while a conviction, or removal from office, requires a supermajority of 67 votes. No president in the history of the country has been removed from office through impeachment. The trial will likely begin on Jan. 21, McConnell said on Tuesday. Senators will hear both sides present their cases and then submit written questions. Theyll vote later in the proceeding on whether to call any witnesses. Trump, meanwhile, tapped Pat Cipollone, his White House counsel, to lead his defense in the trial. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone exits the U.S. Capitol after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in Washington on Dec. 12, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Hes the strong, silent type, Trump said of Cipollone at a recent White House event marking the 150th judicial appointment of his presidency. Cipollones backers say hes proven a capable defender of Trumps view on executive power. Pat Cipollone will be defending executive power from time to time during the Senate proceedings, which will be swimming upstream from certain segments of the media, said Leonard Leo, a conservative attorney who has consulted with the Trump administration on judicial nominations and was among those who recommended Cipollone for the White House counsel post. He has the courage and determination to make those points and not be cowed by whatever criticism there might be, Leo said. Those are the kind of attributes that brought him to the job. Those are the things that mattered to me when asked what I thought of him. Jay Sekulow, a Trump personal attorney, will also have a major role on his defense team. The Associated Press contributed to this report. San Antonio Police Department San Antonio police are asking the public's help gathering more information on a murder case from 2018. On Aug. 9, San Antonio police responded to the Ivy Apartments at 4550 Lavender Lane just before 2 a.m. for a shooting in progress. When officers arrived on scene, they found 28-year-old Thomas Sheppard on the floor in the back of the complex, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon take over the case of suspended Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Davinder Singh, who was caught in south Kashmir while ferrying two militants to Jammu last weekend, officials said here on Wednesday. The necessary formalities were being completed in Jammu as well as in the national capital before the probe agency, which has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, takes over the case, they added. Some of the NIA members, posted in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, were present during the preliminary questioning of Singh and three others -- Naveed Babu, a self-styled district commander of banned outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, his associate Atif Ahmed and a lawyer, Irfan Ahmad Mir, who has been named as an active overground worker for terror groups by the police. The officials said in Jammu that all records would be handed over to the NIA after the case was registered by the probe agency. Singh, who was arrested along with the three on Saturday, had ferried Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Naveed Babu to Jammu last year and facilitated his return to Shopian after "rest and recuperation". He is believed to have taken Rs 12 lakh for smuggling the two militants to Chandigarh and arrange for their accommodation for a couple of months, officials said. Mir, who was driving the vehicle when they were caught by the police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged that he was carrying orders from Pakistan. He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Washington: As if the House of Windsor's internal dramas weren't enough, the tensions inside another globally powerful dynasty have now burst into public view. As the son of the world's most powerful media mogul, James Murdoch is aware that even the mildest criticism of his family's media empire is guaranteed to generate headlines. James Murdoch: concerned about climate change and News Corp. Credit:AP So James knew exactly what he was doing when he publicly attacked News Corporation's climate coverage at a time when the company's reporting is under intense scrutiny. Last week, News Corp Australia commercial finance manager Emily Townsend told senior management she found it "unconscionable" to continue working for the company, given she believed it had misled readers about the cause of bushfires sweeping across Australia. Zurich Airport International AG will soon be applying to Union Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance as it plans to begin construction of the Jewar airport this year, officials said on Wednesday. A team of the Switzerland-based developer including CEO Stephan Widrig, CFO Lukas Brosi among others met the officials of Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) in Greater Noida and later visited the project site in Jewar. The visiting team held a meeting with NIAL officials including CEO Arun Vir Singh during which a detailed presentation was made regarding the upcoming international greenfield airport, billed to be the biggest in India when fully operational. "A presentation was made by project consultant PwC and various aspects about development of the project discussed. The Zurich Airport team then visited the airport site and made observations about overall infrastructure," Shailendra Bhatia, NIAL's Nodal officer, said. He said the visitors expressed satisfaction over the good road connectivity already available -- the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway -- nearby. "Now the developer will prepare a master plan for airport development and present it to the government as well as to NIAL. It'll also soon apply to the MHA for getting security clearance for the project," Bhatia told PTI. The Swiss firm had on November 29 emerged as the highest bidder to develop the Jewar airport on the outskirts of Delhi, outbidding competitors like Adani Enterprises, DIAL and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holding. The entire project will be spread over 5,000 hectares and estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crore, officials said. The airport, the third in the national capital region after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport and Ghaziabad's Hindon airport, is touted to have six to eight runways, the most in India, when fully built, according to officials. The first phase of the airport would be spread over 1,334 hectare and cost Rs 4,588 crore as it is expected to be completed by 2023, the officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A school has started fining parents who are late to pick up their children after school [Photo: Getty] Sometimes no matter how hard you try not to be, youre late for school pick-up. For some the sight of their childs forlorn face is enough to bring on an attack of the guilts, but one school has introduced a new policy that will see parents fined one pound for every five minutes they are late picking up their children. Holy Trinity C of E Primary, in Gravesend, Kent introduced the new rules this week to try to tackle after-school lateness, and will target those picking up their children just ten minutes late - anytime after 3:40pm. The move, which will reportedly also see teachers calling the authorities if pupils aren't collected before 4pm, hasnt gone down well with all parents, with some claiming the policy punishes less well-off families already struggling to cover basic costs. READ MORE: Head teacher advises parents to stop 'micromanaging' children via WhatsApp chat groups One parent, who did not want to be named, said: As parents of the school we were shocked and appalled to receive this notification from the school. Gravesend is a deprived area and many parents struggle to work due to the cost of childcare. Lots of schools finish around the same time and this means that it is a struggle to get kids on time. The school used to let kids wait in the library then we were told the library was closed for refurbishments. The school did offer an after school club a couple of years ago but this was closed by the head teacher with little notice because it didnt make enough money. The parent claims the letter sent to parents says that if children arent picked up by 4pm the school will ring social services. They go on to say the policy makes them feel the school cares more about making money out of struggling parents than helping out the community. The school claims the policy could address some of the anxiety children may feel when their parents are late [Photo: Getty] The school claims the fine isn't just a deterrent for lateness, but crucial for covering the costs of paying teachers who need to stay late to look after pupils. Head teacher Denise Gibbs-Naguar said: The Late Collection of Pupils Policy was introduced this week in a bid to ensure all our children are collected from school on time; this is for each individual childs benefit as well as for the whole school. Story continues School finishes at 3.30pm but it is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence to have a significant number of uncollected children still onsite at 4pm. When this occurs a member of staff has to be paid overtime to supervise those children the school is not able to sustain this ongoing cost without it impacting upon other areas of the school budget and therefore on the childrens schooling. Ms Gibbs-Naguar went on to say that the school hopes the policy will also help reduce the stress felt by some children when they are picked-up late. Pupils who are collected late often exhibit signs of anxiety and distress as they dont know where their parent/carer is and worry that something may have happened to them, she explains. Clearly this is not something anyone wants a child to experience. As of Monday afternoon, I had not received any correspondence from parents/carers about the policy, but I always encourage families to contact me if they would like to discuss anything, she adds. READ MORE: Should schools ban packed lunches? The introduction of the late pick-up policy follows a school in Melbourne, Australia that recently announced it has started fining parents who pick their children up late. This isnt the only school policy that has caused controversy of late either. Last year one schools decision to ban all drinks other than water from pupils packed lunch boxes came under fire from some parents. The move was reportedly made to facilitate pupils with allergies and to limit the consumption of sugary drinks, but some parents were left unimpressed by the schools new approach. Another primary school banned parents from using mobile phones in the playground. The move was introduced after the schools headteacher spotted parents were too engrossed in their phones to engage with their children when picking them up from school. Meanwhile, it was also recently revealed that a primary school in the UK has banned school holidays, allowing parents to take their children out of school for six weeks whenever they want. And back in 2018, a school in the US hit headlines after they introduced a dress code for parents picking children up at the school gates. OTTAWAThe Canadian Medical Association Journal is lifting a paywall that restricts access to much of its content in a bid to reach a broader audience and combat so-called fake news. Editor-in-chief Dr. Andreas Laupacis said all content on the weekly online edition is now free to the public, with previously published material set to become available March 1. Laupacis said Tuesday he hopes the move will open discussion to those beyond the medical community and attract new voices to the journal, including those of patients. They use the system and they pay for it so we think its important that they have access to as much information as possible, especially evidence-based information about how our health-care system works, so they can participate in trying to make it better, Laupacis said from Ottawa. While research articles, editorials and news stories have been available for some time, Laupacis said much more has been locked behind a paywall introduced in January 2010. That includes short topical opinion pieces and longer scholarly analysis that could inform policy makers or help patients understand controversial positions. Previously, that other content was only made fully available after one year. In an era when misleading health information abounds online, Laupacis said providing credible, evidence-based material can be one step towards keeping the public abreast of current medical issues. Were not going to decrease the non-evidence-based information out there but at least were adding some more evidence-based information to the material that people have an opportunity to look at, he said. Members of the general public, you know, probably dont know as much about how the health-care system works as is ideal. On the other hand, I probably dont know as much about climate change as I should. Laupacis said the journals roughly 700,000 monthly visits largely involve researchers, members of the Canadian Medical Association, and those in the health-care field here and abroad but anyone could have paid to access the journal, which debuted online in 1995. Subscription fees ranged from about $80 for medical students to thousands of dollars for institutions with multiple users, among them universities and hospitals. Laupacis said the journal often tackles topics that resonate far beyond the medical community. He pointed to a commentary published last month that examined an Ontario court decision that found there were circumstances in which a doctor could refuse CPR on a patient if they believed it was futile, even if the family demanded it. Thats a really important issue and I thought (it was) a very thoughtful analysis of that court decision and what that meant for physicians, said Laupacis. I could see that a lot of patients and members of the public would find that commentary useful. The commentary in this weeks edition argues that conditional health guidelines may be warranted even when evidence is sparse or doubtful, noting that clinicians and patients may not have the time to wait for more concrete data. Laupacis said hes also in the process of restructuring the journals eight-person, all-physician editorial advisory board to include a more diverse membership, which could include patients and managers. That, too, could shape how the journal approaches some topics in the future, he said. The CMAJ launched in 1911, and will continue to offer a monthly print edition to CMA members. New content publishes online Monday mornings, 50 times a year. by Austin Bay January 15, 2020 Since December 2017, deeply aggrieved Iranian citizens have publicly denounced two blatantly linked injustices perpetrated by the corrupt ayatollah regime: the clerical dictatorship's hideous corruption and Iran's acute economic deterioration. Iran's Islamic revolutionary dictatorship is a case study in repeated failure, incompetence, corruption and mass murder. I estimate that since 1990, I've written over two dozen essays examining the failed Iranian regime's murderous Islamic global revolution, the mass domestic Iranian disappointment with the regime's governance and the Iranian public's evident disgust with governmental corruption. The internet documents my claim. If your mainstream media sources didn't notice Iran's domestic discord, henceforth treat their reports with appropriate circumspection. The conflict between Iran and the U.S. does not begin with Gen. Qassem Soleimani's eradication -- a euphemism for his death in an ugly covert war he insistently waged and lost. However, Soleimani's demise, which, in and of itself, is a strategic benefit for peace-loving human beings from the Philippines to Venezuela, begins a series of jaw-dropping events that expose the ayatollah regime's deep evils and hideous incompetence. The December 2017 protests persisted into spring 2018. They waxed and waned but always returned. In November 2019, protests returned with a vengeance. Regime security forces killed an estimated 1,500 Iranians who had the gall to protest a fuel price increase. An operational hint the ayatollah regime thinks has strategic resonance: If domestic turmoil threatens the regime, the regime tells its terrorist proxies to attack America. In late December 2019, regime proxies attacked Americans in Iraq and assaulted the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The assault intentionally mimicked 1979's assault on the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Both assaults were attacks on sovereign U.S. territory. Soleimani directed the 2019 attack and was likely involved in the 1979 attack. Iran's 2019/2020 information-warfare angle is no coincidence. Soleimani and his boss, the Islamic Republic of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had a domestic propaganda message. Portraying the U.S. as weak in December 2019 echoed U.S. weakness in 1979. An Iranian domestic message: We ayatollah thugs are mighty, so you proles better submit! Ah, but ... There's no debate on these facts: Iran confronts high unemployment and an economy in tatters. The ayatollahs blame American sanctions. Iranian citizens? They blame regime corruption. The regime is corrupt but also incompetent. On Jan. 8, an Iranian missile destroyed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and killed 176 people. Video and other electronic data obtained by Western intelligence and released to various media confirmed that two missiles (yes, two) hit the plane. A missile site under the command of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps, or IRGC, fired the missiles. These are facts. Ah, but ... Though cameras and cellphones recorded the horror, the ayatollah dictatorship initially denied responsibility for the downing and attributed the slaughter to "mechanical malfunction." Was that the phrase in Persian (Farsi)? Not sure -- but the ayatollah regime lied, I'm sure of that. The Iranian people have responded to the lie and incompetence and mass murder with splendid ferocity. Voice of America News reports that instead of chanting, "Death to America," Iranians in Tehran chant: "You are tyrants. Don't call us seditioners." According to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Persian language broadcast unit, Radio Farda, on Jan. 13, protesters in Isfahan Industrial University chanted, "Execution and imprisonment no longer scare us." Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is funded by the U.S. government. Radio Free Europe is definitely not a Cold War relic. Protestors in Tehran and western Iran have been heard chanting, "Death to the dictator," meaning Ayatollah Khamenei. He is the IRGC's mob boss. A Twitter video clip shows protestors in Tehran chanting: "They are lying that our enemy is America. Our enemy is right here." Wire services report major protests across Iran in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Hamedan and Orumiyeh. Even Fars, the dictatorship's "fake news" agency, has had to report that hundreds of demonstrators have chanted anti-regime slogans. Well, two prominent regime television propagandists have publicly resigned. Is collapse imminent? Of course not. Only Hollywood and sensational media fools think reality conforms to a beginning-end narrative. More suffering is imminent. But the Iranian dictatorship's fragility is evident. An advocacy group, Serve With Skirts Movement, on Wednesday, held a peaceful protest at the Unity Fountain in Abuja to demand inclusion of skirts as part of the uniform for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Members of the group, comprising of young boys and girls, held banners with inscriptions like there is a difference between the world and the daughters of God and our sisters cannot dress like men. They should be decently covered with some of the female members dressed in Khaki skirts. According to them, year after year, female corps members are harassed at orientation camps for refusing to wear skirts. This, they said, is a breach of their fundamental human rights under Section 38(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A leader of the group, Udochi Emmanuel, said the use of trousers are evoking immorality in the camps. In the 1970s and 1980s, she said, we had our mothers wearing skirts and we want to go back to that. We have asked for exemption (sic) severally. NYSC has not given that as an option, they have made it a compulsory one-year service for everyone below the age of 30 and they are mandated to wear those clothes. We have already started negotiations (with government) and we hope that from this dialogue we will get a favourable response, she said. When asked if dont they get what they are seeking for Ms Emmanuel said they may need to ask for redress in the court. A corps member, Patience Noble, who was part of the protest, told journalists that she was posted to Ebonyi State for service and when she insisted on wearing skirt, she was asked to leave camp. As a citizen of my country, I have the right to serve the nation just like every other graduate has. They insisted that I wear this trouser or leave the camp. During the camp there were lots of insults and humiliation one of military tore the skirts I was wearing on my body. The protest comes barely two months after two members of the 2019 NYSC Stream C in Ebonyi State, were sent home from camp for refusing to wear trousers. The NYSC spokesperson in the state, Ngozi Ukwuoma, explained that when the duo were accosted and interrogated, they disclosed that they could not wear the white shorts and the trousers given to them by the NYSC since it was against their faith. Efforts were, however, made by the office of the Camp Director to make them see reason why they must obey the rules and regulations guiding the orientation and NYSC, but all efforts to do that were futile, she said. This act generated controversy among Nigerians as many were torn between allowing skirt as part of the NYSC uniform or not. Although the NYSC act does not clearly state what the uniform should be, it only said the corps members should accept and wear whatever is given to them. Section 3(1)(ix) of the NYSC bye-laws states that every corps member shall wear the various uniforms provided for the activities. It also says any member who refuses, fails or neglects to comply with this rule shall be tried by the Camp Court and, if found guilty, be liable to be decamped and sent out of the orientation camp. The Senate had in March 2018, rejected a bill to amend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Act. The bill was rejected following concerns that such amendment requires altering the constitution which requires a longer process. Officials of the NYSC have, however, continued to admonish corps members to adhere to the laws of the Corps. Media folk watching the debate. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images If you didnt watch last nights Democratic presidential candidate debate from Des Moines and just checked into your favorite media outlets this morning to see what happened, you might have seen two distinctive takes that might as well have described two different events. One (offered by such veteran observers as Voxs Matt Yglesias, TNRs Walter Shapiro, and Politicos Ryan Lizza) tended to treat the debate as unremarkable, with the candidates performing at various levels but not really generating any big moments, in part out of fear of offending Iowans famous sensitivity to negative politics. The other (including one I posted last night) focused heavily on the unsettling confrontations of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders after CNN moderator Abby Phillip, citing CNN reporting, injected an alleged statement by Sanders to Warren that a woman cannot beat Trump, into an otherwise mild-mannered debate. The dispute culminated in Warren refusing to shake Sanderss hand after the event and Sanders seeming to storm away in frustration after a brief exchange of words. The more comprehensive takes from Yglesias, Shapiro, and Lizza mentioned this incident, of course, but found it less than game-changing. Youd have to guess they were written before the post-debate confrontation between Warren and Sanders (they had unhappy-looking words and then Warren seems to have refused to shake Bernies proffered hand) that seemed to place an exclamation point on the whole evening. An example of how that moment changed things for many observers was evident at FiveThirtyEight, whose liveblog of the debate concluded with the same sort of not-much-to-see-here observations others were making. Their podcast, recorded a bit later in the wee hours, began with participants describing the debate with terms like anti-climatic, snoozeville and nothingburger. But midway through the recording, they became aware of the post-debate incident, and the conversation pivoted hard in the direction of the dispute and what its fallout would be. As he watched the video for the first time, Nate Silver mused that it might affect how this thing is covered by the press. Clare Malone wondered, Does this entire incident look good for either the Warren or Sanders campaign? Some media outlets offered competing takes one of a debate defined by comity, another of one defined by a moment of drama. The Des Moines Register, a debate co-sponsor, had one that focused on the Warren-Sanders dynamics and another that didnt at all. Another co-sponsor, CNN, whose reporting and debate moderation caused the entire brouhaha, didnt focus on it that much initially, either. And at Politico, conventional, broad-scope takes from Lizza and from John Harris (who called the debate painfully dull) competed with Tim Albertas report from a Des Moines bar frequented by young progressives, who were agonizing over the Warren-Sanders feud. Determining which of these two very different versions of last night prevails in the public imagination will depend, of course, on how the situation plays out in the days ahead. FiveThirtyEights pre- and post-debate surveys with Ipsos showed Warren gaining the most in net favorability, and Sanders losing a bit, but its not clear why. And at this point, national perceptions of the debate may matter a lot less than those in Iowa, where viewership of this local event was probably very high. The big risk for Sanders and Warren is that their confrontation, if it ends up dominating how Iowans think of the debate, will run afoul of Iowa Nice sensibilities and hurt both of them. But if the campaigns find a way to de-escalate, and the furor subsides, then the blander interpretations of the debate could turn out to be true after all. At best, though, its quite a distraction for the two progressive favorites at a moment when the Iowa race looks to be a close four-way tangle among Sanders, Warren, Joe Biden, and Pete Buttigieg, with Amy Klobuchar desperately trying to join them, and all the attention should be on making a positive case for spending several hours on a cold winter evening caucusing for Bernie or Liz. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif here on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2020 which is currently going on in the national capital. Earlier in the day, Zarif met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval here on Wednesday. During his address at the conclave, Zarif targetted the US over its air raid which killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month. He said that US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Islamic State (ISIS) are "celebrating" the death of Soleimani. "The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against the killing of Soleimani," he said. Zarif said that Soleimani was the "single most effective force" against the ISIS and hence, the US is celebrating as they "did not like" Soleimani. Talking about Iran's airstrikes at two military bases in Iraq, Zarif maintained that Tehran retaliated in "self-defence" and rebuffed Washington's claims that Soleimani was planning to attack US embassies. Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on January 3. Days later, Tehran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at two US military bases in Iraq. Soleimani's death has marked a dramatic escalation in tension between the US and Iran, that has often been at a fever pitch since Trump, in 2018, chose to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the 2015 nuclear pact the world powers had struck with Tehran. Countries including the UK and India have urged Iran to pursue urgent de-escalation. (ANI) Good news for Republicans in New Jersey! Gov. Phil Murphy just made it clear that he intends to do almost nothing to contain taxes and spending this year, breathing new life into Republican ambitions to take back the governorship in 2021, and ensuring that his epic battle with more conservative Democrats will continue. In a state of the state speech of nearly 6,000 words, Murphy offered no hint of compromise. He offered no plan to significantly cut spending, or to lower the burden of property taxes. This was a liberal battle cry. Hes decided to stay the course, to govern by relying on his progressive base alone, starting with public worker unions. Yes, he has scored some important wins governing this way. Hes raised the minimum wage, mandated paid sick time, restored funding to Planned Parenthood, restored voting rights to former prisoners and allowed undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses. But thats thin gruel for middle-class families who are struggling to pay their bills. And thats why Republicans have a shot to come back from oblivion. We are a blue state in federal elections, but were a purple state on state elections, says Patrick Murray of the Monmouth poll. Thats New Jersey voter behavior 101. Look at the record: New Jersey hasnt sent a Republican senator to Washington in a half century. And with Trump in the White House we may not for another half century. On issues like gun control, abortion, and climate change, national Republicans seem to have lost their minds, at least to most Jersey voters. But here at home, its different. In the half century weve shunned Republicans in Washington, we elected Tom Kean twice, Christie Whitman twice, and Chris Christie twice, a feat no Democrat has achieved since Brendan Byrne in the 1970s. All three Republicans ran as fiscal conservatives and social liberals. Gov. Murphy is out of touch with the basic issues that affect families in this state, said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, R-Union, the Republican leader. Bramnick is one of several high-ranking Republicans who smell blood and might run in 2021. Others include Sen. Declan OScanlon, R-Monmouth, the leading Republican voice on budget issues; Doug Steinhardt, the state GOP chairman, who has reversed the long decline in Republican registration in the state; former Jack Ciattarelli, who served three terms in the Assembly and ran unsuccessfully in the 2017 Republican primary, and Shaun Golden, the GOP chair in Monmouth County. Others will jump in, almost surely. I was expecting to see big-ticket items for the middle-class that would acknowledge youre going to have to prepare for 2021, Murray says. There is possibly an opening for Republicans. I wont be shocked if Murphy wins re-election, and maybe thats as far as it goes for him. But wouldnt it be nice if he actually searched for common ground and tried to solve big problems? That starts with the fiscal crisis, among the worst in the nation. Murphys chief rival, Senate President Steve Sweeney, has offered to negotiate a grand bargain that would give Murphy his tax hike on incomes over $1 million in return for mandated cuts to the pension and health benefits of public workers. Its reasonable offer that splits the loaf. But Murphy wont discuss it. The base doesnt want him to. If you want to be the hero of the progressive wing of the party, you brook no compromise, Murray says. That wing of the party does not reward compromise. In fact, they will penalize you for it. Its a pity, and its never made a scrap of sense to me, because if you want to be a real progressive, you need money. Examples: Murphy wants to allow everyone to attend community college for free, but he cant afford it. He wants to expand preschool to all, and he cant afford it. He wants to fix NJ Transit, but left the agency with a 2 percent increase in its operating budget this year, despite the crisis. The state has no money to fix the lead poisoning problem and isnt even talking about the crisis in affordable housing. Instead, Murphy grabs the low fruit, mostly signing bills that Christie vetoed, bills that a Democratic dog would sign if he could hold a pen. If youre waiting for his signature accomplishment, keep waiting. After two years, the governor just gave a speech that offered no hint what it might be. And these next two years could well be his last chance. More: Tom Moran columns Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Chairman of the Transitional Military Council Abdalftah Alburhan A. Alrahman Alburhan (R) and Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and Sudan Tran Thanh Cong (Photo: VNA) He made the statement at a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and Sudan Tran Thanh Cong, who came to present his letter of credentials on January 14. Praising Vietnams economic achievements, the host said Sudan can learn a lot in various fields from the Southeast Asian country. He said he hopes the Vietnamese ambassador will fulfill his missions and make active contributions to the development of bilateral relations. Ambassador Cong highlighted the sound traditional relations between Vietnam and Sudan, and thanked Sudan for supporting his country at international forums. He said their bilateral economic partnership was yet to be on par with their political ties. Therefore, in his position, the ambassador pledged to do his utmost to develop the relations in a pragmatic and effective manner, especially in fields of their strengths. During his visit, the Vietnamese diplomat had a working session with officials from Sudans Ministry of Foreign Affairs to review cooperation fields that the two sides should promote. The same day, he visited Honourary Consul General of Vietnam in Sudan Bakri Yousif Omer Osman. Sudan established diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1969. The two countries have signed some cooperation documents in agriculture, oil and gas, and trade. Illinois first day of legal recreational marijuana generated nearly $3.2 million in sales, state officials announced Thursday. There were 77,128 transactions on New Years Day, when the law legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes took effect, according to Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on cannabis control. Dispensaries reported long lines the first day of sales and expected them to continue through the weekend. Those lines actually show theres an incredible opportunity to grow this industry, Hutchinson told reporters Thursday in Chicago. Theres new room for new people to come in. By comparison, neighboring Michigan, which made recreational marijuana legal starting Dec. 1, generated $3.1 million in the first two weeks of sales. First-day sales in Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, were over $1 million on Jan. 1, 2014. Hutchinson said Thursday marked Phase 2 of the Illinois legalization law, with the day being a deadline for applicants under the so-called social equity provisions of the law to apply. Designed to help minority applicants whove been most adversely affected by law enforcement efforts to fight the drug, the provisions include ways for qualified applicants to pay lower licensing fees and get business loans and technical assistance. Also under the law, some marijuana sales revenue will be earmarked for neighborhood development grants, and low-level marijuana convictions will be expunged. Pritzker granted more than 11,000 such pardons Tuesday. People began lining up at 6 a.m. Wednesday, the earliest that Illinois new law allowed such sales. Among those who bought on the first day was Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton who purchased edible gummies in Chicago. Im here to celebrate a big day in Illinois, Stratton said. Illinois already allowed medical marijuana, but it now is the 11th state to allow its use and sale for recreational purposes. The law approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed byPritzker allows people 21 or older to possess of up to 30 grams of cannabis flower and up to 5 grams of cannabis concentrate. Pamela Althoff, executive director of Springfield-based Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, said she spent much of Wednesday morning in Chicago and its northwestern suburbs. She said wait times of up to three hours were getting shorter as the day progressed. It has been joyous and well-run, she said. People are extraordinarily courteous and civil. Police were on-hand at most shops, mostly to control traffic. Althoff cautioned that recreational marijuana may not be consumed in public and added that, like all new products, it may be a little expensive. We hope that down the line it will become less expensive, she said. The message from the industry is not promoting or opposing, its the state of Illinois made it legal and were here to provide a safe and a quality product for those who wish to consume. In Illinois, nearly three dozen dispensaries have been issued licenses to sell recreational marijuana. State officials said up to 75 additional licenses will be granted by May. Cannabis sales could generate $250 million for Illinois by 2022, according to estimates by state officials. But not everyone is on board. A national alliance that opposes marijuana legalization believes marijuana commercialization is a bad idea. In the end, big pot only cares about being able to peddle its addictive, highly potent products in disadvantaged communities as it takes its playbook from big tobacco, said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. This what we have seen in every single state that has gone down this road, and we have no reason to expect Illinois experience to be any different. Retiring Minister Finian McGrath has said he thought he was talking in a private capacity with a journalist when he suggested Fianna Fail will win the General Election. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr McGrath said there was never any intention to deliberately be disloyal to the Government or Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who he said has been be extremely supportive of him. Mr McGrath was quoted in the Irish Daily Mail as saying he believed Fianna Fail would win the election as things stand. Fianna Fail are going to be leading the Government, they will get 59 or 60 seats," said Mr McGrath. "Then I believe the Labour Party will win at least 10 seats and the Green Party will take at least 10 and there you have the 80 seats for a stable coalition government. His comments drew a furious response from his Alliance colleague John Halligan who accused him of being totally wrong, disloyal and hypocritical. Finian McGrath But Mr McGrath has moved to clarify his remarks by saying he believed he was speaking off the record with the reporter. He said he rang the Taoiseach this morning once the newspaper appeared and explained the circumstances to him. He said: I totally accept John's criticism because I would never be disloyal to our Taoiseach. I contacted the Taoiseach this morning and explained to him what happened. I made a mistake, I thought I was talking in a private capacity in a corridor in Leinster House. "I did say it that they would win by two or three and that is my view now, but I thought I was talking privately. But there is no way I would deliberately undermine the Taoiseach, as he has been very good to me. Of his colleague, he said: John does not understand the context of the story. John Halligan Mr Halligan, who is also retiring severely criticised Mr McGrath for saying he thinks Fianna Fail will win the General Election. Speaking to the Irish Examiner as he confirmed his decision to stand down from national politics, Mr Halligan said it was totally wrong and hypocritical of Mr McGrath to make such comments about his current Government colleagues. I think it was totally wrong what he said and I totally disagree with what he said. We are still ministers in the Goverment and I fully disagree with him. I think Fine Gael will win more seats, he told the Irish Examiner. Mr Halligan, a highly popular politician had hoped to make his retirement announcement on his own terms, but his alliance colleague Shane Ross let slip on Tuesday that he would not be standing. Halligan has confirmed he will not contest the General Election and will retire from national politics. His alliance colleague Shane Ross let the cat out the bag on Tuesday by saying he was saddened by Mr Halligan's decision to stand down, only for a spokeswoman to say he misspoke. But the popular Waterford TD has now confirmed the news which had been widely expected. Mr Halligan, in a statement this morning, said that after much consideration: I have decided that I will not be contesting the upcoming General Election and will subsequently retire from political life. Having given over 30 years of my life to politics, I now feel the time is right to start a new chapter and devote more time to my family - my wife, children and grandchildren - all of whom have been an unfailing support to me, he said. Fellini: show on 'Book of dreams' inaugurated in Belgrade For 100th anniversary of director's birth (ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, JANUARY 15 - A show on images from the 'Book of dreams' by legendary Italian film director Federico Fellini was inaugurated on Tuesday night in Belgrade to mark the 100th anniversary of the his birth. The exhibit runs until January 26. A retrospective of 17 Fellini movie will also be presented, including Luci del varieta (1950), Lo sceicco bianco (1952), I vitelloni (1953), La strada (1954), Giulietta degli spiriti (1965), La dolce vita(1960), Amarcord (1973), La citta delle donne (1980) and others. The two events have been organized by the Italian cultural institute in Belgrade, together with the Yugoslav film library. The opening of the exhibit was attended by Italy's ambassador to Serbia, Carlo Lo Cascio, who stressed the great meaning of Fellini's art. ''Federico Fellini's name has become a symbol, his films create different emotions because they can be dramatic, poetic, scary'', the ambassador said. The 'Book of dreams' is a diary in which Fellini - advised by psychoanalyst Ernst Bernhard - elaborated his dreams through drawings, which also served as inspiration for his movies. The reproduction of a selection of drawings from the Book of dreams, which was acquired by the Fellini Foundation in 2006, are on display in Belgrade. The Book of dreams was gifted to the City of Rimini in 2015 and is currently on display at the city's museum. It includes two volumes of over 400 pages. The sketches exhibited in Belgrade focus on key issues for Fellini - eroticism, travelling, history, power, cinema, fashion, art, literature and religion. (ANSAmed) 3AW's top-rating breakfast program has cut ties with Melbourne weather presenter Jane Bunn. The popular meteorologist, who regularly appeared as a guest on Ross Stevenson and John Burns' radio show, said she was recently told her services were "no longer required". Bunn presents the weather on Seven News Melbourne. Rival broadcaster, Nine, has recently been consolidating its ownership of 3AW and sister station 2GB. However, 3AW is adamant that Bunn's segment came to an end because Seven ended its commercial agreement. Jane Bunn at the 2019 Brownlow red carpet in Melbourne. Credit:Getty Images "I've just been told that after five years delivering Melbourne's weather on ... 3AW that as of now I'm no longer required," Bunn told her 20,000 Twitter followers. "You can still catch me at 4pm and 6pm on Melbourne's Seven News." By Express News Service KOLKATA: The police here registered a suo moto case against 150 unidentified Left-leaning student activists who had staged a demonstration and gheraoed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Esplanade on January 11, shortly after she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended a programme with him. ALSO READ| Left students detained for protesting against PM Modi in Kolkata Police registered the case on Tuesday under several non-bailable Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, which include restricting public servants from discharging duty, against the protesters who had demonstrated for over 24 hours at Esplanade against the amended Citizenship Act shouting 'Go back Modi' slogan. However, no arrest was made until Wednesday afternoon. The trouble broke out on the night of January 11 when Mamata joined Trinamools sit-in-demonstration programme against Citizenship Act on RR Avenue, a few metres from the venue where the students activists were agitating against the new Act and the Prime Minister's Kolkata visit. ALSO READ | It is the culture of Bengal to extend courtesy even to enemies: Mamata on meeting Modi The students overpowered the police and arrived in front of the stage where the Chief Minister was sitting. They sought an explanation from her for meeting the PM. Later, the Chief Minister was seen explaining to the agitating students that her meeting with the PM was a courtesy call and she placed financial demands for the benefits of the state. Senior police personnel were seen making videography of the protesters using their cellphones. ALSO READ| 'This is the idea of India': Kolkata's unlikely women anti-CAA protesters vow to carry on Asked the reason behind the FIR against the students, a senior police officer said, "It was a safeguard measure. If anyone submits a petition in court accusing us of taking no action against the protesters who broke barricades and reached in front of the stage where the CM was sitting, the FIR will help us to rule out the allegation." If you are troubled by traffic restrictions around 7, Lok Kalyan Marg the Prime Ministers residence when the PM moves out for his daily visit to South Block, you may get some respite soon. Vacating the decades-old official residence that has been the home of nine prime ministers, the PM may move to a new home by 2024. Used since 1984 when late Rajiv Gandhi became the PM, the current residence was built over 12 acres of land, based on designs by New Delhis chief architect Edwin Lutyens. However, with a new redevelopment blueprint on the table, the ... The parents of a 15-year-old girl who was killed after being hit by a car have been given a restraining order to stop them harassing the driver involved in her death. Colin Dawson, 47, and wife Angela, 50, had been due in court to face two counts of harassing Richard Brooke, 53, and his wife Claire Lomas Brooke. Colin and Angela Dawson have been ordered to stay away from the man involved in the death of their daughter (SWNS) The Dawsons had publicly campaigned for quantity surveyor Mr Brooke to be prosecuted over Katelyn's death in January 2018. The teenager died after being struck by his BMW while she stood at a bus stop in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. But Crown Prosecution Service officials ruled out a prosecution after hearing that the business consultant had fainted at the wheel and suffered from insane automatism. Katelyn Dawson died after being struck by a BMW while she stood at a bus stop in Huddersfield, West Yorks (SWNS) The Dawsons had been accused of handing out a petition outside Mr Brooke's workplace. A court heard the couple had also driven slowly past Mr Brooke's house and the shop owned by his wife, which prosecutors said amounted to "harassment". Mr and Mrs Dawson of Huddersfield, appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday where harassment charges against them were withdrawn but they were instead handed a restraining order. The heartbroken couple cannot contact Mr and Mrs Brooke or enter an exclusion zone around their house and work for two years. Read more from Yahoo News UK: Teenage boy hauled before court for slamming his bedroom door Thomas Markle could testify against Meghan in Mail on Sunday legal battle Strong winds blow roof off building as Storm Brendan lashes Britain They also cannot use social media to contact or share information about Mr and Mrs Brooke. District Judge Richard Clews told the Dawsons that anybody who knew the circumstances surrounding their actions would find them "understandable to some extent". He said: "I am confident that everything you did or have done is likely to be a way of expressing or trying to express your grief and a sense of injustice rather than any attempt to deliberately break the law. Story continues "I am acutely aware the resolution of these proceedings is not going to bring to an end your grief, nothing will. I only hope that the passage of time will help." Tributes left at the scene of the crash after Katelyn's death (SWNS) In a statement issued after the court hearing, Mr and Mrs Dawson said: "We are pleased that common sense has prevailed and the harassment charges against us have been dropped. "We can now focus on the most important matter which is the inquest into Katelyns death. "We still have many unanswered questions and hopefully these can be resolved by the coroner." Katelyn had been stood at a bus stop with several members of the public when the BMW left the carriageway and ploughed into them. Katelyn was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary where she was pronounced dead at about 6.15pm on 10 January, 2018. Two others a 17-year-old girl and 47-year-old Christine Crawshaw suffered serious injuries in the smash. The CPS confirmed last year it was not pursuing a prosecution against the driver. It said the defence of insane automatism when a person suffers some malfunctioning of their body or mind due to an internal cause such as a medical episode applied and he would not be convicted. The rise of connected devices, edge computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) has created an ever-growing flood of data that streams continuously into corporate and cloud data centers. To gain value from all of this data captured by sensors and IoT devices, organizations must put analytics tools to work. Here is where a big question becomes even bigger. The process of transmitting data to distant data centers for analysis comes with challenges, from network latency and bandwidth limitations to security and compliance risks. Add to that the growing issue of the data that requires immediate analysis at the point of capture for example, to enable an autonomous vehicle to respond instantly to a pedestrian stepping into the roadway. In use cases like these, the urgency for immediate responses is imperative. Challenges like these build the case for analyzing data at the network edge, where the IoT devices are located and where intelligent systems can take actions based on the results of the analysis. In simple terms, we are talking about bringing the analytics to the data, rather than sending the data to the analytics. This is a point underscored in a Forrester study that examines how IoT deployments are driving analytics to the edge. Many organizations have embraced internet-of-things (IoT) solutions to optimize operational processes, differentiate products and services, and enhance digital capabilities, the Forrester study notes. However, as companies deploy a diverse array of IoT projects and use cases each with specific requirements many encounter challenges with using centralized cloud-based and data center analytic strategies. To transform large streams of IoT data into insights in a fast, secure and cost-effective way, organizations must revisit their IoT architecture, skills and strategies. One of the keys to this shift is what Forrester refers to as edge IoT for analytics a technique that takes analytic computations for certain Edge and IoT use cases out of the cloud or the enterprise data center and moves it as close to the data sources as is necessary and feasible to enable real-time decisions, reduce costs and mitigate security and compliance risks.1 ____________________ A few definitions from Dell Technologies The Edge The edge exists wherever the digital world and physical world intersect, and data is securely collected, generated and processed to create new value. The edge exists wherever the digital world and physical world intersect, and data is securely collected, generated and processed to create new value. The Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) is perhaps the purest possible expression of how the world is transforming from mechanical to digital. By digitally sensing the physical world, IoT transforms material things into streams of data, allowing people to sense and interact with them in entirely new ways to accelerate the pace of innovation. The Internet of Things (IoT) is perhaps the purest possible expression of how the world is transforming from mechanical to digital. By digitally sensing the physical world, IoT transforms material things into streams of data, allowing people to sense and interact with them in entirely new ways to accelerate the pace of innovation. Edge computing Edge computing augments IoT by enhancing our ability to analyze IoT data and act on it in real time. ____________________ A broad range of use cases The use cases for Edge and IoT span the gamut of operations for enterprises and public entities. McKinsey & Company illustrated this point in a report that identified 107 specific edge use cases that enable real-time decision making untethered from cloud computings latency. The firm says these applications of Edge and IoT are not conceptual, noting that the firm identified 3,000 companies deploying these use cases today. By circumventing the need to access the cloud to make decisions, edge computing provides real-time local data analysis to devices, which can include everything from remote mining equipment and autonomous vehicles to digital billboards, wearable health appliances, and more, McKinsey says.2 Lets look at few examples of the way Edge and IoT are enabling better, faster decision-making and user services across a diverse range of use cases. Digital cities Around the world, cities are experiencing explosive growth. By 2050, nearly 70 percent of the worlds population will be concentrated in urban centers, up from 55 percent in 2018, according to forecasts from the United Nations.3 To continue to flourish, cities will need to adopt smarter approaches to managing population growth, safety, traffic, pollution, commerce, culture and economic growth. Edge and IoT analytics can play a key role in better management of cities by making them more intelligent and self-reliant and enabling smarter citizen services. For example, with analytics at the edge, cities can provide residents and businesses with real-time traffic information and navigation guidance that take into consideration weather, construction work and accident information fed from other edge systems. Heres another example. Edge analytics can enable smart traffic management systems that automatically adjust the timing of traffic lights to help keep traffic flowing smoothly and reduce the pollution that comes with traffic jams. Even better, with analytics conducted at the edge, cities can help ensure that services like these stay up and running even when network connections to cloud data centers go down. Retail In retail environments, Edge and IoT solutions enable merchants to combine data from many sources to enable seamless insight-driven customer experiences. With these solutions, retailers can deliver outstanding shopping experiences that are personalized from the moment customers walk through the door. The large volumes of data and the immediacy involved in this process makes this an inherently Edge and IoT solution. Retailers are also making use of Edge and IoT solutions to analyze the retail environment to identify strengths and weaknesses, predict demand for bestselling products, and optimize inventory levels to help ensure that the right products are in the right place at the right time. Edge and IoT solutions can also play an important role in surveillance of retail environments. In this use case, cameras capture video of shoppers and stream the footage to edge gateways for analysis. With the right artificial intelligence tools in place, the edge systems can automatically detect behaviors that are often associated with shoplifting and then issue alerts to security personnel on the retail floor. Healthcare and life sciences With the proliferation of connected wearable medical devices, sensors, mobile apps and other new technologies, the movement of data in healthcare environments is changing in fundamental ways. At the same time, healthcare providers are using this data captured from the Edge and IoT for making greater use of AI and machine learning in diagnostic and patient care processes. In this new world of healthcare, Edge and IoT solutions are essential. They help providers monitor the wellbeing of patients and devices remotely; keep track of patients, staff, equipment and inventory; and gather data for analysis. Collectively, these solutions help healthcare providers deliver smarter care, respond faster to health emergencies and automate data collection for administrative mandates, such as those for compliance and reporting. The growing importance of Edge and IoT solutions in healthcare is underscored by industry research that projects the market for Edge and IoT in healthcare will exceed $500 billion by 2025, after expanding at an annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent over the forecast period.4 Smart manufacturing Edge and IoT solutions are helping manufacturers improve product quality and factory yields by monitoring and controlling production lines in real time. With immediate feedback from smart systems, plant operators can spot emerging problems before they become actual problems, while continually optimizing processes. Smart manufacturers, for example, are using AI and edge-computing systems in conjunction with IoT data gathered by sensors to predict and avoid machine failure. The goal is to use predictive maintenance to prevent issues, resolve problems quickly and minimize operational downtime. Heres another example. Smart manufacturers are now leveraging the combination of sensor data, machine learning and advanced image recognition capabilities to automate the visual inspection and fault detection of products on the manufacturing lines. These intelligent systems trigger the automatic rejection of defective products from the production line. Key takeaways Today, theres a tremendous amount of momentum for IoT and edge computing. Gartner predicts that, by 2022, 75 percent of percent of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside a traditional data center or cloud, up from around 10 percent in 2018.5 As findings like these suggest, edge computing and IoT-based solutions are the future as well as the present. So, does the rise of edge analytics mean the cloud will go away? While some industry observers are making that case, at Dell Technologies, we disagree with this view. We believe that enterprises will continue to use public and hybrid clouds for storing large amounts of data, which can be used for data analytics and the training of machine learning models, while making use of Edge and IoT solutions, even edge clouds, for applications that require more immediate responses from automated systems. To learn more Kirsten Billhardt is the Marketing Director of Edge and IoT at Dell Technologies ____________________ 1 Forrester, IoT Deployment Is Driving Analytics To The Edge, a commissioned thought leadership paper conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dell Technologies and VMware, January 2019. 2 McKinsey & Company, New demand, new markets: What edge computing means for hardware companies, November 2018. 3 United Nations, 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN, May 16, 2018. 4 Grand View Research, IoT in Healthcare Market Worth $534.3 Billion By 2025 | CAGR: 19.9%, March 2019. 5 Gartner, Edge computing promises near real-time insights and facilitates localized actions, October 3, 2018. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA -- Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn gave some clues about what to expect from their new fashion competition series, Making the Cut, during an appearance at the Television Critics Association 2020 winter press tour on Tuesday. The duo have become synonymous with fashion design thanks to their years with Project Runway, the popular reality show that began in 2004, and aired first on Bravo, then on Lifetime and, in a rebooted version without Klum and Gunn, is now back on Bravo. Klum told the TV journalists and critics at the press tour that, when Project Runway ran into complications in the wake of Harvey Weinstein being accused of sexual misconduct, she saw an opportunity to jump ship. Klum, an executive producer and supermodel-turned-host of Project Runway, called Gunn, the shows invaluable mentor to competing designers. After talking to Klum, We jumped ship together, Gunn said during the Making the Cut panel discussion. With the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company, which had produced Project Runway," the show moved back to Bravo. Following the departures of Klum and Gunn, the new host became model Karlie Kloss, and Christian Siriano, a designer who got his start as a Project Runway winner, would be the new mentor. Klum said when she considered staying with Project Runway, the choice was doing more of the same old, same old, or taking the opportunity to do something different. Project Runway had its own formula, with time limits for designers, and thats something Making the Cut could change, Klum said. During its seasons on Lifetime, Project Runway faced some criticism for challenges that were overtly tied to sponsors. Klum said sometimes that was fine, but seemed happy to be free of restrictions associated with the Project Runway formula. In Making the Cut, which begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video March 27, Klum and Gunn are taking an international approach, working with a global group of 12 designers who are trying to move their brands to the next level. Instead of working only out of a New York home base, Making the Cut will also travel to Paris and Tokyo, as the designers are tested not just on their style sense, but also on their ability to run a business. The winner will get $1 million to invest in their brand. Joining Klum and Gunn on the panel were Sara Rea, an executive producer who worked on Project Runway for many years, and judges Naomi Campbell, Nicole Richie and Joseph Altuzarra. Gunn said that, without Project Runway, there would be no Making the Cut. But he said the new show takes a more elevated approach. As an educator, he said Project Runway is the undergraduate program, while Making the Cut is a graduate, or Ph.D program. In Making the Cut, the search is on for the next global brand. Designs that win will be available to purchase on Amazon after the episodes. Gunn stressed that the instant-sales factor doesnt mean they had to dumb down the designs, or eliminate designers if their work was too outre. Making a really great staple that still has fashion to it is harder than it looks, Klum said. The series will also feature a variety of models, and sizes that go beyond the typical fashion single-digit category. That diversity reflects the real world, as Gunn said. Check Oregonlive.com for more news and coverage of the TCA Winter 2020 press tour. -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Amid furore over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Home Ministry on Wednesday gave one more month to a high-level committee to submit its report on assessing quantum of seats to be reserved in the Assam Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people. The committee was formed in July last year under the chairmanship of Justice (retd.) Biplab Kumar Sarma. It was asked to give its report within six month of its constitution, i.e. by January 15. The Home Ministry has issued an order modifying the six-month time limit to seven months now. "The committee will submit its report within seven months... ," the order stated. A four-member delegation of the committee had met Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the progress of its work. "We have apprised the home minister about the progress of our work. The home minister has given a few suggestions. We hope to submit our final report within the next 15 days," Sarma had told reporters after the meeting. The meeting was held amid widespread protests in Assam against the new legislation. The protesters in Assam said the CAA violates the provisions of Assam Accord. The high-level committee with more than a dozen members was set up as per the Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord. According to its terms and conditions, "The committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people." The committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the Government of Assam for the Assamese people, according to a notification issued by the Home Ministry. The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who have entered the country after 1971 and living in the state, irrespective of their religion. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also recently met the home minister and discussed with him various aspects of the Assam Accord's Clause 6, under which the central government had promised to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign companies need to be aware of Decree 5 on Internal Audit (IA) in Vietnam. The decree went into effect on April 1, 2019, however, businesses have 24 months to comply. The regulation is seen as positive and in line with international best practices. The government issued Decree 05/2019/ND-CP on Internal Audit (IA) in Vietnam, which came into effect on April 1, 2019. The new decree applies to state-owned authorities, public service organizations as well as private listed companies to implement and adopt IA practices. The move is in line with international best practices, enhancing transparency and effectiveness in corporate governance. This is especially commendable as Vietnam looks to attract greater foreign investment. What organizations has the new decree affected? Most organizations are unlikely to be affected unless they are listed, in partnerships with state-owned companies, or provide internal audit services. However, we specifically list the organizations that are affected below: Ministries, government agencies; Peoples Committees (local administrative body) of cities and provinces as well as public service units; State-owned public service units (including those that set aside US$858,000 (20 billion VND) per year for the total fund of wages, salaries, allowances, and hire at least 200 employees); Enterprises including listed companies and organizations with 50 percent of their charter capital held by the state; and Organizations and individuals conducting IA activities. Those subject to the decree are required to complete all the necessary preparations within 24 months from April 1, 2019 to conduct IA activities as prescribed in the new decree. While the decree is not specific to what types of internal audits are required, its purpose is to encourage companies to adopt robust systems of internal control and risk management. How to structure an IA function Companies that need to create an IA committee reports to the Board of Directors (BoD) or Board of Supervision (BoS) and Board of Management (BoM) in the organization or company. The aforementioned organizations and companies will need to appoint a Head for IA of the committee. In addition, the appointment and salary of the Head of the IA committee should not be under the BoMs authority. While the decree does not spell out the job description of the Head of IA, companies should clearly define the criteria for competence, expertise, and skills when recruiting the Head of IA in line with the requirements of the business. In addition, internal auditors must be independent, objective and without any conflict of interest. Internal auditors must also have three to five years of experience with an understanding of laws and business operations of audited units, be able to analyze data with knowledge and skills related to IA. Auditors should also know about IT audit and industry operations. How can organizations comply? The new law states that if the IA department does not have sufficient resources with the required knowledge and experience, organizations can consider outsourcing or co-sourcing IA to a professional firm. As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responsible for setting rules on the application of IA. However, in the absence of specific requirements, companies should adopt international IA standards such as by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) as long as they dont oppose the Decree. Firms are not required to have an independent assessment by a third party but can use a professional service to conduct the assessment or use such a service to develop criteria for it. While there is no detailed guidance to develop an annual IA plan, executive IA engagement and reporting, organizations should understand and refer to best practices to provide guidance to internal auditors as per the regulations. Further, as with a new decree, the MoF is likely to come up with more specific documents listing out the requirements to comply with the new regulations. Note: This article was first published in March 2019, and has been updated to include the latest developments. "Peru has a lot to offer, and inbound tourism will grow by at least 10% this year . We are working with the private sector to achieve better results," he said. Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar on Tuesday met Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Secretary Amit Khare and briefed him about the students protest outside her office on Monday. Akhtar requested the ministry to initiate an inquiry into the police action in the university library. Students entered the JMI campus and protested outside the VC's office demanding an FIR against Delhi police for the December 15, 2019 incident of "police brutality" in the university library. Students had also demanded rescheduling of exams and security for students. The Vice-Chancellor had on Monday, announced that the exam dates of the varsity will be rescheduled and assured students that security in the campus has been increased. On December 15 clashes had erupted between the Delhi Police and Jamia students after a protest against the newly-amended Citizenship law turned violent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A young British model who fell to her death while taking photos on a clifftop in Australia struggled with her sudden Instagram fame, her parents revealed. Madalyn Davis, 21, was watching the sunrise at Diamond Bay in the east of Sydney on Sunday when she fell from the 30m (100ft) cliff, a notorious selfie spot. Her mother, Rebecca Smith, who earlier said her daughter 'made a mistake' in climbing over a safety fence to get close to the edge, revealed her family was 'rocked to its core'. She also hit out at cruel trolls who mocked Ms Davis for 'dying for an Instagram photo' and launched a fundraiser to lobby for a crackdown on cyber bullying. 'Her accidental passing has been so sudden and has rocked us to our core,' she wrote in a lengthy family statement on Wednesday. Madalyn Davis' mother Rebecca Smith (pictured with Madalyn on the left and her sister Anastasia on the right) has detailed the pain of her death felt by her family Madalyn Davis, 21, (pictured in Bondi days before her death) fell to her death from a cliff at a popular selfie spot in Sydney 'There will forever be a hole in our lives that will never be filled, a hole our family can barely face comprehending. 'We hope this is a pain that nobody else has to ever endure.' Ms Smith said her daughter, described as an 'introverted extrovert', struggled with her accidental social media fame and wide circle of friends. 'She struggled with a world that could be so unkind, and was a good person that always saw the best in people. Sadly, sometimes that was taken advantage of,' she wrote. 'This caused a lot of pain in her life, as a lot of people dont believe in this sentiment and therefore this left her vulnerable to abuse, resentment and manipulation.' Ms Smith, a yoga teacher, said her daughter 'still faced every day with optimism, and a smile on her face' and had a 'passion and zest for life' that led her to travel the world. Madalyn Davis, 21, was watching the sunrise at Diamond Bay in Sydney's east with seven friends about 6.30am when she fell from the 30m (100ft) cliff Ms Davis, 21, (pictured) was posing for a photograph on the edge of the cliff in Australia when she fell to her death This led her to Thailand and Bali late last year before she arrived in Australia just a few weeks before hear death. 'Over the last few months Madalyn had the opportunity to live her dream if only for a bittersweet space of time,' he mother wrote. 'We couldn't be prouder of our most beautiful girl for everything she achieved and the lives she touched. 'She packed more into her short years than we could possibly have hoped for. She was an inspiration to many, including us as parents.' Ms Smith again hit out at hundreds of trolls who flooded Ms Davis' Instagram with abuse in the days after she died. 'Is anyone going to post the selfie that she died to take? I hope it was at least worth it,' one of the trolls wrote. Another wrote: 'Wanted a photo for Instagram, got a Darwin award instead.' Ms Davis and her friends ignoring the barrier prompted hundreds of cruel comments on her social media after her death was announced Trolls returned fire with more insults leveled at Md Davis' friends who tried to defend her Ms Smith said such 'abhorrent comments and vile opinions' were tormenting her younger son Mitch and daughter Anastasia, who 'cannot continue to endure this relentless persecution'. 'We cannot comprehend how at such a traumatic time, a select few can be so heartless and target the most vulnerable suffering such acute emotional pain,' she wrote. 'Madalyn's brother, sister, and cousins are so hurt by the hateful trolls and online bullying following our daughter's passing, that they wish to lobby the government and social media companies to take this issue more seriously and to deal with issues more promptly and effectively.' The family started a GoFundMe to finance this effort, which has raised more than 3,000 (AU$5,800) in a single day. 'We will use any funds raised in bringing this important issue to the forefront of the Government and media companies attention by trying to lobby for a change in the law and improve response mechanisms of agencies in dealing with this issue in a more coherent and supportive way,' the family said. 'We want to prevent anyone else facing needless suffering from cyber bullying.' Statement from Madalyn Davis' mother and father On January 12 our world span on an axis we hope no one else will have to endure - our beloved daughter was taken from us following a tragic accident. Combined with this devastating news, family and friends have been hounded by trolls. Madalyn was an introverted extrovert. She struggled with a world that could be so unkind, and was a good person that always saw the best in people. Sadly, sometimes that was taken advantage of. She believed in universal oneness, the fundamental belief that she couldnt hurt another human being, as to do so she would hurt herself. This caused a lot of pain in her life, as a lot of people dont believe in this sentiment and therefore this left her vulnerable to abuse, resentment and manipulation. 'Madalyn packed more into her short years than we could possibly have hoped for. She was an inspiration to many, including us as parents,' her mother wrote Despite this, Maddie still faced every day with optimism, and a smile on her face. She was determined to find the better place that she hoped the world could be. Madalyn found fame inadvertently through the expression of her art which she shared via social media. This enabled her to find a way to function it this world that could be so judgmental and cruel, she was acutely aware of this contradiction but her passion and zest for life meant she was able to continually overcome it. Madalyn's inquisitive nature and her artistic drive in finding inspiration for her work soon led her to want to explore new cultures and travel the world which of course as parents, we fully supported. So, over the last few months Madalyn had the opportunity to live her dream if only for a bittersweet space of time. We couldn't be prouder of our most beautiful girl for everything she achieved and the lives she touched. She packed more into her short years than we could possibly have hoped for. She was an inspiration to many, including us as parents. Her accidental passing has been so sudden and has rocked us to our core. There will forever be a hole in our lives that will never be filled, a hole our family can barely face comprehending. 'My daughter was not self obsessed she was a wonderful beautiful person that made a mistake,' she wrote Can we please at this difficult time and in our deepest grief that all speculation and character assassination cease, if not for us as her mum and dad, then for Madalyn's little brother and sister who are hardly able to process this awful loss. We hope this is a pain that nobody else has to ever endure. Being able to read messages of support has given us so much strength, and we want to thank you for these kind words. Sadly, we have also had to read some abhorrent comments and vile opinions on Madalyn's Instagram profile. We cannot comprehend how at such a traumatic time, a select few can be so heartless and target the most vulnerable suffering such acute emotional pain. Madalyn was a daughter, a sister, a friend, a cousin, a niece, a granddaughter, and above all the most amazing woman whom we are all so proud of. She has been taken from us too soon. Advertisement Ms Smith earlier said Ms Davis was a 'wonderful, beautiful person that made a mistake' as she took aim at the 'nasty people' online. 'My daughter was not self-obsessed she was a wonderful beautiful person that made a mistake. How can you write such things? She has a little sister and brother who be reading this,' the British model's mother said. She also mocked the trolls for helping 'make her famous' as she condemned the 'nasty people' attacking her daughter. 'Fill your boots you nasty people, you are the ones that [have] to sleep with yourselves at night,' she said. 'Madalyn was loved, she had integrity and decency. If you need to believe otherwise in order to feel better about yourself then that's your pain. I wish you healing to whatever trauma led to you behave this way.' Ms Smith also posted several stories to her own Instagram in tribute to her daughter Other posts mocked the trolls for helping 'make her famous' She added: 'She always wanted to be famous so thank you trolls you are making this happen'. Ms Smith shared several pictures of her daughter, calling her 'my little weirdo' and adding 'You were one in a million'. The cliffs are a notorious selfie spot where another tourist died in similar circumstances in August after climbing over a safety fence. Friends also angrily shut down the trolls who attacked the young woman, saying they should respect her grieving family. 'What happened to Maddy was a mistake and no one should be blamed especially not her,' her friend Meg Feather wrote. 'Imagine how you would feel if you lost your daughter or your best friend or your sister and everyone was saying it was her own fault, please. Just think twice.' In the last picture - taken two days before she died - the model (front left) can be seen smiling and surrounded by friends in a bar on Bondi Beach 'Fences and signs are posted for a reason. Your perfect Instagram photo cost you your life. Hopefully others will learn from this,' one wrote Ms Feather also lashed out in a video on her Instagram at the trolls who she said had kept her crying for hours. 'Do you know what that will do to her family and her mum and her friends, i literally can't believe it,' she said. 'People who don't even know her are commenting saying that she deserved it. They know all her family and friends have to read it. 'Everyone would want to take a picture of that sunrise, it was just an accident.' The young tourist arrived in Australia late last year from Lincoln, England, and was planning on starting a new life there. In her last picture - taken two days before she died - the model can be seen smiling and surrounded by friends in a bar on Bondi Beach. Close family friend Lydia Woodward said: 'Maddy had been at a party and then they all went to this cliff to take pictures. 'It appears that Maddy was sitting on the cliff edge to have her picture taken when she fell. It's such a tragedy.' Madalyn Davis was at a party in Vaucluse on Saturday night and went to the nearby 100ft Diamond Bay cliffs with seven friends about 6.30am Ms Davis was having 'the time of her life' in Australia in the lead up to the fatal accident. Mrs Woodward told MailOnline: 'Maddy was having the time of her life. She wanted to see everything and do everything and was having a good time. 'She was the life and soul of the party. And she was doing her best to have a good time.' Maddy's family are distraught by news of her death, Mrs Woodward, a close friend of the 21-year-old's mother Rebecca 'Becky' Smith revealed. She said: 'They (Maddy's parents) are beside themselves. One moment they are laughing when they remember funny things about Maddy, the next moment they are in floods of tears. They are all over the place. 'They are still talking about who will go to Australia to identify the body. It's very early stages. It has only been 24 hours since she died.' The young tourist was at a party in Vaucluse on Saturday night and went to the nearby 30-metre (100ft) Diamond Bay cliffs with seven friends about 6.30am. Ms Davis was mourned in dozens of tributes by shattered friends online, remembered as a 'free spirit' who was 'beautiful inside and out CCTV from early on Sunday morning showed a person looking over the edge of the cliffs They are believed to have climbed over a fence to sit on the edge of the cliff to watch the sunrise and take photographs before she fell. Ms Davis was mourned in dozens of tributes by shattered friends online, remembered as a 'free spirit' who was 'beautiful inside and out'. Her mother Rebecca Smith desperately tried to get hold of her on Sunday afternoon and begged friends to help track her down. 'Anyone seen Maddie? Not been able to get hold of her please get in touch if you were out with her last night,' she posted online. However, by Monday morning her family confirmed Ms Davis had died and thanked her friends for their kind words. 'Thank you for all your beautiful condolences for Madalyn Davis and her family - it is an absolute tragedy to which nothing has been confirmed,' another family member wrote. Heartbroken friends in Britain and Australia posted tributes to Ms Davis on social media on Monday morning as new of her death spread. Ms Davis on December 14 told her friends she was having the 'best time' travelling and had no plans to return to Britain, in a post next to this photo of her at Thailand's Full Moon party Heartbroken friends in Britain and Australia posted tributes to Ms Davis on social media on Monday morning as new of her death spread Ms Davis on December 14 told her friends she was having the 'best time' travelling and had no plans to return to Britain. 'Can't believe I've been travelling for a whole month now!' she wrote next to a photo of her at the Full Moon Party in Thailand in November. 'Not looked back at my old life once (miss my job though) and I am super excited for my future abroad,' she wrote. Ms Davis was supporting her stay in Australia by styling eyelashes for $50 a set, and occasional modelling work. NSW Police said emergency services were called to Diamond Bay Reserve after reports a woman had fallen off a cliff. 'Emergency services were alerted after a group of people taking photos inside the fence early this morning regathered and could not find the woman,' it said. They commenced an air and water search and retrieved her body about 10.30am on Saturday. Police commenced an air and water search and retrieved her body about 10.30am on Saturday In August last year, a 27-year-old woman fell to her death while posing for photos on the cliff face. A witness told The Daily Telegraph at the time vigilant bystanders tried to resuscitate the woman while others helped her distressed friend, who had taken the photo. 'The friend needed a couple of men to help her all the way up (the path),' they said. Diamond Bay is a popular location for selfies, with numerous photos tagged #diamondbay on Instagram snapped from the cliff edge. The Waverley Council said last year it would crack down on visitors risking their lives at Diamond Bay for the perfect picture. Three doctors went on trial Tueday in Belgium accused of not respecting the conditions for euthanasia, a first in a country that legalised assisted suicide nearly two decades ago. The three could be imprisoned for life if found guilty in the case of Tine Nys, a 38-year-old Belgian woman who asserted her right to die in 2010 for severe mental suffering. Jurors were chosen Tuesday for the trial, said the court in the northwestern Dutch-speaking city of Ghent. The charges will be read out Friday before the defendants answer them Monday. The accused are the doctor who gave Nys the lethal drip as well as a general practitioner and a psychiatrist whose green light was needed for the assisted suicide. The case follows the complaints of two of Nys's sisters who deplored what they said was a hasty decision and who accused the suspects of "poisoning" their sister. "It is difficult to find a more serious crime," a legal source close to the case told AFP, adding they could be jailed for life. "We are in the same chapter of the criminal code as murder." Since Belgium decriminalised euthanasia in 2002, doctors have already faced legal proceedings, but so far the investigations have always led to dismissals. This trial will raise the question whether Nys's ailment was, in fact, incurable. In Belgium, euthanasia carried out for psychiatric illnesses represents a tiny part of the total. - 'Request was real' - According to her sisters, not all treatements were tried for Nys following her diagnosis for autism two months before her death. "Tine Nys's request was real. You cannot find a more voluntary request than this one," said Jacqueline Herremans, who chairs the Belgian Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD). In Belgium, euthanasia is authorised for patients suffering an incurable disease who have made their request "voluntarily, thoughtfully and repeatedly". This right, for adults, was extended in 2014 to minors, also within a very strict legal framework. In another aspect of the case, the doctor who performed the euthanasia is reproached for alleged failings during the act. In particular, he is said to have asked Tine's father to assist him by holding the needle in his daughter's arm. According to the latest official figures available, 2,357 declarations of euthanasia were recorded in 2018 in Belgium by the competent federal commission. The latest case to receive media coverage was the death last October of a paralympic athlete, Marieke Vervoort, who had announced her intention to resort to euthanasia to end her suffering. The trial is scheduled to run for two weeks. The former US ambassador to Ukraine, who testified in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, has called for an investigation into whether she was spied on before she was ousted by the president. Text exchanges released by Congress on Tuesday suggest Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador, had been placed under surveillance by Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate and Trump donor. Mr Hyde told Lev Parnas, an associate of Mr Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, he had unnamed sources who could let [him] know when she is on the move and suggested he knew when Ms Yovanovitchs phone and computer were turned off. In response to the documents, Ms Yovanovitchs lawyer said an investigation should be launched into Mr Hydes comments. The notion that American citizens and others were monitoring ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing, a statement from the lawyer said. Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clintons deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trumps personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the presidents enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a shadow foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trumps behalf and has called himself a hero. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the favour he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had one or two phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trumps actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didnt even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trumps opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Bidens son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Bidens son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Bidens lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trumps preoccupations with the Bidens and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a cover-up of a cover-up. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a parody of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a four Pinocchios rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff later identified as diplomat David Holmes overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about investigations the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trumps opponents, saying: It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, of leading a campaign of lies against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack very intimidating. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: Shes going to go through some things. Yovanovitch said she was shocked, appalled and devastated by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trumps 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it unusual because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraines reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: Was there a quid pro quo? Yes, said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the presidents political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a great American a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August undermining a Republican argument that there cant have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didnt know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was being involved in a domestic political errand. She said: I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up. And here we are. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line because his voice was so loud and distinctive and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear asking about the investigations and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation. Ms Yovanovitch became involved in the impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump after she was removed from her position in May 2019 following a smear campaign against her by the presidents allies. In a July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, Mr Trump said the former ambassador was going to go through some things. Democrats have suggested she was removed from her position to allow the Trump administration to pressure Mr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into 2020 candidate Joe Biden. In the newly-released text messages, Mr Hyde is shown referring to Ms Yovanovitch as that b**** and appearing to discuss how to remove her from her position. If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces, the congressional candidate told Mr Parnas, according to the documents. He also sent messages giving Mr Parnas detailed updates that implied he was watching the former ambassador. She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off, he wrote, adding that she was under heavy security and we have a person inside. Mr Hyde later wrote on Twitter that the release of the document was laughable and suggested that his comments had been made in jest. For them [the House Intelligence Committee] to take some texts my buddys and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable, he said. He added that he would welcome an investigation and claimed he was willing to provide his email password and phone to investigators. What to expect: A detailed review of key operational accomplishments over the last year in the Anadarko Basin and how positive results are creating long-term value for the Company. A discussion on how Encana rapidly applied its proven practices to significantly decrease well costs, improve returns and make the Anadarko Basin competitive across all top North American basins. Broad participation from Encana's executive leadership team and Anadarko leadership team in the webcast and subsequent Q&A session. Encana Corporation Encana Corporation is a leading North American energy producer that is focused on developing its strong portfolio of resource plays, held directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries, producing oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas. By partnering with employees, community organizations and other businesses, Encana contributes to the strength and sustainability of the communities where it operates. Encana common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ECA. ADVISORY REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, "FLS") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. FLS include: expectations and projections regarding operational accomplishments in the Anadarko Basin and the benefits therefrom. FLS involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause such statements not to occur or results to differ materially. Such assumptions, risks and uncertainties are described in Encana's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in Encana's other periodic filings as filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. Although Encana believes such FLS are reasonable, there can be no assurance they will prove to be correct. The above-referenced assumptions, risks and uncertainties are not exhaustive. FLS are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, Encana undertakes no obligation to update or revise any FLS. Further information on Encana Corporation is available on the company's website, www.encana.com, or by contacting: SOURCE Encana Corporation Related Links www.encana.com And if the Field wasnt enough, its Museum Campus neighbor offers PlayLab options too. Late in 2019, the Adler Planetarium expanded its Community Design Lab program, adding two more DIY zones to brainstorm and practice science. The little sibling in the fam is the Community PlayLab, geared for ages 6 and under; it boasts an imagination station, STEAM activities area, toddler zone and more. Meanwhile, as part of the new Chicagos Night Sky exhibit, the Community Star Studio (also suitable for older kids) encourages visitors to think about stars and constellations while making art. Both are open daily at the Planetarium, 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive. $19, $8 for kids 3-11; $2-$3 discount per ticket for Chicago residents. https://tinyurl.com/y6xcj5de PHOTO: Getty Images SINGAPORE After a night of visiting relatives during Hari Raya, instead of returning home, a man decided to go and peep at women. He went to a nearby block, slid the window open and stuck his hand in to push the curtain aside. That was when his victim saw his hand and screamed. Muhammad Nur Shafiq Omar, then a full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, was sentenced to six weeks jail, with an additional 20 days jail for offending while on remission. He pleaded guilty to one count of house trespass, while one count of attempting to intrude into the privacy of a woman by sliding open the bedroom window was taken into consideration for sentencing. Now aged 24, Shafiq is a recalcitrant offender who was sentenced to 15 months probation in 2014 after trespassing into a female toilet. He then reoffended in 2016 and 2019 by trespassing again. He was given reformative training in 2016 and 15 months jail in 2019 for both trespass and traffic offences. Offended after Hari Raya celebrations On 17 June last year, after Hari Raya celebrations, Shafiq returned to his block at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4 at about 4am. He then decided to go to a nearby block, intending to peep at girls inside their units. Half an hour later, he came across the victim, a 20-year-old girls unit. He noticed that the bedroom lights were still switched on. Upon realising that the sliding window was not locked, Shafiq pushed open the sliding window and extended his hand into the unit to push at the curtains. The woman was in her bedroom at the time and heard the sound of the window sliding open. She saw Shafiqs hand reaching into her bedroom to push away the curtains The alarmed woman screamed and Shafiq fled. The womans sister called the police minutes later. At the time of the offence, Shafiq was under investigation and on bail for attempting to peek at another woman 16 days earlier. He was also on remission for an earlier offence of trespass, having been released earlier for good behaviour. Story continues Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En sought six weeks jail for Nur, stating that the accused had not learnt from his rehabilitative stints with probation and (reformative training), where he had the benefit of targeted intervention programmes to address his risk of sexual re-offending as well as his pro-criminal attitudes. He had continued to disregard the property rights and privacy of members of the public by trespassing upon private property, said the DPP. Given that Shafiqs current offence was similar to his previous offence, the prosecution asked that he be made to serve the maximum remaining term of the remission order which he breached, which is 27 days. Shafiqs lawyer Caryn Lee said that he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and cooperated with the authorities. Shafiq had offended in the past as he was young, naive, and immature, having grown up in a family without adequate adult supervision, said Lee. However, Shafiq has since matured and shown a propensity to reform, said the lawyer, citing how Shafiq has volunteered to help with the family expenses by working part-time as a driver on most weekends. His parents have taken an active role in supervising him, and his father who is present today ,has accompanied him for all court proceedings, said the defence lawyer. His mother, who is wheelchair-bound, calls him everyday to ensure that he returns home by 10pm, added Lee. Shafiq intends to continue his education as an engineer in the future. The lawyer sought a four-week jail term with an enhanced sentence of 10 days for the remission order breach. For house trespass, Nur could have been jailed up to a year, and/or fined up to $3,000. Other Singapore stories Pasir Ris 'road rage': Lorry driver jailed 7 weeks, fined $500 55% of Singapore firms want tax rate cut and rebates in Budget 2020: SBF survey NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announce that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (Fiat or the Company) (NYSE: FCAU) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Eastern District of New York, and docketed under 20-cv-00202, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded Fiat securities from February 26, 2016 through November 20, 2019, inclusive (the Class Period). Plaintiff seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). If you are a shareholder who purchased Fiat securities during the class period, you have until January 31, 2020 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 number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Fiat, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, distributes, and sells vehicles, components, and production systems. The Complaint alleges that the statements were materially false and misleading when made because they failed to disclose the following adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them as follows: Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company employed a bribery scheme to obtain favorable terms in its collective bargaining agreement with UAW; (ii) high-ranking Fiat officials were aware of and authorized the scheme; and (iii) as a result, Defendants statements about Fiats business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On November 20, 2019, while the market was open, General Motors (GM) filed a racketeering lawsuit against Fiat in the Eastern District of Michigan styled as General Motors LLC, et al. v. FCA US LLC et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-13429-PDB-DRG, for damages caused by a bribery scheme perpetuated by UAW and the Company. According to the lawsuit, the illegal activity was authorized by the high-level officers of the Company, including Marchionne, and helped the Company win union acceptance of cost concessions in 2011 and 2015. The lawsuit also contended that Fiat executives bribed UAW leaders to pressure GM into a merger with Fiat. On this news, shares of Fiat fell $0.58 per share, or 3.72%, to close at $15.00 per share on November 20, 2019, damaging investors. 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 . Undercover officers tailing a high-ranking Los Angeles Police Department official witnessed him apparently engaging in sexual activity in a parking lot with a female subordinate, sources with knowledge of the investigation said. The official, Assistant Chief Jorge Villegas, retired suddenly after the surveillance operation caught him engaging in conduct that sources said may have violated the departments policy against sexual relationships with lower-ranking officers and also may have ran afoul of a criminal statute prohibiting lewd conduct in public places. Villegas, a 29-year LAPD veteran, was one of three assistant chiefs who reported directly to Chief Michel Moore. Villegas did not respond to messages seeking comment. Moore, who became chief in June, declined to comment. Advertisement A longtime ally of Moore, Villegas was in charge of the office of support services, where he oversaw budget, training, recruitment and other behind-the-scenes aspects of the 10,000-member police force. Steve Soboroff, president of the citys civilian Police Commission, said he received an anonymous letter last month accusing Villegas of misconduct. Soboroff has declined to detail the alleged misconduct but said he referred the letter for further investigation. The surveillance of Villegas is believed to have begun before Soboroff received the letter. On Oct. 23, commission members were presented with Villegas retirement papers. Villegas left a bar with the woman and got into a car with her, according to several sources. The undercover officers then witnessed the pair engaging in what appeared to be sexual activity, the sources said. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. Villegas had already been looking to leave the LAPD. He was one of five semifinalists in a nationwide search this year for chief of the Seattle Police Department. Several senior LAPD officials said Villegas told them he was departing to work on a family business venture. His retirement is supposed to take effect by the end of the year, LAPD spokesman Josh Rubenstein said. The sudden retirement will prove costly to Villegas. He enrolled in the citys controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan, better known by the acronym DROP, in 2015 and stood to gain nearly $1 million in additional pension funds had he stayed on the job through 2020. DROP pays Los Angeles police officers and firefighters their salaries and pensions simultaneously during the last five years of their careers. By retiring early, Villegas will forfeit nearly half of that money. The LAPD has a long-enshrined policy that requires superiors and subordinates in the same chain of command to avoid potential conflicts. The policy notes that when such situations develop, the employees involved must immediately notify their commanding officer. Under California law, lewd conduct in a public place is a misdemeanor. Inside a vehicle, there must be a likelihood that the activities can be seen by onlookers. The surveillance of Villegas was conducted by the LAPDs highly secretive Special Operations Division, which, among other duties, conducts internal affairs investigations of police officers suspected of criminal activity. In 2009, Villegas filed for divorce from his wife, a sergeant in the LAPDs Robbery-Homicide Division. The divorce was never finalized, and court filings make no mention of any alleged improprieties by Villegas. The two are still married. Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report. cindy.chang@latimes.com richard.winton@latimes.com Haiti - News : Zapping... Reaction of former PM Evans Paul Former Prime Minister Evans Paul believes that Parliament is responsible for its dysfunction, arguing that parliamentarians were not attached to their constitutional mission of passing laws and controlling the actions of the executive. US Ambassador visits Artibonite The U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Michele Sison, and the USAID Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean, John Barsa, visited Saint-Michel-de-l'Attalaye in the Department of Artibonite where they attended a distribution of essential food aid to the population. This distribution was organized by USAID, the World Food Program and Caritas. While it is true that this aid will help to alleviate some urgent needs, it is also true that it cannot constitute a long-term solution. The United States remains a dedicated partner in building a stable and prosperous Haiti. 40% of the population will need humanitarian assistance According to OCHA, in 2020, 4.6 million people in Haiti, 40% of the total population, will need humanitarian assistance. Among them, the analyzes identified 1.6 million women, 962,000 men, 1.1 million girls, 1 million boys, and 101,000 people living with disabilities. The number of people in need increased by 79% compared to 2019 (2.6 million). The highest needs result from food insecurity, which with 4.1 million people in Phases 3 and 4 of the IPC accounts for the vast majority of the 4.6 million people in need. Jovenel Moise expresses his grief "This fire too many at the Port Market, this January 13, 2020, exasperates the population. I express my full solidarity with the merchants, victims of this odious drama. Clear instructions have been passed to the Government in order to bring them the necessary support as soon as possible," Jovenel Moise See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29767-haiti-news-zapping.html Entrepreneurship training The Initiative of Haitian Women in Tourism (IFTH), in partnership with Sco Tour Haiti (STH), the Francoise Canez Auguste Foundation and the Lorquet Foundation, organizes on Thursday January 16 and Friday January 17, 2020 a Training on entrepreneurship with the businesswoman Nadine Francillon from Canada. This two-day training will be held at the Canne-Sucre Historical Park in Tabarre from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Those interested are invited to register on this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5tAiJrId7Tt-V0LwyN0EjZl6EOAoIKmFCWWoIcjH7Y90OyA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&fbclid=IwAR0h5aRiljUYQV2xZG3sHurrTI6bUnfXVPE2fA0ZGOecLcZOKqDn72dxdsc Football : Beginning of the year busy The first quarter of football promises to be busy for Haitian Football with first : the participation from January 28 to February 9, of the senior female selection in the last phase of the playoffs of the Tokyo 2020 women's tournament; the participation from February 22 to March 8 of the women's under-20 selection in the last phase of the qualifiers for the World Cup under 20 and the participation from March 20 to April 1 of the men's under-23 selection years in the last phase of the Olympic playoffs. HL/ HaitiLibre Microsoft has released a patch for a vulnerability in crypt32.dll, a library used for authentication, a flaw it rates important, the second rank on its severity rating list, but which the NSA has seen fit to issue an advisory about, something the agency never does. Vulnerabilities that are considered dangerous get the rating of Critical from Microsoft. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NSA's Neal Ziring, technical director of the agency's Cyber Security Directorate, said CVE-2020-0601 was a serious bug because it could be exploited to undermine public key infrastructure trust. "The vulnerability permits an attacker to craft PKI certificates to spoof trusted identifies, such as individuals, Websites, software companies, service providers, or others," Ziring said. "Using a forged certificate, the attacker can (under certain conditions) gain the trust of users or services on vulnerable systems, and leverage that trust to compromise them." British security researcher Kevin Beaumont described the bug in this manner: "Its only rated Important; its a spoofing issue; to get RCE with it you would need auth, and to have code exec already. "The NSA did a big press tour... before announcement so expect big media play." Theres some incentives around press coverage, vendor scares etc, along with tribalism and human condition concerns. My take; ignore it all, keep calm, carry on and do the needful. Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) January 14, 2020 He was referring to a leak to former Washington Post employee Brian Krebs who writes a blog about security issues. Krebs had a story up on Tuesday AEST in which he said the bug would affect all versions of Windows, something which turned out to be incorrect. The flaw only affects Windows 10, Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2016. Pwn All The Things actually read the advisory here, which I would suggest more people do. The vulnerability is specifically about *ECC verification*, and the scope is much more nuanced and smaller than some InfoSec vendors will have you believe. https://t.co/2yS3mjbDHA Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) January 14, 2020 Another security researcher, who goes by the moniker Pwn All The Things, appeared to agree with Beaumont's assessment, posting this: "The NSA advisory explicitly says it's a bug in ECC verification and says to look for attackers using truncated curves rather than the named ones, so the RSA signatures on the WU CAB files will be fine." The NSA's post led to some speculation that the agency was publicising the fact that it had found such a bug and not kept it quiet but rather disclosed it to Microsoft as a PR stunt. NSA discovered an error in the Microsoft code that verifies those signatures, potentially enabling a hacker to forge the signature and install spyware or ransomware on a computer. Is this whole thing just a public relations move for NSA to earn points after EternalBlue debacle? Kim Zetter (@KimZetter) January 14, 2020 Freelance journalist Kim Zetter raised the question thus: "NSA discovered an error in the Microsoft code that verifies those signatures, potentially enabling a hacker to forge the signature and install spyware or ransomware on a computer. Is this whole thing just a public relations move for NSA to earn points after EternalBlue debacle?" EternalBlue is an exploit that was leaked from the NSA in 2016 by an unknown group named the Shadow Brokers. It has been used in a number of major attacks, most notably the WannaCry ransomware, and has led to a good deal of criticism about the way the NSA's security set-up. Commenting on the NSA's announcement, Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra AI, said: "Kudos to the NSA for informing Microsoft and to Microsoft for quickly reacting. I'd be interested to understand what makes this exploit worth reporting to Microsoft instead of keeping for their personal arsenal as they have in the past. "It could be because many of those previous tools leaked and have caused widespread damage across multiple organisations. It could be because there was concern others would find this vulnerability themselves and it was dangerous enough to warrant remediation instead of weaponising. Or it just could be the NSA already has enough other methods for compromising a Windows system and doesnt need it." With Spectre we had all kinds of people saying they could easily get RCE and such with it. I replied to all those at the time saying cool, produce evidence. Nobody did. Its very easy to make up theoreticals with this; proof of things is well worth investing time in. Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) January 14, 2020 Renaud Deraison, co-founder and chief technology officer of security firm Tenable, commented: "CVE-2020-0601 hits at the very trust we have in today's digital computing environments trust to authenticate binaries and trust that our ciphered communications are properly protected. "The flaw would enable an attacker, among other things, to exploit how Windows verifies cryptographic trust, enabling them to deliver executable code and making it look like it came from a trusted source. "You can imagine its use in ransomware and phishing attacks on unpatched systems. This is a serious vulnerability and one that we fully expect to see exploited in the wild in the coming weeks and months. We will see continued attacks over the course of the year among organisations that do not patch their systems quickly. "The NSA's responsible disclosure of the vulnerability to Microsoft is a step in the right direction. We look forward to continued public-private sector co-ordination." A homeless man has been left seriously injured following an incident in Dublin city centre. The man was sleeping in a tent near the Grand Canal when it was removed by an industrial vehicle during works to tidy the canal walkway. The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon in the Wilton Terrace area. The man was rushed to St Vincents Hospital where he remains in a serious condition. An individual was injured during the process and was taken to hospitalDublin City Council Gardai said investigations are ongoing. In a statement, Dublin City Council said the incident happened while Waterways Ireland was removing tents that it said were placed in a precarious and dangerous location. An individual was injured during the process and was taken to hospital. The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive is currently liaising with the hospital and every support is being provided, the statement added. Our thoughts are with the man at this time. The Executive has been engaging with the individual for some time and accommodation remains available to him. Every action that is taken by state services is taken in the interest of health and safety of those individuals experiencing homelessness. The matter is currently being investigated by the Gardai and there will be no further comment. The most important thing is that we wish him a speedy recoveryLeo Varadkar Leo Varadkar said he is very concerned about the incident. The Fine Gael leader said: Im always loathed to comment on any individual case until we know all the facts and we know from experience that initial reporting can often be different from the later reporting. He is in a serious condition, but stable. He is well known to homeless services and has been offered emergency accommodation in the past and it will be offered to him again in the future but obviously our thoughts are with him, and we hope he makes a speedy recovery and well do everything we can to make sure that is accommodated. My understanding is that the city council and Waterways Ireland did check the tents before moving them, but obviously something went wrong here. He called for the Dublin Lord Mayor and Waterways Ireland to make a statement about the matter. The most important thing is that we wish him a speedy recovery, Mr Varadkar added. I remember when we took over the housing department about three-and-a-half years ago there were over 160 people sleeping rough on our streets in Dublin, thats now down around 92. So theres more work to be done. In this case this poor gentleman has been offered accommodation in the past and will of course be offered again when hes discharged from hospital. I was saddened to hear of the incident by the canal yesterday. My thoughts are with this poor man as he recovers in hospital. Ive demanded a full report in to the incident which is under Garda investigation. My campaign poster which was located at the scene has been removed. Eoghan Murphy (@MurphyEoghan) January 15, 2020 Meanwhile, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said he has demanded a full report into the incident. He tweeted: I was saddened to hear of the incident by the canal yesterday. My thoughts are with this poor man as he recovers in hospital. Ive demanded a full report in to the incident which is under Garda investigation. My campaign poster which was located at the scene has been removed. The Best of Texas wants you to know that a poor turkey has lost his testicles for you to enjoy. The organization, which hosts festivals around Texas, said in a Facebook post not to let the turkey's testes be wasted in vain at its first Texas Testicle Festival from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday in Bankersmith Hall in Fredericksburg. Testicles from calves, lambs, roosters, turkeys and other animals are considered delicacies in other parts of the world. And that's what the festival is celebrating people who enjoy eating animal testicles. Joe Bachmeier, an organizer with the event, said the festival will include turkey, lamb and veal testicles. The organs were imported from professionals that performed the removal of the testicles. They will be battered, fried and grilled at the festival. If you don't want to try the testicles, hungry visitors can choose from burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, artisan pizzas, gourmet hot dogs and pork ribs. READ ALSO: Barbacoa & Big Red Festival adds a second day in response to criticisms of last year's event Bachmeier said they are expecting several hundred people to attend the event, which will include lawn games, a full bar, live music and a small petting zoo for kids. Tickets for the festival range between $5 and $35 and are available for purchase at bankersmithtexas.com or at the festival gate located at 7905 Old San Antonio Road. "This event is just to celebrate the testicle festivals that happen nationwide," Bachmeier said. "We think its a really fun event people will enjoy. Plus, it's at a really cool venue." Although the hall has a Fredericksburg address it is located in a town that was established in 1913 that later became a ghost town. Priscilla Aguirre is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Republican and Democratic lawmakers say they see a genuine opportunity to fix the probation system this year. Such bipartisan agreement in Harrisburg is uncommon, lawmakers concede. Still, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say the probation system is too expensive and inefficient. Advocates for probation reform contend shorter sentences would give people a chance to rebuild their lives. As a bonus, it would save millions of tax dollars that could be used to improve public safety. ROK, US should use each other to break deadlock in North Korea talks Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stressed the need to revitalize inter-Korean projects as a means to break the deadlock in the denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Tuesday. Also on the table was South Korea's possible dispatch of naval assets to the Strait of Hormuz. Kang opened the possibility of sending a unit there as an option to support U.S.-led security operations in the volatile area amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Seemingly, Seoul is using the U.S. request for a naval dispatch as a bargaining tool to resume exchanges with North Korea, which have been suspended due mainly to the stalled negotiations between the North and the U.S. They are separate issues, but cannot be separable for diplomats. Of course, there may be many more factors South Korea should consider in making any decision about protecting its national interest in the Middle East, but it is true that the U.S. request provides a window of opportunity to the South to get inter-Korean relations back on track. Diplomatic shrewdness and flexibility are needed more than ever for the Moon Jae-in administration to produce the best results for the future of this country. According to the foreign ministry, Kang shared President Moon's renewed push for inter-Korean exchanges with Pompeo. Kang told reporters after the meeting that South Korea's relations with the North and U.S. relations with the North "cannot always move at the same pace." She said, "With no progress in North Korea-U.S. dialogue, we believe it is important for the South and the North to have dialogue and maintain the momentum for North Korea's engagement." This apparently reflects the South's frustration over the long-stalled talks between the U.S. and the North as Seoul has been waiting for a deal with patience to use it as a catalyst for inter-Korean peace projects. More importantly, Kang's remarks can be a symbolic message that Seoul will move more independently from Washington in dealing with Pyongyang. It is not new that the allies have differences over maintaining sanctions on North Korea amid the stalled denuclearization dialogue and renewed threats from the North. For the U.S., it is a useful if not the best option to use South Korea to bring the North back to the negotiating table and revive the dialogue momentum, instead of sticking to the sanctions regime. In Seoul, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul vowed to take all possible measures to improve relations with North Korea, rather than waiting for progress in the U.S.-North negotiations. During a meeting with civic and religious groups, Kim said he will review various options, including cooperation with international organizations and civic exchanges, to revitalize inter-Korean exchanges, emphasizing that such efforts will help the U.S. and the North resume their talks. Minister Kang said to Pompeo that Seoul is looking at ways to contribute to the international efforts to maintain security in the Middle East from "multiple" perspectives. Flexibility is also necessary for the U.S. to bring a positive change to the Korean Peninsula. The allies must reach a deal first before seeking a deal with North Korea. Houston personal injury attorneys Eric Pines and Stephen Goldenzweig of Pines & Goldenzweig, PLLC have assisted many clients with traumatic brain injuries in Houston. When a person receives a blow to the head or a jolt to the body, they may suffer from a traumatic brain injury afterwards. These can range from mild to severe, either impacting brain cells temporarily until the injury heals, or causing bruising, tearing, bleeding, and permanent physical damage to the brain with long-term health implications. The first priority when a traumatic brain injury occurs is to get all necessary medical care. The recovery from this type of injury can be a long one and its critical for patients to line up all the support they need, ranging from physicians who specialize in the treatment of brain injuries, to home healthcare, physical and occupational therapy, and counseling to help victims cope with the dramatic changes to their lives. When a traumatic brain injury is the result of another partys negligence, victims should seek a skilled personal injury attorney with experience handling TBI lawsuits. Eric Pines and Stephen Goldenzweig offer the following tips for anyone who has suffered a brain injury caused by someone else: If a traumatic brain injury was the result of an assault or another criminal act, the victim should file a police report. This not only helps strengthen their case should they decide to file a lawsuit, it also helps protect the safety of others in the community. Victims should keep all of the documentation they have about the injury. Medical records, police reports, proof of the time needed off of work, and anything else that will help make a victims case should be kept in a folder for easy access. Pines and Goldenzweig also recommend that victims keep a journal where they document the impact the injury has on their day-to-day lives. It can be difficult to come up with those granular details when sitting in an attorneys office or in a courtroom, particularly if a persons memory has been impacted by the injury. Finally, victims of traumatic brain injury should find a competent personal injury attorney with a proven track record of winning these cases. A personal injury attorney will not only assist brain injury victims in proving the fault of the other party involved, but they will also help them identify the damages suffered and calculate a monetary amount for compensation. About Pines & Goldenzweig, PLLC Pines & Goldenzweig, PLLC is dedicated to personal injury cases. The firms practice areas include dog bites, car accidents, slip and fall, and traumatic brain injuries. To learn more about Pines & Goldenzweig, PLLC or to schedule a free consultation and case review, call 713-489-4410, visit http://toughinjurylawyers.com/, or stop by the firms office at 10101 Fondren Road, Suite 550, Houston, TX 77096. First Round of Select Dates on Sale January 24 CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corona Light , the number one light beer import, will be the lead sponsor behind the summer leg of ACM "Artist of the Decade" Jason Aldeans 2020 WE BACK TOUR. The tour will hit 21 U.S. cities and will feature a few special guests. From country towns to big cities nationwide, this tour will be packed with countless memorable moments fans will not want to miss. Corona Light drinkers live life on their own terms, said Ann Legan, Vice President of Brand Marketing, Corona. Jason shares this attitude, and there is no better way to celebrate it than with good country music and a crisp ice-cold Corona Light with lime. This was a no-brainer partnership for me, said Jason Aldean. Some of my favorite experiences remind me of Corona Light, from playing at local bars early on in my career to just hanging at the beach with friends. Corona Light is committed to providing fans 21 and older with a crisp, light-beer option at only 99 calories to enjoy year-round, whether at a concert or at the beach. * Jason Aldean will also perform an exclusive intimate performance this fall sponsored by Corona Light where consumers will be able to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win tickets to attend. Fans should be on the lookout for more details on the date and how to enter. Beginning January 24, fans will be able to buy tickets to performances in select cities. For more information, check out www.coronausa.com in the coming months for further details of Jason Aldeans upcoming summer 2020 WE BACK TOUR, sponsored by Corona Light. Jason Aldean Summer 2020 WE BACK TOUR U.S. Dates: 7/23/2020 Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts 7/24/2020 Canandaigua, NY - CMAC 7/25/2020 Hartford, CT - Xfinity Theatre 7/31/2020 Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP 8/01/2020 St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre** 8/02/2020 Indianapolis, IN - Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center 8/13/2020 Syracuse, NY - St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview 8/14/2020 Philadelphia, PA - BB&T Pavilion 8/15/2020 Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live 8/21/2020 Burgettstown, PA - S&T Bank Music Park 8/22/2020 Chicago, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre** 8/23/2020 Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center 8/28/2020 Atlanta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre 9/11/2020 Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amp 9/12/2020 West Palm Beach, FL - Coral Sky Amphitheater 9/17/2020 Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater** 9/18/2020 Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion** 9/19/2020 San Diego, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre** 9/24/2020 Sacramento, CA - Toyota Amphitheatre 9/25/2020 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre 9/26/2020 Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre** *Per 12 fl. oz. serving average analysis: Calories 99, Carbohydrates 5.0 grams, Protein 0.8 grams, Fat 0.0 grams. **Openers to be Announced About Jason Aldean After almost 15 years at the top of his format, three-time ACM Entertainer of the Year" Jason Aldean has seen trends come and go. He's helped bring a few out of the shadows, like a Country-music Columbus making the mainstreams first contact with hard rock (Hicktown), hip-hop (Dirt Road Anthem) and R&B (Burnin It Down). But after all that time, he continues to hold his ground making modern albums with an old-school soul - with the upcoming release of his ninth studio album 9 as the album's fiery lead single We Back rounds out the first-released songs, and in characteristic Aldean fashion, it explodes into a hard-rock country anthem (Rolling Stone). As a dominant force on the charts, Aldean has scored 23 No. Ones at radio and is the only Country act in history to top the all-genre Billboard 200 four times (in a row, no less), while racking up 15 billion streams and more than 18 million albums sold along the way. For more information visit www.JasonAldean.com About the Corona Brand Family The Corona brand family is home to Corona Extra, Corona Light, Corona Familiar, Corona Premier and in 2019, the national launch of Corona Refresca. The entire Corona portfolio is brewed in Mexico by Constellation Brands and imported and marketed exclusively to the U.S. by the company. The Corona brand is the #1 most loved beer brand and has been the #1 imported brand family of beer in the U.S. for more than 20 years. Corona Extra, the flagship brand of the Corona brand family, is a pilsner-style lager with a golden hue that was first brewed in Mexico in 1925. The refreshing flavor and carefree attitude of Corona Extra have been helping Americans find their beach since 1981. About Constellation Brands Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a Fortune 500 company, is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. Constellation is the No. 3 beer company in the U.S. with high-end, iconic imported brands such as the Corona and Modelo brand families and Pacifico. Its high-quality, wine and spirits brands include the Robert Mondavi and The Prisoner Wine Company brand families, Kim Crawford, Ruffino, Meiomi, and SVEDKA Vodka. The companys portfolio also includes a collection of highly-rated wine brands such as SIMI and Mount Veeder Winery, spirits brands High West Whiskey and Casa Noble Tequila, as well as new wine innovations such as Cooper & Thief, 7 Moons, and Crafters Union. To learn more, follow us on Twitter @cbrands and visit www.cbrands.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Constellation Brands Stephanie McGuane 312.741.2477 stephanie.mcguane@cbrands.com Zeno Group Lizet Gonzalez 312.254.0658 Lizet.Gonzalez@zenogroup.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/17085761-8f5a-412a-8041-706d9687816b https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f9a6827f-b582-4819-838e-6b843ba7f564 We must hold this president accountable for his stunning abuse of power, Mr. Jeffries said as the House Judiciary Committee debated the articles of impeachment. We must hold this president accountable for undermining Americas national security. We must impeach this president. Mr. Jeffries has shown few signs of tempering that approach. When a reporter on Tuesday asked him about comments made by Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, suggesting former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. should suspend his presidential campaign during the Senate trial, Mr. Jeffries deadpanned, Who? We will not take political advice from Kevin McCarthy, he replied icily. As likely to quote from the Bible as he is from 1990s hip-hop lyrics, Mr. Jeffriess rhetorical skills were honed as a high-powered litigator working at an elite corporate law firm in New York, where he defended CBS in a lawsuit over Janet Jacksons wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl. Mr. Jeffries won his first race in 2006, securing a seat in the New York State Assembly after two unsuccessful attempts. He was elected to Congress in 2012. Manned space mission woes Global Times By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/15 0:52:06 India's first could face long delays over barriers India could face a delay for years in its first-ever manned space mission scheduled for December 2021, as numerous obstacles, including the development of a launch vehicle with a payload capacity up to mission requirements, still need to be overcome, Chinese experts said on Tuesday. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan said the four male astronauts all originally Indian Air Force pilots - shortlisted for the project would receive physical fitness training in Russia for 11 months, but the first spaceflight in December 2021 may carry just one person, Hindustan Times reported. "We are designing the mission for three people to go into low earth orbit for seven days." "However, whether we send two people or one person and whether they spend seven days or one day in orbit will be decided later on in the mission after the two unmanned flights," Sivan was quoted as saying in the report. The Indian manned program is codenamed "Gaganyaan" and expected to cost more than $1.4 billion, the report said. Previously, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the space mission from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2018, saying that "an Indian son or daughter" will carry the national flag on the trip when the country celebrates its 75th anniversary of Independence in 2022. There is no denying that it would be a huge achievement for India, and if it manages to pull off the manned spaceflight mission, it would make India the fourth country to achieve the feat independently, following the US, Russia and China, Chinese space scientists said. "It will fill in the void of manned space technology for India, greatly enhance the country's international prestige, and demonstrate the country's overall strength to the world," Pang Zhihao, a renowned Chinese space expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday. However, he pointed out that India still needs to overcome multiple barriers, which could delay the maiden flight of the Indian spacecraft for manned mission for years. The development of a reliable launch vehicle with a payload capacity of at least seven tons to the low Earth orbit, where most of the man-made objects in outer space are placed, could be one of the most challenging tasks for India, he said. Also, compared with unmanned spacecraft, a manned one would need more unique systems such as environmental control and live sustaining system [to create a human life-friendly ecosystem in space], emergency response and rescue system and an Earth re-entry system, of which India lacks the experience, he told the Global Times. To overcome the obstacles in such a tight schedule, India would probably seek assistance from Russia, and borrow experiences in the development of spacecraft and ecosystem from the world's space powerhouse, Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times. However, Wang warned that even with Russia's help, India should abide by the laws of science and pace itself, otherwise, technological challenges would turn into risks. The ISRO also aims to undertake more human space flights and build a station in outer space after completing the maiden mission of Gaganyaan, Sivan said, India media outlet India Economic Times reported on Tuesday. ISRO has designed an autonomous 3.7-ton spacecraft to carry a three-man crew to space, but is likely to have only one astronaut in its maiden human space flight, it said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address She's a doting mother to three little ones. And Kourtney Kardashian flaunted her gym-honed figure for a sexy swimsuit shot shared to her lifestyle brand's social media platforms on Wednesday afternoon. The 40-year-old Poosh founder rocked a nude bikini for a post where she detailed a few of her favorite tips to get her body back in fighting shape after having children. Heating up: Kourtney Kardashian flaunted her gym-honed figure for a sexy swimsuit shot shared to her lifestyle brand's social media platforms on Wednesday afternoon The eldest of the Kardashian/Jenner brood soaked up the last of the sunlight from what appeared to be her trip to Italy last year. She showed off her lithe figure in a tiny triangle top with matching bottoms resting high atop her hips. Kourtney, who's last child was born five years ago, admitted that she gained '40 pounds' with all three of her pregnancies. Body by Kourtney: The 40-year-old Poosh founder rocked a nude bikini for a post where she detailed a few of her favorite tips to get her body back in fighting shape after having children Good times: The eldest of the Kardashian/Jenner brood soaked up the last of the sunlight from what appeared to be her trip to Italy last year. 'I wasnt into intense workouts when I got pregnant with Mason, and I wasnt using a trainer at the time,' she wrote. 'I was very into running, usually a quick two- to three-mile run with some good music in my neighborhood, combined with some at-home workouts and uphill walks with the stroller. 'I was breastfeeding for 16 months, which really helped me lose weight after Mason.' Kourtney shares co-parenting of her three children Mason, 10, Penelope, seven, and Reign, five with ex Scott Disick She also credited breastfeeding as a way to stay away from alcohol and caffeine, and an easy way to burn '700 calories each feeding.' Family: Kourtney, who's last child was born five years ago, admitted that she gained '40 pounds' with all three of her pregnancies; seen on Instagram 'I like to have a little dessert after lunch and after dinner, but if I felt my weight plateaued, I would cut out the post-lunch snack and monitor my sugar, which really made a difference,' she added. Interestingly enough, Kourtney's crusade against sugar has been quite the talking point on Keeping Up With The Kardashians after she begged sister Kim to have healthier snacks available at a kid's candy-themed party. She admitted that it was more difficult to get her body back after having Penelope, but fell in love with High-Intensity Interval Training. 'The most important thing is to listen to your body and to do what youre doing for you, not for societys standards of getting your body back, because they are unrealistic,' she wrote. 'This was my journey. It wasnt until Reign was probably 4 months old that I felt this desire to be in the best shape of my life.' A Chattanooga man will be on probation for one year after he pled guilty to unlawful sexual contact with a minor. Christopher Aaron High, 24, was originally charged with statutory rape in February 2019. He exposed my little girl to alcohol and drugs, something she was never exposed to at home, said the victims mother, She was deflowered by the defendant. He took her innocence away, not for love, but just so he could have another notch on his belt. He preyed on her innocence." Aside from one year of supervised probation, High will also pay a $1,000 fine and will be forbidden from contacting the victim or her family in any way. Prosecutor Colin Campbell told the court that, should the case have gone to trial, the state would have shown the jury social media posts that would have corroborated accounts of a sexual relationship between High and the victim. My hope is that this experience for him will save another family from having to endure the pain and suffering that he has caused mine, said the mother. One of the requirements for the plea to be acceptable for the victims family was the permanence of the conviction. Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz assured the family that the conviction was not expungable. However, High will not have to register with the National Sex Offender Registry. EAST HAMPTON The new town hall/police complex is expected to be ready to open by mid-April. Meanwhile, the Town Council has a date to consider selling the present town hall to a Bristol developer. During their meeting this week, the council heard a report from Town Manager David E. Cox about a Jan. 7 visit the town staff made to the 34,000-square-foot complex being built inside the Edgewater Hills mixed-use development. Most of the rooms are in; the drywall is in. And the lockers for the Police Department are in as well, Cox said. In addition to combining all town offices in the new building and relocating the Police Department to more spacious quarters, the building will serve as the home to the Board of Education. The town has allocated $18.9 million for the project. Construction is continuing apace and is expected to be completed by the end of February. It should be ready to be turned over to us by March 1, Cox said. Then the process will begin to move the various town departments from either the existing town hall or leased space elsewhere in town. That relocation process will result in some temporary service interruptions, Cox said. We should be ready to open by the middle of April - on or about Easter, which this year falls on April 12, Cox said. Cox had additional good news for the council, indicating there could be some savings upon completion of the project. Right now, the project is running ahead of the budget. If all goes well, the project could come out $100,000 or more in the black, Cox said in an email Wednesday. Turning to the proposed sale of the 73-year-old building, Cox said, The next two steps are for the council to hold a public hearing and then set a town meeting to act on the sale. He proposed and the council agreed to hold the hearing and the meeting back-to-back on the evening of Jan. 27. The proposed sale has already been reviewed and approved by the Board of Finance. On Jan. 8, the Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the proposed sale and determined the sale is in compliance with the Plan of Conservation and Development. The town was asking for at least $500,000 of more for the building, which sits on 0.9 of an acre in the heart of towns commercial center. However, after nearly a year, only one offer was put forward. Bristol developer John Calciano offered the town $316,000. The building will require substantial work. It is settling at an angle, is beset by leaks and the well that services the building is contaminated. By one estimate, it could cost at a minimum $300,000 to revive it. Caliano seemed unconcerned about that when he briefly spoke with The Press in December. He said he was uncertain just what to he might do with the building but said it might be put to use for retail business. Wednesday support meetings Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 342 E. K ste. 352; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:09 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 342 E. K ste. 352; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 7 p.m., 342 E. K ste. 352; 8 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8:23 p.m., 719 3rd St. (Evansville). Casper info: 266-9578. Al Anon: 7 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., First Methodist Church. Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 7 p.m., 15th and Melrose, at the church. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org. TOPS #162, weight loss support, 8:30 a.m., 1868 S. Poplar. After school at the library We all know just how a-MAZE-ing Legos can be, so join us at the Natrona County Library for a fun build-your-own Lego marble maze program for students in grades K6 at 4 p.m., in the Crawford Room. All supplies and snacks will be provided at no cost. Call 577-7323 or visit our website for more information. Chicken fried steak at the Elks Wednesday Night Special at the Casper Elks Lodge is chicken fried steak with all the fixings. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, serving from 6 to 7 p.m., or until gone. Also enjoy a dessert for $1. Member, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839. Author talk & signing In partnership with Wind City Books, the library is hosting local neurosurgeon, author, and Iraq War veteran, W. Lee Warren, M.D., to discuss his new book, Ive Seen the End of You. Join us at 6 p.m. in the Crawford Room to hear Warren speak and get your copy of the book signed by the author. Books will be available for sale courtesy of Wind City Books. Call 577-7323 or visit our website for more information. Progressive drawing class Can you draw a line and a circle? Than this class is for you! Rozmaring Czaban will be instructing a six-week progressive drawing class at Art 321. Cost is $135/member; $155/nonmember. Suited for beginners as well as anyone who wants to improve their existing skills and understanding of techniques. Each week will focus on sketching specific subjects that will progress in complexity. You will find the process explained and demonstrated along with individual assistance to encourage and inspire. Come by Art 321 at 321 W. Midwest Avenue or call at 265-2655 to register. Dates are January 15, 22 and 29, February 5, 12, and 19 and classes are from 6 to 8 p.m. Free movie for grownups Caspers AARP Wyoming Action Team will present the biopic Judy, about the life and career of Judy Garland, at the Studio City Theaters at 7 p.m. The film is free, thanks to AARPs Casper Action Team and AARPs Movies for Grownups program. Tickets are free but registration is required for entry. To get tickets, call 1-877-926-8300 and ask the operator for Movies for Grownups, Casper, Wyoming, showing of Judy. Renee Zellweger stars in the movie, Judy, a biopic outlining the career of Judy Garland. The movie takes place in the winter of 1968 as showbiz legend Judy Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. The movie is a part of AARPs Movies For Grownups program, which seeks to fight social isolation in those aged 50 and over. Social isolation occurs when people withdraw and become disconnected from family, friends and community. A study by professors Julianne Holt-Lunstad and Timothy Smith of Brigham Young University found that prolonged social isolation is as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and is more harmful than obesity. Social isolation has been linked to higher blood pressure, greater susceptibility to the flu and other infectious diseases, and earlier onset of dementia. For more information, contact Tanya Johnson, AARP Wyomings Associate State Director for Outreach and Local Advocacy at tajohnson@aarp.org. Red Hatters lunch The Red Hat Luncheon for January will be at the FireRock, 6100 E. 2nd. St. at 11:30. We will be ordering off the menu. Hosted by Patty Bachand and Judy Boyer. Please call Patty at 215-6270 or Judy at 259-5765 to make your reservations. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A roofing company boss has been jailed to two years for forging the signature of one of his workman after he fell 20ft to his death in a bid to dodge blame. Mark Bray, 48, falsified health and safety documents to make it look as though foreman Kenneth Drake, 54, had signed a risk assessment for a 55,000 job. Mr Drake, of Manchester, suffered catastrophic head injuries and died an hour later in hospital after he fell through the roof of the ironmongery firm on September 24 2015. Bray, of Warrington, Cheshire, knew he might be held responsible for the tragedy because he failed to supply his workers with safety netting in a bid to cut costs - even though the roof of the building needed replacing. He admitted perverting the course of justice and failing to take reasonable care of other persons under the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974. Contracts manager Bray was sentenced to two years in prison at Manchester Crown Court, while his Warrington-based firm Roofing Consultants Limited was fined 100,000 and ordered to pay another 30,000 in prosecution costs. The firm was cleared of corporate manslaughter in relation to Mr Drake's death. Mark Bray, 48, (mugshot left) falsified health and safety documents to make it look as though foreman Kenneth Drake, 54, (right) had signed a risk assessment for the 55,000 job that led to his death The court heard how Mr Drake had been hired to lead of team of roofers to replace a broken roof at Abbey Architectural Ironmongery Company Limited in Rochdale in September 2015. Bray's employers had been sub-contracted to do the job by another firm but the roofing team were not equipped with full body harnesses or 'easi-dec' - a platform designed to make fragile roofs safer, the court was told. The 48-year-old was in charge of health and safety issues at the firm but he also failed to give Mr Drake and his colleagues a safety briefing - instead making a business trip the Midlands. Bray (pictured outside court), of Warrington, Cheshire, knew he might be held responsible for the tragedy because he failed to supply his workers with safety netting in a bid to cut costs - even though the roof of the building needed replacing Prosecutor John Harrison QC told the hearing: 'Mark Bray made a visit to the site on July 30 before the accident but he did not go on the roof himself to investigate it. 'In Mark Bray's notebook, he said that it wouldn't be possible to put a net over the roof and that Easi-Dec would be needed instead. 'But it's clear that he did not conduct a safety induction and in the risk assessment method statement, there's no mention of Easi-Dec, it just suggests that they should stand on the timber decking to avoid falling through. 'Mr Drake was seen climbing the scaffolding to get to the roof but there was initially no ladder. They also only had hi-vis jackets - no hard hats and no safety harnesses. 'The following day the ladder was delivered by an employee for Abbey Architectural heard a cracking noise and looked up to see a foot had come through the roof. 'Later that day, Kenneth Drake came into the warehouse and made a complaint about the roof, saying that it was rotten. Mark Bray visited the site on September 23. 'He climbed up the ladder and onto the roof for inspection. He was up there for about six minutes. 'During the time that he is there, pieces of roof were being thrown from the roof into the skip. 'But there's no safety measures, no netting, no harnesses. Bray knew how the work was being done and he did nothing. 'He said nothing to change how the men were working, with no harnesses, no safety decks, nothing. He must've seen it but he allowed it to continue.' On the day of the accident Mr Drake had arrived with brother Brian at 8am to start work after placing a tarpaulin on the roof to stop it leaking, but half an hour later he fell through the roof to the floor below. He sustained severe head injuries including a fractured skull and died less than an hour later at Royal Oldham Hospital. He also suffered fractures of both his wrists from trying to break his fall. Kenneth Drake is pictured with his widow Ingrid The court heard how Mr Drake (pictured) had been hired to lead of team of roofers to replace a broken roof at Abbey Architectural Ironmongery Company Limited in Rochdale in September 2015 Kenneth Drake is pictured smiling with his wife Ingrid In the aftermath of the tragedy, Bray falsely claimed he had printed a risk assessment form from a portable device in his vehicle which he then asked the roofers to sign. He wrongly said the form claimed Easi-Decs were to be used and harnesses were to be connected. It also said that the work area should be cordoned off with fencing to stop people coming in and out. In a heart-breaking statement Mr Drake's widow Ingrid said: 'Ken was an amazing husband and stepfather. He was a loving, caring man who made everyone laugh. 'We shared so many memories and its heart breaking to know we can't share any more. 'It's sad to know he's missed out on such magical moments in our lives, like watching our daughter get married. He's truly missed by everyone and always will be.' After the case Detective Chief Inspector Richard Eales, of Greater Manchester Police said: 'Today's result should serve as a stark reminder to those who employ people and have a responsibility to look after them in the workplace. 'Cutting corners in this way is dangerous and can ultimately rip families apart, because it was these actions that had absolutely cataclysmic consequences and led to Ken's unnecessary and preventable death. 'The fact that Bray went onto forge Ken's signature demonstrates than rather than thinking about Ken and his loved ones in the aftermath of his death, Bray's sole thought was to cover his tracks and prevent the investigation from establishing what had occurred. The Drakes are pictured on holiday together smiling for the camera 'I hope the fact Bray has to serve a jail sentence serves as justice for Ken and his family who have been left absolutely devastated by his death. 'Hopefully they are provided with a measure of comfort at the end of what has been a very long and difficult road. Health and Safety Executive principal inspector, Laura Royales added: 'This was an entirely foreseeable and preventable incident which resulted in a tragic and needless loss of life. 'Falls from height remain the biggest cause of workplace fatalities in the UK construction industry. 'It is vital that those involved in planning, managing and carrying out work at height understand the risks and identify and implement suitable control measures to prevent injury. Had such steps been taken in this case, this incident would not have occurred.' Rochdale-based High Ridge Roofing Solutions Limited. which was originally contracted to do the job, was fined 12 000 and ordered to pay 33,000 in prosecution costs after being found guilty of Regulation 15(2) Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 06:54:13|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close GENEVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum (WEF), in a letter on Tuesday, encouraged the Annual Meeting 2020 badge holders to travel to Davos by train from Zurich or other parts of Europe and enjoy a 50 percent discount or refund. Besides the discounted train tickets, the WEF said it encourages participants to use other sustainable transport means. And almost 90 percent of the cars used by the Forum to transport public figures are electric or hybrid. In a previous statement, the WEF said that it aims to reduce the CO2 emissions of all its activities and since 2017, all emissions have been calculated and offset 100 percent by supporting environmental projects in Switzerland and abroad. The WEF Annual Meeting 2020, under the theme "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World", is scheduled to take place on Jan. 21-24 in Davos Klosters in Switzerland. Nearly 3,000 leaders from all over the world, including 53 heads of state or government, will attend the meeting, the WEF announced here Tuesday. According to the WEF, this year's program will focus on achieving maximum impact on the Forum's platform for public-private cooperation across six core areas of activity: ecology, economy, society, industry, technology and geopolitics. Among the initiatives to be launched at this year's annual meeting, WEF said, is one that aims to plant one trillion trees over the next decade and to equip one billion people with the necessary skills in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to acquire 1351 acres land for setting up of an integrated manufacturing cluster in Palakkad as part of extending the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Kochi via Coimbatore. The fund of Rs 1038 crore will be raised for the purpose with the support of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Earlier, the Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) had approved the Kerala government's request to extend the corridor to Kochi. The corridor is 160 km long. The project aims to create more jobs by establishing environment-friendly industries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hospitality aggregator OYO Hotels & Homes has reportedly started to send out emails to notify its employees whether they have been retained by the company or not. Recently, in an internal email to employees, OYO founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal had talked about the company's decision to reduce workforce in coming days. While Agarwal did not disclose total employees who will be retrenched, the number is estimated to be around 1,000. Employees in New Delhi and Jaipur centres were notified about the lay-offs via personal emails on Monday. Employees in Gurugram branch of the company were informed on Tuesday. The layoffs include high-level profiles like city heads, who run the operations of the chain in a city. Sacked OYO employees who have worked with the company for 1 year are getting one month's salary, those who have worked for two years are being paid two months' salary, and so on. The company is also paying variable pay to the sacked employees, along with gratuity and three months of medical coverage, the report said. OYO has arranged townhalls with senior leaders sent to major cities after the lay-offs, it further added. The hospitality unicorn told its employees that it is doing much more than the mandated HR processes followed by other companies in India. ALSO READ:Oyo to lay off 1,000 people as part of restructuring exercise In an internal mail to the employees of OYO in India and South Asia, Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said that asking some of the colleagues to move to a new career outside of OYO has not been an 'easy decision'. One of the implications of the new strategic objectives for 2020 is that, like the leadership team, OYO will reorganise more teams across businesses and functions, Agarwal said. The strategic objectives of the company are: sustainable growth, operational and customer excellence, profitability, and training and governance, he added. And this means that, unfortunately, some roles at OYO will become redundant as the company further drives tech-enabled synergy, enhanced efficiency and removes duplication of effort across businesses or geographies, Agarwal wrote in the mail. ALSO READ:Oyo lays off around 1,800 employees across India and China: report live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The government has sought a record dividend of Rs 19,000 crore from state-run oil companies to boost its finances, The Economic Times reported. More than half of this amount, 60 percent, is payable by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the report added. Company executives told the paper that the finance ministrys request comes at a time of declining profits and despite the government's reduced stake in oil companies. What they are asking for is not in sync with the profits reported so far this year, an executive told the paper. Companies are trying to negotiate with the government to lower the final amount owed as they might have to borrow money to clear the payment, the report said. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. ONGC has been asked to shell out Rs 6,500 crore, while Indian Oil has been asked to pay Rs 5,500 crore, sources told the paper. Heres how much other oil companies are expected to pay as dividend to the government, as per the report: Bharat Petroleum (BPCL): Rs 2,500 crore GAIL India: Rs 2,000 crore Oil India: Rs 1,500 crore Engineers India: Rs 1,000 crore Another executive told the publication that it is alright if the government seeks a high dividend. Shareholders have expectations of certain return on their investments and the management should try and meet that, irrespective of the annual profit. For large oil companies, borrowing some amount to pay dividend is not a bad idea, the executive said. Jammu and Kashmir DSP Devinder Singh, who was arrested on January 11 with two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, was dismissed from service on Wednesday (January 15). Singh was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police during an operation in Sopian when he was going towards Jammu with top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Babu and Asif Ahmad. A lawyer, who is believed to be an overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen. The vehicle in which Singh was travelling with the terrorists was intercepted after the police tracked the movements and location of Babu, who was once a Special Police Officer in Jammu and Kashmir police. According to security forces, Babu was involved in the killing of 11 people from outside Kashmir, including truck drivers and labourers in in October and November 2019. He was also wanted for his involvement in forcing a shutdown in south Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Sources said that during his interrogation, Singh has repeatedly maintained that he was not helping the terrorists to escape from Kashmir and that he was taking the duo to surrender before the Jammu and Kashmir police. In a related development, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday (January 14) clarified that Singh was not awarded any gallantry or meritorious medal by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It is to clarify that Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh is not awarded any Gallantry or Meritorious Medal by MHA as has been reported by some media outlets/persons. Only gallantry medal awarded to him during his service is by the erstwhile J&K State on Independence Day 2018, Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a tweet. Earlier on Sunday (January 12), Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar had said that Singh will be dealt as a "terrorist". Addressing a press conference, IGP J&K Police Vijay Kumar had said that Singh was arrested after the police received a tip-off that some terrorists were going towards Srinagar-Jammu highway. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle came home from a six-week vacation with a bombshell announcement declaring their desire to step back as senior members of the royal family. It has taken everyone aback, particularly Queen Elizabeth II who was apparently not consulted about the decision. Although their decision is final and the announcement has been done, a royal expert pointed out that the two might have overlooked key issues that concern their membership to the royal family. These issues need to be resolved if they truly want to move on and start a new life outside of The Firm. The Royal Crisis In their official Instagram account, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they are stepping back from their royal duties and become financially independent while still supporting the Queen. After calling a family meeting at the Sandringham Estate, the Queen has made a public announcement to hopefully address the situation. In her statement, Queen Elizabeth IIacknowledged that there are a lot of issues that still need to be worked out, but she said that the royal family has accepted what Prince Harry and Meghan have decided. The Queen said that the family supports their decision so that they can "create a new life as a young family." In the statement, the Queen furthered that although they would want the two to still work full-time as members of the royal family, they respect their decision to wish for a more independent life while they remain to be "valued members of the royal family." Although it took Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quite some time to contemplate before they arrived at the decision to step back, the royal editor of the "Daily Mirror" Russell Myers expressed her concern about the advisory team the couple has picked for themselves. Who did they choose to bring onboard and how did they arrive at the decision? The royal crisis is this: Harry and Meghan have taken a step back as senior members of the royal family, but they still want to show their full support to the Queen. This means that they will still be working to a certain extent as members of the royal court. Up to what royal capacity can they still work? What can they still do and what can they not do? All these add up to the details of their membership to the royal family and their desire to be independent. Moving Forward "They are being advised by people who know very little of how the Royal Family works," Myers said. Arguably, there will be people who will find this decision making as rather interesting, potentially refreshing. In their announcement, the two emphasized that they want to take on progressive roles, but everyone is wondering what they truly meant by this. Are they asking for some breathing space? Have they formulated a plan on how to make things work? The Queen was right when she said that a number of issues still need to be ironed out, especially the details on how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can support her while working independently to be more financially stable by themselves. Myers said that although there are other ways to go around the demands of the royal life, it seems as if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have put it all in. She believes that this decision of theirs all boils down to their relationship within the family. "They are two people who thought there was nothing else they could do but to pull the trigger and cut the ties with the family," Myers said. If that is the case, then the decision should really be a huge concern for the Queen and the rest of the royal family. Who is with Harry and Meghan in all these? Who is giving them advice on the decisions they are about to make? Unless they have these figured out, the Sussexes are in for a lot of trouble. Mike Hofherr Binary Defense, a leading managed security services provider and software developer, has promoted Mike Hofherr to Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Hofherr will implement company strategy, including setting goals for business growth and success, as well as oversee operations including sales, marketing, product and client services. Hofherr joined Binary Defense in early 2019 as Chief Financial Officer, responsible for accounting, finance, financial planning/analysis, budget and other operational activities. He helped support the continued strong growth of the business. He will continue to serve as CFO in addition to COO. Mike is a strong, strategic leader who has a vision of where the organization is going and how to get us there, said Mike Valentine, Chief Executive Officer at Binary Defense. With his background in finance and operations, extensive leadership experience, as well as his sharp business sense, Mike has the expertise to guide our operations to be profitable, efficient and poised for expansive growth. Prior to joining Binary Defense, Hofherr spent twelve years in various leadership roles with Wolters Kluwer, including recently as General Manager in charge of a $150 million growing operating unit focused technology enabled information services with a subscription model. Earlier in his career he was a Senior in the audit practice at Ernst & Young (EY). He holds a Master of Business Administration from The Ohio State University and a BSBA in Accountancy from John Carroll University. He is a CPA (inactive). About Binary Defense Binary Defense is a managed security services provider and software developer with leading cybersecurity solutions that include SOC-as-a-Service, Managed Detection & Response, Security Information & Event Management and Counterintelligence. With their human-driven, technology-assisted approach, Binary Defense is able to provide their clients with immediate protection and visibility, combating and stopping the next generation of attacks that their business faces. The company is headquartered in Stow, Ohio at 600 Alpha Parkway. For more information, please contact David White at David.White@binarydefense.com. WSU Hosts MLK Week of Service January 14, 2020 OGDEN, Utah Weber State University will host a week of service activities, Jan. 20-25, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Students and community members will continue the legacy of Kings work through service projects and events that benefit Ogden and the surrounding area. According to Diversity & Inclusive Programs coordinator Andrea Hernandez, this years theme, The Fierce Urgency of Now, is a call to action and an invitation to participate as a community to be in solidarity regardless of background, creed or experience. This week is dedicated to honoring the great work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the community that supported him every step of the way, Hernandez said. His words ignite a radiant fire within us to continue his work and remind us we are not alone in the battle for justice. We must come together as a community to form a unified voice. The week will begin with the annual MLK Freedom Breakfast and March on Jan. 20 from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.at the Marshall White Center (222 28th St. Ogden). Following the 8:30 a.m. breakfast and program, participants will march from the Marshall White Center to the Ogden Amphitheater. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in an activity following the freedom march. Volunteers will create artwork and discuss Kings vision with the Weber State NAACP and Black Scholars United. All events are free and open to the public. The breakfast and march is sponsored by the NAACP Ogden branch, WSU Office of the President, WSU Access & Diversity, WSU Diversity & Inclusive Programs, WSUSA Diversity and Unity Board, and WSU Black Scholars United. Service events will continue on campus and throughout the community for the rest of the week. Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to assist with the Special Olympics Talent Show in the Wildcat Theater. Contact Thomas Myers or Joseph Packard at specialolympics@weber.edu for more information. Jan. 22, 4-6 p.m. Volunteers will assemble food kits for the Weber Cares Pantry in the Shepherd Union, Room 321. Contact Giovanni Frias at webercarespantry@weber.edu for more information. Jan. 24, 1:30-3 p.m. Volunteers will assist with an after-school enrichment activity for children of the YMCA at the DaVinci Academy (215 E. 22nd St, Ogden). Contact Matthew Florence at ymca@weber.edu for more information. Jan. 25, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Volunteers needed to assist at the Family Enrichment Day at the Hill Aerospace Museum (7961 Wardleigh Rd, Hill AFB). Contact Rylie Howard at familyenrichment@weber.edu for more information. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. CHARLESTON, W.Va., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackson Kelly PLLC welcomes Jason L. Ott, Counsel, and Derrick Maultsby, Consultant, to the Pittsburgh office. These additions will spearhead the Firm's Tech & Data practice group out of the Pittsburgh office, which recently moved to the historic Union Trust Building downtown. Jason L. Ott leads the Tech & Data practice group. He consults with clients on a daily business and counsels them regarding corporate formation, corporate governance, data hygiene, regulatory compliance, FinTech, technology transactions and deal support, and data privacy and security matters. Jason also has extensive experience in representing clients in commercial bankruptcy matters and assisting lenders in loan due diligence, documentation, and facilitation, including distressed asset funding and subsequent workout and debt collection involving real estate and hard asset-based lending. He is a graduate of Duquesne University School of Law and Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. Derrick L. Maultsby, Jr. is a consultant for the Firm focusing on Data Privacy, Corporate Compliance, Corporate Consultation, and Emerging Technology Regulation. He has a strong network in the tech sector, both in the Pittsburgh area and nationally, which enables him to connect many individuals and businesses in that sector with an emphasis on growth and relationship building for his clients. Derrick has guided numerous companies through compliance under the General Data Protection Regulation and various other data privacy laws. In addition to his role at Jackson Kelly PLLC, Derrick is a 3L at the Duquesne University School of Law. Supporting Quotes "We are excited to welcome Jason and Derrick to the Firm. They have an established reputation among the regional tech community, and we look forward to seeing them fulfill their innovative and aspirational goals in this growing area of law," Michael P. Leahey, Managing Member of Jackson Kelly's Pittsburgh office stated. Ellen Cappellanti, Managing Member of Jackson Kelly adds, "The Firm is eager to really nurture our Tech & Data practice group, and as we have seen, Pittsburgh is paving the way for both tech and data startups as well as more established entities through a dynamic business ecosystem." The Jackson Kelly Pittsburgh office recently moved to the newly renovated Union Trust Building. The 500,000 square-foot building takes up an entire city block and still contains a 400-seat theater, arcade shopping level, and an inspiring 150-foot high stained-glass atrium. New amenities as part of a $100-million renovation include the 5,000-square-foot gym designed around the building's steel trusses and a state-of-the-art 70-seat presentation room. About Jackson Kelly PLLC National Reputation. Industry Insight. Client Focus. Jackson Kelly PLLC is a strong regional law firm with more than 160 attorneys located in 11 offices throughout Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Washington, DC. Focusing on clients' industry-specific needs, the Firm serves a wide variety of corporate and public clients and enjoys a national reputation in business, labor and employment, litigation, government contracts, tax, safety and health, permitting, natural resource and environmental law. Media Contact: Dana C. Hackley, Ph.D. Public Relations Specialist 412-434-7603 [email protected] www.jacksonkelly.com @jacksonkellylaw SOURCE Jackson Kelly PLLC Related Links http://www.jacksonkelly.com Making Report Shares Makerspace Impact in California CCs The College of the Canyons was one institution that shared its makerspace origin story in the recently published "Makerspace Impact" report. Source: CCC Maker The "Maker 100" course at the City College of San Francisco, a general education class, is team-taught by three instructors: a member of the Visual Media Design department, a member of the Art/Sculpture department and a member of the Computer Networking and Information Technology department. That's just one of the courses available at the college that uses the CCSF "MakerSPHERE" collaborative workspaces. There's also a certificate of achievement program for working professionals and students who want to understand and apply maker concepts; a capstone Maker 400 course; and a one-unit class for teachers. All are hosted in the institution's three makerspaces on two campuses: one dedicated to clean equipment, another using a smart networked environment with midweight equipment, and a third running heavy industrial gear. The whole program was sparked when the college called a development day for faculty to examine student data for their specific departments and come up with ideas for how to improve student success. A big concern for Computer Network and IT Department Chair Maura Devlin-Clancy was engaging underrepresented students and helping them prepare for success in the booming Bay Area job market. Data suggesting that even a little exposure to career and technical education could increase a student's earning potential and job prospects intrigued her. Simultaneously, Devlin-Clancy was invited to an Internet of Things bootcamp being run by college partner Cisco inside the city's Exploratorium museum, which delivered her first real exposure to the workings of makerspaces. By January 2016, when the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office put out a call for makerspace proposals, the college "knew a solution was in sight." The current set of maker resources are used in numerous courses across the campus and "embraced by the full spectrum of departments and student population," according to a new report produced by the CCCCO. According to "Makerspace Impact: Implementation Strategies & Stories of Transformation," the Chancellor's Office's $17 million grant enabled 24 community colleges to open or expand their makerspace efforts. Those spaces were used by an estimated 64,310 students; drew 1,296 employers as partners in the endeavor; engaged 691 faculty members; and funded 844 internships. And the impact has been broad, according to those immersed in the initiative. The CCC Maker network, as it's called statewide, "encouraged participating colleges to lead the way in redefining what it means to be well-educated, especially in terms of a swiftly changing economy demanding a resilient and adaptable workforce," said Deborah Bird, in a statement. Bird, who serves as a technical assistance provider for CCC Maker and previously worked as an assistant professor at Pasadena City College, noted that "successful faculty leads challenged traditional curricular boundaries and pedagogical practices, built community on and off campus, engaged local employers, and encouraged students to initiate projects across disciplines as well as start entrepreneurial ventures." Zack Dowell, the Innovation Center director at Folsom Lake College, added that the makerspace at his college is primarily staffed by students. "The inspiration is empowering students to look at problems in a different way, to have a different set of possibilities and to give them access to tools," he said. "Empowerment manifests itself in a lot of different ways." Clare Sadnik, a makerspace coordinator and art instructor at Moorpark College, said she's seen students develop superior skills in problem-solving, troubleshooting, teamwork, spatial awareness, mentoring and peer-to-peer learning. "We were excited that we would be able to give the students more access to equipment and technology," said Sadnik. "If they come in and make something really easy, like a button, then their eyes start to open and see all the possibilities." The impact report profiles the programs of nine community colleges and includes essays by individual students sharing their own stories about how making and access to the makerspaces has changed their lives. "Had it not been for the makerspace, the CNC machine that I use in my designs, or my ability to say 'yes' even when the odds seem difficult, I wouldn't be where I am today, creating my own original designs and having the world take a look at them," said Christian Espinoza, a student at Sacramento City College, who now works as a designer creating and making his own furniture. The impact report is available with registration through the CCC Maker website. By IANS NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has recommended rejection of the mercy petition of one of Nirbhaya case convicts in its communication with the Lt. Governor, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday. Sisodia told media that a new mercy petition was filed by a convict in the case. "We have worked at lightning speed and have already forwarded the file to the Lt. Governor. There will be no delay from our side," he said. He clarified that the government has recommended rejection of the mercy plea. Mukesh, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the death warrant issued against him. On January 7, a Delhi court issued death warrants against all four convicts in the Nirbhaya rape-murder case. Issuing the death warrants, Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora directed that the convicts be hanged on January 22 at 7 a.m. The 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which led to her death. All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail. Internal emails from Boeing employees could strengthen the legal case for families claiming the company's push to minimize the training needed for new 737 Max aircraft contributed to two crashes that killed 346 people. Employees bragged about fooling the Federal Aviation Administration into thinking pilots who'd flown older 737 models would need only computer training to fly the new version, emails released by the company show. Those comments support lawsuits claiming Boeing compromised safety to sell jets -- and may increase its liability, said Justin Green, an attorney representing 32 families of people who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash last year. "The lack of training is essential to our case," Green said. "These documents show that Boeing led the FAA around by the nose and they confirm everything the families have alleged." Boeing is accused in the lawsuits of seeking to bring a new airplane to market as quickly as possible to compete with Airbus SE's A320 neo. Part of the purported sales pitch was that pilots who already were qualified to fly the older 737 models wouldn't need costly and time-consuming new training for the Max. Both the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Lion Air plane that went down in the Sea of Java in 2018 have been blamed on the 737 Max's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which caused the airplanes to dive shortly after takeoff. Since then, all 737 Max planes were grounded, sales of Boeing jets plunged, and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg lost his job last month. The shares tumbled, and the company faces wrongful-death lawsuits filed by victims' families that could cost $2 billion to settle, as well as legal battles with investors, pilots and workers. On Thursday, under pressure from lawmakers as it seeks to get the 737 Max flying again, Boeing disclosed a new trove of internal documents related to development of the aircraft. The company had turned them over to investigators for the FAA and Congress last month. In one 2013 memo, a Boeing employee recommended describing MCAS as an addition to an existing speed trim system, instead of as a new feature: "If we emphasize MCAS is a new function there may be greater certification and training impact." In 2016, after the FAA had provisionally agreed that only computer-based training was needed for pilots transitioning from the 737 NG to the 737 Max, a Boeing employee said in an email: "You can be away from an NG for 30 years and still be able to jump into a Max? LOVE IT!!" Then in June 2017, a Boeing employee referred to Lion Air officials as "idiots" for seeking more simulation training on the Max for its pilots, records show. Lion Air abandoned the idea after the planemaker convinced the airline it was unnecessary. The new disclosures could be quite damning for Boeing and could support claims for reckless disregard for safety, which may entitle the plaintiffs to punitive damages on top of compensation for losses, said Robert Rabin, a law professor at Stanford University. In addition, the revelations related to the FAA may put pressure on the agency to be super-cautious in allowing the 737 Max back into the air, Rabin said. "In the court of public opinion this has to be bad for Boeing, any way you slice it," said Timothy Ravich, an aviation law expert at the University of Central Florida. "This smells very, very bad." In a court of law, on the other hand, Boeing may try to keep the internal documents out of the case as either unsubstantiated rumor, known as hearsay, or as unfairly prejudicial, according to Ravich. But given that it's unlikely that Boeing will want to go to trial with the families of the crash victims, the internal communications probably will give leverage for the plaintiff lawyers to secure a favorable settlement, Ravich said. "Boeing has to put this to bed as soon as possible," he said. "The 2013 MCAS memo is ample and unequivocal evidence that Boeing tried to push this airplane to market to stem the tide of Airbus orders." With deliveries of new Max jets halted by the crashes and orders canceled, Boeing disclosed Tuesday that it had lost the title of world's largest planemaker. Deliveries last year tumbled to 380 jetliners, less than half the 863 tallied by rival Airbus. Boeing declined to comment on the litigation. "These documents do not represent the best of Boeing," Greg Smith, who was the company's interim CEO until David Calhoun took over this week, said in a message to employees Friday. "The tone and language of the messages are inappropriate, particularly when used in discussion of such important matters, and they do not reflect who we are as a company or the culture we've created." The company said in November it had reached settlements with more than 60 of the Lion Air lawsuits filed in Chicago, where a federal judge has signaled he may grant Boeing's request for pending claims to be resolved in Indonesia rather than the U.S. Aside from the lawsuits by families of crash victims, Boeing is defending against claims by pilots affected by the grounding of the airplanes. Lawyers seeking to represent as many as 5,000 pilots in a class action already filed an amended complaint Monday in federal court in Chicago. "One of the new causes of action that we added captures succinctly the range of deception by Boeing, which was characterized by the tone of the recently released emails, and other behavior witnessed by our clients," Joe Wheeler, an attorney for the pilots said in an email. "What the emails indicate to me is that there are not just rotten apples at Boeing, the whole orchard is infected." - - - Bloomberg's Janan Hanna and Julie Johnsson contributed. The Defence Ministry has dropped the traditional Christian hymn Abide With Me from the list of tunes to be played during the Beating Retreat ceremony The defence ministry has dropped the traditional Christian hymn Abide With Me from the list of tunes to be played during the Beating Retreat ceremony, The Hindu reported. The tune, which has been played at the annual ceremony at Delhis Vijay Chowk since 1950, has been dropped from the list of 30 to 35 tunes in an effort to emphasise on more Indian tunes, officials told The Print. Abide With Me usually marks the end of the ceremony, after which the bands play Sare Jahan Se Acha. This year, the ceremony may end with Vande Mataram, according to Hindustan Times. Abide with Me, written in the 19th Century by Scottish poet Henry Francis Lyte and composed by William Henry Monk, was believed to be a favourite of Mahatma Gandhis. In 2018, the hymn was the only western tune that was played by the military band whereas last year as well as in 2017, it was one of the several western pieces that was played during the ceremony held on 29 January. Out of the 27 performances in 2019, 19 tunes were composed by Indian musicians. These tunes included Indian Star, Paharon ki Rani, Kumaoni Geet, Jai Janam Bhumi, Queen of Satpura and Vijay Bharat. The eight western tunes included Fanfare by Buglers, Sound Barrier, Emblazoned, Twilight and Drummers Call, The Print reported. Indian classical instruments sitar, santoor and tabla were played for the first time at a Republic Day parade in 2015, when Narendra Modi led the days celebrations for the first time since assuming office as the prime minister. A centuries-old tradition, Beating Retreat marked the end of the days fighting during battle and soldiers returning to their camps in the evening. Bands from the three defence services and the Central Armed Police Forces perform at Vijay Chowk to mark the end of annual Republic Day celebrations. Last year, 18 military bands, 15 pipe and drum bands from regimental centres and battalions had participated in the ceremony. Everyone knows that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. Less well known is the adage "You can't publish a movie review that is entirely blank." When it comes to "Dolittle," that's too bad. In the new movie inspired by the Doctor Dolittle books, we first meet John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.) in an animated introductory sequence, lovely enough to be promising. The doctor can talk to animals - a skill he has learned, not an innate ability - which leads Dolittle to establish a veterinary hospital for patients with physical and psychological problems. But ever since the disappearance of his explorer wife, who went missing while on an expedition to find what's known as the Eden Tree - said to be able to cure any ailment - Dolittle has closed his doors, shutting himself off from the world, save for a few animal friends. Those doors open a crack when a tenderhearted boy named Tommy (Harry Collett) accidentally shoots a squirrel. Poly the parrot (voice of Emma Thompson) leads Tommy to Dolittle's manor home - which must smell like a giant litter box - and convinces the doctor to treat the gunshot victim. Shortly afterward, an emissary arrives from Buckingham Palace, summoning Dolittle to the bedside of Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley), who is near death from a mysterious illness. Because without that tiny plot point - on which the fate of Dolittle's estate hinges - Dolittle, Tommy and the chattering menagerie wouldn't have a reason to set off on their own adventure to find the legendary tree. Hanging about Victoria's bedside are a courtier (Jim Broadbent) and a physician to the queen (Michael Sheen), neither of whom seems all that upset over the possibility that the monarch may die, as her death would mean more power for them. So begins a frenetic quest to find the magical tree. So frenetic, in fact, that during the sprint across the seas - wherein a frigate, with Sheen's menacing Blair Mudfly aboard, threatens Dolittle and company - none of the pit stops along the way generate any suspense whatsoever. Those stops include an island ruled by the angry (and vaguely Arab) King Rassouli, played by the entirely non-Arab Antonio Banderas. Throw in some fart jokes and a constipated dragon, and you've got yourself a movie. In the title role, Downey adopts a Welsh-like accent, which seems to be all the effort he could muster for this performance, which alternates between dull and manic, despondent and quirky. All of the other characters, including the CGI animals, are almost completely forgettable. Sheen is the only performer who embraces the inherent campiness of the story, and he alone makes his character's motives at least somewhat understandable. The large voice cast - a group whose pile of acting nominations and awards would rival the size of Chee-Chee the gorilla (Oscar winner Rami Malek) - shows how acting ability doesn't necessarily translate to voice acting. "Dolittle" is mostly just a game of "Whose voice am I hearing now?" As for the animation, it's fine in close-up, but whenever a CGI critter appears in the same frame as a human being, man and beast don't seem to be occupying the same screen. Or planet. Or dimensional reality. Ultimately "Dolittle" is not just a weak story, badly told, but a puzzling waste of talent. (The only silver lining? A relatively fleet running time.) Here's hoping the cast bought themselves something nice with the money they made. Though, to be honest, the only decent thing to do with it would have been to distribute it - a kind of movie malpractice award - among this doctor's real victims. - - - No stars. Rated PG. Contains some action, rude humor and brief coarse language. 101 minutes. Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time. VANCOUVER, British Columbia , Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 2020: GSP Resource Corp, (TSX-V: GSPR) the Company or GSP) is pleased to release the preliminary drilling results on the Olivine Mountain property, located in Similkameen Mining Division, British Columbia. The Olivine Mountain property covers part of the Tulameen Ultramafic Complex, a large slab of magnesium and iron-rich rock that ascended from near the base of the earths crust to its current position during continental collision and the emplacement of the Cache Creek terrane in southwestern British Columbia. Previous mapping and the 2018 GSP soil survey confirm that there is a northwest-southeasterly trending geological contact that separates mafic rocks in the northeastern part of the property from ultramafic rocks in the propertys southwestern part. The predominant economic metals present in the northeastern mafic rocks are copper, cobalt, nickel and gold. Those in the southwestern ultramafic rocks are nickel, chromium, and platinum-group metals, mostly palladium. Mineralization of interest to GSP was concentrated in the Olivine Mountain property area during at least four separate events resulting in a diverse group of exploration targets. Original copper mineralization was concentrated in parts of the mafic rocks in the northern part of the property near the ASP 14 showing while the Tulameen Ultramafic Complex was formed near the base of the earths crust. Platinum-group metals, mostly palladium, were concentrated in east-west trending structures in the ultramafic rocks in the southwestern part of the property area due to deformation during ascent from the base of the crust. Porphyry copper-molybdenum mineralization and alteration occurred during granitic intrusion in the southeastern part of the property area around the HOP showings and in the central part of the property. Gold-bearing shears and quartz veins developed throughout the northeastern part of the property area. Late shears further concentrated copper mineralization in the ASP 14 showings area in the propertys northern part. Recent GSP Reconnaissance Drilling The recent GSP reconnaissance drilling program comprised seven drill holes that tested targets at six locations in the northern and central parts of the Olivine Mountain property. DDH 1 was a vertical hole with a length of 203.2m. It was collared at U.T.M.: 5,483,700 N., 655,693 E. near the eastern shore of a borrow pit locally named the frog pond. It is in the central part of the property area and the 2018 GSP soil grid. The diorite at that location is fractured and hosts numerous quartz, orthoclase and epidote veins, some of which are mineralized with bornite and chalcopyrite. Weak potassic alteration that is present at surface was confirmed by a 44.6 ppm concentration of molybdenum encountered in the narrow mineralized section that was present in the core (see table). DDH 2 was a vertical hole with a length of 200.25m. It was collared at U.T.M.: 5,482,861 N., 655,635 E. over an airborne magnetic anomaly in the western part of the property area and the 2018 GSP soil grid. Probably, the magnetic anomaly was generated by blebs and pods of blue-black magnetite present through altered diorite and gabbro. The hole encountered no significant mineralization. DDH 3 was a vertical hole with a length of 206.35 m. It was collared at U.T.M.: 5,483,039 N., 656,783 E. over an airborne magnetic anomaly in the central part of the property area and the 2018 GSP soil grid. Probably, the magnetic anomaly was generated by magnetite. Copper enrichment was encountered at the base of the weathering profile (see table). No other significant mineralization was encountered. Drill holes 4 and 4B were drilled from two set-ups located 20m apart on a logging road where it crosses between the two ASP 14 showings in the northern part of the property area. The two showings are connected by a sub-vertical trend that strikes at about 190. DDH 4 was collared at U.T.M.: 5,485,882 N., 655,356 E. It was drilled southeastward (145/-70) for 93.2m beneath the main ASP 14 showing, an outcrop of sheared mafic rock containing copper (chalcopyrite, chalcocite, malachite, and azurite) mineralization. Previously, prospectors had reported obtaining high palladium results from samples taken from that outcrop. DDH 4 penetrated two narrow mineralized sections (see table). DDH 4B was collared at U.T.M.: 5,485,877 N., 655,373 E., about 20m east-northeast of DDH 4. It was drilled eastward (070/-60) for 93.5 m beneath the road under the ASP 14 quartz vein showing, a small outcrop of sheared mafic rock hosting quartz veins. The veins contain chalcopyrite. DDH 4B penetrated three significantly mineralized intersections (see table). DDH 5 was a 200.25m long vertical hole, located at U.T.M.: 5,483,598 N., 657,310 E. at the eastern margin of the 2018 GSP soil grid in the central part of the property area. DDH 5 was drilled into a road-side outcrop of variously silicified diorite and gabbro with copper mineralization on fractures and chromite blebs. Reportedly, a sample of chromite-rich rock taken previously by prospectors contained 10 gm/mt palladium. The road-side outcrop was also the location of a Cretaceous-age quartz and gold-bearing shear as defined by the 2018 GSP soil survey. DDH 5 penetrated three significantly mineralized intersections (see table). DDH 6 was vertical hole with a length of 200.25m. It was collared at U.T.M.: 5,483,286 N., 656,538 E. over the northern part of the same airborne magnetic anomaly that was tested by DDH 3. DDH6 is located in the central part of the property area and the 2018 GSP soil grid. Sheared and altered diorite was encountered in the upper part of the hole. Its lower part was through a dense blue-black magnetite-rich rock that hosted up to 14% iron. No significant mineralization was encountered in DDH 6. Highlights: The most promising results from the recent drill program were from holes DDH 4 and DDH4B located near the apex of the ASP 14 showings area. The HOP showings are a porphyry copper-molybdenum target, located in the southeastern part of the property area. Scant work has been conducted on them in the past. They may constitute the best exploration target on the property and they should be investigated. Further Exploration The recent drill program was conducted over targets within the boundaries of the 2018 GSP soil grid which covers the central and northwestern parts of the Olivine Mountain property. Targets in the southern and eastern parts of the property area remain untested. The most promising results from the recent drill program were from holes DDH 4 and DDH4B located near the apex of the ASP 14 showings area. The showings are above a series of old machine trenches that extend for more than 400 m down the hill side from the logging road to Olivine Creek. The largest and most intense soil-copper anomaly in the 2018 GSP grid area extends northeastward toward the trenches. No modern exploration has been done in the area of the projected intersection of the soil anomaly and the trenches. It should be investigated. There is an east-west trending structure that crosses the ultramafic-mafic rock boundary near the southeastern corner of the 2018 GSP soil grid. That structure hosts the largest and most intense soil-palladium anomaly in the property area. Recommended work in that area includes: extension of the soil grid, mapping, trenching, and drilling. The HOP showings are a porphyry copper-molybdenum target, located in the southeastern part of the property area. Scant work has been conducted on them in the past. They may constitute the best exploration target on the property, and they should be investigated. Significant Intersections Drill Hole Intersect m Length m Est. True Thickness m Copper % Silver gm/mt Gold gm/mt Palladium gm/mt DDH 1 27-28 1 0.118+ 44.6 ppm Mo 0.071 0.003 0.014 DDH 3 4.5-5 0.5 0.117 0.47 0.005 0.017 DDH 4 30-32.5 2.5 1.6 0.126 1.20 0.035 0.110 54.4-55.4 1 0.64 0.278 0.87 0.044 0.054 DDH 4B 60-67 7 4.6 0.224 0.65 0.048 0.002 including 60.5-61 0.5 0.33 0.486 1.78 0.078 0.003 72-75 3 1.97 0.223 0.34 0.015 0.003 81-88 7 4.6 0.096 0.31 0.008 0.003 DDH 5 4-5 1 0.310 1.65 0.102 0.002 89.6-99.7 10.1 0.233 0.52 0.040 0.046 including 97.7-98.2 0.5 0.834 0.83 0.003 0.004 129.2-137 7.8 0.274 1.24 0.171 0.003 Simon Dyakowski, President & CEO of GSP commented: GSP is encouraged by the results of the 2018 field and 2019 drill programs. This early-stage project now has three unique areas of interest defined in the Asp 14 zone, the South Palladium-in-soil anomaly, and the untested Hop showings. The Olivine Mountain project, together with the recently announced letter of intent to acquire the Alwin Mine, provides GSP with an asset base of exploration and development projects concentrated in Southwestern, BC. We look forward to advancing both projects over the course of 2020 as we progress towards our goal of establishing GSP as a Southwestern-BC focused exploration and development company. Quality Assurance / Quality Control: Samples were sent to Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd., Upstream Minerals (an ISO 17025:2017 and 9001:2015 accredited laboratory) in Vancouver, B.C., which is independent of GSP and the Qualified Person. Rock and Drill core samples were dried, crushed and pulverized to a grain size of 200 mesh. A 30 gram aliquot from the pulverized material was weighed and assayed for Au, Pt and Pd by Fire Assay/ICPES finish (FA330) and a 0.5 gram aliquot weighed and digested for multi-elements using weak aqua regia by ICP-ES/MS (AQ300/AQ250/AQ370). Over limits of Au were further analyzed by Fire Assay/Gravimetric finish. GSP follows industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Olivine Mountain property, with a quality assurance/quality control program. All analytical results are verified by insertions of certified reference material, blanks and analytical duplicates. GSP detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data. GSP is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. Qualified Person: The scientific and technical information contained in this news release as it relates to the Olivine Mountain Project has been reviewed and approved by John Ostler, M.Sc., P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Ostler verified the data disclosed which includes a review of the analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained therein. About GSP Resource Corp.: GSP Resource Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest and title to the Olivine Mountain Property located in the Similkameen Mining Division, 25 km northwest of Princeton, British Columbia. Contact Information - For more information, please contact: Simon Dyakowski, Chief Executive Officer Tel: (604) 619-7469 Email: simon@gspresource.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information. This news release includes certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the Olivine Mountain Project, acquisition or joint venture on other potential projects including the Alwin project, comments regarding the timing and content of work programs, and other statements relating to the technical and business prospects of the Company. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates or intends, or stating that certain actions, events or results may, could, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved), and variations of such words, and similar expressions are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statement are necessarily based upon a number of factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements express or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, anticipated costs and the ability to achieve goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, and that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Companys planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events, level of activity, performance or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) risks related to gold, platinum, palladium, copper and other commodity price fluctuations; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results; (iii) risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; (iv) that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; (v) that the Company may lose or abandon its property interests or may fail to receive necessary licences and permits; (vi) that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; (vii) that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; (viii) the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Companys expectations; (ix) exploration and development risks, including risks related to accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration and development; (x) competition; (xi) the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of geologic reports or studies; (xii) risks related to environmental regulation and liability; (xiii) risks associated with failure to maintain community acceptance, agreements and permissions (generally referred to as social licence), including local First Nations; (xiv) risks relating to obtaining and maintaining all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations relating to the continued exploration and development of the Companys projects; (xv) risks related to the outcome of legal actions; (xvi) political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; (xvii) and risks related to current global financial conditions. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants, volatility in metals prices, adverse weather conditions, equipment failures, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations and fees charged by service providers. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. A chef has created a mouthwatering twist on the classic charcuterie board, filling enormous circular platters with mountains of ingredients to make indulgent burgers. Sandy Coughlin, who lives in Oregon on the west coast of the US, is the brains behind the Reluctant Entertainer, a food lifestyle blog which specialises in recipes, hosting tips and unique takes on traditional cheeseboards. Her handiwork has attracted a legion of fans on social media, with a staggering 629,000 Facebook followers and almost 89,000 on Instagram. Ms Coughlin's burger boards are laden with stacks of crusty buns and sliced vegetables like beef tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and red onion. Oregon chef Sandy Coughlin, who runs popular lifestyle blog the Reluctant Entertainer, created this drool-inducing twist on the classic charcuterie board EVERY INGREDIENT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN BURGER GRAZING BOARD - Three packets of hamburger buns - 12 turkey or beef burgers - Six to 12 slices of cheddar cheese - One head of iceberg lettuce - Three large tomatoes, sliced - One large onion, thinly sliced - One kilo of cherries or summer fruit - Assorted flavours of chips Source: Reluctant Entertainer Advertisement Pots of sauces, including mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and relish, are dotted around the board, alongside pickle slices for added flavour. Almost a kilogram of cherries and assorted summer fruits are used to fill empty space and add vibrant colour to the platter, while piles of chips in a variety of flavours add crunch in a sea of soft textures. The standout feature is an elevated plate piled high with premium meat patties covered in melted cheddar cheese, which sits slightly above the other ingredients. Ms Coughlin describes her burger boards as the perfect party food for summer entertaining. 'It's fun, light, casual - and everyone loves a dinner board!' she writes on her website. The burger boards are laden with stacks of crusty buns and sliced vegetables like beef tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and red onion Pots of sauces, including mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and relish, are dotted around the board, alongside pickle slices for added flavour Seemingly tired of tried and tested cheeseboards, quirky takes on traditional charcuterie have been Australia's breakout food trend of the past 12 months. Creative home cooks have been trying their hand at everything from pancake and pavlova grazing platters to fries sharing boards, which would make an ideal accompaniment for Ms Coughlin's burger tray. Piled high with potato snacks of all shapes and sizes, the unconventional creations are a chip lover's dream, featuring everything from crinkle cut chips and sweet potato gems to waffle fries and wedges. Seemingly tired of tried and tested cheeseboards, quirky takes on traditional charcuterie, like these drool-inducing fries platters - have been Australia's breakout food trend of the past 12 months A selection of sauces, including garlic aioli, tomato, guacamole and sweet chilli can be scattered down the centre for dipping. The perfect party food for home gatherings, the platters are already proving popular after people started sharing photos of their boards on Instagram. 'Pinch me, I'm dreaming!' one fan said of the trend. 'I still like cheese boards, but a french fry board? Yes,' said another. An overnight hit, one woman said she could 'seriously get down with this' in 2020. Kem Sokha is accused of collaborating with the US to overthrow the govt in case critics say is politically motivated. Phnom Penh, Cambodia More than two years after being arrested for treason, Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has gone on trial just before a crucial European Union decision on preferential trading rights that the grouping has threatened to withdraw over human rights abuses in Cambodia. Kem Sokha, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested in the early hours of September 3, 2017, and later charged with treason, accused of collaborating with the United States to topple the Cambodian government of longtime ruler Hun Sen. The arrest came as support for the CNRP surged among Cambodians, but the allegations stemmed from a speech the opposition leader had given in Australia in 2013 that had long been publicly available. In the talk, he spoke of receiving US training on how to build grassroots support. If found guilty, Kem Sokha faces as many as 30 years in prison. The charges against Sokha, namely the claim that he has conspired with a foreign power to overthrow the government, has been rejected as baseless by pretty much anyone outside of the Cambodian government, said Katrin Travouillon, a researcher at the Australian National University who has conducted extensive research on the Southeast Asian nation. In a Facebook post published as the trial was ongoing, Kem Sokha reiterated his innocence. I categorically deny the charge of conspiracy with foreign powers which was brought against me, it said. I did NOT commit anything of which I am accused, In a message to Al Jazeera, his daughter Kem Monovithya described the trial as a farce that was damaging Cambodias image. Kem Sokha is innocent and needs to be acquitted, she said. His political rights need to be reinstated so Cambodia can get back on track. Lets move on. Hun Sen consolidated his hold on power following Kem Sokhas arrest, dissolving the CNRP, banning its members from politics and prompting top-level opposition politicians to flee abroad. The governing Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) won all 125 seats up for grabs in the 2018 election, which observers said was a sham. Kem Sokha himself was released into house arrest in late 2018 and freed in November last year. Shortly afterwards, a judge announced investigations had been concluded. He remains banned from politics and is not allowed to travel abroad. Foreign influence While the charges of treason have been largely condemned, Travouillon said, the case had become all about foreign influence and politics. There is a certain irony in that, she said. It is well-established that the Cambodian government controls the courts. Without a real case and without independent judges, this trial should it come to that will be a trial by proxy. It is not about the guilt or innocence of Kem Sokha, but about the future political course of the Cambodian government. Kem Sokha was detained in 2017 after Cambodian support for opposition parties began to grow [File: Heng Sinith/AP Photo] The government has said it has no influence over the proceedings and that the judiciary is independent. Kem Sokha arrived at the court in Phnom Penh shortly after 7:30am local time (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday, accompanied by a handful of people, and headed up the stairs of the court without looking back. Hundreds of police and military personnel with rifles guarded the roads surrounding the building. Only 30 people were allowed to be present at the trial, which will take place over two days from January 15. About 20 supporters gathered outside to lend their support including 74-year-old Sok Yoeung. I want to see what evidence they show I havent seen any act of him that shows he betrayed the nation. It could be months before the decision is made. The authorities are clearly trying to limit scrutiny of this politically-motivated trial, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director Nicholas Bequelin said in a statement, accusing the government of weaponising the criminal justice system to eliminate the opposition. The gravity of these absurd accusations demands that the authorities uphold the highest standards of fairness and transparency, which requires holding a public hearing. It is essential that human rights monitors and journalists are given unhindered access to the trial. Hun Sen has been Cambodias prime minister since 1997 and is one of the worlds longest-serving leaders [File: Ou Neakiry/AP Photo] Mu Sochua, vice president of the now-dissolved CNRP, said the outcome had already been decided. They will find him guilty as charged then proceed with a royal pardon, she said. In Cambodia, royal pardons have been granted to high-ranking opposition politicians, including Sam Rainsy. They are often requested by Hun Sen and granted by King Norodom Sihamoni. Mu Sochua said the next step would be to see how Kem Sokha could return to politics and the CNRPs future but declined to elaborate. 500-pound gorilla Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, agreed there was little chance of Kem Sokha avoiding conviction. It will be an open and shut case, he said. This is again going to be a kangaroo court trial. But Markus Karbaum, a consultant who has covered Cambodia since 2003, said multiple scenarios remained possible. It is hardly possible to predict [what will happen] as there are too many scenarios ranging between a fast acquittal and a conviction followed by either a longtime prison sentence or a royal pardon, he said. I strongly believe that the Hun Sen government and Kem Sokha are currently in negotiations. Only a political agreement behind the stage before the trial can prevent a conviction. The EU is threatening to remove Cambodias trade privileges over human rights violations, putting thousands of jobs at risk [File: Heng Sinith/AP Photo] The trial comes at a politically-sensitive time, with the EU expected to announce its decision on whether to withdraw the preferential trade agreement Everything But Arms (EBA) in the middle of next month following the deterioration of human rights in the country. Kem Sokhas arrest and the opposition crackdown were among the EUs key concerns when it announced the review. Karbaum said the EBA decision would have a significant influence on the trial. It is the 500-pound gorilla sitting in the middle of the room nobody is able to overlook, he said, explaining that the trial and the political agreement could deliver the kind of signal the EU needs to hear in order to maintain the EBA. Just an acquittal is definitively not enough, he said. Astrid Noren-Nilsson, a lecturer at Lund University who researches Cambodia, echoed that assessment, but said it was almost certain that Kem Sokha would be found guilty, as acquitting him would undermine the government charge of treason. The question, she said, was whether a royal pardon would follow. The outcome of the trial is the single most important issue for imminent political developments in Cambodia, Noren-Nilsson said. It will both be a key factor in Cambodias relations with the EU and the West and possibly a pawn in the lead-up to the final decision in February on the countrys EBA status. But the outcome of the trial is not a game-changer. The government has come out as determined to block any effective opposition for the foreseeable future. Once upon a time, South Carolinas government was dominated, utterly and completely, by the legislative branch. This legislative control grew out of distrust of the executive branch, ingrained in the Colonial and Revolutionary eras. While South Carolina was a colony, royal governors appointed by the king often came into conflict with the Colonial assemblies, who jealously asserted their prerogatives and rights. Our forebears were strongly against power being given to a single person. South Carolinas first constitution limited the governors power in favor of elected, legislative dominance. South Carolinas leaders feared consolidation of power in one individual and worked hard to avoid it. For example, the governor was elected by the Legislature, not voters, and had no veto authority. He was limited to one term of office. The governor truly was a figurehead, and this truly was a legislative state. The Constitution of 1865, enacted with the participation of newly freed African-Americans, allowed the people to vote for the governor and included veto power. However, control of administrative functions was still largely retained by the legislative branch. The constitutions that followed in the Jim Crow era maintained the limitations of power on the executive branch and further diffused that power by creating other executive branch officers elected by the citizens while restricting the ability of local governments to operate. Over time many governors made up for their lack of institutional power by using the bully pulpit and informal power of the office to achieve their goals. This form of power is real and was effectively used by strong governors. Whether utilizing informal or formal power, the governors office displayed its power throughout the 1900s. But legislative dominance was still strongly imbedded in government operations. In the late 1970s, governors were finally allowed to run for a second term. A dramatic transformation occurred in the modern era as more formal power has been transferred in both substantial and structural ways to the governors office. Sadly, for the most part this has not resulted in better government operations. But the changes have made the governors office far and away the most powerful elected office in the state. The Restructuring Act of 1993 turned over direct appointment power of 13 of the most important state agencies to the governor. As a result, the vast majority of state employees fell under the governors sway. The governor became totally in charge of agencies controlling prisons, social services and commerce, among others. Furthermore, the governor was given the power to appoint boards controlling many other agencies, including those involving health, the environment and natural resources. Over the next quarter century, the governors office was strengthened even more. The Employment Security Commission moved from legislative to gubernatorial appointment. The Department of Transportation has been moved from legislative control to a board appointed by the governor. The adjutant general is no longer elected by the people, but appointed by the governor. And the lieutenant governor is no longer separately elected by the people, but instead selected by the governor. Perhaps the most important change in recent years was abolishing the Budget and Control Board, which was heavily influenced by the General Assembly in carrying out the administrative functions of state government. Those administrative functions were turned over to the Department of Administration, whose head is, again, appointed by the governor. +2 Scoppe: When it comes to power, the Legislature giveth, and the Legislature taketh away Twenty months after the collapse of the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project, the S.C. House finally voted Wednesday to strip some Santee Cooper board members of their autonomy and make them accountable to the governor. And hurrah for that. If previous governors had possessed this power, its possible that everything would have turned out differently. But there's a big "but." South Carolina is no longer a legislatively dominated state. Our state is in the mainstream of governmental forms: Some states are more legislatively controlled than us, and some have even stronger governors. Our General Assembly still maintains significant power -- and it should. The General Assembly exercises influence on state government through the budget process and a new commitment to legislative oversight. These powers are significant and should be responsibly and aggressively exercised. Our states shift to more executive branch power has, unfortunately, not necessarily resulted in better run agencies, but that could change. What we need is a governor who actually cares about running a state government effectively and efficiently. We did not have that under the administrations of Mark Sanford and Nikki Haley, who politicized and gutted the professional core of state government agencies. I am optimistic that Gov. Henry McMaster and future governors will reverse that trend and give us the state government we deserve. Vincent Sheheen is a senator from Kershaw County who sponsored the 2014 Government Restructuring Act. At the invitation of President U Win Myint of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Myanmar from Jan. 17 to 18. The visit is expected to help enhance bilateral ties and further promote joint efforts of the two countries to build on past achievements and continue to forge ahead. Local students of a school built with the assistance of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project express their thanks to Chinese companies on Jan.10, 2020. (Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily) The upcoming visit, which coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Myanmar, will also mark the first visit by a Chinese president to Myanmar in 19 years. China and Myanmar are close neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. The two peoples enjoy profound Paukphaw (fraternal) friendship. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, leaders of China and Myanmar exchanged visits frequently. Late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Myanmar 9 times, and late leader of Myanmar Ne Win visited China 12 times, creating great stories of China-Myanmar friendship. In 1950s, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence jointly advocated by Premier Zhou, Myanmars former Prime Minister U Nu, and Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has become globally recognized basic norms governing state-to-state relations and contributed significantly to safeguarding peace and stability in the world. In recent years, China and Myanmar have witnessed frequent high-level exchanges, expanding pragmatic cooperation, dynamic people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and close multilateral coordination, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries while making positive contributions to regional peace and prosperity. The forthcoming visit of Xi to Myanmar is worth the anticipation of both countries. The trip to be embarked on by Xi is expected to serve as a great occasion for the two countries to review past experience and formulate a new blueprint for the future, which will enable China and Myanmar to further enrich bilateral ties, make concerted efforts to build a community of shared future for China and Myanmar, and start a brand new journey of China-Myanmar relations. Under the strategic leadership of leaders of the two countries, China-Myanmar Paukphaw friendship has constantly injected new vitality into the joint efforts of the two countries at the construction of the Belt and Road. China regards Myanmar as an important partner in the joint construction of the Belt and Road. The two countries enjoy significant complementary advantages and huge potential for cooperation. The government of Myanmar has established a specialized steering committee for the implementation of tasks relating to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and appointed Myanmars State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as the chair of the committee. Photo shows a staff member checks equipment at a gas transmission station in Mandalay, which is a substation of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project. (Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily) On Dec.1, 2017, Xi and Aung San Suu Kyi reached important consensus on jointly building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) under the framework of the BRI, thus pushing the rapid construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. On Sept.9, 2018, China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on jointly building the CMEC. Myanmar has supported the BRI since the very beginning, and has actively expanded cooperation with China, noted Aung San Suu Kyi during her meeting with Xi in Beijing ahead of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April 2019. With the deepening of the two countries efforts to further the joint construction of the Belt and Road, the two peoples have enjoyed increasing sense of gain. As the pilot project in the construction of the Belt and Road, the completion of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project has solved the problem of oil and gas supply in the downstream market and helped Myanmar realize foreign exchange earnings from the export of oil and gas, bringing considerable economic revenue to Myanmar while effectively boosting the countrys employment and social and economic development. The gas-fired power plant in Belin, Kyuakse Township in Mandalay, Myanmar, with a Chinese company as the EPC contractor, is the largest gas-fired power plant in Myanmar. The power plant is able to generate about 1.27 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. It has solved the problem of the power shortage of 2.7 million people in Myanmar upon completion. The Letpadaung copper mine project operated by a Chinese company in Monywa, Myanmar, has realized win-win results for multiple parties, including Chinese company and its Myanmar cooperative partners, as well as the government of Myanmar, adjacent communities of the project, and employees in the copper mine. According to credible reports, the project has helped more than 30 neighboring villages of the copper mine embark on the path to prosperity. The efforts of China and Myanmar at deepening cooperation in high-quality construction of the Belt and Road and facilitating the CMECs development from concept planning to real construction have brought more genuine benefits to the two peoples. Technicians of Myanmar work in the master-control room of the gas-fired power plant in Belin, Kyuakse Township in Mandalay, Myanmar. (Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily) As the long-standing China-Myanmar Paukphaw friendship gains new dynamism and signals new momentum of cooperation because of Xis upcoming state visit to Myanmar, the event is also regarded as a happy opening of the journey of Chinese diplomacy in 2020. With China and Myanmar endeavoring to promote bilateral relations, strengthen connectivity, promote the construction of the CMEC, and lift China-Myanmar ties to a higher level, the two countries will jointly create a bright future for their friendly cooperation. Sometimes in order to survive, they had to forget, Solon said. I believe personally, that the mind and soul of children are protected by God for their survival. Most people who were sexually abused as children do remember at least part of what happened to them, although they may not talk about it or fully understand it, according to the American Psychological Association. Clinicians and researchers do agree that early memories of abuse can be forgotten, but that recovering them is rare. In Bacons case, he was unable to file a criminal complaint against his alleged perpetrator, Brother William Mueller. But despite the statute of limitations, Missouri courts did allow a civil lawsuit to proceed because of the timing of his repressed memorys return. He settled with the Marianist Province of the United States, the religious order which runs Vianney High School, in 2007 and with Mueller in 2010. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 17:02 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c32243f18 1 Business foreign-debt,bank-indonesia,BI,indef,private-sector-debt,government-debt Free Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded a slower foreign debt growth last November as the government and private sector repaid the principal due during the month while the latter also borrowed less. BI revealed on Wednesday that the countrys total foreign debt reached US$401.4 billion in November 2019, higher 8.3 percent year-on-year (yoy). The growth, however, was slower than Octobers figure of 12 percent yoy. The central bank said it deemed the foreign debt level as healthy as its ratio to the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) in November was 35.9 percent, relatively stable compared to the month before, while about 88.5 percent of the foreign debt is long-term. BI and the government continues to increase our coordination in monitoring the foreign debts growth, while also applying the principle of prudence in managing it, BI said in a statement. In November, the combined debt of the government and BI amounted to $198.6 billion, a growth of 10.1 percent yoy, slowing from last Octobers growth rate of 13.6 percent yoy. BI attributed the slowing growth to the governments efforts to repay its bilateral and multilateral loans that were due that month. About 19 percent of the governments foreign debt went to pay for health and social services, 16.1 percent for the education services sector and 15.4 percent for government administration, defense and mandatory social security. The money's use was in line with the governments priorities to improve public welfare, BI said. The government also used the debt for the productive sector to boost our economic growth, BI said in the statement, adding that about 16.5 percent of the debt went to the construction sector and 13.4 percent to the banking and finance sector. The rest of last Novembers debt was held by the private sector, including state-owned enterprises (SOES), the loans of which grew by 6.9 percent yoy to $200.1 billion. The growth was still much slower than Octobers rate of 10.7 percent yoy. The rate of domestic bond repayments during the month was much higher than the issuance as many bonds were reaching their maturing dates, the report reads. The private sectors foreign debt was dominated by debts in the financial services and insurance sector, electricity, gas, steam and wind procurement sector, manufacturing sector and mining sector. However, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Bhima Yudhistira told The Jakarta Post that the slowing growth was caused by the private sectors lack of appetite for expansion. The private sector, especially the manufacturing industries, is holding back its expansion as uncertainties still loom over this years global outlook, increasing risks and slowing domestic demand, he said, adding that refinancing needed for due debts was also slowing, which caused foreign debt growth to slow as well. Christmas party season had just kicked off when a strange man hopped in the back of Veronica Zinger's Honda CRV to buy two bags of cocaine for $500. The successful and glamorous Instagram model, who had turned her 90,000 Instagram followers into a business opportunity, had plunged to a new low. Zinger, 23, was selling small plastic bags of drugs to partygoers at Sydney's Darling Harbour - and New South Wales Police was watching the whole time. Court facts seen by Daily Mail Australia detail the downfall of Zinger as the social media star and 'bubbly' casino waitress pleaded guilty to four charges this week. Scroll down for video Instagram model and The Star casino hostess Veronica Zinger, 23, was sprung dealing cocaine by plain clothed police officers at the beginning of the Christmas party season last November Zinger, left and right this week, clutched her phone and Louis Vuitton handbag outside Sydney's Downing Centre court complex Court facts described an incident which is a far cry from the jet-setting life she portrayed on social media at Italy's Amalfi Coast, Croatia and Dubai earlier last year. About 4.30pm on Friday, November 29, Zinger's customer was ambushed by plain-clothed officers as he strolled away with two bags of cocaine. The man coughed up the 1.4grams he was carrying, the document said, and admitted he had bought it from Zinger on Shelley St. Zinger had only managed to drive around the corner to Lime St, Barangaroo, when she was pulled over by officers. In the version of events laid out in court facts, Zinger was frank about what she had been up to. Asked if she had any more drugs in her car, she said: 'Yeah, some bags in the centre console' - 'coke, cocaine'. She couldn't remember how much the customer paid her but said: 'I don't remember yeah, I think it was $500.' To make matters worse, officers found a gram of MDMA was found in her handbag. 'It's probably MDMA,' she told officers, according to the court facts. 'I dunno, like I know it's not mine, but I might have left it there from ages ago'. Italy's Amalfi Coast: One of several bikini photos Ms Zinger posted during a two month long European trip, months before she was arrested for dealing cocaine Striking a pose in Croatia: The 23-year-old had previously flaunted her jet-setting life on Instagram with flashy shots taken all over Europe prior to her arrest More than 90,000 Instagram followers: Ms Zinger in glamorous shots prior to her ambush by NSW police Officers found four bags of cocaine and two phones in her car - which contained messages with directions for another drug deal nearby. She was charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and one count of possession for the MDMA. Police also found $2,150 in her wallet and car console in $50 and $100 notes, and charged her dealing in the proceeds of crime. Zinger was one of 84 people arrested by NSW Police over six days over cocaine supply and distribution late last year. Those arrested included a Royal Australian Air Force staffer, a pregnant woman and a taxi driver. Police allege 46 of those were dealers. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Zinger is connected to any of the alleged dealers. Tough day: Zinger after facing court this week... she will learn her fate in March after a pre-sentence report is completed Zinger appeared in court Tuesday, dressed in a black business suit and heels, as her lawyer Paul Kenny entered her guilty pleas to all charges. Mr Kenny asked for a magistrate for a sentencing assessment report, describing the arrest as a 'serious event with serious consequences'. She will return to court in March for sentencing. A spokesman for The Star, where court facts said she was working, declined to comment. Iran's top diplomat acknowledged Wednesday that Iranians were lied to" for days after the Islamic Republic accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The admission came as new surveillance footage purported to show two surface-to-air missiles 20 seconds apart shred the airplane and kill all 176 people aboard. The downing of the Ukraine International Airlines flight last week came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over its unraveling nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for the first time Wednesday threatened Europe by warning its soldiers in the Mideast could be in danger over the crisis as Britain, France and Germany launched a measure that could see United Nations sanctions re-imposed on Tehran. The crash and subsequent days of Iranian denials that a missile had downed the airplane has sparked angry protests in a country already on edge as its economy struggles under crushing American sanctions. Tensions between Washington and Tehran reached a fever pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blame for deadly roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces early last Wednesday, just before Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Iran for days afterward insisted a technical fault downed the 3 1/2-year-old Boeing 737-800. It wasn't until Western governments, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, went public with their suspicions the plane had been shot down that Iran admitted it fired on the plane. Not admitting the plane had been shot down "was for the betterment of our country's security, because if we had said this, our air defence system would have become crippled and our guys would have had doubted everything," said Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guard's aerospace program, in television footage aired Wednesday. Hajizadeh only days earlier apologized on state television and said: I wish I were dead. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at a summit in New Delhi, became the first official to describe Iran's earlier claims as a lie. In the last few nights, weve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days, Zarif said. Zarif went onto praise Iran's military for being brave enough to claim responsibility early on." However, he said that he and Rouhani only learned that a missile had down the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Iran's civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. The Guard knew immediately afterward its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. The new surveillance footage obtained by The Associated Press showing the missile fire was filmed off a monitor by a mobile phone. It appears to be taken near the town of Bidkaneh, northwest of Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport. The two minutes of black-and-white footage purportedly shows one missile streaking across the sky and exploding near the plane. Ten seconds later, another missile is fired. Some 20 seconds after the first explosion, another strikes near the plane. A ball of flames then falls from the sky out of frame. Jakarta: An Indonesian hospital has denied it planned to force the adoption of a newborn baby boy whose parents could not pay hefty medical bills. Nearly four months after being born, Delfa Barki Abbasi has been reunited with his family after an anonymous donor stepped in to pay a 17 million Rupiah ($1700) medical bill owed to the Fadhilah private hospital in Prabumulih, a city in South Sumatra. Delfa Barki Abbasi's life began on September 23, 2019 when he and his twin brother Delfi Barki Abbasi were born a couple of months premature at Fadhilah hospital. Tragically, Delfi died after just three days. Father Febrianto and mother Yularmi Kurniati had rushed to the nearby hospital when it became apparent that the twins were going to arrive early. Dubai Municipality said that camping with caravans on Dubai beaches designated for this purpose has become free of charge and the permits can be availed online on the Municipality website. Dawood Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality said that this comes with the aim of ensuring that camping enthusiasts and caravan owners in the emirate enjoy the distinctive atmosphere of the beaches throughout the year, especially in the winter season as this distinguished initiative will contribute to enhancing the happiness and satisfaction of the members of the society. He pointed out that the winter season every year witnesses a large number of camps and an increase in the number of caravans and trailers heading to the beach, given the nature of the beautiful and attractive atmosphere that characterizes the beaches of Dubai. Al Hajri stressed that those who want to camp on the beach must still obtain a prior permit from Dubai Municipality before heading to the site, which is issued for free without fees, and the beach currently designated in the emirate for this activity is in Al Sufouh area, adjacent to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Street. He added that the necessary permits can be obtained online without the need to visit the Municipality, as a confirmation of its endeavour to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city. The applicant must enter the necessary data and documents through Dubai Municipality website, and a permit will be issued immediately, which allows its holder to camp at the specified location for 15 days, noting that the permit aims to ensure proper planning for this type of beach use, Al Hajri explained. He appealed to beachgoers in general and camping enthusiasts in particular, the importance of adhering to the regulatory and environmental guidelines and controls that define the uses of the beaches, out of concern for the safety, security and comfort of their visitors, and to ensure the preservation of the beaches and environment of the emirate. He noted that Dubai Municipality working teams, in cooperation with other government bodies, will take the necessary steps towards site follow-up to ensure that everyone adheres to the regulatory controls that must be observed in this regard, and in a way that serves the public interest. All public beaches in Dubai have attained, for the third year in a row, the international accreditation of the Blue Flag program, which confirms the commitment of Dubai Municipality to make all its beach facilities compatible with the standards required by the organization, which covers many areas, including water quality, environmental sustainability, safety and security equipment, environmental awareness and education, as well as facilities and services. TradeArabia News Service La Paz: Bolivia on Tuesday arrested a powerful ex-minister under former president Evo Morales on suspicion of corruption, prosecutors said. The detainee is Carlos Romero, the former interior minister who was close to Morales, who resigned in November amid protests over a disputed election and fled the country. A conservative interim government has taken over ahead of presidential voting in May, and several ministers under Morales' leftist government have been charged or are under investigation and have sought refuge in the Mexican embassy. Romero, 53, has been arrested over alleged misuse of funds in a government agency tasked with fighting drug trafficking, the prosecutors said. Romero will now go before a judge who will determine whether to keep him in custody, release him with charges or place him under house arrest, the prosecutors said. From his exile in Argentina, Morales defended Romero. Morales said the government of acting president Jeanine Anez "does not want justice but rather revenge and impunity." That was it. Tuesday was the last Democratic presidential primary debate before California voters can start casting ballots on Feb. 3, and amazingly after a years worth of campaigning there are still so many questions about the candidates. Here are some of the big ones: Joe Biden, how can you tout your foreign policy expertise when you backed the Iraq War? The former vice president called President Trump dangerously incompetent for ordering the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In seeking to highlight his foreign policy experience, Biden said Trump was risking blundering into a war in an unstable region. But some opponents, notably Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have gone on the attack against Biden, saying its hard to trust his foreign policy instincts given that he voted in the Senate to give then-President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq in 2002. Although he now calls it a mistaken vote, Biden backed the war even as it started to go bad and its main justification Iraqs alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction proved unfounded. Some in my own party said it was a mistake to go to Iraq in the first place, Biden said in July 2003, four months after the U.S. invasion. But the cost of not acting against Saddam (Hussein) I think would have been much greater. And so will be the cost of not finishing this job. Bernie Sanders, what did you really say to Elizabeth Warren? Sanders is having a hard time explaining why his good friend Warren says he told her a woman could not win this year. Sanders called a CNN report about the alleged comment ludicrous, but Warren said it was true. The problem for Democrats is that it not so subtly raises the issue of electability code for the idea that only a white male Democrat can win the swing states Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016. At least one researcher thinks its a self-fulfilling prophecy. Electability is myth, said Brenda Choresi Carter , director of the Reflective Democracy Campaign and the lead researcher of a study that looked at the race and gender of 33,854 candidates on the 2018 ballot and how they did in their elections. Her conclusion: White men have no electability advantage at all. Quipped Warren at Tuesdays debate: Keep in mind that the men on this stage have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every race are the women Amy (Klobuchar) and me. Elizabeth Warren, will you pick a lane on Medicare for All? The Massachusetts senator was steadily climbing in the polls until she was forced to spell out her position on Medicare for All with a bit more detail than, Im with Bernie. Her plan she would allow people to keep their private insurance while getting more Americans free or reduced access to Medicare wasnt strikingly different from those proposed by more moderate Democrats. Plus, her plan to push for Medicare for All by her third year in office didnt seem realistic, given that most first-term presidents exhaust their political capital before that. Pete Buttigieg, will you ever persuade voters of color to back you? The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., is knotted atop the latest polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, where most voters are white. But nationally, only 2% of black voters back him, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos Poll out this month. Buttigiegs support looks just as narrow in California, where he is pulling 4% of the Latino vote, according to a Public Policy Institute of California survey of likely primary voters released Monday. In July, Buttigieg released The Douglass Plan, named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass, an 18-page document with policy prescriptions for policing, public health, education and voting rights. Last month, he told donors at fundraisers in the Bay Area that he had engaged in listening sessions and conversations with African American leaders and voters in South Carolina and Alabama. On Tuesday, Buttigieg tried to explain his minuscule support among blacks by saying: The black voters who know me best are supporting me. Tom Steyer, is your support for real? Steyer made it onto the debate stage at the last minute on the strength of polls that showed him in second place in South Carolina and third in Nevada, both of which vote next month. How did that ascent happen so quickly to someone who told The Chronicles Its All Political podcast last month that Im not a famous person? Mostly, its because he had the TV airwaves to himself in those states. Steyer ads aired 5,721 times between Dec. 1 and Jan. 9 in Nevada, according to the Kantar/Campaign Media Analysis Group. The rest of the Democratic field combined have aired six spots in Nevada, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, a news and polling site that is tracking ad spending. Steyer said his message The government is broken. Its been bought by corporations is driving his poll support. But would anyone hear that message if not for the $106 million that the former hedge fund manager has spent on ads? Amy Klobuchar, why should Californians back you if Iowans dont? Klobuchar, a senator from neighboring Minnesota, has staked her campaign on a strong performance in first-to-vote Iowa. Shes made 181 stops in the state, most among the top candidates, pinning her hopes behind her moderate Midwest political sensibilities. While that's solid strategy in Iowa, it doesnt work after the states Feb. 3 caucuses are over. And even in Iowa, shes still yards behind her competitors. After a year of slogging through the cornfields, thats not what her campaign touts as Klomentum. Its Slowmentum. Mike Bloomberg, can a billionaire ever be loved by Democrats? Much like Steyer, the former New York mayor has climbed into the race on his store-bought name recognition. Hes spent $200 million and hired 800 staffers in California and the 13 other states whose primary election day is March 3. But theres an ominous sign in a national poll of African American voters: More than half of those surveyed said they were uncomfortable with the idea of voting for a billionaire, according to the Washington Post/Ipsos Poll. Thats not good news for Bloomberg. Pew Research says roughly 20% of the Democratic electorate is African American. Andrew Yang, do you have a second hit single? Yang, a political neophyte, has created a national conversation around giving $1,000 a month to every U.S. citizen over age 18. He built a strong base of donors and supporters a.k.a. the Yang Gang but it hasnt pushed him into the top tier of candidates. His absence from the stage Tuesday night was a bad look for the party he was the only nonwhite candidate in the last debate but it was a disaster for Yang. None of the other Democrats who have slipped from the stage have managed to claw their way back to relevancy. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli Brexit will not be 'done' in 2020, says Institute for Government January 15,2020 | Source: Ekklesia Daily Bulletin The UK is set to leave the EU on 31 January 2020 and enter the transition period a milestone in the Brexit process. But the most complicated tasks lie ahead and many questions about the UKs departure are still unanswered, says a new report from the Institute for Government. The transition period, scheduled to end on 31 December 2020, leaves the two sides with just a third of the time taken to negotiate the Withdrawal Agreement but with much more to do. The next phase will be much broader in scope covering the economic relationship, security operation and questions such as data-sharing and fisheries. It will only be possible to reach a narrow agreement on some of these areas by the end of the year. The government also needs to pass at least six pieces of legislation to establish new UK policies for agriculture, fisheries and immigration. It is also likely to need to pass primary legislation to implement the UKEU future relationship. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will have more of a say on the future relationship than MPs in Westminster, limiting Parliaments ability to shape the deal. In December of this year, big practical changes will come into force, including to immigration and trade. Although almost 30,000 civil servants will be working on Brexit by March 2020, the government is likely to be only partially ready for these changes. Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade. Attorney General William Barr, left, answers a question during a press conference hours before releasing a version of the Mueller report, on April 18, 2019 in Washington. The Department of Justice is pushing to restart federal executions after nearly two decades. Read more WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's push to restart federal executions after nearly two decades heads back to court Wednesday morning in Washington. Justice Department lawyers are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse a judge's order and allow the administration to move forward with four executions the administration had scheduled for December and January. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in November found that the government had probably exceeded its powers with the adoption of a new lethal-injection protocol to be used in those executions. The new protocol, she wrote, is inconsistent with a 1994 law that requires federal executions to be carried out "in the manner prescribed by the law of the State in which the sentence is imposed." The Supreme Court in December denied the government's request to put her ruling on hold. No dissents were announced, but three justices - Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - included a statement saying they respected the decision while urging the appeals court to move quickly in deciding the case. The Justice Department's announcement last summer that it intended to resume carrying out death sentences also included a schedule for what would be the first federal executions since 2003. Under that timeline, the last scheduled execution was set to take place Wednesday. Instead, none of the executions have taken place, and on Wednesday attorneys for death-row inmates and for the Justice Department will appear at the D.C. Circuit. The appeal will be heard by a three-judge panel made up of Judges David S. Tatel, Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao. Chutkan's ruling blocked the Justice Department from using its new lethal-injection procedure, because it established a single protocol for all federal executions rather than "in the manner prescribed" in each state, which she said the 1994 law requires. It also, she added, says that for states without the death penalty, courts must select a state that does have one for federal executions. The Trump administration's protocol, she said, "very likely exceeds" its authority under that law. "The public interest is not served by executing individuals before they have had the opportunity to avail themselves of legitimate procedures to challenge the legality of their executions," Chutkan wrote in issuing a preliminary injunction. Her injunction blocked four of the five executions scheduled by federal officials, while a fifth was separately put on hold by another court. The new lethal-injection protocol unveiled by the Justice Department last year utilizes one drug - pentobarbital - rather than a three-drug combination that had previously been used. States across the country have shifted their lethal-injection protocols in recent years and scrambled to obtain drugs in the face of opposition from pharmaceutical companies that do not want their products used for executions. Federal officials say they selected pentobarbital for executions because it has been used frequently - including in Texas, the country's most active death-penalty state - and upheld by courts as constitutional. The four death-row inmates with executions blocked by Chutkan were convicted in Texas, Missouri, Indiana and Iowa. Missouri, like Texas, uses pentobarbital for lethal injections, while Indiana has a three-drug protocol. Iowa does not have the death penalty, so the courts for that case selected Indiana, where federal executions take place. Justice Department lawyers told the appeals court that the language at issue in this case - the word "manner" - refers to the mechanism for imposing the death penalty, such as lethal injection, rather than granular details of the procedure, including whether a sedative is offered or how a catheter must be inserted. The judge's ruling "could effectively block federal death sentences" and subject the government to a "state's effective veto and even bar it from improving upon state procedures," according to the Justice Department. The government and the public "have a significant interest in the timely implementation of lawfully imposed capital sentences," Justice Department attorneys said in court filings. Attorney General William P. Barr has also said the department has a responsibility to victims and their relatives to carry out the sentences. Attorneys for the death-row inmates have pushed back against the Justice Department's invocation of victims' families to argue for carrying out the executions, noting some relatives have vocally opposed this. The first execution, originally scheduled for December, was intended to carry out the sentence for Daniel Lewis Lee, a member of a white-supremacist group convicted of murdering an Arkansas family, including an 8-year-old girl, according to the Justice Department. Some relatives of the victims in Lee's case - including the woman whose granddaughter and daughter were killed - have asked the Trump administration not to execute him, instead asking he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The others inmates involved in this case are Wesley Ira Purkey, found guilty in Missouri of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 16-year-old; Alfred Bourgeois, convicted in Texas of physically assaulting and murdering his 2-year-old daughter; and Dustin Lee Honken, found guilty in Iowa of murdering two federal witnesses, along with the girlfriend of one witness and her two young daughters. Attorneys for the death-row inmates have also taken issue with the government's urgency in the case. Defendants had taken no steps to schedule the executions until this summer, when they endeavored to do so at an unreasonably fast pace, attorneys for the inmates said. PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anexinet Corporation , a leading provider of digital business solutions, today announced the appointment of Suzanne Lentz as Chief Marketing Officer. Lentz will lead all aspects of Anexinets marketing activities from strategy creation to brand execution including promoting its award-winning technology consulting and value-added reseller businesses; creating compelling experiences for Anexinets customers, employees, and partners; as well as amplifying overall brand awareness. Suzanne brings increased focus to our digital transformation efforts while also helping to develop customer and partner relationships through stronger brand identity, said Todd Pittman, CEO, Anexinet. Were proud to welcome such an accomplished leader into our family and look forward to her valuable contributions. Lentz brings extensive marketing intelligence and analysis expertise to Anexinet. Prior to joining the company, she served as CMO for Capgemini Invent NA, the digital innovation, consulting, and transformation brand of the Capgemini Group. Capgemini acquired LiquidHub where Lentz was a Partner and served as VP of Marketing. In addition, she held Marketing Director positions at Instant Video Technologies, where she managed and developed go-to-market strategies and Asia Market Intelligence where she led commercial intelligence and strategy consulting projects for blue-chip clients throughout Asia-Pacific. "Im delighted to be joining Anexinet, which is such a progressive company with a strong team. I am eager to apply my strategic marketing experience to help accelerate the next phase of growth, Lentz said. About Anexinet Anexinet is focused on technology-enabled business transformation strategies and solutions. Anexinet ( www.anexinet.com ) customers benefit from our holistic approachfrom engaging front-end interactions to dependable back-end solutions, all informed by data-driven insights. Because truly great digital experiences rely on the smooth operation of all interconnected elements: beautiful front-end applications, modern distributed architecture, private/public cloud, Dev/Ops and Agile/SAFE processes, and data-driven insights. Some companies focus on application design. Others handle your infrastructure. And then theres Anexinet. For more information, contact: Betsey Rogers Public Relations BridgeView Marketing 603-821-0809 betsey@bridgeviewmarketing.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a7aaf0a6-8a63-4f71-a8d0-466ca2e2db98 WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 2020 marks the 10- year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster and is an important milestone for scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico. The culmination of a decade of dedicated research has increased our knowledge of marine oil spill science, Gulf ecosystems, and the impacts of the spill on those ecosystems and communities. Join scientists at the eighth annual GoMOSES conference February 3-6, 2020, in Tampa, Florida, as they discuss what we have learned during this decade of research and what we still need to discover. The conference, organized by a diverse group of partners, will bring together hundreds of experts from academia; local, state and federal agencies; nongovernmental organizations; and industry. Kicking off the conference will be an opening plenary featuring the chair of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Research Board, Dr. Rita Colwell, followed by 28 scientific sessions with over 425 presentations to discuss the latest oil spill and ecosystem scientific discoveries, innovations, technologies, and policies. For more information view the online program. Many of the presentations at the conference focus on the integration of research into oil spill and resource management practices. A few examples include: Remote Sensing Techniques for Oil Spill Monitoring and Storm Damage Assessment in an Operational Context F. M. Monaldo, University of Maryland, College Park , MD While impossible for a single ship to patrol the entire Gulf to identify a spill as it occurs, a satellite can easily monitor the large area. The authors will discuss new tools using satellites to detect areas with spilled oil and provide oil thickness estimates. Incorporating these tools into NOAA's oil spill response tool kit will help with rapid situational assessment and optimize deployment of rescue and oil remediation. While impossible for a single ship to patrol the entire Gulf to identify a spill as it occurs, a satellite can easily monitor the large area. The authors will discuss new tools using satellites to detect areas with spilled oil and provide oil thickness estimates. Incorporating these tools into NOAA's oil spill response tool kit will help with rapid situational assessment and optimize deployment of rescue and oil remediation. Comparative Risk Assessment of Response Alternatives for the Deepwater Horizon Spill D. French-McCay, RPS Ocean Science, South Kingstown, RI The DWH oil spill was unique both in the scale and depth of dispersant application, spurring research and discussion of the impacts of dispersants and best practices for future spills. This talk presents a new Comparative Risk Assessment tool that provides a cost benefit analysis of response alternatives on different components of the Gulf ecosystem and their associated values to a diverse set of stakeholders. The goal of simulating these response alternatives for the DWH spill is to help inform decision-making processes for future disasters. The DWH oil spill was unique both in the scale and depth of dispersant application, spurring research and discussion of the impacts of dispersants and best practices for future spills. This talk presents a new Comparative Risk Assessment tool that provides a cost benefit analysis of response alternatives on different components of the Gulf ecosystem and their associated values to a diverse set of stakeholders. The goal of simulating these response alternatives for the DWH spill is to help inform decision-making processes for future disasters. Synthesis of Sea Turtle Dive Patterns in the Gulf of Mexico : Getting to Abundance Through Aerial Correction Factors K.M. Hart, National Park Service, Corpus Christi, TX The Gulf is home to several species of sea turtles, including the endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles, as well as the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle. Due to the lack of baseline data of sea turtle distribution and behavior in the Gulf of Mexico , it was unclear at the time of the DWH oil spill what the impact of the spill would be on these animals. New satellite survey data of tagged sea turtles enable the combination of diving depths with surfacing locations to provide insights into sea turtle behavior, filling a critical gap in understanding for any future incidents. The Gulf is home to several species of sea turtles, including the endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles, as well as the critically endangered ridley sea turtle. Due to the lack of baseline data of sea turtle distribution and behavior in the , it was unclear at the time of the DWH oil spill what the impact of the spill would be on these animals. New satellite survey data of tagged sea turtles enable the combination of diving depths with surfacing locations to provide insights into sea turtle behavior, filling a critical gap in understanding for any future incidents. Using Hopanes and Steranes for Assessment of Petroleum Contamination in Marine Invertebrates H.M. Hamontree, University of South Florida , St. Petersburg, FL One of the main concerns when examining the impact of an oil spill on marine life is understanding how oil is integrated into the organisms themselves. Though advances have been made in the identification of oil "fingerprints" in sediments and tar balls, researchers have thus far been unable to identify the source of oil in an organism's tissues. In this study, scientists were able to successfully identify similar oil source indicators in animal tissues. Using these new insights into biomarkers, researchers were able to successfully identify levels of MC252 contamination from the DWH oil spill in tissue samples from deep-pelagic shrimp collected from the Gulf of Mexico after the spill. Not only does this research provide insight into marine invertebrate oil exposure, but also the transfer of these chemicals through the food web. The registration fee will be waived for credentialed members of the media. Please contact Abby Ackerman ([email protected]) for details. Onsite registration is available. GoMOSES is made possible by the generous support of many organizations. For more information, visit the conference website (www.gulfofmexicoconference.org) and follow us on Facebook (@gulfscienceconference) and Twitter (@GulfConference, #GoMOSES). Contact: Abby Ackerman 202.448.1252 [email protected] SOURCE Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference Citizens anger at authorities admission of responsibility, after days of denials. A video would show two, not one, missiles launched by the Iranians against the aircraft. Rouhani: the culprits of the "tragic event" will be punished, the government is "responsible" for the victims. Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In Iran, appeals and messages are multiplying online and on the main social media networks, inviting citizens to take to the streets - for the fifth consecutive day - to protest against the shooting down of the Ukrainian airliner. The first admissions of responsibility by the authorities also contributed to unleashing the anger of the citizens, confirming that they had "accidentally" shot down the plane after days of categorical denials. "We are coming to the streets" reads an online post, which invites citizens of the whole nation to demonstrate against "a corrupt government and thieves". Another message summons the population of Hamedan to take to the streets. University students are on the front line, while the authorities continue to deny videos and images on the internet that would show a violent repression of the demonstrations, including the use of bullets and firearms. The aircraft crashed on the night of maximum tension (January 8) between the Islamic Republic and the United States, when Tehran launched a missile attack against US targets in Iraq in response to the killing of General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Qods Force. And according to images verified and published by the New York Times, there were two, and not one, rockets fired - 30 seconds apart - by the Iranian military against the scheduled flight. The rockets, report the US newspaper, were fired from a base of the Islamic Republic about 12 km away from the aircraft. This new video would also explain why the vehicle's transponder stopped working before being hit by the second missile, thus causing the death of all 170 people on board, mostly Iranian and Canadian citizens. Meanwhile, the Iranian government has admitted the first responsibilities and promised that those responsible for the affair will be brought to justice. The first arrests took place yesterday morning, as confirmed by the spokesperson for the judiciary in Tehran Gholamhossein Esmaili. "There have been thorough investigations - he stressed - and some people have been arrested". According to the BBC, among the arrested there is also the person who released the first video circulated in recent days that proved the plane was hit by a rocket. Lastly, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also intervened yesterday and in a speech on TV he promised to punish the guilty, adding that the "tragic event" will be investigated. "It is - he said - an unforgivable mistake and there cannot be a single person responsible" for what happened, adding that the government "is responsible towards the Iranian nation and the other nations that mourn the victims of the accident". BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys export of cars to Turkmenistan increased by 3.8 percent from January through December 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $23.7 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend. In December 2019, export of cars from Turkey to Turkmenistan dropped by 29.5 percent compared to December 2018, amounting to $1.8 million, a source in the ministry said. Turkeys export of cars decreased by 3.1 percent in 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, amounting to $30.5 billion. In turn, export of cars from Turkey increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019 compared to the same month of 2018, amounting to $2.5 billion or 16.5 percent of Turkeys total export, the ministry said. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $33.2 billion in November 2019. In November 2019, Turkeys export increased by 0.1 percent compared to November 2018, amounting to $15.5 billion. During this month, Turkeys import increased by 9.7 percent compared to the same month of 2018, and reached $17.7 billion. Turkeys foreign trade amounted to $340.5 billion from January through November 2019. Turkey ranks sixth in Europe on car production. Ford, Fiat, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN are assembled in Turkey. Turkey also manufactures local brands of buses such as BMC, Temsa and Otokar. Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu If you suspect or know of an individual or business that is falsifying exemptions, deductions or not reporting income, you can file IRS Form 3949-A. You can find the form at IRS.gov or order it by phone at 800-829-0433. Although you have the option of writing a letter to the IRS, the form is usually best, according to IRS spokesman Eric Smith. The ongoing Chennai Book Fair 2020 a 12-day event organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) has run into rough weather after its launch on 9 January. Now in its 43rd edition, the CBF has seen participating writers and BAPASI embroiled in a row after senior journalist V Anbazhagan was prevented from displaying an anti-government book in his rented stall, and had a police complaint filed against him in this regard. The ongoing Chennai Book Fair 2020 a 12-day event organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) has run into rough weather after its launch on 9 January. Now in its 43rd edition, the CBF has seen participating writers and BAPASI embroiled in a row after senior journalist V Anbazhagan was prevented from displaying an anti-government book in his rented stall, and had a police complaint filed against him in this regard. On Monday, writer Su Venkatesan also a CPI(M) MP from Madurai refused to speak on his assigned subject (the Keeladi excavation) as a mark of protest. Condemning BAPASIs action, he said, If the Chennai Book Fair has no space for anti- government books, then you should also be banning cookery books. The central government has a problem with onions and the state with salt. Anbazhagan was arrested on 12 January, after BAPASI secretary SK Murugan filed a complaint stating that the former had threatened him when asked to vacate the stall. The book at the centre of the furor reportedly highlights corruption in the Chennai Corporation, with Anbazhagan seemingly putting together RTI replies to detail alleged misappropriation of funds by the ruling AIADMK government. In its official communication ordering the ouster of Anbazhagans publishing house Makkal Seithi Maiyam from the Chennai Book Fair, BAPASI stated that by selling books against the government and its policies, the publication was going against the rules laid down by BAPASI and hence banned from having a stall in the fair. However, the rules as mentioned on BAPASIs website only state that books banned by the government, and pirated versions, were not allowed in stalls. Opposition leaders including DMKs MK Stalin and VCKs Thol Thirumavalavan called Anbazhagans arrest a clampdown on freedom of expression. The Chennai Press Clubs joint secretary Bharathi Thamizhan deemed the complaint against Anbazhagan false. On Tuesday, a section of Tamil writers tied black ribbons around their mouths to protest Anbazhagans arrest and urged BAPASI to withdraw its complaint against the journalist, besides restoring his stall. BAPASIs decision to expel Makkal Seithi Maiyam from the Chennai Book Fair has caused some dissent within its own ranks. BAPASI vice president K Nagarajan said that while the rule about not allowing banned books was agreeable to all, it is unacceptable that books [construed as being] against the government should not be displayed in the fair. Nagarajan further noted that while taking such decisions, BAPASI should have convened the executive committee. However, BAPASI president RS Shanmugam said that the book fair was dependent on the government and therefore, such actions were unavoidable. The growth of the Chennai Book Fair, after its launch in 1976, would not have been possible without the support of the state. Of course, there are many stalls that still sell anti-government books but Makkal Seithi Maiyam had just that [the controversial book] and nothing else, Shanmugam was quoted as saying. This year, while inaugurating the fair, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced an annual grant of Rs 75 lakhs for BAPASI. This edition of the festival saw another unrelated controversy when the states BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy demanded that books about/based on the LTTE should be removed from stalls an idea that didnt go down well with many publishers. For publishers big and small, the Chennai Book Fair is an opportunity to gain some attention for their new titles. BAPASI has around 400 members who are allotted stalls in the book fair. For a slightly higher price, the stalls are also allotted to non-members. This time alone, BAPASIs Chennai Book Fair has about 750 stalls and is expected to see a footfall of 10-15 lakhs in two weeks. The book fair will end on 21 January. Dance Theater of Harlem will receive a $4 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the organization announced on Tuesday. The companys board of directors will also raise $1 million as part of a matching grant agreement with the Mellon Foundation, for a total infusion of $5 million. Virginia Johnson, a founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem who was named artistic director in 2009, said the gift would go toward increasing the size of the company from 18 to 20 dancers, supplementing the organizations lean staff and further encouraging the development of works by women and people of color. In a statement, Elizabeth Alexander, the Mellon Foundations president, said the Foundation enthusiastically offers its support to Dance Theater of Harlems visionary leaders as they guide the company to a bright and flourishing future. Dance Theater of Harlem was founded by the New York City Ballet star Arthur Mitchell in 1969 to increase opportunities for dancers of color in the ballet world. By 2004, it employed 44 dancers, but all were laid off that year when it was announced that the company was more than $2 million in debt. The bleeding was stanched, and by 2009, Laveen Naidu, the organizations executive director at the time, reported that the debt had been reduced by more than half. Up the stairs, into the fire, I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher. Sam Springsteen, the youngest son of legendary New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen, was among the 15 new Jersey City firefighters sworn in Tuesday during a ceremony at City Hall. It was a long road, and he was very dedicated," Bruce told reporters following the ceremony in the council chambers. Sam Springsteen, 25, along with his class endured five months of training at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy. Prior to joining the Jersey City Fire Department, he graduated from the Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014 and served as a member of the volunteer Colts Neck Fire Department in Monmouth County. I dont know what to sayIt wasnt easy, Sam said as he hugged and took pictures with family and friends, including his mother Patti Scialfa. Into the Fire, which appeared on Springsteens 2002 studio album The Rising, was inspired by the sacrifice of the firefighters killed on 9/11. Theyre such nice ppl," Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said of Bruce and Patti in a tweet. We got to spend some time in my office talking about music but more than that theyre proud parents of a new JC Firefighter. Springsteen is one of 204 new firefighters hired under the Fulop administration, which has boosted the departments ranks to 666 uniformed firefighters and superiors. The Boss @springsteen + Patti visited us in #JerseyCity City Hall today. Theyre such nice ppl. We got to spend some time in my office talking about music but more than that theyre proud parents of a new JC Firefighter. Congrats to all the new FF joining the best FD anywhere. pic.twitter.com/oU95Aj9JWv Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) January 14, 2020 Also sworn in were: Luke Gibbons, Thomas McFarlane, John Bramley Jr., Conor Keim, Shane Richeal, Jason Garrison, Omar Soto, Sean Brady, Connor Wujciak, Angel Ortez, Francis Degnan, Richard Ferment, Andrew Crilly and Francesca Zappella, the younger sister of one of Jersey Citys first female firefighters, Constance Zappella. Francesca Zappella, 26, who graduated from the fire academy at the top of her class of recruits, was sworn in while standing with her older sister. Jersey City swears in 15 new firefighters at a ceremony in City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Among the graduates was Francesca Zapella, right, sister of Constance Zapella, left, the first female firefighter in Jersey City who is now a battalion chief. The two are the first sisters to serve in the JCFD. Constance Zappella, 40, a firefighter for 18 years, was among the first two female firefighters in the citys history when she joined in 2003. She has since become the fire departments first woman battalion chief. She definitely inspired me to go to the fire department, said Francesca, who was a police officer for three years in Jersey City. If I hadnt seen how much she loved her job I dont think I wouldve switched over. Constance Zappella recalled an essay Francesca wrote about her when Francesca was 10. Constance never thought she would be the motivating factor in her sisters decision to pursue a career as a firefighter. Jersey City swears in 15 new firefighters at a ceremony in City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Among the graduates was Francesca Zapella, sister of Constance 'Connie' Zapella, the first female firefighter in Jersey City who is now a battalion chief. The two are the first sisters to serve in the JCFD. In this photo, taken in 2003 when Connie was sworn in as a firefighter, Francesca, then only 10 years old, wears her older sister's cap. Pictured with them are, from left to right, sister, Christine, brother Peter and mother, Mary Ann. (Photo courtesy of Constance Zapella) Im speechless, which doesnt really happen often, I am very proud of her today, Constance said. Im glad shes running into burning buildings with me. Police Officer Joseph Connors, 30, Francescas fiance and father to their 16-month old daughter Olivia, said his future wife is tougher than he is. Its a safe house thats for sure, said Connors. The first significant rain for months will fall on fire-ravaged parts of Australia today as a low pressure system sweeps across the east. Downpours have already helped to extinguish 32 bushfires in New South Wales as the number of blazes fell from 120 to 88 on Thursday morning. Between Thursday and Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology expects between 30 and 80mm of rain in the east of NSW. It means the end may be in sight for exhausted firefighters who have battled deadly fires for more than three months. A total of 28 people have died in the horror blazes and more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed. Downpours have already helped to extinguish 32 bushfires in New South Wales as the number of blazes fell from 120 to 88 on Thursday morning. Pictured: Rain on Wednesday night Winds of up to 133 kmh battered Melbourne, causing damage (above) to houses before a storm warning was lifted by first light AUSTRALIA'S BUSHFIRE CRISIS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Evacuations are underway and emergency alerts are in place in NSW, Victoria and South Australia as authorities predict the devastating bushfires will continue burning until at least March. At least 28 people have been killed in blazes across the country since the bushfire season began in October. NEW SOUTH WALES/ACT Around 90 fires were burning in NSW on Thursday morning 20 people dead More than 5.2 million hectares burned - equal to the metro areas of the five mainland state capitals 1,870 homes confirmed destroyed, more than 3,774 outbuildings and 200 facilities razed VICTORIA 19 bushfires burning in the Gippsland, northeast and alpine regions as of Thursday morning Five people dead More than 1.5 million hectares burnt 387 homes have been damaged or destroyed 602 non-residential structures have also been damaged SOUTH AUSTRALIA Three people, including two from Kangaroo Island, are dead More than 274,000 hectares burnt 161 homes confirmed destroyed, along with 413 sheds and outhouses QUEENSLAND 2.5 million hectares burnt 48 homes confirmed destroyed WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1.5 million hectares burned One home confirmed destroyed TASMANIA 30,000 hectares burned Two homes confirmed destroyed NORTHERN TERRITORY Five homes confirmed destroyed Advertisement Between 20mm and 40mm is also forecast in the ACT and the west of NSW where farmers have endured drought for three years. Greater Sydney - including areas hit by bushfires - is forecast to get 3-8mm on Thursday, 8-20mm on Friday and 8-26mm on Saturday. The rain will give firefighters some much-needed respite after months of battling ferocious blazes. NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said: 'It's the most positive forecast the RFS has had in months and will give crews a chance to regroup and work on containment lines.' Rain has also hit Victoria. Melbourne was drenched last night as the suburb of St Albans saw a month's worth of rain - 77mm - in just half an hour. Winds of up to 133 kmh battered the city, causing damage to houses before the storm passed and warnings were lifted by first light. In the fire-ravaged areas in the east of the state there is an 80 per cent chance of showers today as a slow moving low pressure trough lingers. Significant rain has fallen in Victoria (pictured) and more is set to hit New South Wales today The fire danger rating is at its lowest level, giving firefighters some much needed respite. Pictured: Wind and rain in Melbourne However, there are concerns that thunderstorms could bring more bushfire trouble. Lightning ignited fires in Victoria's eastern Great Otway National Park on Wednesday and authorities fear it could do the same in the fire-ravaged East Gippsland and north east regions. Thunderstorms are also likely to produce damaging winds and carry large hail and heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued late evening on Wednesday for the north east, East Gippsland and parts of central Victoria. 'Thunderstorms, a bit of a two-edged sword. While they can bring some much useful rain, it can also come down in pretty fast, high quantities,' Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn said. 'There's high concentrations of ash, very vulnerable landscape when it comes to short bursts of heavy rainfall - which could see very quickly mudslides developing.' Mr Park also expressed his concern about debris such as soil, trees and rocks making their way to the waterways from from the fire landscape. A road water alert was also in place for Melbourne on Wednesday evening, after some western suburbs like St Albans saw up to 77mm of sudden rain. The rain helped clear the hazardous bushfire smoke blanketing the city on Wednesday, which had caused the closure of a runway at Melbourne Airport and some flights delayed. There were 19 active fires across Victoria on Wednesday evening by 10pm, with eight 'Watch and Act' alerts in place. Queensland will also see major rainfall between Brisbane and Mackay which is expected to add up to 100mm. In New South Wales, firefighters celebrate the arrival of the first rain. Late on Wednesday the RFS tweeted: 'Some rainfall has started falling across a number of firegrounds. We have everything crossed hoping for some good falls across these areas over the coming days.' The Dunn Road fire on January 10, 2020 in Mount Adrah, near Wagga Wagga in NSW Areas around the South Coast and Southern Tablelands are predicted to receive up to 30mm but the Bureau of Meteorology says the rain will be patchy and exact falls are difficult to predict. The NSW SES says this could bring on the risk of flash flooding, falling trees and landslips after fire wiped out trees and growth. 'While the rain is welcomed, heavy rainfall and storms in fire affected areas can lead to dangerous conditions such as a higher risk of flash flooding, falling trees and landslips,' NSW SES assistant commissioner Paul Bailey said. 'In areas impacted by fires where vegetation has been destroyed, water from heavy rainfall can flow into riverbeds and we could see run-off in areas we wouldn't normally, resulting in flash flooding. 'The NSW SES is also asking residents in fire affected areas to watch for possible landslips as the ground and roads can be damaged, therefore creating a higher risk of a potential slip.' The SES warned residents to prepare their properties but trimming overhanging branches, cleaning gutters and pipes, securing loose items in their backyards and not parking under trees or powerlines. . A Liberal Democrat peer faces a furious backlash for warning post-Brexit Britain could be 'reminiscent' of Nazi Germany. Lord Greaves also claimed people were crying themselves to sleep at night over the UK's withdrawal from the EU, as he warned against 'triumphalistic behaviour'. The comments came the Upper House started line-by-line scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill last night. It drew gasps in the chamber, with peers complaining that he was 'stretching the point' and had gone 'too far'. Lord Greaves said there were many people people in the country 'full of dismay and distress' over the break with Brussels. During a debate last night, Lord Greaves claimed people were crying themselves to sleep at night over the UK's withdrawal from the EU, as he warned against 'triumphalistic behaviour' As some Conservative Tory peers signalled their dissent, he continued: 'People are crying when they go to sleep at night and when they wake up in the morning, and all they get from the unfeeling, hard-headed Tories is moans. 'They are feeling a sense of loss which is akin to bereavement and a grieving process has only just begun.' Lord Greaves said: 'In these circumstances, triumphalistic behaviour, festivals of Brexit and all the rest will simply make things worse. 'The people who are feeling it worst are those citizens of the EU who live, work and take part in our communities.' He went on: 'I am particularly concerned about what the Government is doing about prevention of discrimination in the transition period. 'I am fearful that on January 31 some things may happen in some places which could be reminiscent of things happening in Germany in the early 1930s. 'I am worried about this, because there is that sentiment amongst a hostile minority of the population.' But challenging him, Brexit-supporting Labour peer Lord Grocott said: 'He's just made a comparison, I'm slightly reeling from it, between Britain on February 1 this year and Nazi Germany in 1933. 'Could he elaborate on that just a little bit, because that seems to me to be stretching the point just a bit?' Responding, Lord Greaves said: 'Well, we will see. What we do know is that the day after the referendum people had their windows put in. People were abused in the street. Paint was daubed on people's houses. It's that kind of thing I am talking about. 'I know of plenty of instances where people have been abused in the street and shouted at.' The comments came the Upper House started line-by-line scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill last night He added: 'It happened immediately after the referendum and I am very worried indeed that on February 1 and 2 there will be a wave of this kind of thing. 'Police statistics show that the amount of racially-motivated offences has increased significantly since June 2016. I am not making it up. It is happening.' Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford said: 'To compare January 31 to Nazi Germany, I think, is rather a step too far.' But Lord Greaves said: 'I have not compared this country today with Nazi Germany and would not do so obviously, it would be ridiculous. 'What I am saying is that some of the conditions which exist in this country are similar to conditions which existed in Germany between the wars, before the Nazis came to power and took over. 'You can think that's right, you can think it's wrong, but I believe that that is the case.' As a passionate believer in the free market system, I have long opposed wholesale interventions to rescue badly-run companies. But, given the state of Britains left-behind regions and the high expectations of their citizens after turning out to vote for Boris Johnson in such numbers, now was the right time to change tack. The plight of the regional airline Flybe presented an early test of the Governments commitment to the provinces. It has managed to secure the future of the company with promises to review the tax burden which almost brought its collapse and to look at the whole vexed question of transport connections to and from and within Britains depressed regions. No10s claim to be ready to extend a helping hand to spread prosperity across the country has been borne out by yesterdays events. The most likely outcome is that Flybe and other UK domestic carriers will be relieved of paying some or all of the onerous Airline Passenger Duty (APD). The plight of the regional airline Flybe (plane above) presented an early test of the Governments commitment to the provinces While passengers making return journeys to continental destinations pay a flat fee of 13, domestic flyers are charged APD on each leg there and back adding up to a total of 26. This oppressive tax has damaged the expansion of regional travel in the UK and has put major British-based global carriers at a disadvantage compared with their overseas rivals. It arose from pledges by successive British governments not to increase income taxes and VAT a stance that shifted the burden of fundraising to stealth taxes. As a result, just as the high street has been vandalised by iniquitous business rates so the airlines have been damaged by passenger duty. However, the Governments involvement in propping up Flybe, which operates half of all domestic flights out of London and carried 8.6million passengers last year, will not be popular with everyone. Supporting an airline in these days of climate change awareness will also put Johnsons Government on the back foot with eco-activists (Boris Johnson pictured above) The biggest and most potent argument against a bail-out is that it will set a precedent for rescuing every failing company which comes knocking on the Governments door. Past supplicants include outsourcing-to-construction giant Carillion and emblematic travel group Thomas Cook, both of which were abruptly and painfully turned down by the Government. Supporting an airline in these days of climate change awareness will also put Johnsons Government on the back foot with eco-activists. Sharpest criticism of all will come from free-market fundamentalists who recall only too well Labours efforts to bail out the car industry in the 1970s. The truth is that, had the Government not intervened then, the revival of British motor manufacturing including marques such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini, all now under private ownership might never have taken place. And Britains world class aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce would be out of business. But the numbers are eye-watering. A change in airline passenger taxes to keep Flybe in the sky could cost the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds, especially if it is applied to other carriers too. Which begs the question as to why Flybes wealthy owners led by Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic (owned partly by Delta and Air France) were so quick to pull the rug from under the company. They look to have been engaged in brinkmanship designed to force a tax change and a renewed focus on regional connectivity. It is less than a year since Flybe was bought for a knockdown price of 2.8million. Tory ministers needed iron-clad assurances from the owners that they would continue to keep the carrier in the skies in exchange for the tax review. The goal is to rename the regional carrier Virgin Connect, imbuing it with the brand power of Branson, and to feed its routes into the broader Virgin Atlantic network. But ministers must be acutely aware that by engaging so actively with Flybe and its shareholders they will come under pressure to prop up struggling firms in other sectors. The British Steel complex at Scunthorpe, for example, is teetering on the brink. Following yesterdays move, the Government is in danger of sending out a signal that state intervention is acceptable once again. Yes, its a massive doctrinal shift, but it may be the price to pay for healing the regional divide. VANCOUVER and SAN DIEGO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Phivida Holdings Inc. (CSE: VIDA -OTCQX: PHVAF) ("Phivida" or the "Company") is pleased to report growing sales figures from its Bloomgroove.com ("Bloomgroove") e-commerce platform, reaching upwards of $225,000 (CAD) in sales during the holiday season, which more than doubled sales from Bloomgroove over the previous month's Black Friday sales. The site also saw traffic increase by 78% in December compared to the previous month. Phivida's progress with Bloomgroove comes amid management's increased focus on growing the Company's digital marketplace offerings in order to meet changing demands in the cannabis market. Additionally, Phivida has taken steps to pivot its distribution strategy with respect to its CBD beverages and consumer packaged goods business, including by streamlining its management team. Accordingly, Greg McCauley (Senior Vice President of Distribution) and Doug Campbell (Chief Commercial Officer) have departed the Company. These changes are part of the Company's ongoing efforts to optimize operations, reduce expense and focus on diversifying its portfolio of digital retail platforms. "We are seeing great results from building and operating online marketplaces like Bloomgroove, which offer us, and third-party vendors, easy and direct access to cannabis consumers," said David Moon, Interim CEO at Phivida. Mr. Moon added: "Our strategic approach is to respond swiftly to shifting consumer and CBD market demands in the US and Canada, using data gathered through our various platforms, to be ahead of the curve and build a leading position in the market, especially in online retail." Bloomgroove, launched in September 2019, is a custom-built e-commerce platform that is fast and userintuitive, featuring cannabis accessories from reputable manufacturers, such as Storz & Bickel, Arizer, Grenco Science, and DaVinci. As well as selling products from the site, Bloomgroove also hosts independent storefronts where sellers can operate their own stores, leveraging Bloomgroove's proprietary sales engine. For the month of December Bloomgroove reported aggregate sales (Canada and US) of approximately $225,130.00 (CAD). Readers should note that these sales figures have not been audited and are subject to adjustment. The end of the last quarter also saw Phivida's Wikala.com e-commerce platform officially go live in the US. The CBD marketplace provides consumers with a wide array of CBD products from Phivida's line of products, in addition to third party vendors, who now have an easy, accessible and responsive digital marketplace to increase their exposure and sales to CBD consumers. About Phivida Holdings Inc. Phivida Holdings Inc. is headquartered in Vancouver, BC with operations in San Diego, CA. Phivida is a premium functional food and beverage company focused on whole plant nutrition and natural ingredients that help best maintain overall health and balance in the human body. The company infuses organic active hemp extract into a variety of premium beverages and clinical products for everyday health. Phivida embraces and celebrates a return to organic, natural, plant-based foods and beverages, and a focus on holistic health and wellness. The mission is to help reduce the world's dependence on pharmaceuticals and provide food and beverage choices that allow customers to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle. For more information, visit phivida.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information in this news release relate to future events or future performance and include statements about expectations regarding Phivida's business. To the extent any forward-looking statements and information referred to in this news release constitutes "financial outlook" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, such financial information has been approved by management of the Company as of the date of this news release, is given for informational purposes only, and the reader is cautioned that this financial information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Accordingly, the reader should not place undue reliance on any such financial outlook. As well, any financial outlooks, as with forward-looking statements generally, are based on assumptions believed by management to be reasonable, including the assumption that any adjustments to the unaudited financial information presented herein will not be significant, as well as assumptions regarding the cannabis industry generally. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated or implied due to a number of factors and risks, including but not limited to the following: preliminary financial results are subject to the completion of the Company's financial closing procedures and have not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditors; delays, increased competition, changes in consumer demand and preferences, and legal and/or regulatory changes. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Phivida Holdings Inc. Related Links www.phivida.com Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) ("Transition", "the Company") is pleased to update shareholders on progress achieved during 2019 as the Company continued to add to its portfolio of multiple projects attracting over $7 million dollars in exploration funding to its projects through non-dilutive investment from its joint-venture partnerships with other companies. The Company announced several important milestones in 2019. Highlights for 2019 In April (see news release dated April 29), option partner North American Palladium (NAP) obtained the thickest and highest grade drill intersection yet on the Sunday Lake PGM property with assays returning 41.20 metres grading 5.51 g/t PGM (3.22 g/t Pt, 2.08 g/t Pd, 0.21 g/t Au) and 0.57% Cu including a high grade section of 15.80 metres grading 9.11 g/t PGM (5.42 g/t Pt, 3.35 g/t Pd, 0.34 g/t Au) and 0.88% Cu. In December, South African platinum mining heavyweight Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. completed a plan of arrangement with NAP to acquire 100% of the outstanding common shares of NAP for total cash consideration of approximately $1.0 billion (CAD) forming a Canadian wholly owned subsidiary dubbed Impala Canada ("Implats Canada"). In Nova Scotia, the Company advanced its Highland Gold Project located 60 km northwest of Sydney, with geochemical, geological and geophysical surveys, as well as reverse circulation (RC) percussion drilling. Drilling intersected significant grades and widths of gold mineralization in three separate zones including 9.0 metres grading 6.14 g/t Au including 2.0 metres grading 25.46 g/t Au at zone 6B located approximately 2 kilometres east of Main Zone where RAB drilling completed by the Company in late 2018 returned a 9.14 metre interval grading 23.22 g/t Au. The drilling results at Highland represent some of the highest grade gold intercepts yet discovered in Cape Breton at a time when exploration interest in the Maritimes is undergoing resurgence. Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC) signed a $30 million Option Agreement with Company partner Forum Energy Metals Corp to earn up to an 80% interest in the Janice Lake Property. Between October and December Forum reported drill results from Rio Tinto's first phase of drilling (totaling $3M) program at Janice Lake. Drilling successfully confirmed and significantly extended the known extent of near-surface stratabound chalcocite and native copper mineralization at the Jansem and Janice drill targets. Grades as high as 1.09% Cu over 9.1 metres and 1.32% Cu over 5 metres within 51.8 metres grading 0.57% Cu were intersected at Jansem. Deeper drilling further demonstrated the presence of multiple copper mineralized horizons requiring follow-up drilling. Through cost-effective staking, the Company added several new properties including the Fannon and Porcupine Properties in the emerging Wollaston copper belt district in Saskatchewan along trend of Janice Lake as well as the Duntara Copper Property on the Bonavista Peninsula in Eastern Newfoundland. The Company was able to acquire the Fostung Tungsten Property near Espanola Ontario which hosts a historic estimate of 12.4 Mt containing 0.213 wt.% WO3 using a 0.125 wt.% cut-off. Through option agreements, the Company grew its project pipeline by acquiring the high-grade Maude Lake Ni-Cu-Co-PGM property near Schreiber, Ontario (see Company news release of November 19, 2014), the Cryderman Gold property located near Shining Tree, Ontario (see Company news release of May 15, 2019) and the Alymer IOCG copper/gold project located near Sudbury Ontario (see Company news release of December 23, 2018). SPC Metals (30% owned by the Company) signed a definitive agreement for a reverse take-over transaction with Edison Cobalt Corp ("Edison"). Following a planned concurrent financing, Transition's ownership will be approximately 19.7% of the new public company. SPC Metals intends to establish itself as an energy metals exploration company with a specific focus on nickel. Canadian Gold Miner (38% owned by the Company) remained active in 2019 advancing its 230 square kilometer portfolio of gold exploration projects in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone belt in Ontario towards a public listing. In December the Company closed an over-subscribed non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $468,910. Proceeds will be used for exploration and working capital purposes. Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources, Golden Predator Mines Inc., Fostung Project Foster Township, Ontario, Canada. Prepared by SRK Consulting, November 30, 2007. Transition has not done sufficient work to classify this historical estimate as a current mineral resource hence it should not be relied upon. "In 2019 we strengthened our project pipeline by adding several new properties and advancing key projects such as our Highland Gold and Saturday Night PGM-Ni-Cu," said Scott McLean, President and CEO."By adhering to our project generator business model we have been able to insulate our shareholders from some of the inherent risks associated with exploration while maintaining their exposure to the upside benefits that can come from exploration success. We are encouraged by the strong drill results coming from our industry leading partners on the high quality projects we have generated and are excited about the robust flow of news anticipated in 2020." Milestones for 2020 Implats has communicated its intent to continue programs of exploratory drilling to follow up favourable drilling results at Sunday Lake. Favourable results from drilling by Rio Tinto RTEC have led to the submission of exploration permits in Saskatchewan and its expected that it will employ an extensive drilling program in 2020. Partner Battery Metals recently made a $100,000 option payment to renew its option on the Gowganda Gold project and communicated its intend to initiate drilling to evaluate precious and energy metal targets identified in 2019. Public listing of spin-out company SPC Metals through the completion of an RTO transaction with Edison Cobalt Corp is targeted for completion by the end of Q1 2020. The Resulting Issuer plans to focus on advancing it key Sudbury Camp assets with a vision of growing to a pre-eminent North American Nickel exploration company. Spin-out Canadian Gold Miner is actively will consider a public listing with plans to systematically explore for large scale gold systems identified along the Lincoln Nipissing break within its camp scale land position south of Kirkland Lake. Qualified Person The technical elements of this press release have been approved by Mr. Greg Collins, P.Geo. (APGO, APGNS), Chief Operating Officer for Transition Metals and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. About Transition Metals Corp Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) is a Canadian-based, multi-commodity project generator that specializes in converting new exploration ideas into discoveries. The award-winning team of geoscientists has extensive exploration experience which actively develops and tests new ideas for discovering mineralization in places that others have not looked, often allowing the company to acquire properties inexpensively. Joint venture partners earn an interest in the projects by funding a portion of higher-risk drilling and exploration, allowing Transition to conserve capital and minimize shareholder's equity dilution. Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting: Scott McLean President and CEO Transition Metals Corp. Tel: (705) 669-1777 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51498 A combination of a four-door luxury coupe and a versatile SUV, the Q8 is smaller, narrower and shorter than the more affordable Q7. It is also a 5-seater, unlike the Q7, which seats 7. Available only with a 3-litre petrol engine that generates 340hp and 500Nm of torque propelling the car from 0-100kmph in 5.9 seconds, it also gets a 48V mild hybrid technology. It is being imported as a completely built unit (CBU) from Germany and Audi said only 200 units will be on offer for India this year. "With the launch of the Audi Q8, we are targeting individuals who want their car to match their personality. Each Audi Q8 will be made-to-order, available with a plethora of customisation options to choose from; we want every Q8 in the country to look different, from the outside and the inside," said Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India. "We are entering a new segment with the Q8 but the guiding principles remain the same - bold design, cutting edge technology and exciting performance. The 3.0L TFSI engine with 48V mild-hybrid technology, progressive steering and air suspension make every drive in the Q8 memorable." The slowdown in the overall Indian economy in general with GDP growth projections sliding to just 5 per cent for 2019-20, and in the domestic passenger vehicle market in particular where sales have declined in double digits this fiscal so far, has impacted the luxury car segment as well. Industry volumes are estimated to have declined by over 13 per cent, the steepest ever in a year and for the first time since 2016 when sales had declined by nearly 8 per cent. Volumes have remained range bound in the 35,000-40,000 unit per annum band since 2015 and is significantly lower than earlier projections of about 100,000 units by 2020. ALSO READ:Mercedes maintains the top spot in luxury car segment for 5th year in a row The three big German brands - Mercedes, BMW and Audi - suffered heavy declines last year. Mercedes, the country's largest luxury carmaker, saw its sales skid by 11.3 per cent, the steepest ever in a year in well over a decade. BMW managed to sell about 9,641 units in 2019, a 13.2 per cent decline over 11,105 units of 2018 while Audi registered its third consecutive annual decline as sales crashed 29 per cent at 4,594 units in 2019. For the Volkswagen group's Ingolstadt-based luxury carmaker, this was a significant climbdown from its performance in India between 2012-15 when it had emerged as the leader of the pack and was the first to top sales of 10,000 units in a year. Dhillon said Audi has set in motion a new growth plan under strategy 2025 designed to arrest the decline in sales and break new ground with consumers in India. "We have set out very clear goals for ourselves in the next few years under Strategy 2025. 2020 is an extremely important year for us as we launch our new BSVI product portfolio. The Q8 is part of our strategy to strengthen Audi's presence in the country under the goals of Strategy 2025. C and D segments are key focus areas for us in defining this strategy. The Q8 will help us gain a stronger hold in the D segment market and will be our brand shaper in the days to come." ALSO READ:Audi to cut up to 9,500 jobs in 6 years to fund shift to electric vehicles Bolivia on Tuesday arrested a powerful ex-minister under former president Evo Morales on suspicion of corruption, prosecutors said. The detainee is Carlos Romero, the former interior minister who was close to Morales, who resigned in November amid protests over a disputed election and fled the country. A conservative interim government has taken over ahead of presidential voting in May, and several ministers under Morales' leftist government have been charged or are under investigation and have sought refuge in the Mexican embassy. Romero, 53, has been arrested over alleged misuse of funds in a government agency tasked with fighting drug trafficking, the prosecutors said. Romero will now go before a judge who will determine whether to keep him in custody, release him with charges or place him under house arrest, the prosecutors said. From his exile in Argentina, Morales defended Romero. Morales said the government of acting president Jeanine Anez "does not want justice but rather revenge and impunity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Vatican cardinal who co-authored a controversial book with Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI reaffirming priestly celibacy has denied that he manipulated the retired pontiff into publishing it. Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican's liturgy office, spoke out after news reports quoting "sources close to Benedict" claimed the retired pope never saw or approved the finished product. Cardinal Sarah reproduced letters from Benedict making clear the 92-year-old pope had written the text and approved publishing it. The controversy underlines the conservative-versus-progressive battle lines within the Catholic Church following Benedict's 2013 decision to retire, and his successor Pope Francis' more reform-minded papacy. Benedict's intervention in the book 'From the Depths of Our Hearts' had the appearance of being an attempt to interfere with Pope Francis' ministry. Francis has said he will publish a document in the coming weeks that is expected to touch on whether married men could be ordained priests in the Amazon in South America to deal with a shortage of priests in the region. Benedict's reaffirmation of the "necessity" of priestly celibacy in the book gave the impression the former pope was trying to influence the thinking of the current one. His intervention was also surprising, given he had vowed to live "hidden from the world" when he retired in 2013, specifically to avoid any suggestion that he still wielded papal authority. Catholic Twitter accounts, amplifying the rift between right and left, were buzzing about the implications of Benedict's intervention. Francis's supporters claimed Benedict had been manipulated by members of his right-wing entourage into writing something that amounted to a direct attack on Francis. Some claimed it was evidence of elder abuse, given Benedict is 92 and increasingly frail. Conservatives, many of whom long for Benedict's orthodoxy, claimed it was no such thing and noted Francis too has reaffirmed the gift of priestly celibacy. The Vatican tried to dampen down the furore by insisting the book was a mere "contribution" to the discussion about priestly celibacy written by two bishops in "filial obedience" to Francis. Cardinal Sarah denied there was any manipulation on his part and said Benedict was a part of the process. He tweeted three 2018 letters from Benedict making clear the retired pope had provided him the text. ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $31.9 million contract for the Operational Fires (OpFires) Phase 3 Weapon System Integration program. OpFires seeks to develop and demonstrate an innovative ground-launched system to enable a hypersonic boost glide missile system to penetrate modern enemy air defenses and rapidly engage time-sensitive targets. Lockheed Martin, DARPA and the U.S. Army, aims to develop and demonstrate an innovative, ground-launched, mobile, integrated weapon system that leverages DARPA-funded propulsion solutions and hypersonic boost glide technology. The award for Phase 3 of the OpFires program will take the design from the initial requirements development through the Critical Design Review (CDR) in late 2021. Integrated flight testing is scheduled to begin in 2022, with component and subsystem tests expected in 2021. "The OpFires missile is critical to providing the U.S. Army with a highly maneuverable and rapid response solution capable of operating from unpredictable land-launch positions to suppress hostile threats," said Hady Mourad, director of Tactical and Strike Missiles Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Lockheed Martin will deliver the prototype missiles utilizing the experienced production teams that currently produce the ATACMS, GMLRS and PAC-3 missile systems in Camden, Arkansas." Hypersonic weapons will provide a survivable and affordable capability that will overcome distance in contested environments using high speed, altitude and maneuverability. They amplify many of the enduring attributes of airpower speed, range, flexibility and precision. Lockheed Martin has played a significant role in the research, development and demonstration of hypersonic technologies for more than 30 years. The corporation has made significant investments in key technology and capability development including hypersonic strike capabilities and defense systems against emerging hypersonic threats and is supporting all branches of the U.S. military on these hypersonic programs. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:55:48|Editor: Wang Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The China-Italy year of culture and tourism is scheduled to kick off on Jan. 21 in Rome, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said Wednesday. Over 100 events will be held during the one-year activity, covering areas of performing arts, visual arts, cultural heritage, tourism and creative design, according to the ministry. A forum on tourism cooperation will be held by the two sides, the ministry said, adding that a Terracotta Warriors exhibition will also be jointly held. The China-Italy year of culture and tourism is the first time for the two countries to hold a large-scale activity focusing on the integration of culture and tourism, said Zheng Hao, an official with the ministry. A closing ceremony of the activity will be held at the end of the year in Beijing. The year 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announces impeachment managers for the articles of impeachment against US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill January 15, 2020, in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday unveiled the team of Democrats who will make the case for President Donald Trump's conviction and removal from office. Pelosi selected seven House Democrats to serve as impeachment managers, essentially acting as prosecutors during Trump's Senate trial. They will lay out the evidence that House investigators have collected and make their arguments for voting Trump out of office, while Trump's lawyers defend him. The 100 senators, in turn, will act as jurors as they consider how they will vote on the two articles of impeachment that the House passed on Dec. 18. It is highly unlikely that two-thirds of the GOP-majority Senate will vote to convict and remove a Republican president. No Senate Republicans have said they will vote to convict. Trump is just the third U.S. president ever to be impeached. Some of the rules for impeachment are mandated in the Constitution, while others are based on precedent. Seven managers were also appointed during the 1868 impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, for instance, while there were 13 Republican managers from the House Judiciary Committee Republicans in Bill Clinton's 1998 Senate trial. No matter the outcome of the trial, "he's been impeached forever," Pelosi said before announcing the managers at a press conference Wednesday. "They can never erase that." House Democrats voted to impeach Trump on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both related to his efforts to have Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announce probes involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as well as a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that "the naming of these managers does not change a single thing." Trump "has done nothing wrong," Grisham said. "He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated." Here's what to know about the House managers in Trump's impeachment trial: Adam Schiff Pelosi tapped the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to be the lead prosecutor in Trump's Senate trial. Schiff was already seen as a leading figure in the impeachment inquiry. His attacks on Trump and his approach to running the House impeachment proceedings have made him a target of scathing criticism from Republicans and the president himself. "I am humbled by the responsibility of serving as the lead House Manager in the Senate impeachment trial," the California congressman said in a statement. "It is a solemn responsibility and one that I will undertake with the seriousness that the task requires." Schiff and other Democrats have demanded that the Senate trial allow witnesses to come forward. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked McConnell to approve four witnesses, including former national security advisor John Bolton and White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, in advance of the trial. McConnell refused, saying he wants the trial to mirror Clinton's, in which senators waited until the proceedings had already started to debate whether to call witnesses. "Americans overwhelmingly want a fair trial in the Senate, fair to the President and fair to the people. Senators must demand to see and hear the full evidence, including the documents and witnesses the President has blocked," Schiff said in his statement. "Only then can they faithfully discharge their own Constitutional duties to be fair and impartial jurors." Jerrold Nadler The congressman from New York is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He has said that Trump "richly deserves impeachment" since the end of former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Nadler oversaw an impeachment hearing in his committee in early December, when a panel of experts debated whether Trump's Ukraine dealings met the bar for charges. Three of those witnesses said Trump committed impeachable offenses, while one disagreed. "There is an overwhelming case, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the president betrayed the country by withholding federal funds appropriated by Congress, breaking the law in doing so, in order to extort a foreign government into intervening in our election to embarrass a political opponent," Nadler said at Wednesday's press conference. Zoe Lofgren Lofgren, a 13-term congresswoman from California, chairs the House Administration Committee which, as Pelosi points out, has jurisdiction over legislation relating to federal elections. Lofgren served on the Judiciary Committee in 1998, when Clinton was impeached in the House for lying about an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. When she herself was an intern, Lofgren reportedly helped the same committee draft impeachment charges against Richard Nixon. Lofgren is seen as a more even-keeled and judicious member of the team than some of her more vocal colleagues. Unlike many other Democrats. Lofgren had been skeptical about moving forward with impeachment proceedings against Trump following the release of the Mueller report. Hakeem Jeffries Jeffries, the No. 5 Democrat in the House, chairs his party's caucus in the chamber, which crafts and controls party policy. Jeffries has represented his New York district in Congress since 2013. He previously worked as a litigator. "The evidence is overwhelming that Donald Trump corruptly abused his power" by pressuring Ukraine to announce the Biden probe, Jeffries said Wednesday. "In America, no one is above the law." Val Demings The Florida representative, one of the most junior members of Congress on the management team, had served as the first female chief of the Orlando Police Department before running for political office. She made headlines during Mueller's testimony before Congress last year, when she asked if Trump's written responses to the special counsel's questions "showed that he wasn't always being truthful." Mueller replied: "I would say generally." Demings serves on the House Judiciary and Intelligence panels. "I understand that the politics of impeachment are difficult for many Senators. But I have not written off the Senate. Each Senator still has the power to do the right thing," Demings tweeted Wednesday. Demings TWEET 1 Demings TWEET 2 3 Jason Crow While some members were widely expected to be recruited to the team of House managers, Crow seems to have flown in under the radar. Crow, an Army veteran, was elected to the House in 2018, defeating Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman and flipping the suburban Denver district for the Democrats for the first time since it was drawn in the early 1980s. Crow, a lawyer, serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Unlike some other freshman Democrats who won Republican-leaning districts in 2018, Crow has not been afraid to declare his support for Trump's impeachment. He co-authored an op-ed in September with other freshman Democrats, saying if the allegations about Trump's Ukraine dealings are true, then "we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense." Sylvia Garcia Unflappable. Politically incorrect. Unstoppable. James Bond and by extension Daniel Craig, is known for many things, but asking for help is not one of them. However, a new Heineken ad, released on Youtube today, exposes the divide between real-world Craig and Bond-world Craig in hilarious fashion. In doing so the commercial also reveals the problem with contemporary men: we take ourselves far too seriously. In this breath of comedic fresh air, Craig lends his newly developed comic chops (cheers, Knives Out) to the ad, providing more mirth in two minutes and eight seconds than the entire 6 hours and 50 minutes that make up the last three Bond films (well give Casino Royale a hall pass, as there were some classic quips in that one). The ad begins with Bond sunbaking by the seaside, next to a resort (filmed in Matera, Italy, but set in Argentina). He then gets a text on his smartphone notifying him his taxi has arrived. Buenos dias, Craig says to his taxi driver, an attractive (and presumably Argentinian, as the commercial is intended for Argentina) woman, who, upon recognising Craig as 007, embraces her inner Bond girl and takes off at warp speed to impress him. Craig looks visibly uncomfortable and gets out of the cab looking rather shaky. He then realises hes left his wallet and passport behind and races off to catch the cab. The skit continues in this vein for another minute and twenty seconds, culminating in Bond rejecting a Martini and ordering an alcohol free Heineken. Aside from being a piece of well placed (if sacrilegious) marketing, this commercial inadvertently reveals where the last three Bond movies a reflection of modern society and its changing tastes have gone wrong. The humour has been sucked out of them, and comedy has been relegated to ads, as society takes itself ever more seriously. Pierce Brosnan along with John Cleese was one of the first to point this out (in the context of Bond), criticising the 007 franchise for losing its subtle humour. As The Irish Post reported in 2018, according to Brosnan, the far-fetched nature of the films, complete with inventive gadgets and amusing innuendos, was part of their appeal in the first place. Speaking in an interview with The Rake magazine, the 65-year-old argued that the franchise has lost its way after it was forced to reinvent bond as a more brooding character, The Irish Post reported. It is different now they have given it a much more muscular, dynamic twist. But just because we live in a time of scandals and outrage doesnt mean you cant make jokes. In fact, it gives comedy even more power just look at Ricky Gervais. And if you arent at heart prejudiced that should come through in your humour, even if you flirt with controversial topics. Hopefully, the directors of No Time To Die are aware of this and have had the cojones to be brave. Only time (and the second of April, 2020) will tell. Read Next SILVER SPRING, Md. A federal judge on Wednesday halted President Donald Trumps executive order that gave state and local officials the ability to shut the door on refugees, and ignited a fierce debate in communities about how welcoming the United States should be. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland said in his ruling that the presidents order flies in the face of clear Congressional intent of the 1980 Refugee Act by allowing state and local governments to block the resettlement of refugees in their jurisdictions. In issuing a preliminary injunction, Messitte said the process should continue as it has for nearly 40 years, with refugee resettlement agencies deciding where a person would best thrive. Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and HIAS a Jewish nonprofit filed the lawsuit in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Nov. 21. They said they already work closely with state and local officials before resettling refugees in an area. They called the order an attempt at a state-by-state ban on refugees. Messitte agreed. It grants them veto power. Period, the judge wrote. The Trump order, which was issued in September and had been set to go into effect in June, required agencies to get written consent from state and local officials before resettling refugees in their jurisdictions. Trump said he acted to respect communities that believe they do not have the jobs or other resources to be able to take in refugees. The White House said in a statement that the ruling was preposterousand that Congress under the Refugee Act afforded the president authority over the refugee resettlement process. Another lawless district court has asserted its own preferred immigration policy in place of the laws of the United States and, in so doing, robbed millions of American citizens of their voice and their say in a vital issue directly affecting their communities, the statement said. The order was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to thrust states and cities into immigration policy. It caused heated debates and raucous meetings in several towns from North Dakota to Tennessee, and put Republican governors in an uncomfortable position between immigration hardliners who want to shut the door and some Christian evangelicals who believe helping refugees is a moral obligation. Others say refugees are vital to fill jobs and keep rural communities afloat. Trump has brought the order up on the campaign trail. At a Minneapolis rally in October, he said Washington leaders had sent large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers. The ruling comes less than a week after Texas became the first state to say it did not want more refugees. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a letter released Jan. 10 that Texas, which took in more refugees than any other state during the 2018 fiscal year, has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system. Abbotts office did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Wednesdays ruling. Refugees have the right to move anywhere in the U.S. after their initial resettlement, but at their own expense. The head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Krish OMara Vignarajah, said Trumps order was already causing irreparable harm to refugee families. Agencies were forced to dedicate time and resources to getting written consents instead of focusing on efforts to help refugees integrate with language classes and job training. Agencies have gotten consents from 42 states. Mark Hetfield, the head of HIAS, estimated about 1,800 refugees this year will be resettled in Texas, where most have family members already, unless the Trump administration appeals the ruling and wins. Mayors from the states major cities have welcomed them. Ali Al Sudani, chief programs officer for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, said many refugees were anxious after Abbotts announcement. One Iraqi man contacted Al Sudani to say that he was in the process of being approved to go to Texas and asked whether he should request another state instead. Al Sudani called Wednesdays ruling great news. But we dont want this to polarize different communities even further, he said. I hope and wish that everyone would come and see the fact that this is the right thing to do. The Trump administration has capped the number of refugee admissions at 18,000 for the current fiscal year. About 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. during the past fiscal year; between 150,000 and 200,000 remain in the pipeline for possible U.S. resettlement while they live abroad, according to plaintiffs attorney Linda Evarts, of the International Refugee Assistance Project. ___ Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press reporter Nomaan Merchant in Houston contributed to this report. ___ This version corrects that Trump issued the order in September, not November. SAGINAW, MI A West Branch man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at an apartment complex near Saginaw Valley State University has pleaded no contest to a charge of seduction. Donovan P. Moyer, 19, on Friday, Jan. 10, appeared before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Manvel Trice III and pleaded no contest to the charge. It is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine. The Michigan statute, which dates to 1931, states Any man who shall seduce and debauch any unmarried woman shall be guilty of a felony. In exchange for Moyers plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with an incapacitated victim causing injury. That charge involves penetration and is a life offense. The court also agreed to sentence Moyer within his advisory guidelines, which have yet to be calculated. Prosecutors said multiple factors led them to believe it was the best way to resolve the case. By pleading no contest as opposed to guilty, Moyer did not verbally admit to having committed a crime. Trice had to rely on court documents to enter a conviction on the record. Prosecutors previously alleged a party had taken place on Aug. 26, 2018, at Campus Village at Cardinal Center, a privately owned complex located across Pierce Road from Saginaw Valley State University in Kochville Township. The party was happening in at least one unit and outside. A 21-year-old female resident later told police that Moyer, who had been an attendee of the party, had been making advances toward her. Moyer eventually sexually assaulted her in her apartment while she was incapacitated, prosecutors have alleged. Authorities issued a warrant for Moyer in May and he was arraigned on June 6, the day after his 19th birthday. Moyer is free on bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 28. The seduction charge is often found on websites listing so-called dumb laws throughout the country, akin to other Michigan laws banning the sale of motor vehicles on Sundays and prohibiting drunkenness on trains. The ASK lobster pasta dish was made with a lobster and fish mix (Wales News) A national restaurant chain has apologised after it was found one of their lobster dishes was somewhat lacking in lobster meat. ASK Italian had been selling the Aragosta e Gamberoni lobster and king prawns pasta dish for 14.95 in its 112 outlets around the UK for years. But instead of lobster chunks, the meal was made with 70p worth of a lobster and fish mix - a cheaper product which is a fraction of the cost of lobster. The lack of lobster in the dish was spotted by a Swansea Council trading standards officer during a routine visit to a branch in the city. Consumers misled over ingredients, court told Swansea Magistrates Court heard consumers had been "misled" about the true nature of the dish and its cheap ingredients but the company insists it was a "labelling mistake", and there was no intention to deceive. Lee Reynolds, prosecuting on behalf of the local authority, said the issue came to light after an inspector visited ASK on Swansea's Wind Street in March 2019. He said the council officer selected a dish from the menu called Aragosta e Gamberoni which was described on the menu as "lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce with a hint of chilli" and asked to see the ingredients. The actual lobster content is 35%, with a similar amount of white fish and alongside ingredients such as potato starch and soy protein (Wales News) The barrister said the officer was shown the raw ingredients but to her "it did not look like or resemble lobster meat" so she asked to see the original packaging. When the inspector was shown the pack it turned out to be something called Lobster Sensations, which described itself as a delicious blend of real lobster and lobster flavoured seafood made with surimi, a fully cooked fish protein". The actual lobster content of the frozen sensation is 35%, with a similar amount of white fish and then ingredients such as potato starch and soy protein. Mr Reynolds said the projected sales of Aragosta e Gamberoni around the country totalled around 3m. Read more from Yahoo News UK: Scotland will one day rejoin the EU, SNP MEP insists The rabbi warning that antisemitism has become dire in Britain Story continues Teenage boy hauled before court for slamming his bedroom door He said: "This was being sold as lobster throughout the national chain of restaurants. We say consumers did not get what the consumer was entitled to expect when ordering the dish. They were not receiving, we say, proper lobster." He conceded while the description had been "misleading", there was little or no risk to safety. The court heard that once the council raised the issue with the company, the dish in question was removed from menus around the country. Azzurri Restaurants Ltd, the parent company of ASK, had previously pleaded guilty to selling a food with a misleading label as to its substance between December 2016 and March 2019 contrary to the Food Safety Act 1990 when representatives of the firm appeared in court. Swansea Magistrates Court heard consumers had been "misled" about the true nature of the dish (Geograph) Oliver Campbell, for the defendants, said the firm apologised for, and regretted, the "error" it had made. He said it had been a "mistake in the description given to the dish", and there had been no intention to mislead. Mr Campbell said the firm "strongly denied" there had been a financial motivation behind the offending. He told the court the company had a turnover of 260m per year, with ASK accounting for 94m of that. ASK falsely represented nature of pasta dish He added that in 133 visits from environmental health officers, and a "significant" number of visits from trading standards officers, at branches all over the country over the years, no other council had raised issue and there was no evidence any customers had complained. District judge Neale Thomas said in his view the way the dish had been described on the menu by the firm was a "deliberate action", and that it "falsely represented" the nature of the food. But he said he was not convinced there was "evidence of profiteering" by the company in its actions. Giving Azzurri Restaurants Ltd a one-third discount for its guilty plea he fined the firm 40,000. The district judge added that Swansea Council was to be commended for uncovering the issue. The government decree on non-cash payment, once promulgated, will pave the way for mobile money to develop in Vietnam. Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung at a banking conference held in early January said Vietnam once had the opportunity to become one of the first countries applying mobile money in payment, but it missed the opportunity because of slow licensing. Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung Hung stressed that Mobile Money would be a solution that helps accelerate non-cash payment. Mobile Money will train people and turn them into banks clients. Therefore, there is no need for banks to feel worried about the development of Mobile Money. In Vietnam, the proportion of credit card users remains modest, but the mobile subscriber density is 100 percent. More than 90 percent of the transactions worth less than VND100,000 are made in cash. In such conditions, Mobile Money would be a strong solution to accelerate non-cash payment. The story here is that technology can solve many problems of the country. However, we need to renovate, dare to renovate and accept renovations, Hung said. According to Hung, many people, especially the poor and people in rural and remote areas, are left out of the formal finance system, i.e they cannot access official banking services. Mobile Money is the solution for these people access services and pay fee on internet platform, such as healthcare, education, finance and social security. Mobile Money would lead to the birth of businesses in the field of digital economy and technology startups. Mobile Money will be the most popular payment method, accepted by startups, especially innovative startups. Mobile Money would lead to the birth of businesses in the field of digital economy and technology startups. Mobile Money will be the most popular payment method, accepted by startups, especially innovative startups. We expect Mobile Money to contribute to the explosion of startups in Vietnam, Hung said. Mobile Money will also enhance the access to financial services. In Kenya, after three years of Mobile Money deployment, the proportion of use odbanking services increased by 19 percent. Mobile Money, with small transaction value, turns people into bank clients, is not a rival of banks. An analyst said that people and businesses are looking forward to getting licenses to try Mobile Money. The State Bank of Vietnam and Ministry of Information and Communication will have to make greater effort to pave the way for Mobile Money to get licenses for trial in early 2020. 2020 will be the year of digital transformation, which aims for a digital country. This is a comprehensive transformation. Some business sectors will be prioritized to be transformed first, including the banking sector. Thanh Lich Can e-wallets make a profit in Vietnam? More and more players have joined the e-wallet sector, but all of them understand that they cannot expect big profits at this moment. A medical device consultant can provide research, regulatory, communication and product development services, so that you can launch your product in the market with confidence. Recent advances in technology and research has accelerated the growth of the medical device industry, which is growing at an unprecedented rate. It is predicted that the medical device market will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% over the coming years, leading to its value to top $200 billion in 2023, according to Fitch Solutions. Medical devices are heavily regulated. Its a long and painstaking process to convert a potential idea for a product into a viable medical device that can be launched in the market. However, as the world also turns to remote working and freelancing, many of the steps involved in the medical device development process are being outsourced to specialist freelancers. According to a recent FlexJobs report, the industry with the maximum number of remote workers is Health & Medicine. And this is not surprising, as many small businesses and startups do not have the resources to hire full-time specialists. Biostatisticians, medical device consultants, freelance medical writers all of them play a big role in shaping the success of a medtech product. Here are 3 ways a medical device consultant can help you accelerate time to market. 1. Regulatory writing Launching a medical product involves meeting several regulatory requirements and getting all the licenses and certifications required to prove the safety and efficacy of your device. Irrespective of which country you live in, you need to get approval from your local regulatory body such as the FDA or MHRA. The EU MDR, in particular, has heavily impacted the way medical devices are manufactured and distributed within Europe. Putting together all the regulatory documents can be a daunting process, especially for someone doing it for the first time. However, there are experts who specialize in just that, and are able to take on the task of compiling all the documentation in the required format to increase your chances of approval. While preparing for the EU MDR, for example, its useful to work with CER medical writers, who can prepare comprehensive clinical evaluation reports, which form a big part of the required technical documentation. Patient anonymization also needs to be upheld across documentation, which is especially tricky in the age of wearable trackers and other devices which can help you easily identify a patient. An article by Raquel Billiones in the journal Medical Writing urges medical writers to take extra measures to make sure that there is no de-anonymisation of patient data. Hiring an expert medical writer can help you ensure patient privacy and safety. 2. Clinical trials and statistical analyses If youre conducting a pre-clinical study or a clinical trial, you need to make sure that your data is accurate at all times and is being interpreted correctly. Before submitting the results of your research for approval, or for publication in a journal, you might want to get your data verified and validated. Consulting a medical statistician can help you establish whether the methodology used was correct, and whether your research study was robust enough to give you a reliable outcome. Take for example, Alandra Medical, a Mexico-based medical device company. They had just finished a preclinical trial to measure the efficacy of their device and were looking for someone to help them verify their results and prepare a report for publication. They hired a Netherlands-based biostatistician on Kolabtree, who conducted a statistical analysis and helped make their data publication-ready within a week. 3. Product communication One of the most important things required for the successful launch of a medical device is to have all the documents and communication required for you to make a compelling case to all buyers and stakeholders. This may involve putting together a set of case studies, a literature review, research reports, and more. Outsourcing these tasks to experts can help you save time, while ensuring that you can put out error-free, expert-reviewed content. For example, Jon Mendelsson, the COO of Chemo Mouthpiece, a medical device company, was looking for an expert to prepare all the documentation he needed for launching his product in the market. Through Kolabtree, he hired an India-based scientific writer, who helped him put together a summary of outcomes, a literature review and a research report that was required for the launch of his product. Jon used the report to effectively position and sell his device in the market. As highly-qualified scientists and PhDs turn to consulting and freelancing, companies have a growing pool of on-demand talent now available to them. Medical device companies, in particular, can tap into this easily-available expertise to develop and launch safe, compliant and effective products. Need to hire a medical device consultant? Simply post your project on Kolabtree and get quotes from qualified experts. Northern Ireland Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has agreed to meet the family of Belfast murder victim Robert McCartney. The father-of-two, aged 33 and from the Short Strand, was stabbed and beaten by IRA members outside Magenniss bar in Belfast city centre in January 2005 and died the next day. It has been reported that Ms Hargey was in Magenniss the night the attack took place but she has said she did not see the incident. She said: I have always said I have fully complied with any investigation into what happened to Robert McCartney. I have always said that I am willing to meet with the family and if that invitation or request comes forward I will arrange that. The minister and former Belfast Lord Mayor has previously said she was never asked to make a statement to detectives. Roberts sister Catherine, another four sisters and his fiancee Bridgeen Hagans have fought a long campaign to bring his killers to justice. They raised the issue at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and met then US president George W Bush at the White House. Flash The UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution to enlarge an advisory body of its Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee). The resolution decides to increase the membership of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) from 16 to 21, beginning from Jan. 1, 2021. The resolution assigns five seats each to the regional groups of Africa and the Asia-Pacific; four each to Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western European and other states; three to Eastern Europe. The contentious draft resolution was adopted 120-48 with four abstentions, as orally amended. The Russian oral amendment to the draft increases the number of seats for Eastern Europe from two to three. The ACABQ is responsible for expert examination of the program budget of the United Nations. Its members, including at least three financial experts of recognized standing, are elected by the General Assembly for a period of three years, on the basis of broad geographical representation. Members serve in a personal capacity and not as representatives of member states. The ACABQ holds three sessions a year with total meeting time between nine and 10 months per year. Japan asked for the postponement of the vote, citing the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly. Japan's motion was rejected in a recorded vote by the assembly. Croatia, on behalf of the European Union, then put forward an oral amendment to the draft resolution, referring the enlargement of the ACABQ to the Fifth Committee. It argued that the issue had always been handled by the Fifth Committee in the past. The United States and some other Western countries voiced support for the EU amendment, which was rejected in a recorded vote by the assembly. Introducing the draft to the General Assembly before the vote on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, a representative of the observer state of Palestine noted that the last enlargement of the ACABQ took place in 1977. Since then, UN membership increased by a quarter. The current distribution between regional groups within the ACABQ is incompatible with the objective of broad geographical representation and constitutes an unfair situation that should not have lasted this long, said Majed Bamya, the Palestinian representative. The draft resolution presented by the Group of 77 and China offers a more balanced and just distribution that corresponds to the reality of the UN membership in each regional group and ensures increased participation of developing countries, he said. Given the importance of the ACABQ and its role for the entire organization, broad geographical representation should not be denied nor further delayed, he said. A drug lord and six cohorts who flooded streets with 70million worth of cocaine have been jailed for 111 years in a huge blow to the county lines network around the M25. Led by Dean Beeton, 37, they made around 2.7 million a week, as Giovanni Luciano, 33, arranged sales from his prison cell using a smuggled encrypted mobile phone. Judge Elaine Coello sentenced seven gangsters at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between December 2016 and January 2018. Boxes seized by police during an operation targeting the supply of Class A drugs across London Seven gangsters supplied a tonne of high-purity cocaine worth up to 70 million to dealers around the M25 Dean Beeton, 37 (left), was the leader of the gang as they made 2.7 million a week, while Giovanni Luciano (right) arranged sales from his prison cell Wholesale quantities of the Class A drug, with a 90 per cent purity, were transported from the West Midlands to safe houses around London, from where runners would sell cocaine across London and beyond. 'People who are caught engaging in the wholesale distribution of cocaine can expect severe sentences and you are at the top of the criminal drug supply network,' the judge said. 'You cause the most damage because you are the main source of supply to the wholesalers, drug dealers and ultimately individuals.' Perry Davies, 32 (left), who was jailed for 16 years at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Jason Holland, 47 (right), was jailed for 12 years Mark Oldfield, 41 (left), who was jailed for 10 years at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Gary Piper, 37 (right), was jailed for 15 years Judge Coello said a metric tonne was a 'conservative estimate' of the drugs supplied by the men during the period - worth around 30 million wholesale and with a street value of 70 million. 'It is a scourge on society, the criminal organisations like the one you engaged in are the worst of the worst,' she told the men. Beeton, from Watford, was jailed for 27 years, while Luciano, who is serving a previous sentence for supplying cocaine, was handed a 17-year jail term. Perry Davis, 33, from South Oxhey, Watford, got 16 years; Gary Piper, 38, also from South Oxhey, 15 years; Jason Holland, 48, from Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, 12 years; Mark Oldfield, 42, of no fixed address, 10 years; and Callum Doherty, 29, from Fulham, 14 years. Callum Doherty, 28, who was jailed for 14 years at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs The gangsters were jailed after a three-year police investigation dubbed Operation Louboutin after boxes of designer shoes were discovered alongside a stolen 1 million Sir Stanley Spencer painting. The items were discovered in jailed drug dealer Harry Fisher's home as part of the inquiry, with the painting having been taken from the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Berkshire in 2012. Wednesday's sentencing brought to an end a much wider operation which saw police seize more than 280kg of cocaine, 8.5kg of heroin, 15,000 MDMA tablets and 45kg of cannabis. Twenty drug distribution networks were smashed and around 100 people were arrested and charged, leading to prison sentences totalling more than 800 years. A dozen viable firearms were also recovered, including a Scorpion submachine gun with ammunition. Temporary Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling from the Met's Specialist Crime Command said: 'The sentencing of these seven men marks the end of this investigation, and the end of a long-running, complex and sophisticated operation which has resulted in the conviction of more than 100 individuals for being involved in the supply of drugs. 'There is an inextricable link between the supply of drugs and the violence we have seen unfolding on the streets of London. 'By dismantling numerous networks responsible for the supply of drugs, this operation has undoubtedly prevented incidents of violence and potentially saved lives. 'The individuals in this case attempted to prevent us from detecting their criminality and used a range of physical and digital means to do so. 'But with the collaboration of specialist crime officers, forensic teams, analysts, we have been able to prove unquestionably their involvement.' Fisher was jailed for eight years and eight months at Kingston Crown Court in 2017 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, acquiring criminal property and handling stolen goods. Advertisement The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were cheered wildly with Kate hugging their 'noisy' supporters today on their first joint engagement since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit as senior royals. William and Kate both grinned as they were swamped by well-wishers as they put on a tactile performance outside Bradford's City Hall today. Fans including dozens of school children handed the couple bunch-after-bunch of flowers and William gave his wife a single white rose as they got back to royal business amid the turmoil caused by Harry and Meghan's abdication crisis. At one point the screaming crowd was so loud the Duke beamed and said to a group: 'Hello! You're the noisy corner - You're in fine voice', sparking squeals of excitement from some women waving Union flags and clutching bouquets for him and his wife. William and Kate visibly enjoyed their warm reception in Bradford as the storm over Harry's decision to leave Britain for Canada rumbled on and rumours of their rift with the Sussexes. The couple had first visited a community project that aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren in the West Yorkshire city. The destination will raise eyebrows due to the upset caused to the Queen who was forced to agree to let her grandson Harry emigrate to Canada with Meghan and Archie this week. After meeting excited crowds in Bradford's Centenary Square, the Cambridges headed to British Asian restaurant chain MyLahore where Kate giggled as she made and drank a Kulfi milkshake while her husband knocked up a mango lassi, which he called 'delicious' as he took a sip. Kate is handed white roses in Centenary Square in Bradford today as crowds went wild for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today One young supporter who was waiting in the cold had a brief chat with the Duchess who then gave him a big hug, thanking him for seeing them The Duchess complimented these children on their school uniforms and played with one girl's hat before asking them if they were 'freezing' William joked with a section of the crowds that they were the 'noisy corner' as the people of Bradford came out in force to support the Cambridges William and Kate were smiling and tactile with the West Yorkshire crowds who were delighted to see them there Kate shakes hands with local children who cheered the Duchess and shouted her name as the royals were shaken by Prince Harry's decision to walk away from life as a senior royal Kate was giggling as she helped make kulfi milkshakes at MyLahore restaurant, which has taken inspiration from Lahore, considered the food capital of Pakistan The future Queen then sampled the fruit of her labour and clearly enjoyed the milkshake swirled with fresh fruit After excited scenes in Bradford's Centenary Square, the Duke and Duchess arrived at MyLahore's flagship restaurant in a navy blue Range Rover. Small crowds cheered as they got out of the vehicle and a group of children waved Union flags from their pushchairs. The couple were greeted by restaurant CEO Asghar Ali and managing director Shakoor Ahmed. They are expected to hear about some of the charitable work that the restaurant does to support the community. William and Kate's first stop in the restaurant was in the kitchen, where they met students from Bradford College taking part in an apprenticeship scheme. They then went on to make mango and kulfi milkshakes under the guidance of operations director Ishfaq Farooq. The duke and duchess chose ice cream to add to their drinks and mixed them using blenders. William said his milkshake was 'delicious' and went on to ask staff about the origin of ingredients used. MyLahore is a British Asian restaurant that takes its inspiration from Lahore, which is known as the food capital of Pakistan. William used a blender to make some traditional drinks while his wife laughs uproariously at his expense William tried his wife's handmade milkshake while Kate sampled her husband's lassi at MyLahore in Bradford William shared jokes with the kitchen staff and learned about some of the community work undertaken by the restaurant The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge smile as they speak to young people and employers at Bradford City Hall today Prince William waves to the crowds gathered outside Bradford City Hall after leaving with his wife Kate today Kate shakes hands with well-wishers outside Bradford City Hall today during the royal visit to West Yorkshire The Duchess of Cambridge smiles as she holds a child's hand during a walkabout outside Bradford City Hall this afternoon Were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lured to Canada by chocolate treats? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were such big fans of a Canadian treat served to them by diplomats that even they asked to take some home with them - just a week before deciding to move to Canada permanently. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a reception at Canada's high commission in London just days before they announced their plan to step back from senior royal duties. They were served chocolate wafer Nanaimo bars, prompting diplomats to joke that they helped 'sealed the deal' - although they were unaware of the prospective move. A source told the i's deputy political editor Hugo Gye: 'They loved the chocolate - at the end of the night they even asked if they could take a plate of it home with them.' Canada's High Commissioner to the UK, Janice Charette, said Harry and Meghan would be able to 'enjoy some privacy' when they move to the country in the near future. She joked: 'I think it was their visit to Canada House last week that sealed the deal!' Advertisement Today's visit to the West Yorkshire city was William and Kate's first joint public engagement together since a charity event in London two months ago on November 12 for their volunteer text support service Shout. The engagement in Bradford was announced just last week on January 8 while tensions within the Royal Family were at a high before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said one day later that they were stepping down. It has been a tumultuous week for the royals which also saw legal documents published in the battle between Meghan and the Mail on Sunday that could lead to her father testifying against her should the case go to trial. William and Kate will also meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project - a workshop helping grandparents to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and giving advice on raising children in the 21st century. The couple - who have three children, George, six, Charlotte, four, and Louis, one - will also visit young people, employers and families at projects that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities. Kate cut a stylish figure as she mixed designer with high-street - wearing a military-style khaki coat by Alexander McQueen and a 90 printed black and white flowing dress from Zara which has since been reduced to 16. The royal completed her outfit with a pair of 520 black block heels by Gianvito Rossi and a 550 Aspinal of London midi 'Mayfair bag', as well as earrings by Zeen that she wore on her royal tour of Pakistan last year. William may have been relieved about the warm reception as the storm over his brother's exit from Britain rumbled on Kate smiles and waves at a group of school children who lined up to meet the Duchess of Cambridge in Bradford today Kate smiled and laughed as she spoke to primary school children in Bradford's Centenary Square The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Bradford City Hall today to hear about life in the city from young locals The couple were greeted by dignitaries before going into City - Kate laughing as she and her husband took different routes up a grand central staircase. Inside they sat down with a group of young people from across the city who have been noted for their volunteering and community work. Sitting down on a sofa William and Kate listened intently as the teenagers introduced themselves. They chatted at length with Caitlund Roberts, 19, who talked to them about STEM subjects and being a woman in engineering. 'STEM is something we have been going around asking about a lot,' said William, 'getting girls into engineering. ' He asked: 'How did you find the journey getting into it. Easy? Difficult? What more can be done?' Caitlund told them eloquently about the 'stigma' she sometimes felt the profession came with for women. There was, she said, a misnomer that women wouldn't be good with their hands and said there was an urgent need for more apprenticeships. Kate also chatted to Rosena Nawaz about mental health issues and asked her: 'Do you think a lot of your friends are talking about mental health as topic of conversation? Is this something people your age are talking about? Is there a big conversation around anxiety and depression? 'What are the services like in Bradford for mental health?' asked William. He talked about the need for better 'mental fitness'. 'We all look after our bodies, go to the gym, keep fit. But we need to think about our mental fitness each day too. There's a clinical side to mental health but we need to keep our minds health and positive every day. It's about mental fitness too,' he said. Liaba Kazmi, 15, told the couple how she lived in an area of Bradford called Carlton Bolling and how it was renowned as one of the most deprived and 'roughest' areas of the city and wanted to become a politician or a police officer to facilitate change. She movingly described seeing children of 'six or seven' hanging around on street corners without their parents and added: 'Just because Carlton Bolling is known for having the biggest proportion of drug dealers doesn't mean I am a drug dealer. There are such stereotypes there. There is a saying where I come from that a five-year-old can find a drug dealer quicker than a police officer can, it's true, it's absolutely true. I see these kids hanging around on street corners at 10 o'clock at night without their parents. 'Why am I living in society that feels it is fine not to follow the rules? I feel like I have to do something. But I can't sweep the broom on my own, I have to have a good group of people to help me. If we don't start cleaning the mess now, it will be harder to clean up.' She laughed out loud when William smiled and said: 'I can see why you want to be a politician or a police officer. I know just the right lady! The fact that this bothers you is good, you want to make a difference. You see that and you think 'that's not right', this is my home town and why is this happening. ' 'You want to break those generational roles,,' added Kate, 'otherwise those five and six-year-olds won't know any different. 'Well done, it's a big mission.' Kate arrives for a visit to City Hall in Bradford today to join a group of young people from across the community The Duchess of Cambridge visits City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square to meet people in the West Yorkshire city today The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit projects in Bradford which support the community and promote cohesion Prince William and Kate go on a tour of Bradford this afternoon as they meet young people and employers The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Bradford City Hall to hear about life in the city in West Yorkshire today The royal visitors then went into a meeting local businessmen and members of the Chamber of Commerce including Younis Chaudry, whose firm, Regal Foods, started supplying snack to Indian newsagents and now boasts a multi-million pound turnover, employing 160 local people. They also met local board member Adeeba Malik CBE who told them: 'Your trip to Pakistan, please don't underestimate the importance of it. It was phenomenal. It was so powerful.' 'We loved it,' William grinned. Outside City Hall the couple split for a walkabout, Kate greeting a group of flag waving children from Moorfield School in nearby Ilkley. One man also asked him to sign a little more after using British Sign Language to congratulated a recipient at an investiture yesterday. 'I can only sign Congratulations Alex,' he laughed. 'Are you all freezing?' He asked, and turning to a cheering group: 'This is the noisy corner. You are in fine voice!' Before they left the couple greeted Esme Hudson, nine, and Jimmy Hayes, nine, who gave them flowers on behalf of Visit Yorkshire tourism. After speaking with young people about their career prospects, the duke and duchess spoke with local business leaders. William took the opportunity to speak with one of them about his beloved Aston Villa FC. Speaking about injured goalkeeper Tom Heaton, he said: 'Poor Tom, it's a horrible injury.' He agreed that new signing Danny Drinkwater needs 'more game time' and joked: 'I realise we're going to start talking about football.' When one young man told the couple that he hopes to work in video games, William asked: 'What games do you play?' The student and Kate both then laughed when the duke followed up with: 'Just checking.' The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square today Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge smile as they arrive for the engagement in Bradford today The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge return to royal duties today in Bradford for their first official engagement of the year During their visit to Bradford City Hall, the royal couple are speaking to young people about life in the West Yorkshire city The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at City Hall in Bradford today as she goes inside with her husband Prince William Huge cheers greeted the royal couple as they entered and came out of City Hall to meet members of the public today The Duchess of Cambridge waves as she visits City Hall in Bradford's Centenary Square today to join a group of young people Kate smiles after arriving in Bradford today at the start of her tour of the city with Prince William The Duke of Cambridge smiles as he arrives at Bradford City Hall today to hear about life in the city from young locals Huge cheers greeted the royal couple as they came out of the City Hall to meet members of the public. Kate smiled as one little girl presented her with a small bouquet of flowers. They will go on to visit one of the West Yorkshire city's Khidmat Centres, which focus on helping the most vulnerable members of the community. While there, William and Kate will join in a session by Better Start Bradford, which delivers more than 20 projects to pregnant women and families with children under the age of four. The final engagement will see them joining a workshop run by Near Neighbours, which helps people in diverse communities to get to know each other better, build relationships of trust and improve their neighbourhoods. Today's visit to the West Yorkshire city is William and Kate's first joint public engagement together in two months Prince William smiles as he talks to officials welcoming him to Bradford City Hall for the royal visit this afternoon The couple - who have three children, George, six, Charlotte, four, and Louis, one - are visiting young people this afternoon The Duchess of Cambridge arrives in Bradford today as the royal couple visit a number of projects in the city William and Kate arrived in Bradford today to cheers from several hundred well-wishers on Centenary Square During their visit to Bradford City Hall today, they are speaking with young people about life in the West Yorkshire city The couple are visiting a number of projects today that promote cohesion within one of the UK's most diverse cities William and Kate's visit comes just two days after the Queen agreed Harry and Meghan could step back as senior royals The royals are visiting projects in Bradford that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities The Duke and Duchess arrive for a visit to Bradford today to join a group of young people from across the community Kate and William were seen out together twice last month on December 25 at the Queen's estate Sandringham for a church service and a week before that on December 18 at the Queen's Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace. Yesterday, the Duchess of Sussex was seen for just the second time since the royal crisis began at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre in Vancouver discussing 'issues affecting women in the community'. The shelter posted a photograph on its Facebook page, with the caption 'Look who we had tea with today! The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community.' Meghan did not join the royal summit at Sandringham with the Queen and senior royals by phone earlier, instead relying on her husband to put forward their case for a new independent life. After the summit the Queen issued a statement which sanctioned the couple's new 'independent life' away from full-time royal duties and she said they would begin a transition period living in the UK and Canada. Prince William and Kate arrive in Bradford today after what has been a tumultuous week for the royals The Duchess of Cambridge listens to what is being said during her visit with William to Bradford today The couple are due to visit a number of projects today that promote cohesion within one of the UK's most diverse cities The Duchess of Cambridge brushes her hair as she arrives today for a visit to City Hall in Centenary Square, Bradford The visit today comes just days after the Queen agreed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could step back as senior royals After speaking with young people about career prospects, the Duke and Duchess spoke with local business leaders today The Duke of Cambridge returned to royal duties today in Bradford following a tumultuous week for the Royal Family The Duchess of Cambridge meets people outside City Hall during her visit to Bradford today The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford today to join a group of young people William and Kate arrive in Bradford today to cheers from several hundred well-wishers on Centenary Square The duchess is said to be the driving force behind the move. Harry and Meghan spent six weeks over the festive period based in the Canadian province of British Columbia staying at an exclusive property on Vancouver Island. The duchess, a former actress, worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and knows the country well having lived there for seven years. Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Meghan's estranged father Thomas is prepared to give evidence against his own daughter in an extraordinary legal case. Mr Markle is expected to be called as a key witness for the defence in a court case she has brought against a newspaper. Mr Markle, 75, has given lawyers previously unseen text messages sent in the build-up to Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry that reveal the breakdown of the relationship between father and daughter. Some of the messages were detailed yesterday in defence papers filed at the High Court in London. Kate is today meeting representatives from local businesses who are helping young people into employment in Bradford Prince William and Kate arrive at Bradford City Hall as they are greeted by well-wishers and meet employers The Duchess is meeting representatives from employers and businesses who are helping young people into employment Prince William, left, enters a building as the Duchess of Cambridge waves to the crowd ahead of their meeting today The duke and duchess speak with local business leaders in Bradford today as well as young people on their career prospects The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at City Hall in Bradford to meet with representatives from local employers and businesses During their visit to Bradford City Hall today, they are speaking with young people about life in the West Yorkshire city The Duchess of Cambridge smiles as she walks behind a waving Prince William outside City Hall in Bradford today Kate is in a dress by Zara, a coat by Alexander McQueen and earrings by Zeen that she wore on her royal tour of Pakistan The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to City Hall in Bradford today on their first royal engagement of the year People hold Union Jack flags ahead of William and Kate meeting with the members of the public in Bradford today Security personnel keep watch atop a building ahead of the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today The documents say that after Mr Markle messaged his daughter saying he couldn't come to her wedding because he had been rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery and told not to fly on health grounds, he received a text that appeared to be from Prince Harry. The message admonished him, accused him of causing hurt to his daughter and did not ask about his health. It left Mr Markle 'deeply hurt'. In return, Mr Markle wrote: 'I've done nothing to hurt you Meghan or anyone else I'm sorry my heart attack is any inconvenience for you.' The Duchess of Sussex launched legal action against the Mail on Sunday last year after it published extracts of a letter she wrote to her father in August 2018. Meghan, 38, has accused the newspaper the sister paper of the Daily Mail of breaching her privacy, her data protection rights and her copyright when it published extracts. The MoS filed its defence to her case at the High Court in London yesterday. It denied her claims and argued there was a 'huge and legitimate public interest' in the Royal Family, including its 'personal and family relationships'. A smiling Meghan Markle was spotted yesterday leaving the Vancouver Island home where she and Prince Harry stayed over the holidays with Archie. She has been staying in the mansion since last week, but Archie was nowhere to be seen yesterday Yesterday, the Duchess of Sussex was seen for just the second time since the royal crisis began at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre in Vancouver, Canada, discussing 'issues affecting women in the community' The defence papers also said: Thomas Markle only released Meghan's letter to the world to show it was not the 'loving' plea her friends had been making out; He had kept her handwritten note private for months, and only revealed it to expose 'false' claims that the duchess had been reaching out to repair their relationship; He only decided to release extracts to the Press after she had allowed her friends to talk about the letter first in the US magazine People; That one of Meghan's best friends, Jessica Mulroney, once intervened to try to fix a 'favourable' article for her; Mr Markle had insisted he made multiple attempts to contact his daughter by phone call and by text message, but received no response; That apart from the August 2018 letter, Mr Markle had not heard from his daughter since he told her he was too ill to attend her wedding. He had never been introduced to her husband Prince Harry, nor met his grandson Archie. The Queen's statement in full on Monday after a day of showdown talks to decide the futures of Harry and Meghan The development follows Monday's Sandringham summit, which saw the Queen hold crisis talks about Meghan and Harry's role in the Royal Family after they announced their wish to step back from their royal duties. The duchess was last night pictured in Canada for the first time since she returned there following the bombshell 'Megxit' statement. She was seen boarding a sea plane from Vancouver Island which appeared to be destined for Whistler ski resort. Meghan launched her legal action against the MoS last year after it published excerpts of her letter to her father. Mr Markle gave the letter to the newspaper after unnamed friends of the duchess told the People magazine that she had written the 'loving' letter in an attempt to repair their relationship. Lawyers for the newspaper alleged that Meghan had 'knowingly' allowed her friends to leak details of the letter to the magazine effectively that she had helped to breach her own privacy. The Queen is pictured attending a service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, on January 12 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were last pictured in public together after visiting Canada House in London on January 7 Stressing that the Royal Family were public figures supported 'largely by public funds', the newspaper said: 'There is a huge and legitimate public interest in the Royal Family and activities, conduct and standards of behaviour of its members. 'This extends not merely to their public conduct, but to their personal and family relationships because those are integral to the proper functioning of the monarchy.' If the case goes before a judge, the paper said it would ask for Meghan to be forced to hand over all communications in which she had 'caused or permitted her friends to provide information about her to the media or to seek to influence what is published about her'. It could lead to the prospect of Meghan coming face to face with her father in the High Court. Mr Markle, a retired Hollywood lighting director who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, has said his daughter cut off all contact with him after her wedding, except for the letter at the centre of the case. If he were to be called as a witness, he would effectively have to brand his own daughter a liar who had invaded her own privacy. The Sussexes have said they will fund the legal proceedings privately. Queen of hugs! Kate Middleton channels her tactile sister-in-law Meghan Markle as she embraces a royal fan during visit to Bradford By Harriet Johnston For MailOnline Kate Middleton channeled her tactile sister-in-law Meghan Markle during a visit to Bradford today as she offered a warm embrace to a royal fan, telling him she had received cards he had made for her. The Duchess of Cambridge, 38, joined her husband Prince William, 37, at the City Hall, and made a beeline for Josh who had been standing in the crowd with his mother Sue, waiting to catch a glimpse of the couple. The Duchess of Cambridge hugged the boy, who has sensory autism, and told him she had received a wedding and baby cards he had made for her. Kate was seen chatting with the boy named Josh, holding his hand while they spoke, before she leaned in and offered him a huge hug. The tactile approach is similar to that taken by sister-in-law Meghan, 38, who is often seen greeting people with hugs on royal visits, despite it contradicting royal protocol. Kate Middleton, 38, put on an out-of-character tactile display while attending a walkabout at Bradford City Hall, where she was seen hugging Josh, who was waiting in the crowd with his mother Sue The Duchess of Cambridge was seen gently holding the boy's hand while they spoke in the city before offering him an embrace Kate and Prince William are currently undertaking a visit to Bradford and were about to take a tour of the city when the Duchess spotted Josh in the crowd. The royal made a beeline for the young boy, who was wrapped up warm in a red bobble hat and puffer jacket, before the two shared a warm embrace. Kate could be seen chatting to Josh, with the royal holding his hand throughout the conversation. Josh's mother Sue told MailOnline that they had a short conversation, saying: 'Kate came over, Josh gave her a hug, they had a little chat.' The royal could be seen offering Josh a warm embrace, in a move that reflected sister-in-law Meghan Markle's, 38, tactile approach She said Josh asked the Duchess if she and William had got the wedding cards and baby cards he had made for them, and Kate said 'Yes'. Sue added: 'Josh has autism so she was lovely and took her time chatting.' Josh has previously been pictured with a raft of celebrities, from Robbie Williams to Harry Styles and Ross Kemp to Tom Daley. He was also once photographed with Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and has also met a host of other celebrities. Josh's mother Sue went on to share several snaps of the delighted royal fan on Twitter, saying the Duchess said she had received cards he had made for her The delighted royal fan, who has sensory autism, had a 'little chat' with Kate, who told him she had received several cards he had made for her Josh has previously met other members of the royal family before, such as Sophie Wessex, as well as a whole host of celebrities including Robbie Williams Sue often shares snaps of her son with various celebrities on her social media page (pictured left, Josh with Ross Kemp and right, with Tom Daley) The move is different for the Duchess of Cambridge, who often offers the more traditional handshake on royal visits, and is similar to that used by Meghan on royal visits. The Duchess of Sussex has become somewhat known for her tactile approach while making royal appearances. In September, during the launch of her Smart Set collection with patronage Smart Works, Meghan was seen offering hugs to many of those in attendance. And in October, Meghan clashed with the organiser of the One World Summit when she performed a respectful curtsy while the Duchess caught her off guard by trying to offer a more informal hug. The Duchess of Sussex is often tactile while undertaking royal visits (pictured, hugging designer Misha Nonoo at the launch of the Smart Works capsule collection at John Lewis in Oxford Street, London) And in November, Meghan threw her arms out in favour of a hug (pictured) rather than curtsy as she arrived at Windsor Castle alongside husband Prince Harry, 35, The Duchess also insisted on a hug after the organiser of the One World summit attempted to offer her a curtsey in one moment caught on camera in November Days later, she offered another enormous hug to an organiser while attending a round-table discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World. There are no obligatory rules on greeting the Queen or her family members, but tradition dictates that men may wish to bow their heads while women perform a small curtsy. A handshake is also perfectly acceptable, but hugging is not customary. Last year, former butler to Prince Charles, Grant Harrold, suggested Meghan was 'showing that the British royal family is a modern 21st-century family' and 'carrying on Diana's tradition' by hugging children and adults. Meanwhile etiquette expert William Hanson revealed that American-raised Meghan would see using a hug as a form of greeting as common practice. Kate and husband Prince William are currently on a visit to Bradford for the day to visit young people across the community to learn about life in the city 'Meghan, being American, will be used to greeting with a hug as a standard greeting as that seems to be the norm in the US,' William said. 'Brits prefer to literally keep people at arm's length by using handshakes, saving hugs for close friends and family. 'However some Americans can interpret this as coldness, whereas some Brits would interpret a hug from a near stranger as insincere.' During today's visit, Prince William and Kate will take a tour of the city as they visit a community project that aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren. The royal was seen chatting and shaking hands with other members of the public after her tactile display They will meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project - a workshop series helping grandparents to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and giving them information about raising children in the 21st century. While in West Yorkshire, William and Kate will also visit young people, employers and families at a series of projects that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities. Today was the couple's first joint public engagement together since a charity event in London two months ago on November 12 for their volunteer text support service Shout. Lemon Tree Hotels announced the opening of hotel in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, under the Company's brand 'Lemon Tree Premier', located on the bank of holy Ganges. The hotel features 65 well-appointed rooms and suites, a multi-cuisine coffee shop-Citrus Caf banquet facilities, spa etc. The hotel shall be managed by Carnation Hotels, a subsidiary and the hotel management arm of Lemon Tree Hotels. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ALBANY - The more officials change the state's property tax relief program the more confusing it becomes. And they always change it. That was the message from local property tax assessors who testified Tuesday before the Assembly Property Taxation Committee on the two-decade-old STAR or School Tax Relief program designed to ease the pain of New Yorks highest-in-the-nation school property taxes. People get checks and they dont know what program they are in, committee Chairwoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, said of the numerous calls they get from homeowners regarding school taxes and STAR. Eighty percent of the people were not happy with the STAR changes. They were confused with the process, agreed Scott Shedler, the Ramapo town assessor and president of the state Association of Assessors. Taxation and Finance Executive Deputy Commissioner Andrew Morris said the agency has worked to keep up with the changes, most of which have been part of Gov. Andrew Cuomos budget proposals over the past few years. Weve come a long way and continue to seek to make the process even better, Morris said. Created in 1997 during Gov. George Pataki's administration, STAR provides a reduction in assessed valuation used to calculate school taxes. It exempts the first $30,000 on valuation, which can lead to savings of hundreds of dollars. The program is open for homeowners with incomes below $500,000. More for you STAR change could cost homeowners For those 65 and over and who make less than $88,050, the first $68,700 is exempted. Savings for homeowners in this age group can easily surpass $1,000. But changes in how those savings are realized continues to baffle homeowners. For instance, people who purchased homes after Aug. 1, 2015 need to apply to the program through the state rather than local assessors. And rather than getting a lower tax bill off the top, they are given a STAR rebate check in the fall. And this year, homeowners earning between $250,000 and $500,000 must also apply and get a check rather than a reduction. More Information To switch from the exemption to the rebate check for STAR, go to the state's Taxation and Finance website at https://www8.tax.ny.gov/STRP/strpGateway and follow the prompts. See More Collapse Additionally, theres a new inducement for those with incomes under $250,000 to apply for a rebate check rather than an exemption. Rebate checks can grow up to 2 percent annually. But the exemptions wont. So far 2,000 people have switched, according to the Department. The idea, said Queensbury Assessor Teri Ross, is that moving from an exemption to a check changes STAR on the state books from the expense to the revenue ledger. Thats because the checks are taken off ones income taxes. That helps the Cuomo Administration say theyve been keeping state expense growth below 2 percent annually, explained Ross. This administration is pushing the STAR check program because its a way to balance the budget, she said. Adding to the confusion are the separate tax cap rebate checks that have gone out. Homeowners whose districts have remained under the state tax cap get an additional check from the state, as a way to pressure schools to keep costs down. Galef said homeowners can get mixed up, not knowing if their check is for a STAR rebate or tax cap. These changes have led to mistakes by the state. The Syracuse Post-Standard late last year found that people who hadnt paid their school taxes were getting their STAR rebate checks from the state anyway. Thats because there was no way to check who was delinquent. Morris said they must by law mail the rebates prior to the school tax bills going out, usually in September. And they would need a statutory change to correct that. Were not in a position to withhold that advance payment based on the statute. School officials arent happy either. Thats because people who get the rebate checks receive a higher school tax bill each fall, and may not remember or realize they are getting a STAR check to offset some of the increases (school taxes tend to rise continually due to contractually increasing salaries and benefit costs for teachers and other employees). They see an increase in their tax bill that isnt actually an increase, Tom Tatun, deputy director of government relations at the state Association of School Business Officials. Thats led some taxpayers to oppose local school budgets, which are voted on in May, thinking that their taxes are going up more than they actually are. So whats on the assessors main wish list for STAR? What you can do is stop any changes in the STAR program, Ross said. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU BOSTON - Searches for the meaning of the word "imminent" spiked by 2,400 percent last week, according to Merriam-Webster. The reason was obvious: As debate raged over President Donald Trump's decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had described an attack plotted by Soleimani as "imminent," while at the same time acknowledging that he didn't know when or where the attack might have occurred. Photography, which taps into a similar predicament, demonstrates that this was no contradiction. The information conveyed by every photograph feels imminent: It's that you and everything you love will die or cease to be. Only, you don't know when. Look at almost any photograph, no matter how banal, and the recognition comes on like an involuntary shudder, a snakelike rustle in the undergrowth of your unconscious. The best writers on photography - Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Janet Malcolm - all acknowledged the medium's weird death-hauntedness. It ambushed me again in "Reimagining Home," a photography exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Small but potent, the show consists of two discrete bodies of work by two Iranian photographers: Bahman Jalali, who died in 2010 at age 65, and Gohar Dashti, who was taught by Jalali in the early 2000s. Neither confronts death directly. But both address war, displacement and the ringing dissonance of their country's modern history. Both funnel poetic responses through an acute self-consciousness about photography. Jalali's "Image of Imagination" photographs layer Iranian photos from different eras, one over the other. The effect is like looking in a storefront window and simultaneously seeing both the interior and the reflection of the street outside. ("Iran is amassed with layers and layers of thoughts and imageries," wrote the great modern Iranian artist and scholar, Parviz Tanavoli. "How could one be involved with one layer and ignore the rest?") Old studio portraits of women, for instance, hover in the spaces between an elegant calligraphic sign on a once-thriving photography studio in Isfahan, since vandalized with red slashing brushstrokes. After the Iranian Revolution, censors regularly destroyed such images of women and attacked or shut down the studios where they were made. Iran's traumatic history folds in on itself here until it is almost asphyxiated. Yet the images have abstract beauty. Dashti's photographs show large rooms in abandoned buildings in Mashhad, the second most populous city in Iran. There are no people in Dashti's "Home" series, unlike almost all her earlier work. The abandoned buildings are converted, instead, into stage sets for nature. Dashti fills them with parti-colored poppies in loamy soil, tall reeds, mossy grass or decaying firs. The idea of bringing nature indoors has become commonplace in recent art (think of the installations of Olafur Eliasson, Martin Roth or Anya Gallaccio). But Dashti's desolate homes suddenly thronging with botanical life are poignant in ways that feel specific to Iran. Her series riffs on the idea that nature becomes a protagonist when human populations are displaced by war. For Dashti, the idea is not academic. She was born in 1980 - a year after the revolution - in Ahvaz, close to the Iran-Iraq border. Dashti's memories of childhood are laced with ambivalence. Aspects of daily existence (air raid alarms, weddings, children's games) during a desperate war of attrition that the world watched with mounting horror felt exciting to her child's mind. But there are no parties taking place in these photographs. Their emptiness is eloquent. People left, Dashti among them. The war took a toll. ("People robbed of their past," wrote Sontag, "seem to make the most fervent picture takers.") Nature regenerates around ruins. But not all the plants in these photographs are thriving. Through quiet anomaly, Dashti's still, silent and very deliberate pictures capture the desolation of displacement and the dismay occasioned by homecoming. Now is a good time to be looking at images from Iran. Though we hear or read the words "Iran" and "Iranian" on a daily basis, we are starved of any but the most cliched images of this country of 83 million people. Photography is of particular interest in the context of Iran because of the deep-rooted relationship between Iranian power and the camera since the earliest days of the medium. Jalali was an economics major who fell in love with photography when he received his first camera as a gift. His discovery of the medium reprises the story of photography's arrival in Iran. In 1842, two daguerreotype cameras, brought overland on a horse-drawn wagon, were presented to the Shah as a gift from the Russian and British royal houses. The Shah's son, Naser al-Din, who came to power at 17, took to these miraculous tools. He had his own darkroom built in the palace in 1862. So photography developed in Persia - a profoundly isolated country at that time - under his patronage and with his imprimatur. He ruled for a half-century before being assassinated in 1896. Political leadership in Iran in the 20th century continued to be cursed by violence. The camera caught every convulsion. Self-taught, Jalali was widely admired as a photographer even before the 1979 revolution. But the eyewitness photographs he took during that period of profound upheaval made him famous. The photographs were presented in a book called "Days of Blood, Days of Fire" (which also included indelible images by Rana Javadi, his wife). It was suppressed by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During the Iran-Iraq war, Jalali photographed the bombed-out city of Khorramshahr (the site of a major, month-long battle), mass graveyards and dead soldiers sprawled on stony ground, helmets lolling beside them, mouths filled with dirt. Later in his career, Jalali was as renowned for his teaching and writing and for co-founding Iran's first museum of photography as for his own practice. He had become convinced that although the past never changes, artists could achieve something genuinely strange and open-ended by working with history's layers, combining images of the past with more recent images. Jalali was working on "Image of Imagination" when Dashti first met him. Her own early work layered writing and imagery over portraits taken from family albums. Her mature work, on display in Boston, is larger, more confident, even theatrical. But behind it lurk the same questions that haunt the medium itself, the answers always imminent, never knowable: What happened to my people? Where is my home? When is my time up? - - - "Reimagining Home: Photographs by Bahman Jalali and Gohar Dashti" through July 12 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, mfa.org Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's claim that the Centre had offered him safe passage to India in exchange for his support on the abrogation of Article 370. Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, has been wanted in India for money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches. He had left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency. The controversial preacher had recently made a claim that a representative of the Narendra Modi government had approached him in Malaysia in September last year, and offered him safe passage to India in return for his support for the Centre's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status. Tweeting a video of Naik's claim, Digvijay Singh on Wednesday said, "The Prime Minister and the Home Minister should officially deny Dr Zakir Naik's allegations or else it will mean that "anti-national" Dr Zakir Naik's accusation was right." Talking to reporters in Indore hours later, Singh said, "Through a video, Naik has issued a statement saying that Modi and Amit Shah had sent an emissary to him in September 2019, who told him (Naik) that if he supports the government on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, cases against him would be scrapped and he will be able to return to India." "If Zakir Naik, who has been dubbed as anti-national by Modi and Shah, has given such a statement, then they should deny it," he said. "My question is why the prime minister and home minister have not refuted Naik's charge so far," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and China must find an "equilibrium" and "understanding" on key issues affecting each other, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, asserting that there was no choice but to adopt such an approach. In his address at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar said both the countries will have to get along with each other but the challenge is how it will work. "I think it is very important today. To my mind, it is absolutely necessary that the two countries find an equilibrium and find accommodation and understanding on key issues which affect each other. For me it is a must, not a choice," he said. On bilateral ties, he said neither country can get the relationship "wrong". "The reason is that we are neighbours. It is vital for neighbours to reach understanding as a general principle. Generally as neighbours there are those issues, challenges that come by," he said. "But the India-China relationship has a very unique characteristic which is that very rarely in history have two powers who are neighbours have gone up in the international order in approximately the same time frame," Jaishankar explained. He said both India and China will have to get along well with each as there is no choice. "The challenge is what are the terms and what is the basis and how it will work and... I would say it is a work in progress and it will be continue to be a work in progress," he said. "Both powers are dynamic in terms of... Today If I do an economic ranking, China would be number 2 and India would be number 5 or 6 in the world. Probably within the space of the decade we will be 2 and 3. "And probably within a quarter of a century I don't know what our numbers are going to be. If you are going to be 2 and 3 and then you are going to be neighbours and you are the dynamic forces of the world, ask yourself, clearly the logic of reaching an understanding will be a very very powerful logic," he added. Ties between China and India nosedived after the 73-day confrontation between militaries of the two countries in Doklam in 2017. However, the relationship saw improvement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal summit in Wuhan in China in April 2018. The second informal summit took place in Mammallapuram in October last year. The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it. Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Denying communion to Joe Biden was right and just, Cardinal says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Influential American Catholic Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who is a member of the Vatican's highest court, says a recent decision by a South Carolina priest to deny communion to Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden over his abortion advocacy was right and just. What the priest did in South Carolina was right and just would that more priests would act in a similar manner! Burke said in an interview with The Wanderer. Last October, Biden, who is a lifelong Catholic, was refused communion at the 9 a.m. mass at Saint Anthony Catholic Church where Father Robert E. Morey serves as pastor. Morey confirmed that Biden was denied the sacrament because of his advocacy for abortion rights. Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden, Morey said in an earlier report. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching. The rebuke from Morey came after Biden publicly objected to a proposal to outlaw abortions in South Carolina after about six weeks of pregnancy, including in cases of rape or incest. Lets be clear, this ban is dangerous and directly violates a woman's constitutional right to choose. We must stop it. As president, I will codify Roe into federal law and ensure this choice remains between a woman and her doctor, Biden said in a tweet. In his interview with The Wanderer, Burke said politicians who profess to be practicing Catholics will not get a pass when they are involved in public grave sin. I demonstrate that in the whole tradition of the Church, the discipline with regard to not admitting people who are involved in public grave sin, after having been admonished, has been constant and that it certainly applies to those who publicly support abortion and so-called same-sex marriage legislation, he said. This whole matter is not a question of politics it is a question of the moral law. The moral law applies to politicians as much as anyone else. If one is ignorant of the truth and promotes abortion legislation, that is one thing. But if one is a professed Roman Catholic who has been admonished that he (or she) cannot support legislation against the natural moral law, he (or she) is bound to be obedient to that law. "How can bishops stay out of the matter, when politicians who profess to be Catholic are giving scandal to the whole nation by voting in favor of abortion? How can they silently stand by? he asked. I remember an incident in 2004 when a non-Catholic, high-ranking government official in Washington, D.C., asked me if I thought the Churchs teaching on abortion could possibly change. I recall being shocked by the question and responded, How can you ask that question? After all, the question was one of the natural moral law and did not have to do with any specific denominational or confessional matter. Well, he replied, I could give you the names of probably 80 to 100 Catholic legislators who regularly vote in favor of abortion legislation. So I figure it cannot be a very firm teaching of your Church. This is a major scandal! Burke noted. A major donation was announced today from London to the charity that preserves the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to ensure the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten. Mayor Sadiq Khan said 300,000 from City Hall would help to preserve the camp as a museum and educate future generations about the 1.1 million men, women and children, including more than 950,000 Jews, who perished there during the Second World War. He also confirmed he would attend the 75th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27 alongside 200 survivors, including some from London, world leaders and royalty. Mr Khan said: As the years pass, and as we have fewer survivors to pass on their stories, it is vital that we work even harder to preserve the site and ensure younger generations learn the lessons from history. These lessons are all the more significant as we see anti-Semitism and hate crime on the rise. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation manages the conservation of the site in Poland, including the camp infrastructure and all personal items of victims. The London donation will help preserve the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria, the barracks and other exhibits. About 300,000 Britons, including thousands of schoolchildren, visit each year. PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) Dismisses All Remaining Inter Partes Review Proceedings Brought Against Worlds, Inc. by Bungie, Inc. All Patent Claims Returned to Worlds, Inc. BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Worlds, Inc. (OTCQB:WDDD) ("Worlds" or the "Company"), a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds, is pleased to announce that on January 14, 2020, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a Notice that it has dismissed three remaining Petitions for inter partes review, filed by Bungie, Inc., against patents owned by Worlds Inc. in IPR Case Nos. 2015-01264, -01319, and -01321. The Board also vacated its prior Decisions to Institute in these cases, and terminated the inter partes review proceedings initiated by Bungie without issuing final written decisions. Thom Kidrin, Worlds' Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased with the PTAB's decision to dismiss Bungie's remaining Petitions for inter partes review against Worlds' patents, thereby reinstating all of our claims in these cases. Worlds has had to endure the legal and financial gauntlet at the PTAB and Federal Circuit for over 4 years while combating the challenges brought by Bungie, but we have ultimately prevailed with important claims intact in each challenged patent, and will return to the District Court in our case against Activision. The PTAB in the end agreed with Worlds' argument that the evidence revealed a relationship between Bungie and Activision, and that relationship prohibited Bungie from challenging Worlds' patents many years after the Activision litigation began. With Bungie's remaining petitions now dismissed, we will move forward and assert our patents against all parties that are infringing upon them." This Notice followed from the September 7, 2018 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who previously vacated the Board's previous final written decisions in these three cases, and remanded the cases to the Board with instructions to: consider whether Worlds is estopped from arguing the issue of Real Party in Interest ("RPI") in these proceedings, and reevaluate the merits of Worlds' argument that Bungie is time-barred from filing petitions for inter partes review based on its relationship with Activision, who has been in litigation with Worlds on the subject patents since 2012. The relevant statute, 35 U.S.C. 315(b), prohibits a party from filing a petition for inter partes review more than one year after itself or an RPI was served with a complaint on the subject patent(s). Worlds argued to the Board that if Activision was an RPI to Bungie's petitions, then Bungie was not permitted to file its original petitions in 2015. As of February 22, 2019, this briefing on remand before the Board had been complete, with Worlds awaiting the Board's decision on these questions. Further, Worlds' infringement claims against Activision on these patents have been stayed pending completion of the Board's review. The Board's Notice states that it has completed its review of the questions posed by the Federal Circuit, and determined both questions in Worlds' favor. The Board determined first that Worlds is not estopped from arguing the RPI on remand, and second that Bungie's Petitions were time-barred and must be dismissed. The Board's Notice also states that the detailed Termination findings are currently under seal pending the identification of any confidential materials by the parties. However, a public version of the Termination document will be released no later than ten (10) business days from its issue date. Worlds, Inc. Worlds, Inc. (OTCQB: WDDD), is a leading intellectual property developer and licensee of patents related to 3D online virtual worlds. The Company has a portfolio of 10 US patents for multi-server technology for 3D applications. The earliest of these patents issued on an application filed November 12, 1996. A provisional patent application, serial number 60/020,296, was filed on November 13, 1995. These patents are related to each other and disclose and claim systems and methods for enabling users to interact in a virtual space. For additional information about Worlds, Inc., please visit: www.Worlds.com. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to Worlds Inc. that are based on the beliefs of Worlds' management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as "hoped," "anticipated," "believed," "estimated," "should," "preparing," "expected" or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. Contacts: Accentuate PR Julie Shepherd 847-275-3643 Julie@accentuatepr.com Corporate 617-725-8900 info@worlds.com SOURCE: Worlds Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573153/Worlds-Inc-Wins-Major-USPTO-Ruling MY mother turned 90 this past year, and we had a great family gathering to celebrate her birthday at Lions Place Housing on Portage Avenue, where she has lived for the past 20 years. A major reason she enjoys living at Lions Place is that it is affordable. The rent for her apartment was based on her income and provided through a federal-provincial rent subsidy program that had been in place for the past 35 years for people on low or fixed incomes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion MY mother turned 90 this past year, and we had a great family gathering to celebrate her birthday at Lions Place Housing on Portage Avenue, where she has lived for the past 20 years. A major reason she enjoys living at Lions Place is that it is affordable. The rent for her apartment was based on her income and provided through a federal-provincial rent subsidy program that had been in place for the past 35 years for people on low or fixed incomes. However, on July 31, 2018, this social housing operating agreement expired at her apartment building, which meant her basic rent went up from $628 per month to $848 per month, an increase of $220 per month, or 35 per cent. The end of these operating agreements, and collateral impacts that have followed, is a challenge facing non-profit housing providers throughout Canada. In the Manitoba legislature on May 23, 2018, then-minister of families Scott Fielding, now the minister of finance, stated that he wanted to find a solution regarding the changes to the rent subsidy program involving the residents at Lions Place "where, in fact, all residents would be made whole." The provincial government replaced the former rent subsidy with a program called Rent Assist for 66 of the 287 residents at Lions Place who were eligible for the subsidy. The Rent Assist program covered $152 of the $220 monthly rent increase; Lions Place Housing agreed to cover the remaining $68 of the monthly rent increase on a two-year interim basis until July 31, 2020. One of the overlooked consequences of the changes to the rent subsidy program at Lions Place is the tax-related impact of the provincial Rent Assist program that claws back $900 of the seniors rent tax credit. This is a significant annual loss of income for these seniors, who rely on this income tax refund to pay for basic needs, including medical services and drug prescriptions. One of my mothers neighbours at Lions Place was counting on the $900 seniors tax credit refund to pay for the two ambulance bills she had this past year because of emergency visits to the hospital. The Rent Assist clawback, on line 6126 of my moms provincial income tax return, means she is in essence self-financing 50 per cent of her new rent subsidy benefit. Rent Assist provides an annual $1,800 rent subsidy, which is now offset by the $900 she loses each year on her seniors rent tax credit refund. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. On Dec. 19, 2019, the government of Ontario and the federal government signed a $1.46-billion funding deal, split 50-50 by the federal and provincial treasuries, to deliver the Canada Housing Benefit that is providing a $3,000 annual or $250/month rent subsidy for low-income households. This rent subsidy agreement is aimed at survivors of domestic violence, people who are at risk of being homeless, Indigenous peoples, seniors and people with disabilities. A key provision of this agreement is that the federal money cannot reduce the provincial value of other benefits, in order to avoid the ripple effects that would leave individuals and families with less. In terms of the Manitoba context, a good example of this negative ripple effect involves the $900 clawback of the seniors rent tax credit that is faced by many seniors at Lions Place, which reduces a housing-related benefit they previously received. This unique feature of the Canada Housing Benefit program to prevent negative ripple effects into other benefits has been among the reasons why negotiations with other provinces regarding this agreement have taken as long as they have. Federal officials are aiming to close the deals with the other provinces by April 2020 for this 10-year, $4-billion program. The Manitoba provincial government could alleviate the stress and hardship faced by the affected seniors at Lions Place and make them "whole" again by restoring the annual loss of $900 from the seniors rent tax credit clawback. In following the leadership of the Ford government in Ontario, the Pallister government should sign the cost-shared Canada Housing Benefit agreement with the federal government to help address the collateral impacts of the end of social housing operating agreements. These additional resources are urgently required in order to better meet the housing challenges of low-income seniors and families in our community. Tom Simms is a longtime social-housing advocate in Winnipeg. By Trend Technically we are able to supply both Azerbaijani oil and oil from other countries to parties wishing to buy it, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the public relations and events department at Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR, told Trend. He was answering a question about readiness to supply oil to Belarus. Negotiations were held on this issue. Technically, we can supply both Azerbaijani oil and oil from other countries to parties wishing to buy. But so far there is nothing concrete, Ahmadov said. Earlier, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Dmitry Krutoi told reporters that Belarus has sent proposals to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Poland, Baltic countries and Kazakhstan for oil supply. All possible options are being looked into. We've sent the relevant commercial offers. All the commercial departments of our refineries, of Belarusian Oil Company conduct negotiations virtually every day. I think we will be able to secure alternative ways of delivering specific oil soon, Dmitry Krutoi added. All possible countries, including Ukraine, Poland, Baltic states, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. We are working on it. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz As always, its the fear of sanctions that provides the leverage Trump seeks in this cat-and-mouse game with Iran. And this time, the leverage is over Iraq, which would like to see both American and Iranian forces out of the country, for obvious reasons. There is nothing ISIS would love more than this. It would also devastate Iraq because the sanctions threatened would include blocking access to Iraqs U.S.-based account where all the oil revenues are kept. That threat stands if Iraq moves to kick U.S. forces out of the country. That would mean victory for Iran (temporarily). Kicking out Iranian forces is not nearly as simple because the line between state and non-state actors is blurred, at best. A few weeks ago, a U.S. drawdown of military forces in Iraq was already expected, but that now seems unlikely because of the implications. The very military base that Iran attacked following the assassination of General Soleimani was already preparing for a drawdown. In addition to the threat of sanctions on oil money, a U.S. withdrawal would likely open the door for an ISIS return. What Iraqis Want There is no consensus on this question, other than the fact that no one wants Iraq to be the proxy battleground between the United States and Iran. Its a fair point, and Iraqis have had a very difficult time enjoying anything close to sovereignty since the fall of Saddam Hussein. While the Iraqi parliament has voted for U.S. troops to leave, they do not represent a unified voice. The Sunni elements of parliament did not participate in the vote. Neither did the Iraqi Kurds. Shia factions in Iraq are, of course, pushing for a U.S. withdrawal, but the Sunnis and Kurds see this as a dangerous opportunity for pro-Iranian Shia factions to take even more control of the central government in Baghdad. Related: Russia Risks Gasoline Price Surge They dont necessarily want a huge U.S. troop presence, but they are more fearful of a complete withdrawal that would leave them over-exposed to pro-Iranian forces. They also arent interested in being very loud about this fear. In this atmosphere, there is already talk in certain Sunni circles of carving Iraq up to create yet another autonomous region such as that governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north of Iraq. A Sunni-dominated region would include Anbar, Saladin, Nineveh and Diyala provinces, and would leave all of Basras oil to pro-Iranian factions. Already, Sunni leaders are mentioning this as an option, pointing to what they call the successful example of the Kurdistan region. The disintegration of Iraq was already progressing prior to the latest showdown between Iran and the United States. The country has been teetering over the edge of anarchy since 2003, when a single party (the Baath Party) was destroyed and Iraq became governed by multiple parties with even more fractious factions and a weak military that pro-Iranian Shia militias found easy to influence. But this is far from just a sectarian conflict. The mass protests that were already threatening Iraqs fragile stability were Shiite-versus-Shiite. The Sunnis were not involved, nor the Kurds. They were just watching things unfold, warily. One of the biggest mistakes the casual Western news reader makes is accepting a black-and-white narrative when it comes to Iraq. There is a very distinct group of Shiites that has a nationalist bent and is militantly against Iranian influence in an independent Iraq. This was a genuine uprising against highly corrupt and ineffective state institutions. Then there is a second group of pro-Iranian Shiites who have been brutally putting down the popular uprising. This group exists in order to maintain Irans influence. The problem now, for the U.S., is that the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran on Iraqi soil is more likely to bring these two groups together than it is to pull them further apart, which would have been a real threat to Iranian influence in Iraq. Indeed, both Shia groups are calling for a U.S. withdrawal. In this territory, you have to pick your evil, and for some time its been pro-Iranian forces and pro-U.S. forces against ISIS. Thats not going to happen anymore, to the great delight of the Islamic State. In 2011, a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq sent an open invitation to ISIS. In 2020, it will do the same. The Biggest Threat to Iraqi Oil For oil prices, the only real benefit to the Iran-Iraq conflict at this point is that Iraq is at a bit of a standstill when it comes to developing new projects, though its existing production will not be affected by any evacuation of U.S. oil workers, which has been minimal so far. Since Iraq is already OPECs biggest over-producer, this is a bit of a balm on compliance. Related: The World's Most Expensive Oil Nears $100 Per Barrel But the biggest threat to Iraqi oil in recent months has been Shia protesters fed up with a corrupt government. No one else is willing to touch the oil. The biggest immediate threat is not Basra oil--its Kirkuk oil. A U.S. troop withdrawal could easily relaunch a sectarian civil war in Iraq, and Kirkuk would be the first to fall. Kirkuk is in northern Iraq, but outside the official territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Its also one of ISIS key stomping grounds, and the only reason they have been kept from taking over this region entirely is the effort of a U.S.-led international anti-ISIS coalition, in which Kurdish Peshmerga forces played an integral role since 2014. A withdrawal of U.S. troops at this point will ensure a return of ISIS, and a sectarian conflict is exactly what the Islamic State is hoping for. At an attack on the K-1 base just in northwest Kirkuk in December launched the latest round in the Iran-U.S. proxy war in Iraq. Prior to that, ISIS had already started escalating attacks on this base, with ISIS seeing a window of opportunity in an American shift to defense against Iran and Hezbollah in Iraq. Were already seeing the uptick in ISIS attacks--and the focus is definitively Kirkuk. Coalition forces may have won the Battle of Kirkuk in 2016, but ISIS is still there. Basra oil is safe, for now. The biggest threat is to Kirkuks 9 billion barrels. This is where the next round of this conflict starts, and it will be ISIS that ultimately wins any proxy war. By Editorial Dept for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Taiwanese troops pose for pictures after conducting drills in front of the media, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on Jan. 15, 2020. (Ben Blanchard/Reuters) On Taiwans Front Line With China, a Constant State of Alertness CHIAYI, TaiwanAn alarm sounds and the pilots rush to their jets, sitting at the ready under a hardened shelter in the warm winter sun of southern Taiwan. Their scramble into the air was only a drill before an audience of journalists. But for Taiwans Air Force and its most advanced fighters, the newly upgraded F-16V, the threat from China across the narrow Taiwan Strait is very real. The Chinese regime claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and has not renounced the use of force to take it under its control. Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, has its own democratically-elected government, military, and currency. Surrounded by farmland near the coast, the Chiayi air base is Taiwans first to be equipped with F-16Vs, which carry upgraded radars, avionics and will eventually field new air-to-air missiles. Chiayis F-16 pilots are on call around the clock to see off the Chinese jets that regularly try to probe the airspace of the island. If anything happens and were needed, we can scramble, said pilot Yen Hsiang-sheng, 33, a lieutenant colonel who did his flight training at Luke Air Force base in the United states. Yen has intercepted Chinese H-6 bombers and J-11 fighters, and said he is confident in Taiwans defense forces. I believe that our performance can match the abilities of the mainlands newest J-10 and J-11 fighters, Yen said. The Chiayi F-16s fly regular patrols over the Taiwan Strait, sometimes skimming so low that they have to be washed when they return to remove the salt spray and prevent corrosion. China has sent about 2,000 bomber patrols a year to the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan Defense Minister Yen Teh-fa told parliament in November. President Tsai Ing-wen, re-elected in a landslide on Jan. 11 after promising to stand up to Chinas threats, has made strengthening Taiwans defenses a top priority, including boosting its domestic defense industry so it can make high-tech equipment like submarines. Taiwans air force, though well trained, is dwarfed by that of China, which is adding stealth fighters and whose bombers have flown regular drills around the island since 2016, when Tsai first took office. Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) held a military drill on the day of Taiwans presidential election. Shortly after President Tsai Ing-wens re-election victory, Chinese state-run media warned that Beijing could resort to military action to reunite Taiwan with the mainland. Due to Chinese pressure and Taiwans diplomatic isolation, the United States is the only major country that sells the island weapons, and is indeed bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Last year the United States approved an $8 billion sale of 66 new Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighters and 75 General Electric Co engines, as well as other systems. Taiwan is also upgrading its existing 144 F-16 A/B jets into the more advanced F-16V variant. That is expected to be complete by 2022. About 15 are already in service at Chiayi. By Ben Blanchard. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. For four years, he acted as a seat-warmer, nominally president from 2008, but with a more important function of enabling Putin to maintain his power behind the scenes before returning to the presidency in 2012. Putin engineered a surprise shake-up of Russia's leadership on Wednesday, proposing changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024. Hours after he made the proposals, Medvedev resigned and Putin named the little-known head of Russia's tax service, Mikhail Mishustin to replace him. Medvedev grew up in St. Petersburg, then known as Leningrad, the bookish only child of a chemical engineer father and teacher and later tour guide mother. He studied law where he was inspired by one of his law professors, the pro-reform Anatoly Sobchak. In 1991 he worked on Sobchak's successful campaign to become mayor of Leningrad and joined Sobchak's team in city hall. There he met and worked with Putin, one of the mayor's powerful deputies. Medvedev ran Putin's successful presidential campaign in 2000 and, in the years that followed, played a key role in the Russian gas behemoth Gazprom, helping reform and modernise the organization. Loading In 2005 he was appointed first deputy prime minister. When Putin stepped down in 2008 because of the constitutional two-term limit, he tapped Medvedev as his successor. Some hoped that Medvedev would emerge from Putin's shadows and stay on as president. But Medvedev simply made way for Putin to regain the presidency in 2012, leaving Medvedev lampooned on social media as weak and pitiful. Putin reaped the popularity gains inside Russia after he annexed Crimea in 2014, and rebuilt Russian global clout in the Middle East and elsewhere. But Medvedev, as prime minister, was left as a convenient scapegoat for Russia's domestic problems: a stagnant economy, low wages and pensions, and enduring corruption. In 2016 when Medvedev visited Crimea, he blundered badly, brushing off complaints from elderly pensioners that they couldn't survive on their pensions. "There's no money, but hang in there. All the best!" he said, before turning away. The 2017 corruption allegations seriously hurt Medvedev, and many predicted that his career was finished and he would retreat to academia, but after Putin was reelected in 2018, he again appointed Medvedev as prime minister. One reason for his removal of Medvedev may have been fears that the prime minister's unpopularity would drag Putin's approval ratings down from their current position in the high 60s. An October opinion poll by the Levada Centre found that 72 per cent of Russians believed the government's interests were not aligned with those of the population, and 53 per cent thought the government lived off the people and did not care how they survived. Independent analyst Masha Lipman, commenting on the leadership shake-up said: "The goal is for the system to remain stable and for Putin to retain his grip on power and to remain what he has been throughout these 20 years - the most important politician in the country, the ultimate decision-maker, the uncontested unchallenged leader of no alternative." Political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said Putin's speech made it clear he was pondering the move to premiership. "Putin is advancing the idea of keeping his authority as a more powerful and influential prime minister while the presidency will become more decorative," Oreshkin said. Political analyst Kirill Rogov said that Putin intends to stay in charge while redistributing powers between various branches of government. Southern right whale dolphins have washed up on a remote beach in Victoria, leaving experts baffled by the rare sightings. The two dolphin carcasses were found by beach-goers in separate sightings at Port Fairy's East Beach in the state's south-west over the past fortnight. But authorities were only able to retrieve one for examination, as the second washed back out to sea. Mandy Watson from Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said the dolphin was the first of its kind to ever be recorded in Victoria. Last week a beach-goer spotted a rare southern right whale dolphin carcass (pictured) washed up at Port Fairy's East Beach in Victoria Unfortunately authorities couldn't examine the dolphin as it washed back out to sea after being photographed by a tourist Ms Watson said the first dolphin became beached in December, while the second washed up last week in 'very unusual' circumstances. 'It is interesting that we have two [stranded] close together and in relatively similar locations,' she told the ABC. 'These animals are normally found in deep water well offshore so they're very rarely seen in inshore waters.' Scientists and traditional indigenous owners are examining the first dolphin that was found. The second dolphin was unable to be inspected as it washed back out to sea after a beach-goer found and photographed it. The two dolphin carcasses were found by beach-goers at separate spots at Port Fairy's East Beach in the state's south-west over the past fortnight Ms Watson urged any members of the public who come across beached whales or dolphins to call a specialised hotline. 'At times you'll have a really large specimen that needs to be dealt with or you might have a really rare specimen like this one,' she said. There's been less than 40 recordings of southern right whale dolphins in Australia over the last hundred years. Marine experts have found it difficult to observe the rare species as they tend to prefer deep offshore waters where they can dive to depths of 200 meters or more. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Pancontinental Resources Corporation (TSXV: PUC) ("Pancon" or the "Company") announces that the Company - in cooperation with Environmental Risk Transfer LLC ("ERT"), an industry leader providing complex environmental risk-transfer solutions to cost-effectively eliminate environmental liabilities - was selected, through a competitive process, to explore the highly prospective former Brewer Gold Mine property ("Brewer"), located 12 kilometres northeast along trend from the producing Haile Gold Mine on the gold-rich and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in South Carolina, USA. Brewer is surrounded by Pancon's 100%-owned Jefferson Gold Project. Gold was discovered at Brewer in the early 1800s. Between 1987-1995, Brewer produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold from open pits that extended to 50-metre depths, where copper and gold-rich sulfides were exposed but could not be processed by the oxide heap leach processing facility. Brewer could possibly contain a large porphyry copper-gold system at depth, as indicated by: widely known prospective geology, including diatreme breccias; associated high sulphidation alteration; gold and copper mineralization; and geophysics (Schmidt, R.G., 1978, The Potential for Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposits in the Eastern United States, U.S. Geological Survey). Brewer has not been explored since 1997. In 1999, the Brewer Gold Company ("BGC"), a U.K.-owned entity, abandoned the site, leaving the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ("SC DHEC") and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("US EPA") to handle reclamation activities and address conditions posing environmental risk. In 2005, Brewer was designated a US EPA Superfund site as per the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations and Liability Act ("CERCLA"). In 2019, SC DHEC sought the appointment of the Brewer Gold Receiver (a legal construct similar to a trustee) to facilitate the leasing, sale or other use or disposition of the abandoned property, including potential renewal of mineral exploration and mining development. Based on Pancon/ERT's winning proposal, Pancon and ERT will finalize an Option Agreement with the Brewer Gold Receiver, SC DHEC and US EPA, after which Pancon will immediately commence exploration work. Pancon's President & CEO Layton Croft stated: "We are thrilled to have been selected to explore what is widely understood by geologists and geophysicists, as well as by the U.S. Geological Survey, to be a former shallow oxide gold mine possibly sitting amidst additional oxide gold mineralization and atop a high sulphidation gold-copper porphyry system. Pancon and ERT worked together since March 2019 to win the competitive selection process led by the Brewer Gold Receiver. Pancon's technical team is unmatched in Brewer-specific knowledge and exploration successes. We are ready to quickly investigate this underexplored project, with the goal of discovering new oxide gold mineralization and the underlying copper-gold porphyry system by 2021. ERT meantime brings unmatched integrated financial, operational, technical and risk management expertise to define, mitigate and contain environmental and financial liability." Pancon's team includes the exploration geologists who: (i) discovered Brewer's near-surface oxide gold mineralization that produced 178,000 ounces in the 1980s-1990s; (ii) discovered the high-grade, near-surface Buzzard Gold Project, on trend less than a kilometre southwest of Brewer, in the 1990s; and (iii) intersected near-surface gold mineralization at Pancon's Jefferson Gold Project, on trend less than a kilometre northeast of Brewer, in 2016-17. ERT's ongoing success at Missouri Cobalt LLC - a former and current US EPA Superfund site now owned and operated by an ERT affiliate, has won praise from the US EPA as a positive example of transforming formerly contaminated sites into hubs of economic activity promoting redevelopment and community revitalization. EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, visited the Missouri Cobalt mine site on July 31, 2019 to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative. About ERT In response to increasing shareholder and stakeholder demands for increased environmental stewardship and responsibility, as well as a state and federal regulatory focus on site closure in connection with financial and environmental liability, the Waterfield Group and Environmental Operations, Inc. (EOI) created Environmental Risk Transfer LLC (ERT) to provide complex environmental risk-transfer solutions to corporations that wish to cost-effectively eliminate all environmental liability. By offering integrated environmental experience with innovative financial products, ERT provides clients with best in class solutions that define, mitigate and contain environmental and financial liability. ERT identifies and assumes environmental risk, typically through acquiring the contaminated real estate and providing the Seller with a collateralized indemnity. ERT offers risk assumption services to Fortune 500 corporations, real estate developers, municipalities, county governments, general contractors, utilities, industries, manufacturers, bankers, and attorneys. ERT's affiliates also provide environmental consulting and contracting services, as well as regulatory compliance, demolition, waste management, and industrial hygiene engineering. About the former Brewer Gold Mine The BGC mined more than 12,000,000 tons of ore and waste rock from the Brewer open pits from 1987 until 1995, when mining operations ceased. From 1995-1999, the BGC performed initial reclamation activities under the direction of SC DHEC. They were unsuccessful in achieving the goal of a fully-reclaimed, clean site, and ultimately informed SC DHEC that it intended to abandon the site. The BGC proceeded with abandonment of the property and associated wastewater treatment operations and its corporate existence in South Carolina ceased on December 31, 2007, due to forfeiture. BGC's abandonment of the property left the Department and US EPA with no options for addressing water quality threats from the site other than using the CERCLA response actions funded by US EPA and SC DHEC. SC DHEC and US EPA retained access to the property for purposes of constructing, operating, and maintaining the wastewater treatment plant and otherwise carrying out the CERCLA remedy, however they did not have the legal authority to manage long-term access to the property for other purposes or to make decisions concerning other uses or final disposition of the property, including exploration and future mining of Brewer. SC DHEC, with US EPA's support, sought appointment of a temporary receiver to manage access to the property for interested third parties. Such a receiver would have the authority to facilitate leasing, sale, or other use or disposition of the abandoned property, including potential renewal of mining exploration and development at the property, and would promote resolution of SC DHEC and US EPA's action to address continued environmental threats at the site. The Court of Common Pleas for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina granted SC DHEC's request and appointed Brewer Gold Receiver, LLC, on February 4, 2019. About Pancon's Jefferson Gold Project Pancon acquired the Jefferson Gold Project, on the highly mineralized, prospective and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt, in mid-2016. Pancon's 100%-owned Jefferson Gold Project (1,758 acres/711 hectares) surrounds the Brewer property (996 acres/403 hectares) on all sides. Of the 10 holes drilled on the Jefferson Gold Project between 2011-17, nine of them intersected gold mineralization, including one averaging 1.27 grams per tonne over 164.3 metres, true width unknown. The former Brewer Gold Mine, which produced 178,000 ounces of gold in the 1990s from shallow open pits, is located on the same mineralized trend 15 kilometres northeast of the operating Haile Gold Mine, which produced 131,819 ounces of gold in 2018 (source: www.oceanagold.com). The Jefferson Gold Project is also located 55 kilometres along trend northeast of the former Ridgeway Gold Mine, where Kennecott Minerals produced more than 1.6 million ounces of gold from 1988-1999. The Company cautions that the mineralization at the Haile Gold Mine and the Ridgeway Gold mine is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization that may be identified on the Company's properties. About Pancon Pancon is a Canadian junior mining company focused on North American gold and battery metals projects surrounding or near producing or former mines in proven and safe mining districts. Pancon's 100%-owned Jefferson Gold Project is 15 km along trend northeast from the Haile Gold Mine and surrounds the former Brewer Gold Mine, on the prolific and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in South Carolina, USA. In addition, Pancon has five nickel-copper-cobalt projects in Northern Ontario. The Montcalm, Gambler, Nova and Strachan Projects are near and/or surround the former Montcalm Ni-Cu-Co Mine property owned by Glencore and located 65 km northwest of Timmins. The St. Laurent Project has an advanced Ni-Cu-Co-Au-Pt-Pd target located 50 km south of the Detour Lake Mine and 20 km southwest of the Casa Berardi Mine. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard "Criss" Capps, PhD, RPG, SME REG. GEO, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. For further information, please contact: Layton Croft, President & CEO or Jeanny So, Manager, External Relations E: info@panconresources.com T: (Carolinas) +1.980.498.7688; (Ontario) +1.647.202.0994 For additional information please visit our web site (www.panconresources.com) and our Twitter feed: @PanconResources. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51508 Former justice minister Dolores Delgado. KIKE PARA The new government of Pedro Sanchez has proposed appointing the outgoing justice minister, Dolores Delgado, as the new prosecutor general. Delgado will take over from Maria Jose Segarra, who was also appointed by the Sanchez government. Segarras time as the head of the public prosecution was defined by the trial against the Catalan separatists who, between September and October of 2017, attacked the Constitution and Catalan charter of rights, known as the Estatut, and declared the unilateral independence of Catalonia. The four public prosecutors, who were in charge of the case when Segarra was prosecutor general, argued that the separatists actions constituted the crime of rebellion, a position the Solicitor Generals Office disagreed with, and which was not upheld by the Supreme Court sentence. It is paramount to know why the former justice minister was considered a better candidate than anyone else There is no rule that stops a former member of the government from being named as prosecutor general. That is why Javier Moscoso, who had been a minister under former prime minister Felipe Gonzalez of the Socialist Party (PSOE), was able to be named prosecutor general in 1986. There are fewer similarities with the appointment of Eligio Hernandez, given that although he had been working for Spains legal watchdog, the CGPJ, his position was not as high-profile as a Cabinet minister. However, what separates the appointments of Javier Moscoso and Eligio Hernandez from that of Dolores Delgado is the radical change in political circumstances in which they were made. The fact that the success of Pedro Sanchezs investiture bid depended on securing the abstention of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) meant that the Socialist Party put the spotlight of the negotiation on an ambiguous document covering the territorial crisis in Catalonia, and an equally ambiguous idea of dejudicializing politics. The vagueness over how the relationship between the central government with the ERC and the Catalan regional government will develop has opened Delgados appointment to greater criticism. This has happened precisely because there has been no political explanation from the government, nor has the prime minister proven that the criticism is based on just opinions about their intent. There is no rule that stops a former member of the government from being named as prosecutor general The fact that the government proposes the appointment does not mean that the prosecutor general, once named, will take actions according to political opportunity, and not criteria rigorously outlined by the law. But just pointing out that the prosecutor general is named by the proposal of the executive, as Pedro Sanchez did in a radio interview, borders on political recklessness. It is paramount to know why the former justice minister was considered a better candidate than anyone else. With his self-supporting explanation, Sanchez has given fuel to speculation about how Delgado will act in the future. The negative reaction of the political opposition, and most conservative public prosecution associations, threatens to make the work of the prosecutor general more difficult. And all at a time when the justice system urgently needs to recover both its composure and prestige. English version by Melissa Kitson. In this capacity, Mr. Krishnan will be responsible for developing and implementing a range of strategies related to profitable growth for the business, including sales and distribution, claims and product development for the company's large account and middle market insurance segments. He will also oversee Chubb's Canada A&H business. He will be based in New York. Mr. Krishnan brings more than two decades of experience to his new role. Throughout his career, he has served in several senior leadership roles. Prior to this new position, he served as head of Europe's Major Accounts Division, where he led the development of business strategies and oversaw the structures, processes and performance metrics that ensured clients and brokers fully benefited from Chubb's risk and underwriting expertise, as well as its multinational network and services. "Suresh is a strategic leader who has been with Chubb for quite some time and has a deep understanding of our business, our culture, and our clients' needs," said Mr. Walloga. "That background is a good reflection of our overall leadership team and is key to our consistent approach to bringing innovative products and services to market, while providing superior support to our distribution partners. I look forward to working with Suresh in his new role and further building upon our successes." Mr. Krishnan joined Chubb in 1999 and has held a variety of executive-level legal positions. Prior to the merger between ACE and Chubb in 2016, he led Chubb Overseas General Insurance Division's multinational and large accounts strategy, where he assembled and oversaw cross-functional teams in Asia Pacific, Africa, Eurasia, Europe and Latin America. This included leading and managing the Global Client Executive Practice for Chubb's Overseas General Insurance Division. "This is yet another example of the depth of unmatched leadership that distinguishes Chubb," said Joe Vasquez, Chubb's Senior Vice President, Chubb Group and head of the company's Global Accident and Health business. "I am excited to have Suresh serve in another leadership capacity and confident he will continue to represent the world class underwriting, service, and claims support Chubb is known for." Succeeding Mr. Krishnan as head of the Major Accounts Division, Europe will be Chubb's Country President for France, Nadia Cote. Mr. Krishnan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a Juris Doctor from The University of Richmond School of Law. Chubb Creates New Digital Role for North America Accident and Health Division Chubb has also named Eric Bartenstein Senior Vice President, Chief Underwriting and Digital Officer for its North America Accident and Health division. In this newly created role, Mr. Bartenstein will focus on leading the transformation of North America's A&H business into a digital environment that makes it even easier for clients and distribution partners to do business with Chubb. Mr. Bartenstein will be based in Philadelphia and report to Mr. Walloga. "We are committed to creating an ideal environment and experience for our clients and distribution partners," said Mr. Walloga. "I am excited to work closely with Eric to expand on our technical capabilities and ensure best practices are in place to meet our clients' unique needs." Mr. Bartenstein has more than two decades of experience in A&H underwriting. Prior to this expanded new role, he served as Chief Underwriting Officer for the A&H business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Syracuse University. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: chubb.com. Chubb Insurance Company of Canada has offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver and provides its products and services through licensed insurance brokers across Canada. For additional information, visit: chubb.com/ca. SOURCE Chubb Related Links https://www.chubb.com/us-en Advertisement By Bill Hughes Jan. 14, 2020 | PADUCAH By Bill Hughes Jan. 14, 2020 | 11:01 PM | PADUCAH The investigation into what led to the resignation of McCracken County Chief Deputy Mike Turnbow is completely in the hands of the Kentucky Attorney General's office, and there is no estimate on when it will be completed. Sheriff Matt Carter said that as soon as he began to check into an inquiry about a, "scheduling fee," related to off-duty employment on January 7, he realized there was an ethics violation, and that led to Turnbow's resignation. Carter said he was not familiar with any kind of scheduling fee and had not authorized any such thing. He immediately contacted the Attorney General's office so they could independently investigate the matter and determine if any crimes were committed. When asked for more details in the investigation, such as who made the inquiry, Carter told West Kentucky Star his Monday press release was his way of providing as much information as he could, "on the front end," as a way of show transparency, but has been asked by the Attorney General's office to not elaborate so their investigation is not tainted. "I have shared all of the information that I can possibly share at this moment, and until the Attorney General's office completes their review, I cannot provide any additional details," Carter said. While his effort to be transparent in how he handled the administrative role may have created more questions, Carter said he's waiting for the investigation to end, just like everyone else. He said as soon as he learns anything about the investigation, he will share it with the public. Carter said he asked the Attorney General's office, but they could not given him a timeline for how long the investigation would take. Turnbow had been Chief Deputy with the Sheriff's Department since January 1, 2007. Prior to that, he was a Kentucky State Trooper from 1982 to 2006. China added 13.52 million new urban jobs last year, with employment remaining stable among college graduates, migrant workers and other groups vulnerable to unemployment, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Tuesday. The urban jobless rate was kept low at 3.62 percent as the Chinese economy maintained a steady pace, ministry spokesman Lu Aihong said at a regular news conference in Beijing. China exceeded last year's job creation target. In March, it set the 2019 target at 11 million, but by the end of November around 12.79 million new urban jobs had already been created. The job figures have been bolstered by a host of factors, including the continuous expansion of the service sector and the central government's efforts to cut labor costs, said Zhang Ying, head of the ministry's division of employment promotion. She said steady economic activity was behind the encouraging figures, and the rapidly expanding services sector and new business models had helped to create job opportunities. Employment also grew thanks to a number of policies aimed at reducing labor costs, including lowering social security contributions and subsidizing employers who refrained from shedding staff or those who hired laid-off workers, she added. Zhang said employment would remain stable this year, as China sought quality economic development. Chinese employers also pay for a proportion of their employees' social security coverage, which includes the pension fund, work injury insurance, jobless insurance, maternity insurance and health insurance. Figures from the ministry show that covering the costs of employees' social security coverage accounted for 23.45 percent of company payrolls last year, 7.05 percentage points less than in 2015. Nie Mingjun, who oversees pension funds at the ministry, said China has lowered the combined rate six times since 2015, and last year's reduction was the largest. He said the reduction in social security fees since 2015 had reached almost 1 trillion yuan ($145.2 billion). Nie said the impact of relieving this burden had been significant for businesses, regardless of their size. "Many employers said the rate reduction had effectively lowered their labor costs, and the money saved in turn has created further momentum for innovation, or some of it had become financial benefits given to employees, which ultimately enhanced the company's appeal," he added. Nie said the lowered rate also created a virtuous cycle for pension funds, which had run short of funds in some rapidly aging areas due to the lack of contributors. He said lower labor costs had invigorated businesses, enabling them to buy insurance for more employees, which meant more people contributed to the fund. The ministry said the national pension fund's balance had reached over 5 trillion yuan, with 319.9 billion yuan received last year, which Nie said was not bad considering the drop in the contribution rate and the increasing benefits that pensioners collected. PITTSFIELD A registered sex offender with multiple restraining orders filed against him will spend 2 years in jail after being found guilty in a domestic violence case. Andrew Rossetti, 32, of Pittsfield, was sentenced to 2 years in the Berkshire County House of Correction by Judge Jennifer Tyne after he was found guilty by a Berkshire District Court jury of one count of intimidation of a witness, said Andrew McKeever, spokesman for Berkshire District Attorney Office Andrea Harrington. Rossetti was arrested on Sept. 5 for multiple domestic assaults and intimidation. He has been held ever since after a judge ruled him a danger to the community, he said. On Friday, a jury found him guilty of threatening the victim and not guilty of assault and battery on a family or household member, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault, and another count of intimidation of a witness, he said. He then pled guilty to other charges related to three other open cases and will serve concurrent time on counts of assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug possession, threat to commit a crime, lewd wanton and lascivious conduct and assault and battery on a household member, he said. Rossetti was convicted of rape in 2008 and is a registered sex offender. He also has a lengthy criminal history dating to 2003 and has faced numerous assault charges throughout the state including in Marlborough and Natick. Six different women have also taken out restraining orders against him at different times, McKeever said. The sentence is the maximum for a District Court case, he said. My office focuses on removing dangerous people from our community. This is an individual who has a long record of violent behavior. We took a difficult case to trial and were able to secure a sentence that protects individuals, the public at large, and law enforcement, which are at an increased risk when responding to these types of calls, Harrington said. BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE: OMN) announced today that its proposed acquisition by Synthomer plc has been approved by the European Commission, subject to Synthomer's divestiture of its small Germany-based vinyl pyridine latex business. Synthomer has received expressions of interest from a number of potential buyers. Synthomer expects to receive the remaining regulatory approval for the acquisition from Turkey in early February. OMNOVA continues to expect the acquisition to be completed in early 2020. About OMNOVA OMNOVA Solutions Inc. is a global innovator of performance-enhancing chemistries and surfaces used in products for a variety of commercial, industrial and residential applications. As a strategic business-to-business supplier, OMNOVA provides The Science in Better Brands, with emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and functional and decorative surfaces that deliver critical performance attributes to top brand-name, end-use products sold around the world. OMNOVA's sales for the last twelve months ended August 30, 2019 were approximately $758 million. The Company has a global workforce of approximately 1,900. Visit OMNOVA Solutions on the internet at www.omnova.com . About Synthomer Synthomer is a top-five global supplier of emulsion and specialty polymers, producing innovative formulations to support customers in a range of industries, from construction through paints and coatings to healthcare. With headquarters in London, the Group operates 25 production sites, four global R&D centers and has sales in all geographies. Synthomer has a strong track record of organic growth and progress has been further underpinned by three bolt-on acquisitions since 2016. The Group has approximately 2,900 employees and reported FY 2018 revenues of 1.6 billion ($2.1 billion USD). www.synthomer.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements within this press release are made in reliance upon the safe harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements made concerning the Synthomer's acquisition of OMNOVA. As a general matter, forward-looking statements are those focused upon anticipated events or trends, expectations, and beliefs relating to matters that are not historical in nature. Such forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to OMNOVA's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of OMNOVA. Among others, the following uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: (i) the risk that the merger may not be consummated in a timely manner, if at all; (ii) the risk that the definitive merger agreement may be terminated in circumstances that require OMNOVA to pay Synthomer a termination fee; (iii) risks related to the diversion of management's attention from OMNOVA's ongoing business operations; (iv) the effect of the announcement of the proposed merger on OMNOVA's business relationships (including, without limitation, customers and suppliers), operating results and business generally; (v) risks related to obtaining the requisite consents to the proposed merger, including, without limitation, the timing (including possible delays) and receipt of regulatory clearance from governmental authorities (including any conditions, limitations, or restrictions placed on these approvals) and the risk that one or more governmental authorities may deny any such approval; and (vi) the conditions of the capital markets during the period covered by the forward-looking statements. Further risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements are set forth under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2018, and its subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The Company does not undertake, and hereby disclaims, any duty to update these forward-looking statements, although its situation and circumstances may change in the future. SOURCE OMNOVA Solutions Inc. Related Links http://www.omnova.com A 104-year-old Marine Corps veteran has asked for strangers to send him Valentine's Day cards this year to help boost his scrapbook collection. Major Bill White served during World War II and then went on to continue to work for the U.S. Marine Corps. 'I spent 30 years active duty and 54 retired,' White told KTXL. The California native is now requesting for people to send him Valentine's Day cards to grow his personal collection, claiming he'll save every one he receives. Hero: Major Bill White, 104, from Stockton, California, served during World War II Heartwarming: He uses his free time to create scrapbooks about his life (pictured). He is now asking for people to send him Valentine's Day cards to join the collection His interest in collecting Valentine's Day cards from people comes from his passion for scrapbooking each year of his life. White has a bookcase that holds each of his personal scrapbooks, which are labeled with their individual year to help keep organized the different moments of his life. When it comes to the Valentine's Day cards, White promises to keep every one he receives from people from all over. 'I'll save every one of them like I've been saving little things that have come up until right now and theyll be a personal part of my history,' he said. Each of the cards will then join his bookcase as part of his history. Among his scrapbooks, there is also a place for White's many medals from when he served, including a Purple Heart he earned while surviving the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII. 'The fact that I even survived is something. There werent too many of us,' White said. Amazing: 'I'll save every one of them like I've been saving little things that have come up until right now and theyll be a personal part of my history,' he said about the cards His medals: The U.S. Marine Corps veteran received a Purple Heart for getting wounded during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 The battle: 'When I was wounded, I didnt have any choice in the matter. A grenade blew up about 6 inches from me,' he said In 1945, the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy landed on the island of Iwo Jima and eventually captured the land from the Imperial Japanese Army. It was a bloody battle where more than 26,000 Americans lost their lives, but eventually the U.S. defeated Japan by overtaking the island. How to send a Valentine to Major Bill White People can send cards to: Operation Valentine ATTN: Hold for Maj Bill White, USMC (Ret) The Oaks at Inglewood 6725 Inglewood Ave. Stockton, CA 95207 Advertisement On March 3, 1945, White led his Marines toward the front lines during the battle, all while under heavy fire from the Japanese. 'When I was wounded, I didnt have any choice in the matter. A grenade blew up about six inches from me,' he said. White was one of more than 6,000 American soldiers wounded during the battle. The wounds he suffered on that day took him away from the battlefield, however White has gone on live to the astounding age of 104 years old. 'Im still here. I'm 104. Cant complain,' White said. Scrapbooking, and collecting Valentine's Day cards, has been a way for White to spend his days and remember the different important moments from his life. The British ambassador to Tehran has left Iran after being detained by Iranian authorities last week, state-run media reported on January 15. Rob Macaire was detained for three hours on January 11 after attending a candlelight vigil for the victims of the downing by Irans air defenses of a Ukrainian passenger plane. Irans official IRNA news agency said the diplomat had left after being given what it described as prior notice. The report did not elaborate. The British Foreign Office insisted that Macaires trip to London was "routine, business as usual" and was planned before his arrest. "It is quite normal for our ambassadors to come back to London to have meetings here," a spokesman said. Macaire has said he attended the vigil in Tehran because it was "normal to want to pay respects" to the 176 victims of the January 8 downing of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 -- some of whom were Britons. But the event quickly turned into an anti-government protest, and Macaire said he left after 5 minutes. Iran's Foreign Ministry said Macaire's presence was "against diplomatic norms" and warned Britain to avoid making "any new mistake." The British government expressed "strong objections" to the arrest, which it called a flagrant violation of international law. Based on reporting by AP and dpa (CNN) Almost a third of the Earth will need to be protected by 2030 and pollution cut by half to save our remaining wildlife, as we enter the planet's sixth era of mass extinction, according to a United Nations agency. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity released a draft plan on Monday, which sets global goals to combat the ongoing biodiversity crisis in the coming decades. The convention had set similar targets in 2010, at a summit in Japan. But the world failed to meet most of those 2020 goals -- and is now facing unprecedented extinction rates, threatened ecosystems, and severe consequences for human survival. "Biodiversity, and the benefits it provides, is fundamental to human well-being and a healthy planet," the draft plan reads. "Despite ongoing efforts, biodiversity is deteriorating worldwide and this decline is projected to continue or worsen under business-as-usual scenarios." The convention aims to stabilize our fragile biodiversity by 2030 and allow ecosystems to recover by 2050, allowing for a final vision of "living in harmony with nature" -- but these goals will require urgent action on both local and global levels. To achieve this, the draft plans lays out 20 targets for the next decade, ranging from carbon emission reduction to food sustainability. One target is to give protected status to sites important for biodiversity -- covering at least 30% of these land and sea areas by 2030, with at least 10% under "strict protection." Another target is to cut pollution from biocides, plastic wastes, and excess nutrients by at least 50%. Other 2030 targets include ensuring that the trade of all wild species is legal and sustainable, bringing greater sustainability to economic sectors and individual consumption, and empowering indigenous communities in the conservation effort. Some targets focus on the quality of human life, like providing better food security and clean water for the most vulnerable communities -- which are then expected to reduce "human-wildlife conflict," the draft plan said. The plan will be finalized and adopted in October at a biodiversity summit in Kunming, China. Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction For years, scientists have warned that we are in the midst of a mass extinction -- the sixth in the planet's history, and the first one caused by humans. Elephants could be gone from the wild within a generation. Amphibian populations are collapsing. And climate change is warming and acidifying the oceans, threatening to annihilate coral reefs. In total, a million of the world's 8 million species are currently facing extinction, many within decades, the UN warned in 2019. The global rate of species extinction is at least tens of hundreds of times higher than it has been on average over the past 10 million years. The main threats are shrinking habitats, the exploitation of natural resources, climate change and pollution, said the 2019 UN report. Humans have altered 75% of Earth's land and 66% of marine ecosystems since pre-industrial times -- changes that come in different forms, from waste dumped into oceans to human-introduced invasive species. We have wrecked the world's natural ecosystems -- almost 600 plant species have been wiped out in the past 250 years, an extinction rate 500 times faster than it would have been without human intervention. The plants' mass extinction spell trouble for the millions of species -- including humans -- that depend upon them. A huge part of the problem lies in population growth, rising demand, and depleted resources. With a growing population, we have more mouths to feed, but fewer resources than ever. The planet's declining biodiversity threatens agriculture, placing our livestock breeds and crops at risk. But the population boom won't end anytime soon. The draft plan released Monday warned that the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030 and 9.8 billion by 2050 -- with severe "implications for the demand for resources, including food, infrastructure and land use." This story was first published on CNN.com. "We have 10 years to save Earth's biodiversity as mass extinction caused by humans takes hold, UN warns." Bhopal/Indore, Jan 15 : Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had sought to strike a deal with controversial preacher Zakir Naik. Citing the claims made by Naik in a video, in which he levelled serious charges against the BJP-led Central government, Digvijaya Singh said in a series of tweets that if Modi and Shah didn't not refute Naik's claims, it would mean he is 'correct'. "The revelations by Zakir Naik are shocking. He rejected Modi's offer. Do watch Zakir Naik whom Modi and Shah have placed in the category of traitors, and are now brokering a deal. What is the strategy," he asked. "Who disagrees with them 1) convince them, 2) if they don't get convinced, threaten them, 3) if he disagrees, offer money and post, 4) if he doesn't agree, defame by levelling false charges, 5) if he agrees, all charges are withdrawn otherwise defame him by making false accusations, 6) if a situation arises where you can use him for your convenience. This is what Zakir Naik has said," Digvijaya Singh tweeted in Hindi. In another tweet, Digvijaya said, "Congress never officially supported Zakir Naik. It is true I had addressed a Communal Harmony conference in Mumbai from his platform but you can go through his speech in that conference, at no point he made any communally sensitive statement," he said. Zaik Naik fled to Malaysia in 2016. He claimed the Modi government tried to broker a deal with him over Article 370. Naik said he was asked to welcome the government's decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Naik said that in September, a messenger of the Modi government promised to drop money-laundering charges against him and provide him a safe passage to India. He refused the deal. "My question is why Prime Minister and Home Minister have not refuted Naik's charges yet," Digvijaya Singh asked. On Wednesday, Indore also witnessed a jovial Digvijaya Singh embracing arch adversary Kailash Vijayavargia at an event organised to mark Makar Sankranti. The two leaders warmly received each other. Vijayvargiya greeted Digvijay Singh wearing a Malvi turban which Digvijay agreed to wear after initial hesitation. Vijayvargiya shared a video of this on his Twitter handle and wrote that he coincidentally met Digvijaya Singh in Indore. "It was nice to remember old days and share for fun with him," he said. The two are poles apart politically and ideologically and keep targeting each other frequently. Digvijaya Singh is also known to be Vijayavargia's political guru. CEDAR FALLS The inaugural season of the new Rising Fire Theatre begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with the production, Gruesome Playground Injuries. Performances continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in an intimate setting at Threehouse Campus Ministries, 2422 College St. Admission is $10 at the door with seating limited to 40 to 50 people. The Rajiv Joseph play is described as an upside-down love story that focuses on two peoples physical and emotional wounds as their lives intersect at critical moments. Local actors Robin Kime and Elijah White will play Kaylee and Doug, and director is Jakob Reha. Rising Fire Theatre co-founder Alan Malone said the resident theater companys goal is to present four full productions this season featuring plays by primarily contemporary playwrights. Malone, whose background includes storefront theater in Chicago, said the company will produce works in smaller venues. The impetus for founding the theater company is that there is so much material that is being written by playrights, and established theaters dont get a chance to do everything. We wanted to expand the content available for audiences and try to hit a niche market, Malone said. He was worked as a professional actor in Chicago and New York and toured with a professional company from North Carolina. He previously directed shows at Hawkeye Community College and completed his degree in directing at the University of Northern Iowa. At UNI, I met students in theater who needed a stepping stone from college to semi-professional and professional environments. I saw students who didnt have the finances or the confidence or the resume to move to a bigger market. Were an outlet for those students who are preparing to make the leap, Malone said. Other co-founders are Anita Ross, Reha and Kime. This years season was chosen by friends who gathered around Malones backyard firepit and read plays aloud. Were doing shows without huge sets, costumes or prop needs. A lot of these plays may not have had a chance to be seen in the area because the content is more adult and the cast size is small. The theater company doesnt have its own performance space, preferring to seek out smaller and more unusual environments, Malone said. Our first two shows are on College Hill, and Threehouse Campus Ministries has welcomed us here and been very helpful in allowing us to use their basement space. The second production in April will feature two one-act plays by Alice Birch and Alice Gerstenberg at Threehouse. Subsequent productions will showcase plays by Duane MacMillan and George Brant. We hope to have a studio series where we will be doing play readings and other sorts of events featuring local and regional playwrights whose works havent been published yet, starting in May, Malone said. Rising Fire Theatre can be reached at risingfiretheatre@gmail.com. Natalie Meester opens Little Prairie Girl in Grundy Center Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Life can change in an instant and it does so frequently over the course of this decades-spanning narrative. It begins one night when Guida, the more impulsive and independent-minded of the two sisters, sneaks away from a family dinner to meet a boyfriend; she winds up running off with him to Greece, where he lives. The news comes as a shock to her family, and when Guida returns home to Rio several months later, single and pregnant, her sympathetic mother (Flavia Gusmao) wants to take her back. But her father, Manuel (Antonio Fonseca), a strict, easily shamed man, turns her away and even lies to her about her sisters whereabouts, telling her that Euridice has gone off to music school in Austria to become a pianist. MAPUTO, Mozambique - Mozambiques President Filipe Nyusi was sworn in for a second and final term Wednesday after five turbulent years in office amid two armed insurgencies. Nyusi, 60, won re-election in October with 73% of the vote, while the opposition alleged irregularities. The president of Portugal, Mozambiques former colonial power, and the leaders of Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe were among the dignitaries who attended the open-air inauguration in downtown Maputo, capital of the southern African country of 30 million people. Ossufo Momade, the leader of the Renamo opposition who had protested Nyusis reelection as unfair, did not attend the ceremony. Five years ago, in a ceremony like this, I announced I would be president of all Mozambicans, said Nyusi. I renew this promise, to work for the Mozambique we all dream for. Our agenda is to develop Mozambique. Our agenda is that this development is not done at the cost of injustice, conceit, or inequality. The crowning achievement of Nyusis first term was meant to be the peace agreement signed in August with the armed opposition Renamo. Instead, it triggered fresh violence in central Mozambique by dissidents unhappy with the terms of the accord. More than 15 armed attacks on vehicles in central Mozambique have been reported in recent months, killing 21 people. Nyusis government is also battling to contain deadly attacks in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado by extremists reportedly linked to the Islamic State group. An estimated 300 people have been killed, including by beheading, since the attacks began in 2017. Cabo Delgado, Nyusis home province, is home to two giant natural gas projects worth billions of dollars that Mozambique hopes will transform it into a middle-income country. Work has begun on one of the projects, which changed ownership last year from U.S.-based Anadarko to French oil major Total, with the aim to start producing liquified natural gas before Nyusis mandate ends in late 2024. The second project, led by ExxonMobil, is set to reach a final investment decision this year. Nyusi is expected to announce his cabinet in the coming days. International investors will be watching closely to see if the finance minister, Adriano Maleiane, will be replaced. Maleiane has guided the economy through exceptional difficulties following the discovery of $2 billion in debt taken on by three state-linked security companies, with government guarantees whose validity has been contested. Maleianes predecessor as finance minister, Manuel Chang, has been in a South African prison for more than a year contesting extradition to the United States to face charges in connection with the deals. Last year Mozambique had to restructure its first-ever sovereign eurobond after it failed to make the first payment. We want to live well, eat well, said one resident of the capital, Maputo, Veronica Mandlate. We want to be taken care of so that we do not suffer ... because now we are suffering. We have no work, we cant find jobs. The inauguration came as the rainy season again brings flooding to parts of Mozambique, which was hit last year by two major cyclones in less than two months, causing hundreds of deaths and major destruction. Recovery continues and widespread hunger has been a concern in the hard-hit rural areas. Last week, the U.N. migration agency said the latest flooding destroyed the temporary shelters of almost 200 households that had been resettled in the central provinces of Tete and Zambezia. It was the moment most people watching Tuesday night's Democratic debate had been waiting for: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked about comments he made during a private meeting he had with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in 2018. CNN reported, and Warren later confirmed, that during their conversation, Sanders said he did not believe a woman could win the presidential election. "I didn't say it," Sanders responded. Warren shot Sanders a look, as he continued on. "I don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this," Sanders said. "This is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anyone who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States." Sanders said there are videos on YouTube showing him 30 years ago saying a woman could be president. "Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes, how could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States?" he said. Warren responded that she "disagreed" with Sanders, but he is "my friend and I'm not here to fight with Bernie. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head on." She then pounced, not just on Sanders, but on every male candidate on the stage former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. "I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at a person's winning record," she said. "So can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election they've been in are the women, [Sen.] Amy [Klobuchar] and me." This was met by cheers from the audience. Elizabeth Warren just won the night: Can a woman beat Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost ten elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they have been in are the women. Amy and me." pic.twitter.com/geQc7oBNat Ryan Knight (@ProudResister) January 15, 2020 More stories from theweek.com Lev Parnas denies tracking Marie Yovanovitch in Kyiv, says she was never 'in danger' Lev Parnas wants to unload his dirt on Rudy Giuliani to federal prosecutors, his lawyer says Lev Parnas: Devin Nunes was 'involved in getting all this stuff on Biden' Jonny Kim was already a Silver Star-awarded Navy SEAL and Harvard University-educated doctor. Now the 35-year-old California native can add another achievement to his resume: the first Korean American to become a NASA astronaut. Kim was among 13 men and women to graduate last week from the agency's Artemis program, making him eligible for missions to the International Space Station, the moon and Mars. Even on a stage of people brimming with talent, he stood out. "Jonny, you're a Navy SEAL with a degree from Harvard medical school," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said during the graduation ceremony held Friday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "That's just ridiculous! I mean, he can kill you and then bring you back to life. And do it all in space." Or, as a headline at Task & Purpose put it: "SEAL, Doctor, Astronaut - Navy Lt. Jonny Kim achieves your childhood dreams so you don't have to." Kim is a first-generation Korean American, born in Los Angeles to parents who immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea in search of a better future for their children. Despite the accomplishments to come, he struggled with insecurity as a kid, according to a 2017 profile in the Harvard Gazette. He had a hard time at school and, as his graduation from Santa Monica High approached in the spring of 2002, decided that only a bold move could turn things around. So he enlisted in the Navy as a seaman. He asked a recruiter whether he could become a member of one of the SEAL teams, and was promised only that he could try. Just the opportunity was enough, the Gazette reported. "I didn't like the person I was growing up to become," Kim told the publication. "I needed to find myself and my identity. And for me, getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from the people I grew up with, and finding adventure, that was my odyssey, and it was the best decision I ever made." The grueling SEAL training process provoked new doubts in him. He thought about quitting during "hell week," a period of almost nonstop training that all candidates are required to complete. Instead, he made the cut for the elite team and went on to serve as combat medic, sniper, navigator and point man on more than 100 combat operations over two deployments to the Middle East, according to NASA. He was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star along the way. It was during his time in Iraq that Kim decided he wanted to become a doctor. He was serving as a medic one day in 2006 when two of his close friends were shot, the Gazette reported. Kim treated one of them, who had a severe wound to his face. Neither would survive. "It was one of the worst feelings of helplessness," Kim said, according to the publication. "There wasn't much I could do, just make sure his bleeding wasn't obstructing his airway, making sure he was positioned well. He needed a surgeon. He needed a physician and I did eventually get him to one, but . . . that feeling of helplessness was very profound for me." He earned a degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego in 2012 and his doctorate in medicine from Harvard in 2016. He was a year into a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital when he learned that he had been selected out of a pool of 18,000 applicants to become a NASA astronaut. The call came while he was grocery shopping. "I think my heart was racing 100 beats a second, and I tried not to lose my composure in the middle of the grocery store," Kim said in a video released by NASA. "But once I got the news and I hung up, I ran over to my wife, and I was jumping up and down and telling her that we got in." His class included 11 NASA candidates and two Canadian Space Agency candidates. They completed two years of training, including spacewalking, robotics, International Space Station systems and Russian language, to become eligible for spaceflight. The Artemis program has a goal of sending the first woman and next man to the moon by 2024 and to use what's learned there to make it to Mars. "These astronauts could one day in fact walk on the moon as part of the Artemis program," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during the graduation, "and perhaps one of them could be among the first humans to walk on Mars." During the ceremony, the graduates took questions from students in the audience. Asked by an eighth grade boy whether they had ever experienced self doubt, Kim took the microphone. He said it is "very human to doubt yourself." "Everyone in this audience, everyone watching, is capable of so much more than they think they are," he said. Footage of Meghan Markle thrilling a fan in 2016 has emerged. Photo: Getty Images. Old footage of Meghan Markles kind gesture to a fan has reemerged online, showing the then-34-year-old interrupting her own interview to surprise a young woman in the studio audience. In the heartwarming clip, which was taken from the then-actors March 2016 appearance on BUILD Studios, a pre-Duchess Meghan discusses the benefits of social media with host Donna Freydkin. Meghan - who was starring on the TV legal drama Suits at the time - called platforms like Instagram and Facebook a great way to connect with people before shining the spotlight on then-high schooler Emily Sorrells. I only know [Emily] through Twitter and I knew she was coming because I saw it on social media, Meghan explained to host Donna. Shes going on a trip soon to Costa Rica to do some aid work because she said that my UN stuff inspired her, she added. To Emilys delight, Meghan revealed that shed wrote her a letter which shed brought along to the taping. After the interview wrapped up, the pair shared a warm hug and were photographed having a casual chat, with Meghan handing a large envelope to her young pal. Meghan presents Emily with a personalised letter. Photo: Getty Images. dont forget meghan did this. this is the kind of person she is pic.twitter.com/Izqgp9Z95T michelle (@ddarveyy) January 12, 2020 The most inspiring human The newly resurfaced vision of the Duchesss thoughtful act gained traction after it was shared by Twitter user @ddarveyy over the weekend, along with a pointed message. Dont forget Meghan did this. This is the kind of person she is, the caption read. Emily herself took to the platform to reiterate @ddarveyys point, crediting Meghan as the most genuine, passionate and caring human being who really had an impact on my life. A video of me meeting Meghan Markle just went viral. Allow me to explain, she wrote in the caption. She is genuinely the most inspiring human Ive met. Through her social media & blog she taught me to be a more confident and passionate version of myself. The hate against her is garbage, she added. Story continues A video of me meeting Meghan Markle just went viral. Allow me to explain. She is genuinely the most inspiring human Ive met. Through her social media & blog she taught me to be a more confident and passionate version of myself. The hate against her is garbage pic.twitter.com/euHjKkxp7D emily sorrells (@dinosorrells) January 14, 2020 The clip has prompted an outpouring of praise for Meghans beautiful soul online. She's the BEST, wrote a fan on Twitter. Diana would have loved this woman wholeheartedly, said another. If the Brits dont appreciate her for the beautiful soul she is, they dont deserve her, argued one. She hasn't changed at all - she does this kind of thing on walkabouts. She is the most genuine, kindest, most gorgeous royal, inside and out, another pointed out. This is the moment Meghan Markle notices an old friend in the crowd in New Zealand. Photo: Twitter/@bellisariho Meghan appears to have stayed true to her friendly, generous roots despite joining one of the most famous families in the world courtesy her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry. During a walkabout on the couples tour of New Zealand, a pregnant Meghan stopped in her tracks after recognising a familiar face in the crowd. The clearly shocked Duchess then dropped her husbands hand to make her way over to a woman named Hannah, who she used to be friendly with via her now-defunct Instagram account. She said thank you for getting in touch, and then she gave me a hug and said she would read my letter that I gave her, Hannah told 1 NEWS about her encounter. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sanders was charged three weeks later after police identified him as the man they had seen on security footage in the area around the time of the slaying. Later they found that Sanders had sold wedding rings at a pawn shop that same day as the murder; Urbans relatives identified them as family heirlooms. PARIS The bears have cute names Bubble, Feather, Snowflake and the like and look so soft and huggable when caught on video by remote cameras that study their habits. But to herders high in the Pyrenees mountains of southwest France, the animals are stone-cold killers, ravaging flocks and undermining farming livelihoods. Pyrenean livestock farmers who raise sheep for meat and famously pungent cheeses are rejoicing after getting an assurance from President Emmanuel Macron that he wont authorize the release into the wild of any more of the bears blamed for a surge in deadly attacks. He promised that the re-insertions (of bears) are finished, that he wont release any more, said Jean-Pierre Pommies, who raises sheep and cows. Pommies wore his broad farmers beret to Tuesdays meeting with the suit-and-tied Macron in Pau, a Pyrenean town with sweeping views of the mountains. He was able to understand that its a big problem for us, Pommies added. We have reached the bottom, and the situation was ridiculous for Pyrenean herders. When Frances last pocket of brown bears appeared headed for extinction in the Pyrenees in the 1990s, the country began importing animals from Slovenia, where the population is booming. A total of eight were freed into the wild in 1996, 1997 and 2006. Another release of two Slovenian female bears Claverina and Sorita followed in 2018, the first first full year of Macrons presidency. The population is now estimated at around 40 bears, doubling its size since 2010 and roaming over a long and expanding swath of the mountains that form the border between France and Spain, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Bear attacks on livestock have grown, too. Having long been largely stable, mostly between 100 and 200 attacks per year across the Pyrenees, including Spain, France and Andorra, they surged to close to 400 in 2018, according to the most recent official annual report. Herders who suffered included one of Pommies friends, whose flock was devastated in an attack last year, he said. The sheep took fright and plunged off a cliff together. There were 256 piled up at the bottom, he said. They had to finish some of them off with their knives. For us shepherds, that is traumatic. He believes the presence of the predators is simply incompatible with the Pyrenean mountain economy that rests largely on herding. I love bears. Im passionate about them as animals. But I love that they live happily in Yellowstone, in Canada, in Romania and Slovenia, he said. In the Pyrenees, the people who are pro-bear say that it used to work for the old timers, that they used to deal with it. And that is completely false. History shows that men have always killed them. The Pyrenees are only one of the battlegrounds in Europe over efforts to preserve wild fauna and flora. In Frances other major mountain range, the Alps, wild wolves that also prey on flocks are a persistent source of tension between herders and those opposed to the deployment of large dogs to keep wolf packs at bay. In Germany, wolves have been a source of political friction. The far-right opposition Alternative for Germany party accused the government of failing to defend farmers interests against the 75 wolf packs counted there in 2018. There is also debate in Belgium about the reappearance of wolves after infrared cameras spotted a pair together in woods and a pregnant wolf was killed in northern Belgium last summer. Slovenias brown bear population is so plentiful that authorities are culling the animals that are becoming a headache for farmers, raiding beehives and even attacking people in the small Alpine state. Around 170 bears were shot in 2019, said Damjan Orazem, the Forest Service director. Herders including Pommies pounced on Macron to talk about the Pyrenees bears when the French leader turned up at the Tour de France last year on a day when the bicycle race swung through the peaks. Pommies said he threatened to release his animals into the riders path unless Macron agreed to a meeting. That brief encounter elicited a pledge from Macron that hed hold talks with them at length at a later date, an offer he made good on this week. Emmanuelle Wargon, a deputy environment minister who attended the meeting, told broadcaster Sud Radio that Macron reaffirmed that we dont have any plans to reintroduce (more) bears, adding: It was important to tell them this. For bear preservationists, herders are greatly exaggerating the risk posed by the predators. Alain Reynes, director of the group Country of the Bear, said he believes the actual number of animals killed by bears is far smaller than the 1,500, mostly sheep, that Pyrenean herders claim they lost last year. Reynes also said that Macrons moratorium on bear releases cant last, because France is obliged by European law to ensure that the bear population remains viable. The president can only speak for the period of his mandate, he said. There have always been bears. The history in the Pyrenees is one of cohabitation, even if it hasnt always been easy. There have been bears in Europe for 250,000 years. This is their space. ___ Associated Press writers Raf Casert in Strasbourg, France; Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed to this report. A Preview Debut of DENIM ROOM, PROJECTION, and WELLNESS Plus, over 80 New Brands NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading menswear trade event, PROJECT kicks off January 19th through the 21st in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center showcasing over 80 new brands and 300 brands in total ranging from contemporary, classic, lifestyle, footwear and accessories. PROJECT New York will debut new show areas including DENIM ROOM, co-hosted by Brand Ambassador and Creative Director Maurizio Donadi (Co-Founder and Creative Lead at Atelier & Repairs). DENIM ROOM will preview heritage and next-generation mens and dual-gender brands that are pushing the denim world forward through creativity, responsibility, and innovation. Donadi will also showcase an extremely rare selection of denim artifacts from his personal collection to be on display for viewing and inspiration. Participating brands include: 34 Heritage, 7 For All Mankind, DL 1961, Fidelity Denim, Liverpool and Mavi. PROJECT President Lizette Chin shares, Our new initiatives speak to our commitment to deliver a comprehensive, compelling and evolving show experience for our attendees and retailers. Through our 4-pillar strategy of community, education, media and experience, we are pushing the boundaries of trade events as we head into the F/W 2021 selling season. The TENTS will showcase mens grooming and wellness products curated by grooming editor Garrett Munce. Participating brands include: Asystem, Gillettelabs, The Art of Shaving, Anchors Aweigh Hair Co., Unlimited Potential Global LLC, Function Botanicals, and Caswell-Massey. Fellow Barber will also be showcasing their products along with complimentary soft services to attendees. Munce will also be giving away copies of his new book, Self-Care for Men, which serves as a guide on how to improve your physical and mental health and overall well-being while introducing you to anti-aging products and practices. PROJECT New York is also introducing a new area, PROJECTION. Serving as a place to discover new brands and emerging talent, attendees can browse a selection of top products in a focused, preview environment on the show floor. The N:OW Forums will return to set the stage for whats new, now, and next in fashion. WGSN, Highsnobiety, and guest speakers such as Eric Jennings, VP/Creative Director Peerless, Garrett Munce, Grooming Editor at Esquire and Mens Health, Jeff Carvalho, Managing Director, Highsnobiety, will share their expertise through trendcasting, bespoke presentations, and panel discussions. Click here to view the entire panel schedule. PROJECTs Head of Sales, Brian Trunzo along with Podcast Blamo!s, Jeremy Kirkland will host a fashion model presentation on Sunday, January 19th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm showcasing the best looks from Made in Italy brands while discussing the joys of Italian fashion. The Made In Italy section carries over 80 exhibitors including Cortigiani, Di Bello, Enrico Mandelli, Marchesi di Como and Saint Andrews. PROJECT has also partnered with L.A. based sustainable apparel house, Upcycle , to collaborate on PROJECT Merch. Grab your limited-edition sustainable tee and or tote inside the entrance at the PROEJCT Merch print space. While supplies last. Additional show areas include: PROJECT SOLE Premium Footwear for Men; Casual to Bespoke. Brands Include: Alden, BedStu celebrating their 25th anniversary, Carmenia the Shoemaker, Clae, Edward Green, Geox, Paraboot, Johnston & Murphy who is also launching apparel, Loake, Sorel*NEW and launching mens collection, Trask and many more. MRKet Better Menswear, Classic to Lifestyle. Brands include Barbour, HISO, Norwegian Wool, Peerless, Luchiano Visconti, Maceoo, Seaward & Stearn and many more. The Foundry Emerging Contemporary brands and businesses less than two years old. Brands include: Beltology, CRWTH, Goorin Bros., Raga Man, Swell Fellow, Mr, Necktie and many more. Brits in NY British Apparel and Accessories. Brands include Bennett Winch, Dents, Derek Rose, Edward Green, Fox Umbrellas, Johnstons of Elgin, Grenfell, Tateossian, and many more. Made in Italy The Finest in Italian Apparel, Footwear and Accessories. Brands include: Cortigiani, Di Bello, Enrico Mandelli, Fray, Rota, Santo Stefano and many more. For a complete list of panels, forums, show events and happenings please visit: https://www.projectfashionevents.com/en/marketplace/schedule.html @PROJECTSHOW | #PROJECTNY #NOWPROJECT About PROJECT | Held in New York and Las Vegas, PROJECT hosts the most influential and comprehensive menswear market events, gathering domestic and international buyers, innovative brands, influential media, and industry protagonists. Through this fusion of community, education, media, and experiences, PROJECT propels the next seasons top trends, generates global awareness, and ultimately, drives commerce. For more information, please visit www.projectfashionevents.com. About Informa Markets | Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate, and grow. Our portfolio is comprised of more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the worlds leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com PRESS CONTACT I Sara Vaughn, sara.vaughn@informa.com, 212.600.3106 The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to send two formal charges against US President Donald Trump to the Senate, clearing the way for only the third impeachment trial of a US president to begin in earnest next week. Lawmakers voted 228 to 193 to give the Senate, controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, the task of putting him on trial on charges of abuse of power for asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and of obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and documents sought by Democratic lawmakers. The vote was largely along party lines. The Senate is expected to acquit Trump, keeping him in office, as none of its 53 Republicans has voiced support for removing him, a step that under the U.S. Constitution would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-seat chamber. But Trump's impeachment by the House last month will remain as a stain on his record and the televised trial in the Senate could be uncomfortable for him as he seeks re-election on Nov. 3, with Biden a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to challenge him. "We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor before the vote. Expand Close Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Jose Luis Magana/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Jose Luis Magana/AP) Pelosi, who launched the impeachment inquiry in September after earlier resisting such a move centered on Trump's actions related to Russian interference in the 2016 election, named a seven-member team of House Democrats to serve as prosecutors at the Senate trial. The House voted to approve them. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, was selected to head the team of House "managers." The White House has yet to unveil its defense team. The trial will overseen by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has said opening statements in the trial were expected next Tuesday. A pivotal event in Trump's impeachment was a July 25 telephone call in which he asked Ukraine's president to open a corruption investigation into Biden and his son, as well as a discredited theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. Democrats have called this an abuse of power because Trump asked a foreign government to interfere in a U.S. election for his own benefit at the expense of American national security. Biden is one of 12 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the presidential election. Republicans have argued that Trump's actions did not rise to the level of impeachable offenses. They have accused Democrats of using the Ukraine affair as a way to nullify Trump's 2016 election victory. No U.S. president has been removed as a direct result of impeachment. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the Watergate corruption scandal before the full House could vote on articles of impeachment, while Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House, respectively in 1868 and 1998, but not convicted by the Senate. Clinton's trial lasted five weeks. If the Senate conducts the Trump trial along those lines, as McConnell has suggested, the televised Senate proceedings against the president would still be going on while the first nominating contests of the 2020 presidential election were underway in Iowa and New Hampshire. Schiff, 59, spearheaded the House impeachment investigation and he is a frequent target of Trump attacks. Trump in December called Schiff, who served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles for six years, "a deranged human being." Schiff urged Republicans to allow more evidence and witnesses at the trial. "Americans overwhelmingly want a fair trial in the Senate, fair to the president and fair to the people. Senators must demand to see and hear the full evidence, including the documents and witnesses the president has blocked," Schiff said in a statement. Democrats want Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton to be called as a witness, which could prove damaging to Trump. Other impeachment witnesses have said Bolton was a vocal critic of the effort to pressure Ukraine. The House managers include four men and three women, with two African American lawmakers and one Hispanic lawmaker. Other managers include Jerrold Nadler, 72, who crafted the two articles of impeachment against Trump as House Judiciary Committee chairman, and Val Demings, a former police chief of Orlando, Florida. "The emphasis is on litigators, the emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom, the emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our Constitution, to seek the truth for the American people," Pelosi said in announcing the House managers. The White House greeted the announcement of the House team with scorn, with White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham saying Trump "expects to be fully exonerated." "The naming of these managers does not change a single thing," Grisham said in a statement. "President Trump has done nothing wrong." Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced successful fundraising exercise through completion of qualified institutional placement (QIP) and pricing of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs). The transaction is the largest dual-tranche equity and FCCB offering ever in Asia Pacific, the largest QIP by a private sector issuer ever in India and the largest FCCB offering from an India issuer in the past 12 years. Bharti Airtel has to pay about Rs 35,586 crore in additional statutory dues after the Supreme Court ruling on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liabilities of telecom companies in October last year. Last month, the company's shareholders had approved proposals to raise up to two billion dollars (about Rs 14,184 crore) in equity and another one billion dollars (about Rs 7,092 crore) in debt. The overall allotment is pre-dominantly to long-only investors, thereby also ensuring diversification of the shareholder base of Bharti Airtel. The company raised two billion dollars through the QIP route which saw participation by highly-reputed global and Indian investors. It will issue 32.36 crore equity shares of face value of Rs 5 per equity share at a price of Rs 445. This implies a discount of 1.57 per cent on the SEBI determined floor price of Rs 452.09 per equity share. Post the QIP issue, the holding of promoter and promoter group will be 58.98 per cent as against 62.7 per cent. The FCCB offering re-opened the Indian FCCB market after a three-year absence of such issuances. The offering was multiple times oversubscribed with strong demand from several marquee Asian and European funds. The deal was fully upsized to one billion dollars and priced at the best-end of the yield for the company on the back of strong interest from existing and new investors. The FCCB was priced at a coupon of 1.5 per cent per annum, yield-to-maturity of two per cent per annum and a conversion premium of 20 per cent above the final QIP price of Rs 445. "Despite a volatile market environment and challenging global macro-economic conditions, the offering witnessed a strong response from the global and domestic investor community," said Bharti Enterprises Group Director Harjeet Kohli. The net proceeds of the fund raised will primarily be used to augment the company's long-term resources and strengthen the balance sheet, servicing and repayment of short-term and long-term debts capital expenditures, statutory dues, long-term working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 31 participants were injured during Jallikattu competitions in Madurai's Avaniyapuram till afternoon, said Dr Vinod, Madurai Assistant Director, Medical, on Wednesday. "31 participants injured during Jallikattu competitions in Madurai's Avaniyapuram. 6 people admitted to Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for treatment," Dr Vinod told reporters here. With the start of the Pongal festival, the sport of Jallikattu also kicked off at Avaniyapuram in Madurai today. More than 2,000 bulls will participate in Jallikattu, which will be held till January 31 in the state. 730 bulls in Avaniyapuram, 700 bulls in Alanganallur and 650 bulls in Palamedu are participating in Jallikattu competitions this year. Retired Principal District Judge C Manickam, who has been appointed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, visited the venue in Madurai where the Jallikattu event was to be held to examine the arrangements made ahead of the start of the competition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MyBroadband has received confirmation from the Commissioner of Police in Mauritius that AFRINIC has reported a breach of the countrys Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act. This comes after AFRINIC said at the end of last year that it had filed charges with the Mauritius Police for the large-scale theft of Internet resources. The AFRINIC board said the matter was reported to the Central Criminal Investigation Division of the Mauritius Police Force on 10 December 2019. The Mauritius police have now confirmed that AFRINICs current CEO, Eddy Kayihura, filed the report. K. Booneeady, Assistant Superintendent of Police, provided the following statement on behalf of the Commissioner of Police: Kindly be informed that on 10.12.2019, Mr Mabano Eddy Kayihura, 43 yrs, Chief Executive Officer at AFRINIC, reported a case of Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act against Mr Ernest Mwirina Byaruhanga (OB 1335/2019 CCID refers). Byaruhanga is one of the men who helped establish AFRINIC in the early 2000s. AFRINIC is the Regional Internet Registry for Africa and the Indian Ocean region. It is headquartered in Mauritius and is responsible for assigning IP address blocks and keeping track of assignments within its service region. Byaruhanga was the second employee to be hired at AFRINIC in 2004, after former CEO and Internet Hall of Famer Adiel Akplogan. Stolen: IP address blocks worth R800 million MyBroadband and Ron Guilmette reported at the beginning of September 2019 that valuable Internet Protocol (IP) address blocks in AFRINICs jurisdiction had been misappropriated. IP addresses, or IPs for short, are like Internet real estate. Whether you are just browsing the web or hosting your own website, everyone online needs IP addresses. Unfortunately, most of the Internet is still using an old addressing system called Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) These older IPv4 addresses have become a relatively scarce resource. If IP address blocks are Internet real estate, then the AFRINIC WHOIS database is the deeds office. At first, it appeared as though the address blocks we were investigating had been stolen or squatted on by unscrupulous network operators. Further investigation revealed that at least some of the blocks of IP addresses were stolen with the help of at least one AFRINIC insider who had altered the title deeds the records in the AFRINIC WHOIS database. That insider is Ernest M. Byaruhanga, Guilmette said. The total estimated value of all of the stolen IP address blocks is over R800 million ($54.7 million). AFRINIC opened its case with the Mauritius police nearly a week after our second article was published. Now read: AFRINIC insider stole and sold Internet resources She is said to have 'walked away' from filming The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills amid reports of a 'passionate affair' with Brandi Glanville. And Denise Richards took her mind off the drama as she enjoyed dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Monday night. The former Bond Girl, 48, cut a glamorous figure in a black furry coat with a pair of ripped skinny jeans. What drama? Denise Richards took her mind off the drama as she enjoyed dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Monday night Denise teamed the items of clothing with a black vest top, heeled biker boots and a Balenciaga handbag. The Love Actually babe styled her blonde locks into a curly blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of glamorous make-up. Denise tried to keep a low profile as she left the Hollywood hot spot and got into her chaffeur-driven car ride home. It comes after the reality star skipped a trip with her onetime The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmates to New York City - instead staying behind in Los Angeles - amid reports of a 'passionate affair' with Brandi Glanville. Glamorous: The former Bond Girl, 48, cut a glamorous figure in a black furry coat with a pair of ripped skinny jeans Chic: The Love Actually babe styled her blonde locks into a curly blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of glamorous make-up Photos show the 48-year-old beauty on the West Coast, while her co-stars are in New York City watching Erika Girdardi perform in Chicago on Broadway. The birthday trip for Kyle Richards, has seen Dorit Kemsley, Lisa Rinna, eight-month pregnant Teddi Mellencamp and newbie, Sutton Stracke. Other new housewife, Garcelle Beauvais, will also miss out. The ladies, who have been in NYC since Monday, have been extremely active on social media, from videos on their private jet to their lavish dinners. Lisa Rinna took charge and got the girls to join in on one of her famous Instagram dance videos. Laughing off the drama: Denise tried to keep a low profile as she left the Hollywood hot spot and got into her chaffeur-driven car ride home Not invited? It comes after the reality star skipped a trip with her onetime The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmates to New York City - instead staying behind in Los Angeles Dance off! Lisa Rinna took charge and got the girls to join in on one of her famous Instagram dance videos Girls' trip! The birthday trip for Kyle Richards, has seen Dorit Kemsley, Lisa Rinna, eight-month pregnant, Teddi Mellencamp and newbie, Sutton Stracke For her part, Denise has just returned home from Europe and is mourning the loss of her dog. The beauty revealed her pet Louie, who she rescued 10 years ago, had past away as soon as she returned home from her premiere in Spain. Dorit was the only housewife to send her condolences via social media, commenting: 'So sorry honey. Sending love.' Denise's absence comes after DailyMail.com revealed that she had an affair with former RHOBH star, Brandi Glanville. Birthday girl: The girls are also celebrating Kyle's birthday Rumors: Denise's absence comes after several rumors have been circulating that she had an affair with former RHOBH star, Brandi Glanville (pictured) The dramatic confrontation happened on a cast trip to Rome in late November, multiple production sources exclusively told DailyMail.com. Richards and Glanville, 47, had been seeing each other from the beginning of 2019 up until the middle of the year, a source explained. The former model had told Glanville that she and her husband Aaron Phypers were in an open marriage, a source said. The allegations are set to play out in the upcoming season, when her co-stars confront her while they are in Rome. Drama to unfold: The allegations are set to play out in the upcoming season and the ladies reportedly confront her while they are in Rome (pictured on season nine) Silenced? Brandi hinted she had something to say regarding the allegations recently Denise's rep has continued to maintain the allegations are not true. The ex of Charlie Sheen married Phypers in September 2018. Denise shares custody of her daughters, Sam, 15, Lola, 14, with Charlie. She adopted daughter Eloise Joni Richards as a single parent in 2011. Aaron legally became Eloise's father in May 2019. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: The trade between Azerbaijan and Italy increased by 9.7 percent in 2018, Azerbaijans Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said during the fifth meeting of the Azerbaijan-Italy Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation held in Rome, Trend reports with reference to the Energy Ministry Jan. 15. The minister said that the growth trend in trade continued last year, and over the first nine months reached 10.5 percent. Speaking at a meeting of the commission, Shahbazov noted the successful development of relations between Azerbaijan and Italy, one of its main trading partners, adding that 113 Italian companies operating in various sectors of the economy are registered in Azerbaijan. The minister said that so far, Italy has invested $770 million in Azerbaijans economy, and Azerbaijan invested $1.7 billion in Italys economy. The minister noted that the main area of economic partnership with Italy is the energy sector. Over the past two years, Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR delivered 15.9 million tons of crude oil, 189,000 tons of oil products and 43,700 tons of petrochemical products to Italy. This year, the Southern Gas Corridor will be commissioned, which is of strategic importance for ensuring the energy security of our partner countries and Europe, Shahbazov said. The projects implementation at over 90 percent is also an indicator of support from the Italian government. We believe that together, we will ensure the timely completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project. Efforts will be made to address issues such as safe, diversified and competitive energy supplies, as well as the issue of decarbonization. The minister urged Italian companies to take advantage of the economic opportunities available in Azerbaijan and to develop cooperation in areas such as energy, non-oil sector, new technologies and investments. In turn, Manlio Di Stefano, secretary of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said that the commissions meeting will play an important role in assessing existing cooperation and developing ties in new directions. During the meeting, joint measures were identified to deepen cooperation in the trade, economic, energy, infrastructure and transport, agricultural, cultural and tourism sectors. The investment opportunities of both countries were considered with the participation of Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), the Azerbaijan Investment Company, the Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan and the relevant Italian agencies. Following the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, a protocol was signed. The document was signed by the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission Parviz Shahbazov and Manlio Di Stefano. Within the visit, Shahbazov also met with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli and Manlio Di Stefano. The parties discussed the results of the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission, measures to expand political and economic ties, and exchanged views on the Southern Gas Corridor and TAP as its component. It was noted that the Azerbaijani-Italian trade and economic partnership is of a strategic nature, in particular in the energy sector, and that the session of the intergovernmental commission and the meetings held will ensure adoption of the necessary measures to strengthen these relations. Shahbazov also met with the leaders of eight Italian companies, including Maire Tecnimont, Ansaldo Energia, Tenaris and Technip. Indiana is the seventeenth most populous (6,619,878 people) American state, which occupies an area of about 36,418sq miles. Indiana is situated in the Great Lakes and Midwestern parts of North America. Indiana is surrounded by Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Lake Michigan. Indiana was the nineteenth U.S. state to gain statehood on December 11, 1816. Indiana had the nineteenth biggest GDP in the country in 2018. The capital and largest city in Indiana is Indianapolis. The Economy Of Indiana Indiana has a diverse economy, which had a GDP of $359.12billion in 2017. The state has several smaller industrial towns and cities and metropolitan regions with a population of 100,000people. Indiana had a civil workforce of about 3.4million, the fifteenth in the country, in 2017. Indiana's unemployment rate in 2017 was 3.4percentage points lower than the country average. A considerable percentage of the state's income comes from the manufacturing sector. Over 17% of Indiana's non-farm labor force works in the manufacturing industry. Indiana was home to 7Fortune-500 firms with combined revenue of $142.5billion in 2016.The manufacturing industry dominated the economy of Indiana for much of the twentieth century. The availability of essential materials, labor, and extensive interstate highway infrastructures, among other factors, contributed to the growth of Indiana's economy. Heavy industrialization made Indiana vulnerable, and by the twenty-first century, the manufacturing industry had started giving way to the service sector. Biological science had become one of the principal focus of Indiana's development efforts by the twenty-first century. The Biggest Industries In Indiana Energy Sector The principal source of power in Indiana is fossil fuels, particularly coal. There are 24coal power plants in Indiana, and this includes Gibson Generating Station, the biggest coal power plant in the country. Indiana is home to Gallagher power plant (a coal-fired plant with the highest sulfur dioxide emission in the country). Indiana has 57billion ton coal reserves, and it produces 35million tons annually. Coal accounted for over 88.5% of the energy produced in Indiana in 2009. Indiana has 6hydroelectric dams, including Oakdale and Norway Dams, which provide electrical power to the locals. Oakdale Dam created the Freeman Lake while Norway Dam created Shafer Lake. Markland Dam also produces electricity.Indiana is one of the leading American states in biofuel production. Indiana is home to 4biodiesel and 12ethanol plants. Reynolds town is nicknamed BioTown USA since it's experimenting on using organic fuels and biofuels to power the entire city. Indianapolis airport had the biggest airport solar farm in the country in 2013. Commercial wind power began in the state when Benton-County-Wind Farm came online in 2008. The state installed 130MW of wind turbines in June 2008, and by the end of 2009, Indiana had installed 1,035.95MW of wind power. Manufacturing The manufacturing industry experienced steady growth from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century, and during that time, it was the main source of income in Indiana. However, by the early twenty-first century, growth in the manufacturing industry had slowed down even though the sector still contributed over 25% of the state's gross state product. The automotive and steel industries are the leading players in this sector. In terms of automotive GDP, the automobile industry in Indiana was ranked second in the country, right behind Michigan in 2013. Indiana is the leading producer of mobile homes, caskets, electrical products, and hardwood furniture, among others. Pharmaceuticals And Medical Devices Indiana is one of the leading manufacturers of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. and home to the international headquarters of Eli-Lilly. Johnson Nutritionals, a branch of Bristol-Myers Squibb, is situated in Evansville, Indiana. Another big pharmaceutical firm found in Indiana with a strong economic base in Elkhart. Indiana is ranked fifth in the United States in total shipments and sales of pharmaceutical goods. It is ranked second in the country in the number of biopharmaceutical-related-jobs. Warsaw is known as the Capital of Orthopedic in the world. Warsaw is home to over 33% of the $38billion orthopedic industry. Some of the companies found in Warsaw include Depuy Synthes, Biomet, and Zimmer Biomet. Other companies that produce medical devices include Cook Group Incorporated and Roche Diagnostics. Mining Indiana is known for its decorative limestone, which is mined in the southern mountainous part of the state, particularly in Lawrence County. The limestone from Indiana has been used to decorate various iconic structures in the U.S. such as the Washington National Cathedral, Pentagon, and the Empire State Building, among other structures. The limestone produces chemical raw materials and crushed aggregate cement. The lime that is produced by heating crushed limestone is used in the steel and agriculture industries. Indiana produces gravel, sand, stone, and coal for energy. Indiana produces over 36million tons of coal annually. The underground mines below the mountains of Martin County produce gypsum. There are numerous operational petroleum fields in the Southwestern parts of the state, although some oil derricks can be spotted on the outskirts of the city of Terre-Haute. Transportation Indiana boasts that over 75% of the country's population is within a day's drive, making rail, trucking, distributions, and warehousing a crucial sector in the region. Indiana has over 4,255railroad-route miles of which 91% is operated by Class-I railroads, particularly the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation. The remaining miles are managed by 37local, switching-and-terminal, and regional railroads. About 13 main U.S. interstate highways are in Indiana. The several highways intersecting in Indianapolis, together with the state's historic status as the leading railroad hub, are the sources of the state's motto "the Crossroads-of-America". Indiana has numerous main airports, including the Indianapolis International Airport, among others. The southeastern parts of Indiana are served by the Cincinnati/Northern-Kentucky Airport, while the southern region is served by Louisville International Airport. Over 50% of Indiana's boundary is water, and this includes 400miles of direct access to 2 main freight transportation arteries (the inland waterway system and St Lawrence/ Great Lakes Seaway). Indiana ships more than 70million tons of cargo via water annually, and its ranked fourteenth among all the American states. Agriculture Even though the agricultural sector of Indiana has employed a small percentage of the population, it is still one of the biggest producers of mint, soybeans, and corn in the United States. Technological advances have helped increase production in the state despite the reduction in total farm acreage. The principal vegetable crop in the region is tomatoes. However, watermelon is still crucial in the lower Wabash Valley. Indiana is one of the primary producers of dairy and hog products in the country. Other important livestock reared in Indiana includes sheep, ducks, and turkey. New Zealand police have denied running over the body of a White Island victim after it was claimed they botched a retrieval operation. A scathing social media post accused the police force of covering up the failed recovery attempt on Friday. But NZ Police have described the claims as 'offensive both to the families of the victims and to the police and Defence Force staff'. Scroll down for video Pictured: Tourists capture photos of the White Island (Whakaari) volcano eruption in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand on 09 December 2019 A Facebook page set up by Ethan Tamaki criticised the New Zealand Police for their search and recovery effort. He claimed police were 'disrespectful' and had used a rope to tow the body behind a boat. He claimed he had received the information from an 'anonymous and extremely reliable source within the NZ Defence Force'. PICTURED: Controversial social media figure Ethan Tamaki accused the police force of covering up the failed recovery attempt in a scathing post on Facebook on Friday 'The sad truth is they partially retrieved a body,' he wrote. 'As the police vessel could not get close to the Island, the NZ Navy sent out personnel in a small rigid hull Navy vessel as they were able to get close to the island. 'After some time searching they discovered a body.' PICTURED: The police boat Deodar III arrives into Whakatane after police were unable to get onto White Island to recover the bodies of those killed by the December 9 volcanic eruption He said the navy crew notified the Police Commissioner before they were about to retrieve the body and 'to their horror' were ordered to tow it behind their boat. Mr Tamaki then said the police vessel 'ran over the body and it was never seen again'. New Zealand police have responded to the allegations in a statement describing the claims as 'offensive'. Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement said police remain disappointed they have been unable to recover two of the victims of the White Island volcano eruption. Deputy Police Commissioner Mike Clement (pictured) said police remain disappointed they have been unable to recover two of the victims of the White Island volcano eruption 'As stated previously police staff did see the body of a man in the water on the Wednesday after the eruption,' he said. 'All efforts were made to recover the body, first by Defence Force staff who were on a RIB and when this was unsuccessful an attempt was made to transfer the body to the Police launch however due to the sea conditions this was also unsuccessful,' he said. Police did not confirm or deny whether the unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the body mentioned above involved towing it behind their boat. Mr Tamaki has responded to the police statement in another post to Facebook on Wednesday morning. He said he wasn't trying to detract from efforts by rescue personnel but make emergency operators accountable for their questionable retrieval methods. 'Dont get me twisted, this has nothing to do with the valiant efforts of rescue and recovery operations personnel from both the defence force or the police,' he wrote. PICTURED: There were 47 people on the White Island when the volcano erupted at 2.11pm on December 9 'Simply a poorly calculated order that should not have been given and a mistake that should have had accountability openly taken by those in charge.' There were 47 people on the island when the volcano erupted at 2.11pm on December 9. Although 20 are now dead, the official death toll stands at 18 because the bodies of Sydney teenager Winona Langford and New Zealand tour-guide Hayden Marshall-Inman have not been found. Their bodies were washed out to see after the eruption and have yet to be retrieved despite searches by police divers. Initially detained Russian deaf society head put under house arrest in embezzlement case RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:25 15/01/2020 MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court has ruled that detention of the president of All-Russian Society of the Deaf Valery Rukhledev charged with embezzling over 50 million rubles (over $800,000) be replaced with house arrest until April 17, according to the courts press service. The defendant has been released from custody in the courtroom. In May 2018, Moscows Tverskoy District Court ordered Rukhledev be placed under house arrest. In March 2019, the defendant was put in detention because of repeated violations of the house arrest conditions. According to investigators, he attempted to exert pressure on the witnesses. Investigators claim that the defendants stole more than 50 million rubles from the budget of All-Russian Society of the Deaf by selling the organizations property between 2012 and 2014. Zimbatova pleaded guilty in full, according to case papers. Rukhledev was elected as the societys president in 2003. The next election will be held in 2020, the organizations website says. Oregons only national park is temporarily cut off from the rest of the world, as heavy snows have suspended telephone and internet service at Crater Lake. The Herald and News, a Klamath Falls newspaper, reported that there is not yet an estimate for when service will be restored, but it has been out since Monday morning. Sean Denniston, a park employee, told the Herald and News that some staff members live in housing in the park, and are affected by the outages. Crews are operating snowplows and working to widen the road for one of the entrances into the park. An employee told The Herald and News that its unclear how much snow has fallen since last weekend, but said that a snow gauge that measures up to 25 inches a day reached and likely went over that amount on a recent day. The road from park headquarters to Rim Village, as well as the Rim Cafe and gift shop, have been closed for several days, the Herald and News reported. Highway 62, the main road to the parks south entrance, was also closed earlier this week due to fallen trees and heavy snow. Those who travel to the park in winter are advised to prepare with warm clothes, enough extra food and water in the car, snow shovels and chains or traction tires. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. A woman officer became the Parade Adjutant for the first time in the history of the Army Day parade where the Army showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets. Captain Tania Sher Gill led the all-men contingents at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantt during the parade. Army Chief Gen M M Naravane, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat were present on the occasion. A fourth generation soldier, Captain Sher Gill was commissioned into the Corps of Signals two years ago. The parade adjutant plays an important role in directing and conducting the parade. She will also be in the same role at the Republic Day parade (the Army Day parade is part of the January 26 parade). Sher Gills father served in the army and later joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The 5 foot 9 woman officer hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. She did her engineering in electronics and telecommunications from a college in Nagpur. Her hobbies include photography, travelling and music. The army celebrates January 15 as Army Day every year as it was on this day that the first Indian general took charge of the Indian Army. General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) took over as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949. The military hardware showcased at Wednesdays parade included infantry combat vehicle BMP-2K, K9 Vajra-T artillery guns, locally built Dhanush towed guns, T-90 main battle tanks and the short span bridging system. The parade consisted of 18 different contingents and also featured a combat display in which soldiers simulated action in enemy territory. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New York, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Increasing demand for natural aroma ingredients coupled with high investment in R&D of aroma ingredients are fueling the market growth. According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the global Active Cosmetic Ingredients (ACI) market was valued at USD 3,072.1 Million in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 5,185.7 Million by the year 2026, at a CAGR of 6.6%. In recent years, consumers are getting more inclined towards natural and organic cosmetics. The younger consumers are prioritizing meaning over materialism and are demanding more authentic, transparent, and natural ingredients. In the case of ACI market, plant-based or bio-active ingredients have witnessed a rapid demand and adoption. Moreover, with the increase in demand for cosmetic, there has been an increase in product launches by companies operating in the industry. The companies have been launching products and are collaborating with other players to expand their presence globally. For instance, In November 2019, Clariant AG partnered with Plant Advanced Technologies to develop powerful plant-based active ingredients for cosmetics. Request free sample of this research report at: https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/2352 Owing to the increasing multiple public controversies, such as contaminations and product adulterations, concerns associated with parabens and sulfates, industries such as the food & beverage, personal care, and cosmetics have witnessed significant changes. In recent years, the cosmetics industry has also been looking for partners enabling better transparency of information along the whole supply chain. For instance, DNA Gensee, a French bio-tech laboratory offers DNA-based analysis to ensure the quality and safety of supplies. This allows players in the cosmetics industry to have some factual data on the authenticity of what they have bought and to know whether what was supplied is in adherence with the R&D specifications. Europe accounted for USD 1,054.3 million in 2018 and is projected to grow significantly in the forecast period. With the socio-demographic changes in Europe, the demand for natural ingredients for cosmetics and related products have witnessed a significant increase. According to the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), with the rising ageing population in the region, the demand for natural ingredients with active properties, such as anti-ageing has increased significantly. Skincare cosmetics, including creams, serums, eye creams and face masks have gained widespread popularity. Other cosmetics with an increased demand include antiwrinkle, anti-pigmentation and anti-stretch mark products. This is expected to boost demand for ACI in the upcoming years. Further key findings from the report suggest UV Filters accounted for 11.9% of the market in 2019. Increasing concerns about skin diseases and growing awareness over the risk of skin cancer associated with overexposure to the suns UV light is generating enormous opportunities for the manufacturers to invest in this business. Powder ingredients are anticipated to dominate the industry. Powder ingredients work well with young or oily skin as they tend to adsorb oily residue. Thus, most of the oily skin regulators formulations are formulated in powder form. For instance, activated charcoal powder is a highly adsorptive component with multiple nano pores allowing it to adsorb impurities and oil present in the skin and hair. The adoption of active ingredients for treatment of acne is likely to increase in the forecast period. Acne is considered to be one of the key dermatological issues faced globally. Based on the American Academy of Dermatology, acne is among the most common skin condition in the U.S. and affects approximately 50 million Americans annually. Thus, over the last few decades, cosmetic companies have been introducing various products to resolve issues related to acne. These products include various active ingredients such as salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and retinol, which provide a multi-prolonged approach. Europe is likely to witness a significant CAGR owing to increasing demand from countries such as France, Germany and the U.K. According to a key German skincare brand, skincare is more about wellness and efficacy to the Germans, and thus, they are more focused on ingredients than just finding something considered to be luxurious or pampering experience. Thus, a large share of the German skincare is built upon a stripped back routine of cleansing, toning and moisturizing that supports the skins natural renewal process. Similarly, in France, trends such as achieving radiant skin free from imperfections are prevalent. Thus, the market for active ingredients is forecasted to grow in the region. Key participants in the market include BASF SE, Croda International, DOW Chemicals, Clariant AG, Ashland Global Holdings, Lonza Group, Solvay S.A, Evonik Industries, Givaudan, and Symrise AG. Croda International is a European specialty chemical company found in 1925. The company offers active cosmetic ingredients through its subsidiary Sederma. The company offers a wide range of cosmetic ingredients for skin and hair care products, which are internationally sold to all significant cosmetic manufacturers. To identify the key trends in the industry, click on the link below: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/active-cosmetic-ingredients-market Segments covered in the report: For the purpose of this study, Reports and Data have segmented the Active Cosmetic Ingredients market on the basis of ingredient, form, source, functionality, end-use, distribution channel, and region: Ingredient Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Moisturizing Agents Anti-Aging Agents UV Filters Exfoliating Agents Antimicrobial Agents Other Ingredients Form Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Liquid Powder Other Forms Source Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Natural Synthetic Functionality Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Anti-ageing Anti-acne Moisturizing UV damage Skin lightening Others End-Use Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Skincare Haircare Distribution Channel Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; 2018-2026 and Revenue, USD Million; 2018-2026) Online Offline Order Now: https://www.reportsanddata.com/checkout-form/2352 Regional Outlook (Volume: Kilo Tons; Revenue: USD Billion; 2016-2026) North America U.S. Europe France UK Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Middle East and Africa Browse more similar reports on Baby and Personal Care category by Reports And Data Anti-aging cosmetics Market - https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/anti-aging-cosmetics-market Jojoba Oil Market - https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/jojoba-oil-market About Reports and Data Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries and help clients make a smarter business decision. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a multiple industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Power, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware about the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (Image: Twitter/@Bhupesh_Baghel) The Congress-led Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to declare the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 as unconstitutional. The Chhattisgarh government is the first state government to challenge the Act. The move comes a day after the Kerala government challenged the Citizenship Amendment Act under Article 131 of the Constitution. The Chhattisgarh government has filed an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution which provides for the state to move directly to the Supreme Court in matters of dispute against the Centre. In the plea the state government said, "The plaintiff (state) respectfully submits that the NIA Act is ultra vires to the Constitution and is beyond legislative competence of Parliament since the Act empowers the defendant (Centre) to create an agency for investigation, which, not withstanding the NIA, is carried out by state police, which is a subject matter of the state under entry 2, List 2, Schedule 7, of the Constitution." The suit filed through standing counsel of the state Sumer Sodhi said the NIA Act in its present form not only takes away the power of conducting investigation by the plaintiff (state) through police but also confers "unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers" on the defendant (Centre). "Moreover, there are no rules governing the exercise of powers which gives ample discretion to the defendant to exercise its power at any juncture without providing any reason or justification for the same," the plea said. The state government said the provision of the Act leaves no room for coordination and pre-condition of consent in any form by the central government from the state government which clearly is against the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution. The NIA Act, 2008, was enacted with a view to constituting the NIA to investigate and prosecute people for offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of state, friendly relations with foreign states and offences under Acts enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations. In line with an order by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Royal Court has mourned the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed of Oman. HM the King paid homage to late Sultan Qaboos who spent a life full of achievements in serving his people as well as the Arab and Islamic nations. The Royal Court reiterated the kingdoms support to Oman and the Omani people in these painful circumstances, recalling with gratitude and respect the enormous contribution of late Sultan Qaboos bin Said to Omans growth, boosting historic fraternal relations between both countries and setting up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Royal Court extended condolences to Sultan Haitham bin Taraq Al Said of Oman, the royal family and the Omani government and people, praying to Allah the Almighty to bless the deceased with mercy, rest his soul in eternal peace and paradise and provide the royal family and the Omani people with patience and fortitude. In line with an order by HM the King, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, issued an edict declaring a three-day official mourning, starting from today, with Bahrain's flag flown half mast in all official institutions in the Kingdom as well as the kingdoms embassies and diplomatic missions abroad. NATO discusses regional security with the King of Jordan NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 14 Jan. 2020 Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday (14 January 2020) for talks about the Alliance's strong partnership with Jordan and the current situation in the Middle East. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that Jordan is one of NATO's closest global partners and that the Alliance and Jordan are united in their work to counter international terrorism. The Secretary General underlined it was important to preserve the gains made against ISIS to ensure the terrorist group does not return. During his visit the King discussed regional security challenges with Allied ambassadors during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council. The Secretary General praised the King's leadership and his role in promoting regional security. NATO and Jordanian forces have a long track record of practical cooperation and have worked together from the Balkans to Afghanistan. NATO has also helped strengthen Jordan's capabilities, including cyber defence, border security and countering improvised explosive devices. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Glenda Bailey, the editor in chief of the luxury fashion magazine Harpers Bazaar, will step down at the end of February. The move was announced by Hearst, the publisher of the magazine, on Wednesday. Ms. Bailey, who led Harpers Bazaar for nearly 19 years, was one of the last in a line of fashion editors producing expensive, glossy monthly magazines. Her departure follows a number of other notable changes at Hearst, and signals an almost complete shift from the old order of magazine publishing, which has been decimated over the last decade by the internet. In 2018, David Carey, the president of Hearst Magazines for eight years, stepped down. Troy Young, who had previously overseen the companys digital presence, succeeded him. (Mr. Carey returned to Hearst Corporation earlier this month as senior vice president of public affairs and communications.) Within a month, Joanna Coles, the chief content officer of Hearst and the former editor of Cosmopolitan, the Hearst magazine with the highest circulation, left. The editor in chief of Esquire, Jay Fielden, left the next year, as did Anne Fulenwider, the editor of Marie Claire. The former head of the Garda cold case unit believes whoever left body parts in a bag in north Dublin earlier this week did it to send out a very clear message. Two arms and two legs were found in a residential area in Coolock on Monday night. Shimane Prefectural Police are attempting to get a knife-wielding man who took a woman hostage at the office of a transport company in Izumo City on Tuesday to surrender, reports TV Asahi (Jan. 14). At around 2:30 p.m., the man, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, entered the office of Ueda Cold Corp. with the knife and ordered employees to leave, the Izumo Police Station said. However, a female employe, aged in her 40s, remained inside. One of the exiting employees tipped off police. Any demands being made by the man are not known. As of the evening, officers were continuing to talk the man into surrendering. Huawei has announced that it sold over 6.9 million 5G smartphones last year, reports GizmoChina. Do note that this includes HONORs devices as well, the same as any other shipment info regarding the company. Huawei announced quite a few 5G smartphones in 2019, more than the vast majority of other OEMs, if not all of them. The company announced the Mate 30 5G, Mate 20 X 5G, Mate X 5G, Nova 6 5G, and the HONOR V30 5G series. Now, this information has been shared in Chinese, and theres a good reason for that. The vast majority of 5G devices that the company sold, got sold in China. Advertisement Huawei and HONOR have a combined market share of 25.8-percent in China, as far as smartphones are concerned. Huawei, alone, is still at the top, with 15.36-percent. HONOR grew quite a bit over the year. HONOR is currently holding a 10.45-percent market share in China. That is quite a bit deal, as HONOR is Huaweis sub-brand, essentially, even though its acting as a separate entity at the moment. China is still the largest smartphone market in the world. India grew a lot over the year, and is closing in, but China is still at the top in that regard. Advertisement Huawei sold over 6.9 million 5G handsets in 2019, and thats impressive That being said, the sheer fact that Huawei sold over 6.9 million 5G smartphones is impressive. We did not see that many 5G smartphones in the market just yet. 2020 will be a completely different story, as many more OEMs will release such devices. 5G is spreading, but that rollout is really slow. 5G will not cross the finish line for a couple of years, probably. And by that, I mean to become as widespread as everyone would like. 4G is still around, and that wont change. 4G is still the standard around the world, and it will be interesting to see how long will it take for 5G to phase it out. Advertisement Huawei managed to sell 240 million smartphones last year Now, as far as Huaweis smartphone sales, in general, are concerned, well, it did great in that regard as well. Huawei managed to sell 240 million smartphones last year. It managed to do that despite the US ban. For comparisons sake, this China-based tech giant shipped 206 million smartphones a year before, in 2018. So, as you can see, this is a 32 million increase despite the US ban. 2020 will be an extremely challenging year for Huawei. Mainly because of the US ban which prevents it to include Googles services on its smartphones. Huawei has been working on its own set of apps (HMS), to replace Googles, but that will take a while. Replacing the Google Play Store is the biggest obstacle for Huawei. It remains to be seen how will the company handle that this year. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in connection with the Daryaganj violence case. The court has ordered him not to hold any protest in Delhi till February 16th. While hearing the case, the Judge had asked Azad's counsel to read out some of his social media posts. Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing Azad, had on Tuesday said that the petitioner was sent to jail without any evidence in connection with anti-CAA protests in Delhi's Darya Ganj area last year. "I think the court's comments should become a precedent for the country. The Public Prosecutor at the behest of police tried to make this a communal issue. We told the court that the government has a problem with Azad because he made the CAA-NPR-NRC an issue for everyone. The Court also sought evidence," Pracha told ANI after Delhi's Tis Hazari court deferred the bail plea of Azad till today. On Wednesday, the court pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to show any evidence against Azad. Azad was arrested on December 21 last year after he led a march from Jama Masjid against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was sent to judicial custody till January 18 at Tihar jail. The Bhim Army chief was charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and inciting the mob to indulge in violence after vandalism in Delhi's Daryaganj area. (ANI) Priscilla Shirer is recovering well after surgery, Beth Moore says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Popular faith leader Beth Moore shared an update on Priscilla Shirer's recovery after she underwent surgery to remove a lobe of her left lung after doctors discovered a small nodule that contained some dangerous irregularities. Im going to just give you the very basics because I want to leave every kind of detail to the family and respect [them] completely in this, Moore said on Instagram Tuesday while driving back to Houston from Dallas, Texas, where she joined others in praying for Shirer during her surgery. She did very very well during the surgery. The surgeon said that it went absolutely according to plan. That her body is strong and they have every anticipation that shell heal up well, she continued. Moore revealed that the War Room star will spend the next couple of days in the hospital and has more recovery time ahead. Moore and Christine Caine marched around the Dallas hospital where Shirer was being operated on and prayed for her and the surgical team. Moore and Caine shared on Instagram that they were headed to the hospital at 6 a.m. Monday armed and dangerous with anointing oil and the Bible. After the surgery, both Christian speakers had the chance to visit with Shirer. We just had the sweetest few minutes with her. Shes just a rockstar to us, so dear and precious to us, Moore said. She ended her surgery update by asking everyone to keep Shirer in their prayers. Pray for a smooth and comfortable recovery and, Id add to that, a time of respite for this family we all love so much. Your prayers MATTER. Keep them up, Moore concluded. Shirer, who recently lost her mother, Lois Evans, to a rare form of cancer, revealed on Facebook last week that doctors would be removing an entire lobe of her left lung. The surgery was delayed but I cannot put it off any longer without jeopardizing my own health, the Christian speaker and actress said last week. The day before surgery, Shirer shared a video on Instagram showing Moore at her house cleaning up for her after a family gathering. When youve had a few really tough weeks and youre on the eve of a few more tough ones but then your people show up cooking and cleaning and making a celebration out of thin air, Shirer gratefully shared. Shirer decided to speak openly about the procedure after word began to spread on social media. On Tuesday, the women in my home church surrounded me in prayer regarding an upcoming surgery that I have scheduled, she explained. Since then, news of this procedure began to spread on the inter webs by concerned individuals so I wanted to take a moment to address it personally. This past summer, it was clear that something surgical needed to be done as the nodule had begun to grow and show signs of dangerous irregularities, she said. Shirer has not shared an update on her condition. Queen Elizabeth finally released a statement regarding Prince Harry and Meghan Markles stunning exit. After an emergency meeting with the couple, Her Majesty announced that she is entirely supportive of their decision to step down as senior members of the royal family. The statement is confirmation that Harry and Meghan intend to follow through with their plans, but royal watchers believe that Queen Elizabeth dropped a subtle hint that the pair might lose their titles over #Megxit. Queen Elizabeth, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth releases statement Taking to Instagram, Harry and Meghan explained how they no longer want to be considered senior royals. They also revealed that they want to live in Canada for part of the year and want to be financially independent from the crown. The announcement reportedly blindsided Queen Elizabeth, who had no idea they were planning on leaving. In a desperate bid to keep things together, Her Majesty reportedly held an emergency meeting in Sandringham with Harry, Prince Charles, and Prince William. BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth II released a statement following a family meeting with Meghan Markle and princes Harry, Charles and William on Monday. https://t.co/HOKq0ckvQD HuffPost (@HuffPost) January 13, 2020 After the meeting, Queen Elizabeth released a statement regarding Harry and Meghans announcement. The statement was the first time the royals had officially reacted to the news. Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family, Queen Elizabeth shared. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghans desire to create a new life as a royal family. Queen Elizabeth went on to say that she would have liked for Harry and Meghan to remain senior members of the family. She also revealed that additional details about the couples plans would be forthcoming. Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lose their titles? What is interesting about Queen Elizabeths statement is that it does not refer to Harry and Meghan as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to Page Six, Queen Elizabeth usually refers to members of the royal family by their titles, especially in official discourse. Royal expert Russell Meyers believes that the omission was a subtle hint that Harry and Meghan will be giving up their titles if they go through with their plan. What is most remarkable about this statement, perhaps, is the Queen referring to them as Harry and Meghan and not by their royal titles. Could be a big clue for the future, Meyers stated. Queen Elizabeth has given her blessing to grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markles wish for a more independent future, following crisis talks involving the Queen, Harry, his father Prince Charles and his older brother William https://t.co/U8ekWmeETe pic.twitter.com/6j7q43faEN Reuters (@Reuters) January 14, 2020 That said, other experts, such as Robert Lacey, believe that Harry and Meghan will likely keep their royal titles. In fact, Queen Elizabeth did not refer to them as Duke or Duchess, but she did call them the Sussexes at one point. Lacey added that the royals will likely do the same thing when Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson in 1936. Although he gave up his right to the throne, Edward retained his title as the Duke of Windsor. Inside the #Megxit summit Prior to Queen Elizabeths announcement, Her Majesty met with Charles, William, and Harry at her estate in Sandringham. Harry reportedly arrived at the meeting early and enjoyed lunch with Queen Elizabeth a little before noon. Charles also joined them for lunch, though William did not arrive until right before the meeting started. Sources say Harry was heartbroken by the decision but had little choice in the matter. Meghan allegedly told him that living under the royal spotlight was not working and that things needed to change. Queen Elizabeth II finally broke her silence about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's unprecedented decision to step back from the Royal Family. https://t.co/q97ExP7Wau pic.twitter.com/GqI3Cw1fMr E! News (@enews) January 13, 2020 Prince Philip was not present for the meeting. He was reportedly too angry to meet with Harry and was spotted driving away from the property that morning. Based on Queen Elizabeths statement, it is evident that Harry and Meghan are serious about leaving the royal family. Exactly how they fund their exit, however, may be met with even more backlash. Will taxpayers fund Prince Harry and Meghan Markles exit? Security is one of the big question marks in Harry and Markles plan to live in Canada. Early reports suggested that the couple would fit the bill for a security team, but it now appears as though Canada will paying for it. Sources claim that Justin Trudeau has promised Queen Elizabeth that Harry, Meghan, and their son, Archie Harrison, will be kept safe in Canada. This includes tasking the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in protecting the family. If I was Canadian Id be pissed that my tax dollars were being used to pay for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles security! Would Justin Trudeau extend the same courtesy to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie? https://t.co/6bDdLudEEl #QueenElizabeth #PrinceWilliam #PrinceCharles Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 14, 2020 If that happens, then taxpayers in Canada would be fitting Harry and Meghans security bill. Early estimates have put the security costs at well over $1 million a year, which is not sitting well with Canadians. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not commented on the reports surrounding their exit, or Queen Elizabeths statement. Meghan recently flew back to Canada with Archie while Harry met with the royals. The Houston Police Department is searching for eight fugitives, including three women and five men, wanted for human trafficking-related crimes, according to a recent city news release. In honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, police together with Crime Stoppers of Houston on Monday announced initiatives they are conducting to combat human and sex trafficking across the greater Houston area. "This is the month that we are using to make the public aware of whats going on out there," said Houston Police Assistant Chief James Jones. "I dont believe Houston is a hub of human trafficking, but I do believe that we are on the forefront of identifying the problem." READ ALSO: Three national hotel chains in Houston sued for promoting sex trafficking Houston police said they are working with multiple human trafficking awareness organizations, including Elijah Rising, the Houston 20, the Katy 20 and The Woodlands/Conroe 20. Jones called the problem across Houston a "scourge" and said the department was working to educate the public and to re-educate its own officers to be able to identify what trafficking looks like. The department is also working with medical professionals and school districts to help identify victims of human trafficking. "We are not just going after prostitutes now," he said. "We realize now that they are victims. They are people that need our help. Sometimes, we have to arrest them to give them the help they need, but they are victims." Police originally identified nine fugitives wanted for human trafficking-related crimes but by Wednesday, one of the suspects was in police custody. The names of the fugitives are Rahsaan Joshua Benton, Otis Calvin Berry, Willie James Brumfield, Imani Jean-Marie Cole, Mikia Collins, Kourtney Michelle Dean, Ashley Espinoza and Davian Samuel Rollins. They are accused of crimes that range from the trafficking of a child to aggravated robbery to prostitution. Michelle Iracheta is a reporter in Houston. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | michelle.iracheta@chron.com Advertisement Meghan Markle has popped up again in Vancouver to support a feminist climate change group called 'Justice for Girls' as 5,000 miles away her husband prepares for his first public event since they sensationally quit as royals. The Duchess of Sussex visited campaigners who said the former Suits star, who donned a cashmere sweater she wore on the show, discussed 'issues affecting women' including how rising global temperatures and the justice system 'disproportionately' hits women and girls around the world. Her latest appearance was on Tuesday afternoon, after she visited the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver by sea plane having lefty Archie with his nanny at the familys 10.7million bolthole on Vancouver Island, but was only publicised on the 'Justice for Girls' Twitter account last night. Today it emerged she broke cover at the vulnerable womens centre after a mysterious email from a Hotmail account arrived asking if she could visit drop in. It came from Meghan's 'assistant - not a royal aide, according to the centre's boss Kate Gibson. Today in London Prince Harry will carry out his first engagement since the Sussexes 'went nuclear' and quit as frontline royals and announced plans to emigrate. The Duke is helping launch the Rugby World Cup 2021 at Buckingham Palace this morning and also released two official social media videos in 12 hours in a signal of how he plans to engage with the world going forward. First he posted a video to announce his beloved Invictus Games will be hosted in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2022, before this morning publishing a film urging men to avoid 'grinning and bearing it' as he launched his Mental Fitness Charter. Meghan Markle visiting the Justice for Girls group in Canada yesterday, after she was previously seen visiting another women's rights group in Vancouver The Duchess of Sussex enjoys coffee and makes notes as she meets with the Justice for Girls group in Canada yesterday The programme will include mental health awareness workshops for 8,000 young rugby league players and their families and training for grass roots coaches to deliver their own mental fitness workshops outside the tournament. Canada's biggest newspaper says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not welcome As Prince Harry prepares to be reunited with his wife and son in Canada, the country's biggest newspaper has told them they are not welcome to live there. In a scathing editorial, The Globe and Mail said: 'Canada is not a halfway house for anyone looking to get out of Britain while remaining a royal.' Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted before Christmas that Harry, Meghan and eight-month-old Archie 'were among friends, and always welcome here'. But yesterday the nation's most influential newspaper condemned the couple's 'vague and evolving plan to move to Canada while remaining part of the Royal Family', adding: 'The Trudeau government's response should be simple and succinct: No.' Advertisement Harry said: 'I am proud to support the Rugby League World Cup 2021 mental fitness charter. This charter will build on the brilliant work already happening in rugby league by committing to training and educating all those involved in the tournament, and the wider rugby league family, not only in how they can look after their own mental fitness but also support others to do the same' Harry will not be flying back to join Meghan and Archie in Canada after today' event as he and his team continues to negotiate an abdication deal on money, titles and establishing their international commercial brand. It came as Harry's friends expressed concern after he 'cut off' contact with them while Meghan was pregnant, with many 'no longer having his phone number', according to People Magazine in the US. The Duke of Sussex stopped contacting many of his old friends some six months into his wife's pregnancy, creating a feeling of 'resentment' among the group, a royal source has claimed. However, he is believed to still be in touch with Charlie van Straubenzee, his old prep school companion and now godfather to his son, Archie, and they both attended each other's weddings just months apart in 2018. The Duchess has carefully controlled media access at three engagements since she and Harry announced they would amend their media relations policy to cut out the established press and communicate directly with the public. Last week selected photographs of the Sussexes visiting a community kitchen set up after the Grenfell Tower disaster were shared via their Instagram account. Zoe Craig-Sparrow, Co-Director at Justice for Girls, said they were honored to have Meghan join them on Tuesday She said: 'The Duchess met with our Co-Directors as well as representatives from our Board of Directors and staff. The Duchess put everyone at ease and had a really engaged discussion with us for 90 minutes about our work and the rights of teenage girls who live in poverty. We were honored that she chose to have this conversation with us and is interested in the work we do'. The Duchess also made a surprise visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver yesterday to 'offer support' and to 'boost the staff's spirits'. The boss revealed a non-Palace aide set it up using a Hotmail account that surprised them The group adds that climate change is a threat to the lives and cultural rights of these girls and the charity is campaigning to stop the continued use and development of fossil fuels. Prince Harry's friends say he became 'cut off' from them when Meghan became pregnant Harry's friends expressed concern after he 'cut off' contact with them while Meghan was pregnant. Many 'no longer having his phone number', according to People Magazine in the US. The Duke of Sussex stopped contacting many of his old friends some six months into his wife's pregnancy, creating a feeling of 'resentment' among the group, a royal source has claimed. However, he is believed to still be in touch with Charlie van Straubenzee, his old prep school companion and now godfather to his son, Archie, and they both attended each other's weddings just months apart in 2018. Advertisement Meanwhile, another source told People magazine that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex felt they had to step back from their official roles because of 'bad blood' in the Royal Family. A friend of the couple said their decision to stand down as senior royals became 'inevitable' as they felt increasingly ostracised. They say Meghan was also hurt by 'negative press' and what she considered was her 'outsider status as a bi-racial American'. The source spoke to the US magazine, which has also previously run a story defending Meghan which it said came from five of her close friends. Earlier, it was revealed Harry will not be flying back to join Meghan and Archie in Canada just yet, as he continues to thrash out the details of the 'Megxit' deal after it was confirmed the Sussexes would be stepping down as senior royals. But Harry broke cover for the first time last night in a video on the 'Sussex Royal' Instagram page to reveal the power his Invictus Games had to 'heal families' after the Queen confirmed the split in the Royal Family on Monday. Meghan was also spotted on Tuesday, making a surprise visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver to 'offer support' and to 'boost the staff's spirits'. She was later spotted at a second event with the Justice For Girls group. Meanwhile, Prince William spoke yesterday about accepting 'challenges' and the 'need to move forward' as he and Kate made a spirited first appearance since Harry and Meghan's decision to quit. The Duke of Cambridge was speaking to Near Neighbours - a group which brings together people of different religions and ethnicities - and said: 'It's sometimes trying to get people to understand that's it's OK to have these challenges. 'We just need to deal with them and we need to move forward rather than just be stuck in paralysis and pretend they don't happen, which is no good.' The split in the family and a breakdown in his relationship with brother William have led to concern for Harry, with the US People Magazine report now suggesting that some of his friendships have also soured. Prince Harry released a video on the 'Sussex Royal' Instagram to reveal the power his Invictus Games had to 'heal families', just days after he and Meghan announced they were leaving their roles as senior royals. He is understood to be remaining in the UK until at least early next week to meet with officials to help thrash out the details The release of the video comes as a source told People Magazine in the US that Harry had lost contact with many of his old friends Who are Justice for Girls? The left-wing feminist organization that believes climate change 'disproportionately affects girls' As Meghan sat down with members of Canadian charity Justice for Girls, we take a look at the super liberal organization that believes climate change 'disproportionately affects girls' and blames 'colonization' for female poverty and homelessness. The charity, formed in 1999, advocates for civil rights for women and indigenous people, and fights against violence against women, female poverty and climate change. The feminist organization believes that global climate change is 'a grave and certain threat to the survival of children and future generations' and one that 'disproportionately impacts girls- especially Indigenous girls.' It's climate justice campaign is pushing for an end to fossil fuels, especially tar sands and shale gas. It also tackles the 'consequences of colonization' in Canada which they say are to blame for the 'grave social and economic marginalization' indigenous girls. 'Indigenous girls in Canada face extreme and epidemic levels of violence, as well as poverty and other deeply rooted and pervasive social inequality as a result of colonization,' the charity website states. The left-wing charity also states that the 'colonial destruction of indigenous communities' is behind the higher percentage of homeless women who are indigenous. It's website describes how 'male violence' then becomes a daily reality for women living on the streets but states that 'men who abuse homeless girls rarely face consequences for their attacks.' Advertisement 'Most no longer even have his cell number,' the unnamed source said. 'They totally understand that men often drift from their friends after marriage, but there's still a lot of resentment because they had been so close for so long.' Discussing their split from the royal family, another source told the magazine: 'This is not how they wanted to handle this but Meghan and Harry's hand was forced,' the magazine quoted a friend as saying yesterday. There is so much bad blood in that family it's toxic. If relationships had been better, things would have been different.' The friend gives credence to the claim that Harry was offended by his elder brother William warning him about moving too fast in his relationship with actress Meghan. The source added: 'Meghan and Harry didn't feel they got enough comfort or solace from them [the royals].' Previous reports have emerged over recent years that suggest Harry and Meghan have slowly weakened ties with the prince's old crowd of drinking buddies as they drew closer to the likes of Serena Williams and George and Amal Clooney. An article published in the May 2019 issue of Tatler magazine claimed Harry had 'banished' childhood friend Mr Inskip, affectionately known as 'Skippy'. The article stated: 'Hang out with the Clooney/Beckham/Soho House set and be assailed for being too Hollywood, for forcing your hen-pecked husband to abandon his old, country-set muckers including Tom 'Skippy' Inskip, the ultra-loyal, tight-lipped Harry pal, who, it's said, advised Harry not to marry Meghan and has paid the price: banishment.' A separate report in the Daily Express in October 2018 claimed that Mr Inksip, along with PR guru Astrid Harbord, another former friend of Harry, had been 'airbrushed out'. Prince William spoke about 'challenges' and the 'need to move forward' during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first joint engagement since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit as senior royals The Duke of Cambridge was speaking to Near Neighbours - a group which brings together people of different religions and ethnicities - and said: 'It's sometimes trying to get people to understand that's it's OK to have these challenges (pictured: Kate looks lovingly at William as they help make Kulfi milkshakes at MyLahores flagship restaurant in Bradford) Kate is handed white roses in Centenary Square in Bradford today as crowds went wild for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today William used a blender to make some traditional drinks while his wife laughs uproariously at his expense Kate was giggling as she helped make kulfi milkshakes at MyLahore restaurant, which has taken inspiration from Lahore, considered the food capital of Pakistan The article stated: 'Like several others who were considered a questionable influence on Harry during his bad old bachelor days, Tom has been dropped, even though he himself now has a lovely wife, Lara.' Banker Mr Inskip, who knows Harry from Eton, was with the prince during his infamous trip to Las Vegas in 2012, when the prince was photographed naked during a game of 'strip billiards'. Tom also partied with Harry during a trip to Croatia the previous year, when they were photographed jumping into a pool fully-clothed at a nightclub. The source added to the Express: 'It's all part of Meghan's quiet airbrushing out of Harry's old posse. She doesn't want temptation - of any sort - being put in his way while they concentrate on starting a family.' Other rumours suggest Harry has drawn away from nightclub entrepreneur Guy Pelly, who is Prince Louis' godfather. However both men were invited to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding in May 2018, attending with their wives. Prince Harry had a key role at Tom's wedding in Jamaica in 2017, which marked one of Meghan's first appearances with the royal in public. The Duke of Sussex's relationship with Prince William is also believed to be at an 'all-time low', according to sources. Meghan is seen for the first time since 'Megxit' in Vancouver on Tuesday boarding a sea plane. There was speculation Meghan was barred from dialling in on Monday's Sandringham summit for security reasons, however Palace sources have said the Sussexes thought 'it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join' Rumours of strife between the brothers circled for much of last year, before Harry finally addressed them in his and Meghan's ITV documentary with journalist Tom Bradby. Asked to comment on rumours of a rift, Harry said: 'Part of this role, part of this job and this family being under the pressure it is under, inevitably stuff happens. 'But look, we are brothers, we will always be brothers. We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him and, as I know, he will always be there for me.' He added: 'We don't see as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly and the majority of stuff is created out of nothing. As brothers, you have good days, you have bad days.' The Duke of Cambridge has also spoken of his sadness at the broken bond with Harry. 'I've put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can't do that any more; we're separate entities,' he told a friend according to The Sunday Times. 'I'm sad about that. All we can do, and all I can do, is try and support them and hope the time comes when we're all singing from the same page. I want everyone to play on the same team.' Meghan, 38, meanwhile, is regularly seen meeting her old friends, including longtime companion Jessica Mulroney, whose three children served as page boys and a flower girl at her wedding. Mulroney also reportedly babysat Archie in Canada while Harry and Meghan returned to London to discuss their decision to step back from their senior royal positions. A 2018 report suggested that PR guru Astrid Harbord, a former friend of the prince had been 'airbrushed out' of the royal's life. Pictured, Astrid at the Cartier Queen's Cup Polo Final 2019 Other rumours suggest Harry has drawn away from nightclub entrepreneur Guy Pelly, who is Prince Louis' godfather. However Mr Pelly also attended the royal wedding with his wife The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have invested time into their friends in North America, including actress Abigail Spencer, whom they spent time with over their winter sabbatical. Pictured, Abigail with actress Priyanka Chopra at the Sussexes' wedding in May 2018 Meghan's Suits co-star Abigail Spencer has also recently spent time with the couple, having been spotted with them during a New Year's Day hike in Canada. As the Sussexes move forward with their plan to split time between Britain and Canada, both Mulroney and Meghan's mother Doria Ragland are expected to play a more active role in raising Archie. Harry broke cover for the first time after the Queen announced she would be allowing him and Meghan to quit the royal family. The Duke of Sussex posted a video about the Invictus Games today to announce that the 'story continues' with Dusseldorf in Germany hosting his charity sports competition for wounded veterans in 2022. Harry's appearance follows the first sighting of Meghan since the crisis talks at Sandringham on Monday. The Duchess, who was absent from the meeting, was seen smiling as she boarded a sea plane on Vancouver Island in Canada yesterday. On Monday, the Queen revealed in a deeply personal statement that she had agreed for Harry and Meghan to begin a 'new life' as an 'independent' family, a move which Meghan is understood to have pushed for just 20 months after their wedding. Prince Harry is expected to remain in the UK into early next week to hammer out the details of this unprecedented arrangement with officials at Buckingham Palace before heading back to join Meghan and Archie in Canada. Prince Harry is also facing rumours of strife between him and his brother Prince William - something he didn't deny in an interview with ITV journalist Tom Brady Ahead of the Sandringham summit it was reported that Prince Harry and his wife had feld 'bullied' by Prince William, a claim which was strenuously denied by the brothers in a joint statement (pictured: the Sussexes and the Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace in 2018) Tomorrow the Duke of Sussex will appear for perhaps the final time as a fully fledged royal when he hosts the draws for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup from the palace. The Queen is said to have pressed for her officials find a solution within days, however, royal experts say it will take far longer. 'These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.' Her Majesty wrote in her statement. The extraordinary meeting convened by the Queen was attended by Prince Charles and Prince William, while Meghan was in Canada with Archie. There was speculation she had been barred from dialling in on the meeting from Vancouver for security reasons, however Palace sources have said the Sussexes thought 'it wasn't necessary for the duchess to join.' Following the summit, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Sussexes were to have a 'transition period' and split their time between the UK and Canada. It is not clear how long this period will last, not least because of the complexities involved in their living 'independent' of the public purse. The security bill alone for the Sussexes is estimated at around 1million per annum, meanwhile Harry is thought to draw a salary somewhere in the region of 2.3million each year from his father's estate, the Duchy of Cornwall. The estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex is expected to be called as a key witness for the defence in a court case she has brought against a newspaper (pictured: Meghan Markle as a youngster, with her father Thomas Markle) Samantha Markle, who is Thomas Markle's daughter from his first marriage, is pictured on US TV show Inside Edition on January 9. She said of Mr Markle today: 'If he is called, he will come' It also emerged yesterday that Meghan's father could be a 'star witness' when the Duchess takes on Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, at the High Court. Today Meghan's half-sister Samantha said their father Thomas was ready for what has been dubbed 'the trial of the century.' Samantha Markle, 55, who is Mr Markle's daughter from his first marriage, told the BBC: 'If he is called, he will come.' It comes after defence papers revealed yesterday that Associated Newspapers, the Mail on Sunday's publisher, could call Mr Markle, 75, as its star witness. The Duchess of Sussex is suing Associated Newspapers for publishing a letter she wrote to her father in August 2018 in which chastised him for speaking to the press and how he had 'broken her heart into a million pieces'. Ms Markle has previously been highly critical in interviews about Meghan's character, including calling her a 'social climber with a soft spot for gingers'. And last week she branded Meghan and Harry's decision to step back as senior members of the Royal Family as a 'slap in the face'. Mr Markle has given lawyers previously unseen text messages sent in the build-up to Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry that reveal the breakdown of the relationship between father and daughter. The Eastern Middle School Eighth Grade Show Chorus is set to perform the Egyptian-themed musical Aida kicking off this Thursday. Aida was originally written and performed as an opera by Guiseppe Verdi in the late 1800s, but was rewritten as a musical in 2000 with music by Elton John and Tim Rice. The story follows a love triangle between Aida, a Nubian princess stolen from her country, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, the soldier they both love. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that U.S. and European troops are in danger after Germany, France, and the United Kingdom triggered a dispute mechanism in the Obama-led Iran nuclear deal. Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger, Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting. We want you to leave this region but not with war. We want you to go wisely. It is to your own benefit. Rouhani also angrily reiterated that Iran does not seek a nuclear weapon. The three European powers announced their decision to invoke the conflict resolution mechanism on Monday in a joint statement, saying that had been left with no choice, given Irans actions. Following a U.S. airstrike that killed general Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force, Iran announced it was ending its final limitations under the nuclear deal. The dispute mechanism allows for a disputation process that will last 15 days. If no solution is agreed upon, Iran could face reimposed sanctions from the international community. President Trump took the U.S. out of the nuclear deal in May 2018, despite the protestations of European leaders, after calling the deal one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. It is clear to me we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb, under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement, the President said at the time. Iran first made public a major breach of the deal in July when it exceeded the allotted 3.67 percent maximum uranium enrichment, while remaining far short of the 90 percent required to construct a nuclear weapon. More from National Review House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the impeachment managers for the Senate trial President Donald Trump, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (L) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Capitol Hill January 15, 2020, in Washington, DC Crow is a former Army Range r and Bronze Star recipient, who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2018, she defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Coffman, becoming the first Democrat ever to win that seat in the suburban Denver district. Demings is a former chief of police of Orlando, the first woman of color to ever hold the position. Demings and Crow were surprise additions, but both have relevant experience to bring to a Senate trial, as well as representing voter blocs within the Democratic electorate that are crucial to maintaining control of the House. "He's been impeached forever. They can never erase that," Pelosi said. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi noted that more incriminating evidence against the president has come out since in the four weeks since he was impeached on Dec. 18. Also on the team are House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and party Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and Reps. Zoe Lofgren of California, Val Demings of Florida and two freshmen: Jason Crow of Colorado and Sylvia Garcia of Texas. WASHINGTON House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will lead the seven impeachment managers at President Donald Trump's trial in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday. Five of the seven managers are members of the House Judiciary Committee, and two, Schiff and Demings, are members of the Intelligence Committee. "There is an overwhelming case, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the president betrayed the country by withholding federal funds appropriated by Congress, breaking the law in doing so, in order to extort a foreign government into intervening in our election to embarrass a political opponent," Nadler said at the press conference. Wednesday's announcement came just hours before the House is scheduled to vote on a resolution formally transmitting the two impeachment articles against Trump from the House to the Senate. Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate is expected to begin Tuesday, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The job of the impeachment managers in a Senate trial is to lay out the House approved arguments for removing the president from office. The president's lawyers will argue the opposing point, and the Senate will ultimately vote on whether to remove Trump from office. In that sense, the task of the impeachment managers resembles that of a prosecutor in a civil trial, although the rules and procedures for an impeachment trial are completely different. Schiff, of California, and Nadler were widely expected to be among the managers, given their deep knowledge and prior involvement in the House impeachment inquiry this fall. Schiff and the Intelligence Committee led the inquiry, which included public testimony from more than a dozen witnesses. Nadler chairs the committee that drafted and approved the two articles of impeachment against the president that were passed by the House. The House resolution to be voted on Wednesday will have three functions: to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, designate the House members who will serve as managers of the impeachment trial, and fund the trial itself. On a practical level, the resolution's adoption by the House will also trigger a series of carefully choreographed procedural steps between the House and Senate, culminating in a walk across the Capitol by the House impeachment managers, who will be carrying the actual articles of impeachment in their hands. The managers will then physically deliver the articles to Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams, a career public servant and former member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's staff. The actual delivery of the articles is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, when Pelosi signs the resolution. The handover will mark the end of a nearly month-long delay in transmitting the documents, which Pelosi orchestrated in an attempt to force concessions out of McConnell, R-Ky. Chief among them has been the ability to call witnesses, which Democrats have long demanded as part of any trial they would consider to be a "fair" one. But McConnell has said the question of witnesses should be shelved until partway into the trial itself, as was the case in the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton. As of early Wednesday, the issue of witnesses at Trump's Senate trial remained very much unresolved, following reports that McConnell met with a small group of GOP senators on Tuesday who pitched him on the idea that calling witnesses could work to the president's advantage, as long as there are no restrictions on exactly who can be summoned. The House voted on Dec.18 to impeach Trump on two articles stemming from his monthslong campaign to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations into Joe Biden, his son Hunter and other domestic political opponents. The pressure tactics allegedly included withholding congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Trump was impeached on charges that he abused the power of the presidency and obstructed Congress by prohibiting top administration officials from testifying about the Ukraine scheme. Some Republicans have considered calling Hunter Biden, as well as the whistleblower whose complaint about Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president helped spark the impeachment inquiry, as witnesses in the Senate trial. Democrats argued at Wednesday's news conference that the witnesses should be relevant to the charges against Trump. FILE - This Feb. 10, 2016 file photo shows a former iron ore processing plant near Hoyt Lakes, Minn., that would become part of a proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has rejected two of the most important permits for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota in a major victory for environmentalists. A three-judge panel ruled Monday, Jan. 13, 2019, that the state Department of Natural Resources erred when it declined to order a proceeding known as a "contested case hearing" to gather more information on the potential environmental impacts of the project. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday rejected some of the most important permits for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, giving a major victory to environmentalists. A three-judge panel ruled that the state Department of Natural Resources erred when it declined to order a proceeding known as a contested case hearing to gather more information on the potential environmental impacts from the mine. The court also said the agency erred when it issued PolyMet's permit to mine without imposing a fixed term on that permit. So the court sent the dispute back to the DNR with orders to conduct the potentially lengthy hearing, during which an administrative law judge would take testimony and sort out conflicting evidence. Environmentalists celebrated the decision , while PolyMet said it would consider taking the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court and the DNR said it was considering its options. At issue were PolyMets permit to mine and its two dam safety permits. The court suspended those permits in September because it wanted more information on how the DNR was responding to two major developments since it approved the permits in 2018. Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore took a majority stake in the project. And there was a disastrous failure at an iron mine in Brazil of a tailings basin dam that had some similarities with PolyMet's planned dam. Opponents of the project urged the appeals court at a hearing in October to cancel the two permits and order further proceedings to determine whether the mine's environmental and financial safeguards were adequate. They argued that the public and court would be unable to enforce the terms of the permits as written by the DNR. But attorneys for the department and PolyMet argued that the project has undergone thorough public reviews that met all the legal requirements, and that the permits contain plenty of safeguards to protect the environment and taxpayers. Story continues The appeals court said in its decision that the fact the DNR might have considered evidence during its environmental review and permitting proceedings did not relieve the agency of the need to conduct a contested case hearing. The court did not address most of the opponents' other arguments because it found that the agency had committed legal errors that required reversing the agency's decision to grant the permits. The DNR and PolyMet have 30 days to ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to hear the case. The agency said the appeals court's opinion has implications not only for this one project, but the role of contested case hearings in the permitting process more broadly. Notably, the Courts opinion does not draw conclusions about the validity of the scientific analyses underlying the DNRs decisions, the agency said in a statement. "We remain confident in the solid foundation of our technical work. PolyMet said in a statement that the company and regulatory agencies have strictly followed the comprehensive process established by state law for the past 15 years. "We are confident that we can produce these high-demand metals responsibly, with Minnesota workers, and in compliance with all applicable regulations, the company said. But Paula Maccabee, an attorney for WaterLegacy, one of the groups that challenged the permits, called the decision an absolutely enormous victory. She said in an interview that the hearing will mean a trial-like proceeding in an open and transparent process for everyone to see. That mean's PolyMet's toxic environmental threats will finally get the scrutiny they deserve. The appeals court noted the opponents' concerns about the potential for acid mine drainage, the safety of the design for the mine's waste pond and the effectiveness of plans for controlling contamination seepage from it, and whether the permits contain sufficient financial safeguards to cover long-term cleanup costs. Minnesota Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka tweeted that the decision was extremely disappointing. Thousands and thousands of jobs for the Iron Range are again put on hold by liberal courts and radical environmentalists. The case was one of several challenges pending before the courts in the long-running battle over the project between Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes, which would be Minnesotas first copper-nickel mine. Next week a Ramsey County judge will open whats expected to be a five- to 10-day fact-finding hearing on alleged irregularities in how the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency handled the water permit for the project. MPCA officials allegedly tried improperly to suppress the federal Environmental Protection Agencys concerns over the permit and keep them out of the public record. The judge will later present his findings to the Court of Appeals, which will consider his report when it decides on a separate challenge by environmental and tribal attorneys to the water permit. The plaintiffs in that case include the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, whose reservation is 70 miles (110 kilometers) downstream from the planned site. PolyMet has been working to raise $1 billion in construction financing while it fights off the remaining legal challenges. ___ The story above has been corrected to show that two dam safety permits were at issue, not one. The world is entering the age of extreme fire and we're increasingly unprepared for it. The big picture: As we've seen in Australia, California and the Amazon, fires are burning hotter, longer and more frequently around the world. Our resources to suppress them are stretched dangerously thin. And even though the wildfires are getting worse, the way we fight them hasn't changed in a century. "There's no such thing as a fire season anymore," says Fernanda Santos, a former New York Times reporter and author of "The Fire Line." "There has to be a rethinking of the way we fight fires." What's happening: Even with help from seasonal workers, student volunteers, inmates and more, the crews that fight wildfires are often understaffed, says Don Whittemore, former assistant chief of the Rocky Mountain fire department. And as the fires intensify, there are more and more job openings to fight them. Fire-related job searches are surging in Australia, per a Hiring Lab analysis meaning there are people who are looking to join the firefighting forces. Still, firefighting is "more of a guild than a profession," says Stephen Pyne, a fire historian. It requires intensive trainings and even apprenticeships that soak up time and money. The scarcity of fire crews is also giving rise to private firefighting teams for hire for the wealthy, reports the New York Times. What's next: In the face of bigger fires and labor shortages, firefighters are turning to technology to help. They now use 747s and air tankers, which help give firefighters a break, "but at the end of the day all fires need to stopped on the ground," says Whittemore. Experts say one new tool that would make a big difference is GPS locators for fighters (they currently use radios to communicate, but often run into dead zones while on the job). If commanders in control centers could track exactly where crew members are, they could keep them safer and get smarter about fighting fires. Crews have also gotten better at mapping the fires themselves and predicting their paths. That's been helpful for crews to plan how to attack the blazes And some researchers haven't given up on moonshot ideas. XPRIZE, a California company, has teamed up with the state to solicit proposals and award multimillion dollar grants to researchers who want to develop a system to detect and suppress a wildfire within five minutes, Whittemore tells Axios. But fire equipment has hardly evolved because there isn't much that these new technologies and techniques can do in the face of extreme fire. "We won't win an arms race with fire," says Pyne. There's too much money going toward fighting the fires and not enough toward educating communities on how to prepare their families and their houses for the blazes, Santos says. According to Pyne, over half of all mega-fires are started by humans and those can be prevented. The bottom line: The stakes of complacency in firefighting and prevention can't be overstated, experts tell us. "Our combustion practices are adding up to create the fire equivalent of the ice age," Pyne says. "Australia may be the first continent to feel it at scale." Go deeper: U.S. wildfires scorched 4.6 million acres of land in 2019 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Aman Rochman (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java Thu, January 16 2020 Saving the environment: Students of SMA Kolese de Brito Catholic senior high school in Yogyakarta visit the now-closed Lowokdoro final waste disposal (TPA) unit in Kebonsari subdistrict, Malang city, East Java, on Jan. 8, to collect plastic bags they will recycle. Thirty students participated in the five-day character-building program at TPA Lowokdoro. (JP/Aman Rochman) A rotten smell wafts through what was once the Lowokdoro final waste disposal (TPA) unit, a place made into a temporary plastic waste-processing facility by scavengers. Some young people help scavengers sort plastic bottles, used paper and plastic bags. This is a snippet of SMA Kolese De Britto Yogyakarta senior high school's field trip for student character building. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Some AAP MLAs remained committed to the party, some were disappointed while some were still deliberating on their future course of action after they were dropped from the party's list of candidates for the next month's polls. The has dropped 15 sitting MLAs from its list of 70 candidates and given ticket to a total of 24 first-timers, including Atishi, Dilip Pandey and Raghav Chadha who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Kalkaji MLA Avtar Singh, who was replaced by Oxford-educated and AAP spokesperson Atishi, said he was still deliberating on what he would be doing next. "I haven't thought about what to do next," Singh said in response to a question on his plans. Unaffected by the AAP's decision to not give him a ticket in the upcoming polls, Timarpur MLA Pankaj Pushkar, who was replaced by Dilip Pandey, said he considers himself as a foot soldier of the party and not getting an assembly ticket is a very small part. "There is no question of running independently. It is a party consisting of honest people and strengthening this party has been my aim. I am not at all disappointed. It is part of democracy. Some decisions might hurt you. But it is a very small part," he told PTI over phone. In a sharp contrast, Badarpur MLA N D Sharma quit the party hours before the list was announced and accused the AAP of selling tickets. "We joined the AAP for clean politics but now there is not much difference between AAP and other political parties now. The hard work of volunteers was ignored," Sharma said. Former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson Adarsh Shastri, who is a Dwarka MLA, has also been dropped from the party's list and replaced by Vinay Kumar Mishra, son of former Congress parliamentarian Mahabal Mishra. Sources close to Shastri said he is disappointed but plans to stay with the party. Delhi Cantt MLA Surender Singh is planning to contest independently. One of his close aides said he would be interacting with the people in his constituency and take a call on contesting as an independent candidate. On Tuesday, the AAP had announced its list of 70 candidates for the polls, with Chief Minister contesting again from New Delhi seat and his deputy from Patparganj seat. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said new responsibilities would be given to the sitting MLAs who were not been tickets for the assembly polls. COLONIE An influx of airlines offering cheap fares gave Albany International Airport a boost last year as bargain-hunters filled flights heading to Florida, according to new figures from the Albany County Airport Authority. Allegiant and Frontier, two ultra-low-fare carriers, together attracted 136,000 passengers last year, accounting for much of the increase in boardings. Overall, Albany saw boardings climb 3.6 percent even as some airlines saw declines. The gains also came despite the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, which Southwest cited as a factor in its loss of business in Albany, where the carrier saw its market share decline to 32.1 percent from 38.7 percent a year earlier. United, which also has 737 Max aircraft in its fleet, saw its local market share decline to 15.2 percent from 16.8 percent a year earlier. Delta, which has no 737 Max aircraft, increased its market share to 16.5 percent from 15.6 percent a year earlier. American and JetBlue were essentially flat. "Business and leisure travelers in the greater Capital Region continue to benefit from the Airport Authority's successful effort to attract new airlines that have provided new non-stop destinations for our travelers," said Rev. Kenneth Doyle, the authority's chairman. "We believe that our existing carriers and new airlines will continue to view upstate New York as an opportunity for growth in the years to come." RELATED: Albany's flights some of the nation's most crowded Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Florida continues to be the most popular destination, with more than one in four passengers heading for Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando or Tampa, the airport authority reported. The 1,518,969 passengers boarding planes in Albany last year represent the third highest number in its history. The all-time record was set in 2004, when 1,558,656 passengers boarded, followed by 2005, with 1,552,536 boardings. The airport redeveloped its main terminal beginning in 1998, and Southwest Airlines began service in 2000, quickly growing to become the airport's largest carrier. Even with its recent loss of market share, Southwest remains the largest carrier at Albany. The airport is undergoing a $60 million terminal upgrade with new flooring and escalators, LED lighting, and improved restrooms. A 1,000-vehicle parking garage also is nearing completion. DENVER, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Galvanize, the nation's leading provider of data science and software engineering training, today announced it was awarded a Phase I SBIR contract to accelerate the software engineering technical readiness of the United States Air Force (USAF). With this contract, Galvanize will engage with the USAF and AFWERX, the Air Force's technology accelerator and innovation hub, in a pilot to integrate Galvanize's accelerated learning technology and training to upskill active-duty airmen. According to a 2019 Department of Defense report, "The current approach to software development is a leading source of risk to DoD; it takes too long, is too expensive, and exposes warfighters to unacceptable risk by delaying their access to the tools they need to ensure mission success." Galvanize's proprietary curriculum, paired with its world-class instructional team, will create the needed technical talent to allow our nation's warfighters to respond rapidly to changing technology and increase their focus on the mission. Since 2012, Galvanize has been a leader in talent development for individuals and corporations in technical fields, like software engineering and data science. Galvanize was an attractive candidate because of its ability to scale across the entire military branch. "Just as large companies face existential threats from competitors and new technologies, our nation's military faces similar threats from new technology and foreign adversaries," said Bill Blackstone, EVP Operations of Galvanize. "We're excited to be selected by the United States Air Force to assist them in accelerating their technical readiness in software engineering." Galvanize is already the leading upskilling technology training program for our nation's veterans, having graduated hundreds of veterans through its coding and data science bootcamps. In October, Galvanize, announced a collaboration with the government's Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) to provide tech education to our nation's veterans. Veterans can enroll in remote learning as well as campus programs, using Veterans Administration (VA) benefits. Benefits cover tuition and housing for veterans in the program, and if a veteran does not secure a job within six months of graduating, the cost of the education is refunded to the VA. About Galvanize Galvanize is a learning community for technology with eight physical campuses across the U.S. where innovative startups, aspiring students, and large enterprises benefit from a dynamic, unique technology ecosystem. Galvanize is an industry leader in technology education, offering the Galvanize Data Science and Hack Reactor Software Engineering immersive bootcamps that propel careers and help individuals thrive in the digital economy. In addition to its physical campuses, Galvanize offers full-time and part-time immersive bootcamps to individuals remotely, and tailored workforce training to enterprise clients to address each of their unique needs. With 8,000+ graduates, Galvanize alumni have gone on to bring their talents to over 2,250 companies. About the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and AFWERX SBIR Grant The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research process in an attempt to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in SBIR 18.2, and now in 19.3, the Air Force has begun offering 'Special' SBIR topics that are faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations. SOURCE Galvanize Related Links http://www.galvanize.com BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Longroad Energy, a US-based renewable energy developer, owner and operator, announced today the financial close and start of the repowering of two wind facilities in Minnesota: Community Wind North and Jeffers Wind. The projects are located in Lincoln and Pipestone counties; the combined output of the two facilities after repowering will be 70 MW. "We are grateful for the support of the project landowners and communities. This is one of the first repowering projects in Minnesota, so there was not a lot of precedent to rely on. The regulatory community was constructive and supportive," said Paul Gaynor, CEO of Longroad. "Xcel Energy's support was also critical in getting the projects across the finish line. We are pleased to have come to an agreement to sell these assets to Xcel Energy once the repowering is completed." The project repowering and construction is being performed by Vestas under a turnkey contract. Vestas is also the equipment supplier to the projects. A construction loan in the amount of $128 million was closed in order to support the project KeyBank and HSBC are the Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Runners. The project is to be operational by the end of 2020, at which point Xcel Energy will purchase the facilities. Longroad Energy has owned the projects since 2017. About Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC Founded in 2016, Longroad Energy Holdings, LLC is focused on renewable energy project development, operating assets, and services. Today, Longroad owns 1.2 GW of wind and solar projects across the United States in addition to operating and managing a total of 2.4 GW of wind and solar projects on behalf of Longroad and third parties. Longroad is owned by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Infratil Limited, and Longroad Energy Partners, LLC. www.longroadenergy.com Twitter: @LongroadTweet LinkedIn: Longroad Energy Partners SOURCE Longroad Energy Related Links http://www.longroadenergy.com The remains of a US airman who never returned from his D-Day mission over France will be laid to rest, having finally been identified 75 years after his death. William McGowan of Benson, Minnesota, was killed on June 6, 1944, when his P-47 Thunderbolt crashed during a mission near Moon-sur-Elle, Normandy, 13 miles from Omaha Beach. A previous survey failed to locate his body, but now his remains have been identified and will be buried alongside those of his comrades at the Normandy American Cemetery in France. His family said that the news was their 'greatest joy'. Lt McGowan was on a low-level strafing and bombing mission south of the landing beaches when he crashed, according to the American Air Museum at IWM Duxford. As he pulled up from a bombing run, he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went into a spin at low altitude. He was not yet 24. William McGowan's body was found 75 years after he was shot down over Normandy, He is pictured (above) during training Only months before his death, he had wed his sweetheart Suzanne Schaefer in a small chapel at Harding Field, Louisiana, an American air base where he was training. An investigator traveled to the crash site in 1947 and learned from French witnesses that the aircraft burned for more than a full day after impact and had been embedded deeply into the ground. A team removed wreckage from the crater where the plane hit the ground but failed to find McGowan's body and his remains were declared nonrecoverable. Lt McGowan's official military portrait. The US airman was on a low-level strafing and bombing mission south of the landing beaches when he crashed near Moon-sur-Elle, France in 1944 It was not until 2010 a team reexamined the site and found numerous pieces of aircraft debris and recommended the site for excavation. Then eight years later possible remains were found and sent to a laboratory for testing. Dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence, were used to identify McGowan's remains. Nephew Paul Stouffer, of Bozeman, Montana, said: 'Lt. McGowan has been officially missing-in-action since D-Day. 'So the confirmation by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) after almost 75 years that the remains found near Moon-sur-Elle were his is our greatest joy. 'It was something my grandparents, mother or aunt had never heard when they were alive and all had visited Normandy after the war looking for some closure. 'My uncle's internment, scheduled for later this summer on the 100th anniversary of his birth at the Normandy American Cemetery, is in part a recognition of the wonderful people of Normandy. 'They have been a part of our family's life the last 75 years, and helped our grandparents and mothers bring some closure during a very difficult time.' The remains of a US airman William McGowan of Benson, Minnesota, who never returned from his D-Day mission over France will be laid to rest on what would have been his 100th birthday. Pictured (above) is a P-47 Thunderbolt similar to that piloted by Lt McGowan on his final mission McGowan left behind a promising career in journalism when he went to Europe to fight the Nazis. After graduating from the University of Missouri's prestigious School of Journalism in September 1942, he was employed by the United Press in Madison, Wisconsin. He then worked as editor of the Swift County Monitor-News, a local newspaper covering his hometown which was published by his father, before reporting for duty in February 1943. Stouffer continued: 'Even though remains had not been recovered during or right after the war, the people of Moon-sur-Elle added his name to their own World War II Memorial. 'They also dedicated a separate memorial in their town park in 2011 with an incredible ceremony, which I attended. 'Having heard what Normandy and its people meant to my grandparents, having my uncle's remains interred there was an easy decision for the current generation of his family. Dental and anthropological analysis as well as eye witness evidence was used to identify William McGowan's remains. Pictured is Lt McGowan's dedicated memorial in Moon-sur-Elle 'It is pretty overwhelming to know that he will be interred at the cemetery with so many others who perished while in service to their country during the Normandy campaign.' After his death, he was posthumously awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart. The American Graves Registration Command first investigated the crash site in 1947 after a local tip-off. They recovered some wreckage but failed to locate any human remains. Witnesses told them that the aircraft burned for more than a full day after crashing and that it was deeply embedded in the ground. On December 23, 1947, the pilot's body was declared unrecoverable. More than 50 years later, in 2010, a team from the DPAA returned to interview witnesses and survey the crash site. They found numerous pieces of aircraft debris and the site was recommended for excavation. Lt McGowan's name on the general village memorial in Moon-sur-Elle. His family said the news of his remains being discovered after 75 years was their 'greatest joy' Then, in July and August 2018, a team from St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, returned with DPAA approval and excavated the crash site. The survey recovered what might have been ossified remains and returned them to the DPAA for analysis. Using dental records and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence, the remains were finally identified as McGowan's. The DPAA announced their findings last week. McGowan's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery in Coleville-sur-Mer, alongside other missing soldiers. A rosette will now be placed next to his name to show he has been accounted for. His remains will be laid to rest on July 26, 2020. The contents of this post have been withdrawn as the facts are disputed. After he proposed sweeping constitutional reform, analysts say Russian president is seeking to extend his hold on power. In his annual address to parliament, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed constitutional changes that could see him extend his hold on power. Here are five things to know: What has happened? In a move that has surprised Russians and international observers, the Russian prime minister and government resigned on Wednesday as Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes. Dmitry Medvedev , the outgoing prime minister who had served for eight years, said government officials quit to give Putin room to carry out the changes he wants to make. Less than three hours later, Putin named federal tax chief Mikhail Mishustin, 53, a relatively unknown technocrat, as the new prime minister. In his annual address to parliament, Putin said he wanted to put an entire package of proposed amendments to a referendum. Among his proposals, he suggested: Transferring more power to parliament by allowing lawmakers to name prime ministers and cabinet members (currently the president makes these appointments) Amending how heads of security agencies are appointed to allow the president to decide after consulting the Federation Council (the upper house of Russias Federal Assembly) Enshrining the State Council, a body that advises the president Lifting the residency requirements for presidential candidates from 10 years to 25 Preventing presidential candidates who have held foreign residency in the past, not just at election time Allowing the Russian constitutional court to review whether laws comply with the constitution before the president signs them Preventing international law from being prioritised over Russian law Prohibiting civil servants from holding foreign citizenship Adding a provision to keep minimum wage and pensions above the poverty line Why has Putin done this? Observers have been looking for clues as to how Putin might reform the political system before 2024, when his term ends. All last year, the question of what would happen in 2024 when Putins presidential term ends became the obsession of the Moscow chattering classes, and so at last we seem to have an answer, Mark Galeotti, honorary professor at University College Londons School of Slavonic and East European Studies, told Al Jazeera. He is tired of the job of actually running the country, but cant simply step down in such a system, your status, your legacy and your security all depend on retaining some power. So, he will weaken the presidency and shift more powers to the prime minister, so they can be counterweights to each other, while creating a new father of the nation role, probably as chairman of a revamped State Council. Its not about staying in power. If he just wanted to remain president, he could easily just change the constitution to waive term limits. Its about creating a form of political retirement that continues to provide him with security and relevance. Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the national anthem after delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow, Russia on January 15, 2020 [Shamil Zhumatov/Pool/Reuters] Putin said the measures would increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all cabinet members . He added that Russia should remain a strong presidential republic. While he promised that he would not seek a third term, something that is currently unconstitutional, analysts largely agreed that Putin is trying to extend his own influence beyond his presidential term. He could be trying to carve out a new role for himself one he can fill when he steps down at age 71. It's been a while since a major #Putin policy address has been anything other than boring. Not today. Today, Putin proposed a radical reshaping of #Russia's political system. Kind of. THREAD #2020 /1 Sam Greene (@samagreene) January 15, 2020 Putin wants to create the conditions and the mechanism not only to control the future president, but also help him, in a way, Tatiana Stanovaya, a Moscow-based political expert and founder of R.Politik, a consultancy group, told Al Jazeera. Maybe thats because Putin could already have found his successor and they have dealt these changes together, to ensure both their safety and room to operate: that of him in his future position, and that of the next president. Russian journalist and political analyst Fyodor Lukianov said it seemed as though the transition of power has already started. In 2018, after Putins re-election, a feeling of stagnation took over in the country. Nothing happened nor changed, the government stayed the same as in the previous term. Many thought it was already the beginning of the end and now were seeing the start of the transition, he told Al Jazeera. The constitutional changes proposed by Putin have an obvious design: he wants the political system to be diversified. But moderately, not changed entirely. Hes willing to create a new position for himself, putting into constitution increased powers for the head of the Russian State Council. Did the government quit in anger, and is there any backlash? Outgoing PM Medvedev is a longtime Putin ally, and there seemed to be no animosity as he and the government stepped down. Medvedev will be appointed the new deputy head of Russias influential Security Council. Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, tweeted: Medvedevs career isnt over, Putin still needs him in transition scenario. He remains what hes always been: [Putins] alter ego. He added: Mishustins elevation to Russias PM is designed to get more competent leadership in Cabinet, which will have to focus on all-important domestic agenda. Opposition figures hit out at the Russian president. Prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny tweeted that Putins speech signalled his desire to continue calling the shots even after his presidential term ends. Opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov described the move as a constitutional coup. Who is Mishustin? Mikhail Mishustin is widely credited with modernising the federal tax service and is considered a talented technocrat. Stanovaya said: This is the most comfortable format for Putin to work with putting a technocrat at the position of PM gives him space to manoeuvre. It looks like [Putin] wants to limit the prerogatives of the future president, so that most definitely means that hes leaving presidency for good; he wont stay in power. He will have to find a successor. He plans to find a loyal successor, who will be able to continue his policies. Of course there will maybe be some disagreements, but his goal is to create some leverage and mechanisms [in the system] to manage the disagreements and still have leverage. Lukianov said of Putin, by appointing a PM without any political ambitions, but loyal to him, it gives him time to think. What happens next? Russia last conducted a referendum in 1993 when it adopted the current constitution under Putins predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Putin didnt give a date for the proposed referendum. The lower house of parliament will vote on whether to approve Mishustin as the new PM on Thursday. The current government will continue its work until Putin hand-picks a new one to oversee the constitutional changes to Russias systems and structures of power. Julian Colling contributed to this report from Moscow. Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, on Wednesday, expressed his displeasure at the Amazon's "SMBhav" summit over late start of the event. Murthy stated, "We are delayed by more than an hour and a half. I should have finished my talk by 11.45 a.m. But it is 11.53 a.m. Therefore, I will try and paraphrase my talk." According to IANS, Murthy cut short his 20-minute talk to just a little over 5 minutes. "I was supposed to speak for 20 minutes, but will now try and finish it in five minutes because I am not used to delays," said Murthy. The "SMBhav" summit, which is a two day summit, began nearly an hour-an-half late at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Delhi. Murthy promptly left the stage after ending his talk. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos then came on stage. Amazon.com has stake in Cloudtail, which is a joint venture between Amazon and Murthy's Catamaran Ventures. More than 100 global leaders, industry experts and over 70 business and tech partners are participating in the summit. Also read: Jeff Bezos' India experience: Flying kites and $1 billion investment Also read: Jeff Bezos in India: Traders body to hold protest against Amazon chief today A former New Haven tax preparer will spend eight months behind bars and pay the IRS $550,000 in restitution. Devon Williams, of Atlanta, Ga.,was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven for preparing false tax returns According to court documents and statements made in court, Williams formerly owned and operated Perfect Preparers LLC, a tax preparation business based in New Haven. Between approximately 2014 and 2017, Williams prepared numerous federal tax returns for clients that contained inflated deductions, including false deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses, charitable donations and mortgage interest. Some returns contained false Schedule C (sole proprietorship business) information. Losses suffered by the IRS as a result of his fraud totaled at least $550,000. Hall ordered Williams to pay restitution of $550,000. Williams pleaded guilty in October to one count of aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return. As a result of Williams fraudulent conduct, many of his clients filed tax returns will need to be amended. Williams clients are required to resolve their own tax liability with the IRS. Williams is free on $150,000 bail and is required to report to prison March 4. This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer R. Laraia. A West Point Academy tried to crowdfund money so that he could pay for flights and accommodation for his favorite porn star to attend the academy's winter banquet as his date. The unidentified cadet raised close to $400 to fly Diamond Foxx in as his date to the Yearling Winter Weekend when he shut down the page on Gofundme. He said that he had been given 'advice' from others who were ranked higher to do so, and that it may be best to 'protect the values of the West Point Academy'. An unidentified cadet started raising money to pay for the airfare and lodging he would need to bring adult film star Diamond Foxx (pictured) to West Point Academy's Yearling Winter Weekend 'The cadet promptly removed the page from the site after consulting with his peers,' said West Point in a statement. Pictured, a screen shot of the page before it came down The unidentified cadet explained that it may be best to 'protect the values of the West Point Academy (pictured)' and not bring Diamond Foxx as his escort to the Yearling Winter Weekend When asked by a 2008 graduate who tried to donate to his Gofundme page what had happened, the military student explained that 'Some cadets and officers were discomforted by the effort to bring Diamond Foxxx to YWW,' reports Task & Purpose, a military and veteran-focused news site. The cadet kept himself anonymous, due to the fact that he's job searching and fears a Google search might return his name, along with 'West Point' and 'porn star.' He had billed the campaign as making 'a young boy's dream come true.' West Point pushed back that it had actually ordered the cadet to give up the campaign (and his dream). 'The cadet promptly removed the page from the site after consulting with his peers,' the academy told Task & Purpose. A statement from the school adds that members of the military are prohibited from 'using their positions for personal gain.' An unidentified cadet started raising money to pay for the airfare and lodging he would need to bring adult film star Diamond Foxx (pictured) to West Point Academy's Yearling Winter Weekend Diamond Foxxx was born in Albany, Georgia, into a military family, according to her page on the Internet Movie Data Base, or IMDB. The adult film actress joined the Navy, but less than a year later, was discharged because of 'sexual misconduct' 'This prohibition extends to using or appearing to use ones military status to solicit gifts of money.' Diamond Foxxx was born in Albany, Georgia, into a military family, according to her page on the Internet Movie Data Base, or IMDB. She is the oldest of three children, including two brothers who were born after her parents retired from the military. The adult film actress joined the Navy, but less than a year later, was discharged over 'sexual misconduct,' her IMDB page says. She started her career in her early 30s in 2004 working for and was featured in the Naughty America series 'My First Sex Teacher'. But then she dropped out for nearly two and a half years, when she contracted cervical cancer. After recovering from a hysterectomy, Diamond Foxx returned to the adult film industry as an actress. DUBLIN, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Methanol Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The market for methanol is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 5% during the forecast period. One of the major factors driving the market studied is the increasing demand for methanol-based fuel. On the flipside, hazardous impacts on health as a result of exposure to methanol are expected to hinder the growth of the market. The methanol market is partly fragmented and is dominated by very few players. Some of these major players include Methanex, SABIC, Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd, LyondellBasell Industries Holdings BV, and Petronas. Key Highlights Formaldehyde dominated the market and is expected to grow at a healthy during the forecast period, owing to the increasing applications in the construction, automotive, and personal care industry. Increasing demand for methanol-based fuel from the marine industry is likely to act as an opportunity in the future. Asia-Pacific dominated the market across the world, with the largest consumption from countries, such as China and India . Major Market Trends Rising Demand for Methanol-based Fuel Methanol is considered as a gasoline component for the purpose of internal combustion and other engines, either directly or in combination with gasoline, in the form of ether (MTBE) in gasoline and fatty acid ester (FAME) in diesel. Methanol contains a number of physical properties, which makes it ideal for the transportation sector. Methanol fuel is used in China as various blends, ranging from M5 to M100. Whereas, in Europe and North America , the blending of fuel is limited up to a few percentages in gasoline. Mid-level or high-level fuel blends of alcohol could enable manufacturers for designing high-efficiency engines, to compensate for the low energy density of methanol. as various blends, ranging from M5 to M100. Whereas, in and , the blending of fuel is limited up to a few percentages in gasoline. Mid-level or high-level fuel blends of alcohol could enable manufacturers for designing high-efficiency engines, to compensate for the low energy density of methanol. Methanol has an ability to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, as compared to gasoline. However, formaldehyde emissions tend to increase especially at cold-starts. China alone produces 65% of the world's methanol and utilizes this fuel for transport. Other countries, including Israel , Italy , Japan , and South Korea , majorly use methanol as a fuel. Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Global Market The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global market share. With the growing petrochemical industry and increasing usage of methanol-based fuel in countries, such as China , India , and Japan , the usage of methanol is increasing in the region. region dominated the global market share. With the growing petrochemical industry and increasing usage of methanol-based fuel in countries, such as , , and , the usage of methanol is increasing in the region. China is the leading producer of paints and coatings across the world. The country accounted for more than 20 million metric tons of coatings production, which is close to 30% of the global coatings output. It currently produces more than half of the Asia-Pacific coatings, and is home to more than 10,000 paint companies, among which local producers occupy more than half of the domestic paint market share. This production is expected to contribute to the demand for numerous derivatives, such as formaldehyde, acetic acid, and MMA, and is expected to boost the demand for methanol. is the leading producer of paints and coatings across the world. The country accounted for more than 20 million metric tons of coatings production, which is close to 30% of the global coatings output. It currently produces more than half of the coatings, and is home to more than 10,000 paint companies, among which local producers occupy more than half of the domestic paint market share. This production is expected to contribute to the demand for numerous derivatives, such as formaldehyde, acetic acid, and MMA, and is expected to boost the demand for methanol. In the recent times, in Guizhou province, approximately 5,000 methanol-fueled taxis have been in operation, which is nearly about 75% of the total methanol vehicles in the country. The government has also launched 13 methanol filling stations. province, approximately 5,000 methanol-fueled taxis have been in operation, which is nearly about 75% of the total methanol vehicles in the country. The government has also launched 13 methanol filling stations. Furthermore in India , the government is pushing the usage of methanol as fuel in vehicles and as cooking fuel, to promote sustainable development with less damage to the environment. , the government is pushing the usage of methanol as fuel in vehicles and as cooking fuel, to promote sustainable development with less damage to the environment. Under the Methanol Economy program by NITI Aayog, the production capacity is expected to increase up to 20 metric ton of methanol annually, by 2025, using Indian high ash coal, stranded gas, and biomass. Such factors are boosting the demand for the market studied. Key Topics Covered 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Expanding Petrochemical Sector in China and Other Asia-Pacific Countries 4.1.2 Rising Demand for Methanol-based Fuel 4.1.3 Growing Utilization of Methanol in the Production of Olefins Using MTO 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 Usage of Ethanol Fuel or Bio Ethanol in Comparison to Methanol 4.3 Industry Value Chain Analysis 4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 4.5 Global Capacity by Key Feedstock 4.6 Technological Snapshot 4.7 Trade Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 Derivatives 5.1.1 Formaldehyde 5.1.2 Methanol-to-olefins (MTO)/Methanol-to-Propylene (MTP) 5.1.3 Methyl Tert-butyl Ether (MTBE)/Tertiary Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME) 5.1.4 Dimethyl Terephthalate (DMT) 5.1.5 Acetic Acid 5.1.6 Dimethyl Ether (DME) 5.1.7 Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) 5.1.8 Methylamines 5.1.9 Others 5.2 Geography 5.2.1 Asia-Pacific 5.2.2 North America 5.2.3 Europe 5.2.4 South America 5.2.5 Middle East & Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements 6.2 Market Share Analysis 6.3 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players 6.4 Company Profiles 6.4.1 Atlantic Methanol 6.4.2 BASF SE 6.4.3 Fairway Methanol LLC 6.4.4 Enerkem 6.4.5 Eni S.p.A. (Ecofuel S.p.A.) 6.4.6 Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. 6.4.7 Methanex Corporation 6.4.8 Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd. 6.4.9 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc. 6.4.10 Oberon Fuels 6.4.11 OCI N.V. 6.4.12 Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) 6.4.13 Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) 6.4.14 Zagros Petrochemical Co. 6.4.15 Yankuang Group 6.4.16 LyondellBasell 6.4.17 Helm AG 6.4.18 Southern Chemical Corporation 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS 7.1 Use of Methanol in New Expanding Fuel Applications, such as in Marine For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/l6ugcr Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com WASHINGTON - Some religious liberty groups are protesting a blessing ceremony for a Protestant Bible to be used by the new U.S. Space Force, saying the District of Columbia ceremony this weekend violates church-state barriers and is an insult to America's diversity. Washington National Cathedral, seat of the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, tweeted an image Sunday of cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith and the Rev. Carl Wright, the denomination's bishop for military branches and federal agencies, blessing a King James Bible along with Maj. Gen. Steven Schaick, the Air Force chief of chaplains. The Space Force, part of the Department of the Air Force, is the newest branch of the U.S. military and is dedicated to space warfare. "The men and women of our Armed Services are a microcosm of our nation's rich diversity. An official Christian Bible for the #SpaceForce oath violates the constitutional right to exercise religious freedom that these Air Force officers swear to defend," the Anti-Defamation League tweeted Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation tweeted that it was "protesting a ceremony where the newly formed U.S. #SpaceForce designated and blessed its own bible. Selecting one book as the official 'holy book' of a governmental branch is improper and an egregious violation of the Establishment Clause." The Rev. Canon Leslie Nunez Steffensen, assistant to Wright, wrote in a statement that the cathedral "misspoke" by using the word "official" in its tweet. Using a holy book of any kind or none is fine in military culture, Steffensen wrote. Wright was traveling and not available for comment. Kevin Eckstrom, a cathedral spokesman, wrote in a statement that "we in no way believe that this sacred text or any other should be used exclusively during swearing-in ceremonies. Indeed, it would be a misuse of any sacred text for anyone to feel obligated to use it. We believe that no member of our government or Armed Forces should ever feel forced or coerced into using any sacred text to swear allegiance to our Constitution. The separation of church and state, and the individual rights of conscience and belief, are fundamental principles of our democracy that must be respected and protected." A spokeswoman for the Air Force said Wednesday that there is no official sacred text for any branch of the U.S. military. High-ranking leaders often use a Bible or other sacred text for their swearing-in ceremonies, said Ann Stefanek, but members of the military taking an oath in the typical promotion ceremony simply raise their right hand with no text. She said the Bible that was blessed in the Sunday ceremony was used Tuesday at the White House swearing-in of Gen. John Raymond, who leads the new Space Force. Stefanek said the Air Force's first chief of staff, Gen. Carl Spaatz, used a Bible for his 1947 swearing-in ceremony. He signed that Bible and kept it in the chief of staff's office. Every chief of staff since, she said - whether Christian, whether they used it in a swearing-in - has signed the Bible. Raymond wanted to start a similar tradition in the new Space Force. "He signed it, and that will be an opportunity for any future chief of space operations," she said. "It's an option. It's a personal choice." During Sunday's three-minute blessing ceremony, Wright said: "May this Bible guard and guide all those who purpose that the final frontier be a place where God will triumph over evil, where love will triumph over hate, and where life will triumph over death." According to NPR, Hollerith's prayer included a plea to "Accept this Bible, which we dedicate here today for the United States Space Force, that all may so diligently search your holy word and find in it the wisdom that leads to peace and salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen." NPR also quoted Wright praying for President Donald Trump, who pressed for the creation of the new agency. "Almighty God, who set the planets in their courses and the stars in space," the Rev. Carl Wright implored, "look with favor, we pray you, upon the commander in chief, the 45th president of this great nation, who looked to the heavens and dared to dream of a safer future for all mankind." In a statement Monday, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation issued a statement saying it was sending a formal complaint to the Defense Department. The foundation "condemns, in as full-throated a manner as is humanly possible, the shocking and repulsive display of only the most vile, exclusivist, fundamentalist Christian supremacy," President Mikey Weinstein wrote. The National Archives said Wednesday that a cursory review turned up no instances of any official Bible for any federal agency. Steffensen, of the Episcopal Church's military ministry, wrote that "every branch of the military has an historic Bible." Charles Haynes, founding director of the Religious Freedom Center, said he had never heard of a Bible blessing and surmised that the Sunday event was primarily political posturing by the Trump administration in an era when the public role of religion - and Christianity in particular - is being debated. Haynes called the event "the wrong message." "This is the same kind of dance we've always been doing in our history," Haynes said. "And even more recently, as we've become more aware that there is diversity in the United States, the semi-established Protestant order has fallen apart. And as we become more aware, these vestiges of a need to have a national public religion strike people more and more the wrong way." Haynes also challenged the cathedral, which is a key part of a Protestant denomination and is funded with private money, but which runs diverse programming and whose website says it was founded for "national purposes." "It isn't the 'national' cathedral. They want it both ways," he said. "They want to be the Episcopal Church and independent, and they also want to be seen as the place you come for the great state funerals, and state this or that." Wipro, on consolidated basis, reported 3.79% decline in net profit to Rs 2,455.90 crore on 2.28% increase in revenue to Rs 15,470.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. IT services segment revenue rose 3.03% to Rs 15,100.60 crore crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. In dollar terms, IT services segment revenue was at $2,094.8 million, a sequential growth of 2.2%. The company expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of $2,095 million to $2,137 million. This translates to a sequential growth of 0.0% to 2.0%. Mindtree, on consolidated basis, reported 45.93% rise in net profit to Rs 197.00 crore on 3.42% increase in revenue to Rs 2,000.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019. Digital business grew by 13.5% y-o-y. Canara Bank said that it has decided to call-off the divestment process of its entire stake in Can Fin Homes, which was under progress. CSB Bank informed that the regulatory restrictions imposed by RBI on opening of new branches in view of the delayed Initial Public offering, have been lifted by RBl, with effect 10 January 2020. Accordingly, the Bank can currently open branches under the general permission of RBI for all banks. Piramal Enterprises informed that a meeting of the company will be held on 17 January, 2020, to consider and approve the issue of secured nonconvertible debentures on private placement basis amounting up to Rs 300 crore. Saksoft said that Credit Analysis & Research Limited (CARE) has assigned an upward rating to the long term bank facilities of the Company from CARE BBB +; Positive (Triple B Plus; Outlook Positive) to CARE A - ; Stable (Single A Minus; Outlook: Stable). Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yelchenko said US$250 million in military aid had already been allocated. Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. Volodymyr Yelchenko has said the United States may provide Ukraine with up to US$700 million in aid in 2020. Read alsoUkraine, U.S. sign contract for delivery of second batch of Javelin defense ministry "In total in 2020, the allocation of US$250 million from the Pentagon is envisaged, as well as another US$450 million from the U.S. Department of State as economic assistance. So, the total sum of U.S. aid is US$698 million, including US$365 million in military aid," he said at a briefing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, the Ukrainian TSN TV news service reports. Yelchenko said US$250 million in military aid had already been allocated, another US$50 million will be disbursed if certain conditions are met when the first part is implemented, and almost US$50 million is left from previous years. As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump on December 20 enacted the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA, among other things, reauthorizes US$300 million of funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, to include lethal defensive items as well as new authorities for coastal defense cruise missiles, and anti-ship missiles. The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday said he was not aware the Federal Government of Nigeria had pronounced the South-west security outfit known as Amotekun, as an illegal organisation. The governor made this known while speaking with journalists shortly after his visit to a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, at the latters home located within the premises of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. Mr Makinde said he only read about the Attorney-Generals description of Amotekun as illegal on social media. He said the AGFs comment was his (AGF) personal opinion having not been backed with an official statement, stressing that no serious administration will make such pronouncement on the social media. The governor again explained that the security outfit was set up to fill the gap in security mapping in the country. On his governance so far, he said he was just following his well-planned document for governance which he prepared before winning the governorship election in 2019. He said he was on a private visit to Mr Obasanjo to greet him for the new year, and to wish him best wishes in 2020, according to tradition, adding that the former president is an elderly person, who deserves such a visit. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian government, through the AGF, declared the regional security outfit formed by states in the South-west geopolitical zone as illegal. Governors in the region announced the formation of the regional paramilitary outfit last week to complement the work of the police. Policing is a federal duty under the exclusive list of the Nigerian constitution. A launch of the outfit was held in Ibadan at an event attended by political and traditional leaders across party lines from the South-west. A Tuesday statement from the AGF, Abubakar Malami, said setting up of the organisation runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law. Opinions are currently sharply divided about the constitutionality or otherwise of the security arrangement and the fear of possible abuse of such an outfit by state governors. By PTI AHMEDABAD: Police entered the Gujarat Vidyapith (GV) campus in Ahmedabad on Tuesday where students had organised an event to fly kites bearing anti-citizenship law messages. While students claimed that police disrupted the event, a senior officer said they entered the campus as part of "routine patrolling" on inputs that some members of rival student outfits, NSUI and ABVP, might confront each other over flying of anti-CAA kites. Some students of the varsity said a group of police personnel entered the campus, located on Ashram Road in the city, while they were preparing to celebrate the Uttarayan Festival by flying kites with messages like "India Against CAA", "No NPR, No NCR". They claimed that police personnel also demanded their identity cards. "When confronted by us, the police personnel told us they had the right to enter the campus without taking anyone's permission," claimed some students in video clips shared with media persons. "They stopped us and asked us to show identity cards. If required, I would show my I-card to the varsity guard, but why to policemen when we are already inside the campus? They didn't tell us who allowed them to enter the campus," an agitated student said. The students had organised the kite-flying event with anti-CAA messages printed on them to express solidarity with their counterparts in the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. While police had allegedly entered the JMI during anti-citizenship law protests in December, JNU had witnessed violence by masked people on January 5. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) P L Mal said the police entered the campus over a "law and order issue, after receiving inputs that members of NSUI and ABVP may enter into confrontation as some students were planning to fly kites with messages against the CAA". "Police went to the campus as it was a law and order issue. They came back after conducting a routine patrolling there," Mal said. The Gujarat Vidyapith was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1919. The GV administration could not be contacted for comment. Students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad had claimed on January 5 that some policemen had entered the campus when they were organising a candlelight march to express solidarity with the students of the JNU and JMI. Pixelle Specialty Solutions Names John P. Jacunski Chief Financial Officer John Jacunski Jan. 14, 2020 - Pixelle Specialty Solutions has named John P. Jacunski as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company. Pixelle was created in 2018 through private investment firm Lindsay Goldberg's acquisition of Glatfelter's Specialty Papers Business Unit. Prior to joining Pixelle, Jacunski served P.H. Glatfelter Company from 2003 until 2019 in positions of increasing responsibility, including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, President of the Specialty Papers Business Unit, and Vice President and Controller. Jacunski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from John Carroll University and completed leadership and strategy programs at Wharton School of Business. Pixelle's President and CEO, Tim Hess, said, "John is a very experienced senior leader with a long track record of success in our operations and our industry who brings strategic and executional depth to our leadership team," said Tim Hess, President and CEO of Pixelle. "I'm confident he will help us build on our strong first year of performance as Pixelle and continue driving our performance as a specialty papers leader that helps our customers win in their respective markets." Jacunski, commenting on the CFO role, said, "The opportunity to help Pixelle advance its position as a high-performance, customer-focused specialty business is very exciting. I look forward to contributing my knowledge and experience of these operations with the 'manufacturing excellence' expertise of the Pixelle and Lindsay Goldberg teams to further accelerate our performance." Pixelle was created in 2018 through private investment firm Lindsay Goldberg's acquisition of Glatfelter's Specialty Papers Business Unit. About Pixelle Specialty Solutions Pixelle is one of the largest specialty paper producers in North America with annual sales of more than $825 million and 728,000 tons. Pixelle has industry-leading positions in food contact papers, high speed inkjet papers, release liners, carbonless and forms, envelope paper, greeting cards, trade book paper, and playing cards. To learn more, visit: www.pixelle.com . SOURCE: Pixelle Specialty Solutions Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:53:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close TOKYO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday said he will take paternity leave after the upcoming birth of his first child expected later this month. It is still rare in Japan for fathers to take paternity leave and almost unheard of for Cabinet ministers to do so. But Koizumi, 38, said he will take two weeks off during the first three months after his wife gives birth. Along with saying that his official duties will not be compromised by his decision to help care for his newborn child, Koizumi also intimated that Japan's view of both maternity and paternity leave remained archaic. "My biggest wish is that the day will come when our society no longer deems a politician's child care leave as news," said Koizumi, who plans to balance his duties as a father with his ministerial obligations by working shorter days, working from home and asking for the support of junior ministers in his absence. He also said he hoped to "create an environment in which fathers in the Environment Ministry can also take child care leave without hesitation." In Japan, just over 6 percent of men took child care leave in fiscal 2018, compared to over 80 percent of women. The government has been pushing initiatives to raise the rate of men taking paternity leave, however, to 13 percent this year. Starting from April this year, the government will encourage male civil servants to take at least one month paternity leave. Japan has traditionally seen fathers opt not to take paternity leave for fear of being judge negatively by their bosses and peers, and mothers taking maternity leave have faced harassment from their colleagues upon returning to work, as has been widely reported in the media here. Japan's hiring and promotion process has also traditionally discriminated against women who plan to be mothers in the future, although the situation is changing to a certain extent. Amid a sever labor crunch, the government is encouraging the empowerment of females in the labor market by making more child care facilities available and encouraging companies to better accommodate mothers returning to work to the same positions and under the same remuneration conditions after giving birth. As for Koizumi's rare move as a minister, Japan's top government spokesperson said it would positively affect men's child-rearing involvement. "We hope the minister's efforts will have a positive influence on facilitating men's involvement in child-rearing in both the public and private sectors," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. tech2 News Staff Xiaomi India announced that it has generated employment for over 50,000 people in the country. This includes employees across different verticals of the company including manufacturing plants, service centres, Mi Stores, and also its corporate offices. Xiaomi India Head Manu Kumar Jain made the announcement via a tweet, including a short video, stating that they started off with only four members working in a small room in 2014 to more than 50,000 members in 2020. According to a report by ET Telecom, over 30,000 of these employees work in the manufacturing division. It also highlighted that about 95 percent from the 30,000 people in the facilities are women. Followed by the manufacturing department, all the authorised service centre engineers, repair factory engineers and customer care executives form the second largest group of employees. The third includes the staff from its offline stores with logistics support coming next. Its corporate head office in Bengaluru and five other regional offices have around 1,000 employees. 2014: 4 team members working from a small room! 2020: 50K+ team members across offices, manufacturing plants, service centers & Mi stores.@XiaomiIndia is now #50KStrong! Check it out: https://t.co/gW3y0Qqazq RT with #Mi50KStrong if you love #Xiaomi. Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) January 15, 2020 Back in 2014, Xiaomi had started its operations as an online-only brand with the Mi 3, Redmi 1S and Redmi Note (3G) devices. It has been slowly building up its name in the offline segment as well. Along with smartphones, Xiaomi also entered the smart TV market with several models ranging from full HD to 4K TVs. Then it brought its smart home and lifestyle product portfolio to India with its line of air purifiers, water purifiers, LED bulbs, etc. Refugees in Texas Regarding Texas to start rejecting refugees, (A1, Jan. 11): In Matthew 25, when asked by his disciples what things are most important, Jesus tells them to feed the hungry, visit the sick and take in the stranger; that how one treats the least of these is how they would treat Him. Perhaps it is best to avoid judging someones elses beliefs, but how can someone claim to be an evangelical Christian and reject the main teachings of the one they claim to follow? This action is just another example of how far-right politicians, such as Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump, have misused the evangelical movement to advance their hateful and hypocritical agenda. Today I am not proud to be a Texan. Ronald L. Reeves, Spring Gov. Greg Abbott, being an intelligent person, must know the difference between refugees in the resettlement program and undocumented immigrants crossing the border. Refugees participating in the resettlement program are required to submit to extensive vetting and are here legally. His concern for public safety and security of Texans is a transparent political ruse that he is using to gain votes in the next election. This policy puts Abbott in a club with two members, him and President Trump, who want to stop legal immigration. Fortunately the rest of the country, including Republican governors, reject this clearly illegal move. Kenneth Meyers, Houston Gov. Greg Abbott hit a new low placing Texas on the list of the only states to date to reject the resettlement of lawful refugees who are admitted under the most stringent conditions. Abbott mixes up the difference between those filing for asylum with those who have already passed the most stringent test to qualify for refugee status and are subject to more inspections than any other group of lawful immigrants. But, I cannot help but ponder Abbotts mind-blowing hypocrisy speaking at the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27 with no recognition that the U.S. State Department before and during World War II routinely denied Jewish refugees from Germany and other countries entry into the U.S. on the grounds that they might take a job from a U.S. worker, become a public charge or that possibly among them could be a German spy. As a result, the denial of applications of thousands, many of those denied entry into the U.S., were the very victims Gov. Abbott will be remembering in a few weeks. Charles C. Foster, chairman and senior immigration policy to President George W. Bush in 2000, Houston (Natural News) Controversial Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democrat who has been accused of being anti-Semitic, is also a major hypocrite when it comes to her description of pro-life Christians. Back in May, according to Lifesite News, Omar gave a speech on the House floor in which she slammed pro-life Christians for attempting to impose their views on all of America. Last year, Omar took to the House floor to denounce legislation aimed at protecting the unborn, claiming that such laws are horrifying attacks against the reproductive rights of women. Religious fundamentalists are currently trying to manipulate the State laws in order to impose their beliefs on an entire society, all with complete disregard for voices and the rights of American women, she said May 22. This, from a pro-abortion advocate who, through her position as a legislator, is pushing her views on the rest of the country. The recent efforts like those in Alabama and Georgia are only the latest in a long history of efforts to criminalize women for simply existing and to punish us when we dont conform to their attempts to control us, Omar said. This isnt about religious morality or conviction, because we have seen time and time again those who talk about their faith and want to push policies because of their faith are the ones who simply are caught with the hypocrisy of not living it out in their personal lives, she added. As Lifesite News notes, its not just religious people and Christians who advocate for the unborn, number one. Over the years, support for abortion especially far Left Democrats demands for abortion up to and even shortly after birth has dramatically declined (though there are still far too much). And how come its always pro-abortion Democrats who fail to see the irony of their political position on this issue? Criticizing anyone who supports pro-life legislation is, in every sense, advocating for the opposition position. Women have had reproductive rights but what about the rights of the unborn children? In her speech, Omar couldnt even be honest. She claimed pro-life laws are dangerous because history has proven that when abortion is criminalized, the number of abortions do not simply go down. The number of deaths and injuries to women increase. Not true, Lifesite News reports, citing evidence: Even abortion activists and liberal news outlets acknowledge that pro-life laws do save lives from abortion, and few women died from illegal abortions leading up to Roe v. Wade. The Washington Post fact checker recently confirmed what pro-life advocates have been saying for years about back alley abortions: Few women died from abortions in the decade prior to Roe, and a rise in the use of antibiotics appears to be the biggest factor in the drop in maternal deaths, not legalized abortions. Omar concluded her speech by appealing to all American women, saying they should support reproductive rights the most misleading phrase Democrats have ever used. (Related: Planned Parenthood could face federal charges for trafficking baby body parts.) Abortion isnt reproduction, its ending life. Men and women reproduce when they actually have babies. And in fact, women already have reproductive rights they can choose to have children or they dont have to. But getting pregnant then killing that baby via abortion is not a reproductive right, its an abortion right big difference. But of course, the Left changed the language when it came to this issue because the word abortion struck such passionate chords with people, especially women. Women are strongly pro-life, including those who have had abortions. Many now lead the pro-life movement in the hopes of sparing other women and unborn babies from the pain and loss that they experienced, Lifesite News added. When a society legalizes the targeted killing of its own offspring, then that society has lost all of its moral footing and, in fact, is in decline. Sources include: LifeNews.com NaturalNews.com By Trend Services included in the Compulsory Medical Insurance Package, which has been approved by the decision of Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers, has been disclosed, Trend reports with reference to the Cabinet. A package is a set of medical services that as part of compulsory medical insurance are insured in the appropriate form, volume and under certain conditions are rendered to the insured persons. It includes emergency medical care, primary healthcare services, specialized outpatient care, inpatient medical care, in total - 2,550 types of medical services. Six of these services are emergency medical care services, 35 primary healthcare services, 1,265 specialized outpatient care services and 1,244 inpatient care services. Medical and surgical treatment of diseases widespread in Azerbaijan with a risk of disability and death are also covered by the compulsory medical insurance. These services include more than 150 vital operations with high cost. In accordance with the law On Medical Insurance, medical services under the Services Package will be provided to citizens only if there is medical evidence (excluding emergency medical care) in medical institutions with which the State Agency for Compulsory Medical Insurance has relevant contracts. The package of services includes the names of medical services, tariffs, insurance limit, cases requiring co-financing, conditions for the provision of medical services, depending on their type, as well as waiting time. A certain part of the cost of medical services that must be paid by the insured is called the amount of co-financing and it will be applied to the insured persons if they dont comply with the conditions specified in the Services Package. The terms of payment of this amount are determined by the Services Package, and it must be paid directly to the medical institution. The amount of co-financing applicable to services provided on an outpatient basis is paid in the following manner: If a citizen comes to a medical institution at the place of registration to get medical services on an outpatient basis within the administrative territory without a family doctors referral, then a citizen must pay the amount of co-financing worth five manat ($2) for each insured event. That is, if you have been registered in Azerbaijans Sheki city and without seeing a family doctor, you directly see a doctor in a medical institution in Sheki city, then you must pay the amount of co-financing worth five manat ($2) due to the non-compliance with the conditions prescribed in the Service Package. If a citizen comes to a medical institution located in another administrative territory within the medical territorial zone to get medical services on an outpatient basis without a family doctors referral, then a citizen must pay the amount of co-financing worth five manat ($2) for each insured event. That is, if you have been registered in Sheki city and without seeing a family doctor, you directly see a doctor in the Gakh medical institution (located in another administrative territory, but within the medical territorial zone), you must pay the amount of co-financing worth five manat ($2). If a citizen, without a family doctors referral, comes to a medical institution located outside the medical territorial zone where he has been registered to get medical services on an outpatient basis, then a citizen must pay the amount of co-financing worth 15 manat ($8) for each insured event. For example, if you have been registered in Sheki city and without seeing a family doctor, you directly see a doctor in a medical institution of Shamakhi city (located in another medical territorial zone), you must pay the amount of co-financing worth 15 manat ($8). The procedure for paying the amount of co-financing for getting medical services in a hospital is as follows: If a citizen, without a referral from a medical institution situated in the place of registration or residence, comes to a medical institution located in another administrative territory but within a medical territorial zone, then a citizen must pay the amount of co-financing worth 30 manat ($17) for each insurance case exceeding 100 manat ($58). For example, if you are registered in the Guba district and without contacting a family doctor at the place of registration, you apply for medical services in a hospital in Khachmaz district (in the medical territorial department, but in a different administrative territory), then due to non-compliance with the conditions established in the Service Package, you must pay co-financing in the amount of 30 manat ($17.6). Outside the medical territorial department: if a citizen without referral from a medical institution located in the administrative territory at the place of registration applies for a medical service in a medical institution located outside the medical territorial department where he is registered, then for each insurance case the cost of which exceeds 100 manat ($58.8), the citizen must pay co-financing in the amount of 90 manat ($52.9). For example, if a citizen is registered in the Guba district and without contacting a family doctor at the place of registration, applies for medical services in a hospital in the Shamakhi district (located in another medical territorial department), then due to non-compliance with the conditions established in the Service Package, he must pay the co-financing in the amount of 90 manat ($52.9). At the same time, for each magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography service provided on the outpatient basis, a citizen must pay the co-financing in the amount of 20 manat ($11.7). All medical services to the insured are provided according to the relevant referral. All laboratory and diagnostic services, without undergoing appropriate examination of a doctor, are carried out at the expense of the citizen. If the conditions specified in the Service Package are met (referring to a family doctor, referring to a specialized doctor based on the direction of the family doctor, etc.) while providing emergency and urgent medical care, outpatient (excluding CT and MRI) and inpatient care, payment of co-financing is not required. The application of the co-financing will begin on April 1, 2020. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, deputized His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister, to open the 46th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition organized by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) at the Bahrain National Museum and the Bahrain National Theatre. HH Shaikh Mohammed was welcomed by BACA President Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, opened the exhibition and toured its various where he was briefed by Shaikha Mai and the 68 participating artists on the creative artwork exhibited. It gives me great pleasure to express my pride on behalf of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, to open the 46th Bahrain Annual Fine Art Exhibition organized by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities," HH Shaikh Mohammed said. "The paintings and artwork that we saw today reflect Bahrain's deep-rooted and distinguished cultural and artistic movement embodied by the participating artists representing various creative schools and tendencies. "This calls for expressing thanks and appreciation to Her Excellency Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa for the continuity of organizing events that embody the richness of the culture and heritage of the Kingdom of Bahrain in various fields and that preserve and highlight them in attractive and expressive ways." HH Shaikh Mohammed also expressed appreciation to the participants, both Bahrainis and residents, and wished them further success under the support and encouragement by BACA. Shaikha Mai expressed deep gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, for his gracious patronage of the exhibition since its inception 46 years ago. She said that his continuous patronage of the cultural movement in Bahrain in all its details reflects keen interest in the identity of Bahrain and in promoting its most beautiful image to the whole world. Shaikha Mai also expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation to HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak for opening the exhibition on behalf of His Royal Highness the Prime Minister. The exhibition continues to attract artistic creations from the pioneers of the fine art movement as well as from the younger generations who have shown great enthusiastic to participate, she added. This reflects the vibrancy and diversity of the cultural and artistic movement in Bahrain, adding that by providing space and an appropriate setting for beauty and the arts, Bahrain enhances its civilizational approach and its outreach to people around the world, Shaikha Mai said. The exhibition will remain open until February 15. The winner in this year's exhibition are Jaafar Al Araibi, while Rashid Ahmed Al Araifi was second and Mohammed Al Mubarek was third. Final term exams for Grade 11 kicked off on 11 January and will last for 11 days. Around 590,000 such students are sitting for their electronic exams at 3,252 private and public schools all over the country. Ninety per cent of those students have successfully taken their electronic exams after education directorates coordinated with the ministrys concerned authorities to ensure proper functioning of computer tablets. Upon the ministrys instructions, schools checked that tablets were working to avoid any technological mishap that might prevent a student from sitting for the final exams. According to Reda Hegazi, deputy to the minister of education, students of public and private schools and national institutes sat for their final term exams electronically. Around 140,000 students took their exams in hospitals and prison, in addition to home schooled students, according to the old system. Some 600 students sat for their written exams as their schools infrastructure was not ready. The ministrys monitoring chamber did not receive any complaints regarding the electronic exam process except for individual cheating incidents in which necessary legal measures were taken. It was reported after the Arabic exam that it was leaked. Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawki was reportedly frustrated with the news. The ministrys officials are exerting their utmost efforts to prevent leakage and cheating, yet the human factor remains a great challenge. Society as a whole must play a big role in reforming the education system by refusing such practices, Shawki said at a press conference held after the Arabic exam. Hoda Al-Masri, a Grade 11 student, said she faced difficulties when logging onto the server while taking her Arabic exam. It took me more than 30 minutes to log on to the server and the supervisor refused to make up for this wasted time. I wish I could sit for the exam according to the old system, Al-Masri argued. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Hassouna, spokesman for the Ministry of Education, told Al-Ahram Weekly that when any student finds difficulty in logging onto the exams server he or she must inform the schools headmaster who would in turn report the incident which would be taken into consideration while grading. In order to avoid technical problems, students must log on to the exams platform before the beginning of the exam by at least a few minutes. Students must make sure that the tablet is updated and charged with its original charger in order to avoid any technical interruptions during the exam, Hassouna said. Regarding another leakage, that of the English exam on Monday, Hassouna said that the concerned officials at the ministry are currently investigating the incident and are checking whether the leaked exam was the same exam which students took on 13 January. According to the results of the investigation the ministry will take the appropriate measures, confirmed Hassouna. Ahmed Hossam, another Grade 11 student who sat for his English exam, did not find any difficulty with the electronic system but was upset after knowing that the exam had been leaked. I heard that the exam was leaked Im not sure about that but if its true, it would be very frustrating. Sitting for the exams according to the new system is already a challenge. There is no need to add more problems to it, Hossam said. The Ministry of Education, according to Hassouna, is to deliver new tablets for Grade 11 students who lost their tablets after submitting the administrative papers required by the ministry. Those who wont submit these papers will sit for the exams on one of the available tablets in the students school, Hassouna explained. The new education system is based on digital learning and removes curricula and test methods that depend mainly on memorising. The new system aims at expanding the use of foreign languages and technology, and developing a GPA system not fully weighted on final exams. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the title: Smooth mid-year Search Keywords: Short link: Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence here the first such meeting since the two parties formed a coalition government in Maharashtra along with Nationalist Congress Party in November last year. The meeting comes days after the Sena skipped an Opposition meeting on economy and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sena functionaries, familiar with the matter, said that it was a courtesy meeting but political issues were discussed. The two leaders discussed the political situation and the economic issues along with development plans for Maharashtra, the functionaries said. The meeting is aimed at building a better rapport with Rahul who had skipped the swearing-in ceremony of the new Maharashtra cabinet, the functionaries added. Thackery, the environment and forest minister in the Maharashtra cabinet, also met senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. The Sena chiefs son shared his ideas on environment protection and eco-tourism with Ramesh, the functionaries informed. The Congress leader reportedly said, he is close friend of my son. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON US Navy UFO US Department of Defense/Business Insider The Navy says it has material about UFOs that, if released, "would cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States." The Navy said it "discovered certain briefing slides that are classified TOP SECRET" in response to a freedom-of-information request, which asked about a series of videos that showed pilots baffled by mysterious, fast objects in the sky. The Navy previously confirmed it was treating these objects as UFOs which means they are being treated as unexplained but not necessarily extraterrestrial. One of the videos was published by published by The New York Times in 2017, and pilots told The Times they saw the objects accelerate, stop, and turn in ways that went beyond known aerospace technology. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The Navy has said it has top-secret information about unidentified flying objects that could cause "exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States" if released. A Navy representative responded to a Freedom of Information Act request sent by a researcher named Christian Lambright by saying the Navy had "discovered certain briefing slides that are classified TOP SECRET," Vice reported last week. But the representative from the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence said "the Original Classification Authority has determined that the release of these materials would cause exceptionally grave damage to the National Security of the United States." The person also said the Navy had at least one related video classified as "SECRET." Vice said it independently verified the response to Lambright's request with the Navy. Lambright's request for information was related to a series of videos showing Navy pilots baffled by mysterious, fast objects in the sky. The Navy previously confirmed it was treating these objects as UFOs. Story continues UFO CNN/Department of Defense The term UFO, along with others like "unidentified aerial phenomena" and "unidentified flying object," does not necessarily mean the object is thought to be extraterrestrial. Many such sightings ultimately end up having logical and earthly explanations often involving military technology. A spokeswoman for the Pentagon had also previously told The Black Vault, a civilian-run archive of government documents, that the videos "were never officially released to the general public by the DOD and should still be withheld." The Department of Defense videos show pilots confused by what they are seeing. In one video, a pilot said: "What the f--- is that thing?" The Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Gough said this week that an investigation into "sightings is ongoing." Joseph Gradisher, the Navy's spokesman for the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, told The Black Vault last year: "The Navy has not publicly released characterizations or descriptions, nor released any hypothesis or conclusions, in regard to the objects contained in the referenced videos." According to The Black Vault, Gradisher said the Department of Defense videos were filmed in 2004 and 2015. The New York Times also reported that one of the videos was from 2004. You can watch the 2004 video here, as shared by To the Stars Academy, a UFO research group cofounded by Tom deLonge from the rock group Blink-182: One of the videos was shared by The New York Times in December 2017, with one commander who saw the object on a training mission telling The Times "it accelerated like nothing I've ever seen." Another pilot told the outlet: "These things would be out there all day." Pilots told The Times that the objects could accelerate, stop, and turn in ways that went beyond known aerospace technology. Many of the pilots who spoke with The Times were part of a Navy flight squadron known as the "Red Rippers," and they reported the sightings to the Pentagon and Congress. "Navy pilots reported to their superiors that the objects had no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes, but that they could reach 30,000 feet and hypersonic speeds," the Times report said. Scientists also told The Times they were skeptical that these videos showed anything extraterrestrial. Gough, the Pentagon spokeswoman, would not comment to Vice on whether the 2004 source video that the Navy possessed had any more information than the one that has been circulating online, but she said that it was the same length and that the Pentagon did not plan on releasing it. UFO NYT John Greenewald, the curator of The Black Vault, told Vice in September that he was surprised the Navy had classified the objects as unidentified. "I very much expected that when the US military addressed the videos, they would coincide with language we see on official documents that have now been released, and they would label them as 'drones' or 'balloons,'" he said. "However, they did not. They went on the record stating the 'phenomena' depicted in those videos, is 'unidentified.' That really made me surprised, intrigued, excited, and motivated to push harder for the truth." US President Donald Trump said in June that he had been briefed on the fact that Navy pilots were reporting increased sightings of UFOs. Read the original article on Business Insider A furious Chinese father has violently thrown a young boy onto the ground in an indoor playground after allegedly seeing the child fight for a toy with his daughter. Surveillance footage shows the man dragging the four-year-old by the arm before savagely flinging him across the room in front of shocked adults and children. The boy landed on the floor on his face about four metres (13 feet) away and sustained a minor concussion, it is alleged. His devastated mother had to watch him being attacked on the security video after finding multiple injuries on him. Surveillance footage released by China's Guangxi Radio and TV Group shows the father, dressed in white, running towards a 'mini castle' before dragging out the boy by force The man savagely flings the boy, causing the child to spin in the air before landing on the floor The child, known as Le Le, was assaulted Monday night in a playground inside a restaurant in Nanning, the capital of southern China's Guangxi Province, reported Guangxi Radio and TV Station. In a 20-second clip released by the group, a man dressed in white runs towards a 'mini castle' before pulling out a boy by tugging one of the minor's arms. The man then swings the boy and throws him away, causing the latter to land hard on the ground more than 10 feet away. The boy spins and slides along the floor before coming to a halt. He appears to cry and rub his wrist after sitting up. Afterwards, the man gently pulls another child out of the castle as he scolds the crying boy. He eventually walks away without being stopped. The boy lies on the floor unable to move after landing on his face about four metres away The man prepares to leave with another child, believed to be his daughter, as the boy cries Le Le's mother, known by her surname Wang, suspected that the man had attacked her son after seeing her son fight for the same toy with his daughter. She told a reporter that her son had sustained a minor concussion as well as injuries on the arm and ear as a result. The woman was in a nearby shop buying milk tea for her son when the boy was attacked, she said. She accused the playground's staff of failing to react to the situation. 'When my son was sitting on the ground crying, one of the workers went up to console him,' the mother criticsed angrily. 'The parents of other children saw my son, pitied him and went up to hug him,' she added. Mr Wu, a manager of the restaurant, defended his employees. He said his workers were all female and it would not be reasonable to expect them to stop 'a tall and strong man'. Police were alerted by the restaurant's staff and launched an investigation, the report said. It is understood that officers are still trying to track down the man. Expanding the reach of a potential tax on vacant storefronts, San Francisco on Tuesday approved the creation of 12 new commercial districts. The ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors means that each area will get its own specific zoning, potentially stricter than the citys already tight rules for businesses. A March ballot measure, if passed by voters, will impose a tax on empty storefronts, applicable only to the designated districts. The enactment of this ordinance, which awaits a second vote by the board as a formality, brings the number of districts in the city potentially subject to the tax to more than 30. The neighborhood commercial district designation allows for tailored controls on the businesses, from the type of business to details like the type of signage and whether they can operate on the second floor of a building. Though the restrictions were instituted to preserve neighborhood character, some question whether they are now contributing to a rise in empty storefronts. Neighborhood retail areas outside the named districts fall under general city zoning rules, making it harder to implement restrictions. For example, in the newly defined Bayview district, officials might now seek to limit the number of bars coming into the area. Changes made in a city-recognized commercial district apply only to that district. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in November to place the retail-vacancy tax on the March ballot. If it passes it would need a two-thirds vote to become law landlords whose storefronts are empty for more than six months will be hit with a tax. The point of the measure, spearheaded by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, is to encourage building owners to rent out their spaces with more urgency by either settling for a lower rent or finding a short-term tenant. Todd Trumbull Residents, business owners and politicians have all viewed the rise of vacant storefronts in San Francisco with alarm, but differ on what to do about it. Several landlords and small business owners have criticized the proposed tax, saying it wouldnt solve the citys underlying issues. Some issues they cite are faced by many communities, like rising online shopping and dwindling foot traffic, while others are specific to the city, like the high cost of labor and daunting city bureaucracy, which can force even rented-out storefronts to stand empty for months as business owners bounce from department to department seeking permits. We want to change the speculative behavior of bad actors along these premier corridors, Peskin said in an email. The tax proposal changed a lot over the course of working closely with the small business community and good property owners and commercial brokers who are tired of their names being tarnished by a handful of bad actors, he added If the vacancy tax passes, landlords would incur a fee based on the size of the space and how long it has been empty. Landlords could apply for various exemptions if they have been, for instance, hurt by a disaster or if they are making improvements to the property. The tax would go into effect January 2021. Across the city, neighborhood stakeholders are looking for tools to meet the unique needs of their commercial corridors, Peskin said. They love their small businesses and the board shares that sentiment. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes The tax will help us combat blight and make our commercial corridors vibrant, Supervisor Shamann Walton said. It will allow us the ability to make sure irresponsible landlords actually rent out their retail space if they are leaving storefronts vacant. The dozen newly specified commercial districts are inner Balboa (Second to Eighth avenues), outer Balboa (32nd to 39th avenues), Bayview (Third Street from Jerrold to Yosemite avenues), Cortland Avenue, Geary Boulevard (Masonic to 28th avenues), Mission Bernal (Cesar Chavez to Randall streets), San Bruno Avenue, Cole Valley, Lakeside Village (Ocean Avenue), lower Haight, lower Polk Street and inner Taraval. Shwanika Narayan and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika, @TrishaThadani An Oxford brewery settled a lawsuit Monday brought by a mother and her daughter claiming the bar over-served a hammered state trooper at a retirement party before he ran a stop sign and slammed into their car, injuring both. Filed Oct. 31, the lawsuit alleged the Black Hog Brewing continued to serve Sgt. John McDonald while he was visibly intoxicated. The Black Hog Brewery will pay out $225,000 for the settlement, said Garrett Moore, the personal injury lawyer representing Lisa Conroy and her daughter Madison, the two women hurt in the crash. It was totally anticipated we had them dead to rights, Moore said Wednesday. Court records show the Black Hog Brewing Co. and brothers Jason and Thomas Sobocinski were withdrawn from the case Monday. The states dram shop law would have allowed a maximum payout of $250,000. But Moore said the difference would have been taken up by his fees if he had taken more depositions, leading to an even lower settlement for his clients. McDonald is also facing criminal charges for the Sept. 25 crash, after investigators said he left a retirement party for another trooper in his state police Chevy Impala. A short distance later, he plowed through an intersection at Airport Road and Route 188 near the brewery, colliding with the Conroys Nissan Altima The T-bone accident sent the family sedan off the road and into the woods. Both women were taken to St. Marys Hospital with injuries Lisa Conroy, 52, suffered an injury to her eye, and her 19-year-old daughter Madison suffered injuries to her arm and wrist, said Moore. Videos show this guy staggering, stumbling and dropping his drinks, he clearly was intoxicated. So we had a really strong case, the familys lawyer said. McDonald, a 37-year-old state police sergeant with the Western District Major Crimes division, was reportedly stumbling around the scene after the crash, according to his arrest warrant. At least one witness said they smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. That guy is hammered, an off-duty Oxford firefighter who arrived at the scene told police. He is not listening to me to stay out of the roadway. McDonald was taken to the hospital before receiving a breathalyzer, officials said. When he got to the hospital, he left in the company of several other state troopers without receiving care, according to his arrest warrant. Moore said the Conroys are happy to put this part behind (them), and were satisfied to know there was an acknowledgment that the brewery had done something wrong. Unlike the state police which so far have continued to blockade, he added. He said the lawsuit is continuing against McDonald and the state of Connecticut. State police are also conducting an internal affairs investigation into the party to see if any other troopers there violated department policies. That investigation is still ongoing, according to state police, and McDonald remains suspended. His suspension started Nov. 14. Any status change - when there is a status change - we will put that out publicly, said Brian Foley, a spokesman for the office of state commissioner James Rovella. Foley previously said investigators are looking at state police time cards to determine whether any troopers were on duty at the party and responded to the crash. He said it was likely several people would be disciplined after the investigation was complete. Moore said he has still has not obtained surveillance video from inside the bar, which is referenced as evidence in the warrant for McDonalds arrest. The video purportedly shows McDonald having as many as eight drinks before getting in his car, according to the warrant. State police are holding the video as evidence in their investigation, and have not released it publicly. Foley did not give a clear time frame for when the video would be made public. Moore said he has watched the video, but only through a third party. He said Mondays settlement does not rob the Conroys of their day in court. That will come with the state police, Moore said. Moore said the next step in the civil lawsuit will be to take a sworn statement from McDonald. That will likely happen sometime in the spring, he said, because he has to wait until after the criminal case against McDonald has been adjudicated to take a deposition. Officials suspended McDonald from duty in mid-November last year. Several days later, he was arrested Nov. 19, and charged with second degree assault with a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle under the influence. He was also charged with reckless driving and failure to obey a stop sign. McDonald is due back in court Jan. 27 in the criminal case, court records show. This is a developing story and will be updated. [January 15, 2020] Synaptive Medical Announces Product Update to Flagship Surgical Technology, Modus VTM, Automated Robotic Microscope Synaptive Medical, a leader in robotic surgical visualization, announced today the U.S. and Canadian availability of updates to its flagship surgical technology product, Modus V, a fully automated robotic digital microscope designed to assist surgeons in the operating room for a seamless surgical workflow. The latest product updates strengthen the robotic platform by adding 3D visualization and voice-activated control of the system from the sterile field. Leveraging cutting-edge optical design, Modus V includes high-powered optics and enhanced video processing to provide unobstructed, clear and now three-dimensional views for any surgical approach. The voice-activated control feature augments the existing automation characteristics of the system, including AutoFocus control and hands-free camera positioning using tracked instruments, to eliminate the need for manual adjustments common with conventional visualization tols. Combined with a 4K 3D digital monitor, this system supports a much more ergonomic and effective approach to microsurgery. Cameron Piron, president and co-founder of Synaptive Medical, stated, "These new features unlock the platform's use for a wide range of cranial and spinal procedures, supporting our commitment to provide surgeons the tools and information they need to deliver less invasive care for their patients." "Integrating voice control is a modern approach to connecting surgeons with their technologies in a way that allows them to maximize the benefits of the system to provide better surgical treatment," added Brad Fernald, Synaptive's director of surgical product management. Synaptive Medical plans to expand access to these new features to select regions globally following this initial release in the U.S. and Canadian markets. About Synaptive Medical Synaptive Medical Inc., a Toronto-based medical device and technology company, designs hardware and software technologies that cross traditional barriers in hospitals and improve patient care in and beyond the operating room. Synaptive's Modus V and integrated BrightMatter solutions-including surgical planning, navigation and visualization, and an informatics platform-give leading clinicians and healthcare systems the information they need to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005171/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 16:30:08|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the move by Britain, France and Germany (E3) to trigger dispute resolution mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is "legally baseless," Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday. Zarif criticized what he called the Europeans' failure to honor their commitments to pertaining to the Iranian nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He also slammed E3's move to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism as "baseless in legal terms and a strategic mistake in political terms." Zarif made the remarks in India's New Delhi where he traveled to attend the Raisina Dialogue 2020. On Tuesday, the Europeans said that they have taken the step in response as Tehran has backed off nuclear commitments over the past months. Iran, however, had said that its withdrawal from practical commitments under the JCPOA is a reaction to the U.S. exit from the deal in May 2018 and the subsequent sanctions, and it is also a response to the Europe's sluggishness in facilitating Iran's banking transactions and its oil exports. Iran also had said that the cut of obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal was a "wake-up call" for the remaining parties of the deal to protect Iran's economic interests. Southern Charm recurring castmember Ashley Jacobs congratulated her ex-boyfriend Thomas Ravenel on Monday for allegedly 'rekindling' his romance with his ex-partner Kathryn Dennis. 'I took a screenshot of [the news] and I sent it to him,' the 35-year-old hospice nurse told Us Weekly on Tuesday. 'I said, "Congratulations." And he has not responded.' 'He has not responded': Southern Charm recurring castmember Ashley Jacobs (pictured November 28) congratulated her ex-boyfriend Thomas Ravenel on Monday for allegedly 'rekindling' his romance with his ex-partner Kathryn Dennis Ashley and the troubled 57-year-old ended their own 15-month relationship in August 2018 while he was embroiled in a volatile three-year custody battle with his 28-year-old babymama. Thomas and Kathryn share joint legal and physical custody of their five-year-old daughter Kensington Calhoun, and four-year-old son St. Julien Rembert, but he remains their 'primary custodian.' 'My only thought is, if it's for the children, then great, you know,' Jacobs noted. Ravenel and Dennis were supposedly feeling 'comfortable' and 'sparks flew' after spending the holidays together and partying together at a 007-themed bash in Charleston on Sunday. Happier times: The 35-year-old hospice nurse (L) and the troubled 57-year-old (R) ended their own 15-month relationship in August 2018 while he was embroiled in a volatile three-year custody battle with his 28-year-old babymama (pictured in 2018) 'If it's for the children, then great': Thomas and Kathryn share joint legal and physical custody of their five-year-old daughter Kensington Calhoun, and four-year-old son St. Julien Rembert, but he remains their 'primary custodian' (pictured December 25) 'The thing with them is, this all can change in two days,' a source told People on Monday. 'That's how they are. It's always so up and down. Right now it's up and in a very good place.' But the disgraced former South Carolina State Treasurer tweeted on Monday that he was only 'doing some things together' with the redheaded Bravo-lebrity 'because it makes the kids very happy.' 'This all can change in two days': Ravenel (R) and Dennis (2-R) were supposedly feeling 'comfortable' and 'sparks flew' after spending the holidays together and partying together at a 007-themed bash in Charleston on Sunday 'Our interests are pretty aligned': But the disgraced former South Carolina State Treasurer tweeted on Monday that he was only 'doing some things together' with the redheaded Bravo-lebrity 'because it makes the kids very happy' Meanwhile, Ashley publicly moved on with Related Garments co-founder Mike Appel last month. 'You never realize how toxic something is until you walk away from it - or meet someone who's emotionally stable - and I'm all about healthy relationships from here on out,' Jacobs said. The Santa Barbara-born RN added: 'I guess toxic attracts toxic...I think that's the best they're ever going to get. I hate to say that because I think everyone deserves happiness, but you know, if that makes them happy, again, to each their own, but that is not a way to live.' 'You never realize how toxic something is until you meet someone who's emotionally stable': Jacobs (R) publicly moved on with Related Garments co-founder Mike Appel (L) last month (pictured December 2) Iran arrests "some" over Ukrainian plane crash: spokesman Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/1/14 16:54:54 Iran's Judiciary spokesman said here Tuesday that the Islamic republic has arrested some people related to the crash of a recent Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran's sky, official IRNA news agency reported. "So far, comprehensive investigations have been carried out from the relevant people, and every day until late night, the expert teams of the Judiciary are busy interrogating, investigating and collecting documents," Gholamhossein Esmaili made the remarks at a press conference. He said that the black box of the plane is sent to France to be decoded. In reading the data on the black box, Iranian and Ukrainian experts will be participated. The data to be extracted from the black box will help "significantly" to the investigation process, he said. He noted that "the Judiciary is after unearthing the fact and practicing justice." On Wednesday, Iran shot down a Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 passenger plane wherein 176 people were killed. The armed forces said that the plane was brought down due to "human error." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Five aid workers abducted by Boko Haram insurgents last December have been released, security sources have told PREMIUM TIMES. The workers, two females and three males, were kidnapped on December 22 after a gang of gunmen believed to be Boko Haram terrorists ambushed their vehicle between Monguno and Damaturu. According to the sources, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, on strict conditions of anonymity, the release of the five abductees was facilitated by the State Security Service. It is a big day for us here in Borno with the release of the five abductees, one source said. The source said the five victims arrived at the SSS office in Maiduguri at about 4 p.m. Two of the abductees were staff of ALIMA, an international NGO; one from Solidarity International, one from International Organization on Migration and one from Red Cross, the source said. But the Red Cross and IOM have in separate communications confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that none of their staff was among the rescued aid workers. The source did not mention if any ransom was paid to secure the release of the five abductees. The spokesperson of the SSS, Peter Afunanya, however, told PR Nigeria that the five aid workers were rescued by the agency. A mobile speed camera driver has been relentlessly mocked on social media after the vehicle bogged in a nature strip between two stretches of road. The image, taken at Alexander Drive in Landsdale, Perth, was shared to a Facebook page on Wednesday. Pictures showed the car on an angle with its rear tyres submerged in the soft ground. Pictures showed the car was tilted on an angle as it was submerged up to the rear bar and tyres Social media users flocked to the page to poke fun at the mobile speed camera operator. One person described the incident as 'instant karma'. 'Id be charging a fortune for that tow out,' another person said. 'Obviously doesn't know how to engage four-wheel drive,' a third said. Pictures showed the car was tilted on an angle as it was submerged up to the rear bar and tyres Others wanted the driver to be fined for 'committing an illegal U-turn'. A police spokesperson told Perth Now an 'error in judgement' had been made. 'The vehicle has since been recovered and the operator remains somewhat embarrassed,' she said. A Western Australia police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the operator had been redeployed to commence duties. 'The vehicle has since been recovered. There is no damage to the vehicle or equipment,' the spokesperson said. In his remarks at the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) Business Breakfast Forum on ASEAN 2020 held in London on January 14, Ambassador An said that the ASEAN member states welcomes the UKs goodwill and efforts in boosting cooperation with the ASEAN. As the ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam will work closely with other ASEAN countries for the blocs benefits and prosperity, he stressed. Hailing the work and initiatives of previous ASEAN Chairs, such as smart city system of Singapore and sustainable development of Thailand, the diplomat informed that Vietnam has set the theme Cohesive and Responsive for ASEAN during the year it serves as Chair of the bloc. The ambassador noted that this year, Vietnam also began to its tenure as a non-permanent member at the UN Security Council (UNSC); therefore, the country will work to promote ASEANs interests at the council, and will serve as a bridge between ASEAN and the UN so that the bloc can carry out its plan in accordance with the UNs targets. The forum drew the participation of representatives from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Department for International Trade, and prestigious organisations and businesses such as ACCA, Asia House, HSBC, Shell, Vietnam Airlines, along with embassies of ASEAN member countries, among others. Delegates at the event also discussed ASEANs prospects as well as the UKs priorities for engaging ASEAN in 2020 and later years. The New Decade, New Approach document runs to 62 pages and the accompanying legislation runs to 51 pages. It took me several hours to read both documents through and then read them again in order to get an overall sense of what had been agreed. That is why I was somewhat surprised by those who felt able to provide an opinion within 10 minutes of publication. There are many aspects of the deal which will receive general approval, especially Part 1, with a series of priorities for an incoming Executive. Read More There is a strong focus on health reform and education, with a commitment to address educational underachievement and a section on investment for the future. These are all important for Northern Ireland if we are to build a strong and stable society. The section on governance in Northern Ireland will also receive a general welcome. After decades of direct rule, the operation of Stormont has been difficult; a situation made worse by the periodic crises that have occurred ever since the restoration of devolution 20 years ago. As a result there will be strengthened codes for transparency and accountability in the Executive and other pertinent measures. Much of what has been agreed is uncontroversial and will be for the common good. However, there are aspects of the deal which have received a more mixed reaction, both among unionists and nationalists. Some unionists have been unnerved and at the same time some nationalists are unhappy. The republican commentator Chris Donnelly tweeted: "This isn't a deal that will sit well with Sinn Fein." Annex A contains the UK Government's commitments and these include the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant to cover Northern Ireland, something which Sinn Fein has always opposed. Irish language activist Padai O Tiarnaigh, one of those who met the Secretary of State at Hillsborough, was clearly dissatisfied with the Irish language provisions and tweeted: "This legislation is miles away from 2006 promises, has a DUP veto & other very weak parts. We will test it every single day." That disappointment was exacerbated by the announcement that Peter Weir had been appointed Minister of Education. The Irish language campaign group An Dream Dearg tweeted. "This is a huge concern! Following a brief 2016 in the job as Education Minister we know EXACTLY what to expect. This will be the first main test of the 'new Assembly' on the Irish language." An Cumann Gaelach QUB, the Irish language student organisation at Queen's University Belfast, also took to Twitter to complain about a statement Peter Weir had made about Irish language signage in 1997. That was almost 23 years ago, before most of the Queen's students were even born. For some people, the past is just something you mine for new grievances. Meanwhile, some unionists have been asking: "What do you make of it?" It is a good question and one response could be: "What can you make of it and what will we make of it?" I have read and reread all the cultural aspects of the deal and I have no doubt that Irish cultural enthusiasts will seek to maximise and realise the opportunities in it. They have already said that. However, there are also commitments that are of particular interest to most unionists, including the section on the centenary of Northern Ireland and the commitments to Ulster-Scots culture and Ulster-British culture. There are also specific projects, such as the Castlereagh Foundation and the restoration of Craigavon House. These provide a great opportunity to build cultural confidence and capacity within the unionist family. However, with every opportunity there comes responsibility and there is now a responsibility on the unionist community to seize the opportunity, maximise the opportunity and realise the potential. There is a responsibility on unionist parties, whether at community level or in councils, Assembly and Westminster. There is also a responsibility on the unionist people and on cultural organisations. Many cultural activists may feel "worn down and worn out", as a rural unionist recently observed to me, by past decades of disappointment, but it would be a mistake to let the opportunities pass. When a door of opportunity opens, you can stand inspecting the grain of the wood, or you can walk through the door and seize the opportunity. I think I prefer the latter. The US and China moved a step closer to resolving their 18-month trade war after signing a preliminary phase one agreement. China pledged to import 151billion more goods from the US than it did in 2017, and will strengthen its intellectual property rules to make it easier to prosecute companies which steal ideas. In turn, the US has agreed to scrap a wave of tariffs it was due to impose last month on Chinese-made goods such as mobile phones, toys and laptops. President Trump shakes hands with China's vice premier Liu He after signing a U.S. China trade agreement in the White House It will halve the tariff rate to 7.5 per cent on around 91billion of other Chinese goods such as televisions, bluetooth headphones and shoes. But the vast majority of tariffs, including 25 per cent charges on an array of Chinese industrial goods and components worth around 190billion, will remain in place until a phase two deal is reached. Talks on this next stage are set to resume in February. US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as momentous during a speech in which he covered subjects ranging from fireworks on Mount Rushmore to why items bearing his signature keep turning up on eBay. He added: Together we are righting the wrongs of the past. Chinas vice-premier Liu He struck a more sombre tone, echoing a warning from the World Economic Forum earlier in the day as he said China and the US must work more closely together to tackle the worlds problems. Germanys economy grew just 0.6 per cent last year its slowest rate for six years which it blamed on global trade tensions, export weakness and a downturn in the automotive industry. Medtronic's acquisition of Israeli robotic surgical equipment maker Mazor Robotics is in the early innings of success, CEO Omar Ishrak told CNBC on Tuesday. "It's only beginning to pay off," he said in a sit-down with Jim Cramer of "Mad Money" at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. "We're delighted with the results that we're seeing and our spine business this last year ever since I've been here has had its strongest year, and the robot has played a big role in that." Medtronic, the medical equipment company based in Ireland, paid out $1.64 billion in late 2018 for Mazor Robotics, which builds spine and brain surgical guidance systems for minimally invasive procedures. Medtronic bought out remaining interest in the firm after a 2016 partnership gave it an 11% share in Mazor. Medtronic's spine division is within its Restorative Therapies Group, which includes brain, specialty and pain therapies. Revenue in the spine business improved 5.5% to $692 million in the quarter that ended in October. Medtronic also attributed growth in its brain therapies segment to robotics. Ishrak, who is retiring as Medtronic chief in April, said the robotic-assisted guidance systems are being used in "most major centers" in the United States, but he did not go into details. At the health-care conference in San Francisco, Medtronic said it expects its minimally invasive therapies operations to grow by as much as 150 basis points in the 2022 fiscal year and by as much as 250 basis points by the 2023 fiscal year with the help of its robotic-assisted surgery platform. The minimally invasive business is projected to reach $10.3 billion by the end of the 2023 fiscal year, up from about $8.5 billion last year, according to FactSet. "The desire for that is pretty high, but most importantly what it does is it makes the procedures consistent" and "we're integrating it with other technologies, such as our navigation system and eventually our imaging system," Ishrak explained in the interview. "There's a spinal robot, we're also working on a general surgery robot, there's a cranial robot [and] there will be others." Medtronic has focused on making acquisitions to shore up its minimally invasive and robotic surgery device business. The goal is to stave off growing competition in the cardiac and vascular space, where the company deals in stents and heart pumps. When Ishrak retires at the end of the current fiscal year on April 27, he will retain his seat as chairman of the board and add the title of executive chairman of Medtronic. Since he took the helm of chief in June 2011, Medtronic stock has risen nearly 208% to date, from about $38 a share to $117.04 as of Tuesday's close. The company mandates that its executives retire at age 65. Ishrak told Cramer his legacy is defined by the patient base of 75 million people served the prior fiscal year and the team that he worked with. "When I started, the [patient] number was more like 20 million a year. So just watching that and the impact that has had on people is a huge thing, and I think the company's positioned to extend that further," he said. Speaking of his successor, Geoff Martha, who currently heads the Restorative Therapies Group, Ishrak said, "I think if he can keep that, sustain it and grow it, that's all I need." New Delhi: The Supreme Court junked the petition seeking ban on the bull-taming festival of Jallikattu during a hearing on Wednesday. We wont stop Jallikattu, the top court said and asked the petitioners to approach the High Court. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea against the Madras High Court order that had allowed Jallikattu festival to be conducted in some regions under the supervision of monitoring committees. "Jallikattu" is the popular-yet-controversial bull-taming event where participants come together to stop a bull that runs amok in their village. The Supreme Court order comes on a day when the bull-taming festival is being celebrated in parts of Tamil Nadu. Celebrations in Madurai Visuals of a grand even surfaced online that showed 700 bulls and 730 bull catchers participating in Jallikattu event in Tamil Nadus Madurai. The event heralds the four-day harvest festival of Pongal. In 2014 and 2016, the Supreme Court had ruled that Jallikattu amounts to cruelty against animals. However, amid intense protests, the Centre and the state government of Tamil Nadu passed amendments that allowed the bull-taming festival. #WATCH Tamil Nadu: #Jallikattu competitions have begun in Madurai's Avaniyapuram. 700 bulls and 730 Bull Catchers are participating in it. pic.twitter.com/jMdwRG45gN ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2020 The Centres notification allowing the sport was passed on 6 January, 2016. Following mass protests, it was replaced by the state legislature passing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017, which legalized Jallikattu. The Centre thereafter, withdrew its 2016 notification allowing the controversial sport. What rules say? This year, the Madurai district administration is only allowing men from 21 to 45 years of age and weighing more than 45 kgs. Madurai District collector directed that those below the age of 21 years will not be allowed to participate in Jallikattu to be held at Palamedu and Alanganallur. Those willing to participate must enroll themselves at designated centres and get their fitness certificate after a required health check-up. Fox Jallikattu Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India Chapter has written to the Tamil Nadu government seeking strict action against organisers of a 'Jallikattu' type of event using a rare breed of foxes in Salem district. PETA India Chapter CEO Manilal Valliyate said they have sought preventive measures against conduct of the event, popularly known as 'vanganari jallikattu'. "We have also approached them last year and this year too we have written to them. We seek strict penal action against the organisers and participants of such events which is illegal," he told PTI. The Salem district forest administration has stepped up awareness campaigns not to use the rare 'Wanga' breed of foxes, according to officials. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A mature student labelled the UKs most prolific ever rapist could have his time in prison increased after the attorney generals office confirmed it was to review whether his sentence had been unduly lenient. Reynhard Sinaga was jailed for life but given permission to apply for parole after 30 years following four separate trials in which he was found guilty of drugging, rendering unconscious and sexually abusing 48 men in Manchester. Now, the sentence will be reconsidered after a letter was sent to the office of Geoffrey Cox officially requesting the 36-year-old Indonesian national be prevented from ever walking free. If a full life sentence was imposed, it would be the first time in British legal history that such a punishment had been handed down to someone who had not committed murder. The case has been referred to our office and is now under review, a spokesperson told The Independent. Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Show all 11 1 /11 Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Reynhard Sinaga was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for life and must serve a minimum of 30 years after he was convicted of offences against 48 men Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed The bedroom floor, where dozens of rapes took place, in the the home of Reynhard Sinaga Sinaga, who was convicted on 159 sexual offences including 136 counts of rape in Manchester between January 2015 and May 2017, drugged 48 men and filmed himself sexually violating them while they were unconscious in his city centre apartmen Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed A general view of the night club Fifth in Manchester where Reynhard Sinaga watched and picked up men that he later raped Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed CCTV grab of Reynhard Sinaga on Princess Street The Indonesian student posed as a good samaritan, offering the men a place to sleep or more drink, the court heard Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Reynhard Sinaga, middle, appearing in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on the day he was charged Julia Quenzler /SWNS.COM Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed A general view of the apartment Montana House next to the night club The Factory Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed The living room at the home of Reynhard Sinaga His victims who were mostly heterosexual had little or no memory of the assaults, which Sinaga filmed on his mobile phone. The men left the flat unaware they had been violated. Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed The iPhone 4 taken by a victim and used to convict Reynhard Sinaga Sinaga was caught after one of the men regained consciousness and fought him off, before taking his phone to the police Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Bottles of alcohol which were used to spike victims in the home of Reynhard Sinaga Sinaga is thought to have laced alcoholic drinks with a drug such as GHB, known as liquid ecstasy, to incapacitate his victims Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Greater Manchester Police has urged anyone who believes Sinaga may have approached them on a night out to come forward. Officers say he may have been committing crimes for 10 years Greater Manchester Police/PA Reynhard Sinaga: Most prolific rapist in UK history jailed Mobile phones found in the home of Reynhard Sinaga When Greater Manchester Police examined the attackers multiple digital devices, they found 3.29 terabytes of graphic material the equivalent of 250 DVDs depicting sexual assaults. Jurors who had to watch some of the mobile phone footage were later offered counselling Greater Manchester Police/PA Under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, a decision will be made within 28 days. It is not clear who sent the letter requesting the review but, at Sinagas trial, the Crown Prosecution Service was keen to push for a full life term. Anyone can send such a letter to the attorney generals office as part of the unduly lenient sentence scheme, including victims or their relative. It is understood that key points it raises are the fact that, while Sinaga was found guilty of crimes against 48 men, Greater Manchester Police have video evidence that the real number of victims is at least 195 many of them unidentified. An incident room set up after the rapists identity was made public on 6 January has received numerous calls from potential victims, a force spokesperson has said. At his initial sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Suzanne Goddard told him it was borderline whether he should be given a whole-life term but decided that he could be considered for release when he was 66. Whilst these offences collectively and individually are of the utmost seriousness, and in my view did involve a risk to life the features of torture and violence are absent, and do not involve death or lasting serious physical injury, she said. You are clearly well versed in the necessary doses and mercifully none of the victims suffered any lasting serious physical effects. The sole feature that would allow the court to contemplate the passing of a whole life order would be the vast scale of your offending which now involves 48 victims. This is in my view a borderline case, as described in the authorities, and as such I must therefore shrink back from passing a whole life order. Sinaga targeted men often teenagers who had been separated from friends while enjoying nights out in Manchester city centre. He lured them back to his city centre flat with the promise of the use of a phone charger or more drinks before drugging them and, in most cases, raping them. He was only caught when one teenage victim woke up as he was being abused. Air Quality Monitoring System Market to reach a market size of $6.4 billion by 2025 According to a new report Global Air Quality Monitoring System Market, published by KBV Research, The Global Air Quality Monitoring System Market size is expected to reach $6.4 billion by 2025, rising at a market growth of 7% CAGR during the forecast period. The market is experiencing trends such as increased availability of low-cost sensor networks, crowdsourcing, wireless communication development, and growing environmental awareness among the public. Due to modernized architectures and real-time applications, hardware accounted for the largest market share in 2018. This segment\-\-s large share can be attributed to a growing number of system integrators on the market. Some of the multinational conglomerates do system integration research and, therefore, buy hardware from component manufacturers like sensors and displays. The Software market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 7.6% during (2019-2025). The end-use segment is subdivided into residential, commercial, and industrial. The industrial segment holds the largest share in 2018 and is also projected to develop at the fastest CAGR over the next six years. Industrial segment growth is due to increased adoption of air quality monitoring systems from different industries in response to strict government mandates. The Commercial market is experiencing a growth rate of 7.4% during (2019-2025). The Residential market would witness a CAGR of 8.4% during (2019-2025). The market, on the basis of product type, is subdivided into indoor and outdoor monitoring systems. As a result of these systems\-\- increased integration activities with other smart city infrastructure like traffic systems, smart poles, and street light solutions, the outdoor segment dominated the market in 2018. The factor guiding segment growth is government requirements to use air quality monitoring devices in sectors like oil and gas and pharmaceuticals. The Indoor market showcases a CAGR of 10.1% during (2019-2025). Structural Insights: https://www.kbvresearch.com/air-quality-monitoring-system-market/ The North America market dominated the Global Air Quality Monitoring System Market by Region 2018. The Europe market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% during (2019 2025). The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR due to low air quality sensor penetration in China and India. Moreover, the Middle East and African regions offer lucrative market opportunities to market players as a result of rapid industrialization and proactive government initiatives to adopt eco-friendly processes in industries. The market research report has exhaustive quantitative insights providing a clear picture of the market potential in various segments across the globe with country wise analysis in each discussed region. The key impacting factors of the market have been discussed in the report with the elaborated company profiles of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Siemens AG, Emerson Electric Co., General Electric (GE) Co., 3M Company, Horiba Ltd., Honeywell International, Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., Agilent Technologies, Inc., Air Quality Monitoring System and Teledyne Technologies, Inc. Recent Strategies Deployed in Air Quality Monitoring System Market ? Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements: Sep-2019: Siemens Mobility signed a Clean Air Zone contract with Department for Transport?s Joint Air Quality of Birmingham. Under this agreement, Siemens designs, supplies, and installs an ANPR camera monitoring and enforcement solution across its city center. In Birmingham, CAZ has been implemented that is aimed at improving air quality across the city. Under the agreement, Siemens provides ANPR Camera system for monitoring and enforcing the use of the city?s bus lanes within the city boundary. Sep-2019: 3M signed partnership agreement with Clean Air Asia. In this, 3M will collaborate with international non-governmental organizations on science-based air quality solutions. In this partnership, 3M will spend its next five years on assisting Clean Air Asia in its efforts to access the baseline of air quality conditions. Jun-2019: Horiba teamed up with TNO for promoting Smart Emission Measurement Systems (SEMS). SEMS is a research and monitoring methodology that measures real-world driving emissions. With the combined strengths of both the companies, the monitoring and evaluation of actual emission performance will accelerate and it will provide valuable insights for improving the sustainability of machineries and vehicles. Jul-2018: GE signed an agreement with Elektrownia Ostroeka in order to build Ostroeka C, a 1GW ultra-supercritical (USC) coal power plant in Northeast of Poland. In this agreement, GE designs and builds the new plant in addition to delivering USC technology components. Moreover, GE Power will supply air quality control systems, which are on par with the latest EU standards in terms of local emissions. ? Acquisition and Mergers: Dec-2019: Honeywell announced the acquisition of Rebellion Photonics, a provider of innovative, intelligent, and visual gas monitoring solutions. The acquisition provides wide range of gas detection technologies, mobility solutions, and safety gear to Honeywell for helping the workers in staying safe and productive. Jul-2019: Emerson announced the acquisition of Zedi?s software and automation businesses. The Zedi\-\-s cloud supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platform enables Emerson in helping the oil and gas producers in increasing production and lowering operating costs with the help of cloud-based monitoring, control and optimization. Feb-2019: Emerson completed the acquisition of Intelligent Platforms from General Electric. The acquisition enables Emerson to help the process and industrial customers in expanding its capabilities in machine control and discrete applications. Dec-2017: Thermo Fisher took over certain assets of EPTEK Technology Co. LTD and several related entities with offices in Taiwan and mainland China. The assets acquired include volatile organic compound (VOC) continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS). These systems are used for measuring and analyzing air quality across wide range of industrial applications. ? Product Launches and Product Expansions: Oct-2019: Emerson released ENERGY STAR? certified Sensi smart thermostats that are compatible with Awair?s indoor air quality monitoring platform. Awair is an indoor air quality monitoring platform, which is available through Sensi?s smart home integrations portfolio. Jun-2019: Teledyne API, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, launched Model T640 PM Mass Monitor, a new ambient air quality monitoring instrument. The instrument measures the fine particulate matter in real-time below 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) continuously. This monitoring instrument has been used by air quality monitoring agencies. May-2019: Thermo Fisher launched advanced Class II biological safety cabinets (BSCs). These cabinets have been designed for optimize contamination prevention, user convenience, and information protection and management. Using BSC technology, Herasafe and Maxisafe 2030i systems of Thermo Fisher provide smart self-monitoring safety capabilities for maintain the air flow and monitor critical conditions automatically. Mar-2019: Horiba unveiled APCA-370 ambient carbon dioxide monitor, used in combination with Air Quality Monitoring System and other systems. The system is capable of measuring CO2 in addition to the types of air pollutants. Global Air Quality Monitoring System Market Segmentation By Pollutants ? Chemical Carbon Oxides Sulphur Oxides Nitrogen Oxides Volatile Organic Compounds Others ? Physical By Component Hardware Software Services By Product Type Outdoor Indoor By End User Industrial Commercial Residential By Geography North America US Canada Mexico Rest of North America Europe Germany UK France Russia Spain Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Singapore Malaysia Rest of Asia Pacific LAMEA Brazil Argentina UAE Saudi Arabia South Africa Nigeria Rest of LAMEA Companies Profiled Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Siemens AG Emerson Electric Co. General Electric (GE) Co. 3M Company Horiba Ltd. Honeywell International, Inc. TE Connectivity Ltd. Agilent Technologies, Inc. Teledyne Technologies, Inc. Air Quality Monitoring System Market Related Reports: North America Market Europe Market Asia Pacific Market LAMEA Market Fianna Fail Deputy Eugene Murphy for Roscommon/Galway has issued a statement saying the addition of Cllr Orla Leyden to the ticket has "taken me by surprise." "I have been honoured to represent the people of Roscommon/Galway in Dail Eireann over the past number of years and I thank you for your ongoing goodwill and support. Events over the past 48 hours and the addition of Cllr Orla Leyden to the Fianna Fail ticket in Roscommon/Galway have quite frankly taken me by surprise particularly as I had been told by Cllr Leyden and Senator Terry Leyden that she was not going to run and that they would do everything they could to retain the seat here in Roscommon/Galway but thats politics and I wish Cllr Leyden well. "However, least there be any doubt, I am the sitting Fianna Fail TD in this constituency and I have worked tirelessly over the past three years to represent the people of the area and I did so under the difficult conditions of the confidence and supply agreement. I was also the only Fianna Fail candidate selected at convention. I am calling on you all to continue your support for me and I promise I will continue to work hard to improve the quality of life for people in rural Ireland and I will continue to represent your views in the most effective way possible in Dail Eireann. "I will be fighting all over the Roscommon/Galway constituency for your vote and I will work for the best interests of the party. I will fight for every single vote in this election. I have lost a considerable part of Roscommon with almost 7, 500 votes gone into the Sligo/Leitrim constituency, so I wont be settling for an area thats been given to me. I intend to fight for every single vote. "I remain committed to helping to improve the quality of life for people in rural Ireland which has largely been left behind- we need to build a future where people can live, work and enjoy the many benefits of rural living. "As the Partys Spokesperson on the OPW and Flood Relief I have worked hard on the many challenges in this brief but also tackling issues which affect everyday life for people. My priorities for the Roscommon/Galway constituency include: Healthcare- reducing hospital waiting lists, delivery of projects such as the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon and the 50 bed unit for Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe; Services for people with disabilities, focus on farming and agriculture, balanced regional development, climate change, revitalisation of rural towns, ASD services for children, Affordable childcare." Also read: Naughten to run poster free election campaign In reaction to the recent crisis in the Middle East, Germanys ruling circles are enthusing about the criminal methods of President Donald Trump, while pursuing their own imperialist interests more aggressively. Following the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, not a word was heard from official Berlin condemning the deliberate killing of the high-ranking representative of a sovereign state on the soil of a third country, despite the fact that it violated international and US law. To the extent that the German government called for de-escalationas in a joint statement with the French and British governmentsit placed the onus exclusively on Iran. In the meantime, the servile German press is openly defending the criminal methods of US foreign policy. Symptomatic of this is a lead commentary that appeared Monday in the Suddeutsche Zeitung, once considered to be relatively liberal in contrast to conservative papers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Welt. In the column, Hubert Wetzel, the Washington correspondent of this daily newspaper published in Munich, explicitly justifies and defends the murder of Suleimani. A week ago, half of America and all of Europe were convinced that Trump would turn the Middle East into an inferno, Wetzel sneers. Trump had indeed done many stupid and erratic things as president, but that did not mean that everything he does is stupid, erratic and driven by ignorance and egomania. One did not have to consider Trumps decision to have Suleimani killed correct. But one should not pretend there was no benefit, and that anyone who comes to a different conclusion in weighing up the pros and cons is a warmonger. In Washingtons view, Wetzel writes, the attack on Suleimani served to restore an old and actually very rational security policy principle: deterrence. Trump wanted to make clear to Iran where the red line runs for him: no more dead Americans. This was simple and clear." Wetzel continues: "And clarity is sometimes very helpful in an environment where provocation and misunderstanding can trigger wars." That Suleimani had been a legitimate military target could hardly be denied. Tehran now knows where Trumps limits are and what it costs to cross them. The argumentation of the Suddeutsche is reminiscent of the notorious Hun speech of Emperor Wilhelm II, who called on the German soldiers who went to China in 1900 to suppress the Boxer Rebellion to ensure that for 1,000 years never again will a Chinese dare to look suspiciously at a German. It shows that the days are past when Germany was inhibited from pursuing its foreign policy interests with ruthless violence because of the crimes of the Nazis. This has long been apparent. The assertion that the defence of German interests requires a moral price has been a recurrent theme in foreign policy debate for years. For example, in a speech last year on Germanys role in the globalized world, the president of the Bundestag (federal parliament), Wolfgang Schauble, declared that the pacifist attitude of most Germans was historically understandable, but our history cannot be a fig leaf. It must not serve as an excuse for irresponsibility. In parallel with the justification of Suleimanis assassination, the German government is feverishly developing political and military activities to strengthen its own influence in the Middle East and Africa. On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a joint statement in which they delivered an ultimatum to Iran to return to full compliance with its obligation under the Vienna nuclear agreement and threatened to impose their own sanctions. A year ago, the US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions on Iran. The Europeans failed to maintain trade with the country despite the US sanctions, as they had promised. Now the three leaders are threatening to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon. They denounced Irans destabilizing role in the region, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Al-Quds forces, and declared that their commitment to the security of our allies and partners in the region [i.e., the US] is unshakable." On Saturday, Merkel had travelled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to obtain his approval for a Libya conference in Berlin. As mediator in the Libyan civil war, in which Italy, France, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other powers support various hostile militias, the German government hopes to strengthen its own influence in the oil-rich country, as well as in the broader region of North Africa and the Sahel zone, where Germany is militarily active together with France. While Merkel was in Moscow, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Jordan to ensure that the German troops stationed there and deployed in Syria and Iraq can continue to remain in the region. The aggressive pursuit of imperialist interests is accompanied by massive rearmament and an increase in arms exports. The German military budget will increase from 32.4 billion in 2014 to 45 billion next year and, according to current plans, will reach 90 billion by the beginning of the 2030s. Last year alone, arms exports doubled to 8 billion. All the parties represented in the Bundestag support the main features of this policy. The return of war and militarism can be prevented only by an independent, international movement of the working class that combines the struggle against war with the struggle against its cause, capitalism. BAY CITY, MI - Record high water levels in Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay has prompted Bay Countys Bangor Township to draft and approve a request seeking to declare its shoreline a disaster area. The declaration asks the state Legislature and the governor to declare the shoreline a disaster area so federal assistance can be sought to alleviate the situation. A resolution to issue the request was unanimously approved by the township board on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The township was spurred to issue the request based on high water levels impacting the shoreline and forecasts for future high water levels. A recent report issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says a six-month forecast of Great Lakes water levels shows water continuing to be well above average over this period. The Army Corps expects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to reach record high levels this year. It is likely that water levels on lakes Michigan and Huron will set new monthly mean record high levels over the next couple of months, said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office, Detroit District, in a statement. Bangor Township Supervisor Glenn Rowley said that he saw projections for this springs water level to be 11 inches higher than what it was last spring. That already puts the water level over a lot of our homeowners seawalls and puts us in great peril, he said. "Thats before we see a wind-driven event. If the request is approved by the state, Bangor Township could see financial resources and an allocation of personnel to provide necessary aid in developing a solution to the flooding. We will be able to hopefully do something, and along with this is getting the right people involved, the smart people; the engineers, the hydrologists, the folks that can maybe provide some solutions to high water," said Rowley. Bangor Township, which is located next to Bay City, hopes to lend a hand to other shoreline communities on Saginaw Bay by encouraging and assisting them to do the same and issue declaration requests. The other thing we are going to do is shout this message from the mountain top and even share our resolution with other shoreline communities so they can join in, so we can have strength in numbers, Rowley said. Related news: Caretakers of USS Edson say breakwall needed to protect site from rising Saginaw River Lakes Michigan and Huron finally expected to go above record water levels Lakes Michigan and Huron water levels not falling like usual, could be spring problems $16M in shoreline improvements proposed in Lake Michigan beach town amid high water levels By PTI NEW DELHI: The JNU administration on Tuesday said classes in many schools have begun for the new semester and the campus witnessed a "calm and peaceful" atmosphere, while a section of students and teachers continued to abstain from classes amid a standoff with authorities over the fee-hike issue. JNU's Registrar Pramod Kumar, in a statement, said academic and administrative units of the university functioned "normally on January 14, even as the campus witnessed a calm and peaceful atmosphere". "The number of student registrations has been rising consistently and the last date of registration has been extended till January 15 to facilitate students who have gone on leave or on academic assignments off-campus," Kumar said. Classes in many schools and centres for the new semester have begun and time-tables have been uploaded, he said. "MPhil and PhD viva-voce examinations of various research scholars have been conducted and several others have been scheduled. International academic delegations have also visited for discussions on research collaborations and student exchange," Kumar added. However, some students and teachers of the university continued their agitation and boycotted classes over the fee-hike issue. According to a professor, the classes did not happen and the schools remained deserted. The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) has called upon the student community to observe the registration boycott and academic suspension until the union explicitly announces otherwise. "The JNUSU wants to clarify that the stand of boycotting registration and complete academic suspension which includes the boycott of online/offline exams and any other academic activities is in continuation," it said. "The JNUSU acknowledges that fact that there needs to be a dialogue at every juncture in taking calls for protest keeping up with the united spirit of the struggle. The JNUSU has been in dialogue with Student Faculty Committees, Hostel Presidents and various organisations," it added. The students' union, along with the JNU Teachers' Association, reiterated that "there cannot be normal academic activities until VC M Jagadesh Kumar is removed and their demands, which include the rollback of hostel manual, no punitive actions against protesting students are met". VICTORIA - A former Green leader in British Columbia who made history when he won a seat in the legislature is leaving the party to sit as an Independent. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announces that he won't be running as leader in the next provincial election during a press conference at the Hall of Honour at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, October 7, 2019. Weaver is leaving British Columbia's Green party to sit as an Independent.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito VICTORIA - A former Green leader in British Columbia who made history when he won a seat in the legislature is leaving the party to sit as an Independent. Andrew Weaver said Wednesday he wrestled with the decision about his future for months before finally deciding he needs more time to focus on health issues facing his family while still fulfilling his duties as a member of the legislature. The Greens said Weaver's decision to leave does not threaten the deal the party has to support the minority New Democrat government. "MLA Weaver has been very clear to our party that he intends on continuing to sit as MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and that he continues to support the stability of the minority government," said Interim Green Leader Adam Olsen. Weaver did not attend a news conference at the legislature about his departure. "After careful consideration, I feel it is best for all parties if I continue my legislative work as an Independent member prior to the beginning of the spring legislative session," he said in a statement. "Sitting as an Independent will also give me a better opportunity during the upcoming legislative sitting to attend to personal matters, including a number of health challenges affecting my family." Olsen said Weaver approached the party about sitting as an Independent because he needed to better balance his work and health obligations. "We were notified that he intended on leaving caucus to sit as an Independent and the rationale was that he felt this was the best way for him to be able to address the significant health challenge," Olsen said. "We support that decision and we helped facilitate the transition." Details of the health challenges facing Weaver's family were not released. Weaver was diagnosed with an inner ear inflammation that affected his balance after going to the hospital in September. The B.C. Greens, who held three seats in the legislature prior to Weaver's announcement, reached a confidence and supply agreement with the NDP following the 2017 election that resulted in the New Democrats forming a minority government. When Weaver takes his seat in the legislature as an Independent, there will be 42 B.C. Liberals, 41 New Democrats, two Greens and two Independents. The other Independent is Speaker Darryl Plecas. The Greens plan to choose a new leader this summer. Last October, Weaver announced he will not seek re-election in 2021. Weeks later, he announced he was stepping down as leader, paving the way for B.C. Greens leadership contest. Weaver said he will start sitting as an Independent member of the house on Monday. He is an internationally recognized climate scientist who was first elected to the legislature in 2013. He became leader of the party in 2015 after he was elected as the first Green in the legislature. Weaver also announced he will return to the University of Victoria to resume his academic career following the completion of his term in office. Olsen said Weaver has had a wide-ranging impact on the legislature and he looked forward to working with him. "I'll just say that I worked closely with Andrew over the last few years and I certainly appreciate his bringing some very important issues around climate change to the table." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. The positions of the president and the prime minister are the top positions of leadership in most countries. However, the two positions are never used interchangeably. The two positions differ significantly depending on the country in question and the system of government in the country. For instance, the president of the US and the prime minister of the UK both have different responsibilities and duties, despite each being the top leadership of their respective countries. Other countries like France have both the positions of the prime minister and the president. President And Prime Minister In A Presidential System Of Government All countries with a presidential system of government have a president who serves as the head of state and leader of the government. In this system, the president leads the executive arm of the government. In the US, for instance, the president is the head of state and the leader of the government at the same time. Similarly, in France during the 3rd and the 4th republics, the country had a president. In a presidential system, the president is elected directly or indirectly through a popular vote or by an electoral college. In a presidential system, the president is not responsible to the legislature and therefore, the legislative arm of the government cannot dismiss the president. However, in rare cases, the president could be dismissed through impeachment. The title of president is not exclusive to the presidential system of government only, parliamentary system and other one-party dictatorship states can also have presidents. The presidential system of government is common in the Americas, with 19 out of the 22 states having a presidential system of government. The system is also widespread in Central Asia, West Africa, southern Africa, and Central Africa. There is no presidential system of government in Western Europe aside from Belarus. President And Prime Minister In A Parliamentary System Of Government In a parliamentary system of government, the prime minister is the leader of the government and is accountable to the legislature. The head of state is separate from the leader of government and in the case of a constitutional monarchy; the monarch would typically be the head of states such as in Japan, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK. In a parliamentary system, the president is a ceremonial figure. However, there are some cases where the leader of the government is also the head of state in a parliamentary system of government such as Suriname, South Africa, and Botswana, among others. The parliamentary system is widespread in Europe with 32 out of the 50 states having a parliamentary system. In a parliamentary system, the executive authority is exercised by the prime minister who takes the position as the leader of the majority party or coalition of parties in the legislature. The prime minister takes the oath of office administered by the president. On the other hand, the president would be commander in chief of the defense forces, and the head of the civil service. In certain cases, the president in a parliamentary system could dissolve parliament. President And Prime Minister In A Hybrid System In a hybrid system, which has been known as the French model, they have both the president and the prime minister, and the president is not a ceremonial figure but has significant powers compared to a parliamentary system. In France, for instance, the president and the prime minister can cooperate and work towards a common goal if both control a majority of seats in the national assembly. However, if the majority of seats in the national assembly are controlled by the opponent, the president could be marginalized, allowing the opposition prime minister exercise most powers. The prime minister is always the presidents appointee, and the president has to follow the rules of the legislature in selecting the leader of the majority party. Therefore, the president and the prime minister could form allies, and sometimes they could be rivals. When they are rivals, they are referred to as cohabiting. Other countries have adopted a variant of the French hybrid system, and they include countries like Sri Lanka, Romania, and Portugal among others. President In A Dictatorship System Dictatorship regimes always take the position of the president and not prime minister. Similarly, the self-proclaimed military leaders assume the title of the president as well. Examples of such include Mobutu of Zaire, Idi Amin of Uganda, Saddam of Iraq, and Marcos of Philippines. There are presidents in authoritarian states that had no powers such as Balaguer of the Dominican Republic. Other dictators have proclaimed themselves presidents for life so that their legitimacy may not be questioned or challenged. Incidentally, most of these leaders who declare themselves president for life do not serve for a lifetime. Development Of The Office Of The Prime Minister The origin of the title of the prime minister can be traced to France in the 17th-century to Cardinal de Richelieu was recognized as the Principal or Premier Ministre in 1624. However, the office was developed in the 18th century in Britain, when the king failed to attend the meetings of his ministers. Powerful premiers took the responsibility of government chief executive, for instance, Robert Walpole is considered the first prime minister of Britain between 1721 and 1742. Similarly, William Pitt the Younger played a similar role between 1783 and 1801 and again from 1804 to 1806. During this time, the prime minister became an outstanding cabinet member who was responsible for coordinating and supervising the activities of all government departments. The other cabinet members were expected to subscribe to the official policy of the government and the prime minister was required to command a majority in the House of Commons. These roles are still the roles of the modern prime ministers. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:06:38|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and eight others injured following an explosion at a chemical plant in the northeastern Spanish city of Tarragona on Tuesday evening. Local authorities confirmed to Xinhua that an employee of the factory, who was missing following the blast, was found dead on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to two. Eight others were injured, two of them in critical conditions due to the blast at the plant which treats ethylene oxide. The explosion caused a huge fireball and powerful shockwave. The company, named Iqoxe, is the only producer of ethylene oxide in Spain and has around 120 employees. The causes of the explosion are still not known. Chicago Boeing orders and deliveries of new jetliners plunged last year as the company struggled with the worldwide grounding of the 737 Max, which had been its best-selling plane. Gross orders fell to their lowest mark in 16 years, and that tells only part of the story. Boeing reported more cancellations than new orders in 2019, in large part because a major order from India's Jet Airways almost certainly vanished when the airline went bankrupt. The Chicago company said Tuesday that it booked 246 gross orders, the lowest total since 2003, but after cancellations the number of net orders was just 54. And after subtracting other orders that are too doubtful to stay in Boeing's backlog the Jet Airways deal the company suffered a net loss of 87 orders last year. Deliveries also tumbled, falling 53 percent from 806 planes in 2018 to 380 last year. That left Boeing far behind European rival Airbus, with 863 deliveries, in the race for global supremacy in plane building. The 737 Max was Boeing's best-selling plane until two of them crashed five months apart, killing 346 people and prompting regulators around the world to ground the plane last March. The company lists 4,545 unfilled orders for the Max, a backlog that would take several years to work down. However, Boeing is pausing production of the Max because it is unclear when the plane will fly again. Boeing is still making changes to software and other systems, and the Federal Aviation Administration has said repeatedly that it has no timetable for approving Boeing's work. In a sign of changing expectations around the plane's return, American Airlines said Tuesday that it is removing the Max from its schedule for two more months, until early June, and expects to cancel 140 flights a day until then. American has 24 Max jets and expected to have 40 by the end of last year and another 10 this year. Without the planes, it canceled about 36,000 flights last year and expects to cancel nearly 21,000 through June 3. The airline has estimated that the grounding cost it $540 million in pretax income during 2019 a figure that American could update when it reports fourth-quarter results next week. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier said last week it reached a settlement with Boeing over compensation for 2019 grounding-related damages but didn't disclose financial details. American's schedule for a June return of the Max puts it in line with United Airlines. Southwest Airlines, which has more Max jets than American or United, has removed the plane from its schedule through April 13. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 28-30, 2020, the popular Social Recruiting Strategies Conference (SRSC), Employer Branding Strategies Conference (EBSC), and Talent Sourcing Strategies Summit converge under one roof at GSMI's Talent Acquisition Week (TA Week) . A 3-in-1 ticket provides attendees with all-access, allowing for the most comprehensive conference experience and endless networking opportunities with the brightest in the industry. TA Week will be hosted in the heart of San Francisco, at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF. GSMI GSMI As the executive sponsor of the conference, Symphony Talent plans to unveil its " Moments That Matter " exhibit at TA Week as the first experiential exhibit where talent leaders can walk through the candidate experience. The exhibit features over 100 data points and quotes from industry experts and practitioners, research on Fortune 500 brands, direct access to eight free eBooks and reports, and seven subject matter experts. "There isn't a more critical time in talent marketing than now to take a careful look at your candidate experience. Our exhibit both encourages and enables talent leaders to do precisely that considering all of the physical and digital touchpoints of today's candidate journey," said Roopesh Nair, CEO, Symphony Talent. "We're thrilled to partner with TA Week, and to bring to light insights and data from our billions of candidate touchpoints tracked each year." Symphony Talent , which recently acquired SmashFly , will join the impressive conference floor to offer #TA_Week attendees access to its cutting-edge employer branding services and candidate experience solutions. Leading talent acquisition practitioners converge at this 3-in-1 event to share best practices, tools, case studies and metrics for recruiting success in the candidate-centric market. Attendees and speakers will share experiences in how to effectively leverage an integrated talent acquisition strategy - unlocking the power of personalization and automation with technology and employer brand to find the best candidates, all while staying true to the human element of the process. "Symphony Talent's presence as our Executive Sponsor will offer our attendees and speakers an undeniably unique experience. They are redefining how employers and talent connect with programmatic media & employer branding solutions. Come check them out at the Exhibit and AfterGlow party - you won't want to miss what they have in store for #TA_Week!" - Kara Mignanelli, TAW Executive Director, GSMI Featured speakers include: Sara Erickson, Sr. Recruitment Marketing Specialist, Ecolab Recruitment Marketing Specialist, Ecolab Aaron Kraljev , Head of Talent & Employer Brand, Fisher Investments , Head of Talent & Employer Brand, Fisher Investments Arthur Matuszewski , VP, Talent Acquisition, Better Mortgage , VP, Talent Acquisition, Better Mortgage Chloe Rada, Director of Talent Administration, Technology & Branding, Sodexo Alex Murray , Manager, Marketing and Communication, Futureforce, Salesforce , Manager, Marketing and Communication, Futureforce, Salesforce Bryan Chaney , Director, Employer Brand and Talent Attraction, Indeed Exhibition space is sold out; however, for other sponsorship opportunities, contact Kelly Hara at [email protected] or call 888.409.4418. A limited number of press passes are available to credentialed members of the media. Contact Kathryn Quant at [email protected] . Attendee registration can be completed online or by calling 888.409.4418. Use code SYMPHONYTALENT for 15% off registration. Connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn and follow #TA_Week. About GSMI GSMI is a leader in executive education, creating conferences that combine rich learning environments with the opportunity to network with today's most relevant thought leaders. Based in San Diego, California, with a footprint in over 100 countries, GSMI has reached over 92% of Fortune 500 companies and was named one of San Diego's Top 100 Emerging Companies 2012-2017. Media contact: Kathryn Quant Partnerships & Marketing [email protected] 916-223-1512 SOURCE GSMI Related Links http://www.gsmiweb.com Australia's largest aluminium smelter has warned the state government that rising energy prices could have a significant impact on its NSW operations. Tomago Aluminium, which consumes 10 per cent of NSW's power, has told the government that the viability of its Newcastle plant is under threat unless power prices can be controlled. A source with knowledge of the discussions said "concerns have been raised by Tomago at senior levels of the NSW and federal government" about rising energy costs. Tomago Aluminium has told the government that the viability of its Newcastle plant is under threat. Credit:Virginia Star The source said Tomago was not yet at a point where it would be put under "strategic review" but there were indications it could follow other smelters, where operations are being assessed. WASHINGTON DCToday, we will make history, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, before using what appeared to be more than a dozen different pens to put her signature on the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an elaborate ceremony in the U.S. Capitol building. Then, the seven impeachment managers, accompanied by the clerk and sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives, carried the two blue file folders containing the articles through the Old Hall of the House and across the Capitol rotunda, finally physically delivering them to the Senate chamber. The message will be received, Sen. Chuck Grassley, presiding at the time, said. And with that bit of ceremony, the responsibility for the proceedings against Trump passed to the Senate, which will conduct a trial to determine whether he can remain in office and seek a second term. It was 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2020, if youre inclined to mark the time for the purposes of history. Pelosi was clearly in the mood to do so, as she finally let go of control of this process. At a press conference earlier in the day, she cited poets and statesmen from Longfellow to Lincoln who had noted the particulars of time as the signposts of history, placing this presidential discipline in a timeline that included the Civil War and the American Revolution. On Dec. 18th, the House of Representatives impeached the president of the United States, she said. An impeachment that will last forever. Pelosi named the seven managers appointed by the House to present the case in the Senate, who were confirmed in a brief vote on the House floor in the early afternoon. Theyll be led by committee chairs Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, who have led the impeachment investigations in the House, and who stood immediately on either side of Pelosi as she spoke. They will serve, essentially, as the prosecution in the trial, and she said they had been chosen in part for their skill and comfort in a courtroom experience. What exactly theyll get to do is still up in the air how much will this trial resemble a trial? Will there be witnesses to question? Will new information and evidence not contained in the indictment be sought, or even allowed? Sen. Mitch McConnell, who leads the Republican majority that controls the Senate, and therefore the rules of the trial which will be set over the next few days, has long been emphatic that he opposes hearing from witnesses, and would prefer to wave off the charges and clear the president as quickly as possible. But as of Wednesday morning, four Republican senators had said theyd either like to hear from witnesses such as former National Security adviser John Bolton, or that they are open to it. If they were to vote with the Democrats, that would be enough to force the issue. In the meantime, things continue to evolve: in the 24 hours before the procession put the case in McConnells care, the House Intelligence Committee made new evidence public in the form of texts and documents submitted by an indicted associate of Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Some of it appears to show disturbing possibly menacing surveillance of American ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, before she was fired by Trump. This is the kind of new revelation Pelosi hinted at as the advantage of having waited weeks since Trump was impeached to deliver the articles to the Senate. It is now up to senators, she and Nadler said, to pursue these pieces of information in trying the case, or be accused of participating in a coverup Republicans were more dismissive Wednesday. Trumps press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement, The speaker lied when she claimed this was urgent and vital to national security because when the articles passed, she held them for an entire month in an egregious effort to garner political support. She failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing. President Trump has done nothing wrong. McConnell, in a speech on the Senate floor, said the impeachment puts the nation on a dangerous road where any future president might be impeached simply because the house doesnt like that person. The next few days, beginning Thursday at noon, are expected to be taken up by procedural elements in the Senate to prepare for the trial, which is expected to formally begin on Tuesday. The Senate will work on it six days a week until its conclusion. The White House said Wednesday it hopes the trial would last no longer than two weeks, but many expect it will last as many as five weeks. That schedule means it will collide with a busy political calendar that includes the State of the Union Address, scheduled for Feb. 4, and the Iowa caucuses that kick off the presidential election primary season on Feb. 3. Four Democratic senators are running for president and participating in the Iowa caucuses, and will be held away from actively campaigning there by their obligations as jurors. Trump, who was announcing phase one of a new trade deal with China as the House held its vote, greeted the news with a tweet saying this was another con job by the Do Nothing Democrats. Read more about: TobyMac pens honest, heartfelt song '21 Years' after son's death Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Grammy Award-winning artist TobyMac released a song Friday dedicated to his late son, Truett Foster McKeehan, titled 21 Years. The song is an honest letter from the artist to his 21-year-old first-born who died unexpectedly at his home on Oct. 23, 2019. TobyMac announced the song both on Instagram and Twitter. The last couple of months have been the hardest Ive ever faced. Thank you for the love and support. Part of my process has always been to write about the things Im going through, but this went to a whole new level. What started out as getting some of my thoughts and feelings about losing my firstborn son down on paper, ended up a song, he wrote on Instagram. Although he admits he never wanted to pen such a song, the Christian pioneer hopes the new single will help others who are also grieving a loss. He tweeted, "'21 Years is a song I wrote about the recent passing of my firstborn son, Truett Foster McKeehan. I loved him with all my heart. Until something in life hits you this hard, you never know how you will handle it. The McKeehan family has been surrounded by people who've been helping them through this tragic loss and the artist says he is grateful. Writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy and promise that describes the journey Im probably only beginning. The rest is yet to come. One thing I know is that I am not alone. God didnt promise us a life of no pain or even tragic death, but He did promise He would never leave us or forsake us. And Im holding dearly to that promise for my son as well as myself, he added. Some of the emotional words of 21 years say, Why would You give and then take him away? Suddenly end, could You not let it fade? What I would give for a couple of days The cause of the 21-year-old's death has not yet been released. What is known is that on Oct. 23, the Nashville Fire Department responded to an emergency call to his home for a person suffering cardiac arrest. Upon hearing the tragic news, TobyMac, who was on tour in Canada, flew back home to Franklin, Tennessee, to be with his wife and four other children. The family has since launched the Truett Foster Foundation where donations made in Truetts name will help send vulnerable youth to college, that they may realize their God-given potential to change the lives of others, according to the foundation's website. One hundred percent of the donations will be used to fund scholarships in partnership with the Global Orphan Project. The Christian organization will underwrite all general and administrative expenses in honor of the aspiring musician. - Agriculture CS Peter Munya said the milk will be processed into powder for Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) - The powdered milk will also be used as relief food - On Tuesday, January 14, the president directed the National Treasury to impose a 16% VAT on milk products originating outside the EAC to cushion local farmers - In December 2019, some dairy farmers poured their produce over poor prices and lack of markets - Huge quantities of powdered milk has flooded the local market from Uganda leaving farmers dejected The newly appointed Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has directed the New KCC to buy milk from farmers at KSh 33 up from KSh 25. The former Trade CS made the announcement after taking over the crucial ministry from Mwangi Kiunjuri who was sacked by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, January 14. READ ALSO: Kipchumba Murkomen blames Raila for Susan Kihika's woes during Uhuru's visit to Nakuru Agriculture CS Peter Munya has ordered the New KCC to buy a litre of milk at KSh 33 up from KSh 25 from local farmers. Photo: CS Hon Peter Munya. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Kisii: Two suspects escape from custody while being escorted to toilet Munya was speaking at a press conference in his office on Wednesday, January 15, a day after the head of state ordered the National Treasury to release KSh 500 million to the New KCC to purchase excess milk from farmers to convert it into powder milk for future use. "Following the President's directive, I have authorised New KCC to immediately start buying milk from farmers at Ksh33 per liter.The milk will be processed into powder for strategic food reserve as well as for use by GoK agencies and as relief food," he said. Besides release of the money to buy excess milk under production, the president also directed Treasury to impose a 16% VAT on milk products originating outside the EAC to cushion local farmers. "To protect our milk producers from illegal imports, I have directed the National Treasury to impose 16% VAT on milk products that have originated from outside the EAC. I have further directed KEBS, Customs and the DCI to impound any powdered milk or milk products that does not meet Kenyan standards," he said. On Tuesday, January 14, Uhuru ordered Treasury to release KSh 500 million to the New KCC to purchase excess milk from farmers to convert it into powder milk for future use. Photo: State House. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyedaiwa kupigwa na mbunge Moses Kuria ahofia usalama wake The Jubilee Party leader also directed Treasury to release a further KSh 575 million to New KCC for two milk plants, one in Nyeri and another in Nyahururu, to enhance its processing capacity. In December 2019, farmers in Nyandarua resorted to pouring their produce after an oversupply and lack of market coupled with poor prices The farmers said they were considering abandoning dairy farming as the sector was no longer profitable. Huge quantities of powdered milk has flooded the local market from Uganda leaving farmers dejected Munya's directive elicited mixed reactions on social media. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. For any action there will be reaction - Kiunjuri | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Cape Town Eleven African nations are highlighted in a major annual report on human rights as places where violations of citizens rights were accompanied by insurgencies, domestic conflict or inter-communal violence in 2019. The nations named in the 2020 World Report of the New-York based rights group, Human Rights Watch, range from Nigeria in the west, through Central Africa and the Great Lakes region to Somalia in the east, and from Mozambique in the south to Libya in the north. The fighting which the report describes ranges from long-running conflicts such as those in northern Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo to relatively new clashes such as the ethnically-based violence in Ethiopia and the insurgency in northern Mozambique. Edited excerpts from the Human Rights Watch report, published in Johannesburg on Wednesday, follow. The full report assesses progress on human rights issues in 90 countries, including 30 from Africa. The countries covered below are, in sequence from the top: the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Mozambique and Libya. Central African Republic A Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation was signed between the government of the Central African Republic and 14 armed groups in Bangui in February. The deal was the sixth signed since the crisis started in late 2012 and represents the greatest effort by both international and national actors to include all relevant parties to date. Despite the peace deal, armed groups committed serious human rights abuses against civilians country-wide in 2019, with more than 70 percent of the country remaining under their control. Fighting between predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels, anti-balaka militias, and other armed groups forced thousands to flee their homes as fighters killed civilians and looted and burned properties. The most serious incident occurred on May 21, when fighters of rebel group Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R, killed 46 civilians in coordinated attacks in Ouham-Pende province. In January, fighting broke out between UN peacekeepers and fighters from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), when UPC fighters killed two policemen in Bambari ahead of a visit by the countrys president. The fighting resulted in a UN attack on a large UPC base at Bokolobo, 60 kilometers south of Bambari, and left several people dead and wounded. In April, UPC also attacked several villages between Kouango and Mobaye, in Ouaka and Basse-Kotto provinces, leading to the displacement of at least several thousand civilians. Clashes between UPC members and self-defense groups at Zangba, Basse-Kotto province, between April 17 and 23, left dozens dead. On April 28, violence erupted in Amo village in Kemo province, when a local militia attacked members of the minority Peuhl community, killing seven people, including two children and forcing scores of civilians to flee the area. The attack was in response to a Peuhl attack on a local resident the same day. The most serious incident since the signing of the peace agreement occurred on May 21 when fighters from the armed group 3R killed at least 46 civilians in three attacks in the villages of Bohong, Koundjili, and Lemouna, in Ouham Pende province. The 3R commander, Gen. Sidiki Abass (also known as Bi Sidi Souley-Mane), was appointed military adviser to the prime minister in March by presidential decree, but resigned from the post in September. 3R also looted properties in Bohong. Violence erupted in the capital Bangui in July, when clashes between traders and self-defense groups in PK5 neighborhood killed at least 11 civilians. In some areas, there were reports of spontaneous voluntary returns of internally displaced persons; however, fighting and attacks by armed groups continued to force tens of thousands of people to flee their homes throughout 2019. Fighting between the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC) and the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice (MLCJ) in Birao in September caused the displacement of around 14,000 civilians. The total number of internally displaced persons in the country, based on UN figures, reached over 600,000, and the total number of refugees was 600,000. Conditions for internally displaced people and refugees, most of whom stay in camps, remained harsh, with little to no access to humanitarian assistance. About 2.6 million people, out of a population of 4.6 million, needed humanitarian assistance, but the humanitarian response plan remained underfunded, with a budget gap of around US$206 million in September. Cameroon Armed groups and government forces committed widespread human rights abuses across Cameroon throughout 2019. Freedoms of expression, association, and assembly continued to be curtailed after President Paul Biya, 86, won his seventh term in October 2018, in elections marred by low voter turnout and allegations of fraud. The government denied a Human Rights Watch researcher entry to the country in April. The Islamist armed group Boko Haram carried out over 100 attacks in the Far North region since January 2019 killing more than 100 civilians. The conflict between government forces and Boko Haram has killed thousands of Cameroonians and displaced over 270,000 since 2014, leading to the rise of self-defense vigilante groups. In Anglophone regions, violence intensified as government forces conducted large-scale security operations and armed separatists carried out increasingly sophisticated attacks. Over 3,000 civilians and hundreds of security forces personnel have been killed in the Anglophone regions since 2016, when the crisis started. Advertisements The unrest in these regions led to the displacement of over half-a-million people. In August, 10 leaders of a separatist group, the Ambazonia Interim Government, were sentenced to life by a military court, following a trial that raised concerns of due process and violations of fair trial rights. Government forces and armed separatists have killed, violently assaulted, or kidnapped people with disabilities as they struggled to flee attacks, or because they were left behind. Cameroonian authorities cracked down on the political opposition, violently broke up peaceful protests, and arrested hundreds of opposition party leaders, members, and supporters. Cameroons Anglophone regions have been engulfed in crisis since late 2016, when English-speaking lawyers, students, and teachers began protesting what they saw as their under-representation in, and cultural marginalization by, the central government. The response of government security forces has included killing civilians, torching villages, and using torture and incommunicado detention. Armed separatists have also killed, tortured, and kidnapped dozens of civilians, including teachers, students, and government officials Responding to increasing attacks by armed separatist groups, security forces killed scores of people, burned hundreds of homes and other property in villages and cities across the North-West and South-West regions, and tortured suspected separatists in detention. On February 6, security forces, including soldiers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), stormed the market in Bole Bakundu village, South-West region, killing up to 10 men. On April 4, Cameroonian soldiers, gendarmes, and BIR members carried out a deadly attack on the North-West region village of Meluf, killing five civilian males, including one with a mental disability, and wounding one woman. The forces also forcibly entered at least 80 homes in Meluf, looted some, and burned down seven. On May 15, Air Force and BIR soldiers attacked Mankon, Bamenda, North-West region, burning over 70 homes and killing a man. On July 10, Air Force soldiers went back to Mankon and killed two men. On September 24, BIR soldiers attacked a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Royal Palace in Bafut, shot and wounded one man, and looted the palace museum, taking several precious artifacts Armed separatist groups have killed, tortured, assaulted, and kidnapped dozens of people, including students, teachers, clergy, and administrative and traditional authorities. On February 16, a group of armed separatists abducted 170 students, mostly girls under 18, a teacher, and two guards from a boarding school in Kumbo, North-West region. They were all released the following day amid rumors of ransoms being paid. The school remained closed at time of writing. Human Rights Watch authenticated a video showing armed separatists in mid- May torturing a man in an abandoned school in Bali village, North-West region. The school has been closed since mid-2017 due to violence and the separatists enforced boycott of education. Armed separatists have used schools as bases, deploying fighters and weapons and holding people hostage in and near them. On June 18, separatists kidnapped at least 40 people, including women and children, beat and robbed them in Bafut, North-West region. They were released the following day. Nigeria Despite claims by federal authorities of increased security measures, an atmosphere of insecurity persisted across Nigeria in 2019. In May, President Muhammadu Buhari began his second four year term following general elections marred by political violence which killed at least 11 people. The northeast Boko Haram conflict entered its tenth year, with renewed fighting between security forces and Boko Haram factions killing an estimated 640 civilians in 2019 alone. An estimated 27,000 people, including 37 aid workers, have been killed since the onset of the conflict in 2009, according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Boko Haram killed at least 405 children and abducted at least 105 during 2018 and the group continued lethal attacks on civilians including suicide bombings and abductions. In January, at least 60 people were killed when Boko Haram fighters overran Rann, Borno state. In February, just days before national elections, eight people were killed in a suicide bomb attack by suspected insurgents in Borno capital city, Maiduguri. Kashim Shettim, then-governor of the state survived an attack that killed at least three people while on a campaign tour to Gamboru Ngala, near the Cameroon border. A similar attack in September on the new state governor, Babagana Umaru Zulim killed four in Konduga, near Maiduguri. In June, triple suicide bombings in the same town killed some 30 and injured another 40. In July, at least 65 people were killed after Boko Haram fighters opened fire on a group of men attending a funeral in Nganzai, Borno state. In July, Boko Haram fighters killed one and abducted six staff of the international aid group, Action Against Hunger. One of the abducted workers remained missing at time of writing. Boko Haram maintained control of some villages near Lake Chad, northern Borno State. The splinter faction of the group known as the Islamic West Africa Province (ISWAP) overran dozens of army bases, killing dozens of soldiers since January Clashes between herders and farming communities continued in the Middle Belt, while other parts of the country faced general insecurity, including banditry and kidnappings for ransom. In February, clashes and reprisal attacks between the Fulani and Adara communities in Kajuru, Kaduna state killed more than 130 people. In July, the federal government buckled under the weight of heavy widespread criticism and suspended the Ruga Settlements program under which special grazing zones and settlements were established for herdsmen across the country. Critics cited, among other flaws, lack of consultation with communities in proposed grazing zones. In Zamfara state, incessant banditry attacks and kidnappings persisted despite the deployment of military troops in 2018 to tackle insecurity in the state. According to credible media reports, over 200 people were killed in the state by suspected bandits in the first 100 days of 2019. The Abuja-Kaduna highway, a major route out of Abuja to the northwest of the country became notorious for bandit attacks and kidnappings. The inspector general of police, Mohammed Adamu said in April that 1,071 people were killed in criminal attacks and 685 kidnapped across the country in the first quarter of 2019 alone. Mali Malis human rights situation deteriorated in 2019 as hundreds of civilians were killed in numerous incidents by ethnic self-defense groups, most for their perceived support of Islamist groups, and attacks by armed Islamists intensified in northern and central parts of the country. These groups, allied to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, targeted Malian security services, peacekeepers, international forces, and increasingly, civilians. Malian security forces subjected numerous suspects to severe mistreatment and several died in custody or were forcibly disappeared. The worsening security situation in the country provoked a political crisis and led to delays in the constitutional review process and parliamentary elections. The peace process envisioned to end the 2012-2013 crisis in the north made scant progress, including on disarmament and the restoration of state authority. Over 85,000 civilians fled their homes as a result of violence in 2019. Humanitarian agencies were attacked, largely by bandits, undermining their ability to deliver aid. Rampant banditry continued to undermine livelihoods, and protests against the government over corruption continued. Little progress was made toward providing justice for victims of abuses, and rule-of-law institutions remained weak. A new justice minister improved detention conditions and pledged to prioritize the fight against impunity. The military justice system made some progress in investigating dozens of past extrajudicial killings by their forces. Atrocities against civilians and the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel, garnered significant attention from Malis international partners, notably the United Nations, France, Germany, the European Union, and the United States. These actors regularly denounced atrocities through public statements but were inconsistent in their calls for accountability. During 2019, at least 400 civilians were killed in incidents of communal violence in central and northern Mali. The violence pitted ethnically aligned self-defense groups against mainly ethnic Peuhl or Fulani communities accused of supporting Islamist armed groups. The most lethal attacks in central Mali were perpetrated by Dogon militiamen including the worst single atrocity in Malis recent history as at least 150 civilians were massacred on March 23 in Ogossagou village; a January 1 attack on Koulogon village killed 37 civilians, and June attacks in Bologo and Saran villages left over 20 dead. After the Ogossagou massacre, the government pledged but failed to disarm and dissolve the implicated militia. Peuhl militiamen were implicated in the June 9 massacre of 35 Dogon civilians in Sobane-da village. Scores of farmers, herders and traders were killed by different ethnic militias in reprisal killings as they tended their fields or animals and went to market, pro- voking widespread displacement and a hunger crisis. Attacks by armed Islamists allied to Al-Qaeda, and to a lesser extent the Islamist State affiliate in the Sahel, killed over 150 civilians, as well as scores of government forces and at least 16 United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) peacekeepers, including the January 20 attack on the Aguelhok UN base that killed 11 Chadian peacekeepers. Armed Islamists massacred numerous civilians, including in Menaka region and at least 38 in Yoro and Gangafani II villages near the Burkina Faso border. In several instances, they removed men from public transportation vehicles and killed them, including around the towns of Sevare and Bandiagara. Over 50 civilians were killed by improvised explosive devices planted on road- ways, especially in central Mali. On September 3, an explosion killed 14 bus pas- sengers near Dallah, and a June attack near Yoro killed 11. Armed Islamists planted explosives in the bodies of security force members, and in February a civilians body, which exploded during his burial, killing 17. Armed Islamists continued to threaten, and sometimes kill local leaders deemed government collaborators and beat those engaged in cultural practices they had forbidden. They also imposed their version of Sharia (Islamic law) via courts that did not adhere to fair trial standards. Since late 2018, numerous men detained by the security forces during counter-terrorism operations were subjected to enforced disappearance, five were allegedly executed or died in custody, and dozens more were subjected to severe mistreatment in detention. Numerous men accused of terrorism-related offenses were detained by the national intelligence agency in unauthorized detention facilities and without respect for due process. Military investigations into the alleged extrajudicial killing of almost 50 suspects in Diourra, Boulikessi and Nantaka in 2018 progressed but at time of writing no soldier had been prosecuted. Progress in the professionalization of the security forces was evident in the in- creased presence of military police responsible for ensuring discipline during military operations and increased patrols to protect civilians. Somalia Ongoing armed conflict, insecurity, lack of state protection, and recurring humanitarian crises exposed Somali civilians to serious abuse. There are an estimated 2.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs), many living unassisted and vulnerable to abuse. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) recorded a total of 1,1154 civilian casualties by mid-November. Sixty-seven percent of this figure is due to indiscriminate and targeted attacks, the majority improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attacks, by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. Inter-clan and intra-security force violence, often over control of land and revenge killings, led to civilian deaths, injuries, and displacement, as did sporadic military operations, including airstrikes, against Al-Shabab by Somali government forces, African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops, and other foreign forces. Somali government forces responded to a handful of largely peaceful demonstrations with lethal force. In May, security forces killed at least one child as students peacefully protested in Beletweyn, following a government decision to postpone exams. In December 2018, during the run-up to regional presidential elections in Baidoa, Ethiopian forces arrested Mukhtar Robow, a former Al-Shabab leader who ran for the regional presidency, sparking protests. Security forces, notably police forces, responded with lethal force, killing at least 15 protesters and injuring many others between December 13 and 15, according to the UN. Amnesty International documented the killing of a member of parliament and a child on December 14. Dozens were arbitrarily arrested, reportedly including children. Dozens of government and security officials as well as former electoral delegates and clan elders who had been involved in the 2016 electoral process, were assassinated; Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for some of the killings. Al-Shabab executed after unfair trials individuals it accused of working or spying for the government and foreign forces, with media reporting an uptick in execu- tions mid-year; and extorted taxes through threats. Al-Shabab conducted targeted and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide bombings, and shelling, as well as assassinations, particularly in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle, which resulted in over 750 civilian deaths and injuries, accord- ing to the UN. All Somali parties to the conflict committed serious abuses against children, including killings, maiming, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers. In 2018, the UN documented more cases of children recruited and used as soldiers in Somalia than in any other country in the world. This trend continued in 2019 as Al-Shabab pursued an aggressive child recruitment campaign with retaliation against communities refusing to hand over children. Internally displaced women and girls remain at particular risk of sexual and gen- der-based violence by armed men and civilians. The UN documented over 100 incidents of sexual violence against girls. The cases of two girls who were gang raped by civilians and died received significant public attention. Aisha Ilyas Adan, 12, went missing on February 24, and her body was discovered the next day near her home in North Galkayo, Puntland. Ethiopia Human rights reforms implemented by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during his first year in office were threatened in 2019 by communal, including ethnic, conflict and breakdowns in law and order. The June 22 assassinations of several high-level government officials, which the government linked to an alleged coup attempt in the Amhara regionas well as political unrest and communal violence in the capital, Addis Ababa, and Oromia following an incident with a popular Oromo activist and media owner, Jawar Mohammedhighlighted increasing tensions ahead of Ethiopias scheduled 2020 national elections. Longstanding grievances over access to land and complex questions of identity and demarcation of internal borders on occasion led to abuses, including open conflict between ethnic groups, killings, and large-scale internal displacement. The number of people internally displaced by conflict remained high; according to the International Organization for Migration, 1.6 million people were internally displaced as of July, 66.4 percent due to conflict. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reported that ethnic clashes in Oromia, Amhara, Somali, and SNNPR regions led to 522,000 new displacements in the first half of 2019. Between March and May, the government returned approximately 1.5 million internally displaced people to their home areas, many still unsafe, including by restricting delivery of humanitarian assistance and demolishing camps in areas of displacement. Those that returned often faced secondary displacement due to ongoing insecurity and a lack of humanitarian assistance in areas of return. Democratic Republic of Congo More than 130 armed groups were active in eastern Congos North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, attacking civilians. The groups included the largely Rwandan Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and allied Congolese Nyatura groups, the largely Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renove (NDC-R), the Mazembe and Yakatumba Mai Mai groups, and several Burundian armed groups. Many of their commanders have been implicated in war crimes, including ethnic massacres, rape, forced recruitment of children, and pillage. According to the Kivu Security Tracker, which documents violence in eastern Congo, assailants, including state security forces, killed at least 720 civilians and abducted or kidnapped for ransom more than 1,275 others in North Kivu and South Kivu in 2019. Beni territory, North Kivu province, remained an epicenter of violence, with about 253 civilians killed in more than 100 attacks by various armed groups, including the ADF. At least 257 civilians were kidnapped in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, often by armed groups. The Fizi and Uvira highlands in South Kivu saw fighting between the mainly ethnic Banyamulenge Ngumino armed group and allied self-defense groups, and Mai Mai groups, comprising fighters from the Bafuliro, Banyindu, and Babembe communities, with civilians often caught in the middle. Clashes between armed groups in the South Kivu highlands surged in February, displacing an estimated 200,000 people over the following months. In early June, violence resurfaced in parts of northeastern Congos Ituri province, where armed assailants launched deadly attacks on villages, killing over 200 civilians and displacing an estimated 300,000 people. At least 28 displaced people were killed in Ituri in September. Sudan Following months of protests, Sudans president for 30 years, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in April and replaced by a military council. Following negotiations between the military leaders and opposition groups, a transitional government led by a sovereign council composed of military and civilian members replaced the military council in August. The periods of protests both before and after al-Bashirs ouster was marked by serious human rights violations against protesters, starting December 2018. Government security forces routinely used live ammunition against unarmed protesters, detained activists and political opponents, censored media and blocked access to the internet. After April 11, Rapid Support Forces (RSF)the paramilitary force known for attacks on civilians in Darfur since 2013continued the crackdowns. The bloodiest was their attack on the protesters sit-in in Khartoum on June 3. Conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile continued at low levels, and restrictions on humanitarian aid access persisted. In Darfur, government forces attacked villages in Jebel Mara. The African Union/United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) temporarily halted withdrawal plans in June, in view of national political changes and news that the RSF occupied bases the mission handed over to the government. In May, the ruling military council issued a decree stating that all UNAMID bases be handed over to the RSF, in contravention of United Nations rules and procedures. Sudanese took to the streets in towns across the country in December to protest price hikes and demanded President Omar al-Bashir step down. Government security forces responded with lethal violence, shooting live ammunition at unarmed protesters, beating and arresting hundreds and killing scores of people between December and April. Security forces chased protesters into hospitals and shot tear gas into operating rooms, impeding the provision of medical care to wounded protesters. At least one doctor was killed and several others arrested for providing medical services On June 3, government forces led by the RSF shot live bullets at protesters, beat them with sticks and batons, rounded up hundreds and subjected them to various forms of humiliation, including beating, rape and sexual assaults. They also attacked hospitals and clinics and prevented wounded protesters from receiving needed medical help. An estimated 120 were killed and hundreds wounded; some bodies were dumped into the river Nile and an unknown number of people were reported missing On June 30, the anniversary of al-Bashirs assumption of power, RSF soldiers opened fire on protesters calling for justice for June 3 victims, as they crossed a bridge linking Khartoum and Omdurman, killing eight. Another three bodies were found the next day in Omdurman covered with banners used in protests, with blood stains on their bodies and a megaphone near where the bodies were found. The father of one victim said he believed his son died from torture. On July 29, RSF soldiers shot at high school students in al-Obeid, North Kordofan protesting price hikes and poor transportation services killing five of them, ac- cording to media reports. On August 1, RSF soldiers reportedly killed four more protesters in Omdurman. South Sudan In 2019, fighting between the two main warring parties declined following the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018. However, amid delays implementing the peace deal, sporadic fighting continued between the army and rebel groups that were not part of the agreement. Armed actors committed serious abuses including indiscriminate attacks against civilians including aid workers, unlawful killings, beatings, arbitrary detentions, torture, sexual violence, looting and destruction of property. Some of the abuses may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. All sides restricted access to United Nations, ceasefire monitors, and aid workers. Since the conflict started in December 2013, more than 4 million people have fled their homes, with 2.1 million taking refuge in neighboring countries. Close to 200,000 people are living in six UN protection of civilians sites across the country. Seven million people require humanitarian assistance, most of whom faced acute food shortages. Sporadic fighting continued in parts of central and eastern Equatoria between the governments army, the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army-in- Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) under Dr. Machar and non-signatories to the September 2018 peace agreement, notably the National Salvation Front, NAS. During counter-insurgency operations in Yei River state in December and January 2019, government forces attacked villages, killed, raped, and destroyed and looted property. NAS soldiers were also responsible for unlawful attacks on aid workers and civilians and restricted the movement of the general populace. The UN peacekeeping mission (UNMISS) documented at least 104 civilian killings, 187 abductions, and 35 others wounded in the 30 attacks between September 2018 and April in Central Equatoria by various armed groups. People with disabilities and older people were at heightened risk during attacks and faced challenges accessing humanitarian assistance. The 2019 Security Council, in a resolution renewing UNMISS mandate, expressed for the first time serious concern about the dire situation of persons with disabilities in South Sudan, including abandonment, violence, and lack of access to basic services Government forces and rebel groups continued to forcibly recruit children. The UN secretary-generals 2019 report on children in armed conflict documented how 25 children in 2018 were forced into armed groups, with 7 killed or maimed and 7 raped. Meanwhile authorities released over 950 children from an armed group in Yambio between February 2018 and August 2018. In February 2019, 119 children were released from an armed group. Mozambique In August, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi and the leader of the countrys main opposition party Renamo, Ossufo Momade, signed a new peace agreement pledging to end years of violence and pave the way for elections in October. A month later, the country received Pope Francis, whose presence was aimed at strengthening the peace agreement. Despite the deal, the election campaign was marred by political violence targeting mainly opposition supporters. During 2019, the spate of attacks by a suspected Islamist armed group increased in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Soldiers deployed to the region to fight the armed groups were implicated in acts of intimidation, arbitrarily arrests, and ill-treatment of detainees. Journalists and activists continued to face intimidation and harassment, and there has been lack of accountability for past crimes. The countrys sixth general election was marred by violence and politically moti- vated attacks. In October, an election observer, Anastancio Matavele was shot dead in broad daylight allegedly by five members of the police elite force. The in- cident happened a week before election day, in Gaza province, where Human Rights Watch had documented serious abuses and incidents of violence since the start of the election campaign on August 31, including violations of the right to peaceful assembly and arbitrary arrests of opposition candidates. In its assessment of the election, the Electoral Commission expressed concern over growing cases of destruction of propaganda material, violation of freedom of assembly and physical attacks, and that in two weeks of campaigning, 14 people died and 29 people were detained. Also, vehicles moving around in Manica and Sofala provinces, near Gorongosa, were attacked on different occasions by armed men believed to be part of a dis- sident group of Renamo guerrillas who rejected the August peace agreement. The leader of the group claimed responsibility for two of the attacks, and threat- ened to continue if the election campaign was not suspended. Attacks by a suspected Islamist armed group, locally known as both Al-Sunna wa Jamaa and Al-Shabab, continued in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, with armed groups changing their tactics. In addition to beheading people and burn- ing houses, the group became implicated in kidnapping of women, as well as at- tacks on public transport and killing of military personnel. The extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for at least two of the attacks; how- ever, the extent of ISIS involvement, if any, is unclear. The attacks began in Octo- ber 2017 on police stations in Mocimboa da Praia district, then spread to other districts in the northern part of Cabo Delgado, notably in Macomia, Palma and Nangade. The violence also affected the electoral process, with government im- posing restrictions to campaign parades in northern Cabo Delgado. Libya Governance in Libya remained divided between two feuding entities: the internationally recognized and Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA); and their rivals in eastern Libya, the Interim Government, which is supported by the Libyan House of Representatives (HOR) and by the armed group known as the Libyan National Army (LNA). Intermittent armed conflicts in most parts of the country since the end of the 2011 revolution that ousted Moammar Gaddafi have displaced more than 300,000 civilians. Armed groups based in the west of the country and linked with the GNA fought off attempts by Gen. Khalifa Hiftar, the LNA commander, and his allies in the west, to capture the capital Tripoli, beginning in April and continuing at time of writing. The violence, which included attacks on civilian homes and infrastruc- ture, killed more than 200 civilians as of early November. Armed groups, some of them affiliated with the GNA or the Interim Government, carried out extrajudicial executions and abducted, tortured, and disappeared people. Clashes among armed groups in western Libya in January, Hiftars assault on Tripoli in April, and intermittent fighting in the south deepened the political impasse and derailed the United Nations-brokered political process. Talks between the main conflict parties, Khalifa Hiftar, and Fayez Serraj, GNA prime minister, collapsed when Hiftar launched his offensive on Tripoli on April 4. General Hiftar launched his attack to conquer Tripoli on April 4, supported by LNA units and armed groups, including the al-Kani militia from Tarhouna, his main ally in the west, against the GNA and affiliated armed groups from western Libya. As of November, the fighting, which is concentrated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, had killed over 200 civilians, injured over 300, and displaced over 120,000. According to the United Nations Children Fund, as of June, 21 schools were being used as shelters for displaced persons in and around Tripoli. The violence had led to the suspension of school for 122,088 children. In July, an airstrike by the LNA on Tajoura Migrant Detention Centre east of Tripoli, resulted in the deaths of at least 44 migrants and more than 130 injured after two missiles landed in a hangar filled with detainees. The LNA initially claimed it had been targeting a weapons depot belonging to a Tripoli-based militia within the same compound as the migrant prison, but later denied involvement. Since the start of the fighting, the GNA failed to evacuate detention centers under its authority that are in proximity to the front lines and allegedly in proximity to where weapons were stocked, including Tajoura The LNA, or forces that support them, conducted air strikes in October that resulted in civilian casualties that appeared to be unlawful. On October 6, the LNA struck an equestrian club in Tripoli, injuring six children and killing several horses. The UNs investigation found there were no military assets or military infrastructure at the site. On October 14, an LNA airstrike apparently targeting a military compound killed three girls and wounded their mother and another sister in their home. According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the fighting killed seven children within a span of two weeks in October. As of July, the World Health Organization reported a total of 37 attacks on medical facilities during the Tripoli clashes, which killed 11 health workers and injured 33 health workers and patients. The LNA struck Mitiga airport, currently the only functioning airport in Tripoli, on multiple occasions since the beginning of the war, claiming the airport was being used by the GNA-linked groups to import weapons. On September 1, an LNA aerial attack on Mitiga resulted in the injury of two crew members of a commercial airline. As of November, Mitiga was still shut and all flights were diverted to Misrata airport, 200 kilometers to the east. In eastern Libya, the LNA in February took control of Derna, a city it had besieged for three years purportedly to drive out militants who were controlling the city. Residents reported that LNA-linked groups arbitrary detained and ill-treated residents and deliberately damaged homes, including by arson. According to local authorities who fled Derna after the LNA takeover, hundreds of Derna residents remained displaced, fearing reprisals if they returned. On July 17, a member of the House of Representatives, Seham Sergewa, was abducted from her home in the eastern city of Benghazi and disappeared. Relatives and Benghazi residents with knowledge of the incident blamed an armed group with links to the LNA. Her husband was shot and injured during the incident and the family home looted and torched, according to relatives. Sergewa had publicly opposed the military assault by the LNA on the capital. At time of writing, there was no information on her whereabouts. Three UN staff members were killed and two more injured on August 10, after a car exploded next to their convoy in Benghazi. As of November, the perpetrators remained unidentified. In the south, clashes between LNA and a GNA-affiliated armed group known as the South Protection Force centered in Murzuq escalated in August, killing more than 100 people. On August 4 alone, more than 40 people were killed, including civilians, and more than 50 injured after the LNA reportedly conducted several airstrikes on a residential area in Murzuq. The LNA is trying to expel GNA-affiliates to expand its control in the south. While the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) no longer controls territory in Libya, its fighters carried out attacks in the eastern city of Derna and the south- ern city of Sebha, mostly against LNA fighters. In September, the United States military said it conducted airstrikes on four different days within 10 days against ISIS targets in southern Libya, killing a total of 43 alleged militants. These strikes, the first conducted by the US military in 2019, were carried out by drones. The US said no civilians were killed in the strikes; this information could not be independently verified. Three new species of tiny frogs have been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district by scientists of Zoological Survey of India, according to a recently published journal. The frogs are so small in size that one can sit on a coin, ZSI scientist Bhaskar Saikia told PTI. The new species discovered from Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) have been named as 'Liurana himalayana', 'Liurana indica' and 'Liurana minuta', he said. The specimens of the new frog species were collected by Bikramjit Sinha, another scientist of ZSI in Itanagar during 2015-16 as part of the documentation of faunal diversity in the protected area. A study, co-authored by Saikia and Sinha, has been published in a science journal, the Records of the Zoological Survey of India', which confirmed that the species are new discoveries. Earlier, Saikia and Sinha had also found a rare frog species, Megophrys pachyproctus, from Tale Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend an NCAA basketball game between Georgetown University and Duke University in Washington on Jan. 30, 2010. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Collins, Murkowski Say Its Too Early to Make Decision on Hunter Biden Testifying in Trial Two swing-vote Republican senators declined to say whether they believe the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a top 2020 Democratic candidate, should testify in the coming impeachment trial in the Senate. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters that the fight over witnesses should wait until after the opening arguments and added that its too soon to make a decision on calling up Hunter Biden, the vice presidents son, who has been pulled back into the spotlight after House Republicans and President Donald Trump argued that he should be called as a witness. The younger Biden sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas firm, Burisma Holdings, which had been investigated for corruption, and Trump asked Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call if he could look into Joe Bidens apparent connection to the investigation being halted. There will be this time in the process where we will have an opportunity to make a determination as to what further information we need. Whether it is for Hunter Biden or Ambassador Bolton, Murkowski told reporters. Until that point in time Im not thinking about each individual witness and who Im putting in a bucket. When she was asked about Hunter Biden having information that could be relevant for the impeachment trial, Collins asked: How can I tell? Youre asking me to pre-judge the evidence. She added, Its clearly not the right time for us to judge which specific witnesses should be called. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named impeachment managers who would prosecute the case in the Senate, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) panned the idea of having Hunter Biden testify. Any witness who has information about whether that is true or not true, is a relevant witness, he told reporters on Wednesday. Anybody, like Hunter Biden, who has no information about any of that, is not a relevant witness. He added that any trial judge in this country would rule such a witness as irrelevant and inadmissible. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other Republican senators said they want to compel a vote on Biden if Democrats can compel votes to call up their favored witnesses, including former Trump adviser John Bolton and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. My colleagues cant have it both ways. Calling for some, while blocking others, Paul wrote on Twitter. Last year, a whistleblower reported that Trump had allegedly pushed Zelensky to investigate the Biden familys dealings in Ukraine, namely after Joe Biden said publicly that he pressured former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to fire a top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who had been investigating Burisma. During the inquiry, Republicans have noted that during former Department of State official George Kents testimony, he had a concern about the possibility of a perception of a conflict of interest stemming from Hunter Bidens position on the board. Democrats then alleged Trump withheld military aid to Kyiv in exchange for the investigations into the Bidens, Burisma, and alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump and Zelensky have both denied there was any pressure during the call. But on Dec. 18, House Democrats voted to approve two articles of impeachment against the president, saying he abused his power and obstructed Congress. No republican voted in favor of the articles and a handful of Democrats broke ranks with their party on the vote. On Wednesday, the House voted to transmit the articles of impeachment and managers to the Senate in a party-line vote. Senators have said they expect to be sworn in as jurors this week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that the trial likely wont start until next week, possibly Tuesday. Ever since the schedule for the Delhi Assembly election was announced, the citys air is full of claims and counter-claims. While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and its chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, is talking about the achievements of the government, the BJP is trying its best to puncture those assertions. Ground reports and some recent opinion polls suggest a groundswell in favour of the AAP. After a very poor performance during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it seems to have made a recovery. The BJP, which registered a massive victory in those elections winning all seven seats with 57 per cent votes, is certainly its nearest rival, but still quite a distant one. The Congress that ruled Delhi for 15 long years (1998-2013) seems to be a non-starter. Worsening its prospects, two of its prominent leaders five-time MLA from Matia Mahal Shoaib Iqbal and two-time MLA from Badarpur Ram Singh along with some councillors and local leaders shifted to the AAP ahead of the elections. While one cant deny that the mood of voters does sometimes change overnight, going by the current trend, it seems that at the moment AAP is well-placed to win the Delhi elections. Despite not performing well both in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP has remained a popular choice for running the government in the national capital. Though it could not win a majority of seats in the very first Assembly election that it contested in 2013, winning 28 seats with 29.5 per cent votes, when the Assembly elections were held again after a little over a year in 2015, we witnessed an unprecedented mandate in favour of AAP 67 of the 70 Assembly seats and a 54.3 per cent vote share. On the verge of completing its first five-year term, its eye set on another victory, the AAP has launched its campaign by highlighting the work done by its government during the last five years. Will the AAP be able to hold on to its popularity among voters? Would performance alone be enough to guarantee it another term? The BJP is likely to contest the elections on national issues highlighting its governments achievements passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), abrogation of Article 370, supporting the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and enactment of the triple talaq law. While the effects of the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens have not been seen yet, going by how the people have voted in the last few Assembly elections, Delhi voters might just be more concerned about city-level local issues even if they voted for the BJP in large numbers only recently. In the recently-concluded Jharkhand Assembly elections, a minuscule number voted based on the Ayodhya controversy, as indicated by the post-poll survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Economic issues played an important role in shaping the voting choices of the people of Jharkhand. The Delhi Governance Survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS indicates that almost one half of those in support with the Supreme Courts Ayodhya judgment indicated they would vote for the AAP. Similarly, more than half of those who are in complete support for the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir also seemed inclined to vote for the AAP in Delhis Assembly election. The survey data also indicates that direct benefits received by the people of Delhi through various schemes of the Delhi government might be critical in shaping their voting decision. In Haryana, just five months after the Lok Sabha elections when it secured a 58 per cent voteshare, the anti-Khattar narrative among Jats denied a majority to the BJP, forcing it to form a coalition government. Showing a similar trend, the BJPs voteshare in the 26-per-cent-adivasi-strong-Jharkhand too dropped by around 22 percentage points (from a combined vote share of 55.3 per cent of the BJP and the AJSU), compared to the Lok Sabha polls, also owing to the unpopularity of Raghubar Das, especially among adivasis. Not to forget, anti-incumbency towards the state government outweighed Narendra Modis popularity in the Assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as well. But anti-incumbency doesnt seem to be a hurdle for the AAP. The Delhi Governance Survey suggests huge satisfaction among voters with the AAP government. The data shows AAP to be the most popular choice of the voters even among those who are completely satisfied with the performance of the central government. More than two in five among those who claimed to be completely satisfied with the last six months performance of the Modi-led-BJP reported having a strong leaning towards AAP. Besides, at a time when elections have become more about the popularity of the individual than the party, AAP scores over the BJP. The BJP does not have any leader to match the popularity of Mr Kejriwal. It might have to contest these elections with Mr Modi as the partys face. Mr Modi still remains very popular among Delhis voters, but findings of the Delhi Governance Study indicated that Mr Kejriwal trumped Mr Modi by over 10 percentage points. The survey also indicated that Delhi voters are more likely to vote on the basis of the work done by the AAP in the capital, rather than looking at the work done by Mr Modi at the Centre. While 55 per cent said they would be voting looking only at the work done by the AAP in Delhi, only 15 per cent said they would vote on the basis of the work done by Mr Modi at the Centre. Thus, even if the fight becomes one between Mr Kejriwal and Mr Modi, the former looks stronger on his own turf. Since the elections are just over three weeks away, we are yet to see how the story unfolds. However, if the AAP succeeds in keeping the narrative confined to local issues, it can certainly hope for a third term. Sanjay Kumar is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Manjesh Rana is a researcher with Lokniti, a research programmme of CSDS. Set in the Mission District of San Francisco and released last February, Kitbull a cartoon about a wayward kittens unlikely friendship with a misunderstood pit bull has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short. Offering scenery familiar to any local viewer, Kitbull races along graffiti-laden streets and sprawling views of the city from Bernal Heights Park in a directorial debut from USF alum Rosana Sullivan. The Pixar storyboard artist, writer and producer told Deadline it was her love of cat videos as a form of stress relief that spawned the heartstring-tugging short. MORE: 'Kitbull': Tear up at this SF-set Pixar 'SparkShort' film about an unlikely friendship I just wanted to draw a kitten being a kitten, because I never saw that done in animation, at least not often. Usually, theyre anthropomorphized, she said in a December interview. It then evolved into something about connection and friendship between two outcast characters, because that was something that I had struggled with as a kid. Just that feeling when you dont feel connected to the larger world. Sullivan enrolled at USF in 2004 as a biology major with plans to become a veterinarian, but it was a course in portrait painting a required art credit that changed her trajectory forever. I was spending more time behind the canvas in XARTS studio than studying for my science classes, she said in a 2015 interview. She later sketched scenes for The Good Dinosaur, the prehistoric Pixar film released that same year. ALSO: All the snubbed Oscars nominations, according to critics Kitbull was the third in a series of six films released by Pixars workers in what Pixar President Jim Morris described as a goal to generate wide-ranging ideas from people across different backgrounds at the company. The film is up against four other nominees: Hair Love, Sister, Daughter and Memorable. Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett The holding company, individually, gained EGP 334 million in revenues, with a growth rate of 43.2 percent, while its net profits increased to EGP 191.7 million, with a growth rate of 23 percent, the statement read Egypt's Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels & Cinema and its subsidiaries collected revenues worth EGP 4 billion in fiscal year 2017/2018, achieving a growth rate of 26 percent. The company's net profits recorded EGP 987 million, with a growth rate of 16.5 percent. The company announced these figure during its general meeting on Wednesday, chaired by the Minister of Public Enterprise Hisham Tawfik. The company's financial statement unveiled that the holding company, individually, achieved EGP 334 million in revenues with a growth rate of 43.2 percent, while its net profits increased to EGP 191.7 million, with a growth rate of 23 percent. The subsidiaries' revenues increased by 20.3 percent, recording EGP 3.1 million, with net profits of EGP 795.3 million, increasing by 15 percent. Venture expenditure in fiscal year 2018/2019 recorded EGP 199 million, spent on assets scraping and building, while private sector venture expenditure were estimated at EGP 310 million, spent on a number of projects supervised by the company. Search Keywords: Short link: Referring to the dispute resolution mechanism which was activated on Tuesday by France, Britain, and Germany, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that JCPOA's future depends on E3, not Iran, Mehr news agency reports. In a Wednesday tweet, Zarif wrote,E3's response to US attack on JCPOA has been to cut trade/investment in Iran while embargoing our oil. Told #Raisina2020 it's sad that biggest economy has allowed itself to be bullied into violating own obligations. JCPOA's future depends on E3, not Iran, he stressed. Iranian foreign ministret noted, Told #Raisina2020 that Iran believes in diplomacy: but not in re-negotiating a UNSC Resolution we agreed on with 6 Governments & EU. We did not sign an "Obama deal" to go for a "Trump deal" now. Even if we did, who's to say we won't need Biden, Sanders or Warren deal next year?, Zarif added. France, Britain, and Germany confirmed on Tuesday that they had triggered the dispute mechanism in the Iran nuclear deal, but said they were not joining the United States campaign to exert maximum pressure on Tehran. CLAYTON The union that represents St. Louis police and St. Louis County prosecutors filed suit against county officials on Tuesday, saying they have refused to bargain with the union in good faith. The lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, asks a judge to order officials to bargain with the St. Louis Police Officers Association. It also asks a judge to rescind changes to conditions of employment imposed by St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell since Jan. 1, 2019. Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, wrote in a message in response to questions about the suit that, this is the first time weve heard that they were interested in talking to us about it. Lawsuit or not, we will bargain with any properly constituted union as the law requires. We will reach out to the union representatives to see where communications fell apart. A Bell spokesman could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit contends that in a Dec. 17, 2018, vote, 33 employees of the prosecutors office voted in favor of the union and 11 were opposed, out of 54 eligible prosecutors and investigators. India on Wednesday announced the opening of the fifth oil and gas block bid round, offering 11 areas for bidding on revamped fiscal terms. So far, the government has awarded 94 blocks under the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) regime in a short time span of two and a half years. These 94 blocks cover an exploratory area of about 1,36,800 square kilometers over 16 Indian Sedimentary Basins, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said in a statement. "In continuation of its aggressive acceleration of exploration and production activities and adhering to the prescribed timelines, the Government has now launched the Bid Round-V for International Competitive Bidding," it said. "In this bid round 11 blocks, with an area of approximately 19,800 sq km are on offer for bidding to the investor community." The last bid round saw just eight bids coming in for seven blocks on offer. According to the DGH, seven onland blocks were offered in the fourth round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) under HELP regime, with an area of about 18,510 sq km. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) walked away with all the seven oil and gas blocks on offer. OALP-IV was the first round on revamped terms approved in February 2019. Unlike previous rounds where blocks were awarded to companies offering a maximum share of oil and gas to the government, blocks in little or unexplored category-II and III basins are now awarded to companies offering to do maximum exploration programme. Bidding for OALP-V will close on March 18, the DGH said. The 11 blocks under OALP Round-V are spread across 8 Sedimentary Basins and include eight on land blocks (six in Category-I Basin and one each in Category II and III Basins), two Shallow Water blocks (one each in Category-I and II Basins) and one Ultra Deep Water block (Category I Basin). "It is expected that OALP Round V would generate immediate exploration work commitment of around USD 400-450 million," the DGH statement said. "An area of 1,36,800 sq km has already been awarded under OALP Bid Round I, II, III and IV. These OALP Bid Round-V Blocks would add further 19,800 sq km. Overall Exploration Acreage of India would then increase to 236,600 sq km." The DGH said HELP, which adopts the revenue sharing contract model, is a giant step towards improving the 'Ease of Doing Business' in the Indian Exploration and Production (E&P) sector. "It comes with attractive and liberal terms like reduced royalty rates, no oil cess, marketing, and pricing freedom, round the year bidding, freedom to investors for carving out blocks of their interest, a single licence to cover both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources, exploration permission during the entire contract period, and an easy, transparent and swift bidding and awarding process." Under OALP, companies are allowed to carve out areas they want to explore oil and gas in. Companies can put in an expression of interest for any area throughout the year but such interests are accumulated thrice in a year. The areas sought are then put on auction. The fifth cycle of submitting EoIs closed on November 30, 2019, and was followed by the sixth cycle that began on December 1, 2019, and will last till March 31, 2020. It would be followed by the 7th cycle from April 1, 2020, till July 31, 2020. Of the 94 blocks awarded in the first four rounds of OALP, Vedanta has won the maximum at 51. Oil India Ltd has got 21 blocks and ONGC another 17. "All 11 blocks in OALP-V are based on Expressions of Interest received during EoI Window-V from 16th May 2019 to 30th November 2019," the DGH said. The reason, of course, is President Trumps confrontation with Iran, which has stirred new concerns about the consequences of having an impulsive and authoritarian individual in the Oval Office. In the coming months, we are likely to reach a poignant milestone of the era of endless war that Trump promised to end: the loss of a serviceman or servicewoman who hadnt yet been born on Sept. 11, 2001. What Was the Philadelphia Experiment? The Philadelphia Experiment is a supposed military experiment conducted by the United States (US) Navy on October 28, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is claimed that during the experiment the military managed to make the USS Eldridge, a US Navy destroyer escort, invisible to enemy devices. The tale of the Philadelphia Experiment emerged in 1955 through a letter sent to American astronomer and writer Morris K. Jessup. The story is believed to be a hoax, and the US Navy maintains it has never performed such an experiment. Additionally, details of the tale contradict well-established facts about the USS Eldridge. The US Navy also claims that the alleged story does not conform to the laws of physics. Alleged Details of the Experiment According to several accounts, the US Navy funded a group of unspecified scientists who believed that they could render an object invisible by bending light over it using large electrical generators, which would be very useful to the military. Unfortunately, there is no reliable, attributable account of what happened that day, but most theories suggest that all equipment necessary for the experiment was installed in the USS Eldridge at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The experiment began during the summer of 1943, and one of the tests resulted in the ship becoming almost invisible, with witnesses claiming to have seen a green fog in its place. Most of the sailors aboard the vessel complained of nausea after the experiment, and when the ship reappeared, some of its sailors had been embedded in the ships metal structure, while others became mentally unstable. The US Navy repeated the experiment on October 28 after altering the equipment. During the second experiment, the ship disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and reappeared 200 miles away in Norfolk, Virginia. The vessel was supposedly seen by crew aboard the SS Andrew Furuseth, before vanishing and appearing in the shipyard in Philadelphia. Some claim that the USS Eldridge traveled through time. There are many versions of the tale describing what happened to the sailors, including severe side effects. For example, some sailors were physically fused to the ships bulkheads, while others suffered various mental disorders. Some crew members vanished, while others were re-materialized inside-out. It is also alleged that the remaining sailors were brainwashed to help keep the experiment a secret. Origin of the Story The story originated from Morris K. Jessup, who had published a book about unidentified flying objects (UFOs), after receiving two letters from Carlos Miguel Allende in 1955, who claimed to have seen a secret Second World War experiment conducted at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Allende explained that the US Navy rendered destroyer escort USS Eldridge invisible before it was teleported to New York. Allende believed the vessel was teleported to another dimension where it encountered aliens and was transported through time. Jessup dismissed Miguels tale and labeled him as a "crackpot." The Philadelphia Experiment was also featured in the book Invisible Horizons: True Mysteries of the Sea, written by Vincent Gaddis in 1963. The story was popularized by Berlitz Charles, who wrote a book on the topic in 1979. The tale was adapted into a movie The Philadelphia Experiment, which was directed by Raffill Stewart in 1984. The version of the story portrayed in the film was supported in 1990 by Bielek Alfred, a self-proclaimed survivor of the Philadelphia Experiment. Passenger wait in long line at Gimpo International Airport in this photo taken in July last year. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye Gimpo International Airport and 13 other airports across the country are grappling with a shortage of security personnel after about 80 employees quit their jobs recently en masse, expressing discontent over their working conditions, industry officials said Wednesday. The shortage of manpower has already caused problems about 50 passengers could not board flights they booked at Gimpo, Jan. 2, due to a delay in the security check process. This is raising concern ahead of the Lunar New Year's holidays, which begin Jan. 23, during which time a large number of people here are expected to move around the country to visit their families. Korea Airports Corp. CEO Son Chang-wan Russian boxer Sergey Kovalev is being sued by the woman he allegedly assaulted in 2018 because, she claims, he failed to pay the full $650,000 settlement they agreed upon in exchange for her decision to drop the initial $8 million lawsuit. According to TMZ, Jamie Frontz and Kovalev agreed to the $650,000 amount in 2018 after he and a friend allegedly assaulted her and her dog in Big Bear, California. After paying one $250,000 installment, Kovalev has allegedly neglected to follow through on the final two payments. Kovalev, 36, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in June of 2018 after reportedly leaving Frontz with a broken nose, a concussion, and displaced disc in her neck. He has since denied the accusations on Instagram, warning his followers 'not to make hasty conclusions on the situation.' Following his arrest, the former unified light heavyweight champion pleaded innocent to the charges. The case is still pending and he faces up to four years in prison if convicted. Kovalev recently switched attorneys, and on January 7, the upcoming trial was postponed. The next pre-trial hearing is on April 8. Frontz reportedly rejected the married Kovalev's sexual advances at a party before he and a friend followed her to her cabin, where she was allegedly assaulted. She filed a notice of rescission earlier this month, the Daily Mail has learned, ostensibly to void their prior settlement agreement. In July, a San Bernardino (California) judge ordered both parties to begin mediation. Kovalev's lawyer did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Jamie Frontz (right) and Sergey Kovalev (left) agreed to the $650,000 amount in 2018 after he and a friend allegedly assaulted her and her dog in Big Bear, California . After paying one $250,000 installment, Kovalev has allegedly refused to follow through on the final two payments. She identified herself publicly in an Instagram post in which she detailed some of the alleged assault. According to her Instagram profile, Frontz is a model and influencer Kovalev was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after reportedly leaving Frontz with a broken nose, a concussion, and displaced disc in her neck. He has since denied the accusations, warning his fans 'not to make hasty conclusions on the situation' 'At one point, Kovalev pinned Jamie to the couch, leaning over her with his hands on either side of her shoulders, such that she could not move away,' read court papers obtained by TMZ. According to the court filing, the dog attempted to intervene but Kovalev shoved and kicked it before punching Frontz in the face with a closed fist. He and his friend then allegedly left, at which point she called the police. Kovalev was arrested later that night. Frontz claims she was treated in the emergency room for a broken nose, a concussion, and severe back and neck injuries. She identified herself publicly in an Instagram post in which she detailed some of the alleged assault, which took place after a local 'Casino Night.' According to her Instagram profile, Frontz is a model, blogger and influencer. Kovalev's accuser, Jamie Frontz, identified herself on Instagram and described the attack According to Frontz, there were several witnesses to the attack on her and her dog (right) Frontz attended a local 'Casino Night' in Big Bear (pictured) the night of the alleged attack According to TMZ, Frontz's lawsuit references the $10 million purse Kovalev received for fighting and losing Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last November. Frontz is reportedly seeking more than the $650,000 settlement they allegedly agreed to in 2018. Like former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, Kovalev frequently trains in Big Bear, which hosts many boxers throughout the year. Kovalev (34-4-1) reached the pinnacle of his career when he earned a pair of fights against American light heavyweight champion Andre Ward, but he ultimately lost a controversial decision to Ward in 2016 before falling by TKO in 2017. During the lead-up to the rematch, Kovalev drew criticism for making tweets that included racist and homophobic slurs. The Russian former champion is known for his power as a remarkable 29 of Kovalev's 34 wins have come by knockout. Kovalev reportedly has a wife, Natalya, and a young son, Aleksandr. It is unclear exactly how much the former champion is worth, but he previously was paid over $1 million for his two fights against Ward, not to mention a pair of high-profile bouts with Eleider Alvarez. Remember as a teen when you devised a strategy to convince your old man to let you have the family car to go on a date Saturday night? You were lobbying, trying to get what you wanted. Were all lobbyists. In big cities, state capitols, and Washington, groups you and I belong to pay money to specialists (lobbyists) to push for what they want. Society looks down on lobbyists, as likely corrupt somehow. It isnt the lobbying that is corrupt; its the money that is a commodity used by groups and their lobbyists that can be corrupting. The temptation of money can induce people to trade something, possibly even a vote, for money. Money is power and, as Lord Acton famously suggested, power ultimately corrupts. At present in Illinois, the federal government is investigating a number of Illinois politicians for possibly making unearned personal gain at public expense. The focus is on public electric utility ComEd. House Speaker Mike Madigan held the giant electric utility in a political vice grip at a period the company was desperate to save its nuclear plants and increase consumer rates. ComEd gave lots of good jobs to lobbyists and former legislators, possibly in return for favorable treatment on rates and the saving of its nuclear power plants, worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the giant company. Some time ago, an insider friend of mine wondered out loud to his friend Speaker Mike Madigan about the propriety of so many legislators becoming well-paid lobbyists after they stepped down from public office. Madigan replied, Jimmy (not his real name), what else will they do? These are the best jobs they will ever have. Its the money, stupid. When I was a backbench legislator half a century ago, there were no regulations about campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures. There was an old observation then about money and votes, maybe true: If a lawmakers suit jacket side-pocket flaps were out, he wouldnt take any money, but if they were in, and greenbacks could easily be slipped in, he was open for business. And lots of flaps were in. As a result of years-long efforts by good government advocates such as Cindy Canary, Kent Redfield and others, Illinois now has some of the most detailed campaign and lobbying disclosure requirements in the nation. Campaign committees must file detailed quarterly reports of their receipts and expenditures. Lobbyists are also limited, for example, to $75 per day per legislator for dining after session days, all of which is reported, down to the penny. This sunshine constrains, but apparently doesnt eliminate, the temptation to seek personal gain from politics. Since 1976, about when we started imposing regulations and limitations, 2,000 people in Illinois have been convicted of public corruption, one of the worst records among the states. As many of us scribblers have written, Illinois appears to have a culture of corruption. That is, if you have the opportunity to get your youngsters DUI fixed, or to get some inside help passing a tough state licensure exam, many of us tend of take advantage of the opportunity. And money is generally involved in the transaction somewhere along the way. Im also confident many of us contribute money to elected officials as an insurance policy that could prove beneficial when we might later need some help dealing with government. How do we reduce further the role of money and of insider dealing in Illinois politics? One of my insider friends says any such effort is ridiculous: Its like kids trying to stop the flow of a creek. The water will ultimately find another route downstream. Others, however, came up with these suggestions, which seem reasonable to me: Prohibit former legislators, legislative staffers and executive branch officials from registering as paid lobbyists for two years after leaving state government. (By the way, this should be done in the federal government as well, where up to half of former congressmen stay in D.C. to become lobbyists. There is a weak prohibition now in D.C., easily evaded.) If people seek public office thinking they can use their experience to feather their nests later, democracy is badly tainted. Prohibit campaign fundraisers in Springfield for the period of one week preceding the start of a legislative session and until adjournment. Prohibit direct campaign contributions by corporations, businesses and unions, as the federal government does. Prohibit lawmakers and their campaign committees from soliciting campaign contributions during legislative session periods, to eliminate any appearances of possible dealing. Were all lobbyists, and theres nothing improper about it. Its the increasing amounts of money sloshing around, creating temptation, that needs to be regulated somehow. Jim Nowlan is a retired professor, former state legislator and senior aide to three unindicted governors. He is president of Stark County Communications, a member of the Illinois Press Association. He can be reached at jnowlan3@gmail.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Tuesday commenced a three-day exercise assessing documents of some foreign traders at Circle Tip Toe Lane. However, the first day of the exercise did not go as expected as the foreign traders, mostly Nigerians, who were to present documents which detailed the name of the company, the year it was established, their phone numbers, monthly or weekly income, GPS address and Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), failed to do so. According to the traders, they were not aware of any such exercise, thus do not have any documents to show. Their shops had been locked up and would be opened only after their documents have been vetted and approved by the GRAs committee members. Speaking to the Deputy PRO of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Joseph Osei Yaw Agyemang, a member of the GRA committee, he explained that the committee had been there two days before, but the traders had complained of not being aware, so the three-day exercise was postponed. So we had to come here again, and the committee agreed that we come here for three days and this is the first day. Weve served notices; weve made announcements, as you can see there are notices on their shops and so now they cant tell us that we havent informed them, he said. According to him, the unwillingness of the traders to engage in the exercise will only be detrimental to their businesses as the longer they delay the process, their shops will remain locked. If they have the documents they should come and sit down. If they dont have documents, or they have documents and dont want to sit down, then its left to them. They have to come through the committee, theyre vetted, and then we see if we have to open the shops for them then we open. So if you dont come and bring your documents how do we open for you? he said. Mr. Agyemang stated that after the documents have been vetted and approved, the GRA would then go to the shops to check the invoices and revenue each shop makes in order to ensure the traders are paying the right the taxes. It happens everywhere when the GRA comes into your system to check whatever you have; they check your papers at least to make sure youre paying the right taxes. And that is what GRA is going to do. Myjoyonline.com Turkey Releases Assyrian Priest Turkey on Tuesday released a Syriac priest days after his arrest for sharing food with a member of an outlawed Kurdish group, Euronews Turkish reported. Priest Sefer BileAen was arrested on January 9 along with two other Christians in the country's southeast following an anonymous tip that they had shared food with a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for autonomy for over 30 years. Syriac journalist and community leader in Belgium David Vergili announced the release of BileAen, also known as Aho, on Twitter. The other two Christians arrested are village headmen from the region, Washington-based NGO International Christian Concern (ICC) said citing local media. The arrest of the Syriac priest is "a second case of Pastor Brunson," the head of the Assyrian Associations Foundation said, referring to American cleric Andrew Brunson who spent 21 months in a Turkish prison on charges related to the failed coup attempt in 2016 and was released in 2018 following U.S. pressure. The European Syrian Union on Monday called for the release of BileAen, also known as Monk Aho. Since 1984, the PKK has been leading an armed insurgency against Turkey's security forces, mainly in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast. The fighting has claimed the lives of some 40,000 people, mostly Kurds. Assyrian Christians, one of the oldest communities in their region, have been strongly affected by the conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish insurgents. Boris Johnson's Brexit bill was criticised in the Lords on Wednesday (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The governments Brexit plans were today described as an aberration as peers in the House of Lords raised fears they could create a Wild West legal system. Boris Johnsons Withdrawal Agreement Bill is currently at committee stage in the Lords, the eighth of 11 hurdles it needs to pass to gain Royal Assent and become law. But Lord Anderson of Ipswich, a lawyer, warned of provisions in the bill that would give law-changing powers to ministers enabling them to override protections given by law to citizens. Taking back control of our laws is one of the principle points of Brexit, he said. [But] to stand by and see these law-changing powers given to ministers is quite another matter. If ministers were free to remove the binding force of principles they didnt like, they could selectively neuter the protections given by law to workers, consumers, disadvantaged groups and the environment. Lord Judge, meanwhile, warned it would be a power any populist government would love to have while Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb described the plans as an aberration which should be resisted. She said: An over-confident government wants to completely redraw the checks and balances that exist in our constitution so ministers can opt out of legal precedent at will. Lady Jones warned this would create a Wild West of legal uncertainty. Read more from Yahoo News UK Lisa Nandy criticises past Labour regimes for not defending free movement 'boldly enough' Leave Means Leave 'granted permission to hold Brexit party' in Parliament Square on 31 January Scottish paper seizes on Boris Johnson's 'misleading' claim SNP said first independence referendum was 'once-in-a-generation' But Lord Keen of Elie, for the government, said the intention was to give a power to make regulations to ensure UK courts are not inappropriately bound by retained EU case law after leaving the EU. He said the bill requires ministers to consult with the senior judiciary before making any regulations, which would also have to be laid before Parliament - though Boris Johnson commands a comfortable Tory majority of 80. Brexit: 16 days until Britain is scheduled to leave the EU " " Twenty-year-old female tour guides dressed in traditional kimonos hang 'ema', or votive tablets, with their written wishes at Tokyo's Meiji shrine after attending a purification ceremony with a Shinto priest. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images Some cultures celebrate an individual's coming of age into adulthood with ritual, with solitude, with thoughtfulness, or with a big party. In Japan, the annual Seijin-no-Hi holiday takes place the second Monday in January. This year that's Monday, Jan. 9, and it's held in honor of anyone who turned 20 between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current one. Why such a specific range of dates? Unlike some countries, which dole out varying rights and responsibilities of adulthood to people when they turn 16, 18 or 21 years old, for instance, Japan confers the majority of its legal adulthood to people when they wrap up their second decade. Voting, drinking, smoking and other activities open up to those who are 20. The official age of adulthood has varied over the centuries, but was set at 20 in 1876. Last year estimates placed more than 1.5 million 20-year-olds taking part in the festivities. " " The furisode-style full kimonos many Japanese women wear for Seijin-no-Hi can cost thousands of dollars, so they're often rented rather than purchased. Taro Karibe/Getty Images " " Young Japanese women taking part in the Seijin-no-Hi celebration often create elaborately decorative hairpieces. Hitoshi Yamada/Nurphoto/Getty Images " " The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, so alcohol can be a prominent and performative part of the celebration. Hitoshi Yamada/Nurphoto/Getty Images " " A group of Seijin-no-Hi celebrants ride a roller coaster at Tokyo's Toshimaen amusement park during the annual festivities. Kazuhiro Nogi/Getty Images " " Many cities host Seijin-no-Hi public ceremonies, with speeches on responsibility from civic leaders welcoming 20-year-olds to adulthood. Kasahara Katsumi/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images " " To celebrate the holiday, young men occasionally wear a hakamas, a wide-pleated garment tied at the waist and worn to the ankles, but most these days wear dark Western-style suits. Linda Davidson/The Washington Post/Getty Images " " Seijin-no-Hi has its origins in the year 714 B.C.E., when a young prince debuted a new robe and hairstyle to mark his entry into adulthood. Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images Advertisement Avalanches kill at least 100 in Kashmir originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Dozens of people have been killed by avalanches and landslides that have swept through the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, officials said. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority put the death toll at 100 on Wednesday, though that number is expected to increase. PHOTO: Local residents remove debris of a collapsed house following heavy snowfall that triggered an avalanche in Neelum Valley in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir on Jan. 14, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Hundreds of people in remote villages remain stranded in the snow as rescuers rush to save them. (MORE: Protests turn violent in India over controversial citizenship law) Nearly 200 homes and other structures have been damaged by the avalanches across the mountainous region, officials said. Kashmirs Neelum Valley was among the worst affected areas. PHOTO: Local residents search for victims in the snow after an avalanche in Neelum Valley in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir on Jan. 15, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Heavy rain and snow has pummeled the disputed region in recent days, triggering the deadly avalanches as well as landslides. The severe weather has hampered rescue efforts. (MORE: India's ruling revoking Kashmir's autonomy 'undoes seven decades' of history, experts say) Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India, though both sides claim the entire territory. Reporting by Habibullah Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan. Writing by Morgan Winsor in London, England. The transaction monitoring solutions market size is poised to grow at a CAGR of nearly 15% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005581/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global transaction monitoring solutions market 2019-2023. (Photo: Business Wire) With more people becoming digitally connected and the growing adoption of online transactions, personal identity and data control have become a primary concern for online retailers. Moreover, the number of cyber thefts by cybercriminals and hackers is growing at an alarming rate. Such cases are frequently reported across the world and cost enterprises several billions of dollars each year. The high risks of identity theft can be eliminated with the use of a decentralized identity such as transaction monitoring solutions for identity management. Thus, the growing need for protection against online frauds will fuel market growth during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31278 As per Technavio, the emergence of advanced technologies in transaction monitoring will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2019-2023. Transaction Monitoring Solutions Market: Emergence of Advanced Technologies in Transaction Monitoring The transaction monitoring solutions market is witnessing the development of advanced technologies that aim to enhance these solutions. Vendors are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in transaction monitoring solutions to make services smarter and more secure. Smart AI-based transaction monitoring solutions have features such as network threat detection, intrusion detection, object classification, and behavioral analysis. Thus, the integration of technologies such as AI and blockchain with transaction monitoring solutions will drive market growth during the forecast period. "Other factors such as the growth of quantum computing and the need for multi-factor authentication with transaction monitoring will have a significant impact on the growth of the transaction monitoring solutions market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Transaction Monitoring Solutions Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the transaction monitoring solutions market by deployment (cloud-based and on-premises), application (anti-money laundering, customer identity management, fraud detection and prevention, and compliance management), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The North American region held the largest share of the market in 2018, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America, respectively. The growth of the transaction monitoring solutions market in North America can be attributed to factors such as the presence of established vendors and the increasing adoption of online payments in BFSI, retail, healthcare, and government sectors in the US and Canada. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Geographical Segmentation Regional comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005581/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com Manufacturers immediately benefit from collaborative robots without the upfront capital investment Universal Robots (UR), the most trusted and widely-deployed collaborative robot (cobot) manufacturer in the world, today launched its new cobot leasing program in collaboration with DLL, a global vendor finance company. The new partnership enables all manufacturers, regardless of size or capital equipment budgets, to reap the benefits of automation without worrying about cash flow and seasonal fluctuations. "We're leveling the playing field by enabling all manufacturers to immediately put cobots to work without an upfront capital investment," said Klaus Vestergaard, CFO at Universal Robots. "UR Financial Services offers end-users a fast, low-risk and financially-friendly model to accelerate automation in their factories. The partnership makes it easy to upgrade existing cobots, add additional units or test cobots for the first time and equips end-users to maximize productivity, quality and profitability, without increasing costs or cash outlay." DLL offers UR's customers tailor made financing and leasing programs designed to meet the needs of the modern manufacturing business, while enabling growth. As business needs change, customers will have the option to schedule payments to fit fluctuations in cash flow, upgrade to new equipment, or add cobots anytime during the contract term. At the end of the finance term, customers will have the option to buy the equipment for a fraction of the original cost, upgrade to newer technology, extend the finance term or simply return the equipment. "We are delighted to establish a global partnership with Universal Robots," said Neal Garnett, President of Construction, Transportation Industrial (CT&I) Global Business Unit at DLL. "The market we operate in is evolving rapidly. Through this partnership we can now offer financial solutions for a wide variety of automation equipment. Cobots are transforming the industry and UR is clearly the market leader. Our tailored financial solutions give UR's end-users an easy way to reduce the risk of deploying cobots by shifting from ownership to flexible, usage-based financing. Manufacturers can build the operations they need to compete and thrive, while people work on strategic tasks." UR's distributor network will work directly with DLL's dedicated finance experts in each country to provide new payment and leasing options for interested customers. Through the experts' specialized asset knowledge, flexible financing solutions and strategic marketing resources, they will support UR to execute the growth strategy. End users will continue to experience the benefits of working with UR, including its global reach, local support, service and maintenance, training offerings through its online UR Academy and global network of Authorized Training Centers, and UR's extensive UR+ Ecosystem. More information: urrobots.com/leasing Download press kit: urrobots.com/presskit About Universal Robots Universal Robots was founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible collaborative robots (cobots) that are safe to work with. Since the first cobot was launched in 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly cobot now sold worldwide. The company, which is a part of Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. In 2018, Universal Robots had a revenue of USD 234 million. For more information, please visit www.universal-robots.com or read our blog at https://blog.universal-robots.com. About DLL DLL is a global vendor finance company with more than EUR 30 billion in assets. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, DLL provides asset-based financial solutions in the Agriculture, Food, Healthcare, Clean Technology, Construction, Transportation, Industrial, Office Equipment and Technology industries. DLL partners with equipment manufacturers, dealers and distributors in more than 30 countries to support their distribution channels and help grow their businesses. DLL combines customer focus with deep industry knowledge to deliver sustainable solutions for the complete asset life cycle, including commercial finance, retail finance and used equipment finance. DLL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rabobank Group. To learn more about DLL, visit www.dllgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005504/en/ Contacts: Company contact: Joe Campbell Senior Manager, Strategic Marketing Applications Development joca@universal-robots.com 1-844-GO-COBOT Media contact: Mette McCall McCall Media mette@mccallmedia.net 415 847 8649 Good Morning America With less than 10 months until the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden heads to Georgia on Tuesday to make his biggest push yet for national voting rights bills and is expected to call for changes to the Senate's filibuster rules in order to get them passed. Echoing his impassioned address on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection when he blamed former President Donald Trump and his supporters for holding a "dagger at the throat of democracy," Biden's remarks in Atlanta are expected to be a "forceful" call to action to protect voting rights. "The president will forcefully advocate for protecting the most bedrock American rights: the right to vote and have your voice counted in a free, fair and secure election that is not tainted by partisan manipulation," White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed in her press briefing Tuesday. Shelly Lopez said she is traveling from Wisconsin to California to figure out what led up to the suspicious death of her 11-year-old son, Roman Lopez. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he was in pain. And I don't know if he was missing me or what was going on, she said. Lopez said she is the biological mother of the 11-year-old Placerville boy who was reported missing Saturday and found dead hours later. I want to find out what happened to my son, Lopez said. Lopez, who lives in Wisconsin, said Romans father had primary placement. She said she did not know that they had recently moved to California until her friend saw an article online about her sons death. "It was my mom and my sister and a family friend, and they sat me down and my mom, she said, 'It's Roman,'" Lopez cried. Lopez said Roman was born in Wisconsin and primarily lived with his father as she recovered from injuries she suffered while serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army. She said the last time she saw her son was two to three years ago after he moved with his father to Michigan and then to Pennsylvania. Roman was a really smart, goofy, little boy, she said. He loved trains and he loved cars and he loved being in the water. He was a little water bug. Lopez said she can not reach Romans family in California and called police for information. The detective said he couldn't tell me anything either because they are just investigating it, she said. Why didn't anybody let me know? Why didn't they even know I existed? People in that town didn't even know that I was his mother. There are so many things that are wrong with this situation and don't add up and don't make sense. She plans to travel to Placerville to get answers and to hopefully bring her sons body home. There are so many different stories out there, and I don't know what the truth is and I want to know, I want to know what happened to my son," Lopez said. "I want to know what his final moments were. Why he was, where he was. If anybody knows anything, any little thing would help. I just want to know what happened to my son. Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 15th January 2020 Funeral of murder victim Glenn Quinn at Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus. A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 47-year-old was found at his Carrick home on 4th January. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Hundreds of mourners packed into Joymount Presbyterian Church in Carrickfergus on Wednesday for the funeral of UDA murder victim Glenn Quinn. Mr Quinn (47), who had a "big heart" and adored his family, was beaten to death at his flat on Ashleigh Park on January 5 following a confrontation with a senior figure in the terror group's south-east Antrim unit. Mourners gathered for the service of thanksgiving heard assistant minister Rev Laszlo Orban tell how Mr Quinn's family would be asking why such a tragedy had visited them. Addressing the congregation, which included Mr Quinn's mother Ellen and his wife Valerie, Rev Orban said: "The death of someone we love is never easy, but here today we can share our love and support for each other. "We can share memories of Glenn and we can look into God's word for the comfort and guidance we need. "At times like this, many people ask, 'Why? Why this pain, this grief? Why did God let this happen?' "I want you to know that it's not wrong to ask why. God's love never fails. Bad things happen in this world. Expand Close Glen Quinn / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Glen Quinn "Don't blame God for Glenn's death. When Glenn died, God's was the first tear to fall. God grieved, too. As the Bible says, we must get ready to leave this world. Glenn went so much sooner than everyone thought. "This reminds us how fragile life really is. We take it for granted, but every day is a gift from God. "This is not the end for Glenn. This is the beginning of an eternal life with his heavenly Father in an amazing place. "Today we rejoice that Glenn is finally home in Heaven, where there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. "The next weeks and months will also be some of the hardest in your life, but remember: God is good, God loves you and He will help you." A message was also read out on behalf of Joymount's minister Rev Richard Graham, who was unable to attend due to illness. Offering his sympathy and prayers to Mr Quinn's family, Rev Graham condemned the brutality of his murder and called on those with information to share it with the police. He said: "I regret not being able to conduct Glenn's funeral. I always enjoyed our little chats together, often in Shaftesbury Park, when out for a walk. "He never passed me by but would always stop and have a chat, as was his way. "Along with everyone here today, I find it difficult to find the words to express the devastation you must have in your hearts. "Words seem completely inadequate. I know nothing that I can say will take away the loss you have suffered. Nothing can explain away a tragedy like this. "As a church family, we condemn the brutality of Glenn's death and call upon those within the community with any knowledge or information to come forward to the PSNI. "To Glenn's family and friends, I'm sure that during these days you may have felt and feel you're standing in the shadow of death and all its violence. "But remember this and be assured: we also stand in the light of God and the empty cross. "Jesus's resurrection says profoundly across the millennia that death does not have the last word. "It's true (that) nothing will replace the pain and suffering in our hearts today. "Yet we can stand amidst the heartache and pain because of our sure and certain hope in Jesus Christ, who destroyed the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. "The power and hope of the resurrection is available to us today as we seek to continue living. "It is my prayer for you today and in the days to come that you will put your trust in Jesus. Ask the saviour to help you, comfort, strengthen and keep you. He is willing to aid you. He will carry you through." Police arrested three people on suspicion of Mr Quinn's murder. All have been released pending further investigation. Following a vigil in Carrickfergus at the weekend, the Quinn family released a statement thanking people "for all of the overwhelming support and love that has been shown to them". A private committal for Mr Quinn was held at Roselawn Crematorium following the thanksgiving service. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:22:30|Editor: yan Video Player Close PARIS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The office of France's financial prosecutor has launched a preliminary inquiry into allegations that former Ecology Minister Segolene Royal used funds in her role as ambassador for the North and South Poles for personal purposes, France info radio reported on Wednesday. Investigators would look into whether Royal had used the 100,000 euros (111,533 U.S. dollars), which she received from French Foreign Ministry, to pay for activities unrelated to her work, the report said. The investigation comes after media reports revealed in November that the 66-year-old politician used a three-member staff and her expenses budget to pay for her visits to the French provinces to promote her book and a foundation she created in 2018 to combat climate change. "Nothing new," tweeted Royal after the investigation was announced. She pledged to provide "all the explanations" later in the day on her Facebook account. Royal, a former partner of ex-President Francois Hollande, was appointed ambassador for the North and South Poles by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. On Tuesday, she posted a letter jointly signed by the general secretaries of the foreign and environment ministries, informing her about the end of her mission following her "recent public statements challenging the government's policy." President Donald Trump lashed out at Apple Inc on Tuesday, castigating the iPhone maker for what he said was its refusal to unlock phones used by criminals while benefiting from government help on trade. Trump's comments, made in a tweet, came a day after Attorney General William Barr accused Apple of not being helpful in an investigation of a fatal shooting at a Florida naval base last month. "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements," Trump said on Twitter. "They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!" he said. Apple has said it cannot access data that is encrypted with a passcode and stored on an iPhone and that it would have to build a specific tool for doing so, known in the tech industry as a "backdoor." The company can and does, however, hand over data stored on its cloud storage servers to law enforcement officials, which often includes backups of iPhones, including iMessages. Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Trump's tweet. On Monday, the company said it rejected the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the investigation into the shooting by a Saudi Air Force officer at the U.S. Naval Station in Pensacola, Florida, last month. Earlier on Monday Barr called the fatal shooting of three Americans by the naval base aan act of terrorism and called on Apple to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unlock two iPhones involved in the case. Apple said it had responded to seven separate legal requests from federal investigators in December starting the day of the shooting. The company said it turned over "many gigabytes" of data to investigators, including iCloud backups, account information and transactional data for multiple accounts. Apple said the FBI did not request help unlocking phones until Jan. 6, with a request for a second iPhone sent on January 8. A federal judge has authorized the Department of Justice to access the contents of the dead terrorist's phones. Apple designed these phones and implemented their encryption. It's a simple, 'front-door' request: Will Apple help us get into the shooter's phones or not? Kerri Kupec, a Department of Justice spokeswoman, said in a statement on Tuesday. After a shooting in San Bernardino, California, in 2016, federal investigators eventually turned to third-party cybersecurity firms for help to unlock the shooter's device. Landlord Vinesh Jose Pothokkaran says he is afraid and so are the contractors he needs to hire to enter his North End rental property and make improvements ordered by the City of Winnipeg. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 14/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Landlord Vinesh Jose Pothokkaran says he is afraid and so are the contractors he needs to hire to enter his North End rental property and make improvements ordered by the City of Winnipeg. Jose Pothokkaran has been told by the city to hire a certified electrician to pull a permit for minor electrical work he did last summer in the duplex he owns at 499 Pritchard Ave. Accompanying the order was a bill for a $1,050 administrative fee from bylaw officers. "They say they are doing their duty," Jose Pothokkaran said. "They dont care if I am killed, or not." In the last two years alone, the two-storey duplex has been broken into at least 40 times. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press) Under city bylaws, electrical permits are issued only to certified electrical contractors (with the exception of owners of single, detached dwellings under certain circumstances) to install or replace lights, switches and receptacles. Jose Pothokkaran said the tradespeople hes talked to would rather pass up a job than work on his beleaguered property. "They were all threatened by the tenants and the drug dealers," he said. "They dont want to do the work." In the last two years alone, the two-storey duplex has been broken into at least 40 times, he said, and late last winter the main-floor suite was destroyed by intruders who smashed the lights, prompting the work the city took issue with. They say they are doing their duty. They dont care if I am killed, or not. Jose Pothokkaran The landlord says he has been assaulted on multiple occasions by tenants and their acquaintances while he attended to the property; he has received death threats from people he suspects are tied to gangs. "I am not able to do the work because of the threat," he said. "And I dont get any security from the cops or the City of Winnipeg." Since he took possession five years ago, Jose Pothokkaran said hes invested heavily in the property: it required pest treatment and major renovations; a fire three years ago then set him back thousands of dollars; thieves have made off with appliances and have ransacked the suites; and some tenants have used the property for drug dealing and sex work, he said. Jose Pothokkaran said hes repeatedly called police to the address to no avail, and has shared his safety concerns to bylaw officers. At this point, he said he is out of options and money, and the building has sat vacant since October. "The problem is still there. Its not over. I am not in a position to do any work there. I am, myself, afraid to go there," Jose Pothokkaran said. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press) "The problem is still there. Its not over," Jose Pothokkaran said. "I am not in a position to do any work there. I am, myself, afraid to go there. "Now I am not safe there. My life is not safe." The city did not accommodate a Free Press request for an interview or describe the nature of the electrical work in question. The landlord says he swapped a total of two light fixtures in the living room and kitchen and didn't know he required a permit to make the changes. Jose Pothokkaran has appealed the order to the property and development committee, which meets Monday morning. He's asking to have the fee waived and for more time to find an electrician willing to look over his handiwork. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Medical Tourism Market Analysis The medical tourism market is anticipated to touch USD 226,762.7 million at a 21.4% CAGR between 2017-2023, states the new Market Research Future (MRFR) report. Medical tourism, also known as global healthcare, medical travel, or health tourism, simply put, is the rapidly increasing practice to travel across international borders for seeking healthcare services. Services generally comprise cosmetic surgery, fertility treatment, elective surgery, and dental care. For Sample Copy You Can Get Here!! https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1975 Medical tourism has garnered immense popularity for various reasons such as insurance incentives, good quality healthcare, different medical options, shorter waits, potential savings, to name a few. Numerous factors are adding to the growth of the global Medical Tourism Market. These factors, according to the latest Market Research Future report, include accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare services, help from local governments as well as tourism departments, easy accessibility of state of the art medical technologies in leading medical tourism hubs, inadequate insurance benefits, no healthcare insurance in local markets, and growing demand for procedures which are not covered by insurance including cosmetic surgery, dental reconstruction, fertility treatment, and gender reassignment surgeries. Moreover, the availability of multiple benefits such as personalized care, better hospitality, modern devices, innovative medicines, latest technologies, and better healthcare is also adding to the market growth. On the contrary, language barriers, issues related to travel, VISA approval issues, reimbursement by payers that are partial, and availability of documentation are factors that may restrict the global medical tourism market growth during the forecast period. Medical Tourism Market Segmentation The Market Research Future report provides a complete segmental analysis of the global medical tourism market based on type. By type, the global medical tourism market is segmented into oncology/cancer treatments, neurology/neurosurgery treatments, cosmetic treatments, fertility/IVF treatments, cardiovascular/cardiology treatments, dental treatments, and orthopedic/spine treatments. Of these, the cosmetic treatment segment will have the maximum share in the market during the forecast period. Numerous factors are adding to the growth of the segment, such as burgeoning demand for breast reconstruction treatments, high demand for facial rejuvenation, and cost-effective prices of cosmetic procedures at medical tourism destinations. Medical Tourism Market Regional Analysis By region, the global medical tourism market report covers the latest trends and growth opportunities across the Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these, the APAC region will have the lions share in the market during the forecast period for the increasing government funding coupled with the accessibility of high-tech equipment in the region. The global medical tourism market in Europe will have favorable growth during the forecast period for the rapid development of facilities, especially in the Eastern & Central European region. The global medical tourism market in the Americas will have notable growth during the forecast period. The US is the leading contributor in the region. The global medical tourism market in Latin America will have lucrative growth during the forecast period. Brazil, as well as Mexico, are the prime medical tourism locations in the region. Key Players Notable players profiled in the global medical tourism market report include Shouldice Hospital, Bumrungrad, Asklepios Kliniken Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Bangkok Hospital, CHRISTUS MUGUERZA, Anadolu Medical Center, International Hospital, Prince Court Medical Centre, Clemenceau Medical Center, Samitivej PCL, Schoen-Kliniken, Fortis Healthcare, and Gleneagles Global Hospitals Group. Key players have incorporated specific strategies to cater to the growing needs of the customers and also stay head and shoulders above others in the competition. These strategies include mergers and acquisitions, research and development activities, collaborations, product launches and innovations, partnerships, and others. Industry News December 2019: Vietnam will soon turn into a medical tourism destination, especially for cosmetic and dental care. December 2019: The Treatment Tourism Exchange Company, a new travel company in North Korea, will work with leading government health bodies for offering foreign tourists with medical tourism packages that will offer them the ability to receive cosmetic procedures and surgeries at the best state-run hospitals. Tourists from abroad can receive services of modern treatment facilities such as breast tumor treatment, dental implants, cataract surgery, and Koryo medical treatment. OBTAIN RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS WITH TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-tourism-market-1975 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 Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) meets with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya in New York on January 9 (Photo: VNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in a news release that its deputy minister attended the UN Security Council open debate Upholding the UN Charter to Maintain International Peace and Security, chaired by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh. In his speech, Kyslytsya highly valued Vietnams initiative to launch the year marking the UNs 75th anniversary with the discussion of the importance of upholding its founding document the UN Charter. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said at Kyslytsyas meeting with the Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Vietnam, the two sides focused on the prospects of strengthening relations in economic, trade and political areas, as well as of the enhancement of cooperation between the two countries at the UN and other international organisations. They also commended the ongoing development of friendly partnership ties between the countries. In particular, they agreed to continue working on the preparation for vice-ministerial political consultations in 2020 and a visit by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Vietnam. Minh expressed sincere condolences in connection with the crash of the Ukrainian plane in Iran and agreed with Ukraines position on the need to ensure a comprehensive, independent and transparent investigation into this tragedy. Khalifa Haftar was expecting the Kremlin red carpet. Instead he was cooped up in a Russian Foreign Ministry reception building hoping for an audience with Vladimir Putin. In the end, the Libyan military commander lost patience and stormed out. Hours later, he left Moscow in his Dassault Falcon corporate jet bound for the Jordanian capital, Amman. When the Russian president invited Libya's rival leaders to sign a truce on Monday, it would appear he hadn't factored in the legendary stubbornness of the 76-year-old Haftar. What's more, that he felt emboldened to snub Putin is testament to how unpredictable Libya's civil war has become. The flash of temper, however, is only the latest confounding twist before a planned Libyan peace conference in Berlin on Sunday. Just last week, an attempt by former colonial power Italy to broker an encounter between Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of the United Nations-backed Libyan government, ended with the latter canceling last minute and flying home. Nothing is playing out as planned, or is what it seems. Haftar, who is based in eastern Libya, started the latest war in April with an offensive on the capital, Tripoli, to topple Sarraj. He's now the one throwing up obstacles after his rivals, pressured by their patron Turkey, signed a cease-fire agreement in Moscow. Haftar said he'd sleep on it, but before the entirety of the slight to Putin became apparent, he was already gone. "This won't be forgotten by Putin," said Kirill Semyonov, a Libya expert at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. "Haftar practically ran away when he was expected to sign the document. This showed a lack of respect to his hosts and is a blow to Russia's reputation." The backdrop to all this is Russia and Turkey's aggressive push into Syria. Relatively minor actors when the Arab protests erupted a decade ago, Moscow and Ankara are staging a dramatic shift in influence in the region. With the U.S. and Western Europe retreat, they have become key players in a game of geopolitical chess in which they are by turns allies and foes. The prize of a peace deal could also include the revival of billions of dollars in contracts that were abandoned in the chaos after Moammar Gadhafi's overthrow in 2011. The setback for the Kremlin came less than a week after Putin moved to take the upper hand in ending the conflict, together with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russian officials say they remain cautiously optimistic that Haftar will come back to the table. The two powers, though, have found themselves stymied by the myriad conflicting interests in Libya, just like Italy, France and other would-be peacemakers. Western and Arab diplomats who worked on Libya for years said they weren't surprised. Haftar launched his battle for Tripoli during a visit by the .U.N secretary general and just before scheduled peace talks. The question is whether Putin and Erdogan allow him to get away with it. Haftar started his offensive with the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, who saw him as irksome ally but the best bet for a strong leader in the tumultuous North African oil state. It evolved into a proxy war with Russia sending mercenaries to fight for Haftar and Turkey supporting Sarraj's Tripoli-based government. It would only be a matter of time before Putin and Erdogan made a deal to carve out their interests - much as they've done in Syria - then strong-arm their clients into a truce, a Russian official told Bloomberg early this year. That moment came on Jan. 8. After Turkey threatened to step up its backing for Tripoli with a major military deployment, Putin and Erdogan met in Istanbul and called for a ceasefire 72 hours later. Neither side had bothered beforehand to consult the Libyans, Egypt, the U.A.E, or U.N., which had been working on a ceasefire since April, officials familiar with the talks told Bloomberg. A senior official in the Tripoli-based government hastily boarded a flight to Istanbul to try and understand what had just happened, two officials said. Putin then reached out to the leaders of Egypt and the U.A.E, which backs Haftar with its airpower, by phone. Egypt and UAE were not on board with the deal, which they believed gave Turkey too many concessions, an official said. A Turkish official with knowledge of the Moscow meeting said a ceasefire could enable Turkey and Russia to cooperate in the exploration of oil and gas. It would also protect a maritime agreement Turkey extracted from the Tripoli-based government in return for military assistance, the person said. That deal is disputed by Greece and other European countries who fear Turkish and Russian encroachment into Mediterranean waters. In all of this, the U.S. appears to have been outmaneuvered by Russia in yet another Middle East conflict. Washington had been sending mixed messages to both sides until hundreds of Russian mercenaries arrived in September to the frontlines to support Haftar. Weeks later they or Libyans manning a missile defense system shot down a U.S drone, whose wreckage has yet to be retrieved. The U.S. then began pushing Haftar for a cease-fire and hoping for a peace deal that would squeeze out Russia, several officials with knowledge of their meetings told Bloomberg. That Haftar balked in Moscow was down to plans for a Turkish and Russian mission to enforce the truce and a clause in the document that might require him to pull back from areas he controls on the outskirts of Tripoli, a person in Moscow with knowledge of the talks said. Russia overestimated its ability to influence the Libyan military leader, the person said. Publicly, Russian officials have put on a brave face. "Unfortunately, the final document wasn't signed by all parties," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in India on Wednesday. "But we never pretended that the talks in Moscow were to be a final meeting that would have resolved all issues without exception," he said, noting that the session helped lay the groundwork for the talks in Berlin. Erdogan, who has obtained parliamentary approval for a large-scale military intervention, responded to Haftar's walk-out by threatening to teach him a "lesson." One Turkish official wasn't ruling out the use of Turkey's F-16 jets. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, isn't giving up just yet. It said Haftar needs more time and suggested it expected him to respond positively ahead of the peace summit scheduled in Berlin, where even more surprises could await. - - - Bloomberg's Caroline Alexander, Henry Meyer and Zainab Fattah contributed to this report. Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minster was Stateside to visit the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. Bausch was greeted at the Arlington County, Virginia facility by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John C. Rood and the pair discussed matters relating to future partnerships in space and cyberspace. India welcomed Jeff Bezos this week with an antitrust probe. On top of that, thousands of small merchants who typically compete with one another are beginning to gather across the country to hold a protest against the alleged predatory practices by the e-commerce giant. But Amazon founder and chief executive's love for one of the company's most important overseas markets remains untainted. At a conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Bezos and Amit Agarwal, the head of Amazon India, announced that the American giant is pumping $1 billion into India operations to help small and medium-sized businesses in the country come online. This is in addition to about $5.5 billion the company has previously invested in the country. Bezos said that Amazon is also eyeing making exports of locally produced goods from India -- in line with New Delhi's Make in India program that encourages companies to manufacture locally in the nation -- to be of $10 billion in size on Amazon platform by 2025. "Over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental $1 billion to digitize micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before," said Bezos in a statement. "This initiative will use Amazons global footprint to create $10 billion in India exports by 2025. Our hope is that this investment will bring millions more people into the future prosperity of India and at the same time expose the world to the Make in India products that represent Indias rich, diverse culture," he added. Nearly half a billion people in India came online for the first time in the last decade. But most small businesses such as mom-and-pop stores that dot tens of thousands of cities, towns, and villages of India are still offline. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have also launched tools in recent years to help these businesses build presence on the web and accept digital payments. Story continues Amazon opened its conference, titled Amazon SMBhav (Hindi for possible), with videos of poor merchants and craftsmen in India who have expanded their businesses after signing up on the e-commerce platform. An Amazon executive said the company has amassed over 500,000 sellers in India and thousands of merchants have boosted their business by beginning to sell on 12 Amazon marketplaces across the globe. But just 10 miles from the conference venue, dozens of merchants had a different Amazon story to tell. Dozens of merchants gathered in New Delhi on Wednesday to protest against alleged predatory practices by Amazon. (Image: Manish Singh / TechCrunch) Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a trade group that represents more than 60 million merchants in the country, said it was organizing protests in 300 cities in India. A representative of the trade group said they want to publicize the alleged predatory pricing and other anti-competitive practices employed by Amazon and Flipkart . Bezos and Agarwal did not address the protests or the antitrust probe. At stake is one of the world's largest untapped markets. India's e-commerce market is projected to grow to $150 billion in the next three years, according to a report by Nasscom and PwC India. "I predict that the 21st century is going to be the Indian century," said Bezos at the conference. "The most important alliance is going to be the alliance between India and the U.S., the worlds oldest democracy and the worlds largest democracy. On Monday, India's Competition Commission opened an antitrust probe into Amazon and Walmart -owned Flipkart to find whether the two e-commerce giants have exclusive arrangements with smartphone vendors and are giving preferential treatment to some sellers. The probe is the latest regulatory setback for Amazon and Flipkart, which sold majority stake to Walmart for $16 billion in 2018, in India. Last year, U.S. senators criticized New Delhi after it restricted foreign companies from selling inventory from their own subsidiaries. The move forced Amazon and Flipkart to abruptly pull hundreds of thousands of goods from their marketplaces. A CAIT spokesperson told TechCrunch that its member merchants were pleased with India's antitrust watchdog's move. The new round of protests today are one of several the trade group has organized in recent years. Last month, thousands of protestors expressed similar concerns against the e-commerce players. "Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Flipkart, go back!" some protesters chanted today. Sumit Agarwal, National Secretary of CAIT, told TechCrunch in an interview that "deep discounting" on products on Amazon is impeding the growth of small merchants and a government intervention is urgently needed. According to industry estimates, e-commerce accounts for about 3% of retail sales in the country. CAMEROON, Cameroon - Chinas U.N. ambassador warned Wednesday against further escalation between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region and expressed hope that a Security Council meeting called by Beijing will encourage both countries to seek a solution through dialogue. Zhang Jun, whose country supports Pakistan, told several reporters after the closed meeting that China remains concerned about the situation on the ground in Kashmir. Im sure the meeting will be a help in both parties to understand the risk of further escalation and encourage them to approach to each other and to have dialogue and to seek means to seek solutions through dialogue, Zhang said. The latest flareup was sparked by the decision of Indias Hindu nationalist-led government to end Muslim-majority Kashmirs semi-autonomous status on August 5. The move was accompanied by a harsh crackdown, with New Delhi sending tens of thousands of additional troops to the already heavily militarized region, imposing a sweeping curfew, arresting thousands and cutting virtually all communications. Authorities have since eased several restrictions, lifting roadblocks and restoring landlines and cellphone services, but Internet service is yet to be restored in the Kashmir valley. Indias action sparked protests, and last Friday the countrys top court ordered the government to review all restrictions within a week, saying the measures amounted to abuse of power. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because Wednesdays meeting was closed, said China wanted a review of the U.N. observer mission in Kashmir. But the overwhelming number of countries on the 15-member council urged deescalation and said the dispute is bilateral and should be resolved by India and Pakistan. Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters late Wednesday after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that some measures taken by India after Aug. 5 have caused heightened tensions and are threatening international peace and security in south Asia. The situation is very delicate and could spin out of control, he warned. He said it is India not Pakistan that has refused talks. Pakistan has never shied away from a bilateral engagement, but unfortunately the Indians are not prepared to engage, Qureshi said, noting that as soon as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power in August 2018, he made overtures to India which were unfortunately rebuffed. The Pakistani minister said the fact that the Security Council discussed Kashmir for the second time in five months is a clear indication that the U.N.s most powerful body recognizes the issue is on their agenda and the impression that India tries to give that this is an internal matter is not correct. Qureshi said secretary-general Gutteres was concerned and knows the issue cannot be shoved under the carpet. The U.N. chiefs spokesman said in a brief statement after the meeting that Guterres reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South Asia through political dialogue, diplomatic solutions and respect for human rights. Even though Security Council members said Kashmir should be discussed and resolved bilaterally, Qureshi said, if the issue is allowed to fester the way it is festering, then it can grow into a situation which is untenable and willy nilly they will have to step in. Kashmir became an issue at the end of British colonial rule in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan and its future was left unresolved. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir, which had been a Muslim-majority kingdom ruled by a Hindu maharaja. The first war ended in 1948 with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that left Kashmir divided, with the promise of a U.N.-sponsored referendum on its final disposition that has never been held. The U.N. sent military observers to supervise the cease-fire in January 1949 and following renewed hostilities in 1971 the U.N. mission has remained in the area to observe developments and report to the secretary-general not to the Security Council as other peacekeeping missions do. The Security Council held its first closed consultations on Kashmir since 1971 following Indias surprise action in August to change the Himalayan regions status. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmirs independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. Pakistan denies the charge and says it offers only diplomatic and moral support to the rebels. A Turkish court on Wednesday lifted a ban on Wikipedia after almost three years. Turkey was the only country in the world apart from China to entirely block access to the online encyclopedia. But its constitutional court ruled last month that the ban, in place since April 2017, violated freedom of expression. Turkish officials said in 2017 that the ban was needed as Wikipedia had failed to remove content accusing its government of assisting terrorist groups. Rights groups have regularly criticised the erosion of free speech in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially since a failed coup attempt in 2016 triggered a massive crackdown on government critics in the press and beyond. An Ankara judge gave the order on Wednesday for the ban to be lifted by the telecommunications watchdog. Users said the website was still inaccessible on Wednesday though it was expected to be gradually unblocked nationwide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump on January 15 said that he agreed with a comment by the United Kingdom Prime Minister Borish Johnson that a 'Trump deal' should replace the Iran nuclear deal. Trump's statement come's after Johnson praised him as a great deal maker. He reportedly said that the 'Trump deal' should replace the Iranian nuclear deal with Trump's own new pact to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get an atomic weapon. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, @BorisJohnson, stated, We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal. I agree! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2020 Amid the heightened tensions between US and Iran, in an interview with an international media outlet, Johnson has urged to 'work together to replace JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead while referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that was signed in July 2015. READ: Trump Taps 'strong, Silent Type' To Lead Impeachment Defense In the recent developments, Iran has also withdrawn from the nuclear accord after US strike killed its top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. US President Donald Trump, who left the accord in 2018, was backed by Johnson. The UK PM said he recognises the US concerns and called the deal 'flawed'. However, he further added that there had to be a way to stop Tehran from having nuclear weapons. Johnson believes that if there is a possibility of getting 'rid' of the nuclear accord, there is a 'need for replacement' with 'Trump deal'. READ: Trump Backs Contender Bernie Sanders Over Prospect Of Female US President Nuclear accord 2015 The original agreement was signed to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and also set a framework to limit the amount and degree to which Tehran was allowed to enrich Uranium. According to reports, the discussions regarding the issue began as early as in June 2006 but was finally signed in July 2015 between Iran and the US, UK, China, France, Russia, and Germany or the P5+1 countries. The accord to curb Tehran's nuclear usage was signed under former US President Barack Obama's administration which has been widely abandoned by Trump. The Republican President Donald Trump, in May 2018, withdrew from the nuclear deal accusing Iran of violating the terms of JCPOA and followed it with crippling economic sanctions. The bilateral relationship has been vulnerable since then with Trump pressuring other countries to impose sanctions on Iran. In December last year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the country is ready to hold nuclear talks with the United States on the condition that they lift the unlawful sanctions. READ: Trump Lashes Out At Apple For Refusing To Unlock Phones Used By Criminals READ: Donald Trump Calls Soleimani 'King Of Roadside Bombs', Slams Obama For Staying Mute The government has argued it is not up to Apple to choose whether to provide help, as the Fourth Amendment allows the government to violate individual privacy in the interest of public safety. Privacy has never been an absolute right under the Constitution, Mr. Barr said in a speech in October. Mr. Cook publicly took a stand on privacy in 2016 when Apple fought a court order from the F.B.I. to open the iPhone of a gunman involved in a San Bernardino, Calif., mass shooting. The company said it could open the phone in a month, using a team of six to 10 engineers. But in a blistering, 1,100-word letter to Apple customers at the time, Mr. Cook warned that creating a way for the authorities to gain access to someones iPhone would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect. Bruce Sewell, Apples former general counsel who helped lead the companys response in the San Bernardino case, said in an interview last year that Mr. Cook had staked his reputation on the stance. Had Apples board not agreed with the position, Mr. Cook was prepared to resign, Mr. Sewell said. The San Bernardino case was bitterly contested by the government and Apple until a private company came forward with a way to break into the phone. Since then, Mr. Cook has made privacy one of Apples core values. That has set Apple apart from tech giants like Facebook and Google, which have faced scrutiny for vacuuming up peoples data to sell ads. Its brilliant marketing, Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor who has written a book on the tech giants, said of Apple. Theyre so concerned with your privacy that theyre willing to wave the finger at the F.B.I. Mr. Cooks small team at Apple is now aiming to steer the current situation toward an outside resolution that doesnt involve the company breaking its own security, even as it prepares for a potential legal battle over the issue, said the people with knowledge of the thinking. Some of the frustration within Apple over the Justice Department is rooted in how police have previously exploited software flaws to break into iPhones. The Pensacola gunmans phones were an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 7 Plus, according to a person familiar with the investigation who declined to be named because the detail was confidential. The World Bank says the global economy should see a modest rebound in growth this year. But the 189-nation lending institution is cautioning that a number risks could upend its forecast, including the possibility of renewed trade hostilities between the worlds two biggest economies, the United States and China. In an updated economic outlook released last week, the World Bank forecast that the global economy will grow 2.5% this year, up only slightly from 2.4% growth in 2019. That had been the weakest performance since the 2008 financial crisis and a significant slowdown from growth rates above 3% in 2017 and 2018. The banks revised outlook represents a downgrade from its forecast in June, when it had expected growth to be 0.2 percentage points higher this year. The forecast also trimmed its expectation for global growth by 0.2 percentage points over the next two years to moderate rates of 2.8% in 2021 and 2.7% in 2022. Downside risks persist. The recovery is fragile, said World Bank Vice President Ceyla Pazarbasioglu. Uncertainty has weighed on confidence, trade and investment which are all critical for growth. For the United States, the World Bank sees gross domestic product growth slowing from 2.3% in 2019 to 1.8% in 2020 and then slowing further to 1.7% in both 2021 and 2022. Those growth rates are significantly below the 3%-plus growth that President Trump has promised to deliver with his economic program of tax cuts and deregulation. For Europe, the World Bank has an even gloomier outlook. Last years minuscule 1.1% growth is expected to be followed by further scant gains of 1% this year and 1.3% in both 2021 and 2022. The new forecast projects China, the worlds second largest economy, will grow at steadily slower rates of 5.9% this year, 5.8% next year and 5.7% in 2022. That would mark the slowest growth period for China since the early 1990s. Economic growth in both China and the United States has been impacted by the uncertainty generated by the punitive tariffs both countries have imposed on each others goods. Growth for all advanced economies is expected to slip to 1.4% this year, down from 1.8% last year, reflecting continued softness in manufacturing in many parts of the world that has caused businesses to pull back on their plans to expand and modernize production facilities. Growth in emerging economies is expected to accelerate to 4.1% this year, but the acceleration will not be broad based. A rebound is forecast for a group of larger economies including Argentina, Brazil and India which are expected to recover this year after a period of substantial weakness. But the forecast expects growth in about one-third of emerging market economies to slow this year due to weaker-than-expected exports and investment. Trumps get-tough trade policies aimed at lowering Americas huge trade deficits as a way to boost U.S. manufacturing jobs have resulted in an increase in protectionist barriers in the United States and many other nations. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes The World Bank estimated that global trade growth slowed from 4% in 2018 to just 1.4% last year, the weakest gain since the 2008 financial crisis. The World Bank, however, noted the lowering of trade tensions between the United States and China with the Phase 1 trade agreement to be signed Wednesday. It forecast that trade should resume growth this year, although the projected trade growth of 1.9% would still be far below the 5% average gains in recent years. Among other threats to growth, the World Bank cited weak productivity gains in many countries and a sharp rise in global debt burdens. Martin Crutsinger is an Associated Press writer. Any discussions surrounding how many clients Luxembourgish satellite operator GovSat has must differentiate between users and clients. Minister of Defence Francois Bausch confirmed last week that GovSat only has one client, namely the Luxembourgish state. But the satelitte operator actually has many different users, with the Belgian Marines being just one example. Whilst the Belgian Marines might not have a contract with GovSat per se, this belongs to a greater package in context of Luxembourg and Belgium's bilateral cooperation, which is updated every year. Other users of GovSat include NATO departments. The satellite operator also plans to create direct contracts with commercial clients in addition to capacities reserved for the Luxembourgish state. Recently, GovSat signed a contract with Norway's 'Airbus Space and Defence', and has capacity available for business to meet the needs of a Baltic country involved in European defence. GovSat's figures, expected to be positive, will be published in April. It is likely the annual report will show an improvement in GovSat's offer of services. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 19:52:37|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of the world's largest e-commerce giants, Amazon will use its global footprint to export "Made in India" goods worth ten billion U.S. dollars by 2025, said the company's Founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos on Wednesday in New Delhi. Bezos, who is on a three-day visit to India, also stated that Amazon would be investing one billion U.S. dollars in the next five years for digitising the small and medium businesses in India in order to achieve this target. The company aims to digitize around ten million Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which would help the Indian businesses grow by selling online worldwide. As part of this effort, Amazon has announced 100 Digital Haats in cities and villages throughout India. During his ongoing visit, Bezos is expected to meet important lawmakers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. EU Parliament approves 55% cut in emissions for Green Deal Rejects Conservatives' amendments on role of gas and nuclear (ANSAmed) - STRASBOURG, JANUARY 15 - The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the EU plan for climate neutrality by 2050, known as the Green Deal. European Parliament MPs approved the resolution with 482 yes votes, 136 no votes, and 95 abstentions. They are calling for a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 instead of the 40% currently planned. MPs rejected amendments by the Conservatives that called for adding natural gas and nuclear energy to the energy sources to support with investments. The European Parliament adopted its position in support of the European Green Deal as presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a plenary session debate in December. MPs are also asking for a suitably financed transition mechanism for all regions of the EU. The European Parliament asked for an ambitious measure in terms of climate to reduce, by 2030, internal greenhouse gas emissions to 55% compared to 1990 levels. It also asked the Commission to present a proposal as soon as possible that would allow the EU to adopt the objective much earlier than the COP26 conference scheduled for November. The European Parliament also wants the EU to introduce intermediate objectives for 2040. Given the varying levels of ambition worldwide on climate, the MPs are asking the Commission to work on a mechanism of carbon adjustment at the borders that is compatible with the World Trade Organization, in order to prevent the transfer of CO2 emissions. The MPs said they will modify any legislative proposal to reach the goals of the Green Deal. They also asked for higher objectives for energy efficiency; renewable energy, including national binding objectives for every member state; and a review of other EU regulations in terms of climate and energy by June 2021.(ANSAmed). A probiotic drink could help combat superbugs such by eliminating their resistance to antibiotics, according to researchers. The drink, yet to be developed, would target DNA molecules inside bacterial cells which help bugs repel drugs. The particles, known as plasmids, can carry genes that give resistance to antibiotics, which the bacteria are able to use. Plasmids replicate on their own, spreading between bugs such as salmonella and E. coli and carrying resistance genes with them. University of Birmingham scientists made their own plasmid to stop the particles from making copies of themselves. A probiotic drink could help to combat antibiotic resistant superbugs such as salmonella and E.coli by eliminating their resistance to antibiotics, according to researchers It meant there were fewer resistance genes available to the bacteria. Tests showed that this process effectively 're-sensitised' them to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is thought to have emerged following decades of GPs and hospital staff unnecessarily handing out antibiotics to patients. As a result, it is thought superbugs could kill 10million people each year by 2050 as patients succumb to previously harmless bugs. Probiotic products contain live bacteria which are thought to be good for you by helping to restore the natural balance in your gut. WHAT IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE? Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era. It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate solutions to the growing crisis. Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out unnecessarily. Former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism. Figures estimate that superbugs will kill 10 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. 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 WHO warned antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline. Without antibiotics, C-sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements will become incredibly 'risky', it was said at the time. Advertisement The possible new drink, which the researchers are now seeking funding for a clinical trial for, would be similar to popular probiotics such as Yakult and Actimel. But Professor Christopher Thomas and his team said it would contain good bacteria with a new type of plasmid, called pCURE. Tests showed that doubling the number of the new plasmids in each bacterium could lead to the dispersion of the resistance plasmids. The pCURE plasmids then spread through laboratory cultures unaided, to clear out the resistance. In addition, preventing resistance plasmids from replicating allows bacteria to grow and divide without them becoming resistant to antibiotics. It was not made clear what type of bacteria the researchers tested on. The team then collaborated with scientists at the University of Sydney to test the pCURE plasmids in mice. They found that the new particles worked effectively but needed to be 'primed' by giving the mice an initial dose of antibiotic to reduce the number of competing bacteria. The next step is to see if the pCURE plasmids can spread fast enough in human volunteers to get rid of resistance. Professor Thomas said: 'We were able to show that if you can stop the plasmid from replicating, then most of the bacteria lose the plasmid as the bacteria grow and divide. 'This means that infections that might otherwise be hard to control, even with the most powerful antibiotics available, are more likely to be treatable with standard antibiotics.' He added: 'This is a promising start. We aim to make modifications to further improve the efficacy of our pCURE plasmids before moving towards a first clinical trial.' 'Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest medical challenges of our time. 'We need to be tackling this on a number of different fronts including by reducing our use of antibiotics and searching for new, more effective drugs. 'Our approach, which tackles one of the causes of antimicrobial resistance at a genetic level, could be an important new weapon in this battle.' BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) posted robust growth in 2019, revealing the resilience of the world's biggest trader against economic headwinds, customs data showed Tuesday. Trade with BRI partner countries totaled 9.27 trillion yuan (about 1.34 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2019, up 10.8 percent year on year, outpacing the country's aggregate trade growth by 7.4 percentage points, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). In the 2014-2019 period, the total trade volume between China and BRI countries surpassed 44 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 6.1 percent. China has become the biggest trade partner of 25 BRI countries, GAC data showed. BRI countries' share of China's total trade approached 30 percent last year, up by 2 percentage points from 2018. Zou Zhiwu, vice minister of the GAC, noted that alongside fast growth with its major trading partners like the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China has also seen its imports and exports expand rapidly with the BRI countries and emerging economies in Africa and Latin America. "The Chinese economy has significant resilience, potential and room to maneuver. It is the same in terms of its foreign trade," said Zou, describing China's trading partners as "globally scattered" and "flowering in various regions." Zou attributed the solid trade growth momentum with the BRI countries to enhanced customs cooperation and trade facilitation measures. China has signed the most Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) agreements in the world to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises. Among all the 42 countries and regions holding AEO agreements with China, 18 are BRI countries and regions, he said. The country has set up seven fast customs clearance channels for agricultural products at borders with BRI countries including Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Mongolia and promoted the opening of China-Europe freight trains for mail service. Zou also noted that Chinese customs signed 198 documents on inspection and quarantine cooperation in 2019, including 89 with B&R countries and regions. Michelle Knight, one of three women held captive in Ariel Castro's Ohio House of Horrors, has revealed her hopes of finally seeing her son 'soon'. The author, 38, was 21 when she was kidnapped and imprisoned by Castro in 2002, in Cleveland, before being sexually abused for more than a decade. She and two other captives Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry were rescued in May 2013, but Michelle's son Joey - who was two-years-old when she went missing - was given up for adoption during her 11 years in captivity. Speaking on GMB this morning, Michelle, now known as Lily Rose Lee, expressed her desire to see her son 'soon' - despite the youngster not knowing the identity of his birth mother. Scroll down for video Michelle Knight (pictured), one of three women held captive in Ariel Castro's Ohio House of Horrors, has revealed her hopes of finally seeing her son 'soon' When asked by presenter Piers Morgan about her reunion with her child and family, Michelle admitted that she was left unsupported after escaping her abuser. 'Unfortunately some of that did not happen because my family made the choice a long time ago for me not to see them,' she admitted. 'For my son, I pray and hope that I get to see him soon,' before adding that she 'really did' believe that meeting would happen. Michelle confessed that it was the thought of her youngster that sustained her through more than a decade of torture and rape at the hands of Castro. 'It definitely got me through all those years,' she said. 'If it wasnt for my son being out there and hoping to come back to him, I don't know what I would've done.' Castro (pictured on August 1, 2013) committed suicide on September 3, 2013, while serving a life sentence, plus 1,000 years, after he plead guilty to 973 counts of kidnapping and rape for victimizing the three women FBI forensic personnel remove evidence from Castro's house after the women escaped in 2013 Photos from inside Castro's home shows the squalid conditions the women lived in where windows were boarded up and they slept on bare, yellowed mattresses The women were forced to live in squalid, filthy conditions where they were chained in their rooms, their bedrooms locked, barely fed and given buckets to use as a bathroom. In 2014, Michelle insisted she understood the decision of her son's new family not to share the identity of his birth mother with the teenager. She told the Today show that she has photographs of her youngster that his adoptive relatives had shared with her, and that she was happy to see all that he had accomplished. Speaking this morning, Michelle revealed how happy she is now, crediting her husband Miguel as the 'reason I'm still standing here.' Speaking this morning, Michelle revealed how happy she is now, crediting her husband Miguel (pictured together) as the 'reason I'm still standing here.' Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle (from left to right) are pictured in February 2014 after their escape from Castro's home After years of abuse where Michelle, Gina and Amanda, were chained, starved, tortured, and raped, they were finally able to escape on May 6, 2013. They were left alone for the first time in 10 years with a bedroom door unlocked and Amanda managed to leave the home and call 911 from a neighbors phone. Recalling her escape from Castro's home, Michelle said: 'The first moment of freedom was very difficult for me as I was going through a lot of different things. 'I saw that police badge and I just ran into their arms and said "never let me go, never let me go". Castro committed suicide on September 3, 2013, while serving a life sentence, plus 1,000 years, after he plead guilty to 973 counts of kidnapping and rape for victimizing the three women. Govt partially restores broadband in Kashmir, but no social media The government partially restored broadband internet connection for institutions in the Kashmir Valley as part of a phased restoration of broadband communication in the restive region infested by Pakistan-based terrorists and separatists. Starting today, government institutions and essential, services in Jammu and Kashmir will be able to access the internet. "Government websites and websites dealing with essential services, e-banking etc," will be given internet access, a government order said. The order also states that the institutions would have to ensure that the facility is used only by authorised users and is not misused. They will be responsible for preventing any misuse and will have to take necessary precautions, including appointment of nodal officers, keeping record and monitoring usage, it added. The process, initiated after more than five months of blackout, however, open up chat site. Social networking sites will remain under complete restriction, the government order said. Access would be first allowed in Central Kashmir, including state capital Srinagar, which will be followed by north Kashmir (Kupwara, Bandipora and Baramulla) two days later, sources said. South Kashmir (Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian and Anantnag) comes last, after another two days, say reports. Authorities will conduct a review after a week and the Lieutenant-Governor will then take a call on the restoration of cellphone internet, sources said. The restrictions on the use of internet was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir as a "precautionary measures" against backlash after it ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated it into two union territories. The decision to partially restore internet came after the Supreme Court, in response to a petition last week, ordered a review of all the restrictive orders that are still in place. This, the court said, should be done within a week. "Suspension of free movement, Internet and basic freedoms cannot be an arbitrary exercise of power," the court said. Freedom of speech and expression through the internet is an "integral part of Article 19 (1)(A) of the constitution," and any "expression of dissent or disagreement against a government decision cannot be reason for Internet suspension," added the three-judge bench led by Justice NV Ramanna. The court had also criticised the repeated use of Section 144, a British-era rule to ban large gatherings, in Jammu and Kashmir. "It can't be used as a tool to oppress difference of opinion," the court said. The court asked the state to make public all the restrictive orders issued in Jammu and Kashmir over the past five months so they can be challenged legally, the bench said. The J&K administration decided not to fully restore the service in order to prevent anti-national elements who are attempting to aid and incite people by transmission of fake news and targeted messages propagate terrorism, indulge in rumour-mongering, support fallacious proxy wars, spread propaganda/ideologies, and cause disaffection and discontent. An order passed late Tuesday by the J&K governments home department cites security of the state and maintaining public order as the reasons to not to completely lift the internet shutdown, which it said was absolutely necessary in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India. In Kashmir, however, the ban on both mobile internet and broadband services for ordinary citizens, would continue, though the administration said it would open 400 more internet kiosks where the public could go in case of urgent need. On Friday, the Supreme Court, while hearing the petition by Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin, had declared that the ongoing, open-ended internet curbs in J&K were not permissible, and freedom of speech and expression through the internet was a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution that could be subjected only to the same reasonable restrictions as speech through any other medium. The court asked the J&K government to review its restrictions within a week and publish any orders on the basis of which it was imposing curbs but stopped short of directing it to lift the ban. Tuesdays administrative order also asks service providers (ISPs) to give broadband internet service to those institutions dealing with essential services, while stating that the government would open 400 more internet kiosks in Kashmir. The order, however,states,: Prior to giving such facility, the ISPs shall install necessary firewalls and carry out white listing of sites that would enable access to government websites and websites dealing with essential services, e-banking etc. excluding, however all the social media sites. To amplify, there shall be complete restriction on social media applications allowing peer to peer communication and virtual private network applications for the time being. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Narawane, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh pay tribute at the National War Memorial on 72nd Indian Army Day in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) Special Forces soldiers participate in a march-past during the 72nd Indian Army Day Parade at the Cariappa Ground in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) Commandoes along with soldiers on a Cheetah helicopter display their war skills during the parade. (Image: PTI) Soldiers with the Indian flag during the Army Day Parade at Cariappa Ground in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) Army soldier on a truck loaded with Akash missiles during the parade. (Image: PTI) Army soldiers display their war skills during the parade at Cariappa Ground in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) Captain Tania Shergill, the first woman Parade Adjutant, leads all-men contingent during Army Day at the Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi. (Image: PTI) Hundreds of pages of search warrants were unsealed on Wednesday in the Fotis Dulos murder case which reveal how police found large stains of his missing wife Jennifer's blood in her garage, spattered on trash cans and in her master bedroom along with bombshell interviews from their children's nanny. Jennifer vanished in May amid a bitter divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband. Fotis has denied having anything to do with her disappearance for months. He and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis were at first charged with evidence tampering but they were charged with murder last week, despite the fact that Jennifer's body has not been found. On Wednesday, more than 400 pages of search warrants from the New Canaan Police Department in Connecticut and the Connecticut State Police were unsealed. They revealed among other things; The many spots in the garage where significant amounts of blood were found The fact that Jennifer's phone was recovered from her Chevrolet Suburban It was active there for 40 minutes before suddenly disconnecting; three minutes later, Fotis Dulos reappeared on surveillance cameras driving a different car Interviews with the couple's nanny who witnessed him 'chasing her through her house' and allegedly trying to once run her over She said Jennifer was 'very afraid' of her husband because he threatened to take their children to his native Greece to live there permanently A week before her disappearance, Fotis lost another attempt to win unsupervised visits with his children Hundreds of pages of search warrants were released on Wednesday which reveal why police think Fotis Dulos (left) killed his wife Jennifer in May. He is awaiting a murder trial A page from the hundreds of warrants show the list of the blood stains found inside Jennifer's garage The documents state unequivocally that it is 'strongly believed' Jennifer was attacked in her garage then put in her own Chevrolet Suburban 2017 to be driven to the spot where the car was eventually found. In the car, they found her phone which had been active in the location where the car was for 40 minutes before suddenly going offline. In those 40 minutes, Fotis Dulos - who had earlier been seen in Connecticut driving an employee's car - was nowhere to be seen. Three minutes after Jennifer's phone went offline, he was seen turning back onto a road, in the same employee's car he'd been driving earlier. The search warrants do not give any indication of what may have happened to Jennifer's body. When authorities searched Jennifer's home they found blood in the garage - which had been previously reported - but exactly where in the garage remained a secret until now. The new documents list that blood was found on the concrete floor of the garage, two garbage cans in the garage and on the passenger door of a Range Rover parked inside. Police also found shoe impressions and said that someone had tried to clean up the blood. Michelle Troconis, Fotis' girlfriend, has also been charged with murder Authorities also said they found traces of blood on a cellphone and a tablet that were discovered in the master bedroom of the home. The search warrants reveal the lengths police went to before bringing the charges. They have asked for countless phone records, access to Jennifer's iCloud account and GPS information from inside her car which they think will answer the mystery of what happened to her. The documents also reveal more about the many interviews that have been carried out between Jennifer's disappearance and this month, when Dulos and Troconis were charged with murder. They include one with a technician who worked for Dulos' construction company who helped Troconis back up the contents of her phone onto a hard drive for her to give to her lawyer. She told the technician that she wanted to avoid having photographs of her daughter on the internet and that she had already removed her Facebook page. At the time, neither Troconis nor Dulos had been charged. The technician said he said: 'It must be really weird for Fotis with Jennifer missing,' and that she shot him a 'weird look' in response. Jennifer's rental home in New Canaan where police believe she was attacked in her garage He said he thought nothing of the interaction until after their arrests. Other interviews were conducted with the couple's nanny, Lauren Almeida, who said Jennifer was 'very afraid' of her husband. Almeida recalled an incident in June 2017 when she said she found Jennifer crying in the driveway. Jennifer told her Fotis had just tried to run her over and that she had to jump out of the way. In the same summer, she said she watched Fotis 'chase' Jennifer through the house. Jennifer barricaded herself in her bedroom while Fotis pounded on the door, she said. She said he calmed down when he realized she and one of the children were also in the room. Almeida said Jennifer told her she did not want to call the police, however,because she was 'very afraid' of her husband. She said he threatened to take the children with him to his native Greece. Jennifer's lawyer also told police that a week before she vanished, Fotis lost another attempt to try to win unsupervised visits with the children. Surveillance footage (pictured) shows the last known images of Jennifer driving home, where police say Dulos 'lay in wait', after she dropped her children at school at around 8am on May 24 On the night of Jennifer's disappearance, even after he had been notified that she was missing, Fotis called the babysitter and asked her if she would still be able to bring the children to him the following day. It was unusual, she said, because she was never normally involved in picking them up or dropping them off. She said that she was waiting on instructions from the police but he texted her later, asking for an update. There are multiple examples of occurrences when either Jennifer or Fotis called police for a domestic disturbance. There is also reference to a gun that was owned by Fotis but which police wished to secure. The whereabouts of the gun is unknown, the warrants state. Almeida was interviewed on May 25, a day after Jennifer vanished. She revealed then that on the night of Jennifer's disappearance, even after he had been notified that she was missing, Fotis called the her and asked her if she would still be able to bring the children to him the following day. It was unusual, she said, because she was never normally involved in picking them up or dropping them off. She said that she was waiting on instructions from the police but he texted her later, asking for an update. Fotis went in for a voluntary interview the same day but froze up when police said they planned to seize his phone. Dulos is shown on May 29 withdrawing $500 cash before visiting a car wash to clean his employee's car on the day Jennifer vanished He then left without answering questions. The warrants suggest that some crime took place at a property owned by Dulos where he asked Troconis to meet him in the hours after Jennifer vanished. He told her to bring cleaning supplies to the property - specifically a Swiffer, Clorox and paper towel. Later, the pair drove to what Troconis described to police as a 'creepy' area of Connecticut where Dulos insisted on getting out of the car several times to drop bags in trash cans. It was unusual for him, she said. Two people who match their description were seen on surveillance cameras making those stops. A woman who also fits Troconis' description was spotted dropping off a bag at a different trash can. Kent Mawhinney, Fotis Dulos' lawyer, has been accused of helping him orchestrate the plot Police later visited them all and found a bag containing altered license plates in the trash can Troconis stopped it, and bags which contained Jennifer's DNA at the ones Dulos stopped at. On Wednesday, Fotis Dulos' attorney issued a statement saying the state had no proof against his client and that the warrants proved nothing. 'A preliminary review of the warrant leaves us relieved and saddened. 'We're relieved that there is nothing we didn't expect or have heard about; saddled (sic) because it's obvious the state really have no idea what became of Jennifer,' he told News 12 Connecticut. Along with Troconis and Fotis, his attorney has been charged. Police believe Kent Mawhinney, who was representing Fotis in a civil case against his estranged wife's family as they sued him for $2.5million in unpaid loans, was going to help him by providing an alibi for him on the morning of Jennifer's disappearance. They also spoke with Mawhinney's wife who fears the pair were plotting something against her because she had reported her husband for rape. He had denied the charges, insisting their sex was consensual. The Urgency of Listening to Christians on the Ground in the Middle East Iraqi Assyrians in Baghdad leave Christmas Mass at St. George Chaldean Church Dec. 25, 2019. ( CNS/Khalid al Mousily/Reuters) Catholics, at least in theory, are supposed to have a special filter for viewing politics. That perspective is to be shaped primarily by the Church's social teaching, but also by other considerations, including how political choices may affect their brothers and sisters in the faith around the world. When it comes to foreign policy, that means an American trying to take his or her Catholic identity seriously right now would at least be pondering the impact of U.S. actions, or inactions, on fellow Christians on the ground. In the context of tensions between Iran and the U.S. following the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, that implies American Catholics might want to be listening to what Catholic leaders in the neighborhood are saying. Here's what we've heard from the leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, one of the 23 Eastern churches in communion with Rome, and the largest Catholic community in the country most likely to be ripped apart by any new wave of regional conflict. In the immediate aftermath of Soleimani's death, Cardinal Louis RaphaAl I Sako of Baghdad, Iraq, primate of the Chaldean Church, released a statement: "Iraqis are still in shock of what happened" and "have fears of having Iraq turned into a battleground." Later, in his homily for the feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6, Cardinal Sako warned that Iraq and the entire Middle East has become "a volcano on the verge of eruption." A "shocking" escalation of confrontation between the parties, decisions dictated "by emotion and impulse," he said, are signs of a "lack of wisdom and understanding of responsibility." Cardinal Sako appeared to be speaking on behalf of all Iraqis, Christians, and Muslims alike, inviting followers of both traditions to "consider the consequences of their strategies thoroughly." His comments came before President Donald Trump said that Iran appears to be "de-escalating" and that the U.S. is ready to negotiate, perhaps signaling a step back by both sides, but the cardinal's alarm remains relevant depending on what happens next. Cardinal Sako's fellow Chaldean prelate, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, echoed the patriarch's sentiments while also focusing specifically on the situation facing the Christian minority of Iraq and the Middle East. "Peace and harmony" in Iraq, he said in a Jan. 8 statement, are key for "the survival of Christianity in the country." "The current tensions are threatening the serious fragility of the communities, which are tired of war and the tragic consequences of it," Archbishop Warda said. "They have continually suffered far too much and can no longer face an unknown future," he said. "They need the certainty, reassurance, hope, and the belief that Iraq can be a peaceful country to live in rather than being victims and endless collateral damage." Archbishop Warda, by the way, is a key player in one of the most inspiring, and under-reported, Christian dramas of our time, which is the gritty effort to rebuild the Christian footprint in the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq, the cradle of Christianity in the country and one of the oldest Christian communities anywhere in the world. When ISIS occupied the Nineveh Plains in 2014, they launched a spasm of killing and destruction aimed at Christians, which has been recognized formally by the U.N., the U.S. government, Pope Francis, and other international figures and institutions as a genocide. Since the defeat of ISIS forces in May 2017 by coalition forces, those Christians have been rebuilding, determined not to see the light go out on the faith in one of the places of its birth. They've had precious little public support in doing so, either from the government of Iraq or international bodies such as the U.N. Most big-dollar funds sponsored by the U.N. or major global NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) tend to administer aid through the region's major refugee camps, which Christians tend to avoid out of fear of jihadist infiltration and further exposure to danger. As a result, they're entirely reliant on the Church, and the local churches of Iraq clearly don't have the resources to foot the bill. Since 2017, major Christian organizations -- frankly, the majority of them Catholic -- have stepped into that breach, including the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need, the Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, buoyed by the donations of countless individual Catholics in America and elsewhere. I've dubbed this Nineveh Plains reconstruction project a "Dunkirk in reverse," an informal rescue flotilla designed not to get people out, but to help them stay. Like the original Dunkirk, it's deeply inspiring, perhaps the gutsiest ongoing Christian story anywhere in the world. "It has been a very challenging road to raise funds and international support to help us to physically regain what we lost starting in August 2014," Archbishop Warda said, in what can only be regarded as a significant understatement. From the beginning, people involved in the effort have warned that a new eruption of violence could put the entire enterprise at risk. As one parish priest in a Christian village on the Nineveh Plains told Crux in 2018, "If war comes back again, all the Christians will leave, and we'll only know about a Christian presence here from history books." Of course, the Middle East is a notoriously complicated place, and trying to figure out the right course is never simple. As American Catholics face that complexity, however, if they're not at least considering what figures such as Cardinal Sako and Archbishop Warda are saying, then something has gone seriously wrong. Drew Angerer/Getty PARISWhen it comes to the art of deal-making in Middle East statecraft, death is part of the bargain. At least since the days of the Crusades, assassinations have been used as negotiating tools rather stronger than a diplomatic note, but not so disastrous and fraught with unforeseen consequences as a war. And while some American commanders in chief might have balked at that proposition, even tried to rule it out, Donald Trump apparently saw the decision to liquidate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani as a natural negotiating ploy. Perhaps his hawkish advisers told himwithout some important caveatsits the kind of thing the Israelis have been doing for years. That would explain, in part, Trumps tweet on Monday that simply dismissed the debate over whether Soleimani was plotting an imminent attack on U.S. installations or personnel. Trump continued to insist without presenting evidence that he believes that to have been the case with Soleimani, then added, It doesnt really matter because of his horrible past! Its now being reported the decision to terminate the Iranian commander with extreme prejudice dates back monthsto about the time when Trump, having shown restraint in the face of bloodless Iranian provocations, decided he needed a tougher negotiating posture. His favored means of coercion, fiery rhetoric and economic warfare, werent getting the results he wanted, so he added murder to his toolbox if and when any American blood was shed in an attack that could be pinned on Soleimani. Team Trump Thought It Could Contain Iran With Maximum Pressure. The Attacks Got Worse. Washington being Washington, some political insiders have drawn parallels between Trumps tweet and an oft-quoted but misquoted rhetorical question by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a separate CIA installation in Benghazi, Libya. That incident cost the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Story continues What difference does it make? Clinton is said to have responded to hectoring by a Republican senator during testimony in 2013. In both cases, impatience led to seeming insouciance about some very serious matters. But the two citations are very different. The issue with Clinton was whether the jihadi origins of the Benghazi attack were misinterpreted or downplayed by an administration supposedly soft on terrorism, as the Republican questioner insisted. In fact, reporting from the ground was confused after a day of protests in the Arab world and a partially successful attempt to break into the fortress-like U.S. embassy compound in neighboring Egypt. The diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was not an embassy or consulate, and not defended as such. Stevens and a security officer killed there died from smoke inhalation after the compound was broken into and fires set using generator fuel found on the scene. The attack on the separate CIA facility, hours later, involved mortar fire that killed two more Americans. With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans, Clinton said. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that theyd they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? Clinton was insisting with increasing irritation that the real issue was how to avoid such tragedies in the future. She was not suggesting a radical new departure for U.S. policy. Trump, on the other hand, is claiming a presidential license to kill officials of foreign governments whose records he deems to be horrible. To be sure, the Obama and George W. Bush administrations used a lot of Hellfire missiles to blow away members of al Qaeda, its affiliates, and the Islamic State terror group. Trump followed suit, lighting up Osama bin Ladens son and successor, Hamza bin Laden, and sending special-operations forces to chase down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In those cases, some legal justification was provided by open-ended congressional authorizations for the use of military force after the 9/11 attacks. But Trumps recent tweet suggests that in his gut he doesnt even think that was necessary when it came to snuffing Soleimani, a senior official of a foreign government recognized by the United Nations and most governments around the world and one that, technically at least, is not at war with the United States. Because Soleimanis record was horrible, Trump asserts, he could shoot first and find the legal justifications later, and if those didnt hold up, it really doesnt matter. Of course, it does, and not only in moral and legal terms, but as a matter of negotiating strategy. Nobody knows that better than the Israelis, who have applauded Soleimanis demisebut seem to have made little or no effort over the last decade to take him out on their own. The calibration of escalation is an art they have mastered and Trump clearly has not. Why Obama, Bush, and Bibi All Passed on Killing Soleimani As a counterterrorism adviser to the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told me in the early 1990s, Israels use of assassinations as a tool of statecraft relies on rules as old as the Bible that all the governments in the Middle East understandincluding and especially those in Jerusalem and Tehran. An eye for an eye, keep in mind, is another way of saying proportional retaliation. According to a report by Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake, some of the advice being sent Trumps way last spring, as the confrontation he provoked with Iran began heating up, was to disregard proportionality and instead use assassinationspecifically of Soleimanito disrupt the Iranian regime. As with most such outside-the-box thinking, however, the question of what comes next appears to have been left unanswered. A figure like Soleimani can wage waror make peacewhile controlling his assets. Take him out, and you throw everything up in the air. As I wrote a decade ago, Soleimanis forces occupied the shadows in Iraq long before Americas troops entered and occupied. He was the go-to guy for much of the Iraqi Kurdish and Shiite opposition to Saddam Hussein, and after the U.S. invasion deposed the tyrant but left Iraq in chaos, it is no wonder Soleimani wrote to the U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, You should know that I, Qassem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan. In all those countries, Soleimani built up networks of agents, collaborators, and militias so that he could create a crisisand then solve it, at a political price. Petraeus told an audience in Washington in 2010, Soleimani might say, Well stop the crisis immediately, but of course, you know, wed like to have one more vote in the council of this and that. A talented extortionist knows how to set a price that will be met. But Soleimani did not originate this Iranian approach, it will not end with his death, and he arguably tempered the terrorism while he was commander of the Quds Force. As I noted back in 2010, dangerous as Soleimani may be, his style is notably different from that of his predecessor at the Quds Force, Ahmad Vahidi, whose list of alleged links to horrific terrorist incidents stretches from Beirut to Buenos Aires. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Vahidis Quds Force agents waged a ferocious assassination campaign in Europe to wipe out leading dissidents and political opponents. Soleimani, appointed in 2000 when the reformist President Mohammad Khatami was in office, concentrated on events closer to home and played more subtle political games. Soleimanis deputy and successor, Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani, is known mainly for his work with Quds Force operatives in Afghanistan, where in the 1990s theyand the CIAsupported the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. But that era of mutual tolerance, if not cooperation, is long past and no longer even imaginable in the aftermath of the Soleimani assassination. A 2012 report by the American Enterprise Institute that predicted Qaani as Soleimanis likely successor also advised that decision-makers planning U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan can safely assume that a Quds Force led by Qaani would engage much more aggressively in Afghanistan and central Asia. So, the dangerous future ahead is more unpredictable than ever and, yeah, Soleimanis assassination really does matter. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Weve done quite a bit of building with Pepper, and he was honest, straightforward and creative in his solutions, and he took time to understand the mission of the institution, said Dominicans president, Donna Carroll. When you build a building with David Pepper, you build it together as partners. He also was a very decent man, who was full of energy, easy to work with and enjoyable to be with. The bank has made significant strides on its road to establishing itself as the Canadian leader in reverse mortgages, with approximately $4 billion in mortgage outstanding. In late December, HomeEquity Bank announced that it has sold about $75 million of reverse mortgages to another Schedule 1 Canadian bank. This marked the first-ever sale of reverse mortgages by HomeEquity Bank, as well as the first deal of its kind involving reverse mortgages in Canada. The thing we liked about it was that it was a third source of funding for us. Being a bank, we have access to the GIC market, we have a small, wholesale-oriented funding program where we sell debt to various institutions, and we just felt . . . that this would be an interesting opportunity for us to reduce the risk for our business, Ranson said at the time. Also, there might potentially be a customer benefit: If we could fund loans on a capital-efficient basis, were looking at whether theres an impact on customers because, possibly, we could lower rates. Who says Mother Nature has to be on time? A much-talked-about storm headed for the San Francisco Bay Area was originally on track to arrive Wednesday evening, but the latest forecast shows the system making landfall Thursday morning, just in time for the commute. This storm is expected to be the strongest the region has seen so far this year, delivering a nasty mix of whipping winds, bone-chilling temperatures, bouts of heavy rain, and low-elevation snowfall. Southerly winds will crank up before the storm makes landfall on Wednesday evening and continue into Thursday. "With the strongest winds, were looking at 35 mph, maybe isolated gusts up to 50 mph," said Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. "Winds will be highest over the coastal waters, along the coastline and in the mountains." Rainfall will begin over the North Bay late Wednesday and gradually spread southward into the central Bay Area early Thursday as the cold front makes landfall. The heaviest rain is expected at the front of the storm. In San Francisco, the morning commute will likely be impacted. NWS forecaster Scott Rowe said there's some concern about low-level flooding on roads, but major flooding isn't expected. "Overall the system isnt going to hang around for a long amount of time," he said. "I know a lot of folks remember what happened in the North Bay last year with that strong atmospheric river, but this isnt going to be one of those events." ALSO: Here's how much snow could fall on Bay Area peaks this week Rainfall totals from late Wednesday through Friday morning are forecast to range from one to three inches in the North Bay and coastal mountains, to 0.25 inch to 0.75 inch in most other areas, including Oakland and San Francisco. The system will be be delivering a blast of cold air from Alaska and snow levels are forecast to drop to 3,000 to 3,500 feet with one to two inches of fresh powder likely on Mount St. Helena in the North Bay, Mount Diablo in the East Bay and Mount Hamilton in the South Bay. Showers are expected to linger into early Friday morning with conditions drying into the afternoon. "San Francisco should stay mostly dry over the weekend," said Mehle. "We have a few systems that might bring a chance of showers over the North Bay over the weekend, but generally we are trending drier after this cold front." Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Im not sure which is sadder that the president of Russia approvingly alludes to Joseph Stalin in speeches, or that the Russian people respond with huzzahs. Nearly every scene of the documentary Citizen K carries some such depressing detail as the film probes the ongoing conflict between tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former ally Vladimir Putin. The Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (whose many credits include Going Clear and Sinatra: All or Nothing at All) tweaks a common documentary formula little guy who gets railroaded. This one is the story of a giant who got railroaded. In Russia, billionaires are victims of gross injustice too. Khodorkovsky, who in the days following the demise of the Soviet Union launched Russias first commercial bank after reading a book on the subject, rapidly amassed shares in newly privatized industries in the Nineties, becoming one of the seven oligarchs who held half of Russias wealth. Amid economic turmoil, he and the others steered the country away from a relapse into Communism and backed the gangster capitalism embodied by Vladimir Putin. So why did Khodorkovsky spend a decade in jail, why is he now living in London, and why does he have excellent cause to fear Putins thugs even now? Pull up a chair and Gibney will tell you, in a doc that is frightening, bizarre, and comic. Russian democracy is, for now, largely an oxymoron, though the film concludes with hopeful sketches of some political figures who might help to restore it. Dont hold your breath. Khodorkovsky, whose interviews provide the spine of a film assembled from news clips, chats with his associates, and annoying bits of docudrama, explains how he fell afoul of Putin in 2003 during a televised discussion of current affairs. Putin didnt like Khodorkovskys (mild) points about his corruption and started hinting that the mogul, whose interests included the gigantic oil company Yukos, might soon start having problems with the tax authorities. Those problems did indeed materialize, Khodorkovsky found himself in the dock for tax evasion, embezzlement, all the stuff any Russian businessman could be charged with at any time. Except Khodorkovsky was not just fined, he was sent to prison for ten years as the tax claims by the state bankrupted his oil company, whose assets were then nationalized. As that prison term was winding up, prosecutors dreamed up another set of charges, claiming that Khodorkovsky had stolen all of Yukoss oil. All of this happened against a backdrop of frothing rage with the oligarchs for hogging all of the countrys wealth, as Putin turned the TV networks into his bullhorn. He vowed to eliminate the oligarchs as a class, a frankly Stalinist remark that nevertheless thrilled Russian masses who have been trained to think they were cheated when they agreed to sell their shares in state enterprises to canny businessmen like Khodorkovsky. In man-on-the-street footage, Russians praise Putin for providing stability. Thats one way of spinning barely disguised authoritarianism. Gibney has an eye for wry comic details, and Russian propaganda TV is rich with examples: Check out the women in peasant dress, deliriously singing, We all want to marry Putin. Russia is a Putinocracy and has been for this entire century. Story continues Still, it eventually became so obvious that Khodorkovsky was a political prisoner (cue video of the defendant sitting in an actual cage during his show trial) that Putin freed him when he needed some favorable international press in the run-up to the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Much humbled by prison, Khodorkovsky, formerly one of the richest men on the planet, managed to get out of the country with $500 million and today runs a small activist group out of London called Open Russia that seeks to advance freedom and democracy in Russia. So far the outfit (as we see in an amusing clip) is having problems getting its posters to stick to walls. Meanwhile, high-level Russian expats in Britain keep dying under mysterious circumstances, which is why Khodorkovskys wife wishes he would shut his mouth. Its all funny, says Khodorkovsky, referring to Russian spies who carried out a hit in Salisbury, England, but on the other hand this isnt funny at all. Toward the end of the film, a group of protesters is seen chanting Russia will be free. Notably, they fail to mention when. More from National Review Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:26:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan military on Wednesday said it is recalling about 2,700 veterans to back-up the soldiers deployed on an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Lt. Gen. Charles Otema, commander of the Reserve Force of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), said in a statement issued here that everything is set for the recall which starts on Monday next week. "The mobilized veterans will form Uganda Battle Group 31 and 32 to augment UPDF operations under African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)," Otema said. He said the recall only targets retired veterans from the rank of Major and below. "They should be aged 55 years and below, with no criminal record. The candidates will be screened for physical, medical and mental fitness," he added. This is not the first time reservists are being called up to serve in Somalia. In 2012 veterans formed a battle group that helped capture the northern axis of Mogadishu, according to Otema. Uganda provides the bulk of the AMISOM troops. EUGENE, Ore. A well-known financial advisor was arrested in a "child prostitution sting" after police said he agreed to meet a girl near a local high school. Police said a special investigations detective posed online as a teen girl on Jan. 14. Nathan Oeming, 40, of Eugene allegedly responded to the online post and agreed to meet the girl, who said she was 15. Police said Oeming was arrested by a Eugene Police School Resource officer and the EPD Special Investigations Unit. Oeming was taken to the Lane County Jail. He faces a charge of first-degree online sexual corruption of a child. Police said they want to raise awareness to the crime to prevent exploitation and help victims. Oeming is an active member of the Eugene community, including being involved with local charities that benefit children. He was a board member with Kids FIRST and has been involved with the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lane County and church organizations. Kids FIRST issued the following annoucement Tuesday night on their website: "Kids FIRST has been advised that Nathan Oeming, an advisory member of the finance committee of Kids FIRST, has been arrested for Online Sexual Corruption of a Child in the First Degree. "We are shocked and dismayed at this development, especially because Kids FIRST is committed to providing support to children throughout our community who are victims of, or witnesses to, crime. "We want to assure the community that at no time during his involvement with Kids FIRST did Mr. Oeming interact with children or families served by our Center." This is a developing story. Language: English is Japans unofficial second language and a required subject in Japanese schools. That definitely doesnt mean most Japanese speak English, but they do have some familiarity with it, which can prove useful. In urban areas, directional and transit signs are usually bilingual, although some English signs are more decorative than designed to convey information. Learning some basic Japanese is as simple as mastering the language is difficult. People will appreciate kudasai (please), arigato (thank you) and sumimasen (excuse me). The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, has described as lies, claims made by the Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai that its leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky committed so much atrocities against the people of the state. In a press release on Sunday, the groups spokesman Ibrahim Musa was reacting to a recent live broadcast by El-Rufai where he said El-Zakzaky was being tried for the alleged crimes he committed in Zaria for over 30 years, and vowed never to release him. Reacting, the Shiites said With increasing pressure on the Buhari regime from home and abroad occasioned by the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague to investigate the crimes against humanity committed by this regime during the Zaria Massacre of 2015, there have been increased efforts at belittling the matter and trivializing the issues. This reached a peak in the last hours when the Kaduna state governor, Nasiru El-Rufai was rattling half-truths and pathological lies, for which he has come to be known. In this his warped position, the governor of Kaduna State insinuated that so long as he remains Kaduna Governor, Sheikh Zakzaky would remain in detention. According to the governor, Sheikh Zakzaky is being tried for crimes he and his followers committed in the last 30 years in Zaria. Read Also: El-Zakzaky Will Remain In Custody Because Of All The Pains He Has Caused: El-Rufai On the contrary, after the criminal invasion of the Sheikhs residence in December of 2015 and the subsequent killing of hundreds of his supporters including his sons and relatives by Officers and men of the Nigerian Army, the Sheikh and his wife were shot at and arrested. The Sheikh and his supporters were the victims of state terror and crimes and not the perpetrators. They also declared that the wife was not in detention but merely keeping her husband company and that she was free to walk out anytime she so wishes. So, what crimes is Elrufai referring to? Governor Elrufais fraudulent claims that only court can free Sheikh Zakzaky pales in the face of the obvious. Firstly, the fabricated charges of inciting, aiding and abetting crime brought against him (as a ploy to perpetually keep him in detention) have been squashed in the High and Appeal courts. Secondly, the Federal High court had declared his detention as unconstitutional and therefore ordered his release. The government has remained in contempt of that order. Clearly, Elrufai, like the master he is working for, General Buhari, has no respect for the rule of law. The country's exports contracted for the fifth month in a row by 1.8 percent in December 2019 to $27.36 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Wednesday New Delhi: India's exports dropped 1.8 percent to $27.36 billion in December 2019, the fifth straight month of contraction, on account of a significant fall in shipments of plastic, gems and jewellery, leather products and chemicals. Imports too fell for the seventh consecutive months, down 8.83 percent at $38.61 billion in December 2019 -- helping narrow the trade deficit to $11.25 billion, showed the government data released on Wednesday. Gold imports shrunk by about 4 percent to $2.46 billion during the month under review. The trade deficit was $14.49 billion in December 2018. Of the 30 key sectors, as many as 18 segments showed negative growth in exports during the month. Shipments of plastic, gems and jewellery, leather products, chemicals, carpet, petroleum and engineering goods contracted by 18.14 percent, 7.55 percent, 5.26 percent, 4.5 percent, 4 percent, 3.6 percent, 0.57 percent, respectively in December 2019. #TradeData | On a yearly basis, December exports have declined by 1.8% & imports 8.8% pic.twitter.com/DiYHo2ircQ CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) January 15, 2020 The country's outbound shipments have remained subdued so far this year. It may have a bearing on the overall economic growth, which fell to over six-year low of 5 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Industrial output declined due to poor performance by manufacturing, power generation and mining sectors. The outbound shipments contracted by 0.34 percent in November last year and 1.11 percent in October. In December last year, oil imports declined by 0.83 percent to $10.69, and non-oil imports fell by 11.56 percent to $27.92 billion. Cumulatively, during April-December 2019, exports were down 1.96 percent to $239.29 billion while imports contracted by 8.9 percent to $357.39 billion. Trade deficit during the period narrowed to $118.10 billion as against $148.23 billion in April-December 2018-19. Meanwhile, an RBI release showed that services export for November 2019 stood at about $18 billion while imports were at $11.5 billion. Commenting on the figures, Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said the government support will help the industry to further push the exports. "Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies Scheme (RoSCTL) and Merchandise Export from India scheme will five a much-needed support to apparels and made-ups sector," he said. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said that global and domestic factors have again led to a decline in exports. The currency volatility besides fluctuation in commodities prices including that of crude has led to the decrease in exports of petroleum, which is a major constituent of exports. "Domestic issues including uncertainty over MEIS was a major cause of concern as exporters' claim for over five months are still pending, which has completely wiped out their liquidity and has kept them in doldrums with regard to finalising new contracts," Saraf said. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global inhalable drugs market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 6.4% from 2019 to 2026 and reach the market value of over US$ 41.5 Bn by 2026. Free Download Sample Report Pages for Better [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1663 In 2018, North America held the large number of market share for inhalable drugs market and the region is projected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The region is primarily gaining growth owing to the easy availability of advanced products. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 25 million Americans have asthma, which includes 7.7 percent adult and 8.4 percent children. The asthma disease is increasing, since the 1980's in all sex and age. In addition, in 2017, an average of 10 Americans have died from asthma which is approximately 3,564 people. Furthermore, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing market over the forecast period. The increasing disposable income along with the rising awareness among individuals about the advance technologies for the treatment of diseases is supporting the regional market growth. In addition, the increasing governmental support for the development of healthcare infrastructure in the region is further propelling the market value. View Detail Information with Complete [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inhalable-drugs-market Based on type, the dry powder formulation segment held the major share in the global inhalable drugs market in 2018. The emerging expertise in dry powder formulation of potent drugs is enabling cheap and simple development which is favoring the market growth. For instance, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals signed an agreement in 2018 to commercialize Tiotropium Bromide dry powder inhaler in the Europe region to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Respiratory diseases accounted for the major share in the inhalable drugs market in the year 2018. The segment is primarily gaining growth owing to the rising prevalence of respiratory diseases. According to the WHO, the top 10 causes of death across the globe include lung cancer, COPD, tuberculosis, and lower respiratory infections. The favorable government initiatives, good reimbursement policies, and the increasing cases of tobacco smoking are favoring the segment growth. The increasing awareness program is further supporting the segment growth. For instance, In 2016, Mylan N.V. has organized chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Awareness Month to spread awareness about various treatments including inhaled and other bronchodilators along with their different dosage forms. Related Reports Ophthalmic Drugs Market - The global market value is expected to reach around US$ 40 billion by 2026 growing at noteworthy CAGR of 4.2 % throughout the forecast period 2019 to 2026. - The global market value is expected to reach around by 2026 growing at noteworthy CAGR of 4.2 % throughout the forecast period 2019 to 2026. Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs Market - The global market was valued over US$ 120 Bn in the year 2018. The market is expected to witness significant growth rate of 5.8% over forecast period. - The global market was valued over in the year 2018. The market is expected to witness significant growth rate of 5.8% over forecast period. Probiotics Market - Global market value is expected to reach around US$ 78 billion by 2026 growing at noteworthy CAGR around 6.6 % over the forecast period 2019 to 2026. Some of the leading competitors are AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Vectura, Mylan, GlaxoSmithKline, Mundipharma, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Cipla Inc. and Others. Inhalable drug companies have announced mergers and acquisitions to expand their position in the inhalable drug industry. Major players are also moving into new regions or advanced technologies. For instance, MannKind Corporation developed and commercialized FDA approved Afrezza, an inhalation powder for diabetes patients in 2019. Some of the key observations regarding inhalable drugs industry include: GlaxoSmithKline Plc or gsk, a British drugmaker has announced that its three in one drug named Trelegy has met the main goal of asthma, which is expected to boost the lung medicines division of the company that was prior hit by the generic competition. In 2019, Breath Therapeutics a private company has announced the initiation of global Phase 3 trials for the treatment of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS). In 2019, Cipla Limited has launched first extra-fine particle inhaler developed in India named Niveoli. It is India's first extrafine ICS-LABA combination hydrofluoroalkane inhaler. named Niveoli. It is first extrafine ICS-LABA combination hydrofluoroalkane inhaler. In 2019, The European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has approved the inhaled form of levodopa for the intermittent treatment of episodic motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease (PD). EffRx Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaxis have signed an agreement in 2019 to commercialize Bronchitol (mannitol) in Switzerland for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). In addition, according to the Swiss Society for Cystic Fibrosis (CFCH), around 1,000 people were affected by CF in Switzerland . for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). In addition, according to the Swiss Society for Cystic Fibrosis (CFCH), around 1,000 people were affected by CF in . TFF Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced the initiation of Phase 1 Clinical Trial of inhaled Voriconazole in the year 2019 for the treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis. Alaxia joined iABC, a European consortium in 2019 to speed up the development of ALX-009. ALX-009 is an investigational inhaled antibiotic for multi-drug resistant lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Request for [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-customization/1663 The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation. Buy this premium research [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1663 If you would like to place an order or have any questions, please feel free to contact at [email protected] | +1 407 915 4157 OR +1 408 900 9135 About Us Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. Among the industries served include aerospace and defense, information and communication technology (ICT), semiconductor and electronics, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, advanced materials, banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI), and others. Our collective industry experience of over 100 years has helped us to offer appropriate market information and our global reach and regional connects ensures appropriate insights into regional markets to guarantee apt delivery of information. Our regional market intelligence helps our clients to identify potential opportunities and develop growth strategies across regions and countries. Our services are geared towards offering best market research to our clients. Contact Us: Mr. Frank Wilson Acumen Research and Consulting 17890, Castleton St #218, Rowland Heights, CA 91748 United States Tel: USA: +1 407 915 4157 OR +1 408 900 9135 Asia : +91-898-322-5533 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com SOURCE Acumen Research and Consulting Every year now, awards season brings out the medias political monitors who make sure that honors are distributed according to social-justice plans. Last week it was the turn of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to be monitored, and this week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) has been buffeted by similar complaints. Both institutions are accused of disrespecting and misrepresenting the work of the medias most favored social groups women and members of nonwhite ethnicities. The standards by which art and artists are judged has become irrelevant. Instead of routinely pushing back against these protests, lets pinpoint them. Following the Internet rubrics #OscarSoWhite and #OscarSoMale, each an outgrowth of #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, media watchdogs take up the cause of cultural reform. Self-righteous grumblings about snubs and omissions dont represent a true social movement most people feel distant and ineffectual about BAFTA and the Oscars. But Internet noise now replaces journalisms old-time shoe-leather reporting. Media hacks repeat aggravated tweets angry idle chatter by the powerless seeking power the same way that political consultants nervously interpret polls, choosing vague, anonymous mobs as the source of supposedly democratic will. When this happens the social-justice protests have no connection to the aesthetics of Greta Gerwig or Lupita Nyongo or Eddie Murphy. Nor does protest encourage people to pay attention to under-publicized films. Rather, the grousing happens only on behalf of already over-publicized movies the product of big studios and deep-pocket publicity firms. Tweeters and columnists dont think about this; they pretend to respond honorably, with incisive insight. Attention-starved celebrities go along with it, and why should their publicists complain? Fact is: This annual, unnatural occurrence is essentially political manipulation. Awards seasons monitors emulate the combined dictates of authoritarian ministries. For example, the Los Angeles Times published protests from at least four of its in-house pundits on the same day, merely demonstrating collective PC whimsies. It recalls Orwells prophetic Ministry of Truth overseeing media, Ministry of Peace controlling war, Ministry of Plenty controlling distribution of resources, and Ministry of Love torturing political dissidents. This predetermined consensus backing up one anothers middlebrow fantasies about gender and ethnic equality is what makes mainstream-media workers feel that theyre always, inarguably right. Story continues Its really another form of social engineering, isnt it? The leftist medias love of race and sex quotas prevails over any concern with quality. (I will never stop believing that Julian Hernandezs Tattoo of Revenge is superior to Little Women, or that Clint Eastwoods Richard Jewell is deeper and truer than The Irishman.) Whenever the media assert a moral position, it confirms Orwells fears about totalitarian ministries. This morality is a means of keeping people controlled at odds and divided while the sermonizing pundits pretend to care about fairness (Truth, Peace, Plenty, Love). Hollywood and New Yorks PC watchdogs eventually reveal their own biases, promoting Sony-sponsored Greta Gerwig over the nearly two dozen other obscure, indie women who directed films last year and ignoring an already diverse range of actors including Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), Tory Kittles (Dragged across Concrete), Zhao Tao (Ash Is Purest White), Sonja Sohn (High Flying Bird), and Bokeem Woodbine (Queen & Slim) whose performances displayed politically independent and artistically bold excellence. Eventually, by using complaint as a cultural and political weapon a cowardly and degraded pretense of dissent all these social-justice commentators, and the hordes who join them, merely contribute to a pinhead tradition that separates celebrities from plebes. Yet they still enjoy the taunting and derision. Somehow, awards-season complaints never get to the politics of the dreck that does get nominated, whether The Irishman, which ignores facts of American history and the intricacies of the labor movement; Parasite, which romanticizes economic revolution; The Two Popes, which demeans Christian faith; Marriage Story, which defrauds both the sacred and the secular nature of marital vows; Bombshell, which devolves into superficial media hyperbole; or Jojo Rabbit, which shamelessly exploits the Holocaust. As critic Gregory Solman stated, the Oscars never represented meritocratic achievement; we only feel that way on those rare occasions when films we favor win. But when that doesnt happen, awards grumblers conflate merit with their personal preferences being forced on society We should be able to regard awards season as folly, amused by the industry en deshabille, a brazen strip show of its fickle standards. Instead, its another opportunity for the media to hijack public behavior and attitudes, once again lowering art to propaganda. More from National Review The U.S. side will start to finance already approved defense assistance to Ukraine in February, with the focus on strengthening the Ukrainian Navy. "The allocation of assistance will start as early as February," Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Volodymyr Yelchenko announced in Washington, D.C. on January 14, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. He specified that the Pentagon would provide $250 million to Ukraine this year within the framework of already approved assistance, while another $50 million would be allocated under certain conditions. In addition, the U.S. Department of State earmarked $448 million for economic assistance, of which $115 million will cover security issues. "So this year, the overall US assistance will total $698 million," the ambassador said. Yelchenko noted that the United States had allocated $1.6 billion in security assistance to the Ukrainian side since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine. "This accounts for 92% of all assistance [received by Ukraine] from all world countries," the diplomat said. The ambassador underscored that Ukraine received the largest security and defense support precisely from the United States. "The main priority, which was identified in the bilateral consultations between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the U.S. Department of Defense, is strengthening of the Ukrainian Navy. There is such a term as mosquito fleet, i.e. high-speed boats our military lack in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov," Yelchenko said. In this regard, he recalled that the United States transferred two Island-class patrol boats to Ukraine last year. "Three more boats are expected to be transferred this year," the diplomat said. According to the ambassador, the military assistance will be partially spent to reequip these boats. In addition, Yelchenko recalled that Ukraine purchased at its own expense another batch of Javelin missile systems from the US. "This is important because it opens the way for us to implement some other projects that are currently being negotiated," the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States said. ol New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Former Canadian PM Stephen Harper on Tuesday said that India will play a big role to play in future in the increasingly diverse and multi-polar world with not just its energetic domestic reforms but also as a country that is self-defined and aspires be a cooperative global partner while at the same time will be very much Indian. "The reality of the increasingly diverse and multi-polar world would be that there is not a simple answer to that but a big part of the answer in future will be a role played by India," the leader said in his address at the inaugural session here of the Raisina Dialogue 2020. Addressing a session 'Who's going to underwrite security, stability and growth of Indo-Pacific region,' at India's flagship global conference Harper said: "If I can pay tribute to PM Modi here, I think it will be a kind of India that PM Modi's vision is creating. Not just energetic domestic reforms but very much a country that is self-defined aspires to be a cooperative global partner but will be very much Indian." The visiting dignitary also stated that India is "not going to be a bastion of western liberalism in the future." "It is a democracy. It is not going to be just another non-aligned post-colonial state. India has its own identity and I think under the extent of the current government that identity is coming to the fore with big power and global aspirations," he further stressed. Meanwhile, expressing sorrow over the loss of Canadian lives in the recent plane downing in Iran, the former prime minister said, "In Canada, we just suffered a tremendous loss of life as a consequence of the Iranian action the Ukranian airlines flight and it is a subject of great sorrow and great anger at the same time." He noted that if there is some way through the protests in Iran or the consequences of the recent developments that would lead the Islamic nation on a better trajectory then it would be the very core to resolving the problems in the Middle East. Harper added that without a change in the nature of the government of Tehran, the Middle East will continue to be in turmoil. (ANI) Three people have been jailed for 12-24 months each for negligence that resulted in the death of a first grader in Hanoi last August. The Peoples Court in Cau Giay District on Wednesday concluded the trial of Nguyen Bich Quy, 55, Doan Quy Phien, 53, and Nguyen Thi Thuy, 29, defendants in a case where a six-year-old boy died after being neglected for hours in a bus contracted by Gateway School to transport students. Quy, who was in charge of supervising the transportation of students on the school bus, was slapped with a 24-month jail term, while Phien, the driver, got 15 months for involuntary manslaughter. Thuy, the victims homeroom teacher, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for irresponsibility that led to serious consequences. She is also banned from teaching for one year. According to the indictment, Phien and Quy were tasked with taking a total of 13 students from their homes to Gateway School on the morning of August 6, 2019. Doan Quy Phien arrive at the Peoples Court in Cau Giay District, Hanoi on January 15, 2020. Photo: Danh Trong / Tuoi Tre Upon their arrival at the school at 7:30 am, Quy guided the students from the bus into the school but forgot six-year-old Le Hoang Long in the vehicle. She then logged in her shift record in Gateway's administration room, saying she had picked up and dropped off all 13 students at the school. Phien then drove the bus to a nearby parking lot, got out of the vehicle, and locked the door without noticing that Long was still inside. Long was left inside the bus from 7:23 am to 4:15 pm that day. Thuy noticed that Long did not come to class that day but failed to notify his parents of his unexcused absence. Results of an autopsy showed that the young boy died from heatstroke and respiratory failure, with no other pathological cause found. Aside from the jail terms, Phien and Quy were also required to pay the victims family a combined VND249 million (US$10,735) in funeral costs and compensation for their loss. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! U.S. President Donald Trump reveals himself as woefully uniformed about the basics of geography, incorrectly telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Its not like youve got China on your border. He toys with awarding himself the Medal of Freedom. And, according to a new book by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig, Trump does not seem to grasp the fundamental history surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor. Hey, John, whats this all about? Whats this a tour of? Trump asks his then-chief of staff John Kelly, as the men prepare to take a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the December 1941 Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific that pulled the United States into the Second World War. Trump had heard the phrase Pearl Harbor and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else, write the authors, later quoting a former senior White House adviser who concludes: He was at times dangerously uninformed. A Very Stable Genius a 417-page book named after Trumps own declaration of his superior knowledge is full of similarly vivid details from Trumps tumultuous first three years as president, from his chaotic transition before the taking office to special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation and final report. The story the authors unfurl, as they explain in the prologue, is intended to reveal Trump at his most unvarnished and expose how decision-making in his administration has been driven by one mans self-centred and unthinking logic but a logic nonetheless. The book by the two longtime Post reporters who were part of the papers team that won a Pulitzer Prize for its 2018 reporting on Trump and Russia was obtained ahead of its scheduled release on Tuesday. Many of the key moments reported in the book are rife with foreign policy implications, portraying a novice commander in chief plowing through normal protocols and alarming many both inside the administration and in other governments. Early in his administration, for instance, Trump is eager to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin so much so, the authors write, that during the transition he interrupts an interview with one of his secretary of state candidates to inquire about his pressing desire: When can I meet Putin? Can I meet with him before the inaugural ceremony? he asks. After the two leaders do meet face-to-face for the first time 168 days into his presidency at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg Trump promptly declares himself a Russia expert, dismissing the expertise of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had worked closely with Putin since the 1990s, when Tillerson was working his way up the Exxon corporate ladder and doing business with Russia. Tillersons years of negotiating with Putin and studying his moves on the chessboard were suddenly irrelevant, the duo writes. I have had a two-hour meeting with Putin, Trump told Tillerson. Thats all I need to know, Ive sized it all up. Ive got it. In spring of 2017, Trump also clashed with Tillerson when he told him he wanted his help getting rid of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that prevents U.S. firms and individuals from bribing foreign officials for business deals. Its just so unfair that American companies arent allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas, Trump says, according to the book. Were going to change that. The president, they go on to explain, was frustrated with the law ostensibly because it restricted his industry buddies or his own companys executives from paying off foreign governments in faraway lands. The book, the duo writes in an authors note, is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with more than 200 sources, corroborated, when possible, by calendars, diary entries, internal memos and even private video recordings. (Trump himself had initially committed to an interview for the book, the authors write, but ultimately declined, amid an escalating war with the media). The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. One government aide tells the authors that Trump has destroyed the gravity and allure that used to surround the presidency, regardless of the Oval Office occupant. Hes ruined that magic, this aide said of Trump, Rucker and Leonnig write. The disdain he shows for our countrys foundation and its principles. The disregard he has for right and wrong. Your fist clenches. Your teeth grate. Anthony Scaramucci, who served as Trumps communications director for just 11 days, recounts the presidents response when he asks him, Are you an act? Im a total act and I dont understand why people dont get it, Trump replies, according to Scaramucci. Yet the people in Trumps administration and orbit dont behave as if the president is simply playing a part or acting a role. At the Justice Department, then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and other senior officials run through private fire drills in case Trump triggers a Saturday night massacre an allusion to the series of resignations under former president Richard Nixon following his order to his attorney general to fire the Watergate independent special prosecutor. They prepared for several scenarios: If Trump fired (then-Attorney General Jeff) Sessions, if Trump fired Rosenstein, and if Trump ordered the firing of Mueller, the authors write. The officials have reason to be concerned, according to the authors, who report that Trump muses about using a memo by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., as the justification for firing Rosenstein and reigning in Muellers investigation. He also rails against his own Justice Department, furious that the agency isnt being sufficiently loyal to him personally. At one point, after the department blocks the release of what the president believes was a pro-Trump memo, he calls Kelly ranting. This is my Justice Department. They are supposed to be my people, Trump told Kelly, the authors write. This is the Deep State.. . Muellers all over it. Some details are more harmless than disconcerting. Early in his presidency, Trump agrees to participate in an HBO documentary that features judges and lawmakers as well as all the living presidents reading aloud from the Constitution. But Trump struggles and stumbles over the text, blaming others in the room for his mistakes and griping, Its like a foreign language. In another scene, after Axios reported in December 2018 that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Trump met privately to discuss Christie possibly becoming his next chief of staff. After Christie respectfully turns down the job, he asks Trump how the details of their meeting leaked out, since it was just the two of them and first lady Melania Trump in the room. Oh, I did it, said Trump, who has long vented about leakers, revealing himself to be among them. Other moments have a darker tinge. Rucker and Leonnig write that during the early days of the Mueller investigation, both Donald McGahn, then the White House counsel, and Steve Bannon, then a senior White House adviser, try to convince Ty Cobb the lawyer tasked, at the time, with overseeing the White Houses involvement in the probe to remove Trumps daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, both senior advisers, from the White House staff, to protect the president during the ongoing investigation. You need to shoot them in the (expletive) head, Bannon jokingly told Cobb, the authors write. Trump was verbally and emotionally abusive toward former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the book reports, and routinely complained she was not doing enough about illegal immigration and the border. According to the book, He made fun of her stature and believed that at about 5 feet 4 inches she was not physically intimidating. Shes so short, Trump would tell others about Nielsen. She and Kelly would try to make light of it. Kelly would rib her and say, But youve got those little fists of fury! When Nielsen who had received threats against her life as the public face of the administrations hard-line immigration policy eventually left the government, she did so without any pre-arranged continuing security detail, which must be requested by the chief of staff and authorized by the president. When some of her international counterparts visited Washington, they offered to hire personal security for Nielsen to protect her, but she declined, write the authors. That would look horrible, Nielsen told them. Can you imagine the story? Foreign governments provide security because the U.S. wont? The duo opens one chapter with the case of Rob Porter the former White House staff secretary who was ultimately pushed out of his job amid allegations of domestic abuse from his two ex-wives. After a photo surfaces on the internet of Colbie Holderness, one of his ex-wives, sporting a black eye that she alleges Porter gave her, Trump offers a competing theory. Maybe, Trump said, Holderness purposefully ran into a refrigerator to give herself bruises and try to get money out of Porter? they write. Near the end of the book, Rucker and Leonnig delve into tensions between Mueller and Attorney General William Barr. Mueller and his team are frustrated when Barr releases an initial, four-page letter summarizing the principal conclusions of Muellers 448-page report, which they do not believe sufficiently captures the context, nature and substance of Muellers full investigation. Inside the bunker of Muellers lawyers, Barrs letter stung, write the authors. Members of the special counsel team would later describe Muellers reaction: He looked as if hed been slapped. After Mueller writes a letter to Barr expressing his frustrations, the authors report that Barr calls Mueller, resulting in a testy phone conversation. What the hell, Bob? Barr asked, they write. Whats up with this letter? Why didnt you pick up the phone and call me? Barr complains that his team offered Muellers team an opportunity to review his letter before it went out and they declined Were flabbergasted here, Barr says, according to the book but the call ultimately ends on an uplifting note. Some of the modest details in the book end up having larger consequences. After Trump bungles his India-China geography and seems to dismiss the threat China poses to India, for instance, the authors write that Modis eyes bulged out in surprise. Modis expression gradually shifted, from shock and concern to resignation, they continue, adding that one Trump aide concludes Modi likely left that meeting and said, This is not a serious man. I cannot count on this man as a partner. After the meeting, the aide explains to them, the Indians took a step back in their diplomatic relations with the United States. Read more about: Scientists warn the world will increasingly face more extreme weather events in 2020 like the Australian bushfires. The past decade was the hottest on record, the UN said on Wednesday, warning the higher temperatures were expected to fuel numerous extreme weather events in 2020 and beyond. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which based its findings on an analysis of leading international datasets, said increases in global temperatures had already had dire consequences, pointing to retreating ice, record sea levels, increasing ocean heat and acidification, and extreme weather. WMO said its research also confirmed data released by the European Unions climate monitor last week showing that 2019 was the second hottest on record, after 2016. The year 2020 has started out where 2019 left off with high-impact weather and climate-related events, WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement, pointing in particular to the devastating bushfires that have been raging in Australia for months. The bushfires, unprecedented in their duration and intensity, have claimed 28 lives and highlighted the type of disasters that scientists say the world will increasingly face due to global warming. The fires have already destroyed more than 2,000 homes and burned 10-million hectares (100,000-square kilometres) of land an area larger than South Korea or Portugal. Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, Taalas said. N ot a fluke 200114175030678 Gavin Schmidt, director of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which provided one of the datasets, said the trend line was unmistakable and could not be attributed to normal climate variability a position taken by US President Donald Trump. Whats happening is persistent, not a fluke due to some weather phenomenon. We know that the long-term trends are being driven by the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, he said. WMO said average global temperatures during both the past five-year (2015-2019) and 10-year (2010-2019) periods were the highest ever recorded. Since the 1980s each decade has been warmer than the previous one, the UN agency said, warning this trend is expected to continue. 191216040814607 The United Nations said last year that man-made greenhouse gas emissions needed to tumble 7.6 percent each year to 2030 in order to limit temperature rises to 1.5C the more ambitious cap nations signed up to in the landmark Paris climate deal. Current pledges to cut emissions put Earth on a path of several degrees warming by the end of the century. Call for action Taalas on Wednesday said since modern records began in 1850, the average global temperature had risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius, and warned of significant warming in the future. On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, we are heading towards a temperature increase of 3-5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, he warned. WMO also highlighted a new study published this week in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences with data showing that ocean heat content was at a record high in 2019. Since more than 90 percent of excess heat is stored within the worlds oceans, heat content is a good way to quantify the rate of global warming. Conservationists said the UN agencys findings were expected. 190818132436087 It is no surprise that 2019 was the second hottest year on record nature has been persistently reminding us that we have to pick up the pace, said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWFs global climate and energy practice, calling for dramatic measures to halt the warming trend. Scientists also stressed the need for urgent action. If we look at all the impacts around the world that are now occurring as a result of this warming, it is obvious that we are not succeeding in preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, said Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Scientists around the world agree that 2019 was probably the second hottest year in recorded human history. It is topped only by 2016 a year which saw an enormous El Nino event elevate the global temperature. The data also reveals the last decade was the warmest on record, rather unsurprising as the hottest five years of all time occurred in the last five years. Scroll down for video The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia - where wildfires have been raging amid record temperatures - also recently confirmed that 2019 was the warmest and driest year on record for the country. Globally, 2019 was the second hottest ever Several independent data-sets collate and distribute information on annual climate patterns. One, the Copernicus record, was released last week and found 2019 to be second all-time in average global temperature. Now, scientists from US agencies NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have released their own data. Both these agencies have their own measurements and both found 2019 to be the second hottest ever. 'The decade that just ended is clearly the warmest decade on record,' said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. 'Every decade since the 1960s clearly has been warmer than the one before.' Professor Chris Rapley, professor of Climate Science at University College London (UCL), has called global warming one of humanities greatest follies. He said: 'This is not so much a record as a broken record. 'The message repeats with grim regularity. Yet the pace and scale of action to address climate change remain muted and far from the need. 'We see powerful individuals and groups doubling down on denying the ever-clearer reality. 'Of all the follies that humans have indulged in, damaging our life support system surely tops the list?!' However, there is some dispute among experts as to the precise level of global warming experienced in 2019. Scientists at the Met Office Hadley Centre, the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit and the UK National Centre for Atmospheric Science say 2019 is the third hottest ever behind 2016 and 2015. They clocked the average temperatures at 1.05C above pre-industrial levels, less than the El Nino year of 2016 and 2015. The differences are largely down to how the scientists account for the polar regions, where data is sparse, the Met Office said. But taking the evidence from the three records, together with other estimates from reanalyses, suggests that 2019 was most likely the second warmest year. All three records agree that the last five years have been the warmest five years since each global data set began. Last year was officially the second hottest year ever recorded, shocking figures from European scientists at Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reveal Greenhouse gases have continued to increase and reached record highs in 2019, helping make this year one of the hottest on record. Ongoing computer models it will likely be the second or third hottest year ever, behind the freakishly warm year of 2016 Several datasets exist track the global temperature over the course of a year. Pictured, the NASA data (pink), the Met Office data (blue), the NOAA data (peach) and Copernicus data (red) HOTTEST YEARS ON RECORD RANKING YEAR 1 2016 2 2019 3 2015 4 2017 5 2018 6 2014 7 2010 8 2013 9 2005 10 2009 THE PARIS AGREEMENT: A GLOBAL ACCORD TO LIMIT TEMPERATURE RISES THROUGH CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change. It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2C (3.6F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7F)'. It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions: 1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels 2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change 3) Governments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries 4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science Source: European Commission Advertisement Dr Colin Morice, from the Met Office Hadley Centre, said: 'Our collective global temperature figures agree that 2019 joins the other years from 2015 as the five warmest years on record. 'Each decade from the 1980s has been successively warmer than all the decades that came before. '2019 concludes the warmest 'cardinal' decade, those spanning years ending 0-9, in records that stretch back to the mid-19th century.' He added: 'While we expect global mean temperatures to continue to rise in general, we don't expect to see year-on-year increases because of the influence of natural variability in the climate system.' Met Office figures have also revealed that for the UK, the 2010s have been the second warmest of the cardinal decades over the last 100 years of weather records. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia - where wildfires have been raging amid record temperatures - also recently confirmed that 2019 was the warmest and driest year on record for the country. World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general Petteri Taalas said global temperatures had risen by about 1.1C since pre-industrial time. He also said that ocean heat was at record levels and, on the current emissions path, the world would miss the 1.5 and 2C targets laid out by the Paris Agreement. Instead, he predicts the world will swelter to new highs of around 3C-5C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. He said 2020 had started out where 2019 had left off, with high-impact weather and climate-related events such as the massive wildfires in Australia. 'Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,' he said. This story originally appeared on KCRA. SACRAMENTO, Calif. Shelly Lopez said she is traveling to California to figure out what led up to the suspicious death of her 11-year-old son Roman Lopez. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he was in pain. And I don't know if he was missing me or what was going on, she said. Lopez said she is the biological mother of the 11-year-old boy in Placerville who was reported missing on Saturday and found dead hours later. I want to find out what happened to my son, Lopez said. Lopez lives in Wisconsin. She said Romans father had primary placement. She said she did not know that they recently moved to California until her friend saw an article online about her sons death. "It was my mom and my sister and a family friend, and they sat me down and my mom, she said, 'It's Roman,'" Lopez cried. Lopez said Roman was born in Wisconsin and primarily lived with his father as she recovered from injuries she suffered while serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army. She said the last time she saw her son was two to three years ago after he moved with his father to Michigan and then to Pennsylvania. Roman was a really smart, goofy, little boy, she said. He loved trains and he loved cars and he loved being in the water. He was a little water bug. Lopez said she can not reach Romans family in California and called police for information. The detective said he couldn't tell me anything either because they are just investigating it, she said. Why didn't anybody let me know? Why didn't they even know I existed? People in that town didn't even know that I was his mother. There are so many things that are wrong with this situation and don't add up and don't make sense. She plans to travel to Placerville to get answers and to hopefully bring her sons body home. There are so many different stories out there, and I don't know what the truth is and I want to know, I want to know what happened to my son," Lopez said. "I want to know what his final moments were. Why he was, where he was. If anybody knows anything, any little thing would help. I just want to know what happened to my son. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn the only Trump administration official to face criminal prosecution in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation is seeking to withdraw the guilty plea he offered more than two years ago to a charge of making false statements to the FBI. The move, made just two weeks before Flynn is supposed to face his long-delayed sentencing, follows Flynns shift to more confrontational defense lawyers about half a year ago and an ensuing, acrimonious showdown with prosecutors over the retired Army generals planned testimony in a related case. In a motion filed Tuesday night in federal court in Washington, Flynns defense team said the prosecutions description of those events in a sentencing submission last week amounted to a breach of the plea agreement that Flynn and his former attorneys struck with Muellers office in late 2017. Flynns current lead counsel, Sidney Powell, said the government essentially blew up the plea deal by retreating from an earlier statement that Flynn deserved leniency because of his substantial assistance to the government with various investigations it was pursuing. The governments stunning and vindictive reversal of its earlier representations to this Court are incredible, vindictive, in bad faith, and breach the plea agreement, Powell and her co-counsel wrote. Powell also argued that the government was going back on its promises by seeking a prison sentence for Flynn after agreeing in 2018 that a sentence of mere probation would be appropriate in his case. The prosecution seeks to rewrite history and send Mr. Flynn to prison, she wrote. The governments new Supplemental Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing recommends that this Court impose on Mr. Flynn a period of incarceration. However, prosecutors insist their new stance on Flynns punishment did not recommend to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan that the former Defense Intelligence Agency chief be sentenced to prison. They noted that they recommended a sentence in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines that call for between zero and six months in custody. Story continues As set forth in our submission, we believe that a sentence within the applicable guidelines range which includes a possible sentence of probation is appropriate in this case, prosecutors Brandon Van Grack and Jocelyn Ballantine wrote to defense lawyers Monday. There appears to be no dispute as to the applicable sentencing range or that a non-incarceratory sentence would be a reasonable sentence within that range. Van Grack and Ballantines latest letter to Flynns lawyers seems to go out of its way to stress that despite the shift in stance the government is not disputing some of Flynns claims for leniency, including that he cooperated with prosecutors by sitting for 20 interviews. In addition, prosecutors say Flynns military service is a mitigating factor the judge should consider. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements to the FBI about his dealings with the Russian ambassador and other diplomats during the presidential transition. Much of the recent strife surrounds an accompanying admission that he submitted false and misleading information to the Justice Department about his lobbying for Turkish interests while he served as an adviser to Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. It was unclear from the prosecutors letter, which addressed a request to delay the sentencing hearing and future filings in the case, whether the government was aware of Flynns plan to seek to formally withdraw his plea. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, which took over the case from Muellers office last spring, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Flynns latest move. It was not immediately clear whether Sullivan will agree to put off the scheduled Jan. 28 sentencing, but Flynns lawyers asked the judge to postpone it for at least 30 days, until Feb. 27. The continuance is requested to allow time for the government to respond to the most recent aspects of this Motion and for Mr. Flynn to provide the additional briefing he needs to protect the record and his constitutional rights in light of significant developments in the last thirty days, Flynns lawyers wrote. Sidney Powell (left) has argued that her client, Michael Flynn, was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. Powells new filing seizes on a long-simmering dispute over Flynns expected testimony in a criminal trial last summer of his partner at the Flynn Intelligence Group consulting firm, Bijan Rafiekian. Days before that trial, Powell informed Van Grack who served in Muellers office and is still handling Flynns case that Flynn planned to testify that any errors in submissions to the Justice Department about the firms work for interests aligned with Turkeys government were the product of oversight and inattention, rather than any deliberate attempt by Flynn to mislead authorities. In a contentious June 27, 2019, conference call, Van Grack insisted that Flynn was stepping back from his admissions during his guilty plea a year and a half earlier. This is the language your client agreed to, Van Grack said, according to notes taken by another Flynn lawyer. That prompted Powell to accuse Van Grack of seeking false testimony. You are asking my client to lie, Powell declared, per the notes. No one is asking your client to lie, Van Grack shot back, the notes indicate. Be careful about what you say. Flynns new filing zeroes in on that episode, arguing it fits a pattern of abuse by the government. The prosecution has shown abject bad faith in pure retaliation against Mr. Flynn since he retained new counsel. This can only be because with new, unconflicted counsel, Mr. Flynn refused to lie for the prosecution, Powell wrote. Justice is not a game, and there should be no room for such gamesmanship in the Department of Justice. Prosecutors abandoned plans to call Flynn at the Rafiekian trial. A jury in Alexandria, Va., quickly returned two guilty verdicts against Rafiekian, but the judge there tossed them out. That decision is on appeal. Even before she formally took over as Flynns counsel last year, Powell was railing against Flynns prosecution as a miscarriage of justice. Last June, she sent a confidential letter to Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, alleging prosecutorial misconduct and abuses by the FBI in Flynns case. The letter called the initial questioning of Flynn in January 2017 a set-up tantamount to a frame aimed at forcing Flynn out of the administration. Powell also accused Muellers office of seeking to use the series of events to pressure [Flynn] to try to take out President Trump. Soon after going to work for Flynn, Powell said in court that she planned to file a motion to dismiss the charges against Flynn on the basis of outrageous government conduct. In a bid to buttress that plan, she sought nearly 50 categories of information that she said would help Flynn show that he was unfairly targeted and bullied into a guilty plea on the basis of incomplete and inaccurate information. Flynns new defense team hoped such complaints would resonate with Sullivan, a Bill Clinton appointee who drew attention a decade ago for his aggressive response to prosecutorial misconduct in the corruption prosecution against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). However, the judge did not seem impressed by Flynns claims that Flynn was the victim of a vast conspiracy to bring down Trump and his allies. Last month, Sullivan denied all of Powells so-called discovery requests and ordered that the long-postponed sentencing proceed in a matter of weeks. Regardless of Mr. Flynns new theories, he pled guilty twice to the crime, and he fails to demonstrate that the disclosure of the requested information would have impacted his decision to plead guilty, Sullivan wrote in a blistering, 92-page opinion. Seeking to withdraw the guilty plea is a high-stakes gamble for Flynn. Simply by moving to do so, he is opening himself to the possibility of prosecution on other charges. Under the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors would be permitted to use all of his statements against him. In an unusual move signaling the potential gravity of the decision to back out of the plea deal, Flynn is listed as co-signing his defense lawyers new motion. One wild card in the case is whether Trump might wipe out any sentence Flynn receives by granting him a pardon. Trump has been cagey about the prospects of a pardon in the case, but has repeatedly expressed support for Flynn. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has also endorsed Flynns claims that his case was tainted by widespread government misconduct. While Sullivan seems unlikely to embrace Flynns complaints about the prosecutions conduct, it seems highly possible that he could allow the 61-year-old defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. At an initial sentencing hearing for Flynn in December 2018, the judge said he wasnt inclined to go forward if Flynn was protesting his innocence. I cannot recall any incident in which the court has ever accepted a plea of guilty from someone who maintained that he was not guilty, and I dont intend to start today, Sullivan said then. Darren Samuelsohn contributed to this article. Tokyo: An Australian man has been freed after spending a month and a half detained in Tokyo on charges of trespassing when he went to his estranged in-laws' apartment building to look for his missing children. The case of Scott McIntyre, a freelance sports journalist based in Tokyo, has drawn wide attention to the difficulties in Japan faced by parents who lose access to their children after their partners take them away. Lawyers and legal experts say Japan effectively condones the act regardless of whether domestic violence is involved, and parents who are deprived of contact with their children face the threat of arrest if they try to retrieve or see them. McIntyre was arrested on November 28 for entering the common area of the building where his wife's parents live in late October in a bid to find his children. Women are more attracted to men with beards because they make them seem more physically and socially dominant, a study has found. But they may not be a sign of cleanliness women who didn't like hairy faces could have been put off by an evolutionary fear that they might contain lice or fleas. The same women who preferred clean-shaven faces were also the ones most afraid of parasites and pests like ticks or public lice. Researchers quizzed almost 1,000 women in the US on their attitudes towards facial hair in potential long or short-term partners. Generally, fully-bearded men with strong masculine faces solid jawlines and wide cheekbones were rated as the most attractive. Women may be put off by bearded men in fear of pubic lice or fleas, a study suggests Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia presented a total of 919 American women aged between 18 and 70 with 30 images of three different men. Each man's face had been photographed with a full beard or clean shaven and later doctored to look both feminine and masculine. A man is generally considered masculine if he has a protruding brow ridge, widened cheek bones, a thick jawline and deeply set narrow eyes. As faces appeared, participants were asked to rate how attractive they thought the men were for long-term and short-term relationships on a scale of zero to 100. The hairier the face, the better than man seemed to fare. Researchers quizzed almost 1,000 women in America on their attitudes towards facial hair in potential partners. They were presented with 10 images of three different men (one is pictured) either clean shaven or with a beard. Their faces were doctored to show them as masculine, feminine, or in between WHAT DOES FACIAL HAIR AND MASCULINITY REVEAL ABOUT A MAN? The researchers led by University of Queensland delved into what a man's facial features and hair says about him, based on previous research. Studies have shown facial masculinity is regarded as an indicator of physical strength, social assertiveness and fighting ability. Therefore, women may be drawn to a masculine face because it represents protection and health. Bearded faces are judged as looking older, more masculine, socially dominant and aggressive than clean-shaven faces. Men with beards have previously reported stronger feelings of masculinity and have shown to have higher levels of serum testosterone. This, in turn, is linked to higher social dominance. However, unlike facial masculinity, there is no evidence that beardedness reflects mens health or disease resistance. Women also judge the attractiveness of men based on how attractive they rate themselves. It has previously been found that women who feel physically attractive are more drawn to masculine men. Advertisement The findings showed men with a masculine, bearded face, were rated as the most attractive by the women both for short term and long-term relationships. Facial masculinity was also rated as more attractive than a feminine face for most scenarios. The researchers, led by PhD student Tessa Clarkson, suggested there are a number of possible reasons why. Masculine faces signal a physically stronger and more socially dominant male, the team said. They added that facial hair can emphasise masculine traits, such as a large jaw, while masking unattractive parts of the face. However, women who are disgusted by or were afraid of hair-borne or skin parasites, did not like beards. As part of the study, women were also shown images of parasites, such as ticks and pubic lice, and were asked to rate how much much they feared, avoided, and disliked them. This could be because the women think beards are a sign of poor grooming habits, the researchers said. From an evolutionary perspective, humans have evolved to have less body hair because it can harbour disease-carrying parasites. Women in the study also rated their 'disgust of pathogens' which judged their feelings on body odour, stepping on dog faeces or mould on left over food. Women who did not like parasites (ectoparasite avoidance) and had sexual disgust preferred a clean-shaven man. Women who were grossed out by pathogens or immoral behaviour were more drawn towards bearded men, the findings show And they rated their 'disgust of immoral behaviour' such as disloyalty, cheating in exams or shoplifting, and their 'disgust of sex', including oral sex, anal sex or hearing two strangers having sex. Women who had a higher 'disgust of pathogens' were more likely to prefer beards, suggesting they were a marker of good health. And women who were more disgusted by 'immoral behaviour' were also more in favour of a hairy chin. This, the researchers said, could be because those women had more traditional relationship views and felt beards helped men to fulfill their male role. The study was published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science. W omen make up 24 per cent of tech employees at companies signed up to the Tech Talent Charter diversity initiative, up from 19 per cent last year and far ahead of the nationwide figure of 17 per cent. The Charter announced the new figures as part of its annual benchmarking report which measures the diversity and inclusion strategies at tech companies such as HP, Accenture and Cancer Research to showcase whats working and whats not when it comes to encouraging more women into the industry. Analysis by TechNation and Dealroom.co released today found that the UK tech companies received a record 10.1 billion investment in 2019, an increase of 44 per cent year on year. Theres still a lot to do, CEO Debbie Forster told the Standard. But whats exciting is were starting to have some stats to reinforce what were saying, looking at the correlation of companies who are bringing in diversity and inclusion strategies, setting targets for more diverse shortlists, for returners and retraining programmes. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was one of the first UK government departments to sign up to the TTC and invested 189,000 in the organisation last year to fund its diversity mission. Secretary of State Baroness Morgan said the figures released today were encouraging. It shows that firms who have signed up are making more progress than firms that havent, she told the Standard. Women make up 50 per cent of the country, workforce and diversity of views and we want 50 per cent of people to be sharing in that success." Morgan points to the study by McKinsey that found in the UK, for every 10 per cent increase in the diversity of a company's senior executive team, profitability rose by 3.5 per cent. We want the benefits of tech to be felt more widely and more fairly," she added. Secretary of State for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport, Baroness Nicky Morgan, giving the keynote speech at the Tech Talent Charter 2020 event (Tech Talent Charter) / Anthony Upton So what has changed since last year? Forster believes there has been a shift in the way the industry is talking about diversity. However, shes keen that companies approach it in the right way and not just like a diversity takeaway menu as she describes it. Thats when companies are panicked and run around saying Ill have a disabled person, three women and an order of chips to go. Thats not going to make a difference. In order to counteract this, TTC launched its Open Playbook, a series of best practice for companies looking to improve their own D&I initiatives. In particular this year, TTC is focusing on retraining and returning programmes as a way to encourage more women to improve their digital skills and take up roles in the industry. Among signatories, 49 per cent of companies do not have a returning programme. As a result, the organisation has created a programme with Leeds City Council as well as companies such as Sky, Accenture and Lloyds, to create a retraining scheme. Sky has committed to train up more women than it needs for positions in the company, so smaller companies who cannot afford to hold their own schemes can have access to talent. Earlier this year, the government introduced the Digital Skills entitlement fund, an 84 million fund to offer free digital skills courses to adults across the country. In addition, the TTC hopes to broaden out its diversity work from focusing solely on women to encompass all types of diversity, such as neurodiversity, ethnicity and mental health. In particular, Forster points to how learnings on what works best for women can work for other diverse team members, such as when it comes to job descriptions. When you want to recruit more women, you want shorter job descriptions. If there are 10 things on there, a woman will only go for it if she can do nine or 10. Interestingly, theres similar research that if youre trying to recruit people who are more neurodiverse, they can be very literal. So again, if they cant do the 10 things theyre not going to apply. Shorter job adverts are going to help you not just with women, its going to help you with diversity, explained Forster. The Charter has introduced five things its members can do to build a more inclusive organisation throughout the year, such as carrying out D&I audits, explore alternative pathways to provide under-represented groups with a route into tech, and set goals for diversity on hiring shortlists and measure the impact this has. The reasons we started this is I said if I have to go to one more roundtable on why there are no women in tech and say the same thing again, my head is going to explode. And we said, surely we can bring this together? We are thrilled to provide a Teams solution that empowers customers with additional UCaaS feature sets and customized integrations that boost productivity and efficiency, all while saving money CallTower, a global leader in delivering cloud-based enterprise-class unified communications and collaboration solutions, launches a proactive Microsoft Teams business-ready solution with key UCaaS integrations. CallTower's Microsoft Teams Direct Routing empowers customers with customized integrations that boost productivity and efficiency while saving money. When customers migrate to Teams with CallTower Direct Routing, they take advantage of Teams' powerful collaboration technology and the feature-rich solutions CallTower brings to Teams. Essential tools like contact center, CRM integration, device management, SD-WAN, faxing, paging, door buzzers and failover to other devices in the case of a Microsoft interruption are unlocked for CallTower customers. Direct Routing ensures the ability to leverage CallTower's preferred and flexible rates and unlock the full potential of a Microsoft Teams Phone System. Microsoft Teams with CallTower Direct Routing provides customers with increased connectivity and collaboration, app integration and effective change management. "We are thrilled to provide a Teams solution that empowers customers with additional UCaaS feature sets and customized integrations that boost productivity and efficiency, all while saving money," said CallTower's Chief Revenue Officer, William Rubio. "When customers migrate to Teams with CallTower Direct Routing, we provide a full migration plan that guarantees a smooth transition to Teams without impacting users and operations." CallTower delivers an integrated Office 365 Microsoft Teams experience with global calling plans empowered by a US-based client services team. This solution ensures a personalized implementation, adoption, training and support strategy. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, CallTower's monitoring and management services provide the highest quality user experience. The Microsoft Teams Phone System powered by CallTower enables customers to bring their current voice serves into the Microsoft Cloud through Direct Routing. About CallTower CallTower exists to enable people to easily connect to transact business communications. Since its inception in 2002, CallTower has become a leading provider of cloud-based, enterprise-class Unified Communications solutions for growing organizations worldwide. CallTower provides, integrates and supports industry-leading, cloud-based, Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, including Cisco HCS, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, Native Skype for Business, CT Cloud, CT Cloud Boost, Office 365 and CT Cloud Meeting, powered by Zoom Video Communications for business customers. CallTower enhances our clients' strategic and operational capabilities by integrating VoIP service, mobile applications, email hosting, unified messaging, instant messaging, audio, web and video conferencing, collaboration tools, contact center, cloud services and global network solutions into one reliable platform. The family of the lone crew member to die in a fiery scuba boat disaster that killed all 33 passengers off the California coast last year sued the vessels owner Monday in federal court. The lawsuit by the family of Alexandra Allie Kurtz claimed the owners of the Conception knew the boat was unseaworthy and it lacked required smoke detectors and fire equipment and did not have adequate emergency exits. Kurtz, 26, an Illinois native living in California, was a new crew member living her dream to work on a boat. She was the only crew member sleeping with the passengers in the berth below deck when the fire broke out in the middle of the night on Labor Day while the boat was anchored near an island off Santa Barbara. The wrongful death suit was filed along with similar claims on on behalf of three passengers who died: Yulia Krashennaya of Berkeley and Dr. Sanjeeri Deopujari and her husband, Kaustubh Nirmal, of Norwalk, Connecticut. Their families have asked us to do two things, attorney Robert Mongeluzzi said at a news conference in Los Angeles. To find out what happened and to make sure it never happens again. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by federal prosecutors, the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard. The suit is the latest to counter a claim filed by the boat company, Truth Aquatics Inc., to shield the owners from damages under a pre-Civil War maritime law that limits liability of vessel owners. Before the lawsuits can move forward, family members will have to show that the boats owners, who were on shore, should have known the boat was unsafe and the possible hazards it faced at sea. Mongeluzzi said it appears likely that the fire broke out in the galley where lithium-ion batteries, which are known to be a fire hazard, were being charged for cameras, phones and powerful strobe lights used for diving at night. Mongeluzzi and attorney Jeffrey Goodman cited news reports of a fire that broke out on the boats sister vessel, Vision, when a cell phone began smoldering and was tossed overboard before it could cause any damage. The only survivors of the Conception were the captain and four other crew members, who were all asleep above deck. They said they awoke to find the boat engulfed in flames and were unable to reach the sleeping passengers or Kurtz and had to jump in the water to save their own lives. Authorities are looking into whether the boat had a night watchman on duty, as required under Coast Guard rules. One crew member, who broke his leg trying to escape, has also sued the boat owners along with the wife and teenage children of a man who died below deck. Boat owners Glen and Dana Fritzler have said in court papers that they used reasonable care to make the Conception seaworthy, and she was, at all relevant times, tight, staunch, and strong, fully and properly manned, equipped and supplied and in all respects seaworthy and fit for the service in which she was engaged. Coast Guard records show the boat had passed its two most recent safety inspections without violations. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits California She's been a pop star for over 25 years, getting her start on The Mickey Mouse Club. And Christina Aguilera was spotted on mom duty Tuesday, dressed in her finest label attire when she showed up with partner Matthew Rutler to pick their daughter Summer Rain up from school in Los Angeles, California. The Genie In A Bottle songstress, 39, was in a form-fitting black top with a low scoop neck and drawstring pants, and she wore a fetching hot pink Balenciaga windbreaker over the all-black ensemble. Pop star mom: Christina Aguilera was spotted on mom duty Tuesday, dressed in fine label attire when she showed up with partner Matthew Rutler to pick their daughter up from school Christina completed her look with Converse-style black sneakers with buckled straps, and shielded her eyes from the California sun with large rectangular YSL sunglasses. Her peroxide blonde hair was up in a top knot. Rutler, 34, was in a black sweatshirt and jeans. The pair, who have been together since 2010, share daughter Summer, who is five years of age. Parents: The Genie In A Bottle songstress was in a form-fitting black top with a low scoop neck and drawstring pants, and she wore a hot pink Balenciaga windbreaker Aguilera is also mom to son Max Bratman, 12, who she shares with her ex-husband, record producer Jordan Bratman. Just this weekend, Christina took to Instagram to wish her older child a happy birthday with two heartfelt tributes. In the first, she uploaded a sweet snap of mom and son posing in front of a bonfire, alongside a sincerely sweet and long birthday message to her beloved son. On their way: Christina and Matthew have been together since 2010, and share daughter Summer Rain, who is five years of age 'I love being your mom - thanks for constantly teaching ME new things in life,' she wrote, in part. The second snap showed Christina celebrating alongside Max and his father Jordan, as dad presented a birthday cake full of lit candles. 'We make blended families work. Its a beautiful thing.' she captioned the beautiful image. Matthew and Christina first met in 2010, shortly after her divorce from Bratman. Selfie moment: Aguilera is also mom to son Max Bratman, 12, who she shares with her ex-husband, record producer Jordan Bratman; seen here recently on her Instagram After about four years of dating, Rutler proposed on Valentine's Day in 2014, some six months before the birth of Summer. It was a busy 2019 for Aguilera: she embarked on The X Tour in Europe from July to December and she headlined her very own 16-date Las Vegas Residency dubbed The Xperience that concluded in October. She also put on a New Year's Eve performance at Zappos Theatre in Vegas. An elderly Brooklyn woman who called the police on her son during an argument was allegedly murdered by him after cops responded and left, police say. Marie Louis, 77, feared for her safety and dialed 911 at around 9.30pm on Monday after getting into a heated argument with her son Arnel Henry, 36, in her Kensington apartment. Police responded to the call before leaving the property, believing there was no threat at the time. Marie Louis, 77, who called the police on her son during an argument was allegedly murdered by him after cops responded and left, police say (Stock image) About an hour later, cops responded to an emergency call from the victim's other son, who lives in New Jersey, to say his mother had rung him and told him she was being attached by Henry. Louis was found dead with stab wounds and trauma to the head, police said. Henry was taken into custody on a murder charge and transported to a hospital for treatment and observation, police said. He remained there Tuesday. It wasn't immediately known if Henry had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. The building superintendent, Enrique Rodriguez, said police were initially called because Henry was sharpening a knife and making the woman nervous. Rodriguez said officers told her there was nothing they could do because he wasn't harming anyone. When cops returned to her apartment they found Louis dead in the dining room with stab wounds and severe head trauma, authorities said. '(Henry) answered the door covered in blood,' a police source told the NY Daily News. Rodriquez said: 'They left. 15-20 minutes, boom. He already kill her. I'm here 20 years, never had any problems in this building. It's unbelievable.' Ashley Cleek, a radio reporter and producer who lives a floor above Louis, said Henry lived with Louis and has had a history of mental illness. Cleek said Louis and the superintendent called police around 9pm to report the kitchen knife threat. Relaying what the superintendent told her of the exchange, Cleek said responding officers downplayed Louis' fears and told her Henry 'could have been using the knife to chop vegetables.' 'A few hours later, my neighbor was dead,' Cleek said, sharing part of her account on Twitter. 'If the police has taken her fear seriously, I have no doubt she would be alive today.' Police said Cleek's tweets were not accurate and that there was 'absolutely no criminality' involved in the disturbance that led to their initial response. They said officers didn't find anyone in distress and that everyone appeared to be acting normally. Cleek said the superintendent showed her video footage of an earlier dispute between Henry and the building's doorman, around 7:30 or 8pm. She said she her tweets about the events leading to Louis' death were based primarily on what the superintendent told her about the later disturbance, adding: 'I don't see why he would make that up.' 'I went up in the elevator with her at 8:15 / 8:25ish,' Cleek said. 'And then, according to the super, she came back down around 9 and asked to call 911 because her son threatened her.' Cleek said Louis was a staple in their Kensington neighborhood. She was sweet, warm and spoke with a Caribbean accent. Cleek called her death an 'absolute tragedy.' For the the first time in the modern Turkish republic, a ruling party has officially imposed religious rules in the public sphere, reigniting concerns that Turkey is gradually drifting toward an Islamic regime. The Turkish government set out Islamic directives to regulate inspections on interest-free finance. Independent auditing firms will have to obey Islamic rules and established Islamic practices while inspecting the interest-free financial institutions, according to the country's official gazette published Dec. 14. Interest-free finance, also known as Islamic banking, is a fast-growing market in Turkey under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Speculation over Turkeys drifts toward Islam is not new. Ever since the AKP came into power in 2002, there has been incessant discussion of whether Turkey would become an Islamic regime. However, according to most political scientists and observers, the Turkish experience under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not unique. For them, Erdogan is yet another populist leader, not so different from Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban or President Donald Trump. They also tend to think that the regime is not unique to Turkey: It is competitive authoritarianism, where competition exists to a degree and the power of the opposition is curtailed. When it comes to the role of religion in Turkey, the general tendency has been in line with the above-mentioned approach: Yes, Erdogan openly expresses his wish to raise pious generations, and he doesnt hesitate to spend state funds for this purpose. He also challenges the secularist order set by Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. Categorically, one cannot see the pillars of a religious state in Turkey. There is no ban on alcohol and no state-sanctioned dress code, as in Iran or Afghanistan. There is no coercion to send people to the mosques during prayer times. However, some of Erdogan's decisions, particularly in recent years, contrast with the above perspective. For instance, there may not be an alcohol ban, but under AKP rule alcohol has become extremely expensive. As a result, alcohol consumption is limited to certain segments of society. Also, public alcohol consumption is only possible in major cities and certain provinces of Turkey. It is no longer possible to find restaurants or pubs that serve alcohol in rural Anatolian towns and cities. Another example is the mammoth annual budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, Turkeys official religious body. Its 2020 budget is bigger than the budgets of eight ministries, including ministries of interior and foreign affairs. Thanks to its enormous budget, the directorate has extended its services to kindergartens, where the Quran is taught to young pupils. During the AKP's reign, many schools were converted into religious institutes called Imam Hatip schools. The number of students enrolled in Imam Hatip schools reached some 1.3 million in the 2017-2018 education year. All of these developments can be seen as efforts to create a pious generation rather than efforts to impose religious rule. But a recent development refutes this optimism. The Turkish government introduced Dec. 14 unprecedented wording and language to the Turkish public record by a ruling issued in the countrys Official Gazette. For the the first time in the modern Turkish republic, the ruling party officially imposed religious rules to regulate the service sector: inspections on interest-free finance. The ruling sets basic rules and regulations for independent auditors by referencing several Quranic verses and hadiths the words of the Prophet Muhammad and fiqhs the established Islamic practices. An act against Islamic jurisprudence and rules cannot be considered legitimate even if it is legal and in accordance with the established practices of the market, the ruling said. According to the ruling, the auditors must obey Islamic jurisprudence and rules, in addition to the relevant national and international laws, while inspecting interest-free financial institutions. The auditor should act with the fear of God, the Exalted and be constantly aware that God, the Exalted, is watching him, it said. The ruling came about a month after Erdogans much debated call for organizing daily life in accordance with the Islamic rules. Time and conditions change, but the words of the Quran do not. We will act according to Islam, not vice versa, Erdogan said, addressing the sixth Religious Council meeting of the Diyanet Nov. 28. Has the time come to change the secular order? Political commentator Levent Gultekin offered a nuanced explanation. The fear that Turkey "will wake up one morning and see that Sharia rule has been imposed, as in Iran" is "unrealistic, because it is not possible for them to do so," Gultekin wrote Jan. 12 in Diken, an independent Turkish news outlet. "But there is a trend in this direction proceeding step by step." Gultekin argued that Turkey is rapidly drifting toward Islamism. In fact, we can say that the country has covered much distance in terms of this transition, he wrote. According to Gultekin, the public will soon not be able to hold a dialogue on such matters because such a discussion itself will be considered anti-religious. Indeed, recent developments confirm such a trend. Perhaps Turkey will not adopt Sharia overnight, but there are indications it could gradually drift toward a new order, where secular rules are replaced with religious ones. Meanwhile, regardless of the religious agenda of Erdogan and his party, surveys show that efforts to create a pious generation are backfiring. A poll by the prominent Turkish firm Konda showed that the number of people who defined themselves as religious conservatives dropped to 25% from 32% between 2008-2018. In the same period, those who fast during Ramadan dropped from 77% to 66%. Also, several polls indicated that the AKP is losing its support base. However, these impediments do not necessarily mean that Erdogan and the government will give up their agenda. < iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dk7BhEkJfcw" width="478"> Tauranga City is nearing water restrictions as summer and periods without rain continue. Councils city waters manager Stephen Burton says they are currently tracking above 50,000m3 per day, which is close to them implementing water restrictions. He says the first instance would be a sprinkler ban. This means that no sprinklers or irrigation systems can be used, and all watering must be done by hand. He says they are continuing to monitor water usage before they make a final call. See below for tips on how to save water this summer. Tips on saving water in summer If water use increases dramatically over summer, we may need to introduce water restrictions. The first level of restrictions would be a sprinkler ban. This would mean that no sprinklers or irrigation systems can be used, and all watering must be by hand. Restrictions can be avoided if we all do our bit to conserve water at home. Garden Soak your garden every few days rather than giving it a quick drink every night. Light watering means water evaporates quickly and makes the roots grow shallow. Soaking the ground every few days encourages the roots to go deeper into the soil where moisture is held longer. Water early in the morning or later in the evening so water doesnt evaporate. Mulch your garden with grass clippings or compost. Mulching keeps moisture in. Raise the blades on your lawn mower a notch. Leaving 25-30mm of leaf provides shade to the roots and soil, slowing water loss and protecting your lawn from sunburn. If your lawn does dry out, most grasses including Taurangas common Kikuyu grass will grow back again. Dig a small trench around trees and large plants to help retain water. Dig the soil well-turned, aerated soil will absorb water easily. Rather than using a sprinkler, invest in an irrigation system and use a timer to run it. Remember, if a sprinkler ban is introduced, you will need to turn your irrigation off. When landscaping a new garden Should you be planning to sow some new grass or put in a new lawn, make sure you do this before summer so your grass has time to settle ahead of the hot and dry months. Water restrictions may also mean you will not be able to water new grass as often as it needs. Landscape to suit your area choose plants that thrive in our local climate and suit your gardens unique features (sun, shade, dry, damp etc). Hydro-Zone your garden group plants that have similar water needs. Plant shade trees the shade reduces evaporation and soil temperature. Make sure new plants are put in well before the dry summer months. Kitchen Fix any leaking taps, pipes or cisterns. Put a jug of water in your fridge for instant cold water. Make sure the dishwasher is full before you use it. Scrape dirty dishes rather than rinsing. Modern dishwashers can take it! Put the plug into the sink to wash dishes or scrub vegetables, dont leave the water running. Bathroom Turn off the tap while shaving or brushing your teeth. Take shorter showers. A quick shower uses less than quarter of the water used in a bath. Use the short toilet flush when you can, that uses about half the water of a full flush. Outside Kate Middleton channeled her tactile sister-in-law Meghan Markle during a visit to Bradford today as she offered a warm embrace to a royal fan, telling him she had received cards he had made for her. The Duchess of Cambridge, 38, joined her husband Prince William, 37, at the City Hall, and made a beeline for Josh who had been standing in the crowd with his mother Sue, waiting to catch a glimpse of the couple. The Duchess of Cambridge hugged the boy, who has sensory autism, and told him she had received a wedding and baby cards he had made for her. Kate was seen chatting with the boy named Josh, holding his hand while they spoke, before she leaned in and offered him a huge hug. The tactile approach is similar to that taken by sister-in-law Meghan, 38, who is often seen greeting people with hugs on royal visits, despite it contradicting royal protocol. Kate Middleton, 38, put on an out-of-character tactile display while attending a walkabout at Bradford City Hall, where she was seen hugging Josh, who was waiting in the crowd with his mother Sue The Duchess of Cambridge was seen gently holding the boy's hand while they spoke in the city before offering him an embrace Kate and Prince William are currently undertaking a visit to Bradford and were about to take a tour of the city when the Duchess spotted Josh in the crowd. The royal made a beeline for the young boy, who was wrapped up warm in a red bobble hat and puffer jacket, before the two shared a warm embrace. Kate could be seen chatting to Josh, with the royal holding his hand throughout the conversation. Josh's mother Sue told MailOnline that they had a short conversation, saying: 'Kate came over, Josh gave her a hug, they had a little chat.' The royal could be seen offering Josh a warm embrace, in a move that reflected sister-in-law Meghan Markle's, 38, tactile approach She said Josh asked the Duchess if she and William had got the wedding cards and baby cards he had made for them, and Kate said 'Yes'. Sue added: 'Josh has autism so she was lovely and took her time chatting.' Josh has previously been pictured with a raft of celebrities, from Robbie Williams to Harry Styles and Ross Kemp to Tom Daley. He was also once photographed with Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and has also met a host of other celebrities. Josh's mother Sue went on to share several snaps of the delighted royal fan on Twitter, saying the Duchess said she had received cards he had made for her The delighted royal fan, who has sensory autism, had a 'little chat' with Kate, who told him she had received several cards he had made for her Josh has previously met other members of the royal family before, such as Sophie Wessex, as well as a whole host of celebrities including Robbie Williams Sue often shares snaps of her son with various celebrities on her social media page (pictured left, Josh with Ross Kemp and right, with Tom Daley) The move is different for the Duchess of Cambridge, who often offers the more traditional handshake on royal visits, and is similar to that used by Meghan on royal visits. The Duchess of Sussex has become somewhat known for her tactile approach while making royal appearances. In September, during the launch of her Smart Set collection with patronage Smart Works, Meghan was seen offering hugs to many of those in attendance. And in October, Meghan clashed with the organiser of the One World Summit when she performed a respectful curtsy while the Duchess caught her off guard by trying to offer a more informal hug. The Duchess of Sussex is often tactile while undertaking royal visits (pictured, hugging designer Misha Nonoo at the launch of the Smart Works capsule collection at John Lewis in Oxford Street, London) And in November, Meghan threw her arms out in favour of a hug (pictured) rather than curtsy as she arrived at Windsor Castle alongside husband Prince Harry, 35, The Duchess also insisted on a hug after the organiser of the One World summit attempted to offer her a curtsey in one moment caught on camera in November Days later, she offered another enormous hug to an organiser while attending a round-table discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World. There are no obligatory rules on greeting the Queen or her family members, but tradition dictates that men may wish to bow their heads while women perform a small curtsy. A handshake is also perfectly acceptable, but hugging is not customary. Last year, former butler to Prince Charles, Grant Harrold, suggested Meghan was 'showing that the British royal family is a modern 21st-century family' and 'carrying on Diana's tradition' by hugging children and adults. Meanwhile etiquette expert William Hanson revealed that American-raised Meghan would see using a hug as a form of greeting as common practice. Kate and husband Prince William are currently on a visit to Bradford for the day to visit young people across the community to learn about life in the city 'Meghan, being American, will be used to greeting with a hug as a standard greeting as that seems to be the norm in the US,' William said. 'Brits prefer to literally keep people at arm's length by using handshakes, saving hugs for close friends and family. 'However some Americans can interpret this as coldness, whereas some Brits would interpret a hug from a near stranger as insincere.' During today's visit, Prince William and Kate will take a tour of the city as they visit a community project that aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren. The royal was seen chatting and shaking hands with other members of the public after her tactile display They will meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project - a workshop series helping grandparents to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren and giving them information about raising children in the 21st century. While in West Yorkshire, William and Kate will also visit young people, employers and families at a series of projects that promote cohesion within what is one of Britain's most diverse cities. Today was the couple's first joint public engagement together since a charity event in London two months ago on November 12 for their volunteer text support service Shout. [January 15, 2020] The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz Announces Investigation on Behalf of Baxter International Inc. Investors (BAX) The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces an investigation on behalf of Baxter International Inc. ("Baxter" or the "Company") (NYSE: BAX) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. On October 24, 201, the Company disclosed certain misstatements in Baxter's non-operating income for fiscal years 2014 through 2018 related to net foreign exchange gains. Baxter also disclosed that it began an investigation regarding "certain intra-company transactions undertaken for the purpose of generating foreign exchange gains or losses," which had used a foreign exchange rate convention that was "not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and enabled intra-company transactions to be undertaken after the related exchange rates were already known." On this news, Baxter's share price fell sharply during intraday trading on October 24, 2019, thereby injuring investors. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/FRC_LAW. If you purchased Baxter securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Frank R. Cruz, of The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-914-5007, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.frankcruzlaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005789/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick was a no-show at the 40th anniversary reunion for long-running drama in March, last year. And now the 78-year-old actress has revealed the real reasons behind her decision to snub the fan event to celebrate the iconic 1980s series. The veteran star was approached to attend the fan event by co-star Val Lehman, but never agreed to attend, despite being including in early promotions. The truth: Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick was a no-show at the 40th anniversary reunion for long-running drama in March, last year. And now the 78-year-old actress has revealed the real reasons behind her decision to snub the fan event to celebrate the iconic 1980s series At the time, Val told TV Tonight that Maggie pulled out because she was too 'unwell' to attend. But Maggie has now denied the claim. In an interview with TV Blackbox on Wednesday, she said there were multiple reasons why she chose not to attend, in particular an original cast member being excluded from the reunion. 'A certain original member in the very first episode and in the very last episode was not even notified of the event, let alone invited to it,' she explained. Not happy: The actress, who played prison officer Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson (pictured), said that part of her reason to not attended was because an original cast member being excluded from the reunion. She said they were 'not even notified of the event, let alone invited to it' Maggie added that she also chose not to attend because she didn't agree with where the profits were being donated to. 'When I saw where profits were going I thought, "No, that's not fair, it should go to the actors' benevolent fund,' she said. The profits from the event, which 300 people from around the world attended at $300 per ticket, were donated to two charities - Positive Women and Australia Zoo. 'I thought, "No, that's not fair": Maggie added that she also chose not to attend because she didn't agree with where the profits were being donated to A source told the publication that a donation of around $20,000 was given to each charity. Maggie starred in four seasons of Prisoner between 1982 to 1986 as prison officer, Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson. Since coming to prominence in the iconic series, Maggie has gone on to star in other TV dramas, including Home And Away and All Saints. Tim Olson, associate director for field operations for the bureau, said the backlogs had been resolved and recruitment is on schedule, noting that the bulk of hiring is not set to take place until April. The bureau says it has recruited 1.7 million applicants and is hiring at a rate of nearly 25,000 a day. It recently increased the hourly pay for census workers in more than three-quarters of communities across the country, and it also has been targeting seasonal holiday workers whose jobs ended after Christmas and college students whose classes end in late spring. A week before Germany, France and Britain formally accused Iran of breaching the 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration issued a private threat to the Europeans that shocked officials in all three countries. If they refused to call out Tehran and initiate an arcane dispute mechanism in the deal, the United States would impose a 25 percent tariff on European automobiles, the Trump officials warned, according to European officials familiar with the conversations. Within days, the three countries would formally accuse Iran of violating the deal, triggering a recourse provision that could reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran and unravel the last remaining vestiges of the Obama-era agreement. The U.S. effort to coerce European foreign policy through tariffs, a move one European official equated to extortion, represents a new level of hardball tactics with Americas oldest allies, underscoring the extraordinary tumult in the transatlantic relationship. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously used the threat of a 25 percent tariff on automobiles to win more favourable terms in Americas trade relationship with the Europeans, but not to dictate the continents foreign policy. It remains unclear if the threat was even necessary as Europeans had been signalling their intention to trigger the dispute resolution for weeks. While the U.S. views the mechanism as critical to re-imposing sanctions on Iran in as quickly as 65 days, the Europeans see the measure as a last chance to salvage a deal they view as vital to reducing tensions and limiting Irans nuclear program. The tariff threat is a mafia-like tactic and its not how relations between allies typically work, said Jeremy Shapiro, the research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. When asked about the tariff warning, a senior U.S. official said, Weve been very clear that the JCPOA was a horrible deal, referring to the Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. official conceded that Europeans were already moving toward triggering the dispute resolution before the threat was issued last week. The consensus among the Europeans about the need to hold Tehran accountable took form weeks ago and was driven by Irans escalatory behaviour and violations of the nuclear deal, the official said. European officials complained privately that Trumps threat only complicated their decision on Tuesday to invoke the mechanism, which starts the clock on 65 days of negotiations with Iran about returning to full compliance with the deal. If the dispute isnt settled, UN sanctions could be reimposed on Iran, including a blanket arms embargo. Officials in Britain, France and Germany say they had planned to initiate the mechanism, but Trumps threat nearly caused them to backtrack out of concern that they could be viewed as stooges of Washington if word of the threat ever leaked. We didnt want to look weak, so we agreed to keep the existence of the threat a secret, a European official said. U.S. officials conveyed the threat directly to officials in London, Berlin and Paris rather than through their embassies in Washington, said a senior European official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. Following the U.S. killing of Irans top commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran said it was no longer bound by the limitations of the deal but would continue to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the absence of a deal, Trump administration officials have struggled to explain how they will prevent Iran from getting closer to a nuclear weapon as they expand their enrichment of uranium. Trump, however, has declared that he will not permit that to happen. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON! he tweeted last week. Major difficulties in the trans-Atlantic relationship began after Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program. The Europeans remained in the deal, noting that Iran had continued to comply with its side of the agreement according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Last year, Iran began taking gradual steps to exceed the limitations of the deal to pressure the Europeans to make good on their promises of sanctions relief. The 2015 agreement limited the number of centrifuges Iran could deploy for uranium enrichment and restricted how much uranium it could stockpile, among other requirements. In a joint statement on Tuesday, Britain, France and Germany initiated the dispute mechanism, saying they did so in good faith, with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward through constructive diplomatic dialogue. The nations also distanced themselves from the Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign and said they opposed the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement in 2018. Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance, they said. Some supporters of the Iran nuclear deal believe the Europeans made a mistake in triggering the mechanism on Tuesday even if their intention was to preserve the accord. Ali Vaez, an Iran nuclear expert at the International Crisis Group, said the measure could hurt Europes ability to mediate between the United States and Iran and is unlikely to add much more economic pressure on Iran. It might provoke a crisis that they claim they are trying to prevent unless the time and space created by intense diplomatic engagement is used to provide Iran with some economic reprieve as a means of returning it into JCPOA compliance, he tweeted. Following the Europeans announcement Tuesday, the State Department praised the triggering of the mechanism saying we fully support the decision. We agree with our allies that the goal is to stand with the Iranian people while exposing Tehrans lawless behavior, a State Department spokesman said. The Washington Posts Shane Harris contributed to this report. Read more about: Increase in awareness for cosmetic layers, developments in the field of lasers, and surge in obesity across the globe drive the growth of the global cosmetic laser market PORTLAND, Oregon, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Cosmetic Laser Market by Product (Ablative, Non-ablative), Modality (Pulsed Dye Laser (PDL), YAG laser, Carbon Dioxide Laser (CO2), Erbium, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), Radiofrequency, Infrared, and Others), Application (Hair removal, Skin Resurfacing, Vascular Lesions, Scar and Acne Removal, Body Contouring, and Others), and End-User (Hospitals, Skin Care Clinics, and Cosmetic Surgical Centers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026." According to the report, the global cosmetic laser industry garnered $1.81 billion in 2018, and is estimated to generate $5.41 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 14.5% from 2019 to 2026. Prime determinants of growth Rise in awareness for cosmetic layers, advancements in field of lasers, and increase in obesity across the globe are the major factors that drive the growth of the global cosmetic laser market. However, higher cost associated with these procedures hinders the market growth. On the other hand, development in fillers, lasers, and injectables are estimated to create lucrative opportunities for the market in the coming future. Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5329 The non-ablative lasers segment to retain its lead position during the forecast period- Based on type, the non-ablative lasers segment held nearly three-fifths of the total market share of the global cosmetic laser market in 2018, and is estimated to retain its lead position during the forecast period. This is due to the fact that the increased demand for these devices that require small incisions on the skin surface through which a cannula is inserted. However, the ablative lasers segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 15.2% from 2019 to 2026. This is due to its increased usage for skin rejuvenation purposes. The YAG laser segment to maintain its dominance in terms of revenue by 2026- Based on modality, the YAG laser segment held the highest share in the global cosmetic laser market in 2018, contributing to nearly one-fourth of the total share, and is expected to maintain its dominance in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period. This is due to its increased usage in cataract surgery. Contrarily, the erbium segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 18.0% from 2019 to 2026. As the major benefit of erbium laser resurfacing is minimal burning of surrounding tissue and reduced patient downtime. North America to contribute largest share during the forecast period- Based on region, North America held the largest share in 2018, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global cosmetic laser market, and will lead during the forecast period. This is due to the presence of major key players such as Hologic, Inc., Bausch Health Companies Inc., Cutera, Inc. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is estimated to witness the largest growth rate, registering a CAGR of 16.2% from 2019 to 2026. This is attributed to the factors such as rise in disposable income and increase in promotional activities associated with use of cosmetic laser. For Purchase Enquiry at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5329 Leading market players- Hoyoconbio Lumensis Palomar and Syneron Aerolase El.En. Spa Lumenis Ltd Aerolase Corporation Sciton, Inc Sharp Light Technologies Fosun Pharmaceutical Alma Candela Cutera Syneron Medical Inc Cynosure Deka Solta Medical Avenue Basic Plan | Library Access | 1 Year Subscription | Sign up for Avenue subscription to access more than 12,000+ company profiles and 2,000+ niche industry market research reports at $699 per month, per seat. For a year, the client needs to purchase minimum 2 seat plan. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Get more information:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Similar Reports: Ophthalmic Lasers Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Aesthetic Lasers & Energy Devices Market: Global Opportunity Analysis & Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Medical Laser Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Top 10 Cancer Drugs Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2026 Cosmetic Implants Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Life Science Market:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/life-sciences Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allied-market-research Logo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg Chinese giant Huawei has come out swinging against Malcolm Turnbull's warning against using its technology in 5G rollouts. The former Australian Prime Minister said the state-owned firm, which he banned from the country's 5G network while he was in power, was too high risk and would leave Britain 'vulnerable'. 'We did a lot of work [to see] how we could mitigate the risk and the conclusion we came to was that there just wasn't a satisfactory mitigation of the risk,' he said. Scroll down for video Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with his wife Lucy) said Huawei, which he banned from the country's 5G network while he was in power, was too high risk to roll out Britain's version Mr Turnbull made the warning on BBC radio on Tuesday after British prime minister Boris Johnson challenged Huawei critics to offer any alternatives. Britain's National Security Council will make a decision within two weeks on what company will be commissioned to roll out 5G across the UK. Huawei claimed Mr Turnbull's criticism was based on the same 'factually incorrect information' he used to ban the company from Australia's 5G. The tech firm is regarded with suspicion by many security experts and politicians because of its ties to the Chinese government. Huawei has consistently denied such claims and on Wednesday declared it would 'rather shut down the entire company' than compromise customers on state orders. Mr Turnbull's contention was that its 5G radio access network was not separated well enough from other parts of its business. Huawei is regarded with suspicion by many security experts and politicians because of its ties to the Chinese government and fears it could spy for Beijing Australian corporate affairs direct Jeremy Mitchell said subsequent 5G rollouts showed his reasoning was incorrect. 'Mr Turnbull told Australians that the ban was imposed because 5G technology required a different network architecture to 4G networks but real world 5G deployments have now shown that to be completely false,' he said. Mr Mitchell said Huawei's 5G technology simply built on the same 4G systems that were securely provided in Australia for the past 15 years. He pointed to a report by the UK Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology that broadly agreed with that assessment. Britain's National Cyber Security Centre also found that securing Huawei's 5G was not different in a way 'that fundamentally breaks all our current security principles and paradigms'. 'During our engagement with the Turnbull government we made it absolutely clear we would take whatever measures were necessary to mitigate any perceived risks identified,' Mr Mitchell said. 'Indeed, our founder Mr Ren Zhengfei has made it quite clear that he would rather shut down the entire company than take any actions from any government that would harm the interests of our customers. 'Huawei has worked closely with security agencies around the world to help find solutions on risk mitigation on 5G and are always willing to do so with Australian security agencies.' Mr Turnbull on Tuesday suggested Britain use two 'very large vendors', Erickson and Nokia, instead of their Chinese competitor. 'Prudence would suggest that the better course of action is not to use high-risk vendors and 5G, there are alternatives, European alternatives,' he said. Mr Johnson said said critics of Huawei must offer an alternative provider. He said he did not want to 'prejudice' the country's ability to share intelligence with allies as a result of the improvements he had promised voters in his election manifesto. Mr Johnson was referring to the so-called Five Eyes arrangement - a collaboration between Britain, Australia, US, Canada, and New Zealand. The upgrade from 4G to 5G will revolutionise mobile internet capabilities, with consumers able to download a two-hour film in less than four seconds - 10 to 20 times faster than on 4G. Analysis Infographics: Chinese Leaders Visits to Myanmar Over 6 Decades A collage of Myanmar and Chinese leaders shows U Nu and Mao Zedong (left), U Ne Win and Deng Xiaoping (center), and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Xi Jinping (right). YANGONChinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Naypyitaw on Friday for a two-day visit aimed at helping his country establish a strategic presence in the Indian Ocean and seeking Myanmar leaders commitment to key backbone projects for his ambitious Belt and Road Initiative planned across Chinas southern neighbor. Xi will be the first Chinese president to visit Myanmar in nearly two decades. This year marks the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries. Myanmar was the first non-communist country to recognize the communist Peoples Republic of China after its foundation in 1949. Economic relations were virtually non-existent until 1953. In 1954, the countries signed their first trade agreement, but it was very limited in scope. Relations warmed after the signing a treaty of friendship and mutual non-aggression, and the promulgation of a Joint Declaration in June 1954, which enshrined what are officially known as the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Myanmar eight times from 1954 to 1965. From 1954 to 1960, the countries relations were focused on border treaty agreements and implementation of the Five Principles. Diplomatic relations were temporarily disrupted following anti-Chinese riots in Myanmar in 1967. The expulsion of Chinese communities from Myanmar created a deterioration in the China-Myanmar relationship. The intense riots prompted China to show active support for the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), which attempted to seize power along the shared border in 1968. Engagement was revived in the 1970s, but the relationship was precarious, with China pursuing a dual diplomacy, engaging with the Myanmar government on the one hand while continuing its support for the CPB on the other. Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping visited Yangon in January 1978, when China decided to withdraw its support for the CPB. At that time, China sought closer economic and political ties with the U Ne Win government. China became a close ally of Myanmar, especially when the Southeast Asian country was under the military regime in the late 1990s. Amid international sanctions against the junta, from late 1994 Chinese leaders visited Myanmar pushing an agenda of economic expansion, mostly focused on implementing mega-projects, including the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State. From 2000 to 2010, nearly 60 memorandums of understanding and memorandums of agreement were signed during top Chinese leaders visits to Myanmar, particularly on cooperation in the economic and technology sectors. In 2014, during Chinese Premier Li Keqiangs trip to Myanmar, the two countries signed agreements worth US$7.8 billion (11.5 trillion kyats) covering the construction of power plants, cooperation in fisheries and livestock, hydropower development and support for the telecommunications industry, among other things. Here, The Irrawaddy breaks down six decades of high-level Chinese visits to Myanmar and their implications. You may also like these stories: Chinese State Newspaper Blasts US Uighur Bill, Calls for Reprisals China Drafts New Farm Rules to Control Rural Plastic Pollution Pope Defends China Deal on Bishops, Says He Will Have Final Say on Names KYODO NEWS - Jan 14, 2020 - 20:50 | All, Japan Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe secured Oman's backing Tuesday for Tokyo's plan to send the Self-Defense Forces to help ensure safe maritime navigation in the Middle East where tensions remain high. In a meeting with Abe in Muscat, Assaad bin Tariq Al Said, special representative for Oman's sultan, said he highly values Japan's efforts and the two agreed to work to safeguard shipping, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The Middle East saw a spike in tensions following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian commander that prompted Iran's retaliatory missile strikes against Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. (Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and Assaad bin Tariq Al Said, special representative for Oman's sultan, hold talks in Muscat, Oman on Jan. 14, 2020.) Fears of an open conflict have eased in recent days since U.S. President Donald Trump, in a restrained response, did not resort to further military action and instead chose fresh economic sanctions. Japan and Oman have built friendly ties with Iran despite years of hostility between Tehran and Washington. The Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran is a critical shipping lane and stability in the Middle East is vital for resource-scarce Japan, which gets about 90 percent of its oil imports from the region. Abe is on a three-nation trip that has taken him to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates where he also secured support from their leaders for the deployment of a Japanese destroyer and reconnaissance planes to gather intelligence in areas in the Middle East. The SDF dispatch is separate from a U.S.-led maritime security initiative and Japan is not sending SDF personnel or assets to the strait or the Persian Gulf. The operational areas are the Gulf of Oman, the northern part of the Arabian Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Earlier in the day, Abe met with new Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to express condolences over the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Friday. Sultan Qaboos, the longest-serving ruler in the Arab world, died at the age of 79. He was believed to have promoted secret talks between Iran and the United States before a landmark 2015 nuclear deal was reached. In 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of the deal designed to curb Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Tehran. The United States has re-instated economy-crippling sanctions, leading Iran to breach the agreement and raising tensions between the longtime foes. Related coverage: Abe, Abu Dhabi crown prince agree to secure a stable oil supply to Japan Abe calls for Saudi cooperation to stabilize Middle East Over 70% want gov't to review casino plans amid bribery scandal: Kyodo poll Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc. (CSE: RLG) (OTCQB: RLGMF) (FSE: HYK) ("West Red Lake Gold" or the "Company") announces that it has intersected 12.14 grams per tonne gold ("gpt Au") over 13.5 metres ("m") during exploration drilling at the NT Zone on the Rowan Mine Property in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of northwestern Ontario. The Company also intersected several additional positive gold intersections from NT Zone expansion drilling. Drill Highlights Include: 12.14 gpt Au over 13.5 m 9.14 gpt Au over 7.5 m 5.38 gpt Au over 21.0 m 11.13 gpt Au over 3.0 m 4.99 gpt over 5.2 m 6.34 gpt over 3.0 m West Red Lake Gold completed 3,060 m of diamond drilling in twelve holes along a 250 m portion of the 2 km long NT Zone. The exploration drilling program was designed to expand NT Zone gold mineralization to depth and along strike from the previous 1,443 m, eight hole drill program that intersected 14.18 gpt Au over 7.8 m, 6.51 gpt over 9.3 m, 13.80 gpt over 1.8 m and 3.76 gpt over 5.6 m (see news release dated January 30, 2019). Drilling indicates the presence of four parallel gold zones situated within the 100 metre wide NT Zone structure. The four gold zones are separated by 20 to 30 metres and trend along strike within the north-east trending NT Zone. The two central most zones appear to be the most prospective and are situated approximately 20 meters apart in the central area of the NT Zone structure. Future exploration drilling on the property is planned to follow NT Zone gold mineralization to greater depth below the positive drill results and also continue exploration drilling further along strike to the northeast. Mr. John Kontak, President of West Red Lake Gold stated "We are very pleased that the exploration drill program successfully expanded gold mineralization at the NT Zone. These drill results demonstrate that the 2 km long NT Zone holds significant exploration potential and is a new area of exploration focus which is located a few hundred metres south of the Rowan Mine gold deposit." All the current holes intersected the NT Zone which consists of a broad hydrothermal deformation zone comprised of ultramafic, mafic and felsic volcanics as well as iron formation. The drilling intersected in excess of 100 m of pervasive alteration in every hole and most of the holes ended in alteration. All the lithologies have undergone intensive pervasive hydrothermal alteration consisting of extensive sericitization, silicification and carbonatization. This results in a sequence of rocks consisting of predominately sericite, iron carbonate, silica / quartz and fuchsite. Sulphide mineralization, consisting of pyrite, pyrrhotite and sphalerite, is also associated with the alteration package. Technical Information The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kenneth Guy, P.Geo., a consultant to West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101"). All drilling was completed using NQ size core. Gold analyses on the samples collected by West Red Lake Gold were performed by SGS Laboratories Ltd. Analysis consisted of a fire assay of a 50-gram sample with an atomic absorption finish. Samples assaying over 10.0 gpt Au are re-assayed with gravimetric finish. Samples noted to contain visible gold are analyzed via total metallic assay method. A rigorous Quality Control and Assurance Program is in place using control samples including blanks and standards. The Rowan Mine property presently hosts a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") inferred mineral resource of 4,468,900 tonnes at an average grade of 7.57 grams per tonne Au containing 1,087,700 ounces of gold with a cut-off grade of 3.0 grams per tonne (NI 43-101 Technical Report dated February 16, 2016 filed on sedar.com). The inferred resource is located in the area of the historic underground Rowan Mine site and situated within a 1.8km strike length portion of the regional scale Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone. West Red Lake Gold Mines is a Toronto-based minerals exploration company focused on gold exploration and development in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada. The Red Lake Gold District is host to some of the richest gold deposits in the world and has produced 30 million ounces of gold from high grade zones. The Company has assembled a significant property position totalling 3,100 hectares in west Red Lake (the "West Red Lake Project") which contains three former gold mines. The Mount Jamie Mine and Red Summit Mine properties are 100% owned by the Company and the Rowan Mine property is held in a 60%-owned joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines. The West Red Lake Project property covers a 12 kilometre strike length along the Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone and the Company plans to continue to explore the property both along strike and to depth. For more information, please contact: John Kontak, President Phone: 416-203-9181 Email: jkontak@rlgold.ca or visit our website at http://www.westredlakegold.com To visit the companies Twitter profile, please click the button above or visit: https://twitter.com/westredlakegold To visit the companies LinkedIn profile, please click the button above or visit: https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-red-lake-gold The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements". When used in this document, the words "anticipated", "expect", "estimated", "forecast", "planned", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. These statements are based on current expectations of management, however, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. West Red Lake Gold does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof, except as required by securities laws. West Red Lake Project Diamond Drill Results Table To view an enhanced version of this table, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/868/51463_6e8597b8f46b3a52_004full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51463 The true colours of the sacred Pachacamac Idol of ancient Peru have been revealed as a chemical analysis has shown that the statue was painted in many shades. The idol is a symbolically carved wooden statue from the Pachacamac archaeological complex that lies 19 miles (31 kilometres) south of Lima. During the 15th-16th centuries, Pachacamac was the principal coastal Inca sanctuary. The idol was reportedly damaged in 1533 during the Spanish conquest of the region, and the full details of its antiquity have been unclear. Now researchers have unlocked the mystery of the wooden idol's red colouring using non-invasive and non-destructive analysis. They found that red was not the only colour present on the piece of wood finding white on the teeth of one figure and yellow on some headdresses. Scroll down for video The true colours of the sacred Pachacamac Idol of ancient Peru have been revealed as a chemical analysis has shown that the statue was painted in many shades Researchers discovered that the red colour of the idol was not blood, but mercury from cinnabar a mineral known in that region for more than 2,000 years. Cinnabar sources in the Andes are found around 248 miles (400 kilometres) from Pachacamac. The idol must have therefore been painted intentionally to show economic and political power, by carrying a pigment from a faraway region even though others were available on site, the team argue. In their study, archaeologist Marcela Sepulveda of the University of Tarapaca, Chile and colleagues chemically analysed a wood sample from the idol. Using carbon dating, the researchers were also able to determine that the wood was cut and likely to have also been carved around the years 760876 AD. This suggests that the statue was worshipped for almost 700 years before the Spanish conquest, the ream concluded. The idol is a symbolically carved wooden statue from the Pachacamac archaeological complex that lies 19 miles (31 kilometres) south of Lima. During the 15th-16th centuries, Pachacamac was the principal coastal Inca sanctuary Researchers discovered that the red colour on the idol (highlighted in the above) was not blood, but mercury from cinnabar a mineral known in that region for more than 2,000 years 'Here, polychromy of the so-called Pachacamac Idol is demonstrated, including the presence of cinnabar,' the researchers wrote in their paper. 'The unpublished chemical results obtained in this study show an exceptionally colourful palette for a venerated and sacred wooden statue preserved for nearly 700 years.' This, they added, demonstrates 'the significance of the idol for those who worshipped it.' The idol was reportedly damaged in 1533 during the Spanish conquest of the region, and the full details of its antiquity have been unclear The ancient societies of Africa, Asia and Europe typically decorated statues and other objects of adoration in colours, the researchers noted. 'The polychromy revealed in the so-called Pachacamac Idol provides evidence of a similar practice and adds a new material dimension for cult and pilgrimage in the Andean region,' they added. The full findings of the study were published in the journal PLOS ONE. Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos on Wednesday announced USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online and committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025. Before this, the online retail giant had committed USD 5.5 billion investments in India - Amazon's most important market outside of the US and a key growth driver. We are committed to being a long-term partner of India. And actions speak louder than words, he said. "Over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental USD 1 billion to digitise micro and small businesses... across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before. This initiative will use Amazon's global footprint to create USD 10 billion in India exports by 2025," he said. He added that part of this goal is to ensure that more people can participate in the prosperity of India. "We are making this announcement now because it is working... When something works you should double down on it. And that is why we are doing it." Amazon hopes that this investment will "bring millions of more people into the future prosperity of India and at the same time expose the world to the 'Make in India' products that represent India's rich, diverse culture." The company had previously said it expected e-commerce exports from India to reach USD 5 billion by 2023 under its global selling programme. Bezos, who began a three-day visit to India on Tuesday by visiting Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat here, was speaking at the SMBhav summit - an Amazon India gathering for small and medium businesses. "The 21st century is going to be the Indian century," the Amazon founder said, adding: "This country has something special: its dynamism. I also predict that the most important alliance in the 21st century will be between India and the United States." Bezos is expected to meet top government functionaries and business leaders during the trip. His visit has been marked by Competition Commission of India initiating a formal investigation into alleged deep discounts, preferential listing and exclusionary tactics adopted by Amazon and Flipkart, and small store owners demonstrating on the streets against online retailers driving them out of business by offering sharply discounted products. The Confederation of All India Traders, an association of about seven crore brick-and-mortar retailers, has said it will protest across 300 cities during his visit. Last year, the government had tightened rules for e-commerce marketplaces with foreign investment. These rules barred such platforms from offering products of sellers in which they hold a stake and banned exclusive marketing arrangements among other clauses. Following this, Amazon restructured its joint ventures to ensure compliance. Bezos is likely to take up these issues in his various meetings with government officials. Despite huge losses, Amazon has been pumping millions of dollars across various operations like marketplace, payments, infrastructure and supply chain management as well as marketing and promotion as it looks to strengthen its position in the fledgling Indian e-commerce market. In December last year, Amazon invested over Rs 1,700 crore into its payments and wholesale business units in India, while in October it had infused over Rs 4,400 crore (more than USD 600 million) in its various units in India, including marketplace and food retail. Bezos last visited India in 2014 when he presented Amazon's Indian unit with a giant cheque for USD 2 billion. Since then, Amazon has pledged a further USD 3.5 billion to expand in the country and the USD 1 billion investment announced Wednesday would take the total committed investment to USD 6.5 billion. The USD 1 billion investment would be to digitise 10 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and traders across India, including manufacturers, resellers, local offline shops, and brands. As part of this effort, Amazon will establish 100 Digital Haats in cities and villages throughout India. "Today, there are more than 5,50,000 sellers on the Amazon India marketplace and more than 60,000 Indian manufacturers and brands are exporting their 'Make in India' products to customers worldwide on Amazon," as per a company statement on the event. "With today's announcement, Amazon will help Indian MSMEs grow their cumulative exports to USD 10 billion by 2025 through the Amazon Global Selling program, which enables businesses to sell on Amazon marketplaces globally." The Digital Haats will provide services like e-commerce onboarding, imaging and cataloguing, warehouse space, logistics, digital marketing, and compliance. Digital Haats will be in local neighbourhoods and available to MSMEs irrespective of their association with Amazon. "The micro, small and medium-size businesses selling on Amazon.in are located across the country including Tier 2 and 3 cities, where they are generating jobs and transforming the retail landscape of the country," the statement added. According to a report, India is among the fastest growing markets for the e-commerce sector. Revenue from the sector is expected to increase to USD 120 billion in 2020 from USD 39 billion in 2017, growing at an annual rate of 51 per cent. Competition in the sector is also set to intensify as India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has announced plans to launch his own e-commerce venture. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GREENFIELD A person was taken to the hospital for evaluation early Wednesday after a vehicle crashed into a utility pole on Mill Street. The fire department posted information about the crash in a post on the departments Facebook page at about 2 a.m. Greenfield police are investigating. Additional information was not immediately available. English Lithuanian The content of the message has not changed. Attachment added. Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (hereinafter the Company or ESO), identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023. The Company informs that its parent company UAB Ignitis grupe informs that after consultation with the Bank of Lithuania, it discloses information that official tender circular of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius was submitted to Bank of Lithuania. It is noteworthy that this circular and the specified prices in this circular are not approved by the Bank of Lithuania yet. In the official tender circular of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius which was submitted to the Bank of Lithuania by the voluntary tender offer of UAB Ignitis Grupe, it is specified that the price to be paid for one share of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius amounts to EUR 0.880. This price is equal to the 6-month weighted average, until the day of announcement about intention to delist shares from trading on a regulated market (from 9 May 2019 until 8 November 2019 inclusive), of the stock market price which is equal to EUR 0.703 and the bonus which is equal to EUR 0.177. This bonus is paid by taking into consideration that it is intended to initiate mandatory buyout of shares of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius after implementing the official tender and for smooth implementation of the official tender. In the official tender circular it is also specified that if at the General meeting of shareholders of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius in the year 2020 the decisions will be adopted to pay dividends for the shareholders of AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius for the year 2019, UAB Ignitis Grupe, the offeror of the non-competitive mandatory tender, will pay the additional bonus for those shareholders who would sell their shares at a time of official tender offer. This bonus will be paid by UAB Ignitis Grupe as a part of whole price, which is paid for shares. The amount of this additional bonus shall be equal to the amount of dividends that such shareholder would have received in proportion to the shares he held and sold to UAB Ignitis Grupe at the time of the official tender offer, if he had been a shareholder of AB Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius on the record date of the rights of shareholders. It should be noted that this obligation of the UAB Ignitis grupe regarding payment of the additional bonus is conditional and in no way is a promise or an obligation to propose or decide to pay dividends for the year of 2019 to the shareholders of AB Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius. Also this does not mean that the management board of AB Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius has already made decisions to propose dividends to the shareholders of this company for the year of 2019. Company decisions to offer to pay or not to pay dividends to their shareholders will be made in accordance with applicable dividend policy and other legal acts and following the audit of annual financial statements for the year of 2019 of the Company. The comparisons of the prices in the official tender circular with the trading data of the ESO are provided in the annexes to this announcement. As announced earlier, now legal proceedings are taken regarding the delisting of ESO. On 6 January 2020 AB Energijos skirstymo operatorius appealed to District Court of Vilnius City regarding the 31 December 2019 decision of the Court to apply temporary protection measures and suspend the 4 December 2019 resolutions of the Extraordinary General Meeting of this company. Arturas Ketlerius, Head of public relations, arturas.ketlerius@ignitis.lt Attachment Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) and President Donald Trump during the signing of phase one of a trade deal, surrounded by officials, in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) US, China Sign Phase One Trade Deal, Calming Trade Tensions WASHINGTONThe United States and China signed a much anticipated phase one trade deal on Jan. 15, making an important breakthrough in the nearly 2-year-old trade war. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed the accord at a White House ceremony. Together we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers farmers and families, Trump said. This is a very important and remarkable occasion. Our negotiations were tough, honest, open, and respectful, leading us to this really incredible breakthrough. Most people thought this thing will never happen. It should have happened 25 years ago, by the way. Vice President Mike Pence praised Trumps leadership and the trade deal. Theres an ancient Chinese proverb that says: Men see only the present, but Heaven sees the future, Pence said. So let today be the beginning of a brighter future, more prosperous to the American people, the Chinese people, and the world. Trump offered rounds of praise to individual cabinet members and officials involved in negotiating the treaty, and to businessmen attending the ceremony at the White House, including executives of Mastercard, Honeywell, Boeing, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AIG, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Ford. Trump also promised an end to punitive tariffs on China after the completion of the phase two deal, negotiations on which he said would begin as phase one kicks in. Toward the end of the remarks, Trump said: This is the biggest deal there is anywhere in the world, by far. And thats good. Were doing another big one next week [the USMCA comes up for a vote in the Senate]. But this is the biggest deal anybody has ever seen. And it can lead to being a deal thats unprecedented, because China has 1.5 billion people, and ultimately, in phase two, were going to be opening up China to all of your [American] companies. So I hope you folks can handle it. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) and President Donald Trump during the signing of phase one of a trade deal, surrounded by officials, in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Liu He began his remarks by thanking the president of the United States, and then said he would like to read a letter from Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Mr. President, as China and the United States sign a phase one trade agreement, Ive asked Vice Premier Liu He to bring my warm greetings, the letter states. Xi reminded Trump of a Dec. 20 phone call in which he said the conclusion of the deal was good for China, the United States, and the whole world, and he hoped the two nations could now work on mutual respect. In that spirit, I hope the U.S. side will treat fairly Chinese companies and their regular trade and investment activities and give support to the collaboration between enterprises, research institutes, and schools and colleges of the two countries, Xi wrote. Xi expressed hope for better U.S.China relations and extended greetings for the Lunar New Year. Liu spoke optimistically about the significance of the deal as well. Over the past two years, the two sides encountered some difficulties in the economic and trade field, Liu said. However, our two economic teams did not give up. With the relentless efforts from both sides on the basis of equality and mutual respect, we have reached this phase one trade agreement. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) and President Donald Trump during the signing of phase one of a trade deal, surrounded by officials, in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The Deal Beijing has committed to buying $200 billion worth of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years, including $40 billion to $50 billion of agricultural goods each year. The farmers are going to be so happy, Trump said. In addition to farm products, Beijing has committed to buying additional manufactured goods of more than $75 billion, energy products of over $50 billion, and services close to $38 billion over the next two years, a senior administration official told reporters. These purchases are expected to continue on the same trajectory for several years after 2021 and contribute to the rebalancing of the U.S.China trade relations, according to a factsheet on the deal released by the administration. In return, Washington has agreed to modify its Section 301 tariff actions. It canceled a 15 percent levy on nearly $160 billion of Chinese goods scheduled for mid-December. It reduced tariffs to 7.5 percent from 15 percent on about $120 billion of Chinese imports. In addition, the 25 percent tariffs on nearly $250 billion of Chinese goods were kept in place, instead of increasing them to 30 percent, as was scheduled. Beijing also canceled imposing tariffs on U.S. goods that had been scheduled for Dec. 15 as retaliation. Trump said that he would use the remaining U.S. tariffs as a bargaining chip for the second phase of the deal. Im leaving them on, because otherwise, we have no cards to negotiate with, Trump said. They will all come off as soon as we finish phase two. The agreement also includes some commitments by China to protect intellectual property, stop forced technology transfers, and provide transparency on foreign exchange practices. China has also promised to open up its financial services markets to U.S. banks and credit companies. Enforcement Mechanism Included in the deal is a dispute resolution system that prescribes time frames for actions at various stages: starting from the working level, escalating all the way up to the USTR and Vice Premier level of both countries. Its designed to be a 75-day period from the start of the appeal until resolution of the dispute, according to a senior administration official. If theres no resolution within that time frame, there will be an opportunity for expedited consultations on the remedy for an additional 15 days. If parties fail to reach a resolution, they have the choice to quit the agreement, the official said. If we decide to take an action against China for violation of the agreement, they will have to make an assessment whether they want to be in the agreement or not, he said. It was designed this way to avoid China retaliating or challenging the United States at the World Trade Organization, he said. Uncertainty to Persist Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), an outspoken critic of the Beijing regime, casts doubt on whether China can fulfill its pledges. While its positive the United States is working towards a deal that would increase sales of U.S. agriculture products, Communist China never lives up to the bargain, he told The Epoch Times in an email. Communist China is stealing our technology and refuses to open their markets to foreign goods as required by their agreement to be part of the WTO, and needs to be held accountable. Despite this partial agreement, the uncertainty is likely to persist in 2020 as U.S.China bilateral relations go beyond trade. This is also about human rights, Scott said. The Florida senator has been critical of Beijing for militarizing the South China Sea, for breaking the Hong Kong agreement, and for attacking religious freedom. Thorny Issues Remaining The most important issues in U.S.China relations are put off for a future negotiation. The phase one deal does not address Chinas state subsidies, for example, one of the top concerns of the administration and the impetus for starting a trade war. Beijing has made no indication of how it would cut state subsidies and, politically, there seems to be no appetite to do that, according to experts. In the past decade, by funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into government subsidies, China has managed to create its own national champions in key industries. In addition, Chinas stance on intellectual property will continue to be a thorny issue, as Beijing wouldnt make a significant concession to meet U.S. demands, experts say. China has passed legislation to improve market access and strengthen IP protection in recent years. However, skepticism remains over the enforcement of these rules. The phase one deal is a small down payment on what needs to be done, according to Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland. As the agreement stands right now in terms of actual substantive changes in Chinese policy, theres not a lot there, he said. We have to see whether the Chinese will keep their word, whether they will indeed buy $200 billion more in U.S. products. If they do that, it might be easier to achieve a phase two deal because then liberalization in China might come easier. Morici, however, does not anticipate any progress on phase two talks until after the U.S. presidential election. If Trump is not reelected, this agreement becomes very questionable, he said. Currency Manipulation The U.S. Treasury Department on Jan. 13 dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator in its latest semi-annual currency report, reversing its August decision. The United States accused China of resorting to currency manipulation to create an unfair competitive trade advantage. The Treasurys designation in August was the first since 1994. In the latest report, the Treasury stated that China had made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation and provided transparency on foreign exchange activities as part of the phase one trade deal. After depreciating as far as 7.18 per dollar in September, the Chinese renminbi appreciated and is currently trading at about 6.90 per dollar. 6 Sectors to Benefit Most The trade deal is welcome news for U.S. farmers. Chinas retaliatory tariffs affected a host of farm products, including soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, rice, and sorghum, as well as livestock goods. Soybean has been among those hit hardest, as it accounted for nearly 10 percent of total U.S. exports to China before the trade war. In a research note, Cesar Rojas, an economist at Citigroup, wrote that the United States might need to increase the output of six products to meet the terms of the deal. These products include soybeans, auto chassis, auto bodies, aircraft, liquid natural gas, and LED lamps. Over the longer run, this is constructive for U.S. domestic investment and industrial production, but potentially costly in the short-run, Rojas said. This is because the U.S. has the greatest potential to immediately ship soybeans and grain to China, but not motor vehicles and aircraft. Trade War Is Not Over Yet The Chinese regime issued on Jan. 13 a cautionary note on a social media account affiliated with the state-run Economic Daily newspaper, saying the trade war is not over yet. The regime called the signing of the phase one trade deal just the first round of a game. We must bear in mind that the trade war is not over yetthe United States hasnt revoked all its tariffs on China and China is still implementing its retaliatory measures. There are still many uncertainties down the road, the note said. The worlds two biggest economies have for months been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade war. Trump launched a tariff campaign in 2018 as part of a strategy to end Beijings decades-long unfair trade practices. After joining the World Trade Organization, China has embarked on policies to support its key industries, including market barriers, state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers, and the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, one of the lead negotiators in talks with China, warned earlier that it would still be wise to be skeptical of whether China would deliver on its promises. The United States wont impose new tariffs as long as Beijing continues to act in good faith, he told reporters. Google Pixelbook Go arrives in the UK, here are the prices The Pixelbook Go was unveiled in October last year and launched in the US and Canada a few weeks later. Today, the premium Chrome OS laptop has reached the UK. Yes, despite having Go in its name, this is a top of the line model. It has a 13.3 touchscreen with 1080p or 4K resolution. The laptops body is made of magnesium and the whole thing weighs just over 1kg. Google claims the battery will last 12 hours of usage. The base configuration features an Intel Core m3 processor, 8GB of RAM and 64GB storage and costs 630. The 4K Molecular Display is only available on the top configuration with an Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, 256GB storage this one has a hefty price tag of 1,330. The middle options manage to stay under 1,000 and have a Core i5 and 128GB storage, plus 8GB or 16GB of RAM. You can buy the laptop straight from Google or various UK retailers. All CPUs are 8th gen Intels. Google Pixelbook Go in Just Black and Not Pink Do note that the Pixelbook Go has only two USB-C ports and no card slot to expand the memory. On the plus side, both USB ports can be used to fast charge the laptop (0-35% in 30 minutes). LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 15, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents several factors that affect the premiums and how drivers can pay cheaper car insurance. For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/why-do-you-pay-so-much-on-car-insurance-premiums/ Car insurance rates have a tendency to rise over time. Besides that, there are several factors that affect the costs of car insurance like higher costs of medical bills, increased prices of newer vehicles, and others. The most common factors that affect the price of car insurance are the following: Address . The location where a driver is living has a major impact on the price of insurance. Different areas have different insurance rates that are influenced by theft rates, vandalism, traffic congestion, hailstorms, and others. Drivers that live in large cities will pay higher insurance rates than those that live in small rural communities. . The location where a driver is living has a major impact on the price of insurance. Different areas have different insurance rates that are influenced by theft rates, vandalism, traffic congestion, hailstorms, and others. Drivers that live in large cities will pay higher insurance rates than those that live in small rural communities. Driving history . Drivers that have safe driving habits are less likely to be involved in accidents and will pay less on their insurance rates. On the other hand, drivers that have at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, DUI, convictions, and other traffic violations in their driving records will pay much more on their premiums. Furthermore, drivers that have numerous traffic violations will have a hard time finding an insurance company that is willing to sell coverage to them. . Drivers that have safe driving habits are less likely to be involved in accidents and will pay less on their insurance rates. On the other hand, drivers that have at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, DUI, convictions, and other traffic violations in their driving records will pay much more on their premiums. Furthermore, drivers that have numerous traffic violations will have a hard time finding an insurance company that is willing to sell coverage to them. Gender . Statistics show that male drivers are usually involved in more severe accidents than female drivers and are more likely to die than females. Therefore, insurers will charge more on male drivers (especially young drivers) than female drivers. Drivers that live in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, will be relieved knowing that the insurers can't use the gender in order to determine rates. . Statistics show that male drivers are usually involved in more severe accidents than female drivers and are more likely to die than females. Therefore, insurers will charge more on male drivers (especially young drivers) than female drivers. Drivers that live in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, will be relieved knowing that the insurers can't use the gender in order to determine rates. The car's make and model. Certain car models have higher claim rates than others. Usually, these types of vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents or to be stolen. Drivers that own one of these vehicles will pay higher insurance rates. Policyholders that own vehicles that have high safety ratings will manage to save money on car insurance. Certain car models have higher claim rates than others. Usually, these types of vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents or to be stolen. Drivers that own one of these vehicles will pay higher insurance rates. Policyholders that own vehicles that have high safety ratings will manage to save money on car insurance. Credit history. Insurance companies consider that drivers that have a credit score under 600 to be riskier to insure, and for that, they will charge more on their insurance. Drivers that live in California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts are in luck because the local legislation doesn't allow the insurers to use their credit score to determine insurance rates. For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "For many drivers, car insurance is an expensive necessity that is needed to do their daily routines. Luckily, there are many methods that can help anyone save money on car insurance ", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing Company Person for contact Name: Gurgu C Phone Number: (818) 359-3898 Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.biz Website: https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/573142/Car-Insurance-2020--Top-Reasons-For-Having-Expensive-Car-Insurance-Premiums Georges Henri Joseph Edouard Lemaitre was a Belgian Priest, astronomer, physicist, and mathematician who was the first to establish the theory that states that the decline of galaxies near each other can be interpreted by understanding how the universe expands. He also determined Hubbles law and the Hubble constant, all of which he wrote about before Edwin Hubble publishing his articles on the subjects. Hubble was, however, the first to confirm all of Lemaitres findings empirically. Georges Lemaitre also introduced his hypotheses of the primeval atom, later to be known as the Big Bang theory. Georges Lemaitres Life Georges Lemaitre was born in 1894 (July 17th). He attended a Jesuit school in Charleroi and then studied civil engineering. During his studies, he served in the Belgian army as an artillery officer during World War I. Once the war was over, he began studying mathematics and physics, obtaining his doctorate in 1920. He was also preparing for the priesthood and eventually became a priest in 1923. The same year he started working on research at the University of Cambridge, later on at Harvard College, and finally at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nebula and galaxies in space. Upon returning to Belgium, he became a lecturer and first presented his idea of the ever-expanding universe, which was published in 1927. That same theory was later recognized as Hubbles law. The reason those findings were first accredited to Edwin Hubble was that the paper was published in a lesser-known journal, rarely read outside Belgium. Even the English translation lacked some critical info, and it wasnt until much later that Georges Lemaitre got the credit he deserved. Recognition From Other Scientists Around the time Georges Lemaitre published his article on the expansion of universe Albert Einstein began to take note of him, and they would often bump heads in disagreement. During this time, Lemaitre was also often being invited to speak on various meetings of physicists. His theory on the universe as being in a constant state of expansion was beginning to gain more and more praise from his colleagues. During one of those meetings in London, he proposed the idea that the entire universe expanded from what he referred to as the Primeval Atom. That theory was later published in an article in the magazine Popular Science and subsequently became known as the Big Bang Theory. It was not well received at first, as even scientists such as Eddington and Einstein were skeptical. However, with further research Georges Lemaitre did with Manuel Sandoval Vallarta, expanding the theory with more detail, it finally began to receive the attention and recognition, culminating in 1933, when it was published in the Annals of the Scientific Society of Brussels. Albert Einstein from Madame Tussauds, Siam Discovery, Bangkok. Credit: Pumidol / Shutterstock.com In the following decades, he continued teaching at various universities, receiving numerous accolades, such as being admitted into the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Belgium. Pope Pius XII also praised him in 1951, who claimed that Lemaitres work gave scientific explanations for Catholic beliefs, which angered Georges Lemaitre. Although he was a Catholic, he believed Science and religion shouldnt mix. Nearing the end of his lifetime, he was more and more concerned with mathematics, even using some of the first electronic computers in his research. He died on June 20th, 1966. The Work Of Georges Lemaitre If we were to summarize the most critical parts of Lemaitres research, it would be only fair to start with him pioneering the application of Albert Einsteins theory of general relativity to the studies of the evolution of the universe. He also laid the foundation for Hubbles Law, which concerns the expansion of the universe, and estimated the exact value of the Hubble constant. The Hubble constant represents the number by which we measure the speed at which the universe expands at various distances across different points in space. Georges Lemaitre was familiar with the work of other scientists, mostly astronomers, and he would always design his theories to be exact and testable, in accordance with the observations available at that time. His theory about the expansion of the universe was published at the right time since Edwin Hubble would publish his work soon after that, and with it support what Lemaitre was saying. That convinced Einstein to give more support to Georges Lemaitre. In his work, Georges Lemaitre also adopted computers for his calculations fairly early. In 1958 he already brought the first computer to his university. He was also Nobel Prize nominee in 1954, making him the first theoretical cosmologist to receive a nomination. Not only that, but he also got a second nomination in 1956, only this time in chemistry, due to his theory on the primeval atom. 1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus. 2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue. 3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things. 4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit. 5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted. Vote View Results She joined King Willem-Alexander as they greeted fans outside the Royal Palace Queen Maxima of Netherlands attended second day of the New Year's reception Queen Maxima of the Netherlands put on a stylish display as she waved to onlookers outside the Royal Place in Amsterdam today ahead of a New Year's reception. The Dutch monarch, 48, appeared in high spirits as she greeted fans alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander, 52, before attending the second day of the annual event. Maxima donned an elegant ensemble for the occasion, in a dark blue satin skirt and a mustard yellow top which featured a thin belt around her waist. She paired her outfit, which was embellished with a delicate floral pattern, with dark blue, pointed heels and carried a matching clutch bag for the annual event. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands put on a stylish display as she waved to onlookers outside the Royal Place in Amsterdam today ahead of a New Year's reception The Dutch monarch, 48, appeared in high spirits as she greeted fans alongside her husband King Willem-Alexander The royal, who is mother to three daughters; Catharina-Amalia, 15, Alexia, 13, and Ariane, 11, completed her statement ensemble with dazzling blue earrings and wore her blonde locks in loose curls around her shoulders. Maxima has enjoyed a relatively quiet Christmas and New Year period following a busy year of royal engagements. She returned to her duties last week in the city of Ugchelen, visiting De Wending, an institution for addiction treatment and recovery assistance. Today, Maxima appeared relaxed as she prepared for the second day of the Dutch New Year's reception in her stylish ensemble. Maxima donned an elegant ensemble for the occasion, in a dark blue satin skirt and a mustard yellow blouse which featured a thin belt around her waist She paired her outfit, which was embellished with a delicate floral pattern, with dark blue, pointed heels and carried a matching clutch bag for the annual event She completed her statement ensemble with dazzling blue earrings and wore her blonde locks in loose curls around her shoulders King Willem-Alexander opted for a navy blue jacket and grey, pin-striped trousers as he joined his wife outside the Royal Palace Her husband, King Willem-Alexander, opted for a navy blue jacket and grey, pin-striped trousers as he joined his wife outside the Royal Palace. He completed his outfit with a light grey waistcoat and a striped tie, clutching a folder and a notebook under one arm. Later in the day, Maxima was seen baking cupcakes with young Cub Scouts - or 'welpen' - as they celebrated 100 years of the organisation. The Queen, who is the patron of Scouting Nederland, visited Noordwijkerhout in South Holland for the event, during which she donned an apron and took part in the messy activity. Later in the day, Maxima was seen baking cupcakes with young Cub Scouts - or 'welpen' - as they celebrated 100 years of the organisation The Queen, who is the patron of Scouting Nederland, visited Noordwijkerhout in South Holland for the event, during which she donned an apron and took part in the messy activity She then posed for a photograph with some young members of the Cub Scouts, who were all dressed in their bright green uniform for the royal occasion. Yesterday, the royal couple were seen greeting royal onlookers as they arrived at the palace for the start of the annual New Year's reception. Dutch Princess Beatrix was also present and waved at the event as she arrived wearing an elegant monochrome dress which she paired with a black wrap adorned in fluffy pom poms. Last Wednesday, the royal showed off her sartorial prowess in her first public event of the decade after taking a break from appearances over the festive period. Maxima chats to two young girls as she whisks cake mixture during the 100-year celebrations The Queen donned a 'welpen' apron as she got involved in the messy activities in South Holland Maxima also sat down to speak to leaders from the organisation during her visit on Wednesday Maxima, an international financier by training, was married to Willem-Alexander in 2002 in Amsterdam. She was born in Argentina before she married into the Dutch royal family, three years after meeting her husband-to-be in Seville, Spain. Her husband Willem-Alexander became king after his mother, Beatrix, abdicated in April 2013 after 33 years as reigning monarch. Queen Maxima has reportedly said that she had no inkling Willem-Alexander was heir to the throne when they first met. A former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has said since the Supreme Court is final, the party must accept its judgment on the elections in Imo State. The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party as the governor of Imo State. The apex court declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state. Mr Abubakars party, the PDP, described the judgment as a sad commentary on Nigerias democratic order. But the partys presidential candidate at the 2019 general elections said, the Rule of law must guide our paths even if logic sheds light on a different path. I solidarise with Emeka Ihedioha, a man I know to be a great leader of men and resources. In the fullness of time, I am convinced that he will overcome this setback and emerge stronger, said Mr Abubakar. I also stand fully with the Peoples Democratic Party. In good and bad times, we must continue to be the object of hope that the Nigerian people have for their escape from the prevailing despotism and despair that has gripped almost every aspect of our national life, the PDP presidential candidate, said. Read his full statement below. PRESS RELEASE On The Verdict of the Supreme Court Re Imo State With regards to the judgment of the Supreme Court, which nullified the election of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Emeka Ihedioha, as Governor of Imo state, I can only say that since the Supreme Court is final, we must accept its judgment, however unexpected and unpalatable it may be. The Rule of law must guide our paths even if logic sheds light on a different path. Having said that, let me state unequivocally that I solidarise with Emeka Ihedioha, a man I know to be a great leader of men and resources. In the fullness of time, I am convinced that he will overcome this setback and emerge stronger. I also stand fully with the Peoples Democratic Party. In good and bad times, we must continue to be the object of hope that the Nigerian people have for their escape from the prevailing despotism and despair that has gripped almost every aspect of our national life. We provided genuine democracy for this nation once before, and I believe it is our destiny to democratically restore what has been lost due to the encroachment of anti democratic agents. Philosophers have said that tough times never last, but that tough people do. I urge the people of Imo and the entirety of the Nigerian people not to give in to despair. This nation has gone through despotic times before, and we have survived them and thrived. I am very certain that this history will repeat itself. My greatest desire, and one I hope to see again in my lifetime, is that Nigeria will fulfil its potential as the land of Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress. These four ideals have been missing from our borders for a while, and all freedom loving Nigerians ought to henceforth work together to bring them back. So help us God. Atiku Abubakar Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007. Abuja 15th January 2020 'An all-out war affects the whole nation.' 'Any soldier who takes the oath on joining the army swears allegiance to the Constitution of India.' Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane's statement on Saturday, January 11, is extremely important because there has been a lot of chatter recently about the Indian Army becoming politicised. "It is a welcome statement that the chief has said that the Constitution is supreme for the Indian Army," Lieutenant General Deepender Singh Hooda (retd) -- the former General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command under whom the 2016 surgical strikes were planned and executed -- tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih. General Naravane has said the army will take appropriate action in Pakistan occupied Kashmir if ordered to do so. As the general who planned the surgical strikes of 2016, what according to you are the challenges and difficulties if this mission was to be undertaken? The army will do whatever the government of the day asks of it. If the government gives them a task, then the chief has to plan for it, and that is exactly what he has said -- that if we are asked to do so, we will have to undertake the task. Having said that, there are enormous challenges. It is not an easy task to execute. PoK is not just territory. It has a population that may not exactly be welcoming of the Indian Army. It is for the political establishment to think through all these issues before the army can be ordered to do this. An all-out war affects the whole nation. It has economic costs. The world over, countries use punitive and limited surgical strikes in areas of conflict. Surgical strikes are a more suitable course of military action in PoK rather than an all-out war. The army chief has said that the army owes its allegiance to the Constitution. Has any army chief categorically stated this recently? Why do you think he said this? I don't exactly remember an army chief stating it so categorically, but this (allegiance to the Constitution) is at the heart of the military. Any soldier who takes the oath on joining the army swears allegiance to the Constitution of India. The army chief's statement is extremely important because recently there has been a lot of chatter about the army becoming politicised. It is a welcome statement that the chief has said that the Constitution is supreme for the Indian Army. What would it mean down the line of the chain of command in the army? Officers and men understand that their duty is towards the State and not to any political party. The chief is trying to reassure the senior leadership of the army and the people outside -- including the political leadership and the Opposition -- that the Army remains and will remain apolitical. General Manoj Mukund Naravane, chief of the army staff, meets soldiers posted in Siachen on his first visit as COAS. Photograph: PTI Photo Having been criticised for becoming politicised recently, do you feel this sets the tone for some course correction so that the army is not perceived to be toeing the government's line? In recent times there has been criticism of the army and the leadership that it is getting politicised. There have been certain statements that have been made. In the backdrop of all this criticism, it has come at an opportune time. The timing was just right for this. The present chief has clearly laid down the standard. It is reassuring the public and politicians of all hues that the army will not take any partisan position and be clear of all controversies, so let us see how it goes. He has clearly stated what he had to say and it will certainly have an impact. Broadband and 2G Internet has been partially restored in J&K. What will be the challenges before the Indian Army after restrictions on the Internet and Section 144 are eased? If restrictions are eased, the security forces will have to adopt some restrained measures to deal with any ensuing protests. It has to be seen if the level of alienation has increased in the five months. The population will have pent up anger and will seek a release. How the situation unfolds will depend on the handling of the situation. The use of lethal devices against the population should be avoided. After the Burhan Wani protests, the Indian Army had launched 'Operation Calm Down' to restore normalcy and used minimum force. We had got reasonable success and such measures will go a long way. The army chief also said that the threat of collusion between China and Pakistan is maximum in Siachen. What is this threat that he is alluding to? Strategically, it is an area where the three borders meet. North of Siachen is the Shaksgam Valley which is with China and to the West is PoK. The terrain is not easy for launching large-scale operations. There is strategic importance, but will large-scale operations take place around Siachen involving India-Pakistan-China, I have my doubts because of the difficulty of the terrain. How have the diplomatic and informal summits with China helped on the situation along the Line of Actual Control with China? It helps enormously. Incidentally, I was the first to go after a very long time to China in 2015 as Northern Army commander. My personal experience is that of speaking to the senior leadership of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) and putting our view across and they doing the same, it helps tremendously. There is a system of border personnel meeting which take place regularly along the border -- all this has helped in keeping the LAC calm as opposed to the Line of Control with Pakistan where such mechanisms are limited. There is hostility between the two Indian and Pakistan) armies, but there is also absence of military to military dialogue. Do you feel there is tremendous pressure on the army from outside -- from politicians and parties of all hues, to civilians to comments on social media -- compared to what it was in the past? There is. All politicians, irrespective of party affiliations, must look at this seriously and try and keep the army out of their political debates. The best structure of civil-military relations is that the army remains completely professional and apolitical. Politicians shouldn't interfere in the day to day routine of the military. That would be the ideal situation. How will the post of chief of defence staff help the armed forces? It is a positive step. There is a lack of synergy between the three services. The CDS will at least bring some jointness. The CDS has been given a fixed timeline of three years to make sure there is jointness in certain areas. The CDS has specifically been asked to work towards integrated theatre commands. The mandate is very specific and is a positive step. A Pakistan court on Monday annulled the death sentence handed to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, ruling a special court which found him guilty of treason last year was unconstitutional, a government prosecutor told AFP. The original ruling had marked the first time a former leader of the armed forces had faced such a sentence for treason in Pakistan, where the military maintains strong influence and senior officers are often considered immune from prosecution. It caused huge controversy, with Musharraf -- exiled in Dubai -- slamming it as a "vendetta", and the military expressing its disappointment. A High Court in the eastern city of Lahore ruled it "illegal" on Monday. "The filing of the complaint, the constitution of the court, the selection of the prosecution team are illegal, declared to be illegal... And at the end of the day the full judgment has been set aside," the prosecutor representing the government, Ishtiaq A. Khan, told AFP. "Yes, he is a free man. Right now there is no judgment against him any longer," Khan added. Musharraf's lawyer, Azhar Siddique, also told media outside the court in Lahore that it had "nullified everything". The prosecution now has the option to file a new case against Musharraf with the approval of the federal Cabinet. However Saroop Ijaz, a senior lawyer in Lahore who is not affiliated with the case, said that unless the High Court orders the government to do so in its detailed verdict, he doubts any further action will be taken. The case was initially filed by former premier Nawaz Sharif, he explained -- not the current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose "political view is absolutely clear -- they don't want to pursue this case. They took a very clear position after the special court's ruling." Khan is believed to be close to the military, and several members of his government had condemned the special court's ruling when it was first announced last year. - Cigar-smoking moderate - The treason trial -- which began in 2013 and is just one of several involving Musharraf -- centred on his decision to suspend the constitution and impose emergency rule in 2007. Musharraf first took power after ousting then-premier Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. A cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking moderate, the general became a key US ally in the "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks and escaped at least three Al-Qaeda assassination attempts during his nine years in office. His rule faced no serious challenges until he tried to sack the Supreme Court chief justice in March 2007, sparking nationwide protests and months of turmoil that led to the imposition of emergency rule. Musharraf finally resigned in August 2008 in the face of impeachment proceedings by a new governing coalition, and went briefly into exile. He returned to Pakistan in 2013 in an attempt to contest elections, but was barred from taking part in the polls and from leaving the country as a barrage of legal cases mounted. The travel ban against him was finally lifted in 2016, and he travelled to Dubai for medical treatment, where he has been ever since. Starting today, third-party retailers on Amazon will be able to use FedEx Ground services to deliver items ordered by Amazon Prime customers. The company had originally forbidden third-party vendors from using the delivery option in December, citing concerns about the performance of FedEx Ground during the busy holiday season. An Amazon spokesperson said the decision to reinstate FedEx Ground as a delivery option was the result of more consistent service and reliable on-time deliveries during the banned period. After a three-week ban during the holiday season, Amazon has reinstated FedEx Ground as a delivery option for Prime orders made through third-party vendors This is good news for our mutual customers who have come to rely on the FedEx Ground offering, a FedEx spokesperson told CNBC. We look forward to working with Seller Fulfilled Prime merchants and providing outstanding service. According to FedEx, the average transit time for Ground deliveries during the holiday window was 2.4 days and nearly one in five packages arrived early. The ban during the holiday period originally applied only to orders made from Prime subscribers to third-party vendors. The company still allowed FedEx Ground shipping as an option for third party vendors fulfilling non-Prime orders. Amazon originally removed FedEx Ground as a delivery option in mid-December, citing concerns over service quality and reliability 'While this decision affects a very small number of shippers, it limits the options for those small businesses on some of the highest demand shipping days in history, and may compromise their ability to meet customer demands and manage their businesses, a FedEx spokesperson said at the time. FedEx Ground stands ready to support our customers and will continue to deliver record-breaking volume this holiday season. Over the last several years, Amazon has been aggressively worked to build its own delivery networks and lessen its dependence of companies like FedEx. According to FedEx, its average delivery time for Ground packages over the holiday period was 2.4 days and almost one in five packages arrived early In November, reports revealed an outdoor test facility near Cambridge, England where Amazon is testing its drone delivery technology, called Prime Air. In 2018, Amazon announced Amazon Delivery Service, an open network of local delivery companies who can apply to partner with the online retailer to deliver packages to local markets. The company is also building its own $1.5billion air delivery in Kentucky to house 50 delivery aircraft, which will open in 2021. DUBLIN, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Blockchain in Media" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This study presents the potential impacts of blockchain technologies on the media industries. It presents the nature and main value proposition of the blockchain technology, as well as a summary of its main offerings. The analysis covers various concrete case studies over the video, music and video games markets, with a perspective on their benefits and limitations, as well as a realistic prospect of adoption. The vision of the potential impact of the technology on the media industry value chain and business models serves to identify the main market segment that could be affected by this emerging technology. Based on these analyses, the research provides quantitative and qualitative market forecasts for the share of media market revenues that will transit through blockchain applications by 2025. The following platforms and media companies are mentioned in this report as significant players in blockchain and media: Audius Blockgraph Blokur Channel 4 Choon Comcast DreamTeam Filmio Forte Mediaset Italia NBC Sanjh TF1 TRON Ubisoft Universal Media LLC Walt Disney Co. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary 2. Blockchain Overview - A New Infrastructure to Share Information 2.1. Blockchain Definitions 2.2. Blockchain Value Proposition 2.3. Blockchain Key Concepts 2.4. Blockchain Offerings 2.5. Blockchain Limitations 3. Media Use Cases - Blockchain Applications in the Media Industry 3.1. Blockchain in Video 3.2. Blockchain in Music 3.3. Blockchain in Video Gaming 4. Market Vision & Prospects - A Technology Impacting the Whole Media Value Chain 4.1. How Can Blockchain Transform the Media Industries 4.2. Blockchain and Media 4.3. Blockchain and Media Production 4.4. Blockchain and Aggregation/Distribution 4.5. Blockchain and Consumption & Revenues 4.6. Market Development Factors 4.6.1. Main Drivers for Blockchain in Media 4.6.2. Main Barriers for Blockchain in Media 4.7. Market Forecasts 4.7.1. Addressable Market for Blockchain in Media 4.7.2. Worldwide Blockchain Market by Revenue Segments 4.7.3. Worldwide Blockchain Market by Media Industry For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xjsw6a Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Just days after accepting the Best Acting Ensemble for his work in The Irishman, Al Pacino was promoting his first ever TV series, Amazon Studios' Hunters. The 79 year old acting legend was all smiles at the TCA Winter Tour in Pasadena, California on Monday to promote Hunters, which debuts February 21. Pacino was joined by co-stars Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, writer-producer Nikki Toscano and series creator/executive producer David Weil. Al on stage: Just days after accepting the Best Acting Ensemble for his work in The Irishman, Al Pacino was promoting his first ever TV series, Amazon Studios' Hunters Cast and crew: Pacino was joined by co-stars Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, writer-producer Nikki Toscano and series creator/executive producer David Weil Pacino was wearing a black dress shirt under a black suit coat and black pants as he sat in the middle of the cast and crew panel. He also had a tan scarf dangling from his neck and was wearing sunglasses on the panel from time to time. The Oscar-winning actor was also seen wearing a pair of silver rings on both hands as he spoke about the new show on stage. Al's look: Pacino was wearing a black dress shirt under a black suit coat and black pants as he sat in the middle of the cast and crew panel Hunters marks Pacino's first ever series regular role in a TV series, though he did star in the 2003 HBO mini-series Angels in America and made his acting debut in a guest starring spot on N.Y.P.D. in 1968. The series is set in 1977 New York City, centering on a team who discover a number of high-ranking officials who are secretly Nazis starting a Fourth Reich in America. Pacino plays the leader of this team, Meyer Offerman, with a cast that also includes Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Tiffany Boone, Greg Austin, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Dylan Baker and Lena Olin. First TV role: Hunters marks Pacino's first ever series regular role in a TV series, though he did star in the 2003 HBO mini-series Angels in America and made his acting debut in a guest starring spot on N.Y.P.D. in 1968 Creator David Weil revealed on the panel that, as a Jew growing up in Brooklyn, he heard stories from his grandmother who survived the Holocaust, and he thought her stories were, 'like the stuff of comic books and superheroes.' 'These stories of great good but grand evil, the horrors of which are hard to understand,' he explained, adding the show was a 'love letter' to his grandmother and her stories. 'The purpose of this show is an allegorical tale in many ways, to draw the parallels between the 30s and 40s in Europe and the 70s in the States and especially today with the racism and anti-Seminitism and xenophobia, the likes of which we havent seen in decades,' Weill said. New show: Creator David Weil revealed on the panel that, as a Jew growing up in Brooklyn, he heard stories from his grandmother who survived the Holocaust, and he thought her stories were, 'like the stuff of comic books and superheroes' Pacino is coming off two critically-acclaimed 2019 films, Netflix's The Irishman and Sony's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He has two more films in post-production, Axis Sally with Lala Kent, Meadow Williams and Thomas Kretschmann, which doesn't have a release date yet. He is also slated to star as the title character in King Lear, which is currently in pre-production. Coming soon: Pacino is coming off two critically-acclaimed 2019 films, Netflix's The Irishman and Sony's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Queen Elizabeth announces period of transition allowing Harry and Meghan to live part time in Canada, Jan. 13 Mr. Prime Minister, I have no problem with the federal government assuming responsibility for the security cost incurred by Harry and Meghan as they meander through our great country, provided the government of Canada is amenable to covering the insurance cost of my relatives (family of four from England) during their tour through three provinces next month for approximately three weeks. I would be happy to drop off the insurance application forms to the Hon. Carolyn Bennetts office, my member of Parliament, to expedite processing and payment. John Bressan, Toronto Get in line, Harry and Meghan, there are thousands of refugees more desperate and deserving than you hoping to take up residence in Canada. J. Gilmore, Montreal I feel that, with the help of the British Royalty, it could have been presented as Step 1 of a long-term plan to strengthen the Commonwealth. What better way to accomplish this than by having a close family member take up residence in one of its countries? Instead of flogging the move and creating dissension, why not create a positive image which could be so much more appealing to all? I am especially disappointed lately in the biased slant with which so many newscasters seem to be reporting. Would it not be better to present the unbiased news and allow us to form our own opinions? The EU aims to use 1 trillion euros (around $1.11 trillion) for "sustainable investments" across the coming decade. Brussels released details of its "European Green Deal" back in December, describing it as a "roadmap" to make the bloc's economy sustainable. One of the deal's key aims is for the EU to be climate neutral by the year 2050. A key part of the investment plan, which was revealed Tuesday, is something called the "Just Transition Mechanism." This will aim to to mobilize at least 100 billion euros between 2021 and 2027 in order "to support workers and citizens of the regions most impacted by the transition." Financing for this will come from the EU budget, co-financing from EU member states, and contributions from the European Investment Bank and InvestEU, a major funding program set to run from 2021 to 2027. Breaking things down further, it's envisaged that the EU budget will contribute 503 billion euros to the overall investment plan. This will in turn trigger some 114 billion in national co-financing, while InvestEU is expected to leverage approximately 279 billion euros of public and private investments. The Just Transition Mechanism is expected to deploy around 143 billion euros over the course of 10 years, while roughly 25 billion euros will come from the Innovation and Modernisation funds. "People are at the core of the European Green Deal, our vision to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050," Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a statement issued Tuesday. "The transformation ahead of us is unprecedented," von der Leyen added. "And it will only work if it is just and if it works for all. We will support our people and our regions that need to make bigger efforts in this transformation, to make sure that we leave no one behind." While von der Leyen is understandably optimistic, others are taking a different stance, highlighting potential divisions within the EU itself. "If this funding is really meant to promote a green transition, it must only be available to governments that are committed to that transition and have a clear plan to ditch coal," Sebastian Mang, Greenpeace EU's climate and energy advisor, said in a statement. "If they want the cash, the likes of Poland and the Czech Republic will have to prove they are serious about tackling the climate emergency," Mang added. "For the European Green Deal to be successful, all funding, including from the EU budget, needs to stop supporting fossil fuels, nuclear energy and other destructive industries." For its part, the WWF described the Just Transition Mechanism as "not clear enough on the need for regional plans to include timelines for the phase out of fossil fuels, including a phase-out date for coal of 2030 or earlier." Asking the media not to always go for negative news, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said he is happy that Nobel Prize winner in economics Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee will be conferred honorary D Litt in the convocation of Calcutta University. The university last month decided to confer the D Litt (honoris causa) on Banerjee at its annual convocation to be held on January 28. Higher Minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday asserted that if necessary the CU Convocation will be held without the governer as he has been "consistently making statements targetting the state government." Asked to comment on this, Dhankhar who is also Chancellor of all the state universities, said, "Why should you ask such negative questions.... Anyone who can be there, I think, has to be there (at the Convocation)." The governor was on December 24 prevented by protesters from entering the Jadavpur University to attend its annual convocation by students and members of the Trinamool Congress Employees' Union because of his stand supporting the new citizenship law and proposed nationwide NRC. Terming the economist as "one of the most brilliant minds in the world' he said, "It is a moment of great pride for all of us. Let us not look into negative aspects, none can have two opinions about it." "All of us have to believe in optimism, all of us have to think of positive sides. Anyone saying anything (Partha Chatterjee) is entitled to say, but I am concerned about my job - plain and simple," Dhankhar told PTI earlier on Wednesday. Asked to comment on vice-chancellors of state universities not attending a meeting called by him on Monday, he said they might have some problems. "Once I get to know all the situation, then I will know what the problem (behind VCs not attending) is," he said. The governor said he will exercise maximum restraint so that careers of students do not suffer. The Mamata Banerjee government and the governor were at loggerheads over certain issues since Dhankhar's visit to the Jadavpur University to "rescue" Union Minister Babul Supriyo on September 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) S N Shrivastava takes over as Delhi Police commissioner with immediate effect After a tumultuous tenure, Delhi Police Commissioner to retire on Jan 31 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Kumar Patnaik will retire on January 31, after a tumultuous tenure during which the force faced several challenges including student agitation and a protest by its own personnel. "Consequent upon attaining the age of superannuation, Amulya Kumar Patnaik, IPS (1985), Commissioner of Police, Delhi, shall stand retired from government service with effect from January 31," a Delhi government order said. The city government's home department issued the order on January 8 after the approval of Lt Governor Anil Baijal. Tis Hazari clash: Delhi Police chief meets injured constables "It is a routine order and mandatorily issued in respect of government servant who is to attain superannuation in order to update the government record," a police source said. Assembly elections have been announced in the national capital and the model code of conduct is in force. Sources aware of the development recently said the government had informed the poll panel, before the Model Code of Conduct came into force in Delhi on January 6, that it was looking for a replacement of Patnaik. The polls, to be held on February 8, were announced on January 6. The results of elections will be declared on February 11. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The Delhi Police comes under the central government. Patnaik, who became the Delhi police chief in 2017, had a challenging tenure. Scores of Delhi Police personnel, in an unprecedented move, took to the streets in 2019 demanding dignity and protection after some of them were allegedly beaten up by lawyers. This had presented the city police and its top brass in a poor light. Communal clash in Chandni Chowk: Amit Shah summons Delhi Police chief The Delhi Police's handling of the protests at the Jamia Millia Islamia against the amended citizenship law also came under criticism as cops entered the library and hostel rooms and allegedly beat up students, leaving many of them injured. The force was also slammed for its alleged inaction during Sunday's attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students by a masked mob armed with sticks and rods. (CNN) Several people have been arrested in Iran over the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that those responsible would be punished. Gholamhossein Esmaili, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, was quoted by the semi-official FARS news agency Tuesday as saying that an investigation into the crash had started and several arrests had been made. He did not provide details on how many people had been arrested or what their roles in the incident may have been. Among the arrests is the person who filmed "the scene of the missile hitting the Ukraine airplane" for further investigation, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency. There was no mention of the person's name or what charges, if any, they are facing. Speaking in Tehran on Tuesday, Rouhani called for the punishment of those behind the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752. He said a special court with "a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts" should be established in order to investigate the incident. "This is not an ordinary case and all of world is looking at us," Rouhani said. "I announce that we will do the follow up in order to detect all aspects of the event and punishing those responsible," the Iranian leader added. After three days of denials, Iran admitted on Saturday that its military had mistakenly shot down the plane. The admission sparked another wave of anti-government protests in Iran and appeared to expose a rift within the country's leadership. While Tehran has rejected allegations that it tried to cover up the shooting down of the plane, the editor in chief of right-wing Tasnim news agency -- which is tied to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps -- criticized Iran's leaders for attempting to lie to the public. Around 30 people have been arrested for taking part in the latest round of protests, according to Esmaili, who described them Tuesday as illegal rallies that had put national security at risk. "The government is accountable and we will fulfill our legal responsibilities but most importantly the people should be assured that such an event should not take place again," Rouhani said, expressing sympathies for the families of the victims. He added that the public deserved to know the details about the cause of the crash. Iran's main insurance agency said the damages that should be paid for the crash could amount to $150 million, Iran's Press TV reported Monday. Iranian authorities are also attempting to find the person who distributed the video, according to Tasnim News Agency and the semi-official Fars News Agency. No suspects were named in both reports. Last week, CNN obtained video that appeared to show a missile being fired into the Tehran sky and striking an object, around the same time the plane was hit. All 176 people on board were killed when the Kiev-bound flight was shot down shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital early last Wednesday. The passengers and crew included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals, according to a tweet from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko. Leaders of the countries whose citizens were killed also called for those responsible to be held accountable. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would ensure that "a full, transparent investigation is conducted." "I want to assure all families and all Canadians -- we will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability," Trudeau said at a vigil on Sunday. The plane crash came shortly after Iran launched strikes on Iraqi bases housing US troops. Those strikes were retaliation after the US killed a top Iranian general on January 3. Iran initially blamed a technical failure for the disaster. But as evidence mounted and western intelligence agencies started pointing fingers at Tehran, the government conceded the aircraft was shot down in an error. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed "human error" prompted by "US adventurism," alluding to the escalating brinkmanship between Iran and the United States over the US killing of a revered Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani. Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported Tuesday that Tehran is planning to file a criminal case against the US army, government and President Donald Trump in the international criminal court over Soleimani's death. According to Tasnim, Gholam Hossein Esmaeili, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, said that "there is no doubt that US military action was an act of terrorism." "Trump personally has confessed ordering this criminal act and that is the strongest evidence that a court could have," Esmaeili said, according to the news agency. Speaking at a news conference, Esmaeili also reportedly said the British ambassador to Tehran should be expelled from the country. It was unclear whether he was sharing his own opinion or if the Iranian government was moving ahead with the expulsion of ambassador Rob Macair. Macair was briefly arrested in the middle of a crowd of protesters on Saturday in what the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab then called a "flagrant violation of international law." MANZINI It still remains a mystery how an elderly woman, who was discovered naked, landed on the rooftop at a Mamba homestead at Madonsa. The elderly woman, whose identity was not established, is said to have caused a scare at the Mamba homestead as she is alleged to have landed on the rooftop of one of the houses in the compound before falling to the ground. What remains a mystery is how she got to be on the rooftop, stark naked, with a whitish substance smeared on her face. Narrating the details of the episode, Phumelele Dlamini, who was also an eyewitness to the episode, said one of her siblings immediately went outside to check what had fallen on the roof when she heard a huge thud, and to her surprise, she was met by the woman who was stark naked and running away. Rolled It is believed that after landing on the roof, she rolled to the ground and tried getting away but was instantly stopped on her tracks by the family members. According to Dlamini, her sibling immediately raised the alarm, waking everybody at the homestead. She said they chased after the naked woman and eventually caught her and tied her with a rope. Thereafter, Dlamini said they alerted their neighbours about the suspicious woman who had smeared some white powder on her face, to come and witness the scene. She added that the woman was questioned about her intentions and how she landed on the rooftop. According to Dlamini, when the woman answered the questions, she initially alleged that she was from a traditional healers initiation school. When further pressed with questions, she changed tune allegedly stating that she was from Mankayane and had come to the homestead to free one of the family members whom she identified. This, Dlamini said shocked them as there was a family member who had the name and surname pointed out by the woman. Dlamini said most of the people at the scene suggested that the woman should be burnt alive because her mission was unknown. This is when they saw a police van arriving at the scene, something that surprised them as they had not at any given moment informed the police about the incident. Meanwhile, many speculations were deliberated and pointed out by the family and residents of Madonsa regarding the womans suspicious behaviour. Suspicious They said the manner she appeared, including her being naked and also smearing something that looked like white powder on her face, was suspicious. Others though said she could be mentally unstable, something which the police also believe could be the case. Meanwhile, they said they were also amazed on how she landed on the rooftop. These are really not good signs, especially when you are later found in a private compound, said the neighbours. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a naked woman was discovered at the Mamba homestead. Vilakati said what they gathered during their investigations was that the woman was mentally challenged. She said her relatives were identified by the police and she was taken to the National Psychiatric Hospital in Manzini where she was further examined. She said it was unfortunate that she was discovered on private property in a compromising situation but her mental condition, which is yet to be proven true, could make her do anything which was unbelievable. An exclusive Wall Street club has welcomed a new member. Alphabet surpassed a $1 trillion market cap on Thursday, joining Microsoft and Apple in the upper echelons of mega-cap stocks. But after the Google parent's 10% surge this month, Joule Financial President Quint Tatro says the stock looks too hot to jump in right here. "Our calculations say 26x based on estimates, but they're growing those earnings at only 17%," Tatro said on CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Tuesday. "It's priced to perfection, so any correction with earnings or any slowdown in earnings is going to really hit this stock hard." Alphabet has rallied hard over the past 12 months, gaining 35% since this time last year. It has also hit a record high for two sessions in a row. "We really like the company, just don't like the stock here. We encourage investors to be patient. There will be better prices ahead," said Tatro. Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Capital, is still backing the Alphabet rally. "The chart looks great. I've been talking about this breakout in Alphabet since it happened in November, rallied into December. It pinged a trend line as well and now we're running," Baruch said during the same segment. "I'm targeting $1,550 to the upside," Baruch said. "It's a 200% retracement from the midyear last year drop-off. So I think $1,550 is an area to keep an eye on. There's a lot of support at $1,360, $1,370. As long as it stays above $1,360 to $1,370, the path of least resistance is higher in the longer term," said Baruch. A move to his $1,550 target implies 5% upside from the current price of nearly $1,480. It would also mark a new high. Disclosure: Baruch and Blue Line Capital hold Alphabet shares. Disclaimer Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that former prime minister Indira Gandhi used to come to meet yesteryear don Karim Lala in Mumbai. Recalling days of the underworld in Mumbai, Raut, who was earlier a journalist, said gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Sharad Shetty used to have control over the metropolis and adjoining areas. They used to decide who will be the police commissioner, who will sit in 'Mantralaya' (secretariat), Raut said in an interview to a media group during its award function here. "When Haji Mastan used to come to 'Mantralaya', the entire 'Mantralaya' would come down to see him. Indira Gandhi used to come to meet Karim Lala in Pydhonie (in south Mumbai)," claimed Raut, whose party formed a coalition government with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra last year. Lala, who operated liquor dens, gambling and extortion rackets in Mumbai from 1960s to 1980s, died in 2002. "Those were the days of theunderworld. Later, everybody (dons) fled the country. Now there is nothing like that," the Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member said. Asked if had photographed underworlddons, Raut claimed he clicked pictures of many gangsters, including Dawood Ibrahim, who is key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The Sena leader also claimed that he had once rebuked Dawood Ibrahim. "I have seen him, I have met him, I have spoken to him and I have also admonished him," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Rasana Gasimova Azerbaijan and the World Bank (WB) plan to hold official negotiations on a $100 million self-employment loan on January 18, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Sahil Babayev has said. We have already completed initial negotiations with the World Bank on a loan. Formal negotiations are scheduled for January 18. After that, the loan must be approved by the WB Board of Directors. We expect to sign a loan agreement with the bank by June, Babayev said at a meeting on the results of 2019 chaired by President Ilham Aliyev. Babayev noted that before signing the loan agreement, the Ministry of Labor will carry out the necessary preparatory work based on the principle of retro-financing. These works will begin in February. Babayev noted that the banks loan will be used to further develop the self-employment project, which covered 10,354 people in 2019. Of these, 8,500 people received the necessary assets on the basis of prepared business plans. The asset allocation process continues, and by the end of the month the remaining citizens will be fully provided with cash," the minister reported. President Aliyev noted that one of the goals of borrowing loans from the WB for this project is to use the experience of the bank. The main goal here, of course, is not to get WB funds, although this is also important. We should learn from their experience, because the WB has implemented similar programs in many countries, and they have extensive experience in this area. Therefore, we attach great importance to the signing of the agreement," the president said. He also noted that the signing the agreement will determine a new framework for cooperation with the World Bank. In September 2019, Azerbaijani government sent an official request to the WB to obtain a loan of $100 million for the implementation of the employment support project. WB Board of Directors is planning to approve a loan in the first quarter of 2020. Earlier, WB Board of Directors announced that it plans to approve the provision of the loan Azerbaijan in the second half of March 2020. In 2020, the World Bank project is expected to cover around 1,000-2,000 families. In the following years, 5,000 families are expected to be stably financed by the WB. The project is aimed at improving employment among vulnerable groups of Azerbaijani population who are looking for jobs: youth, women, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities and people with low levels of education. The project includes three components: increasing the scope and effectiveness of the self-employment program; strengthening the capacity of the State Employment Service; project management, monitoring and evaluation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Calgary, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - Magnetic North Acquisition Corp. (TSXV: MNC) ("Magnetic North" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has executed an Indicative Offer of Finance (the "Offer") with Infrastructure Commodities Limited ("ICML") to explore and mine, the Company's wholly owned White Rock property (the "Property") located in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. The Offer gives ICML the right to explore and mine the Property for quartz, kaolin and mica, and refine and produce quartz, kaolin and mica for sale therefrom (the "Mining Assets"). The Offer terms include, but are not limited to the following conditions: An initial investment by ICML for US$1,000,0000 in the form of a convertible loan that shall convert into an equity interest of 20% of the Mining Assets located at White Rock. The use of proceeds for this initial investment will be utilized by ICML and their consultants, over a 12-month period to bring the Mining Assets to an operational state. Follow-on investment of up to an additional US$4,000,000 will be provided by ICML upon completion of the initial investment period to implement commercialization plans for the Mining Assets. Upon completion of the initial investment phase, ICML will provide commercialization plans and associated budgets for the use of proceeds of the follow-on investment. If the total funding of US$5,000,000 is provided in return to Magnetic North for development of the Mining Assets by ICML, ICML shall receive no less than 45% equity interest in the Mining Assets. Both Magnetic North and ICML look forward to entering into a binding offer to finance in the near term and expect the initial investment phase to commence in the first quarter of 2020. About Magnetic North Acquisition Corp. Magnetic North invests and manages capital on behalf of its shareholders and believes that capital alone does not always lead to success when making investments in portfolio companies. With offices in Calgary and Toronto, our experienced management team applies its considerable capital markets and management expertise to ensure portfolio companies are as successful as possible for shareholders. Magnetic North shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock symbol MNC. For more information about Magnetic North, visit its website at www.magneticnac.com. Magnetic North security filings can also be accessed at www.sedar.com. About Infrastructure Commodities LTD. Infrastructure Commodities (Mauritius) Ltd is a Mauritius public company holding a category one Global Business License ('GBL1'). Established as an investment holding company acquiring a majority of Infrastructure Commodities Limited (ICL) and listing on the Official List of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) the business manages assets unwinding over the next few years and is actively seeking to develop its portfolio of assets. Currently ICML manages holdings in 9 companies who either supply commodities or invest in companies that supply commodities that are used for infrastructure development. ICML's acquisition strategy is to target acquisitions of developers and distributors of natural resources used for Infrastructure globally while also using Mauritius as its regional headquarters for particular targeted expansion within the African continent and around resources required in the region. For Further Information, Please Contact: Graeme Dick Investor Relations 403-561-8989 graeme@colwellcapital.com The Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally refers to information about an issuer's business, capital, or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuer's prospective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes the business and operations of the Company after the completion of the Transaction. The Company has made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to: prevailing market conditions; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; and the ability of the Company to execute and achieve its business objectives after the closing of the Transaction, to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors. These risk factors include, but are not limited to: adverse market conditions; reliance on key and qualified personnel; and regulatory and other risks associated with the industries in which the Company's portfolio companies operate, in general. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this news release, unless it is required to do so under Canadian securities legislation. **Not for distribution to United States News Services or release publication, distribution or dissemination, directly or indirectly, in the United States** To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51494 Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Elsie Awadzie has responded to the recent charges levelled against the founder of defunct UT Bank, Kofi Amoabeng and CEO of dissolved Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku. According to her, the development complements actions by the Central Bank to bring to book all banking officials involved in the Banking Sector collapse. We have always said after we completed our cleanup exercise that we have passed on all relevant information to the law enforcement agencies and we expected them to conduct their own investigations and proceed with the needful if they found any behaviour to have had criminal implications. I believe what we saw [with Amoabeng and Mike Nyinaku] was in line with what the law enforcement authorities may have found Madam Elsie Awadie lamented the loss of money and confidence in the banking sector following the recent bank closures. Speaking to Joy Business, she stated that sensitization programs are currently underway with some key public institutions as the Ghana Police Service to deepen financial literacy. Weve seen too many fingers burnt in the recent past in Ghana, weve seen too many people lose money and it is our definite hope to ensure this does not happen again and we are doing all we can to engage key stakeholders like the Ghana Police service to ensure we mobilize ourselves to enforce the laws sooner than later. The Chief Executive Officer for defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku, has been remanded into police custody by an Accra High Court for one week. This follows the dismissal of a bail application by his lawyers who assured the court he will cooperate with the ongoing trial. Mr Nyinaku and 12 subsidiaries were dragged to court by the receiver of the bank, Nii Amanor Dodoo who is seeking to use the court action to help retrieve over GH1 billion from the company. The writ, filed by the Receiver accused the former CEO of dereliction of duties and engaging in unlawful activities which led to the massive loss recorded. The circuit court, however, granted bail to the founder of defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, who is facing charges of stealing and money laundering. The bail granted by Justice Essandor was in the tune of 110 million with two sureties who earn not less than 2,000. Mr Amoabeng is also to deposit his passport and report to the investigative teams twice in a week. Justice Essandor further explained that his decision to grant bail was based on the sound advocacy by lawyers of the accused person who has demonstrated his ability to cooperate with investigations. The founder of the defunct UT Bank together with the founder of the defunct BEIGE bank, Michael Nyinaku have been accused of allegedly stealing more than 390million and $8.6million belonging to customers of the bank. myjoyonline Photo: Twitter Sudan said it reopened its airspace Wednesday after an armed revolt from within its security forces shut down the capitals airport for hours and left at least two people dead. In a press conference, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the countrys ruling transitional council, announced that life has returned to normal, following a tense stand-off between the armed forces and rogue intelligence officers. The officers had fired shots in the air to demand better severance benefits. However, airport authorities in neighbouring Egypt said that as a precaution, all flights to Sudan remained suspended over security concerns. The burst of unrest paralyzed street life in several parts of the capital, Khartoum, along with another western city. Videos circulated on social media showing vast deployment of security forces and heavy exchanges of gunfire. The armed forces will not allow any coup to occur, said Burhan, adding that its a shame that weapons were raised in the faces of the people. The army quickly quelled the short-lived mutiny with minimal losses, said General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, its chief of staff on Wednesday. The clashes killed two people and injured four others, including two officers, he added. In a separate statement, the doctors' union in Sudan reported that a father and his two children were killed when an errant artillery shell struck their home in a Khartoum suburb. The father was killed instantly, it said, and his 19-year-old daughter and 25-year-old son died on the way to the hospital. The different death tolls could not immediately be reconciled. After trying to persuade the renegade officers to turn over their arms, the military stormed and retook the headquarters of an intelligence agency using the least amount of force possible, al-Hussein said. The mutiny was the latest twist in Sudans fragile democratic transition after three decades of authoritarian rule under former President Omar al-Bashir. A sweeping protest movement ousted al-Bashir in April and led to the creation of a joint military-civilian government last summer. During the transitional period, Sudan is devising ways to reorganize its armed forces. The program, al-Hussein said, requires dismantling an intelligence agency branch and merging it with a paramilitary unit known as the Rapid Support Forces, notorious for their brutal suppression of insurgencies in Sudans restive provinces. Unrest ensued as angry intelligence officers, who were dismissed without receiving what they considered fair compensation, took to the streets. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok described the mutiny as discord aimed at cutting off the nations transition to building a solid democracy. When Melissa Yes and Ann Trondson brainstormed creative ways to display work from artists in collaboration with VINEGAR, the contemporary art collective and incubator they launched in 2018, the duo knew they had limited resources. Last spring, they considered renting an apartment to use as a gallery space. In order to cover the overhead cost of rent, they sought to rent out the apartment as an Airbnb. To the collectives co-directors, working with an Airbnb model seemed exciting. Airbnb patrons tend to lean toward creative spaces that offer a slice of a citys culture, and an apartment with a selection of curated contemporary art was the kind of listing that would attract travelers looking to learn more about Birmingham. Over the summer, they mentioned the idea to a friend who recommended that the artists work with an established Airbnb owner. Yes and Trondson were on board -- creating the gallery apartment collaboratively would allow the duo to focus more on the curating the pieces and working with artists in the VINEGAR collective, leaving the booking and other logistics to the Airbnb owners. The friend introduced them to a few Airbnbs owners around the city. "Reef of of the Last Sea Witch," a mixed media sculpture from VINEGAR Projects creative contributor Merilee Chaliss. (Shauna Stuart for AL.com) After visiting a few rental properties, they met real estate investors Matthew and Rebekah Gregory, who were in the process of renovating two lofts on 18th Street North in Birminghams Loft District. Yes and Trondson thought the apartments modern fixtures and exposed brick would complement the paintings and mixed media pieces from the artists in the VINEGAR collective. The Gregorys were drawn to the mission of VINEGAR, so Yes and Trondson circled back to their team to design the pop-up gallery for the two apartments: A ground floor studio loft and an adjoining two-bedroom loft. "Coyote Circle," a digital video installation by Melissa Yes (Shauna Stuart for AL.com) In November, the collective debuted Airbnb X VINEGAR: a series of of bi-monthly exhibitions with a rotating gallery of art by local and regional artists, open to the public the second Wednesday of the month. Before hosting the VINEGAR pop-up gallery, the Gregorys had been doing AirBnB for a year. We just thought it would be interesting to work with other people in Birmingham, people that maybe we wouldnt have connected with any other way, said Rebecca Gregory. While the couple appreciates art, theyre not ready to call themselves seasoned art lovers or collectors (Were not there just yet, a laughing Rebecca told AL.com). But they were happy to give VINEGAR the space and creative freedom to design their plans. Melissa Yes and Ann Trondson thought the modern fixtures and exposed brick of the downtown Birmingham lofts would be a good compliment for the paintings and mixed media pieces from the artists in the VINEGAR collective. (Shauna Stuart for AL.com) Every two months, a new group of artists will show in the lofts. The first exhibition featured work from VINEGARs creative contributors, a group of Birmingham-based artists selected by the collective to collaborate on projects, as well as work on expanding their own portfolios and mediums. On January 8, Airbnb X VINEGAR started its second wave of exhibitions with a new selection of artists. Until March, the studio will house a solo exhibition of sculptures from Daren Kendall, assistant professor of sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. In the adjoining loft is a group exhibition of paintings and photographs by Natalie Harrison, Alex McClurg and Orlando Thompson. Helping artists flourish through collaboration While the main goal of Airbnb X VINEGAR is to give its artists a platform to sell their work, Trondson said the collectives mission is to not only champion artists but also support art that can be displayed in settings other than a traditional exhibition. Members of VINEGAR Projects and some of the collectives creative contributors pose for a photo at the Airbnb X Vinegar opening (Shauna Stuart for AL.com) We want to encourage intellectual curiosity and doing things [artists] dont normally get to do. So, we have all of these people who can be there for each other in kind of a safe way. And challenge each other. For VINEGAR, that means working with its creative contributors to think of projects that push their artists boundaries, as well as developing an environment of artists who could critique their work. When I was in graduate school, I was allowed to read for just six straight months. Because [my instructors] knew how important it was for my development, said Trondson. I didnt have trouble coming up with art. But I had a hard time really explaining my work. Or getting it to go deeper and making connections to my ideas on a deeper level. So we want to help inspire that curiosity. Members of Vinegar Projects at the Birmingham Museum of Art in 2019 (Shauna Stuart for AL.com) This month, as Vinegar enters its next stage, Trondson and Yes look forward to adding more members, including expanding the panel that will judge the artists who apply for creative contributor positions. In February, Vinegar will open its permanent space and gallery in Forest Park. Details: The grand opening of VINEGAR Contemporary is Friday, Feb. 21 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 701 37th St S #12 Birmingham, AL 35222. The AirBnB X VINEGAR lofts are located at 214 18th street N Birmingham, AL 35203. For more information on the next public showing, visit the VINEGAR Facebook page. Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to the Southeast Asian nation is highly expected to start a new era of the long-lasting China-Myanmar "Paukphaw" -- or fraternal -- friendship. BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Every morning, trucks carrying dozens of tons of crabs and other aquatic products rumble from Myanmar through the Wanding border crossing to a Chinese fish market nearby before being distributed to seafood lovers across southern China. The Wanding fish market, now complete with a trading building, inspection facilities, walk-in freezers and sewage treatment systems, is a far cry from the crowded, dirty and smelly space it used to be, and bears ample witness to the thriving trade between the two neighboring countries. Further expansion has been planned, and traders there now have more reason to be optimistic about the future. Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to the Southeast Asian nation is highly expected to start a new era of the long-lasting China-Myanmar "Paukphaw" -- or fraternal -- friendship. Workers sort crabs imported from Myanmar at a market in Ruili City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 5, 2019.(Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) SHARED FUTURE The visit, which comes on Friday and Saturday at the invitation of Myanmar President U Win Myint, is not only Xi's first overseas trip this year, but the first to the Asian neighbor by a Chinese president after an interval of 19 years. The fact that this year marks the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties also endows the tour with unique significance. During Xi's visit, the two sides will work toward further enriching their relationship, strive toward building a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, and embark on a new era of bilateral ties, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Xi is scheduled to attend a series of state events held by his Myanmar counterpart, hold talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and attend a bilateral cooperation document exchange ceremony and a banquet held by Suu Kyi. Xi will also meet with Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing, and exchange views with the leaders of Myanmar's parliament and political parties. The two sides will issue a joint statement. Over the past seven decades, the two countries have expanded bilateral ties on the basis of mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual assistance, and have set a model of harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries of different sizes. In recent years, China and Myanmar have maintained good momentum for high-level contact. Xi has met on several occasions with Myanmar's leaders, with important consensus reached on further advancing bilateral relations in the new era. Xi's visit means valuable help and support to Myanmar and its people, which is of extraordinary significance to both countries, said Myanmar Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko, adding the visit will mark an important chapter in the history of Myanmar-China friendship. BRI COOPERATION The two sides are expected to deepen high-quality cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and promote the development of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, bolstering connectivity to the benefit of both peoples. Myanmar has been an active partner in BRI cooperation, with Suu Kyi chairing a steering committee established by Myanmar's government related to the BRI. Trade is expanding. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade reached 13.54 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2019, an increase of 17.9 percent from the same period in 2018. Chinese farmer Yukan who sells vegetables at a market in Myanmar, queues to leave a border crossing in Menghai county, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Since 2001, the two countries have taken turns hosting a border economic and trade fair each year, promoting bilateral cooperation in such areas as tourism, agriculture and logistics. The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and other major cooperation projects have boosted Myanmar's employment and economic development, and greatly elevated living standards. An employee from Myanmar works at a motorbike factory in China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Dehong Area in Dehong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) U Khin Maung Lynn, joint secretary of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said his country's participation in the BRI will strengthen cooperation between Myanmar and various countries, and create opportunities in trade, investment and infrastructure construction. China is the world's second largest economy and has gained rich development experience from its reform and opening up policy, from which Myanmar can draw inspiration, said Win Tin, editor-in-chief of Myanmar's Northern Light Journal. "Bilateral cooperation is good for tranquility and prosperity," and can contribute to the development of both countries, Win Tin said. GROWING FRIENDSHIP During his stay, Xi will also join Myanmar leaders in a series of 70th-anniversary celebrations and the launching ceremony of the China-Myanmar Culture and Tourism Year program. Such events are aimed at further expanding people-to-people exchanges and consolidating public support for the development of bilateral friendship. As neighboring countries, China and Myanmar share a border of around 2,200 km and have a long history of people-to-people exchanges. The two countries have started co-producing a documentary titled "Drink from the Same River" to tell stories of their cultural cooperation and friendship. During their thousands of years of exchanges, the Chinese and Myanmar people have forged a "Paukphaw" friendship, a fraternal bond that has strengthened with time. An employee from Myanmar works at a clothing company in China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Dehong Area in Dehong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) In recent years, bilateral cooperation and exchanges have put increasing focus on improving people's well-being, with major China-Myanmar construction projects involving dozens of schools and Chinese medical institutions providing free treatment in Myanmar. China's Yunnan Province, where the Wanding fish market is located, has provided Myanmar with technical assistance in high-yield corn and rice as well as personnel training in agriculture. The boom of people-to-people exchanges has greatly strengthened the friendship between the two peoples, said Yang Guoying, an associate professor in the Myanmar language at Peking University. An employee from Myanmar works in a restaurant in Jinghong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) And the friendly relationship between China and Myanmar, added Yang, will in turn help promote regional peace and stability. Laois native Claire Byrne is set to play a big part in the General Election campaign by hosting one of the centerpiece TV General Election debates on RTE The station says the Claire Byrne Live Leaders Debate will see leaders from a number of political parties invited to take part in front of a live audience. The Mountrath journalist hosted a similar debate in 2016 in Limerick. In the final days of the campaign, RTE says The Prime Time Leaders Debate will see the party leaders from the two largest political parties invited to take part in a live head-to-head studio debate. Party leaders will also face Bryan Dobson in a series of interviews to be broadcast at 7pm on RTE One throughout the campaign. As part of a wide range of the stations General Election 2020 coverage, RTE One will broadcast two live television debates during the campaign. "In approaching election coverage the RTE Election Steering Group has regard to objective and impartial criteria, such as the results of the last comparable election (in this instance, the General Election 2016) and the results of intervening elections, such as the 2019 Local and European elections. Other factors are also considered in RTE coverage of the campaign," said a statement from RTE. The station says it will reveal more details in the coming days. King of Prussia, PA, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa Mid-Atlantic community manager, Jill Geiger, was honored with the Community Associations Institute Excellence in Community Leadership Award at the Community Associations Institute (CAI) Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley Chapter Awards Banquet. The banquet integrated the annual meeting and holiday party that allowed guests to celebrate the end of a successful year with CAI friends and colleagues. The event included a networking hour, food, and silent auction. Associa Mid-Atlantic is extremely proud that CAI honored Jills continued success and dedication, stated Paula Santangelo, Associa Mid-Atlantic president. This was the CAI's first annual Excellence Awards, and we are excited to be a part of the celebration. With more than 200 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com. Stay Connected: Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa Subscribe to the Blog: https://hub.associaonline.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/associa Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/associa EU3 triggers dispute mechanism with Iran in blow to nuclear deal Iran Press TV Tuesday, 14 January 2020 2:48 PM Britain, France, and Germany, collectively known as the EU3, have formally triggered a dispute settlement mechanism featured in a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, a step that could lead to the restoration of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic. On Tuesday, the three European signatories to the Iran deal released a joint statement the mechanism was activated in response to what they claimed to be Iran's repeated violations of the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). After the mechanism is implemented, Iran would be given 15 days to resolve the dispute with the threesome states. The process can ultimately lead to a "snapback" which refers to the re-imposition of the UN Security Council's sanctions that were lifted after the nuclear was reached in 2015. The JCPOA lifted nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN and some other signatories of the deal, particularly the US. The Islamic Republic, in return, voluntarily changed some aspects of its nuclear program. The agreement was later ratified in the form of Security Council 2231, which terminated previous UN resolutions against the Islamic Republic. The United States was a partner to the accord until May 2018 when it unilaterally left the deal and re-imposed its sanctions. Washington took the move within the framework of a so-called "maximum pressure" policy against Iran that came into force under President Donald Trump. Bowing to Washington's pressure, the three remaining European signatories failed to protect Tehran's business interests under the deal after the US's withdrawal and started to tow Washington's sanction line. A year later, Iran began in May 2019 to gradually reduce its commitments under the JCPOA to both retaliate for Washington's departure and prompt the European trio to respect their obligations towards Tehran. Recently, Iran took a final step in reducing its commitments, and said it would no longer observe any operational limitations on its nuclear industry. The announcement came two days after US drone strikes assassinated senior Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. Tehran has, however, reminded that all its retaliatory steps fitted within Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA, and that its countermeasures are "reversible upon effective implementation of reciprocal obligations." The EU3, however, refuted "the argument that Iran is entitled to reduce compliance with the JCPOA. The trio also claimed that they meant no harm by launching the mechanism, and that they were not falling into line with the US's pressure campaign against Iran. "[We are acting] in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialog, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework," they said. "Our three countries are not joining a campaign to implement maximum pressure against Iran. Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA," they added. The trio has already informed the European Union, which monitored the negotiations that the led to the deal's conclusion, about their decision. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell confirmed he has received a letter about the launch of the mechanism. The EU now has to notify the other parties, namely Iran, Russia, and China, about the prospect. Observers, however, says the European states' adoption of the measure belies their repeated assertions that they value the JCPOA's continued existence, and rules out the supposition that they choose to distance themselves from Washington's hardball attitude. Earlier on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson even echoed Trump's branding of the agreement as "the worst deal ever" by saying he would be willing to work on a "Trump deal" to replace the JCPOA. "If we are going to get rid of it then we need a replacement," Johnson said. "President Trump is a great dealmaker, by his own account. Let's work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead," he added. Last December, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) had said that if the European signatories to the landmark accord activated the dispute mechanism to pressure Iran, it would mean the demise of the deal. Tehran has also called on the European deal partners to start minding their obligations to the accord instead of walking in Washington's footsteps by either threatening the country or trying to bring it under more pressure. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 20:44:46|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government and the opposition Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Tuesday began repositioning their troops stationed in the country's southern provinces, according to a Saudi-brokered deal signed in Riyadh last November. An official of Yemen's government told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "the army forces backed by several armored vehicles began a gradual withdrawal from the southern province of Abyan." "All the army units that were attempting to enter Aden left their sites and immediately came back to the previous positions in the northern Marib province," the source said. Under the supervision of a Saudi military committee, the STC's military units that were mobilized to confront the government forces also started a gradual withdrawal from Abyan province. A source of the Aden-based STC confirmed to Xinhua that "Saudi commanders held a series of meetings with the local leaders of the military units in Abyan and succeeded in convincing them to begin redeployment of forces." He said that "a number of military units linked to the STC left their bases in Abyan and headed directly to the country's western coast areas to confront Houthis there." According to the arrangements of the Riyadh deal, both forces loyal to Yemen's government and the STC would be deployed in areas that are witnessing confrontation with the Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia that sponsored the reconciliation consultations is still trying to end the tense situation that has been escalating between its local allies based in the southern regions of the Arab country. On Jan. 9, Yemen's government signed a new agreement with the Aden-based STC to implement the Saudi-brokered deal signed last November in Riyadh, including withdrawing all military forces from Aden. With direct supervision from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), representatives of the STC and the country's government reached an agreement to withdraw forces from Aden within three weeks. The new agreement specified a deadline of 20 days, starting from Jan. 11, to withdraw all the STC's military units and government forces stationed in the country's southern regions, including Abyan and Shabwa, but nothing went as planned. Last year, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers. But numerous obstacles prevented the implementation of the deal such as forming a new government and achieving permanent stability in southern Yemen. The deal also included the return of the exiled Yemeni government to Aden and the unification of all military units under the authority of the country's interior and defense ministries. The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthis who are still controlling the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country. The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including Sanaa. Fellow progressives Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have sparred on the debate stage in Iowa over the issue of electability, with the Massachusetts senator invoking the likes of Barack Obama and John F Kennedy to argue that America can elect a woman president. While Mr Sanders denied the accusation that he told Ms Warren in 2018 that he does not believe a woman can be president, Ms Warren stood her ground and said during the final debate in Iowa before the state's caucuses next month that she had disagreed with the Vermont senator when he allegedly said as much to her. Then she attacked the suggestion that a woman couldn't be elected: Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. Amy and me," Ms Warren said, referring to the other woman on the stage, senator Amy Klobuchar. Throughout the exchange, Mr Sanders stood his ground and suggested it was unimaginable that he would say he does not believe a woman can be president. He referred to his decision to hold back on entering the race in 2016 amid an effort to draft Ms Warren to run herself, and noted that there are clips of him discussing the importance of a female presidency decades ago. "Who believes a woman cant win? Of course a woman can win. The real question is how do we beat Trump?" Mr Sanders said before arguing that his candidacy is best poised to do so in the general because of its persistent energy. Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Show all 12 1 /12 Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally IMAGES INCLUDE EXPLICIT LANGUAGE: Counter protesters confront horse-mounted law enforcement after a rally by U.S. President Donald Trump in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ahead of a "Keep America Great" rally AFP/Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally A counter protester holds a sign before a rally by U.S. President Donald Trump in Minneapolis Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally The state is home to some of the Presidents most prominent critics including senator Amy Klobuchar and congresswoman Ilhan Omar AFP/Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Both the presidents backers and his detractors were, for the most part, kept separate EPA Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally On the fringes of the action the presidents supporters clashed with protestors AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally A protester with a whistle attempts to interrupt U.S. President Donald Trump while he spoke Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Minneapolis Police create a blockade to hold back protestors Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally On the arrival of the police protestors could be seen jeering and hurling projectiles at officers AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Officers deployed pepper spray during the protests AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Baby Trump balloons are carried by a counter protester before the rally Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP/Getty Ms Warren, who earlier declined to attack Mr Sanders personally, agreed with Mr Sanders on that question, before arguing that the 2018 election gains for Democrats were fuelled by women candidates and voters. "Look dont deny that the question is there. Back in the 1960s people asked could a Catholic win," she said, referring to former president Kennedy. "Back in 2008 people asked if an African American can win. In both times the Democratic Party stepped up and said yes, and got behind their candidate." Recommended Warren claims Sanders told her female candidate could not beat Trump The issue marked a rare moment of tension between the two progressives, who lead in the recent CNN/Des Moines Register poll of Iowa voters. The pair had previously been chosen to team up on the debate stage, and respond to attacks form more centrist candidates while leaving the other alone. But, in the days leading up to the Tuesday debate, Mr Sanders' campaign appeared to try to undercut her campaign by giving out a script to volunteers that accused Ms Warren of being a candidate that primarily appeals to wealthy elites. In the aftermath, a CNN report indicated that Mr Sanders had told Ms Warren in a private meeting in 2018 that he did not believe a woman could win against Mr Trump in 2020. While Mr Sanders has categorically denied the report, Ms Warren has herself refused to say that her Senate colleague had not said as much. Back in December 2018, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren met at a personal level. It was in Warren's apartment in Washington, DC. They were aware that both of them would make a bid for the White House and be in the president 2020 race. During the conversation, they discussed various strategies. One was about not targeting one another because that could damage the progressive movement. Warren felt she would be a strong candidate. In her opinion, her plus points were her ability to make a robust argument about the economy. She also expected to cash in on the broad support from female voters. However, Sanders apparently told her that he did not believe a woman could win. "I didn't say it," Sanders said. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie, Warren said. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head-on. https://t.co/aNe2si0FCu The New York Times (@nytimes) January 15, 2020 CNN says there is no record of the meeting but the information is based on accounts of some people who are close to them. In fact, subsequent to the publication of this story, Elizabeth Warren backed it up. She said, I thought a woman could win; he disagreed." Bernie Sanders, on his part, denied the characterization of the meeting and gave a statement to that effect to CNN. It is obvious that they were keen to strike a balance between their friendship and political rivalry even before the President 2020 race was officially underway. Can a woman win the President 2020 race? America has yet to get a woman president and there is an apparent hesitation in accepting the fact that a woman could win the race. Discuss this news on Eunomia It might appear to be farfetched to many in the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton did make an attempt in 2016 but could not succeed. Elizabeth Warren for President 2020 is the only woman candidate in the list of top contenders of the Democratic field. The success of women elected to the House of Representatives is a pointer that changes are happening. Their presence has helped the Democrats get popularity. The party's field of White House candidates this time has a number of women and Warren is one of them. Warren and Sanders row highlights divides before Iowa Democratic debate https://t.co/EsETd9WLrB Guardian US (@GuardianUS) January 14, 2020 CNN goes on to add that with the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, Warren is now the only woman who shows some promise. Her polling is in double-digits nationally and she continues to be among the top four Democrats in the race. The other three are Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Joe Biden and the fight could witness unexpected results. The race for President 2020 could spring surprises According to the BBC, Elizabeth Warren appears to be the only woman from the Democratic Party camp who could face Donald Trump in the final reckoning. In this connection, it seems Bernie Sanders had commented on an earlier occasion that A woman could not win this year's presidential election. He is believed to have made those comments while talking with Warren herself in December 2018. However, Vermont senator Sanders denied the claim. In fact, he insists that his belief was just the opposite. Warren says that in spite of the controversy, the two of them remain "friends and allies." Sanders also agreed. He said he had given many speeches but had never spoken ill of her and clarified that both he and Warren have teams of people working for them. They can have their opinions. He told reporters in Iowa You have heard me give many speeches. Have I ever said one negative word about Elizabeth Warren?" Elizabeth Warren says fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told her during a private meeting two years ago that he didnt think a woman could win the White House, an accusation Sanders denies. https://t.co/bHVl28GB1Y The Associated Press (@AP) January 14, 2020 How the top four stand in the President 2020 race The BBC provides more information on the race to the White House. Bernie Sanders for President 2020 is another hopeful. He will be on stage along Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg for the next round of debates. Each of them wants to deny another term to Donald Trump. The latest opinion poll of 8-9 January puts the support of registered Democrats at 23 percent for Joe Biden, 20 percent for Bernie Sanders and 15 percent for Elizabeth Warren. In other words, they are neck-to-neck. The race to the White House for President 2020 could spring some surprises and the world waits to see if a woman does become the 46th president of the United States. Close Rugby League World Cup becomes first global sporting tournament to launch a Mental Fitness Charter Prince Harry has made his first public appearance since he and Meghan Markle announced their intention to step back from their roles as senior royals. The Duke of Sussex announced the Rugby League World Cup draw at Buckingham Palace, of which he is patron. In a video promoting the tournaments new Mental Fitness Charter, the prince said it would help challenge grin and bear it culture. Meanwhile, reports suggested that the Home Office was weighing a Scotland Yard recommendation to downgrade Prince Andrews round-the-clock security, although the final say reportedly lies with Boris Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel. It comes days after the Windsors held crunch talks at Sandringham. In a rare official statement, the Queen said the royal family respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life, split between the UK and Canada. However, an editorial in Canadas largest newspaper stirred controversy as it insisted the couple should not use the country as a halfway house while still part of the royal family, claiming it could endanger the countrys constitution. Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou has replaced the head of the army after two of the countrys deadliest attacks in living memory killed at least 160 soldiers and prompted a rethink in the battle against jihadist groups, the government said. Ahmed Mohamed led the army for over two years, a period marked by a steep rise in attacks by militants linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda that culminated in a daytime raid on a remote army base on Thursday that killed at least 89 soldiers. That attack came less than a month after another on an outpost that killed 71 soldiers and raised questions about Nigers ability to contain the spread of jihadist groups across its western border from Mali and Burkina Faso. Major General Salifou Modi was appointed Mohameds successor on Monday, the government announced after a cabinet meeting. Niger said it would launch a new military offensive against militants, but past campaigns have failed to curb violence despite the presence of French and American troops. Attacks in Niger have risen fourfold over the past year, killing more than 400 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a non-profit research organization. Military campaigns by armies in the Sahel, a semi-arid swathe of land beneath the Sahara, have also been marred by human rights abuses, which analysts say have pushed some civilians into the arms of the jihadists. In addition to the Islamist attacks, countries in the region, especially Mali and Burkina Faso, have struggled to cope with deadly ethnic clashes between rival farming and herding communities. I am writing to express my deep concern regarding recent news articles in the Napa Valley Register regarding the leasing of the Upper Valley Campus to the City of St. Helena. As a Napa resident, I am very familiar with the college as I have taken several courses over the past 20 years at the college. Moreover, my wife served as vice president of instruction for eight years. I am also quite familiar with the California community college system as I served as director of governmental affairs for the CA Community College League and prior to that as an education consultant to the California State Legislature. My greatest concern about the decision to lease the property concerns that fact that there has been no opportunity for public input into the decision. The only opportunity for comment seems to be the Jan. 16 board meeting, but from appearances, the decision has already been made. The decision to lease the campus facilities, and for all practical purposes eliminate the educational function of the campus, is a total abrogation of the public trust and violates the agreement for building the campus in the first place. Obviously, there was a perceived need for the campus. Local taxpayers supported the new campus with the expectation that it would provide valued education services to the larger Napa Valley community, particularly in the upper valley. While it may be true that enrollment has declined, the critical question that remains to be answered is why. Ive not heard any discussion about this and as far as I can tell, there are none. What I perceive is a decision to lease the campus facilities to the City of St. Helena principally because the City of St. Helena needs more and better facilities and can get the college campus at below-market rates. However, I dont understand what the real problem is. Is it that St. Helena needs new facilities or that the college is underutilized? The former seems to be the main concern of current deliberations. But, the question that really matters and the one that is ignored is what can be done to create the kinds of programs that will meet the needs of Napa Valley? As far as I know, there has been no discussion, at least no public discussion, of what alternatives to shutting down the college might exist. Leasing the college facilities for three to five years means the end of the college. Experience with higher education tells us that one doesnt just open and close colleges and expect them to be high quality institutions of learning. What makes them colleges is not the facade that houses them, but the community of people who work in them. That takes years to build. I participated in a week-long program at the Upper Valley Campus last summer. I hadnt been on the campus for several years, and was shocked and saddened to see the totally neglected grounds. The Native-American monument that the college had promised to maintain was in a state of total neglect. I can only think that the kind of neglect observable in the state of the grounds may also extend to the educational programs at the campus. The decision to lease the facilities strikes me as hasty and not well thought out. According to Ron Kraft, the campus will be on a hiatus the coming semester. However, the current catalogue lists dozens of course that will be offered in the coming quarter. Which is it? Leasing the campus facilities to the city would do a great disservice to the Napa Valley community. Rather than talks about shutting down the campus, I would like to hear serious discussions about how to revitalize the college to be what it was originally meant to be and to serve the educational needs of the Napa Valley community. My recommendation is that the President and Board take some time to fully discuss the future of the Upper Valley Campus. The current proposal seems hasty, not fully considered. There are simply too many questions beyond the scope of this letter left unanswered. Thomas Timar, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus UC Davis SAN DIEGO, Calif.--A new species of feathered dinosaur has been discovered in China, and described by American and Chinese authors and published today in the journal, The Anatomical Record. The one-of-a-kind specimen offers a window into what the earth was like 120 million years ago. The fossil preserves feathers and bones that provide new information about how dinosaurs grew and how they differed from birds. "The new dinosaur fits in with an incredible radiation of feathered, winged animals that are closely related to the origin of birds," said Dr. Ashley Poust, who analyzed the specimens while he was a student at Montana State University and during his time as a Ph.D. student at University of California, Berkeley. Poust is now postdoctoral researcher at the San Diego Natural History Museum. "Studying specimens like this not only shows us the sometimes-surprising paths that ancient life has taken, but also allows us to test ideas about how important bird characteristics, including flight, arose in the distant past." Scientists named the dinosaur Wulong bohaiensis. Wulong is Chinese for "the dancing dragon" and references the position of the beautifully articulated specimen. About the Discovery The specimen was found more than a decade ago by a farmer in China, in the fossil-rich Jehol Province, and since then has been housed in the collection of The Dalian Natural History Museum in Liaoning, a northeastern Chinese province bordering North Korea and the Yellow Sea. The skeletal bones were analyzed by Poust alongside his advisor Dr. David Varricchio from Montana State University while Poust was a student there. Larger than a common crow and smaller than a raven, but with a long, bony tail which would have doubled its length, Wulong bohaiensis had a narrow face filled with sharp teeth. Its bones were thin and small, and the animal was covered with feathers, including a wing-like array on both its arms and legs and two long plumes at the end of its tail. This animal is one of the earliest relatives of Velociraptor, the famous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 million years ago. Wulong's closest well-known relative would have been Microraptor, a genus of small, four-winged paravian dinosaurs. The discovery is significant not only because it describes a dinosaur that is new to science, but also because it shows connection between birds and dinosaurs. "The specimen has feathers on its limbs and tail that we associate with adult birds, but it had other features that made us think it was a juvenile," said Poust. To understand this contradiction, the scientists cut up several bones of the new dinosaur to examine under a microscope. This technique, called bone histology, is becoming a regular part of the paleontology toolbox, but it's still sometimes difficult to convince museums to let a researcher remove part of a nice skeleton. "Thankfully, our coauthors at the Dalian Natural History Museum were really forward thinking and allowed us to apply these techniques, not only to Wulong, but also to another dinosaur, a close relative that looked more adult called Sinornithosaurus." The bones showed that the new dinosaur was a juvenile. This means that at least some dinosaurs were getting very mature looking feathers well before they were done growing. Birds grow up very fast and often don't get their adult plumage until well after they are full sized. Showy feathers, especially those used for mating, are particularly delayed. And yet here was an immature dinosaur with two long feathers extending beyond the tip of the tail. "Either the young dinosaurs needed these tail feathers for some function we don't know about, or they were growing their feathers really differently from most living birds," explained Poust. An additional surprise came from the second dinosaur the scientists sampled; Sinornithosaurus wasn't done growing either. The bone tissue was that of an actively growing animal and it lacked an External Fundamental System: a structure on the outside of the bone that vertebrates form when they're full size. "Here was an animal that was large and had adult looking bones: we thought it was going to be mature, but histology proved that idea wrong. It was older than Wulong, but seems to have been still growing. Researchers need to be really careful about determining whether a specimen is adult or not. Until we learn a lot more, histology is really the most dependable way." In spite of these cautions, Poust says there is a lot more to learn about dinosaurs. "We're talking about animals that lived twice as long ago as T. rex, so it's pretty amazing how well preserved they are. It's really very exciting to see inside these animals for the first time." About the Jehol Biota The area in which the specimen was found is one of the richest fossil deposits in the world. The Jehol biota is known for the incredible variety of animals that were alive at the time. It is also one of the earliest bird-rich environments, where birds, bird-like dinosaurs, and pterosaurs all shared the same habitat. "There was a lot of flying, gliding, and flapping around these ancient lakes," says Poust. "As we continue to discover more about the diversity of these small animals it becomes interesting how they all might have fit into the ecosystem." Other important changes were happening at the same time in the Early Cretaceous, including the spread of flowering plants. "It was an alien world, but with some of the earliest feathers and earliest flowers, it would have been a pretty one." ### Five authors contributed to the manuscript that is scheduled to be published in The Anatomical Record on January 15: Dr. Ashley Poust; Dr. Chunling Gao; Dr. David J. Varricchio; Dr. Jianlin Wu; Fengjiao Zhang. About the San Diego Natural History Museum The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) is the second oldest scientific institution in California and the third oldest west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1874 by a small group of citizen scientists, the Museum's mission is to interpret the natural world through research, education, and exhibits; to promote understanding of the evolution and diversity of southern California and the peninsula of Baja California, Mexico; and to inspire in all people respect for the environment. The Museum is located at 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 in Balboa Park. For more information, call 877.946.7797 or visit sdnat.org. Follow The Nat on Twitter and Instagram and join the discussion on Facebook. New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director-General on Wednesday met Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla pertaining to an investigation of a case related to Deputy SP Davinder Singh, who was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police while he was travelling with two Hizbul terrorists. The investigation of the case has been handed over to NIA, sources claimed. The sources further said that a team headed by IG level officer will go to Jammu and Kashmir for the investigation soon. The probe team will investigate Davinder's link with the terrorists. The NIA will also register a case after seeking details from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the source further added. Jammu and Kashmir police intercepted a vehicle on Sunday and arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh along with two top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists while they were travelling together. (ANI) Photo: The Greenspot Salad Company/Yelp A new spot to score salads and more has debuted in the neighborhood. Called The Greenspot Salad Company, it's at 2075 Camino De La Reina in Mission Valley East. The San Diego-based brand's third location, the latest Greenspot offers what the eatery describes as "fresh, natural and premium foods that appeal to the mindful eater." An example of that approach is one of its centerpiece salads, the Superfood, which consists of baby spinach, shredded kale, broccoli, roasted yam, quinoa, avocado, lemon juice and olive oil. In addition to a variety of salads, the spot offers bowls, soups and wraps. The new arrival has proven popular thus far, with a 4.5-star rating out of 11 reviews on Yelp. David G., who was among the first Yelpers to review the spot on Jan. 8, wrote, "Was in the area and looking for something healthy. Very clean and nice inside. I had the Superfood (with a different dressing), and it was awesome. Lots of yummy quinoa and avocado. I added tofu to my salad, which was delicious. Definitely a great option!" And Mira P. wrote, "Wonderful healthy addition to the neighborhood. Large portions, healthy fast-food options so excited to try everything on the menu!" Interested? Stop by to welcome the new business to the neighborhood. The Greenspot Salad Company is open from 10 a.m.8 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m.8 p.m. on weekends. Want to keep your finger on the pulse of new businesses in San Diego? Here's what else opened recently near you. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. At the government meeting Jan. 12, it was hard to ignore the contradiction between the statements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon regarding the economic achievements and might of the state, and the pessimistic picture presented by senior Finance Ministry officials regarding an expected growth of 4.2% in the deficit in 2021, and the need for concrete and immediate steps to address it. One of the ministers who participated in the meeting told the financial paper Globes anonymously, The fact that we are in an ongoing election period makes the ministers almost like extras in a play we dont have tools to address the problems, especially the deficit. We all know that this problem will likely be addressed by a government with a different composition, perhaps completely different, and so there's no real use of talking about it now. The financial indexes of the State of Israel are not only negative, since Israel shows economic stability, low unemployment and good capacity to raise capital in the global markets. However, the Finance Ministry officials presented some troublesome figures at the meeting, chief of which is a decrease in state revenue from taxes and an increase in government spending during the election year. During the meeting, Netanyahu cut off the Finance Ministry speakers and argued that their forecast is not well established, since it is not clear what government would be formed following the election and what it could do in the next year. After the meeting, one of the senior Finance Ministry officials told Al-Monitor that their forecast was actually conservative, in light of the political dead end expected even after the March 2 election. As we know, Israel has been in an election mode for more than a year. The direct significance of this is that the government is paralyzed and cannot move processes, plans or new reforms, but can only continue implementing the policy set in December 2018. The examples for this are many. Al-Monitor reported Dec. 13 on the budget to "rehabilitate" female sex workers, which have been stuck because of the caretaker governments inability to move forward and the paralysis of the Knesset. Another example is the five-year plan for the Druze and Circassian societies that ended in December. The plan brought real change to these communities, for example, in good results in high school matriculation exams. Six months ago, leaders of these groups appealed to government offices to advance a new plan. While the basis for this new plan exists, because of the political paralysis and the fact that this is a plan costing 4.5 billion Israeli shekels ($1.3 billion), the relevant ministers did not discuss it and did not present it for authorization by the government. The leaders of Druze local authorities threatened a strike, and only then did the government authorize a temporary budget of 250 million shekels ($72 million) that were cut from other places. The sum hardly covers the continuation of existing projects. A similar fate is expected for the five-year plan for the Arab communities that is due to expire this year, which also yielded great accomplishments. A continuation plan is necessary here too, but in the meantime, no one has started working on it because there is no such direction from the ministers responsible. Other problems of the political paralysis are in senior appointments. The Israeli police hasnt had a permanent chief since Commissioner Roni Alsheikh finished his term in December 2018. Because of the election cycle Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit forbade appointing a permanent commissioner, and since then Deputy Commissioner Motti Cohen has been filling the role. Likewise, the appointment of the chief of prison services and the appointment of the chief of fire and rescue services have been stalled. In the Justice Ministry this paralysis has caused conflict between appointed Minister Amir Ohana and the attorney general. After State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan finished his term, Ohana tried to appoint Orly Ben-Ari Ginzberg as an interim, but the attorney general, with backing from the High Court, determined that a minister in a transition government must obtain his consent for such an appointment. Back to the economy. The foundational problem with a lack of a government that has received the faith of the Knesset in a confidence vote is a lack of an ability to prepare and authorize a new state budget for 2020 in the government and the Knesset. Such a budget includes reforms and changes that are needed to achieve a balanced budget and implement government policy in various areas. The Finance Ministry has prepared such a basic budget, but the political dead end has prevented its discussion and authorization. At this interim government stage, the ministries are instructed to work according to the same framework of the 2019 budget, adjusted for an increase in the consumer price index. The law determines that in such an interim situation, the Finance Ministry is charged with monitoring government expenses. The significance is the full control of bureaucrats, headed by the ministrys accountant general and the person who directs the budgets of government activity. The director of a government ministry told Al-Monitor that in this situation the professional bureaucrats do not have to put up with political dictates, but on the other hand, they do not have an ability to advance new issues or urgent reforms. The Finance Ministry claims that because there is no authorized state budget and no ability to implement reforms, the budget deficit in 2021 will reach 30 billion shekels ($8.7 billion), which is 4.2% of the total budget. This is a relatively high rate for Israel, which in recent years has enjoyed a low deficit (around 2% a year) and good growth. The Finance Ministrys plan includes far-reaching steps, such as canceling tax exemptions and budget cuts, or else this deficit will continue to grow. But until a new government is formed there is no possibility of making such decisions, and this is the reason for the pessimism of Finance Ministry officials and the fear that as long as the dead end situation continues, the economic problems will turn into a real crisis. The economic situation was one of the reasons for the attempt of the Likud and Blue and White parties to promote negotiations for a unity government in November and December. Such a government, which would not be dependent on smaller parties, could have rejected sectorial coalition demands, but for various political reasons it did not happen. Such a coalition is much needed for Israel, but in light of the current political situation it is quite doubtful that it could form even after the election in March. The Daily Blog, a prominent mouthpiece for New Zealands pseudo-left milieu and trade union bureaucracy, has responded to the catastrophic bushfires in nearby Australia with a reactionary tirade demanding extreme national-isolationist measures in New Zealand, enforced by a stronger military and attacks on democratic rights. The January 3 statement by editor Martyn Bradbury, What the Australian megafire means to us in NZ and why Fortress Aotearoa is simply a matter of time, declared that NZ [Aotearoa] is about to be swamped by Australians fleeing climate change and must take drastic steps to avoid becoming an Australian territory. There is nothing remotely left wing or progressive about the statement, which reflects the right-wing politics of the blogs upper middle class supporters. It has the same aim as the hysterical anti-immigrant propaganda of governments around the world, including the Trump administrations America First doctrine: to poison the political atmosphere and divide the working class on the basis of race and nationality, in order to derail rising opposition to social inequality, poverty and war. The Daily Blog supports Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns Labour Party-led government, which includes the anti-Asian NZ First Party, Labours main coalition partner. Bradbury recently praised NZ First cabinet minister Shane Jones as a political genius for his inflammatory comments demonising Indian immigrants. Bradburys statement echoes the Christchurch terrorists fascist manifesto. Brenton Tarrant, who faces charges of killing 51 people in attacks on two mosques in March 2019, denounced non-white immigrants as invaders seeking to replace the local population and culture. Bradbury depicts Australians essentially as barbarians who will undermine New Zealands culture if allowed to enter in significant numbers. All the establishment parties are complicit in whipping up the xenophobic political climate that fuelled the Christchurch atrocity. The Ardern government has slashed migrant numbers while making it harder to gain permanent residency. The trade unions constantly agitate for the government to go further and block foreign workers from entering the country. Anti-Australianism has long been exploited by the unions to defend their collaboration with their own NZ employers by holding hard-nosed Australian banks and companies responsible for attacks on the working class. The Daily Blog s bushfire statement contained not one word of sympathy for thousands of ordinary Australians facing dire circumstances, including overwhelmed volunteer firefighters. Raging infernos have destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of bush, hundreds of homes and even entire towns, threatening livelihoods and claiming two dozen lives. Nor was there any political criticism of Australias ruling elite, personified by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who on January 2 was confronted by angry residents as he visited the fire-ravaged town of Cobargo. New Zealands government similarly escaped Bradburys ire. Ardern has sent just 180 firefighters across the Tasman to assist, followed by a contingent of the armed forces. The omissions reflect the Daily Blogs hostility towards the working class. Bradbury demagogically described Morrison as a right wing fundamentalist Christian climate denying coal loving dick head. But he similarly tarred the entire Australian population, ranting: Australia treats us with contempt How do you think they will treat us if they flee here on mass? [sic] Forget China and America having too much influence over us, it will be Australians fleeing climate change who will be the real problem. The Daily Blog is funded by the Unite union, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union and the Dairy Workers Union. Its regular contributors include Mike Treen, leader of Unite and a former leader of the Pabloite Socialist Action League; pro-Labour Party commentator Chris Trotter; ex-Greens MP Keith Locke and activist John Minto. Minto and Treen are former members of the Maori nationalist Mana Party, which has campaigned for restricting jobs to New Zealanders first and scapegoated Chinese people for the housing crisis and drugs trade. Unite and Mana have close connections with New Zealands pseudo-left groups, the International Socialist Organisation and Socialist Aotearoa. All these individuals and organisations bear political responsibility for the chauvinist filth that the Daily Blog has been spewing out for years, especially its anti-Chinese xenophobia. The blog ludicrously depicts China as New Zealands economic overlord and portrays Chinese immigrants as a subversive threat. Despite occasional anti-American outbursts, it supports the Labour-NZ First governments push to further integrate New Zealand into US war plans against China. The Australian bushfires have now become the occasion for Bradbury to extend the blogs chauvinism further. Instead of placing the blame for the climate crisis where it belongs, with the anarchic private profit system and rapacious global corporations, Bradbury rails against ordinary people who exhibit the worst of human nature. Rejecting any socialist solution, Bradbury declares it is impossible to plan for a pretend world of co-operation that will never exist. He describes Fortress Aotearoa as the only way forward in a world where the worst angels of our nature are unleashed. To implement this agenda, the Daily Blog calls for a large scale increase in Army, Navy and Airforce. Although Bradbury does not spell it out, a vastly expanded military would be used to guard the border and turn back migrants and suppress the inevitable opposition from working people in NZ. A quarter of New Zealanders are first generation immigrants, and about 600,000 New Zealanders live in Australia. Bradbury advocates major attacks on democratic rights, including extending the current three-year parliamentary term to five years, to make it more difficult to remove unpopular governments. He proposes restricting voting to citizens only (currently recent immigrants are allowed to vote) and for parliament to be reconfigured to give a larger say to the Maori business elite. Various euphemisms, including Bradburys description of anti-immigrant policies as sustainable immigration, and his calls to increase New Zealands extremely low refugee intake and increase social spending, cannot disguise the authoritarian and militarist character of his program. The blogs demands dovetail with the agenda of the Labour Party-NZ First-Greens government, which has pledged to spend $20 billion by 2030 to upgrade New Zealands military, including expanding the army from 4,500 to 6,000 soldiers. The government is also militarising the police, recruiting an extra 1,800 front-line officers. As a minor imperialist power, New Zealands ruling class aims to cement its domination over several impoverished Pacific island nations, while strengthening its long-standing military and intelligence alliance with Washington as the latter threatens war against China, Russia and Iran. The government and its backers, including the Daily Blog, also fear that soaring social inequality produced by its pro-business policies will unleash a mass working-class movement, similar to that in Chile, France and other countries, which the union bureaucracy will be unable to stop. The state is therefore preparing to violently suppress oppositionas it did during the great strike of 1913, the riots of the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the 1951 waterfront strike. The middle class milieu that Bradbury speaks for has long espoused isolationist views, pretending that New Zealand is a haven of decency and peace at the bottom of the South Pacific that can cut itself off from the rest of the world. This is a reactionary utopian fantasy which, as the Daily Blog makes clear, can only be imposed with violent repression of the working class. The climate crisis is a global issue which has no national solution. The Australian and New Zealand ruling elites, like those of every country, have no serious policies to address it because to do so would cut across the interests of the multi-billion dollar corporations, including New Zealands dairy exporters. The only way to seriously address climate change, and put an end to social inequality and imperialist war, is through the abolition of the capitalist system and its division of the world into rival nation states. The world economy must be organised on a rational, scientific basis, in accordance with human need. This requires an international struggle for socialism, uniting workers who are, objectively, more globally connected than ever before, and share the same basic interests regardless of where they live. Such a movement can only be built in opposition to the right-wing politics of the Labour Party, the trade unions and all their nationalist allies, including the Daily Blog. 2019 River Cruise Summit From technology that drove results and boots-on-the-ground marketing to interactive training and more, making personal connections was the key to our record-breaking year. In addition to receiving top accolades confirming its powerhouse status in the travel franchise space, Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. also experienced another year of double-digit growth because their work-from-home travel agents maximize state-of-the-art tools and resources that are continuously launched by the company, enabling increased efficiencies and value to their clients resulting in increased sales. 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For the eighth consecutive year, Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. were recognized as a Top Private Company by South Florida Business Journal, a finalist in the publications Business of the Year awards, as well as securing the title of Top Workplace in South Florida by Energage and Sun Sentinel. Renowned for its forward-thinking, Dream Vacations won the Franchise Innovation Award from Franchise Update magazine and was named a Top 100 Game Changer by Franchise Dictionary magazine. The companies are looking for individuals who are passionate about travel with an entrepreneurial spirit who would like to be part of a travel agency network that cares more about its agents and travelers. For more information on joining these award-winning agencies, please visit http://www.dreamvacationsfranchise.com to learn more about owning a CruiseOne / Dream Vacations travel franchise, and visit http://www.sellcruises.com to learn more about the Cruises Inc. business opportunity. About Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. are part of World Travel Holdings, the nations largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company. The Dream Vacations and CruiseOne franchise opportunities give entrepreneurs a choice in how they want to brand their travel business, and Cruises Inc. is an independent business opportunity. Both business models provide a work-from-home opportunity to those interested in selling all types of travel experiences whether it be a cruise, resort stay or land tour. With a mission of delivering a remarkable experience, travel agents with all three brands are given premium resources to plan and create a seamless vacation experience for the customer while offering the best value. For more information on Dream Vacations and CruiseOne, visit http://www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com, like the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/DreamVacationsFranchise, follow on Twitter at @Dream_Franchise or watch its videos at http://www.youtube.com/DreamVacationsBusiness. For more information on Cruises Inc., visit http://www.SellCruises.com and become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SellCruises. In her remarks at the event, VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga reviewed the 70-year history and the major achievements of the relationship, which, she said, are attributable to contributions of generations of Vietnamese and Chinese leaders and people. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both sides to preserve and promote these achievements, she said. Nga highlighted that the enhancement of cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples, and the maintenance the Vietnam-China relationship in a healthy and stable way, is an important factor to peace, stability and development of each country as well as of the region and the world at large, given the complex development of regional and international situation. The Vietnamese Party, State and people always attach importance to developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China, considering this a top priority in Vietnams foreign policy, the official said. She underlined the role of people-to-people exchange in materialising common perception reached by high-ranking leaders of the two countries, enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and consolidating the social foundation for the development of the Vietnam-China relationship. Nga expressed her hope for further coordination with Chinese partners in organising people-to-people exchanges to mark the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic ties. Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo emphasized that good relations between Vietnamese and Chinese people are the root and source of strength of the bilateral ties. He applauded the contributions of the VUFO and the VCFA to intensifying mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries. The ambassador echoed Ngas view on closer coordination in organising friendship activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties, such as the China-Vietnam Peoples Forum and the China-Vietnam Youth Friendship Meeting. The Chinese Embassy in Vietnam stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the VUFO and the VCFA, contributing to enhancing understanding and friendship between Vietnamese and Chinese people, and promoting the relationship between the two countries in a stable, healthy and sustainable manner, he said. The year has got off to a rocky start for the royal family after Prince Harry and Meghan Markles bombshell news that theyre stepping away from their senior roles within the Firm. The Queen called an emergency crisis meeting, Kate Middleton was pictured looking frazzled as she drove out of Kensington Palace and the Duchess of Sussex dashed back to Canada to be with her beloved baby boy, Archie. Now its being claimed that Prince Harry and Prince Williams bond has never been so bad, with Wills feeling betrayed by his younger brother. Prince William feels 'betrayed and let down' by Prince Harry, according to report. Photo: Getty Images Its absolutely heartbreaking to see just how damaged William and Harrys relationship has become, a senior royal source told The Sun. Theyll always love each other as brothers, but right now things have never been so bad. William feels betrayed and let down by Harry. Harry feels like William and Kate never gave Meghan a chance. And now theyre leaving the country in this state. According to The Sunday Times, Prince William spoke to a friend about the brothers broken bond given how close they were growing up. Ive put my arm around my brother all our lives. I cant do it anymore, the prince reportedly said. He added that all he can do now is try and support them. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back from their roles as 'senior royals' in the family. Photo: Getty Images Yesterday, in an unprecedented move by the royal brothers, they released a joint statement denying that the Sussexes were bullied out of the royal family by William. Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge, the statement read. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful. Speculation regarding a feud between Prince Harry and Prince William began to mount at the end of 2018, just months after the Sussexes tied the knot. It was seemingly sparked by the announcement that Meghan and Harry planned to move to Windsor before Archies birth, with rumours swirling that it had to do with a rift between Meghan and Kate. Story continues A reported feud between the family was first speculated about at the end of 2018. Photo: Getty Images However, The Suns royal correspondent Emily Andrews told Yahoo UKs The Royal Box, that the tension was actually between brothers William and Harry and that they did not see each other in private for six months after the royal wedding last year. Andrews said: I think behind the scenes, Harry and Williams relationship has always been up and down actually but of course, weve never really seen that. Then, it was announced that they would be splitting their households and that Harry and Meghans whole communications team would be based out of Buckingham Palace instead of Kensington Palace. Many saw this as a clear sign that the Sussexes had no interest in continuing their career as the Fab Four and signaled their desire to be seen as a separate entity. A short while later, Prince William and Kate Middleton took control of The Royal Foundation, a charity the brothers started together. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com The laboratory will be used to conduct investigations of organized crime, environmental offences, as well as illegal logging and mining in southern Peru. Ambassador Urs handed over a donation of high-tech equipment valued at US$700,000 to Avalos in order to implement the state-of-the-art forensic lab facilities. The donation includes a scanner capable of recreating crime scenes through virtual reality, satellite remote sensing equipment, a spectrometer to analyze various substances, a drone capable of detecting a person 100 meters away, and a variety of analysis consumables. "We are sure this donation will help experts from the Prosecutor's Office with the investigation of environmental crimes," the U.S Ambassador said during the handing-over ceremony. "Moreover, it will allow the Peruvian Government to continue with the success story as part of the Mercury Operation, which is an example of its commitment to safeguarding the Amazon rainforest and fighting organized crime," he added. Mr. Urs affirmed that Peru can always rely on the United States as a partner and friend that is willing to help in the fight for peace, justice, and sustainable development, as well as in the strengthening of the rule of law. This high-end equipment will be used to assess forest crimes, illegal logging and forest predation, environmental crimes, including illegal mining and environmental pollution, cybercrimes committed by assistance of cell phones, audio recording equipment and computers, accounting frauds such as money laundering and corruption, ballistic crimes, as well as in handwriting and forgery examinations. (END) NDP/RMB/MVB Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who landed in India on Tuesday, immediately got into the festive spirit across the country by flying a kite, a feature of Makar Sankranti festival celebrated across western and northern India. Posting a 36-second long video on Instagram showing him flying a kite in Delhi, the worlds richest man said, Any day is a good day when you get to fly a kite and hash-tagged it #ThankYouIndia. But that was not the first thing he did on his latest India visit. On Tuesday he paid a visit to Raj Ghat and offered tributes at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi, he tweeted. During his current visit Bezos is expected to meet top government functionaries, business leaders and SMBs. His visit comes at a time when India's antitrust body, Competition Commission of India, has ordered an investigation into alleged violations of competition laws by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. WATCH THE VIDEO OF JEFF BEZOS FLYING A KITE! I suspect that most of us who had a Dave phase will always look back fondly on our time with him, and the world of dancing nancies and tripping billies he conjured before we were self-aware enough to disavow them. Photo: Francesco Prandoni/Redferns/Getty Images This essay originally ran in November 2017 around the release of Lady Bird. Were running it again today in light of Dave Matthews Bands controversial exclusion from the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class, despite winning the Fan Vote by over 1 million votes. In the year 2000, it was certainly lost on me that Crash Into Me was about a stalker. I didnt have cable, so I wouldnt have seen Dave Matthews say as much on a 1999 episode of VH1 Storytellers. What I had was a CD copy of Dave Matthews Bands 1996 album Crash, along with the liner notes and lyrics printed out clear as daylight: Oh I watch you there through the window and I stare at you / wear nothing but you wear it so well. It probably didnt read as stalker to me because in high school every romance begins with an act of stalking; behavior like scrawling someones name on your belongings or following them home even though its not on your way are still socially acceptable acts. I figured that this lady Dave is singing about lives next door to him, and she knows he has a crush on her, and she kind of likes it. They flirt from afar, and its very sexy and adult, a grown-up version of Taylor Swifts You Belong to Me video. I doubt it would ever dawn on Lady Bird, the titular heroine of Greta Gerwigs directorial debut, that the song is about stalking, either. I thought it was a really romantic song when I was a teenager, Gerwig told Noreen Malone in New Yorks profile of her last month. I couldnt imagine a world in which a guy would feel that way about me. Even those who have not yet had the delight of seeing Greta Gerwigs Lady Bird are probably already aware of its use of Crash Into Me, a song which has become a punch line even among people who at one time found themselves swept away by it. Gerwigs use of it is the best kind of revivification of a maligned artifact at once sincere and knowing, and ultimately genuinely emotional. It is a song by a band that most would not admit to liking even as an adult trading embarrassing high-school anecdotes, which is why its use in this specific, intimate coming-of-age tale is so perfect. In 2002 and 2003, the years that the film takes place, the song is at least six years old. Theres no mention of Napster in Lady Bird, but the possibilities opened up by file-sharing is an inescapable part of any early-aughts narrative about finding ones self. Thats at least how I, a one-time Dave Matthews devotee, can now make sense of the two or so years I was immersed in his music, which I listened to alongside random J-pop acts and the Human League and anything else that piqued my interest as a potential building block of my personality, with little regard for their currency or supposed relevance to my generation. In Lady Bird, the protagonist is a Sondheim aficionado who also has Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill stickers on her wall. Nothing is as tidy as it was for, say, the kids in John Carneys Sing Street, who are singularly, monolithically influenced by the New Wave bands of the time. But my DMB phase was decidedly analog, borne of terrestrial radio and live shows. My most formative Dave Matthews Bandrelated memory is also the moment my fandom for them came to an abrupt end. In the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school I begged and borrowed for a ticket to their concert at Soldier Field in Chicago; my friends mom drove us three hours for an overnight trip to see them. Our seats were high and to the left of the stage; with little visibility and horrible acoustics the majority of my first and last Dave Matthews concert were Dave Matthews fans: loud frat boys and scary neo-hippies, the cloud of pot smoke they generated, the flowing beer I could not drink. With a kind of violent jolt I realized that these were not my people. I remember my friend being terribly disrespectful to his mom during the trip despite her willingness to chaperone, and feeling sad and disinclined to grow up if this was what it was going to be like. But thats kind of ironic, in retrospect, because my enjoyment of the sound and feeling of Dave Matthews Bands music was so thoroughly wrapped up in an idea of grown-upness. It sounded like the kind of free jazz, semi-world music that would be at the kinds of folk-art festivals my mom would take me to as a child; but it was not my moms music, it was mine. Listening to Dave Matthews Band transported me to a world of Zen bon vivant bohemia that couldnt be more removed from the awkward, anxious realities of adolescence, but which I aspired to nonetheless. My Crash Into Me, the DMB song into which I poured all my feelings of longing and unrequited love (about my gay theater crush, it turned out) was Crush, off 1998s Before These Crowded Streets. I laughed out loud when I listened to it again recently; with its smooth sax and seductive bass line, it sounds exactly like a tweens idea of late-night adult feelings. Its also still terribly romantic to me. In the climactic reprise, Matthews sings I mean to tell you all the things Ive been thinking / Deep inside, my friend / Each moment, the more I love you. So yes, like Crash Into Me, there couldnt be a better soundtrack for a 14-year-olds pining. What must my mom thought of me, a freshman in high school, jamming to this wine-and-ganja music, requesting a specific DMB shirt off their online store for Christmas? I feel like at one point I played their Live at Red Rocks cover of All Along the Watchtower for her, trying to find some connectivity between her music and mine. (I dont think she was very impressed.) But by the next year, I had fully transitioned into my emo phase; the smooth sax and Kronos Quartet cameos had been replaced by young midwestern men howling about the women who had destroyed them. I had learned to tolerate the smell of marijuana, and to remove my DMB CDs from my shelf. I imagine that, thanks to the internet, the cycle of picking up and dropping the music that one wears like a sign, to attract the right people and keep the wrong people out, has only accelerated since 2003. But I suspect that most of us who had a Dave phase will always look back fondly on our time with him, and the world of dancing nancies and tripping billies he conjured before we were self-aware enough to disavow them. The rings market size is poised to grow by USD 45.26 million during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005554/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global rings market 2020-2024. (Graphic: Business Wire) The growing customer preference for customized and personalized jewelry pieces such as rings has encouraged market vendors to offer customization options. Rings can be customized based on gemstone type, material type, and the shape and design. For instance, Tiffany Co offers customers with a separate option for customization by gemstone type and ring designs on their website. The company also provides guides on diamonds and metals to brief their customers on the clarity and carat of the gemstones, and the colors of the final products. Such options for customization is expected to attract more customers and contribute to the growth in the sale of rings during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40696 As per Technavio, the emerging application of augmented reality in jewelry industry will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2020-2024. Rings Market: Emerging Application of Augmented Reality in Jewelry Industry E-commerce players that sell rings across the world are focusing on integrating augmented reality (AR) in their platforms, as it enables customers to virtually try jewelry pieces online with the help of the camera on their device before physically purchasing the products. This feature enables users to make informed purchase decisions according to their requirements and preferences. Several mobile applications are available in the market, which support AR applications for selecting suitable rings. For instance, Say Yes! is an application available for iPhones, and it offers a varied range of wedding and engagement rings. This application uses hand recognition to scan fingers and puts a virtual ring on them using AR. Thus, the emerging application of augmented reality in the jewelry industry will drive the growth of the market. "The increasing preference for ring designs inspired by different cultures, and rising focus of vendors on brand endorsement will have a positive impact on the growth of the rings market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Rings Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the rings market by distribution channel (online and offline) and geographic regions (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA). The APAC region led the market in 2019, followed by North America, Europe, MEA, and South America respectively. The growth of the rings market share in APAC can be attributed to factors such as the growing demand for western designs, and the increasing adoption of gold as a prominent investment option among customers. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Geographical Segmentation Regional comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200114005554/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com That argument is reasonable, sort of. If your primary goal is putting out a fire, then your instinct is to hand the hose to the firefighter wearing the most flame-retardant gear. In this case: the candidate protected by his age, sexual orientation and XY chromosomes. That argument is also utterly exhausting. Because its also saying: Im not sexist, but my position is that we should capitulate to the sexists by nominating only male candidates until the problem miraculously fixes itself. Im not sexist, but rather than trying to make the world better, I think we should meet the world where it is, which is to say, in hell. Appointment 15 January 2020 Winfred van Workum has been named the new General Manager of The St. Regis Washington, D.C., a historic, luxury hotel ideally situated two blocks from the White House. Van Workum joins the hotel with over 20 years of luxury hospitality experience, boasting expertise in both hotel and food and beverage management. A tenured industry veteran, van Workum will be responsible for all aspects of operations at the iconic luxury hotel. Born in the Netherlands into a family of hospitality entrepreneurs, Mr. van Workum pursued his family's legacy attending one of Europe's top hotel management schools in The Hague. His entrepreneurial upbringing combined with his education and early learnings in the field proved valuable, and would eventually lead his career to the world's finest hotels and restaurants, including several Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamond properties. In 2000, after working in Holland, Germany and Ireland, van Workum journeyed across the Atlantic to lead the Food & Beverage operations at several iconic hotels, including The Breakers Palm Beach, Sandy Lane and Jumeirah Essex House. In 2007, van Workum joined The Ritz-Carlton brand and brought a wealth of luxury experience to his food and beverage leadership roles in Dallas, and later in South Beach, Miami. In 2014, he was promoted to Hotel Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Bal Harbour, where he led the conversion of the hotel to The Ritz-Carlton brand. Van Workum joins The St. Regis Washington, D.C. from The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, where he served as General Manager for the past three years. During his tenure at the Forbes Five Star, AAA Five Diamond luxury hotel, he oversaw the successful completion of a full hotel renovation and repositioned the flagship New York hotel as the city's premier luxury hotel. Mike Russell, an SNP minister at Holyrood, today suggested Boris Johnson was behaving like a 'dictator' over Scottish independence The SNP has claimed Boris Johnson is behaving like a 'dictator' over his refusal to grant Nicola Sturgeon's request for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Mike Russell, the Constitutional Relations Secretary at Holyrood, said 'you can either have democracy or you can have dictatorship' as he attacked the Prime Minister. Mr Russell claimed Mr Johnson was behaving as if 'other people's votes don't matter' and that such a stance 'cannot hold'. His incendiary comments come after Mr Johnson formally rejected Ms Sturgeon's demand for Holyrood to be given the power to hold a re-run of the 2014 ballot on splitting from the rest of the UK. Mr Johnson justified the decision by claiming a second vote would lead to continued 'political stagnation' in Scotland, with the devolved SNP government focused on making the case for independence instead of improving schools and hospitals. Ms Sturgeon wants to hold a second vote before the end of 2020 but she needs Mr Johnson's permission in order to do so. Ms Sturgeon has refused to rule out launching legal action against the UK government in a bid to force the PM's hand on the issue. Mr Russell today accused Mr Johnson of ignoring the wishes of Scots voters, who in last month's general election returned an increased number of SNP MPs. The SNP argued the election results showed the party had an undeniable mandate for a second independence referendum as it won 47 of the 59 seats up for grabs north of the border. Mr Johnson, pictured leaving Number 10 today, has rejected SNP calls for a second independence referendum Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Russell said: 'I think you can either have democracy or you can have dictatorship, you can't have both. 'If Boris Johnson wants to be a dictator that simply says "other people's votes don't matter, Scotland's doesn't matter, Scotland isn't a nation", that is a decision which cannot hold in my view, because it goes so much against the views of the people of Scotland. 'Even those who are not in favour of independence, we know are in favour of saying it is right that if the people of Scotland vote for something they get their chance to choose. That is all this is about.' Mr Russell claimed the SNP had 'many options' which could be used to push for a second vote but that he did 'not want to go into them', adding: 'As we move forward, they will all become clear.' However, SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC, has warned there is 'no shortcut to an independent Scotland through litigation'. Ms Cherry, who was involved in the court challenge which resulted in the PM's decision to prorogue Parliament being declared illegal, said the courts could 'play a role in determining the limits of Holyrood's powers'. But she added that ultimately the 'answer lies in political strategy and reaching out beyond the political tribes'. Ms Sturgeon is expected to ask the Scottish Parliament in the coming weeks to endorse her plan for another independence referendum. The vote in 2014 saw Scots vote 55 per cent to 45 per cent in favour of remaining part of the UK. Nicola Sturgeon, pictured in Kinross on Monday, wants to hold a second ballot on breaking up the UK by the end of 2020 Tory Scottish minister Douglas Ross said: 'The Prime Minister has been very clear that there will not be another independence referendum.' Speaking on Good Morning Scotland he added: 'A vote in the Scottish Parliament does not deliver an independence referendum, it is rightly reserved to the UK Parliament because if Scotland was to separate from the United Kingdom that would have an impact for the United Kingdom and I think it's right that the UK Government holds the powers over referendums going forward. 'That's why I think devolving that to the SNP would simply get us into this process of neverendums and we don't need that, we need continuity now, we need some calm and some focus on the issues that the Scottish Government have powers over, not new powers that they want to get.' 191 organ donors saving the lives of 596 people through organ donation and transplantation. through organ donation and transplantation. 2,118 tissue donors providing bone and skin grafts to save and heal the lives of tens of thousands of recipients in need. In 2019, Donor Alliance facilitated more organ transplants than ever by 19%, exceeding the previous high set in 2018, and a 29% increase since 2013. In addition, the organization reported a 21% increase in tissue donors over the previous record with 2,118 tissue donors, including 1,950 skin donors and 127 heart valve donors. Through procedures like skin grafting and reconstructive surgeries, these lifesaving and healing donations will help thousands of people regain mobility and lead active lives after disease or trauma. "Each day, our staff works tirelessly to save the 2,000 lives in our region waiting for a lifesaving transplant while also supporting the families of donors that lean on us to honor their loved one's heroic decision to become a donor," said Sue Dunn, Donor Alliance president and CEO. "Achieving our simple, yet powerful mission is made possible by the incredible generosity of the Colorado and Wyoming residents that have signed up to join the organ and tissue donor registry. This support, combined with our strong hospital partnerships and mission-driven culture, helped to save and heal more lives in our region than ever before." More than one million residents signed up to become donors in 2019, with 1,003,817 in Colorado and 88,922 names in Wyoming being added to the organ, eye and tissue donor registries. The two states continue to maintain some of the highest donor designation rates, or percentage of individuals joining the state donor registries, in the country. Colorado reached number one in the nation in 2018 with a 69% DDR and Wyoming set another record this year at 63%, the highest rate ever for the state. Both states far surpass the national average of 49%, according to Donate Life America. In addition to the incredible local support for donation, the progress made this year is also a result of a number of process improvements made through the organization's decade-long performance excellence journey, which culminated with a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2018. These advancements included better processes to identify and refer potential organ donors after cardiac death and streamlined communications with hospital partners to improve the timely notification of potential organ and tissue donors. As medical advances help eligibility criteria expand, medical professionals are also able to maximize organ and tissue donation more than ever before, allowing more people to give the gift of life. Despite the year's incredible achievements for donation and transplantation across the region, nearly 2,000 people in the area continue to wait for a lifesaving transplant. With these patients in mind, Donor Alliance continues to tirelessly educate the public on the need for donation and collaborate closely with 115 acute care hospitals, four transplant centers, division of motor vehicles and other partners throughout the two-state area. For more information about donation, or to sign up as an organ, eye and tissue donor, please visit DonateLifeColorado.org or DonateLifeWyoming.org. Organ and Tissue Donation by the Numbers ORGAN Donation 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Local Organ Donors 148 109 134 139 144 160 191 Kidney Transplants 241 176 226 233 246 268 325 Liver Transplants 109 72 79 84 88 98 119 Heart Transplants 43 37 54 54 43 59 63 Lung Transplants 45 42 59 44 24 52 72 Pancreas Transplants 24 9 10 8 6 11 15 Small Intestine Transplant 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 Total Local Organs Transplanted 463 337 428 424 407 489 596 TISSUE Donation 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Local Tissue Donors 1,177 1,590 1,674 1,710 1,752 1,684 2,118 Bone Donors 660 830 911 822 832 902 1,109 Skin Donors 1,076 1,386 1,401 1,320 1,503 1,512 1,950 Heart Valve Donors 111 114 117 168 140 95 127 Joint Restoration Donors 106 112 119 89 97 90 121 About Donor Alliance Donor Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. As the organ procurement organization and accredited tissue bank for Colorado and most of Wyoming, Donor Alliance serves more than 5.8 million residents and more than 100 hospitals. The organization adheres to medical, regulatory and ethical standards: respectfully working with the families of organ and tissue donors, maintaining partnerships with hospitals, educating residents on the lifesaving benefits of donation and inspiring them to sign up on the state's donor registry. Colorado and Wyoming boast some of the highest rates of donor registration in the country, which directly translates to more lives saved and healed through organ and tissue transplantation. Donor Alliance is one of 58 federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States, and is also an American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) accredited tissue bank. For more information visit DonorAlliance.org or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages. Media Contacts: Courtney Brunkow Andrea Smith The Fletcher Group Donor Alliance 303.717.9575 303.370.5683 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Donor Alliance Related Links https://www.donoralliance.org New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Estonia Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on Wednesday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and conveyed his country's support for India's candidature for the non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2021-22. The two leaders met here on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue 2020. They extensively discussed various issues of mutual interest for further deepening the partnership between India and Estonia, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement. The ministry said that Reinsalu's visit will further strengthen bilateral relations between India and Estonia. "Bilateral relations between India and Estonia are stable and cordial. Both countries share common values of democracy, freedom and pluralism," read the statement. Speaking to ANI, Reinsalu termed his meeting with Jaishankar as "very marvellous." "Meeting was very marvellous. There is no political agenda because India and Estonia's political relation is cloudless," he said. (ANI) People who use cannabis every day account for more than 80 per cent of the total amount of the drug consumed in Australia, a University of Queensland study has discovered. The finding suggests there are serious implications for a small group of people if there is a move to decriminalise or fully legalise the drug. UQ researchers examined data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey between 2007 and 2016. A UQ study has found a small proportion of daily cannabis users account for over 80 per cent of the total consumption of the drug in Australia. Credit:Stuart Layt Lead author Gary Chan from UQs Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research said they found only one in six cannabis users were daily users, but they accounted for more than 80 per cent of the estimated consumption of the drug. Would a female Democratic nominee have a harder time beating Donald Trump than a male one? I cant tell you, because I dont have a crystal ball and because its a stupid question, its answer dependent on which female candidate youre talking about, on how she runs her campaign, on the twists and turns of the national conversation between now and November. But I can tell you this: Either of the two women among the six candidates on the stage in Des Moines on Tuesday night would give Trump a serious run for his money. Both have earned the right to take him on. Both would be formidable presidents. And both made clear, with commanding performances, how absurd it is that this country hasnt yet shattered the highest glass ceiling of all. Im focusing on Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar because during the most electric stretch of this seventh debate of the Democratic primary, the focus was indeed on them or, rather, on the idea that their party couldnt risk nominating one of them at a juncture when getting rid of a Republican incumbent has seldom, if ever, been so important. You know the back story. According to media reports over recent days, Warren and Bernie Sanders met 13 months ago to discuss their nascent presidential campaigns and he told her he didnt believe a woman could win the 2020 election. Sanders denies saying that. He denied it again on Tuesday night, and Warren declined to get into a back-and-forth about that conversation. What she did instead was more effective and certainly more stirring: She drew a contrast between the two women and the four men who had made the cut for this debate, which was the final one before the Iowa caucuses and had the fewest candidates so far. That contrast was perfect, and got better still when Klobuchar chimed in, because what the two women said brilliantly cast them not as trailblazers who had something extra to prove, not as outsiders who had finagled a way in, not as underdogs urging voters to take some extraordinary leap of faith, not as high-minded gambles. They turned the stubborn, sexist notion that their presence and presidential ambitions were exotic on its head, citing yardsticks by which they were demonstrably superior to their male rivals. I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at peoples winning record, Warren, a second-term senator from Massachusetts, said. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. She didnt name the men or the elections, but Joe Biden is the veteran of two previous, miserably unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency. Pete Buttigieg lost bids to become the treasurer of Indiana and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.In contrast, Warren noted, The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women Amy and me. And the only person who has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the past 30 years is me. Klobuchar, a third-term senator from Minnesota, said you dont need to be male to win just as you dont need other qualities pronounced necessary or optimal by some unnamed, amorphous committee of pronouncers. You dont have to be the skinniest person in the room, she said. You dont have to be the loudest person. You have to be competent. And when you look at what I have done, she added, I have won every race, every place, every time. I have won in the reddest of districts. I have won in the suburban areas, in the rural areas. That, she added, was why she had the most endorsements of current Iowa legislators and former Iowa legislators in this race. I dont mean to romanticize Warren and Klobuchar. Warrens boast about vanquishing a Republican incumbent? That incumbent was Scott Brown, whose victory in a special election in deep blue Massachusetts was considered something of a freak occurrence to begin with. And when Klobuchar began to tick off the names of women recently elected to high posts, she suddenly froze, unable to remember who the governor of Kansas was, though shed just said, Im very proud to know her. (Her name is Laura Kelly.) Im also not saying that Warren or Klobuchar would be the partys best bet. I dont know who would be. Im just saying that on a night when the viability of women aiming for the White House went from subtext to text, these two women found words not just in addressing that issue but also in talking about prescription-drug prices, climate change, nuclear weapons and more that exposed the bigotry and shamefulness of doubts about female candidates. Otherwise the seventh debate was sleepily like many of the first six: Biden seemed to be campaigning for a third Barack Obama term, and his sentences were less straight lines than knots. They didnt build toward a conclusion so much as sag until they finally gave out. Warren said corruption every chance she got. Sanders called for revolution and correctly emphasized that many trade and foreign-policy positions that other Democrats came around to he embraced from the start. Buttigieg pivoted from the question at hand to a practiced soliloquy that almost always had something to do with turning the page and a new generation. Tom Steyer insisted that no one cared about the environment as much as he did. And Klobuchar talked about so many different pieces of legislation with her name on them that you had this image of her racing around the Capitol with an outstretched pen, stopping all aides who passed by and scrawling her signature on any paper they were carrying. One new wrinkle was Warrens clear and proud positioning of herself to Sanders right on trade and on health care. She was making the case for herself as a progressive who would favor incremental fixes if those were the only available improvements and who could be a unifier; she suggested that Sanders lacked that potential. Buttigieg, meanwhile, was more determined than ever to mention and reach out to voters of color, from whom he enjoys little support. But what most distinguished the debate was the way in which gender came to the fore. There was a memorable moment when Sanders sought to correct Warren on her 30-year claim, noting that hed defeated a Republican in 1990, and she did some quick, out-loud arithmetic to determine that 1990 was, well, 30 years ago! Mansplaining met mathematics. Warren also said this: Since Donald Trump was elected, women candidates have outperformed men candidates in competitive races. And in 2018, we took back the House; we took back statehouses, because of women candidates and women voters. Back in the 1960s, she added, people asked, Could a Catholic win? Back in 2008, people asked if an African-American could win. In both times the Democratic Party stepped up and said yes, got behind their candidate and we changed America. Thats who we are. It was a self-serving edit of history, sure, and it put the most positive gloss possible on the nations character. But that didnt make it any less important. Or any less inspiring. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Editors note : Heather Wheeler, UK Minister for Asia and the Pacific, is scheduled to visit Vietnam from January 16 to 18 on the occassion of 10 years of the strategic partnership between the two countries. She wrote this piece for Tuoi Tre News. The changing of decades has the effect of making us reflect upon the past, whereas the Lunar New Year is often a time to think about the future. So today, I am going to attempt to do both. The last 10 years have been a time of huge political, societal, economic and technological change. Much of it has been positive. At the start of the last decade, smartphones were cutting-edge technology available to only a few. Now it is estimated that over 40% of the people on earth have one, many of them made in Vietnam. Vietnams economy has more than doubled in the last 10 years. Vietnams cities have been transformed. The number of foreign tourists visiting and experiencing the skyscrapers in Ho Chi Minh City, the culture and beaches of Central Vietnam and the unique nature and city life of Ha Long Bay and Hanoi has also doubled. And Vietnams role in the world has continued to grow, with its voice increasingly heard in ASEAN and in global institutions. In 2010, the UK and Vietnam signed our Strategic Partnership. This has grown immensely in depth and breadth. Bilateral trade has more than doubled. So has the number of British tourists that visit Vietnam over 320,000 in 2019. We have initiated and grown relationships covering defence cooperation, science and technology, health and education. However, while the past decade has brought great and often positive change, we also face new and serious challenges. Technology is a disruptive phenomenon. The nature of work and employment has changed with profound implications for the global economy and skills base we need to equip our people with to meet the challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Growth is good. But too much of the growth has not been sustainable and our natural environment is under stress like never before. If we do not take radical action in the next 10 years to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, our climate will be changed forever with serious consequences for all, especially here in Vietnam. If we do not take more action to protect our biodiversity, our precious wildlife will be lost forever. We need to clean the polluted air and stop filling our oceans with plastics. We need green and renewable energy, not the burning of more and more hydrocarbons. And we need much more public transport, as is being built in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and electric vehicles rather than cars and motorbikes fuelled by oil and petrol. While it is for individual countries to take action, we also need a world that is rules-based and cooperative in order to ensure sufficient global ambition and action. All the big issues can only be solved by cross border cooperation and collective action. The test of the UK Vietnam partnership is therefore not only what we do together but the impact that our joint work has on the global issues we face and international partnerships we need. In 2020, we have great opportunities to move forward with Vietnam being the Chair of ASEAN, joining the UK on the UN Security Council, and with the UK hosting the UN global climate change summit COP26. Therefore, when it is time to look back on the 2020s, I hope we see that the UK and Vietnam had been able to work with each other and with others to ensure that there was greater peace, stability and adherence to international law. I want us to feel confident that the climate crisis was on its way to being mitigated. I would like to be secure that the forces of trade protectionism had been fought off. And that our cooperation on education had equipped new generations of our people to thrive in the global marketplace with bilateral trade and investment having continued to drive growth and development. The future can be bright. Let us work together in a sense of optimism about the sustainable growth, prosperity and opportunities that can be achieved. Party leaders will get the chance to make their case to the nation as RTE have announced that there will be two televised debates ahead of the February 8 election. Firstly, The Claire Byrne Live Leaders' Debate will see leaders from a number of political parties invited to take part in front of a live studio audience on January 27, the State broadcaster confirmed this morning. Then, on February 4, just days before the country goes to the polls, The Prime Time Leaders Debate will see Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin face off as the country is set to decide who will be the Taoiseach who will lead Ireland in a post-Brexit Europe. RTE also announced that party leaders will also face Bryan Dobson in a series of interviews to be broadcast throughout the campaign. Virgin Media are also believed to be lining up party leaders to appear on the channel during the campaign with hosts Pat Kenny, Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper are being considered to lead their debates. They said Pat Kenny will host a multi-party Leaders Debate, while Matt Cooper and Ivan Yates will bring The Tonight Show on the road and have called for a Head to Head between Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin. they will also have Colette Fitzpatrick interviewing all party leaders live on the News at 5.30. The election will take place on a Saturday for the first time in over a century - a move the Taoiseach said was to make it easier for parents and students to cast their ballot. "In holding the General Election on a Saturday for the first time, I do so knowing the inconvenience to families of a polling day on a weekday during school term - time off work, lost income, increased childcare costs," the Taoiseach explained. "I also want to make it easier for students and those working away from home to cast their votes," he added. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Jamia Millia Islamia will move court for registration of FIR against Delhi Police, varsity officials said on Wednesday. The decision to move court was taken at an emergent Executive Council meeting, they said. ALSO READ: At Jamia students' legal desk, 170 testimonies filed alleging police action According to the officials, the varsity will move court seeking it to direct police to register FIR in connection with the police action on campus on December 15. At least 170 students of the varsity have lodged complaints with the legal desk set up at the university following the violence of December 15 on-campus claiming Delhi Police was refusing to listen to their grievances. Students of the law course started the legal desk after the December 15 violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens. Hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students had gheraoed Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar's office on January 13 demanding registration of an FIR against Delhi Police in connection with last month's violence on the campus. Among other demands, they also want the university to reschedule examinations and ensure security of students. The students barged into the office premises after breaking the lock on the main gate and raised slogans against the VC. Akhtar tried to pacify the students and said attempts were being made to file an FIR but it has not been registered yet. The vice-chancellor said she has raised the matter with the government and has also sought legal course in the matter. A woman said it's easier to eat healthy in Australia with cheaper grocery prices Others said rent, utility bills and petrol prices make Australia a nicer place to live Kiwi expats praised Australia's cheaper cost of living for giving them a better life New Zealanders have revealed the many reasons they like Australia better than home, while others have headed back across the Tasman. Kiwi expats took to social media to share their gripes about New Zealand, with many saying Australia's cost of living was a big draw card. 'Never going back to NZ. Not even to visit people or bury the dead. Living in NZ you're always checking the bank to see if you can afford the food shopping,' one man wrote on a popular Facebook page for New Zealanders living Down Under. Kiwi expats took to social media to share their gripes with their home country, with many saying Australia's cost of living was a big draw card in moving across the ditch (stock image) A number of Kiwis also praised Australia's housing market for being more affordable than New Zealand (stock image) 'Here in Australia [we] don't have those issues, travelled more of Aussie than NZ.' Others credited Australia's cost of living, particularly when it came to grocery shopping and dining out. 'Food shopping fill the trolley up and don't care what the price is because you can afford it,' one expat wrote. 'Better living cheaper food can fill up your cupboards including meat fruit and veg not like back home so expensive to eat healthy meals,' said another. A mother-of-two, who has been living in Australia for just one month, said cheaper day-to-day costs have made a huge impact on her quality of life. Poll Which country do you think has a better standard of living? New Zealand Australia Which country do you think has a better standard of living? New Zealand 146 votes Australia 460 votes Now share your opinion 'The struggle is real in NZ cost of living is barely affordable wages are low can barely feed your kids after paying for rent then you have to stretch what is left for food, power, water, petrol,' she wrote. 'Food prices are off the richter scale. Half a trolley of bare essentials for a family of four [is] $200 plus that doesn't even include meat for the freezer.' She said the average weekly rent for a three bedroom house in Auckland is $550, despite the weekly wage being just $700-800. 'Average monthly power bill $350, average monthly water bill $120, petrol prices per litre $2.35.' 'Yup better living cheaper food cheaper can fill up your cupboards including meat fruit and veg not like back home so expensive to eat healthy meals,' said another New Zealand-national. 'I have been in Oz for just over a month now and I love the cost of living here.' 'I will never go back home. I can feed my kids here!,' said another. Many credited Australia's cost of living, particularly when it came to grocery shopping, saying it's easier to eat healthy in Australia with cheaper prices at the supermarket (stock image) Many Kiwis praised Australia for having cheaper fuel prices, which averages $1.51 per lire for unleaded petrol, compared with New Zealand's $2.35 (stock image) 'I'd love to move home but it's too bloody expensive to live off s**tty pay,' one woman said. 'I feel It's very divided here, BUT job and academic opportunities and living prices are much better.' A number of Kiwis also praised Australia's housing market for being more affordable than New Zealand. 'Aint no place like home however Ozzie has been amazing for us. We hit the ground with excellent jobs, meeting great people and buying a home (with savings in the bank),' a father wrote. 'Oz is waaaaay better than NZ in almost all respects but there's nothing like home,' said another. But the few complaints New Zealand natives had about Australia mostly related to stinking hot summers and mosquitoes. 'It's nice here and I make a good living but I hate the summers and the mozzies,' one man said. Others complained that New Zealand has nicer drinking water, claiming Australia's tap water tastes 'metallic'. 'It's yuck. I only drink bottled water. Been here 31 years and still can't drink it from the tap,' one man said. 'Yep just drink bottled water since moving here,' said another. One expat said despite enjoying the Australian lifestyle as an adult, he wouldn't want to have grown up here. 'I couldn't imagine growing up in suburban Australia, can't do anything as a kid, very PC, and a lot of spazzes around,' he said. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world last week with their decision to 'step back' from senior royal duties and become 'financially independent'. And on Wednesday, celebrity publicist Max Markson revealed the staggering amount of money the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could potentially earn in the future. Max, who is considered Sydney's top PR guru, told Stav, Abby & Matt: '[Meghan] will be earning about a quarter of a billion dollars a year for the next five years, easy. And it will grow from there.' Numbers game: Celebrity publicist Max Markson has revealed the staggering amount Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could potentially earn in a post-Megxit future. Pictured in 2017 'And if Harry could do some gigs, he'll be earning the same money,' he said. Max, who has arranged speaking tours for the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Clinton, added that he would give the Sussexes '$5million straight away just to come down and do five gigs around Australia'. He explained: 'Ed Sheeran pulled about $50million out of the market doing a load of gigs [in 2018] so they could probably do a load of events all over the country.' Easy money! Max, who is considered Sydney's top PR guru, said: 'Meghan will be earning about a quarter of a billion dollars a year for the next five years, easy. And it will grow from there' Max also suggested a possible deal with Netflix because 'that's where the money is' for people like Harry and Meghan who have 'a global brand'. Writing joint or separate autobiographies are another way to make cash. 'They'll make more than $64million,' he said. 'They can write their own pay cheque because they are Harry and Meghan. The world is literally their oyster.' Making deals: Max suggested a possible deal with Netflix because 'that's where the money is' for people like Harry and Meghan who have 'a global brand'. Pictured outside Canada House in London last week Last week, the Sussexes announced their plans to 'step back as "senior" members of the Royal Family' in a statement on their official Instagram account. They wrote: 'After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. 'We intend to step back as "senior" members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.' Shock: Last week, the Sussexes announced their plans to 'step back as "senior" members of the Royal Family' in a statement on their official Instagram account. Megan is currently in Canada (pictured on Tuesday) and Harry is due to fly there in the coming days The pair said they would split their time between the UK and North America. 'We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages,' they said. 'This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity.' They finished: 'We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.' Megan is currently in Canada and Harry is due to fly there in the coming days following negotiations with his family in England. Prysmian Group to develop the largest project for broadband TLC cable in Mexico Posted by Publisher Telecommunication Milan, 15 January 2020 ? Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a new contract worth about $38 million by the Government-owned Company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) for the project ?Proyecto de Conectividad Fibra Optica Red Electrica Inteligente REI? in Mexico. This is the largest project ever launched by the Government in Mexico in terms of cable supply, and it will connect remote regions in the Country with high-speed broadband. It includes the design, supply and installation of a minimum of 9,800 fkm of OPGW cables and 5,100 fkm of ADSS cables. OPGW cables will be produced in the Group?s plant in Vilanova i la Geltru, Spain, while ADSS cables will be produced in the plant located in Durango, Mexico, witnessing once again Prysmian?s ability to leverage on its global organisation, and the great teamworking ability of its LATAM, HQ and OPGW Business Unit organizations. For this project, Prysmian took part in an international tender, involving several local and overseas producers. ?We wouldn?t have been able to succeed in this project without the extremely efficient cooperation among our local sales team and global operations, R&D, procurement, logistics and legal teams,? stated Juan Mogollon, CEO LATAM at Prysmian Group. ?Support from all of them was key to reaching this outstanding result.? ?This contract is a significant milestone for Prysmian in Mexico, a country in which we have been present for years, and in which we invested,? added Philippe Vanhille, Executive Vice President Telecom Business. ?Mexico and Central America offer considerable scope for development in all telecom sectors in the near future, with broadband Internet subscribers constantly growing. The investments we made in this area in the past few years have been key to helping Prysmian be ready to meet the subsequent increase in market demand and support its customers in the region.? The Mayor of Sussex in New Brunswick, Canada, has urged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to consider moving to his town. The couple made their bombshell announcement that they plan to step back from royal duties and split their time between the UK and North America last week. They spent Christmas and the New Year in Vancouver and Meghan has close links to Toronto, having lived there for six years while filming Suits. But in an amusing segment on CBC's 22 Minutes, the Mayor of Sussex, New Brunswick, Marc Thorne, told host Trent McClellan that his town would be a 'great fit', given the royal couple's titles. Marc Thorne, the Mayor of Sussex in New Brunswick, Canada, has urged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to consider moving to his town Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their bombshell announcement that they plan to step back from royal duties and split their time between the UK and North America last week He added that the Queen and Prince Philip have previously visited the town - known for its elaborate murals - in 2002 and 'had a great time'. 'It's a great fit, they're already the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, we happen to be Sussex, they're gonna spend half their year in Canada, why not so it right here?' he said. Speaking about the monarch's visit, he joked: 'I think for the half hour she was here, I think she had a great time.' Sussex is located in south central New Brunswick on the east coast of Canada, between the province's three largest cities, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. It straddles the Kennebecasis River and is a major dairy product producer in the province. Sussex is located in south central New Brunswick on the east coast of Canada, between the province's three largest cities, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton The town in the county straddles the Kennebecasis River and is a major dairy product producer in the province In the segment, local dairy farmer Paul Walker tells Trent the community would welcome Meghan and Harry with open arms - and he'd even be prepared to make a generous gesture in their honour. 'I think (Sussex) would be a great place for Harry and Meghan to set up home,' he said. 'We'd call a cow after Meghan and if we had a bull, we'd name him Harry.' In the segment, local dairy farmer Paul Walker tells Trent the community would welcome Meghan and Harry with open arms - and he'd even be prepared to make a generous gesture in their honour The Queen and Prince Philip visited Sussex, New Brunswick in 2002 and had a 'great time' according to the mayor Asked if the royal couple would have to worry about paparazzi photographers in Sussex, Mayor Thorne said the town's situation between three large cities could make this an issue - though Trent joked the three areas surmounted to a 'Bermuda Triangle of boredom'. Mayor Thorne said the town is very proud of its murals and pointed out that there is space to add Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, to an existing wall already featuring members of the British Royal Family who have previously visited. Visiting a local diner, Trent spoke with some Sussex residents who were keen to stress how friendly the town and its people are. One branded it 'the best place in the world to live' while another praised its Sussex cheese, ice cream and butter. Mayor Thorne said the town is very proud of its murals and pointed out that there is space to add Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, to an existing wall already featuring members of the British Royal Family who have previously visited (pictured) Yesterday Meghan broke cover for the first time, leaving the palatial $14million Canadian home where she has been holed up since last week to visit a women's shelter in Canada's poorest neighborhood. The Duchess of Sussex left the Vancouver Island ocean-side mansion shortly before 10am local time and arrived at Victoria Harbour Airport around 20 minutes later, where she appeared happy and relaxed as she laughed with her security team before boarding a seaplane for the mainland. She then made a surprise visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver to 'offer support' and to 'boost the staff's spirits'. Back in Britain, where the royal family is in turmoil over Harry and Meghan's decision to quit as senior royals and emigrate to Canada, the Sussex team continues to negotiate an abdication deal on money, titles and establishing their international commercial brand. Meghan and Harry, pictured with baby Archie, spent Christmas and the New Year in Vancouver. Meghan also has close links to Toronto, having lived there for six years while filming Suits Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed taxpayers in his country should pay for Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie's protection while they are there. Mr Trudeau has assured the Queen that the family will be safe while in his country, with Canada expected to pay around half of the estimated 1million annual bill. But there are concerns that the large cost could lead to a backlash in Canada and damage the status of the monarchy there, reported the London Evening Standard. In a post on their website, the Sussexes announced they would be transitioning to 'financial independence' after ending funding from the Sovereign Grant, but did not go into specifics as to whether this extends to the cost of their security which is paid for by the State. Meghan made a surprise visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver to 'offer support' and to 'boost the staff's spirits' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed taxpayers in his country should pay for Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie's protection while they are there However, a recent poll conducted two days before the couple's shock announcement found that more than 60 per cent of Canadians would support the appointment of the Duke of Sussex as the Governor General of Canada. The mostly ceremonial role, which is to act as the Queen's representative in Canada, provides both a residence - Government House in Ottowa - and a security detail. Some 61 per cent of the Canadians polled said they would support having Harry replace current governor general Julie Payette when her term expires in two years. The poll came despite Harry never having expressed any interest in the post, which has been held by Canadians since the 1950s but was previously held by Britons. Amid ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, some students and members of the administration allegedly removed posters put up against the law on Tuesday. While the students slammed the administration for the move, the latter claimed the posters were put up without permission and the decision to remove them was apolitical. Students, staff and faculty members of IIT-B have been holding demonstrations against CAA and the attack at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. On Tuesday, students put up posters in hostels, condemning CAA and calling for a March to Save the Constitution rally on Wednesday. However, the posters were removed by the institute administration. The institute administration has joined hands with the authorities to stifle the rising voices, said a student. Tapanendu Kundu, dean, student affairs, said the posters were put up without permission and the decision to remove them was apolitical. According to the rules of the institutes hostel council, any posters to be put up in hostel campuses have to be approved by the council. The posters were put up without seeking permission from the hostel council and hence they were removed, he said. Apart from hostels, other posters related to CAA, too, were removed from across the campus. A spokesperson of the institute said: We maintain that IIT-B is an apolitical institute. Students and faculty members can express their opinions in their personal capacity. They must clarify that it is their personal position and not the institutes. No permission has been sought by any student or faculty bodies for any protest on campus. Students and research scholars wore posters on their clothes to class on Wednesday. Moreover, in a first for the institute, around 1,000 people, including undergraduate students, postgraduate students, research scholars and faculty members, marched across the campus, raising slogans against CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the attack on students, on Wednesday. Meanwhile, students from various institutes in the city joined other citizen activists at Juhu Beach, Carter Road and Girgaum Chowpatti on Wednesday to fly kites with messages against CAA and NRC. A 24-year-old woman who injured her ankle as a West Point Military Academy cadet ended her life due to medical negligence after she was treated at Portlands Veterans Affairs Medical Center for chronic pain and associated anxiety, her family alleges in a federal lawsuit. Emylee Darneille was discovered dead in Spain on July 5, 2015, two months after she was prescribed an anti-depressant called fluoxetine, a generic form of Prozac, at the medical center. She had seriously injured her ankle as a cadet in 2008 and over the next seven years developed a complex regional pain syndrome marked by prolonged severe pain. She underwent numerous surgeries and physical therapies. Darneille quickly began experiencing suicidal symptoms and reported them to her doctors repeatedly, the suit alleges. Darneilles mother, Cherylee Bridges, contends that her daughters suffering and death resulted from negligent health care provided at the VA hospital. Shes seeking $5 million in compensation for the familys grief, anguish and loss in a wrongful death suit filed against the U.S. government. The suit alleges the medical center failed to manage Darneilles medication, investigate the cause of her increased suicidal thoughts or give her appropriate care. The VA Medical Center doesnt typically comment on pending litigation, said Daniel E. Herrigstad, a spokesman for the VA Portland Health Care System. But he said suicide prevention is the highest clinical priority of the Department of Veterans Affairs. All VA health care facilities now provide same-day services for veterans in primary care and mental health care, he said. On May 21, 2015, a week after Darneille increased her dosage of fluoxetine as instructed, she called the medical center, crying and reported not wanting to be alive, according to the suit. She was wondering why I bother with all the pain and sought an appointment with either of her two doctors that week, the suit says. She was told that she already had an appointment scheduled for June 2 and to keep that, but if she continued with suicidal thoughts, she should go to a hospital, according to the suit. But Darneille said she was hesitant and embarrassed to go to a hospital because she didnt want to upset her mother. On May 28, 2015, Darneille went to the medical center with superficial cutting on her thigh, complained of feeling suicidal from severe depression, anxiety and an eating disorder and voiced concern that her medication was causing her to feel this way, the suit says. She spent a night there and was discharged the next day with no changes to her medication or dosage, the suit claims. She was told not to stop taking fluoxetine, but medical records noted she needed to be monitored closely while on the medication. She returned as scheduled for doctor appointments on June 2, 5 and 9 that year, each time reporting suicidal ideation and showing a flat effect, the suit says. During the June 9 appointment, she told her doctor that she often imagined being dead to avoid her pain, according to the suit. The doctor encouraged her to return for continued treatment. She never came back. She was found dead from suicide in Seville, Spain, less than a month later. Before she got the medication from the VA hospital, Darneille never expressed thoughts of self-harm, according to the suit. She remained positive and had plans to become a pilot, her family said. According to a 2018 paper published by the National Center for Health Research, If a depressed person on antidepressants is suicidal, that is not so surprising, but if someone who was not depressed and taking antidepressants for other reasons becomes suicidal, that raises questions about the safety of these medications. Hong Suk Paul Chung, the mothers attorney, declined to comment beyond what is in the lawsuit. Darneille was born in Springfield, Illinois, and was senior class president of her 2008 Rochester High School class in Rochester, Illinois. She left West Point after her injury and graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, where she received a bachelors degree in international relations. She studied abroad in Africa and traveled halfway around Europe on a sailboat, according to her family. In response to the lawsuit, the Portland VA Medical Center also cited statistics from the Joint Commission, a nonprofit that accredits most of the nations psychiatric hospitals. The commission noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs reduced the number of in-hospital suicides from 4.2 per 100,000 admissions in 2000 to .74 per 100,000 admissions on mental health units in 2015, an 82.4 percent drop. In the departments September 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, it found that the veteran suicide rate in Oregon was significantly higher than the national veteran suicide rate and the national suicide rate. For each year, from 2005 to 2017, veterans across the country who had recent use of Veterans Health Administration care had higher suicide rates than other veterans. But over the same years, the suicide rates among those veterans with recent VA health care use increased at a slower pace than for other veterans. . -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Subscribe to Facebook page Mexico's Ministry of Tourism announced in 2001 it was developing a program to highlight the most beautiful and culturally-rich towns in the country. With more to offer than just beach resorts, ports of call and salt-rimmed margaritas, Mexico focused on the small towns and villages that best represent regional traditions, history, festivals and food. The chosen few would be named Mexico's "Pueblos Magicos," or magic villages. Today, there are 121 such villages, some of which will ring a bell like Tulum and Tequila while others likely won't. One such place is the historic town of Taxco, in the state of Guerrero. The real danger that we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who cant pull our party together or someone who takes for granted big parts of the Democratic constituency, Ms. Warren said during the debate. We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic Party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. Thats my plan, and that is why Im going to win. Here is a transcript of the exchange Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders had Tuesday: MODERATOR ABBY PHILLIP: Senator Sanders, CNN reported yesterday, and Senator Sanders Senator Warren confirmed in a statement that in 2018, you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that? BERNIE SANDERS: Well, as a matter of fact, I didnt say it. And I dont want to waste a whole lot of time on this, because this is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anybody knows me knows that its incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States. Go to YouTube today. Theres a video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the United States. In 2015, I deferred, in fact, to Senator Warren. There was a movement to draft Senator Warren to run for president. And you know what, I stayed back. Senator Warren decided not to run, and I then did run afterward. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes. How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States? And let me be very clear: If any of the women on this stage or any of the men on this stage win the nomination I hope thats not the case, I hope its me but if they do, I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country. PHILLIP: So Senator Sanders, I do want to be clear here, youre saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election? SANDERS: That is correct. PHILLIP: Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? ELIZABETH WARREN: I disagreed. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head-on. And I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at peoples winning record. So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women. Amy and me. And the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years is me. And heres what I know. The real danger that we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who cant pull our party together or someone who takes for granted big parts of the Democratic constituency. We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic Party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. Thats my plan, and that is why Im going to win. [January 15, 2020] Canada Partners with Canadian Tire to Build One of Canada's Largest EV Charging Networks SCARBOROUGH, ON, Jan. 15, 2020 /CNW/ - Canada's climate plan is working for our planet, and it is working for Canadians. Electric and alternative fuel vehicles play a key role in our transition to a cleaner future. As Canadians continue to make greener choices, the Government of Canada is delivering more options for them to drive where they need to go, while reducing pollution. Member of Parliament Han Dong, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced a $2.7-million investment to build 54 electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers at Canadian Tire locations across central and western Canada. This investment, made through Natural Resources Canada's Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative (EVAFIDI), builds on the nearly $1.3 million announced in 2016 for AddEnergie to build 28 fast chargers at Canadian Tire locations, making the Canadian Tire EV network one of Canada's largest, with 104 stations nationally. The Government of British Columbia is also contributing $275,000 toward the fast chargers through its Clean Energy Vehicle Public Fast Charging Program. These investments will ensure that people can drive and charge vehicles where they live, work and play across Canada, facilitating increased uptake in the use of EVs. This funding is part of the Government of Canada's $182.5-million investment to develop a coast-to-coast fast charging network for EVs; to establish natural gas stations along key roads and highways and hydrogen stations in metropolitan centres; and to support the development of new technologies. It will also enable the development of bi-national codes and standards with the U.S. to ensure the alignment of EV and alternative fuel infrastructure, making it easier for drivers to travel in North America using green vehicles. The Goverment of Canada continues to support green infrastructure projects that will create good jobs, advance Canada's green future and help us reach our domestic and international climate targets. Quick Facts In 2016, Natural Resources Canada provided nearly $1.3 million to AddEnergie for 28 chargers at Canadian Tire locations, which are also part of the Canadian Tire EV network. to AddEnergie for 28 chargers at Canadian Tire locations, which are also part of the Canadian Tire EV network. The Government of Canada is investing over $300 million in low- and zero-emission infrastructure so Canadians can make the choice to drive and purchase clean vehicles. is investing over in low- and zero-emission infrastructure so Canadians can make the choice to drive and purchase clean vehicles. The Government of Canada is making owning a zero-emission vehicle easier and more affordable for Canadians by offering a purchase incentive of up to $5,000 and full tax write-offs for businesses. Quotes "We are investing in zero emission infrastructure so Canadians can more easily make the choice to drive and purchase clean vehicles. More electric vehicles on our streets and highways make our communities healthier, reduce pollution and help create good, middle-class jobs." Han Dong Member of Parliament for Don Valley North "Canadian Tire is a proud Canadian company committed to addressing the challenges of climate change throughout our operations. The network of EV fast chargers that we are creating with the support of partners like Natural Resources Canada is an example of how we are evolving to meet the needs of all drivers while helping our customers reduce their emissions." Andrew Davies Senior Vice-President, Automotive, Canadian Tire Corporation "Our CleanBC plan is making it more affordable for British Columbians to Go Electric with their cars. These new fast chargers help make clean transportation more accessible by expanding one of Canada's largest charging networks." Michelle Mungall B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Related Links EVAFIDI Successful Applicants Go Green With Electric Vehicles Electric Charging and Alternative Fuelling Stations Locator Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstrations Investing in Canada Plan Project Map Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.news.gc.ca. SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Brazil's Supreme Court lifts ban on Netflix film depicting Jesus as gay Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Brazil's Supreme Court decided Thursday that Netflix can continue streaming a controversial Brazilian comedy special that depicts Jesus Christ as a homosexual. The Supreme Court overturned a lower court judge's ruling from Tuesday that ordered Netflix to remove a controversial Brazilian comedy special despite international outcry and a petition signed by over 2 million people demanding its removal. Titled The First Temptation of Christ (most likely a play on words reminiscent of the controversial 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ), the satirical special that first aired Dec. 3 ahead of Christmas was created by a Brazilian comedy group known as Porta Does Fundos. According to a report by BBC's Daniel Gallas from Sao Paulo this week, Judge Benedicto Abicair in Rio de Janeiro ordered Netflix to remove the film from its platform. On Thursday, however, the higher court's ruling struck down the lower courts ban with the President of Brazils Supreme Court, Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, stating that freedom of expression is a fundamental right of democracy. A piece of satire is not going to undermine the values of Christian faith, which has been around for more than 2,000 years, the courts president wrote. Netflix nor Porta dos Fundos have commented on the ruling. Jesus, who's hitting the big 3-0, brings a surprise guest to meet the family. A Christmas special so wrong, it must be from comedians Porta dos Fundos, reads the movies description on Netflix. The satirical film, which depicts Christ as a homosexual, did not go over well with many Christians and church leaders in Brazil and a petition was drafted calling on Netflix to remove the special. As of Saturday, it has garnered over 2,366,700 signatures. The Rio de Janeiro office of Porta dos Fundos, the creators behind the film, was attacked with firebombs on Christmas Eve. No one was injured. (Bloomberg) -- Such is the extent of the shakeout in the U.S. shale industry that Permian Basin oil production is closer to peaking than many forecasts suggest, according to one energy investor. Adam Waterous, who runs Waterous Energy Fund, regards the sectors financial position as unsustainable after years of disappointing returns for investors and negative free cash flow. With capital markets now largely shunning shale producers, the impact will begin to show in oil and natural gas output from the largest U.S. oil patch, he said. We think we are at or near peak Permian production, Waterous said last week in an interview. The North American oil market has been grossly overcapitalized, which is not sustainable. Predicting peak Permian output for 2020 isnt a mainstream view. Theres plenty of debate about how much production growth in the West Texas and New Mexico patch may slow this year as shale drillers slash capital spending, but the consensus is that supplies will rise, albeit at a slower pace. Tai Liu, an analyst at BloombergNEF, said in a report Tuesday that the pessimism may be overdone. Such considerations have global ramifications, as the U.S. is expected to account for a large portion of worldwide supply growth this year. As head of investment banking at Bank of Nova Scotia, Waterous had a direct hand in mergers and acquisitions that reshaped the energy sector. But he says the model those deals represented, one in which oil and gas companies prioritized production gains and M&A, is now a relic. The capital gains model is broken, he said. The M&A market is gone and its not coming back. The kind of industry rationalization Waterous describes may work to his advantage. His Calgary-based private equity firm, which he founded in 2017, controls two Canadian oil producers. One of them, Cona Resources Ltd., agreed to buy Pengrowth Energy Corp. in November for C$28 million ($21 million) after Pengrowths share price cratered as the company buckled under a huge debt load. Waterous Energy is looking for more assets in Canada and the U.S. Waterous likens the plight of U.S. shale in recent years to the five stages of grief. The first stage, denial, is characterized by a belief that the M&A market will return, he said. Thats followed by anger (the market is wrong), then bargaining, by trying to operate within cash flow, followed by depression -- moving to the free cash-flow model that many shale operators have been touting. The final stage, acceptance, is defined by Waterous as the industry finally resolving to provide investors with cash payouts via dividends so that they recover their initial investments. Over the past five years, the industry and its investors mistook a massive structural change for a simple cyclical event, he said. Its impossible to continue to have uneconomic production and capex. To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Casey in New York at scasey4@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Christine Buurma, Joe Richter 2020 Bloomberg L.P. They are over. After nearly nine years of being together, Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler decided it was no longer worth it. According to Us Weekly, an insider source revealed that Austin and Vanessa have officially broken up. Vanessa has been telling those close to her about their breakup. The couple started dating in September 2011 and everyone thought they would be together forever. Officially Over Speculations about their possible breakup appeared when the two did not spend the holidays together like they used to. Hudgens posted pictures of herself wearing a princess-inspired black gown and a tiara while flying solo on December 31. Days before that, the "Knight Before Christmas" star documented a winter getaway in Vals, Switzerland. People wondered when Butler would show up in her posts, but he never did. On December 13, the "High School Musical" actress celebrated her birthday. The first post began with her younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who came to the set of her Netflix Original "The Princess Switch: Switched Again." A few hours later, Hudgens posted a video of her having drinks and dancing around with her sister. In all these, Butler was notably absent. It got people thinking: where could he be on his girl's birthday? The last photo posted by Hudgens of the "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" actor was on Halloween night. On October 31, she posted a picture of the two of them dressed in Gothic style costumes along with their dog, Darla. The actress captioned the photo with, "Happy Halloween from my family to yours." Meanwhile, Butler has not posted a photo with Hudgens since July of last year. The last post was a snapshot shared through Instagram taken during the premiere of his film "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood." And that was it. Hudgens and Butler are yet to confirm the status of their relationship. But from how it looks at the moment, it seems as if it is really over for one of the most admired couples in Hollywood. They have withstood the test of time, at least for almost nine years before they decided it was time to leave and move on. What They Could Have Been In July, Hudgens went all public and praised the love of her life when he landed the title role for the biopic movie about Elvis Presley. The film would be directed by Baz Luhrmann. Via her Instagram account, Hudgens posted a photo of Butler and wrote in the caption that she was over the moon proud of "My Honey!" In November of 2018, during an interview with "Women's Health," Hudgens revealed that although she and Butler have been together for quite some time, they are not in a rush to get married. The actress also revealed that she wanted to travel, get married, and have kids when she's in her late 30's. "Everyone's timeline is different," Hudgens shared. The "Rent: Live" star also described Butler as her inspiration more than anyone. If these two lovely people were in love with each other this intensely, then what could have gone wrong? Was it time that robbed them of the intensity of their emotions? Or was there someone else involved? Everyone can merely speculate about what happened between Hudgens and Butler. But only the two of them can truly say why they had to let go. NORWALK Drag Queen Story Time, presented by Troupe429, is returning to the Norwalk Public Library. The story hour is at 3 p.m. at the Norwalk Public Library on Sunday, Jan. 26. The event is open to children, teens, and adults of all ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Arrive early to enjoy the coloring book and craft table. The story time will begin with a special meet and greet with drag queens: Anita Manager & Robin Fierce where visitors can get a photo and autograph. The drag queens will then read two books from the Norwalk Library Children's Department. Story time will conclude with a special dance performance by Anita & Robin. All are welcome to attend the free event. The first Drag Queen Story Time at Norwalk Library was in July 2019. If there is a special election to fill the state Senate vacated by Bob Antonacci, it's possible Republicans won't field a candidate in the race. Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey told The Citizen Tuesday that the party's focus is to win the 50th Senate District seat in November, not in a potential special election. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in November that it's his "inclination" to call a special election to fill the vacancy. It's possible he would schedule the special election for April 28 the same day as the New York presidential primary. If the special election occurs at the same time as the presidential primary, Dadey said that would be a concern for Republicans. President Donald Trump, a Republican, won't face significant opposition for the nomination. The competitive contest is on the Democratic side, which has three candidates Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren polling in double digits. "Given the way the presidential field is shaking out, the only people that are going to show up on the presidential primary day are Democrats who want to vote for the candidate of their choice for president," said Dadey, who added that it would give Democrats an "unfair advantage." There were similar concerns raised in New York's 27th Congressional District. Cuomo indicated he would call the special election for April 28 the same day as the Democratic presidential primary. Republicans, including state GOP chair Nick Langworthy, criticized that decision. In December, the state party filed a lawsuit against Cuomo to force an earlier date. But it doesn't appear that effort will be successful. Despite the potential April 28 special election and the purported edge for Democrats, Republicans still have an enrollment advantage in the 27th district. As of Nov. 1, there are nearly 41,000 more Republicans than Democrats in the district. The GOP doesn't have a similar advantage in the 50th Senate District. There are over 3,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district, according to the state Board of Elections. There are a few challenges facing Republicans in the 50th district race, according to Dadey. If Cuomo calls a special election, the parties would pick candidates to run. At around the same time, candidates must circulate petitions to qualify for the June primary and November general elections. With the tight political calendar, Dadey raised the possibility that Republicans may not have the same candidate in the special election as the November election. Money is a factor, too. Now that Senate Republicans are in the minority, fundraising has taken a hit. When Antonacci won in 2018, he benefited from the Republicans' status as the majority party. With Democrats in the majority, they are able to raise more money for campaigns. "We're going to struggle to raise money," Dadey said. "It's especially hard if you have to participate in two or three elections." Another reason the special election may not be a high priority for Republicans is the timeline. If the special election is held April 28, it's likely the state budget process will be finished The state legislative session ends in early June, so the winner wouldn't spend a lot of time in Albany. There are Republicans interested in the race, Dadey said. One Republican Cayuga County Legislator Tim Lattimore has expressed interest in running for the 50th district seat. No other Republicans have publicly announced their plans. Democrats have already selected their candidate to run in a potential special election. John Mannion, a West Genesee High School teacher who was the party's nominee in 2018, will be the Democratic candidate. "We're still talking with folks, both inside the current political structure and outside the political structure, to come up with a candidate who can win in November," Dadey said. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY by Steph Cha (Faber 12.99, 320 pp) YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY by Steph Cha (Faber 12.99, 320 pp) In Los Angeles in the early 1990s, racial tensions already high were further inflamed when a Korean shopkeeper avoided jail after shooting dead a black schoolgirl she had accused of theft. Steph Cha changes the details to put the incendiary case at the heart of a smart, sensitive page-turner about how a similar killing haunts the (fictionalised) families involved more than a quarter of a century later. While Shawn, a removal man, has learned to live with his anger at the death of his sister Ava, old wounds are reopened when Yvonne the Korean pharmacist who killed her falls victim to a drive-by shooting. Shawn instantly attracts suspicion, while Yvonnes daughter Grace is forced to face up to her mothers buried past in the 24/7 glare of online media. A twisty thriller in which drip-fed detail detonates with maximal impact, this terrific novel probes the way politicised rhetoric about race can fail to live up to the messiness of real-life experience. AMERICA WAS HARD TO FIND by Kathleen Alcott (W&N 8.99, 432 pp) AMERICA WAS HARD TO FIND by Kathleen Alcott (W&N 8.99, 432 pp) This fitfully absorbing saga of mid-20th-century America essentially offers three novels for the price of one, but whether thats quite the bargain it sounds, I dont know. It opens in the Mojave Desert, where Fay, a young waitress, gets into bed with a married astronaut, Vincent, who is in training for the Apollo 11 mission. After he gets her pregnant, Vincent a future all-American hero has nothing to do with the child, who is raised among a cell of militant radicals protesting against the Vietnam War. Later we see Fays son amid the Aids crisis in San Francisco, where his psychic turmoil only deepens when he is repeatedly told he looks like the first man on the moon. While there are moments of searing scene-making on display here, Alcotts characters cant sustain her epic sweep in its drearier longueurs. And call me unimaginative, but I never quite felt she reached the level of escape velocity that would have let me pretend Neil Armstrong never existed... A GOOD MAN by Ani Katz (Heinemann 12.99, 224 pp) A GOOD MAN by Ani Katz (Heinemann 12.99, 224 pp) In the year 2020 it all but goes without saying that any novel titled A Good Man will in fact be about a manipulative creep who is exhibit A for the much-discussed notion of toxic masculinity. So it proves in this riveting but thoroughly ugly debut an American Psycho for the 21st century. When Thomas, an opera-loving advertising executive and married father, spends the first page ominously describing the truncheon he bought on eBay, we know it wont end well. And when his big-bucks pitch to a smartphone firm lands belly-up, its a sign we need to read between the lines of his unreliable testimony, in which accounts of nobly fending off a drunken female junior isnt the only tall tale. In the end, though, the real question left hanging in this superior psychological noir is how far it really has anything new to say about the horrifying mentality it so coolly describes. This is the first time that research universities have been mentioned in the revised Higher Education Law and the decree guiding the implementation of the law. A research university is understood as a school which focuses on research as a central part if its operation. Under the decree, universities must have six criteria to be recognized as research institutes. Of these, two criteria are very difficult for Vietnams universities to achieve. They must have 100 articles a year published in famous scientific journals. Every permanent lecturer of the university must publish articles in prestigious publications. The number of master and PhD students in the last three years must not be lower than 20 percent of total enrolment scale and have 20 doctorates a year at minimum. Nguyen Dinh Duc from the Hanoi National University, while applauding the legalization of the research university model, warned that the members of schools of the university cannot satisfy these two criteria. Nguyen Dinh Duc from the Hanoi National University, while applauding the legalization of the research university model, warned that the members of schools of the university cannot satisfy these two criteria. The Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, a member school, for example, can satisfy the criterion about the number of internationally published articles, but cannot satisfy the requirement on postgraduate training. International universities in developed countries need high-quality students. They are offering scholarships to attract students, including Vietnamese. Therefore, it is difficult for universities in Vietnam to enroll postgraduate students. If compared with the total enrolment scale, the postgraduate training of the University of Natural Resources just accounts for 14.5 percent. Meanwhile, the University of Social Sciences, another member school of the Hanoi National University, has the number of postgraduate accounting for 17 percent, but its number of internationally published articles is modest. While the requirements on research universities are high, the benefits remain unclear. In the decree, the benefits of research universities are vague: research universities are prioritized to implement scientific and technological tasks. In reply to Duc, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha said research universities serve creative innovation. He said that the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) will join forces to draft a decree on scientific research activities. And schools will see the benefits they can expect when becoming research institutes. A survey by a research team from the Hanoi National University found that in 2015-2019, only 20 schools had 100 or more articles published in ISI/Scopus each year. Thanh Lich Hanoi to have another international university The university will become an international innovation center of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Visitor numbers to Hong Kong fell by nearly 40% in the second half of last year amid clashes between police and anti-government protesters. The Hong Kong Tourism Board said the numbers of those visiting the Asian financial hub started to drop off in July as protests against proposed legislation allowing extradition to China gathered pace. For the last six months of 2019, visitor numbers fell by 39% against the same period a year before. Overall, arrivals were off by 14% for the entire year. Expand Close Policemen are inspected during the opening ceremony of the legal year at City Hall in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Policemen are inspected during the opening ceremony of the legal year at City Hall in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) The protests have lost momentum amid mass arrests by police and since major opposition wins in district council elections in November. Hong Kongs economy fell into recession, its reputation as one of the worlds safest cities tarnished by the violence driven largely by anger over Chinas perceived encroachments over rights retained by the former British colony when Beijing took control in 1997. The extradition legislation was withdrawn, but the protest movement morphed to include demands for greater democracy and an investigation into police tactics. Financial Secretary Paul Chan told a forum that the government estimated economic growth for 2019 would fall to -1.3%, a stark loss for the centre of trade, travel and finance. Tourism, catering and retail industries suffered the biggest losses, with store receipts falling by 26% in October and November against the same months in 2018. Expand Close Protesters in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) However, the tourism boards chairman Y.K. Pang was quoted as saying in a Wednesday news release that he had every confidence in Hong Kongs resilience and appeal as a world-class travel destination. The board said it has launched promotional events and special offers covering hotels, flights, shopping and attractions. In a further sign of the stress the protests have placed the city under, secretary for home affairs Lau Kong-wah announced the cancellation of the annual Lunar New Year fireworks show based on the public safety concern. The holiday is the most important among Chinese communities around the world and this year falls on January 25. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:31:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang won his favorite 400m freestyle in three minutes 44.07 seconds at the FINA Champions Swim Series here on Wednesday. Sun set his pace after 100m and kept the dominance to the end, beating Danas Rapsys of Lithuania into second in 3:46.62. "That is the comfortable distance I like and the race I enjoy all the time. 3:44.07, I am happy with the time in the beginning of the year. I can be faster if I am better prepared. My 400m free remains smooth all the time, showing that my training is effective. My goal this year is to win at the Olympic Games, "said Sun, who lost to Rapsys by 0.03 in 200m freestyle on Tuesday. Xu Jia claimed his second title in the men's 50m backstroke after his victory in the 100m backstroke. Liu Xiang, winner in the women's 50m back, bagged her second gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 24.04. Yang Junxuan delighted the local fans at the Shenzhen Universiade Natatorium by touching first in the women's 200m freestyle in 1:55.52. "I got a cold after I arrived here three days ago, so I did not expect to win with a time equaling my personal best, the Asian record I set in 2018 Jakarta Asian Games," said Liu. Andrei Minakov of Russia and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary were the most prolific winners with two golds each on Wednesday. Minakov topped the 100m butterfly in 51.73 and 100m freestyle in 48.94. Hosszu was unbeatable in 200m butterfly in 2:07.68 and 200m individual medley in 2:10.42. So far, China has collected 9 gold medals as the biggest winner. The second leg of the FINA Champions Swim Series will move to Beijing from January 18-19. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has blasted New York City's sanctuary laws, saying the city ignored a federal immigration detainer for a man who went on to be charged with the rape and murder of a 92-year-old woman. Reeaz Khan, 21, walked free without bail on assault and gun charges in late November, six weeks before he was arrested again on Friday and charged in the horrific murder of Maria Fuertes in Queens. On Tuesday, ICE released a statement excoriating the city for not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, saying the murder could have been prevented if its agents had been allowed in November to take custody of Khan, a Guyanese national who is present in the U.S. illegally. 'New York City's stance against honoring detainers is dangerously flawed,' said Thomas R. Decker, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office director for New York. 'It was a deadly choice to release a man on an active ICE detainer back onto the streets after his first arrest.' Reeaz Khan, 21, (left) walked free without bail six weeks before he was arrested again on Friday and charged in the horrific murder of Maria Fuertes (right) 'New York City's sanctuary policies continue to threaten the safety of all residents of the five boroughs,' Decker said. Decker said that every month, New York City releases 'hundreds' of individuals who have been criminally charged and are sought by ICE for deportation. 'Clearly the politicians care more about criminal illegal aliens than the citizens they are elected to serve and protect,' Decker said. Detainers are federal requests to local law enforcement to hold people who have been arrested on criminal charges for transfer to ICE for deportation proceedings. New York City is one of many jurisdictions that have laws forbidding cooperation with ICE detainers. A spokeswoman for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, fired back at the criticism in a statement blasting ICE. 'It is shameful that the Trump Administration is politicizing this tragedy,' spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie told the New York Daily News. 'If Mr. Khan is convicted, the city will cooperate with federal officials in accordance with local law,' she said. The savage murder unfolded on the streets of the Richmond Hills neighborhood after midnight on January 6. Surveillance video shot near the scene of the savage murder led police to Khan Fuertes was discovered lying 'incoherent' on a street near her home in Queens around 2am on Monday, with a broken spine, rib fractures and bruising on her chest and neck. The much-loved local - whom neighbors referred to as 'grandma' - later died in a hospital. Hugo Fuertes, Maria's son, said she was 'a very nice, very good lady' who never caused harm to anyone. Aneil Ram, who lived nearby, told ABC News: 'She was a sweet lady. 'We all knew her since we were small and it's sickening to even hear something like that happening to her.' Surveillance video from the night of the brutal murder led detectives to Khan. Investigators believe Khan approached Fuertes from behind while she was walking home from a deli where she went to buy cat food late at night. Police assert Khan then attacked her, before the pair became involved in a scuffle and fell to the ground. Reeaz Khan, 21, is walked outside of 106th Police Precinct, in Queens on Friday evening, after he was arrested on suspicion of raping and murdering a 92-year-old woman Investigators believe Khan approached Fuertes from behind while she was walking home from a deli where she went to buy cat food late at night Khan reported claimed he tripped and 'his penis fell near her vagina' before proclaiming his innocence and saying he'd never rape a woman because he already has a girlfriend However, Khan told detectives that he was simply walking through the area when he came across Fuertes lying on the pavement, the The New York Post reported. He claims he was trying to help her up when 'he fell down, his belt broke, his pants fell down and his penis fell near her vagina'. Khan told detectives that at that moment 'something came over him' and he 'lifted up Fuertes' skirt and try to put his penis inside of her,' according to the Post. Khan reportedly admitted to suffering 'uncontrollable urges,' and decided to act upon them. Days after his arrest, Khan totally denied the charges in a jailhouse interview, saying he had no need to rape an elderly woman because he already had a girlfriend. 'Why would I touch a 92 year old woman?' he told the Daily News. 'I have a girlfriend and have had sex with other women.' However, despite the young man's denials, most, including his own father do not believe him. 'You make your kids, but you don't make their minds,' father Afraz Khan said. 'We're very sorry for what happened. Our sympathies go out to that woman's family.' Khan is currently being held without bail on Rikers Island. He is charged with murder, sexual abuse, contact by forcible compulsion, and sexual abuse against a person incapable of consent. Paola man asks Iowa judge for 'trial by combat' with ex-wife, lawyer Peter Macdiarmid SOURCE: Peter Macdiarmid A Kansas man has asked an Iowa judge to let him engage in a sword fight with his ex-wife and her attorney so that he can "rend their souls" from their bodies. David Ostrom, of Paola, Kansas, said in a Jan. Don't scoff at this idea, our divorced friends tell us that it's probably more honorable and less painful than most courtroom fights. Read more: The JNU administration said classes in many schools have begun for the new semester and the campus, while a section of students and teachers continued to abstain from classes amid standoff with authorities over the fee-hike issue New Delhi: The JNU administration on Tuesday said classes in many schools have begun for the new semester and the campus witnessed a "calm and peaceful" atmosphere, while a section of students and teachers continued to abstain from classes amid standoff with authorities over the fee-hike issue. JNU's Registrar Pramod Kumar, in a statement, said academic and administrative units of the university functioned "normally on 14 January, even as the campus witnessed a calm and peaceful atmosphere". "The number of student registrations has been rising consistently and the last date of registration has been extended till 15 January to facilitate students who have gone on leave or on academic assignments off campus," Kumar said. Classes in many schools and centres for the new semester have begun and time-tables have been uploaded, he said. "MPhil and PhD viva-voce examinations of various research scholars have been conducted and several others have been scheduled. International academic delegations have also visited for discussions on research collaborations and student exchange," Kumar added. However, some students and teachers of the university continued their agitation and boycotted classes over the fee-hike issue. According to a professor, the classes did not take place and the schools remained deserted. The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) has called upon the student community to observe the registration boycott and academic suspension until the union explicitly announces otherwise. "The JNUSU wants to clarify that the stand of boycotting registration and complete academic suspension which includes boycott of online/offline exams and any other academic activities is in continuation," it said. "The JNUSU acknowledges that fact that there needs to be a dialogue at every juncture in taking calls for protest keeping up with the united spirit of the struggle. The JNUSU has been in dialogue with Student Faculty Committees, Hostel Presidents and various organisations," it added. The students' union, along with the JNU Teachers' Association, reiterated that "there cannot be normal academic activities until VC M Jagadesh Kumar is removed and their demands, which include the rollback of hostel manual, no punitive actions against protesting students are met". Zong 4G have introduced unlimited calls to China Telecom company Zong 4G has introduced unlimited calls to China under its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiatives, a press release issued by the company said on Tuesday. The company said it has launched two call bundles in order to make international direct dialling to China more convenient. The bundles introduced by China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak, popularly known as Zong) include a weekly offer for prepaid customers worth Rs250 (plus tax) and a monthly package for both postpaid and prepaid customers worth Rs750 plus tax. "The China bundles have been developed to suit both pre-paid and post-paid customers and will provide ease to both private and business customers by enabling calls to China at the lowest rates in the industry," the statement read. "As the connectivity partner for CPEC, Zong 4G has undertaken many initiatives and the launch of this bundle is in-line with our strategy of connecting both private and corporate customers," the statement added. CPEC, touted as a framework for regional connectivity, is part of Beijings Belt and Road initiative. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fistra Janrio Tandirerung (The Jakarta Post) Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi Wed, January 15, 2020 08:44 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c3222d3b8 3 Opinion study-abroad,study,Education,university,World-University-Ranking,ranking,QS-rankings Free More Indonesian students are studying abroad these days. This has been made possible by the many available scholarships from various countries. The government also has its own prestigious Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), managed by the Finance Ministry. The LPDP has been providing immense financial support for Indonesian students who wish to study at the best education institutions all over the world each year. Almost 25,000 students have been funded by the LPDP as of Jan. 1. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia are the favorite study destinations for Indonesian students by far, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. Most likely, these countries become the top destinations because of their availability of highly reputable universities that often make the list of the worlds best. A university's ranking is probably the most practical assessment to put into consideration when determining a study destination. Generally, we have to concede that universities reigning the top of the list tend to offer top-quality education. Hence, many international students at the beginning will aim to get admitted to Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Stanford or Cambridge instead of lesser-known institutions with lower rankings. Being admitted to one of the worlds best universities is a great source of prestige and pride. It may also draw acknowledgment and admiration from others. However, university rankings should not be the only thing that counts as there are other substantial factors to consider. There are several ranking methods to value the quality of tertiary education institutions in the world. QS World University Ranking, Times Higher Education and Academic Ranking of World University are the most commonly used university ranking methods. In determining university ranking, many parameters are used, such as the number of citations, research impact, international students, student gender ratio, students experience and satisfaction, employability or university support for Sustainable Development Goals. QS World University Ranking, for instance, uses six parameters, namely academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty-student ratio, international faculty and international students. The ranking of one particular university may vary depending on which parameters are used to measure its quality. Hence, our concern should not be fixated or projected only on which university has a better ranking. In selecting future universities, our suitability for modules or courses provided is much more important. A high university ranking does not necessarily mean that its modules suit our passion and future career goals. Learning is a process to make sure that our potentials are optimally developed. Aspiring students should focus more on the discipline or field of study ranking rather than university ranking alone. Some universities are more specialized in a particular field despite their rankings. Harvard may be a top-listed campus in every ranking method and a very good option for medicine, but probably, it is not suitable for studies in agriculture or food science. Some educational institutions also have a specific research focus area that may provide the best development opportunities for our career in the future, which again, is not reflected by ranking. The availability and suitability of research supervisors also hold a vital role to take into account. Finding a supervisor whose field of expertise suits our research interest is not quite easy, yet it is a crucial step in taking a research degree. A high-ranked university does not guarantee that it has a suitable supervisor available to supervise our research. However, it may be found at other universities that we did not even consider before. Funding is also a crucial consideration. Many universities provide internal scholarships offered for international students. For students with economic constraints or funding issues, priority may be given for funding availability instead of university ranking. Prestigious universities such as Oxford and Cambridge do offer fully funded scholarships for international students. However, they are highly selective. Therefore, we need to expose ourselves to many university options with funding support for international students. Other than the factors previously mentioned, there may be another personal consideration that could not be measured by university ranking, such as specific personal interests, campus capacity in providing student equality, student support availability and so on. In conclusion, a decision to study abroad should be based heavily on self-development goals and not merely on university rankings. Therefore, all considerations should be prioritized on how we can ensure our own self-development, which could not be guaranteed solely by university ranking. *** Physician at RSUD Lakipadada Tana Toraja public hospital. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. In what it called illegal and unconstitutional, the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, faulted the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Limited (NBET) be moved from the Ministry of Power to the Ministry of Finance. Emmanuel Bello, the spokesperson to the power minister, had, a week ago, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that NBET has been moved from the ministry of power to the ministry of finance, sequel to the presidential order. But, at a roundtable meeting on Tuesday at National Assembly complex in Abuja, the House Committee Chairman on Power, Aliyu Magaji (APC, Jigawa), said only constitutional amendments can make such reshuffling stand. He added that the law that put NBET under the power ministry has not been repealed, hence, cannot be changed until the constitution is altered. NBET was created through the Electric Power Sector Reform Act. We are talking of law here. Im sure somebody must have misled somebody somewhere. The law putting NBET under the power ministry is yet to be repealed or reviewed, an Order Paper quoted Mr Magaji to have said. So, NBET still remains in the Ministry of Power as far as we the parliament is concerned, he said, unless we change the law. During Tuesdays meeting, there was a resolution that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commissions (NERC) planned upward review of electricity tariff, should be suspended, pending proper consultations on the matter. The meeting had in attendance, representatives from the Ministry of Power, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), electricity distribution companies (Discos) and other stakeholders. Mr. Schwartz was born in Philadelphia and came to Washington in 1960 as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In the 1980s, he was in private practice in Washington and then was director of public policy at the National Trust. He retired in the late 1990s. In 2006, he moved to Philadelphia from Bethesda, Md. MIRAMAR, Fla., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Generex Biotechnology Corporation (www.generex.com) (OTCQB:GNBT) today announced that it will hold an investor conference call on Tuesday January 21, 2020 at 9:30 am. Topics that will be covered in the call; The illegal selling of 8.4 million shares by the Veneto partners and update on all legal remedies the company is seeking due to the major downside pressure on the stock that eroded share price. The 4 million shares illegally sold by Creek Mountain and the Generex remedies The dividend and FINRA approval process The NuGenerex Immuno-Oncology (NGIO) spinout update Funding update ALTuCELL closing update Joseph Moscato, Generex President & Chief Executive Officer, stated: I look forward to this conference call and invite all of our valuable shareholders to attend. This call will address the sharp decline in our share price since September resulting from illegal trading by two groups: Creek Mountain Fund from whom we acquired 20% of Olaregen in exchange for 4 million shares of Generex stock, and Veneto Holdings who owned 8.4 million restricted shares of Generex stock despite never transferring the associated Veneto assets to Generex. Neither of these groups filed the requisite forms with the regulatory authorities to have legends removed from restricted shares, nor did they notify nor obtain permission from Generex to have those shares unrestricted. Further, fraudulent opinion letters were written and processed to get legends removed, and under rule 144, those shares were never fully paid for, as the assets were not delivered. Generex is pursuing all civil and criminal remedies to rectify this matter. Our attorneys have contacted the SEC in regard to these matters, and we expect a favorable outcome. I believe these two groups have finally sold their positions, which they have been doing since September, so now we expect the stock to stabilize and begin to trade normally again based on all of the new and exciting things we are working on. I look forward to a full update on Tuesday January 21, 2020 and to answer all your questions. Dial-in instructions for the investor conference call will be announced prior to the meeting date. About Generex Biotechnology Corp. Generex Biotechnology is an integrated healthcare holding company with end-to-end solutions for patient centric care from rapid diagnosis through delivery of personalized therapies. Generex is building a new kind of healthcare company that extends beyond traditional models providing support to physicians in an MSO network, and ongoing relationships with patients to improve the patient experience and access to optimal care. In addition to advancing a legacy portfolio of immune-oncology assets, medical devices, and diagnostics, the Company is focused on an acquisition strategy of strategic businesses that complement existing assets and provide immediate sources of revenue and working capital. Recent acquisitions include a management services organization, a network of pharmacies, clinical laboratory, and medical device companies with new and approved products. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release and oral statements made from time to time by Generex representatives in respect of the same subject matter may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by introductory words such as "expects," "plan," "believes," "will," "achieve," "anticipate," "would," "should," "subject to" or words of similar meaning, and by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements frequently are used in discussing potential product applications, potential collaborations, product development activities, clinical studies, regulatory submissions and approvals, and similar operating matters. Many factors may cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements, including inaccurate assumptions and a broad variety of risks and uncertainties, some of which are known and others of which are not. Known risks and uncertainties include those identified from time to time in the reports filed by Generex with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should be considered together with any forward-looking statement. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future results or events, and one should avoid placing undue reliance on such statements. Generex undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Generex claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements that is contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Generex Contact: Generex Biotechnology Corporation Joseph Moscato 646-599-6222 Todd Falls 1-800-391-6755 Extension 222 investor@generex.com The growing institutional market for investing in the private rental sector accounted for one in three commercial property investments in 2019, according to a report from CBRE. This market is becoming increasingly popular for institutional investors - dubbed 'cuckoo' funds - which are rapidly changing the housing market by buying or building entire blocks of accommodation to be rented long-term. Investors are encouraged by the "attractive" returns here. Residential investment is also effectively exempt from commercial property stamp duty. Marie Hunt, director and head of research at CBRE, said the sector would "continue to be significant", and the pattern here is being seen elsewhere in Europe. The increased funding going into this space is happening "all over Europe, as part of a trend towards increasing urbanisation", she said. In its Outlook 2020 report, CBRE warned that any form of rent control here could dampen investor appetite, potentially hitting supply. Over the next 12 months, the area will continue to attract demand from Irish investors, alongside a greater number of European funds, as well as some Asian capital, the report found. Overall, last year saw record investment volumes of over 7.2bn in Irish real estate. The figures were boosted by the 1.34bn sale of Green Reit. CBRE expects investment in the market this year to be somewhat lower. "Last year saw 18 transactions higher than 100m; typically, there would only be four to five such deals in a year," Ms Hunt said. The office sector - which accounted for 51pc of investment spend in 2019 - is predicted to attract the most interest this year. While there is a large volume of new supply under development, accommodating large office requirements will continue to be challenging in 2020, with very little of scale due to complete this year and a large proportion of stock already committed. Among the office complexes due for completion are 2 Cumberland Place and North Dock. Moving on to the hotel sector, the report found that a "good pipeline" of such properties may be put up for sale this year, including some in Dublin. The majority are expected to be single assets, as opposed to portfolio sales. Outside of Dublin, the investment opportunities in Cork "remain strong", hampered only by a shortage of them for investors. However, new stock coming on stream will provide new opportunities. Jeanelyn Villavende was raped before her employers beat her to death. Manila condemned her murder, describing it as a "clear violation" of the agreement signed by the two countries in 2018 that ended a diplomatic crisis. Manila (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Filipino government has imposed a total ban on Filipinos travelling to Kuwait for work, following the death of Jeanelyn Villavende who died in December 2019 in the Gulf state under horrific circumstances as evinced by an autopsy performed for the National Investigation Office (NBI). The Philippines Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced the decision today, after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) approved a resolution applicable to all workers already slated for employment in Kuwait. A partial deployment ban on overseas work certificates came in effect after 5 pm on 3 January for first-time household service workers. Today's ban comes in the wake of the NBI probe, which found that Villavende, 26, was raped before her employers in Kuwait beat her to death. The autopsy showed that the young woman had also suffered past physical abuse before her death. A preliminary autopsy report by Kuwaiti authorities did not mention rape or past abuse, but did agree with the Philippine reports that the victim had died from trauma due to the infliction of injuries to the body. DOLE said that the young woman had sought help from her recruiting agency in order to be repatriated. The latter now faces the possible cancellation of its license for failing to help her. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti authorities have arrested the woman's employer. Philippine authorities condemned Villavende's death, describing it as a "clear violation" of the agreement signed by Kuwait and the Philippines in 2018. The agreement, which came at the end of a diplomatic crisis caused by the gruesome murder of another Filipino worker, Joanna Demafelis, was meant to protect the rights and well-being of Filipino workers in the Gulf state. Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant on Tuesday hit out at Yogesh Soman, Director of the Academy of Theatre Arts (ATA) in the University of Mumbai, for his derogatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to the media in Mumbai, Sawant said, "If Yogesh Soman is making statements which are political in nature, that is not right. A person at his post must not make such remarks. He was taking BJP's side being on a government post." "The matter should be thoroughly investigated and strict action should be taken," he added. Soman is facing flak after he shared a video online in which he responded to Rahul Gandhi's controversial remarks where he said 'he was not Rahul Savarkar'. Soman, in his video, retorted that the Congress scion did not have Savarkar's qualities. (ANI) NetApp India has been honoured by the CIO CHOICE 2020 as the most preferred brand in Enterprise Flash Storage for second time in a row. This esteemed recognition was conferred at the exclusive red-carpet night, a celebration of innovation and excellence in the ICT ecosystem, produced by CORE Media. With over 300 ICT leaders in attendance, CIO CHOICE, held at The Lalit, Mumbai, had some of the countrys most high-profile CIOs applaud the brands voted as the most trusted ICT partners. In its 8th year, the annual CIO CHOICE recognition focused on ICT brands who showcase a continuous demand for excellence and form the bedrock of industry success. The recognition is bestowed based on pan-India independent voting by CIOs. CIO CHOICE is the largest online voting platform, where CIOs determine and choose the products that have earned their vote of confidence. CIO Choice recognition ensures that the winner has been endorsed by CIOs. Anoop Mathur, Founder and President, CORE Media, said, I congratulate NetApp for being conferred with the CIO CHOICE 2020 honour and recognition for the second consecutive year. The CIO CHOICE recognition is testament of the extraordinary work by brands. We nominate the winners through a poll with CIOs across India and thats what finally matters as far as any brand or product goes, as it is the Voice of the Customer. It is rewarding to be recognised by eminent CIOs and other ICT decision-makers as it validates our ability to offer superior innovative solutions and support to customers as they embark on their digital transformation journey. We are indeed delighted to be voted as the most preferred Enterprise Flash Storage Vendor for the second time in a row. We remain committed to offer worlds best data management on premises or in the cloud which helps customers and partners to scale from edge to core to cloud, said Anil Valluri, President, NetApp India and SAARC. Schumer: Evidence From Giuliani Associate Dramatically Underscores Need for Impeachment Witnesses, Documents Newly released evidence from Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani, dramatically underscores the need to hear from witnesses during the Senate impeachment trial, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. Schumer has been pushing for the Senate to vote on whether to hear from witnesses and obtain documents in its initial vote. I dont know how any member of this body could pick up the newspaper this morning, read this new revelation and not conclude that the Senate needs access to relevant documents like these in the trial, Schumer said from the Senate floor in Washington on Wednesday. House Democrats sent the evidence from Parnas to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The evidence, which includes phone records and texts, was expected to be sent to the Senate before the Senate impeachment trial starts. Communications between Parnas and Giuliani were part of the newly released evidence, including back-and-forth about the proposed removal of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, who was eventually removed from her post. Parnas is awaiting trial on campaign finance charges. He pleaded not guilty in October 2019. Each day that goes by, the case for witnesses and documents gains force and gains momentum, Schumer said. Last night, a new cache of documents, including dozens of pages and notes, text messages and other records shed light on the activities of the presidents associates in Ukraine. President Donald Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Sept. 20, 2019. (Aram Roston/File Photo/Reuters) The documents paint a sordid picture of efforts by the presidents personal attorney, Mr. Rudy Giuliani, and his associate to remove a sitting U.S. Ambassador and pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky to announce an investigation of one of the presidents political rivals, he added. Schumer wants additional documents subpoenaed by the Senate as well as four witnesses, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said last week that he secured the votes necessary to start the trial without deciding whether to call witnesses, said on the floor that the inquiry into Trump isnt really about Ukraine policy or military assistance money. It cant be, because for one thing, prominent Democrats were promising to impeach President Trump years, years before those events even happened, McConnell said. The day this president was inaugurated, the Washington Post said the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun. That was the day he was inaugurated, in the Washington Post. More than two years ago Congressman Jerry Nadler was campaigning to be the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee specifically because he was an impeachment expert. And just a few weeks ago when a reporter asked Speaker Pelosi why the Democrats are in such a hurry, here was her response: Speed? Its been going on for 22 months, two and a half years actually. Now thats really interesting. He added: The speaker tried to say she was referring to the Mueller investigation, except the House couldnt impeach on the Mueller investigation because the facts let them down. Remember? The House impeached over events in Ukraine, events that happened only six months ago. But they still admit this was years in the making. It was not, Mr. President, some earnest fact-finding mission that brought us to where we are. This is not about the nuances of foreign assistance to eastern Europe. Army general, former deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia Manvel Grigoryans wife, Nazik Amiryan hasnt visited her husband since she isnt allowed to visit him. This is what she told reporters today, adding that she has a negative attitude towards the conduct of the prosecutors. We have come a long way together, and I assume that we have always seen what issues the defendants have raised and how the prosecutors have behaved. The prosecutors file motions to relieve themselves of unpredictable consequences, but they are guiding judges to make decisions. As reported earlier, on January 15, 2020, Nairi Medical Center sent a letter to the Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia regarding the health condition of former deputy of the National Assembly, army general Manvel Grigoryan. Taking into consideration the importance and urgency of the issue related to the accused-on-trials health condition, the first instance court has decided to convene a special session today. Those hitting the gym on account of their New Year's resolutions are likely reaping the benefits, including improved overall health and mood. However, gymgoers may also find that their skin is breaking out more than usual, putting a damper on that post-workout glow. According to dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology, working out can cause excessive sweating, as well as a buildup of oil, dirt and bacteria on your skin -; all of which can lead to acne. Despite this, people don't have to quit exercising in order to see clearer skin. The key, say dermatologists, is to maintain proper hygiene before, during and after your workouts. While exercise itself doesn't cause acne, the skin care habits you maintain around your workouts can significantly impact your skin. Since germs thrive at the gym, it's important to maintain good hygiene while working out to prevent clogged pores and the spread of harmful bacteria." Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, MD, FAAD, board-certified dermatologist To help prevent acne caused by working out, Dr. Houshmand recommends the following tips: Dress in clean, loose-fitting, moisture-wicking clothes that won't rub your skin. Clothing and accessories that are too tight, such as headbands, bra straps or spandex garments, can cause a type of acne that occurs at the spot of repeated friction. Remove any makeup before working out, as makeup can clog your pores. Use an oil-free makeup remover, towelette or micellar water to take makeup off your face. Before exercising outdoors, generously apply sunscreen on any skin not covered by clothing. Not only do the sun's harmful UV rays cause skin cancer and premature skin aging, unprotected exposure can also cause breakouts. This is because the sun dries out your skin, leading to more oil production. To help, apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. Look for formulas that are water resistant and labeled "oil free", "noncomedogenic" or "won't clog pores." During your workout, keep your skin dry. Use a clean towel to gently pat sweat off of your body, since rubbing your skin can cause acne to flare. Wipe off shared equipment. Shared workout equipment can be full of acne-causing bacteria and dirt. Most gyms supply a cleaning spray or towelettes to wipe off the equipment. Clean off the equipment before and after your workout as a courtesy to others. After your workout, shower immediately. Use warm -; not hot -; water to remove sweat, dirt and oil from your skin. Wash acne-prone skin with a mild cleanser that is labeled "oil free", "non-comedogenic" or "won't clog pores." However, if your skin tends to be oily and not dry, consider using a cleanser with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide instead. If you can't shower immediately, wash your hands, and wipe off your face using a pad that contains salicylic acid. In addition, take a spare t-shirt and change out of your sweaty clothing. After showering, change into clean clothes and wash the dirty clothes, which is full of sweat and pore-clogging culprits. Always wash your gym clothes between workouts. "Keep in mind that acne can have many causes, including genetics, hormones, stress and medications," says Dr. Houshmand. "If you still have acne after following these tips, talk to a board-certified dermatologist, as there may be a different cause." These tips are demonstrated in "How to Prevent Acne Caused By Your Workout," a video posted to the AAD website and YouTube channel. This video is part of the AAD's "Video of the Month" series, which offers tips people can use to properly care for their skin, hair and nails. Almost 300 Australian troops are stationed at an Iraqi military base targeted by at least two rockets on Wednesday morning. No casualties were reported in the attack on the Taji airbase, located 85 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds says no Australians were injured in the rocket attack. Credit:James Alcock Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said all Australian personnel were accounted for and safe, and no Australians were in the immediate vicinity of the attack. "We've had 300-plus Australians at Taji for several years working to train the Iraqi security forces in countering terrorism," Senator Reynolds told Perth radio station 6PR. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 18:45:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland will never give up on the young people in Taiwan, said a spokesperson on Wednesday. The mainland will continue to promote cross-Strait communication and carry out policies to enhance mutual understanding between the young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular briefing. "Guided by the conviction that we are all of the same family, the mainland has rolled out a series of policies to provide Taiwan compatriots, especially young people, with equal treatment and development opportunities on the mainland," Ma noted. These policies have proved effective as more and more young people in Taiwan have come to the mainland to study, work and start up businesses in recent years, he added. Ma made the remarks when asked about the mainland's future policy toward youth in Taiwan. A teenager has appeared in court accused of murdering one man and poisoning another and using their bank cards in a spending spree. Diana Cristea, 18, appeared in the dock at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, charged with the murder of Irish dancer Adrian Murphy, whose body was found in a block of flats in Battersea, in south London, on June 4, 2019. She also faces a charge of poisoning by administering a substance to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm, in a separate incident against a man in north London, on May 30 2019. The victim had been poisoned with scopolamine, a drug known colloquially as "the devil's breath" that can render people unconscious, and when the man returned home from hospital, he found a number of items were missing. Expand Close Adrian Murphy was found dead on June 4 Photo: Met Police / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Adrian Murphy was found dead on June 4 Photo: Met Police Romanian national Cristea, from Barnet, north London, also faces two counts of theft and two counts of fraud in relation to both victims, after their cards were used to purchase technology and other luxury items. After speaking only to confirm her name, date of birth, address, and nationality, Cristea was remanded in custody by chairman of the bench Richard Goold until her next hearing at the Old Bailey on January 17. A man remains in custody in relation to the same incidents. Joel Osei, 25, of no fixed abode, was previously arrested on October 24 last year and the following day was charged with two counts of poisoning, relating to both incidents, two counts of theft and six counts of fraud. He was charged with murder on December 5 and remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on February 17. Lightnet, the company behind the Velo Protocol, recently raised $31.2 million in a Series A round. The funding was led by major financial and business groups including UOB Venture Management, Seven Bank, Uni-President Asset Holdings, HashKey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, Du Capital and Hanwha Investment and Securities, according to a press release on Monday. UOB Venture Management is the investment arm of Singapore-based multinational United Overseas Bank, while Seven Bank is part of the group owning the 7-Eleven franchise in Japan. Further adding to the notable roster of backers, Uni-President is a major food conglomerate in Taiwan and Hanwa is a large business group in South Korea. Hashkey Capital is the investment arm of Chinas WanXiang Group. Related: Ripple Raises $200M in Series-C Round Led by Tetragon Bangkok-based Lightnet aims to apply its protocol, based on Stellars blockchain tech, to the global remittance market, which is estimated to be worth hundreds of billions annually. The firm is initially focusing on the Southeast Asian market, saying that it plans to disrupt an industry so far in the hands of slow and costly traditional financial institutions. Its vital that we build an ecosystem to provide Lightnet access to our partners vast user base and facilitate deeper penetration into local markets. We project that within three years, Lightnet will facilitate over $50 billion worth of annual transactions through our industry-leading partner network, Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Lightnets vice-chairman, said in the report. The firms chairman, Chatchaval Jiaravanon, is the son of Sumet Jiaravanon, executive chairman of Thailands biggest conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group. In 2018, he bought Fortune Magazine for $150 million. The chairman said earlier this month that Lightnet would grow, in part, due to planned acquisitions. He also told Bloomberg the firm is targeting more than $50 billion in transactions annually within three years. Story continues Related: Data Provider Messari Closes $4 Million Funding Round Lightnet is building several solutions, with the first expected to carry out its inaugural transaction this quarter. The firms CEO, Suvicha Sudchai, told Business Insider plans include adding up to 500,000 agents across Asia, as well as partnerships with remittance firms such as MoneyGram, Seven Bank, Yeahka and Ksher. Related Stories Such a Fun Age By Kiley Reid Putnam. $26. 310 pp. Reviewed by Bethanne Patrick Many novels about race in America take a toll on a reader. That doesnt mean readers shouldnt endure that toll, especially privileged white readers, but sometimes that endurance can become performative. One can imagine Alix Chamberlain, the wealthy white character in Kiley Reids debut novel Such a Fun Age, sitting down with Colson Whiteheads The Nickel Boys, for example, determined to understand. Alix is a blogger and influencer whose epistolary campaign titled LetHer Speak has landed her a book deal. On thick, textured stationery and with dreamy cursive handwriting, Alix asked nicely for the things she wanted, and it became a rare occurrence when she didnt receive them, the narrator explains. But, despite appearances, Alixs life is not entirely perfect. For starters, she hates living in Philadelphia. (Reid herself lives in the Fishtown section of the city.) Her family has moved there for husband Peters job as a TV newscaster, so Alix must find a way to make a life for herself and their two little girls, toddler Briar and baby Catherine. Her first step: finding a babysitter. READ MORE: Meet Kiley Reid, the Philly author whose novel "Such a Fun Age" is about to take over the world Enter Emira Tucker, currently experiencing a quarter-life crisis. A college graduate, African American Emira has a group of best friends who have begun their journeys toward career satisfaction and success. Meanwhile, Emira will soon lose access to her parents' health insurance and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. A part-time babysitting gig will at least help her pay the rent. "Sometimes, when she was particularly broke, Emira convinced herself that if she had a real job, a nine-to-five position with benefits and decent pay, then the rest of her life would start to resemble adulthood as well," Reid writes. "She'd do things like make her bed in the morning, and she'd learn to start liking coffee." From this simple premise Reid constructs a plot so beautifully intricate and real and fascinating that readers will forget its also full of tough questions about race, class, and identity. While Alix transfixes an auditorium of her peers with her decision to nurse her baby onstage, Emira has to cope with a security guard who accuses her of kidnapping Briar. The videotaped fallout from that incident will eventually ignite a powder keg that changes both womens lives. Toggling between the perspectives of Emira and Alix is like marrying two very different novels, yet Reid seamlessly pulls off the union. Meanwhile, she consistently challenges readers expectations. Emira and Alix, along with their friends (theres a particularly well-drawn star turn by Peters slightly tacky but supremely kind coanchor) must live with the results of their actions. For Alix, that means facing past misdeeds, but it also means facing the future consequences of her parenting choices. Emira does not function as some kind of tool to point Alix toward a path of racial equality. Instead, Emira has her own evolving existential issues that she weathers while bearing witness to the deeper, scarier side of her employers need for child care one that challenges notions about why we hire others to serve us. With this entertaining novel, Reid subverts our notions of what it means to write about race and class in America, not to mention what it means to write about love. In short, it's a great way to kick off 2020. Patrick is the editor, most recently, of The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People. She wrote this review for the Washington Post. Former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke has fielded a lot of questions about his plans since dropping out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination some of them posed by himself. What am I doing next in life? Im knocking on Aylenes door. Thats what Im doing next, he said Saturday, when I caught up with him in a pleasant suburban subdivision in northwest Fort Bend County. It was a beautiful afternoon and ORourke was in high spirits, enthusing about the commitment of the volunteers who had responded to his call for action last weekend, as well as the diversity of the district they were exploring. Its the story we tell ourselves about America, but actually Houston lives it! the El Pasoan said. The aforementioned Aylene wasnt home, so ORourke wrote her a note on a flier for Democrat Eliz Markowitz, who faces Republican Gary Gates in a Jan. 28 special election runoff for a Texas House seat. Then he turned his attention to his next project: a 98-year-old voter named Myrtle. It was ORourkes second visit to the district since leaving the presidential race, and the first since he formally launched his new Powered by People initiative, a political action committee that seeks to organize grassroots volunteers from across the state to focus on the most important races in Texas. The special election in House District 28 formerly represented by Republican John Zerwas, who retired in August qualifies because Democrats hope to retake the Texas House in this years general election, which would require winning nine seats in addition to holding the 12 they picked up in the 2018 midterm election. For Markowitz to win, or come close, would be an early indicator of the Democrats prospects. On January 28th, well understand the landscape a little bit better heading into November, said Odus Evbagharu, her campaign manager. Republicans are confident about their prospects. In an interview, Gates suggested that the Democrats focus on the race may even have proved counterproductive. They probably bit off maybe a bit more than what they should have, he said. People understand whats at stake. Gates said he had begun block-walking in August, figuring that the effort would distinguish him from his fellow Republican candidates, none of whom would be eager to spend hours a day in the Texas heat humbling themselves before the electorate. As of Monday, he said, he had knocked on 16,650 doors himself. Markowitz is a clear underdog, if only because the district was drawn to favor Republicans. The Democrat, an educator by background, finished in first place in the special election itself, winning 39 percent of the vote to 28 percent for Gates. But, put differently, Republicans won 61 percent of the votes cast in November. Gates was one of six GOP candidates on the ballot, whereas Markowitz was the only Democrat. In 2018, Republican Ted Cruz carried the district by just 3 points but Zerwas was re-elected by 8 points. Two years earlier, Republican Donald Trump carried House District 28 by 10 points. I could be made to look like a fool for saying this, but its really not a good district for Democrats, said Craig Murphy, a Republican consultant who is working for Gates. Historical trends, Murphy argued, favor Republicans both in the special election and in the 2020 general election. The 2018 midterm election saw a blue wave in Texas, in his view, as a result of the same pendulum effect that helped Republicans pick up 22 seats in the Texas House in 2010, two years into Barack Obamas presidency. In a presidential re-election year, Murphy expects the pendulum to swing back a bit. You cant beat the trends of history unless you have done something new, and this is the same old stuff that theyre doing, Murphy said, referring to Democrats. To me, it just looks like Battleground Texas all over again, he added, referring to the 2014 push led by national progressives to turn Texas blue, which worked out poorly for Texas Democrats. Democrats have a different take. They say the Texas GOp is unraveling in full view of the general public, just as the state electorate is coming to life, thanks in large part to ORourkes strong showing in his 2018 campaign to unseat Cruz. Democratic voters in Fort Bend County say they are energized by Gov. Greg Abbotts decision to opt out of the refugee resettlement program. The No. 1 issue that came up this past weekend was the dysfunction and lack of humanity that the current administration is showing, Markowitz told me. Abbotts or Trumps? I asked. Both, she said. Although ORourke fell short of overtaking Cruz in a 2018 campaign that galvanized many Democrats, it helped Democrats sweep Fort Bends countywide races, leaving behind a robust volunteer network. Im one of the millions that he got up off the couch, said Dan Kouder, an automation engineer whose Katy home served as Powered by Peoples pop-up home base this weekend. It was an amazing thing to come out of the shadows, to understand that were not alone, he continued. And not only are we out of the shadows, but now we know we can win. ORourkes efforts may not be sufficient, in this Republican-leaning district. But his presence in Fort Bend County this past weekend was a shot in the arm for Democrats, and a reminder to Republicans that in the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, theyll have to put in the work to win. erica.grieder@chron.com Kristen Doute called herself 'single' and 'ready to mingle' on Tuesday's episode of Watch What Happens Live as she confirmed that she and ex Brian Carter were done. The Vanderpump Rules star, 36, admitted their relationship took a toll on her friendship with pal Stassi Schroeder, 31, saying the two of them weren't speaking much. Kristen was in the Bravo clubhouse promoting Vanderpump Rules and her upcoming book, He's Making You Crazy: How to Get the Guy, Get Even And Get Over It due out in June. Single lady: Kristen Doute confirmed her relationship status Tuesday on Watch What Happens Live and said she's 'single' and 'ready to mingle' When host Andy Cohen, 51, asked whether she had ever been Carter's 'sugar mama,' as her friends alleged, Kristin replied: 'I was helping him out a lot when we were together.' She then added: 'We are definitely not together now. [I'm] single. Ready to mingle.' Kristen's relationship with Carter caused enormous consternation among her castmates on Vanderpump Rules, and they spent a lot of time trying to get her away from him. Her friend Jax Taylor, 40, called Carter 'manipulative,' and all of her girlfriends urged Kristen to kick Carter out of the apartment they shared. Reality star: The 36-year-old reality star was promoting Vanderpump Rules and her upcoming book, He's Making You Crazy: How to Get the Guy, Get Even And Get Over It Jax on Tuesday's episode of Vanderpump Rules asked Carter to leave Kristen alone and it was something that Kristen only appreciated months later. 'When I watch that scene, I was like, ''Oh my God, Jax! Jax, you had my back and you were right'',' she marveled. Kristen parted ways with Carter after moving into a 1939 'fixer-upper' in the Valley Village area of Los Angeles and she seemed thrilled to be on her own. Sticking up: Jax Taylor on Tuesday's episode of Vanderpump Rules asked her ex Brian Carter to leave Kristen alone and it was something that she only appreciated months later In a viewer poll, at least 95 percent of the WWHL audience felt Carter was manipulative, while 99 percent thought Kristen would be better off leaving him for good. 'We were just here last time,' pointed out S.E. Cupp, 40, the CNN host and Bravo superfan who has shared two WWHL appearances with Kristen. 'She said the same thing.' Stassi tried to help Kristen throughout her struggles with Carter, but she privately admitted that she thought they were growing apart. Bravo clubhouse: Andy Cohen welcomed Kristen and S.E. Cupp into the Bravo clubhouse On WWHL, Kristen said that she and Stassi 'exchange pleasantries' when they see each other, and text to offer their congratulations when needed, though 'not very often.;' 'She's made it clear that she'll figure out if she wants to invite me [to her wedding] or not as the year moves on, so we'll see,' Kristen shared, referring to Stassi's upcoming Rome nuptials. 'Yeah, it's weird,' she acknowledged, after Andy empathized. 'I introduced her to [her fiancee] Beau, so it's like, a little weird.' Growing apart: Kristen revealed that she and Stassi Schroeder, who tried to help her with her struggles over Carter, have been growing apart Andy asked Kristen which member of the cast was most protected by Vanderpump Rules figurehead Lisa Vanderpump, 59, and she said, 'Stassi,' followed by 'Lala Kent,' 30. Lala and her boyfriend Randall Emmett, a 48-year-old film producer, are 'the most gorgeous couple ever,' she gushed. To help Kristen herself start to date again, Andy debuted Dating With Doute, a game in which he named other Bravo stars and asked her whether she might be interested. New game: Andy to help Kristen start dating again debuted a Dating With Doute game involving other Bravo reality stars Kristen immediately vetoed Southern Charm's Shep Rose, 40; Frankie Catania, Jr., 21, from The Real Housewives Of New Jersey; Carl Radke, 33, from Summer House; and Mike Shouhed, 39, from Shahs of Sunset. She intimated, however, that she had hooked up with someone from Southern Charm, coyly saying 'Maybe' when Andy asked if it was pillow designer Craig Conover, 30. Asked by a caller to list her ex-boyfriends from most favorite to least favorite, Kristen said the list would start with Carter, followed by castmates Tom Sandoval, 36, and James Kennedy, 27. Boyfriends ranking: Asked by a caller to list her ex-boyfriends from most favorite to least favorite, Kristen said the list would start with Carter, followed by castmates Tom Sandoval, 36, and James Kennedy, 27 She had no interest in getting back together with James, and wasn't a fan of new castmate Brett Cipriani, who insulted her pal Scheana Shay, 34. S.E. was then asked which world leader she thought would make the best Housewife, and she cracked, 'Meghan Markle's looking for a job.' Callers also wanted to know how her 'best friend' Meghan McCain, 35, was doing on The View, and whether she was in a feud with fellow co-host Abby Huntsman, 33. TV host: S.E. was asked which world leader she thought would make the best Housewife, and she cracked, 'Meghan Markle's looking for a job' Huntsman quit The View on Monday, reportedly due to 'a toxic work environment' amid feuding with McCain. 'She's sad Abby's leaving, wishes her the best,' S.E. said of Meghan. 'Abby is leaving to join her dad's campaign in Utah for governor. Meghan, as someone who was real close with her dad, totally understands, more than anyone, this desire, so she wishes her nothing but the best.' S.E. admitted that she was a listening ear for Meghan when things didn't go well on The View, saying, 'We talk a lot.' She refused, however, to say whether she would ever consider joining The View herself. A top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, involved in four killings and two weapon snatching incidents besides making attempts to revive militancy in Chenab valley region , was killed in Doda district on Wednesday, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir police Dilbag Singh said. "The first 15 days of January were very eventful during which three good operations were conducted (against terrorists) in Kashmir and another in Doda district of Jammu region where a dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Haroon Abbass Wani was killed this morning," Singh told reporters here. The encounter between the ultras and a joint team of Army and police personnel took place in the Gondana belt, Public Relations Officer, Defence , Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand said. Wani , a resident of Gattah belt of Doda, along with Osama was involved in the sensational killing of a BJP leader and his brother in November 2018 and RSS functionary and his PSO in January last year besides two weapon snatching incidents in Kishtwar district in 2019, the police chief said. "After the killing of Osama along with two of his associates in an encounter in Batote area of Ramban district last year, he was trying to revive terrorist activities in Chenab valley region . His killing is a major setback to the terrorism revival plan in the region," the DGP said. He said after the killing of Osama, Wani became very active. "We got information about his presence along with his other associate, hailing from Kashmir. The operation to track down the other militant is continuing," he said. The DGP further said terrorists are running short of weapons and the weapon snatching was carried out to arm new recruits. "We have recently arrested one more terrorist, Tariq who had bought a . 303 rifle for Rs 1.5 lakh," he said. The DGP lauded Doda Police for the successful operation and said some more terrorists were under the radar of the police. "I am hopeful that our operation parties will be able to neutralise them soon," he said. In anti-terror operations in Kashmir over the last fortnight, he said Hamad Khan of Hizbul Mujahideen was killed along with two of his associates in Tral area of Pulwama district, while another hardcore militant who had escaped following an encounter in Ganderbal district was arrested from a hideout in Srinagar where he had moved for treatment. Another listed Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Adil, was killed in an encounter in Budgam district, while two other hardcore militants including Naveed Baba was arrested in Kulgam district since the beginning of this month, he said. Earlier, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban Range, Sujit Kumar, said Wani was an 'A++' category terrorist and an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 73 rounds, a Chinese grenade and a radio set were recovered from him. He said another terrorist fled towards higher snowbound areas and operations are on to track him. Doda Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mumtaz Ahmed said after launching a search operation on Tuesday night, joint teams of security forces succeeded in killing the wanted terrorist at 8 am on Wednesday. Haroon was the active district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, he said. Son of Ghulam Abbas Wani, an engineer and a resident of Furqaan Abad Ghat area of Doda, Haroon first came into the limelight after a photo of him holding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social media in September 2018 when he joined the banned terror outfit, officials said. Haroon was one of the eight children of Ghulam Abbas Wani -- five sons and three daughters -- all of whom are highly qualified, they said. Before joining Hizbul Mujahideen, he completed his MBA from the Katra University and was working in a private company, they added. According to his relatives, he was a brilliant student. Oil prices slipped on Wednesday on concerns that the pending Phase 1 trade deal between the United States and China, the world's biggest crude users, may not lead to more fuel demand as the U.S. intends to keep tariffs on Chinese goods in place. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late on Tuesday that the tariffs would remain even as a trade deal is set to be signed on Wednesday. That could temper China's oil demand growth by limiting its access to its second-largest trading partner. Chinese demand has been the main driver of global fuel consumption growth. Concerns about increasing supply also pressured prices after a government report on Tuesday said that output from the U.S., currently the world's largest producer, will increase in 2020 by more than previously forecast. Additionally an industry report late on Tuesday said U.S. crude inventories increased last week. Brent crude was down 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $64.28 per barrel by 0206 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 23 cents, or 0.4%, at $58.00 a barrel. "Investors are incredibly concerned about the well documented non-OPEC supplies coming to market in 2020, and those worries came to the fore as oil prices headed lower after a bearish to consensus inventory build was reported," Stephen Innes, chiefA Asia market strategist at AxiTrader said in a note. U.S. President Donald Trump is slated to sign the Phase 1 agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Wednesday. That agreement is expected to include provisions for China to buy up to $50 billion more in U.S. energy supplies. However, the Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said in a television interview that the U.S. will keep the tariffs until the completion of a second phase of the agreement. U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed, countering expectations for a draw. Gasoline and distillate inventories also climbed. U.S. oil production is expected to rise to a record of 13.30 million barrels per day in 2020 mainly driven by higher output in the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. Cancun police arrest four on homicide charges Cancun, Q.R. Four male subjects were arrested by Quintana Roo Police for their alleged involvement in crime of homicide. The arrests were made by patrolling surveillance police after they reported witnessing a black vehicle circulating slowly toward a lone male standing on a sidewalk in a residential area in Region 75 of Cancun. Watching the vehicle, police saw two men descend toward the man from the vehicle carrying a firearm. The pair then shot him before attempting to flee. Police began to pursue the black vehicle and its four occupants, finally making their arrests in SM 235. Arrested for attempted homicide were 32-year-old Adrian N, 21-year-old Gustavo N, 18-year-old Jorge N and 20-year-old Francisco N, along with a firearm and ammunition. The male shooting victim died at the scene. UK airline Flybe has secured a promise from the government to review air passenger dutya tax paid on each flight taking off from the UKprompting shareholders to pledge more investment in the company. The deal allows the airline to defer the payment of a 106 million tax bill. Flybe, Europes largest regional airline, had been facing collapse, threatening the jobs of its 2,400 employees and potentially more in regional airports highly dependent on its 8.5 million passengers annually. The loss of the airlines UK domestic connections would have a negative effect across the whole economy, especially outside the capital, London. While a crisis has been averted for now, the carrier remains in a fragile position. A Flybe aircraft (Source: Wikipedia) Emergency discussions with the government followed a decade of deep financial trouble for Flybe, which has suffered under the pressure of intensifying competition in the airline industry. Publicly floated for 215 million in December 2010, Flybe was sold to Connect Airwaysa joint venture between Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and hedge fund Cyrus Capital for just 2.2 million in January 2019. Peter Morris, an aviation economist with FlightGlobal, told the BBC in 2017 that Flybe was sandwiched between the business model of budget airlines such as Ryanair, and network carriers like British Airways that use short-haul flights to connect with long-haul services. For example, it might fly from Southampton to Amsterdam, but its not a major trunk route, so it doesnt have enough corporate flyers. But if it gets to a critical mass, then low cost airlines will join in and fly those routes at lower costs, Morris said. If you are successful, either group will come after you. The company was also sharply affected by the 2008-2009 recession, which had a disproportionate effect on the UKs regional economies, where most of the carriers business is located. Domestic air traffic fell 20 percent between 2007 and 2017. Flybe reported losses of 41.1 million in 2012-2013 and began a 65 million savings agenda in 2013. After a brief period of profitability in 2013-2014, the companys shares slumped 23 percent in January 2015 on the announcement it would only just break even that year. A drop in passenger revenue and the drain of maintaining surplus aircraftnine extra Embraer jets, at a cost of 26 millionwere cited as the main causes. The situation worsened dramatically from 2017. Between then and now, nine European airlines have gone out of business. Attempts by major European carriers to dominate the market led to a price war, which crashed fellow UK airline Monarch in 2017, making 1,900 workers redundant. Flybe announced a full-year pre-tax loss of 19.9 million in June 2017. Shares fell another 20 percent in October when first-half profits were reported to be some 5 million to 10 million less than expected, already a decline on the previous years total. Flybe made a loss of 20 million in the year 2017-2018. When it was reported in October 2018 that losses were expected to worsen in 2018-2019, Flybes shares fell 40 percent and the company was put up for sale. The falling value of the poundfuel and aircraft leases are paid for in dollarsa 39 percent increase in fuel prices over a year ago and continuing problems of excess capacity all contributed. Connect Airways acquired the company in January 2019 with plans to inject 100 million into the airline. However, serious problems have gone unaddressed. The delay to a planned rebranding of Flybe as Virgin Connect, the extension of the companys accounting period and its recent reports of slow winter trading were enough to spook credit card companies, which gated customer payments to the airline, causing a massive cash flow problem. Flybes long-term decline has been accompanied by a massive attack on its workforce, facilitated by the trade unions. The company shed 1,100 jobs in 2013-2014 as part of an attempted turnaround. Last summer, jet bases were closed at Cardiff and Doncaster, with the loss of 60 jobs in Cardiff, and jet flights ended from Norwich and Exeter airports. Many staff handed in their notices ahead of the closures. In 2013, Unite and the British Airlines Pilots Association (Balpa) unions worked merely to to avoid compulsory redundancies. Balpas then general secretary, Jim McAuslan, admitted in 2014, Pilots have made huge sacrifices to help Flybe turn a corner. Over the last four days, Unite has appealed to Boris Johnsons pro-business Conservative government to demonstrate that it has learned the lessons from the collapse of Monarch, which it failed to apply during the collapse of Thomas Cook calling on the company and government to stop hiding and talk to us. The Prospect union tried to seek immediate talks with the company to clarify the situation. Balpa has uncritically welcomed the deal. A Flybe collapse would have far-reaching consequences beyond the redundancy of Flybes 2,400 employees. The airline plays a central role in domestic air travel and linking the UKs regional cities to the continent. Two out of every five UK domestic flights are run by Flybemore than half of internal flights outside London. At Southampton airport 95 percent of seat capacity is taken up by Flybe, 74 percent at Newquay airport, 79.5 percent at Belfast City airport, 78 percent at Exeter airport, 51 percent at Cardiff, 39.6 percent at Humberside, 36.2 percent at Aberdeen and 20.7 percent at Birmingham, while 100 percent of flights from Anglesey airport are run by the company. The airline transports 17,000 patients a year from the Isle of Man to Liverpool for hospital treatment. These connections would likely be permanently damaged by the companys collapse. Mark Simpson, an aviation analyst at Goodbody Investment, told the Financial Times that other carriers would be unlikely to seek Flybes slots at regional hubs in the event they were up for sale. John Strickland, an aviation consultant, told the newspaper that Flybes collapse would have a significant impact in certain communities. He added, At a market level, it doesnt look like very much. But if you look at the regions [Flybe serves], its dramatic. Flybe is a case study in the anarchy of capitalist production and its social consequences. Profit-seeking competition between private corporations throws thousands of workers out of productive employment and tends to the destruction of vital but relatively unprofitable services like Flybes regional connections. Where the government decides a service must be maintained, it provides public subsidiesas it does for Flybes Newquay-London routeor tax cuts and deferrals, allowing wealthy shareholders to profit. Richard Bransons Virgin has form when it comes to this practice. If the governments review orders cuts to air passenger duty, an industry-wide bonanza will follow with grave climate implications. The close interconnection of the economy and society by air travel is a progressive process but is beset with problems produced by capitalism. Billions must be expropriated from the bank accounts of competing CEOs and their shareholders, and poured into research and implementation of new, green flight technologies, and the coordinated provision of a comprehensive and fully staffed transport system. The only social force capable of achieving this transformation is the international working class. The past year has seen a groundswell of strikes and protests by airline workers across Europe and internationally. These actions demonstrate the absolute necessity for a break with the bankrupt, nationally based trade unions and a turn to an international socialist perspectiveto fight for the ownership and management of humanitys immense technological resources by the working class for public good, not private profit. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan considered a candidate's statement in connection with the parliamentary elections, Trend reports with reference to CEC. Rauf Abbasov, whose candidacy was not registered by the Khatai constituency No. 35, appealed to CEC. In his statement, Abbasov noted that the district election commission (DEC) turned down his candidacy without any grounds. During the investigation, the CEC expert group found that the decision of the DEC did not really indicate the reasons for the refusal. Thus, CEC overturned the decision of the DEC to reject Rauf Abbasov's registration as a candidate for the parliament. The CEC members proposed to take the activities of constituency No. 35 under special control. Early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled to be held on Feb. 9, 2020. If you are experiencing professional and personal burnout, new research suggests you could be at a higher risk for a potentially fatal heart flutter. Atrial fibrillation, also called AFib or AF, is the most common heart rhythm disorder that affects more than 33 million people worldwide (including at least 2.7 million Americans). The American Institute of Stress said that 80% of American workers say they feel stress on the job. More than work, burnout is caused by the 24-hour news cycle; the constant connection to social media and a race to be the best at what you do both at home and work. A study on burnout published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology by the University of Southern California used data from 11,445 people who were participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study that were examined between 1990 and 1992. Burnout is caused by prolonged and profound stress at work or home, said study author Parveen Garg, M.D. Garg added that burnout differs from depression, which is characterized by low mood, guilt, and poor self-esteem. According to Garg, "The results of our study further established the harm that can be caused in people who suffer from exhaustion that goes unchecked." Researchers categorized the exhaustion of participants into one of three categories: experiencing "vegetative" depressive symptoms like fatigue, "non-vegetative" symptoms like crying, and functional depressive symptoms like coping and being productive. Twenty-three years later, they found that 2,200 people, or 19.4% of their participants, had developed heart irregularities. Thus, burnout may cause damage to the heart that can lead to a potentially deadly irregular heart rhythm. They found that participants with the highest levels of vital exhaustion were at a 20% greater risk of developing atrial fibrillation, compared to those with little to no evidence of vital exhaustion. The study noted that further research is needed to better understand the findings and to identify how patients can be helped. Burnout or vital exhaustion leaves sufferers feeling excessively tired, devoid of energy, demoralized, and irritable. According to the Mayo Clinic, AFib can increase your risk of strokes, heart failure, and other heart-related complications. It is surmised that 10 million people in the US will have atrial fibrillation by next year, increasing their risk for heart attack, stroke, and death. Those with AFib suffer chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue but for others, AFib is symptomless, a potentially silent killer. Findings have been mixed because some studies have shown a link between atrial fibrillation and anger or post-traumatic stress syndrome. Other studies suggest depression and other psychosocial impacts are a result of having the condition, rather than a cause of AFib. Aside from an irregular heartbeat, AFib can cause symptoms such as chest pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and fatigue. What causes atrial fibrillation is not yet fully understood. Thus, the specific association between vital exhaustion and atrial fibrillation had not been evaluated. Burnout has been duly recognized as a legit medical condition by the World Health Organization. RELATED ARTICLE: Survey Finds That Over Half Of Physicians Are Burned Out, Which Could Lead To Medical Errors It seems maggots are not the only creatures with a taste for human flesh cats also enjoy dining on the dead. While studying how human bodies decompose, researchers observed two feral felines feasting on the corpses left outside Colorado Mesa University's Forensic Investigation Research Station for nearly 35 days straight. Although the pair had a buffet of more than 40 different bodies to choose from, they returned to the same body each night - one was a 70-year-old man and the other a 79-year-old woman. Researchers found the cats preferred soft tissue, especially in the shoulder and arm, However, the team noted that these patterns are more like a bobcat scavenging for food rather than that of domestic cats. Scroll down for video While studying how human bodies decompose, researcher observed two felines feasting on the corpses left outside Colorado Mesa University's Forensic Investigation Research Station for nearly 35 days straight (file image) The Colorado Mesa University's Forensic Investigation Research Station is a facility known as a 'body farm' that uses donated corpses for research and teaching. Scientists and students document what happens to rotting human remains in order to help law enforcement, coroners and medical examiners determine 'what is natural that happens to a body and what is not natural,' said Melissa Connor, a forensic anthropology professor who is director of the station, The Washington Post reported. The team was learning about how human bodies decompose, which they placed outside of the 'body farm', then documented and photographed what they observed. However, they spotted two feral cats wandering into the area savaging for food. The cats did not travel together. The study reports that a 'striped cat' breached security and was observed consuming a body that belonged to a 79-year old woman. The team placed the body under a cage so not to disturb their own study, which kept the cat away until the cage was taken off the striped animal returned shortly after to munch on the body. Researchers found the cats preferred soft tissue of the shoulder and arm, differential consumption of tissue layers and superficial defects. However, team noted that these patterns are more like a bobcat scavenging for food rather than that of domestic cats (file image) A second cat, which was all-black, came trotting along shortly after, but scientists let him have a go until he had his fill. This feline chose the remains of a 70-year-old man that was outside the facility for almost a week. Researchers found it had a taste for the left side of the body, preferring the arm and abdomen. Experts found that although the cats had a buffet of more than 40 bodies from which to choose, each one returned to the corpse it had selected again and again. And the two also showed a preference to soft tissue that had previously been damaged. 'The main theory is that cats are, like, picky eaters. Once they find a food that they like, they'll stick with it,' said Garcia, the lead author on the paper, which was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. The claw marks left behind on the bodies are deemed to be 'scientifically valuable' because this activity is rarely documented but they are not rare themselves. 'Any coroner or medical examiner will tell you of cases where a body was shut up with a pet that scavenged the owner eventually,' Connor said. A cat behavior researcher at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Mikel Delgado, was not also surprised by this behavior. She wrote in her blog about a time when she was working at an animal shelter and 'a cat that came in when her owner had died, and the report said that she'd eaten the person's nose,' said Delgado, who wrote on her blog about the Colorado scavenging. 'It's not a behavior problem. It's just a fact of life.' The Drive, Tuesday, January 14, 2020 6:43 PM Subaru of America has apologized to its dealers for an accidental F-Bomb that the automaker literally laid across the stage at the Singapore Motor Show: the new Subaru Forester Ultimate Customized Kit Special edition in all its acronymic glory, reports The Drive, which acquired the sheepish apology note that the automaker sent to dealers. The letter calls the whole thing an unfortunate situation and pins blame on the company's local distributor in Singapore, who apparently created the special model for the auto show, per The Drive. Read the whole story at The Drive From serious-faced testimony in an almost-overflowing meeting room to half-joking groans in the hallways of the state Capitol, lawmakers this week are weighing in on the idea of moving to annual legislative sessions. Montana is one of just four states where lawmakers gather every other year for a 90-day session. A bill passed in the 2019 session called for a study of the idea of moving to 45-day annual sessions, one focused on the budget and another on policy. A series of trainings, educational seminars and interim committee meetings scheduled this week, which has been dubbed Legislative Week, are meant to give lawmakers a chance to try on what annual sessions would feel like. A public comment session Tuesday morning let legislators and the public weigh in on the idea. A shift would be a huge change for Montana. Biennial sessions have has been tradition since statehood, but the 1972 Constitutional Convention brought about 60-day annual sessions. That was short-lived, however, as voters passed a constitutional initiative to return to the 90-day biennial sessions in November of 1974. Those who support the idea of annual sessions include state Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, who was majority leader in the Senate in 2019 and is a longtime legislator. The thought that you need 90 days to run the Montana state Legislature by a calendar to get our job done is past, Thomas said Monday, saying technology has sped up the process significantly from the days of using typewriters to draft bills. Though Thomas was one of the people to bang the drum in support of term limits when they passed by state constitutional initiative in 1992, he said those limits have reduced the institutional knowledge in the Legislature. Annual sessions would be a way to gain some of that back, he said. State Sen. Dee Brown, a Republican from Hungry Horse, added that one session dedicated to the budget would enable more lawmakers to be involved in that process. I think as a policy person for all these years, I never had my fingers on the budget. And I think everything is in tandem. We cant do policy issues without the money, Brown said. State Sen. Jill Cohenour, a Democrat from East Helena, said it's a bad idea to move to annual sessions, but agreed that lawmakers would benefit from better training and more cross-pollination between those who work on the budget and those who focus on policy. I think we as a Legislature can do a better job of integrating those, Cohenour said, citing Legislative Week as an example when the two sections can better learn what each other does. Cohenour also endorsed a robust interim process. Lawmakers who serve on interim committees meet between sessions to study issues and draft recommended legislation. Several of those who testified Tuesday said they believed the interim process was less partisan than the regular session and drove a lot of tangible outcomes because of that. Sen. Diane Sands, a Democrat from Missoula, advocated for examining other ways of helping lawmakers better understand their jobs, such as providing more training. She also suggested not starting the session in early January, just weeks after lawmakers are elected and a time that can overlap a new governors administration getting their footing. I think that a delayed session might work really well, Sands said. We all know our first couple weeks of the session, we don't get a heck of a lot done. Why not use that time to do real training and orientation? State Rep Denley Loge, a Republican from St. Regis, agreed. The start of the session is where I see the inefficiencies, Loge said. We come in here and we spin our wheels for about a week. Other lawmakers questioned whether annual or every-other-year sessions would be more conducive to getting younger people in the Legislature. They also debated which would be better for people who need to step away from jobs during the session. The Legislative Council, a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers, has been tasked with issuing a recommendation on the issue of annual sessions by this November. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BJP leader and former Delhi minister Raj Kumar Chauhan on Wednesday met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi amid speculations that he might go back to the party which he had left during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said Chauhan met Gandhi along with him and will join the party soon. Chauhan, who is currently in the BJP, was unavailable for comments on the developments. Another senior party leader, on the condition of anonymity, said Chahuan met the Congress president after receiving a phone call from her office. "He will soon join the Congress. He was asked by senior party leaders to sink his differences of the past and come back home," the senior Congress leader said. "He has communicated to the party leadership that his name should not be considered for a party ticket in assembly elections in February," he added. Chauhan is also a co-convener of BJP's committee for drafting party manifesto for the Delhi polls. He had left the Congress just a day before voting began for the Lok Sabha polls in May 2019, after being denied a party ticket to contest the elections from North West(reserved) constituency. Chauhan, a former four-time MLA and minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, was likely to be fielded by the BJP from Mongolpuri constituency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Blue Prism's Award-Winning Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Software Available in New Flexible Consumption Models LONDON and AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on a foundation of enabling greater choice, security and scalability, Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM) today announced the availability of three new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions that augment its Digital Workforce powered by the company's connected-RPA Platform. These new SaaS solutions leverage IP acquired with Thoughtonomy (now branded Blue Prism Cloud) and allow enterprises to access the industry's most advanced intelligent automation capabilities. Blue Prism now gives customers access to end-to-end automation solutions that cover all IT environments - on-premise, cloud, hybrid and SaaS - an industry first. "Our SaaS customers have long enjoyed the benefit of AI technologies that increase utilization while simplifying management of an intelligent digital workforce, in addition to facilitating closer collaboration between human and digital workers," says Terry Walby, CEO of Blue Prism Cloud. "Now, we've opened up these capabilities to our entire community of Blue Prism users so that they can accelerate their digital transformation whether they are running automation environments on-premise or from the cloud." The new SaaS offerings underpin Blue Prism's connected-RPA strategy to provide a Digital Workforce for every Enterprise built with the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of automation solutions. In line with this strategy, these latest capabilities are being made available directly from Blue Prism's Digital Exchange (DX) and through partners. Each one addresses key needs for enterprises looking to maximize value from their investment: Blue Prism Cloud Hub - is a digital workforce management control center that allows users to manage the full automation lifecycle of their entire digital workforce. This business-friendly interface, simplifies management and provides a comprehensive dashboard for reporting. Large enterprise teams spread across multiple geographies can customize the interface to their own language and to cover management of their own area of responsibility. - is a digital workforce management control center that allows users to manage the full automation lifecycle of their entire digital workforce. This business-friendly interface, simplifies management and provides a comprehensive dashboard for reporting. Large enterprise teams spread across multiple geographies can customize the interface to their own language and to cover management of their own area of responsibility. Users of Blue Prism Cloud Hub will also have access to Wireframer , a powerful process automation design tool that autonomously builds out the core process structure, ensuring that the appropriate controls are in place for everything from application interaction through to exception handling. will also have access to , a powerful process automation design tool that autonomously builds out the core process structure, ensuring that the appropriate controls are in place for everything from application interaction through to exception handling. Blue Prism Cloud Interact - is a web interface for digital worker and human collaboration. Accessible via a browser on any computer or mobile device, the customizable Interact web interface, empowers organizations to broader the addressable use cases for automation from front to back office. Designed to address any process which requires manual initiation (attended automation), or intervention (human-in-the-loop). Business users leverage simple, ready to use templates in order to create new dynamic web forms that create flexible automations addressing a wide range of use cases. - is a web interface for digital worker and human collaboration. Accessible via a browser on any computer or mobile device, the customizable Interact web interface, empowers organizations to broader the addressable use cases for automation from front to back office. Designed to address any process which requires manual initiation (attended automation), or intervention (human-in-the-loop). Business users leverage simple, ready to use templates in order to create new dynamic web forms that create flexible automations addressing a wide range of use cases. Blue Prism Cloud IADA - is an AI-enabled digital workforce supervisor that automatically orchestrates the activities of your digital workers in order to maximize their productivity and increase return on investment. Focusing on the business SLA requirements of every automation, the real-time fluctuations in business volumes and knowledge of the organization's IT environment, IADA optimizes performance. "This is the update the industry has been waiting for," according to Elena Christopher, Senior Vice President at HFS Research. "Blue Prism has essentially taken some of the strongest elements of its Thoughtonomy acquisition and rebranded and packaged as new fully integrated offerings available on the DX. These offerings are in strong alignment with HFS' latest research with 260 power users of RPA; better dashboards and analytics and enhanced AI capabilities topped this list as the most pervasive customer needs. The support for attended and human in the loop automation is also of note given Blue Prism's strength in unattended. We'll stay tuned for results." About Blue Prism As the pioneer in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Blue Prism has emerged as the trusted and secure Intelligent Automation choice for the Fortune 500 and public-sector market. Now, Blue Prism brings you the enterprise-grade connected-RPA Platform-supported by our Digital Exchange (DX) app store-to join operational leaders with accessible, advanced cognitive technologies and a community of experts, researchers and providers. Comprised of interoperable intelligent Digital Workers, capable of multi-tasking, swarming to tasks as needed, working in teams, identifying and recovering from failures, and carrying out business process automations at all levels, the connected-RPA platform is system- and application-agnostic and makes use of artificial intelligence (AI), including enhanced access to third-party AI technologies from the DX. Available on-premises, in the cloud, hybrid, or as an integrated SaaS solution, Blue Prism's connected-RPA can automate and perform mission-critical processes with ease, while delivering unprecedented security, accuracy, productivity, and accelerated innovation, allowing your people the freedom to focus on more creative and meaningful work. More than 1,500 global enterprise customers leverage Blue Prism's Digital Workforce, empowering their people to automate billions of transactions while returning hundreds of millions of hours of work back to the business. Visit www.blueprism.com to learn more about Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM). Follow Blue Prism on Twitter @blue_prism and on LinkedIn. 2019 Blue Prism Limited. "Blue Prism", "Thoughtonomy", the "Blue Prism" logo and Prism device are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Blue Prism Limited and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/663826/Blue_Prism_Logo.jpg Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) ("the Company"), developer of sustainable products and a full-service environmental engineering company for an interview. President & CEO of the Company, Dennis P. Calvert, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Jolly began by noting that the Company recently added a new member to their sales and marketing team, Tonya Chandler. "Tonya is a 20-year veteran of the water and wastewater industry," shared Calvert. "She brings a wealth of talent and experience in developing real-life solutions in the field," he added. "It's really a great fit." Jolly then commented on the Company's success throughout 2019 and asked about their strategy for 2020. "The challenge now is to manage the growth," said Calvert. "The trick for us is to narrow the focus on high-margin opportunities, high value to a customer, build out the team, and put a little capital behind the company for growth," said Calvert. The conversation then turned to the Company's involvement in solutions for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) water contamination. "Everyone is figuring out that this is a big problem," said Calvert, adding that the PFAS crisis poses a significant financial impact. "These compounds are stuck in the water. They are these forever-chemicals that are persistent and cumulative and have been linked to significant adverse health effects," said Calvert. "The world is looking for a solution," said Calvert. "We've proved out in the first phase [of the EPA-funded project] that our solution works, and now we're in the scale-up mode. We have an application pending for a phase two [EPA SBIR] grant and have additional grants we're working on," shared Calvert. "What we believe we will bring to market is a low-cost solution that will allow us to extract these contaminants out of the water in a cost-effective way," said Calvert. "We do believe it is scalable, so the future is very bright." To close the interview, Calvert expressed his confidence in the Company's technology and the potential it represents. "2020 is the year in which we see leveraged expansion," said Calvert. "This is going to be the year where we watch accelerated growth leverage through these relationships," closed Calvert. To hear Dennis Calvert's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7478778-biolargo-discusses-2020-growth-strategy-with-the-stock-day-podcast Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About BioLargo, Inc. BioLargo, Inc. is an innovative technology developer and environmental engineering company driven by a mission to "make life better" by delivering robust, sustainable solutions for a broad range of industries and applications, with a focus on clean water, clean air, and advanced wound care. We develop and commercialize disruptive technologies by providing the capital, support, and expertise to expedite them from "cradle" to "maturity" (www.biolargo.com). Our engineering division features experienced professional engineers dedicated to integrity, reliability, and environmental stewardship (www.biolargoengineering.com). Our industrial odor control division, Odor-No-More (www.odornomore.com) features CupriDyne Clean Industrial Odor Eliminator (www.cupridyne.com), which eliminates the odor-causing compounds and VOCs rather than masking them, and is now winning over leading companies in the solid waste handling and wastewater industries and other industries that contend with malodors and VOCs. Our subsidiary BioLargo Water (www.biolargowater.ca) develops the Advanced Oxidation System "AOS," a disruptive industrial water treatment technology designed to eliminate waterborne pathogens and recalcitrant contaminants with better energy-efficiency and lower operational costs than incumbent technologies. Our subsidiary Clyra Medical (www.clyramedical.com) features effective and gentle solutions for chronic infected wounds to promote infection control and regenerative tissue therapy. Contact Information Dennis Calvert President and CEO BioLargo, Inc. 888-400-2863 Safe Harbor Act This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media 602-441-3474 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/51500 Keralas move to challenge the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Supreme Court on Tuesday has again drawn attention to the question whether a state government can do so in case of a central law. In its petition filed under Constitutions Article 131, Kerala has called the CAA discriminatory. While Article 131 says the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction to decide disputes between the Centre and the state governments, but whether a state can challenge the validity of a central law under this provision has not been settled yet. It is pending consideration before the Supreme Court in a case dating back to 2000. In this case, Jharkhand had challenged a provision in the Bihar Re-organisation Act, 2000, related to the apportionment of pension liability between the two states. The case was filed after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000. Bihar has objected to the challenge by relying on a 2011 decision of a two-judge bench of the top court related to Madhya Pradeshs challenge to the validity of certain provisions of Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act. The court, in that case, had ruled that a state cannot challenge a central law under Article 131. Bihar has cited the judgment and argued against Jharkhands challenge. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the Bihar versus Jharkhand case in November 2014, saying it cannot agree with the view taken of the two-judge bench. It ruled that Article 131 is worded in such a manner that the Supreme Court can decide disputes on questions of fact and law under Article 131. Consequently, it opined that a challenge to a central law can be made under Article 131. Therefore, we find it difficult to accept the statement of law enunciated by this Court in State of Madhya Pradesh v. Union of India... We are unable to agree with the proposition that this Court cannot examine the constitutionality of a statute in the exercise of its exclusive original jurisdiction under Article 131, the judgment said. Since the judgment in Madhya Pradesh versus the Union of India was also given by a two-judge bench, the bench which heard the dispute between Jharkhand and Bihar, referred the matter to a larger bench. The larger bench is yet to be constituted and the matter is still pending before the SC. Kerala has in its petition cited the November 2014 judgment to argue that a state government can challenge a central law. Since the judgment acknowledged that it is in conflict with the earlier decision in the case of Madhya Pradesh and referred the matter to a larger bench, reliance on it might not be helpful. Relying on the judgment in the State of Jharkhand versus the State of Bihar could be an ineffective submission. The maintainability of such a petition under Article 131 will now have to be decided by the larger bench. This might delay the entire thing, said Supreme Court advocate Chitranshul Sinha. The Supreme Court rejected West Bengals 2017 petition against the Aadhaar Act filed under Constitutions Article 32, which empowers individuals and organisations to move court against government actions and laws, which may violate fundamental rights. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Aman Rochman and Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Banyuwangi and Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 08:17 727 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20604e2ab 1 National Banyuwangi,gold-mine,clash,gold-mining,Tumpang-Pitu,East-Java Free Dozens of residents of Sumberagung village in Pesanggaran district, Banyuwangi regency, East Java, have occupied nearby Mount Salakan for nearly a week to protect it from gold mining activities as part of protests that activists said resulted in a clash with the police over the weekend. The police, however, have denied the activists' claim. The residents blocked researchers from mining company Bumi Suksesindo (BSI), a subsidiary of publicly listed company Merdeka Copper Gold, from accessing the mountain on Saturday. The residents said they rejected a plan to evaluate the mineral content of Mount Salakan because they had suffered from adverse ecological effects of a gold mine operated by the same company on nearby Mount Tumpang Pitu. The company has rejected the residents' claim, saying that it "carries out its operations based on national government standards". Sumberagung village is located at around the midway point between the Salakan and Tumpang Pitu mountain ranges. Tumpang Pitu, located in Sumberagung, is considered to be the second-largest gold and copper reserve in the country, after the Grasberg mine in Papua operated by Freeport Indonesia. Last Monday, the East Java police issued a letter stating that they would safeguard the companys exploration activities and Trisakti University researchers on Mount Salakan. East Java Mobile Brigade (Brimob) riot police erected a tent on the road to Mount Salakan. "The residents started to resist on Thursday by putting up tents not far from the Brimob tent and keeping watch there until night time," Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) East Java executive director Trijambore Chistanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. "It built up to a peak on Saturday when a clash took place, injuring two women residents." ALERT. Tadi pagi, Pkl. 08.00 WIB, pekerja & peneliti tambang berencana memasuki wilayah Gunung Salakan (tak jauh dr Gunung Tumpang Pitu) dikawal polisi. Ibu di Desa Sumberagung menghadang. Bentrok terjadi, aparat memukul ibu. Hingga detik ini terdapat 2 korban (ibu-ibu). pic.twitter.com/WTap4wwPn4 JATAM (@jatamnas) January 11, 2020 A video of the clash posted by the Network for Mining Advocacy (Jatam) on Twitter on Saturday shows a shoving match between police officers and residents. "The women of Sumberagung village blocked [the researchers and the police]. The officers hit the women. As of now, there are two victims (women)," Jatam tweeted. "The two women are identified by the initials F and S. F was hit in the chest and has been taken to Sumberagung Hospital. S was pushed by police until she fell and hit her head on a rock and fainted. She has now regained consciousness." However, Banyuwangi Police chief Sr. Comr. Arman Asmara Syarifudin denied that a clash had occurred and claimed that the two women only fainted because of exhaustion. "It's not true that there was a clash, there was just a conversation. The research team was blocked by residents and decided to go back," he told the Post on Tuesday. "If there was a clash, there would be many more injuries." BSI corroborated the polices claim, saying that the video posted by Jatam actually showed the police trying to prevent a clash between pro-mining and anti-mining groups. Trijambore said Walhi East Java would support the residents in their efforts to fight for their rights, which they felt were being infringed upon by the mining activities near their village. Dozens remained in their makeshift tents on Mount Salakan on Tuesday after staying there for nearly a week since Thursday. They took turns guarding the mountain with logistics prepared independently. Residents, he said, were particularly concerned about how the mining would affect the area's disaster readiness. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Pesanggaran district, which borders the Indian Ocean, is vulnerable to tsunamis. In 1994, an earthquake and tsunami hit the area, resulting in over 200 deaths. "Tumpang Pitu has been flattened by mining and if Salakan becomes the location of a mine as well, where will people run to save themselves?" Trijambore said. BSI communication affairs manager Teuku Mufizar Mahmud said the residents decision to block off the BSI research team stemmed from a misunderstanding. "We believe that there is a misunderstanding in the residents response to soil resistivity exploration in the Salakan mountain region," Mufizar said. "The soil resistivity activity is part of early research into an area to find out the potential amount of mineral content there." He added that the BSI's activities in the area were in line with the mining operation and forest area utilization permits that had been issued to the company. "We will continue to conduct the soil resistivity survey as planned. We respect residents' right to express their demands peacefully and we hope that the residents respect PT BSI's right to carry out the survey," he said. Merdeka Copper Gold and its main shareholder Saratoga Investama Sedaya have several politically connected people on their board of commissioners. According to the firm's website, its board of commissioners includes Garibaldi Thohir, the elder brother of State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, as well as Deputy Defense Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono and Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar. Demonstrations against the mining activity on Mount Tumpang Pitu have resulted in a number of legal charges against protesters over the years. In November 2015, eight residents were named suspects for allegedly damaging the companys property. Four of them were found innocent, while the others are still appealing the case at the Supreme Court. Environmentalist Heri Budiawan, popularly known as Budi Pego, was accused of displaying the communist hammer-and-sickle symbol on a banner during a rally in 2017. He was sentenced to 10 months in jail, which was subsequently raised to four years imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 2018. According to Jatam, there were 71 conflicts related to mining operations across the country between 2014 and 2019, 12 cases of shootings by security forces and 36 cases of criminal charges against 205 activists and residents who protested against mining operations. Editorial note: The article has been updated to make clear that the claims made by Jatam and Walhi that there was a clash between residents and police officers in Sumberagung village during a protest on Jan. 6 have been disputed by the police and BSI. The update also includes a statement from BSI denying residents claim that its operations have had adverse ecological effects. Six Democratic presidential candidates took the stage in Des Moines, Iowa Tuesday night in the final forum before the Iowa caucuses next month. See key takeaways from the debate below. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., right speaks as from left, Democratic presidential candidates businessman Tom Steyer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg listen Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, before a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP CIVILITY AND SUBSTANCE OVER FIGHTING AND FRICTION After the United States killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Democrats were bracing for fights over foreign policy. Instead, a whole lot of substance broke out. There was a brief skirmish between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who opposed the Iraq War, and former vice president Joe Biden, who apologized for supporting for it. But most of the opening 30-minute discussion one-quarter of the time set for the debate focused on the future. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California businessman Tom Steyer tried to argue that their outside-the-Beltway resumes would be benefits in the Oval Office. What we are hearing is 20 years of mistakes by the American government in the Middle East, Steyer said. Its time for someone from the outside having a strategic view on what were trying to do. The two liberals, Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, argued the United States needed to pull its troops entirely from the Middle East and Afghanistan. The American people are sick and tired of endless wars that have cost us trillions of dollars, Sanders said. Warren said generals keep arguing the United States is turning the corner in its fights. Weve turned the corner so many times were going in circles in these regions, she quipped. The two voices backing traditional foreign policy were Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who both argued for at least a small military presence remaining in the Middle East. Buttigieg, a 37-year-old who served as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan, cast foreign policy as part of his generational argument. "There are enlisted people I serve with barely old enough to remember some of those votes," he said after Biden and Sanders talked about their 17-year-old Iraq war votes. Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right greet each other as former Vice President Joe Biden, watches Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, before a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP ABOUT THE FIGHT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN The pre-debate chatter was about an expected fight between Sanders and Warren over Warren's assertion that Sanders told her in 2018 that a woman couldn't be elected president. Sanders denied it, Warren didn't press it. Their fight didn't happen, but it did spark a more spirited discussion about gender and power. Sanders continued to deny hed ever said it. Does anyone in their right mind believe a woman cant be elected president? he asked. The answer is yes. Its a sentiment often heard among Democratic voters and operatives who are still traumatized by Hillary Clintons 2016 loss. Warren did not repeat onstage that Sanders made the statement but said, This question about whether or not a woman can be president needs to be addressed head-on. Warren said she and Klobuchar, the two women on the stage, were the only ones who had won every election they had run. But there was obvious tension when Sanders tried to correct Warren's statement that she was the only person onstage whod beaten an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years. He noted hed ousted a Republican when he won his first congressional election in 1990. That was 30 years ago, Warren responded coolly. After the debate, it appeared that Warren declined to shake Sanders' hand. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., answers a question Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP RARE OOPS FOR A' STUDENT Klobuchar is an A student in the art of the local when she campaigns across Iowa. Dropping names of local political officials, cities, counties, vote totals and local heroes, Klobuchar is a disciplined candidate reminding voters in Iowa she understands them. Yet, in the middle of an explanation of all the women who won governorships in 2018, she got stuck trying to remember the name of Laura Kelly of Kansas. And her name. ... Im very proud to know her, and her name is governor ... Kelly, Klobuchar said, swallowing the new governors last name. She later tried to bounce back with a tongue in cheek. During an exchange about health care, Klobuchar quipped, The Affordable Care Act is 10 points more popular than the president of the United States. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, left, watches as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., answers a question Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP GLOBAL TRADE HITS HOME IN IOWA On trade, there was some clarity, at least as far as Sanders is concerned. He refused to support the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, despite his admission that it made modest improvements over the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (Steyer said he wouldn't sign the deal because it didn't do enough to address climate change.) All the Democrats agreed that President Donald Trumps trade war with China and North American allies has hurt American jobs and the rural economy especially in Iowa, among the nations leading export economies. Sanders' back-and-forth with his colleagues revealed a rift between his economic isolationism and the rest of the fields half-a-loaf approach. Sanders said the deal will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs and stops short of addressing environmental concerns vital to his campaign. His ideological opposite, Biden, suggested there was nearly no trade pact Sanders would support. Warren, despite opposing U.S. trade agreements with Asia and Europe, said we have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting and they are hurting because of Donald Trumps initiated trade wars. Democratic presidential candidate businessman Tom Steyer waves before a Democratic presidential primary debate Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)AP STEYER'S BET HAS PAID OFF He is worth more than a billion dollars but appears to own only one questionable red knit tie. But Tom Steyer, the activist who ran an investment company, made it to the final debate stage before Iowa votes. And he made his presence felt. He used his money to fund ads in early states that raised his profile enough to clear the debates polling and donation thresholds. He has largely been a background presence in previous faceoffs, but Tuesday night he stood out by occupying an unusual niche the anti-corporate billionaire. Corporations are having their way with the American people and the American people are suffering, Steyer said at one point, endorsing the single-payer health care plan outlined by Sanders, an avowed socialist. Later, he said his children didnt deserve government-paid-for college, effectively siding with Buttigiegs more centrist approach on free college. But then he argued that he had been talking about a wealth tax before Warren, whos made it her keystone proposal. The redistribution of wealth to the richest Americans from everybody else has to end, he said. Asked by CNNs Wolf Blitzer if his funding of a pro-impeachment push since late 2017 was a smart move, given that Trump is likely to be acquitted in the upcoming Senate trial, Steyer said: Standing up for whats right is always worth it, Wolf. And I will never back down from that. There is an allegory that Cory Booker shares in his book about a woman named Virginia Jones, a brusque and intimidating 68-year-old tenant organizer in Newarks Brick Towers, a nightmarish human warehouse across King Boulevard where Booker lived as a law student. He had come to introduce himself and explain that he was starting a non-profit that would provide landlord-tenant legal help. After a few perfunctory questions, Jones dragged him out of her office, down five flights of stairs, through the lobby where her own son was murdered, through a courtyard, past the drug dealers on the front steps, and onto the street, which to a 27-year-old Booker looked like a war zone. Describe what you see, said the woman, a former corrections officer, in a tone that did not invite debate. The young man, voluble as he is today, recited what was in his line of vision. Projects. Drugs. Abandoned buildings. A city lost and beaten and filled with despair. Thats when Jones told him to take a hike, and that the community had no use for him. As she walked away, she said this: You need to understand something. The world you see outside of you is a reflection of what you have inside of you. If all you see are problems, darkness, and despair, then that is all there is ever going to be. But if you are one of those stubborn people who open their eyes and see hope, opportunity, and possibility see love or the face of God then you can help me. For Booker, it imparted a lifelong lesson on leadership: You cannot lead the people unless you love the people. If you wonder what was behind the quixotic campaign for president that ended Monday morning and future Booker campaigns, for that matter that is the only meaningful answer. Not a day passes when New Jerseys junior senator doesnt carry that epiphany with him, and for ministers in search of homilies, he should be given the credit for clinging to his principles even if the political money didnt exactly cling to his campaign wallet. It was more than just having the courage to talk about love in the political space, and the gauzy poetry of campaigning to promote what Ezra Klein of Vox calls a moral radicalism. Because beneath it all was an ambitious and compassionate policy vision. Booker is largely known for his leadership on criminal justice reform, but Americans also liked his imaginative way to close the racial wealth gap by giving a child a $1,000 opportunity account at birth, with further annual deposits based on the familys income. They liked his tax incentives for teachers in urban districts, his sweeping gun reform proposals, his realistic attitude toward nuclear power. He stood out in the debates he made, and in the end, he ran what Rep. Tom Malinowski called one of the most principled, positive and unifying campaigns Ive ever seen. Perhaps the only curiosity was the apathy among black voters; the latest Ipsos-Washington Post poll had him with only 4 percent of the African American vote nationally, which barely registered against the 48 percent support for Joe Biden. Bookers old Newark ally, Bishop Reginald Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, described this yesterday as just a matter of timing. I understand the affinity older blacks have for Joe I worked on his first Senate campaign, and they just see him as having the best chance to win. I think Cory ran true to himself it was not only principled, it was optimistic, calling for the nation to be its better self. It just wasnt his time. Indeed, unlike those who practice the cynical political arithmetic of adding by subtracting and multiplying by dividing, Bookers message holds great promise for those who share it. To deny that is to give up on the country itself. His time will come. It would be nice to have faith that, as the Senate prepares to receive the articles of impeachment against President Trump and gears up for its role in this rare and momentous process, it will do the right thing. Confronted with a mountain of evidence that an American president abused his power by shaking down a vulnerable country for his own personal gain and then stonewalled a congressional investigation into his behavior senators should spare no effort in conducting a fair and thorough trial, complete with witnesses and documentary evidence. Alas, in 2020, the Senate is led by Mitch McConnell, who has demonstrated time and again that he is more concerned with covering for Mr. Trump than protecting the integrity of the office Mr. Trump holds, the security of the nation he leads or the Constitution he swore to defend. With few exceptions, Mr. McConnell has enjoyed the lock-step support of his caucus. So it has been notable to hear over the past few days a hint of dissension within the ranks, as a handful of Republican senators, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, have indicated that they oppose a straight-up dismissal of the charges against the president. I think we should hear the case. We have a constitutional duty to do that, Mr. Alexander said. This is a low bar to clear: The House of Representatives marshaled extensive and damning testimony against Mr. Trump, despite his best efforts to keep it from coming out. The debate now should be how to get the fullest possible account of the Ukraine scandal, not whether you need more than one hand to count the number of Republicans who are willing to take up the case at all. Tadge Juechter, Corvette executive chief engineer, holds up the trophy after the new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette was named the North American Car of the Year in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. The Kia Telluride took Sport Utility of the Year honors and the Jeep Gladiator won the Truck of the Year Award. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) MONTREAL - A new survey by the Business Development Bank of Canada suggests trade disputes and a global slowdown have undermined small business confidence in the economy, but firms still plan to make investments in their businesses. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL - A new survey by the Business Development Bank of Canada suggests trade disputes and a global slowdown have undermined small business confidence in the economy, but firms still plan to make investments in their businesses. Despite the drop in confidence in the economy, Canadian entrepreneurs on balance are more upbeat about their own prospects and expect to see sales grow, the report says. Vice President and Chief Economist at BDC Pierre Cleroux is seen in this undated handout photo. A new survey by the Business Development Bank of Canada suggests trade disputes and a global slowdown have undermined small business confidence in the economy, but firms still plan to make investments in their businesses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, BDC *MANDATORY CREDIT* Companies on balance also expect to hire more workers over the next 12 months and overall investment plans have edged higher. The report says Canadian business owners plan to increase investments in intangible assets such as technology, marketing initiatives, intellectual property and employee training-over the next 12 months. However, they plan to scale back spending on real estate, machinery and equipment. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Regionally, business owners in the Prairies were among the most pessimistic, while those in Quebec were the most optimistic in Canada. BDC chief economist Pierre Cleroux said Canadian entrepreneurs will keep investing in their companies despite international uncertainty and lower global growth. "There's reason to be optimistic: at the end of 2019, the United States, Mexico and Canada signed a new free trade agreement, reinstating favourable conditions for Canadian products and services," Cleroux said in a statement. The BDC survey gauges the level of confidence in the economy among businesses, their business outlook, as well as their investment plans for the next 12 months. The report was based on a survey completed by 1,000 business owners from Oct. 1 to Oct. 17, 2019. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. Photo shows the project where Myanmars northern state of Kachin is connected with a 230KV backbone project. Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily Chinese electricity companies have been working with local residents in Myanmar to help the latter tackle electricity shortages. Of Myanmars 10.88 million households, half have experienced electricity shortages and about 43,000 villages have yet to be connected to the national electricity network. Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi had said that to improve peoples livelihood, the first thing to do is to develop the electricity industry. To increase electricity supply and develop the electricity industry is the priority task of the Myanmar government, as well as the urgent need of the country to boost economy and improve peoples well-being. U Thaung Tun, Myanmars Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, expressed that Myanmar is willing to accelerate implementation of cooperative projects with China in key fields such as electricity and transportation. Photo shows a night fair in Shwebo, Myanmar. Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily According to credible sources, currently about half of Myanmar is connected with electricity and the country is expected to achieve full electricity coverage by 2030. With street lamps, the road connecting Mandalay, Naypyidaw and Yangon has become much busier than before. Myanmars economy is constantly developing. To address electricity shortages, Chinese companies and their Burmese counterparts are conducting comprehensive cooperation in power source construction, power transmission and distribution, and electric technology, said Tan Shufu, the Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar. To strengthen electricity cooperation is an important part of the co-construction of the Belt and Road between China and Myanmar, said U Win Khaing, Myanmars Union Minister for Electricity and Energy. Such cooperation is vital for the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), and will accelerate infrastructure connectivity of the whole region, the minister said, adding that Myanmar is willing to work with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the CMEC to further China-Myanmar electricity and energy cooperation, achieve win-win outcomes and push bilateral relations for new progress. Photo shows a direction board at the Shwebo Industrial Zone. Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily U Win Khaing recently attended the opening ceremony of the Shwebo transformer substation in Shwebo of Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing region. The 230 KV power transmission line and substation project was built by State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC). It could deliver electricity from northern Myanmar to the demand centers in the southern part of the country and satisfy industrial, commercial and residential demands. The transmission capacity of the double-circuit transmission line between the state of Kachin and the 230 KV power transmission line and substation project could reach 640,000 kilowatts. Running nonstop with a full load in a year, the project could transmit 5.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. The project gives Sagaing economical and stable electricity supply and brings tangible benefits to local residents, said Chief Minister of Sagaing U Myint Naing. Within two years, the number of hotels in Shwebo has exceeded 20. At night, the streets are illuminated and shops on both sides of the street are decorated in colorful lights, making the fruits displayed for sale more attractive. More and more people now like to take a walk, dine or go shopping at night, making the city livelier. Now, electricity outages and circuit breaker tripping are a thing of the past. With stable electricity supply, I havent used the electricity generator for a long time, said a local resident. Built in 2004, the Shwebo Industrial Zone is home to about 200 companies, such as rice processing companies and home appliance manufacturers. According to the person in charge of the zone, the place was supported by a power transmission line and a substation project, but as the electricity network was aging and the power supply was insufficient, it had experienced frequent circuit breaker tripping and power outages. As companies complained a lot about this, it was difficult to attract more investment. A staff member checks data at the Shwebo transformer substation. Photo by Sun Guangyong from Peoples Daily Now, with electricity shortage no longer a problem, more and more companies are planning to enter the industrial zone, he said. The Thaketa gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Thaketa township, Yangon is also constructed and operated by a Chinese company. Having the highest level of operational efficiency and being the most energy-efficient gas-fired power plant in Myanmar, the power produced by the plant accounts for 15 percent of local electricity consumption. In November 2019, PowerChina Resources Limited, the overseas investment arm of POWERCHINA, signed an agreement with the Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise to purchase electricity from the Kyaukpyu gas-fired power plant. The Kyaukpyu gas-fired power plant, adopting gas-fired turbines and steam turbines, could generate one billion kilowatt hours of electricity upon completion. It will greatly improve power supply to the surrounding areas, give a boost to local economy, create employment, and support the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Over the past three years, Myanmars Ministry of Electricity and Energy has been increasing power supply at an annual rate of 12 percent, said U Win Khaing. A lot of Chinese electricity companies have come to Myanmar to make contribution to our electricity development. They are very welcomed by the Myanmar society and their power production and transmission projects have demonstrated the strength of Chinese companies in electricity infrastructure construction, said the minister. A University of Otago researcher has made an innovative discovery which paves the way for advances in treating cardiovascular disease including high blood pressure. Dr Martin Fronius from the Department of Physiology led the research which identified a new mechanism for the regulation of blood pressure. Specifically, he identified a new mechanism that contributes to flow-mediated dilation, which is the dilation of an artery when blood flow increases in that artery. Our research identified a new mechanism that contributes to flow-mediated dilation, revealing how force sensation occurs at the molecular level in cells, Dr Fronius explains. The ability of cells to sense mechanical cues is important for touch and pain sensation, related to hearing but also important for blood pressure regulation, Dr Fronius explains. Our understanding of how cells in our body sense mechanical cues related to blood flow and pressure is scarce. By studying a mechanosensitive ion channel we identified that force sensation involved a physical connection of the channel to parts outside of the cells, such as connective tissue, via molecules that act as tethers. The study revealed that this tether-based mechanism is involved in blood pressure regulation. Dr Fronius says such a mechanism has been proposed for 25 years, but has never previously been shown. This provides new targets (new venues) for drug discovery to improve treatment of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Dr Fronius collaborated with colleagues from the University of Otago together with researchers from Germany and Spain in the research which has recently been published in PNAS, the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. University of Otago Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging his conviction and life term for raping a minor girl in Unnao in 2017. Sengar challenged the December 20 verdict of a trial court here which had sentenced him to life imprisonment and had imposed an exemplary fine of Rs 25 lakh in the case. The court had convicted Sengar for rape under the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act for offence by a public servant committing penetrative sexual assault against a child after holding the victim to be a minor. The woman was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor. The trial which started on August 5 last year after it was transferred from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi on the Supreme Court's directions, was carried on a day-to-day basis. The apex court, taking cognisance of the rape survivor's letter written to the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had on August 1 transferred all five cases registered in connection with the Unnao rape incident from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh to the court in Delhi with directions to hold trial on daily basis and completing it within 45-days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indias data problem isnt confined to macroeconomic indicators. Indian cities which generated up to 70% of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) over the past decade face a similar issue. Their massive growth potential is undercut by poor infrastructure and inadequate service delivery. Effective public policy solutions require quality, granular city-level data. There is a large gap here. Collecting, organising and publishing such data should be a top priority for policymakers in the new decade. For spotting and analysing trends, the bedrock of efficient governance, we need information on the number of people coming into cities, their contribution to economic activity, the number of jobs cities create, the demand for housing and transport and so on. This is especially relevant in light of the fact that the past decade has seen urban population grow from 380 million in 2010 to about 450 million in 2017. In the case of housing, publicly available data on house prices at the city-level is unavailable. This means that local governments cannot accurately estimate property tax collection as a potential source of revenue. Without such clarity, resource allocation gets skewed, creating a host of other problems such as poor land use. This, in turn, contributes to poor urban governance. Understanding trends related to variables such as jobs in cities, migration and income numbers are critical to tracing how cities function as labour markets. For instance, employment data will be useful for workforce participation trends, and migration data will be key in understanding the labour pool available in cities. But this data is unavailable, inaccessible or incomplete. Data on other important socioeconomic fronts such as education and health care should no longer be merely about whether the service exists, but whether the quality of that service is improving residents ease of living and quality of life. With such granular data, public service delivery can be both streamlined and made more efficient. City-level data on travel demand, traveller behaviour and transport systems performance are critical inputs to decision making on transport policy, planning and design issues. However, collecting real time, large-scale transport data is difficult and expensive. As a result, city-wide transport policies have historically been based on small-scale travel surveys that capture only a fraction of the citys population. Most importantly, we know intuitively, and from alternate data sources, that cities generate most of the countrys value, but there is no official data collected at the city level to give a more complete picture. The central government releases GDP data at the national level. State governments release state-level data, but they are not mandated to do so at the district or city level. State departments such as the Directorate of Economics and Statistics do publish GDP data for select districts, but there are no standard guidelines. Consequently, methodologies vary widely across districts and states, making the numbers incomparable. And current state-level GDP data cannot be evenly distributed across cities since a city like Mumbai will contribute significantly more than, say, Aurangabad to Maharashtras GDP. In the past decade, private sector players have started publishing limited data. For instance, Using Nighttime Satellite Imagery as a Proxy Measure of Human Well-Being, 2013, by Ghosh et al, used satellite imagery to measure economic activity at a sub-national level. IDFC Institute also used this methodology to calculate city-level GDP, but these studies are not accurate and underestimate economic activity because night-time light values used as a proxy for such activity are capped after a certain point as a result of technological constraints. Similarly, when it comes to transport data, Uber uses real-time, alternative big data sources, and publicly releases granular travel time information for certain Indian cities. This is useful in estimating congestion and in identifying choke-points where traffic is at its worst. However, the use of such big data as well as researchers access to it is extremely limited. There are, thankfully, some positive developments on the government front. The Centre has started schemes to boost city-level data collection such as the DataSmart Cities Mission, in which Indias 100 Smart Cities are tasked with collecting and employing local-level data for governance. In another instance, all 500 cities under the AMRUT mission are to create GIS-based master plans to refine land use for their future growth. So far, 120 cities have been successful in this endeavour. However, if underlying public data is unsound, these initiatives become harder to execute or fail to achieve their desired impact. Policymakers should target establishing new data sources to make better, more informed policies. They must direct more resources towards the goal of measuring data at the city level. A decadal plan is vital since it will help tackle structural issues impacting the governance of cities, as well as those of accountability and transparency. Harshita Agrawal, Harsh Vardhan Pachisia, and Kadambari Shah are, respectively, associate, associate, and senior associate at IDFC Institute, a Mumbai-based think tank The views expressed are personal The Delhi government said on Wednesday that the convicts in the 2012 gang rape case will not be executed on January 22 as a mercy petition has been filed with the President, reported news agency PTI. Citing prison rules, the state government said they are duty bound to wait for convicts mercy plea to be decided for executing the death warrant. The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the curative petitions filed by two of the four convicts in the gang-rape and murder case Mukesh and Vinay Sharma challenging the May 2017 judgment of the court that had upheld their conviction and death sentence. Watch | 2012 Delhi gangrape: SC rejects curative petitions of two death row convicts Immediately after the rejection of the curative petition, Mukesh filed his mercy plea before the President. He also moved the Delhi high court challenging the decision of issuance of the death warrant by the additional sessions judge, stating that his mercy petition was pending before the President. The plea filed through advocate Vrinda Grover also sought that her client be given a minimum of 14 days notice if the mercy petition is rejected by the President so as to prepare for his departure from the world. The four convicts in the case -- Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Singh -- are scheduled to be executed at 7am on January 22 in the Tihar jail premises. In December 2012, five men and one juvenile had raped and brutalised a young paramedical student in a moving bus in Delhi, triggering a wave of nationwide outrage. The victim later died from the injuries received. One of the accused committed suicide in Tihar jail during the trial while the juvenile accused was sent to a reform home and released three years later. 3 1 of 3 Saratoga County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Saratoga County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 3 of 3 BALLSTON SPA - Saratoga County Sheriff's Office is seeking a help from the public in its search for a missing man. Michael P. Ahern, 43, of Stillwater was reported missing by friends a year ago, deputies said. He was last seen on Jan. 6, 2019. A Canadian tourist who fell down the stairs of a double decker tourist bus in Dublin when she claims it jerked after allegedly pulling in for St Patricks Cathedral has sued in the High Court. Retired real estate administrator Susan Riches claims she now suffers post concussion syndrome and has regular migraines after she was propelled down the stairs, hitting her head, suffering lacerations to her face and breaking a finger. Mr Justice Bernard Barton was told it was the 63-year-old tourists case that she was thrown headlong down the stairs. She was later diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and she suffered nightmares and flashbacks and she now says she has a significant fear of stairs and escalators. The bus operators and owners have claimed the bus had not stopped at the Cathedral but was stopped in traffic and had not reached the tour stop. They say it was an unfortunate accident but claim it was the tourists fault. Mrs Riches and her husband Patrick were in Dublin for the first time on the last leg of a Trans Atlantic cruise which had started in Miami and had taken in The Azores and Irish ports. She told the court they docked in Dublin and got a Hop On, Hop Off tourist bus on April 30, 2018. At St Patricks Cathedral I headed for the stairs. I took a step and the bus turned and jerked and I flew through the air, she said. I felt the bus turned. It propelled me forward. I hit my face. I ended up on the floor of the bus. I felt in shock and I was bleeding. Susan Riches (aged 63) Olivers Road, Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada, has sued the owners and operators of the tourist bus, Last Bus Ltd and Citi Bus Ltd both with offices at Moorhill House, Brannockstown, Co Kildare and Park Fly Ltd and Dockstop Ltd, both with offices at South Bank House, Barrow Street, Dublin. She has claimed the bus allegedly suddenly and without warning moved, jerked or jolted violently and she fell down the stairs. She has claimed there was an alleged failure to have regard for the safety of passengers they ought to have known were disembarking from the bus. She has also claimed there was an alleged failure to warn the passengers the bus was going to be further moved as they disembarked. The claims are denied and it is contended there was contributory negligence on the part of Mrs Riches and that she should have had regard for her own safety. In evidence, Mrs Riches said the driver did not have bandages or a phone to call an ambulance but he helped take her off the bus. A Romanian nurse, she said, called an ambulance and she was brought to hospital. She said she was in hospital for about 13 hours until the early hours and later that day they got a flight home. Counsel for the bus operators and owners, Finbarr Fox SC put it to Mrs Riches in cross examination that the driver communicated to passengers to remain in their seats until the bus stops. Mrs Riches replied: I dont remember that. I was really taken with Dublin and the sights. The case before Mr Justice Bernard Barton continues on Thursday. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Time: 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Place: Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Hosts: CNN and the The Des Moines Register. Moderators: Wolf Blitzer (CNN anchor), Abby Philli (CNN political correspondent), Brianne Pfannenstiel (Des Moines Register chief political reporter) Candidate Line-up: Joe Biden (Former Vice President ) Pete Buttigieg (Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor) Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota Senator) Bernie Sanders (Vermont Senator) Tom Steyer (Squillionaire) Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts Senator) Stage Arrangement: How to Watch (or Listen), from the Verge: The debate will be live-streamed on CNN.com, DesMoinesRegister.com, and the CNNgo and Des Moines Register apps on iOS and Android. Its also available through online streaming devices like the Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast if you download the CNNgo app. It will air live on CNN as well. Readers will no doubt also have their own suggestions. * * * I need to do some stuff, since I plan to be present for this one, so just a few random comments: Only six! Amazingly, Klobuchar is still standing. Biden is between Warren and Sanders, raising the possibilities of some interesting interplay. And the latest on the Warren campaigns smear of Sanders for being sexist; the Warren campaign seems to be walking it back. From Buzzfeed, Elizabeth Warrens Campaign Is Telling Key Supporters To De-Escalate From The Fight With Bernie Sanders: CLIVE, Iowa Elizabeth Warrens campaign is telling key online supporters that their goal is de-escalation and warning backers not to accuse Bernie Sanders of sexism, signaling a desire to move on from a story that has driven a rift between two longtime allies, and within the progressive community, over questions of gender and electability. If Warrens planted story was not meant to convey the impression that Sanders was sexist, then what on earth was the point of it all? (And in fact, everyone, on all sides, immediately drew that implication, and how not?) More: On Monday night, about five minutes after Warren issued a statement confirming that she remembers Sanders telling her in a private meeting he didnt believe a woman could win in 2020, one of Warrens campaign officials advised supporters in a large pro-Warren group chat on Twitter that their next step would be to dial back the confrontation. Re: where we go from here our goal is de-escalation and focusing on our shared goals, the staffer wrote to the group, according to screenshots of the chat. So the, er, plan was for the campaign to make a quick hit, and then get out of range fast? This is interesting, too: At one point in a lengthy DM to the Twitter group on Tuesday morning, the Warren staffers description of the controversy hewed closer to Sanderss description than Warrens. Claiming youre worried a woman cant win/flagging that shell receive sexist attacks is something many, many people feel, the campaign official wrote. So, the campaign internally had its own doubts. Walker Bragman comments: Warren's campaign strategy continues to baffle. If you're going to go for the throat with an unfair attack, don't walk it back after the damage is done. Accept the blowback and stand firm. Or, better yet, think it through beforehand. This was a complete disaster for Warren. Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) January 14, 2020 Well, well know if it was a disaster when new numbers come in. Neither Warrens staff nor Warren herself come out of this looking good. And as we see above, when the collective counterpunch from Sanders supporters came (#RefundWarren; #NeverWarren), well before the DM meeting Buzzfeed describes, Warren flinched. Not the best way to protect her glass jaw. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the debate. More from Buzzfeed: Jeff Weaver, a top adviser for Sanders campaign, also suggested the Sanders campaign did not want to continue the fight. Were not going to get into this tit-for-tat, he said on CNN on Monday night. Sanders and Warren, he said, have great respect for one another, theyre fighting for a lot of the same goals, again, there were some wires crossed apparently about this story. So, if Sanders can come out of this visibly taking the high road, that will be good for him. (And I love Weavers subtle dig with wires crossed; unfortunately for Warren, since the campaign foolishly put her out there personally on both the volunteers trashing and the Sanders is sexist weekend assaults, instead of using surrogates, the crossed wires can only be hers.) As usual, this post does not update; readers may track the debate in real time in comments. Please keep your comments as informative and analytical as possible. There are no points at NC for context-free one-liners (Boo ____!) that only those who are also watching can make sense of; thats for Facebook or Reddit. I think it adds more value if you take a moment, use your critical thinking skills, then comment, and readers can discuss what you say. This is what the NC commentariat is so very good at, after all. Last time, the times before that, and this time. Thank you! For the second year in a row, Kyoorius will host The One Club for Creativitys global Portfolio Night, to be held in Mumbai on 20 May, 2020. The One Club has so far confirmed 22 hosts in 23 cities will take part in this years annual Portfolio Night, and is actively seeking additional agencies, schools and creative organizations in other locations worldwide to participate. Other hosts for confirmed cities to date are Arnold (Boston), BETC (Paris), Brokaw (Cleveland), Cairo Ad School (Cairo), Circulo de Creativos (Buenos Aires), Clube Criativos de Portugal (Lisbon), DDB Colombia (Bogota), Dieste (Dallas), Dotwell (Shenzhen), Goodby Silverstein & Partners (San Francisco), GTB (Detroit), Happiness Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), i2mago (Guangzhou), Inbrax (Santiago), Lanfranco & Cordova (Lima), McGarrah Jessee (Austin), Publicis (Seattle), Serviceplan (Beijing), Team Dubai/B&W (Dubai), Tank (Montreal) and VMLY&R (London and New York). The program includes Portfolio Night All-Stars competition, where each city host selects the young creative in their market with the best portfolio. All of these lucky All-Stars from around the world will be flown to New York to work for a week as a team on a creative brief for a major global brand. Long recognized as the worlds largest advertising portfolio review program, Portfolio Night is a fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment that takes place in dozens of cities all across the globe on the same date to help the next generation of creative talent entering the industry. Since starting in 2003, Portfolio Night has happened in 70 cities across 45 countries, where 9,743 portfolios have been reviewed. Portfolio Night is an important event in advertising because it serves as the gateway for young talent to enter the industry, enabling the best of the present hundreds of renowned international creative directors to meet and mentor the leaders of the future in industry hubs around the world. It has also become a crucial tool for agencies in recruiting top young talent, providing a platform for recognition from local industry peers, and giving agencies a place on the global stage as the ad world tunes in to this one-of-a-kind event. Portfolio Night is a unique global event that serves as a high-visibility opportunity for agencies and creative directors to give back to the industry by guiding the earliest steps of future copywriters, art directors, designers and technologists, said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club for Creativity. We are very grateful to Kyoorius for again hosting this important global event and look forward to hearing from other agencies and organizations who want to host Portfolio Night in their local market. Tickets for young creatives interested in attending Portfolio Night 2020 in various cities will be available in April, once all hosts are determined. Program branding for Portfolio Night 2020 was developed by London-based designer Alec Tear, with additional 3D modeling and rendering by Louise Tattershall. The One Club for Creativity, producer of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards and Creative Week, is the world's foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. The One Show is a top global awards show for advertising, design and digital marketing, focusing on the creativity of ideas and quality of execution. The global ADC Annual Awards honors creative excellence in craft, design and innovation across all disciplines. Creative Week takes place in New York every May, and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising and the arts. Also Read: Discovery expands Vijay Rajputs portfolio; to be Head of DSPORT channel Airtel bolsters Airtel X labs portfolio with acquihire of Quikmile Ex-Nissan boss Charlos Ghosn says the French ambassador warned him that his own company was plotting against him after he was arrested for corruption in Japan. The 65-year-old, who is holed up in Beirut after dramatically fleeing justice, said he contacted the envoy after his arrest to check that Nissan-Renault knew about it and was sending him a lawyer. 'Twenty four hours from this, I received a visit from the French ambassador who told me: "Nissan is turning against you",' he said. 'And this is where I realised that the whole thing was a plot.' Carlos Ghosn says he became convinced there was a plot against him after meeting with the French ambassador shortly after his initial arrest over allegations of corruption back in 2018 The arrest of Ghosn, widely respected for rescuing the carmaker from near-bankruptcy, has put Japan's criminal justice system under international scrutiny. The French Embassy in Tokyo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nissan reiterated a previous comment, including that the car maker 'discovered numerous acts of misconduct by Ghosn through a robust, thorough internal investigation. The company determined that he was not fit to serve as an executive, and removed him from all offices.' It said that in addition to the Japanese prosecution, Ghosn was found to have committed 'fraudulent' underreporting of his compensation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and that French authorities were investigating. Among the practices now under the spotlight are keeping suspects in detention for long periods and excluding defence lawyers from interrogations, which can last eight hours a day. 'When he told me that 'two hours or three hours later, after your arrest, Saikawa went in a press conference and made his infamous statement where he said, you know, 'I am horrified, but what I'm learning...' - so when he told me he made these statements, I said 'Oh my God this is a plot'.' Ghosn (pictured with wife Carole at his hideaway in Beirut) says the ambassador warned him that 'Nissan is turning against you' Former Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who was forced to resign last year after admitting that he had received improper compensation, told a news conference hours after Ghosn's arrest that Ghosn had been using corporate money for personal purposes and under-reporting his income for years. Ghosn fled Japan last month while awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. The one-time titan of the car industry said the alternative to fleeing would have been to spend the rest of his life languishing in Japan without a fair trial. Ghosn said he had escaped to his childhood home of Lebanon in order to clear his name. He noted that there were conflicting stories about his astonishing escape, but declined to say how he had managed to flee. Tokyo prosecutors said his allegations of a conspiracy were false and that he had failed to justify his acts. The 14-month saga has shaken the global auto industry and jeopardised the Renault-Nissan alliance, of which Ghosn was the mastermind. Japan's Ministry of Justice has said it will try to find a way to bring Ghosn back from Lebanon, even the countries have no extradition treaty. Ghosn said the Japanese authorities were intent on preventing him from having a just trial. CLEW today announced that it has successfully concluded its Series B funding, bringing the total capital raised to over $20 million. CLEW develops an analytics platform for the healthcare industry aimed at the delivery of improved clinical and operational outcomes by predicting life-threatening complications and detecting deviations from the optimal clinical path. The financing will be used to commercialize CLEWs platform in the TeleICU (https://clewmed.com/teleicu/) and critical care (https://clewmed.com/critical-care/) markets. . The round was led by Pitango Venture Capital (https://www.pitango.com/), Israels largest venture capital fund and included all existing investors with additional strategic participation from Relyens (https://www.relyens.eu/en) a European mutual group insurance and risk manager specializing in the healthcare industry. Pierre-Yves Antier, Head of Strategy, Innovation and Transformation of Relyens and part of the companys executive management will also join CLEWs Board of Directors (https://clewmed.com/our-team/). Commenting on the fundraising, founder and CEO Gal Salomon said, We view this round of funding as further validation of our technology and product offering. We are also delighted to leverage our partnership with Relyens, which is certain to provide strategic value to the company. CLEW has clearly demonstrated the value that AI can bring to critical care said Ittai Harel, Managing General Partner at Pitango Venture Capital. We are pleased to have led this round of funding and look forward working with CLEW as they expand their footprint in the US. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning hold great promise for the healthcare insurance industry, said Pierre-Yves Antier of Relyens. We are excited to be part of CLEW and look forward to working closely with the company as they deploy their solutions in critical care. About CLEW: CLEW (is a real-time AI analytics platform designed to help providers make better informed clinical decisions by predicting life-threatening complications across various medical care settings. With CLEW, healthcare organizations can improve outcomes and safety, streamline patient care, and efficiently handle regulations and penalties, ultimately lowering the cost of care. The platform uses machine learning and data science technology to develop patient-specific physiological, predictive models to deliver predictive warnings during all phases of a patient's stay. Originally developed and proven in the ICU, these models optimize scarce clinical resources and guide health care providers in predicting patient deterioration, across all care settings. For more information visit http://www.clewmed.com EU says Libya not a safe port, committed to improving Says it is closely following the situation (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, JANUARY 15 - A spokesperson for the European Commission said Wednesday that the EU is "aware of the report by the IOM" according to which nearly a thousand migrants were saved by the Libyan Coast Guard and brought back to Libya, and said it is "following the situation closely". "European Union law has no jurisdiction over the destination of rescued migrants after search and rescue operations," the spokesperson said. "But our position is very clear: Libya is not a safe port. Despite that, we are working with partners on the ground to improve the situation".(ANSAmed). Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Palembang, South Sumatra Wed, January 15, 2020 17:25 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c322447fc 1 National climate-change Free Two small islands in South Sumatra have disappeared as a result of rising sea levels driven by climate change, while four other islands are already on the brink of vanishing, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has claimed. The provinces Betet Island and Gundul Island which technically fell under the administration of Banyuasin regency have submerged, currently sitting 1 meter and 3 meters below sea level, respectively, according to Walhi data. These islands were uninhabited. One of the islands, Betet, is a part of Berbak-Sembilang National Park, Walhi South Sumatra executive director Hairul Sobri said on Tuesday. Should there be no significant efforts to address the ever-rising oceans, four other islands in the area with elevations of less than 4 meters above sea level could follow suit and disappear sooner or later, Hairul said. The four are Burung Island, the elevation of which is currently at sea level; Kalong Island and Salah Namo Island, both of which are currently 2 meters above sea level; and Kramat Island, which is 3 meters above sea level. According to Walhi, there are currently 23 small islands located off the eastern coast of South Sumatras Banyuasin. Some of the islands are uninhabited, while some including Salah Namo Island have people living on them. Climate change-driven rising sea levels, which come with further warming of the earth, particularly threaten archipelagic countries like Indonesia, where millions of people currently live in low-lying coastal areas spread across some 17,000 islands. Syahrul, head of the neighborhood unit in Salah Namo Island, said that they already knew that the rising seas could submerge their island. People who lived in the island have moved their houses tens of meters away from their original place where their houses were first built, he said. Read also: Rising sea levels threaten 23 million in Indonesia's coastal cities by 2050: Study Syahrul said most residents moved to the island in 1970 to have a better life by planting rice and becoming fishermen. Back in 1990 there were large fields in front of peoples houses where they could exercise and children could play together, but things are different now. There is no field in front of our houses. Many of the people have also moved from here, he said. Head of Berbak-Sembilang National Park Area II, Affan Absori, confirmed separately that Betet Island had gone underwater and that the island had experienced sinking for some time. Berbak-Sembilang National Park, which was declared a world biosphere reserve in 2018 by UNESCO, is home to mangrove areas as well as being rich flora and fauna, including the Sumatran tiger and kingfisher birds. It has sunk because the seal level has risen and because of the tsunami. But there is no significant disruption for the animals [in the national park], Affan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. According to Walhi, a tropical country like Indonesia is more vulnerable to the effect of global warming, especially in South Sumatra where people depended a lot on coal, oil and natural gas, thus contributing to emissions of greenhouse gases. Other factors that have caused the sinking include dependence on chemical fertilizers in the agricultural sector, which causes land subsidence and drainage basin damage, as well as excessive groundwater extraction for industry, Hairul said. Although South Sumatra has 1.2 million hectares of peatland which functions as a natural carbon sink and absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere amounting to some 15 percent of land area, development activities, land conversion and forest fires have caused the peatlands to dry up and become damaged. South Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) recorded that of the 361,889-ha area burned by land and forest fires in 2019, 60 percent comprised peat ecosystems. (hol) - A litre of petrol, diesel and kerosene will retail at KSh 110.20, KSh 102.32 and KSh 103.95 respectively in Nairobi - The price increase was attributed to a 2.21% surge on the landed cost of imported super petrol - It came amid escalating tension between the US and Iran which is one of the leading oil exporters in the world - Section of pundits had warned that global fuel prices could rise with big margins if the US-Iran tiff intensified Kenyans who use kerosene for lighting and cooking will for the next one month have to dig deeper in their pockets to pay for the commodity. In its monthly fuel price review on Tuesday, January 14, Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced that one litre of kerosene will sell at KSh 103.95 after a KSh 1.64 increase. READ ALSO: Credit Transfer to degrees via prior qualifications The price increase has been attributed to a 2.21% surge on the landed cost of imported super petrol. Photo: UGC. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Lofa avamiwa na nyuki akila asali ya mke wa rafiki yake vichakani A litre of petrol and diesel will retail at KSh 110.20 and KSh 102.32 respectively after their price per litre went up by KSh 0.70 and KSh 0.54. "The changes in this months prices are a consequence of the average landed cost of imported super petrol increasing by 2.21% from KSh 46,083 per cubic metre in November 2019 to KSh 47,101 per cubic metre in December 2019," EPRA said in a statement. READ ALSO: Wilson Sossion condemns killing of teachers in Garissa READ ALSO: Mwangi Kiunjuri says he feels relieved after being sacked The landing price of diesel increased by 1.73% from KSh 48,529 per cubic metre to KSh 49,368 per cubic metre and kerosene by 5.75% from KSh 48,111 per cubic metre to KSh 50,877 per cubic metre. Section of economic pundits foresaw a global increase in prices of fuel, a development they attributed to the tension between the US and Iran, a large scale oil exporter. The two countries have been locked in a diplomatic tiff after US troops killed Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Experts, however, said the prices would go down as soon as the US-Iran tension starts to ease. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Please cut off this breast - Sharon Atieno | Tuko TV | My Story. Source: TUKO.co.ke Potholes are a big problem in the UK (Getty) Surrey has been revealed as the pothole capital of England after it was forced to pay out the most compensation requests in 2018/2019, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The county in south-east England forked out 323,222 to drivers for pothole damage after receiving the highest number of complaints (3,533), the data showed. Hampshire County Council was second on the list, with 2,665 payouts, while Hertfordshire, Kent and Northamptonshire County Councils also faced more than 2,000 claims throughout 2018-2019. The information was released by car leasing company LeaseCar.uk to mark National Pothole Day on the 15 January. It was also revealed potholes cost small firms 'millions of pounds' in damaged vehicles. The RAC wants the Government to do more to fix potholes (Getty) The data showed a total of 37,578 relevant claims were made across England during 2018/19, with poorly maintained roads meaning councils compensated motorists 3,520,538.38 in total. RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: A solution to the UKs long-term pothole problem is possible. From this year, the money raised from vehicle excise duty in England will be ring-fenced to help fund motorways and major A-roads over successive five-year periods. But as yet, there is no similar model for local roads where the vast majority of drivers begin and end their journeys. We believe this could easily be changed by ring-fencing 2p a litre from existing fuel duty revenue to generate 4.7bn of additional funding over five years. Surrey Count Council paid out the most for potholes (LeaseCar.uk) Surrey County Council also received the most complaints (LeaseCar.uk) If you want to avoid potholes, living in Greater London boroughs of Islington and Sutton seems like the best bet after their councils did not pay out a single penny for pothole complaints. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Sefton Borough Council on Merseyside and St Helens Council were among others to keep compensation for pothole damage to a minimum. They paid out just 353, 582.60 and 594 respectively, with the local authorities in Harrow, Hounslow, Redbridge and Waltham Forest also receiving bills of less than 1,000. Story continues Only two claims were issued against Richmond upon Thames Borough Council. Surrey County Council spokesman added: We have some of the countrys busiest roads and this naturally takes its toll but were working incredibly hard to improve Surreys roads. This is reflected in our increased investment, with an extra 92m announced this week in our capital budget for improving and maintaining our roads and pavements over the next few years. READ MORE YAHOO UK NEWS HERE: Potholes cost small firms 'millions of pounds' in damaged vehicles Pothole problem 'has not gone away' despite mild winter, RAC says Half of British drivers find potholes the most annoying thing on the road Potholes are caused by water that seeps into tarmac and then expands as temperatures drop below freezing during the winter, cracking the road surface. Driving over one can jolt and damage a vehicles suspension, affect the condition of wheels and in extreme cases even puncture or burst tyres. The data was obtained by an FOI request and covers the period 1 January 2018 to 17 October 2019. A full breakdown of English councils and their claims for compensation is available here. As Friday prayers wrap up at Suada mosque, worshippers turn their attention outside where Fakhry Affan steers a drone high above, snapping pictures of the building tucked in a corner of Indonesia's Sulawesi island. Affan leads a government team of some 1,000 mosque hunters who have spent years visiting every corner of the 5,000 kilometre (3,100 mile) long archipelago to answer one question: how many mosques are there in the world's biggest Muslim majority nation? "Only God knows exactly how many mosques there are in Indonesia," former vice president Jusuf Kalla quipped recently. "Some say around one million and people will take it for granted." So far, Affan's team has registered 554,152 mosques and the census -- which kicked off in 2013 -- is only about 75 percent done, Affan says. Earlier government estimates pegged the total at more than 740,000 nationwide. Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260 million people are Muslim and it is home to Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, Southeast Asia's biggest with room for 200,000 worshippers. So it's an Herculean task for Affan and his team at the religious affairs ministry as it scours a country of some 17,000 islands, where new mosques are going up all the time. - Monitoring radicalism - After getting key information about Mamuju city's 3,000 capacity Suada mosque -- including building permit and mosque committee details -- Affan uploads his drone pictures to a bulging online database. "We did it manually in the past, but now we're going digital," he told AFP. The government is also planning to launch an Android-based app called Info Masjid (Mosque Info) so Muslims can use their smartphone to find the nearest place of worship. Nur Salim Ismal, who attends the Suada mosque, hopes the move online will bring greater transparency. "Mosques manage huge amounts of money from worshippers and it should be clear how it's being used," he said. But the mosque hunt isn't just a counting exercise -- it's also a way to keep an eye on radicalism. "Radical ideology can mushroom anywhere and mosques are one of the easiest places for it to spread," Affan said. "Why? Because you don?t need to invite people to the mosque, they'll come anyway. "We want to ensure that all imams and (mosque) committees are moderate because Islam in Indonesia is moderate," he added. Indonesia's long-held reputation for tolerant pluralism has been tested in recent years. Muslim hardliners are becoming increasingly vocal in public and the country is home to dozens of extremist groups loyal to Islamic State group's violent ideology. - 'Endless job' - In 2018, Indonesia's intelligence agency said it had found dozens of mosques that catered to government workers spreading radicalism and calling for violence against non-Muslims -- in one Jakarta neighbourhood alone. The alarming figures came several months after Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya was rocked by a wave of suicide bombings carried out by families at churches during Sunday services, killing a dozen people. Members of an IS-loyal group tried to assassinate Indonesia's chief security minister last year, while in November a militant suicide bomber killed himself and injured six others during an attack at a police station. Indonesia's new vice-president Ma?ruf Amin, a cleric-turned-politician, has said the government would start certifying preachers and mosque congregations nationwide to stamp out militants in their ranks. "There is potential for mosques to be prone to radicalism if they're not monitored," said Ali Munhanif, an expert on political Islam at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta "The government has a responsibility to keep its eye on all mosques in Indonesia." In the tally so far, the team has counted 258,958 large mosques and another 295,194 smaller ones, which fit 40 people or fewer. Affan and his team hope to finish the initial round of counting this year. "But this is an endless job and it'll never be finished," he said. "It's pretty rare for a mosque to close down, but one thing is for sure: the number of new ones will keep going up." Indonesian authorities estimate there are more than 740,000 mosques nationwide but have commissioned a census to count the exact number Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260 million people are Muslim A team of some 1,000 have spent years visiting every corner of Indonesia to answer one question: how many mosques are there in the world's biggest Muslim majority nation? The Indonesian government is planning to launch an app so Muslims can use their smartphone to find the nearest place of worship Indonesia's mosque hunters use drones and personal visits to collate and compile data for the census to tally how many there are in the country MISSOULA Lauren Fern, a faculty member with the University of Montana Department of Mathematics, recently was named a 2019 Montana University System Teaching Scholar. Fern lectures and serves as student success coordinator in the math department. She is one of 12 faculty members across Montana selected for the programs inaugural class by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the MUS Board of Regents. Those selected for this new honor develop high-impact teaching practices for student success and serve as exemplary models for others in higher education. MUS Teaching Scholar Lauren Fern Its a joy to be recognized for my commitment to students and the impact I have on them not only as mathematical learners, but holistically, Fern said. This program offers a great opportunity to deepen and extend this impact to further enhance the education of our students at UM. Fern will receive a $1,500 award, as well as a $500 stipend to design and facilitate a faculty learning community at UM. With this award I plan to gather a small group of math faculty from both Missoula College and the mountain campus to further develop and coordinate our math co-requisite courses and student success efforts more strategically, she said. We will build activities to actively engage students at all skill levels to reach their potential and deepen their conceptual understanding of core mathematical ideas in meaningful contexts. Faculty groups established by the MUS Teaching Scholar Program will work together to learn about and develop practices focused on this years scholars theme, High-Impact Practices for Student Success. The theme builds on a larger MUS project regarding high-impact practices funded through the Lumina Foundation. High-impact practices proven to positively affect student success include freshman seminars on financial literacy, campus resources, study habit improvement, service learning, undergraduate research, internships and senior-year capstone research projects. This new MUS program is one way our office can celebrate and support outstanding faculty who are committed to making student learning more innovative, exciting and meaningful, said Dr. Brock Tessman, an OCHE deputy commissioner. ### This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Samantha Rolfe, Lecturer in Astrobiology and Principal Technical Officer at Bayfordbury Observatory, University of Hertfordshire Life is pretty easy to recognise. It moves, it grows, it eats, it excretes, it reproduces. Simple. In biology, researchers often use the acronym " MRSGREN " to describe it. It stands for movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition. But Helen Sharman , Britain's first astronaut and a chemist at Imperial College London, recently said that alien lifeforms that are impossible to spot may be living among us . How could that be possible? While life may be easy to recognise, it's actually notoriously difficult to define and has had scientists and philosophers in debate for centuries if not millennia. For example, a 3D printer can reproduce itself, but we wouldn't call it alive. On the other hand, a mule is famously sterile, but we would never say it doesn't live. As nobody can agree, there are more than 100 definitions of what life is. An alternative (but imperfect) approach is describing life as "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution," which works for many cases we want to describe. The lack of definition is a huge problem when it comes to searching for life in space. Not being able to define life other than "we'll know it when we see it" means we are truly limiting ourselves to geocentric, possibly even anthropocentric, ideas of what life looks like. When we think about aliens, we often picture a humanoid creature. But the intelligent life we are searching for doesn't have to be humanoid . Life, but not as we know it Sharman says she believes aliens exist and "there's no two ways about it." Furthermore, she wonders : "Will they be like you and me, made up of carbon and nitrogen? Maybe not. It's possible they're here right now and we simply can't see them." Such life would exist in a " shadow biosphere ." By that, I don't mean a ghost realm, but undiscovered creatures probably with a different biochemistry. This means we can't study or even notice them because they are outside of our comprehension. Assuming it exists, such a shadow biosphere would probably be microscopic. So why haven't we found it? We have limited ways of studying the microscopic world as only a small percentage of microbes can be cultured in a lab. This may mean that there could indeed be many lifeforms we haven't yet spotted. We do now have the ability to sequence the DNA of unculturable strains of microbes, but this can only detect life as we know it that contain DNA. If we find such a biosphere, however, it is unclear whether we should call it alien. That depends on whether we mean "of extraterrestrial origin" or simply "unfamiliar." Silicon-based life A popular suggestion for an alternative biochemistry is one based on silicon rather than carbon. It makes sense, even from a geocentric point of view. Around 90% of the Earth is made up of silicon, iron, magnesium and oxygen, which means there's lots to go around for building potential life. Artist's impression of a silicon-based life form. (Image credit: Zita/Shutterstock) Silicon is similar to carbon , it has four electrons available for creating bonds with other atoms. But silicon is heavier, with 14 protons (protons make up the atomic nucleus with neutrons) compared to the six in the carbon nucleus. While carbon can create strong double and triple bonds to form long chains useful for many functions, such as building cell walls, it is much harder for silicon. It struggles to create strong bonds, so long-chain molecules are much less stable. What's more, common silicon compounds, such as silicon dioxide (or silica), are generally solid at terrestrial temperatures and insoluble in water. Compare this to highly soluble carbon dioxide, for example, and we see that carbon is more flexible and provides many more molecular possibilities. Life on Earth is fundamentally different from the bulk composition of the Earth. Another argument against a silicon-based shadow biosphere is that too much silicon is locked up in rocks. In fact, the chemical composition of life on Earth has an approximate correlation with the chemical composition of the sun, with 98% of atoms in biology consisting of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. So if there were viable silicon lifeforms here, they may have evolved elsewhere. That said, there are arguments in favour of silicon-based life on Earth. Nature is adaptable. A few years ago, scientists at Caltech managed to breed a bacterial protein that created bonds with silicon essentially bringing silicon to life . So even though silicon is inflexible compared with carbon, it could perhaps find ways to assemble into living organisms, potentially including carbon. And when it comes to other places in space, such as Saturn's moon Titan or planets orbiting other stars, we certainly can't rule out the possibility of silicon-based life. To find it, we have to somehow think outside of the terrestrial biology box and figure out ways of recognising lifeforms that are fundamentally different from the carbon-based form. There are plenty of experiments testing out these alternative biochemistries, such as the one from Caltech. Regardless of the belief held by many that life exists elsewhere in the universe, we have no evidence for that. So it is important to consider all life as precious, no matter its size, quantity or location. The Earth supports the only known life in the universe. So no matter what form life elsewhere in the solar system or universe may take, we have to make sure we protect it from harmful contamination whether it is terrestrial life or alien lifeforms. Read more: Elon Musk's Starship may be more moral catastrophe than bold step in space exploration So could aliens be among us? I don't believe that we have been visited by a life form with the technology to travel across the vast distances of space. But we do have evidence for life-forming, carbon-based molecules having arrived on Earth on meteorites , so the evidence certainly doesn't rule out the same possibility for more unfamiliar life forms. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates and become part of the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Michelle Carter will be released from prison next week, four months ahead of schedule, after goading her boyfriend into killing himself in 2014. The 22-year-old, from Massachusetts, is currently serving a 15-month sentence after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 death of her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III. She was set to be released in May but will be released from the Dartmouth facility on January 23 after good behavior. A spokesman for Bristol County Sheriffs Office told Boston 25 News: 'There have been no problems and she has been attending programs, which is common at state facilities like the Bristol County House of Correction.' Scroll down for video Michelle Carter, pictured in February 2019, will be released from prison next week, four months ahead of schedule, after goading her boyfriend into killing himself in 2014 In 2014, Carter goaded her suicidal boyfriend of two years Conrad Roy III to take his own life The spokesman added: 'Ms. Carter continues to attend programs, is getting along with other inmates, is polite to our staff and volunteers, and weve had no discipline issues at all.' The state Parole Board in September had rejected Carter's bid for release after serving about half her sentence, with board members writing in a memo that they 'remain troubled' that she not only egged Roy on to take his own life, but also prevented others from intervening. Despite being denied parole, Carter's release date had already been moved up from May 5 to March 13, 2020, because of good behavior. The Supreme Court on Monday left in place her conviction after a judge determined that Carter, who was 17, caused the death of the 18-year-old Roy. She ordered him in a phone call to get back in his carbon monoxide-filled truck that he'd parked in a Kmart parking lot. The phone call was not recorded, but the judge relied on a text Carter sent her friend in which she said she told Roy to get back in. In text messages sent in the days leading up to Roy's death, Carter also encouraged Roy to follow through with his suicide plan and chastised him when he didn't, Massachusetts courts found. The case has garnered national attention and sparked legislative proposals in Massachusetts to criminalize suicide coercion. The Supreme Court on Monday left in place her conviction after a judge determined that Carter, who was 17, left, caused the death of the 18-year-old Roy, right Evidence presented at trial showed Carter had suggested several ways in which Roy could commit suicide. Drink bleach. Why don't you just drink bleach? Hang yourself, Carter said in one text, before adding, Jump over a building, stab yourself, idk. There's a lot of ways' Michelle Carter awaits her sentencing in April 2017. Despite being denied parole, Carter's release date had already been moved up from May 5 to March 13 because of good behavior Carter's lawyers argued in their Supreme Court appeal that the conviction should be thrown out because it was an 'unprecedented' violation of her free speech rights that raised crucial questions about whether 'words alone' are enough to hold someone responsible for another person's suicide. The lawyers also argued there was simply not enough evidence to prove Carter urged Roy to to get back in his truck to die, or that he would have lived if she had called for help or taken other actions to try and save his life. Her lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, said: 'The U.S. Supreme Court not accepting Michelle Carters petition at this time is unfortunate. Clearly many legal scholars and many in the legal community understand the dangers this precedent created by the Massachusetts courts.' The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 provides people in distress, or those around them, with 24-hour support. Or, to connect with a counselor through the Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741. New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Congress on Wednesday promised to give free rides in buses to senior citizens, students and women, if voted to power. Appreciating the Delhi government's scheme of free rides to women in DTC buses, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhash Chopra said at a press conference: "I appreciate that Delhi government has offered free rides to women in DTC buses but why only to women? We will give free rides to women, senior citizens and students, if voted to power." He also said that the Congress "will give free electricity upto 600 units to the people of Delhi if we form the government. We will introduce such welfare schemes for people of Delhi that the Aam Aadmi Party couldn't even think of, let our manifesto release". He accused the Delhi government of reducing the transport budget of Delhi instead of increasing it. "They have ruined the public transport system which is causing air pollution because there are less numbers of buses and more cars leading to traffic jams," he said. He stated that the previous Congress government constructed 67 flyovers and four elevated roads, while the Kejriwal government added none during its whole tenure. "There were 46 depots during the Congress government, now 39 bus depots are left. The Congress built 3 Inter-State Bus Terminals (ISBTs) while the AAP government did not build any bus depot or terminal," said Chopra. Political parties are on a spree of announcing freebies to lure the people of Delhi ahead of the assembly elections to be held in a single phase on February 8, while the counting of votes will take place on February 11. Jefferies announced today, that on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020, the firm will dedicate a day of trading to support relief efforts needed after the devastation caused by the recent wildfires taking place in Australia. Specifically, Jefferies will donate net trading commissions on Wednesday, January 22 for all trading in Asia Pacific securities, including equities, fixed income and FX, by the firm's clients globally. Simultaneously, all of the firm's global employees will also be given the opportunity to personally donate to the relief effort. Jefferies will match all client trading commissions generated that day, as well as match all employee donations from across the firm. The total contribution will then be donated to relief organizations directly involved in the rescue and recovery efforts in Australia. Rich Handler, CEO, and Brian Friedman, President, of Jefferies commented: "All of us at Jefferies, including our 57 colleagues in Australia, 423 across Asia Pacific and 3,813 globally, are deeply saddened and concerned about this catastrophic devastation. We hope this donation from Jefferies will help, in some small way, to ease the pain of those affected by this disaster, and we encourage our global clients and employees to join our efforts to contribute to those in need." Jefferies Group LLC, the largest independent full-service global investment banking firm headquartered in the U.S. focused on serving clients for over 55 years, is a leader in providing insight, expertise and execution to investors, companies and governments. Our firm provides a full range of investment banking, advisory, sales and trading, research and wealth management services across all products in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Jefferies Group LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), a diversified financial services company. For further information, please contact your Jefferies representative. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005797/en/ Contacts: For media inquiries: Richard Khaleel, +1 212 284 2556, rkhaleel@jefferies.com [January 15, 2020] Australia Bush Fires in Sydney Visualized Using WhereOS Satellite Data Application SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Australia bush fires so far: up to 200,000 square kilometers burned, tens of lives and thousands of homes lost, up to 1 billion animals impacted. For Australia's 2019 and 2020 bush fires, WhereOS has created a visualization that shows the fires and destruction in the Sydney area in Australia. See the impacts of the bush fires using the WhereOS interactive visualization. WhereOS launched today a satellite data analysis application that helps companies and organizations to understand climate change and environmental impacts - among others - by processing satellite data and creating interactive visualizations and applications. Besides satellite data, WhereOS can be used for geospatial data analytics and innovation - helping companies and organizations torapidly develop new innovative applications based on data. About WhereOS WhereOS facilitates faster innovation for data-driven businesses and organizations. With an Ecosystem-as-a-Service model, WhereOS can provide a holistic solution for companies who want to get more value out of their data and turn data into valuable insights and assets. Press contact: Mr. Jussi-Pekka Partanen +358 50 486 9257 [email protected] Related Images sydney-bush-fires-visualized.jpg Sydney bush fires visualized Related Links WhereOS Australia bush fires visualization View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/australia-bush-fires-in-sydney-visualized-using-whereos-satellite-data-application-300987678.html SOURCE WhereOS Australian clothing giant Jeanswest has gone into voluntary administration, leaving almost 1,000 workers at 146 stores in limbo. On Wednesday, KPMG's Peter Gothard and James Stewart were appointed administrators of the Australian operations of the fast-fashion retailer. Jeanswest is an iconic Australian retail brand which opened its first store in Perth in 1972, and employs 988 people in 146 stores across Australia. The company's operations outside of Australia won't be impacted by the Administration. On Wednesday, KPMG's Peter Gothard and James Stewart were appointed voluntary administrators of the Australian operations of Jeanswest, which has 146 stores across Australia KPMG bosses said like many other retailers, Jeanswest has been challenged by current tough market conditions and pressure from online competition 'Jeanswest will continue to operate while the Administrators conduct an urgent analysis of the business,' KPMG Partner Peter Gothard said. 'The Administrators will be looking at all options for the restructure or sale of this established Australian retail business and are seeking urgent expressions of interest from parties interested in acquiring or investing in the business.' KPMG's retail restructuring practice leader James Stewart said like many other retailers, the business has been challenged by current tough market conditions and pressure from online competition. Dropping like flies: Some of Australia's recent retail casualties 2016: Dick Smith, Masters hardware, Payless Shoes 2017: Topshop Australia 2018: Avon, Espirit, Toys 'R' Us, Max Brenner, Roger David 2019: Ed Harry, Diana Ferrari, Napoleon Perdis, Ziera, Bardot, Harris Scarfe, Jeanswest Advertisement 'The Administration provides an opportunity for Jeanswest to restructure so as to better respond to the challenging Australian retail market,' he said. In 2017, the owner of Jeanswest claimed Australians were forking out their money for 'lifestyle spending' on travel and televisions, rather than buying new clothes. He said this lead to 'lethargic' and 'slothful' retail habits. Between 2015-2016, sales in Australia and New Zealand for Jeanswest fell 12.3 per cent to $181.5M. Jeanswest's voluntary administration comes amid Australia's retail market's dire turn. More than 170 stores are tipped to close this year. Household names like Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, and Napoleon Perdis dropped like files in the past year with dozens of stores closing resulting in heavy job losses. Experts claim that the could be the tip of the iceberg as consumers continue to turn more to online shopping over bricks and mortar stores. Experts have warned Bardot and Harris Scarfe are just the start of the downfall of big-name Aussie brands Australian retail growth is at its worst level since the early 1990s recession and international giants like Amazon and Aldi threaten to further the shake up. Entrepreneur Dick Smith believes the outlook is so bad, high-profile collapses will accelerate until there's very little left. 'Job losses are concerning. We have 170 retailers slated to close only two weeks into of January this year,' he told Today. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia Mr Smith said that internet companies had driven the retail disaster. 'We will end up with just Amazon and Aldi and basically all the Aussie companies will be sent to bankruptcy,' he said. 'All those famous brands will go. Some of them might exist in name only but will be taken over by overseas companies.' Mr Smith watched the electronics chain that bore his name crash in 2016, decades after he sold it in 1980. The collapse was one of Australia's biggest retail failures. Harris Scarfe, founded in 1849, also took consumers by surprise when it entered administration last month and is now about to close at least 21 stores. People have been urged not to try and squeeze inside musical instrument cases after reports Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan boss, escaped Japan concealed inside in one. Japanese company Yahama, which makes instruments and equipment ranging from pianos and double basses to drums and heavy duty speakers, tweeted: We wont mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases. A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it. A popular theory regarding Ghosns escape involves him being helped by a Gregorian band and team of ex-special forces operatives who smuggled him out of his home in a musical instrument case. The former head of Nissan and Renault fled from Japan to Lebanon under strict bail conditions to avoid charges of financial misconduct at the end of last year. 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 Mystery continues to surround the issue with some Japanese media reporting on his escape via bullet train, while others say there is footage of him walking out of his house alone. The charges against Mr Ghosn include hiding earnings, transferring investment losses to Nissan and misappropriating company funds all of which he denies. At a press conference last week in Beirut he declined to address speculation on the matter. He told a packed room of reporters he was the victim of an unimaginable ordeal by unscrupulous individuals and said he welcomed the opportunity to clear his name. Likening his arrest in Japan to the ambushing of Pearl Harbour in the Second World War, the 65-year-old described the decision to flee as the most difficult decision of his life. Mr Ghosn also accused Japanese prosecutors of conspiring with Nissan to take him down due to his support for merging Renault and Nissan. Japan have vehemently denied any allegations of a conspiracy and are continuing to investigate how Ghosn managed to escape. The 65-year-old, who holds Lebanese, Brazilian, and French citizenship, is thought to have travelled via Istanbul with a Turkish airline confirming their jets illegal use in the escape. Lebanon has issued a travel ban for both Mr Ghosn and his wife, Carole Ghosn. Mr Ghosn has sought to distance his Lebanese wife and family from any involvement. He said: The allegations in the media that my wife Carole and other members of my family played a role in my departure from Japan are false and misleading. I alone organised my departure my family played no role. European Commission not to make any exceptions to energy rules for Nord Stream 2 Kuleba 20:30, 15.01.20 4838 Ukraine's vice PM says security risks remain regarding the pipeline. - with reporting from Fred Ojambo Tullow Oil shares fell by almost 16% after the company warned of a likely $1.5bn (1.3bn) financial hit to its 2019 figures due to a lower oil price forecast and a reduction in reserves at one of its flagship fields offshore Ghana. In its end-of-year trading update, ahead of its annual results announcement in March, Tullow largely retained earlier 2019 guidance, saying total revenue would be around $1.7bn and gross profit would amount to approximately $700m. But Tullow has lowered its long-term oil price forecast by $10 per barrel to $65 and said reserves were 30% lower at its TEN field offshore Ghana with these factors likely to result in the $1.5bn of impairment charges. Tullow said it ended 2019 with average production of 86,700 barrels of oil per day. This was also in line with recent guidance, but the Irish-founded exploration company reduced its 2019 production guidance several times last year amid technical glitches in its Ghana operations. Group output this year is forecast at 70,000 to 80,000 barrels a day and production for the next three years will likely hover around the bottom of that range. Earlier this month, Tullow shares crashed when the company said its latest oil find, in Guyana, was smaller than expected. That value fall followed a similar meltdown in December when the company cut its production outlook, suspended dividend payments, and parted company with its CEO and exploration director. In its latest update, Tullow said the recruitment of its new chief executive is well under way, with the assistance of an executive search firm, but the companys executive chair Dorothy Thompson told analysts that it remains too early to say when a new boss will be in place. Tullows senior team has been working hard on a major review, focused on delivering a more efficient and effective organisation, she said. However, Ms Thompson declined to comment on expectations of job losses across the exploration group. She said the fundamentals of Tullows business remain intact, with solid underlying reserves and resources in western and eastern Africa and continuing good cash flow being generated from the companys producing assets. The board and senior management are confident of the long-term potential of the portfolio and see meaningful opportunities to improve operational performance, reduce our cost base, deliver sustainable free cash flow, and reduce our debt, said Ms Thompson. Meanwhile, Uganda said it expects the planned development of two oil fields connected to Tullow to cost at least $5bn, as the government seeks to resolve a tax dispute with the companies that own the sites and pave the way for increased infrastructure spending. That amount is part of the $15bn-$20bn that the east African nation anticipates will flow within three to five years to its nascent oil industry, including a refinery and crude pipeline. The Ugandan government is in talks with Tullow, Total, and Cnooc Ltd, which jointly own the Kingfisher and Tilega fields, over Tullows plan to reduce its interest in the assets and allow final investment decisions to be inked. A fallout over how much tax Tullows share sale attracted led the company to abandon a deal in August and total to suspend plans to build a $3.5bn crude export pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania. Uganda was on course to see a final investment decision last year to develop the fields when the tax disagreements emerged. Former energy minister, Irene Muloni, said last month that the government offered a package to the companies that could end pending hindrances. Uganda is struggling to fund this fiscal years budget of 40.5 trillion shilling (10bn) after revenue from sources including pre-oil development activities declined. - Irish Examiner and Bloomberg 71-year-old volunteer security guard gets Texas highest civilian honor for stopping church shooter Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Jack Wilson, the 71-year-old volunteer security guard who stopped a gunman at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, ahead of the new year was honored Monday by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for his bravery. Wilson was honored during a formal ceremony with the newly minted Governors Medal of Courage, which Abbotts office describes as the highest honor given to civilians by the governor for those who display great acts of heroism by risking their own safety to save anothers life. The firearms instructor who has also been a reserve sheriffs deputy stopped 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen last month after he opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ, killing two people security guard Richard White, 67, and grandfather Anton "Tony" Wallace, 64, who had just handed out communion. In his remarks on Wilson Monday, Abbott thanked God for placing Wilson in the church on the day of the shooting. Although we continue to mourn the loss of Tony Wallace and Rich White, we also thank God for putting Jack Wilson in that church that day to bring the attack to an end and to prevent the further loss of further life. Only God knows who is alive today because of Jack Wilson. What we do know is that so many lives were saved because of Jack Wilsons quick action, Abbott said. His calmness under pressure and above all else his courage and his willingness to risk his own life to save the lives of others. Courage has been defined as feeling fear yet choosing to act; following your heart when determining what to do; persevering in the face of adversity; stepping up to do the right thing to do; facing suffering with dignity and with faith. Jack Wilson embodies those traits. When faced with an evil that few of us can ever comprehend Jack Wilson responded with strength, with bravery and with love for those in the church that day, Abbott continued. Thats why he volunteered to provide security at the church knowing that one day he may be called upon to step up and risk his own life. Jack, I know that youve been reluctant to accept the label of being called a hero but that is exactly who you are. You are a hero to everybody in the church that day. You are a hero to the people of Texas. You put your life on the line to ensure others would live. That is the hallmark of heroism and of courage. And its my honor to present to you the Governors Medal of Courage, Abbott added. Wilson, in his response to the award, said he didnt feel like a hero but rather a protector. When events arise, youre going to do one of two things. Youre either going to step up and do whats right or walk away, and Im not one to walk away, he said. In his remarks Monday, Abbott also praised the churchs Senior Pastor Britt Farmer for guiding his church through the ordeal. I saw firsthand how tight-knit the West Freeway Church of Christ community truly is. The fact of the matter is, its far more than just a community. Its a family. A family of brothers and sisters in Christ who look out for one another even in the darkest of moments, Abbott said. Britt, I want you to know, its easy to see here youre not only a man of faith, youre a man filled with grace provided by God. There was a serenity and calmness to the way you responded to this catastrophe. Its almost unimaginable. Knowing that you lost some of your very best friends. You lost some of your congregants. It was your church that was attacked but yet God empowered you with the strength that you needed to be able to instill calm and resolve in your congregants and God continues to work through you to this very day, Abbott said before presenting Farmer with the state flag. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The ruling My Step faction of the Armenian Parliament has convened a closed-format session. The session is not attended by Prime Minister, member of the Civil Contract party board Nikol Pashinyan. The faction is holding its session at the partys headquarters. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan But thats the world we live in. Google knows every sordid detail about our lives, and when a court tells them to dish out the dirt, they most likely will do it. This is standard in criminal investigations and government inquiries. But how far are we willing to let this go? How personal and petty could it eventually become? Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh, who often makes headlines for his controversial and communal comments is back in the news again. This time for a different reason. Speaking at a workshop for vice-chancellors and veterinary officers from 12 states, Singh urged scientists to conduct more research on cow dung. According to the Minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, this could make it financially viable for farmers to keep their cows even after they have stopped producing milk. "Stray cattle is a major problem in Uttar Pradesh," Giriraj Singh said adding that if farmers can make money out of cow dung and urine they will not abandon their cattle. "There is immense scope of value addition to milk, dung, and urine of the cow that would ultimately contribute to the economy of the country," he said. Last year Uttar Pradesh was hit by an unprecedented crisis after hundreds of stray cows began occupying the roads, streets and even invading farms in search of food. The sudden spike in stray cattle was the result of a cattle slaughter ban in the state, imposed by the Yogi Adityanath government. After slaughterhouses were shut down, the farmers who till then used to sell their unproductive cattle to these abattoirs had no option, but to leave their cows on the streets as it was not financially viable for them to keep the aged cows. Angered by the stray cows destroying their crops there were several instances in UP last year when locals locked up hundreds of strays inside government schools and offices, forcing authorities to take them away. Faced with public anger over the rising stray cattle menace Yogi had announced the setting up of gaushalas (cow shelters) across the state and had allocated a total of Rs 247.60 crore in the budget for it. In September 2019 Giriraj Singh had another solution for the stray cattle menace and end mob lynchings in the name of cattle protection. He had suggested that if we through an artificial insemination if we ensure that only female calves are born, incidents of lynchings will also end. In the near future, only female calves will be born through sex-sorted semen. Now, the cases of mob lynchings in the name of stray cattle wont be reported, Singh said. People tend to abandon bull calves as they are a financial burden for the farmers and they later become stray cattle, he further said. While the minister's demand to do research on cow dung and urine may sound outlandish, there are already several 'scientific' reaches in the country including trying to cure cancer with cow urine. Scientists at Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) had even claimed that they found gold in the urine of Gir cows. Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday nominated top female judge Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou to become the country's next president. If approved by parliament, the 63-year-old head of the Council of State would become the first woman to hold the largely ceremonial post. Her appointment is expected to be a formality as Mitsotakis's conservative New Democracy party holds 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament. The date of the parliamentary vote has not yet been set, but must take place before February 13 -- one month before the end of the five-year term of current president Prokopis Pavlopoulos. "The time has come for Greece to open up to the future," Mitsotakis said in a televised address, emphasising that the selection breaks with tradition not only because Sakellaropoulou is female, but also because she is not a member of a political party. He said the choice "embodies unity and progress". Sakellaropoulou told the state news agency ANA that the nomination was "an honour". She thanked the prime minister and said she was ready to "devote herself with all her might to this high duty". Search Keywords: Short link: PREZ TRUMP IMPEACHMENT SLAP FIGHT PREVIEW!!! Senate readies for impeachment mayhem A Democratic document dump on the eve of an expected House vote to finally send articles of impeachment to the Senate is supercharging the party's demands for witnesses at President Donald Trump's soon-to-begin trial. Articles En Route Trump impeachment focus to shift to Senate as House prepares to send articles WASHINGTON - The House is set to vote Wednesday afternoon to send articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate, where opening arguments are expected Tuesday in only the third impeachment trial of a president in history. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., delayed sending the articles after the House approved them Dec. Tech Takeover Lev Parnas' text messages provide Pelosi a new card to play on Trump impeachment evidence What's happening: Parnas' lawyer, Joseph A. Bondy, said in a series of tweets over the weekend and yesterday that he turned over to the House Intelligence Committee the contents of Parnas' iPhone 11, detailing interactions "with a number of individuals relevant to the impeachment inquiry." Senator Ted Talks Payback Sen. Ted Cruz floats idea of 'witness reciprocity' for Senate impeachment trial Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pitched the idea of "witness reciprocity" on Tuesday during a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP leadership who convened to discuss strategy for the upcoming impeachment trial that will decide if President Trump is removed from office, Fox News has confirmed. Documenting Fixer Foibles The stunning new texts and documents, explained. The House Intelligence Committee quietly released a new batch of impeachment inquiry evidence Tuesday evening: documents provided by Rudy Giuliani's fixer for Ukraine, Lev Parnas. And boy, are they ugly. The documents, which include Parnas's handwritten notes, copies of text messages, and other correspondence, reveal some new information - including that Giuliani claimed to be acting with President Trump's "knowledge and consent" in his communications with the Ukrainian government. Counting On Republicans??? GOP leadership: There aren't 51 votes to dismiss Trump articles of impeachment "I think our members generally are not interested in a motion to dismiss. ... Certainly there aren't 51 votes for a motion to dismiss," Blunt, the No. 4 Senate Republican, told reporters after a closed-door leadership meeting. End Game Unclear Sen. McConnell Says Pelosi's Impeachment Strategy Achieved 'Absolutely Nothing' Politics REUTERS/Tom Brenner Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to sit on the articles of impeachment for a month is a "strange gambit" that "produced absolutely nothing." McConnell described Pelosi's strategy Monday as a "one-woman blockade" of the impeachment trial on the floor of the Senate, Fox News reported. There is finally progress on this stalled political action now that the war of Armageddon is postponed until, hopefully, after the Super Bowl.This news impacts every American so we make a space for some of the top links to the divisive topic:Developing . . . Gravano in 1993. Photo: Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma via Getty Images Inevitably, when a movie is based on actual events in living memory, viewers start to ask questions about the veracity of what they just watched. Thats particularly true of Martin Scorseses The Irishman, which deals with the mystery behind vanished Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa, because generally accepted mob history seems to have been rewritten to place obscure gangsters at the center of the action. Unable to just say Fuhgeddaboudit, I decided to call Salvatore Gravano, a.k.a. Sammy the Bull, and ask him about the real-life hits at the heart of The Irishman, which was just nominated for Best Picture and Director Oscars. The 74-year-old former Gambino family underboss, who is preparing to launch a podcast, is widely regarded as the most important witness in law enforcements battle with the Mafia. The ex-wiseguy, who admits to involvement in 19 murders including the infamous 1985 Paul Castellano hit outside Sparks Steak House that brought John Gotti to power was arrested on December 11, 1990, and soon cut a deal with prosecutors. I reached him at an undisclosed location, and heres his personal movie review, slightly condensed and edited. If you havent seen The Irishman yet, take note: Spoilers are everywhere. What were your impressions of The Irishman? It was not as well done as I thought would be, with everybody who was in it. They couldve did a much better job. You know, theyre all big actors when it comes to Mafia movies, stuff like that. So I really actually thought it would be a lot better. It was very long. Thats number one. Number two, a lot of the stuff in the actual movie was wrong. The Irishman did not do the shooting. Hes not the guy who killed Jimmy Hoffa. From what I understood it was given to Tony Provenzano, who was a very powerful captain of the Genovese family, and his man, his guy Sally-something-or-other, whatever the fuck his name was I cant think of it. Sally Bugs Briguglio? Yes, Sally Bugs. From what I understood, he was the guy who actually killed Hoffa. So the story was wrong. It was all done wrong! Matter of fact, Joe Pesci, the guy he played? Russell Bufalino. Yeah. They exaggerated Russell Bufalinos part in this thing. Theres times in the movie when they are talking about getting back to the real boss, like its Bufalino. Angelo Bruno was the boss of the Philadelphia mob, not Russell Bufalino. So they got this whole fucking thing twisted and turned around. I dont know who told them what. Now, Russell Bufalino did head a faction Im not sure if he was a boss or he was a major captain. But I dont even know if he had any part in the damn thing. So they got the whole thing fucked up. Frank Sheeran, the real-life Irishman, talked to Charles Brandt, who wrote the book the movie was based on. Sheeran died a year before the book came out. But taking credit for the Hoffa hit and the famous Joe Gallo hit makes for a good story. Do you think that might have been the driver here selling books? I didnt really think about where it came from and how it came about, but it was wrong the Gallo hit really had nothing to do with this whole movie. They got the Irishman killing Gallo, which is insane. He had no part in that whatsoever. I believe it was Carmine Persico and a few other people who killed him I dont know how [the filmmakers] did what they did. I guess they took it from that book with all this bullshit in it, and they ran with that. So now I guess they got to live with it. In Underboss, the book you collaborated on with Peter Maas, you say that the Gallo hit was sanctioned by mob boss Joe Colombo because Gallo refused to meet with him. Thats who put it out. It was a Colombo thing. There was a war. And the second part of that war, when Crazy Joe Gallo came out of prison, I was with the Colombo family. I was with the Carmine Persico faction and then was transferred out to the Gambino family. [After Joe Colombo was killed in 1971,] Persico took over and I believe he had four guys finish the job. The restaurant where Crazy Joe got shot, Umbertos Clam House, was [Genovese family member Matthew Ianniello] Matty the Horses restaurant. He was part of that hit. He okayed it. A Colombo member saw Gallo come in, and it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I think they sent a message to Matty right away. He gave a nod. Hes in my restaurant? Go ahead, take him out. They went in the fucking restaurant and shot him. What did you think of the way they treated the Hoffa hit? I mean, this wasnt a complicated hit. They exaggerated his part. He was running the union. When he went to prison, they liked him. He was their boy. From what I understood, when Hoffa came out, they told him, First of all, legally, you cant run the union. Secondly, you could be a middle man between us and [the union head] because you still have a lot of knowledge about the union. Whatever comes down from the unions, you will get a nice piece of it. Then you will hand over the other piece where it belongs. To us. We run the union. We own the union. He wouldnt accept it. They had a few conversations with him, and then the decision was: Fuck him, take him out. Would that have been Angelo Bruno? Who would sanction that? It mightve been a couple of bosses that had something to do with that union. It might been Angelo Bruno. Obviously, it must have had something to do with the Genovese family. Were you a fan of Goodfellas? Yeah, I was a fan of Goodfellas, and I knew some of the people that were involved in that whole thing. And that was fairly accurate. You know when they went through the basement to get into the Copacabana? Thats the way I used to get in. Me and my friends, wed go right down there boom, right in, sitting at somebodys table. Thats the way we lived. It had a lot of truth, though Im sure there was some Hollywood involved. Did the details of the Hoffa hit seem right to you? What they done with the body, I really dont know. I dont think anybody really knows for sure unless you were involved in it. This is not something that they normally talk about! In the movie, they burned him. I dont buy the story they took them back to New Jersey. Why would they tell a hit guy, Go kill him in Detroit, and then drive back with him in the trunk of a car a thousand miles? I cant even imagine somebody telling me something like that. I would tell him, Ill kill him you drive him back. If we get stopped for a fucking bad light or a speeding ticket or something, we got a dead body! That dont make sense at all. Did it make sense to you that Sheeran left the gun on Hoffas body? No, no. Fuck you Ill take care of the gun myself. Thats my gun. My prints on it. I aint leaving it to nobody. I dont give a fuck who said that. Put the gun on top of the guys body? Why the fuck would you do that? I guess because its a movie and its dramatic? Thats gotta be it. But I mean, its ridiculous. I would never do that. And you can quote me, I would never do that. A model has shared hilarious photographs which offer a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into capturing the perfect Instagram shot. Vienna, who has more than 150,000 followers on the app, posted a series of images to Twitter which reveal the less-than-glamorous outtakes from her enviable social media feed. One of the photo sets, which shows Vienna posing in a waterfall, includes a second snap in which she is frantically pushing water out of her face. Another shows the model, from Thailand, being spooked by pigeons moments after she took an influencer-style photograph which painted a much more graceful scene. Here FEMAIL has gathered the most hilarious - and relatable - of the model's candid behind-the-scenes snaps. Model Vienna, from Thailand, shared a candid behind-the-scenes look (right) at an enviable photo of herself underneath a waterfall (left) Another photo set captures Vienna being spooked by pigeons (right) moments after taking a gorgeous shot perched by the birds (left) In a third candid snap, the model is seen struggling to blow up a red Pixar balloon (right) after taking a perfect photo (left) Vienna also shared an image of herself blinking while drinking beer (right) after she posed with a hot drink for an angelic picture (left) In another snap, the model has her fringe pushed back and is chomping on an ice lolly (right). Moments earlier, Vienna had posed with two Disney-themed ice pops inside a theme park (left) The model was also captured wet and bedraggled struggling to climb out of a pool (right) after taking a stunning photo in the water (left) In this photo set, Vienna - dressed in a swimming hat and goggles - splashes water in her face (right) after posing for a glamorous snap on the pool steps (left) The model also shared a photograph of herself posing in the sea (left) - and moments later struggling to stay upright in the waves (right) This pair of photographs captures Vienna holding her phone with her foot (right) in order to capture the perfect snuggled snap (left) In another, the model is seen with a friend minus her glamorous make-up (right) after an Insta-worthy snap is taken (left) File image: Goa CM Pramod Sawant The Goa Congress on Wednesday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, claiming that he has "failed" to address key issues like non-resumption of the mining industry, unemployment and slowdown in tourism sector in the state. Talking to reporters here, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar alleged that the BJP-led state government was "insensitive" towards issues raised by the opposition due to which there was discontent among people. Chodankar said his party has been raising various issues, like non-resumption of mining operations, "unprecedented" unemployment Goa, which he claimed was highest in the country, slowdown of the tourism industry and concerns over the state's financial situation. The state government has failed to come up with a proper response to all these problems, he said. "It is unfortunate that the chief minister and his government have become insensitive. Even if you raise sensitive issues, they are not addressed. We condemn the government's inaction. People are unhappy with the government," Chodankar said. "If Chief Minister Pramod Sawant cannot handle affairs of the state, then he should step down from the post without wasting any more time," he said. In a democratic set up, the government is accountable to people. Hence, the state government has to respond to issues raised by the main opposition party, Chodankar said. The Congress leader further claimed that frustration was mounting among the youth, who were taking law and order in their hands. A koala lost amongst the burnt bushes on Kangaroo Island has been spotted being rescued by the New Zealand army. A heartwarming image released by the New Zealand Defence Force shows two soldiers wrapping the distressed marsupial in a blanket. Australia's neighbour has deployed 116 members from the army, the air force, and defence force to assist during the massive bushfires burning around the country. Two New Zealand Defence Force members are seeing wrapping a blanket around a distressed koala NZDF members have seen first hand the disastrous impact the fires have caused on communities and wildlife, causing the death of 8,000 koalas on Kangaroo Island alone. Personnel have been able to assist in clearing routes and removing trees for emergency services. They had the misfortune of removing dead wildlife from the fire aftermath, including kangaroos killed in the deadly fires that swept across the island. Senior National Officer Major Ron Christmas said it was refreshing for the group to rescue animals after seeing the dead ones. A New Zealand Defence Force soldier is seen feeding a koala eucalyptus leaves on Kangaroo Island The aftermath of massive fires which killed wildlife and destroyed communities on Kangaroo Island 'We know there is a very long road ahead for the recovery effort but we've been pleased to play our part,' he said. 'The sheer scale of the devastation is quite overwhelming when you see it first-hand, so we're very pleased to be able to help our neighbours with people power and resources at this time,' Major Christmas said. An estimated one billion animals have been killed in the massive bushfires ravaging Australia, and nearly one-third of Australia's koala population have died. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as he welcomes her to Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said that there has to be a level playing field in the Brexit negotiations to ensure the single market and customs union are not diluted. The Taoiseach said there must be a common minimum standard so the United Kingdom does not attempt to undercut the EU over its labour and environmental standards. Mr Varadkar said the Brexit negotiations has reached the halfway point, adding that the next step is to negotiate a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU. He made the comments as the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited Ireland for the first time in her current role. Mr Varadkar said he wanted to restate Irelands appreciation for the EUs solidarity on Brexit. During Wednesday evenings discussions, Mr Varadkar and Ms Von der Leyen will discuss Brexit and the European Green Deal. Mr Varadkar said: I really want to restate Irelands deep appreciation and thanks for the solidarity from the commission and the European institutions and other member states. Only as a result of that, we have a Withdrawal Agreement which assures us there is no hard border, that citizens rights are protected and the travel area between Britain and Ireland remains in place and that the Good Friday Agreement is protected. We saw a real demonstration of that in the fact that the institutions in Northern Ireland are now back up and running. Expand Close European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as he welcomes her to Government Buildings, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as he welcomes her to Government Buildings, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) I always felt removing uncertainty around Brexit was one of the crucial ingredients that is required to get the parties together again, Mr Varadkar said. The next step is negotiating a free trade agreement with the UK. When it comes to Brexit it is only half-time, and the next step is to negotiate a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU. There also has to be a level playing field so that the single market and the customs union are not diluted. We must have common minimum standards so that the UK doesnt attempt in any way to undercut the EU when it comes to labour and environmental standards. Expand Close European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sit down for talks at Government Buildings, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sit down for talks at Government Buildings, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) Speaking in Government Buildings in Dublin, Ms Von der Leyden said the UK will leave the EU in two weeks. Theres almost no other country in the European Union that is more affected by this decision than Ireland, she added. Thats why Ireland and Northern Ireland were one of our top priorities during the withdrawal negotiations. We do not want a hard border, we delivered that. Weve said that Ireland will stay at the heart of the European Union. I think the withdrawal negotiations and agreement were successful. The EU negotiated respectfully and fairly as we wanted an orderly exit. Its very important to protect citizens rights. We have a plan but we have to work very hard to reach our goalEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen There are 3.5 million European Union citizens working and living in the UK. Its very good that we have the reassurance that those people can live and work until the end of their lives in the UK. This was very important and one of the top priorities was to ensure peace and stability on the island. She thanked Mr Varadkar for his work and leadership in the Brexit process, adding that the EU will watch over the implementation of Brexit very closely. Ms Von der Leyen added: We have a wide-ranging (Brexit) agenda. We will have around eight months because the negotiation talks will start at the end of February or beginning of March. Its not only trade, there are a lot of other topics too, including security. We have a plan but we have to work very hard to reach our goal. If Dr. King came back and seen the way things are, he wouldnt be pleased with it. No, he wouldnt be pleased at all. All right. I call us sanitation engineers because were supposed to run the job, not let the job run us. I was 24 years old when I started. But back then, it was a different ball game. Back then, the working condition, it was unbearable. After three weeks, when I got my first check, I broke down and cried. We were working full time. And at the same time, the wages were so low, we was qualified to get food stamps. We were determined that we was going to get a union organized, that we would see justice. We were striking about the wages, fair treatment and dignity. When we heard that Dr. King was coming to Memphis to help us in that sanitation strike, we were very surprised. We knew then that there was somebody that cared about our struggle. We was at Mason Temple this particular night. Dr. King said, the Lord allowed me to go to the mountaintop and to look over into the promised land. And he said, I might not get there with you, but we will make it to the promised land. Everybody was just jubilated, just excited, not knowing the next day would be a day of silence. Because of Dr. Kings death, that was one of the reasons that Mayor Loeb went on and signed that union into a decree. We got what we wanted, but at the same time, we lost the great leader. He never thought in terms of his personal welfare, but always in terms of the cause which he dedicated his life to. I really had a lot of animosity. I came from the streets. I was a street thug. And Dr. King was the one that taught me, through his humility and his leadership. I said, thats the way Id like to be. united will never be defeated. The workers united will never be defeated. The workers united will never be defeated. The workers united will never be defeated. There are still some unsolved problems need to be solved. What do we want? 15. When do we want it? Now! What do we want? 15. When do want it? Now! It is what it is until somebody can roll his sleeves up and get out there and fight. A woman accused of stabbing her husband to death with a metal file from a pair of fingernail clippers told police she only wanted to scare the victim and didnt intend to physically harm him, according to court documents. Katheleen Ayala, 30, of Millville, New Jersey, is charged with murder in the death of Axel Torres, 35. She allegedly stabbed the man multiple times early Sunday following a fight at the trailer they share at Country Meadows mobile home park in Millville. Police found Torres unresponsive and covered in blood outside of the trailer around 1 a.m. Sunday. He had suffered a stab wound to his left leg, among other injuries. He died Monday morning at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. Ayala told police she was responsible for the assault and said she used a sharp file from a pair of nail clippers, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The incident began with a verbal and physical fight in their home, according to two people who know the couple and were interviewed by police. When Torres left the trailer, Ayala chased him through the mobile home park to a wooded area, where she stabbed him, according to the affidavit. In addition to the leg wound, Torres suffered injuries to his feet, hands and shoulders. After the stabbing, Torres took the nail clippers from Ayala, she told police. Police searched the area, but could not locate the item, authorities said. Ayala told investigators she only wanted to scare the victim and didnt mean to harm him, authorities said. The witnesses told police Ayala returned to the trailer a short time after the stabbing and asked for help in finding Torres, as she had caused him harm and thought she had killed him, according to the affidavit. Ayala and one of the witnesses found Torres unconscious. He was initially hospitalized in critical condition and Ayala was charged with assault and weapons offenses. She was charged with murder after Torres died of his injuries on Monday morning. Ayala was placed in Cumberland County Jail pending a detention hearing. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fingerpaint, a full-service health and wellness marketing agency with offices in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Phoenix, today announced a new partnership with Thrive Global aimed at educating employees through personal health and wellness content and empowering them with the tools they need to improve productivity and manage stress. The partnership will kick off the re-launch of Fingerpaint University, a comprehensive, agency-wide training program aimed at enhancing Fingerpaint's people first culture. Thrive Global will offer Fingerpaint a robust platform geared at finding new and exciting ways to engage employees. Fingerpaint will also have access to the Thrive app that allows them to interact with tailored health and wellness programming on a daily basis. Additionally, with Fingerpaint University, employees will be able to participate in peer-to-peer education, instructor-led trainings, eLearning, a speaker series, panel discussions, bootcamps and more. "Our Thriving Performance experience is built on the foundational principle that employee well-being fuels sustainable peak performance," said Joey Hubbard, Chief Training Officer at Thrive Global. "We've worked with the world's leading scientific institutions and experts to help individuals improve their well-being and resilience, while helping organizations reduce burnout and increase retention." "An agency is only as good as its people and our priority at Fingerpaint has always been to nurture our talent by creating a healthy and empowering work environment," said Ed Mitzen, Founder of Fingerpaint. "Thrive is leading the conversation in corporate well-being, and we're thrilled to bring their insights and technology to the Fingerpaint team." With company culture as one of Fingerpaint's core values, the agency is continually finding new ways to invest in its people. Along with Fingerpaint University and its partnership with Thrive, Fingerpaint also announced a new, flexible vacation policy and improved 401(k) matching policy rolling out in 2020. To learn more about Fingerpaint, its trailblazing work, and how its award-winning team is creating a color you have never seen before, please visit www.fingerpaint.com. About Fingerpaint Reset your expectations of a marketing agency. Independent by design, with integrated talent across Saratoga Springs, New York; Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; and Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, Fingerpaint is committed to creating and executing meaningful brand experiences that are never paint by number. Fingerpaint was named 2019 Agency of the Year by Med Ad News. It was a 2017 finalist for Agency of the Year by Med Ad News, MM&M, and PM360 and won PR & Marketing Agency of the Year in 2017 from the Business Intelligence Group. Additionally, it won the 2018 Heart Award from Med Ad News for its commitment to philanthropy and social causes and has been on Inc. Magazine's list of the 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies for the past seven years. Founder Ed Mitzen was honored as 2016's Industry Person of the Year by Med Ad News and as a 2017 Top Boss by Digiday. Visit Fingerpaint at fingerpaint.com and follow it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. About Thrive Global Thrive Global is the leading global behavior change tech company helping individuals and corporations unlock human potential, ultimately ending the stress and burnout epidemic. Thrive Global was founded by Arianna Huffington in August 2016. The company is headquartered in New York City and has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Athens, Mumbai and Melbourne. For more information, visit www.thriveglobal.com. Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Fingerpaint Related Links http://www.fingerpaint.com French health service guidelines advise parents not to allow children under three to watch screens. Stock Image Young children left to watch screens in the morning are three times more likely to suffer speech or learning difficulties and often exhibit disturbed behaviour, according to French research. A study released by the French Public Health authority yesterday said children were likely to become agitated from watching televisions, tablets or mobiles in the morning, and tended to remain disturbed for the rest of the day. Passive screen watching can make them more prone to attacking other children at school, according to the University of Rennes study, which looked at 276 children aged three to six. It concluded that speech or language disorders were three times more likely in children left to watch screens in the morning. The risk was six times higher if the children did not talk with their parents about what they watched, according to the study. Lise Barthelemy, a child psychiatrist, said exposure to screens as soon as children get up leads to "a huge increase in language, behavioural, cognitive and social difficulties". French health service guidelines advise parents not to allow children under three to watch screens, in line with a World Health Organisation recommendation that under-threes should not watch TV or sit playing games on a tablet. ( Daily Telegraph, London) The new trade deal between Washington and Beijing is intended in part to address one of the most acrimonious issues between them: China's tactics in acquiring technology from companies based in the West. It's a thorny topic, and one that is unlikely to be fully solved with a trade pact. The Trump administration blames China for stealing Western trade secrets, and it used those allegations as the legal basis for launching the trade war nearly two years ago. Trade talks between the two sides quickly became about broader issues, but the initial trade pact signed on Wednesday includes pledges by China to stop some of the practices that Western businesses have long criticised. Depending on the details, that could make the deal more palatable for US businesses. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He shake hands after signing the US-China trade agreement in the White House. Credit:AP Underpinning these concerns is that China has repeatedly shown that it can acquire technology and, through heavy government subsidies, build competitive rivals to US companies. Businesses worry that it could do the same in other industries, like software and chips. Text: State officials have responded to widespread protest with overreach, including preventive detentions, internet blackouts, intimidation of journalists and protesters, and the use of draconian laws such as Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits assembly of five or more people, and the National Security Act, which allows the state to detain individuals for one year on the grounds of national security. BJP and Modi have built upon troubled history with Hindutva nationalist agenda. They seek to create a Hindu state The government has simultaneously imposed a series of curfews and a communication blockade on the region, and the internet and many phone lines remain cut off. UN experts have called the blackout collective punishment and inconsistent with the fundamental norms of necessity and proportionality.State officials have responded to widespread protest with overreach, including preventive detentions, internet blackouts, intimidation of journalists and protesters, and the use of draconian laws such as Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits assembly of five or more people, and the National Security Act, which allows the state to detain individuals for one year on the grounds of national security. There have also been unspeakable acts of police violence, including against students at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and other campuses across the country, leaving many injured, maimed, and even dead. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, there have been reports of violence by police and civilian mobs harassing, beating, and torturing Muslims, and looting their property; some accounts place the death toll in the state in the dozens. The Indian Civil Liberties Union, a coalition of lawyers and activists providing grassroots support, estimates that nearly 5,500 people have been detained in India in recent weeks and over 1,600 have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh alone. The crisis unfolding in India today is rooted in a long history of impunity and failed democratic institutions. Lynchings of Muslims, Dalits and Christians have become so commonplace that they are often organised on social media and the videos uploaded online. Rarely does the government hold the perpetrators accountable. The government can unilaterally declare a person a terrorist without due process, and journalists and lawyers who have criticised the government have been threatened, arrested, and assaulted. In addition, there has yet to be accountability for the 2002 Gujarat massacres, during which mobs slaughtered 2,000 Muslims and displaced thousands; the anti-Sikh pogroms of 1984, in which mobs murdered 17,000 Sikhs across 40 cities with the support of the police and Congress Party; and decades of gross violations in Punjab and Kashmir, where security forces engaged in torture, unlawful killings, and enforced disappearances. The BJP and Prime Minister Modi have built upon this troubled history with a Hindutva nationalist agenda. They seek to create a Hindu state, where Hindus enjoy a privileged status, and minorities, especially Muslims and Dalits, are second-class citizens. We urge American lawmakers to speak up and take action in the following ways: Condemn the CAA, NRC, and police brutality; Denounce unnecessary and excessive infringements on civil liberties, including government imposed internet blackouts; Urge India to adopt a robust asylum system based on the principles of dignity, equality, and non-discrimination and pass comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation to ensure that all Indians enjoy the same rights, privileges and immunities; Demand that India allow legal observers and foreign journalists unfettered access into Kashmir, end all abuses and atrocities in the region, and support the Kashmiris right to self determination; Meet with their constituents from Indian minority communities to better assess their ongoing needs; and Hold hearings to investigate how Hindu nationalism has contributed to acts of repression and violence in India and its growing influence in the United States. As civil and human rights lawyers of South Asian descent who are committed to advocating for the dignity and humanity of all people, we will not be silent as India continues down a path of abandoning fundamental rights and pursuing policies of marginalisation, exclusion, discrimination, and violence. We urge all people of conscience to uplift the demands of Indian protesters and raise their voices in solidarity and support. --- Click here for list of signatories The long arm of Hindu fascism has extended to the United States as well, as the Hindu right is attempting to rewrite descriptions of Hinduism in textbooks, fund university endowments, and influence overseas elections.We urge American lawmakers to speak up and take action in the following ways:As civil and human rights lawyers of South Asian descent who are committed to advocating for the dignity and humanity of all people, we will not be silent as India continues down a path of abandoning fundamental rights and pursuing policies of marginalisation, exclusion, discrimination, and violence. We urge all people of conscience to uplift the demands of Indian protesters and raise their voices in solidarity and support.--- Several human and civil rights lawyers of South Asian descent, expressing "grave concern" about alleged legal abuses and human rights atrocities in India, have said that the crisis unfolding in India today is rooted in a long history of impunity and failed democratic institutions. Commenting on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the unprecedented crackdown on protests against the two as also actions in Kashmir by government authorities, they regretted, India has not been able to keep its minorities safe, adding, violence against the marginalised has become commonplace.Exhorting US lawmakers to raise their voice and take action by condemning tCAA and NRC, and demanding that legal observers and foreign journalists be allowed complete access in Kashmir, in a statement they said, The BJP and Prime Minister Modi have built upon this troubled history with a Hindutva nationalist agenda.We, the undersigned, are civil and human rights lawyers of South Asian origin living in the United States. We are deeply committed to dismantling systems of oppression and supremacy, and to uplifting and advocating for the rights of individuals who are marginalised, excluded, and targeted through unfair and inhumane laws, policies and systems.We have grave concerns about the ongoing legal abuses and human rights atrocities occurring in India and Kashmir today. We express our solidarity with the people of India and Kashmir who are engaging in peaceful dissent and facing arbitrary arrest and violence.We lend our support to lawyers and legal workers in India and Kashmir who are playing critical roles as first responders, jailhouse lawyers, and constitutional defenders. And, we call upon leaders in the United States including elected officials and business, civic, and faith leaders to provide messages and actions of solidarity aligned with the demands of directly affected communities.In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of Indians have protested the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which openly discriminates against Muslim migrants on the basis of faith. The bill gives Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who settled in India prior to 2015 the right to apply for citizenship, but excludes Muslims, including minority sects, such as the Ahmadiyya from Pakistan and the Hazaras from Afghanistan.The law also excludes persecuted religious minorities from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tibet. The CAA violates the Indian Constitution and international human rights law, leading the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights to deem it fundamentally discriminatory.The National Register of Citizens (NRC), the sister effort to CAA, is equally alarming. The government describes the NRC, which is already underway in the state of Assam, as a census, but it is a policy of forced displacement. The Assamese were asked to prove their Indian citizenship by providing documentary proof that they or their ancestors lived in India prior to 1971, evidence that in many cases does not exist.In August, the government published a list that excluded 1.9 million people that it claims did not have the necessary paperwork, rendering them vulnerable to statelessness. Many are Muslims, women, children, and the impoverished, who now fear that they will be detained and deported. The combined effect of the CAA and the NRC is to potentially render stateless the 200 million Muslims living in India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world.The Indian government has simultaneously pursued a policy of annexation and mass deprivation in Kashmir. On August 5, India revoked the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir without legal foundation or consultation with the people, depriving them of their constitutional right to self determination.Security forces have arrested thousands of Kashmiris, including children as young as nine, without cause. Many are detained under the Public Safety Act, which allows for two years of detention without trial. Detainees who have been released have alleged brutal torture. President Donald Trump says the federal government should only place refugees in communities that want them. On Tuesday, Bernalillo County leaders said they do. The County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution consenting to continued resettlement of refugees and a plan to notify the appropriate federal agencies in writing. I think its very important we welcome people, all people especially those who are in trouble, Commissioner Debbie OMalley said prior to the vote. Thats what were about as Americans. The resolution, co-sponsored by Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Charlene Pyskoty, notes that the county has for many years welcomed refugees but references an executive order Trump issued last September. Trumps order states the federal government should resettle refugees only in those jurisdictions in which both the state and local governments have consented to receive refugees under the Department of States Reception and Placement program. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has already declared that the state welcomes refugees. Spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett cited an Oct. 7 letter the governor wrote to Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, which works with refugees. Let me be perfectly clear, Lujan Grisham wrote to LFSRM on Oct. 7, New Mexico fully supports and welcomes immigrants and refugees, those seeking a chance to rebuild their lives in our country. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made recent headlines by declaring his state would not accept resettlement of new refugees, the first state known to do so, according to the Associated Press. A total of 101 refugees were resettled in New Mexico and specifically Albuquerque in 2019, according to federal numbers. Two-thirds are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several people spoke in favor of the countys resolution during Tuesdays meeting, citing the need to help those fleeing desperate conditions and the local benefits. Farid Sharifi of Lutheran Family Services said the local refugees helped by the organization have had a phenomenal impact on the community culturally and economically. They come here to our great city with nothing but hopes, dreams, an empty pocket and four years later they are purchasing cars, homes and they are launching businesses, he said. Kei Tsuzuki said she co-owns a local textiles business that has employed more than a dozen refugees in the last 10 years and said they are consistently kind and willing to learn. One thing Im reminded of daily is how we are connected in our humanity, she said. I know in these political times theres a lot of fear against immigrants and others, and I just want us to remember that we all are connected. Nineteen-year-old Wangu Niyonkuru, who came to Albuquerque from the Congo, told the commission We just want to come here to live in America to change our life and have a good life. Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday said Deepika Padukone should get herself acquainted with socio-political issues in the country before taking any "big decisions" and should appoint people like him as her advisors, who will give her a "fair insight" into vital issues. Padukone has been drawing flak from right wing leaders and trolls for expressing solidarity with the students on the JNU campus in New Delhi who were protesting against the January 5 violence. "Deepika's efficiency as an actor is a different ball game. However, she should first study social, political and cultural issues and understand more about our country. After acquiring this knowledge, she should take big decisions," Ramdev told reporters in Indore in Madhya Pradesh. I feel that Deepika Padukone should have persons like Swami Ramdev for the right piece of advice, he quipped. Strongly supporting the new citizenship act, Ramdev said that even those people who do not even know the full form of the CAA are using "foul language" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The prime minister and the home minister have said that the law was not meant to snatch citizenship but rather to grant it, but people are still igniting fires over it," he said. Ramdev said some people are creating chaos over the National Register of Citizens (NRC). "They are even raising slogans for 'Jinnah Wali Azadi'. Where did this slogan come from? Such protests are tarnishing the image of the country and its institutions," he alleged. Ramdev claimed two crore people are living in India illegally. "No country can be permitted to be used as a dumping yard. No illegal citizen should be allowed to live in India. If protesters opposing the proposed NRC have any alternative proposal, they should come forward with it," he said. Hailing Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, Ramdev said the Indian freedom struggle was incomplete without the former. "To tarnish the whole character of a person for just one or two things is an extremely shallow act," he said. When asked about Congress leaders terming Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as Indira Gandhi, he said, "If a grandchild emerges like her grandmother, then that trait fetches glory to the entire clan, and we will welcome it". He said the Opposition should be as strong as the ruling party for making democracy robust. Ramdev demanded the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) should be annexed to India. Knuckleheads Saloon. | Photo: Steve D./Yelp Wondering where to find the best bars near you? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable bars in Kansas City, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to satisfy your cravings. 1. Knuckleheads Saloon Photo: Ralphie S./Yelp Topping the list is Knuckleheads Saloon, located at 2715 Rochester St. in Northest Industrial District. The bar and music venue is the highest-rated budget-friendly bar in Kansas City, boasting 4.5 stars out of 113 reviews on Yelp. If you're looking for more, we found these details about Knuckleheads Saloon. "We are in an old Railroad boarding house built in 1887 with music vibes coming out of the walls, with a warm homey environment" per the history section of its Yelp profile. 2. Our Daily Nada PHOTO: Kieu N./YELP Next up is River Market's Our Daily Nada, situated at 304 Delaware. With five stars out of 38 reviews on Yelp, the bookstore and bar has proven to be a local favorite for those looking for a budget-friendly option. Yelper Lindsey L., who reviewed Our Daily Nada on Jan. 1, wrote, "Our Daily Nada is a heavenly bookstore cafe and bar located in the heart of the River Market. A peaceful, urban escape, ODN is my favorite study spot, date night, and more." Ting N. wrote, "Today was my first time coming here. This is located near the City Market area. It's a bookstore/bar/cafe that is very spacious which has plenty of seating and nice decor with many comfy chairs and small tables." 3. The Peanut PHOTO: Clare C./YELP South Plaza's The Peanut, located at 5000 Main St., is another top choice. Yelpers give the budget-friendly bar, which offers chicken wings, sandwiches and more, four stars out of 191 reviews. Yelper Joseph M., who reviewed The Peanut on Dec. 21, wrote, "This is one of KC's best. Very local. Best wings on the planet. Triple BLTs; incredible. Don't expect friendly anything from the staff unless your local and then they'd take a bullet for you." Story continues Kristen E. noted, "Came here at the recommendation of a friend..and do not regret it. If you get anything besides the wings--you're doing it wrong. Their claim is the 'best wings in KC' and they certainly did not disappoint." 4. The Outpost Bar & Grill Photo: Amanda W./Yelp The Outpost Bar & Grill, a bar and traditional American spot that offers seafood and more in Holiday Hills, is another much-loved, inexpensive go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 34 Yelp reviews. Head over to 5044 N.E. Parvin Road to see for yourself. Yelper Mike T., who reviewed The Outpost Bar & Grill on Oct. 11, wrote, "I love the tenderloin here. Always a nice atmosphere. I've been here multiple times. I come here about once a month." Dennis G. noted, "I mean, I've been to many, many bars and restaurants in my work travels. So what makes a place I would recommend and come back to? Let's see: fair prices. three dollar draws with BOGO on Tuesday, check!" 5. Mini Bar Photo: Keanon L./Yelp Finally, there's Mini Bar, a Valentine favorite with four stars out of 27 reviews. Stop by 3810 Broadway to hit up the next time you're looking to satisfy your cravings on a budget. Yelper Linda B., who reviewed Mini Bar on Dec. 12 wrote, "Minibar is a quaint and funky music venue in downtown KC. The intimate space is perfect to watch the musicians perform as we were right up close. The man who works the soundboard is outstanding!" And Briana B. wrote, "Always take a bathroom mini bar selfie! Whiskey shots galore and so much alcohol available! Fun place for music and so dark and sultry inside. Good environment for hanging with Bros and gals." This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Insurance agents and insurance brokers play important roles in the car insurance industry. While the insurance agent wants to sell you policies from a specific insurer, the insurance broker will help you find the best insurance deal that fits your needs, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that explains the differences between car insurance agents and car insurance brokers. For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/what-are-the-differences-are-between-car-insurance-brokers-and-agents/ Insurance brokers and insurance agents are industry professionals that act as intermediaries between policyholders and insurance companies. The most important difference between insurance brokers and insurance agents is who they represent. The insurance broker represents the policyholder. The broker can help a driver find the best car insurance policy. The insurance agent represents one or more insurance companies. Insurance agents will try to sell policies from their companies to any potential customer. Drivers who haven't decided with whom to work should consider the following about insurance brokers and agents: Insurance brokers: Brokers work for the customers and not the insurers. Brokers can help drivers to determine their own insurance needs and they can assist them when looking for a policy that can satisfy those needs. While some customers need brokers to find cheaper insurance policies, other customers have complex insurance needs and they require assistance. Brokers can recommend the drivers some insurance products that can help them save money on insurance. Drivers who got involved in an accident can get assistance from the broker when making a claim. Brokers can help drivers manage the claim, organize the documents, or handle the insurance company. Usually, brokers work for smaller companies that represent large insurance companies Insurance agents: Usually, an insurance agent represents a single insurance company. An insurance agent serves as the link between policyholders and insurers. Some insurance companies have a business model that is based on bundling personal connections between insurance agents and customers and they are selling policies only through their insurance agents. Some insurance agents have the best interests and they will help drivers compare insurance plans and look for better deals. Other agents just want to sell policies that bring the largest commissions. Drives who choose to work with an insurance broker can gain the following benefits: Honesty. Brokers are required by law to disclose the commission rates, insurance policy terms, and other items. Better premiums. In many cases, insurance brokers can access cheaper car insurance premiums than ordinary people can. Drivers working with a broker can save 10% to 15%. Avoid complex policy comparisons. Comparing insurance plans can be quite overwhelming for many. However, an insurance broker knows where to look and will help customers pick the best insurance plan. The commission is included in insurance premiums. Insurance brokers are not working for free, and their commission is bundled with the customers' premiums. Objective and neutral. Brokers are not biased towards any insurer. Their goal is to help customers find an insurance deal that fits their needs. Insurance brokers can customize policies objectively and neutrally. For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. HOUSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Targa Resources Partners LP (Targa Resources Partners or the Partnership) (NYSE: NGLS PR A) announced its monthly distribution on the Partnerships 9.00% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units ("Series A Preferred Units") for January 2020. Targa Resources Partners LP announced today that the board of directors of its general partner has declared a monthly cash distribution of 18.75 per Series A Preferred Unit, or $2.25 per Series A Preferred Unit on an annualized basis, for January 2020. This cash distribution will be paid February 18, 2020 on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units to holders of record as of the close of business on January 31, 2020. About Targa Resources Partners LP Targa Resources Partners LP is a Delaware limited partnership formed in October 2006 by its parent, Targa Resources Corp. (TRC or the Company), to own, operate, acquire and develop a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. On February 17, 2016 TRC completed the acquisition of all outstanding common units of the Partnership. Targa Resources Corp. is a leading provider of midstream services and is one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America. Targa owns, operates, acquires and develops a diversified portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of: gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting and selling natural gas; transporting, storing, fractionating, treating and selling NGLs and NGL products, including services to LPG exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling and selling crude oil. The principal executive offices of Targa Resources Partners LP are located at 811 Louisiana, Suite 2100, Houston, TX 77002 and their telephone number is 713-584-1000. For more information, please visit our website at www.targaresources.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this release that address activities, events or developments that the Partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties, factors and risks, many of which are outside the Partnerships control, which could cause results to differ materially from those expected by management of the Partnership. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, weather, political, economic and market conditions, including a decline in the price and market demand for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, the timing and success of business development efforts; and other uncertainties. These and other applicable uncertainties, factors and risks are described more fully in the Partnership's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Partnership does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This release is intended to be a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of Targa Resources Partners LPs distributions to foreign investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, Targa Resources Partners LPs distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Contact the Company's investor relations department by email at InvestorRelations@targaresources.com or by phone at (713) 584-1133. Sanjay Lad Senior Director, Finance & Investor Relations Jennifer Kneale Chief Financial Officer The Pentagon is considering sending additional missile defenses and other capabilities to the Middle East to defend American troops in the wake of Iranian ballistic missile strikes in Iraq Jan. 8. While Iranian ballistic missiles fired at Ain al-Asad air base and the Erbil airport caused no troop casualties among US or coalition forces, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said this morning the strikes reinforced Irans ability to target and kill Americans. Theyre a very capable enemy, McCarthy said on Wednesday. They have capabilities that can strike and kill Americans. McCarthy said it would ultimately be up to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, his predecessor in the Armys top civilian role, to decide whether to send reinforcements. It could be a variety of enablers, like missile defense and others, so were looking at that, he said, refusing to provide details on what capabilities the Army could send. Senior US officials said last week the Pentagon was mulling the deployment of more air defenses after the attacks, which Iran said was in retaliation for an American drone strike that killed Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad airport earlier this month. Since a Dec. 27 Iran-backed attack on an Iraqi base in Kirkuk that killed an American contractor, the Pentagon has deployed 3,500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the region, a company-sized element of Army Rangers and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. The Pentagon has steadily beefed up missile defenses in the Middle East, largely to defend Saudi Arabia, since military tensions with Iran have escalated dating back to last May. After the United States blamed Iran for cruise missile attacks and drone strikes against a Saudi oil installation last September, the Pentagon deployed three Patriots and a Terminal High Altitude Air Defense battery to bolster the kingdoms defenses. Iran has a missile arsenal believed to be around 2,000 projectiles, the largest in the region. The Donald Trump administration has repeatedly called for a new nuclear deal that would end that weapons program. Three suspected 'stoner' civilians have been detained after driving up to the gate of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam with a mortar round in their car, causing a security scare at the base just a month after a shooting incident there. The sprawling military facility in Hawaii was sent into an hours-long lockdown late on Tuesday after base security approached an unauthorized vehicle and noticed the odor of marijuana and a mortar round sitting inside. A mortar is a portable weapon that is loaded and fired by dropping an exploding shell into a tube. Base spokesman Charles Anthony said said there was no explosive material inside the round and no firing device in the car. It was an 'inert training round,' Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Jeff Houston said in an email. Security stand outside the main gate at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in a file photo. A mortar round was found in a vehicle late Tuesday at a gate to the sprawling base, shutting down the base for hours and leading three people to be taken into custody 'The security guard first noticed the smell of marijuana and then looked inside the vehicle and saw what was potential ordnance,' Anthony said. Naval officials believe that the three individuals were high on marijuana and had found the inert mortar round somewhere, and that there is no connection to terrorism. 'NCIS does not believe that terrorism played any role in the gate incident yesterday and we don't believe there is any threat to the community,' said NCIS spokesman Houston. The vehicle's occupants were released Wednesday. No information was available about them, and it's not clear if they will face charges. Hundreds of people, usually lost, end up at the Pearl Harbor gate daily and are turned around if they dont have proper identification to enter, Anthony said. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) enters Pearl Harbor for a port visit in a 2011 file photo. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was put on lockdown on Tuesday night Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was shut down to traffic around 10.30pm Tuesday while a bomb squad investigated the vehicle that appeared at the Nimitz Gate without authorization, the Navy said in a statement. The base's gates were closed for about two hours, but no one was allowed through the Nimitz Gate until early Wednesday. The base is home to a naval shipyard where an active-duty U.S. sailor opened fire on three civilian employees in December, killing two of them. Officials have said the sailor, whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbor, then took his own life. The shooting happened days before dignitaries and veterans attended the base's ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Sen. John Rodgers of Vermont said of his own bill that would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to have a cellphone. The Democratic senator proposed the bill simply to draw attention to cellphones high correlation to distracted driving, cyberbullying and suicides. He said Vermonts Legislature seems bent on taking away our Second Amendment rights, when in actuality, cellphones are more dangerous than a gun. ( The Hill January 10, 2020) Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, has made its first investment in Australia after acquiring a 40 per cent stake in the countrys second utility-scale waste-to-energy (WTE) facility. Under the terms of the investment, Masdar and Abu Dhabi advisory and development firm Tribe Infrastructure Group have invested in the waste-to-energy project via their Abu Dhabi Global Market-based joint venture holding company, Masdar Tribe Energy Holdings, reported state news agency Wam. Niall Hannigan, chief financial officer of Masdar, and Peter McCreanor, chief executive officer of Tribe Infrastructure Group, signed the joint venture holding company agreement today at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), one of the worlds biggest sustainability gatherings being held in the capital this week. Financial close on the A$511 million ($353 million) greenfield East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility, which will be located in the Rockingham Industry Zone, 40 km south of Perth in Western Australia, was achieved on December 23, 2019, and construction has already started. When completed, the East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility will process 300,000 tonnes per year of non-recyclable municipal, commercial and industrial waste and up to 30,000 tonnes of biosolids per year. The facility will also recover approximately 70,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of bottom ash, which will be processed for use in road bases and other construction materials. The WTE facility will generate 29 megawatts (MW) of baseload renewable energy, enough to power more than 36,000 homes, and displace more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Equity investors in the project also include UK company John Laing Investments, alongside Acciona Concesiones and Hitachi Zosen INOVA, HZI. Financing of the project was supported by an A$18 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and A$57.5 million in subordinated debt from the Australian governments Clean Energy Finance Corporation, CEFC. "Extending our reach into Australia is an exciting step forward for Masdars clean energy operations and our efforts to expand the companys global renewable energy portfolio, which now encompasses more than 30 countries," said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar. "The Australian waste-to-energy sector provides excellent commercial potential in the long-term," Al Ramahi added. "The problem of dealing with everyday waste is a global challenge, with more than 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste generated each year. To this end, we are proud to be helping the state of Western Australia to deliver clean sources of power generation and sustainably manage its municipal solid waste. Masdar would like to thank Austrade, the Embassy of Australia in the UAE, CEFC and ARENA for their assistance in making this investment possible." McCreanor said: "We are delighted to announce our long-term partnership with Masdar and look forward to delivering outstanding clean energy infrastructure solutions that make sound economic sense in the communities in which we operate. This is just the first of numerous such development projects were working on, and our partnership with Masdar is an integral part of our strategy for Australia. "We are proud to have played a leading role in the development and financing of the East Rockingham RRF, assembling a world-class team to deliver this important project for Western Australia. We acknowledge all our project partners, particularly Australian Federal Government agencies ARENA and CEFC for their support and commitment in enabling this complex project to reach financial close." Under the EPC contract, Acciona will deliver the project in partnership with HZI. Construction is expected to take 35 months and the facility is slated to begin operations by the end of 2022. SUEZ will lead the operations and maintenance of the facility under a 20-year operations and maintenance contract in partnership with HZI. The East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility is the second waste-to-energy project that Masdar is involved in. In 2017, Masdar and Beeah, the UAEs leading environmental management company, announced a pioneering joint venture to develop the Sharjah Waste-to-Energy Facility, which will divert more than 300,000 tonnes of municipal waste away from landfill sites each year when it begins operations in 2021. Masdars expanding renewable energy portfolio, which includes solar, wind and waste-to-energy, as well as Masdars sustainable real estate investments, battery electric storage and other energy-efficiency technologies, will be on display at the Masdar stand at the World Future Energy Summit, WFES, from January 13 to 16. Samsung Galaxy Flip is said to sport an ultra-thin glass display with a plastic layer on top. Galaxy Z Flip is tipped to pack a 3300mAh battery. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is rumoured to be made available for sale 'immediately' after its official unveiling. Samsung is likely to launch its next foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S20 series on February 11. As we are nearing the launch date, details of the device have been making the rounds on the internet. Earlier this week, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was certified by China's 3C regulatory body. Now, a new report has revealed the alleged battery capacity of Samsungs next foldable phone. According to a tweet from XDA-Developers Max Weinbach, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will feature an ultra-thin glass display with a plastic layer on top. The additional plastic layer is said to ensure the display is not scratched easily. Further, he says that the Galaxy Z Flip will pack a 3300mAh battery which is a significant drop from the Galaxy Folds 4380mAh battery. But then, the Galaxy Z Flip is likely to be a clamshell device with a smaller display on the body. To compare, Motorola Razr (2019) packs a 2510mAh battery. The Galaxy Flip Z has a 3300 mAh battery. Along with the Snapdragon 855, this should be pretty ok in everything. About the same battery live as the mid size S10. Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 14, 2020 The Samsung Galaxy Z is tipped to be powered by last years Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. It is rumoured to sport a 10MP selfie shooter, which is likely to borrow its hardware from the 10MP selfie camera on the Galaxy Note10. The foldable phone is said to turn to ultra-thin glass as the display covering. It is said to reduce, if not eliminate, the crease. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is rumoured to be made available for sale "immediately" after its official unveiling. However, whether or not it will go on sale in markets outside South Korea before the end of February is not yet known. Samsung could launch the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S20 trio that is expected to come in 6.2/6.4 inches, 6.7 inches, 6.9 inches display sizes. Australian stocks surged to fresh record highs on Thursday with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 smashing above the 7000 point level, powered by strong gains in tech, consumer, real estate and financial stocks. The index finished trade up 47 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 7041.80, extending the rally seen so far this year to 5.4 per cent. Some of this is a bit of a catch up from the softer fourth quarter the ASX had compared to many other markets, JP Morgan Asset Managements global market strategist Kerry Craig said. A lot of this is related to a bit of the economic data around the world, and the fact youre still seeing soft inflation and hearing central bankers talk about the need further rate cuts and easing, so theres that momentum from very accommodative policy thats also helping markets higher. The gains on Thursday were led by tech stocks with the information technology sector surging by 1.7 per cent. Like the broader market, it too hit fresh highs, helped by strong gains in the WAAAX stocks. Financials, REITs and consumer staples also posted gains of 1 per cent or more, while healthcare rose 0.9 per cent to fresh highs. Communications and consumer discretionary lifted 0.8 per cent apiece while materials contributed a smaller 0.1 per cent. There were some pockets of weakness with utilities down 0.4 per cent, the largest decline of any sector. Industrials slipped 0.2 per cent while energy eased by 0.1 per cent. By individual stock, investment manager Challenger led the gains on the benchmark index, jumping 5.6 per cent to $8.80. Biotechnology firm Polynovo gained 5.3 per cent to $2.40 while Mayne Pharma Group rose 4.4 per cent to $0.475. On the downside, Super Retail Group shed 6 per cent to $9.77 as analysts at Morgans warned of an indirect, short-term impact of the ongoing bushfire crisis across the country for the diversified retailer. Pilbara Minerals slumped 2.8 per cent to $0.35, the same decline for property group Domain Holdings which closed at $3.86 after the company was cut to sell by investment bank UBS on valuations grounds after recent share price strength. For the session, 123 stocks gained, 61 fell while 16 were unchanged. Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Jan 15 (ANI): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday presented the 'Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award for Excellence' to eminent scientist MS Swaminathan, who he said has been playing a pioneering role in the advancement of agriculture. "Swaminathan is the father of the green revolution in India and the doyen of agricultural Science. He has been playing a pioneering role in the advancement of agriculture and improving the lives of the farmers," Naidu said addressing a gathering here. The Vice President said that Swaminathan has been acclaimed as one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century by a renowned international magazine. "He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as 'the father of economic ecology' because of his leadership of the ever-green revolution movement in agriculture," Naidu said. "On this occasion, I appeal to young agricultural scientists to emulate the qualities of Shri Swaminathan and work with dedication for the uplift of farmers and to make agriculture profitable, sustainable and viable," he added. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanpal and Tamil Nadu ministers D Jayakumar, Pandiarajan and P Benjamin also attended the event. (ANI) Very Good Security (VGS), a San Francisco, California-based provider of modern data security and custodianship solutions, received a strategic investment from Visas vc arm Visa Ventures. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Visa joined other notable investors, including Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Vertex Ventures US, and Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal). The company intends to use the funds to expand adoption of its infrastructure-as-a-service across financial technology companies (fintechs) and large enterprises. Founded in 2016 by Mahmoud Abdelkader and Marshall Jones, Very Good Security is a data security company providing a platform for businesses to use sensitive data without the cost or liability of securing the data themselves. The company provides specialized infrastructure to act as a custodian for sensitive data, improving security while also accelerating business growth. Customers can issue credit cards without ever seeing a card number, run background checks without needing to hold Social Security Numbers, and optimize their payments infrastructure to ensure coverage and redundancy. Earlier this year, Visa selected VGS as a launch partner for its Fintech Fast Track program, which supports digital payment innovation by making it simple to collaborate with Visa and launch new fintech products. VGS safely stores sensitive data, such as account numbers and personal information, on behalf of companies to enhance security and reduce their compliance requirements. Its specialized infrastructure gives companies the tools to expedite product development, partnerships and vendor diligence by adopting a security posture and fast-tracking compliance certifications like PCI, SOC2, CCPA, GDPR and more. FinSMEs 15/01/2020 The was in touch with the and the Congress before the results of the Maharashtra assembly polls came out in October last year as it knew that the BJP would not keep its "promise", senior party leader claimed here on Wednesday. Raut also said it was Sharad Pawar who first decided that the NCP, the Congress and the Sena will join hands to form a coalition government. Notably, ahead of the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Pawar had always maintained that the NCP's mandate was to sit in opposition. Raut made the disclosure during an interview to the Lokmat media group at its award function. "It was (NCP, Congress and coming together to form a coalition government) first decided by Sharad Pawar. I went to both the Congress and the and consistently worked on this thought of coming together," he said. When asked whether the three parties had decided about a coalition before the assembly poll results, which were declared on October 24, Raut replied, "You can say so". "We knew it. In fact I was sure that the BJP will not keep its word (on sharing the post of chief minister with the Shiv Sena)," he said. Responding to a query, the Rajya Sabha (RS) MP said the Sena had realised that the BJP would not keep its word when the party registered a massive victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "A lot of things happened during the seat-sharing talks (with the BJP) for the assembly polls which made us believe that the BJP would not keep its promise," Raut claimed. He also exuded confidence that the Sena-led coalition government will last the full five-year term. "Our government is not like a test tube baby. It formally took birth, it was christened, and it will celebrate its birthday also," he said. Raut said the Uddhav Thackeray-led government enjoys a strong support of chief Sharad Pawar, and "unlike other multi-party governments it cannot be called as a 'khichadi sarkar". He refuted claims that the Sena has accepted a secondary position in the government under Sharad Pawar. "The formation of a government was necessary and all the three parties came together to give Maharashtra a new direction," Raut added. When asked about the Sena suddenly joining hands with its traditional rivals Congress and NCP, Raut asked "are these two parties belonged to Pakistan?" "There are political differences, but leaders from all the three parties love their country," he said. Raut said the Congress could have gone much ahead (in numbers) "had its senior leadership in Delhi concentrated on the party stronghold of Maharashtra". Expert Viewpoint Schools Under Cyber Siege Need a Path to Resilience Just as the school year kicked off, families on opposite sides of the U.S. faced temporary school closures. Mother Nature was responsible for some. But not all. While several southeastern states dealt with the effects of Hurricane Dorian, across the country, one Arizona city encountered a very different type of scare. Cybercriminals waged a ransomware attack on the Flagstaff Unified School District, forcing a two-day shut down for 15 schools serving almost 10,000 students. Flagstaff is far from alone. In July and August, 2019, the number of publicly disclosed security incidents in K-12 schools reached 160 exceeding the total of all incidents experienced in 2018 by an incredible 30 percent. Nearly 50 school districts and colleges have been hit with ransomware so far in 2019 ranging in nature from disruptive, as in the case of the Flagstaff two-day closure, to catastrophic, which describes the scene in Louisiana when the governor recently declared a state of emergency following severe, intentional security breaches on school computer systems. The Education Sector is Facing a Crisis Its one thing for impassible roads to hit pause on a school schedule. Its an entirely different and unacceptable scenario when cyber extortion not only gets in the way of educating our youth but puts data pertaining to their health, academics and social development at risk of exposure and compromise not to mention the public funds that are flushed away to ransom payments and cleanup efforts. Yet here we are, co-existing with cybercrime as the new normal and witnessing escalating ransomware attacks turn schools into the second-largest victims of all sectors. The pace of growth of the digital school district continues to climb given the many benefits technology brings to students and educators. Funding for educational technology has increased by 62 percent in the last three years, and the new U.S. Digital Equity Act proposes to commit federal dollars to bring even more tech to the classroom. And while the many benefits of the digital classroom are clear, this rapid growth, combined with complexity and the continued restricted budgets for management, make our schools and our students increasingly vulnerable. When Complexity and Risk Plague Todays Digital Classroom, Resilience Matters Technology is no doubt an asset, though we need to acknowledge not just the risks to student safety and privacy it poses, but also the complexity that IT folks have to wrangle. Education IT leaders once responsible for a few hundred devices, a few dozen apps and a single network have now found themselves managing tens of thousands of devices (as 82 percent of schools now provide students with them), hundreds of apps, and a distributed set of users accessing unknown networks all with limited resources and budget in most cases. Meanwhile, by clicking on one bad link on a school-issued device, a student can become a conduit for a ransomware attack. As endpoint and environmental complexities increase, and risk alongside them, its no surprise that 68 percent of education IT leaders in the U.S. list cybersecurity as their top priority. In tandem, several state governments, including Louisiana, Texas and North Dakota, have stepped up their efforts to safeguard schools against cyberattacks with various measures such as cyber policy mandates, cyber commission formation and state IT department oversight for schools. For policymakers, educational institutions and their IT leaders, and even concerned parents, collaborative cybersecurity efforts should rally around the concept of resilience, or the ability to bounce back. Here are three steps to get on the path to cyber resiliency: Battle the false sense of security. Millions of dollars of public funds are invested in applying security controls in schools giving parents and educators a false sense of security. Many of these controls are fragile or by-passable meaning that without consistent monitoring, you may be more exposed than you think. Make the most of the tools you already have and spend your budget on more impactful projects. Ask the question, Are the controls we already have in place functioning at all times?. Security controls cannot protect you when they are taken offline by wiley students, or bypassed. Foundational device controls include, at a minimum, anti-malware, encryption, authorized VPN, patch/client management, and web-filtering/firewalling on the client and all need to be based on a platform that enable visibility and resilience for IT. Strengthen your immune system. In the complex world of endpoint security, increased security spending does not equate to increased safety any more than taking more vitamins guarantees you will never get the flu. In fact, every additional security tool, while adding protection, also increases the complexity on the endpoint and therefore the probability of failure as agents. A recent Absolute study reveals that schools that have encryption in place experience agent failures on an average of nine devices per day almost half of which never recover, leaving students and staff at risk of potential data breaches. In order to protect your students, your data and your investment, ensure you have fundamental controls activated to gain a persistent connection to each device on or off the school network. Its only then that you can repair or replace critical apps that have been disabled or removed. Make cybersecurity the air students breathe. Creating a culture of online security and open communication about online threats is not just good practice, its an ethical responsibility. Turn it into a game; teach students what attackers do, test them on practical examples, and give each of them a sense of achievement when they win. Yammering on about ransomware crippling the school or how awful an attack would be for their district is unlikely to stop an 11-year-old trying to circumvent security policies. Let them know what villains may try to do, and challenge them to step up and help stop them. Provide a means for them to report suspicious online behavior without fear of punishment. Make them the hero of the cyber resilience story. The pace of ransomware attacks on schools in 2019 suggests another victim will feel imminent pain and, as such, the urgency to heed these steps cannot be overstated. Its a tricky balance but doable to enable the digital classroom to thrive, while also protecting student safety and privacy. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The 6th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor will be held on February 28, 2020 in Baku, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry told Trend. The first meeting of the SGC Advisory Council was held on February 12, 2015, the second meeting - on February 29, 2016, the third meeting - on February 23, 2017, the fourth meeting - on February 15, 2018 and the fifth meeting on February 20, 2019. The Southern Gas Corridor project aims to increase and diversify European energy supply by bringing gas resources from the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field ("SD1" project) and its full-field development ("SD2'" project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline ("SCP" project) and its expansion ("SCPX" project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ("TANAP" project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline ("TAP" project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the "Projects"). The Projects have an estimated investment cost of approximately $40 billion. Upon completion, the SD2 project will add a further 16 bcm of natural gas per annum to 10.9 bcma (maximum production capacity) already produced under SD1 project. Total length of the newly constructed SCPX, TANAP and TAP pipelines will be more than 3,200 kilometres. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn The newly formed security outfit, Operation Amotekun, by states in the South-west geopolitical zone has been declared illegal. President Muhammadu Buharis government which declared it so insists policing is a federal duty under the exclusive list of the Nigerian constitution. A Tuesday statement from the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said the formation of the organisation runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law. Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign entity and is governed by laws meant to sustain its corporate existence as a constitutional democracy, a statement by Umar Gwandu, the ministers spokesperson stated. Citing provisions of the Second Schedule to the Constitution, Malami insisted that security is a matter that is within the exclusive operational competence of the Federal of Government of Nigeria. No other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence. Mr Malami noted the Constitution established military and paramilitary outfits to defend Nigeria and its citizens, pointing out that another arrangement outside of it was a nullity. As a consequence of this, no State Government, whether singly or in a group has the legal right and competence to establish any form of organization or agency for the defence of Nigeria or any of its constituent parts. This is sanctioned by the provision of Item 45 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) authorizing the Police and other Federal government security services established by law to maintain law and order. In a veiled threat to state governments involved and the Amotekun operatives, the statement warned that the law will take its natural course in relation to excesses associated with organization, administration and participation in Amotekun or continuous association with it as an association. Mr Malami said his office was not consulted before plotting the security network saying he would have advised against the exercise. The attorney general said if the governors had contacted his office proper information and guidance would have been offered to ensure that Nigerias defence and corporate entity are preserved at all times. In the preparation for the formation of the organisation, the governors had a summit in which IGP Muhammed Adamu and other security heads participated. No issue about the constitutionality or otherwise of the initiatives was disputed. PV: 0 Iran's president has today warned that European soldiers 'could be in danger' in a threat to the West after Britain, France and Germany ramped up pressure on Tehran over the faltering nuclear deal. Hassan Rouhani extended Iran's threats to Europe after the three nations triggered the pact's 'dispute resolution mechanism' over Iran's failure to comply with the deal. 'Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger,' Rouhani said. Europe and Iran both say they want to save the deal but Tehran has been steadily abandoning its nuclear limits since Donald Trump pulled out of the pact in 2018. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (pictured) has today warned that European soldiers 'could be in danger' after Britain, France and Germany ramped up pressure over the nuclear deal Europe and Iran both say they want to save the deal but Tehran has been steadily abandoning its nuclear limits since Donald Trump (pictured) pulled out of the pact in 2018 Rouhani today rejected a proposal for a new 'Trump deal' aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a 'strange' offer and criticising U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises. He rejected Boris Johnson's calls for a new nuclear deal renegotiated by Trump. In a televised speech, Rouhani told Washington to return to the nuclear pact, which Washington abandoned in 2018, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of international sanctions on Iran. 'This Mr Prime Minister in London, I don't know how he thinks. He says let's put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,' Rouhani said. 'If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal.' Since quitting the agreement, Washington has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran's oil exports as part of a 'maximum pressure' policy. The United States says its aim is force Tehran to agree a broader deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars. Iran says it will not negotiate as long as sanctions remain in place. Tehran has gradually taken steps to reduce its compliance with the deal, which prompted Britain, France and Germany to formally accuse it on Tuesday of violating the terms. 'This Mr. Prime Minister in London, I don't know how he thinks. He says let's put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,' Rouhani said. 'If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal.' Iran denies any intent to acquire nuclear weapons and says its breaches of the deal would be reversed if Washington lifts sanctions. 'All of our activities are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA),' said Rouhani. In another burst of angry rhetoric, an Iranian cleric called for the expulsion of UK ambassador Rob Macaire - saying he was better expelled than 'chopped into pieces'. Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda said Mr Macaire's expulsion would be the 'best thing that can happen to him', according to the Eslahat news website. Mr Macaire was arrested after attending a vigil for crash victims on Saturday, a move which sparked outrage from the UK government. Iranian protesters have burned his effigy along with the British flag in recent protests. Mr Macaire, who says he left the vigil when it boiled over into protests, has returned to London for talks. The Foreign Office in London said it was a 'long-planned visit' and says he will be returning to Iran 'in the coming days'. Britain, France and Germany activated a dispute mechanism in the nuclear deal on Tuesday, which eventually could lead to the reimposing of UN sanctions. UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament that Iran had ignored a series of restrictions on its nuclear production. 'Each of these actions were individually serious. Together, they now raise acute concerns about Irans nuclear ambitions,' he said. Since quitting the deal in May 2018, Trump has reimposed sanctions on Iran that have crippled its economy. Tehran says it wants to keep the agreement but cannot do so indefinitely if it receives none of the promised economic benefits. Iranian protesters burn an effigy of UK ambassador Rob Macaire, who has been at the centre of a diplomatic row between Iran and Britain Hassan Rouhani extended Iran's threats to Europe after the three nations triggered the pact's 'dispute resolution mechanism' over Iran's failure to comply with the deal (pictured: Rouhani inspecting nuclear facilities last year) Iran has since taken a series of steps away from the deal in a bid to pressure European powers into helping it swerve the US sanctions. On July 1, it said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond the 300-kilogram limit set by the agreement. A week later, the Islamic Republic announced it had exceeded the deal's uranium enrichment level of 3.67 per cent. Tehran had agreed that maximum enrichment level under the deal, which is far below the more than 90 per cent required for a nuclear weapon. However, once a country enriches uranium to around 20 per cent, scientists say the time needed to reach 90 per cent is halved. Tehran said it was abandoning the remaining limits earlier this month after the US drone strike which killed general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. At the time the deal was signed, it was feared that Iran's 'breakout time' to develop a nuclear weapon could be as low as two months. With the safeguards in place, it is now believed that Iran is at least a year away from acquiring such a weapon. Iran continues to insist that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Reuters that the deal was still alive: 'No, it's not dead. It's not dead,' Zarif said on the sidelines of a conference in New Delhi. But he told the conference Trump's withdrawal from the earlier deal made new negotiations with Washington pointless: 'I had a U.S. deal and the U.S. broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last?' In its biggest step away from the agreement yet, Iran announced on January 5 it would abandon all limitations on enriching uranium set down in the pact. Britain, France and Germany reacted by activating a dispute mechanism in the deal on Tuesday, which eventually could lead to the reimposing of U.N. sanctions. Iran called this step a 'strategic mistake'. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington now expects the U.N. sanctions to 'snap back into place' as a result of the European move. The European countries have said that is not their goal. Rouhani upbraided European powers for not standing up to Trump. Iran says the Europeans have reneged on promises to find ways to circumvent the U.S. sanctions. The flare-up in nuclear diplomacy comes as military confrontation between Washington and Tehran has also reached a new peak. The United States killed an Iranian general in a drone strike in Baghdad on January 3. Tehran responded a week ago by launching missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq. No Americans were hurt, but hours later Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner in what its authorities have acknowledged as a tragic mistake, prompting anti-government protests at home. Rouhani repeated Iran's longstanding position that peace can come to the Middle East only when the United States withdraws. 'American soldiers today are not secure in the region ... We donat want there to be insecurity in the world. We want you to go from here, but not with war. We want you to leave the region intelligently and it's to your benefit,' Rouhani said. Celadon Group plans to sell Hyndman Transport's headquarters to a Canadian real estate firm for C$12 million after a U.S. federal judge approved the bankrupt trucking company's request to fast-track the deal on Monday. The sale appears set to close imminently, after Guelph-based Wyndham Street Investments signed a purchase agreement on Jan. 7, according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The facility, located just off Highway 401, is likely Celadon's single most valuable hard asset in Canada. Lawyers for Celadon asserted that the sale to Wyndham Street will command higher proceeds than if the facility were otherwise included in a forthcoming bidding process for the company's other assets. Lawyers for Celadon asserted that while the deal did not require the U.S. court's approval, they sought it out of an "abundance of caution." The filing made no mention of any legal implications or potential challenges to the deal in Canada. The sale could make it more difficult for former Hyndman employees and contractors to secure any owed compensation. The funds will leave Canada and be distributed in accordance with the U.S. bankruptcy proceedings. Some former Hyndman employees and contractors have been consulting with lawyers since the trucking company shut down on Dec. 9 after Celadon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Many say they are owed thousands of dollars in vacation pay, severance and other compensation. The absence of Canadian bankruptcy proceedings has complicated those efforts. Celadon has said that it intends to secure recognition of the U.S. bankruptcy in Canada. Court records in Ontario do not show any public bankruptcy recognition proceedings for Celadon in Canada as of Jan. 1. Canadian federal authorities are also investigating the dismissals of former Hyndman workers. The probe appears to be focusing on whether the dismissals constituted "mass terminations," which could entitle former workers to substantial payouts in the event they did not receive proper notice. Story continues Image Sourced from Pixabay 0 See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. 15.01.2020 LISTEN Desert Locusts are causing havoc in parts of Africa. Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), in an article, has urged African governments to fight the locusts invasion to avert food security crisis on the continent. Read his full article below: The Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) is greatly alarmed by the invasion of desert locusts now affecting residents of several counties in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, as well as pockets of Djibouti and Eritrea. The skies are stuffed, the grounds littered and ugly, while what was to be beautiful vegetation and easy access to crops and pasture, thanks to the return of rains in some previously arid or semi-arid areas, has now left a bad taste and sight, for many residents. Besides, the worry that the desert locusts might not leave soon, and the fact that many may be faced with dire food situation after their crop and pasture is destroyed, cannot be overemphasized. In other words, the Horn of Africa is under siege from the insect described by the Sciencedaily as an invasive species that is both well-known and feared because of the large-scale agricultural damage it can cause. This is a sad situation, a serious threat to food security for the continent, especially the Horn of Africa that is facing its worst locust invasion in 25 years, according to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The sad thing about this looming disaster is that there have been warnings and updates by FAO in its forest locust disaster watch from as early as June 2019, when the invasive and destructive insects affected parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and moved further South of the Red Sea. FAO stated in the desert locust watch that the insect actually had a field day, undetected, between June 2018 and March 2019 in the Empty Quarter of the Southern Arabia Peninsula following heavy rains that gave favourable breeding grounds for at least three generations of the insects. Here, we can say, all were caught off guard. The world should have, however, woken up to this threat when, in January 2019, the insects spread from the Empty Quarter of the Southern Arabia Peninsula and attacked Yemen, Saudi Arabia and later parts of Iran, where longer lasting heavy rains had also created a favourable environment for their multiplication and migration to larger areas of the stated countries until June. The trend continued, and, the insects went far and wide, affecting Indo-Pakistan (from Iran) and further to the African continent through Somalia and Ethiopia (from Yemen) between June and December 2019. Since then, there have been warnings for the African states, including Kenya, where the invasive desert locust has begun to damage crops, occupy the air space, litter the environment and just be a nuisance and distraction to the daily goings on of citizens. Besides Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti have had their share of the plague. Sudan has not been spared. South Sudan and Uganda also risk this invasion. Somalias case has worsened this whole issue because insecurity limited proper response to invasion, and the desert locusts had a field day. It tells us how key peace can be, even in times of disaster. The direct link of this disaster to climate change is the unpredictability of rain patterns. The rains are heavier and lasting longer than usual or expected, and the ensuing greenery is what entices the otherwise slow breeding insects (in calm deserts) to be more active and fast in reproduction. The need for the world to take the climate crisis seriously cannot be gainsaid; action needs to be taken right now. The desert locust disaster is coming at a time Africa is still reeling from other effects of climate change that include disastrous landslides, floods, drought and cyclones. These have dragged the affected economies, as beside massive loss of lives, infrastructure is destroyed, families split when migration is unavoidable (always affecting the education of many children), economies are strained because finances have to be diverted to emergencies and rehabilitation, and momentum for growth slowed down as attention shifts to the disasters. Following heavy rains in Kenyas Kerio Valley last December alone, more than 50 human lives were lost, families displaced and livestock killed as a result of mudslides. The heavy downpour also saw three irrigation schemes Weiwei, ESP Tukou Sangat and Marich pass - destroyed. Now attention has to shift to resettlement of the displaced, rehabilitation of water canals and other social amenities and other systems destroyed. This is not the worst that the eastern part of the continent has suffered. There is no more time to waste, but to take our lives and environment seriously, as this invasion is likely to worsen an already bad food security situation. The need for research and follow-up on their recommendations, plus implementation is essentially important. Close monitoring and preparedness for any event of the locusts invasion must be sustained. Had the relevant authorities been keen on the FAO warnings, there could have been better planning for the army of insects, which would have reduced the extent of invasion or just destruction in agricultural areas. But the desert locusts invasion has exposed our worst in terms of preparedness for disasters and response. We watched and waited as the insects flew into the continent in their droves, only to welcome them with claps, whistles and gun shots that have not done much to scare them away. We have heard of clangs of stones against pans, honking horns and chants. There have even been mentions of tear gas being used on the insects. They must be getting entertained! The aerial spray that a lot of affected nations are now applying, though unfriendly to the environment, may work. A lot of the other methods only help to push the insects to other regions where weather conditions aid environments that favour their survival and multiplication. Since the desert locusts are an agricultural shock, the African continent might soon be staring at a serious food crisis right in the face. Agriculture is the backbone of many African economies, a source of food for every nation, and an enabler of several other sectors. Look at it this way; if the locusts mess food crops and pasture for a community, then planting may not happen immediately because not all rely on irrigation, but watch seasons to plant. If talking about cash crops such as wheat, rice, khat, coffee, cotton or tea, then clearly industries will be affected. On a more smaller scale, when hunger hits, a child will be forced to forego school to search for pasture for the familys livestock or go to search for wild fruits. Some may be forced into child labour to help fend for their families. A woman will be forced to work harder to put food to the table, while her husband, not willing to see his cows and goats die of hunger, may invade someones watering point, where he might be caught and a conflict begins. This is not all. Yesterday, reports indicated that an Ethiopian Airline B737-700encountered the locusts swarm on approach to Dire Dawa Airport (HACR), and the pilots had to divert to Addis Ababa. The sight of the planes nose was ugly. In dealing with the locusts, we should first accept that we have been caught flat footed and forge ahead with an intensive multi-thronged response. If declaring the invasions a national disaster could help nations give it more attention, then that should happen faster. Politics can be put on hold and relevant departments and ministries made to give the problem the attention it deserves. This is critical. Countries and sub-national entities can join hands and tackle the problem, especially around border points. This is already happening in Kenya, where one Laikipia County is already working with affected units like Samburu and Isiolo to forestall invasion. They have enlisted the services of airlines to see the work done. This can be done between nations, for the good of all. Dealing with the insects is an expensive affair, and joining hands would help lessen the burden. The scary facts about the desert locusts should remind us of the danger at hand. The insects, according to studies, can devastate agriculture because of their ability to change breeding patterns based on their environment. For the desert locusts, good food and shelter will automatically lead to high survival. They also attack fast. For the period they have invaded Ethiopia and Somalia, more than 70,000ha under crop has been destroyed. In a day, the locusts can destroy food enough to feed at least 2,500 people, according to studies. The insects can also cover very long distances in a short time. FAO says swarms can travel up to 130km (80 miles) per day - a kilometre-wide (half-mile-wide).One swarm, the UN organisation says, can contain up to 80 million locusts. One remedy to the invasion would be to harvest the hoppers, process and export them to places where they are a delicacy. It is said that the insects, as food, are good for the heart, as they contain sterols that have cholesterol-lowering properties that reduce heart diseases. But since we have been ambushed, even this may not be an option. Let us not take lightly the locusts invasion, because a generation may just be affected in a way that we might forever regret. The comical ways in which Kenyans responded to their Agriculture Minister Mwangi Kiunjuris calls for citizens to post images of the deserts locust, if spotted for the Government to confirm, should be a statement that Africans want seriousness on matters touching their lives. The Kenyan, Ethiopian and Sudanese governments should, however, still be commended for the work already done, through ground and aerial control operations to ward off or destroy the desert locusts. They must, however, be encouraged to heed this call by FAO: All efforts are required by national authorities to undertake regular surveys, timely reporting and efficient control, and to upscale these activities in the coming weeks and months. This is our continent. Let us save it from preventable disasters such as this desert locust invasion. About the writer: Mithika Mwenda is one of the founders of PACJA, an organisation that is present in 45 African countries. He is the 2019 winner of the International Earth Care Award and has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy by Apolitical. Maitama District Hospital, Abuja was thrown into pandemonium as relatives of a deceased woman reportedly assaulted and stripped a female doctor following the death of the woman, Daily Trust reports. According to reports, the angry relatives took laws into their hands after the lady doctor refused to approve a blood transfusion for the deceased. Confirming the incidence, Ekpe Phillips, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) FCT chapter said the lady doctor refused the blood transfusion because the deceased did not need any. His words: This particular case was that of a Chronic Illness (Medical Condition) that was given standard quality care comparable to best practices. Unfortunately, the patient did not respond adequately and died, he said. In the course of management, the patients relatives had insisted on blood transfusion which was not required because the blood volume was normal and would further complicate the present condition leading to mismanagement, he said. He further added that the relatives then proceeded by molesting the lady doctor. They made good their promise by molesting the female doctor and stripped her naked in broad daylight. This indeed is terrible and unacceptable. Hinsdale Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering Kassedi Clark PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Hinsdale man responsible for the murder of Kassedi Clark pleaded guilty Monday in Berkshire Superior Court. Michael Boulais, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, reckless endangerment of a child, and improper storage of a firearm. Judge John Agostini sentenced Boulais to serve life in prison at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction without parole on the first-degree murder charge. Boulais shot and killed the 24-year-old Clark on April 13, 2018. Clark and Boulais had been in a relationship for nine years and had four children together. They were estranged at the time of her murder, which occurred during an argument at Boulais' Hinsdale home. Clark attended Taconic High School and was studying to be a nurse, with an interest in becoming a midwife, according to her Facebook profile. "I send my condolences to Kassedi's family and friends for their tragic loss," District Attorney Andrea Harrington said. "This is a just outcome for yet another domestic violence homicide in our county. I thank the law enforcement personnel for their investigation into the matter and our victim witness advocates for helping the family cope with such a terrible situation." State police units including the crime lab and investigative services, Hinsdale and Dalton Police Departments, and Berkshire County sheriff's office conducted the investigation. Dublin, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Thailand Enterprise Market, 2018" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Thailand is one of the fastest-growing countries in ASEAN, and enterprises in all the verticals are eager to use ICT as a stepping stone for improving the internal and external operations. Companies offering ICT services are trying to improve the quality of services that they offer to clients currently. This study covers the telecommunication market, cloud and data center market, IoT market, managed security services market, EDS market, and digital marketing market. Most of the industries in Thailand are using technology to offer better service to the end customers. The Thai telecom market is expected to witness a continuous decline in traditional voice services. External competition is threatening to disrupt the telecom business model. OTT providers like Line, Skype, and Whatsapp have already disrupted voice, video, and text messaging revenue. Demand for data services accessible through mobile networks has grown rapidly. Customer demand is slowly shifting from product to service. Participants must adapt their business model and their position along the value chain. With respect to data, Thailand's Internet bandwidth demand continues to grow, particularly international bandwidth. Thus, telecom should expand available bandwidth by increasing investment in international links. Thailand is one of the countries that are growing fast, and the country has developed a decent ICT infrastructure over the years. This has resulted in good growth in the usage of cloud computing services. Digitization is one of the main drivers of cloud computing in Thailand. Thailand is strategically positioned with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and a small part of China; due to this, many companies are interested in opening data centers here. The Thai Government's National Digital Economy Masterplan and Thailand 4.0 initiative to transform the country into a digital economy would help in getting more demand for data centers in the country. MSS is one of the fastest-growing markets in Thailand. Most of the financial institutions use managed security players to protect their IT infrastructure from external attacks. The MSS market is expected to have a double-digit growth during the forecasted period. With respect to digital marketing, growth in mobile Internet marketing is expected to continuously increase in the upcoming years despite a significant decline in the overall digital advertisement growth rate. IoT adoption in Thailand has been growing fast in both consumer and business segments. One reason that drives the growth of the IoT market is Thailand's readiness in network infrastructure, with AIS and True providing NB-IoT network nationwide, while CAT Telecom offering LoRaWAN. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary Key Findings 2. Market Overview Scope of the Study Thailand is a Country with a Stable Population and Growing Economy, which Depends on Agricultural Products, Automotive, and Textiles Rise of the Digital Economy and Improvements in Network Infrastructure have Resulted in Continuous Increases in Smartphone and Social Media Adoption We See Six Mega Trends Disrupting the Telco Market and Driving Participants to Adapt their Operational Model Thailand is Transforming from Telco Consumer Society to a Digitally Savvy Society Different Industries are Shifting with Technological Advancements Customers' Purchasing Behaviours are Getting Smarter Key Participants in Thailand Today are Augmenting their Business Models to Diversify their Revenues Across a Variety of Ecosystems 3. Thai Telecommunication Market Overview Mobile Communication Service Market Forecast Enterprise Mobile Communication Service Market Share - Thailand Mobile Communication Trends - Thailand Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained Competition in the Mobility Market Thailand 4. Thai Enterprise Data Services Market Overview Thai EDS Market Forecast Key Trends Key Local Participants - EDS 5. Thai Cloud Computing and Data Centre Market Overview Thai Cloud Computing Market is Growing at a Faster Pace Than Many Other Countries in APAC Cloud Computing Market by Verticals and Business Size Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained Competition in Cloud Computing Market - Thailand Data Centre Market Overview Data Centre Market Forecast - Thailand Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained Trends in Thailand Thai Client Demands Competition in Data Centre Market Thailand 6. Thai Managed Services Market Overview Thai MSS Market MSS in Thailand Value Chain of MSS Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained Thai Managed Network Services Market Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained Competition in Managed Services Market - Thailand 7. Digital Marketing Market Overview Thai Companies are Increasing Investments on Digital Advertising, while Simultaneously Reducing Investments on the Traditional Methods Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained LINE is Expected to Play a Much Bigger Role in the Digital Advertising Market in the Upcoming Future through its LINE Today and LINE@ Platforms Recently, the Use of Influencers for Digital Marketing has been Popular among Top Companies, Especially through Social Media Channels Competition in the Digital Marketing Market - Thailand 8. Thai IoT Market Overview Thai IoT Spending IoT Implementation Trends in Thailand IoT Value Chain in Thailand Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained IoT Opportunities in Top Vertical Segments The state of IoT in Thailand Competition in IoT Market - Thailand 9. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action Growth Opportunity 1 - Cyber Security Market Growth Opportunity 2 - Cloud and Data Centre Market Growth Opportunity 3 - IoT Market Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth 10. The Last Word 3 Big Predictions 11. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/iarfx6 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. A federal judge agreed Wednesday to block the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order allowing state and local government officials to reject refugees from resettling in their jurisdictions. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction requested by three national refugee resettlement agencies that sued to challenge the executive order. In his 31-page ruling, Messitte said the agencies are likely to succeed in showing that the executive order is unlawful because it gives state and local governments veto power over the resettlement of refugees. Pennsylvania's Cumberland County commissioners on Monday signed a letter approving refugee resettlement within the county. President Donald Trump's administration announced in November that resettlement agencies must get written consent from state and local officials in any jurisdiction where they want to help resettle refugees beyond June 2020. Agency leaders say the order effectively gives governors and county leaders a veto in the resettlement process. The agencies also argue the order illegally conflicts with the 1980 Refugee Act. Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and HIAS a Jewish nonprofit filed the lawsuit in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Nov. 21. They are three of the nine national organizations that have agreements with the federal government to provide housing and other services for refugees. Texas, which took in more refugees than any other state during the 2018 fiscal year, became the first state known to reject the resettlement of new refugees. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a letter released Jan. 10 that Texas "has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system." At least 41 states have publicly agreed to accept refugees, but a governor's decision doesn't preclude local officials from refusing to give their consent. For instance, the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, has refused to give written consent for refugees to be resettled in the city. Trump's order says the agencies were not working closely enough with local officials on resettling refugees and his administration acted to respect communities that believe they do not have the jobs or other resources to be able to take in refugees. Refugees have the right to move anywhere in the U.S. after their initial resettlement, but at their own expense. Before Trump signed the executive order, state and local officials were given a voice but not a veto in deciding where refugees would be resettled, resettlement agency lawyers said. During a Jan. 8 hearing, the judge said the president's order essentially changed a federal law governing the resettlement of refugees. Justice Department attorney Bradley Humphreys said the Refugee Act gives the president "ample authority" to make such a change. "Why change it now?" Messitte asked. "Is it purely a political thing?" Humphreys said the executive order is designed to enhance the involvement of state and local officials in the process of resettling refugees. But he insisted it doesn't give them a veto over resettlement decisions. The Trump administration has capped the number of refugee admissions at 18,000 for the current fiscal year. About 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. during the past fiscal year; between 150,000 and 200,000 remain in the pipeline for possible U.S. resettlement while they live abroad, according to Linda Evarts, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Retired military personnel are already entitled to tax exemptions on the first $3,500 of their income. According to the Governors Office, Duceys proposal could cost the state $45 million and would apply only to veterans who served at least 20 years. During his address, Ducey also recognized the need to connect veterans with jobs and reduce homelessness and suicide among veterans. He said he plans to open two new homes for veterans and expand the states suicide prevention program. His plan would also eliminate fees to get state licenses for veterans and spouses of active duty military. I-10 and rural development Ducey said he wants to accelerate the widening of Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix with three lanes going each direction. The Phoenix-Tucson corridor is an economic artery for our state and it needs expanding, he said. Its time to accelerate completion of I-10s widening, in both directions, between our two largest cities. This company article has been removed. NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas for a review of the death sentence handed down to four men in the rape and murder of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, leaving an appeal to the president as their only possible recourse. The 2012 attack on the 23-year old physiotherapy student on the moving bus shocked India and led to tough new laws against sexual violence, including the death penalty for rape in some cases. The victim died from her injuries two weeks later in hospital in Singapore. The court said that there were no grounds to review its decision upholding the death sentence for the four men, all from working class neighborhood in the Indian capital. "We have gone through the curative petitions and relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this court," the court said its order. The men were convicted in 2013 and lost all appeals in a higher court. Last week, a Delhi court said they would be hanged on Jan. 22. The family of the victim welcomed the court ruling. "I am feeling good. We want to see them hanged. Only then will justice be served to our daughter who died in pain," said her father. Sexual violence against women is a huge problem in India where a rape occurs every 20 minutes. Many of the cases have drawn revulsion and anger across the country. A. P. Singh, a lawyer for the four defendants, said that he would read the written order of the court and decide the next course of action. (Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty; writing by Sanjeev Miglani; editing by Nick Macfie) The concept of Integrated Battle Groups (IBG) is being given shape in the newly-raised 17 Corps to meet the current challenges in the northern borders, Eastern Command chief Lt Gen Anil Chauhan said on Wednesday. He said the Army has done a few exercises to validate the concept of IBGs as to what should be the organisation and structure of it, which the 17 Corps, the country's first Mountain Strike Corps, performed. The 17 Corps carried out 'Him-Vijay', a mega exercise at a height of around 15,000 ft in Arunachal Pradesh in October last year. "To meet the current challenges in the northern borders, we are organising ourselves in the form of integrated battle groups," Lieutenant General Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, told reporters. "What we are looking at is the organisation of formations which are more deployable, more employable and more capable to perform the tasks," he said. Chauhan said that the Indian Army structures are more a legacy of the British Army and they were probably organised to fight in the longest kind of wars in distant lands. To meet the present day challenges and take care of India's geostrategic needs, the first reorganisation was carried out in the 1980s when the infantry division, which contains combat and logistic support elements, was reorganised into a rapid division, that included some portions of mechanised infantry. Following a status quo thereafter, the Army has again embarked upon reorganising its formations, he said after a solemn wreath laying ceremony on Army Day at the Eastern Command headquarter, Fort William, here. "We are looking at 17 Corps primarily in the initial phases, we have done some exercises to validate this concept of IBGs - what should be the organisation, structure and that has been done," he said. Chauhan said that as far as the operational situation is concerned, the northern border has remained quiet last year due to the Wuhan summit of April, 2018 and the Chennai summit in October, 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in Wuhan to exchange views on issues of bilateral and global importance and reviewed developments in India-China relations from the strategic and long-term perspective. They held their second informal summit in Chennai where they exchanged views on outstanding issues, including on the boundary question. "Peace is being maintained without compromising our legitimate claims or position at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)," the Eastern Command chief said. India shares nearly 4,000-km-long border with China in the north. Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped building of a road in the area by the Chinese Army. The face-off ended on August 28. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gable Tostee has taken a swipe at a Gold Coast city after his Tinder date called police on him during a drunken night out. Mr Tostee, now known as Eric Thomas, was removed from a home in Yarrabilba in Logan in south-east Queensland on New Year's Eve after a 28-year-old woman he met on Tinder discovered he had previously been acquitted of murder. The 33-year-old was acquitted three years ago of both murder and manslaughter after his Tinder date Warriena Wright plummeted to her death from his 14th-storey Gold Coast apartment in 2014. Mr Thomas has continued his search for love on the dating app undeterred and took to Facebook on Tuesday to offer a 'pro-tip' to his followers. Gable Tostee has taken a brutal swipe at Logan on the Gold Coast after his Tinder date called the police on him during a night out Mr Tostee reacts as he leaves the Supreme Court after jurors found him not guilty of killing Warriena Wright, whom he met via the dating app Tinder on the Gold Coast in 2014 'Pro tip: don't swipe right on anyone from Logan,' he posted. Many comments on Mr Thomas' post followed his sentiment, with several slamming 'Logan bogans'. 'Never!' one comment reads. 'It's a good tip. Helping others avoid the Logan bogans ain't a bad thing,' another post reads. 'Unless you got some furniture you want to get rid of and can't afford a removalist,' another said. Mr Thomas was removed from the residence in Yarrabilba after meeting his recent Tinder date, and said his date told him words to the effect of 'I've done some reading on you and you've got me on edge'. He said police told him he 'didn't need to worry' as he had not broken any laws. Mr Thomas said he was determined to remain in the dating game. Mr Tostee is now known as Eric Thomas, and has continued his search for love on the dating app undeterred despite his history 'If you're involved in a serious car accident does that mean you never drive again?' he told 9News. 'The police themselves said ''you're not in trouble - you haven't committed anything''. 'I just think it's bizarre. Nobody has acted that way before.' Mr Thomas said the conversation about his past had come up earlier in the evening, but while the woman was surprised they had then fallen asleep together. He described the incident as a 'bizarre' misunderstanding. 'She never asked me to leave or anything ... I was literally woken up when the police walked in and she said to me something like 'I've done some reading on you and you've got me on edge',' Mr Thomas told The Courier-Mail. Mr Thomas said the fact she called police was bizarre because the unnamed woman didn't signal at any point previously she didn't want to be with him. Gable Tostee pictured with Warriena Wright before her death in August 2014 'She'd heard of the story [about his trial and acquittal] ... I think she was surprised for a second but we just kept talking and fell asleep on the couch together,' he said. It comes after Mr Thomas threatened legal action against a feminist Facebook group warning other women to steer clear of him. Mr Thomas claimed he was the victim of a hate/harassment campaign by social media group Mad F***ing Witches, which posted screenshots from his Tinder profile and warned social media followers in November. Mr Thomas said he considered it a hate/harassment campaign on ABC Radio Melbourne's Mornings program. 'I was acquitted in a court of law and they don't know the facts,' Mr Thomas told listeners. 'Ethically I should not be obliged to tell people I did nothing wrong.' Mr Tostee changed his name to Eric Thomas and moved to New Zealand in 2016 with a partner, before moving back to the Gold Coast. (CNN) Retired Pope Benedict XVI said he did not co-author a book seen as undercutting his successor Pope Francis, according to his private secretary, Georg Gaenswein. The book, titled "From the Depths of Our Hearts," argues in favor of the centuries-old tradition of priestly celibacy within the church, defending the ability to "put oneself completely at the disposition of the Lord" as a criterion for those wishing to be ordained. The release of the book, which will be published Wednesday in French, comes as Pope Francis considers whether to ease the church's ban on married men serving as priests in certain cases. Gaenswein said the former pope asked him to call Cardinal Robert Sarah, the book's author, on Tuesday morning to request the removal of his name and photograph from the book cover, reports Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress. Benedict also asked to have his signature removed from the book, Gaenswein said. However, a section of the book bearing the former pope's name is "100 percent Benedict," the secretary added, explaining that Benedict wrote it last summer and gave it to Cardinal Sarah. Benedict knew the writing would appear in a book, but did not know its format or makeup, Gaenswein said. The Vatican Press Office is not planning to make a further statement about the book, it said. Cardinal Sarah also said Benedict would no longer be credited as co-author. "Considering the controversies caused by the publication of the book ... it is decided that the author of the book will be: (Cardinal) Sarah, with the contribution of Benedict XVI. However, the full text remains absolutely unchanged," Sarah tweeted Tuesday. Sarah, a leading conservative within the church, also published a detailed letter outlining Benedict's involvement in the book. The introduction to the book states that the authors "cannot remain silent" as the Vatican considers whether to allow married men to become priests in some circumstances. "We can say: 'Silere non possum! I cannot remain silent!'" Benedict and Sarah wrote in the joint introduction to the book, according to excerpts released by French daily newspaper Le Figaro on Sunday. Benedict also wrote that he believes celibacy carries "great significance" and is "truly essential" as a priest's path to God becomes the foundation of his life. "The call to follow Jesus is not possible without this sign of freedom and of renunciation of all commitments," he wrote. "Celibacy must penetrate, with its requirements, all of the attitudes of existence." In October, Pope Francis opened a contentious three-week summit to discuss environmental and religious issues in the Amazon. It raised the question of whether some respected married elder men -- known as "viri probati" -- could be ordained to help overcome a shortage of priests in the region. The proposal is pending approval by Francis, but critics fear that it could lead to a wider dissolution of the discipline of celibacy around the world. Reddit has stopped working for some of its users. The site, which describes itself as the front page of the internet, is not loading properly for some people who visit it. Thousands of affected users complained on rival social networks like Twitter that the site was failing to appear. But others are able to access it as normal. Some also found that visiting the "old" version of the site which can be accessed through a special URL worked when the newer one did not. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty Outage tracking website Down Detector showed a steadily climbing number of reports in recent hours, with huge numbers of people complaining they were unable to access pages. Problems were particularly reported from Europe and the US, but that may simply reflect the location of people who were attempting to access the site. Reddit's official page was first updated to indicate it was aware of the issue. Later, another update was posted to indicate the "issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented". LAWRENCE, Mass. Dionisia Ramos gets on the 37 bus twice a day, rooting through her handbag to dig out the fare and drop it into the slot, so it came as a shock several months ago when the bus driver reached out his hand to stop her. You dont have to pay, he said. Its free for the next two years. Ms. Ramos had never heard of anything like this: Someone was paying her bus fare? At 55, she lives on a monthly unemployment check for $235. So saving $2.40 a day, for her trip to and from community college, past the hulking mills of Lawrences industrial past that meant something. Since a pilot program began in September, use of the buses has grown by 24 percent, and the only criticism Ms. Ramos has of the Massachusetts citys experiment with fare-free transit is that it is not permanent. Pronouncing tricky fashion brand names can be the worst experience. Questioning yourself multiple times about the emphasis on each syllable? Mumbling what you vaguely assume sounds right? Pretending to not hear someone when they ask? Outright leaving because its embarrassing? Weve all been there. But it is time to buckle down and say the likes of VETEMENTS, Bvlgari, Ermenegildo Zegna, Lanvin, Monique Lhuillier and Giambattista Valli right, after all you owe that much to them for all those fabulous designs. No longer will you be looking up correct pronunciations in the bathroom, or keeping quiet in fear of being wrong- we have a guide for you to pronounce these seven tricky brand names correctly. Giambattista Valli Giambattista Valli is an Italian fashion designer. He is from Rome, Italy. His collections, both ready to wear and Haute couture are presented semi-annually during Paris Fashion Week. The wrong pronunciation: Gee-ahm-bah-TIS-tah Vale-ee The right pronunciation: Jahm-bah-TEES-tah VAH-lee Zendaya in a Giambattista Valli Haute Couture 13 gown. (Instagram/ giambattistavalliparis) Also read: Twelve best-dressed celebs at the 25th Critics Choice Awards Bvlgari Bvlgari is an Italian luxury brand known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories and leather goods. Founded in 1884. While the majority of design, production and marketing is overseen and executed by Bulgari, the company does, at times, partner with other entities. The wrong pronunciation: Bool-GAH-ree The right pronunciation: BOOL-gah-ree B000WZP3WI Serpenti Collection by Bvlgari. (Instagram/ bulgariofficial) VETEMENTS VETEMENTS is a French clothing and footwear design collective and brand, founded by Georgian fashion designer Demna Gvasalia and CEO Guram Gvasalia in 2014. The wrong pronunciation: Vet-eh-mehnts The right pronunciation: Vet-MAHN (with a soft n) VETEMENTS Summer 2020 Monogram top with gloves. (Instagram/ vetements_official) Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta is an Italian luxury goods and high fashion brand. Founded in 1966 in Vicenza, Veneto, its headquarters are in Lugano, Switzerland with offices in Milan and Vicenza, Italy. The wrong pronunciation: Bo-tah-ga Vi-net-ta The right pronunciation: Bow-TAY-gah VAH-netta 0847837882 Bottega Vanetas Womens Pre Spring Collection 2020. (Instagram/ bottegavaneta) Balmain Balmain is a French luxury fashion house known for its womens and mens clothing, accessories, footwear, eyewear and fragrances, that was founded by Pierre Balmain in 1945. The wrong pronunciation: Bahl-MANE The right pronunciation: Bal-MAH Balmain Fall Winter 2019 Collection featuring the Balmain Buzz Blazer. (Instagram/ balmain) BCBGMAXAZRIA BCBGMAXAZRIA is a luxury fashion brand founded by Max Azria in 1989. Known for its womens designer clothing, with an array of gowns, dresses. The wrong pronunciation: Bick Big Max AHZ-ree-uh The right pronunciation: Bee See Bee Gee Max AZ-ree-uh BCBGMAXAZRIA collectiopn featuring the LaceTulle Gown. (Instagram/ bcbgmaxazria) Comme des Garcons Comme des Garcons is a Japanese fashion label founded by and headed by Rei Kawakubo. It is known for its avant garde aesthetic and unconventional silhouettes. It is based in Tokyo and also in the Place Vendome in Paris, the city in which they show their main collections during Paris Fashion Week and Paris Mens Fashion Week. The wrong pronunciation: Come dess Gar-kons The right pronunciation: Comb day Gar-sown (with a soft n) Comme des Garcons FW19 collections by Rei Kawakubo. (Instagram/ commedesgarcons) At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter A 71-year-old man has been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot while on duty in 2005. West Yorkshire Police said Piran Ditta Khan was held on Tuesday following an operation involving the National Crime Agency and local partners. Khan appeared in an Islamabad court on Wednesday, where his extradition was discussed. He was remanded in custody to next appear at court on January 29. Pc Beshenivsky was shot while responding to a robbery at Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford, on November 18 2005. The mum-of-three was shot dead in Morley Street, Bradford / PA Detective Superintendent Mark Swift said: "I would like to thank the National Crime Agency officers in Pakistan and partners who have made this arrest possible. "This is a major development in this long-running investigation and their assistance in this matter cannot be understated. "We are continuing to liaise with partners in Pakistan to process Khan's extradition with the intention of returning him to the UK to face court proceedings." Pc Beshenivsky was a 38-year-old married mother of three with two stepchildren, and was a probationer with only nine months' service when she was killed. The MAC 10 used and discharged during the robbery at Universal Express Travel Agents in Bradford, / PA / WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE HANDOUT Her colleague, Pc Teresa Millburn, was also shot but survived to later give evidence at the trial of members of the armed gang who were charged with being involved in the murder. Six men were later jailed at Newcastle Crown Court, but Khan, a former bouncer who was suspected of being the gang organiser, had fled abroad. A new report has revealed 52 official cases of Amish child sexual assault in seven states over the past two decades - but says many more cases remain covered up. Victims in the secluded communities are reportedly discouraged from reporting abuse, and are frightened they'll be shunned from their communities, with some saying they were sent to a mental health facility after coming forward. Former Mennonite and Plain People's Podcast co-host Jasper Hoffman says she receives 'hundreds of messages' from people wanting to share their horrifying stories or get help reporting abuse. Approximately 342,000 Amish people live in North America, largely across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. The group's clergy reportedly discourages police involvement in claims of abuse, and instead opts for the punishment of public church confession and up to six weeks of social exclusion for abusers. After that, the perpetrator is forgiven and the offense forgotten, several people who have left the community say. A new report has stated 52 official cases of Amish child sexual assault in seven states over the past two decades. Former Mennonite and Plain People's Podcast co-host Jasper Hoffman (pictured) receives 'hundreds of messages' from people wanting to share their horrifying stories or help reporting abuse Approximately 342,000 Amish people live in North America, largely across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (File image of Columbia, Pennsylvania pictured) An anonymous woman - who said she was abused by her brother and a neighbor when she was nine was told 'it's not Christlike to report'. She was sent to a mental health facility, and knew of about 30 others including two of her sisters who had also been prescribed an anti-psychotic medication, olanzapine, used to treat schizophrenia. 'When a victim speaks out they get sent to a facility and drugged so that they shut up,' she told a Cosmopolitan/Type Investigations report. When she was discharged, notes included advice to 'be submissive' and to 'challenge unhealthy thoughts toward ministers and others using positive/good thought'. Lizzie Hershberger said her abuse at 14 as she worked for a Minnesota family was regarded as a consensual 'affair' and she was spit on and called a 'schlud' and 'hoodah' - Pennsylvania Dutch words for 'slut' and 'whore'. Lizzie Hershberger said her abuse at 14 led to her being bullied by the community. She, like many others, was sent to a mental facility and medicated with anti-psychotic pills Often, victims are discouraged from coming forward to report the crimes and the abuser gets the bulk of support from the secluded rural communities, usually made up of 20 to 30 families. 'They didn't ask me how I felt or my side of the story,' Hershberger reveals about her own suffering in a Cosmopolitan/Type Investigations report. Hershberger remembers 'they watched me all the time,' and she got daily deep-tissue massages to 'work through my emotional stuff' after her mother carted her off 300 miles away to a mental facility in South Dakota. At the time of her abuse in 1989 some men had even walked in on her attacks but didn't help. Abuser Chriss Stutzman, 27, eventually confessed and was punished by the church. But in 2018 Hershberger finally reported him to police and he received 45 days in jail and 10 years' probation to guidelines set in 1988. The clergy discourages police involvement and instead opts for the punishment of a public church confession and up to six weeks of social exclusion for abusers (file image) In the case of a second anonymous woman abused by her father, he told police the matter had been 'dealt with by the church'. When they came knocking a second time he confessed to having sex with two of his daughters at least three times but claimed he 'didn't hurt them'. After pleas from the woman's mother for social workers to 'do whatever they could to keep him from going to jail', he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in 2001 deal where he only got probation. He avoided an incest charge because the family did not want him locked up. The anonymous woman was also raped by her brothers, who were not reported and who she still visits on occasion after they have profusely apologized. One of the victims denied raping her, another claims he only 'messed around' and the third did not respond to a request for comment from Type Investigations. The report mentions that victims can be encouraged to write statements alleging the perpetrator has changed and begging prosecutors to keep their family together. President Judge Dennis Reinaker has presided over 30-plus Amish sexual assault cases in Lancaster County and told the investigative reporter that in a 2010 case defendants dodged a sentence of up to 30 years after a young female victim pleaded for them to be spared in a letter to the court. Reinaker said the victim would only cooperate upon agreement the men received no jail time. Horse-drawn buggies are a popular mode of transports for members of the Amish community. However it's reported more victims are finding ways to report their abusers despite having little access to technology (file image) Now it's reported that victims have started a 'much slower and less highly visible' version of the #MeToo movement, according to Linda Crockett, founder and director of Safe Communities. 'I have seen a real uptick over the past 10 years in Amish women coming forward,' she says about the organization that works to prevent child sexual abuse. 'They hear about each othernot on Twitter or Facebook, but there's a strong communication system within these communities. They draw courage and strength from each other.' The Amish communities have little exposure to police, technology, and motorized transport and are only educated to eight grade level, which does not include sex education. Judge Craig Stedman, former district attorney of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where there are nearly 40,000 Amish people, said more victims are reporting their abusers However some have resorted to finding pay phones. 'I get phone calls now....There's a bunch of Amish who have my cell phone number, and they use it. The men call on behalf of the women,' Judge Craig Stedman, former district attorney of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where there are nearly 40,000 Amish people, agreed. Stedman is part of a task force that connects Amish people to police and social services, however only Amish men have attend their meetings. 'Amish victims don't even know the names of body parts,' Stedman told the report. 'To describe a sexual assault without having any fundamental sex education, it presents even more challenges.' Stedman added that courtroom turnouts still appear to heavily support male abusers. It's despite Amish community members starting their own Conservative Crisis Intervention committees to liaise with local authorities. 'We've had cases where there'll be 50 Amish people standing up for the offender and no one speaks for the victim,' Stedman said. Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter Iranians buried their dead from an airliner shot down by the military as authorities on Wednesday identified more of the 176 victims of last week's crash, which led to days of rage against Iran's rulers followed by a police crackdown. Emotions have been running high as the victims of the Jan. 8 crash are mourned. The national flag was ripped from the coffin of one victim when relatives collected the body and the mother shouted "Tear it off," an online video post showed. Protesters took to the streets of Iranian cities for four days after the armed forces finally acknowledged on Saturday, after days of denials, that they had brought down the plane. In several places, demonstrators met a fierce police response. Iranians on social media called for more protests on Wednesday, but there was no sign of the kind of rallies of previous days. Instead videos showed riot police massed outside universities, the focal point for demonstrations. In earlier protests, footage showed police beating protesters, sounds of gunshots, teargas and blood on the ground. The full scale of the unrest and the crackdown is difficult to determine because of restrictions on independent reporting. Expand Close Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter Police denied opening fire and said officers were told to act with restraint. Just two months ago, a crackdown on protests caused by fuel price hikes killed hundreds of people. "The government sees itself under siege from all sides right now and is not going to allow any protest to snowball into a nationwide movement," said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. Iran is battling on several fronts. A new international crisis has erupted over its nuclear programme, the economy is in tatters under U.S. sanctions and a long-running standoff with the United States briefly spiralled into open conflict. The plane was downed by air defences when the armed forces were on high alert for U.S. reprisals, hours after Iran launched missiles against U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian commander on Jan. 3. Crash investigators from Canada have visited the site of the crash and will examine the wreckage later on Wednesday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said. Ukraine is trying to establish whether Iran will hand over the black boxes containing flight data from the plane, a senior Ukrainian prosecutor was quoted by Interfax Ukraine as saying on Wednesday. Universities across Canada held a moment of silence on Wednesday for victims, many of whom were academics, researchers and students linked to 19 Canadian universities. Most of those on Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, bound for Kiev, were Iranians or dual citizens, many of them students returning to their studies abroad or families on their way home after seeing relatives in Iran. Expand Close Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which was shot down in Iran, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Jesse Winter The head of the coroner's office in Tehran said 123 of the 176 victims had been identified, ILNA news agency reported. Several victims were buried in the sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of Tehran, while others would be transferred abroad, Iranian media said. On Thursday, Canada, Ukraine, Britain and other nations who had citizens on the downed plane were to meet in London to discuss legal action against Iran, Ukraine and Canada have said. The military and top officials apologised for the "unforgivable error" in bringing the plane down and said it would prosecute those to blame. The judiciary said people had been arrested who were accused of having a role in the disaster. The government has also sought to galvanise loyalists at home. A state-sponsored body has called for rallies on Friday to show support for the leadership and to commemorate "martyrs" of the plane disaster, Iranian media reported. Iran also has been fending off international pressure over its nuclear ambitions. On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the idea of a new agreement to resolve the nuclear row, as proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and described by Britain's prime minister as a "Trump deal." Rouhani said Trump, who quit an existing nuclear pact in 2018, always broke his promises. Tehran has repeatedly said it would not hold talks while under U.S. sanctions, reimposed as part of Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran aimed at pushing Tehran into a new deal that would put stricter limits on its nuclear work, curb its missile programme and end its role in regional conflicts. The commander killed in the Jan. 3 drone strike, Qassem Soleimani, was responsible for building up Iran's proxy militias abroad that created an arch of influence across the Middle East. The man charged with starting the massive fire in Bound Brook Sunday night posted several messages online that allude to fire or threaten to burn things down, court records show. Juan Hector Padilla, 28, of East Second Street in Bound Brook, made the comments on Facebook in the two weeks leading up to the fire, an affidavit of probable cause obtained by NJ Advance Media shows. "Im thinking of burning down this building that they put up to (mess) with my head, Padilla allegedly wrote on New Years Day. Four days later, he shared a post that read, Going to start the fire at 7. I will burn the world to the ground, Padillas Facebook page posted on Sunday afternoon, about four hours before the blaze began. The Somerset County Prosecutors office declined to comment on the Facebook posts, citing the ongoing investigation. Padilla was arrested Tuesday morning, two days after a blaze ripped through the Meridia II apartment building on Main Street in downtown Bound Brook. The flames spread to a second under-construction building. Both construction projects were destroyed, as were several other homes and a business in the area. A massive fire ripped through commercial buildings in downtown Bound Brook on Sunday, Jan. 12.Photo courtesy Marc Teschic Padilla was caught on a surveillance camera entering a liquor store on Main Street, court records say, where he purchased a bottle of alcohol and cigars. He walked across the street and out of that cameras frame, before entering the frame of another camera. Video recorded by the second camera shows Padilla walking into the parking lot next to Meridia II, and "into the area of the origin of the fire several times, records say. The second time Padilla left the area, smoke was seen "emanating from the area of origin behind the subject, records show. Padilla denied he was near the apartment building in an interview with police, court records show. The clothes he was wearing Sunday night were collected as evidence, records say. Drone footage after Bound Brook fire Padilla is charged with second-degree arson and third-degree hindering investigation, apprehension and providing false information, the prosecutors office said Tuesday. Additional charges could be filed as the investigation continues. He is being held in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing Friday morning. A motion to detain him as the charges are pending has been filed, court officials told NJ Advance Media. The fire began around 8 p.m. on Sunday night in the Meridia II building, and spread quickly to the apartment across the street and several homes. Over 100 firefighters from nearly every town in the county, as well as several from outside of Somerset, responded on Sunday. A smaller number of crews remained at the apartments on Tuesday. Firefighters battle a 7 alarm fire on East Man Street in Bound Brook, January, 12, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for No one was seriously injured in the fire. A Bound Brook firefighter suffered a sprained ankle, officials said. Its still not clear exactly how the fire began; officials have said an investigation into the cause will likely take months. Between 100-200 residents were evacuated from their homes Sunday night. While many were able to return by Tuesday, a number of residents will be displaced for longer, Bound Brook officials said. Twenty residents are temporarily displaced pending the demolition of 17-15 West Main Street building, and about 15 residents are permanently displaced after their homes were destroyed, Bound Brook officials said. The New Jersey Red Cross is providing emergency assistance, and the Somerset County Department of Social Services is arranging temporary housing. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, presented awards to the 10 winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize with the participation of a number of world leaders, at the Prizes annual awards ceremony, coinciding with the start of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Now in its 12th edition, the annual US$3 million Prize is the UAEs pioneering sustainability award for recognising innovative, impactful and inspirational solutions of small to medium-sized companies (SMEs), non-profit organisations (NPOs), and high schools. Evolving from its previous focus on energy-related solutions, in 2018, this was the second year in which the Prize offered awards across a wider scope of five categories in: Health, Food, Energy Water, and Global High Schools. Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said: Each year, the Zayed Sustainability Prize marks new achievements on its global mission to reward innovation and impact in areas of sustainability and humanitarianism. In this milestone year of strategic preparation towards the UAEs next 50, we take inspiration from our shared commitment to honouring the vision of our founding father, Sheikh Zayed, who laid out the blueprint for a sustainable future. We look forward to further building on the Prizes incredible global impact, so it may continue to transform millions of more lives for many years to come. H.H. added: The UAE, under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, continues to reinforce sustainability through a number of programs and initiatives such as the Zayed Sustainability Prize, which gains momentum every year in light of its impact and key role in serving communities and spreading the UAEs message of giving. In congratulating the winners, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed highlighted the importance of encouraging the next generation of pioneers and innovators to be sustainability champions and the significant role they will play in advancing their impact on socio-cultural and economic development. His Highness also praised the level of sophistication some of the projects display and the long-term impact that will have on a worldwide, as well as local, community level. H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed congratulated winners and presented awards across the Prizes five categories; the Global High Schools category being split into six world region winners. The event was attended by various heads of state, ministers and other senior-level dignitaries from the UAE and abroad, in addition to past winners, beneficiaries and 2020 finalists. In the Health Category, Swedens GLOBHE received the award for its drone-based services and proprietary global drone data platform for helping in health disaster prevention and response. With over 3,600 drone pilots, in 48 countries, connected to automatic data analysis platforms, using Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), the solution has impacted 100,000 people through intervention of governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by addressing cholera and malaria epidemics, in Malawi and Lake Victoria. Okuafo Foundation was the Ghana-based winner in the Food Category and was recognised for its smartphone application that utilises A.I., machine learning (ML) and data analytics to predict and detect crop diseases and infestations and offers recommended solutions, based on scientific knowledge, in real-time. The application has allowed farmers to reduce expenses on crop pesticides and increase crop productivity and harvests by up to 50 per cent, thereby increasing their profits and disposable income. In the Prizes Energy Category, the 2020 winner was Electricians Without Borders (EWB). The international non-profit aid agency was recognised for its provision of high-quality solar equipment to refugee campsites and providing training to refugees to repair the equipment, thereby ensuring long-term access to electricity and resolving social issues such as safety concerns. To date, their innovative approach has impacted 8,000 lives in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, the worlds largest refugee camp, who have benefitted from safe and sustainable lighting, leading to less crime, as well as spaces to rebuild their social and community life. Across its global operations, 50,000 people in 38 countries, have benefitted from 129 ongoing projects, providing over one million beneficiaries with improved access to electricity and water. Ceres Imaging, from the USA, was this years winner in the Water category and was recognised for its proprietary spectral imaging sensors and A.I.-based analytics to optimise water use in agriculture. Ceres Imagings data-driven technologies have enabled more efficient irrigation practices and provision of enough water to satisfy the thirst and hunger of a growing global population. Ceres Imaging is presently serving approximately 1,000,000 acres of land, in the US and Australia. Chair of the Zayed Sustainability Prize Jury and former President of the Republic of Iceland, H.E. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, said: Each year, the winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize continue to surprise and captivate us with innovative contributions that will positively transform some of the worlds most disadvantaged areas and vulnerable communities. They are an inspiration to people, young and old, and are absolutely key to delivering on the sustainable development priorities that affect us all. H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Director-General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said: We highly value the vision and directives of the UAEs wise leadership which has been integral to the Prizes success and objectives, while supporting the sustainability vision of the late Sheikh Zayed. I congratulate all the winners of this years awards for taking part in one of the most competitive awards cycles the Prize has seen, to date. His Excellency continued: The objectives of the Prize continue to resonate with a whole new generation of pioneering innovators and future sustainability leaders, having already impacted 335 million people worldwide, directly or indirectly, adding that the Zayed Sustainability Prize also seeks to amplify the impact even further through initiatives such as the recently announced 20by2020, which will apply sustainability solutions developed by winners and finalists to vulnerable communities in 20 countries by the end of this year. In the Global High Schools category, six schools, each representing a world region, receive an award and high schools submit project proposals to build or augment a solution they have developed for their school or local community. The objective of this category, introduced to the Prize in 2012, is to inspire the young people to become pioneers, innovators and sustainability advocates who will contribute to a more sustainable future. The recipients of the 2020 awards were: Air Batalla (Colombia), representing The Americas; Hakimi Aliyu Day Secondary (Nigeria), representing Sub-Saharan Africa; Al Amal Junior High School (Morocco), representing the Middle East & North Africa region; United World College Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina), representing Europe & Central Asia; Bloom Nepal School (Nepal), representing South Asia; and Eutan Tarawa Ieta Junior Secondary School (Kiribati), representing East Asia & Pacific. The Prize format allows for organisations to submit solutions that have affected communities or nations they serve, with the Health, Food, Energy and Water Category winners each claiming a US$600,000 prize fund. The Global High Schools category encourages entries by student-led sustainability projects they would like to implement for either their school or their surrounding communities. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Ireland later today. It's the former German defence minister's first official visit to the country since taking over the EU's top job. Ms von der Leyen will arrive into Dublin later this evening to meet with the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Among the items on the agenda are climate change, the recent return of power-sharing in the north and the new Common Agricultural Policy. However, Brexit will be the key focus. The Taoiseach is expected to impress on the President Ireland's interests in the next stage of EU/UK negotiations, including any future Free Trade Agreement. Addressing MEP's in Strasbourg yesterday, Ms von der Leyen said the UK must decide how close or distant they want to be from the EU, including the single market. She said they can't expect to have no free movement for people and have free movement for goods. At today's meeting, which also includes a dinner at Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach will also argue for a Just Transition fund for workers in the midlands. He is also expected to push for funding for the north and border counties. Protesters hold flowers to remember victims of a Ukrainian airplane shot down by an Iranian missile as tear gas fired by police rises at a demonstration in front of Amir Kabir University in Tehran on Jan. 11, 2020, (AP Photo) House Vote Blocks Measure Voicing Support for Iranian Protesters In a party-line vote, the House of Representatives voted to advance two resolutions, blocking a resolution that voiced support for Iranians protesting against recent actions by their government. The vote to advance the two resolutions, which dealt with protecting older workers against discrimination and student loan forgiveness, took place on Tuesday afternoon. Shortly before the vote, Republicans announced that a vote against advancing the resolutions would trigger a vote on the resolution voicing support for the Iranian protesters, introduced by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif). Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said on the House floor: Soon we will vote on the previous question and if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to require the House to immediately proceed to consideration of H.Res. 197, a resolution supporting the protesters in Iran. He then had the text of the amendment entered into the record. McCarthy then stood to ask representatives to support his resolution, saying that it sends a strong message that the United States stands with the Iranian people. The House soon voted 226191 to advance the previous question. McCarthy and other Republicans criticized Democrats for voting to advance the resolutions, issuing a statement saying, Democrats just blocked a vote on a resolution supporting the Iranian protesters. What a disappointmentDemocrats just blocked a vote on a resolution supporting the Iranian protestors. This is not the time for partisan politics. This should be a time for the U.S. Congress to speak with one voice to condemn an Iranian regime that kills its own people. Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) January 14, 2020 But Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said before the vote for the other resolutions that it wasnt a vote against the Iran resolution. If I could take a moment to respond to the comments by my friend from California. We know the government of Iran admitted mistakenly shooting [down] the Ukrainian airlines flight. It was a tragedy, and tragedies led to tragedy. The people of Iran stood up and demanded accountability and are standing up from their government today. This Congress supports those who demand transparency and fighting for their rights. Thats why the concurrent resolution we passed last week reaffirmed that it is in our national interest to support the people of Iran and other countries who demand [the] end of corruption in violation of basic human rights, he told lawmakers. As of this morning, the Foreign Affairs Committee is examining our policy with Iran. While the Foreign Affairs Committee is hearing from experts on Iran, the house is taking action to protect students and protect Americans from discrimination in the workplace, and thats what this rule is about. Make no mistake, defeating the previous question is not about the McCarthy resolution but a vote to hand over control of the house floor to the minority. Vote yes on the previous question. And so we may proceed to these critical pieces of legislation without delay. Evangelicals believe in second chancesand that extends to the millions of people who have been or are incarcerated in the US. But new research shows that though evangelicals are more likely than Americans overall to support certain aspects of restorative justice and prison reform, few churches have made the issue a priority. As legislative efforts to address mass incarceration advance at federal and state levels, a 2019 survey by the Barna Group and the ministry Prison Fellowship found that practicing evangelicals were passionate about redemption and restoration in criminal justice. (Practicing evangelicals refers to Christians with evangelical beliefs who have attended church in the past month.) More than half (52%) agree strongly that the goal of the system should be restoration for all parties, compared to 46 percent of practicing Christians and 35 percent of all American adults who say the same. Practicing evangelicals also showed the strongest support for safe, humane prison conditions (52% strongly agree compared to 33% of US adults); were most hopeful about the potential for formerly incarcerated citizens to contribute to society (61% strongly agree compared to 42% of US adults); and were most likely to say caring for prisoners is important to them (50% strongly agree compared to 26% of US adults). Image: Prison Fellowship But less than one in four (22%) evangelicals report that their churches have engaged in raising awareness about criminal justice in the past six months. By comparison, 65 percent of evangelicals say their churches have raised awareness of the sanctity of life, and 46 percent homelessness. Image: Prison Fellowship Practicing evangelicals are also slightly less likely than fellow Christians to say an elected officials stance on criminal justice reform would influence their vote, the survey found. (Political leanings are a factor; conservative Christians are half as likely as liberal Christians to strongly agree that a favorable position on the issue would influence their vote.) Most people want [former inmates] to have second chances, as long as it doesnt involve me, said Jon Kelly, the founding pastor of Chicago West Bible Church. Kelly became a Christian during a six-year prison sentence for third-degree murder. He said he sees a trust barrier between churches and former prisoners that makes them feel unwelcome. Kellywho spent years on parole for the murder and additional robbery charges and still has a few years left on his probation termknows the scope and stigma of the problem firsthand. When I preach, I will share my testimony, no matter the size of the church or the setting, and there are always people who come up and tell me that they have a loved one who is incarcerated, he said. People in the congregation dont feel free to tell someone they have gone through that because it brings people great shame. A lot of pastors just dont know how much their churches are impacted by it. More than 70 million Americans, one in three, have arrest records. The country incarcerates 698 out of every 100,000 people; even after slight drops in recent years, its still the highest known prison population in the world. With 600,000 prisoners released annually, churches have ample opportunities to help. We tend to look at issues in a conservative or liberal bucket, but there are some important issues, including criminal justice, where practicing Christians and evangelicals really do care about these issues that havent traditionally been thought of as evangelical issues, said Heather Rice-Minus, vice president of government affairs and church mobilization at Prison Fellowship. Prison Fellowship has advocated for criminal justice reforms like the First Step Act, which was enacted in December 2018. The legislation won bipartisan support by reducing the federal inmate population and saving money. It resulted in 3,100 inmates being released based on new calculations of time earned for good behavior. But the legislative victory only applies to a narrow portion of inmates: the 10 percent of the prison population in federal penitentiaries. Of the nearly 2.2 million people incarcerated in the US, 57 percent are in state prisons. The drop in the overall incarceration rate is largely due to state prison reforms. Over a decade, 31 states revamped their corrections and sentencing policies, with many major changes taking effect in the past year. Oklahoma locks up more of its citizens than any other state in the country, recently unseating Louisiana, which held the record for years. According to 2018 data, Oklahoma incarcerates 1,079 people per 100,000. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation in May 2019 that reduced the sentences of more than 450 inmates convicted for low-level and nonviolent drug and property offenses. The bill came after Oklahomans approved a 2016 public ballot initiative to change the punishment for these types of crimes. More than 900 inmates applied for early release as part of the new law. The state expected to empty around 2,000 prison beds by the end of the year and save $11.9 million annually through the early release program. Florida is also working to restore voting rights to convicted felons returning to society, a position long advocated for by Prison Fellowships late founder Charles Colson. (Colson served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal, and expressed a desire to see felons receive back the right to vote as part of their restoration to society. Florida Governor Jeb Bush restored Colsons rights to vote, practice law, and serve on a jury in 2000.) With such a high incarceration rate, its easy to assume criminal activity is growing in America. Though the US crime rate has been declining steadily over the past 25 years, Barna found that 81 percent of practicing evangelicals (and 60% of US adults) believe the crime rate is increasing. Evangelicals are also less likely to see keeping youth out of adult prisons as a priority for criminal justice reform (23% compared to 32% of Americans overall). Rice-Minus said accurate information is important for Christians working on policy solutions. Prison Fellowship has identified thousands of collateral consequences for criminal convictionslegal barriers that can hinder key elements of reintegration like employment, occupational licensing, and housing. Kelly, the Chicago pastor, would like to see Christians be willing to do the work of building relationships with people after they are released, rather than just visiting them in the controlled environment of the prison. The best ministry is not a program but fully integrating people into the life of the church, he said. CT reported last year about how multisite churches opening in prisons have eased the transition into a church community on the outside, and other churches have been expanding their approach to prison ministry. I am seeing more congregations prepare themselves to receive returning citizens, and doing the legwork of educating themselves around what returning citizens need as they reenter society, said Dominique DuBois Gilliard, director of racial righteousness and reconciliation for the Evangelical Covenant Church. In an email to CT, he said they are doing the internal work of ridding themselves of the biases they hold concerning incarcerated people, establishing networks of care (connecting with local mental health providers), and support (finding companies that will hire returning citizens, particularly those with felony convictions, and who will offer long term housing to individuals with a criminal record) for returning citizens. Gilliard, author of Rethinking Incarceration, recently interviewed Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer and justice activist whose story is at the center of the new movie Just Mercy, which released last week. I dont want to see anybody burdened with the lie that their life doesnt matter, that theyre beyond hope and beyond redemption or beyond any purpose. I dont believe that for anyone, said Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative. Part of what my work is about is trying to illuminate that path so that we can both see it. CITY HALL -- President Donald Trumps re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee have tapped longtime Trump supporter Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) to serve as one of six of the presidents campaign honorary state chairs. Borelli has been an ardent Trump supporter for years. Ahead of the presidents 2016 victory, Borelli endorsed Trump and was also named as one of 14 co-chairs of the presidents campaign leadership team in New York. Our New York Trump Victory leadership team will work to elect Republicans across the state, Brad Parscale, the campaign manager of Trump for President Inc. and Ronna McDaniel, chair of the RNC, said in a joint statement. President Trump has delivered a soaring economy, rebalanced trade relations, lowered health care costs, and fought to secure our border. His successes can be felt nationwide and elected Republicans across New York will help to ensure he can achieve more victories for the American people for many years to come, the statement continued. Borelli said he is confident the president will win a second term in the Oval Office and win over Island voters again. In 2016, Trump carried 57% of the vote to Hillary Clintons 40%. High voter turnout on the South Shore and low turnout on the North Shore secured Trumps 2016 victory. I think President Trump has been good thus far and deserves a second-term and anyone who watched last nights Democratic debate, saw a group of people who promised nothing but to undo the economic progress we made over the last three years, Borelli said. I would say [Trumps] certainly the favorite to win and I would say hes going to win on Staten Island as well. I think youd be hard-pressed to find a Democrat who would say confidently that Donald Trump will not win on Staten Island, Borelli continued. Its long been rumored that Borelli might jump into the Islands competitive congressional race in the GOP. The deadline for prospective congressional candidates to file with the state Board of Elections to run is just three months away in early April, so Borelli could potentially jump in at the last minute. However, Staten Islands Republican Party said it did not interview Borelli or another long-rumored prospective GOP congressional candidate former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm. Instead, Staten Island and Brooklyns Republican Parties Executive Committees unanimously endorsed Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis in the competitive congressional race against Democratic incumbent Rep. Max Rose. Malliotakis was also picked as the local and state Conservative Parties nominee for Congress this week. Borelli still wont say whether he plans to jump into the Islands congressional race. However, he said that regardless of whether he enters the NY-11 race or not, he thinks Trump will win on Staten Island no matter who the GOP candidate is. [Trumps] trying to win states that are not New York, the focus is definitely not going to be on New York, Borelli said. The other five state chairs include Republican Reps. Pete King, Lee Zeldin, Elise Stefanik, Tom Reed and Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. The world's business leaders and politicians are sounding the alarm on climate change, citing environmental-related issues as their most significant concerns in the coming decade that could wreak costly economic and societal havoc. For the first time, climate-related issues dominated the top-five likely risks over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) new annual "Global Risks Report," which ranks the most urgent risks currently facing the globe. According to a survey of 750 business leaders, politicians, and academics, they're most worried about extreme weather damaging infrastructure and property and killing people. The report also cites fears of businesses and governments failing to mitigate climate change, human-caused environmental disasters like oil spills and radioactive contamination, biodiversity loss, and major natural disasters. Just a year ago, the environment was front and center in the WEFs report, alongside worries about data fraud or theft and cyberattacks. Brge Brende, the president of the World Economic Forum, expressed "grave concern" for the consequences associated with continued environmental degradation. "The political landscape is polarized, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning. This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks," Brende said. The sobering reality, according to the report, is that there's only a decade to act to mitigate the potentially catastrophic consequences in a meaningful way. The report highlighted some of the severe economic impacts climate change poses. For example, 200 businesses estimated that it would cost them a combined $1 trillion if there's no action on the issue. The report also cited the possibility of a "2008-style systemic collapse" unless human-caused carbon dioxide emissions fall by 50% by 2030 from 2010 levels, and reach net zero by 2050. Story continues That said, there's also an economic opportunity to come up with solutions and alternatives, but it requires an approach that engages multiple stakeholders. "Reaching these targets will require serious, interconnected economic and societal transitions at macro and micro levels that depend on technological innovation and commitment from governments and businesses, the WEF report said. So far, however, commitments are inadequate given the urgency of the challenge and current trends are not encouraging," it added. According to Brende, "the good news is that the window for action is still open, but not for much longer. And, despite global divisions, we continue to see members of the business community signal their commitment to looking beyond their balance sheets and towards the urgent priorities ahead." The WEF report comes just a day after BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with $6.84 trillion in assets under management, announced it was making climate change a central part of its investment process and portfolio construction. CEO Larry Fink, a member of WEF's board of trustees, wrote in his widely-read annual letter that climate change has become a defining factor in companies' long-term prospects," and that widening public outrage "emphasized the significant and lasting impact that it will have on economic growth and prosperity." The 67-year-old investor added this is a risk that "markets to day have been slower to reflect. But wariness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance." The Forum noted that as todays youth demand jobs that are compatible with their concern about climate change, workforce climate activism may become more common, and companies without strong environmental credentials could struggle for talent. Julia La Roche is a Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Photo: GoFundMe A nine-month-old boy from Kelowna spent his first Christmas in intensive care, at BC Children's Hospital. Kendall-leigh Beal and fiance Bryan Gross welcomed baby Kolt Stanley Ray Gross on April 16, weighing three pounds eight ounces. "We didn't think we could get pregnant, so it was the best thing ever," says Beal. "I was so thrilled and excited... We tried so hard to have him." However, before Kolt was born two months premature, doctors discovered he had a heart defect. After the birth, doctors discovered a second heart defect, and many complications sent the family in and out of BC Children's Hospital. In May, Kolt's oxygen levels dropped and his heart stopped during a hospital procedure. He was placed on life support until June, also sustaining brain damage. By October, his oxygen levels dropped once again and on Nov. 26, doctors performed open heart surgery. Because of the swelling and pressure, doctors could not close Kolt's chest for three days. Beal and Gross were hopeful that Kolt was beginning to heal, but things quickly changed. After arriving back in Kelowna, Kolt was admitted to Kelowna General Hospital on Dec. 18 with flu-like symptoms. Because he was getting worse, KGH called for Kolt's cardiac team at BC Children's to come to Kelowna on Dec. 23. Before they could arrive, Kolt suffered a heart attack and partial stroke, which caused more brain damage. When Kolt's team arrived, they informed Beal and Gross that Kolt might not survive the trip back to Vancouver. Luckily, at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Kolt arrived back at BC Children's Hospital, where he remains today. "We almost lost him again," says Beal. "This is the fourth time now that we've almost lost him since the day he was born." A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family during Kolt's struggles. While Kolt remains in hospital, he was able to leave intensive care just over a week ago. "He is such a fighter, I don't even know how he's fighting so hard and we're so blessed he's fighting, but it's extremely hard," says Beal. The ruling is supposed to take effect in 10 calendar days. A court in Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region has ruled to prematurely terminate the probation period and expunge the criminal record of Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who was convicted of separatism on the occupied peninsula. The court in Simferopol, the region's capital, on January 14 upheld the motion filed by the lawyer of Semena, who has contributed to the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. The ruling is supposed to take effect in 10 calendar days. Read alsoHuman rights activist: At least 89 people held in Russian prisons on "Crimean cases" In December, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to include the native Crimean journalist and five other colleagues on the list of people held captive in occupied territories for a prisoner exchange and be released to mainland Ukraine. Semena was arrested by the Russia-imposed authorities in April 2016 and charged with acting against the "territorial integrity of the Russian Federation." He says the accusation was politically motivated and violated fundamental freedoms of expression and that Russian authorities based their case on an inaccurate translation of one of his stories from Ukrainian into Russian. In September 2017, a court convicted him and gave Semena a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence and banned him from "public activity" for three years. Three months later, a court that Russia calls the Supreme Court of Crimea upheld his conviction. The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and international media watchdogs have all condemned the trial and verdict. The United Nations has documented numerous human rights abuses in Crimea, accusing the Russian-imposed authorities of conducting a persistent campaign of oppression that targets opponents of the peninsula's annexation, including many among the regions' indigenous Crimean Tartars, independent media outlets, and journalists. Actor Alec Baldwin is imploring Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday to intervene in a situation involving the mistreatment of a black bear at the Union County Sportsmens Club and Wildlife Sanctuary in Millmont. Baldwin, who sent the letter on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, indicates this is the second request he made to Wolf asking him to use his authority to hold the club accountable for the bears condition and to move it to a Colorado animal sanctuary. The first letter was privately sent to the governor in September. Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott said the governors staff is reviewing the letter. The bear named Dillan is described as a morbidly obese Asiatic black bear. Based on the findings of a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection in November, the bear suffers from severe dental issues including several missing teeth, recessed gum line and a broken discolored tooth. The inspector noted the bears abnormal rocking behavior which is noted as often an indicator of pain and/or psychological distress. A story People posted on Tuesday about Baldwins pleas to the governor points out that the USDA inspection in October noted the bear, who is declawed, likely suffers from arthritis, and that the club has no plans to treat this issue either. Time is running out to get Dillans life-threatening issues treated by professionals who have the expertise and resources to do so, Baldwin stated in his letter to Wolf. The actor stated PETA has secured placement for the bear at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado which has offered to transport him and provide him with lifelong care at no cost to the sportsmens club. I respectfully ask that you use your power to ensure that authorities hold the club accountable, and help secure Dillans transfer to this accredited sanctuary, Baldwin wrote. PETA has engaged in a robust campaign to get the bear released including posting a billboard along Routes 11/15 south of Liverpool that reads, Dillan Is Suffering. Please Dont Stop Here. Additionally, PETAs Rebecca Smudzinski said her organization posted an action alert on its website on Tuesday urging people to join Baldwin in contacting the governor to help save the bear. A call to the sportsmens club phone number listed on its website went unanswered and an email sent to its email address also didnt draw an immediate response. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Despite the opposition against National Population Register (NPR) - a biometric database of ordinary residents of India - preparations are on in full swing to update it. Enumerators are being trained to collect data and a pre-test or pilot project has already started. The NPR first came into being in 2010 and was updated in 2015. Unlike the Census database, which protects the data released and is keep records up to block and Tehsils, the NPR is household specific and data is not protected. The NPR records data like name, age, address, along with linking biometric data like Aadhar, mobile phone and passport among others. The government had initially said that updation of NPR would be followed by a National Register of Citizens (NRC) wherein individuals are supposed to prove their citizenship either by birth or by naturalisation. Those left out of NRC would then have to appeal to Foreigners Tribunals to be regarded as citizens. There have been country-wide protests against NPR and NRC, some of which even turned violent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was, however, quick to assure the fears and at a rally in Delhi said that no decision has been taken by his government on NRC. We expect the protest and resistance to die down as people are made aware of why NPR is required, a senior government official who didnt want to be named said. The government has maintained that NPR data will help frame developmental policies better. The BJP, along side the governments campaign to raise awareness on NPR, is also doing a door-to-door campaign. It hopes to touch five crore households by February this year. Home Minister Amit Shah also did a similar campaign in Delhi. In addition to this, the Centre hopes that states like West Bengal, Kerala who have been at the forefront of opposition to NPR and NRC will also come around given the benefits an updated NPR would bring to administering government schemes. Business secretary Andrea Leadsom said that the UK government had reached an agreement with Flybe shareholders to keep the company operating. Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images Willie Walsh, the CEO of British Airways-owner IAG (IAG.L), on Wednesday blasted the governments decision to rescue regional airline Flybe, calling the move a blatant misuse of public funds. Ministers on Tuesday evening announced a bailout that could end up being worth more than 100m ($130m) for Flybe, saving more than 2,000 jobs. The government is still in negotiations regarding the possibility of giving the airline an extension on unpaid air passenger duties thought to be worth more than 100m. But business secretary Andrea Leadsom said that the government had reached an agreement with shareholders to keep the company operating. Walsh said that the consortium that owns Flybe wanted taxpayers to pick up the tab for their mismanagement of the airline, branding it a blatant misuse of public funds. In February 2019, the consortium, Connect Airways, completed the purchase of the assets and operations of Flybe for 2.8m. The consortium is owned by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation, and Cyrus Capital Partners. Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by US airline Delta. Walsh pointed out that prior to the acquisition by Connect Airways, Flybe had argued that taxpayers should subsidise regional routes. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said on Tuesday that the government would undertake an urgent review of how it could level up the country by strengthening regional connectivity. But Walsh slammed the governments decision to bail out the airline, pointing to its shaky financial situation and its previous promises to expand regional flights. Flybes precarious situation makes a mockery of the promises the airline, its shareholders and Heathrow have made about the expansion of regional flights if a third runway is built, said Walsh. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) on Tuesday welcomed the bailout decision, calling it good news for 2,400 Flybe staff whose jobs are secured and regional communities who would have lost their air connectivity without Flybe. Story continues The government is to be applauded for stepping up to the plate to help one of the few remaining independent UK airlines and a vital one at that, it said. IAG said last week that Walsh will later this year retire as CEO of the group, which was formed by the merger of British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia in 2010. Walsh, a former British Airways and Aer Lingus CEO, will be replaced by Iberias current boss, Luis Gallego. Gallegos replacement at the Spanish flag carrier airline will be announced in due course. A soldier hailing from Maharashtra's Latur district died after developing respiratory problems while posted in Siachen, his family members said on Wednesday. Suresh Gorakh Chitte (33), resident of Alamalla villegae in Latur tehsil, was posted in Siachen in Jammu and Kashmir. He died on January 13 after suffering respiratory problems, the Army told the family. His body would arrive in Aurangabad on Thursday, family sources said. A pall of gloom descended on the village after the reached and a village fair organised on the occasion of Makar Sankranti was cancelled. Chitte is survived by mother, wife, two daughters and a son. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling Trinamool Congress sharpened its attack against West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday questioning whether he has come to the state for "public relation exercise". Senior minister Partha Chatterjee said that Dhankhar, unlike his predecessors is often accompanied by his wife in official functions which he attends as the governor. "Is it not unconstitutional (on the part of governor) to bring a third person to official functions ? ... Did you ever ask the Hon'ble Governor whether Mr Dhankhar thinks he is on a PR exercise with his wife?" Chatterjee told newsmen. The minister, who is also secretary general of Trinamool Congress, said "We have not seen any other governor in the past - Gopal Krishna Gandhi, M K Narayanan, Kesharinath Tripathi indulge in activities like those by the Hon'ble Mr Dhankhar". He said, "There had been differences in the past too between governors and the state but the way Mr Dhankhar is trangressing constitutional norms is unprecedented". Chatterjee, who had frequent run-ins with Dhankhar since the governor's visit to Jadavpur University campus with the police on September 19 to 'rescue' Union Minister Babul Supriyo, said that he has "great respect" for Dhankhar at his personal level. "But I appeal to you journalists to speak to him ... What is he doing?" Asked about the Dhankhar calling a meeting of vice-chancellors of the state-run universities on January 13, he wondered if the governor was trying to bypass the state higher education department and trying to have direct communications with the VCs. "This is unconstitutional," he said. The state government had recently passed the West Bengal Universities and College (Administration and Regulation) Ac 2017 in which the VCs are required totalk to the higher education department for any important academic issue and not the chancellor. The governor is the chancellor of the state universities. "I wonder why the Governor is not trying to learn Bengali if he loves the state so much as he so often claims?" wondered Chatterjee, who had on Sunday said he was not in favour of inviting Dhankhar to the convocation of state-run Calcutta University as Chancellor, "We have seen him (Dhankhar) mostly speaking in English and also in Hindi sometimes. Why can't he speak in Bengali if he is serious about being one of us in this state," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democrats left the January debate without a clear idea who will win the first in the first caucus of the primary election. The first Democratic debate of 2020 was the most high-stakes so far, taking place a few short weeks before Iowa voters cast their ballots. Several January polls found Iowa could be claimed by any of the top four candidates -- Former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg -- but their performances were fairly typical compared to previous contests. Aaron Kall, University of Michigans director of debate, said the night lacked fireworks despite the hype and added urgency of the upcoming caucus. Contentious fights between candidates dont make a great debate, though Kall said he was surprised to find pre-debate expectations that Democrats would escalate their criticism of each other didnt materialize. I dont know it changed all that much heading into Iowa, Kall said. The problem is I dont know that anybody knows exactly how Iowans will act ... If youre Sanders and Biden, I think you probably feel pretty good after the debate. Things are pretty bunched up at the top. Thats not to say the debate lacked any disagreements. A key exchange between Sanders and Warren over whether Sanders once said a woman couldnt be elected in 2020 -- Warren says he did in a private conversation, Sanders denies it -- is sure to have pundits talking in the months to come. However, Warren largely used the accusation to make a case for her own electability instead of bashing Sanders for sexism. The two Senators have had a friendly relationship on the campaign trail, and they defended each other against attacks from more moderate candidates during the 2019 Detroit debate. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie," Warren said. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and its time for us to attack it head-on." Warren said she and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are the only candidates on the debate stage who have won every election they participated, also pointing out the only person on this stage that has beaten an incumbent Republican any time in the last 30 years is me." Kall said Warrens strategy to hit Sanders about the alleged comments before the debate shows she may be a little bit desperate to rebuild her momentum. Warren had been rising in the polls until October but she slid behind Sanders in the following months. In some ways, I think it was kind of throwing the kitchen sink or a hail mary, Kall said. It was the high point of the debate for Warren ... Did she have enough momentum to reverse some of the previous backslide? I dont know." Sanders and Warren shared a handshake before the debate, but Warren appeared to avoid Sanders as candidates greeted each other on stage after the event. Warren instead clasped her hands together when Sanders approached for a handshake, and the two appeared to have a terse conversation. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., talk Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, after a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa., as businessman Tom Steyer looks on. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP Klobuchar also cited Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who decisively beat Republican Bill Schuette two years after Michigan flipped for President Donald Trump, while listing examples of women who can win. Kall said it was a good example of Klobuchar being able to sneak in strong moments, though she almost fumbled the name of another female governor. Klobuchar received more than $1 million in donations in the 24 hours following the sixth Democratic presidential debate in California last month. Kall said shes been able to keep her campaign going by capitalizing on solid debate performances, though Klobuchar remains mired at the bottom of the pack in national polls. I do think it was a solid performance, the question with her is always is it enough?'" Kall said. The Iowa caucuses have a big impact on which candidates are able to continue their campaigns, but the state does not represent the Democratic base. A lack of diversity was another theme of the night -- after the DNC assembled a historically diverse field, debate qualification criteria resulted in an all-white debate stage Tuesday. Which candidate can build a broad coalition that includes people of color? Its a question that could decide who wins states like Michigan, which has a diverse base of Democratic voters in Detroit. Low enthusiasm among black voters in cities like Detroit and Milwaukee was part of the reason Trump was able to flip Michigan and Wisconsin, Kall said. So far, Biden appears to have a tight grasp of African American voters. He made the case that he is best situated to beat Trump in key states like Michigan, causing Trump to become obsessed with him. "The real issue is who can bring the party together and represent all elements of the party, Biden said. African-American, brown, black, women, men. Gay, straight. The fact of the matter is, I would argue that, in terms of endorsement around the country, endorsements where ever we go, I have the broadest coalition of anyone running up where in this race. Buttigieg struggled to answer a question about his lack of support among likely primary voters who are black, Kall said. Buttigieg said black voters who know him the best support him, citing supporters in South Bend and the work we have done facing some of the toughest issues" communities can face. The biggest mistake we could make is take black votes for granted, and I never will," Buttigieg said. But some black South Bend residents are among his harshest critics, including a group of Black Lives Matter activists from who organized a press call last weekend to air grievances regarding policing and homelessness under Buttigiegs tenure. Buttigieg later appealed to voters who are exhausted by the spectacle of division and voters of color who are feeling taken advantage of by the party. This is our moment," Buttigieg said. This is our one shot to defeat Donald Trump, and to do it by such a big margin that we send Trumpism into the dustbin of history, too. James and Kathryn Murdoch gave a statement to the Daily Beast Tuesday that took direct aim at the way the family business is handling climate change. Kathryn and James views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known. They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary, a spokesperson told the outlet of Rupert Murdochs younger son and his wife. Rupert Murdoch is founder and executive chairman of News Corp while older son Lachlan heads up Fox News. Representatives for News Corp and News Corp Australia did not immediately return requests for comment. Also Read: James Murdoch Buys Stake in Vice Media (Report) Rupert was born in Australia, where wildfires are ravaging acres of land. Celebrities and activists have been speaking out and donating to relief efforts and the widespread nature of the devastating fires has caused debate over how much climate change has to do with the whole thing. Kathryn Murdoch, co-founder and president of Quadrivium which supports practical, evidence-based solutions for critical societal problems, per its website has been among the activists drawing direct lines between climate change and the wildfires. James, often considered a more liberal-leaning Murdoch family member, donated to South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg in spring 2019, one day after he announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to FCC documents. Read original story Kathryn and James Murdoch Speak Out Against News Corp Climate Coverage At TheWrap By IANS NEW YORK: In good news to millennials, researchers have found that people aged between 20 and 30, who live in states with legal medical marijuana may be more likely to have sex. Previous studies have shown some connection between marijuana use and increased sexual activity as they found that daily marijuana users experience 20 per cent more sex than those who have never used cannabis. The study, published in the Journal of Health Economics, is among the first to focus on medical marijuana legislation and what impact that has on people. To better understand the correlation, researchers from University of Connecticut in US, examined states that legalised medical cannabis between 2005 and 2014. Then, they analysed how the implementation of these laws affected sexual frequency and fertility among people in their 20s and 30. The research team studied the behavioural changes caused by marijuana use on sexual activity, contraception, and birth counts by applying a differences-in-differences approach that exploits the variation in timing of the introduction of medical marijuana laws (MMLs) among states. The researchers found that medical marijuana laws cause an increase in sexual activity, a reduction in contraceptive use conditional on having sex, and an increase in number of births. These changes may be attributed to behavioural responses including increased attention to the immediate hedonic effects of sexual contact, increased sexual frequency, as well as delayed discounting and ignoring the future costs associated with sex. The findings on births suggest that behavioural factors can counteract the physiological changes from marijuana use that tend to decrease fertility, the researchers said. A mob of angry villagers in Mexico decided to take law into their hands to punish a man accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl. According to reports, the man named Alfredo Roblero was first doused in fuel and set alight in a small village in the southern state of Chiapas. YouTube/DailyMail A video recorded the mob beating the tied-up paedophile before setting him on fire has been doing the rounds on the Internet. The mob beat and kicked him before binding his hands and feet, pouring petrol over his body and then setting him alight. The family of a six-year-old girl named Jarid, started looking for her on January 9, after she went missing. The next day, the body of the young girl was found on the side of a road near her village and the villagers accused Roblero of the rape and death of the child. The Sun reported that the girl's aunt tried to take Roblero to the police to get arrested, but the locals showed no remorse for trial. They didn't want a delayed justice and wanted the man dead in front of their eyes. Police arrived at the scene after the mob had finished attacking the accused. By the time the police arrived, it was too late for them to save Roblero's life. Soon after police started questioning people who were involved in the mob justice as there was no conclusive evidence if Alfredo Roblero was the actual accused. The authorities in Chiapas said in a statement that citizens are not allowed to take the law into their hands and are running an open investigation to find out the truth behind the gruesome murder of the little girl. Foreign Minister Kang and her U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo Yonhap By Do Je-hae Despite a rising controversy over the possible violation of global sanctions, key officials of the Moon Jae-in administration have reaffirmed the President's pro-engagement policy with North Korea this year through the pursuit of various inter-Korean projects. During her latest visit to the United States, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha indicated that Seoul could proceed with inter-Korean projects irrespective of the stalemate in the North Korea-U.S. nuclear negotiations. "Depending on the circumstances, North Korea-U.S. relations can proceed faster at some point, and South-North relations can do so at another point," Kang told reporters after her meeting with her U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday (local time). "Amid the deadlock in North Korea-U.S. talks, what the two Koreas can do is to keep up the momentum for engagement. There have been some important agreements between the two Koreas. In particular, there are projects that are not restricted by the sanctions. If the sanctions become an obstacle, then there are sure to be ones that we can pursue after getting exemptions." Her remarks come on the heels of President Moon repeatedly stressing that he will no longer stand by as the stalemate in North Korea-U.S. talks continues to cause a setback in the inter-Korean relations, and hampers the implementation of agreements made with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their summits. Moon has underlined his pro-engagement policy with Pyongyang as one of the core objectives of his administration this year on several occasions, including his Jan. 7 New Year speech and Tuesday's press conference. Trump likens North Korea talks to 'beautiful game of chess' S. Korea to take action to improve relations with North Korea: minister South Korea looking into 'various formats' to allow individual trips to Mount Kumgang US slaps sanctions over North Korea overseas workers Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul also reiterated Seoul will no longer allow inter-Korean relations to be sidelined. "In the New Year, the government will undertake measure to improve inter-Korean relations rather than wait until North Korea-U.S. relations are resolved," Kim said during a meeting with leaders of religions and civic groups. Additionally, the unification ministry said Wednesday that individual tours to North Korea do not violate United Nations Security Council sanctions. "We are actively considering individual tours, if individual security is guaranteed by North Korea. We need to discuss this with the North Korean side," a unification ministry official said during a press briefing. "Regarding inter-Korean projects, there are elements that require consultation with the U.S., but there are also areas for the two Koreas to pursue independently. As a member of the international community, we will continue to consult closely with the U.S. within the boundaries of the sanctions." During the New Year press conference, Moon cited "individual tours" to North Korea as one area that could expedite inter-Korean exchanges without violating the sanctions. But the Moon administration's renewed focus on engagement has sparked concern over a rift with the U.S., which has been firm about keeping the sanctions in place. Although Kang said his U.S counterpart showed "understanding" toward Seoul's position on the need to move forward with inter-Korean relations, there was no mention of this by the U.S. State Department following their meeting. "Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kang reaffirmed continued close U.S.-ROK coordination on North Korea," the department said in a statement. U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris also said earlier that any improvement or success in inter-Korean relations must take place in "lockstep" with the U.S. The U.S. Department of the Treasury slapped fresh sanctions Tuesday on countries' firms exploiting North Korean overseas workers; but Washington has continued to keep the door open for dialogue with Pyongyang. "I still remain hopeful that North Korea will make the right decision," Pompeo said during a speech in Silicon Valley, Monday, according to a transcript released by the state department. He said the U.S. does not have a hostile policy toward the North Korean regime, saying "America doesn't pose a security risk to the North Koreans." The former editor of Vanity Fair has revealed that Prince Harry chose to step down as a senior royal because he felt like he was being 'edited out' of The Firm. Tina Brown, 66, told the Today show on Wednesday that the 35-year-old felt as though he was no longer a part of the most senior circle of the royal family - particularly after Buckingham Palace celebrated the new decade by releasing a portrait of the Queen and her heirs: Harry's father Prince Charles, brother William, and nephew George. Brown, who authored a book, The Diana Chronicles, about Harry's mother Diana and her position within the royal family, added that the Duke of Sussex has been 'very unhappy' since leaving the army back in 2015, and hasn't really felt as though he has a true place within the royal family. Opinion: Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown spoke out about Megxit on the Today show on Wednesday, revealing that Prince Harry feels as though he is being 'edited out' of the royals Moving on: The 66-year-old author added that Prince Harry, 35, has been 'a very unhappy man' since leaving the army in 2015, and that he has struggled to find his true purpose as a royal 'I know that Harry has been a very unhappy man ever since he came out of the army,' she explained. 'He has felt that he's this big alpha guy and doesn't really have a place to land.' 'And what's happened now is that Prince William and Prince Charles - you've got two heirs, well actually... it's very crowded at the top right now! - and we're in the twilight of the Queen's reign, let's face it, she's not going to go on forever, and they're on this really accelerated flight path now to get ready to be the King and the Prince of Wales.' According to Brown, the feeling that Harry may have had of being pushed out of the royal family's most inner circle was further exacerbated when Buckingham Palace released a new royal portrait of the Queen and her three direct heirs. 'I do think [it rubbed Harry the wrong way], I think he felt, "I'm being edited out,"' Brown said of the portrait's release. 'And I think that he did mind that very much, and I think [Meghan] also minded it. 'So I think his feeling has been, "Look, I'm being edited out, therefore I want out."' However, Brown notes that, whether or not this idea is based in reality, Harry's position within the royal family has always been that of an 'ensemble player' - just like many of the other most senior members, including William and Kate. 'The truth is that when you are in the royal family, when you join the royal family, you are an ensemble player,' she said. 'Everyone is supposed to be an ensemble player, you're all there to support one person. There's only one monarch and you're there as the backup troupe. 'And you're supposed to be deployed to do all these different royal things. This year, Meghan and Harry were expected to do 200 royal appearances, all over the place.' Hurt: Brown says that Harry's feeling of being 'edited out' as a senior royal was made worse by the publication of a royal portrait of the Queen and her heirs: Charles, William, and George Looking ahead: However, Brown believes that the Queen will 'leave the doors open' for Harry should he want to return to life as a senior royal in the future Making a change: Prince Harry served in the British Army until 2015, however he was forced to leave Afghanistan in 2008 after German and Australian publications revealed his whereabouts Brown believes that playing the part of backup also didn't sit well with Meghan, who was moving herself further into the Hollywood spotlight as a lead role on the hit series Suits when she first met Harry. The former magazine editor believes that Meghan felt she could be better used as an 'asset' to the royal family - and that she felt far too restricted by the couple's obligations when they were acting as senior royals. 'These [official engagements] are things like opening hospitals in Guildford... they're not super glamorous Commonwealth tours,' the royal author noted. 'A lot of them are really meat and potatoes, showing the flag PR events. History: Brown published a book about Princess Diana's position within and treatment by the royal family back in 2007, ten years after Prince Harry's mother died 'And for Meghan who has a big celebrity of her own, I think she found that a waste of herself as an asset.' But still, Brown is not convinced that Megxit will last forever - and she says the Queen is likely working to find a way to 'keep the doors open for Harry' should he want to return to life as a senior royal in the future. 'I think she feels life is long [and] she's a big believer in [letting] cool heads prevail, so I think she really wants to keep that door open, and not alienate him,' she explained. 'Because who knows? This could be like a year's experimental thing and he's going to want to come back into the royal family.' She added that the royal family was actually incredibly excited about the work that Meghan and Harry would be able to do - and that many felt the Duchess of Sussex would add some glamour and excitement to the public's often-old-fashioned view of the royals. '...[Harry] is a big asset,' Brown pointed out. 'Harry is the second most popular person after the Queen in the royal family, he's attractive, he's a [military veteran], and they were actually excited about Meghan. 'It seemed like, here she was, this star power... these two were really going to be this massive asset, bumping up the glamour of the royal family and doing the work.' Changing role: Brown believes that Meghan, pictured in Vancouver this week, was not happy doing the 'meat and potatoes' engagements that are required of senior roles New day: The Duchess made a surprise visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver to 'offer support' and to 'boost the staff's spirits' When it comes to the great debate about whether Meghan and Harry will - or should - keep their royal titles, Brown agrees that the Queen will not take them away, because that would make them less likely to return to the royal fold. As for comparisons to Princess Diana, who was stripped of her title when she and Prince Charles divorced, Brown points out that it's a very different situation - because Diana was not born into the royal family. '[The Queen] does not want to [strip Harry of his title],' she said. 'For a start, it's very different from Diana, people say, well Diana was stripped of her title [but] she was the divorced ex-wife of the heir. You can't divorce Harry out of the family, he is a blood prince, he's going to be royal whatever you do, title or not.' Different: Brown said that Harry will not be stripped of his title, as his mother, Princess Diana was, because he was born into the royal family, and 'cannot be divorced from it' For now however, it seems the couple is moving full steam ahead with their plans to completely remove themselves from traditional royal life, and Meghan for one, seems very happy with the move. The Duchess of Sussex - who, Brown says, will keep her title - was pictured for the first time since leaving the UK last week, grinning as she boarded a seaplane in Vancouver on her way to visit a local women's shelter. 'She looks very happy!' Brown said of the photos, before hitting back at those who have blamed Meghan entirely for Megxit, saying: 'Everyone thinks this is [a case of] "Meghan has got what Meghan wants" [but] I actually do think Prince Harry really wanted out too. I really do.' Prince Harry has been serving as a full-time member of the royal family since 2015, when he officially left his role within the British Army. However, his active military position was scaled way back in 2008, when he was forced to leave Afghanistan, where he had been serving for ten weeks, over security fears when German and Australian publications released details of his location. In 2017, while promoting the Invictus Games, Harry confessed that he felt 'guilty' after being evacuated, even though he knew that staying would have put his fellow soldiers at 'greater risk'. 'It was a decision over which I had no control, but the guilt of having to leave my guys behind was something I felt hard to swallow as anyone who has served would understand,' he said. I think he felt, Im being edited out, @TinaBrownLM says about Prince Harry after release of recent portrait of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. pic.twitter.com/zV5EIliLGu TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 15, 2020 Open-ended: According to Brown, the Queen is not going to strip Harry and Meghan of their titles, because she wants them to leave them with the opportunity to return to senior royal life Brown's belief that making the move away from the army and into full-time royal life left Harry desperately unhappy has been echoed by some of this fellow soldiers, with one former officer noting back in October that the Duke is not the same 'bag of fun' he was when he was serving. The unnamed officer, who left the army to pursue a city job, said that Harry has changed since his marriage and revealed that he 'seemed detached and disjointed' when they last met. He added that the Duke appears defensive and protective of his life following his marriage. 'I have seen the Prince this year and he seemed very quiet and reserved, not the bubbly, fun chap I once knew,' the source told the Sunday Express. 'During his time in Helmand Harry was a bag of fun, though always professional.' The officer described how the fun-loving Prince once found a motorbike and started driving it, when he was deployed on the ground with the Blues and Royals. 'He had a great sense of humor. He excelled in daft jokes about football of rugby,' he added, before describing how the Duke would be happy to make tea for fellow soldiers, tidy up books they were sent and would wait for his turn in the shower. He added: 'He immersed himself in military life and I think it allowed him to be himself and develop full friendships with normal people as opposed to the sycophants who tend to surround, then betray him.' Photo: Brent Keane/Pexels Looking for something to do this week? From a class on the use of essential oils to a rock show, here's a roundup of options to help you get social around town. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. I Am Mentally Magnificent! What's Your Emotional Wellness Plan? From the event description: Essential oils are one of the best tools for moving energy and shifting your emotions. When using pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils, changes can happen instantly as you apply or diffuse them. The class covers using the essential oils with The 5 Element Theory to achieve and maintain emotional harmony. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Where: Natchez Trace Veterinary Services - Nashville, 6614 Tennessee 100th Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Juliet Sunflower, Olivia Barton, Brennan Wedl and Jacque Jordan From the event description: Friends from all walks of life, come and gather for an intimate evening filled with warm sentiment and sweet melodic voices. Get ready to be hit in the feel, but in the best way possible. When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 9 p.m.- midnight Where: The Crying Wolf, 823 Woodland St. Admission: $5 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Sips & Stanzas Presents Changing the Canon: A Discussion with NMAAMs CEO From the event description: Last year we gathered, along with members of other museums in Nashville, to discuss how the city's iconic African American music history was being exhibited/preserved. Its time to continue this conversation by discussing the impact NMAAM will have on the city and beyond. Join us as Nashvilles own Lorenzo Washington has a one-on-one conversation with our CEO, H. Beecher Hicks, III on the museum and its role in adding to the Music City narrative. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 6-8 p.m. Where: Events at 624, 624 Jefferson St. Admission: $5 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Story continues Tony MacAlpine From the event description: Tony MacAlpine with Schiermann, Ambrose and Men Without Armies at the High Watt. Standing room only tickets available. When: Thursday, Jan. 16, 7-10 p.m. Where: The High Watt, 1 Cannery Row Admission: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets The Tenders, Sound & Shape, Floridian Slim, and Nehoda From the event description: Also at The High Watt, The Tenders, Sound & Shape, Floridian Slim and Nehoda will perform. When: Friday, Jan. 17, 8-11 p.m. Where: The High Watt, 1 Cannery Row Admission: $10 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. IMAGE: Members of Shwet Ashw, the motorcycle display team of the Indian army, display their skills during the Army Day Parade 2020 at Cariappa Ground, in New Delhi, on Wednesday. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo The 72nd Army Day function was held at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment on Wednesday. IMAGE: Soldiers during the Army Day Parade at Cariappa Ground. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo General M M Naravane attended the Army Day parade for the first time as the Army chief. IMAGE: T-90 Bhishma main battle tanks. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lieutenant General K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. IMAGE: Army helicopters fly with the national flag and the Army flag during the parade. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo Carriappa later became a Field Marshal. IMAGE: Soldiers salute from a truck loaded with Akash missiles during the Parade. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat were also present on the occasion. IMAGE: Special forces commandos descent from an Advanced Light Helicopter. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo It was the first time that a chief of defence staff attended the Army Day parade. IMAGE: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh pay tribute at the National War Memorial, in New Delhi, on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI Photo Before arriving at the parade ground, the three services chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff paid homage to martyrs at the National War Memorial. IMAGE: President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Army chief Gen Naravane, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and other dignitaries attend the Army Day reception in New Delhi. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted army personnel on the Army Day, saying they are the pride of India. IMAGE: PM Modi in conversation with the Army chief. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India 'The Indian Army is the pride of Mother India. On the occasion of Army Day, I salute the indomitable courage, valour of all the soldiers of the country,' he wrote on Twitter. IMAGE: Commandos along with soldiers on a Cheetah helicopter during the parade. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo The Army showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets during the majestic parade, with artillery gun systems Dhanush and K9-Vajra taking part in it for the first time, officials said. IMAGE: Captain Tania Sher Gill of Corps of Signals, the first woman Parade Adjutant, leads all-men contingents during Army Day celebrations. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo Captain Tania Sher Gill, the first woman Parade Adjutant, led all-men contingents during the parade, drawing praise from senior officers and loud cheers from the audience, which included members of the diplomatic corps. IMAGE: Special forces soldiers participate in a march-past. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo The Army chief asserted that fast-tracked acquisitions have enhanced capabilities of the forces, as with the induction of Sig Sauer rifles, new Sniper rifles, M777 American Ultra Light Howitzers and the K-9 Vajra earlier. IMAGE: PM Modi attends the Army Day reception along with Army chief in New Delhi. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India This year too, new weapon systems will be acquired, like AK-203 rifles and medium-range surface-to-air missiles, he added. GOVERNMENT senator Maria Byrne has placed the blame on Fianna Fail for University Hospital Limericks record-breaking overcrowding crisis. Last week saw UHL set a new record with 92 patients on trolleys, seven higher than the previous record which was also set by UHL in late November. And Senator Byrne has said that the recent overcrowding figures show that it was a reckless decision by Fianna Fail to shut down the emergency departments in St Johns, Ennis and Nenagh in 2009. Sen Byrne made the comments in a statement commending frontline staff at UHL, while welcoming the announcement the design stage of the 96-bed unit at the hospital. While the UL Hospitals Group is looking to deliver a 19.5m 60-bed block at the end of 2020, there is no estimated time of delivery for the 96-bed block, which will cost an estimated 25m. The former mayor was first elected to the Seanead in 2016, and is running in the general election for Fine Gael, which has been in Government since February 2011. The HSE need to take their fingers out of their ears and act with a sense of urgency to address the issues that are leading to so many people from across the Mid-West waiting to access the excellent treatment that is available in UHL. It is unacceptable that even with a 24million investment in a new ED for UHL the HSE allows the overcrowding to continue year after year. I have received confirmation from the Minister for Health Simon Harris that the 96-bed block at UHL provided for in the HSEs 2019 Capital Plan is to progress to the design stage which is a step in the right direction, she stated this week. Sen Byrne has also criticised the decisions made centrally in Dublin by people that have no idea about the reality of the situation on the ground However, UHL needs more beds and more staff immediately to tackle the overcrowding within the ED. St Johns Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh need to be utilised where possible. The lack of urgency coming from the HSE to address the overcrowding is reprehensible. I want the HSE to put a team together to drive the recruitment of vacancies that currently exist within the UL Hospitals Group forward and to assist wherever possible to help retain consultants, doctors and nurses working within the group. There were 51 on trolleys this Tuesday. The moment felt historic enough that some lawmakers in Nevadas Capitol autographed paper copies of the resolution. Nevadas state Assembly voted Monday 28-14 to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment 35 years past the deadline set by Congress and four decades since the last state voted to adopt its language. The vote marked a stirring victory for the resolutions chief sponsor, Sen. Pat Spearman, the Las Vegas-based Democrat who had seen it fail previously when she tried to move the measure through the state legislature in 2015. This month, the resolution narrowly passed the state Senate. Advertisement We did it, Spearman said shortly after the state Assembly vote. It was overwhelming, but we did it. It shows that its never too late to support equality. The ERA was first proposed in 1920s, but Congress didnt pass it until 1972. The key part of its text reads: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Thirty-eight state legislatures needed to ratify the proposed amendment, but it fell short by three when the deadline expired in 1982. Many credit the defeat to the Eagle Forum, a conservative lobbying group, and its founder Phyllis Schlafly, who argued among other things that it would open women to being drafted into the military and combat. Once the expiration date passed, groups such as the National Organization for Women adopted a three-state strategy in hopes of getting to the three-quarters goal needed for ratification. Some have suggested the 1982 deadline was arbitrary and believe Congress didnt have the power to set a deadline for passage. An estimated 10,000 demonstrators march to the Capitol building in Springfield, Ill., to support the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in May 1976. (Associated Press) Terry ONeill, president of NOW, said she hoped Nevadas ratification would embolden some other states like Virginia and Illinois to follow the Silver States lead. Now its a two-state strategy, she said. Its very exciting. Over the past five years, Illinois and Virginia have come close. I think there is clear interest in this. Since the early 1990s, supporters of the amendment have been trying to get a trio of the 15 state legislatures that rejected it to reverse course. In Virginia, one chamber had approved ratification while the other refused on multiple occasions in the last few years. Illinois had a similar scenario play out in 2014, but currently has a ratification resolution alive in its legislative session. This year, Nevada was one of eight states with resolutions calling for ratification. But in six of those states Utah, Arizona, Missouri, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina at least one house of the legislature is controlled by Republicans, who have opposed ERA ratification. Nevada flipped its legislature in November, with Democrats taking control of both chambers. With its state legislature at just about 40% women the highest percentage in the nation Spearman thought she had a good chance this year. Hearings brought out large groups of supporters testifying often emotionally about the need for the ERA. Spearman said after the Assemblys vote, she thought of Nevada Democratic State Party Office Manager Naomi Millisor, who died last week. Spearman said Millisor continually had inspired her to keep pushing for passage of the measure. She was rooting for this and sadly didnt live long enough to see it, Spearman said. She was a cheerleader for it and I remember her telling me to stay with it. I had told her, Yes maam, it will pass. Spearman said the resolution must go back to the Senate for some technical amendments before it is certified by the Nevada secretary of state and copies are transmitted to the National Archives and Records Administration, the offices of the vice president of the U.S. and speaker of the House. She said the state Senate votes on the amendments would probably happen Wednesday. Republican Assemblywoman Robin Titus opposed the resolution, saying she was deeply disturbed by the theatrics in the legislature over ERA ratification. I dont believe my constituents sent me to cast symbolic votes with no chance of success, Titus said. While both legislative chambers were mostly split down party lines, some Republicans chose to back the resolution. Jill Tolles, a Reno Republican, said she didnt buy the arguments that the ERA would entrench abortions into the Constitution, and that even symbolic votes have a place in the legislature. She said legislators say the Pledge of Allegiance every day before the floor session starts and that the flag is a symbol for America. She said her wedding ring is symbolic of her commitment to her husband. I would argue this chamber is full of symbolism, Tolles said. Maggie Carlton, a Las Vegas Democrat, offered an impassioned argument for the resolution, telling a story of her mother having to take off her wedding ring to go to work every day for fear of being fired. She said the company fired women who were married because they might have children and it would hurt productivity. Her story built on others who spoke about pay inequality and perceptions that President Trumps administration is rolling back rights for women through proposals to defund Planned Parenthood and appointing judges who appear to oppose abortion rights. I vote for this for today in honor of my mother, my grandmother and my two daughters, Carlton said. Symbolism or not, its time to send the message. david.montero@latimes.com Twitter: @davemontero Country Director for the World Bank Group, Dr. Pierre Franck Laporte, has commended government for launching the maiden Results Fair aimed at evaluating the work done so far by the various ministries, departments and agencies. According to him, in order to achieve better developmental results, the government must make a conscious effort to engage citizens in its developmental agenda. Speaking at the fair, Dr. Laporte said the World Bank Group would continue to support the government to achieve its developmental goals. The World Bank Group works with countries like Ghana to improve measurement systems that help them track progress, learn lessons and make timely corrections to achieve their development goals. The World Bank Group continues to work with the government of Ghana to help it achieve its development programs through its current portfolio of about US$2 billion. With the goal of achieving better development results, I will implore the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation and other ministries and departments to take a coherent approach incorporating citizens' engagements and systems, grievances with just mechanisms across government operations and integrate beneficiary feedback into 100% of government interventions and programs where beneficiaries can be clearly identified, he said. The Monitoring and Evaluation Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Information yesterday [Tuesday] launched the Results Fair , for the several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to outline the works they have undertaken since they assumed office. According to the government, this move is to improve accountability to the people of Ghana. The 3day fair which started on January 14th and is to end on the 16th, is expected to bring together all Ministries and Agencies of the government to interact with members of the general public and provide them with evidence of their achievements. citinewsroom I find myself facing a crisis of civic conscience. According to guidance issued by counter-terrorism police in the South-East last November as part of the Prevent counter-extremist strategy, I should be on the lookout for people who speak in strong or emotive terms about environmental issues like climate change, ecology, species extinction, fracking, airport expansion or pollution. Since this accounts for the overwhelming majority of my friends and acquaintances aged under 35, and a substantial proportion of those who are older, I am not sure where to begin. Am I expected to shop them all to the rozzers? Alphabetically? (Its a long list). Or is my deeper moral responsibility to tip off all these newly categorised subversives and advise them to take to the hills before they are rounded up? You see the dilemma. The 12-page document has now, reportedly, been withdrawn, following the disclosure in the Guardian that it lists Extinction Rebellion (XR) alongside neo-Nazi and jihadi groups as a potential threat to national security. It urges us to stay vigilant in case we spot eco-activists plotting school strikes, sit-ins, or heaven forbid writing environmentally themed graffiti. Matthew d'Ancona This is so unbelievably silly that one barely knows where to begin. To address the climate emergency in strong or emotive terms is not antisocial, hostile to the common good or irresponsible, but precisely the opposite. One need only read the news to see that this is so. Australia is burning with horrifying consequences. Indonesia is afflicted by floods. Ocean temperatures reached a record high in 2019. Last week, the President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, declared inaction will put at risk all life on Earth as we know it. In such circumstances, it is perhaps those who do not address the scale of the peril in strong or emotive terms that we should be worrying about. Worse, the inclusion of XR in a document of this sort betrays an epic level of historic illiteracy about the changing character of the anti-capitalist movement. In the late Sixties and Seventies, groups such as the Weather Underground Organization and the BaaderMeinhof Group certainly engaged in violent acts, and were pursued for their criminal actions. After the unrest at the Seattle summit of the WTO in 1999, there was a fresh wave of anti-globalisation militancy most evident in the so-called Black Bloc protesters who sought to sow anarchy at otherwise peaceful rallies. Yet the whole point about the XR phenomenon has been its conspicuous aversion to violence. The scuffle at Canning Town Tube station last October when protesters were dragged off a Jubilee line train by exasperated commuters was notable precisely because it was so unusual. XR has been quite open about its ambition to cause disruption, slow down economic activity in the city, and generally make both a nuisance and a spectacle of itself. But its methods owe more to Gandhi than to guerrilla warfare. To a large extent, it has succeeded in pricking the collective conscience by renouncing violent methods. The Home Secretarys performative toughness may deliver short-term gains but it makes nobody safer As a rule of thumb, when counter-terrorist police raise concerns of this sort, they do so because of specific intelligence. It is entirely plausible that there are fringe groups opposed to globalisation that have discussed more aggressive actions; and it is right that such schemes are monitored closely by law enforcement agencies. But it is a huge, lazy leap from legitimate vigilance of this sort to the implication in an official document that the entire XR movement should be an object of suspicion. Worse, such nonsense brings the Prevent strategy into deepening disrepute. Launched by the Labour government in 2003 as part of the UKs counter-terrorism strategy and broadened by the Coalition in 2011, Prevent was, and is, a good idea that suffered from clumsy execution. It is true that extremist propaganda is often the gateway to full-blown commitment to terrorist activity, and as a consequence, it is essential to monitor militancy of all sorts especially in educational establishments and prisons so that, as far as possible, this gateway may be blocked. The difficulty is where to draw the line and how to pre-empt acts or threats of violence without shutting down legitimate debate and campaigning. To this dilemma there is no glib solution. What is abundantly clear is that XR does not belong in the same category as the jihadi and neo-Nazi groups that counter-terrorist and security agencies keep in their sights. The Prevent strategy is now the subject of a systematic review stalled by the departure in December of Lord Carlile as head of the inquiry. One hopes that his work is resumed as quickly as possible, lest the entire strategy collapse as trust and credibility seep from its rickety foundations. Its prospects would have been greatly assisted if Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, had conceded that a straightforward error had been made in this case. But not a bit of it. Yes, she told LBC, XR might be a protest organisation, but the police were quite right to keep it under surveillance. Her tone and implicit message were robustly unrepentant, and consistent with the unyielding, populist-Right course that she is steering at the Home Office. This performative toughness may conceivably deliver short-term political gains. But it is lousy policy, and it makes nobody safer. 32.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The physical threat to former Ambassador Yovanovitchs safety was coming from Rudy Giuliani and his associates at Trumps direction. According to a House letter sent to the Senate with accompanying evidence, the Ukraine plotters had the former Ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance: In March 2019, Mr. Parnas communicated by text message with Robert F. Hyde about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In response to some articles, tweets, and videos accusing the Ambassador of being disloyal to President Trump, Mr. Hyde wrote Wow. Cant believe Trumo [sic] hasnt fired this bitch. Ill get right in that. Mr. Hyde then sent a series of text messages suggesting that he had Ambassador Yovanovitch under physical surveillance in Kyiv and that They are willing to help if we/you would like a price. Here is the text exchange: Um holy sh*t. This certainly makes it sound like Parnas and co. were actively tracking Yovanovitch's movements. This could explain why Yovanovitch was moved out of Ukraine so quickly. https://t.co/4rBRB06ZGN pic.twitter.com/5Gc8WcGPih Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 14, 2020 Giuliani and his associates were actively tracking the Ukraine ambassadors movements at the request of Donald Trump. Giuliani and the rest of his crew were not freelancing in Ukraine. They were working for Donald Trump. The tracking (stalking) of a US ambassador was being done as part of Trumps plot to get dirt on Joe Biden. The Ukraine plot is more disturbing and dark that earlier imagined. A president had his own ambassador tracked. Trump and his associates shouldnt be in the White House. They belong behind bars. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Michael Avenatti, who was arrested in California on accusations that he violated the terms of his bail, is to remain in federal custody and be transported to New York to stand trial in a separate case, a judge ordered Wednesday. Mr. Avenatti was arrested Tuesday after prosecutors said that he defrauded and concealed money from creditors while on bail for similar charges from last year. In that case, Mr. Avenatti is accused of stealing millions of dollars from clients and of lying about his business and income to an I.R.S. collection agent, creditors and a bankruptcy court, among others. In March, he was arrested and released. But prosecutors in California said in court filings made public Wednesday that Mr. Avenatti had violated the conditions of his bail by continuing to engage in criminal activity. They asked that Mr. Avenatti be kept in federal custody ahead of a trial that was slated to begin in May, a request that Judge James V. Selna granted. Despite all reports to the contrary, I have not suspended my campaign for national personal financial benevolent dictator. In fact, today I add a new plank to my platform: regulation through comprehension, rather than disclosure. Ill unpack what I mean by that below. Im in the process of renewing the home equity line of credit, or HELOC, on my house. As you can imagine, my mailbox and email box are filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of disclosure documents for my signature. These are virtually unreadable, and they will go unread by me. Nevertheless, I will sign them. Lauren Willis, a law professor whose criticism of financial literacy programs I recently described admiringly, has a replacement for these disclosure documents, and Ive stolen her idea for my platform. She argues in a 2017 paper, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Quest for Consumer Comprehension, that financial products regulation should focus less on disclosure and more on creating a system of consumer comprehension. Heres what she means. Financial service providers of credit cards, insurance, investments and mortgages would need to regularly show to regulators that a large majority of their customers could pass a simple comprehension test about their product. Placing the burden on financial firms to stay consumer-compliant is analogous to requiring car companies to prove they can meet emissions standards or toy manufacturers to adhere to child safety standards. Willis point: Disclosing terms in tiny print over 30 pages never helps. It puts the burden on the consumer. Instead, the burden should be on the firm to show with a consumer comprehension audit that customers know what they are buying. After all, wasnt that the point of these ineffective disclosures in the first place? Our default system is free market. And Im a free markets guy. I like classical economics trust that prices and quantities will reach equilibrium as long as we minimize frictions such as taxes and government interference. Few people will purchase a $10 tomato when a $1 one is available, says classical economics. Firms able to offer $1 tomatoes will sell many more units than a purveyor of Gucci tomatoes. But the past 40 years of behavioral finance has taught us that classical equilibrium theory doesnt work as well in areas such as personal finance because of predictable inherent biases and errors of thought. As a result, people are unknowingly purchasing $10 tomatoes when they should, logically, be buying $1 tomatoes. And, yes, regulation like this would be expensive to firms. But the alternative is not free market efficiency. The alternative is people paying for $10 tomatoes out of predictable ignorance. One objection: Some people just cant be taught because math is hard. And financial concepts are especially hard. OK, true. But Willis proposal focuses on setting a target for average comprehension. Like maybe just 70 percent of customers have to pass the comprehension audit. Not everyone, just a good majority. That seems reasonable and flexible to me. Another objection: Comprehension seems costly for firms, as they would be required to create educational programs around their products. Maybe. But wouldnt it also seem that firms facing the potentially high cost of consumer education would be greatly incentivized to simplify these same financial products? Wouldnt firms pivot toward selling things that any fifth grader could understand? I am certain, for example, that variable annuities would rightly disappear from the face of the earth if insurance companies were forced to educate consumers about how they actually work. Because, quite simply, they cannot be explained in simple terms. You know what else is costly? About 25 percent of subprime mortgage borrowers defaulting in the same year, sending the world financial system into a tailspin and requiring a huge bailout of Wall Street. Another objection: True financial complexity cannot be captured in short consumer-education segments. Willis addresses this by analogy with energy-efficiency regulation. Simple labeling with stars currently informs consumers of energy-efficient dishwashers and refrigerators. I dont have to be an electrical engineer to understand the energy-efficiency star system. I just need to know enough about what the Energy Star label on my dishwasher means. A simple and consistent labeling system for credit cards, mortgage and investment products could go a long way toward building consumer comprehension. This is a results-oriented approach to regulation.Its about proving with reasonable room for variation that people using the products actually know what theyre getting and at what price. Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates. michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com twitter.com/michael_taylor All of the top five risks facing the world are now linked to the climate crisis, according to the World Economic Forum. Extreme weather events, major biodiversity loss and a failure to halt global warming are the biggest threats concerning hundreds of key decision makers, a poll by the WEF found. It is the first time in 15 years of carrying out the research that climate change has dominated the list of risks, underlining how the environment has shot up the agenda for the worlds elite in a year of record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfires, alongside high-profile activism from the likes of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion. Tackling the crisis will be made even more difficult by an increasingly polarised and fragmented political landscape, which could hinder the kind of collaboration required, the WEFs report warned. The political landscape is polarised, sea levels are rising and climate fires are burning, said Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe This is the year when world leaders must work with all sectors of society to repair and reinvigorate our systems of cooperation, not just for short-term benefit but for tackling our deep-rooted risks. The research found a generational divide, with younger respondents even more alarmed by the state of the planet. Almost nine in 10 of those born since 1980 believe extreme heat waves, destruction of ecosystems and health impacted by pollution will be aggravated this year, compared to seven in 10 of those born before 1980. The research is published as global business leaders, financiers and politicians prepare to attend next weeks WEF summit in Davos, Switzerland. This years event has been billed this year as a carbon-neutral event thanks to a range of schemes to offset emissions. Top five global risks Extreme weather events with major damage to property, infrastructure and loss of human life Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation by governments and businesses Human-made environmental damage and disasters, including environmental crime, such as oil spills, and radioactive contamination Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse (terrestrial or marine) with irreversible consequences for the environment, resulting in severely depleted resources for humankind as well as industries Major natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms Previous Davos summits have been portrayed by some critics as an elitist talking shop that achieves little while generating an excessive carbon footprint as hundreds of attendees fly into the Alpine resort on private jets. Silvia Dall'Angelo, senior economist at Hermes Investment Management said it was refreshing to see the Davos community highlight environmental risks as more important than economic and geopolitical concerns. However, she cautioned that all three strands were closely intertwined and could not be dealt with separately. Rising global temperatures, which are on track to increase by at least 3 C by the end of the century, twice the level deemed safe by climate experts, imply loss of life, heightened social and geopolitical tensions and a negative economic impact. Recommended EU to dedicate a quarter of its budget fighting climate change Environmental campaigners expressed scepticism that Davos clientele were taking the action required to halt climate change. Its not enough to identify how grave the climate emergency is, said Paul Morozzo, climate finance campaigner at Greenpeace. The banks and financial institutions jetting into Davos next week have made trillions pumping money into climate crashing fuels like oil, gas and coal. Its time to stop funding the crisis and start backing the solutions. That means immediately ending support for fossil fuels we cannot afford to burn. John Drzik, chairman of Marsh & McLennan Insights, which helped compile the research, said companies must do more to prevent climate change. There is mounting pressure on companies from investors, regulators, customers, and employees to demonstrate their resilience to rising climate volatility," he said. High profile events, like recent wildfires in Australia and California, are adding pressure on companies to take action on climate risk at a time when they also face greater geopolitical and cyber risk challenges. - Uhuru made changes to the Cabinet as he sought to put his house in order - The changes affected at least eight Cabinet members with Kiunjuri being sacked - Kenyans demanded more be sent packing over incompetence Kenyans have welcomed Cabinet changes made by by President Uhuru Kenyatta but still called for more heads to roll over incompetence. Uhuru in his public address unveiled new face of his Cabinet that also saw Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri get relieved of his duties and immediately replaced by Peter Munya. READ ALSO: Bosibori apologises for lightening her photo, says she did not like her dark complexion A Cabinet meeting at the State House Kenya. Critics believe uhuru should have fired more. Photo: State House Kenya. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Wakili Ahmednasir anaamini chuki ulioko kwa sasa kati ya Uhuru na Ruto itaangamiza nchi However, critics argued that the president should have sacked five other members of his Cabinet if indeed Kiunjuri's dismissal was about performance and service delivery. 1. James Macharia - .Transport Cabinet secretary. Little is often heard from the soft-spoken Cabinet secretary whenever a tragedy hits the Kenyan transport sector. A case in point is when a Kakamega-bound bus killed 58 passengers that saw Kenyan online community call for his immediate sacking. Macharia only sent out a condolence message to the bereaved. Transport CS James Macharia is rarely seen when tragedy happens. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: UGC Another instance is the Likoni incident that left a mother and her daughter dead, the accident was blamed on use of old decommissioned vessel. 2.Charles Keter - Energy The wanton corruption at the Kenya Pipeline Corporation, Kenya Power and other pastorals within the docket have dented the image of the powerful ministry. But despite few arrests of parastatals heads, the CS is yet to take full responsibility nor resign. 3. Joe Mucheru - Information Communication and Technology For Cabinet secretary who appointed a dead man to the Kenya Film Classification Board, surviving the purge came as a surprise to many who felt he needed to be replaced. Mucheru retained his post. 4. Sicily Kariuki -Heath The incoming Water and Irrigation Cabinet secretary previously served as Health CS and as her colleagues, she faced backlash. Health CS Kariuki meeting committees from the Senate, Council of Governors and National Assembly on August 7 2019. Photo: Sicily Kariuki/Facebook. Source: Facebook Interestingly, her own Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman threw her under the bus when he told Parliamentary Health Committee the ministry could not explain how it gobbled up KSh 636M meant for elders' medical cover. "What I know the Ministry is piloting Universal Health Program in four counties, which will be rolled out in all 47 counties come 2020, but as for now I cannot answer how the Ministry has spent the amount in question," he answered. 5. Simon Chelugui - Water and Irrigation Formerly Water and Irrigation boss, Chelugui will leave the ministry in mystery over stalled KSh 19 billion Itare Dam project in Kuresoi North, Nakuru county. The project was estimated to be 10% complete by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, contradicting the water ministry which said it was 43% done. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. The Blind Tailor, I don't want people to pity me. I want them to be encouraged by my story | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke India, Russia discuss long-term energy cooperation India has begun negotiations with Russia on long-term assured supplies of crude oil, especially from Russias Far East, as New Delhi looks to diversify its energy sources and secure supplies by doing away with over-dependence on unstable West Asia. The talks are essentially between Russian state-owned oil and gas giant Rosneft and Indias petroleum ministry. Along with agreement on long-term supplies of crude oil, India is also looking at an agreement on liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Russia, sources familiar with the negotiations said. Earlier, on Tuesday, minister for petroleum and natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan met members of a Russian delegation to discuss areas of co-operation in oil and gas sector. With the guidance of our strong leaders, we have strengthened our engagement in hydrocarbon sector. There is an Energy Bridge between our two countries. With Russia being one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas and India being the worlds third largest energy consumer, Russia has the potential to become an important source to fulfil Indias oil and gas requirements, Pradhan said. The joint statement on cooperation in oil and gas during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Russia in September provides a roadmap to deepen cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, the minister said, adding that India had invited Russian companies, particularly in gas business, gas infrastructure and petrochemicals, to invest in India. On the gas based economy, he said, India has also embarked on the path of becoming a gas based economy. India is investing over $60 billion in developing natural gas supply and distribution infrastructure. LNG imports from Russia at competitive rates will help us in meeting the objectives of price stability and energy security. Speaking about connectivity, Pradhan said, We are keen to explore the new sea route to source crude oil and LNG through Russias Arctic. The route has the potential to cut cost and time for transporting LNG from Russia to India. A sea line between Far-East Russia and the East Coast of India will also facilitate sourcing of coking coal from the region. On crude oil sourcing, Pradhan said, We are working on the strategy to diversify our crude oil supply sources and we are now exploring ways to import crude from Russia as well. Russian is looking at tapping reserves in its Far East region, which stretches from Siberia to the Pacific Ocean and is estimated to have 10 to 14 billion tonnes of oil and 14 to 15 trillion cubic metres of gas. The negotiations on oil and gas supplies are part of the five-year road map for cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector that was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Vladivostok last September for the Eastern Economic Forum and the annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian gas producer Novatek also signed an agreement with Indian energy firm Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) for LNG supply and joint development of downstream LNG business. A joint statement issued after the Modi-Putin summit said the two sides would cooperate in geological exploration and joint development of oil and gas fields in Russia and India, and develop ways of delivering Russian energy resources to India, including a long-term deal for sourcing Russian crude oil. India imports over 80 per cent of the crude it processes and almost half of its oil imports are from the Gulf region, which is prone to disruptions because of geopolitical reasons. This often threatens our energy security, both in terms of price and supply volatilities. Energy import from Russia is, a reliable alternative, Pradhan said. Though India has a refining capacity of 249.4 million tonnes and annual capacity utilisation has been often more than 100 per cent. India is looking for reliable and economical alternatives, especially after the US embargo against Iran. Russia could be one such alternative, sources pointed out. Indo-Pacific concept aimed at disrupting existing structure: Lavrov The new concept of Indo-Pacific cooperation has been initiated only to divert the focus from an inclusive Asia to India, only to undermine the status of China, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Lavrov, who is in Delhi to attend the annual Raisina Dialogue, said the concept was initiated to disrupt the existing structure and contain China. Addressing the gathering at the Raisina Dialogue, he also said that an equitable democratic order should not be influenced by use of brutal force. The new Indo-Pacific concept being pushed by the US, Japan and others is an attempt to reconfigure the existing structure, he said. Why do you need to call Asia-Pacific as Indo-Pacific? The answer is evident - to exclude China. Terminology should be unifying, not divisive. Neither SCO nor BRICS is exclusionary, Lavrov said. When we asked the initiators how Indo-Pacific is different from Asia-Pacific, we were told it is more democratic. We dont think so. It is rather tricky. We have to be careful about the terminology which looks benign but is not, he said. The Indo-Pacific has been a major focus area of Indias foreign policy in the last few years and the country pushing for the peace and stability of the region. Lavrov also backed India and Brazil to be permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Speaking at the event, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said Indias way is not to be disruptive and it is more of a decider than an abstainer. In remarks that come at a time that several countries have called for a greater Indian role in the Indo-Pacific, the minister also said it is not the India way to be mercantilist. A bushfire burns in the town of Moruya, south of Batemans Bay, in New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 4, 2020. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images) Canadian Firefighters Expect to Use Tailored Tactics to Battle Australia Blazes HALIFAXAs Canadian firefighters boarded flights on Jan. 15 to battle blazes in Australia, they noted they will likely have to employ some different tactics than they do to fight local fires. In Halifax, the first three of 69 Canadian firefighters heading to the island continent say hotter temperatures and drier conditions call for different measures than typical East Coast fires, where water is plentiful and the advance of the blazes are slower. Paul Schnurr, a wildfire training officer with the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, says differing weather, topography, and ecology affect forest fires, and Canadians are trained to work with all of those variables. However, the incident commander says the Australian bush fires can spread quickly due to the lack of moisture, and response tactics often include extensive use of heavy equipment to clear gaps in the landscape. The 50-year-old veteran will be part of a contingent heading towards Vancouver, with plans to land in Melbourne later this week for a month-long deployment. This is the sixth wave of Canadians helping out in Australia, bringing the total number to more than 160 people. From The Canadian Press The government has reportedly demanded a higher dividend payout of Rs 19,000 crore from state-run oil companies. Meanwhile, the companies cited lower profits so far in the ongoing financial year and government's disinvestment push to oppose the Centre's dividend demand. The government has asked oil marketing companies to maintain or increase the dividend this year, The Economic Times reported. The Centre is eyeing Rs 19,000 crore in dividend from the oil companies, which is 5 per cent higher than last year, the report added. ONGC and Indian Oil, the two biggest PSU oil companies in India, have been asked to pay 60 per cent of this amount. ONGC has been asked to pay a dividend of around Rs 6,500 crore, whereas Indian Oil will have to pay Rs 5,500 crore, the daily reported. The government has sought Rs 2,500 crore from BPCL, Rs 2,000 crore from GAIL, Rs 1,500 crore from Oil India and Rs 1,000 crore from Engineers India, it further added. ALSO READ:US-Iran tension to delay BPCL sale; Aramco's investments in India Company executives told the daily that the demand was steep given the low profits in first half of this fiscal. Notably, all state oil companies, except Engineers India, have posted a decline in half-yearly profits during H1 FY20. Companies fear that a higher outgo in the face of lower profits would interfere with their planned spending or force them to borrow more, raising finance cost. As of now, the oil companies are negotiating with the government for a lower dividend payout, sources told ET. Some oil companies have resisted the move citing that the government is demanding higher dividends despite reducing its stake. The Modi government has been continuously reducing its stake in public sector undertakings to meet its disinvestment target. Last year, ONGC and Indian Oil had to undertake a share buyback programme worth Rs 9,500 crore in which the state's shares were offloaded. In November last year, the Cabinet approved sale of BPCL while retaining the Numaligarh refinery under a PSU. ALSO READ:Budget 2020: Taxation of dividends - the next reform? Michigan Senate leaders are asking for an investigation into the senator who told a female reporter a group of high school boys could have a lot of fun with her when he was approached for an interview. In a joint letter to the Senate Business Office, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, and Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, requested an investigation into Lucidos behavior Wednesday afternoon following Michigan Advance reporter Allison Donahues account of an interaction she had with the senator on Tuesday. Sexual harassment has no place in the Michigan Senate," the letter reads. "We take this allegation very seriously and trust that you will take appropriate action to solve this matter. Lucido has faced resounding criticism from lawmakers, political insiders and the public after Donahue published a first-person account of her experience with Lucido, who she was seeking comment from to follow up on a Detroit Metro Times report regarding his involvement in a now-deleted Facebook group. Lucido was with a group of students from De La Salle Collegiate, a Catholic high school in Warren, Donahue wrote, so he said he would respond after he was finished with them - but not before telling her it was an all boys school and adding, You should hang around! You could have a lot of fun with these boys, or they could have a lot of fun with you. Lucido, a first-term state senator and attorney who previously served in the Michigan State House, notes on his website that he graduated from De La Salle Collegiate in 1978. In a brief statement issued Wednesday morning, Lucido did not dispute the report: I apologize for the misunderstanding yesterday and for offending Allison Donahue. Lucido did not speak with reporters following Senate session, and Lucidos office confirmed the statement was the extent of his comment on the matter. Hed previously told the Detroit Free Press that he was not talking about anything sexual, adding that the comments were blown out of proportion. Both Shirkey and Ananich denounced the comments. Shirkey told reporters the comments as reported were very unacceptable." Ananich said the behavior was unacceptable for a senator and criticized Lucidos statement following the articles publication. His apology was basically saying, Im sorry you realize Im a jerk, and Im a creep, Ananich said. Awaya company that sells luggage directly to consumers via sleek Instagrammable adsis having issues spackling over a crack in its impractical hard-shell casing. It all started in December when an investigation at the Verge (titled Emotional Baggage) revealed how the popular brand was held together by a team of bedraggled and emotionally manipulated lower-level employees. The company fostered a culture of intimidation and constant surveillance, wrote Zoe Schiffer, a statement she backed with extensive screenshots of internal communications. Managers intimidated customer service staff to work holidays, for periods of time refused to accept requests for future paid time off, and forbade staff from communicating privately with one another. In one instance, CEO Steph Korey insisted that someone must be brain dead for an error involving monogrammed luggage tags (and this did not seem like a one-off outburst). In the outrage-filled days that followed the publication of Schiffers piece, the company announced that there would be a new CEO, and Korey stepped down. The allegations about poor working conditionsfor store personnel, for tag monogrammerskept coming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, the New York Times reported that thats now only half-true: Korey will continue to lead the company as co-CEO, now with help from Stuart Haselden, formerly of Lululemon. In explaining their decision to reverse course, the members of Aways board say they feel as if they fell victim to management by Twitter mob, writes Andrew Ross Sorkin in the Times. The company now says it disputes The Verges reporting, Sorkin writes. (The Times doesnt explain which parts the company disputes.) Leaving aside the awfulness of reducing righteous outrage over worker abuse to a Twitter mob, of course Aways board appears comically unconcerned about Korey! Korey was only doing what so many other CEOs do. Much of the hardships at Away revolved around responding to customer service emails in a timely manner, and always picking up the phone when a customer called. There are, essentially, two options for dealing with the ever-growing line of customer needs that naturally accompanies a fast-growing direct-to-consumer company: hiring plenty of people to attend to them, or stretching a few people as thin as possible to ensure that they are working to their absolute limit. The latter practice is practically becoming the American way, as journalist Emily Guendelsberger illustrates in her book, On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Published last July, Guendelsbergers book chronicles her experience working for several months each as a picker at an Amazon fulfillment center, as a cashier at a register at McDonalds, and answering calls from AT&T customers at a third-party call center, Convergys. At each of these jobs, software tracked Guendelsbergers every move, including, but far from limited to: how long it took to grab a customers order from a storage bin at Amazon, how satisfied a customer was with her resolution of their problem at Convergys, how long it took her to fulfill a customers breakfast order at McDonalds. By each system, she was pushed to work past her absolute limituntil her legs couldnt move, until she was forcing back panic after a customer screamed at her or threw something at her. Away deployed its own surveillance tech to allow managers and the CEO to reach employees at all hours and to monitor their conversations. It might have been a trendy chat appSlackbut it was surveillance tech all the same. At Guendelsbergers jobs, as seems to be the case at Away, there simply werent enough employees to allow for things like sitting down to take a breather outside of tightly regulated break times. Away might not have tracked each time an employee left their desk, but Korey did push back on one manager on Slack who noted that employees werent responding to customers as quickly as she expected because of bathroom and mental breaks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To do the front-line work of fulfilling consumers needs, Guendelsberger writes, is to have a feeling of desperation and hopelessnessbeing unable to catch up, even though youre working as fast as you possibly can. This is exactly what the Away employees described to Schiffer. One reason the Away scandal seems shocking is because the company is deliberately marketing itself as upscaleits a lovely, trendy startup that focuses its sales pitch on some sort of travel lifestyle and community that its suitcases supposedly enable. (One of the truest things about this story remains journalist Dylan Matthews observation that this company is merely in the business of selling luggage, not changing the world.) The pay and prestige might be different, but the same underlying principle of keeping up a facade for customers with fewer employees than humanely necessary governs many jobs in America, from Away to Amazon to even journalism. I personally could see this tyranny of metrics, and sensitivity to the consumer overall, that made bosses of mine more interested in making sure we got enough clicks, Guendelsberger told me in a phone call about her time working in a newsroom. I think everybody can see this sort of thing invading their lives in their jobs. The solution, then, isnt (just) in removing Korey, or even purchasing your luxury hard-shell suitcases from a different vendor. Guendelsberger told me the goal of her book is to get people to see the way this is all sort of the same fight. People need to get together with other people who are not in their industry, or even their class. That entails large-scale stuff like voting and supporting unions. But it also means that, should you find your new $475 carry-on to be comically delayed, when you call the company to complain, remember to be kind. Somehow even that price point doesnt translate to humane conditions for employees. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who is facing flak from various quarters, even his own partymen, for saying that anti-CAA protesters "were shot like dogs" in BJP-ruled states, Wednesday stood by his comment and said he is not bothered about the criticism. Ghosh said that whatever he has said is for the country. Slamming his critics, the BJP leader said those who are castigating him had themselves opened fire on protesters on various ocassions. "I stick to my comments. I am not bothered about the criticism. Whatever I have said is in favour of the country. The TMC and Congress is criticising me. They too have opened fire on protesters on various ocassion," he said. Ghosh has kicked up a row with his remark at a public meeting in Nadia district on Sunday that "anti-CAA protesters were shot like dogs in BJP-ruled states", provoking criticism from political rivals as well as his own partymen. He had criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "not opening fire and ordering lathi charge" on those who had destroyed public property during the anti-CAA protests in the state in December. "Our governments in Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka shot these people like dogs," he had said. Banerjee had on Monday deplored the comment and had said the state police will not fire on agitators. TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, known for making off-the- cuff remarks, had said that it was Ghosh who should be shot dead by the central government for the offence. Union minister Babul Supriyo had termed Ghosh's comment as "irresponsible". "BJP, as a party has nothing to do with what a DilipGhosh may hv said It is a figment of his imagination & BJP Govts in UP, Assam have NEVER EVERresorted to shooting people for whatever reason whatsoever...," he had tweeted. Asked whether he is ready to continue as the state party president for a second term, Ghosh said he has filed the nomination and will do whatever the party asks him to do. Ghosh was appointed as state BJP president in December 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The wooden sculpture depicting a Narragansett Indian Tribe chief on Kingstown Road is in need of a renovation that the town council hopes to complete. President Vladimir Putin proposed Wednesday tweaking the Russian Constitution to increase the powers of parliament and the Cabinet, a move that could herald his intention to take a political position that would let him stay at the helm after his presidency ends. During his state of the nation address, Putin suggested amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The authoriiy to make those appointments currently belongs to Russia's president. It will increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all Cabinet members, Putin told an audience of top officials and lawmakers. At the same time, Putin argued that Russia would not remain stable if it were governed under a parliamentary system. The president should retain the right to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet ministers, to name top defense and security officials, and to be in charge of the Russian military and law enforcement agencies, he said. Putin emphasised that constitutional changes must be put to a nationwide vote. Putin's current term expires in 2024, and Russia's political elites have been abuzz with speculation about his future plans. The 67-year-old Putin has remained at the helm for more than 20 years longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin. He will have to step down after his term ends under the current law, which limits the president to two consecutive terms. Political analyst Kirill Rogov said that Putin's proposals indicate his intention to remain in charge while re-distributing powers between various branches of government. Such a model resembling the Chinese one would allow Putin to stay at the helm indefinitely while encouraging rivalry between potential successors, Rogov said on Facebook. Alexei Navalny, the most prominent Russian opposition leader, tweeted that the president's speech signaled Putin's desire to continue calling the shots after his term ends. The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends, Navalny alleged. Putin served two presidential terms in 2000-2008 before shifting into the prime minister's seat for four years to observe the term limit. His placeholder as president, Dmitry Medvedev, stepped down after just one term to allow his mentor to reclaim the top job in 2012. While in office, Medvedev raised the presidential term from four to six years. While Putin continued calling the shots during Medvedev's presidency, he wasn't quite happy with his performance. He was particularly critical of Medvedev's decision to give the green light to the Western air campaign over Libya in 2011 that led to the ouster and the killing of long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Medvedev's decision to step down after one term to let Putin return to the presidency also sparked massive protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 in a major challenge to the Kremlin. Observers speculated that Putin may stay in charge after 2024 by shifting into the prime minister's seat after increasing the powers of parliament and the Cabinet and trimming presidential authority. Other potential options include a merger with neighboring Belarus that would create a new position of the head of a new unified state a prospect rejected by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. In his address, Putin said the constitution must also specify the authority of the State Council consisting of regional governors and top federal officials. Some analysts have theorized that Putin may try to continue pulling the strings as head of the council after stepping down as president in 2024. Putin also emphasized the need to amend the constitution to give it a clear priority over international law. The requirements of international law and treaties and decisions of international organs can only be valid on the territory of Russia as long as they don't restrict human rights and freedoms and don't contradict the constitution, he said. He also said that the constitution must be tweaked to say that top government officials aren't allowed to have foreign citizenship or residence permits. Putin focused his state of the nation address on the need to encourage population growth and create new incentives for economic growth. He said that the authorities need to do more to encourage new births and support young families. He promised that the government would offer additional subsidies to families that have children. Putin emphasized that low incomes remain a key obstacle to population increase. Russia's population currently stands at about 147 million. Putin promised to encourage high-tech industries and to ease excessive business regulations. The Russian leader said that Russia would remain open for cooperation with all countries while maintaining a strong defense capability to fend off potential threats. He added that new weapons systems would protect Russia's security for decades ahead. For the first time in history, we aren't trying to catch up with anyone, Putin said. On the contrary, other leading nations are yet to develop the weapons that Russia already has. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Advertisement Elizabeth Warren refused to shake Bernie Sanders' hand at the conclusion of Tuesday night's primary debate, a tart ending after the two contenders handled the growing tensions between their campaigns gracefully during the evening. Warren approached Sanders on the debate stage after it ended. He held his hand out to her. She appeared to start to reach out but whipped her hand back and he withdrew his. The two then spoke for about 10 seconds while Tom Steyer stood between them. Elizabeth Warren refused to shake Bernie Sanders hand at the end of debate Bernie Sanders had reached out his hand to her but Elizabeth Warren pulled hers back Tom Steyer said he didn't know what Warren and Sanders discussed It was unclear what they talked about and Steyer told CNN he didn't know. 'I was just going up to say good night. And I felt like okay, there's something going on. Good night! I'm out of here! I really wasn't listening,' he said. 'How can you not hear Bernie Sanders?' Anderson Cooper asked. 'They were talking about getting together or something. I really didn't listen,' Steyer said. 'It was one of those awkward moments where I felt like, you know, I need to move on as fast as possible. You could see it was an awkward moment. My goal was simply to say good night to two people I respect. 'The last thing I wanted to do was get in between the two of them and try and listen in. That was not my goal and I didn't do it.' Fireworks had been expected between the two senators after an increasingly bitter feud erupted ahead of Tuesday night's debate, the first of 2020 and last gathering of Democratic candidates before voters go to the caucuses in Iowa. Instead, the pair calmly addressed a report that Sanders told Warren in a private 2018 meeting at her Washington D.C. apartment that a female candidate couldn't beat Donald Trump and she used the line of questioning to get in a shot at her male rivals on stage. Sanders said he'd never told Warren a woman can't win. 'As a matter of fact, I didn't say that. And I don't want to waste a lot of time on this because this is what Donald Trump, maybe some of the media would want. Anybody who knows me knows it is incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States,' the Vermont senator said. 'Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes. How could anybody in a million years think a woman could become president of the United States? And let me be very clear, if any of the women on this stage, or any of the men on this stage, win the nomination - I hope that's not the case, I hope it's me - but if they do, I will do everything in my power to ensure they are elected in order to defeat the most president in the history of our country,' he added to applause from the audience. Six Democratic presidential contenders took the stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night. Pictured left to right: Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar Elizabeth Warren slammed a claim women can't be president and got in a shot at her male rivals at Tuesday's Democratic debate as Bernie Sanders denied telling her a female candidate couldn't beat Donald Trump The first debate of 2020 took a sharp turn after Sanders was asked about a report he told Warren in a private meeting that a woman couldn't win the White House CNN's Abby Phillips, one of the debate moderators, asked again: 'Senator Sanders, I do want to be clear here, you're saying that you never told senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?' 'That is correct,' he responded. But Phillip then turned to Warren and asked: 'Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?' The audience laughed at the question. 'I disagreed,' Warren replied. 'Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head-on.' She then went on to attack the record of the men on stage Sanders, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Tom Steyer while praising her and Amy Klobuchar's record as political candidates. 'The best way to talk about who can win is by looking at people's winning record. So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost ten elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. Amy and me,' she said. 'So true,' Klobuchar chimed in. Warren continued: 'And the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years is me. And here's what I know. The real danger that we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who can't pull our party together or someone who takes for granted big parts of the democratic constituency. We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic Party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. That's my plan and that is why I'm going to win.' Klobuchar also pushed back at concerns that a woman can't beat President Trump Klobuchar also pushed back at concerns that a woman can't beat President Trump. 'I point out that you don't have to be the tallest person in the world. James Madison was 5'4'. You don't have to be the skinniest person in the room. You don't have to be the loudest person. You have to be competent,' she said. 'And when you look at what I have done, I have won every race, every place, every time. I have won in the reddest of districts. I have won in the suburban areas, in the rural areas. I have brought people with me.' Sanders then pointed out he does have a win against a Republican: in 1990. HOW LONG EACH CANDIDATE SPOKE Elizabeth Warren - 19 minutes, 11 seconds Bernie Sanders - 18 minutes, 26 seconds Amy Klobuchar - 16 minutes, 59 seconds Pete Buttigieg - 16 minutes, 48 seconds Joe Biden - 16 minutes, 17 seconds Tom Steyer - 12 minutes, 24 seconds Source: NBC News Advertisement 'Well, just to set the record straight, I defeated an incumbent Republican running for Congress,' he said. 'When?' Warren inquired. '1990,' he said. '30 years ago,' she noted. 'And I said, I was the only one who's beaten an incumbent Republican in 30 years.' Biden then piped in that he agreed a woman can win the White House. And he made a pitch for votes based on his appeal to African American voters, a group he gets a lot of support from. 'I agree women can win. I have campaigned for 27 of them in 2018. The best group I have campaigned for. The real issue is who can bring the party together and represent all elements of the party. African-American, brown, black, women, men. Gay, straight. The fact of the matter is in terms of endorsement around the country, where ever we go, I am the one who has the broadest coalition of anyone running up here,' the former vice president said. Also defending Sanders Tuesday night was President Trump, who addressed the controversy at his campaign rally in Milwaukee that was taking place during the Democratic debate. 'According to her he said this,' he said of Warren's claim that Sanders said a woman can't beat him. 'And I don't believe that he said this. Because, I don't know him, I don't particularly like him, he's a nasty guy, but I don't believe he said it. It's not his deal.' He went on to add: 'I don't believe that Bernie said that. I really don't. So, you know, Bernie, it's not the kind of a thing he'd say.' After the debate was over, Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver once again denied that Sanders told Warren a woman couldnt win the White House. 'He says he did not say that. It's inconceivable that he would say that because he doesn't believe it,' he said. 'They had a long conversation about the challenges of women running in the year of Trump for sure. Because she asked him do you think a woman can run. She brought it up,' he said. Asked by DailyMail.com whether Sanders agreed with Warren's premise that it would be a challenge for a woman to win, Weaver said: 'That there are challenges to running against somebody like Trump if you're a woman. Of course there are challenges. Of course. They will do and say anything in that White House. You'd be living in an another alternative universe if you didn't believe that that's true.' 'Does that mean you can't win?' he continued. 'Of course it does not mean you can't win. You saw tonight at the end. Every candidate up there was asked about some particular challenge they had as perceived by the moderator. Every candidate has challenges.' He said Sanders did not urge Warren not to run for president. 'No, she had told him that she was running,' said Weaver, who wasn't there but is a senior adviser to Sanders. 'He did not say a woman cannot run [win] running against Trump. Hillary Clinton had just gotten 3 million more votes than Trump. Doesn't make sense.' Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed that he's taken the most heat from President Trump and the Republicans - and his poll numbers are only going up Joe Biden reminded the debate audience that President Trump (pictured) and Republicans had 'savaged' his surviving son, who's become a central character in the president's impeachment The Sanders and Warren brawl didn't produce the anticipated sparks nor did a bit of bickering among the contenders on health care policy. The liberals on the stage Warren and Sanders support a Medicare for all single-payer system while moderates like Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar favor expanded Obamacare. Buttigieg pushed back against criticism from Warren that his plan is too small. 'It's just not true,' he said. 'We have to move past Washington mentality that suggests that the bigness of plans only consistent of how many trillions of dollars they put through the treasury.' Warren hit back. 'The numbers that the mayor is offering don't add up,' the Massachusetts senator said. 'The average family in America last year paid $12,000 in some combination of deductible and copay and uncovered expenses and fees. You can't cover that with a kind of money that the mayor is talking about.' Biden used the occasion to tout Obamacare, a plan passed when he was vice president and Barack Obama was in the White House. 'I would argue that the biggest breakthrough in recent time was us being able to do an administration with five democratic presidents couldn't get done. That is pass Obamacare,' he said. There were a few break out moments in what was an otherwise low-key debate. Steyer attacked Buttigieg for his work at the elite consulting firm McKinsey. 'Look, Mayor Pete has three years as an analyst in McKinsey,' he said. 'I have 30 years of international business experience. I can beat Trump on the economy. We're going to have to beat him on the economy and I look forward to taking him down in the fall on the debate stage.' Buttigieg responded: 'Demoted me. I thought I was an associate. That's okay. It was not the biggest part of my record.' And Biden was asked if he was ready to take on Trump, given the president's propensity to attack and his slams against Biden's son Hunter. 'I've been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on the stage. I've taken all the hits he can deliver, and I'm getting better in the polls,' the former vice president responded. 'This Republican Party, they've gone after - savaged my surviving son, gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won't even carry on television because they're flat-out lies,' Biden noted. 'And I did my job, the question is whether he did his job. And he hasn't done his job.' The night began with the candidates aiming their fire at Trump. Sanders and Biden accused President Trump of lying about his reasons for taking out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani Klobuchar and Warren both expressed a need to remove U.S. troops from the Middle East. Klobuchar said: 'I have long wanted to bring our troops home. I would do that.' Warren added: 'We should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily' Pete Buttigieg accused Trump of committing more troops to the Middle East after vowing to take America out of endless wars Sanders and Biden accused the president of lying about his reasons for taking out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the candidates were in agreement American troops need to come home from the Middle East. The first shots were fired at Trump, who was holding a campaign rally in Milwaukee as they were on stage. Sanders kicked off the attacks on the president when the candidates were asked about their own qualifications to be commander in chief. 'What we have to face as a nation is that the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes, with the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies. And right now, what I fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in Iraq,' the Vermont senator said. Trump defended his order to take out Soleimani during his rally in Milwaukee (pictured) Biden agreed that Trump lied, accusing the president of making up a threat against four U.S. embassies as his reason for taking out Soleimani, a move that ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East and resulted in a retaliatory attack from Iran on U.S. targets in Iraq. 'Quite frankly, I think he's flat-out lied about saying that the reason he went after the reason he made the strike was because our embassies were about to be bombed,' the former vice president said. The candidates were generally in agreement U.S. troops should be with drawn from the Middle East. 'I would leave some troops there, but not in the level that Donald Trump is taking us right now. Afghanistan, I have long wanted to bring our troops home. I would do that. Some would remain for counterterrorism and training,' Klobuchar said. Warren agreed. 'I think we need to get our combat troops out. You know, we have to stop this mind-set that we can do everything with combat troops. Our military is the finest military on Earth. And they will take any sacrifice we ask them to take. But we should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. Our keeping combat troops there is not helping,' she said. Buttigieg accused Trump of committing more troops to the Middle East after making a vow to take America out of endless wars. 'We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment of ground troops. But what's going on right now is the president's actually sending more. The very president who said he was going to end endless war, who pretended to have been against the war in Iraq all along, although we know that's not true, now has more troops going to the Middle East,' the former South Bend mayor said. The president defended his order to take out Soleimani during his rally. 'They're saying, 'Was the attack imminent? Was it imminent?' Does the fact that he's killed hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of Americans, and horribly killed and wounded thousands and thousands, that doesn't matter,' Trump said at his second campaign rally of 2020. ''Was the attack imminent?' I think they're going to start a new investigation: 'Was the attack on this horror?'and by the way, he was in a country he wasn't allowed to be in. We don't mention that,' Trump continued. Warren and Sanders are seen greeting each other on the stage. Tensions between the two senators were high heading into the debate after Warren confirmed a report claiming Sanders told her a woman couldn't win against President Trump Democrats, meanwhile, were having the smallest debate field to date. Only six candidates made the qualifications to be on the stage of the first debate of 2020. And all the candidates are white. Andrew Yang, who made the Los Angeles stage, didn't hit the polling requirements for Tuesday night, despite his appeals to the Democratic National Committee to commission more polls over the holiday season to give him a fighting chance. Tuesday's debate was the last one before voters head to the polls. The Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the Democratic nomination process, are on February 3. There are three more debates on the calendar ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Nevada primary and the South Carolina contest. There was a light-hearted moment of teasing between Biden and Sanders when the former vice president joked he wouldn't meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un because of a threat he made against him. 'Absent pre-condition, I would not meet with the quote-supreme leader who said Joe Biden is a rabid dog, he should be beaten to death with a stick,' Biden said. 'Other than that you like him,' Sanders injected as the audience laughed. 'And he got a love letter from Trump right after that,' Biden responded. The first 45 minutes of the debate focused on the candidates' qualifications for president, foreign policy issues, trade agreements, and climate change. Sanders got in a knock about Trump's ability to negotiate a deal. 'The answer is we can do much better than a Trump-led trade deal,' he said when asked about the China trade deal the president is scheduled to sign on Wednesday. 'This deal, and I think the proponents of it acknowledge, will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs as a result of outsourcing. The heart and soul of our disaster trade agreements.' Warren agreed with him. 'We have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting. And they are hurting because of Donald Trump's initiated trade wars. We have workers who are hurting because the agreements that have already been cut really don't have enforcement on workers' rights. This new trade deal is a modest improvement. Senator Sanders himself has said so. It will give some relief to our farmers, it will give some relief to our workers. I believe we accept that relief, we try to help the people who need help, and we get up the next day and fight for a better trade deal,' she said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15 Trend: Armenias provocations continue towards the combat positions of the Gazakh separate border division of the Azerbaijani State Border Service, which protects the Azerbaijani state border with Armenia in the direction of Gazakh and Agstafa districts, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani State Border Service. The Armenian armed forces deployed near Berkaber village of Armenias Ijevan region fired on the Azerbaijani border guard points in the direction of the Mazam village of the Gazakh district and the highway connecting the village with the district center by using large-caliber guns and sniper rifles at 16:00 (GMT+4) on January 15. Armenias provocation was suppressed by return fire. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. By Parisa Hafezi and Babak Dehghanpisheh DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error. Wednesday's downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, which killed all 176 people aboard, has created a new crisis for the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers. President Hassan Rouhani promised a thorough investigation into the "unforgivable error" in an address on Tuesday. It was the latest in a series of apologies by the leadership that has done little to quell public anger. Britain, France and Germany also increased diplomatic pressure on Iran, launching a dispute mechanism to challenge Tehran for breaching limits on its nuclear program under an agreement which Washington abandoned in 2018. Tehran has faced an escalating confrontation with the West and a wave of unrest since the United States killed Iran's most powerful military commander in a drone strike on Jan. 3. Iran shot down the plane on Wednesday when its military was on high alert, hours after firing missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq. It admitted the mistake on Saturday after days of denials. New security camera footage shows two missiles, fired 30 seconds apart, hitting the plane after takeoff, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. U.S. intelligence officials said on Jan. 9 that the heat signatures of two surface-to-air missiles were detected near the aircraft. In Iraq, a military camp at Taji, north of Baghdad, was hit by Katyusha rockets Tuesday night but no casualties were reported, an Iraqi military statement said. A person who posted a video online last week of a missile striking the plane has been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said some of those accused of having a role in the plane disaster had been arrested, although he did not say how many or identify them. Story continues Since the official admission, protesters, many of them students, have held daily demonstrations, chanting "Clerics get lost!" and calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power for more than 30 years. Police have responded to some protests with a violent crackdown, video posts on social media showed, with police beating protesters with batons, wounded people being carried, pools of blood on the streets and the sound of gunfire. A video that emerged on Tuesday showed an officer using an electric baton to shock a man as he writhed on the ground. Iran's police have denied firing at protesters and said officers were ordered to act with restraint. The judiciary said 30 people had been detained in the unrest but authorities would show tolerance towards "legal protests". 'WHERE IS JUSTICE?' Protests on Tuesday appeared peaceful, with scores gathering at two Tehran universities. "Where is justice?" some shouted. The extent of the unrest is difficult to assess because of limits on independent reporting. Demonstrations tend to gather momentum into the night. The domestic unrest triggered by the plane crash comes just two months after the most violent crackdown on protests since the revolution. The authorities killed hundreds of people to put down an uprising in November when demonstrators torched banks and petrol stations. Adding to international tension, the judiciary spokesman branded Britain's ambassador an "undesirable element", after he was briefly detained on Saturday, accused of inciting protests. The ambassador said he had been attending a vigil for victims. London said it had not been notified of any move to expel its envoy, Rob Macaire, and said such a step would be regrettable. Iran's Foreign Ministry, rather than the judiciary, would be responsible for any decision to expel him. London hosts a meeting on Thursday of Canada, Ukraine, Britain and other nations who had citizens on the plane. Ukraine said they would consider legal action against Tehran. Rouhani said the government would be accountable to Iranians and those nations who lost citizens. Most of those on board the flight were Iranians or dual nationals and 57 were Canadian. Canada's Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne dismissed as "nonsense" Tehran's insistence that only a few Canadians died on the plane and demanded full accountability for what it called a horrible crime. Iran, which does not recognize the concept of dual nationality said last week that only a handful of victims were Canadian, according to officials in Ottawa. "We will not accept that position," Champagne told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp on Tuesday, saying he had raised the matter with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier in the day. A team of Canadian experts joining the investigation visited the crash site on Tuesday, an Iranian news agency reported. It followed a meeting in Tehran between experts from Canada, Ukraine and Iran. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for Kiev's help in talking to Iran about identifying the bodies of the Canadian citizens who were killed, the Ukrainian president's office said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which operates Interpol's national bureau in Canada, said it was working with Canadian police to collect some DNA samples from Canadian victims' families within Canada to assist with identification. "Currently no on-site disaster victim identification assistance from Canada is required in Iran," RCMP said in a statement. ESCALATION IN TENSIONS The shootdown and subsequent unrest comes amid one of the biggest escalations in tensions between Tehran and Washington since 1979. Missiles launched at a U.S. base in Iraq killed an American contractor in December, an attack Washington blamed on an Iran-backed group. Confrontation eventually led to the U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed General Qassem Soleimani, architect of Iran's regional network of proxy militias. Iran's government was already reeling from the reimposition of sanctions by the United States, which quit an agreement with world powers under which Tehran would secure sanctions relief in return for scaling back its nuclear program. Since Washington withdrew, Tehran has stepped back from its nuclear commitments and has said it would no longer recognize limits on enriching uranium. After months of threatening to act, European signatories to the deal, France, Britain and Germany, activated the agreement's dispute mechanism on Tuesday. Iran criticized the move and said it wanted constructive steps to save the nuclear deal. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Babak Dehghanpisheh and John Irish in Paris; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan, Tom Brown and Lincoln Feast.) A man believed to be the gang leader of a robbery in the UK over 14 years ago in which a police officer was shot dead has been arrested in Pakistan and is to be extradited to face a murder trial in Britain. Piran Dhitta Khan, 71, is believed by UK police to have been behind the raid outside a travel agency in Bradford in 2005 in which West Yorkshire Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky was killed while responding to the armed robbery call. Khan appeared in court in Islamabad on Wednesday and has been remanded in custody until 29 January as extradition proceedings get underway. I would like to thank the National Crime Agency officers in Pakistan and partners who have made this arrest possible, said West Yorkshire Police Detective Superintendent Mark Swift. This is a major development in this long running investigation and their assistance in this matter cannot be understated. We are continuing to liaise with partners in Pakistan to process Khan's extradition with the intention of returning him to the UK to face court proceedings, he said. Beshenivsky was fatally shot when responding to the robbery at Universal Travel in Morley Street, Bradford, on 18 November 2005. The 38-year-old had only been an officer for nine months when she was shot in the chest on what was her youngest daughter Lydia's fourth birthday. Her shift partner, West Yorkshire Police Constable Teresa Milburn, was also shot but survived. Three men were jailed for life for her murder, two for manslaughter and West Yorkshire Police said at the time the alleged gang leader Khan had gone on-the-run in Pakistan and was being sought. A 20,000 pounds reward had also been offered for information leading to his capture. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India considers withdrawal of semi-autonomous status from Kashmir not only a sovereign, tactical and long-pending decision, but also a just decision. The group of foreign diplomats who recently undertook a two-day tour of Jammu and Kashmir pose a problem of narratives for India. India claims that reading down of a temporary constitutional provision to better align the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir with the nation was a sovereign decision. The attempt to seek validation of normalcy in Kashmir from foreign diplomats, therefore, militates against the notion that Kashmir is strictly Indias internal matter. Also, the fact that the visit by foreign envoys to assess the ground realities in Jammu and Kashmir the second such delegation to arrive in India since revocation of Article 370 and Kashmirs bifurcation into two Union Territories was facilitated by the Narendra Modi government, makes it harder for the two ends to meet. How does India explain this apparent incongruity? The answer lies in the way India perceives the 5 August, 2019, decision to revoke a temporary constitutional provision through ratification from both Houses of the Parliament. India considers withdrawal of Kashmirs semi-autonomous status not only a sovereign, tactical and long-pending decision, but also a just decision. Not without reason, of course. Modi administrations move was backed by widespread popular approval across India and received backing from rival political outfits while gaining the nod in both House of Parliament. It has also caused Pakistan to break out into an apoplectic rage. Pakistan considers Jammu and Kashmir an unfinished business of Partition and refers to it as its jugular vein, implying that the region remains central to its existence and it shall continue to covet Indias territory and employ all means fair and foul to achieve this objective. Pakistans fury, that caused Prime Minister Imran Khan to threaten nuclear war against India from the podium of UN General Assembly, stems from the fact that withdrawal of Kashmirs semi-autonomous status and decision to split the state into federally-administered UTs have made it easier for New Delhi to battle the fires of separatism fueled from across the border, and harder for Islamabad and its military establishment to plan to seize Indias sovereign territory. It imposes additional costs on Pakistan that fought three unsuccessful wars with India over Kashmir and eventually came to rely on an asymmetric war by employing terrorist proxies to achieve what it couldnt through acts of military aggression in 1965, 1971 and 1999. An understanding of this dynamic is essential to grasp why the abrogation of Article 370 gives India a new modus vivendi. Since Partition in 1947 when the separate state of Pakistan was carved out of India before the British left the subcontinent, Kashmir has been at the centre of a contentious battle. Since the last three decades, Pakistans policy of using cross-border terrorism and deploying non-state actors to instigate insurgency within Indias borders have bled India, resulted in over 40,000 deaths, kept it distracted, drained its attention and resources. A new modus vivendi was not only necessary but even inevitable since the BJP, that rose to power in 2014 and consolidated it in 2019 had the abrogation of Article 370 as its campaign promise. It is natural that it would, after being voted to power twice, implement what it had promised to the electorate. As Foreign Minister S Jaishankar explained to an American audience in Washington DC last September: When we came back to power this May and did a Kashmir review, there were two choices. One was you had a set of policies which were on the books for 70 years. But for the last 40 years, they were visibly not working. And, by the way, when I say visibly not working, that meant in the last 30 years 42,000 people got killed the difficulties in Kashmir have not started on August 5. August 5 is supposed to be a way of dealing with those difficulties. So the choices were either you continue what was clearly not working or you try something very different. And I think the decision was to try something very different. It is evident, therefore, that India perceives revocation of Article 370 as not only a sovereign decision but also a moral decision and it is confident that any fair and neutral assessment of the ground realities in Kashmir both before and after the revocation of Kashmirs special status would go in its favour. In this light, New Delhi hopes that the senior diplomats from 15 nations including the US, would concur with Indias steps, see for themselves that a new plan of action not continuation of inaction was necessary to stem the flow of blood and reverse the course of history. India also remains positive that unless the assessment suffers from a confirmation bias as western liberal media is wont to do since it is ideologically opposed to Indias ruling dispensation, the temporary security lockdown temporary imposed during the transition period would be given latitude as something that was necessary to prevent violence and loss of lives. Whether Indias plan to regain control over the narrative on Kashmir succeeds is another question altogether. At least three Alabama radio personalities and station employees are among those who lost their jobs as part of iHeartMedia Inc.'s company-wide layoffs. iHeartMedia Inc. on Tuesday morning sent out a memo to employees announcing the cuts. The company said it will modernize its organizational structure for its markets group to take advantage of the significant investments it has made in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and its unique scale and leadership position in the audio marketplace. Some Alabama on-air personalities have taken to Facebook to announce their layoffs from iHeartMedia Inc. Mason Lafayette bid his farewell to Mix 99.9 in Mobile, a station hes been an on-air personality with for 20 years. Another employee to announce his dismissal from the company was Johnny Maze, who has been the program director and an on-air personality for three different stations in Huntsville which include ALT 92.9, Rock 106.1 and 106.5 Kiss-FM. Stuart Langston, a production and program director with iHeartRadio in Huntsville, was also laid off. What I thought would never really happen actually happened today. After almost 31 years in local broadcasting, I was told my services are no longer needed by the corporation, Langston wrote on Facebook. Not sure what the future holds, but its time to find out. Efforts to contact Mix 99.9 and ALT 92.9 Huntsville were unsuccessful. It is currently unknown how many more layoffs - if any - are to come for stations in Alabama. The company also announced it will now group its markets by common needs and characteristics into three different divisions which will be the Region, Metro and Community Divisions. The three divisions will be determined and handled by the needs and capacity of the markets the company serves. Within the memo to employees, the company stated that there would be employee dislocations and layoffs due to the new direction the company will be headed. Versace has announced it will ban the use of kangaroo fur in its products following a campaign from animal rights activists. Thousands of marsupials have been killed in Australia's raging forest fires. Latvian animal rights group LAV has campaigned for the famous fashion house to introduce a ban, which was announced earlier this week. Some 2.3 million kangaroos are slaughtered each year in Australia for meat and for leather Thousands of kangaroos have been killed and injured as a result of Australian bush fires According to The Guardian, the environmentalists claimed more than 2.3 million kangaroos a year were slaughtered for commercial purposes. Simone Pavesi of LAV said: ' We have been corresponding with Versace over email and they confirmed that in 2019 they stopped using kangaroo skin. We welcome this as a sign of responsibility, today more than ever. The fires that are devastating Australia add to the massacres of hunting, with dramatic consequences for the kangaroo population.' The European Union is Australia's biggest market for kangaroo meat and fur. According to Pavesi: 'We showed the companies images and videos of how kangaroos are killed in such a brutal way. They understood the gravity of the situation and perhaps preferred not to give too much prominence to the fact that they were using kangaroo skin.' Presidents Cup combatants Xander Schauffele and Marc Leishman have seen immediate dividends from the new Callaway Mavrik driver as the company launches its new metalwoods and irons line. We first saw four-time PGA TOUR winner Schauffele with the new driver at the Presidents Cup in December and then again at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to kick off 2020. Schauffele garnered three points for the U.S. Team (3-2) at Royal Melbourne, including a very important Singles take down of International team veteran and on course leader Adam Scott. He then produced an impressive week in Maui, almost defending his title before falling in a playoff to Justin Thomas. Equipment-wise, I'd say I've made the right decisions. I had a lead going into Sunday, which is what my team and I always work on, and the new equipment seems to be sliding in the bag perfectly, Schauffele said in Kapalua. Leishman was part of 11 players in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii to adopt the new driver that has taken the companies work with artificial intelligence or machine learning to a whole new level. The result was his best Strokes Gained: Off the Tee result over a tournament since June 2017. Leishman gained 1.1 strokes a round off the tee at Waialae Country Club (+4.394 for the week) to rank second in the field. He hit 73percent of his fairways, his highest driving accuracy percentage in a year. This was the easiest driver fit Ive ever had, four-time TOUR winning Leishman said of suiting up to go to the Mavrik. I think the new Mavrik driver will suit me a little better than the Epic Flash and Im definitely feeling very confident with it. Obviously time will tell if I can keep up the improvement in my stats but the early signs are very good, especially on a tough driving course like Waialae. Having debuted their supercomputer efforts last year with the Epic Flash driver, Callaway has beefed up the capabilities of their machine friend and create a specific face architecture for all three new driver heads in their lineup. The Mavrik, Mavrik Max and Mavrik Sub Zero. The new Flash Face SS20 design is thinner and features a more robust face structure that maximizes peak ball speed out of the center but minimizes the variation of ball speed around the face as well. [January 15, 2020] Host Raises $450,000 in Seed Funding BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Host, the first application-based platform connecting corporations with certified and insured bartenders, announces it has closed $450,000 in funding from a stellar consortium of private domestic investors. The funds will be used to scale, expand market share and focus on product development. Co-founded by Michelle Carazas and Brian Megill, the Host application helps corporate businesses secure trusted bartenders for their events on-demand. "Having served as a bartender myself for many years, I realized people are often desperate to find the perfect bartender to ensure the success of their corporate event. Unfortunately, there was never an easy platform to simply connect those businesses with trusted bartenders. That's where the idea for Host was born," said Michelle Carazas, Co-Founder and CEO of Host. "As simple as Uber connects drivers with riers, Host connects certified bartenders with corporate events." Host launched in 2018 with a multi-sided platform application. Through the application, corporations can post details about their event and secure a bartender. Host has become a go-to corporate resource as every bartender has been previously evaluated and selected through a five-step process and covered with liquor and general liability insurance to assure corporate compliance with management buildings' requirement. Lead Investor, Ian Levine, shared, "I was overwhelmed by the excitement in the business community for the niche service Host is providing. Internal corporate event planners and landlords were frustrated to not have a turnkey, on-demand service. Host is filling this gap." "Today, leading-edge companies are realizing their competitive battleground lies not just in the goods and services they provide, but in creating memorable, branded in-person experiences for their customers and employees," said Brian Megill, Co-Founder of Host. "Host is proud to be the trusted, reliable and convenient source for over 500 corporations creating those exceptional experiences." Host's vision is to create community through every experience they service. With the support of Host's strategic investors and partners, the company is poised for unprecedented growth, additional investments and ready to scale. ABOUT HOST Host is the world's first multi-sided application platform connecting businesses hosting events with certified and insured bartenders on-demand. Founded in 2018, Host is the trusted, reliable and convenient source for corporations seeking outstanding on-site events for their clients and employees. Learn more at www.hostdrinks.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/host-raises-450-000-in-seed-funding-300987566.html SOURCE Host [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The retrial of ousted former South Korean president Park Geun-hye began Wednesday over the sprawling corruption scandal that saw her impeached, convicted and jailed, only for the hearing to end after five minutes. Park, the country's first female president, boycotted the session, Yonhap agency reported -- she has refused to take part in the judicial proceedings against her for more than two years. As a result, the Seoul High Court adjourned and scheduled another session for January 31, when it will move straight to closing arguments, Yonhap reported. Park was brought down in 2017 after huge street protests triggered by allegations that she and a close friend took bribes from top conglomerates for government favours. She was convicted in April 2018 on bribery and abuse of power charges and sentenced to 24 years, later extended for an additional 12 months, and 20 billion won ($17 million) in fines. She has also been sentenced to five years' jail for illegally taking money from the country's spy agency and two years for election law violations. The penalties apply consecutively, meaning she is currently serving a total of 32 years. But the Supreme Court has ordered a combined retrial of the corruption and spy agency cases, saying some of the bribery accusations should have been dealt with as separate charges -- which may lead to a heavier sentence. The corruption scandal exposed shady links between big businesses and politics in South Korea, with Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil accused of taking bribes from conglomerates including Samsung Electronics in exchange for preferential treatment. Park was convicted in April 2018 of receiving or demanding more than $20 million, sharing secret state documents, "blacklisting" artists critical of her policies, and firing officials who resisted her abuses of power. Her left-leaning successor Moon Jae-in was swept to power by the public backlash against her and her conservative party. South Korean presidents have frequently ended up in prison after their time in power, usually once their political rivals have moved into the presidential Blue House. All four of South Korea's living ex-presidents have been convicted of criminal offences, and former head of state Roh Moo-hyun died of suicide in 2009 after being questioned over graft allegations involving his family. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Jerseys workers will pay up to $567 from their paychecks this year a sixfold increase over last years maximum contribution to fund a major expansion of the paid family leave and temporary disability insurance programs. Beginning Jan. 1, workers began paying up to $350.74 to finance enhanced benefits the states paid family leave insurance will offer beginning this summer and up to $215.84 to expand temporary disability. Exactly how much an individual pays will depend on their annual salary, with lower-paid workers facing a much lesser blow. The programs are undergoing a big overhaul to respond to advocates concerns that payouts were too low for workers who need to replace lost wages while out of work on disability or to care for a newborn or sick relative. Paid family leave is entirely funded by New Jersey workers through a payroll deduction, similar to how you pay into unemployment insurance. Both employees and employers contribute to the temporary disability insurance program. But the cost of expanding both programs will be borne only by workers. Employer contribution to temporary disability will adjust slightly to account for a statewide higher average weekly wage. For the two programs combined, last years payroll deduction was capped at $86 for workers making any amount over $34,400, as workers paid 0.17 percent on their first $34,400 in earnings for temporary disability and 0.08 percent on their first $34,400 in earnings to paid family leave. In 2020, they will pay 0.26 percent on their first $134,900 in pay to the temporary disability insurance program. That amounts to $89.44 for a worker making $34,400 and $156 for someone making $60,000. A worker making $134,900 or more will kick in $350.74. For family leave, workers will pay 0.16 percent on their first $134,900 income, or $55.04 for someone earning $34,400 a year, $96 for someone making $60,000, and $215.84 for anyone earning at least $134,900. The tax is paid by only those people who work in New Jersey, including out-of-state residents. The 2020 payroll deduction is higher than the states Department of Labor and Workforce Development projected last April, in order to build up a big enough balance to pay claims, said Angela Delli Santi, spokeswoman for the department. Estimating how much reserve we need was especially difficult this year because of the substantial expansion of benefits at mid-year, and uncertainty over how many more residents might apply," she said. Dena Mottola-Jaborska, associate director of New Jersey Citizen Action, stressed that while the price tag is rising, so are the benefits, such as longer paid leaves and higher payouts. I think its a good investment for working people of all different income levels. Given that theyre paying an amount commensurate with their income, the benefits they potentially could receive are tremendous for the amount that theyre investing, she said. A person who lives and works in New Jersey will use one or the other or both of the programs in their lifetime." Right now, new parents and caregivers can receive up to six weeks of benefits equal to two-thirds of their pay, but capped at $667 a week. Beginning July 1, they will be eligible to receive benefits for up to 12 weeks, and those benefits will rise to 85 percent of their weekly wage, up to $881 a week. The state already greatly expanded the definition of family for workers who are caring for a sick or injured relative. That list now includes parents, spouses, children including adult children, parents-in-law, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners, any blood relative and anyone you consider to be like family. Previously, only children, parents, spouses, domestic partners and civil union partners were eligible. The maximum reimbursement for people out on disability will also rise to 85 percent of weekly wages, up to $881 a week this summer. The overhaul was long sought by labor advocates who said many low- and middle-income families simply could not afford to take the time off because the payouts from both programs was too low. Roughly 33,800 people applied for family leave insurance in 2018 and received $100 million in benefits, according to the Department of Labor. Workers collectively paid $199 million into the insurance fund last year. About 94,200 people applied for temporary disability in 2018 and received $405 million in benefits. Workers kicked in $296.5 million, and employers paid in $270 million. In signing the bill into law, Gov. Phil Murphy said: No one should ever be forced to choose between caring for a family member and earning a paycheck. By providing the most expansive paid family leave time and benefits in the nation, we are ensuring that New Jerseyans no longer have to face such a decision and that working families are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve." Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Trump will be warned against calling Tsai while the U.S.-China trade talks are still ongoing. But the U.S. side has always held the stronger hand in those negotiations, and that will not change as long as Trump remains firm in his basic demands for transparency and reciprocity. - The winners of the third edition held in Shanghai, China, will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Funi Ding and Haidy Gong, co-founders of Assorted Object Lab and winners of the third edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Shanghai, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their design qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. Throughout these three days, all activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. Absence of coordinated trauma services by various related agencies including concerned ministries is resulting in 'avoidable deaths' and long-term disabilities in about 4.67 lakh road accidents in the country each year, experts said on Wednesday. Participating in a conference on 'Trauma care a National Mission', they said there is a strong need for strengthening trauma care system in the country to avoid these tragedies. "During the year 2018, about 1.51 lakh persons died in the country due to road accidents, which were mostly preventable.... In India better coordinated preventive measures are needed including enhanced trauma services, and improvement in road and vehicle engineering " said I K Pandey, Director General Road Development and Special Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Inaugurating the conference jointly organised by the International Road Federation along with Ministries of Road Transport and Highways, Health and Family Welfare, FICCI and World Health Organisation as part of the ongoing Road Safety campaign, he said efforts were on to rectify road accident spots. "Ministry of Road Transport, as part of improving road engineering has identified more than 4,000 black spots on national highways and is going all out to rectify them in a phased manner taking all safety measures. The ministry will also conduct road safety audits to further improve road engineering," said Pandey. Road Ministry as part of its effort to improve trauma service on National Highways has provided an ambulance, first aid service and one crane on every toll plazas, he said. "It is important to infuse knowledge of road safety and first aid among the public and also in roadside facilities such as dhabas and among truck drivers, who are most often the first to reach accident sites. The Government on its part provides free healthcare to accident victims but more needs to be done," said Rajiv Garg, Director General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Deputy Head of WHO country office, Payden said "it is seen that road accidents is the number one cause of death among children and youngsters in the age group of 5 to 29 in India. Most of these deaths are avoidable with preventable measures including better trauma services, giving way to ambulances and availability of ambulances during the golden hour. "About 30 per cent road accident victims die after being discharged from hospitals, this needs to be taken care by rehabilitating them." International Road Federation (IRF) President Emititus K K Kapila stressed the need for extending Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), popularly known as the Ayushman Bharat to road accident victims in the country. "India accounts for more than 11 per cent of the global road accident fatalities. India is also a signatory to the United Nation's Decade of Action for Road Safety which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by the year 2020," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Low-income Alabamians are now allowed to protect a portion of their wages from debt collection, thanks to a new appeals court ruling. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled last week that Alabamians have a constitutional right to protect up to $1,000 in wages per paycheck from garnishment. A 2015 state law had defined wages as outside of personal property for the purposes of garnishment, effectively eliminating protection from debt collectors. Farah Majid, an attorney for Legal Services Alabama which challenged the constitutionality of the law, called the decision a win. Putting food on your table, and being able to, you know, not be homeless and have transportation to and from work, those things are important, she said. She said that low-income people must avoid destitution and unemployment in order to be able to pay their debts. She said millions of dollars in wages may be at stake, as her staff has dealt with hundreds of cases. The Urban Institute, a Washington D.C. based policy group reports that 39 percent of Alabamians have debt in collection. But Michael Godwin, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, said he was disappointed with the decision. It isnt that far off from theft, he said of failing to re-pay a debt. Businesses shouldnt be obligated to act like charities, he said, and contracts should be enforceable. The case, Renters Realty vs. Ieisha Smith, began as an eviction in Madison County in north Alabama. Legal Services Alabama challenged Renters Realtys garnishment of Smiths paycheck following her eviction. Around the time her wages were garnished, Smith lost her job and became homeless. Under the 2015 state law, debt collectors were allowed to garnish up to 25 percent of each paycheck, the limit set by federal law. In its challenge, Legal Services Alabama argued that wages are personal property and that the state constitution protects up to $1,000. Renters Realty argued that wages should not be considered personal property and that the $1,000 exemption should not apply to every single paycheck, which would effectively allow anyone who received less than $1,000 per check to avoid any garnishment. Godwin says the group may appeal the decision to the Alabama Supreme Court. He said the 2015 law came about as a compromise between Alabama advocates and debt collectors. According to Godwin, the ruling leaves debt collectors without a clear road map for garnishing wages. Without the ability to garnish wages, businesses are less likely to extend credit to consumers, he said. The sky will not fall if Defendants are required to pay some of their income towards validly entered Court awarded judgements, Renters Realty wrote in a brief for the case in Madison County. The Alabama Apartment Association filed an amicus brief in support of Renters Realty. In order to claim the exemption when being sued for wage garnishments, Alabamians must take pro-active steps such as filling out a form with the court. Majid acknowledged that some people may not do this and will go on having a quarter of their paycheck garnished. The law allows employees to protect the first $1,000 per paycheck, regardless of whether an employee is paid every week or every two weeks. So low-income employees paid every two weeks may have less protection than those paid weekly. She said wage garnishments create a negative domino effect in peoples lives and hurt their ability to meet their obligations. When you're losing your paycheck to pay old debt, it's the people that you currently owe money to that that really get shafted, she said. Godwin said hes not sure how widespread the impact of the ruling will be, but he believes it will hurt small companies. If you ask for a service that is provided and you dont pay, in some ways, regardless of the reason, you know, youre hurting business. Corrected on Jan. 17, 2020 at 1:36 pm to reflect Smiths financial status. The appeals court sided with the bipartisan state elections commission in putting the brakes on removing any voters while the court fight continues. It also put on hold a ruling from Monday in which a judge found the commission and its three Democratic members in contempt for not proceeding with removing the voters. The orders effectively hit the pause button on the fast-moving case . Florida Police: Woman built explosive device in storeTAMPA A woman built an explosive device inside a Walmart store in Florida, authorities said. Emily Stallard was charged with attempted arson of a structure, fire bombing, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child abuse and battery on an officer, the Hillsborough County Sheriffs office said. A security guard at the store noticed Stallard opening unpaid items including flammable materials, projectiles and matches as she roamed through the store for more than an hour Saturday, according to an arrest report. She had a child with her in the store, police said. "Who Is Like Our God," a new single from The Reid Phifer Project, is set to go for adds to Christian AC and Worship-formatted radio outlets today. "This song is our declaration that there is no one like our God," says Reid Phifer, songwriter of the single and the band's namesake. Phifer, who leads The Reid Phifer Project, is a worship pastor and songwriter. Originally from Arkansas, he now is based in the Chicago area. Desiring to make a difference for the Kingdom of God with his music, Phifer donates 100 percent of music royalties to ministries that are making a difference in the world in Jesus' name. "Who Is Like Our God," produced by Ryan McConnaughay, is available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and other digital retailers and streaming services. The Reid Phifer Project has played at numerous venues, including opening for Crowder during the summer of 2019 in front of more than 10,000 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The band is scheduled to hit the festival circuit this summer, including opening for Bethel Music at Amplify in Arkansas. For more information about The Reid Phifer Project, check out the band's website and follow the band on Facebook and Instagram. Tags : The Reid Phifer Project Releases New Single "Who is Like Our God" The Reid Phifer Project The Reid Phifer Project news The Reid Phifer Project new single Vincent Black, a farmer from Cavan, among tractors parked on Merrion Square in Dublin city centre (Brian Lawless/PA) Dublin city centre has been brought to a standstill as hundreds of farmers took part in a protest over beef prices. The tractorcade protest made its way into Dublin on Wednesday afternoon in a bid to highlight low prices for beef farmers. The planned demonstration caused a number of road closures, including St Stephens Green, Kildare Street, Merrion Square and Molesworth Street. The demonstration is expected to last 24 hours. Farmer Kevin Murphy from Wexford is taking part in the beef price protest in Dublin. He said that the farming industry will die out slowly if current pricing continues. pic.twitter.com/RyRare9rg8 Cate McCurry (@CateMcCurry) January 15, 2020 The Individual Farmers of Ireland, which organised the protest, have called for farmers to get a better beef price. Kevin Murphy, a 24-year-old beef farmer from Wexford, said: There are a number of issues the main issue being the beef price that we are producing is below cost price. The other issue is the carbon tax that the Government want to bring in. If that comes in the way the blue shirts want it to, it doesnt make any odds what price the beef is, it will be game over for the farmers community with the price of green diesel. Im not a full-time farmer like my father, but the way things are going there wont be a future in farming. It will be an expensive hobby. I don't understand why they are targeting farmers when there's 2,200 planes flying through Ireland's airspace and they are worried about a few cows farting in the fieldKevin Murphy Its my fathers farm that I want to take over and its been going on for generations. I want to tell the (Agricultural) Minister (Michael Creed) to stop bending over to the EU and be a voice for Ireland, stop doing everything you are told and be a voice for the people you are representing and not the big businessmen. Farming will die out slowly. I dont understand why they are targeting farmers when theres 2,200 planes flying through Irelands airspace and they are worried about a few cows farting in the field. Christopher Duffy, from Co Meath, accused gardai of splitting the protest up as a number of farmers in tractors were prevented from accessing St Stephens Green from the Merrion Square area. Expand Close Vincent Black, a farmer from Cavan, with tractors parked on Merrion Square in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vincent Black, a farmer from Cavan, with tractors parked on Merrion Square in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) Mr Duffy said: We had an arrangement made with the gardai that we would come in and do a protest today. We could have come in and done this under the cover of darkness. They are after dividing us up now they are trying to divide and concur. Half of our protest is stuck beside Merrion Square held back by steel fences. We are being boxed in like sheep waiting to be sheered. When did you ever see a protest split up in two? We want to be together. They are holding us prisoner in one spot. Farmers say they are worried about the lack of talks by the Beef Task Force. They also want higher prices from beef processors. Peadar Toibin, leader of Aontu, addressed the farmers saying it was a disgrace that Government was allowing farmers to bring their beef to the process gates for below price. He added: I attended the agricultural committee a few weeks ago and I told the chair of the agricultural committee (Pat Deering), who is senior Fine Gael TD, that farmers should get a price above the cost of production and that TD said it was an unreasonable demand. Its one rule for the establishment in Leinster House and its another rule for the rest of the people in Ireland. This government have M50 vision, they cant see beyond the M50. The only way you can crow-bar the issues of rural Ireland back into the political debate is to keep doing what you are doing. Keep protesting and expose the injustice. Authorities confiscated a gun and detained a third-grade student after that student was found in possession of the firearm at an Okemah school, officials said Tuesday. School officials received a report Tuesday morning that the student had a gun in a bag, according to an Okemah Public Schools news release. School officials said a gun was located when the bag was searched. Law enforcement officers took possession of the firearm, and school officials said appropriate action was being taken against the student, according to the release. Parents, please remember to check your students backpacks regularly and please discuss with your students the importance of reporting anything that seems suspicious, district officials said in the news release. Okemah is about 65 miles south-southwest of Tulsa. Here are some of todays biggest headlines. The stage is finally set for impeachments dramatic, divisive endgame The imminent final act of Americas impeachment ordeal will be played for far higher political stakes than might be expected given the all-but-guaranteed acquittal of President Donald Trump in his trial in the Republican-led Senate. Boris Johnson says veganism is a crime against cheese-lovers British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he wants to lose weight in 2020, but wont go vegan because it means giving up cheese. Residents urged not to return home as Philippines volcano continues to erupt Philippine officials are appealing to residents not to return to their homes in the danger zone of an erupting volcano as it continues to spew plumes of ash and lava fountains, with earthquakes regularly shaking the ground. Death of student who was too poor to buy food raises poverty concerns A college student who experienced malnutrition because she was too poor to afford adequate food has died in southwestern China, sparking concerns about poverty in the worlds second largest economy. US citizen detained in Egypt for more than 6 years has died A US citizen who once begged for President Donald Trumps help has died after more than six years in an Egyptian prison. Akon created his own city in Senegal called Akon City (CNN) Its official, Akon has his own city in Senegal. Known as Akon City, the rapper and entrepreneur tweeted Monday that he had finalized the agreement for the new city. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future, his tweet read. A romance novelist accused another writer of racism. The scandal is tearing the billion-dollar industry apart The romance awards have been cancelled, major publishers have sounded off and leaders of the genres biggest organization have stepped down in response to allegations of racism, discrimination and exclusion. Gigi Hadid is among the potential jurors in the Harvey Weinstein trial Model Gigi Hadid was among 120 potential jurors called on Monday for the Harvey Weinstein rape trial, according to a pool reporter inside the Manhattan courtroom for jury selection. Queen agrees on period of transition for Harry and Meghan Queen Elizabeth II says the royal family has agreed on a period of transition during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will spend time in Canada and the UK, after the couple announced this week they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family. The Worlds Oceans Were The Hottest In Recorded History In 2019 The planets oceans were the warmest in recorded history in 2019, according to a new analysis published Monday. An international team of researchers analyzed temperature data from sources around the globe and issued a dramatic warning that climate change is already deeply affecting whats seen as the storage facility for any excess heat generated by a warming world. Russians Reportedly Hacked Ukrainian Firm At Center Of Trump Impeachment Scandal BOSTON (AP) A U.S. cybersecurity company says Russian military agents have successfully hacked the Ukrainian gas company at the center of the scandal that led to President Donald Trump s impeachment. Russian agents launched a phishing campaign in early November to steal the login credentials of employees of Burisma Holdings, the gas company, according to Area 1 Security, a Silicon Valley company that specializes in e-mail security. Cuomo Exposes Trumps 2020 Strategy: Keep People Pissed Off And Frustrated Chris Cuomo says President Donald Trump is telegraphing his plan to win reelection, and it comes down to three words: Lie, deny, defy. On Monday night, the CNN host said that strategy was already in use on two key issues: the Iran crisis and health care. Gigi Hadid Called As Potential Juror In Harvey Weinstein Trial Supermodel Gigi Hadid was among the pool of 120 potential jurors called Monday for Harvey Weinsteins sexual assault trial. According to CNN, Hadid said she had previously met the disgraced Hollywood executive. When asked by Judge James Burke if she believed she could be fair and impartial, Hadid replied yes. Trevor Noah slams the UK press over their treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan By now, chances are youll have seen the news about Harry and Meghans much-discussed decision to take their royal duties down a notch. Trevor Noahs one of the many people who have been watching the drama unfold, and during Monday nights edition of The Daily Show, he broke down all the latest developments. The new Black Widow trailer has more Russian accents and more Florence Pugh Marvel is celebrating Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pughs Oscar nominations with a new trailer, which kind of has a Fast & Furious vibe in that someone in it says the word family about a bunch of people who are clearly not related and also some things explode. Ring hit with class action lawsuit for failure to take basic security precautions A group of Ring camera owners who have been terrorized by hackers are now suing the company, saying the Amazon-owned firm doesnt even do the bare minimum to protect against hackers. The 15 most addicting reality TV shows now streaming on Netflix Editors independently select all products and services featured here. If you buy something through our links, we may receive a commission. Do want to watch people fall in love? Do you want to watch people fall off of stuff? Do you want to watch Billy Eichner yell at unsuspecting passersby just trying to live their damn lives in New York City? YouTuber NikkieTutorials comes out as trans On Monday afternoon, YouTuber NikkieTutorials released a video titled Im Coming Out, where she tells her over 12 million subscribers for the first time that she is trans. Filming this video scary, but its so liberating and freeing, said NikkieTutorials, whose real name is Nikkie De Jager. Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey on Wednesday pressed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to meet with community leaders to hammer out potential solutions for more than 3,000 residents impacted by the planned closure of a TD Bank branch in Springfield. The branch at 958 State St., which TD Bank said in October was set for a Jan. 31 closure, is the only full-service bank in the Mason Square neighborhood. The imminent closure, the senators wrote in a letter this week, threatens to render thousands of individuals unbanked or underbanked by the end of the month. "It is our hope that the OCC does not allow this community to be left behind and proceeds in an expedient manner to find a solution for these customers, wrote the senators, who added that almost a third of residents do not have a vehicle and would have to walk two miles for banking services. TD Bank has said that residents can use online banking services rather than a brick-and-mortar bank, but the senators argued that option wouldnt help almost a quarter of Mason Square residents who dont have a computer or 8% who dont have an Internet connection. The senators cite federal law mandating that when a resident of a low- to moderate-income area writes to the appropriate banking agency with a non-frivolous request following an announced bank closure, the agency must convene with community leaders to discuss potential ways to mitigate the harm caused by the closure," including the potential establishment of a new branch by another depository institution, the chartering of a new depository institution, or the establishment of a community development credit union. Massachusetts State Sen. James Welch and State Rep. Bud Williams wrote to the OCC with a similar request last month. But the lawmakers said the OCC did not commit to holding a meeting. We are asking that TD Bank actually hear the community, to understand the importance of having a physical bank presence in Mason Square, and the negative impact the closure would have, Welch said. "There are obstacles for many people to get to a branch a few miles away or access online banking, and this puts them at a great disadvantage. Williams called the branch an irrefutable asset to the neighborhood. This closure will create a financial banking desert in a community of minority and low-income individuals," he said. Additionally, it will create hardship for necessary services, such as home mortgages, bank loans, check cashing and other services that an ATM simply cannot provide. TD Bank said in a statement that it respected and valued Mason Square customers, and we remain committed to continuing to serve the community through our six other TD Bank stores in Springfield, including three that are less than two miles from our State Street location. We also provide ATMs at six Walgreens stores across the city, including one thats nearby at 707 State Street, TD Bank added. "We understand that our decision to close the TD Bank store at 958 State Street on January 31 is a change for our State Street customers and Mason Square residents, but they can expect outstanding customer service from TD Bank employees at our other Springfield locations, where we look forward to meeting their banking needs. In addition, we offer convenient online and mobile banking services for our customers, with live customer service support available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, 365 days/year. An OCC spokesperson said the agency "does not comment on matters pertaining to specific financial institutions or on Congressional correspondence. We Will Rock You was the massive musical flop that never was. When it opened in 2002, theatre critics gave it a grievous bodily kicking. Ben Elton, who wrote the musicals script deemed utter twaddle got the brunt of the duffing. Only hard-core fans can save this show from an early bath, I wrote at the time. Well, the vast army of Queen fans decided to make up their own minds and they loved it. The show ran for 12 years the longest run in the Dominion Theatres 91-year history. Ben Elton must have bought his own bank by now. The look that wardrobe mistress Naomi conceived for me was vaguely that of Nikki Sixx (bassist of the thrash metal band Motley Crue), a walking Eighties rock cliche addicted to heroin, Ferraris and rock chicks As an olive branch, the We Will Rock You team invited my still-egg-splattered face to appear in the production for one night, as the show set out on a ten-month tour. I appeared at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth my closest encounter with Queen since seeing them live at the Gaumont, Southampton, in the Seventies. My part was as a Bohemian one of the troupe of underground rebels in an Orwellian future where rock n roll is banned, along with all musical instruments. It is we Bohemians who keep alive the sacred flame of rock. It may have been just a walk-on part but I have never had so much adrenaline in my system, or such an attack of nerves. I was chaperoned by the avuncular company manager, Jay. He deals with every imaginable cast problem and has a stock of household drugs, Imodium being the most requested. Touring is a life of kebabs, he chuckles. The look that wardrobe mistress Naomi conceived for me was vaguely that of Nikki Sixx (bassist of the thrash metal band Motley Crue), a walking Eighties rock cliche addicted to heroin, Ferraris and rock chicks. My costume was leather trousers, a singlet, leather arm plate, leopard-skin boots (size 12 from Primark), a stick-on tattoo for my left bicep, sundry goth ornaments and a shaggy grey wig. Curtain-up was hours away, but as I squeezed into my trews I thought I might fake a serious injury anything to get me out of going on stage. An earthquake would have been welcome. Seeing that I needed reassurance, Jay explained the procedure. Theres nothing to it. Well do a company rehearsal, and youre going to be great! Next: make-up. I was daubed with foundation and something on a stick for my eyebrows. My pale, worried gob was turned into something you could see from the cheap seats. Despite the fact I was an idiot at loose and clearly causing the company extra work, there was no shortage of courtesy in our rehearsal. The actor who had to fend me off when I tried to beat up the male lead, Galileo, asked me: Robert, would it be all right if I physically touch you at this point? How very civilised! As a legion of Plymothians made their way to their seats, little did they know there was one element me with potential to do to the show what Gorings Luftwaffe did to their city. Backstage before curtain up was all leg stretches, sound checks and professional tension. The show started and began to cook during Radio Ga Ga. Under Pressure sounded terrific too. The costume changes are done out of trundle wardrobes and are frenetic. There are 23 voices in the show. The ensemble does seven changes, often while singing backstage too. If the show must go on, so must the critic. Standing in the wings, I wished I had taken some of that Imodium. I felt a good-luck slap on the back. Five minutes later, I sauntered into the blinding light, looking like a fossil from the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. The shows charming dance captain, Jacob, kept me close by, as promised. As Bohemians we shouted out our names. Jacob was Mick Jagger. I air-punched and announced myself as being from Event magazine, which we had agreed could have been a band name from Queens era. Much as I liked this friendly company, showbiz will have to survive without me. I belong in the stalls I performed my fight, high-fived most of the cast, and generally performed with what I thought was roguish menace. I enjoyed it, but it was my cossie that got me through. After ten minutes I was whisked off. I sloped up to the wardrobe room to pull down my chafing leather trousers. The relief! My wife texted to say she didnt recognise me on stage and was I really in this show? I bumped into David Michael Johnson, who plays Brit. A veteran of the German WWRY production and a fluent German speaker, he saw my stagestruck look and said something about me having Blut geschluckt (drunk blood). He meant I had the look of someone who has slurped from the living vein of showbiz. All I had left to do was take a curtain call. Even that proved tricky, as it involved walking backwards and clapping in time to We Will Rock You, the number that invariably gets the house stomping, the encore being (obviously) Bohemian Rhapsody. Much as I liked this friendly company, showbiz will have to survive without me. I belong in the stalls. I have a new respect for this amazingly enduring musical. I may have been, like the soles of my boots, a bit crepe, but at least I can say I have rocked it. Queen and Ben Eltons We Will Rock You is touring the UK until July 18, wewillrockyou.com Authorities have identified the man killed in Mondays Colts Neck house fire as a 76-year-old resident of the two-story home. Joseph Apisa was trapped in a first-floor bedroom when the fire broke out around 2:20 a.m. He was found dead when firefighters entered the home on Raven Road, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said Wednesday. Firefighters tried to enter the home as soon as they arrived, but the massive flames kept them from immediately getting inside, officials said. His 75-year-old wife, who called 911 when she discovered the home on fire, was treated and released for smoke inhalation from Jersey Shore Medical University Medical Center in Neptune. The two-story home was destroyed. While the fire is not considered suspicious, it remains under investigation by the Monmouth County Fire Marshals Office and the prosecutors office. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Chinese roast pork on garlic bread is one of the great New York sandwiches, a taste of the highest peaks of Catskills cuisine: thin-sliced, Cantonese-style char siu married to Italian-American garlic bread beneath a veil of sweet-sticky duck sauce. Sandwich historians suggest that it was the creation of Herbies Restaurant in Loch Sheldrake in the 1950s, and it soon became a favorite of the summertime borscht-belt crowd after-show entertainers and Jewish bungalow kids with observant parents lining up alongside one another for this taste of illicit exoticism, unkosher and delicious in the extreme. Its the ultimate assimilation crossover food, the food writer, radio host and erstwhile restaurant critic Arthur Schwartz told me. That sandwich is a symbol of acculturation. Herbies roast-pork sandwich spawned imitators across the mountains and eventually in the middle-class Jewish diners of Brooklyn and along the South Shore of Nassau County, on Long Island. The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the men and women who first ate the sandwich can eat it still. Chinese roast pork on garlic bread remains on the menus of the New Floridian in Brooklyn and Mitchells Diner in Oceanside. A few years back, the chef Ivan Orkin added a Japanese dimension at Ivan Ramen in Manhattan, serving it on a toasted miso-garlic hero and calling it the Herbies International. Court Street Grocers in Brooklyn and Manhattan serves Catskill Roast Pork, with housemade duck sauce. Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan are teaming up for a new project. The 54-year-old Iron Man star and his new partner in crime have signed a one-year deal with HBO for a first-look project. 'HBO provided a happy home for Perry Mason. We're excited to roll up our sleeves, expand the partnership, and tell stories that meet the standard their brand has come to represent,' the husband and wife duo said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Teaming up: Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan have signed a one-year deal with HBO for a first-look project The couple has already had Perry Mason in the works as they set their sights on even more future endeavors. The project was originally slated for a series back in 2016. 'We're so pleased to have this creative relationship with Team Downey,' HBO programming president Casey Bloys explained in a statement to the website. 'They are supremely talented storytellers, and we can't wait to unveil our first collaboration when Perry Mason debuts later this year.' Team Downey's other famous credits include the Sherlock Holmes franchise, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Judge, and Robert's most recent movie, Dolittle. Looking good: The couple was recently spotted at the premiere of his most recent film, Dolittle Recently, while covering Parade's latest issue, he opened up about life with his wife of 14 years. 'We just genuinely love hanging outI defer to her. I just wasn't raised right, so chances are, I'm gonna have some caca take on things.' 'I'm a little more the domestic type; I could just talk to you about the drapes and recovering those chairs,' he revealed while pointing to the living room in his office. 'I love domestic maintenance; it just gets me off.' Supportive: Team Downey showed off their good looks at the premiere of Avengers: Endgame back in April 2019 After meeting on set of his movie Gothika in 2003 where Susan was acting as producer there has been no shortage of love ever since. Together, they share their two children Avri, aged five, and Exton, aged seven. The actor also shares his son Indio, 26, with his ex-wife Deborah Falconer. 'Our feeling was, if we wanted to spend time together, have a life together, then we should just go ahead and make movies together,' Susan revealed back in 2014 shortly after starting Team Downey. LONDON - A dispute over a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is casting a shadow over an international meeting that Canada hopes will lead to justice and financial compensation for the families of the 176 victims aboard an aircraft shot down over Tehran last week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/1/2020 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 photo, rescue workers search the scene where a Ukrainian plane crashed in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran's president levelled threats today against Europe in response to the continent's new crackdown on his country's violations of their nuclear deal a move Canada is also supporting. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ebrahim Noroozi LONDON - A dispute over a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is casting a shadow over an international meeting that Canada hopes will lead to justice and financial compensation for the families of the 176 victims aboard an aircraft shot down over Tehran last week. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne arrived late Wednesday in London hours before he is to host the meeting at the Canadian High Commission with representatives of Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain, all of whom lost citizens when an Iranian missile hit Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752. Dutch officials will also be attending given their expertise stemming from a five-year-long probe of the deadly shootdown of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, which investigators have blamed on Russia. Speaking in Ottawa, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the group would send Iran "strong messages" and "let them know exactly what has to happen." Garneau said Iran is co-operating with the two Canadian investigators on the scene as part of an international team, which included a look at the plane's wreckage Wednesday. However, Garneau said he wants their participation in the probe formalized to ensure Iran follows through on its invitation for Canadian experts to help analyze the plane's flight data and voice recorders, known as the "black boxes." "We can say a missile struck the airplane ... but we don't know anything about after that happened," Garneau said. "The airplane did continue in a loop before it tragically impacted the ground. What was happening during that time? Where did the impact occur? These are questions that the families of the victims want answers to and it is something that Canadians want answers to as well." All aboard, including 57 Canadians and 82 Iranians, were killed. The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 89 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran. Omar Alghabra, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, said the Liberal government is "actively exploring" options for compensating victims' families in the interim knowing the international process could drag on for years. Iran denied for days it shot down the passenger plane, but later admitted to what it said was a mistake. On Wednesday, the country's top diplomat told an international conference that the military withheld the information from government and that Iranians were lied to for days after the crash. Garneau said he has seen a video recording publicized by the New York Times showing what appear to be two missiles targeting the plane, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the investigation is complete. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Europe its soldiers in the Middle East "could be in danger" because of a move by Britain, France and Germany to trigger a section of the 2015 nuclear agreement that could bring back European sanctions against Iran. Before travelling to London, Champagne issued a statement supporting the European decision and called on Iran to "restore its full commitments" to the deal. Garneau said the argument over the nuclear deal won't affect Thursday's meeting in London. The fate of the 2015 nuclear deal has been intertwined with the chain of events that led to last week's downing of the Ukrainian airlines plane. In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, after pillorying it as a failure to prevent Iran from enriching enough uranium to produce an atomic bomb. Trump started a campaign of "maximum pressure" to force Iran to renegotiate a better deal, but that hasn't happened. Tensions escalated further between the two countries when Trump approved a drone attack that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, on Jan. 3. Two days later, Iran said it would no longer abide by the nuclear deal's limits on the production of bomb-making material, but would still allow the UN to inspect nuclear facilities. And last week, Iran fired missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing American troops Canadian military personnel were at one in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. Just hours after that, amid nervousness about possibly American retribution, Iran's military shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. In a Global News interview aired Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said had it not been for the recently elevated tensions, "those Canadians would be right now home with their families." Anger has swelled in Iran as protesters have taken to the streets in recent days over the initial coverup by the military. Iran announced Tuesday the arrests of an unspecified number of people implicated after "extensive investigations" into the downing of the plane. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years. "It is a massive crisis in Iran, and it's a question mark as to whether these arrests and these measures will be sufficient to satisfy the public who clearly view this as going far, far higher than just a couple of operatives who dealt with the anti-aircraft missiles," said Trita Parsi, an Iranian-born analyst who co-founded the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington. Kiavash Najafi, an Iranian-born Canadian who served as an aide to the NDP's former foreign affairs critic, said the Iranian regime is split between people who do and don't want to co-operate with the West. He said the tragedy has given Canada an opportunity to influence change in Iran. "It's not just seeking justice for the victims and their families, but also it's to keep creating conditions so the country (Iran) can move forward towards democracy. That's what the majority of Iranians want," said Najafi, who spent his first 16 years in Iran. "Given that we have found this unique opportunity for Canada to have influence, I think it's really important to not lose sight of those aspects." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020. With files from Jordan Press in Ottawa, and the Associated Press The family of a missing French backpacker have issued as desperate appeal for information after he disappeared two weeks ago. Fears are growing for Rayann Radjef, 26, who was working in Mildura in the Murray-Darling region in the state's north-west to work on a farm and collect grapes. The last contact he had with his family was on January 3. Fears are growing for Rayann Radjef, 26, who recently headed to Mildura in the Murray-Darling region in the state's north-west to work on a farm and collect grapes His sister Malika Belhazouz, who currently lives in Melbourne, posted an urgent public appeal on Facebook on Wednesday in a desperate search for answers. 'At the moment we haven't heard from him for two weeks now,' she wrote. 'I unfortunately didn't have the presence of mind to ask him in which working hostel he was staying, but after contacting all the establishments, their answer was without call, he was never hosting in any of them.' Rayann Radjef's sister has posted photos of his last known workplace in the Mildura region 'I also contacted the police stations and hospitals around, no trace of him.' 'His phone is off and no connection since on social networks. We are very very worried about the current situation of the country.' His sister also shared footage and a photo of her brother's last known workplace, a remote vineyard. I'I know that the farms all look alike but if someone by chance recognize the place it can help us,' she wrote. His sister Malika Belhazouz (pictured) has posted a desperate public appeal on Facebook An artists illustration of the newfound exoplanet GJ180 d, which is the nearest temperate super-Earth to us that is not tidally locked to its star, making it more likely to be able to host life. Astronomers have found two more potentially life-supporting alien planets in our neck of the cosmic woods, as well as a weird and record-setting "cold Neptune." The two possibly habitable worlds orbit the red dwarf stars GJ229A and GJ180, which lie about 19 light-years and 39 light-years from Earth, respectively. That's not far in the grand scheme of things, considering that our Milky Way galaxy's famous disk is about 100,000 light-years wide. (The sun's nearest neighbor star, Proxima Centauri , is about 4.2 light-years away.) Red dwarfs , which make up about 70% of the Milky Way's stellar population, are significantly smaller and dimmer than the sun. So, these stars' "habitable zones" the range of orbital distances where liquid water could be stable on a world's surface lie much closer in than they do in sunlike systems. Related: 10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life Indeed, habitable-zone red dwarf planets tend to be tidally locked, always showing the same face to their star, just as Earth's moon always shows us its "near side." Tidal locking isn't a great thing for habitability, because it can leave a world with a scorching dayside and a frigid nightside (though a thick atmosphere can distribute heat globally and mitigate the extreme temperatures). But the newfound planets around GJ180 and GJ229A known as GJ180 d and GJ229A c, respectively orbit far enough away to avoid tidal locking, discovery team members said. And that makes GJ180 d a record-breaking world. GJ180 d is the nearest temperate super-Earth to us that is not tidally locked to its star, which probably boosts its likelihood of being able to host and sustain life," team leader Fabo Feng, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., said in a statement . As Feng said, GJ180 d is a super-Earth , a world slightly bigger than our own; the newfound exoplanet's mass is at least 7.5 times that of Earth, the researchers determined. GJ229A c is a super-Earth, too, harboring at least 7.9 Earth masses. GJ180 d completes one orbit every 106 Earth days, and GJ229A c does the same every 122 Earth days, the scientists reported in a study announcing the finds, which was published last week in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . GJ229A c resides in a binary system consisting of a red dwarf and a brown dwarf (which is called GJ229B). Brown dwarfs are curious objects bigger than gas-giant planets but too small to undergo fusion reactions in their core. This explains another name for them: "failed stars." As GJ180 d's name indicates, it's not the only known world in its system. Astronomers had previously discovered two planets circling that red dwarf, GJ180 b and GJ180 c. Related: The Strangest Alien Planets (Gallery) Artists concept of the surface of the newfound planet GJ229Ac, the nearest temperate super-Earth to us that is in a system in which the host star has a brown dwarf companion. (Image credit: Robin Dienel, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science) Astronomers don't know much about the two newfound super-Earths, but they could learn more soon. The planets' relative proximity to our own solar system makes them good targets for study by powerful future instruments such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope , which is scheduled to launch next year, the researchers said. "Our discovery adds to the list of planets that can potentially be directly imaged by the next generation of telescopes," Feng said. "Ultimately, we are working toward the goal of being able to determine if planets orbiting nearby stars host life." "We eventually want to build a map of all of the planets orbiting the nearest stars to our own solar system, especially those that are potentially habitable," study co-author Jeff Crane, also of the Carnegie Institution, said in the same statement. The newly discovered "cold Neptune," GJ 433 d, doesn't seem like a good candidate for life, but it's interesting for other reasons. The planet, which is at least 4.9 times more massive than Earth, orbits a dim red dwarf just 29.5 light-years from Earth. "GJ 433 d is the nearest, widest and coldest Neptune-like planet ever detected," Feng said. The alien world is also a good candidate for follow-up study, including direct imaging, Feng and colleagues said. The researchers made the new discoveries after reanalyzing data gathered by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) instrument during a survey of 33 nearby red dwarfs from 2000 to 2007. These were radial-velocity measurements observations that can reveal stellar motion caused by the gravitational tugs of orbiting planets. The team supplemented the UVES data with measurements made by three other instruments: the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, ESO's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at La Silla Observatory in Chile and the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. This work resulted in a total of five newfound alien planets, as well as eight unconfirmed exoplanet candidates. The new study is part of a flood of exoplanet data that began pouring in a decade ago with the launch of NASA's recently deceased Kepler space telescope (which hunted alien worlds using the "transit method," a strategy that's different from the radial-velocity technique employed by UVES, HARPS, HIRES and PFS). Astronomers have confirmed more than 4,100 exoplanets to date, and about 70% are Kepler finds. Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . Minor Hotels has announced a series of senior appointments in its Middle East Regional Office. Rachid Benwahmane: Group Director of Finance Middle East & North Africa Benwahmane joined the Minor Hotels regional team in the Middle East in July last year, bringing a wealth of experience managing multiple properties and brands in various countries across the Middle East and Africa, as well as having worked on the owners side and in asset management. Benwahmane joined the company from Meraas where he held the position of group finance director in the Hospitality Division. An experienced financier, Benwahmane has hospitality focused project management and strategic business skills in both resorts and luxury hotels, spanning two decades working in Europe and the Middle East. This includes almost a decade working for Marriott International where his career began, and other companies including Barcelo and Accor. In 2011, Benwahmane assumed the position of area director of finance for Morocco, Tunisia & Central Africa for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and then, following a short stint in Doha, he took on the role of regional director of Finance Middle East & Africa with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels and moved to Dubai, where he has been based since. Stefan Geyser: group director People and Culture Middle East & Africa Geyser joins Minor Hotels this month from his most recent position as area director of Human Resources, Gulf, Levant & Pakistan, for Marriott International. Geyser has worked in the region since early 2011, when he joined the Westin & Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Resort in Dubai as complex director of HR, before being promoted to the regional position with Marriott International in 2016. Prior to working in the Middle East, Geyser held two director of HR positions since 1999, both at Starwood properties, at Turnberry Resort in Scotland and in his native South Africa at the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel & Westin Grand Hotel, Cape Town. A highly experienced Human Resources professional, Geyser has particular expertise in driving change and transition throughout international markets and multi-cultural environments and he inspires confidence with both employees and management teams alike. Both Benwahmane and Geyser report directly to Amir Golbarg, vice president operations Middle East. Also based in the Dubai office, Golbarg joined the regional team in March 2019. Previously, he held the strategic position of chief operating officer at Al Rayyan Hospitality and corporate director Asset Management at Katara Hospitality. Nicola Buckley: regional director of revenue Middle East & North Africa Buckley joined Minor Hotels in October 2019 from her previous position as group director of revenue for JA Resorts, based in Dubai, where she oversaw revenue management for seven hotels in Dubai, Maldives and Seychelles. Buckley began her hospitality career in 1998 and now with over 20 years of experience in hospitality under her belt, is a proven passionate and results driven revenue director. In 2007, Buckley assumed her first revenue manager position in London at Thistle Marble Arch. Two years later she moved to China with Guoman Hotels as area revenue and distribution manager for three hotels, in addition to one pre-opening hotel. Buckley then moved back to the UK for a short stint working as area revenue manager for IHG, before relocating to Phuket in Thailand as director of revenue for Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, Thailand. Following her time in Phuket, Buckley moved within the company and took on her first position in the Middle East at Movenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel in Dubai where she managed the revenue and reservations department. During the last three years in her role at JA Resorts, Buckleys main duties included implementing a structured revenue environment from systems, reporting and meetings across the company and over-seeing revenue strategy to ensure hotels were achieving their budgets. Hana Fuchs: regional director of marketing communications Middle East & North Africa Fuchs has just joined the regional team from Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort, where she held the position of director of marketing and communications since 2015. With 16 years of experience in marketing and communications, Fuchs has previously worked for 10 years in the region with properties such as the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek and the pre-opening team of Grand Millennium Al Wahda, Abu Dhabi. Fuchs started her career in 2004 in her home country of Croatia working for one of the most prestigious publishing companies Adria Media Zagreb on various lifestyle and fashion magazines. This is a new position within the region, responsible for developing a detailed regional marketing and communication strategy for Minor Hotels in the Middle East. Fuchs will be leading the implementation of key elements of the strategy to deliver business results and support the regional properties in doing so. Hana will ensure that the marketing activities in the region closely align with the brand values of Minor Hotels and will work with other operational and management operatives in order to make this possible. Buckley and Fuchs both report to David Garner, vice president sales and marketing for the Middle East, North Africa, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius. Garner joined Minor Hotels in early 2011 as Area director sales and marketing for the Middle East, before being promoted to regional director and then vice president, with his area of responsibility also extending to the Indian Ocean. During his time working within the regional team for Minor in the Middle East, the number of hotels in the region has grown from just two Anantara resorts and two Oaks properties in the UAE, to a growing portfolio currently with 17 hotels across four brands, in addition to a strong pipeline of future openings. - TradeArabia News Service First published in The Sydney Morning Herald January 17, 1980 Melbourne. - Sitting in the cockpit of a Fokker Friendship, Mrs Debbie Wardley realised at last yesterday her 15-month ambition to fly for Ansett Airlines of Australia. Debbie Wardley on her first Ansett flight in January 1980, from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, Katherine and Darwin. Credit:Les O'Rourke First Officer Wardley became the first Australian woman to fly for an Australian commercial airline when she took control of flight 232 for the scheduled flight from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, Catherine and Darwin at 12.55 pm. Mrs Wardley stayed overnight in Darwin and will fly back to Alice Springs today, before returning to Melbourne as a passenger on another Ansett flight. Her day of making Australian aviation history began in Melbourne yesterday morning when she joined flight 202 to Darwin as a passenger to Alice Springs, where her own flight was waiting. At Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport she posed for photographs in the cockpit of a 44-set Fokker Friendship before taking her place as a passenger. She said she was looking forward to the flight she would make later in the day. "It's an achievement. But I still can't get excited - not until I get to Alice," she said. Mrs Wardley is expected to fly Fokker Friendships for the next three or four years. First Officer Lennie Sorenson, of Continental Airlines, made her first landing in Sydney yesterday. One of four women pilots employed by Continental, Mrs Sorenson flew Boeing 727s in the United States before switching to DC 10s last September. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow talks to media outside the White House in Washington on Sept. 26, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Kudlow: Phase One China Trade Deal Historic, Will Help US Economy Grow Faster The Phase One trade deal between the United States and China is a historic agreement that is going to help grow our economy faster, President Donald Trumps chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said. We reckon in 2020 and 2021, at least a half a point of additional GDP (gross domestic product), which will probably translate into another million jobs on top of what weve already got, he said during an appearance on Fox News Americas Newsroom on Wednesday morning. Kudlow praised U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for their work on the deal. The biggest hill was getting phase one. Which has never been done before. The presidents leadership, including the tariffs, the work of Bob Lighthizer, Steve Mnuchin, our whole trade principals team. Never done before, this is historic, Kudlow said. Work on phase two would start right away, Kudlow said, adding: The toughest nut to crack in phase two will be to really level the playing field and take care of unfair practices, regarding forced transfers of technology. Later Jan. 15, Trump and Chinas Vice Premier Liu He signed the accord during a ceremony at the White House. Our negotiations were tough, honest, open, and respectful, leading us to this really incredible breakthrough, Trump said. Most people thought this thing will never happen. It should have happened 25 years ago, by the way. The deal includes China committing to buy $200 billion worth of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years, including $40-50 billion of agricultural goods each year. The agreement promises an increased purchase of American manufactured goods, food, agricultural and seafood products, energy, and services. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and President Donald Trump sign a trade agreement between the United States and China in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) These purchases are expected to continue on the same trajectory for several years after 2021 and contribute to the rebalancing of the U.S.-China trade relations, according to a factsheet (pdf) on the deal released by the administration In return, Washington agreed to modify its Section 301 tariff actions and canceled or reduced other tariffs. China also canceled scheduled tariffs. Not everyone was pleased with the deal. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has praised Trump for his dealings with China, said on the Senate floor in Washington on Wednesday that the phase one trade deal is a historic blunder. Several harmful policies and practices are reportedly unaddressed, he said. First, there appear to be no commitments to end China governments subsidy program that continues to hurt U.S. industries and workers, at all levels. Second, there appear to be no commitments to reform the Chinese policy of state-owned enterprises that unfairly compete with American enterprises and take American jobs away, while theyre allowed to freely sell here while our best companies cant sell there. Third, there appear to be no commitments to curtail the illegal dumping of Chinese products into our markets, which puts American firms out of business and workers out of a job, he continued. Fourth, glaringly, there appear to be no significant commitments to definitely end Chinas predatory and flagrant cyber theft of American intellectual property, which has stolen a generation of American jobs and American wealth. Fifth, concerning what the deal achieves in terms of agricultural purchases, it appears the Trump administration has not addressed the fact that China has existing contracts with countries like Brazil and Argentina. Emel Akan contributed to this report. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 15, 2020 In a victory for Facebook, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the Russian company Federal Agency of News, which claimed its free speech rights were violated when it was taken down by the social networking platform. The dismissal order, issued this week by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, is with prejudice -- meaning the Russian company can't bring the case again. The dispute between Facebook and the Federal Agency of News dates to 2018, when Facebook removed 70 accounts thought to be controlled by the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-backed company that engages in online influence operations for the Russian government. The Federal Agency of News, which was among those accounts, then sued Facebook for allegedly violating the news company's free speech rights. Koh said in her ruling that Facebook wasn't a government entity, and therefore wasn't bound by the First Amendment's prohibition on censorship. She also said the Communications Decency Act immunizes Facebook from liability for decisions about how to treat content. advertisement advertisement The Russian company's accountant, Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, was indicted in the U.S. for conspiring to manipulate elections. But the business, which calls itself a legitimate news organization that adheres to journalistic standards in its publications, says Khusyaynova was merely a bookkeeper. Facebook and other tech companies have defeated similar lawsuits in the past. Several years ago, Koh ruled in Facebook's favor in a complaint brought by the nonprofit group Sikhs for Justice, which sued after its pages were blocked in India by Facebook. Koh also ruled in Google's favor in a lawsuit by Prager University, which alleged it was discriminated against by Google for political reasons. Prager is currently appealing that decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Additionally, last May, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in the Northern District of California threw out claims by an Egyptian activist who alleged Facebook violated his free speech rights by suspending his account, preventing him from joining groups, and marking his posts as spam. Elizabeth Tower, Westminster, commonly known as Big Ben. Brexit has had many twists and turns - but will it be marked with Big Bens bongs? This is the debate occupying the great minds of the political class as 2020 gets into full swing in the UK. More than three years after the 2016 referendum, the UK will finally leave the EU at the end of January. At 11pm on January 31, to be precise. Brexiteers such as Nigel Farage will be celebrating and think it is fitting that the bell in Westminsters Elizabeth Tower - known as Big Ben - should ring out to distinguish this seminal moment in Britains history. But there is a problem. Big Ben is currently not chiming at all due to major restoration works and prime minister Boris Johnson has said the government will not fund a one-off Brexit bong. It is thought the standalone chimes would cost 500,000 - or 45,454 per bong for the 11 bongs - as Big Bens clapper must be temporarily re-installed. The government have rejected my idea for them to underwrite the cost of Big Ben bonging on Jan 31st. If they were enthusiastic about celebrating Brexit and not embarrassed by it, they would make this commitment. https://t.co/Lvuj62s7Ml Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 14, 2020 Johnson initially suggested that the Great British public might like to club together to fund the bongs. He told the BBC in his first big interview of the year/decade: We are working up a plan so people can bung a bob for a Big Ben bong. Because as everybody knows Big Ben is being refurbished they seem to have taken the clapper away, so we need to restore the clapper in order to bong Big Ben on Brexit night. That is expensive, so were looking at whether people can fund it. But Downing Street was forced to later admit that there was no specific organised page and take-up of his offer has so far been limited, with various crowdfunding pages struggling to break the 500 mark between them. Continue reading on HuffPost Large-scale irrigation is one of the land management practices with the largest effect on climate conditions - and especially hot extremes - in various regions across the globe. Yet how the climatic effects of irrigation compare to those of global warming is largely unknown. In a new study published in Nature Communications, an international team of researchers under the lead of Sonia Seneviratne, professor for Land-Climate Dynamics at ETH Zurich, has examined the influence of irrigation more closely. They used observational data and global climate simulations to isolate the climatic effects of irrigation from the warming induced by other natural and human climatic drivers, predominantly greenhouse gas emissions. Cooling effect on hot days The observational and model results consistently highlight a strong irrigation-induced cooling during warm extremes in intensely irrigated regions such as Southern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and the United States. The research team found that the effect of global warming contributing to more frequent and intense heat extremes was partly or completely offset by the cooling effect of irrigation over these regions, and South Asia in particular. Over South Asia, irrigation locally reduced the likelihood of hot extremes by a factor of 2 - 8, with particularly strong effects over the Indo-Gangetic Plain. "This means that, while global warming increases the likelihood of hot extremes almost globally, in some regions, irrigation expansion cancels or even reverses this effect", explains Wim Thiery who performed this research while he was a postdoc at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science. In the meantime, he moved to the University of Brussels to take up an assistant professorship. "In summary, we showed that irrigation expansion has regionally masked the historical warming of hot extremes from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and all other climate drivers combined", adds Seneviratne. Will the benefit continue? While the irrigation-induced cooling is mostly limited to irrigation hotspots, these are often located in densely populated areas. Around one billion people currently benefit from this dampened increase in hot extremes because irrigation massively expanded - it more than quadrupled in area - throughout the 20th century. These results therefore highlight that irrigation substantially reduced human exposure to warming of hot extremes. However, it is questionable whether this benefit will continue towards the future. Diminishing groundwater reserves (fossil water) and retreating glaciers e.g. in the Himalaya may decrease water supply for irrigation in the long term. "Besides a possible stagnation or even decrease in the global area being irrigated, agricultural water use may potentially become more efficient to meet sustainable development goals related to water resources availability, food security and biodiversity", Thiery points out. In that case the irrigation-induced cooling might level off, leading to accelerated warming across the irrigation hotspots. At the moment, this is still hypothetical; the researchers aim to address this question with their ongoing research. ### Reference Thiery W, Visser AJ, Fischer EM, Hauser M, Hirsch AL, Lawrence DM, Lejeune Q, Davin EL, Seneviratne SI. Warming of hot extremes alleviated by expanding irrigation. Nature Comm. 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-14075-4 Having previously spent a year at LALIVE and learnt about their practice, I cant think of a more perfect place for me to be, Brown said. Its strategy of being one of the worlds pre-eminent disputes practices is clear and I am looking forward to bringing my international law firm management experience to help the firm achieve its full potential. Axiom managed solutions business relaunches as Factor The managed solutions business of tech-driven legal services firm Axiom has been rebranded following its separation from the company. Now known as Factor, the business aims to build on its foundations with plans to grow its market leadership and double in size. It split from Axiom last year to focus on managed solutions. The company's original investors including Benchmark Capital and Carrick Capital are doubling down on the newly branded organization and will remain long-term investors. "Factor is unique in the market, with its focus on more complex work like contract negotiations rather than commoditized work like e-discovery, which continues to be the primary source of revenue for ALSPs. The company's market leadership and the sophistication of what it does positions it very well for growth," said Jim Madden, Co-Founder of Carrick Capital and Founder of business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, Exult. Catalan premier Quim Torra. Massimiliano Minocri The Catalan regional premier Quim Torra stated on Wednesday that if the Supreme Court upholds a ruling barring him from office, and the regional parliament abides by that sentence, then elections will be called in the northeastern Spanish region. If the Catalan parliament gets to the point of removing my authority, Im sure we will be left in a caretaker capacity for several months and then there will be elections, he said in an interview with the Radio 4 station, which was reported by Europa Press. If the Catalan parliament gets to the point of removing my authority, Im sure we will be left in a caretaker capacity for several months and then there will be elections Catalan premier Quim Torra Magistrates are considering an appeal by Torra against a ruling by the Catalan regional High Court, which in December found him guilty of disobedience for refusing to remove pro-independence banners from public buildings during an election campaign, something that violated regulations on political neutrality. Based on the regional courts decision, which bars Torra from office for a period of 18 months, Spains Central Electoral Board (JEC) agreed to strip the separatist premier of his lawmaker credentials in the Catalan parliament. Torra on Friday insisted that he will not obey the JEC, and called the Supreme Courts decision a new, serious and unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of the Catalan parliament. He also recalled that the regional chamber, which is controlled by a pro-independence majority, last week approved a motion calling the JECs decision a coup. On Friday, the Catalan premier used this expression again. The speaker of the Catalan parliament, Roger Torrent, said on Wednesday that the chamber would fight for Torra to stay in his role until the final consequences, from all points of view. He continued saying that the parliament has taken its position by choosing Torra [as regional premier] and also ratifying him. We have the political and legal legitimacy. Ciudadanos and the PP want the Catalan parliament to begin talks to find a new candidate for premier On Wednesday, the speakers committee in the Catalan parliament voted to maintain Torra as a deputy, in spite of the JEC ruling. The agreement counted on the support of the pro-Catalan independence parties Together for Catalonia (JxC), the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), as well as Catalunya en Comu-Podem and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). The committee also agreed to file an appeal at the Supreme Court against the JECs decision, which, it says, it considers to be void, on the basis that it does not have the powers to terminate a deputy. Opposition parties Ciudadanos (Citizens) and the Popular Party (PP) both of which are fiercely opposed to Catalan independence have argued that, according to the rules of the parliament, only a deputy can occupy the role of regional premier. The PP has called on Torrent to begin talks to find a new candidate for premier, while Ciudadanos has threatened legal action should the speakers committee refuse to comply. Sources from the PSC explained that they had voted to keep Torra in his role on the basis that the parliament cannot remove him as premier until the Supreme Court has issued its final sentence. Two-day leave for the Jordis El Pais, Barcelona The Catalan regional justice department has granted a 48-hour leave to Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, two of the nine pro-independence leaders who were handed down prison sentences by the Supreme Court for their role in the 2017 secessionist drive in the northeastern Spanish region. Sanchez, the former president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), and Cuixart, the president of Omnium Cultural, both of which are pro-independence civic associations, are serving their sentences in Lledoners prison in Barcelona province, and are eligible to request up to 36 days of release a year. Sanchez and Cuixart, who are often referred to as 'the Jordis,' faced trial in the Supreme Court for their role in the events of the fall of 2017 in Catalonia, which saw an illegal referendum on independence and a subsequent unilateral declaration of independence. The pair were eventually convicted of sedition for their involvement in a protest outside the regional Economic Affairs Department on September 20, 2017, which, according to the public prosecutor, was aimed at "impeding" Civil Guard raids ahead of the planned referendum. Sanchez and Cuixart were placed in pre-trial custody without bail on October 16, 2017, and have remained behind bars since then. With additional reporting by Josep Cata and Fernando J. Perez. English version by Simon Hunter. A weekend shoplifting incident at the Blount County Walmart turned deadly when one of the suspects was run over by her husband as they fled lawmen. Oneonta police were dispatched shortly before 8 p.m. to the store on a report of a shoplifting incident in progress. Chief Charles Clifton said the couple had been loading items into a cart for a lengthy period of time and had been watched on camera. After gathering about $1,500 worth of goods in their cart, they left the store without paying and headed to a U-Haul they had stationed in the parking lot. Before they could fully load the items into the truck, they spotted police arriving at the scene and took off. An Alabama Law Enforcement Agency state trooper spotted the truck and tried to stop it on Alabama Highway 75 north of Oneonta, said Senior Trooper Chuck Daniel. Daniel said the trooper was not in pursuit of the vehicle at any point during the incident. The U-Haul was driven by 32-year-old Jimmy Russell Smith, who lives in the Birmingham area. As he was attempting to pull over on the shoulder, his passenger, which he described to authorities as his wife, tried to exit the slow-moving vehicle, Daniel said. Crystal Lynn Carlson, 34, of Adamsville, fell underneath the vehicle and was killed. Oneonta police have charged Smith with second-degree theft of property/shoplifting. He already had an outstanding warrant for attempting to elude. He remains in the Blount County Jail on $15,672.10 bond. Daniel said ALEA is the lead agency on the post-incident investigation at the request of Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey. Casey said the case could be presented to a grand jury for any potential additional charges against Smith. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 15 told the Iranian foreign minister that India has strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region. He made these remarks when Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on him here. "The Foreign Minister shared his perspectives on the recent developments in the region. The Prime Minister mentioned India's strong interest in peace, security and stability in the region," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. The meeting comes on the back of tensions in the Gulf region, days after the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani in a US strike. Iran later launched ballistic missile strikes on two US military bases in Iraq, in retaliation against the January 3 killing of Soleimani. Zarif is in Delhi to participate in the 'Raisina Dialogue'. The prime minister also thanked Iranian leadership for the progress in Chabahar project, including designating it as Special Economic Zone. Welcoming Zarif to India, Modi recalled his warm and cordial discussions with President Rouhani in September 2019 on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York. The prime minister reiterated India's continued commitment to developing strong and friendly relations with Iran. NEW DELHI - Russia on Wednesday criticized the United States for introducing a new Indo-Pacific concept it said was aimed at containing China. Addressing a global conference in the Indian capital to discuss the most challenging issues facing the world community, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Asia-Pacific co-operation until now was centred on Southeast Asia. The Indo-Pacific concept being pushed by the United States, Japan and others was to reconfigure the existing structure, he said. Why do you need to call Asia-Pacific as Indo-Pacific? The answer is evident to exclude China. Terminology should be unifying, not divisive, Lavrov said. The United States says the Indo-Pacific engagement framework supports sovereignty, transparency, good governance and a rules-based order among other things. By using Indo-Pacific, the U.S. also wants to propagate the idea that its a region that stretches far beyond Chinas backyard and the tiger economies of East Asia, and includes the Indian Ocean. In 2018, the U.S. Pacific Command became the Indo-Pacific Command. Chinas assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which a third of global shipping passes, have drawn rebuke from the United States and become a flashpoint for a region in which Southeast Asian nations Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all have rival claims. On Wednesday, Lavrov also accused Western countries of not strictly following the United Nations charter for discussions based on sovereign equality of states, noninterference in internal matters, territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of disputes. Western friends are using international law less and less. Instead, they have coined a new concept which they call as a rules-based world order, he said. He said that Russia was very much concerned with the situation in the Persian Gulf region and suggested that Gulf countries start thinking about a collective security mechanism as a confidence-building measure. Lavrov said Iran had proposed a non-aggression pact to other Gulf states. Russia recently held military exercises with China and Iran in the region to see how to ensure safe shipping, he said. Russia hopes the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus the European Union and Organization of Islamic Cooperation would participate in the collective security mechanism. New Delhi: The All Assam Students Union (AASU) activists, who are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), on Wednesday showed black flags to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal during his visit to Digbrugarh. The chief minister had landed at Dibrugarh airport and was on the way to his hometown Chabua in the district to celebrate Bhogali Bihu harvest festival with his family when a group of AASU activists rushed towards his convoy in Mohanbari Tiniali area, waving black flags and raising slogans against him and the Act. #WATCH Assam: All Assam Students' Union (AASU) workers show black flags to the convoy of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Chabua, Dibrugarh. pic.twitter.com/pT98NTEoFp ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2020 The protestors were heard shouting 'Sarbananda, Go Back', 'Sonowal Murdabad', 'CAA aami na maanu' (We do not accept CAA) and Jai Aai Asom (Glory to Mother Assam). Police overpowered the protestors and prevented them from reaching the convoy. This is the second incident in a fortnight of anti-CAA agitators showing black flags to the chief minister. Congress leader Asks Sonowal To Quit BJP, From Alternative 'Anti-CAA' Government Opposition leader in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Saturday asked Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to quit the BJP along with his MLAs and form an alternate government in the state with support from the Congress. Saikia, the senior Congress leader, said the new government will be anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act and anti-BJP. A day after the Union home ministry issued a gazette notification that the CAA will come into force from January 10, Saikia said if Sonowal along with his MLAs quits the BJP, his party will support them to ensure that a new government is formed with Sonowal as the chief minister. In view of the current situation in Assam, Sonowal should leave the BJP and come out with just 30 of his MLAs as Independents. We will support him to form a new anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act and anti-BJP government in Assam. He will be made the Chief Minister again, Saikia told reporters. BJP and its alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad have failed to keep their poll promises. Many of the ministers and MLAs who had joined BJP from All Assam Students Union had promised to implement the Assam Accord. The Iranian regime fired 16 ballistic missiles into Iraq on Jan. 8 at bases housing American troops. With no ballistic missile interceptors in range, U.S. forces could only watch and wait for impact. While no American or coalition partners were killed in the attack, next time could be different. Iran launched its missiles from three sites in Iran, with 11 striking a base in Ain al-Asad and one hitting a base in Erbil. The lack of casualties should not lull planners into a false sense of security. A closer look at the attack demonstrates the need for additional ballistic missile intercept capacity. Why did Tehran pick these targets? Since Qassem Soleimani was killed in Iraq, the idea of striking U.S. forces in Iraq was almost certainly appealing to Iranian leaders. Additionally, for domestic consumption, Irans leadership wanted to present dramatic images of the Iranian military launching a barrage of ballistic missiles toward U.S. troops. But Iran may have chosen Ain al-Asad and Erbil specifically because the bases lacked ballistic missiles defenses. Images of American defenses destroying the incoming Iranian missiles would have severely undercut Tehrans political objectives for the attack. By creating a risk of interception, American missile defenses not only protect American lives, they complicate adversary military planning by injecting additional operational constraints, unknown variables and political risk. In short, robust U.S. missile defenses directly undermine our adversaries investments in missiles. Yet, while the U.S. has defense systems capable of protecting the bases at Ain al-Asad and Erbil, the bases remained vulnerable because the U.S. lacks sufficient ballistic missile defense intercept capacity. The U.S. possessed advance knowledge of the launches, tracked the missiles once airborne and provided its troops with early warning of their impending impact. But there were no interception options once the missiles were launched. Story continues The Pentagon had deployed its finite inventory of Middle East-deployed, high-demand Patriot missile batteries elsewhere in the region to bases that the Pentagon deemed a higher priority. This has included, for example, bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. This decision, however, left roughly 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq within striking distance of Iran without sufficient ballistic missile defenses. Some might argue that the lack of casualties in the Iran strike demonstrates that such protection is not necessary. It would, however, be ill-advised and dangerous to assume a future Iranian missile attack against forward deployed U.S. troops would fail to inflict serious American casualties. Following the attack, there has been widespread speculation about Tehrans intentions. The debate has centered on whether Iran merely sought a face-saving but casualty-free assault that it could highlight for domestic consumption, or whether it was actually seeking to kill Americans, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, indicated. In crises and military conflicts, an adversarys intentions can change quickly; it is therefore at least as important to focus on enemy capabilities. Given the size of Irans ballistic missile arsenal, Wednesdays attack was relatively modest in scale. As a 2019 Defense Intelligence Agency report assessed, Irans missile capabilities are formidable. Iran has the largest missile force in the Middle East, with a substantial inventory of close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs), short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), and medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) that can strike targets throughout the region as far as 2,000 kilometers from Irans borders, the report noted. In addition, the DIA reported that Iran is working to increase the accuracy of its missile arsenal. It is worth remembering the precision and sophistication of Tehrans attack against Saudi oil facilities last September, which combined drones and cruise missiles to deliver a pinpoint attack and temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabias oil production capacity. While Tehran reportedly did not employ drones and cruise missiles in the Jan. 8 attack, there is little to preclude Tehran from using such weapons and tactics in the future. A barrage of a hundred or more ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, targeting major U.S. bases throughout the region could incur a deadly result. In a future crisis, insufficient missile defense could force Washington to conduct a risky preemptive strike, or in the case of American casualties, a retribution strike. Either scenario is escalatory and avoidable. The U.S. Army has wisely made air and missile defense one of its top six modernization priorities. Ensuring U.S. soldiers have next-generation capabilities is important, but commanders must also have those capabilities in sufficient quantity. The Jan. 8 attack should demonstrate for Americans the value of missile defense and the fact that the U.S. currently does not have enough. Bradley Bowman is senior director for the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Andrew Gabel and Mikhael Smits are research analysts. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described as a "strategic mistake" the decision of Germany, France and the UK to trigger the Dispute Resolution Mechanism within the framework of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. "The usage of the dispute mechanism is legally baseless and represents a strategic mistake from a political standpoint," Zarif said at a meeting with Niels Annen, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office, as cited by the Iranian Foreign Ministry's press service. Despite over 20,000 peacekeepers and special counter-terrorism troops operating in Mali and neighboring countries, the casualties keep increasing. While the concentration of most of these forces in northern Mali has pushed a lot of the Islamic terrorists activity to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, Islamic and tribal violence related deaths in those three countries were at least 4,000 in 2019. Nearly half those deaths were in Burkina Faso, a huge increase from 80 in 2016. The dead include security forces, Islamic terrorists and civilians, which often means local armed defense groups. In Mali, the violence is now concentrated in Central Mali (the Mopti, one of Malis ten regions) where 74 percent of the 1,500 2019 deaths took place. The rest were in Moptis northeast neighbor (Gao region) where ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is most active. The situation in Mopti is worse than it appears because in the adjacent Sahel province of Burkina Faso there were 918 deaths in 2019. The two provinces can blame it on Islamic terror groups using the two provinces for their drug/people smuggling operation (north to the Mediterranean coast) which is so lucrative that it has expanded, at least in Mopti and Sahel provinces, to include extortion and all manner of criminal activity. At the center of all this violence and cash producing activity are Fulani tribesmen who are numerous (20 million in all) throughout a belt of territory stretching from are Mopti province, through Sahel province then through southern Niger into northern Nigeria. The Fulani are herders, aggressive, Moslem and very active when it comes to religious (Islamic terror) and tribal violence. Once the Fulani adopted Islamic terrorism they became major players in local Islamic terrorist activity. Before that, the Tuareg (who are ethnically related to the North African Berbers) of northern Mali were at the heart of new Islamic terrorist activity up there a decade ago. The Fulani, further south, are more numerous because the Tuareg are on the edge of the Sahara Desert while most of the Fulani are in or near the Niger River Valley. Its not just the Fulani. As with the radical Tuaregs up north, these two groups provided the core leadership to form a larger Islamic terror group that attracted a wide variety of recruits from ethnic groups throughout the Sahel and adjacent areas to the south and even North Africa. At the core of all this violence is the drug money made by moving South American cocaine and locally produced hashish north to more lucrative markets. The most violent groups dominate this business and over the last few decades those have become Islamic terrorists. The Tuareg based Islamic terrorists were bad enough but the more numerous Fulani led groups further south are a larger problem and France has agreed to provide 220 more troops to the existing 5,000 local G5 force and 4,500 French counterterror troops to create a combined force of nearly 10,000 troops, backed by air power and modern weapons and intelligence collecting capabilities. This would be a combined French/G5 force that would act as a single organization to destroy or cripple major Islamic terrorist threats throughout the Sahel. Currently the 4,500 well equipped French troops operating mainly in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and have proved the most successful at finding and killing Islamic terrorist leaders as well as key logistics (cash and supplies) and training centers the Islamic terrorists require to manage and sustain their combat and administrative manpower. The enemy is a large, dispersed and fanatic organization that combines religious fanatic violence with entrepreneurial activity (to raise money) to become a major disruptive faction in the areas where they operate. The Second Act While the 2013 French counterterrorism operation in the north initially drove thousands of Islamic terrorists into neighboring countries, many slowly returned. But many did not and thats when the Islamic terror problem in Burkina Faso went from troublesome to terrible, aided by a new government that was less effective dealing with it. Burkina Faso still hosts over 30,000 refugees from Mali, in addition to 500,000 more, most of them locals displaced by the growing Islamic terrorist violence. These refugee camps often serve as a sanctuary for Mali Islamic terrorists, as long as they do not attract attention in the camp. Thats one reason many countries dont like to host refugees from a nation that has a serious Islamic terrorist problem. Central Mali, where the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso meet, has become a hotspot for Islamic terrorist activity for the last few years. Burkina Faso is, like Mali, landlocked and has 17 million people (about 20 percent more than Mali). Burkina Faso also lacks the troublesome Tuareg/Arab minority in the north. Because Burkina Faso is south of Mali it also lacks the semi-desert terrain common northern Mali. That is where the Malian Tuareg/Arab minority lives. Burkina Faso also has more religious diversity with a quarter of the population being Christian and 60 percent Moslem. Moreover, the Moslem population consists of several different schools of Islam, some of them quite hostile to Sunni Islamic terrorism as practiced by al Qaeda and ISIL. In contrast, Niger and Mauritania are almost all Moslem and have always been the home for some Islamic conservatives who were not satisfied unless their neighbors also adopted Islamic conservatism. The religious pluralism in Burkina Faso helps restrict the Islamic terrorist activity to one area, but that is adjacent to central Mali and provides a handy sanctuary for Mali Islamic terror groups. The Mali army has suffered the heaviest casualties with 140 dead during the last four months of 2019. Civilian casualties have also been heavy, nearly 2,000 so far in 2019, in the area where most of the fighting has been (Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso). The violence is concentrated where the borders of these three nations meet. Then there is ISIL, which gets a lot of publicity but is a minor part of the problem in Malia and the Sahel. Since 2018 ISIL has had two provinces in central Africa. The smaller one was ISGS (Islamic State in Greater Sahara) which showed up in 2018. ISGS is currently active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. This is the group that has been under heavy attack for most of 2019. The main reason for that is the ISIL strategy of inflicting lots of casualties on the Mali army to destroy soldier morale and willingness to fight or even remain in the military. This is not a new tactic and the battles with ISIL up north are something of a bloody endurance contest. The other, slightly older and larger, ISIL province was ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province). ISWAP was actually a faction of the Nigerian Boko Haram Islamic terrorists who had been around since 2004. ISWAP personnel are mostly in northeastern Nigeria as well as smaller numbers in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. ISWAP seems to be expanding, apparently by incorporating groups outside Nigeria. ISGS and ISWAP do not appear to work together except when it comes to Internet media activities, where ISWAP will mention ISGS accomplishments. Lately, ISWAP announcements rarely mention ISGS and attribute attacks in ISGS territory as the work of ISWAP. It is unclear what this means because there has been no announcement of any merger. The operating areas of ISGS and ISWAP are about 2,000 kilometers from each other. Another factor is the frequent cooperation between al Qaeda and ISIL groups in Mali and surrounding countries. ISIL does not have effective central authority at the moment, with the senior leadership still dispersed and on the run from recent defeats in eastern Syria and western Iraq. It is often difficult, at first, to determine which faction of Boko Haram made an attack. Ultimately one of the factions will take credit. ISWAP is usually quicker to do so and has a much more efficient media operation than most Africa-based Islamic terror groups. Recently ISIL has been the most active in carrying out major attacks but is still not the major player in Mali. That would be JNIM, the local al Qaeda operation, which is mainly taking care of business while ISIL takes the heat. This is typical ISIL behavior, which has always been more into violence than the business of maintaining operations. Thats why al Qaeda survives and thrives while ISIL attracts the more violent Islamic terrorists who prefer to take more risks and casualties. This grabs more headlines, which is one reason for these suicidal tactics. It helps with recruiting but not so much with fundraising. ISIL factions tend to live more by foraging and robbery. A key reason for Mali and its neighbors attracting so much Islamic terrorist activity is money. Mali has one of the most corrupt governments in the region and that is one reason why the primary drug/people smuggling routes to the Mediterranean coast run through Mali. This not only enriches local officials but also funds many of the local Islamic terrorist groups. Most of these Islamic terrorist factions would not exist except for the income provided from drug and people smuggling. Drug gangs are unpopular with most Malians because the presence of those drugs, even though most are just passing through to more lucrative markets in Europe, cause a growing number of local addicts. This sort of thing tears families apart and ensures that these highly effective drugs will always be seen as a major threat, as are the locals who transport and distribute them. The people smuggling also can get pretty ugly because it sometimes involves slavery and prostitution. Nigerian investigators, seeking information on what was happening to the thousands of Nigerian teenage girls and young women who disappear each year, found that many of them who do not remain in northeastern Nigeria, enslaved by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists or are tempted by the promise of a job overseas, end up in one form of bondage or another. Many are sold into prostitution or slavery elsewhere in Africa, including Mali. The Nigerian investigators have traced hundreds of Nigerian victims to the Mali border where they are forced into prostitution or outright slavery, usually with the help of local Islamic terror groups who, like most Islamic fundamentalists, still believe in the practice of slavery. Those that become prostitutes are often allowed to buy their way out of that after a few years but at that point are on their own and too ashamed to try and go home. Many of these women are sold into slavery elsewhere in the region. January 13, 2020: French and African officials met, in France, to work out how to create and run a larger and more effective joint French/G5 counterterr0r force. This was done but there remained the problem with the Americans planning to withdraw most of their forces from Africa. The Americans provide a lot of essential logistic and intelligence collecting services for the Sahel counterterror operations. France said it would seek to persuade the Americans to stick around until the Sahel Islamic terrorist crises was brought under control. . The G5 Sahel Joint Force was a good idea but France has always wanted to expand it. The G5 Force was organized in 2018 to deal with transnational Islamic terrorist organizations. G5 was a consortium of five Sahel (the semi-desert area stretching across Africa from Senegal to Somalia) nations; Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. Each contributed troops best able to deal with Islamic terrorism and G5 operated throughout the Sahel region as needed. By 2019 G5 forces were spending more time in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, Mali is still the most troublesome Sahel nation but also has the most outside assistance, including a peacekeeping force along with a separate French counter-terror force that also covers much of the Sahel along with the G5 force. The Mali contingent of the G5 is considered the least capable and that has to be taken into account while the training program for the Mali military slowly improves the quality of leadership and troop reliability. With Mali secured by all these foreign troops, the G5 has been able to deal with Islamic terror problems elsewhere, especially Burkina Faso and Niger. The G5 force consists of 5,000 soldiers and police that are stationed in three operational areas along with troops familiar with local conditions. Thus Sahel East consists of troops from Chad and Niger. Sahel Central is staffed by troops from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso while Sahel West uses troops from Mali and Mauritania. What G5 could not do was replace a lack of security forces in one of its member nations. Burkina Faso is the best example of this because after a new government took power in 2014, the internal intelligence and security forces were reorganized and became much less effective. Islamic terrorists took note and established themselves in the part of Burkina Faso adjacent to Mali. As a result that part of Burkina Faso has seen an increasing amount of Islamic terrorist activity since 2015. France offered to take the lead in raising more money to expand (as much as double) the size of the G5 Force but it was soon realized that it was easier to find the money than to find the qualified troops. Then there is the chronic corruption in African countries. Mali is still one of the most corrupt nations in the region. Thats the main reason for all the Islamic terrorist activity being centered on Mali. January 9, 2020: In the north, near Kidal, fifteen mortar shells fired at a peacekeeper base left 18 peacekeepers and two civilians wounded. JNIM was suspected. In neighboring Niger, about 11 kilometers from the border, ISIL forces attacked an army base and were repulsed after losing more than 60 men. The defending soldiers lost 25 men. This attack led to the Niger government replacing the senior army leadership. January 6, 2020: In central Mali (Alatona, 80 kilometers from the Mauritania border), an army convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, which destroyed four vehicles and killed five soldiers. Some of the Islamic terrorists who set off the bomb were killed or wounded when they fired on the convoy after the bomb went off and surviving soldiers fired back. January 5, 2020: In central Mali (the Ouagadou forest), a French-led force, with lots of air support, conducted three counter-terror raids over the last 16 days. At least fifty Islamic terrorists were killed or captured. December 24, 2019: In the north, across the border in Burkina Faso, two ISIL operations left 11 soldiers and 35 civilians dead. December 22, 2019: In central Mali, a French Reaper UAV used missiles to kill seven Islamic terrorists. This was the first time France has used armed UAVs to attack ground targets. France has been using RQ-9 Reaper UAVs in Mali since late 2013. Earlier in 2013, France decided to buy two RQ-9s and by the middle of the year had upped the order to a dozen. This was with the understanding that one or two would be available for French use in Mali before the end of the year. This was less of a problem than it appears because the U.S. had already (since January 2013) been operating RQ-9s in neighboring Niger and the British have their own RQ-9 operations center, where satellite links allow UAV operators to control RQ-9s anywhere on the planet, in Britain that could be used to quickly train French operators. Facilities were also available in the United States, which is where RQ-9 ground crews are trained. The U.S. delivered on its end of the deal and France got its operators and ground support personnel up to speed on time. At the time two French Harfang UAVs were present in Mali, operating from neighboring Niger, along with some American RQ-9s. The Harfang is based on an Israeli design and is similar to the 1.1 ton U.S. Predator. The larger RQ-9 weighs 4.6 tons. France currently has eleven RQ-9s. One was lost to an accident and the others are being upgraded to handle Hellfire laser-guided missiles and a French made smart bomb. Obviously at least one of the upgraded Reapers was available by the end of 2019. The upgrade program is expected to be completed by 2021. The upgrade costs about a million dollars per UAV and includes software and hardware modifications. France continues to use its Reapers mainly for surveillance and reconnaissance. Finding Islamic terrorists is a difficult job but with the Reapers, it is possible to follow up on any leads obtained by informants or other information sources and confirm when the suspected Islamic terrorists actually are. The seeking and finding Islamic terrorists is not glamorous work but it is the main reason the French counter-terror forces keep finding Islamic terrorist leaders or large concentrations of Islamic terrorists to attack. With armed UAVs, it is now possible to hit elusive targets before they evade the surveillance. This has happened regularly since 2013 and despite political resistance to armed UAVs, the losses suffered by French troops in Mali eventually made armed UAVs more acceptable. December 10, 2019: In the north, across the border in Niger, ISIL forces attacked an army base, killing at least 70 soldiers. Recreational marijuana use can impair the driving ability of people even when they are sober, according to a study. The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, also linked earlier onset of marijuana use -- under age 16 -- to worse driving performance. While previous research has examined the direct effect of cannabis intoxication on driving, no other studies until now have examined the effects on driving in heavy marijuana users who are not high. The researchers from McLean Hospital in the US used a customised driving simulator to assess the potential impact of cannabis use on driving performance. At the time of study, users had not smoked marijuana for at least 12 hours, and were not intoxicated. Overall, heavy marijuana users demonstrated poorer driving performance as compared to non-users. For example, in the simulated driving exercise, marijuana users hit more pedestrians, exceeded the speed limit more often, made fewer stops at red lights, and made more centre line crossings. The researchers said the idea that differences can be detected in sober cannabis users may be surprising to the public. "People who use cannabis don't necessarily assume that they may drive differently, even when they're not high," said Staci Gruber from McLean Hospital. "We're not suggesting that everyone who uses cannabis will demonstrate impaired driving, but it's interesting that in a sample of non-intoxicated participants, there are still differences in those who use cannabis relative to those who don't," Gruber said. The researchers divided the marijuana users into groups based on when they started using cannabis. They found that significant driving impairment was detected, and completely localised to those who began using marijuana regularly before age 16. "It didn't surprise us that performance differences on the driving simulator were primarily seen in the early onset group," McLean Hospital's Mary Kathryn Dahlgren said. "Research has consistently shown that early substance use, including the use of cannabis, is associated with poorer cognitive performance," Dahlgren said. When the researchers analysed impulsivity among the subjects, most of the differences between cannabis users and healthy controls went away, suggesting that it may play a role in performance differences. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a scathing review of the Chinese government, calling on the international community to push back against "the most brutal and pervasive oppression China has seen in decades" in its 2020 annual report. The organisation's global head, Kenneth Roth, was denied entry on Sunday to Hong Kong where he was expected to launch the report, which covers the global human rights situation but features China prominently. The report condemns Beijing's treatment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region and warns that China's growing political influence and efforts to censor people abroad pose an "existential threat to the international human rights system." "If not challenged, Beijing's actions portend a dystopian future in which no one is beyond the reach of Chinese censors, and an international human rights system so weakened that it no longer serves as a check on government repression," Roth said in the report. China last month announced sanctions on HRW and other U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as a countermeasure to the U.S. Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which supports anti-government protests in Hong Kong and threatens China with sanctions for human rights abuses. Beijing says the NGOs are encouraging violent crime linked to anti-government protests in Hong Kong that have plagued the city for over six months. Roth rejected the accusation. Chinese state media has also broadly blamed fake news and Western interference for landslide victories against pro-Beijing election candidates in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The HRW report, released at the United Nations on Tuesday, said Hong Kong police have used "excessive force" and have "increasingly restricted freedom of assembly" there. It criticised Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam for refusing to launch an independent investigation into police abuses. Story continues Trump credibility Beijing has previously criticized HRW over its investigations on surveillance technology and re-education camps in Xinjiang. The United Nations estimates roughly 1 million Uighurs have been previously detained in Xinjiang. Beijing denies any mistreatment of Uighurs or others in Xinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism and to teach new skills. China has always been sensitive to rights allegations, but in the past year it has become increasingly forceful in rebuking criticisms, which have periodically threatened to derail trade negotiations with the United States. "To avoid criticism of them, the Chinese government is trying with increasing ferocity to use its economic and diplomatic clout to silence critical voices abroad and to undermine global institutions that protect human rights," Roth told a news conference at the United Nations. When it came to countering China on human rights, Roth said several important governments have been "missing in action." "(U.S. President Donald) Trump has lost credibility because he so often embraces friendly autocrats, rather than defend the human rights standards that they flout," Roth said. "The European Union has been diverted by Brexit, it's been obstructed by nationalist members, it's been divided over migration and as a result it's often found it difficult to adopt a strong common voice on human rights," he said. "Other governments are simply bought off (by China.)" Chinese diplomat Xing Jisheng addressed reporters at the end of the news conference, saying China totally rejected the HRW report as prejudiced and fabricated. "Hong Kong is a part of China, so given what you said here, I think it is clear to all why you have been barred such entry," Xing told Roth. (REUTERS) Kem Sokha travels by car to his trial at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Jan. 15, 2020. The treason trial of Cambodias opposition leader Kem Sokha got underway Wednesday with prosecutors presenting evidence of a conspiracy with foreign powers that his lawyer said lacked context and could not be used to convict him. Kem Sokhas attorney, Meng Sopheary, told RFAs Khmer Service that prosecutors at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court showed a two-minute clip of a video they say is proof that the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president colluded with the U.S. to try to overthrow Cambodias government. After watching the short video of Kem Sokha speaking during the trial, we can confirm that it was authentic, but it was edited and the original context is missing, she said. [Kem Sokha] wants his original version of the video to be examined, which is about one hour long. The video cited as evidence by the court was recorded in 2013 and shows Kem Sokha discussing a strategy to win power at the ballot box with the help of U.S. expertsthough the U.S. Embassy had rejected any suggestion that Washington was interfering in Cambodian politics at the time of his arrest in 2017. Meng Sopheary said that the court had accepted Kem Sokhas video and will review it at some point during the trial, adding that she was given no indication of when the trial might end. She said that the court had yet to question anyone summoned to give testimony in the case, but feels confident the witnesses will speak the truth. In recent weeks, prosecutors have called nine witnesses ahead of Kem Sokhas trial who observers say are either irrelevant to his case or part of a bid to undermine his character, including a land activist, the victim of a land dispute, activists from the CNRP, a ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) spokesman, and an environmental campaigner. Meng Sopheary said Kem Sokha continues to maintain his innocence and that her own study of his case shows there is no evidence to convict my client. The CNRP chief faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. Government lawyer Ky Tech told RFA that there had been heated exchanges during Wednesdays trialwhere a total of 30 seats were largely reserved for diplomats, relatives, and CNRP membersbut refused to provide details of what was discussed for reasons of professionalism. He said that in addition to the U.S., Australia, Indonesia, Canada, the European Union, Taiwan, India, Yugoslavia, and Serbia are involved in the accusations against Kem Sokha, and that he has tons of evidence against the opposition leader. Ky Tech did not specify whether the court plans to summon representatives of those countries to appear at the trial. Kem Sokha, 66, was arrested in September 2017 and charged with treason over the video. He maintains his innocence and his lawyers have said that prosecutors lack evidence to convict. Two months after Kem Sokhas arrest, Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP for its role in the alleged plot and banned 118 of its officials from political activities. The move to dissolve the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in the countrys July 2018 general election. Innocence maintained Following Wednesdays proceedings, Kem Sokha posted a message to his Facebook account in which he said he categorically den[ies] the charge of conspiracy with foreign powers which was brought against me. He said he had not engaged with foreign state actors to conduct hostility or [an] invasion against Cambodia, and that he did not commit anything of which I am accusedparticularly acts that would be detrimental to the national interest. All of my activities were focused on human rights and democracy, carried out in peaceful and non-violent manners in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, he wrote, adding that his political activities were focused on the participation in free, fair, and just elections that truly reflect the will of the Cambodian people. I continue to demand that the court permanently drop the charge against me so that I can fully exercise my political freedom in participation in serving and defending the interests of the country and the people, the message concluded. Speaking to RFA on Wednesday, Am Sam Ath, senior investigator for local rights group Licadho, expressed frustration that nongovernmental organizations were not allowed into the courtroom, while only a few reporters were granted access, adding that authorities should have provided a live broadcast feed of the trial for members of the public to view. NGOs and the media want to monitor the case so they can see the evidence against [Kem Sokha] and listen to the debate to decide for themselves whether the court will provide justice or not, he said. Rong Chhun, a union leader and former member of Cambodias National Election Commission (NEC), told RFA he had traveled to the courthouse on Wednesday to monitor the trial but was forced to stand outside. This trial is just for showwe all know that this is a politically motivated case against Kem Sokha, he said, calling on the court to drop the charges against the CNRP leader and for the reinstatement of the opposition party. CNRP acting president Sam Rainsy also took to Facebook on Wednesday to call the trial a farce and accuse the court of acting as Hun Sens puppet. All democrats must condemn Hun Sen to show that the charges against Kem Sokha are groundless, he wrote from self-imposed exile in Paris, France, where he has lived in 2015 to avoid a string of charges and convictions he says are politically motivated. There is only one solution: The court must drop charges against Kem Sokha. We dont need the King [Norodom Sihamoni] to pardon him. Farcical trial The first day of Kem Sokhas trial, which resumes Thursday, came as the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) issued a statement calling on Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop the charges against him and restore his rights to movement and political participation. This farcical trial should be brought to an immediate end and the charges against him dropped, Tom Villarin, former Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and APHR member, said in a statement, adding that Kem Sokha should be provided access to justice and reparations for his unlawful detention. Kem Sokhas arrest and detention have been part of a much broader and sustained assault on the political opposition of Cambodia. This trial is a warning and reminder from the government to millions more politicians, activists, journalists and ordinary Cambodians that there is no space for human rights in todays Cambodia. Villarin said that Cambodias courts routinely demonstrate that they act according to Hun Sens interests, rather than based on the facts and evidence presented to them. This lack of independence of the Cambodian judiciary and last minute restrictions placed by the court on trial monitors should raise serious concerns regarding Kem Sokhas right to a fair trial, he said. APHRs statement followed ones issued on the eve of the trial by New York-based Human Rights Watch and London-based Amnesty International, who said Cambodia should immediately drop bogus charges against Kem Sokha and suggested a conviction would ensure that Western governments sanction the country as part of a response to Hun Sens rollbacks on democracy and human rights. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. In the backdrop of growing protests against the likely National Register of Citizens (NRC), senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday said people will furnish relevant documents if Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows birth certificates of his parents. Singh's remarks came four days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed a resolution opposing the new citizenship act and the NRC. "We are saying that PM Modi should show us the birth certificates of his father and mother, (and if it is done) we will produce all the relevant papers," the senior Congress leader said when asked about the anti-NRC protesters' stand that they would not furnish any documents to government officials if such exercise is rolled out. Singh was visiting Indore, which is classified as the cleanest city in the country, along with other members of the Standing Committee on Urban Development of Parliament. "Swachh Survekshan 2020" started across the country from January 4. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TROY Three neighborhoods shaken by tractor-trailers will ask Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin to meet to discuss the delays in getting the county to approve easements the city needs to build the South Troy Industrial Road. The Osgood/South Troy Neighborhood Association and a representative of the Little Italy neighborhood said they would work with the Riverside neighborhood to get a meeting with the county executive. The Osgood group at its monthly meeting Tuesday at Troy Area United Ministries agreed to request the meeting and also to attend the Legislatures public forum on Feb. 5 at the county office building downtown. Sid Fleischer of Osgood said the letter to McLaughlin would be drafted and sent in the next few days. Sam Chiappone of Little Italy supported the proposal. Richard Crist, the county director of operations and a spokesman for McLaughlin, said the county looks forward to any request from neighborhood groups to discuss the issue. The 20 residents at the meeting said they wanted to know more about McLaughlins suggestion that the county build a 50,000-square foot office building on an 11.25-acre site owned by the county Industrial Development Agency. McLaughlin said the county could save about $500,000 per year on rent if it relocated social services and probation employees from Flanagan Square in North Central to a new county-owned facility. The South Troy Industrial Road would run about 1.3 miles from Adams Street south to Main Street. It would bypass the residential areas to the east, taking truck traffic off local streets. The project is seen as opening up access to the industrial land tracts, both developed and undeveloped, between the Hudson River and First Street. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Troy Councilman Ken Zalewski, who represents the Osgood neighborhood, said the city has invested $2 million in the industrial road project so far. It has been projected to cost about $10 million in total to complete the project. Zalewski said the city is trying to get the county to sign the contracts for the two easements. The Legislature and county IDA have passed agreements with the city that would allow the road project to move ahead. The city has said without the signed contracts it cant put the road project out to bid. The county sent a letter to Troy seeking answers on some basic questions regarding the city request, Crist said. The residents launched a writing campaign to convince the county to move ahead with the deal with the city, but said they had received no response. Before I drifted off out of boredom, I caught the first part of Democratic debate seven, on foreign policy, health care, identity politics, and other topics, and oh, what a revelation about these last six characters from the clown car still standing. These are the people who would occupy the White House, and you wouldn't want to be there if it happened. Five things stick out as doozies of contradictions, hypocrisy, and full-blown whoppers: 5. The Warren-Sanders "woman as president" wrangle. Before the debate, Elizabeth Warren made waves by claiming that Bernie Sanders told her a woman couldn't win the presidency. On the surface, it's hard to believe, given that Bernie has been around the block and remembers Margaret Thatcher only too well. But more to the point, Warren is fond of bringing up 1970s-style feminist tropes from the Gloria Steinem era female teachers being fired for being pregnant, for example that are out of date. Warren is famous for her lies which include that of her being a Native American to claim victim status; her claim her dad was a "janitor" to claim down-and-out status; her claim that her kids went to public schools when they also went to private, to claim working-class status again and union hearts; her claim she was too poor to afford college application fees to sound down and out yet again, when she would have had cough one up for the scholarship she won. It's all fake. The feminist lies are especially vivid. So now we had the showdown with Warren and Sanders in the same room, and reporters attempting to sort out who was telling the truth, and the one who asked Warren completely accepting her claim as fact. Both were ready Sanders made several fierce denials and wouldn't let them try to change the topic; Warren made an icky speech about the importance of female presidents. PHILLIP: Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election? (LAUGHTER) WARREN: I disagreed. Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and it's time for us to attack it head-on. And I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at people's winning record. So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. (LAUGHTER) The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women... (APPLAUSE) ... Amy and me. (This, by the way, wasn't true, as Bernie pointed out, citing an election he won 30 years ago.) Do you notice something? Warren didn't stand by her story; she just tried to shift the topic. She should have stood up and told Sanders she knew very well what he said, and she didn't. She didn't defend her claim at all. Sounds like another whopper. 4. Klobuchar on Iran negotiations. Amy Klobuchar pretty well came off as a boob by saying she was all in for Iran negotiations because Iran wasn't following its agreements made in...negotiations: Sen. Klobuchar, if you become president, it's very possible there won't be an Iran nuclear deal for the United States to rejoin. Given that, how would you prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon? KLOBUCHAR: I would start negotiations again. And I won't take that as a given, given that our European partners are still trying to hold the agreement together. My issue is that, because of the actions of Donald Trump, we are in a situation where they are now starting Iran is starting to enrich uranium again in violation of the original agreement. So what I would do is negotiate. I would bring people together, just as President Obama did years ago, and I think that we can get this done. But you have to have a president that sees this as a number-one goal. And in answer to the original question you asked the mayor, I would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. And then you have to get an agreement in place. I think there are changes you can make to the agreement that are sunset, some changes to the inspections, but overall, that is what we should do. And I am the one person on this debate stage, on the first night of the very first debate, when we were asked what we saw as the biggest threat to our world, I said China on the economy, but I said Iran, because of Donald Trump. Because I feared that exactly what happened would happen: enrichment of uranium, escalation of tensions, leaving frayed relations with our allies. We can bring them back, understanding this is a terrorist regime that we cannot allow to have a nuclear weapon. OK, so let's get this straight. Iran was violating its treaty it negotiated, so the solution is more negotiations? The mullahs would roll this stupid woman like a Persian carpet if she ever made it into the White House. If Iran's ignoring the agreements made in past negotiations and getting itself a nuclear weapon instead, why would "bringing people together" make them act any different? They'd negotiate with her, snicker up their sleeves, and go make a bomb. File under woman who has no idea what she's talking about. 3. Joe Biden's Mess of Answers on Foreign Policy: Joe's the man for the status quo ante, the Obama era that somehow brought us Donald Trump, yet somehow was a paradise of sorts. Now it's Paradise Lost. Three idiocies from this supposed foreign policy man stood out, starting with this North Korea exchange, reminding us all why we voted for Trump: PHILLIP: Vice President Biden, I want to ask you about North Korea. President Trump has met with Kim Jong-un three times. President Obama once said he would meet with North Korea without any preconditions. Would you meet with North Korea without any preconditions? BIDEN: No, not now. I wouldn't meet with them without any preconditions. Look, what we gave him everything he's looking for, legitimacy. The president showed up, met with him, gave him legitimacy, weakened the sanctions we have against him. Need to know ahead of the caucuses: I would be putting what I did as vice president I met with Xi Jinping more than anyone else. I would be putting pressure on China to put pressure on Korea, to cease and desist from their nuclear power, make their efforts to deal with nuclear weapons. I would move forward as we did before and you reported it extensively, Wolf about moving forward the whole notion of defense against nuclear weapons, that we would and when China said to me, when Xi Jinping said to me, that's a threat to us, I said, we're going to move and protect our interests unless you get involved and protect it. [I] would be putting what I did as vice president I met with Xi Jinping more than anyone else. I would be putting pressure on China to put pressure on Korea, to cease and desist from their nuclear power, make their efforts to deal with nuclear weapons. I would move forward as we did before and you reported it extensively, Wolf about moving forward the whole notion of defense against nuclear weapons, that we would and when China said to me, when Xi Jinping said to me, that's a threat to us, I said, we're going to move and protect our interests unless you get involved and protect it. Umm, Joe, you've got the phone line to Kim now. Cat's out of the bag. Joe says pretend that never happened and he'd would rather work through China, trustworthy China, as his trusted intermediary. Talk about throwing away an advantage and outsourcing the matter to China's good offices. Sound like a plan? The clown throws away an advantage in the name of Getting Trump. Here's another one: BLITZER: So just to be clear, Vice President Biden, would you leave troops in the Middle East or would you pull them out? BIDEN: I would leave troops in the Middle East in terms of patrolling the Gulf, where we have where we are now, small numbers of troops, and I think it's a mistake to pull out the small number of troops that are there now to deal with ISIS. So they can be target practice, Joe? Same as the good old pre-Trump days? As American Thinker's brilliant contributor, Monty Donohew has noted in a must-read essay - Trump himself doesn't do "small numbers of troops" because they only end up as target practice and tempting hostage prospects. Trump blew that decades-old approach out of the water by pulling out U.S. troops from Syria and since then, extremely bad times have followed for terrorists, not just al-Baghdadi but Iran's notorious Quds Force chieftain, Qassem Soleimani himself, both of whom got blown to hell. Biden would rather they have some convenient targets to work on. Here's the real whopper: BLITZER: Vice President Biden, is Sen. Warren right [about withdrawing all U.S. troops from the Middle East]? BIDEN: Well, I tell you what, there's a difference between combat troops and leaving special forces in a position. I was part of the coalition to put together 68 countries to deal with stateless terror as well as failed states. Not us alone, 68 other countries. That's how we were able to defeat and end the caliphate for ISIS. They'll come back if we do not deal with them and we do not have someone who can bring together the rest of the world to go with us, with small numbers of special forces we have, to organize the effort to take them down. Seems we're back in Joe's full Walter Mitty world, the world of where he "defeated" ISIS and President Trump's decapitation of the ISIS leadership just this year never happened. Joe's the one who defeated ISIS, see. He's always the hero ... in the cracked recesses of his own mind. He'd like you there, too. 2. Warren's sudden concern for fiscal discipline: You know, I have three brothers who were in the military, and I know how much our military families sacrifice. But I also know that we have to think about our defense in very different ways. We have to think about cyber. We have to think about climate. We also have to think about how we spend money. We have a problem with a revolving door in Washington between the defense industry and the Department of Defense and the Pentagon. That is corruption, pure and simple. We need to block that revolving door, and we need to cut our defense budget. We need to depend on all of our tools diplomatic, economic, working with our allies and not let the defense industry call the shots. This is the same Elizabeth Warren who wants a $3 trillion wealth tax to finance her government programs, which total up to $30 trillion in new government spending? The defense budget she wants to cut is a drop in the bucket compared to all that spending she's planning to throw around on us, a mere $693 billion at last count, not even making the cut to one of her plan of $30 trillion. So that's the one she wants to cut while flinging money around in the biggest drunkfest of spending of all time? Something tells us she doesn't get it about numbers. 1. Bernie Sanders's concern-trolling about all those administrative costs connected to medical care as it is and how he's supposedly against them. Sen. Sanders, your campaign proposals would double federal spending over the next decade, an unprecedented level of spending not seen since World War II. How would you keep your plans from bankrupting the country? SANDERS: No, our plan wouldn't bankrupt the country. And, in fact, it would much improve the well-being of working-class families and the middle class. Let us be clear what Medicare for all does. It ends all premiums. It ends all copayments. It ends the absurdity of deductibles. It ends out-of-pocket expenses. It takes on the pharmaceutical industry, which in some cases charges us 10 times more for the same prescription drugs sold abroad as sold here. What we will do through a Medicare for all single-payer program is substantially lower the cost of health care for employers and workers, because we end the $100 billion a year that the health care industry makes and the $500 billion a year we spend in administrative the administrative nightmare of dealing with thousands of separate insurance plans. Is this a joke? Since when does a Soviet-style health care plan such as Bernie proposes not include masses and masses of red tape? Soviet dissident writers such as Vladimir Voinovich wrote hilarious books about stupid, obtuse, time-serving "blotting paper bureaucrats" who covered the socialist Soviet system. Socialized medicine, like all huge government programs is going to be the Mother of all Bureaucracy, just to administer the nightmare. Since when do government programs not involve bureaucracy? And considering all the paperwork requirements President Obama saddled health insurance companies with in implementing Obamacare, where does Bernie think all that paperwork insurance companies are supposedly profiting off of, is going? That's right, the government. Moving the bureaucracy to government from the private sector is not going to end any administrative costs. If anything, with nothing to check their costs, it's going to create incentives for even more paperwork. A government takeover of an entire industry is going to solve red tape? Just ask the student loan industry which got federalized and sank deep into the red tape. Call this one the whopper of the evening. Image credit: ABC YouTube screen shot. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri A Medvedev and his Cabinet resigned on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes that could extend his hold on power for many years. In a statement issued by the Russian news agency Tass, Medvedev linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Putin, New York Times reported. Putin, who under current law must step down in 2024, proposed amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the State Council, which currently carries little weight. Putin and Medvedev had done something similar in 2008 allowing Putin to remain in charge. Medvedev was elected President. Putin became prime minister, though he remained the real power in the government, and he returned to the presidency in 2012, when Medvedev became the Prime Minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON - Officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan say they have reached a preliminary agreement aimed at clearing the way for the filling and operation of a $5 billion dam project on the Nile River. The foreign ministers and water resources officials of the three countries concluded three days of meetings in Washington on Wednesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and World Bank President David Malpass. The project, called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, is around 70% complete and promises to provide much-needed electricity for Ethiopias more than 100 million people. However, Egyptian officials are concerned that filing the reservoir behind the dam too quickly could significantly reduce the amount of Nile water available to Egypt. The joint statement late Wednesday did not give details on how long it would take to fill the dam, saying only that it should occur in stages during the rainy season, which generally runs from July to August. Earlier this month Ethiopias minister for water and energy, Sileshi Bekele, said Ethiopia wanted a filling time of 12 years while Egypt wanted 21. The discussions this week were aimed at developing the rules and guidelines that would mitigate drought conditions based on the natural flow of the Nile and water release rates from the dams reservoir. The guidelines said that filing the reservoir could continue into September under certain conditions, with the goal of achieving the early generation of electricity while providing mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan in case of severe droughts. The ministers agree that there is a shared responsibility of the three countries in managing drought and prolonged drought, the officials said in their joint statement. The statement said these preliminary decisions on the dams operation will not become final until the countries agree on all points in a final operating agreement. The countries plan to meet again in Washington on Jan. 28-29 with the goal of reaching a final agreement on the dams filing and operation. The ministers recognize the significant regional benefits that can result from concluding an agreement ... with respect to trans-boundary co-operation, regional development and economic integration, the joint statement said. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly last fall, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he would never allow Ethiopia to impose a de facto situation by filing the dam without an agreement on its operation. Pro-government media in Egypt have cast the issue as a national security threat that could warrant military action, leading Ethiopias Nobel Peace prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to warn last year that if theres a need to go to war over the dam project his country could muster millions of people. Abiy added, however, that only negotiation can resolve the current deadlock. Photo: Tom Barrett/Unsplash Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Milwaukee. 3 state elections commissioners in contempt, told to purge 200K voters from rolls A Wisconsin judge held three state election commissioners in contempt on Monday and ordered them to proceed immediately with purging more than 200,000 people from the states voter rolls. Read the full story on The New York Times. Trump supporters hail his Milwaukee visit as Democrats dig in for 2020 President Trump held a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Read the full story on PBS NewsHour. Teen shot in argument over shoes, police say Police say one teen shot another after an argument about shoes. The shooting happened just before 4 p.m. Saturday in the 6100 block of West Carmen Avenue. Read the full story on HLN. Brewers host softball games to benefit fire victims Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun and Mike Moustakas raised money for victims affected by Californias wildfires. Read the full story on Canyon News. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. Importantly, Tang Palace (China) Holdings Limited (HKG:1181) does carry debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders? When Is Debt Dangerous? Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together. See our latest analysis for Tang Palace (China) Holdings How Much Debt Does Tang Palace (China) Holdings Carry? You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that as of June 2019 Tang Palace (China) Holdings had CN79.2m of debt, an increase on CN68.0, over one year. However, it does have CN478.8m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of CN399.6m. SEHK:1181 Historical Debt, January 14th 2020 How Healthy Is Tang Palace (China) Holdings's Balance Sheet? We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Tang Palace (China) Holdings had liabilities of CN530.6m falling due within a year, and liabilities of CN221.1m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had CN478.8m in cash and CN50.9m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling CN222.0m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined. Story continues Of course, Tang Palace (China) Holdings has a market capitalization of CN1.14b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. But there are sufficient liabilities that we would certainly recommend shareholders continue to monitor the balance sheet, going forward. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Tang Palace (China) Holdings boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load! But the other side of the story is that Tang Palace (China) Holdings saw its EBIT decline by 2.4% over the last year. That sort of decline, if sustained, will obviously make debt harder to handle. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Tang Palace (China) Holdings can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting. But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. Tang Palace (China) Holdings may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. During the last three years, Tang Palace (China) Holdings produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 55% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to. Summing up While Tang Palace (China) Holdings does have more liabilities than liquid assets, it also has net cash of CN399.6m. So we don't have any problem with Tang Palace (China) Holdings's use of debt. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. Take risks, for example - Tang Palace (China) Holdings has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of. Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (L) and President Vladimir Putin walk after the president delivered his annual state of the nation address in the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 1, 2016. (Dmitry Astakhov/ Sputnik, Government Press Service Pool photo via AP ) Russian Government Resigns After Putin Announces Constitutional Changes Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Jan. 15 that hes submitted his resignation to President Vladimir Putin to give the president room to make changes to the constitution. In a statement carried by the state-backed TASS News Agency, Medvedev said his government should step down in the wake of Putins proposals to change the constitution. Putins speech and Medvedevs announcement were also carried via Russian television stations. After those amendments are adoptedand it was said that this is likely to be done following discussionthere will be significant changes not only to a variety of constitution articles, but to the balance of power, namely to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of power, the prime minister said. Medvedev noted that following Putins proposals, Medvedevs government should provide our countrys president with an opportunity to take all the necessary decisions in these conditions. I believe it right for the government of the Russian Federation to step down in conformity with Article 117 of Russias Constitution, Medvedev said. Without much detail, Putin thanked Medvedev and his government for their work, TASS reported. For my part, I also want to thank you for everything that was done at this stage of our joint work, I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved, he said, according to TASS. Not everything was done, but everything never works out in full. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech at a gala on the occasion of the New Year at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on Dec. 26, 2019. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) The statement came after Putin gave a televised speech in front of officials, in which he suggested amending the countrys constitution to limit a future president to only two terms in office. Putin has served four terms and has said he wants to step down in 2024. According to The Guardian, Medvedev, after stepping down as prime minister, was appointed to a new position as deputy chairman of Russias Security Council. Putin added in his speech that he wants to give the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, the power to choose Russias prime minister and other key positions. Of course, these are very serious changes to the political system, Putin said. It would increase the role and significance of the countrys Parliament of parliamentary parties, and the independence and responsibility of the prime minister. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the 2016 Munich Security Conference at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 13, 2016. (Lennart Preiss/Getty Images) Medvedev has served as Russias prime minister since 2012 and spent four years as Russias president between 2008 and 2012. Putins critics have accused him of wanting to remain in power after he steps down in 2024 and assume an enhanced role as prime minister. Boucher Ave., 1200 block, 9:15 p.m. Jan. 7. A man accosted a female pedestrian and demanded her bag, but she refused and a struggle ensued. He grabbed the bag and fled to an apartment in the 900 block of President Street where police arrested the 30-year-old Glen Burnie man. Evidence at the apartment tied the man to other robberies in the area. He was charged with robbery and five related charges. New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority's LIG and Janta flats in Badarpur are roughly 500 metres apart. In one, residents wake up at the crack of dawn and have less than 30 minutes to fill enough water for the entire day, while in the other, people enjoy the leisure of not only longer sleeping hours but almost three times as much time for the same purpose. Badarpur with its skewed water distribution system is a sample case for almost the entire city. According to data sourced from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), DDAs LIG flats in Badarpur receive water starting at 5:15 am and the supply lasts till 5:45 am, while merely 500m away, the same source of water starts at 5:50 am and lasts for 1 hour 25 minutes. Move a little further and youll find that Santosh Singh, who lives in a gated residential society four kilometres away, has none of these issues to worry about. A resident of the Vishwakarma Colony, he gets water all day. To understand the inequity in water distribution in Delhi, consider this: In seven colonies, of the 1,317 that DJB delivers water to through pipes and tube-wells, families have less than 30 minutes to fill enough for their needs. In 10 colonies, families have less than 40 minutes. In almost 65 per cent of the colonies, water lasts a couple of hours. However, 5 per cent of Delhi, mostly concentrated around the central and north-western parts, gets more water than the rest of the city combined. All of this, DJB states, is subject to availability of water and electricity. An emailed questionnaire to DJB remained unanswered at the time of filing this report. The story will be updated as and when the board responds. With Assembly elections in the capital city less than a month away, quality and quantity of water may become a major concern. Moreover, according to reports, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is set to announce 247 water supply in the national capital as a key promise in its manifesto for the February 8 polls. Kejriwal had promised round-the-clock water supply while inaugurating an underground reservoir in south Delhis Kishangarh in December. News18 visited twenty five colonies in Delhi and found that fulfilling this promise may be a huge challenge. The duration of water supply mentioned on paper is far from reality along with the fact that inequity in water distribution has moulded the way people lead their daily lives. Water Dictates the Day Amit Sharma, 38, a father of two, lives in the DDA flats in Badarpur. On days when there is no water, his children either miss school or go with extra money as a substitute to home-made lunch. He, on the other hand, needs to inform his boss about delays in reaching office often. The area, on paper, gets water for 30 minutes daily starting at 5:15 am. However, several residents complain that there is usable water only for 15-20 minutes. "The duration is never fixed. Sometimes there is water for 20 minutes and on others it hardly lasts for 10. The initial flow is also mostly dirty and needs to be thrown away," says Sharma. As per Census 2011, there are roughly 33.41 lakh households in Delhi out of which 27.16 lakh households are provided water through a piped water supply system, covering 81.30 per cent of households. However, out of this 81.30 per cent, 6.10 per cent households have access to piped water from an untreated source. This disparity in water supply has, over the years, seeped into how people in the area live. "We wake up at 5 am everyday only for the purpose of stocking water. My wife and I keep all the storage items ready. My kids also help," says Sharma. The scarcity of water is visible in the number of buckets and barrels the family owns. The washroom and kitchen is a snake-like pathway treading between large storage tanks waiting to be filled. Across the road, roughly 500m away, the scenario is far more relaxed, though not ideal. DDA Janta Flats in Badarpur get water for an hour and a half. The relatively longer duration is, again, visible in the way people here go about their day. "We generally have water leftover from the previous day, so the urgency for stocking is not there. Though they promise an hour and a half, it is generally less," says Krishna Gupta, a 43-year-old banker. The contrast can also be witnessed in the way water is used. The large storage barrels are replaced with normal buckets and earthen pots. Sweeping the house on a daily basis is not a problem and work-life is not dependent on the availability of water. The houses in general have more plants. "However, quality of water is a major concern. If stored for more than a day, the water turns yellowish. Also, we cannot keep stagnant water for long due to the risk of dengue-causing mosquitoes," says Gupta. On days when there is no water there are long queues of men and women with empty buckets waiting for water tankers. DJB states that in areas where there is no piped water supply, it supplies potable water through around 800 department and hired water tankers from 25 emergency centres in different zones in Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government aims to get rid of water tankers by March, 2020. Water Beyond Money Meanwhile, what is occasional for DDA flat-dwellers is a daily exercise for residents of Gautampuri, even after being promised water by the government. The Delhi government in an official statement on June 19 claimed that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had fulfilled his promise by supplying Ganga water to households in Badarpur Assembly constituency. Roughly one kilometre away from the DDA flats, the area still waits for piped water. Gautampuri happens to be an unauthorised colony. According to a study by National Capital Region Planning Board, close to 65 per cent of the population in unauthorised colonies of South-West Delhi belong to Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Castes. The study also found that most inhabitants are migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who work as daily-wage labourers. For residents of the area, water comes only from borewell and tankers, both generally not suitable for drinking and cooking purposes. "We need to make three trips daily to the borewell for our daily needs. The water that comes is also not potable. Water from tankers turns yellow after some time. It is only for fifteen minutes that drinking water is available," says Suman, a resident of the colony since the last seven years. Her family migrated to Delhi from Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, in search of better employment. In order to make water reach their households, people living in the area have drilled holes into the main water pipeline laid down by DJB, however there is no water as yet. A January 2016 study by Water Integrity Network, 'Inequalities in Water Service Delivery in Delhi', notes that "Caste, religion, and political dynamics influence water management significantly and deepen critical integrity issues of inequality and discrimination. These political and social boundaries are associated with a high rate of migration of diverse ethnic groups." The argument of water distribution being biased in urban areas is not new. It was first pointed out in 1988 by National Commission on Urbanisation headed by Charles Correa, credited for creating modern architecture in post-independence India. The report noted that almost 72 per cent of the urban population did not have access to safe water and sanitation in 1985. According to report by TERI in 2018, 54 per cent of the urban population has access to safe sanitation and 16 per cent still waits for access to safe water. [January 15, 2020] Energy and Water Development Corp. Announces Sale of Their Self-Sufficient Energy Supply Atmosphere Water Generation System to Leading Mexican Water Company MIAMI, FL, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Energy and Water Development Corp., (EAWD), a green-tech engineering solutions company focused on delivering water and energy to extreme environments, today announced the sale of their self-sufficient energy supply atmosphere water generation system to a Mexican company. The system is the smallest of its type, which produces 5,000 Liters per day with no infrastructure or power source required. The system is part of the The Blue Aqua Mission System, a state-of-the-art German engineered Atmosphere Water Generation (AWG) technology that is completely powered by renewable energy. The system is composed of a suite of intelligent software solutions for real-time optimization of process performance, and operates through its own innovative self-powered system. The contract was finalized on December 20th, 2019, with a down payment of $308K, 55% of the total cost, with the remaining 45% of the total $550,000 to be paid upon delivery expected in the second quarter of 2020. /p> EAWD anticipates additional sales upon the successful completion of the project throughout Latin America and have larger self-powered systems, with capacity of up to 450,000 Liters per day. About Energy and Water Development Corp. Energy and Water Development Corp. (EAWD) is a green-tech engineering solutions company focused on delivering water and energy to extreme environments. The Company offers design, construction, maintenance, and specialty consulting services to private companies, government entities and non-government organizations (NGOs). EAWD builds water and energy systems out of already-existing, proven technologies, utilizing their technical know-how to customize solutions to their clients needs. The Companys website is: www.eawctechnologies.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words believe, expect, should, intend, estimate, projects, variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Companys current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Companys filings. Contact Information: Energy and Water Development Corp. Irma Velazquez, Chief Operating Officer Email: [email protected] Tel. +1 347 871 8927 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Possibly putting an end to a closely watched drama in the telecommunications space, MCI has accepted a sweetened takeover offer from Verizon Communications, a bid worth nearly US$1 billion more than an earlier offer but still well below the present value of what Qwest International is offering to acquire the long-distance company. MCI announced early today that its board had voted to accept a revised offer from Verizon that adds more than $900 million in cash to the earlier offer and brings the deal to a total of about $7.6 billion. More Cash Up Front Verizons revised offer includes $8.75 per MCI share in cash, $5.60 of which would be paid immediately upon closing of the deal, and $14.75 per share in Verizon stock. Verizons first offer was worth around $6.7 billion and contained less up-front cash. MCIs board has been closely and carefully evaluating all of the recent developments, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, chairman of MCIs board, said in a statement. We believe Verizons substantial increase in its offer, the strength of its competitive position and the financial certainty at close make this offer compelling to our shareholders, customers and employees. Verizon, which had insisted that it makes a more logical partner throughout the bidding war, even casting aspersions on Qwests claims of synergies and cost-savings, echoed that theme today. Verizon and MCI together create a formidable and highly competitive company, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said. It wasnt immediately clear whether Qwest would make another counter-offer or even take its case directly to shareholders by waging a battle for proxy votes when any deal is put to shareholders for approval. However, MCIs board might be eager to put the matter to rest, as the uncertainty in recent weeks has caused some volatility in its stock and it likely faces a future of shrinking earnings as a stand-alone company. Mission Accomplished? The extra cash in the new offer might help mollify some shareholders who had been critical of MCIs quick decision to accept Verizons first offer without leaving the door open to a bidding war. The decision to go with the new Verizon bid came just hours after Qwest issued a deadline of April 5 for MCI to accept or reject its new, higher bid. Qwests offer is worth around $8.45 billion. MCI executives have long argued that Verizon offers a better long-term fit because of its stronger cash position and its larger size. The most logical thing for MCI to do all along was to let things play out a while and see if they couldnt get a higher bid, which it appears theyve done, telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan told the E-Commerce Times. Verizon was not seen overpaying for MCI, since the company gives it instant access to a large number of enterprise accounts, the type of cache in the business community that is seen as a key missing ingredient in an otherwise impressive portfolio of customers and services that Verizon boasts. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The question now becomes where does Qwest look next, Kagan said. Not Over Yet MCI offered the same potential benefits to both Qwest and Verizon the ability to instantly acquire an already built, business-class network that would take years and billions of dollars to build from scratch. Kagan said more consolidation will occur in the industry, despite the fact that there are now few big players left to be acquired or merged. In just the last six months or so, SBC acquired AT&T for $16 billion while, in the mobile space, Sprint and Nextel merged in a $35 billion blockbuster, while Cingular got the go-ahead to buy AT&T Wireless for around $41 billion. While the MCI merger is small by comparison, it might represent a point at which some companies might need to change strategies in order to grow. Most analysts agree that scale is necessary to be able to offer customers the range of services they want at a price that is profitable. Future for Qwest Qwest could turn its attention to acquiring regional carriers, or it could focus on building its own business customer base. Most analysts believe the company will need to do something to expand beyond its role as a regional provider of local calling services and the smallest of the onetime Baby Bells. Rolling up more regional carriers to expand its footprint is one option, according to analysts, but might be a risky strategy, since that is the very segment of the industry being hardest hit by changes in consumer behavior, such as the replacement of land lines with mobile phones as well as VoIP. Candidates must meet one of three criteria: They live in neighborhoods, such as Austin, designated to have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs; they, their parent or dependent have been arrested or convicted of a marijuana charge that is eligible to be expunged under the law; or they employ at least 10 people half of whom meet the first two criteria. US$69.2 million in cattle producer prices paid out by Meatco Namibia last year Ronald Kubas, acting Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) chairperson said the company contributed positively to Namibia's agricultural sector, which has been affected by the recent drought, reported The Namibian. Kubas said the company slaughtered 115,000 cattle last year to assist drought-stricken farmers, close to 85% more cattle compared to the same period in 2018 while maintaining prices for the meat. Meatco is currently looking to rebuild its herd, including the prospect of importing livestock from Botswana and obtaining cattle from northeast Namibia through the creation of a buffer zone. The latter strategy will be executed with the Ministry of Agriculture. The company is also proposing additional intensive cattle rearing to recover its rangelands and working with cattle farmers to address throughput challenges via the introduction of intensive rearing mini feedlot systems. Kubas added that the company is fortunate to be able to access the Namibia market without restrictions imposed, but throughput, raw materials, and raw materialsavailability are some of the company's biggest challenges. The Namibian Agricultural Inputs and Household Food Security Situation report found that 88,219 livestock had died from the drought between October 2018 to September 2019, with an average of 7,350 deaths monthly. - The Namibian EASTON The 63-year-old man who died last week after an accident fall was remembered fondly for his unforgettable voice and laugh in an obituary posted Tuesday. Easton resident Michael Baldyga died Friday, Jan. 10. Local police said that day that they called in the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad to aid the department in an investigation into an untimely death at a Redding Road home. Police Chief Timothy Shaw said on Monday that although the investigation was still open and ongoing, investigators found that Baldyga succumbed to injuries sustained due to an accidental fall within the residence. According to the obituary, Baldyga worked as a business executive for MBI. He was born in Bridgeport to Raymond and Eleanor Sembrot Baldyga. Growing up, he would go to weekly Wednesday night dinners at his grandmothers house. During those dinners, he would tell his family about his adventures and childhood stories. He was such a brilliant man, the obituary said. He had an unforgettable voice and laugh. Baldyga is survived by his parents, his brothers and nieces. Calling hours will be held Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Lesko and Polke Funeral Home in Fairfield. Funeral services are scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. at Holy Family Church in Fairfield. His burial will follow at Lawncroft Cemetery in Fairfield. Online condolences can be left at www.LeskoPolkeFuneralHome.com. Carlos Ghosn was long one of the most admired executives in the auto industry. He was hailed as a corporate saviour when French automaker Renault bought a stake in Nissan and dispatched him to Japan on a rescue mission. He built a thriving global alliance between the two companies, and for 12 years he led both simultaneously. Carlos Ghosn did some great things, said Scott Smith, the owner of four Nissan franchises in Georgia. He gave us a lot of good product. He was the Lee Iacocca of Europe. Ghosns career was abruptly halted 14 months ago with his arrest in Japan on charges of financial wrongdoing. After an audacious escape from custody and a surreptitious trek to Lebanon, he declared that he was determined to restore his personal reputation. But however his legal troubles play out, there are growing questions about another aspect of his reputation: whether he left Nissan in good shape. Less than three years after Ghosn gave up the top job at Nissan, it has slipped into a deep slump. Revenue and profits are falling in markets around the world. Sales in the United States its most crucial market after China fell 11 per cent in 2019, a staggering decline at a time when auto sales are at near-record levels. Analysts and industry executives lay much of the blame for Nissans woes on Ghosn. Over his last eight years at the helm, he led an unrelenting push for growth, often at the expense of the bottom line. To satisfy his demands for higher sales and more market share, Nissan executives turned to questionable practices that alienated a critical constituency: the dealers who sell its cars. Almost nobody calls now and says, I want to buy a Nissan franchise, said Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners, which advises buyers and sellers of auto dealerships. Carlos pushed too hard. He had very ambitious goals, and he pushed his managers to achieve them. He created a temporary situation that looked good for a while, but it was artificial. In an interview last week in Beirut, Ghosn said Nissan was doing fine when he stepped aside as chief executive three years ago, and he blamed his successor, Hiroto Saikawa, for the companys problems. I think hes unfit to be CEO, particularly when he spent this time not taking responsibility for the situation in which the company was, Ghosn said. Travis Parman, a spokesman for Nissans North American division, declined to comment on Ghosns remarks, but acknowledged that a strategy of volume at any cost had sometimes driven bad behaviour by the company. Asked Tuesday to address whether flaws in Nissans U.S. strategy under Ghosn laid the groundwork for its recent troubles and alienated dealers, someone in contact with him said the former chief executive strongly rejects the premise. Ghosn, who was educated in France, started his career at French tire maker Michelin, becoming head of its North America operations. He moved to Renault in 1996 as executive vice president and helped lead a turnaround. His skill at improving profitability earned him the nickname Le Cost Killer. When Renault bought its stake in 1999, Nissan was near collapse. Ghosn slashed thousands of jobs, drawing criticism in a country not accustomed to mass layoffs, but Nissan quickly returned to profitability. In 2005 he was named CEO of Renault as well, becoming the first person to head two Fortune Global 500 companies at once. By then, Nissan was often more profitable than Renault, although the French company remained the senior partner in the alliance. In 2011, as the industry was recovering from the deep recession of 2008 and 2009, Ghosn stood before hundreds of reporters in Yokohama and announced an ambitious plan for Nissan. Over the next eight years, he said, Nissan would raise its share of the global market to eight per cent, from 5.8 per cent. He planned to do this by investing heavily in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The U.S. market, where the economic recovery promised several years of rising auto sales, had a special role. There, he promised, Nissans market share, including the Infiniti luxury brand, would rise to 10 per cent by 2017. To drive growth, Nissan introduced new models and aggressive incentives that imposed ambitious sales quotas and tough terms on dealers. The incentive scheme Nissan favoured, known as a stair step, awards cash bonuses to dealers as opposed to the more familiar rebates given to buyers. But it was essentially an all-or-nothing deal: Dealers got substantial bonuses only if they hit sales goals. We made tremendous profit at the beginning, said Smith, the Georgia dealer. But as your target went up and up year after year, you reached a point where you cant hit the target. Dealers often sold cars at fire-sale prices in the last days of the month to make it over the line. That irritated customers when they learned that a neighbour paid thousands of dollars less for the same car, some dealers said. Other dealers simply bought cars themselves, held them for a few months and then offered them as used cars. By the middle of the decade, many dealers were losing money, despite the robust economy, and looked to sell their franchises. The owner of a dealership in Framingham, Massachusetts, simply turned out the lights and walked away, unable to find a buyer. AutoNation, the countrys largest dealership group, had 21 Nissan franchises in 2014, and sold 10 of them by 2018, according to its annual reports. Nissan was convinced that stair steps were the way to go, and we did not agree with this strategy for our business, said Marc Cannon, an AutoNation spokesman. It didnt help that Americans were gravitating strongly toward trucks and SUVs which produce bigger profits and away from sedans and compacts, which Nissan relies on for a large portion of sales. With the deadline for Ghosns goal of 10 per cent market share a few years away, Nissans U.S. executives increasingly took aim at smaller dealers, imposing ever more demanding terms to ramp up sales. Inside Nissan, the effort was known as Grow or Go. The company also began favouring a few large dealers, quietly agreeing to provide funding to them that was not offered to others nearby. In Coral Gables, Florida, Bernie Moreno had a confidential agreement calling for Nissan to pay him $4.4 million over several years to fund an opulent Infiniti dealership, he said. Nissan also agreed to give him $6.5 million more for two new Nissan dealerships he opened near Cleveland. Even with extra money from Nissan, Moreno eventually struggled. One month in 2018, Nissan raised the sales goal of his Infiniti store to 180 cars about twice as many as it would naturally sell. It was an impossible number, he said. The type of stair-step programs Nissan operated were like heroin, Moreno added. They gave car companies an immediate boost in sales, but then they couldnt get off it. In 2017, Ghosns final year as chief executive, Nissan sold 1.6 million cars and trucks in the United States, a 53 per cent increase from 2011, and enough to give it 9.2 per cent of the market, short of Ghosns target. But the incentives it was paying out were starting to eat into profits, and many of its remaining dealers were fed up with chasing higher sales year after year. Nissans most recent earnings report revealed the depth of its troubles. While China has become Nissans biggest market, Ghosns push into emerging markets has become a costly flop amid economic turmoil in Brazil, India and Russia. In the United States, Nissan has been slow to introduce new models, leaving little to draw shoppers. When Ghosns successor, Saikawa, finally changed the companys incentive strategy in 2018, sales slumped, and Nissan was left with a glut of unsold cars. Without the old incentive scheme, Nissan dealers stopped offering bargain prices every month. Customers had become trained to shop for the deal, Smith said. In the six-month period ending Sept. 30, Nissans operating income fell 85 per cent from the same period a year before. In North America, profit declined 57 per cent. In September, Saikawa resigned after an internal investigation found that he had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more than he was owed. The head of Nissans China operations, Makoto Uchida, was named chief executive in October. He has vowed to focus on profits and installed a new management team in the United States. For all Nissans troubles, Smith is determined to continue as a dealer. He said a turnaround would take time, but added, Im optimistic. Moreno, on the other hand, is giving up on selling cars, in large part because of his experience with Nissan. Over the past year, he has sold his two Nissan stores in Ohio and about a dozen dealerships of other brands. A deal to sell Infiniti of Coral Gables and a Buick GMC dealership in Ohio is expected to close in a few weeks, he said. Then Ill be out of the auto business completely, he said. The owner of a historic 131-year-old house in Brighton, which was damaged by fire and is currently uninhabitable because it is infested with mould, has lost her battle to demolish the property. In a majority determination, the Heritage Council last month refused a permit to knock down Spurling House. The body noted that once demolished, the cultural heritage significance of a place on the Victorian Heritage Register is ineradicably lost. Spurling House in Brighton is currently uninhabitable. Credit:Eddie Jim The case raises interesting questions about when the heritage significance of a property should outweigh the cost of maintaining it. Dissenting Heritage Council member Patrick Doyle argued the refusal of the demolition permit was a disproportionate price for the (owner) to pay, for the sake of the broader public interest in maintaining the heritage values of the place. Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop was one of several senators who visited the center in Geneva in August and saw a number of girls in confinement. He said one girl, about 14 or 15 years old, had been lying on a mattress on the floor for about five days with little to no light. Lights worked in only about three of a dozen rooms girls were confined to, he said. The law treats juveniles differently for a good reason, Lathrop said. Many have psychiatric needs or have a history of poor treatment or difficulties at home. The idea of sending them to facilities is to rehabilitate them, he said, and get them on the right path to become productive adults. Putting them into these rooms is traumatizing, Lathrop said. Facilities need to separate them only long enough to allow them to catch their breath, cool off and then return to normal treatment and rehabilitation. But Sen. John Lowe of Kearney pointed out that the solitary room confinement the senators were talking about at Geneva no longer exists because the girls have moved to Kearney. Only a few girls will return to Geneva in the future, and they will be those who are ready to reenter their own communities. The year has started well for Russia when it comes to energy. Two large energy projects have been finished, Turk Stream and Power of Siberia, and the third, Nord Stream 2, has passed the point of no return - with U.S. sanctions now unable to obstruct its completion. Moscow's ambitions, however, are loftier still. China and Russia have voiced plans for ever-closer political and economic cooperation. Energy is one of the most important areas of collaboration between these two superpowers due to the complementary nature of their economies. China requires ever-larger volumes of energy to power its expansion and Russia needs money to modernize and sustain a reasonable standard of living for its population. For nearly two decades Russia has been trying to convince China to buy natural gas from its natural gas fields in Western Siberia. Moscow has both political and financial reasons to convince Beijing of this. The Russians have been looking for alternatives to lessen their dependence on Europe as the vast majority of the natural gas is exported towards the west. Supplying China with energy from the same natural gas fields would strengthen the countrys bargaining position vis-a-vis Europe as it would increase the available options in case demand decreases from either one. From a financial point of view the Altai pipeline is relatively cheap as much of the infrastructure is already present. Negotiations on the pipeline have been slow due to Chinese foot-dragging. Northwestern China is already an important production area for oil and gas. Therefore, the regional market is already saturated. This means that Chinese companies would have to invest heavily in additional infrastructure to carry the gas to the densely populated areas in the east. Also, the country is already well-connected to Turkmenistans gas fields through Central Asia with a 55 bcm capacity pipeline. Related: The Unexpected Consequences Of Germanys Anti-Nuclear Push Putin, however, recently made a bold move to kickstart the project and save face by reviving the second option through Mongolia. On December 5, Moscow and Ulaanbataar signed a memorandum of understanding for a feasibility study for a pipeline from Russia through Mongolia to China. The study is significant because it has the support of the leadership of the three involved countries. The results should be out within six months. The relatively high costs of the project compared with the western alternative don't make it the preferred option from a Russian point of view. According to Interfax Putin said, "I know the route there [through Mongolia] isn't easy, but a preliminary consideration of this matter showed that it's realistic, and our Chinese partners tend to agree." Moscows changing strategy seems to be motivated by recent developments and a new window of opportunity. The recent turmoil in Xinjiang could have convinced the leadership in Russia that another pipeline through the region wont be approved due to security risks in the area. Another reason could be Moscows conviction that it is the right moment to push for Siberian gas to replace Central Asian energy as Beijing and Turkmenistan have been discussing a fourth line of the Central Asia-China pipeline. Although the infrastructure's deadline has been pushed back from 2016 to 2022, it remains likely that it will be completed eventually. Therefore, Moscow is pushing for its pipeline to be completed earlier to increase market share. Besides a lower risk of supply disruptions, the Mongolian route has another advantage. The geography of the region makes it ideal for the construction of major pipelines. Moscow and Beijing have already shown that they are capable of finishing massive projects on time when the political will is there. Fueled by Western hostility, the political and economic cooperation of the Asian giants will strengthen even further in the future. Energy is a straightforward and necessary option for Beijing and Moscow to integrate their economies. If the project is to get a green light, it will most likely happen this year as the circumstances are ideal. By Vanand Meliksetian for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: New Delhi [India], Jan 15 (ANI): A Delhi Court has granted bail to 12 people so far, including 10 on Wednesday, in the Seelampur violence case on a surety bond of Rs 15,000. Delhi's Karkardooma Court has granted bail to ten people today, while two were already granted bail on the medical ground earlier. Additional Sessions Judge Lalit Kumar said that "The policemen injury is normal as per the MLC report. Apart from this, nothing has been proved on the basis of police CCTV footage. It has been a month since the accused people have been kept in jail but neither the Delhi Police nor the Crime Branch has been able to prove." Zakir Raza, the lawyer for the accused persons in this case, told the court during the hearing that the police had registered a false case under section 307 of IPC against them. "The police had picked up people from the house in Seelampur area and arrested them in the afternoon while the FIR was lodged at night. The police threw tear gas in the area and arrested the injured people who were going for treatment," said Raza during the hearing. "Police wants to prove that these people have committed violence by showing broken glass in the name of evidence," he added. On January 2, Delhi court Chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam extended the judicial custody of 14 accused persons till January 16. Two of the accused in the case were granted interim bail on medical ground earlier. On December 31 Delhi court had granted bail to two accused persons who were arrested after a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was turned violent in the Seelampur area earlier this month. The Delhi Police had arrested 16 people during the protest on December 17. Subsequently, the court sent them to 14-day judicial custody a day after. They were arrested after a protest in Delhi's Seelampur area turned violent. The protesters had allegedly clashed with policemen and vandalized three buses during the protest. Many people were also injured in the incident. (ANI) The government has taken measures to introduce a simpler tax system and taken other measures to create a conducive economic environment to spur foreign direct investment President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday told visiting American diplomat Alice Wells that when it came to future actions relating to the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) Agreement, the expectations of the people from both countries should be taken into consideration as both Sri Lanka and the US are countries which respect democracy. The US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells met President Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. President Rajapaksa told Wells that currently an expert panel is studying the proposals in the MCC agreement, a communique issued by the Presidents Media Division said. Special attention of the expert panel has been drawn to facts such as how the agreement was enacted in other countries and related experience, the President further explained. President Rajapaksa went on to say that one of the priorities for his government was to eradicate poverty through a speedy development programme. The government has taken measures to introduce a simpler tax system and taken other measures to create a conducive economic environment to spur foreign direct investment, the President said. President Rajapaksa further said that some of the sectors identified as in need of rapid development are education, agriculture, tourism and technological industries. While pointing out that currently the US was the biggest buyer of apparels produced in the country, the President said as Sri Lanka plans to develop the IT and other technology related industries in a big way he would like to invite the US to invest in such ventures. Gov. Ralph Northam is expected Wednesday to impose a ban on firearms in Capitol Square, days before a rally Monday to oppose gun control legislation that is expected to draw tens of thousands of gun-rights supporters to Richmond. The Associated Press, citing two state officials it said were briefed on Northams plans, reported that Northam will declare a temporary emergency barring all weapons from Capitol Square. Northam is expected discuss the move Wednesday afternoon during a security briefing in Richmond. Northams action comes more than two years after the deadly August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in which white nationalists clashed with counterprotesters. Heather Heyer was killed and more than 30 others injured when James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators. A review conducted for the city of Charlottesville faulted government and law enforcement officials at multiple levels. It found that the planning and coordination breakdowns prior to August 12 produced disastrous results. MALE, Maldives, Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Webb Fontaine, a leading provider of solutions for trade facilitation powered by artificial intelligence and new generation of IT systems, has been awarded a five-year contract with the Ministry of Economic Development for the Republic of Maldives to install, configure and maintain a turnkey National Single Window (NSW) platform for Trade in the Maldives. Expected to go live by end of next year, the Maldives National Single Window (MNSW) will streamline international trade procedures by providing an integrated platform for trade, transport and logistics operations. It will enable transparency, faster clearances, cutting cost through reducing delays and improve trade compliances. It will in turn optimize the processing of import and export information with certainty and predictability for the trade community in the Maldives. The contract between Webb Fontaine and the Ministry of Economic Development for the Republic of Maldives is part of the country's drive towards digitization and is a huge step in the right direction for the trade community of Maldives. Didier Reymond, CEO at Webb Fontaine said, "The agreement between Webb Fontaine and the Ministry of Economic Development for the Republic of Maldives marks a milestone for both parties. With the implementation of the MNSW, time and cost will be significantly reduced for both government agencies and private sector stakeholders. It will assist in eliminating inefficiencies that currently arise from procedures that are mostly paper-based." The implementation of MNSW will provide the Maldives with a modern and effective customs administration, streamlined and transparent business procedures and improved merchandise trade within the private sector for small and medium-sized enterprises. Honorable Fayyaz Ismail, Minister of Economic Development, Republic of Maldives said, "Our partnership with Webb Fontaine is a testament to our commitment as a country to modernize and streamline our current trade procedures. Working together to enhance and optimize our international trade platform will have a huge positive impact on the ease of doing business with the Maldives." With over 15 offices in a variety of markets all over the world, Webb Fontaine has worked with different government and private entities to provide them with technology solutions to facilitate trade processes. Its innovative solutions and services are brought to life at its Research and Development (R&D) Centers which work across the world to ensure they are utilized correctly and efficiently. Located in Armenia, France and the Philippines, Webb Fontaine R&D centers has invested hugely in this and therefore is equipped with disruptive technology such as AI and machine learning to constantly develop new solutions for its clients. To learn more about Webb Fontaine and its suite of tech solutions, please visit: www.webbfontaine.com About Webb Fontaine: Trusted by governments globally, Webb Fontaine provides industry wide solutions to accelerate trade development and modernization. The company uses unique technology including Artificial Intelligence to enable countries to emerge as leaders in the future of trade. Knowledge transfer is at the core of Webb Fontaine; comprising of a team of experts who work across the world, empowering local communities and governments. As an industry leader with the largest R&D centres in the industry, Webb Fontaine is constantly developing international trade practices connecting countries, borders and people. For more information visit www.webbfontaine.com SOURCE Webb Fontaine A 41-year-old Mumbai businessman Vikas Sachdev has been convicted for molesting and sexual assault of a young actor on a Delhi-Mumbai flight in December 2017. The actor, who was in her teens when the incident took place, announced her exit from Bollywood more than a year after the incident, citing religious reasons. The special court for sexual offences against children has convicted Sachdev to three years jail. I am holding you guilty for section 354 (Molestation) of Indian Penal Code and Section 8 (sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), Special Judge AD Deo said in his verdict. He faces a minimum jail term of three years under POCSO. The prosecution had examined seven witnesses including the ex-actor, a passenger and two cabin crew members. Also read: Teenage Bollywood actor alleges molestation on Vistara flight, Mumbai Police file FIR The award-winning ex-actor had tearfully shared her ordeal in a video posted on Instagram in December 2017, accusing the passenger on the Air Vistara flight of rubbing his foot against her back and neck while she was half asleep. In her post, she said a co-passenger sitting behind her in the business class had put up his feet on her armrest. So, I was on a flight travelling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miserable. I tried to record it on my phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it... The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck, she had said in the video post. The businessman and his wife had countered the complaint, insisting that Sachdev was returning from a funeral, was mentally disturbed and asleep when the incident took place. It was unintentional, his wife had said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Apple and the US government are at loggerheads for the second time in four years over unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving debate over law enforcement access to encrypted devices. Attorney General Bill Barr said Monday that Apple failed to provide "substantive assistance" in unlocking two iPhones in the investigation into the December shooting deaths of three US sailors at a Florida naval station, which he called an "act of terrorism." Apple disputed Barr's claim, while arguing against the idea of "backdoors" for law enforcement to access its encrypted smartphones. "We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation," the company said in a statement. "Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing." Late on Tuesday, President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter, saying the government was helping Apple on trade issues "yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements." "They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!" he added. The standoff highlighted the debate between law enforcement and the tech sector about encryption -- a key way to protect the privacy of digital communications, but which can also make investigations difficult, even with a court order. The latest battle is similar to the dispute between Apple and the US Justice Department after the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, when the iPhone maker rejected a request to develop software to break into the shooter's iPhone. That fight ended in 2016 when the government paid an outside party a reported $1 million for a tool that circumvented Apple's iPhone encryption. Barr last year called on Facebook to allow authorities to circumvent encryption to fight extremism, child pornography and other crimes. The social network has said it would move ahead with strong encryption for its messaging applications. - Opening wrong doors? Digital rights activists argue that any privileged access for law enforcement would weaken security and make it easier for hackers and authoritarian governments to intercept messages. "We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys," Apple's statement said. "Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers." Apple and others argue that digital "breadcrumbs" make it increasingly easy to track people, even without breaking into personal devices. The government's latest demand "is dangerous and unconstitutional, and would weaken the security of millions of iPhones," Jennifer Granick of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. "Strong encryption enables religious minorities facing genocide, like the Uighurs in China, and journalists investigating powerful drug cartels in Mexico, to communicate safely." Granick added that Apple cannot allow the FBI access to encrypted communications "without also providing it to authoritarian foreign governments and weakening our defenses against criminals and hackers." Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation echoed that sentiment, saying Apple "is right to provide strong security" for its devices. "The AG (attorney general) requesting Apple re-engineer its phones to break that security is a poor security trade-off, and imperils millions of innocent people around the globe," Opsahl tweeted. James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said he believes it's possible to allow law enforcement access without sacrificing encryption. "You're not weakening encryption, you're making it so it's not end-to-end," Lewis told AFP. "It means that there's a third party who can look at it under appropriate authority." But Lewis said he does not expect either side to come out a winner in the battle, and that US officials will likely find another outside party to crack the two iPhones belonging to the shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamran, who died in the attack. "It's a repeat of the movie we saw in San Bernardino," he said. "It's going to be harder because Apple probably fixed the trick that worked in San Bernardino." The US attorney general claimed Apple has failed to provide enough help to unlock iPhones used in a deadly December shooting spree, reviving a debate on law enforcement access to encrypted devices Attorney General Bill Barr has called on both Facebook and Apple to provide better access to law enforcement seeking access to encrypted devices and content Apple has been implementing stronger encryption on its iPhones, making it harder for law enforcement to access the devices Surety One, Inc. Loves the Kids! We have an affirmative human duty to contribute to ease suffering and find cures. ~Constantin Poindexter Surety One, Inc. and its CEO, Constantin Poindexter under their matching agreement collectively donated to forty-five charities in the United States and Puerto Rico in 2019. This donation activity represents a thirty percent increase over the prior fiscal year. The largest donation, ten thousand dollars was delivered to The National Childrens Cancer Society, one of the groups preferred non-profit organizations. Said Poindexter, "The NCCSs mission is to provide critical support to children suffering from cancers and to their families. These little kids are given horrible and often hopeless diagnoses. Groups like the NCCS that focus not only on the patients but also their families are absolutely critical to the comfort of the kids and the healing process. My Surety One, Inc. Team unanimously agreed that our largest gift of the year should go to the NCCS and that it should be delivered during the Christmas season. I am privileged to work with such big-hearted people and humbly support their choice by matching the companys charitable gift. Surety One, Inc. focuses its charitable giving on foundations that research and treat deadly childhood ailments. Childhood cancers are largely white blood cell killers such as leukemia, brain, bone and lymphatic system diseases. Supporting the research and development of cures to these and support of patients families are imperative. Surety One, Inc. is an international insurance general agency specializing in surety bonds, domiciled in Puerto Rico and licensed in all fifty states, Canada and U.S. Virgin Islands. To learn more about Surety One, Inc. visit https://SuretyOne.com, call (787) 333-0222 or email Underwriting@Surety One.com Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree, saying that the outgoing government will have to fulfil its duties until the new government is formed. "This decree comes into force on the day of its signing," the Kremlin said in a statement. The decree comes hours after Russian Prime Minister Dmitri A Medvedev and his Cabinet abruptly resigned. Medvedev linked the unexpected resignations to an overhaul put forward earlier on Wednesday by Putin, New York Times reported. Putin, who under current law must step down in 2024, has proposed amending the Russian Constitution to expand the powers of Parliament and a body called the State Council, which currently carries little weight. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of 36 Union ministers are scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir later this week in order to make people aware of the positive impact of Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The Union ministers will also inform people about the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre for the welfare of the people of region after the scrapping of Article 370. It is to be noted that this is the first visit of Union ministers to the region after the Centre scrapped its special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Sources said that the date for the visit of Union ministers would be finalised at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on January 17. It is learnt that Railways Minister Piyush Goyal may visit Jammu and Kashmir on January 19. Live TV Anurag Thakur, Giriraj Singh, Prahlad Joshi, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Renuka Singh, Jitendra Singh and Kiren Rijiju are among the other ministers who will visit different districts during their visit to Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, intelligence agencies on Wednesday (January 15) warned that easing of restrictions will lead to a surge in anti-India activities in the Valley. Inputs gathered by the intelligence Agency, accessed by Zee Media, suggest that restoration of internet services and easing of other curbs will lead to separatist activities in Kashmir Valley. Agencies also warned that Pakistan's ISI is planning a strategy to exploit the situation once internet services are fully operational in the Valley. In another development, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said that it will restore 2G mobile connectivity in five districts of the Jammu region from Wednesday. The J&K Administration announced that while internet services will be restored in some parts of Jammu, broadband facilities will be provided to "all the institutions dealing with essential services" as well as hospitals, banks and hotels among others. Estonia Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on Wednesday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and conveyed his country's support for India's candidature for the non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2021-22. The two leaders met here on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue 2020. They extensively discussed various issues of mutual interest for further deepening the partnership between India and Estonia, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement. The ministry said that Reinsalu's visit will further strengthen bilateral relations between India and Estonia. "Bilateral relations between India and Estonia are stable and cordial. Both countries share common values of democracy, freedom and pluralism," read the statement. Speaking to ANI, Reinsalu termed his meeting with Jaishankar as "very marvellous." "Meeting was very marvellous. There is no political agenda because India and Estonia's political relation is cloudless," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 15, 2020] FPInnovations' cellulose filament technology will be produced by Resolute MONTREAL, Jan. 15, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - FPInnovations is pleased to announce that its cellulose filament production technology will once again be brought to a commercial scale following Resolute Forest Products' announcement of a $27.7 million investment in its Kenogami plant in Quebec. This confirms FPInnovations' ability to provide tangible support to companies that innovate with wood, which ultimately allows the forest sector to diversify its traditional and non-traditional products and markets. FPInnovations will partner with Resolute Forest Products to transfer knowledge of the technology, which was developed with contributions from industrial members, provincial governments and Canadian government funding from the Canadian Forest Service's Transformative Technologies Program. This is the second time FPInnovations' cellulose filament production technology has been commercialized. Cellulose filaments, a biomaterial etracted from wood-pulp fibre, have unique properties that make them an outstanding reinforcing agent for use in a wide range of products and applications, including improving the properties of paper products. Cellulose filaments can be used as a reinforcing agent in materials used in industrial sectors such as transportation or as a rheological agent to modify the texture and behavior of paint. Quotes "FPInnovations, in collaboration with its members, plays a crucial role in developing and implementing innovations that directly impact the competitiveness and diversification of the forest sector. We are delighted with the commitment of governments and Resolute to this project, which demonstrates a common desire to promote the full potential of the forest sector bioeconomy." Stephane Renou, President and Chief Executive Officer of FPInnovations With the establishment of this plant, Resolute Forest Products is continuing to implement its diversification strategy and is solidifying its sustained interest in cellulose filament technology." Yves Laflamme, President and Chief Executive Officer of Resolute Forest Products Related links Resolute Forest Products FPInnovations About FPInnovations FPInnovations is a private not-for-profit organization that specializes in the creation of solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector's global competitiveness. It is ideally positioned to perform state-of-the-art research, develop advanced technologies, and deliver innovative solutions to complex problems for every area of the sector's value chain, from forest operations to consumer and industrial products. Its R&D laboratories are located in Quebec City, Montreal and Vancouver, and it has technology-transfer offices across Canada. SOURCE FPInnovations [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. LITCHFIELD Mina Eisenbach, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest CT, will join more than 3,000 women leaders leaders from all 50 U.S. states and 100 countries, hailing from as far away as Laos and Angola, Ghana and Uzbekistan, at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchos) in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Feb. 13. The annual event is aimed at reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world, according to a statement. Preconceived notions about the insular role of women in Hasidism will be shattered as thousands of women from around the world, each serving in crucial leadership positions, gather for five days of brainstorming about the future of world Jewry and their roles as representatives of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the Litchfield Chabad said in a statement. The leaders-who embrace multiple roles and responsibilities-will explore relevant issues, and learn from professionals and colleagues with years of experience. The topics covered run the gamut of their concerns: understanding troubled relationships; adult education, inclusion; responding to tragedy; fundraising; the opioid epidemic; mental health; and a conference within the conference for Hebrew school and preschool directors, as well as one for those who serve students on college campuses, ensuring a lasting impact on the next generation of communal leaders. The conference will also include a parallel track for lay leaders. Additional highlights of the five-day conference will be a visit to the gravesite of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, in the New York City borough of Queens, the class picture, where they will pose for a group photo, as well as the gala banquet, where they will be joined by admirers, supporters and influential women leaders for a sit-down dinner. The conference is a tribute to the legacy of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, the esteemed wife of the Rebbe, and is timed to the anniversary of her passing. Rebbetzin Schneersons deep care for and insight into their work remains a source of inspiration to the Chabad women emissaries. The conference also presents an opportunity to connect with colleagues, and recharge their personal energy. This gives the participants, especially those going back to far and isolated outposts, an exhilarating send-off, coupled with the sense that they are not alone. Litchfield kindergarten registration open LITCHFIELD Kindergarten registration for 2020-21 will be held Jan. 27-Jan. 31. Children living in Litchfield, Bantam and Northfield who will be 5 years old on or before Jan. 1, 2021 are eligible for kindergarten for the 2020-21 school year. To register, parents should bring a birth certificate verifying your childs date of birth; a record of immunizations; and proof of residency. Homeowners can bring a copy of the homes deed or contract, a signed lease or notarized rental agreement, a copy of a valid CT drivers license for the parent/guardian indicating the address where the child resides, and two current utility bills (land line telephone, water, electric, gas, oil or cable television NOT cellphone. Those who have a child already enrolled in Center School do not need to provide proof of residency. All others must provide proof of residency at the time of registration. Registrations will not be accepted unless you have this information with you. Registration forms are available on our website and at school. Register at Center School any time between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 27-31. Students enrolled in Center Schools Preschool program who are registering for kindergarten only need to complete a registration form and drop it off in the main office. Auction benefits St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish TERRYVILLE The Youth Ministry of Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish will hold its annual fundraising auction at 6 p.m., Feb. 7, at the Lyceum Event Center, 181 Main Street, Terryville. Started in 2012, Youth Ministry is committed to encouraging youth of Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish to strengthen their relationship with God through service, fun, and faith related events. Over the past several years we have supported several positive youth programs with in our parish including Vacation Bible School, Steubenville Youth Conference, World Youth Day, Jump4Jesus and Teen Group. Every year, this event is our largest fundraiser and is a critical source of support for these programs. A ticket to the event includes the silent auction, which offers items from more than 100 local organizations. In addition, while listening to live music by The Remnants, guests can enjoy our soda and wine tasting, appetizers, door prizes, and free babysitting. Reserve a table for $100 for 10. Individual tickets are $20 per person, and all are available at the parish office, Plymouth Dental Care, 65 Main St., Terryville, and Beacon Prescriptions, 241 Main St., Terryville. For information, call call or text the Youth Minister directly at 860-965-9151. EdAdvance announces student scholarships LITCHFIELD For more than 20 years, EdAdvance has awarded annual scholarships to high school seniors and GED students in our service area based on their responses to an essay. This year, respondents were asked to describe an instance when they used their time and talents to serve their own school or community as a volunteer or leader. Essays will be judged based on clarity, example of talent, motivation, future plans, grammar, and are limited to 500 words. Winning essays will make a strong connection between each students contribution and the positive impact his or her actions had on people or institutions in their community. All applications are due by Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Four graduating high school seniors from within the EdAdvance service area will be awarded a $1,500 college scholarship on or around May 8, 2020. Application submission instructions can be found at www.edadvance.org/scholarships. For more information on these scholarships, contact Abby Peklo, Director of Student and Community Programs at peklo@edadvance.org or 860.567.0863 x1166. SYRACUSE, N.Y. Seventeen guns have been confiscated at the Syracuse airport passenger checkpoint since 2013, the second-highest total among Upstate New York airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Agents confiscated 13 guns at six Upstate NY airports in 2019 alone. Five of those were in Syracuse, according to a news release. Buffalos Niagara International Airport leads the region for total guns confiscated in the six-year period. Since 2013, 28 guns have been detected and seized at the TSA checkpoints in Buffalo. Nationwide, the TSA seized 4,432 guns at airports the highest total in the TSAs 18-year history, according to the news release. Travelers who bring firearms to the checkpoints can face criminal charges and fines between $4,100 and $13,000 from the TSA. Even travelers with concealed carry permits are not allowed to bring their guns onto an airplane, though they can be checked as long as travelers follow TSA, local and state gun regulations. To see the how many guns were seized at Upstate NY airports, see the chart below, per TSA data. Reports out of Connecticut are that one suspect in a 2019 armed robbery of a Verizon Wireless store in Vernon has pleaded guilty, while a second suspect, Shakiem Anthony Dessasure of Chicopee, awaits trial. Shane Sturgeon, 32, of Bissell Road to serve the 10-year prison term, followed by three years of probation, according to the Journal-Inquirer. Sturgeon pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime. Dessasure is due in court on Friday, according to court information. He has pleaded innocent to first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, and multiple counts of conspiracy. The pair was arrested Jan. 25 following a police pursuit that ended when they crashed their car in Somers. Police said speeds in the chase reached 100 mph. They were charged with threatening a clerk in the Verizon store at gunpoint and stealing more than $25,000 in electronics. ROOTSTOWN, Ohio Dr. John Langell, the new Northeast Ohio Medical University president, aims to produce a generation of health care leaders equipped to fix a broken medical system. Healthcare today is too expensive, and difficult to access, he said. He wants to train doctors in important issues, like the business of medicine and providing better care to under-resourced areas -- subjects not part of traditional curriculums. We want to change that and start really building our name around that, Langell said in interview with cleveland.com. He took over as president from Dr. Jay Gershen, who retired in September. Langell is especially excited about the institutions involvement with a program called ECHO, short for Extension for Community Health Outcomes, which uses videoconferencing to educate health care providers, often in underserved, rural areas. NEOMED doctors provide insight and instruction to medical professionals on psychiatric and opioid treatment. A general surgeon by training, Langell, will operate nimbly in his new role. He recognizes the Rootstown medical and pharmacy school is different than many traditional institutions: NEOMED relies on outside hospitals to provide clinical training to its students, rather than running its own teaching hospital. He believes that the arrangement gives NEOMED an edge, as it demands collaborative spirit. It was set up for being innovative in its approaches, said Langell. By our very nature, we have to figure out how to partner and not silo. We have work with our community. We have to work with other academic programs. Langell believes that collaborative DNA will lead to discoveries others arent considering. He has firsthand experience with seeing how partnerships can lead to progress. He came to NEOMED after founding and leading the University of Utahs Center for Medical Innovation, a university-wide initiative that explored healthcare improvements. The initiative broke down barriers between the medical school, business school, the college of engineering and the arts and sciences and worked to create and market technologies that helped improve access to and quality of care. At NEOMED, he said he found a similar culture of synergy and innovative thinking. I saw it as an organization ready to help define a future in healthcare because we have to think differently, he said. It forces us by necessity to go out and figure out better models. ALBANY Ex-Cohoes Mayor Shawn M. Morse, who is scheduled to be sentenced next month for his guilty plea to federal criminal charges, has asked the judge in his case for a lenient sentence, citing his documented family troubles, his bravery as a former firefighter and his devotion to the city including a past practice of dressing up as Santa Claus and delivering gifts to impoverished families. "For the 26 years he was at the Cohoes Fire Department, Mr. Morse would ride on a fire truck while dressed as Santa and deliver toys to struggling children and families every Christmas Eve," Morse's attorney, William J. Dreyer, wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. "In addition to his long career as a firefighter, Mr. Morse also served as a member of the Albany County Legislature and later, chairman. During his tenure with the Legislature, he was able to bring additional good to the city of Cohoes and focused on the needs of children, the elderly, the needy, and public safety officers." Previously: Top stories of 2019: Cohoes' tumultous year as mayor convicted of fraud Cohoes swears in new mayor following Morse guilty plea Cohoes prepares to pay Shawn Morse $170,000 for slip-and-fall injury claim In a letter to the court last month, Dreyer had asked U.S. District Senior Judge Thomas J. McAvoy for permission to file the memorandum under seal. But after the Times Union filed a written objection citing the public's First Amendment and Common Law rights of access to court records, McAvoy issued an order Tuesday unsealing the document, but allowed Dreyer to redact significant sections of the memorandum that include details of Morse's struggles in his personal life, which has included allegations of domestic abuse. "Mr. Morse is no longer in politics and has been severely discredited by the negative newspaper articles and press received from these legal proceedings," Dreyer wrote. "His focus now is rebuilding his family .... " Federal prosecutors have asked for Morse to be sentenced to between eight and 12 months in jail, noting that his signed plea agreement admits that "as part of the scheme, the defendant personally obtained $12,250 in political contributions from at least 10 victims to unlawfully and fraudulently pay personal expenses, including at hotels, restaurants, and retailers." "For much of his tenure as mayor, the defendant enjoyed a loyal and appreciative constituency. The residents of Cohoes rightly expected their mayor to act in their best interest. He did not," assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Hanlon wrote in the government's sentencing memorandum. "Instead, through the greedy and selfish conduct outlined in the count of conviction, the defendant did not just betray the public trust he betrayed a community that had come to rely on his leadership." Morse, in his sentencing memorandum and in public statements, contends that he only admitted to stealing $500 in campaign funds, and asked McAvoy to consider sentencing him to probation or home confinement. But in a forfeiture agreement connected to his guilty plea, Morse also agreed to pay the government $12,250, which constitutes "proceeds derived directly and indirectly" from his admitted crimes, according to court records. Morse has received several letters of support, which have not been made public, from the city's assistant police chief, Tom Ross, former Congressman John E. Sweeney and James F. Lyman, who was the longtime leader of Council 82, a law enforcement officers union in Albany. Lyman was fired from Council 82 in 2016 amid an internal investigation of his private business dealings. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Lyman was the head of the union when it donated more than $22,000 to a campaign account the Chairman's PAC that Morse had set up when he was chairman of the Albany County Legislature. It was Morse's receipt of that money, and his eventual theft of the funds for personal use, that was at the center of the FBI's investigation that began in 2017 with a review of his banking records and political accounts. A portion of Lyman's letter to the judge on behalf of Morse, which was cited in Morse's sentencing memo, said that Lyman wrote that he had witnessed the former mayor take money from his own pocket and give it to someone less fortunate on the streets of Cohoes. Ross, who joined the Cohoes Police Department in 1970, said that his letter was short but noted that Morse, a former city firefighter, had saved a woman from a burning building. Morse's beleaguered first and only term as mayor began unraveling in November 2017 as allegations of domestic abuse began to surface, including that Morse had roughed up his wife, his younger daughter and a former girlfriend. The allegations surfaced after Morse's wife, Brenda, called 911 that month and told a dispatcher that her husband had grabbed her by the throat and thrown her to the ground during an argument, choking her. Over the next several months, additional allegations of physical and emotional abuse of women by Morse surfaced, but he denied them all and was not charged with any crimes related to the accusations. In his sentencing memorandum, Morse's attorneys said that he should receive the same sentence as Ralph V. Signoracci IV, the former mayor's longtime campaign treasurer. Signoracci was sentenced by McAvoy in November to a year of probation for his guilty plea to a felony wire fraud charge related to Morse's theft of campaign funds. Signoracci is a former Democratic Albany County legislator and Cohoes city councilman. His relationship with Morse quickly fell apart after both men were confronted by FBI agents at their residences in September 2018 and questioned about the campaign funds and Morse's use of the money. Signoracci agreed to cooperate in the investigation, while Morse pledged to fight the charges that were eventually filed against him. He pleaded guilty last summer; the City Council moved swiftly to appoint a new mayor. The Australian firefighters union has attacked Prime Minister Scott Morrisons plan for a royal commission into this summers disastrous bushfires, instead calling for an audit of recommendations from previous inquiries. The United Firefighters Union of Australia described the prime ministers proposal as a costly and time-consuming process that would be emotionally gruelling for witnesses forced to relive the trauma of the fires. The union for professional firefighters argues the proposed royal commission would have no binding powers while just duplicating recommendations made in previous reviews. United Firefighters Union chief Peter Marshall. Credit:AAP It wants the Council of Australian Governments to oversee an audit of recommendations from other federal and state inquiries into past bushfire events. Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Seven traffickers were arrested and 65 trophies of protected species seized as part of the fight against wildlife crime in the second half of 2019 in Benin, PANA learned this Wednesday from official sources in Cotonou - The winners of the second edition held in Bulgaria will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Desislava Petrova and Liliya Ivanova, students of architecture in UACEG, winners of the second edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Bulgaria, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young designers to show their qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. Throughout these three days, all activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the Barcelona Center of Design; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190. Roca, a leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. [January 15, 2020] Digital Realty Closes $557 Million Portfolio Sale to Mapletree SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today it has closed the previously announced sale of a portfolio of 10 Powered Base Building data centers to Mapletree Investments and Mapletree Industrial Trust (together "Mapletree"). Mapletree Investments and Mapletree Industrial Trust acquired the Powered Base Building portfolio from Digital Realty for a total purchase price of approximately $557 million, subject to customary closing costs and transaction fees. These 10 properties are fully leased and are expected to generate 2020 cash net operating income of approximately $37 million, representing a 6.6% cap rate. Digital Realty will provide transitional property management services for the Powered Base Building portfolio for one year from the closing date at a customary market rate. "We are pleased to have closed the second tranche of our transaction with Mapletree, which represents an important step towards our goal of self-funding our growth and diversifying our sources of equity capital, while setting the stage for accelerating growth as proceeds are redeployed into accretive investment opportunities," said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. "We are delighted to partner with the high-caliber team at Mapletree to close a transaction that meets both companies' objectives, and we look forward to collaborating with Mapletree as joint venture partners and exploring additional opportunities together worldwide." Citigroup served as lead financial advisor to Digital Realty, along with CBRE who served as co-advisor. Latham & Watkins and Mayer Brown served as Digital Realty's legal advisors. About Digital Realty Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of customers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. About Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd ("MIPL") is a leading real estate development, investment, capital and property management company headquartered in Singapore. Its strategic focus is to invest in markets and real estate sectors with good growth potential. By combining its key strengths, MIPL has established a track record of award-winning projects, and delivers consistent and high returns across real estate asset classes. MIPL currently manages four Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and seven private equity real estate funds, which hold a diverse portfolio of assets in Asia Pacific, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. As at 31 March 2019, MIPL owns and manages S$55.7 billion of office, retail, logistics, industrial, residential and lodging properties. MIPL's assets are located across 12 markets globally, namely Singapore, Australia, China, Europe, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. To support its global operations, MIPL has established an extensive network of offices in these countries. About Mapletree Industrial Trust Mapletree Industrial Trust ("MIT") is a REIT listed on the Main Board of Singapore Exchange. Its principal investment strategy is to invest in a diversified portfolio of income-producing real estate used primarily for industrial purposes in Singapore and income-producing real estate used primarily as data centres worldwide beyond Singapore, as well as real estate-related assets. MIT's property portfolio comprises 87 industrial properties in Singapore and 17 data centres in the United States (through joint ventures with Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd). The properties in Singapore include Hi-Tech Buildings, Flatted Factories, Business Park Buildings, Stack-up/Ramp-up Buildings and Light Industrial Buildings. As at 30 September 2019, MIT's total assets under management was S$4.8 billion. MIT is managed by Mapletree Industrial Trust Management Ltd. and sponsored by Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd. For Additional Information Andrew P. Power Chief Financial Officer Digital Realty (415) 738-6500 Investor Relations John J. Stewart Investor Relations Digital Realty (415) 738-6500 Media Inquiries John Christiansen / Scott Lindlaw Sard Verbinnen & Co. (415) 618-8750 Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd Marilyn Tan Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications Tel: +65 6807 4072 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mapletree.com.sg Mapletree Industrial Trust Management Ltd. Melissa Tan Director, Investor Relations Tel: +65 6377 6113 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mapletreeindustrialtrust.com Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to the portfolio sale to Mapletree. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-realty-closes-557-million-portfolio-sale-to-mapletree-300987257.html SOURCE Digital Realty [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Ubisoft Milan, the developer behind Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, has posted a job listing, making it public that it is looking for a 3D Animator for a brand new game currently in the works at its offices in Italy. The job listing shares that the studio is searching for a talented 3D Animator who will be involved in the production of a prestigious triple-A title. While we dont have details about this prestigious triple-A title, its a definition that would well cover a sequel to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a cross-over between Ubisofts Rabbids and Nintendos Mario franchise and characters. Around ten hours ago, the job offer was also shared by creative director Davide Soliani on Facebook, which further links it with a likely sequel to Mario + Rabbids. 3D animators and 3D artists. Im a sweet teddy bear, come to me, he said, and that also hints at a strict contact with him throughout the development process. This isnt the first time Ubisoft Milan mentions a prestigious triple-A title to be in development at the studio. In 2018, another series of job listings said the same thing, meaning that this triple-A game has been in the making for at least one year at the Italian venue. Last April, Ubisofts founder and CEO Yves Guillemot has offered a comment about the chances that a sequel might be in the making, saying that we cant say much today, but we had a good relationship, so lets see what will come. The original game in the franchise has sold more than two million copies since August 2017s launch, which makes a sequel highly likely. A hero police officer suffered multiple skull fractures when an uninsured white van man tried to murder him in a savage machete attack, a court heard. PC Stuart Outten, 29, was severely injured and may have been killed had he not managed bring down Muhammad Rodwan, 56, with his Taser, the Old Bailey was told. After being arrested, Rodwan allegedly claimed he acted in self defence, and said: 'My life is worth more than his life.' The officer was on duty with female colleague PC Helen Brooks on 7 August last year on High Road, Leyton, east London, when a spot check revealed the vehicle was not insured. The van was stopped but handyman Rodwan shouted at officers then drove off. When he stopped again the two officers tried to get hold of Rodwan, said prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC. Pictured: Muhammad Rodwan, who has denied attempting to murder the police officer 'PC Brooks took hold of the hood on the defendant's parka coat and PC Outten told the defendant to 'get out of the f***ing car' as he grabbed him. 'PC Outten recalls using his left hand to grab the defendant's belt and his right hand to grab the defendant's dreadlocks, a few of which came away in his hands. In the course of the struggle, PC Outten's personal radio fell on the street. 'He noticed at point that the defendant was trying to reach into the back of the van, behind the seats. 'PC Outten informed the defendant that he was under arrest for assault police and cautioned him. Pictured: The officer PC Outten (left) and (right) his injuries following the incident in Leyton 'PC Outten then moved his left hand to the defendant's throat in order to incapacitate him so he could get him out of the van to handcuff him. He told the defendant to 'stop fighting, stop resisting'. 'The defendant can be heard on those body worn video recordings making guttural sounds before he started to hack at PC Outten with a machete that he had retrieved from somewhere inside the van. 'The blows themselves cannot be seen on the body worn camera recordings, but we suggest there are at least four audible chopping blows that you can hear, and we say they are quite shocking before PC Outten realises what has happened to him, can be heard to call out 'Machete, machete' as he retreated from the driver's door while still facing the defendant. 'PC Brooks immediately backed away. It was at that PC Outten reached for his Taser and pointed it at the defendant, who sprang out of the van and pursued the officer while aiming further blows at him with the machete that he had in his right hand. 'Two members of the public, were watching events at street level, and saw the defendant attacking PC Outten with the machete after he had exited his van. 'Another eye-witness, who was watching from a first floor flat overlooking the scene, saw the defendant run towards PC Outten and strike him on the arm with the machete.' Mr Rees added: 'Despite the nature of the attack, PC Outten managed to retain and operate his Taser. 'The first shot failed to incapacitate the defendant, but PC Outten somehow managed to fire a second shot as he was falling to the ground and the defendant was launching himself at the officer, plainly aiming a further blow with the machete at his head. 'This second shot did hit the target and the defendant fell to the ground and was rendered immobile by the subsequent electrical discharge.' PC Outten suffered six deep wounds with associated multiple fractures to the skull, and two wounds to the lower part of his right arm with multiple fractures of the fingers. 'Despite the ferocity of the attack, and the seriousness of the wounds he had already received, PC Outten somehow managed to keep hold of and operate his Taser weapon which disabled the defendant and brought the attack to an end,' said Mr Rees. 'The prosecution suggest that had he not managed to fire his Taser, his injuries could have been far worse and even fatal.' 'Members of the public provided first aid to the officer and one indeed kicked the defendant to the head as he tried to get up.' Rodwan claims he acted in self-defence and said in interview 'the officer attacked me.' Rodwan, of Luton, Beds, denies attempted murder, an alternative of wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon. The trial continues. KALKASKA COUNTY, MI A Michigan man has been charges after police determined he broke into a womans home and sexually assaulted her. The charges against Blake William Bell, 39, of Fife Lake come after a lengthy investigation by the Michigan State Police Houghton Lake Post into the alleged home invasion and sexual assault. Bell allegedly entered the home of a woman he knew in July of 2018 and sexually assaulted her during the night. He was arrested on Jan. 11. Bell was arraigned at the 87B District Court in Kalkaska on Jan. 13 on two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of first degree home invasion. He was later released after posting a $250,000 bond. The UK will return to the EU after Brexit, an MEP has insisted. Terry Reintke, a europhile MEP from Germany, said British Remain protesters signs and tweets have not been in vain since 2016 because one day I will see British MEPs being re-elected to this chamber. She is one of a number of high-profile EU figures to have raised the prospect of Britain re-entering the bloc before Boris Johnsons Brexit deal has even become law. Ms Reintke, speaking in the European Parliament on Tuesday during a debate about EU citizens rights in the UK after the 31 January departure date, said discussing Brexit two weeks beforehand was the most difficult speech she would give as an MEP. She said: All EU citizens in the UK have to be absolutely sure about the fact that there are dozens and hundreds of MEPs working here in this parliament to keep this your parliament as well. We will work tirelessly to defend your rights here in this parliament. The speech went on: This goes out to all the people in the UK who are heartbroken right now. I know that even with this movement that is unique in European history, it has not been possible to put this decision back to the people [in a second referendum]. But these demonstrations, and all the signs, and all the tweets, and all the votes they were not in vain. Read more from Yahoo News UK: Boris Johnson rejects request for second Scottish independence referendum Will Big Ben bong for Brexit? Government considers calls for bell to chime on Jan 31 Labour peer says Boris Johnsons Brexit deal is being 'rammed through' Parliament and brands ministers 'arrogant' You built something absolutely beautiful over the past years and this is the largest pro-European citizens movement that we have seen. We will build on that and trust me: one day I will see British MEPs being re-elected to this chamber. ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- The notable sight of molten lava streaming down a volcano's facets as voluminous ash plumes gush tens of thousands of feet into the atmosphere will send nearby residents right into a panic. Volcanic eruptions and associated earthquakes have been regarded to wipe out neighborhoods and claim thousands of lives. However, it can come as a surprise that volcanic activities could positively affect the environment and those living in the region. Some of the advantages occur in a short time period in addition to thousands of years, according to Dr. Tracy Gregg, associate professor for the University at Buffalo's geology department. 1. Atmospheric cooling Gregg says one of the short-term advantages observed with recent massive eruptions along with 1991's Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines and 1982's El Chichon eruption in Mexico, which both exploded ash and sulfur gas into the stratosphere. "The sulfur gas blends with water inside the atmosphere, growing microscopic droplets that can stay within the surroundings for years," Gregg said. She explained that the impact of those droplets is cooling the bottom of the ecosystem, that is the level in which people stay and breathe. Both eruptions cooled the surroundings approximately over a 0.5C, she said. That doesn't sound like a lot; however, Gregg said volcanoes have certainly helped to hold the world about 2 to 3 degrees cooler than in any other case might be. 2. Land formation A long-time period benefit of volcanic interest is seen in the Hawaiian Islands' very existence. Gregg noted the Big Island of Hawaii with Kilauea's recent eruption as an example, as lava poured into the ocean to create new land. "All lands in the Hawaiian Islands were created this way," Gregg said. This land formation, according to Gregg, could take lots of years. ALSO READ: Here's Why the Hawaiian Islands Won't Drown in the Sea for Millions of Years 3. Water production Concord University volcanologist Dr. Janine Krippner told AccuWeather the amount of water that has been produced by volcanoes has really given us the water that we've got on Earth over 4.5 billion years. "It comes out of steam," Krippner said. She explained volcanic eruptions are just built up of water and magma on this planet. Volcanoes have additionally helped create a huge part of Earth's surroundings, she added. ALSO READ: Taal Volcano: Steam Blast Could Be A Sign of 'Major Eruption' 4. Fertile land Fertile soil is another advantage of volcanic activity. Krippner said volcanic cloth jumbled in with the soil in locations like Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Hawaii, provides numerous crucial nutrients. "It offers us certainly fertile soils, which are great for farming and crops," Krippner said. Volcanoes also offer an excellent environment for the formation of new habitats for animals, plant life and insects, she said. 5. Geothermal electricity Hot springs and geothermal energy provide another advantage. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, places on Earth with the very best underground temperatures are placed in regions with lively or geologically young volcanoes. The University of Colorado Boulder said the most active geothermal assets are usually determined along fundamental plate boundaries in which volcanoes and earthquakes normally occur, just like the Ring of Fire. 6. Raw materials Krippner said sulfur, copper, and gold are made out of volcanic activities. Diamonds are also carried up to the floor from the mantle from a rare kind of magma called kimberlite. Krippner said volcanoes also provide quite a few constructing materials. She added volcanic materials that could be made into blocks, and a lot of the substances are mined, specifically in locations like Indonesia, where it's used for conglomerate constructing blocks. The volcanic material may be ground down to make cement, she added. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has claimed that Fianna Fail are "not to be trusted" as he criticised their MEP for proposing to vote against the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Speaking in Monaghan at Fine Gael's election launch, he insisted that Fine Gael had the team and experience to negotiate the next phase of Brexit. Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher has said that he is unwilling to support the EU-UK deal agreed as London is not guaranteeing the rights of citizens in the union. Mr Varadkar said: I was really concerned to learn yesterday that Billy Kelleher, Fianna Fail's only MEP in the European Parliament, has indicated that he is going to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement. It demonstrates to me that Fianna Fail can't be trusted on the big issue of Brexit and also Fianna Fail once again is internally divided on a crucial issue. And I'm calling on Micheal Martin to explain that and explain why his only MEP is voting on the Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Kelleher has said he plans to vote against the deal in the European Parliament over fears it could erode the rights of Irish/EU citizens in the North. Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher The Ireland South MEP has told Tanaiste Simon Coveney by letter that he recognised the need to vote for the agreement, but had concerns about EU citizen rights. He wrote: In all conscience, I cannot vote for an agreement that is so vague and leaves it open for a dilution of citizens rights into the future, said Mr Kelleher in the letter sent last week The row comes at the very start of the general election campaign, which Fine Gael hope will focus on Brexit and the economy, including their time in government negotiating over the agreement. Mr Varadkar and his ministers several times today, while visiting a giant factory for the company Combilift near the border, stressed that they had the best TDs and politicians to negotiate the next phase of Brexit, namely the EU-UK trade talks that lie ahead. Mr Varadkar added: I want the next government to be in place, in time for the next council meeting in March and I believe that is crucial for the interests of our country. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- David Greenberg, Chairman, and Alastair Caithness, CEO, are interviewed by Mapable USA, a leading podcast that provides insight and commentary on the latest developments in the blockchain space. In this podcast David Greenberg discusses the transition from open outcry trading to electronic trading. He provides insight into how this transition happened, and why he believes the tokenization of energy assets on the blockchain is the next evolution of the energy market. Listen to the podcast by Mapable USA Here David Greenberg, Chairman, states: The problems with energy producing assets is the difficulty to buy and sell fractional interests. Non-industry investors have limited access to these investments and holders of non-controlling interests have limited liquidity opportunities prior to the sale of the entire asset. Our new ZYEN Energy Trading Platform operating on the blockchain will address all of these problems through tokenization creating fractional energy assets ownership for the average person for the first time in history. Alastair Caithness, CEO, adds: Our ZYEN Platform isn't just about tokenization of oil and gas, but our focus is on energy transition, with our first Solar Token and Wind Token targeted for creation by Q3 of 2020. The blockchain is the catalyst in providing a transformation of the global energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon before the second half of this century. Learn more about Ziyen Energy and ZiyenCoin by visiting www.ziyen.com for more information. About Ziyen Energy: Ziyen Energy is a technology-driven energy company incorporated in the State of Wyoming, U.S.A. in April 2016. Originally formed as a software company providing information on the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, Ziyen specializes on business information, contracts, news and information by developing cutting edge procurement and supply chain software to provide clients with intelligence on industry specific government and private contracts. In addition, Ziyen Energy currently owns interests in oil assets based in Texas and the Illinois Basin, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The equity of Ziyen Energy has been tokenized and issued as ZiyenCoin which is offered for sale as a Security Token pursuant to SEC Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. 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 Companys 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: Alastair Caithness Media Relations mediarelations@ziyen.com A man in his 20s was taken to University Hospital in critical condition after he was shot at a West Side car wash on Wednesday, according to the San Antonio Police Department. Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, San Antonio police received several calls about a shooting in progress at the Pumphouse Car Wash at the corner of General McMullan Drive and Ceralvo St. When officers arrived, they found the man with gunshot wounds standing next to his car. The man, who had been shot once in the stomach, was alert and able to provide some information to police. He told police that he was at the car wash when an unknown male shot him and drove off in a gray Ford Taurus. A description of the gunman, who fled the scene after firing the shot, was not immediately available. Witnesses told police the victim appeared to be waiting for someone when the suspect pulled up next to him and shot him. Police said they are reviewing surveillance footage. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox As far as we know, the victim was just standing outside of his vehicle when he was approached by the suspect, said Officer Douglas Greene, an SAPD spokesman. There are no indications of a robbery at this point, he said. Police have also not determined whether the shooting was random. One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she heard the incident but did not see anything. I just heard the gunshot and ran, she said. Although crime scene tape cordoned off much of the car wash in the wake of the shooting, some stalls were still available. John Cano, speaking as he wiped his windshield with soap and water, said he has lived in the area for years and never seen anything like the incident, but was not worried. As long as you have God in your heart, thats it, he said. The victims black Lexus was hauled away by a tow truck roughly an hour after the shooting took place. The suspect's vehicle was not located. San Antonio police are asking anyone who was in the area at the time or has information about the case to call the Homicide Office at 210-207-7635. Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy Good King Boris, a figure touched on here last week, today continued to baffle inquiry by agreeing to almost every supplication made to him. It seems there is no Member of the House whom he is not prepared to meet, in order to discuss concerns which with royal magnanimity he thanks them for raising and fully shares himself. Jeremy Corbyn made a valiant attempt, as Leader of the Opposition, to avoid succumbing to this charm offensive. In a mournful voice, he wondered why after almost ten years of Tory government patients are waiting longer? Good King Boris, who was only crowned last July, an elevation confirmed in December in an elaborate and ancient ceremony known as a general election, assured him, we will get those waiting lists down. Corbyn raised the sad case of an RAF veteran who had to wait 12 hours on a trolley for treatment. Good King Boris said Corbyn was right to highlight the case, but on the other hand, most people have a fantastic experience of the NHS, and the hospital in Leicester where the veteran waited is being rebuilt. Always look on the bright side of life. That is the essence of the Prime Ministers message. But Corbyn continued to look on the gloomy side of life: I understand another hospital has been closed to pay for it, he said in a melancholy drawl. If Corbyn were going to be around for longer, he might develop an ability to patronise this ebullient young leader, and to suggest that all this optimism is not reflected in the nations Accident and Emergency departments. But Corbyn can never bear to stick to one point, and deviated into social care: Wheres the plan? Good King Boris pretended to believe Corbyn wanted a joint approach to social care, and said that with the help and co-operation of the Labour Party it would surely be sorted out: I look forward to his support. Ian Blackford, for the Scottish Nationalists, accused the Prime Minister of being a democracy denier who is only interested in his union with Donald Trump. Change the record, Good King Boris retorted. He has no time for the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, as he called them last summer on his triumphal entry into Downing Street. A great struggle between optimists and pessimists has broken out, and so far the optimists are winning. Those of us who think of ourselves as Tory pessimists cannot help feeling a bit disorientated. Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Why are there seven days in a week? Henry E., age 8, Somerville, Massachusetts Waiting for the weekend can often seem unbearable, a whole seven days between Saturdays. Having seven days in a week has been the case for a very long time, and so people dont often stop to ask why. Most of our time reckoning is due to the movements of the planets, moon and stars. Our day is equal to one full rotation of the Earth around its axis. Our year is a revolution of the Earth around the sun, which takes 365 and days, which is why we add an extra day in February every four years, for a leap year. But the week and the month are a bit trickier. The phases of the moon do not exactly coincide with the solar calendar. The moon cycle is 27 days and seven hours long, and there are 13 phases of the moon in each solar year. Some of the earliest civilizations observed the cosmos and recorded the movements of planets, the sun and moon. The Babylonians, who lived in modern-day Iraq, were astute observers and interpreters of the heavens, and it is largely thanks to them that our weeks are seven days long. The reason they adopted the number seven was that they observed seven celestial bodies the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. So, that number held particular significance to them. Other civilizations chose other numbers, like the Egyptians, whose week was 10 days long; or the Romans, whose week lasted eight. The Babylonians divided their lunar months into seven-day weeks, with the final day of the week holding particular religious significance. The 28-day month, or a complete cycle of the moon, is a bit too large a period of time to manage effectively, and so the Babylonians divided their months into four equal parts of seven. The number seven is not especially well-suited to coincide with the solar year, or even the months, so it did create a few inconsistencies. However, the Babylonians were such a dominant culture in the Near East, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., that this and many of their other notions of time such as a 60-minute hour persisted. The seven-day week spread throughout the Near East. It was adopted by the Jews, who had been captives of the Babylonians at the height of that civilizations power. Other cultures in the surrounding areas got on board with the seven-day week, including the Persian empire and the Greeks. Centuries later, when Alexander the Great began to spread Greek culture throughout the Near East as far as India, the concept of the seven-day week spread as well. Scholars think that perhaps India later introduced the seven-day week to China. Finally, once the Romans began to conquer the territory influenced by Alexander the Great, they too eventually shifted to the seven-day week. It was Emperor Constantine who decreed that the seven-day week was the official Roman week and made Sunday a public holiday in A.D. 321. The weekend was not adopted until modern times in the 20th century. Although there have been some recent attempts to change the seven-day week, it has been around for so long that it seems like it is here to stay. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question youd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit adults, let us know what youre wondering, too. We wont be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. Kristin Heineman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MidFirst Bank and Rebuilding Together OKC were awarded a $1,000,000 Affordable Housing Program Grant (AHP) from The Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka (FHLBank Topeka) to help low-income senior homeowners through the Safe & Healthy Housing Programs. The grant will fund home repairs throughout Oklahoma County and predominantly in low- or moderate-income areas. The AHP award will fund needed home improvements for low-income senior homeowners as well as special needs households and veterans and their survivors. Each repair helps those in critical need thereby improving living conditions. MidFirst Bank President Todd Dobson said, "MidFirst proudly supports the efforts of Rebuilding Together OKC and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka to stabilize local communities. This grant continues a partnership assisting homeowners with limited resources, and MidFirst is pleased to play a role in this important initiative." In 2019, FHLBank Topeka approved more than $12 million in affordable housing grants nationwide, funding 15 projects. FHLBank Topeka, a privately owned, federally chartered corporation, promotes housing and homeownership by providing wholesale products, services and programs that help member financial institutions expand the availability of mortgage credit, compete more effectively in their markets and foster strong and vibrant communities. With approximately $60.1 billion in assets and more than $2.6 billion in capital, FHLBank Topeka serves 714 banks, thrifts, credit unions and insurance companies throughout Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. With $23 billion in assets, Oklahoma City-based MidFirst Bank is one of the largest privately owned banks in the country. MidFirst Bank has banking centers in Oklahoma, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas and provides commercial lending, wealth management, private banking and mortgage servicing nationally. SOURCE MidFirst Bank Related Links http://www.midfirst.com New Delhi: The Lisari gate police in Meerut arrested Anees Khalifa, a Popular Front of India (PFI) member accused of violence during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state on December 20. According to the police, the accused had lost his brother in the 1987 communal riots and the protests on December 20 gave him an opportunity to take revenge on the police. Anees Khalifa has been accused of firing at the police and also providing arms and ammunition to other protesters. There was a reward of Rs 20,000 on him.. Live TV Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has sought a ban on PFI. The Yogi Aditynath-led government has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking a ban on PFI, an organisation that is said to have played a key role in triggering violence during the recent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state. According to sources, the MHA has received UP government's proposal calling for the ban and is likely to take legal opinion before imposing a ban on the front. On January 1, UP's Minority Minister Mohsin Raza accused PFI of misleading the Muslim youths and spreading Islamic extremism in the country. He also called it a front for the banned group SIMI and claimed that the organisation received its funding from Pakistan's intelligence wing ISI. The bushfires ravaging in Australia are a taste of what the world would experience if temperatures are allowed to upward thrust to dangerous levels, according to scientists. What might be ordinary conditions in a 3C world shows the world what the future would possibly look like through the bushfires, says Richard Betts, professor of geography at Exeter University? The average temperature rises in Australia had been approximately 1.4C above pre-industrial levels earlier than this season's fires, showing a more rapid charge of heating than the global common of 1.1C. Scientists warn that the influences of climate breakdown are in all likelihood to end up catastrophic and irreversible beyond an upward thrust of 2C. However, present-day worldwide commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement are estimated to put the sector on course for 3C of heating. ALSO READ: Greenhouse Gasses Hit New High, Says Reports Corinne Le Quere, professor of weather trade technological know-how and policy at the University of East Anglia (UEA), warned that these are the influences everyone sees at 1C of heating. She added these effects would get extra severe so long as people do no longer do what it takes to stabilize the world climate. "This isn't always a new ordinary - this is a transition to more effects," Le Quere added. Global heating has brought about an increase inside the frequency and severity of fire climate - the situations wherein wildfires are probable to start - around the sector, and evaluation of 57 current scientific papers has shown. But land management to try and minimize fires had helped to reduce the number that could have been predicted in Australia, stated Matthew Jones, a research companion at UEA. "Climate trade increases the frequency and severity of fireplace climate across the globe, but humans have moderated how this chance translates into the hearth. Land control has decreased the occurrence of fire globally." He started efforts to regrow forests after the fires have subsided would also help, by means of taking up the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that has been emitted because of the fires, though this will take decades of recent tree growth. The region of land burned around the sector has decreased in recent years; the study found, mainly attributable to the clearing of savannahs for agriculture and those suppressing fires. More fires also are erupting in closed cover forests, which is of a unique situation as they are possibly to end result from forest degradation and weather breakdown. According to Betts, there is not probable to be much higher relief within the next two months while recent rains have offered small hope in a few regions in Australia. Weather systems within the eastern Pacific, which have delivered warmer temperatures to Australia, would continue and bring aboutpersevered warm and dry weather through January and February while the Indian Ocean dipole weather system - which has delivered warmer and drier situations to Australia - has now passed its peak. Betts started the intense bushfires in Australia confirmed what weather exchange might suggest in reality, which many people found tough to imagine. The impact of human-induced weather trade was clean within the Australian fires, he stated, although further studies were in all likelihood to affirm this within the coming months. The UEA will produce research on carbon cycle feedbacks before the COP26 UN weather conference in Glasgow in November when countries are predicted to give more strong commitments on greenhouse fuel emissions to fulfill the pursuits of the 2015 Paris agreement. Climate change is irreversible, said Betts. Hence, the situations which can be occurring now won't pass away. These weather patterns will keep happening and may get extra severe if it continues, explained Betts. Rogue drone in Punjab returns to Pakistan on being fired upon BSF personnel shoot down drone along Indo-Pak border India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 15: BSF personnel spotted a drone along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab's Ferozepur district and opened fire to bring it down, officials said. The drone was sighted in Tendiwala village near the Shameke border post on Monday night, they said. Manishankar Aiyar sparks row again, calls Government 'Killers' at Shaheen Bagh|OneIndia News The drone was spotted twice following which BSF personnel from the 136th Battalion opened fire at it to bring it down, the officials said here. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos arrived in India for a three-day visit on January 14. On his first day, Bezos paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi. The Amazon CEOs visit may get tense, given that small business owners are planning protests across 300 cities, including New Delhi. Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/xDXAT9cBgf Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 14, 2020 Bezos' trip comes a day after India launched an antitrust probe against etailers Amazon India and Flipkart. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has planned protests across 300 cities. Over 500,000 traders are expected to participate in the protests, as per a Mint report. Ashok Kumar Gupta, the chairman of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), told Reuters that major ecommerce firms should not offer deep discounts because it could hurt small brick-and-mortar retailers. Bezos is expected to attend SMBhav, an annual event conducted by Amazon, scheduled for January 15 and 16 in Delhi. The event focus on small and medium business owners. Bezos is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CNBC-TV18 reports. Yesterdays close: Settled at 1544.6, down 6.0 Fundamentals: Gold is moving firmly higher this morning with U.S Dollar weakness and some cold water over the Phase One trade deal lifting the tape. U.S Treasuries are also seeing a steady wave higher this morning, bringing support to the metal. Platinum has surged by more than 3% today and to the highest level since January 2018, signaling a potential end of the most recent wave of profit taking across the metals complex. Silver also tagged $18 after trading to a low of 17.69 yesterday. U.S PPI data was soft this morning, offsetting a marginally better read on NY Empire State Manufacturing. New 2020 Fed voters speak today, Philadelphia Fed President Harker at 10:00 am CT and Dallas Fed President Kaplan at 11:00 am CT. The Fed releases their Beige Book at 1:00 pm CT. Technicals: Todays move is healthy and works to solidify a near to intermediate-term bottom. Still, we must see a close above first key resistance at 1554.5-1558.4 in order to neutralize the recent wave of weakness and a close above major three-star resistance at 1565.8-1571.7 to turn near-term bullish again. Our momentum indicator comes in at 1549 and this will keep the tape favorable on the session. Bias: Neutral/Bullish Resistance: 1554.5-1558.4**, 1565.8-1571.7***,1583.9*, 1588.2-1595.7***, 1613.3**, 1626** Pivot: 1549 Support: 1538.3-1541**, 1529.8-1533.2***, 1510-1514.3*** Matthew Morris, president of Stewart Information Services Corp. and its former chief executive, has stepped down nearly three months after the company's new CEO announced a 100-day plan to review the company's business lines. Morris, who will continue to serve on Stewart's board, will continue to advise Chief Executive Fred Eppinger over the next six months, the Houston-based title and real estate services company announced Wednesday afternoon. With just 20 days until Iowa voters come together to formally begin the Democratic Partys 2020 nomination season, the six leading candidates held one final debate to try and make their case to the public. The prime time event that lasted two hours in Des Moines focused almost entirely on policy over the kinds of scrappy fights beloved by viewers of presidential debates in America, with moderators from CNN and the Des Moines Register asking the politicians for their views on issues ranging from war with Iran to healthcare to trade policy. But, even for an otherwise sober-minded discussion of policy and vision, the candidates could clearly sense that time is running out to make an impression and progressives Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders found themselves as the focus of the nights most jarring disagreement, after observing months of cease-fire between themselves. I disagreed, Ms Warren said when asked what she told Mr Sanders following his reported comments to her that a woman could not win the presidency in 2020. The Massachusetts senator was responding to a question that itself portrayed the issue as one rooted in fact, after a he-said she-said spat between the candidates in recent days over whether Mr Sanders had suggested such a thing in a private 2018 meeting between the two. Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Show all 12 1 /12 Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally IMAGES INCLUDE EXPLICIT LANGUAGE: Counter protesters confront horse-mounted law enforcement after a rally by U.S. President Donald Trump in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ahead of a "Keep America Great" rally AFP/Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally A counter protester holds a sign before a rally by U.S. President Donald Trump in Minneapolis Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally The state is home to some of the Presidents most prominent critics including senator Amy Klobuchar and congresswoman Ilhan Omar AFP/Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Both the presidents backers and his detractors were, for the most part, kept separate EPA Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally On the fringes of the action the presidents supporters clashed with protestors AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally A protester with a whistle attempts to interrupt U.S. President Donald Trump while he spoke Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Minneapolis Police create a blockade to hold back protestors Getty Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally On the arrival of the police protestors could be seen jeering and hurling projectiles at officers AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Officers deployed pepper spray during the protests AP Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Baby Trump balloons are carried by a counter protester before the rally Reuters Minneapolis protesters clash with police outside Trump rally Anti-Trump protesters hold signs outside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP/Getty But, Mr Sanders insistence that he had not said it aside, Ms Warren continued to use the question as a jumping block to tackle the issue head-on anyway, refusing to fight the Vermont senator personally while framing her potential election in historic terms. Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. Amy and me, Ms Warren said, referring to the other woman on the stage, senator Amy Klobuchar. She continued: Look dont deny that the question is there. Back in the 1960s people asked could a Catholic win, she said, referring to former president John F Kennedy. Back in 2008 people asked if an African American can win. In both times the Democratic Party stepped up and said yes, and got behind their candidate. Despite the disagreement, the two leading presidential candidates in Iowa maintained their focus on progressive causes, and both attacked the enormous influence of money on politics that they see as a corrupting force in Washington. The candidates were also asked about the possibility of war, with tensions between the US and Iran at unprecedented highs following Donald Trumps decision to kill an Iranian military general earlier this month. What we have to face as a nation is that the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes, [were] the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies, Mr Sanders, who has attacked Joe Biden frequently for his vote to invade Iraq in 2002, said. Mr Biden, for his part, put in a debate performance that largely avoided the kinds of gaffes his supporters have come to fear, even as the former vice president was perhaps overshadowed by Ms Warren and Mr Sanders with their focus on progressive policies. Recommended Elizabeth Warren invokes Obama and JFK to counter women electability Mr Biden moved on quickly from an apology for his 2002 vote to focus on his efforts during the Obama administration to implement an anti-nuclear arms deal with Iran. I was part of that deal to get the nuclear agreement with Iran, bringing together the rest of the world, including some of the folks who arent friendly to us, Mr. Biden said. And it was working. Later, laying out his case for why he should be the one to take on the president in 2020, Mr Biden joked that he has been "the object of his affection" for a long time, claiming he can "hardly wait" to debate Mr Trump in a potential general election mash-up. Sharing the stage with those leading contenders was South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, who delivered a steady debate performance that once again emphasised the generational transformation that his candidacy presents. There are enlisted people that I served with, barely old enough to remember those votes on the authorization after 911 on the war in Iraq, Mr Buttigieg, a veteran, said while promising to ensure that the US does not engage in protracted new wars. Later, Mr Buttigieg appealed to voters by suggesting he is a candidate from the midwest that Mr Trump claims he speaks to, and spoke to his record of turning South Bend around from its frequent inclusion on lists of "bad cities to visit" in the US. Sharing the stage with those front-runners was Ms Klobuchar, and billionaire Tom Steyer, with the senator making a similar pitch as Mr Buttigieg to note her midwestern roots. Ms Klobuchar is seen as needing a strong showing in Iowa, where she hopes to pull centrist support from the likes of Mr Buttigieg and Mr Biden in an upset early next month. Mr Steyer was much less of a focus than the front-runners, even as his presence on the stage underscored the strength of his wealth that has allowed him to fill airwaves in Iowa and elsewhere with advertisements promoting his candidacy. The Iowa caucuses will be held on 3 February. The most recent CNN/Des Moines Register poll has Mr Sanders leading the pack with 20 per cent support, followed by Ms Warren at 17 per cent, Mr Buttigieg at 16 per cent, and Mr Biden at 15 per cent. Ms Klobuchar received 6 per cent support in that poll, followed by businessman Andrew Yang (who did not qualify for the debate on Tuesday) with 5 per cent and Mr Steyer at 2 per cent support. Texas schools officials say theyve taken corrective action after a ninth grade teacher included a question about a rape victim in a homework assignment received Approximately 90 students received an assignment that asked the following: Suzy was assaulted in an alley and is a victim of rape. The police collected a sample of sperm that was left at the crime scene and now have three suspects in custody. Which of the suspects raped Suzy? According to school officials, a biology teacher asked freshman students to select the correct DNA sample pattern from a list of possible answers, including Felon, S1, S2 and S3. A photo of the homework was posted on Facebook by a neighbour of the parent whose child is a student at Klein Collins High School in a suburb of Houston. Parents who shared the photo called the question appalling and upsetting and questioned whether the teacher or school had permission to ask students a question involving rape. 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 Cookie VonHaven, a parent of a 10th-grade student at the school, told KPRC-TV that students know that rape is forced non-consensual sex and that upsets them... Thats why I cant fathom a teacher putting that on a test. In a statement, Klein Independent School District acknowledged that an inappropriate homework question was distributed by a teacher to some ninth grade biology students at the school. According to the school district, the assignment is not part of its approved curriculum and is by no means representative of the districts instructional philosophy. The district said it investigated the source of the materials and has taken appropriate corrective action but did not disclose how the question appeared on classroom materials A 400-year-old bible vanished. The Journal of George Washington? Also gone. A first edition of Isaac Newtons Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica? That too somehow disappeared. Over the course of 25 years, an estimated $8 million worth of rare books, maps, and others objects were stolen, cut out, and ferried from Pittsburghs Carnegie Library. Many of the objects, so rare that they were available by appointment-only, were seemingly closely guarded. However, items kept vanishing. It wasnt until an April 2017 audit of the librarys inventory that it was revealed that over 300 rare items were missing. At the center of the crime is Gregory Priore, who worked as the sole archivist and manager of the librarys rare book room, and John Shulman, owner of the Caliban Book Shop. Both stand accused of first-degree felonies and face nine to 16 months incarceration, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Charged in 2018, Priore and Schulman pleaded guilty to the pilfering and selling of these priceless items this past Monday. John Schulmans dedicated most of his life contributing to the bookselling industry, and he surely regrets that todays guilty plea reflects negatively on that trade, as well as his clients and family, attorney Robert Del Greco said in a public statement. Priores attorney declined to comment, however, in an affidavit, the accused told investigators that, greed came over me. I did it, but Schulman spurred me on. To pull of the heist, Priore would disguise items in manila folders; he used an X-Acto knife to cut out maps; other times he would simply roll up larger objects and walk right out of the library. From there he would pass the book or other ephemera to the waiting Shulman, the Washington Post reports. According to the criminal complaint, from January 1, 2010 through September 1, 2017, Priores bank records show that he received 56 checks, totaling $117,000, from the Caliban Book Shop. During that time, he also made cash deposits of $17,000. Over 40 of the missing books were discovered in the Caliban Book Shop warehouse. Others, like the 17th Century Geneva Bible most likely brought over by the Pilgrims in 1620, have returned to the library with the help of the Netherlands. The American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden, approximately 45 miles outside Amsterdam, contacted police in The Hague after news broke of the filching. The 400-year old bible was safely returned to its former residence shortly after. According to the Associated Press, the FBI hopes news of the recovery of this Bible will prompt others to look at their collections for any possible items stolen from the Pittsburgh library. Nearly a quarter of a century of plundering has left the library in a state of shock. Suzanne Thinnes, spokeswoman for the library, denounced the thievery and described how the library was in a state of shock. The anger and the hurt we feel that individuals who were close to us, who were trusted by us, who were considered friends and colleagues to many of us at the Library, would abuse the faith we had in them for personal gain will be with us for a very long time, Thinnes said in a written statement. She goes on by saying, We are hopeful that the sentences given to these two individuals will reflect the significant damage done not only to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, but to the literary community near and far. Priore and Shulman are to be sentenced on April 17 by Allegheny County. NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay says the Berejiklian government cannot claim that the state's bushfire response was a success and is demanding an independent public inquiry into the fires. Ms McKay's comments came as Premier Gladys Berejiklian said "hundreds more lives" could have been lost without the work of Rural Fire Service firefighters and other emergency service workers. NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay says the Berejiklian government must hold a public inquiry into the bushfire crisis. Credit:Edwina Pickles, Rhett Wyman "I have to confess there were some days that all of us were concerned about how many lives could have been lost overnight and literally on some days there were hundreds of lives, if not more, that could have been lost," Ms Berejiklian told Sky News on Wednesday. Ms Berejiklian said there were "20 families devastated" but the "toll could have been so much more". (Newser) It doesn't look like Vladimir Putin plans on giving up power in Russia for a long, long time. Two big developments in Moscow on Wednesday are seen as the first steps in Putin's plan to stay in control even when his fourth presidential term expires in 2024. By law, Putin cannot run again. But Reuters reports that he began laying the groundwork to avoid relinquishing power in 2024power he has held since 1999 as either president or prime minister. In his annual state-of-the-nation address, Putin proposed changing the constitution to limit the power of his presidential successor and give more power to the prime minister, suggesting he intends to return in a "beefed-up role" as prime minister or in some other as-yet unspecified role, per the Guardian. story continues below A big part of Wednesday's proposed shakeup: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a longtime Putin ally, resigned as prime minister after Putin's speech "to give Putin room to carry out his changes," per Reuters. As part of his proposals, Putin wants to give more power to parliament and the state council so that they, and not the president, would name the nation's prime minister. Another possibility is that Putin would assume a different role in the state council after his presidency, but the end result would be the same. "This is all about how to influence the prerogatives of the future president, Tatiana Stanovaya, head of the think tank R. Politik, tells the Washington Post. "Putin would like to have some leverage, some mechanism to control and to get involved in case his successor makes mistakes or has some disagreements with him. (Read more Vladimir Putin stories.) YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The General Prosecution has denied ex-president Serzh Sargsyans appeal against a freezing injunction imposed on some of his assets as part of an indictment on alleged embezzlement. The General Prosecution said Sargsyans lawyer Amram Makinyan had filed the complaint. Sargsyan is suspected in abuse of power and embezzlement of nearly half a billion drams during his tenure as president through a businessman Barsegh Beglaryan, who in turn is also facing criminal charges. The assets of Barsegh Beglaryan, the head of FLASH, a petroleum company based in Armenia, were also frozen earlier in December. Authorities said they had frozen the assets equal to the amount of the suspected damages inflicted. On January 10, the Special Investigations Service had announced it completed investigating the alleged misconduct and embezzlement by third President Serzh Sargsyan. The indictment was sent to court pending proceedings. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP >> The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors welcomed a new member to its board and welcomed back a board veteran during its reorganization meeting on Jan. 3. District Judge Mick Petrucci administered the oath of office to newly-elected supervisor Elen Snyder and re-elected supervisor Kyle Davis. Snyder, a Democrat and former member of the townships Environmental Advisory Council, ran on a platform of protecting... Nusra Ara had only just fallen asleep when the phone rang. It was 10 a.m. on Tuesday and though she had returned home seven hours earlier, she stayed up cooking, cleaning, packing lunch boxes and then dropping her daughter to school. When she picked up the call, a fellow protesters voice rang out in panic and made her sit up. Soon she was rushing out of her home through the busy, narrow streets of Shaheen Bagh in South Delhi, toward the site where she and thousands of other protesters, mostly women, have gathered every evening for more than a month. Making her way past shabby buildings and newer apartment blocks, through alleyways filled with restaurants, car repair shops, schools and clinics, she reached just as the news she had heard on the phone was beginning to spread: the police were about to arrive. Within minutes, women streamed out of houses and alleyways and the relatively empty protest site began ringing with chants, poetry and the Indian national anthem. As the crowd surged, the police retreated from the gates of the protest. Meanwhile, at the site a 65-year-old grandmother, Shabnam, sits attentively listening to a speech. As the speaker begins chanting slogans of freedom and liberty, Shabnam joins in. I have never been to a protest. I have never spoken at this pitch. I have never wanted to be heard or seen, she says. But now I say, lets march on Parliament. Let them see us. Since December, crowds across India have mobilized to protest against the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after it passed a law that many see as discriminatory against Muslims. In Shaheen Bagh, a working-class, majority-Muslim neighborhood, the protests began with a small, peaceful sit-in and candlelit vigil by local women, including Ara. For 32 days, the protesters have blocked the major highway connecting the Indian capital to Noida, a satellite town. Some 10,000 to 20,000 protesters gather here every evening from all over the city, while the local women take turns to keep the sitea marquee with a makeshift stage for speakersoccupied day and night. On Sunday, more than 150,000 gathered here. Story continues We have forgotten our homes, we have set aside our family obligations and responsibilities, Ara, a 43-year-old homemaker, says, wearing an embroidered black burqa. We are fighting for our rights, our childrens rights. Our existence, their future. Nearby, another protester on a makeshift stage reads out the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, which declares the country a secular, democratic republic. There is loud applause. Artists made anti CAA murals and other art installations on the blockade highway during the ongoing weeks long sit-in protest led by women of Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 in Delhi, India on January 12, 2020. | Javed Sultan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The protesters are fighting the Modi governments Dec. 11 introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which would provide citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan who fled to India before 2015, and a National Register that would require Indians to provide documentary evidence of residence and Indian ancestry. Shortly after the Act was passed, the police began to clamp down heavily on protesters and dissident voices, including brutal crackdowns in three universities: Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Many young men and women from Shaheen Bagh study in Jamia University, just a short drive away. The brutal crackdown on the Jamia campus brought middle-aged, conservative, Muslim women like Ara out onto the streets. And more than a month since protests in India began, the women of Shaheen Bagh are showing no sign of giving up, despite a threat of forceful eviction hanging over their heads. (Although the Delhi Police on Jan 14, said they will not forcefully evict the protesters.) We have come out of our houses wearing a shroud on our heads, we will take a bullet and fall to blows, Ara says. But we will still stand here to safeguard our childrens future. You need women, says veteran activist Medha Patkar and lead campaigner of the Save Narmada Movement, when the fight is going to be long and hard. The specialty of a women-led movement is that they can be sustained longer. Women dont give up, Patkar says. India sees these women as shields, she says. But in fact, they are the swords. And Indias history shows it wouldnt be the first time that women have helped keep the flame of protest burning. Chipko Movement, 1973 In 1973, a group of peasant women gave the world the term tree huggers when they led a protest in a Himalayan village to prevent trees from being felled. (Chipko means hugging in Hindi.) When loggers arrived, the women stood firm for four days, surrounding the trees. The movement spread throughout India as an organized resistance to the destruction of forests. In Uttar Pradesh, the Chipko movement managed to secure a 15-year ban in 1980 on the felling of trees in that states Himalayan forests. Anti-Nuclear Protests in Tamil Nadu, 1980 The women of Idinthakarai fishing village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, have been protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district since the 1980s, when the plant was proposed. Construction of the plant began in 2001 and the plant has been operational since 2013. In 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan, anti-nuclear protests gathered momentum. The protests resurged last year when protesters learned that the state was planning to build an Away from Reactor (AFR) facility to store spent fuel within the plant premises. The women made all the difference, SP Uday Kumar, one of the main coordinators of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy, told the Caravan Magazine last year. They carried the struggle on their shoulders. The women were very convinced about the harmful effects of the nuclear plant, Uday Kumar tells TIME. They were worried about their families, especially their children. As fisher women they also knew they would bear the brunt of the harmful effects. He adds that the women protesters were from different faithsChristians, Hindus and Muslims who all believed in non-violent resistance. They couldnt be bought with alcohol or money or intimidated through coercion. In difficult times, a womans first response is to stay and fight, he adds. The women owned the struggle. They carried it on their shoulder. And its not dead yet. Its embers are still burning under the ashes and it will erupt again some day soon. Thats the beauty of women-led movements. They never die. Bhopal Disaster, 1984 In Bhopal, a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, mostly Muslim women took to the streets to seek justice for themselves and their families, who became victims of one of the worlds worst industrial accidents. That year, almost 40 tons of poisonous gas had accidentally leaked out from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, now owned by Dow Chemicals, killing around 20,000 people. Several thousands suffered health complications, and even today, children in Bhopal were born with birth defects and various other disorders. While the Bhopal disaster has largely fallen off the radar, 35 years on, most of the women have not abandoned their fight against one of the largest multinationals in the world. In the beginning the men came, too, but within a couple of years, the movement was being dominated by the women, Rachna Dhingra, a member of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, who played a defining role in mobilizing the women, tells TIME. Women who were in purdah came out on the streets. They are still fighting; they have kept the movement alive. They are still protesting to secure just compensation, raising awareness about the continuing effects of contamination on the children, she adds. In 2004, Bhopals Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, were awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize after they led a class action suit demanding cleanup and compensation for affected individuals. In a press release, the organization had called their leadership a powerful validation of womens role on the frontlines of Indias civil society. Whatever little we could achieve in the last 35 years was because of their indomitable spirit, Dhingra says. Activist Medha Patekar and supporters of Narmada Bachao Andolan staging a protest against raising height of Narmada dam at Jantar Mantar on June 25, 2014 in New Delhi, India. | Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images Narmada dam protests, 1985 The Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) is perhaps the longest non-violent movement in the history of the world driven primarily by women. Issues that affect habitat, livelihood or right to shelter, Patkar says, can mobilize women faster. It was launched in 1985 by Patkar, to protest against a series of large dam projects across the Narmada River that flows through three Indian states (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra) and demand just compensation for around 32,000 people who were displaced as a result of the project. The movement managed to pressure the World Bankone of the sponsors of the projectto withdraw funding in 1993. In 2017, Indias top court awarded 681 displaced people in Madhya Pradesha major beneficiary of the Narmada projectcompensation of $90,000 each. A few months after the court order, the women, led by Patkar, stood neck-deep in the cold water of the Narmada River on a chilly September morning, in what they called a water protest, an essential feature of the protest movement. They were in a village in Madhya Pradesh to demand justice for 40,000 families who were at risk of flood because of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, a centerpiece of the Narmada project. For five hours, they stood there, chanting slogans, singing and listening to speeches. Patkar went on a nine-day hunger strike in September last year to demand proper rehabilitation for those affected. Last November, they were back in the waters again demanding a reduction in the water level in the same dam. Patkar shared the 1991 Swedish Right to Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel, with Indian activist Baba Amte for their inspired opposition to the disastrous Narmada Valley dams project and their promotion of alternatives designed to benefit the poor and the environment. Chhattisgarh Government on Wednesday filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008. Through the plea, it has sought a direction from the apex court to declare the Act as unconstitutional. The state government plea states that the provisions of the NIA Act leave no room for coordination and pre-condition of consent, in any form whatsoever, by Central Government from the State Government, which clearly repudiates the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution of India.' The Investigation Agency (NIA) Act-2008, was enacted with a view to constitute an investigation agency at the level to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly relations with foreign States and offences under Acts enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has become the first ever incumbent Armenian leader in history to be summoned for questioning by authorities. For the first time in Armenian history, the countrys incumbent leader has been invited by the Investigations Committee and is answering the questions of the investigator in the latters office, the PM said on Facebook and posted a selfie with the uniformed detective. PM Pashinyan did not specify other details and why he has been invited for the interview. "P.S. - Elements of political persecution are obvious", Pashinyan jokingly added. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. CUDAHY, Calif. (AP) - Jet fuel dumped by an aircraft returning to Los Angeles International Airport fell onto an elementary school playground Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Fire Department says firefighters assessed 17 children and nine adults who complained of minor injuries. None needed to be taken to a hospital. The incident happened at Park Avenue Elementary in Cudahy, California, just after noon on Tuesday, Sean Ferguson of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. The Federal Aviation Administration says in a statement that Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency after departing Los Angeles International Airport for Shanghai, China. It landed without incident. News footage at the scene showed numerous police and emergency vehicles at the school. It is located about 13 miles east of Los Angeles. With its tantalising blend of salaciousness and presidential impropriety, the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal was manna from heaven for Fox News. It was 1998 and the fledgling US cable channel desperate to overtake its more established rivals couldnt have concocted a more perfect story if it had tried. A sitting Democratic president caught in an affair with a young White House intern was custom-made to appeal to the stations target Right-wing audience and while others baulked at airing some of the more tawdry details, Fox had no such qualms. The tactic worked spectacularly. As the channel relentlessly pursued the story, viewing figures soared. Within just four years of its inception, Fox hit the number one slot. Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, one of the former Fox News presenters to file a lawsuit against Fox News boss Roger Ailes alleging sexual harassment It was with some irony then that just as one sex scandal put Fox News firmly on the map, it was another that brought down its founder almost 20 years later. Roger Ailes had forged Fox News into a broadcasting powerhouse that had essentially paved the way for Donald Trumps progress to the White House. But in 2016 Ailes was forced to resign as chairman and CEO when Fox presenter Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit alleging that he had sabotaged her career after she refused his sexual advances. It opened the floodgates to a devastating string of allegations against Ailes from more than two dozen women. Ailess story predates the sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein by just over a year, yet it perfectly taps into the mood of the ensuing #MeToo era. It is now the subject of two star-studded screen dramas told from different perspectives. The Loudest Voice, based on Gabriel Shermans best-selling biography, The Loudest Voice In The Room, recently aired on Sky Atlantic and focused largely on Ailes himself (portrayed by Russell Crowe). In the forthcoming movie Bombshell, however, the focus is squarely on the women who brought about his downfall, including Gretchen Carlson, played by Nicole Kidman, and the channels biggest female star, Megyn Kelly, played by Charlize Theron. Margot Robbie plays the movies third female lead, fictional producer Kayla Pospisil. As Theron recently remarked, In Bombshell our monsters dont always look like monsters, which is how it is in real life. Indeed, when Roger Ailes launched Fox News in 1996, far from being viewed as a monster he was seen as the ideal man to help Rupert Murdoch break the dominance of the liberal-leaning cable news channels CNN and MSNBC. He had previously worked on the campaigns for Republican presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and was fully aware of the importance of the power of television. His understanding of how TV worked was no doubt aided by years of studying the medium as a young boy. Born in Warren, Ohio, Ailes suffered from haemophilia and was often absent from school, spending hours in front of the TV watching Westerns. His condition didnt, however, prevent his father Robert, a factory foreman, from beating him regularly with an electrical cord. Once, his father urged Roger to jump from the top bunk bed into his arms, only to step back at the last minute. As he picked up his bruised son from the floor, he imparted his lesson: Dont ever trust anybody. The ruthlessness and paranoia that came to characterise Ailess professional career doubtless had their roots in his early childhood traumas . In 1993, Ailes joined NBC and was credited with reviving the fortunes of its failing business channel, CNBC, tripling profits. But his time with the station was short-lived. He left after two years having been made to sign an agreement not to abuse staff members. It was to be a portent of things to come when he launched Fox News the following year. Notoriously foul-mouthed and physically imposing, his brashness did nothing to deter Murdoch, who concluded when he met Ailes that either this man is crazy or he has the biggest set of balls Ive ever seen. And he was proved right. When Fox News started, it had 17 million subscribers, but towards the end of Ailess tenure, the number had increased to 87 million. Yet according to former employees, his success was founded on a culture of fear. They claimed he spied on his own staff, installing cameras and reading their emails. Nicole Kidman with her Bombshell co-stars Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron Yet if keeping tabs on staff was bad enough, the most egregious abuse of his power concerned women. His biographer Gabriel Sherman uncovered several stories of such abuse, perhaps the most disturbing of which concerned Fox Newss former director of booking, Laurie Luhn. She alleged that Ailes had waged a 20-year campaign of harassment against her. Initially acting as her mentor, Ailes soon sexualised their relationship. He videotaped Luhn in a suspender belt, telling her, I am going to put [the tape] in a safe-deposit box just so we understand each other, had her perform oral sex on him and even had her engage in sex with other women. By the time she had been promoted to director of booking at Fox, she was expected to hire attractive female staff for him, or as he told her: Youre going to find me Rogers Angels. Youre going to find me whores. Other women who were reportedly subjected to harassment by Ailes included Randi Harrison, a young producer whom he offered 300 a week for a job, adding: If you agree to have sex with me whenever I want, I will add an extra hundred dollars a week. Harrison was in tears by the time she left the building. But it was the claims by two Fox News stars, Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, which precipitated Ailess demise. Carlson, a former Miss America, claimed that at various times Ailes had made sexual remarks and even asked her to turn around so that he could view her posterior. She started secretly recording their meetings on her iPhone and during one exchange he told her: I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then youd be good and better and Id be good and better. Carlson had also complained about sexist treatment from Steve Doocy, her co-host on the show Fox & Friends, and was told by Ailes that she needed to get along with the boys. After being demoted on the show in 2013 and fired from Fox three years later, Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes in July 2016, alleging that she had been let go for refusing Ailess advances. A headline after the Roger Ailes story broke; Former Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, who is played by Charlize Theron in the new film Though he denied the charges, just days later a further six women came forward publicly accusing him of harassment. But it was when anchor Megyn Kelly added her voice to the discussion that the writing appeared to be on the wall for Ailes. One of Fox Newss biggest stars, she told investigators that in the early stages of her career he had made unwanted sexual advances towards her and later described in an interview with Business Insider how he had tried to grab her three times, adding: I had to shove him off of me. For Murdoch, this appeared to be the final straw. Though apparently the media tycoons first instinct was to protect the man who had worked for him for 20 years, Ailes was finally given an ultimatum: either resign by August 1 or be fired. Ailes resigned on July 21, receiving a 30 million payoff. He died on May 18, 2017, leaving his wife of 19 years, Elizabeth, their son, Zachary, and an impressive list of achievements, tainted by his own flaws. The woman responsible for bringing those flaws to light, Gretchen Carlson, eventually received a public apology from Fox and a reported 15 million settlement. Roger Ailes might have had the loudest voice in the room, but in the end, it was the women he abused who had the final word. Bombshell is in cinemas from Friday Vladimir Putin has proposed a flurry of constitutional changes in what appears to be an attempt to pave the way for him stay on after his presidential term expires in 2024. Among the changes proposed in the course of his state of the nation address, Mr Putin suggested giving parliament powers to choose the prime minister and cabinet, as well as introducing a new maximum two-presidential term limit. As things stand, the president chooses the prime minister, subject to approval by parliament, who then forms the cabinet. Speculation about Mr Putins post-2024 future has dominated political discussion in Russia for several years. Todays proposals could be interpreted as a signal that Mr Putin is planning to stay on as prime minister in other words to repeat the set up over 2008-2012, when he ostensibly served under a Dmitry Medvedev presidency. But the Russian leader also suggested strengthening the constitutional role of the State Council, a vaguely-defined governmental body he currently heads. This had also been considered a possible vehicle to wield informal power post 2024. 20 years of Putin Show all 21 1 /21 20 years of Putin 20 years of Putin 1999 Russian President Boris Yeltsin (R) poses with the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Alexei II (L) and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (C) at the Kremlin in Moscow 31 December 1999. Yeltsin announced 31 December 1999 that he was resigning immediately and that Putin, according to the Russian constitution, would run the country as acting president until presidential elections in March 2000. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2000 Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with his wife Lyudmila in front of the Taj Mahal 04 October 2000. Putin is on a three-day visit to India. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2001 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and US President George W. Bush (R) smile following press conference at Crawford High School in Crawford, Texas 15 November 2001. Presidents Putin and Bush spoke about their meeting at the Bush ranch at a press conference at Crawford High School. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2002 British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) discuss as they walk in the residence of Zavidovo , in the Tver region, some 120 km north-west of Moscow, as Cherie Blair (C) and Lyudmila Putina (not pictured) follow them 11 October 2002. Tony Blair arrived in Russia for two days of face-to-face talks with President Vladimir Putin on fresh UN action to force Iraq to give up weapons of mass destruction. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2003 Russian President Vladimir Putin is accompanied by Her Majesty The Queen during a procession at The Mallat during the start iof his state visit on June 24, 2003 in London, England. Putin is on a 4 days visit in Great Britain and will attend a number of functions during his time in the country. The visit is the first by a Russian President since 1843. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2004 President Vladimir Putin pets his dog Conny before one of his meetings with officials in his office in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, 03 March 2004. Putin met Wednesday with his nominee for prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, and expressed hope that the government and parliament would work closely in the future. At left is a bodyguard. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the recording of his annual televised New Year's message at the Kremlin, with the Spassky Tower in the background, in Moscow, recorded early, 29 December 2005. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a pistol during his visit to a newly-built headquarters of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Department (GRU) in Moscow, 08 November 2006. ?Some countries are seeking to untie their hands in order to take weapons to outer space, including nuclear weapons,? Putin said at the Chief Military Intelligence Department on Wednesday. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2007 Russian President Vladimir Putin fishing on the Khemchik River near the foothills of the Western Sayan Mountains in the Republic of Tuva. Time magazine named President Vladimir Putin its "person of the year" 19 December 2007 in recognition of the Russian leader's role in making Moscow "a critical linchpin of the 21st century. The award, which is not considered an honor so much as a recognition of the most powerful forces shaping the world, was awarded for Putin's role in reshaping a country that Time's Managing Editor Richard Stengel said had "fallen off our mental map." AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2008 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) stands next to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi during the signing of agreements between the two countries April 17, 2008 in Tripoli, Libya. Putin is in Libya for a two-day official visit to rebuild Russian-Libyan relations. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is pictured with a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2010 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plays piano during a charity concert in Saint Petersburg AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2011 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) rides a motorbike as he takes part in the 16th annual motorbike festival held by "The Night Wolves" youth organization in the southern Russian town of Novorossiysk AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2012 Russian President Vladimir Putin pilots a motorized hang glider while flying with cranes as he takes part in a scientific experiment as part of the "Flight of Hope", which aims to preserve a rare species of - cranes on September 5, 2012. At the helm of a motorized hang glider that the birds have taken as their leader, Putin made three flights - the first to get familiar with the process, and two others with the birds. AFP/Getty 20 years of Putin 2013 Russin President Vladimir Putin as he plays with his dogs 'Buffy' (up) and 'Yume' at his residence Novo-Ogariovo, outside Moscow. Bulgarian shepherd dog 'Buffy' was presented to Putin by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offered Putin the puppy 'Yume' as a gift during the G20 in Mexico in June. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin visits USA House in the Olympic Village 20 years of Putin 2015 Russias President Vladimir Putin works out at a gym at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on June 25, 2016 in Beijing, China. Russian President Vladimir Putin is in China to discuss more economic and military cooperation between the two countries. Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. AFP/Getty Images 20 years of Putin 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the phone in his office in Saint Petersburg on December 15, 2018 with Artyom Palyanov -- a boy with brittle bone disease who wished to see a bird's eye view of the city. - Earlier the President promised to make his dream come true by sending him on a helicopter tour of the city. AFP/Getty 20 years of Putin Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, meets Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, during a bilateral meeting on the first day of the G20 summit on June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Osaka on Thursday for the annual Group of 20 gathering together with other world leaders who will use the two-day summit to discuss pressing economic, climate change, as well as geopolitical issues. The US-China trade war is expected to dominate the meetings in Osaka as President Trump and China's President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on Saturday in an attempt to resolve the ongoing the trade clashes between the world's two largest economies. Getty Images Mr Putin denied the proposals represented a departure from Russias current presidential system. But the changes do appear to radically weaken the powers of any presidential successor, redistributing them in favour of parliament and other governmental institutions. Some commentators suggested Russia was now headed for a Chinese-type devolved government structure, with the ruling party returning to play a major role. Such a model would allow Putin to remain in charge for an indefinite period, while encouraging rivalry among potential successors, wrote Kirill Rogov, a political analyst. But much about Mr Putins plan remains vague, and it is likely he intends it to be so, said Maxim Trudolyubov, senior advisor at the Kennan Institute. Putin is keeping his options open, Mr Trudolyubov told The Independent. He could become prime minister, speaker of the lower parliament, speaker of the upper parliament, chair of the State Council, anything. The main thing is that it is a top-down rewrite of the rules, will not make elections fairer, and so has limited meaning outside of the Kremlin. The dramatic announcements came towards the end of an unusually brief 80-minute address. The first hour of the speech was largely devoted to domestic bugbears to the obvious acupuncture points of welfare and economy. Contrary to expectations, little was made of Russias foreign enmities; Ukraine didnt even command a mention. Recommended How 20 years of Putin has shaped Russia and the world Instead, Mr Putin said it was time to tackle increasing levels of poverty and corruption in the country. There was a demand for change, he noted - in itself an interesting observation for a man in power for 20 years. As discordant were the freshly-tanned faces of Russias political elite, many of whom had just returned from expensive tropical winter breaks. Sidestepping the issue of sanctions and economic isolation, Mr Putin blamed much of Russias economic ills on its demographic inheritance. The country was beginning to feel the effects of the catastrophic collapse in the 1990s, he said. Birth rates were falling, making saving and multiplying the Russian nation a task of historical propotions. He announced a number of cash incentives for Russian families: increases in child benefit; free hot lunches for school kids; and 50 per cent increases in grants to mothers of large families. For many of Russias regions, especially the most impoverished, the sums being offered were not insignificant. But whether the giveaway will have the desired effect on demography or on the presidents dwindling polling figures is another question. Australian interior experts and Reddit users have shared a list of items which should never be seen in an adult home and the accessories worth investing in instead. Wire clothes hangers, mismatched towels and coloured bed linen that matches the carpet and curtains should be swapped for velvet or wooden versions, coordinated bathroom sets and clean white cotton sheets. Open cabinets of half-drunk wine and spirits should be substituted for minimalist drinks trolleys, while flimsy light fixtures and fairy lights should be binned in favour of free-standing floor lamps and scented candles to create a relaxing atmosphere. Broken storage containers, novelty mugs and tarnished kitchen utensils have no place in a grown-up residence, while empty makeup and jewellery boxes and unworn clothes should be cleared out or donated to charity to reduce old-fashioned clutter. Novelty mugs and mismatched towels have no place in a grown-up residence, according to interior experts and Reddit users Coloured bed linen that matches the carpet and curtains should be swapped for crisp, clean white cotton sheets Arrays of posters bearing the famous faces of rock bands and movie stars, tacked to the wall with a mismatch of coloured pins, should be torn down and replaced with elegantly framed artwork and photographs and a selection of tasteful houseplants. Tatty carpets and unfinished floorboards should be left for university dorms and share flats, while luxurious rugs and statement walls of exposed brick are hallmarks of a truly adult living space. Australian interior stylist Anita Birges previously shared a list of items people should be throwing out at the turn of each decade to keep living spaces fresh and free from old-fashioned clutter. Out and in: Fairy lights should be binned in favour of free-standing floor lamps and scented candles to create a relaxing atmosphere Wire clothes hangers should be swapped for velvet or wooden versions to keep clothes in good condition 10 THINGS EVERY ADULT SHOULD HAVE IN THEIR APARTMENT 1. A solid mattress and bed frame 2. Built-in storage space 3. Houseplants 4. Framed artwork and photos 5. Quality kitchen utensils and cutlery 6. A neutral colour scheme 7. Matching towels 8. A statement vase 9. A rug 10. A signature home scent Source: Architectural Digest Advertisement In your twenties, she recommends clearing out old odd mugs, mismatched towels, empty makeup and jewellery boxes, travel trinkets, university study notes, dress up costumes and large photo collages covering entire walls. 'It's about personal taste [in your twenties] - try to spend some time and money on yourself and creating a nice space,' she told Daily Mail Australia. In your thirties, cheap, flimsy furniture and childish memorabilia should be cast aside and replaced with high quality chairs, mattresses, bed linen and long-lasting kitchen essentials. 'Really try and define your style in this age bracket as well and get rid of any makeshift curtains...and get rid of any plastic takeaway containers in the kitchen. It's time to invest in some proper storage containers,' she said. In your forties, decluttering the kitchen and pantry should be the first port of call, freeing up space by throwing out mismatched crockery, cutlery, novelty mugs, cooking utensils and expired spices. Open cabinets of half-drunk wine and spirits should be substituted for chic minimalist drinks trolleys Tarnished cutlery and chipped cookware should be cleared out to free space for quality utensils that stand the test of time 'So many people have expired spices and they don't even realise it,' Anita said. 'They won't hurt you but they have lost their freshness and it's just pointless having them in the home taking up space.' Other items to ditch in your forties include shoes that are unused or uncomfortable, stained linen and pillows, which can be given to a pet shop, CDs on display without a player, takeaway menus, old mobile phones, sentimental toys and old bras. Wire clothes hangers should also be ditched in favour of velvet or wooden ones to keep clothing in good condition. New Delhi, Jan 15 : A Delhi Court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad who was arrested in connection with the violence that erupted in the Daryaganj area of the national capital amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau while granting bail to Azad ruled that Azad cannot stay in Delhi or hold any dharna till Delhi elections are over. The court asked the Delhi Police to escort Azad to his residence in Saharanpur within 24 hours of his release. "While in Saharanpur, Azad would mark his presence before the SHO at Fatehpur police station on every Saturday for four weeks. In case Azad has to visit AIIMS for his medical condition, he will first inform DCP Crime who will provide him with an escort," the court ruled. Lau also clarified that before leaving for Saharanpur, if Azad wishes to visit any place in Delhi including Jama Masjid or Ravidas Temple, the Delhi Police will not stop him. The court said the conditions were for a period of one month in view of the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi and Azad might seek modification of the order in pursuance to the legal rights available to him. On Tuesday, the court reprimanded the Delhi Police for failing to show any evidence against the Bhim Army chief who was arrested in the wake of violence that broke out during the anti-CAA protests in Daryaganj area last month. "Show me anything or any law that prohibits such a gathering... Where is the violence? Who says you cannot protest...have you read the Constitution? It is one's constitutional right to protest. You are behaving as if Jama Masjid was Pakistan and even if it was in Pakistan, you can go there and protest. Pakistan was a part of undivided India," said Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau while hearing the bail plea filed by Azad through his counsel Mehmood Paracha. In his bail plea, Azad said there was no evidence against him in the FIR which states that he had instigated the crowd to march to Delhi Gate from Jama Masjid and indulge in violence. "No motive has been attributed to the accused in the present FIR, and all charges have been added mechanically," the plea said. Azad said he suffers from severe physical disability, and it cannot be comprehended that he could at all influence any witness. It is to be considered that all the material witnesses in the incident are police officials, and therefore it is further unlikely that any witness tampering will be attempted by any individual, he said. Azad stated he undertakes to comply with any condition imposed by the court necessary for granting bail. After more than seven years at the top of one of the countrys most storied Democratic organizations, Frank Seddio is resigning the only way a Brooklyn Democratic Party boss can by handpicking a successor, with little to no input from the party faithful. Seddio kept the Brooklyn Democrats unified during a period of great change, even as the organization weakened under his watch and ended up nearly broke. And now hes hoping to hand over the reins to a black woman for the first time in the countys history. Seddio plans to make the transition official on Wednesday night at Pizza DAmore in Mill Basin, at a previously scheduled meeting of the boroughs 42 Democratic district leaders. There, the 73-year-old Seddio will urge them to pick Rodneyse Bichotte, a Haitian American assemblywoman some three decades his junior, as the new party chair. The party plans to hold another meeting on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to officially choose Bichotte to serve the remainder of Seddios term, until September 2020. A challenge to Bichotte seems unlikely. Shes a young member of the Assembly. She has the opportunity to be a good fundraiser. She has leadership qualities that I dont think people have appreciated in her, Seddio told City & State on Monday. She had become the one that I believe best serves the party. Seddio said that Bichotte didnt ask for the position. Ive gone to her, he said. Ive evaluated all the different leaders, and Ive gone to her. Thats just the way things are for a party boss, a role that Seddio played with gusto. He practiced cannoli diplomacy showing up at meetings with treats. When he hosted politicos in his own home in Canarsie, thered be home-cooked Italian food. The annual lighting of his garish Christmas display was a cant-miss event for Brooklyn electeds. Seddio styled himself as a modern day Boss Tweed pot-bellied, ruddy-faced, with a smile that lights up a room. But his team insists he wasnt all old school. Frank, he looks like an old-fashioned guy, but hes a very open-minded guy, said Bob Liff, a spokesman for the Brooklyn Democrats. As long as you dont say anything bad about his Christmas lights. Seddio has been a part of the Thomas Jefferson Club, the storied Democratic club of southeast Brooklyn, for more than 50 years. Over those years he has been a police officer, an attorney, a member of the Assembly, a Surrogates Court judge and the leader of the leader of the executive committee of the Kings County Democratic County Committee his official title. As New York City Councilman Alan Maisel joked to City & State in a 2015 profile, he cant hold on to a job. Seddio was elected chairman in September 2012, replacing the scandal-scarred Vito Lopez, who stepped down after being accused of sexually harassing his staffers. Seddios victory was met with skepticism by many. After all, he was an ally of the morally repugnant Lopez. Seddio had his own minor scandal as well, stepping down from the surrogates bench in 2007 amid an investigation into his use of campaign funds. But this is county politics, where nobody seems totally clean, and Seddio worked hard to win over critics in the party throughout his tenure, withvarying success. His primary sparring partners were the New Kings Democrats, a reform group whose membership leaned towards the young and transplanted, as opposed to the older, more Brooklyn-native leadership of the Brooklyn Dems. N.K.D. pushed Seddio to democratize the party by opening up the partys finances, holding more meetings, and allowing county committee members to vote on more decisions. Seddio instituted the reforms, but only to a point. He held more meetings but at locations with limited subway access. Committee members could vote but Seddio held a majority of the votes himself. Nonetheless, Seddio wanted credit for working with the reformers. If I have a disappointment, its that no matter what weve done, in that community, it never seems to be enough, Seddio told City & State. N.K.D. President Mariana Alexander said the outgoing boss deserved kudos. Frank, actually in some ways has been a good partner to us, she said. Hes always been willing to listen, even when weve disagreed. I think hes genuinely tried to unify the party. But major concerns remained, both for N.K.D. and the party regulars. The most obvious of which was the County Committees dwindling bank account. Before Seddio took over in 2012, the party was sitting on nearly $640,000. At the most recent official campaign finance filing, in July 2019, the account had fallen below $33,000. The next campaign finance filing is due this week, and Liff says it will show only slight growth, with about $45,000 in the bank. At times, Seddio had to keep the account afloat by loaning money from his own campaign account, Friends of Frank Seddio. Seddio said Countys finances dwindled following the departure of Lopez, the previous boss, who could drum up donations using his sway as chairman of the Assembly Housing Committee. And while Seddio has given into reformers demands of holding more meetings, those meetings cost money and the reformers arent donating. Its unreasonable to ask us to fundraise for an entity that we have no control over how the money gets spent, Alexander, the N.K.D. president, said, or even no insight into how spending decisions get made. Criticism of Seddio hit a fever pitch last September, when the Daily News reported that Seddio owed more than $2 million on a business deal gone bad. Seddio said it was all his personal finances, and unconnected to the partys, but Seddio skeptics like Assemblyman Walter Mosley, a district leader from North Brooklyn, called for a full audit of the partys finances. Seddio often seemed loyal to a fault, sticking by favored Democrats no matter what the accusation. That meant talking tough about perceived enemies too, and when asked about Mosleys criticism this week, Seddio got testy. Im sorry, whos Walter Mosley? Is he somebody? Seddio said mockingly, noting that the assemblyman hasnt shown up to any executive committee meetings in a year. Mosley declined to comment on Seddios response. It wasnt just the partys finances that suffered under Seddio, but also the partys power. Every county committee has lost influence with the decline of neighborhood political clubs and the rise of digital native political organizing, among other factors. But the shift seemed most abrupt in Brooklyn. Nothing could have exemplified the change more than the 2018 loss of longtime county ally Martin Dilan to state Sen. Julia Salazar, a democratic socialist organizer still in her 20s. Where Seddio did have power, he wielded it in unusual ways, like during the 2013 New York City Council speakers race when he flipped the boroughs 16 members to support Melissa Mark-Viverito, giving her the win. Seddio and the borough had originally backed then-City Councilman Dan Garodnick for the leadership position, but switched at the urging of the newly elected Brooklynite mayor, Bill de Blasio, whom Seddio was eager to court after having backed his opponent, Bill Thompson, in the mayoral primary. Seddio secured some prime City Council positions for his boroughs members, but enraged then-Queens County Democratic Chairman Joe Crowley, who felt that Seddio had reneged on a deal. Crowley reportedly gave him the silent treatment for years, and Seddio wasnt much of a factor at all in the 2017 speakers race. While Seddios power seemed to weaken, Democrats gained near-total control of Brooklyn, banishing Republican state Sen. Marty Golden and Republican Rep. Dan Donovan in the 2018 blue wave. Except for the Republican president, and a sliver of an GOP-held Assembly district thats mostly in Staten Island, every single elected official representing Brooklyn at the New York City Council level and above is a Democrat. The Brooklyn Democratic Party still holds some power, particularly in electing and appointing judges, and if Seddio gets his way, Bichotte will be the one to take the job. Shes not an obvious pick, as she and Seddio have had some public disagreements over the years. But Bichotte was quick to praise Seddio when talking to City & State soon after the news of the transition broke on Monday, thanking Seddio for making the party more inclusive and unifying the Democratic organization in Brooklyn. Bichotte has methodically accumulated political power in Central Brooklyn over the past few years, building alliances with her Orthodox Jewish neighbors and, most recently, getting her protege Farah Louis elected to an open City Council seat. Bichotte has worked well with the New Kings Democrats in the past, and the group is cautiously optimistic about the change, but other Seddio critics, like Mosley, are wary of the way Seddio is endorsing Bichotte. He told City & State on Monday that he was considering challenging her candidacy as party leader, but told Politico New York on Tuesday that he was bowing out of the arbitrary and capricious process. (Mosley, it should be noted, plans to attend a previously-scheduled Assembly-sponsored trip to Poland starting Wednesday night.) Other Seddio scolders, like the husband-and-wife district leader team of Charles and Inez Barron, also wont challenge Bichotte, but told Politico they plan to abstain from voting as a protest against the white chairman handpicking the next leader. So Seddios choice of Bichotte seems likely to go through, which would be an impressive final win to cap a complicated tenure as county boss. Seddio told City & State that hes retiring because Ive done everything I think I can possibly accomplish. But Seddio may really just be using a lesson he learned from a previous Brooklyn boss, Meade Esposito. As Seddio recounted in 2015, Esposito used to say that if youre being chased out of town by a mob, pick up the flag and make it look like youre leading the parade. Believe it or not, Seddio said, Ive used it quite a few times where its actually worked. -with reporting by Zach Williams VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (Ascot or the Company) is pleased to announce an updated Resource Estimate for the Premier Gold Project (PGP) including the Silver Coin, Big Missouri and Premier deposits (see Table 1 below). The Company, previously released an updated Red Mountain Project (RMP) Resource Estimate dated November 22, 2019. Highlights: Resources at Premier Gold Project contained precious metals are: Indicated Category: 1,066,000 ounces of gold and 4,669,000 ounces of silver Inferred Category: 1,180,000 ounces of gold and 4,673,000 ounces of silver Ascots combined resources for the Premier1 and Red Mountain2 Projects have total contained precious metals as follows: Measured & Indicated Category: 1,849,000 ounces of gold and 6,824,000 ounces of silver Inferred Category: 1,250,000 ounces of gold and 4,769,000 ounces of silver Since late 2017, Ascot management turned its focus towards developing high-grade underground resources. Starting with limited high-grade underground resources, Ascot now has a substantial amount of high-grade resources from four deposits, which could feed the centrally located Premier mill (see Figure 1 below). In 2019, the Company completed over 53,000 metres of drilling, of which 43,000 metres was focused on an infill drill program to improve the confidence level and classification of the Premier Gold Project resource from the Inferred Category to the Indicated Category. The Company now has an updated NI 43-101 compliant Resource Estimate for the Premier Gold Project based on this drilling. Derek White, President and CEO of Ascot commented, "I am pleased with our progress and the large increase in tonnage, grade and contained gold and silver in the Indicated Category at the Premier Gold Project. We convincingly achieved our goal of rapidly creating a strong base of Measured and Indicated Resources as the basis for developing a mine plan for the project. We have scheduled the release of our feasibility study by the end of March, 2020." All drilling at the Premier Gold Project to date was undertaken from surface which is less expensive than underground drilling. A significant portion of future infill programs will likely be conducted from underground. The reduction in Inferred Resources at Premier was a result of the upgrading a portion of the Inferred Resource to the Indicated category. The remainder of the resource in the Inferred Category is available to be upgraded to the Measured and Indicated Categories with a future drill program. 43-101 Technical Report to be filed in 45 days as noted in Table 1 43-101 Technical Report dated November 22, 2019 (at 3.0g/t cut-off grade) Red Mountain M&I 3.19Mt @ 7.63g/t Au and 21.0g/t Ag, Red Mountain Inferred 0.4Mt @ 5.32g/t Au and 7.3g/t Ag 2020 Mineral Resource Estimate at Premier Gold Project In August of 2019, the Company engaged Ms. Sue Bird, P.Eng. of Bird Resource Consulting Corp. (BRCC) to prepare an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Premier Project. The new estimate incorporates the drill results form the 2019 field season and required an update to the modeled mineralized zones and the modelling methodology for Premier, Big Missouri and Silver Coin to accommodate the results from the new drill holes in these three areas. Table 1: Mineral Resources at PGP reported at a 3.5g/t AuEq cut-off (effective date of December 12, 2019). Class Deposit In situ Tonnes 000's Average In situ Grades Contained oz (000's) Au g/t Ag g/t AuEq g/t Au Ag AuEq Indicated Premier 1,298 8.46 64.2 8.90 353 2,680 372 Big Missouri 1,116 8.36 16.9 8.48 300 607 304 Silver Coin 1,597 7.61 23.0 7.77 390 1,181 399 Martha Ellen 130 5.47 48.0 5.80 23 201 24 Total Indicated All Above 4,141 8.01 35.1 8.25 1,066 4,669 1,099 Inferred Premier 1,753 6.72 39.8 7.00 379 2,243 394 Big Missouri 1,897 8.34 14.7 8.44 508 896 515 Silver Coin 523 7.03 23.2 7.19 118 390 121 Martha Ellen 653 6.12 34.3 6.36 129 720 134 Dilworth 235 6.13 56.0 6.51 46 424 49 Total Inferred All Above 5,061 7.25 28.7 7.45 1,180 4,673 1,213 Notes for Table 1: Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.5 g/t AuEq based on metal prices of US$1,300/oz Au and US$20/oz Ag. The AuEq values were calculated using US$1,300/oz Au, US$20/oz Ag, a silver metallurgical recovery of 45.2%, and the following equation: AuEq(g/t) = Au(g/t) + 45.2% x Ag(g/t) x 20 / 1,300 A mean bulk density of 2.84 t/m3 is used for Premier and of 2.80 t/m3 for all other deposit areas A minimum mining width of 2.5 m true thickness is required in order to be classified as Resource material Numbers may not add due to rounding. The two tables below compare the current Resource Estimate to the previous estimate (see NR Dec 3, 2018), highlighting the changes in tonnage, gold grade and contained gold ounces due to the new drilling and geology updates. Table 2: Comparison of the Resources at PGP in the Indicated Category reported at a 3.5g/t AuEq cut-off Deposit In situ Tonnes 000's Tonnage Change from 2018 In situ Grade Contained oz (000's) Au g/t Change from 2018 Au Change from 2018 Premier 1,298 +4% 8.46 +21% 353 +26% Big Missouri 1,116 +107% 8.36 +2% 300 +111% Silver Coin 1,597 +86% 7.61 -5% 390 +76% Martha Ellen 130 0% 5.47 0% 23 0% Total 4,141 +49% 8.01 +7% 1,066 +60% Table 3: Comparison of the Resources at PGP in the Inferred Category reported at a 3.5g/t AuEq cut-off Deposit In situ Tonnes 000's Tonnage Change from 2018 In situ Grade Contained oz (000's) Au g/t Change from 2018 Au Change from 2018 Premier 1,753 +1% 6.72 +13% 379 +14% Big Missouri 1,897 -16% 8.34 +1% 508 -15% Silver Coin 523 -55% 7.03 -10% 118 -59% Martha Ellen 653 0% 6.12 0% 129 0% Dilworth 235 0% 6.13 0% 46 0% Total 5,061 -16% 7.25 +1% 1,180 -15% Notes for Tables 2 and 3: Comparison to 43-101 Technical Report dated January 17, 2019 Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.5 g/t AuEq based on metal prices of US$1,300/oz Au and US$20/oz Ag. Percent differences are calculated as: (2020-2018)/2018 % The AuEq grade was calculated using the same parameters as the last Resource Estimate for comparison purposes The AuEq values were calculated using US$1,300/oz Au, US$20/oz Ag, a silver metallurgical recovery of 45.2%, and the following equation: AuEq(g/t) = Au(g/t) + 45.2% x Ag(g/t) x 20 / 1,300 A mean bulk density of 2.84 t/m3 is used for Premier and of 2.80 t/m3 for all other deposit areas A minimum mining width of 2.5 m true thickness is required in order to be classified as Resource material Numbers may not add due to rounding. Sensitivity to Cut-off Grade Table 4: Grade Sensitivity Analysis of the PGP Resource with the Base case at a cut-off of 3.5g/t AuEq highlighted (effective date of December 12, 2019) - Indicated. Cut-Off (g/t AuEq) In situ Tonnage (t) In situ Grades Contained oz (000's) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) Au (koz) Ag (koz) AuEq (koz) 5.0 2,545 10.53 42.0 10.82 861 3,439 885 4.5 2,954 9.70 40.0 9.98 921 3,797 948 4.0 3,483 8.85 37.6 9.11 990 4,215 1,020 3.5 4,141 8.01 35.1 8.25 1,066 4,669 1,099 3.0 4,958 7.20 32.7 7.43 1,148 5,207 1,184 2.5 6,015 6.39 30.1 6.60 1,237 5,825 1,277 Table 5: Grade sensitivity analysis of PGP Resources with the Base case cut-off of 3.5g/t AuEq highlighted (effective date of December 12, 2019) - Inferred. Cut-Off (g/t AuEq) Tonnage (t) In situ Grades Contained oz (000's) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) Au (koz) Ag (koz) AuEq (koz) 5.0 2,890 9.74 31.7 9.96 905 2,942 925 4.5 3,364 9.01 31.0 9.22 974 3,352 998 4.0 4,071 8.15 30.0 8.36 1,067 3,925 1,094 3.5 5,061 7.25 28.7 7.45 1,180 4,673 1,213 3.0 6,176 6.51 27.2 6.70 1,292 5,402 1,329 2.5 7,565 5.79 26.1 5.97 1,408 6,342 1,452 Note for Tables 4 and 5: Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.5 g/t AuEq based on metal prices of US$1,300/oz Au and US$20/oz Ag. The AuEq values were calculated using US$1,300/oz Au, US$20/oz Ag, a silver metallurgical recovery of 45.2%, and the following equation: AuEq(g/t) = Au(g/t) + 45.2% x Ag(g/t) x 20 / 1,300 A mean bulk density of 2.84 t/m3 is used for Premier and of 2.80 t/m3 for all other deposit areas A minimum mining width of 2.5 m true thickness is required in order to be classified as Resource material Numbers may not add due to rounding. Methodology The Resource Estimate is based on 4,692 drill holes (2,253 Ascot holes) for in excess of 735,000 metres of drilling (Ascot holes account for 507,000 metres of that total). The geological models for all five deposit areas at PGP consist of interpreted shapes of mineralized zones and of post-mineral porphyry dikes and faults. Mineralization within each of the deposits is interpreted to have been emplaced by sub-vertical structures which acted as conduits to fluid flow. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), an updated technical report for the Premier Project will be filed on SEDAR and the Companys web site within 45 calendar days of this disclosure. Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1584b5c7-b541-4b64-9c4a-2efbf493e363. Map of Ascots Premier Gold Project showing the relative location of the various resource areas described in this release and the existing infrastructure in the area. The mineralized zone shapes have been built as AuEq grade shells which conform to the general strike and dip of the geologic modelling. Grade shells have been created by manual tagging of assay intercepts with an AuEq grade of equal to or greater than approximately 2.0g/t AuEq and a possible true thickness of greater than 2.0 m to 2.5 m. This has been done to include intercepts below the resource cut-off grade of 3.5g/t AuEq in order to increase continuity of the mineralized solids, and to include internal dilution in the interpolations. The tagged intercepts were then used with the Implicit Modelling Tool in MineSight (MSIM) to create solids of mineralized shapes. A total of 83 zones for Big Missouri, 99 zones for Premier, and 90 zones for Silver Coin have been re-modelled for the Resource update, with Martha Ellen and Dilworth remaining the same as the January, 2019 Resource. Assay sample lengths varied across the drill programs with the majority of sampling being at one metre intervals within the potentially mineralized zones. Therefore, a base composite length of one metre has been used for all three deposits. Assay data has been coded with a domain value corresponding to the mineralized shapes prior to compositing and the domain code has been honoured during compositing and interpolating. Any assay interval within a domain that was less than 0.5 m was composited with the interval above it, resulting in a length range from 0.5 m to 1.5 m. Block dimensions are 3m x 3m x 3m. The block model is defined as a Multiple Percent Model, with up to two mineralized zones per block and two associated block percent items. Variogram modelling was not effective at defining anisotropy due to varying orientations of the mineralized zones, and to the multiple stacked lens nature of the mineralization, resulting in too few data pairs in each zone. Therefore, the orientation of anisotropy has been obtained from the orientation of the zone itself. Interpolation has been done using five passes of inverse distance cubed (ID3) in all cases. The blocks were classified according to CIM (2014) definitions as follows: All Classified material must be within a modeled shape with a minimum minable true thickness of 2.5m. Blocks within an anisotropic search ellipse with dimensions of 100mx100mx15m are assigned a preliminary classification of Inferred. Indicated blocks are required to meet at least one of the following criteria: The average distance to the nearest 3 drill holes is less than 35m with none further than 35m, and there are samples from at least 2 split quadrants to limit any potential extrapolation, or the average distance to the nearest two drill holes is less than 17.5 m, and there are samples from at least 2 split quadrants, or the distance to the nearest drill hole is less than 10m and at least 2 drill holes have been used in the estimate. A cut-off grade of 3.5 g/t AuEq was applied to the block model for reporting of Mineral Resources. This cut-off grade was derived from a preliminary analysis of current mining and processing costs for underground mining operations. The Resource QP is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other relevant factors that could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimate for Premier, Big Missouri, Martha Ellen, Dilworth, or Silver Coin properties. Next Steps The 2019 drill program increased the gold ounces in the Indicated category at Premier Gold Project by 60%. Many areas of the remaining modelled Inferred resources for these three deposit areas require deeper drilling which can be more efficiently drilled from underground. Additional drilling to convert Inferred resources to the M&I category will be conducted from underground. Lastly, the new resource base will be used for a feasibility level study to evaluate the economic viability of the project. Upcoming Events Ascot will be at the GCFF Vancouver Resource Investment Conference held at the Executive Airport Plaza Hotel Richmond, Saturday January 18 with members of management who can speak Mandarin and Cantonese. Management will also be at Cambridge House Vancouver Investor Conference from January 19-20. CEO, Derek White will be hosting a workshop at the VRIC from 11:30 AM - 11:40 AM on Monday January 20 at the Convention Centre (Workshop 5). Ascot will also be at the Roundup in Vancouver from January 20-21. For more information about the Company, please refer to the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Companys web site at www.ascotgold.com , or for a virtual tour visit www.vrify.com under Ascot Resources. Qualified Persons Sue Bird, P. Eng. of BRCC is an independent qualified person (as defined in NI 43-101) responsible for this mineral Resource Estimate. Ms. Bird has conducted independent data verification relating to drill hole location and orientation, sampling methodology, assay QA/QC and database integrity and found the results satisfactory. Ms. Bird acknowledges that she has reviewed the technical content presented in this news release and approved the written disclosure. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Lawrence Tsang, P. Geo., the Companys Senior Geologist provides the field management for the Premier exploration program. John Kiernan, P. Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Companys Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. Analytical work is being carried out by SGS Canada Inc (SGS). Ascots quality-assurance and quality-control program includes the use of analytical blanks to monitor for cross contamination, certified reference material standards to assess analytical accuracy, and duplicate samples to quantify sampling precision. This is in addition to the internal quality assurance program employed by SGS. Samples are dried and weighed by SGS. They are then crushed to 75% passing 2mm, with 250g split and pulverized to 85% passing 75m. Samples are processed on site by a mobile lab supplied by SGS and run by SGS personnel. All splits are sent to SGS in Burnaby. There, all samples are digested using aqua-regia with an ICP-AES finish and fire assay with AA finish for gold. Samples over 100ppm silver are digested with aqua regia and then volumetrically diluted before an ICP-AES or AA finish (up to 1,500ppm). Samples over 1,500ppm silver are fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Samples over 10ppm gold are fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Identified or suspected metallic gold or silver are subjected to metallics assays. Sampling and storage are at the Companys secure facility in Stewart. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ASCOT RESOURCES LTD. Derek C. White, President and CEO For further information contact: Kristina Howe VP, Investor Relations 778-725-1060 / khowe@ascotgold.com About Ascot Resources Ltd. Ascot is a Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on re-starting the past producing historic Premier gold mine, located in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. The Company continues to define high-grade resources for underground mining with the near-term goal of converting the underground resources into reserves, while continuing to explore nearby targets on its Premier/Dilworth and Silver Coin properties (collectively referred to as the Premier Gold Project). Ascot's acquisition of IDM Mining added the high-grade gold and silver Red Mountain Project to its portfolio and positions the Company as a leading consolidator of high-quality assets in the Golden Triangle. The TSX Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect and intend and statements that an event or result may, will, should, could or might occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. 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, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Ascots periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Premier and RMP Projects; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Premier and RMP Projects; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the Premier Mill. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Ascots expectations include risks associated with the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascots projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in Ascots filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. Emotions run high as several victims are buried in the sprawling Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery south of Tehran. Iranians buried their dead on Wednesday from an airliner shot down by the military as authorities identified more of the 176 victims of last weeks crash, which led to days of protests against Irans rulers followed by a police crackdown. Several victims were buried in the sprawling Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery south of Tehran, while others would be transferred abroad, Iranian media said. Emotions have been running high as the victims of the January 8 crash are mourned. An online video showed the national flag ripped from the coffin of one victim when relatives collected the body and the mother shouted, Tear it off. Protesters took to the streets of Iranian cities for four days after the armed forces finally acknowledged on Saturday, after days of denials, that they brought down the plane. In several places, demonstrators met a fierce police response. Iranians on social media called for more protests on Wednesday, but there was no sign of the kind of rallies held on previous days. Instead, videos showed riot police massed outside universities, the focal point for demonstrations. Iran is battling several fronts. A new international crisis has erupted over its nuclear programme, the economy is in tatters under United States sanctions, and a long-running standoff with the US briefly spiralled into open conflict. The plane was downed by air defences when the armed forces were on high alert for US reprisals, hours after Iran launched missiles against US targets in Iraq in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed a top Iranian commander on January 3. Unforgivable error Most of those on Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, bound for Kyiv in Ukraine, were Iranians or dual citizens, many of them students returning to their studies abroad or families on their way home after seeing relatives in Iran. The head of the coroners office in Tehran said 123 of the 176 victims had been identified, ILNA news agency reported. The military and top officials apologised for the unforgivable error in bringing the plane down and said the Iranian government would prosecute those to blame. The judiciary said people had been arrested who were accused of having a role in the disaster. An investigation is underway in Iran, with international experts from several countries allowed into the country to provide technical assistance in the probe. UTICA An Oneida County man who served prison time for killing a baby with a shotgun in 2015 has been sentenced for raping a pre-teen girl. 22-year-old Henry Bartle of Annsville was sentenced to seven years in prison and ten years post-release supervision after pleading guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl in the Village of Sylvan Beach in June of 2019. Emotions were high as letters from the victim and the victim's father were read in Oneida County Court Wednesday morning. The victim, now 13, says Bartle had sex with her on at least three occasions. She said she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Bartle. The victim detailed in her letter just some of what the rape has cost her, including her relationship with her mother - who was romantically involved with Bartle. Her father wants to ensure Bartle stays away from his daughter when he gets out of jail. I could tell there was something wrong with her, but he had so thoroughly brainwashed her that she didnt want to tell anybody what was going on. He went on to sexually assault her two more times said Steve Feiner, Oneida County Assistant District Attorney, reading the letter from the victims father in open court. Judge Robert Bauer, who heard the case, had pointed remarks for Bartle during the sentencing hearing. One common thread through your life - and the harm you've caused others seems to be marijuana use. Perhaps you should cut that out of your life. If you look back and consider the horrific grievous harm caused the last time you used marijuana said Bauer. The judge was referring to November 2015, when Bartle shot and killed his girlfriend's seven-month-old baby while cleaning a shotgun. He was 18-years-old at the time and was granted youthful offender status. Bartle was sentenced to 1.3 to 4 years in state prison after a guilty plea to second-degree manslaughter. He told police he was smoking marijuana when the gun accidentally went off and shot the baby, Nathaniel Hitt of Rome. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 15, 2020 13:12 727 48be62e941b44f04afae568c3223701c 1 National Purworejo,kingdom Free The Purworejo Police arrested on Tuesday afternoon Totok Santoso Hadiningrat and Fanni Aminadia, residents of Purworejo regency in Central Java, who recently declared themselves the "king and queen" of the so-called Keraton Agung Sejagat kingdom. The couple was immediately taken to Purworejo Police headquarters for questioning. The police also searched the building that served as the "palace" in Pogung Jurutengah village, Bayan district, where Totok declared himself as the king of Keraton Agung Sejagat, "the mother of all states". Purworejo military district commander Lt. Col. Muchlis Gasim confirmed the arrest. Its true, the 'king and queen of Keraton Agung Sejagat' have been detained by the [Purworejo] police, Muchlis said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Tuesday. Separately, Central Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Iskandar Fitriana Sutisna said that Totok and his wife were arrested for allegedly spreading a hoax and charged with violating Article 14 of Law No. 1/1946 on misinformation, which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, kompas.com reported on Wednesday. Totok announced the existence of the kingdom on Sunday. He claimed that Keraton Agung Sejagat which means "world empire" had about 425 subjects and would be a "peacemaker" that would resolve "all conflicts occurring all over the world" by improving global governance and monetary systems. The "royal advisor", Resi Joyodiningrat, said that the couple hoped their "subjects" would not worry about the "kingdom", because Keraton Agung Sejagat was not a sect. He added that Keraton Agung Sejagat was founded 500 years ago, when Dyah Ranawijaya, the Majapahit king, controlled much of maritime Southeast Asia during the kingdom's peak in the 13th century. According to Resi, King Ranawijaya made a pact with the Portuguese in 1518, and that end of the pact in 2018 marked the end of Western world domination since World War II. Purworejo regency spokesperson Rita Purnama said there were indications that the kingdom was a fraud. Much of the story [about Keraton Agung Sejagat] does not correspond with history," she said. (hol) Topics : Purworejo kingdom Sinn Fein has slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson after he promised to legislate to prevent "unfair prosecutions" of former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland. Mr Johnson, answering a question from Labour MP Sarah Jones during Prime Minister's Questions, said a balance had been struck in the deal to restore Stormont between those seeking truth about what happened to their loved ones who were killed during the Troubles and protection for the UK's Armed Forces. "There is nothing in the agreement, I want to assure the house, that will stop us from going ahead with legislation to make sure that no one who served in our armed forces suffers unfair prosecution, vexatious or unfair prosecution for cases that happened many years ago when no new evidence has been provided," he told the House of Commons. Read More "We will legislate to ensure that that cannot happen." Sinn Fein MP Francie Molloy called Mr Johnson's comments "ludicrous and unacceptable". The Mid Ulster MP said: It is ludicrous for the British Prime Minister to suggest that the British Crown Prosecution Service is unfairly pursuing unfair or vexatious prosecutions against former British soldiers. British soldiers who committed crimes in Ireland, including the murders of Irish children, cannot be above the law. The families of the victims of British soldiers have waited up to 50 years for truth and justice. That is wrong and unacceptable. The British government needs to end its foot-dragging and stalling and implement the mechanisms it agreed in 2014 in the Stormont House Agreement in a human rights compliant manner to deal with the legacy of the past. In the Queen's Speech last month the government promised to bring forward proposals to tackle what it calls "vexatious claims" that "undermine our armed forces". The government also said it would seek better ways in dealing with "legacy issues" that provide "better outcomes" for victims and survivors. A former serviceman, known as Soldier F, is currently being prosecuted for his part in the death of two people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972. Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has filed a complaint against the Uttar Pradesh police seeking to register an FIR against the force for allegedly indulging in excesses on the night of December 15, officials said Wednesday. The move comes a month after violent clashes took place at AMU when students protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of the Central government. In a statement issued on Wednesday, AMU vice-chancellor Prof Tariq Mansoor said, We had only asked the police to bring normalcy by clearing the main road and had not given permission to enter any hostel. AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar told PTI, The police is yet to register our FIR, although we have filed our complaint. Asked to clarify, he said, We have been told by the police that as the High Court has already ordered a probe into the incident, any further action cannot be taken as the matter is sub judice. In their statements before some human rights groups, a number of students who were seriously injured on the night of December 15 accused the police of forcibly entering a hostel in Aftab Hall and the university's VIP guest house and indulging in excesses leading to serious injuries to a large number of students. Meanwhile, the university re-opened on January 13. However, students are completely boycotting classes and have demanded postponement of all exams, a spokesman of the students' coordination committee said. The trade agreement signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump and China includes a provision to stanch the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The U.S. and China agreed that both parties will work to "combat the prevalence of counterfeit or pirated goods" by taking "effective action" when the online platforms have failed to prevent intellectual property infringement. China has agreed to consider revoking an e-commerce platform's operating license if there are repeated sales of counterfeit or pirated goods. The U.S., meanwhile, has agreed to study additional measures of combating the online sale of counterfeit or pirated goods. It comes as Amazon faces increasing criticism over its failure to crack down on counterfeit goods. While the company says it has a "zero tolerance" policy for copycat products and has developed tools to help manage the problem, its marketplace of third-party sellers continues to be plagued by pirated goods. The problem has grown so severe that advocacy groups have called for some Amazon sites to be added to the U.S. government's annual "Notorious Markets" list, which names sites and companies that facilitate the sale of counterfeit goods. The company has taken notice of the problem. Last February, Amazon began warning investors in its annual report that it may never be able to prevent sellers from listing counterfeit goods on the platform. Earlier this month, Amazon said it would ramp up counterfeit reporting to authorities, with the hope that it will help law enforcement catch more criminals. In April, Trump signed a memorandum seeking to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods on Amazon, eBay, Alibaba and other online marketplaces. At the time, Trump warned the companies if they failed to clean it up, "the government will." Here's what the new trade agreement says about the sale of counterfeits on e-commerce platforms: Article 1.14: Infringement on Major E-Commerce Platforms 1. The Parties shall combat the prevalence of counterfeit or pirated goods on e-commerce platforms by taking effective action with respect to major e-commerce platforms that fail to take necessary measures against the infringement of intellectual property rights. 2. China shall provide that e-commerce platforms may have their operating licenses revoked for repeated failures to curb the sale of counterfeit or pirated goods. 3. The United States affirms that it is studying additional means to combat the sale of counterfeit or pirated goods. Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news. BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratos Wealth Advisors, a Stratos Wealth Network company, is pleased to welcome GA Investment Management, with committed assets of $400MM, to their network of independent financial advisors. Stratos Wealth Advisors is the RIA-Only channel of the Stratos Wealth Network of Companies. It was created in 2016, under the leadership of Founder and CEO, Jeff Concepcion, to meet the growing demand of advisors who wanted to build an independent advisory business with the support of experienced resources. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, GA Investment Management was founded by Stephen W. Gierl, CFP and Gary E. Augustine, who have more than 50 years of combined experience as wealth advisors. The GA Team consist of four wealth advisors and six firm operations specialists. Regarding their move to Stratos, Stephen said, "Stratos will provide a broad array of support from their industry experts. We are excited to announce this change and feel incredibly confident that we will be able to serve our clients better. By outsourcing many of our daily functions, such as compliance, billing, data reconciliation and performance reporting, we will take our dedicated client service to another level." "The team at Stratos is excited to welcome GA," said Jeff Concepcion, CEO and Founder, Stratos Wealth Advisors. "We're confident that our new partnership allows the GA team to continue to give best in class service and care to their clients. We look forward to supporting their continued success." About Stratos Wealth Advisors Stratos Wealth Advisors, LLC an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, manages over $885 million in advisory assets as of December 31, 2019. About Stratos Wealth Network Stratos Wealth Network is a family of companies focused on supporting the growth and success of financial advisors across business models and affiliation structures. Stratos companies include Stratos Wealth Partners, Stratos Wealth Advisors, Stratos Wealth Management, Stratos Wealth Enterprises, and Fundamentum. Stratos includes a national network of 300 experienced financial advisors and financial planning practitioners working across 87 offices throughout the country. Stratos is headquartered in Beachwood, OH. Media Contact: Kevin Elvington (440) 505-5608 stratoswealthadvisors.com [email protected] SOURCE Stratos Wealth Partners Related Links http://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/ Pro-government protesters set fire to US and British flags with a life-size cut-out of Britains ambassador Rob Macaire in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP) The UKs ambassador to Iran has returned to London for talks amid increased diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Rob Macaire has been labelled persona non grata by Irans judiciary and an effigy of the envoy was burned in Tehran by hardline protesters. The Foreign Office sought to play down the significance of his trip to London, with sources insisting it was a planned visit for talks and he would return to Tehran. The ambassador was arrested and briefly detained on Saturday after attending a vigil for the 176 people, including four Britons, killed when Iran accidentally downed a Ukrainian jet. Expand Close Pro-government protesters set fire to a life-size cut-out of Britains ambassador Rob Macaire (Vahid Salemi/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pro-government protesters set fire to a life-size cut-out of Britains ambassador Rob Macaire (Vahid Salemi/AP) The vigil turned into a protest, although Mr Macaire said he left after five minutes when some of those present started chanting. Iranian media reported that judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaeili said Mr Macaire had not respected the nations laws and should be expelled. Under international law, such a person is a persona non grata, Mr Esmaeili told reporters. The (Iranian) people expect the person to be expelled and that is also what international law calls for. Whitehall sources insisted his visit was routine and he would use it as an opportunity to brief officials and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. The Foreign Office said it was very much business as usual. A Foreign Office spokesman said: Ambassador Rob Macaire is returning to the UK today on a long-planned visit. He will have a number of meetings while in the UK and this is very much business as usual. He will be returning to Iran in the coming days. The latest developments come after the UK, France and Germany began action against Iran over its failure to comply with the terms of the nuclear deal. Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested that Donald Trump could produce an alternative nuclear deal after the current accord was undermined by the US withdrawal from it. The US president responded on Twitter, saying he agreed that a Trump deal was the way forward although so far Washington has yet to produce any alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement. Meanwhile, an imprisoned British-Australian woman begged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help secure her release from an Iran jail. Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was most recently a lecturer in Islamic studies at Melbourne University, has been in Tehrans notorious Evin prison for more than a year, having reportedly been given a 10-year sentence. I beg of you, Prime Minister Morrison, to take immediate action, as my physical and mental health continues to deteriorate with every additional day that I remain imprisoned in these conditions, she said. Barrett Tells Williamstown Select Board Rail Service 'Feasible' State Rep. John Barrett III informs the board about the legislative issues he's working on this year. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. State Rep. John Barrrett III told the Select Board on Monday that regular passenger rail service to North County is a realistic ambition and among the things he is pushing on Beacon Hill. Barrett stopped by the panel's twice-monthly meeting to give an update on a variety of legislative issues, and he said transportation generally is perhaps the No. 1 area where the state action can benefit the Berkshires. The North Adams Democrat and Williamstown native noted that a new train service would not be the kind of "high-speed rail" that is all the rage, but regular passenger service connecting the region with Boston still would be advantageous. "It's at least a train service that will come through Williamstown at the bottom of Cole Avenue and get to Boston in three hours," Barrett said. "And an enjoyable three hours. You can use your internet, relax and get into the city. "I think Pan Am, which owns the railroad, has been most receptive to meeting with people in the business community around here." Barrett said a study is planned to begin in June and should take eight to 12 months. "It's very feasible," he said. "It can happen." According to the website of the non-profit Trains in the Valley, the last such east-west train service ended in 1958 with a best scheduled time of 3 hours, 10 minutes from North Adams to North Station in Boston. Barrett said he sees rail service as a driver of economic development with the potential to bring tourists into his district and people to more easily live in the Berkshires and occasionally commute to Boston on business. "To travel in Boston [by car], you can be 10 miles out and it takes you an hour and a half sometimes," he said, referring to the traffic within the metro region. Barrett has been learning more about that traffic since he was elected in 2017 in a special election to fill the set vacated by the death of state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi. He also has been learning even more than he knew about the district from his time as a 13-term mayor of its most populous community, North Adams. "It's a very diverse district," Barrett said. "Nine different communities and nine different constituencies,. One thing in common among them is making sure they have a voice in state government. "It's a very time-consuming job," he said of being a member of Massachusetts' lower house. "I thought mayor was bad." In addition to transportation, Barrett said he is working on issues related to climate change, broadband service, the 2020 Census, taxes and education funding. Select Board member Hugh Daley asked Barrett for more information on the last issue. Barrett said the Legislature passed a $1.5 billion education funding bill that will, among other things, bring tax relief to property taxpayers. And he said the regional transportation funding from the state is increasing for fiscal 2021. "[The state] is the one who came in and said, 'Regionalize your schools and we'll come in with all this money,' " Barrett said, implying that the "carrot" has not always been forthcoming. "The other thing is the education funding formula. They've played with that over the year. They punished North Adams for declining enrollment, yet it's punished Williamstown and Lanesborough, which is growing [enrollment] to some degree." Barrett said every representative and senator from Western Massachusetts is focused on the education funding issue. In other business on Monday evening, the Select Board heard a final report from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee that it appointed last January, was informed by Town Manager Jason Hoch that the town is executing a Host Community Agreement with a third potential marijuana retailer and was informed of a $14,400 information technology grant received from the commonwealth. The technology grant will allow the town to convert from "paper forms to electronic to achieve operational efficiency, reduced paper consumption, greater convenience, and efficiency for customers and staff. Intended initial uses include delivery of electronic direct deposit pay advice to employees, generating Water Department billing and generating other intermittent Town bills, including Transfer Station fees." While the town has one operational pot shop in the Colonial Plaza, a second is in the works for a second Main Street (Route 2) location. A third is eyeing a parcel on Simonds Road (Route 7) near the Vermont state line. Hoch noted that securing an HCA with the municipality is an early part of the state regulatory process with the Cannabis Control Commission, and it is anyone's guess how long it would take Sparkboro LLC to gain approval from state regulators. Sparkboro, the potential Simonds road purveyor, hopes to be before the town's Zoning Board of Appeals in February, Hoch said. Monday's meeting ended with a petitioner's request. Andrew Guntlow, who operates New England Solar and Green Solutions on North Street, told the Select Board it was unfair that the town is waiving permitting fees for solar installations that are being made under the Solarize Plus program. Guntlow said he had no problem with the state-sponsored program with its designated installer, Ashland's SolarFlair, until he heard second-hand about the waiver policy. "In terms of fairness and process, I have a real issue with this," Guntlow said. "And as a property tax payer that's revenue lost. "I thought it should be an all or nothing thing. Either [collect the fees] or make it uniform through the length of the program [for all installers]. I think there should be a fair and equitable manner for this." Hoch told the board that he was following the precedent of fee waivers set in the town's first Solarize program back in 2013, but Guntlow said he has heard that permit fees were collected back then. In response to a question from Thomas, Guntlow said typical permitting fees for a residential installation can be $300 to $500, which impacts the per-kilowatt cost of an installation that customers use when choosing an installer. Thomas thanked Guntlow for bringing the issue to the board's attention but noted that there was nothing the town can do now since the Solarize Plus program ends at the end of January. "Certainly, we can think about it if we do a Solarize 3," Thomas said. "I will say that after Feb. 1, there is no advantage to working with SolarFlair or any non-local installers, so people should contact local installers," Thomas added, addressing the WilliNet camera. A project to replace and enlarge an aging 42-inch water pipeline to supply additional surface water to League City is in the last stages of approval, with final design and land acquisition slated for this year. Those steps will be followed by construction, which is set to begin in 2022 before wrapping up in 2024. The move coincides with a seven-year-long successful effort to ensure enough water approximately 20 million additional gallons a day is available to residents as League City grows. The existing pipeline, which is close to half a century old, runs from League Citys Southeast Water Purification Plant to Houston and supplies about 70 percent of League Citys surface water. It has experienced multiple failures over the past few years and is in need of replacement. The replacement line will measure approximately 10 miles long, including seven miles of new 54-inch pipe and three miles of both 48-inch and 42-inch pipe. League City is partnering with the municipalities of Houston, Friendswood, South Houston, Webster and Pasadena as well as the Clear Lake City Water Authority, Baybrook Municipal Utility District No. 1 and Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 55 to fund the construction, which will cost an estimated nearly $118 million. League City will shoulder the lions share of the cost, about $62.6 million, with funds coming from capital recovery fees, available cash and future debt, including the anticipated sale of $40.64 million worth of bonds sometime in the coming years. John Baumgartner, the city manager of League City, said he and other city leaders have been focused on this surface water and pipeline project, which he said will accommodate the additional water the city will need as it grows. Weve been working for seven years to improve our water supply, working with the Galveston County Water Authority and with the city of Houston. Weve now got an agreement to meet our needs through buildout of the city, he said. Citys population expected to more than double League Citys population stands at approximately 106,000. However, close to half of its land is still undeveloped, putting potential future population estimates at more than double the current numbers over the next 30 or 40 years. Baumgartner said those estimates mean League City will need an additional water capacity of 20 million gallons per day. The city now uses 16.5 millions gallons a day. In October 2019, the city sealed a deal with Houston to boost the amount of raw, untreated water League City receives. The water will be sourced from the Trinity River. The pipeline, which runs roughly parallel to Texas 3, is also important to League Citys partner municipalities, which are also contributing money to its replacement. The city of Friendswood will pay approximately $12.5 million over four years for the project. City Manager Morad Kabiri said its money well-spent. This pipeline is a critical line for the city, and its in desperate need of replacement, he said. We have a (water) backup system, but 99 percent of our water comes from surface water from the Trinity River thats treated at the (Southeast Water Purification Plant). Kabiri said Friendswoods costs are significantly lower than League Citys because, in previous years, Friendswood secured enough water for its residents needs. The city of Webster has committed $9.6 million to the project; Baybrook MUD No. 1 has earmarked $7.5 million; the Harris County MUD No. 55 will pay $9.1 million; the Clear Lake City Water Authority will put up $9.4 million; the city of Houston has committed $17.2 million, and the city of Pasadena will pay nearly $47,000. The chief executive of the NI Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that the new Executive's priority should be to provide certainty for businesses and reverse the damage that years of paralysis has caused. Ann McGregor said the Executive needed to take immediate action as the Chamber revealed the findings of its latest economic survey, carried out with business advisers BDO. She said: "Following the long-awaited return to devolution last week, the Executive must move fast to start reversing the damage and restore the confidence of businesses, consumers and investors and make sure NI does not get left further behind. "There needs to be immediate substantial action to reinvigorate our stagnant economy, build new infrastructure, boost skills and lower the cost of doing business in 2020." Read More The latest quarterly economic survey results suggest that weak growth in the local economy persisted as 2019 drew to a close. However, there was some improvement in the last three months after a particularly poor quarter three for the manufacturing and services sector. The survey was carried out in November, when there was growing uncertainty around Brexit. But the results suggest that delaying Brexit until January 31, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a withdrawal agreement, has had a negative effect on almost a third of business (32%). They said the delay has had an impact on investment and growth plans. According to the survey, three in five members (57%) believe the Northern Ireland economy will contract in 2020 and they enter the year less optimistic than they were at the outset of other years. Other key concerns raised in the results include reducing business costs, investing in infrastructure and addressing skills gaps. "Given recent trading conditions, these results are, unfortunately, not surprising," said Ms McGregor. "Rather, they are confirmation of the starkly negative impact three years of paralysis at Stormont and continuing Brexit uncertainty had and continues to have on companies across the province. "While businesses are more positive about their own prospects for growth in 2020 compared to the wider economy, despite best efforts, their plans are weighed down by these external factors." Brian Murphy of BDO added: "Although ongoing scepticism for the economy as a whole continues, results show a modest confidence within both the services and manufacturing sectors for their individual business growth prospects for 2020. "Around three in five (57%) believe their business will grow and one in 10 expect their business to grow strongly. "In order for businesses to achieve aspirations similar to what they were in 2016, a number of long-standing issues need to be addressed - low levels of confidence fuelled by uncertainty, rising business costs and the skills gap, along with Brexit, are topping yet another Survey wish-list. "With a new Executive in place we now have local ministers making decisions on these key issues for the first time in three years, as well as guiding us through the complexities of the next stages of Brexit. "This is a welcome development for the business community." At a tabloid (newspaper), it would be an anthropomorphic question" about whether the female had somehow given up the will to live or worse, Zeigler allowed. But nothing in the animals behavior gave any indication of despondency or other emotions humans might wish to project onto it; the only behavior change we saw is she would spend more time with animal care staff, he said, a behavior considered normal in such a case. New Delhi: The government is likely to announce a distressed asset fund of Rs 5,000 crore for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) facing liquidity crunch in the upcoming Budget 2020-21. The Budget may also come out with a government-sponsored fund of Rs 10,000 crore for private equity firms and corporates interested in investing in the MSME sector. Both these funds had been recommended by the RBI panel formed under UK Sinha, former chairman of securities and exchange board of India (SEBI), for the small businesses last year. Live TV "Both these funds will likely get approval in the budget session, post which a mechanism will be framed to get this fund operational. There will be some parameters, which the small businesses will have to fulfil to avail the benefits of this fund," a government source in the know of this told Zee Media. The source said, "Small businesses which have been adversely impacted by the natural calamities like drought, flood, and earthquakes will be able to avail this fund." In January 2019, the Reserve Bank of India had formed an eight-member committe to make suggestions to support small businesses which have been badly affected by external factors like 'ban on plastic' and 'dumping', turning large number of MSMEs into NPA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met the MSME Minister on Monday to discuss the recommendations made by RBI panel to remove financial stress from the sector, said the sources, adding that the delayed payment to MSME, which is a big issue for the small businesses, is one of the important issues being discussed with the prime minister. MSME sector contributes significantly to the Indian economy. According to the government data, the MSME share in GDP in 2016-17 was 28.9 percent. In 2016-17, there was total of 633.88 lakh MSMEs engaged in various economic activities like manufacturing, trade, other services, and non-captive electricity generation and transmission. The MSME sector plays a pivotal role in job creation also, and according to CII survey, in the last four years, most of the jobs were created by the MSME sector only. As per national sample survey conducted in 2015-16, MSME sector created 11.10 crore jobs in rural and urban areas across the country. John Piper identifies key reason Hell is fitting punishment for unrepentant sinners Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Theologian John Piper justified why Hell is a fitting punishment for unrepentant sinners, explaining that those who believe infinite punishment is abhorrent and absurd possess a small view of God. In a recent episode of his Ask Pastor John podcast posted on desiringGod.org, the pastor and Bible teacher replied to a woman who took issue with the concept of Hell. There is certainly great evil in the world, such as war, rape, murder, racism, oppression, etc. But the majority of the world doesnt need God to see these things as evil or to make a positive change, she said. I certainly dont see how someone innocent, dying a horrible death, somehow makes my wrongs right in the sight of God. Piper first acknowledged that millions of people dont feel comfortable with the idea of Hell, adding: Where God is small and man is big, Hell will be abhorrent indeed absurd and the cross will be foolishness. But most peoples conception of evil, Piper said, can never be big enough to make sense of Hell or the cross of Christ, because evil is defined only in relation to what harms man, not what demeans God. Humans will never understand the depth of our sinfulness without God telling us what the problem is, which He has very clearly, the pastor said. We must learn it from the Bible, he explained. And what God has said is this: The essence of evil what makes evil evil is not harm done to man, but indignities done to God. Harm to man is horrible. But it is meant to be a vivid parable of the outrage of failing to honor God, failing to glorify God, failing to thank God as God. Piper posed a question to his listeners: If God is of infinite value, infinite beauty, infinite greatness, with all of His perfections uniting in an infinitely satisfying panorama of personal beauty and glory, then of what is He worthy from the human soul? The essence of evil, said Piper, is loving, preferring, desiring, treasuring, and enjoying anything above God. Its treason, he said. And since God is of infinite worth and beauty and greatness and honor infinite the failure to love and treasure and enjoy Him above all things is an infinite outrage, worthy of infinite punishment. This, he continued, will make no sense where God is small and man is big. It will only make sense where people see God as great, as He really is, and see man, see ourselves, and see our outrageous God-belittling self-centeredness for what they are. Turning to Gods creation instead of God Himself to find the all-satisfying fountain of life and joy is high treason and worthy of eternal punishment, Piper said. That ... is why we need a Savior, he concluded. Only a God-man can bear an infinite punishment for all who embrace Him for the glorious one that He really is. Piper frequently weighs in on Hell, Heaven, and issues surrounding the afterlife. In a previous podcast, he said Scripture reveals there will be degrees of suffering in Hell. It will be unspeakably terrible for everyone who goes there just unspeakably terrible, without any experience of good, no sight of beauty, no pleasant sounds, no bodily pleasures, no gratified appetites, no satisfied desires, no hopes fulfilled. Thats everybody, Piper said. But although Hell will be without all good for all unbelievers, it will be worse for some, he said, explaining that certain sins are more heinous, more destructive, more blasphemous than others. Piper also advised readers to be seriously vigilant not to misuse all the pleasures of this life by treating them as God or a distraction from God; to seek to accumulate the fruit of righteousness; and be seriously vigilant over our pride. According to a 2015 study from the Pew Research Center, while 74 percent of Americans believe in Heaven, just 1 in 4 believe that those who do not know Christ will spend eternity in a place called Hell. In a recent sermon, Life.Church Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel said if he were the devil, he would try to convince humans that there is no Hell. But if it is real, lets not take it seriously and lets believe that most people would not be going there. If I could convince you of that, then you would probably live however you want, he said. You would justify your sin, you would reject Christ, you would live with no real fear of God. Groeschel said that while many people have a problem with the idea of a good God sending good people to Hell, its important to understand that no one is good. If you, for a moment, stood in front of the holiness of God, you would recognize the depth of your wickedness, he said. By nature, we're sinful. We've all sinned. We have to recognize this about God. He is holy and He is just. He cannot be holy without being just, and because He is just, He must punish wrongdoing. Since Kitri launched in 2017, its become a go-to for, amongst other things, well-made, fashion-forward wedding guest dresses that dont break the bank. And this week, responding to a barrage of requests from customers, the British brand has turned its attention from the congregation to the bride herself, with the launch of a nine-piece bridal capsule collection. A far cry from traditional wear-once meringue dresses, this fun and affordable collection is designed to be the go-to for every brides needs; from the engagement party to the rehearsal dinner, and the pieces are sufficiently modern and easy-to-wear theres no reason they couldnt have a second outing. There are a lot of events surrounding the wedding these days: the engagement party, the church, the town hall, dinner before, brunch after We wanted to cater to the modern brides who werent necessarily looking for The gown but still wanted to look and feel special without spending a fortune, says brand founder Haeni Kim, who was inspired to launch Kitri bridal after struggling to find suitable options when she was a bride. I got married in 2017 in South Korea where my family are from, and in Italy where my husbands family has a home, so I was looking for multiple outfits for all occasions. I was quite disappointed to find that there werent that many options available to me, she says. The offer out there is extremely limited for brides who werent looking for The gown but still wanted to look and feel special, rather than classically minimal or overtly sexy so we set out to change that. Kitri bridal / Kitri The collection is based on some of Kitris best-selling dresses some of which have 1000-strong waiting lists each reimagined in three different white materials: cream floral lace for a more classic and feminine bride, 100 per cent recycled polyester printed chiffon with unique Loves Me print for the more whimsical and girly bride, and beautiful cream rose-motif jacquard for the minimalist bride. Knowing jumpsuits were a Kitri customer favourite, Kim added two to the bridal collection too. Prices start at a very wedding budget-friendly 195 (for the Fontana lace dress) and go up to 245 for the Cassatt Jacquard Maxi We wanted to make sure that there was a good mix of silhouettes that would suit many different types of brides and events, says Kim. We loved the idea of vintage inspired-styles that you could wear again after the wedding. Kitri bridal / Kitri For her own wedding, Kim ended up wearing three different white dresses. For the small church ceremony in Korea, I wore a long sleeved guipure lace dress I found in a Korean department store the day before. For the dinner before the wedding in Italy, I wore a white shirt dress with voluminous sleeves. For the big day, I searched for months running up to the wedding but none of the dresses out there felt like me. I finally found the one in Vivienne Westwood, an ivory satin column dress with drapes, just two months before the wedding! Her advice to brides? Dont lose your natural sense of style only because its your wedding day. You shouldnt feel like youre at a fancy dress party, you should still feel like yourself and be comfortable! When in doubt, pair classic and timeless dress with playful accessories to make the look your own. At least 76 people killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in weather-related incidents over the past few days. A 12-year-old girl was found alive after she was buried under snow for 18 hours when an avalanche in Pakistan-administered Kashmir engulfed the family house. Samina Bibi recalled screaming and shouting for help as she lay trapped in a room under the snow. I thought I would die there, she told Reuters news agency from a hospital bed in Muzaffarabad, where she and dozens of other injured people were receiving treatment after being airlifted out of the avalanche area. Rescuers have been racing against time to reach scores of people believed still to be trapped inside their homes, buried under avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall. The worst affected area was Kashmirs Neelum Valley, where the 21 bodies were retrieved, said Ahmad Raza Qadri, a minister for disaster management. He said that since Sunday, 76 people have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in weather-related incidents. A miracle For Saminas mother, Shahnaz Bibi, who lost a son and another daughter, the rescue was nothing short of a miracle. After being pulled out of the snow earlier, Shahnaz said she and her brother, Irshad Ahmad, had given up hope of finding Samina alive. Samina said she could not sleep while she waited to be rescued. Her leg was fractured and blood was oozing from her mouth. We didnt hear a rumble, Shahnaz said, recalling the moments before the avalanche buried the three-floor house where she and her family were sheltering with others from the village. At least 18 of them died. Samina and her family were huddled around a fire when the avalanche hit. It happened in the blink of an eye, said Shahnaz. Pakistans National Disaster Management Authority said the total number of deaths in snow-hit areas across the country over the past couple of days was now 100. More heavy snowfall is expected in the region from Friday. In neighbouring Afghanistan, the situation was returning to normal on Wednesday, following days-long heavy snowfall, rains and flash floods that killed 39 people and damaged about 300 homes since Sunday. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal CIUDAD JUAREZ Thousands of asylum-seekers sent to this border city in Mexico to wait for a decision on their cases will now have access to U.S. attorneys through a virtual bridge. A pilot program Free Bridges, or Puentes Libres in Spanish will use videoconferencing to link asylum-seekers who remain in Mexico with attorneys in the United States providing pro bono legal advice. As this administration, the Trump administration, promotes policies that endanger refugees, this border community continues to respond on both sides of the border with compassion, commitment and now innovation driven by an unbreakable bond that transcends our barriers, said Texas state Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso. Rodriguez spearheaded the program in partnership with the nonprofit Hispanic Federation, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the city of Juarez. This program will bring migrants closer to reaching their dream, their American dream. With this program, we are providing migrants with legal help, Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada told a news conference Tuesday when the program was unveiled. About 16,000 asylum-seekers remain in Juarez, including migrants who arrived at the border in New Mexico. Borderwide, nearly 60,000 migrants seeking asylum are waiting in Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocol, according to immigrant advocacy organizations. Fewer than 2% of migrants in the program are represented by counsel. Nicolas Palazzo, staff attorney for Las Americas, said the program will help bridge the digital and physical divide between attorneys willing to help and individuals who need help. Palazzo is based in El Paso and is among the few attorneys who travel across the border regularly to meet with migrants in Juarez. He said he hopes the program will give asylum-seekers who are in Mexico a voice and help attorneys across the United States understand conditions for migrants from other countries who must wait in Mexico. Its rare when I come across a client of mine who hasnt been a victim of some form of crime extortion, kidnapping. This is a very particularly vulnerable group of people, Palazzo said. The nonprofit Hispanic Federation donated 50 laptop computers so asylum-seekers in Juarez can speak with attorneys in the U.S. through a secure internet connection. There are many attorneys that want to help out. They want to give their time, but theyre coming from all over the States. Its hard for them to make the time to come down to the border, said Stephanie Gomez, director of immigrant initiatives for the Hispanic Federation. So the idea is to connect them virtually. The goal is to expand the pilot program to border cities across Mexico. A couple from Cuba were the first to make an appointment for legal advice at the videoconferencing center set up at City Hall in Juarez. This program will make it easier for us to get in touch with lawyers to resolve our case and ask questions, said Mirta Matilde Alvarez, a 57-year-old nurse. She and her husband have been waiting in Juarez for nine months, and this was their first chance to speak to an attorney, she said. They said they are fleeing political persecution in Cuba. I hope they give us asylum, said Ramon Pinero Alvarez, 67, his voice cracking. The carpenter said returning to Cuba would be like going back to prison. The Gentium-Damen Consortium Group, a joint venture between Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group and Australias Gentium Solutions, yesterday (January 14) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Industry of Bangladesh in Dhaka, for the construction of a shipyard in the country. Also present at the signing ceremony were representatives of the Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh, who are supporting Gentium-Damen in their undertaking, said a statement. The goal of the MoU is to establish and develop a shipbuilding and ship repair industry in the Bangladesh, it said. The aim is to build ships in Bangladesh, for Bangladesh, with a long-term view of serving export markets. The partners in the MoU will undertake a number of tasks in this direction, it added. First amongst these will be the establishment of a shipbuilding and repair facility built to globally recognised environmental and building standards. The standard of the facility will be sufficient for the construction and delivery of seagoing vessels able to compete in the global marketplace. As part of their role in the MoU, Gentium-Damen will facilitate a transfer of technology and knowledge to help Bangladeshi personnel develop the skills required to serve the international maritime industry. As a result of this, the MoU will create significant training and employment opportunities within Bangladesh. Roland Briene, area director Asia Pacific of Damen Shipyards Group, who signed the MoU on behalf of Damen, said: We are very pleased to be participating in this MoU. Damen has a long track record of skills and knowledge transfer of which we are immensely proud. It is our philosophy and practice to help develop the shipbuilding and maritime industries in the countries in which we operate. This includes investing in the establishment of high quality facilities and equipment and the training of local personnel, he said. Time and again we have witnessed this leading to the establishment of sustainable shipbuilding initiatives able to serve the global marketplace. We are very much looking forward to applying our experience, along with our partners Gentium and the Ministry of Industry, here in Bangladesh, he added. TradeArabia News Service [January 15, 2020] Spectra7 Engages Ocean Tomo to Lead Patent Based Financing (TSX:SEV) Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. ("Spectra7" or the "Company"), a leading provider of high-performance analog semiconductor products for broadband connectivity markets, today announced that it has engaged Ocean Tomo, the Intellectual Capital Merchant BancTM firm with a rich history of providing technology rich companies with financial services and financing needs. Ocean Tomo professionals have completed over 1000 engagements involving IP worth in excess of $10 billion including over 300 valuation and 500 financial damages expert testimony engagements. "Ocean Tomo is very impressed with Spectra7's broad and deep patent portfolio," said Ryan Zurek, Managing Director at Ocean Tomo. "We are already seeing strong interest from prospective investors." Term Sheet Spectra7 announced that it has received a multi-million USD non binding term sheet, which was brokered by Ocean Tomo. Closing of this transaction is subject to various conditions precedent including entering into legally binding documentation and satisfactory due diligence, and is expected to close this quarter. Additionally, Ocean Tomo is engaging with a number of asset based lenders (ABL) to complete the recapitalization of Spectra7. ABOUT OCEAN TOMO Established in 2003, Ocean Tomo, LLC, is the Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc firm providing Opinion, Management and Advisory services centered on intellectual property assets. Practice offerings address financial expert testimony, valuation, strategy, risk management, venture development, investments and transaction brokerage. Ocean Tomo assists clients - corporations, law firms, governments and institutional investors - in realizing Intellectual Capital Equity value broadly defined. For more information visit: http://www.oceantomo.com/. ABOUT SPECTRA7 MICROSYSTEMS INC. Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. is a high performance analog semiconductor company delivering unprecedented bandwidth, speed and resolution to enable disruptive industrial design for leading electronics manufacturers in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, data centers and other connectivity markets. Spectra7 is based in San Jose, California with design centers in Cork, Ireland and Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, please visit www.spectra7.com. CAUTIONARY NOTES Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the anticipated monetization of the Company's patent portfolio and patent financing strategies, and the Company's strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company's annual MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2018 and the Company's short form prospectus dated August 9, 2019. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005264/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shitij Gandhi Nifty hit a fresh record high on January 15 and ended above 12,350 as easing geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran along with the expectation of a US-China trade deal lifted sentiment. On the derivative front, put writers were seen adding hefty open interest at 12,300 strike for January 16 series expiry while marginal call writing was observed at 12,500 strike. On the technical front, both Nifty and Bank Nifty are trading in a rising channel. However, Bank Nifty is facing a strong hurdle in the zone of 32,200-32,350. We believe that a decisive move beyond 32,350 in Bank Nifty can add further momentum to the prices which could take the banking index towards its record level as well. So, any dip in the prices towards support levels should be used to create fresh longs. The immediate support for Nifty is placed at 12,300 while for Bank Nifty, 31,800 should act as a strong support level. Here are three buy calls for the next 3-4 weeks: Amara Raja Batteries | Buy | LTP: Rs 759.40 | Target price: Rs 818 | Stop loss: Rs 710 | Upside: 7.72% The stock tested Rs 784-mark in the month of November and then once again retraced back towards Rs 710 to take support at its 100-days exponential moving average on daily charts. At the current juncture, the stock has made a double bottom pattern at Rs 704 and bounced back sharply thereon to once again reclaim Rs 750. Additionally this week, the stock has also given a breakout above the key resistance levels of Rs 760 after a prolonged consolidation of more than five weeks. Traders can accumulate the stock in the range of Rs 750-760. Trent | Buy | LTP: Rs 562 | Target price: Rs 611 | Stop loss: Rs 520 | Upside: 8.72% The stock has been maintaining its bull-run and seen trading in a rising channel with the formation of a higher high and higher bottom pattern on the daily and weekly intervals. At the current juncture, the stock has given a fresh breakout this week above the key resistance level of Rs 560 along with positive divergences on secondary oscillators which points towards more upside at the prices moving forward. Traders can accumulate the stock in the range of Rs 555-560. Ircon International | Buy | LTP: Rs 445.65 | Target price: Rs 491 | Stop loss: Rs 415 | Upside: 10.18% After taking support at its 200-days exponential moving average on the daily charts, the stock made a rounding bottom pattern and once again surpassed Rs 445-mark in a short span of time. From the last five to six trading sessions, the stock has observed a sudden rise in volumes with a rise in price which suggests long build-up into the prices. Traders can accumulate the stock in the range of Rs 442-447. (The author is a Senior Technical Analyst at SMC Global Securities) Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts 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. Iranian state-run media say the British ambassador to Iran has left the country after being arrested and briefly detained. The state-run IRNA news agency says Robert Macaire left after being given prior notice. The report did not elaborate. Macaire had been held after attending a candlelight vigil Saturday in Tehran over Iran shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people. The vigil quickly turned into an anti-government protests and Macaire left shortly after, only to be arrested by police. THIS IS A MAJOR NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story is below. Iran's president warned Wednesday that European soldiers in the Mideast ``could be in danger'' after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking the limits of its nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat meanwhile acknowledged that Iranians ``were lied to'' for days following the Islamic Republic's accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people. President Hassan Rouhani's remarks in a televised Cabinet meeting represent the first direct threat he's made to Europe as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington over President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the deal in May 2018. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's admission, which came at a summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, represents the first time an Iranian official referred to earlier claims from Tehran that a technical malfunction downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight as a lie. The shootdown has sparked days of angry protests in the country. The current tensions between Iran and the U.S. reached fever-pitch two weeks ago with the American drone strike in Baghdad that killed the powerful Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The general had led Iranian proxy forces abroad, including those blame for deadly roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces early last Wednesday, just before an anti-aircraft battery shot down the Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Amid all of this, Britain, France and Germany launched the so-called ``dispute mechanism'' pertaining to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Speaking before his Cabinet, Rouhani showed a rarely seen level of anger in his wide-ranging remarks Wednesday. ``Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger,'' Rouhani said. He did not elaborate, though European forces have deployed alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. France also maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Britian has opened a base in the island nation of Bahrain. Rouhani separately criticized Europe's ``baseless'' words regarding the nuclear deal. Iran had been holding out for Europe to offer a means by which Tehran could sell its oil abroad despite U.S. sanctions. However, a hoped-for trading mechanism for other goods hasn't taken hold and a French-pitched line of credit also hasn't materialized. After Soleimani's killing, Iran announced it would no longer abide by any of the nuclear deal's limits, which had been designed to keep Tehran from having enough material to be able to build an atomic bomb if it chose. However, Iran has said it will continue to allow the United Nations' nuclear watchdog access to its nuclear sites. Rouhani on Wednesday also reiterated a longtime Iranian pledge that Tehran doesn't seek the bomb. The European nations reluctantly triggered the accord's dispute mechanism on Tuesday to force Iran into discussions, starting the clock on a process that could result in the ``snapback'' of U.N. and EU sanctions on Iran. The Europeans felt compelled to act, despite objections from Russia and China, because every violation of the deal reduces the so-called ``breakout time'' Iran needs to produce a nuclear bomb, Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament. Under the deal's limits, experts believed Iran needed a year to be able to have enough material for a weapon. Zarif, speaking in New Delhi at the Raisina Dialogue, blamed U.S. ``ignorance'' and ``arrogance'' for ``fueling mayhem'' in the Middle East. However, he also acknowledged the anger Iranians felt over the plane shootdown. ``In the last few nights, we've had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days,'' Zarif said. Zarif went onto praise Iran's military for being ``brave enough to claim responsibility early on.`` However, he said that he and Rouhani only learned that a missile had down the flight on Friday, raising new questions over how much power Iran's civilian government has in its Shiite theocracy. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which shot down the aircraft, knew immediately afterward its missile downed the airline. The Guard is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is expected to preside over Friday prayers in Iran for the first time in years over anger about the crash. But there was a sense that the chance for immediate further retaliation by Iran against the U.S. may have lifted. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, said in a speech that Iran's ``war project was closed since the people stood'' against American pressure. ``Now, we are moving toward peace,'' Salami said. Search Keywords: Short link: Aiyar said that 'there is a rift in the at-least articulation' of NPR, NRC between Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. (Photo Credit: File photo) New Delhi: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has once again landed himself in controversy by discussing Indias internal matters in Pakistan. Aiyar, who was part of a panel discussion in Pakistans Lahore, claimed about rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). NPR has never been regarded by Narendra Modi government as the predecessor to setting up NRC. In Parliament, the Home Minister has said so and there are written assurances been given in Parliament by Home Ministry that it is in-fact a predecessor to that, ANI quotes Aiyar as saying in the panel discussion. Aiyar stressed that 'there is a rift in the at-least articulation' of NPR, NRC between Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. He said that duo of PM Modi and Amit Shah is the face of "Hindutva" in the country. Also Read: Shaheen Bagh Protest: Mani Shankar Aiyar Hurls Kaatil Barb, Says Ready For Any Sacrifice Mani Shankar Aiyar added, "I don't think that the Indian perception of the hit that India's image has taken internationally matches the Pakistani perception of the hit that India's image has taken." Moreover, Man Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday visited Shaheen bagh where hundreds of people have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). While addressing the protestors, Aiyar had said, "I am ready to do whatever I can do for all of you. I am making a promise. Whatever support you need from me in a personal capacity, I am ready to provide." Also Read: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Joins CAA, NRC Protest Outside Jamia Millia Islamia Campus The leader also made veiled reference to the government, equating it to killers. "I am ready to make whatever sacrifice is needed. Now let's see whose hands are stronger -- ours or those killers," he said. (With inputs from Agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned the United Kingdom could be 'vulnerable' if it commissioned Chinese firm Huawei for its rollout of 5G technology. Mr Turnbull made the warning on BBC radio after UK prime minister Boris Johnson challenged critics to offer any alternatives. The UK's National Security Council is set to make a decision on the matter within two weeks. Scroll down for video Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned the United Kingdom could be 'vulnerable' if it commissioned Chinese firm Huawei for its rollout of 5G technology Mr Turnbull, who blocked Huawei from Australia's 5G network during his term as prime minister, warned: 'We did a lot of work (to see) how we could mitigate the risk and the conclusion we came to was that there just wasn't a satisfactory mitigation of the risk.' He said the British could use two 'very large vendors', Erickson and Nokia. 'Prudence would suggest that the better course of action is not to use high-risk vendors and 5G, there are alternatives, European alternatives,' he said. Mr Johnson said said critics of Huawei must offer an alternative provider. He said he did not want to 'prejudice' the country's ability to share intelligence with allies in the so-called Five Eyes arrangement - a collaboration between the UK, Australia, US, Canada and New Zealand - as a result of the improvements he had promised voters in his election manifesto. The upgrade from 4G to 5G will revolutionise mobile internet capabilities, with consumers able to download a two-hour film in less than four seconds - 10 to 20 times faster than on 4G. Dianna Carlin should be finishing the book she is writing about the joys of owning the Lola Star boutique, a really tiny, magical little shop on the Coney Island boardwalk, for the past 19 years. Instead, Ms. Carlin has been anxious and fearful since her landlord weeks ago offered her a new lease with a 400 percent rent increase. Im wondering if I should start ordering going out of business signs, she said. In the summer, Brooklyns Coney Island swells with sunbathers and amusement seekers, but it tends to be much quieter in the winter. Over a decade ago, New York City promised a year-round destination with a water park, an arena, an ice-skating rink, and millions of dollars in residential and commercial investment. Model Elyse Knowles is currently enjoying a road trip holiday with her boyfriend Josh Barker. And after arriving at Double Island Point in Queensland on Wednesday, the blonde beauty, 27, was disappointed to see previous campers had left their garbage behind. Taking to Instagram, Elyse said she picked up a bucket full of trash at the campsite and vowed to help the environment, saying she wants to 'make rubbish collection the norm' in 2020. 'My goal is to make rubbish collection the norm!' Elyse Knowles (pictured) picked up a bucket full of TRASH at the beach on Wednesday, during her Queensland holiday... vowing to help the environment 'We have all had our chance to enjoy this beautiful country, let's not ruin it for the generations to come. My goal for 2020 is to make rubbish collection the norm,' Elyse captioned snaps of the beach and campsite on Instagram, tagging a council clean up initiative. She also shared a picture of herself in a white singlet, which had a quote on it which read: 'The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.' On her Instagram story, she shared a video of herself picking up trash on the beach at Double Island Point. Cleaning it up: After arriving at Double Island Point in Queensland on Wednesday, the blonde beauty, 27, was disappointed to see previous campers had left their garbage behind Doing her part: On her Instagram story, she shared a video of herself picking up trash on the beach 'There is absolutely s**tloads of rubbish everywhere, I have to show you how much,' she said. Elyse also encouraged fans to not use plastic. Sharing a snap of a baby sea turtle, she wrote: 'Adopt the habit of picking it up if you see it, for these guys, for you and for the future generations.' She added: 'Or even better, don't use plastic at all.' 'Don't use it at all!' Elyse also encouraged fans to not use plastic. On her blog , Elyse shared simple ideas to keep in mind when going to the beach, including bringing reusable utensils such as keep cups, bottles, Tupperware and cutlery instead of disposable ones On her blog, Elyse shared simple ideas to keep in mind when going to the beach, including bringing reusable utensils such as keep cups, bottles, Tupperware and cutlery instead of disposable ones. She suggested bringing a bin to collect waste in while at the beach, making it easier to dispose of at the end of the day. The model also said to bring hand sanitiser if catching germs while picking up rubbish was a concern. 'Keep this fact in mind today, going by the current rate of waste... by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish,' Elyse wrote. 'If that does not scare you, there's a problem. That fact is an absolute nightmare and one of the biggest tragedies we face. It's terrifying.' Elyse, her boyfriend Josh, their pet dogs - Isla and Harlow - and friends recently enjoyed a break at North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. An Australian student arrested in North Korea last year on the accusations of espionage reportedly said that the authorities forced him to write apologies and false confession. Alek Sigley was a student of modern Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang and his arrest raised global alarm. Sigley spent nine days in detention before he was released and deported back to Australia. Immediately after his release, Norths state media made sensational claims that the Australian student had admitted his spying acts and repeatedly asked for pardon while apologizing for encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK. After returning to Australia with the help of Sweden, since Canberra doesnt have a diplomatic representation in Pyongyang, Sigley had made a brief statement in July last year and added that he wont be giving any media interviews, holding a press conference or answering questions on social media regarding the incident. Read: North Korean Mother Faces Prison For Saving Kids & Not Supreme Leaders' Portrait From Fire The 29-year-old student had expressed anguish that he may never walk on the streets of Pyongyang saying the city holds a very special place in his heart. He wanted to continue academic research in North Korea but had no plans to visit the country again in the short term. The Korean literature student lamented the fact that he wont be able to receive his masters degree from Kim Il-sung University after completing more than half the course. I may never again see my teachers and my partners in the travel industry, whom Ive come to consider close friends. But thats life, said Sigley in a statement. Read: US Strike On Iran Could Have Consequences In North Korea Didn't accuse of physical mistreatment But the Australian student has now written for a South Korean academic journal stating that the authorities continuously made him write apologies as if they wanted to teach him a lesson. Sigelys column reportedly presented an apolitical and insightful view of life in Pyongyang, one of the worlds most secretive city. He did not accuse the authorities of physical mistreatment but called the nine-day interrogation an unpleasant experience where he was completely cut off from the outside world. Read: Australian Koalas Worst Hit By Raging Bushfires, Only 9k Remain Out Of 46k Read: CAA Stir Reaches Wankhede Stadium During India-Australia ODI Bite, a trendy Southtown bistro that specialized in small plates with French, Spanish and South American influences paired with a lively bar vibe, has announced that it will serve its final bites Sunday Jan. 19 before closing for good. Chef and owner Lisa Astorga-Watel said that after the building she was located in was purchased by a Houston company in October, her lease was terminated and she was doing business on a month-by-month basis. When approached with a new long-term lease, she said the cost was approximately three-times the amount she was paying before. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that on January 14 as of 08:30 some roads are difficult to pass in Armenia. The ministry told Armenpress that Vardenyats Pass and Sotk-Karvachar highway are difficult to pass for all types of vehicles. The Georgian side informed that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles. Drivers are urged to use winter tires. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan - Khaligraph Jones was crowned the king of African hip-hop at the 2020 edition of the SoundCity MVP awards in Nigeria - Aggrieved rapper Blaq Bonez claimed he would release a diss track only for Khaligraph to beat him to it again - In the diss track, Khaligraph told Bonez he could have tried harder in getting his own people to vote for him Award-winning artiste Khaligraph Jones is not letting anyone get in his way in becoming not only the best but most respected rapper in Africa. The Leave Me Alone hitmaker has gone back to his diss track days with the latest song, a hit back at Nigerian rapper Blaq Bonez who claimed he was undeserving of his SoundCity MVP award. READ ALSO: Comedan Jalang'o to clear fees for Form One student who reported to school with just soap READ ALSO: Will Smith says he was jealous of wife Jada Pinkett, Tupac relationship Khaligraph released the track on Tuesday, January 14, called Best Rapper in Nigeria, which was aimed at Blaq Bonez. In the song, he called Bonez all sorts of names claiming that after the song, his family would be left grieving. READ ALSO: Ethic, Sailors face-off on which Gengetone group is the biggest in Kenya READ ALSO: Sheikh aliyemuoa mwanamume akidhani ni mwanamke afutwa kazi He also rapped how he spotted Bonez in Lagos in an Uber while he was cruising in a G-wagon. "I spotted you in Lagos, you were seen riding in an Uber cab while I was on a G-wagon, I could not help but pity you, I would leave it in the past but it's unfortunate that your own people are treating you like trash," Khaligraph said in one of the lines. The father of one claimed to be the best rapper in Africa, considering himself the GOAT in the rap industry. He told Bonez he could have tried harder in getting his own people to vote for him, asking him to instead retire after beating him to the award in front of his own people. Khaligraph said Nigerian rappers used to be the best until they started doing afro-beats in order to make it in the industry. The rapper said there have to be conditions just in case the Nigerian wanted to settle the beef. Khaligraph was crowned king of African hip-hop at the SoundCity MVP awards in Nigerian on Saturday, January 11. Blaq Bonez had claimed to have deserved the award and was going to release a diss track for the Kenyan rapper. Well, Khaligraph has beaten him to the award and now to the diss track, wonder what more is in store. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Please cut off this breast - Sharon Atieno | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke A series of memos delivered last year outlines the Trump administrations strategic steps to taking on Iran to diminish its position at home in the eyes of the public, writes Eli Lake. Since US president Donald Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani earlier this month, his administration has argued the attack has two main benefits. Taking out Soleimani helped to prevent a series of attacks he was planning, officials say, and his death will deter Iran from further escalations against the US in Iraq and the region. For a handful of Trumps advisers, however, there is a third strategic benefit to killing Soleimani: Call it regime disruption. Trump and top US officials have said repeatedly that the US does not seek regime change in Iran, but they have also in recent days cheered on Iranian protesters who have flooded the streets blaming their countrys supreme leader for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet. The case for disruption is outlined in a series of unclassified memos sent to former National Security Adviser John Bolton in May and June 2019 the period when Irans latest round of escalations began in the Persian Gulf. Their author, David Wurmser, is a longtime adviser to Bolton who then served as a consultant to the National Security Council. Wurmser argues that Iran is in the midst of a legitimacy crisis. Its leadership, he writes, is divided between camps that seek an apocalyptic return of the hidden imam, and those that favour the preservation of the Islamic Republic founded in 1979. All the while, many Iranians have grown disgusted with the regimes incompetence and corruption. Wurmsers crucial insight, and one that goes some way toward explaining the Soleimani strike, is that Irans leaders expect America to respond to its provocations in a measured and predictable fashion. Iran has always been careful to execute its ambitions and aggressive aims incrementally to avoid Western reactions which depart from the expected, Wurmser argues. In contrast, were unexpected, rule-changing actions taken against Iran, it would confuse the regime. It would need to scramble. Such a US attack would rattle the delicate internal balance of forces and the control over them upon which the regime depends for stability and survival. Such a moment of confusion, Wurmser writes, will create momentary paralysis and the perception among the Iranian public that its leaders are weak. Donald Trump called off a missile strike on Iran last June. Picture: AP. Wurmsers memos show that the Trump administration has been debating the blow against Soleimani since the current crisis began, some seven months ago. In addition to Bolton, the memos were also shared with senior State Department officials (I obtained them through a source who supports theSoleimani strike). In May, Iran began sinking oil tankers in response to Trumps decision to tighten sanctions on Irans oil. In June, Iran downed a US surveillance drone. It would later launch drones and missiles on Saudi Arabias largest oil refinery facility. The US nearly responded to the shooting down of the drone in June with attacks of its own, but Trump called off the strike 10 minutes before missiles were launched. In May, Bolton asked the Pentagon and the intelligence community to generate new military options against Iran, including an option to strike Soleimani. US spy agencies had already begun mapping Iranian outposts in the Middle East and tracking locations of Islamic Revolutionary Guard commanders. But the tension between Bolton and the Defence Department was significant, according to US officials. The Pentagon opposed military escalations. Bolton and other hawks disagreed. After Iran downed the drone, Wurmser advised Bolton that the US response should be overt and designed to send a message that the US holds the Iranian regime, not the Iranian people, responsible. This could even involve something as a targeted strike on someone like Soleimani or his top deputies, Wurmser wrote in a June 22 memo. In these memos, Wurmser is careful to counsel against a ground invasion of Iran. He says the US response does not need to be boots on the ground [in fact, it should not be]. Rather, he stresses that the US response should be calibrated to exacerbate the regimes domestic legitimacy crisis. At the time, Wurmsers advice was largely ignored. The US responded through economic means to Irans provocations until December. Trump chose instead to offer Iran negotiations while also warning its leaders that the US would respond militarily if an American were to be killed in an Iranian-sponsored attack. That is precisely what happened, and the US eventually responded by killing Soleimani. For now, it looks like Wurmsers analysis has proved correct. As the New York Times has reported, the Iranians sent a message following a volley of missile strikes to another Iraqi base last week that they would not escalate further for the killing of Soleimani. Wurmser predicted that many Iranians would welcome a strike on a senior commander such as Soleimani. Iranians would both be impressed and potentially encouraged by a targeted attack on symbols of repression, his memo says. That remains to be seen. What is already evident, however, is that in the aftermath of Soleimanis death the Iranian leadership has committed a series of errors from shooting down the Ukrainian jet to lying about it afterward that has weakened its position at home and abroad. Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. Up she goes. archigraf The complex oil effect Brent crude price, 1940s to present day What happens next In keeping with many recent developments in US-Iranian relations, the Europeans have taken a dim view of Americas decision to take out the military commander. When trying to make sense of the very different approaches Iran on either side of the Atlantic, one factor that is often overlooked is that the US and Europe are affected in different ways by a rising oil price.People tend to see more expensive oil as bad news for the global economy, but the reality is that its not necessarily bad for America. It may be that, in continuing to provoke Iran, driving up the oil price is almost seen by the Americans as an added incentive.Oil pricing and its associated effects are often more complex than portrayed. As citizens, we are most often concerned with the price of fuel for our cars and the cost of heating our homes. This is the first way that oil prices affect the broader economy: if consumers have to spend more on fuel and associated taxes, they have less to spend elsewhere and this can lead to a global slowdown.Like all countries, the US is affected by this. Yet on previous occasions where US actions on the geopolitical stage drove up oil prices, there were also benefits to the countrys economy. Take the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which ushered in a period that would see the price of Brent nearly triple by the end of the decade. This led to a wave of investment into the US shale oil sector, which would eventually account for approaching two-thirds of the countrys total oil production.The trouble with shale oil is that it is expensive to produce, with average break-even of fields not far below US$50 per barrel. Shale oil wells also produce most of their oil in the first year of production, which means that producers have to continually drill new wells.Due to the lower prices of the last few years, a large number of oil-related companies in the US have filed for bankruptcy , including both producers and services businesses. And while US production of shale oil managed to continue rising impressively throughout this period, mainly thanks to the bigger producers, it has been slowing down markedly in recent months If the oil price now trends higher, it could well mean that shale oil production in the US can resume its upward march. It also raises the prospect of US oil services companies earning more both locally but, most importantly, from foreign oil-production ventures, since there is a well-established correlation between their stock price and higher oil prices.At the same time, six of the last eight recessions in the US were followed by high oil prices. One reason why this was not a hindrance for the economy is that, in the longer term, stable higher prices promoted the development of more energy-efficient technologies within the country.The Americans can also argue that there are some longer-term economic benefits to higher oil prices that can help everyone. Oil-producing countries with surplus cash from oil profits invest in foreign technology and foreign assets. At the same time, oil-importing countries innovate to mitigate the profit-reducing effects of higher oil prices. These are both ultimately good for economic vibrancy and growth.On the other hand, there are advantages to cheaper oil that are particularly important to countries in Europe including the UK because, unlike America, they are not oil self-reliant. Lower oil prices are shown to be beneficial for Europes highly energy-intensive economies and are expected to help with job creation. During the oil price drops of 1986 and the early 1990s, for instance, energy-intensive industries in Europe increased their earnings. Consumer product businesses and European airlines benefit from lower oil prices, too.Whether or not the Americans actually want higher oil prices, there are certainly good economic reasons why they probably wont mind them. Deepening the chaos that started with the US withdrawing from the Wests nuclear deal with Iran is an easy way to achieve higher oil prices while meeting other strategic objectives.Yet how the Europeans, China and Russia respond will also determine the global flow of oil from Iran and Iraq. Whatever the ultimate pros and cons of a higher oil price from an economic point of view, the Europeans clearly have more reasons to be unenthusiastic than the US. If the new exchange and payment instruments that have been developed by Europe to circumvent US sanctions are effective, and the US does not escalate the conflict, it may yet mean that oil prices remain stable at current levels.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article NEW YORK - Michael Avenatti, the embattled former attorney for the porn actress Stormy Daniels, was arrested Tuesday evening in California for alleged bail violations, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors. The arrest came as Avenatti was appearing before the State Bar Court in Los Angeles, which is conducting disciplinary proceedings related to multiple criminal cases that have been filed against him in California and New York, the Daily Beast reported. Avenatti was arrested by IRS agents on allegations of violating the terms of his pretrial release, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the Los Angeles U.S. attorneys office. The documents were under seal, so Mrozek could not provide details on the allegations. Avenatti was expected to appear in federal court in Santa Ana on Wednesday. I understand that Mr. Avenatti has been arrested by the federal authorities for violating the terms of his release, attorney Steven Bledsoe, who represents a client Avenatti is accused of embezzling money from, told the Daily Beast after being present for the arrest. Avenatti said, Completely innocent, as he was being led out of the courthouse, according to the media outlet, which reported that the arrest occurred during a break in testimony. Shortly after the arrest, federal prosecutors in New York informed a judge there that Avenatti had been accused by prosecutors in California of violating the conditions of his bail. The court filing did not make it clear what Avenatti allegedly did to violate bail. California court filings on the matter were not available Tuesday evening. A message seeking comment was left with Avenattis attorneys. Avenatti is scheduled for trial next week in Manhattan federal court on allegations that he extorted Nike for up to $25 million. He has pleaded not guilty in that case. But he also faces trial in May in Los Angeles on charges that he defrauded clients of millions of dollars. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, along with allegations in a criminal case in Manhattan federal court alleging he ripped off ex-client porn star Stormy Daniels of proceeds of a book deal. The second New York trial was scheduled to start in the spring. Earlier Tuesday, Avenatti was on a telephone conference with his lawyers, prosecutors and Gardephe. During the hearing, the judge refused to postpone the Nike extortion trial scheduled to start with jury selection Wednesday. Avenattis lawyers had requested a monthlong delay to study additional documents. Avenatti has said he has been unfairly targeted by the U.S. Justice Department after publicly quarreling with President Donald Trump. Gardephe said hell rule during another telephone conference Wednesday whether to allow evidence about Avenattis financial condition to be shown to jurors. Prosecutors say theyd like to show the jury that Avenattis debts coincided with demands he made early last year in meetings with Nike lawyers for between $15 million and $25 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky told Gardephe that Avenattis law firm would not have been able to stay in business because the firm had a $10 million judgment against it. Defence attorney Danya Perry said prosecutors exaggerated Avenattis debts, particularly what the law firm owed, and she disputed claims by the government in court papers that Avenatti owed over $15 million. It doesnt get close to that, she said. Although Podolsky insisted prosecutors needed to reveal the debts at trial to show Avenattis motivation to seek so much money from Nike, the judge expressed doubt. Gardephe said: $15 to $20 million is a very compelling motive to commit a crime even if you dont happen to be in debt. I have to take that into account also. Perry said the amount of money requested for an internal corruption probe of Nike was first suggested by a Nike attorney rather than Avenatti. The HS2 high-speed rail project will destroy 'huge swathes' of 'irreplaceable' natural habitats, including 39 nature reserves and 108 ancient woodlands, a new report reveals. HS2, which is estimated to cost 88 billion overall, aims to provide a high-speed rail service linking London and northern England. But according to a new report by Wildlife Trusts, the current proposals risk the loss of ancient woodlands, nature reserves, wildlife refuges and more. The organisation claims its new report is the 'most comprehensive' assessment yet of the environmental damage that HS2 could cause. The organisation is now urging the government to rethink the rail project before it causes irreparable damage to the UK's wildlife. An artists impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct. The project is projected to open in phases from 2028 Eighteen Wildlife Trust nature reserves will be affected, including London's Frays Farm Meadows, Holcroft Moss in Cheshire and Park Hall in Birmingham, as well as a further 21 local nature reserves. HS2 will affect 26 large landscape-scale conservation initiatives in total, including four Nature Improvement Areas awarded 1.7 million of public money. The Trust said 'rarities' such as the dingy skipper butterfly could also be made extinct locally, while barn owls and endangered wildlife such as white-clawed crayfish could be impacted. The Wildlife Trusts comprises 46 local UK trusts that look after around 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 98,000 hectares. Special Sites of Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation all along the HS2 line are threatened by the upcoming infrastructure work WHAT COULD BE LOST FROM THE HS2? 5 wildlife refuges of international importance. 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest. 693 Classified Local Wildlife Sites. 21 Designated Local Nature Reserves. 18 Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves. 26 Large landscape-scale initiatives, including four nature improvement areas awarded 1.7 million of public money. 108 'irreplaceable' ancient woodlands. Source: Wildlife Trusts Advertisement 'The figures are grim and the reality is worse,' said Nikki Williams, The Wildlife Trusts' director of campaigns and policy. 'HS2 will destroy precious carbon-capturing habitats if it's allowed to continue in its current form. 'It will damage the very ecosystems that provide a natural solution to the climate emergency.' HS2 Ltd's proposed mitigation for the environmental impact was 'inadequate', she said, labelling the measures they have already suggested as 'amateurish' and in 'the wrong place'. 'This threat is not only contrary to government's biodiversity policies and international obligations, but also to European Law,' says the report, which uses data from 14 local Trusts affected by the plans. The endangered white-clawed crayfish, the only species of crayfish native to the British Isles, may become locally extinct, says the Wildlife Trusts The Dingy Skipper butterfly is local to several sites that will be significantly affected by the HS2 The Wildlife Trusts said if the project was to go ahead, a new and 'greener' approach was needed. It has now called on the government to 'stop and rethink' the project before HS2 creates 'a scar that will never heal,' according to Williams. 'As Europe's largest project of its kind, HS2 Ltd has a vital responsibility to lead by example and get this right by delivering a net gain for nature,' Hilary McGrady, director general of National Trust. 'We recognise that designing the railway is a long process but plans for HS2 must not end up cutting corners at the expense of the environment.' HS2 Ltd argued that it will deliver a railway that 'respects' the natural environment through the creation of a 'green corridor' along the route. More than 1,000 ancient woodlands in the UK are at risk being wiped out by housing projects and new infrastructure developments, the Woodland Trust has already warned. Pictured, the Glyn Davis Wood in Warwickshire, which is under threat from the HS2 According to the company's website, 3.4 square miles of new woodlands made up of seven million trees and shrubs will be created. It claims the figure is more than double the amount affected by the project. A further 1.5 square miles of wildlife habitat will be established along the route, it says. 'The number of sites presented in this report as being 'at risk of loss, or significant impact' simply isn't accurate,' said an HS2 spokesman. 'HS2 take the environmental cost of construction very seriously. 'That is why we're delivering an unprecedented programme of tree planting and habitat creation alongside the new railway with seven million new trees and shrubs set to be planted between London and Birmingham alone new native woodland planted to link up ancient woodland, and tailored mitigation plans in place for protected species.' The news comes after a report from the Woodland Trust on Tuesday claimed that more than 1,000 ancient woodlands in the UK are at risk of being wiped out by housing projects and new infrastructure developments. Of these, 801 woods are being actively threatened by live planning applications not just the HS2 but also housing projects and other infrastructure developments. HS2 would connect 21 major destinations, including London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. On HS2, a trip from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street would take 45 minutes, 37 minutes than todays fastest time. The cost of the project, which will support a transition to net-zero carbon emissions, rose to 88 billion as of estimates in November and will likely rise again. Trial of Kem Sokha under way two years after he was arrested in what some say is a politically charged prosecution. The killings of a staggering number of social activists in Colombia has caused concern at the United Nations human rights agency. The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday that 107 human rights defenders were killed in 2019 in the country. An additional 13 killings could be added to that number after investigations are complete. In addition, 10 human rights activists have been killed in the first 13 days of January. A spokesperson for the high commissioner, Marta Hurtado, said the repeated violence and impunity must stop. Most of the reported deaths have taken place in poor rural areas where illegal, armed groups operate. Some of the areas were once controlled by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. The rebel group signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. However, the U.N. has said Colombia has had problems carrying out the details of the peace deal. Illegal, armed groups now occupy territory once controlled by the rebels. The major peace agreement between rebels and the government ended more than 50 years of conflict. It called for greater security in distant areas where illegal drug traffic exists. The government has built new roads and helped farmers substitute crops used to make illegal drugs. Hurtado said the U.N. recognizes steps to help people living in affected areas. However, the number of killings clearly shows much needs to be done, she said. More than half of the killings took place in four states: Antioquia, Arauca, Cauca and Caqueta. The violence has targeted people pushing for the rights of specific community, ethnic, indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups. Worrying developments The U.N. is calling on the government of President Ivan Duque to increase efforts to improve security. It also has called for increased health and education services. Duque was elected in 2018 voicing criticism of the peace deal with rebels. However, he has not been able to reform important parts of the agreement. The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in the U.S. state of Indiana observes how the terms of the peace deal are being met. In a study from last April, the group said that the government had started to carry out more than two-thirds of the promises detailed in the agreement. The study found that progress was at a level similar to other two-year-old peace agreements around the world that the group had studied. Special Representative Carlos Ruiz heads the U.N. Verification Mission in Colombia. He told the U.N. Security Council this week that important steps have been made. But he added that continued violence in some areas remains a problem. He said he was worried about territorial disputes between illegal, armed groups in Choco state in recent weeks. Ruiz also noted the recent death of Lucy Villarreal. She was an activist killed after completing a childrens workshop in the port city of Tumaco. Violence has broken out in the city between rebels. Ruiz said fulfilling the peace deals requirements holds the best hope for Colombias future. Peace will not fully be gained "if former combatants who laid down their weapons and are committed to their reintegration continue to be killed, he added. Im Mario Ritter Jr. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted this Associated Press story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________ Words in This Story staggering adj. very large, shocking or surprising impunity n. freedom from punishment or loss reintegration n. to be brought again into a group that you were once part of indigenous adj. someone who is from a place and native to it Blessed by the Universal Supreme and abound with natural love and adulation, the Coalition for Democratic Change CDC will for the first time host its National Retreat at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium on February 15 of this year, since its inception as ruling party in Liberia. The Coalition for Democratic Change CDC, a political and traditional party of the vast majority of the Liberian people, has been blessed and sanctified for eons by its dynamic leaders George Weah, Mulbah K Morlu Jr. and Jefferson T. Koijee through words and deeds. We, the CDCians are happily fortunate to be soldiers of this big peaceable heavenly movement. The CDC National Retreat 2020 is set aside to celebrate President George Weah for the two years of sustainable peace while undertaking massive development initiatives. It will also be a beloved knight-errant that will harness the power of the party, and earn the entire country's true adulation for its huge idea of benevolence for this great Liberian Republic, and like a hopeful ship, it will send a pellucid national message to the whole nation by over hundreds of thousands of committed and diehard partisans who politically, intellectually fight and fight like a ballsy gutsy knight, for the merry delectation of all the CDC nationalistic and patriotic partisans. Our dauntless selfless warriors will turn out like egalitarians en masse to again show their cemented love and unending support for the people's revolutionary movement. Unlike other political parties in Liberia, the CDC's interest is to reach out and talk to the people directly through its dynamic and erudite chairman Mulbah K Morlu Jr., Jefferson T. Koijee and other fighting ideologues as well as its Political Leader George Weah. Chairman Morlu together with other party leaders, therefore, travels throughout the seventeen electoral districts in Montserrado County, meeting partisans, talking to them and knowing their problems directly and indirectly from themselves. The CDC tries to involve all the partisans from all levels of life, in the decision making process, because it feels that the people themselves can understand their problems the best. In fact, the system of decentralisation of leadership has been aimed at such participation of the people in the various districts. Due to the unprecedented peace and harmony under the dynamic leadership of Chairman Morlu, CDC partisans have developed a great love and respect for the party and leaders, and that to them, their party is like a jewel which can grant any wish. Partisans' gratitude for CDC, for their peaceful and prosperous lives knows no bound. They sing it in the form of songs, chant it in the form of prayers, inhale and exhale it in the form of breath, live it in the form of life, but still they feel that they have not been able to express the whole of their gratitude. The glorious reign of the CDC before and after the National Retreat 2020 will create unwavering peace and happiness in the rising Liberian Republic. Under the leadership of Chairman Morlu, the party will achieve many progresses in various areas, strengthen the relationship or bonds between the party and partisans, as it had sent partisans outside of Liberia for advanced training and scholarship, built a historic sycamore stadium, designed a well attractive billboard, established close links with every other Liberian, and started the construction of vocational institution, all leading to the welfare and well being of the partisans of CDC. The gratitude and appreciation that the partisans have for CDC will be best expressed through the celebrations of some auspicious days coinciding with various important dates in the party's history as it's going to be on February 13, 14 at the party's national headquarters in Congo Town and February 15 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Central Monrovia. Since January 22, 2018, the party has led the country through rough and smooth times. Henceforth, we pray for everlasting peace, happiness and prosperity of the party, the partisans and the nation as a whole. On February 15, as the party goes to its first national retreat, it is our hope and aspiration that the blue soldiering revolutionaries soldier on in sound health, eternal happiness and long life for all times to come. May the Almighty God bless us with all His Mighty Might today, tomorrow, always, for eternity. On the 15th day of February, on that unwonted day we shall wholeheartedly, enthusiastically bow to our party and leaders with our raw and promising commitments to serve the party and nation through speech, body and mind. We shall heartily cooperate for the well-being and happiness of the party and nation. Storm may thunder and wind may blunder, but our living hearts shall always come for togetherness and fruitfulness without losing hope. We shall spread our wings of hope and fly together towards the horizon where plenty sustainable peace, genuine development, love, happiness, and prosperity lie there waiting for all of us. Viva CDC! Eskom was forced to implement stage 6 load shedding in December its worst-ever blackout sending the country into a panic as not many people were aware of what that stage actually meant for them. Municipalities too were caught off-guard, with Johannesburg electricity distributor City Power saying at the time that it had no load-shedding schedule for Stage 6. The year is 2020, and generation and maintenance challenges continue to mount at the state company which generates 96% of South Africas electricity. As a result, all municipalities have been advised to adjust their load shedding schedule up to stage 8, the Buffalo City Municipality said in a statement on Saturday (11 January). With each stage representing a curtailment of 5% of the national load, stage 8 will equate to 40% of the load being shed, the municipality said. Under the previous load shedding schedule, four stages were implemented with between 1,000 MW and 4,000 MW of the national load shed with stage 4 being the worst possible outcome for South African consumers. Stage 4 will typically result in consumers being without power for a total of 24 hours spread out over four days, or a total of 48 hours over eight days. However, Eskom has since revised its schedule to include up to eight different stages, and as much as 8,000 MW shed from the national grid. During stage 8 load shedding, consumers could be without power for 48 hours over four days, or 96 hours in eight days. Prepare for the worst As municipalities prepare for the logistics of stage 8 load shedding, an energy expert warned that South Africans should prepare for the worst regular stage 6 load-shedding, and 10-hour daily blackouts. EE Business Intelligence MD Chris Yelland said Eskoms declining energy availability factor (EAF) is a cause for serious concern. The energy availability factor shows the percentage of Eskoms generation capacity which is available, taking into account planned maintenance and unplanned breakdowns. Yelland said the EAF data for 2019 paints a grim picture of ageing, under-maintained, and stressed power plants. The EAF for the full 2019 calendar year has hit a new record low of 67%, compared to the EAF of 72% for the 2018 calendar year, said Yelland. He added that the EAF for week 50 and week 51 of 2019 also hit record all-time lows of 59.7% and 58.0% respectively. Citing an ageing fleet that requires higher levels of maintenance, Eskom has warned that the power system remains vulnerable and volatile, adding that getting back to stability will take some time. Source: BusinessTech More than a dozen cows made a break from a moving cattle truck after its gate somehow flew open - but the driver carried on without realizing. Driver Jordon Allen recorded the strange incident as cattle tumbled out of the truck one at a time in downtown Middlebury, Vermont. As the fugitive cows make their escape and form a small herd in the middle of the street Mr Allen says: 'The guy is still going!' The cattle tumbled out of the truck one by one (left) before heading up the street (right) in Middlebury, Vermont. The back door to the truck can be seen left wide open Joey Gould, a passenger, says: 'Oh that's funny', later adding: 'Somebody is going to lose their job. 'That is just hilarious. That guy's calling it in right now.' The trucker finally realizes and the bizarre video later shows a man, who appears to be speaking on his phone, rounding up the cattle before getting them back in the trailer. Mr Allen told Newsflare: 'Joey Gould and I were going through Middlebury around 12pm on December 31 when we saw a blue flatbed truck with a cattle trailer driving down Main Street. Footage shows the cattle heading back down the street as the truck driver realizes their mistake and rounds them up, while appearing to speak on his phone 'The gate on the trailer had opened and the first cow fell out. 'The truck kept going then a few more fell out and they just kept falling out as he was driving.' Local media reported that main roads were closed for about 20 minutes while the cows were rounded up after they wandered around yards and down side streets. No people or cows were injured. Dignitaries present on the occasion were R Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Arushi Nishank, Chairperson of the Sparsh Ganga Campaign, members of the HSNC Board, past principals of the institution, principals of esteemed educational institutions of the city and the alumni along with the staff and students of the institution. Countrys prestigious educational institutes RD and SH National College announced the launch of three key nation-building initiatives, recently. The colleges was commemorating 70 years of glorious learning traditions at a glittering ceremony on January 11, 2020. Several eminent personalities, including R Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Arushi Nishank, Chairperson of the Sparsh Ganga Campaign, members of the HSNC Board, past principals of the institution, principals of esteemed educational institutions of the city, alumni, and staff and students of the institution, were present during the event. Speaking on the occasion, Kishu Mansukhani, President of the HSNC Board said the achievements of RD National College, the pioneer institute of the HSNC Board, will be written in gold in annals of education history. The successes yet to come will surpass all that has achieved so far in magnitude, brilliance and reach, he added. Emphasis on innovative learning techniques and establishing a timeless tradition of academic excellence has been the hallmark of RD and SH National College. One of the oldest colleges in the country affiliated to the University of Mumbai and the first of the 24 educational institutions established by the Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate Board. Collaborating with AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd, the first initiative, Center for Innovation, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship (CISSE) aims to bolster nation building capacities by facilitating research and innovation across vocational and management education. Conceptualized as Indias first Digital Social Exchange Platform, swachhagraha.com is a new-age social development movement aiming at creating ground-level path-breaking solutions in the areas of sanitation, clean drinking water, health, and hygiene. An acronym for Sanitation &Water for Community Health and Hygiene (SWACHH), the community-centric initiative aims to involve stake-holders to attain actionable outcomes towards transforming the social and environmental ecosystem. Jal Pe Charcha is an open discussion forum and advocacy platform for the concerned masses to come together and collectively address the problem of water management and finding sustainable solutions to water challenges. The initial phase of Jal Pe Charcha will be rolled out across colleges to leverage the student and youth power for initiating dialogues on creating a transformative impact. The initiatives are the brainchild of Dr. Subramanya Kusnur, Chairman & CEO, AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd and alumnus of the college. Swachhagraha.com is Indias 1st Digital Social Exchange Platform where NEED meets the DEED. It will have validated opportunities across every element of SWACHH on one side and on the other pre-qualified Donors across Individuals, Diaspora & Corporates on the other. Presently will have prequalified validated opportunities of over Rs 900 crores across various parts of India through mandates from Governments & Corporates and will go live shortly. Speaking on the launch Ramanan said, The recent impetus on CSR by the Government & Corporates has created a strong focus on how Social capital can be used for the transformation of the country. At the same time, there is an imperative need to create a structured approach to the same. I am happy to launch Swachhagraha.com, Indias 1st Digital Social Exchange Platform and would call it a unique and much-needed innovation in CSR. The vision and commitment of Dr. Subramanya whom I have seen relentlessly trying out of the box ideas to make clean drinking water & sanitation available to one and all are commendable. His initiatives of involving the youth and leveraging student volunteerism to achieve SDGs is an ingenious inclusive way towards sustainability of social developmental projects Another unique initiative, Jal pe charcha, a water Advocacy campaign by AquaKraft & Maharashtra Village Social Transformation Foundation (MVSTF), Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of Maharashtra, was launched by Ms. Arushi Nishank, Chairperson, Sparsh Ganga. Speaking on the occasion, Arushi Nishank commented, It is my great privilege and honor to launch a nationwide advocacy program in water called Jal Per Charcha which aims to proliferate the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of Jal Shakti Abhiyan. We have been doing a similar activity at the grassroots at Sparsh Ganga and find a lot of congruence between our vision and the vision of AquaKraft. I commend Dr. Subramanya Kusnur for his commitment and dedication to one whole decade of his life and career to make clean water available to all. Together we will create a strong awareness amongst students at various colleges which is actually the foundation of New India. MVSTF is very happy to partner with AquaKraft in conceptualizing a 1000 village program to provide water and sanitation in addition to advocating the principles of Jal Shakti Abhiyaan. MVSTF has done extensive work in doing a baseline & technical survey across all these villages, leading to an established need, which will be posted, on www.swachhagraha.com, Indias 1st Digital Social Exchange Platform. The validated need represents an opportunity of over Rs 900 crores worth of interventions, which will be presented to corporates for funding under CSR and the Indian Diaspora. said Ramnath Subramaniam, CEO MVSTF. We are very proud to launch these unique nation-building initiatives through a Corporate Academic Partnership we started 3 years ago with AquaKraft. Under this partnership, we started the SWACHH LAB in 2017 to foster the culture of innovation amongst students, which went on to receive accolades at the district & national level. The Launch of CISSE is a natural progression of this success. It is very heartening to see our own Alumni Dr. Subramanya Kusnur who has been relentlessly trying to make clean water & sanitation to one and all and thinking unique ways of doing so. The nation-building initiatives launched today prove the fact that mainline colleges like ours are set to contribute to the development of the nations and today precedence has been set. Said Dr Neha Jagtiani I/C Principal, R D National College. AquaKraft Projects Pvt. Ltd., a next generation impact & sustainability initiative promoted by SwachhShree Dr. Subramanya Kunsur. Dr. Subramanya left a successful corporate career in 2010 and has dedicated the last decade travelling in over 1700 villages across the country to try & provide the Right to Clean Water and Sanitation to every citizen of India in a sustainable way by using green & environment-friendly solutions while leveraging CSR obligations of corporates. His brain child Swachhagraha where SWACHH is Sanitation & Water for Community Health & Hygiene and AGRAHA is an invitation to all stakeholders to come together and build a Clean, Green, Healthy & New India is fast becoming a revolution. I am humbled here today for the recognition my Alma matter R D National College is giving on completion of 70 years of Academic Excellence & Nation Building by launching the Center for Innovation, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship. More so when they have recognized my commitment towards Innovation and Sustainability and are dedicating nation-building initiatives at the august hands of distinguished Guests of the Ceremony. I am also grateful to partners like MVSTF with whom together we are launching Jal Pe Charcha and swachhagraha.com This is a strong vindication of 10 years of effort, commitment and ability to innovate next generation models to achieve sustainability in the field of drinking water and sanitation. Said Dr. Subramanya. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App After being in preventive custody in Hari Niwas for more than five months, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah will be shifted to his house at Srinagars upmarket Gupkar area but will remain in detention, a government official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. Abdullah and other mainstream political leaders were arrested on August 4 ahead of the Centre scrapping Jammu and Kashmirs special status and bifurcating into two union territories. A senior Jammu and Kashmir administration official privy to details said Omar Abdullah is being shifted to his Gupkar house. Yes the former CM will be shifted to his house, the arrangements are being finalized, said a senior Jammu and Kashmir administration official privy to details. He gave no timeline but it would happen soon. Sources said although some officials had also advocated shifting of another former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to her official residence, Fairview at Gupkar, the government shot down the proposal saying that it needs further deliberations among security agencies. Last month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration released five politicians, including a former state minister and three former legislators. NC president and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah continues to be in detention at his Gupkar house which is next door to Omars. In September, the administration slapped the the Public Safety Act (PSA) on Farooq Abdullah and his house was declared as a subsidary jail. In November, his PSA was extended to three more months. Mehbooba Mufti who was also lodged at Hari Niwas, was later shifted to a rest house at Chesma Shahi on the foothills of Zabarwan mountains. Last month, she was shifted to an official house at Maulana Azad road close to MLA hostel. Mehoobas daughter Iltija Mufti had recently alleged that the former CMs were kept in solitary confinement as the government wants to break their resolve. Last week a group of former ministers and legislators had met Lt Governor, G C Marmu and group of 16 foreign envoys. In both the meetings these leaders led by former minister, Altaf Bukhari had advocated the release of three former CMs from their detention. In last four months, besides family members two NC MPs Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone and a delegation comprising NC leaders from Jammu had been able to meet the former CM at Hari Niwas. Jet fuel rained down from the sky in Los Angeles on Tuesday when an airplane making an emergency landing dumped its fuel over schools, playgrounds and homes. Emergency medical workers treated about 60 adults and children for minor injuries such as skin irritation and breathing problems at six schools, though all of the patients declined to be transported to a hospital. The plane, Delta Flight 89, was carrying 167 people and enough fuel to reach its intended destination of Shanghai when it experienced engine trouble shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, a Delta spokeswoman said. The pilot quickly sought to return the jet, a Boeing 777-200, to the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the fuel dump, which fell over at least a five-mile swath of the Los Angeles area, including on a school playground where children were playing, officials said. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave after a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in the city The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave after a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in the city Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge waves to school children after visiting City Hall in Centenary Square, Bradford on January 15, 2020, to meet young people and hear about their life in Bradford. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images) It was back to business as usual for Kate Middleton and Prince William today amid the ongoing royal crisis. Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their first official joint appearance at Bradford, England, today to meet families from the Older Yet Wiser project, which works to bolster personal relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to 'step back' from their duties as senior members of the British royal family and what has followed has been among the most tumultuous times in modern royal history. After Kate celebrated her 38th birthday last Thursday, she has only been pictured once, taken through the windshield of her Range Rover. She was doing the school run to pick up her children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, while William was in negotiations. At Sandringham, her husband was meeting with Harry, their father Prince Charles, grandmother Queen Elizabeth and each party's respective private secretary, to hammer out details of the Sussexes desired exit. Meghan was also pictured for the first time in one week today, getting to know community initiatives in her new home of Canada, spending an afternoon at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre in Vancouver. Expand Close The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave after a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in the city / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave after a visit to City Hall in Bradford to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in the city It's reported that the royals will be announcing the next phase of negotiations as Meghan and Harry work towards becoming "financially independent" in the coming days as Queen Elizabeth has stated her desire for the matter to be handled swiftly and pragmatically. "My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghans desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family," she said. The mother-of-three returned to form in a recycled Alexander McQueen coat dress, with a houndstooth print midi dress from Zara, reduced to 18 in the new season sale. The Cambridges put on a united front and showed no sign of the behind the scenes activities. Today, a number of British newspapers published information from an impending court case between Meghan and Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Mail on Sunday, which she is suing for alleged breach of copyright for publishing a letter she wrote her father Thomas Markle. Legal documents seen by The Daily Telegraph have confirmed Thomas Markle's evidence will form part of the 'Mail on Sunday's' defence against legal action for breach of privacy, copyright and data protection taken by Ms Markle. The court papers disclose text messages sent from Mr Markle to his daughter and lay bare their deteriorating relationship at the time of her wedding to Prince Harry. Expand Close Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives at MyLahores flagship restaurant on January 15, 2020 in Bradford, United Kingdom / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives at MyLahores flagship restaurant on January 15, 2020 in Bradford, United Kingdom Video of the Day The papers were filed at the High Court in London yesterday. Read More If her case goes to trial rather than being settled out of court, it is likely Mr Markle will testify against his daughter and Meghan will be forced to give evidence against him. The 44-page defence - submitted by a legal team representing the newspaper - accuses the "self-promoting" duchess of "knowingly" making public the contents of the letter to paint her in a more flattering light. The documents, seemingly written with Mr Markle's cooperation, justify publication of excerpts from the letter and his response to it last February, insisting it was "necessary for the sake of truth, fairness, and Mr Markle's reputation, and so that the public should not be misled". It adds: "The Claimant's privacy rights do not extend to silencing her father." Last October, Prince Harry said he and his wife had been forced to take action against "relentless propaganda" from Associated Newspapers' publications in an emotive attack on what he described as a "ruthless campaign" against his wife. Accusing the tabloid media of "bullying" behaviour which "destroys people and destroys lives", he evoked memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, saying his "deepest fear is history repeating itself". The 'Mail on Sunday' published the excerpts, along with an interview with Mr Markle, four days after the American magazine 'People' published articles said to have been based on anonymous interviews with five of the duchess's closest friends standing up against the "global bullying" she had faced. As well as confirming the existence of the letter, the unnamed "sisterhood" told 'People' that Mr Markle had never contacted his daughter, claiming the duchess was "calling, texting, even up to the night before the wedding" on May 19, 2018 after he had to pull out following an emergency heart procedure. But according to the court documents, the last message Mr Markle received was a text allegedly sent on May 17 "admonishing him for talking to the press, telling him to stop and accusing him of causing hurt to his daughter". It was purportedly signed: "Love M and H." The defence also claims the couple "did not ask how he was or how the surgery had gone". The document includes details as to how Mr Markle felt "hung out to dry" and no one came to see him ahead of the wedding, whereas the duchess's mother, Doria Ragland, had been personally informed of the royal engagement by two British embassy officials who knocked at her Los Angeles home. Questioning claims the duchess called him 20 times when he was in hospital, the defence alleges Mr Markle did not receive "any cards or well wishes" and even contradicts the duchess's claim that she funded herself through university. ( Daily Telegraph, London) With tensions in the Middle East high, I have fielded a number of queries on how this might impact the worlds oil markets. Today I want to explore that issue. The Middle East presently produces about a third of the worlds oil. The most important producers there, ranked according to 2018 production, are: Saudi Arabia 12.3 million barrels per day (BPD) Iran 4.7 million BPD Iraq 4.6 million BPD United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3.9 million BPD Kuwait 3.0 million BPD Qater 1.9 million BPD For reference, U.S. oil production in 2018 (per the BP Statistical Review) was 15.3 million BPD, which was more than the total from Iran, Iraq, and the UAE. (That number includes natural gas liquids, as do the numbers above). It is also important to note that sanctions on Iran have impacted its ability to export oil. According to OPECs latest Oil Market Report, oil production in Iran fell by about 40 percent from 2018 to the end of 2019. Before covering how much oil we get from the Middle East today, lets look at the picture prior to the shale oil boom. According to the Energy Information Administration, the high point for U.S. oil imports from Persian Gulf countries was 2.8 million BPD in 2001. At the time, that accounted for 23 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports (11.9 million BPD). By 2008, U.S. oil production had begun to rise, but so had U.S. demand. Total crude oil imports had risen to 12.9 million BPD, but the share from the Persian Gulf had fallen to 2.4 million BPD (18.6 percent). In 2018, the impact of U.S. shale oil production was readily apparent. Crude oil imports to the U.S. had fallen to 9.9 million BPD, and the share from the Persian Gulf had fallen to less than 1.6 million BPD (15.9 percent). Related: Are Oil Prices Still Too High? Of the total crude oil imports from that region, 57 percent came from Saudi Arabia and 33 percent came from Iraq in 2018. These Middle Eastern imports are primarily coming into the Gulf Coast and West Coast. Canada is now the most important source of U.S. oil imports, supplying 4.3 million BPD in 2018 (43 percent of the total). As a side note, although U.S. imports may seem high given the huge surge in U.S. shale oil production, its important to keep in mind that this is not a net import figure. The U.S. also exports oil and finished products like gasoline. The net import number has fallen from a high of 12.5 million BPD in 2005 to 2.3 million BPD in 2018. In fact, for the last two months reported by the EIA September and October 2019 the monthly net import number had become a net export number for the first time in at least 70 years. So U.S. dependence on Middle East oil has fallen, but production of Middle Eastern oil has risen by about 5 million BPD in the past decade. So the rest of the world uses more oil from the region than they did a decade ago. Further, about 20 percent of the worlds oil passes through waters in the Middle East that border Iran. Thus, a fair amount of the worlds oil supply could be at risk if the situation in the region continues to escalate. Should that happen, we will likely see a larger rise in the price of Brent crude (an international benchmark) than we will in the price of West Texas Intermediate (a U.S. benchmark). Without a doubt, the impact today would be far less than it would have been a decade ago. You can primarily thank U.S. shale oil production for that. By Robert Rapier More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kitchener, ON, Canada, Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX), Canadas first industry-led incubator for medtech startups, announced that it is now accepting applications for its 2020 Residency program commencing this spring. Successful applicants will join rising medtech stars Penta Medical, Vena Medical, and Bloom Care, who joined the incubator hub spearheaded by Intellijoint Surgical in June 2019. MIX offers Residents a unique opportunity to retain ownership in early stages and succeed by leveraging resources in order to avoid early stage pitfalls and post-prototype growing pains. The successes of Intellijoint Surgical, which celebrated its landmark 10,000th surgery in April of last year, and other Canadian champions, help illuminate the path to bootstrapping as an alternative to early acquisition by global medical device and pharmaceutical companies, or packing up and moving operations to the United States. Despite Canadas well-deserved reputation for nurturing startups, challenges remain -- especially for our peers in medtech, explains Intellijoint Surgical CEO Armen Bakirtzian. Not only do medtech startups have similar needs as any venture, such as recruiting top talent and managing a business without a lot of capital, we must also conquer barriers facing both high-tech manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, too -- but without the deep pockets. For example, we need to build physical prototypes, secure IP, and ensure early compliance by regulatory bodies including Health Canada and the FDA. But, all of this is surmountable with guidance. Bakirtzian has assembled a roster of some of the most well-known and successful medtech CEOs, clinicians, and investors to advise Resident companies on specific steps that are critical to success; advice that is often missing or difficult to obtain from the more general startup incubators and accelerators. As medtech companies mature and phase out of early stage incubators, they are left without the resources they need to continue product development and enter the most critical stage of their business: commercialization, says Alexa Roeper, Penta Medical CEO. MIXs hub fills this gap. MIX Residents work 1:1 with advisors to navigate such milestones as: de-risking device prototypes and product development; U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) compliance and ISO 13485 Quality Management Planning; audit readiness; go-to-market strategy planning; how to take advantage of Canadas proximity to the largest healthcare market in the world and access to global markets; as well as navigating Canadian healthcare system-specific blockers. MIX leadership is establishing relationships with local, provincial, and federal government officials as well as healthcare administrators at top area hospitals to specifically address healthcare procurement policies, with the goal of ensuring that the best of Canadian IP is not lost before it has a chance to be commercialized. Canada is a place where innovation thrives especially here in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. says Raj Saini, MP for Kitchener Centre. We offer one of the best economies in the world for new business ventures as well as small and medium enterprises. And medtech is an area rich in intellectual property -- something Canadians lead at developing. But we need to improve at commercialization. Of patents filed in the past two years, 60% ended up with global companies within a year. We are experiencing a tech boom right across our region, adds Tim Louis, MP for Kitchener Conestoga. We excel at IP development, and have a global reputation in high-tech manufacturing from automotive to aerospace. But we understand that more must be done to cultivate local successes. When IP leaves the country, we miss out on future opportunities, as well as the potential spillover effect from high-tech research. MIX will certainly help to address some of those gaps. Since the June 2019 announcement of its founding, MIX has received dozens of inquiries from interested companies seeking to become part of the community. MIX is a non-profit incubator-hub with transparent terms, of which Bakirtzian emphasizes, we never take equity in participating companies. Our mission is simple: to pay it forward. We are committed to helping grow our own, and it starts with ensuring the most promising medtech startups have a home here in Kitchener where they can thrive. For more information about Medical Innovation Xchange and to submit an application for the Spring 2020 Residency, please visit the website. ABOUT MEDICAL INNOVATION XCHANGE MIX is Canadas first industry-led hub dedicated to helping medical technology startups scale and succeed in Canada. Spearheaded by anchor tenant Intellijoint Surgical, MIX was created to reduce the barriers and bridge the resource gap facing medtech startups by fostering a collaborative community that helps develop, sustain, and retain these companies to establish the Waterloo region as a leader in medtech innovation. Our mission is to provide a collaborative environment for Canadian medical technology companies that supports their individual growth and contributes to the overall success of the Canadian medtech ecosystem. Attachments To the Editor: I would like to add my comments to the chorus regarding Pond Creek Mine. We, the people of Southern Illinois, participated in democracy when we came out on a cold night just before Christmas to speak at a public hearing held by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. There were more than a hundred of us, with varied voices sharing the specifics of concerns on the same topic. We included farmers who are concerned about flooding leaving residue on fields. We included fisherman concerned about the poisoning of fish and the people who eat them. We included people who moved to this area as adults and people who have lived here all their lives. We included people who boat on the river, swim in the river and live on the river. We, the people of Southern Illinois, shared the same request: Please do not allow Williamson Energy, LLC, to pour waste water from their mining operation into the Big Muddy River. Please do not allow a mining company with a long history of environmental violations to self-monitor the dumping of acid and alkaline mine drainage into the Big Muddy River. Please do not allow a mining company that may go bankrupt and disappear to degrade our land and our water forever. Please do not allow the mining company to add toxic chemical waste to the Big Muddy River, with all the resultant impacts on the environment, because this is where we, the people of Southern Illinois, boat, fish, farm and live. Julie Murphy Cobden Love 7 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 By Park Yoon-bae President Moon Jae-in's reform of the prosecution is supposed to prevent the elite law enforcement agency from abusing its investigative authority and guarantee its independence from political power. The ultimate goal is to ensure the rule of law, one of the key pillars of a democracy. Nevertheless, the latest developments taking place on the political scene are raising questions about the true intention of the reform drive. The reason is because the presidential office, the government and the ruling party are indiscriminately attacking the prosecution, particularly its chief Yoon Seok-youl. Such attacks started when the prosecution launched an investigation into a corruption scandal surrounding Moon's close aide Cho Kuk and his family. The scandal erupted right after Cho, a former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, was nominated as justice minister last August. Moon appointed Cho to lead the Ministry of Justice in September, despite the corruption allegations against him and his family. The nation was sharply divided into pros and cons over Cho's appointment. This divide deepened ideological confrontation between the left and the right. Progressives supporting Cho held massive candlelit rallies, denouncing the prosecution's probe into him, while conservative staged counter-rallies calling for Cho's resignation. The governing Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has clashed head-on with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) over the issue regarding Cho and Moon's prosecution reform. The conservative LKP is strongly against Moon's plan to create a separate investigative unit tasked with probing corruption cases involving high-ranking officials including prosecutors and judges. In this turbulent situation, Cho stepped down as justice minister only 35 days in office in October without accomplishing his mission to implement Moon's much-avowed prosecutorial reform. But his resignation marked the beginning of an unprecedented showdown between the Moon administration and the prosecution. The presidential office and the DPK has intensified its bashing of the law enforcement agency as prosecutors expanded their investigations into former and incumbent presidential officials over allegations of corruption. The high-profile cases included Cheong Wa Dae's suspected meddling in the 2018 Ulsan mayor election to help Moon's confidant Song Cheol-ho win the seat; while another case was related to allegations that the presidential office attempted to cover up corruption involving Yoo Jae-soo, a former director at the Financial Services Commission. The presidential office and the DPK have harshly lashed out at the prosecution for conducting "excessive" and "politically-oriented" investigations. They apparently want to protect Cho and other aides of Moon. It is unprecedented for officials and lawmakers to try to openly block investigations. They should realize that their behavior not only obstructs justice, but also damages the prosecution's political neutrality and independence. The Moon administration cannot avoid criticism that it is only engrossed in controlling and taming prosecutors in the "name" of reform. If it really want to see the reform succeed, it would not dare to wield unwarranted influence over the ongoing investigations. President Moon appointed Rep. Choo Mi-ae, a five-term lawmaker and former chairwoman of the DPK, as new justice minister Jan. 2. She immediately reassigned 32 senior prosecutors and downsized the anti-corruption investigation unit at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in an apparent bid to stop the prosecution from continuing its investigations into the high-profile corruption cases. The minister's measures are seen as a move to "disarm" Prosecutor General Yoon, who has spearheaded an anti-corruption campaign since he took the helm of the prosecution in July. Critics noted that the Moon administration has virtually sent a "message of no-confidence" in the top prosecutor because he is targeting the inner circle of the ruling elite in the corruption cases. People still vividly remember Moon telling Yoon that the prosecution should investigate the incumbent political power if a corruption case arose. But now, Moon seems to be contradicting what he said. The administration should not try to control the prosecution in the name of reform. Moon and his government must have forgotten the painful lesson from the massive corruption case that led to the impeachment and ouster of former President Park Geun-hye. If it attempts to tame the prosecution to save its corrupt officials and politicians, the liberal government will not make any progress in prosecutorial reform. It may also run the risk of repeating the same mistake of Park and her corrupt and incompetent administration. Reform is a change for the better, not a change for the worse. In this sense, Moon's prosecution reform may end up in a regression which will undermine the rule of law and democracy. Anyone cannot and should not turn the prosecution into the handmaiden of the political power again as seen in the dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s. Only when the prosecution is allowed to conduct independent investigations without any political and outside pressure can prosecutorial reform succeed. The writer (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. Three little girls who were missing after a Toyota Camry they were travelling in was stolen in Sydney's west have been found. A woman parked her car at the corner of Denison and Studley streets in Carramar before it was stolen just after 12.30pm on Wednesday. The woman was standing next to the Toyota when a man got into the vehicle and drove off. A woman parked her car at the corner of Denison and Studley streets in Carramar before it was stolen just after 12.30pm on Wednesday Three girls - aged two, seven and eight - were sitting in the back of the car when it was stolen. The vehicle was last seen driving north on Denison Street. The Toyota is a 2009 white sedan with New South Wales registration plates DWW-41H. Police were extremely concerned about the children's safety. Beaumont ISD is one step closer to adopting new textbooks for high school English and English as a second language classes after giving teachers a chance to meet with potential vendors at an event Tuesday. We do this every time there is a new adoption, BISDs Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jenny Angelo told The Enterprise. This is for one called proclamation 2020, which mostly involves high school English language arts and reading, AP literature and composition, journalism and some of our English language learner texts in the other room. Teachers stopped by throughout the afternoon to meet with 12 vendors ranging from smaller companies like Perfection books to large name brands like Pearson and McGraw-Hill. The brands will also be present at another vendor fair for education Region 5 later this month, before a committee of teachers and supervisors will narrow the list down to three providers. From there, the district will take a districtwide vote and submit the final choice to the board for approval. Amy Rubin, who teaches at West Brook High School, said she was looking to see what each publisher highlighted in their presentations. One thing that I think is really big this time is the online, web-based content, Rubin said. We just got a grant for Chromebooks so I think the technology aspect of this adoption is very important. Rubin said the decision was particularly important given that it will have to keep up with the changing technology in the coming years. The digital component was a major selling point for many of the vendors at Tuesdays presentation. Jennifer Choiniere, the senior account manager for National Geographic Learning Cengage, presented options to teachers that included electronic versions of books, in addition to grading and homework software and other digital tools for students. Kids can read the content online in an e-format, but that is also where they are going to go in and do their online homework assignments as well, Choiniere said. They also can do peer-to-peer reviews, so if I am writing a poem, I can get peer feedback from a fellow classmate, and change some of the lines before I do a final turn-in. Automatic grading, plagiarism protections and integrated lesson planning were also highlighted as additions to the textbooks. Angelo said the digital options offered by all the vendors were beneficial to both parents and teachers. It is wonderful for our parents because they can get that digital textbook at home, and they dont have to lug that thing around, because you can see that is pretty big, Angelo said. And the teachers are really excited about anything that helps manage the paperwork, grading and checking with plagiarism. McGraw-Hill Education also presented a unique digital option, called Texas StudySync. With Texas StudySync and McGraw-Hill Education, what really sets us apart is that it is a living curriculum. So within our digital library, we are adding 10 different pieces of literature every single month, curriculum specialist Matthew Pyeatt said. We actually have teachers suggest texts, so we are really reaching out across the state of Texas to grow our library for Texas students, and Texas teachers particularly. The digital aspect is also a key for providers of learning materials for English as a second language classes. Alvin Brinson, who teaches ESL classes at West Brook, said the classes are in growing demand as the Hispanic population increases but the current offerings create a wide range of skill levels for each class. Often our ESL students are low enough (in skill level) that we have to mix ability levels, and that makes it very challenging for the teacher to teach the whole class, Brinson said. Because this student might not know how to ask to go to the bathroom in English, and the other student just cant read advanced text, and then everything in between. So looking for the digital component is what we are looking for that is new, along with good reading material, which is always an important component, Brinson said. BISD will also replace outdated journalism textbooks in its next adoption. G-W Publisher was one of the options presented Tuesday. A lot of times with an elective like journalism, it doesnt come up for adoption often, Educational Consultant Christina Francisco said. So what I found is that teachers are using the same curriculum they have been using for the last decade, or even longer. Francisco said parents should be involved in the selection process of textbooks. I think it is really important for them to come out and see what their students are going to be using on a daily basis as curriculum. It is a great way for them to get involved in their community, she said. Danette Mendez, the instructional materials coordinator for BISD, said the district was working to be as transparent as possible. She invited the public to ask any questions regarding the adoption of the new books. We really are trying to be as transparent as possible, because we want to change the culture, Mendez said. We need to somehow get the parents excited, and that is our goal. To get our community involved, and excited about the children and for their education. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes Thailand patient recovering from Wuhan virus Global Times By Leng Shumei Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/15 0:37:17 A Chinese traveler to Thailand confirmed infected with the new coronavirus, which was first discovered in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, is recovering from the illness, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) China. The traveler from Wuhan was identified as a potential sufferer by Thai officials on January 8 and hospitalized, WHO said in an email to the Global Times on Tuesday. Laboratory testing subsequently confirmed that the novel coronavirus discovered in Wuhan was the cause, according to the email. WHO on Tuesday refuted some media reports that had seemingly cited WHO as an authority suggesting the virus can be transmitted human to human. There was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, the organization told the Global Times, and no infections were reported among healthcare staff. "The mode(s) of transmission has not yet been determined and human-to-human transmission is always a concern when patients have respiratory symptoms," an unnamed WHO representative said in the email to the Global Times. "This requires further investigation." The possibility of cases being identified in other countries was not unexpected, WHO said in a statement on Monday, noting that they are working with officials in Thailand and China. Chinese experts have shared the whole gene sequences of the virus with WHO, which is of great importance for developing specific diagnostic kits, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. Shenzhen-listed genomics company BGI Genomics has developed nucleic acid test kits for the virus, the company said on Tuesday. Chinese experts are working on the pathogen and serum reagents, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday. Gauden Galea, WHO representative in China, highlighted China's quick reaction to the epidemic in an interview with CCTV. "China has identified the novel virus, completed the gene test and set up diagnosis standards as of Saturday," Galea said. "It indicates that the country has improved rapidly in this field after the outbreak of SARS in 2003." WHO does not recommend specific health measures for travelers and advises against any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information currently available, Galea said. China identified a new coronavirus on January 9 after 59 people were hospitalized, with seven in serious condition for an unidentified pneumonia. Most of the patients worked in a seafood market in Wuhan, Xinhua said, citing WHO. One patient had died as of Monday, according to the Wuhan health authority. The death was caused by another serious illness rather than solely the pneumonia, Xinhua said. Meanwhile, 687 people who had been in contact with the patients are under medical observation, the authority said. Forty-one patients hospitalized for the unidentified pneumonia in Wuhan have been confirmed as being infected with the new coronavirus as of Saturday, Hu Ke, a respiratory expert from the Hubei General Hospital told CCTV. Seven patients have been discharged from hospital. Patients were discharged after their fever broke, organs restored their normal function and a pathogen test confirmed a negative result, Hu said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address There are some classes of problems such as internal security in Nigeria, that are so complex and intractable that they defy all rational understanding or solution. Obviously, you must first understand a problem fundamentally before you can proffer a workable solution. Engineers have an elegant way of describing these kinds of problems with multiple, complex, interacting, causative variables. They say they are indeterminate problems with indeterminate solutions. They then proceed to estimate their degree of indeterminacy. This to all intents and purposes is the number of unknown independent variables that could possibly influence or affect the solution. The internal security problem facing Nigeria could be said to be an indeterminate problem which has an indeterminate solution. But what is its degree of indeterminacy? And what could be its solution? Bear with me but let us revert to engineering for some insights on the way forward. Faced with an indeterminate problem, with indeterminate solution, engineers relax their quest for a rational general solution. Instead they constrict the problem to what really matters. So instead of trying to know the precise level of stress in a structure or engineering body at any given time for instance, they constrict the problem. They simplify the challenge by restricting themselves to knowing the failure stress i.e. the stress level that leads to failure. Instead of trying to analyze an intractable multiverse of load scenarios, they simplistically attempt to analyze the one scenario that really counts. Obviously, this is the failure scenario the load or combination of loads that causes failure. Of course, once they can establish the failure scenario, they can then apply a factor of safety to that scenario and boom the problem is solved. The structure is safe, provided the failure load or failure combination of loads is not exceeded. They can for instance put a warning sign on a bridge trucks with gross weight above 36 tonnes (80,000 pounds) may not ply this bridge or culvert. If the factor of safety is 50% you may then be sure that if a truck with gross weight of 54 tonnes (120,000 pounds) plies that bridge, it would collapse. One critical issue obviously is the factor of safety. How do engineers establish the factor of safety? In engineering terms, this is a political problem. A judgement issue. One engineers factor of safety may be too rash to a more conservative engineer. Generally, the magnitude of the factor of safety depends upon the degree of certainty about the failure load. The higher the number of assumptions made in determining the failure load, the greater the factor of safety provided and vice-versa. All of which leads us to the overarching issue of establishing the failure load. This is where things really get exciting. To arrive at the failure load, engineers further restrict the problem by applying the elegantly named boundary conditions. Failure boundary conditions are known conditions of failure. The application of prescribed and predetermined failure boundary conditions, in one fell swoop restricts the number of unknown variable conditions. Reducing the number of unknown variables in turn simplifies a complex situation. There is one crucial philosophical trick that engineers employ to finally resolve the problem. The failure load, i.e. the engineering solution of the problem, is that load or loads that when imposed on the structure satisfies (in other words leads to or provokes), all the known imposed failure boundary conditions. Think about it. Any applied load(s) that leads to boundary conditions different from the known failure boundary conditions, cannot be the failure load(s). Note that for very complex problems, resort may have to be made to engineering hacking (i.e. using trial and error) to determine the failure load. But it bears repeating that the failure load must be the load that satisfies all the failure boundary conditions. Which brings us back neatly to the internal security situation in Nigeria, which many would agree is currently in a state of failure. A dozen known and observed failure boundary conditions of Nigerias internal security situation (note that there are many more) are as follows. 'While the march of globalisation is perhaps inevitable, what is certain is that the world is no longer flat as, the emerging pattern of trade is more regional. 'This new trend of slowbalisation raises some questions that challenge conventional wisdom on how businesses should distribute their capacities,' Birla said. The rising tension between growing nationalism and globalisation is reshaping the world and will perhaps be the most defining trend as the world heads into a new decade, said chairman of Aditya Birla Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla. The conflicting forces of globalisation and nationalism are making governments and corporations rethink their priorities and are forcing them to come up with new constructs. Writing in a web post, Birla, 52, talked about his learnings from the last few decades when the entire business ecosystem has changed. This new world, for sure, is not for the faint hearted. "One-third of Fortune 500 companies drop out every decade, and the average life of a company on the S&P 500 list has shrunk from 60 years in 1960 to under 20 years today, said Birla. The Aditya Birla Group recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its globalisation journey when Aditya Birla set up a unit in Thailand in 1969, way before India started its globalisation journey in 1991. Since then, the group has not looked back, acquiring and setting up units all over the world. Its latest $3-billion acquisition of Aleris by Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco, is awaiting clearance from the US government. The recent trade war between the US and China impacted companies and economies all over the world, leading to a changed ecosystem. Back in 2005, Birla said when columnist Thomas Friedman coined the phrase the world is flat, the world was a very different place. Back then, he opined that technology and geopolitics were reshaping our lives while we were sleeping. "Now that we are wide awake, I see a very different world, dealing with the consequences of globalisation and its discontent, said Birla. A world where rules of commerce are being rewritten all around. A world where nationalism has surpassed globalisation as the more popular search term on Google. "While the march of globalisation is perhaps inevitable, what is certain is that the world is no longer flat. "As globalisation makes way for slowbalisation, the emerging pattern of trade is more regional. "One needs to look no further than Novelis and Birla Carbon to appreciate this mega-trend, said Birla. Both these global businesses have a footprint spread across multiple countries. Birla Carbons network of factories spans 11 countries and five continents. Novelis range of operations extends to nine countries and four continents. Their long-standing regional structure has allowed them to effectively navigate a dynamic trade environment by serving customers, primarily at the regional level. They have been saved from being entangled in many of the trade issues ensnaring our competitors. "Many of them, who import or export their goods across regional borders, have now found this trade unviable. "The regional structure thus allows Novelis and Birla Carbon to function as truly global companies - local, yet global. "This new trend of slowbalisation raises some questions that challenge conventional wisdom on how businesses should distribute their capacities, Birla said. Given that the traditional benefits of a single location operation are an obvious contrast to the resilience that multiple local operations provide. "There may be no easy answers, but the reality of this new world is something we need to be very alive to. "In a post-globalised world, communities and people will increasingly demand more from corporations. "Perhaps our founding fathers saw it coming, 150 years ago, which is why community engagement is so closely embedded with our business values, said Birla. Photograph: PTI Photo West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has had frequent run-ins with the state government over a host of issues, on Wednesday said that in a democracy, opposing views should to be "gracefully" accepted. Dhankhar, while speaking at the 237th Foundation Day celebrations of the Asiatic Society here, called on people to give precedence to "our fundamental duties". "... Our Constitution has given us the fundamental right to express ourselves... but let us be more accomodating to the other point of view," Dhankhar said. "One can always disagree, but with grace. If a glass is half empty, someone might say it is half full, and both are right," he added. The governor's comments also come amid continuing protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in various parts of the country. "I have no issues with any protest that does not become violent, any protest that is lawful, any protest that does not interfere in other's rights," Dhankhar said. Noting that "we are living in very difficult times", he said, "If I don't become his enemy, I become his adversary. That is not taught by any religion." Defending the renaming of the Kolkata Port Trust after Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the governor said he was a great son of the soil, who gave his life for the unity of the nation. Referring to the Asiatic Society, Dhankhar said, "Not many institutions in the world can rival it. It is the mother of several institutions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venture capital investment is seeping out from Silicon Valley to the rest of the country, but the West Coast still dominates the market by a wide margin. Why it matters: Venture capital investment can play a crucial role in building fast-growing, tech-based economies like those of the Bay Area, Seattle, Austin, New York and Boston. But VC investors don't typically stray outside those markets to look for the next big thing. By the numbers: Last year, the Bay Area's proportion of overall U.S. venture capital investment fell to the lowest point since 2013, according to year-end data from Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. The proportion of West Coast deal value also slipped to around 50% of the country's total, down from 62.3% in 2018. Meanwhile, deal counts and values crept up or stayed steady in every other region between 2018 and 2019. Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C. saw incremental upticks in the number of deals in 2019. Higher year-over-year growth was seen in Seattle (10.6%) and San Diego (8.4%). The big picture: The majority of U.S. venture capital funding goes to California, New York and Massachusetts and 2019 was no different. "[O]ne of my predictions last year that wed see an increase of VC going to 'rising' states proved to be wrong," AOL co-founder and Revolution CEO Steve Case wrote in a recent Medium post. The amount of VC investment going to just three states (California, New York and Massachusetts) actually increased from 75% in 2018 to 78% in 2019. Case says he's sticking with his prediction for the coming year, based on the rising cost of Silicon Valley (as well as the start of the backlash against against it) and the multi-billion-dollar exits in "rising cities." What's happening: Investors with Silicon Valley roots are branching out and raising funds in places they see as having untapped potential. Last week, J.D. Vance launched a new VC firm called Narya Capital and raised $93 million for its debut fund, which is targeting a total of $125 million, and will be headquartered in Cincinnati. Big Silicon Valley names are limited partners including Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen and Eric Schmidt. The mission is similar to Case's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, where Vance was previously managing partner. The new fund's strategy is to invest in Series A rounds for startups in mid-sized cities like Salt Lake City, Raleigh and Atlanta. When Mark Kvamme moved to Ohio from Silicon Valley to start Drive Capital eight years ago, "people literally thought I was crazy," he said. "One investor even told me, Ohio is where venture capitalists go to die." Drive now has $1.2 billion under management has invested in more than 40 companies, including Root Car Insurance and Beam Dental. Ohio's venture capital investments have more than doubled since 2013. Still, there's a reason the Bay Area remains dominant: Its high concentration of talent, entrepreneurs and customers, along with the lion's share of capital thanks to blockbuster IPOs creating new wealth to reinvest. Investors agree that, even though there are some shoots of progress in other regions like the Midwest, it will take four or five successful exits and more local institutional investors to kickstart the investment engines. "We have to have multiple billion dollar exits, and those will beget new companies," Kvamme said. "It takes time." The bottom line: "The days of VC's hiding in a bunker in Silicon Valley are coming to an end," said Roy Bahat, head of Bloomberg Beta, a venture fund backed by Bloomberg LP. "If we want to realize the full potential of technology, we need people everywhere making it." Go deeper: On Wednesday, Stringer said in an interview that the state network of traditional drug treatment centers needs more funding, not less. You know what is sad is that we agree on so many things, Ned and me and my team, Stringer said. I personally just cant tolerate a message that says lets take money from here and put it over here when this system is starving. He said he agreed with Presnalls point that there are financial incentives in the state system that havent kept up with the evidence-based practices of medication-assisted treatment. He said he hopes that in the next 10 to 15 years more opioid addicts will be treated in primary care settings. But right now, he said, a lot of those places dont want to see our folks and a lot of our folks are uninsured. There is more at stake than the $65 million opioid response grant. Many more addicts are dying and more money is likely coming to address the need. Missouri opioid experts prioritize expenditures in anticipation of Big Pharma settlement money Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt listened to their suggestions at a roundtable in St. Louis. On the occasion of Army Day, 2020, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday extended wishes to the brave soldiers and ex-servicemen of the Indian Army. "Wishing all the Indian Amry brave soldiers of, ex-servicemen who sacrifice their lives in protecting the country's borders and their families a very happy Army Day. Jai Hind #Army Day 2020," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Earlier today, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat along with Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh paid tributes at the War Memorial on the occasion of Army Day, 2020. On this occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also extended greetings to the Indian Army personnel. "On Army Day today, I salute all valiant Indian Army personnel and recall with pride their indomitable spirit, valour and sacrifices in making India a safer place. #ArmyDay2020," Singh tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ridgefield Police Department is warning residents to report suspicious activity that they see around mailboxes in town. Capt. Shawn Platt confirmed that the department received a call on Tuesday, Jan. 14, about a suspicious indiviudal on a bicycle in the area of Barrack Hill Road. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 00:52:21|Editor: yan Video Player Close By Olatunji Saliu ABUJA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Halima Abel, the widow of a former Nigerian military man, fought back tears as a minute's silence was held for military personnel killed in service-related incidents at a remembrance ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday. Abel's husband, a soldier, died while fighting terror group Boko Haram in the country's northeast region in 2012. The ceremony in Abuja was the first opportunity for her to witness a national honor in memory of her husband and others who paid the ultimate price for their country's freedom. "We came here to pay our respects to our husbands. We have come to celebrate them because they are heroes to the world and to us, too, as their wives," Abel, donning all-black apparel like every other military widow present at the ceremony, told Xinhua. The one-minute silence was followed by a deep booming sound of guns that reverberated around the cenotaph adjacent to the government's secretariat in the city center of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, on Wednesday. On Jan. 15 every year, Nigeria remembers the members of the armed forces who died in active service, fighting to defend the country's unity. Usually, the day is marked with a remembrance parade by the military, including a minute's silence, playing of the last post, a 21-gun salute, the ceremonial laying of wreaths and release of pigeons to symbolize peace. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari led citizens of the country to honor and pay glowing tributes to the heroes. Across the 36 state capitals in the country, similar events were held in the most colorful fashion. The top echelon of the Nigerian armed forces and the police, heads of the national parliament, representatives of the surviving war veterans and military widows also laid wreaths at the cenotaph in honor of the fallen heroes. "During celebrations like this, I feel happy because he did not die in vain. The country still remembers him," said Abel who is now faced with the challenge of solely raising the children sired by her late husband. "I sometimes feel sorrowful because it brings back memories. I just have to pull myself together. Each day that passes by, I still cry because my husband is not here to take care of myself and the kids," she said further. Beyond the national honor held for the heroes and glowing tributes paid unto them, however, there is still a lot that the government needs to do to alleviate the pains of the surviving spouses of the military personnel, the widow said. "No doubt, for many of us military widows, life's no longer the same for us. We still expect the authorities to do more for us as proof that our late husbands were heroes and that they truly mean a lot to the country," she said. For those who died during active service, their children enjoy a number of benefits, including military-sponsored scholarships from elementary school to the university, according to Veronica Aloko, national president of the Nigerian Military Widows Association (MiWA). The association, created by the country's military chiefs, also caters to the widows and brings them together to enjoy more benefits. In September 2019, in providing succour to wives of the thousands of slain military men, no fewer than 2,500 members of MiWA were offered training in various vocations nationwide. Aloko said, however, in terms of employment to members of the association and further donations, the military widows expect more from the government. "They (the military chiefs) made it a duty to take care of us. They have been training us in some skill acquisitions and after training, we will be given grants," Aloko said. "I think through that, our pains will be further alleviated." Onitsha Eastern Nigeria: 15th Jan 2020 -With yesterdays Supreme Court judgment on Imo Governorship Election, invalidating 618, 877 living votes and validating only 96, 458, it is now a case law by technicality that a Governor Candidate who scored only 6000 votes is likely to be installed one day by the Apex Court as a Governor in Nigeria, the Intl Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law said today in a statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chair of the Board, Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head of Democracy & Good Governance and Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esq., Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law. The Apex Court has again invented another judicial America Wonder by declaring a candidate who came a distance fourth in an election as duly elected governor even when he scored one third of the validly cast votes scored by the highest votes scorer and about 13 percent of the total validly cast votes of 714,335. In other words, the new Supreme Court crowned new Imo Gov abysmally scored one third or 96, 458 of what the Supreme Court ousted Gov scored (273, 404) and about 13 percent of the total validly cast votes (714, 335). With the latest Supreme Court America Wonder, it is most likely to be bye-bye to popular citizens participation in the countrys electoral process; with full-fledged field day of electoral violence and bloodletting created for politicians. It is recalled that the INEC had in March 2019 Imo Gov Poll, through its Chief Returning Officer who doubles as Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia State; announced that out of the 2,221,008 registered voters in Imo State, 823,743 were accredited to vote in the States Governorship Poll; and out of which 739, 485 votes were cast. A total of 714, 355 were validated and 25, 130 invalidated or rejected. Of the 714, 335 validated votes, Emeka Ihedioha of PDP polled 273, 404 votes scoring the highest votes with 2/3 majority spread in over 18 LGAs. Uche Nwosu of the AC came second with 190, 364, followed by Ifeanyi Ararume of APGA who polled 114, 676; and Hope Uzodimma of the APC who polled 96, 458 and came fourth. Ikedi Ohakim of the Accord Party came distance fifth with 6, 846 votes. Imo State presently has 27 Local Government Areas and 644 autonomous communities and going by the tragic judgment of the Supreme Court, 618, 877 validly cast votes were invalidated and only 96, 458 validated. The 96, 458 votes validated by the Supreme Court are further divided to translate to about 3,700 votes for each of the States 27 LGAs and 150 for each of the States 644 autonomous communities. This is totally strange and unheard of in the history of Nigerias electoral process and its litany of judicial enquiries or decisions. Conversely, by the States total registered voters of 2, 221,008; they translate to about 82, 000 voters for each of the 27 LGAs and 3,500 for each of the 644 autonomous communities. For the 714, 335 validly cast votes; they are about 26, 500 for each of the 27 LGAs and 1100 for each of the 644 autonomous communities. By the States estimated population of 5m and with the Supreme Courts tragic verdict, the State is now to be governed by the electoral decisions of half of the population of a Local Government, out of its 27 LGAs or Local Government Areas. Half of the population of an Imo LGA, going by its estimated population of 5m, is put at average of 95,000. Supreme Courts Deceitful & Diversionary Resort To Canceled Votes In 388 Poling Units The Supreme Court resort to canceled votes from 388 poling units which it wholly re-imported, reversed, validated and awarded to its newly crowned Gov is also strange and surprising and amounts to usurpation of the duties and functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Our questions are: how come the canceled votes were not reflected in the total number of accredited voters given by the Imo State INEC as 823,743? If elections were truly canceled in the 388 poling units which statutorily has average of 500 registered voters per poling unit or total of 194, 000 registered voters, what was the number of voters turnout from each of the 388 poling units particularly those issued with PVCs? This is more so when out of the total registered voters of 2,221,008 in Imo State, only 1,702, 178 were given PVCs and 570, 115 denied. Also how possible was it that all the registered voters from the said 388 poling units came out 100% and voted for Hope Uzodimma 100%; with zero votes to other candidates? Truth be told, it is an act of impossibility for the said 388 poling units with total registered voters of about 194, 000 to record 100% voters turnout with 100% votes for Hope Uzodimma and zero votes to others. This is more so when not all of them were issued with PVCs. As a matter of fact, between 25% and 30% or no fewer than 40,000 of voters attached to the said 388 poling units were denied PVCs and not up to 70% of those with PVCs came out and voted in the said Poll. In the entire Governorship Poll in the State, only about 40% came out and were accredited. The Nigerias Supreme Court must therefore look elsewhere for its reasons for the latest round of its judicial hara-kiri and stay away from the former because it failed woefully to fly. In all, the Supreme Court has ended up enthroning a new Gov in Imo State through the window; using strange, erroneous, and dishonorable and politically motivated Judico-Mathematical Salami Technique. The latest tragic decision of the Supreme Court was also not done in isolation, but as a tripod conspiracy: from hawkish plots to satanic prophesy; ending with judicial execution. These explained why we resolved recently not to attach honorable and Lordship in the names or titles of the serving Justices of the Nigerias Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. Black rain has fallen in Imo State and palm kernel ripened at the tail of palm frond Contacts: Phone/WhatsApp: +2348174090052 Email: [email protected] URL/Website: www.intersociety-ng.org [January 15, 2020] Poland Will Participate in the Master Design Challenge, the World Final of Roca's Express Design Competition - The winners of the second edition held in Poland will participate in the grand world final in Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector. - The activities that will be carried out during the competition are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aryna Muha and Wioleta Petynia, of the Architecture faculty at the Cracow University of Technology, winners of the second edition of the Roca One Day Design Challenge in Poland, Roca's express design competition, will travel to Barcelona, a benchmark in the design sector, from the 20th to the 22nd January to celebrate the first edition of the Master Design Challenge, along with the winners of all editions held all around the world in 2019. This world final will challenge the young desgners to show their design qualities to discover who will be the winner among winners. It will be held in collaboration with the BCD (Barcelona Centre de Disseny) and the We Are Water Foundation. All activities will focus on innovation, creativity, design and sustainability and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations, in order to achieve a better future for all. The proposals of the representatives of the 12 countries that will be attending the final will be assessed by an internationally acclaimed jury, made up of: Joao Bessa, designer and founder of BESSA; Josep Congost, Design and Innovation Director at Roca; Kenneth Koh, founder of Quarters Architects; Isabel Pintado, Regional Managing Director at Wilson Associates; Vladimir Pirozhkov, president of the 'Astra Rossa' industrial design and innovation center; Isabel Roig, general director of the BCD; and Xavier Torras, Roca Brand Communication Director. The winner will be able to attend the prestigious Boisbuchet Design and Architecture school at Lessac, France, and will be presented with 3,000 in prize money and a BenQ monitor for graphic design with a value of 1,190 . Roca, leading brand in products for the bathroom space, organizes these initiatives to provide visibility to young talent. Roca One Day Design Challenge was first held in 2012 and since then its international expansion has increased over the years. The competition challenges young architecture and design students and professionals to create original and innovative products for the bathroom space in just one day. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 15:30:01|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HANGZHOU, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A new direct flight has been launched between Yiwu, a major small commodity hub in eastern China, and Vladivostok, a transportation hub in Russia's Far East region. The route was operated by China's 9 Air with three round-trip flights every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. On Monday, the outbound flight departs Yiwu at 10:10 a.m. Beijing time and arrives in Vladivostok at 03:50 p.m. local time, while inbound flight leaves Vladivostok at 05:00 p.m. local time and lands in Yiwu at 07:00 p.m. Beijing time. On Thursday and Saturday, the outbound flight departs Yiwu at 11:40 a.m. Beijing time and lands in Vladivostok at 05:25 p.m. local time, while the inbound flight leaves Vladivostok at 06:25 p.m. local time and arrives in Yiwu at 08:25 p.m. Beijing time. Russia is one of the important growth points of Yiwu's foreign trade. The opening of the flight, Yiwu's sixth international and regional direct air route, will facilitate the trade, tourism and cultural exchanges and cooperation between Yiwu and countries along the Belt and Road. Had she worked in the private sector or for a state or local government, she would have had to prove that her age was a determining reason for the denials a but for cause in the legal jargon. The question for the justices was whether federal workers can win age discrimination suits under a more relaxed standard, showing only that age was one factor among many leading to a negative employment determination. Justice Elena Kagan, 59, explained the difference between the two standards. There are two kinds of concepts you can use, she said. They are: Did this thing actually cause the firing or the lack of promotion? Or was this thing around when they made that decision? The words of the relevant law, said Roman Martinez, a lawyer for Dr. Babb, allowed her to sue under the relaxed standard. The law says that all personnel actions affecting employees or applicants for employment who are at least 40 years of age shall be made free from any discrimination based on age. If the process for making an employment decision uses age as a negative factor, Mr. Martinez said, quoting the law, its not made free from any discrimination. The chief justices question about a stray if stinging remark of O.K., Boomer" a dismissive retort used by younger people was meant to test the limits of Mr. Martinezs argument. So calling somebody a boomer and considering them for a position would be actionable? Chief Justice Roberts asked. Nigel Farage and the Leave Means Leave campaign group have been given permission to host a Brexit party in front of Parliament on January 31 to mark the UK's departure from the European Union. The 'Brexit Celebration' in Parliament Square will take place from 9pm until 11.15pm with Britain due to officially split from Brussels at 11pm. Mr Farage said it was 'great news' and added: 'It is a big moment in the history of this nation to celebrate.' The event is expected to include speeches and music but it remains unclear whether it will be capped off by the bongs of Big Ben. Big Ben is currently undergoing a massive renovation and the bell is out of action, with Boris Johnson suggesting it would cost 500,000 to get it in working order to mark Brexit. Nigel Farage, pictured in the March 2019, and the Leave Means Leave campaign group have been given permission to host a Brexit party outside Parliament on January 31 The government has invited members of the public to raise money to pay for it but it is uncertain whether the campaign will generate the required cash to make it happen. The decision to grant permission for the Leave Means Leave event comes as the government has yet to explain its own plans to commemorate Brexit. Ministers have said the occasion will be formally marked but they have not said exactly how. Mr Farage had previously complained that plans to hold the party were being undermined by officials opposed to Britain's departure from the bloc. The leader of the Brexit Party said yesterday they had been struggling to gain permission to hold a five-minute firework display as part of the celebrations. He said permission had been denied to launch fireworks from a government building, alongside the River Thames and from St James' Park. 'But do you know something? We're not giving up on trying,' he said during his LBC radio show. 'We will mark this moment in history, I promise you.' Mr Farage said the granting of permission for the 'Brexit Celebration' was 'great news' A spokesman for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said provisional approval had been given for the event to take place with more than 12,000 people having already applied for tickets. Many Brexiteers believe Big Ben must bong to mark Brexit but the renovation of Elizabeth Tower means their hopes could be dashed. Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice said if it is not possible to allow the bell to ring out they could play a recording of the bell on a speaker system. No action can be initiated against top bankers for involvement in suspected frauds before a panel formed on Wednesday by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) gives its nod, according to an official order. A five-member advisory board for banking and financial frauds has been created by the CVC to act as a "first-level of examination" in respect of officers in the rank of general managers (GMs) and above. "The advisory board for banking and financial frauds shall function as the first-level of examination, in respect of officials in the rank of GM and above in public sector banks and equivalent thereof in public financial institutions incase of frauds amounting to more than Rs 50 crore, before such organisations initiate action in matters of banking and financial frauds," the order issued by the probity watchdog said. The board will also tender advice in respect of these top ranking officers under all relevant laws, including all composite cases, it said. The move comes a fortnight after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had assured bankers that honest commercial decisions taken by them will be protected and a distinction would be made between genuine commercial failures and culpability. "Banks have gone through a slightly worrying period wherein decision-making was getting difficult because of the fear of the three Cs. There was concern and bona fide decisions are not being made by banks because of what they would say undue harassment, uncalled for harassment happens because of these agencies pursuing on cases," Sitharaman had said. Three Cs are usually referred to as the CVC, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Giving details of the advisory board, the CVC said public sector banks and financial institutions shall continue to refer all suspected frauds to the board. "The advice rendered by the board may be suitably considered by the competent authority while initiating criminal investigation," the order said. All administrative ministries and entities of the government have been asked to ensure that the advice of the board "has been sought, received and made available, in respect of officials in the rank of GM and above in public sector banks and equivalent thereof in public financial institutions incase of frauds amounting to more than Rs 50 crore to the investigating agencies". These probe agencies may take such advice into account while taking consequential action to initiate preliminary enquiry or investigation and follow due procedure under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the CVC said. "Incase during the course of investigation, the involvement of a public servant employed in public sector banks and public financial institutions above the rank of GM comes to the notice of the investigating agency, they may refer the matter to the board for advice before proceeding further," it said. The board will ordinarily, within a month of receipt of the initial reference, tender its advice as may be requisitioned by the ministry, department, CVC or the CBI, the order said. State vigilance organisations have also been advised to adopt a similar framework or refer the matter to the board "in the interest of harmonious and uniform application" with respect to the matters related to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, it said. The five-member board, headed by former vigilance commissioner T M Bhasin, will have former urban development secretary, Madhusudan Prasad, former director general of Border Security Force (BSF), D K Pathak, and the then managing director and chief executive officer of Andhra Bank, Suresh N Patel as its members. An expert from the financial sector, including banking and insurance, will be nominated to the board, the CVC said. The tenure of chairperson and members would be for a period of two years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:15:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close RABAT, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and Turkey agreed on Wednesday in Rabat to review their current Free Trade Agreement to be more balanced, said a joint statement published by official news agency MAP. The two countries agreed to raise bilateral trade to a "more balanced level and encourage the Turkish investments in Morocco in the production industry as well as Moroccan exports to Turkey," said the statement. The statement was published after talks between Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy and visiting Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan. Morocco's and Turkey's experts will be working together to reach a new agreement by the end of January, Elalamy told the press after the talks. Stanislav Aseyev and Oleh Halazyuk, two contributors to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, were among the civilians released by Russia-backed separatists in a prisoner swap on December 29, 2019. Both had been held for more than two years. Shortly after their release, the two journalists told RFE/RL about the conditions of their imprisonment and the charges leveled against them. Donald Trump struggles with geography, lacks a grasp of American history and considered awarding himself a Medal of Freedom, according to a new book. The president incorrectly told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a man he considers a friend: 'It's not like you've got China on your border.' And during a November 2017 visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the surprise December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, he asked his then-Chief of Staff John Kelly what it was about. 'Hey, John, what's this all about? What's this a tour of?' he said. President Trump and Melania Trump during their November 2017 visit to the USS Arizona The president considered giving himself a Presidential Medal of Freedom, like the one he awarded Tiger Woods in May 2019 Details are revealed in a new book on Trump out Tuesday The details are revealed in the forth coming tome, 'A Very Stable Genius' a 417-page book on the presidency by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig. Details from the book were revealed by The Washington Post on Wednesday. Of that Pearl Harbor visit with first lady Melania Trump, the two write: 'Trump had heard the phrase 'Pearl Harbor' and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else.' And they quote a former senior White House adviser saying: 'He was at times dangerously uninformed.' The book details the president's first three years in the White House and all the drama that filled that time, including special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. The book is scheduled to be released on January 21. The two authors were part of The Washington Post's team that won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Trump and Russia. The book reveal President Trump's eagerness to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. 'During the transition he interrupts an interview with one of his secretary of state candidates' to inquire about his pressing desire, the authors writing, quoting the president as saying: 'When can I meet Putin? Can I meet with him before the inaugural ceremony?' When the two leaders meet face-to-face for the first time, at a G20 summit in Hamburg, Trump declares himself an expert on Russia, and dismisses the advice of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had worked closely with Putin since the 1990s, when Tillerson did business with Russia during his time at ExxonMobile. 'I have had a two-hour meeting with Putin,' Trump told Tillerson. 'That's all I need to know. I've sized it all up. I've got it.' Trump also clashed with his then-secretary of state, who he ultimately fired, in the spring of 2017 when the president wanted his help in getting rid of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that prevents U.S. firms and individuals from bribing foreign officials for business deals. 'It's just so unfair that American companies aren't allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,' the book quotes Trump as saying. 'We're going to change that.' Rucker and Leonning write their reporting for the book is based on is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with more than 200 sources, corroborated, when possible documents including calendars, diary entries, internal memos and even private video recordings. They note President Trump had originally promised them an interview but changed his mind. Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who served 11 days in the administration, recounts Trump's response when he asks him, 'Are you an act?' 'I'm a total act and I don't understand why people don't get it,' Trump responded, according to Scaramucci. The authors also reveal that Early in his tenure, Trump agreed to participate in an HBO documentary that featured judges and lawmakers as well as all the living presidents reading aloud from the Constitution. Trump was very eager to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, seen with Trump and Melania in Helsinki in July 2018 The book charges President Trump with being 'verbally and emotionally abusive' toward then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen But Trump struggled with the text, blamed others in the room for his mistakes and complained: 'It's like a foreign language.' And Chris Christie, who had various talks with Trump about joining his administration, asked him about details that leaked from a private meeting the two men had when only they and Melania Trump were in the room. 'Oh, I did it,' Trump said. There was also a movement in the White House to remove Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner from the staff. Don McGahn, the then-White House counsel, and Stephen K. Bannon, then a senior White House adviser, try to persuade attorney Ty Cobb who worked on the Mueller probe to remove the couple to protect the president during the ongoing investigation. 'You need to shoot them in the [expletive] head,' Bannon told Cobb, the authors write. Additionally the book reveals President Trump was 'verbally and emotionally abusive' toward then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen even as then-chief of staff John Kelly tried to smooth things over. 'He made fun of her stature and believed that at about five feet four inches she was not physically intimidating. 'She's so short,' Trump would tell others about Nielsen. She and Kelly would try to make light of it. Kelly would rib her and say, 'But you've got those little fists of fury!' ' the book reveals. The book also reveals Trump's defense of his former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was ultimately pushed out of his job after DailyMail.com revealed allegations of domestic abuse from his two ex-wives. After a photo surfaced of Colbie Holderness with a black eye that she claimed Porter gave her, Trump suggested that maybe she 'purposefully ran into a refrigerator to give herself bruises and try to get money out of Porter?' A young boy with a rare genetic disease that typically kills within weeks of birth is now 3 years old and in remission thanks to a collaborative effort that included physicians at King Saud University Department of Pediatrics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and immunologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine today describes how the global team combined exceptional supportive clinical therapy, genetic diagnosis and a novel immunotherapeutic drug known as a protein kinase inhibitor to bring the Saudi Arabian boy into full remission from his deadly disease, known as "USP18 deficiency" because it is caused by a mutation of the USP18 gene. "The teamwork between our two institutions and others around the world is a textbook case of science without borders," says Dusan Bogunovic, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology, and Pediatrics, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and co-corresponding author of the study. "We showed that even with a disease like USP18 deficiency, sound clinical care and timely drug administration can rescue patients from what was previously considered a death sentence." USP18 (ubiquitin-specific peptidase 18) is a protein coding gene involved in immune system. It is important to regulate inflammation driven by a substance that our body normally secretes to fight off viruses, type 1 interferons. Mutations of USP18 result in an uncontrolled response to type 1 interferons, triggering IFN-I-mediated inflammation that's lethal in utero or shortly after birth. JAK1 inhibitor drugs, like ruxolitinib, the protein kinase inhibitor given to the Saudi Arabian boy, take over the intended role of USP18, and thus have the potential for a prompt and sustained recovery by patients. Dr. Bogunovic and his lab, widely known for their work in the field of rare inflammatory diseases in children, first described USP18 deficiency in 2016. The following year, physicians at King Saud University reached out to Mount Sinai via Paris Descartes University in France about a gravely ill young patient in their intensive care unit who appeared to have a variant of the USP18 gene. Thus began a clinical/research collaboration--which included Paris Descartes University as well as Rockefeller University in New York--in which scientists characterized in detail the molecular basis of the disease through a battery of whole exome sequencing, expression assays, protein analysis, and antibody detection. "After seeing a potential variation in the USP18 gene, we conducted a complete set of tests to determine what it meant in terms of protein function," explains Marta Martin-Fernandez, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine and a first author of the published study, who performed many of its biochemical and genetic analyses. "Those findings confirmed for us that ruxolitinib was the appropriate treatment." The young patient, who had been kept alive for months through the extraordinary care of physicians led by Fahad Alsohime, MD, Assistant Professor at the College of Medicine, King Saud University, was promptly put on oral, twice-daily doses of ruxolitinib. The dosage was increased after insufficient changes were seen, and within two weeks his symptoms began to rapidly improve, allowing doctors to wean him from respiratory support. Subsequent CT and MRI imaging showed a resolution of hemorrhaging, ischemia, cellulitis of the right forearm, and hydrocephalus, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain. After two years of follow-up in an outpatient clinic in Riyadh, and continued administration of the JAK1 inhibitor, the child remains free of clinical problems and has been given an encouraging prognosis by his physicians. He will likely have to take ruxolitinib for the rest of his life. The success of this case has provided a further springboard for Mount Sinai scientists to investigate the genomics and molecular/cellular biology behind conditions less severe than the boy's. This ongoing work links to other studies that have shown that JAK inhibitors--which were initially developed as anti-cancer drugs but proved to be largely ineffective--can improve symptoms and control disease activity in patients with other type 1 interferon abnormalities. "We were able to demonstrate the benefits of rapid genetic diagnosis of an inherited disorder for which an immunosuppressant drug like ruxolitinib can provide effective and sustained treatment," says Dr. Bogunovic of Mount Sinai, a senior author on the publication. "That kind of discovery and drug repurposing must continue to be pursued by the scientific community without interruption." ### About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics in the 2019-2020 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked 23rd nationally for Nephrology and 25th for Diabetes/Endocrinology, and Mount Sinai South Nassau is ranked 35th nationally for Urology. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and Mount Sinai South Nassau are ranked regionally. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Qatars top diplomat urges all sides to respect Iraqs sovereignty following attacks by US and Iran in Iraq. Qatars foreign minister met his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad for talks on easing tension and respecting Iraqs sovereignty after attacks by the US and Iran on Iraqi soil brought the region to a brink of war. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met Mohamed Ali Alhakim on Wednesday in Baghdad and was expected to meet the speaker of the parliament, the president and the prime minister later. Qatar is seeking to play a mediating role amid tensions that soared following a US drone strike earlier this month that killed a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, and senior Iraq militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles that hit two bases in Iraq where US troops are based but caused no casualties. Tensions soared further after Iran, just hours following the missile attacks, mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane that had taken off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. 200114180201883 Speaking at a joint news conference with Alhakim on Wednesday, Qatars FM said: This visit comes at a critical time witnessed by Iraq and the region. My visit aims at having talks with his excellency the foreign minister of Iraq about how to keep Iraq away from conflict and how not to have Iraq as a scene for struggles. Tensions are all over the place and everyone, and every country will need to reduce tensions. Qatar, together with some friendly countries, is trying to decrease the tension. We have made contacts internationally for more consultations with our allies, he said. Alhakim welcomed Qatars initiative, saying: We discussed ways to decrease tensions in our region. We have our common efforts and allies whether its in Iran or the United States. Our talks have been based on this relationship and weve concentrated on Iraq not being a scene for regional conflicts, he said. Mediation efforts Al Jazeeras Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said the language used by the two diplomats at the news conference suggested that Qatars mediation efforts were coming together. Both foreign ministers kept using the words crucial and sovereignty, and also Iraqs sovereignty, he said. This is a very crucial moment in Iraqs history. People are very worried that the US and Iran will use this as a battleground. Many Iraqis are looking to outsiders to try and help the country. He also said Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was in Tehran a few days ago, holding meetings with all the key players there. Now his foreign minister is in Baghdad. It looks like Qatar has a message to bring to the Iraqi people and the countrys leaders, Khan said. 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Photographs: ADGPI Two-and-a-half years after she joined the Indian Army, Captain Tania Shergill will be the first woman adjutant at a Republic Day parade. But the officer is not one to be defined by that label alone. "A fauji is a fauji. There is no male or female, Hindu or Muslim, Punjabi or Marathi. Once you wear the uniform, you are all officers," says Captain Shergill whose father, grandfather and great grandfather have all served the Indian Army. As adjutant, Captain Shergill will be responsible for the overall conduct of the Republic Day parade and ensure that all the marching contingents are in position and ready before the commencement of the march past on Rajpath. She will also lead a 146 all-male contingent from her regiment, the Corps of Signals. The men will be under her command and will salute President Ram Nath Kovind on hearing her loud call. On Wednesday, January 15, after she led her contingent at the Army Day parade, the officer was surrounded by spectators for photographs. Her mother, who travelled from Punjab to see her daughter, was overwhelmed with the number of people congratulating her after the Army Day parade. Media crews also arrived at the family home near Hoshiarpur to cover the event. "The feeling of seeing your daughter as an army officer is indescribable. Mostly men become army officers. After 72 years, there is a woman parade adjutant, it is a matter of great pride," says Lakhwinder Kaur Gill, Captain Shergill's mother. "When I was living in the cantonment and saw women officers being saluted, I used to wish that she too becomes an officer someday, and she has worked very hard for it." The fauj is a family tradition and Captain Shergill has carried that heritage forward. Her father was in the artillery regiment, grandfather in the armoured corps, great grandfather in the infantry, who participated in the Burma campaign in the Second World War. Armed with a BTech in electronics and communication from the University of Nagpur, Captain Shergill did most of her schooling at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Mumbai, where the family lived while her father was posted in Jammu and Kashmir and the north east. The officer and her men have been practicing for the parade since July at their regimental centre. They arrived in Delhi a few weeks ago and follow a strict schedule from 8 am to 12 noon and between 3 pm and 6 pm. All the military and paramilitary contingents, who are part of the Republic Day parade, arrive in New Delhi and then the whole parade is fully coordinated. "It needs a lot of hard work. We are constantly working on the tiniest bits to keep improving for the final day," says Captain Shergill, who likes hiking and wildlife photography. "Every bit of this parade is important. Everything that is being executed, you have to be completely in it. The word of command has to be practiced. You have to acclimatise your throat because it has to be said very loudly so that all your men can hear you clearly." "For any officer it is a matter of great pride to lead your regiment. You definitely feel worthy." Last year, a senior at the Officer's Training Academy and fellow Signals officer, Lieutenant Bhavna Kasturi, became the first woman officer to lead an all-male contingent at the Republic Day parade. As Captain Shergill prepares for her big moment on Republic Day, when the nation will be watching and cheering her, she is overwhelmed with everything the army stands for -- courage, integrity, discipline, loyalty, selfless service. "Once you are part of it and wear the uniform every day, you feel grateful that you have earned it and doing what you have always dreamt of -- serving the nation." To those who want a career in the armed forces, she has this to say: "Just go for it. If you have it in you, you will definitely make it. Do your best and forget the rest." This year's annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) will focus on development trends, industrial changes, the forefront of innovation, beautiful life and global governance, BFA Secretary General Li Baodong said in Beijing Tuesday. The conference, scheduled for March 24 to 27 in Boao, a coastal town in China's southern island province of Hainan, will be themed "A world in change: Bond together for a shared future," Li told a news conference. It will feature about 50 official sessions, including the opening plenum, themed sessions, roundtable meetings and special dialogues. They are categorized into five modules: development trends, industrial changes, the forefront of innovation, beautiful life and global governance, he said. Noting the mission of BFA is to gather positive energy for the development of Asia and the world, Li said this year's conference will respond to the general concerns of the international community, focus on the frontier issues of global development, and continue to support multilateralism and international cooperation. More than 2,000 people from all over the world, including national leaders, representatives of international organizations, ministers, entrepreneurs and media representatives have been invited to attend the conference. Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals. In May 2019, The Income Store apparently added a second source of funding to pay investors, taking out $11 million in loans, including some from distressed lenders, according to the complaint. During that same period, The Income Store also raised more than $12 million from new investors, depositing the funds into the same commercial bank account as the loan proceeds, according to the complaint. WASHINGTON In a dramatic procession across the U.S. Capitol, House Democrats carried the formal articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate late Wednesday, setting the stage for only the third trial to remove a president in American history. Trump complained anew it was all a hoax, even as fresh details emerged about his efforts in Ukraine. The ceremonial pomp and protocol by the lawmakers prosecuting the case against Trump moved the impeachment out of Speaker Nancy Pelosis Democratic-run House to the Republican-majority Senate, where the presidents team is mounting a defense aiming for swift acquittal. Today we will make history, Pelosi said as she signed the documents, using multiple pens to hand out and mark the moment. This president will be held accountable. Moments later the prosecutors walked solemnly through the stately hall, filing into the Senate back row as the Clerk of the House announced the arrival: The House has passed House Resolution 798, a resolution appointing and authorizing managers of the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, President of United States. The Senate will transform itself into an impeachment court at noon Thursday. The Constitution calls for Chief Justice John Roberts to preside at the trial, administering the oath to senators who will serve as jurors and swear to deliver impartial justice. The trial will play out before a deeply divided nation at the start of this election year as Trump seeks a second term and voters review his presidency. Three senators are running for the Democratic nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to have the Senate rise above the petty factionalism and factional fervor and serve the long-term, best interests of our nation. He called it a difficult time for our country. Technically, the House was simply notifying the Senate of its delivery of the articles, with a more formal presentation Thursday. Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Earlier Wednesday, the House voted 228-193, almost entirely along party lines, ending a weeks-long delay to deliver the charges with a tally reflecting the nations split. The House impeached Trump last month alleging he abused his presidential power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, using military aid to the country as leverage. Trump was also charged with obstructing Congress ensuing probe. This is what an impeachment is about, Pelosi said before the vote. The president violated his oath of office, undermined our national security, jeopardized the integrity of our elections. Trumps political campaign dismissed the House effort as just a failed attempt to politically damage President Trump leading up to his reelection. The top Republican in the House, Kevin McCarthy of California, said Americans will look back on this sad saga that tried to remove the president from office with the weakest case. The presidents team expects acquittal with a Senate trial lasting no more than two weeks, according to senior administration officials unauthorized to discuss the matter and granted anonymity. Thats far shorter than the last presidential impeachment trial, of Bill Clinton, in 1999, or the first one, of Andrew Johnson, in 1868. As McConnell sets the rules for the trial, Trump has given mixed messages about whether he prefers lengthy or swift proceeding, and senators are under pressure with the emerging new evidence to call more witnesses for testimony. The seven-member prosecution team was led by the chairmen of the House impeachment proceedings, Reps. Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee and Jerry Nadler of the Judiciary Committee, two of Pelosis top lieutenants. President Trump gravely abused the power of his office, Nadler said. He did all this for his personal political gain. Ahead of Wednesdays session, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, about the Ukraine strategy, including an exchange with another man about surveilling later-fired Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Schiff said the new evidence should bring more pressure on McConnell, who is reluctant to allow witnesses to testify and prefers swift acquittal. The White House has instructed officials not to comply with House subpoenas for testimony and documents. The challenge is to get a fair trial, Schiff said in an interview with The Associated Press. It shouldnt be a challenge if the senators are really going to live up to their oath to be impartial, theyll want a fair trial. Thats obviously not where Mitch McConnell is coming from. The managers are a diverse group with legal, law enforcement and military experience, including Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Val Demings of Florida, Jason Crow of Colorado and Zoe Lofgren of California. Two are freshmen lawmakers Crow a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Garcia a former judge in Houston. Demings is the former police chief of Orlando and Jeffries is a lawyer and member of party leadership. Lofgren has the rare credential of having worked on the congressional staff investigation of then-President Richard Nixons impeachment he resigned before the full House voted on the charges and then being an elected lawmaker during Bill Clintons. For the roll call, all but one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, voted to transmit the articles. All Republicans voted against. One former Republican-turned-independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, joined Democrats. McConnell faces competing interests from his party for more witnesses, from centrists who are siding with Democrats on the need to hear testimony and conservatives mounting Trumps defense. Senate Republicans signaled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Trump, as Trump himself has suggested. McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is leading an effort among some Republicans, including Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, to consider Senate witnesses. She told reporters she was satisfied the rules will allow votes on that. Romney said he wants to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, who others have said raised alarms about the alternative foreign policy toward Ukraine being run by Giuliani. Those or any four senators could force an outcome. Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Trump. But it takes just 51 votes during the trial to approve rules or call witnesses. It also would take only 51 senators to vote to dismiss the charges against Trump. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and other Republicans want to subpoena Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, Burisma, while his father was vice president. McConnell prefers to model Trumps trial partly on the process used for Clintons impeachment trial in 1999, which considered witnesses later. McConnell is hesitant to call new witnesses who would prolong the trial and put vulnerable senators who are up for reelection in 2020 in a bind with tough choices. At the same time, he wants to give those same senators ample room to show voters they are listening. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Alan Fram, Matthew Daly, Andrew Taylor, Mary Clare Jalonick, Laurie Kellman, and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. Two local schools have qualified for finals of the Northern Ireland Primary School Road Safety Quiz, following the Derry & Strabane District Council area heat today. First place went to Steelstown PS and second place went to Donemana PS at the event in the Guidhall. Third place went to St Mary's Altinure PS. The top two schools will now compete against 20 other teams in the NI final which will take place at the NI Fire & Rescue Training Centre, Belfast in March. Davy Jackson, Chairman of Foyle & District Road Safety Committee who hosted the event on behalf of ROAD SAFE NI said: The quiz is a great event for the kids in the area. "We believe that the earlier that they get information on road safety the safer they will be and they will carry the message throughout their lives. "We would like to thank all who helped including N.I. Fire & Rescue Service, local committee members and Derry & Strabane PCSP and the City Mayor for the gifts for all who participated and all teachers and parents. Tony McKeown from event sponsors CRASH Services said: As a Northern Ireland based business we are delighted to be able to support the Primary School Quiz. "We are involved in accident management and breakdown recovery services, so we have a close connection with road users and we are pleased to get involved with road safety projects like this. To find out more about Road Safe NI visit their website www.roadsafeni.com or follow them on Facebook 2020. Unlike Hollywood, where actors and filmmakers have [frequently] spoken out against governments, A-listers in Bollywood the worlds second-best paying film industry have largely remained apolitical public personas. Now, as protests spread across India over a controversial new citizenship law and attacks on students, Bollywood women are breaking with that pattern even as the biggest male actors stay quiet. OZY BJP MP from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty on Wednesday slammed Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar, stating that "we don't have to worry till the time the people of the country are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah should reject allegations by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik that he was approached by the Indian government for the support over the abrogation of Article 370 and noted that if they do not do so, it will be assumed his allegations are correct. When asked about Singh's comment, Shetty told ANI: "Whatever these people do, we don't have to worry till the time the people of the country are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi." He added: "When nobody gives importance to Digvijaya Singh in the Congress, then why should we respond to them." Talking about Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shetty said: "He too is a gone case ... now they are worried about 2024. That is why they are spoiling the atmosphere of the country, and nothing else." During a panel discussion in Lahore, Aiyar claimed that there is a rift between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over articulation of NPR and NRC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Before being allowed into the United States, refugees undergo extensive vetting, including security checks, that can take years to complete. Once in the country, they become eligible for legal permanent residency and later can apply for citizenship. The injunction followed a legal challenge to the executive order in November by three nonprofit organizations that are among faith-based agencies contracted by the government to resettle refugees. They argued that the presidential order was a violation of the Refugee Act and unconstitutional because the federal government, not states and localities, has authority over immigration policy. Judge Messitte concluded that the plaintiffs, Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, Church World Service and the Jewish refugee resettlement group HIAS, were likely to succeed in their lawsuit. As a result of his ruling, states and localities are temporarily relieved of the requirement to give explicit consent to continue receiving refugees. Were grateful to Judge Messitte for upholding the rule of law and ensuring that the United States remains a place of welcome for the worlds most vulnerable, said Krish OMara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. But the Trump administration was critical of the ruling, saying that many communities do not have the resources to support large numbers of refugees and deserve to have a voice in determining whether more of them must be accommodated. Another lawless district court has asserted its own preferred immigration policy in place of the laws of the United States and, in so doing, robbed millions of American citizens of their voice and their say in a vital issue directly affecting their communities, the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement. She called the injunction a preposterous ruling, one more example of nationwide district court injunctions run amok. Democrats aimed their fire at Donald Trump Tuesday night - instead of each other - as they began the last debate before the first votes begin in the nomination process. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden accused the president of lying about his reasons for taking out Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and the candidates were in agreement American troops need to come home from the Middle East. The first shots were fired at Trump, who was holding a campaign rally in Milwaukee as they were on stage. Sanders kicked off the attacks on the president when the candidates were asked about their own qualifications to be commander in chief. 'What we have to face as a nation is that the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes, with the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies. And right now, what I fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in Iraq,' the Vermont senator said. Six Democratic presidential contenders took the stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night. Pictured left to right: Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar Sanders and Biden accused President Trump of lying about his reasons for taking out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani Klobuchar and Warren both expressed a need to remove U.S. troops from the Middle East. Klobuchar said: 'I have long wanted to bring our troops home. I would do that.' Warren added: 'We should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily' Biden agreed that Trump lied, accusing the president of making up a threat against four U.S. embassies as his reason for taking out Soleimani, a move that ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East and resulted in a retaliatory attack from Iran on U.S. targets in Iraq. 'Quite frankly, I think he's flat-out lied about saying that the reason he went after the reason he made the strike was because our embassies were about to be bombed,' the former vice president said. The candidates were generally in agreement U.S. troops should be with drawn from the Middle East. 'I would leave some troops there, but not in the level that Donald Trump is taking us right now. Afghanistan, I have long wanted to bring our troops home. I would do that. Some would remain for counterterrorism and training,' Amy Klobuchar said. Trump defended his order to take out Soleimani during his rally in Milwaukee (pictured) Warren agreed. 'I think we need to get our combat troops out. You know, we have to stop this mind-set that we can do everything with combat troops. Our military is the finest military on Earth. And they will take any sacrifice we ask them to take. But we should stop asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. Our keeping combat troops there is not helping,' she said. Pete Buttigieg accused Trump of committing more troops to the Middle East after making a vow to take American out of endless wars. 'We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment of ground troops. But what's going on right now is the president's actually sending more. The very president who said he was going to end endless war, who pretended to have been against the war in Iraq all along, although we know that's not true, now has more troops going to the Middle East,' the former South Bend mayor said. The president defended his order to take out Soleimani during his rally. 'They're saying, "Was the attack imminent? Was it imminent?" Does the fact that he's killed hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of Americans, and horribly killed and wounded thousands and thousands, that doesn't matter,' Trump said at his second campaign rally of 2020. '"Was the attack imminent?" I think they're going to start a new investigation: "Was the attack on this horror?"and by the way, he was in a country he wasn't allowed to be in. We don't mention that,' Trump continued. Warren and Sanders are seen greeting each other on the stage. Tensions between the two senators were high heading into the debate after Warren confirmed a report claiming Sanders told her a woman couldn't win against President Trump Democrats, meanwhile, are having the smallest debate field to date. Only six candidates made the qualifications to be on the stage of the first debate of 2020. And all the candidates are white. Andrew Yang, who made the Los Angeles stage, didn't hit the polling requirements for Tuesday night, despite his appeals to the Democratic National Committee to commission more polls over the holiday season to give him a fighting chance. Tuesday's debate is the last one before voters begin voting. The Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the Democratic nomination process, are on February 3. There are three more debates on the calendar ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Nevada primary and the South Carolina contest. There was a good-hearted moment of teasing between Biden and Sanders when the former vice president joked he wouldn't meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un because of a threat he made against him. 'Absent pre-condition, I would not meet with the quote-supreme leader who said Joe Biden is a rabid dog, he should be beaten to death with a stick,' Biden said. 'Other than that you like him,' Sanders injected as the audience laughed. 'And he got a love letter from Trump right after that,' Biden responded. The first 45 minutes of the debate focused on the candidates' qualifications for president, foreign policy issues, trade agreements, and climate change. Sanders got in a knock about Trump's ability to negotiate a deal. 'The answer is we can do much better than a Trump-led trade deal,' he said when asked about the China trade deal the president is scheduled to sign on Wednesday. 'This deal, and I think the proponents of it acknowledge, will result in the continuation of the loss of hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs as a result of outsourcing. The heart and soul of our disaster trade agreements.' Warren agreed with him. 'We have farmers here in Iowa who are hurting. And they are hurting because of Donald Trump's initiated trade wars. We have workers who are hurting because the agreements that have already been cut really don't have enforcement on workers' rights. This new trade deal is a modest improvement. Senator Sanders himself has said so. It will give some relief to our farmers, it will give some relief to our workers. I believe we accept that relief, we try to help the people who need help, and we get up the next day and fight for a better trade deal,' she said. US President Donald Trump (r) and Apple CEO Tim Cook speak to the press during a tour of the Flextronics computer manufacturing facility where Apple's Mac Pros are assembled in Austin, Texas, on November 20, 2019. In a tweet, President Donald Trump slammed Apple over whether it should unlock password-protected iPhones used by the shooting suspect at a Navy base in Pensacola, Florida in December. "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump tweeted. On Monday, Attorney General William Barr claimed that Apple had not provided "substantive assistance" in unlocking the alleged shooter's two iPhones. In a statement late Monday, Apple responded that that it had provided gigabytes of information to law enforcement related to the Pensacola case but that it would not build a "backdoor" or specialized software to give law enforcement elevated access. "We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing," Apple said. The tweet, sent from an iPhone, also suggested that Apple should work with the FBI because Trump helps "Apple all of the time on TRADE." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) Six people died and six people were injured in the fire that razed homes in Tondo in Manila City early Thursday morning, officials said. Manila fire marshall John Joseph Jalique said a mother and her three children died. Two people were also found in other houses. The blaze broke out around 2:38am in the residential area of Yuseco Street in Abad Santos in Tondo. It quickly reached the third alarm at 2:59am. Officials declared the fire under control at 3:53am. At least 50 houses of around 100 families were affected by the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Actor January Jones has revealed that she went on "a couple dates" with reality TV star Nick Viall despite previously saying they were friends. The "Mad Men" alum said she connected with the "Bachelor Nation" star when he tried changing her mind. "Nick slid into my DMs, and he's like, I'm so sorry that your perception of me is so negative, I'd love to take you out to coffee and see if I can change your mind'. And I squealed. I was like, I hate that guy!' My sister's like, if you don't go, you will forever regret it'. "So I agreed to go on a date with him, or to drinks or whatever, and as I met him I was rounding the corner and I saw him and he has a very distinct walk..." Jones, 42, said on actor Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast. The actor said their first date was "good", adding she would "grill" him about the show. She said while Viall, 39, was often cast as a villain on the reality shows, he was different in person. "The thing that attracted me to Nick was he seemed like - I mean he was cast as the 'villain', but he was actually... he had a bit of a brain, you know, so there was something else there." Rumours of a possible romance sparked in 2018 but the actor then dismissed the idea. "He's a friend of mine. He's super sweet. No, I'm single. But, he's a friend of mine and tells me lots of inside scoops," Jones had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A former librarian and a bookshop owner have plead guilty to the theft and trafficking of books, maps and other rare objects estimated to be worth $8 million from a Pittsburgh library. Gregory Priore, a 63-year-old former archivist at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to one count of theft by unlawful taking and one count of receiving stolen on Monday in exchange for dropping eight other charges on him, according to Allegheny County Court records. John Schulman, the 56-year-old shopkeeper at Caliban Book, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen property, one count of theft by deception and one count of forgery the same day in exchange of dropped charges, according to court documents. The two men did not make an agreement with prosecutors as to sentencing, which will take place April 17. An attorney for Priore could not be reached by PEOPLE. Schulmans attorney Ember Holmes told PEOPLE in a statement that her client, who has no prior criminal history, has accepted responsibility for his association with books that, given the circumstances, he should have known had probably been stolen. Mr. Schulman has dedicated much of his life to the rare book trade and regrets that these proceedings have reflected negatively on the antiquarian book industry, as well as his family and customers, she said. RELATED VIDEO: Thief Steals $1.6 Million In Gold From Open Truck Priore and Schulman were arrested July 2018 after an insurance audit done on the librarys R. Oliver Special Collections Room showed that over 300 rare items stored in facility were missing and another 16 were vandalized, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The items were valued at around $8 million, according to a report from local news outlet WPXI. In an affidavit filed by the Allegheny County District Attorneys Office, prosecutors alleged Priore and Schulman had been working in conjunction with one another to traffic rare items from 1992 to 2017. They accused Priore who worked as Oliver Rooms manager before his termination in 2017 of stealing rare books, maps, plates, and folios from the institutions archives and passing them off to Schulman to sell to collectors in his shop and online bookstore. Story continues Authorities linked Schulman to Priore when 40 of missing books from the library were located at a Caliban Book Shop warehouse, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Investigators were also able to track down a 400-year-old Geneva Bible in the Netherlands, the New York Times reported, as well as a copy of Isaac Newtons Principia at a rare bookstore in London. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Suzanne Thinnes, the manager of communications at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, called the theft devastating in a statement provided to PEOPLE on Tuesday. The shock, the anger and the hurt we feel that individuals who were close to us, who were trusted by us, who were considered friends and colleagues to many of us at the Library, would abuse the faith we had in them for personal gain will be with us for a very long time, she said. This was a very serious crime committed over a long period of time by educated and well-known members of the community. We are hopeful that the sentences given to these two individuals will adequately reflect the significant damage done not only to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, but to the literary community near and far. Packs of Heineken beer for sale in a supermarket. Photo by Reuters/Eric Gaillard. Heineken Asia Pacific is claiming exemption from the VND917.2 billion ($39.7 million) it forked out to Vietnam tax authorities in recent deal. "Despite making a full payment in line with the tax assessment, Heineken Asia Pacific (Heineken APAC) does not agree with the basis on which it was issued," the company stated Tuesday. The firm has initiated proceedings under Vietnam-Singapore Double Taxation Treaty terms to seek clarification over the taxmans decision, it said. Heineken added it is committed to conduct business with integrity and with respect for the laws and regulations of countries in which it operates. The statement follows the General Department of Taxation decision to charge the Dutch beer giant VND917.2 billion ($39.7 million) in back taxes and fines for a 2018 transaction. Singapore-based Heineken APAC at the end of 2018 struck a deal valued at over VND4.8 trillion ($207.7 million) with Heineken Vietnam Brewery. Accordingly, the Singaporean firm transferred its entire Vietnamese subsidiary stake to the latter. Tax payable on the deal came to VND823 billion ($35.6 million), but Heineken Asia Pacific claimed it was exempt from paying it under the double taxation agreement between Vietnam and Singapore. However, the General Department of Taxation ruled the tax had to be paid because real estate value was over 50 percent of assets involved in the deal. It also charged extra for late payment. Vietnam collected VND18.8 trillion ($813 million) last year in back taxes and fines, according to the department. Cllr Ian Courts is the Leader of Solihull Council and the Chairman of the Meriden Conservative Association. Solihull has benefited from stable Conservative leadership for many years, with strong economic growth delivering gross value added above the national average. This has allowed us to keep Council Tax rates at one of the lowest in the region. Solihull has also received the accolade as the best place to live, work, invest, and spend leisure time in the region. We are the home of a number of key regional economic assets, such as Birmingham Airport, Birmingham International Station, the NEC, the JLR Solihull plant, to name just a few, as well as several important business parks and a regionally important shopping centre. Two thirds of our borough is Green Belt. When the proposals for HS2 were first announced, Solihull Council developed its own response to maximising the benefit of having the first new HS2 station out of London in the borough. This will be accomplished by a new economic strategy with the UK Central brand, as well as building a powerful economic zone and interconnected transport hub, less than 40 mins from London. The decision to move forward on HS2 needs to be taken. The economic arguments are powerful enough, but the opportunity to free up so much more capacity on the existing train lines, for both passenger and freight services, must not be missed. We need this extra capacity, to work with local public transport, if we want to deliver the low-carbon future that we now seek. Solihull was instrumental in setting up the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in 2015 and our Conservative Leader at the time was its first chairman amongst a majority of Labour Leaders. The identity of the West Midlands and strong sense of collaboration was reinforced when Andy Street was elected as the first Mayor in 2017. Each of the current Leaders has a portfolio role and I was pleased to take up Environment, Energy, and HS2. The question has been asked about whether HS2 is really a good bed-fellow with the other two. However, Solihull Council and local people have fought hard to mitigate the effect on the environment. In my opinion, the HS2 team has just not made enough of the significant environmental compensation work that they are doing. In Solihull we have always been clear that economic growth from HS2, our UK Central programme, and the West Midlands Economic Strategy, is the way to support our services and Inclusive Growth is an integral part of our approach. Our comprehensive regeneration programme in the north of the borough involved the rebuilding of all its schools, two village centres, and another one in Kingshurst to follow, alongside housing and social programmes. We continued this work when the recession, at the end of the last governments tenure, had caused other programmes to close. A key policy emphasis since I took over as Leader in May has been the need for stronger action on climate change. We have already cut our carbon emissions by nearly half in ten years and established a Climate Change (Green) Prospectus several years ago which addressed a number of themes including Greening the Economy, Energy and Resources, Buildings & Efficiency, Transport, Natural Capital & biodiversity, Communication & Education. However, our ability to combat climate change depends upon the need to work with nature as well as retaining a prosperous market economy. I commend the excellent work of the Conservative Environment Network in this. Within a few weeks of taking over the WMCA portfolio, I was able to bring leaders of the seven Mets together on a cross party basis to make a Climate Change Declaration for the West Midlands Combined Authority. Solihull Councils own Declaration was also cross party and commits the Council to net carbon zero by 2030 and the borough as a whole by 2041, in line with the regional target. Conservatives have a majority of just one on the Council since May, down from 15 a year ago. Our main opposition is the Green Party, which envisages a very different economic policy and administration to our own. Apart from our own local elections in May, there will be an election for the post of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. Andy Streets term of office also expires in May, and we need to see a continuation of his strong leadership in the region. The recent General Election saw ex-Chamber of Commerce President, Saqib Bhatti elected as Conservative MP for Meriden, to take over from stalwart Dame Caroline Spelman, and the re-election of Julian Knight for the Solihull constituency. The need for continued Conservative thinking both in Solihull and the West Midlands has never been stronger, to protect and foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth for our borough and the region as a whole, and to support our newly invigorated central government led by Boris Johnson. By the series of actions in recent months in Iraq and across the Middle East, Washington has forced a strategic shift towards China and to an extent Russia and away from the United States. If events continue on the present trajectory it can well be that a main reason that Washington backed the destabilization of Assad in Syria, to block a planned Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, will now happen, short of Washington initiating a full scorched earth politics in the region. This is what we can call unintended consequences. If nature abhors a vacuum, so too does geopolitics. When President Trump months ago announced plans to pull US troops out of Syria and the Middle East generally, Russia and especially China began quietly to intensify contacts with key states in the region. Chinese involvement with Iraqi oil development and other infrastructure projects, though large, was significantly disrupted by the ISIS occupation of some one third of Iraqi territory. In September, 2019 Washington demanded that Iraq pay for completion of key infrastructure projects destroyed by the ISIS war a war where Washington as well as Ankara, Israel and Saudi Arabia played the key hidden roleby giving the US government 50% of Iraqi oil revenues, an outrageous demand to put it politely. Iraq China Pivot Iraq refused. Instead Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi went to Beijing as head of a 55-member delegation to discuss Chinese involvement in the rebuilding of Iraq. This visit did not go unnoticed in Washington. Even before that, Iraqi-China ties were significant. China was Iraqs number one trading partner and Iraq was Chinas third-leading source of oil after Saudi Arabia and Russia. In April 2019 in Baghdad, Chinas Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations Lee Joon said China was ready to contribute to Iraqs reconstruction. For Abdul-Mahdi the Beijing trip was a major success; he called it a quantum jump in relations. The visit saw the signing of eight wide-ranging memoranda of understanding (MoUs), a framework credit agreement, and the announcement of plans for Iraq to join Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It included Chinese involvement in rebuilding Iraqs infrastructure as well as developing Iraqi oilfields. For both countries an apparent win-win as the Chinese like to say. It was only a matter of days after the Beijing talks of Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi that nationwide protests against Iraqi government corruption and economic policies broke out, led by opposition cries that Abdul-Mahdi resign. Reuters witnessed snipers carefully fanning the violent protest firing on the protesters giving the impression of government repression much as the CIA did in Maidan in Kiev in February 2014 or in Cairo in 2011. There is now strong evidence that the China talks and the timing of the spontaneous October 2019 protests against the Abdul-Mahdi government were connected. The Trump Administration is the link. According to a report by Federico Pieraccini, Abdul-Medhi made a speech to Parliament speaking about how the Americans had ruined the country and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50% of oil revenues, which Abdul-Mehdi refused. He then quotes sections of Abdul-Mahdis speech translated from Arabic: This is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead. Upon my return, Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement. When I refused, he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership. Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands, then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me. I refused again and handed in my resignation. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese. Now the US assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, just as he landed in Baghdad reportedly on a mediation mission with Saudi Arabia via Abdul-Mahdi, has thrown the entire region into political chaos amid talk of possible World War III. The soft Iranian retaliation missile firings on US bases in Iraq and the surprise admission by Teheran that they accidentally downed a Ukrainian commercial airline as if left Teheran, all amid reports that Trump and Rouhani were in back channel secret talks to calm things down, leave many scratching their heads as to what is really going on. Quiet silk inroads One thing is clear. Beijing is looking at its prospects, along with Russia to replace the domination of Iraqi politics that Washington has held since its 2003 war of occupation. OilPrice.com reports that beginning October just after Abdul-Mahdis successful Beijing talks, Iraq started exporting 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to China as part of the 20-year oil-for-infrastructure deal agreed between the two countries. According to Iraqi oil ministry sources, China will build its influence in Iraq by beginning with oil and gas investments and from there building infrastructure including factories and railways using Chinese companies and personnel along with Iraqi labor. The Chinese-built factories will use the same assembly lines and structure to be integrated with similar factories in China. Irans Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri has announced that Iran signed a contract with China to implement a project to electrify the main 900 kilometer railway connecting Tehran to the north-eastern city of Mashhad near the border to Turkmenistan and to Afghanistan. Jahangiri added that there are also plans to establish a Tehran-Qom-Isfahan high-speed train line and to extend this up to the north-west through Tabriz. OilPrice notes, Tabriz, home to a number of key sites relating to oil, gas, and petrochemicals, and the starting point for the Tabriz-Ankara gas pipeline, will be a pivot point of the 2,300 kilometre New Silk Road that links Urumqi (the capital of Chinas western Xinjiang Province) to Tehran, and connecting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan along the way, and then via Turkey into Europe. Once the plans for this are making substantial progress then China will extend the transport links into Iraq to the West. Additionally, according to Iraqs Electricity Minister Louay al-Khateeb, China is our primary option as a strategic partner in the long runWe started with a US$10 billion financial framework for a limited quantity of oil to finance some infrastructure projects[but] Chinese funding tends to increase with the growing Iraqi oil production. That is, the more Iraqi oil China extracts the more Iraqi projects it can finance. Today Iraq is dependent on Iran for gas to serve its electric generators owing to lack of gas infrastructure. China says it will change that. Further the oil industry source states that Russia and China are quietly preparing the ground to relaunch the Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline from Irans huge Persian Gulf South Pars gas field it shares with Qatar. A US-backed proxy war began against Syrias Bashar al-Assad in 2011 just after he signed a deal with Iran and Iraq to build the pipeline, rejecting an earlier Qatar proposal for an alternative route. Turkey and Saudi Arabia and Qatar poured billions of covert funds to finance terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and later ISIS in a vain effort to topple Assad. China is not alone in its efforts in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, as erratic and unpredictable US foreign policy drives former US allies away. Russia, which just brokered a ceasefire in Libya along with Turkeys Erdogan, just offered to sell its advanced S-400 Triumf air defense system to Iraq, an offer that would have been unthinkable even weeks ago. With Iraqi parliamentarians voting to demand all foreign troops, including US and Iranian, leave Iraq in the wake of the brazen US assassination of Soleimani in Baghdad, it is conceivable Baghdad would accept the offer at this point, despite protest from Washington. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, have all be in discussions with Russia in recent months to buy the Russian defense system, said to be the worlds most effective. Turkey has already purchased it. Before the US assassination of Soleimani, there were numerous back-channel efforts for detente in the costly wars that have raged across the region since the US-instigated Arab Spring between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran and Iraq. Russia and China have both in different ways been playing a key role in changing the geopolitical tensions. At this juncture the credibility of Washington as any honest partner is effectively zero if not minus. The temporary calm following Irans admission of shooting down the Ukraine airliner in no way suggests Washington will go quietly. Trump and his Defense Secretary Esper have defiantly rejected the call to pull US troops from Iraq. The US president just tweeted his support for renewed anti-government Iran protests, in Farsi. We are clearly in for some very nasty trouble in the Middle East as Washington tries to deal with the unintended consequences of its recent Middle East actions. F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook We are very happy to be able to offer eplansoft REVIEW to our growing family of FastTrackGov clients. This is one more way FastTrackGov helps them to deliver exceptional service to their citizens, stated Kim Schaefer, President and COO of Mitchell Humphrey & Co. In a meaningful partnership, e-PlanSoft joins with Mitchell Humphrey & Co. to provide powerful software solutions to a Gulf Coast City in Florida. With a desire to keep up with technological advancements and to meet their citizens needs, the City has elected to leverage FastTrackGov and eplansoft REVIEW to minimize costs and deployment times during largescale construction projects. Mitchell Humphrey & Co.s web-based FastTrackGov software connects government and citizens with solutions for licensing, permitting, code enforcement, inspections, and citizen interaction. Built on the Microsoft Dynamics framework, FastTrackGov integrates easily with eplansoft REVIEW, a secure and reliable plan review management software created by e-PlanSoft. Clients can expect secure document management and storage accessible anytime and increased productivity while cutting overhead costs. We are very happy to be able to offer eplansoft REVIEW to our growing family of FastTrackGov clients. This is one more way FastTrackGov helps them to deliver exceptional service to their citizens, stated Kim Schaefer, President and COO of Mitchell Humphrey & Co. eplansoft REVIEW is a cloud-based collaborative platform used for team-based design review, permitting, inspection, and site assessment. With the integration between FastTrackGov and eplansoft REVIEW, clients of Mitchell Humphrey & Co. receive instant, secure access to project documents and supporting materials 24/7 from any computer, anywhere in the world and much more. We began our partnership with Mitchell Humphrey & Co. during their licensing of eplansoft REVIEW in 2018. Their company is known for consistently standing behind vendors whose solutions deliver the same standards that they hold their own products to. The quality of our software and our ability to store up to 50,000 documents for their clients while providing 24/7 server uptime and weekday support, even on holidays, was an important contributing factor in this union, commented Sean Hooper, National Account Manager for e-PlanSoft. The optimization of both resources provided from the implementation of FastTrackGov and eplansoft REVIEW, will lower costs of doing business with construction firms for the City while improving the plan review submittal process for their citizens. This announcement comes at a time when the City is undergoing construction on an important multi-million dollar project. In November 2019, the City began phase 2 of construction for this project with expectations to complete work for this phase in the spring of 2021. This Florida City has a vision to be a world-class community with a positive environment for their residents and tourists to experience. The City will continue to flourish by implementing the use of technology, such as eplansoft REVIEW and FastTrackGov, that provide cost conscious web-based tools which improve project workflow efficiency during valuable construction projects. About Mitchell Humphrey & Co.: Mitchell Humphrey & Co., founded in 1977 by Mitchell O. Humphrey, is a leading provider of software solutions and implementation services for both the Public and Private sectors. Their broad range of software includes Financials, Community Development, and Vehicle for Hire Regulation applications. They provide custom software and services to over 200 clients across North America. Learn more: https://www.mitchellhumphrey.com/ About e-PlanSoft: e-PlanSoft develops cloud-based electronic document review software that assists governmental agencies, construction and manufacturing industries, developers and owners for their plan review, design review, product review, construction and asset review management in real-time. Learn more: https://eplansoft.com/ [January 15, 2020] Scientific and Technological Developments in Groundbreaking Technological Areas Lead the OFC 2020 Program and Exhibits OFC 2020 returns to San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, 8-12 March 2020 for another groundbreaking program as the world's largest conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking. Considered the hub of the industry, OFC represents the entire ecosystem-from research to marketplace, from components to systems and networks, and from technical sessions to the exhibition. More than 15,000 executives, technical experts, academia, media and analysts from 65 countries are expected to converge to discuss the trending topics that are driving innovations in research, technologies and product solutions, including machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI), photonic integrated circuits, advanced digital-signal processing, quantum optics, emerging applications of optical networks in 5G, new computing and data center technologies. This year's OFC will proudly celebrate two discoveries that led to the development of practical fiber optical communications: the demonstration of low-loss fibers (16dB/km) and the first room-temperature semiconductor lasers. Activities include a special keynote presented by David Welch, Infinera (News - Alert) Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, on Tuesday, 10 March 2020, 18:15 - 19:00 (PDT), the Timeline of Innovation, a show-floor exhibit that surveys 50 years of optical fiber milestones, an interactive exhibit highlighting recipients of the John Tyndall Award, and a conference reception on Tuesday, 10 March 2020, 19:00 - 20:30 (PDT). Sponsors include Corning (Innovator), Thorlabs (Premier) and Inphi (Supporter). Three world-renowned visionaries will anchor the week-long business and technical conversations and product demos, offering plenary sessions that will explore the future of silica as a pillar of telecommunication technology, the development and realization of 5G wireless networks, and new horizons in gravitational-wave astrophysics. These visionary speakers include: Dr. Qi Bi, President, China Telecom Technology Innovation Center ; CTO, China Telecom Beijing Research Institute , China ; CTO, , China Dr. Karsten Danzmann, Director, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics , Germany , Germany Sir David Payne, Director, Optoelectronics Research Centre Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, University of Southampton, UK CONFERENCE PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS: TECHNICAL CONFERENCE: OFC's five-day technical program is focused on relating the most recent progress in research (near- and long-term) and technology, and is presented in a variety of formats, including peer-reviewed presentations and more than 120 invited speakers, 9 workshops, 8 panels, 59 short courses plus show floor programming in three theaters. Additional technical programming throughout the week includes special symposia and the thought-provoking rump session. Special conference programming includes the Symposia, Special Chairs Session, the Open Networking Summit and the Demo Zone. OFC will include four symposia focused on industry growth segments: Emerging Network Architectures for 5G Edge Cloud Future Photonics Devices fJ/bit Optical Networks Enabled by Emerging Optical Technologies Quantum (News - Alert) Information Science and Technology (QIST) in the Context of Optical Communications? The Role of Machine Learning for the Next-generation of Optical Communication Systems and Networks? The Special Chairs Session will reflect upon how OFC has led the industry over the 2010-2019 decade and look forward to the next decade. It will seek to answer a key question: what are the emerging hot topics and groundbreaking innovations to be anticipated? The Open Networking Summit will address the issue of whether and how the massive deployment of vertical services over 5G will change the traditional approach to building optical network infrastructures. The OFC Demo Zone will feature live demonstrations of research projects and proof-of-concept implementations in the space of optical communication devices, systems, networks, including SDN/NFV as well as software tools/functions. This year's business-focused show floor programming includes Market Watch, Network Operator Summit and Data Center Summit and 25 other sessions. Market Watch is a three-day, six-session series of panel discussions on the latest application topics and business issues in the field of optical communications, including the popular "State of the Industry" analyst panel. Presentations and panel sessions feature esteemed guest speakers from industry, research and the investment community. The Network Operator Summit presents the inside perspective from service providers and network operators-their issues, drivers and how their requirements may impact the future of the industry. Everyone in the supply chain, from equipment manufacturers to components, will have the opportunity to hear what's next in meeting the needs of all network operators. This year's Data Center Summit session will feature a keynote from Jeffrey L. Cox, Partner Director Network Architecture , Microsoft (News - Alert) Corporation, U.S.A., moderated by Karen I. Matthews, Technology and Market Development Manager, Science and Technology, Corning Incorporated , U.S.A. The panel presentation will examine the contributing causes of the growing network infrastructure power trend and investigate some of the proposed solutions to address the issue. U.S.A., moderated by Karen I. Matthews, Technology and Market Development Manager, Science and Technology, , U.S.A. The panel presentation will examine the contributing causes of the growing network infrastructure power trend and investigate some of the proposed solutions to address the issue. Educational programs on the show floor covering market trends, new technologies and insight into the future. Hear from industry groups such as COBO, Ethernet Alliance, IEEE, OIF, Open Eye, OpenConfig, TIP and more. Returning to OFC is the interactive Lab Automation Hackathon. Technology leaders from Nokia Bell Labs, Acacia Communications and the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden will hold an interactive session demonstrating how to use open source software to demonstrate the power of using Python to quickly get a lab experiment running and display the measurements in a browser or GUI. EXHIBITOR HIGHLIGHTS: With one of the largest exhibit floors in recent years, OFC will feature more than 700 exhibitors from leading global companies such as Broadcom, CIENA Corporation, Cisco Systems (News - Alert), Inc., Corning Incorporated, II-VI, Infinera, InnoLight, Lumentum, Molex and Semtech Corporation. Technologies on display include network and test equipment, optical transport systems and optical components, data center interconnects, fiber cables and specialty fiber manufacturers. MEDIA REGISTRATION: Media/analyst registration for OFC can be accessed online. Further information is available on the event website at OFC, including travel details. About OFC The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is recognized as the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals in the world. For nearly 50 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and advance the communications industry. OFC captures the pulse of the entire optical networking and communications industry by featuring dynamic business programming, exhibitions by more than 700 companies, and high impact peer-reviewed research. OFC is managed by The Optical Society (OSA) and cosponsored by OSA, the IEEE Communications (News - Alert) Society (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society. Follow @OFCConference, learn more OFC Community LinkedIn, and watch highlights OFC YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200115005626/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] It was crunch time for Civil War re-enactor Dustin Heisey. When he learned in the fall that the Gettysburg Civil War Reenactment may be a thing of the past, he stepped up to take on the responsibility of running it. With less than 10 months to organize it before the battles anniversary in July, he was well into the throws of planning when something unexpected happened. Glenn Beck announced he was coming to town. The Restoring the Covenant on the Sacred Land of Gettysburg event, to be hosted by the political commentator and broadcasters charity, Mercury One, is expected to draw tens of thousands to the Adams County community crowds that may rival those seen during the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battle Heisey reenacts. In Heiseys announcement several days ago that he had to cancel the reenactment, he said it had nothing to do with Beck or his politics, but rather the unknown factors posed by such a large event being held in Gettysburg on the same weekend that he and his non-profit, Patriots of the Civil War, were planning to host their first reenactment. It was a disappointing, but necessary, announcement for Heisey, who has been a re-enactor since he was 12. But Becks visit may be a blessing in disguise, he said, giving him more time to plan a bigger and better reenactment for 2021. A canceled reenactment The Gettysburg Anniversary Committee ran the reenactment for the last 25 years. It was a big show, drawing 100,000 re-enactors and 500,000 spectators over the past quarter-century. But attendance has dropped over the years. Thats why the committee, citing an aging demographic and waning interest of younger crowds, announced in September that the annual event on Pumping Station Road was unlikely to happen in 2020. Annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment for the 156th anniversaryJuly 05, 2019 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com PENNLIVE.COM The committee did say it was open to hosting the event every five years, to coincide with the major anniversaries of the battle. Thats when Heisey stepped in and began scrambling to put on the show. But after three months of planning, he felt he had to put on the brakes for 2020. Even though the reenactment is off, July 4 is going to be one busy weekend in Gettysburg. Glenn Beck is coming to town Becks organization is hosting the event in Gettysburg from July 3 to 5, the same weekend as most of the major battle-commemoration events in town. Calls and emails to the organization were not returned, but its website says, This special occasion promises to be a chance to join with like-minded people to reflect on the spiritual foundations of the United States of America and renew our covenant as one nation, under God. It will feature keynote addresses, breakout sessions, dinners, fireworks and talks by headliners, including Beck. It will be held at a variety of locations in and around Gettysburg. Annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment for the 156th anniversaryJuly 05, 2019 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com PENNLIVE.COM When the event was announced, potential attendees could make a $5 donation to reserve their spot for when tickets became available. It was unclear on the website what the cost of the tickets will be, or if the $5 donation covers admission. But the site advertised packages that include lodging and range from $7,500 per person to $200. Some discount passes with no listed pricing options appear to be available, as well. The premier package starts with several days in Boston, taking in some historic sites there before traveling to Gettysburg. A busy weekend Although the reenactment wont happen, Becks organization is expected to bring plenty of visitors. Estimates range from 20,000 to 30,000 people, and thats OK by Destination Gettysburg. Our core mission is to attract visitors to Adams County each year, said spokeswoman Natalie Buyny. We work with many corporations and national groups that want to come to Gettysburg. While attendees will be busy with a whole slate of activities - many of which have not yet been revealed -- she said there will be downtime for Becks visitors. Thats time when they can stop by Gettysburgs restaurants, its shops and, of course, the historic sites in town and on the hallowed grounds of the battlefield. Gettysburg is prepared to handle such an influx of visitors. Restoring the Covenant is expected to be big, but not as big as the 150th anniversary of the battle in 2013, when Buyny said they saw an estimated 150,000 visitors over a 10-day period with no major issues. Annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment for the 156th anniversaryJuly 05, 2019 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com PENNLIVE.COM She added Restoring the Covenant organizers have been working with the municipalities to alleviate some of the traffic concerns. While the reenactment may be missed this year, she acknowledged reenactments are not the draw they used to be. The average, non-anniversary year would see about 15,000 people attending the reenactments, a number that dropped to an estimated 9,000 in 2019, she said. On anniversary years -- such as the 150th in 2013 its not unusual to see between 40,000 and 60,000 attendees over three days. But Heisey has a plan he believes will turn around those declining numbers in 2021. What about the reenactment? When Heisey was 12 years old, it was easy for him and his friends to distract their science teacher. All they had to do was ask about the Civil War. A re-enactor himself, his teacher would talk about the war, the history and his hobby of bringing that history to life. This distraction technique may have started out as a scheme to avoid the days lesson, but it ended up giving Heisey a lifelong thirst for knowledge. He learned about the uniforms, the weapons. At encampments, Heisey listened to the stories of the other re-enactors, sitting around campfires and playing music from the era. And at home, he cracked open history books. What he may have once thought of as dusty old tomes became a portal to a brilliant world of battles, stories of heroism and sacrifice. In other words, history came to life. Annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment for the 156th anniversaryJuly 05, 2019 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com PENNLIVE.COM But these days, he said the reenactment in Gettysburg has gotten away from what drew him and many more to the hobby. He acknowledges the committee is correct, that its not easy getting younger people involved in the hobby. But he said his approach will be much different. There are two schools of thought for reenactments one involves hosting a festival-like atmosphere, and the other adheres to a more historically accurate reenactment, with everything from the right tents to executing the correct troop movements. The anniversary committee had run it like the former, he said, and he thinks that kept away many re-enactors who want the realistic experience. The loss of those re-enactors ultimately means smaller crowds, he said. Our whole approach is How can we do this differently? he said. What people have seen at reenactments has been neat muskets and people dressed up, firing black powder at each other. I think its overdone. We have to change that perceptive to make it more visually stunning. For one thing, he has been in talks with pyrotechnics companies to add a little more flare to the battles. Explosions. If a cannon fires, it has to look like it hit something on the other end, he said. A combination of historical realism and a bigger show may be the key in attracting a younger generation. He had hoped to put his plans into effect in 2020. Now hell set his sites on 2021. It was a really difficult decision to make because we have invested so much. Weve put our blood, sweat and tears into it, Heisey said. Having a politically charged atmosphere in Gettysburg and trying to have a Civil War reenactment to commemorate the soldiers who fought and died here for their beliefs, whatever those beliefs were, doesnt make sense. It doesnt make a lot of sense fiscally and for security reasons. The police are already busy on these weekends, he said. A reenactment would have given them one other large gathering to be concerned about. Theres also traffic, hotel availability, the potential of Glenn Beck drawing crowds away from the reenactment they were all question marks, he said. Too many question marks for the first year of the event. It made more sense to sit back on it this year, he said. It gives us more time to focus on the finer details and make it a more solid and well-rounded event for 2021. Even though there wont be a big reenactment, he pointed out there is no shortage of history-rich events in Gettysburg that weekend. The Daniel Lady Farm is still expected to hold its reenactment event. The Gettysburg National Military Park has a wide array of programming through the year that can be found on its website. Reenactments are great and fun, but to really get the good, juicy stuff, you have to attend those parks services programs, he said. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. This home, built in 1993 in the Cumberland County neighborhood of Meadowview Estates, at 329 W. Meadow Dr., in Upper Allen Township, has five bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths and a fully finished basement. A two-story foyer with marble tile and a sweeping curved staircase frame the entry of the 5,500-square-foot home. WASHINGTON - House Democrats have released a trove of documents they obtained from Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraines president to investigate the Biden case. The documents, obtained as part of the impeachment investigation, show Parnas communicating with Giuliani before the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, who was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. A man named Robert F. Hyde disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cellphone use, raising questions about possible surveillance. Democrats released the files Tuesday as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trumps trial. The documents add new context to their charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid. Parnas was in frequent communication with Giuliani and with Ukrainian officials, the messages show. He appeared to be pushing unsubstantiated allegations that Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were somehow engaged in corruption in Ukraine. Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was before Zelenskiy took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent. In the letter, Giuliani said he would be accompanied at the meeting by Victoria Toensing, a Washington attorney and Trump ally. One of the documents is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated. Trump asked Zelenskiy in a July call to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine. Democrats said that Parnas attorney confirmed that Parnas wrote the notes. The documents including phone records, texts and flash drives turned over by Parnas were sent to the House Judiciary Committee by three other House panels to be included as part of the official record that will be transmitted to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment, according to a statement. Some of the materials were made public while others were marked as sensitive. Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet bloc, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records. Prosecutors allege they made outsize campaign donations to Republican causes after receiving millions of dollars originating from Russia. The men have pleaded not guilty. In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassadors ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the centre of the Democrats impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a smear campaign. Trump on a July 25 call had promised Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was going to go through some things. Roughly two months earlier, she was recalled from her diplomatic post. On April 23, just before Yovanovitch was directed to return to the United States, Giuliani texted Parnas, He fired her again. Parnas texted back, I pray it happens this time Ill call you tomorrow my brother. Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a bitch. Hyde is now running for a U.S. House seat in Connecticut. After texting about the ambassador, Hyde gave Parnas detailed updates that suggested he was watching her. In one text, Hyde wrote: Shes talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off. He said she was under heavy security and we have a person inside. Hyde at one point texted Parnas that they are willing to help if we/you would like a price, and guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money ... is what I was told. Parnas texted back: lol. Lawrence Robbins, an attorney for Yovanovitch, called for an investigation in to the messages. Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitchs movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened. On Twitter, Hyde dismissed the claims as laughable and appeared to try to distance himself from Parnas. He said he would welcome an investigation. The text messages show that Parnas consulted Giuliani in Jan. 2019 after the U.S. denied a visa for former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Giuliani replied: I can revive it. The following day, Giuliani told Parnas: Its going to work I have no 1 in it. Giuliani then predicted he will get one before giving Parnas the phone number for Jay Sekulow, the leader of the presidents personal legal team. Sekulow is expected to be part of Trumps legal team during the impeachment trial. A federal judge earlier this month ruled that Parnas could provide the materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. Democrats voted in December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller contributed to this report. As tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran, former Vice President Joe Biden said he would leave troops in the Middle East to continue fighting ISIS, and accused President Trump of lying about Iran's imminent attack against American embassies to keep troops in the region. "I think it's a mistake to pull out the small number of troops that are there now to deal with ISIS. What's happened is, now that he's gone ahead, the president and started this whole process moving, what's happening?" "We -- ISIS is going to reconstitute itself. We're in a position where we have to pull our forces out. Americans have to leave the entire region. And quite frankly, I think [Trump has] flat-out lied about saying that the reason he went after -- the reason he made the strike was because our embassies were about to be bombed." Former Vice President Joe Biden Backdrop: After Trump ordered a strike killing Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel American troops from Iraq. The strike against Soleimani further strained relations between Iran and the U.S. Go deeper... Focus group: Pennsylvania swing voters stand with Trump on Iran Someone is lying. Or, at the very least, badly misremembering. That's the only possible takeaway from the ongoing back and forth between Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over whether the former told the latter that he did not believe a woman could be elected president in 2020. And the feud got worse, not better, during -- and after -- Tuesday night's Iowa debate. Asked directly about Warren's statement that Sanders had told her in a December 2018 meeting that he didn't believe a woman could win, the Vermont senator said this: 'Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't say it. And I don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this, because this is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anybody who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be President of the United States.' Warren was then asked what her reaction was to what Sanders had said back in 2018. 'I disagreed,' she said. 'Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised, and it's time for us to attack it head-on.' And that was it -- until the end of the debate. Sanders and Warren approached one another and he stuck out his hand. She did not shake it. What followed was a brief but clearly uncomfortable conversation. As Sanders' campaign co-chair Nina Turner put it on CNN: 'I'm not sure what she said, but you can read the body language. Obviously, their conversation was not pleasant.' Uh, yeah. Watch it for yourself. Then the fight turned to social media. As of Wednesday morning, the hashtag '#neverWarren' was trending as Bernie allies took to Twitter to attack the Massachusetts senator as a lying snake. (Not kidding; snake emojis were everywhere in the anti-Warren tweets.) 'Lie or mischaracterize your 'friend's' comments, double down, refuse to shake his hand,' tweeted Kyle Kulinski, a prominent liberal and YouTube host. 'Are you watching America?' tweeted liberal activist and Sanders supporter Shaun King: 'When @BernieSanders beat a Republican to win his congressional seat 29 years ago, Elizabeth Warren was still a Republican. One reason she never lost to a Republican is that she was a Republican for the first 47 years of her life.' On the other side of the argument, Third Way senior vice president Lanae Erickson tweeted this of the Sanders-Warren handshake-that-wasn't: 'That moment when the dude who called himself a 'feminist' on his profile shows his true colors on date 5...You hate to see it.' There are real consequences to all of these raw feelings. Sanders and Warren are the two most prominent liberals in the race, and for either one of them to beat former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination this year, they will need the near-united support of the left. Up until a few days ago, that seemed like a very real possibility, with Warren and Sanders refusing to attack one another and their supporters -- online and off -- largely aiming their rhetorical fire at the likes of Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. After Tuesday night, however, the idea of the Sanders people rallying around Warren if, after the first few primaries and caucuses, she looks like the most viable liberal candidate, now seems fanciful. And, vice versa for the Warren people being cool with the idea of Sanders as the liberal choice for 2020. And that is true no matter what the two principals say (or don't say) about that now-famous December 2018 meeting and/or the no-handshake moment in Tuesday night's debate. What happened Tuesday night seems likely to reverberate not just through the Iowa caucuses in 19 days' time but the broader fight over who emerges as the liberal choice and whether -- or not -- the left is willing to rally around that person. NEW YORKA gunshot and the subsequent police lights and sirens drew curious neighbours to the streets of their quiet Brooklyn neighbourhood Monday night. As they emerged from their homes, they saw a dead dog on the pavement, covered by a white sheet. The dogs owner was standing nearby, as was the off-duty Secret Service agent who had shot the animal. The agent told police officers that the dog had charged at him, he had reached for his firearm and he had fired once, striking the animal and killing it. Even as details of the confrontation remained unclear Tuesday, neighbours and others were stunned and appalled that a chance street encounter with a pet would end in its death. I cant think of any dog that is so menacing that I feel I would need to have a firearm to protect myself, said Walker Blankinship, who manages a stable near the site of the shooting. The hardest part was watching the owner grieve, said Adelaide Gaughran-Bedell, whose family lives in the area. By Tuesday afternoon, the authorities had not released the agents name. It was unclear what his assignment was or his exact role within the Secret Service. The shooting took place around 9:45 p.m., the police said, in Windsor Terrace, a largely residential neighbourhood sandwiched between Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery. The agent reported the shooting to the police and remained at the scene outside 45 Caton Place, said Sgt. Mary Frances ODonnell, a police spokeswoman. The dog charged him, ODonnell said. He let one round go. He killed the dog. Blankinship, 51, said he was relaxing outside the nearby Kensington Stables when the gun went off. I heard the gunshot, and then I heard a guy arguing, cursing and carrying on, he said Tuesday. I just thought it was local people having an argument. He added that he heard the man say, I cant believe you let it go off. Gaughran-Bedell, 20, said that the police flooded the neighbourhood shortly after. I was a bit confused, because there were tons of policemen on our block but no one was getting arrested or questioned, she said. Instead, they all seemed to be looking to de-escalate the situation and pacify the owner. She said that she saw the dog lying lifeless on the sidewalk and then saw it again later, covered with a white cloth. Seeing her body on the sidewalk was pretty horrifying, especially since so many of the onlookers were walking their dogs when they stumbled onto the scene, Gaughran-Bedell said. A police spokesman declined to provide more information about the dogs owner, the dogs breed or whether it had been on a leash, referring questions to the Secret Service. A photo published by The Daily News showed the dog, which it identified as a female Belgian Shepard, under a sheet at the scene. A leash can be seen, partially covered by the sheet. In a statement Monday night, the Secret Service said that the dog had been unleashed and that the agency would conduct an investigation. On Tuesday morning, a Secret Service spokesman said the dog was an unrestrained and aggressive canine. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation, said that the dog was wearing a leash when it was shot, but that the owner was not holding the leash and was not in view when the agent encountered the animal. As news of the confrontation spread Tuesday, many people expressed their outrage and horror at the dogs killing on social media. It is not clear how many dogs are killed by law enforcement officers every year nationwide; neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice collect national data. At least six states require officers to be trained to recognize canine behavioural patterns and to properly handle encounters with dogs. In 2011, a report by the Justice Department said the majority of officer-involved shooting incidents in the United States involved animals, most commonly dogs. In a guide for law enforcement officials, the departments Office of Community Oriented Policing Services described the problem of dog shootings as multi-faceted, in part because they get so much attention on social media. In 2018, New York City police officers shot their firearms at dogs four times, according to the Police Departments annual use of force report. One incident involved an off-duty officer in Brooklyn. All four shootings involved aggressive dogs advancing on or attacking officers or other people, the report said. Two dogs were killed, one was injured and two were unharmed. Thanks to the negotiations in the Normandy format held in Paris, agreements were reached on the return of part of Ukrainians held in Russia, according to Zelensky. Work is currently underway on the formation of new swap lists for the release of illegally detained Ukrainians held in the Russian Federation and the occupied territories, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during his phone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday. Zelensky noted that thanks to negotiations in the Normandy format held in Paris, it was possible to reach agreements on the return of part of Ukrainians held in Russia, the President's Office press service reports. Read alsoAt Minsk talks, Ukraine to promote additional measures toward full ceasefire in Donbas "Unfortunately, we were not able to release everyone, but we returned 76 persons. And we are very grateful to you for participating in this process," Zelensky told Merkel. He stressed that work is underway on the formation of new swap lists. As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 31, 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached an understanding that new lists should be drawn for another stage of exchange of held persons, including of those held in the temporarily occupied Crimea. US Senate Democrats said on Tuesday they had enough votes in the Republican-controlled Senate to pass a resolution curbing President Donald Trumps ability to wage war on Iran without congressional approval, which would be a rebuke of the president after he ordered a strike that killed an Iranian commander in Iraq. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tim Kaine, the measures sponsor, said they had at least 51 votes for a joint resolution that would require Trump to seek congressional authorisation for military action against Iran. To become law, the measure must pass the House of Representatives and either be signed by Trump, or garner a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress to override his veto. Many members of Congress, including some of Trumps fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, have been pushing the administration for more information about the killing this month of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdads airport. Trump did not inform Congress about the strike until after it took place and then, according to many legislators, his administration kept too much information back about the reason or the legal justification for the strike. Criticism grew as Trump and his top officials have offered shifting justifications for the drone strike. Trump himself drove the controversy by saying on Twitter that it doesnt really matter whether Soleimani posed an imminent threat. Kaine said four Republicans Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Susan Collins and Todd Young had agreed to support the War Powers resolution he introduced on January 3. In a statement, Collins said Kaines resolution would let Trump respond to aggression from a hostile nation or repel an attack. It simply makes clear that only the Legislative Branch may declare war or commit our armed forces to a sustained military conflict with Iran, she said. Senate leaders are working out the timing of a Senate vote, likely next week, which is complicated by Trumps Senate impeachment trial starting within days. The House passed legislation known as a concurrent resolution last week, which called for an end to military action against Iran unless Trump obtained Congress approval. As a concurrent resolution, that measure would not have needed Trumps signature. But it could not garner enough support in the Senate to pass. There also were legal questions about whether it would have been binding. Republicans hold 53 seats in the 100-member Senate. Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, threatened earlier on Tuesday to subpoena Secretary of State Mike Pompeo if he does not provide more information about Iran policy. Engel also said he would send a letter on Tuesday to Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mike Esper seeking information about the strike, which took place in Iraq. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 07:32:16|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- An airplane returning to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Tuesday morning dropped jet fuel onto a school playground, leaving some people with minor injuries, according to local media reports. The airplane, Delta Flight 89, had taken off from LAX with 149 passengers on board and was en route to Shanghai when it turned around and headed back to the airport, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return to LAX," Delta spokesperson Adrian Gee said. "The aircraft landed safely after an emergency fuel release to reduce landing weight." Seventeen children and nine adults at an elementary school in Cudahy, located in the southeast of Los Angeles County, were treated for minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. No one was taken to a hospital, and no evacuations were initiated. The agency's spokesperson Nicholas Prange said two classes were outside when the liquid rained down shortly before noon. Students and staff were instructed to go indoors. In a statement, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency after departing from the airport, then returned to the airport and "landed without incident." Some senior Congress leaders who unsuccessfully contested the last year's Lok Sabha elections may find their names in the party's list of candidates for the Delhi assembly polls. Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said the party will field its "best" candidates in the elections for the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi scheduled for February 8. In a meeting with senior leaders of Delhi unit, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday suggested that those active in electoral should contest the Assembly polls. The meeting was attended by many senior leaders including former Delhi Congress presidents Ajay Maken, JP Agarwal and Arvinder Lovely, and working president Rajesh Lilothia, all four of whom were fielded by the party in the Lok Sabha polls. Agarwal said that he will follow instructions of the party chief. "There is no reason why we should not do what Congress chief desires us to do," he said. Agarwal was a runner-up in the Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk. He was also a former MLA from the Chandni Chowk Assembly segment. Lilothia, too, expressed his willingness to contest the Assembly election as per directions of Gandhi. During the meeting with the Congress chief, he had offered himself to be fielded against Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Kejriwal in New Delhi seat. Congress sources said that Lovely too was inclined to contest the polls as demanded by the party high command. Lovely was not available for his comments. He was defeated from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat by BJP's Gautam Gambhir. Maken is also expected to follow suit although he had some "reservations" on fighting the Assembly polls. He was a runner up in New Delhi parliamentary seat in elections last year. The central election committee of Congress is likely to meet on Thursday to discuss the names of party candidates for the Assembly elections. The ruling AAP on Tuesday declared all its 70 candidates. The BJP is also expected to announce its candidates for the polls in next few days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Switzerland Simplifies Process For German WHT Refunds by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels 15 January 2020 The Swiss Government has said that from January 31 individuals and legal entitles domiciled in Germany will be able to use an online Swiss application to request a refund of Swiss withholding tax (WHT). The application will be provided by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) and will be available on the federal tax authority's website. After a one-off registration process, the refund request can be entered electronically and attachments uploaded directly. The application can be used for refund requests submitted from Germany for income with due dates on or after January 1, 2020. It will replace Form 85, which will remain valid only for refund requests concerning income with due dates up to December 31, 2019. The application can also be used by authorized fiduciaries and banks. For legal reasons, it will still be necessary to print out the request and have it signed by the competent German tax office. The signed request must be sent to the FTA by post. Requests entered via the online application will not be considered to have been submitted until the printed request has been signed by the German tax authorities and received by the FTA in due time. The Swiss Government hopes that the online application will reduce the risk of error during submission and will accelerate the refund process. Well Worth Saving: American Universities Life-and-Death Decisions on Refugees From Nazi Europe By Laurel Leff Yale. 357 pp. $28 Reviewed by Michael S. Roth In higher education today we argue whether safe-enough spaces provide the security to allow students to explore new ways of thinking or if these environments just spoil already overprotected children. In the years before World War II, the question for universities was one of life-and-death proportions: Would higher education save the lives of scholars likely to be murdered by their own government? In the 1930s, higher education was more segregated by gender, race, and religion than in our time, and its old boys network was even tighter. Americans were struggling through an economic depression, especially in the first half of the decade, and many watched the rise of European fascism and Nazism with increasing trepidation. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, and soon afterward the Nazi Party took steps to Aryanize the universities. Jews fled if they were able to, but where could they go? By 1938, Austrian and Czech schools, libraries, and research centers were also being purified, and a year later the Nazi war machine threatened the entire continent. Thousands of academics, like millions of other threatened people, desperately hoped to escape to the New World any world other than the one that was being constructed according to the dictates of the Fuhrer. The story of refugees from Nazi Europe has been told many times, but Laurel Leffs focused, well-researched book sheds new light on part of it: how academic refugees struggled to find safety in the American university system. Well Worth Saving: American Universities Life-and-Death Decisions on Refugees From Nazi Europe explores the fates of individual scholars and teachers as they tried to find the money, the sponsors and the academic posts that would get them the visas they needed to escape the Nazi killing machine. It probably goes without saying that most of them never made it. There were two main paths for those who wanted to emigrate to the United States from Germany. Hundreds of thousands applied for the small quota of visas available, but that usually meant waiting years for the opportunity to escape. Many professors tried another path. They had to show they had been teaching at a university for two years before leaving and that they had a secure job waiting for them in America. If a university committed to hiring the professor, that school could get that person (and some family members) to safety. There were many who worked tirelessly to persuade college and university presidents to make room for these desperate refugees. The Rockefeller Foundation, for example, raised funds to pay passage and salaries. Still, only a fraction were saved: Fewer than 1,000 academics received non-quota visas between 1933 and the outbreak of World War II. Leff turned to this subject because she thought that the saving of some had led to a myth of a welcoming American academy. Famous scientists and writers who managed to escape the Nazis have dominated the story, and Well Worth Saving offers a corrective to the myth by emphasizing the plight of the many who struggled and often failed to secure a post. Those who survive calamitous events shape the history of the period, she writes, while the dead too often are forgotten. Leffs book is an act of troubling remembrance. While American universities certainly had problems of their own in the 1930s, they also faced competition in saving scholars, with the wealthiest schools wanting only the best. "Refugee scholars had to be world class and well connected and working in disciplines for which the American academy had a recognizable need," Leff writes. The notion of what was best, however, was subject to the usual prejudices. "They could not be too old or too young, too right or too left, or, most important, too Jewish," she explains. "Having money helped; being a woman did not." Legendary Harvard President James Conant was in this regard unexceptional, if horribly parochial: "A deluge of medium and good men of the Jewish race in scientific positions (age 40 or thereabouts) would do a lot of harm," he observed, adding, "There may be a scrap of comfort in the fact that Yale is taking exactly the same attitude as we are." A scrap of comfort, but for whom? It wasn't just the Ivies, of course. If colleges across the country "did not ban Jews outright, many departments had an informal 'one-Jew rule.' Hiring a refugee scholar would upset that balance." Williams College, she notes, wouldn't even go that far. Leff's accounts of individual academics are especially moving because the reader gets a sense of the very particular, and very brutal, paths of dehumanization they experienced. There are female scientists who heroically continued their research even as they waited for visas that would never come, and itinerant musicologists who seemed to have kept their will to live by maintaining their deep investigations of sonic patterns. All around them was the noise of hatred and violence, and as Jews they felt that violence closing in. Would America offer them a new start, or would they find themselves in a cattle car, on their way to death? More often than not, their fate was deportation and murder. As a historian, a Jew and a university president, I read this book with growing sadness. A few years ago, I was approached by Scholars at Risk, one of today's heroic agencies supporting academic refugees. We were able to welcome a refugee Syrian professor to Wesleyan University, and this helped him launch an American academic career. But as a university, could we have done more? Catherine Rampell recently wrote in The Washington Post that the United States in October accepted no new legal refugees. As a nation, could we do less? Perhaps Leff's book will remind academic leaders today that we have a responsibility to sound the alarm about America's disastrous, cruel policies toward refugees from around the world. We can become advocates nationally for the inclusion we prize on campus. There are so many well worth saving, if only we paid attention to their plight. Roth is president of Wesleyan University. His most recent book is Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatists Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness on College Campuses. He wrote this review for the Washington Post. michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. [music] michael barbaro Today: The impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump begins this afternoon in the Senate. Nick Fandos on how it will work. Its Thursday, January 16. Nick Fandos, describe the past 48 hours inside the Capitol. How does it start? nick fandos So it starts on Tuesday morning when Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, for close to a month now, has been withholding the articles of impeachment against President Trump from the Senate, goes down into the basement of the Capitol for a private meeting with all House Democrats. And the Speaker walks in and says, Guys, finally, the day is here. Im ready to move forward. Our break has accomplished what we wanted it to. Additional evidence has come out over the course of this four weeks. Were going to vote tomorrow, on Wednesday, to name the team that will prosecute the case against President Trump and finally move this over to the Senate. And so that was the state of affairs for most of Tuesday afternoon. But then, kind of out of the middle of nowhere archived recording Weve got very big breaking news tonight. On the eve of the House vote to send President Donald Trumps articles of impeachment over to the Senate, the House Intelligence Committee that committee just released an incredibly incriminating cache of documents from Rudy Giulianis indicted associate Lev Parnas. nick fandos House Democrats released a new tranche of evidence that they had just gotten in recent days from Lev Parnas, who was obviously intimately involved in President Trumps attempts to pressure Ukraine to help dig up dirt on his political opponents. michael barbaro So basically new evidence in an impeachment case after the impeachment has been completed. nick fandos Thats right. Here was what seems to be meaningful new evidence from a key player in this drama pouring forward. michael barbaro And what exactly is in these documents from Parnas? nick fandos So there were three things that stood out immediately to us as interesting. One was a letter from Rudy Giuliani, the Presidents personal lawyer, to the new president of Ukraine asking for a meeting. archived recording Giuliani writing quote, I have a specific request. In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you this upcoming Monday or nick fandos For the first time in that letter, we saw Giuliani putting down on paper that his client, Donald Trump, knew what he was up to and had sanctioned it. And that ties the President even more closely to everything that Giuliani was doing in Ukraine. The second piece that stood out were text messages between Parnas and a former Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Joe Biden and wanted the American ambassador to Ukraine remember Marie Yovanovitch out of the way. And what these messages seem to show is a kind of bargaining thats going on that the prosecutor will help Giuliani, Parnas and their team dig up the dirt they want, if they help get this American ambassador out of the way. Now, this would suggest that there is a closer tie between the removal of Yovanovitch from her post, which President Trump eventually brings about last spring, and the campaign to dig up dirt on his political opponents. Now, the third thing are notes on stationery by Parnas from the Ritz Carlton in Vienna that mention trying to get the new president of Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his son. And this is what Democrats say the President was after the whole time, and the notes suggest that Parnas, the guy working with the Presidents personal lawyer, was trying to get that done for him. michael barbaro And Nick, what do these three revelations really tell us about the larger picture of the impeachment? nick fandos Each of these has its own significance for the larger investigation. The letter from Giuliani shows very clearly that he was keeping President Trump in the loop and working for the President. The text messages show that they were working to try and get damaging information on Joe Biden. And the notes suggest further that they wanted to do that by getting Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation into the Bidens that would smear them, so to speak. And so though these dont significantly change the shape of the case as weve understood it, they make it a lot harder to argue that it didnt happen. And in that sense, they go a long way in strengthening the Democrats case. michael barbaro And, what do you make of the timing of the releases? Literally, the night before the House is going to vote to send the articles of impeachment over to the Senate. nick fandos Whether by design or by accident, this was terrifically helpful for the House and for the team of prosecutors that are about to go over and try and make their case in the Senate. michael barbaro How so? nick fandos Well, Speaker Pelosi withheld the articles of impeachment for a month to try and gain leverage to push the Senate to call new witnesses and evidence in their trial. And so the timing of this couldnt have been better to make the argument that, hey, theres compelling new evidence out there to be had, and it wont be that hard to get, Senators. If you dont want to hear from new witnesses, if you dont want to call new documents, Democrats would say, then youre helping President Trump and his cover up. Because the argument is that senators, taking a constitutional oath to render impartial judgment, owe it to the Constitution and to the country to try and get as much material as they can to make this weighty decision. And on top of that, because this evidence has now all been submitted into the record before the articles are sent over to the Senate, they can automatically be incorporated into the trial. michael barbaro O.K. so what happens next? archived recording (nancy pelosi) Good morning, everyone. This is a very important day for us. nick fandos So Wednesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as expected, convenes a news conference in the Capitol, and she arrives with seven Democratic lawmakers in tow. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Today is the day that we name the managers who go to the floor to pass the resolution to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate. nick fandos The team that shes about to introduce, who will prosecute the Houses case in the Senate. But first, she takes a quick chance to spike the football. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Thereve been comments about when are we going to send the articles over? nick fandos To basically say, hey, Ive taken a bunch of heat for this strategy to delay. The Republicans have been beating me up left and right. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Time has been our friend in all of this because as weve yielded incriminating evidence, more truth into the public domain. nick fandos You saw what happened with Lev Parnas last night, right? That validated what I was talking about. This is why I did what I did. So now you get it, basically. archived recording (nancy pelosi) And we wouldnt be in this situation had we not waited. nick fandos And from there, Speaker Nancy Pelosi turns to the lawmakers around her and begins to introduce the managers, who basically fall into three groups. The first are those that were locks for the job. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Chair Adam Schiff of California. fandos Thats Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee who oversaw the Houses Ukraine investigation last fall and Jerry Nadler archived recording (nancy pelosi) The chair of the House Judiciary Committee is serving his 15th term in Congress. nick fandos Who drafted the articles of impeachment and helped build the constitutional and legal justification for the charges. The second group are respected senior lawmakers who were expected to be on the team but werent givens. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Chair Zoe Lofgren, chair of the House Committee on House Administration. nick fandos Zoe Lofgren of California. This is her third impeachment in the House on the Judiciary Committee. She was a staffer back during the Nixon impeachment and on the committee during the Clinton impeachment. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Chairman Hakeem Jeffries is the chair of the House Democratic Caucus and is currently serving his fourth fourth term in Congress. nick fandos Hakeem Jeffries, he is the chairman of the Democratic Caucus and a rising star within the Democratic Party, also a member of the Judiciary Committee. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Congresswoman Val Demings of Florida. nick fandos And then Val Demings, who is a former police chief from Orlando, who is on both Mr. Schiffs committee and Nadlers committee and is very familiar with these facts and effective on the bench. But then there were a couple wild cards as well. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Excuse me. Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. nick fandos There was Jason Crow who is a freshman Democrat from Colorado. Hes former military, but he hasnt been involved in the impeachment debate all that much in the House. And Sylvia Garcia archived recording (nancy pelosi) Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia is a member of the House Judiciary Committee. nick fandos who is from the Houston area. She is a member of the Judiciary Committee but not a particularly outspoken one. archived recording (nancy pelosi) Im very proud and honored that these seven members, distinguished members, have accepted this serious responsibility. michael barbaro So what does this particular group tell you about what Pelosi is trying to accomplish? Why did she pick them all, especially the wild cards? nick fandos So Pelosi stated one of her goals, and she left one unstated. archived recording (nancy pelosi) As you can see, the emphasis is on litigators. The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom. nick fandos The stated goal was to try and put together a team with a lot of courtroom experience. So you have lawyers and prosecutors. In Garcia, you have somebody that was part of the judicial system in Texas. She wanted a team that was going to be ready to argue this case to put together briefs in the Senate. But Pelosis other goal here was to try and put together a team that was regionally and ethnically diverse. So you have lawmakers from the coast, from New York and California. You have black lawmakers and Latino lawmakers, and you have folks from the middle of the country. Jason Crow, for instance, is from Colorado. Garcia is from Texas, in addition to being Latino. So she was looking to put together basically a team that looks something like the Democratic caucus and the country as a whole, rather than a set of coastals or legal elites, or like the team of managers the prosecuted Bill Clinton in 1999, 13 white guys. michael barbaro 13 white guys. nick fandos Yes, 13 white men from the House Judiciary Committee brought the case against Bill Clinton over to the House, yeah. michael barbaro Hm. You know Nick, Im curious. Is this a desirable assignment for a House Democrat, or is this a job people run from? nick fandos You know, I think its a very desirable assignment, and you need no look farther than the fact that many lawmakers put their own names forward, wrote letters to Speaker Pelosi asking to be included on this team. Because these seven Democrats are now basically going to become the face of the Houses case. They will be the ones writing briefs, but more importantly, arguing on the floor of the Senate as to why President Trumps behavior warrants impeachment. And theyre going to be all over TVs across the country. Theres the potential here for many of these folks for this to be a career-defining moment. Lindsey Graham, whos now a very well-known member of the Senate and a confidante of the president, his career got its big boost when he was one of those 13 House managers in 1999. So this is a important and historic role. There will be books written about this as well. And to be a member of that team is to have a role in, potentially at least, history. archived recording (nancy pelosi) But I dont think we could be better served than by the patriotism and dedication of the managers that I am naming here this morning. Thank you all very much. michael barbaro O.K., so once these measures are announced, what happens after this news conference? nick fandos Pretty quickly Pelosi and her team of seven walk upstairs to the floor of the House chamber where archived recording (jerrold nadler) Madame Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 767, I now send to the desk a resolution anointing and authorizing managers for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, president of the United States. nick fandos The House votes along the same party lines that it did a month ago when it approved the articles to formally appoint the managers and bring the case to trial. archived recording On this vote, the yeas are 228. The nays are 193. The resolution is adopted, and without objection nick fandos And that is really the last vote that the House officially needs to take on this matter. Its now up to the managers to bring their case forward, and a Senate trial is imminent. michael barbaro Nick, at this point as were talking it is 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday after that vote to approve the House managers and transmit the articles of impeachment. So what is the next step? nick fandos So Speaker Pelosi and the managers will reconvene now at 5 oclock and begin, basically, the carefully choreographed exchange of the articles between the House and the Senate. First the speaker will sign the articles in what is called, as only Congress could put it, an engrossment ceremony. From there, the managers will line up with the sergeant-at-arms of the house and the clerk of the house and they will process out of the House through the old House chamber, through the rotunda of the Capitol, over to the Senate to meet the Secretary of the Senate and hand over a communication archived recording The Senate will receive a message from the House of Representatives. nick fandos saying they are essentially ready to come to trial archived recording A message from the House of Representatives. nick fandos and hand over a nicely printed copy of their articles of impeachment for the Senate. archived recording Mr. President, I have been directed by the House of Representatives to inform the Senate the House has passed H. Res. 79 nick fandos And so then the next step is basically to start a trial, only the third such proceeding in American history where a president of the United States will be potentially convicted or acquitted of high crimes and misdemeanors. [music] michael barbaro Well be right back. So Nick, now that the impeachment moves from the House to the Senate, what does that process look like over in the Senate? Walk us through it. nick fandos So on Thursday the trial will begin, and it starts with quite a bit more ceremony. The House impeachment managers will once again walk over from the House to the Senate carrying their articles of impeachment, and this time theyll enter the Senate chamber and meet the sergeant-at-arms, who will give a stern warning to the senators. Theyll cry out, Hear ye, Hear ye! Now you know were firmly in the territory of old American traditions, right? michael barbaro Indeed. nick fandos He will warn senators that from here on out, as long as the Senate is sitting in trial, they cannot speak, quote, on pain of imprisonment if they do. michael barbaro Wow. nick fandos This is serious business. Senators are all expected to be in their desk, and then the managers will process up into the center of the Senate and theyll read aloud their articles of impeachment. michael barbaro I just want to understand this. So throughout the trial, House members will be going into the Senate and doing the talking, and the senators will, under pain of imprisonment, remain absolutely mum, which is kind of an interesting situation for the senators. nick fandos It is. Its a very uncomfortable situation for senators who like to do their own talking. Not only can they not speak, they wont be able to bring electronics into the chamber for hours at a time. michael barbaro Wow. nick fandos They will have to remain seated at their desks. When they are allowed to ask questions, they have to do so in writing. And if senators want to debate, say, a motion before a vote, what they actually do is kick out reporters and the cameras and they close the doors of the Senate and have that debate in private. So this is not a proceeding like any that, that I think any of us, including me, covering Congress are familiar with. Its really about the House managers and the Presidents defense lawyers arguing it out in front of the Senate, which serves as both kind of a judge and a jury. michael barbaro Just a very silent version of that. nick fandos A very silent one. michael barbaro O.K., so the House managers have the floor Thursday morning. nick fandos Thats right. And so they are introduced formally to the Senate, and the Senate summons next John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, to come over to the Senate. He takes an oath himself and then administers an oath to senators that, for the duration of the trial, they swear to administer impartial justice. At that point, the Senate sends a summons to President Trump, telling him formally that he is on trial in the Senate and asking for his answer. The House managers will get probably up to 24 hours to make their case spread over three or four days. The Presidents defense team will get a chance to do the same thing for the same amount of time. And remember, weve yet to hear from those defense lawyers since they declined to take part in the House proceedings. And then after both sides have made their case, senators will have a chance to ask questions. michael barbaro And can they do that out loud this time? nick fandos No. That remains in writing. They can put it on pieces of paper, and the chief justice will read them aloud. michael barbaro Wow. nick fandos But then well get to what may be the most interesting part of this trial which is a debate, which has already begun, over whether or not to call new witnesses and compel new evidence. The prosecution and the defense can both put forward motions to call witnesses, and senators will get an up or down vote, and a simple majority wins. So Democrats want to call a number of administration witnesses, people like John Bolton or Mick Mulvaney. They need the help of four Republicans if they want to make that happen. And if they do, if theyre successful, Republicans are pledging to use their majority to try and call witnesses that may be more favorable to the president, potentially even Hunter Biden, Joe Bidens son whos at the center of these investigations that Trump and Giuliani and Parnas were looking for in Ukraine. So all of the sudden a two- or three-week trial could end up lasting five or six weeks. Eventually when senators have satisfied themselves, they will vote either to convict or acquit. But remember, you need two-thirds of all senators to support conviction to have the president convicted and removed from office. michael barbaro Im thinking back to what Speaker Pelosi said during her news conference, that time has been on the side of Democrats, that the delay in transmitting these articles of impeachment to the Senate and getting this trial under way there, may have shifted the ground when it comes to things like calling witnesses or introducing new evidence and the contours of how this trial will unfold. Do you think that shes right? nick fandos We wont know for sure for at least a couple of weeks until these votes come up. But walking around the Senate in the last few days, it certainly seems like there is a growing number of Republican senators who are open to this idea of calling witnesses, who seem to recognize after four weeks of feeling intense pressure from the media and, say, from their constituents, that its just the kind of smart and obvious thing to do. And another indication, weve started to hear more conservative Republicans that are supportive of the president conferring with Mitch McConnell about what witnesses they would call to counter witnesses that Democrats and the moderates wanted. That seems to be a nod, an acknowledgment that the chances are going up that were not going to end up with a speedy, narrow trial, but one that may be more unwieldy and involve more witnesses. michael barbaro I wonder in the end how much that really matters because, as we have talked about many times on the show, when it comes to the Senate trial, no matter how many witnesses there are, no matter what form this trial takes, theres an overwhelming predisposition by the majority to come to a certain conclusion in this case. nick fandos I will preface my answer by saying that I agree with you. Particularly in an election year, the idea that a Republican-controlled Senate would pull together 67 votes to remove the president of the United States when hell be on the ballot in November seems like a total long shot. But I think that we are in for more unexpected twists and turns than we think. You know, its one thing for Republicans to be able to watch from afar as the House assembles this case over several months, as they voted on articles of impeachment, to dismiss it as partisan because there werent Republican votes. To dismiss it as rushed and having not proved the case, because they havent been up close grappling with the facts. But as it gets closer and senators have to swear this awesome oath to administer impartial justice, as they have to sit in their chairs silently without their cell phones listening to the arguments from the House and from the White House, I think we may start to see some lawmakers maybe the moderates, maybe theyre retiring, maybe theyre up for re-election in a swing state this fall moving ever so slightly out of their partisan corners that have defied so many fights in the Trump era into the kind of ambiguous middle. And while that may not change the outcome of this particular trial, I think it will go a long way in coloring what it looks like for the American people who, after all, in just 10 months are going to go to the ballot box themselves and be able to render their own decision about whether President Trump is fit to remain in office. michael barbaro Nick, thank you very much. nick fandos Thank you, Michael. [music] michael barbaro Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. [music] archived recording (donald trump) We greatly appreciate your joining us at this White House event. This is a very important and remarkable occasion. michael barbaro During a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, President Trump signed a preliminary trade deal with China intended to open Chinese markets to more U.S. goods and protect against the theft of American trade secrets. archived recording (donald trump) Today we take a momentous step, one that has never been taken before with China, toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade as we signed phase one of the historic trade deal between the United States and China. michael barbaro In a victory for the president, the deal leaves in place record tariffs on Chinese goods and forces China to purchase $200 billion worth of American goods within two years. archived recording (donald trump) Together we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers, and families. michael barbaro New Delhi: JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh on Wednesday joined the protest at Jamia where she addressed the protesters. During her speech, Ghosh launched a scathing attack against the Modi government over 'abrogation of Article 370' in Kashmir. 'We should not forget Kashmir in our fight. Whatever is happening with them (Kashmiris) is somewho connected with government's intent to take away constitution from us. The Delhi Police on Monday questioned three JNU students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, in connection with the January 5 violence on campus, even as students and teachers boycotted classes on the opening day of the winter semester amid a standoff over the hostel fee hike issue. A delegation of teachers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) knocked the doors of the Human Resources Development(HRD) ministry again claiming that the situation is not conducive for conducting academic activities and that students are scared of returning to the campus. Also Read: JNU Violence: Delhi Police Reaches Campus, Questions JNUSU President Ghosh, Two Others As the JNU students union(JNUSU) continued to boycott the registration for the winter semester demanding a complete roll back of the hostel fee hike, the university administration claimed that of the nearly 8,500 students more than 5,000 have registered. In a statement, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said the fee-related matter has been sorted out and that the continuation of the agitation by students was not justified. On the probe into the violence when a masked mob attacked students and teachers, a crime branch team of the Delhi Police visited the JNU and questioned Pankaj Mishra and Vasker Vijay Mech besides Ghosh. Ghosh is among the seven out of the total nine suspects, who are from Left-leaning student organisations while two suspects are from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Mishra has, however, claimed that he is not affiliated to either sides. Also Read: Delhi Police Identifies 37 People In WhatsApp Group Linked to JNU Mob Attack: Sources They sought my version of events. They asked me about my complaint. I also asked why they did not register an FIR on the complaint filed by me, Ghosh said. Responding to a plea filed by JNU professors, the Delhi Police also informed the Delhi High Court that it has asked the university administration to preserve and hand over the CCTV footage of the violence but has not yet received any response from the university. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. In a few hours, US President Donald Trump will sign a partial, Phase I trade deal - which he has described as a monster - a big beautiful monster - with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, putting on pause a trade war between the worlds two largest economies that had shaken up the global economy. China will buy $200 billion worth of US farm produce and other goods under the 86-page agreement, the text of which will only be released after its signing at a White House ceremony at around 10 pm India time (11:30 am). The Asian giant will open up it financial services market to American companies, prevent forced transfer of technology through acquisitions and also punish companies that steal intellectual property and patented technology. In return, the United States will halve tariffs on $120 billion of goods from China, and put off further levies. But import duties in place on $360 billion of Chinese goods will remain in force, to make sure, according to news reports citing unidentified US officials, China delivered on its commitments. These tariffs will stay in place until theres a phase two. If the president gets a phase two quickly, hell consider releasing tariffs as part of phase two, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters. If not, there wont be any tariff relief. So it has nothing to do with the election or anything else. Theres no secret agreements. On Monday, the United States dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator, which it had announced last August. Beijing has given enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation, Mnuchin had said in a statement. This is going to be a part of the deal to be announced Wednesday. Indian trade negotiators will be watching the signing closely and will study the agreement carefully as they wrap up their own trade talks with American negotiators - for a short-term trade deal with a longer-term version left for later - with an eye on a late-February visit to India by President Trump. Trump, who had campaigned on the promise of ending Chinas unfair trade practices, set the ball rolling in April 2017 with an announcement of a 100-day plan to fix trade deficit after a meeting with Chinas Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago. The deadline passed without an agreement. It was downhill thereafter. Over the following months, the two countries slapped tariffs on each other with China tactically targeting Trumps supporters in the midwest, the soybean farmers. It hurt, and Trump complained about Chinese interference in domestic politics. But he kept dialing up the pressure, putting almost all of the half-trillion worth of imports from China under stiff tariffs. The two sides also talked, but fittingly. One time late 2019, they came close to announcing a deal and then the Chinese backed out of key commitments that left the American, including the president, seething with anger. They accused Chine was reneging, and more tariffs followed. They have had better luck this time. So far. There is a deal in place, but closely guarded apart from the details officials chose to release. Top negotiators from the two sides had dinner together Tuesday night, according to a news report. In a few hours, on Wednesday, they will go out and make history. By Trend The year 2019 was marked by important success both in Azerbaijans foreign policy and in all other areas, Azerbaijani MP Sevinj Fataliyeva told Trend. Speaking about the important events of the past year, the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-Speaking States should be especially noted, the MP said. By hosting this Summit at the highest level, Azerbaijan made significant contribution to the development of cooperation among Turkic-speaking states, Fataliyeva noted. On the other hand, the 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries, held in Baku on Oct. 25 and 26, became an important event not only for Azerbaijan, but for the whole world, the MP added. As part of the event, by unanimous decision of the member countries of the Movement, Azerbaijan was elected NAM chair country over the next three years. At the same time, last year a session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in Azerbaijan, as part of which Azerbaijans Historic Center of Sheki with the Khans Palace was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, Fataliyeva said. The MP emphasized that a lot of foreign visits also took place in Azerbaijan in 2019. During the year, the country was visited by heads of state and government of more than 40 countries, and the Azerbaijani president met with them formats, Fataliyeva added. In general, over the past year, Azerbaijan was developing in all directions, the foreign policy course has been successfully implemented, and state and national interests have been fully ensured, the MP said. Thanks to the far-sighted policy and the wise leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the year 2019 entered Azerbaijans history as a year of development and progress, Fataliyeva noted. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announce sanctions on Iran during briefing at the White House in Washington By Andrea Shalal and Echo Wang WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Documents to be released Wednesday will show skeptics that a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement will be fully enforceable, including a pledge by China to refrain from manipulating its currency, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump is due to sign the trade pact with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at a ceremony at the White House, marking a truce after 18 months of tit-for-tat tensions that have stalled U.S. business investments and dampened global growth. "Tomorrow we'll be releasing the documents and people will be able to see there's a very detailed dispute resolution process," Mnuchin told Fox Business Network. "This is an enforceable agreement just as the president dictated it would be." Mnuchin also pushed back against what he described as "misreporting" that suggested the world's two largest economies had concluded agreements outside the Phase 1 trade deal. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would remain in place until an enforceable Phase 2 agreement was reached, he said. "Theres no side agreements. The only way the president will be reducing the tariffs is if there is a Phase 2 part of the agreement that is also fully enforceable," he said. Mnuchin's interview was taped at the White House as U.S. and Chinese officials met for longer than expected at the office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, sparking some concern about a possible last-minute glitch. Harry Broadman, partner at Berkeley Research Group and a former senior USTR official, said it was surprising that it had taken over a month to translate the agreement into Chinese. Lighthizer on Monday conceded the translation was not yet complete, but said it was nearly done and would be released on Wednesday before the signing. "It's taken a long time to translate 86 pages, and this is really important," Broadman said. He said it was not unusual to hold off on releasing the text until after the signing ceremony, but it was curious that the translation had dragged on so long. Story continues One industry source briefed on the negotiations said there was still a chance the full text of the trade deal would not be released on Wednesday as expected. "There are signs that the full text of the agreement will not be released since there are concerns that China is not in a position to meet all of the specific commitments," said the source. It was not immediately clear from Mnuchin's comments if he meant the actual text of the agreement would be released, since he referred to "documents" but did not use the word "text". Mnuchin said he viewed the trade deal as a "great win for American business and American farmers." China committed to purchase $200 billion of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years under the agreement, he said, adding that U.S. companies and farmers could reap further gains once structural reforms were tackled in a Phase 2 agreement. (Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago Reporting by Eric Beech and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Stephen Coates) DETROIT, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital today announced its building automation and energy services platform, Albireo Energy, has acquired Advanced Automated Systems, Inc. ("AAS"), a provider of building automation and energy management services. Albireo, one of Huron Capital's ExecFactor initiatives, was launched to provide smart building automation and energy services to commercial and institutional customers throughout the U.S. Albireo has invested in 18 companies through 12 separate acquisitions since it was formed by Huron Capital in 2014. The acquisition of Advanced Automated represents an opportunity to strengthen Albireo's presence on the West Coast and offers significant potential to expand relationships with key customers in Southern California and other markets. Advanced Automated was founded in 1992 by Maureen Jowdy and her son, Keith Voysey, in Yorba Linda, California. Over the past three decades, the Company has built an impressive roster of clients across a variety of industries such as healthcare, government, education, and commercial offices. Voysey, who is currently managing the business, will remain with the combined company as a member of the management team to help promote future growth. "Advanced Automated has experienced tremendous growth and has developed a solid operational foundation in Southern California," Voysey said. "This partnership allows us to continue to invest in our business locally as well as extend nationally with Albireo's coast-to-coast footprint." Albireo, led by CEO Phil Rogers, is a Huron Capital ExecFactor initiative, which combines a CEO's industry expertise with Huron Capital's extensive investment experience and committed capital. "Our partnering with Advanced Automated further solidifies our goal of becoming the number one independent provider of smart building solutions and services throughout the U.S.," Rogers said. "For nearly thirty years, AAS has been providing superior technical expertise, innovative solutions and unsurpassed quality relating to all aspects of building automation and access control solutions to their customers and we welcome their extremely talented group of employees to the Albireo family." "We are incredibly pleased to add AAS to the Albireo family," said Huron Senior Partner Jim Mahoney. "This acquisition represents a strong start to the year, and we are motivated to continue this momentum and further develop our team of exceptionally talented industry leaders." About Huron Capital Based in Detroit, Huron Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm with a long history of growing lower middle-market companies through our proprietary ExecFactor buy-and-build investment model. We prefer complex situations where we can help companies reach their full potential by combining our operational approach, substantial capital base, and transaction experience with seasoned operating executives. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2019, Huron Capital has raised over $1.8 billion in capital through six committed private equity funds and invested in over 190 companies, and our portfolio companies have employed over 11,000 people throughout North America. The Huron Capital buy-and-build investment model includes equity recapitalizations, family succession transactions, market-entry strategies, corporate carve-outs, and management buyouts of companies having revenues up to $200 million. Huron Capital targets both control and non-control equity stakes in fundamentally-sound companies that can benefit from the firm's operational approach to creating value. Huron Capital's sector focus includes business services, consumer products & services and specialty industrials. For more information, please visit: www.huroncapital.com About Albireo Energy Albireo Energy provides national building automation and integration solutions and energy services to commercial and institutional buildings. Their solutions and services help building owners and managers improve efficiency and reduce operational costs while improving comfort for tenants. Through its operating divisions, Albireo Energy has a history of providing exceptional solutions to mission critical facilities such as data centers, labs, military installations, and hospitals. For more information, visit www.AlbireoEnergy.com. About Advanced Automated Systems Advanced Automated Systems is an innovated, independent building automation, energy management firm primarily servicing the region of Southern California. They employ unique solutions to energy management and automation by addressing energy utilization from the perspective of facilities and property management as well as the property owner. Advanced Automated is an industry leader in providing services of energy management, mechanical, electrical, lighting, card access and surveillance camera systems. For more information, please visit: www.advancedautomated.com. Certain information herein may contain forward-looking statements which are provided to assist the reader in understanding the beliefs and opinions with respect to future opportunities as perceived by Huron Capital and others quoted herein. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any projections or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The issuer of these statements undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or estimates or opinions should change except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Contact: Brent Snavely, Director Lambert & Co. (313) 309-9516 [email protected] SOURCE Huron Capital Related Links http://www.huroncapital.com (CNN) The entire Russian government is resigning, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced Wednesday, after Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping reforms that could extend his decades-long grip on power beyond the end of his presidency. Putin thanked members of the government for their work but added that "not everything worked out." Putin added that in the near future he would meet with each member of the cabinet. The mass resignation includes Medvedev. The surprise announcement came after Putin proposed constitutional amendments that would strengthen the powers of the prime minister and parliament at the expense of the presidency. Taking power from the presidency and handing it to parliament could signal a power shift that has been long speculated about in Russia. Putin's critics have suggested that he is considering various scenarios to retain control of the country after his presidential term ends in 2024, including the option of becoming prime minister with extended powers. Similarly, in 2008 Putin swapped places with the prime minister to circumvent the constitutional provision banning the same person from serving two consecutive terms. In his statement, Medvedev indicated that the government was resigning to clear the way for Putin's proposed reforms. Putin "outlined a number of fundamental changes to the constitution, significant changes not only to a number of articles of the constitution, but also to the balance of power as a whole," Medvedev said in his statement, which was aired on Russian state television. "In this context, it's obvious that we, as the government ... should provide the president of our country with the opportunity to make all the decisions necessary for this. And in these conditions, I believe that it would be right, in accordance with Section 117 of the constitution," for the government to resign, Medvedev added. Putin nominated the head of the Federal Taxation Service, Mikhail Mishustin, to replace Medvedev as prime minister, according to a Kremlin statement. "With his consent, [Putin] submitted Mishustin's candidacy for the post of prime minister for consideration by the State Duma," the Kremlin wrote. Power to the parliament In his annual address to the Federal Assembly earlier Wednesday, Putin said he agreed that no one should serve as president for more than two consecutive terms, and proposed several constitutional amendments. His key proposal is to transfer the power to select the prime minister and cabinet from the president to the parliament. "I know that a constitutional provision is being discussed in our society that the same person should not be president for more than two consecutive terms," Putin said. "I don't think this is a fundamental issue, but I agree with that," he said. "I propose ... entrusting the State Duma with the power to approve the candidacy of the prime minister, and then, per the prime minister's proposal, [appoint] all deputy prime ministers and federal ministers," Putin said. "In this case, the president will be obliged to appoint them, that is, he will not have the right to reject parliament-approved candidacies." Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, said the "only goal of Putin and his regime" was to remain "the sole leader for life, taking ownership of an entire country, and appropriating wealth to himself and his friends." "All those who said that Putin will step away from power in 2024 are such idiots (and/or crooks)," he tweeted. According to the current constitution, the president needs to secure approval from the lower house of parliament to appoint the head of the government, and it is within presidential rights to then appoint all deputies and ministers. In a televised statement, Putin asked current members of government to fulfill their duties until a new one is formed. "I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved," Putin said. "Of course not everything worked out, but nothing ever works out in full." Medvedev is expected to become deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. Putin is the chairman. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Russian government resigns as Putin proposes reforms that could extend his grip on power." More than 4 in 10 farmers still dont have adequate broadband vital to conduct their business in the 21st century, according to a new survey. Farm businesses are reliant on connectivity more than ever before, from increasing productivity through monitoring crops and livestock to diversification. But the new NFU survey shows its almost impossible to run a modern-day business without it, while a lack of mobile phone signal can impact on issues like isolation and mental health. The union's vice president Stuart Roberts said British farming is an industry which relies on having fast and reliable access to the internet. It really is completely unacceptable that in this high-tech digital age we appear to have a two-tier system of haves and have nots, he said. As our new survey shows, more than 4 in 10 of our members feel they still dont have adequate access to broadband services needed to run a modern-day farming business. Its not just the farming business thats impacted. A lack of mobile signal can have serious consequences if you need to call for help in an emergency, and issues of mental wellbeing from feeling isolated can also be affected. Mr Roberts said the current pace of broadband change and mobile connectivity in rural Britain is 'unacceptably too slow'. He said the introduction of 5G and fibre broadband technology in cities means that, without action, the gap between urban and rural areas will continue to widen. That is why we are urging government and the telecommunications industry to make tackling the lack of rural connectivity a priority. We will continue to campaign for investment in the countrys digital infrastructure, so farming businesses and the rural economy can continue to meet their huge potential not only as food producers but in helping to tackle climate change and deliver on our net zero ambitions, Mr Roberts added. The survey, released today (14 January), is based on 817 farmers responding to a telephone or online survey between September 2-29 2019 and providing their actual coverage experience. It captures data not collected by others, for example as many farms fall within postcodes with less than four broadband lines and such geographical areas not reported on by Ofcom for data protection reasons. Patricia Marie Bearden Waybright, 79, of La Plata, MD passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 9, 2020, at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center. Pat was born on August 19, 1940, in Atlantic City, New Jersey to the late Edward Hampson and Ruth (Fertig) Hampson. Always willing to follow her heart, Pat met and married her first husband, Jim Bearden. They celebrated 39 years of marriage before his passing in 1998. Together, they raised three (3) sons. Lucky enough to find love again, Pat married James "Jim" Waybright, and they spent thirteen (13) years together. She was a wonderful woman who loved her family. She adored having everyone together for a family dinner. Pat loved to travel with some of her favorite places being any port her cruise ship docked. Having traveled to locations in the Caribbean, Alaska and even a European cruise, Pat was a cultured woman. An avid reader, she could be found with her nose in a book, magazine or newspaper. Her bright smile and quick wit will be dearly missed. To know Pat was to know a kind, loving soul. Memories of her inherent joy will last a lifetime for her family and friends. Pat is survived by her husband, Jim Waybright of La Plata; and sons, Michael E. Bearden (Joan) of Mechanicsville, MD, Steven W. Bearden (Melissa) of Owings, MD and Eric P. Bearden (Katherine) of Helen, MD; and five (5) grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and her first husband. The family will receive friends for Pat's Visitation on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a Prayer Service being heard at 7:45 p.m. all at Brinsfield Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A., 30195 Three Notch Road, Charlotte Hall, MD 20622. A Funeral Service will be heard at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at Hughesville Baptist Church, 8505 Old Leonardtown Road, Hughesville, MD 20637 with a small visitation before the service beginning at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be held at Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery on January 29, 2020. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to be made to the American Cancer Society. Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A., Charlotte Hall, MD. Two persons were killed and several injured in Uttarayan-related accidents in Gujarat, indicating a sharp rise in the number of trauma and assault cases, a data from an emergency management services company revealed. Two persons fell to their deaths while flying kites during the festivities in Vadodara on Tuesday, a police official said. Nagendra Jandhar (45) died after falling from the terrace of his house at Shiv Niketan Society in Vadodara's OP Road locality, after his feet got entangled in a kite string, he said. In another incident, Karan Rathod (16) fell from the terrace of a building in the Sayajipura locality of Vadodara while trying to take a selfie with kites, he added. Compared to last year, there has been a definite rise in the number of trauma and assault cases, mainly cuts from kite strings and falls while flying kites, the data released by GVK-EMRI stated. At least 213 cases of assault were reported on January 14, when Uttarayan was celebrated across the state, said an official from GVK EMRI said. As many as 559 cases of non-vehicular trauma were reported on Tuesday, which was around 50 per cent more than cases reported on the same day last year, GVK EMRI Gujarat COO Jashwant Prajapati said. Of total 3,959 emergency cases reported on Tuesday, 728 were from Ahmedabad, followed by Surat at 357, which were around 27 per cent and 14 per cent more than the average daily cases, he said. The cases of injuries to animals and birds also witnessed a rise of 54.6 per cent compared to last year. As many as 1,062 such cases were reported, compared to 687 cases last year, with the highest number of cases reported from Ahmedabad at 239, the data showed. While a 13-year-old girl was severely injured after falling from the terrace of a residential building in Vadaj area of Ahmedabad, a 42-year-old man similarly fell off a building in the city's Sardarnagar locality, a police official said. In other related incidents, a four-year-old boy was injured after his throat was slit by a kite string in Surat, while a 67-year-old was similarly injured and a youngster's tongue was cut by a kite string. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (R) participate in the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University on January 14, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Scott Olson | Getty Images As the Democrats battle for the 2020 nomination, a recurrent theme has cropped up: Who can excite the base and drive turnout in November. President Donald Trump seems to be betting his race entirely on this base turnout strategy. Since voters are now seen as historically inelastic, this logic seems inescapable driving up your own turnout is easier than convincing anyone to switch sides. But choosing a candidate based on excitement may be a poor strategy for Democrats. The history of presidential elections suggests that candidates may have a limited role in pushing turnout. Compare one of the most charismatic candidates in US history with one of the least. Republican Theodore Roosevelt was pure excitement, while his Republican successor, William Howard Taft, was the polar opposite. And yet, turnout was higher for Taft's 1908 election than Roosevelt in 1904, and Taft and Roosevelt had almost the exact same total vote in their respective elections. The Democratic candidates in those elections may have made a difference the exciting William Jennings Bryan could have helped drive up turnout in 1908 while the Democrats nondescript 1904 nominee, Alton B. Parker did not. But neither Democrat was successful. It may not have been the politicians at all, but simply that 1908, after a serious recession, Americans may have felt more urgency about heading to the voting booth. Looking forward one election, we see another drop in turnout. One of the most exciting races in US history happened in 1912 when four notable candidates faced off in November. Taft ran as a Republican, Roosevelt as a Progressive (Bull Moose), and the popular Woodrow Wilson as a Democrat, along with prominent Socialist Eugene Debs. Trump's behavior in office and impeachment may ensure that voters from both parties will come out no matter who the Democrats select. Even so, this election drew an even lower voter turnout percentage than either of the previous two races. What explains this result? Perhaps the fact that Wilson was seen as a shoe-in, which may have kept people home. History shows turnout ebbs and flows and the reasons are not clear. Charisma, or at least our post-facto view, may have less impact than imagined. For example, Ronald Reagan, arguably the last president to win a real blowout, had unimpressive turnouts. The 1976 Jimmy Carter/Gerald Ford race had a higher turnout ratio than either of Reagan's victories. Bill Clinton's triumph in 1992 also was higher. Reagan received a bounty of votes, but it may have been swing voters from those famous Reagan Democrats. Even when turnout rises, it frequently drops in the next election. The elections for Eisenhower, Clinton and Obama saw spikes, but in their reelections turnout dropped back. In their reelections, Eisenhower and Clinton saw increases in their vote, but it may have simply been party switchers. Most notably in 1996, a large chunk of Ross Perot's 1992 voters switched to the incumbent Democrat. Obama actually ended up losing three and a half million votes between 2008 and 2012. What may drive up turnout is the perception that the vote will count because the race will be close. That certainly could explain 1976, the Kennedy-Nixon 1960 election, Bush-Kerry in 2004 and 1916 between Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes, all of which saw a turnout bump. But in other cases, we've seen voter turnout drop despite a close battle. The 2000 Bush-Gore race saw lower turnout than in 1992 or 2004. Similarly, the close races in 1948, 1968 and 2016 saw either a drop in turnout or virtually the same level of participation. A close race WASHINGTON - In a story January 15, 2020, about the seven House lawmakers chosen to prosecute the Houses impeachment case at the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Rep. Zoe Lofgren was a House Judiciary Committee staffer during the impeachment inquiry against President Richard Nixon. Lofgren worked for a Democratic congressman who was on the committee at that time. Images of two Apple iPhones that the Pensacola naval base shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, tried to destroy are on display at a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington on Jan, 13, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Apple Rejects DOJ Claims That It Did Not Assist in Unlocking iPhones Used by Pensacola Shooter Apple has pushed back against the Justice Departments (DOJ) claim that it did not provide substantive assistance to investigators to help them unlock two iPhones used by a shooter who opened fire at members of the U.S. armed services at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, last month. We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation, the tech giant said in a lengthy statement to media outlets. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough, and are ongoing. On Monday, Attorney General William Barr urged the tech company to help the department unlock the two iPhones used by Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, a flight student at Pensacola who killed three U.S. sailors and wounded eight other Americans when he opened fire at the naval base on Dec. 6. We have asked Apple for their help in unlocking the shooters iPhones. So far Apple has not given us any substantive assistance, Barr said during a press conference announcing the findings of the Pensacola investigation. This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that investigators be able to get access to digital evidence once they have obtained a court order based on probable cause. We call on Apple and other technology companies to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks, he added. U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 13, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Barr said FBI experts were able to fix the two damaged iPhones so that they are operational, however, they have not been able to unlock the password-protected and encrypted phones. One of the phones was shot with a bullet during the attack. Both phones are engineered to make it virtually impossible to unlock them without the password, he said. Apple said in the statement that they had been producing a wide variety of information associated with the investigation since the FBIs first request on Dec. 6. The company said it had provided information on iCloud backups, account information, and transactional data for multiple accounts as part of the requests. We responded to each request promptly, often within hours, sharing information with FBI offices in Jacksonville, Pensacola, and New York. The queries resulted in many gigabytes of information that we turned over to investigators. In every instance, we responded with all of the information that we had, the company said in their statement. Apple said they were first learned about the existence of a second iPhone and that the FBI was unable to access either iPhone on Jan. 6. After receiving a subpoena for information for the second iPhone two days later, the company responded within hours, Apple said. The company added they were continuing to help the FBI and that their engineering teams had recently spoken to the department on the phone to provide additional technical assistance. In response to Apples statement, a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement to media outlets that Apple designed these phones and implemented their encryption. Its a simple, front-door request: will Apple help us get into the shooters phones or not? President Donald Trump also weighed in on the issue, rebuking the tech company for refusing to unlock phones used by killers. We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, Trump wrote in a Twitter post. Federal officials are calling the Dec. 6 shooting an act of terrorism. They say investigators found evidence that Alshamrani was motivated by jihadist ideology, including a social media message posted on Sept. 11 last year, stating, The countdown has begun, and other anti-American, anti-Israel, and jihadi messages on social media, as recent as two hours before his attack. Alshamrani also visited the 911 Memorial in New York City during the Thanksgiving weekend. Investigators say they are still continuing their probe and are looking for evidence of co-conspirators in the attack. Justice Department officials said Apple has provided timely and substantial assistance to other parts of the criminal investigation such as responding to warrants issued to iCloud accounts. However, they added that Apple has not indicated they are willing to assist the FBI in gaining access to the phones after the bureau asked the company for help. Imperial Valley News Center The Restoration of Deterrence: The Iranian Example Palo Alto, California - The Restoration of Deterrence: The Iranian Example: Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State at The Hoover Institution at Stanford University. MR GILLIGAN: This is all pretty elaborate, isnt it? (Laughter.) Well, good morning. My name is Tom Gilligan. I am the director of the Hoover Institution. I want to its my great pleasure to welcome you all to listen to a message from our chief diplomat from the United States. I especially want to thank the students for being here, our future policy makers, for taking time to join us in this important dialogue. For those of you who arent familiar with the Hoover Institution, were a research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity and national security and democratic governance. Throughout our nearly 100-year history, our work has directly led to policies that produce greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and around the world. The Hoover Institution and Stanford University have long served as conveners of policy discussions promoting a platform for civil discourse, and I am pleased that so many of you took the time today to be here to engage in thoughtful conversation on some of our countrys most pressing foreign policy issues. Ive always known I work at a very special place because where else could you say that we have a secretary of states club? Our 60th and 66th secretaries of state, George Shultz and Condoleezza Rice, are Hoover fellows, and Condi is going to moderate our Q&A session today. Thank you, Condi, for doing that. And our guest today, of course, may soon join our club. Hes a southern California native, so stay tuned, well see how that goes. (Laughter.) Our guest today graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as a cavalry officer patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He also served with a second squadron, 7th Cavalry in the United States Air excuse me, United States Armys 4th Infantry Division. After leaving active duty, he graduated from the Harvard Law School having been an editor on the Harvard Law Review. He founded Thayer Aerospace, where he served as the CEO for more than a decade and later became president of Century International. Prior to joining the administration, he was serving in his fourth term as a congressman from Kansass 4th Congressional District. From January of 2017 to April of 2018, he served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. On April 26th of 2018, he was sworn in as our nations 70th secretary of state. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Applause.) SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, all. Good to see you. Everybody having a good day? Its hard to be unhappy when the weather is this great. I vaguely remember from my time growing up in Southern California that every day was like this. Im also mindful Tom, thanks for the kind introduction. Im also mindful when I get introduced as the 70th secretary of state, that President Trump is the 45th president, so theres a lot more turnover in my gig. (Laughter.) And I want to recognize a few special people. Secretary Rice I know is with us. Tom, thank you for being here. My former colleague and dear friend General McMaster is with us, too. Its always great to get back here and be with you in California. You have this incredible privilege to study at this remarkable institution. One of your early graduates was a great American for which this institution, the Hoover Institution, was named. He deserves our praise for revering America in all of its exceptional splendor. He went from being an orphan in Iowa to the president of the United States. He was a brilliant mining engineer. I graduated as an engineer myself. He traveled the world from Australia to China and earned a fortune through his own hard work. When the First World War broke out, he used his talent to coordinate the effort of tens of thousands of Americans stranded in Europe and helped them get back to America. His success there led him to spearhead the effort to save Europe from starvation both during and after World War I. He embodied everything in the American humanitarian efforts that we kept at and keep at for decades. In 1948, at age of 74, he spoke at his birthplace on what America had given to him as a poor orphan boy. He said, quote, I have had every honor to which any man could aspire. There is no place on the whole earth except in America where all of the sons of man can have this chance in life. I feel that way often myself. America is a truly special place. I dont want to talk about the actions of just these past handful of days and weeks, but the things that our administration has done to try and keep America safe and to protect each and every one of you. On the 3rd of this month, we took one of the worlds deadliest terrorists off the battlefield for good. Many of you are probably aware of the millions of displaced persons and those who have been killed in Syria, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the starvation and cholera epidemics in Yemen, Shiite militias destabilizing democracies in both Lebanon and Iraq along the Shia Crescent. The Iranian regime and its proxies under the direct supervision of Qasem Soleimani have nurtured all of that misery. Its why thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate when they heard Soleimani was dead. Many more would have undoubtedly joined them, but for the fear that the remaining Iranian-backed thugs, many of which were at the gates of the American embassy in the days before, would have beaten them or jailed them or killed them. Right now you can see it the Iranian people are in the streets. They are likewise there in astounding numbers in spite of enormous personal risk to themselves. They are burning posters and billboards with Soleimanis face on them and chanting, Soleimani is a murderer. They know he was one of the key architects of their oppression. And the United States is with them in their calls for freedom and justice, in their justified anger at the ayatollah and his minions and what they have destroyed inside of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I want to repeat President Trumps insistence that Iran not harm a single protestor. I hope everyone will do the same. Weve called on our allies across the world and the region to repeat this to them. There is no terrorist except Usama bin Ladin who has more American blood on his hands than did Qasem Soleimani, that killed more than 600 of our American patriots. I knew some of these young men. Hes the mastermind of the most recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, including the mastermind of the attack that took place that killed an American on December 27th of the year past. He ordered the December 31st assault on the embassy, the people that work for the United States Department of State in Baghdad. And I can assure you that the world is safer as a result of the fact that he no longer poses that very risk. But I want to lay this out in context of what weve been trying to do. There is a bigger strategy to this. President Trump and those of us in his national security team are re-establishing deterrence real deterrence against the Islamic Republic. In strategic terms, deterrence simply means persuading the other party that the costs of a specific behavior exceed its benefits. It requires credibility; indeed, it depends on it. Your adversary must understand not only do you have the capacity to impose costs but that you are, in fact, willing to do so. I was a young soldier back during the Cold War. You can have the greatest army in the world, but it doesnt matter if you are not prepared to use it to achieve your strategic objectives. As one of your scholars here, Victor Davis Hanson, said, Deterrence is hard to establish and easy to lose. And lets be honest. For decades, U.S. administrations of both political parties never did enough against Iran to get the deterrence that is necessary to keep us all safe. The JCPOA itself the nuclear deal made things worse. It enabled that regime to create wealth, it opened up revenue streams for the ayatollahs to build up the Shiite militia networks, the very networks the very networks that killed an American and imposed enormous risk at our to our embassy in Baghdad. Rather than blocking those efforts, the deal put Iran on a clear pathway to a nuclear weapon as well, something President Trump began his remarks by saying would never happen on our watch. So what did we do? We put together a campaign of diplomatic isolation, economic pressure, and military deterrence. The goal is two-fold. First, we wanted to deprive the regime of resources, resources it needs to perpetrate its malign activity around the world. And second, we just want Iran to behave like a normal nation. Just be like Norway, right? (Laughter.) Diplomatically, allies and partners have joined us. They are today patrolling the Straits of Hormuz alongside of us in the Persian Gulf to stop Iranian attacks on shipping. Let us not forget how many ships the Iranians pulled from the straits over the past month. Germany, France, Italy have all put travel bans on a company called Mahan Air. Its an Iranian airline that ferries military Iranian military assets and weapons to the battle zones. Argentina and the United Kingdom have both now declared Hizballah a terrorist organization. And you have seen finally, too, the economic pressure that we have put in place to cut off roughly 80 percent of the Iranian oil revenues. We are determined to get at that last 20 percent, too. President Rouhani himself said that we have denied the Iranian regime some $200 billion in lost foreign income and investment as a result of our activities. This is money that would have in large measure gone to support the very activities that would have put you and your fellow citizens at risk. And you can see it, too. The Iranian people are increasingly angry at their own government for stealing their wealth and for the sake of violently spreading the regime at enormous cost to them. On the military side, weve warned the Iranians repeatedly Ive done so personally myself that an attack that took American lives would not be tolerated. And they tested us, as they had tested previous administrations as well many times before. Past laxity had emboldened them. But on December 27th, at Soleimanis direction, we changed that. On the 31st, Iranian-backed militias attacked our embassy in Baghdad and we changed that calculus for them. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it perhaps best. Had we not taken that strike against Qasem Soleimani, our leadership the recommendation that we made to President Trump we would have been culpably negligent had we not made that recommendation, imposed a significant cost on the regime for their bad decision. Qasem Soleimani discovered our resolve to defend American lives. And Iran hit back, and were grateful that no lives were lost, and we will never downplay the seriousness of any attack on the United States or its forces. But judging from the type and intensity of the strike, the regime certainly must now understand what we will do if they ever again pose risk to American lives. If Iran escalates, we will end it on our terms. President Trump reinforced that deterrence when he gave a set of remarks this past week. And these days Iran is making noise about leaving the nuclear deal. Theres a reason that the President had as his first words in those remarks to the nation that said, quote, As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. That declaration is backed by the most effective deterrence capability in the world. And our sanctions will continue until the regime stops its terrorist activity and commits to never having nuclear weapons and permits a verification regime which can give the world confidence that that will not take place. We now enjoy a great position of strength regarding Iran. Its as good as it has ever been, and Iran has never been in the place that it is today. We have re-established deterrence, but we know its not everlasting, that risk remains. We are determined not to lose that deterrence. In all cases, we have to do this. We have to do this to defend freedom and liberty around the world. Thats the whole point of President Trumps work, to make our military the strongest its ever been. We saw, not just in Iran, but in other places, too, where American deterrence was weak. We watched Russias 2014 occupation of the Crimea and support for aggression against Ukraine because deterrence had been undermined. We have resumed lethal support to the Ukrainian military. Chinas island building, too, in the South China Sea, and its brazen attempts to coerce American allies undermined deterrence. The Trump administration has ramped up naval exercises in the South China Sea, alongside our allies and friends and partners throughout the region. You saw, too, Russia ignored a treaty. We withdrew from the INF with the unanimous support of our NATO allies because there was only one party complying with a two-party agreement. We think this, again, restores credibility and deterrence to protect America. It doesnt happen alone. Thats why the President has insisted that NATO members do their part, share their burden. Some $400 billion by the end of 2024 will be added to the NATO arsenal to protect freedom around the world as a direct result of Americas efforts to encourage our partners to reinforce what it is we are all trying to accomplish together. For years, too, China has restricted access for American products in its markets, while demanding access for their stuff here. I was a small business owner. I had a small office that was in Shanghai. Weve made clear that were going to have a fair and reciprocal trading arrangement with China. Well demand it. I hope, here in the next handful of hours, we sign the first part of what will be a significant agreement which will improve the lives of American citizens, raise wages for citizens here at home, and increase the economic relationship between our two countries on a set of terms that work for both China and for the United States. There is a second mission, too. China has stolen massive quantities of American innovation, innovation created at campuses right like this one Im standing on everything from genetically engineered crop seeds to self-driving car technology. They stole it. They didnt have to invest or take risk. Were making progress to make sure that the next part of the deal will improve on the IP protections that are in Phase One of the Chinese trade deal. Ill end here because I want to take as many questions from you as I can. Look, we dont know how the Iranian regime will react as we continue to rebuild deterrence. If we make the right choice and return to a place where we have mutual respect between us, it will be a good thing for the world. We hope that the Islamic Republic of Irans leadership shares our view, and we hope that we can achieve that for the betterment of security here at home and for stability in the Middle East and throughout the world. Thank you all for having me here today. I look forward to taking questions from you. (Applause.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, number 70. Thank you very much. Welcome to Stanford. Welcome to the Hoover Institution. I want the really important and difficult questions to come from the students, but Im going to take the moment just to ask you one, which is that many of these students are students of international politics, and they have studied precepts developed by a person who is actually a faculty member here, a man named Alexander George. It was called coercive diplomacy. And the idea was that you do set deterrence, and you set the terms of whats not acceptable, but then you open pathways for diplomacy. So can you talk a little bit as the chief diplomat about how you think now about trying to open pathways for diplomacy now that weve set the table in the way that we have? SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So I could certainly talk about that, but it didnt begin with these last few days, this effort at diplomacy, and its not even just with Iran. I could speak about that in the challenges that we have in Venezuela today, the challenges that we confront in other parts of the world. In every case, we have endeavored to make this first a diplomatic outcome. It is always best to resolve these things through a set of conversations where people express the reality. One of the risks and you would know this one of the risks is that you go have a meeting and you just sit and lie to each other. Right? You say nice things. You have a conversation thats polite and you go back and you bang heads again. Weve tried to just be candid. Weve said, Hey look, the deals that we had with China for an awful long time, its on us. We allowed this to take place. No more. Heres how were going to think about our commercial relationship between our two countries. We think thats helped get us to a better place. With Iran, too. Everyone theres lots of talk that says, Well, theres no communication. Thats not true. I think the Iranians clearly understood in long before these past few weeks, how were thinking about the strategic relationship and Irans place in the Middle East. We want them to be safe and secure. We want a prosperous Iranian people. But theres certain things you simply cannot do, including develop their nuclear weapons systems. In each place, its the case that we have first delivered American expectations about how we think they can fit into what works for the United States of America, and weve done that through diplomacy. And then to your point, when that fails, when you when they move past a boundary that youve set, it requires you to respond to that in a way that convinces them that you actually meant what you said. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. All right, over to the students here. I see right here in the middle, in blue shirt, and they will get a microphone to you. And if you can identify yourself and what youre studying. QUESTION: Hi, Im Bryce Tuttle. Im a political science major. Sorry. So you started your remarks talking about supporting the protesters who are fighting for hopefully democracy in Iran. What is your administration doing to fight for the people who are also fighting for democracy in Hong Kong? SECERTARY POMPEO: Yeah. So you neednt look no further than the Presidents remarks at the United Nations, the remarks that Ive made repeatedly and other senior American officials as well. Theres a much longer conversation to be had about China, but with respect to Hong Kong in particular, our policy has been simply this: The Chinese Government made a commitment to Hong Kong. That commitment still exists. It sits at the UN as well, so its a commitment they made not to the United States or, frankly, even just to the people of Hong Kong. Its a commitment that they made to the people of the world to honor this central understanding that there would be increased autonomy for the people of Hong Kong, and we have done our best to draw a set of boundaries for what we think would be acceptable. I think the President talked about this at some length when the protests first broke out and there were hints of violence at the front end of those protests. I think weve been unequivocal about our support that says the Chinese Government made a commitment that there would be higher level of autonomy there, and its our expectation the Chinese Communist Party will live up to that. SECRETARY RICE: Yes, right here in front, and again, identify yourself and what you study. QUESTION: Hi, thank you for coming here. Its such a privilege to hear you speak. Im Gabby Conforti (ph). Im a junior studying political science. Last week, I was reading an article on the death of Soleimani which stated in death he may have achieved what he never could have in life, which is forcing the Americans out of Iraq. Can you please comment on the future plans for American soldiers and contractors stationed in Iraq? Thank you. SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. Thanks. Yes, Ive seen that mantra repeated. Ive also seen the mantra repeated that says that the strike that we took would unite the Iranian people around the flagpole. I will let history reflect whether that turns out to ultimately be true. I think the Iranian peoples hearts beat for freedom. And Im not naive. The Basij and the Iranian thugs will do everything they can to beat these protests back. We saw tear gas; there were reports of violence even past that yesterday. I understand the challenge that is presented both to the Iranians and to the Iraqis, who are looking for a sovereign, independent nation. And so our view is this: We want to work with all of the various sectarian interests in Iraq. We weve been doing this before. We will continue to do this. How, ultimately, our force posture will be resolved inside of Iraq, we will work along the duly elected leaders in Iraq to get to the right place, but Ive probably had 50 phone calls with various Iraqis over just these past 10 days Sunni leaders, Kurdish leaders, Shia leaders from a broad spectrum of the Shia community as well. They wont all say so publicly, but privately, they all welcome the fact that America is still there executing its counterterror campaign, making sure that Daesh, ISIS doesnt reemerge in the theater, and providing an opportunity for the Iraqis to gain the sovereignty and independence that most Iraqis want. We hope that there will be a day when they can move past the sectarian strife that has plagued them since you were the secretary of state and even before that. It is not an easy solution, but were committed to seeing that through, caveated by this: I have been fully supportive of President Trumps effort to reduce the American footprint throughout the region. Theres enormous risk to American lives. As we sit here today, within the last 48 hours, there were strikes at Balad Air Force Base by the Shia militias formerly under the control of Qasem Soleimani. That risk is not behind us. And so to the extent we can use less American treasure and put fewer American lives at risk, we ought to do that. We ought to make sure we understand precisely what Americas interests are, and we should preserve those. And I think we can achieve both of these goals reduce our footprint, reduce our risk, while still achieving the American objectives in the region, including in Iraq. SECRETARY RICE: Yes, right here, and then youll be next, and then Im going to look to this side, so put your hands up if youve got a question. QUESTION: Hi, thank you so much for coming. My names John; Im a senior studying economics. One huge fan as well, but one thing I wanted to sort of ask about was back in April of 2019, there were plans to label the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Back in 2015, you sponsored the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act. SECRETARY POMPEO: I vividly remember this. Yes, Im reminded about that. QUESTION: And so one thing I was just curious about is we there was a big media flare-up over that back in April, but then we kind of never heard the follow-up on that, so I was just wondering, to the extent you can, if you could comment on where the status of that is currently and if theres an ongoing effort. SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. I appreciate the question. I always full disclosure I was one of I think eight members of Congress who sponsored legislation asking the previous administration to designate the Muslim Brotherhood broadly as a terrorist organization. The administrations still looking at this, trying to evaluate, trying to make sure that we get it right. It is its perhaps a bit more nuanced than I appreciated as a member of Congress from Kansas. SECRETARY RICE: Its always more nuanced when youre Secretary of State. (Laughter.) SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, its its that is a very Im mindful all my old friends always throw bombs, and I welcome that but remind them its a complicated world. So were still trying to figure out how to get that right. There are undoubtedly elements of the Muslim Brotherhood that are properly designated as terrorists. We just want to make sure that we get it right, that we calibrate this appropriately, that we make sure that weve got the legal foundation for this. This is something that Secretary Rice would know. We talk about these designations and it seems as if its just a decision that we made. In fact, the work thats done to make sure that there is a legal basis for this, that theres a statutory legal basis for this, the work to make sure that we got the dataset right before we designate an individual or a group as a terrorist organization is deep and robust and important. We got to get it right, and were working our way through this process as well. I dont know how that will ultimately be resolved, but I do know there is real risk from the Muslim Brotherhood in many nations throughout the Middle East and we ought to do our part, I hope alongside our European friends as well. SECRETARY RICE: Yes. QUESTION: Hi, my names Nathaniel. Im a senior studying international relations and getting my masters in communications. I was just wondering, given the cold war thats happening right now in the Middle East between Saudi and Iran, like, how between Sunni and Shia as well how does the U.S. and the administration view their policy towards Iran as playing into that cold war? And how do we plan to undermine Chinese economic interests in countries that do have Shia majorities and are ruled by Shia groups at the same time? SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, I wouldnt describe it as a cold war. Missiles landed at an Aramco facility taking 5 percent of the worlds oil supply off the market like that, Id does not seem very cold. Certainly to the people who were working at that facility, it didnt. So I think we are Iran is engaged in a kinetic war against its Middle East co-inhabitants that is real and serious, and its part of the problem set that weve been confronting since we came in. We took a very different approach than the previous administration. Its not political. We just had a very different judgment about the risks and how to resolve those risks in Americas favor in the Middle East than the previous administration. Of all the things we did, its probably the biggest, sharpest change we made in policy that you can see playing out on the ground. As for Chinese influence in the Middle East, they want to have political influence there. We brook no ill towards them if theyre trying to have economic engagement. We want the Chinese economy to be successful. But Ive been pretty clear about the risks that come when theres not a straight-up transparent deal with the Chinese. And I think you see countries in Southeast Asia, countries in Africa today recognizing that some of the transactions that took place have proven to be debt traps and have put these countries in the political thrall of the Chinese Communist Party, something that they didnt anticipate, they dont want, and now they are coming to the United States to help figure out a path back. And were so were mindful as they do these things, kinds of things in the Middle East, a different dynamic, these are wealthy nations as opposed to some of these other countries that needed Chinese money. We try to make sure that theyre aware of those risks. They are sovereign nations that get to make their own choices. We simply tell them how America will respond if they act in a way that we believe is inconsistent with the things that matter most to us. Does that answer your question, at least in part? SECRETARY RICE: Yeah. The black t-shirt back here. SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, right here. SECRETARY RICE: Shes right next to you. Yes. Shes right next to you, the black and white t-shirt, yeah. There we go. QUESTION: Hi. My name is Anat Peled. Im a senior studying history SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning. QUESTION: and I served in Israeli intelligence. So Im struck by the SECRETARY POMPEO: Im not sure Im allowed to talk to you. I got to figure this out. (Laughter.) QUESTION: So you spoke about an imminent threat that was thwarted, but Im struck by the fact that Americans have little faith in the intelligence agencies, especially since the Iraq war. Why should the American people trust the intelligence about an imminent threat, especially in light of the Presidents own distrust for the agencies? SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So Ill just give you my personal analysis on that. Its it is certainly that, having had the privilege to serve as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency for a year and a half the first year and a half of this administration, I watched these professionals do their level best to get it right every day. Thats not the the Intelligence Community makes mistakes all the time, right? Happens. But the depth and breadth, the intellect, the capacity and reach of Americas intelligence capability is enormous. They do their level best to present this accurately. We do our best, indeed, to translate their products into a situation where we can talk about this publicly. That is often difficult because we have to preserve the capacity and the resources that were put in place. We cant risk them to share something with the American people. We have to protect them and preserve them because weve still got folks in harms way even as we sit here today. But I can say to the American people you should have enormous confidence in the Intelligence Community that their efforts are genuine, they are real, they are authentic, they are trying to provide good datasets to now Im on the other side as the policy advisor for the President receiving this intelligence, informing our decision making. There was enormous work done over the last 12 months to put us in a place where the President had every opportunity to make a good decision when the risk was high. My judgment is the President made the right call. Its what I recommended to him. There was, in fact, a set of imminent attacks that were being plotted by Qasem Soleimani. It was unmistakable. I mean, you heard the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff say that if we hadnt done this, we would have been negligent. Its not a political act. This is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley. The Intelligence Community said the same thing. It was their view that the risks were real and growing, and that the actions that we took that day reduced that risk. It never eliminates it, but it reduced that risk. And I hope the American people can see our intelligence professionals for what they truly are. I know that I certainly do. SECRETARY RICE: One final question right here. Yes. QUESTION: Thank you so much. Jenny Tangeman (ph). Im a second-year MBA student. I would just love to hear more whats being done on the diplomatic front so that we are able to reduce our military presence in the Middle East in the future? SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So theres where to begin lots of work. I spoke, I think, with nearly all of my Middle East ambassadors on Saturday morning. I spoke with Ambassador Abizaid, Saudi Arabia, I spoke with my Ambassador Richardson in Lebanon, spoke to Ambassador Satterfield in Turkey, I spoke with our ambassador in Bahrain. I we are working diligently to build out a set of understandings that take down risk. You will continue to see our efforts that relate to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That hasnt drawn much attention lately. We still working very diligently on it. Mr. Kushners leading the effort. Were at the State Department enormously supportive of that, to try and take this historic challenge, right. Theres been conflict in the Middle East how many of you are ancient Middle Eastern scholars in the room? This is theres nothing new about this. But were trying to create the conditions and weve had some success. Ill give you examples. Back in May of last year, we held an event in Warsaw, the first time that you had Gulf states, Arabs sitting with the Israelis all identifying the identical risk to the region. It was historic. Weve watched these countries work together in ways that they have not done before. Theres still conflict. The Qataris and the Saudis and the Emiratis have their challenges, their disagreements. But our diplomacy is aimed to try and create a set of conditions as the President says, always in the first instance of protecting the people in this room, protecting America, but also understanding that if we get this right, we can reduce the total effort that America needs to put in this, and that means bringing in countries from all across the world to be part of this collective effort. I think weve made progress. Theres awful lot more to do. SECRETARY RICE: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for joining us here at Stanford at the Hoover Institution. I want you to know that we know how difficult these jobs are, and whether one agrees or disagrees with outcomes from time to time, I know that you do it in a great spirit of patriotism and love for our country, and so thank you for that. And thank you to the students who all showed up early and had their coffee and donuts so that they could participate. So thanks for being here. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you all very much for being with me this morning. ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shining a light on the types of hurdles and unfair tactics that timeshare developers have become known for, Reed Hein & Associates (doing business as Timeshare Exit Team) successfully negotiated a path out of the timeshare contracts of approximately 1,300 customers of Orange Lake Country Club in Orlando, Florida. These frustrated Orange Lake customers had reached out to Timeshare Exit Team for assistance, often after other companies, including so-called "resale" companies, had failed to deliver on promises. In 2017, Orange Lake brought a complaint in a Florida federal court against Timeshare Exit Team alleging that the company "conspired" with attorneys it employs to assist unhappy Orange Lake timeshare owners in exiting their timeshare contracts. On Monday, however, Orange Lake filed a Notice of Complete Settlement with Timeshare Exit Team, to avoid an Orlando jury trial slated to start that day. In the settlement, Orange Lake agreed that its "paid-in-full" timeshare owners who'd been working with Timeshare Exit Team can now exit their timeshares through Orange Lake's "Horizons" program without having to represent any "financial hardships, health issues or other unforeseen difficulties," as owners seeking out of their contracts via Horizons typically would. Many of Timeshare Exit Team's customers are burdened with a mortgage and/or lien on their timeshare and are anxious that a foreclosure might cause them to go into collections. In fact, some states allow timeshare developers to seek a judgment against a timeshare owner who falls into default for a "deficiency"that is, the amount of money that the foreclosure sale proceeds fall short of the total mortgage debtfollowing a foreclosure. Orange Lake owners who retained Timeshare Exit Team prior to the settlement will no longer face any type of monetary judgment as long as they remain in communication with Reed Hein and Orange Lake. These frustrated timeshare owners will receive a proposal to resolve their mortgage or lien, a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or in some cases, an exit through foreclosure. Prior to the settlement, three of the claims filed by Orange Lake were successfully challenged by Timeshare Exit Team, including a claim of Tortious Interference with Advantageous Business Relationship as well as two claims of False Advertising. U.S. District Court Judge Wendy W. Berger ruled on the latter claim that "none of the advertisements at issue direct the consumer to cease making payments nor are the allegedly false or misleading statements intended to induce such an action." Shortly before trial, Judge Berger issued an order advising Orange Lake that she had "serious doubts" about their "ability to prove causation and damages" at trial. "This is a major win for consumers, who can now rest a little easier thanks to this agreement," said Brandon Reed, a founding member of the Coalition to Reform Timeshare and CEO of Timeshare Exit Team. "We've always pledged to take care of our customers, and with this settlement, we're going to provide an expedited path to exit for the Orange Lake customers that we started working with who will now additionally be able to avoid any monetary judgment." Timeshare Exit Team, the leading timeshare exit company in the U.S., has successfully assisted more than 20,000 people in getting out of their timeshares since its founding in 2012, despite pushback from an industry that brought in more than $10 billion last year. In the face of desperate spin and frivolous legal action from leading developers, Timeshare Exit Team has continued to live up to its promise of ethically and transparently helping consumers who have felt tricked and trapped by an industry that is largely and dangerously unregulated. "Developers have put consumers through years of stress due to timeshare purchases that owners often go on to regret," said Reed. "We're going to continue to fight on behalf of these consumers and will not stop until the industry changes. At a bare minimum, developers must pledge to adopt the Timeshare Bill of Rights that was put forth by the Coalition to Reform Timeshare." About Timeshare Exit Team Timeshare Exit Team is the industry leader in helping people exit their unwanted timeshares. Understanding this hardship, Timeshare Exit Team started in 2012 with one goal in mind: help consumers find financial and emotional freedom from their timeshare situation. To date, it has helped more than 20,000 timeshare owners exit their timeshare contracts. For more information, visit the company online at https://timeshareexitteam.com. SOURCE Timeshare Exit Team Related Links https://timeshareexitteam.com Distressing footage shows a two-year-old momentarily 'dying' in her mother's arms because her heart stops beating when she gets too upset. Bethany Davis was filmed going limp during the bizarre episode before her mother, Natalie Davis, 31, lays her down on the ground. After a couple of seconds, Bethany wakes up again and starts to cry. The incident, which was captured on a 'nanny cam' in the family's home in Mesa, Arizona, is one of just 12 occasions on which her heart has stopped beating like this. Fear, sadness or pain can interrupt signals between Bethany's otherwise healthy brain and heart, causing her to pass out and her heart to stop. In November 2019, the toddler was diagnosed with a condition called vasovagal syncope, which causes her to lose consciousness in response to a trigger. This then leads to sinus arrest or pause, in which the sinus node in the heart stops generating the electrical impulses which make the heart beat. A medical device has recorded her heart stopping for up to five seconds. In longer attacks, Mrs Davis and her husband Paul Davis, 33, have watched in horror as their little girl turns blue and her 'stiff' body convulses. Now the concerned parents fear telling their daughter off or allowing her to play with her siblings or in a day care centre without them there. Distressing footage shows two-year-old Bethany Davis momentarily 'dying' in her mother's arms - because her heart stops beating when she gets too upset. Natalie Davis, 31, lays her daughter down on the ground so she can recover This shocking incident is just one of 12 times Bethany, of Mesa Arizona, has 'died' because her heart has stopped beating. Cardiology tests (pictured) have found that fear, sadness or pain can trigger a miscommunication between Bethany's otherwise healthy heart and brain, causing her to pass out and her heart to stop Mrs Davis and her husband Paul Davis, 33, parents to five children, worry their toddler is being robbed of her childhood as they can't help but panic every time she wants to run or play Mrs Davis, a full-time mother, said: 'It's the scariest thing. My kid is in my arms lifeless and I can't help her. 'When the episodes first started I would go into full panic mode and bawl my eyes out. 'I've always considered myself a calm person but I'd be the crazy person calling 911 and they would have to ask me to calm down because they couldn't understand me. 'Before an episode, Bethany gets this panicked look on her face then she just quits breathing. Her whole body goes stiff and she turns blue and sometimes she starts jerking. 'Her heart has stopped 12 times that we know of. It's triggered when she gets scared or gets hurt and it can be a big or a little thing that causes it. 'You can't surprise her or even yell her name too loud. I'm too scared to ever tell her off.' Bethany had been completely healthy and happy until suffering her first attack in May last year after bumping her head while playing with her three-year-old sister, Jude. After rushing over, Mrs Davis watched Bethany suddenly stop crying, stop breathing and collapse, so she frantically phoned for an ambulance. She said: 'I'll never forget the first time Bethany had an episode. It was like any other little bump and she started crying then suddenly she just stopped crying. Bethany's episode was triggered when she got upset and started crying Mrs Davis cradles and lays her daughter down on the ground (pictured) like she has done many times before. After a couple of seconds, Bethany starts to come to and cry 'Her mouth dropped open and she stopped making any noise and then she just quit breathing.' When the ambulance arrived just three minutes later, Bethany was back to normal and tests showed her vitals were good. After a trip to urgent care, doctors put the episode down as a breath-holding spell and told Mr and Mrs Davis not to worry as Bethany would likely 'grow out of it'. After another incident at the start of September, Bethany was referred to a neurologist who couldn't find anything wrong with the little girl's brain, leading him to the same conclusion. It is not uncommon for children to hold their breath when they are afraid or upset and some might do it for so long that they faint. Bethany has always been completely healthy and happy until her first attack in May last year after bumping her head while playing with her sister Jude, three. She bumped her head and suddenly collapsed, something doctors put down to a 'breath-holding spell' Bethany's parents described the terror of hearing their children call for them because "Bethany's dead" when the she has had an episode in front of her scared and confused siblings. Pictured L-R, Triston Matthews, 13, Bethany, Jude Davis, three, and Lily Davis, 10 WHAT IS VASOVAGAL SYNCOPE AND SINUS PAUSE? Vasovagal syncopy is common and can affect anyone. It means that the blood pressure drops too low and makes the patient faint. Between 1.8 and four per cent of people are thought to suffer from some sort of fainting condition and vasovagal syncope is the most common. Although the exact cause is not fully understood, it is often a temporary problem affecting the autonomic nervous system the bodys control centre. Certain triggers affect the nerve messages which cause the heart rate and blood pressure to lower. This can make the person feel weak, nauseous, sweaty and light-headed which then can lead to loss of consciousness. This can happen without any warning. Sinus arrest or pause, in which a part of the heart called the sinus node does not generate electrical impulses, can last from a couple of seconds to several minutes. Electrical impulses from the sinus node normally stimulate the heart tissue to contract and thus the heart to beat. When these impulses aren't generated, the heart stops beating. The signals are usually restored within seconds. Advertisement Mrs Davis said: 'The second time, she was walking towards me upset with her arms out ready for a hug and she just collapsed and turned blue. 'When the hospital and the neurologist told us they were breath-holding spells and she would grow out of them, I felt like a crazy person because I knew something else was wrong. 'It was like we were being told there was nothing they could do and Bethany would just keep having these episodes.' Mrs Davis was convinced there was something more going on and pushed for Bethany to be referred to a cardiologist. Tests revealed a glitch in the communication between Bethany's heart and brain when she experienced even the smallest amount of fear or pain. Mrs Davis said: 'When we got the referral to the cardiologist it was a huge relief because he didn't think it was breath-holding and he was taking it seriously but didn't think it was anything too serious. 'Then he called to tell us they'd recorded Bethany's heart had stopped for 4.8 seconds during an episode and 2.7 seconds while she was asleep and it terrified me. 'Such a small number of seconds seems like nothing normally but when it's your baby's heart stopping it's a big deal. 'It's like a reset button. There's a miscommunication between her brain and her heart and her heart stops. Then her brain sends a signal to get it going again.' Bethany was diagnosed in November with a form of fainting called vasovagal syncope. A medical device has recorded Bethany's heart stopping for up to five seconds. She is pictured with her sister, Jude, three Tests (pictured) revealed a glitch in the communication between Bethany's heart and brain when she experiences even the smallest amount of fear or pain Bethany had surgery on January 3 to place a loop recorder implant in her chest to feed the medics information 24/7 on Bethany's heart rate It causes the body to overreact to certain triggers, such as extreme emotional distress, the sight of blood or standing for long periods of time. The heart rate slows, causing blood pressure to drop lower. This then reduces blood flow to the brain and causes the person to faint. This, doctors say, makes her heart stop, a condition known as sinus arrest or pause. The sinus node in the heart stops generating the electrical impulses the heart needs to function. Electrical impulses from the sinus node normally stimulate the heart tissue to contract and make the organ beat. When these impulses aren't generated, the heart stops beating, which can last for between a couple of seconds and several minutes. Sinus arrest is more common in young people when they experience emotional distress. Bethany had surgery on January 3 to place a loop recorder implant in her chest to feed the medics 24/7 data about her heart rate. If the toddler's heart stops, Mrs Davis has a special device which she holds over her daughter's heart to send the hospital an alert. If Bethany's heart begins to stop for extended periods of time, she may need a pacemaker fitted but her parents are determined to exhaust all other options before such a 'life-changing' surgery. Mrs Davis said: 'We're praying it won't come to that. Bethany's heart is healthy and fitting a pacemaker will turn her heart to garbage. It's a life-changing surgery. 'And they only last 10 years at best so she'd need another one at 12 then another at 22. That's a whole lifetime of major surgeries.' Bethany may one day need a pacemaker. But this is the last option, Mrs Davis said Bethany lives with her parents, oldest brother Triston Matthews, 13, sisters Lily Davis, 10, and Jude Davis, three, and baby brother Elijah Davis, seven months. Bethany's parents described the terror of hearing their children call for them because 'Bethany's dead' when she has had an episode in front of her scared and confused siblings. Mrs Davis said: 'There have been times me and Paul haven't been in the room and our other kids come out screaming "Bethany's dead, she's dead" because she's having an episode and they don't understand. It's so scary. 'It's hard for her and it's hard for our other children because they don't understand and feel like all our attention is on Bethany. 'It sucks. We can't sent her to daycare and I can't get a job because I wouldn't trust anybody else with her. 'I worry about her all the time. It's robbing her of her childhood. 'If she's running or playing and trips even a tiny bit, I jump up and gasp because I'm scared she's going to have an episode. 'I'm too scared to let her away from my side at the park or go on play dates. When she's in her room, I'm constantly checking the camera we have in there to make sure she's okay.' The parents have installed cameras around their home so they can monitor Bethany at all times and rush to her if she suddenly collapses. Now, Mr and Mrs Davis want to get Bethany a medical support dog trained to alert them before an attack and keep her calm during and after the episodes. While a kind breeder has offered to donate a golden retriever puppy, Mrs Davis and Mr Davis, a supervise, are unable to cover the $7,000 (5,389) needed for specialist dog training and have set up a fundraising page. Mrs Davis said: 'Once he's trained, the dog will be able to alert us up to 45 minutes before Bethany is likely to have an episode and try to keep her calm. 'During an episode he'll lie on her to keep her on her side so she doesn't swallow her tongue or choke and then keep her calm after the episode when she is really disoriented.' To donate to Bethany's GoFundMe page click here. Five days earlier, a U.S. drone strike ordered by President Trump had killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Irans Quds Force, outside Baghdads international airport, setting off a war of words and, eventually, a retaliatory strike by Iran on bases in Iraq that housed U.S. troops. As the tensions spiraled, Iran announced it would no longer abide by limitations on its nuclear energy program placed under a deal it signed with world powers in 2015. More information Chemical explosion in Spain claims third victim Two people are dead and eight more injured as a result of two explosions at a chemical plant in Tarragona, in Spains northeastern region of Catalonia. The blasts triggered a fire and caused a residential building located two kilometers away to partially collapse. A 59-year-old man who was in his bedroom was crushed to death when the apartment above him collapsed after being hit by a one-ton piece of metal that went flying through the air from the force of the shockwave. Firefighters who found the item said it is probably a lid from the reactor at the plant. Eye witnesses had talked about a ball of fire flying through the air and crashing into a third-floor apartment. (see bottom box) The investigation continues into yesterday's deadly accident in an apartment in Torreforta. The metal piece that seems to have crashed into the building measures approximately 122x165x3 cm. An employee who was missing was found dead on Wednesday morning. Another worker remains in critical condition, medical services have reported. The blasts took place at Industrias Quimicas de Oxido de Etileno (IQOXE), a company that produces ethylene oxide, a highly flammable gas that is used to make detergents, solvents and plastics, among other products. The location of the chemical plant, which is in the Tarragona neighborhood of Torreforta, inside La Canonja Petrochemical Park. The first explosion took place at 6.40pm on Tuesday at the company plant in the Tarragona neighborhood of Torreforta, inside La Canonja Petrochemical Park, which is also home to Dow Chemicals Iberica and the oil and gas multinational Cepsa. There was a second blast at a transformation station located at the plant, said the Catalan head of interior affairs, Miquel Buch. The petrochemical park where the blasts took place is located in the triangle formed by the municipalities of Tarragona, Vilaseca and La Canonja. Soon later Civil Protection services issued alerts telling the residents of seven nearby municipalities to remain indoors, but the chemical accident systems were not activated, leading to some confusion. The Catalan government said that the company did not immediately alert authorities about the fact that there had been an explosion at the plant. The first warnings came from citizens, said a Civil Protection source. The Catalan premier, Quim Torra, visited the area and sent out a similar message: There is no toxic element. Spains prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in a Twitter message that he has offered Torra all necessary support. Fuerte EXPLOSION en un poligono petroquimico de Tarragona Footage of the blast at the chemical plant. Firefighters were still battling the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday, and had contained the flames coming out of an ethylene oxide tank where the blast originated. Railway service on the Tarragona-Reus and Tarragona-Port Aventura lines was canceled for over an hour on Tuesday, and roads near the site were cut off until 8pm. Witness accounts Los bomberos trabajan en la extincion del incendio en la petroquimica de Tarragona Firefighters work to put out the blaze (Spanish audio). Photo: atlas Maite Fonoll was inside a store located around two kilometers from the site when she heard an explosion. The entire building shook. It was really strong, she said over the phone. Customers immediately realized that something had happened at the petrochemical park. And when something happens there, we all start to shake with fear. There were bottlenecks on roads as people sought to drive away from the area in a hurry. Fonoll said there were no noticeable smells, and that nobody around her had trouble breathing normally. Source of the blast UGT, the main labor union at the IQOXE plant, said that the explosion involved ethylene oxide and that it probably originated in or near the reactor. According to the Health Ministrys Public Heath Committee, exposure to ethylene oxide can cause respiratory and eye irritation, two symptoms that were reported in recent hours by some residents of Tarragona, Perafort, Reus and Salou. Civil Protection services said no toxic substances were detected in the air near the site of the explosions. Suddenly the front door flew open and the glass on the windows started to shake, said Laura Pano, who works in the nearby town of Vilaseca. Everyone rushed outdoors because they thought something had happened there. We didnt hear any sounds. The first thing you think is that there has been an earthquake. Pano said that nobody came to tell them to what to do. We are looking at official websites of the Mossos [Catalan police force] and theyre saying we have to stay indoors. The streets are deserted and all the stores have been closed. The first thing I thought of was the ETA bomb of 1987, said Antonio Carmona, who was at a hardware store four kilometers from the site, alluding to an attack on the Enpetrol refinery by the now-defunct Basque terrorist group. People panicked. We know what it means to live in Vilaseca, but if it had been a chemical explosion, something serious would have happened, because alarms did not go off for 20 or 30 minutes. People were scared and there was a lack of information. Death two kilometers away Sergio, 59, was well known in Torreforta. Until the economic crisis forced him to shut down his business, he had run a local fruit shop in this densely populated neighborhood of Tarragona. The blocks of residential buildings sit two kilometers away from the most important petrochemical compound in southern Europe: La Canonja industrial park, home to facilities run by some of the worlds leading chemical companies. The approximately 8,000 residents of Torreforta are accustomed to the wails of emergency sirens once a year, when a chemical accident drill takes place. On Tuesday, after hearing two explosions, neighbors were puzzled at the lack of official messages. But residents of an apartment building on Garcia Lorca square heard something more: the floor cracking inside a third-story home that came crashing down on Sergio, who lived directly below. On Wednesday, the mayor of Tarragona, Pau Ricoma, confirmed that the most likely hypothesis behind the death of Sergio was a panel that flew off the reactor that exploded. The piece of metal, measuring 122 by 165 by three centimeters, and weighing a ton, caused the collapse of the apartment, which came crashing down on Sergio below. A ball of fire is the most commonly used description by eyewitnesses. Some said they saw an orange-hued object fly over the inner courtyard and hit the third-floor wall. It was like a bomb, said Antonia Mora, who lives on the first floor and who ran out thinking there had been a gas leak. A father of two, Sergio was home alone because his wife had just gone out for a stroll with one of their young grandchildren. He was killed inside his bedroom. With additional reporting by Bernat Coll, Javier Iniguez, Josep Cata, Ivanna Vallespin, Laura Cercos and Rebeca Carranco. English version by Susana Urra. When Captain Tania Sher Gill led all-men contingents during the majestic Army Day parade on Wednesday, the woman officer knew she was blazing a new trail in the armed forces. Twenty-six-year-old Gill of the Corps of Signals, the fourth generation to serve the Army, became the first woman Parade Adjutant in the history of the Army Day function. Wearing a khaki uniform and holding a ceremonial sword, when she marched down in front of an august audience at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment, she literally stood tall. "It was a feeling of great pride, a sense of accomplishment and worthiness, and pure blessing," an ecstatic Gill told PTI after the grand event. A graduate of the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, she comes from a family where "Army tales and anecdotes" were part of dinner table talks and morning walks and joining the armed forces came "very naturally" to her. "I had applied while I was in the final year of my engineering course and later got selected. After my training at OTA, I got commissioned into the Corps of Signals in 2017. When the selection was on for the Parade Adjutant, I knew that if I would get selected, I would be the first woman to do that job in the parade's history," she said. Hoshiarpur-born Gill, who holds a B.Tech. in electronics and telecommunications from Nagpur University, said her great-grandfather had taken part in World War I. "He (great-grandfather) was part of the Sikh Regiment. My maternal grandfather also belonged to the same regiment, while my paternal grandfather belonged to the 14th Armoured Regiment (Scinde Horse) and my father served in the artillery regiment. Army life runs in the family," a proud Gill said. The Punjab-born did her schooling in multiple cities and counts photography, travelling and music among her hobbies. The Army showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets during the majestic parade, with artillery gun systems Dhanush and K9-Vajra taking part in it for the first time, officials said. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lt Gen K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India. Capt Gill led all-men contingents during the parade, drawing praise from senior officers and loud cheers from the audience, which included members of the diplomatic corps. Battle scenes, from aerial manoeuvres to infantry attacks were simulated during the function with the three services chiefs and the Chief of the Defence Staff in attendance. "These 'battle inoculations', as we call it, fill us with a great sense of thrill and pumps up energy," she said. Last year, woman officer Bhavana Kasturi, then a lieutenant, had for the first time led an all-male Army Service Corps (ASC) contingent during the Republic Day parade. Asked what message she had to give to young women who are chasing their dreams, Gill said, "When we don the uniform, we are just officers, gender is immaterial, all that matters is merit." "And girls and women chasing their dreams should just believe in themselves. It doesn't matter if some people think they are any less than boys and men. I would tell them just focus on your goals and pursue the goals with passion," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Home decor retailer Pier 1 Imports will shutter at least 11 of its New Jersey locations following the announcement from earlier this month that up to 450 stores, including distribution centers, are closing. The stores in East Hanover, Edgewater and Paramus (Route 4) are shuttering, according to a report on NorthJersey.com, and the Cape May Court House, Cherry Hill, East Brunswick, Flanders, Flemington, Millville, Ocean Township and Princeton locations are also closing, its store managers told NJ Advance Media. An employee from the Pier 1 Imports on Route 4 in Paramus told NJ Advance Media that the closing date will be sometime next month, possibly Feb. 28. There are currently 29 Pier 1 Imports stores in New Jersey some of which already have been erased from the companys website. When contacted for comment, store managers at the locations in Freehold, Holmdel, Howell, Manahawkin, Manasquan, Mount Laurel, Somers Point, Toms River, Watchung and Woodbridge said they couldnt comment or wouldnt confirm any news about closings. Store managers in Bridgewater, Clifton, Deptford, Hamilton, Jersey City, Paramus (Route 17), Riverdale and Rockaway said their stores will continue to operate. Pier 1 Imports corporate office did not return multiple requests for comment. The company, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, first announced in September that 70 of its stores would close, and that number has since grown. Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips MORE RETAIL AND SHOPPING COVERAGE: The list of chains that closed stores in 2019 A mac and cheese franchise is opening its first 2 N.J. restaurants Popular salad chain Sweetgreen to open 1st N.J. location Easily identified by their black and white markings, the southern right whale dolphins were found on Port Fairy's East Beach in Victoria State, however, only one of the mysterious animals was able to be retrieved by authorities for examination, reported Xinhua news agency. Sydney, Jan 15 (IANS) Even as Australia is battling the bushfires across the country, two rare deep sea dolphins washed up on an Australian beach in separate incidents over the past few weeks, leaving marine scientists baffled at the discovery. "It is interesting that we have two (stranded) close together and in relatively similar locations," natural environment programs officer at Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Mandy Watson, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday. "These animals are normally found in deep water well offshore so they're very rarely seen in inshore waters." Details about the creatures, found in pods of up to 1,000 along the Continental Shelf, remain fairly scarce, as observing the species is extremely difficult and expensive. "We don't know much about these species, really, because they live in habitats that are so rough and so remote from us that it makes everything complicated," Deakin University marine ecologist Paul Tixier said. Hoping to find out what happened to the wayward dolphin, tests will soon get underway that may shed light on the mystery. dpb/ Opinion banner Business Insider terrible Spirit Airlines flight Mark Matousek/Business Insider I've flown Spirit Airlines three times and have been consistently disappointed. But my most recent trip with the airline was the worst travel experience of my life. I arrived in New York 34 hours later than originally scheduled for reasons both within and outside Spirit's control. Only once did I feel like I was treated with anything but indifference by the airline and its employees. Had Spirit's customer service exceeded my expectations, the trip could have reversed my negative opinion of the airline. But I'm now even more motivated to never fly Spirit again. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more stories like this in your inbox. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. I tend to have good luck with air travel. A significant majority of my flights leave and arrive on schedule, and I rarely have serious customer-service issues. That has not been the case with Spirit Airlines. I've flown Spirit on three trips, and each time, the airline has frustrated me in a way that has nothing to do with the normal stresses of flying, culminating last weekend in the worst travel experience of my life. My first flight on Spirit, in 2017, was delayed by six hours due to an unspecified mechanical issue, causing me to miss a friend's wedding ceremony. Last year, I booked a Spirit flight for the second time, and was surprised to learn that I would be charged a $42 checked-bag fee for each of my two connecting flights from Austin to New York. I had never seen an airline do that before, and it made me determined to never fly Spirit again. But when booking a flight for a work trip to Las Vegas two months ago, Spirit provided the best of a number of suboptimal choices. I clenched my teeth and took another gamble on my least favorite airline. It was a huge mistake. My trip back from Las Vegas to New York last weekend was the worst travel experience I can remember, ending 34 hours later than scheduled. Not all of it was Spirit's fault, but the airline repeatedly failed at the parts that were under its control. Story continues Spirit did not respond to a request for comment on this story. I received no help with lodging after my flight was canceled My return flight on Friday had connections in Kansas City and Orlando, with a scheduled arrival in New York around 11 p.m. But, what seemed like minutes before my flight to Orlando was going to take off, my plane was called back to Kansas City International Airport due to concerns about freezing rain. Of course, Spirit didn't have any control over that, though boarding for the flight had started late, leading me to wonder if a more timely boarding process would have allowed us to take off before the airport closed. Those of us with connecting flights were told to go to the check-in counter to rearrange our schedules. It was around 6 p.m., but I was told that I would have to wait until the next day's 3 p.m. flight to Orlando, which would mean I would land in New York 24 hours later than originally scheduled. I asked if I could be placed on another airline's flight that evening or earlier the next day, but was told that was not an option since the delay was not Spirit's fault, which was understandable. Less so was Spirit's failure to offer any kind of compensation for food, the hotel I'd have to book for that night, or transportation to and from the hotel. Once again, I was told that since the delay was not Spirit's fault, it had no obligation to help me. Yet two years earlier, when my Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to New York was canceled due to a snowstorm, Delta had offered me a voucher for a hotel and credits that could be used toward a future Delta flight. While Delta had no control over that delay either, I had appreciated those gestures. This time, the Spirit check-in agent didn't even offer suggestions for nearby hotels. A mechanical issue made me miss my final flight again The next morning, I attempted to check in for my flight and print a tag for my suitcase at one of Spirit's kiosks, but the machine said my flight would be departing from either a different terminal or airport (that message turned out to be an error), and that I should speak with one of Spirit's check-in agents. But there were no employees at the Spirit check-in desk for the next five minutes. (I should note that, due to my hotel's check-out time, I arrived at the airport two-and-a-half hours before my boarding time, much earlier than I usually would, and it appeared my flight was Spirit's first that day. I was not the first person waiting in line to speak with a check-in agent, though.) Once again, my flight boarded late, and we departed around an hour behind schedule due to a mechanical issue with my plane, which meant I would almost certainly miss my connecting flight. But when we landed, I received a notification saying my next flight had also been delayed. When announcing the gates connecting flights would depart from (he gave the wrong one for my flight), one of the flight attendants made no mention of the possibility that my flight would leave before I could arrive at the gate. Based on the new departure time for my flight to New York, it appeared I had about 15 minutes to get to the gate to ensure I would not miss the boarding cut-off time, so I began sprinting through the terminal. I soon learned that I would need to take two separate shuttles to get to my next flight. I arrived close to the scheduled cut-off time, but hoped that, due to the circumstances of my delay, I would still be let on the flight. Instead, I was told the flight had already left, at least 10 minutes before the new departure time I had been sent. Spirit Airlines Airbus Spirit Now, I had to persuade the gate agent that the delay which had caused me to miss my connection had resulted from a mechanical issue, and was therefore Spirit's responsibility, rather than bad weather, as she first insisted. Thirty minutes after she confirmed with a supervisor that I was correct, I was given vouchers for food and a nearby hotel. The gate agent said my checked suitcase had been sent to baggage claim since my new flight didn't take off until 6:30 a.m. the next morning, but I couldn't find it, so I went to Spirit's baggage-claim office, where I was asked for my bag tag. I then remembered that it had been attached to my old boarding pass, which the gate agent had not returned. Thankfully, I always take photos of my bag tags in case I lose them. After 10 minutes, I was told that my bag had been sent to Newark Liberty International Airport, but would be identified and held there for my arrival the next day. My final flight had no issues, landing at Newark 34 hours after my originally-scheduled arrival. My final task was to retrieve my suitcase, though it did not appear at first that Spirit had a baggage-claim office at Newark. The closest I could find was an unmanned desk near the baggage carousels with Spirit's logo on it, so I went to the check-in desk for help. I was eventually taken to an unmarked baggage room, but my suitcase was not there, sending me into a brief panic. About a minute later, I learned that, contrary to what had been suggested to me the night before, my bag was on the carousel. Relieved that I would not have to replace its contents, I left the airport, convinced I would never fly Spirit again. Poor customer service has convinced me to avoid Spirit in the future I have never experienced with another airline anything close to the degree of incompetence, carelessness, and penny-pinching Spirit has demonstrated across my three flights with the airline. I understand why a budget airline wouldn't want to pay for a hotel after a delay it didn't cause, but in doing so, Spirit lost an opportunity to leave a positive impression on a customer in a moment of high stress. I was consistently disappointed and frustrated throughout the weekend, sometimes for reasons within Spirit's control, sometimes for reasons out of its control. But only once did I feel like I was treated with anything more than indifference by the airline and its employees, and that was only after an employee had doubted me when I relayed my pilot's explanation for why my flight to Orlando was delayed. Had Spirit's customer service exceeded my expectations, last weekend could have reversed my negative opinion of the airline, but I'm now even more motivated to never fly Spirit again, even if it means I have to take a more expensive and inconvenient flight. I'm aware of the compromises I have to make when flying a budget airline, but competent customer service shouldn't been one of them. Read the original article on Business Insider DETROIT, Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is expanding its international outreach this month with performances and workshops at the world-renowned Panama Jazz Festival. The Latin American trip is part of the Detroit foundation's ongoing Latino outreach initiative designed to foster collaborative partnerships with top global talent while engaging diverse American audiences through rich multicultural programming. "This trip represents a global footprint for the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation," said Chris Collins, the foundation's president and artistic director. "The members of our All-Star Generations Band will serve as ambassadors of Detroit culture and music, sharing a sense of who we are as a city. This trip is an opportunity for Detroit musicians to learn more about Panamanian traditions and create music that is truly born from both sides: a cultural fusion." The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation All-Star Generations Band will perform in Panama's City of Knowledge on Jan. 13 before leading a series of workshops on Detroit's unique sounds and jazz traditions. Breakout sessions focused on individual instruments will be led by four Detroit artists: Chris Collins (saxophone), Marion Hayden Gardner (bass), Nate Winn (drums) and Wesley Reynoso (piano). Collins will then travel to Cuba on Jan. 15 as a guest of the Havana Jazz Festival to continue planning for an upcoming collaboration and yearlong engagement. This past November, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation All-Star Generations Band performed in Japan at the Tottori Jazz Festival and in jazz clubs. "These initiatives have the power to break down barriers," Collins said. "In this day and age, it's easy to become jaded or even prejudiced toward people based on assumptions. Art and music can be the bridges that connect people, even in the face of political differences. There's an overarching message here that goes beyond music: We are all one, and we share many more commonalities than differences." The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation has been engaged in an ongoing cultural exchange with Panama since 2013, when the organization first teamed with Danilo Perez, a Panamanian-born pianist and humanitarian. Since then, artists and students from both countries have collaborated on workshops, exchange programs and international performances. Jazz fans can expect to see the fruits of that labor this Labor Day weekend at the 41st annual Detroit Jazz Festival, a free four-day event that is expected to attract 300,000 people. About the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation: The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization that presents jazz and educational workshops throughout the year. The Foundation produces the Detroit Jazz Festival presented by Quicken Loans, which is the largest free jazz festival in the world and a major tourist attraction for the city of Detroit. Twenty-six percent of the audience comes from out of state. For more information, visit detroitjazzfest.org. SOURCE Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation Related Links http://detroitjazzfest.org DETROIT, MI The Department of Justice announced a federal court has permanently ordered a Hamtramck firm to stop processing or distributing ready-to-eat seafood salads as well as non-seafood salads, pierogis and dips because of conditions at the site. A complaint filed on Jan. 13, 2020, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alleged that Home Style Foods Inc., the companys president, Michael J. Kowalski, and the companys quality manager, Juan Valesquez, violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by processing and distributing fish products and other food, including salads, pierogis, and dips in a facility where government inspectors previously found evidence of listeria contamination. According to the complaint, FDA issued a warning letter to Home Style Foods in April 2016. The Department of Justice is committed to safeguarding consumer health by rigorously enforcing Americas food safety laws, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Justice Departments Civil Division. We will continue to work with FDA to ensure that companies take food sanitation and safety laws seriously. The order entered by the court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and requires Home Style Foods to stop processing and distributing its products unless it complies with specific remedial measures set forth in the injunction. After nine years at the helm of Levi Strauss, Roy Bagattini (pictured) will take over as CEO of David Jones The owner of David Jones has hired Levi's boss Roy Bagattini to take over as CEO. Ian Moi will step down in February after nine years at the helm of the department store giant. Bagattini headed Levi Strauss in the US for three years, and has also worked for Carlsberg beer and South African-founded brewer SABMiller. David Jones' South African owner Woolworths Holdings made the decision to bring on Bagattini on as top boss to overhaul the store's struggling business. Since news broke that Bagattini will be taking over, Woolworths' shares surged more than nine per cent in Johannesburg. Moir will continue as acting CEO for the time being, while he works closely with Bagattini for a smooth transition of roles. David Jones investors claimed Moir overpaid the chain 'and when it wasn't working he continued to invest in it,' Sasfin Wealth senior equity analyst Alec Abraham said. 'You've got fresh eyes with no vested interest in any particular region or business that can arguably have an objective review of the business and make objective decisions on where it should be going in future.' David Jones has suffered plummeting profits amid changing buying patterns and shoppers turning towards online retailers or fast-fashion behemoth Zara. 'Roy has extensive operational, management and turnaround experience in global consumer and retail markets, which will prove invaluable as we continue to navigate the structural changes taking place in the retail sector and the challenges particular to our group,' Woolworths Chairman Hubert Brody said. Guest Column Chinese President Xi Jinpings Myanmar Trip Aimed at Pushing Beijings Two-Ocean Strategy Chinese President Xi Jinping in December 2019. / REUTERS Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Myanmar this week at the invitation of President U Win Myint. He will stay in the country for two days and meet with Myanmars leaders. Since he came to power in March 2013, Xi has visited more than 60 countries across the globe, and he will kick off his international travels for 2020 by visiting Myanmar. However, from Beijings perspective, the trip to Myanmar will have a narrow geopolitical focus. Chinas two-ocean strategyreferring to the Pacific and Indian oceansis aimed at redistributing the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region in its favor by expanding its naval operations from the South China Sea and Western Pacific into the Indian Ocean, where it seeks to conduct far seas operations. The strategy was conceived by the Communist Party of China in the 2000s and aims to achieve the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA)s strategic objective of naval power projection. Robert D. Kaplan posited this idea in Chinas Two-Ocean Strategy, his famous chapter of the multi-author report Chinas Arrival: A Strategic Framework for a Global Relationship, published in 2009 by the Center for a New American Security. Since the Indian Ocean is considered to be part of the far seas, it provides conditions for the PLAs navy to navigate and operate in a deep-water region. The two-ocean strategy is a major linchpin in the power-projection plans of China, a junior superpower. In June 2019, the US Defense Department released its Indo-Pacific strategy report, in which Preparedness, Partnerships, and Promoting a Networked Region form the core elements of its defense strategy for the region. Through preparedness, the US aims to maintain its militarys capability to win any conflict. Through partnerships, it strives to strengthen its unique network of alliances; and promotion of a networked region refers to the strengthening and evolution of US alliances and partnerships into a networked security architecture to uphold the international rules-based order. The first joint maritime exercise between the US and ASEAN navies in early September 2019 was held as part of this Indo-Pacific strategy. The moves by the US have compelled China to push the two-ocean strategy through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects, especially the sea-based portion of the initiative, known as the Maritime Silk Road. Myanmar occupies a strategically important geographical position in the two-ocean strategy, through which China seeks to build links to the Indian Ocean, then to the Middle East and Africa. China has already established the PLAs first overseas military base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. China has also reportedly established a maritime reconnaissance and electronic intelligence station on Myanmars Great Coco Island in the Bay of Bengal, about 300 kilometers south of Myanmars mainland, and on Little Coco Island in the Alexandra Channel between the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Islands. To fulfill the two-ocean strategy, China is pushing to build the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor projects: the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State; a railway connecting Kyaukphyu and Chinas Yunnan province; three border economic zones; and the Namjim Industrial Park in Myitkyina. The Kyaukhpyu port will be crucial to Chinas goal of developing a route to import oil and gas that bypasses the Strait of Malacca. In fact, no one knows whether China is negotiating with Myanmars leaders to establish a naval base in Myanmars territory, for example in Kyaukphyu. As a quid pro quo, China will support Myanmars peace process by facilitating efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between the Tatmadaw (Myanmars military) and the ethnic armed organizationsespecially the Northern Alliance, which comprises the Arakan Army, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Taang National Liberation Army. Through the UN Security Council, China will also continue to shield Myanmar from any international criticism and action. China understands that Myanmar is facing a tumultuous period. The International Court of Justice will on Jan. 23 rule on a request by The Gambia that emergency measures be imposed as part of its genocide lawsuit against Myanmar over its treatment of Rohingya people. This year will also be critical for Myanmar politically, as a general election is due to be held. Thus, China will not waste this crucial opportunity for President Xi to fulfill Beijings geopolitical interest in the two-ocean strategy, which will be its priority, rather than bringing peace and prosperity to Myanmar. Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of an analyst based in Kachin State. You may also like these stories: Busy Schedule Awaits Chinese President Xi During His 2-Day Visit to Myanmar Six BRI Projects in Myanmar to Monitor During Chinese President Xis Trip TIMELINE: China-Myanmar Relations Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia begins a two-day visit to Lithuania on Thursday in an attempt to bolster US-European relations, the State Department announced in a press release on Wednesday WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia begins a two-day visit to Lithuania on Thursday in an attempt to bolster US-European relations, the State Department announced in a press release on Wednesday. "Ambassador Reeker will attend the Lithuanian MFA's [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] annual 'Snow Meeting' in Trakai, where he will speak on US-Europe relations and participate in other discussions on global challenges," the release said. In addition, Reeker will hold talks with government officials from the region on the sidelines of the two-day event, the release added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-16 02:20:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close GUIYANG, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pan Qunfang has been practicing brush writing for around three years. The strokes written by the 13-year-old boy are similar to Chinese characters, however, only people from Sui ethnic minority can understand the ancient writing. "This character means gold, and the other means fire. The characters were created by the Sui ethnic group," Pan told a group of visitors. Pan lives in Shuiwei Village in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province. There are a total of 314 students at his school, among which 215 are from the Sui ethnic group. With a population of over 400,000, Sui is among China's 56 ethnic groups. Sui people mainly live in Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. To cultivate students' interests in their own culture, Pan's school has been introducing Sui culture in classes since 2017. "My grandpa and father know how to read and write Sui characters, but they are too busy to teach me at home. At school, three teachers teach us to read and write Sui characters," Pan said. "More and more students are becoming interested in learning Sui culture, and the cultural knowledge enriches students' lives at school," said Wei Yongliang, one of the three teachers. Pan's school is not exceptional. According to the department of education of Guizhou, there are more than 5,000 schools offering interest-oriented lessons about ethnic cultures. The figure was only around 100 in 2002. Guizhou was one of the first provinces to include education of ethnic cultures at schools around the year 2000. The contents of the lessons include ethnic martial arts, instruments, dances, songs, sports, literature and customs. Liuguan junior middle school, located in Xixiu District in the city of Anshun, is another school that provides such lessons. Its curriculum includes woodcarving and Tunpu culture, as well as local opera and folk costumes, which originated from the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago. Cao Zijian, who has taken woodcarving classes for just one year, has learned to carve masks out of wood. "I saw these types of masks when I was a kid, but I never knew how they were made and had been curious until I joined the woodcarving class," Cao said, adding that he has also learned about the stories behind the masks and has fallen in love with mask-carving. "The school has been trying its best to encourage more students to get involved in woodcarving," said Ren Fujiang, a craftsman hired by the school. The 47-year-old has been teaching carving at the school since 2012. "The reason why I chose to teach craftsmanship at school is that I hope more and more students will like woodcarving so that the skills can be passed on," Ren added. So far, more than 1,000 students have participated in woodcarving lessons since 2006, according to the school. Introducing ethnic and folk cultures into the curriculum can not only pass down the cultures from generation to generation but also enrich students' multi-cultural cognition, as well as cultivate students' cultural confidence," said Zhao Chenghong, headmaster of the school. "It doesn't matter whether they will continue the craftsmanship or not. The most important is that they have a unique experience," Zhao added. With Cory Bookers exit, the Democratic field has lost another minority candidate and revived the arguments pressed by Julian Castro before his own exit from the race that the whiteness of the Iowa electorate explains the increasing whiteness of the Democratic field. The debate over Iowas influence is interesting because, as Bill Scher pointed out recently for Politico, the Democratic Party did several things to make the caucuses less important in 2020: tightening the early primary calendar, creating a de facto national primary on Super Tuesday, relying on polls from Nevada and South Carolina as much as from New Hampshire and Iowa in establishing who qualifies for the primary debates. Scher argues that these choices worked, based on how much less time candidates are spending in Iowa relative to the past, plus the fact that big spenders like Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg have pushed their chips onto later states. And he dismisses the Castro argument entirely, pointing out that Booker, Castro and Kamala Harris all struggled with minority voters as much as with white Democrats, and in diverse states like South Carolina and Nevada and California as much as in Iowa or New Hampshire. Yet even if we absolve Iowans of responsibility for how the field has culled itself thus far, for the remaining contenders Schers headline take that Iowa Matters Less Than Ever in 2020 might turn out to be completely wrong. Indeed, with three weeks to go before the caucus, its quite easy to see several scenarios in which Iowa could turn out to be crucial or decisive. First, its quite possible that Biden could win Iowa outright, and in doing so basically wrap up the nomination early. Bidens early Iowa swoon has been reversed, hes leading the Real Clear Politics polling average and is even with Sanders in FiveThirtyEights average, and Elizabeth Warren and Sanders seem headed to war with each other as the race enters the final stretch. Which could set up a de facto replay of 2004, when Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean dragged each other down and John Kerry won an Iowa victory that set him up for an easy glide to the nomination. Would Biden cruise as easily as Kerry? Maybe not: Sanders has the money and passion for the long delegate-accumulating march, Bloomberg and his billions are waiting, and maybe an Iowa victory would prompt an anti-Biden consolidation. But given Bidens strength with nonwhite voters, his stable national lead and his perceived electability, if neither of the left-wing candidates can beat him in Iowa, can they really expect to beat him on Super Tuesday? Similarly, if a smooth Indianan in Pete Buttigieg and a cheerful Minnesotan in Amy Klobuchar cant peel moderates away from Biden in Iowa, can a grouchy New York zillionaire really expect to pull it off weeks later? The likely answer to these questions means that if Iowa votes for the former vice president, it may have picked the nominee. In the second scenario, Sanders could win Iowa, Biden could finish a close second, and the campaign thereafter could quickly become a two-man race with Klobuchar finished, Warren and Buttigieg fading, and no room for Bloomberg in a polarized left-vs.-establishment contest. The parallel here would be to the Republican race in 2016, when Ted Cruzs Iowa victory made him the anti-Trump standard-bearer the rest of the way. In this scenario, Iowa wouldnt have picked the winner outright, but it would have picked the final two and disposed of every other candidate in a single evening. In the third scenario, Warren could rally to win Iowa. That would dispose of Buttigieg and Klobuchar and make it likelier that Warren surges past Sanders in New Hampshire as well. If Sanders dropped out after that, the rest of the campaign would be a Warren-Biden tilt, in which case Warren would owe everything to Iowa; if Sanders stayed in it could be an easy coast for Biden, who would have Iowans to thank for letting him run against a persistently divided left. Is it possible to imagine an unimportant or at least undecisive Iowa outcome? Sure. A Buttigieg victory in which the other candidates clump together in a tie for second would essentially leave the current top four intact headed into New Hampshire, which would then have its own chance to play the winnower. (The same might be true of a de facto four-way tie, in which Warren, Buttigieg, Bernie and Biden ended up all within a point of one another.) And a surprise Klobuchar surge to victory might end Buttigiegs chances, while swapping her moderate-Midwestern campaign for his in the top four. In those scenarios Iowa would be extremely important indeed, campaign-saving to the winning candidate, but it wouldnt narrow the field, let alone crown a winner. These undecisive possibilities could certainly come to pass. But all the scenarios where Iowa doesnt matter much, including the more outlandish Bloomberg ones and even the Andrew Yang black swan, depend on a somewhat random-seeming caucus outcome and a national race thats unstable and vulnerable to early-state shocks and Super Tuesday volatility. In that case, many of the candidates who planned for a long campaign instead of camping out in Iowa would have cause to regret their strategic choices. And despite all the partys attempts to create a 50-state calendar and reduce the caucus states clout, the Democrats could still discover that Iowa has picked their finalists or winner after all. @DouthatNYT The United Kingdoms ambassador to Iran has been described as persona non grata by Irans judiciary spokesperson who called for his expulsion from the country. UK envoy Rob Macaire was briefly detained on Saturday night after he left a vigil held for the 176 victims of a plane crash caused by Iranian missiles. Under international law, such a person is a persona non grata,' judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmeili told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday. He added that the [Iranian] people expect the person to be expelled according to international norms. According to a security source quoted by Irans state media, Macaire was trying to provoke and organize an anti-government protest in front of Amir Kabir University in Tehran. Macaire rejected all accusations and insisted he left the gathering as soon as a group started to chant. Thanks for the many goodwill messages. Can confirm I wasnt taking part in any demonstrations! Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects- some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting. Rob Macaire (@HMATehran) January 12, 2020 The judiciary also accused the diplomat of interfering in Irans internal affairs. Photos circulating on social media showed banners with Macaires face were set on fire on Tuesday. Diplomatic spat between Iran & UK continues after British ambassador was briefly detained at a protest. Judiciary spox says he didnt respect intl. law & should be expelled, as he is persona non grata in #Iran. Hardliners burn effigy of ambassador along with US & UK flags. pic.twitter.com/WwFdLZBogi Ali Arouzi (@aliarouzi) January 14, 2020 The labelling of Macaire by the judiciary spokesperson as persona non grata is not legally binding, and the final decision over the diplomats expulsion would be taken by Irans foreign ministry. Gatherings to commemorate the victims of the Ukrainian flight crash turned into protests across Iran following the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) admission on January 11 of having mistakenly shot down the passenger jet after initially having denied doing so. 200113121419528 The diplomatic spat between the UK and Iran has added to rising tension between the two countries. On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his willingness to work on a Trump deal to replace the international accord agreed between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany. Johnsons comments came after the UK, France and Germany decided to trigger the deals Dispute Resolution Mechanism which brings a potential collapse of the accord closer and eventually, the re-imposition of United Nations sanctions. The European powers move is the strongest response yet to Tehrans steps away from the unravelling pact. Since President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal in May 2018, Iran began dropping its commitments under the accord formally known as the JCPOA. According to the three European powers, the dispute mechanism is a solution for the return to full compliance to the nuclear deal that was signed in 2015 to curb Irans nuclear power in exchange to sanctions relief. Tara Cardinale, 39, invited an underage student to her home in Washington Township, New Jersey where they engaged in sexual activity, a probe found A 39-year-old licensed social worker has been arrested for having sexual relationship with an underage boy at a private school for children with special needs in New Jersey. On more than one occasion, Tara Cardinale, 39, invited the student to her home in Washington Township, New Jersey where they engaged in sexual activity, a probe found. Police did not name the school she works at but it's reported she's a Primary Therapist at the New Alliance Academy in Paramus. On December 29, 2019 the Paramus Police Department received a tip that Cardinale was engaging in a sexual relationship with a student under the age of 18. A joint probe with the Washington Township Police Department and Bergen County Prosecutor's Office lasted 12 days. Cardinale was finally taken into custody and booked into the Bergen County Jail on Friday. She was charged with one count of Endangering The Welfare Of A Child (second degree) and one count of Criminal Sexual Contact (fourth degree) and held without bail. On December 29, 2019 the Paramus Police Department received a tip that Cardinale was engaging in a sexual relationship with a student under the age of 18. Police did not name the school she works at but it's reported she's a Primary Therapist at the New Alliance Academy Cardinale was due to make her first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, Wednesday. It was as a woman who claimed to be the mother of a student attending what's described online as 'a high school for teenagers who experience acute psychological distress' - claimed Cardinale manipulated her daughter. She was arrested and charged on Friday with one count of Endangering The Welfare Of A Child (second degree) and one count of Criminal Sexual Contact (fourth degree) Writing about 'the therapist who took care of my daughter for six months last year', the parent told Facebook followers: 'The hair on the back of my neck stood up every time I saw her, but I looked like the bad guy. 'I couldn't even go to family sessions because I did not agree with how she was twisting the truth in my daughter's mind. My daughter was not physically molested, but Tara was guilty of using her power to undermine a precious mother daughter bond!' The mother went on to allege that her assigned caseworker, Lori Quito, 'didn't listen to me about this woman'. Blaming the school in part, she claimed online that 'her whole goal was NOT to help' the child 'but to destroy me'. 'In the meantime all Lori did was create more psychological trauma for my daughter! Maybe a little more due diligence ought to be placed on all sides of any case!' she continued. 'Your time has come Tara Cardinale! The truth always prevails!' DailyMail.com has reached out to New Alliance Academy but did not get an immediate response to a request for comment. Hailing India's democracy, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he predicts that the '21st century going to be the Indian century'. "The dynamism, the energy, the people are interested in self-improvement, in growth. This country has something special - it is democracy." He added that India and the United States -- the world's largest democracy and the world's oldest democracy -- would be the 21st century's most important alliance. Bezos was speaking at Amazon Smbhav event for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Delhi. The e-commerce mogul announced doubling down on the company's belief in India and promised to use its global footprint to export from the country. "We will invest $1 billion in digitising small and medium businesses and export $10 billion worth of 'Make in India' goods by 2025," he stated. Discussing Amazon's plans for their Blue Origin space project, Bezos said he hoped it would reduce the cost of access to space. Our descendants will eventually move all heavy industries and manufacturing into this space. We need to use other resources in the solar system. We need space entrepreneurs. We want Blue Origin to reduce the cost of access to space, he said. We need a dynamic, entrepreneurial civilisation in space. We want it to be, so that two boys in a dorm room can start a space company, Bezos said while talking about Amazon once being a small company itself. He also spoke about climate change and stressed that as a big company, Amazon has pledged to comply with the Paris Accord goals 10-years ahead of the determined deadline. Amazon will be 100 percent sustainable electricity user by 2030. We will eliminate usage of plastic in deliveries in India by June 2020, he said. He added that those not acknowledging that climate change as real 'is not being reasonable', a jibe at US President Donald Trump. Bezos said that Amazon has already ordered 1,000 electric delivery vehicles and that its climate-pro decisions as a big company would have a multiplier effect on associated companies, who will have to be sustainable for Amazon to be sustainable. The recent passage of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was not only a victory for CUs on military bases, many may not realize it has the potential to be a victory for all credit unions, asserts Tony Hernandez. As CUToday.info reported, the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act would have provided banks with the same type of free leases on military bases currently in place for many credit unions. But that language was cut when the final version of the NDAA was sent to the president for his signature. As CUToday.info also reported, passage of the bill came at the same time the banking lobby has been turning up the heat on credit unions and especially the industrys federal tax exemption. Hernandez, CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), contends if that language had not been removed from the legislation, banks would have been given the same access to military bases as credit unions and would have gained a much stronger foothold from which to make their anti-CU arguments in 2020. The 1.2 million strong Indian Army celebrates the 72nd Army Day, the first of the new decade, with pride, parades, ceremonies and paying homage to the martyrs in cantonments across the country. The celebrations establish a connection between serving and veteran soldiers, who flock the cantonments displaying their medals on their chests, proud of the service they have rendered to the army and the nation. Reminiscing many battles fought and their contributions in ensuring the security of the nation and its people, each story is narrated to motivate the serving soldiers to live and die for the NAM NAMAK AND NISHAN of their units, regiments, the army and the country. Veterans on this special day take pride in narrating the many tales of valour always eulogising the army and their Regiments firm in the belief that they were and continue to be the best. Indian Army is by far the most battle hardened and combat rich army in the world, recognised for the sterling service to the nation both in war and peace, Service Before Self being the motto. The Army Day is also the occasion for the soldiers to rededicate themselves to the defence and service of the nation, and for the top brass to audit the performance and preparedness of the army, introspect and chart out the roadmap to meet present and future challenges, ensuring the wellbeing of the soldiers. As a veteran, the day is special as always, with excitement and anticipation of not only a bygone era but the surety and certainty that the serving soldiers will continue to excel in all domains. The army DNA is special and can be found not only among the soldiers past and present but in equal measure, if not more, among the wives and fauji brats with special messages of Happy Army Day dominating the many conversations and posts on social media. Army Day 2020 is special as Gen MM Narvane takes over the leadership with Gen Bipin Rawat as Indias first CDS. The Task of the veterans is clear, support all efforts of the leadership in ensuring a combat effective and happy Army. In todays interconnected and networked world the veterans have a critical and decisive role to play as mentors and influencers, unfortunately some of us are also detractors being critical of our own organisation which has given us so much to cherish. A salute to the next of kin of all our soldiers and brave hearts who made the supreme sacrifice so that we continue to be safe, secure and sleep well. Wishing all a very happy Army day. Lt. Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd) is Director CENJOWS and former DGMO. The views expressed are of the author. He can be contacted at ptrsix@gmail.com, follow on @ptr6vb. by Brendan Tuma | Twins Correspondent | Tue, Jan 14th 7:53pm EST Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports Josh Donaldson is in agreement with the Twins on a four-year contract. (Mark Feinsand on Twitter ) New Delhi: Kapil Sharma and wife Ginni Chatrath welcomed a baby girl on 10 December, 2019. The comedian-actor shared the good news with his fans via social media. ''Blessed to have a baby girl. Need ur blessings. Love u all. Jai mata di,' he wrote on Twitter. He shared the news but he didn't share a single picture of his little angel on social media. However, recently his fan clubs shared pictures of the comedian with his daughter. Have a look. In the picture, Kapil is seen holding his little munchkin. Just a day after the birth of his daughter, the ace comedian was back on the sets of The Kapil Sharma Show to shoot an episode with his Deepika Padukone. He showed the picture of her daughter to Deepika. Kapil Sharma and Ginni Chatrath tied the knot on December 12, 2018 in Jalandhar in a twin ceremony. After getting married in a Hindu Karaj ceremony, the Anand Karaj ceremony was organised at Ginni's hometown. Kapil also hosted a reception in Amritsar for family and close friends. He also organised a separate function in Mumbai on December 24 for his colleagues and members of the film fraternity which was attended by many popular Bollywood celebrities including Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushal, Anil Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Raveena Tandon among others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the reception party. Currently, Kapil is seen hosting The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Supermodel and Former Miss India (World) Natasha Suri has filed an FIR against a man named Flynn Remedios, who has been tagging her name into objectionable content. According to Natasha, Remedios put up adult content tagging her name on his portals Indiascoops.com and Indiaspeaks.live, and also sent the same to various other websites for publication. Natasha along with her lawyer Madhav V. Thorat filed the FIR against Remedios at Mumbai's Dadar police station on Wednesday. Speaking to IANS exclusively, Natasha said: "The matter started in November 2019. Somebody started creating fake news articles and started tagging me, and putting objectionable pictures of girls in a bathroom with their faced blurred, and putting the name of some girl called Natasha Suri Singh. This is a non-exsistant name, but this man Flynn Remedios was doing this for some reason. I am his new target." "He started sharing these fake news articles under the garb of Natasha Suri Singh, and because there is only Natasha Suri right now, who is a model, all these instantly got linked with me. He made some fake Twitter accounts and created some horrendous news articles and some bathroom pictures, and circulated it on his portal. He has taken out pictures with no heads from porn sites and written @NatSuri on them. It's all appearing under my Google name," she said. A complaint was given to Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) in Bandra-Kurla Complex on December 24 but the FIR was lodged on Wednesday at Dadar Police Station. Natasha said: "Today (Wednesday), the FIR got filed because even the police realised that this guy is an actual threat and he is dangerous. He is unnecessarily dragging me into so many controversies that I am not a part of." The supermodel said that Remedios also stirred a controversy by running an article on his portals which stated that she has accused "Bigg Boss 13" contestant Sidharth Shukla of molestation. "He has taken out an article saying that 'Natasha Suri accuses Sidharth Shukla of molestation. I have never met Sidharth Shukla in my life. I don't know him. So, this guy is constantly pulling me into controversy," she said. The supermodel added: "It's important to take these criminals to task in order to protect your honour and dignity". Natasha Suri won Femina Miss India World title in 2006 and was in the Top 10 at the Miss World contest. She made her acting debut in 2016 with the Malayalam film "King Liar" and has worked in a few web-series including "Inside Edge". Washington: Democrats in the US House of Representatives have released a trove of documents as they prepare to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for President Donald Trump's trial. They obtained the documents from Lev Parnas, a close associate of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Lev Parnas, a close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, arrives at court in New York. Credit:AP The documents, made public on Tuesday, add new context to the Democrats' charges that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats as he withheld military aid to the country. Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a call in July to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and Biden's son Hunter. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine. Roger Scruton passed away on Sunday, January 12, 2020. Scruton was among the most original and perceptive conservative thinkers of our time. In over forty books and countless articles and posts, he worked to defend the ideas of national sovereignty, individual privacy, religious culture, and human freedom. His death is a great loss to conservatism and to the cause of freedom in general. Among Scruton's best known books are An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture; The West and the Rest; and Gentle Regrets: Thoughts from a Life. In these and so many other books, he presented a coherent vision of what life ought to be: a modest endeavor to achieve "accommodation," as he called it, with his neighbors and to go about things rewardingly and productively. In Gentle Regrets, perhaps his most appealing book, he reviewed many heartfelt moments in his long struggle on the side of a humane and restrained ideal of life. His religious conversion, for example, occurred after years as a "voyeur of holiness": as a result of "contact with true believers," he realized how "faith transfigures everything it touches, and raises the world to God" (p. 63). His understanding of socialism was equally profound: the "paradox" at the heart of socialism was that "human equality is to be achieved by an elite to whom all is permitted, including the coercion of the rest of us" (p. 200). For anyone unfamiliar with Scruton's writing, Gentle Regrets might be a good place to begin. In addition to his official online "Roger Scruton" website, Scruton maintained an online site called "Scrutopia," on which he and other contributors carried on a lively discussion of conservative issues. He also held an annual ten-day Scrutopia Summer School near his home in the Cotswolds. Online and at his many appearances, Scruton was unfailingly generous to others and receptive to their opinions. His discourse was civil and intelligent, never partisan or confrontational. He believed in gently leading others by way of calm and intelligent argument. He represented the best of what conservatism could be. Scruton was among the first to analyze the failings of globalism. Throughout Europe and Britain he witnessed the decline of genuine art and architecture and the destruction of life on the human scale, as had once existed in the British village. He fought a long intellectual battle to reform modern architecture and to revitalize the institutions that humanized existence foremost among these the connection to the nation and local region rather than to impersonal and distant bureaucracies. It is a shame that Sir Roger did not live to see the finalizing of Britain's withdrawal from the E.U., that nation-destroying abstraction ruled by that remote and unelected "government" in Brussels that he so despised. Along with his interest in architecture, Scruton was a strong defender of what might be called the "human scale" in all things. He looked askance at the great global cities and the global internet culture that arose during his lifetime. Better to live in the countryside or the village and to converse with others one on one, in a personal manner. Even the American suburb with its comfortable homes and well maintained lawns was an improvement over the glass-and-steel towers of the world's new mega-cities. There is a danger, Scruton believed, in urban placelessness not just the effect on individual health as a result of anomie and detachment, but the loss of civic virtue and political involvement in its true sense. How can a society of persons with no real attachment to place or nation vote their best interest in the political sphere? In reality, those persons have no "interest" to defend only their abstract connection to ideas such as political correctness. Scruton was a master at articulating and analyzing the failings of modern culture and at defending the declining Judeo-Christian civilization of the West against attacks on all sides. He understood, for instance, the extent to which intellectuals in the West had turned against democracy and freedom. This betrayal of Western civilization he called "the culture of repudiation," and he was perhaps the most thoughtful of recent writers on this subject. One does not have to go far to discover this antagonistic culture in the media, the universities, and the leftist politics of our time. Scruton's conservatism was of an independent but always thoughtful sort. For example, he argued that the rise of support for "family values" was not, in fact, a hopeful sign since it marked what was actually a decline and narrowing of the broad Christian civilization that preceded it. "Religious societies generate families automatically as the by-product of faith," he wrote in The West and the Rest (p. 69). There would be no need to defend "family values" in a society in which religious faith was accepted as a matter of course. As an induvial, Sir Roger, as he became, was a modest person who recognized the limits of his powers as a writer, a thinker, and a human being. All human beings are limited in their powers, and the great and dangerous temptation is to suppose that they are not. That recognition of man's limited nature must have been especially acute in the last year of his life as he battled cancer. Part of that modesty was Scruton's attitude toward tradition. His argument was simple and elegant. Is it likely that we, as 21st-century humans, have a monopoly on all that has ever been thought or felt or understood? Isn't it more likely that our knowledge and understanding are small in relation to all that has ever been experienced and thought? That being the case, how can we afford to ignore those who came before and the beauty and value that they have discovered? Roger Scruton was one of the most selfless and authentic conservatives of our time. He was not a careerist, a self-promoter, or one who made his way by proclaiming the end of the world. His message was humble and circumscribed: we must return to a human scale of living, and we must return personal existence and humanity to the center of things where they belong. Scruton did much to promote this wisdom, and his voice in the defense of human freedom will be much missed. Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011). Image: Elekes Andor via Wikimedia Commons. It was reported on Monday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised $2 million in the last three months of 2019 and $5.3 million over the entire year. The freshman congresswoman is expected to have entered into 2020 with $3 million at her disposal. Ocasio-Cortez will be running for re-election and remains popular within her district. Despite a few Republican challengers and at least one Democrat hoping to unseat her its likely shell win once again. Her enormous pool of campaign funds, however, has people wondering what her next big political move will be. There has been plenty of speculation regarding a potential presidential run for Ocasio-Cortez in 2024 or 2028 after shes turned 35-years-old. But, according to longtime New York political journalist David Freedlander, a run for Senate is a lot more probable in the near future. The subject of Ocasio-Cortez running for Senate came up briefly in Freedlanders New York magazines profile of her, which is in the current print issue and published online last week. In the profile, it was mentioned that people close to the congresswoman considered having her toss her hat in New York Citys 2021 mayoral race but ultimately decided against it and that she might look statewide instead. People close to her discussed a possible run for mayor of New York in 2021 but decided against it; a statewide run, probably for the Senate, is likelier, Freedlander writes. That would mean challenging Chuck Schumer in 2022 or Kirsten Gillibrand in 2024. It was also suggested by a few top Democrats on Axios on HBO" in June 2019, that Ocasio-Cortez could primary U.S. Sens. Schumer or Gillibrand in the future. But would the congresswoman fare well in a state-wide race against these veteran politicians? Probably not, according to Lupe Todd-Medina, president and founder of the political public relations firm Effective Media Strategies, who isnt convinced AOC would attempt to take on either senator. Respective of approval ratings, both Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand's approval ratings are way too high statewide for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to engage in a kamikaze mission to unseat either; she is too politically smart to take on an incumbent challenge where the downsides are so high, Todd-Medina told City & State in an email. However, the fact that we are even having the conversation shows how deep into the minds of nervous Democrats and many incumbents Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has inserted herself. Todd-Medina has a point. According to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted from Jan., 2019, Schumer had a 52% approval rating and Gillibrand had a 46% approval rating among New York state voters, while Ocasio-Cortez had a 34% favorability rating. And after the Amazon HQ2 deal fell through in Feb., 2019, the congresswomans approval ratings fell to 31% among New York voters, according to a Siena College poll from March. Ocasio-Cortez wasnt the only one who saw a dip in their approval ratings, a Siena College poll from Feb., 2019, reported that Schumers approval rating had dropped to 47% among New York voters an all-time low for the senator, who has aggressively courted upstaters and suburbanites with weekly trips around the state to tout mostly uncontroversial, often locally focused, proposals. Just before Schumer became U.S. Senate Minority Leader, he had a 67-23 percent favorability and was far and away the most popular New York pol, Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a press release. At that time, Republicans viewed him favorably 55-37 percent. Today, he has a breakeven favorability rating with all voters, and Republicans New York Republicans view him unfavorably 84-15 percent. He remains popular with Democrats, 63-31 percent, and independents are evenly divided. While Ocasio-Cortez has become a major fundraiser since coming to Congress, Schumer is a well known fundraisingpowerhouse. And in 1998, Schumer won a competitive race due in large part to his sizeable funds. Schumers cozy relations with moderate Democrats makes him the incumbent senator that Ocasio-Cortez would be most likely challenge, considering Gillibrand veered more to the left during her presidential campaign and has views more in line with New Yorks growing progressive movement. Plus, the Senate minority leader has been criticized for having major Wall St. connections which tend to lead to very generous campaign donations and not taking a firm enough stance against Trump in recent years. And as recently as Jan. 4, demonstrators arrived outside of Schumers Brooklyn apartment for an anti-war protest. So its very possible that leftists in New York would want to rally behind the democratic socialist congresswoman should she challenge Schumer. But winning over leftists isnt all thats required to win a statewide election, according to Robert Yale-Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University. A lot depends on the 2020 election regarding the direction the Democratic Party and national politics takes, he told City & State in an email. If it is a liberal-wing victory year, she (Ocasio-Cortez) could have a shot. But in general she might do well to build up her reputation as a member of Congress and wait a bit longer. One cautionary note is ... she could win in (a) primary (but) she might be vulnerable to a moderate Republican in a general election. She needs moderate Democrats fully behind her. Its no secret that Ocasio-Cortez hasnt exactly won over or even tried to play ball with moderate Democrats, unlike Schumer, whos able to make friends with politicians on both sides of the aisle. But if the congresswoman can rack up 6.2 million Twitter followers, maybe shell be able to win over some moderates. T he BBC's Dan Walker has defended his interview with Boris Johnson after being accused of being "soft" on the prime minister. Mr Walker spoke to Mr Johnson for half an hour on Tuesday morning, in the longest interview the Tory leader has done since his landslide election victory in December. Rival TV presenter Piers Morgan, of Good Morning Britain, described the interview as "another soft paddle interview that Downing Street has served up to BBC Breakfast, because they know theyre going to get an easy ride". Others suggested the PM accepted being questioned by Mr Walker after repeatedly turning down veteran Andrew Neil during the election campaign as he felt it would be a less pressing interaction. Mr Walker has since defended his performance on BBC Breakfast, writing on Twitter to explain his interview technique. He wrote: "Glad so many of you enjoyed our #BBCBreakfast exclusive with the PM yesterday. "I fundamentally believe in being fair, polite & robust with every guest. "Ranting helps no-one. "I want you to listen to THEM not me. "You can speak truth to power... you dont have to shout it." He was questioned on social media for not holding the PM "to account", though some said they welcomed his toned down approach of not raising his voice. During the interview he told the PM "you have not dodged tricky issues in the past", as he quizzed him over the royals, which the PM then avoided wading into. He was also criticised for asking questions about Veganuary and the ringing of Big Ben to mark Brexit. Mr Morgan weighed in again following Mr Walker's post and said: "Mate, youre now Boriss go-to guy for cuddly fireside government propaganda chats. Michael Avenatti arrested at Los Angeles courthouse during state bar hearing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Attorney Michael Avenatti was abruptly taken into federal custody in Los Angeles Tuesday evening, following a day-long disciplinary hearing in which the California State Bar is asking a judge to prevent Avenatti from practicing law based upon their belief he poses a "threat of substantial harm to the public" if he continues to perform legal work. Avenatti was on the stand when the court took a break and IRS agents placed him under arrest. Multiple sources told ABC News that Avenatti is accused of violating the terms of his pre-trial release. It was not immediately clear what he allegedly did to violate those terms because the documents are under seal. MORE: Avenatti bashes Trump as '3rd-rate mobster' following court appearance The lawyer, who is facing multiple federal criminal charges in California and New York, will likely spend the night at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles or the Santa Ana jail before his appearance tomorrow in a Santa Ana federal court. Avenatti skyrocketed to celebrity status alongside his former client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, who filed multiple lawsuits -- unsuccessfully -- against President Donald Trump. Eighteen months ago, the brash lawyer was a fixture on cable news shows and the topic of flattering pieces in Vanity Fair and The New York Times magazine. Reporters asked him about his skin-care routine and Tom Ford suits while he and Daniels posed for photographer Annie Leibovitz. PHOTO: FILE - In this May 28, 2019, file photo, California attorney Michael Avenatti leaves a courthouse in New York following a hearing. (Seth Wenig/AP, File) The celebrity attorney, with his trademark Twitter hashtag #basta, also dipped his toe into the presidential candidacy pool for a brief moment, dining with potential donors and forming a PAC to accept donations. Then last spring, after the Los Angeles city attorney declined to file domestic violence charges stemming from an earlier incident, federal prosecutors in New York and California indicted Avenatti on charges of extortion, fraud and embezzlement, which included allegations that Avenatti stole millions of dollars from a paraplegic client. In May, New York federal prosecutors filed additional charges, this time alleging Avenatti stole $300,000 from his most famous client, Stormy Daniels. Avenatti has plead not guilty to all charges and has been vocal on social media maintaining his innocence. Story continues MORE: Feds file new charges against Michael Avenatti At Tuesdays hearing, the state bars senior trial counsel Eli Morgenstern laid out his case for why Avenatti should be placed in "involuntary inactive status," which would prohibit him from practicing law, but is separate from disbarment. The state bar has already filed their disbarment case as a separate procedure. Proceedings in the matter began last June, when the state bar filed their application for inactive enrollment against Avenatti. The complaint included allegations that Avenatti stole nearly $840,000 from former client Gregory Barela, who testified earlier Tuesday. In previous court filings, Avenattis attorney denied he misappropriated Barelas funds. During Avenatti's heated testimony before his arrest, he appeared disturbed and at times raised his voice, calling the hearing "nonsense" and claiming that his former client Barela testified to "a lot of things that werent true." By Express News Service KOCHI: The Synod of the Syro Malabar Church on Wednesday expressed apprehensions on Christian girls being targeted and killed in the name of 'Love Jihad' in the state. The concerns were raised by the Synod in an official communique released by the Media Commission of the Syro Malabar Church by Fr Antony Thalachelloor. "Recently the lives of girls lost entrapped in love have deeply wounded the secular conscience of the state. The growth of Love Jihad endangers the communal harmony and peace in Kerala. It is a fact that Christian girls are being targeted by the Love Jihad in the state," mentioned Synod in the release. The Synod also claimed that according to multiple reports, there was a 'love jihad' focussed on Christian girls, stating that over half of the 21 women who joined Islamic State hailed from the Christian community. Earlier, the Church has also raised its concerns over the Christian community been targeted for love jihad. "The CBI, NIA and Intelligence Bureau have all reported that such cases are occurring in the state and the country. It is saddening and worrying that despite the existence of a mechanism to counter efforts by religious terrorist groups to entrap gullible girls, these are not being tackled efficiently," said Fr Antony Thalachelloor in a press release released last year. "It is a grave concern that there are many missing girls, who are not even mentioned in the official records, being used for terrorist activities in the name of Love Jihad. In recent times, complaints on girls, disguised in love, being raped and videos taken of the rape used to forced conversions in Kerala," claimed the Synod. The Synod called for an intervention of the parents to create awareness among their children on the hidden dangers of prevalent Love Jihad in the state. The New York Public Library's list of the 10 most-checked-out books of all time, revealed Monday for its 125th anniversary, largely consists of children's books. Chances are you have read, or heard of, at least one. There's "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats and "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss, each checked out nearly a half million times. There's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Where the Wild Things Are." But there is also one very famous children's book conspicuously missing from the list: "Goodnight Moon." You remember: the great green room, with the telephone and balloon and the painting of the cow jumping over the moon, and the soothing words to which millions of children have been tucked safely into bed: "Goodnight stars, Goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere." So conspicuous was its absence from the most-read list that the library felt a need to explain why, giving the 1947 book by Margaret Wise Brown an honorable mention. It was almost an apology, as there was, in fact, something to apologize for. While children and their parents have loved the bedtime story for decades, Anne Carroll Moore "hated" it. Moore not only ran the children's section at the library for 35 years, she actually invented it. And her influence on the entire industry was so widely felt that, even though she technically retired from the library in 1941, her opinion still kept the book off the shelves for decades. "By all measures, this book should be a top checkout (in fact, it might be the top checkout) if not for an odd piece of history: extremely influential New York Public Library children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore hated Goodnight Moon when it first came out," the library said in an addendum to its list. "As a result, the Library didn't carry it until 1972. That lost time bumped the book off the top 10 list for now. But give it time." The unusual snippet of cultural history, which was first reported by Slate, draws attention to a largely forgotten figure responsible for introducing an entire generation of children to libraries in the early 20th century, yet who grew up at a time when most libraries didn't even allow children inside. Moore's distaste for several beloved children's books published in her time, including E.B. White's "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web," may make her seem like villain in the eyes of readers or parents today, said Jan Pinborough, author of "Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children." But the notable dissents Moore is known for now, Pinborough said, belie her more important life's work: nearly single-handedly engineering children's services at the library as we understand them today. "We take children's libraries so for granted now," Pinborough told The Washington Post. "But she created these innovations, these beautiful welcoming spaces for children. She took down the silence signs. She designed child-sized tables. . . . And she ordered books in many languages so that all of the children, including many immigrant children, could actually check out books and bring them home. . . . She made all these great contributions, but I feel like today she's looked at as villainous because of her efforts to quash a few certain books." Moore, born in Maine in 1871, moved to New York in 1895 and very shortly thereafter "more or less invented the children's library," as New Yorker writer Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor, reported in a 2008 story about the librarian's relationship with White. She opened her first at the Pratt Institute in 1896 and her next at the New York Public Library in 1906, as its first director of the new children's department. Less than a decade after stocking the shelves with kid-friendly storybooks, in 1913, those books accounted for one-third of all checkouts at New York library branches, Lepore reported. Before long, libraries around the country copied Moore's children's services and looked to her for recommendations on which books to collect. Once she started offering reviews, Moore's stamp of disapproval - or her refusal to add a book to her library's collection - was enough to ruin a book, said Betsy Bird, collections development manager at the Evanston, Illinois, Public Library. "When she didn't like a book, she would say, 'This is truck,' " Bird, who was previously a youth materials specialist at the New York Public Library, told The Post. "People would make this pilgrimage to her in the library to show her their book, and if she didn't like it she would tell people right to their face." That is exactly what happened to Margaret Wise Brown the first time she went to meet Moore with a publishing colleague in 1938, according to a biography of Brown by Leonard Marcus. The two disagreed stylistically. Moore was a lover of fairy tales and fables. Brown, a believer in rhyme, in speaking to children in their own language. They never quite saw eye to eye, Marcus noted. "Do you want to know what I think of these books?" Moore asked Brown and her companion, Bill Scott, when they came with a stack of books. "Truck, Mr. Scott! They are truck!" So it would be no surprise, then, that when Brown's most famous work, "Goodnight Moon," was published, the unusually powerful New York librarian "didn't really care for it," Bird said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "Goodnight Moon" went on sale for $1.75 in the fall of 1947 and then - for the next several years - was almost forgotten. The reviews that year were fine but not great. The Christian Science Monitor said it "creates an atmosphere of peace and calm" for children, while the New Yorker was unmoved: "Goodnight Moon" was "hypnotic bedtime litany," the critic wrote, according to Marcus's biography, "Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon." But at the New York Public Library, the internal opinion was particularly harsh: It had been "dismissed as an unbearably sentimental piece of work," according to Marcus. Moore was by then retired from the library but her influence did not go away in the slightest: She still attended every meeting, as Lepore reported. And so for years, presumably following the advice of its most famous in-house critic, the library refused to add the book to its collection. Only 6,000 copies of "Goodnight Moon" were sold in the fall of 1947, according to Marcus, and sales had tanked by its second year in circulation. Bird said that the book's explosion in popularity in later years is still somewhat of a mystery. Marcus theorized that "Goodnight Moon" traveled to more and more parents by word of mouth amid the post-World War II baby boom starting in 1953, when suddenly sales started inching back up. "There may be no specific explanation for what ensued - 4,000 copies sold in 1955, 8,000 in 1960, nearly 20,000 in 1970, and onward and upward - other than that parents who knew Goodnight Moon and found it memorable recommended it to their friends," he wrote. Neither Moore nor Brown, however, would live to see it. Brown died in 1952 at age 42, while Moore died in 1961 at 89. Her influence had waned toward the end of her life after she disagreed with critics writ large about the merits of White's two classics, "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web" - the latter of which is No. 6 on the New York Public Library's list of most-checked-out books. But Lepore told The Post via email that she would hope the formidable New York librarian's unpopular opinions don't go on to spoil her remarkable influence on kids. "That Moore, she was a pistol," Lepore said. ". . . But, given that people have forgotten, ignored and dismissed everything Anne Carroll Moore did for public libraries and for children, it'd be pretty tragic injustice if she gets remembered only to be attacked for having hated 'Goodnight Moon' and banned 'Stuart Little'." 'By not only decriminalising routine business failures, but by ensuring that institutional lending and corporate rescue frameworks are strengthened via the IBC, the prime minister has ensured there is no room anymore for the proverbial 'reckless, prodigal debtor',' notes Sanju Verma. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com The Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, approved in a record seven months, in August 2017, an insolvency resolution plan for Synergies Dooray Automotive Limited, by allowing its merger with Visakhapatnam-based aluminium alloy wheel maker, Synergies Castings Limited, making it the first successful resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which has since grown from strength to strength. The Union cabinet on December 24 cleared an ordinance to amend the IBC that would ring-fence successful bidders from criminal proceedings against offences committed by previous promoters. The move will help in the rescue of bankrupt Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd by JSW Steel, which was willing to offer Rs 19,700 crore to take over BSPL, a transaction that has, however, been delayed due to an investigation by the enforcement directorate and the attachment of BPSL's assets. The amended IBC will prevail over the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, making it more business-friendly than before. Unarguably, the IBC, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been a game changer in more ways than one, as it seeks to protect last-mile funding, boost investments in financially distressed sectors, speed up the corporate insolvency resolution process, and give failed promoters a decent exit route. Under the IBC process, of the 21,136 applications filed so far, 9,653 cases involving a total amount of Rs 3.7 trillion, or roughly 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product, have been disposed of at the pre-admission stage. Also, from the 161 resolved cases, the realisable amount stood at over Rs 1.6 trillion. Needless to add, effective implemention of IBC, that came into effect in December 2016, after subsuming and repealing the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act, 1909, and Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Repeal Act, 2003, among others, also helped boost India's overall ranking from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019, in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business rankings, with India's ranking in the 'Resolving Insolvency' pillar jumping to an even better 52 now, from 108 a year ago. The fact that the Ruias, who were tom-tomming their bankruptcy for years, eventually lost their company despite wanting to shell out over Rs 54,000 crore, in response to Arcelormittal's far more modest Rs 42,000 crore offer, is a stinging reminder to crony capitalists wanting to cock a snook at banks, and that honesty is still the best policy. Commercial considerations will drive the distribution of sums realised, as per powers with the committee of creditors (CoC). Dissenting creditors and operational creditors have to accept the liquidation value or the sum offered in the resolution plan, whichever is higher. The amended IBC Code, which gives the highest priority to financial creditors and secured creditors, in the hierarchy of payments, is a welcome step. This will help in preventing a repeat of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ruling in the Essar Steel case, where the court had initially said about 40 per cent of the proceeds should go to the operational creditors. Strengthening of powers of the CoC or the lenders and establishing the supremacy of the CoC over bankruptcy courts, which often used to undermine lenders, in distribution of resolution proceeds, is expected to lend clarity, with the resolution plan binding on all governments and local authorities. In its judgment of August 2019, of Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Limited and Ors Vs Union of India and Ors, the Supreme Court upheld the amendments made to the IBC, by observing that legislations such as the IBC and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, would run concurrent to each other, and in case of a conflict, the IBC would prevail over RERA. It was further held in this case that investors/home buyers, were already subsumed within Section 5 (8) (f) of the IBC and had the status of financial creditors and their money was 'financial debt'. This has been a big boost to aggrieved home buyers. Earlier, under Section 3(11), only those investors who were promised 'assured returns' by realtors, were treated as financial creditors. The recent IBC amendments have increased the resolution period to 330 days as the maximum time allowed for bankruptcy resolution, including for litigation and other judicial processes. This is higher than the present period of 270 days for clearing a resolution plan, which, however, excluded the time spent on legal challenges by various parties from the timeframe. A timebound outer limit of 330 days that is sacrosanct is hence a big step forward. The IBC gives the highest priority to those who have brought interim finance to meet the costs of resolution or liquidation, followed by dues to workers for the past two years and dues to secured creditors in equal priority, making it fair to all concerned stakeholders. The average recovery in the insolvency cases that saw resolution in the first two years of the IBC, has been to the tune of 46 per cent against just 26 per cent under the earlier Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction regime. The non-performing assets crisis of public sector banks has been one of the worst legacies of Nehruvian socialism. In undoing that festering damage by not only decriminalising routine business failures but by ensuring that the institutional lending and corporate rescue frameworks are strengthened via the IBC, the prime minister has ensured there is no room anymore for the proverbial 'reckless, prodigal debtor'. Sanju Verma is a BJP spokesperson. Representative image Russian government has resigned following Russian President Vladimir Putin's state of the nation address, according to reports. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, reports suggest. In a televised meeting with the Russian president, Medvedev said the proposals made by Putin which he mentioned in his address would make significant changes to the country's balance of power and so "the government in its current form has resigned". "We should provide the president of our country with the possibility to take all the necessary measures" to carry out the changes, Medvedev said. "All further decisions will be taken by the president." Putin asked Medvedev, his longtime ally, to continue as head of government until a new government has been appointed. Russian news agencies said Putin thanked Medvedev for his work. They said that Putin will name Medvedev as deputy of the presidential Security Council. The development comes after Putin proposed tweaking of the Russian Constitution to increase the powers of parliament and the Cabinet, a move that could herald his intention to take a political position that would let him stay at the helm after his presidency ends. During his state of the nation address, Putin suggested amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The authoriiy to make those appointments currently belongs to Russia's president. "It will increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all Cabinet members," Putin told an audience of top officials and lawmakers, according to reports. The candidate won the government-held contest for this office; Novikov is known for his decade-long active duty in prosecutor's offices and the support of state prosecution in the cases of organized crime and economic crimes Oleksandr Novikov, Chairman of NAPC Transparency International Ukraine Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Oleksandr Novikov new chairman of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine. Oleksiy Honcharuk, the Prime Minister of Ukraine reported that during the government session on January 15. Novikov won the government-held contest for this office. "He faces a pivotal task, to provide openness and transparency of the authority, and what's most important, show us all certain results of the destruction of corruption", Honcharuk said. Novikov is known for his decade-long active service in prosecutor's offices of various levels, and the support of state prosecution in the cases of organized crime and economic crimes. Natalia Korchak, the ex-head of the National Agency is a suspect in economic crime, namely the non-declaration of the wealth in the sum of $21,653, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). It is noted that Korchak was informed about the suspicion by the NABU detectives by procedural control of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) reported. The investigation established that Korchak did not include the information about the car used by her on the declaration of the official for 2016. The mother of her husband bought the car in 2016 for $21,653; however, as of December 31, 2016, this property was constantly used by former NAPC official and her husband. Consequently, according to the law, this fact had to be mentioned in the 2016 declaration but she did not do it. The Russian government is resigning in accordance with Article 117 of the Constitution, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. At a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and government members Medvedev recalled the head of state's address to the Federal Assembly setting out "the important priorities of work in our country for the coming year." Additionally, "a whole host of fundamental changes to the Russian Federation Constitution was outlined," Medvedev said. These changes, when passed, will affect the whole balance of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, he said. "In this context it is obvious that we as the government should allow our country's president to make all necessary decisions before that. Given the conditions, I think it would be right for the government of the Russian Federation to resign in accordance with Article 117 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said. Putin said that at his one-on-one meeting with Medvedev after addressing the parliament the two discussed the issues formulated in the statement. "There are very many issues, and for successful realization of everything we planned before and what has now been proposed to the public, we need, of course, to do a great deal, not least in terms of organizing our work," Putin said. Medvedev thanked his government for its work and stressed that subsequent decisions will be made by the head of state. Putin thanked government members for their work and promised to meet every one of them in person in the near future. "I want to express my satisfaction with the results achieved. Of course, not everything has been accomplished, but then nothing ever gets accomplished in full," Putin said. "Hopefully, we will see each other soon. I will meet with every one of you. I request that you perform your duties in full until the new composition of the government is formed," he said at a meeting with the members of the government on Wednesday. Under Article 117 of the Russian Constitution, the government may tender its resignation, which is either rejected or accepted by the president. In the latter case, the government shall continue working under a new one is formed. English Finnish Raisio Plc, media release 15 January 2020 at 8.30 a.m. Finnish time The 95-year-old Elovena girl gets updated and travels abroad The appearance of the Elovena brand owned by Raisio Group will be updated in 2020. The changes are driven by Raisios goal to increase its international oat business. The new Elovena is a contemporary, brave, Finnish brand that offers naturally healthy oat products in Finland and, from now on, in European markets as well. The Elovena girl will continue her 95-year journey wearing a blue dress. The visual look of the Elovena brand will be updated to suit the new innovative product groups and international markets. The core of the oat brand, already established and familiar to all Finns, will remain the same: naturally healthy products made from Finnish oats and originating from pure Finnish nature. Elovenas new packagings will appear in the market in stages starting in February 2020. We based the renewal of our iconic national brand on three consumer studies conducted in Finland and abroad, for example, in Poland and Sweden. More than 4,000 consumers participated in the studies, and the new Elovena design was rated highly by the participants. Consumers perceived the Elovena girl in her blue dress as a strong symbol of Finnish origin, reliability, naturalness and contemporariness, explains Mikko Lindqvist, Marketing Director at Raisio. Elovena primed to be the top brand for Raisios international oat business Raisio took its oat products abroad already more than twenty years ago under the brand names Nordic and Provena, but now Elovena has been selected as the focus brand for Raisios expanding international oat business. Provena products will begin to be manufactured as Elovena Gluten-free products during 2020. We believe that Elovenas strong connection with natural healthiness and its Finnish origin will work well, also on the international level. We will begin the export of Elovena Gluten-free products within our current markets by gradually introducing the brand in, among others, Sweden, Poland and Russia, says Jennifer Krook, Marketing Manager in charge of the international marketing of Raisio's grain-based brands. In addition to renewing its Elovena brand, Raisio has invested heavily to advance its international oat business. The company modernised its oat mill in Nokia, Finland with approximately eight million euro and initiated the building of a production facility to manufacture plant-based value-added products in its hometown of Raisio. The cost of the new facility will amount to approximately 45 million euro. Further information Mikko Lindqvist, Marketing Director, tel. +358 40 752 7857 Jennifer Krook, Marketing Manager, tel. +358 40 545 2414 Pictures of the updated Elovena brand: http://brandbank.raisio.com/l/HDtXcNF-xzLN Raisio plc Raisio is an international company specialised in healthy, responsibly produced food. Our well-known brands include, for example, Benecol, Elovena, Nalle and Sunnuntai. In Raisios products, the focus is on well-being, health, good taste and sustainable development. Profitable growth is ensured through our strong expertise and passion for creating new. Raisios shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. In 2018, the Groups net sales for continuing operations totalled EUR 228 million and comparable EBIT was EUR 26 million. Our food is good for Health, Heart and Earth. For more information on Raisio go to www.raisio.com. Attachments Jammu and Kashmir: Users will not be able to access any social media sites and messaging services. (Photo Credit: File Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday evening allowed mobile Internet in parts of Jammu region and broadband in hotels, travel establishments. In a three-page order, the home department said additional 400 internet kiosks will be established in Kashmir division. However, users will not be able to access any social media sites and messaging services, said the order issued by Principal Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra. Internet service providers will offer broadband facility (with Mac binding) to all institutions dealing with essential services, hospitals, banks as also government offices. Mac Binding means to enforce a client machine to work from a particular Internet Protocol address. Official notice by the Jammu and Kashmir administration The order also said that the 2G mobile connectivity on post-paid mobiles for accessing white-listed websites including e-banking will be allowed in districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasiall in the Jammu region. US Envoy in Kashmir This can be seen in line with US State Department expressing concern over the continued detention of political leaders and restrictions on internet in Jammu and Kashmir. The twitter handle of US State Departments bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) said that it was closely following the visit of US Ambassador to India Keneth Juster and other foreign envoys visit to Jammu and Kashmir. Closely following USAmbIndia and other foreign diplomats recent trip to Jammu and Kashmir. Important step, the bureau of SCA said in a tweet. We remain concerned by detention of political leaders and residents, and Internet restrictions. We look forward to a return to normalcy. AGW, it said in the tweet. Supreme Court on Internet restrictions in Kashmir The order by the Jammu and Kashmir administration comes days after the Supreme Court had made harsh observation on the JK administration for snapping Internet services, which the apex court said was a fundamental right of the people. This came days after Supreme Court ordered Jammu and Kashmir Administration to review all restrictive orders, including internet ban, with a week. The top court said this while delivering a verdict on a batch of petitions on the situation in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370. The court said that such suspension can only be for a limited time period and is subject to judicial review. It is no doubt that freedom of speech is an essential tool in a democratic setup. Freedom of Internet access is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of free speech, the court observed. The internet is a major means of information, therefore, freedom of expression through the internet is part of Article 19(1)(a) and restrictions on it should be in accordance with restrictions to this right, the court said. The order was passed by a three-judge bench, headed by Justice NV Ramana. Other members of the bench are Justices R Subhash Reddy and BR Gavai. The court said that all orders should be put in the public domain which can then be challenged in a court of law. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chief executive John Nerurker said that the launch would bolster the firms national capability. The search for the right partner to achieve the same success of the firms construction practices in other cities has been extensive, he said. For many years, our construction practice has been a market leader in Brisbane and Sydney, advising on a number of iconic, high-profile developments. The search for a suitable candidate who could achieve a similar level of success in Melbourne has taken some time, but there is no question that we have found that person in Michael, Nerurker said. Loterzo whose clients include ADCO Constructions, Crema Constructions, and Hutchinson Builders works on both front-end and back-end construction matters. He has worked on numerous high-profile building projects, including AAMI Park, the MCG, Eureka Tower and QV in Melbourne and No 1 Martin Place, Governor Phillip and Governor Macquarie Towers and 400 George St in Sydney. Loterzo has also been well acquainted with Mills Oakley for a long time. Mills Oakley said that his time at Landers, he was an in-house lawyer at a leading Australian construction company and worked with the firm during that time. Having briefed Mills Oakley for nearly ten years, I was impressed by the firms unwavering commitment to delivering quality advice and value for money, he said. I am proud to lead a new chapter for the Mills Oakley national construction team in Melbourne. An unexpected Royal has a say in Meghan and Harry's future. Photo: Getty Images As the Megxit drama unfolds, and a resolution seems to be on the way, an unlikely key player has emerged and it could be a sore point within the family dynamic. As senior members of the family thrash out an agreement, it has seems the Duchess of Cornwall is entitled to be part of the decision making thanks to her position on the Privy Council. The Privy Council is a board of advisors to the crown, found within all monarchies, but particularly important in a constitutional monarchy like the UK. Camilla's role on the Privy Council means she is an official advisor to the Queen. Photo: Getty Images In a surprising twist, Camilla is one of just four members of the royal family to sit on the council, along with Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Prince William, and one of three active members involved, with Prince Phillip having retired. Though firmly in the past, Camilla and Charles affair during his marriage to Harrys mother, and ultimate marriage, is sure to make the realisation that Camilla has a say in his familys future a tough pill to swallow for Harry. The Express reported the council is likely to weigh in on ongoing questions of the pairs arrangement. Deciding the titles as Queen withholds Most notable is the councils likelihood to advise on the pairs royal titles going forward. After the Queen notably referred to the couple as Harry and Meghan rather than their formal titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The Queen dropped the 'Duke' and 'Duchess' in her formal statement on the pair's exit. Photo: Getty Images Since then speculation has raged as to whether the pair will keep their titles like Harrys cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, or whether they will forfeit them and go by their first names like cousin Zara Tindell. Camilla has not presently been reported to be at Sandringham this week. Meanwhile, speculation around Meghans absence from the meeting between senior members of the family after reports she was barred from Mondays crisis talks with the Queen ran rife, have been put to bed. Buckingham Palace has now confirmed that the Duchess did not take part in the emergency Megxit meeting at Sandringham because she and her husband, Prince Harry, decided it wasnt necessary. Story continues In the end, the Sussexes decided that it wasn't necessary for the Duchess to join, a representative for Buckingham Palace told Yahoo U.K. on Tuesday. Earlier on, it was speculated that the 38-year-old would participate via conference call from Canada after returning stateside last Friday, but those plans were reportedly called off over security concerns. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com When Captain Tania Sher Gill led all-men contingents during the majestic Army Day parade, the woman officer knew she was blazing a new trail in the armed forces. Twenty-six-year-old Gill of the Corps of Signals, the fourth generation to serve the Army, became the first woman Parade Adjutant in the history of the Army Day function on Wednesday. Wearing a khaki uniform and holding a ceremonial sword she marched down in front of an august audience at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment, she literally stood tall. "It was a feeling of great pride, a sense of accomplishment and worthiness, and pure blessing," an ecstatic Gill told PTI after the grand event. A graduate of the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, she comes from a family where "Army tales and anecdotes" were part of dinner table talks and morning walks and joining the armed forces came "very naturally" to her. "I had applied while I was in the final year of my engineering course and later got selected. After my training at OTA. I got commissioned into the Corps of Signals in 2017. When the selection was on for the Parade Adjutant, I knew that if I would get selected, I would be the first woman to do that job in the parade's history," she said. Hoshiarpur-born Gill, who holds a B.Tech. in electronics and telecommunications from Nagpur University, said her great-grandfather had taken part in the World War I. "He (great-grandfather) was part of the Sikh Regiment. My maternal grandfather also belonged to the same regiment, while my paternal grandfather belonged to an Armoured Division while my father served in the artillery regiment. Army life runs in the family," a proud Gill said. The Punjab-born did her schooling in multiple cities and counts photography, travelling and music among her hobbies. The Army showcased its military might and some of its state-of-the-art assets during the majestic parade, with artillery gun systems Dhanush and K9-Vajra taking part in it for the first time, officials said. Capt Gill led all-men contingents during the parade, drawing praise from senior officers and loud cheers from the audience, which included members of the diplomatic corps. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If Iran did not recognize its guilt, there could be such an option, but the situation has been developing quite dynamically, - Ukraine's ambassador in the United States Ukraine's envoy in the U.S. Volodymyr Yelchenko sees no need in calling the UN Security Council session in regard to the crash of Ukraine's Boeing 737 over Tehran. The Ukrainian diplomat said so at a briefing in Washington, Ukrinform reports. "In case Iran did not accept its guilt, perhaps we would have to turn to the UN Security Council. But since the situation developed quite dynamically, I just can't see what's the goal of those who believe there's a need to convene UN Security Council", he said. Yelchenko added that on January 9, Ukraine already brought up this issue. Then, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia read the special statement on the behalf of Ukraine, Germany, Canada and Sweden, some of the countries that lost their citizens in the tragedy. Recently, members of the European Parliament discussed the topic of Iran during the Tuesday debates in Strasbourg. Some of the lawmakers called on Russia to follow the suite of Iran, taking the responsibility for the attack on Malaysian Boeing 777 downed over Donbas in summer 2014. German MEP Michael Haller tod this to Radio Liberty, claiming that there's a unique situation taking place now, when "Iran is ahead of Russia in terms of recognizing the responsibility". "Russia has to assume the responsibility in the attack on MH17, but it hasn't done it yet. The evidence is identical [to that in Iran], but Russia refuses to recoignize its guilt", Haller said. The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on January 31 and subject to the exigencies of government business, is likely to conclude on April 3 with a recess in between, an official communication said on Wednesday. President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the central hall of Parliament at 11 am on January 31. "The President has summoned the Rajya Sabha to meet on Friday, January 31, 2020, at New Delhi. Subject to exigencies of business, the Session is scheduled to conclude on Friday, April 3, 2020," the communication from the Rajya Sabha secretariat said. To enable the standing committees to consider the demands for grants of various ministries and departments and prepare their reports, the House will adjourn on February 11 to meet again on March 2, a communication from the Lok Sabha secretariat said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By PTI KHANDWA: BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has said he was in favour of inscribing the image of Goddess Lakshmi on banknotes which could "improve the condition of the Indian currency". Swamy was speaking to reporters on Tuesday night after addressing a lecture series titled 'Swami Vivekananda Vyakhyanmala' in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district. ALSO READ: After Kolkata Port, now BJP leader Subramanian Swamy wants PM to rename Victoria Memorial Responding to a question about the picture of Lord Ganesha printed on the Indonesian currency, Swamy said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi can answer this question. I am in favour (of this). Lord Ganesha removes obstacles. I rather say that a picture of Goddess Lakshmi (on currency notes) may improve the condition of Indian currency. Nobody should feel bad about this." Swamy said there was nothing objectionable in the Citizenship [Amendment] Act. "The Congress and Mahatma Gandhi had requested this (CAA). Manmohan Singh had also requested in Parliament in 2003. We did it. Now they are not accepting it saying that we did injustice to Pakistan's Muslims. What injustice was done? Pakistan's Muslims don't want to come, we can't force them," Swamy said. Earlier, while delivering the lecture, Swamy said DNA of Muslims and Hindus is same like that of Brahmins and Dalits. Swamy claimed the BJP would soon introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which he said had been repeatedly directed by the supreme court in the past 70 years and by Article 44 of the Constitution. Expressing concerns over the rising population, Swamy said India would leave China behind by 2025 as the most populous nation. Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group Our community is inspired by these students from all across the region who lead with grit, technical competence, and the heartfelt desire to make the world a better place. Celebrating the 2020 Dreammakers and Risktakers Awards means joining top regional business leaders to honor Tri-Valley students who are innovating the future. Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group, a business-led organization that showcases student risktakers as essential contributors to the regional innovation ecosystem, has announced the 12 student award recipients for the January 23, 2020, Dreammakers and Risktakers Awards event at The Palm Event Center in Pleasanton. "Our community is inspired by these students from all across the region who lead with grit, technical competence, and the heartfelt desire to make the world a better place" said Lynn Naylor, CEO of Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group. This heartwarming event shines a spotlight on the next generation of incredible young leaders and their commitment to empathy, equity and boundless innovation." 2020 Dreammaker and Risktaker Award Recipients: Inspired by an ocular challenge he experienced as a young child, Dublin High School student inventor Jeffrey Tan designed an Electrotactile Braille Display that allows braille readers to more easily read computer screens with a braille display that is refreshable and uniquely affordable. First generation college student Alexander Vasquez, was not daunted even by some of the most challenging course work Las Positas College has to offer in chemical engineering. Vasquez, excelled on a challenging project to stabilize DNA and RNA without refrigeration, so medical samples can be stored at room temperature with less risk during power outages expected even more often in the future due to climate change. Seven Granada High School students turned their frustration into action as they faced the rapidly spreading vaping epidemic in their community, and moved beyond health and wellness education into effective political advocacy. The student lead team that effectively channeled their collective and powerful voice includes Livermore students Alessandra Beltran, Ahalya Rajesh, Ariella Stewart, Dario Stewart, Will Taggert, Meadow Walton and Mason Wolf. Described as wise beyond her years, Megan Sloan of Amador Valley High School was involved in the creation of a cell phone app called the PRIDE button that recognizes students for positive behavior on campus. An active leader serving on many student committees, Megan excels in creating inclusive, empathetic projects that help all students to feel connected in a warm, kind and accepting school environment. Maodan Tohouri is so dedicated to being a force for change that she was recently invited to speak at an International Teen Conference in Nepal, where she inspired other young leaders with ideas about how they can make a difference in their own communities. A Tri-Valley Regional Occupational Program student, Maodan is the president of Students for Social Change, Communication Coordinator at Student Voice, and she also serves on the planning committee for the Tri-Valley Climate Summit. Foothill High School student Myles Molnar will be honored for spreading optimism, determination and positivity with his fellow high school students, all while managing his personal challenge of paralysis from a wrestling injury. Myles is an inspiration to everyone around him, never complaining and continuing to work hard to do everything he always planned to accomplish - all by innovating new ways to achieve success in his new world. About the 2020 Dreammakers and Risktakers Awards Event Join NBC Bay Area news anchor, Jessica Aguirre, Master of Ceremonies for this annual lunch event presented by Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group. Thursday, January 23rd, 2020 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Palm Event Center, 1184 Vineyard Avenue, Pleasanton, CA event tickets: $55 for ITVLG members, $65 for non-members The 25-year-old slayings of a young mother and a 51-year-old father in Long Branch were recently solved by detectives who used old confessions and new proof of an insurance payment, court documents in the case show. The 1994 and 1995 murders of Ana Mejia and Nicolas Connors were related, and so were the victims - they were in-laws. Authorities announced Friday three arrests in the case, Connors wife Delores Connors, 66, and her son Ted Connors, 47, who now live in Florida, and a Jackson resident, Jose Carrero, 48. Theyre charged with murder. Court documents obtained Tuesday fill in some details, but leave many questions unanswered. Mejia was found dead inside her Long Branch apartment on Dec. 8, 1994, stabbed 23 times. A white substance smeared around the 24-year-olds mouth and nose, first thought to be cocaine, was later determined to be baby formula, the documents say. Her two children, 3 and 1, were there, but unharmed. Five months later, Nicolas Connors was found shot to death on a couch in his Long Branch home. He was discovered by his wife, Delores, in the Van Dyke Place home they shared. Two of their children, 13 and 12, slept through the crime. In probable cause affidavits in the case, a detective found new evidence of an insurance payout to Delores Connors following the murders. The affidavit does not say the amount of the payout or if that served as her alleged motive. Ted Connors and Carrero confessed to multiple friends that they killed Nicholas Connors and Mejia, the documents say. Police took statements from those friends in 1995 and 1996. But more recently, detectives discovered a transcript of a recorded conversation between Ted Connors and a friend dated September 1995 in which Connors confessed to killing Nicholas Connors, according to the affidavit. In addition, police took a new statement from one of the suspects friends two months ago. The information given to (the friends) by Ted Connors and Jose Carrero is supported and proven to be true based on additional information discovered and confirmed in the current review of the file and additional investigation conducted over the last two years, the affidavit reads. Several witnesses in the case are identified only by initials in the affidavits. Carrero also admitted to his role in the murders during an interview with detectives, the affidavit says, though it is unclear when exactly he confessed. Hes due in Superior Court of Monmouth County in Freehold on Wednesday. The three suspects also disposed of the handgun used in Nicholas Connors murder in the ocean, a preliminary law enforcement incident report states. Jose Carrero gave a statement implicating himself, Dolores Connors and Ted Connors in planning and murdering Ana Mejia and Nicholas Connors, the document alleges. Carrero is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Facility. Delores and Ted Connors are in custody in Palm Beach County, Florida and await extradition hearings seeking to move them to New Jersey. Both are now residents of Del Ray Beach. Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. At every launch event, and at almost every social media post or even in the box of every smartphone Xiaomi sells, the Chinese smartphone giant likes to highlight the fact that they are the number one smartphone brand in India. For a company thats existed for just five years in India, its pretty phenomenal. However, a majority of that growth came from budget offerings from Xiaomi. Particularly, from the Redmi sub-brand. But that could soon change as Xiaomi is gearing up to brings its Mi-branded flagships to India this year. Redmi smartphones, especially the Note series have always been hailed by the company as the primary driver for growth. The Redmi Note 7 series bolstered the company to own a hefty 26 percent marketshare in Q3 2019, a 7 percent YoY growth from the same time last year. And its not just Xiaomi that enjoyed momentum from the budget segment. Samsung reinvented themselves with the M-series and A-series smartphones to compete with budget offerings in India, while Vivo and Realme ramped up their portfolio, launching new products almost every month in the mid-range and budget segments. This has largely been the trend ever since Reliance Jio entered the industry and made 4G data affordable for the masses. However, 2019 also saw the proliferation of value flagships in India. OEMs took OnePlus flagship killer formula and came out with devices like the Realme X2 Pro, Redmi K20 Pro and the Asus 6z. The segment became so popular in India that we didnt see any Snapdragon 8-series flagship priced beyond 60k which largely used to be the case even a few years back. So if theres demand enough for these value flagships in India, why hasnt Xiaomi entered the segment again? Opportunity to go premium with Mi flagships Speaking to us, Raghu Reddy, Category Head at Xiaomi India said, a large part of the business has been based on the Redmi portfolio whereas Mi have been conspicously absent. And I think, going into 2020, we just believe that with a whole bunch of things from a market and demand standpoint, and from an organisational standpoint, we believe this is the year where we will be able to step back with the Mi sub-brand as it has always been outlined in China and other global markets. There used to be a time when the Mi flagships did launch in the country. We saw the Mi 4, the Mi 5 and after a gap, the Mi Mix 2. Since that, only the Mi A-series saw annual refreshes, and the Mi flagships were launched only in China and Europe. Back then, with the smartphone market in India still maturing, the demand was largely for budget smartphones. It still is, but then India also has recurrent smartphone buyers who like to climb up the price ladder with every new purchase. These customers managed to drive up the average selling price of a smartphone in India. For instance, an IDC report from August 2019 claimed that while the average selling price of smartphone was still below $200 (under 15k), the $200-$300 (under 20k) segment saw the highest YoY growth of 105.2% while the $300-$400 segment (under 30k) grew the second fastest with 16.3% YoY growth where OnePlus dominates with over 60 percent market share. With the upcoming Mi flagships, the last segment is what Xiaomi is now trying to target. According to Reddy, the Mi sub-brand will focus on the premium segment, targeting users who likes to stay cutting-edge with the latest technology and premium designs. That used to be the case before as well. Redmi was positioned as the budget brand offering affordable smartphones and good hardware while Mi was the premium play. Clearly, that strategy did not work out for Xiaomi back then. But what has changed since 2017? Before, the 6k to 20-25k segment is where I think 90-95 percent of the market used to be, and we believed that as long as we had to win, we needed to focus a lot more in that particular segment. And given the obligation we had at that point and there was limitations around how many things do we take up. So obviously, the focus was on going after the meat of the market through the Redmi portfolio, Reddy said. Now, with people who are in their fourth of fifth smartphone, the tendency is to move upwards with every iteration. Reddy claimed theres an increase in ASP (average selling price) and theres an increase in the market for devices priced around 20-25k. What used to be around 4-5% of the market back in 2017 grew to 8 percent in 2018 and hopefully, in 2019 it should hit the 10-12% mark. So we believe the market is significantly bigger than what it was two or three years ago for us to start treating the segment as a big enough opportunity to go after, he added. Slicing up the cake between multiple sub-brands The fact that Xiaomi failed to convince people to shell out more money for their smartphones is something to think about. The company claims the market was not big enough and they didnt have the bandwidth to take up more products. But the fact still remains that Xiaomi makes most of its revenue from budget smartphones. And the Redmi brand is at the front, back and center of it. A Redmi smartphone, if not anything, will be priced lower than its rivals, for the hardware it offers. Be it a 48MP camera, or a glass body with Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides, or even fast charging. All these features would first fetch a premium via the Mi sub-brand in China, and then be democratised through the Redmi brand in India. As a result, the perception of Redmi is largely centered around its affordability. The K20 series in 2019 did try to shake things up, but the Note 7 series still took the trophy for being the most popular. Despite a well-priced K20 Pro in place, replete with the Snapdragon 855 SoC, pop-up cameras and a bezel-less display, the OnePlus 7T was still the preferred choice. Can a Mi flagship from Xiaomi change that? Xiaomi is pinning its hopes on the stability it has achieved in the past few years. Being the number 1 brand certainly helps things. But more than that, Xiaomi now has a strong footing in the offline market with a stable distributor network across the country. The company also has the largest single brand retail presence and the 75+ premium Mi Home stores across 10 cities. Reddy claimed Xiaomi now has the largest single brand retail network while local manufacturing has also seen good growth. After-sales service has also grown with over 2000+ service centers spread across categories and cities. Manufacturing too has seen increasing growth. The company now has seven manufacturing plants across the country capable of dishing out three smartphones per second at full capacity. The company makes 99 percent of the smartphones it sells in India. With this in place, Xiaomi believes it is now in a place where it can take more products in its portfolio. Going into 2020, we are now organising ourselves in such as a way as we are organised in China where there is a distinct focus on Redmi as a sub-brand and a distinct focus on Mi as a sub-brand. And in 2020, you will see us getting into the market with more premium, flagship devices, some of which have not made their way to India over the past few years, Reddy said. Signs of slowdown in China the real cause? While the Indian market is certainly opening up to more premium products, signs of slow down and saturation in the Chinese market could be a big reason for Xiaomi to start considering India to be a bigger market for premium play. The companys global shipments declined by 3.3% YoY in Q3 2019 according to an IDC report, made worse especially by a decline in market share in China by a massive 30 percent after Huawei and its sub-brand Honor managed to capture 40 percent of the market. Data reveals India is actually the biggest market for Xiaomi at present, after the decline of its presence in China. As a result, its natural to expect Xiaomi to start treating the Indian market with more importance. And what else signifies a sharper focus than entering the premium segment? We have seen countless posts and comments on our stories asking when Xiaomi will launch its flagships in India. Hopefully, if these same people have enough money to buy the very flagships they are asking for, the companys fortunes could turn for the better once again. Having said that, by his own admission, Reddy said more than 60 percent smartphone users are still on 2G feature phones. And with telcos going out of their way to get this massive chunk of the population hooked to the internet-based smartphone experience, budget smartphones are not going out of fashion any time soon. This, along with the stable position Xiaomi is in, should give the company enough leeway to train its crosshairs on the premium segment. But there are challenges ahead that are well beyond Xiaomis control. Snapdragon 865 could pose big challenges The Snapdragon 865 that launched in December could be a problem for not just Xiaomi, but for all OEMs looking to exploit the value flagship segment. The Snapdragon 865 is definitely much faster than the Snapdragon 855, but theres one major issue. Qualcomm now makes it mandatory for OEMs to include the Snapdragon X55 5G modem in the devices that will be powered by the SoC. The X55 modem is discretely installed and support both 5G and 4G bands. This will surely make sourcing the SoC more expensive for OEMs, and the burden of that extra cost will eventually be shifted over to the people who would buy the smartphone. Now, the extra cost would have been relevant had 5G connectivity was as widespread as 4G. But in a market like India, 5G is yet to show up and may take another one-two years to do so. Should Xiaomi expect users to shell out the extra premium despite not getting the benefits? I dont think so. The Snapdragon 765 and 765G that are positioned slightly below the Snapdragon 865 also come with 5G modems installed within the SoC. There too, Qualcomm is not offering the choice to opt out of 5G for markets that still dont have 5G. After seeing a downward trend in pricing, if flagships start to become more expensive once again, it could very well be a major problem for Xiaomi and the Mi sub-brands success in India. To make things more interesting, Qualcomm is reportedly thinking about reducing the price it charges OEMs for buying the mid-range Snapdragon 765 5G SoCs after demand for high-end 5G smartphones fell short of expectations. Perhaps if Qualcomm could announce specially-binned chips for markets like India, that could bring the price under control, allowing Xiaomi and other OEMs to flourish in the value flagship segment. A section of border fence is pictured by the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley near Hidalgo, Texas, on Oct. 7, 2019. (Loren Elliott/Reuters) Judge Rules in Favor of Trump Administration on Separating Families at Border A U.S. federal judge ruled that the Trump administration is operating within its authority when deciding to separate illegal immigrants who enter the country as family units at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, California, said in a 26-page decision (pdf) on Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were generally exercising their discretion to separate families at the border consistent with immigrants rights to family integrity and the courts orders. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that border officials were separating families over minor infringements such as traffic violations or previous illegal border crossings. The organization asked the judge in July 2019 to rule on whether the government was justified in separating 911 children during the first year since June 2018. Sabraw wrote: Consistent with the courts class certification orders and preliminary injunction, defendants [ICE officials] have continued to separate parents and children crossing the border when there are concerns about parentage, the parent has a criminal history or communicable disease (or long-term medical need), or the parent is unfit or presents a danger to his or her child or others. He added that the court has not seen any evidence to show that the government has returned to systematically separating families at the border. Sabraw also denied the ACLUs request to set new guidelines regarding separating families, and also denied the groups request to set up an independent monitor to supervise immigration officials, writing that such a request is an invitation that is potentially massive in scope, invades an area that is particularly within the province of the Executive Branch to secure the nations border, and goes beyond this courts class certification and preliminary injunction orders. Sabraw asserted in his ruling that ICE officials must conduct DNA testing before separating an adult from a child based on parentage concerns, and that subjective concerns about parentageor inability to validate documentationare an insufficient basis for separation when those concerns can be definitively addressed through use of readily accessible, inexpensive, and accurate scientific testing. He wrote that DNA testing is an efficient and definitive way to resolve any concerns about fraudulent documentation. The ACLU said in a statement it was considering its next move in the case. The court strongly reaffirmed that the Trump administration bears the burden if it attempts to separate families based on an accusation that the adult is not the childs parent, ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said. We are evaluating the decision to determine next steps on how to ensure that children are not separated from their parents based on minor infractions. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters and AP reported. Flores Agreement Trump signed an executive order on June 20, 2018, that he said will help stop the separation of families at the southwest border. Just a week later, on June 26, 2018, Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction (pdf) that immigration officials were prohibited from separating parents and their children absent a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child, among other requirements. Politico reported at the time that the Trump administration objected to Sabraws injunction, and asked Sabraw to refrain from issuing any orders while immigration agencies were working to implement Trumps executive order. The main action in Trumps executive order at the time was a demand that Attorney General Jeff Sessions request the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to modify the Flores Settlement Agreement. The Flores settlement forced ICE officials to release families that illegally enter the United States within 20 days after a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California, amended it in 2015 to include minors who arrive as part of a family unit. The 1997 agreement, reached during the Clinton administration, previously only applied to unaccompanied minors. This means the children and their families then must be released into the interior of the United States, with a court date set for possibly years down the road. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the rule creates a get out of jail free card for illegal alien families and encourages groups of illegal aliens to pose as families hoping to take advantage of that loophole. Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy in April 2018 ordering that all adults who cross the border illegally must be prosecuted, as per 8 U.S.C. Section 1325(a), after a jump in illegal crossings was reported by the DHS. To comply with both the Flores agreement and the zero-tolerance policy, adults were separated from children with whom they had crossed the border, such that adults were detained in federal prisons while awaiting criminal proceedings, while their children, after a maximum of 20 days in detention, were transferred to Health and Human Services (HHS) and put under HHS custody as an unaccompanied minor. Trumps executive order meant that immigration officials can detain families together throughout their criminal proceedings for improper entry, or for any removal or other immigration proceedings. The exception would be if a childs welfare was at risk. The Trump administration announced in August 2019 a rule that replaces the Flores agreement and removes the 20-day time limit for holding families in detention. The rule was introduced to respond to the influx of family units entering illegally across the southern border in hopes of being released into the interior of the country rather than detained during removal proceedings. However, in September 2019, judge Gee ordered a permanent injunction (pdf) against the rule. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. (Newser) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he thinks Democrats have the votes they need to pass a bipartisan resolution asserting that President Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who is sponsoring the measure along with two Republican senators, said Tuesday he has support from at least two other Republicans, the AP reports. "We believe [we] will get 51 votes that is needed to pass," Schumer said later, per CNN, promising the Senate would "soon consider" the resolution in an effort to "prevent further escalation of hostilities with Iran" following the Jan. 3 US drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. story continues below Kaine said the measure matures this weekend and will be available for consideration by the Senate next week, and Schumer noted that when figuring out timing for a vote, the Senate will need to consider "how it intersects with impeachment." The House last week passed its own resolution on the same subject with a 224-194 vote. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and many other Republicans oppose the resolution, saying it would send the wrong message to US allies, one of the Republicans who supports the measure, Susan Collins, says it "does not alter the presidents inherent authority as commander in chief to defend our nation and US forces abroad," but "simply makes clear that only the legislative branch may declare war or commit our armed forces to a sustained military conflict with Iran." (Read more Iran stories.) The whole dynamic is somewhat reminiscent of the 2004 primaries. Kerry was the establishment candidate, Dean was the firebrand outsider with a lot of support from young progressives. Its largely forgotten now, but Kerry won the early contests not because voters liked him best, but because they thought other voters would prefer him down the road. There were a lot of people out there who really liked Gov. Deans message of standing up to the Republicans and President Bush, and his strong antiwar stance, Gordon Fischer, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman in 2004, told New York magazine, but they ultimately felt that Sen. Kerry was close enough to those principles and was more electable in 2004. They chose their head over their heart. In New Hampshire, Kerry won by 12 points. Kerry beat Dean 4-to-1 among voters whose top motivation was selecting a candidate who could defeat George W. Bush in November. Kerry and Dean were even among voters who picked their candidate because he agrees with you on the major issues. And Kerrys early successes helped fuel the electability argument in later contests. Center Stage: It's Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin in the race for president On this week's political podcast, Milfred and Hands travel to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and the site of the Democratic National Convention this July. Forget about Florida. This time around, the election comes down to "Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin." "It's too simple to say there's more promiscuity, or more sex because people are meeting online and that's why it's gone rampant, because there's actually very little proof for that. What's most concerning is the increase in the disease among heterosexual men and women. When you look at the numbers in women, it's gone up exponentially." Data from the Victorian government's infectious diseases surveillance report reveals that Melbourne City Council recorded the highest outbreak, with 141 reported cases of syphilis, up from 47 in 2014. In Port Phillip, rates of syphilis have more than doubled with 116 reported last year, compared to 54 in 2014. Stonnington, in the city's south-east, which includes Prahran and Toorak, recorded 106 cases compared to 63 in 2014. Yarra recorded 91 cases last year, while rates of the STI in Moreland in the city's inner-north almost tripled with 71 cases. In the city's outer suburbs, there were 53 cases of syphilis diagnosed in Brimbank, 47 in Hume and 37 in Melton. Prior to 2014, the disease was largely detected in men who had sex with men, but last year more than 150 women were diagnosed with the infection. Researchers are not yet certain what is behind the outbreaks, but speculate lower-socio economic communities are at heightened risk, and not enough heterosexual testing is being undertaken. "We're getting a feel there's an element of marginalisation linked to outbreaks, Associate Professor Chen said. "There's obviously something driving new infections, but if testing and treatment was sufficient to offset it, then you wouldn't get a worsening epidemic, which is what we are seeing." Loading Syphilis first appeared in the 15th century. It begins with an appearance of sores or ulcers, then develops into a rash, and, if untreated, can eventually cause a brain infection and dementia. It can be tested via a blood test and cured with penicillin, but concerns remain for those who don't seek treatment. It spreads through skin-to-skin contact during unprotected sex, but can also be acquired congenitally when a pregnant mother with syphilis infects her unborn infant through the placenta. There have been four cases of babies born with congenital syphilis in the past two years. In August 2018, a baby died of the disease for the first time in 14 years. "If you treat a woman, who has got syphilis early enough in pregnancy with the right penicillin it's 100 per cent preventable," Associate Professor Chen said. "These are tragic and avoidable cases." Professor Kit Fairley, director of the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, said Victoria was in the grips of a "sexual health crisis" fuelled by inadequate access to publicly funded service. "We are reaching a new epidemic and we are at a crossroads," he said. "For the first time in more than a decade, babies with syphilis are dying. Yet, Victoria has only one major publicly funded sexual health service for a population of almost 6 million." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to take a step back from the royal family may consequent in the loss of their royal titles. Calls for the couple to relinquish their status as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have only grown since the couple made their announcement last week. Their decision to leave, after reports of deliberation, is now publicly supported by Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty released a statement after meeting with Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles at her Sandringham Estate for a summit on Monday afternoon, saying "there will be a period of transition" for the couple in both Canada and the United Kingdom as the royal family works through these "complex matters." However, some believe that an announcement recalling Meghan and Harry's royal titles, which were bestowed on their wedding days, could be imminent. While the monarch addressed her grandson and Meghan a few times in Monday's statement, she did not refer to them by either their Sussex titles nor their HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) titles, which she has done so in the past and is standard for the crown. The decision to repeal their titles lies solely in the hands of Queen Elizabeth. Despite the couple announcing they wanted to become financially independent from the crown, it is explained on Harry and Meghan's website that they will continue to use Frogmore Cottage as their "official residence as they continue to support the monarchy, and so that their family will always have a place to call home in the United Kingdom." In the recommendation, the report said, "After careful study of the judgements given by the trial courts, the Committee recommends exploring the possibility of filing appeal along with application for condonation of delay against the orders of acquittal in file numbers 90, 179, 193, 194 and 196 (which contain the list of FIRs)." According to Justice Dhingra, Bal was the special judge to conduct the trial on the riot cases, but he acquitted the accused in the cases connected with seven 7 FIRs. Therefore, the Committee recommended a re-look in these cases. "None of the judgements on record show that judges were alive to the situation of 1984 riots and to the fact that for delay in lodging FIRs and statement of witnesses, the victims were not responsible", said the report. Also, the affidavit of many victims stated that they went to the police, as they were not able to get FIRs recorded, "and the police only recorded statements of loss of property by looting and burning." The report made scathing remarks on the conduct of the trial. "The judge conducting the trial, having ample powers under section 165 of the Evidence Act to ask questions to the witnesses, did not bother to ask the witness as to who out of the accused persons present in the court were involved in the riots," said the report. Citing the acquittals in cases tried by judge Bal, the report said after careful scrutiny of these cases, the SIT "is of the opinion that the state should have preferred appeals against the judgements in these cases. However, the state should now explore the possibility of filing appeal." The SIT also brought on record a hard reality, though it prefers appeal on the acquittal, but in the backdrop of 25-year delay in acquittals, it seems a remote possibility. Bal used to sit at Kakardooma court and Patiala court to conduct trials in these cases. In an FIR 425/84 registered at Delhi Cantonment police station, appeal is recommended against the order of acquittal in the judgement delivered on August 8, 1986 by Additional Sessions Judge S.P. Chaudhari. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) MONTREALAfter a year marked by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max and disrupted flight schedules, Air Canada unveiled some good news for its fleet Wednesday in the form of a gleaming new jet, Canadian designed and built. Air Canada took the wraps off its first Airbus A220-300, formerly known as the Bombardier C-series, at an event that marked the culmination of the airlines pivotal 2016 order for 45 of the new jet, with the possibility to buy 30 more. Without it, Bombardiers design may never have gotten off the ground. As the first North American carrier to place a firm order, we helped put the program on a solid footing, encouraging other global carriers to have confidence in placing orders, Calin Rovinescu, Air Canadas president and chief executive officer told guests gathered in an aircraft hangar. We feel we played an important role in keeping Canada on the leading role in the aerospace industry, Rovinescu said. Rovinescu said the order, with a list price of $3.8 billion (U.S.), makes Air Canada the second North American carrier to fly the A220, after Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. Air Canadas order for the aircraft ended a sales drought that had put Bombardiers program in doubt. But it wasnt completely out of the woods: a year later, European aerospace giant Airbus took a majority stake in the project, resulting in the name change. Rovinescu painted the twin-engine, single-aisle jet as a game-changer, saying Bombardier set out to disrupt the market with the new design. Each new jetliner brings new capabilities and creates new opportunities for Air Canada. The A220 especially so, Rovinescu said. Craig Landry, the airlines executive vice-president, operations, says the size of the A220 is unique. With 137 seats 12 in business and 125 economy class it fills a niche between regional jets and smaller narrow-body aircraft, he said. And it is able to fly 5,000 kilometres, enough range to cover North America. The combination of those two things will allow us to open up a lot of new destinations, he said in an interview. The first revenue flight is scheduled for Thursday, flying Montreal to Calgary. Air Canada will then use the aircraft to open new routes, connecting Montreal and Seattle and Toronto and San Jose, Calif., starting in May. Other new routes to the U.S. are expected as more A220s are delivered. Youll see a lot of new route announcements as a result of this, he said. Landry said the airlines contingency planning has filled the vast majority of flights disrupted by the grounding of the Boeing Max and that the A220 wont be pressed into service on those routes. Our approach for this aircraft is that its really a separate market, its unrelated, he said. And the airline is betting that the plane is a hit with passengers. Capt. Patrick Tompkins, the airlines A220 chief pilot, sang its praises, saying the clean-sheet design enabled engineers to take advantage of the latest in aircraft technology, from the design of its efficient wing, its engines with lower fuel burns and an advanced cockpit. The aircraft burns up to 20 per cent less fuel per seat than older aircraft, meaning fewer emissions. Its quieter, for both passengers and airport neighbours. In the cabin, the windows are bigger, the overhead bins are larger with enough room so that every passenger can bring a roller bag onboard, Landry said. Certainly, Air Canada is betting that the A220 has a more successful launch than the Boeing 737 Max, the last new aircraft type to join the airlines fleet. The Max was grounded last March after two fatal accidents just five months apart, forcing Air Canada to park its 24 aircraft. The disruption is made worse by the uncertainty over just when Transport Canada and other regulators will clear the aircraft to resume flights. Boeing is working to address the design flaws and revamp pilot training but the planes return to service remains in limbo. The timetable? Its a little bit out of our hands, Landry said. Its a complicated environment for sure, but it is largely in the hands of the regulators, he said. That process is ongoing and were working very closely with it but well just have to see how that unfolds. The regulators will be the first primary deciders when theyre ready to put that aircraft back into the air, he said. He acknowledged that nervous passengers may need some reassurance about the safety of the Boeing 737 Max once Transport Canada and other regulators clear it to resume commercial service. Im sure customers will have some questions. But at the end of the day, when that aircraft goes back in the air, it will be as a result of a series of global regulators that will have certified it for safety as well as the airlines. he said. The issue of confidence will be one we address but it will never go in the air until all of the regulators and the airlines have signed off on it, Landry said. with a file from The Canadian Press Read more about: The prestigious Zurich Portrait Prize exhibition is leaving the capital for the first time to be showcased in Cork. And in another first, this years exhibition will feature a new competition for younger artists, aged from three to 18. The Crawford Art Gallery has confirmed that thanks to a partnership with the National Gallery of Ireland, it will host the exhibition next month of work by the winners, highly commended and shortlisted artists in the renowned portrait competition. The 26 works demonstrate the exceptional breadth of contemporary portraiture in Ireland and reflect the huge interest in image and identity, a gallery spokesperson said. The stunning works are in a wide variety of media, from painting and photography to video and mixed media. Gallery visitors have been promised an exciting and sometimes unexpected experience during the exhibition. The works of the younger artists will be on display with the main prize exhibition in the Crawford Art Gallerys historic Gibson Galleries from February 1 until April 13. Crawford Art Gallery is delighted to partner for the first time with the National Gallery of Ireland on the hugely anticipated Zurich Portrait Prize exhibition, Crawford Art Gallery director, Mary McCarthy, said. Annually the exhibition and prize-giving generates excitement and presents audiences with fresh perspectives on portraiture. We believe it will enable our audiences to make connections with our wider collection and supports our deeper ongoing collaboration with the National Gallery of Ireland. Sean Rainbird, the director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said theyre thrilled to bring the Zurich Portrait Prize to Cork as the National Gallery continues to grow its national footprint. Showcasing portraiture to new audiences at Crawford Art Gallery is a wonderful development for the competition, she said. The overall winner of this years prize is Enda Bowe, an Irish artist who lives and works in London. He says his work is concerned with storytelling and the search for light and beauty in the ordinary. Cybil McCaddy with Daughter Lulu, 2018. Winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize 2019 The first winner of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize is a photograph entitled, The new age, by Mabel Forsyth and Mary OCarroll, 12-year-old cousins from Dublin. The National Gallery of Irelands Zurich Portrait Prize, sponsored by the insurance company, Zurich, is now in its sixth year. Open to Irish artists aged 19 and over, the winning artist gets a cash prize of 15,000, and a commission worth 5,000 to create a work for inclusion in the National Portrait Collection at the National Gallery. Two highly commended artists also received 1,500 each. A lawyer for former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told MSNBC Tuesday an investigation should be launched into whether she was monitored in Kyiv after newly released records shed new light on events leading up to her ouster. Driving the news: House Democrats released a trove of documents earlier Tuesday, including phone records of Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, which appear to indicate he discussed surveilling Yovanovitch in March 2019. [T]he notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Amb. Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation." Statement by Yovanovitch's lawyer to MSNBC Why it matters: Per Axios' Alayna Treene: A public release of some or all of these materials could give Democrats new ammunition to argue that the White House must turn over more information and allow new testimony from witnesses. The records released Tuesday "offered new details on the shadow diplomacy campaign at the center of Mr. Trumps impeachment and highlighted the effort to remove Ms. Yovanovitch," the New York Times notes. Flashback: Yovanovitch testified in November that she was the subject of a smear campaign spearheaded by Giuliani that led to her firing. Zoom in: The documents include text message exchanges between Parnas and Robert Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate and Trump donor in March 2019. (This is the first time Hyde's name has been mentioned in the case against Trump.) Per the documents, Hyde said: "If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces. They know shes a political puppet. They will let me know when she's on the move They are willing to help if you/we would like a price. ... Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money what I was told." Parnas replied, "LOL." The records also show Giuliani wrote a letter asking for a private meeting last spring with Volodymyr Zelensky, who was then Ukraine's president-elect, with Trump's "knowledge and consent." "Mr. Giuliani has previously said he was acting at Mr. Trumps direction in his dealings with Ukrainian officials, but the letter released on Tuesday is the first public document that says he was doing so," the Times writes. The big picture: Parnas, who faces federal charges, provided the documents to House Democrats as additional evidence for the impeachment inquiry. What they're saying: Hyde posted a tweet later Tuesday night criticizing House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) following the documents' release. "How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go? I was never in Kiev. For them to take some texts my buddy's and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable. Schiff is a desperate turd playing with this Lev guy." Go deeper: By Express News Service BENGALURU: Sams older brothers had been sent to England to study. Sam was keen on becoming a gynaecologist. His father, a doctor, said, Son, if you do well in your Senior Cambridge exams, I will send you to England. But when Sam topped his class with distinction, his father said, My son, Ill keep my promise to you. But you are only fifteen years old. Ill send you when you are eighteen. Angry at the delay, Sam didnt speak to his father for eighteen months. One day, he saw a newspaper advertisement for enlistment in the army. He borrowed five hundred rupees from his mother and went to Delhi to take the exam. Sam joined the first batch of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun. The Adjutant Captains name was J.F.S. McLaren. When Sam was commissioned, he too wanted such impressive initials. To his name, Sam added his fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers initials, and called himself S.H.F.J. Manekshaw! His first year was with the Royal Scots, who couldnt pronounce his name, so they just called him Mister Mackintosh! In 1942, when the British Army went to war against Burma, Captain Sam Manekshaw and his troops defended the bridge over the Sittaung river with great valour. A Japanese soldier emptied nine bullets into Sams belly and lungs. No one thought he would survive. His English commander removed his own Military Cross and pinned it on the severely wounded Sam. Semi-conscious, he was taken to a hospital thirty-six hours after he was wounded. Sams orderly, Sher Singh, went looking for a doctor. He found an Australian surgeon, and told him that Sam had been shot in the stomach and lungs. Stomach and lung wounds were almost always fatal, so the doctor replied, Then I wont waste my time on him! Sher Singh insisted and took the doctor to see the now-conscious Sam. What happened to you, young chap? the doctor asked. Always one for jokes, Sam said, A bloody mule kicked me. The doctor laughed. I see you have a sense of humour. You might be worth saving! he said and wheeled Sam into surgery. In 1947, when India became independent, two countries were born: India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Jinnah said, Stay in Pakistan, Sam. But Sam came to India and joined the Gorkha Rifles as their first non-British officer. Once, he asked a Gurkha sentry, Tere naam ke cho? (What is your name?) Harka Bahadar Guru! the sentry replied. Sam mischievously said, Mere naam ke cho? (What is my name?) The sentry was taken aback and said, Sam Bahadar! Sam loved the name, and it stuck for life: Sam Bahadur or Sam the Brave. In 1962, China attacked an unprepared India. Sam was the Commandant at the Staff College in Willingdon when Nehru called him. I have a vigorous enemy, Sam. Will you take over this battle? Sam salvaged the battered morale of the soldiers, and with the help of the Air Force, tried to bring the situation under control. In 1969, when Indira Gandhi was prime minister, Sam got a phone call. Sam, you have been appointed Chief of the Army Staff by Mrs Gandhi. Sam went to his wife and said, Darling, arent you happy? She turned to him and said, Well, I always knew you were going to be Chief. Sam and Mrs Gandhi shared a great rapport. In April 1971, a revolution was brewing in East Pakistan. Indira Gandhi said to him, Sam, look at these reports about how unhappy people are! Sam said, Prime minister, what does it have to do with me? She said, I want you to march into East Pakistan! But that would mean war! Sam retorted. If its war, its war! said Mrs Gandhi. Sam said, Have you read the Bible, prime minister? It says, Let there be light. And here you are saying, let there be war! Eventually, Sam relented. On December 4 at 4 am four was Sams lucky number the Indian Army attacked the Pakistani fighters in East Pakistan. Every morning, at 8.30 a.m., Sam would meet the prime minister for coffee and brief her on the war proceedings. The war lasted thirteen days, and 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered. Bangladesh became an independent country, and Sam was a hero again. In 1973, the prime minister gave Sam the title of Field Marshal. A fortnight later, he decided to retire from active service and moved to Coonoor with his wife. He had spent forty years in the Indian Army. He died in 2008 after an illness that required hospitalisation. His last words were, Im okay. Excerpted with permission from Boys Will Be Boys by Aparna Jain, Published by Context (Westland). Given the right impetus, copper has the best long-term prospects among the base metals complex, which was exhibited by the red metals price rally in December. Copper prices began to rise on the London Metal Exchange in the run-up to year-end 2019, responding to the first signs of a thaw in the protracted trade war between the United States and China. The copper LME official three-month contract closed at $6,201 per tonne ($2.81 per lb) on Monday January 13, up by 11.5% from the more than two-year low of $5,562 per tonne on September 3 after the US-China trade war took a toll on pricing. The September low marked a 23.5% decline from the nearly four-and-a-half-year high of $7,268 per tonne on June 8, 2018. The price for the red metal rose further on Tuesday, closing the LME's official session at $6,280 per tonne. But it's not only a phase one US-China trade deal, slated to be signed on January 15, that is lending support to higher copper pricing, INTL FCStone senior metals analyst Natalie Scott-Gray told Fastmarkets. Copper is very much an indicator of economic health, therefor the macro environment does play a significant part in price direction, she said. However, the drivers behind copper are more intricate, particularly at present. Falling global stocks, an improving demand outlook, prior investor positioning and future supply constraints are supporting higher copper prices, Scott-Gray said. LME copper stocks stood at 130,000 tonnes at the close on January 12, down by 38.6% from 208,525 tonnes at the end of November, while on-warrant material fell to 98,625 tonnes from 120,000 tonnes. Total stocks ticked lower on Tuesday, to 128,100 tonnes. Fastmarkets analyst Boris Mikanikrezai echoed Scott-Grays bullish outlook. We expect global refined copper consumption growth to accelerate to 2% this year from 1% last year on the back of a recovery in global manufacturing activity, especially in China, he said in a report on January 13. Apart from traditional uses of the metal, copper is one of the metals poised to benefit the most as the world moves toward renewable energy. Demand is expected to rise in tandem with increased use of solar and wind energy, along with greater use of electric vehicles. Switch to supply surplus in 2020 The International Copper Study Group estimated the refined copper market at a 320,000-tonne deficit for 2019, but has forecast a surplus of 281,000 tonnes in 2020. But Commerzbank has indicated this surplus number is too optimistic, given that ongoing anti-government protests in Chile - a major copper producer - show no signs of ceasing. Production is still hampered for various reasons in many places, and there are already signs that some of the disruptions to production will continue into [2020], Commerzbank said late last year. Chile has been subjected to widespread protests against high living costs and the country's weak social security system. This resulted in strike action and walkouts at the major mines owned by Codelco and Antofagasta. These supply disruptions had partly prevented the copper price from falling further, but the continued protests led Chilean copper output to fall by 6.7% year on year in November 2019. Additionally, copper supply from China faces growing uncertainty after smelter Donying Fangyuans bank accounts were frozen by court order and due to the possibility of production cuts in 2020, Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida noted on January 10. Going forward, the situation at Dongying Fangyuan will remain a key focus of Chinas copper smelting industry, which is now considering capacity cuts to boost processing charges, Farida said of the troubled smelter. Donying Fangyuan produced 748,000 tonnes of copper cathode in 2018, making it Chinas largest private copper smelter. Underinvestment in copper mining supports bullish price outlook In the 2000s, increased demand for copper due to a rapid expansion in China's economy - at a rate of up to 14% per year in 2005 - bolstered copper prices, according to the World Bank. In the middle of that decade, the LME three-month official copper prices surged to a high of $10,124 per tonne in mid-February 2011 from a low of $1,340.50 per tonne in early November 2001, according to Fastmarkets' price archives. This supercycle prompted a flurry of capital expenditure activity from 2012-13, with $12-13 billion invested in new copper supply sources. This was partly responsible for sending copper prices down since then, according to Stephen Gill, managing partner at Zug, Switzerland-based Pala Investments. The end of the supercycle had a massive impact on mining companies, according to Juan Carlos Guajardo, founder and executive director of Chilean mining consultancy Plusmining. While the supercycle brought an enthusiastic growth in investments, the downward [price] trend since 2012 has constrained the financial position of the companies which are struggling to control debt and regain shareholders confidence, therefore making it difficult to focus on growth, Guajardo told Fastmarkets. Patrick Cussen, who heads up Chilean consultancy Celta and was formerly managing director of Chile Copper Ltd, noted that current supply risks "are not major," although declining grades of mined copper ore could fuel a potential shortage of the red metal. For example, Codelco produced 1.68 million tonnes of refined copper in 2018, down from 1.73 million tonnes in 2017, reflecting the decreased copper content in mined ore. Copper needs to be well above $3 per lb to attract investments Important investments wont happen at $2.60 per lb, Cussen said. The copper price needs to be well above $3 per tonne ($6,614 per tonne) for new investments to occur. Pala Investments' Gill agreed. Either the world demand for copper [will need to] shrink substantially or the incentive price of $7,800-8,000 per tonne [$3.53-$3.63 per lb will need to be] reached, Gill told Fastmarkets. Pala Investments is a majority shareholder of US copper mine Nevada Copper, whose Pumpkin Hollow project is the first US copper mine to commence production in the past decade. About $8-10 billion in sustained annual capital expenditures are required just to maintain current copper mine output, Gill said. The capital cost for bringing new copper supply online is around $18,000 per tonne, he added, so if 5-6 million tonnes of additional output is required over the next five to seven years to meet the worlds growing copper usage, investments in the industry need to total about $12-17 billion annually. Ruiz-Funes declined to comment on whether Wolf resigned or was terminated from her position at the library, and would not explain the reason for her departure. He also declined to comment on whether Wolf is being paid during her time that officials described as being out of the office for an indefinite period of time. Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-15 22:04:01|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close People enjoy street banquet and lion dance performance in Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 15, 2020. A street banquet and other events were held here for the elderly people and sanitation workers to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi) The PA Media Group The Patriot-News and PennLive will honor 20 high school seniors as the Best and Brightest to represent the potential of the class of 2020. This is our 28th year of honoring these exceptional students. Recipients are featured in The Sunday Patriot-News in May and in a photo gallery, videos and profiles on PennLive. Students, families and school officials also are invited to an awards reception. Applications are due by Friday, March 6, 2020, at our office, 1900 Patriot Drive, Hampden Twp. A postmark of that day is acceptable. (Please note that the PA Media Group will be moving to 1900 Patriot Drive, near our current office at 2020 Technology Parkway in late February.) To be eligible, a senior must have at least a B or 3.0 grade point average although a grade point average below 3.0 because of extenuating circumstances does not preclude participation. Seniors must attend a public or independent high school or be home-schooled or attend cyber school in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York county. Local residents attending schools in other counties or states are not eligible. Selection is based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and service to school, peers and community as well as an autobiographical essay and two letters of recommendation. In the essay, students are asked to address any challenges they have faced. Educators assist in semifinalist selection and leaders from business, the arts, education, faith, government and the community choose the 20 finalists. For more information, send an email to Deb Kiner at dkiner@pennlive.com or call 717-257-4749. New Delhi: A top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs Doda on Wednesday. Sources told News Nation that the self-styled district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in the gun battle. The encounter took place after the forces received a tip-off about the whereabouts of the terrorist. The terrorist was cornered in Gundana forest area of Doda in Jammu region. The encounter was on since late last night. It finally got over at around 10:30 am on Wednesday. However, the cordon and search operation is still on and the security forces are looking for explosives and weapons. Mission Kashmir Though the Narendra Modi government had claimed that the abrogation of the Article 370 would abate terrorism, the ground reality is quite different. On January 12, three "most wanted" Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed on Sunday in an encounter with security forces in the Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said. The terrorists -- Umer Fayaz Lone alias "Hamad Khan" of Seer village, Faizan Hamid of Mandoora and Adil Bashir Mir alias "Abu Dujana" of Monghama -- were wanted for their complicity in terror crimes, including attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities, a police spokesman said. He said the trio were affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit and were trapped during a cordon-and-search operation jointly launched by police and security forces on a specific intelligence input in the Gujar Basti Gulshanpora area of Tral. Davinder Singh and Security of Valley But it is the sensational arrest of senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Davinder Singh that has put the spotlight on khaki-terror links. Davinder Singh was on Monday suspended as it emerged that he had sheltered three terrorists, arrested along with him, at his residence here right next to the Army's XV corps headquarters at Badami Bagh cantonment, officials said. Singh, who was decorated with President Police Medal about four months ago, continued to be grilled by a team of police and intelligence investigators. His office at Srinagar airport, where he was posted as deputy superintendent of police in the anti-hijacking squad, was sealed, they said. Piecing together the chain of events, the officials said the two terrorists -- self-styled district commander of banned Hizbul Mujahideen, Naveed Baba, and Altaf -- were taken to the officer's home on Friday by a lawyer Irfan, who the police said was an overground worker for terror groups. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The U.S. Department of Treasury has concluded no major American trading partner is a currency manipulator but placed 10 countries, including Vietnam, on its watchlist. In the U.S. Treasury report on "Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the U.S." released Tuesday, Vietnam remained among 10 countries on the Treasury "Monitoring List" of major trading partners that merit close attention to currency practices. The list also includes China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland. In its semiannual report, the U.S. Treasury reviews major American trading partners and determines whether they are currency manipulators based on the following criteria: a significant bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. of at least $20 billion over a 12-month period; a material current account surplus at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over a 12-month period; and the occurrence of persistent, one-sided intervention demonstrated by the trading partner repeatedly conducting net purchases of foreign currency in at least 6 out of 12 months, with these net purchases totaling at least 2 percent of its GDP over a 12-month period. This is the second time in a row Vietnam has been placed on the U.S. Treasury's currency manipulation watchlist, after the country was added last May due to meeting the first two out of three criteria. The latest report, however, saw Vietnam meet only the first criteria as the country's bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. reached $47 billion, far exceeding the minimum value of $20 billion. As for the remaining two criteria, Vietnam's material current account surplus was equivalent to only 1.7 percent of its GDP, with net purchases of foreign currency totaling only 0.8 percent of GDP. Le Minh Hung, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), affirmed the Vietnamese government and the SBV "never intend to use monetary policies in general, and exchange rates in particular, to unfairly compete with trading partners." In the report, the U.S. Treasury recommended Vietnam prioritize improving the quality and accuracy of financial data, which would allow the SBV to better monitor and respond to financial vulnerabilities. In the coming months, the U.S. would continue to monitor information and data on Vietnam's trade and current account, as well as its macroeconomic and currency policies, and would continue to work with Vietnamese authorities if necessary. Betty's Eddies Fruit Chews now Available in both Massachusetts Medical and Adult Use Cannabis Programs Bettys Eddies was the LeafLink Winner for Best Selling Medical Product in 2019 NORWOOD, Mass., Jan. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MariMed Inc. (MRMD:OTCQX) (the Company or MariMed), a leading multi-state cannabis and hemp operator focused on health and wellness, is pleased to announce that Betty's Eddies, its proprietary, in-house award-winning national cannabis brand, is now available in both Massachusetts Medical Cannabis and Adult-Use Cannabis Programs. One of the top performing cannabis brands in the United States, Betty's Eddies fruit chews are gluten-free, vegan, and produced with organically grown fruits and vegetables. Featuring a full spectrum cannabis oil, they are available in Multi-flavor packs, Bettys Bedtime, Seasonal Apple Pie, as well as individual flavor packs. Bettys Eddies are available at both lower and increased dosages in compliance with medical and adult use regulations to meet a wide variety of consumer and patient needs. Bettys Eddies are manufactured at MariMeds state-of-the-art licensed production and manufacturing facility in New Bedford. Introduced last week at the medical cannabis program at Panacea Wellness Dispensary in Middleborough, MA, these products are now offered to all licensed medical and adult use dispensaries throughout the state. Bettys Eddies and other MariMed cannabis brands are currently available in medical programs in Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Illinois. They will soon to be expanding into the medical program in Puerto Rico and the adult use programs in Nevada and Illinois. Ryan Crandall, Chief Product Officer and SVP of Sales at MariMed, Inc., said, "Bettys Eddies achieved significant sales growth in 2019 and we are now focused on expanding this brands availability in both existing and new markets during 2020. We appreciate the overwhelming customer support Bettys Eddies has received, whose market feedback drives our constant development and improvement to ensure that we produce the safest, best tasting, and most effective edibles in cannabis. Several recent marketing studies have concluded that infused cannabis products will occupy an increasing share of the overall US cannabis market, which according to the 2019 Marijuana Fact Book, is on pace to exceed 35% growth and $12 billion in sales this year. Bob Fireman, CEO of MariMed, Inc., said, "This is a considerable milestone for MariMed as we expand this premium brand within the key Massachusetts market. As we continue to roll out Bettys Eddies and our other strategic licensed brands to more regions in 2020, we believe this will dramatically drive our revenues as we expand our presence into new markets where the demand for high quality, infused cannabis products continues to grow rapidly. About MariMed: MariMed Inc., a multi-state cannabis operator, is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of people through the use of cannabinoids and cannabis products. The Company develops, owns, and manages seed to sale state-licensed cannabis facilities, which are models of excellence in horticultural principles, cannabis cultivation, cannabis-infused products, and dispensary operations. MariMed has an experienced management team that has produced consistent growth and success for the Company and its managed business units. The Company is at the forefront of science and innovation through research developed by its lab technicians and medical advisors resulting in industry-leading products and brands, including "Kalm Fusion" and "Betty's Eddies." These precision dosed products are focused on specific medical symptoms and are licensed and distributed across the country. In 2019, with the enactment of the 2018 US Farm Bill, MariMed formed MariMed Hemp, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to leverage its seed to sale cannabis platform and experience into the emerging hemp-based CBD industry. MariMed Hemp has developed and is marketing a portfolio of CBD brands and products to multiple retailers and direct to consumers both domestically and internationally. MariMed Hemp recently launched its Hemp Engine store-within-a-store distribution platform for retailers. For additional information, visit marimedinc.com. Important Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to MariMed Inc. that is based on the beliefs of MariMed Inc.'s management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events, including estimates and projections about its business based on certain assumptions of its management, including those described in this Release. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including, among other factors, changes in demand for the Company's services and products, changes in the law and its enforcement and changes in the economic environment. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's public filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as "hoped," "anticipated," "believed," "planned, "estimated," "preparing," "potential," "expected," "looks" or words of a similar nature. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. None of the content of any of the websites referred to herein (even if a link is provided for your convenience) is incorporated into this release and the Company assumes no responsibility for any of such content. All trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Company Contact Jon Levine, CFO MariMed Inc. Tel (781) 559-8713 Media Contacts Jo McCarran, SVP Creative & Branding MariMed Inc. jmccarran@marimedinc.com Annie Graf KCSA Strategic Communications agraf@kcsa.com No amount of alcohol is safe but there are things you can do to reduce the health impacts of drinking. That's according to Professor David Nutt, an Imperial College London researcher, former government adviser and outspoken drugs expert. Avoiding champagne, drinking beer before wine and making sure you buy the third round could all stop you getting carried away and drunk, Professor Nutt says. In his new book he reveals a list of handy habits which he follows to stop him getting too drunk and therefore to try and limit the health damage he suffers from drinking. Professor Nutt admits to owning his own wine bar in Ealing, west London, and drinking sometimes too much but says alcohol would be outlawed if it were discovered today. As well as health dangers like brain and liver damage and mental health problems, it causes social problems including domestic violence and drink-driving. An synthetic alcohol alternative he is developing in the lab, which apparently gets you drunk without the hangover or body damage, is proving hard to sell to investors, who appear uninterested in tackling the British love affair with booze, he said. Professor David Nutt said avoiding champagne, which has bubbles that get you drunker faster, is one good way of limiting the damage alcohol does to your body (stock image) 'There is no level of alcohol consumption that is without risk,' Professor Nutt writes in his new book Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health. He says it is up to the individual how much they want to put their health at risk. Scientific estimates vary a European Commission report says as little as a pint of lager a year could raise cancer risk, while the NHS's recommended weekly maximum is 14 units, which is equal to six pints of beer or 10 small wines. But most people will continue to drink even knowing it could harm their health. Professor Nutt, acknowledging this and counting himself among them, has revealed some top tips for how to stop yourself drinking too much. He says to avoid champagne, because the bubbles make you drunker faster, Times 2 reports. Don't let other people top up your glass and never open a second bottle, he adds these are physical rules you can set beforehand to stop you going too far. Professor Nutt owns his own wine bar with his daughter in Ealing, west London, and says he drinks alcohol himself but is aware it's bad for him He says that if he plans to drink wine he will have a pint of beer, which is weaker, beforehand to fill himself up and leave less room for wine. And if you're buying rounds you should aim to go third, so you can have two alcoholic drinks then buy a non-alcoholic one for yourself to slow things down without facing peer pressure or being talked out of asking for a soft drink. Professor Nutt also adds you should avoid eating salty snacks while drinking. This may be because the foods such as crisps and peanuts, which are popular fare in pubs and bars make you thirstier and tempt you to drink more. Professor Nutt says alcohol is so loved because it makes people feel good and more sociable, adding that it has become dangerously ingrained in society and easy to get hold of. Huge super-strength bottles of cider, for example, can be bought in off-licences for just a few pounds. 'If you see it as a drug then you think of it more as a treat or something that you plan,' he said. His work to develop Alcarelle, a synthetic substitute for alcohol which has the same effects but without the hangover, is proving successful but unpopular with potential investors. He told The Times: 'In practice people aren't interested. I find it really quite disappointing.' Alcarelle works by stimulating the same parts of the brain as alcohol but without pushing the same amounts of toxic chemicals through the liver and organs. It leaves people drunk for 45 minutes and then disappears without a trace. 'The effects of alcohol are complicated,' he told The Guardian last year. 'But you can target the parts of the brain you want to target. 'The industry knows alcohol is a toxic substance. If it were discovered today, it would be illegal as a foodstuff. 'The safe limit of alcohol, if you apply food standards criteria, would be one glass of wine a year.' It takes two hours to spot-treat a growing zit with a pimple patch. It takes 20 minutes to de-puff the eye area with a mask. It takes only 10 to give your complexion a shot of hydration with a sheet mask. Fifty years ago, or as recently as 10 or even five, one skin-care product could last you a few weeks or sometimes months. Now, beauty companies feed our single-use behavior the super-convenient way of using something only once before discarding it with a flood of non-biodegradable, non-recyclable disposable products. Not only is there an abundance of sheet masks, but there are also derivatives sold to target specific areas like laugh lines or your derriere or your nether regions. There are cleansing wipes available from nearly every brand on the market. And there are zit stickers that come packaged in multiple layers of plastic. People havent been made as aware of the impact of beauty, said Freya Williams, the chief executive of Futerra North America, an agency that helps companies with sustainability efforts. Were taught in school to recycle, but its focused more in the kitchen than in the bathroom, so it doesnt seem as important. TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling around 696 thousand Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles in the United States to fix fuel pumps that may stop operating. In a statement, the Japanese automaker said if fuel pump in these vehicles stop operating, warning lights and messages may be displayed on the instrument panel, and the engine may run rough. This could stall a vehicle, which will then be unable to restart. While driving at higher speeds, a vehicle stall could increase the risk of a crash. In Lexus brand, the recall involves certain 2018 and 2019 Lexus LS 500, LC 500, RC 350, RC 300, GS 350, IS 300, ES 350, LX 570, GX 460, and RX 350. It also includes certain 2019 Lexus NX 300, RX 350L, and GS 300. In Toyota brand, the company is calling back certain 2018 and 2019 Toyota 4Runner, Camry, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, and Tundra, as well as certain 2019 Avalon and Corolla. Toyota said it will be developing a remedy that will be available to vehicle owners at no cost. The automaker will notify all known owners of the affected vehicles by first class mail by mid-March. In recent vehicle recalls, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC., a division of German automaker Daimler AG, in early January announced a recall of around 745,000 vehicles sold between 2001 and 2011 for detaching sunroofs. The recall is expected to begin on February 14. In mid-December, General Motors Co. issued two recalls for around 814,000 vehicles in the United States for faulty brake software and battery-related fire risks. In November, GM had recalled 638 thousand U.S. sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks citing braking issues due to a faulty software. Ford Motor also recalled its F-Series heavy-duty pickups for problem with the electric tailgates that may open unintentionally. Nissan Motor recalled certain vehicles because a brake fluid leak could cause them to catch fire. 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. By PTI WASHINGTON: A top US Senator has urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to press the Indian government for a "swift reversal" of the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens to ensure the protection of human rights of all persons in the country regardless of their religion. In a letter to Pompeo on Tuesday, Senator Bob Menendez, a Ranking Member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concern over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the potential for the establishment of a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India. Asserting that the US must remain steadfast in defending democratic values, freedoms and human rights, he said, "I urge the Administration to engage the Indian government at the highest levels on these concerns, press for a swift reversal of these policies and practices, and ensure protection of the human rights of all persons in India regardless of their religion. " According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, following religious persecution there will get Indian citizenship. "The law to grant citizenship based on religion violates India's international legal obligations and its constitution, which guarantees the rights to equality and nondiscrimination," Menendez said. "The citizen registry has already disproportionately affected Muslims in India. These efforts threaten India's long history of secularism and democratic values," claimed the Democrat leader who represents New Jersey, which has among the highest concentration of Indian-Americans in the US. "Despite the government's claims that the Citizenship Bill seeks to protect religious minorities, its failure to include Muslim groups facing persecution in neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan's Ahmadiyya and Burma's Rohingya, signal an anti-Muslim intent," wrote the Senator. ALSO READ | 'Is it our fault...': NRC fears rife in Muslim village on Bengal-Bangladesh border Menendez also expressed concerns over reports of injuries and deaths of peaceful demonstrators protesting the CAA and the proposed nationwide NRC. Referring to the NRC, the Senator said in October last year, he had travelled to India during which he met with civil society activists who expressed deep concern about the "trajectory of these policies and its negative impact on the future of democracy in India". "The government's efforts in Assam has left effectively 1.9 million persons, primarily Bengali-speaking Muslims, stateless. The government appears to now be extending this effort across the country," he said. The NRC exercise was conducted in Assam on the directions of the Supreme Court. Though several Union ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, have often pitched for a nationwide NRC exercise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month had said that his government has never discussed the NRC since coming to power for the first time in 2014 and it was done only in Assam due to a Supreme Court order. On the CAA, Modi said the law is about giving rights to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries and does not snatch anybody's rights. In his letter to Pompeo, Senator Menendez also expressed concerns on the situation in Kashmir. "The situation in Kashmir has also not normalised since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August. The five-month Internet shutdown in Kashmir is the longest ever in a democracy, and has left people's lives, jobs, and the economy in a more dire situation," he said. Following the abrogation of Article 370, which ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories, various restrictions -- including a ban on mobile phones and Internet -- were imposed in Jammu and Kashmir to maintain law and order. The Indian government has defended the restrictions, which are being gradually lifted in a phased manner, on the grounds that they were imposed to prevent Pakistan from creating more mischief through proxies and terrorists following the abrogation of Article 370. Brown said she was never told she or her father were under suspicion of committing any crime and neither has been charged with anything. A search of her bag turned up no drugs or other contraband. Neither she or her father appear to have criminal records that might raise suspicions.